BX 955 .P35 1891 v. 33
Pastor, Ludwig, 1854-1928
The history of the popes,
from the close of the
Pr$
HISTORY OF THE POPES
VOL. XXXIII
PASTOR'S HISTORY
OF
THE POPES
. Translated from
THE HISTORY OF THE POPES
the German of Ludwig, Freiherr von
Pastor. Edited, as to
Vols. I. -VI. by the late Frederic
K IgN
ATius Antrobus, and.
as to Vols. VII.-XXIV. by Ralph Francis Kerr, of the |
London Oratory, and Vols. XXV
.-XXXIV. by DoM Ernest
Graf, of Buckfast Abbey. In 34 Volumes. 1
Vols. I. and II.
A.D.
1305-1458
Vols. III. and IV.
A.D.
1458-1483
Vols. V. and VI.
A.D.
1484-1513
Vols. VII. and VIII.
A.D.
1513-1521
Vols. IX. and X.
A.D.
1522-1534
Vols. XI. and XII.
A.D.
1534-1549
Vols. XIII. and XIV.
A.D.
1550-1559
Vols. XV. and XVI.
A.D.
1559-1565
Vols. XVII. and XVIII.
A.D.
1566-1572
Vols. XIX. and XX.
A.D.
1572-1585
Vols. XXI. and XXII.
A.D.
1585-1591
Vols. XXIII. and XXIV.
A.D.
1592-1604
Vols. XXV. and XXVI.
A.D.
1605-1621
Vols. XXVII to XXIX.
A.D.
1621-1644
Vols. XXX. to XXXII.
A.D.
1644-1700
Vols. XXXIII. and XXXIV
A.D.
1700-1740
The original German text of the History of the Popes is published
by Herder & Co., Freiburg (Baden).
T H B ( . : . 2 WO '^
HISTORY OF THE POPES
FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
DRAWN FROM THE SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE VATICAN AND OTHER
ORIGINAL SOURCES
FROM THE GERMAN OF THE LATE
LUDWIG, FREIHERR VON PASTOR
TRANSLATED BY
DOM ERNEST GRAF, O.S.B.
MONK OF BUCKFAST
VOLUME XXXIII
CLEMENT XI (i 700-1 721)
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD.
BROADWAY HOUSE : 68-74 CARTER LANE, E.C,
1941
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., HERTFORD.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIH.
PAGES
Collections of Archives and Manuscripts referred to in
Volumes XXXIII. and XXXIV. . . vol. xxxiv
Complete Titles of Books quoted in Volumes XXXIII.
and XXXIV. ...... ix
Table of Contents . . . ... . . xxix
CLEMENT XL. 1700-1721.
Election and Character of Clement XL — His Attitude
during the first Years of the Spanish War of
Succession — Increasing Tension in his Relations
with the Emperor Leopold I. ,
1-34
Joseph I.'s Contest with Clement XL — Louis XIV. 's
Defeat in 1706 and the Conquest of Naples by
the Austrians — The Imperialists' Attack on the
Papal States — Defeat of the Papal Troops — The
Peace of January 15th, 1709 ....
35-70
Philip V.'s Hostility Towards the Holy See — Negotia-
tions for the Restitution of Comacchio — Death
of Joseph I. — Election of Charles VI. as Emperor
— Peace Treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt and Baden
(1713-14)
71-109
Clement XL's Efforts for the Protection of Christen-
dom against the Turks — Victories of Prince
Eugene — Intrigues of Cardinal Alberoni, His
Downfall and the Triumph of the Quadruple
Alliance .......
I 10-176
Revival of Jansenism — The Bulls Vineam Domini and
Unigenitus — The Appellants — Belgian-Dutch
Jansenism .......
177-334
Clement XL's Activity within the Church-
of Cardinals — The Missions
Nomination
335-392
VI CONTENTS
Decision of the Question of the Chinese Rites— The
Legations of Tournon and JNIezzabarba The
Malabar Customs .
Index of Names
PAGES
393-490
The City of Rome and the Papal States — Further-
ing of Science and Art— Death of Clement XI. . 491-540
541-554
COLLECTIONS OF ARCHIVES AND MANU-
SCRIPTS REFERRED TO IN VOLUMES
XXXIII. AND XXXIV.
Benevento — Archiepiscopal
Archives.
Berlin — State Library.
BoRDEAUX^Library.
Bregenz — Museum Archives.
Brescia — Quirini Library.
Carpentras — -Library.
Catania — Library.
Cesena — Communal Library.
Chlumetz in Cidlina — Count
Kinsky Archives.
EiNSiEDELN — Abbey Library.
Ernstbrunn — Reuss Archives.
Florence — State Archives.
Marucelliana Library.
National Library.
FossoMBRONE — Passionei
Librar^^
Frascati — Seminary Archives.
Seminary Library.
GuBBio — L. Benveduti
Library.
HoLLESCHAU (Jarmeritz) —
Wrbna— Kaunitz Archives.
Iaidhof (Castle) — Sinzendorf
Archives.
Innsbruck— Pastor Library.
London — British Museum.
Lucerne — Archives.
Madrid — Arch. Historico
- Nacional.
Nunciature Archives.
Milan — Brera Archives.
Ambrosiana Library.
Monte Cassino — Library.
Munich — State Archives.
State Library.
Naples — Archives .
National Library.
Library of the Societd
di storia patria.
Orvieto — Piccolomini
Archives.
Otten stein (Castle)— Lamberg
Archives.
Palermo — National Library.
Ravenna — State Archives.
Classense Library.
Rome —
Archives :
Altieri.
Boncompagni.
Briefs, Archives of.
Dominicans, Archives
of.'
Capitol, Archives of.
Vatican Consistorial
Archives.
Austrian Historical
Institute, Archives
of.
Orsini Archives.
Papal Secret Archives.
Vll
Vlll
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS.
Propaganda, Archives
of.
Ruspoli Archives.
Spanish Embassy, Ar-
chives of.
Fabbrica di S. Pietro,
Archives of.
Theatines, Archives
of.
Libraries :
Altieri.
Angehca.
Casanatense.
Corsini. ,
S. Pietro in Vincoli.
Sessoriana.
ValUcelhana.
Vatican.
Vittorio Emanuele.
Salzburg — Library.
SiMANCAS — Archives.
St. Gall — Abbey Archives.
Trent — Library of the
episcopal College.
City Library.
Turin — Archives.
Urbino — Communal Archives.
Archiepiscopal
Archives.
Venice — State Archives.
Veroli — Communal Library.
Vicenza — Bertoliana Library.
ViTERBO — Archives.
Vienna — Lichtenstein
Archives.
. Archives of the
Austrian Embassy at the
Vatican.
■ — ■ State Archives.
State Library.
COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS QUOTED
. IN VOLUMES XXXIII. AND XXXIV.
Academy and Literature. Vol. i seqq. London, 1869 seqq.
Acta historico ecclesiastica saeculi XIX., ed. by G. Fr. H.
Rheinwald. 2 Vols. Hamburg, 1838.
Ademollo, A., II matrimonio di suor Maria Pulcheria, al secolo
Livia Cesarini. Memorie particolari. Roma, 1883.
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographic. Vol. 1-56. Leipzig, 1875 seqq.
Analecta iuris pontificii. Dissertations sur differents sujets de
droit canonique, liturgie et theologie. Rome, 1855 seqq.
Analecta Montserratensia. Vol. i seqq. Monserrat, 1917 seqq.
Analectes pour servir a I'histoire ecclesiastique de la Belgique.
3rd Series. Bruxelles-Leipzig-Louvain, 1905-1914.
Anecdotes sur I'etat de la religion dans la Chine [Villermaule].
7 Vols. Paris, 1 733-1 742.
Anguiano, Fray Matheo de (Predicador Capuchino), Epitome
historial y conquista espiritual del imperio Abyssino en
Etiopia la alta o sobre Egypto. Madrid, 1706.
Annalen des Hist. Vereins fiir den Niederrhein. Heft I seqq.
Koln, 1855 seqq.
Annales de la Societe des soi-disants Jesuites. Paris, 1764-1771.
Annuario pontificio. Vol. i seqq. Roma, 1716 seqq.
Antonianum. Periodicum philosophico-theol. trimestre. Vol. I.
seqq. Romae, 1926 seqq.
Arata, A., II processo del cardinale Alberoni dai documenti
dell'Archivio segreto Vaticano. Piacenza, 1923.
Archiv fiir katholisches Kirchertrecht. Vol. I seqq. Innsbruck,
1857 seqq.
Archiv fiir Medaillen- und Plakettenkunde. Vol. I seqq. Halle,
1913 seqq.
Archives de la France monastique. Vol. I seqq. Paris, 1905 seqq.
Archivi italiani, Gli. Vol. i seqq. Napoli, 1914 seqq.
Archivio della R. Societa Romana di storia patria. Vol. I seqq.
Roma, 1878 seqq.
Archivio storico italiano. 5th Series. Firenze, 1842 seqq.
Archivio storico Lombardo. Vol. I seqq. Milano, 1874 seqq.
Archivio storico per le provincie Napolitane. Vol. I seqq. Napoli,
1876 seqq.
Archivium Franciscanum historicum. Vol. I seqq. Quaracchi,
1908 seqq.
Arezio, L., II cardinale Alberoni e I'impresa di Sardegna nel 1717.
in Archivio storico Sardo II., Cagliari-Sassari, 1906, 257-309.
Argentre Caroliis du Plessis d' , Collectio iudiciorum. Parisiis, 1724.
/J r;;«tfM /iw/onze, Oiuvres completes. 43 Vols. Ed. byDuPacde
Bellegarde e Hautefage. Paris, 1 775-1 783.
ix
X COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS
Arneth Aljr., Prinz. Eugen von Savoyen. 3 Vols. Wien, 1858.
Arte, L', continuation of Archivio storico deH'arte. Vol. I seqq.
Roma, 1898 seqq.
Arte e storia. Vol. I seqq. Firenze, 1882 seqq.
Astrdin, A., Historia de la Compania de Jesiis en la Asistencia
de Espaila. Vols. I^-VIL Madrid, 1902 seqq.
Bahr, Fl., AUerneueste Chinesische Merkwiirdigkeiten u. zugleich
griindliche Widerlegung vieler ungleicher Berichte und
Irrungen, welche Herr L L. Mossheim in seine Erzahlung
der neuesten Chinesischen Kirchengeschichte hat einfliessen
lassen, aus Peking geschrieben. Augsburg-Innsbruck, 1758.
Balan, P., Storia d'ltalia. 7 Vols. Modena, 1875-1890.
Baldeschi, Al., Stato della ss. chiesa papale Lateranense nell'anno
1723. Roma, 1723.
Barhier de Montaiilt, CEuvres completes. 6 Vols. Poitiers et
Paris, 1 889-1 890.
Barozzi, N., e Berchet, G., Le relazioni degli stati Europei lette al
Senato dagli ambasciatori Veneziani nel secolo xvii. ist
Series : Spagna, 2 Vols. Venezia, 1 856-1 862 ; 2nd Series :
Francia, 3 Vols, ibid., 1857-1863 ; 3rd Series : Italia, i Vol. :
Torino, ibid., 1862 ; Relazioni di Roma, 2 Vols. Venezia,
1877-9 ; 4th Series : Inghilterra, i Vol. ibid., 1863 ; Turchia,
I Vol. ibid., 1871-2.
Bartoli : Delle Opere del Padre Daniello Bartoli della Comp. di
Gesu. 34 Vols. Torino, 1 823-1 844.
Batterel, Louis, Memoires domestiques pour servir a I'histoire.
Public par A.-M.-P. Ingold. 4 Vols. Paris, 1902-5.
Battistella, A., II S. Ofifizio e la riforma religiosa in Bologna.
Bologna, 1905.
Baudrillart, A., De cardinalis Quirini vita et operibus. Parisiis,
1899.
Baudrillart, A., Philippe V. et la cour de France. 5 Vols. Paris,
1890-1901.
Baiimgarien, Herm., Geschichte Spaniens vom Ausbruch der
Revolution bis aufu nscre Tage. 3 Vols. (Staatengeschichte
der neuesten Zeit, Vols. 9, 14, 17). Leipzig, 1 865-1 871.
Baumgartner, A., Geschichte der Wcltliteratur. Vol. 4 : Die
lateinische und griechische Literatur der christlichen Volker.
Vol. 5 : Die franzosische Literatur. Vol. 6 : Die italienische
Literatur. Freiburg, 1900, 1905, 191 1.
Bellori, G. P., Le vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti moderni.
Roma, 1672. (Quotations from the Pi.sa, 1821 cd.)
Benigni, U., Die Getreidepolitik der Papste. Ins Deutsche
iibertragen von R. Birncr, hrsg. von G. Ruhland. Berlin,
1898.
Bergner, H., Das barocke Rom. Leipzig, 1914.
Berichte der Kgl. Sachs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften.
Vol. I seqq. Leipzig, 1849 seqq.
Berthier, J. J., L'eglise de la Mincrve a Rome. Rome, 19 10.
QUOTED IN VOLS. XXXIII. AND XXXIV. XI
Bertrand, Jos., La mission du Madure d'apres des documents
inedits. 4 Vols. Paris, 1 847-1854.
Bessarione. Pubblicazione periodica di studi orientali. 27 Vols.
Roma, 1897-1923.
Bethune, L., Les missions catholiques d'Afrique. Bruges, 1889.
[Bianchini, Fr.), Descrizione della legazione del card. Carlo
Barberini a Filippo V. Roma, 1703. Reprinted by P. E.
Visconti, Roma, 1858.
Bibliofilo. Giornale deir arte antica e moderna. 11 Vols. Firenze,
1880-1890.
Bibliotheque de I'Ecole Frangaise des chartes. Vol. i seqq.
Paris, 1839 seqq.
Biennann, B. M., Die Anfange der neuern Dominikanermission
in China. Miinster, 1927.
Bildt, Baron Ch. de, Christine de vSuede et le card. Azzolino.
Lettres inedites, 1666-8. Paris, 1899.
Bildt, Baron Ch. de, Svenska minnen och marken i Rom. Stock-
holm, 1900.
Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne. 45 Vols. Paris,
1854-1865.
Bischoffshausen, S. Frh. v., Papst Alexander VIII. und der
Wiener Hof (1689-1691). Stuttgart, 1900.
Bliard, Dubois cardinal et premier-ministre (1656-1723). 2 Vols.
Paris (1902).
Blume, Fr., Iter Italicum. 4 Vols. Halle, 1824 seq.
Bohm Const, v., Die Handschriften des k. k. Haus-, Hof- und
Staatsarchivs Mit Supplement. Wien, 1873-4.
Bois Rene Joseph du : Collectio nova actorum publicorum
constitutionis Unigenitus, post nuperam Cardinalis et Archi-
Episcopi Parisiensis Lud. Ant. de Noailles acceptionem in
lucem edita et Sanctissimo Pontifici Benedicto XIII. oblata
a R. I. du Bois S. J. Lugduni, 1725.
Bollettino d'arte. Vol. I seqq. Roma, 1907 seqq.
Bollettino della Reale Deputazione di storia patria per I'Umbria.
Vol. I seqq. Perugia, 1894 seqq.
Bollettino Sene.se di storia patria. Vol. I seqq. Siena, 1894 seqq.
Bollettino storico-bibliografico subalpino. Vol. I seqq. Torino,
1896 seqq.
Bollettino storico Piaccntino. Vol. I seqq. Piacenza, 1906 seqq.
Borgia Al., Benedicti XIII. Romani Pontificis ex ordine Prae-
dicatorum vita commentario excerpta et Benedicto XIV.
dicata. Romae, 1741.
Bossiiet, Correspondance, seq. Urbain.
Bossuet, J. B., (Euvres. Nouvelle edition. 43 Vols. Versailles,
1815-19.
Bourgeois, E., Lettres intimes d'Alberoni. Paris, 1892.
Bourgeois, E., Le secret des Farnese. Philippe V. et la politique
d'Alberoni. Paris, 1909.
Botitry, M., Intrigues et missions du cardinal de Tencin. Paris,
1902.
XU COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS
Brinckmann, A. E., Barockskulptur. 2 Vols., 2nded. Berlin, 1921.
Brinckmann, A. E., Barock-Bozzetti italienischer Bildhauer.
Frankfurt, 1923.
Brinckmann, A. E., Die Baukunst des 17. und iS. Jahrhunderts
in den romanischen Landern. 5th ed. Berlin-Neubabelsberg,
1929.
Brognoli, V. de, Relazione dei tumulti accaduti in Roma Tanno
1736. Roma, 1882.
Brosch, M., Geschichte des Kirchenstaates. 2 Vols. Gotha, 1882.
Brasses, Ch. de : Vertrauliche Brief e des Prasidenten De Brosses
aus Italien an seine Freunde in Dijon, 1 739-1 740. Trans-
lated by Werner and Maja Schwarzkopff. 2 Vols. Miinchen,
1918-1922.
Brncker, J . (S. J.), La Compagnie de Jesus. Paris, 1919.
Brunner, Seb., Die Mysterien der Aufklarung in Oesterreich,
1770-1800. Mainz, 1869.
Buchberger, Mich., Kirchliches Handlexikon. 2 Vols. Freiburg,
1907-1912.
(Buder), Leben und Taten des klugen und beriihmten Papstes
dementis des Eilfften. Vols. I-IIL Frankfurt, 1720.
Bullarium Congregationis de Propaganda Fide. 7 Vols. Romae,
1839 seq.
Bullarium ordinis FF. Praedicatorum, ed. Ripoll-Bremond.
8 Vols. Romae, 1 729-1 740.
Bullarium Romanum, Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum
Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum. Taurinensis editio,
locupletior facta collectione novissima plurium Brevium,
Epistolarum, Decretorum Actorumque S. Sedis. 24 Vols.
Augustae Taurinorum, 1857-1872.
BuUettino della Commissione Archeologica comunale. Vol. I seqq.
Roma, 1872 seqq.
[Cadry], Histoire du livre des Reflexions morales. Vol. L
Amsterdam, 1 723-1 734.
Cahen, L., Les querelles religieuses et parlamentaires sous Louis
XV. Paris, 1913.
Calisse Carlo, Storia di Civitavecchia. F"irenze, 1898.
Calvi, Pel., Curiosita storiche e diplomatiche del secolo decimo
ottavo. Milano, 1878.
Cancellieri, Fr., Storia dei solenni possessi dei Sommi Pontefici
dctti anticamente processi o processioni dopo la loro
coronazione dalla basilica Vaticana alia Lateranense.
Roma, 1802.
Cancellieri, Fr., II Mercato, il lago dell'Acqua Vergine ed il
Palazzo Panfiliano nel Circo Agonale detto volgarmente
Piazza Navona descritti. Roma, 181 1.
Cappelletti, G., Le chiese d'ltalia dalla loro origine sino ai nostri
giorni. 21 Vols. Venezia, 1844-1870.
Cordelia, L., Memorie storiche de' cardinali della s. Romana
Chiesa. 10 Vols. Roma, 1792-7.
QUOTED IN VOLS. XXXIII. AND XXXIV. Xlll
Carini, Isid., L'Arcadia dal 1690 al 1890. Roma, i8gi.
Carini, Isid., La Biblioteca Vaticana, proprieta della Sede
Apostolica. Roma, 1893.
Carutti, Dom., Storia del regno di Vittorio Amadeo II. Firenze,
1863.
Carutti, Dom., Storia della diplomazia della corte di Savoia.
4 Vols. Torino, 1875-1880.
Cascioli, G., Memorie storiche di Poll. Roma, 1896.
Catholic Encyclopedia, The. Vol. i seqq. New York, 1907
seqq.
Causa Quesnelliana. Bruxelles, 1704.
Cecchetti, B., La Republica di Venezia e la corte di Roma. 2 Vols.
Venezia, 1874.
[Cecconi], Diario storico 1 700-1724. Appendice all'op. Panciroli-
Posterla, Roma sacra e moderna, ed. G. Fr. Cecconi. Roma,
1725-
Cerrati, Tiberii Alpharani de basilicae Vaticanae antiquissima et
nova structura liber, p. p. M. C. Romae, 1914-
Civilta Cattclica. Vol. i seqq. Roma, 1850 seqq.
dementi, II Colosseo. Roma, 1912.
dementis XI. P. M. Opera omnia in quibus cdntinentur I. eius
orationes consistoriales, II. homiliae. III. epistolae et brevia
selecta. IV. Bullarium. Secundum exempla Romana fideliter
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Colagrossi, L'amfiteatro Flaviano. Firenze, 1919.
Collectanea S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, seu decreta,
instructiones, rescripta pro apostolicis missionibus. Vol. I.
Ann. 1622-1866. Romae, 1907.
Collectio Lacensis. Acta et decreta sacrorum Conciliorum
recentiorum. 7 Vols. (1682-1870). Friburgi Brisg., 1870-
1890.
Coppi, A., Discorso sulle finanze dello Stato Pontificio dal secolo
xvi al principio del xix. Roma, 1855.
Cordier, H., Bibliotheca Sinica. Dictionnaire bibliographique des
ouvrages relatifs a I'empire chinois. 2nd ed. Paris, 1904.
Corridor e, Fr., La popolazione dello Stato Romano, 1 656-1 901.
Roma, 1906.
Corrigan, P., Die Kongregation de Propaganda Fide und ihre
Tatigkeit in Nordamerika. Miinchen, 1928.
Coxe, William, Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the house of
Bourbon from the accession of Philip the Fifth. London, 1813.
Cretineaii-Joly, J., Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus. 6 Vols.
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Crousaz-Cretet, P. de, Paris sous Louis XIV. 2 Vols. Paris, 1922-3.
Cultura. Rivista mensile di filosofia, lettere, arte. Vol. I seqq.
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Cupis, c. de, Le vicende dell'agricoltura e della pastorizia nell'Agro
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Curiosita e ricerche di .storia subalpina. Vol. I seqq. Roma.
1874 seqq.
XIV COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS
Delplace, L. [5. /.], Le catholicisme au Japon. St. Franfois
Xavier et ses premiers successeurs, 1 540-1 660. .Bruxelles,
1909.
Depping, G. B., Correspondance administrative sous le regne de
Louis XIV. 4 Vols. Paris, 1850-5.
Dictionnaire apologetique de la foi catholique. Vol. I seqq.
Paris, 191 1 seqq.
Dictionnaire de theologie catholique. Edited by Vacant-Mangenot.
Vol. I seqq. Paris, 1903 seqq.
Dollinger, I. I. I., Beitrage zur politischen, kirchlichen und
Kulturgeschichte der sechs letzten Jahrhunderte. Vol. I XL
Regensburg, 1882.
Domarns, K. v., Pietro Bracci. Strassburg, 1915.
Dorsanne, Journal . . . contenant tout ce qui s'est passe a Rome
et en France dans I'affaire de la constitution Unigenitus.
6 Vols. Rome, 1753.
Droysen, I. G., Geschichte der preussischen Politik. 14 Vols,
Berlin, 1855-1886. •
Driigidm, W. E., Allgemeiner Portrat-Katalog. i860.
Dudik, B., Iter Romanum. 2 Vols. Vienna, 1855.
Duhr, B., S.J., Jesuitenfabeln. 3rd ed. Freiburg, 1892.
Diihr, B., S.J., Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Landern deutscher
Zunge. Vol. Ill, Regensburg, 1921 ; Vol. IV, ibid., 1928.
Dii Mont de Carels-Croon, J., Corps universel diplomatique du
droit des gens. 8 parts in 16 Vols. Amsterdam, 1726-1733.
[Dupac de Bellegarde], Histoire abregee de I'eglise metropolitaine
d 'Utrecht, principalement depuis la revolution arrivee dans
les VII. Provinces-Unies des Pays-Bas sous Philippe II.
jusqu'a present. Utrecht, 1765.
Dupin, Louis Elites, Histoire ecclesiastique du dix-septieme
siecle. 4 Vols. Paris, 1713 seq.
Dupin, L. E., Histoire de I'eglise en abrege. 4 Vols. Paris, 1726.
Egger, H., Kritisches Verzeichnis der Sammlung architektonischer
Handzeichnungen der k. k. Hofbibliothek. Wien, 1903.
Eisler, Alex., Das Veto der katholischen Staaten bei der Papstwahl.
Wien, 1907.
Emporium. Rivista mcnsile illustrata d'arte, letteratura, scienze
e varicta. Vol. I seqq. Bergamo, 1895 seqq.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. By a Society of Gentlemen in Scotland.
3 Vols. Edinburgh, 1771.
Engelhardt, F., The Missions and Missionaries of California. San
Francisco, 1908.
Ennen, L., Frankreich und der Niederrhein oder Geschichte von
Stadt und Kurstaat Koln scit dcm Dreissigjiihrigen Kricge
bis zur franzosischen Okkupation. 2 Vols. Koln-Neuss,
1855-6.
Erdmannsdorffer, B., Deutsche Geschichte vom Westfalischen
Frieden bis zum Rcgierungsantritt Friedrichs d. Gr., 1648-
1740. 2 Vols. Berlin, 1892-3.
QUOTED IN VOLS. XXXIII. AND XXXIV. XV
Escher, Konrad, Barock und Klassizismus. Studien zur Geschichte
der Architektur Roms. Leipzig [1910].
Estrees : Memoires du marechal d'Estrees sur la regence de Marie
de Medicis (1610-16) et sur celle d'Anne d'Autriche, publics
par P. Bonnefon. Paris, 1910.
Etudes (Edited : Peres de la Compagnie de Jesus). 6th Series.
Paris, 1856 seqq.
Europaische Fama. Vol. i seqq. Leipzig, 1702 seqq.
[Fabronius], De vita et rebus gestis Clementis XII. Pont. Max.
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Gaiigusch, Ludw., Das Rechtsinstitut der Papstwahl. Wien,
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Giornale d'ltalia, spettante alia scienze naturali e principalmente
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Giornale Ligustico di archeologia, storia e letteratura. Vols. 1-25.
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Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, diretto e redatto da
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Lettres edifiantes et curieuses ecrites des missions etrangeres par
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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME
XXXIIL
•Clement XL 1700-1721.
CHAPTER I.
ELECTION AND CHARACTER OF CLEMENT XI. HIS
ATTITUDE DURING THE FIRST YEARS OF THE SPANISH
WAR OF SUCCESSION INCREASING TENSION IN HIS
RELATIONS WITH THE EMPEROR LEOPOLD I.
A.D.
1699 Illness of Innocent XII.
1700 His death and the ensuing Conclave
Rival parties therein ....
Papabili ......
Election of Cardinal Albani as Clement XI.
His previous career ; characteristics
Death of Charles XII. of Spain
1 701 The succession of Philip of Anjou is disputed by
Leopold I. by force of arms
Clement XL's offer to mediate is refused .
His further action unfruitful .
Franco-Spanish intrigue
Death of James I. of England
Increased political tension in Rome
1702 Papal concessions to Spain and
The Emperor Leopold I.
Satisfy neither .....
1703 Proclamation of Archduke Charles as King of Spain
1705 Joseph I. succeeds his father Leopold
PAGE
I
2
3
4
6
7
14
15
16
17
19
22
25
27
28
29
30
31
34
CHAPTER 11.
JOSEPH I. S CONTEST WITH CLEMENT XI. LOUIS XIV. S
DEFE.\T IN 1706 AND THE CONQUEST OF NAPLES BY
THE AUSTRIANS THE IMPERIALISTS* ATTACK ON THE
PAPAL STATES — DEFEAT OF THE PAPAL TROOPS THE
PEACE OF JANUARY I5TH, 1709.
The attempts of Clement XI. for smooth relationship
with Joseph are ......
Frustrated by Lamberg . .....
xxix
35
36
XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.D PAGE
1706 Blow to Franco-Spanish prestige . . . .41
Passage of imperial troops by Rome to . . .42
Naples — surrender of that Kingdom ... 45
1707 Papal Bull protesting against violation of the Holy
See ........
Is disregarded by Joseph, who
Invades the Papal States ....
The Pope's expostulation calls forth
An imperial manifesto and there follows .
1708 Outbreak of war ......
Initial successes of the imperial forces are
Chcked by English and Dutch intervention
Negotiations begin and .....
1709 The Pope yields ......
The terms accepted by him lead to
Breach between Rome and Spain
Revocation of decrees against the Papal States .
Followed by reconciliation of Spain — and Peace
Grievous illness of Clement XI.
CHAPTER III.
PHILIP V.'S HOSTILITY TOWARDS THE HOLY SEE
NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE RESTITUTION OF COMACCHIO
DEATH OF JOSEPH I. ELECTION OF CHARLES VI. AS
EMPEROR — PEACE TREATIES OF UTRECHT, RASTATT
AND BADEN (1713-I7I4).
The hostility of Philip V. towards the Holy See
1 710 He is gravely warned by the Pope but
Continues to refuse compromise
The Emperor likewise remains unfriendly
Negotiations concerning Comacchio not concluded
owing to .
1 711 The deaths of Joseph I. and of the Dauphin
Prospect of a Protestant Emperor .
The Pope's support of Charles of Spain
Candidature of Augustus of Saxony
Electoral Diet at Frankfurt decides . ' .
In favour of Charles .....
International effects of the two deaths
1 71 2 Peace Congress at Utrecht ....
Its unfortunate outcome for Clement XL
Concerning Sicily ......
Further deliberations at Rastatt conclude with treaty
of Rijswijk ......
1 714 Finally ratified at Baden ....
Clement XL's opinion about the Peace of Baden
46
47
48
49
51
55
57
58
59
63
64
65
68
69
70
71
72
75
78
79
83
85
86
88
90
91
94
95
97
98
100
1 06
107
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXI
CHAPTER IV.
CLEMENT XI. 'S EFFORTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF
CHRISTENDOM AGAINST THE TURKS VICTORIES OF
PRINCE EUGENE INTRIGUES OF CARDINAL ALBERONI,
HIS DOWNFALL AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE QUADRUPLE
ALLIANCE.
A.D.
The defence of Europe against the Turks
Their superiority and success in taking
1 71 5 The Peloponnesus ....
Change in the policy of Philip X.
Fresh preparations against Turke}'
Rescue of Corfu, followed by
The fall of Zemesvar and minor successes
Further measures taken by Clement XI. .
1 71 7 The activities of Alberoni
Concordat between the Holy See and Philip V.
The Christian fleet sets sail
Indecisive engagements at sea , .
Brilliant victory of Prince Eugene at Belgrade
Spanish attack on Sardinia and fall of Cagliari
Indignation of the Pope, who is accused by
The Emperor of complicity
The latter's demands for compensation are granted but
The Concordat with Madrid is ratified
The Pope is tricked
Attempts to force a rupture between Clement and
Spain .......
The audacity of the Spanish Government
Its persistent measures against the Emperor and
Its threats to the Holy See ....
Cardinal Alberoni 's attitude ....
1719 He is dismissed ......
Further proceedings against him drag on for four years
1723 He is then acquitted and reinstated by Innocent XIII.
Reconciliation betewen Rome and Spain .
1720 Victories of the latter over the Moors
CHAPTER V.
REVIVAL OF JANSENISM THE BULLS VINEAM DOMINI
AND UNIGENITUS — THE APPELLANTS BELGIAN-
DUTCH JANSENISM.
The revival of Jansenism
The " Case of Conscience " .
The Pope's attitude
He issues the Bull Vinemn Domini and
1706 A Brief to the French Bishops
The doom of Port-Royal and .
Its demolition ....
PAGE
no
114
115
116
1X2
128
130
137
139
140
141
143
144
147
148
149
157
162
163
165
167
168
173
174
176
177
179
183
184
187
189
190
XXXll TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.D.
Jansenists rally round Quesnel
His antecedents and attainments
His literary work and teaching
His book hloral Reflexions is condemned .
Persistent advance of Jansenism
Controversy between Abp. Noailles and Bp. Champ
flour .......
Intervention of Louis XIV. ....
Noailles' failure as peacemaker ...
A new Bull is demanded ....
A Congregation appointed to examine " Moral
Reflexions " . . . . ,
1 713 The Bull Unigcnitus .....
Its contents and condemnations
Its reception in France .....
A critical moment for Catholic France
Discussions in the Assembly of Bishops .
1714 Final acceptance of the Bull. Jansenist retaliation
Dissatisfaction of Clement XI.
Fenelon's defence of the Bishops
Noailles' obduracy .....
The action of Rome. Negotiations and disputations
1715 The death of Louis XIV. ....
The Regent, Philip of Orleans, supports Jansenism
Great revival of Jansenist controversy
1 71 6 Clement XI. takes action ....
Noailles' condemnation in Consistory — further
measures .......
171 7 The " Four Bishops " appeal to a General Council
The result of the appeal — danger of schism
The action of Rome being ineffective
The " Order of Silence " is published by Royal decree
Failure of other negotiations, including
1718 Correspondence between Dupin and Abp. Wake of
Canterbury ......
Contrasting loyalty of certain Bishops . .
Condemnation by Rome of the " Four Bishops "
Rupture of all negotiations ....
Publication of the Bull Pastor alls officii .
Its content and its reception by . . .
A flood of appeals .....
The Regent's policy .....
Coerces Noailles but is frustrated by Parliament, which
Is then banished from Paris ....
1 7 19 Death of Quesnel ......
Compromise finally achieved ....
The attitude of Clement XL ....
Reactions in Holland to Bull Unigenitns
Vicar-Apostolic Codde goes to Rome
The charges against him ....
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXlll
A.D. PAGE
1702 His condemnation . . . . • -319
Dispute about authority in Dutch Mission , . 320
1703 Return of Codde to Holland, he disputes his deposition 323
Potkamp appointed Vicar-Apostolic, but dies . . 327
Codde 's persistency leads to . . . . . 328
Further dissensions ...... 3^9
Ordination of Jansenist priests .... 331
Their repudiation by Clement XI. is forestalled by his
death ........ 334
CHAPTER VI.
CLEMENT XI. 'S ACTIVITY WITHIN THE CHURCH
NOMINATION OF CARDINALS THE MISSIONS.
The activities of Clement XI. in Church Government
In spiritual matters ....
Towards Religious Orders
In support of existing ordinances
His defence of the Church's liberty .
1706-20 In 15 Creations the Purple bestowed on 70
Cardinals ......
Survey of these prelates
The Pope's relations with Northern Europe
The influence of Agostino Steffani
He dies ......
Progress of the Missions in North Germany
Missionary zeal of Clement XI.
He erects seminaries ....
1711 Orders visitations ....
Shows solicitude for Russia and the East, for
The Chaldeans and ....
Maronites ......
He seeks to protect Catholics in Persia
Encourages the desire for reunion in the East and
Abyssinia ......
Missionary movements in N. Africa
In China and Tibet ....
Flourishing Jesuit missions in India
Peaceful conditions in vSiam and in the Philippines
Progress in S. America .....
CHAPTER VII.
DECISION OF THE QUESTION OF THE CHINESE RITES
THE LEGATIONS OF TOURNON AND MEZZABARBA
THE MALABAR CUSTOMS.
Contributory causes to the question of the Chinese
rites 393
The national character ...... 395
335
336
339
341
344
347
349
355
356
360
361
365
366
368
370
374
375
376
377
383
384
386
387
390
XXXIV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.D.
Ancestor worship .....
The divine names .....
Dissensions among the Missionary Orders
1692 Kanghi's decree permits the preaching of Christianity
but
1697 Vicar Apostolic Maigrot condemns Chinese rites
1704 Investigations by Rome and representations from
China ......
Discussion ......
Decision reached but not pubhshed in Europe
Contents of the Decree ....
1699 Tournon arrives in China as Papal Envoy
He awaits an interview with Kanghi, w^ho is
At first most gracious ....
Then suspicious .....
Lengthy discussions betrvveen Tournon and Kanghi
Intervention of Maigrot leads to
Indignation of the Emperor .
Continued tension ....
Tournon ordered to return to Canton
Failure of his embassy and its results
His personal heroism and death
Lack of support for the Holy See
Further enactments against the Chinese rites
Intervention of Theodoric Pedrini
His prevarications further entangle the issue
The Emperor's wrath against him .
The action of the Jesuits
Mezzabarba appointed Legate
His troublous reception, his failures and .
Imprisonment, whence he publishes Concessions
His subsequent return to Europe
The Malabar rites — Nobili's adoption of Indian ideal
Repudiated by Tournon, whose
Action is upheld by Rome
Further examination entrusted to Lambertini
CHAPTER VHI.
THE CITY OF ROME AND THE PAPAL STATES — FURTHER
ING OF SCIENCE AND ART — DEATH OF CLEMENT XI
1 701 Christmas-tide inundation of Rome by Tiber
1703 Earthquakes do much damage throughout Italy
Unusually severe weather is
Followed by cattle disease
Papal aid to the suffering people
Clement XL's administration of justice
His encouragement of learning and
Research in Eastern Manuscripts
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXV
1721
His patronage of scholars
Interest in archaeology and
Art
His architectural work and restoration of
Churches in Rome, likewise
Walls, waterworks, and fountains therein
Building activities elsewhere .
Last illness and ....
Death of Pope Clement XT.
A prayer written by him
PAGE
503
508
513
517
518
527
529
531
534
537
CLEMENT XL 1700-1721.
CHAPTER I.
K LECTION AND CHARACTER OF ClEMENT XI — HiS ATTITUDE
DURING THE FiRST YeARS OF THE SPANISH WaR OF
Succession — Increasing Tension in his Relations
WITH THE Emperor Leopold I.
Innocent XII. 's advanced age had early claimed the
attention of the Cardinals and the ambassadors in Rome ^
and that of the various cabinets of Europe for the next
papal election. Preoccupation with the subject became even
more acute when his serious illness in November, 1699,2
rendered the prospect of his death a proximate possibihty.
Yet among the Great Powers France was the only one with
a definite policy, and this she pursued with energy. Though
the Spanish ministers indulged in lengthy discussions, as
^ The imperial standpoint appears from the " *Vita critica del
cardinali che vivevano circa I'anno 1696 " (with supplements
up to 1700), Cod. I, 4a, 24, Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna.
On the Spanish side we have " *Juycio sobre el conclave que
devia suceder a la muerte de Innocencio XII. ", Cod. Ill, 4,
Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
2 Conjectures politiques sur le conclave de 1700, Parma, 1700,
and the memorials quoted by Galland in Hist. Jahrbxich, III.,
232, to which must be added the detailed " *Report to the
Emperor " {ca. 1699), in Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna, fasc. 5,
^- 3343. ^•nd " *Refleciones que conviene tener presentes para
el primer futuro conclave ", Cod. III., 4, Archives of the Spanish
Embassy, Rome, which say of Casanata (d. March 3, 1700) :
" EI card. Casanate es generalmente reputado por muy digno de
la Tiara por la edad que sera ya de 70 annos y por la leteratura,
celo, comprehension y desinteres."
VOL. XXXIII. I B
2 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
a result of the confusion then prevailing at Madrid, the
Spanish ambassador in Rome, the Duke of Uzeda, received
his instructions too late. The same misfortune befell the
Emperor's representative. Count Lamberg.^ On the other
hand, even before the death of Innocent XII., Louis XIV.
had dispatched to Rome, on the plea that it was a year of
jubilee, the very able Cardinals D'Estrees and Forbin, who
were soon followed by Coislin, Arquien and Le Camus. When
news came of Innocent XII. 's death. Cardinal NoaiUes was
also sent to Rome with final instructions for the conclave,^
but he had not arrived in the Eternal City when the conclave
was closed on the evening of October 9th, 1700.^
At the time of Innocent XII. 's death the Sacred College
numbered sixtj'-six members. Out of that number there
remained only one Cardinal from the time of Innocent X.,
three from that of Clement IX., seven from that of Clement X.,
sixteen from that of Innocent XL, fourteen from that of
Alexander VIIL, and twenty-live from that of Innocent XII.
Fifty-eight out of these sixty-six Cardinals took part in the
election,* but they only arrived by degrees : no more than
thirty-eight were present at the first ballot.^
It was evident from the first that the conclave would be
a lengthy as well as an exciting one.^ This time the reason
^ Wahruvnt), his exclusivae, ijg seqq.
2 Ibid.
' The conclave of Clement XI. has been so extensively described
by Galland in Hist. Jahrbuch, III., 208 seqq., 355 seqq., 596 seqq.,
that a short synthesis will suffice here. Cf. also Eisler, 178 seqq.
" * Pasquinate per la sede vacante dTnnocenzo XII.," in Cod.
XXIV., D. 14, Bibl. della Societa di storia patria, Naples.
* GuARNACCi, II., 16 seqq. ; Galland, loc. cit., 6i6. Porto-
carrero, Bonsi, Kollonitsch, Radziejowski, Salazar, Fiirstenberg,
Sousa, and Borgia did not take part in the conclave.
* See the *ballots in Barb. 4446, with plan of the conclave,
Vatican Library ; Cod. J. 39, Bibl. ValliceUiana, Rome ; Cod.
Medic. XCCCV., State Archives, Florence ; Cod. 42, 5, 18,
Communal Library, Veroli.
* *Avviso Marescotti, October 9, 1700, Bibl. Vittorio Enianuele,
Rome.
PARTIES. 3
was not the opposition of the various parties, but the fact
that the question of the Spanish succession was fraught with
so many possibihties of trouble that everything depended
on the choice of a personahty that would be a match for such
perils. The grouping of the parties was accordingly quite
simple ; one group consisted of the French and the
Imperialists, who were implacable opponents, and the other
of the " Zelanti " who were inspired by strict ecclesiastical
sentiments.^ The imperial party numbered at first only two
members, viz. Medici and Giudice. In November they were
reinforced by Cardinals Lamberg and Grimani, dispatched by
Leopold I. They were instructed to have Cardinals Panciatici,
Carpegna and Acciaioli excluded by the Spanish ambassador,
but it was found impossible to carry out such a step.^ The
French party was numerically the strongest ; it was also more
compact and united. As Bouillon did not count, by reason
of his being out of favour with the court of Paris, it consisted
of Cardinals D'Estrees, Forbin, Coislin, Arquien, Le Camus,
who experienced no difficulty in preventing a decisive step
until Cardinal de Noailles should have arrived.^
The " Zelanti " had agreed to set aside all worldly con-
siderations of nationality, friendship, enmity, kinship,
gratitude or interest, and to keep exclusively before their
eyes the welfare of the Church. Among the older electors
this group comprised Carlo Barberini, Acciaioli and Orsini,
as well as ten of Innocent XL's Cardinals, viz. Spinola,
Mellini, Durazzo, Barbarigo, Petrucci, CoUoredo, Pamfili,
Negroni, Astalli ; they were reinforced by another eighteen
who owed their elevation to Innocent XII., namely Morigia,
Tanara, Boncompagni, Del Verme, Ferrari, Cenci, Sagri-
panti, Noris, the younger Spinola, Cornaro, Paolucci,
^ This grouping of the parties was already foreseen in
" *Refleciones ", etc.. Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
" Wahrmund, i8o seq., where details are also given about the
exclusion formulas which were subsequently sent open to Lam-
berg, with orders to make use of them in case of necessity.
' Galland, 239 seqq.
4 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Radolovich, Archinto, Santa Croce, D'Este, Delfino, Sperelli,
Gabrielli.^
A kind of middle position was adopted by the Cardinals of
Clement X., viz. Altieri, Carpegna, Nerli, Marescotti, Spada,
and by those of Alexander VIII. : Ottoboni, Panciatici,
Cantelmi, Adda, Rubini, Costaguti, Bichi, Imperiali, Albani,
Omodei and Francesco Barberini. In this group the old
abuse of nepotism, by which the Cardinals of the deceased
Pope, out of gratitude, completely subordinated themselves
to the Cardinal nephew, became operative once more, though
Innocent XII. 's Constitution against nepotism achieved at
least this much, that on this occasion the influence of the
leading nephews was reduced to very small proportions.
One section of the centre party took the side of the French,
thereby enabling them to offer successful opposition to the
" Zelanti ".2
As usual the first two weeks were spent in ascertaining,
by means of ballots, the intentions and the strength of
individual parties ; things only became serious when Mares-
cotti was proposed for the papacy. For a while the latter
now played a role similar to that of Barbarigo at the previous
conclave. Marescotti was a devout man, energetic and extra-
ordinarily industrious. He had the strong support of almost
all the " Zelanti ", but this time also the latter had to reckon
with the opposition of the French who wanted as weak a
Pope as possible.^ On their part the Imperialists objected to
the elevation of AcciaioH. Ottoboni proposed Panciatici,
a most fit candidate, but it was not to be expected that the
ambassadors would not oppose a man who, in his capacity
as Datarius, had maintained the principle that in the bestowal
of benefices that candidate should be supported who was most
independent of the princes in whose territory the benefice
in question was situate ! On the other hand all the secular
princes were in favour of Cardinal Morigia who, in the opinion
of the " Zelanti ", lacked not only administrative experience
^ Ibid., 248 seqq.,6ij seqq. ^ Ibid., ^56 seqq.
8 Thus G. B. Gravina [Giorn. slor. d. lett. ital., Suppl. I. [1898],
127).
CANDIDATES. 5
but likewise the necessary firmness and energy. After a
whole series of papabili had thus been eliminated, other
personaHties such as Costaguti, Orsini, Del Verme and
Colloredo came to the front, only to be dropped at once.^
The situation was further complicated as a result of an
encounter of the French ambassador, Louis Grimaldi, Prince
of Monaco, with the Roman police. As several of Monaco's
men lost their lives in this affray, the Prince demanded from
the College of Cardinals so heavy a compensation that it
was not possible to grant it. Thereupon Monaco left for
San Ouirico in Tuscany. ^
In this tense situation Cardinal Noailles arrived at length
on November 14th, but the hope of a speedy election was
not fulfilled, on the contrary, conditions became even more
complicated inasmuch as the French Cardinals persisted in
their dilatory tactics.^ It was in vain that an attempt was
made to persuade Marescotti to remove the Frenchmen's
opposition by an appropriate declaration. That excellent
Cardinal's answer was that he had come to the conclave to
elect a Pope, not to become Pope himself, a thing that had
never entered his mind.^ The negotiations only got under
way when, on November 19th, news reached Rome of the
death of Charles II., the last Spanish Habsburg. This news
provoked so powerful a commotion that the electors spent
a sleepless night. All realized that further delay was
impossible.^
1 Galland, 356 seqq., 363 seqq. ; also Gravina, loc. cit., 128.
- Wahrmund, 1 82 seq. ; Galland, 367 seqq.
' *Avviso Marescotti, November 20, 1700, Bibl. Vittorio
Emanuele, Rome.
* Gravina's report in Giorn. sior. d. lett. ital., Suppl. I., 131.
^ Thus Cardinal Lamberg to his cousin, the ambassador
I* Diary of Count Lamberg, Nov. 20, 1700, Lamberg Archives,
Ottenstein). In like manner. Ambassador Lamberg in his *Rela-
zione of 1701 : " Questo infelice avviso funest6 gli animi dei
cardinaU tutti, che ne prevederono le grandi conseguenze ed in
quella notte dispensatisi dal sonno vegliorono per tirare a fine
si necessaria e grande opera," State Archives, Vienna.
6 . HISTORY OF THE POPES.
On Novepiber 20th it was rumoured in Rome that Cardinal
Albani had been elected in the course of the previous night. ^
The report was premature, but in point of fact out of fifty-
eight electors this candidate could count on iorty votes.
The first suggestion of Albani's election came from the
" Zelanti " and it found favour with every party, the only
opposition coming from the French, above all from D'Estrees.
On the morning of November 20th they dispatched a courier
to their ambassador at San Quirico. When word came from
the latter that he had no objection to Albani's election, the
last obstacle seemed to have been removed. However, Albani
persisted in his refusal to consent to the election. As great
pressure was being exercised on him, he submitted to four
eminent Roman theologians, namely, the Dominican
Massoulie, the Jesuit Alfaro, the Franciscan Varese and the
Theatine Tomasi, the question whether a Cardinal who
felt unequal to the papal dignity could decline with a good
conscience a unanimous election. The four theologians replied
unanimously that the Cardinal was bound to bow to a
unanimous election since otherwise he would be resisting
the will of God thus made manifest.- Thereupon Albani
yielded at last. On the morning of November 23rd he was
unanimously elected. In memory of the Holy Pope and
Martyr Clement, whose feast the Church keeps on that day,
he took the name of Clement XL
Gian Francesco Albani was born on July 22nd, 1649, at
Urbino,^ where his election was celebrated with splendid
^ *Avviso Mavescotti, November 20, 1700, loc. cit. The enclosure
was so badly observed in this conclave that it was a mere formality,
says a contemporary. Ademollo, Suor Alaria Pulcheria, 173.
' Lafitau, I., 51 seqq. ; Galland, 383 seqq., 622 seqq.
8 On Clement XL's antecedents, cf. the works of Polidori,
Lafitau, Reboulet (see Bibliography) ; Novaes, XIL, 2 seq. ;
PoMETTi, XXL, 304 seqq., who rightly criticizes the statements
in the *Relazione of N. Erizzo, quoted by Ranke, III., 209.
Cf. also the *Report of O. d'Elce in the Abbey Library, Einsiedeln
{cf. Vol. XXXII. , 571, n. 3, and *Vita critica de' cardinal!, in
Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna. On the family, see P. E.
ALBANI ELECTED. 7
festivities.^ During the pontificate of Urban VIII. his grand-
father Orazio, a prominent lawyer, had conducted with the
Duke of Urbino the negotiations which led to the devolution
of that fief to the Church. As a reward Orazio was given the
dignity of a Roman Senator in 1633, and his son Carlo became
Maestro di Camera to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Carlo
chose his wife, Elena Mosca, from a noble family of Pesaro ;
from this marriage sprang Gian Francesco, the future Pope.
Gian Francesco received a most careful education in Rome.
He acquired such mastery of the classical languages, as well
as of Italian literature, that when only seventeen years old
he was able to publish a Latin translation of a Greek sermon
of St. Sophronius and other works of this kind.^ Three years
later he was admitted into the learned Academy of Queen
Christine in which he soon played a prominent part.
Thoroughly acquainted with classical antiquity, and a poet
himself, he was also a skilful impromptu speaker. However,
he did not spend all his energies in literary efforts of this
kind but devoted himself wholeheartedly to the study of
philosophy, theology and law, though he put off for a con-
siderable time the choice of a career.^ He was twenty-eight
years old when he entered the Roman prelature. The applica-
tion to work of which he gave proof as referendary of both
segnatnras won for him the recognition and the friendship of
the celebrated canonist, Cardinal De Luca. As Governor of
Rieti, the Sabine province and Orvieto, Albani was able to
give proof of his ability as an administrator. On returning
to Rome he found a new patron in Cardinal Carlo Barberini
VlscoNTi, Famiglie nohili di Roma, I., i seqq. ; Reumont,
Beitrdge, V., 327 seq., 410 ; on the coat of arms, Pasini-Frassoni,
46.
^ " *Allegrezze fatte in Urbino per resaltazione al pontificate
del card. Albani descritte dal p. Pier Girolamo Vernaccia,"
Communal Archives, Urbino, III., v., 146.
« NovAES, XII., 4 seq.
' His rich library in Castello di Imperiali, near Pesaro, was
recently sold by Count Castelbarco-Albani to the Catholic Univer-
sity of Washington.
8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
in place of De Luca who had died in the meantime. Barberini
obtained for him an appointment as consultor of the con-
sistorial Congregation. Albani once more took his place in
the circle of Queen Christine and contracted a close friendship
with Angelo Fabroni.i When in 1686 the northern queen
organized an academic entertainment in honour of the
English envoy, Albani delivered the principal speech, at the
end of which Christine observed : "We have been hstening
to Cicero." ^
When the important post of a Secretary for Briefs became
vacant through the death, in the autumn of 1687, of Cardinal
Slusius, Carlo Barberini persuaded Innocent XI. to assign it
to Albani. 3 Alexander VIII. confirmed him, and 'Albani
won the favour of the new Pope to such an extent that he
was made a Cardinal deacon on February 13th, 1690, whilst
at the same time retaining the secretariate of Briefs. Rumour
had it that three days before the nomination the Pope had
dictated to Albani the allocution which he meant to deliver
on that occasion. At the end came the names of the newly
appointed Cardinals. After the eleventh name the Pope
paused for a moment, as if considering who the twelfth
should be. " Write down the twelfth," he said at length.
" Which, please ? " Albani asked. " What ! " was the answer,
" can't you write your own name ? " *
Just as Alexander VIII. consulted Albani when there was
question of taking steps against the decrees of the Galilean
Assembly of 1682, so did Innocent XII. on other important
matters, as, for instance, the Bull against nepotism, and lastly
in the decision concerning the Spanish succession. ^^ Albani
^ D'Elce's *report in Abbey Library, Einsiedeln. Cf. De Bildt,
Christine de Suede et l» Card. Azzolino, Paris, 1899, XV.
* Lafitau, I., 23.
* " *Vita critica," Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna. Cardinal
Pic *writes on September 27, 1687, on the occasion of the nomina-
tion of Albani : " prelate dotato di tante belle qualita che rendono
applaudito I'impiego," State Archives, Vienna.
* Lafitau, L, 26 seq.
* Cf. the present work, Vol. XXXIL, 636 seq., 686.
ALBANI S RISE. 9
became the most influential person at court and he had the
Pope's ear at all times.^ He made himself worthy of this
confidence by his discretion and frankness. He gave proofs
of this especially during Innocent XH.'s illness in November,
1699, when he insisted on the Sacred College being consulted
on the nomination of Cardinals which -took place then.^ In
his political views Albani leaned towards France, though as
a contemporary remarked, without denying his strict
ecclesiastical principles ^ ; that is, he stood for good relations
with the powerful ruler of France after the latter had dropped
his Galilean tendencies.
Albani was one of the youngest members of the Sacred
College ; he was not even a priest, and he was only ordained
in September, 1700.'* It was nevertheless generally beUeved
by about the middle of the last decade of the century that
he would most probably wear the tiara one day.^ All accounts
bear witness to his excellent qualifications for such an honour :
a blameless life, a dignified appearance,'' long experience not
^ Relazione di Roma of N. Erizzo (1702), State Archives,
Venice. This Relazione, disseminated in many copies — in Rome,
Bibl. Altieri and Corsini ; Munich, State Library, Cod. ital. 80 ;
Salzburg, Studienbibliothek ; Vienna, State Library, Cod. 5687,
5970, 13917. and State Archives — is printed in Cecchetti, II.,
323 seqq. Cf. R. Vecchiato, La relazione sulla carte di Roma
fatta dair ambasc. N. Erizzo (s. 1. and s. d.).
2 " *Vita critica " in Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna. Cf.
Reboulet, L, 35 seqq.
^ *Relazione D'Elce, /oc. ci7.
* On November 30, 1700, Clement XL was consecrated Bishop,
on December 8, he was crowned. The taking possession of the
Lateran took place on April 10, 1701 ; see Cancellieri, Possessi,
325 seqq.
* D. Contarini in Barozzi-Berchet, Relazioni, Roma, II.,
440 seqq., and *Vita critica, loc. cit.
" The longish, close-shaven (Cancellieri, 327) face with its
small, lively black eyes, gives expression to a melancholy gravity.
Oil painting by Maratta in the Albani Palace, Urbino.
Engraving of Girolamo Rossi (in Guarnacci, II., i) after the
portrait of Pietro Nelli, and Antonio Odatius' engraving by
10 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
only of Canon Law but in all other ecclesiastical branches, as
intimate an acquaintance with the political situation as if
he had had charge of the most important nunciatures, extra-
ordinary facility in expressing himself both by word of mouth
and in writing, untiring application, rare affability and a
liberality towards the needy that frequently went be3'ond
his means, whether those in want were Swedish converts or
exiled Englishmen.^ Cardinal Albani, a certain ambassador
observed, can refuse nothing ; he according^ promises more
than he can carry out and is unable to satisfy everyone
because in his kindness he would wish to help everybody. ^
His gracious geniality, of which contemporaries have so
much to say,^ he shared with his countryman Raphael.
A. V. Nesterhout. Cf. the illustrations given in Drugulin
(Nos. 3660-3662). Also a contemporary oil painting in the
Roman Seminary near the Lateran. Marble bust of Clement XI.
in the Sagrestia capitolare of the Duomo of Ferrara and in
Rome.
^ " *Egli e dottissimo dell'una e dell'altra legge e delle specula-
tive, delle materie ecclesiastiche, delle morali e di belle lettere
e d'ogni altra sorte di eruditione. Ha gran cognitione delle materie
di stato, notitioso di tutte le corti straniere et e benissimo inteso
di tutte le pendenze dell'universo ..." Favours writers and
converts {cf. Lafitau, I., 29 s.), is protector of S. Brigida. " Egli
e applicato e fatigante in sommo grado, di virtii eminente, di
gran spirito e di maniere amabilissime, perspicaCe, accorto, faceto
ed obligante al maggior segno et e stato sempre non solo
morigerato, ma di santi, prelibati et esemplari costumi, grand'ele-
mosiniere e generoso in tal modo che il grandanimo supera le
forze della sua bonta " (Report of O. D'Elce, Abbey Library,
Einsiedeln). *Vita critica {loc. cit.) ; " Egli e versato in molte
scienze e particolarmente in belle lettere . . . e talmente adornato
delle notizie de' principi stranieri che ne sa rendere strettissimo
conto, come se fosse stato in tutte le nunziature." A torto i
satirici lo dicevano " cortcggiano Romanesco, finto, simulatore ;
in realta 6 di ottime viscere e pii sentimenti ".
« *D'Elce, loc. cit.
' " *La sua bella presenza con quella giovialita di sua natura e
quella arte propria di conformarsi al genio di chi egli parla all'uso
CLEMENT XI. II
But there were limits to his gentleness and goodness, when
the interests of the Church were at stake : on such occasions
he showed himself a decided adherent of the party of the
" Zelanti ".
The same dispositions were apparent in the Pope's private
life, which was wholly given up to prayer and work. He
said Mass daily ; daily also he went to confession. Sleep
and food were reduced to the indispensable minimum. His
recreation lay in frequent visits to churches and hospitals
and in zealously preaching the word of God.^
The zeal with which Clement XL apphed himself not only
to his ecclesiastical functions but to affairs also, could not
have been greater. ^ As he was only fifty-one years old, be
beheved himself strong enough to deal personally with all
important affairs. The number of documents written with
his own hand or corrected by him, which are preserved in the
Papal Secret Archives or in the Corsini Library, is astonishing.
Few Popes have written so much with their own hand and of
no Pope do we possess so many autographs.^ Even those who
deU'eco che sempre ripete I'altrui voce senza forma della propria,
lo rende sempre amabile a chi che sia." Ihid.
^ Report of Giov. Francesco Morosini, 1707, State Archives,
Venice (extract in Ranke, III., 211*) ; Lafitau, I., 58 seq.
2 An Avviso Alarescotti of December 18, 1700, reports : " II
Papa aveva una febbre leggera ; credesi cagionatagli dalla grand'
applicatione che mette negl' affari, de' quali non traspirano le
determinationi, mentre opera senza I'intiera confidenza d'alcuno,
scrivendo di proprio pugno e passeggiando con la penna in mano
va notando_ secondo si ricorda." Bibl. Vittorio Emanuele,
Rome.
3 The greater part of these autographs are preserved in the
large collection *Miscell. di Clemente XI., Papal Secret Archives ;
others are in the Bibl. Corsini, Rome. The former were especially
utilized by Pometti, the latter by Sentis (141 seqq.). Numerous
other materials are in the Bibl. Albani, Urbino, which, unfortu-
nately, is inaccessible, on which cf. E. Gherardi, Guida di
Urbino, Urbino, 1890, in seqq. ; E. Calzini, Urbino, Rocca
S. Casciano, 1897, 125 seq. ; Mazzatinti, Inventari, 73 seqq.
12 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
were not otherwise in sympathy with him have paid tribute
to the beauty of his style. ^
For his Secretary of State Clement XI. made choice of
Cardinal Fabricio Paolucci, a most able man and one wholly
devoted to him. The sculptor Pietro Bracci has perpetuated
the noble and shrewd physiognomy of Paolucci. ^ Cardinal
Sagripanti became Datarius ; he was a man who con-
scientiously carried out the duties of his office and kept aloof
from politics. The remaining offices of importance were
bestowed on men with whom the Pope was best acquainted
and on whose devotion he could rely.^ His kinsman Fabio
degli Abati Olivieri became Secretary of Briefs, Ulisse Giuseppe
Gozzadini Secretary of Briefs to Princes, Curzio Origo
Secretary of Memorials, Guido Passionei Secretary of the
Cypher, Gian Domenico Parracciani Auditor, Tommasso
Ruffo Maestro di Camera, Carlo Colonna Maggiordomo,
Giovanni Maria Lancisi personal physician. As Secretaries
of Latin Briefs Clement XL was served by Zeccadoro, who
was assassinated in 1702, and after him by Agostino Favoriti,
Giovanni Christoforo Battelh of Urbino, Domenico Rivera,
and lastly Gian Vicenzo Lucchesini.*
^ A *letter of Louis XIV. to Cardinal De la Tremoille of
September 13, 1706, says : " Le Pape croit trop souvent que sa
principale force consiste dans ses lettres mais quelque talent
qu'il ait pour les composer avec eloquence, la persuasion n'est
pas attachee a la beaute du style." Copy in State Archives,
Vienna.
* Bust in the sacristy of S. Giovanni e Paolo, Rome ; Tomb
in S. Marcello ; see V. Domarus, P. Bracci, 11 seqq.
' See report of N. Erizzo in Cecchetti, II., and that of Lorenzo
Tiepolo of 1712, State Archives, Vienna ; extract in Ranke,
III., 214*. Cf. PoMETTi, XXL, 315 seqq.
* NovAES, VII., 14 seqq. Cf. Moroni, XLIX., 118; LXIIL,
272 ; ibid., LXL, 135 seqq. ; 269 seqq., on the successors of
T. Ruffo and C. Colonna, created Cardinals in 1706. On Lancisi,
see Cancellieri, Possessi, 328 ; A. Bacchini, La vita e le opere
di G. M. Lancisi, Roma, 1920 ; Per G. M. Lancisi nel II. centenario
dalla sua morte, in Giornale di medicina militare, LXVIII. (1920),
541-642.
THE PAPAL NEPHEWS. I3
Clement XI. kept himself free from all nepotism. His
brother Orazio was obliged to live as a private individual and
was not permitted to meddle with affairs or to accept presents.
Orazio's sons, Annibale and Carlo, who studied at the Roman
College, had to be treated exactly like the other students.^
Only after Annibale had been employed on various diplomatic
missions did he receive the red hat on December 23rd, 1711,
at the joint request of the Cardinals. Many had hoped to
gain influence over the Pope through his nephew, but
Clement XL thwarted their expectations. ^ In 1719 Annibale
obtained the dignity of a Camerlengo rendered vacant by
the death of Spinola, from which, however, in strict com-
pliance with the Bull of his predecessor, Clement XI. severed
the more important revenues.^ When the post of a Marshal
of the Conclave became vacant through the extinction of
the SavelH in 1712, it was generally expected that Carlo Albani
would obtain the ofhce, but the Pope bestowed it on Ago tino
Chigi, whose family enjoys this high dignity to this day.^
1 " *Portatosi mercoledi a sera D. Oratio Albani fratello del
Papa con h figli al bacio del piede, vi si tratenne piu d'un'hora,
servendo le cordiali espressioni di sole parole dalla S. S., imponen-
dogli per altro di non prender donativi ne trattamenti, ma riflettere
ch'essendo nati poveri signori si contentassero dello stato mede-
simo sotto pena della sua disgratia, dicendo a' nipoti, che havevano
perso il card. Albani lore zio, ma che haverebbero un Clemente XI.
amatore delle virtu, al che D. Alessandro il minore soggiunse :
ma non potra negare la S. S; d'essere nostro zio, at a' questi
accent! non pote S. B. tener le lagrime per tenerezza. Oltre di
cio fatto chiamare il Generale de' Giesuiti, ordino N. S., che non
fosse distinto dagl'altri convittori del Seminario Romano D. Anni-
bale Albani suo nipote. Con altretanta obbedienza vengono
adempiti gl'ordini del Papa dal sudetto D. Oratio, havendo
ricusata I'offerta fattagli dal card. Barberino del suo palazzo al
Monte della Pieta, come anco diverse cedole e donativi di somma
consideratione mandatigli da altri principi." Avviso Marescotti,
November 27, 1700, loc. cit. Cf. Reboulet, I., 49 seqq.
2 * Report of Lorenzo Tiepolo of 171 2, State Archives, Vienna,
extract in Ranke, IIL, 214*.
* Opera, Orat., 157. * Novaks, 283 seqq.
14 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
During the whole of a pontificate of twenty-one years the
Albani received not one scudo from the Pope. On the other
hand it became known after the death of Clement XI. that
his alms from his own patrimony had been on a most generous
scale, and that they amounted to a milHon scudi, a sum which
he might have devoted with a good conscience to his own
family.^
Dispositions such as these justified the hope of a happy
pontificate. If that hope was not fulfilled, if was due to the
circumstances of the time, though not exclusively so, because,
notwithstanding his other excellent qualities, in political
questions Clement XI. was too distrustful of himself to come
rapidly to any firm decision, or to carry it through once he
had arrived at it.^
At the very beginning of his pontificate Clement was made
to feel that the tiara would be for him a crown of thorns.
On All Saints' Day of the year 1700 the death took place of
King Charles II. of Spain, the last male descendant of
Charles V. His will, dated October 3rd, named as heir to
the undivided Spanish monarchy, in the first instance, Duke
Philip of Anjou, son of the Dauphin and nephew of Louis XIV.,
1 *Report of Andrea Corner of 1724, State Archives, Venice.
Extract in Ranke, III., 215*. " *Va S. B. cosi ^empre esercitando
qualche opera di pieta e di edificazione, servendo anche frequente-
mente alia mensa de' poveri, che in numero di tredici sono quoti-
dianamente alimentati con gran liberalita a spese pontificie nel
Palazzo Apostolico " {Avviso Marescoiti, May 15, 1701, Biblioteca
Vittorio Emanuele di Roma). " *Havendo il Papa saputo, che
Don Annibale sue nipotc faccsse li giorni passati una pcrdita
considerabile nel gioco, e state da S. S. ripreso, e per digerire la
correttione fattagli, si e messo a fare gli esercitii spirituali,
sperandosi che per obedire lasciera quel volume, che invola il
sonno et il senno, I'oro et il decoro " (Lamberg, February 2, 1704,
Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein).
* Lafitau, who certainly is an impartial witness, says (II., 288)
that was the only defect of the Pope. " Bevor des Pabsten worth
und wark zusammen stimmen, allezeith cine grosze Zeit erfordert
wird," *wrote the imperial ambassador Gallas to Sinzendorff
on March 9, 1715 (Sinzendorff Archives, Castle Jaidhof).
THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. I5
and in the event of Philip being unable to accept, his younger
brother, the Due de Berry, and only in the last instance,
the Archduke Charles of Austria, the Emperor's younger son.
A clause insisted on the crowns of France and Spain being
kept separate.
The news of Charles' will and its acceptance by Louis XIV.
was hailed with joy throughout Spain, for it seemed that the
disruption of the Spanish monarchy could only be prevented
if a Bourbon took up the succession, and if Spain leaned
upon powerful France, the sister nation. No one moved a
finger in favour of Archduke Charles. Philip of Anjou was
able to take possession of the Spanish throne without meeting
with the slightest opposition, and he was recognized as
King Philip V. by most of the European Powers, among them
the Pope who sent him a letter of congratulation on
February 6th, 1701.1
The only opposition came from the Emperor Leopold I.,
who resolved to force a decision with the sword. He lodged
a solemn protest against Charles XL's will, and in the first
^ BuDER, I., 147 seqq. The impossibiUty of not recognizing
Philip V. is justly stressed by Pometti (XXL, 313). "When later
on, especially in 1708, Clement XI. was accused of having acted
too hastily, and by his recognition having thrown the full weight
of his authority into the scales of the House of Bourbon, the
writers who took up the pen in favour of Clement XI. pointed
to the state of affairs then existing. " The testament of Charles II.,
which appointed the Duke of Anjou, had been received in Spain
with universal rejoicing and without any opposition by the
nobility and the people, by the clergy and the laity. All
Spaniards had done homage to the new King, Philip V. To this
universal wish of the Spanish nation the Pope had also to give his
assent. By his recognition, which was confined to Spain, the
Pope had done no wrong to anyone " (from the Romana, 1708,
State Archives, Vienna, in Klopp, IX., 57). According to Lam-
berg's *report to the Emperor, December 31, 1700, Clement XL,
in recognizing Philip V., was influenced by the fear that Spain
would break off relations with Rome, when the Curia would
lose the large income of the Dataria and so would suffer " irrepar-
able loss ". State Archives. Vienna.
l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
weeks of 1701 he began to raise an arm}' for the purpose of
invading the territory of Milan in the first instance. To
enable him to confront the united forces of France and Spain
Leopold looked for allies. Bavaria, Cologne and Brunswick-
Wolfenbiittel, however, sided with France, whilst Hanover
took the side of the Emperor. Of great importance for the
latter was the circumstance that he succeeded in persuading
the powerful Elector Frederick of Brandenburg to lend him
assistance. On January 18th, 1701, Frederick had assumed
the title of King of Prussia ; the Emperor won him over by
recognizing him as such. Leopold experienced greater
difficulty in inducing the naval Powers, England and Holland,
to espouse his cause. However he succeeded, inasmuch as
the King of France, strengthened and emboldened by his
recent successes, played into the Emperor's hands. Louis'
occupation of the frontier fortresses in the Spanish Nether-
lands led to the triumph of the war party at the Hague, as
did the setting aside of the clause in Charles IL's will which
forbade the union of France and Spain under one sovereign.
A complete revulsion of public feeling took place in England
also. On September 7th, 1701, the Emperor, England and
Holland concluded at the Hague the so-called " Grand
Alliance ", for the purpose of securing for the Emperor an
equitable and just compensation for his claims to the Spanish
inheritance and for the two maritime Powers adequate
security for their territorial possessions and for their trade
and their ships. As neither of the two groups of States was
adequately equipped, the outbreak of the great war was
delayed for a time.^
The Pope's attitude in the face of these perilous develop-
ments was conditioned by his twofold capacity as Head of
the Church and as an Italian prince. In the former capacity
he was resolved to act as the common father of Christendom
by doing his best to avert war by means of peaceful media-
tion. Should he fail in this respect his policy as an Itahan
prince would be, in the first instance, to avert the calamity
of a war from Italy.
* Cf. luMicu, Staaiensystem, i8g seqq.
THE POPE WILLING TO MEDIATE. I7
At the very beginning of the troubles, that is at the end
of December, 1700, Clement XI. had dispatched couriers to
the Emperor, the King of France and the Government of
Madrid with peace exhortations and an offer of mediation.
Before the year was out he also wrote to the Dukes of Mantua,
Modena and Parma, urging them to remain neutral. ^
For the role of a mediator the first prerequisite was strict
neutrality, but it was precisely such an attitude that was
exceedingly difficult, more particularly for the Pope, because
the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in which Philip V.'s rule
had been proclaimed without opposition, was a fief of the
Church having a common frontier with the Papal States,
so that it was possible to exercise the utmost pressure upon
Rome from Naples.^ In whose favour was the Pope to decide
seeing that both Philip V.'s ambassador and the Emperor's
representative, Count Lamberg, demanded the investiture
of Naples and Sicily for their respective Sovereigns ? On
the one hand Clement XL, according to Erizzo, the Venetian
ambassador, was afraid of the power, the boldness and the
pride of the Germans, whilst on the other hand he feared the
frivohty, the presumption and the violence of the French,
but above all their Galilean principles. Accordingly he did
his utmost to avoid having to come to a decision, a policy
with which he satisfied neither party. ^
As a preliminary condition of his acceptance of papal
mediation Leopold had demanded that until a juridical
decision should have been reached, Naples, Milan and the
^ Opera, Epist., 14 seqq. ; Buder, 137 seq. ; Pometti, XXI.
218 seq.
2 In a * Report to the Emperor, of June 30, 1703, Lamberg,
expresses himself thus : " Chi sara padrone del regno di Napoli,
sara sempre da Roma considerato il piu formidabile, perche il
regno e alle porte di Roma e i ' preti ' vogliono avere pace in casa
loro. Se si serra la porta dell'Abbruzzo, Roma resta senza carne,
se quella della Puglia, Roma si trova senza oglio, e cosi in molte
altre cose Roma si rovina senza il commercio del regno." Lamberg
Archives, Ottenstein.
^ Klopp, IX., 58 ; Pometti, XXL, 319 seqq., 453 seq.
VOL. XXXIII. c
l8 HISTORY OF THE .POPES.
Netherlands should be surrendered to a third party.^
Louis XIV. rejected the suggestion and in January, 1701, he
ordered his troops to advance into Milanese territory.
Clement XI. strove in vain to prevent the Emperor from
confronting the French in Upper Italy ; he had to deem him-
self fortunate in having secured a promise that Parma, a
fief of the Holy See, would not be touched by his troops. ^
In view of the fact that as a Cardinal Clement XI. had
counselled Charles II. 's will,^ that at first Philip V. encountered
no opposition in the Spanish territories, that both the Catholic
and the Protestant allies of the Emperor recognized him as
King of Spain,* it was scarcely possible for the Pope not to
act in like manner. From Philip V. he received nothing but
ingratitude in return,^ but above all he came into conflict with
. 1 Klopp, IX., 62.
" PoMETTi, XXL, 322 seq.
» Cj. the present work. Vol. XXXIL, 686.
* These reasons are set forth in a document compiled on the
occasion of Prie's negotiations in 1708 ; " *Giustificazione della
condotta del Sommo Pontefice tenuta col ser. Re di Spagna
Carlo III.," State Archives, Vienna, Romana.
* Already on April 15, 1701, Philip V. wrote a *letter to
Clement XI. in which he communicated to him the deposition
of the Spanish Grand Inquisitor, Baltasar de Mendoza, Bishop
of Segovia, who had received this post on October 31, 1699.
This action, as also the order that the Council of the Inquisition
should henceforth proceed with full papal powers, as when the
Inquisitor was absent, justly roused Clement XL's resentment,
for the reports about the piety of the Spanish king had led him to
hope that Philip V. would make amends for the many violations
of the rights of the Church committed by the Spanish Govern-
ment (Paolucci to the Spanish nuncio, March 20, 1701, Numiat.
di Spagna, 359, Pap. Sec. Arch.). AH the complaints and all the
efforts of the Pope for the rehabilitation of Mendoza were unsuccess-
ful. Clement XL took an all the more serious view of the matter,
as he did not wish to see the Holy See robbed of its supreme
authority in the most important concern of the Church, namely,
in the domain of the faith (Paolucci *to the Spanish nuncio,
April 2, 1702, loc. cit.). However, he did not obtain the reinstate-
ment of Mendoza. On March 24, 1705, Clement XL appointed
FURTHER STEPS BY THE POPE. I9
the Emperor. The question of the investiture of Naples and
the incompatibihty of the respective demands of the two
parties, the Franco-Spanish on the one side and the imperial
on the other, further aggravated the difficulty of his position.
In these circumstances Clement XL sought before all else
to gain time and meanwhile to improve the conditions of the
investiture in his favour.
His first step was to appoint a special Congregation of
Cardinals for the purpose of studying the question of the
fief of Naples.^ Resentment at the imperial court grew still
further when on April 16th, 1701, Clement XI. issued a
sharp protest against the assumption of the royal crown by
the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg, a protest which the
Pope chiefly justified by the fact that the new title referred
to Prussia and Prussia was the property of an Order of which
the Church had been deprived. 2 Thisfacthad been overlooked
the Bishop of Ceuta Grand Inquisitor of Spain. In August,. 1705,
he exhorted him to defend the independence of his tribunal against
the encroachments of the secular power {Opera, Epist., 287).
On August 17, 1709, the new Inquisitor-General, the Archbishop
of Saragossa, received similar exhortations [ibid., 623), which
he carried into effect [ibid., 671). After his death, Phihp V.
would have liked to have seen the Bishop of Cuenca appointed to
the post (*Letter of Septembers, 1710, Nunziat. di Spagna, 359,
loc. cit.) ; Clement XL, however, appointed Cardinal Giudice
(ibid.) ; particularly painful to him were the very numerous
encroachments of the Spanish Government in Naples. The
expulsion of the Archbishop of Sorrento led to a serious conflict
in which, however, the Pope was finally victorious (Belmonte,
IL, 60 seqq. ; Landau, 241 seqq. ; cf. Pometti, XXL, 384, 388).
With what obstinacy the encroachments of the civil power
continued in Naples appears from the *Letters to the Spanish
nuncio; 1705-6, in Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
^ Lambcrg's *Diary, April 9, 1701, Lamberg Archives, Otten-
stein ; Landau, 65 ; Pometti, XXL, 323 ; Buder, L, 203 seq.
^ Briefs of protest, April 16, 1701, to the Emperor and the
Catholic Powers in Clctnentis XI. Opera, Epist., 43 seqq. Ibid.,
3 seq., the protest made in the consistory of April 18, 1701.
According to Lehmann (L, 379), the cause of the conduct of
20 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
by the Emperor because he was in need of the Branden-
burger's mihtary help against Louis XIV. . The Holy See, which
had repeatedly and expressly protested against the seculariza-
tion of Prussia, felt that it could not omit a protest, all the
more so as according to the report of Bishop Zaluski of
Ermland, the imitation of the Catholic ritual at the coronation
constituted an insult to the Catholic religion.^ The publica-
tion of the protest against the Prussian kingship, which
France persistently demanded, only took place after con-
siderable hesitation. This hesitation shows how anxious
the Pope was to avoid anything that might create an
impression that he was in Louis XIV.'s service and for that
reason was not a suitable mediator ; only when war became
inevitable did the consideration hitherto observed towards
the Emperor appear superfluous. ^ The Imperial ambassador
Clement XI. was his disappointment at Frederic I. not passing
over to the CathoHc Church, whilst Ziekursch (Festgabe for
Heigel [1903], 371) sees in it a measure of purely theoretical
significance which was a necessary result of his former conduct
towards the secularization of Prussia. On the other hand, Hilte-
BRANDT {Qiiellen iind Forsclmngen, XT., 340) shows that there can
be no question of a projected campaign on the part of the Curia
for the conversion of the Prince of Brandenburg, as Lehman and
Ziekursch suppose. On the other hand, Hiltebrandt rejects
Friedenburg's statement {Hist. Zeiischrift., LXXXVII., 416
seqq.), that Clement XI. had acted not on his own initiative, but
solely at the instigation of France. Hiltebrandt draws attention
to the fact that the Curia counted very little on the prospect
of a conversion of the prince, and that it remained neutral even
after the news had arrived that the coronation was imminent,
and that it came out of its reserve only after it had got thoroughly
acquainted with all the facts. After that, on January 29, 1701,
and again on February 19, the nuncios in Warsaw and Vienna
received instructions to condemn Frederic I.'s step. Eight days
later the Briefs of protest were promulgated ; they appeared,
however, only a month and a half later, in consideration of a
strictly impartial conduct necessary for the peace negotiations
(/oc.ci/., 341-354).
* Hiltebrandt, he. cit., 355. ^ Ibid.
SURRENDER OF MANTUA. 21
Lamberg nevertheless stuck to his preconceived notion that
Clement XL's attitude was wholly Francophile. This was to
misjudge completely the Pope's intentions and aspirations.
His chief preoccupation was, if it was impossible to save
peace, at least to preserve Italy from the horrors of a war in
which the Papal States, in consequence of their weakness,
would be exposed to the gravest peril. Despite all his efforts
Clement XL failed to realize this aim ; his plan to unite all
the Italian States in a league of armed neutrality for the
purpose of common defence was quickly found incapable of
execution. His attempt to restrain Vittorio Amadeo, Duke of
Savoy, from entering into an alliance with the French failed,
as did his efforts to secure the neutrality of strongly fortified
Mantua. Already at the beginning of March, 1701,
Clement XL, whilst insisting on the greatest secrecy being
preserved, had urged on the Venetian ambassador the necessity
of the occupation of that fortress by Venetian and papal
troops. " This is our last effort," he announced, " for the
preservation of our independence and our position as a
mediator in our capacity as common father of Christendom,
and as such raised above every party." This plan also was
defeated by the hesitation of Venice. Won over by French
gold, the degenerate Duke of Mantua, Ferdinand Charles,
surrendered his capital to the troops of Louis XIV. on
April 5th after a semblance of a siege. ^
The surrender of Mantua, the key to Upper Italy, to the
French, obliged the imperialists to revise all their war plans
in that district. With the occupation of the fortress of Verona
and other passes, the French imagined their position to be
absolutely secure ; to get through, the imperial troops would
^ Besides Landau, 85 seqq., cf. Klopp, IX., 248 seqq., and
especially Pometti, XXI., 318 seqq., 333 seqq., 338 seqq. Ibid.,
357 seqq., a fitting criticism of the report of the Venetian ambas-
sador, Erizzo, which up to now has been only too readily accepted.
Pometti rightly calls it a " continua e costante denigrazione del
Papa e della corte di Roma ", and he shows that Erizzo often
completely misrepresents facts. See also Vecchialo in Atti
dell' Accad. di Padova, VIII., 2 (1892).
22 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
have to turn into birds, Louis XIV. 's Roman adherents
used to say ^ ; hence when at the end of May that man of genius,
Prince Eugene, nevertheless appeared before Verona, after
having found a way for his troops through pathless valleys
and over steep mountain peaks,^ the Gallo-Spaniards of
Rome grew exceedingly anxious, and they pressed more
urgently than ever for Philip V.'s investiture with the fief
of Naples. On May 27th Clement XI. had complained to
Count Lamberg that the French and the Spaniards subjected
him to a real martyrdom. In their opinion he was Spain's
greatest enemy and encouraged the malcontents at Naples
and that this was the only reason why he delayed the
investiture. However, he had told both parties that he could
not decide without also hearing the other side ; the members
of the Congregation of inquiry were impartial men ; nothing
would be rushed.^ The day after this conversation Lamberg
reported to the Emperor that the Pope had expressed the
hope that the imperial arms would free him from the tyranny
of the French.'*
Such sentiments are intelligible enough if we bear in mind
the conduct of the Spanish ambassador Uzeda towards
Clement XL If the investiture of Naples was not granted
by the end of the month, the ambassador announced in mid-
July, his sovereign would look upon it as a refusal. Clement XL
replied that up till then he had expressed neither consent nor
refusal, but that he had appointed a Congregation of learned
and conscientious Cardinals to study the claims of the
Emperor. Uzeda interrupted him with the remark : " Why
the Emperor ? Why the Cardinals ? We neither recognize
^ Lamberg's report of June 2, 1701, in Klopp, IX., 253.
''■ Wetzer, Die FeldziXge des Prinzen Eugen, ist series. III.,
Vienna, 1876, 143 seqq. ; Erben in Mitteilungcn des Osierr.
Instituts. XXXVIII.
3 Lamberg's * Diary, May 27, 1701, Lamberg Archives, Otten-
stein.
* According to Lamberg's *Diary these were the words of
the Pope : " Iddio faccia che le armi imperiali facciano un buon
cclpo per liberarci dalla tirannia de' Frances!." Ibid.
FRANCO-SPANISH INTRIGUES. 23
the Emperor as a party in this affair nor the Cardinals as
judges." The Pope repHed that though the ambassador
refused to recognize the Cardinals as judges, he himself
deemed it necessary to ask for their advice and to follow it.^
Since Clement XL remained firm in spite of the insistence
of the Gallo-Spaniards,2 the latter sought to secure Philip V.'s
investiture by surprise. It was a long-standing custom that
on the eve of the feast of SS. Peter and Paul a richly
caparisoned white mule {la Chinea) and the sum of 7,000
scudi were solemnly offered to the Apostolic Camera by way
of a feudal tribute. The Duke of Uzeda and Cardinal Forbin,
as representing Spain and France, begged to be allowed to
carry out this ceremony, it being understood that by granting
the request the Pope would have decided in favour of Philip V.
At the same time Count Lamberg requested permission to
pay tribute for Archduke Charles. As was to be expected,
the Pope refused to receive any kind of tribute ; at the same
time he issued a statement to the effect that the omission of
the tribute would not prejudice either party. This did not
stop Uzeda from carrying out his plan. He ordered an
emaciated cart horse to be taken secretly to the Vatican and
to be caparisoned there, after which he pretended to offer
the chinea to the Camerlengo with a draft for 7,000 scudi.
When the Camerlengo dechned the presentation, Uzeda's
representative lodged a protest, but left behind both the
nag and the draft. ^ This curious incident provided the
Romans, with their keen sense of the ridiculous, with an
occasion for countless jokes,* but out of Rome it was widely
interpreted as a decision in favour of the Emperor. Much
more tangible results were produced by the victorious advance
1 Lamberg's report of June i8, 1701, in Klopp, IX., 298.
2 Cf. Paolucci's *letter to the Spanish nuncio, June 26, 1701,
Nunziat. di Spagna, 383, Pap. Sec. Arch.
' Cf. Landau, 67 seqq. ; Klopp, IX., 300 seqq., after Lamberg's
reports ; Pometti, XXL, 353.
* " II rise e deriso era universale e si senti una voce che disse
essere quella la figura e ritratto della raonarchia di Spagna."
Austrian *Avviso, July 2, 1701, Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein.
24 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of Prince Eugene in Upper Italy. On July 9th the French
suffered a complete defeat near Carpi, and after that battle
they were forced to abandon position after position.
During the night of July 3rd, 1701, news reached Rome
of the entry of the imperial troops into the territory of
Ferrara. Such a step infringed papal neutrality, whilst it
was at variance with all the promises hitherto given ; it roused
the Pope's indignation.^ On July 3rd, 1701, Clement XI.
protested against these encroachments to Lamberg and
drew the latter's attention to the fact that both French and
Spaniards triumphantly assigned the blame to the Pope :
they had warned him often enough, they said, and foretold
these events. For the moment Lamberg succeeded once
more in calming the Pontiff with apologies and promises,^
but an occurrence in the following autumn was bound to
rouse the Pope's resentment to a far greater degree. In
consequence of Prince Eugene's successes the imperiahsts
had grown increasingly bold, so that with the concurrence
of Lamberg and the Austrophile Cardinal Grimani, certain
noble Neapolitan malcontents in Rome were working for the
overthrow of the Bourbon domination in Naples by means
of a popular rising and its replacement by the Austrian
Archduke Charles. The undertaking failed, but the fact of
so dangerous a plot being hatched in his own capital was
bound to force the Pope from the impartial attitude he had
hitherto adopted and to take the side of the French. The
Emperor, so it was said at the Vatican, was determined to
carry the torch of war, which until then had only threatened
the northern frontier of the Pontifical States, as far as the
southern boundary and almost to the very gates of Rome.
The easy suppression of the rising also caused a deep
impression. 3 In the circumstances Clement XL could not
but feel gratified by the fact that on August 8th, 1701, that
1 Austrian *Avviso, July g, 1701, ibid. Cf. Clementis XI,,
Opera, 6-7.
" Lamberg's *Diary, /oc. ci/. C/. Buder, L, 253 se^^.
3 Cf. the reports in Landau, 147.
DEATH OF JAMES II. OF ENGLAND. 25
is, before the outbreak of the NeapoHtan troubles, he had
dispatched Cardinal Archinto to Nice for the purpose of
saluting Princess Marie Louise of Savoy, the bride of King
PhiHp V.i
On October 3rd, 1701, the Pope held a consistory in which
he informed the Cardinals of the death, on September 16th,
of the ill-starred King of England, James II. He spoke in
praise of the deceased monarch's efforts on behalf of the
faith, and of his resignation to God's will on his death-bed.
At the same time he eulogized Louis XIV. for his kindness
to the fugitive royal family and extolled the magnanimity of
the French king who, regardless of the consequences, had
recognized James' son, Hugh Francis Edward, as King
James III. of Great Britain. ^ The fact that, in this question,
Clement XL took the side of France and the Pretender, as
James III. was styled, so promptly and so decidedly, was not
only to be fraught with grave consequences for the Catholics
in England, it also endangered the Pope's impartiahty and,
consequently, the success of his attempts at mediation.^
Already in August Clement XL had made up his mind to
send nuncios extraordinary to the Catholic courts in the
interest of peace. He reverted to the plan in October when
Lamberg and Grimani offered strong opposition to its
execution. They suspected a French intrigue in the whole
affair, having for its object the estranging of the Emperor
^ *Acta consist., Vatican Library. Cf. dementis XI., Opera,
Orat., 6. Archinto brought to the new Queen of Spain the Golden
Rose which had been destined for hQr at the beginning of March,
but its dispatch was delayed on account of Lamberg's remon-
strances (BuDER, I., 153 seq.). On Archinto's mission, see besides
ScLOPis, Marie Louise Gabrielle de Savoie, Torino, 1866, 27 seqq.,
and Claretta in Giorn. Ligust., 1887, 272 seqq., 278 seqq. ; the
detailed *Report in Barb. 5646, pp. 88-103, Vat. Library. That
the Pope sent the Golden Rose to the Bourbon King, as has been
affirmed by Noorden (III., 135), is a serious error.
2 * Acta consist., loc. cit. ; dementis XI., Opera. j-S.
3 Klopp, IX., 33956(7(7.
26 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
from England and Holland.^ However, the Pope stuck to
his resolve despite every effort to dissuade him. On
November 21st the Cologne nuncio, Spada, the Archbishop of
Avignon, Fieschi, and Bishop Zondadari were named nuncios
extraordinary and peace mediators at the courts of Vienna,
Paris and Madrid. ^
In a confidential letter of December 14th Louis XIV. had
expressed his willingness to accept papal mediation, but
the Emperor persisted in his rejection of Spada whilst at the
same time demanding a free passage for his troops through
the Papal States to Naples. The Venetian ambassador
painted the imperial army in the darkest colours ; it included,
so he wrote, Danes and Brandenburgers, heretics thirsting
for blood and booty, who would plunder the Papal States
and the treasure of Loreto even against the Emperor's will.^
The military preparations which the Pope ordered on the
receipt of this information were quite inadequate ; he now
paid heavily for the previous neglect of the papal military
power.*
It was said that, realizing his weakness, Clement had
ordered provisions to be made ready with a view to their
being sold to the imperial troops on their way through, so
that they should have no pretext to seize them by force. In
the end, however, he refused permission for the passage of
the troops.^
The Pope who, in February, 1702, ordered prayers for
peace in Rome,^ continued to hope that the Emperor would
accept his mediation. He sought to win over Lamberg for
^ Ibid.,^5j seqq. ; Landau, 150.
2 */lc/a C0W51S/., November 21, 1701, loc. cit. ; dementis XL,
Opera, Orat., 7 seq., Epist., 89 seqq. ; Buder, I., 292 seqq.
* Landau, 151.
* Cf. Brosch, I., 464 seq.
* *Letter to the Spanish nuncio, January 8, 1702, Numiat.
di Spagna, 359, Papal Secret Archives ; Landau, 153.
« *Avviso Marescotti, February 11, 1702, Bibl. Vittorio
Emanuele, Rome.
TENSION IN ROME. 27
this plan by assuring him that it would not be to Leopold's
detriment seeing that it was not in the interest of the Holy
See that France and Spain should coalesce into a single
Power. At the same time he also expressed his suspicion that
Louis XIV. was in secret correspondence with WilHam IIL
of England. 1 How much Clement XL feared the Franco-
Spanish preponderance was shown by his inability to conceal
his satisfaction at Prince Eugene's great success on
February 1st, 1702, when the latter made a prisoner of
Marechal Villeroi. On being informed by Cardinal Forbin that
Eugene had lost 4,000 men on this occasion, the Pope observed
that' he would pray that peace might be furthered thereby.^
It was a vain hope : the struggle between the Emperor and
the King of France developed into a great coalition war, a
veritable world war.
In Rome the mutual embitterment of parties was at fever
heat, so much so that it looked as if the days had come back
when might was right and everyone was his own defender.
To Lamberg the Pope complained that he heard of nothing
but murders and assassinations ; there had been times of
war before this but things had never been so bad as they
were just then.^
These laments referred to the incidents connected with the
quarrel between the Marchese Cesare del Vasto of Naples
and Cardinal Forbin.^ Del Vasto was protected by Lamberg.
The Emperor, who on December 16th, 1701, had created the
Marchese a field-marshal for his services to Austria, resented
it as a grievous injury and an act of partiality in favour of
France when the Papal authorities unreservedly took the
side of Forbin and on March 18th, 1702, condemned Vasto
1 Lamberg's *Diary, February 4, 1702, Lamberg Archives,
Ottenstein. Cf. Klopp, X., 166 seq.
2 Lamberg's *Diary, February 10, 1702, loc. cit.
8 Lamberg's *Diary, February 17, 1702, ibid.
* On this conflict, which has never been sufficiently cleared
lip, see Landau, 153 seqq. Cf. Buder, L, 320 seqq., 341 seq., 359
seq.; Pometti, XXL, 369 se^'^'.
28 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to death. ^ On April 4th, 1702, Leopold decided not to receive
the papal nuncio in audience until he should have made
satisfaction for the injury done to Vasto. At the same time
Lamberg was instructed no longer to deal with the Pope
directly but only through Cardinal Grimani.^
Thus relations between Rome and Vienna were exceedingly
strained when King Philip V. of Spain paid a visit to Naples
in mid- April, 1702. As Philip promptly assured the Pope
of his entire devotion through the Marquis de Louville,^
it was necessary to acknowledge this act of courtesy.
Clement XI. entrusted Cardinal Carlo Barberini with the
task and named him Legate extraordinary on May 8th.*
Cardinal Grimani protested against this action in the
Emperor's name ; at the same time he expressed the fear
that this legation would be interpreted as a recognition of
Philip V. as King of Naples. To allay his anxiety Clement XL
instructed the Secretary of State, Paolucci, to explain in
writing under date of May 7th, that the dispatch of a Legate
was no more than an act of courtesy, based on long established
custom and one that had nothing to do with the investiture :
^ The sentence was not carried out, because the Emperor let
it be known in Rome that the head of the captured Marshal
Villeroi was security for that of Vasto.
2 Landau, 165.
3 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 121 seq. ; Baudrillart, L,
106.
* *Acta consist., Vatican Library ; Clementis XL, Opera,
Orat., 13. Cf. [Fr. Bianchini], Descrizione delta legazione del
card. Carlo Barberini a Filippo V., Roma, 1703, reprinted by
P. E. ViscoNTi, Roma, 1858 ; a detailed description there by one
of the witnesses of all the external ceremonies of the legation.
♦Documents on the legation, which was preceded by lengthy
negotiations about the ceremonial to be observed, in Barb.
5408, 5636-38, 34. Cf. ibid., 5828 : M. Socini, *Giornale della
legazione del card. C. Barberini al Re Filippo V. in Napoli,
5535 '' G- B. Vaccondio, *Legazione fatta dal Card. C. Barberini,
1702, Vat. Library. Also *Collez. Bolognetti, 61, 64, 170, 268,
Papal Secret Archives.
CARLO BARBERINI S LEGATION. 29
the latter would never be granted in secret, but publicly,
with all the customary formalities, and to the person to whom
it was due.i Cardinal Barberini was accordingly instructed
to greet Philip V. on his arrival but to avoid anything that
might prejudge the decision of the Holy See.^
Cardinal Barberini delayed his departure from Porto
d'Anzio until May 19th so as not to be obliged to assist at
Philip V.'s solemn progress through Naples (May 20th), a
circumstance which the French might have interpreted to
mean that the investiture was an accomphshed fact. In
like manner the Cardinal Legate's speeches on the occasion
of his audiences with Philip V. on May 29th and 30th merely
expressed in general terms his satisfaction at the King's
arrival,^ and the presents offered by him in the name of the
Pope, viz. a golden cross adorned with precious stones and
enriched with Indulgences, did not go beyond what was
customary on such occasions. The King sailed from Finale
for Lombardy for the purpose of visiting the French army
there. Previous to his departure the Cardinal offered him his
personal presents consisting of a statue of Hercules by Bernini,
a Diana of pellucid agate and other works of art.^
The conduct of the Government of Vienna, where according
to Lamberg's reports Clement XL was considered completely
subservient to France, stands in sharp contrast with the
Pope's regard for the Emperor's interests on the occasion of
Cardinal Barberini's legation.^ Leopold I. strenuously refused
1 Landau, 73 seqq. ^ Pometti, XXL, 374.
* BiANCHiNi, ed. Visconti, 26, 51 seq. ; Belmonte, 233, 238
seqq.
* BiANCHiNi, 58 seq., 61 seqq. ; Austrian *Avviso, May 20,
1702, Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein.
* On May 2, 1702, in a * Report to the Emperor, Lamberg
describes the Pope as a consummate hypocrite : " essendo nella
sua simulatione il sue genio assai simile a quello di fu Tiberio !
The Pope does not seek the interests of the Emperor in peace ;
a way out would be if the Emperor propria pugno made secret
proposals to the nephews of the Pope ! (Lamberg's *Diary,
Ottenstein). How little this ambassador knew Clement XL !
30 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to receive Spada who had been sent as a peace mediator,
so that the Legate was forced to stop at Passau. On July 1st
the Secretary of State wrote to the nuncio in Vienna, Davia,
that the Pope felt painfully surprised by the Emperor's
refusal to receive an envoy of the Vicar of Christ whose only
duty it was to urge peace. ^ On July 22nd Davia was instructed
to renew his efforts to get Spada received.- That the Pope
continued to hope, in spite of everything, that Leopold would
change his mind, appears from the fact that Spada was
instructed to remain at Passau for the time being. ^
When Cardinal Grimani took his leave of the Pope
before setting out for Vienna in December, 1702, the Pontiff
charged him to influence the Emperor in favour of peace,
an object for which he would willingly dispatch new nuncios.
At the same time the Pope granted permission, hitherto
asked for in vain, for the imperial troops to obtain once again
provisions from Ferrara. As a matter of fact already in
September the generals of both armies had been authorized,
with a view to preserving the population from pillage, to
obtain grain in the Papal States against ready money.*
However, in spite of the Pope's concessions to both parties,
neither of them was satisfied. He was troubled with ever
fresh complaints ; one day it was the imperialists who felt
^ " *Rimane N. S. sempre piu sorpreso di sentirc che tuttavia
costi si persista nel non voler ricevere un ministro Apostolico,
che si manda dal Vicario di Cristo col solo oggetto e zelo d'esortar
alia pace. Vuol pero credere che finalmente la pieta dellTrnperatore
sia per superare e sciogliere le machine del nemico d'ogni nostro
bene, 11 quale solamente si serve degli eretici per imprimcre negli
animi la considerazione dell'impegno contratto da cotesta corte
con essi, del quale neppur dovrebbe farsi menzione per riputazione
e credito del nome cattolico, ecc. Niinziat. di Germania, 44, p. 231,
Papal Secret Archives.
2 *Insista V. S. fortemente per I'accetazione di Msgr. Spada
Nuntio straordinario {ibid., 234). Instruction for Spada, March 25,
1702, in Zeitschr. f. die Gesch. des Oberrheins, new series, 642 seq.
' *Instruction of August 5, 1702, ibid., 240.
* Of. BuDER, I., 415, 429 seq., 432.
PRESSURE ON CLEMENT XI. 3I
injured, another day it was the turn of the French and the
Spaniards. Both parties frequently infringed the neutrality
of the Holy See ; on these occasions the French were favoured
by the papal officials, particularly in the sea ports, but in
doing so the latter acted on their own authority and the Pope
could not be held responsible for everything. ^ The imperialists
regarded as specially partial the Governor of Rome, Ranuccio
Pallavicini, of whom Lamberg had already complained in
the affair Vasto and after that on more than one occasion. ^
The breach between the Pope and the imperial House was
further widened when on September 12th, 1703, at the request
of England and Holland, Leopold I. renounced all his rights
to the Spanish monarchy in favour of his son. Archduke
Charles, proclaiming him at the same time as " Charles HI.,
King of Spain ". This action created no small embarrassment
for Clement XI. In 1701, when all the appearances •were
against the House of Habsburg ever recovering the whole of
the Spanish monarchy, the Pope, hke all the other European
Powers, had recognized the Duke of Anjou as King of Spain
under the name of Philip V. The maritime Powers had
acted in like manner, though they now revoked that step,
but whereas the latter could justify their conduct by the plea
that the House of Bourbon had refused to recognize Queen
Anne of England, Clement XI. could allege no such reason
since he was not at war with the Bourbons. His wish was to
remain neutral and to wait. Hence his evasive answer to
Count Lamberg was fully justified,^ as was his prohibition of
the display of a picture of Charles as King of Spain in the
church of the Anima at a time when the Archduke asserted
his pretensions to the Spanish throne, though he could not
claim a foot of Spanish territory as his own.^ Yet, however
well founded the Pope's conduct may have been in itself,
it nevertheless created an impression that Clement XL made
^ Landau. 182 seqq.
" BuDER, I., ^25 seqq. ; Landau, 160 seq.
^ Klopp, X., 400 ; Landau, 173.
* ScHMiDLiN, 591 seqq.
32 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
common cause with the House of Bourbon.^ The French
party in Rome took advantage of Leopold's alhance with the
Protestant maritime Powers to represent France and Spain
as the Church's only protection against the power of the
heretics. Unless the Pope put himself under French pro-
tection, they said, he would have reason to fear another
" Sack " by the imperialists. Cardinal Forbin in particular
made it his business to harp on this peril.
Representations of this kind greatly impressed Clement XL,
who was of a timorous nature. Whilst on the one hand Vienna
provoked him by refusing his envoy, and on the other Paris
heaped proofs of friendliness upon him, he found it impossible
to resist for ever. The position above all parties which he had
striven to maintain was shaken by a number of concessions
to the French. 2 This action increased Lamberg's resentment,
so rrmch so that though personally a devout man, he forgot
himself to such a degree as to make deplorable comments
upon the Roman priests. His description of the Cardinal
Secretary of State as " stinkingly French " was by no means
his strongest expression since he asked in all seriousness
whether the Roman prelates believed anything at all ^ ;
he was of opinion that among them, and even in the Sacred
College, there were more atheists than Christians ! "* If in
Lamberg's opinion, Clement XL, under the influence of his
entourage, showed undue hostility towards Austria, the
French judged him insufficiently opposed to that country.
Marshal Vendome described the Pope as completely
^ Klopp, X., 400-1.
^ Landau, 174.
' In his *letters to Prince A. F. Liechtein (Liechtenstein
Archives, Vienna), Lamberg expresses himself just as vehemently
as in his reports to the Emperor. His passionate outbursts of
anger, which have been aptly described as pathological {Rom.
Quartalschrift, XVII., 142), were not only directed against the
" priestlings ", but against the Italians in general (" one should
rather wish to have to deal with savages than with this nation ",
April 7, 1703).
* Letter to the Emperor, April 14, 1703.
PRESSURE ON CLEMENT XI. 33
intimidated by the Emperor's threats and reproached him
with preventing Italy's neutraHty.^ Thus Clement XI. saw
himself ever more and more driven into a corner by both
parties.
The tension between Vienna and Rome was greatly
increased by a most disastrous occurrence in June, 1704.
At that time the imperialists stood on the left bank of the
Po, at Melara and Ficarrolo, whilst the French were on the
right, at Stellata and Bondeno — both on papal territory.
Clement XI. summoned them to evacuate his territory ; in
case of refusal he threatened with excommunication. There-
upon the French left whilst the imperialists delayed their
departure ; they only surrendered Ficarrolo to the papal
troops on June 24th after Cardinal AstalH, the papal Legate
of Ferrara, had given them a written guarantee, in the name
of the Pope, that their retreat would not be molested and that
the French would not be permitted to cross the Po. However,
scarcely had the Austrians withdrawn than the papal General
Paolucci allowed the, French to occupy Ficcarolo.^ The
Pope refused to sanction this traitorous action. He made
excuses to the Emperor, deprived General Paolucci of his
command and ordered an inquiry into his conduct, but he
did not carry out his threat of excommunicating the French
as he was afraid of their overwhelming power. In the following
year also, in view of the continued preponderance of French
arms in Italy, Clement overlooked many, though not all,
encroachments on the part of the French.^ The imperialists
also offended in like manner, as when they once more invaded
Ferrara in April, 1705, an action against which the Pope
protested with the utmost energy.*
Whilst these misunderstandings between Rome and Vienna
were on the increase, the Emperor Leopold died on May 5th,
1 Klopp, XI.,462.
* Cf. BuDER, I., 589 seqq. ; Feldzuge des Primen Engen, VI.,
281 seqq. ; Landau, 178 seq. ; Klopp, X., 2^6 seq.
' Klopp, X., 246 seq.
* Ibid., 460.
VOL. XXXIII. D
34 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
1705.^ He was succeeded by his son, the King of the Romans,
Joseph I. The Pope hoped to bring about better relations
with the new ruler, but the very opposite happened.
^ On hearing of his illness, Clement ordered prayers to be
said and he himself went to the Anima where the Blessed Sacra-
ment was exposed (Schmidlin, 593). In the consistory of May 18,
1705, the Pope freely acknowledged the great qualities of
Leopold I. ; see Clementis XL, Opera, Orat., 18.
CHAPTER II.
Joseph I.'s Contest with Clement XI — Louis XIV.'s
Defeat in 1706 and the Conquest of Naples by the
AusTRiANS — The Imperialists' Attack on the Papal
States — Defeat of the Papal Tro'ops — The Peace
OF January 15th, 1709.
Clement's anxiety to reach a compromise with the new
Emperor appears from a proposal which he caused to be
submitted to Vienna in May, 1705, through Count Althan,
a Canon of Olmiitz. This was to the effect that the Emperor
should dispatch an ohhedienza embassy with a view to
strengthening the Pope against the French and the Spaniards
and their insistent demand for Philip V.'s investiture of
Naples. When Althan observed that existing differences
between Vienna and Rome would prove an insuperable
obstacle and insisted upon satisfaction being made for the
Pope's conduct in the affair of Del Vasto, as a preliminary
condition, Clement XL remarked that Vienna should not
compromise more weighty interests by such trifles.^ At the
same time he drew attention to the fact that in spite of every
pressure he had refused the investiture to Philip V., had
decHned Pomponne's offer of an Italian league of neutrality
and, in spite of French resentment, had given his support to
King Augustus II. of Poland against his enemies. ^
Clement XL was anxious to submit his proposal directly
to the Emperor, without its passing through the hands of the
hopelessly embittered Lamberg. The latter, however, came
to hear of the affair and he forthwith sent in the following
'^ " Non sappiamo se torni a conto di abbandonare interessi
assai maggiori per tali bagatelle," the Pope said, according to
Lamberg's report to the Emperor, May 23, 1705, State Archives,
Vienna.
* See Lamberg's report, utilized by Klopp, XL, 463 seq.
35
36 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
memorial : If His Majesty was willing to fall in with the
Pope's proposal, he, Lamberg, felt confident to bring about
a complete agreement ; but if the Emperor was disinclined
to accede to the Pope's wishes, let him announce his arrival
in Rome for the purpose of assuming the imperial crown.
Such an announcement would put an end to all further
importunity on the part of the Pope for there was nothing
Rome feared so much as that the Emperor should assert
his authority in Italy. Up to the present the Curia only
feared the King of France, and that by reason of his deter-
mination. Lamberg then quotes the odious phrase that priests
could only be governed with money and the stick,^ a principle
on which the French and the Spaniards had acted with great
profit to themselves. Let the Emperor do in like manner. Let
him cause the Pope to suffer for his repeated championing
of French interests ; success would be infallible with timorous
Clement XI.2
Joseph I., an energetic prince then in the first flower of his
youthful energy, determined to follow the advice of his
ambassador. On July 15th, 1705, the latter was ordered to
leave Rome with the utmost secrecy and to repair to Tuscany.
Acting like a fugitive and greatly fearing lest he should be
brought back, Lamberg set out that very night and only
on July 21st did he send from Siena a justification of his
departure to Paolucci, the Cardinal Secretary of State. In
order to give yet greater significance to Lamberg's action,
the nuncio in Vienna, Davia, was summoned to leave the
imperial capital within three days.^
Clement XL was all the more alarmed by this step as he
had invoked the mediation of the King of Poland in a Brief
of August 20th, 1705 ^ ; he had promised himself good results
^ " Che per governare bene i preti ci voglia la borsa ed il
bastone."
" Klopp, XL, 465 seqq. On Lamberg's sentiments cf. Hist.
Zeitschrift. IX., 133.
* Klopp, XL, 467 seqq. ; Landau, 191 seqq. ; Pometti, XXL,
393-
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 291.
THE POPE STRIVES FOR AN AGREEMENT. 37
from his appeal.^ On August 30th, 1705, he approached the
Emperor in an autograph letter. The step taken by His
Majesty, he wrote, betrayed an intention of breaking with
the father of all the faithful and the first among Christian
princes, and that at a time when Christendom was afflicted
by so many evils. Foreseeing the unhappy consequences of
such a rupture for religion, the Pope was resolved not to
incur either before God or man the reproach that he had not
done all that was possible to avert such a disaster. For this
reason he wrote with .his own hand, to beseech the Emperor
not to incur the guilt of so great a scandal. He assured him
with a frankness born of a good conscience, that he was at
all times ready to prove by facts how very wrong those were
who sought to prejudice the Emperor with their accusations
against the Pope. " God knows," Clement continues, " the
world and we ourselves know what we have done or refused
to do during the whole course of our unhappy pontificate,
perhaps not without incurring the reproach of having thereby
neglected the interests of the Holy See. We were unwilling to
depart in even the slightest degree from the absolute neutrality
of a common father. We do not doubt that your Majesty will
likewise recognize this if, as we confidently trust, you follow
the impulse of the piety and justice which you have inherited
from your illustrious ancestors together v/ith the dignity
and honour of a protector of the Church." ^
In his reply of September 26th, 1705, Joseph I. explained
that he had no intention of breaking with the Holy See but
merely of suspending relations with it until he should have
received appropriate satisfaction for the favour shown to
his enemies. He then referred to the explanations given by
^ " *Con sommo orrore si sono intese le notizie recate dal
dispaccio di M. Nunzio. Li protestanti pur troppo ne rideranno ed
i buoni cattolici lungartiente ne piangeranno ; tanto piu strane
sono giunte, quanto che si supponeva I'affare nelle mani del Re
di Polonia e accettata la di lui mediazione," Clement XI. wrote
on August 8, 1705, to the nuncio in Vienna ; autograph draft in
Papal Secret Archives, XI., 56.
* Clementis XI., Opera, Epist., 293 ; Klopp, XL, 469 seq.
3^ HISTORY OF THE POPES.
him to nuncio Davia who had withdrawn to Wiener-Neustadt.
In conclusion he expressed the hope that there would be no
delay in making good the injury done to him. Through the
Auditor, Count Francis Charles von Kaunitz, who acted as
intermediary since Lamberg's departure, the Emperor assured
the Pope that the ambassador's removal from Rome was not
meant to be a recall. But this assurance could not alter in
any way the fact of the step or the significance which everyone
attached to it.^
How unfair it was to accuse the Pope of positively favouring
the Bourbons became evident precisely at this time. When
Stanislaus Leszcynski rebelled against Augustus II. of Poland,
the Pope forbade the Pohsh Bishops to take part in the
coronation of his rival. As a sequel to this prohibition the
Spanish ambassador, Uzeda, requested the Pope to issue a
similar prohibition to the Bishops of Aragon, Catalonia and
Valencia in regard to Charles III. Clement XI. refused to
comply with this demand. He expressed his displeasure and
explained that there was no parity between the two cases. ^
That the Pope was anxious for an agreement with the
Emperor is shown by his letters of August 30th, 1705, to
the Empress, to Joseph's confessor, to the Electors of Mayence
and Treves, to the Count Palatine John Wilham, to Cardinals
KoUonitsch, Lamberg and Grimani, in which he urged them to
intervene with the Emperor. However, Joseph I. answered
that it only depended on the Pope to empower the nuncio to
meet his grievances.^
Cardinal Lamberg sought to mediate by dispatching from
Passau a plenipotentiary who represented to the Pope the
grievances of the imperial Government drawn up in definite
terms. The first complaint was that under pretext of the
war against the Moors, PhiHp V. had been allowed to raise
1 Klopp, XI., 469.
* Lamberg's report, September 18, 1705, ibid., 470.
3 Clementis XL, Opera. Epist., 295 ; Klopp, XL, 470.
Towards the end of l-'ebruary, 1706, the nuncio left Wiener-
Neustadt. Landau, 196.
THE EMPEROR S GRIEVANCES., 39
a tenth from ecclesiastical revenues. Clement XI. denied
with the utmost energy his ever having granted such a per-
mission. The second grievance, namely, that the papal
Government had given the French leave to occupy Mesola,
in the territory of Ferrara, the Pope met with the declaration
that he had given no such permission to the French, just
as he had refused it to the imperialists who had been in
occupation of Mesola for a year and a half ; since he was not
strong enough to resist acts of violence by either party, he was
compelled to let things take their course. The third grievance,
concerning recruiting from the population of the Papal
States by the French, Clement XL rejected emphatically as
without foundation.^ For the rest there exist many proofs of
the Pope's desire for a reconciliation with the Emperor.
His predecessors, he said, had repeatedly granted investiture
to the de facto holder of the Kingdom of Naples. For the
time being PhiHp V. was in unquestioned occupation ; for
all that, he had refused to give him the investiture so as not
to prejudice the claims of Charles III. He had remained firm
in this matter although Cardinal Giudice had made tempting
promises in Philip V.'s name, though these were likewise
accompanied by threats. Of the guilt of Marchese del Vasto
the Pope claimed to have in his hands undeniable proofs.
The proceedings against Paolucci in connection with the
incident of Ficcarolo had failed to establish the latter's
guilt ; for all that the General had not been reinstated in
his position. 2
Instead of an agreement being reached, the tension between
Rome and Vienna grew still further in consequence of the
dispute over the so-called right of first requests — jus primarum
precum, viz. the right of the prince to recommend a candidate
for the first cathedral benefice that became vacant after his
own accession. The Emperors had exercised this right since
the 13th century but Clement XI. wished to render it
dependent on a papal indult. Conflicts over this point occurred
^ Klopp, XL, 470 seqq.
* Ibid., 471 seqq.
40 . HISTORY OF THE POPES.
first at Hildesheim and after that at Augsburg and other
places.^
On another canonical question, viz. the disputed episcopal
election at Miinster, the Pope proved accommodating,
whereupon Joseph, on his part, showed some consideration
for the rights of the Holy See in the controversy over the
visitation of the German national church, the Anima. A
further token of the Pope's conciHatory disposition was the
circumstance that he removed from office the Governor of
Rome, Pallavicini, a Cardinal since May 10th, 1706, the
same who had so often been in conflict with Lamberg, replacing
him by Caffarelli who was well-disposed towards the Emperor. ^
After the return to Rome of Cardinal Grimani, named Co-Pro-
tector of Germany, there was a hope of some amelioration in
the relations between Pope and Emperor. These relations,
however, were being constantly subjected to new tests by reason
of the reaction on the Eternal City of various warlike events.^
* BuDER, I., 850 seqq. ; Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 331.
443, 449, 627, 1561. A controversy arose about the right of the first
petitions. A Bull of October 3, 1711, annulled all primae preces,
*Miscell. di Cleniente XI., 171 seq.. Papal Sec. Archives ; Bull.,
XXL, 437-
2 Landau, 197 seqq. ; Schmidlin in Rom. Qiiartalschrift,
XVII. , 311 seqq.
' Cf. the *reports of Count F. K. von Kaunitz in Liechtenstein
Archives, Vienna. On February 27, 1706, he reports that he had
protested to the Prodatarius against the granting of a prebend in
Barcelona to a " fierissimo Angiovino ". The Prodatarius excuses
himself that he docs not know the circumstances and asks for
a list for " vacanze future ". Kaunitz declares that he cannot
do this without orders. On March 6 Kaunitz complains that
in the affair of the benefices of Catalonia more consideration was
shown to Uzeda and Forbin than to himself. On April 10 he
reports a complaint of his, replied to in general terms, to the effect
that in S. Giacomo and S. Maria di Monserrato the preacher had
said that in Catalonia heresy was being taught from the pulpit.
On June 5 a fresh complaint that after the surrender of Barcelona
a fanatical Spaniard had received a canonry in that city and that
he had protested in vain.
FRENCH DEFEATS. 4I
The reaction was strongest when in 1706 the Franco-
Spanish power was dealt three terrible blows. In Spain the
struggle for Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, ended with
the capitulation of the garrison, to the disadvantage of
Philip V. Thereupon Catalonia and the whole of Aragon rose
in favour of Charles III. As a result of Portuguese inter-
vention Philip V. was compelled to leave Madrid where
Charles III. was proclaimed King on June 25th. ^
In the Netherlands Villeroi's defeat at Ramillies on
May 23rd, 1706, led to the loss by France of Brabant and the
greater part of Flanders. Even more far-reaching was Prince
Eugene's victory at Turin on September 7th, 1706. This
event forced the French to evacuate the whole of Upper
Italy. On September 26th Prince Eugene entered Milan ;
at the approach of winter the French flag only fluttered on
the walls of a few fortified places : the country was in the
hands of the Emperor. After this tremendous reversal, which
created a wide and powerful impression, the moment seemed
propitious for punishing the Pope and making him feel his
helplessness.
Already whilst on his way to the relief of Turin, which was
stoutly defended by the imperialists under Daun, Prince
Eugene had occupied papal territory and carried out reckless
requisitions. The Pope lodged a protest towards the end of
Juty, 1706, with both Prince Eugene and the Emperor and
once more with the Prince on August 14th. In this document
he drew a vivid picture of the plundering of his poor subjects,
the ill treatment of the clergy, the spoliation and profanation
of churches by a disorderly soldiery consisting in part of
Protestant Prussians. ^ Fresh trials befell the Pope's unhappy
subjects in the sequel also, but Clement XL's further protests
on September 17th remained unheeded.^ Towards the end
of 1706 the imperial troops began to overrun the Legations
* Baudrillart, I., 253 seq., 264.
2 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 347, 349, 353.
8 Ihid., 355.
42 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of Bologna and Ferrara and to requisition the inhabitants
for bread, wine, oil, hay and even money. ^
As his repeated warnings remained unheeded,^ Clement XI.
addressed another Brief to the Emperor on January 4th,
1707, couched in sterner terms. To his protests, the Pope
wrote, against the action of the imperialists in going into
winter quarters in the Papal States, Prince Eugene had replied
with empty compliments and various excuses to the effect
that the occupation was necessary for the purpose of expelling
the enemy. But at present not one Frenchman was left in
Upper Italy, though the Pope's subjects continued to suffer
from the oppression of the imperial troops. Accordingly he
must insist on a remedy being applied.^ Thereupon the
Emperor charged Grimani to calm the Pope by drawing his
attention to the fact that the restoration of the Emperor's
prestige in Italy would have for its consequence the deliverance
of the Holy See from its dependence on France, and to hold
out to him the prospect of at least partial compensation for
the damage done.^ Negotiations now began between the
papal delegate Riviera and the representative of Prince
Eugene, Captain Locatelli, which led to an agreement on
February 5th, 1707. It was stipulated that the imperial
troops would evacuate the papal territory whilst on the
other hand the Legates of Ferrara and Bologna were to pay
considerable sums, amounting to as much as 250,000 florins,
as compensation for the attack on Ficcarolo in 1704 and the
loss thereby incurred.^
Like the Pope, the small Itahan States were destined to
learn from experience that unarmed neutrality was no pro-
tection against devastation. For the purpose of replenishing
the chronically empty war chest of the imperiaUsts, Prince
Eugene laid a tribute on all those Itahan States which were
^ Cf. Brosch, II., 37.
* December 19, 1706, to Prince Eugene. Clementis XL,
Opera, Epist., 363.
2 Ibid., 371.
* Landau, 251.
* Ibid., 251 seq.
THE AUSTRIANS IN THE PAPAL STATES. 43
considered as imperial fiefs ; Genoa, Tuscany, Lucca, Modena,
Parma and Piacenza had to pay enormous sums. With a
view to protecting his territory at least in some measure from
arbitrary interference, the Duke of Parma had felt com-
pelled already on December 14th, 1706, to come to terms
with the civil commissary of the imperial army, Marquis
von Prie, and to pay the sum of 540,000 florins, of which the
clergy had had to contribute one-fourth. This raised anew,
and in an acute form, the controversy between Pope and
Emperor whether Parma and Piacenza were papal or imperial
fiefs, and once more called in question the agreement which
had been so laboriously arrived at.^
If up till then the Papal States had been sorely tried by
invasions and requisitions, the storm of war at length reached
the very gates of Rome, so to speak, when in May, 1707,
the imperial Field-Marshal Daun set out to conquer Naples.
The imperialists demanded a free passage through the
Pontifical States. The Pope was powerless to oppose them,
though such a step was suggested to him by the French ^ ;
reluctantly he was forced to give way. His annoyance was
further increased by the fact that, instead of taking the
shortest road along the Adriatic in the direction of the Abruzzi,
the imperial generals decided to pass hard by Rome.^ After
an agreement had been reached on the subject of the pro-
visions to be supplied to the troops by the inhabitants of the
Papal States,^ the imperialists began their march. On
June 16th they reached Monte Rotondo where, surrounded
by crowds of curious Romans, both men and women, who
looked with wonder at the Austrian camp, they rested for
a few days, after which they proceeded in the direction of
Tivoh.5
^ Ibid., 256 seqq. Text of the agreement of December 14,
1706, in BuDER, I., 1049 seqq.
2 NooRDEN, III., 137. 3 Landau, 261 s^^^.
* May II, 1707 ; see Brosch, II., 39.
* NooRDEN, III., 141. Cf. A. Alfieri, Un passaggio di truppe
tedesche per lo Stato Pontificio (1707), in Bollet. per I'Umbria,
Xiv. (1908).
44 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
There can be no doubt that by sending 10,000 imperial
troops to the very gates of Rome, the intention was to exercise
pressure on the negotiations with the Pope.^ To this end
Count Martinitz, of whose arrogance Rome had had experience
under Innocent XII., was dispatched to the Eternal Cit}-. In
conjunction with Cardinal Grimani, who was wholly devoted
to the Emperor, Martinitz was to obtain Clement XL's
consent to an agreement which would have been of the greatest
advantage to the House of Habsburg. Martinitz and Grimani
together laid before the Pope the old grievances of the Govern-
ment of Vienna and demanded the recognition of Charles III.
as King or at least that account should be taken of his pre-
sentations to ecclesiastical offices in the territories occupied
by him, and that certain Neapolitans who were imprisoned
in Rome for conspiring against the Spanish domination be
set at liberty. However, their mission proved a complete
failure. Grimani felt hurt and humiliated because the Emperor
had named Martinitz Viceroy of Naples instead of himself.
So Martinitz had to act single-handed. During his stay of
five days in Rome — June 18th-22nd — he had two audiences
in which he obtained next to nothing. His demands were met
with counter-demands by the Pope who flatly refused to
recognize Charles III. as King of Spain ; the only thing he
was willing to grant was the liberation of the Neapolitans. ^
In spite of strict orders the passage of the imperial troops
through the Papal States was not effected without some
excesses. During the night of the June 27th-28th they crossed
the Garigliano and on July 4th they took Capua. Almost
ever3^where the Austrians met with an enthusiastic welcome ;
this was particularly the case at Naples where Daun and
* Landau, 261, where reference is made to a letter of Joseph I.
to Daun, on May 30, 1707, preserved in the Palffy-Daun family
archives. According to this letter Daun should, if it could be done
without dangerous delay, prolong the march by making a halt
of one or at most two days before Rome, to enable Martinitz
to get there first.
* Landau, 270 seqq. Cf. Klopp, XIL, 319 seq.
THE emperor's TROOPS IN PARMA AND MODENA. 45
Martinitz made their entry on July 7th. At the end of a bare
fortnight the whole Kingdom of Naples was in the hands of
the imperialists with the exception of the fortresses of Pescara
and Gaeta.^
Everyone did homage to King Joseph I.'s brother, King
Charles III., who was in Spain at the time. Since the Austrians
already ruled in Milan, they were now masters of all Italy
and instead of the feeble Spanish rule, the Holy See had
henceforth to reckon with a youthful, energetic monarch
who had an imposing military force at his disposal.
The proceedings at Parma and Piacenza, which were a
challenge to the Papacy, were but a foretaste of the imperial
pretensions.^ The agreement to which the Duke of Parma
was compelled to give his assent in December, 1706,^ denied
not only the papal over-lordship, but implied a breach of the
rights of the Church by the arbitrary imposition of a war
tax on the clergy. Clement XL accordingly refused his
sanction, forbade the Duke, as his vassal, to put the agree-
ment into execution- and threatened with ecclesiastical
penalties all who should attempt to collect the prescribed
levies.* The Pope felt particularly hurt by the circumstance
that the imperial troops, which had gone into winter quarters
in the above-named Duchies, were for the most part Pro-
testants whose chaplains held heretical services. But his
complaints on this point had as little effect with the Emperor
as the prohibition forbidding the imperial commanders to
tax the clergy on their own authority. Prince Eugene even
went so far as to compel the submission of priests who offered
resistance, by billeting a greater number of soldiers on them
and by making still heavier demands on the monasteries.^
1 Belmonte, II., 128 seqq. ; Landau, 310 seq. ; Pometti,
XXL, 392.
* Opinion of Brosch, who is certainly not favourable to the
Popes (II., 37).
' Cf. above, p. 43.
* Cf. BuDER, I., 1070.
' Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 375 ; Bull, XXL, 292 seqq. ;
Menzel, IX., 470.
46 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Clement XL took much counsel, ordered the Blessed
Sacrament to be exposed in the principal churches, and special
prayers to be recited for three days, to the end that he might
be guided in making the right decision in so dilftcult a situa-
tion.^ In the end he came to the conclusion that it was his
duty to make a solemn protest against the violation of the
secular and spiritual prerogatives of the Holy See.
On J-uly 27th, 1707, a Bull was drawn up which, basing
itself on the Constitutions of Leo X. of the year 1515 and
Urban VIIL of 1641, declared the agreement of the imperialists
with the Duke of Parma to be null and void ; all those who
laid hands on the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza and billeted
troops, or laid taxes, on the priests there, and all those who
approved their action and co-operated in it, were to fall under
the penalty of major excommunication. 2 On August 1st the
Bull was published, together with two monitories, by simple
affixing on the doors of St. Peter's, the Lateran and the other
customary places. One of the monitories was directed against
the violation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction by Duke Victor
Amadeus IL of Savoy, the other against the royal officials
at Aquila who had expelled the Bishop of that place. ^
In a consistory of the same date, August 1st, the Pope
commented upon the painful incidents in Parma, Piacenza,
Savoy and Naples of which these documents gave notice.
Alluding to the feast of the day, St. Peter-in-Chains, Clement
declared that he was determined to break the chains with which
the secular power sought to hamper the natural freedom of
the Church.''
Prince Eugene took no notice of the excommunication
which was directed against himself in the first instance. He
continued to levy contributions and urged the Emperor to
take an energetic decision and not to allow His Holiness
1 Cf. B. Nani's report of May 21, 1707, in Brosch, II., 38.
* BuDER, I., 104655^^.
* Ibid., I., 1037 seqq. Cf. Landau, 277 seqq. ; Carutti, Storia
del regno di Vitt. Amadeo, II., 95, 197, 208, 214 seq., 303.
* Clementis XI., Opera, Orat., 28 seq.
THE POPE S RESISTANCE. 47
" to mix and meddle so much with temporal affairs ".^ The
Duke of Savoy also sought to rouse Joseph I. by representing
to him that the Holy See was only strong in words but timid
and submissive in the face of those who lost no words but
boldly passed on to deeds in the assertion of their just rights.^
However, the Emperor seemed unwilling to push things to
extremes. When the Pope made representations to him on
the fact that by the terms of the Peace of Altranstadt the
Silesian Protestants were to have their churches restored to
them,2 he excused himself by pleading that in accordance
with the counsel of theologians, he had chosen the lesser of
two evils. ^
So long as there was no decision in the field Clement XL
upheld Philip V. as King of Spain and looked on Archduke
Charles as a pretender who could not be allowed to have a
say in ecclesiastical appointments in the territories occupied
by him. Charles swore vengeance. In so doing he went by
the principle that in order to obtain a thing in Rome, it
^ Eugene's letter from Turin, October 20, 1707, in Feldzuge des
Prinzen Ettgen, SuppL, Heft. IX., 198.
' Carutti, 285.
^ BuDER, I., 1097 scqq.
* Klopp, XII., 442 seq., 551 seqq. Cf. Landau, 282. In
Europdische Fama, LXXIV., 80, there is an Italian letter of
Clement XI. on this matter, directed to Leopold I, and dated
September 10, 1708, which up to now has been considered
authentic. The fact, however, that it is not among the Epist.
dementis XI., t. 86, Pap. Sec. Archives, tells against its authen-
ticity. After the restoration of peace between the Emperor and the
Pope, as there were numerous apostasies from the Catholic Church
in consequence of the treaty of Altranstadt, Joseph I., to pacify
Clement XL, issued an order on June 3, 1709, through the Silesian
authorities, against such apostasies (Menzel, IX., 461).
Clement XL repudiated the treaty of Altranstadt by a Brief
to the King of Poland, September 31, 1709 (Clementis XL,
Opera, Epist., 645 seq. ; ibid., 649 seq., the King's written apology,
April 2, 1710), and again by a Brief to the Emperor, Charles VI.,
June 4, iyi2 [ibid., i68g seq.).
48 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
was necessary to show one's teeth and to inspire fear.^ The
exhortations in this sense, which he addressed to the Emperor
from Barcelona, fell on good soil. Since April, 1706, both at
Naples and at Milan, the revenues of all ecclesiastics living
outside those territories were being sequestrated, whilst
the dispatch of money to Rome and the publication of papal
Bulls without a placet, was forbidden. As by this means a
number of Bishops and Cardinals lost a considerable part of
their income, the strict execution of the measure was bitterly
resented in Rome. 2 In a Brief of May 6th, 1708, Clement XI.
protested to Joseph I. himself, whilst by Briefs addressed to
the Empress, the Empress-Mother, Cardinal Lamberg and
the Elector of Mayence in his capacity as Chancellor of
Empire, he sought to induce Joseph I. to give way.^ But
the Emperor listened to the advice of Duke Rinaldo of
Modena whose wife was a sister of the Empress Amalia.
As an imperial vassal Rinaldo hoped to wrest from the Holy
See the States lost by the Este. He gave it as his opinion
that in order to render the Pope more accommodating, it
was necessary to diminish the Papal States by cutting off
Ferrara from them.* Thus a step was decided upon which
was as impolitic as it was precipitate.^ Though even Prince
Eugene was unwilling to have anj'thing to do with it, since
there was question of an attack upon territory which the
Church had claimed as her own for over a century,^ imperial
troops led by General Bonneval crossed the frontier of the
Papal States without previous declaration of war and on
May 24th, 1708, occupied the defenceless coastal town of
Commacchio, situated between Ravenna and Ferrara. At
1 Charles III. to Count Wratislaw, November 8, 1707, in
Arneth, Korrespondenz, 50.
* Sentis, 141 ; NooRDEN, III., ^29 seqq. ; Landau, 353 seqq.
^ Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 506 seq.
* Brosch, II., 42. On the furtherance of the attack on Ferrara
by the Duke of Modena, cf. the report of his envoy in Aid e Mem.
per la Prov. dell' Emilia N. S. I., Modena, 1878, 103 seq.
* Opinionof Landau (357).
* Klopp, XIII. , 94 seq.
THE POPE S RESISTANCE. 49
the same time they also seized the valuable salt mines and
fisheries.^ They at once began to erect works of fortification ;
over the gate a stone was inserted bearing the ominous
inscription : " To Emperor Joseph, the revendicator of
Italy's ancient rights." ^
On receipt of this information the Pope resolved, though
with a heavy heart, to defend himself.^ The Legate of Ferrara
was instructed to put that city and the other fortified places
in a state of defence.* In Rome, where consternation and
anxiety reigned, troops were enrolled and military conferences
held.^ On June 2nd the Pope appealed not only to the Emperor
and the Empresses, the Emperor's confessor and Count
Lamberg, but hkewise to the Republics of Genoa, Venice
and Lucca, to the Dukes of Savoy and Lorraine, the Electors
of Mayence and Treves, the Kings of Poland and Portugal,
and to the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John.^ With
the Emperor the Pope expostulated in the following terms :
" The action of your Majesty's troops in throwing garrisons
into the Pontifical States and unfurling their banners as in
a conquered territory, and, so it would seem, contemplating
even graver measures, is contrary to equity and reason, as
well as to the regard due to the Holy See and the rights of
the Church. This can only have happened through a misuse
of the imperial name and is in direct contradiction with the
^ See the detailed *report of Paolucci, Papal Secretary of State,
based on the evidence of eye-witnesses, in Miscell. di Clement XL'
~9, P- 30 seqq. (Papal Sec. Arch.), where there are further numerous
documents on this matter. Cf. Landau, 358 ; Pometti, XXL,
394 seq.
* Cf. RiNCK, Leben Josephi des Sieghaften, II., 413 ; Buder,
II., 138. Another version of the inscription in Ottieri, III.,
48, and in *Avviso di Roma, June 26, 1708, Cod. Ital., 198, State
Library, Munich.
' Cf. NooRDEN, III., 334.
* Buder, II., 61 seqq. ; Landau, 358.
^ Cf. *Avvisi di Roma of May 29, June 3, 12, 26, July 10 and 17,
1708, Cod. Hal., 198, loc. cit.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 514 seqq.
VOL. XXXIII. E
§0 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
title of a protector of the Church of which former Emperors
were so proud. You cannot be ignorant of the prescriptions
of the sacred canons and the Apostohc Constitutions against
such conduct. Consider then whither you are being led by the
evil and destructive counsels of those who have induced you
thus openly to provoke the anger of God. Withdraw without
delay 3'our foot from where your soul would find certain
damnation and your name everlasting shame. We shall not
cease humbly to pray for divine assistance and, assured
that it will be granted, we shall take this affair in hand,
together with all that is entrusted to our care, with such
firmness that no one shall have reason to reproach us with
having neglected the duty of our office, or with having failed
to take the necessary measures, both spiritual and temporal,
for we do not value our life more than the discharge of the
duty laid upon us by heaven. We bear in mind, as you also
should remember, that all men, whatever their dignity may
be, shall one day have to give an account of their conduct
before a most dreadful tribunal. May this thought, which is
for us a source of calm, prove salutary to your Majesty also !
Take heed, most beloved son (we call upon you for the last
time in the name of Jesus Christ whose unworthy representa-
tive we are), take heed lest you stain the first-fruits of your
flourishing youth by scandahzing the whole Christian people
and begin your reign by offending the Church, the Bride of
Christ, and her Apostles. That you may fully reahze this,
and with God's help may follow better counsels, we bestow
upon your Majesty the Apostohc blessing." ^
* Ibid., 514 ; Menzel, IX., 473. A second and stronger Brief
of July 16, 1708, threatening excommunication and war, and
published in 1708, in Lettres hist., XXXIV., 273, is considered by
NooRDEN (III., 337) as an interpolation, whilst Landau (360
seqq.) regards it as authentic, although it is not found in the State
Archives of Vienna. However, there can be no question of its
authenticity since it is not among the authentic Epist. dementis
XI., in Papal Sec. Archives. That at this time, in order to foster
discord among the Christian princes, many stories were invented
and spread abroad, especially by the French, is shown by the
AN IMPERIAL MANIFESTO. 5I
Instead of any answer to the Brief of June 2nd, the Emperor
pubKshed a manifesto dated June 26th. In form it was a
refutation of the papal decree of the preceding year which
had declared null and void the agreement between the Duke
of Parma and the imperialists, but in substance it was an
open declaration of war. Everybody knew, the document
said, at what cost the victorious arms of the Emperor and his
allies had freed Italy from the domination of the French
and restored to it its liberty, and what claims to the gratitude
of the Italian States the Emperor had thereby acquired !
Instead of this, to the amazement and scandal of the whole
world, the ministers of the Roman See had had recourse to
spiritual weapons in secular concerns, and attempted to over-
throw the ancient rights of the Emperor and the Empire to
Italy and its dependent territories of the Duchy of Milan,
with an appeal to an alleged feudal suzerainty of the Roman
See. But history and unquestionable documents prove that
suzerainty over the aforesaid Duchies belonged exclusively
to the Emperor and the Empire who invested the legitimate
holders of the Duchy of Milan. This suzerainty had never
been renounced. The Emperor's rights were so interwoven
with those of the Empire that they could not be separated
from the latter without the consent of the whole ; still less
could the}' be torn away from it by papal Bulls, however many
excommunications these might threaten. It was an utterly
vain, and even a ridiculous thing, to arrogate to oneself
judgment in one's own cause, and by means of Bulls to claim
for oneself the rights of a third party. The quartering and
provisioning of troops in imperial feudal territories had done
report in Mercure historiqite, XLV., 119, that in his homily on the
feast of St. Peter, Clement XI. had compared the Emperor to
an eagle whose bill was full of blood. In the authentic text of the
homily (Clementis XI., Opera, Horn., 54 seqq.), there is a quota-
tion from the Holy Scripture about the eagle, but not in connection
with the Emperor. With reference to the difficulties of the time
the Pope says at the end in a very general way : " Fluctuabit
Petri navis, sed non mergetur ; ac licet tot tantisque Ecclesia
turbinibus agitetur, portae inferi adversus earn non praevalebunt."
52 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
no injury to the Church's property, especially as by this means
the peace and tranquillity of those territories had been assured !
Moreover it was a long standing custom in those parts to
draw upon ecclesiastical property for the maintenance of
the troops.
The Emperor further reproached the Pope with having
allowed the French to tax the clergy, whereas he himself had
been repeatedly offended by the Pontiff. Until now he had
patiently borne with everything, but the time had now come
when he would no longer be able to justify further hesitation
before God and his successors. Accordingly, after hearing his
privy council and the council of Empire, as well as the opinions
of foreign theologians of good repute and that of experts in
civil and canon law, he, on his part, declared null and void
the Pope's nulHty Brief as well as the sentence of excom-
munication, all the more so as it had been pronounced, not
in defence of the Lord's inheritance, but in order to bolster up
papal pretensions. Since, according to the holy Fathers and
the Councils, unjust ecclesiastical penalties are to be feared,
not by those against whom they are pronounced, but by
those who pronounce them, he appealed to the judgment
of God and that of all impartial people. As for the two Duchies,
no right of any kind, least of all that of direct suzerainty
over them, could be conceded to the Holy See. Accordingly
he forbade the Duke of Parma and his subjects, under pain
of confiscation of their property and other corporal punish-
ments, to take any notice of the Pope's declaration of nullity,
or to recognize any other overlord except the Emperor and
his brother King Charles of Spain. ^
The tone of this manifesto, to which the Pope dechned to
reply, 2 will be more easily understood if we remember that
1 BuDER, II., 83 scqq. Landau (361) says the manifesto is
perhaps the strongest document ever penned by an Emperor of
the House of Habsburg against a Pope.
2 On the unauthenticity of the Brief of July 16, 1708, see
above, p. 50, note 4. Authentic, however, are the Briefs
protesting against the invasion of the Papal States by the
imperialists and the edicts of Milan and Naples, addressed to
ANTI-PAPAL WRITINGS. 53
in Joseph's case reverence for the Holy See had been under-
mined already in his early youth, whilst his head had been
stuffed with " new interpretations of the faded imperial
prerogatives ".^ At this time a number of writers in the pay
of the Government of Vienna were busily engaged in reviving,
by means of documents and parchments, " the phantom of
the ancient imperial fiefs in Italy ".^ In all seriousness they
advocated the notion that the Emperor had an inalienable
claim not only to Parma and Piacenza, but to all Italy, the
City of Rome and the Patrimony of St. Peter.^ A professor
of theology of Tubingen, in a defence of Joseph I. against
the Roman Bulls written in 1708 and published in the following
3'ear, laid down the following propositions : —
1. The Pope cannot be a temporal lord.
2. The donations of the Emperors to the Popes give to
the latter no sovereign rights, and they may be taken back
should a Pope be guilty of grievous ingratitude.
3. The Emperor is the supreme arbiter in all conflicts
concerning the temporal possessions of the Bishop of Rome.
4. The Council is above the Pope and must be convened
by the Emperor.
5. The Church of Germany has the same rights as those
enjoyed by that of France.
Cardinals Lamberg and the Cardinal of Saxony, to the ecclesi-
astical Electors and to the German Episcopate, in Clementis
XI., Opera, Epist., 541 seq. {cf. 555 seq.). On July 21, 1708,
Clement XI. made similar complaints to Louis XIV. {ibid.,
545 seq.). *Letters of this kind were sent also on July 21 to the
Kings of Spain and Poland, to Venice and other Italian States.
Epist. Clementis XI., t. 81, Papal Sec. Archives.
1 See the merriorandum compiled about 1695 for the informa-
tion of Joseph, in Hist. Zeitschrift, VL, 23 seqq. Cf. Noorden,
III., 330.
^ RiNGHOFFER, Die Flugschriftenliteratur zu Beginn des Spanis-
chen Erbfolgekrieges, Leipzig, 1881, 86 ; Noorden, Papsttum imd
Kaiser ini 18. Jahrhundert in Deutsche Rundschau, 1876.
' Such is the title of a book published at Jena, 1708-9, by
G. RiJHLMANN.
54 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
6. Clement XL's threat of excommunication against the
Emperor is an abuse of spiritual authority for a secular
purpose.
7. The Pope may not wage war.^
To this kind of literature belongs a memorial steeped in
Ghibelline notions, against the Pope's temporal power and
his " pretensions against the Emperor ", whose author
endeavours to prove from history that the Popes were subject
to the Germano-Roman Emperors in the same way as the
Patriarchs of Constantinople were subordinate to the
Byzantine rulers ! ^
In addition to the French,^ two Italian princes, viz. the
Dukes of Savoy and Modena, did their best to join in the
dispute between Pope and Emperor. Vittorio Amadeo II.
of Savoy had been involved in an ecclesiastico-political dispute
with the Holy See since the beginning of the pontificate of
Clement XI.^ In June, 1708, he suggested that the following
steps should be taken jointly with Joseph I. and Charles III.,
viz. sequestration of the revenues of absentee clerics, pro-
hibition to pubhsh papal Bulls, Briefs, Monitories, etc.,
until they should have received the approval of the secular
authority, restriction of the activities of the Inquisition, the
right of sanctuary and other such matters.^ Duke Rinaldo
d'Este of Modena was primarily concerned with his claims
to Comacchio. The Pope had the latter's arguments on the
subject refuted by the learned Giusto Fontanini who in his
turn was attacked by the celebrated Muratori.*^
1 Defensio aug. Rom. Impcratoris Josephi contra Curiae Romanae
hullas a I. Wolfg. laegero cancellario Tubingensi, Tubingen, 1709.
Cf. Landau, 365 seq.
2 Extracts from this memorandum preserved in State Archives,
Vienna {Romana, February, 1709), are given in Landau, 366 seq.
3 NooRDEN, IIL, 331 se^.
* Cj. below.
» On the Duke's Mdmoire of June 8, 1708, in State Archives,
Turin, cf. Landau, 369 seqq.
• On these and other polemical writings (indexed in Buder,
IL, 189 seq., 244 seq.. 486 seq., 652 seq. Lebret, Gesch. Italiens,
OUTBREAK OF WAR. 55
These polemics were followed by an armed struggle, though
not a very bloody one. War between the Pope and the
Emperor, for which French diplomacy had worked with all
the means at its disposal since the autumn of 1706,^ broke out
in October, 1708.
