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THIS BOOK
FORMS PART OF THE
ORIGINAL LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
BOUGHT IN EUROPE
1838 TO 1839
BY
ASA GRAY
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THI
IE Reader will excuſe the Smalneſs of this Volumes,
as I have publiſhed it at this Time to ſatisfy the
World, as early as I could, that I am determined to pur-
ſue the Work I have undertaken. Ample Amends ſhall
be made in the next Volume for what is wanting as to.
Size in this; and the Whole ſhall be compriſed, the
Public may depend upon it, in Three Volumes more
I need not inform the World why the Publication of this
Volume has been ſo long delayeda
honen
.
345
Τ Η Ε
HISTORY
OF THE
P OP ES
FROM THE
Foundation of the SEE of ROME,
TO THE
P R E S EN Ν Τ
Τ Ι Μ Ε.
VOL. IV.
By ARCHIBALD BOWER, Eſq;
Heretofore Public Profeſſor of Rhetoric, Hiſtory, and Philoſophy, in the
Univerſities of Rome, Fermo, and Macerata;
And, in the latter Place, Counſellor of the Inquiſition.
LONDON:
Printed for the AUTHOR;
And to be had at W. SANDB y's, at the Ship, oppoſite St. Dunſtan's Church,
Fleet-ſtreet; at Z. STUART's at the Lamb, in Pater-noſter-Row; at
Mr. Frith's, the Corner of the Old fewry; in the Poultry; and at the
AUTHOR's, oppoſite to the Duke of Grafton's, in Old Bond-ſtreet.
M.DCC.LIX
1
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Τ Η Ε
HI S . Τ Ο R Y
OF THE
POP
E S,
OR
BISHOPS of ROME.
1
CONSTANTINE,
LEO,
PAUL,
DESIDERIUS,
King of the
Lombards.
Ninety-ſecond BISHOP of Rome.
TEPHEN dying, the People were divided in Year of
CS
the Elcaion of his Succeffor, ſome declaring for Chriſt 757.
the Deacon Paul, Brocher to the late Pope, and Paul chofen.
S
ſome for the Archdeacon Theophylactus. This
Diviſion occaſioned a Vacancy ot one Month and
five Days. But the Nobility, the Clergy, and the
Magiſtrates, all warmly promoting the Intercit of Purl', his Party pre-
vailed in the End a. And this is the only Infance, that occurs in the
whole Hiſtory of the Popes; of two Brothers ſucceſſively raiſed to
the Papal Chair.
The new lope, ſenſible that unleſs Pepin, who of a Biſhop had Courts the
made him a Prince, maintained him in that Rank, he would ſoon Favour of
from a Prince be degraded again into a Biſhop, did not wait till he Pepin,
was ordained to engage his Proteclion ; but quite unmindful of the
.
VOL. IV.
2 Anaft. in Paulo.
B
Affairs
2
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
tion.
Protection.
Year of Affairs of the Church, and only concerned to enſure his temporal
Chrilt 752; Dominions, he diſpatched a Meſenger into France, the Moment he
was choſen, with a Letter to the King to acquaint him with his Pro-
motion, and carneſtly cntrcat him, as he expected that his Sins ſhould
be forgiven him, not to ſuffer his Zeal for the Safety and Welfare of
the Church and the Flock of St. Peter ever to cool, ſince that. Apoſtle
liad diſtinguiſhed him above all the Princes of the Earth in chuſing
him for their only Protector after God and himſelf b. The Pope
And of the wrote at the ſame Tinic to the French in general, to thank them for
French Na. the Zcal they had ſo meritoriouſly cxerted in the Cauſe of the Apo-
ſtolic Church of St. Peter, and aſſure them of the Protection and Fa-
vour of the Prince of the Apoſtles ſo long as they continued to pro-
tect and to favour his Church and his Peoplec(A).
Pepin aſſures Pepin in his Anſwer congratulated the Pope on his Promotion
bim of his
with the warmeſt Expreſlions of Friendſhip and Kindneſs, exhorted
the Roman Senate and People to continue ſtedfaſt in their Obedience
and Submiflion to St. Peter and his Vicar, and aſſured them, that
nothing was capable of lefening his Zcal for their Proſperity and
Welfare, or ſhaking the Reſolution he had taken of maintaining
St. Peter and his Succcflors in the full Poſſeſſion and quiet Enjoy.
ment of what he had given them, and employing for that Purpoſe,
if neceſſary, the whole Strength of his Kingdom d.
He con lains
As the Treaty of Pavia was not fully executed at the Death of
the begin off Aiſtulphus, the next Care of the Pope was to have ſuch Places deli-
the Lom vered up to him as had been yielded to his Predeceſſor by that Treaty,
but were ſtill kept under various Pretences by the Lombards. Defi-
derius, Duke or Governor of Tuſcany, had been raiſed to the Throne
in the Room of Aiſtulphus; and he owed his Crown chicfly to the
Intereſt and the Intrigues of Pope Stephen, who had not only himſelf
declared, but had prevailed upon Pepin to declare in his Favour, and
diverted by that Means the Lombards, unwilling to quarrel, at ſo cri-
tical a Juncture, with the French, from chuſing the Monk Rachis,
King of
bards.
• Cod. Carolin. Ep. 13.
c Cod. Carol. Ep. 26.
d Ibid.
(A) The Direction of the Letter was, elected was not ſtiled Pope, as has been
To Pepin of France, our moſt excellent Son, obſerved elſewhere (2); but only the Eleft,
and Roman Patrician, Paul the Deacon, during the Interval between his Election,
and in the Name of God the Eleet of the and his Ordination.
Holy Apoſtolic See (1). For the Perſon
(1) Cod. Carolin. Ep. 13.
(2) See Vol. 3. p. 24. Note M.
whom,
Paul.
BISHOPS of Rome.
3
Chriſt 757
whom, tired of a monaſtic Life, the far greater Part of the Nation were
Year of
for placing again on the Throne. But it was upon Condition that
Deſiderius ſhould, if he ſucceeded, executc, without Delay, the
Treaty of Pavia in its full Extent, and beſides yield to St. Peter
certain Cities, Territorics, and Strongholds, not contained in that
Treaty, that Stephen had cſpouſed his Cauſe, and perſuaded his
Friend Pepin to eſpouſe it. For no ſooner were the Popes poffefied
of temporal Dominions, than, giving way to their Ambition, they
began, like the other Princes of this World, to contrive all poſſible
Means of extending them. To thoſe Conditions Deſiderius had
agreed; but as he had not yet comply'd with then, Paul took care,
as ſoon as he was ordained, to put him in mind of his Agreement,
and challenge the Performance of it. Deſiderius pretended to have
nothing ſo much at Heart, as to ſatisfy the Pope; but allcging, that
the Affairs of his new Kingdom engroſſed all his Attention, he
begged his Holineſs to excuſe his not complying, till they were ſet-
tled, with his Deniands. Of this Delay the Pope complained, in a
long Letter to Pepin. And truly he ſeems to have been entirely
taken up, during the whole Time of his Pontificate, in writing Let-
ters to Pepin, to his two Sons, to the French in general, filled with
Complaints, either againſt the King of the Lombards, or the En-
peror;
and in ſtriving, by frequent Legations, as well as by Letters, to strives to
keep the French, the Greeks, and the Lombards, ever at Variance feep the
In moſt of his Letters he paints the Emperor as a profeſſed Heretic, Greeks
, and
French, the
as a Perfecutor of the Orthodox, as a faithleſs Tyrant; as one, with the Lom-
whom no Chriſtian Prince could live in Friendſhip and Amity, with-bards, et Va-
riance.
out renouncing the Chriſtian Religion. Of theſe Letters, no fewer
than Thirty-one have reached our Times (B), all calculated to keep
Pepin ſteady in his Attachment to St. Peter and his Sce, and to pre-
(B) James Grezer publiſhed at Ingol ſcription that was preñxed to them by the
nat, in 1613, the Letters which the Popes Perſon whom he employ'd on that Occa-
Gregory III. Zachary, Stephen II. Paul, fion. That Copy is ſtill preſerved in the
Stephen III. and the Antipope Conſtantine, Emperor's Library, as Lambecius informs
had written to Charles Martel, to Peping us(i); who adds, that the Tranſcriber,
to Charlemagne, and to his Brother Car- who copied them for Grezer, took too
loman. Theſe original Letters, in all 99, much Liberty in altering ſeveral Paſſages,
were collected into one Volume by Char- under Colour of correcting them. This
lemagne himſelf: But as fome of them were Collection is commonly known by the
greatly damaged, and in ſeveral Places Name of the Caroline Code, being ſo called
hardly legible, he cauſed them to be tran- from Charles, who firſt collected the Let-
fcribed in 792, as appears from the In- ters it contains.
(1) Lamb. Biblioth. Cæſar, 1. 2. c.5.
B 2
judice
4
The Hiſtory of the POPE'S, or Paul.
Chrift
757.
liards corn
Pope.
Year of judice him againſt the Greeks and the Lombards, as the ſworn Ene-
mies of both.
77 Greeks
On the other land, the Emperor and the King of the Lombards
d Lom-
left nothing unattempted to gain Pepin, and perſuade him to aban.
plain,in their don the Protection of the Pope; repreſenting him not only as a Rebel
Turn, to l'e-
to his licge Lord, and an Ulurper, but as a public Incendiary; who,
pill, of the
inſtead of triving to unite the Chriſtian Princes among themſelves
againſt thc Saracens, their common Enemy, made it his Study to low
and foment Diviſions among them; and that with no other View,
but to aggrandize himſelf at their Expencc, or rather at the Expence
of the Chriſtian Religion; ſince the Saracens, taking Advantage of
their Diviſions, had already extended, and continued daily to cxtcnd,
their Conqucfis both in the Eaſt and the Weſt, and with their Con-
queſts their detcſtable Superllition. The Emperor urged, in parti-
cular, his unqueſtionable Right to the Exarchate and the Penta-
polis, which, he laid, had been unjuſly leized by the Lombards, and
therefore ought, in Juſtice, to have been reſtored to him, agreeably
to the known and never yet-dilpu'ed Maxim, That whatever is taken
fro:n an unlawful Poficifor, ought to be reſtored to the lawful
Ovucr. But the Remonftrances of the Emperor proved all incf-
feciu.l, Pepin returning no other Anſwer to them, but that he had
taken thoſe Provinces from the lombards, and not from him; that
But in vain, they were his by Right of (o queſt, and that being, conſequently,
free to diſcote of them to whom he pleaſed, he had thought tit to
give them, for the Good of his soul, to be for ever pofilled by St.
Peter and his Succeffors, and could not, without being guilty of a
Sacrilege, revoke that Donatione.
The Emperor The Emperor, however, did 110t yet deſpair of being able to gain
fends a folenin Pepin, and prevail upon hiin to abandon the Pope, and enter into
Embaſſy into
France,
an Alliance with the Einpire. With that View he ſent, in 76.ts a
Year of moſt folemn Embally into france; the moſt ſolemin, that had yet been
Chritt z64, ſeen in that Kingdom. It confined of fix Patricians, of ſeveral Bi-
Shops, and a great Number of other Eccleſiaſtics, all Men cminent
for their Picty and Learning, as well as for thcir Addreſs in Nego-
titions, and Skill in Affairs of State. They brought with thein
moll magnificent Preſents for Pe; in and the chief Lords of his Court;
among the reſt, an Organ, an Inſtrument till then never ſeen in
France. Their Commiſſion was, to propoſe a Marriage between
.
Cod. Carol. Ep. 14, 17, 24.
7
Leo,
Paul.
BISHOPS of Rome.
5
Chriſt 764.
Leo, the Emperor's Son, born in 750; and Gefil, Pepin's Daughter, Year of
born in 757; Conſtantine flattering hinſelf, that Pepin might be
brought, by ſuch an Alliance, to hearken to his juft Remonftrances; Propoſes a
and either reſtore to him the Provinces he claimed, or luffer him, at tween bis Song
lcaſt, to recover them. He well know, that the Pope, to projudice and Pepin's
the Weſtern Princes, eſpecially Pepin and his two So is, againſt him,
Daughter.
had, on account of his Averſion to Images, repreſented him to them
as a profeſicd Herctic, as a declared Enemy of the Church, as a ju
or a Mahometan, rather than a Chriſtian; and it was to remove theſe
Prejudices, and ſatisfy the French Narion, that it was no Herely to
forbid the Worſhip of Images; but, on the contrary, Idolatry to
worſhip them, that he appointed ſo many learned Ecclefiaftics to
attend his Emballadors, on this Occaſion, into France. Pepin granted
them an Audience foon after their Arrival, received them with great
Politeneſs, and ſecmcd highly pleaſed with their Presents. But as to
thie Marriage between his Daughter and the young Emperor Leo, he
told them, when they propoſed it, that hic ſhould be prond of ſuch
an Alliance, were their Mafter a Catholic Prince; but being, as he
was informed, a Heretic, a Pcrſccutor of the Church, an Enemy to The Propoſal
the Virgin Mary and the Saints, who reigned with her in Heaven, to rejected, and
why.
contract an Alliance with him, would be countenancing the Herely,
which he profcllcd, and renouncing tlic Faith which the French Na-
tion thought it their greateſt Glory to defend and maintain.
This was no more than what the Embaſſadors expected; and there. The Emballa-
fore they readily reply'd, that their Maſter was neither a Heretic, nor dors under-
take to thew
an Abettor of Heretics; that he received the fix General Councils, that their
held the Doctrine which they had defined, and condemned all the Mafter was
no Heretic.
Heretics and Hereſies which they had condemned; that, treading in
the Footſteps of his Father of glorious Memory, and animated, as
well as hc, with a true Zcal for the Purity of the Chriſtian Religion,
he had indeed proſcribed the Worſhip of Images, and obliged all his
loving Subjects to worſhip God alonc, and to worſhip him in Spirit
and in Truth; that he had therein entirely conformed to the Do-
etrine of our Saviour and his Apoſtles, as well as to the Practice of
the primitive Chriſtians and the Fathers, who had all abhorred, as
might be caſily made to appear from their Writings, not only the
Worſhip, but even the Uſe of Images in the Places of their Wor-
ſhip; that the Worſhip, which their Maſter, as Guardian of the
Church, had undertaken to aboliſh, was an Innovation, an Abuic of
a very
6
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paul.
Year of
at Gentili
a very late Date; that it had been zealouſly oppoſed by the greateſt
Chriſt 764. Men, as well as the greateſt Saints in the Church, and had been con-
demned, but ton Ycars ſince, by the moſt numerous Council that
had ever been convened. They added, that the French Nation, and
the Princes in the Weſt, were quite miſinformed, and moſt grofly
impofcd upon with relpect to the State of Religion in the Eaſt;
that the Popes, prompted by their boundleſs Ambition, wanted only
a Pretence to ſhakc off the Yokc, and ſcize on the Dominions of
their liege Lords the Emperors; and that it was only to diſguiſe their
Treaſon and Rebellion, that they had charged them, and the Greeks
in general, with Hereſy : But if the moſt Chriſtian King would allow
the Points in Diſpute to be candidly examined in his Preſence by the
French Biſhops, and the Eccleſiaſtics, whom the Emperor had ſent, for
that Purpoſe, from Conſtantinople, (a Favour which they earneſtly
entreated him to grant them) they would lcave him to judge, and
fand to his Judgment, whether the Emperors were juſtly or unjuſtly
traduced by the Popes and their Emiſaries as Hereticsf.
A greatCoun- Pepin had hitherto entirely acquieſced in the Judgment of the
cil a[embled Pope, taking it upon his Word, that the Emperor and the Greeks
about Images. were all Heretics. But tempted by the favourable Opportunity, that
now offered, and extreamly deſirous to know what might be ſaid on
either Side in a Diſpute that had made, and continued to make, ſo
great a Noiſe in the Church, he reſolved to comply with the Requeſt
of the Embaſſadors, and for once take the Liberty of judging for
himſelf. He iflued, accordingly, an Order, enjoining all the Biſhops
in his Dominions to meet, after Eaſter, at Gentilli, a royal Villa
about a League from Paris, where he frequently reſided. The Bi-
ſhops met at the Place and Time appointed; and it proved the moſt
folenn and numerous Aſſembly that had ever yet met in France.
It conſiſted of all the Biſhops of that Kingdom and thoſe of Germany
100, who were ſubject to the Crown of France; and there were pre-
fent, beſides the fix Embaſſadors from thc Emperor with the Biſhops
and other Ecclefiaftics, who attended them, two Legarcs ſent from
Rome to repreſent the Pope, a great Number of other Eccleſiaſtics,
and Pepin aſliſted in Perſon, attended by the chief Nobility, and all
the grcat Officers of State. In that great Council (for ſo it is called
in the Annals of France) two Points were propoſed and debated;
f Annal. Franc. Bert, ad ann, 767. Eginhard, in Chron. Ado Vienn. Rhegin. Ai.
moin, l. 4. C. 37
yiz.
Paul.
BISHOPS of Rome.
7
Chriſt 764.
1
viz. Whether it was lawful to worſhip Images, or ſet them up in Year of
the Places of Worſhip, and whether the Holy Ghoſt proceeded only
from the Father, or from the Father and the Son; the Greeks
charging the Latins with having added to the Nicene Creed the
Words, and from the Son; and the Latins reproaching the Greeks,
in their Turn, with having eraſed them 8.
What was the iſſue of this Council, what the Deciſion concerning The IVorſhip
cither of theſe Points, Hiſtory does not inform us: And hence ſome of Images
was not ap-
have concluded, that they came to no Determination ; as if ſo many proved hy
Biſhops aſſembled on purpoſe to decide a Qucftion, and a Queſtion, that Council.
ſo far as it concerned the Worſhip of Images, of the utmoſt Import-
ance, would have left it quite undecided. Indeed no Councils, we
know of, have been thus backward; but, on the contrary, moſt of
them too forward to decide and define, and cren to damn all who
did not acquieſce in thcir Definitions and Deciſions. The Jeſuit
Maimburg takes it for granted, and roundly afferts, as a Thing not at
all to be doubted, that the Gallican Biſhops condemned, and con-
denined with one Voice, both the Errors of the Greeks, cſpecially
that concerning the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images. To make
good his Aſſertion, he tells us, that twelve of the moſt learned Bi-
ſhops of France, ſent to repreſent the Gallican Church in a Council
held two Ycars after at Rome, diſtinguiſhed themſelves, above all the
reſt, by their Zcal in the Defence and in Favour of Images. He
adds, that as no Man can doubt but thoſe Biſhops acted agrecably to
the Sentiments of their Fellow-Biſhops, and the Council, that had
been held on the ſame Subject in France, no Man can doubt but the
Uſe and Worſhip of Images were approved by that Council, and the
oppoſite Do&trine condemned as hcrctical h. But I ſhould be glad to
know who informed Maimburg that the twelve Gallican Biſhops
diſtinguiſhed themſelves by their Zcal in the Defence of Images ?
Anaſtaſius, who wrote in the next Century, and has given us the
moſt particular Account wc have of the Council held at Rome, and
has been copied by Maimburg, and almoſt all who ſpeak of that
Council, tells us, indeed, that twelve of the moſt learned Biſhops of
France were ſent to Rome by Charles, or Charlemagne, to aſſiſt at
ir; but takes not the Icaſt Notice of their boaſted Zcal in the De-
fence of Inagcsi. One of them, by Nane Herulphus, ſpoke, it is
& Idem ibid.
h Maimb. Hift. Iconoclaſt. 1. 3. p. 228.
i Anaſt. in
Steph. 115.
4
true,
f
1
1
8
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paul.
i
Year of
true, if Pope Adrian is to be credited k without any Warrant from
Christ 764
the contemporary Hiſtorians, for the Worſhip of Images; and that
one Maimburg has taken the Liberty to multiply into twelve, ar-
guing thus: One of the twelve Gallican Biſhops ſpoke in the Coun-
cil of Rome for the Worſhip of Images, therefore they all ſpoke for
that Worſhip, and all diftinguiſhed themſelves by their Zeal in main-
taining it: No Man can doubt but they acted therein agrecably to
the Sentiments of their Fellow-Biſhops, and the Council that had
been held in France but two years before on the famc Subjcct;
therefore no Man can doubt but the Worſhip of Images was approved
by that Council, and the oppoſite Doctrine condemned as heretical.
But con-
F. Sirmond, a Writer well known for his uncommon Erudition
demned, and and Lcarning, and, tho’a Jeluit, not void of all Candor, ingenuouſly
the Uſe of
Images ap-
owns that in the Council of Gentilli the Worſhip of Images was
proved. condemned, tio' the Uſe was approved. In the Council of Gentilli,
ſays hic, the Gallican Biſhops decreed againſt the Greek Iconoclaſts,
that Images ſhould be retained only as Helps to Memory, or for the
Sake of Inſtruction, but ſhould not be worſhiped, for that they abfo-
lutely rejected!: And Sirmond is extolled by Maimburg himſelf, as
betrer acquainted than any other Writer whatever with the ancient
Diſcipline and Faith of the Gallican Church. That this was the
Doctrine of that Church in the latter End of the preſent and the
Beginning of the following Century, is manifeſt, from the Decrees
of two other ( ouncils; the Council of Franckfort, in 794, ar
which fome Biſhops might have aſlifted, who were preſent at that of
Gentilı; and the Council of Paris, in 824. For in both there
Councils, conſiſting chiefly of Gallican Biſhops, it was decreed, as
ſhall be ſhown in the Scquel, that Images ſhould be retained only as
Helps to Memory, as Books for the Ignorant, as Ornaments; but
that no kind of Worſhip ſhould be given them. We muſt therc-
fore cither ſuppoſe the Gallican Biſhops and Church to havc entirely
changed, in the Space of 30 Years, their Faith and their Doctrine,
or to have defined at Gentili, in 764, what they defined in 794,
that is. 30 Years after, at Franı kfort; viz. that Images were not to
be broken, nor w. re they to be worſhiped; the very Doctrine of Pope
Gr
gory the Greatm. And here it is to be obſerved, that the Coun-
cil of Conftantinople did not condemn the Uſe of Images, in the
Adrian, in cp. ad Carol.
1 Sirmond. Concil. Gallican. tom. II. p. 192.
- Sec vol. 3. p. 233, & feq.
Places
L
Paul.
BISHOPS of Rome.
9
Year of
Places of Worſhip, as Evil in itſelf, but only as dangerous, as ex-
Chriſt 764.
poſing thoſe, who pray'd before them, eſpecially the Ignorant, to the
Danger of praying to them; and it was not as we have ſeen”, till
Leo, the firſt Iconoclaſt Emperor, found by Experience, that the Uſe
of Iinages could not be allowed, and the Worſhip prevented, that
he ordered them to be caſt out of the Churches, and broken.
And now the only Objection againſt the propoſed Marriage, viz. Pepin fatif
that the Emperor was a Heretic, being thus removed, and Pepin fa-fied that the
tisfy'd that the Greeks were no Eneinics to the Virgin Mary and the no liereise
Saints, tho' they did not worſhip their Images, but broke them to
prevent their being worſhipped, the Emballadors rencwed the P'ro.
poſal, urging the great Advantages, that would accrue to the Chri-
ſtian Religion from an Union between the two chicf Chriſtian Pow.
crs, at a Time when the common Enemy, availing himſelf of their
Diviſions, aimed at nothing leſs than its utter Deſtruction. But
Pepin, unwilling to diſoblige the Pope, who he knew would be no
leſs diſpleaſed than alarmcd at an Alliance between France and the
Empirc, low advantageous ſoever it might prove to the Chriſtian
Rcligion, kept Nill to his former Reſolution, nor could the Embal-
ſadors, tho' ſeconded by ſome of his Court, prevail upon him, by But unwil-
any means, to alter it. He lent however, in his Turn, a ſolemn ling to diſ-
Embally into the Eaſt with Letters in Anſwer to thoſe which the Imobiige the
Pope, rejects
perial En:baſſadors had brought him from the Emperor: But loſt he the propoſed
Alliance with
ſhould thereby give Umbrage to the Pope jealous of the leaſt Ap-
the Emperor,
pearance of a good Underſtanding between him and the Emperor,
he took Care to tranſmit Copics of all thcſc Letters to his Holincés,
who highly pleaſed with his Conduct, diſpatched, as ſoon as he re-
ceived them, a Nuncio extraordinary into France, to thank the King
for his inviolable Attachment to the Apoſtolic Sce, and aſſure him of
the Favour and Protection of St. Peter, whoſe Honour and Intereſt
he had ſo much at Heart o.
Theſe are the only Events, I find recorded in the Pontificate of Paul dies.
Paul worthy of Notice, tho' hc preſided in the Roman Church ten
Chrilt 767
Years, and one Month. For he was ordained on the 29th of May
757, and died on the 28th of June 767. He was buried in the
Church of St. Paul, where no Pope had been buried before: But
his Remains were three Months after, tranſlated to the Vatican, and
Year of
o Cod. Carolin. ep. 20.
* See vol. 3. p. 261.
Vol. IV.
C
depoſited
IO
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paul.
Chriſt 767.
on inva-
Rome.
Year of depoſited in an Orarory, which he had built there in Honour of the
Virgin Maryl. He has been allowed a Place in the Kalendar, and is
now worſhipped, on the 28th of June as a Saint, but for what ex-
traordinary Merit Hiſtory does not inform us, nor even the Legends,
unleſs it were for his uncommon Addreſs in courting the Favour of
Pepin, in flattering him, for all his Letters to that Prince are filled
with the moſt fulſomic Flattery; and keeping him, by that means,
In his Time itcadily attached, and entirely devoted to his Sec. In his Time was
diſcovered at Rome an invaluable Treaſure, the Body of St. Petro-
luable Trea-
Jure difco- nilla, St. Peter's Daughter; and the Pope, tranſported with Joy at
vered in
ſuch a Diſcovery, cauſed it to be tranllated from the Ceinetery, where
it was found, to the Vatican. She died at Rome, during the Pon-
tificate of her Father.
In the East
Of this Pope many Letters have reached our Times, but all con-
the Monks cerning temporal Affairs, which he was too much taken up with to
refuſe to com
attend to the Affairs of Religion, or to think of affording any Com-
ply with the
Definition of fort or Rclief to his Friends in the Eaſt, tho' treated by the Emperor
the Council of and his officers with thc utmoſt Severity. It had been but very
Conſtanti.
nople againſ lately defined, as we have ſeen 9, and defined in a Council conſiſting
Images,
of no fcwer than 338 Biſhops, that to worſhip Images, or any other
Creaturc, was robbing God of the Honour that was due to him alone,
and relapfing into Idolatry; and by the ſame Council they, who
fhould thenceforth preſume to ſet up Images in the Churches, or in
private Houſes, or to conceal them, had been anathematized, and
declared guilty of a Brcach of God's cxpreſs Command, and the Im-
perial Laws. To the Definition and Decrces of ſo great and fo nu-
merous a Council, all, or almoſt all, but thc Monks, readily ſubmit-
ted; and it was univerſally received in the Eaſt as the ſeventh Oc-
cumcnical or General Council. But the Monks, not ſatisfy'd with
rejecting it, and Nigmatizing the Prelates, who compoſed it, with the
opprobrious Names of Herctics, Apoftates, Jews, Mahometans, ſtill
retained their Images, continued to expoſe them to public Adoration,
and even paid thein, as it were in Defiance of the Council and the
Imperial Laws, extraordinary Honours; nay, quitting their Solitudes,
and repairing, in great Numbers, to the Cities, they ftrove to main-
tain, by ſtirring up the Populace to Sedition and Rebellion, in ſpite
of the Emperor, the condemned Superſtition. Of this thc Biſhops
complained to the Governors of the Provinces, and they to the Em-
? Analt. Mart. Pol. Luitpr. &c.
9 See vol. 3. P. 364.
peror,
Paul.
BISHOPS of Rome.
I'I
Chriſt 767.
peror, who thereupon ſtrictly cnjoined them to cauſe the Decrees of · Year of
the Council to be punctually comply'd with in their reſpective Go-
vernments, and the Laws to be cxecuted, with the utmoſt Severity,
againſt the Worſhipers of Images, which his moſt religious Prede-
ceffors had iſſued againſt the Worſhipers of Idols. Purſuant to this
Order, the Monaſteries were every-where ſtripped by the Inperial Offi-
cers of all their Images; and the Monks, who offered to defend
them, dragged to Priſon, publickly whipped, and ſent into Exile.
Several Monaſteries were pulled down, or ſet on Fire, and the Monks,
who had the good Luck to make their Eſcape, obliged to fock for
Shelter in the Deſarts, againſt thc Fury of the incenſed Soldiery.
Draco, or, as ſome call him, Laconodraco, Governor of Lydia,
Ionia, Caria, and Myſia, diſtinguiſhed himſelf, on this Occaſion,
above all the reſt : For finding he could not, by fair Means, prevail
upon the Monks, who were very numerous in thoſe Provinces, to
part with their Images, nor cven reſtrain them from feducing the ig-
norant Multitude, and raiſing Diſturbances among the Populace, hc
reſolved to extirpatc the whole Race. Having accordingly ſurrounded,
with the Troops under his Command, one of their chief Monalie-
ries, lic ſeized all the Monks, cut off their Noſes, fhut up 38 of Treated with
them in a Bath, where they were all ftified, and ſent the reſt into great Seve-
rity by the
Exile. He ſecured, in like manner, all the Monks of the other Governors of
Monaſteries within his Government, who had not made their Eſcape, the Pro-
as well as the Nuns; and carrying them, ſurrounded by his Troops,
into a ſpacious Field, he put it to their choice, cither to quit their
Profeſſion and marry, each Monk a Nun, or to have their Eyes put
out, and be confined to the moſt inhoſpitable Places in the Empire.
Moſt of then choſe to quit their Profeſlion, and to marry; and
thoſe, who did not, mict with no Mercy. Draco, having thus quite
cleared his Government of Monks and Nuns, burnt all their Images,
gave up their Monaſteries to be plundered by the Soldiery, and then
levelled them with the Ground'. The other Governors, leſs Srran-
gers to Compaſſion and Mercy than Draco, contented themſelves
with confining in the public Gaols, with Whipping and ſending into
Exilc, ſuch of thoſe unhappy Wretches as obſtinately refuſed to ſub-
mit, or encouraged orhers not to ſubmit to the Definition and Dc-
crees of the Council.
vinces,
i Theoph. ad ann. Conſt, 20. Cedren. ibid.
C 2
They
1
12
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paul.
Year of
quit their
They met with no better Treatment in Conſtantinople than they
Chriſt 767. did in the Provinces; for the nioſt mad Enthuſiaſts among them, re-
and baniſhed ſorting to the Metropolis to keep the People there ficady in what they
Conſtanti- call'd the Catholic Faith, rais's daily ſuch Diſturbances in every Quar-
nople.
ter of the City, that the Emperor, apprehending a general Revolt,
was obliged, in the End, to iſlue an Edict, commanding all Monks to
quit their whimſical Habit, and renounce their idle Profeſſion, or
depart the City in the Term of three Days, on Pain of being treated
as Diſturbers of the public Peace, as Rebels, as Enemics both to the
State and the Church. In Compliance with that Ediat, many, fcaring
God, ſays Theophanes, Jeſs than the Emperor, quitted their holy
Habit, renounced their Profeſſion, and of Monks becoming Huf
Some of them bands, had even the Aſſurance to appear, O ſhocking Sight! leading
their Brides in the public Streets of Conſtantinople. Others, withi-
Profeſion.
drawing from the City, retir’d to the Defarts, where, none being al-
lowed to relieve them, they periſhed with Hunger, and the Hardſhips
they ſuffered. But ſome, more zcalous than the reſt, continued at
Conſtant inople, in open Defiance of the Imperial Edict, and con-
cealing themſelves in the Day-time, but skulking about from Houſe
to Houſe in the Night, ſtill kept up the Spirit of Scdition and Re-
bellion in the People. Two of them, Andrew and Stepken, who
are now both honoured as Martyrs and Saints of the firſt Rate, had
Their info- even the Boldneſs to appear in publick, nay, and to inſult the Em-
vicur to the peror in Perſon; the one calling him another Julian, a Valens, an
Emperor. Apoltate, a Perſecutor of Chriſt and the Saints in their Imagcs; and
the other treading under Foot, in his Preſence, a Coin with his Image,
and telling hini, that as it was no Crime, according to him, to break
the Images of Chriſt and his Saints, it could be no Crime to inſult,
abuſe, and tread under Foot, his, nor ought he to take it amiſs, or
reſent it. No wonder, therefore, that Conſtantine, thus provoked,
ſhould have proceeded againſt them, as he is ſaid to have done, with
the utmoſt Severity; cauſing all, who fell into his Hands, to be
Puniſher either publicly executed, or ſeverely whipped, deprived of their Sight,
a Puniſhment common in the Eaſt, and ſent into Exile. As for An-
Severity.
drew and Stephen, the one was whipped to Death by the Emperor's
Guards; and the other dragged by them through the Streets, and
torn in Picccss. From there Executions the Jeſuit Maimburg takes
Occaſion to paint Conſtantine as a Nero, as a Dioclefian, as one of
$ Theoph. ad ann. Conft. 25
the
lent Beha-
with great
1
BISHOPS of Rome.
13
noured as
the 'moſt cruel and mercileſs Tyrants that ever ſway'd a fceptre.Year of
Chriſt -67.
But his Severity to the rebellious Monks did not, perhaps, exceed
that of Lereis XIV. to his Proteſtant Subjects, tho'guilty of no Re-
bellion, or Trcafon: And yet Maimburg, far from thinking his
grand Monarch a Nero, a Dioclefian, a Tyrant, for thus perſecuting
his innocent Subjects, commends and extols him as thereby well de-
ſerving the Title he bore of the Moſt Chritian King t. If it was
Tyranny in Conſtantine to puniſh, with ſo much Severity, thoſe
who worſhipped Images; it was Tyranny in Lewis to puniſh, with
the like Severity, thoſc who refuſed to worſhip them: If it was no
Tyranny in the onc, it could be none in the other. In ſhort, both
were Tyrants, which Maimburg will not allow, or neither.
The Menology of the Greeks, and thc Roman Martyrology, are N. Mar-
filled with the Names of Monks, who are ſaid to have ſuffered Mar- tyrs, tho' hcm
tyrdom, under Copronymus, in the Defence of Images ; but it was ſuch.
not, in Truth, for their Opinion they ſuffered, but for the Diſturb-
anccs and Tumulrs they every where raiſed; inſomuch, that had not
the Emperor proceeded againſt then with the utmoſt Severity, and
quite cleared tnc Empire of thoſe Incendiaries, as he is ſaid to have
done, he would have probably ſeen, as they were very numerous,
and had a great Aſcendant over the Multitude, a Civil War kindled,
by their Means, in the Bowels of the Empirc, and a favourablc Op-
portunity given to the Saracens of ſeizing ancw the Provinces which
he had lately recovered, and carrying on their Conqueſts to the very
Gates of Conſtantinople. The Monkiſh Order being thus cntirely
fupprefied in all the Provinces ſubjcét to the Empire in the Eaſt, and The Monkijo
the Monaſteries either converted to better Uſes, or levelled with the Order [up.
Ground, the Decrees of the Council of Conſtantinople were quictly Eaſt, and the
preſſed in the
comply'd with by all Ranks of People, the Uſe of Images was every-1Vorſhip of
where aboliſhed, as well as the Worſhip, and Conſtantinè had, in the
Images abe-
li bed.
End, the Satisfaction he had ſo long wiſhed for of ſceing the Chri-
ftian Worſhip reſtored, throughout his Dominions, to its primitive
Purity. During this cruel Perſecution, as it is called by the Byzan-
tine Hiſtorians, the Pope, tho' well acquainted with the Sufferings of
his Friends and Emiſſaries the Monks, never once offered to interpoſe
in their Favour, nor ſo much as to encourage or to comfort them in
.
i Maimb. Hift. du Calviniſ. ep. Dedicat.
their
+
14
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
Year of their Diſtreſs by his Letters, his Attention being wholly engroſſed by
Chriſt 767.
Affairs of a very different Nature, the ſecuring of his new Princi-
pality againſt the Attempts of the Greeks and the Lombards.
CONSTANTINE,
LEO,
STEPHEN III.
DESIDERIUS,
King of the
Lombards.
Ninety-third Bishop of Rome.
T
11
Strives to
Sihilin in the
HE Death of Paul occaſioned great Diſturbances and Con-
Roman
fuſion in Rome. For Toto, Duke of Nepi, a ſmall City in
Church,
the preſent Patrimony of St. Peter, reſolved to raiſe one of his Fa-
mily to the Papal Chair ; and coming to Rome with that View,
while the Pope lay at the Point of Death, attended by his thrce Bro-
thers, and a great Number of his Friends and his Vaffals, all well
arnied, cauſed, the Moment Paul cxpircd, his Brother Conſtantine to
Conſtantine, be proclaimed by them Pope in his Room; and carrying him in Tri-
get a Lay., umph, without Loſs of Time, to the Lateran Palace, obligʻd George,
by his Párty Biſhop of Paleſtrina, by thrcatening him with preſent Death, to
to the See.
initiate him, as he was yet a Layman, with the uſual Ceremonies
anong the Clergy. The next Day he was, by the fame Biſhop, or-
dained Subdeacon and Deacon; and the Sunday after, by him and the
two Biſhops of Porto and Albano, conſecrated Biſhopu(C).
Conſtantine well knew, that the moſt effectual, nay, and only
gain Pepin. Means of maintaining himſelf in the Station to which he had been
thus raiſed, in open Dcfiance of all the Laws and Canons of the
Church, was to engage the French Nation in his Cauſe, and get
himſelf acknowleged by them for lawful Pope. He therefore took
care, as ſoon as he was ordained, to write to Pepin, to acquaint him
with his Promotion, to aſſure him of his inviolable Attachnient to
him and his family, and carneſtly entreat him, as he hoped to be
u Anaſt. in Steph. 111.
(C) It was not then thought neceſſary, fcribed for the Ordination of the one and
as we may obſerve here by the way, that the other (1). Conftantine.was, according
a Man fhould be ordained Prieſt in order to the Account of Anaftafius, of a Deacon
to be made a Biſhop: For Deacons were made Biſhop
made Biſhop; and it is not to be doubted
as commonly raiſed to the epiſcopal Dig- but he would have been firſt ordained Prer-
nity as Preſbyters ; and in the ancient byter, had he thought it neceſſary.
Ordo Romanus the ſamc Ceremony is pre-
(1) Vide Mabill, in comment. prævio in Ord. Rom. n. 18.
4
favoured
Stephen III. BISHOPS of Rome.
15
Lim.
ز
favoured and protected by St. Peter, to take him, the Succeffor and Year of
Chriſt 767
Vicar of that Apoftle, into his Favour and Protection. In the famic
Letter he had the Aſſurance to tell Pepin, that he had been choſen His Letter to
by the joint Suffrages of the Clergy and People of Rome; that he had
long withſtood their Prayers, their Entreaties, and even their Tears;
but that finding thein determined to chuſe no other, hc had, in the
End, been obliged to acquicſce in the Will of God and his People w.
This Letter he convey'd to Pepin by two Embaſſadors, who had been
ſent by that Prince to beg of Pope Paul the Lives of the Saints,
Legends alonc being now in Requeſt, and were then returning to
France. As the Embaſſadors had been preſent at his Election, and
well knew what had paſſed on that Occaſion, he took care to engage
them, before they left Rome, with many rich Preſents, to confirmi,
by Word of Mouth, all lic ſaid in his Letter. As he was well ap-
priſed that Pepin would ſoon be informed by others, if not by then,
of the Unlawfulneſs of his Election, to prepoſteſs him in his Fa-
vour, he diſpatched, ſoon after their Departure, two of his moſt
truſty Friends into France ; Chriſtopher Presbyter, and Anaftafius
Notary, with another Letter to the King, entrcating him not to
give Credit to certain falſe and ſcandalous Reports, that were mali-
ciouſly ſpread abroad by his Enemies concerning his Elçction; and
alluring him, that no Violence had been uſed with any but himſelf;
that no Biſhop had ever more unfeignedly declined, and none more
unwillingly accepted the epiſcopal Dignity, than himſelf; that he had
indeed comply'd, in the End, with the Will of the People, or rather
of God, revealed to him in the Will of the People. He added,
that he had ſent two Perſons of the greateſt Probity, and the moſt
unexccptionable Characters, on whoſe Veracity he might entirely
rely, to inform him of every Particular relating to his Election;
and that he did not doubt, but his moſt Chriſtian Son would give
more Credit to them, than to the Emiſſaries of thoſe whore Ambi-
tion had been, to their grcat Mortification and his own, diſap-
pointed .
In the famc Letter, to make his Court to Pepin, he gives him an Gives him an
Account of the State of Religion in the Eaſt; telling him, among the state of
other Things, that he had received a Synodical Letter from Tkeodore, Religion in
Patriarch of Jeruſalem, addreſſed to his . Predeceſſor, to acquaint the Eaft,
him, that the Worſhip of Images began to revive in the Eaſt; and
* Cod. Carol, ep. 98.
Cod. Carol. cp. 99,
that
16
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
Chriſt 767.
Year of that not only Theodore himſelf, but the two Patriarchs of Antioch
and Alexandria entirely agreed, in the Articlc rclating to Images,
with the Patriarch of Rome. of that Letter, genuinc or ſuppoſi.
titious(D), Conſtantine ſent a Copy, both in Greek and in Latin, to
Pepin; and, after cntreating him, over and over again, to continue
his Protection to the Church, the People, and the Vicar of St. Peter,
hc begged him to remand, as ſoon as pollible, the two Nuncios,
whom his Predeccflor had sent into France ; pretending, that their
Churches ſuffered greatly by their Abſence; but, in Truth, to learn
of them what the French and their King thought of his Elcētion.
In both Letters hic expreſſes grcat Zcal for the Welfare of the Church,
and the Good of the Chriſtian Religion and the Catholic Faith ; and
had not, perhaps, more of the Hypocrite than moſt of his Prede-
ccflors.
Great Dif-
The War which Pepin was carrying on, at this Time, againſt Vai-
turbances in far, Duke of Aquitaine, diverted him from attending, at preſent, to
Rome.
Year of the Affairs of Italy; and before he put an End to that War, which
Chriſt 768. he did ſoon after by the Reduction of that Country, Conſtantine was
depoſed, and another raiſed to the Scc in his Roon. Of this Event
Anaftafius gives us the following Account. Chriſtopher and his Son
Sergius, the one Primicerius and Counſellor (E), and the other
Treaſurer of the Roman Church, ſhocked at ſo bare faced an Uſurp-
ation, formed a Deſign of driving out the Uſurper, by ſome Means
or other, and making Room for a new and canonical Election. This
Deſign they imparted to ſome Roman Citizens, who, they knew,
were no Friends to Conſtantine: But finding them too much intimi-
(D) I ſaid ginuine or fuppofitilious ; it that, till their Time, the People in the Eaſt
noc being at all probable that the Saracens, had all erred in what concerned Images (1);
who were more averſe to Images even than that is, had all rejected both the Uſe and
the Emperor, and to wiom ihe three Pa- the Worſhip of Images.
triarchs were ſubject, would have ſuffered (E) The Primicerius and Secundicerius
that Worſhip to revive in their Dominions were the two chief Officers of the Roman
Beldes, no Notice is taken by any of the Church. Their Office was, to judge and
Hillorians of thoſe Times, thu 'all moſt decide all Diſputes among thoſe, who im-
zealous Advocates for Pictures and Images, mediately belonged to the Pope, or waited
nor even by the Fathers of Nice, of any on his Perſon; to attend him in the public
Council approving at this Time, in thc Proceſſions, the one walking on his right,
Eaſt, the Uſe or the Worſhip of Images; and the other on his Left Hand; and to
niy, Pope Adrian, in a Leiter which he aſlift him, with their Advice, in all Affairs
wrote, 30 Years after, to the Emperor of Importance, eccleſiaſtical or civil;
Conlantine, the preſent Emperor's Grand- Whence they are frequently ſtiled the
fon, and his Mother Irene, tells them, Pope's Counſellors.
(1) Tom. 7. Concil. p. 89.
dated
7
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
17
dated and awed by Toto and his Followers, to join in the Enterpriſe, Year of
Chrift 768.
they reſolved to apply to the Lombards; and with that View begged
Leave of Conſtantine to retire, as being tired of the World to the
Monaſtery of St. Saviour in the Dukedom of Spoleti. Conſtantine,
apprchending they might raiſe ſome Diſturbances in the City, rea-
dily complied with their Requeſt, but obliged them, before they leto
Rome, to ſwear that their Deſign was to embrace a monaſtic Life,
that they had no other Deſign whatſoever, and that they would never
undertake any thing themſelves, or encourage others to undertake
any thing againſt him. This Oath they both took, the Honour of
the Roman Church being at Stakc, without the leaſt Scruple or Re-
morſe, thinking it could be no Sin to forſwear themſelves for the
Good of the apoſtolic Sce. And now Conſtantine, apprehending
nothing from them, ſuffered them to depart. But they, inſtead of
repairing to the Monaſtery, where the Abbot expected them, went
frait to Spoleti, and from thence to Pavia, to impart their Deſign
to the King of the Lombards, and gain him over, which they
thought might be caſily accompliſhed, to their Side. But they found
the King not inclined to concern himſelf in thc Affair the one way
or the other. However he declared, that if they could perſuade any
of his Subjects to join them, he would not prevent it. With this
Anſwer they left Pavia, and being joined in the Cities of Spoleti
and Rieti by a great many Lombards, they marched ſilently with
them towards Rome. They arrived on the 29th of July in the
Evening at the Gate of St. Pancraſe, which being carly next Morn-
ing opened to them by their Friends, they entered the City, and de-
claring that they were come to deliver Rome from its Tyrants, fet up
their Standard on the Wall. In the mean time Toto, a Man of great
Reſolution and Bravery, alarmed at the Noiſe, and haſtening, with
one of his Brothers, nanied Pallif, and ſome of his Friends, to the
Walls, fell on the Lombards, killed with his own Hand Racipert
their Lcader, and put the reſt, both Lombards and Romans, to
Flight. But while he was purſuing them, two Romans, who were
with him, and pretended to be his Friends, attacking him behind,
ran him through with their Lances, and laid him dead at their Feet. Duke Toto,
Toto being killed, all, who were with him, betaking themſelves to Conftan-
Flight, cndcavoured to make their Eſcape. Paſif Aled to the La- tber, killed.
teran Palace to acquaint his Brother Conſtantine with what had paſſed,
and appriſe him of the Danger he was in. Both took Refuge in the
VOL. IV.
D
Oratory
tine's Brou
}
!
3
18
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
Conſtantine
Monk made
;
Year of Oratory of St. Cæfarius within the Palace; but were ſoon diſco-
Chriſt 768.
vered there, and dragged to Priſon y.
During this Confuſion, a Presbyter, named IValdipert, Aicw with
taken, and
fomc Romails to the Monaſtery of St. Vitus, and taking from
dragged to
Priſon. thence Philip a Lombard Monk, proclaimed him Popc, conducted
Philip a
him to the Lateran, crying aloud, Ling live Pope Philip, St. Peter
Pope and has choſen kiin, and there placed him in the pontifical Chair. The
depoſed. Monk, who had never once thought of the Papal Dignity, looked
upon all this as a Dream. But Waldipert encouraging him, and ſome
of the Populace applauding, with repeated Acclainations, the Ele-
ction of Pope Philip, he took upon him all the State and Majeſty of
a Pope, gave his Bleſling, with great Solemnity, to the People, who
flocked, from all Quarters of the City to ſee their new Sovereign,
and entertained that Night at Supper, the leading Men of the Mi-
Jitia and the Clergy. In the mean time Chriſtopher and Sergius,
greatly ſurpriſed at this new Election, aflembled, upon the firſt No-
tice they had of it, the Heads of the People and the Clergy, and
proteſting againſt it, declared, in their Preſence, that they were deter-
mined not to acquieſce in thc Election of Philip, no leſs ſcandalous
than that of Conſtantine, and would not diſmiſs the Lombards they
had brought with themi, till the mock Popc quitting the Lateran
returned to his Monaſtery. Waldipert and his Party, were no Match
for Chriſtopher and his Lombards, and therefore abandoning Philip,
adviſed him to withdraw quietly to his Monaſtery; which he did,
having enjoy'd thc Papal Dignity not quite 24 Hours 2.
Stephen cho-
Both Intruders being thus driven out, Chriſtopher aſſembled, a few
femmeine con-Days after, the People and the Clergy, in order to proceed, according
graded. to the Canons, to a new Elcētion. They met on the fifth of Auguſt,
and the fame Day choſc, with one Conſent, Stephen, Presbyter of
the Church of St. Cæcilia, and conducted him, with the uſual Ce-
remonies, to the Lateran. The next Day, the ſixth of Auguſt, ſome
Biſhops and Roman Presbyters, aſſembling in the Church of St. Sa-
viour, ordered Conſtantine to be brought before them, and having
firſt cauſed thic Canons to be read, folcmnly depoſed him. He was
then ſent to Collanova, and there ſhut upin a Monaſtery. The Day
after, being the 7th of Auguſt, which in 769. fell on a Sunday, Ste-
phen was ordained, and an End put at laſt to the Schiſma.
y Anaſt. in Steph. III.
2 Idem ibid.
* Idem ibid.
But
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
19
Chrift 768
and his
Friends
But no End was put to the Cruelties practiſed by the Partiſans of Year of
the new Pope on all, who had adhered cither to Conſtantine, or Philip.
Theodore, a Biſhop, and Conſtantine’s Major domo, had his Eyes and Conſtantine
his Tongue plucked out, and was confined to a Monaſtery on Mount
Scaurus, where he died of Hunger and Thirſt, roaring in a Manner treated with
to melt the moſt hardened Heart, but in vain, only for a Cup of the utmost
Water. Paſif, Conſtantine's Brother, was likewiſe deprived, and in
a moſt barbarous Manner, of his Sight. Gracilis, Tribune of Alatri
in Campania, and Conftantine's Friend, being ſeized, and brought to
Rome, met there with the ſame Treatment as Theodore. Conſtantine
had been confined, as I have related above, to a Monaſtery iri Cal-
lanova; but theſe Barbarians, thinking he had been too mildly dealt
with, dragged him from thence, and leading him about expoſed to
the Inſults of the Populace on Horſeback with heavy Weights at
his Feet, in the end they put out his Eyes, and left him in that Con-
dition lying in the Street. The Presbyter Waldipert, who had
cauſed Philip to be proclaimed Pope, was dragged from the Pan-
theon, where he had taken Rcfuge, and condemned to have his Eyes
and his Tongue pulled out; which was done in ſo cruel a Manner,
that he died of the Painb. Did the Cruelty of the Emperor to the
Monks, allowing all the Byzantine Hiſtorians have ſaid of his Cru-
elty to be true, excede that, I will not ſay of the Pope to thcſc un-
happy Wretches, but of his Miniſters and Friends, whom it does not
appear that lic ever once offered to reſtrain? The Crueltics pra-
etiſed at Rome, Baronius conftrues into a Judgment upon thoſe,
who ſuffered them, for preſuming to raiſe a Layman, and raiſe him
by Force and Violence, to the Throne of St. Peter : And may we
not, with much better Reaſon, conftrue the Cruelties, that are ſaid
to have been practiſed on the Monks at Conftantinople, into a juſt
Judgment upon them for preſuming to maintain, and with Treaſon
and Rebellion, an idolatrous Worſhip forbidden by the Law of God,
and the Laws of the Empire?
The new Pope was a Native of Sicily, and the Son of one Oli- Thenew Pepe
He is laid by Anaſtaſius, to have been held in great Ellcem writes to De-
by the four preceding Popes, on account of his Picty and Learning, two Sons.
pin and his
cſpecially by his immediate Predeceſſor Paul, whom he attended in
his laſt Malady with great Care and Tenderness, never itirring fr
his Bed till he expired. Upon his Deatlı he withdrew to his Church,
VUS.
Year of
Chriſt 769.
b Idem ibid.
c Anaft. ibid.
D2
and
+
20
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
-
held in
Rome.
Year of and there continued quiet till Conſtantine being depoſed, hc was raiſed
Chriſt 769, to the See in his Room, in the Manner we have ſeen. He was no
ſooner ordained, than courting the Favour of Pepin, as his Prede-
ceſſors had all done ever ſince they ſhook off the Yoke and all Sub-
jcation to the Emperors, he diſpatched Sergius, the Son of Chri-
ſtopher, into France with a Letter to the King and his two Sons
Charles and Carloman, to acquaint them with his Election, to cngage
Brgs them to their Protection, and at the ſame Time entreat them to ſend ſome
Send ſome of of the moſt learned Biſhops of their Kingdom to aſſiſt at a Council,
their Biſhops
to alif at a
which he propoſed to aſſemble at Rome, in order to reſtore the cccle-
Council to be fiaſtical Diſcipline entirely neglected during the Ulurpation of Con-
ſtantine. Sergius received, on the Road, the melancholy News of
Pepin's Death, (he died of a Dropſy on the 23d of September of the
preſent Ycar, in the 54th Year of his Age, and the 17th of his Reign)
but purſuing, nevertheleſs, his Journcy, he delivered thc Letter, with
which he was charged, to the deceaſed King's two Sons, Charles and
Carloman. Both received him with the greateſt Marks of Rcſpeet
and Eftcem, aſſured him that they were determined to maintain St.
Peter and his Vicar in the quiet Poſſeſſion of whatever their Father
had, out of his great Piety and Religion, been plcaſed to give them,
and, in compliance with the Requeſt of the Pope, ſent together with
the Legate, on his Return to Rome, twelve of the moſt learned Bi-
The Council ſhops of their Kingdom d. On thcir Arrival a Council was allem-
meets, and bled in the Lateran, conſiſting of the Biſhops of Tuſcany, Campa-
is brought be-nia, and of ſome other Provinces of Italy, and the twelve Biſhops
fore them. come from France. The Pope preſided in Perſon; and the firſt Day
thcy met, the unhappy Conſtantine was, by his Order, brought, in
a moſt deplorable Condition, his Wounds not being yet healed, be-
forc them. They asked him, how he had preſumed to intrude him-
ſelf, being yet a Layman, into the holy Apoſtolic Sce? What could
have tempted him to commit ſo enormous and unheard of a Crime?
He anſwered, that it was not by any Intrigues of his, that he had at-
tained thc Pontifical Dignity; but that the People had carried him
by Force to thc Lateran, and obliged him to accept it, hoping hc
would redreſs thc Grievances they had complained of under Paul.
He then threw himſelf on the Ground, owned himſelf guilty, con-
fcffed that his Sins were more in Number than the Sand of the Sea.
3
Led Idem ibid.
Constantine
and
Stephen III. BISHOP'S of Rome.
21
and ſtretching out his Arms, begged they would ſuffer Mercy to take
Year of
Chriſt 769.
Place of Juſtice, and forgive him. The Fathers returned him no
Anſwer, but only ordered him to be raiſed from the Ground, and
led out of the Aſſembly.
The next Day he was brought again before the Council, and in-
terrogated anew concerning his Intruſion. As thc Fathers laid great
Streſs on his bcing, in defiance of the Laws of the Church, of a
Layman ordained Biſhop, calling it a new Crime, an unheard-of
Attempt; he modeſtly replied, that of ſuch Ordinations many In-
ſtances occurred in the Annals of the Church (F); and, to wave more
ancient Precedents, that Sergius of Ravenna and Stephen of Na.
ples, both Metropolitans, had been thus ordained in the late Ponti-
ficate. This Anſwer one would think, could have given no Offence,
thc Biſhops he named being ſtill living, and in the quiet Poffeflion
of their Sces. But he had the Aſſurance to ſpeak in his own Defence,
nay, and to contradict the Council: The Fathers therefore, provoked
beyond meaſure at his Inſolence, and fired with Zeal, ſays Anafta-
fius, for the ancient Practice of the Church, ordered him to be moſt
cruelly beaten in their Preſence, and drove him with Reproaches His cruel
and Curſes out of the Aſſembly. From his being thus barbarouſly Treatment.
treated, tho' an Object of Compaſſion rather than of Refentment
and Revenge, by a Council, at which the Pope preſided, nay, and
by his Order, for all the Biſhops joined, univerſi Sacerdotes ſays
Anaftafius, in that cruel Order, may we not conclude the Cruel-
ties uſed with the Friends of that unhappy Man to have been, if not
commanded, at leaſt tacitly approved by his Holineſs? If ſo, I leave
the Reader to judge, which of the two was the greater Tyrant, Ste-
phen, or the Emperor Conſtantine.
(F) St. Ambroſe was not only a Layman, Eucherius was but a Layman when choren
but ſtill a Catechumen, and not yet bap- and ordained Biſhop of Lions (4); and
tized, when the People of Milan choſe Philogonius of Antioch was carried, as
him for their Biſhop ; and he was or. Chryfoftom informs us(5), from the Court
dained a few Days after his Election (1). of Judicature to the Biſhop's Throne.
St. Cyprian was but a Neophite, or newly And it is to be obſerved, that in thoſe
baptized, when he was choſen, and confe- Days, a Layman, when named to the
crated Biſhop (2); and ſo was Nectarius, epiſcopal Dignity, was ordained Eiſhop at
when he was named, by the Second Ge- once, without any other previous Oidi
neral Council, to ſucceed Gregory Nazi- nation.
anzen in the Sec of Conſtantinople (3).
(1) Paulin. vit. Ambrof.
1. 5. c. 8. Sozom. 1. 7. c. 8.
(5) Chryſ. hom. 31. de Philog.
(2) Pontius in vit. Cypri.
(4) Hilar. Arelat, in vit. Ifonorat.
(3) Socrac.
10
1
22
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
1
Year of In the third Seſſion the Council, that is, the Acts of the Council,
Chriſt 769.
that had confirmed the Election of Conſtantine, and not the Biſhops,
Sentence pro-who compoſed it, as Marianuis Scotus underſtood it, was burnt in
nounced
the Preſence of all, and Conſtantine himſelf condemned, as if no
againſt Con-
Hantine. Puniſhment had yet been inflicted on him, to lead ſo long as he lived,
ſhut
up in a Monaſtery, the auſtere Life of a Penitent. This Sen-
tence being pronounced, all, wlio had acknowlcged him, and received
the Euchariſt at his Hands, in which Number was Stephen himſelf,
tho' now ſo zealous for the ancient Practice of the Church, proſtra-
ting themſelves on the Ground, begged Pardon of God for ſo great a
Crime; and Penance was enjoined them, we know not by whome.
Decrees en
In the next Place, to deter and prevent others from intruding
afted by the themſelves by Force, after the Example of Conſtantine, into the
Council.
Throne of St. Peter, thcy ordered the Canons of the Church to be
brought in; which being publicly read, they iſlied a Dccrec, for-
bidding, on pain of Excommunication, any Perſon whatever to be
thenceforth raiſed to the Pontifical Dignity, who had not previouſly
paſſed through the interior Degrees to that of Cardinal Deacon, or
Cardinal Pricſt. And thus was that Dignity firſt confined to the
Cardinal Deacons and Cardinal Prieſts(G). By the lanie Decree it
was
e Idem ibid.
(G) The Word Cardinal is derived the reſt of their reſpective Orders in the
from the Latin Word cardo, a Hinge, and fame Church. Thus the Prielt, for in-
fignifics a Thirg, upon which other Things ſtance, who preſided over all the Prieſts of
hang or depend, as a Docr does on its the Church of St. Balbina, was ſtiled the
Hinges, that is, a chief or principal Cardinal Prieſt of St. Balbina ; and the
Thing. Thus the four chief Points of the Deacon, who preſided over all Deacons of
Compaſs, and the Eliptic, are called the the Church of St. Sabina, was ſtiled the
Curdinal Points, the four : hicf moral Vir- Cardinal Deacon of St. inbina (2). Ac-
tues the Cardinal Virtues; and the chief cording to this Interpretation, there muſt
or leading Men among the Donatilts are have been only one Cardinal Prieſt in each
fild, by S. Auflin. the Cardinal Dona Church. But in the Works of Pepe Gre-
tiſt: (1). In like manner the principal gory the Great we frequently read of le-
Prielis aud Deacons of a Church were verol Cardinal Prieſts belonging to the ſame
called the Cardinal Priijis, the Cardinal Church; and the Acts of a Council,
Deacons, of that Church. But who were which tha: l'ope held at Roine, are ligned
the principal Deacons and Prieſts, to whom hy three Cardinal Prieſts of St. Balbina,
the Name of Cardinals was appropriated, by two of St. Dunajus, iwo of Sr. Syl-
is not agreed amongſt Authors. Onu- zeler, and two of the Holy Apoſtles (3).
phrius lanvinius is of Opinion, that as By the Cardinal Priells Salmafius under-
feveral Pricfts and Deacons belonged to one ſtands the Archprieſts (4). But he is there.
and the ſame Church, the Chief Prieſts in grofly miſtaken, nothing being more
and Deacons were thoſe who preſided over certain, than that there were ſeveral Car-
(1) Aug. de Baptiſt. I. 1. c. 6. (2) Onuph. Panvin. lib. de Epiſcopatibus,
titulis, &c. (3) Greg. regift. 1.4. c. 88.
(4) Salm. de Primat. c. 1.
dinal
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
23.
Year of
Chrif 769
was likewiſe enacted, and on Pain of Exconimunication, that none
ſhould afliit at the Election with Swords, Clubs, or any other Wca-
dinal Prieſts in the fame City, and but one Power of electing the Pope, their Dignity
Archprieſt. B fides, the Name of Car- encrcaſed with his, till he became fupe-
dinal is of a much later Date, and not to rior, and they equal to the greateſt Princes
be found in any genuine Writer till the of the Earth. Thus what was originally
Time of Gregory the Great, the Council no Degree at all, nor Order in the Church,
of Rone under Pope Sylveſter, the only became, in Proceſs of Time, the higheſt
Authority alleged by Bellarmine (5) to Degree after the Papal, and was courtud
prove it more ancient, being now uni as ſuch by the greateſt Biſhops. A moſt
verfally rejected as a mere Fiction. Some political Inſtitution ! For thus the Popes
think that the Cardinal Prieſts and Deacons were ſupply'd with the Means of gaining
were ſo called from their being fixed in and attaching to their See the moſt emi-
the principal Churches, where Baptiſm nent Prelates of the different Chriſtian
might be adminiſtered, which were there. Kingdoms, who, being once veſted with
fore ftiled Euclefiæ and Tituli Cardi. that Dignity, looked upon the Intereſts of
nales (6); ſo that the Name of Cardinal the Apoſtolic See as their own, fince they
was, according to this Opinion, firſt given might be raiſed to it in their Turn. The
to the Place, and from the Place derived Cardinals, tho' thus diſtinguiſhed by their
to the Purrons.' Others tell us, that when Rank, wore no peculiar Habit nor Badge
the Number of the Eccleſiaſtics was ſo in- of their Dignity till the Time of Popa
creaſed in the populous Cities, that they Innocent IV. who having created 12 Car-
could not all conveniently meet to regu- dinals in a Council he held at Lions in
late with the Biſhops the Affairs of the 1244, allowed them to wear thenceforth:
Church, fome Prefbyters and Deacons a red Hat, to declare thereby, that they
were choſen out of the reſt to be, as it were ready to defend the Roman Church,
were, the Biſhop's Council, who were then grievouſly oppreſſed by the Emperor
therefore called chief or Cardinal Prefby- Frederic II. at the Expence of their Heads
ters and Deacons (7), Machiavel in his or their Lives (9). Paul II. raiſed to the
Hiſtory of Florence gives us the following See in 1464, added the red Garment and
Account of the Original of Cardinals : Cap, to be worn by all but Monks and
" In the Pontifi ate, ſays he, of Pope Friars : And to them too the red Cap was
“ Paſchall. (created in 817.) the Curates granted in 1560. by Pope Gregory XIV.
" of Rome took upon them the pompous Laſtly, That they might not be diſtin-
« Title of Cardinals, as being the Pope's guiſhed by their Habit alone, Urban VIII.
" Miniſters neareſt to his Perſon, and choſen in 1623, granted them, by a ſpe-
" having a chief Share in his Election : cial Bull, the Title of Moj Eminent. It
" And their Authority encreaſed to that is to be obſerved, that in other Cities, as
« Degree after they had found Means of well as in Rome, there were Cardinal .
“ depriving the People of Rome of the Prieſts and Cardinal Deacons : But that
« Right of electing the Pope, that the Title was in 1543. ſuppreſſed by Paul III.
« Papal Dignity fell almoſt always upon in all Churches but the Roman. And now
“ one of them (8).” In Pafchal's Time, all Cardinals, to what Church ſoever they
and long after, ſuch of them, as were only belonged before their Creation, ſtile them-
Deacons or Prieſts, ſigned all public felves after it Cardinals of the holy Roman
Writings, as appears from ſeveral Coun Church. They are the Pope's Counſel-
cils held at Rome, after the Biſhops, as in- lors; and with them he adviſes in all Mat-
ferior in Rank to them. But when the ters of Moment, as he forinerly did with
Papal Dignity was reſtrained to them, as the neighbouring Bilhops, but is not bound
it was by the preſent Council ; and they to follow their Advice.
had beſides engroſſed to themſelves the
(5) Bellar. de Cleric. l. 1. C. 16.
(6) Idem ibid.
(7) Stillingfio
Trenic. part 2. c. 7.
(8) Machiavel, Iftor. di Firenz, 1. 1. (9) Onuph.
Panvin, in not. ad vit. Innoc. IV.
pon,
1
1
24
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
ordered to be
Year of
pon, and that none, coming from Campania or Tuſcany, ſhould be
Chriſt 769.
admitted into the City till the Election was made. As to the Dea-
cons, Presbyters, and Biſhops, who had been ordained by Conſtan-
tine, it was decreed, that they ſhould be choſen anew in their re-
ſpeclive Cities; that repairing to Rome with thc Decree of their
Election, they ſhould there be re-ordained by the Pope, and that
the Deacons and Presbyters ſhould be for ever excluded from the
Epiſcopal Dignity. It was added, that the Laymen, whom Con-
jlantine had preferred to any Rank in the Church, ſhould never be
admitted among the Clergy, but wear, as Penitents, a religious Ha-
bit ſo long as they lived f. No Puniſhment was inflicted upon thoſe
who had acknowleged Conſtantine and communicated with him, the
Pope himſelf being one of that Nuinber.
Deacons, As Ordination is no more to be reiterated, according to the pre-
Preſbyters,
fent Doctrine of the Church of Rome, than Baptiſm, and it is
and Biſhops
ordained by thought a Sacrilege in that Church to reiterate either, the Popiſh
Conſtantine,
Writers take a great deal of Pains, and above all Natalis Alexanders,
re-ordained. to convince us, that the Deacons, Presbyters, and Biſhops, ordained
by Conftantine, were not, by the Decree of the preient Council, to
bc ordained anew, but only to be reſtored, by the Impoſition of
Hands, to the free Exerciſe of their reſpective Offices, from which
they were ſuſpended on account of their unlawful Ordination. But
Anaſtaſius, the only Writer, who gives us an Account of that Coun-
cil, ſays that thoſe Biſhops, Presbyters and Deacons were, by the
Decrce of the Council, to be all confecrated anew; and to conſe-
cratc and ordain are with that Writer, as might be ſhown by innu-
merable Inſtances, ſynonimous Terms. Beſides, Anaſtaſius tells us
in cxpreſs Words, that by the fame Council it was decreed, that all
Things, relating to the Sacraments of the Church, and the Worſhip
of God, done by Conſtantine, ſhould be reiterated, except Baptiſm,
and the ſacred Chriſmh: And he knew better, as we may well ſup-
poſe (for le flouriſhed not quite a hundred Years after the Time of
this Council) what was, and what was not to be reiterated, than ci-
ther Natalis or Baronius.
The Worſhip Thc Acts of Conſtantine being thus annulled, and ſuch Meaſures
of Images ap agreed on as ſeemed the moſt proper to prevent, for the future, all
proved by this
Forcc and Violence in the Election of the Pope, in the fourth and
f Idem ibid. & Natal. Alex. ſec. 8. c. 1, art. 8. & Bar. ad Ann. 769. p. 300.
h Analt, in Steph. 111.
laſt
Council
n. 6.
1
Stephen III
BISHOPS of Rome.
25
laſt Seſſion other Matters were ſettled, and among the reſt the Point Year of
Chriſt 769.
relating to the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, a Point, which the
Popes had now, for the Space of near fifty Years, never concerned
themſelves with, being too much taken up with State-affairs to at-
tend to thoſe of Religion. What was the Determination of the
Council concerning that Article Anaſtaſius informs us in a few
Words: The Teſtimonies of the Fathers, ſays he, in behalf of
Images, were produced and moſt carefully examined; and it being
found, upon the ſtricteſt Examination and Enquiry, that Images had
been uſed and worſhipped by the Chriſtians ſince the earlieſt Times,
that the Popes and all the holy Fathers had ever approved, recom-
mended, and promoted their Uſe and their Worſhipi, it was dc-
creed, that Images ſhould not only be retained but be honoured and
worſhipped, and thic execrable Synod, that had been lately aſembled
in Greece to break and deſtroy them (the Council of Conſtantinople,
which conſiſted of 338 Biſhops, and ſpent fix Months in examining
what a few Biſhops are ſaid here to liave moſt carefully examined in
· a few Hours) was condemned, rejected, and accurſed k. Of this
Council fome Fragments occur in the Letter Pope Adrian wrote to
Charlemagne in Defence of the ſecond Council of Nice; and from
them we learn, that a Paſſage was alleged by the French Biſhop He-
rulphus out of Pope Gregory the Great to ſhow, that the Worſhip
of Images was approved by that Pope; and another by Sergins of
Ravenna out of St. Ambroſe ſaying that a Perſon appeared to him
reſembling St. Paul as repreſented by his Image!. But that no Ico-Grounds they
noclaſt was ever more averſe to the Worſhip of Images than Pope approved it.
Gregory the Great, tho' he was againſt breaking them, has been
ſhown elſewhere m; and from the Saying of St. Ambroſe we can
only conclude, that in his Time, or in the latter End of the 4th
Century, there were Images of St. Paul, which we do not deny, the
Ule of Images having been introduced, as I have obſerved elſewheren,
about that Time. From the ſame Letter of Pope Adrian it
appears,
ilaç by the very learned Biſhops of the preſent Aſembly great Streſs
was laid on the Image, which our Saviour was ſaid to have ſent of
hinſelf to Abgarlls, King of Edeſa. But ſhould we allow all that
has been ſaid of that Image to be true, and the Letter, which our
Saviour is ſuppoſed to have written on that Occaſion, to be as au-
i Sce vol. 3. p. 202, & feq.
k Anaſt. ubi fupra.
1 Epiſt. Hadrian.
ad Carol. mag. 28. act.
n Sec vol. 3. p. 229.
Vol. IV.
E
thentic
Upon what
5.
m See vol. 3. p. 233.
26
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
prelles ibe
Year of thentic and genuine as Stephen and Adrian believed it, it would from
Chiift 769.
thence only follow, that the Uſe of Images was approved by our Sa-
viour to plit us in mind of him, nothing clſe being ſaid of that
Iinage in the Letter, but that it was ſent to ſatisfy thc Deſire King
Abgarus had of fcčing Jefus, and to convince him by ſo miraculous
an Efigie, that the Miracles he had wrought were not impoſſible.
But the whole is a mere Fable, as has been ſhown in the preceding
Volumeo; and we need no better Proof of the Ignorance, that uni-
verſally prevailed in thc Times, when the Worſhip of Images was
cſtabliſhed, than to find ſuch' fabulous Stories, gravely related, and
firmly believed by the Biſhops, the Popes and the Councils of thoſe
Days.
The Pope
As ſeveral Cities, that had been yielded by the Treaty of Pavia
to the Apoſtolic See, were fill kept by the Lombards, Stephen had
King of the
Lombards to no ſooner diſmiſſed the Council, than laying aſide all Thoughts of
deliver up Images and eccleſiaſtic Affairs, he began to preſs Deſiderius to de-
fome Places
'he fill kept. liver up thoſe Places without further Delay, threatening, if he did
not forth with comply with his juſt Demands, to recur to his beloved
Sons the two Kings of France Charles and Carloman, who, he ſaid,
had ſigned that Treaty as well as King Pepin their Father, and had
bound themſelves by a folcmn Oath to employ, if neceſſary, the
wholc Strength of their Kingdom in procuring the Execution of the
Articles it contained. · As it was at the Inſtigation of Chriſtopher and
his Son Sergius, of whom I have ſpoken above, that the Pope, who
was entirely directed and governed by their Counſels, thus inſiſted
on the immediate Exccution of the Treaty, and they trulling in the
Protection of France diverted him from hearkening to any Terms
of an Accommodation with the Lombards, Deſiderius reſolved to
remove them, by ſome means or other, out of the way. With
Great Dif- that View he privately applied to Paul Afiarta, the Pope's Chamber-
turbances
lain, by Nation a Lombard, and one, in whom the Pope repoſed
raiſed in
Rome by the an entire Confidence, conveying to him by means of his Emiſſaries
Friends of in Rome many rich Preſents, and promiſing him a great Reward,
the King.
provided he prevailed on the Pope to diſmiſs his two favourite Mi-
niſters. This Paul readily undertook; and having accordingly with
artful Inſinuations, with cenſuring their Conduct, and miſconftruing
their Meaſures, greatly leffened the Confidence the Pope had placed
in them, and the high Opinion he entertained of their Integrity, and
• Sec vol. 3. p. 203. Note A.
Zeal
Stephen III. BISHOPS of Rome.
27
Chriſt 769
1
ក
Zeal for his Welfare, and that of his See, he at laſt aſſured him, that Year of
they had formed a Deſign of murdering him, and making themielves
Sovereigns of Rome, which they governed already with an uncon-
trolled Power and abſolute Sway. This barc-faced Caluniny he
cauſed to be publiſhed by his Friends and Accomplices among the
People; which, as it was by ſome believed, and disbelieved by others,
gave Riſe to two oppoſite Factions; and thereupon great Diviſions,
Animofities, Tumults daily cnſucd in thc Cicy.
Of theſe Diſturbances Deſiderius was ſoon informed by his Friends,
and being reſolved to avail himſelf of them he drew together, in
great Hafte, a conſiderable Body of Troops, and marching at their
Head towards Rome, gave out that he intended to viſit the holy Who advan.
Places there, and confer in Perſon with the Pope, which, he ſaid, ces to Rome
with his
was the moſt expeditious way of ſettling, to their mutual Satisfaction, Army.
all Points in Diſpute. But his true Deſign was to foment the Diſturb-
ances, to ſupport Paul and his Friends, to cruſh the oppoſite Party,
and
get
the two Miniſters, with ſuch Perſons of Nore as adhered to
them, deſtroyed or delivered up into his Hands. But they, receiving
tinely Notice of his March, and ſuſpeating his Deſign, took care to
defeat it, aſſembling for that Purpoſe, with incredible Expedition,
and bringing into the City a numerous Militia from Tuſcany, Cam-
pania, and the Dukcdom of Perugia; inſomuch that the King, find-
ing, as he drew near, the Gates all ſhut, and the Walls well defended,
encamped his Army in the Meadows of Nero, and went himſelf,
attended only by his Guards, to the Church of St. Peter then witla-
out the City. From thence he ſent ſome of his chicf Lords to ac-
quaint the Pope, that he was come to confer with him in Perſon,
and to beg, that ſince he was not allowed to enter the City, tho
he had no hoftile Deſigns, his Holineſs would be pleaſed to grant
him an Interview in the Church of the Apoſtle St. Peter, ſince he
could not but be ſenſiblc, that their Differences would be more caſily
made up by themſelves than their Miniſters. The Pope, ſuſpecting
no Treachery, readily comply'd with the Requeſt of the King. But The Pope
the Conference was ſcarce begun, when the Pope was obliged to in grants him
an Interview
terrupt it, and haften back into the City. In his Abſence Paul and in the Church
his Accomplices had raiſed the Mob, as was agreed between them of St. Peter.
and the King of the Lombards, againſt the two Miniſters with a De-
ſign to deſtroy them. But they repelling, with the Aſſiſtance of
their Friends, whom they quickly aſſembled, Force by Force, a Skir-
E 2
miſh
28
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
in Rome.
Interview he
j
Year of miſh enſued, in which the Party of Paul was in the end overpow-
Chritt 769.
cred and obliged tu take Shelter in the Lateran Palace. Thither
His Party the Conquerors purſued thein, and entering, Sword in Hand, the
overpowered
Baſilic it felf, would have dragged them from thence and
put
thcni to
Death, had not the Pope, who was there, feverely reprimanded them
and ob'iged them to retire.
In a friend The Timult being thus appcaſed, and all quict in the City, the
Pope returned the next Day to the Conference. But the King, tind-
cbliges the
Pope to diſ- ing the Attempt of Paul had proved unſucceſsful, inſtead of entering
miſs his two
upon Buſincſs, broke unexpectedly out into moſt bitter Complaints
favourite
Miniflers
. and Invectives againſt the two Tyrants, as he called them, who not
ſatisficd with ufurping the Power and tyrannically abuſing it to the
Oppreſlion of the unhappy People of Rome, had moſt wickedly
conſpired againſt the Life of his Holineſs, with a Deſign of ulurping
the Sovereignty as well as the Power. He then ordered all the Gates
of the Church to be ſhut, declaring, as if hc had nothing in his
View but the Safety of the Pope, for which he expreſied the greateſt
Concern, that neither his Holineſs nor any of his Retinue ſhould
ftir from thence, till the two Traitors were diſmiſſed from their
Employments, and diveſted of all Power. Thc Pope, now in the
Power of the Lombards and in a manner their Priſoner, immediately
diſpatched two Biſhops of his Rctinue into the City to declarc Chri.
ſtopher and his Son Sergius diſmiſſed from his Service, and com-
mand them, in his Name, to retire forth with into a Monaſtery, or,
if they were conſcious of their Innocence, to repair to the Church
of St. Peter, and there make it appear to the King of the Lombards
and to him. They were well appriſed of the Deſign of the King,
that he only wanted to get them into his Power, and that it was not
of his own accord that the Pope had ſent them ſuch a Meſſage or
Command, but at liis Inftigation and to gratify him. They there-
fore returned Anſwer, that they ſhould make thicir Innocence appear
to his Holineſs, to whom alone they were accountable for their Con-
duct, on his Return into the City; but would, in the mean time,
continue with their friends to defend it till the Lombards were rc-
tired, and his Holineſs left at full Liberty to abſolve or condenin
them, as he ſhould find them, upon a fair Trial, innocent or guilty.
But as diſgraced Miniſters, generally ſpeaking, havc no Friends, it
was no ſooner known in the City that the Popc had diſcharged them,
than they found themſelves abandoned by all, even by their neareſt
Rcla-
Stephen III.
29
BISHOPS, of Rome.
.
.
Year of
Chriſt 769.
1
Relations, aniong whom was Duke Gratiofus, their Couſin-germau,
a Man of great Power and Authority with the People of Rome.
And now the Party of Paul prevailing in the City, the two unhappy
Miniſters reſolved to quit it, and repairing to the Pope in thc Va-
tican, (the King of the Lombards being returned to his Camp,) to
throw themſelves at his Feet, and having ſatisfied him of their In-
nocence, implore his Protection. They got accordingly orcr thc
Walls in tlic Night; but falling on thc Centinels of the Lombards,
they were carried by them to their King, who ſent then the next
Day to the Pope. The Pope had engaged his Word to the King
that they ſhould be no more employ'd; and therefore would not ſuffer
them to utter a ſingle Word in their Defence, but let them know, as
foon as they appeared before him, that they muſt take the Monkiſh
Habit and ſpend the reſt of their Lives in a Monaſtery. The ſame
Day the Pope and the King mict thc third Time in the Church of St.
Peter, when the King promiſed upon Oath, and he took it, ſays
Anaſtaſius, on the Body of St. Peter, to ſatisfy his Holineſs as to all
his Pretenſions and Claims as ſoon as he returned to his Kingdom.
They then took Leave of cach other, the Pope returning into the
City, and the King to his Camp.
As for Chriſtopher and Sergius, the Pape, deſirous of ſaving their whom he
Lives, as he was indebted to them for his Dignity, left them in the ſeizes, and
Church of St. Peter, the King having promiſed not to molcft them;
great Bara
and they were to enter the City in the Night to avoid falling into the barity.
Hands of Paul and the Mob of his Party, who, the Pope well knew,
fought their Deſtruction. But Paul and the King, apprchending
they might make their Eſcape in the dark, and perhaps be re-admitted
to the Confidence and Favour of the Pope, to prevent their being
ever more employed, dragged them before Night from their Aſylum,
and cauſed their Eyes to be plucked out in ſo barbarous a Manner,
that Chriſtopher died the third Day of thc Pain. Sergius ſurvived it,
but it was only to be kept cloſely confined ſo long as the Pope lived,
and barbarouſly murdered as ſoon as he died. Such is the Account
the Bibliothccarian gives us of the Caule and the Illue of the preſent
Diſturbances a: And it is to be obſerved, that Chriſlopher and Ser-
gius werc, as the ruling Miniſters, thic chief Authors of all thic Cru-
clries, that were practiſed upon the Antipope Conſtantine, and all,
who adhered to him, many of whom were ſhut up in Monafterics,
9 Anaſt. in Steph. III. & Hadrian.
ufes with
as
30
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
in his Letter
magne,
Year of as we have ſeen, after they had been moſt barbarouſly deprived of
Chriſt 769; their Sight, a Puniſhment ſcarce ever uſed, before their Time, in the
Weſt. Their having therefore undergone the very famie Puniſhment
may be looked upon as a juſt Retaliation, and would have been con-
ſtrucd by Baronius into a manifeſt Judgment, had they been Icono.
claſts, or no Friends to the Pope.
The Pope ex-
The Account, which the Pope himſelf gives of this Matter in a
cuſes the King Letter he wrote to Queen Bertrad and her Son Charlemagne, is very
to Charle- different from that, which we read in Anaſtaſius. For in that Letter
the Pope tells them, that Chriſtopher and Sergius had, in Concert
with Dodo, the Embaſſador of Carloman, conſpired againſt his Life,
and broken into the Lateran Palace, nay and into the Baſilic itſelf
with a Deſign to murder him; that he had, with the utmoſt Diffi-
culty, eſcaped their Fury, and taken Refuge in the Church of St.
Peter, from whence he had ſent two Biſhops to command Chri-
ſtopher and Sergius, in his Name, to repair to him, which they re-
fuſing to do, the People, acquainted with their wicked Deſign, had
ſeized them, and carried them to him by Force; that the incenſed
Populace were for tearing them in Picces; that he, to ſave them,
had attempted to get them brought into the City in the Dead of the
Night; but that they had unfortunately fallen into the Hands of their
Enemies, who had put out their Eyes, he calls God to witneſs,
without his Confent, or even his Privity. He adds, that he owes
his Life to the Protection of God and St. Peter, and afrer them to
his moſt excellent Son Deſiderius, King of the Lombards, who hap-
pened very luckily to be then at Rome, and who, he ſays, had en-
tirely ſatisfied him as to all his Demandsr.
As on the one Hand it appears not only from the Account of
probably dic- Anaftafius, but from the whole Conduct of Chriſtopher and Sergius,
King of the that, far from confpiring againſt the Pope, or affecting the Sove-
Lombards. reignty of Rome, they had nothing ſo much at Heart as the Intereſt
and Welfare of the Apoſtolic Sce; and on the other it is very cer-
tain, that when the Pope wrote that Letter not one of the many
Places he claimed had been yet delivered up to hini, Le Coint is of
Opinions, and ſo is F. Pagit, that the Letter was dictated by the
King, while the Pope was ſtill in his Power, and kept by him, in a
Manner, Priſoner in the Vatican. As to what is ſaid there of Dodo,
which was
* Le Coint, ad ann. 769. n. 7.
+ Pagi Crit.
1 Cod. Carolin. cp. 46.
Bar. ad ann. 770. n. 2.
the
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
31
the Embaſſador of Carloman, he might, ſay theſe Writers, have Year of
Chriſt 769.
joined the two Miniſters, who were Friends to France, againſt Paul
and his Party, who favoured the Lombards, and together with them
broken into the Lateran, as has been related aborc. The ſame Au-
thors add, that as Charlemagne could not but condemn the Conduct
of Dodo as repreſented in that Letter, Deſiderius hoped by that
micans to foment and cncrcaſe the Miſunderſtanding that ſubfiſted, at
this Time, between the two Brothers, and thus divert thoni from
uniting their Forces againſt him in Favour of the Pope. However
that be, it is agreed on all Hands, that ſeveral Untruths were ad-
vanced by the Pope in that Letter.
Deſiderius having thus removed out of the way the two Mini- The King of
ſters, whom he looked upon as his Enemies, and the Enemies of his the Lom-
barils refuſes
Nation, returned to his Capital; whither he was ſoon followed by to perform
two Legates ſent by the Pope to challenge the Performance of the the Promiſe
he had made
Promiſe he had made, and ſworn upon the Tomb of St. Petir to to the Pope.
obſerve. They met with a very cold Reception from the King, who
interrupting them as ſoon as they mentioned the Treaty of Pavia
and his Promiſe, What Treaty, ſaid hc, what Promiſe? Does not his
Holine's owc more to me than I owe to him? Have I not delivered
him from imminent Deſtruction and the People of Rome from im-
minent Slavery? And is this his Gratitude? And does he thus repay
ſuch eminent Services ? But if he has ſo quickly forgotten the Obli-
gations he owes mc, he will ſoon be obliged to court my Protection
and Favour anew. The Treatment, which Chriſtopher and Sergius,
who were under the Prote&tion of Carloman and acted by his Order,
have met with, has highly provoked that Prince; and he will ſoon
appear in Italy at the Head of an Army to revenge it. The Lom-
bards alone are able to withſtand him; and his Holineſs has no other
poſſible Means of eſcaping the impending Vengeance but by rccur-
ring to them. He then propoſed an Alliance between the Apoftolic
Sec and the Lombards, magnified the Advantages, that would accrue
from ſuch an Alliance to both, and pretending great Zeal for the
Safety of the Pope, whom, he ſaid, Carloman was determined to
carry with him, as his Priſoner, into France, entreated the Legates Strives to
to perſuade his Holineſs to accept, before the French had entered perfuade him
Italy and it was too late, thc Offer he made of his Alliance and
an Alliance
Friendſhip u.
v Anaſt. in Hadrian,
Lombards.
Charlemagne
to enter into
with the
32
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Stephen III.
Christ 769.
}
1
Year of
Charlemagne and Carloman were quarrelling, at this very Time,
about their reſpective Shares of the Dominions of their Father, who
The Pope at had, by his Will, divided them between them; the People of Aqui-
ai.cſs what
licafures to
taine, but very lately ſubdued by Pepin, had revolted upon the
purfiue. Nėws of his Death, and Thafſilo, Duke of Bavaria, had already
begun to act more like a Sovereign than a Vaſſal, and ſeemed ſtrongly
inclined to ſhake off the Yoke. Neither Clarlımagne therefore nor
Carloman could think of marching an Army, at this Juncture, into
Italy. But Deſiderius propoſed, by thus alarming the Pope, to
frighten him into an Alliance with him; which he knew would dif-
oblige the French; and he might, by that means, be abandoned by
them, and left entirely at the Mercy of the Lombards. Thc Report
of the Legates perplexed the Pope beyond Exprcffion. Paul, and
thoſe of his Party, preſſed him to agree to the propoſed Alliance,
and to put himſelf, without Dclay, under the Protection of the Lom-
bards, who were near at hand to protect and defend him againſt all
his Enemics. Others loudly declared againſt his hearkening to any
Propoſals whatever from that Quarter, adviſing him ſteadily to ad-
here, at all Events, to the French; and the Pope, being himſelf no
dcep Politician, was quite at a Loſs what Meaſures to purſue. But
from this Perplexity he was ſoon delivered by a ſolemn, and as ſea-
from all Per-ſonable as unexpected an Embaſſy from France. It conſiſted of a Bi-
plexity by a ſhop, an Abbot, and two Lords of great Diſtinction; and they were
bally from ſent by the two Kings to impart to his Holineſs the agreeable News
Charles and of their entire Reconciliation, and aflure hini, at the ſame Time,
Year of that they were determined to maintain St. Peter and him, againſt
Chriſt 770. the Greeks as well as the Lombards, in the quiet Poffeffion of all the
Places thcir Father had given them. The Pope had aſſured the Queen
and her Son Charlemagne, in his Letter to them nientioned above,
that the King of the Lombards had entirely ſatisfied him as to all his
Demands. That the two Kings ſecm to have taken for granted;
and therefore fuppoſing his Holineſs already poffeffed of the Places he
ciaimed, they only ſignificd to him, at prefont, their Reſolution of
maintaining him undiſturbed in thc Pofleilion of thoſe Places. But
the Pope took care to undeceive them, aſſuring them, as his Holineſs
was not, on this Occaſion, aſhamed to give himself the Lie, by a
Letter, which he wrote to both Kings on the Return of their En.
balladors, that the perfidious King (to whom he had owned himſelf
in his former Letter indebted for his Life) had yet complied with none
3
of
Delivered
Carloman.
1
33
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
A
Chriſt 770.
of his Demands, and begging they would give no ſort of Credit to
Year of
any, who ſhould tell them, that he had, notwithſtanding all his Pro-
miſes, delivered up, to that Day, a ſingle Village, nay or a Foot of Complains in
his Letter to
Ground to St. Peter. In the ſame Letter, after congratulating his
them of the
two moſt Chriſtian Sons upon their Reconciliation, which he is King of the
confident will redound to the Exaltation of their holy Mother the Lombards,
Church, he conjures them over and over again by that God, who has
placed them on the Throne, to cauſe Juſtice to be done, and to be
done without Delay, to St. Peter and his Vicar: Reminds them of
the Promiſe they made together with their Father of holy Memory ;
exhorts them to tread in his Foot-fteps, and laſtly begs them ſeri-
oully to reflect on the Account they muſt one Day give, at the tre-
mendous Tribunal of Chriſt, to the Prince of the Apoſtles, (not to
Chriſt), if they neglect or even delay putting that Apoſtle and his
Vicar in Poffefſion of every Inch of Ground, that was given and con-
ſecrated to them by the great and moſt religious King their Father.
· Thus the Pope: But as notwithſtanding the boaſted Reconciliation,
ſome Remains were ſtill left of the ancient Jealouſy between the
two Brothers, neither thought it adviſeable to engage, at this Junc. But both des
ture, for the Sake of the Pope, in a War with the Lombards, who, cline breaking
at preſent
they knew, would not comply with his Demands unleſs forced to it with the
by an unſucceſsful War.
Lombards.
And now the King of the Lombards, deſpairing of being able to A Marriage
take the Pope off from his Attachment to the French, reſolved to propoſed by
leave nothing unattempted to take the French off from their At the Lords
tachment to the Pope. With that View he cauſed Propoſals to be bards between
privately made of a Marriage between his Son Adalgijus and the his Son and
the Sifter of
Princeſs Giſel, Siſter to the two Kings; and at the ſame time offered the two Kings,
his Daughter Defideria in Marriage to either of thoſe Princes. This and between
his Daughter
he thought the moſt effcctual Means of cloſely uniting the two Fa-and either of
milies; and he did not at all doubt but that he ſhould be able, if the them.
propoſed Alliances took Place, to divert the two Kings from inſiſing
on the Exccution, at leaſt on the full Execution, of the Treaty of
Pavia. There was no Impediment to obſtruct the Marriage of Adal-
giſus and Giſel; and but onc to obſtruct that of Defideria with
cither of the Princes, viz. that both were married and their Wives
were living. But that, in thoſc Days of Ignorance, was ſcarce
looked upon, at leaſt in France, as an Impediment, as appears from
w Cod. Carol, op. 47*
VOL. IV.
F
thc
34
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
marry the
Year of the many Divorces we read of in that and the two following Cen.
Chriſt 770. turics, nay and from the Deciſions of a Council held in France but
a few Years before (H). The abovementioned Propoſals werc, it
feems, ſecretly made to Qucen Bertrad, the Mother of the two
Princes, to whoſe Counſels grcat Deference was paid, as the King of
the Lombards well know, in all Matters of Moment by both, eſpe-
cially by Charlemagne ; and ſhe not only hcarkened to them with
Charle great Joy, but undertook to bring thic intended Alliance about. Her
magneis per-thus ſo readily cngaging in ſuch an Undertaking was owing to her
fuaderd by the
Queen to
Zcal for the Welfare of her Children and the Good of the Kingdom.
She was fenfiblc, that the Reconciliation between the two Brothers,
King's
would be but of a very ſhort Duration, Carloman, who was naturally
Daughter.
of a rcftleſs and turbulent Temper, being ſtill diſſatisfied with the
Sharc allotted him of his Father's Dominions. Beſides, ſhe know
that he was encouraged and animated underhand againſt his Brother
by the King of the Lombards, and the Duke of Bavaria, the Son-
in-law of that King (for he had married Lutberg the King's other
Daughter) with a Deſign of kindling a Civil War in the Bowels of
France. The Queen therefore, ſatisfied that ſhe could by no other
Means more effectually prevail upon thoſe Princes to abandon Carlo-
man, and ſide with Charlemagne, than by perſuading the latter to
(H) The Council held in 753. at Ver- or of malicious Deſertion. Whether,
berie, a royal Villa in the Neighbourhood after a lawful Divorce, the Huſband might
of Compiegne. By that Council Divorces marry again, during the Life-time of his
were allowed in the following Caſes : If divorced Wifc, or the Wife, during the
the Wife conſpired againſt the Life of her Life-time of her divorced Huſband ? is a
Huſband; if either was a Slave, but Queſtion, that has divided both Councils
thought free at the Time of the Marriage and Fathers. Such Marriages were al-
by the other ; if the Wife refuſed to ac lowed in ſome Churches and forbidden in
company her Huſband, when obliged to others; but of theſe different Practices
remove from one Country to another, or the Reader will find a curious and learned
from one Place of the Country to another; Account in the Notes upon Hermes Paſtor
if the Huſband was found to have had a by Cotelerius (2). I ſhall only obſerve
criminal Converſation with his Wife's Si- here, that Marriages of Children under
fter, or her Mother; if he had never had Age, without the Conſent of their Parents
any Commerce with his wife, whether or their Guardians, were null by the Laws
that was owing to Averſion, or to Impo. both of the Church and the Empire;.
tency; if both being Slaves, the Huſband that Slaves or Nurſes, who had been any-
ſhould obtain his Liberty and not the Wife. ways inſtrumental in bringing fuch Mare
In all theſe Caſes the Party was allowed to riages about, were to be burnt alive or to
marry again (1). In more ancient Times have melted Lead poured down their
Divorces were, in many Caſes, allowed Throats, and that the Man was to be
by the Imperial Laws, but by the Eccle- puniſhed as guilty of Fornication and the
fiaftical Laws only in the Caſe of Adultery, Woman as a Harlot (3).
(1) Sirmond. Concil. Gallic. tom. 2. (2) Coteler. Patres Apoftol, t. 1. p. 88.
(3) Cod. Theodoſ. 1.9. tit. 24. & l. 3. tit. 7, &c.
marry
1
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
35
Year of
Chriſt 770
marry the Daughter of the one and the Siſter-in-law of the other,
carneſtly cntrcated and preſſed him to agree to that Marriage; and
.
he agreed to it accordingly.
Of this Negotiation, how ſecretly focver carried on, the Pope was The Pope
ſoon informed; and no ſooner was he informed of it, than he re-oppoſes the
Match,
ſolved to oppoſe it to the utmoſt of his Power, to exert all liis Apo-
ſtolic Authority, and leave nothing unattempted to defeat the wicked
Meaſures and Deſigns of the Queen; wicked, becauſe likely to prove,
in the End, prejudicial to the temporal Intereſt of his See, tho' in-
tended to unite two Chriſtian Princes, and prevent, by their Union,
deſtructive Wars, and the Effuſion of much Chriſtian Blood. In the
fame Manner, and upon the ſame Principle, that of Self-intereſt,
Pope Paul oppoſed, as we have ſeen , thic intended Alliance and
Union between France and the Empire, as unlawful and wicked;
and this has been, as we ſhall ſce in the Sequel, the Policy of the
Popes ſince the Timc they were firſt poſſeſſed of temporal Dominions
to the preſent, to proſtitute their Authority, and with their Autho-
rity all Faith, Morality and Religion, to worldly Vicws; to preach
Concord and Diſcord among Chriſtian Princcs as they found it turn
moſt to their Intereſt to preach the one or the other; and to chufe
that the World ſhould rather be deluged in Chriſtian Blood than that
they ſhould forego, or run the Riſque of foregoing the leaſt tcni-
poral Advantage. In the preſent Caſe Pope Stephen, no lcſs alarmed
at the Meaſures that were taken to cſtabliſh a good Underſtanding
between the French and the Lombards, than if the Whole of the
Faith and the Chriſtian Religion had depended upon a Miſunderſtand-
ing between thoſe two Nations, diſpatched in great Haſte two Legatos
into France with a Letter to both the young Princes, to divert them, and ſtrives to
with Prayers, Menaces, Anathemas, and all the Motives and Rea-divert the
fons he could think of, from the intended Alliance, or any kind of two Princes
Connection whatever with the wicked, perfidious, and accurſed Na-tended Alli-
tion of the Lombards.
ance.
This Letter he begins with informing the two Kings, that the
Author of our Race, the firſt Man (ſo far he goes back) was ſeduced them.
by a Woman ; that Death and the numberleſs Evils Mankind now
groan under were all brought into the World by a Woman ; that
Women are the Inſtruments and Tools of the Devil; and therefore
cxhorts the young Princes to be upon their Guard, and not ſuffer
* See above, p.9.
F2
their
His Letter to
36
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
Year of their Hearts to be enſnared and captivated by their Charms. Thus
Chriſt 770, far he abuſes Women in general; and one would think he intended
to inſpire Mon with an Averſion to all Women, even to their Wives.
In the next Place he tells the Kings, that hic has heard, with the
deepeſt Concern, that the King of the Lombards was negotiating a
Marriage between one of them and his Daughter ; expreſſes great
Surprize at the conſummate Wickedneſs of thoſe, who have dared to
propoſe ſuch a Match; and wonders that his moſt Chriſtian Sons
ſhould have ſuffered ſuch a Propoſal to be made, or ſhould not have
rejceted it, as ſoon as it was made, with the utmoſt Indignation and
Horror. He then paints the Lombards as of all Nations the moſt
wicked, the moſt perfidious, the moſt deſpicable; as a Herd of Sa-
vages ſcarce deſerving the Name of a Nation; as a People accurſed
of God and bearing the viſible Marks of that Curſe in the Plague of
Leproſy common among them; as of all the Nations on the Earth
by far the moſt unworthy of ſo great an Honour, as that of being
allied to the French, of all Nations the greateſt, the moſt religious,
the moſt illuſtrious, the moſt glorious, and as much above, as the
Lombards are below, the reſt of Mankind. And what Fellowſhip,
ſays he, has Rightcouſneſs with Unrightcouſneſs: What Commu-
nion has Light with Darkneſs? He adds, that the Lombards are a
ſtrange Nation with reſpect to the French, and that Marriages with
ſtrange Women, or Wonien of ſtrange Nations, are frequently con-
demned in the Scriptures; thus ignorantly or wickedly perverting
the Senſe of the Scripture, as if Men were there forbidden to marry
Women of a different Nation from their own, tho' profeſſing the
ſame Faith and Rcligion with their own. In the ſecond Place he
alleges againſt the propoſed Marriage what he ought to have alleged
in the firſt, and indeed what alone could, in the preſent Caſc, be of
any Weight; viz. that both Princes were already married, and that
Chriſtians are not allowed to have two Wives at a Time, or to put
one away at Plcaſure, and take another to their Bed in her Room.
Here he tells them, that King Pepin, their Father, had once pro-
poſed to divorce their Mother, but that Pope Stephen, his holy Pre-
deceſſor, repreſenting to him the Enormity of that Crime, he had
laid aſide ſo impious a Thought, and lived happily with her to the
Day of his Death; cxhorts them to follow, like dutiful Children,
the Example of their Father, and above all Things to avoid, as they
tendered the Protection and Favour of St. Peter, having any kind of
Con-
Stephen III.
BISHOPS of Rome.
37
-
Year of
Chriſt 770.
however preo
vails on
Connexion with the accurſed Nation of the Lombards, the avowed
Enemies of that Apoſtle and his favourite People. The reſt of the
Letter is filled with heavy Complaints againſt the Lombards, and he
cloſes it with entrearing and conjuring the two Kings over and over
again to hearken to his Admonitions, and threatening them, if they
did not, with the Indignation of St. Peter, and in conſequence
thereof with eternal Damnation. “ If any one, ſays he, ſhall prc-
“ ſume to act contrary to this our Admonition, we declare him, by
w the Authority of our Lord St. Peter, deprived for ever of the
“ Protection of that Apoſtle, anathematized, cxcluded from the
“ Kingdom of Heaven, and deſtined to burn cternally in Hell-fire
« with the Devil y." This Letter the Pope laid on the Tomb of St.
Peter, and having there celebrated Divine Service, ſent it from
thence, by the two Legates, into France.
But neither the Reaſons alleged by the Pope againſt the propoſed The Queen
Marriage (which were indeed all abſurd and ridiculous, except the
Unlawfulneſs of Divorce, and Divorces were allowed at this Time Charles to
on the moſt trifling Occaſions in France) nor his Entreaties, Me- agree to the
naces, Anathemas, were capable of diverting the Queen from pur-" Year of
ſuing a Deſign, that appeared to her the beſt calculated of any to Chriſt 771.
maintain the Tranquillity and Peace of the Kingdom: Nay, ſo much
had ſhc at Heart the bringing it to a happy Ifue, that, truſting no
other, ſhe undertook to manage the whole Matter herſelf. Having
accordingly perſuaded her eldeſt Son Charles to conſent to the Match,
notwithſtanding all the Remonftrances of the Pope, and his Legates
againſt it, ſhe ſet out for Italy to ſettle, in Perſon, with the King of
the Lombards, the Terms of the intended Alliance. She had an
Interview with her Son Carloman at a Place called Saloſa; and
from thence ſhe repaired to the Court of Bavaria to divert that
Duke from attempting to ſhake off the Yoke, which he, depending
on the Aſiſtance and Fricndſhip of the Lombards, ſeemed ſtrongly
inclined to attempt. From the Court of Bavaria (he purſued her
Journey to that of Pavia, and having there ſettled the Marriage-
articles to her entire Satisfaction, and the entire Satisfaction of the
King, ſhe reſolved to try, before ſhe left Italy, whether his Holineſs
might not be prevailed upon, by ſome Means or other, if not openly
to approve, at leaſt not to oppoſe her Deſign. With that View ſhe
continucd her Journey to Rome, was received there by the Pope, the
I Cod. Carolin. ep. 48.
Clergy,
1
1
38
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Stephen III.
1
Year of Clergy, and the People, as the Widow of Pepin and the Mother of
Chriſt 771, the two French Kings, with all poſſible Marks of Diſtinction; and
had, during her Stay in that City, ſeveral priyate Conferences with
the Pope; the Reſult of which ſeems to have been, that his Holi-
and on the neſs ſhould no longer oppoſe the deſigned Marriage, and that the
Pope not to
King of the Lombards ſhould, in confideration thereof, deliver up,
oppoſe it.
before his Daughter ſet out for France, certain places, which he had
hitherto witheld from the Apoſtolic Sec, and ſolemnly engage to
live thenceforth in Peace and Amity with the Pope and the Peoplc of
Rome. This, I ſay, ſeems to have been the Reſult of thoſe Con-
ferences; it being certain, that Deſiderius delivered up ſeveral Places
to the Pope at the Requeſt of the Queen, while ſhe was yet in Italy;
that ſhe ſet out, as ſoon as the Pope was put in Poſſeſſion of them,
on her Return to France with the King's Daughter; that on her Ar-
rival Charlemagne, divorcing his lawful Wife, married herz, and that
no further Oppoſition is ſaid to have been made to that Marriage
cither by the Pope or his Legates. Thus what was an enormous
Crime, when likely to prove prejudicial to the Intereſt of the Apo-
ftolic See, became no Crime, or a Crimc to be connived at, when it
turned to Advantage of that See (I).
z Vet. Annal. & Annal. Petav. ad Ann. 770. Eginard. in vit. Carol.
(T) Some to excuſe the Pope firſt con- good Men were greatly fcandalized at the
demning that Marriage as an enormous King's putting away his lawful Wife with-
Crime, and afterwards approving, or a! out any juſt Cauſe and marrying another,
leaſt not diſapproving it, would make us
and that Adalbard in particular was ſhocked
believe, that the firſt Marriage of Charles to ſuch a Degree at ſo wicked an Action,
was null; that the Pope was not acquainted that quitting a Court, where ſuch Wicked-
therewith when he condemned his ſecond neſs was countenanced, and with it the
Marriage as a Crimc, but was when he ap- World, he retired to a Monaſtery, tho'at
proved it, having been aſſured of its Nul- that Time only in the 20th Year of his
lity by the Queen: And it was, ſay they, Age(I). Beſides, it was not only becauſe
to gratify her, after the had prevailed on Charles was already married that the Pope
the King of the Lombards to yield to him oppoſed his Marriage with the Daughter of
the Places he claimed, that he conſented Defiderius; but becauſe ſhe was, accord-
at laſt to that Match. But the contem- ing to him, a ſtrange Woman, and Mar-
porary Hiſtorians all fuppoſe the firſt Mar- riages with ſtrangeWomen are condemned
riage of Charles to have been a true Mar- in Scripture. And how will they excuſe
riage, and ſpeak o_his Divorce as a Thing, his Holineſs conſenting to a Maich, which
that gave great Offence. Pafchafius Kat- he had condemned on that Account?
bertus among the reſt, an Author of great Did the Queen remove that Scruple too,
Note, who Houriſhed about the Middle of and teach the infallible Interpreter of the
the next Century, and wrote the Life of Scripture the true Meaning of the Scrip-
St. Adalbard, the Brother of Pepin, and ture?
Uncle of the two Kings, tells us, that all
(1) Pafch. in Vit. S. Adal. apud Mabill
. fecul. 4. Fenedictin. part In
OF
I
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome:
39
7
Of this Pope no further mention is made till the Time of his Stephen diese
Death, which happened on the ſecond of February 772, after he had
governed the Roman Church three Years, five Months, and twenty
.
Days a.
Year of
Chriſt 772
CONSTANTINE,
DESIDERIUS,
LEO,
HADRIAN, King of the
CONSTANTINE-
Lombards..
PORPHYROGENITUS,
IRENE.
Ninety-fourth Bishop of Rome.
STEPHEN was ſucceeded by Hadrian or Adrian, choſen and Hadrian.com
ordained after a Vacancy of ſeven Days, and conſequently on ſen. His
Birth, Edu.
the 9th of February, which, in the preſent Year 772, fell on a Sun-cation, &c.
day, the Day, on which Biſhops, eſpecially the Popes, were commonly
ordained. Hadrian was a Native of Rome, deſcended from one of
the moſt illuſtrious Families of that City; and he is highly com-
mended by Anaftafius for his extraordinary Piety, uncommon Learn-
ing, engaging Bchaviour, excellent Parts, and even for the Majeſty
of his Mien, and the Comlineſs of his Perſon. He had paſſed, with..
great Reputation, through all the inferior Degrees, and was Cardinal
Deacon of the holy Roman Church, when the People and Clergy
raiſed him with onc Voice to the Sceh. On the very Day of his.
Election, Anaftafius ſays, the very Hour he was elected, he recalled
all, whom Paul Afiarta had ſent into Exile, during thic Illneſs of the
late Pope; and ſet at Liberty ſuch as were kept by him confined in
the different Jails, that is, all the leading Men of the French Party
in Rome : So forward was he in declaring his Reſolution of culti-
vating the Friendſhip of the French Princes and Nation.
And truly he foon had Occaſion for the Favour and Aſſiſtance of Charles
ſuch powerful Protectors. For ſcarce had he taken Poffeſion of the magne di-
See, when a Miſunderſtanding aroſe, between him and the King of Daughter of
the Lombards, which, had not the French interpofed in his Behalf, the King of:
would, in all Likelihood, have proved as fatal to hiin and the Roobardsen
man People as it proved in the End to that unhappy Nation. It
arole on the following Occaſion. Queen Bertrad had perſuaded her
Son Charlemagne, as has been related above, to marry the Daughter
a Anaſt, in Steph. 3.
Idem in Adrian
t
vorces the
of
40
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of of the King of the Lombards, as the moſt effectual Means of taking
Chriſt 772. off that Prince from his Connexion with Carloman, and engaging
him in the Intereſt of Charlemagne. But Carloman dying ſoon after
that Marriage, and Charlemagne, who diſliked his new Wife, think-
ing, as he became by the Death of his Brother ſole Maſter of the
whole French Monarchy, that he had no further Occaſion for an
Alliance with the King of the Lombards, divorced his Daughter,
and marrying Hildegard, a Princeſs of Suevia, in her room, ſent
her back to her Father (I). Deſiderius, highly provoked at the Treat-
ment his Daughter had met with, reſolved to revenge it. He had
then at his Court Gilberg, the Widow of Carloman, and his two
Sons, both yet Infants. For Gilberg, apprehending that Charle-
magne, prompted by his Ambition, might either defroy both her and
them, if he got them into his Power, or at leaſt cauſe them to be
ſhut up in a Monaſtery, had abandoned the Kingdom upon the Death
of her Husband, and taken Refuge with her Children in the Court
of Deſiderius. The King had received them with open Arms, and
entertained then, as well as the many French Lords, who had at-
tended them in their Flight, in a Manner futable to their reſpective
Ranks, merely, as he pretended and declared at that Time, out of
the Regard he owed to the Memory of his deccaſed Friend and Ally.