Before things had come to this extremity the seniors in
rank among the Cardinals had written directly to the Emperor
on August 12th, 1708, in the name of their colleagues. The
Emperor had sent the Sacred College copies of his manifesto
of June 26th. " We all," the Cardinals wrote, " could only
peruse this document with deep sorrow, and some of us
only with tears in our eyes ". The Emperor was doing
Clement XL a grievous wrong. When he declared null and
void the agreement with the Duke of Parma, the Pope could
not possibly intend to injure or restrict the rights of the
Emperor since there were no such rights in regard to the
Duchies of Parma and Piacenza. The Holy See had held these
territories for three centuries by a rightful tenure ; both
before and after the investiture of the House of Farnese, at
each renewal, the fees had always been paid to the Apostolic
Camera. This had been expressly sanctioned by the Emperor
Leopold in 1695 and 1697, who in a decree of the Council of
Empire had publicly declared that the Duke held only a few
small territories in fief from Emperor and Empire. They
were surprised that this fact should not have been brought
to the Emperor's notice, unless it was purposely kept dark
with a view to preventing His Majesty from acting as the
protector of the rights of the Roman Church, and in order
to make room for the advice of evil counsellors, theologians
and canonists. Let the Emperor calmly consider both how far
the authors of the manifesto had strayed and the expressions
they had used about the Supreme Head of the Cathohc
Church, the Vicar of Christ on earth, and about the clergy.
IX., 66o seqq.), cf. also Fea, II diritto sovrano delta S. Sede sopra le
valli di Comacchio, Roma, 1824, and Sauer, Die Schrift des
G. Valla, Gottingen, 1905, 15 seqq., 18 seqq.
* NooRDEN, IIL, 331.
56 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
His Majesty could not fail, in view of his native, truly
Austrian piety, to be horrified by such language. To
this must be added the attack and occupation of Comacchio,
to the injury of natural and international law, as well as the
unheard of decrees issued in Milan and Naples. ^
The Cardinals gave further support to the Pope when they
agreed to the removal from Sixtus V.'s treasure in Castel
S. Angelo of the sum of 500,000 scudi for armaments. ^ As
this sum proved inadequate it became necessary to impose
fresh taxes, to raise the nominal value of money without,
however, raising the metallic content, and to incur debts.
Even so the armaments were insufficient. The untrained mob
of hurriedly collected troops were no match for the Emperor's
tried veterans, all the more so as their supreme commander,
the scholarly Count Louis Ferdinand Marsigh, was unequal
to his task.^
If Clement XL, in opposition to the advice of several
Cardinals,^ decided to risk armed resistance to the Emperor,
he was chiefly inspired by the hope of help from Louis XIV.
That hope, however, proved a delusion. The King of France,
already hard pressed in his own realm, was unable to send
troops to Italy, even if he had had the will to do so, but he
kept that fact from the Pope. Marshal Tesse, whom he dis-
patched to Italy, was the bearer of more empty words and
a project for an anti-imperial Italian league, a scheme that
had not the shghtest chance of ever being realized. The
Pope was not allowed to raise troops at Avignon, and in the
1 BuDER, II.. 125 seq. ; Menzel, IX., 480 seqq. Noorden's
doubts about the authenticity of the document are unfounded,
it is found among the Romana of the State Archives, Vienna ;
see Klopp, XIII., 99.
2 Cf. *Acta consist., September 24. 1708, Vatican Library;
Reboulet, I., 231.
3 Cf. Ottieri, 64 seqq. ; Brosch, II., 43 seqq. ; Landau,
378 seqq.
* Cf. Acciaioli's *letters of November 16 and 19, and Tanara's
♦letter of November 26, 1708, Miscell. di Clemente XL, 30,
p. 16 5^5'. Papal Sec. Archives.
THE POPE S MILITARY IMPOTENCE. 57
Catholic Cantons of Switzerland such enrolments were pre-
vented by Austria. Nor could the Pope look for help in any
other quarter. Venice, Florence and Genoa remained neutral,
whilst Savoy and Modena were in league with the Emperor.
Thus the Pope was completely dependent on his own, utterly
inadequate resources. ^
In these circumstances there might have occurred a
repetition of the events of 1527, as indeed many people in
Rome feared, 2 had not the view prevailed in Vienna that it
would be best not to push things to extremes. Accordingly,
the Marquis von Prie, a diplomatist as dexterous as he was
ambitious, was sent to Rome in order to initiate fresh negotia-
tions with the Pope, and to force him to yield under pressure
of the imperial arms.^
In September, 1708, imperial troops set out from Piedmont
in the direction of Ferrara. They succeeded in occupying
the line of the Po without serious loss. At the beginning of
October the papal troops were driven from Sant 'Agostino,
San Carlo and Mirabello. The garrison of Bondeno, which had
offered a determined resistance, was forced to surrender on
October 28th. When Field-Marshal Daun took over the
command the course of the operations was further accelerated.
Whilst one division blocked Ferrara the main force marched
through Cento against Bologna. On November 8th nine
imperial regiments appeared before the walls of the second
capital of the Pontifical States, whose head had protested
against these doings in a Brief to the Cardinal of Saxony,
dated November 3rd, 1708.^ At Bologna there was no thought
of resistance. The magistrates undertook to remain neutral,
to grant a free passage to the imperialists and to provide
^ C/. NooRDEN, III., 341 seq. ; Landau, 390 se^., 403 ; Pometti,
XXL, 406.
" Cf. Zondadari's report in Lamberty, V., 256, quoted by
KlopP, XIIL, 102.
5 Landau, 391 seqq. On Prie, cf. Reumont in Arch. stor. ital.,
4th series, XVII. (1886), 218 seqq. ; Claretta in Giorn. Lignst.,
1887, 321 seq. ; Pometti, XXL, 400.
* *Epist. dementis XI., 86, p. 280, Papal Sec. Archives.
58 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
them with winter quarters. On November 11th the imperial
troops marched through Bologna and occupied Forh and
Faenza where Daun estabhshed his headquarters on
November 21st. Avoiding battle, Marsigli and his troops
retreated to Pesaro and eventually as far as Ancona where
they entrenched themselves.^
In the midst of this hopeless situation circumstances
changed in favour of the Pope in a most unexpected manner.
Clement XI. had given assistance to the Pretender James III.,
the unfortunate son of James II. of England, in his attempt
to reconquer Scotland. ^ For this action Admiral Leake,
the commander of the Enghsh Mediterranean fleet, was
instructed to demand satisfaction and to bombard Civita-
vecchia. Both the Emperor and the Duke of Savoy reahzed
that such an action against the Supreme Head of the Church
would not be in their interest. They only wanted to push
things as far as was necessary for securing a favourable
separate peace. The Dutch also thoroughly disapproved of
the EngUsh plan. The pensioner of the Council, Heinsius,
told the imperial ambassador that the Dutch admiral in the
Mediterranean had not been ordered to take hostile action
against the Pope, hence if Leake were to take such action
he would dissociate himself from him ; in fact complaints
1 Cf. BuDER, II., 175 seq. ; Landau, 400 seqq.
* Not only by ostentatious supplications to God but, though it
was afterwards denied, also secretly with money, which, however,
was to be paid only after the success of the enterprise. This
is clear from an ^instruction in code of Paolucci, April 4, 1708,
to the nuncio in Paris. There he speaks of : " quella somma di
denaro che gia da molti anni ha tenuto a tale soggctto segreta-
mente in cotesti banchi destinata a beneficio di questa grande
impresa " — in all 110,517 scudi — ; however, this subsidy should
only be paid " quando sia veramente non solo imbarcato, ma
giunto e ricevuto in Scozia il Re, e che pcr6 possa dirsi riuscito
felicemente il disegno " ; the payment should be made directly
to the Queen of England, not all at once, " ma di tempo in tempo,"
according to Torcy's advice. Nunziat. di Francia, 388, Pap. Sec.
Arch.
NEGOTIATIONS. 59
were heard at the Hague to the effect that Joseph I. had
gone too far already. The Dutch, and soon after them the
Enghsh, saw with growing anxiety that instead of supporting
their enterprises against France, the Emperor employed his
troops against the Pope in a campaign which not only was
of no advantage to them in the war of succession, but which
was bound to lessen the value of the contribution of their
imperial ally on the Rhine, in Flanders and in Spain. ^
These favourable symptoms remained hidden from the
Pope. He was overawed by the relentless advance of the
imperial army. Tossed hither and thither by fear and hope,
he vainly strove to arrive at a firm decision, with the con-
sequence that his moods and utterances were subject to
endless change. If at any time, it was now that his character
revealed itself as described by Abbe Polignac, who com-
pared him to a reed which only stands because it bends. ^
The Marquis Pri6 reached Rome on October 24th, 1708,
but he was only received in audience on November 10th,
after Cardinal Barberini had effected a compromise on the
subject of the ceremonial.^ This was followed by further
discussions often lasting three hours. ^ Prie presented five
demands : disarmament of the papal troops ; satisfaction for
a number of measures which the Emperor considered as
injuries ; recognition of Charles IH. as King of Spain in the
same way as Philip IV. ; the handing over of the disputed
questions concerning Comacchio, Parma and other fiefs of
Empire to a cardinalitial commission in which Prie and the
Milanese senator Caroelli would take part as representing
the Emperor ; recognition of the Roman Emperor's precedence
over the King of France.^
1 NooRDEN, III., 355 seqq. ; Klopp, XIII., loo seqq. ; Landau,
404 seqq.
* NooRDEN, III., 346.
' *Report in Barb. 5643-4, Vatican Library. Cf. Landau,
410 seq.
* Prie's *report of November 26, 1708, State Archives, Vienna.
* " Cinque sono stati li punti principali e generali ai quali ho
ridotto le dimande di V. INIt^ et a cui si ponno pel riferire tutte
60 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The third demand, viz. the recognition of Charles III/
quelle che si potessero promovere in appresso per ordine della
Mta. vra. II primo e state la riforma delle nuove lave, e ho proposto
sul motivo di togliere le reciproche diffidenze e massimamente
quelle che si sono date non solo a V. M*^, ma a tutti li Collegati
con un armamento si strepitoso e si puoco necessario doppo
tutte le proteste, che V. M. haveva fatto fare dai suoi General!,
e poi da me si chiaramente et si positivaniente al cardinale Casoni,
nel congresso havuto a Ferrara, sopra il che si condanna universal-
mente la condotta di questa corte, e si rendono giustificate le
determinationi di V. M.
Ho ricercato le giuste sodisfattioni dovute a V. M. non solo per
gl'insulti, che sono stati fatti ultimamente nel Ferrarese, ma per
tutti gl'aggravii, che sono portati dai capi di doglianza compresi
nelle mie instruttioni, che mi son riservato di proporre a suo tempo.
Ho dimandato la ricognitione di S. M*^ Catt^a con ugualianza
al Duca d'Angio, havendo stimato di portare tutti li giusti motivi,
che favoriscono tal dimanda, e di contenermi in tal forma sino alle
risposte del Re Cattolico, oltre che si sarebbe sempre in tempo di
restringere le suddite pretentioni.
Che sua St^ deputi cardinal! per entrare in congresso meco e col
senatore Caroelli a fine d'esaminare amichevolmente le pendenze
dei stati di Parma e di Comacchio e de' feudi imperial!, che sono
massimamente nei contorni di Roma : che Sua S*^ si degni com-
mettere a' detti cardinal! d'entrare in tal discussione coU'istesso
spirito d'equita e di verita, che ci ha imposto la M. V. per parte
sua, si che S. St^ si contenti rendere I'istessa giustitia alle raggioni
di V. M. e dell'imperio, che la M'^ Va s'e dichiarata di voler rendere
alle raggioni della Chiesa. Ho stimato di dover protestare, che
questo sia un congresso e non un giudicio, mentre la M^^^ V. non
pu6 riconoscere alcun giudice, ne prende altra legge che dalla sua
grand'equita in queste materie spettanti al sacro Romano
Imperio.
Ho piu stimato di non dover promettere di accennare pur
anche in ultimo luogo, che sia in avvenire piii rispettata la dignitk
di V. M'^ in Roma, non volendosi piii sofirire il predominio,
che s'fe usurpato la Francia in questa corte." Prie's report,
November 26, 1708, State Archives, Vienna. Cf. Klopp, XHL,
103 ; Landau, 411.
1 " II terzo punto piii difficile c piu importante," Pri6 says
in his *report of Nov. 30, 1708, he. cit.
NEGOTIATIONS. 6l
was the one fraught with the weightiest consequences. When
the imperiahsts pointed to the strong moral support given
to the House of Bourbon by the recognition of Phihp V.,
the answer from the papal side was that the Pope had only
followed the usual course, and that at the time of the recog-
nition in 1701, neither Leopold I. himself nor his Roman
ambassador had raised a protest ; all they had demanded
was that Philip V. should not receive the investiture of
Naples which, as a matter of fact, the Pope had not granted
in spite of the complaints of the French. ^
To the Pope the situation must have appeared extra-
ordinarily serious. The Roman populace was discontented ;
people recalled to mind the sack of Rome by Charles V.'s
army under Bourbon ; the Sacred College was divided ;
since the middle of December the city was threatened from
the south also by an army based on San Germano under
the command of the Prince of Darmstadt, whilst no help
could be expected from any quarter. The Pope feared the
fate of the seventh Clement. There was nothing he could
do except to yield ; but in that case Louis XIV. and Philip V.
threatened with sequestration of all revenues from France
and Spain, the rupture of diplomatic relations and the seizure
of Avignon. 2
1 " Si diffendono essi," says Prie in his report of Nov. 30,
1708 {ibid.), " da questi rimproveri, col dire, che non poteva
dimeno Sua St^ dal riconoscere detto prencipe, senza violar
gl'usi ecclesiastici, e caggionare gravissimi inconvenienti, e ch'il
defonto Imperatore, ne il suo ambasciatore in Roma non si era
mai opposto a tal ricognitione, sendosi solo chiesto da Sua S*^^,
che non concedesse I'investitura di Napoli, il che fu promesso et
osservato inviolabilmente non ostante tutte la doglianze e le
premure de' Gallispani."
* Klopp, XIII., 102, 104. On the French menaces Kaunitz
♦reports on Dec. 2, 1708, " che la corona di Francia s'esimirebbe
dall'ubedienza della S. Sede, impedirebbe tanto in Spagna che in
Francia le rendite della Dataria, richiamcrebbe i suoi ministri
da Roma e s'impadronirebbe della contea d'Avignone, ogni
qualvolta S. St^ in qualsivogha modo ardisse di riconoscere S. M.
Catt." State Archives, Vienna. The troops concentrated at
62 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
An attempt b}'' the Pope to obtain a mitigation of the
harsh conditions through the mediation of Giuho Piazza,
Bishop of Nazaret, who was dispatched to Vienna about the
middle of December, proved a complete failure.^ Clement
discussed the affair thoroughly with Cardinals Paolucci,
Marescotti, Spada, Panciatici, Spinola and Fabroni.^ He
felt he must be prepared for the worst. He gave orders for
the restoration of the covered passage by which Clement VH.
had fled from the Vatican to Cast el S. Angelo at the approach
of the troops of Charles V.^ More than once he thought of
fleeing from Rome. But where to ? Genoa, Venice and other
places offered no safety from the imperialists ; there only
remained Avignon, suggested by Louis XIV., but if he went
there he ran the risk of enslavement by France.^
Thus bereft of all human help Clement XI. stormed heaven
by the publication of a jubilee, and by ordering prayers and
processions. On January 2nd, 1709, he ordered the ancient
picture of our Lord to be carried in solemn procession from
the chapel of Sancta Sanctorum to St. Peter's. The Pope
himself followed the procession on foot, accompanied by aU
the Cardinals and a vast number of secular and regular
clergy.^ Whilst these processions were being repeated the
agents of the Bourbons, Abbe Polignac and the auditor
Molines, made a fresh assault on Clement XL At this inter-
view the Pope compared himself to a captain who, seeing
San Germane numbered 4,000 men, and had a strong artillery ;
see Paolucci's *letter to Piazza, Dec. 22, 1708. Nunziat. di
Germania, 45, Papal Sec. Archives.
^ On Piazza's mission see Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 573
seqq. ; Landau, 413 ; Pometti, XXL, 404 seq., 409 seqq.
2 Cf. the *notes of the discussions of December 17, 19 and 23,
1708, in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 30, Papal Sec. Archives ;
there also Prie's *Articoli with autograph notes by the Pope ;
also *EepHche del Marchese di Prie and *Coniro risposte per parte
di S. St^.
' C/. Ottieri, III., 82, 92 ; RiNCK, IL, 421.
* NooRDEN, III., 347 seq., 350, 353.
' BuDER, IL, 211 seg.
THE POPE YIELDS. 63
himself surrounded by corsairs, offers part of the cargo as
a ransom for ship and crew, though without pretending to
have a right to dispose of another's property.^
Vienna was afraid of ecclesiastical penalties for which
the French were pressing. It also feared lest the Pope should
take to flight, so much so indeed that the Emperor threatened
the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John with confiscation
of all the possessions of the Order within his States should
he lend the Pope assistance with his ships. ^ Prie allowed
nothing to transpire of this fear, nor of the pressure on the
part of the maritime Powers in Vienna and Barcelona for a
speedy conclusion of peace. He gave the impression that
the imperialists were prepared for extreme measures, and
fixed January 15th, 1609, as the farthest time limit for the
Pope to make up his mind ; should he fail to do so the imperial
troops, which were drawing ever nearer, would march on
Rome.^ The Pope's extreme reluctance to yield appears
from the circumstance that he deferred his decision up to the
last minute of the time limit. On January 15th, 1709, at
eleven o'clock at night, yielding to force, he accepted the
treaty on which his Secretary of State, Cardinal Paolucci
and Prie had agreed three days before.^
The document, dated January 15th, 1709, bore the
signatures of Cardinal Paolucci and of Prie and comprised
nineteen articles.^ By its terms the Pope bound himself to
* NooRDEN, III., 358.
^ Landau, 415 segy., 423.
' Cf. Paolucci's *Letter to Piazza, January 5, 1709, Nunziat. di
Germania, 45, Papal Sec. Archives.
* NooRDEN, III., 359 ; Landau, 425 ; Pometti, XXL, 406
seq. The *Brief to Paolucci, with powers to come to a settlement
with Prie, is dated January 12, 1709, Miscell. di Clemente XI.,
30, p. 126, Papal Sec. Archives. Ibid., 133, *Letter of Cardinal
Kegroni to the Pope, Di casa 12 gennaio, 1709 : the dying Cardinal
Colleredo had implored the Pope not to discuss any further with
the Cardinals, but to conclude the matter.
* " *nella scorsa notte," reports Paolucci to Piazza on January
16, 1709. Nunziat di Germania, Pap. Sec. Archives.
64 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
disarm completely, to grant a free passage to Naples to the
imperial troops whilst the war lasted, and to give no assistance
to the Francophile refugees from Naples. As the papal
demobilization progressed the imperial army would be with-
drawn from the Papal States, Comacchio alone remaining in
the occupation of imperial troops until the disputes about
its possession should have been amicably settled by a Con-
gregation of Cardinals, in conjunction with Prie. The dispute
over Parma and Piacenza and Este's claim to Ferrara were
to be settled by similar means. ^
Certain secret articles concerned the most difficult question
of all, viz. the recognition of Charles III. as King. The Pope
was prepared to grant it, with all its consequences, that is the
dispatch of a nuncio to Charles' court at Barcelona, con-
sideration for existing conditions of possession in the bestowal
of benefices and a declaration to the Emperor that the title
conceded to Philip V. granted the latter no new rights and
in no way curtailed those of the Habsburgs. In return some
concessions were also made to the Pope, namely in regard to
Naples and Milan the abolition of the prohibition of the export
of money and the sequestration of the possessions of non-
native ecclesiastics, canonical satisfaction for the violation
of the Church's immunity at Parma and Piacenza, com-
pensation for the damage caused by the passage of the imperial
troops, abolition of the placet in all Charles' Italian territories.
A commission of fifteen Cardinals was to decide whether
the Habsburg King should be styled simply " Catholic King "
or " King of Spain " as well.^
These discussions, difficult as they were in themselves,
were rendered still more arduous by the delay in the execution
of the concessions demanded by the Pope in return for the
1 DuMONT, VIII., I ; BuDER, II., 221 seqq. ; Landau, 425 seqq.
" See the summary of the secret articles in Paolucci's *letter
to Piazza, dat. Rome, Jan. 16, 1709, Nunziat. di Germania,
loc. cit. The most important passages are in Pometti, XXL,
406-7. Cf. a resume according to Pri6s reports in Landau,
427 seqq.
BREACH BETWEEN ROME AND SPAIN. 65
full recognition of Charles, and by the insistence of
the Cardiualitial Congregation on the surrender of Comacchio.^
Meanwhile the oppression of the papal subjects by the
imperialists continued.^ In the circumstances the letter of
February 19th, 1709, in which Joseph I. expressed to
Clement XL his satisfaction at the conclusion of peace,^
sounded almost like a mockery. To the Pope's complaints
the Emperor replied on March 10th, 1709, promising an
inquiry and redress,* but the imperial troops continued their
acts of violence and their demands for contributions in "the
territory of Ferrara throughout the months of May and
June.^
At the same time Clement XI. had to face the bitter enmity
of Philip V. For some years already he had watched with
anxiety the Gallican tendencies pursued by the Government
of Madrid through Amelot and Orry, and he had to put
up a constant hght for the preservation of his ancient
ecclesiastical rights in Spain. ^ The influence of the Holy
See on the Inquisition was a thorn in the side of the absolutist
Government quite as much as the existence of the tribunal
of the nunciature and the Church's immunity. Before the
battle of Almansa (April 27th, 1707) contributions had indeed
been laid upon the clergy, but ecclesiastical immunity had
been safeguarded. After the victory Amelot and Princess
Orsini, who was all-powerful with the King, were bent on a
further step. This was to impose on the clergy also the so-called
free-will gift of money which had been enforced on the laity.
The Pope protested against this patent attempt to tax the
1 POMETTI, XXI., 409 5(?^^., 412.
2 BuDER, II., 311 seqq. ; Landau, 441 ; Pometti, XXL,
411.
^ *Original, dat. Vienna, Feb. 19, 1709, in Miscell. di Clemente,
XL, 30, loc. cit.
*■ *Original, ihid.
* Paolucci's *letter to Piazza of May 6 (" il martirio si soffre
o per dir meglio continua soffrirsi "), May 18, June i, 15, and 29,
1709, Nunziat. di Germania, loc. cit.
" Baudrillart, L, 302 seq.
VOL. xx.xni. F
66 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
clergy by the State's own authority.^ As Louis XIV. sided
with the Pope in this matter, Madrid decided to beat a retreat.
The attempt to introduce the Galhcan principles in Spain
had thus failed,^ but when at the beginning of 1709 the Pope
found himself compelled to promise the imperialists to
recognize Charles III., a rupture between Rome and Madrid
ensued. The warnings of Louis XIV. remained unheeded.
In vain the latter represented to his nephew that the Pope
had only yielded to force ; in vain he dissuaded Philip from
countering the dispatch of a nuncio to Barcelona by the
expulsion of the Madrid nuncio and the recall of his Roman
ambassador, since such measures would only benefit his
enemy. ^ Deaf to all warnings the ill-advised Philip V. had
recourse to the severest reprisals. In May the Duke of Uzeda
was recalled from Rome."* Thereupon nuncio Zondadari,
who had loyally stood by the King in the saddest and most
critical days, saw himself expelled from Spain, and the
Madrid nunciature closed. An edict of PhiHp V. of June 2!)th,
1709, sequestrated all the revenues of the Holy See in Spain
and forbade all relations with Rome.^
The consternation caused in Rome by Philip's action was
all the greater as it had not seemed possible.^ " All that
1 Clementis XI., Opera, Epist., 399 seq., 429 seqq.
2 Ibid., 303 seqq.
3 Ibid., 316 seq.
* BuDER, 291 seq.
5 La FuENTE, XIII., 215 ; Buder, II., 310.
« On Feb. 16, 1709, Paolucci had written to the nuncio in
Paris : " La cognizione che V. S. I. avvisa haversi da cotesta
corte della strana violenza ch'e stata usata dagli Alemanni con
N. Sig""^, quale certamente e maggiore di ogni espressione e
superiore ad ogni credere, non concorda punto con le risoluzioni
che Ella teme siano per prendcr.si tanto dalla medesima corte
quanto da quella di Spagna circa I'espulsione de' Nunzii. E vanita
11 temere che, appresso la pieta e religionc della nazione Spagnuola,
la ricognizione che fara Sua Beatn« dell'Arciduca sia per produrre
effetto alcuno pregiudiziale a Filippo V, mentre se sapranno le
cose con verita e sara nota, come dovrebbe essere, la barbarie
BREACH BETWEEN ROME AND SPAIN. 67
could have been imagined was exceeded by the reahty," the
Pope lamented in the first days of April, 1709. The nuncio
was instructed to make a protest should he be expelled from
Madrid but not to leave the country, and to keep the
nunciature open.^ When the action of the Spanish Govern-
ment made this impossible, he was ordered to withdraw to
Avignon. The Secretary of State now seriously threatened to
recognize Charles III. as King.^ That step was facilitated by
the following events.
con cui e stato trattato il Patrimonio de' santi apostoli Pietro e
Paolo, e la violenza praticatasi contro ogni ragione col Vicario di
Giesu Christo, la stessa pieta e religione della nazione produrra
un effetto totalniente contrario, e cagionando orrore e avversione
ne' Spagnuoli contro chi ha tenuta una si ingiusta e violenta
condotta, accrescera in loro la venerazione e I'aniore verso chi se
n'e astenuto e se ne astiene ; tanto piu che I'haver Sua St^, prima
di far'alcun passo, aspettato, per cosi dire, resterminio totale del
suo stato e del suoi sudditi, ha fatto e fa ben conoscere a tutto
il mondo, verso qual parte era la sua inclinazione. E troppo male
si corrisponderebbe dall'istessa parte al molto che ha sofferto la
S*^ S., se si procedesse alle risoluzioni che si minacciano." Numiat.
di Francia, 388, p. 99, Papal Sec. Archives.
^ Paolucci to Zondadari, April 6, 1709 : * Although six regiments
were in the Papal States, the Pope had not recognized the Arch-
duke Charles. " Or questo non si chiama esser martire di
Filippo V. ? e che poi dal medesimo e da' suoi Ministri si abbia
a ricevere in corrispondenza un si irreverente e scandaloso tratta-
mento senza punto riflettere alio stato violento e forzoso, in
cui si e trovato e si trova la S. S., e cosa per verita, e che sorpassa
ogn'imaginazione. Esclami percio V". S. lUn^^^ quanto conviene
e quanto puo, mentre non dira mai tanto, quanto potrebbe e si
dovrcbbe dire. In caso che si procedesse alia di lei espulsione da
Madrid, non esca dal regno, ma si fermi in qualche luogo, dove
le sara permesso, con tener sempre aperto il tribunale, e con
protestare dell'incorso nelle censure contro quelli, che recassero
impediment! all'esercizio della sua giurisdizione, o che la dis-
cacciassero dalla sua resistenza." Nunziat. di Spagna, 362, p. 206.
Papal Sec. Archives.
* Paolucci to Zondadari, May 4, 1709 : " *Ha udito N. S. con
quell'amarezza, che puo ben persuaders!, la risoluzione presa dalla
68 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The summer witnessed a change in the distribution of
power in Europe. Compelled by necessity Louis XIV. made
peace proposals to the allies which only included a demand
of Naples for Philip V.^ The negotiations broke down. On
September 11th, 1709, in spite of a valiant resistance, the
French suffered a heavy defeat at Malplaquet, the bloodiest
battle of the whole war. Almost at the same time news reached
Rome from Barcelona that on August 28th, 1709, Charles
had at last revoked the decrees published in Naples and Milan
against the rights of the Holy See. Thereupon Clement XI.
announced on October 10th, 1709, that full recognition
of Charles III. would be proclaimed at the next consistory. ^
In vain Cardinal De La Tremoille protested on October 13th
against " the injury thereby done to the rights of France and
Spain." ^ The Pope had made up his mind, and a short Brief,
dated October 10th, was already drawn up ; it was headed :
" To our beloved son Charles, Catholic King of Spain." *
The consistory was held on October 14th. In his communica-
tion to the Cardinals the Pope observed that his decision
corte di Spagna circa la di lei espulsione da quel regno. La
condotta tenuta da N. S. in haver sofferta I'ultima desolazione
dello Statu Ecclesiastico e in tuttavia soffrire presentemente
tanti e si pesanti aggravii per la ritardata ricognizione regia
del Serr"o Arciduca, ben meritava di ricevere altra corrispondenza.
Havra era la S. S. un piu giusto titolo di pensare unicamente
all'indennita del proprio state e de' suoi afflitti sudditi, mentre si
vede si mal corrisposta, e potra liberamente prendere diverse
misure da quelle sinoratenute." Ibid., -p. 311''.
^ NOORDEN, III., 462.
^ PoMETTi, XXL, 412 se^.
3 Ibid., 413; Landau, 411.
* " Carissimo in Christo filio Nostro Carolo Hispaniarum regi
catholico." The much disputed (Noorden, III., 362 ; against him
Landau, 437) authenticity of the Brief beginning : " Suscepta
a Maiestate tua consilium " is established by *Epist. dementis
XI., 87, p. 140b, Papal Sec. Archives. The statement by De La
Torre {Mem. et negociat. secretes, V., 218) is therefore correct.
The original of the *Letter of thanks of Charles III. to the Pope,
Dec. 7, 1709, in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 106, p. 82, loc. cit.
PEACE WITH THE EMPEROR. 69
would not be prejudicial to those other princes who con-
tended for the Spanish monarchy.^ On the same day he
informed Joseph I., in an autograph Brief, of the condes-
cension he had displayed in spite of the non-fulhlment of the
conditions agreed upon ; once more also he conjured him to
restore Comacchio to the Hoh^ See.-
Thus was peace at last re-estabHshed between Pope and
Emperor ; the Emperor was the victor. But when we look
at it more closely, his success appears modest enough. In
spite of the employment of all the resources of the State,
in spite of victory on the battlefield, in spite of Prie's
undeniable skill, Joseph I. had secured no more than the
recognition of his brother as King of Spain, the not very
valuable right provisionally to occupy Comacchio and a
pardon for some of his partisans.^
The emotions of the past year had greatly affected the
^ *Acta consist., Vatican Library, and *Miscell. di Clemente XI.,
106, loc. cit. The *Voti of the Cardinals, ihid., 107. Cf. Clementis
XL, Opera, Orat., 41 seq., and Pometti, XXL, 414.
2 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 663 seq., with the wrong date
of September 14, 1709. The ^original is in State Archives, Vienna ;
see Landau, 437.
^ Opinion of Landau (438). Menzel (IX., 486 seqq.) observes :
' Without doubt these quarrels with the Pope, which, putting
it as mildly as possible, could only be described as inopportune,
damaged the Austrian cause in Spain far more than the extorted
Papal recognition could benefit it, for they afforded the French
party an excellent pretext for representing the German King
to a nation full of faith as the friend and champion of heretical
principles, and for confirming the opinion already widely spread
and based on his alliance with the Protestant Powers, that he
intended to put a Lutheran or a Calvinist on the throne of the
Catholic Kings. The Emperor would have been much better
served if he had been reminded of the old German proverb,
proved by many national experiences, that it is best not to fall
out with the clergy without necessity, rather than with all the
juridical wisdom about the rights of the Empire to Parma and
wretched Comacchio." Cf. also the remarks of Botta (L, 33)
and Brosch (II., 45 seq.).
70 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Pope, who had been aiHng all through the summer, with the
result that at the beginning of 1710 he fell grievously sick.^
In March his condition was such that no one doubted his
early demise, and discussions about the election of a new
Pope began,2 but by April he was sufficiently recovered to
carry out the exacting religious functions of Holy Week ^ ;
only a stay at Castel Gandolfo in May and June led to a
recovery, though it proved but a partial one.*
^ BuDER, II., 353 seq. It appears from Lamberg's *Diary
that the Pope fell ill for the first time in September, 1702 ; on
October 15 his condition was dangerous. On March 4, 1703,
Clement XI. appeared quite pale and emaciated ; in April he
suffered much from asthma (Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein).
On the illness of 1706, cf. Reboulet, I., 179.
^ Kaunitz' *reports to Liechtenstein, March 15 and 22, 1710,
Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna.
' Kaunitz' *reports of April 12 and 19, 1710, ibid.
* Kaunitz' *reports of September 6, November 8 and 29,
and December 27, 1710, ibid. Cf. Reboulet, I., 261. Clement XL
repeated his visit to Castelgandolfo in 1711, 1712, 1713, 1714
and 1715 ; cf. Buder, II., 527, 631 seq., 707 seq. ; III., 118 seq.,
257 seq. Cf. *Miscell. di Cleiiienie XL, 26, Papal Secret Archives.
CHAPTER III.
Philip V.'s Hostility towards the Holy See —
Negotiations for the Restitution of Comacchio —
Death of Joseph I. — Election of Charles VI. as
Emperor — Peace Treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt
AND Baden (1713-1714).
Forsaken by France and Spain, and driven by extreme
necessity, Clement XI. had only yielded to force when,
pressed by the violence of the imperialists, he had consented
to recognize the Archduke Charles as CathoHc King of Spain.
He was fully aware that such a step would lead PhiHp V.
to take even severer reprisals than those he had already
indulged in. As a matter of fact, not content with the
expulsion of the nuncio, Philip V. proceeded to take further
violent measures. True, as a result of an earnest exhortation
by the Pope,i the best among the Spanish Bishops had ranged
themselves by the side of Clement XI.,^ but this did not stop
Phihp V. A royal edict dated from Madrid, October 30th,
1709, forbade all the King's subjects to have anything to
do with the court of Rome. An ordinance of December 12th
ordered all Philip's vassals, under pain of forfeiture of their
property, to quit Rome and the Papal States within four
months.^ All this was done even though before his death
1 Briefs to the Spanish Episcopate of August 24, 1709, i"
Clementis XI., Opera, Epist., 629 seq.
2 On September 14, 1709, Paolucci wrote to Zondadari, *that
to his great consolation the Pope saw from the letters of the Bishop
of Cartagena, " che non e ancor spento ne' prelati di Spagna
I'antico valore. Si sente che il zelo del medesimo monsignor
vescovo sia stato imitato anco da altri e che a tutti habbia
proceduto I'esempio del card. Portocarrero." Nunziat. di Spagna,
362. Papal Sec. Archives.
* Zondadari's *report of April 23, 1710, Miscell. di Clemente XL,
92, p. 54, loc. cit.
71
72 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Cardinal Portocarrero had conjured Philip V. to refrain
from further acts of violence.^
Philip V. felt particularly hit by the fact that Clement XI.
refused confirmation to the candidates proposed by him for
the vacant dioceses. The few Bishops who had sided with the
King soon returned to obedience to the Pope, as for instance,
the Bishop of Lerida, who, when appointed to Avila by
Philip v., had so far forgotten himself as to take possession
of the diocese without confirmation by the Hoi}' See.
Clement XI. forbade him and the Chapter of Avila, under pain
of ecclesiastical censure, to exercise their functions, in con-
sequence of which the Bishop resigned the administration of
the diocese. 2 Just then it looked as if Philip V. were about
to alter his conduct. He let it be known in Rome that he
had no intention of renouncing obedience to the Pope ;
that the prohibition of all relations with the Roman Curia
only concerned secular matters. However, he was told that
the prohibition to send money to Rome likewise affected
spiritual relations with the Head of the Church. ^ Clement XI.
firmly stuck to his resolution not to confirm the Bishops
named by Philip V. The Spanish auditor of the Rota, Jose
Molines, sought to induce the Pope to change his mind, but
at an audience on February 5th, 1710, Clement XI. made it
a condition for all further negotiations that Philip should
unequivocally revoke the ordinances hitherto published by
him. Molines was not in a position to give the desired
guarantee.^
On February 22nd, 1710, the Pope addressed yet another
Brief of grave warning to Philip V. He declared categorically
1 Text of the *edicts in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 91, pp. 199,
204, Papal Sec. Archives. Cf. Paolucci's *letter to Zondadari,
February 15, 1710, Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit. Cf. Gams, II.,
2, 312 seqq.
2 *Paolucci to Zondadari, February 15, 171 o, Niinziat. di
Spagna, 362, Papal Sec. Archives.
' *Paolucci to the Archbishop of Saragossa, March 15, 17 10,
Miscell. di Clemente XL, 92, p. 74 scq., loc. cit.
' Autograph *notes of the Pope of thr audience, ibid., p. 8.
TENSION BETWEEN ROME AND MADRID. 73
that unless the expulsion of the nuncio, the closing of the
nunciature and the prohibition of all relations with Rome
were revoked, there could be no question of his assenting to
Philip's presentation to the vacant sees.^ The Brief was
handed to Molines at an audience of March 5th. ^ On
March 15th the Secretar}^ of State wrote to the Archbishop
of Saragossa that it was the Pope's duty to insist on the
recall of Philip's ordinances, for he could not have it on his
conscience to leave the King's territory in open schism.
His Holiness hoped for a great deal from the King's goodness
and sense of justice, though he did not expect much from his
advisers.^
Unfortunately the youthful ruler succumbed to the influence
of those around him. In the negative answer which the King
at length made on June 18th, 1710, to the Brief of
February 10th, he had the effrontery to speak of his Christian
moderation and his reverence for the person of the Holy
Father.* Through Molines he bitterly reproached the Pope
for not assenting to his presentations, and for the recognition
by him of Charles HI., a fact which encouraged rebellion
among his subjects. The Pope's action was not only an
attack on his crown but on the sovereignty of every other
lawful ruler. He, the King, was resolved to uphold his rights
in spite of the Pope's hostilit3^ Philip endeavoured to justify
1 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 685. *Original draft of the
Brief with corrections by the Pope's own hand in Miscell. di
Clemente XI., 92, p. 46, loc. cit.
2 Miscell. , 92, p. 52, ibid. There also the Pope's autograph
*notes of the audience.
^ " IMonsignore, le cose son troppo chiare, le intenzioni non
possono piu celarsi. N. S. e risoluto, quando non si rivochino tutte
le novita costa fatte, di non lasciare le parti dovute al suo mini-
stero ; non vuole offendere la sua coscienza con lassare cotesti
regni in uno scisma manifesto. ]\Iolto spera nella bonta e giustitia
di S. M., ben poco in quella de' suoi consiglieri." Ibid., 92, p. 78.
* The original of the *letter dated " Del campo Reale tra
Ibars e Barbcns ", June 18, 1710, in Miscell. di Clemente XL,
92, p. .96, loc. cit.
74 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the expulsion of the nuncio on the plea that in such extreme
cases his action was in accordance with international law ;
the closing of the nunciature he excused on the ground that
scandal must be avoided ! ^ At the same time administrators
were named for the vacant dioceses by the King's own
authority, and a contribution of a million scudi was extorted
from the Spanish clergy. ^ The Pope exhaustively discussed
with the Cardinals the hopeless situation created by
Philip V.3
An important contributory cause of the deterioration of
the relations between Clement XI. and Philip V. was the
Spanish auditor of the Rota Jose Molines who, after Uzeda's
departure, acted as the King's representative in Rome,
though on account of his blustering temperament he did
more harm than good to his own interests. Clement bore
with him for a long time, but when in September, 1711,
Molines had the effrontery to put up on the Dataria an
ordinance to the effect that all Spaniards were to quit Rome,
he felt compelled to intervene. Molines was suspended.*
^ Cf. the .second detailed *letter of Philip V. to the Pope Avhich,
however, was only dispatched with Molines' letter of August g,
1 710, to " Msgr. Corradini, Uditore di S. Sta ", for the latter to
hand over to the Pope. Ibid., p. loi seq.
2 Paolucci writes to Zondadari on July 5, 1710 : " e la longani-
mita, che fin hora S. S. ha usato in non prendere alcuna ri.soluzione
contro cosi scandalosi attentati, onde per sodisfare all'obligo del
suo apostolico ministero, ha risoluto di non piu tolerarli, e gia
va pensando al modo di dargli il dovuto riparo." Niinziat. di
Spagna, 362, loc. cit. ; *Letter of Zondadari to Paolucci, dat.
Avignon, July 2 and 16, in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 92, p. 209,
loc. cit.
^ Cf. the *notes on the discussions with the Cardinals, written
partly in Clement XL's own hand and the *Voti in Miscell. di
Clemente XI., loc. cit., 213 seqq.
* Cf. BuDER, II., 550 seqq. Cardinal Paolucci *wrote to
Zondadari on September 26, 171 1 : " Delia tante lesioni, che sono
state inferite dalla corte di Madrid, pare che non possa mettersi
in dubbio esserne stato o I'autore o I'istigatore Mons. Molines,
mentrc si sa, ch' cgli ha scmprc scritto in Spagna con sentiment!
THE TENSION CONTINUES. 75
An even more decisive measure followed. Soon afterwards,
on October 17th, 1711, a Brief declared null and void every-
thing Philip V. had done in Spain against ecclesiastical
immunity and papal authority.^ The Government of Madrid
replied in November by renewing the prohibition of all
relations with Rome.^
Though several attempts at a compromise had proved in
vain, the Pope invoked the mediation of Louis XIV. on
April 1st, 1712, whilst a grave warning was given to Philip V.^
The Bishop of Cartagena, Luis Belluga, also conjured the
King not to throw his realm into hopeless confusion.^ In
his reply to the Pope on May 23rd, Philip V. accepted the
mediation of Louis XIV.,''' in fact he altered his line of action
in so far as he informed the Bishops on Jul}^ 30th that he
would not interfere with Bulls on purely spiritual matters,
such as dispensations, and so forth. ^ But negotiations on
numerous other points in dispute became increasingly
difficult.'^ In May, 1713, Pompeo Aldrovandi was sent to
Paris by the Pope for the purpose of initiating a compromise
by negotiating with Philip's representative, Jose Rodrigo
Villalpando, with the co-operation of the French minister
indegni non solo del proprio carattere di ecclesiastico, ma atti
a tener sempre in maggior discordia le due corti, et irritate ranimo
del Re contro la S. Sede." On account of other outrages the Pope
has now decided to suspend him "a divinis ", and from ecclesi-
astical benefices {Nunziat. di Spagna, 362, loc. cit.). Cf. also
Clement XI. autograph notes on Molines in Miscall, di Clemente XL,
93, loc. cit.
1 The Brief " Alias ad " of October 17, 1711 {Bull, XXI., 450),
was formulated only after a careful elaboration, as appears
from the *drafts in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 93.
2 *Miscell. di Clemente XL, 94, p. 301, and 93, p. 301, loc. cit.
' Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1643 seqq.
* * Miscell. di Clemente XL, 94, p. 93, loc. cit.
* *Original, ibid., p. 142.
* Ibid., p. 146, 192.
^ Cf. Prie's reports to the Emperor, dat. Rome, October 22 and
December 17, 1712, Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the
Vatican (now in State Archives, Vienna).
76 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Torcy.^ Louis XIV., too, was full of hope just then.^ However,
every effort to get Aldrovandi accepted as nuncio in Madrid
proved of no avail, nor could agreement be reached either
on the jurisdiction of the nuncio, or the taxation of the clergy.
As the year drew to its close even Aldrovandi began to
despair. 3
As a matter of fact at this time those counsellors of Philip V.
who were hostile to the Church had gained the upper hand
once more. On December 12th, 1713, the Council of Castile
was ordered to make suggestions as to how the Government
might best counter the a'buses of the nunciature, the Dataria
and whatever else was described as encroachments of the
Curia. On December 19th the Fiscal of the Council of Castile,
Melchior Raphael de Macanaz, sent in a report which he
further ' supplemented a little later.'* Macanaz' report is
mainly based on the grievances which Chumacero and
Pimentel had put forward against the nunciature in the days
of Urban VIII, ^ though he went much further than they
when he demanded that the nuncio should not be allowed
any jurisdiction at all, and that the Bishops should be chosen
by the Chapters and confirmed, not by the Pope, but by the
King.
Macanaz' memorial is a synthesis and the outcome of the
regalist doctrine. It enumerated every single question in
dispute between Church and State, not indeed with a view
to a loyal understanding, but rather the suppression of the
rights of the Church by the State. Such views are not sur-
prising in a man of whom we are told that he never went to
^ *Reports of Aldrovandi, who journeyed to Paris, where he
arrived at the end of May, 17 13, via Genoa and Marseilles, in
Nunziat. di Spagna, 211, Papal Sec. Archives. At first it was
decided to entrust the mission to A. Albani ; see Prie's report
of March 4, 1713, loc. cit.
"^ Cf. Aldrovandi's *report, dat. Paris, June 5, 1713, loc. cit.
' Cf. Aldrovandi's *report, dat. Paris, Decembera^, 1713, loc. cit.
* Cf. Coleccion de los Concordatos, Madrid, 1848 ; La Fuente,
Hist. gen. de Espana, XIII., Barcelona, 1889, 159 seq., 213-234.
* Cf. the present work, XXIX., 189 seqq.
MACANAZ MEMORIAL. 77
, church.^ So long as such counsellors found a ready hearing
in Madrid the negotiations in Paris between Aldrovandi and
Villalpando, for a compromise, were as little likely to yield a
favourable result as the conversations which were taking place
at the same time in Rome between Corradini and Molines.^
Thus by his recognition of Charles III., Clement XI. had
become involved in exceedingly grave difficulties. Yet in
spite of all its encroachments the court of Barcelona was
not yet satisfied. In fulfilment of a promise he had made,
the Pope had sent the Abbate Giuseppe Lucini to represent
him in Barcelona (February 7th, 1710).^ But Charles was not
^ P. Aldrovandi, in his *report of November 26, 1714, char-
acterizes Mancanaz as " uomo empio senza religione, e che sono
gia molti anni che non si accosta alia chiesa." Nunziat. di Spagna,
211, loc. cit.
^ Aldrovandi's *reports show how much he exerted himself.
According to his letter of January i, 17 14, his hopes revived
again ; on January 8 he broke forth in bitter complaints, on
January 22 he is again more hopeful ; on the 29th he reports
the difficulties of his. negotiations with Villalpando ; on February 5
he narrates a vehement conservation with Villalpando, with
whom he insisted on the return of a nuncio with jurisdiction ;
at the time he believed there would be a rupture. Louis XIV.
stepped in now (report of February 12) ; Aldrovandi continued
his negotiations (report of February 19) ; but on February 22
he had to point out how untimely and harmful to the negotiations
were the new " decreti lesivi della giurisdittione e liberta ecclesi-
astica estratti dalla nuova giunta del governo e del tribunale di
Spagna ". Soon he saw himself disappointed in his new hopes
(report of March 22), for the French ambassador in Madrid
reported that the King and the ministers declined to make
a compromise. On April 4 he is convinced that the worst opinions
about Rome have been spread in Madrid. Nunziat. di Spagna,
211, loc. cit.
* " *Instruttione data al signor abb. Gius. Lucini spedito alia
corte di Barcellona," in Nunziat. di Spagna, 360, p. 2 seqq.,
loc. cit. Ibid., Paolucci's *letters to Lucini from February 8,
1 710, to September 19, 1711, which contain much information
on the encroachments on ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Lucini
78 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
satisfied with this ; he demanded a nuncio, and drew
the Pope's attention to the fact that he had dispatched the
Prince of AvelHno to Rome as obbedienza ambassador. ^
The latter reached Rome in April, 1710, but only made his
pompous entry on January 18th, 1711, after he had secured
the promise of a regular nuncio and the settlement of the
ceremonial. The first audience was delayed by further
questions of ceremonial ; it only took place on October 2nd,
1711.2 jj^ spite of the opposition of the French Cardinals,
Lucini was recalled from Barcelona and replaced by Giorgio
Spinola as apostolic nuncio.^
With the Emperor also the Pope did not succeed in
establishing amicable relations.
In a consistory of July, 1709, Clement XI. informed the
Cardinals that he intended to send his nephew, Annibale
Albani, to the Emperor and some other Catholic princes
with a view to the restoration of peace. ^ On the other hand
the Emperor Joseph made the recognition of his brother
Charles as King of Spain a condition of Albani's reception.
He would not hear of the Pope intervening in the peace
negotiations. He accordingly directed his representatives in
London and at the Hague to prevent the admission of the
papal and Venetian envoys in any capacity, much less at the
could do very little ; especially was he unsuccessful in obtaining
the condemnation " del nuovo modo di procedere nelle cause del
S. Offizio che si vorrebbe introdurre in Napoli contro Tantico
stilo ".
^ Cf. BuDER, II., 410 seqq.
" Ibid., .^59 seqq., 520.
' The " *Instruttione data a Mens, arcivescovo di Cesarea
destinato Nuntio alia cortc di Barcellona," corrected by Clement
XI. himself (see the draft in Miscell. di Clement XL, 106, loc. cit.),
is in Nunziat. di Spagna, 3G1, loc. cit. Ibid., Paolucci's *lctters to
G. Spinola from Jul}^ 11, 171 1, to July 29, 171 3, which mostly
treat of the conflicts in Naples.
* Clementis XI., Opera, Orat., 38 seqq. Cf. G. Mentz, Aus
dem Kontobuch des Niintius A. Albani, in Zeitschr.fiiy Kulturgesch.,
VIII. (1901), 43-58.
NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT COMACCHIO. 79
Congress itself.^ Albani nevertheless set out in September,
and since Charles had been recognized in the meantime,
he was justified in hoping for a favourable issue of his mission
in Vienna.
Albani's main task was to procure the restoration of
Comacchio to the Holy See. To this end he was armed with
a papal Brief dated October 4th, 1709.- In keeping with the
terms of the treaty of January 15th, ^ he also insisted on
compensation for the damage done in the Pontifical States
by the imperial troops, whereas the Emperor was only willing
to pay the expenses due to the passage to Naples ^ ; of the
surrender of Comacchio he would not hear. It was evident
that he was afraid of publicly admitting that its occupation
had been a grave mistake.^ To this was added the fact that
the Empress was an ardent defender of the interests of her
brother-in-law, the Duke of Modena. The imperialists offered
a determined opposition to Albani's insistence on the opening
of negotiations in Rome, as had been agreed upon ; they even
rejected a conciliatory proposal by which the Pope declared
his readiness to content himself with the political and economic
possession of Comacchio, and to suffer a small imperial garrison
to remain there until the matter should have been settled.^
In January, 1710, Albani went for a short time to Dresden
in order to bring pressure to bear on King Augustus, with a
view to the Catholic upbringing of the Elector Frederick
^ Landau, 445.
2 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 664 (with wrong date :
September 14, 1709).
* See above, p. 64.
* Landau, 446.
^ This is emphasized in the " *Breve relazione di quanto e
succeduto in proposito dell'afEare di Comacchio dal tempo
dell'arrivo di Msgr. Albani alia corte di Vienna seguito alii 18 del
mese di ottobre 1709 fino alia morte dello Imperatore Giuseppe I
seguita li 17 aprile, 171 1 " (Miscell. di Clemente XL, 35, p. 9 seqq.,
loc. cit.), compiled from the reports of Albani, with a view to
his justification.
* *Breve relazione, loc. cit.
8o HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Augustus. 1 On his return to Vienna he found the question of
Comacchio just as he had left it.^ Only after repeated efforts,^
on March 17th, 1710, that is live months after his arrival,
did he secure the opening of negotiations in Rome. Prie and
the Senator Caroelli were chosen to represent the Emperor,
whilst Cardinals Spinola, Paracciani and Gozzadini repre-
sented the Pope. The discussions were held in the palace of
Spinola who held the office of Camerlengo at the time. At
the first session the fiscal advocate Filippo Sagripanti and
the commissary of the Apostolic Camera, Gaspare Turco,
were also present.^ As at first only one session a week was held,
the negotiations proved e.xtremely wearisome. The Pope's
annoyance was further increased by the fresh excesses com-
mitted by some imperial troops during their passage through
the Papal States, and by the attempt to tax the Milanese
clergy with a view to meeting the cost of the war.^ Particular
annoyance was caused to the Holy See by the Viceroy of
Naples, Cardinal Grimani, who, always more imperialist than
the Emperor, was for ever threatening the rights of the
Church.^
1 BuDER, II., 360 sfg.
^ Albani was only absent from Vienna for twenty-four days.
*Ma quando egli pensava di ritrovar quivi le relazioni dei congressi
gia terminati, trovo che per nuove pretensioni del duca di Modena
(che voleva che nel tempo istesso si trattasse no' medesimi e di
Ferrara e delli beni allodiali) non si erano peranco incominciati
i congressi medesimi. Breve relazione, loc. at.
» Ibid.
* Cf. the accurate *draft entitled : Relazione dci congressi
tenuti sopra I'affare di Comacchio dalli 17 di Marzo fino alii
19 {sic. !] di Ottobre 1710, distesa dal s. card. Gozzadini. Miscell.
di Clemente XI., 39, loc. cit.
^ BuDER, II., 436se^^.
* Cf. the Briefs of 1708, 1709, and 1710, in Clementis XL,
Opera, Epist., 561 seq., 699, 719. Grimani died in September,
1710 ; he asked for absolution from the Pope, which, however,
arrived only after his death. In the meantime, Piguatelli had
absolved him. Buuer, II., 419 seq.
NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE. 8l
The negotiations in Rome took an unfavourable turn ;
it became even necessary to suspend them for a time on
account of the pretensions of the Duke of Modena.^ Prospects
remained so unpromising that doubts about the possibiHty
of an agreement began to rise. With a view to speeding up
the work of the conference, the Pope proposed the co-operation
of his auditor Corradini, but Prie dechned the offer. Albani,
however, obtained the Emperor's approval of the proposal, ^
but Prie continued to do all he could to draw out the negotia-
tions.^ The Vatican must have breathed more freely when
they were at last concluded on October 9th.* Meanwhile
Albani had been indefatigable. There was not an audience
with the Emperor at which he did not bring up the affair,
and he also appealed to the Electors of Mayence, Treves and
the Palatinate, to King Augustus of Poland, to the Bishops
of Osnabriick, Breslau, Miinster, Wiirzburg, and Salzburg,
to get them to exercise pressure on Joseph I.^
The final decisions of the conference were wholly in favour
of the Pope. Examination of all the documents had shown
that in strict law, and without qualifications of any kind,
Comacchio was the property of the Roman Church even from
the temporal point of view.^ The protocol of the sessions was
printed, but a copy only reached Vienna on February 5th,
1711.'' There a rumour had been spread that an anti-Austrian
league of the Italian princes was being formed. On
January 10th, 1711, Paolucci hastened to inform Vienna that
^ Cf. *Breve relazione, loc. cit.
2 Ibid.
» Ibid.
* Ibid. Cf. the *declaration of the three Cardinals, dat.
October lo, 1710, in Miscell. di Clemente XI., 39, loc. cit. On
December 7, after many postponements, Prie had his first solemn
audience as imperial ambassador when he displayed extraordinary
pomp. BuDER, II., 459.
* *Breve relazione, loc. cit. '
* *Declaration of the three Cardinals of October 10, 1710,
loc. cit.
' *Breve relazione, loc. cit.
VOL. xxxni. G
82 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Pope had had nothing to do with intrigues of this kind.^
On January 24th Clement XI. addressed a Brief to Joseph I.
in which he urged that, as soon as the question of right was
clarified, the restoration of Comacchio should follow without
further delay. Briefs to the same effect were addressed at
the same time to the Empress, to the widow of the late
Emperor and to Prince Eugene. ^
Under this fresh pressure Joseph I. gave way. After
reception of the Brief of January 24th, 1711, which had been
delayed by the carnival, he announced his readiness to take
decisive steps. He had the protocol of the sittings distributed
among his ministers who subjected it to a thorough examina-
tion.^ On March 8th Count Trautson, Count Wratislaw,
Baron Seilern and Prince Eugene met in a secret conference
at which the surrender of Comacchio to the Pope was decided."
Though the Emperor gave his assent, fresh delays occurred.
On April 8th it was decided that the Catholic Electors must
also be consulted.^ What their advice would be could easily
be foreseen. Count Wratislaw considered this consultation
as no more than a means of effecting the restitution without
^ POMETTI, XXL, 421.
2 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1481 seqq.
' *Essendo pero giunto racennato corriero in tempo di carne-
vale (5 febbraio), non pote pensarsi fine al principio di Quaresima
a far alcun passo in questo negozio. Ma, questa appena entrata,
si porto Msgr. Albani nella prima domenica all'udienza dellTmpera-
tore e presentatagli la lettera di S. S'^ segnata C, ottenne risposta
favorevolissima da S. M^^, che gli promise di voler far tenere
sollecitamente una conferenza su la materia. Onde distribuite in
giro ai ministri le accennate stampe dei congressi, si ando susse-
guentemente sollecitando la cosa fintanto che il sigr Cte di Trautson,
maggiordomo maggiore della M'^ Sua, il sabbato dei 7 di Marzo
17U, venne ad avvisare Msgr. Albani che d'ordine di S. M^^
doveva tenersi una conferenza segretissima di 4 soli sogetti, che
furono il sudetto Conte, oggi principe di Trautson, il C*® di
Vratislau, il Baron Seilern e il principe Eugenic. Breve relazione,
loc. cit.
* Ibid.
« Ibid.
DEATH OF JOSEPH I. 83
compromising the imperial dignity and as an excuse with the
Empress.^
When affairs had progressed thus far, and the Pope was
confidently looking forward to a favourable solution of the
matter, 2 the Emperor was suddenly taken ill. Symptoms of
small-pox, which in those days caused great ravages, soon
appeared. On x\pril 17th, 1711, Joseph I. died. Through
the Bishop of Vienna and the Emperor's confessor, Albani
had vainly sought to persuade the sick man to take a last
hour decision ; but he was being continually reported to be
better, until he died.^ Three days previously Louis XIV. 's
only son, the Dauphin of France, had also died of the small-
pox, at the age of fifty.
Clement XI. informed the Cardinals of the death of
Joseph I. in a consistory of April 27th, 1711. He expressed
his regret that the deceased had not been able to do homage
to the Holy See, as was the custom, nor to carry out his
decision to restore Comacchio which he had unjustly occupied.
" We do not know," the Pope went on, " whether this is due
to our sins, or whether God, in his inscrutable designs, has
permitted it in order to show that there should be no delays
^ Landau, 447.
2 Kaunitz' report, dat. Rome, April 11, 171 1, Liechtenstein
Archives, Vienna.
* *Per mezzo di Msgr. vescovo, che solo avea I'accesso alia
S. Mt^, fu pensato da Msgr. Albani che convenisse di far qualche
passo con I'infermo, accioche pensasse in materia di tanto rilievo
a sgravare la sua coscienza. Di fatto Msgr. vescovo lo fece,
come costa dalla copia della di lui attestazione. NuUadimeno
non si quieto Msgr. Albani e voleva far fare nuovamente le istesse
parti da Msgr. vescovo sudetto e dal P. confessore, al qual con-
veniva far pero parlare per un terzo, essendo anch'egli infermo,
non si movendo dalla camera dellTmperatore. Ma conoscendosi
che il fare le dette parti con vigore (eccetto solo negli estremi
periodi) piu tosto poteva nuocere, quando si credette a proposito
il farlo, non si fu piu a tempo, poiche si disse sempre che I'lmpera-
tore stava meglio sin tanto che non era piu in stato da potersegli
parlare. Breve relazione, loc. cit.
34 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
in an affair on which the salvation of the soul depends."
For all that, he trusted that God had been merciful to the
Emperor, not so much because of the resolutions which, it
appears, the deceased monarch had decided upon, as by
reason of his Christian preparation for death. ^ In a con-
sistory of May 11th a funeral service was ordered to be held
in the papal chapel both for the Emperor and the Dauphin.
The unexpected deaths of these two princes created a
profound impression throughout Europe. Two illustrious
houses have been struck by death " with impartial foot ",
the Pope said in his address ; two princes had been carried
away in the same week by the same disease. Thus does
divine Wisdom, which " plays in the world " (Prov. viii, 30),
teach us that nothing is so great or splendid as not to be at
the same time transitory and perishable. How can men,
after such an experience, be so blind as not to see the vanity
of earthly greatness, or so foohsh as to disguise it, or so
thoughtless as to deny it ? ^ In Vienna consternation was
such, both at court and in private houses and in the streets,
as to be almost beyond belief and not to be described ".^
On the other hand Paris was jubilant at the Emperor's death.
But there too there was a readiness to see in this event the
intervention of a higher Power which had, as it were plaj'fully,
robbed the allies, with a single stroke, of the fruits of their
brilliant victories, and rescued exhausted France, as if by
a miracle, when she was on the verge of ruin.^ As the Emperor
left only daughters, whom the German law of succession
excluded from the throne, xA.ustria fell to his brother Charles
who was disputing with Philip V. for the crown of Spain.
But if Joseph I.'s brother was now to inherit Austria, it was
not to be expected that England and Holland would allow
him to get hold of the entire Spanish monarchy. Thus the
Grand Alliance against France was broken up, and who was
to become Emperor ?
1 Clementis XL, O/Jcra, Epist., 53-.sT(/(/., 183.
'^ Ibid., 55 seq.
8 ZlEKURSCH, 38.
* Report of the Saxon ambassador, ibid., 6 seq.
PROSPECT OF A PROTESTANT EMPEROR. 85
Up to this time it had been customary to secure the imperial
crown for the House of Habsburg by the Emperor getting
either one of his sons or a brother elected as his successor
during his lifetime. When Joseph I. died at thirty-three he had
not yet considered such a step. The prospect of a Protestant
Emperor now became an immediate threat.^ Brandenburg-
Prussia in particular inspired great fear in this respect. True,
before accepting the royal crown, Frederick I. had bound
himself to support Austria at the imperial elections ; but
in 1706 he was engaged in negotiations with Sweden and
Hanover, the aim of which was to make it possible for a
Protestant to win the imperial throne in spite of his religion.
As a matter of fact it soon became known that the Prussian
Crown Prince intended to put forward his candidature for
the highest dignity in Christendom on the very next occasion. ^
In 1711 it was widely believed in the Empire that Frederick I.
would be a future candidate.^ Circumstances seemed favour-
able. In 1710 enormous masses of Turkish troops were con-
centrated on the Danube for an attack on Russia ; it was
generally believed that Charles XII. of Sweden would put
himself at the head of the Turkish host. In that case the
eastern frontiers of the German Empire lay defenceless before
him, so that in concert with France, the Swedish king could
make Emperor whomsoever he chose.* As it was, by reason
of the Spanish war of succession — " a civil war between the
Catholic nations " — the decision of European questions had
got into the hands of the Protestant maritime Powers, England
and Holland. However, these fears were groundless. For the
time being the maritime Powers could not make up their
minds as to whether Spain should be divided or not, but the
English Secretary of State, addressing both Houses of Parlia-
ment, spoke in the Queen's name in favour of the election of
^ On the aspirations and desires of the German Protestants
since the time of Luther, cf. H. Gunter, Hist. Jahrbuch, XXXVII.
{igi6), 376 seqq.
2 ZlEKURSCH, 28.
^ Ibid., 23.
* Ibid., 8.
86 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Charles as Emperor. The States General came to a similar
decision, and informed their allies accordingly. ^ In this way
the Electors of Mayence and Treves and the Elector Palatine
were relieved of their fear of a Protestant Emperor, whilst
on this occasion the King of Prussia gave up his designs.
Hanover and Saxony also pronounced in favour of Charles.
The Archbishop of Mayence fixed August 20th as the day
of election. 2
France, of course, was unwilling to see an opponent against
whom she had fought so long on the imperial throne, so she
tried at least to oppose his election in Rome. The imperial
dignity was of the Church's making, and the fact was still
more or less clearly remembered by wide circles. Accordingly
the French party in Rome suggested to the Pope to send the
customary monitories to the two banned *Wittelsbachs, the
Electors of Bavaria and Cologne. As such a step might
provoke resentment in Germany, the chance of troubling
the election was there. ^ The same end would also be served
by suggesting to the Pope that he should object to the
participation of Hanover in the imperial election since the
ninth electorate, that of Hanover, had not been recognized
by Rome.* At the death of the Emperor Joseph the powers of
his ambassador Prie also expired, so the French pressed the
Pope no longer to receive Prie.-^
In spite of everything, Clement XL decided in favour of
Charles, and he firmly adhered to his resolution. Like all
right-thinking people, he wrote to the Emperor, he too was
firmly convinced that, for the greater good of all Christendom,
1 Ibid., 22.
2 Ibid., 23-7.
3 Ibid., 44 seq. Extracts from the " Mcmorialbiichel " of the
Elector of Cologne, Joseph Clement, during his exile in France
are given by H. Schrors in Annalen des Hist. Vereins fiir den
Niederrhein, XCII. (1910). Cf. ibid., XCVIL (1915). i seqq. ;
XCVIIL (1916), iseqq.
* ZiEKURscH, 50 seq. ; Hiltebrandt, Reunionsverhandlungen,
95 seqq.
^ ZlEKURSCH, 47.
THE IMPERIAL ELECTION. 87
the imperial crown must remain in the House of Austria.^
In spite of all French efforts to prevent it, Prie continued to be
received in audience as before. ^ He thought, indeed, so the
Pope told the ambassador, that at the conclusion of peace,
the idea of a partition would crop up again, but as the common
father of Christendom, it was not right for him to take sides ;
he would content himself with exhorting the Christian princes
to preserve mutual concord. As for the two Wittelsbachs, he
could not meddle in the disputes of princes, but custom obliged
him to write to all the Cathohc Electors. Joseph Clement of
Cologne, as an Archbishop and an ecclesiastical Elector, could
not be set aside without the Pope's consent ; were he to look
on his deprivation as valid in law, he would approve an act
of encroachment on the part of the secular power. ^
As a matter of fact the Briefs to the Wittelsbachs were
dispatched in mid- June,* whilst the appropriate monitories
had been previously forwarded to the other Electors through
Albani. Charles was not mentioned in them, but in a covering
letter to !\lbani, the Pope stated that he had only him in
view. 5 In subsequent letters of Clement XI. to Albani
the Electors were expressly urged to elect Charles.^ When the
French ambassador suggested that the Pope should raise the
ban pronounced against the Wittelsbachs and insist on their
reinstatement, or otherwise protest against the election,
Clement XL refused to listen to him.' Through Prie he
informed Charles that it was the long-standing custom of the
^ Ibid., 46. Against Landau and Rosenlehner, who represent
Clement XL as favourable to France and unfavourable to Charles,
seeihid.,2. Exkurs, 156-162.
2 Ibid., 47.
' Ibid., 48. On the attitude of the Cathedral Chapter of Cologne
to the imperial election, cf. H. Gerig in Annalen des Hist. Vereins
filr den Niederrhein, CXIII. (1929).
* ZlEKURSCH, 58.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., XL, 1533 seqq.
* The Briefs are dated June 20, 1711. The Brief to August II.,
ibid., 1551 ; on other Briefs, see Ziekursch, 61, n. i.
' Ziekursch, 52.
88 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Holy See simply to recognize the rights and titles of all
princes, even when they had been deprived of their territories ;
hence the Briefs to the Wittelsbachs were a matter of pure
form.^ Purely formal also was the Pope's objection to the
participation of Hanover in the election ; the Elector of
Mayence had been instructed to inform the Catholic Electors
of the Brief in question (dated May .30th), but after that to
bury it in his archives. ^ A Brief of June 13th acknowledged
the election as valid even if Protestants were to intervene
in it.^ A few days later Clement XI. assured Prie that he
would take no steps against the Wittelsbachs though the
French pressed him to do so.'^
Louis XIV. also sought to disturb the election by raising
hopes of the imperial crown in Hanover,^ and even more so
in Saxony. King Augustus of Saxony refused to have any-
thing to do with the French agents Besenval and Baron
Hoock ; he remained firmly resolved to give his vote to
Charles.' However, rumours about King Augustus' plan for
securing the imperial crown had reached even "as far as
Barcelona ; accordingly the Saxon envoy met with a cool
reception on the part of Charles, all the more so as an agent
of Prince Eugene had spread the rumour in Barcelona that
France, Saxony and the Pope had agreed to secure for the
Saxon Elector the dignity of King of the Romans.''
As a matter of fact Augustus II. speculated on Charles
leaving no male heirs, in which case he hoped to succeed
him. With this end in view he sought to influence the
ecclesiastical Electors, through the Pope, in favour of his
own, or his son's election as King of the Romans ; thus the
imperial crown, together with the rich Austrian heritage,
would have fallen to his House. However, the Pope did not
1 Ibid., 6o.
2 Ibid., 59.
3 Ibid., 6o.
« Ibid., 62.
* Ibid., 90 seq.
* Ibid., 85 seqq., 92 seqq.
' Ibid., loi seq.
AUGUSTUS OF SAXONY'S CANDIDATURE. 89
take seriously Augustus' schemes with regard to the imperial
crown, since it was as yet by no means certain that the male
line of the Habsburg? would die out with Charles. On the
other hand the Pope could not reject altogether the question
of the Prince-Elector's nomination as King. The first con-
dition for such an election was, however, the Prince's con-
version to the Catholic faith ; but influenced as he was by
liis mother and grandmother, the latter held firmly to the
Lutheran confession. It was nevertheless felt in Rome that
if he were surrounded by Catholics who would convince him
that the old religion was a very different thing from the
Protestant caricature of it, there might be a chance that
the keen Lutheran might change his mind ; at any rate the
prospect of the election to the royal dignity might induce the
prince's father to fulfil his promise by putting his son in
touch with Catholicism.
As a matter of fact Augustus IL did now carry out his
promise, but even so the Pope did not feel he could support
his aspirations to the royal dignity. Only in one eventuality
did he promise his aid, namely, if one of the Electors spon-
taneously proposed Augustus as King of the Romans, or if
the Protestants attempted to secure that dignity for one of
their co-religionists, though both these eventualities seemed
remote enough. But things would be different if Charles were
to die without a male heir. In that eventuality the Pope
would favour the wishes, of the Saxon King, though only
on condition that by then the Prince-Elector would long ago
have returned to the Catholic Church. Clement XI. laid
down the same condition for his support of the Prince's
marriage with an Austrian Archduchess. ^
The Archbishop of Mayence had convoked the Electors
for August 20th, at Frankfort, but subsequently he announced
that the dehberations would begin on July 20th. ^ In the
last days of July and at the beginning of August the Electors
assembled in the ancient imperial city. Mayence and Treves
^ ZiEKURScH, 107-9, 183 sej£^.
- Ibid., 99.
go HISTORY OF THE POPES.
came in person, whilst Brandenburg, Hanover, Saxony and
Charles (as King of Bohemia) were represented by delegates.
The Rhine Palatine only arrived on September 23rd, and
Bavaria and Cologne remained excluded. ^ On August 13th
the Saxon Prince-Elector also arrived under the name of
Count of Lusatia.
The position of the papal delegate Albani at the con-
ference was a very difficult one. The Duke of Modena feared
that under his influence the ecclesiastical Electors would
make the restitution of Comacchio one of the clauses of the
election capitulation to be submitted to the future Emperor.
Accordingly the Duke's envoy, Olivazzi, taking advantage of
the prevailing none too friendly feeling towards the Pope,
did his best, especially by means of pamphlets, " to prevent
the court of Rome from meddling in any way with the affairs
of the Empire, least of all when there was question of the
election of an Emperor." - Before long it was generally
believed that Olivazzi had a secret understanding with Charles ;
hence the Pope, through the nuncio of Vienna, requested the
imperial Government to suppress by every means at its dis-
posal a particularly dangerous pamphlet. But it was too late,
and rumours of a papal intervention in favour of the two
Wittelsbachs and against Hanover further increased the
prevailing resentment.^
When Albani arrived at Frankfort for the electoral Diet,
he was repelled in most rude fashion. On his way he had
intended to call on the Elector of Treves at Coblenz, but his
demand to be received like a royal envoy was met by the
Elector hurrying off to the chase and informing Albani that
he was unable to receive him, as owing to the war the furniture
had been removed from the castle.* The Elector Palatine
absolutely refused to receive the papal representative, ^
1 Ibid., III.
2 Ibid., ii6. Contents of the more important pamphlet,
ibid., 1 15-120.
* Ibid., 121.
* Ibid., 125. * Ibid., 126.
ALBANI AT FRANKFORT. 9I
whilst at the opening of the dehberations the Prussian envoy
formally demanded his expulsion. ^ Nothing was gained by the
Pope's raising his nephew to a higher rank by giving him the
post of nuncio at Cologne. On the occasion of Albani's first
visit to the Countess Palatine, the guard was drawn up in
front of her house and presented arms as a state coach
approached. But when it was seen that it was not that of the
Elector of Mayence, who was expected, but that of the
representative of the Pope, the commanding officer dismissed
the troops. The same scene was enacted at Albani's departure,
whilst the domestics of the Elector of Mayence and those of
the Palatine stood at the windows and indulged in loud
guffaws. 2 Previous to this the Prussian delegate had already
threatened to use violence against Albani should he reiterate
the papal protest against the Prussian kingship. ^ After that
there was no need to repeat explicitly that the traditional
conception of the union between Church and State was now
definitely at an end.'* Revolution from above had arrived ;
revolution from below would not be so very long in coming.
By his lack of self-control Albani himself set the crown
on the indignities he had had to endure. He meant to dis-
appear from Frankfort as quietly as possible, but his carriage
was driven through streets in which the traffic was blocked
by the carriages and the domestics of the delegates of the
Electors. Albani lost all self-control and ordered his servants
to thrash the postilions.^
The election of the Emperor took place on October 12th ;
within a quarter of an hour it was decided in favour of Charles.^
The Saxon plans for the election of a king failed,' and a so-called
perpetual election capitulation had been drawn up on the
1 Ibid.
2 Ibid., 138.
' Ibid., 135.
* Europdische Fania, Th. 122, 107 ; rhid., 140 ; cf. 136.
* Ibid., 139.
^ Ibid., 149.
' Ibid., 142 seq.
92 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
previous day.^ Albani returned to Frankfort after the election
in order to lodge a purely formal protest against the exclusion
of the Wittelsbachs, and various other things. ^
Meanwhile Charles remained at Barcelona. Although both
Prince Eugene and the Chancellor of Bohemia, Wratislaw,
pressed him to leave Spain as soon as possible, Charles
hesitated. He had come to love that country ; those grave,
moderate men appealed to his calm and somewhat melancholy
temperament.^ He only set out from Barcelona on
September 27th, 1711, after entrusting the government to his
wife, Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel, whilst Starhem-
berg was named Governor-General. On October 12th he
landed at Vado near Savona. At Milan he was informed of
his election as King of the Romans with the right to the
imperial crown.
In a consistory of October 14th, 1711, Clement XL, whom
Charles had informed of his impending, departure on
September 12th,* named Cardinal ImperiaH his Legate for
the purpose of welcoming the monarch on Itahan soil. On
October 19th ImperiaH was given the legatine cross ; two
days later he left for Milan. ^ On November 8th, at Milan,
the Legate handed Charles a Brief dated October 13th, and
a present of a monstrance set with diamonds and containing
a particle of the true cross. ^
If the Pope had hoped that Charles would now restore
Comacchio he was destined to be disappointed. After the
Emperor's death Clement XL had based his demand for the
restitution of Commachio on the additional circumstance
that Joseph I. had occupied the town only as Emperor.
That title to ownership had now lapsed. Count Wratislaw
1 Ibid., 143 seq.
2 Ibid., 139.
3 Arneth, JEw^ew, II., 172 ; Ziekursch, ii.
* G. CniAPPONi, Legazione del card. Gins. Rcnato Intpcriali alia
S. R. M'" di Carlo III., Re della Spagna I'a, 1711, descritta, Roma,
1712.
* Ziekursch, 5, 12 5^(77.
» Ibid., 70 seqq., 92 seq., c)-j.
PAPAL ATTITUDE TO THE ELECTION. 93
declared that this motive was well founded ^ ; for all that
Albani, who had renewed his efforts as soon as the obsequies
were over, met with no readiness to yield among the leading
personalities of the court of Vienna. ^ Shortly before Joseph I.'s
death Charles also had spoken in favour of the restoration of
Comacchio. Subsequently he wished to retain at least the
right of garrisoning the town, to which Clement XI. refused
to consent ; at a still later date he declared that the matter
was not a very pressing one.^ When Charles set out for
Frankfort via Augsburg, Albani went as far as Innsbruck
to meet him, but again failed to obtain anything.'* The Pope
informed the Cardinals of the fact in a consistory of
December 18th ; at the same time, he declared that so long
as the papal confirmation of the imperial election was not
asked for and granted, neither the service of thanksgiving
for the happy issue of the election which he had ordered to be
held in the papal chapel, nor any other function of the same
kind, must be interpreted as a recognition.^ On December 13th,
1711, a Brief of congratulation was sent to Charles,^ who
was crowned at Frankfort on December 22nd. Recognition
of the election by the Pope, for which he had prayed, only
came after the great peace treaties,' and after the Electors
^ Landau, 447 ; Ziekursch, 53.
2 Cf. POMETTI, XXI., 426.
* Ziekursch, 53-7.
* pometti, xxl, 427.
* *Acta consist., Barb. XXXVI. , 48, Vatican Library.
« Clementis XL, 0/?eya, Epist., 1607.
' In the consistory of February 26, 1714, after Prie, the repre-
sentative of Charles VI., had asked on the i6th for the confirniatio
election is for his sovereign {*Acta consist., loc. cit. ; Clementis XL,
Opera, Orat., loi ; the Bull of Confirmation itself in Bull, XXL,
600 seq.). At the same time Charles VI. asked through Prie
for the right of the priniae preces which was granted to him in the
accustomed manner on March 10 [Bull, XXL, 603 seqq. ; Ottieri,
III., 589 ; BuDER, III., 44 seqq.). The negotiations on the primae
preces had been very difficult ; when the discussions were already
far advanced, fresh difficulties arose in December, 1713. On
January 8, 1714, a letter was dispatched to the nuncio in Vienna
94 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of Cologne and Bavaria had been reinstated in the dignities
of which Joseph I. had deprived them. The unexpected,
almost simultaneous death of Joseph I. and the French
Dauphin fundamentally altered the political situation of
Europe, and that in favour of the hard pressed King of France.
The death of his son was of advantage to Louis XIV. in so far
as it removed the danger that Philip V., the Dauphin's son,
might comply with the orders of his father in his capacity
of King of Spain. But at this same time Archduke Charles,
whose elevation to the throne of Spain had been proclaimed an
indispensable condition of the preservation of the peace of
Europe, secured the whole of the Austrian monarchy as the
sole heir of his brother. Already poets were busy singing the
return of Charlemagne's imperial power. The impending
supremacy (jf the House of Habsburg appeared like the
realization of the spectre of universal domination against
which one-half of Europe had waged war. The collapse of
the Grand Alliance was sealed. To this was added a change
in England. The Tories defeated the Whigs ; this meant
the victory of the peace-loving landed proprietors over the
merchant class. England was resolved not to suffer the
amalgamation of the Spanish monarchy with Austria ;
Louis XV. 's nephew, Philip V., was to remain King of Spain
whilst Charles VI. of Austria would have to be satisfied with
the Spanish possessions in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands.^
which the Pope had himself drawn up (autograph draft in Miscell.
di Clemente XL, 171-2, Papal Sec. Archives) ; it begins thus :
" *£ gran disgrazia di N. S. che per lo piu habbia di codesta
corte a riportar doglianze per quelle cose, per le quali dovrebbe
ricevere ringraziamenti. Cosi appunto accade nell'affare delle preci
primarie." Clement XI. was anxious that the quarrel should be
settled before the arrival of the new ambassador Gallas ; his
efforts were successful. Pric left Rome on June 3, 1714 [Giorn.
Ligust., 1887, 354). The *reports of his successor. Count Gallas,
to the imperial Grand-Chancellor, Count of Sinzendorff, are in the
Reuss Archives at Ernstbrunn, No. 2, *those to the Emperor
in the Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the Vatican.
1 Menzel, X., 29.
PEACE OF UTRECHT. 95
The peace congress on which England and France had
agreed opened on January 29th, 1712, at Utrecht.^ Though
most of the subjects of the negotiations were concerned with
secular matters, there were nevertheless a number of important
points which directly affected the interests of the Catholic
religion and the Holy See. As early as 1708 Clement XL,
who clearly realized the situation, had dispatched the learned
Domenico Passionei to the Hague, in an unofficial capacity.^
During the preliminary discussions Passionei worked with
success with a view to the preservation of the rights of the
Catholics of Geldern and the Netherlands. He was now
ordered to return to Utrecht in the capacity of a simple
agent. ^ His task was a most difficult one as the decisive role
in the negotiations lay with the Protestant Powers, above
all with England, which was sharply opposed to the Catholic
Church. What could be the influence of a papal representative
in such circumstances ?
One inevitable point in dispute between the Catholics and
the Protestants was the Clause of Rijswijk, by the terms of
which the Catholic religion was to be maintained in those
localities and territories which had been restored by France
^ Ottokar Weber, Der Friede von Utrecht. Verhandlungen
zwischen England, Frankreich, deni Kaiser und den General-
staaten, 1710-1713, Gotha, 1S91.
2 " *Senz' alcun titolo o carattere " (F. Garampi, 94, Papal
Sec. Archives. Cf. Paolucci's letter in Pometti, XXL, 441.
^ Passionei's *original correspondence beginning in August,
1708, in Miscell. di Cleniente XI., Pad, 49 (1712), 50 (1713),
51 (1714). 52 (1715). 53 (1716), 54 (1708-1716), Papal Sec.
Archives. On Passionei (born 1682), cf. Galletti, Memorie della
vita del card. Passionei, Roma, 1762 ; Le Beau, Eloge, La Haye,
1763 ; Moroni, LL, 271 seqq. ; Pfulf, in Kirchenlex. IX. -,
1578 seqq. ; E. de Broglie, Les portefeuilles du president Bonchier,
Parigi, 1896, 292 seqq. ; Lengefeld in the publication quoted
below, p. 107, n. 3. Letters from and to Passionei in Passionei
Library, Fossombrone ; cf. M.azzatinti, Archivi, IIL, 238, 253.
Passionei received 300 scudi a month (Garampi, 94, lac. cit.),
which was not enough. Pometti, XXL, 448 seq.
96 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
in 1697.1 Passionei was accordingly instructed before all
things to prevent the revocation of this clause and to obtain
from the congress that which had already been agreed upon
in the preliminary negotiations, namely the safeguarding
of the Catholics of Upper Geldern when that territory came
to be surrendered to the Dutch.-
Besides these interests of a religious kind, the Pope was
greatly concerned for the preservation of his suzerain rights
over Parma and Piacenza, and even more so over Sicily which
had received a new master in the person of the Duke of Savoy.
Clement XL's unwiUingness to abandon any of his rights in
this respect was left in no doubt by Passionei.^ The Pope
sought to make sure of the support of the courts of Paris and
Madrid, but this seemed impossible without concessions on
his part. Louis XIV. had asked for the red hat for the Abbe
Polignac who, together with Marshal d'Uxelles, represented
his interests at Utrecht.* After some hesitation the Pope
yielded to this demand by publishing Pohgnac's nomination
which had already been made in petto on January 30th,
1730,5 though this did not win for him such support from
France as the defence of his rights demanded. His efforts for
better relations with Philip V. failed altogether as the para-
mount counsellors in Madrid were definitely hostile to the
Church.
In these circumstances Passionei was unable to prevent
steps being taken at Utrecht about Sicily regardless of the
papal overlord. What importance Rome attached to this
matter appears from the fact that Passionei was authorized
to ask for the help even of the non-Catholic Powers.*' Though
Passionei did all he could, he achieved very little. His reports
to Rome became more and more depressing. On March 13th
1 Cf. the present work, XXXIIL, 674 seq.
2 Galletti, Passionei, 46 scq.
» PoMETTi, XXL, 432 scqq.
* Ibid., 437.
^ C/. below. Chapter VL
« POMETTI. XXL, 438.
PEACE OF UTRECHT. 97
he reported that the German Protestants took advantage of
England's preponderant role at the Congress in order to
press for the complete abolition of the Clause of Rijswijk.^
A month later the negotiations came to an end. On the
afternoon of April Hth, 1713, the French plenipotentiaries
signed first the peace with England, then that with Savoy,
Portugal, Prussia and lastly, half an hour after midnight,
peace with Holland.- The territorial decisions arrived at
implied greater changes than even those of the Peace of
Westphalia. Not a few clauses were bound to hurt the Pope
profoundly. France recognized the Protestant succession in
England and undertook to expel from her territory James III.,
the brother of Queen Anne and the rightful heir to the three
British crowns. In no circumstances could Clement XL
sanction such proceedings since he had always stood up for
the rights of James III. For the rest this abandonment of the
Pretender was not only a humiliation for the Queen who
demanded it, but for the King also who agreed to it. It is
worth noting that previously to this step Polignac had been
ordered to leave Utrecht ; only a short time before he had
received the purple at the request of James III.
Another blow for Clement XI. lay in the fact that, heedless
of the papal protest, Louis XIV. recognized the Margrave of
Brandenburg as king and abandoned to that Protestant
prince, in the name and by the authority of the King of Spain,
the upper part of the Duchy of Geldern which up to that time
had been a Spanish possession. It was not long before the
rights of Catholics were seriously infringed in that district.^
Nor were Catholic interests safe-guarded when Minorca was
ceded to England.^ Passionei was able to make better reports
1 " *Profittando i protestanti dellTniperio deH'autorita che ha
ITnghilterra nel presente congresso, continuano tuttavia a insistere
presso i ministri di quella corona, accio abboUsca intieramente il
quarto articolo della pace di Ryswick." Report dat. Utrecht,
March lo, 1713, Pad, 50, Papal Sec. Arch.
' See Passionei's *reports of April 11 and 12, 171 3, ibid.
^ Cf. the Briefs of August 11, 1714, Clementis XL, Opera,
Epist., 1991, 2053. * Galletti, Passionei, 51.
VOL. X.XXIII. H
98 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
about the Dutch ; they promised not to tamper with the
Catholic religion in the Dutch towns which were allotted to
them.^
Of all the decisions of Utrecht the one that was bound
to hurt the Pope most deeply was that concerning the island
of Sicily. In obedience to England's will, and regardless of the
papal suzerainty, Philip V. granted the island to the Duke
of Savoy as his kingdom ; not one of the Catholic Powers
protested against such a settlement. Everybody knew how
eagerly Philip V. had sought, during six years, the investiture
of Naples and Sicily. If in this instance the Pope's rights to
an acknowledged possession of his could be overridden, other
territories of his secular dominions might with equal justice
be appropriated.^ Of course there could be no question of a
papal recognition of the new King of Sicily ; on the contrary,
violent conflicts were to be expected, and this all the more as
soon after news reached Rome that the sovereign privilege of
the Monarchia Sictda had likewise been expressly granted to
the Duke of Savoy,^ a point on which the Holy See had had
sharp disputes with the Spanish Government. To all this
was added the fact that the Peace of Utrecht created a
dangerous uncertainty with regard to the Clause of Rijswijk.
^ Passionei's *letter, dat. Utrecht, April 19, 1713, loc. cit.
Articles 4, 5 and 7 of the peace in Dumont, VIII., i, 366 seq.
*Paci, 50, loc. cit.
2 Cf. the opinion of Brosch [Kirchenstaat, II., 47), who is
certainly not favourable to the papacy : " The Pope ruled over
Bologna, Ferrara, the Marches, Umbria and Rome with no greater
or less right than he did over the Kingdom of Naples which was
a recognized ecclesiastical fief. If that right was taken from him
and its exercise frustrated, other portions of his temporal power
might also be wrenched from his hand. The feudal sovereignty
of the Church fell victim to European Powers — but who guaranteed
their territorial sovereignty ? Brosch stultifies these statements
a little later (p. 50), when he condemns Clement XL's action in
not recognizing the decisions of Utrecht as a " policy of senti-
ment ".
* POMETTI, XXI., 444.
PAPAL POLICY. 99
From the first Clement XI. had deemed it his duty, in the
interests of the Cathohc rehgion, to uphold the Rijswijk
decisions in any circumstances, however strongly Prussia,
Holland and England might urge their suppression. He
rejected any compromise in this affair. His representative,
Passionei, had at one time been of a different opinion. He
felt it might be necessary to agree to a compromise, and when
there was a risk of losing everything to choose the lesser of
two evils. In the vain hope of restraining the English from
supporting the German Protestants in this matter, Passionei
was even prepared to drop his demands of relief for the
Irish Catholics.^ Clement XI. scorned such feeble diplomacy ;
on no account would he forgo the greatest advantage the
Church had gained in Germany since 1648.^ Passionei was
told that the representatives of the Holy See were bound to
strive for the advantage of the Catholic religion with the
utmost zeal, in all places, and by every means in their power.
To gain one point they could not give up another ; they
could not jeopardize in Ireland what had been won in Germany.
The Pope's duty is even more emphatically stated in another
letter to Passionei. There we read : " Without weighing
words, and only heeding the consequences, the Pope will
protest aloud in his Briefs, his letters and through his nuncios,
in France, in Germany and wherever it may be necessary, lest
from complacency, or a yielding disposition, the fourth
article should be done away with, and lest the Catholic religion
should be tampered with and the cause of God preferred to
worldly interests. Thus will the Pope speak, thus will he
explain his conduct, without disquieting himself in this
world or in the next. And if this is not enough he will com-
mend his cause to God ; failure will have to be ascribed to
others, not to His Holiness." ^
On April 9th, 1712, Briefs were dispatched to the Emperor,
to the Cardinals of Saxony and Lamberg, to the Catholic
1 H.iLTEBRA'svT in Qiiellenund Forschungen, "Kill., i68.
" Opinion of Garampi ; cf. *F. Garampi, 94, Pap. Sec. Arch.
^ HiLTEBRANDT, loc. ciL, 169 seq., 209.
100 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
princes of the Empire, to Prince Eugene, to Louis XIV., to
the Kings of Poland and Portugal, to the Republic of Venice,
to the imperial plenipotentiary Sinzendorff and to the French
representative. Abbe Polignac. All were exhorted to oppose the
Protestant demand energetically and openly and to prevent
grave injury from being done to the Catholic religion by the
abolition of the Clause of Rijswijk.^
The Pope assuredly relied more particularly on the support
of the King of France since it was chiefly his influence that
had secured at Rijswijk the Clause which it was now intended
to drop. At that time Louis XIV. had hoped to win over the
German Catholics and to create a cleavage between the
Protestants and the Emperor. In May, 1712, the Paris
Cabinet's main concern was to reach a peaceful settlement with
the great Protestant Powers, England and Holland. In order
to secure this end Paris was prepared to yield to England's
demands, regardless of Catholic interests. A promise was given
to negotiate on the Clause of Rijswijk with the German
Catholics and not to infringe the Peace of Westphalia within
the Empire. This might mean the abolition of the Clause of
Rijswijk, and it was soon seen that it was so, though for the
moment such a conclusion did not absolutely impose itself."'*
Clement XL continued to hope that the Cabinet of Paris
might be induced to stand up for the Clause. On January 7th,
1713, when scarcely recovered from sickness, he addressed
an autograph letter to Louis XIV. " The fourth article of
Rijswijk," he wrote, " was entirely the work of your hands.
At that time the Church was obhged to you for this benefit,
and to no one else. To-day she hopes and prays for the
maintenance of the article from you and from no one else." ^
In his reply the French King pointed to the indifference
of the Emperor and the other German princes ; he was
unable to defend the Clause alone ; his kingdom needed
peace. ^ However, at the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht
1 Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1659-1670.
2 HiLTEBRANDT, loc. cit., iji seqq.
' Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1789.
■• HiLTEBRANDT, /OC. Cj7., I 77.
PEACE OF RASTATT. lOI
with England and Prussia on April 11th, 1713, France pre-
vented the express abolition of the Clause, though she under-
took at the same time to see to it that religious questions in
Germany were resolved in the spirit of the Peace of West-
phalia.^ This gave rise to a dangerous uncertainty which
was bound to incite the Protestants to further efforts for the
repeal of the Clause. From the first the Pope had adopted the
standpoint that it was self-contradictory to accept the Peace
of Westphaha, and to wish to infringe it by maintaining the
Clause of Rijswijk.- He accordingly complained bitterly
of the decisions of Utrecht ^ though he did not give up the
hope of upholding the Clause when peace came to be con-
cluded with the Empire and the Emperor. In this expectation
he was effectively served by the circumstance that this was
in agreement with the particular political aims both of
Louis XIV. and of Charles VI.* It is true that under various
pretexts both had declined the papal mediation and had
been negotiating without the Pope since the end of November,
1713, at the castle of Rastatt. However, the treaty concluded
on March 6th, 1714, was based on the Peace of Westphalia
and the Treaty of Rijswijk and the much discussed third
Clause was expressly embodied in the instrument of peace
as Article 3.
The Peace of Rastatt was concluded without the inter-
vention of the Estates. To make it a Peace of Empire a
new congress was required and such an assembly opened on
June 10th, 1714, at Baden in Switzerland. As the Protestants
were sure to strive more than ever to secure the repeal of the
Clause, the Pope had appealed to the Emperor and to the
King of France on April 7th, 1714, urging them to resist
these attempts with all their might. ^
After prolonged reflection Domenico Passionei was once
1 DuMONT, VIII., I, 343, 371. Cf. PoMETTi, XXI., 447 seq.
* HiLTEBRAXDT, loc. Clt., 1 74.
8 Ibid., 183.
« Ibid., 184.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1949 seq.
102 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
again entrusted with the duty of representing the Holy See in
the negotiations at Baden. ^ However, it was found impossible
to get a papal envoy admitted, hence he was instructed to
appear once more as a simple agent or procurator of the Holy
See and of the Pope.^ In a detailed Instruction, dated June
26th, 1714, in the drafting of which the Pope had taken a
personal share,^ the main lines were laid down for his conduct
in a mission which was as honourable as it was difficult.'*
His chief care and attention must be for the integral preserva-
tion of the Clause of Rijswijk which had been embodied in the
Peace of Rastatt. This Clause must not be weakened by any
explanation or alteration.^ In addition to this Passionei
was instructed to work for the express repeal of the religious
recess concluded in 1705 by the Count Palatine John William
with Prussia, as that agreement altered the religious con-
ditions in the Palatinate in favour of the Protestants.*' On
1 On June i6, 171 4, Count Gallas *reports : "El viage de
Msgr. Passionei lo tiene retardate la irresolucion del Papa
fomentada de sus emulos." Archive? of the Austrian Embassy
at the Vatican.
2 In the *Brief accrediting Passionei, June 26, 1714, he is called
" Noster et eiusdem sedis verus, legitimus et indubitatus procura-
tor, actor ac negotiorum gestor generalis et specialis ". F. Garampi,
94, Papal Sec. Arch.
3 Cf. the autograph " *Ricordi per chi assistera al congresso
di Bada." Ibid.
* " *Istruzione perM. Passionei destinato Nunzio al congresso
di Bada," dated June 26, 1714, ibid.
* " *E percio le materic piii important! sono quelle che risguar-
dano la religione cattolica ; dovra percio egli in primo luogo
procurare che a tenore della littera della dispositione del 3° degli
articoli preliminari di Radstatt sia mantcnuta ed eseguita in
tutto e per tutto la dispositione dell'articolo 4 di Ryswich, senza
che si ammetta alcuna interpretatione o moderazione che gli
eretici tentassero, come pur troppo tcnteranno di far dare alia
medesima." Ibid.
" Cf. the arguments of IIiltebrandt in Qiiellcn und For-
schungen, XIII., 1G2 seq.
PASSIONEI S INSTRUCTIONS. IO3
this point the Pope counted above all on the support of
France.^
Nor does the Instruction lose sight of another constant
aim of the Holy See, viz. the repeal of the clauses of the
Treaty of Westphalia which were unfavourable to the Catholic
religion. Passionei was expressly directed to renew against
those agreements which touched religion the protests formerly
made by Innocent X. and the delegates of the Holy See,
Chigi, D'Elce, Sanfelice, Bevilacqua, Cantelmi and Albani.
Passionei was likewise instructed to bear in mind the
manifold restrictions of the Catholic religion in the Empire.
He was to urge the abrogation of the agreement which Hanover
had forced upon the Cathedral Chapter of Hildesheim ^ and
the suppression of the oath which was demanded of the
^ The *instriiction for Passionei says : " Benche nel medesimo
3° articolo di Radstatt venga disposto e dichiarato che si ristabilisca
generalmente nellTmperio e sue appartenenze tutto cio che si
per lo spirituale che per il temporale era state prescritto nel
trattato di Ryswich, tanto per conto delle mutazioni e innova-
zioni fattesi nel corse di questa guerra quanto in riguardo alia
cese che nen fossere state per ance eseguite, e che in censeguenza
resti tacitamente cassato e annullato il recesse, che centre la
dispesitiene del 4° articelo del medesime trattato di Ryswich fu
fatte anni sene tra I'elettere Palatine e il marchese di Brande-
burgo in punto di religiene, sara nulladimeno opportune, anzi
necessario che Msgr. Passionei precuri che il recesse medesime
venga per maggiere sicurezza espressamente e neminatamente
abrogate e cassato nel trattato di Bada, affinche nen pessa mai
pretendersi, che per nen esserne fatta menziene, resti tuttavia
nel sue vigere. Da tal'espressa cassaziene devra Msgr. Passionei
eccitar maggiermente i plenipetenziari Frances! col riflesso che
fara far lore aU'impegne piu precise, che cerre alia gloria del
Re il far che il medesimo 4° articolo, che e opera della sua real
pieta, venga in egni luege intieramente adempite e osservate."
Papal Sec. Archives.
2 On this matter Clement XI. had already written on January
14, 1 713, to the Emperor, to Louis XIV., and to Philip V.
Clementis XI., Opera, Epist., 1797 seq.
104 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Catholic missionaries in Hanover.^ Seeing that the Dutch
had introduced Protestant worship at Burtscheid, near
Aix-la-Chapelle ^ and garrisoned the fortresses of Liege and
Huy with Protestant troops, he should seek to obtain a
ratification of the imperial prohibition of Protestant services
at Burtscheid as well as the removal of those garrisons. He
was likewise instructed to see to the preservation of the
Catholic religion at Hadamar, Rheinfels and Verden.^ Finally
he was ordered to present once more the protest against the
^ Already in 1710, Bussi, the nuncio at Cologne, had greatly
exerted himself in this affair (see Rom. Qxiartahchr., XIII., 353
seq.), and on August 12, 1713, Clement XI. had appealed to the
Emperor (Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1879, IQ97, 2003).
Cf. Hagen, Gesch. Aachens, II., ^16 seq.
2 See the Briefs of April, 171 3, in Clementis XL, Opera,
Epist., 1827. On the visitation of the monastery of Burtscheid
by nuncio Bussi, 1708, see Pauls in Annalen des Hist. Vereins
fur den Niederrhein, XXXII.
3 With regard to this the *instruction says : " Avra I'istessa
attenzione per I'indennita della chiesa e della rcligione nell'elet-
.torato di Treviri e particolarmente nel principato di Adamar
dependente dal medesimo, nel quale gli eretici hanno introdotto
molte perniciose novita e commessi diversi attentat!. — Insistera
perche sia restituita al suo legittimo portione (principe ?) cattolico
la fortezza di Rheinfels sul Reno occupata presentcmente da un
principe eretico con sommo pregiuditio della religione. — Sosterra
gl'interessi o le ragioni del P. Abbate e del monastero di Werden
contro le violenze e le pretenzioni del marchese di Brandeburgo,
e impedire che a quel principe non sia data I'investitura di alcuna
ben minima porzionc de' beni spettanti al medesimo monastero,
.come gia ne resta fatta la proibizione all'istesso P. Abbate da
N. S., e per maggior sicurezza della sua indennita sara opportune
di procurare che I'istesso P. Abbate venga nominatamento com-
preso ne' trattati della pace. E perche I'lmperatore ha fatti molti
decreti in favore dell'accennato P. Abbate, i quali non hanno mai
sin'ora avuto I'effetto loro, converra far comprendcre ai ministri
imperiali, quanto convenga al dccoro di S. M. Ces. di esscr puntual-
mente e con ogni esattezza ubedito." Papal Sec. Archives. Cf.
Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1829, 1842, 1973.
PASSIONEI S INSTRUCTIONS. I05
erection of the ninth Protestant Electorate of Hanover ^
which had recently been put into the hands of the Elector
and Chancellor of the Empire, Mayence, at the Diet of Frank-
fort. Passionei was also requested to see to the interests of
the Swiss Catholics who were grievously threatened by the
Peace of Aarau and by the designs of Berne and Zurich on the
County of Toggenburg, a possession of the Abbey of St. Gall.^
How much the Pope had at heart the preservation of the
Clause of Rijswijk, as well as the interests of the Swiss, appears
from some further steps taken by him. On learning that
Prussia was making a fresh attempt for the repeal of the
Clause, Clement XL, on July 14th, 1714, wrote to the Emperor,
to Louis XIV. and the Palatine John William, exhorting them
to resist this manoeuvre.^ Though ailing he wrote a personal
^ Cf. the Brief of February 12, 1707, in Clembintis XI., Opera,
Epist., 383.
* In this respect the *instruction says : " Come che la pace, che
i Cantoni protestanti estorsero ultimamente da' cattolici in Arau,
non puo esser ne piu vergognosa ne piu pregiudiziale al nome e alia
religione cattolica, dovra percio Mons. Passionei non solo impedire
che essa venga confermata nei trattati di Bada, come verisimil-
mente ne verra fatta istanza da' Protestanti, ma insistere perche
venga intieramente rivocata e cassata. Nel congresso tenutosi
in Rossach tra i deputati dell'abbate di S. Gallo e de' cantoni di
Zurigo e Berna e stato stipulate per le controversie del contado di
Toggenburg un'aggiustamento iniquissimo e pregiudizialissimo si
per la religione cattolica che per I'abbate medesimo. E benche
non si dubiti che trattandosi di un feudo dell'Imperio investito
negl'abbati pro tempore, I'lmperatore non sia mai per acconsentire
alia ratifica ed essecuzione di un aggiustamento che verrebbe a
destruggere e annichilare il diritto imperiale, non lasciera tuttavia
Mons. Passionei di prendersi di cio una sollecitudine ben viva
prendendo a tal fine tutti i lumi necessari et opportuni deU'informa-
zione di Mons. vescovo di Como, e procuri che si I'abbate e il
monastero, che la religione cattolica sieno reintegrati totalmente
ne' lore diritti e ne' loro possessi nel predctto contado e in ogni
altro luogo, prestando a tal fine tutta la piu efficace assistenza al
ministro che per parte dell'abbate si trovera a Bada " {loc. cit.).
Cf. Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1670 seqq.
' Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., igSi seq.
I06 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
letter to Passionei on July 28th in which he once more recom-
mended this affair most earnestly to him, whilst he also
lamented the fact that the men of Berne and Zurich had
organized Protestant services at Baden. ^ On August 4th
the Secretary of State once more urged Passionei to attend
to the Rijswijk Clause and to the affairs of the Swiss.^ In
connection with the Swiss question a Brief was dispatched
to the King of France on the same day.^
Much earlier than had been expected in Rome, namely on
September 7th, 1714, the Peace of Empire was concluded
at Baden. It was wholly based on the articles agreed upon at
Rastatt. No concession was made in regard to the Clause of
Rijswijk ; on the contrary, Article 3 expressly states that
in all that concerns both religious and secular matters, every-
thing was to remain as agreed upon at Rijswijk.*
How gratified the Pope was by the preservation of the
much disputed Clause appears from the letters of thanks
which he promptly addressed to the Emperor and to the King
of France.^ He was likewise gratified by the stipulations of
the Peace of Baden about the restitution of the Electors of
Cologne and Bavaria and the diocese of Hildesheim, as well
as the preservation of the Church's rights in those localities
of the Netherlands which France had to cede to the Emperor.
Clement XL's pleasure was nevertheless considerably
dimmed by the circumstance that a number of things which
injured Cathohcism in the Empire and more particularly
in Switzerland, had not been done away with by the Congress
* Ibid., 1987 seq.
* *Paci, 54, p. 512, Papal Secret Archives. Cf. Segesser,
Luzern, IV., 592 seq. On Nuncio Caracciolo, see Hurbin, Hand-
buch, II., 410 seq., 420. On August 13, 1712, Lucerne begs to be
recalled. Clement XI. complies.
' Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 1989 seq.
* DUMONT, VIIL, I, 416.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2017 seqq. The *Brief to
Louis XIV. is here wrongly dated the same day (September 29)
as the one to the Emperor. The correct date of this letter, which
was sent first, is : September 25. Brevia, Papal Secret Archives.
PEACE OF BADEN. I07
of Baden. ^ The further papal demands set down in Passionei's
Instruction had also failed to receive attention in the peace
settlement. In these circumstances Passionei saw himself
compelled to make use of the authorization to lodge a protest
which he had received as early as June. This he did in due
form on September 10th at Baden and on September 20th at
Lucerne. 2
Not long after Passionei was entrusted with yet another
mission to Switzerland. He was charged, with the assistance
of the Emperor and of France, to secure the restoration to the
Catholic Cantons of their possessions previous to the war of
Toggenburg in 1712. There was no lack of zeal or prudence on
his part, but the difficulties, created mostly by France, but
even in part also by the Swiss Catholics, proved insuperable.
All he succeeded in obtaining was that the Catholics in their
weakness, in their nothingness, as he puts it, by comparison
with the enormous power of the Cantons Zurich and Berne,
should at least be guarded from the insults of their enemies.
The project of the foundation of a seminary at Solothurn,
which was on the verge of realization, failed to be carried out.^
Comparatively late, and evidently only after mature
reflection, such as the Holy See never neglects in such cases,
the Pope expressed an official opinion on the situation created
by the Peace of Baden. He did so at a consistory of
January 21st, 1715, after ratification of the treaty by the
Powers on October 28th. The Pope gave the Cardinals a
clear and detailed account of what had been achieved and
not achieved by the three great peace treaties. Among the
successes he mentioned in the first place the maintenance of
^ Paolucci's *letter to Passionei, September 22, 1714, calls
special attention to this. Pad, 54, Pap. Sec. Arch.
2 Galletti, Passionei, 61. The protest is also in the Lucerne
Archives.
' See Lengefeld's detailed description {Graf Domenico
Passionei, pdpstlicher Legal in der Schiveiz 1714-16, Ansbach,
1900), in which, however, as G. Meier points out in Hist. Jahrbttch,
XXII., 206, the documents in the Archives of the monastery of
St. Gall were not consulted.
I08 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Clause of Rijswijk. The decision that any alterations
made during the war would not touch this Clause, meant the
abolition of the religious recess of 1705. In prevision of the
fact that the Protestants would nevertheless continue their
former efforts at the Diet and elsewhere, he, the Pope, had
already taken steps at the courts of Vienna and Paris and
obtained reassuring promises from those quarters. He rejoiced
at the 15th Article which completely restored the Electors
of Cologne and Bavaria and condemned the agreement which
Prussia had forced upon the Chapter of Hildesheim ; Article 27
was likewise gratifying because it restored all ecclesiastical
rights in the Dutch territories which Louis XIV. had to cede
to the Emperor Charles VI. Lastly Clement XL referred to
Article 30 which paved the way for Italian neutrality, a thing
which was of the utmost value to him as head of the States
of the Church.
The Pope then passed on to the things that had pained
him. Here he singles out the confirmation of the Peace of
Westphalia, the recognition of a ninth Electorate in favour
of Hanover and the Prussian royal title, the assignation of
Catholic territories to Protestant princes and lastly the clauses
in connection with the restoration of ecclesiastical possessions
seized during the war, which meant an evident infringement
of ecclesiastical liberty and immunity. A grave injury had
been done to the Holy See in the temporal sphere by the
overriding of its unquestioned suzerainty over Naples and
Sicily. It was not mentioned in the Treaty of Rastatt nor
in that of Baden, in fact the Treaty of Utrecht had acted as
if the Pope and the Holy See had no rights at all in the matter.
After that Clement XL ordered Olivieri, the Secretary for
Secret Briefs, to be called in for the purpose of reading
Passionei's protests. Owing to the circumstance that, contrary
to every custom, no intermediary had been present, Passionei
had been obhged to make his protests before the local
authorities ; but they had been handed to the imperial, the
French and the other ambassadors and they were finally
renewed before the Council of Lucerne. The Pope further
explained the bearing of the protests which were directed not
PEACE OF BADEN. IO9
only against all the restrictions implied in the agreements of
Rastatt and Baden, but likewise, and even more so, against
the stipulations of Utrecht. The Pope also expressly stated
that his comprehensive protest extended to all that had been
done against James III. of England, with complete disregard
of all laws. Finally he expressly condemned the Treaty of
Aargau. The Head of the Church, he added, would not be
content with words but would use all his energy in order to
repair the injury done to reUgion and to the Holy See ; of
this the Cardinals might feel convinced. The Pope concluded
with a significant reference to the peril which threatened from
the Turks. Now that peace was restored he called upon the
Christian princes to conjure this menace.^
^ Clementis XL, Opera, Orat., 111-18 ; *Report of Cardinal
Acquaviva to the Marquis de Villamayor, dat. January 26,
1 7 1 5 . Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
CHAPTER IV.
Clement XL's Efforts for the Protection of
Christendom against the Turks— Victories of
Prince Eugene — Intrigues of Cardinal
Alberoni, His Downfall and the Triumph of
THE Quadruple Alliance.
Even amid his gravest preoccupations Clement XI. never
lost sight 1 of the glorious mission of the Holy See to act
as guardian and protector of Christian civilization against
Islam. After the difficult period of the Spanish war of
succession it was to be his privilege to exercise it once again
effectively. The Porte was very slow in recovering from the
losses caused to it by the Peace of Karlowitz (January 26th,
1699), but that which was most grievously resented on the
Golden Horn was the possibility for Venice to take the
offensive from the Isthmus of Corinth as far as Dalmatia.
However, in the sequel the inactivity of the Republic of
St. Mark during the war of succession was put down to
weakness which invited attack. ^
Since the spring of 1714 it was reported that the Turks
were making warlike preparations on a large scale. Against
whom they were directed was kept a secret for the time
being, until all was ready. On December 8th war was declared
^ In the spring of 1701, Clement XI. tried to bring about
an alliance against the Turks between the Emperor and Poland
[Quellen und Forschungen, XL, 358). On the help gi\-en to the
Maltese for the defence of the island in the spring of 1708, cf.
the Briefs in Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 494, 501, 535, and
PoMETTi, XXIL, 123 seqq. In 1709 Venice was granted an
extension of the tenths in order that she might be equipped against
an attack of the Turks {Opera, Epist., 605). In 1710 exhortations
were made to Vienna (Pomktti, XXIL, 124 seq.), and Venice
{Opera, Epist., 717).
2 Hammer, IV., 124.
TIO
J
PAPAL ACTION. Ill
against Venice.^ When on January 1st, 1715, news of this
event reached the City of the Lagoons, there was great con-
sternation. With feverish haste preparations were made for
resisting the attack. At the same time help was sought both
in Rome and in Vienna. ^ The magnitude of the peril was
recognized in both places, but the Pope alone showed zeal
and determination to ward it off.
No sooner had the news of the Turkish preparations reached
Clement XI. than his iirst care was to see to the safety of
Malta ; at the same time he urged the Emperor Charles VI.
and King Augustus of Poland to take action against the
common enemy. ^ Besides this the Pope took immediate steps
to protect the coast of the Pontifical States by strengthening
his fleet, reorganizing the army and at the same time pro-
viding the necessary money.* This activity of the Pope (as
appears from the latest researches), went hand in hand with
the idea of forming a league of all the Christian princes, with
a view to counteracting the danger threatening from the East.
In this emergency Pius V. served as the Pope's model. Con-
sequently he gave orders to the officials at the head of the
Papal Secret Archives to collect all the documents which
might furnish information concerning his great predecessor's
action against Islam. ^ In a consistory held on January 21st,
1715, Clement XL openly stated that he meant to win over
the Christian rulers for this undertaking. At this consistory
he also gave his appreciation of the great peace treaties of
Utrecht, Rastatt and Baden. ^
Already in the late autumn of 1714, Pier Paolo Marcolini,
a skilful diplomat, had been charged with a mission to the
^ PoMETTi, XXII., Ill seq. ; Hammer, IV., 124 ; Zinkeisen,
v.. 470 sey.
" Zinkeisen, V., 489 seq. ; Pometti, XXII., 130 seq.
* Briefs of November 10 and December 21, 1714, Opera,
Epist., 2025, 2033 seq.
* Pometti, XXII., 175 seqq.
* Pometti, Storia della marina italiana, 67, n. 6.
* Cf. above, p. 107.
112 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Emperor and the Catholic princes of Germany.^ Owing to the
political situation, which was anything but satisfactory,
Marcolini met with a cool reception.
Opposition between Charles VI. and Philip V. continued
undiminished. Charles did not acknowledge PhiHp of Anjou
as King of Spain and therefore maintained his claims to that
territory with the same tenacity as Philip maintained his
to the former Spanish possessions in Italy and the Nether-
lands. To this was added the traditional slowness and
irresolution of the imperial Cabinet, which caused the nuncio
at Vienna, Giorgio Spinola to break out into complaints.
Charles VI. and his advisers made endless difficulties. ^
Clement XI. was in no mood to tolerate delay. His letters of
exhortation of December 21st, 1714, to the Emperor and the
King of Poland show how keenly he realized the peril. On
January 10th, 1715, he appealed once more to the Emperor
and on the 17th to the Kings of Poland and Portugal.^ Though
Charles VI. 's ministers could not be blind to the fact that
something must be done, the Emperor's replies to the Pope,
dated February 0th and 12th, were very unsatisfactory. The
long years of war had exhausted his resources, he pleaded,
but he would negotiate with the Porte. ^
Marcolini saw at once that nothing was to be obtained
from Vienna in the near future.^ On January 9th, 1715, he
left for Germany where he called first upon the Elector of
Bavaria, then on the Bishop of Constance, and finally on the
^ " *Relazione data da Msgr. Marcolini, cameriere d'onore di
Clemente XL, della sua spedizione fatta d'ordine di S. S^^ e con
suoi brevi a varie corti cattoliche di Gcrmania neU'anno 1715,"
in Miscall, di Clemente XL, iii, pp. 62-80. Papal Sec. Archives.
An *instruction of October 26, 17 14 {ibid.), commanded Marcolini
to go to Germany after he had transacted his business at the
imperial court.
^ *Relazione data da Msgr. Marcolini, loc. cit.
» Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2039, 2045 scq., 2047.
« PoMETTi, XXIL, 136.
* On Marcolini's audience with Charles VI., December 27,
1714, cf. his *Relazione, loc. cit.
PAPAL ACTION. II3
Electors of Mayence, Cologne and the Palatinate. Assurances
were forthcoming from all sides. The dilatory attitude of the
court of Vienna met with disapproval in many quarters.
Marcolini hoped that the Catholic princes of Germany would
remain united ; thus they could do much to ward off the
Turkish peril, provided they themselves did not indulge in
extravagant expenditure.^
In spite of the favourable attitude of the German Catholic
princes, the Emperor Charles VI. declined to take immediate
action. What gave additional ground for procrastination on
his part was the fact that Sultan Ahmed III. had given
assurances in Vienna that Venice alone was the object of his
vengeance. It was easy to foresee that once the Venetians
were defeated, an attack would be made on Hungary. The
King of Poland, who declared his readiness to help Austria,
also drew attention to this fact.^
Meanwhile Turkish ships made their appearance in the
Adriatic.^ Not a little perturbed the Pope appealed once
more (April 25th, 1715) to the Emperor and soon after
(May 4th) to Prince Eugene and the Catholic nobles of the
Empire.* The Emperor Charles VI. answered in a letter in
his own hand dated May 28th. He praised the Pope's zeal
on behalf of Christendom, declaring at the same time his
inability to render any assistance to the Venetians so long as
his Italian possessions were threatened by the Spaniards.
^ Marcolini, in *Relazione, says of the Elector of Cologne,
Joseph Clement : " Ora che I'eta piu consistente e le disgrazie lo
hanno dai piaceri della prima sua educazione ritirato, e con molto
fervore portato all'osservanza dei precetti della sua religione ;
la sua reintegrazione al collegio elettorale," was therefore to be
desired. Marcolini did not visit Treves as the see was vacant.
2 POMETTI, XXII., 137.
^ Cardinal Acquaviva's *report to the Marques de Villamayor,
April 27, 1715 ; he thinks that the Venetians cannot be trusted :
" pues ellos estan acostumbrados a tratar sus pazes en el tempo
que solecitan sus amigos hacer la guerra." Archives of the Spanish
Embassy, Rome.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2065 seq., 2069 seq., 2071.
VOL. XXXIII. 1
114 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The same sentiments were expressed to nuncio Spinola by the
imperial ministers in Vienna. An evasive answer was given to
a proposed papal mediation between Vienna and Madrid.^
Though for the moment the fear of a double war in Italy
and Hungary proved a decisive factor as far as Austria was
concerned, the Pope did not give up the hope, by means of
certain guarantees, of winning over the Emperor to his side
for the Turkish war. In connection with this the Pope fulfilled
an ardent wish of the Emperor, i.e. the proclamation as a
Cardinal, of Hugo Schonborn who had been reserved in petto
in 1713.2
By order of Pope Clement XI. solemn functions were held
in Rome at the end of May, to call down the help of heaven on
behalf of Christendom.^ In the sequel Venice received financial
aid and the Knights of Malta were asked to join their fleet
to that of the Venetians.^
In the meantime the danger increased considerably. The
Turks showed such a superiority both on land and sea, that
at Venice one scare followed another. In May, 1715, the
Turkish fleet had left the Dardanelles ; owing to the stupidity
of the Commander, the rock-fortress of the island of Tinos,
which was considered impregnable, fell already in June.
Encouraged by this swift success, the Turks directed all their
energies both on land and sea, against Morea, the ancient
Peloponnesus. In July they took the lofty rock-fortress of
Corinth and the strongly fortified capital, Napoli di Romania
(Nauplia), where they strangled the Bishop. A rich booty
in the shape of money and ammunition also fell into their
hands. The Venetian fleet retired as the Turks approached
Modon. The town fell without effort as a result of the mutiny
1 PoMETTi, XXII., 138 seq., 140 note ; Hist. Zeitschr., LV.,
14.
2 GUARNACCI, II., 263.
» Clementis XL, opera, Orat., 121 ; Bull, XXL, 676 ; Buder.
III., 221 seqq.
♦ Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2081 ; Count Gallas' *report
of August 12, 1715, Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the
Vatican. Cf. Pometti, XXII. , 142.
DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. II5
of the Greek troops. Patras, Cerigo and Monembasia sur-
rendered without offering any resistance. Thus within a short
time the whole of the Peloponnesus was lost.^
This result had been foreseen in Rome since the middle of
August - when preparations were set on foot for the pro-
tection of the coasts of the Papal States.^ Since the middle
of September, by the Pope's order, processions were held in
which the Pope himself took part.*
A Congregation of Cardinals deliberated on the measures
to be taken against the Turks,^ for an attack by them on Italy
was feared for the coming year.^
Meanwhile news arrived of the death of Louis XIV. The
old King had put it beyond a doubt that he would maintain
France's traditional friendship with the Porte.'' He
endeavoured to console the Pope by recommending the
Christians of Asia to the Sultan's protection.^ If at one
moment Clement XL entertained a hope of a change of
France's Eastern policy under Philip of Orleans who acted
as regent for the five years old Louis XV., he was soon
undeceived b}^ a declaration of the Duke who let it be known
in Rome that if the Emperor demanded as a condition of his
participation in the war against the Turks, a guarantee of his
Italian possessions, he had nothing to fear on this score from
France, hence a new guarantee was superfluous ; moreover
* Cf. ZiNKEiSEN, v., 491 scqq. ; Pometti, XXIII., 257 seqq.
^ Cardinal Acquaviva's *report to the Prince of Chelamar,
August 13, 1 715, Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome ;
Count Gallas' *report, August 31, 1715, Archives of the Austrian
Embassy at the Vatican. ^ Pometti, XXII., 172 seq.
* BuDER, III., 251 ; Cardinal Acquaviva's *letter to the
Marchese di S. Felipe, dat. September 17, 1715, Archives of the
Spanish Embassy, Rome.
* Count Gallas' *report, September 14, 1715, loc. cit.
^ Cardinal Acquaviva to the Prince of Chelamar, September 10,
1715, loc. cit.
' Cf. Count Gallas' *report. May 4, 1715, loc. cit. The Pope's
address on the death of Louis XIV. in Clementis XL, Opera,
Orat., 123 seqq. ; the Briefs of condolence, ihid., Epist., 2087 seqq.
* Lafitau, II., 122.
Il6 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
it would only be forthcoming if the Emperor promised to
remain neutral, not merely for the duration of the war, but
for all time.^ Clement XI. had taken identical steps in Madrid
and at Versailles to obtain guarantees for the Emperor as
Charles was particularly afraid of Spain.
It was a piece of good fortune for the Pope that in the
meantime a complete change had taken place in Philip V.'s
hostile attitude towards Rome. In Paris Pompeo Aldrovandi
was working since May 17th to bring about an understanding
between Rome and Paris, but a year later nothing had as yet
been achieved. Notwithstanding the important concessions
made by the Pope, Jose Rodrigo Villalpando, PhiHp's repre-
sentative, was not satisfied. 2
In the first place, Clement insisted on the nuncio's return
to Spain, and the re-establishment of his tribunal. As far
as the person of the nuncio was concerned (Aldrovandi
had been selected for the post), he was willing to take into
consideration the wishes of the Spanish Government.^ Pope
Clement XL, remained adamant on this point. ^ Meanwhile
Philip, although personally pious, allowed himself to be guided
by very bad advisers who, under pretext of safe-guarding
the prerogatives of the Crown, sought to induce him to adopt
the worst measures. Already then the suppression, on a
large scale, of most of the religious Orders had been suggested
to the Government.^
In spite of Louis XI V.'s urgent and repeated advice to
^ PoMETTi, XXIL, 147 note.
2 Aldrovandi's *report, dat. Paris, July 23, 1714, Nnnziat.
di Spagna, 211, Papal Sec. Archives.
' Paolucci's *letter to Aldrovandi, November 11, 1713, ibid.,
212.
* Paolucci's *letter in cypher to Aldrovandi, August 28,
1714, ibid., 383.
^ " *So che fra I'altre cose che si propongono e consigliano al
Re et al Consiglio vi h di supprimere tutte le religioni in Spagna
auctoritate rcgia ccccttuati li soli Gesuiti e Benfratelli, appropi-
ando alia Camera regia i loro beni." Aldrovandi's report, dat.
Paris, September 10, 1714, i6f^., 211.
CHANGE IN MADRID. II7
Madrid, to attend, in its own interest, to the pacification of
its territory, new obstacles continually cropped up in the
negotiations between Aldrovandi and Villalpando ^ : if no
rupture of the negotiations was aimed at, a complete standstill
was certainly intended. ^ On his part Clement XI. did all
he could in order to create favourable disposition in Philip V.
When Elizabeth Farnese, the future wife of the King of
Spain, set out on her journey to Madrid, Cardinal Gozzadini
was deputed to greet her in his name.^ On October 8th and
13th, 1714, besides other favours, Philip V. was granted the
Cruzada.* Aldrovandi was of opinion that these concessions
should have been withheld until negotiations were concluded,
for now they would drag on indefinitely.^
Meanwhile a new conflict had arisen. Cardinal Francesco
Giudice, Grand Inquisitor of Spain, was one of Philip V.'s
most faithful and most able ministers. In April, 1714, he
had been dispatched to Paris in order to compose some
differences between Louis XIV. and his nephew.*' The
Princess Orsini, a clever woman and one addicted to intrigues,
who just then dominated King Phihp, was jealous of Giudice
and sought to obtain his permanent removal from court by
sowing discord between the King and the Cardinal.'
^ Aldrovandi's *report, September 24, 1714, ibid. Cf. the Brief
of thanks to Louis XIV. of October 16, 1714, Clementis XI.,
Opera, Epist., 2023.
^ Aldrovandi's *report, October 9, 1714, loc. cit.
3 Brief to Gozzadini, September 22, 1714, Clementis XL,
Opera, Epist., 2017 ; Aldrovandi's *reports of October 15, and
November 26, 1714, loc. cit. ; Ant. Baldassari, Raggiiaglio
compendioso deU'Apost. legazione dell'em. card. Ulisse Gozzadini
seguita in Parma nelle nozze tra Filippo V. ed Elisahetta Farnese,
alia qual regina presentossi la Rosa d'Oro inviatale dal S. P.
Clemente XI., \enezia., 1^2^.
* *Miscell. di Clemente XL, 103. Pap. Sec. Archives.
* Cf. Aldrovandi's candid *letter, dat. Paris, October 22,
17 14, loc. cit. « Baudrillart, L, 579 seqq.
' Ibid., 591 seqq. Cf. Combes, La princesse des Ursins, Paris,
1858, 483 ; Saint Rene Taillandier, La princesse des Ursins,
Paris, 1896 ; Madame des Ursins et la succession d'Espagne.
Il8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Giudice, in his capacity as Inquisitor-General, had con-
demned in an edict as heretical and schismatical, the opinion
of the GalHcan Denis Talon, which asserted the absolute power
of kings in matters ecclesiastical.^ These opinions coincided
with those of Macanaz, though the latter was not mentioned
in the edict. The Pope gave his approval to the decree of
condemnation of the Grand Inquisitor.^ As a sequel to its
pubUcation in Madrid, very few voices in the Castilian Council
declared themselves in favour of Macanaz' opinions.^ There
now happened what the Princess Orsini had had in mind.
The King became very angry and determined to take
vengeance on all the opponents of Macanaz. Louis Curiel, the
author of a book against him and a Dominican who had given
it his approval, were banished. The Inquisition received
orders to withdraw its edict and Giudice to present himself
at once in Madrid. With a view to making it impossible for
him to justify himself before the King, Princess Orsini, by
her intrigues, obtained an order from Philip V. forbidding
Giudice to set foot on Spanish soil until he should have
revoked his edict. ^
In Paris Philip's attitude called forth strong disapproval,
since in spite of all the concessions made by the Pope, an
understanding, for which Giudice had likewise laboured, was
now made more difficult than ever.^ Minister Torcy remarked
angrily that he could not see what more the Spanish court
could demand than had already been granted ; everything
seemed to tend towards the complete overthrow of
Fragments de correspondance publics par L. de la Tremoille,
Paris, 1907 ; Biografia di Constance Hill, in German, by Frida
Arnolds, Heidelberg, 1902.
^ Giudice foresaw the effect this would have on the Court of
Madrid ; however, he was not to be deterred from doing his
duty; see Aldrovandi's *report, September 10, 1714, loc. cit.
2 Cf. Paolucci's *Cifra to Aldrovandi, in Nunziat. di Spagna,
383, Pap. Sec. Archives.
* C/. above, p. 76. * Baudrillart, I., 596 se^tf.
^ CJ. Aldrovandi's *report, April 23, 17 14, Nunziat. di Spagna,
211, loc. cit.
CHANGE IN MADRID. IIQ
ecclesiastical conditions.^ Aldrovandi was of opinion that in
spite of the King's personal piety, so long as he allowed
himself to be deceived by anti-clerical advisers in the hope
of securing advantages for the crown, the worst fears for
ecclesiastical immunity as well as the Inquisition would
be justified.-
But just then a complete change was unexpectedly brought
about. The new Queen, a highly gifted woman but at the same
time ambitious and of a domineering disposition, came into
conflict at her very first meeting with Princess Orsini. With
prompt decision she had her rival taken across the Spanish
frontier (September, 1714).^ Philip V., always weak, though
deprecating such a course of action, yielded, not wishing
to give offence to his new consort.* With Princess Orsini
^ According to Aldrovandi's *report, November 19, 17 14,
loc. cit., Torcy's words were : Non so che cosa possa pretendere la
corte di Spagna di piu di quello le e stato accordato, quanto non
si miri da essa a sconvolgere tutti gli usi e pratiche osservate per
tanto tempo, il che non e in conto alcuno giusto ne decoroso.
2 Aldrovandi's *report, November 23, 1714, loc. cit.
' Baudrillart, I., 599 seqq., 607, 610 seqq., 614 seqq., who
proves convincingly, against the hitherto prevailing opinion,
that the Orsini were not the victims of Louis XIV., and still less
of Giudice and the Inquisition. The description of the fall of the
Orsini by Combes is rightly described by Baudrillart as inexact
and uncritical. The important report of Alberoni of December 31,
1 714, is printed in Professione, G. Alberoni dal 1708 al 1714,
Verona, 1890, 75 seqq.
* Baudrillart, I., 615. As to so many other persons of rank,
Rome also gave hospitality to the Princess Orsini. Clement XL
refused at first to allow the intriguing woman to return to Rome,
as already several times before she had given trouble to the papal
Government ; but in the end he granted the permission. The
princess arrived in Rome in the last week of October, 1720 (see
Giorn. Ligusi., 1887, 275, 277). She attached herself to the Stuarts
and, though without formal appointment, became Mistress of
the household of M. Clementine Sobieski, wife of James III.,
Pretender to the EngUsh throne. She died in December, 1722,
at the age of 80, and was buried in the Orsini Chapel of the
Lateran (Forcella, VIIL, 75).
120 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
all her adherents also fell, amongst them Orry and Macanaz,
who lost their positions and were obliged to go into exile
in France.^ On the other hand Cardinal Giudice, though
up till then in complete disgrace, was allowed to return
to Madrid, February, 1715. He was reappointed Grand
Inquisitor, first Minister and tutor to the Prince of Asturias.^
By these measures, as well as by a decree of February 10,
and a circular of March 11, addressed to the Bishops, the
King let it be known that he was reconsidering his Church
policy. 3 Aldrovandi now hoped that Giudice would be able
to remove all the other preventions entertained by the King.'*
Clement thanked Philip V. for yielding as regards the
Inquisition (May 14th, 1715), and at the same time exhorted
him to abolish the remaining anti-clerical decrees.^ On
July 6th the Spanish king ordered all Bulls relating to
benefices, which had been banned since 1709, to be received.^
The Pope realized that he had at last obtained what he had
been striving for in the first instance. In July, 1715,
Aldrovandi set out for Madrid as nuncio. On his arrival
there, on August 5th, he met with a most gracious reception
from the King. He attributed this success, for which Rome
^ Cf. Aldrovandi's *reports of February i8 and March ii,
1 715. Macanaz was not allowed to remain in Paris ; Aldrovandi
*writes on April 15, 1715, that he is to be feared, not for his
learning, but for his " ciarla e intrigo " with the Parliaments.
Nunziat. di Spagna, 214, loc. cit.
2 *Aldrovandi, February 25 and April i, 1715 (on his reinstate-
ment as Grand Inquisitor on March 28), ibid. Cf. Baudrillart,
I., 629 seqq.
' *Aldrovandi, April 23, 1715, Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
Cf. Professione, Mmisiero, 16.
* *Aldrovandi, April 29, 1715, loc. cit.
^ Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2075. Cf. ibid., Orat., 119.
• On the great satisfaction in Rome with this measure, see
♦report of Cardinal Acquaviva to P. Daubenton, August 13,
1715, Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome. If the Dataria,
we read, often grants benefices to unworthy candidates, it is not
the fault of Rome but that of the Spanish Bishops who are not
careful enough.
ALBERONI. 121
had waited so long/ chiefly to Giudice's influence, as well as
to the Abbe Giulio Alberoni, who was rapidly becoming
an outstanding personalit5^2
Alberoni, the son of a gardener, was born in 1664 near
Piacenza. He belonged to that class of men to whom nature
has denied all physical advantages, in order to endow them
all the more lavishly with gifts of the mind. Small of stature,
he possessed an extraordinarily large head, and an unusually
broad and ugly face.^ Hidden behind this grotesque exterior
there lay great mental endowments. The cause of his pro-
motion must be attributed to his extraordinary talent for
languages. During the Spanish war of succession the young
ecclesiastic, whilst acting as interpreter to the Bishop of
Piacenza, came in contact with the Duke of Vendome, who
took him into his service, greatly pleased with the young
Abbe's acumen as well as his wit. In 1711 in his capacity
as Vendome's secretary, Alberoni went to Spain and there
became a favourite at court. After the death of his patron,
he was named ambassador of the Duke of Parma in Madrid.
In this capacity he negotiated the second marriage of
Philip V. with Elizabeth Farnese, niece and heiress of his
sovereign. When the interests of the Bourbons and the
Farnese had been thus closely linked together, Alberoni
began to play an important political role. His prestige with
the new queen soon became very considerable, but Elizabeth,
as ambitious as she was bold, completely dominated her weak
neurasthenic husband, hence she became the leading spirit of
Spain's politics. Alberoni made an unscrupulous use of the
confidence which Elizabeth placed in him ; Cardinal
Giudice, to whose rehabilitation Philip had given a reluctant
^ Cf. Count Gallas' *report, dat. Rome, August 31, 1715,
Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the Vatican.
2 *Aldrovandi, June 10, July i and 2, August 5 and 13, 1715,
loc. cit.
' Contemporary portrait in Arata, // processo del card. Albe-
roni, Piacenza, 1923. Literature on him, see below, p. 173, n. 3.
E. Bourgeois, Lettres intiines de J . M. Alberoni an comte Rocca,
Paris, 1893.
122 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
consent, lost all influence.^ Now this son of a Piacenza
gardener was able to rule alone with the queen.- In order to
win the Pope's favour also, Alberoni endeavoured, with the
help of the King's confessor, the Jesuit Daubenton, not only
to compose the ecclesiastical differences with Rome,^ but to
get Spain to give the Emperor the desired guarantee for his
Italian possessions for the duration of the Turkish war.
This was done in a letter of Philip to the Pope, November 25th,
1715.^
Clement XI. believed that now his wishes were fulfilled,^
for there was no longer any reason for Charles VI. to hesitate
to unfurl the standard of the Cross against the Turks. On
January 4th, 1716, urgent exhortations were addressed to
him, as well as to Prince Eugene, and soon afterwards to all
the Christian princes on behalf of the Turkish war.^
Charles VI., distrusting the promises of Spain and France,
continued to hesitate. In Rome he demanded the concession
of a tenth from the clergy of his territories,'' help with ready
money and the Pope's guarantee of his Itahan possessions.
Clement XL refused to grant a tenth but was willing to
contribute a sum of 500,000 florins from Church lands in
the hereditary States. In January, 1716, he granted the
Venetians 100,000 gold florins, by which the Emperor
1 C/. Baudrillart, I., 630 seqq.
2 Ibid., II., 244.
' A decree of Philip V., dat. Buen Retire, September 28,
1715, revoked the *ordinances of September 7, 1710, and April
24, 171 1, regarding the incomes of vacant bishoprics, etc., Miscell.
di Clemente XL, 97, p. 144, Papa;! Sec. Archives.
* PoMETTi, XXII., 148. The Pope's request to Philip V.
that he should give the guarantee demanded by the Emperor, is
dated October 8, 1715. Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2093.
* According to Count Gallas' *report of November 2, 1715,
already then a rumour circulated in Rome that the Emperor
had declared war on the Turlcs. Archives of the Austrian Embassy
at the Vatican.
» Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2107 seqq., 2123 seqq.
' This demand was made already in the summer of 1715 ;
see Count Gallas' *reports of June i and July 31, 1715, loc. cit.
NEGOTIATIONS. I23
would profit indirectly. As for the guarantee demanded, he
declared that he held himself bound to do all in his power to
prevent an}^ hostile attack on the Emperor's Italian
possessions. However, even this did not satisfy Vienna. The
negotiations came to a standstill and were only resumed
when, in March, the Pope offered further financial help if
Corfu was able to hold out.^
The Emperor also made demands on the Republic of
Venice. It took a long time before an agreement was reached
with regard to support by Venice in the event of an attack
on Naples, as well as the guarantee demanded by the Emperor
for his Italian possessions and the passage of Austrian troops
through Venetian territory. In her extremity the Republic
of St. Mark yielded to all these demands, as a result of which
an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded between the
Emperor and Venice on April 13th, 1716, by the terms of which
war was to be declared against the Turks in the spring and
vigorously prosecuted. The King of Poland, the Tsar of
Russia, as well as the other Christian princes, were to be
invited to join in this league. In the event of the Turks
attacking Naples, Venice was obliged to come to the assistance
of the Emperor with a force of 6,000 foot soldiers and eight
men-of-war. On his part, Charles VI. promised an auxihary
corps of 12,000 men, as soon as any part of the Venetian
territory was menaced by an enemy. ^
Meanwhile nuncio Spinola had made every effort in Vienna
to induce the Emperor to acknowledge the promise of
neutrality which had been obtained both in Paris and Madrid.
But on this point he met with obstinate resistance on the
part of the imperial ministers. By this means the latter
obtained from the Pope the concession of a tenth for the
space of three years throughout the imperial territories on
1 PoMETTi, XXII., 157 seqq. Brief of February 16, 1716, in
Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2131 seq.
* Katona, Hist. Hung., XXXVIII., 256 seq., 261, 267 ;
ZiNKEiSEN, v., 510 seqq. ; Feldziige des Primen Eiigen App.,
350 seqq. An express courier brought the news of the alUance to
Rome on April 21, 1716 ; cf. Buder, III., 426.
124 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the other side of the Alps as well as the Netherlands, though
these had always been exempt from such taxation, together
with a promise that on the declaration of war, he would con-
tribute at once 200,000 florins and the concession of various
heavy personal demands of Charles VI. ^ The Pope experienced
great difficulty in raising the money for the Turkish war ;
the Fabhrica of St. Peter's, as well as contributions from
the Cardinals, had to be drawn upon. Apart from this a
grant of a tenth of all ecclesiastical lands in Italy was made,
for a period of six years. ^
The extensive preparations of the Turks were matched by
those of the Emperor, to whom the Pope granted a further
subsidy of 100,000 florins.^ The supreme command was
entrusted to the fifty-three years old Prince Eugene who,
as president of the supreme war council, had been engaged
during the whole winter in putting the imperial army on a
war footing.^ Owing to the severity of the late winter and
the tardy grant of help from the Empire the campaign in
Hungary only opened during the summer of 1716.
On July 1st Prince Eugene left Vienna, on the 0th he was
at Futak near the fortress of Peterwardein where George
Freiherr van Loffelsholz was in supreme command. The
imperial forces numbered 65,000 men, a third of whom con-
sisted of cavalry. Prince Eugene estimated the Turkish army
at more than 200,000 men. From the direction of Belgrade
it had crossed the Save and invaded Sirmia and at the
beginning of August it had pitched its tents in a very advan-
tageous position on an eminence, not far from Peterwardein.
However, before the Turks were able to begin the siege of
Peterwardein, Prince Eugene, with bold determination,
1 BuDER, III., 386 seqq., 389 seqq. ; Pometti, XXII., i^g seq.
On the pretensions of the imperial ambassador, Gallas, here
mentioned, see his *report to the Emperor, February 25, 17 16,
Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn (Lower Austria).
^ BuDER, III , 387 ; Clementis XI , Opera, Orat., 131 scq. ;
NovAES, XII., 220.
3 Pometti, XXII., 267.
* Arneth, Prm^^M^ew, II., 384.
VICTORY OF PETERWARDEIN. 125
offered battle to an arni}^ far superior to his own, on the
morning of August 5th, feast of Our Lady of the Snow. It
ended at noon with a splendid victory for the imperial troops.
The whole camp, with the magnilicent tent of the Grand
Vizier, who had been mortally wounded in the conflict, fell
into the hands of the victors together with 156 standards,
5 horse-tails, 172 pieces of artillery and an enormous store of
ammunition. The losses of the Turks amounted to 6,000
dead, but the victorious army also had to bewail the loss of
3,000 dead and 2,000 wounded.^ In spite of this it was a
glorious victory and the whole of Christendom was filled
with joy at the news. With the exception of Vienna, nowhere
was there so much rejoicing as in Rome. At this time the
printer Cracas started a special newspaper, Diario di Ungheria,
giving the reports from the eastern battlefield. The paper
was called after its editor and for more than a century it
served as the semi-oflicial papal weekly newspaper. ^
Clement XL received the joyful news through an imperial
autograph letter and a letter of Prince Eugene written in the
tent of the Grand Vizier and describing the course of the
battle. On September 2nd, 1716, the same day on which
thirty years before Ofen had been captured, the Pope com-
municated to the Cardinals in consistory, what had taken
place in Hungary. How high his hopes were appears from
the fact that he not merely spoke of saving the island of
Corfu, but of the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre from the
hands of the infidels. A blest sword together with a hat
studded with pearls was dispatched to the victorious com-
mander-in-chief. Since the battle had taken place on the
feast of Our Lady of the Snow, the Pope attributed the
victory to the intercession of her whose help he had so often
^ Hammer, IV., 149 seqq. ; Zinkeisen, V., 533 seq. ; Arneth,
II., 396 seqq. (with plan of the battle).
* On this source for the cultural history of Rome, cf. Moroni,
XX., 13 seqq. ; Guglielmotti, 59 ; Noack, Deutsches Leben,
31, 354 ; F. Sabatini, II Cracas in Roma, in Nuova Antologia,
III., Series VIII. (1887), n. 46. A complete copy of Cracas in
Bibl. Casanatense, Rome.
126 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
invoked. Most appropriately he ordered the thanksgiving
celebrations to take place in the basilica of St. Mary Major,
which according to legend owes its foundation to a
miraculous fall of snow and also its name of S. Maria and
Nives. The feast of St. Stephen, King of Hungary,
September 6th, was set apart for the celebration. ^ The Pope
himself celebrated the High Mass. Afterwards Cardinal
Schrattenbach presented the trophies sent by the Emperor,
viz. two Turkish banners and two horse-tail standards.
" These trophies," the Cardinal observed, " which have been
snatched from the cruel hereditary enemy of the Christian name,
could not be claimed by any man with better justification
than by your Holiness, who by your indefatigable efforts, the
granting of indulgences and constant prayers, even at the very
hour when the battle was fought, have been instrumental in
winning a splendid victory for the Catholic world." In his
reply the Pope announced that, as an outcome of the victor}'
near Peter\vardein, he had been informed by a courier from
Naples of the miraculous relief of Corfu ; consequently he
hoped for further victories over the enemy of Christendom.
The celebrations concluded with the Te Deiim. From
the castle of St. Angelo, salvoes of artillery were fired
in token of jo3\ All the bells of Rome were rung
and in the evening the city was illuminated. The Pope pre-
sented two standards to the sanctuary of our Lady of Loreto ;
the other trophies remained in the basilica of St. Mary Major.^
As a mark of honour Prince Eugene was given a sword,
four feet long, adorned with the papal arms, with a heavy
silver hilt, in a scabbard of red velvet. The sword was blessed
by the Pope on September 8th in the church of S. Maria del
Popolo, together with a purple hat trimmed with ermine,
the front showing the figure of the Holy Ghost in the form of
a dove artistically carried out in pearls. Orazio Rasponi
was the bearer of this gift, together with a letter of con-
gratulation to the commander-in-chief in which the latter
1 Clementis XL, 0/)era, Orat., 133.
2 BuDER, III., 461 seqq. Cf. Brief to the Emperor in Clementis
XI., Opera, Epist., 2163 seq.
PAPAL EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF CORFU. I27
was compared to Julius CcTsar. Rasponi was likewise the
bearer of blest medals for the Generals and Officers, and for
the Emperor of a bill of exchange for 200,000 florins.^ Pieter
van Bloemen, the Flemish artist, glorified Prince Eugene's
victories with so much skill in the Ottoboni Palace at Fiano,
as to contribute not a little towards the raising of German
prestige in Rome.^ If in his address Clement XL linked the
victory of Peterwardein with the relief of Corfu, he was fully
justified in doing so because the effect of the Turkish defeat
in Hungary helped to save that island.
Fully aware as he was of the importance of preserving this
last bulwark of Italy, Clement XI. had made great efforts to
assist the Venetian fleet. In the previous year he had
strengthened his own fleet whose task it was not only to protect
the coastline of the Papal States, but also to assist the
Venetians.^ The Pope displayed great zeal in his endeavours
to induce other States to help Venice to maintain her sea
power. Papal diplomacy left riothing undone in this respect.
In France these attempts miscarried for the Duke of Orleans
was unwilling to break off the long-standing good relations
with the Porte. ^ On the other hand not only Portugal but
Spain also promised the Pope support for the Venetians. On
the advice of Alberoni and Aldrovandi, Philip V. contributed
six men-of-war, four galleys and 8,000 men. The latter
Clement XL was obliged to decline owing to the Emperor's
^ BuDER, III., 465 seqq. ; Arneth, II , 402 ; Orlandini,
Lo stocco e il berrettone donato da Cleniente XI. al Pr. Eugenio in
Riv. araldica, 1913, 619 seqq. The hat, at one time kept in the
armoury of Vienna, has been stolen (Leber, Wiens Kaiserliches
Zeughaus, Leipzig, 1846, 77, 171) ; the sword has also disappeared
(Jahrbiich der kunsthist. Sammlungen des osterr. Kaiserhaiises,
XII., 144).