But on the preſent Occaſion he reſolved openly to eſpouſe their
Cauſe, to acknowlege them for the lawful Heirs of their Father's
who ſtrives Kingdom, which Charlemagne had ſeized upon their Flight, and to
Popcorn' his attempt, by Nirring up their Friends in France, to farm there a Party
in their Favour and kindlc a Civil War in the Bowels of that King-
venge that dom. This he thought he ſhould caſily accompliſh provided he could
Affront.
prevail on the new Pope to engage in the ſame Cauſe, and perſuade
him not only to take the Children of Carloman into his Protection,
but to anoint them Kings of their Father's Kingdom. With that
View he ſent, as ſoon as he heard of the Election of Hadrian, a
ſolemn Embaſſy to Rome to congratulate him on his Promotion, to
aſſure him of his Friendſhip, and at the ſame Time to recommend
to him, as the Father of the Diſtreffed, the diſtreſſed Widow and
deſtitute Children of Carloman. The Embaſſadors omitted nothing
Side to re-
(1) From his not recalling, on this Oc- marry a ſecond Wife while his firſt Wife
calion, his firſt Wife Himiltrusle, Authors was living, would have ſcrupled to marry a
gcncrally conclude that ſhe was dead ; as third.
if Charlemagne, who had not ſcrupled to
they
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
41
Chriſt 772.
they thought capable of making an Impreſſion on the Mind of the Year of
Pope, and awakening his Compaſſion for the Children of a Princc,
to whom his See owcd, in great meaſure, its Grandeur. They re-
preſented to him, in the ſtrongeſt Light, the crying Injuſtice of Char.
lemagne in robbing his own Brother's Children of a Kingdom, to
which they had as unqueſtionable a Right as he, or his Children, had
to his; cxaggerated the deplorable Condition, to which his inſatiable
Avarice, and unbounded Ambition had reduced them; put his Holi-
neſs in mind of the extraordinary Regard their Father Carloman had
always ſhown and profeſſed for the Apoſtolic Sce, and aſſuring hiin
that whatever Aſſiſtance he ſhould lend to them the King of the L0911-
bards would look upon it as lent to himſelf, thcy cntrcated him, in
the moſt pathetic Terms, to pity their unhappy Situation, and gcnc-
rouſly undertake, in Conjunction with thcir Maſter, who had nothing
in his Vicw but the Relief of the diſtreſſed, their Defence and Pro.
tcctionc
Hadrian was a Man of too much Penetration not to be appriſed of The Pope ad-
beres to Char-
the true Deſigns of the King. He pitied the forlorn Condition of
lemagne,and
the Children of Carloman: But ſenſible that ſhould he take them into even ac-
his Prote&tion and anoint them Kings of their Father's Kingdom, he quaints him
would thereby highly diſoblige his Protector Charlemagne, and be ſigns of the
abandoned by liim to the Mercy of the Lombards, he made his Com.
Lombards.
paflion give way to his Intereſt, and not only declined entring, at ſo
critical a Juncturc, into any Engagements with the King, but to earn
the Favour of Charlemagne privately acquainted him with the Dc-
figns, that the King, the Widow of Carloman, and the French
Lords, who had attended hier in her Flight, were hatching againſt
him in favour of his Nephews. However to gain time, as Charle-
magne was then engaged in a War with the Saxons, the Popc prc-
tended to hearken to the Propoſals of the Embaſſadors, told them
that he had nothing ſo much at Hcart as to live in Friendſhip and His .An:fiver
Amity with his Neighbours the Lombards; that he was ready to do to the King's
Embaja-
every thing they could in Reaſon and Juſtice require of him; but dors.
that as their Maſter had, in the Pontificate of his Predeceſſor, ſeized
on ſeveral Places in Defiance of the moſt folemn Trcaties, they could
not well blanie him for inſiſting, firſt of all, on the Rcftitution of
the ſaid Places, as a Pledge of his pacific Diſpoſition and the Sincerity
of his Intentions; that as ſoon as they were reſtored, he would ſend,
« Idcm ibid.
VOL. IV.
G
if
42
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
the Lombards
invades the
Year of if agrceable to the King, Legates to Pavia veſted with full Powers to
Chrift 77.2; conclude, upon his own Terms, a Treaty of Friendſhip and Peace
between the Lombards and the Romans d.
The King of Deſiderius, finding that the new Pope was not to be gained, as his
Predeceffor had been, with fair Words, Proteſtations and Promiſes,
Exarchate. reſolved, as he had no Thoughts of parting with the Places he had
taken, to recur to Violence and Force. He entered accordingly the
Territory of Ravenna, made himſelf Maſter of ſeveral Places there,
laid the Country every where waſte, and ſuffering no kind of Provi-
ſions to be conveyed into the City, reduced the Citizens to the utmoſt
Extremity. In that Condition they applied for Relief to the Pope,
who immediately wrote to the King to put him in mind of the Pro-
miſe he had very lately made to live in Friendſhip and Peace with the
Apoſtolic Sec, and entrcat him, as he tendered his Reputation and
Character, to forbear Hoſtilities ſo repugnant to his Proteſtations and
Promiſes, ſo unjuſt in themſelves, and ſo unworthy of a Chriſtian
Prince. The King anſwered, that he was ready to withdraw his.
Promiſes to Troops, to forbear Hoftilities, and to live in Peace with the Pope and
forbear How the Romans upon one Condition, and one Condition alonc, viz.
the Pope's that he acknowleged and anointed, in his preſence, the two Sons of
anointing the Carloman Kings of their Father's Kingdom. He added, that thoſe
loman Kings unhappy Children had an indiſputable Right to the Dominions of
of their Fa- their Father, as his Holineſs well knew, and that his refuſing to
ther's King-
acknowlege that Right, by anointing them Kings, was in effect coun-
tenancing, and declaring to the World that he countenanced the
Uſurper in his unjuſt Uſurpation. The Popc, determined to do no-
thing he thought could give the leaſt Umbrage to Charlemagne, fill
kept to his former Anſwer, aſſuring the King that he was ready to
do every Thing that lay in his power to oblige him, but inſiſting, at
the ſame Time, on his reſtoring the Places he had taken before he
would enter into any new Engagements with him or his Natione.
The King re The King was highly provoked at this. Anſwer, but ſtill more at
doubles his the Death of his zealous Partizan Paul Afiarta, that happened at this
Hoftilities
Time. Paul to be revenged on the Pope, who had driven him out
Pope's refu, of Rome, had undertaken to return to that City; to reanimate the
wib'his De Lombard Faction, that was there ſtill very powerful, and cven to
mand.
ſeize the Pope himſelf, and deliver him up in Chains to the Lom.
bards. But Hadrian, receiving timely Intelligence of his Deſign, and
Anaſt, in Hadriano 6. Idem ibid. Eginhard. in vit. Carol,
the
dom,
upon the
1
Hadrian, BISHOPS of Rome.
43
Chriſt 772.
+
the Rout he was to take, ſent a privatc Order to Leo, Archbiſhop of Year of
Ravenna, to arreſt and confine him. The Archbiſhop was not ſa-
tisfied with executing that Order; but having got the unhappy
Wretch into his power, he cauſed him after a ſhort Confinement to
be put to Death, contrary, ſays Anaſtaſius, to the declared Intention
and expreſs Command of the Pope. The King, upon the News of
his Death, redoubled his Hoftilities, his Parties advancing to the very
Gates of Rome, and putting to the Sword or carrying into Captivity
all, who fell into their Hands. But nothing could make Hadrian
depart from the Reſolution he had taken of entring into no Engage-
ments with the Lombards, that might give the leaſt Jealouſy or Occa-
ſion of Complaint to the French. He was greatly affected with the
Calamities of the unhappy People expoſed to the Inſults and the Fury
of the mercileſs Lombards; but at the ſame Time determined to
takc no Step for their Relief, that appeared to him inconſiſtent with
his Intereſt, when the King offered to withdraw his Troops and put
an End to all Hoſtilities the very Moment he gave the royal Unction
to the Sons of Carloman, he returned Anſwer, that the King was by
former Treaties and repeated Promiſes bound to forbear Hoſtilities;
that he had, by an open Breach of thoſe Treaties and in Defiance of
the moſt ſolemn Promiſes, ſeized on ſeveral Places belonging to the
Apoſtolic Sce, and could not therefore well require the holy Sec to
truſt to his Preſent till he had fully cxecuted his former Promiſes by
withdrawing his Troops, and rcſtoring all the Places lie had taken.
The Pope was ſenſible that this Anſwer, inſtead of appealing the The Poperea
King, would provoke him beyond all meaſure; and therefore appre-curs to Char.
lemagne.
hending, that not ſatisfied with ravaging the Country, he might lay
Siege to the City itſelf, he diſpatched, in great Haſte, a Meſſenger
into France with a Letter to Charlemagne to acquaint him with the
deplorable Condition to which he and the Roman People were re-
duced by the Lombards, and putting him in mind of the Vow he
had made in his Father's Life-time never to abandon the Protection of
the Succeffors of St. Peter, and the Defence of his Church, carneſtly
entreats him in the Name of St. Peter and his to haften to their Rc-
lief purſuant to that Vow. He added, that to delay relieving him,
let thc Delay be ever ſo ſhort, at ſo critical a Juncture, was abandon-
ing him to the Mercy of his implacable Enemies; and took care to
let Charlemagne know, that it was chiefly, if not merely, on account
of his inviolable Attachment to his Intereſt, and becauſe he could not
be
G 2
1
44
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of be prevailed upon to anoint the Sons of Carloman Kings of their Fa-
Chrift 772, ther's Kingdom, and thereby concur with his Enemies in the Deſign
they had formed of kindling a Civil War in the Bowels of his King-
dom, that he was thus cruelly perſecuted by the Lombards. As the
Paſſes in the Alps were all carefully guarded by the Lombards, the
Meſſenger went by Sea, and being informed, upon his Arrival at
Marſeilles, that Charlemagne was at Thionville, he repaired thither,
and delivered, purſuant to his Inſtructions, the Pope's Letter into his
own Hands.
Charle Charlemagne being fully informed by the Meſſenger of the State
magne's An-
of Affairs in Italy, and the Deſigns of the Lombards, remanded:
swer to the
Pope's Letter. him, the very Day after his Arrival, with an Anſwer to the Pope's
Letter, aſſuring his Holineſs that he remicmbered, and ſhould ever
inviolably obſerve the Vow he had made; that he was reſolved, as
bound by that Vow, to march, with all Speed, to his Relief, to cm-
ploy, if neceſſary, the whole Strength of his Kingdom in curbing
the Infolence of the Lombards, and that he would hearken to no
Trcatics, fince no Treaties could bind them, but ſtrive to put thenr
out of a Condition of diſturbing hereafter him or his Succeſors in
the Poſſeſſion of the Places which his Father and he had, for the Re-
deniption of their Souls, given to St. Peter. Charlemagne confi-
dered that the Lombards never would ſuffer the Pope quietly to enjoy
the Territories, which they had taken from the Emperor, and claimed
as their own by Right of Conqueſt; that whatever Treaties they pre-
tended to agree to, they would obſerve them no longer than they
found it expedient, but would lay hold of every Opportunity that
offered to raiſe Diſturbances in Italy, and in his own Dominions too
as ſoon as they found him engaged in other Wars; that as they had
raken into their Protection the two Sons of Carloman, who had no
contemptible Party in France, ſuch Diſturbances might end, when
lic expected it the leaſt, in a Civil War. Upon theſe Conſiderations
le reſolved not only to relieve the Pope in his preſent Diſtreſs, but
encouraged by his late cxtraordinary Succeſs againſt the Saxons, to
attempt the Conqueſt of Italy, as the only effectual Means of deli
vering the Apoſtolic See and himſelf from ſo troubleſome and faith-
leſs an Enemy. Purſuant to that Rcfolution he put, without Delay,
all his Forces in Motion; appointed the City of Geneva for the
Place of the general Rendevous, and repairing thither in Perſon di-
vided, after ſeveral Councils of War, his numerous Army into two
Bodies.
Hadrian, BISHOPS of Rome.
45
Year of
Chriſt 772
with a nu-
Rome.
Bodies. The one, commanded by Duke Bernard, Brother of the
late King Pepin, and natural Son of Charles Martel, he ordered
to enter Italy by Mount St. Bernard; with the other he marched He ſets out
himſelf towards Mount Cenis f.
merous Army
In the mean time the King of the Lombards, deſpairing of being for Italy.
able to perſuade the Pope to anoint the Sons of Carloman, reſolved ebeLombards
to ſurpriſe him, and extort by Force, when he had him in his Power, attempts to
what he could not obtain by Art or Perſuaſion. With that Vicw hefurpriſe
ordered ſeveral Bodies of Troops ſecretly to march, by different Year of
Ways, towards Rome; and privately leaving Pavia himſelf with his Chriſt 773.
Son Adalgiſus, the two Sons of Carloman, and the Queen their
Mother, he appeared unexpectedly at the Head of a powerful Army
in the Neighbourhood of Rome. The News of his Approach threw
the whole City into the utmoſt Confuſion. Hadrian however, not
forgetting, in the midſt of that Confuſion, to provide for his Defence,
ſummoned the Militia of Campania, Tuſcany, and the Dukedom of
Perugia into thc City, cauſed the Gates and the Walls to be carc-
fully guarded Night and Day, and by aſſuring the People that Ckar.
lemagne was laſtening, with a mighty Army, to their Relief, inſpired
them with ſuch Courage, that even thoſe, who at firft had betrayed
the moſt Cowardice and Fcar, were now the foremoſt in flying to
Arins, and preparing for a vigorous Defence. The King; as he ap-
proached Rome, ſent ſome of his officers to acquaint the Pope with Finding the
his Arrival, and to beg his Holineſs would grant hini an Intcrvicw, City well
guarded, he
which, he ſaid, he was confident would end to the entire Satisfaction
begs an In-
of both. To this Meſſage Hadrian returned the ſame Anſwer he had terview with;
given to all the other Propoſals and Meſſages from the King; that he
The Pope's
wouid hearken to no Propoſals whatever till all the Places-lie had Anſwer 10-
the King's
ſeized, belonging to St. Peter and his Church, were reſtored; that
Dernand.
the Reflitution of thoſe Places was a Preliminary, which he was un-
alterably determined never to diſpeuſe with. Thc King, finding the
Pope thus determined, purſued his March towards-Rome, plundering
the Citics, and laying the Countries every-where walte through which
hc paſſed. Hereupon the Pope, reſolved to try the Edge of his fpiri-
tual Weapons before he cmployed any other, drew up a Sentence of
Excommunication in the ſtrongeſt Terms, threatening the King and
all, who followed him, with immediate Vengeance from Heaven, if
he preſumed to advance one Step nearer to Rome, or ravaged the Lands
Anaft. Eginhard ibid.
of
1
the Pope.
1
46
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
The King
the Threats
dom.
Charle-
the Alps.
Year of of the Church. With this Sentence Hadrian diſpatched the three
Chriſt 773: Biſhops of Albano, Paleſtrina and Tivoli ; and it ſtruck the King
with ſuch Terror, that, putting a Srop to all further Hoftilities, he
awed with ſet out that Inſtant on his Return to Pavia. So great was the Awe
of the Pope, even Kings and Princes ſtood in of the Anathemas of the Popes till
returns to his Experience taught them, that their curſing did no more Harm to Man-
own King-
kind than their blefling did Good.
In the mean timc Charlemagre, advancing with his Army to the
magne ad., Alps, found all the Paſſes and Defiles ſo well fortified, and guarded
his Army to by ſuch numerous Bodies of Lombards, commanded by the King in
Perſon and his Son Ad:!<:ſus, that moſt of the Officers thought they
could not be forced; that it would coſt the Loſs of the whole Army
to attempt it, and were therefore of Opinion, in a Council of War
that was held, that they ſhould either return to France, without ex-
poſing ſo many gallant Men to certain Deſtruction, or try whether
the Lombards might not be brought by way of Negotiation to ſatisfy
the Pope. Charlemagne choſe the latter, none in the whole Army
being more ſenſible of the Difficulty of the Enterpriſe than himſelf;
and he fent accordingly, as ſoon as the Council broke up, Embaſſa-
dors to repreſent to the King the Juſtice of the Pope's Complaints
and Demands, the Obligation the Kings of France were under of
making good the Donation of Pepin, the dreadful Conſequences
that would inevitably attend the War, that was upon the Point of
being kindled in Italy, and the many Advantages, that would accruc
to the Lombard Nation from thcir Friendſhip with France: Nay
Charlemagne was ſo apprehenſive of the Illuc of the preſent Under-
Finding the taking, that he even offered to defray the Charges thc Lombards had
Paffes well been at in their military Preparations on this Occaſion, provided they
guarded pro.
poſes an Ace delivered up to the Pope, in compliance with the Treaty of Pavia, ,
commodation. all the Places yielded by that Treaty to the Apoſtolic Sce. What is
ſtill morc, he did not in fift on the immediate Reftitution of thoſe
Places, but let the King know, that he was willing to allow him what
Time he could reaſonably require for the Execution of the Treaty;
on Condition that he delivered three Hoſtages into his Hands, the Sons
of ſome of the chief Lords of his Court, as Pledges of his Since-
rity: He added, that as ſoon as they arrived in his Camp, he ſhould
forget all former Breaches of ſo folemn a Treaty, ſhould look upon
the Lombards as his Friends and Allies, and forbcaring all further
Hoftilities, march back with his Arny to France.
But
1
1
Hadriar. BISHOPS of Rome.
47
Chriſt 773
return to
But the more advantagious were the Offers of Charlemagne the Year of
more averſe was the King of the Lombards to accept then, con-
cluding that they proceded from Fear, and that Charlemagne, aware His Propo-
of the Difficulty of his Undertaking and deſpairing of Succeſs, fals rejected..
would rather chuſe to retire, if his Propoſals were not agreed to, and
abandon the Pope to the Mercy of the Lombards, than expoſe his
Army to the evident Danger of being entirely cut off to relieve him.
Indeed the French Gencrals after reconnoitring the Situation of the
Enemy, and carefully examining the many ſtrong Works they had
raiſed in the Paſſes of the Mountains, delivered it as their opinion,
that it was impoſible to diſlodge them, and therefore not only ad-
viſed but jointly entreated their King not to attempt it, but reſerve
his Army, the Strength and the Flower of the French Nation, for
other lefs hazardous but more glorious Archievements. Charlemagne
yielded; and it was reſolved in a Council of War, that they ſhould Hereſolves to:
abandon the Enterpriſe for the preſent and decamp the next Day.decamp and
But Heaven interpoſed, ſays Baronius, and confounding the Enemies France:
of the holy Pontiff, opened a ſafe and free Paſſage to his Friends.
For that very Night the advanced Guards of the Lombards, ſeized un-
expectedly with a Panic, retreated in the utmoſt Confuſion to the The Lom-
main Guard, and the main Guard, alarmed at their Fright and Con- bards ſeized:
with a Panic,
fuſion, Aed, in the like Fright and Confuſion, to the Army. The betake them-
Terror in an Inſtant became general; and, as it commonly happens in felves to a-
ſuch Caſes, all fled, leaving their Tents and their Baggage behind diforderly
them, tho'nobody could tell why.. The King, the Prince and the
other. Officers did all that lay in their Power to reanimate the af-
frighted Soldiery, and ſtop them in their Flight; but they were
themſelves carried away by the flying Multitude. Hereupon the King
threw himſelf, with the Flower of his Troops, into Pavia, and his
Son Adalgiſus with the two Sons of Carloman, the Queen their
Mother, and a French Lord named Ancair, into Verona. Had Char-
lemagne out of a Principle of Juſtice, made War on the Lombards
to reinſtate the Emperor in thoſe Dominions, who alone had a Right,
and an unqueſtionable Right to them, I ſhould not quarrel with Ba. Their Flight
ronius for aſcribing the. Panic and ſudden Flight of the Lombards afcribed by
Baronius to
to the miraculous Interpoſition of Heayen.. But as the Pope had no the Inter-
better Right to thoſe Territories than the Lombards, that is, no Right poſition of
Heaven,
at all; nay as they belonged in Juſtice to his liege Lord and Sovereign,
and he could not conſequently
, claim them without being guilty of
Treaſon:
A
28
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian,
Chriſt
Pavia be.
Charle-
magne.
1
Year of Treaſon and Rebellion, to ſuppoſe that Hcaven miraculouſly inter-
773
poſed in his Favour is ſuppofing Heaven to have miraculouſly inter-
poſed in favour of a Traitor and a Rebel, and thereby countenanced
Rebellion and Treaſon,
Charlemagne, ſeeing the next Morning, to his great Surpriſe, the
Jieged by
Paſſes all open and unguarded, entered them at firſt, not without
Fcar of ſome Ambuſcade ; but finding that the Lombards were all
retired, he detached ſeveral Parties after them, and advancing himſelf
with the main Body of the Army to Pavia, inveſted it on all Sides,
and began to batter the Walls with incredible Fury. But as the
Town abounded with all manner of Proviſions, was weil fortified,
and defended by the King in Perſon, by a numerous Gariſon, and a
great many Officers, among whom was Hunald, Duke of Aqui-
taine (K), the French, not withſtanding all their efforts, made bur
very littlc Progreſs in the Siege. Clarlemagne therefore, changing
the Siege into a Blockade, marched with Part of his Army to attempt
the Reduction of Verona'; and he no ſooner appeared before that
The IV idow Place, than the Widow of Carloman, ſenſible ſhe could nor avoid
of Carloman falling at laſt into his Hands, begged Leave of Adalgiſus to go out
jelf and her with her Children, and deliver herſelf up to him, flattering licrſelf,
Children up that the Cor.fidence, ſhe thereby feemed to repoſe in him, would rc-
10 Charle-
commend both her and her Children to his Mercy. Her Requeſt was
Wagne.
readily granted ; and ſhe, repairing accordingly to the Camp, threw
herſelf, with her Children, at the Feet of her Brother-in-law. But
what Reception ſhe met with; what afterwards became of her and
her Children, 'Hiſtory has not informed us. Had they bcen kindly
received; had Charlemagne ſhown, on this Occaſion, the leaſt Gene-
roſity, I cannot perſuade myſelf that the contemporary Writers, who
have omitted nothing, that could any ways redound to his Glory,
would have all paſſed it over in Silence. As no mention is thence-
forth made of that unhappy Princeſs and her unfortunate Children,
it would not perhaps be abſurd to ſuppoſe, that they were ſoon re-
moved, by fome mcaus or other, out of the way.
delivers her-
(K) Hunald, Duke of Aquitaine, had Charlemagne carried him Priſoner with
attempted to recover his Dukedom, which him into France. But he found means to
Charlemagne had ſeized; but, being utterly make his Eſcape, and get ſafe into Italy,
defeated in thc Attempt, he took Refuge where he is faid to have encouraged the
in the Court of Lupus Duke of Gafiony, King of the Lombards to reject all the
who choſe rather to deliver him up than Propoſals of Peace, that were inade him.
cagage in a War with the Conqueror,
Thc
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
4.9
Chritt 773
1
makes his
M
The Siege of Verona kept Charlemagne employed from the Mid. Ycar of
dle of June to the Beginning of October, when Adalgiſus, finding
himſelf reduced, for want of Proviſions, to the laſt Extremity, and Adalgiſus
deſpairing of Relief, privately withdrew from the Place in the Dead
Eſcape.
of the Night, and wandering a long Time about the Country in Dif-
guiſe, found mcans, at laſt, to make his Eſcape by Sea to Canſtanti-
nople, where he was kindly received and entertained, ſutably to his
Rank, by the Emperor Conſtantine. Upon his Flight thc Gariſon
and Inhabitants of Verona, opening thcir Gates, ſubmitted to Char. Verona and
lemagne, and their Example was followed by all the Cities on the many other
Cities ſubmit
fame Side the Po; nay ſeveral Cities on the other side, and nearer to to Charle-
Rome, viz. Ancona, Fermo, Spoleti, Rieti, Foligno, looking upon magnic.
the Kingdom of the Lombards as already at an End, ſubmitted them-
ſelves, by their Deputics, to the Apoſtolic Sce, and ſwearing Alíc-
giance to St. Peter and his Succeſſors, cauſed their. Hair to be cut
ſhort, after the Roman Manner, to ſhow that they renounced the
Lombards, who wore long Hair, and their Modes.
From Verona Charlemagne returned to Pavia, and fitting down, The French
with his whole Army, before that City, purſucd the Siege with more repulfed with
Vigour than ever. But as the place was defended by a warlikc Prince er before
great Slaugh.
fighting for his Crown, and the Liberty of his Nation as well as his Pavia,
own, the French were repulſed, with great Slaughter, in all their
Attacks; inſomuch that the Town was in as good a State of Defence
at Chriſtmas, and the Citizens and Gariſon as little inclined to ſubmit
and deliver it up, as they were the firſt Day of thic Sicge. Charle-
magne, finding the Town would hold out much longer than he ex-
peeted, ſent for his Wife and his Children, and continued in the
Camp, entertaining himſelf with them, and purſuing the Siege with
grcat Loſs of Men, and littlc Succeſs, till the Approach of Eaſter.
That Feſtival Charlemagne reſolved to keep at Rome and commit-
ting accordingly the Care of the Siege to his Uixle Court Bernard,
he ſet out in the latter End of March for that City, attended by a Charle-
grcat many Biſhops, Abbots, and other Eccleſiaſtics, who had accom. magne goes
panied him into Italy, as well as Officers and Perſons of Diſtinction.
As he had not acquainted the Pope with his Deſign, having perhaps Chriſt 774.
taken it ſuddenly being tired with the Length of thc Siege, he was
far advanced in his Journey before Hadrian heard of his coming.
But no fooncr did he hear of it, and of the Rout he had taken, than
thinking it his Duty to diſtinguiſh ſo grcat a Prince, a Prilice to whom
VOL. IV.
H
his
to Rome.
Y car of
+
1
50
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of his See was ſo highly indebted, above all the Princes and Kings, who
Chriſt 774, had ever yet honoured Rome with their Preſence, he ſent all the Ma-
giſtrates and Judges of the City with their Banners, and the Badges
of thcir reſpective Offices to meet him at thirty Miles Diſtance, and
attend him the remaining Part of the Journey. At a Mile from the
How receiv- Gare he was received by all the Militia of Rome under Arms, and a
ed there by the Proceſſion of Children, carrying Branches of Olive-trees in their
Romans,
Hands, and ſinging his Praiſes. After them appeared at fome Dif.
tance the Croſſes, that were carried, according to Cuſtom, before the
Exarchs, and the Roman Patricians in their public Entries. Charie-
magne alighted, as ſoon as he ſaw thic Crofies, from his Horfe with
all his Recinue, and, attended by his own Nobility and the Roman,
went on Foot, amidſt the loud Acclamations of the People crowding
from all Parts to ſee him, the reſt of the Way to the Vatican. As
for the Pope, he repaired to that Church carly in the Morning, with
the whole Body of the Clergy, to wait there the Arrival of the King,
and conduct him in Perſon to the Tomb of St. Peter. Charlemagne,
being arrived at the Foot of the Steps leading up to the Church,
kneeled down and kiſſed the firſt Step; and thus he continued kneel-
ing down and killing each Step as he aſcended. At the Entry of the
Church he was received by the Pontiff in all the gorgeous Attire of
Pope.
his pontifical Ornaments. They cmbraced cach other with great
Tenderneſs; and the King holding the Pope's Right Hand with his
Left, they thus enicred the Church, the People and Clergy ſinging
aloud the Words of the Goſpel, Bleſſed is he, that cometh in the
Name of the Lord. The Pope conducted the King Itrait to the Con-
feflion, that is, to the ſuppoſed Tomb of St. Peter; and there, pro-
ſtrating themſelves both on the Ground, they returned Thanks to the
Prince of the Apoſtles for the great Advantages the King had, by his
Interceflion, already obtained over his Enemics and the Enemies of
the Church, that is, the Lumbards, who, in Truth, were as good
Catholics, and wiſhed as well to the Catholic Church as the French,
but would not tamcly ſuffer themſelves to be robbed by the Pope of
the Countries they had acquired at the Expence of the Blood and the
Treaſure of their Nation, and to which, on that conſideration, they
thought they had a much better Title than he or his Church.
Charlemagne, having thus ſatisfied his Devotion to St. Peter, ex-
magne vifits preſſed an carneſt Deſire to the Pope of viſiting the holy Places within
the Walls; and they entered accordingly the City together, after the
and the
Charle-
Places at
Romc.
2
Pope
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
51
Chriſt 774
Pope with the Roman Nobility and the Magiſtrates on the one side, Year of
and the King with the French Nobility on the other, had ſoleninly
ſworn, on the Body of St. Peter, perpetual Friendſhip to each other.
Thcy firſt repaired to the Lateran, where, as it was the Eve of
Eaſter, one of the Days appointed by the Church for the baptizing of
Catechumens, the Pope perfornied that Ceremony, with great Pomp,
in the Preſence of the King. The next Day, being the Feſtival of
Eaſter, the King, attended by the Militia under Arms and all the Ro-
man Nobility, affilied at Divine Service performed by the Pope in the
Church of St. Mary ad Preſepe, now Santa Maria Maggiore, and
after the Service dined with his Holineſs in the Lateran Palace. The
two following Days werc ſpent, after the ſame manner, in different
Churches; and the third the Pope and the King had a Conference
in the Vatican, when Hadrian, coming to the main Point, put the
King in mind of the Promiſe, which King Pepin his Father and he
himſelf had made at Chierſi to his holy Predeceſſor Pope Stephen 8, Confirms the
cxtolled the Generoſity of his Predeceſſors and his own to the Apo.his Father
ftolic Scc, the Merit they had thereby acquired, and the Reward Pepin,
that was, on that Account, reſerved for them in Heaven, and ear-
neſtly entreated him, as he rendered his Happineſs in this world and
the other, to confirm his former Promiſe or Donation, to cauſe all
the Places mentioned therein to be delivered up, without further
delay, to St. Peter, and to ſecure for ever the Poſſeſſion of them to
tltat Apoſtle, and his Church. Charlemagne readily complied with
the Deſire of the Pope; and having cauſed the former luftrument of
Donation to be read, he ordered Etherius, his Chaplain and Notary,
to draw up another.
This new Inſtrument he ſigned himſelf, and
requiring all the Biſhops, Abbots, and other great Men, who had
attended him to Rome, to ſign it, with his own Hand he laid it thus
figned, kiſling it with great Rcſpçct and Devotion, on the Body of
St. Peterh.
What Countries this new Donation compriſed is not agreed among That Couna
Authors. Anaſtaſius writes, that Charlemagne, not facisficd with tries that Do-
the Donation of the Pentapolis and the Exarchate made by his Fa- tained.
ther; added the Inand of Corſica, and the large Country, which,
cxtending from Luna to Sorano and Monte Bordone, comprehends
the Cities and Territories of Vercetri, Parma, Reggio, Mantia,
6 See vol. 3. p. 353.
h Anaſt. in Adrian. Eginhard. in vit. Carol. Mag.
Leo Oſtien. l. 1. C. 12.
H 2
and
nation con-
52
Hadrian.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Chrift
774
Year of and' Menfelice; nay, the preſent Donation extended beſides, accord-
ing to that Writer, to the Provinces of Iſtria and Venetia, and the
civo Dukedonis of Benevento and Spoletii. In thic very ancient
manuſcript Chronicle of the Monacry of St. Clement at Naples,
Charlema; ne is ſaid to have added thoſe two Dukedoms to the Do-
nation of his Father. Sigonius will have the Donation of Charle-
magne to have compriſed, beſides thoſe Dukedoms and the Countries
given by Pepin, the Sabinian Territory with great Part of Tuſcany
and Campania. De Marca adds all Campania with the City of Na-
ples and the Provinces of Abruzzo and Apuliak. Others add Sax-
ony, which he had lately conquered, and other Countries too, which
he never conquered, viz. Sardinia and Sicily; for theſe two INands
were held by the Emperors of the Eaſt till torn from the Empire by
the Saracens. On the other Hand ſome are of Opinion that Charle-
magne only confirmed the Donation of his Father, comprehending
the Exarchate and the Pentapolis. In ſhort, as no authentic Copy
of this new Inſtrument of Donation is any-where to be found, ronc
will not allow him to have given any thing to the Pope on this Oc-
caſion, but to have only renewed and confirmed the Donation of his
Father; while others pretend, that he kept nothing to himſelf, buc
gave all he had to the Pope, and more than he had. Charlemagne
indeed cauſed the Patrimonics of the Roman Church in Campania,
Sabinia, Tufcany, Iftria, &c. which had been confiſcated by the
Lombards, to be reſtored to that Church ; and hence probably aroſe
the Miſtake of the Writers, who will have him to have given thoſe
Provinces to the Pope: They confounded the Patrimonics of the
Church in the above-mentioned Countries with the Countries them-
felves!. However that Charlemagne added ſomething to the Dona-
The Dukedom tion of King Pepin his Father, namely the Dukedom of Spoleti, is
of Spoleti
manifcft from the Letters of Hadrian to that Prince: For in fcvcral of
fornier Do- thoſe Letters, written after the preſent Year 774, expreſs mention is
nation,
made of the Dukedom of Spoleti, which had never, till that Time,
been ſubjcct to the Apoſtolic Sec, as then ſubject to that Scem. As
the Pope, in his Letters, mentions no other Place, that was not com-
prehended in the former Donation, we may well conclude, that no
other was added to the preſent.
1
added to the
i Anaſt. in Adrian.
k Marc. de concord. Sacerdot. & imper. l. 3. C. TO:
3 See Pietro Giannone Iſtor. Civil. di Napol. 1. 5. C. 4.
m Lib. Carol.
3
From
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
53
Chriſt 774.
razne re-
turns to the
From Rome Charlemagne remrned to the Camp before Pavill, Year of
where he found his Men quite ailheartened, and ready to delpair of
ever being able to reduce the place. his Preſence inspired them Charle-
with new Courage: The Attacks were doubled, and the Walls turi-
ouſly battered Night and Day without Intcrmillion. But in all the Siege of la-
Atracks thc Lombards prevailed, and the Breaches were no ſooner via.
made than repaired. Thus the Beſiegers and the Belicged continued
ſignalizing themſelves till an epidemical Diltemper began to rage
with great Violence in the City. As by that Diltemper great Num-
bers were daily ſwept off both of the Gariſon and the Inhabitants,
thoſe, who ſurvived, began to mutiny, and cry out that it was time
to ſurrender. The Duke of Aquitaine, dreading to fall into tlie
Hands of Charlemagne, took upon hiin to reſtrain the Mutincers;
but he was killed by the enraged Multitude on the Spot. The un-
happy Deſiderius, finding himſelf thus abandoned by his own People,
was obliged in the End to ſurrender the Place, and deliver up him-The King
ſelf, with his wife and his Daughter, to Charlemagne, upon Condi-after a m.fi
tion, for the Conqueror would hearken to no other, that their Lives fence is cb-
were ſpared. Charlemagne took them with him into France, and liged 10 fub-
confined them, according to ſome Writers”, firſt to Liege and after-
wards to the Monaſtery of Corbie, where Deſiderius is laid to have
ſpent the reſt of his Life in fafting, in praying, and in other good
Works. Thus ended tlic Reign of the Lombard Princes in Italy The End of
206 Years after they had made themſelves Maſters of that Country. Lombard
I ſay the Reign of the Lombard Princes; for, properly ſpeaking
Kings.
that Kingdon did not end now, Charlemagne having allunied, upon
the ſurrender of Pavia and the Captivity of Deſiderius, the Title
of King of the Lombards, and left the People in the fame Condi-
tion he found them; ſo that the Monarch was changed, but no Al-
teration was made in thc Monarchy (L).
Charlemagne's
mit.
1
# Annal. Nazar. & Meten,
• Hepidan. ad ann. 774.
(L) As Charlemagne claimed the King- King was led out of his Chamber by fes
dom of the Lombards by Right of Con- veral Biſhops to the Church; and being
queft, he cauſed himſelf, ſoon after the conducted io the high Altar, the Arch-
Reduction of Pavia, to be crowned King biſhop, after fome ſolemn Prayers, aſked
of Lombardy by the Archbiſhop of Milan the People, whether they were willing to
at a Place called Modoftic about ten Milcs ſubject themſelves to Charles, and with
from that City. Of that Ceremony we conſtant Fidelity obey his Commands?
find the following Account in the Ordo The People anſwering they were willing,
Romanus a very ancient Ritual. The new thc Biſhop anointed his Head, Breaſt,
Shoulders
54
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Chriſt 774.
Charle-
Year of Charlemagne's firſt Carc, after the Reduction of Pavia, was to
* put the Pope in Poffeffion of all the Places, that had been yielded to
The Pipe put him by his father or himſelf, viz. the Exarcharc, the Pentapolis,
in Pollion and the Dukedoin of Spoleti, which however continued to be go-
of the Places
yielded to verned by its own Dukes. Thus the Popes had, at laſt, the Satiſ-
him by Pepin. faction, the ſo long wiſhed for Satisfaction, of ſecing the Lombards
humbled, and no longer able to controll them in their ambitious
Views, the Emperor driven almoſt quite out of Italy, and them-
ſelves enriched with the Spoils of both. As for the Countries, which
Charlemagne kept to himſelf, viz. the Country now called 'Piemont,
Monferrato, the Riviera of Genia, the Parmeſan, the Modeneſe,
Tuſcany, the Milaneſe, thc Breſcian, the Veroneſe, and the Duke-
No Change doms of Friuli and Benevento, he made there very little Change in
made by
the Government, continuing in moſt Places the fame Governors,
magne in the and allowing the People to enjoy the ſame Privileges they had en.
Government.
joyed under the Lombard Princes. He made no Alteration at all in
their Laws, but only added to them, as King of the Lombards, ſome
of his own. In Pavia and in ſome other ſtrong Towns he left
French Governors and Gariſons, but ſtrictly enjoined them to govern
with Moderation and Mildneſs, that they might be looked upon by
the conquered People as Friends rather than Conquerors. Charle-
magne, having thus ſettied thc Affairs of Italy to the entire Satiſ-
faction of the Pope and his own, repaſſed the Mountains in the
Month of Auguſt of the preſent Year, and returned to France.
The Lom I cannot, in Juſtice, diſmiſs this Subject without vindicating the
bards unjuſly Character of the unhappy Lombards againſt the antichriſtian and vi-
the Popes. rulent Invectives of the Popes, painting them, in all their Letters, as a
Jawleſs, cruel, brutal, barbarons and ſavage People, as of all the
Nations on the Earth the moſt wicked, the moſt abandoned to every
kind of Vice, as the Dregs of Mankind, and a Diſgrace to human
Nature. They were indeed, when they firſt came into Italy, a rudo
and unpoliſhed Race; and ſo were the Goths, the Franks, the Sax-
Shoulders, and Arms, praying that the and given him the Kiſs of Peace, he cele-
new King might be ſucceſsful in his Wars, brated Divine Service (1). Charlemagne
and happy in his Iffue. He then girt him ordained, that the fame Ceremony ſhould
with a Sword, put Bracelets on his Arms, be obſerved in the Coronation of his Suc-
and gave him a Robe, a Ring, and a ceſſors, and performed by the Archbiſhop
S::eptre, and having placed the Crown on of Milan, who thenceforth began to con-
his Head, he led him through the Choir to tend for Dignity with the Archbiſhop of
the Throne, and having ſeated him there, Ravenna.
(1) Ordo Roman. apud Sigon.
ons,
+
Hadrian
BISHOPS of Rome.
55
Chriſt 774.
ons, and the oulicr northern Nations, when they firſt broke into Year of
Spain, France, Britai:a, &c. But diveſting themſelves, by degrees,
of their native Rudencſs and Barbarity, cſpecially affer they had em-
braced the Chriſtian Religion, they becamc, in the Courſe of a few
Years, if the contemporary Writers are to be credited, quite another Their true
Charaller,
People. No-where was Juſtice more impartially adminiſtered, no-
where were the Rights and the Properties of the People more ſafe, or
ſecured by better Laws, or thoſe Laws more ſtrictly cxecuted than
under their Government. Under the Government of the Lombards,
ſays Paulus Diaconus, no Violence was committed, no Man un-
juſtly diſpoſſeſſed of his Property, none oppreſſed with Taxes; Theft,
Robberies, Murder, and Adultery were ſeldoni heard of; every one
went, without the leaſt Apprehenſion of Danger, whither hc plcafod p.
Paul was, it is truc, himſelf a Lombard; but Gunters, the incom-
parable Grotiusr, and, in ſhort, all who have writ of the Lombards,
except the Popes and their avowed Partiſans, ſpeak no leſs favourably
of them than Paul himſelf. And truly their many wholſome Laws (M),
reſtraining and ſeverely puniſhing all sorts of Crimes; the magnifi-
cent Churches, and rich Monaſteries, with which they filled that Part
of Italy, that was ſubject to them; the many Biſhoprics they founded;
the many Towns and Cities they either built, repaired, or embel-
lilled; the uncommon Rcſpect and Veneration, that even their moſt
warlike Princes paid to the Pope, when he acted in the Character of
a Chriſtian Biſhop, or a Prelate of the Chriſtian Church, and finally
the many Perſons of both Sexes and all Conditions among them,
whore Sanctity and eminent Virtues have been acknowleged by the
Popes themſelves, are convincing Proois of their Piety, Juſtice and
Wiſdom, and at the ſame Tiinc a full Confutation, as Grotius ob-
ferves, of the many Calumnies, with which the Popes have endea-
voured, in their Letters, or rather in their Libels, to blacken them in
the Eyes of the World. As the Lombards were the only Power in
P Paul. Diac. Hift. Long. ). 3. c. 8. 9 Gunt, in Ligurino.
Grot, in
Proleg. ad Hiſt. Goth.
(M) Their Laws were found fo juft, ſo Poet in thoſe Days, ſung thus of the Lome-
clear, 'lo comprehenſive, that they were tards in his Ligurinum :
retained and obſerved in Italy fone Ages
after the Reign of their Princes was at an
Gens aſtuta, fagax, pruders, induſtria,.
End. Grotius equals, and in many Parcia folers,
culars prefers them to the Laws of the Ro Provida conſilio, legum juriſque peritao
inans themſelves (1); and Gunter, a famous
(1) Grot. in Proleg. ad Hiſt, Goth,
Italy
56
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
។
Year of Italy capable of controlling the ambitious Views of the Popes, and
Chrift 774 determined, as they apprchended, to controll them, they dreaded no-
thing ſo much as their ever becoming Maſters of that Country; and
therefore, without any Regard to Conſcience or Truth, they made it
their Buſineſs, as it was their Intercſt, to prejudice and ſtir up firſt the
Emperors, and afterwards the French Nation againſt them, by repre-
ſenting theni to both as the moſt wicked of People: And thus, in the
End, they accompliſhed their Ruin, and made themſelves, at their
Expence, no inconſiderablc Princes (N).
The Biſhop of The Pope had by Charlemagne been put in Poſſeſſion, as has been
Ravenna
claims the
related above, of the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and the Dukedom
Exarchate of Spoleti: And he now flattered himſelf, that he ſhould enjoy un-
and ſeizes it.diſturbed his new Principality, and beſides find ſome Lciſure to attend
(N) For the better underſtanding of of Gallipoli, Otranto, and Tarento in the
what will be ſaid in the Sequel I ſhall give Hither "Calabria, and in the Farther Ca-
here a ſuccinct Account of the State of Italy labria the Cities of Reggio, Gerace, Santa
after Charlemagne had, by the Reduction Severina, Crotone, Amantea, Agripoli and
of Pavia and the Captivity of Deſiderius, Amalfi. The Dukedom of Naples com-
put an End to the Reign of the Lombard prired, beſides that City and iis Territory,
Kings. Itnly was poſſeſſed, at that Time, the Cities of Pozzuolo, Baia, Miſeno,
by four different Potentates, the Venetians, Caftellamare, Sorrento, and all the adja-
the French, the Popes, and the Emperors. cent Iſands. The Dukedom of Naples
The Venetians, by their Trade to the Le was governed by a Duke fent from Con-
vant, were become very confiderable, and fantinople; but all the other Cities, that
as they had a great Number of Veſſels, the Emperors ſtill retained in Italy, were
they bure no ſmall Sway in the Affairs of under the Governor, or as he is ſtiled,
Italy. The French were Maſters of the the Patrician of Sicily. In more ancient
ſeveral Provinces mentioned above (1), Times, only the farther Calabria w.is
and beſides, of the two great Dukedoms ſubject to the Patrician of Sicily. But the
of Friuli and Benevento, the former com Citics, which the Emperors held in thoſe
prehending all the Friuli with the greater Parts, being reduced to a very ſmall Num-
Part of fria, and the latter above two ber, they were all ſubjected to that Patri-
Thirds of the preſent Kingdom of Naples. cian: And thence that Part of Italy took
Thoſe two Dukes Charlemagne continued the Name of Sicily, which Name was after-
in their reſpe&tive Dukedoms; nay and wards extended by the Norman and Suc-
allowed them the fame Power and Autho- vian Princes, Maſters of thoſe Countries,
rity, which they had enjoyed under the to all the Provinces, of which the preſent
Lombard Kings, only requiring them to Kingdom of Naples is compoſed. From
take annually the ſame Oath of Allegiance a Charter of Roger the Norman of the
to him they had annually taken to the Year 1115, it is manifeft, that the Name
Kings of their own Nation. The Pope of Sicily was then common to that Ifand
poffèfled thc Exarchate, the Pentapolis (2), and that Kingdom, but with this Differ-
and the Dukedom of Spoleti with the City ence, that the former was called Sicily be-
and Dukedom of Rome; bue under him yond the Faro, and the latter Sicily on this
the Dukes of Spoleti retained the fame Side the Faro. In our Days the King of
Power, that the other Dukes retained un. Naples is ſtill fliled King of the two di-
der Charlemagne. The Emperors ſtill held cilies.
the Dukedom of Naples, with the Citics
(1) See alove, p. 54.
(2) See vol. 3. p. 380. note O.
to
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
57
to the Affairs of the Church, to redreſs the many enormous Abuſes, Pear vi
?
that had cvery-where crept into it, and rellore the ecclcfiafical Dilci.
pline, at this Timc, entirely decayed. But he found himſelf, when
he cxpected it the leaſt, involved in new Troubles, that engrofling all
his Attention, allowed him no ſpare Time to think of any Rcforni-
ation in the Church. For no ſooner had Charlemagne leſe Iialy than
Leo, Archbiſhop of Ravenna, pretending, that, by the Appointment
of that Prince, he had ſucceeded the Exarch in all his Rights as well
as in his Power and Authority, and laying claio, on that Pretencc,
to the Exarchate and the Pentapolis, ſeized on the Cities of l'indi,
türlimpopoli, Forli, Cefena, Bobio, Imola, Bologna, and the Duke-
dom as well as the City of Ferrara; drove every-wlicrc out the Oifi-
cers of the Pope, and threw thoſe into Priſon, who were rent from
R077€ to complain, in Hadrian's Name, of ſuch violent and unwar-
rantable Proceedings in a Prelate of the Church. Hercupon Ha-
drian, not able, or not caring to redreſs himſelf while he had one
ever ready to fight his Bactles for him, had again recourſe to his Pro-
tector Charlemagne, complaining to him, in a long Letter, of the
unparalleled Boldneſs and Preſuinption of the Archbiſhop, on whom
he beſtows, without any regard to his Character, thc Epithet of Ne-
fandifjimus, and conjuring his moſt Chriſtian Son, by all that is ſa- The Pope in-
cred, to undertake, without delay, a fecond Journey into Italy, if he vites Charle-
magne again
intended that St. Peter ſhould reap any Benefit from his firſt s.
Upon the Receipt of the Pope's Letter Charlemagne, who was then IV1o excuſes
purſuing the Conqueſt of Saxony, or rather the Deſtruction of that himſelf fíom
People and their Country, diſpatched immediately to Rome Poffeffor that Journey.
Biſhop, and the Abbot Rabigand to aſſure the Pope, that he had the Year of
Intereſt of the Apoſtolic Sec as niuch at Heart as his own; but, at the
lame Timc, to let him know, that he was not then at Leiſure to un-
dertake another Journcy to Italy; but would not fail, as ſoon as lic
had put an End to thic War, in which he was engaged, to comply
with his Holineſs's Deſire, and ſettle Matters to his entire Satisfaction.
But that War was not likely to be foon at an End, and the Pope was
quite impatient to have the Cities reſtored, that the Archbiſhop had
ſeized. Being therefore informed by a Nuncio, whom he ſent to
Spoleti to adjuſt ſome Differences between him and the Duke, that
Envoys from the Dukes of Friuli, Benevento and Chiuſi were met
in that City, he conſtrued, without further Enquiry, the Mcering of
s Cod. Carol, ep. 54.
VOL. IV.
I
thc
into Italy.
Chriſt 775.
58
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadriani.
again/Char-
Year of the Envoys into a Conſpiracy, that was hatching by the Dukes againſt
Otrin 775. Charlemagne and himſelf. And accordingly, to make Charlemagne
halten his Return into Italy, he inimcdiately diſpatched a Meſſenger
to him with the following Intelligence; that the four Dukes main-
tained a private Correſpondence with Adalgiſis and the Emperor,
who had warmly eſpouſed the Cauſe of that Prince; that carly in
the Spring a mighty Fleet was to be ſent againſt Italy with a numerous
The Lombard Army on board; that the four Dukes had agreed to act in Concert
Dukes fa!fly with the Emperor, and that they had nothing leſs in their View than
the Pope with to ſurpriſe Rome, to drive the French every-where out, and placing
confpiring Adalgiſ1's on the Throne of his Father, reſtore the Kingdom of the
Lombardse. Charlemagne however made, it ſeenis, nó great Ac-
lemagne.
count of that Intelligence: For he only ordered his Envoys Pofesor
and Rabigaud to repair to the Courts of Spoleti and Benevento, in
order to diſcover the Diſpoſition of triosc Dukes, and obſerve whe-
ther any military Preparations were carrying on in their Dukedoms.
Thc Envoys found every thing quiet in both Places, and the Dukes,
ſo far as they could judge, pleaſed rather than diſatisficd with the
now Government. Hadrian had flattered himſelf, that thc King,
taking upon his bare Word all he had written to be true, would have
haftened into Italy, would have depoſed thoſe Dukes without fur-
ther Enquiry, and, what was his chief Concern, obliged the Arch-
biſhop to reſtore all the Places hic had taken. But Charlemagne,
knowing how jealous the Pope was of the Power of thoſe Dukes;
what Hatred he bore, as all his Predeceſſors had done, to the L9m.
bards in general, acquieſced in the Report, that was made to him by
his Envoys, without taking the leaſt Notice to the Dukes of the
pre-
tended Conſpiracy, or of anything elſe, that had been written
againſt them by the Pope. This prudent Conduct in the King was
not at all pleaſing to the Pope, who, thinking himſelf therchy dil-
truſted and fighted by his Friend and Protector, loudly complained
of it in a Letter he wrote to him on this Occaſionu. But Charle-
magne made no niore Account of his Complaints than he had made
of his Intelligence.
The Duke of
However in the latter End of the preſent Year Rotgaud, Duke of
Friuli takes Friuli, and next to the Duke of Benevento the moſt powerful of
pile of King all the Lombard Dukes, ſcorning to live ſubject to a forcign Prince,
of the Lom- openly revolted, with a Deſign to place, not Adalgiſus but himſelf
* Cod. Carolin, ep. 58.
S
.
bards.
e Cod. Carol. ep. 59.
on
--
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
59
Year of
Chrift 775
turns into
Chriſt 776.
V
on the Thirone. Several Cities declared in his Favour; and others
he furpriſed, or took by Force, cauſing himſelf to be cvery-where
proclaimed King of the Lombards. Upon the firſt Notice of this
Revolt Charlemagne, who had put his Troops into Winter Quarters
on the Frontiers of Saxony, haltened with the Choice of his Army
into 'Alface; for he is ſaid to have kept his Chriſtmas there, and
marching from thence in the Depth of Winter, entered Italy before Charle-
it was known that he had moved from Saxony, ſurpriſed the Duke, magne re-
and having put to Flight the few Troops he had Time to-aſſemble in Italy:
that Surpriſe, took him Priſoner, and cauſed his Head to be publicly Year of
Druck off. Stabilinian, Father-in-law to the Duke, thutting himſelf
up in the City of Trevigio, defended thc Place with great Bravery Takes the
till it was betrayed to the Enemy by an Italian Prieſt
, whole Trea-foner and
chery Charlemagne rewarded with the Biſhopric of Verdun. Indeed puts him to
it was by ſuch Services that the Clergy qualified themſelves, at this Death:.
Tinic, for Biſhoprics; and for ſuch Scrvices were they commonly
preferred to that Station by the Princes. We therefore need not at
all wonder at the ſcandalous and debauched Lives, that the Eccleſi-
allics of all Ranks are ſaid to have lcd in thoſe Days. The Princes
preferred ſuch only as had been, or were capable of being ſerviceable
to them, however otherwiſe diſqualified; and the pretended Heads
of the Church were ſo encircly taken up with temporal Affairs, that
they had no Time to mind the ecclefiaftic. Upon thc Reduction of
Trevigio the other cities all ſubmitted of their own accord; and
Charlemagne, not caring to truſt a Lombard with tlic Government,
appointed onc Marcaire, a Native of France, Duke of Friuli, and
Counts in each City to govern under him w.
The King continued in Friuli till Ealler, which he propoſed, as From Friuli
he wrote to the Pope, to keep at Rome; and to have the Son, whom he returns to
Qucen Hildegard had lately brought him, baptized by his Holineſs
on that Solemnity. But being, in the mean Time, informed, that the
Saxons had revolted a ſecond Time, that is, had endeavoured to re-
cover their Liberty, of which Charlemagne had no Right, nor Pre-
ience to rob theın, he ſolemnized that Feſtival, which fell this Year
on the 14th of April, at Trevigio; and then repaſling the Alps with
the ſame Expedition, with which he had paſſed them, he appeared
Annal. Meten. & Petav. Regin. in Chronic. Cod. Carol. op. 57. Eginhard in
vit. Carol,
I 2
Saxony
ነ 1
on
60
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of
on the Frontiers of Saxony while he was thought by the Saxons to
Chit 776.
be fill in Italyx.
7. Pope if
His ſudden Departure was a great Mortification to the Pope, who
appointed and
had flattered himself, that before he left Italy, he would have obliged
mortified at
his ſudden thic audacious Archbiſhop to reſtore to the Apoſtolic Sce the Places
Departure. he had taken, and at leaſt ſeverely reprimanded him for prcſuming
to ſeize them. But inſtead of that, upon the Return of the Lcgates,
whom he had ſent to wait on the King, and complain to him of
the unjuſt and violent Proceedings of the preſumptuous Prelate, he
H's Letter to received a Letter written with the King's own Hand in commendation
hin,
of thc Archbiſhop, who, it ſecms, had been very aſiduous in at-
tending him, during his Stay in Friuli, and being a Man of Addreſs,
had found Means to inſinuate himſelf greatly into his Favour. The
Popc, in Anſwer to the King's Letter, afured him, that he bore no
Ill. will to the Archbiſhop; that whoever was ſo happy as to be fa-
voured by his moſt Chriſtian Son, ſhould be cqually favoured by
hini; but that lie could not, in Conſcience, ſuffer St. Peter to be
robbed of the Effects of his Generoſity, nor him of the Reward,
that was reſerved for his Generoſity in Heaven. He therefore car-
neatly entreats and conjures him, as he tenders the Salvation of his
Soul, not to connive at the facrilegious Preſumption of the Arch-
biſhop, how well ſoever he may have deſerved of him in other Rc-
fpects, but oblige him, without delay, to reſtore to St. Peter what lic
could not allow him to keep without taking from the Apoſtle what
he himſelf had given him, and thereby forfciting his Favour and Pro-
teâiony.