* NoACK, loc. cit., 27, 31 seqq.
* Guglielmotti, Ultimi fatti (1884), 48 seqq. ; Manfroni in
Archivio d. Soc. Rom. di Stor. Pat., XIV., 308 seqq., 314 seqq.,
323 seqq. (also particulars on the defence of the coast) ; Pometti,
'K'Kll., 1^5 seqq. ; XXIIL, 244 se^-y.
* Pometti, XXII , 164 seq.
128 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
misgivings as to Spain's intentions. King John of Portugal
contributed five men-of-war, two frigates and one fireship with
their crews. Tuscany furnished four and Genoa two triremes. ^
It had been expected that all these fighting forces would
assemble at the end of May, near Corfu. But in spite of all
the pressure on the Pope's part, that hope was not fulfilled.
It was only on June 16th that the auxihary fleet, consisting
of Spanish, Papal, Genoese and Tuscan ships, assembled at
Civitavecchia. 2 The Venetian fleet, which was lying off
Zante, did not venture to attempt anything as the Turkish
ships, under the command of Kapudan Pasha, were approach-
ing with a very strong siege force on board.
The Turks were therefore able to effect a landing on Corfu
without hindrance. A gallant German General, Matthias
von Schulenburg, Count of Empire, who a year before had
given his services to the Venetians,^ had put the fortifications
in a state of defence and was resolved to hold out at all cost.
This he did successfully. Eyery assault which the Turks
undertook from August 1st onwards was beaten off.* Mean-
while the Spanish, Papal, Tuscan, and Genoese ships were
at last about to join the Venetians and Maltese. With a
force of a hundred sail an attack was planned,^ but nothing
came of it. Whilst the Christians hesitated, a storm blew
up from the south on August 20th, which scattered the
fleet. The appalling weather also caused great confusion in
the Turkish camp ; during the night of August 21st-22nd, the
whole naval fighting force, with the army destined for the
siege, vanished, leaving its artillery behind.^ The report of
Eugene's victory in Hungary and the arrival of the Christian
fleet had decided the Turks to save at least their battle fleet.
* Ibid., i66 seqq., 172.
'^ Ibid., XXIII., 429 seq., 255 scq., 270 seqq. ; Manfroni,
loc. cii., 320 seqq.
^ Allg. Deutsche Biographic, XXXII., 667 seqq.
* ZiNKEiSEN, v., 526 seqq.
* PoMETTi, XXIII., 271 seq. The plan of the battle in .4rchivio
d. Soc. Rom. di Sior. Pat., XIV., 342 seqq.
* PoMETTi, XXIII., 271 seq.
MINOR SUCCESSES. I29
When Pisani set out in pursuit of the enemy it was too
late. He then endeavoured to reconquer Modon, but the plan
miscarried. An expedition against the coastal fortifications
of Prevesa and Bonizza, situated in the Gulf of Arta, also
proved futile and disastrous. In September Schulenburg
succeeded in capturing Butrinto and in November he
re-occupied the island of Santa Maura. ^
In spite of these trifling gains the result of the expedition
was nevertheless considered a success, because it had at least
prevented the loss of Corfu. That island was looked upon as
the last bulwark of Christendom in the Mediterranean against
the power of the Moslems and its loss would have had incom-
parable consequences for Italy.
In these circumstances it is easy to understand that, how-
ever much he regretted the escape of the Turkish fleet, ^
Clement XL, on September 12th, ordered a thanksgiving
service to be held at S. Maria in Vallicella, at which he himself
celebrated High Mass. He also commanded that the relics
of St. Spiridion, the Patron Saint of Corfu, should be exposed
to public veneration.
On the 15th a Te Deiini was sung at the Anima at which the
College of Cardinals assisted. In the afternoon the Pope
himself repaired to the German national church. On the
following day he celebrated a Requiem Mass for the fallen.^
In remembrance of the liberation of Corfu a commemorative
medal was struck, the reverse side of which shows Our Lady,
Help of Christians, holding a rosary over the Christian
fleet."
Prince Eugene was not the man to rest on his laurels.
1 ZiNKEiSEN, v., 528 seqq. ; Pometti, XXIII., 272 seqq.
* Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2173. Cf. Pometti, XXIII.,
274. What hopes were attached to the naval expedition of 1716
appears from the letter of G. B. Conventati, Archbishop of
Ragusa, to Paolucci, July 24, 1716 : " Clement XI. will do things
as great as Pius V. ; see G. Gentilizza, Lettere dell' arcivescovo
di Ragusa G. B. Conventati, Roma, 1906, 8.
s BuDER, III., 479 5^9^.
* Venuti, 338 ; GuGLiELMOTTi, Ultinii fatti, 58 seq.
VOL. XX.XIII. K
130 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Hardly had he gained the victor}^ of Peterwardein than he
resolved to turn his attention to Temesvar, the fortified capital
of the Banat, whose defence had been entrusted to Mustafa
Pasha, one of the ablest of the Sultan's generals. The fortress,
situated in a marshy district, was surrounded in the last days
of August, 1716, and the bombardment opened at the beginning
of September. An attack by a Turkish relief force was beaten
off on September 23rd. On the other hand, the garrison con-
sisting of 18,000 picked men put up a most determined
defence. However, on October 1st one of the suburbs was
stormed ; on the 13th the garrison surrendered on con-
dition of being allowed to withdraw unmolested. With the
fall of Temesvar the conquest of the Banat was practically
completed. Within a short time the Austrians changed
what up till then had been so much waste land into a smiling
garden — " The Paradise of Hungary." ^
Prince Eugene was still encamped at Temesvar, when he
was informed of the high distinction which the Pope had
conferred on him. As it was thought fitting that the honours
should be bestowed in a solemn manner, the ceremony was
only carried out on November 8th at Raab,^ whilst Alessandro
Albani, the Pope's nephew, also celebrated the victory at
Castel Gandolfo.^ Count Ferdinand of Lamberg, who had
taken part in the conquest of Temesvar, imparted to the
Pope the details of the siege. On January 4th Clement XI.
addressed the Cardinals in consistory ; he ascribed the
victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in
whose honour he extended the feast of the Holy Rosary to
the whole world. To obtain further victories over the Turks
he ordered new prayers to be said on the feast of the Epiphany,
in the basilica of St. Mar}^ Major. He expressed his confidence
that a celebration on the feast of the Magi would be a fitting
1 Arneth, Prinz Eugen, II., 402 seqq. ; Zinkeisen, V., 534
seqq.
* Arneth, II.. 409 seqq. ; O. Rasponi, Solenne ceremonia
d. conferimento d. siocco e pileo benedetti inviati da P. Clemente XI.
al Pr. Eugenio, Bologna, 1896.
8 BUDER, III., 489.
FURTHER PREPARATIONS. I3I
occasion for pleading with God for the return to the faith of
the East.i
As a result of Prince Eugene's <^ictories and their own
failure in their attack on Corfu, the Turks were greatly dis-
spirited. A profound impression was created in Constantinople
when, as a sequel to the Turkish defeats, a movement was
set on foot and made itself felt amongst the Christian
population of the Lower Danube and even in Albania, where
the Archbishop of Ochrida, together with other Bishops,
petitioned Prince Eugene to free them from the Turkish yoke.^
How far the Porte's inclination towards peace was sincere
must remain undecided. In any case, Charles VI. and Prince
Eugene did not, for the time being, enter into peace negotia-
tions, just as they rejected the eagerly proffered mediation
of England and Holland.^ Vienna was determined to prosecute
the war with the utmost vigour. In the new year, Belgrade
was to be reconquered. To this end every resource was
pressed into service. Prince Eugene hoped to raise his army,
including the auxiliary troops, to a total of at least 140,000
men. Prince Maximilian of Hesse contributed the first con-
tingent. He was followed by 6,000 Bavarians with whom the
two eldest sons of the Elector Max Emmanuel served as
volunteers. Numerous princes and nobles flocked to the
standards, in order to share in so glorious a struggle, and
amongst these there were even Frenchmen, so that the French
Government felt compelled to apologize to the Porte for their
zeal. Prince Eugene ordered a flotilla of ten ships to be fitted
out on the Danube in support of the army.^
Immediately after the victory of Peterwardein Clement XL
eagerly took up the question of the prosecution of the war
against the Turks. On September 28th, 1716, a meeting was
^ Clementis XI., Opera, Orat., 139. Cf. ibid., Epist., 2203.
Brief of January 16, 1717, to Charles VI. Also the *reports of
Cardinal Acquaviva to Grimaldi, January 5, 12 and 19, 1717,
Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
* ZiNKEisEN, v., 537.
' Ibid., 542 seqq.
* Ibid., 546 seqq.
132 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
held at which Cardinals Paolucci, Tanara, Spinola, Casini,
Patrizi, Imperiali, Origo and many other prelates and
officials were present. The Pope submitted five questions for
their consideration.
1. What should be done at sea in the following year ?
2. What measures should be adopted for the protection
of the coastline of the Adriatic and that of the States of the
Church ?
3. What support should be granted to the Emperor ?
4. What attitude should be adopted towards Venice ?
5. How to act towards Spain and Portugal and the other
States which had promised help against the Turks ?^
The Congregation decided to set aside four galleys to
reinforce the Venetian fleet. Two others were to remain at
Civitavecchia for the protection of the coast. Four galleons
should be kept in readiness for the safety of the Adriatic coast.
Since the Emperor had been granted a tenth of all his
possessions beyond the Alps, as well as a sum of 400,000
florins, for the campaign of 1716, the commission was of
opinion that further financial aid was unnecessary ; it
nevertheless extended the contribution of the tenth to Naples
and Milan and also granted to the Republic of Venice the right
of imposing, during the coming year, a tax of 100,000 gold
scudi on all ecclesiastical property within her dominions.
The Spanish auxiliary fleet should hibernate in a Genoese
harbour, since Charles VI. had refused to grant the port of
Naples for that purpose, owing to his misgivings as to the
intentions of the Cabinet of Madrid. The Portuguese ships
were left free either to anchor in an Italian harbour or to
return to their home ports for the duration of the winter
season.^
These decisions clearly show how high hopes for new
successes for the Christian arms had risen in Rome. For all
that the Pope never missed an opportunity of insisting in
Vienna, Venice and Madrid on the need of constancy in so
stem a struggle, in which every care should be taken to avoid
^ PoMETTi, XXIII., 449 s^^i^. ' Ibid.
FURTHER PREPARATIONS. I33
the mistakes made on previous occasions. For this reason the
nunciatures urged that the attack should begin in Hungary,
before the enemy was in a position, with the return of more
favourable weather, to muster fresh troops. With regard to
the naval forces, their early assembly was urged at the entrance
to the Dardanelles, so as to prevent the Turkish fleet from
putting to sea.i
The reports sent by nuncio Spinola from Vienna fully
justified Rome's most sanguine hopes for the campaign of the
coming year. Prince Eugene's military preparations were as
thorough as they were comprehensive, hence it could be con-
fidently expected that the blow would be struck earlier than
in 1716. This induced Clement XI. to relegate all other
differences with the Cabinet of Vienna into the background,
even those with regard to Comacchio which had not yet been
surrendered. The crushing of the Turks seemed to him to
be the most important task of the Holy See for the moment.
In his efforts to secure help he went beyond the resolutions
of the Sacred Congregation. A tax was imposed on the
clergy of Naples, Milan and Mantua destined to realize, within
the next five years, the sum of 500,000 scudi ; 160,000 scudi
were sent to Prince Eugene. ^
Clement XI. did not show the same confidence towards the
Republic of Venice as he did to Charles VI. The Republic's
unreliability had been proved over and over again during the
former Turkish wars.^ The Pope's misgivings as to the designs
of the Signoria are revealed by the fact that the Secretary
of State, Paolucci, put himself in direct communication with
Count von Schulenburg in spite of the circumstance that the
latter w^as a Protestant.* The Venetians nevertheless received
in 1717 the same subsidy of 100,000 scudi as had been granted
to them the j-ear before. Portugal, Genoa and Tuscany were
also urgently pressed by the Pope to lend assistance to the
1 Ibid., 453.
2 Ibid., 459 seqq. Cf. Buder, III., 564.
^ Cf. the present work, vols. XI., 270 seqq. ; XIX., 332 seq.
* PoMETTi, XXIII., 454 seqq., where some of Schulcnburg's
letters are given.
134 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Venetian fleet. ^ The Pope was no less active to this end in
Madrid where prospects seemed favourable enough.
Already in 1716 Alberoni had transmitted to nuncio
Aldrovandi the most gratifying reports concerning Spain's
share in the naval campaign of the following year. Philip V.
confirmed all this on January 15th, 1717, in his reply to a
papal Brief. 2 The fulfilment of these promises depended
chiefly on Alberoni who, together with the queen, had the
feeble monarch completely under his control ever since
July, 1716, when he had succeeded in getting Cardinal
Giudice removed from court. ^
Alberoni's position was a most peculiar one ; in name he
was no more than the representative of the Duke of Parma,
but together with the queen, he, a foreigner, was the real
ruler of Spain. However, he himself did not feel secure,
because in the country he had to reckon with those who
were hostile to his political reforms, and beyond the frontiers
with the opposition of the Duke of Orleans.* Accordingly the
ambitious upstart aspired after the cardinalate, in order
thereby to raise himself, as Richelieu had done, to a position
at once commanding and not easily assailable. He knew quite
well that the realization of his ambition would not be easy
with a Pope hke Clement XI. He nevertheless hoped to
attain his goal, provided he furthered the plan which, at that
time, was of paramount importance in the mind of the Head
of the Church, i.e. the war against the Turks. ^ It was of the
1 Clementis XT., Opera, Epist., 2191, 2207, 2219.
2 PoMETTi, XXIII., 565 seq.
' For the post of Inquisitor-General held by Giudice, Philip V.
had designated the aged J. Molines. Clement XI. was at first
unwilling to approve the appointment (see Paolucci's *letter to the
Spanish nuncio, dat. November 3, 1716, Nunziat. di Spagna,
212, Papal Sec. Archives) ; after some time, however, he gave his
consent by Brief of December 24, 1716 (Clementis XL, Opera,
Epist., 2195). After the departure of Molines the representation
of Spain at Rome was taken over by Cardinal Acquaviva.
* Bourgeois, 168 seqq., 197 scqq. ; Professione, Ministero,
67. * C/. above, p. no.
ALBERONI S AMBITION. I35
greatest importance that Alberoni succeeded so completely
in winning over to his side nuncio Aldrovandi. In August,
1716, the latter went to Rome, ostensibly for the sole purpose
of discussing the Turkish war. Clement XI., amazed that the
nuncio should have come to Rome when he had not been
sent for, refused at first to receive him in audience ; however,
he ended by doing so because he was afraid that the zeal of
the Spanish Government for the Turkish war might slacken,
or that a rupture with Madrid might follow. Aldrovandi
nevertheless failed to persuade the Pope to raise Alberoni to
the cardinalate. The only thing he obtained, on January 16th,
1717, was the permission for the Spanish Government to
raise considerable sums from the clergy for the prosecution of
the Turkish war. When Aldrovandi was about to rejoin his
post with these results to his credit, Philip V. made difficulties
about his return, so that he was forced to remain at Perpignan
until May 20th. 1
Alberoni affected surprise at the King's action, but since
it was a question of his own person, he said he could do
nothing without putting himself in the wrong. However, this
much he knew, viz. that the nuncio ought only to be allowed
to return after His Majesty's wish had been granted. ^ At
the same time Alberoni submitted once more another matter
for discussion, which seemed to him most likely to overcome
the Pope's opposition to his nomination. Quarrels were still
pending between Madrid and Rome, chiefly about the tribunal
of the nunciature and the bestowal of benefices on aliens.
Since there appeared a prospect of a happy solution of these
quarrels, he brought to bear renewed and strong pressure on
Rome. Daubenton, King Philip V.'s confessor, as well as the
Duke of Parma, spoke highly of Alberoni's devotion and zeal
for the interests of the Holy See. All reports from Spain
uniformly stated that the settlement of the relations between
Church and State, as well as an expedition of the auxiliary
fleet against the Turks, would only come about if Alberoni
^ Professione, loc. cit., 89 ; Pometti, 471 seq.
2 Pometti, XXIII., 472. Cf. Arezio, 262 seq.
136 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
received the red hat.^ Thus it came about that Clement XI.
was prevailed upon to drop his objections to Alberoni, but
two conditions were laid down for his elevation. ^ Before all
else the Pope insisted on the restoration of the tribunal of
the nunciature and the complete abrogation of all encroach-
ments on the ecclesiastical as well as the papal authority in
Spain. ^ In addition to this he demanded the fulfilment of
the promise regarding the Spanish auxiliary fleet against the
Turks. On April 3rd, 1717, Acquaviva wrote that the fleet
would certainly put to sea against the Turks and the Duke of
Parma assured the Pope that this was the work of Alberoni,
who had displayed the greatest keenness in pushing forward
^ Professione, Joe. cit., 96 ; Pometti, XXIII 473 seq. ;
Arezio, 263.
2 Cf. *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, March 14, 1717, and *Lettera
di proprio pugno dal card. Paolucci al P. Daubanton Confess, di
Filippo v., April 24, 1717 : If Alberoni was not promoted,
it was not out of antipathy, etc. You know " la misure, che deve
in ogni tempo, e specialmente in queste infelicissime contingenze
guardare N. S., ad effetto di non moltiplicarsi i disastri e di non
dare occasione a nuove roture ". On an extra sheet : "Mi com-
manda N. S., che col presente mio foglietto a parte ricordi a
V. P., che ne fu testimonio oculare, quanto la S. S. negli anni
addietro habbia sofferto per il Re Catt^o, anzi quanto anco
tuttavia continui a soffrire, affinche ella occorrendo possa darne
memoria a chi se ne fosse scordato." Nunziat. di Spagna, 212,
Papal Secret Archives.
» Cf. the passage from the same letter of Paolucci, April 24,
1717, in Professione, 95-6. On June 12, 1717, Paolucci again
assured Aldrovandi that Alberoni's promotion would certainly
take place, but with greater glory for Spain and the candidate,
" ovc N. S. neir istesso consistorio, nel quale fara la promozione,
possa dire, che il Tribunale della Nunziatura di Spagna e stato
ristabilito con tutte le sue antiche prerogative ; che il nuovo
Nunzio si trova gia in possesso della sua carica ; che tutte le
innovazioni pregiudiziali alia autorita della Chiesa e della giurisdi-
zione apostolica sono state intieramente abolite ; e che ministro
della Pieta del Re per il maneggio o felice successo di questo
grand' affare e stato il S. conte Alberoni." Nunziat. di Spagna,
lac. cit. Cf. also Bollct. stor. Piaccnt, IT. (1907). 264.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH SPAIN. I37
the equipment of the fleet. ^ Owing to Acqiiaviva's and Parma's
influence, Aldrovandi was enabled to return to Spain from
Perpignan on May 20th. When he arrived at the Escorial on
June 0th, he learned the good news that the fleet was ready. ^
In the course of the next few days he discussed with Alberoni
and Daubenton a compromise between Church and State.
On June 16th a draft for a new concordat was drawn up ; it
was signed the next day by Alberoni and Aldrovandi.
On the most important points of this agreement, which
took into consideration all the differences, King Phihp
promised the Pope the suspension of those decrees to which
the Pontiff objected, and the restoration of the tribunal of
the nunciature as it had existed at the time of Charles II.
The Pope, on his side, promised to allow the King to raise
from the Spanish clergy an annual subsidy of 150,000 ducats
for a period of four years.
When the draft of this concordat reached Rome, at the
beginning of July, the Pope was by no means pleased with
what had been secured. In the first place, he objected to the
form of the agreement, because in article 17 the restoration
of the nunciature and of papal authority was represented as
if it had to be bought at the price of the preceding article.
He objected to the tenor of the first two articles on papal
indults with regard to the raising of money from the Spanish
clergy ; he insisted that the mention of these must be linked
with the promise of assistance in the Turkish war.^ There-
upon Aldrovandi forwarded another draft to Rome. Meanwhile
1 Cf. the important letter of Paolucci to Acquaviva, September
30, 1 719, in which the Brief of suspension is justified and a sum-
mary given of the whole conflict. Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
'^ PoMETTi, XXIII., 475 ; Arezio, 264.
' According to the account given in " *Istruzione in forma di
lettera a Msgr. Aldrovandi in Genova, September 21, 1720
(Nunziat. di Spagna, 212, loc. cit.), where a good summary is
given of the negotiations for the Concordat. Arezio (265) is
mistaken when he supposes that Clement XI. was not satisfied
with the form of the Concordat. Cf. Paolucci 's * letter to Aldro-
vandi, July 13, 1 717 : " Non senza un estremo stupore ha N. S.
138 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the naval campaign had begun and the dispatch of the
Spanish auxiliary fleet was more urgently demanded than ever.
After receiving from Aldrovandi, on July 4th, the most
promising reports on the attitude of the Spanish Government ^
the Pope, trusting in the solemn assurance of Acquaviva of
April 3rd and those of the Duke of Parma of April 16th, 1717,
decided to proceed to Alberoni's elevation to the cardinalate
on July 12th of the same year. He based his action on the
latter's meritorious contribution to the settlement of the
ecclesiastico-political conflict and the dispatch of Spanish
auxiliary fleets against the Turks both in the past year and
in the current one, since the promised sixteen men-of-war
had already sailed from Cadiz. ^ At the same time the Madrid
riconosciuto daH'ultimo dispaccio di V. S. I. de' 18 del caduto,
quanto poco nel negoziato a lei commesso siasi ella uniformata a gli
ordini strettamente impostile dalla S. S. . . . Ond'e, che la notizia
del seguito invece di apportare consolazione a S. B., I'ha ripiena
airincontro d'un incredibile rammarico. Nel foglio A annesso,
vedra ella i motivi, per i quali rispetto alli primi 16 capitoli del
Concordato non e punto piaciuto cio che si e fatto ; siccome
nepure e piaciuto rispetto airultimo capitolo, in cui non rivo-
candosi gli editti e decreti contrarii, non si toglie la radice del
male, bense ne medichino gli effetti ; e in conseguenza le sodis-
fazioni dovute alia Chiesa et alia S. Sede restano imperfette
e manchevoli. II Papa non puo accettare delle convenzioni prima
che il re non abbia firmato un decreto che condanniifogliingiuriosi
alia s. persona del Vicario di Cristo sparsi in Spagna nel 1700."
(C/. Studi e docum., I., loi seq.) — Di pugno di S. Em. : " Faccia
V. S. I. ogni sforzo, affinche nel decreto da farsi da S. M. Catt^a
per necessaria base, corona e sostegno dell'aggiustamento, sia
incluso il § toccante li consaputi fogli condannati ; ne creda,
che la S. S., ancorchfe sia condescesa in caso disperato a sagrificare
per Taggiustamento questa sua tanto giusta e tanto dovula
sodisfazione, possa es.serne mai veramente contenta, quando il
sudetto § non vi sia incluso. . . . Ella creda, che il passo fatto hier
mattina da S. S. in concistoro le costa e costera assai, e piu di quel
ch'ella pos.sa mai pensare ; onde merita la S. S. d'esser consolata."
Nunziai. di Spagna, loc. cit. ^ Cf. Buder, III., 594.
» Clementis, XL, Opera, Orat., 143-6. According to the
♦reports which Gallas sent to Vienna, Giudice declared that he
THE CHRISTIAN FLEET PUTS TO SEA. I39
nuncio was instructed to insist with determination on the
two articles of the concordat being altered.^ Whatever the
issue of the negotiations might be, the Pope felt convinced
that he had secured at least this one thing, viz. support for
Venice by the Spanish fleet. This assistance seemed all the
more necessary as until then the operations at sea had not
achieved any success. The papal galleys had sailed from
Civitavecchia on April 27th, 1717 ; on May 1st they took
in provisions at Pozzuoli and reached Corfu on the 18th. It
was only on June 12th that the rest of the auxiliaries arrived,
viz. seven Portuguese warships and three smaller vessels,
and two Tuscan and three Maltese galleys. In order to avoid
the quarrels of the last year the Pope appointed as commander-
in-chief of the auxihary fleet Bali de Bellefontaine, a knight
of Malta. 2
Meanwhile the greater and heavier section of the Venetian
fleet, under the command of Ludovico Flangini and consisting
of twenty-six ships of the line, three corvettes, four galleons
and eight transport vessels, set out in the direction of the
Archipelago, in order to prevent the Turkish fleet from
leaving the Dardanelles. But it was too late. On June 12th
the Venetians came upon the hostile armada of forty-six
ships of the line between Lemnos and Jombros. These vessels
were under the command of the recently appointed Kapudan
Pasha Ibrahim of Aleppo. In an engagement which was
resumed on June 13th and 16th, the Venetians fought with
could not consent to the nomination of Alberoni. Adda, Barberini,
Colonna, Borromeo and Marini abstained from voting. Schratten-
bach and Tremoille absented themselves as they demanded a
compensation for their respective courts. Acciaiuoli is alleged to
have said : " Optima electio, sed ego virum non cognosco "
(Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunnen). Alberoni received the news of
his nomination on July 25 ; see Arezio, 276, who is, however,
mistaken in supposing that the Pope's address in the consistory
has not been published.
^ Cf. Paolucci's letter of July 13, 1717, quoted above.
2 Manfroni in Arch. d. Soc. Rom., XIV., 352 seq. ; Pometti,
XXIII.. 491.
140 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the greatest bravery, in spite of an unfavourable wind.
However, no permanent gain was obtained. After the engage-
ment the Captain, General Pisani, resolved, towards the end of
June, 1717, to attack Ibrahim of Aleppo with the lighter
portion of the Venetian fleet, viz. fifteen galleys, two galUots,
three corvettes and four galleons, together with the auxiliary
fleet. A very severe naval engagement took place on July 19th
between Cape Matapan and the island of Cerigo ending in
the retreat of the Turks. But that action too was indecisive
since the enemy succeeded in getting his fleet safely away.^
Further engagements led to no material change in the situa-
tion until the reports of Prince Eugene's victories induced
Ibrahim Pasha to beat a hasty retreat in the direction of the
Dardanelles.
The conqueror of Peterwardein had taken leave of the
Emperor on May 14th, 1717, shortly after the birth of an
heiress to the Empire, Maria Teresa. On this occasion
Charles VI. presented his commander-in-chief with a crucifix
richly adorned with diamonds, to the end that, armed with
this emblem, he might carry on the holy war against the
hereditary enemy of the Christian name. Eugene had at his
disposal more than 100,000 men. Since the enemy was still
at a distance, he was able to cross the Danube on June 15th
and 16th without hindrance. After a thorough reconnais-
sance of the country, Eugene took up his position before
Belgrade, on a spot which had also been occupied by Max
Emmanuel of Bavaria in 1688. He secured his camp on the
side facing the fortress, but he also guarded his rear against
attack by a reheving force. ^ The strength of Belgrade lay
not so much in its fortifications as in its favourable position
between the Danube and the Save. What value the Sultan
attached to the retention of this place, is shown by the fact
that he appointed Mustafa Pasha, one of his bravest captains,
commandant of the garrison of 30,000 men, the pick of the
1 DiEDO, 140 seqq. ; Zinkeisen, V., 553 seqq. ; Guglielmotti,
60 seqq. ; Manfroni, loc. cit., 359 seqq. ; Pometti, XXIII.,
491 seqq.
^ Arneth, II., 422 sf^f/. ; Zinkeisen, v., 5475^(7^.
SURRENDER OF BELGRADE. I41
Janissaries. As soon as the siege-works, which the Turks
had vainly tried to interrupt by sorties, were completed, the
bombardment of the fortress began on July 16th. It caused
great havoc and only the hope of relief kept up the courage of
the besieged. Great was their joy when they beheld the van-
guard of the reUeving force, 200,000 strong and commanded by
the Grand Vizier Chalil Pasha, which entrenched itself on the
high ground facing the imperial camp. From this position
the Turks opened a rnurderous fire on August 1st. Prince
Eugene extricated himself from his perilous position by a
bold resolution worthy of his genius : whilst continuing the
bombardment of the fortress, he attacked the Turkish camp
in the early hours of August 16th. By nine o'clock victory
ended this bitter struggle. The Turks left on the battlefield
13,000 dead, 186 guns and other war material, 51 standards
and 9 horse-tails. The destruction of the army of relief sealed
the fate of Belgrade. The garrison surrendered on condition
of freedom to depart. In the town the imperialists captured
over 600 pieces of cannon besides enormous quantities of
ammunition. The Turkish Danube fleet of fifteen galleys, and
a great number of armed boats also fell into the hands of the
victor. 1
After this extraordinary success, which called forth the
utmost enthusiasm all over Europe,^ the brightest prospects
for a further repression of the Turks opened before the Emperor
and Christendom. But at that very moment Alberoni
destroyed all these hopes. Charles VI. saw his position in
Italy threatened as the result of King Phihp V.'s attack on
Sicily. The reason by which the attack was justified was that
the imperial Governor of Milan had arrested the Grand
Inquisitor on his journey to Spain ; as a matter of fact this
had actually happened in Ma5^ Francis Farnese, Duke of
^ Hammer, IV., 153 seqq. ; Zinkeisen, V., 548 ; Arneth,
XL, 431 seqq. ; Matuschka in Feldziige des Prinzen Eugen,
XXII.
* The victory was everywhere extolled by means of pamphlets,
poems, engravings, and commemorative medals ; cf. Bcitrage
zur Geschichte Oesterreichs, Vienna, 1908, 16 seqq., 66 seq.
142 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Parma, in a confidential communication to Alberoni, had at
once pointed out that now they had a motive for revenging
themselves on the Emperor, with the aid of the auxiliary
fleet which was to have destroyed the Turks. ^ Alberoni, who
at that time was waiting for his Cardinal's hat, thought the
venture premature • since the preparations were incomplete.
Eventually, however, he became reconciled to the project,
but in order to guard himself against the reproaches of the
Catholics and the Pope, he put off the execution of the plan ;
whatever happened he would be able to prove that he had
done aU that was possible to delay the expedition. Besides,
he did not agree with the violence of the war party, which
was bent on immediate action. These fanatics favoured an
attack on Naples, but Alberoni successfully maintained his
point of view, viz. that Sardinia should be their first objective.^
If this succeeded, the war could be continued later on until
the imperialists were driven out of Italy, when the House of
Farnese could secure for itself a dominant position.^ This was
the dream of that paramount personality in Spain, Queen
Elizabeth. Owing to the fact that there were two sons,
Ludovico and Fernando, from the first marriage of Philip V.
with Marie Louise GabrieUe, daughter of Duke Vittorio
Amadeo II. of Savoy, Elizabeth's own sons, Carlos and Philip,
had no prospect of ascending the Spanish throne. However,
in order to make splendid provision for them, they were to
receive Parma and Piacenza, where the ruling dynasties were
about to die out.
At the beginning of July Alberoni took aU the necessary
measures for the expedition.^ The Spanish fleet was at anchor
at Barcelona.^ However, the command was slow in coming.
A rumour, which had been circulating for some time, now took
^ See the passage in the important *letter of the Duke of
Parma to Alberoni, M^y 27, 171 7, in Arezio, 269, Archives,
Naples.
* Arezio, 271 seq., 276,
3 Ibid., 285, 301.
* Ihid., 279.
» POMETTI. XXIII., 483.
SPANISH ATTACK ON SARDINIA. I43
more definite shape ; it was to the effect that the fleet which
had been equipped with the financial aid of the Pope for the
purpose of assisting Venice, was not going to put to sea
against the Turks, but would make a sudden attack on the
imperial possessions in Italy, Naples, Sicily or Sardinia.
Nuncio Aldrovandi and Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador,
whom the matter concerned most, mentioned these rumours
to Alberoni, who told them that they should give no credence
to such false alarms since the fleet, in accordance with the
wishes of the Pope and those of Venice, was meant to fight
against the Turks. At the banquet which Alberoni gave to
the diplomatists on July 5th, he renewed the same assurances.^
Aldrovandi tried in vain, through Daubenton, the King's
confessor, to obtain an explanation ; he was told that His
Majesty could not be interviewed nor, in the end, even Alberoni
himself. When the nuncio demanded a clear statement from
Alberoni, he received vague assurances that he need not be
uneasy.^
On July 25th Alberoni received news of his elevation to
the cardinalate.^ The Spanish fleet, with 8,000 well equipped
men on board, raised anchor, but contrary winds obliged
it to make a halt near the island of Mallorca ; on August 22nd
it dropped anchor before Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia,
and landed the troops.* The siege began at once ; the place
soon fell, in spite of a brave defence. In the sequel the whole
island was lost to the Emperor. ^
Amazement and indignation filled the whole of Christendom
when these events became known. The Pope's disappoint-
ment was indescribable. When rumours concerning
Philip V.'s plans had first reached Rome, he had refused to
^ Professione, 106 5e^^. 2 Ibid., Ill seq.
^ Cf. above, p. 138, n. 2. An express courier had made the
journey in thirteen days. Arezio, 267.
* Ibid., 287, 307. Cf. Manno, Storia di Sardegnu, IV., Torino,
1827, 61 seq.
' Cf. Feldzitge des Prinzen Eugen, XVIII., 20 seqq., 357 seq.,
and especially M. Pacia-Patriarca, La spedizione in Sardegna
del iji J ed il card. G. Alberoni, Teramo, 1921.
144 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
believe them. He could not understand, as the Cardinal
Secretary of State wrote on August 1st, 1717, how the
Spanish king could thus stain his reputation and conscience ;
how, under the pious pretence of rendering speedy assistance
in the struggle against the Turks, he could kindle the flames
of war amongst Christians and for that purpose make use of
a fleet the equipment of which had only been made possible
through the contributions of a tenth from Church property,
a tenth only granted under the express condition that it was
to be used for the prosecution of the Turkish war.^ However,
the rumours became more and more concrete. In a letter of
August 5th, Acquaviva still sought to calm the Pope, but the
very next day was to dispel all doubts. The seemingly
impossible had become a fact ; the Pope experienced the
greatest disappointment of his whole pontificate. ^ Spain
had eased the Turkish position and at the same time inflicted
a most grievous injury on Christendom and on hapless Italy.
Assistance, as far as the maritime war was concerned, had
become objectless ; the Emperor's victorious advance was
arrested for Charles III. now needed his troops in order to
protect his Italian possessions.^ Philip V.'s solemn promises
1 Paolucci's *letter to Alberoni, August i, 171 7, says inter
alia : " Qual macchia finalmente contrarrebbe la gloria e la
coscienza istessa di S. M. Catf^*, se sotto la bella e religiosa appar-
enza di mandare in Levante un valido soccorso potesse dirsi,
ch'ella havesse nascosto il disegno di turbar la quiete della cris-
tianita, e si fosse valsuta di quegli stessi sussidi et aiuti accordatile
unicamente dalla S. S. in difesa della causa comune, per avanzare
i suoi particolari interessi non solo alieni dal fine sudetto, ma
totalmente contrarii. Onde potrebbe N. S. patire il rimprovero
d'haver profuse grazie si singolari a chi dovesse poi si malamente
abusarsene e rivolgerle contro il fine istesso, che la santissima
mente di S. B. s'era unicamente prescritto nel concederle."
Numiat. di Spagna, Papal Sec. Arch.
* See *Paolucci's letter to Acquaviva of September 30, 1719.
referred to above, p. 157, n. 1, which narrates the whole conflict
in retrospect.
* On receipt of the first report of the landing in Sardinia,
which the imperial ambassador learnt through a courier from
THE POPE S INDIGNATION. I45
and Alberoni's elevation to the cardinalate had received an
answer which appalled the Secretary of State. The Pope was
also very angry with Aldrovandi. " All the hopes expressed
in your reports in code, dated July 12th and 10th, have proved
a delusion," Paolucci wrote to him on August 17th, 1717. ^
Naples, Paolucci wrote to Aldrovandi on August 17, 1717 :
" News has come of the landing in Sardinia. " si puo V. S. I.
imaginare, fin'a qual segno habbia cio ferito il cuore di N. S.,
il quale non pu6 comprendere, come dopo una promessa si solenne,
e dopo la promotione del S. card. Alberoni (calcolandosi, che la
nuova di questa fosse giunta a Madrid piu giorni prima di quel che
sarpassero le sudette navi e convoglio da Barcelona) venga ora
corrisposto in una guisa, che fa orrore : non potendo nessun
pretesto colorire qualunque diversione, che faccia la squadra dal
suo dritto camino in Levante, si perche ognun vede, che per il
ritardo si renderebbe, sicome gia si e resa, inutile in quelle parti,
si ancora perche obligherebbe, sicome pur troppo oblighera
rimperatore a troncare il cor so alle sue vittorie contro il comune
nemico per richiamare le truppe alia difesa de' suoi stati. Sia
pero V. S. I. ben persuasa, che S. S. prendera quelle risoluzioni,
che saranno piii proprie : per riparare la gravissima ed inaudita
offesa, che se le fa contro ogni diritto di giustizia e di gratitudine.
Intanto vuole N. S., che V. S. I. sospenda di dare alcuna sorte
d'esecuzione ai tre Brevi de' Sussidii che ha nelle mani." On
August 29, Paolucci wrote to Aldrovandi with his own hand :
" The Pope is infinitely distressed by the dispatch of the fleet,
etc. E qual ragione puo mai allegarsi per iscusare una si manifesta
e orribile mancanza fatta non solo a S. S., ma alia Chiesa, alia
christianita tutta, alia religione, a Dio ? Mache dissi mancanza ?
Mancanza dovrebbe dirsi, quando S. M. non havesse fatto altro
che non mandare li vascelli in Levante, come havea promesso ;
ma havendoli mandati dove si dice, e assai piu, che haverli
mandati in aiuta de' Turchi, mentre da questa missione ne risulter-
anno consequenze tanto giovevoli a' medesimi Turchi e tanto
pregiudiziali alia christianita e specialmente alia povera Italia."
For Molines' arrest, regard should have been had for the Garanti
del trattato. Alberoni writes that he would show himself grateful ;
he has now a splendid opportunity to do so by restraining the
King, even out of gratitude to the King." Nunziat. di Spagna,
212, loc. cit. 1 Ibid.
VOL. XXXIII. L
146 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
It was tragic that almost at the same time news of the sur-
render of Belgrade reached Rome on August 26th, 1717.
The Pope, who at the time was assisting at a session of the
Inquisition, fell upon his knees when the message was brought
in, thanking God together with the Cardinals present. He
ordered Te Deum to be sung in his chapel and, in spite of
pouring rain, he went in the afternoon to St. Mary Major
for a thanksgiving service.^ Yet this event which should
have overjoyed him, was almost turned to bitterness since
it was certain that the great victory could not be followed up.
It was to be foreseen from the first that the Pope would not
be spared the bitterest reproaches on the part of the
Emperor.^ That prevision proved correct. Clement XI.
was hopelessly compromised in the eyes of the Emperor.
He had assumed a moral guarantee for the security of the
Italian possessions. At present he could be accused with
apparent justification, of having been over-confident towards
Philip V. and allowed himself to be shamefully deceived by
him. What made matters worse was the fact that an accusa-
tion of a secret understanding with the Spanish King was made
and this calumny found credence with most of the Cabinets.^
At Vienna especially this conviction was general.^ Indescrib-
1 Cf. besides Buder, III., 641 seq., the *Avviso of August 28,
171 7, Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn, and Cardinal Acquaviva's
♦letter to Grimaldi, dated August 31, 171 7, Archives of the
Spanish Embassy, Rome.
2 *Non b pero, che vedendosi ormai resa infruttuosa una tale
spedizione in Levante, i maligni non prendano quindi pretesto di
deridere la buona fede del Papa, ed i Tedeschi non s'allarmino
fuor di modo, fin'a fare tutte le disposizioni ed avanzare querela
e minaccie alia S. S., come se fossero certi che il vero disegno
di cotesta squadra sia Tinvasione della Sardegna, e che la S. S.
medesima possa esserne consapevole. Yet Spain had given a
sure promise for the Levant. Paolucci to Aldrovandi, August 6,
1717, Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
« Weber, Quadrupelallianz, 40 seqq. ; Professione, 130 seq.
* " *Piu di ogn'altro motivo potrcbbe per avventura esser' effi-
cace I'estrema confusione, in cui si trova S. S. d'haver appog-
giata nel publico concistoro la grazia fatta al Re nel promovere il
BITTERNESS IN VIENNA. I47
able anger prevailed and the bitterest reproaches were heaped
upon the Pope. Count Gallas, the imperial ambassador,
refused to believe the Pope when he protested that he was
the one who had been deceived. For him these protestations
were but empty words ^ ; he even went so far as to say that
he was convinced of the existence of a secret understanding
between the Pope and Spain. ^ At the same time, by order of
sig. card. Alberoni alle tante volte promessa, e per quanto diceva
il sig. card. Acquaviva, gia cominciata ad effettuarsi spedizione
in Levante. Sa V. S. I., quanto sia costato e quanto sia per
costare a N. S. un tal passo. Ne la S. S. ci si e indotta senza
credere di giustificarlo col merito della sudetta spedizione. Or se
adesso manca al Papa questa giustificazione : qual campo si
dara al mondo, o d'accusare il Re, che habbia voluto brutta-
mente ingannare il Papa, o di condannare airincontro il Papa
stesso d'haver troppo facilmente creduto alia regia parola, benche
confermatagli in tante guise. Ma il peggio si e, che non parendo
verisimile ne I'uno ne I'altro, s'arriva a dire, che il Re operi di
concerto col Papa, e che a questo fine fosse unicamente diretto
I'inopinato viaggio fatto da V. S. I. I'anno passato fin a Roma,
e tutti li suoi negoziati conclusi in questa corte. Ne questo 6
un discorso di pochi, ma ormai comune e fin divolgato ne'
publici avvisi, come potra riconoscere da quelli ultimamente venuti
da Napoli, de' quali se ne le manda copia. Se tali sospetti nascono
nella gente non interessata, quali saranno quelli della corte di
Vienna ? Sono in fatti gravissimi. E la maniera, con cui tanto
quel ministri si sono espressi con mons. Nunzio, quanto questo
sig. ambasciatore cesareo s'espresse lunedi con N. S., fa temerci
anco contro di noi qualunque piii strana risoluzione da quella
parte : quasi che il Papa fosse stato capace di nascondere sotto
I'apparenza d'eccitare i principi cattolici contro il Turco un si
nero concerto, e che per farlo riuscire, n'havesse somministrati
i mezzi al Re di Spagna ne' sussidii accordatigli " [Nunziat. di
Spagna, 212), Papal Sec. Archives. Already in his *report of
August 14, 1 71 7, Gallas expressed the suspicion of an understanding
between Clement XI. and Alberoni. Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn.
^ See Count Gallas' *letter to Sinzendorff, August 31, 1717
(all that the Pope is writing to Spain and Vienna is " un beau
verbiage "), ibid. 2 gee Count Gallas' *letter to
Sinzendorff, September 17, ijij,ibid.
148 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Emperor, Gallas categorically demanded that Cardinal
Emmerich Czacki, Bishop of Kolocsa and candidate of the
Emperor, who had been reserved in petto on July 12th, 1717,
should be proclaimed, and that the next vacancy in the
Sacred College of Cardinals should be reserved for another
candidate of the Emperor, otherwise the nuncios and collectors
would be expelled from Naples, Milan and the Netherlands,
and the ecclesiastical revenues sequestrated. The Pope
opposed Gallas' demands on the score that France and
Portugal would raise similar ones ; it looked as if they wanted
to force the Pope to fill the Sacred College with foreigners
and to deprive him of his freedom to raise deserving prelates
to the purple. After that all he would have to do was to
resign the supreme pontificate which for him was a crown of
thorns. The Emperor should be satisfied if his candidate was
reserved in petto ; in that case neither France nor Portugal
could make any fresh demands. Gallas rephed that Portugal
had no legitimate claims, seeing that her support of Venice
had already been rewarded ; moreover her king had not the
same standing as the other three great Powers, and as for
France, Christendom was under no obhgation to her. The
Pope begged for time to think matters over. However, Gallas
declared that he had orders to wait only four days. He
importuned the Pope to such an extent that he was finally
told that Czacki's nomination would take place at the next
consistory, when the victory of Belgrade would also be
solemnly proclaimed. ^ Gallas also asked for further grants
of money towards the Turkish war,^ whilst continuing to press
for a complete rupture between the Pope and Spain. ^ The
steps which had hitherto been taken in Rome against
Philip V. he declared to be quite inadequate.*
1 See the detailed *report of Count Gallas to the Emperor,
August 31, 1717, ibid.
* In his *report to Sinzendorff, September 9, 1717, Gallas says
that he was certain he would receive further subsidies. Ibid.
3 Cf. Count Gallas' *reports to Sinzendorff, August 22, and
September 4, 1717, ibid.
* *Gallas to Sinzendorff, September 13, 171 7, ibid.
THE CONCORDAT RATIFIED. 149
Clement XI. had given orders to Aldrovandi as early as
August 17th, that is as soon as the first rumours reached him,
to suspend the Briefs on the tribute to be levied from the
Spanish clergy and to strike out the articles relative to it
from the draft of the concordat.^ All the same the Pope
could not entertain the idea of a complete break with Madrid,
seeing that a settlement of ecclesiastical affairs in Spain
seemed imminent. On the contrary it was his duty, even in
the altered circumstances, to make at least an attempt to
save the concordat. He accordingly yielded on all the other
points in dispute and on August 26th dispatched to Madrid
the Brief of ratification of the concordat which had been
retrodated to July 10th. The only point he insisted on was
the annulment of the article concerning the taxation of the
Spanish clergy, since its retention would have rendered him
suspect of having had an understanding on the subject of the
attempt against Sardinia. ^ The Pope was determined not to
^ Cf. Paolucci's *letter of August 17, 1717 (Pap. Sec. Arch.),
quoted above, p. 144, n. 3.
2 *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, August 26, 1717 : " Giache S. M.
Catfcca non ha voluto condescendere a stabilire la reintegrazione
della Chiesa e della Sede Apost. a loro diritti per mezo di un
decreto regio, ma insiste, che tutto si termini per mezo di un
Concordato, S. B., per incontrare il compiacimento della M. S.,
lascia di maggiormente premere per il sudetto decreto, e cami-
nando secondo la nuova minuta trasmessa da V. S. I. per la forma-
zione del Concordato, ha approvato, che in esse sia stato posto per
prime capitolo quello, che nel Concordato sottoscritto era stato
messo per I'ultimo, come ha anco approvato le nuove aggiuntevi,
contentandosi di quelle in vece del decreto desiderato." Since
the condition of articles 2 and 3 (subsidies of a million and a half
in the Indies and a tenth of half a million in Spain for the expedi-
tion to the Levant this year) is unrealizable, and the Pope
would fall under the suspicion of connivance, these articles must
be struck out from the concordat. The other articles the Pope
confirms, and " per avanzar tempo, e senza aspettar altra risposta,
ha ordinato, che si spedisca il Breve di ratificazione per parte della
S. S. dell'istesso Concordato, con I'intiera inserzione del medesimo.
— P. S. (di pugno di S. Em.) : Replico a V. S. I., che N. S. per
150 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
yield on this point, even if it meant the wrecking of the
concordat. As a matter of fact Cardinal Acquaviva, the
Spanish ambassador in Rome, an ambassador of his King
rather than a Cardinal, had threatened that if the Pope
refused the Indults there would be an end to the concordat.^
procedere con buona fede, non ha volute, che si faccia piu minute
esame di alcune piccole diversita, che appariscono tra alcuni
capitoli del Concordato, e le risposte, che dalla S. S. furono date alii
19 articoli proposti in Roma da V. S. I., ma sorpassando ogni
difficolta, ha tutto approvato ; il che tanto piu volentieri ha fatto
quanto che ella ha scritto, essersi costi creduto, che li capitoli
concordat! non siano difierenti, nk punto ne poco nella sostanza e
nell'essenziale da tutto cio, che fu qui risoluto ; e appunto per tale
ragione e con tale supposto io ho scritto, confidarsi da S. S. che
potendo nascere col tempo qualche difficolta nell'esecuzione sia
questa per conformarsi alia mente di S. B." {Nunziat. di Spagna,
212, Papal Sec. Archives). The text of this concordat, about which
there was considerable obscurity for a long time (see Hergen-
ROTHER in Archiv. fiir Kath. Kirchenrecht., X. [1863], 187 seq.,
who, following Sentis [154], denied its ratification by the Pope),
besides the Briefs of ratification, is in Mercati, Concordati,
282 seqq. The hitherto unknown retrodating is expressly mentioned
in the * Instruction to Alessandro Aldobrandini of September 21,
1720, Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
1 See Paolucci's *letter to Aldrovandi, August 29, 171 7,
which says of Acquaviva's menaces : " che rivocandosi detti
indulti, andera altresi in aria il Concordato e restera senza effetto
tutto cio, che per parte del Re e stato promesso in ordine alia
reintegrazione della Nunziatura e dell'autorita apostolica. . . .
L'awerto si bene, esser cosi determinata la S. S. nella risoluzione
di voler esclusi dal Concordato detti due capitoli, stante I'evidente
e incontrastabile ineseguibilita degli istessi indulti nello stato,
in cui ci troviamo, che anche a costo di rimanere ineffettuato il
Concordato rispetto alia reintegrazione della Nunziatura e dell'au-
torita apostolica, non cambiera mai sentimento ; mentre altro
non mancherebbe per far credere non solo a' Tedeschi, ma al
mundo tutto, che la causa espressa negli indulti fosse stata un
semplice e vano pretesto per colorire il vero oggetto de' medesimi
indulti. Troppo importa la riputazione del Papa e della S. Sede,
e perci6 deve preferirse a qualunque altra considerazione."
Nunziat. di Spagna, 212, Papal Secret Archives.
THE POPE TRICKED. 15I
Meanwhile Clement persisted in his condemnation of the
attack on Sardinia, nor did he allow himself to be deflected
from his purpose even when Philip V. at last condemned the
libels on the person of the Head of the Church which had been
broadcast throughout Spain in 1709. 1 The King's assertion that
the Emperor had forced a war on him, because he had had
the newly-appointed Grand Inquisitor Molines arrested at
Milan, Clement rejected as devoid of foundation. ^ He declared
that he must insist on what he had demanded in his Brief
of August 25th, when the first rumours came to his ears, that
Philip V. should desist from further attacks against the
Emperor and restore all his conquests.^
In order to exercise pressure on the Spanish King an auto-
graph letter had been dispatched on August 31st to Francesco
Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, whose intervention
just then had induced the Spanish Government to withdraw
the libellous pamphlets.* The Pope cherished the hope that
a relative would have a better chance of making himself
heard. The Duke was to point out to what dangers Spain
was exposing herself, since all the Powers that had signed the
Peace of Utrecht would never submit to its violation.^ The
Pope does not mention Alberoni's name in this communica-
tion, the Brief only refers in general terms to the influence of
evil counsellors. Clement XI. may well have had Alberoni
in mind, but he never suspected that the first suggestion of
breaking the peace had come from the Duke of Parma.
Francesco Farnese knew so well how to cover his tracks that
the Pope never suspected liim.^ Alberoni stood loyally by the
^ This *decree [Nunziat. di Spagna, loc.cit.), was obtained
with the help of the Duke of Parma ; see Studi e docuni., I., 100
seq.
" *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, dat. August 29, 1717, Nunziat.
di Spagna, loc. cit.
» Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2249.
* Cf. note I. * See studi e docuni., I., 93 seqq.
• Arezio, 298 5^17^., 294, n. 4, where the comedy played by
Fr. Farnese is revealed for the first time from documents in the
Farnese Archives (now at Naples) .
152 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
side of the Duke, for as the Spanish Queen's representative,
he could not but be anxious that not even the sHghtest
suspicion should fall on her uncle. Whilst fiercely defending
the Duke's innocence, he endeavoured to shift the respon-
sibility from Phihp V.'s shoulders to those of the Pope who,
he alleged, had done nothing to appease the justly outraged
feelings of the King on the occasion of Molines' arrest. He
even had the impudence to assert that out of consideration for
Clement XI. no further action had been taken against the
Emperor, although the means to do so were at hand.^ He
succeeded so well in winning over the nuncio to his side ^
that the latter hesitated to deliver the papal Brief of
August 25th, in fact such was his credulity that he handed
over the Briefs of the Indults.
What a position for the Pope ! seeing that on September 4th
he had communicated to all the nuncios the Brief of August
25th, forbidding a further demand of a tenth from the
Spanish clergy since there was no longer any reason for it.^
Acquaviva did all he could to pacify the Pope, but he deceived
himself if he imagined he had succeeded.^ On September 16th
Paolucci wrote to Aldrovandi ordering him to recall the
Indults ; if this proved impossible, the Pope himself would
revoke them and communicate the fact to all the Spanish
Bishops. This must be done, even if as a result, the nunciature
was closed and all the former hostilities revived.^
In other ways also Aldrovandi's attitude met with strong
^ Arezio, 291 seq.
2 Cf. Professione, Ministero, 114.
3 See Istoria del card. Alberoni, 54.
* Cf. Acquaviva's *letter to Grimaldi, September 12, 1717,
Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
* This was done, says Paolucci, " nongiaperdargustoa'Tedeschi,
come costi malamente crederanno, ma per sodisfare alia sua esti-
mazione ed alia sua coscienza, per la qual ragione appunto, anche
a costo che la Nunziatura avesse di nuovo a chiudersi ed avesse a
tornarsi in tutti li passati disordini, la S. S. e e sara sempre
costantissima in questa risoluzione." Nunziat. di Spagna, 212,
Papal Sec. Archives.
ALDROVANDI S MISTAKES. 153
disapproval in Rome. In a second communication from the
Secretary of State, dated September 16th, it w^s said that the
Pope was greatly surprised that Spain, as if she intended to
insult him, alleged in her defence nothing but so-called breaches
of neutrality on the part of the Emperor ; and that he was
even more amazed at the fact that the Holy See was expected
to content itself with the role of a mediator without any
other satisfaction. In spite of all that had happened the
Pope would consider the guarantee of abstaining from further
attacks and of restoring what had been gained by force of
arms as a sufficient satisfaction, but without that much he
could not take another step, as otherwise Austria's suspicion
would only be confirmed and strengthened.
As for Alberoni's opposition to the Sardinian enterprise,
of which Aldrovandi had written with such conviction, the
Pope was willing to believe the nuncio, seeing that had it
been otherwise, the Cardinal would have acted against the
true interests both of his King and the Duke of Parma.
The whole world, however, was of a different opinion. The
general opinion seemed to be that whatever happened in
Madrid, whether good or bad, could be traced back to Alberoni.
In the interest, therefore, of his own honour, the Cardinal
should make his influence felt in a good direction, and this
soon, as the least delay would have the worst consequences.^
Unfortunately Alberoni gave not the shghtest hint that he
was making his influence felt in this sense ; on the contrary,
the Government of Madrid complained of the Pope's attitude.
1 " *Quanto al sig. card. Alberoni. N. S. si dichiara di credere
quel ch'ella si asseverantemente ne scrive, ch'egli sia state
contrariissimo alia mossa contro la Sardegna, mentre stimandolo
8. S. uomo d'onore e di giudizio, tale certamente non sarebbe,
eve avesse approvata I'istessa mossa tanto opposta a' veri interessi
di cotesta corona, e tanto rovinosa per quelli del sig. Duca di
Parma. II male pero e, ch'ogn'altro giudica diversamente, jnentre
tutti credono, che il medesimo sig. cardinale sia Tautore di tutto
cio, che o di bene o di male si fa da cotesta corte. Procuri percio
egli per sue onore, che si faccia bene e presto, ma presto assai,
potendo esser letale qualunque ancor che minima dilazione." Ibid.
154 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Cardinal Paolucci, in a sharply worded note of October 5th,
asked whether, Madrid was under the impression that the
Pope was under obligation to Spain in return for the greatest
mortification he had received in the course of his whole
pontificate. In the hope of Philip V. making satisfaction to
him, the Pope had given up the idea he had entertained
at first of having the Brief of August 25th read at the con-
sistory, and in spite of the fact that the College of Cardinals
expected a firmer tone, he, the Pope, in his allocution of
October 1st on the subject of the Turkish war, had exercised
the greatest restraint. ^
Clement XI. was firmly resolved not to give way on the
question of raising money from the Spanish clergy. On
October 5th he ordered the Briefs, which were no longer
valid, to be withdrawn, even if their execution had already
begun. Should the Spanish ministers refuse to comply with
this order, Aldrovandi was to inform the Bishops that the
Pope did not wish to lay an obligation on them in this matter.^
As a matter of fact the execution of these Briefs had
started ^ ; and not only that, but by the end of October
it was known in Rome that the secular power in Spain was
resuming its old policy of violating ecclesiastical jurisdiction.*
^ *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, October 5, 171 7, ibid.
* Paolucci's two *letters of October 5, 1717, ibid.
' Paolucci's two *letters of October 19, 171 7, ibid.
* On October 26, 171 7, Paolucci *wrote to Aldrovandi : The
Pope hears that instead of restitution " continui la potesta
secolare ad ingerirsi francamente nelle materie spettanti alia
Chiesa, irl quella guisa appunto, che, con tanto scandalo del
mondo cattolico, ha praticata per otto e piu anni, anco a privare
i vescovi deH'autorita. . . . N^ credano costa di gettarci la
polvere sugl'occhi, con facilitare. alia Camera Apostolica I'esigenza
de' suoi proventi : quasi che questo solo basti : perche Roma
non e tanto interessata, che sia mai per chiamarsene appagata,
quando insieme non venga pienamente reintegrata la potesta
ecclesiastica nel libero servizio della sua giurisdizione, giacch^
in ci6, come piu importante ed essenziale, consistono principal-
mente le precise obligazioni del Re, le riparazioni da lui dovute
alia Chiesa ed alia S. Sede et le maggiori premure di N. S." Ibid.
IMPERIAL DEMANDS. 155
Aldrovandi showed his incompetence as a representative of
the Holy See by seeking to keep these events from the know-
ledge of the Pope. His optimistic reports made an all the more
disagreeable impression in Rome as the attacks against the
Pope were becoming more and more violent in consequence of
Spain's breach of the peace. ^
On October 1st, 1717, Clenient XI. fulfilled the Emperor's
wish by the publication of the imperial Cardinal Emmerich
Czacki. After an eloquent address on the victory of Prince
Eugene at Belgrade, he declared that he would endeavour to
remove the obstacles which prevented the prosecution of the
Turkish war.^ Count Gallas was very dissatisfied because
the Pope had not said more.^ On the other hand Acquaviva
1 Paolucci to Aldrovandi on November g, 1717 : " Non si
maravigli V. S. I., se i miei dispacci sono da qualche tempo in
qua pieni d'amarezza. Si rende ogni giorno piu' grave al Papa
il gran colpo sofferto da cotesta corte, e cominciano a vedersene
pur troppo i perniciosi effetti, fra quali non sono i peggiori
i rimproveri e le orrende calunnie divulgate per tutta I'Europa
contro la leale ed irreprensibile condotta di S. S., onde non puo
N. S. contenere I'interno suo rammarico, sicche non apparisca
il di lui animo esacerbato anco contro V. S. I., le cui pressanti
insinuazioni e sicurezze avendo indotto principalmente la S. S.
a tutti i passi fatti sin'ora, hanno dato occasione, benche inno-
cente, a' presenti gravissimi disturbi. Non e dunque, che alcuno
abbia creduto V. S. I. capace di mancare al debito della sua
fedelta, ma si e creduto, che con tali eccitamenti, entrando
V. S. I. piu vivamente ne' sentimenti del Papa, dovesse muoversi
a detestare, quanto da Noi si detesta, I'enorme mancanza fattaci
da cotesta corte, ed a procurarne con forza maggiore le dovute
reparazioni." The nuncio should not have handed over the two
Briefs before receiving the news. Ibid.
2 Clementis XI., Opera, Orat. 145. We gather from Gallas'
♦letter to Sinzendorff, October 6, 171 7, that Czacki declined
the red hat and that the Emperor wanted it now for Althan ;
however, Gallas also saw that this was no longer practicable.
Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn.
* Gallas' *report to the imperial Chancellery, October 2,
1 71 7, ibid.
156 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
demanded that the Pope should represent PhiHp V.'s action
against Sardinia as justified by the attacks of the Emperor.^
In view of such contradictory requests the best course was
to touch on so tickhsh a matter in general terms, as the
Pope had done.^
On October 10th Gallas arranged for a service of thanks-
giving for the conquest of Belgrade, in the church of the
Anima. It was the first time in thirty-one years that such a
celebration was held in the German national church, with the
consequence that innumerable questions of ceremonial cropped
up. The Pope put off his afternoon visit to the following day,
when he also offered up prayers in thanksgiving for the
conversion of the Elector of Saxony. Gallas, who on more
than one occasion had come in conflict with the Governor
of Rome, quarrelled with him this time also over a question
of precedence, hence he requested Cardinal Schrattenbach
to receive the Pope. Clement XL, however, invited the
Cardinal to ride in the pontifical carriage so that, to his
surprise, there was no one to welcome him.^ On October 18th
Gallas, followed by a pompous cortege, presented the trophies
captured at Belgrade, which the Pope assigned to various
churches in Rome.^
Previously to the consistory of October 1, the imperial
1 Acquaviva's *Letter to the Pope, September 8, 171 7, copy,
ibid.
2 In an autograph *letter to the Pope {Acta consist., Barb. 2915,
p. 595 seqq., Vatican Library) Acquaviva had declared that should
the Pope's discourse be prejudicial to his sovereign he would
ask to be allowed to make a reply, or else that he be ordered
to stay away from the consistory. This letter was made public,
to the Pope's very great annoyance ; he only calmed down when
he received an assurance that Acquaviva was not responsible
for the publication. Ibid.
* ScHMiDLiN, Anima, 595 seq. On the conversion of the
Elector, Frederick Augustus, cf. B. Duhr in Stimmeyi der Zeit.,
CXI. (1926), 104 seqq.
'^ *Brief to Charles VI., October 22, 171 7 ; Clementis, XI.,
Opera, Epist., 2271. Cf. Buder, III., 649, and the detailed *report
of Gallas, dat. October 23, 171 7, Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn.
IMPERIAL DEMANDS. 157
ambassador had reiterated his demands with regard to the
vacant Cardinal's hat ; he was highly indignant when he
failed to obtain what he wanted.^ As time went on his relations
with the Pope became more and more strained. When
eccentric Lord Peterborough came under suspicion of
engineering an attempt on the life of the English Pretender,
James III., the Cardinal Legate of Bologna ordered his
immediate arrest. ^ Gallas took up the case of the prisoner.
He also demanded that a troop of 8,000 men destined for
Naples should be allowed a passage through the States of
the Church. Whilst a Congregation deliberated on the matter,
the Pope learnt that a considerable number of these men had
already passed in disguise through his territory. . Soon after
Gallas demanded that Alberoni should be cited to appear in
Rome, to render an account of his conduct. Everything was
set in motion to induce the Pope to sever relations with
Spain. Ecclesiastico-political demands were also made which
had a bearing on former quarrels in Naples. The Pope was
asked to bind himself to grant ecclesiastical preferments in
the kingdom of Naples only to natives and to replace nuncio
Vicentini by a man of a more accommodating disposition.
When at the end of November Clement XL refused to comply
with these demands, Vicentini was expelled from Naples.
The tribunal of the nunciature was closed and the papal
collectors were dismissed. The ^expulsion of the nuncio in
Vienna and the internuncio of Brussels was already threatened.
All these proceedings were justified by the plea, that by
granting ecclesiastical subsidies to Philip V. the Pope had
enabled the latter to attack the Emperor.^ This was not
^ *Gallas to the imperial chancellery, October 2, 171 7, ibid.
2 Cf. BuDER, III., 665 seqq. Although Peterborough was very
soon set at liberty, as being innocent, the English nevertheless
threatened to bombard Civitavecchia. Clement XL had to
apologize for the incident through the Viennese court ; see
Hist. Zeitschrift, XLVL, 261.
* BuDER, III., 668 seqq., 670 seqq. Cf. the protesting Brief
to Charles VI., December 21, 1717, Clementis, XL, Opera,
Epist., 2277.
158 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
true, because over and over again and lastly on November 23rd,
1717, the Pope had given orders to Aldrovandi not only not
to permit the execution of the respective Indults, but to
demand their surrender.^
The Spanish Government, which by its unscrupulous con-
duct had got the Pope into so equivocal a position, ^ and had
been the cause of his oppression by the imperialists, had the
audacity to ask for a reward for Alberoni ! Clement XI.
reahzed full well that owing to Alberoni's all-powerful
influence, a new breach with Spain could only be avoided by
means of concessions. Accordingly, when Philip V. named
the Cardinal to the bishopric of Malaga, he ratified the
nominationj December 6th, 1717, but refused to grant a dis-
pensation from the duty of residence. ^^ Meanwhile, on
November 17th, the death took place of Manuel Arias, Arch-
bishop of Seville, and Alberoni was nominated by the King
to that See. The King asked the Pope's confirmation. This
time Clement XI. hesitated. He pleaded that by the nomina-
tion to the bishopric of Malaga he had already incurred the
hostility of the opposition ; this would only get worse seeing
that the imperialists threatened to march into the territory
of Ferrara. All the return Spain had made for the nomination
of Alberoni was to frustrate the enterprise against the Turks ;
now they were putting off the ratification of the concordat
whilst at the same time violent encroachments in the
1 *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, November 23, 1717, Nunziat. di
Spagna, 212, Papal Seer. Archives. Cf. Professione, 182 seq.
2 On the occasion of the expulsion of the nuncio from Naples
Paolucci *wrote to Aldrovandi, December 7, 1717 : " Pu6 ella
ben comprendere da se stessa, quale ne sia stato il cordoglio di
N. Signore. Solo le dico, che se gli e molto accresciuto dal
riflettere, ch'e uno de' tanti perniciosi effetti dell'enorme man-
canza di cotesta corte." II re e responsabile di tutto. Nunziat.
di Spagna, loc. cit.
3 Paolucci gave the reasons for the refusal in a second *letter
to Aldrovandi, December 7, 1717 : " non volendo S. B^e
aggravate la propria coscienza oltre i tanti e tanti disastri che
pur troppo ha sofferti e soffre tuttavia sempre maggiori per la
promozione di S. E." Ibid.
SPANISH ENCROACHMENTS. 159
ecclesiastical sphere were taking place. By this he meant the
sequestration of the revenues of the bishoprics of Vich and
Tarragona. Nuncio Aldrovandi of Madrid, who was entirely
under Alberoni's domination, had made no mention of these
incidents, so that the Pope only heard of them from other
sources. This extraordinary nuncio, in order to prevent a
rupture, would not protest against such encroachments. At
Naples also Clement XI. saw the rights of the Holy See
trampled under foot because the imperialists were convinced
that the Pope had approved of Spain's breach of the peace. ^
Whilst these calumnies were being broadcast, ^ the Spanish
^ Cf. Paolucci's *letter to Aldrovandi, December 28, 1717,
which says : " La pronta spedizione fatta al sig. card. Alberoni
del vescovato di Malaga ha accresciuti 11 sospetti, dicendosi
che si fanno grazie a chi meriterebbe gastighi. Molto piu saranno
accresciuti tali sospetti dalla traslazione, che si fara deiristesso
card. Alberoni airarcivescovato di Siviglia, quando verra il
processo formato a dovere per la detta traslazione. Non si
lascia di temere anche rinvasione delle truppe alemanne nel
Ferrarese, secondo moltissimi rincontri, che se ne hanno. Ecco
il frutto deH'aggiustamento di Spagna, della promozione del
card. Alberoni e della mancanza di cotesta corte. Con tutte
queste amarezze, che proviamo, ed altre, che ne temiamo, non
vediamo ancora compito I'aggiustamento con cotesta corte :
mentre non habbiamo ancora la ratifica del Concordato, che
doveva farsi dal Re coll'inserzione di quell'istesso Concordato,
ch'e incluso nel Breve di ratifica di 8. S. Non habbiamo docu-
mento alcuno dell'assoluzione presa da S. M. e da' suoi ministri.
Non sappiamo, se e come sia stata fatta la transazione sopra
i frutti delle vacanti presi dal Re. In somma siamo maltrattati
da tutte le parti. E poi ella vorrebbe, che ne pur ci dolessimo." — •
Paolucci's *letters to Aldrovandi of November 23 and
December 14, 1717, January 11 and 18, 1718, contain reprimands
for his not reporting encroachments of the Spanish government.
The former says : " E in sostanza ridotto il Papa a sapere solo
dalle publiche gazzette o da particolari quelle notizie, che si
strettamente riguardano il ministerio del Nunzio apost." Ibid.
* Cf. Paolucci's *letter to Aldrovandi, January 18, 171 8,
which says : " Crescono a N. S. i travagli neirudire, che prende
sempre maggior vigore I'orrenda calunnia, che il Vicario di
Cristo sia stato complice della funesta mancanza." Ibid.
l6o HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Government continued on the course it had adopted. Great
preparations were in progress, which could only have one
object, namely the continuation of the war against the
Emperor. The Pope, who was still intent on the prosecution
of the Turkish war, did all in his power to prevent these
preparations on the part of Spain. He showed himself ready
to yield, even in the matter of Alberoni's nomination to the
archiepiscopal see of Seville, provided the Spanish Govern-
ment showed itself ready to amend its ways.^ Unfortunately
the prospects of such a change became gloomier day by
day.
Cardinal Acquaviva, the Spanish ambassador in Rome,
adopted an attitude which was bound to lead, not to a settle-
ment, but to a fresh rupture. Whilst he demanded the arch-
bishopric of Seville for Alberoni, accompanying his demand
with threats, he handed in a memorandum in February, 1718,
which was bound to embitter the Pope, since it sought to
justify every one of Philip V.'s interferences in the ecclesi-
astical domain, 2 and all this because the concession of a
favour (Alberoni's translation to Seville) had been, not indeed
refused, but merely postponed.^ In the last da3's of March
Acquaviva also demanded that if the imperialists were
allowed to pass through the States of the Church, the Pope
should likewise allow the Spanish fleet to assemble in the
^ *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, January 25, 1718, ibid. Cf. Pro-
FESSIONE, 175.
2 Cf. *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, dat. February 8, 1718 ; he
says : "So bene, che quantunque sia ormai abituato N. S. in
18 anni di spinosissimo pontificato a veder per lo piii rivoltati
contro questa S. Sede quegli stessi, che da lei sono stati piii
distintamente beneficati, non puo tuttavia imaginarsi mai, che
il sig. card. Alberoni, la cui promozione costa tanto a N. S.,
voglia sequirne resempio, con sostenere I'lmpegno preso, senza
alcun colore, e non dcbba piu tosto procurare colla sua autorita
e prudenza di toglier di mezo quegli ostacoli, che unicamente
gli ritardano il conseguimento della desiderata traslazione."
Nunziat. di Spagna, 212, loc. cit.
3 *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, February 15, 171 8, ibid.
CLEMENT XI. AND ACQUAVIVA. l6l
ports of Civitavecchia and Ancona.^ Such a request
Clement XI. could not grant.
Violent altercations between the Pope and Acquaviva
ensued. The latter's temper had already been roused by a
quarrel with Falconieri, the Governor of Rome.^
As the reports of the Spanish preparations became more
threatening the Pope, who found himself exposed to increas-
ingly violent attacks on account of his self-restraint in the
face of Philip V.'s breach of the peace,^ announced that if
instead of fighting the Turks, the King should put obstacles
in the way of the Emperor in his war against the infidels, he
would feel obliged to withdraw from the Spanish Govern-
ment all indults for taxing Church property, since their sole
and only purpose was the prosecution of the Turkish war.
He declared that one who, in his capacity as head of the
Spanish Government, had instigated the attack against
Sardinia, and who was even suspected of having a secret
understanding with the infidels, could not be appointed
Archbishop of Seville. Alberoni must first clear himself of
the latter suspicion. As regards the bishoprics of Vich and
Tarragona, the Pope demanded the restoration of the status
quo. Clement XL was determined to maintain his point
of view even though Acquaviva threatened with a complete
rupture.^
^ Acquaviva to Alberoni March 22 and April 4, 1718, in
Professione, 177, and in Arch. stor. Piacent., III., 170.
2 Professione, 178 seqq.
* The Pope, *Paolucci wrote to Aldrovandi on February 15,
17 1 8, sees that his prestige with the other nations is declining,
" dalle troppo cautelate e circospette misure guardate unica-
mente per non dispiacere al Re Cattolico circa la divulgazione
deir orrenda mancanza." Nunziat. di Spagna, 212, loc. cit.
* See the three *Ietters of Paolucci to Aldrovandi dated April 2,
1 71 8. The second says : " Certo e, che senza di cio non potra
mai indursi S. S. a far nuove grazie a un soggetto, che, per stare
alia testa degli affari di cotesta monarchia, e considerato per
autore di tutto il presente sconvolgimento e de' danni, che ne
derivano alia cristianita et alia publica quiete." Ibid.
VOL. xxxni. M
l62 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
In connection with these decisions of the first days of
April, Aldrovandi was ordered on April 2nd, 1718, to hand
at once to Philip V. an autograph letter of the Pope, and to
demand that he should desist from his warlike preparations
against the Emperor, and that he should, on the contrary,
direct them against the Turks. Should he fail the Pope
would feel obliged to adopt such measures as his office
demanded from him.^ .Paolucci, the Secretary' of State, sent
at the time a last warning to the King's confessor Daubenton
and to Alberoni himself. ^ However, all was in vain. The
Spanish Government went on with its preparations with
redoubled energy and sought to raise enemies for the Emperor
everywhere. Measure after measure was taken against the
Pope, and all this, as Paolucci observed, because the Pope
refused to yield blindly in the matter of the appointment
to the See of Toledo.^ The Brief addressed to Philip V. was
^ See Paolucci's fourth '"letter to Aldrovandi, April 2, 1718.
After a lengthy explanation of the Pope's forbearance there follc^ws
the message to Philip V. : " Gli faccia comprendere due cose :
la prima, che, prescindendosi ancora da qualunque verificazione
delle cose cotenute nella stampa, e la M. S. per onore e per cos-
cienza costretta a provedere, ma con mezzi efficaci e convenienti,
alia sua fama si enormemente attaccata : ne altro ve n'e che 11
desistere daH'ostilita contro I'imperatore e rivoltare a danni
degli infedeli quegli apparati, che per la diversione, che sono
per fare a' progressi dell'armi cristiane in Ungheria, sembrano
destinati a loro vantaggi. L'altra, che 11 Papa, quando cio non
segua, non potrebbe dispensarsi dal prendere quelle risoluzioni,
che gli fosscro in un caso si grave suggerite dal dcbito del proprio
ministero." Ibid.
2 Paolucci's *letters to Daubenton and Alberoni, also dated
April 2, ibid. The latter, from which Professione (203 seq.)
quotes a passage, says : " Crede N. S., che I'E. V. come cardinale
non possa non esser'accesa dallo stcsso zelo, e come sua creatura
non debba non compatirlo e non esser a parte della sua grave
afflizione nel vedere si enormemente lacerata la sua riputazione."
* See Paolucci's long *letter to Aldrovandi, May 31, 171 8,
which defends the conduct of the Pope in great detail. Nunziat.
di Spagna, loc. cit.
DISCUSSIONS. 163
not accepted and even Aldrovandi, though all too devoted
to the Spanish Government, was no longer allowed to see
the King.
New threats were not wanting. On May 15th a courier
arrived in Rome from Madrid with a command of Philip V,
for Acquaviva to demand once again the See of Seville for
Alberoni ; in the event of a refusal, he was to proclaim the
rupture of relations between Spain and Rome.^ The Cardinal
had a long audience with the Pope on the morning of May 20th,
when he was allowed to state the reasons of the King's demand
on behalf of Alberoni. He declared that since the decision
of this matter had dragged on since November it was not
only detrimental to so large a diocese but likewise prejudicial
to the " rights " of his Sovereign. Clement XI. declared
that the delay had been caused by the interference of the
Spanish Government in the administration of the dioceses
of Vich and Tarragona ; there could be no question of any
encroachment on royal prerogatives since there was question
of a translation from one See to another. The Pope was ready
to yield if the King, on his part, revoked the above-mentioned
encroachments. A long discussion ensued, at the end of which
the Pope referred Acquaviva to Cardinal Albani.^ The
conversations with the latter yielded no result. Before all
else Albani asked that an end be put to interference in the
dioceses of Vich and Tarragona. To this Acquaviva replied
that he was not a plenipotentiary and in the event of the
Pope proving unyielding in this matter, a complete rupture
with Rome had been decided upon. He motivated the threat
by saying that Phihp V., according to his theologians and
jurists, was justified in taking such a step, and that by so
doing he only followed the example of his predecessors who
had earned for themselves the glorious title of " Catholic
Kings " ! Albani proposed fresh negotiations ; Acquaviva
1 Acquaviva's *letter to Grimaldi of June i, 171 8, Archives
of the Spanish Embassy, Rome. Ibid, in Reales ordines the
*Phihp V.'s command.
- The audience is described in all its details in Acquaviva's
letter quoted in n. i.
164 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
had to decline the offer, for by the terms of his instructions
he had to break off relations if by June 1st the archbishopric
of Seville had not been bestowed on Alberoni.^ As this did
not happen, x\cquaviva ordered all Spaniards in Rome to
leave the city, under pain of the royal displeasure, and not
to have recourse to the Dataria in future in all questions of
the bestowal of benefices. ^
Clement XL who, on May 31st, had announced through a
courier the Brief by which he suspended all Indults for Spain, ^
ordered its immediate publication on June 9th, inasmuch
as Spain persisted in an attitude which was harmful to the
whole of Christendom.'* Aldrovandi, who up to now had sided
far more with the Spanish Government than with his own
master, obeyed at last.^ On his part Phihp V. sequestrated
^ Acquaviva's *letter to Grimaldi, June i, 1718 {loc. cit.),
at the end of which the Cardinal puts a few questions regarding
the 3,000 Spaniards living in Rome, of whom he knew only 900
by name, as the rest occupied lowly positions. He asks for further
instructions, whether affairs that had been begun, among them
the Canonization processes, should be carried on or discontinued.
2 Acquaviva's *letter to Grimaldi June, 7, 1718, according to
which 618 Spaniards demanded their passports. According to
Acquaviva's *letter to Morales, August 15, he ordered also the
Spanish religious to leave Rome, but the Pope's prohibition
(see *letter to Alberoni, September 6, 1718) induced some to
remain, as Acquaviva *reports to L. Rodrigo on April 11, 1719.
All these letters are in the Archives of the Spanish Embassy,
Rome. Cf. also Paolucci's *letter to Aldrovandi, June 9, 1718,
Nunziat. di Spagna, 212, Papal Seer. Archives.
^ Paolucci's third *letter to Aldrovandi, May 31, 1718, which
says : " H ministero che il Papa sostiene e I'impegno da lei
contratto coU'Imperatore per eccitarlo alia guerra contro il
Turco, rendono cio indispensabile alia S. S., la quale e pronta
a soffrir tutto." Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
* *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, June 9, 1718 {ibid). The Brief is
dated June 4, 171 8.
* *Paolucci to Aldrovandi, July 12, 1718 {ibid.), where
reference is made to Aldrovandi's report of June 27 on the
execution of the order. Aldrovandi had won great favour with
A LETTER OF ALBERONI. 165
the revenues of the bishoprics of Seville and Malaga and
threatened to attack the States of the Church. ^ By this
means he hoped to bring about Alberoni's promotion to the
archbishopric of Seville. However, Clement XL remained
firm. Paolucci wrote on June 21st that Cardinal Alberoni
should bear in mind that the conquest of Seville was a very
different matter from that of Sardinia. ^
To revenge itself on the Pope, the Spanish Government
ordered the tribunal of the nunciature to be closed.^ Alberoni,
in a letter to his friend Count Rocca, dated August 18th,
1718, asserted at this time that he no longer gave a thought
to his own affairs ; if the Pope refused him the Bull of
confirmation for Seville, that would not prevent him from
enjoying the revenues of that bishopric as well as those of
Malaga. If people in Rome thought they would receive as
much as a single bajocco from the vacant bishoprics and
other benefices in Spain, they were under a delusion.
A compromise was impossible without a previous yielding
in the matter of Seville. So long as the present Pope lived
nothing good could be hoped for. His nephews were
mercenaries of the House of Austria and Clement XI. himself
was so weak that he yielded to all the demands of the court
of Vienna. Rome was threatened with a great punishment
and before this confusion came to an end it was quite possible
that they might witness another sack of the city, similar to
that of 1527.4
the Spanish Government as appears from the fact that the latter
worked for his nomination to the cardinalate since the summer of
1720 ; see *Reales ordines, May, July and October, 1720,
Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
^ *Paolucci to Aldrovandr dat. June 21, 171 7, ibid.
* " *Ma doveva pure considerare il sig. card. Alberoni, che la
conquista della chiesa di Siviglia h assai diversa dalla conquista
della Sardegna, e che quel mezzi, che sono stati opportuni per la
seconda, sono esecrabili per la prima." Ibid.
3 Acquaviva heard of this through a letter of Miguel Duran,
July 4, 1718 ; .see the cardinal's *lettcr to M. Duran, ibid.
* Bourgeois, Lettres intimes, 604.
l66 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
When the Cardinal wrote these Hnes, the situation had
undergone a change which was to bring about his owti
downfall. Now, as in the previous year, the strictest silence
was observed concerning the destination of the Spanish fleet,
which sailed from the port of Barcelona with a contingent
of 30,000 men at the end of June, 1718. Even the commander-
in-chief did not know where the blow would fall as he was
only allowed to open his instructions when on the high
seas.
The objective was the fair isle of Sicily, which the peace
of Utrecht had assigned to the Duke of Savo}^ But the
Piedmontese had failed to gain the S3'mpathies of the Sicilians.
Palermo received the Spaniards with enthusiasm ; Catania
fell whilst siege was laid to Messina.^
Fortune seemed to smile on Alberoni. However, his plan
for the recovery for the Spanish monarchy of its lost Italian
possessions encountered the opposition of nearly all the
Powers that had been parties to the recent peace treaties.
On August 2nd, 1718, England, France and the Emperor
joined in a league which, after the accession of Holland,
received the name of the Quadruple Alliance. With the
coalition of the four great Powers thus constituted, Italy was
once more to be parcelled out to the advantage of foreign
countries. Parma, Piacenza and Tuscany, whose reigning
Houses were on the point of extinction, were to be considered
as fiefs of the Empire and only under these conditions could
they be bestowed on Don Carlos, the five years old son of
the Spanish Queen. Spain was to be forced to surrender
both Sicily and Sardinia. Sicily would fall to the Emperor,
who would renoimce his claims to Spain, whilst the Duke of
* Is. La Lumia, La Sicilia sotto Vittorio Amadeo di Savoia^,
Livorno, 1877, cap. 7 ; Dom. Carutti, Storia del regno di Vittorio
Amadeo II, Firenze, 1863 ; idem., Storia della diplomazia delta
corte di Savoia, III., Torino 1875 ; Feldziige des Prinzen Eugen,
XVIII., 35-230, 367-379 ; Profkssionk, 205 seqq. ; G. Reitano,
// card. Giulio Alberoni e la guerra del 1718-1720 in Sicilia,
Catania, 1891.
FALL OF ALBERONL 167
Savoy would be compensated by the acquisition of
Sardinia.^
Alberoni rejected these proposals. When Byng, the English
Admiral, told him that his sovereign had charged him to see
to the preservation of the Peace of Utrecht and the neutrality
of Italy which had been guaranteed there, Alberoni answered
with the utmost arrogance that the Admiral was welcome to
carry out the behests of his master. Byng destroyed the
Spanish fleet at Cape Passero on August 11th. ^
When Alberoni was informed of this event he burst into
tears, ^ but not for a moment did he think of giving up his
daring gamble ; on the contrary, he was ready for extreme
measures. He ordered the English Consuls to quit Spain,
carried on intrigues wherever he could — as in Sweden against
England, and in France, where he was at the bottom of the
conspiracy of his envoy Cellamare against the Duke of Orleans.
The result was that on January 7th, 1719, the Regent of
France declared war against Spain, a step in which England
had preceded him.^ Even now Alberoni did not lose heart :
he had recourse to other devices but all ended in failure.
James III.'s attempted landing in Scotland also miscarried,^
lis did the attempt to set Sweden and Russia in motion.^
The Cardinal experienced a further disappointment, when he
attempted to foment a revolution in France with the help of
some insurgents in Brittany.''' Only then did Madrid think
of suing for peace. However, England and France made
Alberoni's dismissal a necessary preliminary to any negotia-
tions ^ : this dismissal took place on December 5th, 1719.
1 Weber, Ouadvnpelallmnz , Prag, 1887. On the accession of
the Duke of Savoy Vittorio Amedeo II., on October, 171?>, cf.
L. La Rocca, La quadruplice alleanza deU'anno 1718 in Riv.
Abruzzese, XIV. -XX. (1901-1905).
2 Weber, 72. ' Professione, 216.
* Cf. Baudrillart, II., 318 seqq., 321 seqq., 326 seqq., 349 seqq. ;
Professione, 223 seqq ; 226 seqq.
- * MiCHAiEi., Englische Geschichte, g. ^ Baudrillart, II., 367.
' Ibid., 371 seqq. ; Professione, 266 seqq.
* Coxe, II., 471 ; Baudrillart, II., 395 seqq.
l68 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Only the previous evening Alberoni had had his usual
conference with the King, in whose attitude towards him the
Cardinal noted no change. The next morning he received
a communication which deprived him of all his offices and
strictly enjoined him to be oUt of Madrid within eight days
and out of Spanish territory within twenty-one days. Neither
the King nor the Queen would grant him another audience.^
England and France informed Madrid that the mere
dismissal of Alberoni would not satisfy them. Philip V.
hesitated about six weeks longer but at last, on January 26th,
he joined the Quadruple Alliance. ^ Thus Spain's attempt to
reconquer its Itahan possessions ended in the strengthening
of Charles VI. 's power. He received Sicily as his award,
whilst Vittorio Amadeo became King of Sardinia. However,
this triumph of the Quadruple Alliance was to prove highly
prejudicial to the interests of the Pope, since the succession
in Parma-Piacenza was granted to Don Carlos, regardless of
the feudal rights of the Holy See. This suzerainty had existed
for two centuries ; the princes had received these territories
as fiefs and had paid tribute. All this was now brushed aside. ^
At the beginning of 1720, with a view to safe-guarding the
rights of the Church, Clement XI. dispatched his nephew
Alessandro Albani,* to the Emperor with whom he had been
on better terms since the preceding j^ear.^ Albani was also
1 Cf. the report of the Marquis Scotti to Abbot Landi,
December 8, 1719, in Lemontey, Hist, de la Regence, II., Paris,
1832, 278 ; Bourgeois, 337.
2 Weber, ioi ; Baudrillart, II., 401.
3 Cf. *" Ragguaglio del trattato della Quadruplice Alleanza
(1718) e delle sue conseguenze riguardanti alia successione di
Parma e Piacenza," F. Garampi, 94, Pap. Seer. Archives.
* See the autograph letter of February 6, 1720 (Clementis
XL, Opera, Epist., 3329) in which the Pope refers to the favourable
reply given by Charles VI. to his letter of February 21, 17 19
[ibid., 2335).
» In February, 1719, Clement XI. had allowed the imperial
troops, on their way to Naples, to march through the Papal
States (BuDER, III., 839 seq.). In April nuncio Vicentini was able
FALL OF ALBERONI. 169
instructed to work for an understanding in the situation in
Sicily where there were still many difficulties in connection
with ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Albani achieved nothing ;
neither did he succeed in getting a papal representative
admitted to the Congress at Cambrai, called to carry out the
peace terms which had been imposed by the Quadruple
Alliance but which had only been settled in broad outlines.
Both the Emperor and England were opposed to the participa-
tion of the Pope in this Congress. Thereupon Clement XI.
addressed himself to the Abbe Dubois, the all-powerful
minister of France, and sent Albani to Paris. Dubois, who
was ambitious for the cardinalate, succeeded in securing for
Albani a place at the Congress as representative of the Pope.^
The Pope did not live to see the opening of the assembly,
nor the outcome of the proceedings against Alberoni.
After his expulsion from Spain, Alberoni made his way
through the south of France, and finally fled to Sestri Levante,
in the territory of the Republic of Genoa. ^ Even before he
reached that destination, Philip V. had requested the Pope,
through Daubenton, for the sake of the peace of Christendom,
to take into custody the person of this disturber of tranquillity.
As soon as this was done the King would furnish the Pontiff
with the proofs of his former minister's misdeeds.^ As Clement
XL was highly incensed against the Cardinal, he was quite
willing to agree to this. On Alberoni he put all the blame
of his own shameful betrayal and his having been put in
a false and humiliating position, as well as the impossibility
of exploiting to the full the victories of Prince Eugene over
to return to Naples and in November the tribunal of the
nunciature was reopened {ibid., 870, 919). In Sicily the Austrian
Government showed itself friendly to the clergy ; see Martini,
La Sicilia, 109 seqq. The Pope granted to Charles VI. that the
Sicilian Inquisition should no longer be dependent on the General
Inquisition of Spain, but on a council sitting in Vienna under
the direction of Cardinal Kollonitsch {Riv. Stor., 1886, 481).
1 Sentis, 158 ; Professione, 249 seqq., 256 seq.
- Professione, 261 seqq.
' Arata, 17.
170 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Turks. ^ In Febniar}', 1720, he demanded from Genoa
the extradition of the fugitive. ^ The same demand was
made by Phihp V., the Emperor and the Duke of Parma.
However, all their efforts met with determined opposition
on the part of the Republic which steadfastly refused
extradition.^
Whilst these negotiations were still in progress, Clement XL
ordered the opening of the process against Alberoni of whose
guilt he was fully convinced in advance. With a view to
determining the procedure against a member of the Sacred
College, he gave orders for the putting together of all informa-
tion concerning prosecutions against Cardinals as found in the
Secret Archives.* He then convened a Congregation of
Cardinals, which began its sessions in the Quirinal on March
19th, 1720. The following were present : Astalli, Tanara,
Paolucci, Barberini, Corsini, Paracciani, Fabroni, Vallemani,
Conti, Zondadari, Tolomei, Corradini, Scotti, Bentivoglio and
Annibale Albani. The Pope enjoined the assembled Cardinals
to examine whether proceedings should be taken against
Alberoni. Three reasons were in favour of such a course :
1. Alberoni had deceived him regarding the auxiliary army
^ How much more could have been obtained from the Turks
had Alberoni not disturbed the peace is shown by the important
concessions which the Porte nevertheless made by the peace of
Passarovitz concluded with the Emperor and Venice, July 21,
1718 (ZiNKEiSEN, v., 569 seqq.). In the Brief to Venice, of
August 12, 1718 (Clementis, XI., Opera, Epist. 2301). Clement
says explicitly : " Non aliud profecto Nos antiquius in ^•otis
habebamus, quam ut susceptum cum imanissimo christiani
nominis hoste bellum strenue continuarctur... ; quoniam vero
hominum peccata et Nostra potissimum fecisse credimus, ut
alia consilia publicae causae certe perniciosa inita fuerint,
gravissimum, quem inde suscepimus moerorem, etc."
2 Professione, 265 seqq.
3 Ihid., 267 seqq. Cf. R. Qqazza, La cattura del card. G. Alberoni
e la Repubblica di Genova, Genova, 1913 ; Idem, La lotta diplo-
matica tra Genova e la Spagna dopo la fnga dell' Alberoni dalla
Liguria, in Arch. stor. ital., LXXVII. (1920), 215-236.
* Arata, 55.
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ALBERONI. I71
against the Turks. 2. Philip V. held the Cardinal responsible
for the hostile measures in matters ecclesiastical in the diocese
of Tarragona. 3. Alberoni had never said Mass and had not
even received Holy Communion at Easter. The answer of the
Cardinals, dated March 22nd, was in favour of starting
proceedings against him. As it was a question of a Cardinal,
it was not enough to entrust the management of affairs to an
ordinary judge, viz. the auditor of the Camera Apostolica.
The Pope accordingly set up a special judicial commission,
consisting of Cardinals Astalli, Scotti, Tolomei, Imperiali and
Corsini, who later on were joined by Cardinals Casoni and
Francesco Barberini.^ The commission sent a citation to
Alberoni which, however, could not be handed to him as
since March 22nd he had been in hiding in an unknown place. ^
This did not prevent Alberoni from defending himself by
means of cleverly drawn up manifestoes against the alleged
accusations.^
For the purpose of gathering evidence, proceedings were
started at Piacenza and in Spain. Like the Duke of Parma,
Philip V. furthered the prosecution against his one time
favourite with the greatest keenness ; he promised special
assistance to the Pope in a letter of April ISth, 1720. Soon
after that, a memorandum arrived from Spain, accusing
Alberoni of the greatest enormities. He was accused of having
deceived both the Pope and the King, of having neglected
his duties as a Christian and given scandal by his utterances
and outbursts of temper ; he was even accused of having
given cause for suspicion about his moral conduct.^
The proceedings in Piacenza, though carried on with the
greatest energy, did not yield any solid evidence against
Alberoni's private life. The proceedings in Spain, which were
based on Philip V.'s accusations, dragged on indefinitely.
High ecclesiastics as well as secular dignitaries, even the King's
Secretary-General, and persons of inferior rank such as
1 Arata, 54 seqq., 58.
" Professione, 275 ; Arata, 61.
' Arata, 87 seqq.
* Ihid., 29 seq., 31 seqq.
172 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
couriers, chamberlains and other officials, were questioned.
The statements of the witnesses filled a volume of over seven
hundred pages. It was necessary first to translate the Spanish
text into ItaHan.^ The slow progress of the proceedings
irritated both the Duke of Parma and the King of Spain
who were impatient for the destruction of their former tool.
In spite of the pressure of the Duke of Parma, in view of the
Pope's uncertain state of health, the document had not yet
arrived in Rome at the time of the death of Clement, who had
shown the greatest interest in the matter up to the very last.^
The conclave took Alberoni to Rome, where the new Pope,
Innocent XIII., allowed him to remain as a private individual.
A crowd of sightseers flocked together to witness the arrival
of the famous Cardinal. They had expected to see an imposing
figure and were accordingly greatly disappointed when they
saw a small and insignificant little man alight from his carriage.
Alberoni conducted himself cautiously in Rome, a circumstance
that greatly benefited his cause.
The second phase of the proceedings began with the raising
of the commission of Cardinals from seven to nine members.
Domenico Fiorelli, as the representative of the auditor of the
Camera Apostolica for criminal prosecutions, was instructed
to draw up a summary/ of the Spanish process. All Philip V.'s
former accusations were repeated in this extract, except those
that referred to immoral conduct which had been dropped.^
In the sequel the proceedings assumed increasingly a purely
political character, but the very men on whom fell a grievous
responsibility, namely the King of Spain and the Duke of
Parma, were left out of the process. Alberoni's position at
court had been so peculiar that his responsibility could not be
judicially defined, and the Cardinal had taken care to secure
for himself the most important documents.'* All this helped
his cause ; of the twelve accusations four had to be dropped
as not proven. With regard to the most serious one of them
all, that of having deceived the Pope with a promise of help
^ Ibid., 67 seqq., 72 seqq.
* Ibid., 75 seqq.
» Ibid., 80 seqq. * Profession!;, 114.
ALBERONI ACQUITTED. I73
against the Turks, and of having engineered the breach with
Rome, it was found impossible to estabUsh judicially that on
this point Alberoni was really responsible.^ After the negotia-
tions had dragged on for nearly four years. Innocent XIII.,
on September 1st, 1723, put the following question to the
commission : whether the result of their investigations
justified Alberoni's deprivation of the cardinalate ? The
question was answered in the negative and with regard to
all the other matters, Alberoni was recommended to the
mercy of His Hohness. Accordingly, by a carefully worded
Brief of December 18th, 1723, Innocent XIII. put an end
to the proceedings and ordered Alberoni's reinstatement in
his honours and dignities."
In spite of the acquittal, the verdict of historians was long
unfavourable to Alberoni and only in recent times have
attempts been made to rehabilitate the memory of the
Cardinal.^
^ Arata, 113 seqq., 119 seqq.
* Ibid., 157 seqq., 239 seqq.
* In 1834 the celebrated jurist Romagnosi, a friend of Silvio
Pellico, took up the cudgels on behalf of Alberoni. Local patriots
such as Pozziali and Scarabelli followed suit. Their attempts at
a rehabilitation were surpassed by the very uncritical Abbate
Bersani [Storia del card. G. Alberoni, Piacenza, 1861 ; Aggiunte,
ibid., 1862). V. Papa's L' Alberoni, Torino, 1876, is another
apologia. According to Armstrong {Scottish Revieiv, 1897, Jan.)
the chief aim of Alberoni's policy was the liberation of Italy
from German domination. In his splendid work (1897)
Professione arrives at some very unfavourable conclusions,
but these are qualified on one important point by Arezio (1906),
namely that of responsibility for the enterprise against Sardinia.
Pariset's monograph is of no value ; cf. Bollet. stor. Piacent., I.
[1906], 44 ; II. [1907], 234. The Lettres Intimes d' Alberoni
published by E. Bourgeois (Paris, 1892) show the Cardinal in a
much more favourable light than Saint-Simon's portrait of him,
but they make it perfectly clear that Alberoni was unworthy of
his high position {Rev. des deux mondes, February, 1893). For
some of Alberoni's speculations for the solution of the great
European problems see Michael, Englische Geschichie, II., 2, 233.
174 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
In the present state of historical research, which is by no
means complete,^ it is possible to say that Alberoni was an
accomplice in the disturbances of the peace and the breach
with Rome, but the men who promoted his trial with so much
energy, that is Philip V. and the Duke of Parma, were equally
guilty. Nor must we overlook, in the whole of this affair,
Aldrovandi's optimism and his very unsatisfactory reports.
Whether the Cardinal was the chief culprit, as Clement XI.
was convinced he was, only further documentary research
can bring to light. Whatever may be the final verdict, one
thing seems certain : it is not possible to excuse Alberoni's
attitude towards the Pope, to whom he owed the purple.
The one threatening letter of August 18th, 1718, sufficiently
shows his character ^ : by this document Alberoni has
undoubtedly pronounced his own condemnation. There are
also other letters which clearly prove that the Cardinal had
grievously offended against the reverence due to the Head
of the Church, since he said that Clement XI. was only fit to
be a Roman parish priest and that he should confine himself
to saying Mass, delivering homilies and visiting the churches.
His violence caused him so far to forget himself as to threaten
that he himself would help to banish the Pope to the isle of
Ponza.^ If these documents, recently brought to light, had
been placed in the hands of the commission, the verdict would
have been a very different one.
Though Clement XL did not live to see the end of the
Alberoni affair, it was granted him to establish better relations
with Spain. In July, 1720, the Pope had appointed a new
nuncio for Spain in the person of Alessandro Aldobrandini,
who had represented the Holy See in Venice since 1713.
Aldobrandini went first to Piacenza for an interview with
Duke Francesco Farnese * and only then to Madrid where,
1 Arezio (308) admits this also.
* Cf. above, p. 165, n. 4.
* Bourgeois, Lettres intimes, 51 seq., 593, 612.
* Cf. Paolucci's letter to " Pietro Donnino do Pretis (see
Moroni, II., 2S5), cameriere d'onore di N. S. a Madrid," dat.
SPAIN AND ROME RECONCILED. I75
to the astonishment of Clement XL, difficulties were put in
his way. He was refused admission and presented with a
demand that before the nunicature was reopened, all disputes
would first have to be settled, and that Aldobrandini must be
furnished with the same Indults as Aldrovandi.
The Pope allowed Aldobrandini to remain at court in an
unofficial capacity, until these obstacles were removed. As for
the Indults, he renewed the two earlier ones and allowed the
raising of a sum not exceeding 150,000 scudi annually for the
next five years. He promised to revoke the suspension of
the Indults and the Brief relating to it as soon as Sardinia was
evacuated.^ When this was done he dispatched the Brief,
together with the repeal of the suspension on September 21st ;
no motive for this step was mentioned in that document as
the Pope was anxious to commit to oblivion all that had
happened before. With regard to the concordat, Clement XI.
stated he had carried out its clauses to their utmost extent,
hence he expected that the Spanish Government would do
its share by allowing the nunciature to be re-opened. This was
the main thing, he declared, everything else could be put off
until a more opportune occasion, but, if possible, Aldobrandini
should demand the restitution of the spolia, which had been
sequestrated since the departure of Aldrovandi in July, 1718.
The Brief relating to the repeal of the suspensions was not to
be handed over before the opening of the nunciature.^
Before the end of the year the Pope had the consolation of
learning that an order had been issued for the restoration of
the sequestrated spolia, that Sardinia had been surrendered
July 23, 1720, Nunziat. di Spagna, 212. Papal Seer. Arehives.
On the journey of Pietro Donnino de Pretis who brought Cardinal
Belluga the biretta, cf. *Viaggio fatto in Spagna da Msgr. P. D.
de Pretis in the Communal Archives, Urbino, III., V., 104.
^ *Istruzione per Msgr. Aldobrandini arcivescovo di Rodi,
Nunzio in Venezia, in occasione di passare alia corte di Parma,
dated July 7, 1720, Nunziat. di Spagna, loc. cit.
* *Istruzione in forma di lettcra a Msgr. Aldobrandini in
Genova, dat. September 21, 1718, ihid. ; also in Cod. 31, D. 6,
Corsini Library, Rome.
176 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to the Emperor and that the prohibition of relations with
Rome was about to be repealed. ^ Aldobrandini received
orders to do his best that this promise was carried into effect. ^
The reconciliation between Clement XI. and Philip V. was
greatly furthered by the victories of the Spaniards over the
Moors near Ceuta in Africa, in the autumn of 1720. On
December 16th, 1720, the Pope spoke of these successes to
the Cardinals in consistory. On February 3rd he was able to
announce a new victory. Prayers were ordered, to implore
the help of God for a happy continuation of these auspicious
beginnings.^ Negotiations in Rome with Acquaviva soon led
to a complete agreement on all politico-ecclesiastical questions.
On March 11th, 1721, Aldobrandini was empowered to sign
a treaty by which all differences between Rome and Madrid
were to be settled.^
1 *Paolucci to Aldobrandini, dat. December 22, 1720, Nunziat.
di Spagna, loc. cit. Of the same day : *Istruzione. a Msgr. Aldo-
brandini circa la norma nel dar esecuzione al sussidio e I'escusado,
ibid.
2 *Paolucci to Aldobrandini, dat. January 7, 1721, ibid.
» Clementis XL, Opera, Orat., 177 seq. Philip V. sent the
Pope one of the captured standards ; see *Reales ordines,
November, 1720, Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
* Acquaviva's *report to Grimaldi, dat. March 11, 1721,
Simancas Archives. Ibid., Acquaviva's, *reports of February 11
and 25, 1 72 1, on the previous negotiations.
CHAPTER V.
Revival of Jansenism — The Bulls Vine am Domini and
Unigenitus — The Appellants — Belgian-Dutch Jan-
senism.
Only a few years before Clement XL's election Harlay de
Champvallon, the utterly unworthy Archbishop of Paris, had
died suddenly. He was succeeded, on Madame de Maintenon's
recommendation,^ by Louis Antoine de Noailles, hitherto
Bishop of Chalons. 2
, Louis XIV. 's genuinely pious consort hoped by this choice
to render service to the Church and to cause the scandalous
life of the late Archbishop to fall into oblivion. Noailles'
moral conduct had been irreproachable and the simplicity
of his life and his avoidance of Court life, had won for him
the esteem of the masses.^ For all that his elevation to the
first see of the realm was a grievous calamity for the French
Church. In the storms which were to break out so soon, his
position as Archbishop of Paris destined him to be a leader ;
but for a leader's role Noailles lacked clear principles, breadth
of outlook and strength of character. In the opinion of
contemporaries — and history bears them out — he was self-
opinionated, unwilHng to be taught, keen on punctilio and
^ Le Roy, 49.
* E. De Barthelemy, Le card, de Noailles d'apres sa corre-
spondance, Paris, 1886. On his administration of the arch-
diocese of Paris ; Fosseyeux in Rev. hist., CXIV. (1913),
261 seqq., CXV. (1914), 34 seqq. On Noailles' correspondence
with Ludwig von Zinzendorf, cf. A. Salomon in Rev. d'hist. et
de philos. rel., VIII., 430-466.
* Le Roy, ii.
VOL. xxxni.
177
178 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
incapable of sacrificing petty resentments to a great cause. ^
He involved himself and the Church of France in the worst
complications, but had not the energy to make a clear decision
which could have solved the imbroglio. For years he hesitated
between insolence and concessions, only to end by taking,
without either profit or honour, a step which for the sake of
honour he had avoided for years.
It is impossible to say whether the promotion of the new
Archbishop came as an encouragement to the Jansenists,^
^ Fenelon wrote of him : " II a I'esprit court et confus. Nulle
opinion precise n'est arretee dans son esprit. Son coeur est
faible et mou. Si on le presse, on lui fera dire, en I'intimidant,
tout ce qu'on voudra contre I'erreur, etc." (to De Beauvilliers,
November 30, 1699, CEuvres, VII., 220). Bossuet wrote on the
Quietist question : " MM. de Paris et de Chartres sont faibles
et n'agiront qu'autant qu'ils seront pousses " (to his nephew,
June 10, 1697, Correspondance, VIII., 267). Nuncio Bentivoglio
says : " *L'esteriore del cardinale ha saputo ingannare i popoli,
I'aspetto sempre composto, il collo piegato su una spalla e i
capelU canuti con una certa ilarita di viso che affetta candidezza
di coscienza, et una pomposa apparenza di devotione e di zelo
gli anno in questi ultimi tempi acquistata opinion di profeta.
Non sempre s'e pensato cosi di lui. L'artificio a tutti noto con
cui eluse i creditori del fratello nel tempo stesso, che ne godevano
egli e i nipoti I'eredita, non fecero pensare cosi vantaggiosamente
il publico della sua integrita e pieta, come ne pensano adesso,
e tante satire uscirono in quel tempo contro di lui, quanti oggi
i Giansenisti gli danno elogii. L'affettata ritiratezza in cui vive
dal commercio delle donne, gli ha fatto universalmente acquistare
una opinione di illibatezza di costumi, quasi che I'astenersi da
un sol vizio serva agli altri di passaporto. L'ostinazione, indocilita,
amor proprio, ambitione, orgoglio... La sua parola sempre
incerta e infidcle, il suo talento mediocre, etc." (Biblioteca
Corsini, Rome, Cod. 189, f. 10 seqq.) Cf. La Piana in Riv. stor.
delle scienze teologiche, V. (1909), 284 seq. La Piana himself
says : " Era uno di quegli ambiziosi in cui la passione e impari
alle forze."
* D'Aguesseau is of this opinion [CEuvres, VIII., 191)- Schill,
37. n. 2.
THE CASE OF CONSCIENCE. 179
at any rate they felt the time had come for using a trifling
incident as a pretext for aggression.
The Superior of the Sulpicians of Clermont, Gay, had
refused absolution to a parish priest of the name of Frehel,
for habitually hearing the confession of Canon Perier, a
nephew of Pascal, who nevertheless remained an obstinate
Jansenist. When questioned more closely Perier declared
that he condemned the five propositions in every sense in
which the Church condemned them, even in the Jansenists'
sense ; but with regard to the question whether the
propositions were actually to be found in Jansenius, he was
content with a respectful silence.^ Could a penitent thus
disposed be given absolution ? This question constituted the
kernel of the so-called " Case of Conscience " which soon
obtained considerable notoriety. Together with eight other
points of less significance, ^ Frehel submitted the question to
the Sorbonne when forty Doctors decided that the confessor
need not further disquiet his penitent.
In July and September, 1702, the press got hold both
of the " Case of Conscience " and of the decision ^ and
" innumerable " copies were forthwith put in circulation.^
One bookseller of Douai sold 600 copies. Amid the applause
• ^ Bertrand, III., 122 seq. According to the documents
quoted, the " Case of Conscience " was not a pure invention.
Others explain the actual facts underlying the " Case of Con-
science " in a different way {ibid.). On the Cas de conscience
cf. Le Roy, 69-116 ; Schill, 30-66 ; Reusch, Index, II., 692 ;
Bausset, Leben Bossuets, translated by M. Feder, IV., Sulz-
BACH, 1 82 1, 217 seqq. ; Etienne de Champflour, eveqiie de la
Rochelle, avant son episcopal, 1 646-1 703, in Melanges de biographie
et d'hisioire, by Ant. de Lantenay, Bordeaux, 1875, 136-181.
Documents in Argentre, III., 2, 413, seqq., and Fleury, LXVI.,
609 seqq.
2 DupiN, IV., 406 (with the signatures) ; Fleury, LXVI.,
611 seqq. ; Reusch, 692. A first draft of the " cas de conscience "
had only twenty-three signatures. Causa Quesnelliana, 403 ;
Le Roy, 98.
* Lettre de M... chanoine de B., d, Mr. T. D. A.
* See p. 180, n. 2.
l8o HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the audience, though against the will of the Facult}^ the
case was pubhcly defended in one of the Colleges of the
University. Already many ecclesiastics felt that the triumph
of Jansenism was at last at hand.^ As a matter of fact the
opinion of the forty Doctors met with approval, Jansenism
was indeed risen to a new life in spite of all papal decisions
and prohibitions. 2 Accordingly, as soon as the Sulpicians of
Clermont heard of the " Case of Conscience ", rightly
appraising the peril, they informed both the King's confessor.
La Chaize, and Bossuet of the occurrence.
Bossuet took a grave view of the matter. Among others
he consulted Noailles and the Bishop of Tours and once
more made a thorough study of the Jansenist writings. The
forty Doctors he judged severely. From his conversations
with some of their number he gained the impression that the
party still commanded a strong following ; he felt that it
was necessary to publish a special work In order to enlighten
the public.^
Meanwhile, besides Bossuet, the Bishops of Chartres and
1 Fleury. LXVL, 648.
' On February 4, 1703, the General of the Carthusians wrote
to La Chaize that up till then he had done his utmost by means
of books, innumerable letters and the living word, to root out
Jansenism from among his subjects ; against two or three
" tenaciores " he had proceeded juridically. But now comes the
" Cas " and " suscitat de novo omnes errores condemnatos,
suscitat per artificium, quod simul probat malignitatem et
impudentiam. Certus sum, consultationcm non esse nisi fictitiam,
fabricatam per eosmet, qui consultationis sunt approbatores...
Sparserunt et seminaverunt isti in nostris claustris infinita
exemplaria." He regrets that N. Alexandre is implicated. The
first signatory, Petitpied, aimed at "ad infectanda monasteria
monialium " ever since the rise of Jansenism " libri proiiciebantur
ultra muros et clausuram monialium, ut eos ipsae puellae coUi-
gerent ". He wished the King would intervene. (Bibl. Valli-
celliana, Rome, P. 175, f. 287-290). La Chaize *replied by
referring to Noailles' pastoral letter and to the Roman censure
{ibid., f. 293).
* Ingold, Bossuet, 19, 34 seqq.
THE CASE OF CONSCIENCE. l8l
Auch had also pronounced against the Case of Conscience,
whereas Le Telher of Rheims had approved it.^ Most important
was the circumstance that the affair had been at once brought
to the notice of Rome. Clement XI. had it examined by a
special commission of Cardinals ; on February 12th, 1703,
he condemned the pamphlet which published the " Case of
Conscience " and prohibited it under pain of excommunica-
tion.^ Two covering letters to the King and to Noailles ^
contain some sharp words about the Jansenists, "against
whom there was need not of new laws but of punishments."
Noailles is suspected of not having been wholly innocent
of the drafting of the " Case of Conscience ".* However, as
soon as he learnt that Rome was dealing with the matter,
he changed his attitude. In the first instance, in conjunction
with Bossuet, he secretly sought to induce the forty Doctors
to recant individually, so as to render sterner measures
unnecessary. His first success was with the Church historian,
Noel Alexandre, a Dominican, who had subscribed to the
" Case of Conscience ".^ After a preliminary step on January
8th, 1703, and subsequently to the banishment to Quimper
of one of the signatories, Alexandre and ten other Doctors
declared that by a respectful silence they had understood an
internal submission.^ With only one exception all the other
Doctors who were still alive, followed this example ' ; even
the Jansenist historian of theological literature, EUies Dupin,
ended by submitting, though only after Louis XIV. had sent
1 Fleury, LXVI., 615.
« Ibid., 616 seq. ; Bull., XXL, 80.
' Fleury, 617 seqq. ; 621 seqq.
* Le Roy, 98. " Dans le cas de conscience," wrote Bishop
Soanen, " apres avoir travaille, il a pousse les ouvriers." Ibid., 60.
* R. CouLON in Rev. des sciences philos. et theol., VI. (1912),
59-65. A letter of January 8, 1703, to Noailles, defending his
position, in Dupin, IV., 418. A memorial from twenty-four out
of the forty ; ibid., 426 seqq.
* CouLON, loc. cit., 61 ; Schill, 38 seq.
' Fleury, LXVL, 674 seq. ; cf. 635, 637.
l82 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
him into banishment. Clement XI. congratulated the King
on this step.^
For Noailles, who had as yet taken no public measure
against the " Case of Conscience ", the early arrival of the
papal condemnation of February 12th came as a surprise and
an embarrassment. He let two days go by without opening
the Brief and only published it on March 4th, together with
his own condemnation of the " Case of Conscience ".^ which
he dated from Februar}^ 22nd, so that on March 6th and 12th
both he and De Torcy, the Minister for War, were able to
express to the Pope their satisfaction with the fact that His
Holiness only confirmed the judgment of the Archbishop. ^
The Council of State ^ ordered the Brief to be dispatched to
all the Bishops of France whilst it renewed at the same time
the ordinance of October 23rd, 1668. The Pope was, of course,
annoyed by the fact that silence on the controverted points
was imposed on Catholics and heretics ahke, and he complained
to the King about it.'^
Soon the Universities also stated their view of the affair,
beginning with Louvain, which passed judgment on all the
points raised in the " Case of Conscience ".*' Douai followed
1 April lo, 1703, ibid., 625. The Brief says of Dupin :
" nequioris doctrinae hominem, temerataeque pluries Apostolicae
Sedis dignitatis reum." N. Alexandre, letter of March 23, 1703,
in order to escape banishment in Le Roy, 113 ; Coulon,
loc. cit., 63.
2 Fleury, LXVI., 627 seqq. Compiled by Pirot and Bossuet.
Ingold, 38.
3 Le Roy, 112.
« Of March 3, dispatched March 24 (Argentre, III., 2, 420).
The orders for pubHcation of the Bishops of Clermont, Poitiers,
Apt and Sarlat were prohibited by the Parliaments because
they had been issued before the registration of the Brief. Dupin,
IV., 464-482.
6 Brief of April 10. Fleury, 625 ; Dupin, IV., 440 seq.
* March 10, 1703 (Fleury, 662-675). The " ludicium "
gave little satisfaction in Rome and was prohibited by the
Inquisition. Reusch, II., 697.
ROME INFORMED. 183
suit with a detailed memorandum on the Church's infalhbihty
in dogmatic facts ^ ; finally the Sorbonne, basing itself on its
earlier decrees against Arnauld, also published its sentence of
condemnation. 2
If by throwing to the public the decision of the forty
Doctors, the Jansenists had hoped to forward their cause,
they were grievously mistaken. The Pope, the King and
eighteen Bishops of France besides Noailles, definitely
condemned this attempt to rekindle the flame of old
controversies. The situation of the Jansenists was worse
than before and they gained very little by representing, in
violent publications, the recantation of the forty as an act
of cowardice, by complaining of a breach of the Clementine
Peace and by attacking Noailles.^
They were about to be dealt an even severer blow. Recent
events had convinced Louis XIV. that Jansenism was far
from annihilated in his kingdom. Just as he had dealt a blow
to Protestantism by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
so did he now apparently deem it a point of honour to put
an end to the latest enemy of religious unity by a display
of the royal authority. Rome was informed * that if the
Pope, jointly with himself, was willing to discuss questions
in which the purity of the faith was engaged, he would support
the Holy See with all his might, provided the ancient customs
of the realm remained untouched. Clement XI. expressed
his wilhngness,^ with the result that towards the end of
August, 1703, the royal suggestions for a new Bull began to
^ April 10, 1704, Fleury, 648-661 (extract) ; Argentre,
III., 2, 424 (French text).
" September i, 1704, Fleury, 636-647.
' Fleury, 675 seqq. [Quesnel], Lettre d'un eveque a un eveque,
cf. below p. 195, n. i; [Fouillon], Defense des the'ologiens (1706).
Cf. [Patouillet], I., 374 ; II., 485. Histoire de Cas de conscience,
8 vols, in 120 (1705-1711), where we read (II., 209) that Noailles
permitted some of the Doctors to subscribe to the " Cas ", on
condition that he himself was not compromised.
* To Cardinal Forbin Janson, May 7, 1703, in Leroy, 166.
* To the same, June 18, 1703, ibid., 167.
184 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
take tangible form. It was desired that the earher papal
decisions should be confirmed and " respectful silence ", the
Jansenists' chief means of evasion, expressly condemned.
The Constitution should state that it was published at the
King's request, whilst the expression Motu propria and all
mention of condemnation of books was avoided ; for the rest,
the most solemn formulas should be employed.^
Clement XL acceded to most of these requests. But now
a demand came that the draft of the Bull should be forwarded
to Paris, for examination, lest some expressions should be
foimd in it that might offend French susceptibilities. ^ For a
long time Clement XI. refused to comply with so unheard
of a demand and only when in January, 1705, the danger
became apparent that the Assembly of the Clergy might act
independently of the Pope, the draft of the Bull was dispatched
to Paris on March 31st, where it was examined by Noailles,
the first President Harlay and by D'Aguesseau, the Attorney-
General. Two points in the draft raised difficulties : reference
was made in it to the French Bishops' duty of obedience to
the Holy See — that was too much for the GalHcans — and the
Bull only spoke of the prayers of the French Bishops, but
not of the King's request for a papal decision. Clement XI.
refused to alter either point and the King ended by giving
way. The Pope's only concession was to allow the Assembly
of the Clergy to say that it had accepted the Constitutions
of Innocent X. and Alexander VII. ^
Thus, after two years' negotiations, at the request also of
the King of Spain, the Bull Vineam Domini appeared on
July 15th, 1705.* It begins with a statement of the reasons
which had necessitated a fresh papal intervention — these
were certain misrepresentations by the Jansenists who, the
Bull states, spoke as if the decisions of Clement IX. and
1 To Forbin Janson, together with the letter of August 29,
1703, ibid., 168.
2 Le Roy, 175.
=* Ibid., 177, 179 seq.
* Printed in Fleury, LXVIL, 245 seqq., and in Bull. XXL,
233-
THE BULL VINE AM DOMINI, 1 85
Innocent XII. were in their favour, whilst the Clementine
Peace was interpreted by them as if it were a restriction by
the Pope of the decrees of his predecessors. According to
them Innocent XII. had indeed condemned the five
propositions extracted from Jansenius' book in the natural
meaning of their wording, but this natural sense, which is
condemned, differs from that borne by the propositions in
Jansenius' book. Moreover they persist in asserting that
obedience to papal decrees did not demand an internal
rejection of the five propositions as heretical, but that
respectful silence sufficed. Some even declared that the
formular}^ might be subscribed to without an internal
conviction that Jansenius' book contained heretical teachings.
Under the cloak of such distinctions the old heresies continued
to be held without hesitation. In order, then, to remove
all uncertainty as to the sense and meaning of the Holy See,
Clement XI. confirms first of all the Constitutions of Innocent
X. and Alexander VII., the text of which is inserted, and
rejects " respectful silence " as inadequate.
Clement XI. had published his Bull " in order to remove
completely for the time to come every occasion of error ".
However, Jansenist astuteness found means to evade also
the latest decision. The kernel of the Bull lay in the words
by which the Pope declared that " the obedience due to
earlier papal Constitutions was not adequately rendered by
respectful silence, on the contrary, the sense of Jansenius'
book, which was condemned in those five propositions, must
be rejected as heretical by all the faithful with heart and
mouth ".^ This seemed to state clearly enough, at least so it
appeared to the Pope, that the five propositions contained
the substance of Jansenius' book, that previous Popes had
condemned them in Jansenius' sense, and that this sense and
* " Obedientiae, quae praeinsertis Apostolicis Constitutionibus
debetur, obsequioso illo silentio minime satisfieri, sed damnatum
in quinque praefatis propositionibus lanseniani libri sensum,
quern illarum verba prae se ferunt, ut praefertur, ab omnibus
Christi fidelibus ut haereticum non ore solum, sed et corde reiici
ac damnari debere... auctoritate apostolica decernimus..."
l86 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the sense of the whole of Jansenius' book was heretical. The
Jansenists, however, objected that the Pope had indeed
decided all this, but had not defined it as an article of faith,
so that they were free as before. Moreover the Pope said
that " respectful silence " was not enough in regard to papal
Constitutions. Now that was precisely their view too, for
those Constitutions likewise included declarations on matters
of faith, and in regard to these mere silence was indeed not
enough.^ That Louis XIV. was mistaken when he imagined
that he could dispose of the Jansenists by means of a papal
decision, was made plain enough by these distinctions.
Besides the Jansenists, the Gallicans also could be expected
to object to the Bull. It almost looked as if the Pope's many
concessions in connection with the issue of the Bull, had
merely added fresh fuel to the French pretensions. The
Assembly of the Clergy based its conduct entirely on the
decisions of 1682. By a rescript of August 2nd, 1705,2 Louis
XIV. forwarded the Bull to that body : it had been issued at
his request, the King assured the clergy ; the Pope had
begged him ^ to use his royal authority to guarantee its
promulgation and execution ; he desired, whilst maintaining
the Galhcan forms, to give peace to the Kingdom ; let the
Assembly deliberate on acceptance of the Bull.
In effect a committee of six Bishops and seven Abbots
deliberated on the subject, but when the Archbishop of Rouen
communicated to the Assembly the result of the deliberations,
on August 21st, he prefaced his statement with the following
three propositions : authority to judge on points of the
Church's teaching belongs by divine ordinance to the Bishops ;
papal decisions are binding on the universal Church if they
are accepted by the Bishops ; this acceptance is a function
of the juridical power of the Bishops.- One new feature of
1 Fleury, LXVII., 254 ; Schilt., 41, n. 2.
* Fleury, 257.
» The Pope's letter of July 17, 1705, ibid., 255. In reality it
only says : " Minime dubitamus, quin Maiestas tua . . . cpiscopis
. . . pro Integra eiusdem Nostrae Constitutionis observantia
favorcm omnem et patrocinium sit adhibitura."
BRIEF OF JANUARY 15, I706. 187
this Galilean confession is the reference not only to the
Bishops of France, but to all Bishops generally, and the
attempt to deduct the Gallican pretensions not from a right
created by custom, as had been the practice hitherto, but
from a divine institution. On the basis of these preliminaries
the deputation then proposed that thanks be expressed to
the Pope and to the King, that the papal Constitution be
accepted with respect and submission, that a circular be sent
to the Bishops of the realm bidding them to publish it without
addition or subtraction and that the King be asked to give
orders for its registration and promulgation.^ Louis XIV.
complied with this request by a rescript of August 31st, 1705 ;
on the same day he commanded the Sorbonne to accept the
papal decision.-
In the Bishops' letter to the Pope ^ the GalHcan sentiments
of the Assembly of the Clergy had been somewhat disguised ;
they were much more marked in their circular to their fellow
Bishops.* However, the acts of the Assembly were printed,
hence they could not fail to come to the Pope's knowledge.
On January 15th, 1706, Clement XI. addressed a Brief to the
French Bishops ^ which, in spite of its studied moderation,
nevertheless contains some sharp remarks. Certain writings,
we read, appear to have for their only aim an attack on the
supreme authority of the Holy See, as if there were no worthier
object for episcopal zeal than to diminish the See of Peter
and its power, though the episcopal ofhce and all its authority
are derived from it. Yet the Bishops themselves had prayed
for the Pope's intervention, thereby acknowledging that their
own authority was inadequate. One could divine the influence
^ Fleury, 258 seqq. ; Dupin, IV., 495-504.
* Fleury, 260 seq., 269 seq. Acceptance ,by the Sorbonne
took place on September i, 1705, registration by Parliament
on September 4, Dupin, IV., 518. Speech of the Advocate-
General, ibid., 519 seq. ; Lettres patentes, August 31, 1705, ibid.,
529 seqq.
* Fleury, 262.
* September 14, ibid., 266.
* Ibid., 390 seqq.
l88 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the Jansenists who regard the Holy See as their most
powerful opponent. But " who has constituted you our
judges ? Does it become inferiors to take decisions
concerning the authority of their superiors and to subject
his judgments to examination ? Be it said without offence,
it is intolerable that a handful of Bishops, Bishops of
churches whose honours and prerogatives derive exclusively
from the favour and kindness of the Apostolic See, should
raise their heads against the author of their dignity and
honour and attack the rights of the first See which rest not
on a human but on a divine authority. Question your
predecessors and they will tell you that it does not become
particular superiors to examine the ordinances of the Holy
See, but to carry them into effect ". The reason why he spoke
so sternly lay in the situation of France, where the
ApostoHc authority was attacked day by day. " But since,
in the words of St. Leo the Great, no building can endure
unless it rest on the rock of which the Lord made the founda-
tion, see whether this is not the explanation why, after the
lapse of so many years, true peace never prevailed in your
churches and never can prevail, unless the prestige of the
Roman See be raised in order to overthrow error."
Here the Pope clearly reveals the ultimate reason why
Louis XIV. 's efforts against Jansenism remained barren : it
lay in the Galhcanism of King and Bishops which crossed
every papal measure.
It does not seem that this letter made any impression on
the Galhcan Bishops. Accordingly, through the nuncios and
by a letter of August 31st, 1706,^ the Pope appealed to the
King himself. All papal Constitutions, he wrote, and with
them religion itself, would be overthrown if the Bishops'
attitude towards the latest Bull were approved. Louis XIV.
listened to the Pope's representatives and at a meeting of six
Archbishops and five Bishops Noailles was forced to declare
his readiness to subscribe to a letter to the Pope drafted by
Cardinal Fabroni.^ But it took a long time before Noailles
' Ibid., 364 seqq. * Ibid., 377.
PORT-ROYAL DOOMED. 189
subscribed. He began by dispatching a document to Rome
which differed substantially from Fabroni's Sraft, so that
Clement XI. indignantly observed that the only thing to do
was to ascertain who it was that deceived the King, the Pope
or the Archbishop. In the end Noailles was made to sign
Fabroni's draft ; whether he did so sincerely or not is
questionable.^
On the whole the French Bishops received the new Bull
against " respectful silence " without opposition. The only
exception was Percin de Montgaillard, Bishop of Saint-Pons ;
he defended his resistance in a epistolary controversy with
Fenelon against which both the Index and the Pope himself
eventually took action. ^
The King was not even satisfied with these measures ; he
wanted a special Bull against the Bishop of Saint-Pons, but
Rome was unwilling to repeat the unpleasant experience
which it had recently had of the Galilean tendencies of the
Assembly of Clergy.
Among the remaining Bishops, Noailles displayed an excess
of zeal even after the Bull had been accepted by the French
Church. After the general submission to the Holy See there
remained only one Jansenist stronghold in France — Port-
Royal. Since 1679 the convent was indeed doomed to
extinction since it was forbidden to receive any novices,^
but Noailles, whose appointment had raised the nuns' hopes,
nevertheless felt moved to demand from the citadel of
Jansenism * what had never been asked of any other convent—
^ Ibid., 370-381.
2 Brief of January 18, 1710, Bull. XXL, 365 ; Reusch, II.,
701 seqq. ; J. Sahuc, Un ami de Port-Royal, Pierre Jean Francois
de Percin de Montgaillard, eveqite de Saint-Pons, 1633-1713,
Paris, 1909.
* A description of 1678, full of admiration for the Abbey,
was published by E. Griselle in Rev. de I'hist. de France, I.
(1910), 174 seqq., 300 seqq.
* March 18, 1706. Cf. on the destruction F. Mourret, Hist,
gen. de I'l^glise, L'ancien Regime, 455 seqq. ; Schill, 42, n. 9 ;
Fleury, 432 seqq. ; Le Roy, 235-294 ; Gazier, L, 225-233 ;
190 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
viz. an attestation by the confessor that the Bull had been
read to the nuns and had been received by them with due
reverence. What might have been expected from Port-Royal
now happened : the nuns asked for time for reflection,
consulted their friends and, on their advice, expressed their
willingness to submit, but under reservation of the concessions
granted to them by the Clementine Peace. This sealed the
fate of the convent. If Noailles agreed to the acceptance of
the Bull with such a reservation in this one instance, the con-
cession would have to be general, with the result that the
Bull would be robbfed of its value. On April 27th, 1706, the
prohibition to receive novices was renewed,^ for up till then
it had not been strictly enforced.^ This step was followed
by the repeal of the decree of 1669, which had put both
Port-Royals, the one in Paris and that in the country, on an
equal footing as autonomous Abbeys : Port-Royal-des-Champs
was subjected to the Paris Abbey which had long ago broken
with Jansenism. The protests of the rebellious nuns became
louder and louder, till Noailles finally put them under an
interdict in November, 1707 ; in consequence of further
protests he laid the matter before the Pope. Clement XL's
decision was that the rebels at the country Abbey should not
be further disturbed, but should be allowed to die out quietly,
but as this did not satisfy the King, he granted permission,
in March, 1709, for the nuns to be transferred to other
convents.^ On October 29th, 1709, the famous Abbey ceased
Correspondance administrative du regne de Louis XIV., ed.
Depping, IV., 267-269. Subscription was also demanded from
the nuns of Gif. Le Roy, 244.
1 It is probable that Noailles gave in owing to pressure on the
part of Nuncio Cusani, to whom his predecessor Gualtieri had
said in an *Istruzione [Cod. Ottob. 3144, p. 169-173, Vatican
Library) : " Preme sommamente a N. S., che resti punita una
tal contumacia " (Port Royal's) ; he should proceed jointly
with the Archbishop [ibid., 171).
^ Fenelon to De Beauvilliers, November 30, 1699, CEuvres,
VII., 220, n. 2.
8 Briefs of March 29, 1708. For the instruction of the nuns
Noailles published a letter in 1709 which Bossuet had composed
DISMANTLING OF PORT-ROYAL. 19I
to exist. Royal officials, accompanied by armed men, had
the grilles opened and the remaining fifteen choir nuns and
seven lay sisters forcibly removed. The unnecessary harshness
with which even aged and ailing sisters were treated, could
not fail to rouse public indignation : Fenelon, that keen
opponent of Jansenism, was one of those who expressed his
disapproval.^ After its suppression Port-Royal became a
favourite place of pilgrimage for all the friends of Jansenism,
even in spite of the fact that the conventual buildings were
demolished in 1710 and the church itself in 1712, whilst the
bodies in the cemetery were given a new resting-place else-
where. ^ Pilgrimages to the spot where Port-Royal once stood
continue to this day.^
Clement XI. had dispatched his Bull not only to France
but to Flanders also, namely to Louvain.* There it met
with willing submission although it was precisely the Nether-
lands that had constituted a centre and a bulwark of Jansenist
literary activity about the turn of the seventeenth century.
(2.)
At the time of its destruction Port-Royal was far from
enjoying its former prestige, for the party's centre of gravity
in July, 1665, for Port Royal but had not dispatched. Bossuet,
Corrcspondance, published by Urbain and Levesque, III., 34 seqq.
^ " Un tel coup d'autorite ne peut qu'exciter la compassion
pour ces filles et I'indignation centre leurs persecuteurs " (to
the Duke of Chevreuse, November 24, 1709, CEuvres, XII., 294).
On March 19, 1706, the Prioress wrote : " Si vous voyiez notre
communaute, elle vous ferait pitie. Elle n'est composee que
de vieilles, d'infirmes et d'impotentes " (in Le Roy, 240, note).
^ The mortal remains of Pascal, Boileau, Racine, etc., were
removed to the church of Saint- fitienne Du Mont, those of
Saint-Cyran to Saint-Jaques du Haut-Pas, etc. L. Seche, Les
derniers Jansenistes, Paris, 1891, 30.
* Plan of the former convent in Seche, 265. A. Hallays,
Pelerinage de Port-Royal, Paris, 1909 ; Gazier, Port-Royal-des-
Champs. Notice hist.*, Paris, 1905, etc.
* December 12, 1705 ; Dupin, IV., 535.
192 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
had long since shifted to the Netherlands. There lived the
leader who since Amauld's death in 1694 had steered the
party into new tracks ; there also he completed the third
work round which the Jansenists were able to rally as they
had rallied round the Aitgustinus and the book on Frequent
Communion.
Pasquier Ouesnel/ was born in Paris in 1634. He was the
son of a bookseller whose family originated from Scotland.
After completing his studies with the Jesuits and at the
Sorbonne he entered Berulle's Oratory in 1657 where he was
employed in the training of the junior members of the
Congregation. One of the first of his learned studies was
a new edition of the works of St. Leo the Great, published
in 1675. As a valuable critical edition the work was received
with applause, 2 but the outspoken Gallicanisms of the
explanatory dissertations led to its being put on the Index
of prohibited books within a year.^ Ouesnel was an adherent
not only of Galhcanism, but of Jansenism also, though in
company with his colleagues in religion he had signed the
formulary three or four times. ^ On account of his Jansenism
he left the Oratory in 1685,^ but continued nevertheless to
describe himself as a " Priest of the Oratory ". He escaped
to Flanders where he shared Arnauld's hiding-place up to the
^ See Batterel, IV., 424-493. A selection of his letters by
Madame A. Le Roy : Un Janseniste en exil, Paris, 1900. INIany
fragments of letters in Causa Quesnelliana.
^ Opinion of the Ballerini in the Leonine edition, " praefatio,"
MiGNE, Patr. lat., LIV., 13, 22. CJ. Batterel, 430 seqq. ;
Thuillier, 5 seq.
^ Quesnel wrote some very sharp comments on the decree
of the Index, printed in Causa Quesnelliana, 332-334.
'' Batterel, 426 seq.
* The proximate cause of his exit : Ibid., 26-9, 436 seqq. ;
Thuillier, id seqq. Quesnel himself said that he was only
physically outside the Oratory, " sans cesser un moment d'y
demeurer en esprit et de cceur " (Batterel, 442). That he
had really been dismissed, see ibid., 299, 334, 424 ; Causa
Quesnelliana, 5 seq.
QUESNEL. 193
latter's death. A fresh turn in Quesnel's destiny occurred
after his ceaseless underground activities had exhausted the
patience of both the ecclesiastical and the secular powers.
With the concurrence of the Government, the Archbishop of
Malines had him arrested and tried on the ground of certain
confiscated documents. The trial ended on November 10th,
1704, with a sentence of excommunication and confinement
in a monastery. However, before the opening of the judicial
proceedings, Quesnel's friends had succeeded in making a hole
in the wall of his prison. Quesnel escaped to Holland ; he
died at Amsterdam on December 2nd, 1719. The accusation,
comprising twenty-six headings, together with the evidence
and the final sentence, were published by order of the
Archbishop.^
The Jansenist party surrounded Quesnel with a veneration
greater even than that which Saint-Cyran or Arnauld had
enjoyed. This was partly due to his ways and manners which
called forth the enthusiasm of his admirers ; they deemed
it a downright favour of heaven if, whilst on his journeys,
he put up at their houses. ^ But his influence as a writer was
even greater ; it was his skilful pen that dominated the
party after Arnauld's death and raised him to the position
of unquestioned leadership. As regards keenness of intellect
and erudition, he lags behind Arnauld and lacks the latter's
air of greatness. But in his writings Arnauld always remained
the harsh, dry scholar who defends his cause with heavy
theological learning drawn from the Fathers and the
Scholastics, whereas Quesnel displays both elevation and
adaptibility ; he knows how to write in a pious strain, to
ingratiate himself and to play on the emotions.^ His earlier
^ Causa Quesnelliana, Brussels, 1704. C/. Batterel, IV.,
459 seqq. ; Schill, 31 seqq. ; Fleury, 67-97 ; Le Roy, 117 seqq.
According to Batterel the immediate cause of Quesnel's arrest
was his violent pamphlet on the "case of conscience " [Lettre d'un
eveque a un eveque [1704]). Cf. [Patouillet], II., 485.
" MouRET, 398.
' The Jansenist Batterel (IV., 451), says : " Nous n'avons
jamais eu de plume dans I'Oratoire qui ait parle de Dieu d'une
VOL. XXXIII. o
194 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
small publications on Confession and Communion, on the
Passion of Jesus Christ, on the happiness of a good death,
were received with applause and saw several editions.
However, after his flight from France, Quesnel's activity
as an ascetical writer gradually ceased ; in this sphere he
contented himself with the completion of his chief work.
On the other hand, from his hiding-place at Brussels or
Amsterdam, he released a veritable flood of polemical writings.
At one time he defends himself against the Archbishop of
Malines or against papal or episcopal condemnation, at
another he exalts or defends Arnauld ; then he goes for the
Jesuits who, in his opinion, were the authors of all the mischief ;
on occasion he assumes the role of a champion of the Church
against the Calvinists, which enables him to advocate
Jansenism in an underhand way. In a word, hardly anything
in the religious sphere happened in Flanders or in France
which did not provide him with an occasion for intervention.^
In so doing he did not follow the example of Arnauld whose
polemical pamphlets sometimes filled a quarto volume. For
the most part Quesnel's writings are of moderate size or
consist of but a few sheets, and whereas Arnauld preserved
appearances in regard to Rome, and strove to avoid an open
rupture, the distinguishing feature of Quesnel's writings is,
that in them Jansenism throws off the mask and attacks
openly. When in 1G90 Alexander VIII. had dealt Jansenism
an exceedingly heavy blow by his condemnation of thirty-one
Jansenist propositions, Quesnel, in a violent reply,- described
the Roman tribunal as a den of thieves, seeing that these
people were condemned unheard whilst the Consultors were
ignorant men who allowed themselves to be led by party
considerations.^ The Paris Doctors who in 1703 submitted
maniere si noble, si elevee, si himineusc ; j'ajoute, si pure et si
elegante."
^ Index of the publications in Batterel, IV., 451 seqq.
2 Lettre d'un abbe a un prelat de la coiir de Rome, Toulouse,
1691, prohibited by the Archbishop of Mahnes, 1695, by the
Roman Index, 1703. Reusch, II., 527.
3 Fontaine, I., 23.
QUESNEL S LITERARY MANNER. I95
to the Archbishop's decision concerning the " Case of
Conscience " he described as scoundrels, cowards, hypocrites,
perjurers.^ His hterary manner found its imitators. No less
violent is the style of the Maurist Gerberon ^ who had been
arrested at the same time as Ouesnel by order of the
Archbishop of Malines, and both found many followers among
the later Jansenists. Everywhere, not only by his published
writings but by his extensive correspondence also, Quesnel
fomented a spirit of contradiction, at court and in the
Parliaments, in monasteries and among the clergy.^
Agitation of this kind could only yield disastrous results.
In France the royal prohibition to write on Jansenist
controversial questions was still in force.* The Catholics
complied with this injunction of silence whilst the Jansenists
paid no attention to it. During the wars in Flanders the
examination of books at the frontier had become very casual.
Certain greedy booksellers took advantage of this circumstance
to smuggle a quantity of Jansenist works from Holland into
France.^ Catholics were not allowed to reply to this flood
^ Lettre d'un eveque a un eveque ou Consultation sur le fameitx
Cas de conscience (1704). [Patouillkt], II., 485.
2 One example ([Patouillet], II., 490) : the Archbishop of
Rheims who had condemned one of Gerberon's books, he calls
in 1677 : " Get enfle d'orgueil dont parle S. Paul, ce docteur
qui ne salt rien de la science des saints, etc."
' Extracts in Causa Qiiesnelliana.
* See the present work, XXXI, 383 seq.
* De Chanterac to Gardinal Gabrielli, 1700, Fenelon, CEuvres,
X., 45. " Sa Majeste voit par experience que les defenseurs de
la cause de rfiglise savent lui obeir et se taire, mais les autres
se prevalent du silence de ceux-ci pour ecrire plus hardiment. . . .
Nos frontieres sont pleines d'emissaires du parti, qui font passer
avec sui'ete, de main en main, tout ce qu'ils veulent, depuis la
Hollande jusqu'a Paris et aux provinces les plus eloignees :
nulla vigilance et nulle rigueur de police ne pent Tempecher ;
c'est un fait si visible, qu'il saute aux yeux (Fenelon to Le Tellier,
July 22, 1712, CEuvres, VIII., no seq.). Nous recommandons
encore aux magistrats de police de veiller a I'avenir sur ces
petits libraires de campagne, qui viennent trois ou quatre fois
196 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of accusations and misrepresentations : thus, Fenelon, for
instance, was obliged literally to beg for permission to reply
to a pamphlet by Quesnel against himself. ^ The bold attitude
of the party and the silence of the Catholics could not fail
to create the impression among the large masses that
knowledge and true doctrine were to be found among the
Jansenists, whose opponents knew no better defence than
measures of violence, the burning of books and the banishment
of men regarded as Saints. Hence, in spite of the combined
efforts of Pope and King, the sect daily assumed incalculable
proportions.^ It had its patrons and its informants even at
court ; no secret was safe from it, in many ways it was better
served than the King himself.^
Though Quesnel's polemical pamphlets wielded enormous
influence his significance for the story of Jansenism is never-
theless based on one of his early ascetical writings, the
so-called Moral Reflections on the New Testament.'^ In 1650
the Oratorian Jourdin (Jourdain) had printed for the use
especially of the younger members of his Congregation,
a collection of sayings of Our Lord in the Gospel, together
with some brief commentaries on them. In 1668 Quesnel
published an enlarged French edition of the opuscule which
had been originally written in Latin, and shortly after he
I'annee infecter notre diocese de mechans livres." Edict of the
Bishop of Apt against Quesnel, October 15, 1703, in Causa
Qiiesnelliana, 180.
^ To Le TelHer, October 9, 1712, CEuvyes, V'lII., 118. Cf. ibid.,
23, and VII., 346 : " Pendant que j'ai Ics mains Hees pour la
defense de la foi, M. Habert a la liberte d'ecrire pour soutenir
son erreur."
2 " Malgre le Pape et lo Roi unis, et agissant de concert pour
ecraser ce parti, il croit chaque jour sans mesure." Fenelon,
CEuvres, VIII., 112.
8 Ibid.
* Batterel, IV., 471-486 ; A. Maulvault, Repertoire alpha-
beiique des personnes et des choses de Port-Royal, Paris, 1902 ;
Herzog-Hauk, Realemy/ilopddie, XXIV. (Vol. suppl. II.),
379 seq.
THE REFLEXIONS MORALES. ig^
dealt thus with the whole of the Gospel, mostly in accordance
with the Jansenist translation. The work appeared in this
form in 1672, with a lengthy recommendation from the pen
of Bishop Vialart of Chalons, which stated that to write such
a book the author must have possessed the enlightened
charity spoken of by St. Augustine, and must have been for
a long time a pupil in the school of the Holy Ghost. This
encomium continued to be reprinted even after the work had
been greatly enlarged and altered.
The little book proved very popular ; a fresh impression
followed in 1674 and an enlarged edition in 1679. To the
edition of 1687 Ouesnel added a second part dealing with the
Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Here the notes were
fuller, with the result that, for the sake of proportion, they
were also amplified in the first volume. In the edition of
1692 the work had grown to four volumes in octavo ; it
enjoyed extraordinary popularity, more especially in the
definitive edition of 1699.^ Wherever French is understood,
Bossuet wrote, 2 everybody is full of it ; booksellers were
unable to meet the demand and the innumerable editions
which followed one on top of the other, were sold out
immediately.