He complains This Year the Pope wrote three other Letters to Charlemagne. In
to Chaile, the firſt he loudly complains of Raginald, Duke of Chiuſ, who had
[??? n f the
Duke of Chi-ſeized on the Patrimony of St. Peter in that Dukedon, and begs
ufi and the that he may be removed, as 30 avowed Encniy to that Apoftle, and
Biſhop of Ra-
onc, who had cver been at variance with hiin and his Vicars z. 1.
the other, to prejudice Charlemagne againſt his Antagoniſt the Arcia-
hiſhop of Ravenna, he acquaints him, that he has received a Letter
from the Patriarch of Grado in Friuli, which, he ſays, was inter-
cepted, opened, and read by thc Archbiſhop of Ravenna, no doubt,
with a Dcfign to diſcover the Contents, and communicate them, it
venna.
y Cod. Caro!. sp. 53.
x Annal. Nici. & Loiſel. Egolis in vit. Carol.
I Curl Condui, ep. 60.
he
Hadrian.
BISHOPS of Rome.
61
Chriſt 776.
he found thcy were of any Importance, to the Duke of Benet'ento, Year of
and to the other Enemies of the Apoſtolic See and of France. As
John, Patriarch of Grado, lived in great Intimacy with the Pope,
the Archbiſhop might have opened thc Letter, and probably did, to
diſcover whether it contained any thing relating to hiniſelf. But
upon that Aäion the Pope put the worſt Conſtruction he pollibly
could, becauſe it belt ſerved his purpoſe, to eſtrange thc King from
one, who rivaled him in his Favour. To calumniate with ſo pious a
Deſign, was it ſeems, no Crime, but rather meritorious, according
to the Caſuiſtry of Hadrian. In the famic Letter he tells the King,
that the Inſolence of the Archbiſhop was no longer to be endured;
that depending upon his Favour and Protcaion he paid no kind of
Regard to the Admonitions, Menaces and Exhortations of the Apo-
ſtolic Sce, and that, bidding Defiance to St. Peter and himſelf, he
had even the Aſſurance to aſſunic and oblige others to give him the
Title of Prince of Ravinnaa. To theſe Le:ters Charlemagne, who
had, at this Timc, other Affairs of greater Importance on his Hands,
and was quire tired with the Pope's Complaints, returned no other
Anſwer, than that he ſhould fund, in the Autumn, Embaſſadors into
Italy with a ſtrie Charge to fee all the Promiſes made good, that had
ever been made by'himleif, or his Father to St. Peter and his Seeb.
The Pope waited the Arrival of the Emballadors with the greateſt And preſes
him 10 jend
Impatience till the Month of November. Bur not receiving, even
Commiſaries
then, any Tidings of them, he wrote to the Magiſtrates of Pavia or to come
to know of then when he might expect them. The Magiſtrates himſelf inta.
anfwered, that they were not yet fet out from France, nor would Italy.
they, they believed, ſet out in Hafte. This Anſwer gave great Un-
caſineſs to the Pope. He began to apprehend, that. Charlemagne was
grown cold in his FriendShip for him, and his Zeal for the Interct of
his Sce; and beſides beheld, with thc utmoſt Indignation, the laughty
and ambitious Archbiſhop, (being himſelf free from all Haughtincts
and Ambition) taking upon him, in the mean Time, the Port of a
Prince, and enjoying undiſturbed the rich Revenues and all the
Wealth of the Exarchate. He therefore wrote a third Letter to Char:
lemagne, preſling and conjuring him to lend Embaſſadors without
delay, or return; in Perſon into Italy, to protect the Patrimony of
St. Peter againſt the ſacrilegious Depredations of wicked Mon, if he
dofired to be, as he had hitherto bocn on all Occaſions, protceted by
: Cod. Carol. ep. 52.
that
b Ibid. ep. 51.
Ó 2
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
thrilt 776.
Charle-
#2 Rome.
Year of
1
Year of that Apoltlec. Upon the Receipt of this Letter Charlemagne dif-
patched to Rome the Biſhop Poffeſſor and an Abbot named Dudo;
bar it was only to acquaint the Pope, or rather makc him bclicvc,
magne finds that he propoſed returning to Italy the enſuing October, and quiet
tofquiet the him, as he grew daily more troubleſome, by that Means for a while.
l'ope.
For that Journey he put off, tho' importuned by the Pope with Ler-
ters after Letters and endleſs Legations, till the Year 780, when hay-
ing, after a nine Years War, ſettled, for thc preſent, the Affairs of
Sarony, he let out for Italy, at laſt, with his Queen Hildegard, and
two of his Sons by her, Carloman and Lewis. He arrived at Pavia
in the Autumn of that year, and having kept his Chriſtmas and ſpent
the reſt of the Winter in that City, he repaired to Rome, as Eaſter
Cres himſelf aproached, to ſolemnize that Feſtival there. His ſecond Entry into
Rome was no leſs magnificent and folemn than his firſt; and he was
Chriſt 781. attended, ſo long as he ſtayed, by the Pope in Perſon, by the Roman
Magiſtrates, and all the Roman Nobility. One of the chief Mo-
tives, that brought him to Rome, at this Time, was, that his Son Car-
loman might be baptized on Eaſter-day by the Pope. Carloman was
born in 776; but Charlemagne had put off his Baptiſm till his Affairs
allowed him to repair to Rome to have that Sacranient adminiſtered
His Son Car.to him there by his Holineſs: And it was adminiſtered to him ac-
loman bapti-cordingly by his Holineſs with the greateſt Solcminity. It is obſerv-
med there by
able, that the Pope, wlio was himſelf Sponſor for the Child, changed,
on that Occaſion, thc Nanic of Carloman for that of Pepin, probably
our of Regard to the Memory of his Grandfather, the Author of his
temporal Grandeur. As Charlemagne's eldeſt son, whom he had by
his firſt Wife Himiltrude, bore the ſame Name, Authors frcquently
miſtake the one for the other. A few Days after Hadrian, at the
Il'ho gives Requeſt of the King, gave the royal Unction to his two Sons; and
the royal Unc-Carloman, now Pepin, was by his Father proclaimed King of Lom-
ond bis Bro- bardy, and Lewis, at this Tinic buç three Years-old, King of Aqui-
ther Lewis. taine. Thus hc provided for his two younger Children, the King-
dows of Neuſtria, Auſtraſia and Burgundy falling to the Share of
the two elder Pepin and Charles; and at the ſame Time flattered
himſelf, that the Lombards and People of Aquitaine, whom he had
lately conquered, having Kings of their own, would not be ſo caſily
tempted to ſhake off the Yokc, as if their Countries were made
Provinces of Franced
c Cod. Carol. ibid. • Eginhard. in vit. Carol. Chron. Nibelung. in appen-
dice. Annal. Moidiue.
As
the Pope.
+
Hadrian," BISHOPS of Rome.
63
*
Year of
1
As for the Affairs of the Pope, no kind of mention is made, at
Chriſt -81.
this Time, of the Quarrel between him and the Archbiſhop of Ra-
venna, or of the Reſtitution of the Places the Archbiſhop had ſeized. The Affairs
of Italy how
However as we find the Pope henceforth poſſeſſed of thoſe Places, it
ſettled by
is not to be doubted but that Charlemagne cauſed them all to be re-"Charle-
ſtored before he left Rome. He likewiſe adjuled, during his Stay in magne.
that City, the Difference, that had ſome Tine ſubſiſted, between the
Pope and the Duke or Governor of Naples. The Duke had ſeized
on the Patrimony of St. Peter in that Dukcdom, and the Pope, by
way of Repriſals, on the City of Terracina. But that City the Duke
had retaken by Surpriſc, and ſtill continued to withold the Rcvenues
of the Patrimony. The Pope therefore, to deliver himſelf from ſo
troubleſome a Neighbour, would have willingly perſuaded the King
to invade the Dukedom, and ſeize on the City of Naples itſelf, al-
lcdging that he would thereby entirely defeat the wicked Deſigns of
the Duke of Benevento, who depending on the Neighbourhood and
the Aſſiſtance of the Greeks, was rcady, he ſaid, to declare for Adal-
giſus, whoſe Siſter he had married, and place him, when an Oppor-
tunity offered, on the Throne of his Father. But the King, un-
willing to break at this Juncture with the Emperor, infead of heark-
cning to the Suggeſtions of the Pope, contented himſelf with inter-
poſing his good Offices; and it was agreed, that the Duke ſhould rc-
store the Patrimony; ſhould pay the Arrcars as ſoon as he conveni-
ently could, and in the mean Time deliver up to the Pope four Chil-
dren of the four chief Families of Naples to be kept as Hoſtagęs till
the Agreement was fully performed. As for the Duke of Benevento,
the King, knowing how jealous the Pope was of the Power of that
Duke, paid no kind of Regard to his Inſinuations againſt him. The
King had given the Dukcdom of Spoleti to the Pope, as has been
related abovc; but Diſputes daily ariſing between him and the Duke,
he took back that Dukedom, before he left Rome, and gave the Pro-
vince of Sabina to the Pope in its lieue. Charlemagne, having thus
ſettled the Affairs of Italy returned to France, Icaving his Son Pepin,
King of Lombardy, in Pavia the Metropolis of his new Kingdom.
During theſe Tranſactions in the Weſt, great Changes happened Great Chan..
at the Court of Conftantinople in the Eaſt. The Emperor Conſtan-ges in the
CourtofCon-
. Cod. Carol. ep. 69.
ftantinople.
tinc,
614.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, ör Hadrian.
H
Year of tins, ſurnamed Copronymus, died in 775(0), and was ſucceeded
Chriſt 781.
by:
1
(O) The contemporary Hiſtorians give delivered alive to an unextinguiſable Fire,
us the following Account of his Death. on account of the Virgin Mary; that he
The King of the Bulgarians, whoſe Army, commanded her to be thenceforth ho-
lvreaking under bis Conduct into the Em- noured as the true Mother of God, and
pire had been cntirely cut off by Conftana that he expired in praying for the Safety
tine, ſuípceling that he had been betrayed of the People, of the Senate, of his Son,
by fome of his own People, wrote, in Ap- and the Preſervation of the Churches of
fierince, a moft friendly Letter to the St. Sophia, of St. Mary in Blachernis, St.
Srperor, fietending that he deſigned to Mary in Chalcopratriis, and other Churches
evait' the Crown, and lead a private Life at of Conftantinople, which that Writer names.
Mantinople. For that Purpoſe he begged Upon the Authority of Gidronus Baronius,
Conflantirie would ſend him a ſafe Con- Natalis Alexander, Maimburg and the
ciuit, and, at the ſame Timc, let him whole Tribe of the Popiſh Writers deliver
know what Friends he had among the But it as a Thing not at all to be doubted, that
garians, that he might repair with them to Conftantine, at the point of Death, de-
1.3.1/tantinople, being ucwilling to truſt his ſpaired of his Salvation; that he died cry-
Dclign or his Perſon to others. Conjlan- ing out he was condemned alive to the
tine, not suſpecting any Deceit, which eternal Flames, for the Blaſphemies he had
fcems very furpriting and ſcarce credible, uttered againſt the Virgin Mary, and that
ſene liim immediately the Names of all the he commanded her to be thenceforth ho-
Bulgarians, who correſponded privately noured as the true Mother of God, with-
with him ; which the crafty Prince no out any Regard to what he had faid or
fuoner received than he cauſed them all to done againſt her. But of all this not a
be inhumanly maſſacred. The Emperor, ſingle Word in Theophanes, in the Author
finding himſelf thus ſhamefully deluded, is of the Miſcella, in Paulus Diaconus, or
faid by Theophanes to have torn off bis Nicephorus, who all lived in thife Times
Hair in the Tranſport of his Pallion, to or near them, and were all no leſs zealous
have ſworn Revenge, and ordered vaſt mic Advocates for the Worſhip of Images, of
litary Preparations to be made throughout Saints, of the Virgin Mary, and no leſs
the Empire, with a Deſign to extirpte provoked againſt Conftantine for baniſhing
the whole Race of the Bulgarians. Hav- that Superſtition than Çearenus.
ing thus ſpent, in warlike Preparations, it at all probable, that had they been ac-
the greater Part of the Year, he ſet out quainted with the above-mentioned Cir-
from Conftantinople in the latter End of the cumstances of Conftantine's Death, ſo fa-
Summer. But being ſeized on his March, vourable to the Cauſe they maintained
as the Weather was extream hot, with a they would have all paſſed them over in
violent Fever, and Carbuncles, as the Hi- Silence? They would not perhaps have
ftorians call them, breaking out on his been ſo uncharitable as to triumph and ex-
Thighs and his Legs, he returned to Ar- ult, as Baronius and Maimburg have done,
chadropolis, was conveyed from thence to in the ſuppoled Damnation of the Em-
Selymbria, and from Selymbria by Sea to peror ; but neither would they have con-
Strongylum, where he died in the Veſſel cealed it. Now if the Writers, who lived,
on the 13th of September, in the 56th
as ſome of them did whom I have men-
Year of his Age, after he had reigned 55, tioned, at the very Time of Conſtantine's
viz. 21 with his father, ten alone, and Death, were unacquainted with thoſe me-
24 with his S:n(1). To the Account lancholy Circumſtances of it, how came
the Author of the Miſcella, and Theo. Cedrenus acquainted with them three Hun-
phanes, who lived at this very Time, give dred Years after? We ſhall roon ſee the
us of Conftantine's Death, Cedrenus, who Teſtimony of Sigebert, concerning a cer-
wrote 300 Years after, adds that in the tain Council, rejected by Baronius and all
Agonies of Death he cried out that he was the Popiſh Writers to a Man, (and ſhall
And is
(1) Theoph. ad ann. Conſtantin. 33, 34, 35. Auctor. Miſcell.
reject
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
65
by his Son Leo the 11th of that Name, who reigned only five Year of
Years(P). Chriſt 781.
reject it together with them) chiefly be- may ſay, no Puniſhments, to ſuppreſs, and
cauſe no mention is made of that Council effectually ſuppreſled the ſuperſtitious Wor.
by any of the contemporary Writers, and ſhip of Images, at leaſt in the Eaſt, the
Sigebert lived three Hundred Years after Monks, who lived chiefly by that Super-
the Time, in which it was ſuppoſed to have ftition, and wrote after it was reſtored,
been held. The only Reaſon I can al- have ſpared no Pains in their Turn to
lege, and Baronius himſelf, I believe, could blacken his Character, and render his Name
have alleged no other, why he rejected the infamous to the lateſt Poſterity. There is
Teftimony of the one Writer, and admitted no Crime, which they have not, with that
that of the other, tho' the fame Objection View, laid to his Charge; no Hereſy, of
lay equally againſt both, was becauſe the which they have not arraigned him. He
Teſtimony of the one made againſt and was, if they are to be credited, an Arian,
the T'eſtimony of the other made for the an Eutychian, a Neſtorian, a Socinian, a
Cauſe, which he h.:d undertaken to main Manichee, &c. and beſides, a Magician,
tain without any Regard to Truth, Con- and one, who dealt with the Devil, who
fcience, or Honeſty. As for Conflantine's invoked the Devil, who worſhipped the
blafpheming the Virgin Mary, and believ. Devil, while he would not allow the Ser-
ing himſelf damned on that Account, if vants of God to worſhip the Saints. Were
the Words of Cedrenus are to be thus un- all we read, or the hundredth Part of what
derſtood; he would not indeed allow the we read in the Invectives of the Monkifh
Worſhip to be given to her, to her Image, Writers againſt this excellent Emperor
or to any other Creature, that he thought true, Maimburg might, in drawing his
due to God alonc ; but at the ſame Time Character, have called him, as he does,
he reſpected, reverenced and honoured her and called him with Juſtice, the moſt
as the Mother of God, anathematizing wicked Prince, that ever lived on the
with the Fathers of the Council, that was Earth, or rather a Monſter, in whom cen-
held under him, all, who did not confeſs tered all Abominations without the leaſt
the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, to be Appearance of one ſingle Virtue tu atone
ahove all viſible and inviſible Creatures (1). for ſo many Vices (3). But with no one
By the fame Council were anathematized Vice is he charged by the conteinporary
all
, who did not confeſs the Saints, who be- Hiſtorians, who, had they known he was
fore the Law, and under the Law bad guilty of or addicted to any, would not
pleajedGod, to be honourable in his Sight(2); have failed, we may be ſure, as they were
ſo that he no otherwiſe blafphemed the all his avowed Enemies, to publiſh theni
Virgin Mary, or the other Saints, but by to the World. They ſpeak indeed very
forbidding them to be worſhipped, or com- reſervedly of his Virtues ; but yet own
manding all Worſhip to be given to God him to have been a Prince of great Tem-
alone. He did not, even according to perance, of uncommon Reſolution and
Cedrenus, command the Virgin Mary and Courage, well ſkilled in War, greatly be-
the Saints to te thenceforth woríhipped, or loved by all, who ſerved under him either
their Images to be reſtored, which he had in military or civil Employments, and one,
cauſed to be caſt out of the Churches; who defended the Empire, with good Suc-
and therefore did not repent or retract cers, againſt the Saracenes and the Bulga-
what he had done, as is affirmed by Baro- rians, that is, with ſuch Succeſs as would
inius and Matmburg, who from thence take have pri cured him the higheſt Encomiums
Occaſion to compare him to the wicked from the Writers of thoſe Times, had
King Antiochus, and would make us be-
not his Zeal for the Purity of the Chris
lieve, that Repentance was as uſeleſs to flian Worſhip made them' his Enemies.
him as it was to that King.
His Severity, or, as it is called, his Cru-
As Conſtantine ſpared no Pains, and, I elty to the Worthippers of Imazes, eſpec-
(1) See vol. 3. p. 364. (2) Vol. 3. ibid.
(3) Mainb. Hift. Ico-
nolaft, l. 3. p. 336, 337-
VOL. IV.
к
cially
1
I
66
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
was the Provocation they gave him. Had
Year of Years (P). He was married in 769 to Irene, a Native of Athens, of
Chriſt 781.
whom I fhall have frcquent Occaſion to ſpeak in the Sequel, and had
by
cially the Monks, is the only Thing the what a Council of 338 Biſhops had defined,
Historians, who deſerve any Credit, have viz. that God alone is to be worſhipped,
been able, with the leaſt Appearance of and worſhipped in Spirit and Truth. Ma-
Truth, to lay to his Charge. Againſt the gic, which Conſtantine has been arraigned
Nlonks indeed he proceded, it muſt be of by the Monks, as well as of Herely,
owned, with the utmoſt Severity; but not was, in thoſe Days, a common Charge ;
till he found that he could by no other and all were Magicians and dealt with the
Means overcome their Obſtinacy, and Devil, who quarrelled with the Monks of
wean them from the Superſtition, which the Clergy. Upon the whole, had Con-
he was determined, at all Events, to ſup- ftantine as zealoudy promoted the Wor-
preſs, and till they, not ſatisfied with ſet- Thip of Images as he oppoſed it, it is not
ting up and worſhipping Images in Defi. at all to be doubted but that he would have
ance of his repeated Edicts, and the Defi- been placed amongſt the beſt Princes, if
nition of a General Council, began to dif not the greateſt Saints, by thoſe very Wri-
turb the Peace of the Empire, to ftir up ters, who have filled their Hiſtories and
the People to Sedition and Rebellion, and their Legends with virulent Declamations
had even the Infolence to infult him, and againſt him. His undertaking to aboliſh :
in the grofleft Manner, to his Face (1), the moſt wicked, as he thought, as well
His Severity to them was great, and great as the moſt favourite Superſtition, that had
ever crept into the Church, and ſteadily
the Proteſtant Subjects of Lewis XIV. bc- purſuing ſo difficult an.Undertaking at the
haved in like manner; had they, in Defi- Expence of his own Quiet, and not with-
ance of his Edicts, pulled down and de out endangering both his Crown and his
ſtroyed the Images he worſhipped ; had Life, muft alone convince every unbiaſſed
they difturbed the Peace of his King.lom, Reader that he was a moſt religious Prince,
ftirred up the People, by feditious Ha- having above all Things at Heart the Pus
rangues, to Rebellion, and publicly inſulied rity of the Religion he profeffed. He left
and reviled him, they would not have met ſome Writings behind him, which, we
with better Treatment from him, perhaps may be ſure, have not been ſuffered to
with worſe, than the Monks met with reach our Times. Some of them how.
from Conflantine ; nor would Muimburg, ever were ſtill extant in the Time of Theo-
who juſtifies all the Severities, that were fteri&tus, who tells us that he had read
practiſed upon that unhappy People with thirteen Orations written by Conftantine,
0lt the leaſt Provocation, have thought ſurnamed Copronymus. But all he ſays of
that his grand Monarch, when thus pro them is, that in none of them was men-
voked, would have deſerved to be painted tioned the Invocation of Saints. Indeed
as a blood-thirfly Tyrant, as a Monſter af Gonftantine allowed, as we have feen elfe-
Cruelty, for reſenting ſuch Ufage with the where(2), the Interceffion, but not the
fame Severity it was reſented with by the Invocation of Saints.
Emperor.
(P) Leo was born, according to Thean
As to the various Hereſies, which the phanes, in 750; was taken by his father,
Monkiſh Writers have charged him with; in 751, for Partner in the Empire; fuc-
they are, moſt of them at leaft, quite in- ceded him on the 13th of September 755,
compatible with each other; and beſides, and died on the 8th of the ſame Month
Conjlantine condemned with the Council, 780; ſo that he died in the 30th Year of
which he aflembled, ſigned, and cauſed to his Age, having reigned 4 Years with
be received all over the Eaſt, every Hereſy, his father, and 25 alone, wanting fix
that had till that Time bren condemned by Days. Nothing remarkable happened in
the Church. The only Hereſy therefore, his Reign beſides the Converſion of Telerus
that can juſtly be laid to his Charge, was King of the Bulgarians, who, moved with
(1) Ce: above, p. 12.
(2) Sce vol. 3. P. 365.
1
an
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
67
by her, in 771, a Son named Conſtantine, who ſucceeded him in Year of
780, his Mother governing, as he was under Age, in his Namc. But
in
Chriſt 781.
an earneſt Deſire of embracing the Chri- the Death of the Emperor Conſtantine,
Itian Religion, left his Kingdom, and re- Images privately conveyed to her, and pri-
paired to Conſtantinople, where he was re vately worſhipped them. As in moſt
ceived by the Emperor with extraordinary Courts there are as many Spies as Cour-
Marks of Kindneſs and Eſteem, and bap- tiers, and what is ſpoken or done there in
tized by the Patriarch with the greateſt So. Cloſets is proclaimed, in a ſhort Time,
lemnity. After his Baptiſm the Emperor, upon the Houſe-tops, Leo was ſoon in-
who was himſelf his Sponſor, created him formed of the ſuperftitious Practices of his
a Patrician, married him to a near Rela- Wife, and charged her with them. But
tion of the Empreſs Irene, and raiſed him fhe, not ſatisfied with denying the Charge,
to the higheſt Honours of the Empire (1). had even the Aſſurance to reproach the
Leo was as great an Enemy to Images Emperor with want of Confidence in cre-
as his Father or Grandfather ; revoked diting his lying Informers rather than her,
none of their Edicts, and would allow no who had never deceived him. Hereupon
Images to be publicly ſet up, or publicly Leo, who was better informed than the
worſhipped; but yet gave no Enccurage- imagined, cauſed her Cloſet, her Bed-
ment to Informers, ſuffered no Searches to chamber, and even her Bed to be nar-
be made, in private Houſes, after Pictures rowly ſearched, and at laſt two Images
or Images, and contented himſelf with were found concealed in her Pillow. Upon
only reprimanding thoſe, who were ar that Diſcovery the Emperor, provoked be-
raigned or convicted of ftill practiſing the yond meaſure in feeing his very Palace
condemned Superſtition. He Aattered him- turned into a Temple of Idols, ſpared no
felf, that he ſhould thus more effectually Pains to find out the Perſons, who had had
wean them from their ſuperſtitious Prac- the Boldneſs to convey them thither; and
tices, than by all the Severity and Rin he found in the End, that the Papias, or
gour he could uſe. Indeed the worſt the Perſon, who was truſted, during the
of Sects have flouriſhed the moſt, when Night, with the Keys of the Gates of the
under Perfecution, and infenfibly mould- Palace, had brought them in; that the
ered away, when Toleration and Mercy Captain of the Guards, and the Empreſs's
took place. The famous Saying, Sanguis two Chamberlains Strategius and Theo-
martyrum femen Chriſtianorum, may, with phanes, were privy to his bringing them in,
as much Truth, be applied to every Relic and that they had all joined with the Em-
gion, as it was, in Times of Perſecution, preſs in the idolatrous Worſhip ſhe paid to
applied to the Chriſtian. This Conduct thoſe Images. The Emperor therefore or-
Les purſued, during the four firſt Years of dered them to be immediately apprehended,
his Reign, but afterwards changed it on to be ſeverely whipped, and to be ignomi-
the following Occaſion. When his Father niouſly conveyed on Aſſes, through the
Conſtantine married him to Irene one of moſt frequented Streets of Conſtantinople,
the Marriage Articles was, that ſhe ſhould to the public Jail. As for the Empreſs,
neither worſhip Images herſelf, nor ever The boldly maintained to the laſt, that ſhe
fuffer them to be worſhipped by others, was an entire Stranger to the whole Af-
Whether the then really was, or was only fair, and that the two Images had been
fuſpected to be, addicted to that Superlli. concealed in her Pillow either by fome,
tion, Hiſtory does not inform us. But in who ſtill adhered to that Superſtition, but
this all Hiſtorians agree, that at the Deſire never ſuſpected that any one would have
of both Princes the bound herſelf, in their dared to ſearch her very Bed or her Bed-
Prefence, by a moſt folemn Oath to ob- chamber; or by_fome malicious Perſon
ferve that Article moſt religiouſly ſo long with the wicked Deſign of interrupting the
as ſhe lived. But, without
any Regard to Harmony, that had hitherto reigned be-
the Sacredneſs of her Oath, ſhe had, after tween her beloved Huſband and her, and
(1) Theoph. ad ann. Leon. 2.
K 2
with
68
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
1
!
1
Year of in the very Beginning of her Regency, Theophanes ſays forty Days
Chriſt 781. after the Death of the Emperor, ſome of the Senators and grcat
Officers
with that Harmony the Happineſs of bo-h. as groundleſs Conjectures. That Les was
Irene, fays here Main:burg, was not ſo poiſonid, and poiſoned by his Wife, I
zealous a Catholic, as the holy Men men will not ſay is a Thing paſt all doubt, as
tioned above. But to do her Juſtice; if ſome have done; but neither is it a ground.
Catholiciſm confifts, as that Writer fup-lefs ConjcEture. She was, as all Authors
poſes it docs, in the Worſhip of Images, agree, one of the moſt ambitious Women
Irene choſe rather to break a moft fülemn we read of in Hiſtory; and ſcrupled no
Oath, than to abftain from that Worſhip; Crime how unnatural ſoever and heinous
which is more perhaps than thoſe holy to grati'y her Ambition, as will appear in
Men would have bad Zeal or Courage the Sequel. Rut by diſobliging the Em-
enough to have done. As Leo was too peror in the Manner we have ſeen, and
well informed to doubt of the Guit of his thereby forfeiting his Favour, and with his
Wife, he bitterly reproached her with the Fávour the Power ſhe had enjoyed to that
Breach of her Oath, with want both of Time, ſhe found herſelf reduced to the
Religion and Honour, and driving her Condition of a private Perſon; and in that
fi on his preſence would never afterwards Stare ſhe was likely to continue, as the
See her. Maimburg tells us that he ſaid all Emperor appeared irreconcileable, ſo long
the brutiſh and mocking Things to her, as he lived. But upon his Death ſhe knew
that Pallion and Rage could ſuggeſt. But that, her Son being yet a Child, the whole
even Cedrenus, his favouri:e Author, whom Power muſt devolve upon her, and that,
he quotes, ſays no more than that he calo during his Minority at leaſt, ſhe ſhould
Jed her, in a Paſſion, a good for nothing govern uncontrolled both him and the Em-
IVoman, eam nauci effe dixit(1).
pire. It is not therefore at all a ground-
Leo lived but a very ſhort Time after leſs Conjecture, that a Woman of her un-
this Quartel; and Theophanes, the Author bounded Ambition and Spirit, and ſo aban-
of the Miſcella, and Cedrenus gives us the donedly wicked, ſhould have been tempted
following Account of his Death. As he to remove the only Perſon out of the
vas paſionately fond of precious Stones, Way, that food between her and the
he took out of the Church of St. Sophia Power the aſpired to, and that being
a Crown, which had been depoſited there checked by no Motives of Religion, Con-
by the Emperor Mauricius or Heraclius, fcience or Honour, but rather ſpurred on
and was enriched with Carbuncles of an by the Deſire of gratifying her Revenge as
ineſtimable Value, to wear it on Occaſion well as her Ambition, The ſhould have
of ſome public Solemnity. But while he yielded to the Temptation. It is certain
was wearing it, Carbuncles broke out on at leaſt, if the above-mentioned Writers
his Head, and at the ſame Time he was are to be credited, that the Emperor, who
feized with a violent Fever, which fuon was then in the Flower of his Age, and
put an End to his Life (2). I will not had ever enjoyed moſt perfect Health, died
quarrel with Baronius or Alaimburg about ſoon after her Diſgrace, and that upon his
the Truth of this Account, (tho' many
Death ſhe was immediately acknowleged
Things of this Nature have been related by her Friends at Court, with whom the
and credited by the contemporary credu- privately correſponded, and whom ſhe had
lous Hiftorians, that excede all Belief) but perhaps employed as the Inſtruments of
think, that conſidering the Circumſtances her Revenge and Ambition, for Regent of
of the Emperor's Death, we need not re the Empire. As for the Fever, of which
cur, with them, to ſupernatural Cauſes to the Emperor died, and the Carbuncles ai-
account for it. Natural Cauſes are but tending it, which Maimburg deſcribes as
too obvious, tho' entirely diffembled by minutely as if he had ſeen, examined and
Baronius, and hinted at only by Maimburg counted them, they might have been the
(1) Cedren. tom. II. p. 469. (2) Theoph. ad ann. Leon.
Leon. 5. Mifcell,
Cedren. ubi ſupra.
Effects
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
69
1
+
1
Officers of State, fcorning to be governed by a Woman, formed a
Year of
Chrilt 781.
Deſign of driving out both her and her Son, and placing Nicephorns
onc of the late Emperor's Brothers on the Throne. But Irene, being Irene governs
during the
timely informed of their Deſign, cauſed all, who were concerned
Minority of
in it, to be apprchended, to be publicly whipped, and confined to her Son Con-
different INandsf. The Emperor had three other Brothers, who had
ftantine.
been all honoured by him with the Title of Cæſars and Nobili limi;
and theſe, to put them out of a Condition of ever affecting the Im-
perial Crown, the Empreſs conimanded to be ſhaved, to take holy Cauſes the
Orders, and to adminiſter the Sacrament to the People on Chriſmas late Empez
ror's Brothers
day in the Church of St. Sophia, that all might know they were to be ſaved
ſhared and ordained, and conſequently rendered for ever incapable and ordained.
of the Imperial Dignity. On that Occaſion the Empreſs alliſted at
Divine Service with her Son, attended by the great Officers of State
and all the Nobility, to honour, with her Prelence, the firſt ccclcfi-
aſtical Function of the degraded Cæfars 8.
Irene's next Care was to chuſe proper Miniſters, that is, Miniſters
ready to fall in with her in all her Views and Deſigns. And ſhe
cho.e accordingly the Patrician Stracius for her Prime Miniſter, a IVhat Mini-
Man of uncommon Abilities, a good commander, and one cntirelyfters fhechofe.
devoted to her; and filled all the other great Offices with Perſons,
on whoſe Fidelity and Attachment to her Perſon and Intereſt ſhe
knew ſhe could ſafely rely. At the ſame Tinic ſhe made it her Study
to oblige the Army with Largeſfes, and to gain the Affections of the
People and Clergy with an extraordinary Show of Religion and
Piety. Swayed by her unbounded Ambition ſhe couid not think of
cver parting with her preſent Power and Authority; and to main-
tain the one and the other ſo long as ſhe lived ſhe began carly to pur-
i Theoph. ad ann.
Miſcell. I. 23.
4
Leon. 1.
8 Idem ibid.
Effects of the Poiſon, that was admini- died, the Writers of that Church have
ſtered to him ; to that at leaſt they may diſcsvered ſomething very extraordinary
he more probably aſcribed than to the and quite unaccountable, that they might
Vengeance of Heaven upon the unhappy conſtrue it into Judyments and the Venge-
Prince for wearing a Crown only a few ance of Heaven. And with as niuch Rca.
Hours, that was given to the Church; or
ſon might the Proteſtants conftrue into
for puniſhing thoſe, who were aflifting to Judgments the Dea h of Henry II. of
his Wife in her ſuperftitio:s Practices and Charles IX. of Henry III. of France, of
the Breach of her Oath. But in the Philip II. of Spain, and, not to mention
Deaths of all the Princes, who have op- others, of Queen Mary of En land, who
poſed the Worſhip of Images, or indeed was cut off in the Flower of her Age at lo
any other favourite Tenet of the Romijh ſeaſonable a Juncture for our great Queen
Church, in what Manner ſo ever they Elizabeth and thc Proteſtant Cauſe.
fuc
1
ngo
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
quith them.
V
-
trveen the
Year of ſue ſuch Meaſures as appeared to her the beſt calculated to anſwer that
781.
.
She defeats
In the mean time the Saracens, hearing the Emperor was dead
the Saracens and the Empire governed by a Woman, laid hold of that Opportu-
and concludes
an advanta- nity to break into the eaſtern Provinces, and ſurpriſe there fome Ci-
gious Peace ties and Strong.holds. But Irene immediately diſpatched one of her
Generals againſt them, who coming up with them in Aſia gave then
a total Overthrow, and obliged them not only to retire with
great
Lors, but to conclude a Peace upon Terms very advantagious to the
Empireh. This Succeſs greatly recommended Irene to the Efeem
and Good-will of the People, and cren reconciled to her many, who
had not hitherto approved of her Meaſures.
She propoſes a And now ſhe had nothing, at preſent, to fear from the Enemics of
Marriagebe- the Empire in the Eaſt. But her Jealouſy was rouſed by the Fame of
Emperor her Charlemagne's Exploits and the Rapidity of his Conqueſts in the
Son and the Weſt; the more, as ſhe was informed that he was at this Timc in
Daughter of
Charle-
Rome, and preſſed by the Pope to invade the Dukedom of Naples,
inagne. and ſeize on the ſmall Remains of the Empire in Italy. This ſhe
Chriſt 782.
was ſenſible he might eaſily accompliſh; and therefore to divert hini
from attempting it, ſhe reſolved, as ſhe never wanted Rcſources, to
amuſe him with the Propoſal of a Marriage between his Daughter
Rotrude (Q) and the young Emperor Conſtantine; and ſhc ſent ac.
cordingly a very folemn Embally to Charlemagne, at the Head of
which was Conſtantine High Treaſurer of the Eniyire, to propoſe
that Match as a Bond of crernal Friendſhip and Amity between the
two great Chriſtian Powers. Charlemagne, flattering himſelf, that
the Court of Conſtantinople would, upon ſuch an Alliance, quite
abandon Adalgiſtus, or at leaſt not encourage or ſupport him in his
Pretenſions to the Kingdom of the Lombards, which would
prevent
any further Diſturbances in Italy, hearkened with great Pleaſure to
the Propoſal, and the Marriage Articles were ſettled and agreed to on
the one side and the other. But as the Emperor was, at this Time,
only cleven Years old, and Rotrude only ninc, ſhe was left in France,
and an Eunuch of the Imperial Palace, named Eliſeuls, was left with
her to teach hcr thc Language, and the Manners of the Greeksi. But
Year of
h Thcoph. ad ann. 2: Conftantin.
i Theoph. Miſcell. Zonar. Cedren.
(Q) Rotrude was Charlemagne's elc'eſt ſignifying red; no doubt thinking that the
Daught'r, torn in 773. Theophans calls word Rotrude had the ſame Signification
her Her jtrus 1rom the Greek Word sud, as among the Franks.
this
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome:
7I
therein.
Year of
this Marriage never took Placc; nor indccd did Irene deſign it ever
Chriſt 782.
ſhould. She apprehended that ſhould her Son marry the Daughter
of ſo renowned and powerful a Prince, he would probably be go- Her View
verned by his Counfils rather than by hers, and might, depending
upon his Protcetion, ſhake off the Yokc, and govern either by him-
ſelf, or as his Father-in-law, who would not fail to eſpouſe his Cauſe,
ſhould direct him. The Propoſal ſerved to divert Charlemagne
from attempting, ať the Inſtigation of the Pope, the Conqueſt of
Italy. But Irene, when no longer threatened with that Danger,
ſtarted ſo many Difficulties, that in the End Charlemagne himſelf
thought it adviſeable, which was all the crafty Woman wanted, to
break off the Treaty. It was'no ſooner broken off than the unna-
tural Mother forced her Son, tho' cxtreamly deſirous of an Alliance The Treaty
with Charlemagne, to marry an Armenian, named Mary, of an broken off and
the young Em-
obſcure Parentage and a very mean Education. The young Emperor peror obliged
was utterly averſe to that Match, and earneſtly begged his Mother by his Mother
would not infilt upon his taking to his Bed and his Companion for American
Life one, to uſe the Expreſſion of Zonaras, whom he utterly ab-
horred. But ſhe was deaf to his Prayers and Entreaties, and appre-
hending her Power to be in no Danger from an obſcure Armenian,
or from her Friends and Rclations, regardleſs of the Happincſs of
her Son ſhe obliged him, in the End, to conſent to the Matchk.
However ſhe continued to amuſe Charlemagne. with the Match She under--
between his Daughter and her Son, till ſhe had put the grand Deſign takes to re-
in Execution, which ſhe had formed in the very Beginning of her Worſhip of
Regency, that of reſtoring, throughout the Empire, the Uſe and the Images.
Worſhip of Images. She had bound herſelf, as has been related
above, by a moſt folemn Oath never to worſhip Images herſelf, or
ſuffer them to be worſhipped by others. But unmindful of that
Oath, and perhaps thinking it even meritorious to break it, if a
Woman of her Character could have any Notion of Merit or Vir-
fuc, ſhe no ſooner found herſelf veſted with Power, than ſhe under-
took to cltabliſh what ſhe had ſo folemnly promiſed to aboliſh.
However ſhe proceded at firſt with great Caution, revoked none of
the Edicts of the preceding Emperors againſt Images, but only con.
nived at their being ſet up in fome. Churches, and would take no
Notice of the Worſhip, that was given them by ſome of the Popu-
lace. Soon after, under Colour of granting to all an entire Liberty
Theoph. ad ann. Conſt. 13. Eginhard. in vit. Carol. Zonar. &c.
of
72
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Grants Li-
Year of of Conſcience, ſhe declared it lawful for every one to hold, and pub-
Chriſt 782. licly to maintain the Opinion with reſpeêt to Images, that ſhould
appcar to them the beſt grounded, and at the ſame Time recalled
berty of Con-
the Monks, who in the preceding Reign had lain concealed in the
ſcience and
recalls theba. Defarts, and whom ſhe knew to be all moſt zealous Promoters of the
niſhed Monks.
Year of Worſhip of Images. Thus were two of Conſtantine's Edicts revoked,
Chriſt 783. both iſſued after the Worſhip as well as the Uſe of Images had been
condemned at Conſtant inople by 338 Biſhops. By the one all were
forbidden, under the ſevereſt Penalties, to defend, pra&tiſe or main-
tain a Worſhip condemned by a General Council. By the other the
Subicats of the Empire werc reſtrained from leading idle and in-
dolent Lives in Monaſterics under Colour of Devotion, or dilinguiſh-
ing themſelves from their Fellow-ſubjccts by any particular Dreſs'.
Paul the Pa An Event is ſaid to have happened at this Time, which greatly
triarch re-
ſerved to forward the Deſign of Irene, and encourage her to purſue
fignis.
it. It is thus related by Theophanes. · Paul, Parriarch of the Im-
perial City, a Prelate of extraordinary Learning and Piety, finding
himſelf indiſpoſed, quitted thereupon the Patriarchal Throne, and
withdrawing to a Monaſtery, took the monaſtic Habit, without im-
parting his Deſign either to the Emperor, or to the Regent his Mo-
The Account ther. Irene 110 leſs ſurpriſed at the ſudden Retreat, than concerned
given by the for the Loſs of ſo worthy a Prclarc, repaired with her Son, as ſoon
Fathers of
as ſhe heard of it, to thc Monaſtery to learn from the Patriarch him-
Theophanes ſelf the true Cauſe of ſo unexpected a Reſolution. But he, burſting
of his Relig
into Tears as ſoon as ſhe cntered his Cell, cried out aloud beforc ſhe
could utter one Word, O that I had never accepted the Epiſcopal
Dignity in a Ckurch, that was kept in Slavery, and cut off from,
as well as anathematized by, all the other Patriarchal Churches on
account of her Hereſym. The Fathers of Nice add, that the Patri-
arch, who lay then at the Point of Death, owned, that being an
Enemy to Images, he ſhould have undergone the Fate of all other
Heretics, and been condemned with the Devil to everlaſting Dark-
ncſs, had he not repented of his Error, and retracted it in the 'moſt
public Manner he couldn. Irene, continues Theophanes, greatly
affected with the Words of the dying Patriarch, fent in great Haſic,
apprchending his End to be ncar, for the chief Patricians and Sena-
tors, to whom the lioly Prelate, upon their entering his Cell, addrefled
Nice and
nation,
1 Concil. Nic. 2. act. 2.
Nic. 2. act. 2.
Theoph. ad ann.
Conſt. 9.
n Concil.
3.
himſelf
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
73
Chriſt 783.
himſelf thus: You have all erred, you continue to err, and there is Year of
no Salvation for you, unleſs a General Council be convened, and the
Error removed, that prevails among you. If ſo, replied thc Patri-
cians and Senators, why did you, at your Conſecration, folemnly
ronounce the Worſhip of Inages, and ſign thc Decree condemning
that Worſhip? That is the very Crime, replied the Patriarch, the
heinous Crime, that now afflicts and tormcnts ine; that is the Crime
I now ſtrive, by a fincere Repentance, to atone for, which I hope God
will accept, and not puniſh mc as I deſerve, for having been hitherto
filent, and declined preaching the Truth, as it was my indiſpenſable
Duty to do, lc!t I ſhould thereby forfeit your Favour. Theſe were
his laſt Words; and he had ſcarce uttered them when he expired
greatly lamented by all, by the good Men as well as the bad, by the
pious as well as the impious; that is by Men of both Parties, by the
pious, who held the Lawfulneſs of Image-worſhip, as well as by the
impious, who denied it. For he was a moſt holy Man, generous to
the Poor beyond meaſure, worthy of the higheſt Reſpect and Eſteem,
and onc, in whom an entire Confidence was placed both by the Re-
public and the Empireº. Thus Theophanes.
Thus Theophanes; and in this Account thc Popiſh Writers tri. Evidently
umph, cſpecially Baronius and Maimburg, as if they had carried their fabulous.
Cauſe. But ſhould we even allow the Account to be true, I ſhould
be glad to know what can be inferred from it in favour of Images.
Is the Authority of one Man, how learned ſocver and wiſe, of a Man
at the Point of Death, when the Underſtanding is commonly im-
paired, of Weight enough to counterbalance that of all the primi.
tive Fathers, of all the Icarned and wife Men of the Catholic Church
from the Times of thc Apoſtles down to the cighth Century P, of 338
Biſhops aſſembled in a General Council: I ſaid, ſhould. we allow the
Account to be true. But that it is not truc; that, at lcaſt, it is highly
improbable, tho' related by contemporary Writers, may bc caſily
ſhown. Paul was raiſed to the Patriarchal Dignity, according to all
the Hiſtorians and Theophanes himſelf a by the Emperor Leo in 780,
the laſt Year of his Reign and his Life; ſo that Paul, who died in
784, muſt have preſided in that Church four Years under Irene.
Now as he could not but know that ſhe had nothing ſo niuch at
Heart as to eſtabliſh the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, and was
• Theoph. ubi fupra.
p See vol. 3. p. 236. 9 Theoph. ad ann. 5.
Lcon.
VOL. IV.
I
purſuing
074
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
..
1
Year of purſuing all the Meaſures, that appeared to her the beſt calculated for
Chriſt 783; that Purpoſe, it is highly improbable, or rather altogether incredible,
that he ſhould have really believed the Doctrine of Imagc-worſhip
to be the truc Catholic Doctrine, nay and been even perſuaded, that
there was no Salvation for thoſe, who did not hold and profeſs it,
and nevertheleſs have continued, to the Tinic of his Death, to pro-
fcſs the oppoſite Doctrine; and that, when he knew, that he could
by no other Means more effectually recommend himſelf to the Fa-
vour of Irene, in whom centered all Power, than by renouncing
thc one, in compliance with the Dictates of his Conſcience, and em-
bracing the other. Had he renounced, under Leo, the Worſhip of
Images merely to qualify himſelf for the Patriarchal Dignity, as is
affirmed by Theophanes, hc would, without doubt, have declared for
that Worſhip, as ſoon as the Power devolved on Irene, and not con-
tinued to oppoſe it, as he is ſaid to have donc, againſt his Intereſt as
well as his Conſcience. As be therefore continued to oppoſe it, and
to oppoſe it with great Zeal, as appears from Theophanes, to the
Time of his Reſignation, it is not at all to be doubted, but that he
acted therein agreeably to his Opinion and Conſcience, and that find-
ing Irene was determined to reſtore the condemned Superſtition, he
chole rather to reſign than contend with her, or be any ways accef-
ſory to ſo wicked a Deſign. As for his pretended Converſion, Rc-
pentance and Retractation, the whole was probably invented cither
by Irene herſelf, or by the good Fathers of Nice; as were many
other Converſions, Apparitions, Miracles, Prophecies, which, with
the Aſiſtance of the Monks, they obtruded on the credulous Popu-
lace at a Time when none dared to diſprove them(R).
Paul
(R) Among the other ſtrange Events, Province againſt the ſudden Irruptions of
that are ſaid to have happened at this the Barbarians, was diſcovered by a Pea-
Time, all well calculated to promote the fant digging there the Body of a Man in a
Deſign of Irene, and recommend it to the Stone Coffin with the following Inſcription
ignorant Multicude, the following is wor- in Greek; Chriſt is to be born of the Virgin
thy of Notice, being gravely related by Mary: I believe in him. O sun thou ſhalt
Theophanes, Cedrenus, the Author of the fee me again under Conſtantine and Irene(1).
Miſcella, Zonaras, Gregoras, and, we "This pretended Diſcovery and Prediction,
may be ſure, not paſſed over in Silence by as no Deceit was then ſuſpected, which
Baronius and his Tranſcriber Maimburg. plainly ſhows the Ignorance of the Age,
In the firſt Year of Conſtantine's, or rather greatly ſerved to recommend Irene to the
of Irene's Reign, near the long Wall of Reſpect and Efteem of the People, and
Thrace, the Wall, that was built about 40 were, no doubt, invented for that Purpoſe..
Miles from Confiantinople to protect that With ſuch ſeaſonable Diſcoveries and Pre-
(1) Theoph. ad ann. Conſtantin. 4:
dictions
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
75
Year of
Year of
Paul being dead, Irene's chief Care and Concern was to find a
Chriſt 783
fit Perſon to ſubſtitute in his Room, that is, a Perſon both willing
and able to promote her Deſign: And as theſe were the only Quali-
fications the required in the new Patriarch, ſhe was not long at a
Loſs, whom ſhe ſhould chuſe for that Dignity. Her Secretary, named
Taralius, a Name famous in the Hiſtory of thoſe Times, was a Man
of unconimon Abilities and Addreſs, deſcended from an illuſtrious
and conſular Family, as zealous a Friend to Images as the Empreſs
herſelf, privy to her Deſign, and as ready to purſue as able to con-
trive the moſt proper Means of putting it in Execution. Upon him Taraſius ap-
therefore ſhe fixed; but apprchending that, as he was fill a Layman, priaren inane
and it was ſtrictly forbidden by the Canons to raiſe a Layman to the Room of
Epiſcopal Dignity, his Election might not be approved by the People, Paul,
whore Concurrence ſhe wanted, the undertook to gain their Appro- Chriſt 784.
bation and Confcnt, before they could be acquainted with the Choice
ſhe had made; nay, and to make the Nomination of Tarafius, which
required great Craft and Addreſs, to come firſt from them. With
that View ſhe aſſembled the People in the great Hall of the Imperial
Palace of Blacherna, and there pretending the greateſt Concern for
the Loſs of the late Patriarch, who ſhe knew was by all greatly be-
loved, ſhe told them, that ſince he had been ſnatched from them by
Death, neither the Emperor nor ſhe would take upon them to ap- The Craft
point him a Succcffor, without conſulting then, who were to be di and Addreſs
rected by him, in all ſpiritual Matters, the only Matters of Moment, Parafusanie
as well as they; that the Emperor had called them together for that thatOciofion.
Purpoſe, and did not at all doubt, but that, laying aſide all Partiality,
all private Affection, they would regard, in ſo important a Choice,
Merit alone. She added, that indced Taralius was of all Men in
the Empire the beſt qualified, in every Reſpect, for ſo important a
Truft; that he was a Perſon of too extraordinary a Merit to be over-
looked on ſuch an Occaſion; that both ſhe and the Emperor had first
of all caſt their Eyes upon him. At theſe Words the whole Multi-
tudc cried out with one Voice, Taraſius ſhall be our Billop; wie
chufe Taraſius; he ſhall govern 11s and no other. Irene, who had,
ܪ
1
dictions Hiſtory abounds both facred and Battle of Granicus, fortelling the immi-
profane: And I ſee no Reaſon why we nent Deſtruction of the Perſian Empire
fhould give more Credit to this Prediction, by the Macedoniars (2), or to munvorher
than to that, which was diſcovered ingraved Predictions of the like Niture ſcafonably
on a Plate of Braſs a little Time before the invented to ſerve fome prcent Purpose.
(2) Plut. in Alcxand.
L 2
10
76 The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian,
Year of in all likelihood, privately engaged before hand ſome of the Heads
Chrilt 784, of the People, finding her Deſign fucccded fo well, reſumed her
Diſcourſe, and addreſling thc Multitudc congratulaced them on the
Choice they had made, extolled the Merit of Tarafus ; but you
muſt know, ſhe added, that he, tho' thus unanimouſly choſen both
by you and by us, declines accepting a Dignity, which is ſo ambi-
tioully fought for by others, and will not acquieſce in our Choice
Herc the People cried out again, we chufe him, and he muſt ac-
quiefce; we will chuſe no other; Taraſius is our Biſhop, our Father,
our Paftor. Here Taraſius, who had attended the Emperor to the
Affembly, riſing up returned, in the firſt Place, Thanks to the Em-
peror and Empreſs, Niling them the Guardians of the Chriſtian Faith,
as well as to the People, for the good Opinion they entertained of
hini, and the Honour they had done him; then after a long Deſcant
on the Importance of the Truſt, to which he was called; on his want
of Abilities to diſcharge it as he ought; on the unhappy Diviſions,
that reigned in the Church; on the deplorablc Condition of the
Church of Conſtantinople in particular, which, he ſaid, was anathe-
marized by all the other Patriarchal Churches, nay and by all the
Churches both in the East and the Welt (T); and laſtly on the Ne-
ceſſity of redreſling ſuch Evils, and uniting in one and the fame
Faith all Chriſtian Churches, fince they were all founded on one and
the ſamc Rock Chrif Jeſus (not St. Peter), and all acknowleged
hini for their Author, after, I ſay, a long Deſcant on theſe Subjects,
he told the Affembly, as had, no doubt, been before hand agreed
(T) Tarafius was, it ſeems, very little till it was tacitly revoked by Irene, as has
acquainted with the State of the Church at been related above. Hadrian ſeems to
this Time either in the Eaſt or the Weſt. have been better acquainted with the State
In the Weſt all the Churches, the Roman of the Eaſtern Church than the new Pa-
alone excepted, agreed with that of Con- triarch; for in his Letter to Conſtantine
Jlantinople in condemning the Worſhip of and Irene he tells them, that all the People
Images; and as to the Uſe of Pictures and in the Eaſt had erred about Images till it
Images, they looked upon it as a Thing in pleaſed Providence to place them on the
itſelf quite indifferent, as will be ſhown Throne, which is as much as to ſay, that
hercaftir; and therefore could not excom all the Churches in the Eaſt condemned
municate and anathematize the Church of the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, as
Conftantinople for nit uſing them in her well as the Church of Conftantinople, which
Worſhip, or not allowing them to be uſed. therefore could not, as was aſſerted by Ta-
In the Eaſt the Uſe as well as the Worſhip raſius, be anathematized on that Account
of Images had been condemned but 30 by all the other Churches. But Tarafius
Years before, and conſequently in Tara- knew that he might impofe on his Audi-
fius's Memory, by a Council of 338 Bi- ence, the ignorant Multitude, the moſt
thips; and the Decree condemning the palpable'Falſhoods.
one and the other continued in full Force
between
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
77
Chriſt 784.
between him and Irene, that the only Means of removing the Evils Year of
he ſo juſtly coniplained of was, to have the Points, that divided
them from all orher Churches, impartially examined, and finally de-
termined by a General Council; that if they conſented to the aſſem-
bling of onc, he ſhould think himſelf bound in Conſcience to ac-
quicſce in tlicir Cloicc; but if they did not conſent he was unalter-
ably determined to concern himſelf, upon no Conſideration what-
ever, with the Government of a ſchiſmatical Church, that was deter-
mincd to continue in her Schiſm, and rejected the only Means of
ever removing it. He had not yet done ſpeaking when the whole
Aſembly, declaring with repeared Shouts their Afent to the calling
of a Council, proclaimed Taraſius their Paſtor and Patriarch; and he
was accordingly ordained on Chriſtmas-day of the preſent Year 784€.
Irene, having thus engaged the People on her Side, and with them Irene ar-
ſome of the Icading Men in the Senate, diſpatched Conſtantine Bi-quaints the
ſhop of Leontium in Sicily, and Dorotheus Biſhop of Naples in Promotion of
Campania to Rome with a Letter to the Pope, in the Emperor's Tarafius and
Nanie and her own, to acquaint his Holineſs with the Promotion of her Deſign to
aſſemble a
Taraſius, and the Reſolution, which the Emperor and ſhe had taken General
jointly with him, to reſtore the venerable Images, to re-eſtabliſh the Council.
Practice, that had obtained in the Church ever ſince the Times of the
Apoſtles, and to allemble for that Purpoſe a General Council in the
Imperial City. In the Letter they moſt earneſtly cntrcated the Pope
to repair to Conftantinople in Perſon, aſſuring him, that, agreeably
to the Orders they had tranſmitted to the Governor of Sicily, he
ſhould be every-where received and entertained, on his Journey from
Rome to Conſtantinople as well as on his Return from Conſtantinople
to Rome, in a Manner ſuitable to his Dignity. They added, that
if he did not chuſc to come in Perſon, which his known Zeal
for the truc Catholic Faith would not allow them to ſuppore, they
did not doubt but he would ſend two Legates, Men of Probity
and Learning, to afſift, in his Name at the Council. The Di. And invites
rection of the Letter was, to the moſt holy and bleffed Hadrian, the Pope to its
Pope of old Rome. But in the Letter he is filed the firſt Bi-
shop, the Biſhop, who preſides in the Room and Chair of St.
Peter u. At the ſame Time the new Patriarch diſpatched to Rome
one of his Presbyters, nanied Leo, with an Account of his Pro-
motion, and a Confeſſion of his Faith. But the Letter he wrote
Theoph. ad ann. Conſtant. 9.
w Idem ad ann. Conft, 1.0.
to
78
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
ibrce Patri-
archs.
Year of to the Pope on that Occaſion has not reached the preſent Time.
Chriſt 784. Conſtantine, Dorotheus, and Leo ſet out together from Conſtanti.
nople; but on their Arrival in Sicily, Conſtantine and Doro. heus
were by the Governor of that Iſand ſent back to Conſtantinople, pur-
ſuant to an Order he had received from Courr, and Theodorus Bi-
ſhop of Catanea, and Epiphanius, Legate of the Archbiſhop of Sar-
dinia, were appointed in their Room; which has led Baronius into
a Miſtake w as if two folenin Embaſlies had been ſent to Hadrian on
this Occaſion.
And the other Taraſius wrote at the ſame Time to the other three Patriarchs,
viz. of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jeruſalem, to acquaint them
with his Promotion, and invite them to the General Council, that
would ſoon mect, by the Appointincnt of their moſt religious Em-
perors to heal the Diviſions, that had reigned ſo long in the Church.
His Letter contains an ample Confeſſion of his Faith, wherein he
condemns and anathematizes, by Name, all the Hercfiarchs, that had
been condemned and anathematized by the Church from the Times
of the Apoſtles to his, and among theſe Pope Honorius, as a Vine of
Sodom, and of the Fields of Gomorrha, whoſe Grapes are Grapes
of Gall, and Cluſters bitters. He admits the Invocation as well as
the Interceſſion of Saints and approves of the Picture of our Saviour
repreſented in the Figure of a Lamby.
The Pope ap- In the mean Time Theodorus, Epiphanius, and Leo arrived at
plauds their Rome, and were received there with extraordinary Marks of Joy.
Deſign.
The Pope ſent for them as ſoon as he heard of their Arrival, and
underſtanding from the Emperor's Letter, that they were reſolved to
reſtore the ſacred and venerable Images, and aſſemble for that Purpoſe
a General Council, he returned Thanks to the Almighty for in-
fpiring them with ſo godly a Reſolution. Some Days after he an-
ſwered the Letter he had received from the Emperors by another of
an extraordinary Length, calculated to confirm and encourage thein
in the Reſolution thcy had taken. He begins with commending,
and in a very high Strain, the true Catholic Zeal of Conftantine and
Irene in undertaking to re-eſtabliſh the ancient Practice of the Church,
a Practice, that had obtained ever ſince the Times of the Apoſtles;
and compares them, on that Account, to Conſtantine the Great and
to Helena, by whom the Chriſtian Religion was firſt eſtabliſhed in
* Deut. 32
w Bur. ad ann. 785 p. 369. Vide Pagi ad eund. ann. p. 372.
32. y Apud Lar, ad ann. 785 & Concil. Nic. 2. act. 2.
.
the
Hadrian. . BISHOPS of Rome.
79
Chriſt 784.
the Empire. He tells them that no human Tongue can expreſs the Year of
Joy thcir Letter has given him; congratulates them on their being
choſen by Heaven for fo meritorious and ſo great an Undertaking,
and to confirm them in what he calls the truc Catholic Doctrine con-
cerning the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, he undertakes to prove
the Lawfulneſs of the one and the other; nay, and to ſhow tha: both
had, ever ſince the Apoſtles Times, prevailed in, and been app:oved
of by the Church.
To ſhow that the Uſe of Images had been received and approved And in his
by the Church ever ſince the Times of the Apoſtles, he begins with Anſwer un-
the Reign of Conſtantine the Great, who came to the Crown in the prove the
fourth Century, and gravely relates, from the fabulous Acts of Pope Lawfulneſs
.
Silveſter, the following Story. Conftantine, ſays he, being griev of Image-
oully afflicted with the Leproſy, drcame one Night that the holy
Apoſtles St. Peter and St. Paul, appearing to him, adviſed him to
ſend for Pope Silveſter, who, they ſaid, lay concealed in Mount
Soračte to avoid the Perſecution, but would come, if ſent for, and
ſhow him a Fiſh-pond, in which, if he waſhed three Times, he ſhould
be clean. Conftantine no ſooner awaked than he ſent for Silveſter,
and having acquainted him with his Dreani, asked him what Gods
Peter and Paul were, and whether he could ſhow him their Pictures.
The Pope anſwered, they were no Gods, but the Apoſtles of God; Tlie Tale of
and ſent immediately one of his Deacons for their Pictures, which Conſtan-
tine's Bagi
the Emperor no ſooner law than he cried out, theſe are the
t/m.
Perſons, who appeared to me, ſhow me the Pond. Silveſter ſhowed
it; the Emperor waſhed in it; was cleaned, and baptized ſoon after.
Behold, concludes Hadrian, from the very Beginning of our Reli-
gion all Chriſtians had Images. As not the leaſt mention is made by
Euſebius, who wrote the Life of Conſtantine, or by any other con-
temporary Hiſtorian, of that Emperor's having ever perſecuted the
Chriſtians, or his having been infected with, and miraculouſly cured
of a Leproſy, and beſides it is certain, (if Eufebius, Socrates, Sozo-
men, Jerom, Ambroſe, Athanaſius, and the 359 Biſhops of the
Council of Rimini held under Conſtantius, the Son of Conſtantine,
are to be credited) that he was not baptized at Rome, but at Nico-
media a little before his Death. I ſhould not have thought ſo abſurd
and improbable a Talc, tho' gravely related by a great Pope, worthy
of a Place here, had it not been to ſhow how utterly unacquainted
Men were, at leaſt the Advocates for Images were, in thoſe Days
with:
very
1
1
80
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of with the Hiſtory of paſt Times and how diſtreſſed for want of Proofs
Chriſt 784., from true Hiſtory to ſupport their Cauſe, ſince they were obliged to
recur for that Purpote to ſuch Fables and fabulous Legends, as even
they are now aſhamed of, who maintain the ſame Cauſe. Had Ha-
drian been but the Icaſt acquainted with the Hiſtory of his own
Church, he would have known, that Conſtantine embraced the Chri-
ftian Rcligion in the Time of Pope Melchiades, thc Predeceſſor of
Silveſter, and that he appointed him one of the Judges in the famous
Controverſy between Cæcilianus of Carthage and the Donatiſts z.
But ſhould we even allow the Story as told by Hadrian to be truc, it
would not foilow from thence, that both the Uſe and the Worſhip
of Imagcs had obtained in the Church, and obtained ever ſince the
Times of the Apoſtlcs, but only that the Uſe had obtained, and not
even that till the fourth Century.
His Argu-
Hadrian having made it appear, in the manner we have ſeen, that
snents for the Uſe of Images prevailed among Chriſtians from the very begin.
ſetting up
Images in
ning of the Chriſtian Religion, ab ipfis fan&tæ fidei noftræ rudimentis,
Churches. (for that is the Conſequence he draws from the Tale related above)
undertakes in the next Place to prove that ſuch a Practice was pleaſing
to God; and argues thus: All Things, that are appointed by human
Diſcretion for the Honour of God, are pleaſing to him; thus Abel
in Honour of God offered up the firſt Fruits, and God was pleaſed
with his Offering; Noah in Honour of God built an Altar, and
upon
that Altar offered Sacrifice, which was acceptable to God; Jacob in
Honour of God erected a Pillar, and God approved what he had done.
Now Inages were appointed by human Diſcretion for the Honour of
God; for in thien we do not honour the Gold, the Braſs, thc Marble,
the Colours, but the Servants of God, the Virgin Mary, the Apoſtles,
the Martyrs, whom they repreſent; and the Honour we give to the
Servants of God terininates in God. Excellent Divinity! And miglit
not the Pagan Philoſophers, upon the ſame Principle, and by the famo
Method of arguing have juſtified, againſt the Fathers, the Uſe of
Images among them as well as the Honour or Worſhip they gavc
them? Their Images too were appointed by human Diſcretion for the
Honour of God; for it was not the Gold, the Braſs, the Marble, or
the Colours chcy honoured, but the true God, or the Servants of the
truc God repreſented to them in their Inages, as has been denion-
ſtrated elſewherea. In like manner the golden Calf was appointed
2 See vol. 1. p. 87,91.
See vol. 3. p. 215. note B. & p. 217. note C.
3
by
1
:
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome. .
81
S.
Chrilt 784.
bims and the
by human Diſcretion for the Honour of God, and ſo were the CalvesYear of
fet up by Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel; for in them the Jews wor-
ſhipped the God of Iſrael, who brought them out of the Land of
Egypeb; and we cannot ſuppoſe them to have been all ſo cntirely
deſtitute of common Senſe as really to believe, that the Images, which
they had juſt ſeen made, had brought them out of the Land of
Egypt. Thoſe Images therefore were appointed by human Diſcre-
tion only as Symbols of God, in which and by which he was to be
honoured; and yet they were not pleaſing, but highly diſpleaſing to
God. I might add, that, if whatever is appointed by human Dir
cretion for the Honour of God, is pleaſing to him, the calling Images
out of the Churches, and deſtroying them was pleaſing to him, ſince
that was appointed to be done for the Honour of God, or to prevent
the Honour, that is due to him alone, being given to others.
The other Proofs, offered by the Pope in Favour of Images, are The Inſtance
taken partly from Scripture, and partly from the Fathers, but all alike f the Cheru-
quite impertinent and foreign to the Purpoſe. From Scripture he brazen Ser-
urges the Command given to Moſes by God himſelf to make two pent quite fo-
reign to his
Cherubims, or the Images of two Cherubims, over the Mercy-ſeat ; Purpoſe.
and tho' thoſe Images were not worſhipped, nor ſo much as ſeen by
the Pcople, lic concludes, that it is not only lawful for Chriſtians to
make linages, but to worſhip thicm. In like manner from God's
commanding Mojis to make the brazen Serpent, and ſet it
up
Sign, he concludes with an Exclamation), O the Madneſs of thoſe,
who will not worſhip Images! the Images of our Saviour, of his
Mother, of the Saints, by whole Virtue the World fubfijts, and Man-
kind are ſaved! ſhall we, who believe, that ihe Iſraelites cegre healed
by beholding the brazen Serpent, doubt of our being ſaved by be-
holding and worſhipping the Images of Ciriſt and tbe Saints?
Had the Pope recolicated that tho' the brazen Serpent was made by
God's own Command, which can be ſaid of none of his Images,
and wrought far greater Miracles than the moſt miraculous of his
Images, yet King Hezekiah broke it in Picccs; when he found the
People worſhipped it, and was ſaid to have done therein that which
was right in the Sight of the Lordle, his Holine would have taken
Care not to bring in or mention the brazen Serpent on this Occa.
fion. But he was, it ſeems, better acquainted with the monkiſh
Legends than he was with his Bible. However he alleyes ſeveral
• Exod. 32. ver. 4. 1 Kings 12. ver. 28. € 2 Kings 1€. ver. 3, 4.
VOL. IV.
AI
Partages
for a
82
The Hiſtory of the POPĘS, or Hadrian.
fire.
the Top
Year of Paſſages out of the Bible to ſhow that the Uſe of Images and the
Chrift 784, Worſhip are there approved and recommended; but to find out what
Relation thoſe Pallages have cither to the Uſe or the Worſhip of
Images, or indeed to Images at all, is no caſy Task; and I ſhall Icave
And likewiſe it to the Reader. The Paffages are ; Hor.our and Majeſty are in his
bis Pallages Prefenced; thy Face will I ſeeke; the Rich among the ‘People ſhall
from Sirip-
entreat thy Facef; Lord lift up the Light of thy Countenance 1 por
$; in that Day there ſhall be an Altar to the Lord in the midſt
of the Land of Egypt, and a Pillar at the Border thereof to the
Lordh; Honour and Majeſty are before him; Strength and Beauty
are in his Sanctuary i; Lord, I have loved the Habitation of thy
Houle, and the Tabernacle of thy Honourk. In all the New Teſta-
ment the Pope could find but one ſingle Paſſage, that he thought
could any ways authorize the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, viz.
that of St. Paul to the Hebrewe's, by Faith Jacob, when he was a
dying, bleſſed both the Sons of Joſeph, and worſhipped upon
of his Staff'. This Paſſage the Pope, leaving out the Prepoſition
upon, reads thus; and worſhipped the Top of his Staff. That Staff
he ſuppoſes to have been the Staff of his Son Joſeph, and concludes,
that as Jacob gave that Honour and Worſhip to the Staff of Joseph
not for its own Sake, but for the sake of hini, who borc it; ſo may
we honour and worſhip the Images of the Saints, not for their own
Sake, but for the Sake of thoſe, whom they repreſent. But the
Mcaping of the Apoſtle is obvious, and one would think that no
Child, who can read, could miſtake it, viz. that Jacob, being on his
Death-bed, fate up leaning on the Top of his Staff to ſupport his
wcak Body, while he bleſſed his Children, and worſhipped.
The Paliges
As for the Fathers, I ſhall not trouble the Reader with the many
Paſſages the Pope alleges out of their Writings in Support of his
from the Fa.
thers either Cauſe, but only obſerve, 1. That tho' in the Beginning of his Let-
impertinent ter he undertakes to ſhow that Images had been both uſed and wor-
or corrupted.
ſhipped in the Church ever ſince the Apoſtles Times, yet for fo an.
cient a Pra&icc he' quotes not a ſingle Father, who lived before the
fourth Century, but ſeveral, who flouriſhed in the fifth, in the ſixth,
and ſome, who wrote even as late as the ſeventh. 2. That the Par
ſages, he alleges out of the genuine Works of the Fathers, prove no
more than that Images were uſed, from the latter End of the fourth
he quotes
d Pfal. 96. 6.
1. Ifa. 19. 19.
· Pfal. 27.8.
i Plal. 96.6.
i Pral. 45. 12.
k Plal. 26.8.
& Pſal. 4.6.
1 Heb. II. 21.
Century
1
$
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
83
܇
Cliriſt 784.
Century to the Beginning of the ſeventh, as miere Ornañients, as Helps Year of
to Memory, as Books for ſuch as could not rcad. 3. That ſome of
fis Texts are ſtrangely altered and corrupted, and ſome quoted from
ſpurious Picces. Among the ſpurious Pieces we may well reckon
the Epiſtle of St. Bafil to the Emperor Julian, wherein that Saint
makes the Worſhip of Images an Article of his Creed, and inſerts it
next to the Remiſſion of Sins in the following Words, for the ob-
taining of which I honour, worſhip, and adore the Images of our
Saviour, of the Virgin Mary, of the Apoſtles, Prophets, and Mar.
tyrs agreeably to the Apoſtolic Tradition ; and ſuch a Practice ought
not to be forbidden. This is the only pertinent Text the Pope al-
leges; but thc Piece, from which it is quoted, is now rejected by
the Learned of all Perſuaſions as unqueſtionably ſpurious m. And
this is all the Pope had to offer in Behalf of his Apoſtolic Tradition
concerning the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images.
In the remaining Part of his Letter Hadrian loudly complains of Complains of
the Promotion of Taraſius raiſed, in defiance of the ſacred Laws the urcano-
nica! Proing-
and Canons of the Church, from a Layman to the Patriarchal Dig-tion of Tara-
nity, and appointed to teach what he himſelf had not yet learnt fius,
He thinks it no leſs abſurd and prepoſterous that a Layman ſhould be
truſted with the Care and the Direction of Souls, than that an Ecclc-
fiaftic, who had never borne Arms and was utterly unacquainted with
the military Art, ſhould be truſted with the Command of an Army.
Hc ncvertheleſs declares himſelf ready to acquicſce in the Election
of the new Patriarch, however uncanonical, and to acknowlege him
for his Fellow-Biſhop, however uncqual in other Reſpects to ſo great
a Charge, provided he zcalouſly concurred with his moſt pious and But is wil.
Catholic Sovereigns in promoting the Catholic Cauſe, in cxtirpating ling to apa
the Hercſy, that had ſo long prevailed, and in reſtoring the ſacred prove it if by
and venerable images to the Honour and Worſhip, that had ever been Images are
paid them. Zeal for Images was the only Qualification required at reſtored.
this Time in a Biſhop; and indeed the Biſhops, who aſliſted at the
Council, which we ſhall ſoon have Occaſion to ſpeak of, fecm to
have bad no other. But if an uncxperienced Layman is no more to
be truſted with the Care of Souls than an uncxperienced Eccletiaftic
is to be truſted with the Command of an Army, Zcal for Images
could no more qualify the Layman for the one, than it could the
Eccleſiaſtic for the other. The Pope cloſes his Letter with entreating
* Sec Cave's Life of St. L'aſil, p. 222.
M 2
thc
1
84
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian,
arh.
Year of the Emperor and his moſt rcligious Mother Irere, as they tendered
Chriſt 784.
the Salvation of their Sou's, to cauſe the Council, that had con-
demned the holy Images, to be condemned and anathematized, to
defend and maintain the Primacy of the Roman Church, the Head of
all Chri' ian Churches; to oblige the Biſhop of their Imperial City to
quit tlic haughty and preſuinptuous Title of Univerſal Patriarch,
and lalily to order the Patrimonics of St. Peter, which their l’rede.
ccflors had ſeized, to be forthwith reſtored. A moſt ſhameleſs De-
mand in one, who poffered ſo many rich Citics and Provinces, of
which his Predecefors had robbed the Emperors and the Empire n.
Hii Arſwer At the ſame Time the Pope answered the Letter he had reccived
to the Patrio fron the new Parriarch. The Direction was Hadrian Bishop and
Servant of the Servants of God to his beloved Brother the Patri-
arch Taraſius. Hc freely tells him that he was grieved to hear of his
Proniocion, but that he is enrircly fatisfied with his Confeflion of
Faith, wherein he receives the ſix General Councils, and promiſes to
worſhip and to adore the holy Images; that neverthclefs he dares not
approve of bis Conſi crarion, as it is contrary to the known Laws of
the Church, but upon Condition that he undertakes to reſtore the
ancient Practice of the Catholic Church o.
Declines af Confiantine and Irene had proſed the Pope, as we have ſeen, to
lifting at ibe repair in Perſon to Conftantinople, and flattered themſelves that his
Council
Zcal would have ſurmounted all Difficulties. But Hadrian, recol-
Jecting out hic had employed all his Intereſt with Charlemagne to
get thic Greeks driven quite out of Italy; that the Emperors had not
yet yielded, but fill continued to claim as their own the Countrics
hc poffefied, and that they muſt conſequently look upon him not
only as an Enemy, bur as an Uſurper and Rebel, and might treat him
accordingly, not withſtanding the Zeal they pretended for Images, he
thought it adviſeable not to put it in their Power, but to conſult in
But fends Le-the firû Place his own Safery. Excuſing himſelf therefore, on ac-
count of his Age, from under:aking ſo long a Journey, he appointed
Peter Archprieſt of the Roman Church, and the Abbot of the Mo-
naftcry of St. Sahas, unamed likewiſe Peter, to aflilt at the Council
with the Character of luis Legates in his Rooin ; and by then he lent
his Anſwer to the Letters of the Emperor and the Patriarch R.
fates to it.
Concil. Nic, 2. act. 2.
Act, 2. Analt, in Præf. Concil.
• Concil. Nic. 2. ibid.
p Concil. Nic. 2.
Na
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
85
Chriſt 784.
No Biſhops from the Weſt, beſides the Pops, were invited to the Year of
Council cither by the Empreſs or the Patriarch; and nonc aſſiſted at
it, beſides the Pope, cither in Perſon or by their Depurics. It there. No other Bi-
shops from the
fore entirely confilted, tho' Riled occumenical, of the Pope's Legates Ivejt invited
and the caſtern Biſhops; nay, and of ſuch only of the caſtern Biſhops.to it.
as were Subjects of the Empire, As for the three Patriarchs of Alex-
andria, Antioch and Jeruſalem, and the Biſhops under their Jurif-
diâion, Taraſius, it is true, wrote and fent Deputics to acquaint
them with thic Deſign of his moſt religious Sovereigns, of putting an
End to the unhappy Diviſions of the Church by a General Council
and invite them to it; but with what Succeſs the Reader may learn
from Baronius. The Deputies, ſays the Annalilt, fent by Teraſius Three eaſterne
to the three Patriarchs being told, on their Arrival in Paleſtine, by not prefent ei-
the Monks there, that Theodore of Yeruſalem was dead; that the ther in Perjon
Chriſtians were moſt cruelly perſecuted in Egypt and in Syria by thcor by their
Deputies.
new Caliph Aaron; that their journey to Alexandria and Antioch
would give great Jealouſy to the Saracens, and in all likelihood
prove fatal not only to them, but to all the Chriftians in thofe Parts,
they laid aſide all Thoughts of proceding further. However to lie
tisty, in ſome degrec, thic Empreſs and the Patriarch, the Monks,
affembling in the Dcfart, choſe two of their Body John and Thomas,
to repreſent the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch in the Coun-
cil, and tclify to the Fathers their orthodox Belief with reſpect to
the Point in Diſpure, the Worſhip of Images I. From this Account
of Baronius, and it is entirely agreeable to what we read in Tbeo-
phanes and all the other contemporary Writers, it is manifeft, that
none of the above-mentioned Patriarchs aſlifted at the Council cither
in Perſon or by their Deputics or Legates, the Patriarch of Jeru-
ſalem being then dead, and the Monks, who are ſaid to have repre-
ſented the other two, being ſunt by their Brethren the Monks, and
not by the Pacriarchs, who know nothing of them or the Council.
And yet theſe very Monks are filed, throughout the Acts of the The Abris
Council, the Ligates of the Eaſtern Patriarchs; nay, and they had their
tendei Depun
the Adurance to Tubſcribe themſelves the Legates of the three Apo- ties net jent
ſtolic sees Alexandria, Antioch and Jeruſalem; and their Subſcrip-by them
tions are commonly produced to ſhow that the Patriarchs were all
Luaniinous in defining the Lawfulneſs of Image-worſhip, and con:
9. Baron, ad ann. 75. p. 383.
donning
-مpr
1
1
8:6
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
เ in their
Year of demning the Council, that had declared ſuch a Worſhip unlawful,
Chriſt 784. and idolatrouis.
Nor autho As the two Monks, ſays here Maimburg pretending to ſolve a Dif-
rized to act ficulty, which he thinks none had been able to folre beiore, as the two
Name.
Monks John and Thomas were not fent by the Patriarchs, but by the
Monks of Paleſtine without their Knowlege, ſome Writers have
concluded, that the Patriarchs were no ways concerned in the Coun-
cil. But thcfe Writers were not aware, that the Council did not
meet till a Year and more after the Arrival of the Monks at Conſtan-
tinople, and that the Patriarchs had Time enough, and might, during
that Interval, have found Means to authorize the Monks to act in
their Name, and to veft them with the neceílary Powers for that Pur-
poſe: And that they did fo is very certain". And that thcy did nor
ſo is very certain; for by no other Mcans could the Patriarchs have
impowered the Monks to act in their Name, but either by Letters;
and the Letters would have been read in the Council, or by new
Deputics; and they would have appeared in the Council. Bur it is
very certain, that no Letters were read in the Council from the Pa-
triarchs, that no Deputies from them appeared either at Conſtantinople
or at Nice. It is certain at lcaſt, that no mcntion is made of cither
in the Acts of the Council, or by any of the contemporary Writers,
not even by Theophanes, who was preſent, and has omitted nothing
that could any ways redound to the Honour of an Aſſembly, which
he has taken ſo much Pains to recommend to Pof crity, and but too
often at the Expence of Truth. Bolides, the two Mooks themſelves
declared in the Council, that they, tho ignorant Inhabitants of the
Deſart, tko' unexperienced, tho' Idiots, had been choſen by their
Brethren to teſtify the orthodox Belief of thote, who dared not ſo
much as to speak of fuch Matters, much leſs to receive or to write
Letters concerning thems. An inconteſtable Proof that the Patri-
archs neither did nor could authorize by Deputies or by Letters, the
two Monks to act in their Name, during the interval between their
Arrival at Conſtantin ple and the meeting of the Council. And thus
has Marmburg :olved a Difficulty, which no Man had been able to
foire before vin.
The Let'er of The two Monks brought with them a Letter from their Brethren
the Me: 150f in the Dclart to Trafins, whecim they recommend to his Holineſs
Palestin to
Maim!, H.: . Icon, l. 3. p. 421, 423.
$ Concil. Nic. 2. act, 3.
thcir
I
Taraſius.
+
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
87
Chriſt 784.
their Deputies, who, they ſay, will informi lim of the Orthodoxy of Year of
the Patriarchs; acquaint him with thcir having diverted his Legates
from purſuing their Journcy to Alexandria and Antioch, ſince it was
imponible for them to reach thoſe Citics, and they would, by at-
tempting it, not only cxpole their own Lives to imminent Danger,
but the Lives of all the Chriſtians in thoſe Parts (U); citreat his ho-
lineſs to proccde undaunted in ſo pious and meritorious an Under-
taking, that of reſtoring, by a General Council, the Uſe and the Wor-
ſhip of Images, notwithſtanding thic Abſence of the three Patriarchs,
which did not prevent the ſixth Council, and would not prevent the
ſeventh from being univerſally received as æcumenical. They con- '
clude with declaring for the Uſe and the Worſhip of Images, as an
apoftolical Tradition, and protelling, that they receive only ſix Ge-
neral Councils, and condemn that, which was held under Copronymus
againſt Images, and is by fomc filcd the Seventht. The Direction
of the Letter was, To our moſt huly and bleſſed Lord Taraſius, Arch-
biſirop of Conſtantinople and Ușiverſal Patriarch, the High Prieſis
and other Prieſts in the Eaſt grieting. They filc themſelves the
High 'Prieſts, and the other Prieſts in the Eaſt, perſonating therein
the Patriarchs and the Biſhops under their reſpective Jurisdictions..
And truly Baroniis, in exhibiting their Letter, ſtiles it in the Margin,
the Letter of the Patriarchs to Taraſius v; and as ſuch it was reccived;
road and applauded in the Council, tho' it is ſaid in the Letter itſelf,
that the Patriarchs neither dared to write, nor to roccivc Letters, nor
even to utter a ſingle Word concerning ſuch Subjects.
The Deputics of the Monks brought another Letter with them, The Cetter of
ſuppoſed to have been written by Theodore of Jeruſalem to Coſmasthe Patriarch
of Alexandria, and Theodore of Antioch, on occaſion of his Promo-to the Patri-
tion to the Epiſcopal Dignity. In that Letter Theodore in the firſt archs of Alex-
Place profeſſes to worſhip the Saints and their Images, to adore and Antioch..
embrace their ſaving Reliques, eſpecially the Boncs of the Martyrs,
+ Concil. Nic. 2. act.
3
✓ Bar. ad ann. 785. p. 383.
(U) Chriſtianus Lupus, one would think latere, and magnifies the Courage and Zeal
had never ſeen this Letter, tho' in the of the Legates from Conftantinople for ven-
Acts of the Council, nor ſo much as heard turing through a thoufand Deaths to get to
of it. For he ſuppoſes the Legates of thoſe Patriarchs (1), when it is ſaid in the
Taraſius to have got to the Patriarchs, and Letter’itſelf
, that it was impoſſible for them.
the iwo Monks to have been ſent by the
to get to them, and that they were diverted.
Patriarchs themſelves as their Legates a by the Monks from attempting it.
(1) Lup. not. in Canon. Concil. Sept. p. 1119,
aſcribes
andria and!
+
88
The Hiſtory of the POPES, on Hadrian.
Year of aſcribes to them, out of a (purious Piece fathered on Athanaſius, the
Chriſt 784
Power of working Miracles and curing all ſorts of Diſeaſes, but de-
rives that Power from Chriſt, who, according to him, dwells in thote
Boncs. 2. He acknowleges only ſix Gencral Councils, and anathic-
matizes that, which condemned Images, and by the Encmics of
Images is called the ſeventh. 3. He taxes with Ignorance, and con-
demns as Herctics all, who pretend that Images are not to be wor-
ſhipped becauſe the Works of Mens Hands, ſince the Cherubims,
the Ark, the Mercy-ſeat, tho' the Works of Mens Hands, were ne-
vertheleſs worſhipped, as hic takes it for granted, by the Iſraelites ".
This abſurd Epiſtle is ſaid to have been written by Theodore of Jerit-
Salem to Theodore of Antioch and Cofmas of Alexandria upon his
being promoted to the Patriarchal Dignity, and is therefore filed a
Synodical Epiſtle, that is, an Epifle written by a new Biſhop, and in
a full Synod, to his fellow Biſhops. But Theodore was raiſed to the
Patriarchal See of Jerufalem in 735*; and at that Time neither was
Theodore Patriarch of Antioch, nor was Coſmas Patriarch of Alex-
andria, the former having been veſted with that Dignity in 752, and
the latter in 7424. The Letter therefore could not, as is evident,
A mere For. have been written to either of them, but was in all likelihood forged
by the Monks, unacquainted with the State of thoſc Churches, to
impoſe on the Biſhops of the Council, and perſuade them, that the
three Patriarchs (for they pretended to have the Anſwers of the two
Patriarchs entirely agreeable to the Letter of Theodore) held and
pro-
feſſed the Doctrine of Image-worſhip. But ſhould we even allow
thcfe Letters to be genuine, it would not follow from thence that the
ſaid Do&rinc was held by the preſent Patriarchs, whoſe Orthodoxy
the Monks were ſent to tcftify before the Council, but only that it
had been held and profeſſed by ſome of thcir Predeceſſors. For at
this Time Theodore of Yeruſalem, Cofmas of Alexandria, and Theo-
dore of Antioch were all three dead, and their Sees, if not vacant,
held by others. I ſay, if not vacant; for they are niarked by Theo-
phanes in his Chronological Tables as vacant at this Time. In the
Acts of the Council Theodore of Jiruſalem, the pretended Writer
of the Letter, is laid to have died lately 2; but from Hiſtory it ap-
gery.
w Concil. Nic. 2. act.
3.
* See Pagi Criiic. in Annal, Bar. ad ann. 767.
y Theoph. ad ann. Conft. 10. & Payı ad ann. 751.742.
z Concil. Nic. 2.
act. 5.
4
pears,
99
Year o
Chrill 794.
112827sa. Conta
Christ 70.
but not at all inclined to die for the Cauſe, and latisfied that the diery and Ci-
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
pears, that he was dead 15 Years before, Eufebius, who ſucceeded
him, being poffelled of his See in the Year 7902.
The Bishops were required in the Summons, that was ſent them, to Tise Cari!
repair with all Speed to Confiar.tinople; and the Legates of the Popeſcinein pie.
as well as the pretended Legates of the three other Patriarchs arriving Year of
in that City about the latter End of July 786, the Council was ap-
pointed to meet for the first Time on the 17th of Auguſt, and the
1pacious Baſilic of the holy Apoſtles was choſen for that Purpoſe.
There they met at the Time appointed; and the Patriarch Taralius
Laving, according to Culom, opened the Sellions with an Haranguc,
of which I can give no Account, the Decree, forbidding a General
Council to mect without the Conſent of thic Patriarchs, was ordered
to be read. But in the mean Timic the Emperor's Guards, who had
ferred under Conſtantine Copronymus, and were all, the Officers as
well as the private Men, moſt zealous Iconoclaſts, hearing that the
Council was met, not to cxamine, but to condemn thc Faith of that
Emperor, and with his Faith, his Council and Memory, flew to Arms,
ſurrounded the Church, and crying out, that they would not ſuffer
thc Memory of ſo good and ſo religious a Prince to be thus diſho-
noured, nor the Idolatry to be brouglit back, which he had ſo hap-
pily baniſhed, threatened the Patriarch and the other Biſhops with
immcdiatc Deatit, if, deſilling from ſo wicked a Purpoſe, thcy did not
that Inſtant break up and diſperſe. The Einpreſs, who was preſent
with the Emperor, alarmed at fo ſudden a Tumult, which ſhe had
neither forcfecn nor in the Icaſt apprehended, ſent immediately fomc
of the great Officers of the Crown, who attended her, to appeaſe it.
But the Soldiery, inſcad of obeying inſulted them as Idolaters, as
Enemics to God, to the Church, to the Empire. Hereupon Irene,
obſerving the Confternation and Panic of the Biſhops ready to vote, But obliged
Soldiery, now joined by a great Number of Citizens, were not to tizens to
be reclaimed, gave the Fathers Leave to retire and yield for the
pre.
fent; which they did very readily without being hurt, inſulted, or
any.ways molelled by their furious and inhuman. Encmies, as Theo.
planes is plcaſed to call them b. How different from this was the
Treatment thc Inperial Officers met with, and the Patriarch himſelf
from the Wo ſhippers of Images, even from the Women, when they
firſt attempted to pull them down c?
& See Pagi ad ann. 767. b Thcoph. ad ann. Conſtant. 7. € Sce vol. 3. p. 262.
VOL. IV.
N
The
break up.
1
.
90
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
the Council
Year of The Aſembly being thus diſolved, the caſtern Biſhops returned all
Chriſt 786.
j to their reſpective Secs. The Pope's Legates too, not thinking them-
Irene purſues ſelves ſafe amidſt the Iconoclaſt Soldiery, were for quitting Conſtan-
her Difign. tinople, and returning with all Halte to Rome. But the Empreſs
with much ado perſuaded them, and likewiſe the two Monks, who
were to repreſent the caſtern Patriarchs, to put off thcir Journcy for
a While, alluring tliem, that ſhe wanted nor the Means of checking
the Inſolence of the Soldiery, and bringing thc Deſign ſhe had forıncd
jointly with the Patriarch, in ſpite of them, to a happy Iſſue. Ac-
cordingly with that View ſhe appointed Stauratius, in whom the
placed an entire Confidence, Governor of Thrace, and at the ſame
Time give him the Command of the oriental Legions quartered in
that Province, charging him to render himſelf, by all means, accept-
The Troops able to them, and having once gained their Affections, to diſmiſs
that oppoſed ſuch of the Soldiers and their Officers as he thought might oppoſe
diſbanded.
her Deſign, and appoint others in their Room, who would promote
it, acting therein with great Prudence and Circumſpection. In that
Truſt Stauratius acquitted himſelf ſo well, that lie could, in little
niore than fix Months Time, aſſure the Empreſs, that in the whole
Corp there was not a ſingle Man, who would not concur with her,
and affift her, to the utmoſt of his Power, in the Execution of her
Deſign. Upon this Intelligence the crafty Empreſs immediately gave
out, that the Saracens had unexpectedly broken into Aſia ; that they
committed there unheard of Cruelties, and that the Eniperor was de-
termined to march againſt them without delay, in Perſon, and head
his Army. Orders were accordingly iſſued for all the Troops to put
themſelves in Motion; the Emperor's Equipage was conveyed croſs
the Straits into Bithynia, and the Guards commanded to attend it,
as it was their Duty, to the pretended Place of the general Rendez-
vous, whither they were told the Emperor would follow them with
all pollible Speed. But no ſooner had they left the City than the
oriental Legions entered it, on their March, as was ſuppoſed, into
Aſia. But they were nopt there by the Empreſs; and the Guards,
upon their landing on the oppoſite Shorc, received an Order, ſigned
both by the Emperor and the Empreſs, acquainting them that they
had no further Occaſion for their Service, and commanding them
to deliver up their Arms, and retire, on Pain of being treated as
Rebels and Traitors, to their reſpective Homes. As they were quite
deftitutc of Money as well as Proviſions, and ſenſible that they could
3
not
+
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
91
Chriſt 786.
Year of
nor withſtand the whole Strength of the Empire, which they know, Year of
would be employed againſt them, they obeyed, delivered up their
Arms, and disbanded : And Irene, not ſatisfied with thus getting rid
of them, ordered their Wives and Children with all, who were any-
ways related to, or connected with them, to quit the City forthwith,
and retire to the Countries, where they were bornd. Theſe brave
Veterans had ſerved, and with great Reputation, under Conſtantine
Copronymus as well as his Son Leo in all their Wars; and thus were
their long and faithful Services in the End rewarded. But they, as
true to God as to their Sovereigns, would worſhip God alone, would
ſuffer no other Objcets of Worſhip to be ſet up in his Room, and were
therefore left in their old Age to ſtarve, more worthy of a Place
amongſt Martyrs in the Kalendar, than any of the inſolent Monks,
who ſuffered for their Diſobedience to the Law of God, and Laws of
the Empire.
And now Irene, truſting in her new Guards, all zealous Friends The Council
to Imagcs, and ready to concur with her in all her Meaſures, began meets at Nice.
to think of aſembling the Council anew. But apprehending that Chriſt 787.
their meeting in the Metropolis, where the Iconoclaſt Party was ſtill
very ſtrong, might be attended with freſh Diſturbances, ſhe thought
it adviſeable to transfer it to ſome other Place; and the Place, that
appeared to her the moſt proper, as well as to the Patriarch, was the
City of Nice in Bithynia. The Image-worſhippers were there by
far the ſtronger Party of the two, and ſure to prevail, were any Op-
poſition offered, by Blows, if Argumcnts failed them, Beſides, the
Empreſs flattered herſelf, that the very Name of Nice, a Nanie ſo
famous in the Annals of the Church, might recommend a Council
held there, and in ſome Degree prejudice People, at leaſt the un-
diſtinguiſhing Multitude, in its Favour. Freſh Orders were therefore
iſſued by Taraſius, and ſent in the Name of the Emperor and the
Empreſs to all Biſhops requiring them to repair to Nice, and there
purſue the great Work, which they had begun, but the Enemies of
Truth had interrupted, at Conftantinople. At the ſame Time Melo
ſengers were diſpatched after thic Legates of the Pope, who not think-
ing themſelves ſafe at Conſtantinople, and ſuffering their Fear to get
thic better of their Zcal, had left that City to return to Rome. The
Mefiengers overtook them in Sicily; and they, upon hearing that
the mutinous Soldiery were disbanded and diſperſed ; that others
Theoph. ibid.. Concil. Nic. 2. ad. 2.
N 2
Werc
1
92
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
1
Year of
were ſubſtituted in their Room, on whoſe Zeal and Protection they
Chriſt 787.
might entirely depend, and that the Council was to meet, not at
Conftantinople, but at Nice, wherс there was nothing to fear, con-
fented to return. By the Time they reached Conſtantinople the Bi-
ſhops had, purſuant to their Summons, all got to Nice; and thither
Taraftus, who had waired for the Legates at Conſtantinople, repaired,
ſoon after their Arrival, with them, with the great Officers of the
Empire, who were to aſſiſt at the Council in the Emperor's Namc,
and the two Monks, who were to perſonate the three caliern Patri-
archs, and had been entertained in the Imperial Palace ever ſince the
Diffolution of the Council, and greatly carefied by the Empreis
First Sellion. All Things being now ready for the opening of the Council, the
Fathers niet for the firſt Time in the grcat Church of Sr. Sophia on
thc 24th of September of the preſent Year.
At this Affembly were
preſent, according to ſomc, 350 Bithops, according to others 367,
and 377; a Number ſufficient to determinc any Truth, were Truthi
to be determined by Numbers. Thc Council was opened with a ſhort
Speech by Tarafills, wherein hic exhorted the holy Biſhops, aſſembled
in the Lord, not to examine the Points in Diſpute with Care and.
Attention, and impartially decide them, but to exert themſelves
manfully againſt the late Hereſy. Here F. Pagi, to prevent us from
falling inco a great Miltake, and concluding that Tarafius preſided at
fided? the Council becauſe lie opened it, takes Carc to inform us, that in
Truth the Pope's Legates preſided, but that as Taraſius was a Man of
great Addreſs, of conſummatc Experience in the Management of
Affairs, and far better skilled than they in the Greek Tongue, they
yicided to himn the whole Management and Direction of the Council.
Indeed that the Council was entirely inanaged and directed by Ta.
rafius is very certain; and that he preſided at it either alone, or jointly
with the Legates of the Pope, and the pretended Legates of the
caſtern Patriarchs is no leſs certain. For the Patriarch Photius, in
his Book of the Seven General Councils, lays in expreſs Terms, that
the Direction and Preſidency of this Council was given to Taraſins,
to the Pope's Legates, and the Legates of the threc other Patriarchse.
· What Photius writes is confirmed by the anonymous Author of the
Liber Synodicus; for that Writer too names Taraſius, thc Pope's Le-
gates, and the two Monks, as all preſiding at the Councilf; and is
is to be obſerved, that both chele Writers nanic Taralius in the first
o Phot. dc Scpt. Synod. p. 57.
f Bibliothec. Jur. Canon. p. 1210.
Place,
Vho Area
1
S
Hadrian. BISHOP'S of Rome.
93
Chriſt 787
If he pre-
1
Place, and conſequently as the firſt or chief Preſident. To the Tc- Year of
ſtimony of theſe two Writers I ſhall add the unexceptionable Teſti
mony of Taraſius himſelf, who ſpeaking, in the firft Seſſion, of the
Tumult, that happened the preceding Year at Conſtantinople, tells the
Fathers that it happened when they were alrcady aſſembled, while he
preſided, fræfidentibus nobis in venerabili templo, &c.
fided at Conftantinople, it is not to be doubted but that he likewiſe
preſided at Nice, the Council of Conftantinople and that of Nice
being one and the ſame Council, only transferred from one place to.
another. I might add, that he probably preſided alonc, it being
quite improbable that had the Pope's Legates, and the two Monks.
ſhared that Honour with him, he would, by not nicntioning them,,
have aſſumed it all to himſelf(W).
When Taraſiiis had ended his Speech, the Imperial Conmiſlion- The Em-
crs Petronius, John, and Nictpkorus, who had ſucceded Taraſius peror's Letter
in the Employment of firſt Secretary, and afterwards ſucccded him
in the Patriarchal Dignity, produced a Letter from Conſtantine and
Irene to the Council, and deſired it might be read; which was donc
accordingly. In that Lerror they declared that they had aſſembled
the preſent Council with the Approbation and Conſent of all the
Patriarchs, whereas of the five i atriarchs three knew nothing of it,
as has been ſhown above 8; that the Rcfignation of the late Patri.
arch, and his death-bed Repentance becauſe he had received the Coun-
cil, that condemned Imagesh, having made a deep Impreſion on their
Minds, they had thereupon relo.ved to recall the baniſhed Faith, and
with that View raiſed Taraſius to the Patriarchal Dignity, who had
ſuggeſted to them the aſſembling of a General Council, as the most
effcctual Means of obtaining ſo deſirable an End; that they liad ac-
cordingly affenibled a Gencral Council from all parts of the Globe
a toto terrarum orbe (X); that it was incumbent upon them, now
read.
& See above, p. 85.
h See above, p. 72.
1
(W) Du Pin in his Account of this Parts of the Globe not one Perſon affiſted,
Council ſays in one Place, that the Legates beſides the Legates of the Pope, from Italy,
of the Pope were placed the firſt, and Ta France, Germany, Spain, Britain, or Afrin
raſius next to them; and in another, that ca; nay not one, except the two Monks
the Legates of Hadrian did not think it and the Pope's Legates, who was not a
adviſeable that certain Articles of his Ho- Subject of the Empire; and the Empire
lineſs's Letrer ſhould be read in a Council, was confined, at this Time, within very
at which Tarafius preſided (1).
narrow Bounds, and but a very ſmall Pore.
(X) At this Council aſſembled from all tion of the Globe.
(1) Du Pin Biblioth. Ecclef. t. 6. p. 138, 139.
they
1
9:46
Hadrian.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, ór
grine.
Year of they were aſſembled, to cut off all Errors and Novelties in the Prac-
Chriſt 787; tice and Faith of the Church, as the Prince of the Apoſtles cut off
the Ear of the perfidious Yew; to root out and condemn to Hell-fire
every Tree bearing Fruit of Contention, and thus put an End to the
unhappy Diſputes, that had ſo long rent into Parties and Factions
both the Church and the Empirei. The Letter was reccived by the
whole Aſſembly with loud Acclamations, with repeated Wiſhes of
long Life and Proſperity to their moſt rcligious Sovereigns, who dc-
ſerved ſo well of the orthodox Faith, of the Catholic Church, of
all truc Chriſtians.
Some Biſhops In the next Place ſeveral Biſhops, viz. Baſilius of Ancyra, Thea
abjure their dories of Myra, Theodoſius of Ammorium, and others, who had con.
former Doce
demned Images, or received the Council, that condemned them, pre-
ſented themſelves to the Fathers, begging they might be allowed to
abjure that Hereſy and take their Place in thic Council. For in this
mock Council none were allowed to fit, who had ever condemned
Images, till they had ſolemnly abjured that Opinion as a Hereſy :
Which was declaring it Hereſy not to worſhip Images, when they had
not yet examined whether it was Hereſy or not, nor heard a ſingle
Argument or Reaſon for or againſt that Opinion. The Fathers rea-
dily complicd with the Requeſt of the penitent Biſhops; and Bafilius
of Ancyra abjured his Opinion the firſt in the following Words: I
admit the Interceſſion of our immaculate Lady the Mother of God,
of the holy Angels, of all Saints, and beg them to intercede for
me; I receive with all Honour, falute, and honourably honour, ho-
norabiliter honoro, their holy and precious Reliques, believing I
Shall tkus partake of their Holineſs. I likewiſe ſalute, honouir, and
embrace the venerable Images of our Saviour, of the Virgin Mary,
of the Apoſtles, Prophets, Martyrs, and of all the Saints. I con-
demn, abhor, and moſt ſincerely renounce the falſe, wicked and abo-
minable Synod, that condemned Images, and cauſed them to be
taken down and caſt out of the Churches. I moſt ſincerely ana-
thematize all, who break Images; who apply to the venerable
Images what is ſaid in Scripture againſt Idols; who call them
Idols, or ſay that we approach them as Gods, who reject the Doc-
trine of the Fathers, and the Tradition of the Church, Saying with
Arius, Ncſtorius, Eutyches and Dioſcorus, that they receive no
Doctrine but what they find in the Old or New Teſtament, Ba.
i Concil. Nic. 2. act. I.
filius
.
1
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
95
Chriſt 787
the Council
filius ended his Retractation, and his anathemas with one againſt Year of
himſelf, if hic ever willingly or unwillingly renounced or impugned
the Doctrine, which he now profeſſed k. The Retractarion of Theo-
dorus of Myra and Theodoſius of Ammorium differed but very little
from that of Baſilius; only Theodoſius declared that he received,
embraced, and adored the holy and adorable Images; that he re-
ceived, embraced and adored the Rcliqucs of Saints, and anathema- And are al-
tized all, who did not teach and inculcate the Doctrine of Image-
lowed to fit ini
worſhip. The Retractation of theſe three Biſhops was received with
great Applauſe by the Fathers, and as it was by all judged ſincere,
they were allowed to fit with the reſt in the Council. Seven Bi-
ſhops more preſented themſelves in order to recant, and be thereupon
admitted into the Council. But as they had diſtinguiſhed themſelves
by their Zcal againſt Images, and were ſuppoſed to have been the
Authors of the Diſturbances, that obliged the Council to break up
the preceding Year at Conſtantinople, the Fathers were divided in
their Opinions with reſpect to them, ſome being for degrading them,
others for receiving them by a now Impoſition of Hands, and ſome
for admitting them into the Council, without any other Ceremony,
upon their owning themſelves Heretics, and renouncing their forn.er
wicked Sentiments with reſpect to Images as a Herefy: And this
Opinion prevailed in the End; but their Abjuration and Reception
pur
off to the next Seſſion. Thus by this very numerous, very
wiſe, very holy, very learned Council, as Baronius, Maimburg, Na-
talis file it, was it declared a wicked Hereſy, and abjured as a wicked
Hereſy, nor to worſhip Images, when they had not yet examined, nor
begun to examine whether it was a Hereſy, or not. But Irene was
bent upon having the holy Images reſtored; Taraſius, tho’a Layman,
had been raiſed by her to the Patriarchal Dignity, becauſe a zealous
Friend to the holy Images; the Pope, offended at the uncanonical
Elc&tion and Ordination of a Layman, had declared, that hic approved
of his Election only upon Condition that he got the holy Images re-
fored; ſo that the holy Images were to be reſtored at all Events:
And the moſt cffectual Means of obtaining that End was to declare
at once all Enemics to Images Heretics, and by excluding them from
the Council till they had abjured their wicked Herely, prevent all:
dangerous Inquiries, Debates, and Oppoſition.
were
* Conſil. Nic. ibid,
In
96
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of
Ediants.
In the ſecond Scllion, held two Days after the firſt, that is, on the
Chrift; 87: 26th of September, Gregory, Biſhop of Neocæſarea was introduced
So: 0rd Sef- by the Imperial Comuniſlioners in order to abjure his Hereſy, and
Jioni. take his place in the Council. He made his Abjuration accordingly,
Gregory of
Neo xſarca proteſting, that hc received, honoured and adored the vencrable
Images, and unfcigncdly repented as a moſt wicked Action his having
cver oppoled them. However as he had been of all the Iconoclalls
the moſt active in pulling them down and breaking them, and beſides
was ſaid to have cruelly perſecuted all under his Juriſdiâion, who
favoured, or were ſuſpected to favour that Cauſe, his Reception was
puit
off till his Caſe ſhould be further conſidered, and he ordered to
preſent, in the next Seſlion, a Confeflion of his Faith written and
Hadrian's ſigned by himſelf. Gregory being diſmiſſed, Hadrian's Letter in
Letter read. Anſwer to the Eniperor's was read, approved and reccived with all
the Miſinterpretations of Scripture, all the falſe or impertinent Alle-
gations from the Fathers, and the legendary Tales it contained! His
Letter to Taraſius was likewiſe read and approved. And thus ended
the ſecond Scllion,
ThirdSeffion.
The Council met again on the 29th of September, when Gregory
Gregory :d of Neocafarea, having preſented a Confeſlion of his now Faith,
niitted 10 the
was, after repeated Submiſlions and Proteſtations, confirmed in his
Dignity, and allowed, with the teven Biſhops mentioned above, all,
no doubt, fincere Converts to the Worſhip of Images, to take his
Place in the Council. In the next Place was read the Letter of Ta-
rafiris to the caſtern Patriarchs m, the Anſwer of the Monks of Pa-
leſtine to that Letter, which palled in the Council for the Anſwer of
the Patriarchs themſelvesn, and the ſuppoſed Letrer of Theodore of
Jeruſalem to the two Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antiocho.
The Letter of Theſe Letters were approved by all, and received as containing the
Tarafıus to
true Catholic, Orthodox, and Apoftolic Faith; and Anathemas were
Patriarchs
, thereupon thundered by the Pope's Legates, in the Name of the 318
and theirs to Biłhops, who had formerly nict in the ſame Placc, that is, in the
Name of the 318 Biſhops of the firſt Council of Nice, againſt all,
who did not profcfs the fame Doctrine, and did not agree with the
moſt holy Pope Hadrian, with the holy Patriarch of New Rome,
and the other holy Patriarchs in the Adoration of Iarages. The
Anathemas, thundered by the Legates, were approved and confirmed
Council.
the callern
Sec above, p. 79.
. See above, p. 87.
su See above, p. 78.
* Sce above, p. 86.
with
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
97
11
Chriſt 787
with loud and repeated Acclamations by all, who were preſent, and Year of
Thanks returned to the Almighty for thus uniting the Eaſt and the
Weſt, the South and the North in one Council and one Faith, when
the eaſtern Patriarchs knew nothing of the Council, as has been
ſhewn P, and the weſtern Biſhops condemned it as ſoon as they heard
of it, as will be ſhown hereafter.
And now that the good Fathers had obliged ſeveral Biſhops, who Fourth Seſ-
had oppoſed the Worſhip of Images as unlawful, to abjure that Opi- Proofs al-
nion as a wicked Hereſy, and had anathematized all, who hold it, as leged from
Heretics, it was high Time for them to examine whether it was a
Scripture by
Tarafius ir
Hereſy or not, ſince they pretended to have met for that Purpoſe, or, Favour of
at leaſt, to prove that it was. . And this they attempted in the two Images.
following Sellions, but with what Succeſs I ſhall leave the Reader to
judge. As the Iconoclaſts urged the Scripture and the divinc Prohi-
bition thou ſhalt not make to thyſelf any graven Images, &c. againſt
the Uſe as well as the Worſhip of Images, in the fourth Seſſion,
held on the firſt of October, Taraſius undertook to prove from Scrip-
ture the Lawfulneſs of the one and the other. But the only Paſſages
he alleged were thoſe, in which mention is made of the Cherubims
ſhadowing the Mercy-ſeat 9; and from them he argued, if Cherubims,
Shadowing the Mercy-ſeat, were allowed under the Law, may not we
have the Images of Chriſt, of his holy Mother, of the Saints and
the Martyrs ſhadowing our Altars under the Diſpenſation of the Gof-
pel? This (tale Argument, if it deſerves the Name of an Argument,
had been a thouſand Times anſwered by the Iconoclaſts: They had
ſhown, as often as it was urged againſt them, a wide Difference be-
tween the Cherubims and the Images they oppoſed, viz. that the
Cherubims were made by God's expreſs Command, which could be
ſaid of no Images of our Saviour or the Saints; that the Cherubims
were not worſhipped; and therefore could not be alleged to authorize
thc worſhipping of Images; that they were not even ſeen thic
People, but kept concealed from their Sight in the Holy of Holies,
and therefore could not ſo much as authorize the Uſe of Images in
the Places of Worſhip, the Holy of Holics, where they were kept,
being no Place of Worſhip, fince none were allowed to worſhip there,
nay nor to look into the Placer. John, the pretended Vicar of the
caſtern Patriarchs, added, that Jacob ſet up a Pillar, and that he
p See above, p. 85.
9 Num. c. 7. ver, 8, 9. Exod. C. 25: ver. 17, 18.
Ezek. c. 41. ver. 18, 19. Heb. c. 9. ver. 5. í Vol. 3. p. 276. note F.
VOL. IV.
0.
wreſtled
98
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
ed.
of their parents
Year of wreſtled with an Angel in the Form of a Man, concluding from
Chriſt 787
thence that Chriſtians may fet up Images, as if there were no Differ-
And by the ence between a Pillar and an Image, and may likewiſe paint Angels
pretended Vi-
in the Form of Men; which was altogether forcign to the Purpoſe,
car of the
coſtern Pa- the Iconoclaſts not thinking it unlawful to paint Angels and Saints,
triarchs.
but only to worſhip cither them or their Pictures. The ſame Monk
obſerved that the Agreement between Hadrian and Taraſius, be-
tween the Roman Church and the Empreſs Irene in the preſent Dif-
pute about Images, had been foreſeen by King David, and foretold
Paſſages of in the following Words, Mercy and Trith, that is Hadrian and Ta.