So enormous a success need not surprise us : Quesnel's
book was the realization, in an able manner, of a new idea
^ The title of the book changes with the various subjects.
" Verbi incarnati I. C. D. N. verba ex universo ipsius testamento
collecta, adiectis argumentis, etc., Paris, 1650 (Batterel, II., 374) ;
Les paroles de la parole incarnee J .-C. N.-S., Paris, 1668 ; 2nd ed.
revised and enlarged, Paris, 1669 {ibid., III., 270, IV., 472) ;
Abrege de la morale de I'Evangile, ou Considerations chret. sur le
texte des quatre Evangelistes, Paris, 1672 (ibid., IV., 474) ; Le
Xonveaii Testament en frangais avec des reflexions morales stir
chaque verset . . . , Paris, 1693 [ibid., 480 ; [Patouillet], IV., 52).
* Avertissement sur le livre des reflexions morales. CEuvres, IV.,
196. According to Harnack {Dogmengeschichte, III., Freiburg,
1897, (666), even Clement XL " expressed a most favourable
opinion of the book ". Quesnel and the Jansenists express them-
selves with greater reserve [Lou ail], 13 seq.).
198 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
one in keeping with the time. There existed a vast number
of learned folios on Holy Scripture explaining the text and
solving the difficulties. What was wanting was a handy
volume in which brief notes would point out to wider circles
how the words of the Scriptures could be adapted to the
Christian life : this Quesnel seemed to have done in a most
able manner.
His book is impregnated to its very marrow with the ideas
of Jansenius, though he avoids identifying himself with them
too openly. The five condemned propositions are hardly ever
found in unequivocal form, but in the shape of brief comments,
short prayers and reflections he links with the words of the
New Testament maxims for the moral and religious life
which are derived from the thought of his master. He makes
frequent use of expressions from St. Augustine ; above all he
knows how to spread over everything an air of unction and
devotion which appeals to the religiously minded and disguises
the characteristic edges and corners of Jansenius' theses.
Thus from the latter's assertion of the irresistibility of grace,
there follows that sinners and pagans who have not been
truly converted, are wholly forsaken by grace and accordingly
antecedently predestined for eternal damnation. This pro-
position Quesnel dresses up in such wise that most readers
will probably not be aware of its appalling harshness. Again
he casually observes that faith is the " first grace ", or that
forgiveness of sins is the " first grace " bestowed by God
on the sinner, or that no grace is granted outside the Church.^
Such expressions naturally lead to the conclusions that the
unconverted sinner or pagan has never received grace of any
kind, for then their faith and conversion would no longer
be the first grace. But who would think of such conclusions
when reading statements seemingly so harmless, unless one
keeps clearly before one's eyes the fact that according to
Quesnel there are none but irresistible graces ? ^ Continually
^ Bull " Unigenitus " , Propositions, 27-9.
^ A recent theologian says : " On ne saurait, en effet, insinuer
I'erreur avec plus d'onction ct de pietc, dans des phrases plus
innocentes. Si bien que, maintenant encore, il faut un ceil
QUESNEL S TEACHING. I99
and on every possible occasion Ouesnel proclaims that without
grace, viz. without efficacious grace as understood by him,
man is utterly incapable of any good ; in other words, if
man does not do good, it is because he is incapable of so
doing, because God withholds grace from him. The statement
is a blasphemy, but Ouesnel gives it a seemingly harmless
and even pious turn ; for example, basing himself on a saying
of St. Augustine, he exclaims : " In vain thou commandest,
O Lord, unless thou givest us to do what thou commandest " ;
or again : " Assuredly, 0 Lord, all things are possible to him
for whom Thou makest them possible by Thyself working
them in him." Or again he describes grace as " an effect of
the all-powerful hand of God, which nothing can hinder or
restrict ".^ It goes without saying that the book upholds
the assertion that God's saving will only extends effectively
to the elect, but here also Quesnel avoids too crude expressions.
Thus in a note on Luke V., 13, we read : " When God is
willing to save a soul and He touches it interiorly with the
hand of His grace, no human will resists Him," and similar
expressions occur elsewhere. ^ The ordinary reader will
suspect nothing further in such statements ; but when
things are constantly repeated with the most varied turns,
it must needs be that he gradually adopts the Jansenist ideas,
all the more so as most of Ouesnel's remarks are susceptible
of more than one interpretation. That Quesnel understood
them in a Jansenist sense follows from the whole context,
but when isolated from this context many of his statements
are capable of a milder interpretation.
Besides the ideas of Baius and Jansenius, Ouesnel's book
also advocates Richer's thesis on ecclesiastical authority, and
occasional allusions represent the Jansenists as the innocent
victims of the tyrannical power of the Church, but here and
exerce pour voir oil est le mal pour plusieurs au moins de ces
propositions." Bainvel, Etudes, CXXXI. (1912), 799. Cf.
Thuillier, 3 seqq.
1 Bull Unigenitus.
* Ibid., Prop., 3, 4, 10.
200 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
there Ouesnel drops remarks which convey the impression
that he rejected Jansenius' five propositions.
(3.)
The 101 propositions of the 1693 edition of the Moral
Reflexions which, at a later date, Clement XI. described as
deserving of condemnation, appeared only b}^ degrees in
Quesnel's book. If the edition of 1687 already contained
fifty-three such propositions, ^ the first edition of 1671 only
included five.^ This circumstance, together with the pious
air and the ambiguity of the book, sufficiently accounts for
the fact that it found favour at first even with some of the
Bishops. But it was precisely the most glowing of these
episcopal encomiums that proved fatal both to the book
and to the Bishop from whom it emanated. Although Quesnel
had already escaped to Flanders at that time, in 1695 the
future Archbishop of Paris, Louis-Antoine de Noailles, then
Bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne, wrote a letter full of the most
glowing praise for the 1696 edition of the Moral Reflexions.
The letter declares that the author of the book had collected
in a synthesis full of power and unction all that was most
beautiful and inspiring in the Fathers of the Church ; in its
pages the innermost truths of religion were expounded with
such penetrating force and such gentleness of the Holy
Ghost, that even the most obdurate hearts must delight in
them ; for the clergy, the book would replace a whole
library.
Now it so happened that when in the following year Noailles
was raised to the archiepiscopal see of Paris, that irreconcilable
Jansenist, Gerberon, published posthumously a book on grace
and predestination by Martin de Barcos, Abbot of Saint-Cyran,
who had died in 1678.^ Faced with a book of which 600 copies
^ [Louail], 8 seqq. ; Le Rov, 14, n. 2.
* Nos. 12, 13, 30, 62, 65. CJ. H. KiLBER in Theologia Wirce-
hurgensis, IV., Paris, 1853, n. 237, p. 228.
' " Exposition de la foi catholique thouchant la grace et la
predestination . ' '
NOAILLES PERPLEXITY. 201
had been confiscated by the Paris poHce as soon as it had
been pubhshed, Noailles was bound to take up a decided
attitude. 1 This he did in his first pastoral letter dated August
20th, 1696, the dogmatic part of which was from the pen of
Bossuet : it condemned De Barcos' book as Jansenistic.^
But now Noailles found himself in an embarrassing situation.
In his last ordinance at Chalons he had eulogized Quesnel's
book ; in his first pastoral letter in Paris he condemned it as
Jansenistic. There were those who took advantage of the
situation : at the close of 1698 a pamphlet appeared with the
sarcastic title : "An ecclesiastical problem — who is to be
believed, Louis Antoine de Noailles, Bishop of Chalons in
1695, or Louis Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris in
1696 ? " 3
The authorship of the " Problem " was generally, though
quite wrongly, ascribed to the Jesuits, not least by the
embittered Noailles, since the pamphlet maintains Jansenist
opinions, rather must it be regarded as an attack by the
Jansenists.*
^ Le Roy, 30 seq.
* Bossuet, CEnvres, IV., 286-295 ; VII., 559-575- The
dogmatic part was meant by Bossuet to be a " counter- weight "
to the condemnation in favour of efficacious grace and the
authority of St. Augustine (Letter to De la Broue, September 4,
1696, CEuvres, XL., 224) ; he hoped his exposition would be
confirmed by Rome {ibid., 313). The Jansenists tried to throw
this " counter- weight " into the balance in favour of their cause
(see memorial of the Bishops of Lu9on and La Rochelle to the
Pope, 1713, in Fenelon, CEuvres, VIII. , 153 seqq.). Fenelon said
of Noailles' order : " il a souffle le froid et le chaud. II dit blanc
pour les uns et noir pour les autres " (to De Beauvilliers,
November 30, 1699, ibid., VII., 220).
^ Probleme ecclesiastique propose d M. I'abbe Boileau de I'arche-
veche de Paris, a qui I' on doit croire, de M. L. A. de Noailles eveqiie
de Chalons en 1695, ow de M. L. A. de Noailles archeveqiie de
Paris en 1696.
* Vacant, in Rev. des sciences ecclds., LXI. (i8go), 411 seqq.,
LXII., 34 seqq., 131 seqq. The author is probably a Benedictine
202 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
In his perplexity Noailles appealed to the theological
adviser who had so recently come to his rescue, the Bishop
of Meaux. Whether influenced by friendship for Noailles or
antipathy for Molina, Bossuet now allowed himself to be
deceived by the ambiguity of Ouesnel's book. Provided
a number of modifications were made,^ he thought the book
might be defended as orthodox, and with this view he drew
up an apology of those points of the Moral Reflexions which
were most sharply attacked. ^ Bossuet did not defend
Jansenism,^ he merely endeavoured to show that the book
was wrongly accused of Jansenism. However, he withdrew
his dissertation in time and later on described Quesnel's book
as hopelessly Jansenistic.^ In spite of this, Ouesnel had
Bossuet's work subsequently printed as a " justification " of
his book, though otherwise he was wont to speak of the
Bishop of Meaux in the most contemptuous terms. ^
(Monnier ?) ; ibid, and Sommervogel, Biblioth^que, I., 1747.
Bossuet also speaks of the pamphlet simply as of the " Probleme
des Jesuites " (Le Roy, 57) but without proof. The writing has
often been attributed to the Benedictine Thierry de Viaixnes ;
cf. J. Godefroy, in Rev. Mabillon, 1923, 167 seqq., 265 seqq.
1 According to Bossuet's Vicar-General, De Saint-Andre,
he demanded that 120 pages of the book should be rewritten.
Ingold, id, n. 3.
2 Avertissement sur le livre des Reflexions morales. CEuvres,
IV., Versailles, 1815, 195-286.
3 The book is rather " une solide et exacte apologie de la
Bulle Unigenitus " as pointed out in a defence of Bossuet of
1738, Ingold, i 15-134.
* Cf. the apologia of Bossuet by the Bishops of La Rochelle
and Lu9on in Fleury, LXVIIL, 324 seqq., especially 328 seq.
[Cf. also the memoire of the two Bishops in Fenelon, CEuvres,
VIII., i^Sseqq.). Ingold, ii seq. Bossuet nevertheless preserved
the letter. (Le Roy, 63). Cf. Ch. Urbain, Bossuet apologiste du
P. Quesnel in Rev. du clergd Frangais, January 15, 1901 ; Th.
Delmont, Bossuet et le P. Quesnel in Rev. de Lille, XIX. (1901),
354 seqq., 437 seqq. ; Cherot, in Etudes, 1899, II., 384 seqq.
' Causa Quesnelliana, 354.
EPISCOPAL CONDEMNATIONS. 203
In Paris the " Problem " was burnt by the executioner
whilst Rome put it on the Index ^ ; for the time being Noailles
need feel no anxiety. On June 21st, 1700, he was raised to
the purple at the King's request. He took part in the conclave
of that year and on December 18th he received the red hat
at the hands of the newly elected Pope Clement XI. ^ Two
men were thus face to face on whose conduct and mutual
relations Quesnel's recently published work was to have a
fatal influence. Duty compelled the new Pope to take action
against it. The new Cardinal, who was far from having
forgotten the " Ecclesiastical Problem ", imagined that his
honour demanded that he should defend it. Confusion was
inevitable for decades to come. When Noailles returned to
Paris from Rome the " Case of Conscience ", with all that
followed, pushed everything else into the background for
a time, though all objections to the Moral Reflexions were
not entirely silenced. Mention is made of them in Quesnel's
correspondence as early as 1697.^ The Bishop of Chartres
was a determined opponent of the book ^ ; on October 15th,
1703, the Bishop of Apt likewise published a pastoral letter
in which he forbade the reading of Quesnel's book under pain
of excomrnunication.^ After Quesnel's condemnation by the
Archbishop of Malines, more and more voices were raised in
^ January 10, 1699, and June 2, 1700. Reusch, II., 728.
- Le Roy, 71, 91.
^ Pastoral letters of the Bishops of LuQon and La Rochelle,
May 14, 1711, in Fleury, L., XVIII. , 339 seq. Already on
May 26, 1688, Quesnel complains that his publisher was threatened
that the further sale of the book would be prohibited [Corres-
pondance, ed. Le Roy, I., 94. In his Entretiens he confesses that
his book had been denounced to the Inquisition as early as 1693.
[Louail], 14.
* Wilbert to Quesnel, January 22, 1700, Fleury, LXVIIL,
333 seq.
* Reprinted in Causa Quesnelliana, 1 78-1 81 ; Fleury,
LXVIL, 97. In 1703 Fenelon also spoke of the necessity of
examining the book. QLuvrcs, VII., 569.
204 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
protest ; thus the book was forbidden by the Archbishop of
Besan9on and the Bishop of Nevers in 1707.^
Meanwhile the Capuchin, Timothy de la Fleche (Jacques
Peschard), had brought the book to the notice of the Pope
himself. 2 Clement XI. was astounded at the vast number
of errors it contained and observed to Timothy that there
could not be man}^ books more dangerous than this one.
However, as long as that sympathizer with the Jansenists,
Casoni, retained the post of Assessor, the dehberations of the
Inquisition made but slow progress. When Casoni was raised
to the purple and his place in the Inquisition was taken by
San Vitale, there occurred a further delay due to the fact
that, to the Pope's annoyance, the Theatine Dubuc had
displayed too much passion against Quesnel in his report to
the Congregation. 3 Towards the close of 1707 Noailles learnt
that it was planned to condemn the Moral Reflexions ; he
sought to prevent such a step, but in vain.^ A Brief of
July 13th, 1708,5 condemned Ouesnel's New Testament on the
ground that it mainly adopted the condemned Mons translation
of the Bible and in the commentaries contained subversive,
rash, dangerous and erroneous propositions which had been
previously condemned and which savoured of Jansenism.
As usual this Brief also met with opposition in France. The
Brief prescribed that all copies of the Moral Reflexions must
be surrendered to the Bishop or to the Inquisitor. Now in
France there was no Inquisition so that its mention meant
nothing, but mere reference to the hated tribunal was enough
for Parliament to refuse to accept the Brief, though it did
1 Fleury, LXVIIL, 627 ; Schill, 54. An accusation
appeared also : [J. Ph. Lallemant, S.J.], Le P. Quesnel seditieux.
[The second edition adds : et heretiqtic] dans ses reflexions sur
le Nouveau Testament, 1704 (or 1705). Sommervogel, Biblio-
th^qiie, IV., 1395.
2 Mdmoires et lettres du P. Timothee de la Fleche sur les affaires
ecclesiastiques, 1 703-1 730, by U. d'Alen9on, Paris, 1907.
3 Le Roy, 300 seqq.
* Ihid., 298 seq.
* Bull, XXL, 327 ; Fleury, LXVIL, 673 seq.
PAPAL CONDEMNATION. 205
not go so far as to forbid it expressly. However, the Brief
was not without effect upon fervent Cathohcs.^ Noailles felt
so hit by the papal judgment that he thought of resigning ^ ;
both he and the French diplomatists, together with Quesnel,
saw in the measure no more than an act of revenge by the
Jesuits against an Archbishop whom they dishked.^ Quesnel
published a violent reply to the Brief ; he described the action
of the Roman authorities as a scandalous attempt which
wounded the episcopate to the heart, as a work of darkness
and the undertaking of an infamous cabal.* For the purpose
of self-defence he published in 1710 Bossuet's comments on
the Moral Reflexions.^
Meanwhile, in the words of a contemporary, Jansenism
advanced beyond all that could be imagined.^ With the
exception of the Seminarists of Saint-Sulpice and a few others,
Fenelon wrote,'' all the students of the Sorbonne adopted
Jansenism under cover of " efficient grace " ; the party used
Thomism as a mask and the tutors inoculated the students
* " On n'a pas peu gagne que d'obtenir la condamnation du
Nouveau Testament de Quesnel et de la Theologie du Juenin "
(Daubenton to De Vitry, in Fenelon, CEuvves, VII., 650). That
the effect of the Brief was not the one wished for appears from a
letter of the Bishops of Lu9on and La Rochelle to the Pope, dat.
January i, 1711 {ibid., 680). On the King's annoyance on account
of the many condemnations, cf. Le Roy, 313.
2 Le Roy, 314.
* Ibid., 225, 298, 308, 311. Cf. Languet in Ranke, Franzo-
sische Geschichte, IV., 253 : " Noailles knew that La Chaize
had been against his elevation, hence he regarded all that was
done against him as an intrigue of the Jesuits."
■• " Entretiens sur le decret de Rome, etc." Cf. [Patouillet],
II., 49 seqq. ; Schill, 54 seq. Brief of June 6, 1710, against the
book, in Bull, XXL, 390.
* Cf. above, p. 202 ; Schill, 55 seq.
* " Les progres du Jansenisme vont au dela de tout ce qu'on
peut imaginer." De Langeron to Chalmette, June 23, 1708, in
Fenelon, CEuvres, VII., 640.
'.To Le TelUer (1710), ibid., 663.
206 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
with the poison. According to Fenelon a vast number of
Doctors held the new opinions, and from among these Doctors
the Bishops chose their Vicars-General who then infected the
various dioceses. The mischief was beginning to penetrate
even into the Seminaries of the Lazarists. The Benedictines
of Saint-Maur and Saint-Vanne, the Oratory, the Canons
Regular of Sainte-Genevieve, the Augustinians, the Discalced
Carmelites, a number of Capuchins, many Recollects and
Minims had been won over to Jansenist ideas ; it was
inevitable that the contagion should spread further as time
went on. The court was full of supporters of the party who,
as occasion served, instilled its principles into the minds of
the Princes. Most of the devout sex moved heaven and earth
in the service of the party. Everything could be feared from
the Chancellor and some of the Ministers, the Attorney-
General, many distinguished functionaries and from an
incredibly large number of good but biased people : of this
they had had a tangible proof in the excitement caused by
the suppression of Port-Royal. It was true that both King
and Pope were against the party and the Roman decrees and
those of the Bishops came like so many thunderbolts for the
Jansenists, yet the sect grew daily. Contempt for Rome and
aversion for its authority were on the increase in the nation,
a circumstance which pointed to the imminent danger of a
schism. Thus Fenelon. It was not long before it became plain
that his prognostication was only too accurate.
(4.)
However much both GalHcans and Jansenists may have
laboured to lower the papal prestige, the situation became so
acute that Louis XIV. saw no other solution than to ask the
Pope for a new dogmatic Bull. The zeal of the Sulpician
Champflour, which had already called forth opposition to the
Jansenists' solution of the " Case of Conscience ", proved
decisive here also. In 1703 Champflour had been named
Bishop of La Rochelle and in that capacity, like some other
Bishops, he too had been thinking since 1707 of a pastoral
CHAMPFLOUR AND NOAILLES. 207
letter against Ouesnel's Moral Reflexions. In concert with
two friends of Fenelon, Langeron and Chalmette, he published,
at the end of 1710, in his own name and that of the Bishop
of Lugon, Lescure, also a Sulpician, a fairly voluminous
" ordinance and pastoral instruction "> The publisher
dispatched this document to all the larger towns of France ;
in Paris it was hawked in the streets and posted up in the
churches and even on the door of the archiepiscopal palace.
In itself this action of the bookseller had nothing extraordinary
about it. However, as there was question of the condemnation
of a book bearing the commendation of the Archbishop of
Paris, Noailles could only see a challenge in the act. He
revenged himself on the two Bishops in none too light a fashion
by getting their two nephews expelled from the Seminary of
St. Sulpice where they were studying. ^
This act of violence caused a great stir,^ and the two
Bishops appealed to the King in a letter containing grievous
accusations against Noailles.*
There was not so much question, they said, of their own
persons or their nephews, but the situation was such that the
Bishops could neither speak nor remain silent : their silence
allowed heresy an unimpeded course and their speech
scandalized the people, as Bishop spoke against Bishop.
Error was daily making enormous progress by the spread of
certain books which were either dedicated to Cardinal Noailles
or approved by him and his entourage. In conclusion they
begged the King to exercise his influence over the Archbishop,
with a view to his withdrawing his recommendation and
patronage of Quesnel's book. One sentence in the letter was
too outspoken : religious innovations, the two observed, had
^ " Ordonnance et instruction pastorale de Messeigneurs les
eveques de Lugon et de la Rochelle. La Rochelle, 1710 (12*, 542) ;
also Latin translation (4*, 295) ; extract in Fleury, LXVIIL,
223 ; Bertrand, III., 133.
* Fleury, LXVIIL, 238.
^ " L'affaire des jeunes abbes fait un fracas epouvantable."
Lallemant to Fenelon, in CEuvres, VII., 689.
* April, 1 71 1, ibid., ^g^seq.
208 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
invariably prevailed through the action of powerful Bishops,
and the worst blows had been dealt the Church under Christian
Emperors by the Bishops of imperial cities who abused the
prestige of their position.^ The letter, with its all too obvious
allusion to Noailles, was published against the will of the two
Bishops 2 and added to the confusion. The King was annoyed
and demanded from the two authors an apology to the
Archbishop.^
Noailles was beside himself, all the more so as on March
4th, 1711, the Bishop of Gap had also declared himself against
Quesnel and some other Jansenist books. ^ On April 28th he
published a violent ordinance, accusing the three Bishops of
Jansenism and prohibiting their pastoral letters which, he
alleged, had been composed under their name by the " enemies
of the episcopate ".^ This presumption of the Cardinal
irritated the King ; he forbade him to come to court until
he should have withdrawn his recommendation of the Moral
Reflexions.^ But this step, the only reasonable one in his
position, Noailles refused to take, notwithstanding the advice
of his friends ' ; in his opinion the measures against Quesnel
were nothing else but an agitation of the Jesuits who sought
to hit his own person in that of the fugitive Oratorian.
In letters to the King, to Madame Maintenon, to Chancellor
Voisin, he piles up accusations against them.^ But he stuck
to Quesnel, a fact which he expressly states in a letter to
Bishop Hebert of Agen.^ As if to complete the confusion, it
so happened that just then Quesnel published Bossuet's
opinion on the Moral Reflexions. ^^ Thus of the outstanding
^ Ibid., 695.
2 Champflour to Le Tellier, May 20, 1711, ibid., 706, n. 2.
3 Ibid., 705, 714, 715.
« Fleuky, LXVIIL, 242.
* Ibid., 242 seq.
* Ibid., 244.
'' Letter of the confessor of Madame de Maintenon, La
Chetardie, June 26, 171 1, to Noailles, in Le Roy, 347 note.
* Le Roy, 350.
» Ibid., 2)51. " Above, p. 202.
LOUIS XIV. INTERVENES. 209
Bishops of contemporary France, Fenelon was against and
Bossuet apparently for Quesnel ; as for the Cardinal
Archbishop of Paris, the first prelate of the realm, the official
leader in spiritual things and the President of the Assembly
of the Clergy, even he himself could not tell whether he was
a Jansenist or not.^
In these circumstances even Galilean France saw no other
way out of the impasse, except a decision by the Pope. The
Bishops of Lugon and La Rochelle had prayed the King to be
allowed to submit the dispute with Noailles to the Pope.^
However, Louis XIV. thought that he himself might decide
this matter in his own realm by appointing a consultative
commission presided over by his own nephew and successor,
the Duke of Burgundy. The commission, the most important
members of which were the Archbishop of Paris and Bossuet's
successor at Meaux, Henry de Bissy, suggested a compromise.
The two Bishops were to explain in a second ordinance some
of the offensive passages of their mandements, whilst Noailles
published a new ordinance in which he would revoke his
condemnation of the mandements of the two Bishops and
acknowledge them as orthodox and as the authentic work
of the two Bishops. Although as a Bishop he had the right
to condemn a false doctrine wherever he found it, he did not
pretend to condemn the mandement itself, or to exercise a
judicial act against the Bishops. The manifestos of both
parties were to be handed to mutual friends ; if both parties
were satisfied with the text, the apology of the two Bishops
would first be published and on the following day the new
ordinance of the two Bishops, and after that the Archbishop's.^
The two Bishops accepted these proposals * whereas
^ Fenelon's opinion : to Chevreuse, June 9, 171 2, CEuvres,
VII., 344, n. 6.
* Ibid., 704.
* The Dauphin to the two Bishops, September 4, Voisin to the
Bishop of La Rochelle, September 5, 1711, Fenelon, CEuvres,
VIII. , 18 seq., 20 seq.
* Their letter to the Dauphin, September 13, 1711, ibid., 22.
Cf. their Memoire historique to the Pope, ibid., 161.
VOL. XX.XIII. P
210 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Noailles hesitated. After a submissive letter to the King
he was given permission to reappear at court ; he had
promised to take steps against Ouesnel as soon as the two
Bishops should have made the promised apology ^ ; he also
forwarded to them a list of objections to their pastoral
instruction ; thus he seemed willing to agree to a compromise.-
However, shortly before this he had published a new edition
of Bossuet's pamphlet on the Moral Reflexions, and a violent
letter of the Bishop of Agen,^ a thing that he should not
have done if he really thought of making peace. Accordingly
the two Bishops were in no hurry to answer his observations
but demanded a declaration from Noailles that he would
submit to the decisions of the arbitrators. To this the Cardinal
would not consent.* Thus the first attempt at a compromise
failed, moreover the Duke of Burgundy died on February 18th,
1712.^ Without the knowledge of the two Bishops Louis XIV.
made fresh proposals to his Archbishop, which the latter
rejected in such cool fashion that on January 15th, 1712,
Parliament suppressed his answer ^ as offensive for the King.
All this made the situation of the Cardinal difficult enough ;
but he had managed to complicate his position still further
by a number of imprudent acts. To put an end to these
difficulties, the King's confessor, the Jesuit Le Tellier, hit
upon the plan of suggesting to as many Bishops as possible
that they should complain to the King and represent to him
that Noailles had no right publicly to condemn the opinions
and pastorals of his colleagues in the episcopate. Now it so
1 Ibid., Mdm. hist., 156.
» Ibid., 163.
"^ Ibid., 162.
* Ibid., 163.
* To defend himself against the suspicion that he favoured the
Jansenists, the Duke sent an apologia to Rome which the Pope
read with tears, as he afterwards wrote to the King on May 4
[Patouillet], III., 382-389.
' Cf. Mdm. hist., loc. cit. Fenelon's Examen (June, 1712), of
the Reponse of the Cardinal to the King's NUmoire. CEuvres,
VIII., 71-107.
I
NOAILLES ATTITUDE. 211
happened that a letter in this sense addressed by a certain
Abbe Bochard to his uncle, the Bishop of Clermont, fell into
the hands of the Cardinal.^ The latter promptly published
the letter and behaved as if he had detected the worst possible
conspiracy against his own person. ^ He deprived the Jesuits,
with few exceptions, of their faculties for the ministry and
summoned the King ^ to dismiss his confessor inasmuch as
His Majesty's conscience was not safe in the hands of such
people ; Le Tellier, he claimed, had abused his position in
order to mislead the Bishops and to expose the Church to
the danger of schism. He also wrote in the same sense to
Madame de Maintenon.^ A fresh storm against the Jesuits
ensued amid the plaudits of the Jansenists.^ Fenelon had
no other comfort for them than to counsel them to bear
everything with patience and humility, for nothing could
bring them greater honour.^
Conduct of such violence made it ever clearer that nothing
was to be hoped for from Noailles as a peacemaker. On the
other hand he seemed to make Quesnel's cause more and
more his own,'' for he failed to fulfil his promise to take steps
^ Reprint and draft of the letter to the King in [Louail], 32 ;
Fleury, LXVIIL, 348 seqq. Polemical writings on the affair
are catalogued in Bertrand, III., 134 note.
* ScHiLL, 60 seq. ; Le Roy, 355. A letter of Mme. de Maintenon
on the subject was published by Brucker in Etudes, 1899, II.,
128. Cf. on the Abbe also Henri Cherot, Lettre inedite de Bourda-
lone a Frangois Bochard de Savon, eveque de Clermont, September 5,
1 701, Paris, 1899, 29-37.
' Le Roy, 362 seq. ; cf. 368.
* Le Roy, 358.
* Letter of the Bishop of Boulogne, of August 29 and September
16, 171 1, ibid., 366.
* To Chevreuse, December 19, 171 1, CEuvres, VII., 367 ; cf.
VIII., 81.
' Colbert, the Jansenist Bishop of Montpellier, writes to him
on November 25, 171 1 : " C'est moins le livre du P. Quesnel que le
votre " (in Le Roy, 375). Fenelon says : " Tout le monde est
accoutume a croire que le cardinal favorise le parti." Examen,
(Ewwes, VIII. ,98.
212 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
against him and refused to agree to a compromise with
Champflour and Lescure. This conduct of the first Bishop
of the land created an enormous sensation. A rumour arose
that the other Bishops were also divided in their judgment
on Quesnel, and among the simple priests opinions became
more divergent than ever. Feeling in the Provinces was
such, the Archbishop of Aix, Vintimille du Luc, wrote to the
Dauphin, that there was reason to fear that the dispute on
grace would lead to as bloody an issue as a controversy about
the Eucharist had done at the time of the Reformation. ^
In these circumstances an early decision by Rome appeared
as the only possible salvation. Accordingly the King submitted
three questions to his Council. The first, namely, whether
he might request a Bull from Rome without injury to the
Galilean liberties, met with no opposition : in questions of
faith, the Council answered, the Pope could decide in the first
and last instance. The second question concerned the form
of the Bull. The Council recommended as a model the
decision on the " Case of Conscience " which had not offended
Parliament ; the Pope should indicate the propositions which
he condemned, so that the French Bishops might judge them
together with him and by their agreement render the papal
sentence definitive and intangible. To the third question,
how they might prevent the Pope, under some pretext or
other, from refusing to give a decision, the Council's answer
was that he should be assured that the Bull would be well
received, provided he submitted the draft to the King and
forwarded the completed Bull to him for execution.- On
November 11th, 1711, by a decree of the Royal Council,
Louis XIV. revoked the permission to print the Moral
Reflexions, and five days later he instructed his ambassador
in Rome, Cardinal de la Tremoille, to ask for a fresh condemna-
tion of the book by the Pope.-'' Champflour and Lescure
* Thuillier, 123 5e^.
2 Ibid., 124 seq.
* Le Roy, 369, 383.
ANOTHER BULL. 213
received permission to submit their business to Rome.^
It was in vain that the Archbishop was advised to forestall
the Roman decision by himself condemning Ouesnel.- The
King's letter of November 11th, 1711; laid particular stress
on the fact that no difficulties were to be feared on the part
of Noailles since he had given his word to submit immediately
to a papal decision.^ The King's letter found the Pope in his
country residence. De Boussu, the future Archbishop of
Malines, who happened to be with the Pope at the moment,
strongty dissuaded him from publishing a Constitution which
might have terrible consequences ; notwithstanding his
assurances of submission, it was impossible to trust the
Archbishop of Paris, hence a simple prohibition of Quesnel's
book would be sufficient. Thereupon Clement XL became
absorbed in deep thought. Sitting at his table, he covered
his face with both hands and remained in that attitude for
three-quarters of an hour. At the end of that time he said
to De Boussu that he could not refuse the request of a King
who prayed so earnestly for a Bull, and who had rendered
such service to the Church.^ A fateful decision had been
taken.
1 Fenelon, CEiivres, VIII. , 59. On the memorial to the Pope
of June 30, 1712, ibid., 108. Minutes of a Brief to both, of July 4,
171 1, revised by the Pope himself, in *Miscell. di Clemente XI.,
129, Papal Sec. Archives.
* Le Roy, 377. For the rest Noailles confessed that he had never
read Quesnel's book in its entirety. Ibid., 376,
•'' ScHiLL, 62 seq. ; Le Roy, 380, n. 2. In his letter to the Bishop
of Agen which was published by Noailles, we read : " Je n'ai
pas balance a dire a tous ceux qui ont voulu I'entendre, qu'on
ne me verroit jamais, ni mettre ni souffrir de division dans I'liglise,
pour un livre dont la religion peut se passer : que si N. S. P. le
Pape jugeoit a propos de censurer celui-ci dans les formes, je
recevrois sa Constitution et sa censure avec tout le respect
possible ; et que je serois le premier a donner I'exemple d'une
parfaite soumission d'esprit et de coeur." [Louai], 37.
* According to De Boussu's report, in Thuillier, 125
seq.
214 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
(5.)
When he made his request for a new Constitution, Louis
XIV. 's ambassador had first to offer excuses for the non-
execution of an earlier decision against Ouesnel, on the ground
that it was impossible to get a papal decision accepted in
France which styled itself Moto propria. He requested the
Pope that, in accordance with his promise to Cardinal Forbin
Janson, he would bring out the new Constitution in conjunction
with the King who would then undertake to get it accepted
by the French Bishops. The formula of acceptation was to
be settled by Pope and King together.^
In spite of these assurances Clement XI. was not without
misgivings lest the Constitution should lead to a repetition
of the experiences which he had had with his former Bull,
notwithstanding all the King's promises. As Cardinal Fabroni
observed, an appreciation of particular propositions of
Quesnel, according to their theological value, would lead to
fresh complications. 2 However, the Pope acceded to the
King's wishes and negotiations were opened. " The affair
is in the hands of the Jesuits, that says everything," Ouesnel
wrote at that time.^ Yet in reality in the Congregation which
the Pope set up for the examination of the Moral Reflexions,
the Jesuits held a very modest position. It consisted of two
Cardinals, viz. the Dominicans Ferrari and Fabroni, two
officials of the Inquisition, Banchieri and the Franciscan
Father Damascene, and nine theologians. Of these Le Drou
belonged to the school of St. Augustine, the Master of the
Palace, Bernardini, and the Secretary of the Congregation
of the Index, Selleri, to the Dominican school ; the Franciscans,
Palermo and Santelia were Scotists ; to them were added
the Benedictine Tedeschi, Bishop of Lipari, the Lazarist
Castelh and the Barnabite Terroni. Only one Jesuit, Alfaro,
the Pope's theologian, was included among the nine divines
^ Le Roy, 383 seqq.
" Ibid., 380 seq.
* November 15, 171 1, ibid., 386.
ROMAN DISCUSSIONS. 215
who had obviously been selected from the most varied Orders
and Schools, to the exclusion, as much as possible, of the
Jesuits.^ Moreover Alfaro, as an opponent of probabilism,
could be regarded as to some extent acceptable to the
Jansenists.
Probably with a view to avoiding the complications
experienced in connection with the five propositions of
Jansenius, the intention was to embody the condemned
propositions textually in the Bull. But this was found
difficult. Ouesnel, according to de la Tremoille's ^ report,
had written so artfully and cautiously that it was difficult
to extract individual propositions from his book ; whole
pages would have to be printed because only the whole
context would show the dangerous meaning of his assertions.
Now it would be impossible to include so much matter in
a Constitution. Another difficulty arose out of the fact that
the Consultors frequently disagreed as to whether a proposition
could be tolerated or not. Accordingly the Pope decided that
only such propositions should be included in the Bull, in the
condemnation of which all concurred ; it might be expressly
stated that the fact that a proposition was not mentioned
did not imply its approval.^ In these circumstances the work
progressed very slowly * ; at times it almost came to a stand-
still, so much so that Noailles' representatives in Rome
^ Daubenton, September i6, 1713, in Fenelon, CEnvres,
VIII., 183 ; Le Roy, 402.
" January 2, 1712, in Le Roy, 403 seq.
3 Tremoille, July 2, 1712, ibid., 424.
* Ibid. On May 14, 1712, the Secretary of State wrote to the
Auditor of the French Nunciature : " *Ma che trattandosi di
materia dogmatica et essendo gia state estratte dal libro consaputo
le proposizioni che devono qualificarsi, la S. Sede non suole ne
deve procedere senza una somma maturita ed essatta discussione
delle istesse proposizioni, prima di proferirne e publicarne a tutta
la Chiesa I'ultimo suo giudizio. Ha nondimeno Sua S'^, sul fonda-
mento della notizia da lei recata, dati nuovi ordini piu pressanti,
perche si solleciti al possibile la spedizione dell' affare." Nunziat.
di Francia, 388, f. 132, Papal Sec. Archives.
2l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
advised their Archbishop on no account to withdraw his
recommendation of Quesnel as the Constitution would not
be pubHshed.^ Meanwhile Louis XIV. continued his pressure ^
while Fenelon urged that the Constitution should be so
worded as to leave the Jansenists no loophole ^ ; since Rome
had taken the matter in hand a decision must ensue else the
party would triumph.* On the other hand the Jansenists
sought to intimidate the Pope ; " innumerable " letters to
Rome pointed to the danger to which he exposed his authority
and described the bad disposition both of the French Bishops
and of Parhament.^ Quesnel wrote to Clement XI. demanding
unexceptionable judges and a hearing before judgment was
delivered.^ However, neither the person nor the intentions
of Quesnel were in question, but his book which had to be
rendered harmless.'
^ Lafitau, Hist, de la Const. Unigenitus, I., Avignon, 1766,
142.
2 *Jq Tremoille, July 5, 1713, Miscell. di Clemenie XL, 133, p.
32 (c/. p. 38), Papal Sec. Archives ; Le Roy, 442.
3 To Daubenton, April 13, June 8, and August 4, 1713, CEuvres,
VIII., 138, 166, 177.
* Ibid., 142 ; Le Roy, 435.
^ Daubenton, April 22, 1713, in Fenelon, CEuvres, VIII.,
145. " Ce parti espere toujours d'intimider Rome ; il dit haute-
ment que Rome n'a qu'une politique faible, qu'on la decourage
facilement, et qu'elle n'est rigoureuse qu'aux gens soumis et sans
credit." (Fenelon to Daubenton, June 8, 1713, ibid.. 167.) The
Dominican Dionisio degli Albizzi, who, however, attacked
the Bull at a later date ([Louail], 383, 392, 730), also wrote to
one of the Cardinals on March 6, 1713 : " *Io temo assaissimo che
invece di confermar I'autorita del Papa in Francia non venga
ad indebolirla. II parlamento non accettera la Bolla. Tanti
Brevi e tante Bolle fanno qui piu torto che onore a' sommi
pontefici, che si comincia udire palam che condannano senza
riguardo piu tosto per politica che per zelo." Miscell. di Clemente
XL, 133, p. 23, Papal Secret Archives.
* Text in Du Bois, 2 seqq.
' Benedict XIV. subsequently made the following remark on
the conduct of Clement XI. : "A vrai dire, bion que nous ayons
ROMAN DISCUSSIONS. 217
The French ambassador in Rome was mistaken when he
held out a prospect of the Bull for October or November,
1112} However, by the end of January, 1713, at least the
work of the Consultors was concluded. Clement XL heard
their report after which the work of the Cardinals began.
They examined the work of the Consultors and each week
they gave their judgment on ten propositions.^ By the
middle of April, eighty-eight errors of Quesnel had been
condemned, by the end of May publication of the Bull might
be expected.^ Every Tuesday and Thursday there was
a session. Clement XL took an active interest in the work ;
Daubenton saw notes on eighty-four of the propositions in
the Pope's own hand which would fill a large volume. Cardinals
la plus grande estime pour ce grand pontife, nous avouons que
sur ce point sa conduite ne nous a pas satisfait." Before judge-
ment was passed on Jansenism under Innocent X. and on
Fenelon under Innocent XII., their advocates had been heard.
" C'est une chose penible que de condamner meme une livre,
sans que I'auteur puisse la defendre, le livre fut-il denonce par
un prelat tres estimable, car cette condamnation marque en
quelque sorte au visage et I'auteur et ceux qui I'approuvent ;
enfin la justice que Ton rend est d'autant plus applaudie que les
deux parties ont ete entendues auparavant." E. de Heeckeren,
Correspondance de Benoit XIV., Vol. I., Paris, 1912, 281.
1 LeRoy, 425.
2 Daubenton, January, 171 3, in Fenelon, Q^uvres, VIII., 128.
The twenty-three sessions of the Congregation from February 9
to August 8, 1713, " pro examine 155 propositionum," taken
from Quesnel's book in *Scritture diverse sopra la costituzione
Unigenitus, ]\Iiscell. di Clemente XI., Fondo Albani, t. 130, p.
8-19, Papal Sec. Archives. *Scritture spettanti alia costituzione
Unigenitus, ibid., t. 136 (September, 1713, to May, 1714), t. 137
(May to December, 1714), t. 138 (January to December, 1715),
t. 139 (July. 1715, to 1716), t. 140 (1717) ; t. 134, p. 84 seq. :
*Metodo tenuto nel formare la costituzione Unigenitus con le
minute, fogli e altre scritture " ; t. 145 : " *Copia della bolla
secondo le ultime mutazioni, alio quali si devono aggiungere le
qualificazioni e censure sopradette."
^ Lallemant, April 12 1713, in Fenelon, CEuvres, VIII., 138.
2l8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
and qualificators were amazed at the keenness and acumen
of Clement XL, who was not to be side-tracked by the
opposition's attempts at intimidation. '^ Trusting in the King
he even ended by ignoring the warnings of his friends who
reminded him of the bad reception of his earher Bulls. ^
To this day the numerous autograph notes and comments
in the Vatican Secret Archives bear witness to Clement XL's
personal share in the Constitution.^
^ Daubenton, April 22, 1713, ibid., 145 ; Tremoille, March 25,
1713, in Le Roy, 437.
* Daubenton, December 9, 1713, loc. cit., 200.
3 *Miscell. di Cleinente XL, t. 130 seqq., loc. cit. *Autograph
documents are in t. 131 ; t. 134, p. 70 : " Due quinternetti scritti
di pugno di S. S*^ continenti le censure e qualificazioni expresse
doppo compiti tutti gli esamini " ; ibid., p. in seq. : " Prime
abozzo o minuta della bolla Unigenitus, nella quale si damneranno
le proposizioni con distributione di sententie et classi, qual ordine
non fu poi ritenuto, scritto da S. St^ " (all in the Pope's hand.
Minutes with corrections) ; ibid., p. 120 : " Minuta della stessa
bolla disposta con altro ordine conforme fu stampata, riveduta,
mutata, aggiunta e postillata da S. St^." We give here the
autograph corrections of the Pope according to the copy of the
Bull in ScHiLL, 301 seqq. Originally the words on p 302, line i,
were " His Nos vere " : His sane ; p. 302, line 9 : " Catholicis. . .
permiscentem " : adulterium scripturarum et expositionum
mendacia multifariam proferentem; line 11: " habentem " :
commendari ; line 9 from bottom " fallacem " : perniciosam ;
line 8 from bottom " indicatam " : reproductam ; the words,
line 2 from bottom, " ut omnes . . . compellantur " replace an
originally longer passage ; p. 303, line 13 : " Hinc " originally :
" igitur " ; line 24 : Huiusmodi propositiones ", ofiginally
" Illae autem inter alias " ; pp. 314-15 : " Auditis igitur . . .
innovantes respective " is by the Pope. Other additions by him
are : p. 315, line 35 : " utpote . . . hoc est " ; line 38 seqq. :
" sive praemissis . . . tenore praesentium " ; corrections by
him : line 21 " praesertim," originally " revera " ; line 22 seqq.,
" illis, quae . . . quas propterea " ; line 28 seq., " ac demum,"
" compcrcrimus . . . Montensi " ; line 37, " innocentium cordi-
bus " instead of " christiano populo ". The date on p. 316 is by
the Pope.
THE BULL UNIGENITUS. 219
At last " after so many contradictions and delays "/ on
September 8th, the celebrated Bull Unigenitus appeared.
In a letter from Rome ^ it was stated " that the greatest care
had been taken not to insert anything which might in any
way offend the French clergy and Parliament. Never, perhaps,
had a book been examined so long and so carefully ". During
three years the ablest theologians of Rome chosen from the
most famous schools had been employed in its examination.
The propositions to be condemned were first discussed by the
theologians in seventeen sessions, lasting from four to five
hours each, in presence of Cardinals Ferrari and Fabroni
and after that in presence of the Pope and nine Cardinals
of the Inquisition, in twenty-three sessions in which all the
Consultors of the Holy Office, namely the Assessor and
Commissary, a Dominican, the General of the Dominicans
and several Bishops had taken part. The commission had
begun by examining whether the propositions had been
faithfully translated from the French,^ after which their
meaning and bearing was carefully studied. Every one of
the propositions had cost the Pope three or four hours' study.*
^ Daubenton, September g, 1713, loc. cit., 182.
* Daubenton, September 16, 1713, ibid., 183. At this time,
on September 27, 1713, Passionei had an audience with Louis XIV.
at Fontainebleau at which the King assured him of his " sommis-
sione e ubidienza al Papa " and of his zeal for rehgion. Nunziat.,
Paci 50, p. 423, Papal Sec. Archives.
3 In his letter to the Pope Quesnel questioned the accuracy
of the Latin translations of his book (in Du Bois, 7), and the
Jansenists spread the rumour that among the consultors, there
were only a few who understood French ([Louail], 55 ; Le Roy,
403). The translation of the loi propositions, however, is very
faithful ; cf. Schill, 303 seqq.
* Yet Harnack says : " The Constitution shows above all the
lightheartedness with which men treated dogmatic theology
which had become a ' corpus vile ' " (Dogmengeschichte, III.,
Freiburg, 1897, 671). According to him in the Bull " Romanism
parted for ever with its Augustinian past " {ibid., 666). On
Augustine in modem Catholic theology, see Portalie in Diction-
naire de thiol, cath., I., 2549 seqq.
220 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Fenelon was full of joy and admiration at the Constitution
which, he said, redounded to the particular honour of the
Pope and the Holy See.^ The head of the sect and the sect
itself, he wrote, were admirably characterized, with all their
rashness, their craftiness, their subterfuges and the persuasive-
ness with which they misled the faithful and evaded even the
most radical measures. The peculiarities of Ouesnel's book
were excellently shown up ; it was easy to discover the line
of thought and the secret plan of the whole, and the poison
spread even over those propositions which were least shocking,
and the cunning with which preventions against the Church's
teaching and discipline were instilled into the mind of the
reader. Fenelon also admired the choice and order of the
list of condemned propositions. The fact that similar
propositions were placed side by side caused the one to throw
light on the other. So powerful, moderate and accurate
a Constitution would remain as the most precious monument
of contemporary Catholic teaching ; there was even a visible
Providence at work in that at a time when the prestige of
the Holy See was attacked and obscured, it asserted itself
with such energy in the sphere of dogmatic definitions.
The Constitution Unigenitns ^ begins with Christ's warning
against false prophets who come in the clothing of sheep.
This referred especially to those false teachers who under
the glittering appearance of piety and holiness secretly
introduce errors and injurious sects and who, in order to
deceive more easily the unwary, make use of texts of holy
Scripture which they twist from their natural meaning.
The Pope had heard with sorrow that Quesnel's New Testament,
a book that hucksters Catholic truth with many lies, was
being widely spread in spite of a papal prohibition. The
harm done by this pubHcation was chiefly due to the fact
that the evil did not appear on the surface ; at first sight
it deceived the reader by a semblance of piety. Accordingly
the Pope could do nothing better than to explain in detail
and most clearly a deceitful teaching which up till then he
^ To Daubenton, October 12, 1713, CEuvres, VIII., 192.
2 Bull, XXI., 567-575-
THE BULL UNIGENITUS. 221
had only condemned in general terms, by extracting a number
of propositions and so revealing before the eyes of all the
cockle apart from the wheat that covered it. This had been
the wish of many French Bishops and of the King himself.
There follows a list of a hundred and one propositions which
are then condemned and censured. The procedure differs
from that adopted in dealing with the five propositions of
Jansenius ; it is not stated which of the twenty censures
enumerated apply to any particular proposition, the manner
of the condemnation merely shows that each of the
propositions falls at least under one of the censures enumerated
and that every one of the censures apphes to at least one of
the hundred and one propositions. The book itself is prohibited
under pain of excommunication.
When Clement XI. accounts for the wide diffusion of
Quesnel's book by the gHttering ambiguity of his teaching,
he thereby also hints at the difficulty both of the composition
and the understanding of the Constitution. " Among the
censured propositions," Daubenton wrote to Fenelon from
Rome,^ " there are some which frighten one, others which,
at first sight, make little impression and seem to deserve
no censure ; but when one makes an effort to penetrate more
deeply into their meaning, one discovers the poison." Quesnel
did not clearly say what he really meant but wrapped himself
in pious ambiguities. 2 But it was this very ambiguity of
certain propositions which led the Pope to put them in relief
and thus to draw attention to the fact that not everything
that sounds harmless in Quesnel is harmless in reality. The
ambiguity is removed by the fact that in the Bull similar
propositions are set side by side in groups, so that one
proposition throws light upon another.
1 Daubenton, September i6, 1713, in Fenelon, CEuvres, VIII.,
183. De Bissy, the future Cardinal, also wrote on October, 171 3,
to the Bishop of Montpellier : " Je vous dirai dans la derniere
sincerite qu'il est vrai qu'au premier abord il y a eu quelques
propositions de la bulle qui nous firent de la peine." In Le Roy,
498 seq.
2 Some examples above, p. 198 seq.
222 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The theologians had at first had 155 propositions submitted
to them, fifty-four of which they put on one side.^ Of the
remaining 101 propositions the most important are those
which touch the real core of Ouesnel's thought, namely his
view that grace is always efficacious, that is, that grace
bestows on the will not only the capacity of willing
supernatural good, but the very willing of it, so that faith,
hope, charity and the practice of the various virtues follow
infallibly upon the gift of grace ; in other words there is no
other grace but efficacious grace, which cannot be resisted.
This, his fundamental thought, Quesnel repeats on all occasions
in the most diverse forms. ^ As examples of the effect of grace
he chooses only processes in which the free will of man plays
no role, e.g. creation or the resurrection of the dead,^
the union of the Eternal Word with the human nature of
Christ in the Incarnation,* the stilling of the storm by a word
from Christ.^ Frequently he endeavours to substantiate these
ideas with the assertion that grace is nothing else than the
all-powerful will of God which nothing can resist.^ From the
omnipotence of grace it needs follows that all those whom
God wishes to preserve from eternal perdition will be saved.'
All this sounds very beautiful in the ears of a superficial
reader, inasmuch as it appears to be a homage to God's
omnipotence : in reality it is blasphemous. If all those are
saved, whom God wills to save, it follows necessarily that all
those who perish, perish because He did not will to save them
^ Noted in [Louail], 62-76. The fact that the number of
condemned propositions exceeds five score by one was the subject
of a joke with the Jansenists ; they said that Le Tellier wanted
it so because he had affirmed in the presence of the King that there
were " more than 100 errors " in Ouesnel. Saint-Simon, in
Leclerq, I., 158.
* Bull Unigenitus, prop. 2-25.
3 Ibid., No. 23.
* Nos. 21, 22.
" No. 20.
« Nos. 10, II, 16, 19, 23, 24, 37, etc.
^ No. 13 ; also 13 and 30-3.
THE BULL UNIGENITUS. ■ 223
and that He had created them from the first for hell and had
denied His grace to them. This conclusion follows also from
other condemned propositions. According to Ouesnel Christ
only died for the elect, the others are and remain unredeemed. ^
Pagans and impenitent sinners have no part in grace since
for the pagan, the first grace is faith and for the sinner,
complete forgiveness of sin ; outside the Church there is no
grace.- As to what was meant by never having received grace
or having lost it by grievous sin, Quesnel leaves it in no doubt :
the loss of grace entails a complete incapacity for meritorious
work, prayer and any good deed ; without it man does
nothing and can do nothing ; this condition of complete
incapacity for all good was even that of the chosen people
in the Old Law, on whom God laid His law whilst leaving
them in their helplessness.^ In this condition of abandonment
the sinner only retains his freedom of will for evil, he has
only " light " to go astray, zeal to throw himself into the
abyss, strength to hurt himself ; he is capable of every evil,
incapable of any good ; even the natural knowledge of God
issues in sin and prayer becomes yet another sin.*
These doctrines are connected with Ouesnel's views on the
virtue of charity or the love of God.^ According to him
supernatural charity, which enables us to love God for His
own sake, is the only virtue. Every other love is evil,^ without
this love of God there is neither faith nor hope,' no fulfilment
of the law,^ no fruitful prayer,^ no merit and no reward in
heaven,^'' no Christianity and no religion. ^^ Now the pagan
^ No. 32.
^ Nos. 26-9.
» Nos. 1-8.
« Nos. 38-42, 48, 59.
' Nos. 44-58.
* Nos. 44-6, 48, 49.
' Nos. 51 seq., 57.
* No. 47.
» Nos. 50, 54.
" Nos. 53, 55 se^.
» Nos. 53, 58.
224 • HISTORY OF THE POPES.
or the sinner has not this love of God, hence Ouesnel concludes
that whatever he does is a sin. The fact is that Quesnel only
knows two kinds of love in man, from which all his desires
and actions proceed : the love of God, which does everything
for the sake of God, and love of self and the world — there
is no middle course ; when disinterested love of God does
not sway the heart of the sinner, he is ruled by carnal
concupiscence which corrupts all his actions.^ Ouesnel's
writings make it clear that these propositions ^ are based ^
on Jansenius' notion of a twofold delectation, one of which
originates from heaven, from the impulse of grace, the other
from the earth, from concupiscence. These two delectations
are mutually exclusive and man follows infallibly the stronger
of the two. According to Fenelon this doctrine is the real
root of Quesnel's system.
Besides the teaching of Baius and Jansenius on grace
Quesnel also defends Richer's views on the Church, in so far
as he only concedes to ecclesiastical superiors the power to
excommunicate with the consent of the whole Church * ;
for the rest, according to him, the Church consists exclusively
of the just and the elect. ^ He also regards the reading of
1 Nos. 44-6.
« Nos. 72-8.
' Because this opinion is not emphasized in the loi propositions,
its place being taken by the eulogy of the omnipotence of God,
some have thought that Quesnel abandoned this doctrine of his
Jansenist predecessors. But Montague, a good judge, says {De
gratia diss., 12, art. 3 [Migne, Cursus theol., X., 638]) : " En
famosum duarum delectationum indcUberatarum principium,
quod ex Jansenio depromptum centies in suis memorialibus et
apologeticis scriptis obtrudit Quesnellus." Fenelon : " Quelle
est done la doctrine du P. Quesnel ? C'est le systeme des deux
delectations . . . C'est pour soutenir ce systeme que le P. Quesnel
. . . s'est refugie en Hollande. Voila precisement la doctrine
condamnee par I'figlise dans les propositions du livre du P. Ques-
nel " [Memoire sur I'affaire des huit prdlats : CEuvres, VIII., 262.
Cf. PoRTALiE in Diet, de theol. cath., I., 2548. On the twofold
delectation, cf. the present work, XXIX., 98.
* No. 90. 5 Nos. 72-8.
THE BULL UNIGENITUS. 22$
Holy Scripture as necessary even for the uneducated/ upholds
Arnauld's strictest principles with regard to the administration
of the sacrament of Penance ^ and speaks of excommunication
in terms which clearly show that he scorned, as unjust,
the excommunication which had been pronounced against
himself.^
If Ouesnel had expounded his ideas as connectedly as they
are indicated in the Bull, there can be no doubt that the
reiading of his book would have proved repellent. His success
is explained by the fact that, as the Bull puts it, " he instils
his poison into the reader drop by drop and hides what is
objectionable under a mass of pious phrases." Fenelon, too,
1 Nos. 79-85.
2 Nos. 87, 88.
* Nos. 91-3. On proposition 91 (" the fear of an unjust
excommunication must not keep us back from doing our
duty "), MoHLER remarks : " All that can be said is that it is a
proposition to which even the most cautious person can have no
objection, except it be that it should not be brought under dis-
cussion " {Kirchengeschichte, ed. by Gams, IIL, 268). However,
Mohler overlooks the fact that in propositions 91-3, Quesnel
does not speak of the ban of the Church merely theoretically,
but endeavours to justify the conduct of the Jansenists who did
not care if they came under the ban of the Church. " Just "
and " duty " on the lips of Quesnel do not mean what is really
" just " and " a duty ", but what Quesnel understands by those
words in opposition to the authority of the Church. Already
in 1675, Hamon, the physician of Port-Royal, wcote a pamphlet
for the Nuns of Port-Royal, in which he says expressly that it did
not matter at all if they were debarred from Confession and Com-
munion (Traites de piete composes pour I'instruction et la consolation
des religieuses de Port-Royal, d I'occasion des epreiives auxquelles
elles oniete exposees, Paris, 1675, Amsterdam, 1727). Cf. [Patouil-
let], IV., 157 seqq. When Noailles, the Cardinal Archbishop of
Paris, threatened a lady with the ban of the Church, she answered
him with proposition 91 of the Bull (Rocquain, 52, note). Cf.
below, 322, n. 5. Excommunication would be useless if propositions
90-3 remained uncensured, everyone would say that the excom-
munication pronounced on him was unjust. Cf. Dom. Viva,
Opera omnia, VIII. , Ferrara, 1757, 244. On Mohler's and
VOL. xxxiii. Q
226 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
observes ^ that a great number of libertines, who scorned
all religion, nevertheless passionately upheld Jansenism. This
was natural enough ; if a man always necessarily yields to
the greater delectation, one might lead a most frivolous life
whilst persuading oneself that one followed " the principles
of St. Augustine ". " The denial of freedom of the will,"
says F6nelon, " is fashionable to-day and people are dehghted
that a party enjoying such prestige should approve it. All
these atheists favour Jansenism out of hatred for religion."
How profound was Quesnel's influence was soon to be seen.
(6.)
Louis XIV. had expressed a wish to see the draft of the
Bull.2 As a matter of fact it was clandestinely forwarded
to Le Tellier ^ who, of course, showed it to the King. Clement
XI. would not allow it to be dispatched through the French
ambassador and when the latter complained he denied ever
having made any promise on the subject.^ He nevertheless
showed the draft of the introduction and the conclusion of
the Bull to the ambassador who had submitted a hst of all
such formulas of Bulls as were unable to give offence in
France. 5 For all that the Pope was not without anxiety
about the reception of the Constitution. It was not a good
omen that at this very time the Jansenist Bishop Clermont-
Tonnerre of Langres published an open letter in which he
represented ta the King that it would be better to settle
these controversies in France and that it was an insult to the
French clergy to defer them to Rome.« The same ideas were
broadcast in pamphlets pubHshed by the party.'
DoUinger's opinion about the Bull, see J oh. Friedrich, J. v.
Dollinger, I., Munich, 1899, 269 seqq.
1 To Le Tellier, July 22, 1712, CEuvres, VIII., iii.
* Le Roy, 438se^., 453.
3 Ibid., 460.
« Ibid., 455.
6 /feitZ., 453, 456.
6 Ibid., 440 ' [LouAiL], 45.
FENELON AND THE BULL. 227
The Constitution arrived at Fontainebleau on September
25th and was received by the King with great satisfaction.
It soon became known everywhere.^ Noailles obtained a delay
of forty-eight hours before its promulgation to enable him
to withdraw in the meantime his commendation of Quesnel's
book. His withdrawal is couched in general terms and
mentions no particular error in it.^
What opposition, in spite of the careful wording of the
Bull, the Roman authorities feared from the French Jesuits
and from Noailles, in spite of his recantation, appears from
Fenelon's suggestion as to the means of getting it accepted
in France.^ " I think," he writes, " that we cannot surround
the reception of the Bull with too much circumstance." The
utmost solemnity was required in order to impress the people,
to restrain the Jansenist theologians and to compel the
Bishops to be true to their pledged word. With a view to
securing as uniform an acceptance as possible, the Bull
should not be immediately forwarded to individual Bishops
who would then each publish his own particular ordinance,
on the contrary, it would be better to summon the thirty
odd Bishops who happened to be in Paris just then to a
special meeting to which should also be invited a dozen
Bishops of the neighbourhood, as for instance the Archbishops
of Sens, Bourges, Rouen, Rheims and Cardinals d'Estrees,
Rohan and Polignac. The presidency would fall to Cardinal
d'Estrees whom a decisive word of the King would not fail
to induce to submit to a dogmatic decision by the Pope.
This extraordinary assembly of Bishops should decree the
publication of a joint pastoral letter which the King might
get secretly drawn up by rehable prelates and theologians.
^ The Pope's letter to the King, September lo, 17 13, in Du
Bois, 33 ; Fleury, LXVIIL, 501. *Draft of the letter with
corrections in the Pope's own hand in Miscell. di Clemente XI.,
134, p. 190, Papal Sec. Archives.
2 Le Roy, 463, 486 ; Lallemant to Fenelon, October 3, 1713,
CEuvres, VIII., 190.
' Memoire, CEuvres, VIII., 186-190. Cf. letter to his nephew,
September ii, 1713, ibid., VII., 471.
I
228 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
But Cardinal Noailles must have nothing to do with it, as he
would not keep the secret ; he was only to be informed when
the mandement was completed, though the text must not be
communicated to him : Noailles must accept it unconditionally
and not publish a mandement of his own at some future date.
There must be no mention of motives, explanations or
restrictions in the document which should be short and
straightforward. 1 The King would then forward it to the
provincial assemblies for their acceptance. Unreliable Bishops
might be warned, on the quiet, of canonical action against
them should they refuse to accept the Bull, as had been
done by the assembly of Paris which, as a matter of fact,
should serve as a model for the provincial synods.^
Immediately after the Paris assembly, Fenelon suggested,
the King should issue letters patent to announce his acceptance
of the Bull.^ If some officials with little zeal against Jansenism
saw in it an infringement of Galilean liberties, the King
might privately discuss the matter with some prudent
Bishops. By comparing the Bull with former ones, which
had been received without objection, it would be seen that
the new Constitution contained nothing alarming. For the
rest, by objecting to the form, the intention was to hit
the substance itself, and to put obstacles, in France, to the
dogmatic pronouncements of the Holy See. Would the Pope
ever be able to issue a dogmatic decision, even on the most
burning questions, if they allowed a Bull to be rejected which
was so necessary and for which the King had prayed in so
sensational a fashion ? ^
Fenelon's proposals were acted upon. On October 4th
it was decided to convene the Bishops who were then in the
King's entourage and in Paris ; on the IGth the assembly
opened in presence of twenty-nine Bishops who were
subsequently joined by another twenty-three. The more
^ Memoire, loc. cit. Nos. 2-12.
2 7fezi.,Nos. 18-22,26-8.
=* Nos. 29, 30.
* Nos. 13-15.
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ACCEPTANCE. 229
notable ones among them were Cardinal Rohan, the
Archbishops of Bourges, Rheims, Aix, Auch, Toulouse, the
learned Bishop of Avranches, Daniel Huet, and Bissy of
Meaux.^ In the absence of D'Estrees, Noailles took the
chair ; he opened the discussions with a speech in which
he sought to justify the attitude towards Quesnel hitherto
adopted by him.^ After a royal exhortation to receive the
Bull had been read, he proposed that they should thank
the King, appoint a commission to study the question and
have the Constitution printed for distribution to the members
of the assembly.^ Cardinal Rohan, the Archbishops of
Bordeaux and Auch, the Bishops of Soissons, Meaux and
Blois were chosen as members of the commission. In
accordance with a decision of October 19th the synodal oath
and the Mass of the Holy Ghost followed on the 21st. The
sittings of the commission then began and with them the
strife of opinions.* The papal group among the Bishops, the
so-called " Sulpicians ",^ were for a straightforward acceptance
of the Bull, without explanations and restrictions. They were
faced by Noailles and his followers. The Archbishop had
indeed prohibited Quesnel's book but continued to maintain
that the condemned propositions were patient of an orthodox
interpretation ; accordingly he was of opinion, no doubt in
view of his previous commendation, that the Bull should
only be received after a preliminary declaration defining
1 ScHiLL, 77 ; Le Roy, 479, 484. The letter of convocation,
October 6, 1713, in Du Bois, 37. Fenelon's plan was attacked
by Pontchatrain, the Chancellor, and bj^ D'Aguesseau, the
Procurator-General (Le Roy, 479). List of the participants in
DuBois, 35,43.
* ScHiLL, 79 seqq. ; Le Roy, 484. The speech is not in the
proc&s-verbal.
' Du Bois, 39. The King's letter, October 15, ibid., 38.
■» ScHiLL, 79 seqq. ; Fleury, LXVIIL, 511 seqq., 580 seqq. ;
[Louail], 84 seqq., 130 seqq. ; Rohan to Noailles, December 12,
IJ13, tbid., 133.
^ Lallemant, January 16, 1714, in Fenelon, CEitvres, VIII.,
208 ; [Louail], 130, 140.
230 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
more fully the sense of the condemned propositions. Such
a declaration was also desired b}^ the Archbishop of Bordeaux
as a precaution against Jansenist distortions. The question
whether and how such a declaration was to be made and
how it was to be formulated, led to discussions which lasted
for months.
The assembly felt that uniformity of action by the Bishops
was the most pressing need ^ and they were prepared to pay
for it with concessions to Noailles. Rohan's proposal to accept
the Bull without further additions was accordingly declined,
but neither did Noailles have his will ; the first of his
suggestions was defeated by the Bishop of Evreux who
appealed to the King. Noailles then demanded that the
ordinance on the publication of the Bull should be prefaced
by an account of the discussions of the commission, or at
least by a summary of them, pointing out the Catholic and
the heretical sense of the condemned propositions. However,
the consequences of such distinctions had been too painfully
felt during the Jansenist controversies for the commission to
agree to anything of the kind. In the end a via media was
agreed upon, namely the publication of the Bull together
with a joint pastoral letter.
However, the agreement was only apparent, for Noailles
and his followers had decided that the Bishops' letter must
not tax Quesnel's book with heresy and that only on that
condition could the Bull be received ; in other words, the
101 propositions had been very properly condemned but
Quesnel had made no heretical statement ; thus the old
Jansenist distinction between right and fact was once more
to be pressed into service."^
The King put an end to all uncertainty when, on January
8th, after reception of a papal exhortation, he ordered the
assembly to resume its meetings and to receive the Bull
1 Lallemant, loc. cit. ; Fenelon, Januar^^ 20, 1714, CEuvres,
VIII., 210 seq.
^ II faut eviter la question de fait plus dangercusc dans cette
occasion que dans cellc du livrc Jansenius." Noailles to Rohan,
January 14, 1714, in [Louail], 137.
A CRISIS. 231
without addition, though at the request of the Archbishop of
Rouen he granted a delay of eight days.^ In six sessions,
from January 15th to 22nd, 1714,2 Rohan communicated to
the assembled Bishops the result of the deliberations of the
commission and its examination and condemnation of
Quesnel's theses. He proposed that the assembly should
declare its joy at finding in the Constitution the teaching
of the Church ; that it should receive the Constitution,
condemn Quesnel's book, issue a joint pastoral letter exhorting
all Bishops to condemn the Moral Reflexions on the basis
of the pastoral, to register the Bull and, lastly, to send a
letter of thanks to Pope and King.
The moment had come when the fate of Catholic France
was about to be decided for decades to come. If the proposals
were carried out, and if on this basis all continued to work
with great zeal and prudence, there was every hope that
religious peace would be re-established. But in this fateful
hour France was led by a man like Noailles. That vain man was
angry with the assembly ; "I am only president in name,"
he wrote, ^ " nearly everything is done without me and much
is done against me." But he was not without followers :
the party of the Archbishop, the Capuchin Timothy of La
Fleche wrote not without exaggeration, was strong enough
to bring about a schism, for Noailles could count on the
Oratorians, the Benedictines, many Cistercians, all Canons
Regular, the Dominicans, a large number of bad Monks and
members of other Orders, and on the whole of the secular
clergy.* Bishop Soanen of Senez openly described the
condemned Ouesnel as an " innocent man whom the Jesuits
wished to stone because he had revealed too much of the
truth ", and in the Assembly of the Clergy he defended the
orthodoxy of the Moral Reflexions.^ Outside the assembly
1 Fleury, LXVIII., 5845^(7. ; [Louail], 135 se^.
2 DuBois, 43-8.
2 To Voisin, January 15, 1714, in Le Roy, 539 ; [LouailI
143-
* In Le Roy, 302
*. Ibid., 470, 504.
232 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Colbert of Montpellier also openly attacked the papal
Constitution.^ The objections of some of the others were
not so much against the Bull's teaching on grace : " the
propositions concerning the withholding of absolution,"
Noailles wrote,^ " upset all good confessors and all those
who are afraid of a too lenient moral theology ; the
propositions on the reading of Holy Scripture annoy both
men and women of every social rank, whilst those on
excommunication alarm and irritate the officials, courtiers
and jurists." To complete the confusion the minorit\'
announced that they would no longer take part in the
deliberations of the Assembty of the Clergy though at a hint
from the King they went back on this decision.^ On top
of everything the whole population was being stirred up by
a flood of publications, poems and theatrical farces.^
It was in circumstances such as these that nine opponents
of the Bull met on January 12th, 1714, at Noailles' house ;
thej^ were the Archbishop of Tours, the Bishops of Verdun,
Laon, Chalons-sur-Marne, Senez, Boulogne, Saint-Malo,
Bayonne and Auxerre ; the latter, however, soon rejoined
the majority.
At the session of January 22nd dissension broke out openly.
After Cardinal Rohan had read the report on the labours of
the commission and proposed the acceptance of the
Constitution and a joint pastoral letter, Noailles spoke of
1 Ibid., 502 seq.
2 To Tremoille, December 11, 1713, in Le Roy, 465, n. 2.
So also in Noailles's discourse in the assembly, January 22, 1714.
[Louail], 144.
^ Proc^s-verbal des eveques opposa.nts, ibid., 142.
* Rohan, January 22, 1714, in Du Bois, 47 seq. : " Le parti
s'est dechaine avec une fureur et una insolence schismatique.
Pendant qu'on soutient avec tant d'assurance que le Jansenisme
n'est qu'un fantome ridicule, il se montre si reel et si redoutable,
qu'il resiste en face au Pape, au Roi et aux eveques ; il croit
chaque jour " (Fenelon to Daubenton, January 2, 1714, GLuvres,
VIII., 206). On Qucsncl's writings during the assembly and after,
cf. [Louail], 121 seqq. ; [Patouillet], II., 473 seq. ; III., 60 seqq.
THE COMMISSION DIVIDED. 233
the difficulties raised by the Constitution. Thereupon the
Archbishop of Tours suggested that they should begin by
drawing up the pastoral letter with its explanations of the
condemned errors, and only when this was done should
they go into the question of the acceptance of the Bull.
To this Noailles and his followers agreed.^ His action could
only mean that the minorit}^ was unwilling to submit to the
Bull unconditionally and would only do so on the basis laid
down in the pastoral. When the letter was read on February
1st, with a view to ascertaining the assembly's opinion on it,^
Noailles declared in the name of his party that they would
refrain from voting and would ask the Pope for further
explanations of his decision. This was a veiled rejection of
the Bull. It clearly betrays a determination, a contemporary
writes, to counter any intention that might exist in Rome
of sending further Bulls to the French. Either the papal
decisions were regarded as binding, and in that case the
Bull was so too and would have to be accepted before the
explanations, or the minority was of opinion that even after
these explanations it would be free to think as it pleased ;
in that case what would be the use of the Pope giving any
explanations ? ^
The meeting was thus practically at an end and the cleavage
complete. On February 5th the text of the letters to the
Pope and the French Bishops was approved.^ On February 1st
the minority had declared that in future they would only
take part in the meetings of the Bishops out of obedience
to the King and as witnesses of the proceedings. They likewise
refused to subscribe to the protocol.^ The King forbade the
minority to address a joint letter to the Pope as the Assembly
of the Clergy alone had the right to act as a body. Thereupon
^ [Louail], 142 ; Du Bois, 49.
* Printed in Du Bois, 53-93, index in Schill, 87 seq.
' Lallemant, January 30 and February 2, 1714, in Fenelon.
CEiivres, VIII., 214, 215.
* In Du Bois, 99 seqq., 102 seqq.
* Ibid., 107 seq.
234 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the minority .requested Noailles to write to Rome in their
name.^ Louis XIV. forbade the Cardinal to appear before
him and commanded the other eight prelates to return to
their dioceses and to remain there until further orders. ^
Thereupon the Bishop of Laon left Noailles' party.^
On February 15th the Bull Unigeniius was registered by
Parliament together with a royal decree which, contrary to
custom, not only exhorted, but commanded the Bishops to
pubhsh the BuU.^ The jurists objected to the secular power
presuming to give orders to the Bishops but the King angrily
brushed aside their observations.^ For the rest Parhament
did not neglect to insert a clause to safe-guard Galilean
liberties.^
Towards the end of February, Noailles, by publishing
a pastoral letter,' took a fresh step which caused an enormous
sensation : within a few days over 20,000 copies of the
pastoral were sold in Paris alone. ^ In it he openly spoke of
differences of opinion in the Assembly of the Clergy,
complained that the Bull was obscure and liable to
misinterpretation, and that it deprived priests who received
it of the exercise of their priestly functions ; but at the
same time he once more forbade Quesnel's book.
1 Proces-verbal of the opposition, in [Louail], 147. The draft
of their letter to the Pope and to the King, ibid., 149, 155.
2 [Louail], 161 seq.
3 By the declaration of February 10, 1714, in Du Bois, log.
" Une conversion comme la sienne ne fait honneur ni a I'figlise,
ni a Tepiscopat, ni au penitent," wrote Lallemant, February 16,
1714, in Fenelon (Envres, VIIL, 222.
* " . . . exhortons a cette fin et neanmoins enjoignons a
tous les archeveques et eveques, etc." Lettres patentes of February
14, 1714, Du Bois, 112.
« Le Roy, 560-569. On the discourse of the Abbe Pucelle,
a sort of Tribune of the people, ibid., 566 seqq.
* Ibid., 114-19. Criticism of the pastoral letter by Fenelon:
CEuvres, VIIL, 224 seqq., 228 seqq.
' February 25, 1714, Du Bois, 120-5.
* Le Roy, 570.
THE BULL ACCEPTED. 235
The Archbishop's pastoral appeared on the very day before
the meeting at which, by the King's order, the Sorbonne was
to accept and register the Bull. The theologian Witasse
promptly took occasion of Noailles' prohibition to make
difficulties against the execution of the royal command.
However, it was resolved on March 5th to receive and register
the Bull " with most profound respect and submission ".
On March 10th the decision was read once more without
anyone objecting, only when the decision of the Faculty
appeared in print did some of the Doctors manifest their
dissatisfaction and ask for a fresh count of the votes. The
King answered this demand by excluding six of the leaders
from the deliberations and by banishing four others.^
After this defeat in the Sorbonne the Jansenists took up
all the more eagerly the weapon with which, up till then,
they had achieved their greatest triumphs — the pen : a spate
of pamphlets, comic songs, memorials and bulky quartos
appeared with the object of disparaging both the Bull and
the Pope." It was only too evident, Fenelon wrote, that
Jansenism was no mere figment of the imagination,^ but
something very real and a menace to the whole Church.
The most important of the above-mentioned productions
is the so-called Hexapla * ; here an immense mass of texts
from the Scriptures and the Fathers is marshalled in six
columns, with a view to showing that Quesnel's propositions
^ ScHiLL, 92-5 ; Fleury, 638-653 ; Du Bois, 136-153.
According to the account of the Jansenists (in [Louail], 168-195 ;
Le Roy, 574-586), the unanimity of the Faculty was brought
about by deception and violence. However, on December 15,
1729, the Faculty declares its former decree : " verum esse ac
genuinum," " agnoscit immerito prorsurs fuisse declaratum
falsum, adulterinum, commentitium " Montagne, 502 seq.). On
the registration by the Faculty of Rheims and Nantes, see
[Louail], 195 seqq.
* [Louail], 94 5e^., 117 S(?^., 121 S(?^., 213 56^^.
' To Daubenton, February 5, 1714, (Etivves, VIII., 216.
* Hexaples, on six colonnes sttr la constitution Unigenitus,
1 714. [Louail], 405 sc^^.
236 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
represent the teaching of Christian antiquity. The Assembly
of the Clergy of 1715 condemned the book and many Bishops
associated themselves with its sentence. The authors were
also forced to put up with the accusation of deliberate forgery.^
For all that the work was re-published in 1721, in an enlarged
edition of seven volumes in quarto ^ to which was added a
historical introduction in four volumes.^ Another work, also
condemned in 1715, at the same time as the Hexapla, declares
that the Constitution shook the foundations of rehgion and
anathematized Christ Himself. According to the author,
papal and episcopal sentences have no authority without
the consent of the people.^
There were those whose interest it was to lower the prestige
of ecclesiastical superiors, for with the overwhelming majority
of the French Bishops the Bull met with no opposition
whatever. Whereas in other countries formal submission
to the papal decision was not demanded, things were different
in France, on account of the King's command and the
exhortation of the Assembly of the Clergy ; in these
circumstances the silence of any one Bishop would have
been construed as a refusal of the Bull. Out of the 126 dioceses
dependent on France the papal Bull was promulgated in
112, and in 1715 the Assembly of the Clergy had 110 pastoral
letters relating to it published in one volume.^ No doubt
in more than one of these letters Galhcanism shows itself
1 Cf. [Patouillet], II., 182 seqq. ; Montagne, 488 seq. (text
of the censure of 1715), 536 (examples of forgeries). Among the
polemical writings against the Hexapla, the most important is
that by the Jesuit, Jacques de la Fontaine, Constitiitio Unigenitus
theologice propugnata, 4 vols., Rome, 1717.
2 [[Cadry], II., 608 seqq.
3 Histoire du livre des Reflexions morales, Amsterdam, 1723.
* Tdmoignage de la viriti dans I'^glise, 17 14 (by the Oratorian
Laborde). Cf. [Patouillet], IV., 34 seqq. The Regent forbade
the Assembly of the Clergy to print and register the two censures ;
however, the Bishops took copies with them signed by the secre-
tary. Leclerq, I., 163.
* Thus the Jansenist Louail (217).
FENELON ON THE SITUATION. 237
more or less openly/ but this does not alter the fact that the
Bull met with as good as universal submission. Even in the
letters of the Bishops of Sisteron and Metz,^ which were
excluded from the collection of 1715 by reason of various
peculiarities, the Constitution is accepted in the end. With
one solitary exception all the Bishops likewise condemned
Quesnel's New Testament.^ .
However, even in the days of Innocent X. and Alexander
VII., papal decisions had met with a very different reception !
" One need not wonder at so disastrous a change," Fenelon
wrote ^ : " the contagion spreads immeasurably. Since the
peace, on the occasion of which Clement IX. was so shamefully
deceived, Jansenism has struck deep roots in the clergy, the
Orders and the Congregations, the schools, and even in the
famihes." To stem the evil Fenelon demanded energetic
measures : " Gentleness and patience from above merely
increase insolence from below. Whilst the defenders of a just
cause scarcely dare to speak and to write, the party dares
^ Ibid., 217-226. Cf. Le Roy, 588 seq. In ecclesiastical circles
nothing else was expected. For this reason also it was decided, at
the Assembly of the Clergy of 1714, to issue a joint Pastoral
letter, as otherwise " il s'en fera d'autres dont les catholiques
seront affliges avec raison ". Daubenton, January 16, 1714, in
Fenelon, CEiivres, VIII., 209.
2 [Lou ail], 220 seqq., 234 seqq. The mandement of Metz also
in Du Bois, 158 seqq. Suppression of the mandement by an
" Arrest du Conseil d'fitat du Roi " of July 5, 1714, ihid., 183 seq.
* ScHiLL, 92.
* To Daubenton, April 12, 1714, (Eiivres, VIII., 236. Cf. to
Rohan, July 27, 1714, ihid., 245 : " On ne doit jamais oublier les
proces-verbaux caches dans les greffes, par lesquels on surprit
le Pape Clement IX. ... Si cette paix flatteuse n'avoit point
endormi le monde pendant quaraute ans, et si elle n'avoit pas
donne au parti la facilite de semer I'ivraie par-dessus le bon grain,
rfiglise de France ne seroit pas aujourd'hui dans le peril d'un
schisme. C'est cette malheureuse paix qui cause la guerre presente,
au bout de quarante cinq ans, et qui nous menc droit au schisme.'
Memoire sur I'affaire des huit prelats, ihid., 268.
238 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
everything all the time and floods Europe with its venomous
writings."
If in spite of the deplorable experience of the past decades
Fenelon still hoped for salvation from a new papal Bull
which would track Jansenism to its last hiding place, that
circumstance is assuredly proof that even in Galilean France
the word of the Pope still carried great weight. Fenelon
thought that on this occasion Clement XL should leave on
one side both Jansenius and Ouesnel, that is both persons
and books, and to condemn unmistakably the real root of
Jansenism, that is the doctrine of the two delectations,
namely, the heavenly delectation of grace and the earthly
one of concupiscence, either of which, it was said, according
as it happens to be the stronger, always compels the will.
Fenelon had already pressed for a condemnation, in the
Bull against Ouesnel, of this fundamental tenet of Jansenism,^
but Rome did not want to do everything at once.^ He now
came back to his former proposal,^ but for the moment the
Pope had had enough with his experiences in connection with
the Bull against Quesnel.*
The fact was that Clement XI. was profoundly dissatisfied
not only with the eight Bishops of the minority, but with the
whole Assembly of the Clergy. Whilst the committee of the
Assembly was still deliberating, the Secretary of State wrote
to nuncio Bentivogho ^ that it seemed strange that the
Bishops should wish for a repetition of the incidents of the
Assembly of 1705. The Bishops' duty was, not to judge
the Constitution or to explain it, but to submit to it. The
nuncio must insist on this and, if need be, appeal to the King.
For the rest the Secretary of State observes that the censures
1 To Daubenton, June 8, and August 4, 1713, CEuvres, ib-j, 178.
On the so-called " delectatio victrix " , cj. above.
2 Daubenton, September 16, 1713, in Fenelon, VIII. , 183 seq.
3 To Rohan, July 27, 1714, ibid., 244.
* Benedict XIV. testified later how annoyed Clement XI.
was because in spite of the King's promise the Constitution had
not been straightway accepted. De Heeckeren, I., 31.
^ November 23, 1713, in [Louail], 126 seq.
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CLERGY ACCEPTS. 239
in the Bull were justified even though some of the condemned
propositions deserved a censure, not as they stood, but only
as they were understood by Quesnel. A month later the
Secretary of State renewed his warning ^ : the nuncio must
tolerate no declaration, explanation or limitation of the
Constitution, and his answer to all objections against the
censures must simply be that in Rome they knew theology
and understood Augustine and the other Fathers ; Calvin
and Luther always had Augustine on their tongue, as had
Jansenius, yet the Church, which understands St. Augustine
far better, had condemned them. The nuncio must not
allow himself to be deluded with a promise not to use the
expressions " to judge " and " to examine ". If they examined
in fact, what was the use of avoiding the word ? All the
newspapers announced that the Bishops were busy examining
the Constitution and discussing the condemned propositions.
Bentivoglio should request the King to put an end to the
affair as soon as possible.
Even after the Assembly of the Clergy had concluded its
labours, Rome was dissatisfied with its conduct. ^ Fault was
found with the fact that the Assembly drew out its delibera-
tions so long as to create the impression that it was
subjecting the papal pronouncement to an examination. The
final acceptance of the Bull by the Assembly was learnt with
real satisfaction, but the very first sentence of the document
relating to it gave offence inasmuch as it stated that the
Assembly was exceedingly glad to find in the Constitution
the Church's teaching. This sounds as if they had accepted
the Constitution because they found it free from error, whilst
not a word was said on the duty of submission and on the
obligation for the Bishops of carrying the Bull into effect.^
It was feared that the well-disposed Bishops allowed
^ To Bentivoglio, December 21, 17 13, ibid., 129 seq.
* Daubenton, February 24, 1714, InFENELON, CEt<?;ye5,VIII.,223.
' Fenelon also took offence at this at once : " Pourquoi
commencer par ces mots : Nous avons reconnu etc. ? . . .
Quelle affectation suspecte ! Pourquoi innover ? Veut-on piquer
Rome ? " January 20, 1714, CEuvres, VIII., 210.
240 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
themselves to be dominated by the opposition party and the
efforts made to satisfy them annoyed Rome. As for the
eight Bishops, irritation against them " was tremendous ".
A special Congregation of seven Cardinals ^ would be set up
to deal with the matter.
It was hoped that the Pope would reply in a Brief praising
the forty-one in courteous terms and blaming the eight
without hurting them, whilst aU the time avoiding wounding
Galilean susceptibilities, but Clement XI. was in too excited
a state of mind for such an answer, all the more so as stress
was again being laid, offensively enough, on the claims of
the Galhcan Church, both in the royal letters-patent and
in the document of registration of the Bull. He would have
been more easily induced to overlook the Galilean agitation
and to treat the eight with gentleness ; it was more difficult
to persuade him to pass over the action of the forty-one
without a word of blame. Fenelon's confidential agent, the
Jesuit Daubenton, did his utmost to secure such a Brief.
At the invitation of the French ambassador, De la Tremoille,
he represented first to Cardinals Fabroni and Albani, and
then to the Pope himself, that it was a question either of
saving the Church of France or of destroying it : of saving
it if the Pope would unite with the King and with over
a hundred Bishops and the great mass of the people, against
a few prelates ; of destroying it, if he broke with the forty-one,
if he blamed their conduct and so formed a third party, for
in that case he would have to deal with the whole realm
and the schism would be an accomplished fact. Lesser
offences, he suggested, the Pope could overlook for the sake
of the welfare of the Church. In spite of these arguments,
a fortnight went by before Daubenton was in a position to
assure the French ambassador that a Brief would be addressed
to the forty-one, and that it would satisfy them. Another
eight days passed during which the Brief was polished into
as courteous a form as possible. In the meantime the Jansenists
^ Spada, Paolucci, Albani, Ferrari, Fabroni, Tolomei, Casini.
Daubenton, March, 1714, ibid., 231.
FENELON DEFENDS THE BISHOPS. 24I
had done their utmost, by means of skilfully worded letters,
to render the forty-one suspect in Rome.^
Fenelon constituted himself their advocate. He hastened
to express his satisfaction with the Brief and its form and
to defend the joint pastoral of the Assembly of the Clergy
on which Rome had as yet passed no comment. ^ It was not
to be viewed as an explanation presupposing imperfections
or ambiguities in the Bull, but rather as its justification, for
though the Bull was perfectly plain for an unprejudiced
reader, as a result of the spate of cunning pamphlets published
by the party, nearly everyone in France felt inclined to take
it for granted that it was vague, ambiguous and exaggerated.
" No reply was being made to these numberless writings.
Never has seduction on such a scale and one so dangerous
been experienced ; even women, in the course of gossip, put
the most ridiculous and most odious construction on the Bull ;
it became the fashion to scoff at it and people were ashamed
to uphold it. Everybody said aloud that it would remain
as a tangible proof, for all time of the fact that the Pope
was not infallible. What could the Assembly of the Clergy
do against all this ? So far from explaining the Bull, it has
proved that it needs no explanation. It has added neither
corrections nor restrictions but has refuted the insidious
explanations with which the Jansenists sought to excite men's
minds." For these reasons Fenelon thought that Rome
should not allow itself to be hampered by the objections of
professional theologians against this or that statement in the
pastoral, in fact care should be taken to ascertain whether
this excessive strictness was not due to some secret Jansenists
who knew how to disguise themselves and to insinuate
themselves everj^where for the purpose of creating discord
between the Pope and the French clergy. " I know beyond
a doubt that secret emissaries of the party have had recourse
1 Daubenton, March, 1714, ibid., 230 seq. On Daubenton's
efforts in this matter ; Chalmette, Rome, March 22, 1714, ibid.,
231. The Brief to the forty-one prelates, March 17, 1714, in Du
Bois, 134 seqq.
2 To Daubenton, April 12, 1714, CEuvres, VIII., 234 seqq.
VOL. XXXIII. R
242 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to such expedients in order to cross countermeasures and to
divide their opponents."
Whilst Fenelon defended the forty-one he also urged that
the eight rebels should be dealt with without loss of time.
The King was still alive, he wrote, but a stormy period might
come upon them any day and the party awaited it with
impatience. A false peace would not lessen the bitterness of
the party, nor lower its prestige ; the very opposite would
happen. A threefold line of action might be adopted towards
the eight ^ : the Pope might be requested to name a
commission to initiate legal proceedings against them, or
provincial councils and even a national council might be
convened to judge them. Fenelon recommends the latter
course, namely a national council presided over by the
Legates of the Pope. As a matter of fact they had a grave
case before them, namely that of fifteen or sixteen Bishops —
including several metropolitans and the Cardinal Archbishop
of Paris ; two of the Bishops, those of Metz and Chalons,
were pairs of France ; two others, those of Montpellier and
Saint-Malo, were brothers to two of 'the ministers and all had
relations and connections at court and a formidable following
behind them.^ But Fenelon would not hear of another
seemingly quite simple remedy, which was to put Noailles
into a carriage and to take him to Rome, to be judged by the
Pope — such an act of violence would only rouse France in
favour of the Cardinal.^ No doubt the situation was a
complicated one : as a Cardinal, Noailles could only be judged
by the Pope ; as a French Archbishop, Galilean principles
only allowed him to be tried in France ; if he were deprived
of his cardinalitial dignity, the Pope would forfeit the right
to judge him.'* Fenelon expected nothing whatever from
negotiations with Noailles for the purpose of inducing him
to recant. 5 If the Pope allowed the eight Bishops to receive
' Memoire, ibid., 269 seqq.
2 Ibid., 271.
' Ibid., 275.
* Ibid., 269.
* Fenelon, October 14, 1714, CEiivres, VIII., 255.
NOAILLES EMBARRASSMENT. 243
the Bull only on the basis of their own explanations, the party
would take advantage of the concession to disparage Rome
among all the nations. As it was, contempt and hatred for
Mother Church were only too deeply ingrained in nearly
all the nations.^
In Rome action was first taken against the pastorals of
Cardinal Ndailles and the Archbishop of Tours ; these
documents were condemned by the Inquisition. ^ This was
followed by the condemnation of five other episcopal letters.^
In a Brief of May 8th, Clement XI. announced that after
so prolonged a delay, he was determined to proceed against
the insubordinate prelates and that to this end he prayed
for the King's co-operation : further particulars would be
made known by the nuncio.^ The Pope's proposal was that
the Archbishop of Paris should be sent to Rome since as
a Cardinal he could only be judged by the Sovereign Pontiff.^
Noailles now began to realize by degrees in what difficulties
he had become involved, for he had to see with his own
eyes that almost all the French Bishops expressly accepted
the Bull, whilst all the Bishops of the rest of the world did
so tacitly. But how was he to extricate himself without either
formally separating himself from the Church, or an express
recantation ? To this question the irresolute man himself
knew of no answer : his whole conduct allows of but one
explanation, namely that he sought to gain time. He began
by promising formally to accept the Bull in a new pastoral
and asked for a two months' delay in which to prepare one.
The two months became six and yet the letter was not ready.
He began by refusing to allow his draft to be examined and
^ " Le mepris et la haine de I'Eglise mere ne sent deja que trop
enracines dans presque toutes les nations." To Daubenton,
October 10, 1714, ibid., 254.
2 March 26, 1714, in Fleury, LXVIII., 660 ; Du Bois,
153 seq.
^ May 2, August 22, and December 12, 1714. Hilgers, 442 ;
Reusch, II., 735.
* Fleury, LXVIII., 653 56^^. ; Du Bois, 154 5^;^^.
' Fleury, 663.
244 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
censured ; then he objected to the censors until in Cardinals
D'Estrees and Polignac and the Bishops of Arras and
Montauban, persons acceptable to him were appointed.
In the negotiations which now began, and in which Rohan
and Bissy also took part, Noailles stuck to his notion not to
receive the Bull except on the basis of his explanations,
so that, from the first, agreement was out of the question.
Noailles had recourse to all sorts of manoeuvres to draw out
the affair ; he promised various alterations, but these only
dealt with secondary points ; but at length the King lost
patience and gave him a strict command to hand in his pastoral
before October 18th. Once again Noailles obtained a delay
up to the 30th, but when Polignac handed the document
to the King it contained none of the things that should
have been in it according to the terms agreed upon. The
King's patience was at last exhausted ; he resolved to put
an end to the business by means of negotiations with the
Pope.^ There had been no lack of consideration for Noailles,
in fact the Pope felt compelled to warn Rohan ^ in a special
letter, not to add fresh food to Noailles' obstinacy by excessive
readiness to yield to his demands. For the rest the efforts
to win over Noailles by negotiations were continued until
the following year ; Massillon and the celebrated jurist
D'Agnesseau also took a hand in the solution of an insoluble
question.^ As a matter of fact not even his own followers
relied on the Archbishop's obstinacy ^ ; many of them went
much further, as for instance, the Bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne
who declared that the Bull was unacceptable even if provided
with explanations.^ The skein was now to be disentangled
by means of negotiations with the Pope.
1 Cf. Fleury, 662 seqq. ; Schill, 99 seqq. ; Noailles' letter to
the Bishops who were of his opinion, September 5 and 12, 1714,
in [Louail], I., 339 seqq., 344 seqq. First and third part of Noailles'
mandemcnt, ibid., 332 seqq. ; Le Roy, 603 seqq.
* August 21, 1714, Fleury, 671 seq.
3 [Louail], 367-380. ■» Le Roy, 600 seq.
^ Lettre circulaire aux evequcs opposans, July 17, 1714, ibid.,
[LouailJ, 350 seqq.
AMELOT IN ROME. 245
(7.) •
For his ambassador in Rome the King chose one of the
ablest men in France, viz. Amelot, Marquis de Gomnay, who
had already distinguished himself as ambassador, especially
in Spain. ^ By the terms of his Instruction, ^ Amelot was
to press for a French National Council ; any other means
for a settlement of the conflict was deemed not practicable
by the Galilean Government. In the detailed motivation for
a Council, French Caesaro-Papalism appears again and
again ; papal legates were to preside but with the proviso
that nothing would be done against Galilean liberties. The
convocation of the Council could be made out in two ways,
either a papal Brief would request the royal co-operation
after which the King would convoke, or the Pope would
issue a letter of convocation which the King would support
by a decree of his own. " The former way would be preferable
because the prerogatives of the King would be better
guaranteed." It would be a good thing, from the very
beginning of the Council, to pubHsh a Bull declaring the
pastorals of the rebels null and void and demanding their
withdrawal ; in fact the Government had actually prepared
a draft for such a Bull.^ After Amelot's departure it was
found that even this draft did not sufflciently spare the
conscience of Parliament ; the fact that the Pope declared
the pastoral letters null and void might be resented as an
encroachment by the spiritual power. Accordingly a letter
was written to Amelot to the effect that it would be best
if the Pope omitted such expressions.^ It was easy to foresee
that in view of French principles, the national Council would
be as ineffectual as every other means, so that as a matter
^ Le Dran, Nigociation de M. Amelot a Rome en 1715, in
Feret, VI., 369-403 (also in Rev. des quest, hist., LXXXV.,
[1909], 108-145).
^ December 2, 1714, extract in Feret, VI., 369 seq. ; credentials,
December 5, 1714, ibid., 371.
' In Feret, VI., 370 56^^.
* Ibid., 377.
246 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of fact, no means remained whereby a rebellious Bishop in
France could be made to obey.
On January 12th, 1715, Amelot had his first audience with
the Pope. Clement XI. was not particularly edified when
he realized that though the King cherished the best of
intentions, he was unable to carry out all he wished ^ ;
however, he gave Amelot a kindly reception. In a fortnight,
he observed, everything would surely be over. He would
consult only those whom he emplo3'ed in the most difficult
affairs. Noailles had many friends in Rome, so that they
must proceed with great caution. ^ From Paris also the
greatest secrecy had been recommended to the ambassador. ^
To the latter's regret the Pope chose as his representative
in the negotiations Cardinal Fabroni, the author and,
accordingly, the chief defender of the Bull. However, Amelot
consoled himself with the thought ^ that the Pope would
have consulted Fabroni in any case, so that, after all, it
would be a saving of time if he treated with him directly.
In the very first conversation with the ambassador Fabroni
showed himself unfavourable to the idea of a national Council.
None had been held for seven or eight hundred years and
this was a sure sign that both King and Pope had recognized
the dangers of such assemblies. The simplest way out of
their difficulties was the judgment of the Pope to whom
recourse had always been had in similar cases. After Amelot
had presented a memorial, Fabroni declared in the name
of Clement XI. that though the King deemed a Council the
1 " Nous avons vu de nos propres yeux Clement XI. se mordre
les doigts plus d'une fois, lorsque, ayant publie la Constitution
Unigenitus, il vit que Louis le Grand ne lui tenait pas la promesse
qu'il lui avait faitc de la faire accepter generalement et que M.
Amelot lui dit, parlant a sa personne, que le Roi avait la meilleure
volonte du monde, mais qu'il ne pouvait pas tout ce qu'il voulait."
Benedict XIV. to Tcncin, February 8, 1743, Dk Haeeckeren,
I..3I.
2 Feret, VI., 373.
3 Ibid., 371.
* Letter of January 15, 1715, ibid., 373 scq.
FABRONI AGAINST A COUNCIL. 247
shortest and easiest way, the Pope could not take this view ;
on the contrary, he considered this as the most difficult
course, one that would draw out the affair and entail dangerous
consequences. All the Cardinals were against the Council.
They had letters which proved that this was regarded as the
very means of destroying the Pope's authority : all the other
nations would want to follow France's example when there
was question of dogmatic Constitutions. Many Bishops in
France only waited for an opportunity to withdraw their
acceptance of the Bull ; in several dioceses sermons were being
preached against it ; emissaries of the Jansenists excited the
minds and continued to scatter the seed of schism ; the
Protestants hoped ^to benefit by the situation. According to
letters from Ratisbon, the Elector of Brandenburg had already
offered an asylum in his States to such priests as might have
to flee the country. Moreover, if Pope and King agreed,
nothing was easier than to reintroduce the ban of the realm. ^
Besides, a Council could hardly be convened as Fenelon, the
only French Bishop who could be considered for the post of
a papal Legate at a Council, had died on January 7th, 1715.
On his death-bed he had prayed the King for a successor
who would take a firm stand against Jansenism and had
recommended to him the priests of S. Sulpice as the chief
bulwark against the sect.^
In his reply to Fabroni Amelot reverted to the idea of
a Council as the only possible remedy ^ ; however, in a long
interview on January 23rd, 1715, Fabroni explained to him
that there could be no question of a Council — the Pope would
not hear of it. What then ? the ambassador asked. Fabroni
replied that the matter was quite simple : let the King
explain to the Archbishop that he would endure his
disobedience no longer ; unless Noailles received the
Constitution unconditionally within three days, he would
be deprived of all his honours. Thereupon Amelot observed
1 Ibid., 374 seq.
2 Letter to Le Tellier, January 6, 1715, (Eiivres, VIII., 283.
3 Feret, VI., 376.
248 . HISTORY OF THE POPES.
that this threat had been attempted before, but without
success. He then spoke of a Bull which, by the terms of his
Instruction, should serve as an introduction and preparation
for the Council. However, Fabroni gave the same reply as
before. The King, he explained, was also master of the
Galilean liberties as well as of everything else ; let him then
declare that the Cardinal had forfeited those liberties through
his disobedience to the royal letters-patent and even deprive
him, if necessary, of his French citizenship ; after that he
might hand him over to the Pope to be judged by him. In this
way everything would proceed from the King and the Gallican
hberties would be safe-guarded. If His Majesty could bestow
membership of the State upon a foreigner, he could also
deprive a subject of it.
Fabroni himself must have been aware of the strangeness
of this proposal which he made in order to get out of an
impasse. He only made it, he promptly added, in order to
recall the Cardinal to a sense of his duty and to show him the
abyss for which he was heading. Amelot was not slow in
observing that at his coronation the King had sworn to
maintain the liberties of the Galhcan Church. There could
only be question of the deprivation of citizenship after a
judicial sentence of death ; from the Pope he would have
expected the most vigorous protests against such treatment
of a Bishop. The suggestion did not proceed from the Pope,
Fabroni replied, Clement XI. only wished to frighten Cardinal
Noailles ; how this was to be done was to be decided by
Fabroni and Amelot between them.^
Thus a Council was not to be obtained. Accordingly
Fabroni suggested to the ambassador on January 27th, that
fresh pressure should be brought to bear on Noailles : this
was to be done by the Pope drawing up two Briefs, a mild
one and a severe one. In the first the Archbishop should
be invited, with kindly insistence and prayers couched in
a fatherly tone, to make his submission ; the other was
to contain a formal command to accept the Constitution
^ Ibid., 378 seqq.
AMELOT AND FABRONI. 249
unconditionally within three days. If this time also he refused
to obey, he was to forfeit his Cardinal's dignity without
further declaration and legal proceedings would be taken
against him.^
Amelot objected that even after that there remained
thirteen or fourteen Bishops who must be brought back to
the fold ; he requested the Cardinal to give him his views in
writing as to the line of action he should adopt. Thereupon
Fabroni summed up under eleven headings all that he had
already explained to the ambassador. ^ The first step was that
the King should hand to his Archbishop the severe Brief and
reinforce it with the threat of the loss of citizenship and the
Gallican liberties. If an impression was made on Noailles,
that Brief would be shown to no one else and the mild one
would be handed to the Archbishop. The latter Brief, however,
could only be delivered if the King first gave a promise to
execute the other Brief in case of disobedience. Should the
remaining Bishops not submit together with Noailles, the
usual legal means were to be employed against them. In two
memorials Amelot pointed out that the way of mildness was
hopeless and the other impossible.^ The two Briefs were
nevertheless drawn up and on March 9th the courier took
them to Versailles.^ Against the will of the Pope the mild
Brief was first handed to the Archbishop together with the
order to reply within four days. It required little heroism
on the part of Noailles to defy the Pope once more from
behind the protective wall of the GalHcan liberties, all the
more so as the shadows of death were lowering over the aged
King. The very day after reception of the Brief, Noailles
returned it with an arrogant covering letter,^ saying that he
needed no time for reflection.
For the rest the ambassador had been in too great a hurry
1 Ibid.,2,Sj.
2 Ibid., 382 note.
^ Ibid., 382 seq.
* Le Roy, 630.
* March 15, 1715, in [Louail], 381 ; Le Roy, 635 ; Feret.
11.. 389.
250 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to forward the two Briefs, because the Pope was very willing
to give up the idea of Noailles being deprived of his French
citizenship and the Galhcan liberties.^
Meanwhile an attempt had been made to remove difficulties
by means of negotiations with the rebels, but Noailles and his
followers demanded as a condition of their acceptance of the
Bull, a declaration by the Pope that it had not been his
intention to reject efficacious grace. ^ " Efficacious grace,"
that is, the teaching of the Dominican school, had not been
condemned, but already in September, 1713, Fenelon had
written ^ that the heads of the sect understood by it nothing
else than downright Jansenism. For over sixty years the sect
had contended that its teaching was none other than that of
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Fenelon deemed it necessary,
by means of a special dissertation, to show the difference
between the Jansenist and the Thomist teaching on grace * ;
he expressed his satisfaction on learning that representatives
of the Thomist School had taken part in the examination
and condemnation of Quesnel's book, as in this way it had
become a point of honour for them clearly to distinguish
their teaching from that of the Jansenists and to keep within
their boundaries so as not to give support to the party.^
On the other hand it became an axiom with the eight rebellious
Bishops that the Bull interfered with the freedom of
theological schools ; they accordingly pretended that it was
their task to save that freedom even though the Dominicans
themselves had accepted the Constitution unconditionally.^
1 Feret, VI., 382.
2 Ibid., 387.
3 CEuvrcs, VIII.. 187.
* Cf. ibid., 177, ijgseqq.
5 October 12, 1713, ibid., 193. Cf. Menioire sur Vaffaire des
huitprelats, 262.
« Memoire, 262 ; cf. 260, etc. Bissy begs Fenelon, September 6,
1 7 14, to reassure the Bishop of Arras " sur toutes les alarmes
qu'on lui a donnees, que la Bulle detruit le Thomismc et la morale
severe de I'fivangile. . . . On surprend beaucoup d'honnetes
gens par cet endroit ". Ibid., 250.
NEGOTIATIONS. 25I
In existing circumstances there was no question of the
Pope expressly allowing the doctrine of efficacious grace to
be taught ; hence Amelot's only hope was a national Council,
and as the Pope was unwilling, the idea was ventilated that
the King might convene the Bishops in the fullness of his
own power. 1 Chancellor Voisin approved the plan,^ but
suggested in the meantime that the Pope should publish
a Bull threatening the rebels with canonical proceedings,
unless they submitted and withdrew their Pastorals. Such
a Bull would pave the way for further measures.^ Two drafts
of a Bull, the one by the Chancellor and the other from the
hand of Rohan, were dispatched to Rome. After a lapse of
eleven days, when the Congregation of Cardinals had
reassembled, the Pope declared that he stuck to his plan of
the two Briefs ; if the King did not agree, he would declare
Noailles to have forfeited his cardinalate, without the royal
concurrence.^ The Chancellor observed that even this offended
against the liberties of the realm ^ ; in other words, the
Pope was almost powerless in France. If he desired no more
than to send one of his Briefs to a Frenchman through his
nuncio, the act was against France's privileges ; if he resolved
to have the Bull Unigenitiis proclaimed by strangers in the
dioceses of the rebels, the Gallican liberties stood once more
in the way.^ In Rome this was incomprehensible. Christ,
Fabroni observed, had entrusted His fold to St. Peter, but
He had not added : with the exception of the French.'
There seemed to be no way out of the difficulties. Rome
^ Feret, VI., 387.
^ Ibid.
^ Ibid., 389 seq.
* Ibid., 392.
* Ibid., 390.
* Ibid., -^go seq.
"> Le Roy, 644. On two " *Discorsi " by Cardinal Tolomei
to the Pope, July, 1714, and January 27, 1715, " sul modo
di comportarsi centre i vescovi disobedienti," see Mazzatinti,
Inventavi dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'ltalia, III. (1893),
153-
252 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
did not want a national Council, though even Cardinal Rohan
recommended it in a memorial ^ ; one who was well able to
know the feeling on the subject in the Congregation of
Cardinals, viz. the Secretary Alemanni, remarked that the
Council would prove to be a gathering of a hundred and twenty
and more anti-papal lions. ^ Paris, on the other hand, would
not accept the proposal of the two Briefs. Amelot saw no
other solution of the problem except by pressure being brought
to bear on Noailles. The Lazarist Philopald, theologian to
La Tremoille, the French ambassador in Rome, had suggested
that Noailles should head his new Pastoral with the mild
papal Brief, which contained a sentence against malicious
distortions of the Bull Unigenitiis.^ Taking advantage of this
the Archbishop should go on to say that since the explanations
which the heretics added to certain clauses of the Bull were
false, as the Pope himself had stated, he accepted the Bull
without difficulty ; the Pope had made it plain that nothing
was further from his mind than to favour the above mentioned
false propositions or to oppose the teaching of St. Augustine
and St. Thomas which the Roman Church had so often declared
to be true. According to this suggestion the Archbishop
would only have accepted the Bull on the basis of a papal
explanation such as he had demanded from the beginning
and shielding himself behind Augustine and Thomas, he
would have saved Jansenism. The Pope was spared the
painful necessity of pronouncing on these insidious proposals
for Noailles refused to act on the suggestion.^
Amelot was now anxious that Paris should arrive at a
friendly agreement with the Archbishop at any cost. Though
the Pope might not approve everything, he would not take
1 Feret, 394 se^. ; Schill, no.
2 Feret, 395 ; Le Roy, 626.
s The Brief blames the Jansenists, who " vaiiis penitus atque
ab eadem Nostra Constitutione illiusque toto, et quidem satis
aperto tenore prorsus alienis, quin etiam studiose superinductis
vol potius ad rem involvendam maligne affictis difficultatibus et
quaestionibus temere cavillantur ". Fleury, LXIX., 29.
* Feret, 392 seq.
ROME GRANTS A NATIONAL COUNCIL. 253
sterner measures, so long as the Constitution was somehow
accepted. Thus they would avoid a schism which otherwise
was almost inevitable as the rebellious Bishops would not
consent to their deposition, but would appeal to a General
Council.^
Meanwhile Amelot had not failed to give the Pope a hint
that the King might convene a Council in the fullness of his
own power.2 As a matter of fact steps were taken in Paris
to this end,^ and Clement XI. saw no other way out of the
difficulty but to yield. On August 5th, 1715, Fabroni handed
to the ambassador not a Bull, but a Brief, which stated that
although everybody in Rome was opposed to a national
Council, the Pope nevertheless desired to support the lofty
aspirations of the King and to show his appreciation of so
many men full of good will towards the Holy See, who
unanimously and constantly insisted on the necessity of such
a Council ; accordingly His Holiness was prepared to send
Legates, without whom, of course, the matter could not be
concluded.* To another desire of the King Clement XL
refused to consent, this was that if Noailles was deprived of
his Cardinal's hat and thereafter submitted, the cardinalate
should be restored to the penitent. Clement XL deemed
a promise of this kind incompatible with his dignity.^ Amelot
was not satisfied with the Brief concerning the Council ; he
suspected that Rome only wished to gain time, though in
the end the Council would be conceded. He renewed his
oft-repeated request to be allowed to return to France ;
on August 23rd this was granted.^
At this time Louis XIV. was already struck with mortal
disease, but he none the less commissioned Rohan and the
Commissaries of the last Assembly of the Clergy to make
^ Feret, VI., 395 sf^.
2 April 13 and June 12, 1715, tbid., 392, 396 seq.
* Ibid., 397 seq.
* Ibid., 399.
* Ibid., 399 seq.
* Ibid., 402 seq.
254 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
preparations for the Council. Opinion was unanimous that
the insubordinate Bishops should have neither seat nor vote
in the assembly. Thereupon the Archbishop of Bordeaux
drew attention to a difficulty ; this was that the Bull against
Ouesnel had indeed been accepted by all the Bishops, but
official information of this acceptance had not been given
to the rebels. To meet this objection, the King published
a declaration on July 16th,^ in which he ordered the rebellious
Bishops to follow the example of the majority of their
colleagues, otherwise action would be taken against them
according to the strict law of the Church. But if disobedience
to this declaration was to entail exclusion from the Council,
it would have to be registered by Parliament. Now the high
justiciaries offered the most determined resistance to the
demand of registration. Thereupon Louis XIV. resolved to
have recourse to the means of which the French Kings made
use in extreme cases and which he had not employed himself
for fifteen years, namely to repair to Parliament in person
and to order the registration. However, his mortal illness
had already made great progress ; before he could carry out
his designs his life came to an end on September 1st, 1715,
after 70 years of rule.^ From his youth Louis had been
a decided opponent of Jansenism. However, whilst he struck
it with one hand he continually opened to it a refuge with the
other by reason of his Gallicanism : from this coign of vantage
the sect could safely laugh at Pope and King. By the end
of his reign Jansenism had become a formidable power ;
shortly after the death of the mighty ruler, Noailles,
Jansenism's head at the moment, could be described by the
Regent of the realm as " the idol of France ".^
^ Du Bois, 185.
* ScHiLL, 112 seq. ; Fleury, LXIX., 41 seqq. ; Le Roy,
650-675. The supposed letter of Le Tellier to Chauvelin of
August 2, 1 715 (Du Bois, 187 seq. ; Le Roy, 655 seq.) is a forgery,
according to Duclos [Memoir es secrets, Paris, 1791, 137), and
SoMMERVOGEL [Bibliotheque, VIL, 1918).
* In Le Roy, 693.
THE REGENT AND JANSENISM. 255
(8.)
That which Fenelon feared so much and which it was easy
to foresee, was realized after the death of Louis XIV., namely,
a complete revulsion in favour of Jansenism. Philip of Orleans,
who acted as Regent for the Dauphin, then still a minor, was
addicted to unbelief and immorality as it were on principle
and neither rehgion nor papal Constitutions meant anything
to him. The doors of the prisons were opened for all who
were detained there by reason of insubordination to religious
ordinances ; Bishops whom Louis XIV. had ordered to return
to their dioceses, reappeared in Paris ; supporters of Jansenism
were raised to episcopal sees and professors of theology against
whom proceedings had been taken, had their honours and
dignities restored to them.^ The Jesuits were coldly received
by the Regent, the Oratorians warmly - ; the Jansenists
learnt with delight that the royal confessor Le Tellier had
been removed and soon after banished from Paris, ^ although
it had been the wish of the dying King that he should continue
in office with his successor.^ The " Council of Conscience "
was already being requested to have Fort-Royal restored
at the expense of the Jesuits.^ The Regent distrusted the
• ^ A (reliable ?) list of those who had been condemned is given
in [Louail], 457-461. Cf. Leclerq, L, 162. Between September
2 and 6, 171 5, not more than ten prisoners left the Bastille
(Carreyre [192 1 ], 485). Cf. also : P. de Crousaz-Cretet,
L'£glise et I'Etat ou les deux puissances au XVIIP. siecle, 1715-
1789, Paris, 1893 ; F. Rocquain, L' esprit revolutionnaire avant la
Revolution 1715-1789, Paris, 1878 ; Carreyre, Le Jansenisme
diirant la regence I., Louvain, 1929 ; Idem in Rev. hist, de I'Eglise
de France, XIV. (1928), 459, and in Rev. d'hist. eccles, XXI.
(1925), 479-509, where the names of the Jansenist Bishops are
given.
2 [Louail], 461.
' Ibid., 461 seq., 761 ; Leclerq, I., 129, 139.
* Ibid., 70, 114.
* Lavisse, VIII., 2. 8.
256 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
papal nuncio Bentivoglio,^ whereas Noailles who, a few days
earlier, had obtained permission to approach the death-bed
of the Sovereign only after he had acknowledged the Bull
against Quesnel,^ was summoned to court on the very day
of the King's death, after he had been banished from it for-
eighteen months.^ When Philip of Orleans created six
consultative Government colleges, one of them was entrusted
to Noailles when the Regent named him president of the
so-called " Council of Conscience " which had to pronounce
on all that concerned religion and religious communities.^
The members of this Council, which as a matter of fact was
dissolved in September 1718,^ shared the sentiments of
their president. Apart from the Archbishop of Bordeaux
they were all ardent Galileans ; they were the two jurists
D'Aguesseau and Joly de Fleury and the Abbe Pucelle ^
who, as a member of Parliament under the late King, had
pronounced a violent speech against registration of the Bull
against Quesnel ^ : the Secretary was the Jansenist Dorsanne,
Noailles' Vicar-General.^ The Council of Conscience's
encroachments in the spiritual sphere became increasingly
numerous ® and it was in vain that the nuncio lodged an
emphatic protest against Noailles' presidency with Marshal
D'Huxelles.^*^ Clement XI. had good reason to lament the
^ "So di sicuro che il signer Duca d'Orleans ha detto a un
signore della corte che egli e avvisato da costi che io faccio il
diavolo a quattro centre di lui in Roma." Bentivoglio fine
1715, in Arch. d. Soc. stor. Rom., XXII., 162 seq.
2 Leclerq, I., 77 seqq.
* Ibid., 157.
* Ibid., 146.
^ Ibid., II., 204.
8 Ibid., I., 148.
' Le Roy, 566 seq.
« Leclerq, I., 149 ; cf. LXXVIII.
» The Pope's pretest to the Regent in the Brief of May i, 1716,
in Fleury, LXIX., 348-354 ; Opera, Epist., 2142 seq.
1" *Repert ef the nunciature, October 7, 1715, Corsini Library,
Rome, Cod. 193, f. 182 seqq.
FRESH JANSENIST PUBLICATIONS. 257
King's death in an allocution of 23rd September. ^ As a
matter of fact Noailles' elevation appeared so incredible to
the Pope that, in a letter to the Regent, ^ he attributed it to
a change of sentiment in Noailles, seeing that as late as
13th September the Regent had assured the Pope ^ that
Louis XIV's devotion to the Holy See would be maintained
unalterably by him and that the dissension among the
Bishops would be composed within a month.
If the Regent imagined he was serving the cause of peace
when he broke the shackles that had hitherto fettered
Jansenism, he made a miscalculation. The insolence of the
sect no longer knew any bounds. A spate of writings once
again flooded the country ; in these publications the late
King was outraged, whilst the Regent was represented as a
strong bulwark against the court of Rome ; many priests and
religious threw off the yoke of obedience ; disorder reigned
everywhere and dissension penetrated even into the most
exalted bodies of the realm. ^
The Assembly of Clergy had been sitting since 25th May.
During the whole of the Regency its deliberations mainly
turned on the condemnation of two Jansenist works, the
first being the so-called Hexapla, in which an attempt was
made to defend Quesnel's assertions by quotations from the
Fathers and the theologians ^ ; the second book was " The
Testimony of Truth ". Like the Hexapla, the latter work by
the Oratorian Vivien de Laborde, endeavours to refute the
Bull against Ouesnel, and in so doing develops the most
revolutionary ideas ; it goes so far as to assert that ecclesiastical
decisions, even those of a General Council, are invalid if they
lack the consent of the laity. ^ The Quesnelists did all they
^ Fleury, LXIX., 62 seqq. Opera, Orat., 124.
* October i, 1715, ibid., 72 ; Carreyre, in Rev. d'hist. cedes.,
XXI., 493.
' Le Roy, 72 ; Carreyre, 489 seq.
* Fleury, LXIX., 75 seq.
^ Cf. above, p. 235. Picot, Mem., I., 379 seq.
* [Patouillet], IV., 31 5^5'.
VOL. XXXIII. s
25S HISTORY OF THE POPES.
could to prevent the condemnation of the two books by the
Assembly on the ground that such a step would only give
rise to fresh troubles and provoke Noailles to take counter
measures or at least hinder his submission. The president,
the Archbishop of Narbonne, was impressed by these
arguments ; he sought at first to stay a condemnation, and
after that to prevent at least any mention being made of the
BuU in the sentence ; eventually he obtained from the Regent
a three weeks' delay before the censure could be printed ;
the Regent hoped to see peace restored during that interval.
As the press was barred to them, the Bishops saw to it
that copies were made of the condemnations and these they
took with them when they returned to their dioceses. How
well inspired they had been, became evident at once, for soon
the originals vanished for a considerable time from the
archives of the Assembly.^ For the rest, when they
promulgated the censures in their dioceses, several Bishops
met with opposition from their clergy who found support in
Parhament ^ ; thus, on May 3rd, 1716, the Parliament of
Dijon condemned a pastoral letter of the Bishop of Chalons-
sur-Saone which had described the Constitution against
Quesnel as a rule of faith, and all the Archbishops and Bishops
included within its jurisdiction were forbidden to insert in
their pastorals anything that might provoke division. Bishop
Madot of Chalons refused to submit in silence. The condemna-
tion of his protest which, he wrote, he fully expected, he
himself condemned beforehand, and should Parhament
confiscate his property thereafter, he would take refuge with
the Capuchins and appeal to the charity of the faithful.^*
Some Doctors of the Sorbonne hkewise took the condemned
books under their protection ; not a few of them asserted
that the University had never acknowledged the Bull ; the
* Fleury, LXIX., 78 seqq. Censure of the Hexapla, October 5,
of TSmoignage de la veriU, October 29, 1715, in [Louail], 546.
" Especially at Nantes, Chalon-sur-Saone, Rheims : [Louail],
547-554. On the publications against the censures, ibid., 554-
560.
••' Ibid., 549, 814.
OPPOSITION BY THE SORBONNE. 259
decrees of the Faculty in favour of submission to the document
had only been registered by it, but had not been accepted.^
When Syndic Le Rouge, under whom the decree had been
passed, had to be replaced on October 1st, Ouesnel's followers
secured the nomination of one of their own men, viz. Hyacinth
Ravechet, after which the conflict within the Faculty itself
broke out openly. Instead of passing a vote of thanks to the
retiring Syndic, as custom ordained, twelve Doctors were
commissioned to examine his administration. ^ The inquiry
only ended on May 11th, 1716, with Le Rouge's exclusion
from the Faculty.^ At the Faculty's monthly meeting in
December, in which his affairs should have come up for
discussion, other matters occupied the members. At the
sitting of 2nd December the senior Doctor, Humbelot,
complained of the inaugural address of the new Syndic
Ravechet and in so doing dropped the remark that the Bull
had been unanimously received by the Sorbonne. Ravechet
protested vehemently, complained that he was being insulted
and calumniated, and demanded Humbelot's expulsion unless
he offered an apology. As a matter of fact the meeting passed
a special decree declaring Humbelot guilty and asserting
his statement that the Faculty had accepted the Bull
" unanimously " to be untrue.* Further significance was
given to the decree by the subsequent erasure of the word
" unanimously ". In this form the decree implied that the
Bull had not been accepted at all and that they had an
official attestation of this non-acceptance. At the session
of 5th December, the Faculty expressed itself anew in this
sense and pronounced a sentence of exclusion against those
of the Doctors who offered resistance. The nuncio's representa-
tions to the Regent were nullified by a deputation of the
Faculty. On this occasion, in answer to a question of the
^ Fleury, LXIX., 83 seqq.
"^ Ibid., 85 seqq.
^ [Louail], 659 ; cf. ibid., 467, 468, 469 seq., 641, 653, 655,
658.
* Fleury, LXIX., 86 seq. The Decree is reprinted in [Louail],
473-
26o HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Regent, the delegates declared that they took no notice of
unjust excommunication. Nuncio Bentivoglio's indignation
at the Doctors' conduct was such that he thought of taking
his leave ; on his part, Cardinal Rohan returned his Doctor's
diploma to the Faculty.^
Sorbonne's action nevertheless had its imitators. The
theological Faculties of Nantes, Rheims, Caen, published
similar declarations. ^ Once the first University of the land
had given the word that promulgation and registration of
the Bull were not synonymous with acceptance, many Chapters
and numerous members of the clergy stated that they too
had only read the Constitution out of obedience, without,
however, submitting to it.^ True, those who made those
pronouncements were only a minority. Apart from Paris,
only from 26 out of 110 dioceses of contemporary France,
did any manifestations against the Bull come forth ; in these
26 dioceses, as for instance in that of Evreux, only 3 voices
were raised, in that of Tro\'es only 2 and in those of Chartres,
Autun and Auxerre only one each,* and little importance
need be attached to the circumstance that in a few cases
these few claimed to speak in the name of their colleagues.
From Rennes nothing more important is related as having
been done in favour of the Jansenists except that a splendid
funeral was given to Syndic Ravechet who had died there. ^
On the other hand, in some other dioceses opposition to the
Bull was more pronounced. Thus at Orleans 3 Chapters,
11 parish priests and a few Canons, pronounced against it ;
at Laon 86 Canons, 10 other dignitaries and 31 parish priests
of the diocese, and at Rheims over 200 priests acted in like
manner.^ The writings of the opponents were gathered in
^ Fleury, LXIX., 86-90. Particulars on the sessions from
November 4, 1715, to March 5, 1716 : [Louail], 468-492, 638-
677.
* Ibid., 492 seqq., 500 seqq., 502.
' Ibid., 590-604 ; cf. 253-266.
* Ibid., 592, 598 5^17., 600.
* Ibid., 601.
9 /6irf., 591,593. 594-
MORE OPPOSITiON . 261
three small volumes of 1,800 pages altogether and published
under the title of The Cry of Faith. ^
Opposition was naturally most lively in the diocese of
Cardinal Noailles and at the Sorbonne. On March 26th, 1714,
the future Cardinal Gissy wrote that, judging by what one
had heard and read during the winter on the subject of the
Bull, it could not have met with worse treatment at Geneva. ^
When a rumour spread that, subject to a few explanations,
Noailles was prepared to accept the Bull, 385 out of 450
parish priests of the archdiocese conjured him not to *do
anything of the kind, and the parochial clergy was reinforced
by 460 priests in the capital and 50 country priests.^ The
documents which express these counsels, contain at times
the most violent language.'* Thus the clergy of the parish
of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois array their people against the
Pope : never would they accept, even with explanations,
a Bull " which attacks the Scriptures and Tradition and
overturns dogma, moral teaching and discipline " and
condemns so " devout a writer " as Quesnel and his defender,
Bossuet.^ The Dominicans of Saint- Jacques, who in point
of fact earned for themselves a sharp reprimand from their
General,*^ felt compelled to assert that an abyss was being
opened under the Archbishop's feet, not only for that prelate
personally, but for the whole realm and for the Church, for
Christian faith and moral teaching, for rehgion and its whole
spirit, for Scripture and Tradition, for all true teachers and
evangelists, in a word, the instigators of the Bull desired
to see all that was good swallowed up by the same abyss.'
^ " Le cri de la foi, ou recueil des differens temoignages rendus
par plusieurs facultes, chapitres, cures, communautes ecclesiasti-
ques et regulieres au sujet de la constitution Unigenitus," 1719,
ibid., 591.
2 Ibid., 605.
» Ibid.
* Ibid., 605-618.
« Ibid., 611.
• Hislctter of February 26, 1717, in [Cadry], II., 4.
' [Louail], 615.
262 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The Oratorians also would not hear of any declarations :
the Constitution was only too plain — it revealed in all its
nakedness the " monstrous system " of its real authors.^
There can hardly be a doubt as to who was meant by the
" real authors " and " instigators " of the Bull. When,
after Louis XIV. 's death, the Jansenists once more acquired
strength, the Jesuits were made to feel their power. In
November, 1716, Noailles abruptly deprived the hated religious
of all faculties to preach and hear confessions within his
diocese. Since 1711 measures of this kind had been repeatedly
applied to them. His example was followed by the Bishops
of Metz, Verdun, Montpellier, Chalons, Saint-Paul and others. ^
For the rest other priests were similarly punished for their
loyalty to the pope. Accordingly, the Grand Penitentiary,
Cardinal Paolucci, ordained,^ that those who had been
forbidden to hear confessions solely because of their submission
to the Constitution, might continue to do so as before. Another
decree of the Roman Inquisition * solemnly condemned a
series of writings in which certain French priests had with-
drawn their submission to the Constitution. These writings
were publicly consigned to the flames by the hand of the
executioner, in front of the Minerva in Rome.
In France also the conduct of the Jansenist Universities
did not remain unopposed. Various publications appeared,
summoning the public to the defence of the Bull.^ When in
1716 the theological Faculty of Nantes declared itself against
the Bull the local Bishop pronounced a sentence of suspension
against the Doctors whilst his colleague at Vannes announced
that he would not ordain anyone who had studied at Nantes.
The Bishop of Nantes let it be known that similar measures
1 Ibid.
« Ibid.. 575-580-
3 January 6, 1718 ; Reprint of the decree, ibid., 579.
* February 17, 1717 ; Decree of March 2. in Fleury, LXIX.,
494-499 ; Reusch, II., 736 ; Leclerq, II., 35.
* Five of them have been collected under the title of Les
tocsins (1716), in [Louail], 561-565 ; counter-publication.s,
i6irf., 565-571.
RAVECHET AND THE BISHOP OF NANTES. 263
were to be expected from other Bishops. But at this junction
the Regent forbade interference with his efforts on behalf of
peace by such manifestos.^ Nevertheless not long after
the Bishop published an ordinance, ^ which raised a storm
of indignation at the Sorbonne. In it the Bishop described
the attitude of many Universities towards the Bull as a
" downright scandal " and announced that in future he would
not admit into the ranks of his clergy candidates who came
from schools hostile to the Constitution. Ravechet delivered
a lengthy harangue on this " slanderous " decree, which
disturbed the peace of Church and State and would lead to
schism ^ ; he failed to understand how a Bishop in one of the
most remote corners of the realm, could pretend to possess so
much more wisdom than the Sorbonne * ; he accordingly
submitted that the Faculty, with a view to its justification,
should draw up a sjmthesis of its teaching ; this was actually
done and the summary was read at the Sorbonne in the
following December and January ^ ; furthermore, Ravechet
said, they might appeal to Parliament, to a General Council,
to the Pope and to the Church.^ On the following day the
Faculty decreed that anyone submitting to similar episcopal
ordinances, was to forfeit his academic degrees.' Three
weeks later Ravechet reverted to the subject. A protest
had been raised in some small publications against the action
of the Government which made it impossible for the Bishops
to forbid attendance at schools hostile to the Constitution,
and against the conduct of the professors who arrayed them-
selves against the chief pastors of the Church.^ Thereupon
Ravechet exalted the dignity of the Doctors in the words of
^ Ibid., 494.
- March 14, 1716, ibid., 644.
' April I, ibid., 644-653 ; cf. 639.
« Ibid., 651.
* Ibid., 671 seqq.
* Ibid., 652 seq.
' Ibid., 655.
8 Ibid., 563 seq., 565.
264 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Council of Constance : from them the Bishop must learn
the things of which they are ignorant !
The Bishop of Toulon did not hesitate to condemn Ravechet's
speech by means of a mandement?- Previous to this the
Faculty had obtained leave from the Regent to appeal to
Parliament against the Bishop ; that body condemned the
prelate's mandement as well as his earlier prohibition of
attendance at schools in which the Constitution was opposed ;
the Parliament of Aix identified itself with this condemnation. ^
Not long after the same Parliament of Aix felt induced to
make another stand against some further episcopal ordinances.^
The Bishop of Apt had taken the Faculty of Paris sharply
to task for its pride and its assumption of infallibility * ;
a similar manifesto was issued by the Bishop of Grasse on
May 14th ^ and on 8th and 13th June the Sorbonne also
detected a lack of reverence for the Faculty in some remarks
of the Archbishop of Aries and the Bishop of Orleans.^ On
December 1st, the Syndic proffered some fresh grievances
against the Archbishop of Rheims who had complained of
the presumption of the Faculties and declared that by Christ's
institution, the authentic teachers in the Church were the
Bishops, that in this respect the professors were their pupils.
In his reply Ravechet, among other things, explained that
even simple parish priests were entitled to give testimony
of the faith of their churches and that when a Bishop issued a
decision without previous testing of this faith, and without
consulting the theologians and the parish priests, his testimony
could not be considered as the testimony of the churches of
his diocese.' In the diocese of Evreux it actually happened
that parish priests questioned the country folk on the
traditional faith of their parishes and drew up formal reports
1 Ibid., 658.
2 Ibid.. 655. 657,659.
« Ibid., 66^.
* Ibid., 660.
^ Ibid., 664.
•^ Ibid., 661 seq.
' Ibid., 672 seq.
THE regent's work FOR UNITY. 265
on the result of this inquiry with a view to their use against
the decision of the Holy See.^ Thus was Gallicanism
forwarded : just as the Pope's judgment is invalid without
the concurrence of the Bishops, so is that of the Bishops of
no value without the agreement of the parish priests and the
theologians. For the utter overthrow of the Church's Constitu-
tion only one more step was needed, namely that ecclesiastical
authority should be ascribed to the laity. In point of fact
such a step had been prepared for by Richer and Ouesnel,^
above all by the Parliaments which boldly sat in judgment
on papal and episcopal ordinances. The University set the
crown on its opposition to the Bull when a rumour spread
that Cardinal de Noailles was thinking of yielding. On
receipt of this news more than a hundred Doctors repaired to
the episcopal palace on January 12th, 1717, in order to assure
Noailles that they would not flinch in their support of him,
though with the significant clause : so long as he himself
did not " become disloyal to the country, to truth and to the
Church ".^ This step displeased the Regent ; a royal edict
of February 28th, 1717, administered a reprimand to the
Doctors.^
From the first, Philip of Orleans had regarded the religious
cleavage as a danger to public tranquillity, hence he was
anxious to restore peace. In September, 1715, the fourteen
followers of Cardinal de Noailles were summoned to Paris for a
consultation and a committee was set up, consisting of the
Attorney-General d'Aguesseau, Marshal d'Huxelles and two
other members who promptly withdrew, the former Bishop of
Troyes, Chavigny, and the former ambassador in Rome,
Amelot.^ For appearances' sake both the Assembly and the
1 Fleury, loc. cit., 512 seq.
" See above, p. 224. Cf. £. Preclin, Les Jansenistes dn 18''
Steele et la Constitution civile du clerge, Paris, 1929.
^ January 12, 1717, [Louail], 615-618.
* Ibid., 675 ; ScHiLL, 141, n. 3.
* Cf. [Louail], 580 seq., and the report of De la Broue, Bishop
of Mirepoix to the Bishop of Valence, ibid., 776. The fourteen
prelates were : The Archbishop of Tours, the Bishops of Chalons,
266 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
commission deemed it necessary to begin by approaching the
Pope in order to beg for a fuller explanation of his Bull>
Probably connected with this plan is a letter of eighteen
Bishops praying the Regent to intervene with the Pope, but
the signatories are not Noailles' supporters. Among them are
Bishops who were in no way suspect in Rome and who had
only subscribed after insisting on a few changes in the rather
ambiguous document. ^ After a time the letter was given to
the public without the desired modifications, the idea being
probably a desire to suggest that there was a very large number
of Bishops who felt that the Bull required further elucidation.
However, these unworthj^ machinations failed to attain their
object as the Bishops of Poitiers, Lavaur, Le Mans and Noyon
protested that they had not signed the document in its
published form ; in a pastoral letter of January 14th, 1716,
the Bishop of Agde publicly exposed the fraud.^
As there was no hope of obtaining the desired explanations
from the Pope, the committee was of opinion that Noailles and
his fourteen friends should themselves supply them and that
they should be such as to secure the approval of all the Bishops
of France, so that the French Church at least should be of one
mind in its interpretation of the Bull.^
This was more easily said than done. Not even the assembly
Senez, Saint-Malo, Metz, Treguier, Pamiers, Verdun, Boulogne,
Bayonne, Mirepoix, Montpellier, Arras, Angouleme. Ibid., 769.
1 De la Broue, loc. cit., 'j'j'j.
* The letter of the eighteen in [Louail], 582 seq. Perhaps a
much shorter letter, ibid., 585 seq., is a corrected copy of the former
which, according to Jansenist reports {ibid., 586), secured up
to thirty-two signatures ; however, this is denied by their
opponents (Fleury, LXIX., 236). The names of the thirty-two
signatories are not given and among the seventeen signatories
of the first letter mentioned by [Louail], 584, the names of the
Bishops of Poitiers and Lavaur are missing. The two letters are
also in Du Bois, 245 seqq. The letter of the eighteen was
delivered to the Regent in January, 1716.
» Fleury, LXIX., 235 ; Schill, 1305^^.
* [Louail], 777.
DELIBERATIONS. 267
of the fifteen could agree. They laboured for a long time on
two documents : one ^ intended to lay before the Pope the
difficulties which they, in France, found in the Bull, so as to
show that they did not lightly refuse to comply with it ; the
other,2 a theological exposition of the subjects treated in the
Bull and destined for the French Bishops, all of whom it was
intended to ask for their signature. However, the very
suggestion of the two documents met with opposition. Five out
of the fifteen were of opinion that they should be content with
exposing the difficulties as on the doctrine they would never
agree. None the less, three committees of five Bishops each
worked on the two explanations, but months went by without
result. Some wanted no explanations at all but a complete
rejection of the Bull. Noailles, on the other hand, was for
explanations and acceptance of the Bull on the basis of those
explanations, but no one seemed willing to believe that his
suggestions were serious.^ As his friends used to say, he
wanted to have it both ways : the one document, viz. the
exposition of the difficulties, was to enable him, if possible, to
refuse the Bull altogether ; if that was not possible, the
second document, viz. the doctrinal exposition, would at
least sweeten the bitter pill of acceptance."*
The Regent ended by losing patience. In February and
March, 1716, he repeatedly pressed for a termination of the
work. The document stating the difficulties was finally
drawn up ^ and two envoys were chosen to take it to Rome
in the King's name. However, when the Bishops were about
to put their signatures to the letter, it was found that, as
once before,^ Noailles had again taken an incredible liberty :
out of the fourteen objections he had struck out four on his
own authority. This caused a great stir : on May 14th, the
delegates had to set out without the document which was
1 Ibid., 755-760.
2 Ibid., jyj ; cf. 769.
* Ibid., 767 seq.
* Ibid., 771.
* Recneil de diverses difficultis, ibid., 755-760.
* See above, p. 189.
268 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
eventually forwarded to them after the fresh disputes over
the missing points had been settled.^
At the meetings of the fifteen it was openly stated that
the offer of acceptance of the Bull with explanations was
only meant as a poHte refusal.^ How they understood their
deputation to Rome appears from the very selection of the
deputies. Their choice fell on Chevalier, one of the Vicars-
General of Bissy of Meaux ; but Chevalier's own Bishop,
after vain representations to the Regent, deemed it necessary, ^
by means of a circular letter, to assure some of his colleagues
that he had no knowledge of what Chevalier was to represent
in Rome and that he had endeavoured to get his appointment
cancelled. To the Pope he wrote that Chevalier was suspected
of Jansenism.* At the chief deputy's own request a companion
was assigned to him in the person of the Oratorian De Laborde,
the author of the subversive book which had been condemned
together with the Hexapla.^ Chevaher was instructed ^ to
represent to the Pope that the Bishops of France had not
accepted the Bull unconditionally and would never so accept
it. The explanations must come from the Pope ; should he
deny them, it would redound to the discredit of the Holy See
that he should have refused to take note of such well founded
objections as were those of the French Bishops ; the Sorbonne
would then appeal to the universal Church and the Council.
Should Clement XI. decline all explanations, there remained
yet another way : let him confirm the theological explanation
which would be forwarded from France — in other words,
the fifteen were prepared to draw up a Bull themselves to
which the Pope was expected to submit. If he declined, he
would be told that France could manage without him ; the
Parliaments and the Universities would act and in the King's
name publish a declaration which would put an end to the
1 [Louail], 773, 780.
* Ibid., 772.
8 Ibid., 783.
" Fleury, LXIX., 239. Cf. Carreyre, 764 seqq.
* See above, p. 236.
* [Louail], 784-7.
THE POPE TO THE REGENT. * 269
controversy and leave the whole affair to the judgment of
the universal Church.
Up to this time Clement XI. had adopted a waiting policy
in regard to the French troubles. On account of the Galilean
liberties, any interference was liable to increase the mischief ;
however, about May, 1716, he ordained that the cardinalitial
Congregations were not to grant confirmation for any episcopal
see or any benefice without the Pope's express authorization.^
As long as the distribution of benefices remained in Noailles'
hands it was impossible to trust the men appointed by him,
as was said at a meeting in the nuncio's house ; if he were
left a free hand, within three }-ears all the Bishops of France
would be Jansenists.2
About this time Clement XI. addressed a letter to the
Regent,^ the first after a silence of seven months. In it the Pope
excuses his long delay by his trust in the word of the Regent
who had promised him an early settlement of the conflict over
the Constitution. But at present the obstinacy of Cardinal
Noailles and his adherents was manifest. Accordingly, he
was now forwarding two other Briefs which the nuncio would
hand to the Regent to be passed on by him to the Archbishop
and his followers ; he commanded that the Bull be accepted
^ Fleury, LXIX., 230. The affair ended only three years
later. In France it was claimed that the Pope had no right
to refuse the Bulls to the nominees of the King, and it looked
as if Bishops would be installed without the Pope. To avoid
the worst, Clement XI. finally gave way ([Louail], 619, 793).
Bossuet's nephew experienced special difficulties in his nomina-
tion to the Bishopric of Troyes (Carreyre, 762 seq.). Many
of the Bishops nominated in 1716 and 171 7 only received consecra-
tion in 1 719, as, for example, De la Cassaigne, nominated for
Lescar, De Camboust for Tarbes, D'Entraigue for Clermont,
Castries for Tours, Lorraine for Bayeux, Tourouvre for Rodez,
Bossuet for Troyes. Cf. Jean, 12, 83, 86, go, 107, 347, 376,
423-
2 Carreyre, in Rev. d'hist. eccles, XXII. (1926), 760.
* May I, 1716, Opera, Epist., 2146 ; Fleury, LXIX., 252 seq.
Cf. 248 seq.
270 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
within a time limit of two months ; after the lapse of that
period Noailles would forfeit his cardinalitial dignity and
judicial proceedings would be taken against him and his
followers. The Regent was informed of the contents of the
two Briefs previous to their arrival ; under some pretext or
other, Orleans had them suppressed by Marshal D'Huxelles/
but in spite of this measure the fifteen Bishops had knowledge
of the Pope's threats which did not fail to impress them.^
Clement XI. could not expect to receive an answer from
Philip of Orleans, though the latter replied indirectly in a
letter to the French ambassador in Rome,^ recommending
Chevalier and his mission. The letter suggested that the
Pope should issue some explanations : such action would
not be derogatory to the honour of the Holy See. These
explanations, together with an expression of opinion on the
exposition of the fifteen, could be forwarded to the Regent
who would then be able, with one word, to settle the whole
conflict. Should the Pope decline, they would have to think
of a national council.
In spite of the Regent's recommendation, the memorial
in which the fifteen stated their objections to the Bull so
shocked the Pope that he could hardly believe that it was the
work of Bishops.* He saw the necessity of cutting off every
possibility of the Jansenist party exploiting either his words
or his silence, or any act of his, as an approval of their views.
Chevalier was not admitted into his presence at all and even
his discussions with Cardinal Paolucci came to an end on
June 25th, after only two interviews. On June 27th Clement
XL, surrounded by thirty-eight Cardinals, held a magnificent
consistory, such as had not been witnessed since the days of
^ Ibid., 249 ; [Louail], 619. A fourth Brief of May i, 1716
(Fleury, LXIX., 348 seqq. ; Opera, Epist., 2142), declares the
interference of the Conseil de Conscience in internal ecclesiastical
affairs to be null and void ; cf. above, p. 255.
2 Fleury, LXIX., 249 seq.
^ Leclerq, I., 171 seq. On the commissions of Noailles and the
Procurator-General for Chevalier, see Carre yre, 766 seqq.
* Fleury, LXIX.. 240.
CONSISTORY OF JUNE 27. 27I
Urban VIII. ^ After touching lightly on the Regent's attitude
towards the latest Brief, the Pope spoke of Noailles who, as
shown by his letter of 1705, knew quite well what he owed to
the Holy See : the only question was what punishment
should be inflicted on him and his friends. He would not
consent to issue explanations of the Bull — they would be
useless with people who refuse to submit to the Pope. In
previous letters Noailles had acknowledged that it was his
duty to obey the Holy See and promised to submit to a papal
Bull against Ouesnel. The fact that there was no need of
explicit acceptance by the universal Church to establish the
validity of the Constitution, had been practically acknowledged
by the French when the question of " respectful silence "
in regard to the Bull had been raised. He ended by observing
that the Jansenists only attacked the most recent Bull against
Quesnel in order to enable them to contest in like manner
the validity of the earlier decisions against Jansenius. Lastly
the Pope submitted the question of the procedure to be
followed in depriving unworthy Noailles of his Cardinal's
hat — he asked them to hand in their opinion in writing, within
a fortnight. The Pope's decision became known in Paris on
July 24th : Noailles must either submit within fifty days or
forfeit his cardinalitial dignity. ^
Noailles' party now sought to gain time and to obtain a
delay. In spite of everything Chevalier ended by being
allowed to negotiate with the Cardinals,^ more especially
with Ferrari and Tolomei, and eventually with Aldrovandi
also,'* but he soon made himself utterly impossible by his
arrogant demeanour and by his insulting remarks about the
1 DoRSANNE, I., 277 ; Fleury, 241 seqq. ; Carreyre, 772
seqq. ; [Louail], 790 seq.
2 [LouAiL], 793.
3 Fleury, LXIX., 247 seq. ; [Louail], 794-7, 800.
* Fleury, LXIX., 258 ; Carreyre, 776 seqq. Tolomei is said
to have declared at the conferences that the Bull Unigenitus
had only a disciplinary character [Louail], 802). However,
Tolomei denied that he ever said this {ibid., 838 ; cf. Carreyre,
78555^., 790).