Scriprure
rafius, are met together, Righteouſneſs and Peace, that is, the Row
Jrangely
miſinterpret- man Church and Irene, whoſe Name in Greek imports Peace, have
killed each others. The other Texts they allege from Scripture are
no leſs foreign than theſe, that is altogether foreign, to their Purpoſe,
viz. Nathan bowed himſelf to the King with his Face to the
Ground'. Abraham bowed himſelf to the People of the Land,
even to the Children of Heth u; few me thy Facew, thy Face will I
ſeekx. From the two firſt Paſſages they argue; if it is lawful to bow
to Men, it cannot be unlawful to bow to Images, to the holy and ve-
nerable Images of our Saviour, of his bleſſed Mother, &c.; that is
in other Words, if we may lawfully bow down to Men to honour
them, we may lawfully bow down to Images to worſhip them;
:
which is arguing from civil Honour to religious Worſhip; from the
civil Honour we give, and are no where forbidden in Scripture to
give to Men, to the religious Worſhip, which in many Places of Scrip-
turc we are exprefly forbidden to give to Images. Had Nathan
bowed to David to worſhip him, or Abraham to the Children of
Heth to worſhip them, both had been guilty of Idolatry. As bow-
ing is lawful when only a Mark of civil Honour, Reſpect or Eleem;
So is kiſſing when only a Mark of Friendſhip and Kindneſs; and as
the one is unlawful when an Act of religious Worſhip, ſo is the
other: Of this Diſtinction, however obvious, the learned Fathers of
the Council were not aware, elſe they had not concluded from its
being lawful for Parents to kiſs their Children and the Images of
their Children, and for Children to kiſs their Parents and the Images
kiſs the Images of their Saviour and his Mother. This Argument
+
Gen. c. 23. ver. 7.
s Pral. 85. ver. 20.
i i Kings C. I. ver. 23.
* Cantic, * Plal. 27. ver. 8.
3
they
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
99
Chriſt 787
I
they frequently urge in the preſent and following Seſlions; and Le Year of
ontius, one of the Biſhops of the Council, thought it of ſuch Force
that ſtarting up when he firſt heard it, now tell me, ſaid he inſulting
the Iconoclaſts and improving the Argument, tell me, thou, who
thinkeſt nothing, that is made with Hands, nothing that is created,
is to be adored; ſhalt thou kiſs thy wicked Wife, and may not I
kiſs the Image of the bleſed Virgin? The Iconoclaſt, whom he thus
addreſſes, did not, I ſuppoſe, worſhip his Wife when he kiſſed her,
nor kiſs her by way of Worſhip. But to kiſs an Image is to worſhip
it according to this very Council, kiſling being reckoned by them,
as well as bowing, amongſt the Acts of Worſhip due to Imagcs. As
to the other two Texts of Scripture quored above, by the Word Face
in thoſe Texts, and where.cver elſe it occurs in Scripture, the Council
moſt impertinently underſtands the Image of Chrift; fo that accord-
ing to them mow me thy Face is as much as to ſay ſhow me thy
Image; thy Face will I ſeek, thy Image will I ſeek; the Rich Mall
entreat thy Face, or pray before thy Face, the Rich ſhall entreat thy
Image, or pray before thy Image. And theſe are the only Paſſages
350 Biſhops could find in Holy Writ to ſatisfy the World, that it is
not only lawful to uſe Images, but to bow down to them, and wor-
ſhip them, notwithſtanding the divine Prohibition, thou malt not
bow down to them, nor worſhip them.
Their obliging, in the very Beginning of the firſt Sellion, Baſilius They them-
of Ancyra to anathematizc all, who ſhould ſay they received nofelves ſenſible
Doârine but what was taught in the Old or New Teſtament, plainly Doctrine was
ſhows that they were themſelves ſenſible thc Doctrine, which thcy not to be pro-
wanted to define, was taught in neither, and that it was not ſo
Scripture.
much to prove their Doctrine from Scripture that they alleged the
few Paſſages quoted above, as that they might not be thought to
own, as they would had they produced nonc, that it could not be
proved from Scripture. When Arguments from Scripture were
urged againſt them by thcir Adverſarics, their common Anſwer was,
that all Heretics and Patrons of Herely have ever founded their He-
rcſy on the holy Scriptures, alleging ſuch Paſages from thence as are
capable of ſtaggering or milleading the Unwary and thc Ignorant.
But we muſt cxccpt thc Patrons of Image-worſhip, and do them the
uſtice of clearing them from that Imputation, not one Paſlage being
alleged by them capable of miſleading, or ſtaggering in the leaſt cven
the moſt ignorant.
02
Thc
that their
ved from
ICO
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of
thers,
The Scripture being ſoon laid aſide, the voluminous Works of the
Chriſt 787
Fathers were brought in; and of Teſtimonics from them the good
*Ieftimonies. B ſhops were as prodigal as tliey had been ſparing of Teſtimonies
from the la
from Scripture. To cxamine them all would be an uſeleſs as well
as a troubleſome Task; and therefore I ſhall only obſerve here,
1. That nor onc Father or Chriſtian Writer of the three firſt Con-
turics was quoted by the Council to witneſs their apoſtolical Tradio,
tion, or a Tradition, that came, as they boaſted, from the preaching
of the Apoſtles. Chryſoſtom, Gregory Nazianzen, Athanafius,
Afterius and Bafil flouriſhed in the fourth Century; Cyril of Alex.
andria, Antișater of Boſtra and Nili:s the Monk in the fifth; Leon-
tius the Monk, Joannes Jejunator Patriarch of Conſtantinople, and
Simeon Stylites in the ſixth; Sophronius of Jeruſalem, Anaſtaſius
thic Monk, Anaftafius Patriarch of Antioch, and Leontius Cyprius
in the ſeven-l1; Germanus of Conſtantinople, Damafcene, the two
Popes Gregory II. and III. in the cighth. And theſe, tho'the carlieſt
among them lived near zoo Years after the Apoſtles, are the only
Evidences they brought in to witneſs their apoſtolical Tradition, or a
Tradition, that had obtained in the Church ever ſince the Times of
No Fathers the Apoſtles. Their not quoting any of thc Fathers of the three firſt
quoted of the Centuries is a plain Proof, they could find nothing in them that
three firf
centuries, ſeemed in the leaſt to favour their opinion, or could be ſo miſinter-
prcted as to favour it; and they had, as was obſerved by the Author
of the Caroline Books, a particular Talent at miſinterpreting, mang-
ling and corrupting Authors to make them ſay what they thought
they ſhould have ſaid. As they could therefore find nothing in the
Writings of the Apoſtles, of their immediate Succeſſors, or of thoſe,
who ſucccded them for the firſt 300 Years of the Chriſtian Religion,
that favoured in the leaſt the Doctrine of Image-worſhip, they would
have argued very abſurdly in concluding that Doctrine to have been
taught by the Apoſtles, even tho' the Fathers of the 4th and the fol-
lowing Centuries, that is, the Fathers, whom they quote, had all
taught it to a Man.
But that none of them taught it, excepting thoſe of the 8th Cen-
tury, when that Superſtition firſt began to obtain ; that in the very
Paſſages quoted out of the Fathers there is not ſo much as a diſtant
Hint of any Worſhip given to Images by thoſe Fathers or by any in
their Time, will undeniably appear to every Reader, who can prevail
upon himself to peruſc the tedious Acts of this Council. All they
4
Say
1
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
IOI
ſay is, that Pictures are pious Repreſentations; that they were pleaſed Year of
Chrift -87.
and affected with the Sight of them; that they wept in beholding
the Picture of Chriſt's Pallion; that the Painters, who drew ſuch Pollages
from the Fa-
Picces, were piouſly employed ; that they repreſent to us thic Battles abers of the
of the Martyrs, put us in mind of them, and Nir us up to tread in fubſequent
their Footſteps ; that the Walls of Churches ſhould rather be painted only prove the
with Hiſtorics of the Old and New Teſtament than with Horſes, Uſe of Images
Dogs and Hares; that all Creatures have a natural Reverence for lar ful.
Man becauſe he is the Image of God. No Proteſtant, however
zealous for the Purity of the Chriſtian Worſhip, could, I believe,
fcruple to ſubſcribe theſe Propofitions; and yet the Fathers of the
Council, putting, as they frequently do, more in the Conſequence
than was in the Premiſes, conclude from them that Images are to be
worſhipped. Gregory Nazianzen, it is true, ſpeaking of an Image
beſtowed on it, as the Council obſerves, thc Epithct of vencrable.
But unluckily the Inage, on which he beſtowed that Epithet, was
not the Image of our Saviour, of the Virgin Mary, of any Martyr
or Saint, but of Polemon a Pagan; whence it evidently follows,
that by the Word venerable Gregory either did not mean worthy of
Veneration and Worſhip, or if he did, that he thought the Image of
a Pagan worthy of Veneration and Worſhip.
But Maximus, ſay they, in the Account he gives of an Agrec-
ment between him and Theodofius, tells us that the Book of the
Goſpels, the Croſs, and the Images of our Saviour, and his Mother
being brought in, they both laid their Hands on them, and killed
them to confirm the Agreement they had made: And whatever we
kiſs, that we adore. But Maximus lived in the 7th Century, in 660
according to Bellarmine y, and therefore is no good Evidence for a
Tradition pretended to be derived from the Apoſtles. Beſides, kiſſing To kiſs and
and adoring are with all, but the Biſhops of this Council, two very adore differ-
ent Thing for
different Things; and thoſe, who utterly deny that any Adoration is
due to the Goſpels, yet when they take a ſolemn Oath kiſs without
Scruple the Book. The Paſſage they quote from Leontius of Cyprus
is the moſt favourable of all to their Cauſe. But he too lived as late
as the 7th Century 2, is an obſcure Author, and ſome think that the
Work, they quote and aſcribe to him, was never heard of before
the Time of this Council. To conclude, all that can be gathered
from the Paſſages of the Fathers quoted in the Council is, that Images
; Bellar. de Script. Ecclef. p. 113; * Idem ibid. p. II L.
wers
102
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
from the
Year of were uſed in the 4th and the following Centuries, and that in the
Cbrift 787; Opinion of thoſe Fathers ſome Advantages attended the Uſe of them.
This is evidently the moſt that can be gathered from the Paſſages they
quoted: And yet Tarafius and the Legates of the Pope ſatisfied, or
pretending to be ſatisfied, it had been made undeniably to appear
from the Writings of the Fathers, that not only the Uſe but the
Worſhip of Images had obtained in the Catholic Church ever ſince
the Times of the Apoſtles, Anathemas wcrc thundered by the whole
Aſſembly againſt all, who ſhould ſay that to worſhip Images was an
Innovation, or was not grounded on an uninterrupted Tradition (tho'
they had not quoted a ſingle Father of the three firſt Centuries) from
the carlieſt Ages of the Chriſtian Religion to the preſent.
No Proof When they had done with the Fathers the Councils were brought
in, which they boaſted were all on their Side, but nevertheleſs con-
Councils for
the Worſhip tented themſelves with only alleging the 8zd Canon of the Quinifext
of Images. Council, allowing Chriſt, who to the Time of that Council had
been painted in thc Figure of a Lamb, to be thenceforth repreſented
in the form of a Man. But thc Quiniſext Council was held in the
Jatter End of the 7th Century, in 691, and conſequently too late
to evidence an apoſtolical Tradition. Beſides, by that Canon Chriſt
was allowed to be repreſented in his Humanity, but no kind of Wor-
ſhip was there allowed to be given, or ſaid to be due to that Repre-
ſentation; nay, the very Canon they quote ſhows, that ſo late as the
ind of the 7th Century cven the repreſenting of Chriſt in his Hu-
manity, or in the form of a Man, was a new Thing, or what had
never before been allowed. As for the preceding Councils, it was
owned by Pope Gregory II. that there was nothing more in them of
Images than of cating and drinkinga, and by the great Patron of
Images Germanus of Conſtantinople, that the worſhipping them was
a Point, which the preceding Councils liad all left undiſcuſſed and
undetermined: And truly of Images not the lealt mention is made
in any of the General Councils, except the Quinifext, nor indeed
in any other whatever, except that of Eliberis, which condemned
even the Uſe of Images in all Places of Worſhipb. But the Wor-
ſhip of Images, ſay the Icarned Prelates, was not forbidden in any
of thoſe Councils. Neither was the Worſhip of the Pagan Deities,
or even of the Devil, forbidden in any of thoſe Councils; and are
we to conclude from thence, that they approved of our worſhipping
a See vol. 3. p. 284,
• See vol. 3. p. 225.
them
1
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
103
Chriſt 787
them? The Rcafon, why none of them forbad the Worſhip of Year of
Images is obvious ; Images had not begun to be worſhipped in the
Time even of the lateſt of thoſe Councils, as has been demonſtrated
clſewherec; and they could not forbid what was not yet practiſed.
A Hereſy muſt be broached before it can be condemned, and a Prac-
tice introduced bcforc it can be forbidden.
In the laſt Placc were brought in the Lives of the Saints, with Fabulous Le-
gends quoted
Heaps of Monkiſh Legends to corroborate the Teſtimonies alleged and incre-
from the Scripture, the Fathers, and the Councils; and out of thoſe dible Stories.
fabulous Pieces were read Miracles without Number ſaid to have been
wrought by Images. The Story of our Saviour's Image crucified at
Berytus by the Jews was believed by the good Fathers, and when
it was rcad drew Tears from the Eyes of the wholc Affcmbly. Of
this ridiculous Tale I have ſpoken elſewhered, but cannot help tak-
ing Notice here of the ſurpriſing Ignorance or Stupidity of theſe
good Fathers. On the onc Hand they ſuppoſe the Miracle wrought
by that Image, viz. the Converſion of the Jews upon their ſecing
Blood iſuc from it, to have been wrought at this Time, or not long
before thic Council, and call it a new Miracle, a Miracle wrought
juſt nowe. On the other Hand they will have it to have been re-
lated, by St. Athanaſius, who died 300 Years before the Council,
and father upon him the Piece, out of which it was read. The Image
of our Saviour, ſuppoſed to have been ſent by our Saviour himſelf
to Abgaris King of Edeſaf, was not forgotten on this Occaſion: The Images of
And the miraculous Deliverance of that City by means of ſuch a Pal. Berytus and
Edeſſa.
ladium, when Choſroes beſieged it, was rcad as it is related by Eva-
grius s, and applauded by the whole Afembly as an unqueſtionable
Truth, thor of the ſuppoſed miraculous Deliverance not the leaſt
mention is made by Procopius, who lived in thoſe Days, and has
related all the remarkable Events of that War, nor by any other
Writer whatever. The Image indeed was extant in the Time of the
Council; for Leo, Reader of the Church of Conſtantinople, aflured
the Fathers that he had been at Edeſſa, and had ſeen it there honoured
and worſhipped by the Faithful. But it was not extant in the Time
of Eufebius, who was at Edeſa 300 Years before, and therc ſaw the
pretended Letters from Abgarús to our Saviour, and from our Sa-
See vol. 3. p. 202, & ſeq. & Sec vol. 3. p. 204. note B. e Con. Nic.
Seff. 4, p. 231.
See vol. 3. p. 203. note A. 8 Evagr. I. 4. c. 27.
viour
.
nh
104
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of viour to Abgarush; but not the Image, elſс he would have mentioned
Chriſt 787, the Image as well as the Letters; nay it is evident from his thinking
it unlawful to paint Chriſt, as we have ſhown he did i, that he cither
never had heard of that Image, or that he looked upon all, tliat was
faid of it, as a mere Fable. I ſhould quite tire the Reader were I to
relate the many abſurd, childiſh, and ridiculous Tales, the many
Dreams of old Monks, and old Womens Stories, that were read out
of obfcure and fabulous Writers, or gravely told by ſome of the Bi-
ſhops of this venerable Aſſembly to convince the Iconoclaſts, that
Images had ever been worſhipped in the Catholic Church, and that
God had, by ſtupendous Miracles, approved of that Worſhip. To
ſome of them however I muſt allow a Place here, that from them
the Reader may judge of the reſt, as well as of the Senſe, Wiſdom,
Penetration and Learning of thoſc, who not only were not aſhamed
to relate ſuch idle and incredible Stories, or hear them related in
ſuch an Aſſembly, but grounded chiefly upon them a Definition of
Faith.
The Story of Out of the Pratum Spirituale, a Book only fit for the Enter-
a Monk
tainment of Children, was read the following Story. An old Monk,
haunted with
the Spirit of who had been haunted with the Spirit of Fornication ever ſince his
Fornication. Youth, finding the unclean Spirit continued to affault him, without
Intermiſſion, even in his old Age, began to lament his hard Fate,
and addreſling the Devil, kow long, ſaid he, wilt thoil plague and
tormint me? Depart from me now; thoil haft been with me even
to old Age. Hercupon the Devil appearing to him ſaid, ſwear to
me that thou wilt tell no Man what I fall ſay to thee, and I will
aſſault thee no more. Thc Monk ſworc as the Devil directed him,
and thereupon the Devil, fatisficd he ſhould compaſs his End, the
Damnation of the old Monk, inorc cffcaually by diverting him from
the Worſhip of Images, than by tcmpting him to Uncleanneſs, faid
to him, worſkip no more this Image, the Image of the Virgin Mary
with her Son in her Arms, and I will tempt thee no more. The
Monk deſired Time to conſider of it, and diſcovered the next Day to
the Abbot Theodore, not withſtanding the Oath he had taken, all that
had pafled between him and the Devil. The Abbot commended
him for brcaking his Oath, and at the ſame Time aſſured him, that
he had better go into all the Stews in the City than forbear wor-
h See vol.. 3. ubi fupra.
i See vol. 3. p. 231. note F.
Mipping
1
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
105
น
Shipping Chriſt and kis Mother in their Images (Z); that is, if he Year of
Cluilt 787.
could not redeem himſelf from the Temptation by any other Means
but by either renouncing the Worſhip of an Image, or ſatisfying his
Luft with all the Harlots in Town, he ought to let looſe the Reins to
his Luft. The Anſwer of the Abbot, that would have raiſed the
Indignation of any other Chriſtian Allembly, and would have been
rejected with the utmoſt Abhorrence as uttered by the Devil of For-
nication himſelf in the Diſguiſe of an Abbot, was received by the
Council, by a Council of 350 or 370 Biſhops with general Applauſe;
nay, the Aſſembly was ſo well pleaſed with the whole Story, that
they ordered it to be read again in the following Scllion.
Out of the ſame Book were read two other Tales, and both ap-Other Tales
proved and applauded by the Council. John the Anchoret, a very no leſs abfurd
great Man, as he is called, lived in a Cave at Sochas in Paleſtine, lins.
where he had an Image of the Virgin Mary with Chriſt in her Arms.
Before that Image the holy Anchoret kept a Candle conſtantly burn-
ing; and when his Devotion prompted him, as it frequently did, to
undertake a Pilgrimage to Jerufalem, to Mount Sinai, or to any
other more diſtant Sanctuary, he uſed to commit the Care of his
Candle to the Virgin Mary, charging her not to let it go out, leſt ſhe
and her Son ſhould be left in the dark, The Virgin acquitted herſelf
of her Truſt with great Fidelity; for tho' the lioly Man was abſent
ſometimes two, ſometimes four, and ſometimes fix Months, hic found
the Candle burning, and not waſted in the leaſt, at his Return. The
other Story was of a Woman, who having dug a deep Pit to find
Water, and finding none, was ordered in her Sleep to lay the Image
of the Abbot Theodofius at the bottom of the Pit; which ſhe did,
and the Pit immediately filled with moſt excellent Water. Of this
Miracle the Fathers thought no Man could doubt but a Mahometan
or a few, ſince the Perſon, who relates it, ſaw the Well, and drank
of the water. The true Criterion, or Mark of Diſtinction between
true and falſe Miracles is, according to St. Ireneusk, that true Mi-
racles are done for the Benefit of Mankind. And what mighty Bc-
ncfit was it to Mankind that a Pit ſhould be filled with Water for the
1
k Iren. adverf. hæreſ. 11. 56.
(Z), Expedit autem tibi potius ut non di- noftrum Jefum Chriftum cum propria matre
mittas in civitate ifta Lupanar, in quod non in fua imagine, were the Words of the
introcas quam ut recufes adorare Dominum Abbot(1).
(1) Concil. Nic. 2. p. 269.
Vol. IV.
P
Con-
106
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of Convenience of a filly Woman, or that a Candle ſhould be kept
Chriſt 787. conſtantly burning to light no body?
One of the When thcſe and many other no leſs abſurd, ridiculous and incre-
Bishops of the dible Stories were read out of the different Legends the Biſhops had
Council inira.
culouſly cured called for, a Monk, named Stephen, acquainted thic Council that he
by an Image. could produce 15 Volumes more, all upon Images, and all filled with
Miracles wrought by Images to confound the Iconoclaſts, and confirm
the Catholic Doctrine. But Tarafius, perceiving the Fathers
grew
tired, and well they might, anſwered the Monk, that the Catholic
Doctrine wanted no further Confirmation. However Manzus, one .
of the Biſhops of the Council, riſing up begged Leave to add to the
many Miracles wrought by Images in others one wrought in himſelf,
and told them, that he was cured of a very dangerous Diſeaſe by
laying an Iinage of our Saviour on the Part affected. And yer Tara-
fius had owned in this very Seſlion, that no Miracles were wrought
by Images in their Days, becauſe Miracles were Signs for Unbe-
lievers, and nor for Belicvers. This Seſſion ended with a ſolemn
Declaration made by the whole Council, that they honoured, wor-
ſhipped and adored the holy and vencrable Images. Let no Man be
offended, ſaid Taraſius, at the Word Adoration or Worſhip, or urge
againſt it thc Command quoted by our Saviour,, thou ſhalt worſhip
the Lord thy God, and him only ſhalt thout ferve: For in that com-
mand the Word only is applied to Service and not to Worſhip; and
therefore tho we may not ſerve Images, yet we may worſhip them.
Had the Devil underſtood the Scripture as well as Taraſius he might
havc anſwered our Saviour, by the Command, thou ſhalt worſhip, &c.
you are not required to worſhip but to ſerve God only, and therefore
may,
without tranſgreſſing it, fall down and worſhip me. The Dic
tinction between Scrvice and Worſhip was received by the Council
with an uncommon and general Applauſc, the Biſhops all crying out
aloud, we worſhip Images, but do not ſerve them, we may worſhip
Images tho we may not ferve them, as if they never had heard of
the divine Prohibition, thou malt not make to thyſelf any graven
Image; tkou ſhalt not bow down to them, nor worſhip them. They
cloſed thc Scllion with a Peal of Anathemas againſt all in general,
who did not falute, honour, worſhip and adore the holy and vene-
rablc Images, and againſt thc Emperor Leo in particular, his Son
Copronymus, and the impious Aſſembly of judaizing Biſhops convencd
by
+
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
107
"
the latter for the Deſtruction of Images, and the Exaltation of Year of
Chriſt 787
the Kingdom of Satan.
The fifth Seſſion, held on the 4th of October, was opened by Fifih Sefion.
Iconoclats
Taraſius with a Declamation, or rather Invective, wherein the Ico.
declared
noclaſts were compared to the Jews, Samaritans, Pagans, Maho-worſe than
metans, Manichees, &c. when he had donc, they were declared by Jews, Ma-
hometans,
the whole Aſembly worſe than Jews, Samaritans, or Mahumetans, &c.
becauſe they deſtroyed Images ignorantly being Strangers to Chri-
ftianity; whereas the Iconoclaſts knew the Will of their Lord.
Here they ſhould have ſhewn where the Will of their Lord, that
Images ſhould be ſet up, and ſhould be worſhipped, was revealed to
them. In the Old Teſtament to ſet up Images, or worſhip them, is
cxprcſly forbidden, and that Prohibition is no-where revoked in the
New Teſtament. The Iconoclaſts therefore thought, and had Reaſon
to think ſo, that it was the Will of their Lord they ſhould deſtroy
them, at leaſt when they began to be worſhipped, as good King He-
zekiah was commended in Scripture for deſtroying the brazen Ser
pent, tho' made by God's own Command, when it began to be wor-
ſhipped 1.
In the next Place was read a Sermon of John Biſhop of Theſſa-Conference
lonica, containing an Account of a Conference between a Pagan and between a
a Saint, that is a Worſhipper of Images. The Pagan is there intro- Saint read in
duced ſpeaking thus: Do not you Chriſtians paint, in your Churches, the Council.
the Images of your Saints, nay of your God, and worſhip theni?
And why may not we too paint the Images of our Gods and worſhip
them? We do not take our Images to be Gods, nor do we worſhip
them as Gods, but in them and by them we worſhip the incorporeal
Powers, whom they repreſent. The Saint anſwers, We Chriflians
make Images of holy Men, who had real Bodies; we paint our God
in the form of a Man, the Form in which he appeared amongſt us;
but you make corporeal Images of incorporeal Beings. And ſo do
you, replics the Pagan, for you paint Angels, who are intellectual
and incorporcal Beings. You Pagans indeed, anſwers the Saint,
teach that Angels are, as well as our Souls, incorporeal and inviſible:
But the Catholic Church teaches us, that they have Bodies, ſubtil
Bodies of Air and Fire, according to that, be makes his Miniſters
a Flame of Fire. They are indeed ſaid to be incorporcal, but only
comparatively, becauſe they have not ſuch groſs Bodies as we have.
1 2 Kings c. 18. ver. 3, 4.
P 2
Thus
5
..
108
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Chriſt 787.
Year of Thus the Saint; and his Anſwers were all approved by the Council
as containing the truc Doctrinc of the Catholic Church. Indeed wc
need not wonder at their fathering on the Church the Doctrinc of
Image-worſhip, when we find them ſo little acquainted with the
Doctrine of the Church as to father upon her that of the Matcriality
of Souls and of Angels.
And a Dil
In the ſame Seſſion was read a Diſpute between a Chriſtian and a
pute between Jew, in which the few is introduced upbraiding the Chriſtian with
anda Jew. a Breach of the Commandment expreſly forbidding us to bow down
to Images, or to worſhip then. The Chriſtian anſwers, “ The
Images you ſee are made to put us in mind of the Benefits of
“ Chrift; the Images of the Saints repreſent to us their Combats
“ and Vi&tories. We do not worſhip them as Gods, but pray God
" to ſave us by their-Interceſſion. We do not worſhip or adore a
“ wooden Image or a Picture, but we glorify our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
“ O Jew, cyen Moſes made two Cherubims, and a brazen Serpent.”
When, or by whom this Piccc was written we know nor ; but what
was quoted out of it makes rather againſt the Council than for it,
ſince the Chriſtian there confines the Uſe of images to their putting
us in mind of the Bencfits of Chriſt, and their rcprcſénting to us the
Combats of the Martyrs, and expreſly declares that he does not wor-
fhip them. We do not worſhip or adore a wooden Image or a Pieture,
ſays the Chriſtian ; wwe ſalute, honour, worſhip and adore the holy
Images, ſays the Council. The Uſe of Images for Memory or In-
ſtruction, which alone the Chriſtian defeuds in that Dialogue or Difa
pute, is in itſelf innocent and lawful; and the Emperor Leo would
no more have deſtroyed them, had they been only employed for
thoſe Purpoſes, than good King Hezekiah would have deſtroyed the
brazen Serpent, had it only ſerved for a Memorial of thic Miracle,
that God had been plcaſed to work by it. Cyril of Jeruſalem con-
demned indeed, as the Council obſerves, Nabucodonozor for deliroy-
ing the Cherubims in the Templc. But between the Cherubims and
thc Images pleaded for by the Council there was this no ſmall Differ-
ence, which the Icarned Fathers were not, or pretended not to be,
aware ot; viz. that the Cherubims were made by God's exprcfs
Command, and were not worſhipped, nor ſo much as ſeen by the
People; whereas their Images were not made, to ſay no more, by
God's Command, and were both ſcen and worſhipped, contrary to
his Command, by the People. Had they cvcn been made, as well as
the
2
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
109
Chriſt 787.
the Cherubims, by an expreſs Command of God, the Worſhip, that Year of
was given them, would have juſtified the breaking them, as the
Worſhip, that was given to the brazen Serpent, juſtified the breaking
it, tho' it was made by God's own Command. However from the
Words of the Chriſtian in the above-mentioned Dialogue, and thoſe
of Cyril againſt Nabucodonozor, it was concluded by the whole AG
ſembly, that the Iconoclaſts were no Chriſtians, but Jew's or Sama-
ritans (it not being, according to them, Faith in Chriſt, but the
Worſhip of Images, that makes a Chriſtian) guilty of the ſame Crime,
for which the wicked King Nabucodonozor was condemned by the
holy Biſhop of Hirufalem.
Laſtly were read in this Seſlion, and anſwered, a6 was pretended, Paſſages
ſome Paſſages out of the many, that might have been alleged from from the Fa.
the Fathers, againſt the Worſhip of Images. But the Anſwers were, Images how
for the moſt part, the very ſame with thoſc, that are given in our anſwered by
the Council,
Days by the Roman Catholic Divines to clude the Teſtimonies of the
Scriptures and the Fathers, viz. that they ſpeak only of the Images
of the Heathens, or of the Worſhip of Images as practiſed by the
Heathens; and theſe Anſwers the Reader will find fully confured in
the foregoing Volume m. To the plain Teſtimony of St. Epipha-
nius forbidding any Images of Saints, (not Images of the Heatheniſh
Deitics) to be brought into Churches or Church-yards, left the Faith-
ful ſhould be divcrted from their Devotions by gazing upon them,
their only Anſwer was, that they did not believe Epiphanius could
have diſapproved of ſuch a Practice. They had never heard, it ſeems,
of his Letter to John of Jeruſalem, wherein he gives him an Ac-
count of his having found in a Church, and torn in 'Picces a Veil,
on which was painted the Image of Chriſt or of ſome Saint, as has
been related clſewhere n; nor of his Book on Herefies, where he con-
demns the Carpocratians for having an Image of Jefus and worſhip-
ping ito. To the Teſtimony of Eufebius holding it unlawful to
paint Chriſt, they had nothing to reply, but that Eufebius was a Hc-
retic and an Arian; tho' in the very Paſſage, that was quoted, he ac-
knowleged the Divinity of Chriſt in the plainct Terms P. But had
he even been an Arian, his Authority ought nevertheleſs to have
been of as much Weight with the Council, as the Authority of a Ca-
tholic, the Arians being as orthodox with reſpect to Images as the
m See vol. 3. p. 215. & feq.
o Epiph. contr..
hærel. l. 3. hær. 27.
P See vol. 3. p. 231." nore F.
Catholics
See vol. 3. p. 227.
IIO
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
.
And how the
Lure.
Year of Catholics themſelves: Nay, they quote him themſelves for an apo-
Chriſt 787.
, ftolical Tradition 9, cither forgetting that he was an Arian, or think-
ing that his being an Arian did not in the leaſt invalidate his Autho-
rity in a Point, that had no Connection with Arianiſm. Had an im-
pertinent Iconoclaſt asked the good Fathers, why in one place they
thought the Authority of Eufebius of great Wcight, notwithſtanding
his Arianiſm, and in another thought it of no Weight on account
of his Arianiſm? Tlicy could have given no other Anſwer, but
that in the one Place he was for them, and was againſt them in the
other.
When the ſecond Commandment was alleged, and other Paſſages
Palages
our of the Scripture forbidding the Worſhip of Images, they were
from Scrip-
angry that Words, ſpoken long ago to the Fews, ſhould be applied
to the Chriſtians, as if the Precepts of the Decalogue were not bind-
ing with reſpect to the Chrittians, and our Saviour had come to de-
froy the Law, and not to fulfil it. And now the Council having
made it appear, in the Manner we have ſeen, that the Doctrine of
Image-worſhip was entirely agrecable to the Scriptures, the Fathers
and the Councils; that it had been confirmed by innumerable Mi.
racles, and oppoſed by none, ſince the Times of the Apoſtles to the
preſent, but by Fews, Samaritans, Saracens, and the worſt of He-
retics, Sabas, Abbot of Studium, moved that the Reſtoration of
Images might be decreed by the holy and oecumenical Council, and
the Pope's Legates that a venerable Image Mould be brought into the
Council, and an honorary Adoration ſhould by all be paid to it. The
Council agreed to both Motions; but the iſſuing thc Decree, and
the Ceremony of the honorary Adoration were put off to the next
Day, and the Seſſion ended, as uſual, with a Pcal of repeated Ana-
themas againſt all, who refuſed to ſalute, honour, worſhip and adore.
the holy and venerable Images'.
Sixth Seſion.
The next Day, the fifth of October, the Fathers met again, when
An Image an Image of our Saviour bcing brought into the Council, agrccably
and adored by to the Motion of the Legates, the whole Affembly paid it an hono-
rary Adoration, as it was filed, or an Adoration of Honour, con-
filling in all the outward Ads of Adoration and Worſhip they would
have given to Chriſt himſelf, had he been preſent. This Ceremony
was attended with a Litany of Anathemas againſt all who did not
ſalute thc lioly and vencrable Images, who broke them, who called
9 Sell. 6.
1 Concil. Nic. 2. feff. 5.
them
J
the Council.
T
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
III
Year of
them Idols, who thought it Idolatry to worſhip them, or did not
Chriſt 787
curſe the impious Council, that condemned them, and all who far in
it. When this Ceremony was over, they undertook to anſwer the
Rcaſons and Arguments alleged againſt Images by the Council of
Conſtantinople; with what Succeſs we have ſeen elſewheres. The
Ads of the
Council of Conſtantinople were read by Gregory Biſhop of
Neocæfarea, who had aſſiſted at it, and the Anſwers to them, which
they had drawn up before-hand and divided into fix Tomes or Sec.
tions, by the two Deacons John and Epiphanins. The Anſwers,
however abſurd and impertinent, were approved and applauded by
all, and the wicked Council, that had attempted to baniſh Chriſtia-
nity, and introduce Judaiſm in its Room, anathematized anew with
all, who did not condemn, curſe and reject it.
In the ſeventh Sellion, held on the 13th of October, they came Seventh
to the Definition of Faith; and it was decreed, that Images not only their Decres
of Chriſt, but of the Virgin Mary, of the holy Angels, and of all and Defini-
the Martyrs and Saints, ſhould be ſet up in Places of Worſhip, on
tion of Faithi.
the Highways and in private Houſes; that they ſhould be uſed on the
facred Utenſils to put us in mind of thoſe, whom they repreſented;
that they ſhould be worſhipped and adored, not with that Adoration
and Worſhip, that was due to God alone, but with an honorary Wor-
ſhip, or a Worſhip of Honour, and laſtly that all, who diſapproved or
oppoſed ſuch a Worſhip as unlawful, ſhould be depoſed, if Eccle-
fiaftics or Biſhops, and cxcommunicated, if Monks or Laymen. The
Decree was ſigned by all the Biſhops amidſt repeated Wiſhes of long
Life and Happineſs to the new Conſtantine and the new Helena, and
repeated Anathemas againſt all, who did not agree to the Definition
of the holy æcunienical Council, who did nor ſalute, honour, wor-
ſhip and adore the holy and venerable Images. The Decree being
figned, Letters were written by Taraſius, in the Name of the Coun.
cil, to Conſtantine and Irene, to Pope Hadrian, and to all the Bi-
ſhops of the Catholic Church, with a Copy of the Definition of Faith,
which the Church Univerſal, repreſented by them, had approved,
and all true Chriſtians were bound to receive as dictated by him, who
promiſed to be with his Church eren unto the End of the World.
Ar the ſamc Time it was ordained, that the Day, the 13th of Oc-
tober, on which the Decree of Faith was happily iſſued, ſhould be
for ever kept as a Feſtival, to return Thanks to the Almighty for the
3. Sce, vol. 3: p. 359, & ſeq.
Extir:
1.
II 2
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
The Decree
Year of Extirpation of the worſt of Hereſies, and the Reſtoration of the Ca-
Chriſt 787., tholic Faith and Chriſtian Piery.
In the mean Time Irene, who had taken Care to be daily informed
confirmed by of all that paſſed in the Council, thinking it would add no ſmall
and the Em-Weight and Authority to their Definition and Decrees, were they ·
peror. confirmed in her Preſence and the Preſence of the Emperor, fent an
Order to the Patriarch, upon the Receipt of his Letter, enjoining
him to repair, as ſoon as hc conveniently could, with all the Biſhops
to the Imperial City. The Order was readily complied with; and
the Biſhops meeting on the 23d of October in the great Hall of the
Imperial Palace of Blacherna, the Emperor and the Empreſs camę
into the Allembly, attended by their Guards, by the Magiſtrates, and
by all the great Officers of State, and being ſeated on a high Throne,
when the noiſy and unbecoming Acclamations or thic Biſhops allowed
them to ſpeak, they deſired the Decree of Faith iſlued by the holy
æcumenical Council might be read ſo as to be heard by all. It was
read accordingly; and the Empreſs addreſling herſelf, as ſoon as it
was read, to the Biſhops, asked them whicther the Decree they had
heard was iſſued with onc Conſent, whether they all agreed to it, and
had freely ſigned it? The Biſhops anſwered, we all agree to it; we
kave all freely ſigned it; this is the Faith of the Apoſtles, of the
Fathers, of the Cat!:olic Church; we all ſalute, honour, worſhip
and adore the holy and venerable Images; Be they accurſed, who
do not honour, worſhip and adore the adorable Images. Long live
the new Conſtantinc, long live the new Helena. When the Noiſe
ceaſed, Taraſius preſented the Decree to the Empreſs, who having
ſigned it, and made her son ſign it, returned it to the Patriarch
amidſt the loud Acclamations of thc Biſhops, ecchocd on all Sides
by the populace in thic Avenues to the Palace and in the Streets.
Thus ended this famous Council; and the Aſſembly was no ſooner
And Images diſiniſſed, than by an Order from the Empreſs Images were ſet
up
ſet up anew. anew not only in all Places of Worſhip, but in the Squares, in the
Streets, and over the Gates of the Imperial Palaces and the City, the
ſuperſtitious Multitude crouding cvcry-where about them, and pay-
ing thcm, now that thicir Superſtition was authorized by a General
Council, all the external Acts of Adoration and Worſhip, that ever
were paid by the groſſeft Idolatcrs to their Idols. And thus was the
Worſhip of Images, which the three preceding Emperors Leo II.
Conſtantine IV. and Leo III, had taken ſo much Pains to extirpate,
rcliored
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
113
Chriſt 787
as
reſored by a Woman, who had bound herſelf by a ſolemn Oath Year of
never to worſhip Images, nor ſuffer them to be worſhipped in the
Empire.
Two Things occur to be examined relating to this Council before I The Council
have done with it. J. Whether it may truly be called a General of Nice na
General
Council, and was received as ſuch by the Catholic Church. 2. What Council
.
kind of Worſhip it defined to be given to Images. As to the firſt,
they conſtantly ſtilc themſelves the holy Oecumenical Council; or,
if that were not enough, the Catholic Church. But that they had
no kind of Right to cither of theſe Titles may be caſily ſhown. For
in the firſt Place the Aſſembly entirely conſiſted of the Pope's Le. It confifted
gates, and the Subjects of the Empire, not onc Biſhop from Africa,
only of the
France, Germany, Spain or Britain, having been ſo much as invited the Empire
to it, or known any thing of it, till they heard, with the greateſt and the Pope's
Legates.
Surpriſe and Aſtoniſhment, of the Decree they had iſſued. The three
caſtern Patriarchs knew no more of it, as has been ſhownt, than the
welcrn Biſhops, nor did their Suffragans: And no Council can, ac-
cording to Bellarmine himſelfu, be truly called a General Council,
much leſs the Catholic Church, unleſs preceded by a Gencral Invita-
tion, and notified beforc-hand in all the greater Chriſtian Provinces;
nay this very Council would not allow, as Bellarmine obſerves w,
that of Conſtantinople againſt Images to be called a General Councií
becauſe it was not preceded by a General Invitation. The Abſence
of the Patriarchs was with the Council of Nice another Exception
againſt the Council of Conſtantinople. But that Exception too was
common to both, unleſs it be ſaid that the Preſence of one Patriarch
does not entitle a Council to the Appellation of General, but the
Preſence of two docs. 2. No Affembly can deſerve the Name of a
Council, of which every Member is not allowed an entire Freedom It was 1106
to ſpeak and to vote according to the beſt of his Judgment. Thus free.
had the preſent Council, inſtead of remoring to Nice, continued at
Conſtantinople, and there been forced by the Iconoclaſt Soldiery to
confirin the Council againſt Images, ſuch a Confirmation, as it was
not free, would not have been reccived, however unanimouſly agreed
to, as the Deciſion of a General Council. Now the Iconoclaſts werc
no more free at Nice, than the Iconolaters or Worſhippers of Images
would have been free liad they continued at Conſtantinople. The
+ See above, p. 85
u Bellar. de Concil. & Ecclef. 1. 2. C. 17.
Vol. IV.
Q
Empreſs,
w Idem ibid.
114
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian,
a General
Council.
Year of Empreſs, the Pope, the Patriarch had conſpired to reſtore Images at
Chriſt 787
all Events; Tarafus, a Man of great Art, Addreſs, and Experience
in the Management of Affairs, was, in defiance of the Canons, raiſed
to the Patriarchal Dignity as the moft capable of carrying that Deſign
into Execution; the Pope had approved of his uncanonical Election
upon condition that he got the holy Images reſtored; the Council
was afſcmbled, not to examine whether it was lawful or not to uſe
Images and to worſhip them, but to eſtabliſh the Uſe and the Wor-
ſhip of them; none were allowed to fit in it, who did not hold and
profeſs the Doctrinc of Imagc-worſhip, or if they had at any Time
held the oppoſite Doctrine, did not publicly abjure it as a wicked He-
reſy; and was that a free Council ? 3. It was not received as a Ge-
neral Council in any of the eaſtern Patriarchates beſides that of Con-
ſtantinople, as Baronius himſelf ingenuouſly ownsw, was condemned
Nor received in the Weſt as a falſe Synod of the Greeks by a Council of 300 Bi-
in the Weſt as ſhops, and rejected in Britain as eſtabliſhing a Doctrine, that was
contrary to the trile Catholic Doctrine, and utterly abhorred and
deteſted by the Catholic Churchx; nay ſo very little was it regarded in
the Weſt, that we do not find it once quoted in the Diſputes, that
happened in the ſucceeding Centuries about Images, when the Defi-
nition of a Council, acknowleged for a General Council, would have
proved deciſive. Some of the more ancient Schoolmen, and Aqui-
nas, the Angelic Doctor, among the reſt, far from quoting it on the
Subject of Images, have determined expreſly againſt it; a plain Proof
that they either know nothing of ſuch a Council, or paid it no kind
of Regard; and cither ſufficiently ſhows that it was not ranked in
their Timcs amongſt the General Councils. 4. Thc Doctrinc the
The Desrine Council eſtabliſhed was cvidently repugnant to the Doctrine of the
it eltabliſhed Scripture and the primitive Fathers, and only grounded, as was ob.
repugnant to
Scripture.
ſerved by the Author of the Caroline Books, which I ſhall ſoon have
Occafion to ſpeak of, on Apocryphal Tales, on Apparitions and Vi-
fions, on Monkiſlı Dreams, and old Womens Stories, more fit to be
related by Nurſes for the Entertainment of Children, than by Biſhops
to eſtabliſh a Dogma of Faith. Upon the whole, no Man can perufe,
with the leaſt Degree of Attention, the Acts of this Council without
being tempted to queſtion, I will nor fay chc Infallibility, but even
the common Senſe of thoſe, who compoſed it. It was ſurely an:
Afſcmbly of the moſt ignorant, ſuperſtitious, and credulous Men,
* Bar. ad ann. 863. n. 6.
* M. Weſtmonaſt. ad ann. 793:
4.
that
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
115
Chriſt 787
1
that ever met; and I moſt ſincerely pity the hard Fate of the learned Year of
Men, who in theſe enlightened Ages are bound to defend, and expoſe
themſelves by defending, what in thoſe dark Times Ignorance, Super-
Nition and Credulity produced.
As for the Worſhip, which the Council defined to be given to that IVor-
Images; what Worſhip that was; what we are to underſtand by the Mip the Coun-
ambiguous Terms of honorary Adoration, or Adoration of Honour, be given to
we can only learn from the Practice of the Church, in which that De-Images.
finition is rcccived as an Oracle of Faith, or from the Senſe, in which
thoſe Terms have been underſtood and expounded by the nioſt emi-
nent Divines of that Church. Now ftanding to the Practice of the
Church and of all good Catholics, by honorary Adoration was meant
that we ſhould uncover our Heads to Images, that we ſhould kiſs
them, kncel and bow down to them, burn Lights and Incenſe before
them, and in ſhort give to the Images, not only of our Saviour, but
of every canonized Saint, all outward Marks of the Worſhip and
Adoration, that is due to God. That this is the Practice of the
Church of Rome is well known to all, who have but ever ſer Foot in
a Popiſh Country, and theſe very Acts of Worſhip are ſpecificd by
the Council of Trent as decreed before by the Council of Nice".
Theſe external Acts of Worſhip are, by the Definition or Decrce of The Images
the Council, to be given not only to the Objects, which thc Iniages
themſelves to
repreſent, but to the Images themſelves, as the Definition of the ſhipped.
Council has been underſtood and explained by their greateſt Divincs.
Some of them indecd, viz. Durandus, Hölcot, Picus Mirandula
and a few more have taught, that by the Definition of the Council
Images are to be worſhipped, but only improperly and abuſively, as
they put us in mind of the Objects they repreſent, and we thereupon
worſhip thole Objects before them. But their Opinion is by all the
rell cenſured as repugnanr to the Definition of the holy ocumenical
Council; and to make gond their Cenſure they allcge the following,
in my Opinion, unanſwerable Reaſons. 1. Improper and abuſive
Worſhip is, in Truth, no Worſhip at all; and hence it follows, that
if the Council only defined an improper and abuſive Worſhip to be
given to Images, the Here:ics, whom they condemned for ſaying that
Images were not to be worſhipped, would have ſpoken more properly
than they, and been unjuſtly condemned. 2. As we cannot at all be
faid to love a beautiful Creature, tho' the sight of it purs us in mind
y Con il. Trid. ſeſſ. 25.
Q 2
of
be wor-
1
1
116
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Chriſt 787.
and real
Year of of the Creator, and excites us to love him, unleſs our Love termi-
nates upon the Creature as well as the Creator ; fo neither can we at
all be ſaid to worſhip an Image, tho' it puts us in mind of the Saint
it repreſents, and excites us to worſhip him, unleſs our Worſhip ter-
minates upon the Image as well as the Saint. 3. The Council dc-
clared, that Images are to be worſhipped, but not with the Worſhip
of Latria: Now if the Council bad meant no other Worſhip but
that of the Object in the Preſence of the Image, there had been no
Occaſion to except the Worſhip of Latria, ſince the moſt perfect
Latria inay be given to Chriſt in the Preſence of his Image. 4.
The Herctics, whom the Council condemned, viz. the Iconoclaſts,
did not hold it unlawful to worſhip an Objcct worthy of Worſhip in
the Prcfence of an Image, or when we were put in mind of the Ob-
With true icet, and excited to worſhip it by thc Sight of an Image, but to
worſhip the image itſelf; and it was not to prevent the People from
Warmip..
worſhipping in the Preſence of Images, but to prevent them from
worſhipping the Images, that they broke and deſtroyed them. The
Council therefore, in condemning them as Heretics declared it was
Hereſy not to worſhip the Images themſelves. Theſe are the Reaſons
alleged by the moſt eminent Divincs of the Church of Rome to ſhow,
that the Worſhip, which the Council defined to be given to Images,
was true and real Worſhip, and conſequently, that the Opinion of
thoſe, who taught, that Images were to be worſhipped only improperly
and abuſively, was repugnant to the Definition of the Council. And
now whether we ftand to the Practice of thar Church, or to the Ex-
planation of her ableſt Divincs, it muſt be owned that the Council
by the Terms of honorary Adoration, or Adoration of Honour meant
true and real Worſhip, and defined it to be given to Iınayes, anathe-
matizing, that is curſing and damning, all, who diflented from them
either in Practice or in Doctrine. And hence it is cvident that when
a Roman Catholic tells us they do not worſhip Images, lic cither
knows not the Senſe of his Church, or ſhamefully prevaricarcs, not
caring that the Proteſtants ſhould know it. Here indeed he may deny
they worſhip Images, and with thc famous Biſhop of Meaux explain.
away the Worſhip, which the Council defined to be given to them,
till it is reduced to the Rcſpeet or the Reverence, which the Protc-
Aants ſħow to the ſacred Utenſils or the Bible, thus he may, I ſay,
explain away that Worſhip here without any other Danger than that
of being looked upon as grolly prevaricating to palliatc a Doctrines
which
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
I17
Chriſt 786.
among/t the
which he is alhanied to own, and cannot defend. But let him take Year of
Care to alter his Language in Spain and in Italy left ſomething worſe
fhould befall him.
That Images are to be worſhipped with true and real Worſhip is, Great Dif-
as we have ſeen, the received and avowed Doctrine of the Church of agreement
Rome; but with wliat kind of true and real Worſhip, whether with Popij Di.
Latria, Hyperdulia, Dulia, or with ſome other Worſhip, for which vines about
the Worship
no Name lias yet been coined, the Church has not defined, nor can given to
her Divines well determine. Some are of Opinion, that the Image Images.
is to be worſhipped with the very fame Worſhip, that is given to the
Prototype; ſo that, according to them, the Image of our Saviour is
to be worſhipped with Latria, the Image of the Virgin Mary with
Hyperdulia, and the Images of the other Saints with Dulia. Others
will not allow the ſame Worſhip to be given to the Image, that is
given to the Prototype, but ſtand up for a different and diſtinct Wor-
ſhip, tho' none of them can tell what that Worſhip is. I ſhall not
trouble the Reader with the Arguments, if we may ſo call them,
that are alleged by either Side to ſupport their own and impugn the
oppoſite Opinion, but only obſerve, that chuſe what Side you will, you
are arraigned by the other of Idolatry. To worſhip the Image with
a Worſhip diſtinct from that, which we give to the Prototype, is to
worfhip the Image as ſeparated from the Prototype, and for its own
Sake; and that is rank Idolatry; ſay they of the one side. To wor-
ſhip the Image with the ſame Worſhip we give to thic Prototype is to
worſhip the Image of our Saviour, or of the Trinity with Latria
or the ſuprean Worſhip, that is due to God alone; and that, ſay thoſe
of the other Side, is rank Idolatry. And thus they, who worſhip.
Images, mult neceffarily be guilty of Idolatry, according to ſome of
their own Divincs, whether the Worſhip they give them be the fanic
with, or diſtinct from, that which they give to the Prototypes; and':I burrver
it muſt be the one or the other. As we can therefore by co otherllo pip is
Mcans be, in the Opinion of all, free from the heinous Sin of Ido-gizen to
Images, theſe
latry, but by giving no kind of Worſhip whatever to Images, he who give it
muſt be more ſenſeſs than the very Stocks and Stoncs he worſhips, atry in the
guilty of Ido.
who docs not ſee what Party lie is to take, and quite regardleſs of his Cpinion of
eternal Happineſs, it he does not take it. Thus far of the Second /sine of theia
Dinnes,
Council of Nice; and I have dwelt the longer upon it, which I hope
the Proteſtant Rcader will cxcuſc, as I thought it neceſſary he ſhould
be rightly informed of the wholc Proceedings of that Aſembly,
yhich
។
th
118
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
magne the
third Time at
Rome.
Year of which fomc Writers have taken ſo much Pains to diſguiſe, and at the
Chriſt 786. fame Time ſhould know upon what Principles the Worſhip of Images
which has occaſioned ſuch Diſputes and Diviſions in the Church, was
firſt cſtabliſhed; what kind of Worſhip was eſtabliſhed to be given to
them, and who were the Men that eſtabliſhed it, making it Damna-
tion not to worſhip Images, when it had been, for the Space of 700
Years, Damnation to worſhip them.
Charle While the Biſhops were all thus cnployed in new-modelling the
Chriſtian Worſhip in the Eaſt, the Pope was wholly intent in the
Welt on enlarging his temporal Dominions, and improving the Gc-
Year of ncroſity of his Friend and great Benefactor Charlemagne to the Ad-
Chriſt 787
2 vantage of his Sec. That Prince came this Ycar, the third Time, to
Rome, and was there received and cntertained with great Magni-
ficence by the Pope. That Journey he undertook to ſurpriſc Arichis,
Duke of Benevento, who had conſpired with the Greeks to drive the
French quite out of Italy, and was ſolliciting the other Lombard
Princes to join in the Undertaking. But as the Deſign was not yet
quite ripe for Execution, no ſooner did the Duke hear of the un-
expected Arrival of Charlemagne at Rome, than he ſent his Son Ro-
mald with rich Preſents to excuſe it in the beſt Manncr he could, and
aſſure the King that he ſhould thenceforth have no Occaſion to com.
plain of his Conduct. Charlemagne was inclined to accept his Sub-
million and forgive him; but being diverted from it by the Pope, to
Ravares the gratify his Holineſs hic entered the Duke's Dominions laying them
Dukedom of every-where waſte with Fire and Sword, took ſeveral Cities, and ad-
vancing to the very Gates of Benevento would have made himſelf
Maſter of that Metropolis, had not the Biſhops interpoſed, and pre-
vailcu
upon
him'to ſet Bounds to his Revenge, and forgive the Duke
upon his renewing, with all his Subjects, the Oath of Allegiance he
liad taken to him, and delivering up to him his Son Grimoald with
what Number of Hoſtages beſides he ſhould think fit to require.
Theſe Terms being agreed to by the King, he withdrew his Troops,
and returning to Rome cclebrated there the Feſtival of Eaſter, which
fell this Year 787. on the 8th of Aprilz. During his Stay in that
City, Hadrian, who lct no Opportunity of aggrandizing his See paſs
unimproved, perſuaded him not only to confirın the Donation of his
Father Pepin, but to add to it the Cities he had taken, in this Expe-
dition, from the Duke of Benevento, viz. Sora, Arces, Aquinum,
z Annal. Met. & Loiſel. & Eginhard.
Arpinum,
Benevento,
1
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
119
1
Chriſt 787.
+
Arpinum, Theanum, and Capua; nay, from the Letters of Hadrian Year of
it appears that Charlemagne before he left Rome yielded ſeveral other
Places to St. Peter, which had formerly belonged to the Tuſcan's perfuaded
Lombards. But he was no ſooner gone than Arichis, renewing hisyield to St.
Alliance with the Greeks, began to concert Meaſures, in Conjunction Peter the
Places taken
with them, not only for recovering the Citics, that had been lately from that
taken from him, but for placing Adalgiſus on the Throne of his Duke.
Father Deſiderius, and reſtoring the Kingdom of the Lombards.
Of this the Pope was informed by a Prieſt of Capua naned Gregory;
and he immediately acquainted Charlemagne with it a. But in the
mean Time the Death of Arichis put an End to all his Deſigns; and
of that Event too the Pope gave immediate Notice to Charlemagne,
aſſuring him, at the ſame Time, that the Beneventans only waited
the Arrival of Grimoald, Son of the late Duke, who was kept as an
Hoſtage in France, to begin Hoftilitics, under his Conduct, and ad-
viſing hini by no means to allow him to return, which, he ſaid,
would alone defeat all their Meaſures b. Charlemagne however, not
hearkening to the Suggeſtions of the Pope, no ſooner heard of the The Duke
Death of Arichis than he ſet Grimoald at Liberty, and gave him dies and his
Leave to return Home and take Poſſeſſion of thc Dukedom of his to fucceed him
his promiſing to fide, on all Occaſions, with the French contrary to
the Advice of
againſt the Greeks; to oblige his Lombards to ſhave after the French the Pope.
Manner; to put in the public Writings and on the Money the Name
of Charles in the firſt Place and his own after it, and to diſmantic
the Cities of Salerno, Acerenza, and Conſa, which his Father had
fortificd. The Pope, finding Charlemagne had acted therein contrary
to his Advice, wrote to him to aſſure him, that it was not becauſe
he bore any ill Will to Grimoald that he had given it, but becauſe he
apprehended that the Preſence of ſo bold and enterpriſing a Youth
might, at this critical Juncture, prove extremely prejudicial to the
Intereſt both of the French and St. Peter. From the ſame Letter it
appears, that the Pope had already got Poſeſſion of all the Places in
Tuſcany that Charlemagne had yielded to him the prsccding Year,
except Populonia and Roſella. Theſe were Caſtellıım Felicitatis, Places yielded .
Urbevetum, Balneum Regis, Ferentum, Viterbium, Marta, Turto St. Peter.
cania, Populonia, Soana, and Roſelle, ſome of them Cities in thoſe
Days of great Note. As for the Citics in Campania mentioned
above, the Benevent an Lomiards had, it ſeems, retaken them all co
a Cod. Carol. ep. 88.
b Cad. Carol. ep. 90
mart
Father, upon
Year of
Chriſt 788.
I 20
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of moſt of them; and Grimoale, the new Duke, rclided, at this very
Chriſt 788.
Time, in Capua boaſting, lays the Pope, that he had been preferred
to St. Peters. He kept nevertheleſs with great Fidelity to his En-
gagements with France. For Adalgiſiis landing this Ycar in Cola-
bria with a powerful Army ſent by Irene to drive the French quito
out of Italy, Grimoalel, and Hildebrand, Duke o: Spoleti, joining
with all their Forces the few Troops, that Winigiſe, the French Ge-
The Greeks ncral, had brought will him from France, engaged the Greeks and
Taly by the gained a complete Victory over them with very little Loſs on their
French, Side. John, the Greek Gencral, was taken Priſoner and put to a
crucl Death; but Adalgiſits had the good Luck to make his Eſcape,
and
get fufc to Conſtani inople, where, laying afide all Thoughts of
any further Attempts of this kind, hc paſted in Peace and in Quict
the remaining Part of his Lifed. This War was attended with an
open Rupture between Charlemagne and Irene, and the Treaty of
Marriage between the young Emperor Conſtantine and Rotrude, the
Daughter of Charlemagne, betrothed to that Princc ever ſince the
The Treaty of Year 781, being thereby cntirely broken off, the unnatural Mother
Marriage be-obliged lier Son to marry an Armenian, named Mary, of a very mean
Birth and a meaner Education, in ſpite of his warm and repeated
ror and the Remonftrances againſt ſuch a Match. This Violence ſhe uſed with
Daughter of
hin, and the deſpotic Power ſhe aſſumed over him even when he
magne bro- was of Age, and cxerciſed throughout the Empire, obliged him, in
his Turn, to uſe Violence with her; and thence aroſc thc Diſturb.
anccs I thall ſoon have Occaſion to rclatc.
The Council Charlem gne, tho' thus engaged in War with the Greeks, and at
of Nice con- the ſame Time with ſeveral other Nations, did not ſuffer his Atten.
futed by
tion to be ſo engroſſed by military Affairs as to neglect thoſe of Rc-
ligion ; nay, to do him Juſticc, he took no leſs Pains to eſtabliſh the
Chriſtian Religion, tho’not always by the noſt Chriſtian Means, in
thic Countries hic conquered, than he took Pains to conquer them,
In his own Kingdom hc made it his Study, as appears from the Capi-
tulars he publiſhed at different Tinies, to rcform the Abuſes, that had
crept into thc Church, to maintain the Catholic Faith in its greateſt
Purity, and to ſuppreſs all new and heretical Doctrines or Opinions.
Amongſt the!c he reckoned the Doctrine of linage-worſhip cita-
bliſhed by the late Council of Nice; and therefore no ſooner had
< Ibid. ep. 86. a Annal. Loiſel. Eginhard. in Annal. ad ann.
788.
Theoph. ad ann. 783. Eginhard. in Annal.
he
tween the
joung Empe-
Charlc-
den off
Charle.
mingne.
Year of
Chriſt 790.
C
ty
Hadriani. BISHOPS of Rome.
I 21
Chriſt 790.
*
he peruſed the Acts of that Council tranſmitted to him perhaps by Year of
the Pope, then equally amazed at the Ignorance of the Greeks and
ſhocķed at their unaccountable Proceedings in making the Worlhip
of Images an Article of the Chriſtian Faith, and damning all, who
did not worſhip them, he cither undertook himſelf, or encouraged
others to undertake a Confutation of that Council and its Doctrine.
The Work contains 120 Heads of Accuſation againſt the falſe Synod
of the Greeks, or, as Hadrian ſtiles them, Reprehenſions, and is
divided into four Books known by the Name of the Caroline Books;
for whether they were written by Charlemagne himſelf with the Af-
fiſtance of the famous Alcuin, who was formerly his Preceptoć, as
ſome think, or at his Deſirc, by the Biſhops and the learned Meri of
France, which is the Opinion of Du Pin, and ſecms to be inſinuated
in the Preface prefixed to the Work, it is certain that he adopted that
Performance, and declared himſelf the Author of it by conſtantly The Caroline
Books.
fpcaking in the firſt Perſon as if he himſelf had compoſed it. He
was, as all agree, who ſpeak of hin, a Prince of uncommon Learn-
ing, well acquainted both with ſacred and profane Hiſtory, and had
particularly applied himſelf to the Study of the holy Scriptures, á
Study at this Time generally neglected; fo that he was, ät lcalt,
equal to ſuch an Undertaking. The Work was begun when the Acts
of the Council were firſt fent into France; bat it did not appear till
the latter End of the preſent Year 790; ſo that three Years were
ſpent by Charlemagne, or by thoſe, whom he employed, in con-
poſing it. Indeed Charleinagne paſſed the whole Year 790. at Worms
without engaging, as his Secretary informs usf, in any military Expe-
dition, perhaps that he might be at Leiſure to put the laſt Hand to
that Work. It contains a full Confutation of the Doctrine eſtabliſhed
by the Greek Synod, as well as of the Grounds, upon which they
eſtabliſhed it, with many very ſevere and cutting Relicctions on the
Empreſs, on Taraſius, on other particular Members, and on the
Council in general, for introducing a Practicc evidently repugnant to
the Scriptures, to the Fathers, to the Tradition of the Church, and
blaſphemoully fathering. Such a Practice on the holy Apoſtles, and
their immediate Succeſſors, as if they had practiſed and taught what
it is plain from their Writings thcy utterly abhorred. " The Acts of
“ that Council, ſays Charlemagne in the Préface, for he is the Per-
« ſon, who ſpeaks, the Acts of that Council, deſtitute of Eloqueńce,
r Eginhard. in Annal:
Vol. IV.
R
“ nay
1 22
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of
with the
Councils both
nay and all Senſe, having reached us, we have thought ourſelves
Chriſt 790. « bound to confute the many groſs Errors they contain, that ſhould
o they infect the Hands, into which they may fall, or the Ears, that
may hear them, this our Treatiſe might ſerve as an Antidote againſt
" ſo dangerous an Infection.”
Finds fault He finds fault with the Council, that was convened by Conſtantine
as well as with that, which was convened by Irene, and with reſpect
of Conſtanti-to both expreſſes himſelf thus; “ ſome Years ſince was held a Coun-
nople and
“ cil in Bithynia deſtitute of all Diſcernment, Diſcretion and Pru-
Nice.
" dence, for not diſtinguiſhing between Imagcs and Idols, they or-
" dered the Images, which the Ancients had placed in the Churches
“ by way of Ornament, or only for Inſtruction, to be caſt out and
“ deſtroyed as ſo many Idols, applying to them what is ſaid in the
« Scriptures of Idols, and impudently boaſting that their Emperor
“ Conſtantine had delivered them and the Church from Idolatry.
" Another Council was held three Years ago likewiſe in Bithynia,
« confiſting partly of thoſe, who aſliſted at the firſt, and partly of their
« Sacceſſors. But tho'the Sentiments of the latter are diametrically
oppoſite to thoſe of the former, they too have groſly erred. The
" fecond Council anathematizes the firſt, and obligcs us to adore the
Images, which the other would not ſo much as allow us to look at.
“ Thoſe of the ſecond, not diſtinguiſhing between our having Images
" and our worſhipping them, ignorantly argue from the Paſſages in
" the Scriptures and the Fathers, where Images are only mentioned,
" that we muſt worſhid and adore them. We avoid both Extremes;
" neither do we worſhip Images, nor do we deſtroy them. We wor-
ſhip God alone, and have due Veneration for the Saints according to
“ the ancient Tradition of the Church. We ſuffer their Images in
our Churches to ſerve as Ornaments and Helps to Memory. But as
“ for the abſurd Synod, that commands us to worſhip them, we utterly
“ reject it, and have undertaken to confute it Article by Article, where
" it is intelligible, and not too abſurd to be worthy of our Notice.”
Thus Charlemagne in his Preface.
Miftaken But he had not, it ſcems, a right Notion of the Doctrine of the
with refpect Council of Conſtantinople. For the Fathers of that Aſembly did
trine of the not think the Uſe of Images unlawful in itſelf, nor did they con-
Council of found Images, in general, with Idols. But finding by Experience,
nople.
that they could not allow Images and prevent the Multitude from
turning them into Idols by worſhipping them, they ordered them on
that
SG
Conſtanti
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
1:23
Chriſt 790.
that Conſideration, and on that alone, to be caſt out of the Churches Year of
and deſtroyed. The Emperor Leo himſelf was not at firſt averſe to
the Uſe of images as Ornaments, or even as Helps to Devotion and
to Memory. For at the ſame Time that he forbid them to be wor-
ſhipped, lic ordered them to be placed higher in the Churches, that,
as Men were divided in their Opinions about them, they might nei-
ther be worſhipped nor abuſed; and it was the Superſtition of the
People, that obliged him in the End, againſt his Inclination, to de-
ſtroy them, as the Superſtition of the Iſraelites obliged the good
King Hezekiah to deſtroy the brazen Serpent, tho' made by God's
Command 8; ſo that Charlemagne and Leo, the firſt Iconoclaſt Em-
peror, differed only in this, that the one thought Images ſhould rather
be deſtroyed than the People be expoſed to the Danger of Idolatry;
and the other, that the People ſhould rather be expoſed to the Dan-
ger of Idolatry than Images be deſtroyed.
In the Treatiſe itſelf Charlemagne anſwers one by one, and indeed Confutes one
with a great deal of Erudition and Learning, the Arguments, that by one the Arm
were alleged by thoſe of Nice in favour of Image-worſhip; ſhows the Fathers
that the Paſſages they quoted from the Scriptures and the Fathersof Nice.
were all either falſified and corrupted, or quite foreign to their Pur:
poſe; ridicules, as unworthy of any other Anſwer, the many abſurd
and incredible Tales they gravely related and pretended to credit,
and charges them all along with Ignorance, Superſtition, Credulity,
Inſincerity, and above all with Pride and Preſumption in daring to
impoſe upon the whole Church Definitions and Decrees, when they
were but one Part of the Church; “ what Rage and Madneſs was it,
" ſays he, for one Church to anathematize all the other Churches,
" for a part of the Church (and what a Part :) to anathematize the
" whole! It was curſing without Reaſon, Anger without Power,
“ damning without Authority." He leaves no Argument, no Au-
thority, no Reaſon, that they had alleged, undiſcuſſed or unanſwered;
and concludes that whether he conſiders the Perſons, who compoſed
that Aſſembly, or their Method of proceeding, the Doctrine they
eſtabliſhed, and the Grounds, on which they eſtabliſhed it, he cannot
help looking upon them as the avowed Enemies of Truth, as Men,
who to gratify Irene had acted contrary to the Dictates of their own
Conſciences, and conſpired with her to aboliſh Chriſtianity, and bring
in anew Paganiſm in its Room.
s See vol. 3. p. 199.
R 2
Thc
I 24
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian,
Year of The Council of Nice met with no better Reception in England
Chriſt 790: than it did in France. For Offa, King of the Mercians, having
That Council communicated a Copy of it to the Engliſh Biſhops, that had been
the came Time font him by Charlemagne, with whom he lived, at this Time, in
by Alcuin in grcar Friendſhip; thoſe Biſhops, not ſatisfied with declaring the Doc-
the Name of trine it contained contrary to the Faith, and a Doctrine to be abhorred
England.by the Catholic Church, engaged Alcuin to write againſt it, and
owning the Work when it was finiſhed, cauſed it to be preſented by
him, in their Names, to Charlemagne. Thus M. Weſtminſterb,
Havedeni, and Dunelmenfisk. This Work of Alcuin confuting,
ſays M. Weſtminſter, the Doctrine of Image-worſhip with the Au-
thority of the holy Scriptures, has not reached qur Times, or has
not, at lcaſt, yeț appeared amongſt the other Works of that learned
Writer,
The Daftrine The Zeal of the Engliſh Biſhops and the commendable Endea-
of the Adop-
tionarians
vours of Charlemagne to prevent, as he expreſſes it, the Contagion
from ſpreading, that is, to prevent the Doctrine of Image-worſhip,
defined in the Eaſt, from being received in the Weſt, were attended
with the wiſhed for Succeſs. For that Doctrinc was not only rejected,
and rejcêted with Horror and Deteſtation, in France and in England,
but ſoon after condemned in a Council, that had a much better
Claim to the Title of a General Council than that of Nice, I mean
the Council of Frankfort. But to inform the Reader on what Oc-
caſion that Council was aſſembled (for it was not aſſembled to decide
any Controverſy about Images, moſt of the weſtern Biſhops approving
the Uſe and all condemining the Worſhip of Images) we muſt return
hack to the Year 783, when the Queſtion, for the determining of
which the Council met, was firſt moved, or rather was revived; and
it was revived on the following Occafion. Elipandus, Biſhop of Ta.
ledo, miſpending his Time in thcological Speculations inſtead of
einploying it to inſtruct his Flock in the plain and practical Doctrines
of the Goſpel, ſtarted this Queſtion to himſelf, whether Chriſt, as
Man, jhould be called the natural or the adoptive Son of God, the
Son of God by Nature or by Adoption ? And nor truſting to his own
Judgment, he wrote to Felix, Biſhop of Urgel in Catalonia, who
had been his Preceptor, defiring him to reſolve it. Felix anſwered,
that Chriſt, as God, was the natural Son of God, or the Son of God
1
► M. Weft
. ad ann. 193 unel. degen Script. Col. lit.
i Hoveden. Annal. apud Spelman. Concil. t. I.
decem .
P. 305, 306.
by
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
125
Chriſt 790.
maintained
by Nature, but as Man was and ought to be called the adoptive Son Year of
of God, or the Son of God by Adoption. Felix, not ſatisfied with
delivering and explaining thar Doctrine in a long Letter to Eli
pandus, wrote afterwards ſeveral other Letters to confirm it with the
Authority of the Scriptures and the Fathers; inſomuch that, as he was
a Prelate of a moſt unexceptionable Character, he gained in a ſhort
Time many, and ſome of them Men of Learning, over to his Opi- Profeſſed,
nion. On the other Hand Elipandus, a Man greatly reſpe&ted on and propa-
account of his Dignity, being Biſhop of the firſt See in Spain, and gated by Felix
no leſs revered by all for his cminert San&ity and the Auſterity of his of Urgel and
Elípandus of
Life, ſpared no Pains to propagate the ſame Doctrine, as if no Man Toledo.
could be ſaved, who did not know and profeſs it. Thus partly by
their Writings, partly by preaching and diſputing they daily brought
over great Numbers to their Party, in the different Provinces of
Spain, and among the reſt Aſcarius, Biſhop of Bracara, and an
Abbot, named Fidelis, a Man of great Learning in thoſe Days P.
The Doctrine, which Felix and Elipandus (trove with ſo much Arguments
Zcal to propagate and eſtabliſh as a Catholic Truth, was with no for and
leſs Zeal oppoſed by others, in Spain chiefly by Etherius Biſhop of Deatrine.
againſt that
Uxama and Beatus Presbyter, as rank Hereſy, the very ſame Hereſy,
that had been condemned in Neſtorius. For ſhould we allow, ſaid
they, Chriſt to be, as God, the natural Son of God, and the adoptive
Son of God, as Man, from thence it would follow, that in Chriſt
there are two Sons of God, the natural and the adoptive, and conſe-
quently two Perſons, whereas in Chriſt there is, as has been defined
by the Church againſt Neftorius, but one Perſon, the Perſon of the
Word, the Son of God by Nature, and at the ſame Time God and
Man: In other Words, one Perſon cannot be the natural and adop-
tive Son of one and the ſame Father; and therefore if we allow
Chriſt to be the natural and adoptive Son of God, we muſt, in Op-
poſition to the Council of Epheſus, acknowlege in him ewo Per-
ſons. The Argument, on which the Adoptionarians (for ſo they
were called) laid the chicf Streſs, was, that the Humanity of Chriſt
was not begotten of the Subſtance of the Father, and conſequently
that Chriſt was not, nor could he be called, as Man or according to
his Humanity, the natural Son of God. The Antiadoptionarians
anſwered, thaç the whre Perſon of Chriſt was begotten of the Sub-
Nance of the Father, and conſequently that he was, and ought abro-
Alcuin. in Præf. ad Lib. adverf. Elipand.
lutely
1
1 26
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Y car of lutely and ſimply to be called the natural Son of God, tho' the Whole
Chrift 790, of his Perſon, compriſing his Humanity as well as his Divinity, was
not begotten of the Subſtance of his Father: Thus amongſt us Mor-
tals the whole Man, ſaid they, is, and is abſolutely and ſimply called
the Son of his Father, tho'thc Soul, and conſequently the Whole of
the Man is not of the Seed of the Father. That Chriſt confifted of
the human and divine Nature; that he was truc God and truc Man;
and of the Subſtance of the Father, according to his Divinity, but not
according to his Humanity, both Parties allowed; nay the Adoptio-
narians anathematized Neftorius as well as their Adverſaries, ſtriving
with many metaphyſical Diſtinctions and Subtletics to réconcile their
Doctrine with the Definition of Epheſus; ſo that, in effect, the only
Point in Diſpute was; whether, conſiſtently with that Definition,
Chriſt might be called, as Man, the Son of God by Adoption, and,
as God, the Son of God by Nature? The Adoptionarians maintained
the Affirmative, and the oppoſite Party the Negative. If the former
argued amiſs, as I think they did, all, that can be ſaid of them, is,
that they were bad Logicians, but yet good Catholics, ſince they de-
nied no one Article of the Catholic Faith. But in religious Diſputes
we conſtantly find the contending Parties charging each other with
all the abſurd, herctical and contradictory Doctrines, that appear to
them any-ways deducible from the Opinions they impugn. In the
preſent Diſpute the Adoptionarians were charged by their Adverſaries
with holding the Doctrine of Neftorius, and acknowleging with him
two Perſons in Chriſt; and their Adverſaries were charged by them
in their Turn with holding the Doctrine of Eutyches, and con-
founding with him the two Natures in Chrift: For how can we,
ſaid Elipandus, call Chriſt, as Man, the Son of God by Nature, un-
leſs we ſuppoſe the human Nature to have been changed into, or ab-
forbed by the divine?
Their Doc As the Adoptionarians gained daily new Proſelytes in ſpite of the
Oppoſition they met with from Etherius and Beatus mentioned
Council at above, Charlemagne appointed a Council to meet in his Palace at
Ratiſbon. Ratisbon, in 792, and commanded Felix, as hc was his Subject;
Catalonia being then under the Dominion of France, to repair to
w that Place and there give an Account of his Do&trinc. He obeyed;
but inſtead of gaining over to his Opinion any of the Biſhops, who
compoſed that Aſſembly, as he had flattered himſelf hc ſhould, he
was himſelf, or pretended to be, convinced by them of his Error,
and
trine exa-
mined in a
Year of
Chriſt 792
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
127
Chriſt 792.
-
and abjured it accordingly in their Preſence, and in the Preſence of Year of
Charlemagne, who from Ratisbon ſent him to Rome, where he ac-
knowleged and publicly retracted his Error anew in the Preſence of
the Pope 9. As his Converſion was judged ſincere, he was allowed
to return to his Scc. But whether it was ſincere or not, he was foon
after his Return perſuaded by Elipandus to retract his former Retrac-
tation; and he began to propagate and to preach with more Zeal than
over the Doctrine he had abjured ar Ratisbon and Rome. As for
Elipandus, he was ſo entirely ſatisfied of the Truth of that Doctrine,
that he wrote a long Letter to Charlemagne to convince him that the
Fathers, eſpecially his holy Predeceſſors in the Sce of Toledo, had all
profeffed it, and at the ſame Time to beg he would cauſe it to be
examined by the Biſhops and the Divines, not doubting but, if they
could diveſt themſelves of all Partiality and Prepoſſeſſion, they would
all approve and receive what many of them now ſeemed inclined to
condemn and reject.
This Letter determined Charlemagne to aſſemble a great Council; Charle-
and he accordingly appointed a Council to meet, in the Summer of magne afſem.
bles a Council
the preſent Year 794, at Frankfort on the Mein. It confiſted of about at Frankforte
300 Biſhops from France, Italy, Germany and probably from Eng. Year of
land; for the Engliſh Biſhops too were invited to it by Charlemagne,
as appears from the Letter he wrote to Elipandus after the Councilr
The two Biſhops Theophylact and Stephen aſſiſted in the Pope's Name
with the Character of his Legates. For tho“ Hadrian had already
examined and condemned the Doctrine of Elipandus and Felix in a
Letter he wrote to the Biſhops of Spain, he was not againſt its being
examined anew by a Council. The Biſhops niet in the royal Pa-
Jace at Frankfort; and Charlemagne not only was preſent, but openeď
the Council himſelf with a Specch to the Fathers, giving them an
Account of the Doctrine they were met to examine, and exhorting
them to take the Scripture for their Guide in delivering their Opinion
concerning it. When he had done, the Lerter, which Elipandus
had ſent to him, containing the Authorities and Reafons, on which
he grounded his Opinion, was read, examined, and condemned' by The Doctrine
all, who were preſent, to a Man, as plainly reviving the Hereſy ofof the Adop-
Neſtorius, which the Church had anathematized in the Council of
Epheſus. Charlemagne himſelf acquainted Elipandus with this Sen-it.
tence;
and the whole Proceedings of the Council, exhorting him with
Alcuin. adverf. Elipand. 1. 1. & Eginhard. in Annal. Apud Bar, ad ann. 794.
great
Chriſt 794.
tionarians
condemned in
+
128
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of
794
great Zeal and Tenderneſs to acknowlege his Error, to ſubmit his
Chrift
Judgment to that of ſo many Biſhops, and to join the Apoſtolic Scc,
as well as the Churches of France, Germany and Italy in the Con-
fellion of the Catholic Faiths. But Elipandus, paying no kind of
Regard to the Authority of the Council, or the Exhortations of
Charlemagne, continued Nill to maintain the fame Doctrinc; and
ſomc Years paſſed before an End could be put to the preſent Diſpute,
as we ſhall ſcc in the Sequel.
And likewiſe The Doctrine of the Adoptionarians being thus condemned, the
the Council
Council undertook, in the next Place, to cxamine the Acts of the
of Nice.
Council of Nice; and having carefully examined them, they una-
nimouſly condemned thc Worſhip, that was there decrced to be given
to Images. This we learn from the ſecond Canon of the preſent
Council, the Words of which arc; the Queſtion concerning the new
Synod of the Greeks, that was held at Conſtantinople about wor-
Shipping Images, was then debated; in that Council it was written
that they ſhould be anathematized, who did not pay that Service
ar Adoration to the Images of the Saints, which they paid to the
Divine Trinity; hereupon our moſt holy Fathers refuſing by all
means to pray to them, or pay them Service, deſpiſed and unani-
mouſly condemned itt. Such a Canon or Decrec iſſued by a Council,
that was lawfully aſſembled, that conſiſted of 300 Biſhops, and at
which aſlifted the Legates of the Pope, with whoſe Approbation ic
was convened, has greatly embaraſſed the Advocates for Images, and
the Patrons of the Council that defined it; and they have left no
Means unattempted they could think of to reconcile the one Council
with the other, and thus ſave the Authority of both. As the Coun:
cil, condemned by the Council of Frankfort, is called in the Canon,
that condemns it, the Council of Conſtantinople, fome, and among
the reſt Surirss and Binius, the firſt Editors of the Councils, have
concluded from thence, that the Fathers of Frankfort, far from con-
demning the Council of Nice, confirmed it, and condemned the
Council, that was held at Conſtantinople under Copronymus. And
from them, no doubt, was borrowed the Title, that is ſtill preixed
to the Council of Frankfort in the Loyure Edition, viz. The Coun-
cil of Frankfort, in which the Hereſy of Felix was condemned the
third Time by the Biſhops of the whole Kingdom of the Franks, of
Italy, Gaul and Germany, in the Preſence of Charlemagne, and
Alcuin, & Paulin. in Lib. adverf. Elipand.
Concil. t. 7. p. 1057.
3
the
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
I 29
Chriſt 794.
Sonic to ſcreen the Council of Nice have placed another, which they ftantinople
the Legates of Pope Hadrian Theophylact and Stephen, and the Year of
AEts of the ſecond Council of Nice about Images were con-
firmed in 794. But that the Fathers of Frankfort condemned the
Worſhip of Images as well as the Council cſtabliſhing that Worſhip,
and conſequently confirmed the Council of Conſtantin.ple under Co-
pronymus ſo far as it condemned the ſame Worſhip, is manifeſt be-
yond all Diſpute from the Words of the Canon quoted above, and
beſides is atteſted by all the contemporary Writers (A). They called,
it is true, the Council they condemned the Council of Conftanti.
nople; and the Reaſon why they fo ſtiled it is obvious: It was bc-
gun and was ended at Conſtantinople, as has been related above. No Coune!
held at Con-
ſuppoſe to have been licld at Conſtantiniple, between that and the between tlie
Council of Frankfort ; and that, ſay they, was thic Council of Con. Council of
Nice and
ftantinople condemned at Frankfort, it having been there defined that of
that the ſame Worſhip ſhould be given to Images that was due to thc Frankfort.
Divine Trinity u. But that Council is a mere Invention of their own,
not the leaſt mention being niade of it by any Hiſtorian whatever ;
and beſides it is cvident from the Authors I have quoted, that, whe-
ther any Council was held or not between thoſe of Nice and Frank-
fort, the Council condemned at Frankfort was that of Nice.
-
u Annal. Eccl. Franc. ad ann. 794.
1
(A) The Syriord, ſays Eginhard, a con what checked (2). The falſe Synod, ſays
tumporary Writer, that a few Year's be- Regino, which the Greeks bad conveneä
fire was afſemiled at Conſtantinople under for adoring Images, was rejected by the
Irene and her Son Conſtantine, and was by Biſhops (3); and Uſpergenſis, the Synod,
them called not only the Seventh, but a which was allembled a few lears before
General Council, was rejected by all(i), under I'ene and her Son Conſtantine, and
riz. by all the weſtern Biſhops aflemblid which they called the Seventh and a Gea
ac Frankfort. Hincmar, Archbiſhop of neral Council, was rejected by all (4). In
Rheims, who lived in the ninth Century, the Council of Frankfort, ſays Aventinus,
writes thus of the Council of Frankfort: under Charles the Great, the Decrees of
In the Time of Charlemagne by Order of the Greeks for adoring Images were re-
the Apoſtolic See, and the Summons of the verſed (5). The ſame Thing is aſſerted
Emperor, a General Synod was called in by all the other contemporary Hiſtorians
France, where accoriling to Scripture and and Annaliſts (6); and all ſpeak of the
the Tradition of the Ancients, the falſe Sy- Council, that was allembled under Con-
nd of the Greeks was reječted and utterly Jantine and Irene, that is of the Second
made void. Thus by the Authority of this Council of Nice, tho' ſtiled by ſome the
Council the Veneration of Images was ſome- Council of Conflantinople.
(1) Eginhard. Annal. ad ann. 724. (2) Hincmar Rhom. ccntr. Laud. c. 20.
apud Goldalt. (3) Regin. Chron. ad ann. 794. (4) Ab Urſperg. Chron.
(5) Avent. Annal. Boiar. 1. 4. p. 253. 15) Vide Hit.
Franc. Script.
t. 2, & 3
VOL. IV.
S
Sirinond,
al ann. 793
130 The Hiſtory of the POPES, Oj Hadrian.
i
Year of Sirmond, Petavius, and with them the more modern Writers,
Chriſt 794. alhamed to recur to ſuch poor Subterfuges, ingenuouſly own the
IVhether the Council of Nice to have been condemned by that of Frankfort,
Council of but yet, unwilling to give up either, fifly maintain the Definition of
miftook the the one to be entirely agrecable to that of the other. To make good
Meaning of this Paradox, they tell us, that the Author of the Caroline Books as
the Council of
Nice?
well as the Council of Frankfort by a Miſtake in Matter of fact, (for
neither does the Infallibility of the Pope nor that of a General Coun.
cil cxtend to Matters of Fact) into which they were led by a bad
Tranſlation of the Council of Nice, aſcribed to that Council a Doc-
trine, which they neither held nor defined, and thereupon condemned,
at the ſame Time, the Doctrine and the Council. The Doctrinc they
aſcribed to them was, that Images are to be worſhipped with the
very ſame Worſhip we give to the Divine Trinity. This Doârinc,
ſay they, ſhocked Charlemagne, or the Author of the Caroline
Books, as well as the Fathers of Frankfort ; and they condemned ſo
horrid a Blaſphenay together with the Council, tliat had, as they
took it for granted, defined it. But the Fathers of Nice, abhorring
that Doctrine as much as the Fathers of Frankfort, only defined a
relative, inferior, and honorary Worſhip to be given to Images ;
and that kind of Worſhip the Council of Frankfort did not con-
demin, and may be conſequently ſaid to have rather approved. Thus
Sirmond, Petavius, De Marca, Natalis Alexander, and Maimburg:
But in the firſt Place the Author of the Caroline Books could not
flood their poſlibly miſtake the Meaning of the Council, nor could the Fathers
Meaning and
of Frankfort; as if the Worſhip of Latria had been there decreed
to be given to Images, or it had been defined that the ſame Worſhip
ſhould be given to Images that was given to the Trinity. Indeed
the Nicene Biſhops ſpoke very ambiguouſly with reſpect to ſome
Points, but always diftinguiſhed, and in ſuch Terms as no Man could
miſunderſtand or miſconftrue, the Worſhip they gave to Images from
that, which was according to them, due only to God, dcclaring in
every Ad, that they did not look upon their Images as Gods; that
they did not worſhip them as the Pazans worſhipped their Idols;
that they did not give them tle Worſhip, that was due only to God,
but an inferior, relative and ſubo. dinute Worſhip. Thus in their
vcry Detinition they all prorefted, that by an hororary Worſhip they
did not mean true Latria, which is due only to Godw; and Taralius
They under-
condemined
their Doc-
trine,
w Concil. Nic. Seff. 7.
in
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
131
+
Chrift 704.
of Nice.
in hearing the Pope's Letter read declared, that he received it and Year of
the Doctrine it contained, the Worſhip of Images, reſerving Faith
and Latria to God alonex. In like manner ſpoke all the reſt, as ap-
pcars
from the Aas: And who can believe that 300 Biſhops, after
peruſing thoſe Acts, (for we may well ſuppoſe they peruſed them,
and with ſome Degree of Attention) ſhould have thought that true
Latria, or the Worſhip, that was there ſaid to be duc only to God,
was commanded to be given to Images?
But the Latin Tranſlation, ſay the Advocates for the Council of They com-
Nice, which Charlemagne peruſed and the Fathers of Fiankfort, cerylleforlisin
,
,
was very different from the Greek Original. In the Latin Tranſla-that was des
tion, for inſtance, Conſtantine Biſhop of Conſtantia in the Iand of fined by thoſe
Cyprus, is introduced ſaying, I receive and embrace with Honour
the holy and vencrable Images, and pay them the Same Service of
Adoration I pay to the Trinity; whereas in the Greek Original he
ſays quite the contrary, I embrace with Honour the holy and vene-
'rable Images, but give the Adoration of Latria to the Trinity alone s.
Now froni the Words of Conſtantine, as Charlemagne and the Fa-
thers of Frankfort read them in the Latin Tranflation, they con-
cluded that he thought the ſame Adoration ſhould be given to Images,
that was given to the Trinity, and that the reſt of the Council, as
none of them offered to contradict him, all conſented to what he
had Said. And it was upon that Miſtake that the Council of Frank-
fort condemned that of Nice. This they urge as an irrefragable
Proof, or rather Demonſtration that the Fathers of Frankfort mil-
took the Meaning of the Fathers of Nice, and condemned not the
Worſhip, that was, but thic Worſhip, that was not decreed at Nice to
be given to Images. But from the very Pallage in the Caroline
Books, where Notice is taken of what was ſuppoſed to have been
ſáid by the Biſhop of Cyprus, it is evident that the Author of thoſe
Books, and confcqucntly the Fathers of Frankfort, well knew that
thoſe of Nice had not decrced the ſame Worſhip to be given to
Images, that was, according to them, duc to the Trinity. For in
that very Place thc Author of thoſe Books obſerves, that in thoſe
Words Conſtantine contradicted the reſt; that he betrayed unawares
what the reſt ſirove to conceal, viz. their giving to Images the Wor-
mip, that was due to the Trinity ; that in Words indeed they denied
their giving the ſame IVorſhip to Images and to the Divine Trinity,
x Concil. Nic. Sell, 2.
y Ibid, Seff. 3.
but
S 2
។
r32
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Chriſt 794
And all kind
Ye'r of but that their Actions belied their Wordsz. From theſe Words it is
evident beyond all Diſpute, that Charlemagne knew the Fathers of
Nice had not defined the ſame Worſhip to be given to Images, that
was, according to them, due to the Trinity, ſince he charges the Bi-
ſhop of Conſtantia, ſaying he gave them the ſame Worſhip, with
contradi&ting all the reſt. I might add, that had Charlemagne and
thie weitern Biſhops miſunderſtood the Meaning of the Council, the
Pope's Legates, who were preſent, and know, as we may well ſup-
pole, what kind of Worſhip had by the Nicene Synod been coin-
manded to be given to Images, would have taken Care to acquaint
them with it, and not ſuffered them to condemn, upon ſuch a Mil
takc, a Council approved by the Pope.
In the ſecond Place it was not the Worſhip of Latria alone with
of Worſhip. respect to Images, that Charlemagne and the weſtern Biſhops rejected
and condemned, but icligious Worſhip in general, or religious Wor-
ſhip of every Kind or Degree. Of this no Man can doubt, who has
ever but dipt into the Caroline Books; for there Charlemagne con-
demns Adoration, Service, Veneration, Worſhip of all Kids, om-
NIMODUM CULTUM, particularly praying, bowing, kneeling to Images,
burning Incenſe to them, or Lights before thema; he calls it Teme-
rity to compare Images to the Cherubims in the Temple, to the
Mercy-ſeat, or to thic Arkb; will not allow the ſame Honour or
Reverence to be due to then, that is due to the ſacred Utenſils or
to the Biblec; ftiles all kind of Adoration, that is given to Images,
Juperfluous, vain, ſuperſtitious, highly abſurd, fummæ abſurditatis,
facrilegious d; will have all to conform to the Doctr ne of Pope
Gregory the Great, that is, to retain Images as Helps to Memory,
or for Inſtruction, but to avoid by all Means giving them ay kind
of Worſhipe. Let Images, ſays he, be retained provided all Ado-
ration be excludedf; Imags are ſo far uſeful as they put us in mind
of the objects they reprefont, but God alone is to be worſhipped.
Iladrian fup. 3. Hadrián in his Anſwer to the Caroline Books, of which I ſhall
poſes them or- foon have Occaſion to ſpeak, no-where charges the Author of thoſe
the one Coun? Books, or the Fathurs of Frankfort with miſtaking the Meaning of
the Fathers of Nice, but defends the Worſhip, that was defined by
demned by the
the one Council, as condemned by the other. Had the Diſagree-
cil to have
been con-
arber.
7 Lib. Carol. 1. 3. C. 13.
b lbid.
« Ibid. 1. 2. C. 29, 30.
f Ibid. c. 21.
c. 21.23
Lib. Carol. I. 2. c. 21. 23, 24, 25. 28, 29, 30.
é Ibid.
d Ibid. ). 2. c. 21. 24, 25.
nient
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
.
133
Chriſt 794.
anent bitween the two Councils been only owing to a Miſtake, Year of
would not Hadrian have rectificd that Miſtake: Would he not have
informed the weſtern Biſhops that the Worſhip, which thcy rejected
and condenincd, was nor the Worſhip, which the Greeks had ap.
proved and defined? Would he have undertaken to prove, as he did
in a long Apology, the Lawfulneſs of a Worſhip inferior to that of
Latria, had he thought that they, againſt whom he undertook to
prove it, condemned no other Worſhip but that of Latria?
4. The weſtern Biſhops and Churches all perſiſted in rejecting the
Council of Nice and the Doctrine it had defined, as will appear in
the Sequel, even after Hadrian, in his Anſwer to the Caroline Books,
had explained that Doctrine ſo as to leave no Room to doubt of the
Meaning of the Council: A convincing Proof or rather Demon-
ftration, that it was not, as is pretended, becauſe the Fathers of
Frankfort miſunderſtood the Meaning of thoſe of Nice, that they
condemned their Council and Doctrine,
But the very Canon of Frankfort, ſay the Writers mentioned The Canon of
above, is cvidently grounded on a Miltake, it being there ſaid, that Frankfort
,
not grounded
the ſame Worſhip was commanded, under an Anathema to be given on a Miftake.
to Images, that was given to the Divine Trinity; whereas the Fa-
thers of Nice declared in twenty Places, that they gave to Images
only an hinorary Adoratiun, reſerving true Latria to God alone.
But, i. If they declared in twenty Places, that they reſerved true La-
tria to God alonc, how could Charlemugne and 300 Biſhops miltako
their Meaning, and think they had commanded what they called
Worſhip of Latria to be given to Images ? 2. From the Caroline
Books, which were received and approved by the Fathers of Frank-
fort, it is manifeſt, that they did not admit the Diſtinctions uſed by
the Nicene Synod of Latria and Dulia, of relative and abſolute,
of inferior and ſupreme or ſuperior Worſhip, but thought religious
Service, Adoration or Worſhip, of what Kind ſocver or Degree, was
due to God or was Worſhip of Latria, and conſequently that to pay
any Service, Adoration o: Worſhip whatever to Images was paying to
them that Service, Adoration, or Worſhip, which they paid to the
Divine Trinity.
But Charlemagne, ſays Natalis Alexander, was highly provoked Charle-
againſt Irene for breaking off the Match between her Son and his magne mot
prompted by
Daughter; and it is highly probable that to be revenged on her he Revenge to
undertook to confute her Council, and aſſembled a Council in the condemn the
Council of
Weſt Nice.
134
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
1
Year of Weſt to condemn itf; that is in other Words, Charlemagne did not
Chriſt
cara mercally think thc Do&rinc, that was defined at Nice, an aburd, in-
pioris, facrilegious, deteſtable Do&trine, Epithers, which he beſtows
on it in twenty Places of his work, but nevertheleſs reprcſented and
confuted it as ſuch to be revenged on Irene, who had cauſed it to be
defined; and he prevailed on the weſtern Biſhops to proſtitute their
Conſciences to his Revenge and condemn it. And is it highly pro-
bab!c, that Charlemagne, whom there very Writers extol on all other
Occaſions as a moſt religious, a moſt Chriſtian Prince, a moſt zealous
Defender of the Catholic Faith, ſhould, on this Occaſion, have acted
to antichriflian a Part? That the weſtern Biſhops, blindly concurring
with him, ſhould have all ſacrificed to his peeviſh Humour their Ho-
nour, their Reputation, their Conſcience? We must think very
ricanly both of him and of them to entertain ſuch a Notion. Had
the Match been broken off by Irine, and not by Charlemagne him-
felf, as Eginha d his Secretary tells us it was s, thc provoked Prince
wanted not other Means of being revenged on her more effectually
than by vilifying the holy Images, which I ſuppoſe were not againſt
the Match, by excluding them not only from all Worſhip, but even
from the Honour or Reverence, that he thought due to the Utenſils
of hc Church, and degrading them into more Ornaments. He
might at this very Time have invaded her Italian Dominions, and
fcized them almoſt without Oppoſition; And he had thus more
effcctually been revenged on the perfidious Iren than if he had even
turned Iconoclaſt, and cauſed all the holy Images to be broken in
Picces and caſt into the Flames.
The IVorfmip Laſtly, The Patron's of Image-worſhip and of the Council of Nice
of Images
Looked upon by urge the following Words out of the laſt Chapter of the Caroline
the Father's of Books, we allow Images to be made, but oblige no Man to worſhip
Frankfort as them. From theſe Words they conclude, that Charlemagne, and
an indifferent
Thing,
conſequently the Fathers of Frankfort, looked upon the Worſhip of
Images as an indifferent Thing, and only quarrelled with thoſe of
Nice for commanding that Worſhip under an Anathema, and thus
niaking it neceſſary. But firſt that one Council ſhould think and de-
fine a Thing neceſſary to Salvation, and another think and define it
an indifferent Thing, is no trifling Diſagreement. 2. An indifferent
Thing is what a Man may lawfully do or omit as he pleaſes; and
could Charlemagne, after he had laboured throughout his Work to
Vide Spanhem. ſect. 7. p. 479.
6 Eginhard. ad ann. 783.
5
prove
+
Hadrian BISHOPS of Rome.
135
Chriſt 794
Frankfort.
prove the worſhipping of Images a vain, fuperftitious, facrilegious, Year of
and idolatrous Practice repugnant to the Divine Law, cloſe it with
declaring he looked upon that Worſhip as an indifferent Thing?
Thus he had undone at once all he had been doing in four Books.
As that Paſage therefore cvidcntly contradicts all the reſt, and beſides
is not to be found in the firſt Edition of the Work, we may well
ſuppoſe, with the learned Spanheim and others, that it has been ſince
foiſted in.
To conclude; from what has becn hitherto ſaid it is, I think, cvi- The Council
dent beyond all Diſpute, in ſpite of the Cavils, that have been yet Of Nice cura
and Doctrine
urged to the contrary, that the Council condemned by the weſtern dently con.
Biſhops aſſembled at Frankfort was the ſecond Council of Nice; demned at
that the one Council condemned the very fame Doctrine, which the
other had defined, and conſequently that the Doctrine of Image-
worſhip, tho' approved and zealouſly recommended by the Pope, was
condemned by a Council, that had as good a Claim, to ſay no more,
to the Title of a General Council as that, which defined it.
The Fathers of Frankfort thought it adviieable before they parted Hadrian un-
to acquaint the Pope with their Proceedings; and they ſent him ac-anfwer the
cordingly their Definition, and with it the Caroline Books as con- Caroline
taining the Reaſons, why they had condemned the Doârine of Image-
worſhip, and the Council, that had defined it. As Hadrian had re-
ceived that Council, he thought himſelf bound to defend it; and
that Task he undertook, addielling his Defence or Apology to Char.
lemagne, whom he frequently commends, and treats throughout the
Work with the greateſt Regard and Efteem. He pretends to anſwer
one by one the Obicctions urged by him and the weſtern Biſhops
againſt thoſe of Nice; but that his Anſwers, far from being fatif-
factory, contain many Things, that are quite abfurd, many, that are
incongruous, and many, that deſerve to be cenſured, was the Judg.
ment paſſed upon his Apology by the Gallican Biſhops in the Council
of Paris, which I ſhall have Occaſion to ſpeak of hereafter; and the
Icarned Du Pin, in the Account he gives of that Piece, entirely
Books.
agrees with them.
Hadrian was, it ſeems, under fome Apprchenſion that from his But courts
with great
defending the Greek Synod Charlemagne ſhould conclude him a
Addreſs th
Friend to the Greeks and the Emperor; and therefore, to remove Favour of
any Suſpicion of that kind, he took Care to declare in his Preface, Charle-
that it was not to ſupport the Intereſt of any Perſon whatever, but magne.
only
.
136
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Chriſt
794
។
Year of only to maintain the ancient Pradicc and Tradition of the holy Ro-
man Cliurch that he had undertaken the Detence of the Greek Sy-
nod. He even excuſes to Charlemagne his having received it at all,
telling him, that as by that Synod the Hereſy of the Iconoclaſts was
condemned, the Greeks would have relapſed into their Hereſy had
hic not received the Council, that condemned it; which was, in ſome
meaſurc, declaring that he received it for what it had condemned
rather than for what it had defined. He adds, that tho' he received
the Council, he had yet returned no Anſwer to the Letters that had
been ſent him ſeven years ſince from Conftantinople concerning it ;
that with reſpect to the Articlc of Images, he was entirely ſatisficd
with the Conduct of the Emperor, but had, in other Reſpects, grcat
Reaſon to complain of him, as he ſtill with-held the Patrimonies of
St. Peter, which his Iconoclaſt Predeceſſors had unjuſtly ſeized;
that he would therefore write to him, if his Royal Excellency ap-
proved of it, and thank him for what he had done in the Cauic of
Images, but at the ſame Time inſiſt on his reſtoring the Patrimonics,
which his Anceſtors had uſurped, and declare him a Heretic, if he did
not reſto'e them; that is, to gratify Charlemagne he was ready to
declare the Emperor a Heretic tho'cntirely ſatisfied with him as to
his Orthodoxy. But he could no more prevail on the King with
his Complaiſance than with his Arguments to change his Opinion.
Charlemagne fill continued, and ſo did the weſtern Biſhops, to reject
thic Doctrine of Image-worſhip with the Council, that had dcfined
it; and neither was received in the Weſt till ſeveral Ages after, as
will appear in the Sequcl.
Latria nozu
I cannot help obſerving, before I diſmiſs this Subject, that tho'the
given to
Fathers of Nice declared over and over again that they reſerved La.
Images the
not allowed by tria to God alonc, that Images were not to be worſhipped with La-
the Council of tria, but with an inferior, relative and ſubordinate Worſhip; it is
ncvertheleſs now the general Opinion of the Divines of the Church
of Rome, that Images and the Prototypes, or thoſe, whom they re-
preſent, arc to be worſhipped with the very ſame Worſhip, and con-
fequently that the Croſs, the Images of the Trinity, (now allowed
but formerly forbidden h) and thoſe of Chriſt are to be worſhipped
with Latria, that is with the very fame ſupreme Divine Worſhip,
with which Chriſt himſelf and the Trinity are worſhipped. This
Opinion they ground on the Practice of the Church in the Worſhip
b Sec vol. 3. p. 282.
of
Nice.
Hadrian. BISHOPS of Rome.
137
Chriſt 794.
+
,
of the Croſs (B), owning thereby that the Church adores the Croſs Yçar of
with Látria, and concluding from thence, that as the Croſs is adored
with Latria on account of its Relation to Chrilt, the Images of
Chriſt and the Trinity are, on the fame Account, to be adored with
the ſame Adoration. Now if it is not Idolatry to give the ſame ſu-
preme Divine Worſhip to a Piece of Wood, or a painted Canyas, that
we give to God, I ſhould be glad to know the truc Meaning of that
Word. To ſay, that they only are guilty of Idolatry, who take
ſomething to be God that is not God, and worſhip it as ſuch, is clear-
ing from that Guilt all the wiſer Pagans, who did not take their
Images for Gods, as has been ſhowni, and reſtraining it to mere Fools
and Idiots, fincc none but mere Fools and Idiots can think, as was
obſerved by Celſus, that the Wood or Stolic of an Image made and
governs the World; that an Image niadc by a Smith or a Carpenter is
the Creator of the World, the Maker of the very Man, who made it,
and of the very Wood or Metal, of which it was made.
Hadrian did not live to ſee what Reception his Anſwer to the Hadrian dies.
Caroline Books met with from Charlemagne and the weſtern Biſhops. Year of
Chriſt 795.
He died ſoon after he had finiſhed it, and his Death happened on the
25th of December 795 (C), after he had preſided in the Roman Sce
23 Years, 10 Months, and 17 Days. He was a Man of very un- His Cha-
conimon Parts, of great Addreſs, of an extraordinary Diſcernment rafter.
in Affairs of State, and, in ſhort, an able Politician, but no Divine,
if we may judge of his Knowlege in Divinity from his Writings,
eſpecially from his Anſwer to the Caroline Books, and his Letter to
Conſtantine and Irene concerning the Worſhip of Imagesk; two
Pieces, that ſhow him very little converſant in Hiſtory, and leſs con.
verſant in Scripture. As the temporal Grandeur of the Papal Sce
i Sce vol. 3. p. 215. note B.
k See above, p. 79.
(B) Eſpecially in the Service of Good Order of Proceſſion at the Reception of an
Friday, when the whole Church addreſſes Emperor, it is ſaid, the Legate's Croſs
the Croſs thus, Behold the Wood of the ſhall be on the Right Hand, becauſe Latria
Croſs; come let us adore it; and their is due to it, and the Emperor's Sword on the
Actions agreeing with their Expreſſions, Left(1); ſo that it is the senſe of the
they all fall down and adore it, praying to Church, that the Croſs ſhould be wor-
it in the moſt expreſs and formal Terms ſhipped with Latria.
of Prayer: O Crux ave Spes unica, hoc (C) The French Annaliſts all place the
paſſionis tempore, piis adauge gratiam, Death of Hadrian on the 25th of De-
reiſque dona veniam. In the Roman Poncember 796: But with them Chriſtmas-
tifical, where the Rubric determines the day was the firſt Day of the new Year.
(1) Pontific. Rom. edit. Rom. p. 672.
Vol. IV.
T
was
138
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Hadrian.
Year of was entirely owing to the Generoſity of the French Princes and Na-
Christ 795: tion, and wholly depended on the Continuation of their Proregion
and Favour, Hadrian made it his Study, during the whole Time of
his long Pontificate, to gain the good Will of that Nation, and of
the great Prince, who was then at the Head of it, eſpouſing his In-
tereſt with great Zeal, as it was inſeparable from his own, againſt
their common Enemies the Greeks and the Lombards. Thus by
his Policy and Addreſs he not only maintained, but conſiderably cx-
tended, as has been related, the temporal Power and Dominion,
which his Predeceſſors had acquired.
His Death
His Death was greatly lamented by the Romans and the People of
greatly la-
mented by Italy, but by none ſo much as by Charlemagne, who burſt into
Tcars, when he firſt heard of it, and wecped, lays Eginhard, as if
magne.
he had loſt a Brother, or the moſt beloved of his Children! Not
ſatisfied with the common Tribute of Tcars he cauſed Prayers to be
every where offered up for the Rcpoſe of his Soul, diſtributing great
Alms for that Purpoſe, and ſending conſiderable Preſents even to the
chief Churches of England, not that he cntertained the leaſt Doubt
of the Happineſs of that bleſſed Soul, as he declared in his Letter to
Offa at this Time King of Mercia, but to ſhow his Faith, and the
Sincerity of his Affection and Friendſhip for one, whom he ſo ten-
derly loved m (D); nay, to tranſmit to Poſterity a laſing Teſtimony
of
Charle-
1
Eginhard. in vit. Carol.
ma Malmeſ. de gelt. Reg. Angl. I. 1 C. 4.
1
(D) If he entertained not the leaſt ancient Fathers. But that ſuch a Cuſtom
Doubt of the Happineſs of that bleſſed was not grounded on the Be'ief of Purga:
Soul, it was not to deliver it out of the tory, as if the Souls, for which they
Torments of Purgatory that he diſtributed prayed, were detained and tormented there
Alms, and cau 'ed Prayers to be offered up. for the Sins they had not expiared in their
The Cuſtom of praying for the Dead ob- Life-time, is man feſt from their praying
tained in the Church at leaſt as early as the for the moſt holy Men and the greateſt
Time of Tertullian; for he, I think, is Saints, for the Patriarchs, the Prophets,
the first who ſpeaks of it (1). After him the Apoſtles, the Martyrs, the Confef.
it is particularly mentioned by Cyprian(2), fors (8): Nay, it appears from the ancient
Arnobius (3), the Author upon fob under Liturgies aſcribed to Bafil, Chryfojtom,
the Name of Origen (4), by Origen him- Gregory Nazianzen and Cyril, that they
felf (5), by Gril of Jerufalen (6), by Epi- prayed for the Virgin Mary herſelf (9)
phanius (7), and, I may fay, by all the whom no Papiſt will allow to have ever
(1) Tertull. de Coron. Milit. c. 3. & de Monogam. c. 10. (2) Cyprian,
cp. 37. vel 22. ad Cler. ep. 34. vel 39. & 66. vel 1. (3) Arnob. l. 4. p. 181.
(4) Orig. in Job. (5) Orig. in Roman. I. 9. t. 2. (6) Cyril Catech.
M ft. 5. n. 6. (7) Epiphan. bæreſ. 75. (8) Idem ibid. (9) Apud
Uſher, Anſwer to the Challenge, p. 138. & Dallæum de Pænis & Satisfac. 1. 5. c. 8.
touched
Hadrian, BISHOPS of Rome.
139
Chriſt 795.
of that ſincerc Affection and Friendſhip, he wrote his Epitaph him. Year of
ſelf, ſetting forth, in Elegiac Verſe, all the good Qualities with all
the
great Works of his deceaſed Friend (E). That Epitaph he cauſed Who writes
bis Epitaph,
touched at Purgatory. In the Greek Li- Comfort to them, tho' but little, and tho'and ſends it
turgy of Chryfoftom it is ſaid ; we offer none at all, yet it would be accepted by to Rome.
unto thee this reaſonable Service for the God, as a pleaſing Sacrifice from thoſe',
faithful deceaſed, our Fore-fathers, Fathers, who offered it. Many other Reaſons occur
Patriarcbs, Prophets, and Apoſtles, Evan- in the Ancients, on which they grounded
gelifts, Martyrs, Conftſors, religious Per- the Practice of the Church in praying for
fons, and every, Spirit perfected in the departed Souls; they prayed that God
Faith; but eſpecially for our moſt holy, im- would receive them to himſelf; that he
maculate, moſt bleſſed Lady, the Mother of would deal with them according to his
God, and ever Virgin Mary, (I). We Mercy, and not in ſtrict Juſtice according
muſt therefore either allow that praying to their Merits; that as the Soul is but in
for the Dead does not infer Purgatory, or an imperfect State of Happineſs till the
that the greateſt Saints, the Prophe!s, the Reſurrection, the Juſt might riſe the laſt
Apoſtles, the Martyrs, nay and the Virgin Day to an endleſs State of conſummate
Mary herſelf, went all firſt to Purgatory, Happineſs; that thus they manifeſted their
or at leaſt were fuppofed by the Church to Faith of a future Reſurrection, and in the
be in Purgatory, ſince ſhe prayed indiffe- mean Time maintained a kind of Commu-
rently for them all.
nion between the Members of Chriſt yet
As for the Grounds and Reaſons of that alive, and thoſe, that were departed only,
ancient Practice, they were various ac and not loſt by Death (7). There is not
cording to various Opinions, that obtained among the many Reaſons, alleged by the
in thoſe Days. Many of the Fathers were Fathers to juſtify the Practice of the Church
of Opinion, as is well known, that the in praying for the Dead, the leaſt Inti-
Souls of all the Juſt, except the Martyrs, mation, or diſtant Hint of Purgatory, or
were detained in ſome place inviſible to of a Place, where the departed Souls are
mortal Eye, which they called Hades, confined and tormented, till they have paid
Paradiſe, Abraham's Bofom, where they the utmoſt Farthing, or are prayed out
were happy, but cxpected a more com of thoſe inexpreſſible Tcrments by their
plete Happineſs at the End of all Things. Friends. And who can believe, that if
They, who held this Opinion, may be ſuch a Doctrine had then been known,
ſuppoſed, in praying for the Dead, to have the Fathers would have all forgot to allege
prayed that the Souls of the Juſt, thus it as a Reaſon of their praying for the
fequeſtered for a Time, might at laſt be Dead? It would certainly have better ju-
admitted to perfect Happineſs in Heaven. ſtified the Practice of the Church than any
Others thought, that by the Prayers of the Reaſon they alleged.