272 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Bull.^ The negotiations were continued with greater skill by
the French envoy. Cardinal de la Tremoille, and the Pope
ended by replying to his proposals : it was to the effect that
there were two ways towards peace, either the voluntary
or the forcible submission of Noailles' party.^
The consistory as well as Clement XL's whole conduct had
made it perfectly plain that the Pope could not be made to
yield by the means hitherto employed, hence the Regent,
who was anxious to see the end of the wearisome dispute, had
recourse to new expedients.^ He was willing that the Jesuit
Lafitau, who enjoyed the favour of Clement XL, should be
invited to come to Paris from Rome ^ whilst by an autograph
letter he himself summoned Cardinal Rohan from Strassburg.
Lafitau persuaded the Regent to make yet another request
for approval by Rome of the dogmatic exposition of the
Bishops of the opposition, but only after the prelates who
supported the Constitution had stated their opinion on the
document. During September, 1716, Rohan discussed the
subject in an assembly of thirty-three Bishops, at which
the Regent was sometimes present, but the adherents of the
Constitution were no more to be persuaded to approve the
exposition of their opponents than the various metamorphoses
of that " Proteus ", viz. an extract from Noailles and the
so-called eight articles.
During a temporary absence of Rohan the Jansenist
prelates had once more recourse to an expedient which had
been tried sixty years earlier, viz., a document in three
columns, one of which gave the text of the condemned
propositions whilst the two others supplied a Catholic and
a heretical interpretation of them.^ However, a so-called
1 Fleury, loc. cit. More favourable criticisms of Chevalier in
Carreyre, 785 ; cf. also 787.
* Fleury, 261-3,
3 Ihid., 264 seq. ; Schill, 135 seq. ; [Louail], 791 seq., 804 seqq.
* Carreyre, 786 seqq.
^ This dcrit a trois colonnes ([Louail], 805) took two to three
months to complete. Some samples of this document, due to the
EPISCOPAL CONSULTATIONS. 273
Catholic sense could only be read into the propositions by
altering their wording or by an unnatural interpretation,
hence this device also failed to lead to the goal.
Towards the end of November Rohan was back in Paris
when fresh consultations began. The three-column work
was put on one side and a return made to the drafts which
had served as a basis of the earlier discussion with him.
No result was obtained even when, in order to simplify the
negotiations, five Bishops from each party ^ discussed the
matter in presence of the Regent. There was no agreement
even among the opponents of the Bull : " Some described
it as heretical, others as merely obscure ; some were willing
to accept it with certain declarations, others were for rejecting
it altogether. At one time they blamed the Pope, at another
his officials ; one day it was said that there was a question
of dogma, on another that it was merely a question of words." ^
The Archbishop of Rheims, who had been prevented from
going to Paris by the troubles in his diocese, had good reason
for warning his colleagues against the opposition's professions
of faith. 3 By silence on important points, by dragging in
matters foreign to the dispute, agreement on a dogmatic
exposition was almost in sight, but no agreement seemed
possible on a formula of acceptance of the Bull. At length,
at the sitting of February 26th, 1717, Noailles submitted
a list of twenty-six propositions which, he alleged, had been
unjustly condemned by the Bull. This put an end to the
conferences and the Bishops returned to their dioceses.*
Whilst the Bishops spent their energy in endless discussions,
Clement XI. also took a tentative step towards peace. Long
before this the College of Cardinals had offered to bring
pen of Tiberge and Brisacier, Directors of the Seminary of Foreign
Missions, ibid., 811 seqq. Rohan returned to St'^assburg on
October 7.
^ Their names are in [Lou.\il], 881.
2 Ibid., 818.
* Ibid., 819 ; Fleury, LXIX., 449.
* [Lou ail], 804-891. On the conference of February 26:
De la Broue, ibid., 878, Rohan, ibid., 886.
VOL. xxxin. T
274 HISTORY OF THE POPES,
pressure to bear on a fellow Cardinal b}' means of a warning
letter ; in November, 1716, the Pope accepted the proposal.
They had prayed the Pope, the Cardinals wrote, ^ to refrain
from sterner measures, and Clement XI. had willingly
complied with their request. They then proceed, in gentlest
tones, to appraise the Archbishop's conduct ; blame is chiefly
laid on his entourage and he himself is exhorted to obey.
A covering letter to the Regent, ^ without which there would
have been no prospect of the Cardinals' letter being received,
enumerates the reasons for which Clement XL was unable
to adopt the suggestions which De la Tremoille had made
in the name of the Regent : there simply was no other remedy
except the full and sincere submission of the rebels. Should
Noailles and his followers persist in refusing to submit, the
Pope would carry out against him what he had decided long
ago.
Even greater emphasis characterizes a Brief to the Bishops
of France who were loyal to the Church.^ In it Clement XI.
surveys the whole development of the dispute from the
moment of the publication of the Bull Unigenitus. The very
violence of the opposition, the Pope wrote,^ showed before
the whole world how deeply the evil had infiltrated and how
necessary the remedy of the Bull really was.^ Therefore let
the Bishops support the Pope's efforts both with their erring
colleagues and with the Regent. The sterner measures which,
in so far as the Bishops were concerned, were only hinted
at in this letter, were already given effect to, at least to some
extent, in another Brief ^ which declared the Sorbonne to
have forfeited all its papal privileges.
The Briefs shared the usual fate of papal ordinances in
' Letter of November i6, 1716, in Fleurv, LXIX., 269-276.
^ November 23, ibid., 276-282.
' November 20, ibid., 282-296,
* Ibid., 285 seq.
* " Plus la constitution trouve de resistance, plus elle etoit
necessaire," Fenelon wrote to Daubenton, February 5, 1714,
duvres, VIII., 216.
' November 18, 1 716, in Fleury, LXIX., 296-304,
ACTION BY THE PARLIAMENTS. 275
France. By order of the Regent the agents of the clergy
forbade the Bishops to receive the Brief addressed to them ^ ;
should they receive a papal letter they were to hand it over
to the Regent. Parliamentary prohibitions followed. ^ In the
Parliament of Metz the Attorney-General observed that it
was a question of restraining a foreign Power which was
never at a loss for a pretext to extend the range of its
authority.^ His colleague of Rennes described the Galilean
liberties as " a precious relic of the government of the
primitive Church which must be safeguarded against papal
arbitrariness ".* In presence of fantastic statements like
these, Clement XI. instructed Lafitau to remind the French
that Louis XIV. was the first French King to confirm a
dogmatic decision of a Pope by royal letters patent and
to order its registration by Parliament ; that previous to
Louis XIV. dogmatic Bulls had not even once been the
object of a royal declaration, and that previous to Philip
the Fair even non-dogmatic decrees of the Pope were freely
published without interference by the Government. These
representations impressed the Regent at least to the extent
that he forbade the larger gathering of Bishops which had
been contemplated.^
(9-)
Philip of Orleans had made a big mistake when he allowed
the enemies of the Constitution to prolong their negotiations
in Paris ; they strengthened and confirmed each other in
their position until they constituted a close and solid party.
^ December 9 and 12, 1716, in [Louail], 832,
* Paris on the i6th, Rouen on 22nd, Rennes on 24th, Dijon
on 28th, Metz on December 29, 1716, Besan9on on 2nd,
Perpignan on 4th, Bordeaux and Aix on January 7, 171 7.
Ibid., 834.
3 [Louail], 834.
* " Co precieux reste de I'ancien gouvernement de la primitive
Iiglise." Ibid.
* Fleury, LXIX., 338 seq.
276 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Four of the fifteen Bishops took up an increasingly obstinate
attitude, for they would not allow the Bull to be accepted
even with explanations, but wished to see it rejected
unconditionally. These were Bishops De la Broue of Mirepoix,
Colbert of Montpellier, de Langle of Boulogne and Soanen
of Senez.i Characteristically enough their conduct was once
more influenced by what had become a kind of fixed idea
with the Jansenists, namely, fear of the Jesuits. They believed
themselves to have discovered that the appeal against Ouesnel
secretly re-asserted theses which everybody in France accused
the Jesuits of teaching, so that the Constitution was nothing
else but a cunning stroke by those Rehgious against which
there was need not of explanation, but of the sternest
rejection. 2 The four came to the conclusion that the only
way out of the difficulty lay in an appeal to a General Council.
Noailles shared their opinion. To declare against the Bull
altogether he did not dare, out of consideration for the Regent,
but to submit to it he regarded as impossible ; when a rumour
spread that he was inchned to do so, thirty parish priests
of Paris ^ declared that they would accept explanations of
the Bull neither from the Pope nor from their Bishop, whilst
the Sorbonne bluntly drew his attention to the fact that he
could only count on the support of the Faculty if he remained
loyal to the " truth ".^ In his embarrassment Noailles
secretly inquired, from the Bishop of Mirepoix, the only one
of the four who still wavered, why he hesitated to appeal to
the Council.5 As a matter of fact on March 1st, 1717, the
four Bishops signed a document with such an appeal which
1 De la Broue, in [Louail], 779 ■; V. Durand, Le Jansenisme
au XVIII^. siecle et Joachim Colbert, Toulouse, 1907,
* " Je vous avoue, M., que nous fumes tous frappes de cette
consideration, et nous jugeames, qu'il n'etoit pas possible de
remedier par des explications aux maux que les Jesuites avoicnt
eu dessein de faire a I'figlise par cctte Constitution." De la
Broue, loc. cit., 780.
3 December 17, 1716, in Leclerq, II., 26.
* See above, p. 265.
6 De la Broue in [Louail], 878 ; cf. 886.
APPEAL TO A GENERAL COUNCIL. 277
had been drawn up in the preceding November by the Bishops
of Montpellier and Senez ; for the pubHcation of the appeal
they selected the Sorbonne. On March 5th, 1717, in the
course of the customary session, the President was informed
that some Bishops were at the door demanding admission.
Six Doctors went out to meet them ; the Bishops took
their places and De la Broue explained the purpose of their
visit. Soanen of Senez read the text of the appeal and
all expressed their agreement by crying : Adhaeremus !
Adhaeremus f During the voting some members of the
mendicant Orders left the hall. One Franciscan voted against
the appeal, a Sulpician said that he not only disapproved,
but even abhorred it, but in the end he softened the latter
expression. Of the rest, ninety-six sided with the Bishops
whilst some twelve Doctors were of opinion that they should
first inform the Regent or Noailles.^
The appeal ^ begins by painting in gloomy colours the
harm which, in the view of the four Bishops, the papal
Constitution had done. The enemies of the Church, we
read, rejoice, heretics and unbelievers scoff, the new converts
are in uncertainty, the restless supporters of a disastrous
and corrupt moral teaching triumph, the light of orthodoxy
is dimmed, confusion reigns everywhere. In vain during three
long years had efforts been made with the Pope in the hope
that he would end by realizing that the " truth " had been
kept from him and that false advisers had taken him by
surprise. Hence there was nothing left to them except to
appeal to the universal Church. The document then alleges
that the condemnation of the 101 propositions (propositions
90-2) was contrary to the principles of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy, the sacred rights of the Bishops, the liberties of
the realm, the teaching of the Fathers who unanimously
taught that the power of the keys had l^een committed
to the universal Church. Furthermore the Constitution
condemned propositions (87-8) which breathed the pure
^ Ibid., 898 ; cf. 909.
2 Ibid., 901-8 ; Fleury, LXIX., 456 scqq. ; Du Bois, 251.
278 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
spirit of the canons on the penitential disciphne ; it overthrew
the surest foundations of Christian moral teaching, not
excepting the first and greatest commandment, that of the
love of God ; it tended not only to extinguish the sacred fire
which Christ came to bring on earth, but to take away the
divine light which can only be obtained from the reading
of Holy Writ ; it obscured the difference between the Old
and the New Testament and condemned propositions which
were textually taken from the Fathers of the Church. Then
came the formal appeal : " For the honour of Almighty
God, for the preservation and exaltation of the Catholic
Faith and Tradition, for the peace and quiet of the Church
and the realm, for the defence of the rights of Bishops and
the liberties of the French Church," they appealed against
the Constitution Unigenitus and against all that had followed
it and would follow it, including the papal excommunication
which could be foreseen, to a future General Council
legitimately assembled in a safe place, to which they might
freely and securely send their representatives. Repeated
assurances of respect for the Holy See mingled with these
declarations.
The events in the Sorbonne were at once reported to the
Regent who became exceedingly angry. The four were
ordered to leave Paris within twenty-four hours and on
March 19th they were commanded to return to their dioceses.
Ravechet was banished to Brittany where he died on his way
to Rennes ; the notary who had authenticated the Bull was
sent to the Bastille ; the Faculty was forbidden to hold any
meetings. 1
Meanwhile the appellants were not idle. They informed
the papal nuncio of their appeal 2 and managed to get its
text into the hands of the Pope himself. One afternoon,
during an audience, a devout pilgrim presented himself before
Clement XI. He too, like the rest, kissed the Pope's foot
after which he handed him a document. During the night
' [LouAii.], 913 seq.
^ Fleury, 501.
EFFECTS OF THE APPEAL. 279
the same pilgrim, who in reaHty was a Paris notary hired
at great expense, affixed the text of the appeal on the door
of St. Peter's ; at the bottom of the document was a notary's
attestation that it had been placed in the hands of the Pope.^
In the archdiocese of Paris the conduct of the four Bishops
acted like a contagion. In the capital itself and in the suburbs
thirty parish priests and 700 other priests, and about three-
fourths of the parish priests and 150 assistant priests of the
entire diocese gave their adhesion to the appeal to the General
Council.^ Some of the religious Orders followed suit ; eighty
Oratorians, sixty-eight Maurists and thirty-four Feuillants
appealed.^ It is noteworthy that most of the Dominicans
of the famous old convent of St. Jacques allowed themselves
to be swept away by the current,* although the Order had
always defended papal infallibility and the members of the
other two Dominican houses in Paris remained steadfast for
the most part.^ The well-known Church historian, Noel
Alexandre, belonged to the party of the appellants until
shortly before his death. ^ On the other hand, many religious
bodies, Lazarists, Franciscans and Jesuits, remained loyal
to the Pope.' Bishops and priests, laymen of every condition,
had their names inserted in the lists of the appellants ; among
them there were artisans, women and boys ; the archiepiscopal
palace was always open for the reception of appeals from the
1 BuvAT, in Leclerq, II., 36 ; Fleury, 470 seq.
2 [Cadry], II., 3.
^ Ibid., 3 seq. De Bissy's measures against the Maurists, ibid.,
27.
* Ibid., 4 ; CouLON in Revue des sciences philos. et thiol., VI.
(1912), 49 seqq.
* CouLON, 312 ; Letter of Cloche, General of the Order, Decem-
ber 6, 1718, ibid., 77 seq. For the Dominicans the motive of the
appeal was the fear that the Bull favoured Molinism. Ibid.,
65,281.
* CouLON, loc. cit., 49 seqq., 2.jq seqq. Noailles put under an
interdict all the Dominicans who had induced Alexandre to make
his submission to the Pope. Ibid., 289, 293.
' ScHiLL, 148.
28o HISTORY OF THE POPES.
whole kingdom.^ Even gifts of money were forthcoming for
the purpose of encouraging opposition to the Pope.^ The
number of appeals for the diocese of Paris alone is given as
1,400 by the Jansenists.^ Quesnel {ob. 1719), who occasionally
drew attention to himself by his comments on the ecclesiastical
situation, published a voluminous appeal to the Council.*
The whole University of Paris would have identified itself
with the appeal of the theological Faculty had it not been
prevented by a prohibition of the Regent.^ On the other
hand, at Rheims the professors of theology together with
the whole University, more than 100 parish priests and
a few monasteries and Chapters, appealed to the General
Council. At Nantes the theological Faculty did the same ;
at Rouen thirty-nine parish priests appealed.^ Apart from
these the rebellion of the four Bishops only had a considerable
following in the diocese of Chalons and Senez.' At Metz
only three Vicars-General and four priests joined, and at
Troyes, Toulon and Nevers only a very few took their side.
With the exception of Senez, the ■ diocesans of the four
standard-bearers of the rebellion would have nothing to do
with the step taken by their Bishops. The Bishop of Boulogne
met with a hostile reception by the people of Calais because
of the appeal. At Mirepoix, the Bishop found few
sympathizers ; at Montpelier thirteen priests had appealed
at once and many sided with their Bishop, but the Chapter
only took note of the Bishop's appeal with the reservation
that this did not imply approval ; in the parish of Notre
Dame the parish priest refused to read the Bishop's pastoral
and when the curate attempted to do so, he was prevented
1 Ibid. ; Fleury, LXIX., 504 seq. ; [Cadry], II.. 6.
2 Lafitau, II., Sseqq. ; Schill, 151 ; Fleury, 502.
=> [Cadry], II., 4.
* August 8, 1717, ibid., 69 ; Du Bois, 351 seqq., 410 seqq. His
other declarations in [Cadry], II., 41, 188.
s Ibid., 5.
* Ibid., 8-10. Decree of Rheims, March 8, Nantes, March 7,
1717, in Fleury, LXIX., 475-9, 481-8.
^ [Cadry], II., 21 ; Lafitau. II., 13 seqq.
A DANGEROUS SITUATION. 281
by noise. ^ Among the Bishops, only those of Verdun and
Pamiers took the part of the four, but at Pamiers no notary
could be found to authenticate the appeal and no episcopal
ofificial to register it.^ The Intendant of Languedoc let it be
known that he was provided with four orders of banishment
for the first four who should appeal.^ N'oailles showed plainly
enough that he approved the others' appeal to the Council,
and on April 3rd he drew up his own appeal though for the
time being he kept it quiet.'*
Thus the danger of a schism became more and more
concrete. Though the appellants only constituted an exiguous
minority by comparison with the universal Church and even
with the French Church, their number was nevertheless large
enough, and there was reason to fear that the movement,
once started, would gather momentum. Moreover, the appeal
to a General Council, which had already been forbidden under
pain of excommunication by Pius II. and Julius II., was only
a cloak under which naked disobedience to the Church hid
itself. The appeal was, as Pius II. had observed on a similar
occasion, to a tribunal which existed nowhere and of which
no one knew whether and when it would meet. The appeal
was to a " legitimate Council " in a " safe place ", but the
appellants had never recognized a Council as legitimate and
free whenever it decided against them. The next general
Council was that of the Vatican ; when we consider that the
Galileans appeal to its mortal enemy and destroyer as to
a saviour, the thing is not without its comical side.^ As it
1 [Cadry], II., 11-21 ; ScHiLL, 150 ; letter of the Dominicans
of Montpellier, June 27, 1717, to their General asking him for
instructions, Corsini Library, Rome, Cod. 193, f. 282 seq.
^ [Cadry], II., 7. The Decrees of Verdun, March 22 ; Pamiers,
April 12, 1717, in Fleury, LXIX., 488-491.
^ Leclerq, II., 37. " Dans plus de la moitie des dioceses du
royaume 11 n'y eut pas un seul appellant." Lafitau, II., 14.
* [Cadry], II., 6.
^ The residue of the Jansenists, says the Jansenist Gazier
(II., 274), " n'eurent raeme pas I'idee de demander que I'appel des
282 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
was, ecclesiastical circles were faced with an exceedingly
dangerous movement with which it was very difficult to deal.
If a mistake was made the result might be irreparable for
centuries or even for all time. Already a threat had been
uttered, with a view to impressing the Pope, that the Regent
might prorogue ^ all further negotiations until the next
General Council, and if such a Council came about through
the action of the secular princes a repetition of the days of
Constance and Basle might very well be witnessed.
Clement XI. managed to rise superior to aU resentment
of these humihating affronts to his dignity. For the moment
he left the four Bishops alone. However, Noailles had had
no share in their conduct, hence it seemed that he disapproved
of extreme measures. Accordingly the Pope addressed to
him a fairly long autograph letter on Maunday Thursday, ^
in which, alluding to the sacred time, viz. the solemnity of
the Sacrament of unity, the remembrance of the undivided
tunic and the unbroken bones of the Crucified, he admonishes
the Bishop to give ear to the voice of Christ speaking through
His Vicar, and to make the sacrifice of subjecting his own
opinion to the judgment of the universal Church. Noailles'
answer ^ to this letter (dictated by the heart), is offensive
in the highest degree. After the usual assurances of unlimited
attachment to the Holy See and the person of Clement XL,
he submits to the Pope a long list of alleged errors and
inaccuracies in his Constitution which, however, for
appearances' and courtesy's sake, are not ascribed to the
Pope himself but to the enemies of the Church and to certain
theologians who deduced the worst possible consequences
from it, thereby throwing the whole Church into confusion.
However, this transparent mask deceived no one ; to Marshal
quatre eveques au futur concile fflt addresse au concile qui
allait se reunir " (that of 1870).
1 Memorial of De la Tremoille, in [Cadry], II., 42 seq.
2 March 25, 1717, Opera, Epist., 2226 ; Fleury, LXIX., 492
seq.
3 May 6, 1717, in Du Bois, 600-61 1. Cf. [Cadry], II., 46 seq.
THE REGENT INTERVENES. 283
D'Huxelles this arrogant language seemed indeed " devilish
episcopal ", but the Pope could only see in it a mockery of
the Constitution and a humiliation of his own person.^ When
De la Tremoille proposed that he should declare by a Brief
that the consequences pointed out by Noailles could not
justly be deduced from the Constitution, Clement XL, for
peace' sake, very nearly consented to such a declaration
which would have been humiliating enough ; he omitted it,
however, as De la Tremoille, after consultation with Chevalier
and other Frenchmen, did not dare to promise that it would
yield any result. ^ At the same time as De la Tremoille, Lafitau
sought to induce the Pope to approve the dogmatic explanation
drawn up by Noailles. These negotiations, which were long
drawn, had been originated by the Regent who forwarded his
own proposals together with the reply of the Archbishop of
Paris. ^
The conversations in Rome led to no result so that for the
moment the defence against the appellants depended solely
on efforts in France itself. The representations of Rohan
and the Bishops assembled around him obtained some
success. They confirmed the Regent in his opinion that he
had from the first taken a wrong course in his attempt to
solve the confusion, and this conviction led to certain
consequences. On March 10th Noailles' request for the recall
of the four banished Bishops was rejected by the Regent,
whilst on the other hand he asked Rohan that some of the
Bishops should remain permanently in Paris as his advisers.
When twenty-eight of the Bishops gathered round Rohan
signed two petitions, one of which protested against the
pretensions of the Universities, Chapters, parish priests and
Parliaments, whilst the other complained of the spate of
^ Ibid., ^8 ; Schill, 156.
=> Ibid.
^ [Cadry], II., 72 seqq. A Jansenist account says that L.\fitau
offered the Pope money for his confirmation ! Lafitau, II., 75 ;
Leclerq, II., 42.
284 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
pamphlets/ Orleans wrote to the first President of Parliament ^
that in those places where the Constitution had been published,
the priests must not rise against it. In these memorials
there was no reference to the appeal but there is mention
of it in a document sent in by Cardinal Bissy ; the nullity
in law of the appeal and the acceptance of the Constitution
by the universal Church are demonstrated in these papers.^
True the Regent did not encourage Bissy to print his
explanations, in fact they only saw the light in the following
year. However, on July 18th, 1717, Orleans addressed
a circular to the Bishops informing them that at the beginning
of the following month the Duke De la Feuillade would be
dispatched to Rome ; that the instructions which he would
receive would most probably lead to a lasting peace.
Meanwhile let the Bishops refrain from any step that might
cross his efforts ; Parliament would not in any way encroach
on their rights ; in case of appeals " without necessity ", let
the Bishops have recourse to the Regent.^ It goes without
saying that the Bishops could not be too well pleased with
a letter forbidding only appeals " without necessity ", but
not the appeal in itself and which, moreover, took away from
the ecclesiastical superiors the right of punishing the appellants.
Cardinal Bissy endeavoured to make capital out of the fact
that in the first draft the words " without necessity " had
been omitted, but the Regent insisted on this clause.^ There-
upon the Bishops who were loyal to the Pope resolved to
safe-guard their authority. On a former occasion already
they had pointed out to the Regent that it was their pastoral
duty to proceed against the rebellious parish priests, if a
national Council did not come about or the appeals were
not suppressed ^ ; after that Rohan, Bissy and the Archbishop
1 [Cadry], II., 24 seq.
- March 19, 1717, ibid., 26.
' Ibid., 49.
* Ibid., 50 seq.
* Bissy, July 25, Orleans, August 17, 171 7, in [Cadry], II.,
51 seq.
* Ibid., 50.
SILENCE ORDERED. 285
.of Bourges promised, in view of the mission of the Duke de la
Feuillade, to refrain from a decisive step until Christmas,^
but as the Regent did not dispatch the Duke and published
his own declaration on appeals " without necessity ", Bissy
considered himself as no longer bound by his promise and
drew up a pastoral ^ which was published by all the Bishops
who supported the Constitution. It stated that the appellants
had incurred excommunication and were incapable of carrying
out their ecclesiastical functions. The draft was betrayed
to the Regent who now carried out a long planned measure.
Chevalier had suggested the enforcement by royal decree of
silence on all the parties until a General Council or the Pope
should decide the matter. The Regent would have preferred
to have a confirmation of Noailles' dogmatic explanation,
but to this Clement XI. would not agree, though he was
willing that an express declaration should leave the decision
to him. Thus after a prohibition had been issued in France
on May 17th forbidding the publication of any writings
without permission, 3 a royal decree was published on October
7th, 1717,* ordering complete silence on the subject of the
Constitution until the Pope should have found means to
settle the dispute. Parliament registered the decree ^ and
Chancellor D'Aguesseau advised the Parliaments to see to its
observance.^
The decree was not well obeyed for it encountered universal
dissatisfaction. The Jansenists were dissatisfied because the
Regent set them aside, the orthodox, because the defenders
of the faith were placed on the same level as the advocates
of error.' There now appeared a publication giving in two
columns the decree of the Regent and a similar document
1 Ibid., Si.
* September, 171 7, iiiz^., 77 5ey.
^ Ibid., 75.
* Ibid., 82-5.
'" Ibid., 85 seq.
^ Circular letter of October 18, 1717, ibid., 86 seq. On the origin
of the order of sihiice, Lafitau, II., 49 seqq.
' [Cadry], II., 90.
286 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the Byzantine Emperor Constantius in the affair of the
MonotheHtes, the so-called Typtis, with a view to showing
their affinity ; added to it was the condemnation of the
Typus by Pope Martin I. and the first Council of the Lateran.^
The decree of the Regent did not escape the Pope's displeasure.
Cardinal Paolucci spoke to the French nuncio, Bentivoglio,^
of the Pope's painful surprise that the Regent, after so
considerate a treatment by the Holy See, should now publish,
without consulting Rome, a decree that treated the whole
affair as if it were still undecided. The favour of the Govern-
ment during the last two years had made the Jansenists
insolent ; what must not be expected from them in the
future now that the Regent put them on the level of the
orthodox ! A Brief to the Duke of Orleans himself ^ repeats
this thought and emphatically declares that peace could be
obtained by no other means except by the sincere submission
of the appellants.
However, the Regent tried other means. Though the mission
of the Duke de la Feuillade had not come off, Orleans had not
given up the idea of direct peace negotiations with Rome.
He persuaded Noaihes to promise to accept the Bull if the
Pope confirmed the dogmatic explanation in the composition
of which the Sorbonne had also had a share ; Noailles handed
the Regent a document with a promise to this effect. However,
this time also the negotiations failed. The promise of the
Archbishop of Paris was so worded that De la Tremoille
could not even see his way to presenting it to the Pope.
The dogmatic explanation was the result of concerted effort
on the part of the French Bishops and, by Noailles' wish,
it was presented to the Pope in the name of the friends of
the Constitution ; nevertheless, after it had been examined
1 The pamphlet was attributed to the friends of the Constitu-
tion, but [Cadry] (II., 89 seq.) found out " par des voyes trfes
sures que cette piece fut imaginee et jetee dans le public par les
Appellants ".
2 October, 1717, ibid., 94 seq.
3 December 7, 1717, Opera, Epist., 2276; Fleury, LXIX.,
552 seq.
EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 287
by Cardinals Paolucci, Fabroni, Tolomei and Albani, Clement
XI. declared that he could not approve it though he was
prepared to publish himself a similar declaration as regards
substance and order. To this Noailles would not consent.
He demanded that the Pope should either confirm the French
exposition or publish a new Constitution in which the Bull
against Quesnel would not be taken into account. Thus the
negotiations were hopeless ; moreover, by means of secret
inquiries from Rohan and Bissy, it was ascertained that, as
on former occasions, Noailles had tampered with the copy
presented in Rome, the text of which differed from the
French original in forty-eight places.^ On top of everything
it so happened that a copy of Noailles' appeal, which he had
hitherto kept secret, was found among the papers of the
late Bishop of Lectoure ^ and made public by means of the
press. This incident was extremely awkward for the Arch-
bishop : if he promised the Pope and the Regent to accept
the Constitution, against which he had appealed, his duplicity
was plainly revealed. Besides, on account of the command
of silence, the Regent could not tolerate the publication of
the document. It was accordingly suppressed by an official
decree, but in such wise that the whole blame fell on the
illicit publication, not on the appeal itself and on Noailles.^
Meanwhile all sorts of rumours circulated in Paris about
the Archbishop's very slight inclination to submit ; these
rumours promptly raised another storm among his followers.
Twenty-six parish priests of Paris assured him in writing
that they, on their part, maintained their old standpoint
and would continue to maintain it even if their Archbishop
changed his mind. Fifty Doctors of the Sorbonne gave their
adhesion to this declaration. As a matter of fact profound
1 ScHiLL, 160-2.
* De Polestron, d. October 13, 1717 (Jean, 83). An *Avviso
of December 25, 1717, Reuss Archives, Ernstbrunn, says that the
question of the Bull Unigenitus, which had apparently been
settled, revived more strongly than ever through a printed appeal
by Noailles.
' [Cadry], II., 91 seqq. ; Leclerq, II., 42.
288 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
excitement over the Bull is a characteristic feature of the
period. The Constitution Unigenitus was a current topic of
conversation, everybody had his own opinion about it —
Doctors of the Sorbonne and Councillors of Parliament,
parish priests and religious, down to sextons and beadles.
Men tied ribbons of various colours to the handles of their
swords by which they were known as adherents of the
Constitution or the Regency, at times, in fact, the sword
would fly out of its scabbard when arguments failed the
armed theologians.^ In spite of official prohibitions, polemical
writings great and small were tossed to and fro between the
two parties. 2 Once again the Sorbonne displayed particular
zeal in a Jansenistic-Gallican sense. In their memorial the
twenty-eight Bishops had protested against the encroachments
of the professors, hence the latter, in their reply, invoked
the protection of the Regent against the Bishops.^ Logically
enough, in view of the fact that it had altered its standpoint
in questions concerning Jansenism, the Faculty would have
revoked its former censure of Arnauld, had not the State
Chancellor intervened ; at any rate, thereafter, subscription
to this censure was no longer demanded.'*
This characteristic of the Jansenists' aversion for Rome
was so great that they conceived a project of seeking contact
with the Anghcans. The Jansenist Louis Ellies Dupin wrote
in this sense to the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Wake,
on February 11th, 1718, and received an encouraging answer.
However, the transaction raised suspicions in Paris, Dupin's
papers were sequestrated, with the result that it became
evident that he was ready to make most important
concessions. Dupin was of opinion that, without any loss
to the Catholic Faith, he might sacrifice auricular confession,
. transubstantiation, religious vows, clerical celibacy. Lent
^ Leclerq, II., 43,
^ Ibid., 44.
3 [Cadry], II., 38. Cf. above, p. 284.
•» [Cadry], II.. 60. On the Faculty of Nantes, ibid., 80.
LOYAL BISHOPS. 289
and the primacy of the Pope. His death in 1719 put an end
to these negotiations.^
However, amid the general confusion there were not lacking
Bishops who boldly defended the cause of the Church against
the Gallicans and the Jansenists.^ Foresta de Cologne of Apt
published a pastoral in defence of papal infallibility,^ Belsunce
of Marseilles confessed, as against Galilean ideas, that he.
was indeed the shepherd of his own diocese, but in respect
of the Pope he was but a member of the fold of Christ.*
De Mailly of Rheims wrote to the Regent,^ pointing out the
damage done by the order of silence of October 7th, 1717,
and condemning the encroachments of many Bishops and
secular officials. " We have been handed over to the
Parliaments," he wrote ; " to-day the affairs of the Church
are treated no longer in Councils but in the Law Courts . . .
the Councils expected from the Pope confirmation of their
decrees, to-day the decisions of Pope and Bishops are in need
of confirmation by secular tribunals." ^ In point of fact,
things had come to such a pass that certain Faculties arrogated
to themselves, to a large extent, the teaching authority of
the Church and the Parliaments her jurisdiction. Cologne
1 Lafitau, IL, 138 seq. ; [Patouillet], III., 320 ; Lupton,
Archbishop Wake and the project of union, London, 1896 ; D'un
projet d'union entre les eglises gallicane et anglicane. Correspondance
entre Wahe et Dupin, London, 1864 ; Dictionary of English
Biography, LVIII. (1899), 446 ; Fleury, LXX., 215 seqq. ;
Ranke, Franz. Gesch., IV.'*, 326.
* Fleury, LXIX., 'j 00 seqq.
* [CaDRY], II., 99 S£?^.
* Letter of March 14, 171 8 ; ibid., 102 seq. Cf. F. Jauffret,
Msgr. de Belsunce et le Jansenisme, Marseille, 1881 ; Correspondance
de M. de Belsunce, cveqiie de Marseille, par L.-A. de Porrentruy,
ibid., 191 1 ; J. Laurentie, Belsunce et le Jansenisme d'aprks
une correspondance inedite, [with Le Bret, President of the Parlia-
ment,] in the Universite Catholiqiie n. s., XXVIII. (1898), 24 seqq.,
22^ seqq.
* January 20, 1718, in, [Cadry], II., 108.
' Ibid., 109.
VOL. XXXIII. u
290 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
was about to experience this now : his pastoral was suppressed
by the ParHament of Aix and his revenues were confiscated.
De Mailly fared even worse ; although a pair of the realm
whose privilege it was, as Archbishop of Rheims, to anoint
the King at his coronation, it fell to his lot to see his letter
condemned by the Parliament of Paris, to be publicly torn
and burnt by the hand of the executioner.^ In spite of the
pleadings of some highly placed persons, Orleans allowed
this sentence to be carried out ; whereupon De Mailly, in
a circular to the Deans, congratulated himself on having had
the honour of suffering so great a shame for the name of
God ; he also founded an annual Mass in thanksgiving. ^
The papal press of April 26th, 1718, eulogized De Mailly
and Belsunce ; similar letters of September 13th praised
Languet of Soissons and Forbin Janson of Aries. ^
As the enemies of the Constitution kept asserting that
outside France the Bull against Quesnel was hardly known,
so that it could not be said that it had been accepted. Bishop
La Parisiere of Nimes sought information on the subject
from the Bishops of Spain and Portugal, and de Bissy from
the Bishops of the rest of the world. The answers to these
inquiries were published in one volume in 1718,^ as an
incontrovertible proof of the acceptance of the Bull by the
universal Church.^ It was necessary to print the book abroad ;
in France it led to fresh action by Parliament.^ The Bishop
of Nimes paid for his pastoral letter with banishment from
Paris.'
(10.)
After all this there could be but little doubt as to what
fate awaited any further papal decrees. However, even
^ Ibid., 100, no.
" Ibid., 110 seq. ; Fleury, LXIX., joj seqq.
3 Fleury, 705 seqq.
*■ Tdmoignage de I'J^glise universelle en faveiir de la btille
Unigenitus, Bruxelles, 1718 ; Nouveaux temoignages, 1722.
« SCHILL, 317-334.
* January 14, 1719 ; [Cadry], II., 132. ' Ibid., 91.
APPEAL CONDEMNED. 29I
though the Parliaments suppressed nearly everything that
came from Rome, their decrees did not prevent every counter-
measure from coming to the knowledge of the general public
and these produced their effect upon wide circles. On March
8th, 1718, a decree of the Holy Office was posted up in Rome
condemning the four Bishops as well as the adhesion of the
Faculties of Paris, Rheims, Nantes, together with Noailles'
appeal.^
That which was to be expected, happened. The Regent
refused to take the decree when the Nuncio handed it to
him. 2 The Parliaments thundered against it ^ ; in a joint
letter the four appellants exhorted the Regent to defend the
Archbishops against a power whose policy had aimed for
centuries at the destruction of the prestige of the Bishops.*
Noailles made a separate complaint to Orleans, but failed to
obtain leave to publish his appeal ^ ; the Bishop of Senez
made a similar protest at a synod, with the consent of his
clergy.^
The Pope, of course, could not remain silent, but Cardinal
de Bissy prevailed upon him once more ' to delay action.
As a matter of fact fresh discussions seemed about to lead
to some result this time : the appellants somehow agreed
on the earlier dogmatic explanation, though this had not
met with particular favour in Rome ; Noailles promised
to accept the Bull on the basis of his own explanations, even
if these were not confirmed by the Pope. Further than this
they did not get.^ De Bissy had to inform ^ the friends of
the Constitution by circular letter that the negotiations had
^ Fleury, LXIX., 714 ; Reusch, II., 737.
^ [Cadry], II., HI. " Les emissaires de Rome ne laisserent
pas de la repandre dans le royaume." Ihid.
^ Ibid., 113 seqq. ; [Nivelle], III., 249-256.
* [Cadry], II., Ill set/. The letter was not printed,
s Ihid.
« Ibid.
' By letter of May 23, 1718, ibid., 133.
8 Ibid.
* September 14, 1718, ibid., 142 seq.
292 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
failed, that a fresh papal pronouncement was to be expected,
the consequence being a fresh appeal to a General Council
which, this time, would come from the Pariiament of Paris.
The Bishops should forestall this step by means of pastorals
in which stress should be laid on the general acceptance of
the Bull by the universal Church, and the nullity of the
appeal against it. It was necessary to make haste, for if
the pastorals only appeared after the Bull which was to be
expected, the State would consider them as its execution
and would treat them accordingly.
As anyone could gather from this letter the rupture of the
negotiations was complete ; Noailles was at last allowed to
publish his appeal ^ ; this he did on September 24th, but his
declarations did not meet with universal approval, even on
the part of his friends. They blamed him, for instance, for
appealing not merely to a Council but also to a better informed
Pope, and for only finding fault with the abuse of the Bull ;
they would have wished him to speak more clearly. ^ In spite
of this Noailles had the consent of his Chapter and the parish
priests ; only two Canons and some ten or twelve parish
priests were of a contrary opinion. ^
Scarcely had the appeal been made public when the papal
Bull which Clement XI. had signed on August 28th became
known. ^
^ Reprinted, ibid., 149-157.
2 Ibid., 157.
' Ibid., 148 seq.
* " Pastoralis officii." Reprinted in Bull, XXL, 807-813 ;
Fleury, LXIX., 726-741. A number of *drafts in Miscell. di
Clemente XI., vol. 151, are proof of the personal part the Pope
took in connexion with the Bull : " Prime minute di questa
Bolla in numero di tre emendate ct aggiunte in molti luoghi da
S. Beatitudine ; Fogli continenti mutazioni e aggiunti alia bolla
di pugno di S. B. ; Principio di bolla di pugno di S. B. ; Minuta
intiera di bolla formata et scritta da Clemente XI. ; Copia della
medesima con nuove correzioni fatta di pugno del Papa : Osser-
vazioni fatte da' cardinali ; Sette fogli [with alterations in the
Pope's own hand] ; 13 fogli scritti da Msgr. Maielli [with altera-
tions for Bull and Briefs] ; Note del Card. Tolomei, del P. Fontagne
THE BULL PASTOR A LIS OFFICII. 293
It was promulgated on September 8th, the anniversary
of the Constitution against Quesnel. The Pope begins with
a survey of his efforts on behalf of those who had gone astray ;
he had patiently gone after them, regardless of the construction
that might be put on his mildness, for he knew that God must
be served amid good and evil report.^ Just as the four Bishops
had addressed their appeal from the Pope to the universal
Church, so does the Pope also appeal to the whole of
Christendom, requesting pra3^ers for the needs of the French
Church and warning against the party and the excuses with
which they seek to cover themselves. The party pretend to
be in agreement with the Roman Church whereas they distorted
and found fault with a decision which had been accepted
by the entire Church, as if amid universal blindness they
alone beheld the light of truth. ^ Many pretended that they
only wanted explanations of the Bull ; in reality they were
not eager for enlightenment ; their true aim was to involve
the Church in useless questions and to obscure what was
clear and plain. Moreover, the motives on which they based
their request for explanations were offensive to the Hoty
See, inasmuch as they based it' on an alleged fear that the
Bull might subvert dogma and moral and ecclesiastical
discipline ; but this amounted to a fear lest the faith of
e del P. Desirant ; Minuta mutata della lettera alii vescovi di
Francia fatta nuovamente da Msgr. Maielli con un biglietto
del Papa ; Minuta della lettera scritta a ciascuno cardinale di
pugno di S. S^^ concernente il breve di mandarvi in Francia ;
Prima e seconda minuta del breve al Duca regente formate di
proprio pugno di S. S*^, di 23 e 30 aprile ; Minuta di lettera di
pugno del Papa al card. Rotomag. et Bissy 23 agosto 1718."
In *vol. 152, references to the same Bull : " Biglietti del Assessore
de S. Officio nel mesa di Giugno 171 8, con cui si da a Considerare
per commando di S. S*^'^ la prima minuta della bolla ; voti de'
Cardinal! Giudice, Paolucci, Casoni, Fabroni, Tolomei e Ottoboni ;
Seconda e terza minuta della bolla data a considerate a' detti
cardinali, Luglio et Agosto 1718." Then follow the voh of the
Cardinals mentioned. Papal Sec. Archives.
^ Fleurv, LXIX., 730.
* Ibid., 732 seq.
294 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Saint Peter should fail and the whole Church, which hearkens
to the Apostolic See, might forsake the way of truth and
salvation. They further alleged that the Bull might prove
hurtful to theological doctrines which had hitherto been
taught in the Catholic schools without anyone finding fault
with them, yet the heads of these schools were all of them
ready to be taught by the Roman Church, and these doctrines
were being taught at this day under the very eyes of the
Pope.i Furthermore, we read, they pretend to defend the
episcopal dignity whilst, at the same time, they despise their
fellow Bishops, foster the rebelliousness of the lower clergy
and subject ecclesiastical persons and things to secular
tribunals. No one exalts the loftiness of the New Testament
and the virtue of charity more eloquently than they, yet
no one injures charity with equal shamelessness. They praise
the power of grace whilst they outrage the Author of grace
by their errors. Moreover, they cloak themselves " with the
showy garment of a false ascetism ". With a view " to tearing
this harmful mask " from their faces, " pubhcly and before
the whole Church," the Pope reminds them that there is no
true virtue without humility, no devotion without obedience,
no perfection without charity. But what humility and
obedience is that which exalts itself above fellow Bishops
and the See of St. Peter ? What charity is that which spreads
outrageous injuries and sows everywhere quarrels and
dissension ? ^
To stem the evil to the best of his ability, the Pope declares
that he refuses to acknowledge the recalcitrants as true sons
of the Roman Church ; since they had actually separated
themselves from the Holy See and the Roman Church, he
would regard them as cut off from him and as men with
whom he was not in communion ; the Bishops of the whole
world should follow his example in this respect.
In spite of its objective severity the Bull must nevertheless
be considered as mild, inasmuch as it mentions none of the
1 Ibid., 734 seq.
" Ibid., 'J2>^seq.
NOAILLES OBSTINACY. 295
rebellious Bishops by name, merely hints at the appeal and
avoids the word " excommunication ". By the terms
of the French concordat, a man need not be avoided as
excommunicate, if he had not been explicitly named. ^
Clement XI. realized that his Bull would occasion a mass
of new appeals ; of this de la Tremoille had warned him
with more than sufficient clearness. ^ As a matter of fact
Noailles did make a second appeal on October 3rd.^ Basing
himself on his first appeal, he declares the sentence of
excommunication to be null and void seeing that he had
appealed to a higher judge, viz. the universal Church, hence
the authority of a lesser power was tied and the Pope could
no longer judge any infractions of his Constitution. Moreover,
the most recent papal decree offended against the privileges
of the French Church ; it inflicted penalties where there was
no guilt and demanded unqualified obedience without any
justification. A covering letter to his subjects lays the
responsibility for the papal decree on those whose only aim
it is to sow trouble and dissension ; the letter also instructs
the faithful on the duty of obedience towards the Pope and
upon the limits of that authority.^
The flood of appeals now reached its high- water mark.
The Chapter agreed with its Archbishop, as did the theological
Faculty and the whole University, in fact the theological
Faculty would not content itself with a simple adhesion to
Noailles' appeal, and on October 18th it appealed in its own
name. 5 After that the Faculty terminated the second part
of the dogmatic explanation on which it had been at work
for some time, inserting some of the 101 propositions
condemned by the Pope, which were also defended in the
^ SCHILL, 168, n. 2.
2 [Cadry], II., 159.
3 Du Bois, 586-596.
* Ibid., 582-5. The appeal to well-known expressions of
Bernard of Clairvaux and Robert Grosseteste is irrelevant, since
neither opposed papal decisions on matters of faith.
^ Ibid., 431-464 ; [Cadrv], II., 162 seqq.
296 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
disputations of many students of theology.^ A number of
religious commimities in and out of Paris followed the example
of the Archbishop and the University, as, for instance, the
Canons Regular of Saint-Victor and St. Genevieve, the
Oratorians, the Fathers of Christian Doctrine, the Maurists,
the Dominicans, the Carmelites, the Feuillants, the Celestines,
and others. 2 Sermons were also preached against the
Constitution ; in these the opponents of the Bull were extolled
whilst its defenders were described as men without character,
without knowledge, without mission, as ignorant and head-
strong people, the enemies of order and of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy ; behind all this were certain religious, it was said,
who pursued a purpose of their own when they strove to
alienate the faithful from their parish and to render the
Archbishop and the parish priests suspect to them.^
What has been said makes it clear that the Pope still had
his friends even in Paris. Whilst many religious houses
participated in a body in the appeal, b}^ means of capitular
decisions, the Lazarists and the Seminary of the Foreign
Missions held back.^ Honore Tournely,^ the outstanding
Sorbonnist of the time, together with twenty-two Doctors
who, like himself, had been excluded from the meetings for
having defended the Bull, raised a protest against the appeal
of the Faculty ^ ; more than 500 Doctors in the various
dioceses of France, who had received their dignity from the
Paris Faculty, acted in like manner and recognized the Bull
as a dogmatic and infallible judgment of the Church.'' One
of the Canons Regular of Saint- Victor, Gourdan, whom the
people revered as a Saint, addressed a personal letter to
Noailles in which he reminded him that it was a direct attack
1 [Cadry], II., 166.
2 Ibid., 167 ; [Nivelle], II., 2, 226-611.
' [Cadry], II., 169.
'• Ibid., 167.
* HiLD, Honore Tournely imd seine Stellung zum Jansenismus,
Freiburg, igii.
« Cadry], II., 163.
' Feret, VI., 84 ; Fleury, LXX., 43 seq.
MORE APPEALS. 297
against the Son of God to rise against the authority which
He Himself had founded and strengthened against the powers
of hell ; a man must be blind if he failed to see the lofty
wisdom of the Bull Unigenitns.^ As it was, an overwhelming
majority of the Bishops held fast to the Bull.
Nevertheless, after Noailles had made his appeal public,
not a few of his episcopal colleagues took his part.^ Among
those who had long been his followers, the Bishops of Laon,
Chalons, St. Malo, Bayonne and Angouleme also appealed ;
on the other hand two of those who had hitherto sided with
them did not go so far as to appeal publicly as they would
have found no following in their dioceses of Treguier and
Arras. ^ Another follower of Noailles, the Archbishop of
Tours, had died, but his Chapter appealed in his place.
Some of those who had previously accepted the Bull now
joined the appellants ; they were, not counting the above-
mentioned Bishop of Laon who had resumed his original
opposition to the Bull, the Bishops of Agen, Condom, Macon,
Dax and Auxerre. Thus counting Noailles, the four first
appellants and the Bishops of Pamiers and Verdun who had
previously associated themselves with them, the number of
appellants amounted to seventeen ; to them might be added
the Bishop of Tournai who, however, had long ago resigned
his office. Most of the above named had already made known
their approval by a secret document in 1717, at a time when
Noailles' appeal was only known to the initiated ; among
them was the Archbishop of Lectoure who, however, died
before the publication of this appeal and thus need not be
counted. Two of the above, namely, the Bishops of Laon
1 [Cadry], II., 170 seq.
" Ibid., 172-191 ; [Nivelle], II., i, 457-675.
^ Kervilio of Treguier did not appeal, " comme ayant un
clerge peu dispose a le suivre, et 11 ramena M. d 'Arras a son avis
par la meme raison " ([Cadry], II., 173). On the equivocal
conduct of the Bishop of Arras and " la populace tres prevenue
dans ce pays pour les maximes ultramontaines " see [Cadry],
II., 289. For " ultramontane " scenes in the dioceses of Tournai
and Verdun, ibid., 291, 293.
298 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
and Angouleme, onl}^ joined when Noailles published his
appeal on September 24th, 1718.^ As at that time France
counted 120 Bishops, it cannot be said that the twenty-
appellants formed a very large proportion. It is true that
the example of the Bishops had a decisive influence on the
clergy, though not everywhere. At Rheims and Rouen,
where the Bishops were loyal to the Constitution, there were,
nevertheless, numerous appeals. ^ On the other hand, only
a very few of his priests followed the Bishop of Mirepoix
in his attack on the Bull ^ ; apart from one religious body,
the Bishop of Pamiers only found two followers among his
priests : " they are ultramontanes in this country," he
lamented, because the priests had made their studies at
Toulouse and were staunch upholders of the doctrine of
papal infallibility.^ In effect there were only two appeals
in the archdiocese of Toulouse and of the eight dioceses of the
Province of Toulouse, Lombez, Montauban, Rieux and Lavaur
did not furnish a single one.^ The situation was likewise
unfavourable to Noailles and his followers in the ecclesiastical
Province of Bourges in the North and in the archdiocese of
Tours and the dioceses depending on it.^ Out of thirteen
dioceses of the Province of Narbonne only five produced
appellants, and of these five Montpellier alone provided
a considerable number ; Agde only furnished three, Bezier^,
Carcassonne and Saint-Pons only one each.^ Nevertheless
the total number of appellants is reckoned at several
thousands.^
^ A last straggler of the Appellants in 1735 is Segur of Saint-
Papoul ([Nivelle], II., i, 676 seqq. The Bishops of Bayeux,
Troyes and Castres, though not Appellants, are Jansenists
{ibid., 685-736).
- Ibid., II., 2, 91 seqq., 131 seqq.
* Ibid., II., I, 26 seqq.
* Ibid., 440.
' Ibid., II., 2, 192. On Saint-Papoul, see note i
* [Nivelle], II., 2, 39, 193.
' Ibid., 58 seqq.
8 ScHiLL, 151.
THE PARLIAMENTS. 299
This time also Noailles' strongest supporters came from
those bodies which could always be depended upon to oppose
the Pope. All the twelve Parliaments of the realm strove
to render the new papal Bull ineffective.^ Thus, for instance,
the Parliament of Paris forbade the Bishops to accept, publish
and quote the Bull ; similar decrees by the other Parliaments
instructed the Pope on papal infallibility which they declared
to be an untenable opinion, on the rights of the Bishops, the
General Council and the authority of the laity. ^ By way of
particular directions for the execution of the most recent
Bull, the Roman Inquisition had decreed, on December 19th,
1718, that those who in any way attacked the Bull Unigenitus,
or defended its opponents, must be denounced to the Bishop
of the diocese or the Inquisitor.^ The Parliaments of Paris,
Toulouse, Bordeaux, Besangon and Metz took the customary
measures against this edict also and as obedience to the papal
prescriptions was especially feared from the rehgious, several
Parhaments forbade them to leave the country or to accept
directions from Rome without permission.^ Simultaneously
with the Bull, Parhament also attacked the pastorals which,
at De Bissy's suggestion,^ not a few Bishops had published
against the appellants.^ Rebellious priests who saw themselves
threatened by the pastorals of their Bishops, need only appeal
to Parliament when they could be certain of receiving safe-
conducts. Innumerable documents of the kind were issued
by which the hands of the Bishops were tied.' When the
1 [Nivelle], III., 257-291.
* [Cadry], II., 196 seqq. ; 205 seqq.
3 Reusch, II., 738 ; Fleury, LXIX., 807 ; [Cadry], II., 282.
^ [Cadry], ibid. ; [Nivelle], III., 291-5.
* See above, p. 297.
* De Bissy in his Instruction pastorale of 1722 gives 48. [Cadry],
II.. 211.
' " Les arrets de cette espece qui furent rendus, sent sans
nombre, mais il y en a eu fort peu d'imprimez, parce que com-
munement ceux qui les avoient obtenus, se contentoient de les
faire signifier aux eveques, qui de leur cote ne passoient pas
outre," ibid.
300 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Bishop of Dol published his pastoral letter, the Parliament
of Rennes forbade all the Bishops of its district to publish
similar documents and demanded that this prohibition should
be read from the pulpit in all the churches.^ The same
Bishop, in spite of parliamentary orders, had threatened
certain recalcitrant Benedictines with excommunication.
Parliament replied with a threat of the sequestration of the
Bishop's revenues.^ The same fate befell Bishop Belsunce
of Marseilles who had taken action against the Oratorians,
and Bishop de Foresta of Apt who had appealed from the
pretensions of the Parliaments and from the youthful King
to the King of maturer years. Both had their revenues
sequestrated. Belsunce succeeded in obtaining a repeal of
the decree in question from the Council of State but de
Foresta saw his appeal to the King publicly burnt by the
executioner.^ In addition to Belsunce and de Foresta, Languet
of Soissons distinguished himself on this occasion also by
courageous action on behalf of the Church * with the
consequence that two of his manifestos were burnt by the
executioner, by order of Parliament.^ In many instances
the tribunals acted with truly oriental despotism. An Ursuhne
nun of Aix had been forbidden Holy Communion by order
of the Archbishop for having appealed ; she appealed to the
secular judge and Parliament decided in her favour against
the Archbishop.^ Religious superiors were forbidden under
pain of sequestration of their revenues, to prevent appellant
priests from saying Mass in their churches.' The Rector
of the Jesuit College of Chambery was forbidden under pain
of a fine of 10,000 livres, to allow the Bull to be defended
in the theological lectures.^ The Universities also permitted
1 February 4, 1719, ibid., 214.
2 Ibid.
' Ibid., 216-225.
^ Ibid., 225 seqq.
* SCHILL, 185.
* [Cadry], II., 286, where more such examples are given.
' Ibid., 287.
8 Ibid.. 288.
NOAILLES PASTORAL INSTRUCTION. 30I
themselves enormous encroachments. At Caen the University
excluded from its body those Doctors who refused to appeal.^
In the document about their appeal, which they forwarded
to the Faculty of Paris, they described the doctrine of papal
infallibility as a " frivolous claim ",- and when a certain
Doctor Tamponet, of the Sorbonne, who otherwise was no
advocate of this papal prerogative, nevertheless found the
expression too strong, the Faculty of Paris also declared that
teaching to be erroneous and even thought of depriving
Tamponet of his Doctor's title. ^
The powerful sensation which the appeals created only
encouraged their authors. The four Bishops who had given
the first impulse, published yet another joint appeal, this
time in particular against the decrees of the Inquisition in
their affair and against the pastorals of the supporters of
the Constitution.'* In a voluminous memorial ^ they
endeavoured to substantiate further their rejection of the
Bull against Ouesnel. As for the most recent Bull they
based themselves on a pastoral instruction of the Archbishop
of Paris which had caused a great sensation, were it only
because of the position of its author.^ Its most important part
is an examination of the infallibility of the Church's definitions.
The defenders of the Bull against Quesnel had always stressed
the fact that it had been received by all the Bishops, so that
it had to be considered as a rule of faith even on the basis
of Galilean principles. Noailles replied that such consent
was only a convincing argument if in the act of accepting
^ Ibid., 273.
2 " Hunc quidem intolerandum esse Ultramontanorum errorem
(that the Appellants had been excommunicated), qui vanis
opinionibus imbuti, SS. Pontificem nee falli nee fallere posse . . .
temere omnino autumant." [Nivelle], I., 421.
3 [Cadry], II., 274 seq.
* [Nivelle], I., 75-9.
* Of 300 pages in 4to ; extract in [Cadry], II., 266. '
* Dated January 14, 1719, appeared in February and comprises
222 pages in 410 ; extract in [Cadry], II., 237-244 ; Schill,
186; Fleurv, LXX., 207-212.
302 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Bull the Bishops had acted as judges and if there was
moral unanimity : 300 Bishops professing belief in the
Pope's infallibility were, so to speak, no more than one
Bishop so long as the Church was not gathered in Council,
for their pronouncements were based on those of the Pope.
It was so with the Bull against Ouesnel : the Bishops obeyed,
they submitted to an authority which they believed to be
infallible, they were no more than humble and docile sheep
who can but follow their shepherd.^ To the objection that
silent acquiescence by so many Bishops was unthinkable
if the Bull imperilled the faith, Noailles rephed b}/ pointing
to probabilism which, though it subverts the whole of Christian
morality, was yet silently tolerated for so long a time.^
Even in this official document Noailles could not refrain
from bitter comments on " the rash and presumptuous men "
whose only aim it was to destroy the teaching on grace of
St. Augustine and St. Thomas, who in moral theology advance
scandalous and lax opinions that have been repeatedly
condemned and hold subversive principles about the
hierarchy.^ In like manner the four Bishops also undertake,
in the first part of their memorial, to expose the most recent
errors about dogma, morals and the hierarchy ; in the second
part they endeavour to show in what way the Bull against
Quesnel favours these errors ; the four specifically turn their
weapons against Molina in favour of their protege, Quesnel.*
The consequences of Noailes' Instruction could easily be
foreseen : it called forth many refutations, particularly
from the Bishops of Soissons, Angers and Meaux ; but when
^ [Cadry], II., 240, 242. Hence the Bull against Baius is
not a rule of faith on that account, although Noailles had affirmed
the contrary as late as 1711 (Schill, 184, n. 3). Quesnel in 1687,
in his Tradition de l'£,glise Romaine, had also admitted : " Le
silence des autres eglises . . . doit tenir lieu de consentement
general " {ibid. ; [Patouillet], IV., 122 seq.).
2 [Cadry], II., 242.
^ Ibid., -zjfj.
* Ibid., 267, 269.
THE REGENT S POLICY. 303
the Inquisition condemned the Instruction, the Parhaments
of Paris and Rouen in their turn condemned the decree of the
Inquisition.^
fll.
In spite of the success of the Appellants in 1712, that very
year marks a retrogression in the Jansenist movement.
Though personally devoid of all religious convictions, the
Regent desired religious peace for political reasons and he
became more and more convinced that he would not be able
to secure it whilst Quesnellism prevailed. His trusted adviser,
the Abbe Dubois, though anything but a keenly religious
man, was also an opponent of Jansenism from personal
motives. He had just achieved a triumph with the conclusion
of the quadruple alliance : to obtain yet another, by the
removal of religious dissensions, may well have appeared to
him a worthy pursuit. Moreover, he aspired to the cardinalate
for he was anxious for his lowly origin to be forgotten at
court. However, he could only hope for such a distinction
b}'' rendering so outstanding a service to the Church as to
cover even his bad reputation in respect to morals. ^ Thus
the Government was on the side of the friends of the
Constitution but the support of persons of such ill report
^ Ibid., 244 seqq. The Decree of the Inquisition of August 3,
1719, in Bull, dementis, XI., 1114, in Fleury, LXX., 213 seq. ;
the edicts of the Parhaments of Paris and Rouen of September 6
and October 17, 1719, in [Nivelle], III., 295 seq.
^ Bliard, II., 283. The existence of a French plan for a
matrimonial alliance with the Spanish royal family, which it
was hoped to dispose favourably by the adoption of a more
Catholic policy (Schill, 192), cannot be proved as early as 17 19
(Leclerq, II., 207 seqq.). Dubois' morality has also been
suspected, though quite unjustly, as is shown, for example, by
Fenelon's relations with him (Bliard, 268 seqq.). " A partir de
1716 sa vie devint extremement chaste et sobre," says Le Monte y.
Hist, de la Regence, II., 87, in Bliard, II., 270, note .
304 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
as Orleans and Dubois could hardly be considered an advantage
with public opinion.^
The first symptoms of a change in the religious policy
of the Regent appeared before long. Just then there were
those who favoured the idea of all the Parliaments appealing
to a future Council, but the Regent opposed the plan.^ When
a number of appellant priests sought to protect themselves
against their Bishops with letters of safe-conduct from the
Parliaments, Orleans forbade the issue of such letters unless
the motives for an appeal had been previously approved
by the Regent.^ In various particular conflicts also the
Regent gave his verdict in favour of the friends of
the Constitution.* He sought to curb the zeal both of the
Parliaments and of the Sorbonne, that " centre of the
appeals ".^ Doctor Tamponet had lately been excluded from
the Sorbonne on account of his views on papal infallibility,®
whilst the Jansenist Petitpied, who had been excluded in
1704 on account of the " Case of Conscience ", had been
readmitted on June 1st. On July 6th the heads of the
Faculty were summoned before the Keeper of the Seals
when they were made to expunge from the registers which
they had brought with them, all that had been done in
favour of Petitpied and against Tamponet. The Keeper of
the Seals rebuked the Sorbonne for its attitude towards
papal infallibility, an attitude which was extraordinarily
radical even for that Faculty, and ordered the registration
of a decree forbidding it to indulge in disputations on the
^ On the other hand a blow was dealt to the followers of
Quesnel when on the occasion of a search of Dupin's premises
papers were found dealing with the union of the Jansenist party
with the Anghcans ; see above, p. 288.
2 [Cadry], II.. 196.
5 Ibid., 201 seq. ; Dubois, 597 xeq. Ibid., a letter of advice
to the Bishops. Cf. Schill, 182.
* Two cases at Verdun (November i, 171 8, and April 25,
1719), in [Cadry], II., 293, 294.
8 Ibid., 271.
* Above, p. 301.
FRESH CONSULTATIONS. 305
Bull Unigenitus and renewing the prescriptions concerning
the customary oaths and subscriptions ; in other words,
the formulary of Alexander VII. and the censure against
Arnauld could not be brushed aside, as had been attempted.
The Doctors remonstrated but the Regent upheld his order. ^
In addition to the above decree the Faculty was hkewise
compelled to register a royal declaration of June 5th, 1719,
which enforced anew the order of silence of October 7th,
1717.2 -YYie declaration ^ pleased neither side, in fact nuncio
Bentivoglio went so far as to address a circular to the Bishops
stating his objections.'* However, in the Regent's opinion
the only purpose of the order of silence was to prevent
interference with the fresh negotiations, which he hoped would
at long last restore peace.
Thus fresh conversations began though the Pope had
recently expressed himself very unfavourably on the subject
to Lafitau. At the first sign of a rapprochement, he observed, ^
the Bishops who were loyal to the Church, showed the most
extraordinary credulity. For all that the new attempt need
not be considered from the first as quite absurd. In his most
recent pastoral instruction Noailles had not found fault
with the Constitution itself, but merely with its abuse, and by
so doing he had incurred the displeasure of the irreconcilable
opponents of the Bull. Only that could be abused, he was
told, which was good in itself ; but if the Bull was good in
itself, how dare he oppose it to the Scriptures and the Fathers.®
Moreover, that ever vacillating man had promised once
before to accept the Bull with certain declarations.' Such
declarations were being elaborated but in the meantime
1 [Cadry], II., 314-320. On Petitpied, cf. [Patouillet],
II., 106.
2 [Cadry], II., 318.
•' Ibid., 306-8; Dubois, 611-15.
* Bliard, II., 286, n. 4.
^ Lafitau, II., 125.
« [Cadry], II., 244.
' Above, p. 243.
VOL. XXXIII. X
306 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
many difficulties had to be cleared away.^ There was, first
of all, the threatening attitude of the Pope. Clement XI.
had plainly told Lafitau, the French agent, that his patience
was at an end.^ He took a first step against Noailles with
the condemnation of the pastoral instruction, ^ and provoked
not a little resentment in Paris by raising to the cardinalate
the unpopular Archbishop of Rheims, De Mailly.* Nuncio
Bentivoglio, who saw in Dubois only a deceiver and a cunning
fox, and who was believed to be the author of a violent
pamphlet against the Regent, would not allow himself to be
won over to the latter's efforts for peace ; as a result of
pressure by the Government, he was recalled by the Pope.
Already at the end of 1718 Cardinal Rohan had been
summoned to Paris for the negotiations, but in the following
year Law's notorious financial schemes largely diverted
attention from religious questions. It was only at the beginning
of 1720 that Noailles, Massillon and the General of the
Oratorians, De la Tour, compiled a draft with explanations
of the 101 condemned propositions which was then discussed
in the presence of Rohan and even that of the Regent himself.^
The supporters of the Constitution considered that they could
be satisfied with the document seeing that it contained
nothing false. ^ They decided to waive many demands they
could have made inasmuch as if the compromise were to be
wrecked, they were faced with the threat of a fresh dangerous
appeal to a future Council which would emanate from the
combined Parliaments acting in the name of the King and
1 Bliard, II., 288-294.
2 Lafitau, II., 114.
' Above, p. 302.
* Account of the affair from Jansenist sources in Leclerq,
III., Ill seqq.
* ScHiLL, 192 ; Bliard, II., 294 seqq. ; Leclerq, III., 113.
* " Clearness and precision of concepts distinguish the whole
work ; in particular Articles I. (of the difference of the two
Testaments) and III. (on Grace) may be described as excellent."
SCHILL, 193.
THE REGENT S POLICY. 307
the nation.^ The Archbishop of Paris was given to understand
that the supporters of the Constitution would sever all
relations with the Appellants if the compromise did not
come about, that the coyrt would have to favour the stronger
party, that it was impossible to tolerate two religions in
France and that, should it be necessary, steps would be
taken for his deposition. Dubois told him plainly and bluntly
that an end must be put to the affair and peace restored. ^
Noailles allowed himself to be persuaded ; he gave a written
promise to submit to the Bull Unigenitus if at least eighty
Bishops approved his explanations of that document.^
He probably thought that it would not be possible to secure
so many adhesions : however, the document, with its explana-
tions, met with the approval of most of the Bishops then in
Paris ; on March 13th and 14th, 1720, between thirty and
forty Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops put their signature
to a letter addressed to the Regent in which they declared
their approval. Thereupon the Regent showed them the
written promise of the Archbishop of Paris.* By his order
confidential agents were dispatched into all the provinces
with mission to secure the adhesion of the Bishops. Within
a short time the signatures amounted not to eighty but to
a hundred.^ August 4th, 1720, saw the publication of a fresh
royal declaration in support of the Bull Unigenitus.^ It forbade
all oral or written criticism of the Bull or the compromise ;
previous appeals were declared null and void and future
ones were forbidden ; all the royal ordinances against
Jansenism were confirmed anew ; the Parliaments were told
to leave questions of faith to the Bishops and to co-operate
with them in the execution of censures ; they were, however,
empowered to prevent the disturbance of public tranquillity
by publications dealing with dogmatic questions. Lastly, the
various parties were warned not to describe one another as
innovators, Jansenists, schismatics or heretics.
^ [Cadry], II., 351, 353 ; Bliard, II., 298, n. 3.
2 [Cadry], II., 352 seq. ^ Ibid., 353.
* Ibid., 359. 5 Ibid., 374, 406 seqq.
* Ibid., 428-432 ; ScHiLL, 195 ; Cahen, 34.
308 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Two things remained to be done : one was to get Parliament
to register this declaration so that it might become a law of
the State, the other was to obtain from Noailles a pastoral
in which he would announce his assent to the compromise.
Noailles had made the registration of the royal declaration
a condition of his pastoral so that for the moment everything
depended on the Parhament of Paris.
As a result of its opposition to Law that self-sufficient
tribunal had been banished since July to Pontoise, a dull
provincial town.^ But the gentlemen of Parhament had too
high a notion of themselves as the guardians of Gallicanism
to buy their escape from their cramped dwellings at Pontoise
by taking without reservation a decision somewhat favourable
to the Church. After lengthy and secret negotiations the
declaration was submitted on September 2nd and its
acceptance recommended by the legal advisers, though with
some reservations ; this was, however, followed by lengthy
discussions, at committee meetings, of the pretensions of the
Faculty of Paris and the four Bishops. The Regent ended
by losing all patience ; on September 7th he demanded the
return of the declaration ^ and on the 18th he handed over
the whole affair to the " Grand Conseil ", an extraordinary
tribunal consisting of nobles and dignitaries presided over
by the Chancellor.^ But the Regent had no better luck with
this body than with Parliament : the only thing the " Conseil "
did was to pray the King to withdraw the declaration."
But Orleans was not at a loss. On September 23rd, preceded
by the Chancellor, the first President and five councillors of
State, he entered the room where Parhament was sitting,
accompanied by five Princes, thirteen Dukes and Pairs and
five Marshals of France. All these voted in the sense of the
Regent so that registration was passed by an overwhehning
majority.^
1 Cahen, 23 seq. ; Leclerq, II., 458 seqq. ; III., 115.
2 [Cadry], II., 435-448.
3 Ibid., 448 seqq. ; Schill, 196.
* [Cadry], II., 454.
* Bliard, II., 304 ; Schill, 196 seqq. ; Leclerq, III., 116.
PARLIAMENT YIELDS. 3O9
It soon became evident that little had been gained. The
registration in the " Grand Conseil " had no value in law,
Noailles refused to issue a pastoral and insisted on registration
in Parliament.
The Regent's anger against Parliament, on account of his
favourite Law, was not likely to be softened by proceedings
such as these. On November 11th he intensified its exile by
banishing it to Blois ; as a matter of fact it looked as if
this sharp measure were only a preliminary for the complete
suppression of that troublesome corporation. This would
have meant Law's triumph and would have enabled him
to do even greater mischief in the future than he had done
in the past. In these circumstances Noailles was pressed
from all sides to publish his ordinance in order that Parliament
might register the declaration and thereby make its peace
with the Regent. Noailles yielded. On November 14th he
promised the Duke of Orleans to publish his pastoral and on
the 16th he presented him with a copy. When Parliament,
before its departure from Pontoise which it had been ordered
to quit, presented itself before the Regent to take its leave,
Orleans withdrew the sentence of banishment to Blois and
on December 4th, after a number of difficulties had been
overcome, the .declaration was registered, though with the
reservation of the Galilean liberties, among which the right
of appeal to a Council was expressly mentioned. Thereupon
Parliament was allowed to return to Paris and Law left the
capital.^ The provincial Parliaments had long ago carried
out the registration without opposition. ^
^ L'exil du Parlement A Pontoise, 1720. Journal inedit du
President Renault, in Souvenirs et Memoires, Paris, 1899, II.,
504-523 ; III., 145-165, 308-333 seq. ; [Nivelle], III., 325-
338 ; Leclerq, III., 1 15-125 ; Gazier, I., 263 seqq. Noailles'
ordinance of August 2, 1720, in Dubois, 615-677 ; Fleury,
LXX., 483-553. The more important sections were corrected
or written by D'Aguesseau, who after two years' disgrace had
become Chancellor once more. Gazier, I., 263 ; cf. Fleury,
LXX.. 482.
2 [Cadry], II., 457 seqq.
310 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The Bull against Quesnel was now a law of the French
State. By the death of Quesnel on December 2nd, 1719,
the party lost its leader. " His Holiness triumphs ! " wrote
Dubois, the chief author of the success, " the Hoty See was
in danger of losing France, but now no one in the realm may
withdraw himself from the obedience due to it in virtue of
the divine and human law." ^ There was no lack of congratula-
tions for Dubois himself. ^
But the compromise was still meeting with strong
opposition. The four Bishops had renewed their appeal on
September 10th, 1720, before its conclusion.^ On New Year's
Day, 1721, the Dean of the Chapter of Paris congratulated
the Archbishop on having brought about peace ; however,
he spoke without authorization from the Chapter and some
of those who had accompanied him left ostentatiously before
the conclusion of his address.* Even before registration,
a new appeal was drawn up which by the end of January, 1721
had received 500 signatures ; by the end of the year there
were as many as 1,500 " re-appellants ".^ On the other hand
in the course of 1720 the appellant Bishops of Mirepoix,
Verdun and Chalons died, whilst eight others accepted the
compromise, namely, the Bishops of Arras, Treguier, Bayonne,
Saint-Malo, Macon, Laon, Condom and Agen ; three of them,
namely the Bishops of Arras, Treguier and Bayonne, announced
their submission in special pastorals.^ Thus the party had
shrunk considerably and the re-appellants among the lower
clergy were only isolated individuals ; the danger of France
being drawn into a schism was apparently averted.
Moreover, the Government was taking energetic steps in
favour of the compromise. The fresh appeal of the four
Bishops was quashed on December 31st, 1720, by a decree
^ In Bliard, II., 306.
2 Ibid., 307.
» [Cadry], II., 501-6.
* [Cadry], II., 514.
5 Ibid., 517, 558. 598.
* Ibid., 607.
ENERGETIC ACTION BY THE GOVERNMENT. 311
of the " Conseil "/ and when in January, 1721, the three
survivors addressed a lengthy memorial on the subject to
the King,2 they received no reply. During the negotiations
for the compromise at the beginning of September, the
Faculty of Paris had sent some delegates to Parliament ;
it was ordered not to discuss the subject at its meeting of
October 1st. Not long afterwards a fresh injunction of silence
became necessary in order to bridle the resentment of the
Faculty which had been roused by the action of a certain
Doctor who presumed to speak against the appeal on the
occasion of a graduation. In October also the University
elected as Rector RolHn, who pubHcly praised that body's
attitude towards the compromise : a decree was promptly
issued forbidding Rollin's re-election as Rector.^ In 1716
twenty-two Doctors had been excluded from the Faculty
because of the Bull.^ Decrees of January 9th and February
7th, 1721, ordered the re-admission of the eighteen survivors,
whilst an ordinance of February 15th forbade five appellants
to take part in the sessions.^ The University of Caen had cut
off the Jesuits from its body ; the court declared the decree
to that effect to be null and void.^ A royal rescript to the
Chapter of Le Mans, declared its appeal to the Council null
and void and ordered it to be struck off the registers ; severe
penalties were threatened if it were renewed.'^ The printed
list of the " re-appellants " gave occasion to the police to
question the latter whether their appeal was serious, but this
measure led to no result and was soon dropped, in fact the
nuncio complained that ten re-appellants were being cited
daily to give them a chance of declaring against the Pope.
At a later date, at Dubois' instigation, ten re-appellants were
banished.^
^ Ibid., 523.
2 Ibid., 549-555-
5 Ibid., 518-521. Rolliii!s discourse in [Nivelle], I., 576.
* See above, p. 259.
5 [Cadry], II., 542 seqq. « Ibid., 533-6.
' Ibid., 539 seqq.
« Ibid., 585-598 ; [Nivelle], I., 559 seqq., 564 seqq.
312 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The compromise had been arrived at without Clement XL's
participation. Dubois had requested him, through Lafitau,
to wait for a time, until everything should be settled.^
However, what the Pope read in the newspapers was not of
a nature to please him. To the Archbishop of Aries ^ he
spoke of his amazement that negotiations should have been
conducted without his knowledge, the result of which he
would be unable to approve. The only sure way to peace
had been forsaken, he wrote to the Cardinal of Rheims a few
weeks later.^
The Pope had good cause for complaint. When Noailles'
ordinance, with the acceptance of the Bull, was handed to
him, he complained to Lafitau that at the very beginning of
the document the GalUcan theses of 1682 were reasserted.
The Pope also complained that the Bull was not accepted
sic et simpliciter, but only on the basis of Noailles' declarations,
that the propositions condemned in the Bull were not
recognized as erroneous, no error in Quesnel's book was
admitted and the Archbishop revoked neither his appeal
nor his earlier instructions. After a thorough study of
the pastoral, Lafitau found no trace of a qualified acceptance
of the Bull and he even wrote a dissertation on the subject.
However, it turned out that there were two different versions
of the ordinance, one accepting the Bull unconditionally, the
other only with reservations : thus the Archbishop of Paris
had been once more caught in one of those equivocations
in which he indulged from time to time.'* Noailles protested
1 Bliard, II., 299 ^cqq. ; [Cadry], II., 349.
2 August 20, 1720, [Cadry], II., 500.
' September 14, 1720, in Schill, 199.
* Fleury, LXX., 557 seq. According to an Italian report
(in [Cadry], II., 621 seq.), the Pope had addressed several
Briefs to the Regent in which he complained that the Bull had
only been accepted conditionally. An examination by the
Inquisition had not found in Noailles' ordinance anything worthy
of censure from a dogmatical standpoint. It did not follow,
however, that nothing blameworthy was discovered in other
CLEMENT XI. S CONDUCT APPRAISED. 313
to the Regent that he knew nothing of this double-dealing
but declined to make a similar protestation to the Pope.
Clement XI. now requested the King to renew the decree
by which Louis XIV. had quashed the decisions of 1682
whilst in a letter to the Pope Noailles should be made to
make good the deficiencies of his ordinance. Philip of Orleans
sent Cardinal Rohan to Rome for the purpose of further
negotiations, but when the latter reached the Eternal City
Clement XI. was no longer among the living.
The fact that his Bull provoked so violent an agitation
in France cannot be made a reproach to Clement XI. What
it did was to bring to light the magnitude of the evil, it did
not cause it, and it was better that the disease should be
discovered rather than that it should continue to spread
in secret. The real cause of the mischief was the fact
that during the Clementine Peace and since 1682, Jan-
senism and Gallicanism had struck ever deeper roots in
France.
Nor can the Pope be accused of a want of moderation and
caution. He was fully conscious of the fact that ecclesiastical
authority is not bestowed on a man to enable him to play
the role of a great lord, but that he might promote the
salvation of souls entrusted to him. Because of this conviction
Clement XI. endured at the hands of Noailles humihation
after humihation but he succeeded, at this price, in warding
off a schism. At the time of his death the final acceptance
of his dogmatic definition was only a question of time even
in the land of appeals.
respects. Cf. Miscell. di Clemente, XI., vol. 152, on the Manda-
mento of August 12 {sic !) 1720 : " Censure e voti di cinque
qualificatori della Congregazione del s. Officio contra detto
mandamento riferiti nella congregazione tenuta January 21,
1721 ; Veto del P. D. Perez, ord. Praed., February 5, 1721
(against Noailles) ; Voti dei cardinali del s. Officio, February 6,
1 72 1, coram Sanctissimo (on the prohibition of the ordinance) ;
Voti de cardinali Ottoboni, Imperiale, Tolomei, Paracciano,
Sacripanti, Paolucci, Fabroni." Papal Seer. Archives.
314 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
(12.) .
A few waves of the storm raised in France by the Bull
Unigenitus swept even into Holland. The University of
Douai submitted as soon as the Bull was published ^ ; the
papal decree, it declared, was no less clear than other papal
definitions, such as those against Wycliff and Luther, and
no one would receive an academic degree from Douai who
was in any way suspect of insubordination to the Bull since,
as history showed, the whole constitution of the Church would
be destroyed if the rights of the Holy See were called in
question. When the University of Louvain hesitated to
declare its submission and a rumour spread that its professors
were against the Bull, Douai addressed a warning to the
sister University, ^ to which Louvain gave a satisfactory
reply,^ proclaiming its adhesion to the doctrine of papal
infallibility. Only the publication of the Bull Pastoralis in
1718 brought to light the fact that submission to the papal
decrees was not universal in Holland. The Archbishop of
Mahnes found it necessary to issue a pastoral letter against
the French Appellants ^ ; his example was followed by the
Bishops of Ghent and Bruges. The latter complained that
the writings of the French Appellants found their way across
the French frontier in large quantities and that they were
not without making an impression in Flanders. These
circumstances led the Archbishop of Malines to prescribe
a special formula by which the parish priests were made
to profess their submission to the Bull ^ ; some thirty of
them, whole Abbeys and Chapters and some individual
priests refused their signature.^ Two canonists of Louvain,
Van Espen and Bauvers, published a memorial to prove the
nullity of the suspension from office which the Archbishop
1 August 3, 1714, Fleury, LXIX., 109.
* June 22, 1715, ibid., 113.
' August 8, 1715, ibid., 115.
* October 17, 1718, [Cadry], II., 296.
5 Text, ibid., 298.
* Ibid., 298 seqq.
PETER CODDE IN ROME. 315
had inflicted on a rebellious parish priest.^ When the Dean
of the philosophical Faculty of Louvain endeavoured to get
the Bull accepted,^ thirteen professors protested on the
ground that the Bull had been pubHshed without placet and
had not been accepted by the universal Church and because
the Pope himself alone was not infallible. It goes without
saying that these claims did not pass unchallenged. The
inner theological Faculty of Louvain, to remove all ground
for suspicion, proclaimed anew its entire submission to the
Bull Unigenitiis.^ The Belgian Bishops offered no opposition
to the papal definition ; in a collective letter * to the Pope
they made profession of obedience, for which they were
rewarded with a special Brief of thanks.^ In 1719 the provincial
Chapter of the Dominican Province of Lower Germany made
an explicit profession of submission.^
Clement XL was faced with a difficult task when it became
necessary to put order into the involved situation of the
Dutch mission. With difficulty Innocent XII. had prevailed
on the Vicar Apostolic of Holland, Peter Codde, to make up
his mind to set out for Rome where he had been cited for the
purpose of answering a number of grave charges.
Up to that time the cardinaUtial Congregation whose task
it was to try Codde, had been very unwilling to give easy
credence to the numerous accusations brought against hini,
in fact its president, Cardinal Albani, at this time Pope
Clement XL, was favourably disposed towards Codde.
As Pope also he received him with all the regard due to him
as an Archbishop and to one who laboured in a thorny field.
On the journey the nuncios of Brussels and Cologne had
given him a most friendly welcome, so much so that his
friends promised him a triumph in Rome.'
1 Ibid., 299.
* November 7, 1718, ibid., 300 seq.
' December 23, 1718, ibid., 300.
* November 23, 1718, ibid., 297.
* January 15, 1719, in Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 2325 seq.
* [Cadry], II., 302.
' Mozzi, I., 337-340.
3l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
In its dealings with the Vicar Apostohc the Congregation
of Cardinals showed so much consideration towards him
that Du Vaucel wrote to Holland that Codde's cause was
taking on an increasingly favourable complexion.^ The
authorities waited patiently during three months for Codde
to complete his apology and only then was the first general
congregation of Cardinals held.^ Meanwhile the catechisms
which Codde had introduced in the mission, to the scandal
of many, were subjected to examination. It was arranged
that his interrogation should take place in the presence
of only three Cardinals, namely Marescotti, Ferrari and
Tanara.^ In two months only five interrogations took place,*
in the first of which Codde was asked to explain why he
had refused to appoint De Cock his Pro- Vicar for the period
of his absence, as he had been instructed to do,^ for he had
appointed Catz, Van Heussen, De Swaen and Groenhout
as his lieutenants.^ His answer to this ticklish question
was inadequate, nor could Codde derive much satisfaction
from the next interrogatories. Fabroni, the Secretary of the
Congregation, pressed him hard, Codde asserts, with questions
which he was unprepared to answer.' Accordingly a reply
in writing was in order. That document pleased Du Vaucel
so much that he imagined the accused would be back in his
own country in the summer.^ The Cardinals were of a different
^ " Les affaires de M. Gottefroi (i.e. Codde) vont de mieux
en mieux." Du Vaucel, March i6, 1701, ibid., 345.
2 March 17 (18), 1701, ibid., 342.
3 Ibid., 344.
* March 18 and 28, April 17, May 6 and 17, ibid., 346.
8 Ibid., 345.
« Ibid., 336.
' Ibid., 346 seqq. " L'affaire de Msgr. de Sebaste, vicaire de
Hollande, n'est retardee et embarrassee que par la mechante
procedure d'un monsignore Fabroni, dont I'entetement sur le
pretendu Jansenisme n'est pas imaginable, et qu'on soupgonne
avec fondement d'etre Roulicr (i.e. a Jesuit) du tiers ordre."
Quesnel to Vuillart, May 14, 1701, in Le Roy, II., 149.
* Letter to Quesnel, May 14, 1707, Mozzi, I., 351.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST CODDE. 317
opinion. When the printed memorial was laid before them,
at the end of July, it was seen that Codde's replies did not
tally with the questions put to him and a number of accusations
were left unanswered.^ For all that mildness prevailed once
again. Codde had asked that before judgment was given,
the accusation should be entrusted to Cardinal Tanara, that
Cardinal Colloredo should take the place of Cardinal Albani
who was retiring, and that he himself should be handed a list
of the accusations against him. All these requests were
granted. 2 The charges, under twenty-six headings, against
the Vicar Apostolic, were that the theses of Baius and
Jansenius were being spread in Holland, that the reading
of the Bible in the vernacular was declared to be not merely
useful but necessary and that errors about the veneration
of the Saints, Indulgences and Purgatory were tolerated
there. Moreover new ceremonies in the celebration of Mass
and the administration of the Sacraments were being
introduced, excessive severity prevailed on questions of
moral theology, with the result that the faithful murmured
and the clergy were divided, and translations of Holy Scripture
and other religious works containing Jansenist errors were
circulating with impunity. The Vicar Apostolic did as if he
knew nothing of all this ; he extended his patronage to the
authors of these disorders, whereas he combatted their
opponents and professed high regard for the heads of the
new sect, expecially for Arnauld.^ Codde now asked that
he should be shown the evidence on which these charges
were based and that he should be told the names of, his
accusers.* Both requests were, of course, refused, since
all that was asked of him was to give his opinion on the
tenableness of the charges against him. It took him four
months to draw up his defence, hindered as he was at times
by sickness ; on November 1st, 1701, the printed copies
were in the hands of the Cardinals of the Congregation and
1 Ibid., 352.
2 Ibid., 353.
* Ibid., 354 seqq.
* Memorial to the Pope, June 22, 1701. ibid., 356.
3l8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the author was allowed to present a copy to the Pope
himself together with his report on the situation in Holland ;
Clement XI. graciously accepted both documents.^ The
apology had also been submitted to Quesnel who found
its tone too moderate and respectful. ^ A meeting of the
cardinahtial Congregation was held on December 18th, 1701,
when Codde's apology was distributed to the ordinar}-
qualificators and consultors for examination. Whatever else
ma}^ have been decided at that meeting of the Cardinals,
Codde confessed that he never had any knowledge of it.
This did not prevent him from charging Fabroni with having
selected, against the will of the judges, qualificators who
were prejudiced.^
The negotiations were still pending when a document
arrived from Holland which gave a new turn to the whole
affair. During Codde's absence from Holland twenty Dutch
priests forwarded a memorial to Rome in which they lamented
the condition of their country and by way of a remedy,
demanded the subscription by everybody to the formula
of Alexander VH. The four Pro-Vicars appointed bj^ Codde
were all Jansenists, the memorial stated, who upheld the
adherents of Quesnel."* That the complaints were not
unjustified was seen soon enough, when more than 300
Dutch priests sent in a petition against the twenty in which
they defended both the innovations and Codde himself.^
That which Codde had always feared seemed about to become
reality as a result of the petition of the twenty : the spectre
of Alexander VII. 's formula loomed before him in dangerous
proximity. Even before he could ascertain the exact nature
of the contents of the petition, he drew up a reply, but when
he became better acquainted with their proposals he was
beside himself. He drew up a second apology in which he
combatted, in somewhat unmeasured terms, both the proposals
1 Ibid., 358 seq., 360.
* Ibid., 360.
» Ibid., 361.
* Impression of this petition, February, 1701, tbid., 363 seq.
* Ibid., 365.
CONDEMNATION OF CODDE. 319
and their authors and attacked the desired subscription as
something new, useless, pernicious and impossible.^
These sallies did not prevent the authorities from demanding
not indeed the signature which Codde combatted, but from
inquiring ^ how he would act if such a demand were made.
The Cardinals were told that he was prepared to reject the
five propositions condemned by the Pope, but that he was
unable to acknowledge that they were taught by Jansenius,
nor did he think that in this respect the Pope insisted on
anything beyond a respectful silence — in other words, he was
prepared to obey with a reservation condemned by the
Church. With regard to papal infallibility on which he had
also been questioned, Codde answered that though he did
not acknowledge it, he did not speak against it and was
willing that others should defend it.^
The day after, May 7th, 1702, a solemn session of the
cardinalitial Congregation was held in presence of the Pope.
Codde was removed from the administration of the vicariate,
Theodore De Cock being appointed in his place with the title
of a Pro- Vicar. The Pope confirmed these measures by a
Brief dated May 13th.* In view of the state of mind of the
Dutch priests, as recently manifested by three hundred of
them, there was reason to fear resistance to the papal decrees,
especially if Codde fanned it from Rome. Accordingly,
knowledge of the decisions of the Congregation and the
papal Brief was, for the present, kept from Codde — only on
July 5th, through a letter from Holland, did he become
acquainted with the sentence passed on him. Plowever,
though he was simultaneously informed that the so-called
Chapters of Utrecht and Haarlem remained loyal to him,
1 Ibid., 363-8.
^ May 6, 1702, ibid., 368.
3 Ibid., 368-370.
^ Decree of May 7, 1702, ibid., 370, 373 seq. (text, ibid., III.,
12) ; Brief to De Cock, May 13, 1702, ibid., 12 seqq. ; *Brief of
May 13, 1702, to the nuncio of Vienna (the replacement of Codde
by De Cock was necessary " per conservare la purita della fede "),
Aliscell. di Clemente, XL, 204, Papal Seer. Archives.
320 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Codde submitted to the Pope's judgment when it was
communicated to him in due form on July 22nd, 1702. ^ That
this submissiveness would not be of long duration was shown
by two documents addressed by him to the cardinalitial
Congregation and to the Pope in July and October. In them
he complained bitterly of the fact that rumour ascribed
his suspension to his refusal to sign Alexander VI I. 's formula,
for which cause he was looked upon as a Jansenist. He offered
to subscribe under conditions, but to this the authorities
refused to consent. ^
Meanwhile in Holland, on June 11th, De Cock had called
upon the four Pro- Vicars named by Codde with the request
that they should convene the Chapters of Utrecht and
Haarlem for the purpose of recognizing him. The meeting
did take place but all it did was to attack the Pope and
to defend Codde : none of the members would accept De Cock
as the new Pro-Vicar.^ The warning of internuncio Bussi
of Brussels fell on deaf ears,^ but after the third admonition
the Chapters, fearing a sentence of suspension, appealed
to the Pope by anticipation and prayed for Codde's reinstate-
ment. With a view to avoiding a complete rupture the
friends of the internuncio suggested that De Cock should
be recognized at least provisionally, but after consultation
between Van Heussen and Gerberon, this too was refused,
though De Cock was permitted to proclaim the year of
jubilee.'^
Before long an attempt was made to compel the Pope
to give way as a result of pressure by the Protestant Govern-
ment. The Ouesnellists succeeded in attracting to their
side the Grand-Pensionary, Antony Heinsius, and the
burgomasters of Amsterdam and in getting the States General
to intervene with the nuncio in favour of Codde's return.
On August 17th, 1702, the States of the Province of Holland
1 Mozzi, I., 378-380.
* Ibid., 381 seqq.
' Ibid., 384 seqq.
* His letter of June 21, 1702, ibid., III., 15.
^ Ibid., I., 387 seq.
THE PRO-VICARS. 321
and West Friesland forbade De Cock the exercise of his
functions as Vicar. At the same time all Vicars not recognized
by the State and all members of religious Orders were forbidden
to enter Dutch territory and no one might obey a summons
to present himself in Rome.^ Ouesnel was jubilant over the
decree ^ ; the measure taken by the States may well start
a conflagration which it would not be easy to put out, he
wrote ; perhaps the States General would compel the Catholics
to elect themselves the highest ecclesiastical dignitaries,
independently from Rome.^ Some of the other Jansenists
likewise cherished the rosiest expectations ; the action of the
States, it was hoped, would humiliate the Pope, that obstinate
person who was more interested in politics than in the
welfare of the Church ^ : insinuations of this kind were
also spread by means of the public press. ^
But the burning question was to know who held authority
over the Dutch mission, De Cock or Codde's four Pro-Vicars.
An attempt was made to cast doubt on the genuineness of
De Cock's nomination, but this trick was promptly disposed
of by a letter of Cardinal Paolucci.® The faculties of the
four Pro- Vicars had expired when Codde was suspended and
the support of the secular authority could not confer any
ecclesiastical powers. In this embarrassment recourse was
had to " the Pope of the Jansenists ", Quesnel, to whom
two questions were submitted, namely, whether in existing
circumstances it was lawful to appeal to a Protestant State,
and whether in these same circumstances a Pro- Vicar named
by the Bishop and confirmed by the Chapter might continue
^ Ibid., 390 seqq.
2 August 20, 1702, to Vuillart, in Le Roy, TL, 170.
' September 17, 1702, ibid., II., 172.
* Mozzi, I., 394 seq., 401. A new prayer for the Pope was
added to the litany of the Saints : " ut suos probos conserves
defendat," " falsas accusationes reiiciat," etc. Ibid.
^ Ibid., 402. * Order of October 7, 1702, to the Internuncio of
Brussels to report on the conditions in Holland about which the
Pope is very anxious, Miscell. di Clemente XL, 204, loc. cit.
^ December 14, 1702, Mozzi, III., 16 seq.
VOL. XXXIII. Y
322 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to exercise his functions. Ouesnel's decision was that not
only might he do so, but that it was not even lawful for the
four to abandon their post.^ That such an attitude towards
Rome would provoke a disastrous storm was not hidden
from Ouesnel ; but in this instance also he rehed on his
fundamental principle, namely, that one need not be afraid
of an unjust excommunication. ^ Van Espen, Hennebel,
Opstraet expressed opinions which, on the whole, were to the
same effect ; Gerberon's advice was likewise sought.^
The Pope, on his part, could not shirk the duty of giving
judgment. He instructed Cardinal Barberini, the Prefect of
Propaganda, to write to the Dutch priests,^ whilst the inter-
nuncio would inform the four Pro- Vicars ^ that since the
appointment of De Cock all their official acts were invalid
and that further meddling with the government of the
mission would entail excommunication. A further Brief '^
exhorted the Cathohcs of Holland to regulate their conduct
by these decisions.
These papal exhortations were not without effect. The
Chapter of Haarlem made its submission, ceased to claim
a share in the management of the mission and in 1705 printed
a public acknowledgment of its attachment to the Holy See
and stuck to its resolution in spite of the reproaches of the
opponents.' On the other hand Utrecht refused to follow
the example of Haarlem ; Catz, Van Heussen and Erkel,
in a number of publications, described the Roman censures
as null and void and appealed to a better informed
Pope ; they also published a declaration against the censures
together with a vague profession of faith.**
The chief concern of Utrecht was the return of Codde.
. ^ Ibid., I., 405 seqq.
2 Ibid., 411 seq.
' Ibid., 414 seq.
* February 3, 1703, ibid., III., 18.
* To De Swaen, February 22, 1703, ibid., 19 seq.
* April 7, 1703, ibid., 21 seqq. ; Fleury, LXVIL, 14-20.
' Mozzi, I., 419.
* Ibid., 420 seq.
APPEAL TO DUTCH CATHOLICS. 323
As a result of their persistence the States of the Province
of Holland announced that unless Codde was restored to his
country within three months, the missionaries would be
expelled, De Cock imprisoned and the churches seized. ^
On February 24th, 1703, De Cock informed Rome of this
decision ; however, Clement XI. had anticipated it on
February 17th, by giving Codde permission to go home,
in fact he was actually ordered to leave. Codde reached
Utrecht on July 26th ^ where it had been expected that
by the time of his return he would have been reinstated
in his dignity, or at least that it would not be long before
he would exercise once more all the powers of a Vicar
Apostolic ; in any case De Cock was not going to be recognized
at any price. ^ To what lengths resentment against Rome
had risen, as a result of the ceaseless flood of libels, was
seen on the occasion of the papal Brief to the Cathohcs of
Holland,* with which Clement XI. sought to pave the way
for Codde's return. In his letter the Pope warned the faithful
against the disturbers of the peace in Church and State who,
though small in numbers, by means of lies and false reports
strove to lead astray those of ingenuous disposition.
Outwardly these men pretended to stand for a stricter
morahty and plumed themselves on their austere theological
views. But let anyone but look at the mass of their writings,
which are notorious by reason of their animosity, insults,
lies, calumnies and open disregard of the Holy See ! How
can anyone fail to see how far removed the authors and
apologists of such productions are from the Spirit of God
who is called not the God of discord but the God of peace ;
how far removed they are from the true charity of Christ
which they preach in words but destroy by their deeds ;
how far removed they are from the path of true humility
and obedience, those true foundations of all the other
virtues.''
* Ibid., 422 seq. * Ibid., 423 seq.
' Ibid., 425.
* April 7, 1703, ibid., IIL, 21 seqq.
* Ibid., 23 seq.
324 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The Jansenists were furious when the mirror was thus held
up to their faces. Some said that the Brief was surreptitious,
others described it as subversive. There one could see, they
said, whether flatterers can lead the Holy See ! the next step
would be to absolve the subjects from their oath of allegiance
to the authorities ! The agitation did not die down until the
States suppressed the Brief as a defamatory libel. ^ The Brief,
the Jansenists said, was simply the work of the Jesuits who
had procured it through La Chaize and Louis XIV., in whose
hands Clement XL was a mere tool.- In the meantime
Codde had arrived in Holland. When he left Rome he was
told that he would never again become the head of the
Church in Holland, but no sooner had he reached his native
land than he wrote to Rome that there was no means of
restoring tranquilhty in the country, except by his reinstate-
ment as Vicar- Apostolic.^ Cardinal Barberini * replied that the
fact that it was precisely his followers who disturbed the
peace was a convincing proof that the Pope had been fully
justified in decreeing his suspension. Let him tell his friends
that he did not aspire to the highest positions but submitted
to the Pope ; if he acted thus the storm which had arisen
on account of him, would be laid of its own accord.
Thus there was no hope of Codde's reinstatement b}^ Rome
nor could anything be expected from the intervention of
nuncio Piazza at Cologne. Though he claimed to be the
Archbishop of Utrecht, Codde humbled himself to such
a degree as to solicit from the so-called Chapter of Utrecht
authority to act as its Vicar. Thereupon Cardinal Paolucci
wrote to him from Rome ^ that the Chapter itself was without
jurisdiction, hence could give none to anyone else. He was
accordingly commanded, under pain of perpetual suspension,
not to presume to carry out any episcopal function, to warn
' Ibid., L, 432 seq.
2 Ibid., 435. Thus Prauwels, parish priest of Amsterdam, in
Fleury, LXVIL, 21.
. 3 Mozzi, L, 436.
* August 25, 1703, ibid.. III., 26 seqq. ; Fleurv. LXVII., 27.
" October 12, 1703, Mozzi, III,. 29 seqq.
CODDE DEPOSED. 325
the Chapter not to make use of the rights it had arrogated
to itself, and the Cathohc body in general not to acknowledge
these rights.^ Paolucci's arguments impressed Codde, though
in a letter to the Catholics of Holland ^ he endeavoured to
represent the proceedings against him as unjust, in the hope
of saving his honour ; howe\^cr, he refrained from assuming
the episcopal office ^ though, on the other hand, he refused
to give up all hope of reinstatement. A number of writings
were published in order to prepare the ground for such an
eventuality ; these writings combatted the proposal of the
appointment of a new Vicar Apostolic and conducted a
relentless campaign against De Cock * who, as a matter of
fact, had been forced to make his escape into the territory
of the Count Palatine John William.^ However, all that
Codde obtained was a letter of Paolucci ^ to the effect that
his efforts were hopeless. As Codde's writings were regarded
as the chief stumbling block in Rome, he had previously
declared "^ that he only maintained the opinions of the Thomist
school and prayed that his opinions be examined both by
the Roman Inquisition and by theologians of that school.
His request was granted with the result that his writings
were prohibited by the Inquisition,^ whilst against himself
a sentence was pronounced not merely of suspension, as
before, but of formal deposition.^ However, Codde refused
to acknowledge the justice of a sentence pronounced by
^ Ibid., I., 440 scq.
2 March 19, 1704, [Dupac], 359.
* His raotiv^es, ibid., 353-9.
< Mozzi, I., 442 seq.
^ Ibid., 441. A Brief of October 13, 1703, recommends him
to the Count-Palatine, ibid., III., 31.
* January 17, 1704, ibid., 33.
' April 29, 1702, ibid., I., 444.
* " Uti continentes doctrinas et asscrtiones ad minimum
suspectas, singulares atque ecclesiasticis Constitutionibus rcpug-
nantes, quibus christifidelcs in iam damnatos errorcs induci ac
pravis opinionibus infici possent." Ibid., II., 34.
' April 3, 1704, ibid., 33 seqq.
326 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
judges he had himself invoked. In a fresh letter to the
Catholics of Holland, dated August 20th, he declared that
he was not conscious of teaching any false doctrine.^ In his
apology he became involved in numerous contradictions with
earlier statements of his.^ A flood of Jansenist pamphlets
swept over the country, full of insults to the Holy See, the
person of the Pope and the Inquisition, whilst Codde's
writings were described as irreproachable.^ His deposition,
it was stated, and the censures pronounced against him, were
null and void ; Codde must appeal against them and he
could and must resume the duties of his office.^ The help
of the secular power was likewise invoked ; many priests
paid for their loyalty to the Church with imprisonment,
exile, fines and molestations,^ whilst the Jansenist clergy
enjoyed the favour of those in power. With a view to
remedying the consequent confusion the Pope, by special
Briefs, invoked the mediation of the Emperor ^ and the
princes of the territories adjoining Holland, the Count Palatine
and the Electors of Mayence and Treves.'
In other ways also Clement XI. did all he could to compose
the disputes. De Cock, who might have proved an obstacle
to a settlement if he remained in the North, was called to
Rome and given a canonry at S. Lorenzo in Damaso.^ To the
1 Ibid., I., 449.
* Ibid., 450 seqq.
» Ibid., 458 seqq.
* Ibid., 462.
'' " Le missioni d'Olanda, quali trovandosi in grandissima
confusione e travaglio per I'appoggio, chc danno que' magistrati
alia disubbidienza " (Clement XI. to the Emperor Leopold, I.,
August 9, 1704, Mozzi, III., 40) ; " plures quoque sacerdotes,
non alia de causa quam praestitae nobis quoad spiritualia
obedientiac vel officio arcuisse vel exilio carceribusque multasse "
(to the Count-Palatine, August 26, 1704, ibid., 41 seq.).
« Brief and letter of August 9, 1704, ibid., iii, 35 seqq., 39 seqq.
' August 26, 1704, ibid., 41 seqq., 43 seqq., 47 seqq. ; Fleukv.
LXVIL, 23 seqq.
« Mozzi, II., 4.
POTKAMP. 327
clergy of Haarlem and Utrecht Paolucci wrote a friendly
letter.^ At the Hague Bussi negotiated with the States,
though at first unsuccessfully, but in the end, aided by an
envoy of the Elector of Treves, he succeeded in obtaining
the consent of the States for the appointment of Gerard
Potkamp as Vicar Apostolic.^ Thus, in spite of every attempt
to the contrary, the States had dropped Codde ^ ; 5^et in spite
of it all, at this very time, a silver and bronze medal was
being struck in his honour, the image and inscription of which
constituted an insult to the Pope.*
A decisive factor in the election of Potkamp had been the
consideration that perhaps everything would right itself if
the new Vicar Apostohc were not altogether unacceptable
to the Jjmsenists. But the electors were mistaken in Potkamp :
he was almost wholly on the side of the recalcitrants. Against
the oath taken by him in the hands of the internuncio he
named as Pro-Vicars James Catz and Hugh Van Heussen
who were both under papal censures, appointed parish priests
of doubtful' orthodoxy and confirmed the alleged rights of
the so-called Chapter of Utrecht. However, he was not
given time to increase the confusion further : he died at the
end of one month. ^
Thereupon Codde took fresh courage. After Potkamp's
nomination the former had addressed a submissive letter
to the Pope to which Paolucci sent a gracious reply, ^ but
after Potkamp's death he disavowed his letter and declared,
in a printed document, that he refused to resign his office
of Vicar Apostolic, and that he would continue to defend
his rights and his honour and to press for a revision of his
process.'
1 November 22, 1704, ibid., 48, 51.
* November 14, 1705, ibid., II., 8.
3 Ibid., 5. * Ibid., 5-7.
^ December 16, 1705, ibid., 10.
* Codde to the Pope, November 27, 1705, ibid., 11-13 ; Paolucci
to Codde, December 29, 1705, ibid., III., 53 seq.
' Denuntiatio apologetica Petri Coddaei (Ultraiecti, 1706),
ibid., II., 14.
328 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Potkamp's death led the Chapters of Utrecht and Haarlem
to commit an act of extreme imprudence by the nomination
of three Pro-Vicars with mission to govern the diocese until
the appointment of a new Vicar. By this step they cut the
ground from under their feet. Codde, they alleged, was not
only Vicar Apostolic but likewise Archbishop of Utrecht.
Now he had only been deposed as Vicar-Apostohc so that,
in the assumption of the so-called Chapter, he was still
Archbishop of Utrecht. But if the archiepiscopal See of
Utrecht was not vacant how was it possible to appoint
Pro- Vicars for the administration of the diocese ? For the
rest Clement XI. had provisionally entrusted the government
of the mission in Holland to the nuncios of Brussels and
Cologne ; to the alleged Pro-Vicars he had a letter sent,
forbidding them to meddle with the administration of the
mission. 1 The latter, however, continued to exercise the
functions they had arrogated to themselves, whilst in answer
to Paolucci's letter a pamphlet was published attacking the
papal authority ; never, the authors of the pamphlets said,
would they give up their rights through /ear of the censures
with which they were threatened. Caricatures in the same
sense were also published ^ and yet another series of pamphlets.
A collection of thirty-one such products was condemned by
Rome by special Brief. ^
Meanwhile Bussi, until then internuncio at Brussels, had
become nuncio at Cologne, so that it fell to his lot to give
the Dutch mission a new Vicar Apostolic. His choice fell
on Adam Daemen,* a Canon of Cologne but a native of
Amsterdam. The Chapter of Haarlem submitted to the new
Vicar ^ but the so-called Chapter of Utrecht, which had
accepted Potkamp at the hand of the Pope, rejected Daemen
on the plea that he had not been elected by the Chapter
1 Paolucci's letter of July 31, 1706, ibid., III., 54 seqq.
2 Ibid., II., 20 seqq.
» October 4, 1707, Bull., XXL, 304 seqq. ; Reusch, II., 715.
* January 8, 1707, Mozzi, II., 23.
^ Petition of the people of Haarlem to obtain Dacmen's
recognition by the State, May 17, 1707, ibid., 24 seq.
FURTHER TROUBLES. 329
and persuaded the Protestant authorities to forbid him to
discharge his office in Holland.^ Daemen was consecrated
Archbishop of Adrianople on December 26th, but to the
time of his death on December 30th, 1717, he was unable
to enter upon office in Holland and two months before his
death he voluntarily laid down his dignity. ^ The Jansenists
had prevailed on the Protestant States to issue a decree ^
forbidding him to enter the country and threatening various
penalties against those who acknowledged his authority.
As a matter of fact these troubles provided the authorities
with a welcome opportunity for taking action against the
Catholics. In Holland also, as was their custom, the Jansenists
traced back to Jesuit influence any unpleasantness that befell
them.* A letter of the States of February 18th, 1707, informed
the hated religious that if the confusion among Catholics
was not at an end within three months, they would be punished
as the disturbers of public tranquillity.^ Accordingly when
in 1708 the nuncio of Cologne forwarded a papal Bull
proclaiming a jubilee,^ but expressly excluding the Jansenists
from it, the Jesuits were in effect expelled by the States of
Holland and West-Friesland and a prohibition was issued "^
forbidding the introduction into Holland of any papal
ordinance of whatever kind. Two years later a certain
Jansenist even sought to obtain from the States a prohibition
of the formula of Alexander VH.^ Codde had used his influence
for the purpose of obtaining a State decree forbidding the
Vicar Apostolic from entering the Seven Provinces,^ though
^ The manifesto is reproduced (April 29, 1709) in [Dupac],
397-400.
2 Mozzi, II., 28, 102.
' April 26, 1709, ibid., 37.
* Ibid., 29.
^ Paolucci to John de Bruyn, Superior of the Dutch Jesuits,
October 4, 1707, ibid.. III., 61.
" INIay 3, 1708, ibid., 11., 33.
' December 14, 1708, ibid.
8 Ibid., 38.
9 Ibid., 37.
330 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
not long before he had assured Paolucci ^ that he would put
no obstacle in the way of a new Vicar Apostolic. On December
18th, 1710, Codde's life came to an end : only a month
earlier he had once more made a public profession of his
separatist views. ^ The Pope and the nuQcio of Cologne had
vainly sought to induce him to change his mind.^ The
Inquisition pronounced him unworthy of ecclesiastical
burial,^ not indeed with a view to " condemning the memory
of the deceased, but as an example and a warning to obstinate
rebels ".
This decree of the Congregation of the Index did not
induce the Jansenists to alter their conduct ^ but the severity
of the Roman authorities was not without effect. Not a few
of those who had suffered themselves to be led astray returned
to the Church.^ In 1708 the nuncio of Cologne had proclaimed
the unlawfulness of receiving the ministrations of apostate
priests, with the result that eight priests of Utrecht and
Haarlem and nineteen from the rest of Holland raised a protest
and openly attacked the authority of the Pope. Thereupon
the nuncio published a detailed Instruction ' in which he
defined the various kinds of rebel priests and laid down which
of their functions were valid, though as a general rule, it
was strictly forbidden to receive the Sacraments at their
hands. This • Instruction helped not a httle towards the
clarifying of ideas.
With a view to preventing their party from melting away,
the Jansenists now dispatched two delegates, Steenoven and
Dalenoort, to the Cologne nuncio, with mission to pave the
way for a compromise. They achieved nothing and when
the party celebrated their return as a triumph, the nuncio
^ May 2, 1706, ibid., ij.
2 His Declaratio of November 11, 1707, printed in Jiib. Theolog.
Quarialschrift, 1826, 75 seqq.
3 Mozzi, II., 39, 43 seqq.
* January 14, 171 1, ibid., III., 71.
8 Ibid., II., 46.
« Ibid., 49.
' January 13, 171 1. ibid.. III., 72.
JANSENISM RECEDING. 33I
made it known that all the delegates' accounts of the negotia-
tions were false. ^ These lying reports failed to stem the
retrogression of the movement ; the number of recalcitrant
priests fell from 300 to about 50. ^
But this did not heal the division in CathoHc Holland.
" The party of Quesnel," Langlet du Fresnoy writes,^
" had caused such a cleavage in the Church that Catholics
in rural districts were compelled to appeal to the Holy See
for parish priests from whose beliefs they would have nothing
to fear. Most of them were obliged to go five or six miles
to hear the Mass of a priest who remained loyal to the Holy
See. When about to die, some of them have themselves
taken to a neighbouring parish so as not to be obliged to
receive the Sacraments from their schismatical parish priests.
Not a few of the faithful have been persuaded by their pastors
to speak of the Pope as do the Lutherans and the Calvinists."
The party of Quesnel had done everything to remove priests
of which it disapproved ; they had also succeeded in expelling
all religious men from a number of Provinces, regardless
of the fact that many of the faithful were thereby deprived
of spiritual assistance. " We ourselves have heard these
facts on the spot from the lips of Catholics."
In view of the steady decrease of their numbers the Jansenist
priests felt the need of providing men who would succeed
them and of finding a Bishop who would confer orders on them.
In this respect some scholars such as Witasse, Van Espen,
Dupin, Noel Alexandre came to the rescue by giving it as
their opinion that the so-called Chapter of Utrecht had the
right to issue the dimissorial letters without which no Bishop
may ordain a candidate who was not also his own subject.
As a matter of fact an Irish Bishop, Luke Fagan of Meath,
allowed himself to be taken in by the dimissorials of the
Chapter. Between 1715-16 he ordained twelve Dutch priests
whom the nuncio of Cologne promptly cited to appear before
* December 8, 171 1, ibid., 76 seq.
* Ibid., II., 59 ; cf. 234.
» Ibid., 56 seq.
332 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
him. When the}^ refused, he suspended them.^ A second
memorial, by Van Espen, dated May 25 th, 1717, was meant
to win over some French Bishops. By means of false
statements Van Espen had procured the signature of four
canonists, though after some years the two who still survived
withdrew it. In view of the conditions at the Sorbonne it
was not difficult to secure further adhesions from that quarter. ^
Those French Bishops who held decidedly Jansenist views
were quite prepared to oblige the Dutch Jansenists, more
especially Soanen of Senez who ordained Dutch priests
without any dimissorials at all ; Lorraine of Bayeux,
Caumartin of Blois, Colbert of Montpellier acted in like
manner, but on condition that their action was kept rigorously
secret.^ The Chapter of Haarlem refused to issue dimissorials,
but since Utrecht was the metropolis of Haarlem, the
" Chapter " of Utrecht took it upon itself to issue such
letters for clerics of Haarlem also.* Once the Dutch Jansenists
had thus had recourse to those among the French Bishops
who shared their sentiments, it was only natural that, like
them, they too should appeal from the Bull Unigenitus to
a General Council.^ Quesnel urged such a step as it could
only benefit his cause ^ and on May 9th, 1710, the " Chapter "
of Utrecht acquiesced in his request.' Van Heussen, the
1 Ibid., Go seq. C/. Recueil de divers temoignages, 128 ; [Dupac],
445-450.
2 Mozzi, II., 62 scqq.
' Ibid., 66 seqq. ; [Dupac], 459 seq. On how the secret was
discovered, see Fleury, LXIX, 173.
* Mozzi, II., 69 seqq.
^ " L'eglise de Hollande n'avoit ete attaquee dans ses droits
hierarchiques qu'en haine des memes verites que ses adversaires
ont voulu faire condamner dans la bulle Unigenitus. Elle n'avoit
defendu ses droits, avcc tant de zele, que parce que cette defense
etoit inseparable du maintien de ces verites." This is the explana-
tion of the Appeal in [Dupac], 473.
* Mozzi, II., 83 seqq., 93 scqq.
' Ibid. The Appeal is printed in [Nivelle], //.' Suite, Appendix
2-8.
APPEAL TO THE STATES AGAINST THE POPE. 333
chief promoter of this fresh insurrection against the Holy
See, was dead by that time, but shortly before his death
he had attested his adhesion in writing. ^ The University
eulogized the Chapter for this step ^ and a number of priests
of Utrecht and Haarlem joined in Van Heussen's rebelhon.^
As was to be expected the ordinations of Jansenist priests
by French Bishops could not remain so secret that Archinto,
the Cologne nuncio, should have remained in ignorance of
them. He summoned two intruding parish priests to justify
themselves ; when they exhibited to him a Brief of Leo X.
by the terms of which clerics of Utrecht could only be judged
within their own province, he entrusted the initiation of
judicial proceedings against them to John van Bijlevelt,
parish priest of the Hague and successor of the Vicar Apostolic
Daemen who had died in 1717.* This measure let loose
another storm against the Holy See. On June 23rd and in
October the party addressed two memorials to the States
of Holland and West-Friesland. The representatives of Rome,
they said, exercised an authority in Holland which could not
be tolerated by the States ; these people were disturbers
of the peace and oppressors of the clergy ; their aim was
to fill their pockets at the expense of the Dutch, to introduce
the Inquisition, whilst they reduced the prerogatives of the
secular power to the advantage of the Pope.^ The Protestant
States General were even more powerfully roused against
the Pope by means of a memorial which these Catholics
presented to them in 1722. The States, this document
declared, would surely not tolerate a situation in which half
a million Dutch Catholics would be prepared to obey the
slightest hint from the Emperor or the King of Prussia ; but
^ February 11, 1719, ibid. 9.
" July 6, 1720, ibid., 11 seq.
' July 18 and September 3, 1719, ibid., g, *io seq.
* Mozzi, II., 104. Cf. Vregt, Het apostolisch Vicarisschap
van Joh. v. Bijlevelt, in Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van het
bisdom Haarlem I-V, 1873-7). Brief directed to him, October 2,
1717, in Mozzi, I., 209; plenipotentiary powers, ibid., 211 seq.
^ AIozzi, II., 105 seqq.
334 ' HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the situation was fraught with far greater danger when the
same number of CathoHcs deemed it an obhgation of conscience
to obey the sHghtest suggestion of the representatives of the
court of Rome.^ What they wanted was not a Vicar ApostoHc,
whom the Pope could remove whenever he pleased, but a
Bishop enjoying all the rights of his office ; they would
recognize none other and if such a prelate were denied them,
the decrees against the missionaries would have to be carried
into execution. A decree banishing the Jesuits as the authors
of all the mischief in the Jansenist view, was actually issued
on May 25th, 1720.
The rebellious priests carried their revolt even a step
further : they would appoint a Bishop independently of the
Pope, one elected by the Chapters of Haarlem and Utrecht. -
In that case Clement XI. would fulminate a sentence of
excommunication, but there was no reason to fear such
a sentence ; the Pope was determined to destroy the
prerogatives of the Church of Utrecht, hence that Church
had a right to legitimate defence and in such circumstances
she could do all that was necessary in order to repel an unjust
aggressor ; nor was Clement XI. immortal ; after his death,
under another Pope, everything could be arranged.
As a matter of fact, death spared Clement XI. the necessity
of having to take action against such opinions.
1 Ibid., io8 seqq. ^
2 Ibid., no seqq.
CHAPTER VI.
Clement XL's Activity within the Church — Nomination
OF Cardinals — -The Missions.
Clement XI. was above all else solicitous for the clergy.
One of the first acts of his government was to order the
continuation of the visitation ^ which his predecessor had
prescribed for the churches of Rome.^ But Clement did not
succeed in solving all the problems with which the visitors
were faced. ^ In particular the duty of residence was impressed
upon the clergy. The Vicar-General Carpegna was instructed
to order ^ all the Bishops and priests bound to residence,
who happened to be in Rome, to return to their flocks ;
those who failed to obey within six months were to forfeit
their benefice. Not long afterwards the Pro-Datarius
Sagripanti published a similar ordinance ^ : within ninety
days all must send in, under pain of forfeiting their benefice,
a certificate from their Bishop attesting that they were
fulfilling their duties. In the name of the Congregation of
the Council Cardinal Panciatici, in a circular addressed to
the whole hierarchy," reiterated the duty of residence for the
whole Church. The Bishops or Vicars Apostohc in the
territories of heretics or schismatics were not exempt from
this obligation '^ ; in fact the Archbishop of Mexico was
^ January 14, 1701, Bull., XXL, 6 seqq.
2 Cf. the present work, XXXII. , 638.
3 Innocent XIII., May 28, 1721, Bull., XXL, 877.
* February 5, 1701, Magnum Bull., VIIL, Luxemburg, 1727,
242.
^ June 18, 1701, ibid., 290.
* Undated, ibid., 423.
^ Decree of Propaganda, June 17, 1715, ibid., 426 seq.
335
336 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
commanded to compel the Bishop of New Segovia, in the
Phihppines, to take up residence there. ^ A Brief to the
Bishops of Poland pointed out to them the necessity of
residence ^ ; the Bishop of Kulm was the object of special
blame inasmuch as his absence had enabled Protestantism
to gain ground.^ Special decrees were issued to ensure clerical
dignity in conduct and attire ■* ; in particular the wearing
of a wig during the sacred functions was prohibited ^ ; clerics
were also forbidden to take part in theatrical plays.® Weekly
lectures on Moral Theology were to assure the clergy's progress
in knowledge.' The Pope also dealt with complaints in
connection with the competitions prescribed by the Council
of Trent for the appointment to parishes.^ For the purpose
of strengthening the spiritual life Clement XI. recommended
the spiritual exercises introduced by St. Ignatius and insisted
upon by St. Vincent de Paul, more especially as a means
of preparing for the priesthood and for promoting the priestly
spirit. A circular addressed to the Bishops of Italy ^ ordained
that the reception of Orders be preceded by ten days of such
exercises and that priests, more especially those who had the
cure of souls, should make them every year, if possible with
the Jesuits or the Lazarists — in fact the Bishops were directed
to further the spiritual exercises in every way. Clement XL
granted special Indulgences to those who attended the
Tuesday conferences which had been introduced in Rome,
on the model of those of St. Vincent de Paul, by the Lazarists
of Monte Citorio, for the preservation of the priestly spirit.^''
^ Brief of January 27, 1703, Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 149
(hereafter referred to as Op., Epist.).
* May 25, 1709, ibid., 608. ' Same date, ibid., 610.
■* Decree of December 7, 1706, Magnum Bull., VIIL, 252.
^ Decree of May 4, 1701, ibid., 451.
* To Acquila, October 31, 1706, ibid., 409.
' Decree of November 28, 1719, ibid., 262.
^ Circular letter of the Congregation of the Council of Trent,
January 10, 1721, ibid., 423.
^ February i, 17 10, ibid., 422 seqq.
1" Brief of October 27, 1713, Bull., XXL, 585.
RAISING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. 337
The revival of religion among the people was likewise
to be promoted by the jubilee which, in accordance with
custom, the Pope proclaimed at his accession.^ When
extending the Jubilee Indulgence to the whole of Italy,^
Clement XL added some exhortations the purpose of which
was to arrest the decay of morals. The Bishops were told
to see to the maintenance of becoming reverence in the
churches and the observance of holy days. Parents should
react against the decay of morals by a better upbringing
of their children, teachers and parish priests by the teaching
of religion and by sermons to adults who were even more
ignorant than the children. Popular missions were to be
greatly encouraged : quite recently Rome had had experience
of their benefits ; when the truths of the faith were explained
in simple language, the faithful listened gladly, came in
crowds and derived much profit. For this reason Clement XI.
recommended to the Catholic Cantons of Switzerland the
missions preached by the Jesuit Fontana.^ In like manner
he recommended to the Bishops of Passau and Salzburg the
popular missions of two Jesuits.*
In the convents of nuns, the Bishops were to tolerate no
relaxation of monastic discipline, nor useless conversations
in the parlour. Men of learning were to be appointed as
confessors ; the nuns were to spend ten days in spiritual
exercises before their clothing and profession and it was
desirable that these exercises should be repeated every year.
Ecclesiastics should set a good example by their devout
attitude both in choir and at Mass, and care must be taken
that those without a vocation should not assume the duties
of the priesthood.
These regulations included practically everything that
could contribute towards the raising and furtherance of
morals and religion. Some details mentioned in these
1 February 25, 1701, ibid., 17.
- March 16, 1703, Magnum Bull., VIII., 407 seq.
' December 30, 1703, Op., Epist., 318.
* January 7, 1717, ibid., 2200 seq.
VOL. XXXIII. Z
338 HISTORY OF THE '"popes.
ordinances were further emphasized in other decrees. Thus
a circular of the Inquisition for Italy laments the lack of
reverence in the churches against which measures should
be taken.^ The Vicar-General of Rome urged the sanctification
of Sundays and holy days.^ As regards these matters,
ordinances were also sent to the Bishops of the Papal States. ^
It was especially in the matter of the religious instruction
of the people that Clement XI. showed himself most solicitous.
On July 26th, 1701, he addressed a circular to all the Bishops
of Italy, together with an instruction in fourteen chapters,
on the manner of imparting religious instruction. On March
16th, 1703, this injunction was still further amplified.'* Parish
priests were ordered to give religious instruction at least on
Sundays and feast days, and in so doing they were to follow
Bellarmine's catechism. In future no one was to receive
Orders, Confirmation, the Tonsure, or contract matrimony,
without a testimonial from the parish priest attesting that he
had been present at the catechetical instructions.^
Parish priests were obliged to submit to the Bishops a list
of the children who frequented these instructions ; parents
were admonished to exhort their children to assist them.^
For the lay brethren in rehgious Orders in Italy, an explanation
of the catechism and a portion of the Rule was prescribed
for every Sunday.'
During the period of the vacation of 1710 which he spent
at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope sought first hand information
as to the way in which the duty of preaching and catechizing
was carried out.^ At San Gallo in Rome, the prelates of the
court were made to explain the catechism to the poor.^
1 July 26, 1701, Magnum Bull., VIII., 405 seq.
2 February 8, 1703, published by L. MuNOZ Gasparini, in the
periodical Roma, September, 1925, pp. 409 seqq.
' January ir, 1719, and January 4, 1721, Magnum Bull.,
VIII., 412. * Nov.\ES, XII., 50.
^ Brief of September 14, 1713, Magnum Bull, VIII., 257 seq.
* Brief of October 5, 1713, ibid., 261.
' November 13, 1709, ibid., 44S. « Novaes, XII., 107.
» C. B. PtAZZi, La gerarchia cardinalizia, Roma, 1703, 744 ; cf. 869.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS ENCOURAGED. 339
Clement XI. realized that the abuse of the theatre might
become a source of danger for the morals of the people.
It comes as a surprise to us to-day that the Governor of
Rome should have issued an order against the abuses of the
theatre, on the ground that it was a well-known fact that
the real purpose of comedies and tragedies and suchlike
things was not merely entertainment, but likewise the
improvement of morals and the teaching of the laws of right
conduct. 1 For the raising and furthering of the religious life
Clement XI. hoped for great things from the example set
by the penitential and strict Order of the Trappists, which
had recently come into being. He wished to see it established
in Rome, in 1709, at S. Vito and induced the Abbey of
Casamari to adopt their Constitutions. ^ He was anxious to
summon the Benedictine nuns who devoted themselves to
the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from
France to Rome, but owing to the unfortunate circumstances
of the times, he saw himself obliged to send them back
again in 1708, when he strongly recommended them to the
Archbishop of Paris. ^ On August 1st, 1705, he approved
their Constitutions.*
In like manner he approved, on June 13th, 1703, at the
request of the Bavarian Elector Max Emmanuel, the Rule
of the English Ladies, though without giving his approbation
to their Institute.^ On March 15th, 1709, he approved the
new Constitutions of the Vallombrosans," whose visitation
^ January 5, 1721, Magnum Bull., VIII., 293. " *Bando
sopra gl' abusi nei teatri," February 2, 1718, in Editti, V., 60,
f. 135, Papal Seer. Archives. Ibid., 125-134, " *Bandi circa le
comedie 1 651 -1673."
* Ignaz MtJLLER in Freib. Kirchenlex., XI., 2001.
' September 23, 1708, Op., Epist., 570.
* Heimbucher, I., 394.
* Ibid., III., 366 ; Pechmann, Gesch. des Englischen Insiituis
B.M.V. in Bayern, Munich, 1907, 29. Cf. the present work,
XXIX, 24-34.
« Bull., XXL, 1 13-189.
340 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
had been entrusted to the Abbot-General.^ Nine Benedictine
monasteries in Poland and Lithuania, which at the instigation
of the Polish nuncio Niccolo Spinola, had been visited by
Abbot Mirecki, sent this same prelate to Rome for the purpose
of bringing about the union of these nine monasteries in
a single Congregation, after the model of the Bavarian
Benedictine Congregation. Clement XI. granted this request
by a Brief of May 22nd, 1709.2
Abbot Othmar of Brewnow was granted all the privileges
of the Cassinese Congregation for the Bohemian Benedictines
and the federated monasteries of Moravia and Silesia. ^ In order
to raise the standard both of the religious life and that of the
studies in the Swiss Benedictine Congregation, he ordained
that special monasteries should be set apart as noviciates
and houses of study. ^ The Cistercians of Bohemia, Moravia
and Lusatia were granted all the privileges enjoyed by the
Spanish Congregation of their Order. ^
Clement XL gave his warm support to the Lazarists when
they planned a foundation at Lisbon. In this matter he had
recourse to the Archbishop of Braga, and on January 14th,
1717, to the King of Portugal himself. The difiiculties brought
forward against the exemption from the jurisdiction of the
Patriarch of Lisbon claimed by the foundation, were only
settled at the time of the canonization of St. Vincent de
Paul in 1738.«
In an autograph letter "^ to the Grand Master of the Knights
of Malta, the Pope urged the reform of that Order. The
Knights were to apply themselves to all that belonged to
their calling, viz. mathematics, the art of naval warfare and
military exercises. The Order of the Mercedarians had
1 December ii, 1704, ibid., 220.
* Ibid., 343 seqq. Edict of Cardinal Carpineto, May 2, 1709,
in Magmtin Bull., VIII., 414.
=• Brief of October 6, 1714, Bull, XXL. 627.
* September 14, 1720, Op., ICpist., 2410.
<■ Brief of March 7, 17 15, ibid., 664 seqq.
« NovAES, XII., 145.
' January 24, 1708, Op., Epist., 462.
EXISTING ORDINANCES UPHELD. 341
decided, on its own initiative, in a General Chapter of May 17th,
1608, in favour of a stricter observance of its Constitutions.
Clement XI. approved the changes on May 29th, 1702. ^
For the same reason he granted a similar favour to the
Antonites in Vienna. ^ For the convents of nuns, he insisted
on all useless display and expense being avoided at clothings
and professions.^ One important papal decision concerns the
relations between Regulars and Bishops. In the Philippine
Isles Dominicans, Franciscans, Hermits of St. Augustine
and Jesuits had contested the right of the Archbishop of
Manila to visit the seven hundred parishes which they
administered amongst the natives ; they were prepared
rather to surrender these parishes than to allow them to be
visited. The Pope declared that they were to continue to
look after them and to submit to the Archbishop's visitation.^
As a matter of fact, Clement XI. strongly insisted on
ecclesiastical principles being upheld and laws which had
come into force being observed, so that even princes had
to put up with a good many refusals. It was from no motive
of disloyalty to Cathohc doctrine, but from devotion, that
Count Anton Ulrich of Brunswick Liineburg wished to receive
Communion under both kinds. This had been granted to
several other princes, but Clement XI. twice refused the
request.^
The Count of Pfalz-Zweibriicken asked several times in
vain for permission to contract a marriage with a relative
of his, a Protestant princess.^ The Bishop of Quito and
Viceroy of Peru, found it difficult to observe the law of
^ Bull, XXL, 49 seqq.
2 May 12, 1703, ibid., 84 5^17.
* Decrees of March 2, 1702, July 28, 1708, January 26, 1709,
September 28, 171 1, June 26, 1716, Magnum Bull., VIIL, 243,
256, 410 seq.
* Brief of January 30, 1705, Bull., XXL, 225 seq.
5 July 23 and October 22, 1712. Theiner, Gesch. der Rikkkchr
Urk., 26 ; Rass, IX., 145.
« Briefs of July 23, 1707, September 22, 1708, July 4, 1711,
August 28, 1719, Op., Epist., 422, 568, 1552, 2358.
342 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
fasting on the occasion of ordinations. The Pope, however,
stood firm in enforcing this law of the Church. ^ A custom
had crept in of some priests saying all the three Masses on
Christmas night at which the faithful communicated, instead
of celebrating only one Mass ; this innovation found no
favour with the Pope.^ Clement XI. showed himself most
scrupulous in all that concerned divine worship and the
reverence due to the Holy Eucharist.^ The Forty Hours'
Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, which had been observed
at certain times of the year since the sixteenth century, was
by his order regulated and ordered on January 20th, 1705.*
Processions of the Blessed Sacrament were not to be allowed
to degenerate into occasions of mere curiosity ; they were
to be accompanied, not with fireworks and noise of arms and
other ostentatious display, but by reverence and devotion.^
The Bishop of Toledo was reprimanded by the Pope ^ because,
in his episcopal city, the Blessed Sacrament was taken to the
sick without those marks of reverence which were then
customary in Rome and he forwarded to him the regulations
in use in Rome, as a pattern of what should be observed.
Clement XI. gave many proofs of his veneration for the
Mother of God. When on August 5th, 1715 — a feast of our
1 Brief of December 5, 171 1, ibid., 1604.
2 Brief of December 18, 1702, Magnum Bull., VIII., 245.
* Cif-cular letter for Italy, July 26, 1701, ibid., 405. Cf. in
*Bandi, V., 7, f. 17, the edicts " per rosservazione del culto
divino " (July 15, 1701), f. 19, against frequenting churches at
night in unbecoming dress (July 11, 1703), f. 20, against erecting
altars or statues in the streets (September 19, 1704, and May 2,
1714), f. 22, against unbecoming behaviour in the churches
(July 3, 1714), f. 59, " sopra Tosservazione di feste " (February 8,
1703). Papal Seer. Archives.
* Magnum Bull., VIII., 248. Cf. Civ. Catt., 1919, H-, 111-125 ;
on the beginnings of this devotion, ibid., 1917, II., 466 seqq.
s Edict of the Vicar-General of Rome, June 9, 1702, Magnum
Bull., VIII.. 244.
6 November 19, 1720, Op., Epist., 2418. Cf. Jak. Hoffmann,
Vevehrung des allerheiligsten Sakramentes, Kempten, 1897, 275.
BEATIFICATIONS. 343
Lady and as he was taking part in a procession for the success
of the Turkish war — Prince Eugene gained the great victory
of Peterwardein, Clement XI. made use of the occasion to
extend the feast of the Hoi}' Rosary to the whole Church.^
He raised the feast of the Immaculate Conception to the
rank of a holy day of obligation, chiefly in order to implore
the help of heaven in time of need.^
Clement XL did much to promote the veneration of the
Saints, although he only carried out one canonization during
the whole of his pontificate. This took place on May 22nd,
1712. The new Saints were Pius V., the Theatine Andrea
Avellino from the circle of Charles Borromeo {ob. 1608) and
the Capuchin lay brother Felix of Cantalice {ob. 1587) and
Catherine of Bologna, a Poor Clare {ob. 1463).^ The Pope
also undertook only one solemn beatification, that of John
Francis Regis, a Jesuit missionary in the Ceyennes {ob. 1640).
This took place on May 8th, 1716.^ Besides these, though
without a formal beatification, he confirmed the cult which
since time immemorial had been paid to many other saintly
personages. This honour was conferred on Pope Gregory X.
(1272-6),^ on the founder of the Order of Calatrava, on the
Cistercian Raymond Serra (twelfth century), on the foundress
of the Vallombrosan nuns, Umilta di Faenza {ob. 1310),
and on a number of Franciscans, e.g. Liberate da Lauro
(fourteenth century), Andrea de Comitibus and the lay
brothers James of Illyria {ob. 1485) and Salvatore d'Orta
{ob. 1567), the Martyrs John of Perugia and Peter Sassoferrato
{ob. 1230) ; also on the following members of the Dominican
^ Decree of the Congregation of Rites, October 3, 1714, Magnum
Bull., VIII , 440.
2 December 6, 1708, Bull., XXI., 338.
' The Bulls of Canonization of Pius V. and Andrew Avellino
in Bull, XXL, 506 seqq., 518 seqq. The Bulls for the other two
Saints were only published on June 5, 1714, by Benedict XIII.
Ibid., XXII., 36 seq., 41 seq.
* Ibid., XXI., 704 seq. Cf. Magnum Bull., VIII., 436 (Decree
of March 27, 171 2), 439 (Decree of May 30, 1716).
* Decree of September 12, 1713, Bull, XXI., 575.
344 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Order : Lucia of Narni {ob. 1544), the brother of St. Hyacinth,
Ceslaus Odrovanzio {ob. 1242), Augustine Gazotti, Bishop
of Agram and afterwards of Lucera {ob. 1323), the Servite
Alexius Falconieri {ob. 1310), the Cistercian nuns of the
Portuguese royal famity, Teresa and Sancia, the Capuchin
lay brother Serafino d'Ascoh.^ The cult of some other Saints
was extended to the whole Church. ^ At the request of
James III. of England, St. Anselm of Canterbury was raised
to the honour of a Doctor of the Church.^ In 1714 the relics
of Pope Leo I., who later on was raised to the rank of a Doctor
of the Church, were placed in the position in St. Peter's
which they occupy to-da}^^ Clement XI. himself composed
an ofifice of St. Joseph, the foster-father of Our Lord, extending
it to the whole Church.^
One of Clement XL's constant anxieties was the preservation
of ecclesiastical liberty in the face of encroachments by the
secular power. The quarrels with Savoy, which continued
during his whole pontificate and which were only finally
settled by Benedict XIV., had come down to him as an
inheritance from his predecessor's reign. The Government
of Turin had put obstacles in the way of vocations to the
priesthood and had taxed ecclesiastical benefices. When the
Bishops remonstrated the Government declared their decrees
null and void. Innocent XII. took the part of the Bishops
whose renewed remonstrances likewise called forth a fresh
protest from the Government. The confusion was further
increased when, in a quarrel relating to immunity, a certain
priest appealed to the Senate of Nice, whilst the nuncio of
Turin and the Vice Legate of Avignon ranged themselves in
opposition to the Senate and the Archbishop of Embrun, as
* NovAES, XII., 154-162 ; Bull, XXI., Index s.v. " Cultus
immemorialis ". ,
* For SS. Peter of Alcantara, Ubald, Hedwige, Antoninus,
Agatha, John of God, see Magnum Bull., VIII., 431 seqq., 437.
' February 3, 1720, ibid., 441.
* Freiburger Kivchenlex., VII., 1765.
' February 3, 1714, Magnum Bull., VIII., 437 ; Pfulf in
Siimmen aus Maria-Laach, XXXVIII. (1890), 297.
FIGHT FOR THE CHURCH S FREEDOM. 345
Metropolitan of Nice, took the part of the Senate which then
appealed to Clement XI. During the whole of his pontificate
the Pope had to deal with difficulties of this kind.^ Apart
from the feuds which had dragged on for hundreds of years
as the fruit of the Sicilian Monarchy,^ there were both isolated
encroachments in the kingdom of Naples as well as papal
protests, as at Aquila, Lecce, Lipari,^ Milan and Genoa.*
This disregard of ecclesiastical rights had spread as far as
Poland.^ With regard to Germany, an urgent Brief was sent
to the Elector of the Palatinate at Diisseldorf,^ requiring him
to refrain from encroaching on the liberties of the Church.
The Pope likewise implored the Grand Master of the Teutonic
Order and administrator of Breslau, Francis of Conti, to
oppose all violations of ecclesiastical immunity.'' Liege and
^ Comprehensive account in Novaes, XII., 22-33. Briefs of
May 17, 1707, October 27, 1710, January 3, 171 1, July 9, 1712,
July 28, 1713, October 20, 1717, August 18, 1719, January 5,
1720, in Bull., XXL, 271, 406, 413, 538, 560, 779, 8x8, 825 ;
Magnum Bull., VIIL, 268 seqq. Una missione di Savoia a Roma
presso il Papa Clemente XI. secondo tin carteggio col M. Franc
Riccardi, ministro del grandiica di Toscana, Firenze, 1889 (Nozze).
Cf. " *Lettere a Giac. Laderchi nel negotiato tra la S. Sede e
la corte di Savoia 1717-1724 ", in Cod. Barb., XLIL, 20, Vatican
Library ; " *Scritti orig. di Giac. Laderchi sul negotiato tra la
corte di Savoia et la S. Sede, affidato al med. Laderchi, che ando
a Torino sul fine del 1716 (Monarchia Sicula)," ibid., XLIL, 67.
Other *\vritings on the dispute : 1700-4, ibid., LX., 15, 1706-
171 1, ibid., LX., 66. Cf. Pometti, XXL, 335 seq., 374 seq.
' Cf. above, p. 98.
* Briefs of May 21, 1707, December 24, 1711, June 18, 1712,
Bull., XXL, 287 seq., 463 seq., 531 seq.
* Briefs of October 5, 1709, December 3, 17 12, ibid., 353 seq.,
546 seq. On the interdict of Lecce, 1711-19, cf. Arch. Napolet.,
XXIV.. 165.
5 NovAES, XII., 116 seq., 137.
* January 23, 1708, Op., Epist., 460. Cf. Woker, Aus den
Papieren des Kurpfdlzischen Ministers A. Steffani, Cologne,
1885, 32 seqq.
' April ID, 1706, Op., Epist., 336.
346 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Malines also witnessed similar encroachments/ as did Portugal
and Ragusa." Clement XI. considered it his duty, in all
these cases, to defend ecclesiastical privileges. Sometimes his
admonitions met with success. Thus when Count Leopold
of Lorraine had promulgated some laws contrary to
ecclesiastical liberty, the Pope, after repeatedly condemning
the ordinance, was finally able to .congratulate the Count ^
on having promulgated different laws.^ As the result of yet
another remonstrance by the Pope, Leopold also revoked
a later decree of the year 1715.^
On the other hand, when the duties of his office permitted
him to do so, the Pope met the legitimate desires of the
secular Powers. He gave proof of this when at the wish of
John v.. King of Portugal, he divided the diocese of Lisbon
into two sections, erecting in the chapel of the royal palace
a second archbishopric, the occupant of which was to bear
the title of Patriarch.^
(2.)
Clement XL seemed to be in no hurry to create new
Cardinals. Three years went by after his election, before he
invested the Archbishop of Naples and former nuncio in
Poland, Francis Pignatelli, with the purple.'' Pignatelli was
a nephew of Innocent XII., hence his elevation by Clement XL
was an expression of gratitude towards the late Pontiff who
1 Ibid., 388 ; Magnum Bull., VIII., 396.
" Op., Epist., 170, 250; Brief of January 19, 1706, Bull.,
XXI., 248.
^ Brief of February 11, 1704, ibid., 99 seq.
* November 30, 1710, Op., Epist., 728 ; Orat. consist. (Decem-
ber I, 1710), 50.
* Brief of February 2, 1715, ibid., 2050.
* Freiburger Kirchenlex., VII., 2094 ; Cleniefitis XI. Bullaritim,
Frankfurt, 1729, 479 seqq. Cf. ibid., 506 seq., 508 seqq., the Briefs
of February 18 and March 12, 171 7.
' December 17, 1703, Op., Orat. consist., 18.
NEW CARDINALS. 347
had bestowed many benefits on the former Cardinal Albani.^
Again two and a half years went by without further nomina-
tions, when all at once on May 17th, 1706, the Pope created
twenty new Cardinals, owing to the number, as he himself
said, having fallen so far short of the complement of seventy.^
This time again one of the elevations was a mark of
gratitude. Clement XI. had received the purple at the hands
of Alexander VIII., now he conferred the same distinction
on a relative of Alexander VIII., Pietro Priuli. Of the
remaining nineteen not a few had been nuncios, as for instance
the Florentine Francesco Martelli, who had been nuncio in
Poland ; Lorenzo Fieschi, Archbishop of his native city of
Genoa, at Naples and Paris ; Lorenzo Casoni at Naples ;
Francesco Acquaviva in Spain ; Tommaso Ruffo in Tuscany ;
Orazio Filippo Spada at Cologne ; Francesco Antonio Gualtieri
in Paris. The others had won distinction in various spheres
of activity : Ranuccio Pallavicini as Governor of Rome ;
Giandomenico Paracciani as Governor of Benevento ; Niccolo
Grimaldi in the same capacity in different towns and lastly
as Secretary of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars ;
Carlo Colonna had been Maggiordomo ; he was succeeded by
Giuseppe Vallemani, already nominated Cardinal in petto and
Secretary of several Congregations of Cardinals ; Alessandro
Caprara was at the head of the Penitenziaria ; Carlo Agostino
Fabroni, Secretary of Propaganda and Prefect of the Index,
was remarkable for his extraordinary talents and learning ;
^ NovAES, XIL, 6o. Cf. *Relazione intorno alia vita di Fr.
Pignatelli (only up to his elevation to the cardinalate), Cod. Barb.,
XLIL, 69, pp. 1S5-194, Vatican Library.
* Op., loc. cit., 18 seq. ; Novaes, XIL, 77-86. On Gualtieri,
cf. A. Baschet, Le due de Saint-Simon et le card. Gualtiero. Mem.
sur la recherche de leur correspondance 1 706-1 728, Paris, 1878.
His *letters in British Museum ; see Julius P. Gilson, Guide
to the Manuscripts of the British Museum, London, 1914. Some
letters of Maurists to him are in Rev. Bencd., 1907, 415-19. On
Fabroni see Blume, Inter., II., 117 ; on the (tasteless) tomb of
Filippucci see Forcella, VIII. , 73. " *Testamento del card.
Acquaviva " (1725) in Cod. ital., 190, n. 5, State Library, Munich.
348 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Giovanni Baduari, until then Patriarch of Venice, had
distinguished himself by his pastoral zeal.^ In the year of
his elevation to the cardinalate he was appointed Bishop of
Brescia where he cornbated the opinions of Picenino, a Swiss
Protestant, and the Jansenists. Several of those nominated
were well known for their piety and love of the poor, as was
Gabriel Filipucci of Macerata to whom the Pope made a yearly
grant of 1,000 scudi for his charities. In the year of his
elevation to the cardinalate, Filipucci addressed a lengthy
petition to the Pope praying to be relieved of that dignity.
Clement XI. granted the petition - but when the Bishop died
in the following year he ordered a princely funeral for him.
Amongst the twenty new Cardinals, there were only two
foreigners. These were the convert. Christian Augustine of
Saxony, Archbishop of Gran, and Joseph Emmanuel de la
Tr^moille who received the purple on the proposal of Louis
XIV. Lorenzo Corsini, the future Clement XII., also received
the purple on May 17th, 1706. Michelangelo Conti, who was
to be Clement XL's successor as Innocent XIII. , was the
only one who was nominated in the third creation of Cardinals,
which took place on June 7th, 1706, in the consistory in which
the resignation of Fihppucci was accepted.^ Not all the
twenty-two Cardinals who had been nominated up to now,
were able to take part in the next conclave : Caprara died
in 1711, Pallavicini in 1712, Baduari in 1714, MartelH in 1717,
Casoni and Tr^moille in 1720 ; Paracciani. died on the very
day on which the next Pope was elected.
These first three creations were followed by three others
up till 1712, at which, however, only four prelates in all
received the purple ; they were : in the first place, Charles
Thomas Maillard de Tournon, a native of Turin, papal Legate
in distant China, on August 1st, 1707 ^ ; on April 15th,
Ulisses Joseph Gozzadini of Bologna, until then Secretary
1 Vita del card. Giov. Badoaro, Brescia, 1766.
« June 7, 1706, Op., loc. cit., 22.
3 Op., loc. cit., 23 ; NovAES, XIL, 84.
•' Op., loc. cit., 30 ; NovAES, XIL, 91.
CREATION OF MAY l8, 1712. 349
of Briefs and formerly professor of Canon law in his native
city ^ ; together with the latter Antonio Francesco Sanvitali,
at one time Vice-Legate at Avignon and afterwards nuncio
at Florence, was nominated in petto but proclaimed before
long. 2 To these was added the Pope's nephew, Annibale
Albani, nominated on December 23rd, 1711.^ On June 26th,
170!), Francesco Maria de' Medici had obtained permission
to renounce the cardinalate to prevent the Medici family
of Florence from becoming extinct.*
When he raised his nephew, the Pope had created his
twenty-sixth Cardinal, but not by any means the last.
In fifteen creations Clement XI. bestowed the purple on
seventy prelates. On the occasion of the seventh promotion,
May 18th, 1712, eighteen Cardinals were promoted in order
to fill up the gaps caused by death. ^ A third of these owed
their nomination to the pressure of the European Powers.
Manuel Arias y Porres owed the red hat to the prayer of
Philip V. In his youth he had been a Knight of Malta ; he
embraced the ecclesiastical state in his fifty-second year and
attained the position of head of the supreme Council of
Castile and finally that of Archbishop of Seville. He never
went to Rome. Together with him another Spaniard was
promoted in the person of the Benedictine monk Benedict
Sala, Bishop of Barcelona. He had been an opponent of
Philip V. and was obliged, after Philip's triumph, to retire
to Rome. Charles VI., however, used his influence on his
behalf.^ In the same way, at the prayer of the Emperor,
Wolfgang Hannibal von Schrattenbach,' Bishop of Olmiitz,
obtained the red hat, as did the Inquisitor-General Nuno da
^ Op., loc. cit., 32. *Biography in Cod. Bolognetli, 257, Papal
Seer. Archives, and by Rondoni in Bibl. Casanatense, Rome,
Miscell., VI., 465.
* NovAES, XII., 105. ' 3 Op., loc. cit., 60.
* Ibid., 32 scqq. * Ibid., 74.
^ A. M. Albareda, Coniribitcio a la biografia del cardenal Sala
O. S. B. abat de Montserrat, in Analecla Moiitscyratensia, VI.
(1625), 77-224.
' WuRZBACH, XXXI., 270 seq.
350 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Cunha de Atayde, as a result of pressure by the King of
Portugal. France, of course, could not be passed over.
Louis XIV. had intervened only on behalf of one of the two
Frenchmen who had been nominated, viz. Armand Gaston
de Rohan, Coadjutor of Fiirstenberg of Strassburg ; the other,
Melchior de Pohgnac, Archbishop of Auch and ambassador
to the Holy See, had been raised to the cardinalate at the
request of the English Pretender James III.^
Five others owed their promotion not to princely intercession
but to their services to the Holy See in diplomacy. Three of
these, Giovanni Battista Bussi, Giuho Piazza and Giovanni
Antonio Davia, had been at first internuncios at Brussels
and subsequently nuncios at Cologne. Piazza was still
administering the nunciature of Poland and Davia that of
Vienna. Davia was a man of great merit who had fought,
sword in hand, against the Turks ; on the advice of Innocent,
he embraced the ecclesiastical career. He incurred Vienna's
displeasure because, in obedience to papal instructions, he
refused, in 1705, to acknowledge the Archduke Charles as
King of Spain. The same misfortune of royal displeasure
was incurred by nuncio Antonio Felice Zondadari when, as
nuncio in Spain, he tried to bring about peace, with the
result that he had to spend seven years in retirement at
Avignon before his elevation to the cardinalate. Agostino
Cusani had earned the red hat by filling the difficult post
of nuncio at Venice, Vienna and Paris. ^
Others had rendered themselves worthy of elevation not
in foreign countries, but as faithful officials in the Eternal
City. Ludovico Pico della Mirandola had been Maggiordomo
and Prefect of the Congregation of Indulgences ; Pietro
Marcellino Corradini, at first a celebrated advocate at the
Curia, Subdatarius and Auditor of the Pope, could be employed
1 P. Paul, Le card. Melchior de Polignac 1661-1741, Paris,
1922, Polignac also tried his hand as a Latin poet in a work entitled
" Antilucrezio ". Baumgartner, Weltliteratur, IV., 633.
2 La nunziaiura Veneta di Msgr. Agostino Cusani net triennio
1704, 5 e 6, tratta dai dispacci orig. per ciira di A. Ceruti, 1877 ;
Arch. stor. lomb., III. (1876), 'zg-ji.
THE NEW CARDINALS. 351
in all important affairs : after the death of Benedict XIII.
he very nearly obtained the papacy. As Auditor of the Rota
during twenty-three years, Luigi Priuli had rendered good
services in the affairs of his native city of Venice. Curzio
Origo, an old friend of Clement XI., had been entrusted with
various important offices.
Apart from the Benedictine Sala, three among the new
Cardinals belonged to religious Orders. The Capuchin
Francesco Maria Casini had been a famous preacher ; the
Jesuit Giovanni Battista Tolomei, who was conversant with
nine oriental languages, had been a learned professor of
Holy Scripture and Philosophy at the Roman College ; the
Theatine, Giuseppe Maria Tommasi, was remarkable for
exceptional holiness of life and great learning in liturgical
subjects ; like Tolomei, as a scion of a noble family, he had
renounced his birthright in order to enter religion. He was
examiner of Bishops and a Consultor of the Congregation
of Rites and of the Holy Office. He refused at first to accept
the cardinalate but the Pope overcame his objections with
the same arguments with which Tommasi had at one time
pressed the Pontiff to accept the papacy. During the seven
months of his cardinalate, Tommasi distributed 4,000 scudi
to the poor whilst a further 2,000 was spent on beautifying
his church ; he was beatified by Pius VII. in 1805. ^
Without exception all those nominated were able and
blameless priests. Corradini and Davia came well within
reach of the papacy, Rohan was employed in practically
every ecclesiastical affair and proved a strenuous defender
^ Eulogy of Tommasi by Clement XI. : January 30, 1713;
Op., Orat. consist., 82. Biography by Bernino (Romae, 1714 ,
manuscript in the Archives of the Theatines, Rome, differing
greatly from the printed copies) ; by Pottino, Palermo, 1916.
Also: Archivio stor. ital., 5 Series, XIV., 226; A. F. Vezzosi,
Scrittori dei chierici regolari, Roma, 1780, 416. Edition of the
works by Vezzosi, 7 vols., Romae, 1 748-1 754. Some minor
publications, by G. Mercati in Siudi e testi. Cf. Narducci,
Biblioteca Angelica, 551 seq. Tommasi's tomb is in the crypt of
S. Clemente, Rome.
352 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the Bull Unigenitus, Atayde was praised for his prudence
and ability, his solicitude for the poor and the splendour
of the divine service. Seven amongst these Cardinals had
been nominated in petto ; however, their names were soon
published : they were, Mirandola, Bussi, Corradini, Origo, on
September 26th, 1712, Arias y Porres, Sala and Pohgnac
on January 30th, 1713. ^ With the publication of the two
last mentioned, the Pope combined the nomination of two
new Cardinals, an Itahan and a German. ^ Benedetto
Odescalchi, a relative of Innocent XL, had been nuncio in
Poland ; he died in 1740 as Archbishop of Milan with the
reputation of having distributed 1,100,000 imperial lire in
alms. His fellow Cardinal was Damian Hugo von Schonborn,
Bishop of Spires and Constance, who after the devastations
caused by the French, successfully restored his bishopric
of Spires to its pristine splendour. A priest of exemplary
piety, ^ he received the purple on the proposal of the Emperor,
but was reserved, for a time, in petto. It was only on May 29th,
1715, that his elevation was made public, that is after that
of Fabio Olivieri, Secretary of Briefs under four Popes,
a cousin and fellow-student of the Pope, who was proclaimed
in the pubHc consistory of May 6th of that year.^ Schonborn's
proclamation was followed by the bestowal of the red hat
on four other Cardinals,^ but only one of these was at once
* Op., loc. cit., 78, 82 seq.
2 Ibid., 82 seq. ; Novaes, XII., 180 seq. Brief of February 11,
1714, and dispatch of the red hat to Odescalchi : Op., Brevia,
1816 ; c/. 1822.
3 Remling, Gesch. dev Bischofe von Speier, II., Mayence, 1854,
625 seq. ; Steinhuber, II., 57 ; Freiburger Kirchenlex., XI. 2,
608 ; J. WiLLH, Bruchsal, Bilder mis einem geistlichen Staat
des 18. Jahrhunderts, Karlsruhe, 1897, 18 seqq. Brief of August 24,
1720 (congratulating him on his ordination to the priesthood
and on his impending episcopal consecration) in Op., Epist., 2402:
* Op., Orat. consist., 120, 122 ; Novaes, XII., 191-
» Op., loc. cit., 122 ; Novaes, XII., 192. Cf. M. Sagliocco,
Compendio delle virtu de card. liiico Caracciolo, Roma, 1738.
On Bissy sec J. Gazin-Gossel in Rev. de I'hist. de I'^glise de
France, II. (191 1), 539 seqq., 679 seqq.
FURTHER CREATIONS. 353
publicly proclaimed, viz. the Frenchman Henri Thiard de
Bissy, Bossuet's successor at Meaux, a prelate well known
as a father of the poor and a zealous defender of the ancient
faith. The other three, Inigo Caracciolo, Bernardino Scotti
and Maria Marini were reserved in petto ; only on December
16th, 1715, on the occasion of the last creation, were their
names made public.^ Most of the new Cardinals then
nominated had been nuncios, viz. Niccolo Caracciolo at
Florence, Giovanni Patrizi at Naples, Niccolo Spinola at
Florence and in Poland. These were followed by the learned
jurist Fernando Nuzzi who, although never a nuncio, had never-
theless occupied nearly every important position at the Curia.
On March 15th, 1717, after the Pope had rewarded the
services of Alessio Gilberto Borromei, his Maestro di Camera,
with the red hat, and on July 12th of the same year had
honoured in the same way, though much against his will,^
Giulio Alberoni, the foreigners were in a majority in the
nominations which followed. At the same time as Alberoni,
a Hungarian, Emmerich Czacki, Archbishop of Kolocsa, was
raised to the purple, though he remained in petto until October
1st of the same year.^ On November 29th came the turn
of two Frenchmen, Leon Potier de Gesvres, Archbishop of
Bourges, and Francois de Mailly, Archbishop of Rheims.
Gesvres obtained the dignity at the request of the King of
Poland, whilst Mailly earned his elevation by his zeal in
defence of the faith, as the Pope declared at the consistory,^
The Fleming, Thomas Philip of Alsace, Count of Boussu,
a former student of the Germanicum and Rector of the
Anima, merited his elevation by his stand against Jansenism.^
The Spaniard, Belluga Torre Castiglio Haro y Moncada was
also a remarkable man. At Cordova he had established an
^ Op., loc. cit., 126 ; NovAES, XII., 194 seq.
- Op., loc. cit., 142 seq. ; Novaes, XII., 209 seq.
* Op., loc. cit., 150 ; Novaes, XII., 211 seq.
* The Pope called him " malleum lansenistarum ", Op., loc.
cit., 169. Cf. Brief to Mailly, January 8, 1720, Op., Epist., 2388.
* On Boussu, cf. Steinhuber, I., 423 ; I. Lohninger, Die
zwolf Kardindle aits der Reihe der Anima-Rektoren , Rome, 1912, 13.
VOL, XXXIII, A a
354 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Oratory of St. Philip over which he presided as Superior.
Though he held the See of Castagna the nuncio ordered him
to act as Viceroy of Valencia and in the war of succession to
take command of the troops which were to defend Philip V.
against the rebels of Murcia. He earned the cardinalate by
his zeal for the Holy See and for ecclesiastical liberty and
immunity. He handed to the King a memorial on the grievous
injury that must accrue to Spain, to the Church, to religion
and to the King himself, from the restriction of intercourse
with Rome. It required a papal command (March 12th, 1720)
to induce him to accept ^ the Cardinal's hat. In order to
escape from this dignity, he had not failed to make representa-
tions both to the King and to the Cardinals. After his
nomination he renounced his bishopric and retired to Rome.
Pohgnac called him a mirror of prelates, whilst Clement XL,
at the time of his elevation, praised him as a courageous
defender of the Holy See.^ With him two other foreigners
were nominated, as a result of pressure by their respective
rulers, viz. the Portuguese Joseph Pereira de Lacerda and
the Bohemian Michael Frederick of Althan. The former had
been Viceroy of Algarbe and the latter became Viceroy of
Naples in 1722. Together with these, four Italians received
the purple, viz. Giorgio Spinola, Cornelio Bentivoglio, Gian
Francesco Barbarigo and Giambattista Salerni. Spinola had
been nuncio in Spain and Vienna with Charles VI. both as
King of Italy and Emperor. Bentivoglio occupied a similar
position in Paris, but after the death of Louis XIV. he came
under suspicion with the Regent and had to be recalled.
The conversion of the Elector of Saxony was due in no small
measure to Salerni, who received the red hat at the request
of the King of Saxony, the Crown Prince and the Emperor.^
^ Op., loc. cit., 2396.
^ Op., Orat. consist., 168 seqq. ; Novaes, XIL, 224.
^ NovAEs, XIL, 225 seq. On Althan, cf. Lohninger, 12.
On Salerni, B. Duhr in Stimmen der Zeit, CXI. (1926), 104-117.
The Pope commanded Salerni to accept the Cardinal's hat by
Brief of November 29, 17 19, printed in Nilles, Symbolae, II.
(1885), 1016.
NORTH GERMANY. 355
Two Spaniards were raised to the purple at Clement XL's
last creation on September 30th, 1720 : they were Borgia
Centella Ponce de Leon, a son of the Duke of Gandia, and
Alvaro Cienfuegos. The Pope had long refused to grant the
Emperor's prayers on behalf of Cienfuegos owing to his
being a Jesuit ; as he had already nominated two other
Jesuits, Tolomei and Salerni, he did not wish to raise a third
to the purple.^
(3.)
By his many ordinances for the spiritual renewal of clergy
and people, Clement XL had benefited the whole Church
and by filling the vacancies in the College of Cardinals he
had provided for future papal elections. It only remained
for him now to turn his attention to that part of his flock
which, more than any other, stood in need of his solicitude.
This includes, in the first place, the North of Germany and
the northern countries in general where, under the zealous
care of the Jesuit missionaries, the small Catholic communities
succeeded in maintaining themselves, though with difficulty. ^
^ Op., loc. cit., 176 ; Brief of October 8, 1770, Op., Epist.,
2414 ; NovAES, XII., 230, "* Vita del. card. Cienfuegos " in
Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the Vatican, Ann., I.
It contains the following eulogy : " e inesplicabile la stima che
fece della sua virtu e capacita il Re Pietro II. [of Portugal]
che per la vivezza e prontezza soleva chiamarlo Milfuegos."
The Emperor also had a great esteem \ox him. Cf. Saint-Simon,
Memoires, ed. Boislisle, X. (1893), 532. On his writings,
SoMMERVOGEL, II. , 1182 seqq. The second-hand bookseller
Samonati in Rome had in his possession one of his manuscripts,
Le ragioni di Stato e i suoi documenti politici (to Charles VI.).
* DuHR, IV., I, 100-124. On the Saxon mission, ibid., 489 seqq.
On East and West Prussia, ibid., 459 seqq. Cf. the testimony of
the Vicar Apostolic, Otto von Gronsfeldt, September 16, 1706 :
' Ferme omnes per septentrionem missiones ab eodem [Ferdinand
von Fiirstenberg] erectae fundataeque sunt et Patribus Societatis
356 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
There also Clement XI. endeavoured to do all that lay in his
power. The greatest difficulty, lay in the fact that for this
whole northern region there was only one Vicar Apostolic.
This vast territory which, besides the northern parts of
Germany, included Sweden, Norway and Denmark, was far
too extensive to be attended to by one man. A memorial
drawn up at the beginning of the eighteenth centurv urges
the partition of this Vicariate : it prays for a superior of
their own for the territories of Hanover and Prussia.^
The man by whose initiative this memorial was drawn up,
was himself appointed to a post the creation of which he had
advocated. This was Agostino Steffani, an Italian from
Castelfranco and one of the most remarkable persohalities
of his time. 2 From a poor chorister of St. Mark's, Venice,
he became one of the first composers of the eighteenth century,
whose works exercised no small influence on George Frederick
Handel, one of the greatest figures in the realm of music. ^
indefesso labore ac studio, prudentia, discretione fructuque
animarum in ista vinea Domini operantibus recteque fungentibus
hucusque munere sue fuere addictae." Metzler, 301.
^ Metzler, 81 seq. ; P. Wittichen in Qitellen und Forschungen
aus iialienischen Archiven, VI. (1904), 344 seqq.
* F. W. WoKER, Alls den Papieren des kiirpfdlzischen Ministers
Agostino Steffani, Cologne, 1885 ; idem. Ag. Steffani, Bischof
von Spiga i. p. i., Apostol. Vikar von Norddeutschland 1709-
1728, ibid., 1886.
' F. Chrysander, Georg. Friedrich Handel, I., Leipzig, 1858,
311-353. " He [Steffani] was one of the greatest masters of the
time. His word was universally accepted. The assurance that
' Steffani had said so ', was enough to end any controversy.
He was Handel's favourite and he was the only great composer
from whom he [Handel] not only learnt something, but whom
he confesses to have actually imitated " [ibid., 312). " In the
conception of a great musical poem Steffani is substantially the
equal of his great successor [Hiindel]. We find in him an idealism
equally profound, only in his dramatic power is he considerably
inferior " {ibid., 323). " His duets have made Steffani immortal."
" His duets, which bear the stamp of consummate skill, cannot
be too highly praised, they will only perish when music itself
AGOSTINO STEFFANI. 357
He became a priest in 1681 when, thanks to his musical
achievements, he received a call to the court of Duke Ernest
Augustus of Hanover, where the master in the realm of
harmony and the counterpart to Rubens, likewise revealed
himself as an able diplomatist. Without breaking off relations
with the court of Hanover, he entered, at the beginning of the
Spanish War of Succession, into close relations with the
Elector John William of Pfalz-Neuburg, in whose service he
rose to the position of President of the electoral Government.
Though John William had no decisive vote, he was nevertheless
mixed up in all the events and questions which agitated
Germany at that time and on most occasions Steffani appears
as his representative and spokesman.^ Ordinances issued by
him had the same force as if they had been signed by the
Elector himself.^ In Rome also Steffani was highly esteemed.
At the suggestion of the Elector, the Pope not only appointed
him to the See of Spiga (September 13th, 1706), but desired
him to take up residence in Rome at the time of his quarrel
with the Emperor Joseph I., in order that he might consult
him.^ In his own opinion Steffani had " settled the matter
very satisfactorily " in Rome.^ In token of his gratitude the
Pope nominated him an Assistant at the Pontiiicial throne ^
and provided him with several benefices.®
During Steffani's residence in Rome, the division of the
northern Vicariate was effected. On April 9th, 1709, a Brief
was issued appointing the Bishop of Spiga Vicar Apostolic
for Pfalz-Neuburg, Brandenburg and Brunswick, in so far
as these territories were not already under the jurisdiction
perishes," ibid., 327. Selected works published by A. Einstein
and A. Sandbergei^, Leipzig, 1905. Cf. Eitner in Allg. Deutsche
Biographie, XXXV., 549-553 ; Woker in Katholik, 1887, I.
312-329, 421-432.
^ Woker, Aus den Papicren, 6 seqq.
2 Ibid., 6.
=> Ibid., -ji.
* Ibid., 97. Cf. opinion of the Empress, ibid., 117.
^ Ibid., 109.
" Woker, Steffani, 6.
358 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of other Ordinaries or Bishops.^ Thus a new Vicariate ApostoHc
of the North was estabhshed comprising Upper and Lower
Saxony.
The fact that a man of such brilhant gifts and high repute
was placed at the head of the new vicariate justified the
highest expectations for the future. The Pope, as weH as the
nuncio of Cologne, were full of hope.^ Steffani himself
entertained great plans. Secular priests were to replace the
regulars over whom the Bishops had but little power. He took
advantage of the favour which he enjoyed with the princes
and the highest officials to induce them to adopt a friendly
attitude towards the Catholics and to pave the way for
subsequent conversions. To this end he appeared in public
with great display, lived in great style and kept a splendid
table because, as he wrote, in Germany all matters of
importance are settled at table. ^ For the time being he
retained his position as minister of the Elector. However, the
youthful enthusiasm with which he had assumed his charge
soon vanished. Disillusion followed disillusion ; in vain did
he endeavour to induce some of his noble friends to embrace
the Catholic faith. ^ He experienced the greatest difficulty,
in Hanover alone, in replacing the Jesuits by secular priests.^
In 1713 laws came into force which openly aimed at the
destruction of the CathoHc Church.^ It was only in the
year 1718 that Steffani was able to consecrate the one church
in the Elector's city of residence which the latter had been
made to promise to the Catholics on his nomination as Elector
in 1692.' However, in 1712, a church was built in Brunswick,
which Duke Anthony Ulrich, a convert, had promised,^ and
1 Printed in Woker, Gesch. der norddeutschen Framiskaner-
niissionen, Freiburg, i88o, 429 seqq.
2 WoKER, Steffani, 6, 8.
3 Ibid., 9.
* Ibid., 26-38.
6 Ibid., 16 seqq.
* WoKER, Hannover, 100 seqq.
' Ibid.. 147 seqq.
8 Ibid., 45.
AGOSTINO STEFFANI. 35g
at Celle a hall was set up in 171 1.^ At Halle and Dessau,
Steffani successfully established new mission stations. ^ The
Vicar Apostolic spared no efforts to get himself recognized
in this capacity in all the Prussian territories. He obtained
at last permission to exercise purely ecclesiastical functions
and these he performed with all possible solemnity.^
Unfortunately after the death of Frederick I. of Prussia
everything came to nought. The King looked upon himself
as both Bishop and Pope even for the Catholics.^ In his view
all spiritual jurisdiction over them should be exercised by
a Vicar appointed by the King and he only desisted from
carrying this plan into execution when he failed to find
a Catholic willing to put himself in such an impossible position. ^
At the end of 1711 Steffani sent a long account to
Rome of the confusion and disorder in things spiritual in
Brandenburg which presents a sad picture. " The benefices
attached to churches, which the treaty of Westphalia had
left to us in fairly large numbers, are being lost little by little ^
because the court bestows them on Protestants, with injunction
to sell them to the Catholics. But as the Protestant holders
ask exorbitant sums by way of compensation, no one is
willing to recover them at such a price. The dearth of priests
is constantly increasing owing to the fact that the poor
Friars have to make long journeys of from ten to twelve
miles to find a Bishop from whom they may receive Orders.
Discipline among regulars is on the decline and in time it
will break down altogether, since the court of Berlin is
unwilling to allow foreign Superiors to deal with matters
which, it alleges, are its own affair."
Since 1719 Steffani, crushed as he was with debts, had
entertained the idea of returning to Italy and this resolution
^ Ibid., 246, 261.
^ Ibid., 24.
' WoKER, Steffani, 79, 81.
* Ibid., 76.
* Ibid., 91.
6 Ibid., 83.
360 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
he carried into execution at the end of 1722. Propaganda
failed to find a substitute equally acceptable to the princes.
At the end of October, 1725, Steffani returned to Hanover ;
he died whilst on a journey to Frankfurt on the Main, 1728.^
Steffani's spirit of initiative was greatly appreciated in Rome.^
The Holy See did all in its power to further his projects for
the erection of churches. " Probably at no time did any
Pope issue so many Briefs on behalf of the building of one
single church for a Catholic community of average size as
Clement XI. did for that of Hanover." On leaving Rome
in 1709 Steffani, besides a present of 6,000 florins, was also
given letters of recommendation for his new church to a whole
series of secular and ecclesiastical princes.^ For the erection
of a church at Brunswick the Pope gave 2,000 thalers and yet
another 4,000 thalers,^ not counting the 300 scudi which
he bestowed on the mission. ^ But on a number of other
questions Steffani's wishes were not met as he had hoped.
His numerous proposals for the maintenance of his secular
clergy in Hanover were judged impracticable in Rome.^
Thus Propaganda refused to consider his suggestion that
it was possible to allow the King of Prussia to empower
a Vicar, in the name of the State, to exercise spiritual
jurisdiction, since this would not greatly differ from the
royal placet which was tolerated elsewhere.' When accusations
against Steffani's administration became more and more
insistent, the Pope, at the request of the court of Vienna,
dispatched Bishop Kiinigl of Brixen to Hanover with mission
to examine the situation and .to put an end to abuses.^
1 Ihid., 131, 134.
* Ihid., 5, 52, etc., and Hannover, 78.
' WoKER, Hannover, 148 seq.
* WoKER, Steffani, 45 seq.
s Ibid., 56.
* Ibid., 17 seq.
' Ibid., 83 seqq.
* WoKER, Hannover, 172 seqq. ; also N. Nilles in Zeitschr.
fiir Kathol. Theol, XIV. (1890), 388-394. Kiinigl asked the Pope
repeatedly to be allowed to lay down the burden of the Episcopal
SURVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 361
Steffani's further demands that the privileges of the
monasteries in his Vicariate should be abolished and the
abuses that had crept in done away with, were likewise not
complied with in Rome.^
In the archdioceses of Halberstadt and Magdeburg, in spite
of their almost entirely Protestant surroundings, sixteen
monasteries were still in existence. At Huysburg there were
Benedictines, at Halberstadt Franciscans, Dominicans,
Augustinians and Dominican and Cistercian nuns, at
Hamersleben Augustinians and elsewhere in the archdiocese
of Halberstadt three convents of nuns still survived.
A Benedictine monastery and five convents of nuns had
maintained themselves at Ammensleben, in the archdiocese
of Magdeburg, and some of the churches of Halberstadt
still had Catholic benefices attached to them.^
Before the partition in the year 1709,^ the northern Vicariate
numbered nearly twenty stations. After Upper and Lower
Saxony had become independent, the northern Vicariate
continued to retain several missions in the three Hanseatic
towns and at Schwerin, Altona, Friedrichstadt, Gliickstadt,
Fridericia, Rendsburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm.* After the
death in 1702 of the Bishop of Hildesheim, Jobst Edmund
office, but the Pope would not accede to his request ; see Briefs
of Januat}' 8, 1714, March 13, 1717, March 29, 1720, Op., Epist.,
1930, 2222, 2398. " Nos quoque," the Pope writes [ibid., 2222),
" apostolicae servitutis sarcinam onerosissimam periculorumque
plenam inviti suscepimus et in hac temporum acerbitate aegro
prorsus aiiimo sustinemus. An non putas in tot tantisque curis
et solicitudinibus plane gravissimis, quibus assidue preminiur.
Nos etiam interdum taedere vitae et longe optabiliorem Nobis
videri ilium pristinum statum ? Sed iugum, quod divina provi-
dentia ferre Nos voluit, non excutiendum Nobis, sed ferendum
forti animo esse statuimus. ..."
^ WoKER, loc. cit., 99.
^ Ibid., 95 seqq.
' See above, p. 357.
* Metzler, 77. Cf. Catalogus notitiarum in Woker, Aus
norddeutschen Missionen, Colonia, 1884, 91-112.
362 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
von Brabeck, the suffragan Bishops of Osnabriick acted as
Vicars ApostoHc of the North. ^ The most important event
for the Vicariate during the pontificate of Clement XI. was
the foundation, by the Jesuit Martin Gottseer of the northern
Seminary at Linz on the Danube, for the education of priests
for Scandinavia.- Clement XL, who as Cardinal Protector
of Sweden had encouraged the beginnings of the Seminary,
also gave it his support as Pope by recommending it on
July 14th, 1707, to a number of prominent Bishops, and on
January 16th, 1712, to the Emperor and Empress.^ Owing
tp differences of opinion on the subject of jurisdiction over
Brunswick, difficulties arose in connection with the demarcation
of the boundaries of the northern Vicariates. A Brief of
Clement XI. of June 14th, 1714, assigned Brunswick to the
Bishop of Hildesheim.* On the other hand, in the following
year, Steffani succeeded in getting the new mission of
Kursachsen attached to the Vicariate of Hanover. When the
Elector of Hanover purchased the Duchy of Bremen- Verden
from Sweden, these territories came under the jurisdiction
of the Hanoverian Vicariate, though they had formerly
belonged to the northern Vicariate.^
In spite of the difficult position in which the Catholic
Church found itself in North Germany, she still had power
to attract Protestants. Between 1706 and 1712 there occurred
no fewer than two hundred and seventeen conversions to the
Catholic faith in the Franciscan Province of Saxony and
ninety from 1712 to 1740.^ Even persons of princely rank
joined the Catholic Church during the pontificate of Clement
XI. Mention must be made in the first place of the conversion
of the heir to the throne of Saxony, Frederick Augustus III.,
who took this step from conviction after suitable instructions
^ Metzler, 72, 141 seqq.
2 Metzler in Theol.-pract. Quarialschr., LXIV. (191 1), 253-
282.
3 Op., Epist., 403, 1515, 1516 scq.
■^ Metzler, 98 seq. Woker, Franziskancrmissionen, 431 seqq.
5 Metzler, 99 seqq.
« Woker, loc. cit., 68.
PRINCELY CONVERTS. 363
had enabled him to see the Catholic teaching in a new light. ^
Numerous Briefs had been addressed to his father exhorting
him to see to it that the heir to the throne was placed in
Catholic surroundings, 2 but it was only on October 11th, 1717,
that Clement XI. was able to communicate to the Cardinals
the conversion of the Prince ^ which had taken place secretly
on November 27th, 1712.^ Thus was the royal House of
Saxony won over for ever to the Catholic Church. In a Brief
dated May 28th, 1716,^ the Pope expressed his joy at the
conversion of two other members of the same princel}^ house,
viz. that of Duke Maurice William of Sachsen-Zeitz and his
nephew Maurice Adolph. Unfortunately Maurice William,
yielding to the pressure of his entourage, returned to
Protestantism ^ whereas Maurice Adolph renounced his
worldly prospects, became a priest and died as Bishop of
Leitmeritz.' Clement XI. was able to congratulate more
than one member of the princely family of Brunswick on his,
or her, conversion. Among them were the future Empress
Ehzabeth Christina ^ and her grandfather Duke Anton Ulrich
of Brunswick.^ Two of his daughters followed the Duke's
example, viz. in 1712 Henrietta Christina, up to that time
^ DuHR in Stimmen der Zeit, CXI. (1926), 104-117.
* Briefs of July 30, 1701, July 7, 1703, May 12, and August 18,
1708, July 17, 1709, February 22, 1710, November 10, 1712,
Op., Epist., 76, 174, 510, 560, 618, 682, 1770 .
^ Op., Orat. consist., 150.
* Brief of congratulation to the father, x^pril 22, 1713, Op.,
Epist., 1834.
5 Ibid., 2152.
* WoKER, Franziskaner missionen, 212.
' Rass, IX., 324.
* July 2, 1707, Op., Epist., 410 ; F. Schauerte, Die Kon-
version der Prinzessin Elisabeth Christina von Braimschweig-
Liineburg-Wolfenbattel, Frankfurt, 1S85.
9 February i, 1710, Op., Epist., 678. Exhortation of April 12,
1710, to admit the conversion openly ; a present to him Septem-
ber 9, 1710, ibid., 720. Cf. Op., Orat. consist., of May 19, 1710,
p. 48 ; WoKER, Franziskanermissionen, 377 seqq.
364 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Abbess of Gandersheim, and in 1714 Countess Augusta
Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Armstadt.^ Owing to the conversion
of Charles Alexander in 1715,^ Wiirttemberg was ruled for
a time by Catholic Dukes. Eleonore Charlotte, Duchess of
Ols, Princess of Wiirttemberg-Mompelgard, returned to the
old faith in Paris in 1702. Like Anthony Ulrich, she too
explained her motives for this step in a written statement.^
The Countess Palatine Elizabeth Louise of Zweibriicken, who
had become a Catholic in Paris in 1700, also pubhshed an
account of the reasons for her conversion.* A special Brief
recommended to the Emperor the person of Prince John
Christian Augustus of the family of the Dukes of Holstein ^
who, as a result of his conversion, was in danger of losing
his position in the army and his livelihood.
The conversion of Princess Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick-
Liineburg-Wolfenbiittel gave rise to a much debated memorial
issued by the Protestant University of Helmstedt. The
grandfather of the princess, Anton Ulrich, had requested
Fabricius, a professor of the above-mentioned University,
to answer the question whether a princess belonging to the
evangelical Protestant religion might with a safe conscience
embrace the Roman Cathohc rehgion for the sake of betrothal
to a Catholic King. Fabricius answered in the affirmative
inasmuch as all the essential elements of the Christian faith
were to be found in Catholicism. ^ Four out of six professors
1 Briefs of congratulation, September 17, 1712, Op., Epist.,
1758, and March 7, 1716, ihid., 2136. Cf. ibid., 2026, 2032, 2134.
2206.
" Rass, IX., 311 seqq. The prospect of the conversion of Duke
Eberhard Ludwig of Wurttemberg gave occasion to the Pope
to send a number of Briefs, August 4, 1708, Op., Epist., 550 seqq.
3 Brief of September 12, 1703, in Rass, IX., 63.
■« Brief of February 8, 1701, Op., Epist., 38.
5 Brief of December 12, 1704, ibid., 314.
« W. HoECK, Anton Ulrich und Elisabeth Christine, Wolfen-
blittel, 1845, 81 seqq. ; Schauerte, loc. cit., 148 seqq. Account
from the Protestant side in Soldan, Dreissig Jahrc des Prosely-
iismus in Sachsen und Draxmschweig, Leipzig, 1845.
THE MISSIONS. 365
of the University shared his opinion. ^ Leibnitz, who was
also consulted, likewise answered in the affirmative.^ However,
this did not represent the general opinion of the Protestant
theologians.^
(4.)
Apart from the solicitude which Clement XI. bestowed on
Northern Germany and Scandinavia, he also gave many
pJroofs, during his whole pontificate, of his interest in the
spread of the faith. Soon after he had ascended the pontifical
throne, he bestowed a present of 30,000 gold scudi on the
missions.^ His secretary, Niccolo Forteguerri, was instructed
to draw up a surve}^ of the whole work of the missions during
the years 1706 and 1707 on the basis of the archives of
Propaganda. 5 Clement XI. confirmed the privileges granted
by Paul III. to convert Jews and Pagans.^
^ SCHAUERTE, loc. cit., 1 54.
2 Ibid., 156.
^ Herzog-Hauck, RealenzyJdopddie, V., 731.
* NovAES, XII., 249.
^ "* Memorie intorno alle mis-sioni d' Africa, Asia, America,
estratte daH'Archivio della S. Congregazione di Propaganda
Fide per ordine della S. M. di Clemente XI. e dedicate alia Santita
di Papa Benedetto XIII.," in Vat., 7210, Vatican Library ;
Cod. ital., 215, State Library, Munich ; catalogue of the antiquary
Silvio Bocca, Rome, LXXXIV. (1891), 231 ; the paragraph on
Africa in Bibl. de I'lEcoIe de medicine de Montpellier, n. 102 (see
Catalogue gen. des Mss. des biblioth^ques publ. des Departenietits,
I., Paris, 1849, 323) ; the paragraph on America in Cod. Bolognetti,
143, Papal Seer. Archives. A publication [without place and year]
(by A. Mai ; cf. Moroni, XCVIIL, 141, 309 ; Schmidlin in
Zeitschr. fiir Missionswiss., 1896, 123), registered in Lemmens, XI.
CoRRADo Zacchetti, Una vita inedita di Niccolo Forteguerri,
Oneglia, 1898 ; F. Camici, Notizie della vita e delle opeve di
Niccolo Forteguerri, Siena, 1895 '• Ang. Fabroni, Vita Italorum,
IX., Pisa, 1782, 10-31. Forteguerri will be quoted hereafter
according to the Munich manuscript.
* Bull of March 11, 1704, Bull, XXL, 107 seqq.
366 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
One of the Albani Pope's pet schemes was the erection
of Seminaries for the education of missionaries. At a session
of the Congregation of Propaganda on October 3rd, 1706,
he strongly recommended to some of the superiors of Orders
the founding of missionary colleges at home, on the model
of the Roman College of St. Pancras of the Discalced Carmehtes
and that of the Franciscans of S. Pietro in Montorio.
Accordingly the Conventuals erected a college at Assisi for the
benefit of their missions in the Balkans and the neighbouring
territories,! whilst the Observants built one at Rome near
their monastery of St. Bartholomew on the island of the
Tiber.2 To the Discalced Trinitarians who had settlements
m Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Transilvania, Poland,
Lithuania and Portugal, the Pope granted in 1720 the church
delle Fornaci, near which they planned the erection of a
central college for missionaries of the whole Order.^ Clement
XI. furthered the seminary at Linz on the Danube which
served as a nursery for the northern missions.^ He also took
a warm interest in the continental seminaries for the education
of priests for the Scottish missions.^ He founded a missionary
college for the Maronites near the monastery of SS. Marcellus
and Peter.6 For the Far East he thought of erecting a
seminary at Manila in the Phihppines, and he entertained
a similar intention in regard to Persia but had to be satisfied
with admitting oriental students into Propaganda.'
1 Brief of January 21, 1710, ibid., 36S seqq.
^ Ibid., 372 seqq.
' Ibid., 339 seqq. The College was opened in 1725 with .six
pupils. Corriere d'ltalia, June 12, 1927.
^ See above, p. 362.
« Briefs of April 18, 1714, to Job. Anton Knebel von Katzeneln-
bogen. Bishop of Eichstatt ; May 15, 1714, to Queen Mary of
England; September 4, 171 7, to the Elector Max Emanuel;
July 15, 1718, to the suffragan of Ratisbon, Op., Epist., 1956.
1968, 2254, 2302.
« Clement XII., March 31, 1732, lus pontif., II., 429 seq.
' Briefs of October 15, 1707, to Philip IV., to Cardinal Tournon
and to the Archbishop of Manila, ibid., 436 seqq. ; Lafitau,
MISSIONARY COLLEGES. 367
It goes without saying that this source and centre of
missionary activity was not excluded from the Pope's
sohcitude. Propaganda counted at that time forty-seven
pupils, amongst them some Swedes,^ but provision for the
health of the students left much to be desired. Experience
at the German College had taught the Pope the importance
of some resort for periodical relaxation for the young men
of the college. He set apart the sum of 4,000 scudi for the
purchase of a villa, but when the munificence of Cardinal
Ottoboni spontaneously provided one, the Albani Pope spent
the 4,000 scudi in founding a burse at Propaganda for an
Albanian subject. ^ Clement XI. erected a college for Albanians
at St. Demetrio Corona, in the province of Cosenza.^ As a
matter of fact the Pope showed special preference towards
the separated Churches of the East. Every year, on the feast
of St. Athanasius, he celebrated Mass at the Greek College ;
he also considerably increased its income.^ He often conversed
Clement XL, I., 149 seq. Even among the Tartars of South
Russia a college of some sort was started (Lafitau, I., 118).
When M. Ripa, a missionary in China, selected some young
Chinese in order to educate them for the priesthood, Clement XI.
said (according to a letter of Propaganda of August 15, 1715) :
" Questa sua condotta e Tunica per stabilire la religione cristiana
in cotesto vastissimo impero e farla da forestiera cittadina."
M. Ripa. Storia delta fondazione delta congregazione e del cotlegio
dei cinesi, I., Napoli, 1832, 209 s-^q.
1 Butt, XXI., 324. § 3.
* Brief of June 27, 1708, ibid., 322 seqq. ; Ins pontif., II.,
247 seqq. Reply of September 15, 1708, to the letter of thanks
of the Bishops of Albania in Clementis XL, Opera, Epist., 566.
In it Clement XL says of the Albanians " Haerere animo Nostro
veluti cum vita et sanguine haustam singularem quandam volun-
tatis propensionem ac plane benevolentiam ". A Brief of
August 18, 1708, frees Propaganda from the parochial rights of
a neighbouring parish priest. Butt, XXL, 335.
' A. LoRECCHio in Nuova Antotogia, CCXXXVIII. (July,
191 1), 154-6. There already existed an Albanian college in
Palermo.
* NovAES, XII., 251. Cf. Brief of June 4, 1701, Op., Epist., 66.
368 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
with Eusebe Renaudot, the famous orientaHst, and induced
him to draw up memoranda on the missions of the East.^
He ascertained the rehgious situation in Albania, his family's
presumed country of origin, by means of a visitation which
was followed by a national council. ^
There exists a visitation report from the year 1711, which
gives an insight into the religious conditions in Smyrna and
the Greek Isles.^ In accordance with a testamentary
disposition of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani of Genoa {ob.
1621), these islands had to be visited every ten years.
Clement XL entrusted this task to the Dominican Giovanni
Vincenzo Castelli, who set out on his journey in July, 1709.
As a Genoese, Castelli experienced some difficulty in obtaining
a passport for a journey that was to give him but httle
satisfaction. In Sira, amongst the 2,660 inhabitants, there
were 2,500 Catholics of the Latin Rite, but in Milo, out of
1,500 schismatics, there were only forty Catholics and in
Metehno only one, a Catholic physician. In Chios, the papal
envoy succeeded in heahng a schism among the 4,000 Cathohcs.
The latter did not possess a single church in the whole island.
The Sultan granted freedom of worship to the Greeks, the
Armenians and the Jews, but not to the Catholics of
the Latin Rite, who had to be content with the chapel of the
1 A. Delpuch in Bessarionc, 3 series (1906-7), I., 223 seqq. ;
IL, 227 seqq.
2 "* Notizie dello State di Albania e dell 'operate di Msgr.
Vincenzo Zmaievich arcivesc. di Antivari visitator apostolico
dell'Albania. Esaminata nelle congregazioni di Propaganda a.
1703-1704." Barfc., L., 216, Vatican Library. Concilium Albanmn
provinciale sive nationale hahitum anno MDCCIII Clemente XI.
Pont. Max. Alhano, editio IL, lat. et epirot. postcrioriim Constit.
Apost. ad Epiri ecclesiam spectantium appendice ditata (1868). CJ.
Coll. Lac, I., 283 seqq.
3 "* Relatione della visita delle chiese nellTsole dell'Arcipelago
fatta da Msgr. Castelli, presentata alia Congregazione di Propa-
ganda (171 1)," Propaganda Archives, Rome, Vtsiie, 39. An
abridged report of the visitation of Archbishop Giustiniani of
Naxos, 1698, is in Forteguerri, 320 seqq.
THE GREEK ISLES. 369
French Consul and that of the Dutch Consul who was a
Catholic. In order to lessen the hatred between the Latins
and the Greeks, Castelli suggested that the Catholics in
Chios should once more adopt the Julian Calendar as had
been done by their fellow-Christians in all the islands except
those of Chios, Sira and Morea, for he thought it was mainly
the difference in the date of Easter that was responsible for
this enmity. The Julian Calendar was also followed at Smyrna.
Besides the Cathohcs there were 10,000 Jews, 5,000 Greeks,
1,000 native and 1,000 foreign Armenians at Smyrna. Whilst
there, Castelli lived at the convent of the reformed Franciscans
where the Bishop, Daniel Durante, also resided. The care of
the Catholics was entrusted to six Franciscans and four
Capuchins, whose school was well attended, and to four
Jesuits. Sermons were preached in four languages on all the
Sundays of Advent and Lent and on the chief holy days,
viz. in French, Italian, Greek, and in Turkish for the Catholic
Armenians. Castelli relates that religious instruction was
given on all Sundays ; in the schools the children were taught
reading, writing and a little grammar. Religious just then
were under the protection of the Dutch Consul, a Protestant
who, besides frequently bestowing alms on them, guarded
them against the arbitrariness of the Turks. The school of
the Capuchins enjoyed the protection of the French Consul.^
In the islands of Greece and in the Levant in general, the
Jesuits had establishments at Constantinople, Smyrna,
^ According to Giustiniani's report of 1698 (above, 368, n. 3)
at Naxia, the Metropolitan See, Jesuits, Capuchins and Obser-
vants were at work among 450 Latins ; there were also some
Dominican Tertiaries, but without a rule. The Visitor gives a
bad account of the secular clergy. Giustiniani confirms the
number of 4,000 Catholics in Chios ; but there were very few
on the islands, viz. in Paro 10, in Nio (los) 87, in Milo and Thermia
20, in Sira 100, in Andro 250. At Santorin there were French
Jesuits among 490 Latins with four churches and a Dominican
monastery ; at Sira a Bishop, some Capuchins and more than
100 churches, at Micone one Latin church.
VOL. XXXIII. Bb
370 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Thessalonica, Chios, Naxos, Euboea, Santorin, Trebizond,
Saida, Damascus, Siphanto, Serpho, Therasia and Paro.^
Apart from the accounts of these visitations, there exists
a whole series of Briefs which show how much the Albani
Pope had at heart the welfare of the Christian East. He could
not but be particularly interested in the mighty Russian
Empire which, under Peter the Great, was beginning to win
for itself a place in the community of European nations. The
Tsar's keen interest in western culture likewise gave rise to
the hope that he would bring about a union with the Western
Church. Peter I. deliberately encouraged these hopes
forasmuch as he needed Catholic Austria as a bulwark against
the Turks, and Catholic Poland as an ally against Sweden,
for the Pope's word would carry great weight in his favour
both at Warsaw and Vienna. ^ To the Carmehte Conrad of
the Ascension he said in 1705 that he hoped to see a fraternal
union estabhshed between East and West before he died-'
At Vienna he assisted at the Latin services and told the
Jesuit Wolff, who had asked him whether he was in favour
of reunion, that personally he had no objection to it.* However,
these bright hopes of the Catholics were destined to receive
a rude shock. At the end of a banquet at Polozk on July 11th,
1705, the Tsar visited the church of the Basilians who were
united with Rome. Among other things he questioned one
of the monks about a statue of St. Josaphat Kuncewicz.
When the latter described the murderers of the Archbishop
as schismatics, the still semi-intoxicated potentate got into
such a fury that he plunged his sword into the body of the
1 Cretineau-Joly, Hist, de la Comp. de Jesus, V., Bruxelles,
1851, 5-7. On the situation in Smyrna, Thessalonica, Chios,
Santorin, cf. Tarillon in Lettres ddifiantes, I., Paris, 1780, 1-78.
Briefs with full powers for the Jesuit missions in Greece, the
Aegean Islands, Armenia, Persia, and Syria in Synopsis actonim,
427 seqq.
2 PlERLING, IV., 127.
3 Ibid., 183.
* Ibid., 138 seq.
PETER I. OF RUSSIA. 37I
Basilian, and four other monks, who had hastened to his
assistance, shared the same fate either at the hand of the
Tsar or those of his companions. ^ Peter I. tried to make
amends by assisting at Mass in the College of the Jesuits
a few days later and by sounding the praises of SS. Ignatius
and Xavier as he stood before their statues. On October
20th [31], 1706, he granted religious freedom to the Roman
Catholics and gave permission for the erection at Moscow of
a college and a stone church ; he also granted to missionaries
bound for the East permission to travel through Russia. ^
In the following year he dispatched Kurakin to Rome, but
the latter only discussed political matters, leaving the question
of ecclesiastical unity untouched. By command of the Tsar,
the Jesuit Brigg was also in Rome at this time, but without
authority to conclude a union. ^
Peter's seeming friendliness towards Rome came to an end
when, at the battle of Poltawa in 1709, he defeated his
enemies, for he now felt that he could dispense with the
Pope's services. Long before this Clement XI. had entertained
no illusions as to the sincerit}^ of the crafty prince, though the
proffered hand of friendship could not be rejected.^
During his stay in Paris in 1717, Peter visited the Sorbonne
on June 3rd and listened to some lengthy lectures on tl^e
subject of the reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches.
The Sorbonne was at that time Jansenistic in its ideas, so
the opportunity seemed a favourable one for the foundation
of a Galilean Patriarchate on Russian soil. The Tsar requested
the Doctors to address themselves to his Bishops, two of
whom, viz. Theophanes Prokopowitch and Stephen Jaworski
^ Ibid., 190 ; Theiner, Monuments, 412.
* PlERLING. IV., 200.
' Ibid., 202 seq. ; Theiner, loc. cit., 407 seqq. Clement XL's
letter of thanks to the Czar in Op., Epist., II, 2236.
* " Non considera N. S., se siano totahiiente sincere le intenzioni
del Czar in mostrare di volere reunire al grembo di s. Chiesa li
suoi vassalli, ma confida etc." Paolucci to the Nuncio Davia,
in PlERLING, IV., 418.
372 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
sent written answers.^ Clement XI. died before further
developments took place.
Cardinal Kollonitsch devoted special attention to the
conditions of Russia and to the Christian Churches of the
East. 2 For the benefit of the Uniat Ruthenians he conceived
a plan which has been revived in recent times. Since the
Eastern Churches possessed neither missionary nor teaching
Orders, but only contemplative ones, Kollonitsch thought
of inducing a number of Jesuits to adopt, for the time being,
the Greek Rite, so as to enable them to teach and preach.
Gonzalez, the General of the Order, was ready to fall in with
the plan and the Prefect of Studies at the Greek College,
Lorenzo Lucchesini, with Professor Niccolo Comneno
Papadopoli of Padua gave it their support. Propaganda
itself was not averse to it. The Inquisition, however, declared
that Canon Law forbade the passing from one Rite to another
and that there was no reason to depart from this ruling.^
The Pope praised the zeal of Cardinal Kollonitsch ^ but
looked for other means to assist the Ruthenians. Leo Kiszka,
their Metropolitan, had long been thinking of calHng the
Ruthenian Bishops to a Council. On March 20th, 1716, he
named the Pohsh nuncio president of the future synod.^
^our years later the assembly met at Zamosc, when Clement
XL congratulated the Bishops and exhorted them to obey
the Polish nuncio, their president."' In spite of his ardour
^ Ibid., 237, 250 scq. ; Feret, La Faculte dc ihe'ol. de Paris,
Ep. mod., VI. and VII., App., Paris, 1910 (Reprint of the negotia-
tions) ; PiCHLER, II., 164 seq. , On the attempts at reunion, cf.
Id. Fr. I'uddaeus, Ecclcsia Rom. cimi Ruthcna irreconciliabilis,
lenae, 171 8.
- Hergenrother, Kirchengesch., IV.*, 87.
^ L. NiLLES, Synibolae ad illustrandam Hist. Ecclesiae orientalis
in ierris coronae S. Stephani I., Oeniponte, 1885, 1-82.
^ May <■), 1705, Epist., 270.
* lus pontif., II., 336.
« Brief of July 19, 1720, ibid., 337, Op., l^iist., 2402. 13rief
of April 5, 1709, in favour of a Ruthenian Confraternity at
THE RUTHENIANS. 373
for reunion the Bishop of the Ruthenians of Northern Hungary,
Hodermarski, who had been in office since 1704, was compelled
to resign in 1715, the reason beitig his former participation
in several military expeditions.^ The reunion with Rome
of the Rumanians of Transilvania must also be ascribed to
Kollonitsch. At their Synod at Karlsburg [Alba lulia] the
Rumanian Bishops wrote to Clement XI. on November 8th,
1701, that eight years had already gone by since, on the
initiative of the Jesuits, negotiations for the Union had been
set on foot at their Synod of Karlsburg, where the Union had
been agreed upon in 1697 and a representative dispatched
to the Emperor and to Kollonitsch. In point of fact 200,000
Rumanians, with 2,000 priests, accepted the Union. Rome
was content with ratifying all that Kollonitsch had done
without giving it a solemn approval by a Bull or some such
document. The Union of the Rumanians with the Roman
Church continued in spite of the difficulties of the Hungarian
civil war which was soon to follow.^ On February 3rd, 1721,
Clement XI. established a bishopric for the Rumanians of
Transilvania at Fogares.^
The Catholics in Turkey had to undergo great sufferings
owing to the intrigues of the schismatics who, in their quarrels
with the Catholics, had recourse to the Porte to settle their
religious differences. Under threat of fines, imprisonment
and banishment, the Turkish pashas exacted obedience to
their decisions in religious questions. The Armenian Patriarch
of Constantinople was condemned to the galleys and the
Syrian Patriarch to imprisonment and to be beaten with
rods. The Pope, on his part, did all that lay in his power
to render the lot of his followers more tolerable. He prayed
Lemberg, ibid., 262. Acts of the Synod in Coll. Lac, II., 3 seqq.
Cf. J. Pelesz, Gesch. der Union der rutenischen Kirche mil
Rom, II., Wurzburg-Wien, 1881, 420-445 ; H. Lammer, in
Decreta concilii RiUhenoruin Zamosciensis animadversiones theol.-
canon., Friburgi, 1865.
^ Hergenrother, IV.*, 86.
- Nilles, Symbolae, I., 125, 164, 288.
' Bull, Prop. App., II., 3 seqq.
374 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
for the intervention of the French King, of the Emperor and
the Doge of Venice/ and sent the able CarmeHte, David
of St. Charles, to Constantinople. ^ Some of the Christians
apostatized, but there were also examples of heroic deaths
for the faith. ^ The French ambassadors, Ferriol, D'AUeurs
and Bonnac deserved well of the Catholics.* Bonnac obtained
permission for the Franciscans to restore the dome of the
Holy Sepulchre. The Pope recommended to his special
solicitude the Christians of Albania and the Aegean Isles ^ ;
he also wrote on behalf of the Holy Land to the Emperor
Joseph, Louis XIV. and Ferriol.^
The former Nestorians in the province of Amida, for whose
benefit Innocent XL had established a Patriarchate of the
Chaldeans at Diarbekr in 1681, were also harassed by the
schismatics. Oh the basis of the reports of the Capuchin
missionar}-, John Baptist of Orleans, Clement XL was in
a position to praise their steadfastness.' Their Patriarch,
Joseph II. Tel-Kepha, was able, in 1711, to announce a return
of less disturbed times, whilst his zeal for the spread of the
Catholic faith earned him the highest recognition.^ However,
ten years later, the schismatics stirred up the Turks who
began so violent a persecution that even the Capuchin
1 To Louis XIV., November 22, 1701, to Leopold I., Novem-
ber 26, 1701, to the Doge, April 8, 1702, Op., Epist., 88, 100, 118.
2 Ibid., 118. Lafitau {ClemenfKl., I., 91), calls him" L'homme
peut-etrc de son siecle le phis propre pour une semblable legation ".
' Op., Epist., 474 ; heroic death of the convert priest Cosmas,
ibid. ; Lafitau, L, 173 scg. Cf. Martyre de Der Gourmidas,
Armenian Archpriest of Constantinople, November 5, 1707, in
Rabbath, L, 126. On " Gomidas ", cf. H. Riondel, Paris,
1929.
* To Ferriol, August i, 1705, and February 8, 1708, to D'AUeurs,
September 20, 1710, and January 27, 1714, to Bonnac, August 12,
1719, Op., Epist., 286, 474, 718, 1934, 2356.
s Ibid., 2356.
« Ibid., 342 seqq. ; Lafitau, L, 171 seq., 175.
' December 9, 1702, Op., Epist., 144.
* May 21, 1712, ibid., 1686.
THE MARONITES. 375
missionaries were obliged to flee to Aleppo ; all that the
Pope could do was to praise the constancy of Patriarch Joseph
III. in a Brief. ^ The Franciscan John Galliego was looked
upon as the Apostle of Damascus. In 1715 he was reported
to have brought back five hundred families and some large
villages in 1719. Since the conversion of the Greek Patriarch,
Cyril V. of Damascus, the number of Catholics increased
from day to day.- The converted Jacobites of Syria, together
with their compatriots, had constantly to fight for the rights
of the Patriarch. Thanks to the diplomatic intervention of
the Holy See, the Uniat Patriarch was able to return to
Aleppo, but in the following year the schismatics took him
in chains to Adana. After his death in 1706, Propaganda
once more dispatched the CarmeHte David of St. Charles,
with the necessary funds for the Porte, for the purpose of
procuring their freedom for the Catholics of Aleppo. The
Archbishop of Ninive became Patriarch in 1707.^ The Church
of the Maronites suffered from internal difficulties ; they had
deposed their Patriarch, James Avad, and elected another,
of the name of Joseph, in his place. The Pope did not approve
of these arbitrary proceedings ; a papal Legate called a synod
at which James was reinstated.* A Brief of June 24th, 1714,
praised the Maronites for their submission,^ which was in no
^ January 24, 1721, ibid., 2420. On the persecution at Aleppo.
1701-2, see Rabbath, I., 108 seq. ; Antonianum, I. (1926).
« To the Patriarch, January 9, 1716, and May 21, 1718, Op.,
Epist., 2122, 2294 ; Lemmens, 27.
3 FORTEGUERRI, 225 ^^1- > HeRGENROTHER, IV.*, I47 ;
Rabbath, I., loS seqq. ; extract from the diary of the CarmcUtes,
Aleppo, ibid., II., 31 seqq.
* Brief of June 20, 1713, Coll. Lac, II., 424 ; Decree of Pro-
paganda, March 20 and May 8, 1713, Magnum Bull., VIII.,
425 seq. Cf. T. Anaissi, Bullarium Maronitarmn, Romae, 191 1,
197-203.
* lus pontif., II., 302. On the Maronite Patriarch it says :
"qui unicus inter omnes Orientis antistites-non sine praecipua
vestrae gentis gloria legitime a vobis eligitur at ab hac S. Sede
canonice confirmatur, quando reliqui omnes a non habentibus
potestatem pari facilitate deputantur ac deponuntur," ibid., 302.
376 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
small measure due to the Franciscan Lorenzo Cozza, a future
Cardinal.^ The division nevertheless continued ; in 1721,
Clement XI. sent as his Legate Gabriel Eva, Abbot of Mount
Lebanon, bestowing at the same time high praise on the
Maronites' steadfastness in the faith. ^ The Legate succeeded
in restoring harmony. The Capuchins also laboured amongst
the Maronites on whose behalf the Emir of Aldalla founded,
in 1704, a hospice at Salima for the religious instruction of
the people.^ The Christian slaves had to share the sufferings
of the Christian tribes of the Turkish Empire. At the beginning
of his reign, Clement XL praised Cardinal Kollonitsch for
having spent large sums of money for their redemption.^
Especially hard was the lot of the Christian captives under
the Tartars in the Crimea. They were set at liberty when
they became old and incapable of work, that is to say, they
were allowed to die of hunger. The Jesuits in those parts
resolved to build a hospital and to collect money in order
to ransom captive children who were in danger of losing
the Christian faith. The Pope furthered these plans by
recommending them to the Kings of Spain and Poland.^
Like the Catholics under the Turkish Sultan, those in
Persia were exposed to so many vexations on the part of the
heretics and schismatics, chiefly those of Armenian nationahty,
that the continuance of the mission there seemed very
doubtful. The Bishop of Ispahan, Ehas, informed the Pope
^ Lemmens, 29 ; LiGARio Oliger, Vita e diaril del card. Lor.
Cozza, Quaracchi, 1925, 217 seqq., 248 seqq. ; Eutimio Castellani,
Atti del rev. P. Lor. Cozza, II., ibid., 1924, 112-174 ; Freihurger
Kirchenlex., III. 2, 1172 seq. Briefs before the outbreak of the
conflict to the Patriarchs Stephen Peter and Peter Gabriel in
Op., Epist., 116, 276.
2 Briefs of January 29, 1721, ibid., 2422. C/. on the conflict
the Briefs of January 31, 171 1, June 30, 1713, and August 28,
1714, ibid., 1484, 1866, 1996.
» Forteguerri, 301.
* January 15, 1701, Op., Epist., 34.
* January 27, 1714, ibid., 1936 seq. The Jesuit Duban specially
interested himself in the prisoners. Cretineau-Joly, V.*, 10.
CATHOLICS IN PERSIA. 377
of this state of affairs on the occasion of a journey to Rome.
Clement XL thereupon appealed to the Shah of Persia himself,
to the Signoria, to the Grand Duke of Tuscany and to the
Emperor, with a view to a redress.^ Having obtained the
support* of these three European Powers, the Pope, in 1719,
addressed another letter to the Shah in favour of the persecuted
Armenians and the Capuchins of Tifiis in Georgia. ^ The house
and the church of the missionaries had been levelled with
the ground. There too the instigators of the persecution were
the schismatical Armenians, the Archbishop of Etzmiadsin
and a certain Minas Vartabied.
The Pope also appealed on behalf of the Capuchins of
Tifiis to Vartanch, King of Iberia,^ himself a refugee at the
court of the Shah of Persia. Vartanch showed some inclination
towards reunion with the Roman Church and Clement XI.
made use of this favourable disposition. Through Louis XIV.'s
influence he endeavoured to make it possible for him to
return to his kingdom,^ and he addressed to Vartanch a
comforting Brief.^ At a later date the King of Iberia himself
wrote to the Pope ^ of his desire to reunite his people with
the See of Rome ; at the same time he begged for help against
the Turks. For another section of the population of the
Caucasus, the Mingrelians, Clement XL endeavoured to
induce the Lazarists to undertake missionary work.'
The influence and esteem in which the Roman Church was
held in the East are sufficiently proved by the fact that
a desire for reunion with Rome made itself felt over and over
^ February i8, 1705, Op., Epist., 260 seqq.
^ January 3 and February 18, 1719, ibid., 2322, 2334.
* September 14, 1720, ibid., 2410.
* To Louis XIV., April 13 and July 26, 1714, ibid., 1594,
1986.
* August 17, 1714, ibid., 1994.
* November 29, 1722, in Theiner, Monuments, 548 ; according
to Forteguerri the Pope made no reply to the desire for union
from Georgia as the King had meanwhile embraced Islam.
' To the Superior of the Congregation, Jean Bonnet, May 6,
1715, Op., Epist., 2074.
378 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
again amongst the oriental Patriarchs. Samuel Capassulis,
the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria, sent the Franciscan John
Joseph Mazet to Rome as the bearer of his profession of
faith : in a solemn consistory, on April 28th, 1713, the Pope
received his abjuration. ^ On April 11th, 1703, Clement XI.
had invited the Patriarch to become reconciled with Rome ^ ;
the final step was again due to the Franciscan Lorenzo Cozza.^
As the convert was exposed to the attacks of the schismatics,
the Pope recommended him to the protection of the Emperor,
Louis XIV., Venice and D'Alleurs.* The Armenian Patriarch,
Alexander, entertained relations with the European
missionaries and wrote to Rome in a way which raised hopes
of his own conversion. Clement XL, who had dispatched
five Dominican missionaries to Armenia in 1701,^ sent him
a profession of faith for his signature ^ ; at a later date
Alexander became a persecutor of the Catholics.'^ Several
other Bishops of the Christian East became reconciled with
Rome during the reign of Clement XL, as for instance
Archbishops Macarius of Tripolis and Parthenius of Amida,^
Bishops Parthenius of Heliopolis, Silvester of Beirut and
Anastasius of Nicosia in Cyprus.^ Some Coptic priests and
deacons, amongst them Macarius and Abdelmasich, expressed
a desire for reunion with the Church of Rome.^"
1 Op., Orat. consist., 86 ; Brief of June 20, 1713, Ins pontif.,
II., 314 ; Op., Epist., 1862 ; Lafitau, II., 83.
2 Op., Epist., 166. Cf. Lemmens, 21.
5 Oliger, loc. cit., 52 seqq.
* Op. J Epist., 1846 seq.
* To the Shah, April 20, 1701, ibid., 52.
* Hergenrother, IV. ", 150; Brief to Alexander, March 15,
1710, lus pontif., II., 276 ; Op., Epist., 694.
' Lafitau, II., 32.
^ Briefs of July 16, 1701, and September 9, 1717, Op., Epist.,
74,2285.
» Briefs of July 16, 1701, February' 7, 1702, and July 5, 1715,
ibid., 74, 116, 2080.
" Sagripanti's letter of congratulation in the Pope's name,
July 10, 1705, Synopsis aciorum, 433.
THE MECHITHARISTS 379
Rome was well aware of the fact that no unconditional
credence could be given to the assurances of the Orieritals.
An exhortation to fidelity and sincerity addressed to the
convert Patriarch of Alexandria, and Propaganda's directions
not to grant pecuniary aid to the Bishops of Egypt until
the union had been brought about, are facts which speak for
themselves. 1 On the other hand not a few Orientals showed
steadfast perseverance. A splendid example was furnished
by the Armenian Mechithar of Sebaste. Through the influence
of the Jesuits Mechithar had embraced the Catholic faith
at the age of twenty and for its spread he founded, on
September 8th, 1701, at Constantinople, a Congregation
which was at first called after St. Anthony and later on
after himself. To escape the persecution of the schismatics,
the little band fled into Venetian territory, viz. to Modon
in Morea, and, when Modon fell to the Turks, to Venice,
in 1715. They adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. On September
8th, 1717, the uninhabited island of San Lazzaro was handed
over to them. They laboured successfully among their
compatriots as missionaries and writers. ^
For some time already there had been a prospect of the
reunion of the Abyssinian Church with that of Rome. In 1700
Innocent XII. had sent thither the Franciscan Francis of
Salem, who died on the way.^ The new Superior of the
Mission, Joseph of Jerusalem, met with a very friendly
reception at Gondar from the Emperor Jassu (1682-1706)
who made profession of the Catholic faith on February 2nd,
1706, and dispatched Father Joseph to Rome with a letter
in which he paid a glowing tribute to the dignity of the
Pope.'* From Clement XL's reply it would appear that
^ Iits poniif.,11., 2^6 ; Forteguerri, 341 se^.
2 Kalemkiar in Freiburger Kirchenlex., VIII. 2, 1122-1137;
MiNAS NouRiKHAN, Le sevviteur de Dieu abbd Mekhitar de Sebaste,
sa vie et son temps, Venezia, 1922 ; Sargisean, in Riv. stor.
Bened., 1906 seq.
' lus pontif., II., 191.
* Translation in Fray Matheo de Anguiano Predicator
Capuchino . . ., Epitome historial y conquisto espiritual del
380 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Joseph of Jerusalem held out serious prospects of the reunion
of the Church of Abyssinia with Rome.^ Clement XI.
immediately sent Father Joseph once more to Ab3-ssinia
with some companions. For years nothing was heard of
them ; it was only in 1709 that a report dated April 7th, 1708,
reached Rome, in which Father Joseph explained th^t he
had not been able to penetrate into Abyssinia as he had
been arrested at Sennaar. On receipt of this news Clement XI.
admonished Jassu's son, Dodemanut (Takla Haimanot), to
follow in his father's footsteps and urged him, as he urged
the Abuna, to give ear to the missionaries.^ Three Franciscans
succeeded in reaching the longed for country. New papal
Briefs of March 15th, 1712, were intended to pave the wa\^
for them.^ The Negus, Yostos, allowed them to preach and
to administer the Sacraments privately ; however, when the
Abyssinian monks stirred up a rising, his successor, David III.,
put the missionaries to death in 1717. Amongst these Martyrs
was one German, Liberatus Weiss of Konnersreuth. Innocent
imperio Abyssino en Etiopia la alta 0 sobre Egypto, Madrid, 1706,
loi seqq. Cf. *Lettera del re di Etiopia al P. Clemente XI. et al
card. Sacripanti, Boncompagni Archives, Rome, f. 39 ; Hoher
und fruchtbaver Paltyibaum des h. Evangelii, das ist ticf eingepflanzter
Glaubenslehre in das Herz des Hohen Abessiner-Monarchen,
erwiesen in einem Diario oder tdglich und ordentlicher Reisebeschrei-
bung der jniihsamen Verrichiungen jcner apostol. Glaubenssendlingen
aus dem Orden des H. Seraph. Vaters Franzisci der Reformirten,
so Anno 1700 von der Pdpstl. Heiligkeit Ijtnocentio XII. von
Rom aus bis zu dem Grossmdchtigen Abessiner-Kayser Adiano
Saghed Jasu . . . Seind geschickt vorden, welcher denn auch 1702
den 2. Febr. das Glaubensbekenntnuss in ihre Hand abgelcgt hat.
Neben unterchiedlichen Anmerkungen und Beschreibungen deren
Lander, Stddt, Sitten der Menschen u. u. von P. F. Theodoro
Krump, Ord. Min. S., Missionario apostolico Aethiopiae, Augs-
burg, 1 710. Cf. L. WiLKE, Im Reiche des Negus vor 200 Jahren,
Treves, 1914.
^ March 8, 1704, in Anguiano, 107 ; lus pontif., VII., 77 ;
Op., Epist., 206.
2 Op., Epist., 642 s. ; lusponlif., VIL, So seq.
' Op., Epist., 1632 s. ; lus pontif., VIL, 92.
ABYSSINIA. 381
XII. had spent 50,000 scudi on the Abyssinian mission ^ ;
Clement XI. showed his solicitude for the Abyssinians by
assigning to them, in 1721, the Hospice of St. Stephen, near
St. Peter's, for the training of their clergy. When Joseph
of Jerusalem returned to Rome, he was accompanied by
seven young Abyssinians, of whom one died on the way and
the others entered Propaganda. From Cairo, Fr. Joseph had
sent two Abyssinians to the Eternal City, one of whom became
a priest, the other a subdeacon.^ The idea of training young
Orientals in the West for missionary work in their own
countries, was repeatedly examined imder Clement XI.
In 1700 Louis XIV. founded burses for twelve Armenian
youths at the Jesuit College of Louis the Great in Paris. ^
Since the time of Gregory XIII. there existed a similar
College in Rome for boys of Jewish or Mohammedan
extraction : Clement XL assigned it to a Society of priests
called " the Pious Workers ".^
If hope of a Catholic king for the ancient realm in eastern
Africa was not abandoned, it was even less so in the case
of the pagan territories on the opposite coast of the Dark
Continent.^ The old Congo mission had a Christian king,
Peter, to whom Pope Clement XL sent a blessed crown,
a valuable rosary and a Brief. Queen Maria and the Queen
Mother, Anne, received Briefs thanking them for their efforts
on behalf of the Christian religion. The King of Matamba,
the Dukes of Bamba, Sondo, Batta and the Prince of Sonno
were similarly rewarded.^ The Capuchin Francis of Pavia was
1 NovAEs, XL, 173.
2 Anguiano, 100. 3 Rabbath, I., 538.
* January 2, 1712, Dull, XXL, 466 scqq.
^ On the African mission (according to Forteguerri), cf.
J. ScHMiDLiN, in Zeitschr. fiir Missionswiss., XVI. (1926), 123 seqq.
* All the three Briefs of July 2 (5), 1707, in 7ms pontif., VII.,
78 seqq. ; Op., Epist., 412 seq. Cf. Rocco da Cesinale, III.,
647 seqq. Capuchin stations were : Loanda, Sogno, Masagan,
Bengo, Dante, Cachanga, Singa, Matamba. Out of 30,000 religious,
in 57 provinces and 7 custodies, with 1,650 convents, there were
3,000 Capuchin missionaries with 183 missions. Anguiano, 177.
382 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the bearer both of Briefs and presents, as the Congo mission
was chiefly entrusted to the care of the Capuchins. Wlien
they were expelled from the Congo, the Pope interceded for
them with the King of Portugal.^ The Fathers had also
extended their sphere of activity in Angola. There was no
lack of sympathy for Christianity on the part of the negroes,
unfortunately the Portuguese officials lacked understanding
for the mission, which they gravely injured by their bad
example, their oppressions, cruelties and slave hunting.
Sonzo in Angola, as well as Aiuda and Arda had Christian
kings. In 1700 the King of Arda reports that he had two
Portuguese Augustinians who, with his help and support,
had built a church and hospice and had converted many of
the natives. Propaganda accordingly sanctioned the erection
of an Augustinian mission there. On the other hand the
request of the King of Overo for priests for his abandoned
and neglected Christians had to be passed on to the Prefect
of Angola. 2 The Capuchins laboured with great zeal in the
Portuguese islands of Madeira, Sao Thome, Cape Verde and
at Caceo where they had taken refuge when driven from
Sierra Leone by the English. ^ At Cape Verde the Christians
were well looked after ; on the other hand those of Sao
Thome were ignorant and without priests.^ The coast of
Guinea was allotted to the French Dominicans. In 1700
Godfrey Loyer went there with four companions ; in 1706
he was made Prefect of the mission, when he was reinforced
by a contingent of five other Dominicans.^
1 March 28, 1719, Oj^., Epist., 2342.
2 FoRTEGUERRi, 358 seqc] .
3 /biii., 354, 392. « 7&irf., 356.
'•' Ibid., 352 ; ScHMiDLiN, Missionsgesch., 372 ; " *Relazioae
deir arrivo e buona grazia col quale furono riccvuti li missionarii
Domenicani nel regno di Ghinea nell' Africa dal Re di quel paese
espressa in una lettera del 14 sett. 1701 dal Era. Gottifredo
Loyer al suo superiore generale," in Miscell. di Clemcnte XI.,
264, Papal Sec. Archives. For Loyer's journey to the Ivory
Coast, see T. Fk. Ehrmann, Gesch. der merhwiirdigsten Reisen,
IX., Frankfurt, 1793-
NORTHERN AFRICA. 383
Prospects were much more favourable for the missionaries
in the wholly pagan parts of Africa than in those districts
such as Northern Africa, a land dominated by Islam, where
they had no opening for their activities among a native
Christian population. There their activity was almost entirely
limited to preserving the faith of the Christian slaves and
to reclaiming such as had abandoned it. Various Orders
apphed themselves to this task. In Morocco, the Franciscans
laboured amongst 1,200 slaves in their hospices, churches and
hospitals. Difficulties were not wanting. In 1706 the Prefect
of the mission reported that the Ruler of Morocco had slain
many slaves with his own hand and had even threatened
the missionaries.^ At TripoH, in 1691, all the Franciscan
missionaries, except one, died of the plague, but when, in
1714, the Caramanli family came into power, better prospects
began to open for the mission. ^ At the beginning of the
century the Bey had allowed the missionaries to build a
beautiful church, where they could worship with the fullest
liberty. The Pope gave them 1,000 scudi for the hospital.^
The Capuchins laboured at Tunis.* The Spanish Mercedarians,
under a Vicar Apostohc, were working in Algeria in five
hospitals, instructing the young and ransoming slaves.^ As the
alms for the redemption of slaves flowed less abundantly the
Pope, at the request of the Trinitarians, admonished the
Bishops and Superiors of Orders to make at least two liberal
contributions towards this object each year.^
The Franciscan Missionaries obtained excellent results,
^ Lemmens, 14. The antiquary, Luzietti, Rome, in his catalogue
1906, No. 214, advertised a manuscript : " Attestati e documenti
originali riguardanti D. Lorenzo Bartolomeo Luigi Troiano
principe di Marocco ossia Mulei Achmet che fu solennemente
battezzato in S. Pietro in Vaticano nel 1704."
2 Lemmens, 17.
' Forteguerri, 344 (according to the report of 1704).
^ Ibid., 345.
5 Ibid., 347.
* Briefs of May 25, 1709, and September 14, 1713, Bull, XXL,
i^7seq.,577seq.
384 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
though not among the Mohammedans of Upper Egypt, but
amongst the Copts. Between 1690 and 1723 the number of
Cathohcs rose from five to five hundred at Girgeh and to three
hundred at Achmim.^ The Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria
manifested a desire for union with Rome, but the Franciscans
made only a few conversions in that city.- Thanks to the
zeal of the Jesuits Sicard and Brevedent, the situation
improved in Cairo. ^ Deceived by false rumours. Propaganda
had dispatched some Franciscans to Nubia, where thev
found neither Abyssinian fugitives nor Mohammedans to
convert ; accordingly the missionaries left for Fasano and
Burno in order to assist Sultan Lozurfa, who had been
baptized, and his Christian subjects.*
Of all the missions of Asia, China caused the Pope the
most anxiety. At the beginning of his pontificate Christianity
was still making good progress in that vast empire. In
Peking the Jesuits made 500 converts annually and in the
provinces often a thousand ; the confraternities and the
reception of the Sacraments bore eloquent witness to their
zeal and piety. ^ Besides the Jesuits, the Franciscans preached
at Schantung, Kuantung, Kiangsi and Fukien ; the
Dominicans at Fukien and Tschekiang ; the Augustinians
at Hunan ; Priests of the Mission from Paris at Yunnan and
Setschuan ; since 1711 there were also three Lazarist
missionaries of Propaganda at Peking.^ The total number
of Chinese Christians at the time amounted to 300,000.
^ Lemmens, 22.
2 Ibid., 2.1.
^ ScHMiDLiN, 371. Letters of Sicard (1714-1722), in R.^bbath,
I., 131 seqq. ; Leiires edifiantes, V., Paris, 1730.
* Op., Epist., 71. FoRTEGUERRi, 350 seq. ; Moroni, XCVIIL,
278 ; Rocco DA Cesinale, III., 482 seq. " *Relazione deU'operato
de' PP. Missionarii apost. inviati da Innocenzo XII. nel regno
di Fungi, scritta dal P. Fra Pasquale de Montella li 10 maggio,
1701," in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 264, Papal Sec. Archives.
^ Noel, S. J., Report of 1703 to his General, in Leiires Mifianies.
XVII., Paris, 1781, 160 seq. ; Schmidlin, 391.
* Schmidlin, 391 ; Lk.mmens, i2Sseqq.
MISSIONS IN TIBET. 385
Japan remained closed to the missionaries.^ The SiciHan
secular priest Sidotti, who in spite of all prohibitions, dared
to set foot on the coast in 1708, was immediately arrested ;
he died in prison in 1715. ^ On the other hand Tibet, which
had remained inaccessible for so long, seemed willing to
receive the Gospel. Five Italian Capuchins, starting from
Bengal, penetrated to Lhassa ; they were followed in 1712
by five others, in 1714 by six, and in 1719 by twelve. Orazio
della Penna, the Prefect, founded a monastery with the
permission of the King and a safe-conduct from the Dalai Lama
and converted not a few Buddhists. The Jesuits, Desideri
and Freyre, who arrived in 1715, had to be recalled by their
General.^ In 1714, Clement XI. thanked the King for the
favour he had shown to the missionaries.'*
The Pope addressed more Briefs of thanks to yet another
Asiatic ruler, viz. to Hussein, Shah of Persia. The Shah had
written to Innocent XII. that he desired the friendship of the
Christian Princes and that he would favour the missionaries.
When this letter arrived Innocent was already dead. Clement
XI. thanked the Shah and recommended to him the Bishop
of Ispahan, who was returning to Persia with presents from
the Pope.^ Previously to this the Pope had sent five Dominican
^ ScHMiDLiN, 395. It is not true that the Dutch merchants,
on landing in Japan, had to trample the Cross under foot ; see
ScHURHAMMER in Stimmen der Zeit, CXVIII. (1929), 68 seq.
* Marnas, La religion de Jesus ressiiscitee au Japon, I., 59 ;
H. Thurston, in The Month, CV. (1905), 569 seqq. ; CVI., 20
seqq. ; Fray Agostin de Madrid, Relacion del viage que hizo
el abad Don J. B. Sydot desdc Manila al imperio del Japon enibiado
por N. S. P. Clemente XL, without place or year [Madrid, 1717].
On Sidotti's labours for a missionary seminary in Manila, see the
Briefs of October 8, 1707, in Op., Epist., 438 seq.
8 ScHMiDLiN, 390 seq. ; Mullbauer, 360 seq. ; Jann, 386 seqq. ;
Hue, 4 seq. ; Launay, Hist, de la mission de Tibet, I., Paris, 1905.
On Ippolito Desideri, see Riv. Europea, VII., 3 (1876), 289 seqq.
A report on Tibet, written by him, ibid., 121 seqq. Cf. Jann,
391 seq.
* January 6, 1714, Op., Epist., 1928.
* February 18, 1705, ibid., 260.
VOL. XXXIII. cc
386 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
missionaries to the Armenians who were under Persian
suzerainty — for these the Pope also sought the favour of the
Shah and the Patriarch.^ These recommendations, which the
Pope renewed several times, ^ had their effect ; the Shah
intervened in favour of the missionaries.^
More fortunate than the mission in Persia was that in
India. Outwardly Goa retained all its old splendour,^ but
at Pondicherry the Pope's Legate, Tournon, received most
unfavourable reports about its clergy. ^ The most flourishing
of all the missions in India was that of the Jesuits at Madura,
where, in 1703, there were eleven stations, eight missionaries
in charge of 150,000 Christians and 7,781 baptisms. At Aur
there were 30,000 Christians ; at Tanjaur, in 1701, Carvalho
fell a victim to the pagans. Between 1713 and 1714 the
persecution started afresh, as also at Marava in 1711 and
1714.^ The Jesuits had missionary stations at Pondicherry,
Carnate and Mysore where Da Cunha baptized eighty-two
adults between 1709-1710, but in 1711 he received mortal
injuries at the hands of the Brahmins.' Laynes distinguished
himself as Bishop of Meliapur. In 1700 the Carmelites were
given back the diocese of Malabar, viz. that of the Christians
of St. Thomas the Apostle ^ ; in 1718 they went to Bombay.
Bombay had been acquired by England in 1G61 as part of
the dowry of Charles II. 's consort, but with the stipulation
that the Catholics there would be allowed freedom to practise
their rehgion. In the place of the Portuguese Franciscans,
* April 20, 1701, ibid., 52.
'^ April 17, 1703 (for the Archbishop of the Armenians of
Naxivan), July 15, 1705, November 25, 1713, and August 17,
1714, ibid., 166, 282, 1629, 1994. The bearer of the first letter of
recommendation, of 1705, one Cry, unfortunately turned against
the Catholics. Brief of March 2, 1709, ibid., 590.
3 NovAES, XII., 180.
* FORTEGUERRI, 1 76.
* Ibid., 144. Cf. J ANN, 346.
* MiJLLBAUER, 236 seqq.
' Ibid., 238-247.
* FORTFGUERRI, 153 S<?7. ; MiJLLBAUER, 3I I 5^^^.
SIAM. 387
the English brought Itahan CarmeHtes to the town. In 1720
the Pope conferred on the Vicar Apostohc of the Mongohan
Empire, the Carmehte Bishop Maurice of St. Teresa,
jurisdiction over Goa, as long as the Archbishop of Goa was
prevented from exercising it by the East India Company.^
French Capuchins, with Surat and Ahemedabat as their
bases, attended to the needs of the scattered Catholics of the
neighbourhood. In 1703 Propaganda sent Italian Capuchins
to Madras and Pondicherry.- Both they in Meliapure, and
the Theatines in Golconda found it hard to make converts.^
Four secular priests and as many Jesuits laboured in Bengal,
but the brunt of the work was borne by the twelve
Augustinians who, with Hugly as their centre, had raised
the number of Christians to 60,000, spread over twenty-three
parishes.^ In the Empire of the Mogul, the mission made
no progress under Aurengsib.^
Meanwhile most of the Churches of the Further Indies
encountered heavy storms. Conditions were more peaceful
in Siam. The defeat of the French in 1688 had lessened even
the prestige of the missionaries and raised the self-reliance
of the natives, so that the missionaries saw themselves
obliged to confine their attention to the old Christians and
to their seminary for priests. The King, however, showed
himself very well disposed at the beginning of the new century.^
In Tongking, besides the two Vicars Apostolic, twenty priests,
amongst whom there were ten secular priests, seven Jesuits
and two Dominicans, were able for a time to carry out their
work in complete tranquillity.'^ In 1712, however, the priests
^ J ANN, 352. A Brief of October 5, 171 7, informs the Arch-
bishop of Goa of the nomination of the Vicar Apostolic and of his
powers. Op., Epist., 2262.
' FORTEGUERRI, I47.
^ Ibid., 177 seq.
* Ibid., 173 seq.
' Ibid., 171.
• Ibid., 179 ; Launay, I., 453.
' FoRTEGUERRi, 142 scq. In 1715 there were six Dominicans
and 15,000 Christians there. Schmidlin, 389, n. i ; A, M, Walz,
388 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the Paris Seminary were thrown into prison and expelled,
Ihe churches burnt down, Christians murdered or compelled
to apostatize. This was repeated in 1717 and 1720. ^ In
Cochin-China also many churches were destroyed, two
priests of the Paris Seminary and three Jesuits were
imprisoned, but in 1704 they were allowed to return to their
churches and missions. ^ On July 25th, 1702, the Vicar
Apostohc informed Rome of the opening of the persecution.
The Pope sent the Bishop of Tilopolis to act as his adviser ;
accounts of the Christians who had died for their faith were
to be dispatched to Rome so that their memory might be
kept alive. ^ One important decision was that which empowered
the Bishops to visit the parishes of the Regulars.*
Conditions in the Phihppine Islands were extremely
satisfactory. Five hundred Franciscans, Dominicans,
Augustinians and Jesuits carried on their work among the
two million population of the archdiocese of Manila and the
dioceses of New Segovia, New Caceres and Cebu.^ Special
praise was bestowed by the Pope on Archbishop Didacus
Camacho y Avila of Manila,^ for his personal share in
missionary activity. He had obtained an important decision
Conipendiuyn historiae ord. Praedic, Romae, 193°. 374- M.
GisPERT, Hist, de las niisiones doininicanas en el Tiingkin, Avila,
1928.
1 Pachtler, 263 seqq. ; Henrion, II., 455 seqq. ; Schmidlin,
389 seqq. ; Launay, I., 455 seqq. " *AIcmoriale del procuratori
delle missioni nel Tonchino sulla necessita di restabilire in quel
regno i padri della Compagnia essendo pontifice Clemcnte XL,"
Brera Archives in Milan, A D XV., 9 n., 35.
2 Pachtler, 196 ; Henrion, II., 481 seqq. ; Launay, L, 402 ;
Schmidlin, 389. According to Forteguerri (143 seqq.), in 1697
there were only fourteen missionaries there : of these six were
from Paris, four were Jesuits, and three natives.
3 Brief of January 22, 1704, O/*., Epist., 196.
* January 30, 1705, luspontif., IL, 237.
' Forteguerri, 309 5e^. ; Lemmens, 121 sedjq. liriefs in favour
of the Augustinian Hermits in the Philippine Islands, April 5.
1701, in lus pontif., IL, 203, 205. Cf. Schmidlin, 395 ; Astrain,
VII., 738 seqq. « October 18, 1707, Op., Epist., 438.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 389
in Rome about the government of the missionaries.^ In
their seven hundred so-called " Doctrines ", Dominicans,
Franciscans Observant, Augustinians and Jesuits were bound
to recognize his right of visitation in all that appertained
to the cure of souls and the administration of the Sacraments.
From the Philippines the Jesuits had carried Christianity
into the Marian Islands : ten priests were working there
in 1702.2 Encouraged by letters of recommendation from the
Pope to Louis XIV., the King of Spain and the Archbishops,
two French Jesuits, Duberron and Cortil, took possession,
in 1710, of the Western Caroline or Palau island of Sonsorol
where they were murdered.^ Since the conquest by the
Dutch, the existence of the mission in the Moluccas had
become impossible and by 1722 the mission of the Dominicans
of Solor and Timor was on the decline.^ By order of
Propaganda some Theatines went to Borneo in 1706, in
order to preserve the mission from total extinction.^ On their
way thither, Martelli penetrated, in 1702, as far as Sumatra.
As a result of the Dutch conquest, very few Catholics remained
there : the same apphed to Java. Martelh, under English
protection, settled at Banculla and a colleague of his did
so at Banselli.^ In Ceylon, the Dutch had expelled all priests,
with the exception of three natives ; these were in charge
of 300,000 Catholics with 400 churches.' In the Maladive
1 January 30, 1705, Ins pontif., II., 236.
* AsTRAiN, VI., 834 ; VII., 761 ; Forteguerri, 306 ; Schmid-
LIN, 396.
^ AsTRAiN, VII., 764 ; ScHMiDLiN, 397 ; Lettrcs edif., XV.,
321 seqq. Stocklein, Weltbott, n. 450. The discovery of eighty-
seven new islands raised exaggerated hopes ; a number of Briefs
in Op., Epist., 160, 210, 212, 312, 338. Cf. S. Ruge, in Allg.
Zeitung, 1885, n. 324, p. 4786.
* Forteguerri," 309 seq. Cf. Biermann, in Zeitschr. fur
Missionswiss., 1924, 41.
* Forteguerri, 311 se<7. ; Mullbauer, 357.
* Forteguerri, 312 ; Mullbauer, 358.
' Forteguerri, 314 ; Schmidlin, 387. Among the priests
of Goa, Vaz and Gonzales distinguished themselves particularly.
Schmidlin, ibid.
390 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Islands, Christianity was destroj'ed by a Mohammedan
Great-Mogul who introduced Islam by force. ^
In the immense territories of South America, individual
Orders and missionaries continued to labour with zeal and
success for the spread of the Christian religion. In 1702 the
Jesuits of Paraguay numbered in their Reductions 114,599
Christians, in 1710 there were 249 missionaries. The greatest
number of conversions were obtained amongst the Chiquitos,
the Bolivia of to-day. ^ Among.st the Moxos, in the North-East
of Bolivia, the Jesuits possessed sixteen Reductions with
30,514 souls. ^ In 1702 Cipriano Barace suffered martyrdom
there, after he had baptized 40,000 natives.* The Capuchins
worked side by side with the Jesuits and Dominicans on the
Maranon, and in Venezuela, in the territories of the Llanos
and Piritus.^ In Peru, which was in a moral decline, the
Jesuit missions were the only ones which retained some
importance.^ Creuilly distinguished himself among the French
Jesuits in Cayenne. He laboured both among the old Christians
and as a missionary among the negroes and Indians. In 1708,
Lombard made use of Catechists to assist in the work and
established the flourishing Reduction of Kuru. The Jesuits
of Cayenne counted as many as 80,000 baptisms.' Martinique
1 FORTEGUERRI, 316 ; MULLBAUER, 286 Srg.
2 AsTRAiN, VI., 663, 670 ; VII., 490. FoRTEGUERRi (60 seq.)
estimates that there were about 90,000 Christians in the twenty-
nine Reductions. Cf. ScHMiDLiN, 401.
' AsTRAiN, VII., 352 : " *Relazione della missione apostoHca
de los Moxos nel regno di Peru fatta da Giesuiti e del frutto in
essa raccolto, esposto a Clcmente XL, 1703, dal P. Ildefonso
Messia, preposito provinciale," in Miscell. di Cleniente XL,
265, Papal Secret Archives.
* AsTRAiN, VI., 566 seq.
" ScHMiDLiN, 405 ; Froylan DE Rio Negro, Rclaciones dc las
Misiones de los PP. Capuchinos de Venezuela ; Astrain, VII.,
401 seqq.
« Ibid. On October 5, 1712, the Pope expresses his joy to the
Archbishop of Quito that paganism has almost disappeared
from Peru. 0/>., Epist., 1764.
" ScHMiDLiN, ^06 seq. ; Forteguerri, 43 seq.
SOUTH AMERICA. 39I
Guadaloupe and part of Haiti were the Dominicans' sphere
of activity. At the beginning of the eighteenth century,
Martel displayed wonderful zeal for the conversion of the
negroes and native pagans. The Capuchins laboured in
Haiti, but in 1703 they handed over to the Jesuits the Cape
mission there. ^ In Brazil, besides the Benedictines, Franciscans,
Jesuits and Carmelites at Pernambuco (Olinda), the Oratorians
were also engaged in missionary work ^ : in 1718 we hear
of fifteen Aldeas of the Capuchins, twelve of the Carmehtes
and five of the Mercedarians.^
In Mexico, where the Franciscans had made for themselves
so glorious a name, they established four Colleges at Oueretaro,
Guatemala, Zacatecas and Mexico, which served as centres
for the conversion of the pagan tribes of the country.^ The
greatest amongst the heroic missionaries educated in these
colleges was Antonio Margil, who up to his death, in 1726,
laboured during forty 5^ears amongst the Christians and
heathens. In 1706 he wrote that among the Talamancas of
Panama more than 80,000 Indians had been baptized.
He founded another mission in the northern part of the
country and in Texas. ^ The Franciscan mission, which made
it possible for Christianity to penetrate gradually into New
Mexico,^ did not originate from the colleges, whilst the
mission of Florida perished as a result of the wars with
England after 1702. French secular priests also laboured
^ ScHMiDLiN, 407 ; J. DE Ruzic, Dociiments siir la mission des
Freres Precheurs a S. Dominique, Lorient, 1912 ; J. B. Labat,
Nouveau voyage aux hides de I'Ameriqtie, Paris, 1722. By royal
command, Labat erected fortifications and defensive works on
the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Walz, loc. cit.,
364-
* FoRTEGUERRi, 76 seqq. ; Giuseppe da Castrogiovanni,
Notizie stor. della missione Cappucina di Rio de Janeiro, 1650-
1910, Catania, 19 10.
3 Freibiirger Kirchenlex., \.^, 724.
* Cf. the present work, XIII., 297 seqq.
* Lemmens, 243 seqq.
* Ibid., 243.
392 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
successfully in Florida.^ Besides the Franciscans, the Jesuits
deserved well of the Indians of Mexico. Their work consisted
chiefly in the christianization of the inaccessible and
mountainous country of Nayarit where, in spite of Christian
surroundings, paganism still survived. About ninety
missionary posts, each with two, three, five or six secondary
stations, maintained themselves in the north of Mexico.
More to the West there were stations at Cinaloa and Sonora,
and towards the East in the district of Parras and in the
wild territories of the Tepehuanes, at Topia, Tarahumara
and in the North in the mission of Pimeria.^ In 1712, the
Mexican province of Chiapas was the theatre of a rising.
By order of a woman who claimed to have visions and who
pretended to be Our Lady, three Dominican missionaries, one
secular priest and one Franciscan were murdered by the
Zendal Indians. ^ Cahfornia was served by the Jesuits,"* who
in 1702 reopened their mission to the Iroquese. In 1714 the
English put an end to their work among the Abenakis.^
Clement XL's vision and zeal, which embraced the whole
world, has been fully recognized by all his biographers.*'
Truly his word went forth not only to the near East, but to
India, China, Persia and America.
1 Ibid., 239; FoRTEGUERRi, II seq. ] Schmidlin, 412.
* ASTRAIN, VII., 302.
3 Report of Gabriel de Artigo to Cloche, General of the Domini-
cans, in Miscell. di storia ecclesiastica, I. (1903), 249 seqq.
* AsTRAiN, VII., 254 seqq.
5 Schmidlin, 415 ; Forteguerri, 13 seq. ; Rochemonteix,
Les Jesuites de la Nouvelle France, Paris, 1895. A * Brief of
October 12, 1709, to the King of Spain on Protestant Bibles in
American languages, disseminated by the English, in Miscell. di
Clemente XI., 265, Papal Secret Archives.
« Lafitau, II., 167 ; A. Sandinus, Vitae pontificmn Rom., II.,
Ferrarac, 1763, 703.
CHAPTER VII.
Decision of the Question of the Chinese Rites — -The
Legations of Tournon and Mezzabarba — The
Malabar Customs.
In the missionary sphere Clement XL's most important
intervention was the decision of the controversy over the
Chinese rites. It was a decision of lasting importance for
Benedict XIV. did no more than confirm it, a decision also
which affected the missions of the Far-East in a vital manner.
If we are to grasp the full significance of the problem, and
in order to complete what has been said already, a few
prehminary observations on the importance of the Chinese
missions, the veneration of ancestors and the contradictory
tendencies of the missionary Orders cannot be omitted.
The missionary activity of the Jesuits is not without a
certain element of tragedy. It began in the East Indies as
a sequel to Portuguese colonization, but the expectation
of support from the secular power was destined to be cruelly
thwarted. Francis Xavier " fled ", as he himself put it,^
from the Portuguese sphere to Japan, where the harshness
of European officials towards the natives could not overthrow
what he built up so laboriously. In Japan his brethren in
religion presented themselves without relying on the assistance
of the Western Powers, though still as Europeans, and this
fact was enough to render them suspect of being no more
than the pioneers of Portuguese and Spanish lust of conquest.
Persecution ensued, leading to a glorious Martyr Church
but likewise to the end of the Mission. There seemed to
^ Monumenta Xaveriana, I., 511 ; cf. 476 seq., 510.
393
394 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
remain but one policy, and in China it was adopted : it was
that upon entering the foreign reahn the missionary should
cease to be a European as far as this was possible, and become
a Chinese with the Chinese. But this very policy involved
the missionaries in the worst complication of all. Before long
it was said that they sacrificed their Christianity to their
predilection for China and that they continued to do this
in open rebellion against the Holy See. Thus began the
controversy about the Chinese customs, the famous dispute
over the rites which constitutes perhaps the most sinister
accusation against the Society in the whole of its history.^
The plan to secure a firm foothold among the population
of China before all the other peoples of the Far-East must
be traced back to Francis Xavier. Xavier's endless journeyings
' A satisfactory history of the dispute about the rites has not
yet been written, nor is such a history possible at present. After
the prohibition of 1710, the Jesuits were no longer permitted to
publish the documents on their side, whereas their adversaries
did not trouble themselves about the prohibition. The best
account we have for the present is the article of Joseph Brucker
in Did. de theol. cath., II., 2364-9, which is based on an examina-
tion of manuscripts. On the beginnings of the dispute we must
specially mention, besides what Maas has written (see below,
p. 397, n. 3), the account of Biermann (c/. the present work,
XXIX., n. 2). The whole dispute, up to 1800, is treated by
A. Thomas [Planchet ?] in a biased manner : Hist, de la mission
de Pekin, Paris, 1923. One of his principal sources is designated by
Thomas as M.C.M. That is Memoires de la Congregation de la
Mission, IV. -VI., Paris, 1865, which at the time, because they had
been published against the ecclesiastical prohibition, had to be
withdrawn (new edition of the vols, relating to China, Pari.s, 191 1-
12). The sources of these Memoires are, besides a few letters in the
Archives of the Lazarists : Anecdotes sur I'etat de la religion dans
la Chine, 7 vols., Paris, 1 733-1 742 (by the Jansenist, Viller-
maule) ; Memorie storiche dell' em. Msgr. cardinale di Tournon,
8 vols., Venezia, 1 761-2 ; Reflexions du secretaire de la Propa-
gande on the Memorial of Tamburini, General of the Jesuits.
The book by Jann limits itself essentially to extracts from Papal
decrees.
FRANCIS XAVIER IN THE FAR EAST 395
are not explained b}' the natural u'anderlitst of the Navarrese,
nor exclusively by his duty, as Superior, to visit his brethren
wherever they were ; on the contrarj^ their main object
was to lind out where the evangelization of the East might
best be started from. He soon realized that, for the time
being, it was impossible to hope for the collaboration of
native priests. The native population with which he came
in touch at Malacca and in the Moluccas, offered no better
prospects — everywhere he found the same character — soft,
dreamy, with httle energy, and with this little could be done.
Then he learnt that in Japan there existed a different type
of people and when he saw them, he felt that report had
exaggerated nothing. But the Japanese themselves kept
pointing to the Chinese as to their masters and teachers.
Thus, at the price of infinite exertions, the conclusion was
reached that with China the whole of the Far East would
be won for Christ, that China was the fulcrum for the lever
of the Gospel. Francis Xavier even singled out the point
where contact should be established with these civilized
peoples of the Far East, viz. their interest in the European
sciences. 1
However, the very first attempt to put this plan into
execution encountered a tremendous obstacle in the expression
of one side of the Chinese character which, in itself, is worthy
of all praise. Reverence for parents and for all lawful authority
constitutes the heart and centre of the Chinese people's
1 He had suggested that entry into Japan and prestige with the
Japanese should be procured by means of astronomical accomplish-
ments : " Incredibile est, talium rerum explicatio quantum
valeat ad conciliandos laponum voluntates " (to Ignatius of
Loyola, April 9, 1552, Mon. Xaver., I., 738). Cf. Streit, Bibl.
Missionum, IV., XI. : The great significance of St. Francis
Xavier for the mission work in Asia lies in the masterly manner
with which he surveyed at a glance the whole vast continent and
saw which were the strategic points ... in the great, outstanding
talent with which he organized his missionaries, the countries and
peoples, the mission stations, and all that was necessary for the
mission.
396 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
ethical notions. Up to quite recent times it was customary
to read publicly, twice a month, throughout the Empire,
extracts from an imperial edict which were then commented
upon. In the first place this edict inculcates filial piety :
" that virtue is the first and the greatest commandment in
China." 1
Now veneration of deceased parents was regarded as an
essential part of filial piety. ^ Wooden tablets were set up,
described as the seat of the ancestors' souls, before which
people bowed, burnt candles and incense, offered meat and
other kinds of food, and burnt paper money for the benefit
of the deceased in the next world. The mandarins and the
caste of the literati had to perform similar ceremonies in
honour of Confucius. If these customs were to be prohibited,
there remained no possibility of winning China as a whole
for Christianity. One of the best sinologues of modern times
and himself at one time a Protestant missionary in China,
realized time and again, in the course of religious discussions,
that the pagans' trump card was the allegation that the
Christians did not honour the ancestors ; as for St. Paul's
saying that parents must provide for their children, and not
the other way round, it could not be quoted without raising
such a storm of indignation as to make it impossible for
the missionary to make himself heard. ^
Here, then, the missionaries found themselves faced by an
insurmountable obstacle ; if the veneration of ancestors was
prohibited, the best they could hope for was to win over
a few individuals for Christianity. This led the real founder
of the Chinese mission, Ricci, and his followers, to ask
themselves, whether it would not be possible to tolerate most
of the externals of these customs. Of course the Christians
could not hold that the wooden tablets were the seat of the
soul, or that money could be forwarded to the dead. But
did this apply to all the other customs ? The missionaries
felt that the Chinese scholars would best be able to enlighten
them about their meaning and signihcance. What the opinion
1 Leggk, The Religions of China, London, 1880, 104.
^ Ibid., 71. ^ Ibid.. 256, 258.
WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. 397
of the literati was appears from the answer of the Chinese
tribunal of rites to a question put to it by the Emperor Kanghi
in 1701 : that tribunal declared that to prostrate before
Confucius was the same thing as honouring him as a teacher
and exemplar of men ; it did not signify that one prayed
to him for riches, talents or honours ^ ; in other words,
a prostration before Confucius was simply an expression of
courtesy and gratitude, not a religious observance. ^ The
Jesuits accordingly felt that they might tolerat ean inclination
to the ground before the coffin of a dead person, or before
the tablet bearing Confucius' monogram on the occasion of
a graduation. There can be no doubt that the common
people expected wealth, progeny and other favours from the
ancestors in return for the honours paid to them,^ but the
classical writings of the Chinese were believed to contain
a passage which seemed to assert that such was not the
primitive meaning of these marks of honour ; why then
should they not permit these ceremonies in their original
sense ? And once they had gone thus far, could not the
offering of food at funerals, food which was afterwards
consumed at a solemn repast, be viewed simply as the
expression of a wish for communion with one's deceased
parents ? All the more so as the Chinese word for these
offerings does not mean the same thing as our word
" sacrifice ".* For the rest the Jesuits did not permit the
1 L. WiEGER, in Diet, apologetique, I., Paris, 1914, 529 seq.
2 The modern Chinese Republic, by a decree of February 7,
1914, has also declared the rites to be purely civil customs.
Translation of the respective decrees [they are self-contradictory]
in Etudes, CXXXIX. (1914), 470 seq. ; appreciation of them,
461 seqq. Cf. Th. Grentrup, Ins missionarium, I., Steyl, 1925,
152 ; Wieger, loc. cit.
3 Description of the superstitious customs in Otto Maas,
Die Wiedereroffuung der Franziskanermission in China in der
Neuzeit, Miinster, 1926, 86-102.
* " The Chinese character " tsi " covers a much wider mean-
ing than our term " sacrifice "... The most general idea
symbolized b}' it is . . . an offering whereby communication and
communion with spiritual being is effected." Legge, 66.
398 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
solemn offerings in honour of Confucius, but they tolerated
those made before the tablets of the ancestors.
That with these concessions they had stepped on doubtful
ground appears from the very fact that the intention was
merely to tolerate these practices and to allow even the most
harmless ones only provisionally. The declarations of the
literati to which appeal was made in the first instance, could
not be admitted without reservation, for the Chinese scholars
adhered to Tshuism, viz. rank materialism ; as late as 1522
they were commanded to explain the classical books in a
Tshuistic sense. According to those materialists Confucius'
soul had long ago faded into nothingness ; nothing remained
of him except the syllables that made up his name, and his
memory, and the same was equally true of the ancestors.
With notions such as these it goes without saying that nothing
could be hoped or asked for from the ancestors.^ All the
same it must be borne in mind that the atheism of the literati
was the official teaching which they had to maintain by order
of the State, rather than their real personal conviction. ^
As for the broad masses of the people, theirs were by no
means simply the ideas of the scholars. As practised by the
ordinary Chinese, the veneration of ancestors and the offerings
to the dead were undoubtedly acts of religion.^
' WiEGER, loc. cit.
^ Noel-Castner, responsio, n. 124 and 202, pp. 29, 49.
* To this day the missionary in China meets with the objection :
If I become a Christian, I shall not get anything to eat after my
death, ift. Becker, Le R. P. Joseph Gonnet, Ho-kien-fu, 1900,
28. The best authority on the question of the rites, Joseph
Brucker, says that in the opinion of the Roman authorities,
the rites were tainted with superstition to such a degree as to
render a purification impossible : " The Holy See did not touch
on the purely theoretical questions, as, for instance, what the
Chinese rites were and signified according to their institution and
in ancient times. In this. Father Ricci may have been right ;
but he was mistaken in thinking that as practised in modern
times they are not superstitious or can be made free from all
superstition. The Popes declared, after scrupulous investigations.
NAMES OF GOD. 399
The Jesuits did not tolerate the customs observed in the
veneration of ancestors from the very beginning of their
work in China, but their very hesitation created such a bad
impression that during the persecution of 1616 grave accusa-
tions were proffered against them in writing on the subject.^
A httle later the Jesuits seem to have regarded the rites as
pretty indifferent ; the disputes about them only began with
the arrival of the Franciscans and the Dominicans.^
On the other hand the first missionaries gave very serious
consideration to yet another question. As they became
more intimately acquainted with the religious life of the
Chinese, the Jesuits were astonished at finding in their
canonical books which had come down from the remote
past, so pure a conception of God as no other pagan people
possessed. The Chinese had no Olympus and no mythology
like those of the Greeks, the Romans and the Hindus. They
believed in a Supreme Being, conceived as a person, ruHng
the world, foreseeing all things, meting out reward and
punishment. To offer sacrifice to him was the Emperor's
prerogative, the ordinary man of the people could not presume
to perform such an act of worship. It is true that besides
this Supreme Being, the spirits of the mountains and rivers,
that the ceremonies in honour of Confucius or ancestors and
deceased relatives are tainted with superstition to such a degree
that they cannot be purified." The Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII.,
39-
^ " *Hos [ritus] utpote necdum sibi bene perspectos, subito
approbare non sunt ausi. Quin etiam omnem in eo diligentiam
fecere, ut ii, qui s. fidem recens susciperent, neophyti, quantum
possibile esset, sacris potius Ecclesiae ritibus assuefierent, et
eosdem cum profanis permutarent." The accusation complained
that " barbari ingressu homines docuerunt, ut nemo defunctis
maioribus funeralia muncra oflerret, postea vero hac de causa
exagitati modum loquendi coramutarunt." Castner, c. i.
* Ibid. On August i8, 1637, the Vice-Provincial of the Jesuits
writes from Peking : '•' Magnum strepitum Fratres [the Friars]
nunc excitarunt Manilae cum suis 15 (13) interrogationibus circa
puncta, in.quibus minor erat difficultas et nos omnes consentie-
bamus." Ibid.
400 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
and those of great men, were likewise the objects of imperial
veneration ; the people were permitted to offer pubhc homage
to the tutelary spirit of each village and every family was
commanded to venerate its ancestors. But all these spirits
were subordinated to the Supreme Being, so that apart from
later Taoistic and Buddhistic infiltrations, the primitive
religion of China may properly be said to have been mono-
theistic.^
The first Jesuit missionaries accordingly adopted for the
designation of the true God the names by which the Chinese
designated the Supreme Being, just as the Apostles, acting
on the precedent of the Greek translation of the Old Testament,
did not hesitate to make use of the Greek word 0e6s
to designate the true God. But in Japan conditions were
otherwise, for there none of the indigenous divine names
seemed applicable to the true God,^ so that use was made
1 The texts from the holy books in Wieger, Histoire, ii seqq.,
107 seqq. " H ressort avec evidence de ces texts, que le Souverain
d'en haut, le Ciel, dont ces anciens parlent ainsi en I'an 2002,
etait pour eux un etre personnel et intelligent. H est clair aussi,
par les attributs qu'ils lui donnent, qu'ils le consideraient comma
le maitre universel, non comme le legislateur de leur race seule-
ment "{{ibid., 14). " Thus the two characters show us the religion
of the ancient Chinese as a monotheism." Cf. Legge, ii. At
this day the Chinese peasant knows this supreme being under the
name of " Laotienye ", but he does not invoke it (L. Tourcher
[missionary in South-East Tscheli], in Etudes, CXXV. (1900),
790 seq.). Cf. Legge, loc. cit. H. Allen Giles, professor of Chinese
at Cambridge, writes in Encyclop. Britannica, VI. ^^ 174 : " The
earliest traces of religious thought and practice in China point
to a simple monotheism."
2 There Francis Xavier had at first made use of the Japanese
" Dainichi " for the name of God, but taught by a painful ex-
perience, he chose the expression " Deusu " instead. Gago then
replaced another fifty " dangerous " terms by Latin words.
G. ScHURiiAMMER, Das Sprachenprobleifi in der japanesischen
J esuitenmission des 16. und 17. Jahrhiinderts, in Mitt, der deutschen
Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Vdlkerhunde Ostasiens, XXIII., Tokio
and Leipzig, 1928.
NAMES OF GOD. 4OI
of the Latin word Dens. But when Ricci's Chinese books
came into the hands of some Japanese neophytes, they felt
some misgivings about the use of the Chinese names. Ricci's
successor, Niccolo Longobardi, took their objections into
account, though with a view to uniform action by the
missionaries Ricci had issued an ordinance on the divine
names and on the veneration of ancestors which had received
the approval of the Visitor Valignani in 1603. All difficulties
had not been thereby removed, for though the words
" Shang-Ti ", viz. Supreme Lord, and " Tien ", viz. Heaven,
as used in the Chinese canonical books, undoubtedly designated
the Supreme Being, the liieyati were nevertheless bound by
the State to teach crass materiahsm, the so-called Tshuism
or Neo-Confucianism. These expressions were accordingly
applied by the literati to the material sky, so that their
use by the Christians was liable to cause misunderstandings ;
as a matter of fact the expressions " Shang-Ti " and " Tien "
were eventually replaced by the expressions " Tien-Chu "
viz. Lord of Heaven, by order of Rome. For the rest from
Ricci's time onwards the Christians generally used the
expression " Tien-Chu " to designate God.^
An ordinance issued by Ricci's successor Pasio, on
September 23th, 1611, occasioned further' prolonged
discussions on the question of the divine name. In 1614
Sabbatino de Orsi wrote a dissertation on the name of
" Shang-Ti " ; the matter was discussed at Macao and
afterwards submitted to Rome where theologians such as
Lessius, Lorinus and Gabriel Vasquez pronounced in Ricci's
favour. After the cessation of the persecution of 1616, Juan
Rodriguez, who had been a missionary in Japan, raised
opposition to the practice hitherto followed whilst Longobardi
^ Cf. H. Havret, S. I., Tien-Tchou "Seigneur du del", in
Varietes Sinologiques, n. 19, Shanghai, 1901 ; the same in Etudes,
LXXXIX. (19091), 399-409. In Chinese literature the expres-
sion had already served to designate several divine personalities
of Buddhism and Taoism, especially of Indra {ibid., 546). On the
dispute about the names, see K. Pieper in Zeitschr. fi'ir Missions-
wiss., 1924, 10 seq.
VOL. XXXIII. D d
402 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
rejected all Chinese names of God, even Tien-Chu, and
proposed to replace them by the Latin Deus trimmed in
Chinese fashion so as to make it " Ten-Su " ; even for such
words as " soul ", " spirit ", he wished to draw upon the
Latin language and to revise Ricci's books in that sense.
He was prevented from doing this by the decision of two
Visitors and of the General, Vitelleschi, himself. As Longobardi
would not remain quiet even then, he was reprimanded in
1623 by order of the Visitor, Diaz the elder. But even so the
Superiors of the Order did not take a light view of the dispute,
Diaz the elder ordered a whole volume compiled by Rodriguez
against Ricci's views, to be thoroughly examined in 1627
and 1628, and at the beginning of 1628 a consultation of some
nine or ten Jesuits took place at Kiating. It decided in favour
of retaining the practice hitherto followed, but Longobardi's
strong opposition, even to the expression " Tien-Chu ", was
reserved to the judgment of Palmeiro whose arrival as Visitor
was then expected. In 1629 Palmeiro had made a thorough
examination of the questions then pending. He forbade the
suggested European names of God as barbarous for Chinese
ears and sanctioned the Chinese text of a formula to be used
at emergency baptisms for which Marini, the Procurator of
the Missions, likewise obtained the approval of the Roman
Inquisition. For the sake of peace Palmeiro also forbade the
names " Shang-Ti " and " Tien ", and the General Concurred
with the prohibition until the question should have been
further examined. This concession merely encouraged
Longobardi to press for the condemnation of the term
" Tien-Chu ". Under the influence of Rodriguez he resumed
his correction of the earlier Christian books in his own sense,
until he was stopped by his Superiors. In spite of renewed
refutations even Palmeiro began to incline to Longobardi's
views, but when a fresh meeting of missionaries in 1633
pronounced in favour of retaining the divine names and the
customs hitherto observed, he left the decision to those
missionaries who were familiar with the Chinese tongue.
Palmeiro's successor, Diaz the elder, once more permitted the
use of the expressions " Shang-Ti " and " Tien ".
THE MENDICANTS 403
The disputes among the Jesuits were thus disposed of.
To prevent any future outbreak the Superior of the Chinese
Vice-Province ordered Longobardi's writings to be burnt.
But after Longobardi's death some fragments of these
writings fell into the hands of the Franciscan Anthony
of St. Mary and they caused the controversy to flare up
once more.^ ■
The above-named Friar had arrived in China in 1033 in the
company of the Dominican Bautista de Morales, whose
brother in religion, Cocchi, had settled in the Province of
Fukien the year before. In 1934 each of the new-comers
was reinforced by one Franciscan and one Dominican, when
they too began missionary work in China. ^
It was natural that the members of the older Orders should
pursue the traditional line of conduct of their respective
Institutes. They accordingly preached in the open street,
crucifix in hand ; they tore down in broad daylight an edict
of persecution against the Christians, in fact they would
have felt a scruple to act otherwise.^ The Jesuits' careful
avoidance of whatever might prove a stumbling block for
the pagans they regarded as shameful cowardice. Though
they observed the outward marks of courtesy in their epistolary
commerce with the younger Order,^ they did not refrain from
severe blame. ^ As early as 1636 complaints reached
Propaganda that there were some religious in " India "
who preached Christ crucified only after first preaching
a triumphant Christ, and who, instead of starting by preaching
Christ crucified, began with wordly sciences, such as astronomy
. and things of that kind.^
1 According to Castner, loc. cit. Cf. Bartoli, Cina, lib. i,
c. 1 18-122 ; lib. 4, c. 83-5 {Opere, Torino, 1825, XV., 193-203 ;
XVIII., 164-9).
" BiERMANN, 32, 36, 42. Our work, XXIX., 249.
' BiERMANN, 57 se^. * Ibid., ;^9 seq.
' Cf. " Relacion " of the Franciscan Girolamo di Gesu, in
Archiviim jranciscaniim hist., XVIII. (1925), 108 seqq.
* " . . . che invece di cominciare da questa predicazione di
Cristo crocifisso, cominciano dalle scienze profane, cioe astronomia
404 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The Jesuits, on their part, had shown kindness to the
new-comers,^ though in view of their experiences on Japanese
soil, they did not see gladly the arrival of other missionaries.
But it was obviously impossible for a handful of Jesuits to
evangehze the whole of the Island Empire. However, when
the question whether the help of other religious should be
invited, was examined by a meeting convened for that
purpose, the decision ultimately reached was to the effect
that the time for such a step was not yet. The new-comers
would fall into the same errors into which they themselves
had fallen and in view of the developments which had taken
place since then, those mistakes would be fraught with more
grievous consequences than before and might even entail the
ruin of the whole mission. ^ In China also it was impossible
to deny that the thirteen or fourteen Jesuits were unequal
to a task with which a thousand missionaries would not have
been able to cope. But there too it was felt that the situation
was very far from being sufficiently advanced to justify the
dispatch of a vast number of missionaries to that country.^
As a matter of fact the Jesuits alone, on account of their
cautious conduct, had been able to get a firm footing in
China, though many others had sought to estabhsh themselves
in that country. x\s for preaching in the street, crucifix in
hand, they feared the very worst results from such action.
Thus divergences of opinion among the missionaries supplied
the motive power in the evolution of the ritual dispute, and
ed altre." Decree of Propaganda, October 21, 1636, in Collectanea,
I.,25, n. 86.
1 BiERMANN, 33, 54 ; cf. 56, 75.
* " Viniendo otros religiosos, han de dar primero los yerros que
nosotros dimos, que seran aora peores, y no haran mas que
deshazer lo que nosotros aora comenzamos." Quoted in Archivum
Franciscanum hist., XVI. (1923), 395. Cf. Delplace, II., 17,
76 seq.
* " *Erat in hoc ingcns aequivocatio," Kilian Stumpf
writes at a later date (Dec. 5), " messis utique erat multa, sod
nondum alba ad falcem, et pauci intraverant ideo, quod imma-
turum hoc tempus non sineret plures ibidem conversari."
THE MENDICANTS 405
these differences were further sharpened by petty national
jealousies. China came under the patronage of the Portuguese
crown whilst the new-comers were Spaniards from the
Philippines. The fact that in 1580 Spain and Portugal had
been united under the same sceptre had only increased the
mutual dislike of the two peoples. In 1(^)00 Clement VIII.
decided to consider the prejudices of the Portuguese to the
extent of only allowing new missionaries to travel East via
Lisbon and Goa, but in 1608 Paul V. did away with this
restriction in favour of the Mendicants and Urban VIII. did
so for all religious in 1633. ^
The conduct of the Mendicants did not meet with the
approval of all the neophytes. Thus the Jesuit Matos writes
that his Christians would have pressed the Viceroy to expel
Cocchi if he had not prevented them.^ When Antony of
St. Mary arrived at Nangking, the Christians kept him
a prisoner for the space of six weeks, at the end of which
time he was forcibly taken back to Fukien, not without the
complicity of Diaz, the Jesuit Vice-Provinciil,^ though this
did not prevent the generous friar from subsequently entering
into friendty relations with the Jesuits.^ The explanation of
this initial objection to the Mendicants was the latter's rigid
demands from the neophytes and their occasional disparaging
remarks about the older missionaries. They said that Ricci
and the Jesuits had deceived the new Christians when they
told them that certain Chinese customs were permissible ;
they themselves, so they averred, had been sent by the Holy
See for the purpose of uprooting these errors.^
1 Decrees of December 12, 1600, June 2, 1608, and February 22,
1633, Bi///, X., 631 5^(7^. ; XI., 501 seqq. ; XIV., 320 seqq.
* BiERMANN, 40.
^ Ibid., 41.
* Cf. his. letters of 1653, 1654, and 1660 in Archivum Francis-
canum hist., IV., 497 seqq.
^ " *Neophyti etiam graviter contra eos conqucri coeperunt,
turn de nimio eorum, ut ipsis quidem videbatur, rigore, turn de eo,
quod minus honorifice quandoque de missionariis Societatis loqui
auditi cssent, dicendo : P. Riccium fuisse deceptorem, venisse
406 HISTORY OFTHE POPES.
It was in 1634 that the new missionaries became acquainted
for the first time and quite by chance, with the customs
observed by the Chinese in the cult of the ancestors. They
immediately commanded their Christians to refrain from such
practices and after they had assisted at a ceremony in honour
of the ancestors, their convictions that these observances
were of a superstitious character, even as practised by the
Christians, was further strengthened and consultations with
the Jesuits of Fudshou failed to induce them to change their
mind. With every formality of the law they drew up a
statement on the cult of the dead and the concessions of the
Jesuits, based on the depositions of eleven Chinese Christians,
and after a second interrogation, they formulated their
opinion in a written document. These acts were to be
submitted to the Archbishop of Manila, for the above-
mentioned Brief of Urban VIIL, of February 22nd, 1633,
commissioned the Bishops to give judgment in the disputes
between missionaries ; however, Antony of St. Mary fell into
the hands of the Dutch and only reached the PhiHppines
in 1637.^ There the account of the conduct of the Jesuits
called forth a storm of indignation. Archbishop Guerrero
of Manila dispatched to Rome a memorial on the subject
drawn up by the Dominicans, together with a covering letter
of his own in which he expressed his displeasure. However,
a copy of the letter came into the hands of the Jesuit Visitor,
Emmanuel Diaz the elder, who made his own comments
in Chinam, ut doceret idololatrias, et a reliquis Societatis mis-
sionariis decipi neophytos ; se vero a Pontifice misses esse, ut
hos erirores detegerent et idololatrias istas exstirparent. . . .
Hinc non sanis solum, sed etiam moribund is sacramenta negabant,
eo quod, cum viverent, consuetis ritibus progenitores suos coluis-
sent. His et similibus dictis et factis, quae in litteris circa annum
1636 ex China scriptis recensentur, maximum sibi omnium Sinarum
odium conciliabant." Castner, c. 2.
1 BiERMANN, 43-51 ; Archivum Franciscamiin hist., IV., 51.
The two judicial examinations took place between December 22,
1635, and January, 1636, and between January 21 and February
lo, 1636.
KANGHI'S DECREE OF 1692. 407
on each of the grievances. On the initiative of the Jesuits
both the Archbishop and the Bishop of Cebu, who had
subscribed to the first letter, now wrote yet another letter
to the Pope in which they eulogized the Jesuit missionaries
and stated that their first communication was based on
inaccurate information and that they accordingly withdrew
it.^ For the time being the other accusations also failed to
impress Rome. In 1645 the rites were indeed condemned,
but after the decision of 1656 the Jesuits in China were of
opinion that their line of action had Rome's approval.^
Renewed complaints against them under Clement IX. ^ and
Innocent XL* led to no action by the Roman authorities.
The tension between the Orders found its sharpest expression
in the book of the Dominican Navarrete, a work which
became an inexhaustible mine for the Jansenists' endless
attacks on the Jesuits in China.
Meanwhile the Chinese mission made an immense step
forward : 1692 saw the publication of the edict of the Emperor
Kanghi permitting the free preaching of the Gospel in China.
Thus the long-closed doors of the empire seemed to open
wide to the Gospel. That which in Ricci's days would have
been regarded as the dream of an extravagant imagination,
had become a fact, thanks to the inflexible tenacity of the
^ " * . . . ea, quae ante biennium scripserant, omnino retrac-
tant, asserentes, se priores litteras scripsisse ex minus fideli
relatione sibi facta a non satis aequis rerum aestimatoribus,
adeoque se id religioni ducendo, nunc PP. Societatis a tarn indignis
querimoniis vindicare et eorundem Patrum innocentiae et veritatis
patrocinium pro viribus suscipere, ita ipsa litterarum verba
sonabant. Binarum autem harum epistolarum exemplaria Macaum
ad P. Visitatorem pariter submissa ibidem in archivio coUegii
asservata sunt " (Castner, c. 2). C/. the present work, XXIX.,
250.
2 C/. the present work, XXXT., 163 seqq.
3 Ibid., 409 seqq.
* " *Tentata itaque res fuit sub Innocentio XL, qui tamen
contra antecessorum suorum decreta niliil movcre passus est."
Castner, c. 3.
408 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Jesuit missionaries, and the great aim of their toil for
the future, viz. a Chinese Constantine who would bring to the
feet of Christ the whole of the might}^ empire and with it
the entire Far East, seemed to have been brought into
fascinating proximity. When Innocent XII. restricted the
boundaries of the dioceses of Peking and Nangking and
erected further Vicariates Apostolic in China, he gave as his
reason the fact that since the imperial declaration so many
Christian communities were constantly arising, that two
Bishops could no longer cope with them.^
However, these brilliant prospects soon vanished into
nothingness. Barely one year after Kanghi's edict one of
China's Vicars Apostolic took the step which led to the
definitive condemnation of the rites and so to the destruction
of the older Chinese mission. Whilst the question of the
rites was quiescent enough in the Far East itself, it was
being discussed all the more passionately in Europe. In their
work for the ruin of the Society of Jesus, the Jansenists
began by seeking to destroy their good name, and for this
purpose Navarrete's book on the Chinese rites provided an
excellent handle. ^ From it Antoine Arnauld drew material
for some of the most venomous writings against the hated
Order and a spate of pamphlets spread the accusations over
the whole of Europe.
In this way the ground was prepared for a fresh- examination
of the question of the rites. Rome could not remain silent
when, a year after Kanghi's edict, the Vicar Apostolic of
Fukien, Charles Maigrot, of the Paris Society of Foreign
' Jann, 261.
^ *Castner {c. 4) says : " Cum praecipuus adversariorum
Anis esset, ut sese contra Societatem vindicarent ac earn per
universam Europam gravissime infamarent et ita vol exstingue-
rent, si possent, vel saltern in omnium acstimatione suspcctam
redderent, id inprimis egerunt, ut quidquid proponerent, quam-
primum ubique variis in terris evulgarent cum acerrimis expostu-
lationibus, exclamationibus et invectivis, ut ita populus, qui
ipsam rerum substantiam minus penetraret, horrificis speciebus
exterreretur."
THE CONTROVERSY IN ROME. 409
Missions, forbade the Chinese rites in his Vicariate and in
1697 submitted the affair to Rome through his representative
Charmot.^
Innocent XII. was obviously resolved to have the question
subjected to a most searching examination. This appears
from the choice of the three Cardinals whom he charged with
the affair and who were wholly free from any suspicion of
favouring the Jesuits ; they were Casanata, Noris and
Ferrari. 2 Marescotti, who was eventually added to their
number, took exactly the same view as Casanata.-'^ Innocent
XII. did not personally dislike the Jesuits ; in his last illness
he asked for the assistance of the Jesuit Baldigiani who, with
five others, had to represent the interests of the Jesuits before
the cardinalitial Congregation dealing with the rites.
Up to this time nothing was known in China of what was
going on in Rome. The missionaries deemed themselves
protected against Maigrot's decree by the decision of
^ Cf. the present work, XXXII., 648 seq.
^ " La grande affaire des Jesuites sur las honneurs que leurs
Chretiens rendent a Confucius dans la Chine, so renouvelle avec
plus de chaleur contra eux qua jainais, et la faveur de leurs parties
est deja allee jusqua-la, qu'ils ont obtenu de la congregation que
les trois cardinaux qui leur sont da notoriete publique les plus
opposes, fussent nommes les seuls commissairas pour examiner
cette affaire : las cardinaux Casanate, Noris et Ferrari ou de
Saint-Clamant. Ca dernier, quoique Dominicain, est, dit-on,
celui dont ils doivent moins craindre la prevention contra aux.
En effet, je le crois pieux et sincere. L'on fait sonner fort haut
la favaur et la protection de MM. les superiaurs des Missions
etrangeres, et l'on assure qu'elle est fort ouvertement declaree
contre les Jesuites. Leurs parties la-dessus commancent a crier
victoire " (L'abbe Chanterac a Fenelon, 25 April, 1699, in
Fenelon, QLiivres, X. [1852], 16). *Castner (c. 4) says of the
three Cardinals : " de quibus aliunde notorium erat, eo studio
partium trahi ct malevolum erga Societatem animum passim
demonstrare."
' *Castxer {loc. cit.) : The three Cardinals obtained " ut iisdcm
adiungeretur Em^s Marescottus, qui sc. partes Em"^' Casanate
aliunde semper tuebatur ".
410 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Alexander VII. ; nothing was known of the steps taken
b}' him in Rome as Maigrot kept them secret. It was only
at the close of 1698 that a French ship brought the news
of the Roman negotiations and of the impending danger.
The Jesuits of Peking judged it useless to add yet another
memorial to the many they had already submitted ; they
accordingly hit on the idea of invoking the testimony of the
Emperor Kanghi on the point in question.^ They drew up
the text of a decree in their sense, that is, one stating that
the veneration of Confucius and the cult of the ancestors
were ceremonies of a purely civilian significance, and for this
document they did in fact obtain Kanghi's sanction. 2
On December 3rd, 1700, the document was dispatched to
Europe by four different routes. But long before that time
Innocent XII. had ceased to Hve. Baldigiani had given him
spiritual assistance up to the last.^
(2.)
Under the new Pope, Clement XI., things seemed at first
to take a more favourable turn for the Jesuits. The triennial
Assembly for which each Jesuit Province is bound to send
a delegate to Rome, was due in 1700. They might well have
interpreted it as a happy omen that at the end of the
deliberations Clement XI. received the delegates most
graciously and spoke of the world-wide activities of the Order
in terms of the highest praise.* Whereas formerly the Jesuits
had complained that the difficult negotiations had been
unduly hurried, the new Pope expressly promised them
sufficient time for matters to clarify. He invited them to
summon from China some one who would advocate their
I *Castner, loc. cit.
* Brucker, inDict. de theol. cath., II., 2375.
» *Castner, loc. cit.
* * . . . benevolc admodum a Pontifice e.xcepti sunt, qui
coram illis Societatis per totum mundum dispcnsae labores cximie
commcndavit. Ibid., c. 5.
THE CONTROVERSY UNDER CLEMENT XI. 4II
cause. The negotiations on the question of the rites remained
at a standstill in Rome for a period of four months ; they
were only resumed in Februar}^ 1701, when the same
qualificators exposed their views as before, but on this
occasion in presence of the Pope himself ; the examination
proceeded in this fashion during two months.
The Jesuits took advantage of the interval before the final
decision to defend their standpoint by means of various
publications.^ Their efforts appear to have been not altogether
unsuccessful. The Pope informed the Cardinals that they
must not base their judgment on reports which had been
laid before Cardinal Casanata, but on authentic documents ;
he also gave orders that the Jesuits and their advocate
Sardinius should be informed of the subjects discussed.
One of the three qualificators, the Franciscan Varese, was
allowed to speak openly in favour of the accused in presence
of the Pope on May 1st, 1701, and their friend Cardinal
Sperelli could risk to accuse the majority of the Cardinals
charged with the examination of prejudice against the Jesuits.
In the course of an audience with the Pope, Cardinal Forbin
Janson, who was accompanied by Sperelli and Nerli, said that
the Chinese mission would be ruined if they yielded to the
prevention of the enemies of the Jesuits. Thereupon Clement
XI. replied : " We shall not destroy them." ^
Since Antoine Arnauld had begun to exploit the works of
Navarrete ^ as a quarry for his attacks against his best hated
opponents, the question of the rites had become a party
question. About the middle of 1701 a rumour spread through-
out Europe that the Jesuits had already been condemned
in Rome, that all of them had to abjure the Chinese idolatry,
1 [Montecatini], Monumenta Sinica, 1700 [Naples], and other
writings. Cf. Riviere, I., 24 ; Malatra, N'era Sinensium sententia
de tabella, Naples, 1700. *Castnek, c. 5.
2 * . . . fore, ut Pontifex Sinensem missionem perderet,
obsequendo factiosorum aliquot, qui Jesuitis adversantur, conati-
bus. Cui Papa hisce verbis respondit : Non la perderemo (Castner,
c. 5). All that follows is after Castner.
* C/". our work, XXXI., 409.
412 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
that their ringleaders would have to expiate their misdeeds
by seven 3'ears imprisonment. Besides libellous publications,
illustrations were also broadcast showing Confucius as the
chief god in the midst of idols, or the Jesuit Grimaldi enthroned
among the mandarins and spurning the other missionaries.^
In the first days of May, however, a new series of meetings
of Cardinals on the question of the rites had been opened.
The negotiations took a more and more unfavourable turn
for the Jesuits, so that the Pope, in order to give them some
sort of breathing space, allowed the Cardinals to begin their
holidays earlier, i.e. already in September, 1701. Thus the
inquiry was held up until November. To the Pope's joy
Kanghi's declaration on the rites arrived quite unexpectedly
in Rome at this time. On the basis of this imperial manifesto,
he thought, the dispute would surely be settled ; many
people shared this opinion. Even the opponents were non-
plussed at first when Kanghi's declaration was printed
outside Rome and 700 copies were distributed in the city.
The effect was further increased by a letter of the Augustinian
Bishop Alvaro de Benevente, titular Bishop of Ascalon and
Vicar Apostolic of Kiangsi, who was emphatically in favour
of the Jesuits on the question of the rites. His letter, however,
only came to the knowledge of the Jesuits towards the end
of April, 1702, when they gave it the widest possible publicity.
One can understand that, in spite of the prolonged negotia-
tions, Clement XI. found it difficult to arrive at a decision.
On December 3rd, 1701, the feast of St. Francis Xavier,
he went to the professed house of the Jesuits to say Mass
and to recommend the decision of the question to the
prayers of the community. On December 5th he declared in
consistory,^ that he had decided to send Charles Thomas
Maillard de Tournon to the Far East as Legate a latere, to
settle the dispute. On February 1st, and again on June 13th,
^ Other tendentious pictures in Thomas, i^^^scqq. The supposed
illustration of the interior of a Jesuit church in Peking [ibid.,
147) is from the notorious Annates de ta Societi des soi-disants
Jdsuites, III., frontispiece.
* Op., Oral., 10.
TOURNON. 413
1702, in presence of the Pope, Tournon conferred with the
Jesuit Le Comte who was in Rome for the purpose of defending
the rites. ^ On May 16th he went to Naples to confer with
the King of Spain about the best way to his destination,
with Spanish assistance ; on July 4th he embarked for China
but without having in his possession a papal decision on the
burning question. However he was given the widest faculties,
in the use of which he was not tied to the usual forms, nor
impeded by the privileges of the religious Orders ; he was
empowered to dispose at will of missionaries and Vicars
Apostolic, to preside at synods, to receive appeals even when
they were directed to the Holy See, nor was he bound to
exhibit any credentials.- Papal letters recommended Tournon
to the Kings of Portugal, France and Spain. ^ He was also
armed with a letter for the Emperor of China, special Briefs
to the ecclesiastical dignitaries of India accredited him as
Legate, so that as far as they were concerned, he needed no
further credentials of his mission.^ Avoiding Portugal,
Tournon sailed on a French boat.
Meanwhile the discussions of the question in presence
of the Pope had been concluded in Rome, on March 30th. ^
On May 17th, 1702, the Cardinals dehberated once more
whether a decree on the rites should be issued. The answer
was in the affirmative. Clement XI. charged Cardinals
Marescotti, Ferrari, Noris, Gabrielli and Sperelh with the
^ All the above, according to Castner, loc. cit.
2 Jann, 400 seqq.
3 Ibid., 402 seq.
* All the Briefs of June 20, 1702, in Op., Epist., 124-132.
* *Castner, loc. cit. ; *Atti della Congregazione del S. Officio
12, I., 1702, coram SS. ; *iMeinor. di 12 congregationi teuute
avanti SS. 15, I., 30 ; III., 1702 ; " *6 Congregazioni particulari
radunate per stendersi il breve con detta risoluzione con la memoria
della nuova udienza da S. B. alii P. Fr. Noel e G. Castner . . .
e discussione delle nuove ragioni fatte nella congreg. del 17, I.,
1704." Result of the Congregation (June 19) and intimation
(September 4), in Miscell. di Clemente XI., t. 235, Papal Sec.
Archives.
414 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
drafting of the decree ; the complaint of the Jesuits that
three of these five were avowed opponents of theirs was cut
short by the Pope on August 11th, with the remark that
he himself made the sixth.
In France efforts were made to hasten the decision by
spreading a rumour that the delay embittered the whole
of the French clergy and constituted an obstacle to the
conversion of the Hugenots. When questioned by the royal
confessor, La Chaize, more than over eighty French Bishops
declared that these rumours were false, and a number of them
spoke in favour of the Jesuits on the question of the rites.
Cardinal Kollonitsch, in his capacity as Protector of Germany
and Primate of Hungary, acted in like manner in the name
of both these countries. ^ The Archbishop of Paris, Noailles,
in particular, insisted that a definitive judgment on the
question of the rites was necessary as the only means of
confuting the Protestant calumnies that the Roman Church
tolerated idolatry in China. ^ After a voyage of nine months
the Jesuits Francis Noel and Caspar Castner, whose dispatch
as Procurators of the Jesuits in China Clement XI. had
demanded shortly after his accession,^ arrived in London
and on December 30th, 1702, in Rome. They also represented
the Bishop of Macao, Joao de Cazal, the Archbishop of
Nangking, Alexander Louis Ciceri, the titular Bishop of
Ascalon and Vicar Apostolic of Kiangsi, Alvaro de Benevente,
and the Bishop-Elect of Andrevilla and Visitor of the Vice-
Province of China and Japan, Charles Turcotti. Ciceri and
Turcotti were Jesuits, Benevente was an Augustinian.
On January 12th, 1703, the Pope graciously received the two
Procurators ; the discord among the missionaries, he observed,
gave him great pain, he knew well that the differences of
opinion had their roots in the fact that they pursued opposite
1 *Castner, c. 5, towards the end. Some quotations from
these testimonies of the Bishops in Castner-Noel, Rcsp., i6-i8.
* *Letter to Clement XL, July 21, 1701, in Miscell. di Clemente
XL, t. 120, p. 26 seqq., loc. cit. ; cf. t. 234.
' Sec above, p. 410.
DISCUSSIONS IN ROME. 415
courses ^ ; accordingly the Procurators should draw up as
soon as possible a short synopsis of the documents they had
brought with them ; he himself would examine this summary.
The drawing up of this summary was not without its
difficulties, because the newcomers from , China were
unacquainted with judicial formulas and the habits of the
Curia. On February 15th the Pope again urged them to make
haste ; thereupon the Jesuits called upon the services of an
advocate of the name of Ursaia who was well versed in these
matters. On February 24th the summary was ready, and
on March 15th it was followed by a memorial. On March 27th
both documents were handed to the Pope, who once again
promised to make a personal study of the contents ; he
added that he had carefully read the letters of recommendation
of the Chinese Bishops.
Meanwhile the opposition in China had also dispatched
a spokesman to Rome, who arrived there on March 9th.
He was Arthur de Lyonne, titular Bishop of Rosalia and
Vicar Apostolic of Sutshuen, who on his journey from Paris
to Rome, had spoken everywhere in bitter terms of the
Jesuits, for which he was reprimanded by Clement XI. at his
very first audience. About June 20th, the Pope announced
that he would refer the question of the rites once more to the
Inquisition ; to the objection of the Jesuits that the Cardinals
of that tribunal were for the most part prejudiced against
them, he replied that he could not act otherwise without
offending the Cardinals. Fifty copies of the memorial and
the summary of the Jesuits were printed and distributed
among the Cardinals of the Inquisition.
Up to the beginning of the following year the opposite
side made no answer to these writings. That party took
the standpoint that the affair had been decided before the
arrival of the Procurators ; under Cardinal Casanata the
situation had become sufficiently clarilied, in other words,
^ " *Dixit scire se, inter missionarios esse animorum dissen-
siones, quae sibi plurimum displicerent, item probe se scire,
diversitatem sententiarum inter illos potius ex dissensione ani-
morum provenire." Castner, loc. cit.
4l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES,
no notice should be taken of the fresh objections. As a matter
of fact, when the Jesuits caHed upon the Cardinals of the
Inquisition at the end of August, 1703, they found that these
were not fully acquainted with the new defence. When
January 17th was fixed for the resumption of the sittings
of the Inquisition, the question to be decided in the first
instance, was as follows : Whether and in what form the
draft of a decree which had been determined fifteen months
earlier, should be completed and published. To this Clement
XI. would not agree. They should decide in what form the
decree of 1702 was to be published, but they should also
form an opinion on the documents recently handed in by
the Jesuits.
On January 17th, 1704, Cardinals Carpegna, Nerli,
Panciatici, Ferrari, SperelH, Gabrielli and Ottoboni met once
more in congregation ; Marescotti, Spada and Noris were
absent ; the latter was mortally sick and died on February
23rd. Cardinal Nerli made a decided defence of the Jesuits,
It was resolved to put off a final decision for about a month ;
the further command of the Congregation, that they must
reply to the recent writings of the Jesuits, put the latter's
opponents in no slight predicament for they had spread the
rumour that the Pope had forbidden them to make a reply.
At last, five months later, on June 18th, two documents
bearing the signatures of Lyonne and Maigrot were handed
in,i though, in reality, both had been composed by Maigrot
two years earlier. Their publication, about the middle of
June, came very awkwardly for the Jesuits who were forced
to draw up their refutation during the great heat of the
summer months, when exhausting work is almost impossible
in Rome. A delay until the beginning of September was
granted them ; they worked day and night and on the 9th
of the month their answer was in print. ^ The work bearing
^ Noel-Castner, Memoriale, 3 (below, p. 417, n. 2).
^ Responsio ad libros niiper editos III. DD. episcoponim Rosa-
liensis et Cononensis super controversiis Sinensibus, oblata SS.
D. N. Clementi PP. XI. a Patribus Fr. Noel et Gasp. Castner,
S.J. . . . mcnsc septembre, 1704.
MEANING OF THE RITES. 417
Lyonne's name is directed against Kanghi's decree on the
rites ; that document, we read, was no real decree, doubts
were raised about its text and its translation, whilst the
usual accusations against the practices of the Jesuits were
repeated. Towards the end more particular reference is made
to the memorial of the Jesuits of the previous year ; in
particular an attempt is made to undermine the authority
of the Bishops to whom they appealed. The second work,
by Maigrot, offers nothing new ; the arguments link up with
a short account of the Jesuits in Peking, which is to be found
in the appendix of the first pamphlet of Noel and Castner.
These two Procurators of the Jesuits, in their reply, had
followed up the assertions of their adversaries one by one,
and as these were a tissue of Chinese texts, the reply was
likewise a detailed commentary upon those texts.
Meanwhile new evidence on the meaning of the names and
ceremonies in question had been received from China. At the
end of February, 1704, the Jesuit Pehsson forwarded some,
and on April 18th more information came via London and
Leghorn, and in May or June the Portuguese Assistant
received further documents on the subject and more was
promised which had been brought from China by the Jesuit
Fontaine ; this arrived on August 12th. ^ It was accordingly
decided at the beginning of August to collect these testimonies
in a new summary and to expound them in a memorial.
By the end of August 500 copies of the new publication were
in print. 2
The very first testimony is signed by the Mandarin Vitus
Pao, " the second man in the mathematical tribunal, according
to Father Grimaldi," by seventeen other Mandarins and by
3'et another forty-nine persons, most of them graduates.
All these are Christians of Peking and give their evidence
under oath. After a survey of the state of the question, they
1 *Castner, loc. cit.
* Memoriale et siimmarium novissimorum testimonioriim Stnen-
sium in prosecutione causae Sinensis . . . SS. D. N. Clementi
Papae XI. oblatiim a PP. Francisco Noel et Gaspare Castner,
S.J. . . . die 27 augusti, 1704.
VOL. XXXIII. Ee
4l8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
emphasize the intimate connection between the question of
the rites, and the maintenance of Christianity in China.
Maigrot's edict had grieved the Christians in Fukien, had
prevented the infidels from being converted and encouraged
them to insult Christianity. If the matter were brought before
the tribunals, how could Christianity continue to exist in
China ? ^ In order to conjure the peril, they attest on oath
before the throne of the divine Majesty, that Confucius was
not honoured as a divinity but only as a teacher, and this
in order to thank him for his magnificent teaching. This
veneration was free from the slightest suggestion that anything
was being asked or expected from him.^
In like manner they attest on oath before the throne of the
divine Majesty that the veneration of the ancestors had been
introduced in order that their posterity might show them
filial piety and gratitude and remember the longer that they
had received from them the benefit of existence and
upbringing. Nothing is asked from them, nothing is expected
from them. The names of the ancestors were written on
tablets in order that the children might remember the voice
and features of their parents after their death. The tablets
of the ancestors revived in their hearts fihal piety and
gratitude, which might otherwise fade away with the lapse
of time. The meaning of the funeral rites was the same.^
It is true there are rites tainted with superstition, because
not all the Chinese observed the genuine rites of the Empire.
1 " Quo decreto animos christianorum Ft)kiensium [according
to their account] fuisse summopere perculsos atquc afflictos,
infidelium vero pedes veluti compedibus constrictos, ne ad s. fidem
suscipiendam deinceps accederent, eorumque linguam e contra
veluti duplo magis quam antea solutam ad maledicendum divinae
legi. Et sane si huius dccreti capita deferrentur vel ad tribunalia
subalterna ipsius loci, vel ad superiora prorcgis utriusquc . . .
et ad ipsum imperatorem quonam, pacto posset s. lex hie amplius
consistere ? " Summariuni, n. i E, p. 2.
2 " Ceterum in dictis ritibus nullum inesse petitionis aut
expectationis vestigium." Ibid., p. 3.
3 Ibid.
MEANING OF THE RITES. 419
But if a man refuses to honour Confucius, they say of him
that he has fallen away from the teacher, and if he does not
make use of the tablets of the ancestors, they say of him
that he has blotted out the memory of those who had gone
before him ; such men were regarded as irrational animals
and as men devoid of obedience, honour, affection, intelligence,
and if they are accused of such a crime condemnation and
punishment are sure to follow.^ They concluded with a
request to be allowed the use of the words Tien and Shang-ti.^
Numerous other testimonies came from the Provinces of
Nangking, Kiangsi, Hukuang, Fukien and Kuangsi.^ The
contents of all these testimonies agree with those given above.'*
A remarkable explanation of the ceremonies used at the
^ " Ut qui non veneratur Confucium, dicatur defecisse a magi-
stro, qui non adhibet progenitorum tabellas, dicatur obliterasse
progenitoruni mcmoriam, et idee uterque accensendus sit bru-
tarum animantiuni nuniero." Ibid., 4.
^ Ibid., p. 4 seq.
^ Ibid., No. 2 : Testimony of the heir apparent and of five
pagan literati on Ricci ; No. 3 : Petition of the Christians of
Nangking to the Pope, signed by a Jesuit who had formerly been
a Mandarin of the mathematical tribunal, and by four candidates
for the mandarinate and fourteen for the bachelorship ; another
petition by literati from two towns, signed by a " summus littera-
rum examinum praeses ", besides sworn statements from two
towns. No. 4 : Two testimonies of literati from Nangking. Alto-
gether testimonies under eleven headings, pp. 1-76. All these
depositions are certified by a notary to be true.
* A pagan liter atus from Siang Tan (Hukuang) writes, for
example {loc. cit., 53) : " In cultu caeli habetur gratiarum actio,
habetur postulatio seu oratio, in cultu autem Magistri [Confucius]
seu magistrorum et maiorum non habetur oratio nee petitio."
Also in Hukuang, 41, pagan literati {loc. cit.) testify that :
" Quando reverentiae exhibentur avis defunctis, fiunt eae secun-
dum id, quod in libro Chum Jung (a Cu Su Confucii nepote
composito) dicitur : serviendum mortuis, sicut serviretur vivis,
serviendum defunctis, sicut serviretur iis, si etiamnum superstites
essent. His duobus verbis determinari potest finis oblationum et
rituum, quae fiunt in China."
420 HISTORY OF- THE POPES.
solemn veneration of Confucius was drawn up by the Christians
of Hukuang and pronounced accurate by forty-one pagan
literati.^
^ The day before a pig, a goat, and other animals are killed ;
the president assists at the offering and observes what the butcher
is killing. This rite is called examination of the animals, because
the president ascertains whether they should be used or not,
just as at the invitation of a distinguished guest the dishes are
examined beforehand, whether they be chosen and pure. If this
is not done a grave fault is committed. On the day of the sacrifice,
at dawn, the literati of the place assemble in the gymnasium
and appoint the duties which each one has to perform, after which
they line up in two rows ; just as pupils do before their living
master, walking to and fro in order to serve and honour him.
Incense, candles, wine and food are set before the table of
Confucius. In China the same thing is done when a guest is
invited : incense is burnt and candles are lit as a sign of respect.
The governor presides at the offering ; in a metropolitan city
it is the prefect of the imperial treasury, in towns of the first and
second rank, the governor of the town. First of all they stand on
the lower steps and do reverence by bending their hands and heads
to the ground : as Confucius has the dignity both of teacher and
king, the ceremony of rendering homage by bowing the head
is performed in the lower parts of the hall, this to mark his
dignity and excellence. Afterwards they go to the upper part,
before the altar of Confucius, where they offer wine, food, and a
silk cloth. For here in China, when a distinguished guest is invited,
the people must present wine, food, and other gift with their
own hands, in token of respect. Afterwards some wine is poured
on the ground. This ceremony is also performed at the reception
of distinguished guests. The silk cloth is afterwards burnt or
buried, to signify that no one else must dare to use it. The
president drinks the wine and receives the meats that have been
offered. Afterwards he distributes what remains of the pork
and the other meats among the literati and Doctors. This is done in
the same way as when the Emperor distributes the dishes and
beverages of his table to show his generosity. After that the hog's
bristles and the hairs of the goat and the blood are buried. All
these ceremonies described above are intimately connected with
the ceremonies prescribed for the honouring of the living. As
HESITATIONS IN ROME. 421
The opponents of the Jesuits considered a thorough
examination of these testimonies imnecessary — at any rate
they did not desire one. L^'onne and Maigrot had handed
in their memorials as late as possible, but insisted that the
question of the rites should be decided before the autumn
holidays. This meant a drawback for the Jesuits as they
would lack sufficient time to test their arguments. On August
28th the apologia of Noailles and Castner left the press
and on September 4th the cardinalitial Congregations were
resumed for the examination of the question of the rites.
However, in consequence of a complaint by Cardinal Carpegna
on the inordinately short time, they were postponed until
September 11th. But even so, in the opinion of the Jesuits,
the time limit was too short ; Cardinal Sperelli advised them
to send in a new defence before September 11th, as its
examination would take up so much time that it would
be impossible to arrive at a decision on the question of the
rites before the autumn holidays. As a matter of fact, the
new defence was ready before September ftth ; the Pope had
expressed a wish to take cognizance of it a few days before
the Congregation of the 11th, hence the work went on day
and night in order to comply with this request. The opponents
of the Jesuits brought their completed memorials to the
session of September 11th, but the Pope referred to the
defence which the Jesuits had handed in to him two days
before and explained that it was against all justice to push
that document aside unexamined. It must be printed and
accordingly the defenders of the rites must be granted a time
limit of ten days. At the next Congregation, on September
25th, the definitive decision was then put off until after the
autumn holida3's.
All through October Clement XI. devoted to the study of
the question of the rites one whole day each week and several
hours every day. From the very first the Pope had followed
regards the offerings to the dead, they are all made according to
this ceremonial, for all the offerings are made in the same way
as if those to whom they are made were still alive. They have no
other object in view. Noel-Castner, Summarium, 63 scqq.
422 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
with the greatest attention the development of this affair,
and at least at the beginning had been in favour of the
defenders of the rites. He knew quite well, and he said it
openly before the Jesuits, that these disputes were largely
due to petty jealousies.^ On March 27th he gave a most
kindly reception to the Jesuits who presented their first
defence, which the Pope promised to read. On August 26th
the Pope observed that he would himself decide the dispute ;
let the Jesuits be of good heart, the greater part of the Bishops
and Vicars Apostolic were on their side. On September 11th,
1704, when Castner took the liberty to observe that their
opponents were less concerned for a reform of the rites than
for the humiliation of the Jesuits, the Pope replied that that
was also his conviction.^
What consequences a condemnation of the rites would
entail was no mystery to the Congregation. A contemporar}'
publication, ^^ asserts that every good Catholic must wish that
the Chinese rites should be found harmless and should not
be condemned, as such a condemnation would lead to the
utter destruction of the faith in those countries ; a load must
fall from the heart of every good son of the Church, when he
hears that in China the Emperor, the learned, the canonical
books and the sworn testimony of the Christians attest the
purely civil nature of the rites. The Emperor was a Tartar,
hence a foreigner, and as such he would not dare to go against
popular feeling in the appreciation of the veneration of
Confucius and the ancestors. But even if the Emperor and
the learned had given their explanations in order to clarify
doubtful passages of the canonical books and to assimilate
^ See above, p. 414.
* " *Rogavi dein Suam Sanctitatein, ut dignaretur ctiam
attenderc, quod multi ex adversariis satis clare ostcn dissent
hactenus se forte potius intendere et quaerere infamiam Societatis
quam reformationem rituum Sinicorum ; hoc quidem imprimis
sibi persuasum esse, Sua Sanctitas reposuit." Castner, loc. cit.
* *Alcune riflessioni intorno alle cose presenti della Cina,
Biblioteca di S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, Cod. A. E., XL, 76,
pp. 8-1 1.
DECREE OF THE INDEX. 423
them to Christianity, such an action would only prove that
they had come to the knowledge of the true God through the
writings of the Jesuits. There was reason to fear that besides
the religious consequences of the condemnation, others also
would ensue. Why do the heretics show such keenness in
their newspapers for the condemnation of the rites ? is it not
because the condemnation would provoke the anger of the
Emperor and lead to the expulsion of the missionaries, when
the Chinese trade would pass into the hands of the heretics
as has happened with the Japanese trade ? Many of those
who love the Church as their Mother are grieved at the
thought that, with the condemnation, satisfaction would be
given to the Jansenists, the first accusers in the affair, by
sacrificing to them the reputation and good name of the
Society of Jesus, which was the object of so much hatred
on their part. The eyes of the whole Christian world are
greatty offended by this zeal, this tireless effort, this hope of
victory in an affair which would bring destruction to that
pitiable Christian body.
However, such considerations could not prevent the Pope
from likewise trusting the conscientiousness of the opponents
of the Jesuits among the Cardinals and to lead him to let things
take their course. The decisive sitting of the Congregation
took place on November 13th, 1704, at which all the Cardinals
of the Inquisition were present, namely, Carpegna, Marescotti,
Spada, Nerli, Panciatici, Ferrari, Gabrielli, SperelH and
Ottoboni. The sitting lasted three hours. On November 20th,
after the Pope had once more devoted three hours to the
study of the question before dawn, three Cardinals, who had
not had an opportunity to speak on November 13th, stated
their opinion. The strictest silence was enjoined on the result
of the sitting ; the decision, the Pope declared, did not
concern the French but the Chinese, it was enough if it
became known in China. When Castner had another audience
on December 9th, the Pope observed that the Jesuits might
be satisfied. However, when the decree of the Inquisition on
the question of the rites ^ became known, the satisfaction
1 Ins pontif., I., 223-236.
424 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of the advocates of the rites was none too great. Even Maigrot
had indeed stated in the conchjsion of his prohibition of the
rites, that he had no intention to throw stones on those who
until then had adopted a different view and practice, since
it was not surprising if in a matter of this kind all the
missionaries were not of one opinion and that each of them
should have adopted that practice which, in the sight of God,
seemed to him to be better in accordance with truth. ^ In its
decree the Inquisition makes this statement its own.^ The
differences of opinion, it says, were not surprising in a matter
which had been discussed for years and in which divergent
declarations had emanated from the Holy See, according
as it had been variously informed. The execution of the
decree, which the Pope confirmed on November 20th, 1704,
was to be left to the Legate Tournon and the \'icars Apostolic
in China. They were to proceed according to two fundamental
principles : first of all, every semblance of the least breath
of pagan superstition must be kept at arm's length, whilst
care must be taken to safeguard the honour and good repute
of labourers who toiled so strenuously and so diligently in the
vineyard of the Lord. These labourers must not be calumniated
as if they favoured idolatry, especially as most of that which
the decree prohibited was never really permissible, as they
themselves admitted.
The decree is a very lengthy document. It gives first of
all the text of Maigrot's decree of March 26th, 1603. To each
of the clauses of the decree are appended a number of questions.
The third part gives the answers to these questions ; the
fourth and last section gives the information that in the
session of the Incjuisition of November 20th, 1704, the Pope
had confirmed the answers of the Congregation and ordered
them to be dispatched to the Legate Tournon who, in
conjunction with the Bishops and Vicars Apostolic of the
Far East, was to insure observance of the decree by
the missionaries and the Christians. Of the publication of the
decree in Rome there was no question. Individual dispositions
of the decree are as follows : As regards the name of God,
1 Ibid., 226. " Ibid., 236.
DECREE OF THE INDEX. 425
the expression Tien-chu (Lord of Heaven) must be retained,
but it is forbidden to use the words Tien (Heaven) or Shang-ti
(Supreme Ruler). The decree bases this prohibition on the
fact that for 500 years the atheistic and materiahstic literati
had understood by these expressions either the material sky
or some power immanent in it. Now if the Christians were
to call the object of their worship Tien or Shang-ti, it would
be easy for others to imagine that they paid divine homage
to the material sky. Such an ambiguity must be removed.
Tablets bearing the inscription " King-Tien ", namely " adore
Heaven " cannot be tolerated either inside or outside Christian
churches. The question of the original meaning of those
expressions in the classical books of China is left undecided
by the Congregation. Even its informant, John Francis
of Leonessa, grants that many Chinese felt attracted to
Christianity when it was shown to them that in the classical
books of Old China the true God was known by the names
of Tien and Shang-ti.^ Maigrot, on the other hand, would
not hear of such an interpretation.
The reason why the Inquisition attached but little
importance to the fact that the Jesuits heaped testimony
upon testimony in favour of their interpretation of the
expressions in question, appears from its definitive decision :
it was not prejudice, as Castner thought ; as a matter of
fact, the Congregation was not concerned with the original
meaning of those names ; what decided its action was the
ambiguity to which their use was liable to lead. The veneration
of Confucius and the ancestors presented a much more delicate
problem. In this matter the Congregation was stricter than
even Maigrot's decree which had led to the negotiations.
Maigrot only forbade the solemn veneration of Confucius, ^
which the Jesuits did not allow either, hence he was seemingly
in agreement with his opponents on the lawfulness of the
homage paid to Confucius on the occasion of the graduation
^ " Molti si convertirono in China col vedere nc' lore Hbri
antichi il fondamcnto di tali assertioni." In Noel-Castner,
Resp., 49, n. 200.
* His decree, n. 4, Iks pontif., L, 223.
426 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of literati. The decree of the Inquisition discusses the matter
in detail. The Jesuits had maintained that Confucius was
exclusively honoured as a " teacher ", and this may have
been so in the case of the literati. But the decree of the
Inquisition enumerates many facts which seemed to prove
that Confucius was generally regarded by the Chinese as
a supra-mundane being, not merely as a teacher, and as the
highest among the so-called " Xing ", that is, " Saints," and
that he was venerated as such.^ The Jesuits argued indeed
that by this attribution of " sanctity ", the Chinese literati
by no means intended to ascribe to anyone any superhuman
qualities whatever. ^ The decree grants that this was so as
far as the views of the literati were concerned,^ but maintains
that in general Confucius and the " Xing " were considered
superhuman beings.
The decree also gives a detailed description of the annual
and monthly ceremonies in honour of Confucius, beginning
with the solemn ceremonies and concluding with the less
solemn ones.^ All these practices were condemned, even the
homage paid to Confucius by the literati after graduation,
a ceremony which the Jesuits regarded as harmless.^ The
reason why even these ceremonies were condemned is indicated
by the remark of the Holy Office that the genuflexions and
inclinations before the tablet of Confucius were identical with
1 Ins pontif., I., 228.
" " Si interpretes gentiles illam sanctimoniam homiiii attri-
buant, non ultra humanani dignitatem in sua persuasionc eum
attollunt, quern ita Sanctum esse dicunt. . . . Cum haec vox
[Xing] \-ariam omnino et amplam significationem habeat, nee
revera aliud apud Sinas indicet quam eximiam aliquam excel-
lentiam : ita impcrator ct res omnes ad imperatores spectantes
passim Xing appellantur." Noel-Castnkr, loc. cit., n. 517,
p. 121.
' " Licet apud Sinenses atheos praefata dictio Xing in allatis
textibus perfectissimum et sapientissimum virum . . . significare
vidcatur." Ibid.
* Ills pontif., I., 229 seq.
' Ibid., 235.
DECREE OF THE INDEX. 427
the other forms of the cult of Confucius.^ They were
superstitious on other occasions, hence they must be considered
as such in the latter circumstances also, even if the intention
of the literati were not tainted with superstition. The
Congregation deals even more fully with the veneration of
the ancestors than with that of Confucius. On this point
the main difficulty lay in the fact that this veneration took
place before the tablets of the ancestors, hence the question
arose whether the Chinese believed that the souls of their
ancestors were present in these tablets, or whether the tablets
were regarded as mere memorials of the ancestors and as
replacing their bodily presence. " It would seem that at
least at this time the former alternative must be admitted,"
the Inquisition declared. ^ To say the least " many Chinese
imagine or believe that the souls of the ancestors come to
the feast and enjoy it ", although " not a few, so it would
seem, reduce everything to an imagined or doubtful presence,
approach and partaking (of food), as may be deduced from
the Chinese ritual books ".^ However, even though all this
may be granted, the use of the tablets of the ancestors remained
at least suspect, and since the Congregation was determined
to suppress every semblance of superstition, a prohibition
of these tablets was inevitable. On this point also Maigrot
had only spoken of solemn ceremonies ; the Congregation
went further and forbade even the less solemn ceremonies
and even the semblance of sacrifices or offerings on the
graves of the dead. The tablets of the ancestors were allowed
if they bore nothing beyond the monograph of the departed
and if every danger of scandal was precluded. With regard
1 " . . . genuflectunt . . . prout in aliis proxime relatis ritibus
seu oblationibus minus solemnibus." Ihid., 229.
2 " Quae quidem tabellae, saltern his temporibus ideo fieri
videntur, ut . . . defunctorum animae quodammodo in eis
resideant." Ibid., 230.
' " Non pauci tamen ad imaginariam vol dubiam potius quam
realem spirituum praesentiam . . . haec omnia, ut etiam ex
libris et ritualibus sinicis colligitur, reducere videntur." Ihid.,
231.
428 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to the ceremonies on the graves, Tournon, the Bishops and
the Vicars Apostohc were authorized to allow whatever was
not tainted with superstition. ^ Maigrot had asserted that
Martini's account of the question of the rites, on which
Alexander VII. 's decree w^as based, was inaccurate in many
of its particulars ; the Congregation declared that it did not
intend to express an opinion on that point. ^
(3.)
At a later date Clement XI. wrote ^ that the missions must
be free not only from formal superstition, but from the very
suspicion of such a thing. He had no fear that with the
prohibition of the rites an obstacle had been created to
the spread of the faith, on the contrary, the freer the field
was from weeds, the more fruitful it would be ; the stronger
the concord among the missionaries, the greater would be
their influence. For all that the prohibition of the rites was
a decision of incalculable consequences. Things were forbidden
to the. Chinese Christians which, in their estimation, were
demanded by decency and good manners, and on the basis
of an interpretation which was at variance with that given
by Emperor Kanghi and the Chinese scholars. If the result
was not to prove a downright catastrophe, the execution
of the Roman decisions demanded the utmost tact and
caution. Unfortunately the general opinion was that Tournon
was not endowed with these qualities.'*
1 Ibid., 235.
2 Ibid.
* To the King of Portugal, January 4, 1716, Ins pontif., II.,
318.
* In the account of the journey and of the sojourn of the Legate
at Peking, we follow the diary of Kilian Stumpf, a Jesuit of
Peking, " *Compendium Actorum Pekinensium ", 1705-6 (con-
cluded, October 30, 1706). MS. in possession of the Jesuits, also
in Cod. Barb., XXXII., 147, Vatican Library. After the pre-
liminary remark " incipiunt haec acta a mense aprili, quo Illmus
TOURNON IN CHINA. 429
In a letter of February 27th, 1702, which reached Peking
on January 17th, 1704, Tournon informed the Superior of the
Jesuits in China, Phihp Grimaldi, of his mission, and expressed
a desire to find on arrival in China a letter waiting for him,
with suggestions with regard to the attitude he should take
up in China. The news of the early arrival of a papal envoy
was hailed with great joy by the Jesuits. Grimaldi sent to
the harbours of Canton and Fukien the desired letter in which
he explained the situation and the difficulties whilst leaving
it to the Legate himself to decide upon the best line of action.
On his arrival at Canton on April 8th, 1705, after consulting
et Rmus D. Carolus Thomas INIaillard de Tournon . . . cum
patribus S. I. Pekini degentibus agere coepit usque ad 28 aug.
1706 incl., quo Pekino discessit ". The " Compendium Actorum "
is a report for the General of the Jesuits. Stumpf was Notary
Apostolic. In a " *Expositio eorum, quae Excn^^s et Rmus j)_
Patriarcha . . . anno 1 706 Pekini per se, vel per interpretes suos
egit cum christianis suadendo et respective iubendo et minando,
ut abstinerent a ritibus patriis circa imperii Sinensis magistrum
Confucium, proavos dcfunctos et praecipue circa tabellas defunc-
torum " (MS. in possession of the Jesuits), he takes from the
" Compendium Actorum " the acts of Tournon indicated in the
title and authenticates them expressly and in detail by putting
his signature to them as Notary Apostolic. Paragraphs 14 and 15
are authenticated by Antonio Thomas and paragraph 1 7 by Peter
Jartoux who was also a Notary Apostolic. The Expositio was
examined by four Fathers and found to be in agreement with the
facts. Except Gerbillon, who died on March 25, 1707, all the others,
including the Vice-Provincial, Joseph Suarez, subscribed to the
Expositio and attested it to be in accordance with truth. With
the exception of the chapter on the question of the rites, Stumpf 's
Compendium has been printed in a French translation as a
Memorial envoye en Europe par le Pere Thomas, Vice-Provincial
des Jesuites en Chine, in Lettres edifiantes et curieuses, XXVI. ,
Paris, 1783, 296 seqq. ; III., Paris, 1843, 167-181. We follow the
Latin original. Cf. Borgh. lat., 201 : " *Relazione d. cose succedute
in Cina dal i Aprile, 1705, che giunse Msgr. Patr. de Tournon
Visit. Ap. a Macao sino al 12 Gen., 1708," Papal Secret Archives.
R. C. Jenkins, The Jesuits in China and the Legation of Card.
Tournon, London, 1894.
430 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
with the Superiors of the various rehgious Orders, Tournon
decided not to inform the court of his legatine dignity for
the time being, but to devote his attention at first to the
ordering of the mission. However, soon after, as a result of
further consultation with his travelhng companions from
Europe, he altered his plan and ordered the Jesuits of Peking
to inform the Emperor through their Procurator, Beauvollier,
that the Patriarch of Antioch, the Superior of all the
missionaries, the Apostolic Visitor, had arrived and desired
to be presented to the Emperor. Tournon refused to listen
to any remonstrances against his plan, as a matter of fact
thereafter he never again asked for any Jesuit's advice. ^
Henceforth his right-hand man was the Piedmontese Lazarist
Luigi Antonio Appiani, who had been authorized by
Propaganda to erect a seminary for native priests in China.
Appiani had set out from Rome for the East on February 10th,
1697, but when after a long journey through Persia he arrived
at Canton on August 14th, 1699, he soon realized that for the
time being his plan could not be carried out ; he accordingly
worked as a missionary in Setshuen. In February, 1705, he
went to Canton to await the Legate and after Tournon's
arrival became the latter's inseparable companion. ^
The Patriarch's resolve to present himself before the
Emperor proved fatal to the mission as it made the Emperor's
intervention in the missionary questions inevitable.
Kanghi was away at the time in Tartary. The Jesuits
addressed several questions to him by letter. The first two
elicited no clear answers to Tournon's wishes, the third met
with a negative answer and only the fourth met with the
imperial approval ; it was to the effect that the Legate should
be conducted to Peking with every mark of honour and in
all comfort, at the expense of the Supreme Prefect and
Viceroy of Canton. Tournon, who met everywhere with
a splendid reception, completed his journey on a large,
commodious ship which, however, made but slow progress.
He had left Canton on September 9th but November came
^ Stumpf, * Compendium, § i,
* Thomas, 179 seq.
TOURNON IN PEKING. 43I
and still Kanghi impatiently waited for him at Peking,
whether because he was anxious to see so distinguished an
envoy as soon as possible or that he thought that by honouring
him, he would himself win honour with the Western Powers.
The hardships of a winter journey made the Emperor anxious,
hence he had inquiries made at Shan-tung about the middle
of November and on 27th of the same month one of Kanghi's
sons, one of the Viceroy's sons, two mandarins and a Father
from each of the three Jesuit houses were ordered to set out
to meet him. They found Tournon ill and his ship caught
in the ice. On December 4th the Legate reached Peking by
the overland route. He put up at the Jesuit establishment
adjoining the imperial palace where he was at once greeted
by the Emperor's orders by two mandarins of the third
degree. When the Legate's physician died on December 12th,
Kanghi offered a piece of ground for the burial because
Tournon had refused the offer of a grave in the Jesuit cemetery,
an act that boded no good. The Emperor had the funeral
secretly watched to ascertain whether the ceremonies would
go beyond what had been tacitly conceded to the Jesuits.
What he was told displeased him somewhat, but he did not
betray his feelings and received the ailing Legate with so
much pomp that everyone wondered and an eye-witness
expressed the opinion that no foreign envoy had ever been
thus honoured.^ Nor was this the last of the marks of honour.
At the beginning of January, 1706, the Emperor set aside
some presents for the Pope of which the Jesuit Bouvet was
to be the bearer. On January 4th, in place of Tournon, who
was ill, one of his companions was invited to take part in the
royal chase. An enormous impression was created when,
on the occasion of the festival of the Chinese New Year,
a long line of bearers, headed by the first eunuch and several
mandarins, brought the choicest presents to the Legate's
house. On February 26th, at the close of the New Year
festivities, Tournon was invited to watch the display of
^ " *Scribere possum, non reperiri in Sinensium historiis
ulli advenae tantum honoris et benevolentiae impensum fuisse."
Stumpf, § 2.
432 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
fireworks at the imperial palace and at the conclusion the
Emperor detained him for the night, when two mandarins
of the third class were made to mount guard. In May the
Emperor granted the Legate's wish to seek his restoration
to health by the use of hot springs. When on his return
Tournon relapsed into his old complaint Kanghi inquired
daily about the sick man's condition. At his farewell audience
on June 29th he again treated him with exquisite courtesy
and invited him to inspect on the following day the splendours
of the imperial residence. This was followed by a visit to the
park of the hereditary prince. Many people found it intolerable
that the Emperor should show such regard for a foreigner.^
However, in spite of all the pomp and splendour with which
Kanghi surrounded the Legate, he did not overlook more
important things. Unknown to himself Tournon was most
closely watched and the imperial decree of 1692 on the rites
was soon to influence their mutual relations.
During the period of waiting for the arrival of the papal
Legate the Jesuits of Peking had drawn up a petition to him
in which they suggested that two or three well-informed
missionaries should be chosen from the camp of those who
favoured the rites and from that of their opponents before
whom some of the better instructed Christians would be
questioned on the subject of the rites, and that similar action
should be taken throughout the country. Tournon's reply
was that a decree had already been issued by Rome and if the
Superiors of the Jesuits would carry out everyone of its
clauses, the dispute would be at an end and an expUcit
condemnation would not be necessary for the time being. ^
The Jesuits replied that they did not dare to modify on their
own authority anything that had been decided by the Holy
See. The Jesuit Antoine de Beauvollier was of opinion that
both sides should state in writing and in due form the reasons
for their view. However, nothing came of the suggestion
as Maigrot, the leader of the opponents of the Jesuits,
1 Ibid.
2 Ibid., § 3.
KANGHI S SUSPICION AROUSED. 433
announced that he had already dispatched all his material
to Rome.
For the rest Tournon took a number of preliminary steps
towards a definitive settlement of the question of the rites.
From the Jesuit Visdelou who, in opposition to his brethren
in religion, was an adversary of the rites, he accepted with
due legal formality a summary of the objections against the
practice of the Jesuits and ordered him to inform Beauvollier
of any other objections he might have against them. However,
in a disputation with the Spanish Jesuit Raymond, Beauvollier
cut so sorry a figure that the discussions were not continued.
When the Jesuit Bouvet wrote a dissertation on the word
" Tien " as a name for God, he sought the expert opinion
of the first scholar of Peking on its significance in Chinese,
whilst he submitted it to the judgment of the Bishop of
Peking, Bernardino della Chiesa, from the theological stand-
point. In spite of the emphatic protest of della Chiesa,
Tournon forbade the publication of the work, and he also
refused to allow a tablet with the words " King-Tien " to be
transferred from an old church in Peking to a new edifice.^
The Emperor seemed to notice none of these things ; but
he took umbrage at some minor modifications. He kept a
sharp lookout and became suspicious. On December 25th,
1705, two mandarins called on Tournon to inquire whether
the Patriarch, whilst still in Europe, had been informed of
the imperial declaration on the rites. The answer was that
no one had called in question the fact of the declaration, but
that some people were of opinion that the Europeans in
Peking had given the Emperor an account of the state of
affairs which was neither straightforward nor complete.
If that was the case, the mandarins urged, the Legate himself
should make a full statement and, in fact, let them know
his opinion on the imperial declaration. In their alarm at
such a request the Legate's familiars, Mariani and Appiani,
began to signal to the Legate by inarticulate sounds and
with their hands and feet, and Mariani said aloud that
Tournon should excuse himself on the plea of his health which
1 Ibid.
VOL. XXXIII. Ff
434 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
did not allow of his discussing the question. The Legate
said he would give an explanation in writing. Thereupon the
mandarins left the room to give him time to write, but
returned before long. Yielding to the pressure of his advisers,
Tournon had not written anything, but gave some information
about the nature of his instructions ; with regard to the
imperial declaration he observed that it was not the business
of the Jesuits to offer suggestions to the Emperor, and that
Europe had been amazed at their boldness.
On the following day Appiani sought at first to keep the
mandarins at arm's length on the plea that Tournon had
taken a dose of physic, but when they nevertheless succeeded
in getting access to him, they insisted on a written explanation
of the motives which had brought the Patriarch to China.
Tournon complied with this request but without as much as
mentioning the imperial declaration and the dispute among
the missionaries. In a solemn audience on December 31st
the Emperor himself repeated the mandarins' questions and
promised to supply any information that might be required.
In his reply Tournon once more omitted all reference to the
dispute over the rites or the meaning of the classical
books. ^
On January 1st, 1706, the mandarins called again, but all
they were told was that when Tournon's health permitted it,
he would attend to the matter. On the following day the
Jesuit Kilian Stumpf took the hberty of openly speaking his
mind to the Patriarch. The Legate, he pleaded, should not
refuse to listen to the Emperor's explanations on the meaning
of the Chinese rites and texts. It was impossible to ignore
the Chinese and to seek a solution of questions of this kind
from Europeans of whom not one had passed an examination
for the Chinese baccalaureate. Even the adversaries of the
Jesuits were obliged to rely on evidence supplied by the
Chinese. The Legate replied that it was of course necessary
to rely on Chinese evidence, but only on that of the dead,
for the living were flatterers whose testimony was prompted
not by the exigencies of truth, but by those of self-interest.
1 Stumpf, § 3.
CHINESE CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS. 435
This was Visdelou's principle who was for deciding the
controversy solely on the authority of the books.
Meanwhile time went by without any progress being made.
The Jesuits felt that Bernardino della Chiesa, Bishop of
Peking, should be instructed by the ailing Legate to settle
the less important questions, and in particular to pronounce
judgment in due form on the documents in the archives of
the Jesuits. However, Tournon declared that he wished to
reserve judgment to himself on all questions but asked that
suggestions should be made to him on particular points.
Thereupon the Jesuits requested that the imperial declaration
be examined together with other documents, a list of half
of which, to the number of forty-five, they produced. The
Legate accordingly ordered Maigrot to come to Peking within
four months to give evidence on the imperial declaration.
Thus the decision was once more put off for another four or
five months, though the matter did not rest in the meantime.
The Chinese New Year provided the Christians with an
opportunity for calling upon the Legate. On this occasion
Tournon, using Appiani as his interpreter, spoke to them for
the first time on the subject of the rites, with the result
that on February 28th laments were heard in all the three
churches of Peking. For the moment the Jesuits remained
silent, they took counsel with the Bishop of Peking who told
them that for the time being the Patriarch had given no
binding decision ; for the rest, he said, many Christians were
quite unreliable ; before the Legate they said one thing and
another elsewhere and Appiani's captious questions and his
little presents could extract from them any reply he might
wish for.
On March 7th the Christians laid their difficulties before
the interpreters Appiani and Frossoloni, who told them that
an imperial ordinance granted complete liberty to the
Christians ; however, when it was discovered, that an ordinance
to this effect did not exist, they stated their grievances
in a petition. Frossolini told them to go, reproved them for
disobedience and tore up the petition. Such an act was not
calculated to calm the Christians. On March 21st, as the
436 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Patriarch was giving his blessing to some strangers from
a distance, about a hundred Christians came in Hkewise, fell
upon their knees and held up five petitions. Tournon asked
them whether they had submitted them to the Jesuits ;
when they replied in the negative, he told them that he would
accept nothing without the Jesuits' signature ; for the rest,
what did they want ? An old man from among the crowd
replied that Appiani had bidden them destroy the tablets
of their ancestors whereupon Tournon called out with a loud
voice that the old man was telling lies. Tournon then asked
for the petitions and tried to tear them up, but as his hands
were still too weak for this, he asked the Jesuit Gerbillon
who was present to do so in his place. Gerbillon begged him
not to attempt such a thing ; however, the Patriarch threw
the petitions on the ground, trampled on them and forbade
their bearers to enter his house in the future. The conduct
of the Legate called forth enormous indignation, so much so
that some of the Christians resolved to denounce him to the
tribunal of the rites for having trampled under foot a document
bearing the name of God and that of the Emperor.
The Jesuits came to hear of this intention on March 24th
and it took them a fortnight's effort to persuade the faithful
to desist from their plan.^
In other ways also things seemed to take a bad turn.
On March 16th the Emperor questioned Gerbillon on the
Patriarch's intentions and when the Jesuit gave an evasive
answer, he said : " Does that man not yet understand that
all the adherents of your law will fall away if he attempts
to abolish the rites ? " The Jesuit Kilian Stumpf discussed
this remark with Frossolini and added that one of the nobles,
a Christian from his youth, had sought to induce his family
to apostatize in order to preserve them from the Emperor's
wrath which would certainly be enkindled against the
contemners of the rites. Frossolini replied that Tournon
had taken up so intransigent an attitude on the question of
the rites only since the middle of the month and as the result
1 Ibid.
PAINFUL INCIDENTS. 437
of information from his procurator in Rome, via Manila,
to the effect that a decree had been formulated against the
rites. " Then why not wait for the arrival of the decree ? "
Stumpf observed ; " if it forbids the rites, the Jesuits, out
of obedience to the Holy See, will not be afraid to sacrifice
their lives among the heathen ; but why drive the mission to
destruction on the sole authority of doubtful rumours ? "
With a view to further pressure upon the Christians,
Appiani and Frossolini represented to them that they had
perjured themselves when they forwarded to Rome a sworn
guarantee that in regard to the veneration of Confucius and
the ancestors, the Chinese did not hold the superstitious
notions which many missionaries ascribed to them. They had
perjured themselves since many Chinese entertained such
superstitious ideas. However, the oath only referred to the
generally accepted view in China, which did not exclude
exceptions, a fact, which for the rest, had been expressly
admitted. For all that some timorous souls allowed themselves
to be alarmed so that they accused themselves of perjury
in confession. When a catechist of the name of John Lu
was about to receive Holy Communion, someone whispered
into his ear whether he had confessed the perjury which
Appiani and Frossolini described as a grave sin. Lu allowed
himself to be intimidated and confessed to Appiani who
demanded a written account of the incident which he then
handed to the Legate. In their indignation at such conduct
the other Christians renewed the oath previously taken.
Lu himself studied the formula of the oath once more when
he discovered that it did not differ from what he had written
and he attested the fact in another memorial. As the Patriarch
repeatedly refused to receive that document, he ended by
laying it at the foot of a crucifix in the Legate's house, but
he was compelled to flee in haste, to escape from the blows
with which he was threatened.
Meanwhile the chief witness for whom everyone was
waiting, Maigrot, had not yet arrived though interrogatories
of Chinese Christians on the burning question were held
under the presidence of Appiani. This prompted the Jesuits
438 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to break the silence they had hitherto observed. They
represented to the Patriarch that one of their number should
likewise be present at these examinations seeing that Appiani
was a declared opponent of theirs, who had rendered them
suspect to the Christians and one moreover, as Tournon
himself knew, who did not understand Chinese very well.
This third petition met with an ungracious reception from
the Patriarch and when Stumpf attempted to present a
fourth on June 3rd he was not allowed to do so.
On June 29th Tournon was received in solemn audience
by the Emperor. When questioned by Kanghi he repeatedly
assured him that he had no further official communication
to make but requested the Emperor to give him his own
commissions for the Pope. Thereupon the Emperor told him
that he should inform the Pope that the Chinese had been
strong adherents of Confucius for 2,000 years and the
Europeans had enjoyed complete tranquillity in China since
the arrival of Ricci ; however, if in the sequel the Christians
departed from Confucius even on a single point, the Europeans
were not likely to be tolerated much longer in the empire.
On the same day Tournon informed the Emperor of the
arrival of a man of mature years and manners, one
distinguished by the episcopal dignity and by his virtues,
acquainted with the literature of China as well as with its
conditions, for whom the Patriarch had specially sent in order
that he might give the Emperor information on the points
on which the missionaries were not all of the same opinion.
Maigrot's arrival marks the opening of a new phase in the
story of Tournon. 1
The Emperor was anxious to have a personal discussion
with Maigrot. On July 22nd a mandarin arrived from Tartary,
where Kanghi was at the time, to invite Maigrot to journey
thither accompanied by Guetti, Appiani and Angelita from
among Tournon's suite, and by the Jesuits Gerbillon or,
since the latter was still unwell, by Anthony Thomas, Parennin
and Beauvollier. Maigrot failed to shine in the discussion
1 Stumpf, § 3.
MAIGROT BEFORE KANGHI. 439
of August 2nd, 1706.^ He admitted at the very beginning
that he understood very httle of the Chinese books and -he
had great difficulty in making himself understood, so much
so that the Emperor asked the Jesuit Parennin to act as
interpreter. When Kanghi asked Maigrot to interpret the
four Chinese inscriptions which had been placed above the
Emperor's head, he only interpreted one of them correctly.
This explains his conduct previous to the journey to Tartary.
On July 1st he had been ordered by the Emperor to indicate
in writing the points on which Confucius was at variance
with the Christian law and to specify the reasons of this
divergence.
Maigrot showed at first some reluctance ; eventually he
wrote a paper in which he found fault with the sacrifice
which the Emperor was wont to offer to Heaven. This
constituted an offence that lashed the mandarins into fury.
When further pressed by the mandarins to give the reasons
for his statements, Maigrot refused and made a written avowal
of ignorance. As a matter of fact previous to the opening
of the discussions, Gerbillon and Thomas had sent the
1 Described in detail in Stumpf, § 3. Cf. Werkmeister, in
Miiry Journal, VI., 168. As a relic of Maigrot's Chinese studies, the
Vatican Library preserves : Caroli Maigrot, ep. Conon., vicarii
Apostolici Fokiensis, de religione Synica dissertationes qitatiior in
tonios VIII. distributae ; Neumann in Deutsche Morgenldnd.,
Gesellschaft, 1850, 235-242. In these studies Maigrot was assisted
by two Chinese literati, but in his judgment on the meaning of the
rites he did not follow them, but the Dominican Vara. Cf. the
♦Appeal of the Augustinian Bishop Alvaro de Benevente to
Tournon, April 13, 1707 (State Archives, Munich, les. m gen.
fasc., 16, n. 279) : Maigrot's ignorance " denuo patuit, cum
iudicaretur coram iudicibus regiis, simul cum duobus literatis
Fokiensibus, qui olim fuerunt eiusdem 111. D. Cononensis in litera-
tura Sinica magistri, nam praesente ipso asseruerunt, quod iam
annos antea eos dicere audivi, vid. se non docuisse praedictum
Dominum libros Sinicos in eo sensu, quem ipse tenebat, nam talem
sensum non ab illis, sed a Patre Vara Dominicano ipse usurpaverat,
nihil ad haec 111. Domino opponente ''. (French text in Anecdotes,
II., 238 seq.)
440 HISTORY OF THE POPES,
Patriarch a written protest in which they stated that in the
negotiations with the Emperor the question was not whether
this or that was permitted to the Christians, the only question
was' whether this or that was the meaning of the Chinese
texts and customs. The Emperor had himself spoken in this
sense when he declared that he left it to the Pope to decide
what was or was not lawful.^ On his part Tournon had
commanded all Superiors to forbid their subjects to enter
into disputations with the Emperor. Previous to the delegates'
departure for Tartary on July 28th, he repeated the order
not to discuss religion before the Emperor, not to say anything
that might injure the mission, and not to commit themselves
to anything in a way that would make a retreat impossible. ^
On August 10th Appiani was back in Peking with bad news
for Tournon. An imperial ordinance declared that Maigrot
was an ignorant person, that the Emperor had no subjects
who did not venerate Confucius and the ancestors, that
against his better knowledge Maigrot asserted that he did
not know whether his 5,000 Christians in Fukien practised
the veneration of ancestors, that the disputes among the
missionaries turned the Chinese away from Christianity, that
instead of building up religion in China, such contentions
destroyed it. The chief point of a second ordinance was to
the effect that if the missionaries infringed the laws of the
empire, there were laws by which they could be punished.
A further decree of August 27th confirmed the previous
ones.
The negotiations about the rites were thus at an end.
In his indignation and disgust at the discord in the Christian
camp, the Emperor, who had been so well disposed at first,
^ " *Eodem die [July i] 1'. Gerbillon et die 5 [?] P. Antonius
Thomas protestatus est scripto, non agi coram imperatore, an
haec vel ilia sint licita christianis, sed an sit hie vol ille sensus
textuum et rituum Sinicorum, et S. Maiestatem coram dixisse
D. Patriarchac, se declarare sensum imperii, an ille concordet an
discordet cum lege cristiana non curare, idque discernendum
relinquere SS. Pontifici." Stumpf, § 3.
2 Ibid.
KANGHI S IRRITATION. 44I
now withdrew for good.^ At one time he had expressed the
wish that the Chinese should become Christians,- from now
onwards he became increasingly averse to Christianity.
Numerous other mistakes of Tournon had contributed their
share to this result.^ On his arrival in Peking everybody was
naturally eager to learn why the Legate should have under-
taken a perilous journey of 9,000 miles to come to China.
On December 26th, 1705, the mandarins pressed him to
state in writing the purpose of his journey. Tournon consented
to do so ; however, the document drawn up by his order
merely stated that he desired to establish good relations
between Peking and Rome, and that it would be a good
thing if sonieone in Peking were charged with the duty
of supplying information and if the same person acted also
as Superior of all the missionaries in China. The Emperor
was so eager to know the contents of the document that he
asked to see it even before there was time to make a neat
copy of it, but he was greatly disappointed that Tournon
should have given no other reason for his journey. He observed
that such a Superior as Tournon desired might of course
1 Ibid., § 4.
2 " Ipse [imperator] dixit, se cupere, Sinas fieri christianos,
et si ita [contra ritus Sinicos] agat D. Patriarcha, debere se scribere
ad SS. Pontificem, non stetisse per S. Maiestatem, quominus late
cresceret religio, neque sibi imputandam causam, si funditus
evertatur " [ibid., § 5). Kanghi knew the Christian doctrine very
well : " *Circa Dei nostri ideam identidem instructus est a religio-
sis Societatis lesu ipsi assistentibus et praecipue, ipsomet petente,
a P. Ferdinando Ferbiest, et non semel legit Sinico et Tartarico
idiomate librum Matthaei Riccii de vera Dei ratione, in quo Dei
idea elegantissime et scitissime proponitur, impugnando pariter
errores aliarum sectaruni, et quod est niagis, bis proposita est
a P. Antonio Beauvollier in duobus libellis imperatori oblatis,
respondendo ad proposita in aliis libellis ab 111. D. Cononi datis,
et post eorum omnium inspectionem praedictum decretum
imperiale emanavit, quod totum Romae nondum constat "
(Appeal of Alvaro de Benevente) (French text in Anecdotes,
II.. 240).
' *Stumpf, § 4,
442 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
be appointed, but he should be a man who had Hved in
China for at least ten years. Now it so happened that Tournon
misunderstood a remark of the mandarins and wrongly
concluded that his demands had been granted, whilst he
interpreted what the Emperor had really said as a refusal.
Under pressure of sickness or, perhaps, in consequence of an
exaggerated conception of his dignity, the Legate now broke
into loud laments that he was refused to-day what had been
granted yesterday. The Jesuit Pereyra sought to calm him,
but Tournon ordered him to be silent and demanded that
his words should be translated. However, as soon as Appiani
complied with the order, the mandarins became infuriated
by such an insult to their Emperor ; they left and went into
another room in which to vent undisturbed their wrath against
the barbarian from the West. Pereyra and Gerbillon stayed
with Tournon and ventured to represent to him, with all
humility, that conduct such as that of the Legate was out
of place in Peking. Thereupon Tournon poured the vials
of his wrath over Pereyra and as the latter was about to give
a calm reply, he was seized by the arm and conducted to the
door. It is characteristic of Tournon's mentality that he
expressed his contempt to Pereyra for the fact that the latter
had laboured for the space of thirty years for a pagan Emperor.
The Emperor contented himself with administering a severe
rebuke to the interpreter Appiani through one of the
chamberlains, but there was no longer question of the proposed
appointment of a vSuperior for all the missionaries in China.
Kanghi commanded the Jesuits to explain to the Legate
that none of their number would accept such an appointment.
As a matter of fact they informed Tournon that they would
not allow themselves to be promoted to such a post by any
imperial order ; they declared at the same time that they
were not responsible for the failure of the Legate's plan —
Tournon had actually laid the blame on the Jesuits.
At the audience of December 31st, 1705, the Patriarch
expressed a wish to have someone in Peking who would
attend to epistolary correspondence with the West. Kanghi
replied that one of the Europeans who had long been at
PRESENTS FOR THE POPE. 443
court might be designated for this task, but Tournon said
that he would have to choose a man whom he could trust.
The remark displeased the Emperor in whose opinion all his
servants were men that could be trusted, seeing that their
only role was to act as the unreasoning instruments of their
master. Tournon's second demand was likewise rejected and
when he asked the Emperor's leave to buy a house in Peking
he had no better luck with his third request. He became
involved in even greater difficulties when the question arose
of dispatching the presents which Kanghi had destined for
the Pope on January 1st, 1706. The Emperor allowed
Tournon to entrust the transport of these precious objects
to a member of his suite, namely the Auditor Sabinus Mariani,
but when one of the mandarins observed that Mariani knew
no Chinese, he changed his mind and designated the Jesuit
Bouvet not only as Mariani's interpreter but as a formal
imperial envoy, to whom alone the mandarins wei-e to hand
the presents and to whom alone Kanghi committed his
messages for the Pope, together with a letter accrediting him.
It would seem that Tournon felt that he owed it to the
Holy See and to himself as a papal Legate, not to tolerate
interference by the Emperor in arrangements made by
himself. Accordingly he kept silence for the moment but
handed the keys of the chests containing the presents to
Mariani. On the other hand Bouvet was of opinion that
any tampering with imperial orders would have the worst
consequences, hence on his arrival at Canton he insisted
on Mariani complying with them. When Tournon was
informed of this occurrence, his anger knew no bounds ;
Mariani should throw the presents into the sea rather than
consign them into the hands of Bouvet, he exclaimed ; as for
the latter he would have him dealt with by Gerbillon, the
Superior of the French Jesuits in Peking. Gerbillon saw
that another storm was brewing ; even before he received
Tournon's order he wrote to Bouvet to leave the question
of the presents in the hands of Mariani ; if the Emperor's
anger was roused they would endeavour to calm him.
The situation had developed thus far when fresh shocks
444 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
complicated it still further. Whilst the Patriarch was seeking
to restore his health by a visit to the hot springs, the Jesuit
Stumpf, accompanied by a mandarin, called on him on
June 1st, 1706. Tournon told the Jesuit to leave him alone
with the mandarin ; to the latter he spoke of his desire to
open his heart to the Emperor. To this Kanghi readily
assented, but a sudden and serious indisposition of the prelate
necessitated the postponement of the audience so that on
June 20th Kanghi sent a mandarin to whom Tournon was
invited to confide whatever he had intended to communicate
to the Emperor. The Legate replied that unless a strict
imperial command ordered other^dse, he could only open
his mind to the Emperor himself as the matter concerned the
monarch's person and family. Now according to Chinese
ideas this was a serious offence for it was an unheard of
thing in China that a visitor from a foreign land should
presume to offer weighty advice to the Emperor. As a matter
of fact Kanghi was indignant, but Tournon was even more
angry when he received a command not to keep his secret
from the Emperor much longer. In loud tones and without
regard for his alleged secret, which could only be made
known to the Emperor, he now began to vent his resentment
in fits of anger ; it was the Emperor's concern even more
than his own, he exclaimed, that Bouvet should pose as an
ambassador and that the Portuguese suffered no one to enter
His Majesty's service who had not come to China via Portugal.
The entourage of the Legate was not slow in realizing how
much unpleasantness he was likely to create for himself by
such remarks ; none of them were prepared to interpret them
until at length Appiani consented to do so. However, the
mandarins refused to deliver such a message by word, with
the result that they were engaged until one hour before
midnight in drafting a written formula.
The Jesuits appealed to the Bishop of Peking to calm the
angry man whilst Tournon's entourage also made fresh efforts
to appease him ; but all was in vain ; the Patriarch replied
that he was bound to safeguard the service of the Holy See and
forced his reluctant chancellor to put his seal to the document.
SCENES. 445
At court the revelation of the Legate's secret was awaited
with great eagerness, but no sooner had the heir to the crown
cast a glance at Tournon's communication than he exclaimed :
" This foreigner deserves death ! Is not Bouvet our real
ambassador ? Yet his own servant seeks to rise against him ;
or is it possible to accept his servant as an ambassador of
the Empire ? " The Emperor himself repressed his annoyance,
but his real sentiments were revealed when he asked the
Europeans who had long resided in China whether in Europe
Tournon would be considered as deserving of death, and
whether Mariani would escape capital punishment there ?
In a letter to the Patriarch, the Emperor took him to task
for his conduct towards Bouvet. As papal envoy, religious
questions were his sole concern ; whilst he pretended that
his demands about the Portuguese were exclusively prompted
by a desire to destroy the very root of the disputes, he himself
instigated the worst dissensions ; up to this time the conduct
of the Europeans had been excellent, but the arrival of the
Legate changed all that ; in future no missionary would be
allowed to enter China without a preliminary examination
by the mandarins.
The Jesuits had prepared the Patriarch for the decree,
hence he received it with expressions of submission, but
when the mandarins asked him whether it was not necessary
to recall Bouvet, the Legate felt grievously offended. He burst
into tears, a circumstance that proved his salvation. The
mandarins inquired with great sympathy for the cause of his
tears. Tournon replied that he wept because the Pope would
lay all the blame on him ; he begged that both Mariani and
Bouvet might set out on their journey. After a moving
description of Tournon's tears Kanghi granted this request.
Gerbillon and the other Jesuits had good reason to congratulate
the Patriarch that the storm had passed so happily.
However, tolerable relations with the Emperor were never
re-established. Kanghi was embittered against Maigrot and
expected an apology of some kind from Tournon for the
latter 's conduct. The mandarins accordingly advised the
Legate to admit, in general terms which meant nothing
446 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
in reality and committed him to nothing, that a mistake
had been made when a personality like Maigrot was chosen ;
but to this Tournon would not consent. The Emperor let him
feel his resentment by sundry molestations and when the
Patriarch retaliated by insisting on his Legatine rank, Kanghi
got more angry than ever and demanded to see his credentials
as an ambassador. Again Tournon refused ; Kanghi
accordingly ordered the presents for the Pope to be brought
back to Peking until the arrival 'of a properly accredited
envoy. This was at first considered as no more than a threat,
but when the Legate made no attempt to calm the monarch,
the threat was carried into effect in the first days of October.
Tournon was ordered to return to Canton. He was allowed
to choose the day of his departure, but not to alter it once
he had fixed on a date.
(-1.)
Tournon's embassy led not only to the destruction of the
mission, it was also fraught with the worst consequences for
the Jesuits in China. ^ The Legate made inquiries into their
life and conduct and in so doing made use of the evidence of
corrupt men against whom the Bishop of Peking had to lodge
a protest ; he declared the contracts concluded by the Jesuits
null and void without giving the Fathers a hearing, and laid
on them the blame for every unpleasantness that befell him.^
The Fathers also fell in the Emperor's estimation, to the
irreparable injury of Christianity, because the insinuations
and malicious rumours which Tournon's companions spread
against the old missionaries, created suspicions in his mind.
One of the persons in Tournon's suite, Guetti, was compelled
1 *Stumpf, § 4, towards the end, and § 7 where no less than
twenty-five accusations against the Jesuits are discussed. Cf.
LeUres edif.. III., Paris, 1643, 177-181.
2 *Stumpf, § 7, and the extremely passionate letters of Tournon
to Maigrot and the Jesuits in Peking, in Jann, 424 seq., 426 seq.
THE EMPEROR S WRATH. 447
by threats to reveal what he knew against the Jesuits. The
heir to the throne in particular, whom the Christians had
reason to fear " even more than fire and sword ", gathered
evidence against them in the provinces and caused one of his
servants to sham conversion to Christianity, in order that he
might act as a spy. To the great delight of the bonzes
Christianity itself became suspect. The Emperor had so
often declared that the Chinese considered the Christian law
to be a good one, because they saw how the old missionaries
carried out in practice the truthfulness and charity which
they preached, but now that they denounced each other, even
to the Emperor, the Chinese had been undeceived.
At the moment when Stumpf set down his laments in
writing, 1 Tournon had not yet published the papal decision
on the question of the rites, in fact Stumpf even ventured to
look forward to the publication with a measure of optimism.
" If the decision agrees with the decrees of the Emperor,"
he wrote, " there is a prospect that our holy religion will
continue to exist ; if not, the only thing for us to do will be to
commend this vineyard to the Lord of the vineyard and to
prepare ourselves for the storms which we see raging to this
day in the neighbouring kingdoms. Let heaven's will be done.
But even as the Peking Fathers have fearlessly lived up till
now in close proximity to peril, so will they face exile and death
without resistance and in complete submission to the Holy
See." How happy they would have been if their subsequent
story had had nothing worse to chronicle than martyrdom
and banishment !
The Emperor made the missionaries feel his displeasure
in acute fashion. Maigrot was arrested at Peking and on
December 17th, 1706, he was banished from China. The same
fate befell the Vicars Apostolic of Kweitsheu and Yiinnan,
Visdelou and Le Blanc. The vials of the imperial wrath were
especially poured over Tournon's interpreter, the Lazarist
Appiani {obi it 1732) ; after lingering in prison for close on
twenty years he recovered his liberty in 1726, after Kanghi's
^ * Compendium, § 6.
448 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
death and at the prayer of Benedict XIII. ^ On
December 18th, 1706, the Emperor pubhshed a decree to the
effect that only those missionaries would be allowed to stay
in China who could produce a so-called " Piao " or official
permit. 2
However bitter Kanghi's resentment against Tournon may
have been, he was never betrayed into uttering one word
against the Pope.* He sent two embassies to him, first the
two Jesuits Barros and Beauvollier and later on two other
Jesuits, Fathers Provana and De Arxo. In view of the fact
that the authenticity of the imperial decree on the rites had
been called in question, these envoys were to take with them
an authentication under the imperial seal. However, the
first two ambassadors never reached Rome at all for they
perished in a shipwreck in January, 1708, whilst Provana and
Arxo were indeed entrusted with a papal letter for the Emperor
but Arxo died on July 29th, 1711, in Spain, on the return
journey, and Provana was taken so grievously sick that he
was unable to leave Italy. Thus Kanghi obtained no reply
at all and this seeming slight to his dignity irritated him to
such a degree that he began to meditate a plan for the extirpa-
tion of Christianity in China. However, the Jesuits succeeded
in calming him.* Meanwhile the only thing Clement XI.
could do was to comfort Le Blanc and Appiani by letter.^
On March 4th, 1709, he requested the King of Portugal to
intervene with Kanghi whilst at the same time he appealed
to the Emperor of China himself ^ and begged him to withdraw
his ordinances.
At the time of the issue of these Briefs the Pope knew
nothing of the pitiful fate which had befallen his Legate two
years earlier. Kanghi had indeed dismissed Tournon with
1 Jann, 431. On Appiani, see Thomas, 196, 290, and Appiani's
letter of November 22, 1728, ibid., 355-8.
" Ibid., 424.
* *Stumpf, § 5.
* Jann, 488.
* August 22, 171 1, Op., Epist., 1582 seq.
« Jann, 594, 596.
TOURNON AT MACAO. 449
every show of honour and had defrayed his travelhng expenses.^
On his arrival at Nangking the Patriarch pubhshed on
January 25th, 1707, not indeed the text of the papal decree
against the rites, but individual clauses of it and that in an
even stricter form, inasmuch as he threatened with excom-
munication those guilty of infraction of the ordinance, a
measure from which the Pope had refrained. ^ This step
roused Kanghi's anger once more ; he had the Legate
arrested and taken to Canton, though in an honourable fashion.
From Canton Tournon was transported to Macao, where he
was handed over to the Portuguese and thus to his executioners.
Shortly after the accession of the new King of Portugal,
and at a time when he was still in ignorance of his dispositions,
the Pope had requested him to intervene with Kanghi.^ But
John V. modelled himself on Louis XIV. and was resolved to
go beyond the State absolutism of his predecessor. Tournon's
action he regarded as an inroad into his own sphere and a
violation of his right of patronage with which he meant to
deal with the utmost ruthlessness.* Instructions to this
effect were sent to the East, hence Tournon found himself
a prisoner as soon as he set foot on Portuguese territory.
He was immediately surrounded by a strong body of troops —
to do him honour, it was said — but in reality, and in spite of
repeated requests to the Commander-in-Chief of Macao,
Diego de Pinho Texeira, the soldiers kept an uninterrupted
watch over the Legate's palace. Attempts were also made to
isolate Tournon from the priests of his suite. One of these,
Peter Herve, was arrested on his way to church and thrown
into prison, the others could not be induced to step out of
Tournon's house. Access to the Legate was forbidden to
aknost everybody.^ The military judge Lobo da Gama issued
a proclamation declaring Tournon's residence a State prison.*
^ *Stumpf, § I, towards the end.
* Jann, 428 seqq.
' March 2, 1709, Op., Epist., 594.
* Jann, 455.
* Ibid., 439.
* Ibid., 441.
VOL. XXXIII. Gg
450 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
On December 3rd, 1708, the Commander-in-Chief, Texeira,
forbade all Portuguese to obey the Legate until the royal
Chancellery of Portugal should have recognized his Bulls ;
anyone acting otherwise would be handed over, in chains, to
the tribunal of Goa and his property would be forfeit to the
crown. ^ After the Viceroy of the Indies had approved Texeira's
measures in September, 1708, and again in December, 1709, the
latter passed from words to deeds. Four Dominicans, for the
sole crime of having obeyed the Legate, were arrested in church
whilst a service was in progress. Arrayed as they were in
their sacred, vestments, they were taken through the streets
to the fortress, to the scandaleven of the pagans. Similar
treatment was meted out to other religious. A number of
missionaries and servants of Tournon were manacled in the
market place and removed to prison, the churches were invaded
and his adherents dragged out or besieged in them, until
they were almost starved to death. ^ Even worse humiliations
were meted out to Tournon by the ecclesiastical superiors
who, in obedience to instructions from Lisbon, sought to
rid themselves of the inconvenient Legate by questioning
the legitimacy of his nomination and by demanding that
he should exhibit his credentials to the Bishop through the
royal Portuguese Chancellery. To this the Patriarch refused
to submit since even papal credentials without the royal
placet would have been ignored. The Primate of Goa raised
the first doubts about Tournon's mission in a pastoral letter
of May 12th, 1706. Joao de Cazal, Bishop of Macao, also
published the above-mentioned pastoral on June 5th, 1706,
and one of his own on July 24th, 1707, in which he declared
the censures pronounced by the Legate to be null and void
and forbade his flock to recognize him.^ Cazal's conduct was
all the more surprising as he had previously recognized the
genuineness of the Legate's mission. Now he did not even
wait for Tournon's arrival in his episcopal city but as soon
^ Ibid., 447 seq.
* Ibid., 461 seq.
» Ibid., 435, 437, 442 seq.
tournon's fortitude. 451
as the Patriarch, on reaching Canton, set foot on territory
snbject to the jurisdiction of Macao, Cazal wrote to ask him
for his credentials.^
The letter of the Primate of Goa was read in all the churches
of the city,2 whilst Cazal ordered his own pastoral to be read
in all the parish and monastery churches. He was obeyed
by the Superiors of the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Minor
Recollects and by the parish priest of one of the Augustinian
churches. But the aforesaid parish priest, as well as the
Superior of the Jesuits, added a clause to their signature to
the effect that they had subscribed by order of their Superiors,^
for the Provincial of the Jesuits, Pinto, refused to admit the
genuineness of the Patriarch's faculties.'* In the Jesuit,
Dominican and Franciscan residences, discussions were taking
place on the attitude to be adopted towards Tournon.^ Never-
theless a considerable number of religious supported the
Legate and even persecution failed to shake their determina-
tion ^ ; as for the opponents, they were excommunicated by
Tournon.
The Legate's conduct in Peking can hardly be the subject
of praise. Granted that even the ablest diplomatist could
not have enforced the prohibition of the rites without giving
offence, it must be admitted that Tournon frequently provoked
and irritated the Emperor without necessity. On the other
hand one can only admire his conduct at Macao. Though
pressed on every side and forsaken by almost everyone, he
was not to be prevailed upon to make concessions with which
he might have bought his freedom. Defenceless though he
was, he fearlessly pronounced a sentence of excommunication
against the powerful enemies into whose hands he had fallen.
He may almost be styled a martyr for the prerogatives of the
Holy See, and he himself was conscious of being such a martyr.
1 Ibid., 433.
^ Ibid.,44S.
3 Ibid., 437. •
* Ibid., 439.
* Ibid., 449.
* Ibid., 449 seq.
452 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
At Canton and Macao there was no longer question for him
of the rites, but of resistance to the placet of the State, hence
of the rights of the Holy See. There can be no doubt that
his early death on June 9th, 1710, was hastened by the
sufferings of mind and body which he had undergone during
his captivity. For a considerable time he was cut off from all
communication with the outside world ; he was not allowed
to leave the house and very few visitors were permitted to see
him ; at night the doors of his house were barred with chains.^
If Toumon had not been great in action, he showed himself
great in suffering and in enduring. Clement XI. did all he
could on his behalf ; in a series of letters he represented to the
King of Portugal the enormity of the injustice done at Macao
to a Legate of the Holy See,^ and up to the time of Tournon's
death he continued to demand reparation for these outrages.^
1 Ibid., 464. It would seem that these reports were exaggerated.
Cf. Bahr, 98 seq. : " Tournon was received at Macao after his
return from Peking by all, clerics and layfolk alike, with all the
honours due to his high rank ; in the years that followed he
exercised the office and dignity of an Apostolic Legate with
complete freedom and was often seen in the city in his sedan-
chair, and in particular when on August 11, 1708, news arrived
that His Holiness Clement XI. had raised him to the dignity of a
Cardinal. Amid the ringing of the bells of Macao, great festivities
were held, and his Eminence appeared publicly in a new sedan-
chair lined with scarlet material, and he was carried on the
shoulders of eight Moors or Kaffirs. . . . However, it cannot be
denied that a few months before his death he had to endure much
unpleasantness, not from the Christians, nor from the Europeans,
but from the pagans and the Chinese who did not understand his
high dignity and therefore did not respect him as they should
have done. . . . The strong guard which surrounds the House or
Palace of the Cardinal began on January 22, 1 710 . . . the reason
for it was that some men of the suite of the Cardinal, bad and rough
fellows, with whom might was right, Moors or Kaffirs, had laid
violent hands on a Mandarin ..."
2 Letters of January 25 and July 12, 1710, January 12 and
March 14, 1711, Op., Epist., 676, 1478, 1500.
3 Briefs of September 19 and January 10, 1715, ibid., 1590, 2042.
THE POPE AND THE KING OF PORTUGAL. 453
A supreme token of recognition on the part of the Pope
of the sorely tried prelate was the bestowal of the red hat
upon him shortly before his death. The Spanish admiral in
the Philippines had the bearers of the red hat taken to Macao
under the Spanish flag so that the Portuguese were unable to
interfere with them.^ Tournon's nomination to the cardinalate
had taken place on August 1st, 1707,^ and he had expressed
his thanks to the Pope on November 30th, 1709.^ When
speaking of him at a secret consistory on October 14th, 1711,
the Pope eulogized Tournon as one who had been proved by
tribulation, as gold is tried by fire*
(5.)
Clement XI. had done all that it was in his power to do for
Tournon. At first he was full of confidence in the King of
Portugal. When he received information of the expulsion
of the Vicars Apostolic Maigrot, Le Blanc and Visdelou,
though not of the arrest of the Legate, he appealed to John V.
on March 2nd, 1709, to protect the Christians of China. ^
On the very next day he received news of Tournon's tragic
fate. A courier was at once dispatched to Lisbon with a letter
in which the Pope once more declared his faith in the King's
piety and laid all the blame for the outrageous treatment of
the Legate on the royal officials.^ John V. did not even deign
to acknowledge the letter. On January 25th, 1710, and again
on July 12th, on the occasion of the grant of a dispensation,
Clement XL renewed his remonstrances. Again there was no
answer. At last on January 17th, 1711, there came one with
Jann, 464, 472.
Ibid., 423 ; Op., Orat., 30.
Jann, 462.
Ibid., 469 seq ; Op., Orat., 58 seq.
Op., Epist., 596.
Ibid., 598.
454 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the assurance that the King had repeated!}' ordered the
Viceroy of the Indies to set Tournon at hberty. Relying on
this word of a King Clement XI. now really believed that his
Legate was again free ; he accordingly charged Tournon with
the execution of a fresh decree on the rites dated
September 25th, 1710, and this time also he prayed for the
King's support. Tournon's letter of November 30th, 1709,
thanking the Pope for his elevation to the cardinalate, put an
end to all illusions. The Pope replied on August 22nd, 1711,
but by that time Tournon had long been dead.^
The Holy See could no longer look for support from any
quarter : Spain was in the throes of the war of succession
and Louis XIV. had demanded Tournon's credentials even
after the latter's landing at Pondicherry,^ so that Clement XL's
only resource was to remonstrate again, and that with the
utmost insistence, with the King of Portugal about the
outrageous conduct of his officials.^ Meanwhile appeals
against Tournon's measures had reached Rome from China.
Several Vicars Apostolic, among them even opponents of the
rites, and twenty-two Jesuits, appealed against the Patriarch's
prohibition of January 25th, 1707.* Such a step is intelligible
enough because Tournon's decree had put the missionaries in a
most painful position. With the best of wills it was impossible
to do away by one stroke with the observance of the rites
by the people, but as Tournon had pronounced immediate
excommunication for any concession, the missionaries were
bound to fall into worse troubles of conscience.^ The Jesuits
arid the Dominicans of Macao also appealed to Rome. Tournon
had excommunicated the Jesuits of that place because of their
non-acceptance of his ordinance, and had placed their college
and theological seminary under an interdict."
Ibid., 1580 ;
Jann, 457-463
Jann, 465.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 430.
Ibid., 450.
FRESH DECREES AGAINST THE RITES. 455
In Rome the matter was accordingly discussed anew ^
with the immediate result that the appeal from Macao was
rejected on August 8th, 1700. On September 25th, 1710,
the Inquisition published a decree ^ confirming both the
Roman prohibition of the rites of November 20th, 1704, and
that of the Legate Tournon of January 25th, 1707. The Pope
prescribed the observance of these prohibitions under pain
of excommunication, thus reinforcing his first prohibition of
1704 in Tournon's sense. No pretext, and in particular, no
appeal to Rome could excuse disobedience ; detailed instruc-
tions on the execution of the decrees were to follow. All
publications on the question of the rites were forbidden
under pain of excommunication. Previous to this, in March,
1709, the decision of the question of November 20th, 1704,
had been published in Rome also.^
The arguments used for the purpose of circumventing the
decision of 1704 may be gathered from the letter which
Antonio Banchieri, Assessor of the Inquisition, addressed to
the Jesuit General, Michelangelo Tamburini, on October 11th,
1710, at the same time as he forwarded to him the decree
of that tribunal. Some thought, so we read in the letter,
that the decision of 1704 obliged only conditionally, that is,
on the assumption that the arguments there alleged tallied
with actual facts. It was his duty to state that such an
interpretation was wrong, hence he prayed the General to
1 C/. *Miscellanea di Clemente XL, t. 236 : Congregazioni tenute
nel Febr., 1709 ; Scrittura spettante al dispaccio fatto in Cina
dopo questa congregazione nel 2 Mart. 1709 ; t. 237 : Congrega-
zione tenuta avanti il Papa 1709, 8 Agosto, da 11 Cardinali ;
Congregazione 4 ottobre 1709, che non fece alcuna risoluzione ;
t. 239 : Ant. Vaira, Responsio ad mcmorialia exhibita Clementi
XI. a Patribus Soc. lesu missionis Sinensis ; t. 240 : Vaira, De
ritibus Sinensibus diss, altera ; t. 242 : Paper on the conflict ;
t. 243 : also ; Congregatio coram SB. 4 Agosto e Sett. 1710 ;
t. 244 : Congreg. coram SS. 18-25 Sett. 1710 ; t. 247 : Session of
the Inquisition, September 11, 1710. Papal Sec. Arch.
^ Ins pontif., II., 280 seqq.
Brucker, in Did. de theol. cath., II., 2380.
456 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
transmit to his subjects in China, together with the decree of
the Inquisition, this present fuller explanation as having
binding force. Tamburini replied on the same day,
October 11th, protesting his entire submission and promising
to do his best to get his subjects faithfully to carry out the
decree. A similar exhortation was addressed on October 17th
to the Generals of the Dominicans and the Augustinians as
well as to the Commissaries-General of the Franciscans
Observant and the Riformati who declared their submission
on the 18th. ^
It goes without saying that the enemies of the Society
made the most of the excommunication of the Jesuits of
Macao. The Jesuits, they said, talked a great deal about
submission to the Holy See, but no one was less obedient
than the}' if a papal decree happened to be not to their liking.
This accusation gave grievous pain to the Fathers themselves.
When the delegates of the Order met in Rome in 1710 for
the customary triennial assembly, the most important instruc-
tion with which the various Provinces charged the delegates
was that they should deal most strongly with a reproach
that hurt them far more than all the other innumerable
accusations and calumnies, for it touched the Order, as it
were, in the apple of its eye. Accordingly the assembly
unanimously resolved that the General should protest to
the Pope, before the whole Catholic Church, in the name
of the Order, its firm and unshakable determination to submit
to every decree of the Holy See, and in particular to the
decisions on the rites dated November 20th, 1704, and
September 25th, 1710, and to the declaration contained in
the letter of the Inquisition dated October 11th.
Accordingly on November 20th, 1710, the General of the
Society, Tamburini, addressed a letter to the Pope in which
he promised submission in the most unequivocal terms.
If it were possible, he wrote, to think of words more clear and
forcible, with which to express his sentiments, it was his
will that the words actually used by him should have that
* Printed in Acta causae rituum sen ceremoniaruui Sinensium,
Coloniae Agrippinae, 1715, 68-71 ; Ins pontif.,\l\., 280 seq., -note.
FURTHER DECREES. 457
meaning, but if any one of his subjects permitted himself to
speak in a different sense, the Order rejected him in advance
and considered him as a degenerate son,
The memorial of the Procurators to the General was signed
by the latter's Assistants in the name of the various Provinces
subject to the Assistants and by the Procurators of the
Provinces then in Rome. Among the signatures of the
Procurators those of Spain, Portugal, Brazil and the rest of
South America, Sicily, Turin, Ireland, Galicia, Masovia are
wanting — no doubt because the delegates of those Provinces
were unable to- be present. The Spanish war of succession
may account for much in this respect, hence it is not to be
wondered at if Malabar and Goa also did not sign expressly.
This deficiency is made up for by the subscription of the
Spanish and the Portuguese Assistants. The last signature
is that of Provana, the Procurator for China. ^ The General
forwarded the letter of the Assessor of the Inquisition to the
Visitor of China and Japan and the Vice-Provincial of China
with orders not to depart from it neither to the right nor to
the left. 2
In spite of these assurances further papal decrees on the
Chinese mission were issued on July 3rd, 1708. Tournon
had decreed that no missionary was to enter or leave China,
or assume the office of Superior there, without his leave.
On March 15th, 1711, Clement XI. confirmed this order of his
Legate and extended it to his successor.^ From this it would
appear that the idea of a permanent legation to China was
being considered in Rome ; as a matter of fact ulterior
developments may have suggested the advisabihty of such
a step.
The year 1714 came to an end without any steps having
been taken in China to promulgate the decrees of 1704 and
1710.* In January, 1715, the Bishop of Peking, Bernardino
1 The declaration is printed in Bull, dementis XI., Romae,
1725, 517 ; Ins poutif., VII., 90 ; Jann, 451 seqq.
2 *Tamburini, November 15, 1710 ; see Appendix No. 2.
* lus pontif., II., 283 seq.
* Both *letters are in the po.sscssion of the Jesuits.
458 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Delia Chiesa, instructed his Vicar-General, Carlo Castorano,
to undertake at last such a promulgation, but various objections
were made immediatel}'. Castorano made stern representa-
tions to the Superior of the Jesuits, Stumpf,^ and the Bishop
on his part wrote in the same sense. Stumpf repudiated the
reproach of disobedience ; as attested by all their letters to
Rome and to the Bishop himself, the Jesuits had always been
obedient in the past and were so at this time also. Before
Castorano and before the Bishop, Stumpf wrote, he had
solemnly declared that he had received the Roman decrees
on the rites from the General, that he had .accepted them,
accepted them now and would accept them in the future, as
often as the Pope or the Bishop desired it, regardless of
personal danger or the fate of the mission. However, a new
imperial decree had been published the text of which was
not yet known in Lintshing, where the Bishop resided ; after
seeing it the Bishop's delegate had consented to 'a delay until
the Bishop should be informed. Had he known but one half
of what he had learned from the letter of the Jesuits of Peking,
the Bishop wrote, he would have held back more than he had
done. On January 17th, 1715, the Jesuits Parennin and
Stumpf wrote to Delia Chiesa that the reason why it was
difficult to pubhsh the papal decrees lay in the fact that it
would not be possible to keep the knowledge of such a publica-
tion from the Emperor, as the Bishop desired. ^ Delia Chiesa
wrote to the two Fathers to defer the publication and in
another letter he acknowledged the Jesuits' obedience ^
whilst he appealed to Rome to grant a surcease of the
publication of the decrees. The Franciscan Commissary
Fernandez also wrote to Rome that so far not one of the
Vicars Apostolic had made up his mind to promulgate the
decrees.'*
^ See below, p. 463.
* *Stumpf to Delia Chiesa, October 6, 1715 ; see Appendix
No. 4.
3 *To Stumpf, Parennin and Contancin, January 25, 1715,
ibid. * Tamburini's Memorial in Anecdotes, VI., 49.
PEDRINI. 459
(6.)
When the situation had thus become hopelessly involved,
a man was found in the person of the Lazarist Theodoric
Pedrini, bold enough either to unravel the Gordian knot or
to cut it. Pedrini was born in 1670 at Fermo. He was
possessed of remarkable skill in the confection of musical
instruments, more particularly in the construction of the
precursor of the modern piano. Tournon judged that he
would be the right man for the court of Peking ; however,
when the Legate set out Pedrini missed the connection and
reached China after an adventurous journey via Chile, Mexico
and the Philippines, only just in time to witness Tournon's
death. ^ The choice of such a route was assuredly no proof of
outstanding cOmmonsense, however, once his pianos had won
for him Kanghi's high favour, ^ Pedrini felt emboldened to
tackle single-handed the solution of the question of the rites.
Kanghi had given orders that every Roman decision on the
rites was to be brought to his notice, but so far both the
Bishop and the missionaries had taken good care not to give
him such information. That which others had kept quiet,
Pedrini now revealed openly in a letter to the Emperor,^
regardless of the fact that Delia Chiesa had made him promise
on oath to observe silence on the matter,'* and without
considering that by speaking he hopelessly compromised his
Bishop. At the same time he did not shrink from accusing
his brother priests, the Jesuits, before a pagan Emperor.
In spite of his avowed opposition to the rites, Pedrini did not
forfeit Kanghi's favour for the time being, on the contrary, he
was even commissioned to write to the Pope in the Emperor's
name.^ In so doing he went so far as to insert in his letter
the patent falsehood that the rites might be condemned by
^ Thomas, ii8, 220.
* Ibid., 229.
3 Ibid., 234 seq.
* Tamburini, in Anecdotes, VI., 177. Cf. ibid., 51.
* Thomas, 238.
460 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the Pope without risk seeing that Kanghi was not interested
in the matter.^
Pedrini was looked upon as a confidant of Kanghi, hence
his communication impressed Rome and encouraged the
Pope to issue a fresh and more stringent Constitution.- The
decrees hitherto issued had failed to create harmony among
the missionaries. They were acquainted with them and had
submitted to them, but for various reasons they hesitated to
carry them out as they feared their execution would be the
destruction of the mission. Soon it was rumoured that the
Pope himself had suspended his ordinance, that the decrees
had not been issued in due form, that the decisions only
obliged with the proviso that the facts on which they were
based were true, that the Pope would issue further explana-
tions, that the grievous injur}^ which would accrue to the
mission excused the non-execution of the decrees and that
one could still go by the concessions of Alexander VII. The
new papal Constitution of March 19th, 1715,^ declared all
these arguments null and void.* It confirmed both the Roman
condemnation of the rites, the clauses of which were briefly
summed up, and Tournon's prohibition ; the Bishops were
ordered to carry it through. One important disposition was
added : no priest was to be allowed to exercise his functions
^ Ibid., 260, 261, 26:\. C/. below, p. 461 note.
2 Cf. ibid.
^ Constitution " Ex illo die ", Ins potitif., II., 306 scqq. Com-
mentaries on it in Miscell. di Clemente XI., t. 245. Ibid., three
drafts of the Constitution with the Pope's corrections ; votes of
the cardinals. Ibid., t. 249-253 : documents on the imprisonment
and death of Tournon ; t. 254 : State of the mission in India
and China after Tournon's death ; t. 255-7 • Acts 1711-1720 ;
t. 258 : Fatinelli to Clement XI. on the rites and on Tournon,
1707-1716 ; t. 259-260 : Acts of 1699-1713 ; on the missions of
the Capuchins of Madraspatam, of the Dominicans and the
Theatines in Tibet, of the Carmelites with the Grand Mogul ;
t. 261 : " Lettere e scritture consegnate a SS. dal card. Fabroni
alii 12 Sett. 1 71 6." Papal Secret Archives.
* Ins pontif., II., 207.
CONSTITUTION OF I715. 461
unless he had first sworn to comply with these prohibitions.
The decree gave the formula of the oath : all missionaries
were to sign it and the signed formulas had to be forwarded
to Rome.
Clement XI. had hoped that his decision would clarify
the situation but the result was that it became more involved
than ever. Acceptance of the new ordinance was greatly
hampered by the fact that it was soon learnt that its publica-
tion was in part due to Pedrini's inaccurate statements.^
To this was added the interference of the secular rulers.
A month before the arrival of the Bull, the Governor, the
Bishop of Macao and the Superior of the Jesuits, had received
a royal order from Lisbon not to publish, for the time being,
any fresh decrees on the question of the rites. Now the Bishop
of Peking had been expressly dispensed by Propaganda from
the duty of obeying the King in all that concerned the questions
of the rites. Kanghi, too, who was away in Tartary just then,
was not indifferent about the new Bull. On being informed
of the arrival of some ships from Europe, he at once dispatched
an envoy to Canton who, on September 20th, questioned
each missionary individually whether a decree on the rites
had come from Rome. Now a few missionaries had
clandestinely made known the new papal decree, but none of
them had the courage frankly to admit the truth before the
imperial envo3^ The religious said that such orders were
1 " Attulit haec [navis Lusitana, August 30] epistolas A. R. P.
Nostri, praecepti observantiam suis enixe commendantis. Ex
his pariter, sicut et ex aliis Romanis non minus certo dolenter
intellectum fuit, D. Pedrini clericum, qui Pekini degit, menda-
cissimis Romae nuntiis pcrsuasisse, nullum in prohibendis ritibus
esse periculum, eo quod impcrator de iis non curaret : ipsummet
Pedrini prohibitionis decreta suae Maiestati singillatim iam pro-
posuisse, nee earn inde commotam, uUumve indignationis signum
monstrasse. Ut proinde Roma minime dubitarit, ad praeceptum
adeo rigorosum progredi. *Succinta relatio [November 7, 171 7]
eorum, quae in Sinis contigere circa et post publicatum ibi
praeceptum Apostolicum super prohibendis ritibus " (property of
the Jesuits). What follows is based on this report.
462 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
addressed to the secular priests whilst the latter sought to
extricate themselves with evasive answers. The result was
that on October 31st, Kanghi published a circular in which
the rumours concerning a papal prohibition of the rites were
described as malicious inventions : all the missionaries were,
made to subscribe to the imperial manifesto.
The missionaries' fears of the consequences of the papal
decree were justified by the excitement of the Christians when
a beginning was made with its promulgation. In the early
hours of September 25th a manifesto was found posted up in
all the churches of Canton, the author of which declared that
he had been a Christian, but that he had found out that the
Western Religion was a false one, seeing that it forbade the
veneration of the ancestors, hence he urged everyone to cast
it off.
In spite of their worst fears all the missionaries of Canton
submitted when Ceru, the Procurator of the Progaganda
missionaries, to whom the papal Constitution had been
forwarded, brought it to their notice, not officially, but in
a friendly and informal fashion. All took the required oath
and prayed for absolution from any censures they might
have incurred.
News of the new Constitution reached Peking in the first
days of October. Kilian Stumpf, the Visitor of the Jesuits,
requested his subjects to submit to the decision, regardless
of the protest of the King of Portugal, and to carry out
whatever the Bishops and Vicars Apostolic might enjoin
them. On the other hand they should do nothing rash in so
important a matter, in which the salvation of thousands was
at stake. All those who, witli a view to escaping from the
straits of conscience which could be foreseen, wished to leave
the mission, were free to do so, but he begged all of them to
put their trust in God and to remain at their posts, though
for the time being they should refrain from exercising their
priestly functions until a solution was found. Stumpf
submitted his letters to the Bishops for correction by them,
if necessary.
In the second half of October, Ceru forwarded printed
CASTORANO ARRESTED. 463
copies of the papal decree to the Bishop of Peking ^ who
resided at Lintshing in Shantung. Thereupon the Bishop
summoned all the missionaries of the province to his residence,
whilst he dispatched his Vicar-General, the Franciscan Carlo
Orazio of Castorano to Peking for the purpose of promulgating
the Bull there. This commission Castorano executed as soon
as he set foot in the Jesuit College, but as he was about to
proceed with all speed to the residence of the French Jesuits,
he was warned not to publish the Bull there just then inasmuch
as, by reason of the subscription to the imperial circular,
the house was full of suspicious people from the imperial
palace ; he would be much safer at the eastern Residence of
the Jesuits where he could send for the Fathers individually.
However, trusting in Pedrini's assurances, Castorano would
not listen to these warnings. The purpose of his visit became
quickly known, with the result that he was taken to prison
fastened with nine chains for having published a false edict
against the customs of the country.
Castorano's arrest was an evil presage. Stumpf spent
the whole night writing letters, first to the Bishop, lest the
interrogatory to which he too was sure to be subjected
should find him altogether unprepared, then to the missionaries
of Shantung whom he begged to repair in all haste to Lintshing,
to support their Bishop as Delia Chiesa was inadequately
acquainted with the language of the country.
The Bishop's interrogatory was not long delayed. Delia
Chiesa admitted that in the course of the preceding years
he had on two occasions received decrees from Rome on the
question of the rites, but that out of consideration for the
Emperor he had not dared to publish them. Fie had repeatedly
informed Rome that these decrees could not be carried into
effect in China. During the present year he had received yet
another decree, accompanied by severe threats should he
refuse to promulgate it. Pedrini had written to the Pope
that the Emperor approved the Roman decrees, and that
1 C/. Arch. Francisc. hisl., XV., 591 ; XXL, 146 ; Lemmens,
129 seqq.
464 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
relying on that fact Castorano had gone to Peking by order
of his own Bishop for the purpose of promulgating the Bull.
His not informing the Emperor was a crime worth}^ of death,
for which he craved forgiveness. Castorano was subjected to
even more searching interrogations, but he carefully avoided
avowing his opposition to the rites, though he had always
fiercely combated them.
However, it was upon Pedrini that, after Kanghi's return
from Tartary, the vials of the imperial wrath were poured
out. Although put on his guard, Pedrini went to meet the
Emperor at a time when he was still ignorant of Castorano's
arrest. As soon as Kanghi caught sight of him he took him
violently to task through one of the eunuchs and held him
responsible for Castorano's fate. Kanghi ordered all Europeans
to appear before him on November 12th when he began by
reproaching them in general terms with having made an ill
return for his favours. After that the storm burst over
Pedrini : how dare he send false information to the Pope ?
When Pedrini replied that such things were beyond him,
that he did not meddle with them, Kanghi asked for the
memorial on the rites and on the Jesuits which Pedrini had
previously presented to him ; he himself read a few passages
from the document and gave a summary of its contents.
On the evening of the following day Pedrini had to endure
further reproaches from the Emperor in presence of all the
Europeans ; he pleaded guilty and was forgiven but was
compelled to put his signature to a disavowal of his previous
letter to the Pope. Pedrini's pardon was extended to Castorano
as to the less guilty of the two, but the latter was ordered to
recover all the printed copies of the last Bull and to send them
back to Europe. Castorano contented himself with returning
two copies, a circumstance which involved him in considerable
difificulties with the mandarins.
As for the missionaries everything now depended on the
action of the Bishop of Peking. In his interrogatory Delia
Chiesa had described the Bull as impossible of execution
and he had written to the Jesuits of Peking that he would
never have given orders for its promulgation if he had had
CONDUCT OF THE JESUITS. 465
knowledge of Pedrini's untruths or had suspected that the
Emperor's anger would be roused as it was. A little later,
however, he wrote that he could do nothing to attenuate the
papal order and when pressed by Stumpf he admitted that
Pedrini had certainly deserved the galleys,^ and that he had
explicitly written to Rome that in future no credence should
be given to so thoughtless a man ; as for instructions on how
to deal with existing difficulties, a blind man was no judge
of colours.
With the Vicar-General Castorano the Jesuits insisted
that he should give them written instructions whether and
how the papal ordinances should be translated, wh5t precau-
tions should be taken when bringing them to the knowledge
of the Christians and what customs might be permitted to the
neophytes ; let him at least give some guidance by his own
practice in the churches of the Jesuits. However, all they
could obtain from him was that it was enough to acquaint
the Christians with the decree by. word of mouth, that the
Bishops had no further directions to give since the decrees
forbade everything ; at most all that could be allowed was
a prostration before the coffin of the dead, but somewhat
on one side, so that the inclination should not be immediately
directed towards the deceased ! Maigrot had already had
recourse to an equally ridiculous expedient when, after
prostrating before a coffin, he said that his inclination was
meant for one of the ladies present.
If for the time being the Jesuits decided no longer to
administer the Sacraments and if, after a while, other
missionaries adopted a similar line of action,^ the explanation
of their conduct must be looked for in the situation in which
they found themselves. People in Europe had no idea of the
obstinate tenacity with which the Chinese clung to their
1 Cf. Thomas, 266.
* " *Atque in illorum sententiam postliminium etiam ex illis
concesserunt quidam, qui non uno mode praeceptum apud sues
exequi studiose allaborarunt : nam in obstacula occurrentes
insuperabilia, ne totam rem christianam pessumdarent, manum
retrahere coacti sunt." Succincta relatio.
VOL. XXXIII. H h
466 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
customs as something perfectly natural. The opponents of
the Jesuits had asserted time and again that the prohibition
of the rites would not injure the mission.^ But a bitter
disillusionment was in store for ev^eryone. Those Chinese
Christians who gave up the rites were a diminutive number.
The overwhelming majority promised at most with their
lips to abandon the rites though without any real intention
to do so, at any rate they omitted to mention in confession
that they had practised them. Hence there was scarcely
any alternative for the missionaries except either to disregard
the Bull or to baptize and absolve unworthy subjects.^ For
the rest, tvhen the General learnt that his subjects no longer
administered the Sacraments, he blamed their conduct in
1 " *Haec [the jealousy] ut lesuitas pessumdaret, iam viginti
annis Europam implevit clamoribus, manuscriptis, impressis
libris, contra conscientiam attestando, nullum periculum esse in
condemnandis ritibus vocibusque Sinicis, atque ita compulit
commissarium Apostolicum ad condemnandum, condemna-
tionem secuta est ruina ecclesiae Sinensis. Castner, Relatio,
dedicatio.
2 Brucker, loc. cit., 2383 ; Tamburini, loc. cit., 81, 84 ;
" Laureati to Mezzabarba, January 2, 1721, Anecdotes, lY.,
278 seq. *Pauciores reliqui [missionarii], qui sacra ministrare
pergunt et occultis adhortationibus maxime intra tribunalis
poenitentiae secretum christianos ad decretorum observantiam
invitare, non alio id fructu peragunt, quam ut pro mille vix
decern reperiant, quibus sacra dispensare mysteria queant, eosque
vel famulos dumtaxat suos ac domesticos, vel nullo propinquitatis
vinculo colligates, paupcres atque illiterates. Aut si qui forte alii,
ut divinorum participes fiant, se decretis oboedituros spondent,
faciunt tamen postea nihil minus, sed antique patriae more suis
pro eccasione et loco ritibus funguntur, quia revera gravissimis
ex causis supersedere illis non pessunt. Ut adee prae his sinceriores
Deumque timentieres se christianos prodant, qui suis irretiti
impedimentis, sacrorum communionem malunt non petere, quam
sacrilege ea frui, ficte promittentes quae observandi firmum ne-
queunt habere propositum. Quae omnia multiplici et heu nimis
certo ipserum missionariorum testimonio cenfirmantur." Succincta
relatio.
PERSECUTIONS. 467
the strongest terms. He did not at once succeed in removing
all scruples but by degrees the Jesuits resumed the administra-
tion of the Sacraments generally, with the exception of
Peking where in consequence of an Imperial decree, great
caution was necessary at least in public.^ Many Propaganda
missionaries continued to administer the Sacraments inas-
much as they had made up their minds that they were not
bound to ask questions in confession on the observance of the
rites once the penitents had been informed of the prohibition,
or that they could content themselves with a simple promise
of the penitents not to practise the rites in future and that
they were not obliged to make sure of the sincerity of such
a promise.^
Thus the greatest confusion prevailed in the interpretation
of the papal decree even though all the missionaries in Canton ^
and all the Jesuits ^ had sworn to the Constitution. When
on April 16th, 1717, the nine highest tribunals decreed the
banishment of the missionaries, the destruction of the churches
and forcible abjuration of the Christian faith, Kanghi confirmed
their sentence. However, he was unwilling to break completely
with the Europeans ; he assured the Jesuits that the sentence
would not be carried out against those who obtained a special
1 Tamburini, loc. cit.,j^ seqq., 109, 123.
« Ibid., 96.
^ C/. above, p. 462.
* " Pour ce qui est de la soumission de ses missionnaires a la
Bulla " Ex ilia die ", le general a des preuves convaincantes de
leur obeissance prompte et volontaire a rexception d'un petit
nombre, dont on a parle. Les actes de leur serment lui out ete
envo'ies ; 11 a eu rhonneur de les montrer a Clement XL, qui
les a vus avec une grande demonstration de joie " (Tamburini,
loc. cit., 53). The Jesuit Goville of Canton, in answer to certain
accusations, writes : " J'y souscrivis [the oath] avec une entiere
soumission de cceur et d'esprit " ; he can say the same thing
with certainty of the other sc\en Jesuits of the house at Canton,
and as for the other Fathers, he has a hundred reasons to believe
in the sincerity of their subscription. Memoires de Trevoux,
1735, 2627. Cf. ibid., 1736, 2784 seq.
468 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
licence, a so-called " Piao." ^ Some further tokens of imperial
indulgence towards the Christians raised hopes in Rome for
a favourable turn in China, especially as the Portuguese
Government also repealed its measures against the execution
of the papal decree of 1715 against the rites, and let it be known
that it would not object to the appointment of a new papal
Legate, provided he journeyed via Lisbon. ^
In these circumstances Rome decided to send out another
Legate. For so arduous a task as was the solution of the
question of the rites, the ability of the most experienced
Roman diplomatist would scarcely have sufficed, yet probably
in consideration of the fact that only a young man would be
equal to the fatigues of the long sea voyage, the choice for
the difficult post fell on Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba who
was only 34 years of age. In the consistory of September 18th,
1719, the Pope named him Patriarch of Alexandria and
announced his mission ; a Brief of September 29th granted
him the same faculties as had been given to Tournon.^ A
number of Briefs were addressed to the King of Portugal,
to the latter's brother, the Marchese de Abrantes, to the
Emperor of China, to the Archbishop of Goa and to the
Bishops of China, ^ with a view to paving the way for
the Legate.
(7.)
In compliance with Portugal's wishes, Mezzabarba elected
to travel via Lisbon, but he was soon to realize whilst at
the court of Lisbon, that his doing so had by no means removed
all difficulties. Like Tournon before him, he too was summoned
to produce his credentials, and the Legate submitted to the
1 Brucker, loc. cit., 2383.
2 Jann, 490 seq.
' Ibid., 491 seq. ; Op., Orat. consist., 162 seq. *Consultations
on Mezzabarba's mission in Miscell. di Clemente XL, t. 263,
Papal Secret Archives.
* September 30, 1719, Op., Brevia, 2359-2374.
MEZZABARBA. 469
demand. The Bull was restored to him though with
considerable alterations in accordance with the principles
of Portuguese Caesaro-Papalism.^ On March 25th, 1720,
Mezzabarba sailed from Lisbon and on September 23rd he
landed at Macao.
The first reports he received there were not encouraging.
The year before two missionaries of Tournon's suite had been
driven from Macao during a foggy night. The Jesuit Joseph
Provana, Kanghi's last envoy to the Pope, had died on the
return journey to China. More cheering was the information
that two Barnabites who had been instructed to prepare the
ground for Mezzabarba, were in fact on their way to Peking
with a papal Brief.^
After a solemn reception b}^ the Portuguese authorities
and by five mandarins, the Legate set out from Macao on
October 7th. On December 23rd, after a stay at Canton
from 12th till 29th October, he reached the Emperor's country
seat of Chamchunyven, three miles from Peking, where the
Emperor was staying at the time.-^ Even during the voyage
Mezzabarba had a foretaste of the unpleasantnesses that
awaited him when Ceru, the Procurator of the Missionaries
of Propaganda, who had come to meet him, was arrested
^ Jann, 500 seq.
2 [ViANi], Journal de Mezzabarba in Anecdotes, IV., 2 seq.
It is stated there [ibid., V., 274) that a copy of this Journal
was found among the papers of a dead Cardinal of Propaganda,
and that Mezzabarba had observed absolute secrecy about his
legation. Cf. Giornale delta legazione della China, che incomincia
dalli 23 di settembre 1720, scritio dal P. Viani Servita, confessore
di M. Patriarca net tempo della sua legazione, in Legazione della
Cina di Msgre. Mezzabarba Patriarca {Collezione Vaiicana di
documenti Gesuitici, vol. 34), printed at Cologne, 1740. The
Journal, in Bahr's opinion (iii), is rather "a slanderous
romance " than an impartial report. A companion of Mezza-
barba, the priest Bernardine Campi, also left a Ristretto di memorie
del niio passaggio in Cina [Arch. stor. Lombardo, LI. [1924],
260).
3 [Viani], Journal, loc. cit., 11, 13, 47, 92.
470 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
under his very eyes and kept under restraint for a few days
on the plea of an alleged offence against etiquette,^ and on
several occasions Mezzabarba himself had to undergo a kind
of interrogatory before some mandarins. At Canton he was
questioned on the purpose of his coming and his aims ?
Whether Tournon had been really sent by the Pope ? How it
was that during the whole of the past twenty years the
Emperor had never heard anything from any of his envoys
to Rome ? To the latter question Mezzabarba replied that
he himself had been appointed by the Pope to act as
a substitute for Provana who had fallen ill in Rome. With
this he hinted that he had some communications to make
about the rites, for Provana had been sent to Rome
in connection with the rites. However, he would not as yet
openly declare that he had come to carry into effect the Bull
on the rites as in that case he would have found it difficult to
see the Emperor.^ At the frontier of the province of Kiangsi
the Legate met two more mandarins who questioned him
on a papal Constitution with various prohibitions. This
time too Mezzabarba evaded the awkward question. The
mandarins also wanted to know whether the two Barnabites
had been really sent by thfe Pope and they put the same
question with regard to two other personalities frequently
mentioned thereafter, namely Pedrini and Ripa, who had
come to China with Fabri who was already dead, whom the
Jesuits had described as Propaganda missionaries and not as
direct envoys of the Pope. The Legate acknowledged the
two men as papal envoys.^
Mezzabarba underwent his most searching interrogatory
at a place thirty miles from Peking. There he expressly
stated that the purpose of his mission was to request the
Emperor to permit the observance of the Bull on the rites.
The manifold difficulties which the Legate was subsequently
to encounter began to make themselves felt from this moment.
1 Ibid., 15-20.
* Ibid., 27-32.
' Ibid., 49 seqq.
MEZZABARBA AT PEKING. 47I
He was told that the Emperor's decision was irrevocable,
but Mezzabarba replied that the Emperor need not revoke
anything, he was only asked to grant to the Christians the
free exercise of their religion. What would the Pope say,
the Legate was told, if the Emperor of China pretended to
decide what customs should be observed in Rome ? To this
the Legate replied that the Pope had no intention of altering
the customs of the Chinese, all he desired was to remove the
errors of the Christians. But how could the Pope forbid
what his predecessor had allowed ? Mezzabarba replied that
on closer examination of a question it was quite possible to
find that an earlier opinion was a mistaken one. Thereupon
the mandarins adopted another tone. They no longer spoke
in the name of the Emperor, but speaking as friends they
reminded him of the fate of Tournon, Maigrot and Castorano :
whosoever followed in their path would fare like them.
Mezzabarba replied that he would do all in his power to win
the Emperor's favour. At the mandarins' request he then
summed up his demands to the Emperor in two short sentences :
he prayed for the free exercise of their religion by the
Christians, with the observance of the papal Bull on the rites,
and for himself liberty to appear everywhere as the Superior
of all the Christians in China. ^
On his arrival at the imperial residence of Chamchunyven,
Mezzabarba and his companions were accommodated in
a neighbouring house : sentries prevented their leaving it.
On the very evening of his arrival the four mandarins
handed to the Legate the answer to his demands. It stated
that the Emperor grantid everything he had asked for, on
condition that he left the elder generation of Europeans in
the service of his Majesty whilst he took the others with him
to Rome, where he might communicate to them the papal
decree and exercise his rights as their Superior. The Europeans
who remained at Peking, but not the Chinese, would be
allowed to comply with the papal ordinance. Onl}^ on these
terms would he allow the papal ordinance to have any force
1 Ibid.,87-gi.
472 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
at all, for his own commands were irrevocable. Seeing that
Maigrot was the cause of the disputes, the Emperor expressed
his surprise that Mezzabarba had come without him, so that
the latter might justify himself. The Emperor had at first
intended to receive the Legate amicably but as he perceived
that he was opposed to his laws on two points, he had decided
not to admit him at all.^
All the Legate could do for the moment was to express
his profound disappointment. Maigrot was unable to
accompany him, he said, as he was too old and too ill to
undergo the hardships of a long sea voyage ; moreover he
had nothing to do with the Constitution ; hence he prayed
his Majesty at least to read the Brief in which the Pope
explained the reasons that had led him to publish the Constitu-
tion. Impossible to persuade the Emperor to do this so long
as the Legate maintained his standpoint, the mandarins
replied, impossible to persuade the Emperor to approve the
Constitution or to change his mind. On the other hand
Mezzabarba's request to the mandarins to intervene with the
Emperor on his behalf appeared to make some impression.
They asked him to set down in writing his demands to the
Emperor, they would bring him an answer on the morrow. ^
However, the next day brought no decision. In the after-
noon the mandarins presented themselves once more, when
they repeated in substance their previous statements. The
Pope, they alleged, had not received Provana, the imperial
envoy, with the honours due to him, hence, strictly speaking,
the Emperor was at liberty to treat the papal delegate in
like manner. Yet the Emperor was*prepared to overlook the
occurrence had Mezzabarba been the bearer of an agreeable
message, but since he brought proposals which were at
variance with the laws of the land, the Emperor was resolved
to send him back to Europe without delay, together with the
other Europeans who would present themselves before the
Legate on the following day. Mezzabarba repeated his
* Ibid., 92 seq.
* Ibid.,g^seqq. C/. Appendix No. 13.
MEZZABARBA AT PEKING. 473
previous answers, renewed his request that the Emperor
would receive the Brief or, since the four dignitaries declared
that this request could not possibly be granted, that he would
at least allow its contents to be brought to his notice, for
instance by Pedrini and Ripa. The mandarins replied that
fhey could not meddle with such matters ; Mezzabarba
accordingly made a last request, namely that he should be
allowed to make a somewhat prolonged stay in the country
to enable him to recover from the fatigue of the exhausting
journey. So reasonable a request was readily acceded to,
though not Mezzabarba's further proposal that the mandarins
should offer to the Emperor in his name the presents which
he had brought from Europe. By way of concession the
Legate announced that he was prepared to forgo his second
demand, namely, recognition of his supremacy over the Chinese
Christians ; as for the Constitution, he could not alter it in
any way, but he remarked repeatedly that the Brief allowed
those Chinese usages which were not at variance with the
Christian religion. ^
On the other hand the imperial threats were not to be
taken too hterally. On the following day the Legate was
given lodgings in a monastery of bonzes close to the palace.
This was done, so he was informed, in order to facihtate his
negotiations with the mandarins, as the moment had not yet
come for him to see the Emperor himself. He nevertheless
^ " Que le Pape avoit porte la condescendance jusqu'a permettre
les ceremonies de la nation, qui ne sent pas contraires a la religion
chretienne, quoiqu'elles ne sc pratiquent pas en Europe [Viani],
Journal, loc. cit., 98) ; que cet Bref accordoit des permissions fort
etendues de pratiquer ce qui n'etoit pas oppose a la foi des Chretiens
[ibid., 104). According to this, therefore, the eight modifications
published later, were a papal concession. Immediately on his
arrival at his summer palace in Peking the Legate communicated
the " permissions " to the Mandarins ; he had, therefore, brought
them from Rome ready-made. Anecdotes, IV., 106, 112, 114, 117.
Cf. Brucker, in Diet, de thiol, cath., II., 2386 ; Appendix No. 13.
On the negotiations of December 27, cf. [Viani], Journal, loc. cit.,
96-105.
474 HISTORY OF THE TOPES.
received a communication from the latter on the same day.
Was it true, Kanghi inquired, that Mezzabarba had two
documents to present, the Constitution and a Brief with
mitigations ? Pedrini and Ripa, whom Mezzabarba wished
to use as interpreters, were unsuitable ; Pedrini had offended
the Emperor and was a disturber of the peace after the manner
of Maigrot ; and as for Appiani, he owed it solely to the
goodness of the Emperor that he was not executed for matters
which it was best not to specify in detail. Maigrot was
the author of all the contentions. If concord was not achieved,
Kanghi would feel compelled to request the Pope either to
send that disturber of the peace to China, to have his head
cut off, or to punish him himself.^
Mezzabarba replied that he had a Brief which would
satisfy the Emperor, Besides Pedrini, he had also asked
for Ripa as an interpreter. Maigrot had had nothing to do
with the Constitution.
The mandarins now demanded to see the contents of the
Brief. After the Legate had been removed to another house,
two miles awa}^ from the Emperor's residence, he received an
imperial order, in the evening, to state the contents of the
Brief in writing. Mezzarbarba rephed that he had indeed
seen a copy of it in Rome but that he could not trust his
memory. 'After further pressure he finally consented to give
a short summary of the contents of the Brief as well as of the
papal concessions. 2 The Emperor seemed satisfied ; two
mandarins congratulated the Europeans on the settlement
of the dispute since the Pope granted every one of the
Emperor's demands.^ However, on December 29th the
Emperor complained once more of Maigrot and Pedrini,*
but on the following day he sent one of his nephews with
the four mandarins to greet the Legate and to express the
^ Ibid., 105-7.
2 Ibid., 108 seqq. Extracts from the Brief, ibid., 114-17;
extract from the concessions, i6/(i., 1x7-19.
' Ibid., iig seq.
* Ibid., 120-7,
AUDIENCE WITH KANGHI. 475
Emperor's satisfaction at his arrival ; by his command
a solemn reception of all the Europeans was held at the
house of the papal delegate, and on December 31st the Legate
was received in solemn audience by the Emperor when
Mezzabarba handed the Brief to Kanghi. The Legate was
presented with valuable furs ; a banquet followed at which
he was waited upon by the same mandarins who had questioned
him up to this time. With his own hand Kanghi handed to
the Pope's representative a draught of wine in a golden cup,
but in the conversation which ensued Kanghi put off for
another audience a definitive answer to the burning questions.'-
If on this occasion the Emperor treated Mezzabarba with
extraordinary regard, the fact that the two Barnabites who
had been sent to prepare the ground for the Legate, and who
had been thrown into prison, were now set at liberty, could
also be considered as yet another favour.^ The Legate was
likewise assigned more commodious lodgings.^ After the
audience Mezzabarba sent the presents he had brought for
the Emperor ■* whilst the mandarins renewed their efforts to
induce him to yield. ^ In his answer the Legate pointed to
the many concessions which he was prepared to make in the
name of the Pope.^ As the Emperor was resolved to send
yet another envoy to Rome, a priest in the Legate's suite
of the name of Rueda was chosen for that duty.'^
Accompanied by Rueda, Mezzabarba had a second audience
on January 3rd, 1721,^ and a third on January 10th, when
1 Ibid., 132-141.
2 Ibid., 127-132.
' Ibid., 142.
« Ibid., 141-8.
* Ibid., 150, 153.
' " Que pour faire connoitre a S. M. combien le Pape desiroit
entrer dans ses sentimens il avoit eu Thonneur de lui envoyer
beaucoup de permissions, dont on pouvoit faire usage, et qui
suffisoient pour faire connoitre que Ic Pape n'en veut pas aux
coutumes de la Chine, mais uniquement a ce qui offense la purete
duculte." Ibid., 15^ seq.
' Ibid., 155. * Ibid., 157-166.
47^ HISTORY OF THE POPES.
he was accompanied by Rueda and Rainaldi, but this time
Kanghi did all the talking and gave the Legate no chance to
reply. 1 After these somewhat intimate interviews there
dawned at last the day which Viani's diary describes as the
most splendid one for all the Europeans present, as a day
worthy of everlasting remembrance, which would have
meant peace for the mission, concord among the missionaries,
complete liberty to preach the Gospel, had not " the
abominable wickedness of certain godless men " promptly
destroyed everything.^ On January 14th, in presence of all
the Europeans, a solemn audience was held,^' when Kanghi
repeated * what he had already told Mezzabarba on
January 10th before a few witnesses, namely, that the use of
the tablets of the ancestors, which the Constitution forbade,
did not derive from Confucius and the classical' books ; they
were but the invention of insignificant scribes, whose writings
were hawked in the street for the entertainment of the ignorant
populace.^ The whole thing was a trivial matter and not
worthy of being submitted to the judgment of the imperial
tribunal, in fact it was so insignificant that it was not worth
talking about. The conversation then turned to the
prohibition of " Tien " and " Shang-Ti " as names of God ;
Kanghi again suggested that they should speak of something
else, for the things hitherto brought forward were of such
a trifling nature that he failed to understand why there had
been so much contention about them. Mezzabarba sought
of course to hold the Emperor to these concessions and
prayed him to sanction the directions of the papal decree
concerning the tablets of the ancestors and the names of God.^
1 Ibid., 176-180.
' Ibid., 181 seq.
» Ibid., 182.
* Ibid., 186.
6 Ibid., 178.
• There were at least four accounts of the proceedings at
the audience of January 14 {ibid., 208, 217, 218, 219). By order
of Kanghi the Mandarins had to keep a diary of Mezzabarba's
Legation from December 25, 1720, onwards : further information
THE LEGATE S JOY. 477
The Legate and the missionaries were overjoyed at the
issue of the audience for they imagined that, in view of
Kanghi's remarks on the veneration of the ancestors and the
divine names, the whole question of the rites was now disposed
of and that the Emperor would allow the Constitution to
be published.^ The Jesuits alone did not share the universal
jubilation. 2 The Emperor, they said, had not been serious ;
he often spoke somewhat cryptically and it was necessary
to wait for his decree before one could know his real intentions.^
That they knew and understood Kanghi better than the others
was to appear only too soon, but their reserve amid the
universal satisfaction was made a reproach to them. It is not
difficult to see who were the godless men of abominable
wickedness of whom Viani, the enemy of the Jesuits, wrote.
Ripa observed to the Legate that he and the other missionaries
of Propaganda doubted not that the Jesuits would induce
the Emperor to withdraw his concessions.^
in Anecdotes, V., 210-220, 226-236. The report of the Mandarins
on the audiences of January 14 and 19 is given word for word,
ibid., 215 seqq., 228 seqq. On the meaning of the Emperor's
words the Mandarins say {ibid., 220) : " Les Europ6ens ne
comprirent pas le sens des reponses de I'empereur, qui avait
parle par ironie ; et parce que le legat avoit fait instance sur
instance pour obtenir ce qu'il demandoit ; et quelques Europeens
ont presque ete persuades que I'empereur avoit accorde tout ce
qu'on lui avoit demande." On the audience of January 14, cf.
the memorial of M. Tamburini, General of the Jesuits to Innocent
XIII., in Anecdotes, VI., 353-373 ; also Appendix No. 9.
^ Anecdotes, IV., 193 seq.
* Ibid., 192, 194 seq.
' Le P. Morao dit . . . qu'il ne falloit pas chanter avant la
victoire ; que I'empereur avoit parle ironiquement ; qu'il ne
falloit pas compter sur les paroles d'un prince accoutume a etre
mysterieux dans ses discours ; qu'il falloit attendre le Chy, dont
le monarque se ser\'oit pour manifester ses veritables sentimens. . . .
Les autres Jesuites entrerent dans les memes sentimes et parl^rent
le meme language." Ibid., igg seq.
* Ibid., 200. Already on January 16 we read that {Anecdotes,
v., 227) the Emperor had changed his mind.
478 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
There is, of course, no evidence of the Jesuits having taken
any steps in that sense, but the Emperor's sentiments were
soon revealed. In the gladness of his heart Mezzabarba was
anxious to dispatch Raimond and Rueda at once with a letter
to communicate the great news to the Pope, but after the
message had been translated into Chinese and submitted to
the Emperor, there was no further question of the embassy.^
Kanghi now asked to see the text of the papal Constitution. ^
When it was returned it bore the following concluding observa-
tion 3 : " All that can be said about this decree is that one
asks oneself how the Europeans, ignorant and contemptible
as they are, presume to deliver judgment on the lofty teaching
of the Chinese, seeing that they know neither their manners
and their customs nor their letters. To-day the Legate
presents a decree which teaches a doctrine similar to that of
the impious sects of the Hoxans and Tassus who tear one
another with pitiless cruelty. It is not advisable to allow the
Europeans to proclaim their law in China. They must be
forbidden to speak of it ; in this way many difficulties and
embarrassments will be avoided."
Mezzabarba replied to the Emperor in a letter in which
he once again prayed for freedom to preach Christianity
in its pure form, whilst promising complete submission on
the part of the Christians in respect to everything else. The
Jesuits were of opinion that the letter would only further
rouse the Emperor and refused to sign it ; were they to do so^
they said, their position in China would be untenable and the
mission would be doomed. The only thing for the Legate to
do was to suspend the Constitution. But this Mezzabarba
was not empowered to do.^ So the Jesuits sought another
way out of the difficulty. The Constitution, some of them
argued, was merely a papal " command " ; now a command
* Viani holds the Jesuits responsible for the disappearance
of the letter. Ibid., 2og.
* Ibid., 210 seqq., 216.
» Ibid., 219.
* Ibid., 220 seq.
DISILLUSIONMENT. 479
does not oblige if its execution is fraught with grievously
injurious consequences, as was the case with the Constitution.^
The mandarins now informed the Legate that the Emperor
would not receive him any longer, but that he was free to
submit in writing whatever he might have to say.^ It would
seem that only now did Mezzabarba forward to the Emperor
the hst of concessions which he had brought from Rome.^
Whilst his letter on the subject was being translated into
Chinese, Pedrini and Ripa were arrested under his very eyes
and taken to prison. When the mandarins presented them-
selves once more before Mezzabarba, on January 19th, the
two missionaries were made to accompany them in chains.^
On the same day the mandarins declared in the name of the
Emperor that, as a matter of fact, the forbidden rites were
equivocal, but that the Chinese put the right interpretation on
them, just as the Chinese names for Ripa, Tournon,
Mezzabarba were borrowed from the customs of idolatrous
sects but were nevertheless perfectly harmless. The Emperor
would send his decision immediately ; as a matter of fact it
came that same afternoon. It was written in the Emperor's
own hand, in red characters, and was a refusal.^ Kanghi
^ Ibid., 222 seqq.
" Ibid., 226 seq.
3 His letter, ibid., 230 seq.
* Ibid., 231.
" Ibid., 235. Of Mezzabarba's eight concessions {ibid., 117 seq. ;
lus pontif., III., 77 seq.) the Emperor takes into consideration
Nos. I, 3, 5, 6. The restrictive clause in them is considered un-
founded, and the remaining concessions are thereby also disposed
of. Regarding the first concession, viz. the use of the tablets of the
ancestors, provided only the name of the deceased is written
on them, with a short marginal explanation of the meaning of
such tablets — Kanghi remarked sarcastically : these are, there-
fore, tablets of ancestors after the manner of the idolatrous Hoxans.
From this it was concluded that the Emperor was ready to grant
to the Christians such corrected tablets (notes to Viani's diary
in Anecdotes, IV., 384). However, among the Hoxans only the
(despised) priests used such corrected tablets, whereas their
adherents simply followed the usual Chinese custom.
480 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
added a lengthy attack on Yentang, viz. Maigrot, who, he
alleged, was the cause of all the mischief and who was
determined to decide the question though he did not know
fifty Chinese characters. The mandarins further explained
that the Emperor was thinking of communicating his decision
to all the Christian Princes via Moscow.^
Mezzabarba had perforce to admit that his mission was a
complete failure : recognition by the Emperor of Clement XL's
Bull on the rites was not to be thought of. He now yielded
to the insistence of those who begged him to suspend it at
least to the extent of writing to Kanghi, praying him to
extend his pardon to those Europeans who had trespassed
in any way, and to refrain, for the time being, from carrying
out his threat of informing the Christian Princes. He himself
would inform the Pope of the Emperor's sentiments ; mean-
while he would not interfere, or change anything, but would
leave things as they were.^ The letter also bore the signatures,
of five Jesuits and seven Propaganda missionaries.^
There was nothing more for Mezzabarba to do in China.
However, through the intervention of the Jesuits he was
received in audience on January 20th, when Kanghi once
more vented his resentment against Pedrini and Maigrot,
as the authors of all the trouble, and against the Pope. The
Legate prayed for leaVe to take his departure ; this was
granted on condition that he came back to China with a
favourable answer from the Pope.* The Emperor's anger
vented itself both against Pedrini who had been made to read
one of his accusations against the Jesuits in the latter's
presence, and against their Superior, Laureati, who had been
instrumental in bringing together Mezzabarba and the
Emperor. When Laureati was discovered in his hiding place
^ Ibid., 420.
* " Je m'offre d'aller a Rome informer le Pape des sentimens
de Votre Majcste : en attendant je ne changerai rien, je ne ferai
aucun acte, et je laisserai les choses en I'etat oii elles sent."
Ibid., 245 seq.
' Ibid., 247.
* Ibid., 250-4.
mezzabarba's failure. 481
in a house outside Peking, he was thrown into chains ^ ;
at the intercession of the Legate he was, however, set at
hberty.^
In the sequel Mezzabarba was repeatedly received by the
Emperor. On January 26th Kanghi re-stated his view on
the tablets of the ancestors. Nobody, he said, beheved that
the souls of the dead were present in them, and no one asked
or hoped for any favours from them.^ On the 27th, on the
occasion of a banquet, the Emperor again singled out the
Legate as well as the Russian ambassador, by offering them
a cup of wine with his own hands, ^ a gesture repeated by
him at the farewell audience of March 1st.'' Mezzabarba
had to plead once more on behalf of Pedrini. The Emperor
had ordered the mandarins to draw up an account X)f the
various incidents of Mezzabarba's legation, but Pedrini
refused to sign the document inasmuch as it accused him of
having transmitted lies to Rome. For this the Emperor
ordered him to receive the bastinado, whereupon Pedrini
allowed himself to be persuaded to subscribe.^ But this
time Mezzabarba's intercession was in vain ; the Emperor
condemned him to imprisonment, but allowed him to serve
^ Laureati to Cerii, February, 1721, ibid., 260 ; cf. 255, 258.
» Ibid., 266.
' " Le monarque lui dit, que la cause pour laquelle il avoit ete
envoye etc it finie, qu'il cro^'oit devoir encore lui declarer, que la
doctrine des tablettes n'etoit conforme ni a ccllc de Confucius
ni aux loix de I'empire, et qu'elle doit son institution a la fantaisie
des peuples, qui depuis deux cents ans au plus, .avoient fait des
portraits, qu'on a gardes pour conserver le souvenir des ancetres ;
que les peuples s'appercevant du peu de ressemblance de ces
portraits, leur substituerent des tablettes avec Tinscription :
" Siege de I'esprit," quoique tout le monde fut persuade que
I'esprit des defunts n'etoit pas present a ces tablettes, uniquement
etablies pour se rappeller le souvenir des ancetres'; que personne
n'en esperoit ni bieu ni avantage et que par consequent on ne
leur demandoit rien." Ibid., 268 scq.
* Ibid., 271.
* /fcirf., 328.
* Ibid., 309, 311, 317, 326. Cf. above, p. 480.
VOL. XXXIII. li
482 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
his sentence in the Jesuit residence at Peking. On the part
of the Emperor this meant an act of leniency, but for the
Jesuits the fact of their being made the gaolers of a fellow
missionary was fraught with the worst consequences. ^ On
March 3rd, 1721, provided with presents for the Pope and
the King of Portugal, Mezzabarba set out from Peking for
Macao which he reached on May 27th,2 after a thirteen
days' stay at Canton and a few weeks after Clement XL's
death.
Mezzabarba remained at Macao until the end of the year
and from there addressed a pastoral instruction to the Bishops,
the Vicars Apostolic and the missionaries. ^ After a lengthy
introduction he exhorts them to concord, which would be
established by the execution of all the Pope's commands of
the year 1715. There was no need to promulgate these
commands anew and he himself permitted none of the things
which they forbade. A passage of his letter, January 19th,
1721, recurs here : " We make no innovations but leave
things as they are." ^ Contrary to what had been asked of
him at the imperial residence,^ Mezzabarba expressly declares
that he in no wise suspended Clement XL's Constitution on
the rites and permitted nothing that it forbade. Never-
theless, in order to meet certain scruples in connection with
the use of the rites, he mentions a few customs which could
be tolerated, though the missionaries must see to it that they
were gradually abolished and replaced by Christian practices.
There follow eight concessions of which there had been question
soon after his arrival in China. ^ Permission is given (1°) to
keep ancestral tablets in private houses, on condition that they
1 Cf. XXXIV, 90.
2 Anecdotes, VL, 330-8.
=» It is also embodied in tlic Constitution of I'^cnedict XIV.
of October 4, 1/42, Ins pontif.. III., 73-83 ; Collectanea. 137 seq.
' " Non enim opus est, ut aliquem actum faciamus, ut
[dementis XL] mandata iam promulgata vobis innotescant. . . .
Nihil proinde innovamus, sed relinquimus res prout sunt "
{his pontif., III., 77). Cf. above, p. 480, n. 2.
6 Above, p. 478. » Above, p. 374.
HIS CONCESSIONS. 483
bore nothing but the name of the dead, that a statement
on the meaning of tlie tablet was put by their side, that
there was no superstitious practice in the making of the
tablets and no risk of scandal. 2° All ceremonies for the dead
which are neither superstitious nor suspect, but bear a purely
civil character, are allowed. 3° The cult of Confucius is
also allowed in so far as it is a purely civil ceremony : the
tablets with his monogram are also allowed, if they are
corrected and explained in the same way as the tablets of
the ancestors. Candles and perfumes might be burnt before
such tablets and food could be set before them. 4° Candles
and perfumes may be offered at funerals if accompanied by
a written explanation. 5° Inclinations, genuflections and
the prostration of the whole body before the corrected ancestral
tablets, or before the bier, or the bodies of the dead, are also
tolerated. 6° Tables with sweets, fruit, meat and other food
may be set beside, or before the bier, provided the ancestral
tablet was corrected and explained and every trace of supersti-
tion removed and if everything was done solely out of respect
and piety towards the dead. 7° The so-called " Kotau "
before the corrected ancestral tablet at the new year is likewise
permitted. 8° Candles ma}^ be lit, perfumes burnt before
the corrected ancestral tablets as well as upon the graves,
where food maj' also be placed, but only with the safe-guards
indicated above.
There follows an appeal to the missionaries' zeal and an
exhortation that all should resume their activities. The
concessions may be cautiously brought to the notice of the
Chinese Christians in so far as it may be useful or necessary.
For the rest the instruction is exclusively addressed to the
missionaries and it is forbidden, under pain of excommunica-
tion, to translate it into the Tartar or the Chinese language
or to communicate it to anyone.
In his Bull on the Chinese rites,^ Benedict XIV. declared that
the last clause in particular clearly betrayed the embarrass-
ment in which Mezzabarba found himself. Shortly before
Benedict had written to John V. of Portugal that Mezzabarba's
^ luspontif., III., 79.
484 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
concessions tended either to deprive Clement XL's
Constitution of its binding force, or to destroy it altogether ;
either the Legate had exceeded his powers, or his instructions
had been given too wide an interpretation, or put in a wrong
light by those who wished to do away with Clement XL's
Constitution on the basis of these concessions.^ On the other
hand it would seem that Mezzabarba did not altogether act
on his own initiative. Numerous questions had reached Rome
from missionaries in China on which the Pope sought the
opinion of Maigrot and Leonessa. Their answers were
communicated to Mezzabarba with instructions to exercise
his own discretion in acting on them, though of course the
Holy See had not bound itself to confirm the use made by the
Legate of these opinions. ^ This much is certain that
Mezzabarba's instructions were bound to increase the confusion
in China. He had stated that the practices could be tolerated
in so far as they were of a purely civil and not of a religious
nature. But what rites were purely civil ? That was precisely
the burning problem. Hence the core of the question was not
tackled and nothing was decided ; those who regarded the
Chinese rites as indifferent from the religious standpoint,
might very well persuade themselves that Mezzabarba's
declarations had practically robbed Clement XL's directions
of their binding force. For the rest it does not seem that
Mezzabarba forfeited the papal favour. He arrived in Europe
towards the end of 1721 ; in 1725 he was made Bishop of Lodi ;
there he died on December 7th, 1741.^
^ " Convinti . . ., che le permissioni del Patriarca tiravano o a
enervarla [the Constitution of Clement XL] o a distruggerla,
che il medesimo Patriarca o aveva ecceduto i limiti dellc sue
commissioni, o che le sue determinazioni crano state dilatate,
o poste in diverse aspetto da quelle in quelle, in cui le voleva,
da chi in seguela di esse pretendeva di ridurre a nulla la costitu-
zione di Clemente XI." Letter of August 11, 1742, in Tiih.
Theol. Quartalschr., LXXXIII. (1901), 384.
* Brucker, in Diet, de thiol, cath., IL, 2386 seq.
' Gams, 794 ; Cappeletti, Chiese d'ltnlia, XII., Venezia,
1857, 387- Jann (508), relying on Pkrsico-Strickland, says
erroneously that he died at Macao.
THE MALABAR RITES. 485
(8.)
The decision of yet another ritual question, that of the
Malabar rites, which is likewise linked with Tournon's name,
falls into the pontificate of Clement XI. ^ However, in this
instance there was question not of rites observed on the
Malabar coast but in the interior of the country. The greater
part of the coastal territory had long ago been converted to
Christianity, but when the missionaries penetrated further
inland they met with almost insuperable opposition ; only
after Robert de' Nobili had adapted himself to Indian ideas
in the greatest measure possible did the preaching of the
Gospel begin to yield fruits in those parts. ^ Nobili's colleagues
followed his example, in particular, they strictly respected
the distinction of castes ; there were special missionaries
for the pariahs and for the higher castes, and the results were
remarkable. By the end of the seventeenth century we hear of
150,000 Christians in Southern India, whose conduct was
a credit to Christianity. In 1700 Venantius Bouchet founded
a French mission in addition to the existing Portuguese one,
which likewise did most fruitful work. To this French mission
was due the revival of the question of the Malabar rites which
had been seemingly disposed of by Gregory XV. during
Nobili's lifetime.
In Pondicherry the spiritual care of the European colonists,
as well as the evangelization of the natives, was in the hands
of the Capuchins. In 1699 the Bishop of Meliapur transferred
the evangelization of the pagans exclusively to the French
Jesuits. The Capuchins were dissatisfied with this
arrangement ; so they sent one of their number to Rome,
with mission to protest at the same time against the procedure
of the Jesuits in the evangelization of the pagans. When
their envoy reached Rome in 1703, Tournon had only just
left ^ with instructions not onl}^ to restore order in China, but
1 Cf. fi. Amann in Diet, de theol. cath., IX., 1704-1745 ; J.
Brucker, in The Cath. Encyclopedia, IX., 558-562 ; Jann,
394-422, 508-512, 473-485-
* Cf. the present work, XXV., 358 seqq. » Jann, 412.
486 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
with the right also to deal with the situation in India. Tournon
arrived in Pondicherry on November 6th, 1703, and remained
there till July, 1704, during which period he was mostly
confined to bed by illness. In spite of his dislike of the Jesuits
he decided the dispute with the Capuchins in their favour and
excommunicated the Capuchins when they refused to submit
to his verdict.^ On the other hand, in a decree of June 23rd,
1704, he finds fault with some of the Jesuits' methods of
evangelization such as,^ for instance, their manner of
administering Baptism. From time immemorial, in imitation
of the Gospel (Mark vii., 33), one of the ceremonies of Baptism
was the breathing upon the neophyte and touching him with
saliva. But the Indians felt an insuperable disgust for this
rite, with the consequence that the missionaries took the
liberty of omitting it, as well as the use of salt, in the
administration of the Sacrament. Tournon ordered these
ceremonies to be observed, and that quite openly. Moreover
the Hindus often bore names derived from pagan divinities,
or from famous penitents. Tournon ordered that the neophytes
must be given Christian names and that the Baptism of the
children of Christian parents should not be unduly delayed.
The custom also prevailed in Southern India of marrying
children of six or seven years of age, when a so-called " Tally ",
that is, a small gold tablet with the image, though scarcely
recognizable, of a Hindu matrimonial divinity was suspended
round the neck of the girl. Tournon took steps against this
custom : marriages could only be contracted at a more
advanced age and the " Tally " was to be replaced by the
image of the cross of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, etc. As for
the ceremonies in use at weddings, the Legate found them to
be so mixed up with superstition that the best thing was to
forbid them altogether. However, he invited the missionaries
to make another attempt at weeding out the superstitious
elements. The appearance of the first symptoms of ph3^sical
maturity in girls must not be made the occasion of a family
' Ibii., 410 seq. ; Iiis pontif.,!!., 242 scq.
* The full text of the Decree is in the Constitution of Benedict
XIV. of September 12. 1744 ; cf. Collectanea, 154-7.
tournon's prohibitions. 487
feast, nor were women to be debarred at certain periods from
the Sacraments, or from entering the church, as if they were
unclean. The custom was to carry pariahs, when in mortal
sickness, to the church for the reception of the Last Sacraments.
Tournon commanded the missionaries to visit them, if possible,
in their own houses. Christian musicians were forbidden to
play at pagan religious festivals, and this under pain of
excommunication. Lastly he forbade the practices by the
observance of which Nobili had sought to win for himself
the prestige enjoyed by the Saniassi penitents, viz. baths,
markings with ashes on the forehead and the wearing of
certain cords. Christians were likewise forbidden to read or
to keep superstitious or immoral pagan books ; this also
under pain of excommunication. The Superiors of the Jesuits
were ordered to promulgate the decree under pain of
excommunication, and their subjects to observe it under pain
of suspension. It did not follow that some other superstitious
practices were approved because they were not expressly
mentioned in the decree. When the Jesuits observed that
several of the condemned practices were not in use in their
churches, Tournon replied that he did not forbid them because
they were practised, but lest they should be practised. ^
The decree was only communicated to the Jesuits on
July 8th, three days before Tournon's departure. ^ Their
consternation was very great ; in their opinion the immediate
execution of the decree would prove a most serious obstacle
to the progress of the mission, yet they had only three days
in which to remonstrate with the Legate since Tournon was
resolved to proceed at once to China. However, they obtained,
though only by word of mouth, a three years' delay for the
execution of the decree.^ But the Archbishop of Goa,
Augustine of the Annunciation, would not hear of this three
' " Non quod fiant, sed ne fiant." Amann, he. cit., 1724.
2 Collectanea, 157.
' Amann, loc. cit., describes this oral admission as " absolutely
certain " : " restriction verbale, mais qui est absolument certaine."
J ANN (413) speaks of a " supposed " oral declaration by the
Legate.
488 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
years' surcease. He forbade the execution of Tournon's
orders inasmuch as, in his opinion, it would mean the ruin
of the Christian communities. He announced that he would
report to the Holy See, especially as he was doubtful about
the powers of Tournon who refused to exhibit his credentials.^
In a pastoral letter of May 12th, 1706, he openly opposed
Tournon's mission, ^ for which he was, of course, taken to
task by the Pope.^ Meanwhile the Roman Inquisition had
decided on January 7th, 1706, that Tournon's decree must
be observed until the Holy See, after hearing the other
side, should provide otherwise ^ ; at the same time the
Franciscan Conventual John Damascene was instructed to
draw up a brief survey of all the Capuchins' accusations
against the Jesuits.^
Since the Inquisition had expressed a readiness to listen
to any objections against the decision, the Jesuits took
advantage of the invitation. The Procurator of the Malabar
Mission, the Portuguese Francis Troyano Laynes, defended
in Rome, in a detailed dissertation, the standpoint of the
Jesuit missionaries. •" After Laynes' appointment as coadjutor
to the Bishop of Meliapur in 1708 and liis return to India,
his companion, the Frenchman Venantius Bouchet, received
from Clement XI. an oral declaration that Tournon's decree
had to be observed, though with the exception of those clauses
which, in the opinion of the missionaries, would be contrary
to the salvation of souls and the glory of God.' Thereupon
> Jann, 413.
* Ibid., 416 seq.
* Briefs of October 30, 1706, and January i, 1707, ibid.,
418 seq., 420 seqq.
* " Donee aliter a Sede Apost. provisum fucrit, postquam cos
audierit, si qui erunt, qui aliquid adversus contenta in huiusmodi
decreto affcrendum habuerint." Collectanea, 157.
" Ibid., 158.
* Title in Sommervogel, Bibliothequc, IV., 1595 ; cf. II.. 86.
' " Exceptis iis, quae ipsi patres missionarii in sua conscientia
coram Deo iudicaverint obstare bono aniinarum et maiori gloriae
Dei," in Amann, 1726.
VISDELOU. 489
the opinion spread in Southern India that Tournon's decree
had been completely abolished and that the Pope had
sanctioned at least a good number of the ceremonies which
that document condemned. Clement XI. coimtered this idea
with a Brief dated September 17th, 1712 ^ ; at the same time
he forwarded the earlier decree of the Inquisition so that all
might see what was his will even at this time.
In view of the Pope's oral declaration it is not surprising
that Lajmes, who soon after his return succeeded to the see of
Meliapur on the death of his predecessor, promulgated only
parts of Tournon's decree. Rome, too, remained long in the
dark as to whether the Brief of 1712 had reached its destination
for in June, 1712, Laynes had gone to Bengal. ^ Accordingly,
on July 24th, 1715, the Prefect of Propaganda wrote not to
Laynes but to Visdelou, Bishop of Claudianopolis and Vicar
Apostolic of Kweitsheu, in China, who, after his expulsion
from China,^ had gone to reside at Pondicherry : Visdelou
was instructed to promulgate the decrees if Laynes failed
to do his duty. Laynes was dead by the time Visdelou tried
to get in touch with him, so the latter himself published, on
January 11th, 1716, the decree of the Inquisition of 1706 and
the papal confirmation of it of the year 1712.* However,
Pondicherr}^ was a French colony where the Galilean liberties
were upheld. The Royal Council contested Visdelou's
authority to make the promulgation and a similar attitude
was adopted by the Vice-Provincial of the French Jesuits
of Pondicherry and the Procurator of the Jesuit Mission in
India. The consequence was a deep cleavage, not indeed
among the simple faithful, who were not acquainted with
the disputes among their pastors, but among the missionaries.^
Visdelou had been obHged to publish the decree of the
Inquisition of 1706 which concluded with a statement of
the Congregation's wilhngness to listen to objections, nor
^ Collectanea, J ^8 ; J its poniif., II., 2()6 seq.
2 Amann, 1726.
^ Above, p. 447.
* ]AJ>iy, ^y 8 seqq.
6 Ibtd.,483.
490 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
was Clement XL's oral declaration revoked. The Jesuits,
accordingly, had recourse to Rome. The Pope received them
kindly ^ and entrusted the Malabar question for fresh examina-
tion to Prosper Lambertini, the future Benedict XIV., but
Clement XI. died before Lambertini came to a final decision ;
only as Pope Benedict XIV. was he to settle the question
definitively. It is not improbable that the foundation, under
dement XL, of a special school for diplomatists was prompted
by the Holy See's experience with its diplomatists in China.^
1 " Haud difficilem se praebuit Clemens XL audiendis mission-
ariis . . . eorumquc preces benigne excepit." Benedict XIV.,
September 12, 1744, Collectanea, 158.
* F. Procaccini, La Pontificia Accademia del Nobili Ecclesi-
astici. Memoria stor., Roma, 1889 ; P. Nardini, L' Accademia del
Nobili Ecclesiastici, in Riv. del Collegio araldico, IV. (1906) ;
Jann, 508.
CHAPTER VIII.
The City of Rome and the Papal States — Furthering
OF Science and Art — Death of Clement XI.
The difficulties which Clement XL had to encounter as
head of the Papal States were scarcely less than those he met
with in the ecclesiastical sphere. Not only did the warlike
events during the struggle for the Spanish succession greatly
injure his subjects, but physical catastrophes of the worst
kind spread fear and terror among the people.
At Christmas, 1701, Rome was visited by an inundation
of the Tiber. Clement XI. did all he could to relieve the
sufferings of the unfortunate people, spending more than
30,000 scudi in alms.^ Another inundation followed on
December 22nd, 1702. Though of short duration, this flood
also wrought immeasurable damage. ^ Again the Pope
distributed abundant alms. But he also enforced some very
remarkable sanitary laws, as advised by his trusted physician,
the celebrated Lancisi. The authorities were instructed not
only to clear the streets, squares, and other places in their
houses which the flood had reached, of all refuse, but also to
clean out the sewers and wells. He likewise gave orders for
the heating of the damp rooms, and the inhabitants were
enjoined not to occupy them until they had been thoroughly
* *Giornale del pontificate di Clemente XI., in Borghese, I.,
578, Papal Secret Archives.
* * Report of Canon Schedelich to Prince A. Fl. Liechtenstein,
dated Rome, December 23, 1702, Liechtenstein Archives, Vienna ;
*Avviso Marescotti, December 30, 1702, Bibl. Vittorio Emanuele,
Rome ; * Report in Urh. 1655, P- 250 seqq., Vatican Library.
Cf. Cecconi, Diario, 622.
491
492 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
dried.i On January 4th, 1703, the Ghetto was again flooded,
but the river subsided on the following day.^
This calamity was but the foreboding of further misfortunes
which were about to befall the Eternal City. On the evening
of January 14th, 1703, Rome was shaken by an earthquake
accompanied by a hurricane of wind and rain which, though
short in duration, was very violent. The Church bells rang
of their own accord. Even the bell on the Pope's table
sounded of its own accord whilst the secretary of memorials
was making his report. Clement hurried into his oratory,
where he found several of his household, and made his
confession. In all the churches of the city people of all
classes gathered to pray. On the following day the Pope
went to St. Peter's two hours before sunrise, and said Mass
in the presence of a large crowd. ^ He then summoned the
Cardinals to a consistory and exhorted them to appease
God's anger by works of penance.'* In Rome, where even
strong buildings showed cracks, fear was so great that many
people spent the night in the Campagna, sheltering in huts
or carriages, in spite of the rain. Reports soon came in of the
immense damage caused by the earthquake in many parts of
the States of the Church, especially at Norcia, Spoleto, Rieti
and Urbino. To all these places the Pope sent generous help.^
^ C. Langer, Die Assanierttngsfrage in Rom, in den Jakren
1695 und 1714. Extract from Miiteil. des Vereins der Arzte in
Niederosterreich, n. 2. Cf. also PIaeser, III.*, 397. *Edict on the
" spurgo delle case ", January 22, 1703, in Editti, V., 51, Papal
Sec. Archives. This ordinance was repeated in 1709, 1718, and
1 719 {ibid.).
^ *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit.
' Schedelich's *report to Prince A. Fl. Liechtenstein, dat.
Rome, January 20, 1703, loc. cit. ; *Diary of Count Lamberg and
*Avviso of January 20, 1703, Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein ;
♦Report in Urb., 1655, p. 256, Vat. Library ; Buder, L, 456 seq. ;
Cecconi, Diario, 623. * Op., Oral., 14.
' *GiornaIe di Clemente XL, loc. cit. ; Lamberg's *Diary,
loc. cit. Cf. Lafitau, L, 107 seq. On the earthquake of 1703, see
G. Baglivi, 0pp. medicO'practica, Lugduni, 1704, 501-538, 689-
691.
EARTHQUAKES. 493
Fresh, though less violent earth tremors followed. The
Pope went to the Lateran on January 16th where he proclaimed
an Indulgence and a procession of intercession. " To-day,"
Count Lamberg wrote in his diary, " everyone has been to
confession, has fasted and gone to St. Peter's ; not even
during the Holy Year has such a concourse been witnessed." ^
The plays and fancy dress balls of the carnival were forbidden. ^
Instead of these amusements popular missions were ordered,
and these were very well attended. " The earthquake,"
a contemporary wrote, " has become a great preacher." ^
On January 26th Clement XI. visited the four principal
churches and himself heard confessions at St. Peter's. The
processions through the streets of the city on the following
day were extended to the 2!)th, to enable everyone to take
part in them.* The Pope set up a special Congregation for
a more effective relief of the material misery.''
On Candlemas Day at nine o'clock in the morning, whilst
the usual blessing of the candles was taking place in the
Sistine Chapel, there occurred such a violent earthquake that
everyone present fled. The Pope alone remained calm and
fell on his knees on the altar steps. Afterwards he went to
pra}^ in St. Peter's, although he was told that the pillars of
Bernini's baldachino had been shaken and that mortar had
^ Lamberg's *Diary, loc. cit.
* *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit.
^ *Avviso of January 27, 1703 (Lamberg Archives) : Enormous
concourse, especially of the nobility, at the mission in S. Ignazio '.
Cardinals also attended, " il che reca gran consolatione al Papa per
11 gran frutto che fanno, onde si conosce di non essere morta la
fede in Roma. Li somma il tremoto e stato un gran predicatore a
Roma." Luxury was such that on account of the extravagant
expenditure by women, both nobles and commoners were un-
willing to marr5^ Cf. also *Avviso of January 23, 1703, in Cod. ital.,
197, State Library, Munich.
* *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit.
* *Avvisi of January 30 and March 30, 1703, Cod. ttal., 197,
loc. cit.
494 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
fallen from the cupola. In the afternoon he visited the holy
stairs at the Lateran.^
The damage done by the earthquake of February 2nd was
considerable. The church of S. Lorenzo in Damaso suffered
especially. Three arches of the second tier of the Colosseum
collapsed ; the stones were used for the building of the
.Ripetta harbour. Cracks could be seen in St. Peter's, the
Vatican and the Quirinal. Fontana estimated the cost of
the necessary repairs at 700,000 scudi.^
In the night of February 2nd to 23rd the Romans, already in
a state of the utmost alarm, were again thrown into the greatest
terror. Thieves, with a view to plunder, spread the rumour
^ Schecielich's *report to Prince A. Fl. Liechtenstein, February
3, 1703, loc. cit. ; *Avviso of February 3, 1703, Liechtenstein
Archives, Vienna. Cf. Gravina's report in Giorn. stor. d. lett. ital.,
Suppl., I., 135 ; Lafitau, I., no. Reboulet (L, 100) omits this,
the most violent of all the earthquake shocks. Cf. Giov. Andrea
LoRENZANi, " *Racconto delle inondazioni e terra moti accaduti
in Roma e Stato Ecclesiastico come in altri dominii " (October 18,
1702, to the end of 1703), Cod. Barb., 1699, Vat. Library, and the
extremely rare account of Lucantonio Chracas (with a wood-cut
showing the damage) : Racconto istorico de' terremoti sentiti in
Roma, e in parte dello Stato Ecclesiastico, e in altri liioghi la sera
de' 14 di Gennaro e la mattina de' 2 Febbraio dclVanno 1703 :
Nel quale sinarrano i danni fatti dalmedesinio, etc. . . . iprovvedi-
menti da Sua Santitd [Clement XL], presi con ogni maggiore solleci-
tudine e amove in sollievo de' luoghi rovinati, Roma, Per de
Martiis, nella stamp, di Gio. Franc. Chracas, 1704.
2 Cf. Avviso of February 20, 1703, Cod. ital., 197, State Librarj^
Munich, and *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit. On the Colosseum,
see Clementi, II Colosseo, Roma, 1912, 202. In 1701 Clement XL
conceived the unhappy idea of making of the lower corridors a
saltpetre depot for the near by Polveriera. On the other hand, in
1 71 2 he undertook repairs and liad the railings round the building
renovated {cf. Stitdi e docimi., 1897, 139). In 17 14 a scientific
examination of the edifice was begun ; see Babucke, Gesch. des
Kolosseums, Konigsberg, 1899 ; Colagrossi, L'amfiteatro
Flaviano, Plrenze, 1919, 216.
A NIGHT ALARM. 495
throughout the city that Rome would be destroyed within
two hours. Thereupon everyone fled into the gardens or tlie
open squares where indescribable scenes were enacted. The
half-dressed inhabitants cried for mercy, threw themselves on
their knees, and full of contrition, awaited the hour of their
death. Mothers kissed their children for the last time, married
people and friends embraced each other. Many confessed
their crimes publicly ; others confessed in the open streets.
The air resounded with the cry : " Holy God, have mercy
on us." The Pope took immediate measures to calm the
people and to safeguard their belongings. At the same time
he ordered a search for the originators of the false rumour,
but they were never discovered.^ Only gradually did the
inhabitants regain their calm. Many continued to sleep in
the open or in the gardens, as did Cardinal Ottoboni and
many nobles. ^
Clement XI was not content with ordering numerous
penitential processions. He saw in the earthquakes a
punishment for sin, hence he took steps to raise the moral
standard of his capital. Among other things he enforced the
observance of Sunday and the law of fasting.^ In a consistory
of February 19th he announced that the 22nd was to be
observed as a day of thanksgiving for the safety of the city.
He also ordered the Te Demn to be sung every year in the
papal chapel on Candlemas Day, and that the day before the
feast should be observed as a strict fast day.* This law is still
kept by the Romans to this day. A prayer against earth-
quakes was inserted in the Breviary, and later on a similar
^ A *report of February 7, 1703, which Lambcrg sent to the
Emperor, gives a vivid description of the panic ; copy in Liechten-
stein Archives, Vienna. Cf. *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit. ;
BuDER, L, 461 seq.
2 *Avviso of February 6, 1703, Cod. ital., iq-j, State Library,
Munich.
^ *Avviso of February 13 and 27, 1703, tbid. Cf. Buder, L,
4G4 seq.
* 0_^.,Orat., 15.
49^ HISTORY OF THE POPES.
one in the Missal.^ The Pope also ordered scientific observa-
tions to be made with a view to the possibihty of foreteUing
earthquakes.^
While these services and penitential exercises were still
in progress, there were evident signs that the earth was not
yet completely at rest. Slight shocks occurred again at
the end of March and the beginning of April, whilst on
April 15th a mighty whirlwind arose. On May 24th there
was another earthquake which, though less violent, caused
many to flee into the Campagna. The chronicles of Rome
report further storms and earthquakes on October 10th. ^
The earthquakes did far more damage in other parts of
the States of the Church than, in the Eternal City, particularh'
at Norcia, Foligno, Spoleto and Aquila. The Pope sent
generous succour to these places. A special Congregation
set up by him placed at the disposal of the people who camped
in the open the tents of the garrisons of Castel S. Angelo and
Civitavecchia. Food as well as money was distributed.
Spoleto, which had been specially hard hit, was the object
of particular attention ; the governor of the city caused an
inscription to be erected in memory of the Pope's liberality.
As late as 1704 Norcia, Terni and Narni received considerable
sums of money for the assistance of their inhabitants.^ In
November, 1705,^ and in April, 1706,^ Rome experienced
further shocks. These were followed by an unusually hot
summer, a severe drought and a bad harvest.^
The winter of 1709 was especially severe throughout the
whole of Europe. In Rome a sudden and quite unusually
cold spell occurred about the middle of January, and until
the middle of February there was snow and ice everywhere.
This caused an epidemic of influenza of which Lancisi has
^ *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit.
^ Pubhlicazioni della Specola Vaticana, Roma, 1891, 16 seq.
' *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit.
* BuDER, I., 465 seq., 501 seq., 550.
* Cecconi, Diario, 627.
* *Avviso, April 20, 1706, Cod. Hal., 197, loc, cit.
1 *Avvisi, June 22 and August 17, 1706, ibid.
CATTLE DISEASE. 497
left us a description. Once again very effective sanitary
measures were taken. These were not exclusively due to the
memorials of Lancisi, for the Pope also appointed a special
sanitary commission of which, besides Lancisi, the famous
anatomist Pachioni was also a member. Cardinals Colloredo,
Cenci and Este fell victims to the epidemic. In order to
restrict its ravages orders were given, under severe penalties,
for the streets of the entire city to be cleaned within eight
days, and the custom of throwing dirt and offal into the
streets and thoroughfares was prohibited. The ditches and
marshes in the Leonine city, especially those round Castel
S. Angelo, were cleared, and running water was carried from
the Vatican gardens, situate at a higher level, through a
channel down to the Tiber. A careful watch was kept over
the provision market, while physicians were enjoined to
devote particular attention to the poorer sections of the
population, and to arrange for the immediate removal of the
sick from the Campagna to the hospitals.^
There were a few more earth tremors at the beginning of
1711,^ after which Rome was spared this visitation. In 1713,
however, the cattle disease, then prevalent over the whole
of Europe, also visited the Campagna. There exists
a Considerable number of edicts which show what steps were
taken to arrest the progress of the contagion. In this instance
also Lancisi's advice was followed ; the latter rightly recognized
that the most effective preventive was the immediate
destruction of the diseased animals and the isolation of the
healthy ones. Markets were therefore forbidden. To forestall
injury to agriculture the farmers received money to purchase
cattle and sheep ; measures were also taken to ensure the
raising of live-stock. In this connection the Pope saw to
^ Langer, loc. cit., 9. Cf. Lafitau, I., 275 seq., and Historia
epiclemiac rheum., quae per hycmem anni 1709 [Romae] vagata
est, cf. I. M. Lancisius, Opera, collegit Ass.\ltus, 2, vol., Gcncvae,
1718.
* *Avviso, January 17, 171 1, Cod. ital., 198, loc. cit.
VOL. XXXIII. K k
498 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
a regular supply of grain. ^ In the year 1718 the Pope main-
tained some 8,000 poor people who had fled from the States
of the Church to Rome. In the previous 5-ear he had provided
Avignon with supplies of corn, and in 1720 he did the same
when Marseilles was visited by the plague. ^ The measures
against the spread of the epidemic were successful.^
During the whole of his pontificate Clement XI. displayed
the utmost anxiety to ensure the provisioning of Rome and
the promotion of agriculture, which had been so hard hit by
wars and physical catastrophes. But he lacked the strong
hand which would have been necessary to effect a complete
change.^ The old idea of draining the Pontine Marshes was
mooted anew. In this matter the selfish interests of Cardinal
Barberini clashed with the intentions of the Pope ; as
Commendatory Abbot of Fossanova, Barberini was afraid
lest his lands should be injured by the draining of the
surrounding territory.^ Extraordinary rainfalls caused
extensive flooding of the Po in the Romagna and epidemics
in the Marches of Ancona, in Umbria and in the Latium.
Clement XI. did all he could to help the. victims of these
calamities.^
The distribution of the States of the Church and the
1 Lancisi, De bovilla peste ex Campaniae finibus a. 1713 Latio
importata, Romae, 1715 ; *Miscell. di Clemente XL, 28, Papal
Secret Archives ; Langer, loc. cit., 13, says that even in our own
days no better measures could be taken. Abnormal weather
conditions prevailed also in 1714 ; see Pellicani's notes in the
essay by I. Galli : L'inverno tardivo del 1712 e le irregolaritd
delle stagioni nei secoli scorsi, in Mem. d. Pontif. Accad. dei Niiovi
Lincei,X.X.X. (1912).
2 NovAEs, XII., 271 seq.
» Cracas, for 1720.
* See the detailed description in r>KNiGNi, 68 scqq. Cf. De
CuPis, 292 seqq.
^ NicoLAi, De' bonificamcnti delle Terre Pontine, Roma, iSoo,
148 seqq. *Documents on this matter in Misccll. di Clemente XL,
t. 18, loc. cit. An *Avviso Marescotti of March 6, 1706, Bibl.
Vittorio Emanuele, Rome, reports the suspension of the work.
« Lafitau, II., 147 seq.
PRISON REFORM. 499
organization of their authorities remained unaltered under
Clement XI. There were twelve Provinces, viz. Rome with
its environs and the Patrimony properly so-called, the
Campagna Marittima, Umbria, the Sabina, the Duchy of
Spoleto, the Marches, Bologna, Romagna, the territories of
Ferrara, Urbino and Montefeltre. To these must be added
the enclave of Benevento and in France the Counties of
Avignon and Venaissin. The first named Provinces were
ruled by governors, some of whom were prelates, whilst
others were secular jurists. At Bologna, Ferrara, in the
Romagna and at Urbino, Cardinals with the title of Legates
were at the head, with Vice-Legates under them. Avignon
also had a Cardinal Legate. ^
In his biography of Clement XL the Frenchman Lafitau
mentions the Pope's solicitude for the administration of
justice. Judges who were not sufficiently impartial were
dismissed ; those who protracted cases were banished.^
Rome was ruled with a strong hand. In the early hours of
the morning police officers combed the streets and tore down
lampoons. The scandal of prostitution was successfully
stamped out.^ It was in keeping with this strictness that
a calumnious attack on the person of the Pope was treated
as a capital crime and punished by death.*
Whilst capital punishment continued to be carried out
in the usual barbarous manner, a new idea came into practice
in the treatment of prisoners, viz. that of reforming them.
In this respect Clement XL has the distinction of having been
a pioneer. When in 1703 he founded in Rome the prison of
S. Michele for youthful delinquents, the Pope gave orders
for the segregation of the prisoners into various classes,
^ *Discorso del dominio spirituale e temporale del Sommo
Pontefice Romano, in Cod. VIIL, G 28, p. 361 seqq., Liechtenstein
Archives, Vienna. ^ Lafitau, II., 247 seq.
^ P. A. Pancetti, *Lo stato presente della cittd e corte di Roma,
1 718-1 721, in Cod. Hal., 93, State Library, Munich.
* See Relazione della morte dell' abate F. Rivarola (1708), in
Arch. sior. Rom., V., 323 seqq. Cj. Bruzzone, TJn supplicio
di itn diarista, in Messaggero (Roma), 1913, June 3.
500 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
according to age and moral dispositions. He provided single
cells, especialty for the night-time, whilst he made the
prisoners work in common, when silence was enforced. His
principal care, however, was their reformation by means of
religious instructions and practices.^ Other salutary measures
for the peace of Rome were the suppression, soon after
Clement XL's accession, of the freedom of the quarter ^ and
his action against the bandits of the Campagna.^
The effect of warlike disturbances and physical catastrophes
is reflected by the state of the population of the Pontifical
States,^ especially that of Rome. At Clement's accession
the Eternal City numbered 149,447 inhabitants, though it
must be borne in mind that a jubilee was in progress that
year; hence the statistics for 1701, which showed 141,789
souls, indicate the normal population. The above number
sank to 132,728 by 1707, but by 1716 it had "again gradually
risen to 137,958. After that year it fell again, so that in the
year of the Pope's death Rome counted only 134,254
inhabitants.^ There were 315 churches, 38 public and private
^ Motu propria delta santa memoria di Clemente XI . sopra il
buon regolamento della casa di correzione, tanto per quello rigiiarda
il vitto e trattamento de' ragazzi delinqucnti, quanta anche rispetto
a gli emoliimcnti e pvivikgii, che assegna al Ospizia Aposiolica di
S. Michele, 1720. PIoltzendorff-Jagemann, Handbuch des
Gefdngniswesens, 2 vols.. (1888). Cf. Moroni, IX., 268 seq. ;
Stinimen aus Maria-Laach, LXXXVII., 311 seqq.
" BuDER, I., 131 seq.
3 ToMASSETTi, II., 286 seqq. Currency edicts of Clement XI.
iu Garampi, Sulvalore, 101 seqq.
* F. CoRRiDORE, La papalazione dcUo Stato Rouiano, 1656-1901,
Roma, 1906, 21 seqq., 6^ seqq.
^ Stiidi e dacum., XII. (1891), 182 seq. A census taken in the
Papal States in 1702 gave, according to Buder (I., 409), 1,900,000
souls, 300,000 less than in the time of Urban VIII. Beloch
[La papalazione d'ltalia nei secoli, XVI., XVII., and XVIII.,
Roma, 1888), gives (p. 16) for 1656: 1,565,338; for 1701,
1,841,937 ; for 1736, 1,656,585 inhabitants. In Zeitschr. fiir
Sazialwiss., III. (1900), 770, Beloch gives for 1656 and 1701 the
figures 1,878,650 and 1,983,994.
ENCOURAGEMENT OF LEARNING. 50T
hospitals and other charitable institutions. The number of
parishes rose from 81 to 86> The city was guarded by five
companies of infantry, a body of light horse and the Swiss
Guards. 2
The economic situation of Rome was bound to be very
adversely affected by the conflicts with the courts of Vienna,
Turin and Madrid. In the spring of 1711 there was a dearth
of money among all classes.^ How hard hit the Roman Curia
had been appears from the accounts at the close of 1718, when
the income of the Apostolic Camera and the Dataria showed
a loss of half a million scudi.^
In spite of the unfavourable financial situation Clement XI.
made vast pecuniary sacrifices in 1716 and 1717 for the war
against the Turks, and even so he still managed to promote
the arts and learning.
. (2.)
Clement XI. showed his love of learning above all by
enriching the Vatican Library, of which he was one of the
greatest patrons. He acquired for the Vaficana fifty-four
Greek manuscripts from Pius II. 's heirs. ^ When the niece
of the famous traveller, Pietro della Valle, sent him seventy-
six oriental manuscripts after her uncle's death in 1652, the
valuable Samaritan Pentateuch being among them, he also
assigned that collection to the Vaticana.** In July, 1711, the
Library was further enriched by the collection of MSS of
Abraham Ecchellensis and that of the Chaldean Patriarch
Joseph which were acquired by the Pope : these collections
consisted of sixty-three Syrian and Arabic, and eighteen
^ Studi e docuni., XII., 198.
2 Pancetti, loc. cit.
3 *Avviso of April 12, 171 1, Cod. ital., 198, State Library,
Munich.
* BUDER, III., 788 5e^.
* Duchesne's catalogue in Bibliotheque de I'J^cole Frang., XTII.
* PoLiDORUS, Vita, 472 ; Carini, Dibl. Vatic, 98.
502 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Chaldean codices. Twenty Greek MSS which the Maronite
Abraham Massud presented to the Pope also went to the
Vaticana.^
But Clement was not yet quite satisfied. He was the first
to interest himself in the celebrated Syrian manuscripts
of the desert of Nitria in Egypt which had their own remarkable
history. The codices came from Bagdad which, in the tenth
century, had been a seat of hterary activity with schools
of Sjaian Nestorians and Jacobites. When Abbot Moses of
Nisibis, of the monastery of St. Mary in Nitria, went to
Bagdad in 925 to beg the Caliph Moktadir for a reduction
in taxation, he returned to his desert with two hundred and
fifty Syriac MSS. which were thus preserved whilst every-
thing perished in Bagdad. The Maronite Gabriel, whom
Clement XL sent to the Coptic Patriarch, was the first to
bring tidings of these treasures to the West. Thereupon the
Pope sent Elias Assemani, the eldest member of that celebrated
family, to Nitria. In 1707 Assemani had the good fortune of
bringing to Rome forty valuable MSS. Later, in 1715,
Clement XL sent out Joseph Simon Assemani ; however, by
this time the monks had become suspicious so that he returned
with only a few, though very valuable, documents. The
remainder of the precious library was acquired by English
gold in 1837 and 1847 and made the British Museum the
foremost Syriac Library in the world. ^ Assemani had more
luck in Syria than in Egypt. At the beginnings of 1711 he
brought to Rome forty-five Syriac and twenty Coptic MSS.
Even in the year of his death Clement XL ordered a new
mission to the Orient in the person of Andrea Scandar, whose
booty only reached the papal library under Innocent XIII.^
Clement himself, the real founder of the oriental section of
the Vaticana, had the joy of seeing the beginnings of Assemani's
celebrated Bibliotheca Orientalis C/emeiitiiia Vaticana, a
publication dedicated to him, which made possible access
* Carini, loc. cit.
^ H. Lammens, in J&tiides, LXIV. (1895), 286 seqq.
' Carini, loc. cit.
SCHOLARS. 503
to a vast number of hitherto unknown oriental MSS.^ Besides
MSS. and numerous printed works, two other gifts to the
Library recall the Albani Pope at this day, the one, a Roman
sarcophagus, discovered on the Via Prrenestina, not far from
Tor de' Schiavi, which contained some non-inflammable
hnen of asbestos ; the other an ancient pillar of white oriental
alabaster, brought to light near S. Cesario.^
Clement XI. also turned his attention to the treasures in
the archives of Rome, especially those of the Vatican and to
the celebrated printing press of Salvioni in the University.^
Himself a scholar, he appreciated not only the Greek, Latin
and Italian poets, but was also greatly interested in history.
As a Cardinal he was in constant relations with contemporary
writers in Rome ; these relations continued throughout his
pontificate. He bestowed numberless favours on poets and
scholars. Giovan Maria Crescimbeni, the Custode of the
Arcadia,* was made Archpriest of S. Maria in Cosmedin.
* The first volume appeared in 1719, the third in 1728. Portrait
of Assemani by Pier Leone Ghezzi in *Cod. Vat. 31 17, Vatican
Library.
2 FoRCELLA, VL, 168 ; Platner, IL, 326.
^ " *Invigilando N. S. alio splendore di questa dominante ha
finalniente ordinato, che si riduchino in buona forma tutti
gl'archivii antichi e si ristabilisca I'antica stamporia del Senate
Romano " {Avviso Marescotti, August 6, 1702, Biblioteca Vittorio
Emanuele, Roma, f. 158). *Monday " il Pontefice, con il sig.
card. Marescotti pass6 alia visita di tutti gl'archivii essistenti nel
Vaticai^o ad et?etto d'oi^dinare il regolamento di quelli, havendone
fatto fabbricare uno di nuovo per le congregationi che si teugono "
ibid., f. 329). *Avviso of May 10, 1704 : II Papa fu luncdi
all'Archivio Secreto del Vaticano col card. Marescotti, non per
altro, dicono, che per far rimettere quelle scritture in miglior
ordine, in che sole e cose simili si vale di questo gran cardinale.
Questo luogo e il Sancta Sanctorum dclla politica, ove esscndo
rinchiusi li principali arcani e li piu nascosti alii stranieri, non si
permette ad alcuno I'ingresso " (Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein).
On the printing press, see Buder, IIL, 765 seq., and *Miscell. di
Clemente XI., t. 14, Papal Sec. Archives.
* On the Arcadia, cf. the present work, XXXII. , 554.
504 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
In this capacity he wrote the history of that church.^ Another
member of the Arcadia, Christoforo Battelh, became Secretary
of Briefs and papal hbrarian.^ The poet Alessandro Guidi, an
old friend of Clement XI., showed gratitude for favours
received by rendering six homilies of his distinguished patron
into Italian verse. ^ How greatly Clement XI. appreciated
him was seen when he ordered Guidi 's remains to be buried
near those of Tasso in S. Onofrio.^ The poet Niccolo
Forteguerri received a canonry in St. Peter's.^ Giovanni
Antonio Magnani dedicated a poem to Clement XI. on the
earthquake of 1703.^ At times the Pope had the poetic works
of members of the Arcadia read to him at table,'' but his main
interest was in scholarly undertakings. He helped the
Maurists in their edition of the works of St. Gregory the Great.
He allowed the four volumes of the work to be dedicated to him
and bestowed gifts on the editors.^ He encouraged a revision
of Ughelli's Italia Sacra, and lived to see an enlarged and im-
proved edition of that great work executed by Niccolo Coleti.^
^ Renazzi, IV., 124.
2 Carini, Arcadia, 313 seqq. ; Le I\Iarche, II., Fano, 1902,
33 seqq.
* Clemente XL, Sei omelie esposie in versi da Aless. Guidi,
Roma, 1712.
* Renazzi, IV., 125.
* Ibid., i^o. C/. above, p. 365, n. 5.
* Copy in Bibl. Corsini, Rome. On a panegyric of Clement XI.
in verse by Benedetto Menzini, see A. Mabellini, Una canzone
di B. Memini, Fano, 1904.
"> O. lusTiNiANUs, dementis XI. vita, Senis, 1738, LXI.
8 *Avviso Marescotti, April 24, 1706, Bibl. Vittorio Emanuele,
Rome ; The Opera Gregorii appeared in Paris in 1705.
* An *Avviso Marescotti, June 7, 1704 {loc. cit.), reports :
" Ha S. S. pensato di far perfcttionare ITstoria dell'Italia Sacra
composta da Ughellio mancante di molte notitie trascurate,
havendo a quest'effetto fatta una raddunanza di prelati intelli-
genti, che assisteranno a quest'opcra, e mandate lettere circolari
a tutti li vescovi per le notitie antichc e modeniede' lorovescovati
per ristamparla." The edition of N. Coleti, with dedication to
Clement XL, appeared at Venice, 1717-1722, in ten folio volumes
SCHOLARS. 505
Domenico Bernino/ Alessandro Borgia, subsequently
Archbishop of Fermo,^ the Oratorian Giacomo Laderclii,^
who continued the Annals of Baronius and Raynaldus,
though without equalling his predecessors, also enjoyed
Clement XL's support. The favour of the Pope was likewise
bestowed on the exceptionally versatile Francesco Bianchini,
author of an epoch-making historical work by reason of the
consideration of monuments.^ Bianchini had been held in
high esteem by Alexander VIII. Clement XI. favoured him
no less, nominating him his chamberlain and presidente delle
antichita and granting him a title of nobility and a canonry
at St. Mary Major. ^ Bianchini undertook a new edition of
and is still an indispensable work of reference. On another plan
of the Pope an *Avviso Marescoiti of July 19, 1704, reports as
follows : " Bramando N. S., che sia data in luce la vita at origine
di San Benedetto fondatore delta religione Cassinense, ha data
commissione a Mons. vescovo di Gallas, di fame diligente inquisi-
tione per descriverla, per il che detto prelato, che sino dalla
miserabile rivolutione d'Inghilterra si trova in questa corte, si e
portato alia terra di San Benedetto, dove ha havuto il suo domicilio
detto Santo, per prenderne le necessarie informationi a fine di
ponerla in stampa."
^ D. Bernino, II irihunale della S. Rota Romana descritto,
Roma, 1 71 7 (dedicated to Clement XL).
" Moroni, VI., 51 scqq. *Borgia's letters in Borg. Lat., 232,
Vatican Library.
* On Laderchi, cf. Iungmann in Freib. Kirchenlcx., VIL-,
1 3 16 seq. Nearly all the literary remains of Laderchi are in the
Barberini Library : XLL, 58-64 : Lettcre al Laderchi (61-2,
Lettcre de' cardinali) ; XLIL, 6-7 : Sermoni di L. ; 8 : Letterc
di Laderchi ; 9-18, Lettere al L., 17-18 : Lettcre di Lorenzo
Magalotti al L. ; 19, 47-53, 57, 58, 60, 62 seqq. : writings of
Laderchi.
* Storia universale provata con monumenti e figurata con simboli
degli antichi, Roma, 1697.
* Moroni, V., 208 seq. Marini [Iscrizioni Albane, pref., VIIL)
calls Bianchini " il maggior uomo che abbia prodotto I'ltalia in
questo secolo ". As Carini {Muratori, I. [1892], 145) rsipiarks,
this is somewhat exaggerated though not without justification.
506 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the famous Liher Pontificalis, which was at one time ascribed
to Anastasius the Librarian. He dedicated the' first vohime,
a beautiful foho, to Clement XI. ^ Bianchini, besides being
a historian and archaeologist, was also a brilhant
mathematician. In that capacity he was emplo3-ed on the
reform of the Calendar.
Already under Innocent XII. various Bishops and mathe-
maticians had urged the correction of some minor errors
which still clung to Gregory XII. 's calendar in spite of all
the care bestowed upon it. Clement XI. appealed to the
most celebrated Universities of Europe ^ and established
a special commission to study the question. This commission
consisted of Cardinals Ferrari, Pamfili and Noris, the keepers
of the Vatican Library, Zaccagni and De Miro, the two
professors of mathematics at the Roman University, Vincenzo
Giordani and Domenico Quartaroni, and several learned
religious, among them the Jesuit Eschinard. Bianchini
acted as secretary.^ The commission decided to have a
meridian made like the one which the famous astronomer
Giandomenico Cassini had already made at Bologna. The
Pope chose the church of S. Maria degli Angeli for the purpose.
On October 6th, 1702 the work was completed ; Clement
himself unveiled it.^ The meridian is on bronze with broad
marble boarders adorned with the signs of the Zodiac. This
work of Bianchini and Maraldi was called the Linea Clementina.
It recalls to this day the Pope's desire to reform the calendar
though it led to no result owing to the circumstance that the
1 Published in Rome, 1 71 8.
2 Puhblicazioni della Specola Vaticana, Rome, 1891, 13 scq.
3 Renazzi, IV., 152 seqq. ; Cancellieri, Mercato, 196 ;
Cf. Lafitau, I., 119 seq. ; Renaudot, I., 105 seq. ; Serassi,
/. Mazzoni, Roma, 1790, 61 seqq. Bianchini's work De calendario
et cyclo Caesaris appeared in Rome ,1703-4. The particular interest
Clement XI. took in the reform of the calendar is noted in *Avviso
Marescotti, December 23, 1702, Bibl. Vittorio Emanucle, Rome.
* According to the *Avviso Marescotti of August 26, 1702 {loc.
cit.), Qement XI. inspected the new meridian already at that date.
On the unveiling, see *Avviso Marescotti, October 7, 1702 (ibid.).
ARCH/EOLOGY. 507
commission gave up the idea of making any alterations
as the errors were of httle consequence.
In the disputes over the feudal rights in Parma and Piacenza
Clement XL, employed the learned Giusto Fontanini who
wrote a whole series of works on this affair.^ At Montfaucon's
suggestion, Fontanini, whose work on the town of Orte shows
that he was a sound archaeologist, introduced Baron Philip
von Stosch to the Pope, who in many ways encouraged this
student of the arts and antiquities. ^ Clement XI. summoned
from Naples Carlo Majella, a man remarkable as a theologian
and a linguist, and appointed him Custodian of the Vatican
Library. Giovanni Vincenzo Lucchesini, who was equally at
home in Latin and Greek literature, became secretary of
Latin Briefs.^
An old friend of the Pope's was the celebrated jurist Gian
Vincenzo Gravina, professor at the Roman University since
1699. This versatile savant also devoted himself to theological
studies and practised the poetic craft. ^ The celebrated satires
published by Ludovico Sergardi under the name of Ouinto
Settano were directed against Gravina.^ Gravina is the author
of the memorials of the papal physician, the celebrated
Giovanni Maria Lancisi. The memory of this outstanding
savant lives on in Rome through the library founded by him
in the hospital of S. Spirito.^ Lancisi had been professor of
anatomy and surgery at the Roman University since 1G84.
Clement XL, who paid the Lancisi Library the honour of
1 See above, p. 168. Cf. also Renazzi, IV., 102 seq.
" lusTi in Zeitschr. fur bildende Kunst, VII., 296 seq.
3 Renazzi, IV., 178 seq.
* G. Passeri, Vita di G. D. Gravina, in his Opere scelte, Fircuze,
1826 ; E. GiUDiCE, Prose di G. B. Gravina, Firenze, 1857.
^ Cf. R. Battignani, Studio sti Quinto Settano (Ludovico
Sergardi), Girgcnti, 1894 ; G. Leati, La satira di Kama di Quinto
Settano, in La cultura, 1895, n. 28-9 ; D. Bassi, in Bollett. Senese,
III. (1896), 125 seqq., there also the Carmen ad Clementem XL
of Sergardi.
* Diblioteca Lancisiana descritta daW abate Cristoforo Carsughi,
Roma, 1 71 8.
508 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
a visit, awarded him a canonry at S. Lorenzo in Damaso.^
The importance of the learned physician's studies on the
baleful influence of the marshes on the Roman climate has
only been fully appreciated in these latter days. These
writings make it quite evident that Lancisi inspired the efforts
made for the sanitation of Rome in the years 1695-1714.
What he advised in this respect and carried into effect, is
valuable even in the light of modern progress, if we allow for
the period and the means at his disposal. ^ In 1715 he set up
a scientific institute for medicine, surgery and anatomy in
his beloved Hospital of S. Spirito.^ By order of Clement XL,
Lancisi pubhshed Mercati's description of the collections of
natural science of the Vatican founded by Pius V. and laid
out b}^ Sixtus V.^ Lancisi also undertook archaeological
studies. In this sphere his interests coincided with those of
the Pope.
Soon after his elevation Clement issued an edict for the
protection of the ancient artistic treasures of the Eternal
City. On July 18th, 1701, he renewed previous decrees
forbidding the export of statues, bronzes, gems and paintings.
A second edict of September 30th, 1704, reinforced the former
and extended it to stuccos, mosaics, manuscripts and documents
of every kind. The motive for the prohibition was the desire
to maintain the splendour of the city of Rome which, in the
judgment of foreign nations, was based on its monuments.
Every discovery had to be reported to Francesco Bartoh,
the Commissary of Antiquities, and only with his permission
and after special drawings had been made, could an object
1 Renazzi, III., 192 seq. ; IV., 166 seq. Cf. Crescimbeni,
Vita di G. M. Lancisi, Roma, 1721 ; Fabroni, Vitae Italorum,
I., 83 seqq. ; Zappi, lUiistr. ai busti di medici telebri, Roma, 1868,
113 seqq. ; Lancisi, Lettere ineditc tratte da un manoscritto della
hibl. Albani, Roma, 1841.
2 Langer, Die Assanierungsfrage in Rom., loc. cit., 9. C/.
also Vierteljahrsschrift Jiir Gesundheitspflcge, XL, 192.
» Renazzi, IV., 168.
* Studi e docmn., V., 170.
FINDS. 509
be moved. Inscriptions had to be reported to Francesco
Bianchini and manuscripts to the papal archivists.^
The inexhaustible soil of Rome also^'ielded fresh treasures
under Clement XI. Most of these belonged to profane
antiquity,^ but in May, 1702, a discovery of supreme importance
for Christian archaeology was made. To the south-east of the
temple of Castor, near S. Maria Liberatrice, at a depth of
several metres below the surface, the discovery was made
of a great Christian church, viz. S. Maria Antiqua, with
frescoes of the time of Paul I. [757-767]. Clement XI. enter-
tained the idea of rendering this most interesting building
once more accessible, but he was obliged to give up the idea
for fear of the collapse of the surrounding buildings.^
1 Bandi, v., 70, p. 38, Papal Secret Archives, printed in Fea,
Dei diritti, 76 seq. Cf. Bullet, di archcol. crist., 1876, 131. On the
difficulty of exporting works of art, cf. Lafitau, II., 260, and
*Avviso of February 16, 1704 : " Non si possono piu estrarre da
Roma quadri originali ne antichita di prezzo senza licenza,
difficile a concedersi, per non spogliare la citta del suo bello."
Duke Bonelli was arrested on account of this (Lamberg Archives,
Ottenstein). Cf. Bertolotti, Esportaz. da oggi di belle arti da
Roma in Riv. Europ., 1871, 181 seq. In 171S Peter the Great
purchased in Rome the Taurine Venus which is now in the
Eremitage, Petrograd. The decrees against the exportation of -
works of art were suggested to the Pope by Francesco Bartoli ;
see his * memorial to the Pope in which he also proposes that the
triumphal Arches should be cleared of vegetation. Miscell. di
Clemente XL, 14, p. 178, Papal Sec. Archives.
^ Cf. Reports of the discoveries from the Diarii di Roma,
1 700-1 742, of Valesio in Berichte der Sachs. Gesellsch. der IV is-
sensch., 1885, jGseqq.
^ See the passage from the Diarii of Valesio in Cancellieri,
Possessi, 370. Other reports of discoveries in Gruneisen, St. Marie
Antique, Rome, 1904, 34 seqq. Baglivo, in his Opera medico-
practica, Lugduni, 1700, 574, mentions a dissertation on the
underground Basilica by D. Passionei ; see Hulsen, Ausgra-
bimgcn, 1898-1902, Rome, 1903, 86. Cf. also *Avvisi Marescotti
of June 3, 1702 : " Nel scavare che si faccva in Campo Bovario,
per fare li fondamenti di una chiesa, se n'h scoperta un'altra
510 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
The last period of Clement's pontificate saw the beginning
of the excavations of Domitian's palace in the Farnese gardens
on the Palatine which Bianchini described with great learning,
though not always correctly. The archaeologist Marcantonio
Boldetti had been exploring the Catacombs since 1713 ^ ;
Giovanni Marangoni assisted him in these studies. An
inscription by him in the Catacomb of Domitilla recalls the
fact that this pious priest was in the habit of meeting with
a few others of similar tastes in these venerable crypts, for
the purpose of honouring the Martyrs, and that on
September 7th, 1716, they sang on this spot a Te Deitm for
the victory of Prince Eugene in Hungary and the relief of
Corfu. ^
Particularly rich remains from ancient times came to
hght in the autumn of 1704 when a medieval tower near Ripa
Grande was demoHshed. Various precious marbles and
lapis lazuli were found. The Pope instructed his nephew
Orazio to keep everything " as a treasure ", and to take it to
the Palazzo Albani. As a matter of fact Clement collected
antiquities wherever possible, not only statues, but even
antique lead pipes and medals. He had copper-plate
engravings made of a great number of these ancient objects ;
these, with some valuable original sketches and drawings by
sotterranea, fondala da San Paolo I Papa, adornata di bellissime
pitture, vedendosi dal late dritto non ostante I'antichita e I'esser
state sepolte dalla terra, tutti li santi latini e la passione di
Cristo e neH'altro late li santi greci et il ritratto di detto Pontefice,
e S. S. vuol riddurlo alia publica veneratione," and August 5 :
" Pervenuto a iiotitia di N. S., che fosse stata riempita di terra
senza suo ordine la chiesa ultimamente ritrovata dietro S. Maria
Liberatrice, vi spedi Mens. Bonaventura con ordine che fosse
di nuovo scavata," Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele, Rome.
Lamberg, in his *Diary (June 7, 1702) also mentions the
discovery. Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein.
^ Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome, 330. An *Avviso
of June 14, 1704 (Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein), speaks of a
discovery in the Catacombs.
* Rom. Quartalschrift, XIII., X9 seqq.
MUSEUMS. 511
famous masters of the preceding centuries, he collected in an
art-cabinet at the Albani Palace in which he spent the few
free hours which his ofBcial duties left him.^ A choice library
adjoined the collection. Boldetti proposed to the Pope that
the long corridor leading into the Vatican Library should
^ *Avvisi, August 30, 1704 : " Essendosi ordinata la dcmoli-
tione di certe rovine autiche nel Tevere, si e trovato nelle medome
e si trova tuttavia buona quantita di pietre pretiose come di Verde
antico, di alabastro orientale, diaspro et altrc era rarissime, e
d'ordine del Papa saranno custodite dal S. Don Oratio come un
picciolo tesoro," and October 4 : "Si cavano tuttavia pietre
pretiose dalle rovine dell 'antico torrione, che Papa Leone IV.
fece far in fretta a ripa nel Tevere, e gia ben 20 carrettate sono
state trasportate in casa Albani. Era questi pretiosi fragmenti si
trova una quantita di lapislazuli, onde si crede siano delle rovine
dcgli antichi tempii degli idoli ; e si dice, che voglia il Papa fame
una capella sontuosa nella cattedrale d'Urbino. Nelli giorni di
vacanza cala il Papa e si trattiene nella libraria fra li due portoni
di palazzo fatta comprare per 5^" sc. dall'eredita del cav. del
Pozzo, ornata di statuette e medaglie antiche, e fra le belle cose che
vi sono si mettono due gran tomi di dissegni, tutti di valent'huo-
mini e di molta stima, con che e lo studio del celebre pittore
Carlo Maratta si riempira di cose rare la casa Albani, e dilettandosi
S. S. di cose antiche vuole vedere quanto si va trovando nel cavare
anche pezzi di statue e canali di piombo antichi, de' quali sono
stati portati a palazzo alcuni pezzi, ove si vedono alcune lettere
impresse." Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein. On the art collection
of Clement XL, cj. Lafitau, IL, 261 ; Buder, III., 748 ; lusxi,
IL, 276, 290 ; III., 73. On the valuable drawings of the Albani
collection which were taken to England, see Kimstchronik, N.F.,
XXII. (1910-11), 281. The Library, enlarged by Cardinals
Annibale and Alessandro Albani (see Blume, 174 seq.), was
plundered in 1798 by the French (some of the manuscripts got
into the Library of Montpellier ; see Mazzantinti, Bibl. di
Francia, III., 61 seqq.), the books were sold in 1857 (see Catalogo d.
Bibl. d. principi Albani vendita all' asta, 2 parts, Roma, 1857-8) ;
the manuscripts were acquired by the Prussian Government
but were lost by shipwreck ; see L. Pastor, Le Biblioteche private e
specialmente quelle delle famiglie principesche di Roma in Aiti
del Congresso internazionale di scienze storiche, Roma, 1906.
512 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
be used for preserving the heathen and Christian funeral
inscriptions. The idea of such a museum greatly appealed
to the Pope, but there was no money to carry it into effect.^
It has been justly observed that the pontificate of the
Albani Pope marks the real turning point for the collection
and exhibition of art treasures. The special interest which
Clement showed in this respect was the origin of efforts,
later on taken up by Clement XII. and continued by
Benedict XIV., which in the last quarter of the century
resulted in those mighty collections in the Vatican Museum
which are the wonder of the artistic world to-day. In greater
or less measure all this goes back to Clement XI. It was he
who conceived the plan of collecting the inscriptions in the
Galleria Lapidaria. He it was, too, who through Bianchini,
made the first attempt at a museum of Christian antiquity.
He had the long neglected court of the Belvedere cleared
and its antique statues protected. ^ He acquired for the
palace of the Conservators the remaining antique statues
of the Palazzo Cesi which were exposed to the injuries of the
weather in the garden of that palace. Among these, two
statues of Barbarians are particularly noteworthy : they are
of marmo higio, and the headgear shows them to have been
chieftains. These admirable works were placed in the court-
yard of the palace of the Conservators by the side of a statue
of Rome. The Pope also assigned to the palace of
the Conservators some Egyptian statues of kings dis-
covered in the Vigna Verospi, as also the antique
objects found in Sallust's gardens.^ Clement visited the
1 Mai, Script, vet., V., XI. ; Bullet, di archeol. crist., 1876, 135.
2 lusTi, II., 37, 280 seq. On the Museo ecclesiastico di Clemente
XL, see Hulsen, in Bullet, d. Comniis. archeol. comim., III.
Series, 1890, 270 seqq. On a restoration of the Casino of Pius IV.,
see Friedlander, Kasino Pius', IV., 10.
3 Rom. Mitteilungen, VI., 56. For ten inscriptions by learned
men in memory of Clement XL's work for the Capitol, see Miscell.
di Clemente XL, 14, p. 141 seqq., Papal Secret Archives. Ibid.,
149, *autograph note of Clement XL on the inscriptions inider
the statue of Rome and of the two barbarian princes. Cf.
FORCELLA, I., 76.
AN ARCH^OLOGICAL FIND. 513
hall which he had had enlarged in May, 1719, and in October,
1720.1
In September, 1703, near the Piazza Monte Citorio of to-day,
the remains came to light of the monument erected in honour
of Antoninus Pius by his adopted sons and successors, Marcus
Aurelius and Lucius Verus. The Pope showed great interest
in the discovery and immediately conceived the plan of
erecting the granite pillar, with its pedestal adorned with
reliefs, in front of the palace of justice. Whilst these excava-
tions were in progress the idea arose of setting up the
monument first near the Ouirinal, then near the Lateran,
or the Fontana di Trevi ; but in the end the first plan was
carried out. The original estimate of 20,000 scudi was too
low ; by July, 1704, it was reckoned that 45,000 scudi would be
necessary. The raising of the column proved exceedingly
difficult ; it was only effected after Francesco Fontana had
taken his father's place. In the autumn of 1705 Francesco
transported the column to the place selected for it. The
Pope made him a present of 3,000 scudi and entrusted him
with the restoration of the reliefs. ^
Clement XL's interest was not confined to ancient artistic
monuments, he was also a great lover of pictures by old and
^ See Cracas, loc. cit. Clement XI. also restored the statue of
Paul IV., which had been destroyed in 1559 (see the present work,
XIV., 415). Maffei [Rossi], Race, di statue autiche e moderne,
Roma, 1704, tav. CLXII.
2 On the removal of the pedestal (which was later on placed in
the giardino della Pigna, see Helbig, I.*, 74), and that of the column ,
Cancellieri has published an account in Effem. lett., II. (1821),
214 seqq., based on an inaccurate report, erroneously ascribed by
him to Fr. Valesio. The autograph *Diarii of Fr. Valesio in
Archives of the Capitol, Rome, give more reliable information
(cf. Bull. d. Cotnmiss. archeol. comun., 1889, 161). For what is
stated above, I have also made use of the very exhaustive *Avvisi
Marescotti of September 29 and October 13, 1703, April 12, May 10,
July 12, August 16, October 11, November 8 and 22, 1704,
September 19 and 26, October 17 and 24, 1705, and January 23,
1706, Bibl. Vittorio Emanuele, Rome. Cf. also Cancellieri,
Mercato, 196.
VOL. xx.xiii. l1
514 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
new masters. When in 1705 the celebrated picture gallery
of the Costaguti was about to be put up for sale, he made it
known that he wished to acquire the collection. ^ Both the
Quirinal and the Vatican were adorned with numerous pictures.^
For the Quirinal the Pope had marble busts made of twenty-
four of his predecessors. 3 The aged Maratta was entrusted
with the restoration of Raphael's Stanze, but he contented
himself with cleaning them by washing them with wine and
restoring what had been completely effaced. Maratta was
also charged with the supervision of the pictorial decoration
of one of the galleries of the Vatican.* The Pope greatly
esteemed the last of the great masters of the Bolognese
1 " *Havendo il Papa inteso, che in casa Costaguti si trattava
di vendere la superba galleria di quadri pretiosi, perche tutti
veri originali delli piii famosi pittori, raccoiti in molti anni dal
defunto cardinale, ha fatto intendere, che non si debbono metter in
vendita " {Avviso of June 13, 1705, Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein).
On other purchases by the Pope, see Rass. hibl. deU'arte Hal.,
XIII. (1910), 152.
* P. A. Pancetti, *Lo siato presente della cittd e corte di Roma,
1718-1721, in Cod. ital., 93, State Library, Munich. On the
new chapel in the Quirinal, see Moroni, IX., 162.
' *Avviso of February 23, 1704 : " Havendo il Papa gran genio
a risarcir et ornare li palazzi Apostolici, s'intende che voglia
adornare la galleria del Ouirinale con li busti in marmo di 24
Pontefici, che in varii tempi hanno sostenuto con travagli la
Chiesa, con iscrittioni alii piedestalli, che si dicono fatte alia
Certosa " (Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein). * Avviso of March 8,
1701 {ibid.) : " Si vanno di.stribuendo alii maestri li busti marmorei
delli 24 Pontefici, che si devono collocare nella galleria del Quiri-
nale, tra quali sara quello di Alessandro VIII. come benefattore
del regnante Pontefice, che vi havra anco il suo. E si vanno pari-
mente continuando gli ornamenti nel palazzo Vaticano, dilettan-
dosi il Papa delle magnifiche vaghezze."
* " *Ha il pontefice ordinate, che sia dipinto tutto il braccio
della galleria nuova al Vaticano da' piii eccellenti pittori con la
direttione del cav. Maratta celcbre pittore, e che si debba termi-
nare I'opera, prima che vi si restituisca la S. S." Avviso Marescotti,
May 31, 1704. Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele, Rome.
ART EXHIBITIONS. 515
school/ but he was likewise willing to encourage living
artists. Thus he founded a gobelin factory ^ and gave to the
Academy of St. Luke a new constitution with various
privileges.^ Especially famous were the exhibitions which
he organized in the Capitol with a view to reviving the arts,
and the prizes given to artists, whether painters, sculptors or
architects.^ From 1702 onwards the distribution of prizes,
which consisted of gold, silver and bronze medals, used to
take place in the spring of each year, in one of the halls of the
Capitol where the prize works were on view. This prize
distribution developed into a great festival attended by many
Cardinals and other prelates. Speeches and poems by members
of the Arcadia and musical performances enhanced the
splendour of the fete.^ On April 24th, 1704, it was opened
* Bellori, Vite, III., Pisa, 1 821, 221 seq. An *Avviso of April 28,
1703, announces : " Havendo il Papa saputa, che 11 celebre pittore
Carlo Maratta come gia invecchiato havesse venduto per cinque
mila scudi ad un Inglese il sue studio di pittura, lo fece chiamare
e gli disse, che non voleva che uscissero da Roma simili studii e
raccolte di cose rare, a fine che vi fiorisca ; e scusatosi il Maratta
con dire di havere gia ricevuto mille scudi per caparra, soggiunse
il Papa, che per il medemo prezzo lo voleva lui, per lo che detto
Inglese strepita, freme et arrota i denti," Lamberg Archiv^es,
Ottenstein.
* A. TosTi, Relaz. d. Ospizio Apost. di S. Michele, Roma, 1832,
7 seqq. A. Galli, Cenni econoniici statistici sullo stato pontificio,
Roma, 1804, 257 ; G. Bottigni Marsetti, La scuola degli arazzi
neU'Ospizio di S. Michele, Roma, 1904.
' MissiRiNi, 198 seqq. Noack {Deutsches Leben, 47) suspects
that jealousy of the Academy of S. Luca was partly responsible
for the suppression in 1720 of " Schilderbent ", the Dutch Associa-
tion of Painters. .
* MissiRiNi, 157 seqq. The statutes of a similar Academy in
Bologna were approved by Clement XI. ; likewise the statutes of
the Bolognese " Academia scientiarum " ; see Bull, XXI., 681 ;
cf. Novaes, XII., 211 seq. ; see also Cavazza, Le scuole dell'an-
tico studio di Bologna, Milan, 1896, 286, 288 ; G. Zanotti,
Storia dell' Accademia Clementina di Bologna, Bologna, 1739-
' *Avviso of March 4, 1702 : " AUi 25 furono distribuiti li
5l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
by a speech of Annibale Albani, who pointed out that it was
precisely in times of war that the arts should be fostered.
The poems subsequently read did not sing the praises of the
papal nephew, by command of the Pope. On the same
occasion the oldest Cardinal present, Acciaioli, handed to
Maratta, who had just finished the cleaning of Raphael's
frescoes in the Vatican, the insignia of the Order of Christ
of which he had been made a knight. The Brief began with
the same words as those of Leo X. when he nominated Raphael
architect of St. Peter's.^
Maratta, whom the Pope considered as the leading master
of the period,^ enjoyed the greatest favour up to the day of
his death. Clement XL gave to the aged artist commissions
for the cathedral of Urbino. Working up to the last, Maratta
furnished plans for the frescoes in the cupola of the second
chapel of the left aisle of St. Peter's, but he did not live to see
their execution in mosaic. The theme of the frescoes was the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Maratta died on December 15th, 1713,
and was buried in a sepulchre built by himself in S. Maria
degli Angeli. The epitaph was revised by the Pope himself.
It states that the master had glorified the Queen of heaven
premii di medaglie d'oro, d'argento e di bronze dorato alii giovani
piu virtuosi deU'Accademia di pittura, architettura e scultura in
una sala di Campidoglio vagamente apparata, in presenza di
molti cardinalj e prelati, ove si fece oratione e recita di diverse
poesie con musica e concerti d'istromenti, e nell'anticamera si
vedevano esposte le prove di coloro, che meritarono li premii,
essendovi state per tre gierni gran concorso a vederle," Lamberg
Archives, Ottenstein. Cf. ibid., *Avviso of April 21, 1704.
^ Besides Bellori, III., 232 seqq., cf. *Avvisi of April 26 and
August 16, 1704, ibid. Also Missirini, 170 seqq., and Accad. di
S. Luca, Annnario, 1909-1911, Rema, 191 1, 5 seqq.
^ See the Brief in Op., Epist., 719. An *original letter of Maratta
to the Pope, dated September 8, 1710, in which the artist expresses
his thanks that the " quadro del Centurione " was not removed
from St. Peter's — his anxiety en this account cost him fifteen
sleepless nights — in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 12, p. 39 seqq.,
Papal Secret Archives.
RESTORATIONS. 517
by innumerable paintings.^ Besides Maratta other artists
also, as for instance Carlo Cignani, Giuseppe Chiari, Sebastiano
Conca and Giuseppe Passed, were favoured by Clement XI. ^
Carlo Fontana {ob. 1714), his son Francesco {oh. 1708) and
Carlo's nephew, Carlo Stefano, were employed as architects.^
The task of these architects consisted chiefly in the restoration
of Roman churches * ; many of these, besides those damaged
by the earthquakes, urgently needed restoration. Much
was done by Clement in this respect.^
At the very beginning of his pontificate, the Pope had
turned his attention to the restoration of the three oldest
and most venerable basilicas of the Eternal City. He did
not confine himself to restoration, but sought to beautify
them in accordance with the taste of the time. Thus at
St. Cecilia's he had the coronation of the Saint depicted on
the sofiit by Sebastiano Conca. ^ Conca also furnished an altar
picture for San Clemente, viz. the " Madonna di Rosario ",
as well as several paintings for the chapel of S. Dominic,'
whilst Carlo Stephano Fontana built a new side entrance to
^ Bellori, III., 221, 235. Cf. Pascoli, I., 141 seq. ; Nagler,
VIII., 288 seq. Maratta's tomb is in S. Maria degli Angeli to the
right of the entrance ; the epitaph in Forcella, IX., 163.
* Pascoli, I., 166, 213 seq., 222.
' Cf. Thieme, XII., 172.
* Cf. above, p. 49 seqq.
* " *A1 prcsente," P. A. Pancetti writes in his report on Rome,
1718-1721 (see above, p. 499, n. 3), " non vi e chiesa, ne in citta,
ne fuori delle mura, che non sia stata risarcita, riffatta, abbellita,"
so that the preachers can no longer complain that one only
thinks of palaces. Cod. ital., 93, State Library, Munich.
^ Thieme, VII., 288. Cardinal Acquaviva, who at the time of
the reconstruction of 1725 began to modernize the church,
put up a bust to Clement XI. in that building ; see Forcella,
n., 39.
' Thieme, loc. cit. Cf. L. Nolan, The basilica of S. Clemente
in Rome, Rome, 1914, 56 seq. A contemporary " *Nota dclli
pittori che hanno dipinto nella chiesa di S. Clemente ", in Cod.
Vat. 8635, p. 45 seqq., Vatican Library.
5l8 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
this basilica. Unfortunately the old main entrance, which
led into the atrium, was closed and a new fagade built. More-
over the old woodwork of the roof was replaced by a heavy,
richly gilt soffit, adorned with a painting by Giuseppe Chiari,
and the walls of the nave were decorated with paintings by
Conca.^ Otherwise tlie interior happily escaped, the
modernization which was the fate of so many ancient Roman
sanctuaries at that time. Clement XL's great inscription of
1705 inside the building, above the entrance, justly proclaims
that the restoration has preserved the appearance of an
ancient basilica. ^ This was the Pope's merit, says a
contemporary. Only when a church had become utterly
ruinous did he order a complete reconstruction ; otherwise
he endeavoured to respect as much as possible the ancient
glory of the basilicas.^ Clement had a special love for the
church of his patron vSaint. He raised it to the dignity of
a stational church and made it a cardinahtial title which he
bestowed on his nephew Annibale. The work began in 1701
but was onl}' completed at the end of niD.**
The ancient basilica of S. Maria in Trastevere, which the
Pope often visited, received a new entrance adorned with
1 TiTl. 232 seq. ; Nolan, 98 seqq. Cf. Appendix No. 17.
* FoRCELLA, IV., 509. In Miscell. di Clemente XI., 12, p. 192
seqq. {loc. cit.). Proposals made to the Pope to reopen the crypt
under the Presbytery, which had been closed after the inundation
of 1590, were carried into effect. The altar is due to Clement XI.
' Ph. Rondininus, De S. Clemente Papa el Martyrc eiusque
basilica in itrbe Roma, Romae, 1706, dedication to the Pope, p. xv
seq. Here, as in the " Vita di Clemente XT. ", 136 seqq., added to
the work of O. Piselli Ciuccioli, quoted below, p. 519, n. 4, the
architectural undertakings of Clement XI. are enumerated.
* An *Avviso of November 26, 1701, reports the beginning
of the work : On November 23 the Pope visited S. Clemente,
" e vista quella chiesa antica in poco buon stato, stante che vi
riposa il corpo del santo Pontefice, ha risoluto di farvi le
necessarie riparationi e specialmente il suffitto " (Lamberg
Archives, Ottenstcin). On the conclusion of the work, see the
inscription of 1719 in Forcella, IV., 510.
RESTORATIONS. 519
four granite pillars, after plans by Carlo Fontana. It has
the form of a portico which admirably harmonizes with
the character of the building.^
In 1703 Carlo Fontana was likewise in charge of the
restoration ordered by Clement XL in the ancient church
of S. Teodoro which, situate as it was on the slope of the
Palatine, was seriously threatened by water running down
the hill, and had become almost inaccessible. It was isolated
by the removal of the surrounding terrain, and before the
facade a semi-circular court was laid out to which two flights
of steps gave access. ^ Almost at the same time Carlo Fontana
drew up the plans for the facade of S. Marcello.^
S. Maria in Monticelli was reconstructed by Matteo Sassi,
who enclosed the ancient columns within the pilasters.*
S. Stefano dei Mori, behind S. Peter's, was reconstructed,
as was the adjoining hospice of the Ethiopians and
^ P. MoRETTUs, De S. Callisto Papa et super basil. S. Mariae
Transtyh., Romae, 1767, 281, 320 ; Forcella, II., 361 ; cf.
363. An *Avviso of June 6, 1701, refers to a plan for the portico ;
♦another of November 26, 1701, says : " Per la festa di S. Cecilia
11 Papa visito la sua chiesa, e nel passare diede una vista al portico,
che fa fabricar in S. Maria in Trastevere con cancelli di ferro,
sicome all'altra fabrica deH'Ospitio di S. Michele a Ripa," Lam-
berg Archives, Ottenstein.
^ Cf. the inscription in Forcella, X., 286 ; Thieme, XII.,
172. *Avviso of September 23, 1702 : The Pope went from S.
Clemen te to S. Teodoro " e gode perfettionata la fabrica " {loc.
cit.) ; *Giornale di Clcmente XL, in Borghese, L, 578, Papal
Secret Archives ; *Avviso of November 10, 1703 : The Pope
visited S. Teodoro " che ha fatto risarcire ", Lamberg Archives,
Ottenstein.
* TiTi, 321 seq.
* O. PiSELLi-CiucciOLi, Notizie istoriche della chiesa parrochiale
di S. Maria in Monticelli di Roma, col ristretto della vita del
regnante Pontefice Clementc XI. restauratore della medesima,
Montefiascone, 1719. Cf. the inscriptions in Forcella, V.,
515 seq., 528. A *Supplica to Clcmente XL to restore the dilapi-
dated churches in Miscell. di Clemente XL, 12, p. 276, Papal
Sec. Archives.
520 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Abyssinians.^ The church of SS. Peter and Marcelhis was
completel}^ restored and strengthened and given over to the
Maronites of Mount Lebanon. ^ S. Brigida, in the Piazza
Farnese, received a new facade and the interior was decorated
by Biagio Paccini.^ Cardinal Annibale Albani had a new
fagade erected before S. Maria in Cosmedin by the architect
Giuseppe Sardi ; however, this structure did not harmonize
with the interior which is of great antiquity ^ : fortunately
the interior was not substantially altered.^ The changes
were more marked in the restoration of S. Sisto, on the Via
Appia.^ S. Anna de' Palafrenieri was provided with a new
fagade.'
Further restorations were undertaken or encouraged by
the Pope in the churches of St. John before the Latin Gate/
St. Martha, » S. Mary of Egypt,!'' st. Michael the Archangel,
St. Chrysogonus, S.Maria in Domnica, St. Adrian, St. Sylvester,
St. Gregory on the Coelian Hill.^^ The Pope laid the foundation
* FoRCELLA, VI., 310 ; Cancellieri, Mercato, 154 ; Repert. fur
Kunstwissensch. , XXXII., 249 ; *Miscell. di Clemente XI., t. 13,
loc. cit. Cf. the valuable essay of M. Chaine : Un monastere
6thiopien a Rome an XV". et XVI". siecle, S. Stefano dei Mori,
in Alel. de la Faciilte orient., V., Beyrouth, 1910, 1-36.
* FORCELLA, XL, 397. ^ TiTI, 116.
* It was very properly removed during the most recent restora-
tion. Cf. G. B. GiovENALE, La basilica S. Maria in Cosmedin,
Roma, 1895, 22.
* The restoration undertaken by Cardinal De Lanceis in 1758
altered the interior considerably, but now everything has been
restored to its primitive condition.
* The *Giornale di Clemente XI. [loc. cit.) says that on Septem-
ber 20, 1703, the Pope visited S. Sisto " per vedere i ristaura-
menti ordinati ".
' See Fiia, in PiSELLi CiucciOLi, 142.
* FoRCELLA, XL, 164.
* TiTi, 24 ; G. Bossi, La chicsa di S. Maria, Roma, 1883.
*" FoRCELLA, X., 423. On the spese for S. Maria Egiziaca, see
*Miscell. di Clemente XL, 13, p. 54, loc. cit.
*^ Vat. 9034, p. 19 seqq., Vatican Library. Besides this con-
temporary compilation, cf. also Octav. Iustinianus [S.J.],
THE panthf:on. 521
stone of the new church of S. Francis of the Stigmata and
contributed to the building.^
As a result of the earthquake, extensive restorations of
the soffit were necessary in S. Lorenzo in Damaso.^ In the
adjoining palace of the Cancellcria the great hall was restored
and provided with a new floor which displays the Pope's
arms ; Giuseppe Nasini depicted on the walls, in sixteen
medallions, the most important events of Clement's pontificate,
especially his building activities.^
In the autumn of 1705 Clement XI. ordered a complete
restoration of the Pantheon which had been changed into
a church by Boniface IV. The memorandum of Francesco
Bartoli, in which he protested against extensive changes,
shows how keen was the general interest in antiquity."* The
Pope had the roof repaired, the great granite pillars polished,
and the niches faced with coloured marbles ; he also built
a sacristy for the Canons ; in the interior he set up several
marble statues, among them one of S. Joseph ; he also had
a splendid new high altar erected, though he did not live to
dementis XI. Vita, libri III., Senis, 1738. This member of the
Arcadia narrates the history of Clement XI. in verse and makes
special mention of the trouble the Pope took over the Roman
churches.
^ FORCELLA, IV., 463.
2 *Giornale di Clemente XL, loc. cit. Cf. *Miscell. di Clemente
XI., t. 12, ibid.
* TiTi, 123. Cf. Distinta relazione delta gran sala delta Cancellcria
Apostolica ornata net pontijicato di Clemente XI. e aperta at pubblico
it 17 febbraio 1709, Roma, 1719. Cf. Studi e docum., I., 97, note.
* *Riflessioni di Fr. Bartoli antiquario sopra il inodo di riattare
la Rotonda, in Miscelt. di Clemente XL, 12, p. 181 seqq., toe. cit.
Ibid., on the work in the Pantheon, November, 1713 ; ibid.,
188 seqq. : " *Memorie del ritrovamento de' corpi di S. Basco et
Anastasio fatto nclla Rotonda e della solennita con cui ne fu fatta
la traslazione," ibid., October 4, 1714, 4 ; ibid., p. 168 : *Parere
di Aless. Specchi sopra la conservazione degli edifici e fabriche
antiche (the roof of the Pantheon must be renovated ; the Arch of
Janus and that of Scptimius Severus must be protected against
rain).
522 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
see it completed. 1 S. Sebastian outside the Walls was adorned
by Carlo Fontana with a chapel in honour of S. Fabian, in
which Orazio Albani, the Pope's brother, found his last
resting place in 1712.2
The completion of the monument of Queen Christine of
Sweden in S. Peter's was a work of piety on the part
of Clement XI. ^ The mortal remains of Leo I. also found
1 *FoRCELLA, I., 304; 'Ero'l, Iscriz. rtel Pantheon, IslsiTm, 1895,
276, 481. *Avviso Marescotti, October 17, 1705, says : " Si e
date principio a ripulire il gran tempio della Rotonda dal corni-
cione in giu, ch'e tutta vestita quella gran mole di finissimi marmi
di varii colori e porfidi, et in specie le colonne la maggior parte
giallo antico, a spese della Camera, e riesce il lavoro assai belle e
fara una vaghissima veduta per composto di tanti marmi, che
annegriti dall'ingiuria del tempo non venivano considerati per
quelle che sono. Questa opera ha avute il sue effetto dall'istanza
d'un pevero artista di quella professione, il quale in una publica
udienza del Papa espose a questo le sue miserie di nen peter vivere
cella sua famiglia, chiedende aiute colle sue fatiche, essibendosi
di veler ripulire la Retonda per campare, e N. S. li disse, che ritor-
nasse. Intante infermatosi, quante peteva impertare tal mani-
fattura, gli fu rispesto sopra 15^1 sc, e quande I'artista ritorn6,
hebbe sul i. esclusiva per la tanta spesa, et esse esclamando si
essibi di farla per 3"^ scudi, e stentar sole per vivere e non per
arrichirsi, onde ne riporto la gratia. Da Monte Citorio si perto
il Papa alia Retenda, per vedere il suddetto lavere della ripu-
litura de marmi antichi, ma se nen se li rende il sue lustre, nen
fara quel bel vedere, che si crede " (Biblieteca Vittorio Emanuele,
Rome). According to Cracas the unveiling of the High Altar in
the Pantheon did not take place until January i, 1724, and the
statues were only finished much later.
2 FoRCELLA, XII., 154 seqq. " *Spese per la fabrica d. capella
di S. F^abiane nella chiesa di S. Sebastiano " in Aliscell. di
Clemente XL, 13, p. 103, Papal Secret Archives.
3 See *Avviso of March 5, 1701, according to which Clement XI.
urged the relatives of Innocent XI. and Alexander VIII. to
contribute towards the completion of the monuments of these
Popes [Cod. ital., 196, State Library, Munich). The Brief to
Cardinal Bencempagni, November 21, 1714, Op., Epist., 2027,
bears witness to the interest Clement XI. took in the completion
ST. Peter's. 523
a worthy resting place in the basihca. In the chapels of the
Presentation and the Blessed Sacrament the domes were
adorned with mosaics, three of the great paintings were
replaced by mosaics, the roofing of the domes with lead was
begun and partially completed, and the soffit of the entrance
hall regilt. The Pope also presented to S. Peter's a portable
organ and improved the finances of the Fabbrica. He Hkewise
gave instructions for the execution of the statue of
Charlemagne, which was to be erected in the entrance hall,
facing the statue of Constantine, and ordered the completion
of the statues on the colonnades.^ During the erection of
one of the statues the architect Domenico de' Rossi was
fatally injured. ^ The completion of the colonnade according
of the tomb of Gregory XIII. [cf. the present work, XX., 637)
He rewarded the artist, C. Rusconi ; see Abate Fracassati
*Orazione in lode di Clemente P. XI. per aver premiato Camillo
Rusconi celebre scultore dopo aver visitato il deposito di Greg.
P. XIII. da quello lavorato per ordine del card. Giac. Boncom-
pagni arcivesc. di Bologna, Boncompagni Archives, ' Rome,
K. 19.
^ MiGNANTi, II., 119; Lafitau, I., 130 seq. ; Moroni, XII. ,
266 ; Cerruti, 39, and the *Note in Appendix, n. 17. An *Avviso
of December 7, 1700, says : " Nella chicsa di S. Pietro vole [il
Papa] che si rifaccino le belle pitture del Domenichino e del
Albani che sono nelle cappelle, quali patiscono, si mettino nel
Vaticano e le tavole si faccino di mosaico " {Cod. Ital., 196, State
Library, Munich). Two magnificent carpets still in use in the
basilica, are the gift of Clement XI. They were made in the
nineteenth year of his pontificate.
' The *Giornale di Clemente XI. reports on August 29, 1703 :
" Fu sepolto Domenico de Rossi celebre architetto, quale nel far
ponere le statue su le colonnate di S. Pietro, mentre si alzava
una di esse, fu preso dalla corda impicciata e sbalzato tanto in aria
che giunse sopra il tetto de' porticati, qual caduta gli cagiono
la morte " (Papal Secret Archives, loc. cit.). Mention must also be
made of an *Editto, dat. June 27, 1709 : " che non si scarichino
cascinacci, terra, immundizie etc attorno la chiesa di S. Pietro e
suoi siti adiacenti, piazza e portici, ne si atturino ferrate o chia-
viche vicino alle fontane, ne si faccino fosse o cava alcuna per
524 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to Bernini's plan was proposed in 1720 by Sergardi; however,
nothing was done, probably because of the death of the Pope.^
Clement XI. bestowed special care on the basilica of the
Lateran. The twelve niches in the pillars of the nave, all
decorated with verde antico, still lacked the statues for which
they were designed. Clement was resolved to remedy this
deficiency. It proved, however, a very expensive under-
taking since 5,000 scudi were required for each statue, making
a total of 60,000 scudi. Of the twice hfe-size statues of
the Apostles, Clement XL had two made at his own expense.
Cardinals Ludovico Portocarrero, Lorenzo Corsini and
Benedetto PamfiH, the Duke of Bavaria, the King of Portugal
and the Bishops of Wiirzburg and Paderborn undertook to
bear the cost of the rest. Other prelates and princes also
helped. Pierre Monnot carved the statues of the Princes of
the Apostles ; another Frenchman, Pierre le Gros, those of
St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas and Angelo de' Rossi the
statue of St. James the Less. Giuseppe Mazzuoli undertook
the statue of St. Philip, Francesco Moratti that of St. Simon
and Lorenzo Ottoni that of St. Thaddeus. The statues of
SS. Andrew, John, Matthew and James a're the work of
Camillo Rusconi, whose " St. James " was the most admired
of all. 2 The master was rewarded by the Pope with money
fermare I'aqua di quelle per lavarvi robba o altro, ne si tiri con
archebugi, balestre o sassi verso la chiesa." Editti, V., 51, Papal
Secret Archives.
^ See Sergardi's *Iettcr to Albani, vicario di S. Pietro, dat.
di casa, September 29, 1720, which states that the completion
of the colonnade will not obstruct the view of the cupola, and that
it will provide work for many unemployed in these bad times.
Miscell. di Cletnente XL, 12, p. 53, Papal Secret Archives.
* Baldeschi, Relaz. d. Nave principale di S. Giovanni in
Laterano, in Stato d. chiesa Lat. neU'anno 1723, p. 10 seqq., 27 seqq. ;
Cancellieri, Possessi, 353 seq. Valesio in Arte e storia, XXXV.
(1916), 336 ; *Documents in Miscell. di Cletnente XL, 12, p. 19
seqq., loc. cit. The Pope's plan and the help given by him are
mentioned in an *Avviso of June 30, 1703, Lambcrg Arch.,
Ottenstein. An * A vviso Mare scotti oi ]u\y 14, 1703, says : " Porta-
tosi domenica a piedi di N. S. lo scultore mandate dal card.
SS. APOSTOLI. 525
and the Order of Christ. ^ All these statues, by reason of their
individual treatment and inspiration and their monumental
size, make a most profound impression. ^ Above the statues,
within medallions, busts of the prophets were painted. Here
also foreigners bore part of the cost, as for example, the
Archbishop of Mayence. The most diverse artists were
engaged on the undertaking, so that one sees the work of
almost all the painters of the period : Giuseppe Chiari,
Benedetto Luti, Luigi Garzi, Marco Beneficiale, Giovanni
Odazi, Andrea Procaccini, Francesco Trevisan, Giovan Paolo
Melchiorri, Giuseppi Nasini, Domenico Muratori and Pier
Leone Ghezzi. Though these paintings were of no great
value, the Pope gave presents to all the artists and Cardinal
Albani composed a sonnet on their work.^
The restoration of the dilapidated basilica of the Holy
Apostles resulted in a complete reconstruction of the building.
The Pope, who had been a parishioner of this church, was
greatly interested in the work which was supervised by
Francesco Fontana. He contributed large sums of money
towards the building, which started in the autumn of 1701,'*
and laid the foundation stone of the new sanctuary on
February 27th, 1702.^ All that it was possible to save of the
de Medici, per fare la statua di S. Giacomo apostolo nella basilica
Later., li presento il modello della medesima, e dalla SS. fu gradito
al maggior segno e lodato per il piii hello, che sin hora sia state
fatto " (Bibl. Vittorio Emanuele, Rome). From a letter of Cardinal
Acquaviva to Cardinal Arias, dated Rome, August 15, 1715, it
appears that up till then no one was willing to bear the expense
of two statues. Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
1 Pascoli, I., 262.
" Opinion of Domarus, P. Bracci, 6.
* Baldeschi, 13 seq., 40 ; Pascoli, II. , 241, 391 ; Cancel-
LiERi, Possessi, 354.
* See the information from Valesio's *Diarii which Scatassa
gives in Rassegna bibliograf. dell' arte ital., XVIII. (1915), 13 seqq.
^ See Lamberg's *Diary in Lamberg Archives, Ottenstein.
The inscription of the stone in Bonelli, Mem. stor. d. basilica dei
SS. XII. Apostoli di Roma, Roma, 1879, 24. Cf. *Avviso of
526 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
old building was the atrium built by Julius II. when still
a Cardinal. Of the rest, nothing could be preserved. It is
particularly regrettable that the " Ascension " in the Tribune,
by Melozzo da Forli, one of the greatest pictorial creations
of the period of Sixtus IV., perished in this way. However,
thanks to the Pope's solicitude,^ the figure of Christ remained
intact ; this was put up on the great staircase of the Quirinal.
The matchless " Angels " were also saved and put up in the
Chapter-Room of St. Peter's. ^ On the other hand the
monuments of Cardinals Pietro and Raffael Riario, and that
of the French knight, Giraud, were removed from the choir
of the old church into that of the new. Eight fluted and
spiral columns of white alabaster were used to decorate
the chapel of the Crucifix. Whilst the foundations were
being dug, proofs were found of the Constantinian origin of
the church.^ Prince Pamfili who contributed considerable
sums for the new soffits at St. Pietro in Vincoli, and for the
repairs in St. Peter's and the Lateran, gave 40,000 scudi
for the churchof the Apostles in April, 1704.* In August, 1714,
the vaulting of the new building was completed.^ It is the
greatest possible simplification of the scheme of the Gesu.
The short nave takes one by surprise by its great breadth ;
the interior, -by its wonderful transition from the brightness
February 25, 1702 : The Pope wants to lay the foundation-stone
of SS. Apostoli " per la cui fabrica e risarcimento ha S. S. donate
ID mila so. e concesso la franchigia de' materiali, essendo state
avanti sua creatione di questa parochia " (Lamberg Archives,
Ottenstein). F. Santilli, La basilica dei Ss. Apostoli, Roma,
1925.
^ Valesio in Cancellieri, Mercato, 33, n. 4.
' Cf. the present work, IV., 464.
3 *Avviso Marescotti, April 21, 1703 : " Nelli fondamenti della
chiesa de' Ss. Apostoli si sono trovate alcune memoric, ch'indicano
il fondatore Costantino il Grande, anzi alcune statuine di bronzo,
ove si legge chiaramentc, che detto imperatore ponesse di sua
mano queste memorie," Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele, Roma.
* Valesio in ScATASSA, /oc. Ci/., 14.
» Ibid., 15.
SECULAR RESTORATIONS. 527
of the central nave into the darkness of the side aisles, is
a masterpiece of decorative art.^ In June, 1708, Clement XI.
inspected the new Tribune which was broader than the old
one. 2 Neither Francesco Fontana, who died in July, 1708,
nor the Pope, saw the completion of this last baroque church
in Rome.
The city of Rome has also to thank Clement XI. for the
restoration of its walls, ^ its waterworks and the cleansing
of its fountains.^ The fountains built by Pius IV. near Porta
Cavalleggieri was repaired. ^ New fountains were erected in
front of the Palazzo Salviati,^ and S. Maria in Cosmedin ' ;
the square in front of this church was regulated ^ ; the piazza
of the Pantheon was freed from its ugly additions,^ and over
the fountain erected there by Onorio Lunghi in 1755 was
placed the upper end of a broken obelisk which came from the
temple of Isis and had stood near S. Macuto since the
beginning of the sixteenth century.^" Repairs were also
carried out at the Acqua Acetosa.^^ The Hospice of S. Michele
1 Bergner, 74.
* Valesio, loc. cit., 15.
* A. NiBBY, Le miira di Roma, Roma, 1820, 324, 344, 363.
A *Meniorial on the restoration of the city walls in Miscell. di
Clemente XI., t. 14, Papal Secret Archives.
* Lafitau, II., 268 ; Cancellieri, Mercato, 33. Cf. *Editti
v., 51, f. 9 : Editto sopra l' Acqua Felice, suoi acquedotti, fontane
et altro (Camera, November 12, 1710) ; f. 175 : Editto per quelli,
che vanno a natare 0 a lavarsi nel fiume 0 a bagnarsi nelle fontane
(August 14, 1705). Similarly, f. 176 : July 20, 1706 ; 1707-1718.
Papal Secret Archives.
* FoRCELLA, XIII., 113.
* Cracas, November 2, 1720.
' On this beautiful work, executed from a design of Bizzocheri
by Franc. Moratti, see Guidi, Fontane, 80 seq.
* BUDER, III., 657 ; FORCELLA, XIII., 113.
» Fea. Dei diritti, 79 seqq., 81 seq.
>» Forcella, XIII., 132 ; Cancellieri, Mercato, lyj seq. ;
DoMARus, Bracci, 24 ; Guidi, loc. cit., 45 seq.
** This is recorded in an inscription of 17 12 which has been
preserved to this day. Forcella, XIII., 113.
528 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
was enlarged and a reformatory for youthful delinquents
added. Clement XI. gave 27,000 scudi for a home for young
girls. He also built the Hospital of St. Martha and a house
for foreign priests visiting Rome.^ The granaries near the
baths of Diocletian ^ proved a great boon for the whole
population, as did a small harbour on the Ripetta. Alessandro
Specchi, taking into account the church of S. Girolamo degH
Schiavoni, had very cleverly fitted it into the general plan
of the city. The harbour was one of the happiest creations
of the eighteenth century ; it was unfortunately destro3'ed
when the new Tiber bridge was erected.^ The Pope, who
repeatedly inspected the work, was not wholly satisfied with
it ; he found that the fountains erected there yielded too
little water, and that the whole scheme was not easily taken
in at one glance.^
^ Lafitau, II., 265 seqq. *Inscriptions for the " Casa della
correzione de' giovani ", in IMiscell. di Cleniente XI., 14, p. 134
seq., loc. cit. On the assistance given to the restoration of the
Hospital near the Forum, cf. Pericoli, L'ospedale di S. Maria
della Consolazione, Roma, 1879, 80.
- FoRCELLA, XIII., 186. Plan for the fabrica de' granari in
*Miscell. di Cleniente XI., 14, p. 161, loc. cit.
* Reproduced in Letarouilly, plate 349. Cf. Cancellieri,
Mercato ; Escher, 33 ; Guidi, Fontane, 46 seq. According
to Lafitau (II., 267), the harbour cost 60,000 scudi. Cf. also :
A. M. Taja, Leitera e poetici componimenti in raggiiaglio e in
enconiio della Nuova Ripa presso al sepolcro de' Cesari in Roma
ridotta per ordine di Cleniente XI. afoggia di sontuoso navale . . .,
Roma, 1705.
* *Avvisi of August 18, 1703, and August 23, 1704, Lamberg
Archives, Ottenstein. The latter says : " II Papa visito la fabrica
del vicino porto di Ripetta fatta con li denari avanzati dal tribu-
nale delle strade, e non rimase S. S. molto sodisfatto si della
scarsezza dell'acqua che getta la fontana, come per non godersi
dalla cima il prospetto del teatro, gran difetto, che dall'architetto
si attribuisce alia volunta di mons. Giudice sopraintcndente."
Ibid., August 9, 1704 : " Per il giorno di S. Rocco sara finite tutto
il porto di Ripetta con la fontana et ornamenti." Cf. also *Avviso
Marescotti, August 2, 1704 : "Si vede quasi terminata la fabrica
SECULAR UNDERTAKINGS. 529
Outside Rome also Clement XI. displayed great building
ardour. Civitavecchia has to thank him for the completion
of an aqueduct begun by Innocent XII. and its consequent
draining/ Porto d'Anzio for repairs to the harbour of
Innocent XII. damaged by a storm, ^ Albano for its develop-
ment as a city, Narni for the erection of iron smelting works,
Nocera for new baths, Pesaro for the diversion of water
which constantly threatened the city with fever, Benevento,
Urbino and Ferrara for the strengthening of their fortifications,
Norcia, Cascia, Ferrara, Gubbio, Sulmona and Sora for
assistance for the restoration of their churches, Civita
Castellana for the mighty bridge spanning a chasm thirty-six
metres deep, and a large part of the Pontifical States for
repairs to roads. ^
di Ripetta, e per maggior ornamento del porto si fabrica una
nuova casa, che dovera servire per dogana e magazzini, e nel
mentre che hieri Taltro s'alzava una gran lapide all'inscrittione
del Papa regnanto, per collocarla in sito a tal effetto prcparato,
rottasi una corda precipito la lapide e si ridusse in pezzi " (Biblio-
teca Vittorio Emanuele, Rome). On the plan for the decoration
of the Fontana di Trevi, see Valesio's Diario in Arte e storia,
XXXI. (191 2), 268. On the restoration of this aqueduct which
had been damaged by the earthquake (above, p. 491 seqq.),
" ch'e il latte della citta."
1 Calisse. 489 seq., where there are further details about the
disputes of the Camera with the first contractors. Cf. Lafitau,
II., 272.
2 *Avviso of December 22, 1700, Cod. ital., 196, State Library,
Munich.
3 Cf. Vita in Piselli Ciuccioli (above, p. 519, ii- 4). i2^seqq. ;
Lafitau, 272 seqq., who also gives an account of the work on
the Papal Palace, Avignon. On Pesaro, see Galli, Cenni economici
sullo Stato Pontif., Roma, 1840, 45 ; on Sulmona, cf. Lafitau,
L, 203 seq. The restoration of the choir in the cathedral of Ferrara
is recorded in an *Avviso of October 30, 1703, in Cod. ital., 197.
State Library, Munich. An inscription of 1705 on the Rocca of
Civita Castellana tells of the restoration carried out there by
Clement XL About the roads, cf. " Scrittura informativa per
una congregazione partic. deputata da Clemente XL sopra il
VOL. XXXIII. Mm
530 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
Strict with his relatives, the Albani Pope was very generous
towards his beloved native town Urbino, which belonged
to the States of the Church. In 1710 an inscription was
put up in the splendid ducal palace there, giving a list of
the benefits bestowed by Clement XI. upon the cit}^ of his
birth, viz. : the liquidation of debts, the erection of an
educational establishment for young noblemen, the restoration
of the ducal and archiepiscopal palaces, the provision of
a splendid high altar for the cathedral as well as gifts of
paintings and tapestries interwoven with gold. The Pope
also increased the income of the Canons.^ To all this was
added the present of a magnificent bronze eagle as a reading
buon mantenimento e cura delle strade consolari di tutto lo
State ecclesiastico ", in Miscell. di Clemente XI., t. 24, Papal
Secret Archives.
^ Clementi Pont. Max. | Quod ad publicum gravissimumque
aes alienum dissolvendum | Opportuno constitute subsidie |
Cellegie bonarum artium a fundamentis exstructe | Palatie
Apestelice et archiepiscopalibus aedibus instauratis | Ara praene-
bili in enerem S. Crescentini martiris | Geminis insignium picterum
tabulis I Tetidemque magnificis attalicis stragulis | Maieri temple
exernate | Canonicalibus preventibus annuo CCCC aureerum
censu amplificatis | Inter Maceratensis et Perusinae Rotae auditeres
I Certa civibus in perpetuum attributa sede | Pluriniisque aliis
collatis beneficiis | Patriae huic suae veterum temperum felicita-
tem restituit et auxit | Sebastianus Antenius tit. Sanct. Quatuor
Coronat. S. R. E. card. Tanarius | Urbini ad novennium de latere
legatus I Quo tempore pentificia fluxit magnificentia | Optimo
sanctissimeque principi vere patriae patri | Aeternae laudis
monumentum pesuit | Anne salutis MDCCX. The inscription
is taken from " *State della chiesa di Urbino " of 1713, in the
Archiepiscopal Archives, Urbino, where details are also found about
the Pope's donations. The altar, it says, shows the name and the
coat of arms of Clement XI. ; it was made in Rome, put on board
ship at the Ripa Grande in 100 cases, and arrived in Pesaro on
May 26, 1708, after a \oyage of two months. . It was consecrated
en July 2, 1708. On the restoration of the Duke's palace, see
*Avviso Marescotti, June 20, 1705, Bibl. Vitterie Emanuele,
Rome.
LAST SICKNESS. 531
desk for the cathedral from the studio of Federigo of
Montefeltro ^ ; the founding of a pubhc Ubrary in the monastery
of the Franciscans Conventual ; the construction of a church
and monastery for the Piarists - ; the erection of an obelisk
in front of the ducal palace and a statue of his predecessor,
Alexander VIII. ^ and the restoration of the city walls. The
confirmation of all the privileges already granted to the
University of Urbino on March 19th, 1721, was only made
public after the death of Clement XI. by his successor.*
(3.)
Clement XI. never fully recovered from the severe illness
which befell him in 1710.^ His asthmatic condition, which
the heavy air of Rome aggravated, tried him severely.^
On this account he spent most of the good season of the year
at the Quirinal ; in spring and autumn he went out to bracing
Castel Gandolfo whose palace and gardens he embellished.'
After a few weeks' stay there he always looked better.^ With
advancing years other infirmities were added to his asthma,
but his astonishing mental vigour enabled him to go on with
1 It is still preserved. It was brought to Rome by Alexander
VIII.
- NovAES, XII., 256. Cf. *Miscell. di Clcmente XL, t. 20,
loc. cit.
* The statue was saved during the French revolution by
changing the name : " Divo Petro Coelcstino P. O. M. Urbino
compatrono." It stands to this day in the Via Bramante at
S. Spirito.
* Bull, XXL, 850.
* Cf. above, p. 70.
« Count Gallas' *rcport dat. Rome, November 17, 1704,
Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the Vatican.
' Cf. the inscription in A. Guidi, I paesi dei Colli Albani,
Roma, 1880; 61.
* Count Gallas' * reports of September 27, October 13 and 27,
1 714, loc. cit.
532 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
his duties. He would have been in much better condition
had he followed the advice of his physician and allowed himself
more relaxation. His sense of duty, however, would not let
him think of doing so even in his extreme old age.^
By the beginning of the winter of 1720 a striking
deterioration occurred in the Pope's condition. He suffered
from frequent attacks of colic but continued to apply himself
to affairs. He himself felt that his end was not far off. In the
consistory of November 29th, 1720, he told the Cardinals
that he would soon have to appear before the judgment seat
of God. In order to prepare himself worthily, he was frequently
closeted with his confessor. He bequeathed his small, select
library to his nephews. Cardinal Albani was requested to
put up a monument to him in St. Peter's, but one as simple
as possible. He also dictated to the Cardinal his epitaph,
which bears witness to his great humility. It is as follows :
Clement XL, Pope, once a Chaplain, then a Canon of this
basilica, died on in the year after a pontificate
of Pray for him.^ On December 3rd Rome learnt
that the Pope had had several attacks and that his life was
in danger. On the same day Cardinal Acquaviva sent two
dispatches to Vienna, the second of which dealt with the
conclave.^
At the beginning of 1721 Clement was once more able to
deal with current affairs ; the religious controversies in France
in particular demanded his attention.^ He probably hoped
to live to see the end of them. He joked about a tactless-
letter of Cardinal De Mailly to Paolucci, the Secretary of
State, by remarking to the Bishop of Sisteron that when the
Cardinals came for the conclave, he would address a homily
^ Lafitau, II., 147 seq. ; Buder, III., 903 seq. CJ. *Rcport
to the Emperor, Charles VT., dated Rome, February 18, 1713,
Archives of the Austrian Embassy at the Vatican.
2 Lafitau, II., 210 seqq.
' *Cardinal Acquaviva to Grimaldi, dat. Rome, December 3,
1720, Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome.
* Lafitau's report to the Archbishop of Cambrai, dat. Rome,
January i, 1721, in Michaud, La fin de Clement XL, 43.
THE pope's death. 533
to them on the text : " The women came to the sepulchre
with the spices they had prepared." ^ On February 11th it
was reported that the Pope had caught a chill ; on the 19th
symptoms of an apoplectic stroke were observable. ^
Unexpectedly the Pope's condition improved sufficiently
to enable him to hold a consistory on March 3rd, 1721, in
which the disputed question as to who .should be Dean of the
Sacred College was decided in favour of Cardinal Tanara^.
About the middle of March the Pope, whilst personally
examining some important documents, caught a bad chill
in a cold room of the Archives which prevented him from
appearing at the papal chapel on Sunday, the IGth. In spite of
this, Clement said Mass on the 17th as usual and resumed his
audiences. By midday he was so unwell that he could take
no food and had to take to his bed. His physicians found him
feverish but declared that there was no danger. In fact
the fever abated ; the Pope even felt better and believed
it to have been but another of those attacks of asthma from
which he suffered so often. But on the following morning
the physicians found that he was suffering from pneumonia
and that his condition was grave. The dying Pontiff received
the news with perfect composure. He sent for his confessor,
made a general confession and arranged everything necessary
with the master of ceremonies, so that Holy Viaticum should
be brought to him with the customary solemnity. He received
Holy Communion with the greatest devotion. After a
prolonged thanksgiving he expressed a wish to see Cardinals
Albani and Paolucci. He thanked them in moving terms for
their devotion and begged their pardon if he had ever offended
them. To Albani he said : " See how all the honours of this
world come to an end. Only that is great which is great in
God's sight. Make it your endeavour to become a Saint ! "
A supreme effort of will enabled him to sit up, and he prayed
without ceasing. As his sight grew dimmer he was obliged
to have the Tridentine Profession of Faith read to him.
1 Ibid.
' Lafitau's reports to the Regent, ibid., 52 and 53.
» Op., Ora.t., 179.
534 * HISTORY OF THE POPES.
On March 19th, at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, he quietly
passed away and as had been his desire, on the feast
of St. Joseph for whom he had cherished a special devotion
all his hfe as the patron of the dying. ^
For twenty years and not quite four months of the seventy-
one and a half years of his life Clement XI. had ruled the Church.
It has been observed that reigns of such length have for the
most part been allotted only to excellent Popes. As a matter
of fact Clement XI. was one of the most worthy successors of
St. Peter, though by no means one of the most fortunate.
If his long reign was full of innumerable political complications,
and Rome herself was threatened with the fury of war, it
would be unjust to lay the blame^on his shoulders. The fact
was that the Powers were arrayed against each other in deadly
enmity. On every kindness shown by the Pope to one party,
the others put the worst possible construction ; it became
increasingly evident that complete neutrality was impossible.
Even the ablest politician would scarcely have extricated
himself from so difficult a position. ^ A saying of Adrian VI.
may be applied to Clement XI. : " How much depends on
the time in which the lot of the most virtuous man is cast ! "
True, it cannot be denied that the timorous and undecided
nature of Clement XL, and his inability to give effect to
decisions, rendered his situation much worse when, during
the Spanish war of succession, he found himself repeatedly
between the upper and the nether millstone.
Complications within the Church itself caused him no
less anxiety, viz. the question of the rites and the recrudescence
of Jansenism in France. To this were added grave conflicts
on questions of Church law with nearly every Catholic Power
^ Detailed *report of Cardinal Acquaviva to Grimaldi, March
19, 1 72 1, Archives of the Spanish Embassy, Rome ; *Conclave
d'Innocenzo, XIII., descritto dal card. Fr. Barberini, in Cod.
Barb. 4684, Vatican Library. Cf. Lafitau, II., 213 seqq. ;
MiCHAUD, 54. See also the accounts in Cracas and Distinta
relazione della malatlia e morte di Clemenie XL, Firenzc [1721].
* Opinion of Reumont [Beitrdge, V., 330). Cf. also Voigt in
H-erzog-YIkvck's Realenzykl., IV.', 151.
APPRECIATION OF CLEMENT XI. 535
in Europe, conflicts intimately connected with the pohtical
troubles of the time.
In the face of a world in the throes of a revolutionary
process, a world for which the only determining considerations
were those of power politics, Clement XI. did his duty manfully
and fought indefatigably for the rights and liberties of the
Church. Too conscientious to abandon essential rights, he yet
strove to restore peace between Church and State, though for
the most part in vain. It may be said that he failed to settle
satisfactorily any one of the great questions then in dispute.
But this was not due to him, but to the spirit of defiance and
arrogance which in the various States increasingly displaced
the one-time devotion to the Vicar of Christ. " Will you not
believe," he wrote to the Bishop of Brixen in 1717, " that as
a result of the ceaseless pressure of cares and anxieties we
find our life at times a burden ? But the more we feel the
bitterness that fills our pontificate, the more we are resolved
to pursue a resolution once taken, to persevere in it, and always
to live in pain." ^ The Pope kept his word. Though almost
continuously tried by physical and mental suffering, his most
admirable fortitude prevented him from sinking beneath the
burden, and he conscientiously discharged all the duties of
his office until his last breath. " Everybody has now words
of admiration for the dead Pontiff," wrote Andrea Corner,
the Venetian ambassador, " even those who until now have
found fault with him." ^ The Jansenist sect, which had
pained and insulted him in life by every means in its power,
alone pursued him even beyond the grave, ^ but it was unable
to substantiate its calumnies. The historian of the Bull
Unigenitus justly praises the apostolic earnestness and
1 Lafitau, II., 278.
* *Relatione di Andrea Corner, 1724, State Archives, Venice ;
extract in R.\nke, III., 215 seq.
3 See the revolting examples given by Schill (200, n. i),
♦Raccolta di pasquinate relative al papato di Clemente XI.
in Cod. 701, Bordeaux Library. Some Pasquinate also in Voyage
hist, et polit., de la Suisse, de I'llalie et de I'Allemagne, Fraiicfort,
i735> '203 seqq.
536 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
penetrating energy of Clement XI. ^ History has also passed
a fairer judgment on the political activity of the Pope now
that the original sources have been consulted. ^ Of
1 ScHiLL, 295.
' Pometti, who has the honour of having been the first to make
use in a comprehensi\'e manner of the treasures of the Papal
Secret Archives, for a judgment on the political conduct of
Clement XL, defends him (XXI., 308 seqq.) against Coxe and
Ranke, who accuse him of a " politica dubbia e tentennante di
carattere malfermo ". He wTites : " Al qual proposito e istrutti\o
rivelare che uno storico come il Ranke pu6 anche cadere in errore,
quando non si esaminano le fonti alle quali si ricorre. II suo
attaccamento a Luigi XIV. ed a Filippo V. prima, poi quello per
Giuseppe I. e Carlo VI., guardati sommariamente, danno ragione
a quegli scrittori, che avrebbero voluto un Papa o tutto francese
o tutto austriaco. Questo giudizio inesatto deriva dall'ignoranza
completa degli atti politic! di Clemente XI. e delle condizioni che
li determinarono ed in mezzo alle quali si svolsero. Ma, anche a
prescindere che la sua opera politica non e stata fino ad ora
studiata suUe fonti dirette, sarebbe stato da buon politico che un
Papa si fosse recisamente manifestato partigano ? £ ovvio osser-
vare che si puo essere apertamente avversario o favorevole d'un
partito fino a quando si milita in esso come gregario ; ma che
diventato capo, obblighi vari impongono un'attitudine meno
spiccata, se non nel pensiero intimo, almeno nelle manifestazioni
esteriori. E non bisogna inoltre dimenticare che, data la natura
del papato, la tradizione vietava di chiarirsi nemico tra Austria
e Francia, entrambi paesi cattolici.
" Un complesso di riflessioni consigliava un atteggiamento
neutrale e moderatore : fortunata condizione, che permetteva
I'esplicarsi d'un concetto politico da poter mostrare a talento e
adattare a seconda delle circostanze. Clemente XI. aveva fiducia
nella potenza e nella fortuna di Luigi XIV., ma prevedeva che
tutta Europa si sarebbe coalizzata contro di lui. Ora, un rovescio
delle armi francesi impigliava guai infiniti per la Chiesa. ' Sa
finesse d'ltalien, dice il Legrelle (IV., 183), avait aisement
pressenti que I'orage cette fois pourrait bien depasser les forces
de la France. Son incertitude etudiee fait honneur a sa perspicacite
politique, mais ne repondit peut-etre pas a ce que I'Europe
chretienne pouvait esperer du pfere des fiddles, charg6 de faire
CLEMENT XI. 'S PRAYER. 537
Clement XL's action in the struggle against the Turks for
the safeguarding of Christendom and Western civilization,
a Protestant contemporary has said that by it the Pope has
earned for himself imperishable glory. ^ His works of charity
during the whole of his pontificate also honour his memory ;
so extensive were they that when he died he only left an
exceedingly modest sum.^ No one questions his services to
scholarship and the arts.
For anyone acquainted with history it is impossible to
contemplate without emotion the simple stone slab in the
choir chapel of St. Peter's, which covers the mortal remains
of a man who during the twenty years of his government
scarcely enjoyed one moment's peace. His eloquent allocu-
tions, his elegant homilies and his innumerable letters,
published by his nephew, constitute a splendid monument
to his untiring pastoral zeal which embraced the whole world,
his apostolic courage and his unwearied toil.
Clement XL's noble sentiments found a most moving
expression in the beautiful prayer for the Christian virtues
which the Catholic world owes to him. It is as follows :
O my God, I believe in Thee ; do Thou strengthen my
faith. All my hopes are in Thee ; do Thou enable me to
realize them. I love Thee with my whole heart ; teach me to
love Thee daily more and more. I am sorry that I have
offended Thee ; do Thou increase my sorrow. I adore Thee
as m}' beginning and origin. I aspire after Thee as my last
end. I give Thee thanks as my constant Benefactor. I call
upon Thee as my gracious Protector. Vouchsafe, O my God,
regner la foi de I'fivangile parmi eux.' Pensiero que.sto che ci
pare rispondente al vero nella sua prima parte, ma che nella
seconda mostra un preconcetto, nel quale sogliono cadere anche
quegli storici autorevoli, che non sanno, o non vogliono dis-
tinguere, neU'essenza del papato, la sua duplice natura, spirituale
etemporale."
* See BuDER, IIL, 380. Cf. Immich, Staatensystem, 247.
* According to a report there were no more than 60 scudi.
However, a list was also found of 600 families which he secretly
supported ; see Novaes, XH., 273. Cf. also above, p. li.
538 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
to guide me by Thy wisdom, to restrain me by the thought
of Thy justice, to comfort me by Thy mercy, to defend me
by Thy power. To Thee I consecrate all my thoughts, words,
actions and sufferings, that henceforward I may think of
Thee, speak of Thee, act in accordance with Thy will, and
suffer willingly whatever Thou shalt appoint. Lord, I desire
that in all things Thy will may be done, because it is Thy will,
and that it may be done as Thou wiliest, where and when
Thou wiliest. I beg of Thee to enlighten my understanding,
to inflame my will, to purify my heart, and to sanctify my
soul. Let me not be puffed up with pride, deluded by flattery,
deceived by the world, and ensnared by Satan. Give me
grace to purify my memory, to bridle my tongue, to guard
my eyes and to watch over all my senses.
O my God, strengthen me that I may bewail my sins,
overcome future temptations, subdue my evil inclinations,
and acquire every virtue. Grant me love for Thee, hatred of
my faults, zeal for the souls of others, and contempt for the
world. Let me ever remember, O Jesus, to be submissive to
my superiors, considerate towards my inferiors, true to my
friends and charitable towards my enemies.
Help me, O God, to overcome anger by meekness, sensuality
by mortification, avarice by liberality, and tepidity by
devotion. O my God, make me prudent in my undertakings,
courageous in danger, patient in contradiction, and humble
in prosperity. May I never omit to have a right intention
in my actions and sufferings, may I be attentive at prayer,
temperate at meals, diligent in the duties of my ofhce, and
constant in my resolutions.
Grant, O Lord, that I may diligently strive ever to have
a good conscience, a modest bearing, an edifying conversation
and a seemly conduct ; that I may continually labour to
overcome my evil nature, correspond with Thy grace, keep
Thy commandments and, work out m}- salvation. Show to
me, O my God, the nothingness of earthly things, the greatness
of heaven, the shortness of time, the length of eternity, the
evil of sin and the greatness of Thy love. Grant that I may
prepare for death, fear Thy judgments, escape hell, and
CLEMENT XL's PRAYER. 539
finally obtain heaven, through the merits of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen.
This prayer, which includes everything that man needs
for eternal salvation, is a memorial to Clement XL destined
to outlast brass and marble.
INDEX OF NAMES IN VOL. XXXIII.
Abdelmasich (Coptic Priest),
378.
Abrantes, Marchese d', 468.
Acciaioli, Cardinal, 3, 4, 516.
Acquaviva, Francesco (Spanish
Ambassador), Cardinal,
136, 137, 144, 150, 152,
155, 160, 161, 163, 164,
176, 347. 532.
Adda, Count Ferdinando d'.
Cardinal, 4.
Adrian VI., Pope, 534.
Aguesseau, D' (Attorney-
General), 184, 244, 256,
265, 285.
Ahmed III., Sultan, 113, 115.
Albani, Alessandro (nephew of
Clement XI.), 130, 168,
169.
Albani, Annibale (nephew of
Clement XL), nuncio.
Cardinal, 13, 78, 79, 81,
83, 87, 90-3, 103, 163, 170,
240, 287, 317, 349, 516,
518, 520, 525, 532, 533.
Albani, Carlo (father of
Clement XL), 7.
Albani, Carlo (nephew of
Clement XL), 13.
Albani, Gian Francesco, Car-
dinal (Clement XL), 4, 6-
10. 315. 347-
Albani, Orazio (brother of
Cleinent XL), 13, 522.
Albani, Orazio (Roman
Senator), 7, 510.
Alberoni, Giulio, Cardinal, 121,
122, 127, 134-8, 141, 142,
147 n., 150, 153, 157-174.
353-
Aldobrandini, Alessandro
(nuncio in Spain), Cardinal,
174-6.
Aldrovandi, Pompeo (nuncio in
Spain), Governor of Rome,
Cardinal, 75-7, 77 n.,
116, 117, 119, 120, 127,
134-8, 143, 145, 149,
149 n., 152-5, 158, 159,
162-4, 174. 175. 271.
Alemanni (Secretary of the
Congregation of Cardinals),
252.
Alexander (Armenian Patri-
arch),- 378, 379.
Alexander VII., 184, 185, 237,
305-318, 320, 329, 410,
460.
Alexander VIIL, 2, 4, 8, 194,
347. 505. 531-
Alexandre, Noel (Dominican),
181. 278, 331.
Alfaro (Jesuit), 6, 214, 215.
Alleurs, D' (French Am-
bassador at Constanti-
nople), 374, 378.
Althan, Count Michael
Frederick von (Viceroy of
Naples), Cardinal, 35, 354.
Altieri, Paluzzo, Cardinal, 4.
Amalia (wife of Emperor
Joseph I.), 48, 49, 79, 82,
83-
Amelot (Marquis de Gournay),
65. 245-253, 265.
Anastasius (Bishop of Nicosia
in Cyprus), 378.
Anastasius (librarian), 506.
Angelita, of Tournon's suite,
438.
Anna (Dowager Queen of the
Congo), 381.
Anne (Queen of England), 31,
97-
Anthony of St. Mary (Fran-
ciscan), 403, 405, 406.
541
542
INDEX OF NAMES.
Anthony Ulrich (Count of
Brunswick-Liineberg), 341,
358, 363. 364-
Antoninus Pius (Emperor), 513.
Appiani, Luigi (Lazarist), 430,
433-440, 442, 444, 447,
474-
Archinto, Girolamo (nuncio at
Cologne), 4, 25, 333.
Arias y Porres, Manuel (Arch-
bishop of Seville), Cardinal,
158. 349, 352.
Arnauld, Antonio (Jansenist),
183, 192-4, 225, 288, 305,
317, 405, 411.
Arquien, Marquis, d'. Cardinal,
2, 3-
Arxo, De (Jesuit), 448.
Ascoli, Serafino d', 344.
Assemani Elias, 502.
Assemani, Joseph Simon, 502.
Astalli, Fulvio (Legate at
Ferrara), Cardinal, 3, 33,
170, 171.
Augusta Dorothea (Countess of
Schwarzburg - Arnstadt),
364-
Augustine of the Annunciation
(Archbishop of Goa), 487.
Augustine, St., 199.
Aurengsib (Grand Mogul), 387.
Avad, James (Patriarch of the
Maronites), 375.
Avellino, Andrea, 343.
Avellino, Prince of, 78.
Baduari, Giovanni (Patriarch
of Venice), Cardinal, 348.
Baius. 317.
Baldigiani (Jesuit), 409, 410.
Banchieri, Antonio (Assessor of
the Inquisition), Cardinal,
214. 455-
Barace, Cipriano (Jesuit),
missionary, 390.
Barbarigo, Gregorio, Cardinal,
3, 4-
Barberini, Carlo, Cardinal, 3,
7, 8, 28, 29.
Barberini, Francesco, the elder,
Cardinal, 7, 8.
Barberini, Francesco, the
younger (Prefect of Pro-
paganda), Cardinal, 4,
59, 170, 171, 322, 324,
498.
Barcos, Martin de (Abbe de
Saint-Cyran), 200, 201.
Baronius (annalist). Cardinal,
505-
Barros (Jesuit), 448.
Bartoli, Francesco (Com-
missary of Antiquities),
508, 521.
Battelli, Giovanni Cristoforo
(Secretary for Briefs and
papal librarian), 12, 504.
Bauvers, Canoni.st at Louvain,
314-
Beauvilliers, F. H. de (Bishop
of Beauvais), 178 n.
Beauvollier, Antoine • de
(Jesuit), 430, 432, 433,
438, 448.
Bellarmine, Robert, 338.
Bellefontaine, Bali de (Knight
of Malta), 139.
Belluga, Luis (Bishop of Carta-
gena), Cardinal, 75.
Belsunce (Bishop of Marseilles),
289, 290, 300.
Benavente, Alvaro de (\'icar
Apostolic of Chiangsi),
Titular Bishop of Ascalon,
412, 414.
Benedict XIII. (Orsini), 351.
Benedict XIV. (Lambertini),
512.
Beneficiale, Mario (painter),
525-
Bentivoglio, Marco Cornelio
(nuncio in France), Car-
dinal, 170, 178 n., 238, 239,
256, 260, 286, 303, 306,
354-
Bernardini (Master of the
Palace), 214.
Bernini, Lorenzo (architect and
sculptor), 29, 493, 524.
Bemino, Domenico, 505.
Berry, Due de, 15.
Besenval (French Agent), 88.
INDEX OF NAMES.
543
Bevilacqua (nuncio), 103.
Bianchini, Francesco (archaeo-
logist and historian), 505,
506, 509, 510, 512.
Bichi, Antonio, Cardinal, 4.
Bissy, Henri de (Bishop of
Meaux), 209, 229, 244,
261, 268, 284, 285, 287,
290, 291, 299, 353.
Bochard, Abbot, 211.
Boldetti, Marcantonio (archaeo-
logist), 510, 511.
Boncompagni, Cardinal, 3.
Boniface IV. (Pope), 521.
Bonnac (French Ambassador
at Constantinople), 374.
Bonneval, General, 48.
Borgia, Alessandro (Archbishop
of Fermo), 505.
Borromei, Alessio Gilberto
(Maestro di Camera),
Cardinal, 353.
Borromeo, Carlo, St., 343.
Bossuet, J. B. (Bishop of
Meaux), 178 n., 180, 181,
197, 201, 202, 205, 208-
210, 261, 353.
Bouchet, Venantius (mission-
ary), 485, 488.
Bouillon, Cardinal, 3.
Boussu, Count Thomas Philip
de (Archbishop of Malines),
Cardinal, 213, 353.
Bouvet (Jesuit), 431, 433, 443-
5-
Brabeck, Jobst Edmund von
(Bishop of Hildesheim),
362.
Bracci, Pietro (sculptor), 12.
Brevedent (Jesuit), 384.
Brigg (Jesuit), 371.
Broue, De La (Bishop of
Mirepoix), 276, 277.
Bussi, Giovanni . Battista
(nuncio), Cardinal, 320,
327, 328, 502.
Byng (English Admiral), 167.
Caffarelli (Governor of
Rome), 40.
Calvin, 239.
Camacho y Avila, Didacus
(Archbishop of Manila),
388.
Camus, Stefano de (Archbishop
of Grenoble), Cardinal, 2,
3-
Canara, Cardinal, 132.
Cantalice, Felix of (Capuchin
lay brother), 343.
Cantelmi (nuncio), Cardinal, 4,
103.
Capassulis, Samuel (Greek
Patriarch), 378.
Caprara, Alessandro, Cardinal,
347. 348-
Caracciolo, Inigo, Cardinal,
353-
Caracciolo, Niccolo (nuncio),
Cardinal, 353.
Caroelli (Senator), 59, 80.
Carpegna, Gaspare (Vicar-
General of Rome), Car-
dinal, 4, 335, 416, 421, 423.
Casanata, Cardinal, 409, 411,
415-
Casini, Francesco Maria
(Capuchin), Cardinal, 132,
351-
Casoni, Lorenzo (nuncio), Car-
dinal, 60 n., 171, 204, 347,
348.
Cassini, Gian Domenico (astro-
nomer), 506.
Castelli, Giovanni Vincenzo
(Dominican), 368, 369.
Castelli (Lazarist), 214.
Castner, Caspar (Jesuit), 414,
417, 421-3, 425.
Castorano, Carlo Orazio
da (Franciscan), Vicar-
General in Pekin, 458,
463-5, 471.
Catherine of Bologna, St., 343.
Catz, James, 316, 322, 327.
Caumartin (Bishop of Blois),
332.
Cazal, de Joao (Bishop of
Macao), 414, 450, 451.
Cellamare (Spanish Envoy),
167.
Cenci, Baldassare, Cardinal, 3.
544
INDEX OF NAMES.
Cenci, Serafino (Archbishop of
Benevento), Cardinal, 497.
Ceru (Procurator of Propa-
ganda in China), 462, 469.
Chaize, Francis de la (Jesuit
Confessor of Louis XIV.),
180, 324, 414.
Chalil- Pasha (Grand Vizier) ,
141.
Chalmette, Stephan, 207.
Champfiour (Bishop of La
Rochelle), 206, 209, 212.
Charles Alexander (Duke of
Wiirttemberg) , 364.
Charles (Archduke of Austria),
15. 94-
Charles II. of Spain, 5, 14, 15,
16, 18, 137.
Charles V. (Emperor), 14, 61, 62.
Charles VI., Emperor (Charles
III. of Spain), 23, 24, 31,
38, 39, 40, 45, 52, 54, 59,
60, 64, 66, 69, 70, 71, 73,
77-9. 84. 86-94, ^°^' ^o^'
108, 111-16, 122-7, 131-
3, 140-4, 146, 148, 151-
4, 160-2, 168, 349, 374,
378.
Charmot, 409.
Chevalier (Vicar-General of
Meaux), 268, 270, 271,
283, 285.
Chiari, Giuseppe (painter), 517,
518, 525-
Chiesa, Bernardino della
(Bishop of Pekin), 433,
435. 458. 459, 463, 464-
Chigi, Agostino (Marshal of the
Conclave), 13.
Chigi, Fabio (Alexander VII.),
nuncio, 103.
Christian Augustine of Saxony
(Archbishop of Gran), 99,
348.
Christina of Sweden, 7, 8, 522.
Chumacero, 76.
Ciceri, Alexander Louis (Arch-
bishop of Nankin), 414.
Cienfuegos, Alvaro, Cardinal,
Imperial Ambassador at
Rome, 355.
Cignani (painter), 517.
Clement VII., 61, 62.
Clement VIII., 405.
Clement IX., 2, 184.
Clement X., 2, 3, 4.
Clement XL (Gian Francesco
Albani), passim 6-539.
Clement XII. (Lorenzo Corsini),
512.
Clermont-Tonnerre (Bishop of
Langres), 226.
Cocchi (Dominican), 403, 405.
Cock, Theodore de (Pro-\'icar
of Holland), 316, 319-326.
Codde, Peter (Vicar Apostolic
in Holland), 315-330.
Coislin, Cardinal, 23.
Colbert de Croissy, Charles
(Bishop of Montpellier),
232, 242, 276, 332.
Coleti, Niccolo, 504.
Colloredo, Leonardo, Cardinal,
3, 5. 317. 497-
Colonna, Carlo (Maggiordomo),
Cardinal, 12, 347.
Comitibus, Andrea de (Fran-
ciscan), 343.
Conca, Sebastiano (painter),
517-
Concha (painter), 518.
Confucius, 396-8, 412, 425-7,
438.
Conrad of the Ascension, 370.
Conti, Francesco (Grand Master
of the Teutonic Order and
Administrator of Breslau),
345-
Conti, Michelangelo (nuncio).
Cardinal (Innocent XIII. ),
170, 348.
Cornaro, Giorgio, Cardinal, 3.
Corner, Andrea (Venetian
Ambassador in Rome),
535-
Corradini, Pietro Marcellino,
Cardinal, 77, 81, 170,
350-2-
Corsini, Lorenzo, Cardinal
(Clement XIL), 170, 348.
524-
Cortil (Jesuit), missionary, 389.
INDEX OF NAMES.
545
Costaguti, Giovan Battista,
Cardinal, 4, 5.
Cozza, Lorenzo, Cardinal, 376
378.
Cracas (printer and editor), 125.
Crescimbeni, Giovanni Maria
(custodian of the Arcadia),
503-
Creuilly (Jesuit), missionary,
390.
Cunha Da (Jesuit), 38G.
Cunha de Atayde, Nuno da,
Cardinal, 349, 350, 352.
Curiel, Louis (writer), 118.
Cusani, Agostino (nuncio at
Paris and Vienna), Car-
dinal, 350.
Cyril V. (Greek Patriarch), 375.
Czacki, Emmerich (Bishop of
Kalocsa), Cardinal, 148,
155. 353-
Daemen, Adam (Vicar Apos-
tolic of Holland), 328, 329,
333-
Dalenoort (Jansenist), 330.
Damascene, John (Franciscan),
214, 488.
Darmstadt, Prince of, 61.
Daubenton (Jesuit), confessor
of Philip v., 122, 135,
137, 143, 162, 169, 217,
221, 240.
Daun, Field-Marshal, 43, 44,
57. 58.
Davia, Cardinal (nuncio in
Vienna) , 30, 36, 38, 350, 35 1 .
David III., Negus of Abvssinia,
380.
David of St. Charles, Car-
melite, 374, 375.
Delfino, Giovanni, Cardinal, 4.
Desideri, Ippolito (Jesuit), 385.
Diaz, Emanuel, the Elder, 402,
405, 406.
Dodemanut (Takla Haimanot),
380.
Dorsanne (Vicar-General of
Paris), 256.
Duberron (Jesuit), missionary,
389.
Dubois, Abbe (French
Minister), 169, 303, 304,
306, 307, 310-12.
Dubuc (Theatine), 204.
Dupin, Ellies (Jansenist),
writer, 181, 288, 331.
Durante, Daniel (Archbishop
of Smyrna), 369.
Durazzo, Marcello, Cardinal, 3.
EccHKLLENsis, Abraham, 501.
Elce, Scipione D', (nuncio),
103.
Eleonor Charlotte (Duchess of
Ols), 364.
Elias (Bishop of Ispahan), 376.
Elisabeth (Farnese), wife of
Philip V. of Spain, 117,
119, 121, 122, 134, 142,
152, 168.
Elizabeth Louise (Countess
Palatine of Zweibrijckcn),
364-
Elizabeth of Brunswick,
Wolfenbiittel (wife of
Charles VI.), 92, 363, 364.
Erizzo (Venetian Envoy at
Rome), 17.
Erkel, 322.
Ernest Augustus, Duke (Prince
Elector of Hanover), 357.
Eschinard (Jesuit), 506.
Espen, Zcger Van (doctor), 314,
322, 331, 332,
Este, Cardinal d', 4, 497.
Este, Rainaldo d' (Duke of
Modena), 17, 48, 54.
Estrees, Cardinal D' (Bishop of
. Laon), 2, 3, 6, 227, 229,
244.
Eugene, Prince, 22, 24, 27, 41,
42, 45, 46, 48, 82, 88, 92,
100, 113, 122, 124-133,
140, 141, 154, 169, 343, 510.
Eva, Gabriel (Abbot of Mt.
Lebanon), 376.
Fabricius (Professor at Hehn-
stadt), 364.
Fabri (missionary), 470.
Fabroni, Angelo, 8.
Nn
546
INDEX OF NAMES.
Fabroni, Carlo Agostino,
Cardinal, 62, 170, 188,
189, 214, 219, 240, 246-9,
251, 253, 287, 316, 318,
347-
Fagan, Luke (Bishop of Meath),
331-
Falconieri, Alexius (Governor
of Rome), 156, 161, 344.
Farnese, Francis (Duke of
Parma), 121, 135, 136,
138, 141, 151-3. 170-2,
■174.
Favoriti, Agostino (Secretary
of Briefs), 12.
Federigo di Montefeltro, 531.
Fenelon (Archbishop of Cam-
brai), 178 n., 189, 191,
196, 205-7, 209, 211, 216,
219-221, 224-8, 235, 237,
238, 240-3, 247, 250,
255-
Ferdinand Charles (Duke of
Mantua), 17, 21.
Fernandez, Miguel (Franciscan
Commissary), 458.
Ferrari, Tommaso (Dominican),
Cardinal, 3, 214, 219, 271,
316, 413. 416, 423, 506.
Ferriol (French Ambassador at
Constantinople), 374.
Feuillade, Due de la, 284-6.
Fieschi (Archbishop of Avig-
non), 26..
Fieschi (Archbishop of Genoa),
Cardinal, 347.
Filippucci, Gabriel, Cardinal,
348.
Fiorelli, Domenico, 172.
Flangini (Venetian Admiral),
139-
Fleury, Joly de (jurist), 256.
Fontaine (Jesuit), missionary,
417.
Fontana, Carlo (architect), 494,
517. 519, 522.
Fontana, Carlo, nephew of
above (architect), 517.
Fontana, Francesco, son of
Carlo, 513, 517, 525, 527.
Fontana (Jesuit), 337.
Fontanini, Giusto (scholar), 54,
507-
Forbin Janson (Bishop of
Aries), 290.
Forbin Janson, Toussaint de.
Cardinal, 2, 3, 23, 27, 32,
214, 411.
Foresta de Cologne (Bishop of
Apt), 289, 300.
Forteguerri, Niccolo (poet),
Secretary of Propaganda,
365. 504-
Francis of Pa via (Capuchin),
381.
Francis of Salem (Franciscan),
379-
Frederick Augustus I. of Saxony
(Augustus II. of Poland),
35. 36, 38. 79. 81, 88, 89,
III, 112, 113, 123.
Frederick Augustus II., Elector
of Saxony (Augustus III. of
Poland), 80, 156, 362, 363.
Frederick I. (King of Prussia),
16, 19, 20, 85, 86, 359.
Frehel (Parish Priest), 179.
Freyre (Jesuit), 385.
Frossoloni (interpreter), 435,
436.
Gabrielli, Giambattista, Car-
dinal, 4, 412, 416, 423.
Gallas, Count (Imperial Am-
bassador in Rome), 147,
148, 155-7.
Galliego, John (Franciscan),
375-
Gama, Lobo da (military
judge), 449.
Garzi, Luigi (painter), 525.
Gay (Superior of S. Sulpice),
179.
Gazotti, Augustine (Bishop of
Agram and Luccra), 344.
Gerberon, Jean (Maurist), 195,
200, 320, 322.
Gerbillon (Jesuit), 436, 438,
439. 442, 443. 443-
Gesvres, Leon, Potier de (Arch-
bishop of Bourges), Car-
dinal, 353.
INDEX OF NAMES.
547
Ghezzi, Pier Leone (painter),
525-
Giordani, Vincenzo, mathe-
matician, 506.
Giraud, Comte, 526.
Giudice, Francesco del (Grand
Inquisitor of Spain),
Cardinal, 3, 39, 117, 118,
120, 121, 134.
Giustiniani, Benedetto, Car-
dinal, 368.
Gonzalez, Tirso (General of the
Jesuits), 372.
Gottseer, Martin (Jesuit), 362.
Gourdan (Canon Regular), 296.
Gozzadini, Ulisses Joseph,
Cardinal (Secretary for
Briefs to Princes), 12, 80,
117, 348.
Gravina, Vincenzo (jurist), 507.
Gregory X., 343.
Gregory XII., 566.
Gregory XIII., 381.
Gregory XV., 4S5.
Grimaldi, Filippo (Jesuit), 412,
417. 419.
Grimaldi, Louis (Prince of
Monaco and French Am-
bassador in Rome), 5.
Grimaldi, Niccolo (Secretary of
the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars),
Cardinal, 347.
Grimani, Vincenzo (Viceroy of
Naples), Cardinal, 3, 24,
25, 28, 30, 38, 40, 42, 44,
80.
Groenhaut, 316.
Gualtieri, Francesco Antonio
(nuncio), Cardinal, 347.
Guerrero, Ferdinando (Arch-
bishop of Manila), 406.
Guetti, in Tournon's suite, 438,
446.
Guidi, Alcssandro, 504.
H.^NDEL, George Frederick, 356.
Harlay, Achille (First Presi-
dent), 184.
Harlay de Champvallon (Arch-
bishop of Paris), 177.
Haro y Moncada, Belluga Torre
Castiglio, 353.
Harrach, Count (Viceroy of
Naples), II.
Hebert (Bishop of Agen), 208,
221.
Heinsius, Antony-, 58, 320.
Hennebel, 322.
Henrietta of Brunswick (Abbess
of Gandesheim), 363, 364.
Herve, Peter, 449.
Heussen, Hugh van, 316, 320,
322, 327, 332.
Hodermarski (Bishop of the
Ruthenians), 373.
Hoock (French Agent), 88.
Huet, Daniel (Bishop of Av-
ranches), 229.
Humbelot (Doctor of the Sor-
bonne), 259.
Hussein (Shah of Persia), 385.
Huxelles, Marshal, 96, 256,
265, 283.
Ibrahim of Aleppo (Kapudan-
- Pasha), 128, 139, 140.
Imperiale, Lorenzo (Cardinal
Secretary of State), 4, 92,
132, 171.
Innocent X., 2, 184, 185, 237.
Innocent XL, 2, 3, 8.
Innocent XII., i, 2, 4, 8, 9, 44,
185, 315. 344. 381, 385.
529-
Innocent XIII., 172, 173.
James II. of England, 25, 58.
James III. (Pretender to the
English throne), 25, 58, 97;
109, 157, 167, 344, 350.
James of Illyria, 343.
Jassu (Emperor of Assyria),
379-
Javorski, Stephen, 371.
John Baptist of Orleans
(Capuchin), 374.
John Christian Augustus of
Flolstein, 364.
John, King of Portugal, 128,
346, 449, 453, 483.
John of Perugia, 343.
548
INDEX OF NAMES.
John William (Count Palatine),
38, 102, 105, 325, 326.
John William (Elector of Pfalz-
Neuburg), 341, 357.
Joseph I. (Emperor), 34-8, 40,
44-9. 51-9. 63, 65, 69, 78,
82-6, 92-4.
Joseph II. (Tel-Kepha),
Patriarch of the Chaldeans,
374> 501-
Joseph III., Patriarch of the
Chaldeans, 375.
Joseph of Jerusalem (Fran-
ciscan), 379, 301.
Jourdin (Jourdain), Oratorian,
196.
Julius II., 526.
Kanghi (Emperor of China),
397, 407, 408, 410, 412,
417. 428, 430-2, 438-
449, 460-2, 464, 467,
469, 474-481.
Kaunitz, Count Francis Charles
von (Auditor), 38.
Kiszka, Leo, 372.
Kollonitsch, Count Leopold,
Cardinal, 38, 372, 373, 376,
414.
Kiinigl, von (Prince Bishop of
Brixen), 360.
Kurakin (Russian Envoy in
Rome), 371.
Laborde, de (Oratorian), 268.
Laderchi, Giacomo (Oratorian),
505-
Lafitau (Jesuit), French Envoy
in Rome, Bishop, of Sis-
teron, 272, 275, 283, 305,
306, 312.
Lamberg, Count Ferdinand
von, 130.
Lamberg, Count John Philip
von, Cardinal, 3, 38, 48, 99.
Lambert, Count Leopold von
(Imperial representative in
Rome), 2, 17, 21-32, 35,
36, 40, 49, 493.
Lambertini, Prospero (Benedict
XIV.), 490.
Lancisi, Giovanni Maria,
(physician to Clement XI),
12, 491, 496, 497, 507,
508.
Langeron, 207.
Langle, de (Bishop of
Boulogne), 276.
Langlet du Fresnoy, 331.
Languet de Gervy (Arch-
bishop of Sens), 290, 300.
La Parisiere (Bishop of Nimes),
290.
Laureati (Superior of the
Jesuits), 480.
Lauro, Liberato da (Fran-
ciscan), 343.
Law, John, 306, 308, 309.
Laynes, Francis Troyano
(Bishop of iMeliapur), 488,
489.
Leake (English Admiral), 58.
Le Blanc (Vicar Apostolic),
447. 453-
Le Comte (Jesuit), 413.
Le Drou (theologian), 214.
Le Gros (sculptor), 524.
Leibnitz (philosopher), 365.
Leo I. (Pope), 344, 522.
Leo X. (Pope), 46, 516.
Leonessa, John Francis
(missionary), Bishop of
Ber^'tus, 425, 484.
Leopold, Count of Lorraine,
346-
Leopold I. (Emperor), 3, 15-17,
20, 22-4, 27-33, 55, 61.
Le Rouge (Syndic of the
Sorbonne), 259.
Lescure (Bishop of Lugon),
207, 209, 212.
Lessius, Leonardo (theologian),
401.
Leszcynski, Stanislaus, 38.
Le Tellier (Archbishop of
Rheims), i8r.
Le Tellier (Jesuit), Confessor
of Louis XIV., 210, 211,
226, 255.
Locatelli, Captain, 42.
Lotfelsholz, Freiherr George
von, 124.
INDEX OF NAMES.
549
Lombard, missionary (Jesuit),
390.
Longobardi, Niccolo (Jesuit),
401, 402, 403.
Lorino (theologian), 401.
Lorraine (Bishop of Bayeux),
332.
Louis (Dauphin), 83, 84, 94.
Louis XIV., 2, 14-22, 25-7, 36,
56, 59, 61, 62, 66, 68, 75,
76, 83, 88, 94, 96, 97,
100, loi, 105-8, 115-17,
177, 181, 183, 186-8, 206,
209-216, 226-234, 242-
257, 262, 275, 313, 324,
348, 350, 374. 377. 378,
381, 389, 449.
Louis XV., 115, 311.
Louville, Marquis, 28.
Loyer, Godfrey (Dominican),
382.
Lozurfa (Christian Sultan),
384-
Lu, John (Chinese Catechist),
437-
Luca, Giambattista, de,
Cardinal, 7, 8.
Lucchesini, Giovanni Vincenzo
(Secretary for Latin Briefs) ,
12, 507-
Lucchesini, Lorenzo (Prefect of
Greek College at Rome),
372.
Lucia of Narni (BL), 344.
Lucini, Giuseppe, Abbate, 77,
78.
Lunghi, Onorio, 527.
Luther, 239, 314.
Luti, Benedetto (painter), 525.
Lyonne, Arthur de (Vicar
Apostolic of Sutshuen),
415-17, 421.
Macanaz, Melchior, Raphael de
(Fiscal of the Council of
Castile), 76, 118, 120.
IMacarius (Archbishop of
Tripoli), 378.
Macarius (Coptic Deacon), 378.
Madot (Bishop of Chalons-sur-
Saone), 258.
Magnani, Giovanni Antonio
(poet), 504.
Majella, Carlo (Secretary for
Briefs to Princes), 507.
Maigrot, Charlies (Vicar Apos-
tolic of Fukicn), 408-410,
416-18, 421, 424-8, 432,
435-440. 446, 447. 453.
465, 471, 472, 474, 480.
Mailly, Fran9ois de (Arch-
bishop of Rheims),
Cardinal, 289, 290, 306,
353. 532.
Maintenon, Madame de, 177,
208, 211.
Maraldi, 506.
Marangoni, Giovanni (archaeo-
logist), 510.
Maratta, Carlo (painter), 513,
516, 517-
Marcolini, Pier Paolo (Diplo-
mat), 111-13.
Marescotti, Galleazzo, Cardinal,
4, 5, 62, 316, 409, 413,
416, 423.
Margil, Antonio, 391.
Mariani, Sabino (Auditor), 433,
443. 444-
Maria (Queen of Congo), 381.
Maria Teresa (daughter of
Emperor Charles VI.), 140.
Marie Louise Gertrude of Savoy
(wife of Philip V. of Spain),
142.
Marini, Maria, Cardinal, 353.
Marini (Procurator of the
Missions), 402.
Marsigli, Count Louis Ferdi-
nand (Commander of the
papal troops), 58.
Martel (Dominican), 391.
]\Iartelli, Francesco (nuncio).
Cardinal, 347, 348.
Martelli (Theatine), 389.
Martini, 428.
Martinitz, Count (\'iceroy of
Naples), 44, 45.
Martin 1., Pope, 286.
Massillon (Bishop of Clermont),
211, 244, 306.
Massoulie (Dominican), 6.
550
INDEX OF NAMES.
Massud, Abraham (Maronite),
502.
Matos (Jesuit), 405.
Maurice Adolph (Bishop of
Leitmeritz), 363.
Maurice of, St. Teresa (Vicar
Apostolic of the Mon-
goHan Empire), 387.
Maurice WiUiam (Duke of
Sachsen-Zeitz), 363.
Max Emanuel (Elector of
Bavaria), 131, 140, 339.
Maximilian (Prince of Hesse),
131-
Mazet, Joseph (Franciscan),
378.
Mazzuoli, Giuseppe (sculptor),
524-
Mechithar (founder), 379.
Medici, Francesco Maria de'.
Cardinal, 3, 349.
Melchiorri, Giovanni Paolo,
525-
Mellini, Savio, Cardinal, 3.
Melozzo da Forli, 526.
Mendoza, Baldassarre de
(Grand Inquisitor of Spain) ,
18 n.
Mercati, 508.
Mazzabarba, Carlo Ambrogio
(Patriarch of Alexandria),
Legate in China, 468-479,
479 n., 480-4.
Mirecki (Benedictine Abbot) ,
340-
Miro, de (Custodian of the
Vatican library), 506.
Mocenigo, Alvise (Venetian
Ambassador in Rome and
Madrid), 143.
Moktadir (Caliph), 502.
Molina (Jesuit), 202, 302.
Molines, Jose (Inquisitor-
General of Spain), Oj,
72-4. 77. 151, 152.
Monnot, Pierre (sculptor), 524.
Monteiro (Provincial of the
Jesuits), 2.
Montfaucon (Maurist), 507.
Montgaillard, Pcrcin de
(Bishop of St. Pons), 189.
Moratti, Francesco, 524.
Morigia, Giacomo Antonio,
Card., 3, 4.
Mosca, Elena, mother of
Clement XL, 7.
Moses (Abbot of Nisibus),
502.
INIuratori, Domenico (painter),
525-
Muratori, Ludovico Antonio
(historian), 54.
Mustafa (Pasha), 130, 140.
N.\siNi, Giuseppe (painter), 521,
525-
Navarrete, Domenico (Domini-
can), 407, 408, 411.
Negroni, Gian Francesco,
Cardinal, 3.
Nerli, Francesco (Secretary of
State), Cardinal, 4, 411,
416, 423.
Noailles, Louis Antoine de
(Archbishop of Paris), 2, 3,
5, 177, 180-4, 188-190,
200-216, 227-235, 242-258,
261, 262, 265, 267, 269,
271-3, 276, 277, 281-7,
291, 292, 295-9, 302, 305-9,
312, 313, 414-421.
Nobili, Robert de' (mission-
ary), 485, 487.
Noel, Francois (Jesuit), 414,
417.
Noris, Henri (Cardinal), 3, 409,
413, 416, 506.
Nuzzi, Ferdinando, Cardinal,
353-
Odazi, Giovanni (painter), 525.
Odescalchi, Benedetto (nuncio),
Cardinal, 352.
Odrovanzio, Ceslaus (Domini-
can), 344.
Olivazzi (Envoy of the I')uke of
Modena), 90.
OHvieri, Fabio, Cardinal,
Secretary of Briefs, 12,
108, 352.
Omodei, Luigi, Cardinal, 4.
Opstraet, John, 322.
INDEX OF NAMES.
55T
Origo, Curzio (Secretary of
Memorials), 12, 132.
Orry, 65, no.
Orsi, Sabbatino d', 401.
Orsini, Pietro Francesco (Bene-
dict XIIL), 3, 5.
Orsini, Princess, 65, 117-ig.
Orta, Salvatore d' (Franciscan),
343-
Othmar (Abbot of Brewnow),
340-
Ottoboni, Pietro, Cardinal
(Alexander XIIL), 367,
416, 423, 495.
Ottoni, Lorenzo (sculptor), 524.
Paccini, Biagio, 520.
Pachioni (anatomist), 497.
Palermo (Franciscan), 214.
Pallavicini, Ranuccio (Gover-
nor of Rome), Cardinal, 31,
40, 347, 348.
Palmeiro (Visitor), 402.
Pamfili, Cardinal, 506, 524.
Pamfili, Prince, 526.
Panciatici, Bernardino (Da-
tarius), 3, 4, 62, 335, 416,
423-
Pao Vitus (Mandarin), 4.
Paolucci, Fabrizio (Cardinal
Secretary of State), 3, 12,
28, 32, 36, 62, 63, 67, 67 n.,
81, 132, 133, 136 n., 144,
144 n., 145, 145 n., 14911.,
150 n., 152, 154, 154 n.,
155 n., 159 n., 160 n., 162,
162 n., 165, 170, 262, 270,
286, 287. 321, 324, 325,
327, 328, 330, 532, 533.
Paolucci (papal General), 33,39-
Papadopoli, Niccolo, Comneno,
Professor, 372.
Paracciani, Gian Domenico,
Cardinal, 12, 80, 170, 317,
318-
Parrenin, Dominic (Jesuit), 438,
439, 458.
Parthenius (Archbishop of
Amida), 378.
Parthenius (Bishop of Helio-
polis), 378.
Pascal, Blaise, 179.
Pasio (Jesuit), 401.
Passer i, Giuseppe (painter),
517-
Passionei, Domenico (nuncio),
Cardinal, 95-8, loi, 102,
102 n., 103, 103 n., 105-8.
Passionei, Guido (Secretary for
Latin Briefs), 12.
Patrizi, Giovanni (nuncio).
Cardinal, 132, 353.
Paul III., 365.
Paul v., 405.
Pedrini, Theodore (Lazari.st),
459-461, 463-5, 470, 473.
474, 479-481.
Pelisson (Jesuit), 417.
Penna, Orazio della (Capuchin),
385-
Pereyra, Andrea (Jesuit), 442.
Pereyra de Lacerda, Joseph,
Cardinal, 354.
Perier, Canon, 179.
Pcschard, Jacques (Timothy de
la Fleche), Capuchin, 204,
231.
Peterborough, Lord, 157.
Peter, King of the Congo,
381.
Peter the Great, 370, 371.
Petitpied (Jansenist), 304.
Petrucci, Cardinal, 3.
Philip IV., 59.
Philip le Bel, 275.
Philip of Orleans (Regent of
France), 115, 127, 134,
167, 255, 256, 265-272,
274-8, 282-291, 303-9,
312.
Philip V. of Spain (Duke of
Anjou), 14, 15, 17, 18, 22,
23, 28, 29, 31, 35, 38-40,
47, 61, 64-8, 71-6, 84,
95-7, 112, 116-122, 127,
134. 135. 137. 141, 143.
144, 146, 148, 151-8, 160-
3, 168-172, 174, 176, 349.
Philopald (Lazarist), 252.
I'iazza, Giulio (nuncio in
Vienna), Cardinal, 324-
350-
552
INDEX OF NAMES.
Picenino (Swiss Protestant),
348-
Pico della Mirandola, Ludovico
(Maggiordomo), Cardinal,
350. 352.
Pignatelli, Francesco (Thea-
tine), nuncio in Poland,
Cardinal, 346.
Pinientel, Domenico, Cardinal,
76.
Pinho Texeira, Diego de (Com-
mander-in-Chief at Macao) ,
449, 450-
Pinto (Provincial of the
Jesuits), 451.
Pisani, General, 129, 140.
Pius II., 501.
Pius IV., 527.
Pius v.. Ill, 343, 508.
Polignac, Melchior de (French
Ambassador at Rome),
Cardiilal, 59, 62, 96, 97,
100, 227, 244, 349, 352,
354-
Pomponne (French Minister),
35-
Ponce de Leon, Cardinal, 355.
Portocarrero, Ludovico, Car-
dinal, 72, 524.
Potkamp, Gerard (Vicar Apos-
tolic), 327, 328.
Prie, Marquis von (Civil Com-
missary of the Imperial
Army), 43, 57, 59, 63, 64,
69, 80, 81, 86-8.
Priuli, Luigi (Auditor of the
Rota), Cardinal, 351.
Priuli, Pietro, Cardinal, 347.
Procaccini, Andrea (painter),
525-
Prokopowitch, Theophanes
(Russian Bishop), 371.
Provana, Joseph (Jesuit), 448,
457, 469, 470, 472.
Pucelle, Abbe, 256.
QuARTARoxi, Domenico
(mathematician), 506.
Quesnel, Pasquier (Jansenist),
192-205, 207-227, 229-
231, 234, 235, 237-9, 250,
254, 256-8, 261, 265, 271,
276, 280, 287, 290, 293,
301, 302, 310, 318, 321,
322, 331, 332.
Radolovich, Cardinal, 4.
Raimond, 478.
Rainald, 476.
Raphael, 10, 514, 516.
Rasponi, Orazio (Papal
Envoy), 126, 127.
Ravechet, Hyacinth (Syndic of
the Sorbonne), 259, 260,
263, 264, 267, 268.
Raymond (Jesuit), 433.
Raynaldis (historian), 505.
Regis, John Francis (Jesuit),
missionary, 343.
Renaudot, Eusebc (orientalist),
368.
Riario, Pietro, Cardinal, 526.
Riario, Raffaele, Cardinal, 526.
Ricci, Matteo, 396, 401, 402;
405, 406, 438.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 134.
Richer, 199, 224, 265.
Ripa, Matteo, missionary in
China, 470, 473, 474, 477,
479-
Riviera (papal delegate), 42.
Rocca, Count, 165.
Rodriguez, Juan (missionary),
401, 402.
Rohan, Armand Gaston de.
Cardinal, 227, 229, 231,
232, 244, 251-3, 260, 261,
272, 273, 283, 284, 287,
306, 313, 350, 351.
Rollin, Charles (Rector of the
Sorbonne), 311.
Rossi, Angelo de' (sculptor),
524-
Rossi, Domenico de' (archi-
tect), 523.
Rubens, 357.
Kiibini, Giambattista, Cartlinal,
4-
Rueda (Roveda), 475, 478.
Ruffo, Tommasso (nuncio),
Cardinal, 347.
Rusconi.Camillo (sculptor), 524.
INDEX OF NAMES.
553
Sagripanti, Filippo (Fiscal
Advocate), 80.
Sagripanti, Giuseppe (Da-
tarius). Cardinal, 3, 12,
335-
Saint-Cyran, 193.
Saint Stephen (King of
Hungary), 126.
Sala, Benedict, Cardinal, 349,
351. 352.
Salerni (Jesuit), Cardinal, 354,
355-
Salvioni (typographer), 503.
Sancia, Cistercian, 344.
Sanfelice (nuncio), 103.
Santa Croce, Marcello, Car-
dinal, 4.
Santelia (Franciscan Minor),
214.
Sanvitali, Antonio Francesco
(nuncio), Cardinal, 349.
Sardi, Giuseppe, architect, 520.
Sardinius (advocate), 411.
Sassi, Matteo (architect), 519.
Sassoferrato, Peter, 343.
Scandar, Andrea, 502.
Schonborn, Damian, Hugo von,
Cardinal, 352.
Schrattenbach, Wolfgang Han-
nibal von. Cardinal, 126,
156, 349-
Schulenberg, Matthias von.
Count of Empire, German
General, 128, 129, 133.
Scotti, Bernardino, Cardinal,
170, 171, 353.
Seilern, Baron, 82.
Sergardi, Ludovico (Quinto
Settano), satirist, 507, 524.
Serra, Raymond (Cistercian),
343-
Sicard, Claude (Jesuit), 384.
Sidotti (missionary), 385.
Silvester (Bishop of Beirut), 378.
Sinzendorf, Count (Imperial
Grand Chancellor), 100.
Slusius, Cardinal, 8.
Sixtus IV., 526.
Sixtus v., 508.
Soanen (Bishop of Senez), 231,
232, 276, 277, 332.
Spada, Fabrizio, Cardinal, 4.
Spada, Orazio Filippo (nuncio
at Cologne), 26, 30, 62,
347. 416. 423.
Specchi, Alessandro (archi-
tect), 528.
Sperelli, Sperello, Cardinal, 4,
411, 413, 416, 421, 423.
Spinola, Giorgio (nuncio at
Vienna), Cardinal, Secre-
tary of State, 78, 80, 112,
113, 123, 132, 133, 354.
Spinola, Giovanni Battista,
Cardinal, 3, 13, 62.
Spinola, Giovanni Battista, the
Elder, Cardinal, 3.
Spinola, Niccolo (nuncio in
Poland), 340, 353.
Starhemberg (Governor-
General of Charles III. in
Spain), 92.
Steenoven, Cornelius, 330.
Steffani, Agostino (Vicar Apos-
tolic of Germany), 356,
3561:1.. 357-362.
Stosch, Baron Philip von, 507.
Stumpf, Kilian (Jesuit), 434,
436-8, 444, 447, 458, 462,
463. 465-
Swaen, De, 316.
Talon, Denis (Galilean), 118.
Tamburini, Michelangelo
(General of the Jesuits),
455. 456.
Tamponet (Doctor of the Sor-
bonne), 301, 304.
Tanara, Seb. Antonio, Cardinal,
3, 170, 316, 317, 533.
Teresa (Cistercian nun), 344.
Terroni (Barnabite), 214.
Tesse, Marshal, 56.
Thomas, Antonio (Jesuit), 438,
439-
Tolomei, Giovanni (Jesuit),
Cardinal, 170, 171, 271,
287, 351, 355-
Tommasi, Giuseppe Maria
(Theatine), 6, 351.
Torcy, de (French Minister of
War), 76, 118, 182.
554
INDEX OF NAMES.
Tour, de la (General of the
Oratorians), 306.
Tournon, Charles Thomas
Maillard de (Cardinal
Legate in China), 348,
386, 412, 413, 424, 428,
428 n., 429, 429 n., 430-
442, 444-455, 457-460,
468-471, 479, 485-9.
Tremoille, Joseph Emmanuel,
de la (French Ambassador
to Rome), Cardinal, 69,
212, 215, 240, 252, 272,
274, 283, 286, 295. 348-
Trevisan, F'rancesco (painter),
525-
Ughelli, Ferdinando, 504.
Umilta di Faenza, 343.
Urban VIII., 7, 46, 76, 271,
405, 406.
Ursaia (advocate), 415.
Uxelles, d' {see Huxelles).
Uzeda, Duke of (Spanish
Envoy in Rome), Viceroy
of Sicily, 2, 22, 23, 38,
66, 74.
Valignani, Alessandro (Jesuit),
401.
Valle, Pietro della, 501.
Vallemani, Giuseppe, Cardinal,
170. 347-
Varese, Carlo Francesco (theo-
logian). General of the
Minors Reformed, 6, 411.
Vartabied, Minas, 377.
Vartanch (King of Iberia),
377-
Vasquez, Gabriel (theologian),
401.
Vasto, Marchese Cesare del, 27,
28, 31, 35, 39.
Vaucel, Du, 315, 316.
Vendome, Marshal, 32.
Vendome, Due de, 121.
Verme, Cardinal del, 3, 5.
\'ialart, Felix (Bishop of
Chalons), 1S7.
Viani (diarist), 476, 477.
Vicentini (nuncio at Naples),
157-
Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy
(King of Sardinia), 21, 46,
47, 49, 54. 58, 96, 142,
166, 167, 168.
Villalpando, Jose Rodrigo "^
(representative of Philip
v.), 75, 77. 116, 117.
Villeroi, Marechal, 27, 41.
Vintimille du Luc (Archbishop
of Aix), 212.
Visdelou (Jesuit), Vicar Apos-
tolic of Kweitsten 433,
435. 453. 489-
Vitasse (theologian), 235, 331.
Vitelleschi (General of the \
Jesuits), 402.
Voisin (Chancellor of Louis
XIV.), 208, 251.
Wake, William (Archbishop of
Canterbury), 288.
Weiss, Liberatus (Franciscan),
380.
William III. of England, 27.
Wolff (Jesuit), 370.
Wratislaw, Count (Chancellor
of Bohemia), 82, 92.
Wy cliff, 314.
Xavier, Francis, 394.
YosTos (Negus of Abyssinia),
380.
Zaccagni (Keeper of the
Vatican), 506.
Zaluski (Bi.shopof Ermland), 20.
Zeccadoro (Secretary for
Briefs), 12.
Zondadari, Antonio Felice
(nuncio in Spain), Cardinal,
26, 66, 67 n., jyjo, 350.
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