Church the Glory of the Saints was en (E) Among the other Verſes are the
creaſed, and the Pains of the Damned, in following more tender than clegant.
ſome Degree, mitigated and leffened. The .
Prayers of the Church, ſays Sr. Auflin, Poſt Patrein lacrymans Carolus hæc car-
ſerve to render the Damnation of the IVicked
mina fcripfi;
more tolerable (2). Of the fame Opinion Tu mihi dulcis amor, te modo plango,
were Prudentius ( 3 ), Paulinus ( 4 ), the
Pater,
Author of the Queſtions to Antiochus under Nomina jungo fimul titulis, clarifime,
the Name of Athanafius (5), and Chry-
nofira,
sofiom (6), who adviſes Men to pray for Hadrianus, Carolus, Rex ego, tuque
the Dead, becauſe it would bring ſome
Pater.
(1) Chryfoft. Liturg. t. 4. p. 614. (2) Aug. Enchirid. ad Laurent. c. 110.
(3) Pruden. Cathem. car. 5. de Cereo Pafcal.
(4) Paulin. ep. 19:
(5) Atha-
nar. quæſt. ad Antioch. quæſt. 34. (6) Chryſ. hom. 3. in Phil. hom. 21. in
.Act. & hom. 32. in Math, (7) Sec Bingham antiquit. of the Chriſtian Church,
1.15. c. 3. fedt. 15, 16.
T 2
to
140
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or - Hadrian.
January, that is, on the 26th of December; where he is ſaid to
Year of to be engraved in gold Letters upon Marble, and ſent it to Rome to
Chriſt 795: be there ſet up at his Tomb in the Vatican; and to this Day. it is to
be ſeen at the Door of that Church. To the Epitaph were added in
Proſe the Time of his Pontificate, and thc Day of his Death in the
following Words; Pope Hadrian of bleſſed Memory fat 23 Years,
10 Months, and 17 Days, and died on the 7th of the Kalends of
-
have died on the Day, on which he was buried. For that he died
on Chriſtmas-day, and conſequently on the 25th, and not the 26th
of December, is atteſted by all the Hiſtorians of thoſe Times. But
as Men were then commonly buried the very Day they died (and ſo
was Charlemagne himſelf) the Day, on which they were buried, is
often called the Day of their Death, tho’they happened to be buried
one or two Days after their Death; and their Exequies were ſcarce
cver put off any longer, unleſs ſomething intervencd to prevent
them n.
His public
What we read in Anaſtaſius of the Generoſity of Hadrian to the
Works, Poor, of his Magnificence in repairing and embelliſhing the Churches
and Cemeteries of Rome, in rebuilding the Walls, and reſtoring the
ancient Aqueducts of that City, far exceeds any Thing we read not
only of his predeceſſors, but of the greateſt Princes of thoſe Timcs.
There was ſcarce a Church, a Monaſtery, or an Oratory in Rome,
that did not partake of his Generoſity. On the Ornaments of the
Vatican Bafilic alone he is ſaid to have cmployed 2580 Pounds
Weight of Gold, beſides an immenſe Quantity of Silver and pre-
He enriches cious Stones of all Sorts. Among the other Preſents or Offerings he
the Churches made to that Church was a Chandelier of wonderful Workmanſhip
of Rome.
capable of holding 1370 Candles. It hung beforc the Chancel; and
Hadrian appointed it to be lighted four Times a Year, viz, on the
Feſtivals of Chriſtmas, of Eaſter, of the holy Apoſtles, and on the
Day of the Roman Pontiff's Ordination. He expended, in repairing
the ruinous Walls of the City, 1100 Pounds Weight of Gold, and
larger Sums on the Aqueducts and other public Ornaments or necef-
fary Works; inſomuch that Rame is ſaid to have, in great meaſure,
recovered under him its ancient Luſtre and Grandeuro. It was the
Generoſity of Charlemagne that enabled Hadrian to perform ſuch
extraordinary Works. For Eginhard tells us, that on the Church of
St. Peter Charlemagne heaped, to uſc his Expreſſion, immenſe
Vide Pagi Critic..Bar. ad ann. 795: n..I.
Anaſt.. in Hadrian.
Quantities
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
141
Chriſt 795.
Quantities of Gold, of Silver, of precious Stones, and made rich Year of
Preſents to the Popes without Number, having nothing ſo much at
Heart as to ſee the City of Rome reſtored, by his Means, to its an-
cient Authority, and the Church of St. Peter enriched with his
Wealth above all other Churches P. This Wealth was the Plundet
of the different Nations Charlemagne had conquered, eſpecially of
the Saxons and the wealthy Nation of the Huns, whom he almoſt
cntirely rooted out; and it was perhaps to atone for his Cruclty and
Injuſtice that he thus ſhared the Booty with St. Peter and the Pope.
Hadrian wrote a great Number of Letters to different Perſons, Wrote num-
and on different Subjects, which have been carefully collected by ciers.
berlefs Leta
Ludovicus Jacob in his Bibliotheca Pontificia ; and to him I refer
the Reader.
In the Time of Hadrian, Offa, King of Mercia, having trea-
chcrouſly murdercd Ethelbert, King of the Eaſt Angles, undertook
a Pilgrimage to Rome to atone for that Crime, and at the ſame
Time to obtain of the Pope a Confirmation of the Privileges he had
granted to the Monaſtery of St. Alban, which he had built and richly
endowed upon the pretended miraculous Diſcovery of the Body of
that Saint, after it had lain concealed 500 Years and upwards. The
Pope received the King with the greateſt Marks of Reſpect and
Efteem, applauded his Devotion to the Protomartyr of his Kingdom,
and readily confirmed all the Privileges, Immunities and Exemptions
he had granted to the new-founded Monaſtery %. That he did not,.
as is pretended, during his Stay at Rome, make his Kingdom tributary
to the Pope and St. Peter, has been ſhown elſewhere?.
CONSTANTINE,
IRENE,
L E O HII.
NicePHORUS,
MICHAEL RHANGABE.
Emperors of the
Weft,
CHARLEMAGNE,,
LEWIS THE DE-
BONAIRE.
Ninety-fifth Bishop of Rome:
IN
N the Room of Hadrian was raiſed to the See Leo the third of Leo IIII.
that Name, Presbyter of the Roman Church, a Native of Rome, chofens
and the Son of one Azuppius. He was choſen, with one Conſent,
by thc Nobility, the Clergy, and the People the Day after thc Death
P Eginhard, in vit. Carol. 9 Weſtmonaſt. ad ann. 794. & M. Parif. in.vita.
Off. p. 26.
I. Vol. 3. p. 194, 195:
of.
1
142 The Hiſtory of the POPES, og Leo III,
Charle-
tion.
Romans
Year of of Hadrian, the 26th of December, and ordained the next Day',
Chriſt 796, which in 795. fell on a Sunday,
Acquaints Leo was no ſooner ordained than he wrote to Charlemagne to
magne with acquaint him with his Promotion, ſending him at the ſame Time
his Promo- the Keys of the Confeſſion or Tomb of St. Peter, the Standard of
the City of Rome, with ſeveral other Preſents, and deſiring him to
appoint ſome Lord of his Court to repair to Rome in order to receive
of the Roman People, in his Name, their Oath of Allegiancet. Upon
the Receipt of this Letter Charlemagne diſpatched the Abbot Angil-
bert, one of his chief Favourites, with a Letter to the new Pope,
whercin hc cxpreſſed great Satisfaction at his being raiied, with the
Approbation of all, to the Pontifical Dignity, as well as at his aſſu-
ring him of his Obedience and Fidelity. In the ſame Letter he ex-
horted his Holineſs to cdify the Church by his good Example and a
To whom the ſtrict Obſervance of the Canons, alluring him, that on his Side, he
was reſolved to exccute the Treaties he had made with his Prede-
fwear Alles
giance.
ceſtor, to entertain a ſtrict Union with him, and ever to defend as
Roman Patrician, the holy Catholic Church and the Apoſtolic See
of St. Peter u. From thcle Letters we may, I think, well conclude
with De Marca, that the Roman People acknowleged Charlemagne
for their liege Lord and Sovereign ; nay that the Pope himſelf owned
him for his liege Lord as well as they, ſince he promiſed him Obe-
dience and Fidelity, and conſequently that tho' the Pope received
the Revenues, tho’ he appointed the Magiſtrates, the Judges, and
other Officers in Rome and the other Cities yielded by the Kings of
France to the Apoſtolic See, the Sovereignty or ſupreme Power was
nevertheleſs lodged in thoſe Princes. It is certain at lcaſt, that they
cxerciſed a ſovereign Power in Rome, that they called Romé their
City, that the People of Rome ſtilcd them their Lords, Domini
noftri, and that the Popes themſelves acted on all Occaſions as de-
pending upon them. As the Keys of Heaven were ſuppoſed to be
kept by St. Peter, who was therefore ſtiled the Door-keeper of Hea-
ven, and the Key-bearing Apoſtlc, Claviger, Keys were made of
The Cuſtom Gold, of Silver, or other Metal, and being laid on the Tomb of
of ſending St. Peter, were ſent from thience to all Princcs indifferently, who
Keys to
Princes.
had in any Manner well deſerved of the Church. But the Standard
of Rome was fent only to the Roman Patricians, or to thoſc, who
s Anaſt. in Lcon. III.
* Eginhard. Annal. ad ann. 796. u Epiſt.
Carol. Lcon, inter Epiſt. Alcuin, ep. 84.
were
!
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
143
Chriſt 796.-
were to defend the Church againſt Schiſmatics, Herctics, and Infidels. Year of
Thus was it fent by Stephen II. to Pepin, by Gregory III. to Charles
Martel, by Harian to Charlemagne, and by the ſucceeding Popes
to ſuch Princes as engaged, or were to engage in War with the Enc-
mies of the Church.
Charlemagne ſent to the new Pope, together with his Letter, moſt immenſe
magnificent Preſents, the Spoils of the Huns, whoſe rich Metro Treaſures
ſent by Chara
polis, nanied Ringa, Henry, Duke of Friuli, had lately taken and lemagne to
plundered. As the Duke was ſent againſt them by Charlemagne, Rome.
whoſe Vafal hc was, to him he delivered up the whole Treaſure;
and Charlemagne, reſerving nothing for himſelf, diſtributed Part of
it amongſt his Officers and thoſe of his Court, but ſent the far greater
Share to the Pope. The Preſent was deſigned for Hadrian; but
the King, hearing at the ſame Time of his Death, and of the Pro-
motion of Leo, fent it to the new Pope to be employed by him in
repairing and adorning the Churches of Rome, eſpecially that of
St. Peterw. And thus, to do L: o Juſtice, it was by. him employed
as ſoon as he received it. For he cauſed a Cenfer of Gold to bc How em.
made for the Church of St. Peter weighing 17 Pounds, covered the ployed by the
Shrine of the Apoſtle with Plate of Gold, weighing 49 Pounds and
enriched with a great Number of precious Stones, added to ſeveral
other leſs confiderable Ornaments three Crowns of Silver weighing
307 Pounds, repaired the Roof, and rebuilt the Porches quite gone
to Decay. In like manner he rebuilt or repaired 20 other Churches,
and enriched moſt of them with Ornanients and Utenſils of great
Value. To the Church of St. Mary ad Preſepe he gave a Ciborium
of Silver, that is, the Veſſel, in which the Sacrament was kept;
weighing 600 Pounds, and three Crowns of Silver weighing 155;
to the Church of St. Laurence without the Walls three Statues of
Silver wcighing 54 Pounds, and to that of St. Suſanna, where he
was ordained, facred Utenſils of all kinds, enriching it beſides with
Pictures, with Statues, with precious Stones, with Croffes, ſome of
Gold, ſome of Silver, and other Ornaments without Number; fo
that it became at once one of the richeſt and moſt magnificent
Churches in Rome. Léo, having thus with the Treaſure ſent him
by Charlemagne renewed, embelliſhed, and cnriched moſt of the
Churches of Rome, employed the remaining Part of that Treaſure
in building a moſt magnificent Hall, or Banqueting-room, Triclia..
w Eginhard, in Anpal,
Popes
$
nium ย
144
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
lace.
Year of nium in the Laterán Palace, called from himi Aula Leonina and Ba.
Chrift 796. filica Leonina. It far exceeded in Grandeur and Ornaments all the
His Tricli- Other Buildings of Rome. Anaſtaſius takes partici-ar Notice of the
niurn in the Pillars of Porphyry moſt curiouſly wrought, of the many Vaſes all
Lateran Pa.
of the moſt ſcarce and valuable Marble, of the Walls covered from
Top to Bottom with Marble of different Colours and Kinds, and of
feveral Repreſentations in Moſaic Work of an elegant Taſte. Of
theſe one is to be ſeen to this Day, in which St. Peter is repreſented
ſitting with three Keys lying on his Knees. On his Right Hand is
Leo, and Charlemagne on his Left, both knceling. To Leo he gives
with his Right a Pall, and with his Left the Standard to Charlemagne.
Over Leo are theſe Words in Latin, our moſt holy Lord Pope Lco,
and the following over Charles, to our Lord King Charles, with
theſe under both, St. Peter grant Life to Pope Lco, and Victory to
King Charles. This Repreſentation was, no doubt, deſigned by the
Pope as a Memorial for After-ages of his ſending the Standard to
Charlemagne, and his chercby acknowleging him Roman Patrician,
and Protector of the City of Rome and the Church. Thus did Leo
cmploy the firſt Year of his Pontificate; for theſe great Works are
related by Anaſtaſius as begun ſoon after his Ele&tion and completed
in one Year's Time x.
The See of
The ſame Year 796. Renulph, King of Mercia, hearing of the
Canterbury Death of Hadrian, and the Promotion of Leo, diſpatched ro Rome
reſtored by
Leo to its an-an Abbot named Wada to congratulate the new Pope on his Election,
cient Juriſ- and at the ſame Time to propoſe to him the reſtoring of the See of .
Year of Canterbury to its ancient juriſdiction. For Offa, late King of Mer-
Chriſt 797. cia, being highly provoked againſt the People of Canterbury, and
thinking it beſides inconſiſtent with the Dignity of his Crown, that
the Biſhops of his Kingdom ſhould acknowlege the Biſhop of any
other for their Metropolitan, had obliged them to withdraw their
Obedience to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, and own the Biſhop of
Lichfield, the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Mercia, for thcir Me-
tropolitan; nay he had even obtained of Pope Hadrian a Pall for
his new Archbiſhop. Thus the Biſhops of Hereford, Worceſter,
Leiceſter and Sydnaceſter in the Kingdom of Mercia, and the Bi-
ſhops of Helmanſted and Dunmoc in the Kingdom of the Eaſt Angles,
which Offa had annexed to his Crown, became Suffragans to the
Archbiſhop of Lichfield. But as this occaſioned a Miſunderſtanding
& Anaſt. in Leon. III.
among
diction.
I
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
145
Chriſt 796.
among the Engliſh Prelates, which Kenulph apprehended might end Year of
in a Schiſm, he wrote this Y car to the Pope, ſoon after his Acceſſion
to the Crown by the above-mentioned Abbot, the following Year by
others, and laſtly by Athelard then Archbiſhop of Canterbury, cn-
trcating his Holineſs to ſuggeſt to him what he thought moſt
proper
to be done on the preſent Occaſion; but at the ſame Time telling
him, that as Auſtin of bleſſed Memory had firſt preached the Goſpel
to the Saxons in England, as he died at Canterbury, and his Body
lay there, that City had, with the Approbation of all, been diſtin-
guiſhed with the metropolitical Dignity; that King Offa being at
Enmity with the People of Çanterbury, and the vencrablc Lambert
then Archbiſhop of that City, had curtailed the Juriſdiction of that
Sce, and divided the Dioceſe into two; that Pope Hadrian had, at
thc Requeſt of the King, granted a Pall, a Grant quite unprecedented,
to the Biſhop of the Mercians; that he indeed blamed neither belicv-
ing both now reigned in Heaven with Chriſt and his Saints, but only
entrcated his Holineſs to examine impartially the Letter, which Athe-
lard had written to him in an Aſſembly of his Brethren concerning
the Diviſion of his Dioceſe y. The King's Letter is filled with Ex-
preſlions of the higheſt Eſteem and greateſt Reſpect for the Pope ;
was written in the Name of all the Biſhops and Nobility of his King.
dom as well as in his own, and accompanied with a Preſent of 120
Mancuſas, a Coin about a Mark in Value. With this Letter was
diſpatched to Rome Athelard himſelf, who prevailed in the End upon
the Pope, as he was a Man of great Addreſs and uncommon Abili-
ties, to reſtore the Sce of Canterbury to its ancient Juriſdiction.
The Pope's Letter in Favour of Athelard and his See is dated the
15th of the Kalends of February, or the 18th of January, in the
kcond Ycar of the Reign of the Emperor Charles, and in the roth
Indi&ion?, that is in the Year of Chriſt 802, thoſe chronological
Marks anſwering that and no other Year. The learned Collector
therefore of the Engliſh Councils was certainly miſtaken in making
Adulph, Archbiſhop of Lichfield, ſign, as a private Biſhop, thc Coun-
cil of Bacanceld, held, according to him, in 798a, ſince he was not
reduced to that Condition till four Years after, when the Juriſdiction
of the Sce of Canterbury was again extended to all the Churches of
England.
y Concil. t. 7. p. 1109. DeGeſt. Angl. continuat. 1. 1. C. 12. & apud Bar. ad ann.
795.
z Malmeſ, de Poncif. p. 210.
& Concil, Brit. vol. I. p. 317.
Vol. IV.
U
In
146
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Council at
Rome.
Chriſt
799.
Year of In the latter End of the Year 798, or more probably in the Begin-
Chrift 796.
ning of the Year 799, Leo aſſembled a Council in the Church of
Felix of Ur- St. Peter at Rome on the following Occaſion. Felix of Urgel,
geland Etio notwithſtanding he had renounced his Opinion concerning the Adop-
ludo con-
tion of Chriſt firſt in the Aſſembly of Ratisbin, and afterwards in
demned in a the Preſence of Pope Hadrian at Romeb, and had been condemned.
by all the weſtern Biſhops in the Council of Frankfort, had, at the
Year of Perſuaſion of Elipand of Toledo, retracted his former Retractations,
and begun anew to preach the ſame Doctrine. Hercupon Charle-
magne, unwilling to recur to Violence till all other Mcans had proved
incffetual, charged Alcuin, the moſt learned Man of his Time, to
write both to Felix and Elipand, and try to convince them of their
Error. Alcuin wrote accordingly; but his Letter was anſwered by
Felix; not with the Brevity of an Epiſtle, to uſe his Expreſſion, but
with the Prolixity of a Book, calculated to eſtabliſh his former Opi-
nion, as entirely agrecable to the Doctrine of the Scriptures and the
Fathers. His Book or Epiſtle as well as Alcuin's Letter, which had
given Occaſion to it, and a Treatiſe againſt the Adoptionarians con-
filling of three Books, which Paulinus, Patriarch of squilea had
lately publiſhed, were, ai the Defire of Alcuin, ſent by Charlemagne
to Rome to be examined there by the Pope in a Council. A Coun-
cil was accordingly convened by Leo in the Vatican, and the Letter
of Felix being read and examined, the Doctrine it contained was
condemned by the Pope and the 57 Biſhops, who compoſed that
Aſembly, as heretical and blafphemous, and Felix anathematized,
if he did not fincerely repent, and retract it.
Felix appeals
The Acts of the Council were immediately tranfinitted to Charte-
magne, who thereupon ordered Leidrate of Lions, Nefrid of Nar-
magne.
bonne, with feveral other Biſhops, Abbots, and ſome of the moſt
learned Men of his Clergy, to repair to Urgel, to hold a Council
there, and ſummoning Felix to appear at it, acquaint him with the
Sentence lately pronounced at Rome againſt him, and depoſe him,
if he obſinately perſiſted in his Error. Thc Biſhops, arriving at
U gel, acquainted Felix with the Judgment given by the Pope and
his Council, as well as with the Order they had received from the
King, threatening to put the one and the other, without Delay, in
Exccution, if he did not, in their Preſence, own his Error, and pub-
licly abjurc it. Felix begged he might be firſt conducted to the
to Charic-
See above, p. 127.
King,
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
147
Chriſt 799.
King, not doubting, he ſaid, but that he ſhould appeaſe his Wrath, Year of
and entirely ſatisfy him however prejudiced againſt him by the Mil-
repreſentations of his Enemies. The Biſhops granted him his Re-
queſt; and being ſent to Aix-la-Chapelle, where Charlemagne then
was, he begged he might be heard once more, and allowed to allege
in his Preſence, and in the Preſence of ſuch Biſhops and Men of
Learning, as he ſhould think fit to name, what he had to offer in Fa-
vour of his Opinion, aſſuring him, that Truth was the only Object
he had in his View, and that, if they could but convince him of the
Truth, he would that Moment own and embrace it.
Felix had already thrice renounced his Opinion, and as often cm. And con-
braced it anew. Charlemagne, truſting to his repeated Proteſtations, vinced by Al-
and aſcribing his Obſtinacy chicfly to Ignorance, reſolved to comply Error re-
once more with his Requeſt. He therefore allembled the neighbour-nounces it the
fourth Time.
ing Biſhops, and at the ſame Time ordered Alcuin, of whole Inte-
grity, Knowlege and Learning he entertained, and very deſervedly,
the highch Opinion, to repair to Aix, and attend the Council, which,
at the Requeſt of Felix he had appointed to meet in that City.
The Biſhops met in the royal Palace, and the Point in Diſpute, viz.
whether Chriſt, as Man, was the Son of God by Nature, or only
by Adoption, being argued for five whole Days by Felix and Alcuin,
in the Preſence of the Biſhops, of the King, and all the great
Offi-
cers of State, and Paſſages without Number quoted on both sides
from the Fathers and Councils, Felix yielded in the End, acknow-
leged his Error, abjured it the fourth Time, and, to convince the
World of the Sincerity of his Converſion, publiſhed a Confeflion of
his Faith, declaring therein that his other Retractations were all only
pretended, but that this was, as he ſhould anſwer it the laſt Day, un-
fcigned and ſincere, being owing to no other Force but that of Truth
and Conviction. This Confeflion of Faith he addreſſed to the Clergy
of his Dioceſe, exhorting ſuch of them, as he had by his Authority
or his Writings wickedly ſeduced and led aſtray, to tollow his Ex-
ample, and return, together with him, to the Unity of the Churchc.
But this Converſion either was not niore ſincere than the three But embraces
other, or he afterwards changed his Mind, and was thereupon de it anew and
poſed and baniſhed to Lions, where he died while Agobard was Bi Perſuaſion.
fhop of that City, leaving a Writing behind him, wherein he en-
c Alcuin. adverf. Elipand. I. 1. Confeff. fidei Felic. apul Alcuin. p. 998. An inm.
in vit. Alcuin.
U 2
deavoured
dies in thut-
148
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
rafler.
Year of deavoured by way of Queſtion and Anſwer to eſtabliſh the Opinion,
Chriſt 799, which he had ſo often, and ſo ſolemnly abjured. That Writing
Agobard undertook to confute with the Teſtimonies of the Fathers d,
for both Parties pretended to have the Fathers plainly on their Side.
But the Authority of the King was with many of far greater Weight
than that of the Fathers; and it was more by his Authority than by
the Authority of the Fathers, that the Sect of the Adoptionarians
was, in the Courſe of a few Years, utterly ſuppreſſed. Felix was a
His Cha Man of an unblemiſhed Character, and generally looked upon as a
Saint till he forfeited the good Opinion the World entertained of
him by obſtinately adhering to his own Opinion, and refuſing to ſub-
mit his Judgment to that of the Church. Alcuin himſelf ſpeaks of
him as a Man of Learning e: But with all his Learning he could
never comprehend how Chriſt, as Man, could be, or be called the
Son of God by Nature. As for Elipand of Toledo, he is faid to
have acknowleged his Error at laſt, and ſincerely abjured it f. His
Converſion, and that of moſt of his Followers was chiefly owing to
the Zeal and Labours of Alcuin, who wrote, at the Requeſt of Char-
lemagne, firſt ſeven Books againſt the Adoptionarians addreſſed to
Felix, and afterwards four addreſſed to Elipand.
Peace was thus reſtored to the Churches of Spain; but that of
phews of the Rome was in the mean Time diſturbed by an unlıcard of Attempt.
late Pope con-
fpire againſt
Hadrian had raiſed his two Nephews Pafchalis and Campulus to the
two chief Employments in the Church (and this is the firſt Inſtance
of Nepotiſni that occurs in the Hiſtory of the Popes) and they ruled,
during his Pontificate, with an abſolute Sway. That extravagant
Power, which they probably uſed no better than moſt of the Popes
Nephews have done ſince their Time, Leo undertook to controll,
tho’ it is not to be doubred but that the Unanimity, with which he
was choſen the very Day after the Deceaſe of his Predeceſor, was
owing chiefly to them, who were, in a manner Maſters of the Suf-
frages of the People as well as the Clergy. They had fattered them-
felves that Lco would, out of Gratitude, allow them to cnjoy the
fame unlimited Power under him they had enjoyed under their
Uncle, nay that he would himſelf be governed entirely by their
Councils. Being thus diſappointed, and provoked beyond meaſure
ar their Diſappointment, they formed the wicked Deſign of murder-
The two Ne.
Leo.
1
• Alcuin. ep. 15. ad Carol.
d Agobard. lib. contra Fel. Ado. in Chron,
Tamayus in Catalog. Epifcop. Toletan,
ing
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
149
Chriſt 799.
great Barba-
ing Leo, and getting another choſen in his Room, who ſhould better Year of
acknowlege his Obligations to them. They choſe for the Execution
of their Deſign the 25th of April, the Day of a ſolemn Proceſſion,
at which the Popes uſed annually to aſlift. As Leo was therefore
repairing that Day from the Lateran Palace to the Place, where the
Proceſſion was to begin, Pafchalis met him on his Way, but not in an
Attire proper for the Occaſion, which he excuſed, pretending to be
indiſpoſed, and not in a Condition to attend the Procellion. Soon
after came Campulus, and both attended the Pope, the one on the
one Hand, and the other on the other, entertaining and diverting
him till they came to the Monaſtery of St. Stephen and St. Silveſter,
where a great Number of armed Men, ruſhing out with a hideous
Noiſe from the neighbouring Houſes, ſurrounded the Pope, and after Seize him and
beating him till they thought him ready to expire, held him wallow-uſe him with
ing in his Blood on the Ground, while Paſchalis and Campulus en-city
.
deavoured to put out his Eyes, and pluck out his Tongue. The
Conſpirators ſpared his. Life, being moved to Compaſlion, as we are
told, in ſeeing him reduced to ſo miſerable a Condition; but ſhut
him
in the Monaſtery mentioned above, and from thence con-
veyed him in the Dead of the Night, leſt his Friends ſhould attempt
his Reſcue, to the Monaſtery of St. Eraſmus, where they kept him
cloſely confined. But his firſt Chamberlain Albin, having gained
the Abbot of that Monaſtery, privately conveyed him, with the Al- Is reſcued by
ſiſtance of his Friends, over the Walls of the City to the Vatican, the Duke of
where he was received and entertained with the greateſt Humanity
Spoleti.
by the Abbot Wirad, who reſided there with the Character of Envoy
from Charlemagne. In the mean Time Winigiſis, Duke of Spoleti,
informed of what had happened, haſtened to Rome at the Head of
his Army, and delivering the Pope out of all Danger, carried him,
in a kind of Triumph, to his own Dominions.
That Leo's Tongue and Eyes were really pulled out, and miracu- His Eyes and
louſly reſtored to him, as he afterwards both ſpokc and faw, is af. Tongue falfly
ſerted not only by Anaſtaſius, who lived ſome Time after
, but by been pulled
feveral Writers, who lived at that very Time, and by Alcuin among out and mira-
the reſt (F), in whoſe Authority Pagi would have us to acquieſce as re-
ſtored.
quite
(F) of this Miracle Alcuin ſpeaks thus into Germany, to acquaint Charlemagne
in a Poem he wrote on the Journey, with it by word of Mouth. Leo, ſays
which, after this Attempt, Leo undertock he, at their firſt meeting,
Vorbera
up
150
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
2
Year of quite deciſives. But neither did Alcuin, nor indeed any of the
Chriſt 799. Writers quoted by Pagi, ever ſee, or tell us they cver ſaw the Pope
without his Tongue and his Eyes: So that it was only by Report
they knew that both were pulled out; and therefore their Autho-
rity can by no means be admitted as deciſive, no more than the Re-
port, upon which it was grounded. They believed it indeed; but
in that credulous Age Miracles were become common, and as com-
monly believed even by Men, in other Rcſpeets, of the greateſt Saga-
city, as any daily Event or Occurrence of Life. Of this Miracle
Leo himſelf takes no kind of Notice; and who can believe that had
ſo ſtupendous a Miracle been wrought in his Favour, he would not
have urged it as an inconteſtable Proof of his Innocence againſt the
Aſperſions of his Encmics charging him with many enormous Crimes,
and pretending it was their Zcal for the Honour of the Sce of St.
Peter that prompted them to attempt on his Life?
Repairs to From Spületi the Pope wrote to Charlemagne to acquaint him with
the Attempt, that had been made on his Life, and the cruel Treat-
ment he had met with ; and ſoon after ſet out for France to implorc
the Protection of the King againſt the inveterate Hatred of his Ene-
mies, whom nothing leſs would ſatisfy than his utter Ruin and De-
ſtruction. But being informed, on his Journcy, that the King was
then encamped at Paderborne, he repaired thither, and was met, as
he approached the Place, firſt by Hildivald, the King's Chaplain,
afterwards by Pepin, King of Italy, and laſtly by Charlemagne him-
Howreceived ſelf, who received him, both burſting into Tcars at their firſt meet-
ing, with all poſſible Marks of Reſpect, Veneration, and Friendſhip.
During his Stay at Paderborne, he gave the King a minute Account
of the Conſpiracy, that had been formed againſt him, of the wicked
Deſigns of his Enemies, and the barbarous Treatment he had met
with at their Hands. The King aſſured him of his Protection ; but
being then upon the Point of entering Saxony, (and this was the
Charle-
magne.
by him.
& Pagi Geſt. Pont. Rom. vol. 2. p. 7.
Perbera commemorans, extinctum l mine
vultum
Narrat, & abfcifam liquido de gutture
linguam :
Nunc medicante Deo fanatum & ab om-
nibus iftis
Ele malis, &c.
Exquirit Carolus caſus, auditque laborum
Diverſos, ſceleris populi impia facta fiu-
peſcit :
Miratur geminas jamdudum luie fenefiras
ExtinElas, & nunc reparatum lumine
vultum,
Truncatamque loqui miratur for ipe lin-
glain ;
And a few Lines after
Alter in alteriis configuin: limina vultus.
286
Lco III. BISHOPS of Rome.
151
Year of
Chriſt 799.
well received
28th Year of the Saxon War) he adviſed him for the preſent to rc-
turn to Rome, appointing ſeveral Biſhops, and ſome of the chicf
Lords of his Court to attend hini on his Journey, and protect him
againſt any further Attempts of his Enemies. Leo, thus attended,
fet out from Paderborne, was received and entertained in all the Ci-
tics, through which he palled, as St. Peter himſelf, and being met, Returns to
as he approached Rome, by the whole Clergy, the Senate, the Mi Rome and is
litia, and all the Roman Nobility, he was conducted by themi amidſt by the Ro-
the loud Acclanations of the People to the Vatican, where he per-mans.
formed Divine Service with great Solemnity, all, who were preſent,
receiving the Sacranicnt at his Hands. The next Day, the 29th of
November, he cntered the City, and took Poſſeſſion anew of the
Lateran Palacch.
Some Days after the Biſhops and Lords, who had attended him His Trial.
from France, aſſembling in the grcat Hall, which Leo had built in the
Lateran Palacc, ſummoned the Conſpirators, and all, who had any
Thing to lay to the Charge of Leo, to appear before them, being
conimiſſioned by the King to hear their Complaints, and do them
Juſtice, if any.ways injured by the Pope or his Miniſters.
peared, and among the reſt Paſchalis and Campulus, charging the
Pope with ſeveral Crimes, which Hiſtorians have not thought fit to
ſpecify; but not being able to make good their Charge, the Com-
miſſioners, fully ſatisfied of the Innocence of the Pope, and the
Malice of his Encmics, after they had ſpent a whole Weck and
more in hearing and carefully examining every Complaint that was the chief
brought againſt him, ordered the two chief Conſpirators, Paſchalis Conſpirators
ſeized and
and Campulus to be ſeized, and ſent them to Priſon i.
impriſoned.
In the mican Time Charlemagne, having quicted the Saxons for Charle-
the preſent, and held a General Diet of the Statcs at Maience, fet magnefits
out from thence, at the Requeſt of the Pope, with the Flower of his
out for Italy
Year of
Ariny for Italy. Being arrived at Ancona, he detached his Son Pe. Chrift 800.
pin with the greater Part of the Army againſt Grimoald, Duke of
Benevento, who, as he was informed, had privately entered into an
Alliance with the Greeks, and marched himſelf with the reft towards
Rome. The Pope, attended by his Clergy and the Roman Nobility,
met him at Nomentum in Sabina about twelve Miles from Rome,
dined with him there, and having, in a private Conference, informed
Some ap-
2
Anaft.
» Anaſt. in Leon. III. Eginhard. ad ann. 799. Anonymus Lambec.
ibid.
hin
+
152
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Chriit 8co.
at Roinc.
Year of him of thic preſent Situation of Affairs in the City, returned the
ſame Day to the Lateran. The next Day, the 24th of November,
the King advanced with his Army to Rome, and diſmounting from
His Reception his Horle at the Vatican, was received by the Pope, who there
waited his Agrival with all the Roman Clergy, and introduced by
him into the Church, the Clergy ſinging, as he entered the Baſilic,
Hymnus of Thankſgiving for his ſafe Arrival, which were ccchoed
on all Sides with repeated Shouts of Joy by the People. He ſpent
feven whole Days in acquainting himſelf with the State of Rome as
well as with the Situation of Affairs in Italy, in examining every
Circumſtance of thc Attenipt, that had been made on the Lifc of the
Pope, and receiving daily new Informations concerning that Attempt.
Having thus heard all the Conſpirators could allege againſt the Pope,
or plead in their own Defence, he appointed all the Archbiſhops,
Biſhops, and Abbots then in Rome, the whole Body of the Roman
Clergy, and all the Roman Nobility, as well as the great Officers of
He aſſembles State, who attended him, to aſſemble in the Church of St. Peter ;
Council to and there fitting on the ſame Throne with the Pope, told thic Allem-
try the Pope.
bly; that the wicked Attempt made on the Life of his Holineſs, and
the unheard of Cruelty of his Encmics had filled him with Horror ;
that it was chicfly to inform himſelf thoroughly of ſo horrid and un-
precedented an Attempt that he was come into Italy; that the
Conſpirators, to leffen their own Guilt, charged the Pope with many
moſt heinous Crimes, but whether juſtly or unjuſtly it was incum-
bent upon them to enquirc, ſince it was for that Purpoſe he had
called them together. At theſe Words the Archbiſhops, Biſhops,
The Clergy and Abbots cried out, ſays Anaftafius, all with one Voice; we dare
decline judge not judge the Apoftolic See, the Head of all Churches: By that
See and it's Vicar we are all judged, and they by none. Hercupon
Leo, addreſſing the Aſembly, told them, that for their Satisfaction
he was willing to juſtify himſelf, and would the next Day, in the
Manner his Predeceſſors had choſen to juſtify themſelves on the like
Occaſion. The Affembly therefore being niet the next Day in the
ſamie Place, the Pope, holding the book of the Goſpels in his Hand,
took, in the Preſence of all, the following Oath ; fo may I, on the
clears bim- laſt 'Day, partake of the Promiſes made to all in the Goſpels, as I
ſelf by an
Dath,
am innocent of the Crimes laid to my Charge. And now the King
declaring himſelf, as well as the Aſembly, cntircly ſatisfied and fully
convinced of his Innocence, the Hymn Te Deum, &c. was ſung by
3
all
ing him.
And he
1
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
153
Year of
all with the greateſt Solemnity to thank the Almighty for thus re-
Chrift 802.
ſtoring their much injured Paſtor to his Sce, and together with him
Peace and Tranquillity both to the Church and thc City k. As for
Pafchalis and Campulus, the chief Authors of that wicked Attempt,
they were by the whole Affembly ſentenced to Death. But, at the
carneſt Deſire and Requeſt of the Pope, their Lives were ſpared, and
they only baniſhed, with all their Accomplices, to Francei.
What happened, ſoon after this Trial in Rome, is the moſt re. Charle-
magneraiſed
markablc Event of Charlemagne's Life, and has rendered the Me-
to the Impe-
mory of Pope Leo III. more famous, than that of all the other rial Dignity.
Popes, in the Annals of France, I mean the Promotion of Charle-
magne to the Imperial Dignity, commonly called the Tranſlation of
the Empire to the French, but very improperly, ſince tlie Empire
was not thereby tranſlated, nor taken from the Greeks and given to
the French, but only the Title of Emperor, extinct ever ſince the
Time of Auguſtulies in the Weſt, was revived and given to Charles (G).
This great Event is thus related, and very conciſely, by the contem.
porary Writers; “ Charles palled the Winter at Rome, ſays the ano-The Account
nymous Annaliſt publiſhed by Lambecius, who wrote at this very simile or that
“ Time, and as there was then no Emperor, the Empire being go-Event.
“ verned by a Woman, (viz. by Irene) the Pope, the other Biſhops,
" and the whole People of Rome thought it proper and juſt that
“ Charles, King of the Franks, who held Rome forıncrly the Scat
« of the Emperors, and all the other places in Italy, Gaul and Ger-
many once held by them, ſhould be diſtinguiſhed with the ſame
“ Title. They acquainted Charles therewith; and he being, at
" their Requeſt and Deſire, conſecrated by Leo on the Feſtival of the
Nativity of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, took up n him the Title of
Emperor m." Anaſtaſius only tells us, that the ſame Aſſembly, the
ft. ibid. Eginhard. in Annal. Anonymus apud Lambec. Annal. Lauriſham.
Mofliac. Monach. San Gall. I. 1. C. 18. 1 Idem ibid. m Annal. Anonym.
ad ann. 801.
(G) Some Coins or Medals of Charle- dian, againſt Infidels, Heretics and ſeditious
magne are ſtill to be ſeen with this Legend, Men, an Office, which the Emperors of
RENOVATIO IMPERII, the Revival of the the Eaſt had long ſince utterly neglected,
Empire : And ſo it is called by Sigonius, and in a Manner reſigned (1). As no
the Title of Emperor of the Weſt, ſays Prince bore, at this Time, the Title of
that Writer, which had failed, about 300 Emperor of the Weſt, that Title night
Years before, in Momyllus Auguftulus, was well be revived, but could not be trans-
revived by the Pope, that the Roman ferred.
Church might have a Defender, or Guar-
(1) Sigon. de Reg. Ital. 1. 4. ad ann. 801.
VOL. IV.
X
Aſſembly
k
3
154
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III
Chriſt Soo.
Year of Aſembly mentioned above, niecting ſoon after again in the Bafilie:
of St. Peter, the Pope placed a moſt precious Crown on the King's.
Head; and that thereupon the wholc Roman People crying out thrce
Times aloud, to Charles Auguftus, crowned by the Hand of God,
great and pacific Emperor; Life and Viktory, he was appointed
Emperor of the Romans, and anointed, together with his Son, by
the holy Pontiff on Chriſtmas-dayn. In the ſame Manner, and al .
moſt in the very ſame Words, is this Tranſaction related by all the:
contemporary Hiſtorians to a Man.
Hiſtorians to a Man. Some of them only add, that:
the new Emperor being placed, after he had reccived the holy Unc
tion, on a Throne, the Pope and the Roman People, adoring him, or
proftrating themſelves before him, thus acknowleged him, as they.
had formerly acknowleged the other Emperors, for their Lord and
their Sovereign ; that the Pope having preſented him with the Impe-
rial Robes, he returned, atcired as Emperor, from the Church to his.
Palacc, amidſt the loud Acclamations of the People crowding from
all Parts to ſee him, and that thenceforth laying aſide the Title of
Roman Patrician, he conſtantly ſtiled himſelf Auguftus and Emperoro.
Eginhard, who was Charlemagne's Secretary, and had probably at-
tended him to Rome, aſſures us, that he was no ways privy to the
Derrgn of the Pope and the Roman People; nay, and that far from
being pleaſed with, or proud of his new Dignity, he declared, that
had he foreſeen, or in the leaſt ſuſpected what had happened, he
would have forborne appearing at Church even on ſo folenin a Day..
However that be, certain it is; that he would never afterwards part
with that Title; but Itrove, with frequent Embaſſies and Letters filled
with the kindeſt Expreſſions, to appeaſe the Emperors of the Eaſt
complaining of his aſſuming it as an unſufferable Uſurpation; nay in.
the very Letters he wrote to them on that Subject he conſtantly ſtiled
them his Brothers, as being cqual in Dignity to them p.
His Promo-
The Tranſlation, as it is called, of the Empire from the Greeks to
tion no Argu-the French is alleged by the two great Champions of the Papacy Ban
inent of the
ronius and Bellarmine as an indiſputable Inſtance of the temporal Su-
temporal Su-
premacy of premacy of the Pope, or of the ſupreme and unlimited Power they
veſt in the Pope over all Princes and Kingdoms: And in that Inſtance
both Authors triumph, as if Leo had really excrciſcd ſuch a Power,
the Pope.
n Anaſt. in Leon. III. • Annal. Frac. ad ann. 801. Monach. Engoliſ. in
vit. Carol. Aimoin. I. 5. c. 6. Ado in Chron. ætat. 6. Gofrid. Viterb. in Chron.
Eginhard. in vit. Carol,
? Eginhard, ad ann. 801.
and
Leo IIT. BISHOPS of Rome.
155
and exerciſed it with the Approbation of all Chriſtian Princes, fince Year of
Christ 800.
Charles was acknowleged by all for true and lawful Emperor upon
his being raiſed to that Dignity by the Popca. But to make it un-
deniably appear that no ſuch Power was, on the preſent Occaſion,
cxerciſed by Leo, I need only obſerve, that in promoting Charli-
magne to the Imperial Dignity he took nothing from Irene, who
then governed the Empire, gave nothing to the new Emperor but the
barc Name or Title of Emperor. Had he depoſed Irene, had he di-
veſted her of her Dominions, and given them to Charles, and he had
thercupon been acknowleged by all the Chriſtian Princes for lawful
Emperor both of the Eaſt and the Weſt, he would indeed, in that
Caſc, have exerciſed the pretended Supremacy; and ſuch a Tranſla-
tion of the Empire might well be alleged as an Inſtance of the
Power they veſt in him of diſpoſing at his Pleaſure of Kingdoms and
Empires. But as he neither depoſed Irene, nor took any Domi-
nions from her, or gave any to Charles, but only revived in him,
and not even that by his own Authority alone, the extinct Title of the Papeonly
Emperor of the Weſt, to pretend that by thus tranſlating the Empirc,gave him the
bare Title of
he exerciſed the Power of diſpoſing of Kingdoms and Empires, is
Emperor,
pretending that he exerciſed ſuch a Power, when he did not diſpoſe
of a ſingle Foot of Ground. Charles poſſeſſed more extenſive Do-
minions before he was raiſed to the Empire, than had been poffefled
by any Emperor of the Weſt ever ſince the Diviſion of the Empire.
He held, by Right of Succeſſion or by Conqueſt, all Gaul, Part of
Spain, all Italy, from the Alps to Calabria, Ifria, Dalmatia,
Pannonia now Hungary, all Dacia compriſing Valachia, Moldavia,
Tranſilvania, and, what no Emperor had cver held before him, that
vaſt Tract of Country lying between the Rhine and the Viſtula, bc-
tween the Northern Occan and the Danube. Theſe extenſive Do-
minions he poſſeſſed when he was yet only filed King; and it is not
cven pretended, that lic acquired a ſingle Foot of Ground more, or
Right to a ſingle Foot of Ground more, by being Niled Emperor.
Had Leo therefore given him that Titlc by his own Authority alons,
it would not follow from thence that he had, or that he cxerciled
any kind of Power over the temporal Dominions of Princcs.
But that not even the bare Title of Emperor was conferred on him And not even
by the Authority of the Pope alone, but by the Authority of theihat by his
own Author
Roman People as well as by that of the Popc, is manifeſt from the
9 Bar. ad. Ann. 800. Bellar. de Tranſlat. Rom. Imper. 1. 1. c. 4.
X 2
Account
rity alone.
156 The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year of Account all the contemporary Hiſtorians give us of that Tranſaction.
Chriſt 800.
The Pope, ſays the anonymous Annaliſt quoted above, the other Bi-
ſhops, that is the French and Italian Biſhops then in Rome, and the
whole Roman People thought it proper and juſt, that Charles ſhould
be diftinguiſhed with the Title of Emperor; and he being, at their
Requeſt and Dcfire, confecrated by Leo, took upon him the Title of
Emperor. Anaſtaſius writes, that the Pope having placed a Crown
on his Head, the whole People of Rome cried out three Times to
Charles Auguſtus Lite and Vi&tory, and that he was thereby appointed
Emperor of the Romans; ſo that it was not by the Pope alone, ac-
cording to Anaſtaſius, that the Titlc of Emperor was given him, or
that he was appointed Emperor of the Romans, but by the Pope and
the People: Nay, twenty Writers and more, quoted by the learned
D14 Pinr, aſcribe the raiſing of Charlemagne to the Imperial Dig-
nity, or the conferring on him the Title of Emperor, to the Senate
and the People of Rome, without ſo much as ever once mentioning
the Pope.
In what Some Greek Writers indeed, quoted by Bellarmines, tell us, that
SenjeCharles Charles was made Emperor by Leo; but from the Context it is plain
may be ſaid
to have been they meant no more than that he was by Leo crowned and anointed
made Empe Emperor; which are but mere Ceremonies, that may well ſuppoſe,
ror by the
Pope.
but never can give any kind of Title or Right without the previous
Conſent of the People. Beſides, Leo may be properly ſaid to have
preferred Charlemagne to the Empiretho' he did nor prefer him by
his own Authority, but by that of the People, acting in their Name,
and as their Repreſentative. He may likewiſe be ſaid to have made
him Emperor as they, who formerly firſt propoſed the Emperors, and
made Intereit in their Behalf, were ſaid to have made them, tho' pro-
perly ſpeaking they were made or choſen by the People, or Soldiery.
What Bellarmine adds, viz. that Charlemagne did not acquire the
Empire, is true, if by the Empire he means the bare Title of Em-
peror; but falſc, if he means ſuch Dominions or Territories as gave
him a Claim to that Title. Theſe he acquired; but tho' poſſeflet
of Dominions far more extenſive than thoſe that compoſed the weſt-
crn Empire even in its moſt flouriſhing State, he did not take upon
him the Title of Emperor till it was given him by the People of
Rome, and the Pope executing their Will, or acting, in their Name,
as the firſt and chief Man of the City.
Du Pin. de Antiq. Ecclef. Diſcip. diſſert. 7. p. 521.
• Bellar, ubi fupra.
But
:
1
1
*
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
157
1
But Charlemagne, ſays Bellarmine, having, by his laſt Will, di Year of
Chriſt 800.
vided the Empire amongſt his Children, would havc Leo to confirm
it, left he ſhould ſeem to deliver, without his Conſent, that Empire He diſpoſed
to others, for which he was indebted to him.
On the other Hand of the Empire
or Imperial
Baronius pretends, that he did not diſpoſe of the Empire at all, Dignity
thereby to ſhow that the Power of diſpoſing of it was not veſted in wiihout the
Conſent of the
him, but in the Pope. But that Charlemagne was not indebted to pope
.
the Pope alone for the Enpire, or rather for the Title of Emperor,
has been ſhown already; and that he diſpoſed of it ſome Months be-
fore his Death, taking his Son Lewis, King of Aquitaine, for his
Partner in the Empire, and cauſing him to be crowned Emperor, is
atteſted by Eginhard and Theganus, who lived both at that very
Timet. He conſulted indeed, on that Occaſion, the Barons of his
Kingdom, and required their Approbation and Conſent, having af-
ſembled them for that Purpoſe at Aix-la-Chapelle; but it does not
appear, that he conſulted the Pope, or ſo much as acquainted him
with his Deſign. It is true, as Bar.nius obferves, that Charlemagne
did not diſpoſe of the Empire, or of the Imperial Dignity, in the
Will he made in 806. But it was not becauſe he thought it belonged
to the Pope to diſpoſe of it, ſince he afterwards diſpoſed of it with-
out the Knowlege of the Pope; but becauſe he had not yet deter-
mined with himſelf, whether he ſhould bequeath it to Pepin as King
of Italy, or to Charles as the eldeſt of his Children (H).
Charlemagne, now Emperor, paſſed the remaining Part of the He returns
Winter at home, regulating, ſays the Loiſelian Annaliſtu, the Af.to France.
fairs both of the State and the Church; made many rich Preſents to Chrift 801.
moſt of the Churches, eſpecially to thoſe of St. Peter and St. Paul,
and taking Leave of the Pope on the 25th of April, repaired to Spo.
leti, from thence to Pavia, and from Pavia to France. At Pavia
he added ſeveral Laws to thoſe of the Lombards, who had been hi-
therto governed by their own Laws only, and, in Imitation of the
eattern Emperors, began to mark in all his Laws, Diplomas and Edicts,
Year of
# Annal.
+ Eyinhard. ad ann. 813. Thegan, de Geſt. Ludovic. Pii c. 6.
Loif. ad ann. 801.
(H) It is to be obſerved, that tho' the being with them the firſt Day of the Year.
Proinotion of Charlemagne to the Imperial for the ſame Reaſon Pope Hadrian, who
Dignity happened on the 25th of December died on the 25th of December 795, is ſaid
of the Year 800, it is generally placed by by Marianus Scotus to have died in 796,
the French Hiſtorians under the Year 801, and on the firſt Day of that Year.
the 25th of December, or Chriſtmas-day,
the
158 The Hiſtory of the POPES, Or Leo III.
Year of the Years of his Empire and thoſe of his Conſulate, and likewiſe the
Chrift 801.
Indiction never before uſed by him, or by any of his Anceſtors.
Conſtantine While the Empire was thus revived in the Weſt, it was near ut-
refolves to di-
terly deſtroyed in the Eaſt by the unbounded Ambition of the Wo-
veft his Mo-
ther of her man, who governed it. Irene, a moſt zealous Advocate for the
ufurped
Worſhip of Images, but with all her Zeal and Devotion the moſt
Power..
ambitious, nay, and the moſt wicked of Women, had ruled, during
the Minority of her Son Conſtantine, with an abfolutc Sway; and
with the fame Sway ſhe continued to rulc, when he was no longer
a Minor, taking the firſt Place in all public Ceremonies, figning all
public Acts before him, making War, concluding Treatics of Peace,
diſpoſing of all Preferments both eccleſiaſtic and civil without ſo
much as acquainting him therewith, as if he ſtill were a Minor or In-
-fant. The young Emperor, finding himſelf thus cxcluded from all
Share in the Government, and conſequently left only with a ſmall
Number of Domeſtics, while the Levéc of Stauracius, the Empreſs's
Prime Miniſter, was daily crowded with Perſons of the higheſt Dif-
tinction, he reſolved to emancipate himſelf, and degrading both his
unnatural Mother and her favourite Miniſter, take the Rcins of Go-
veronicnt into his own Hands. This Reſolution ho imparted to ſome
of the Officers of his Court; and it was agreed among them, that the
Emperor ſhould declare in full Senate, that being of Age, he was
reſolved thenceforth to govern of himſelf, and aſſume that Power,
which others had engroſſed, tho' he alone was entitled to it by his
Birth and the known Laws of the Empire, and that after this Decla-
ration Irene and Stauracius ſhould both be arreſted and confined for
Life to the Iand of Sicily.
But this Reſolution was no ſooner taken than diſcovered, moſt of
the Emperor's Domeſtics being retained by Stauracius, and ready to
earn his Favour at the Expence of their Maſter and Sovereign. The
His Deſign Plot, or Conſpiracy, as it was called, being thus diſcovered, all, who
diſcovered had been any-ways concerned in it, or privy to it, werc, by Irene's
cerned in it Order, apprehended, noft cruelly beaten, Aript of all their Effects,
ſeverely pur and baniſhed to Sicily, whither they propoſed baniſhing her and her
viſed.
Miniſter. As for the young Emperor, the enraged Mother repri-
manded him with the utmoſt Severity, and not without Blows, treat.
ing him as a Child, and confining him, as wanting in the Reſpect,
that was due to her, to an Apartnient in the Palace. While he was
thus kept cloſely confined, ſhe prevailed with her Largefies on the
venal
.
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
159
and Con-
vonal Soldiery, and thcir more venal Officers to take an Oath of Al. Year of
Chriſt 801.
legiance to her, by which they bound themſelves to maintain her in
the full Pontefion of the Power ſhe had enjoyed, during the Minority
of her Son, to obey her in all Things, and to acknowlegc no other
Maſter or Sovereign but her. That Oath all took but the Troops of
Armenia, who rejected it, as the young Empreſs; the Wife of Con--
ftantine, was a Native of that Country, with the utmoſt Indignation,
declaring that the Emperor was now of age, and he alone their
lawful Sovereign ; that no other had a Right to command them, and
they would obey no other, much leſs a Woman. Irene; apprehend-
ing their Example might influence the reſt of the Army, diſpatched,
in
grcat
Halte, an Officer of her Guards, named Alexis, with large
Sums to gain them. But Alexis was himſelf gained by them; nay,.
and putting himſelf at their Head marched. Itrait to Conſtantinople,Irene never--
cntcred the City without Oppoſition, the Troops quartered theretheleſs depoſed:
bcing aſhamed of the Oath they had taken, ſet the Emperor at Li-ſtantine pla-
berty, and placed him on the Throne amidſt the loud. Acclamationsced on the
Throne.
both of the People and the Soldiery.
Conſtantine, thus placed on the Throne, began his Government Treats bis
with baniſhing Stauracius, his Mother's Prime Miniſter, into Ar. Mother with
Kindneſs and
menia, and cauſing her favourite Eunuchs to be publicly beaten with Reſpeer.
Rods, and confined to the moſt inhoſpitable Places of the Empire.
As for Irene, he led her himſelf, with great Reſpect, out of the
Palace, and attended her in Perſon to a Houſe, which ſhe had built,
and in which was lodged the immenſe Treaſure ſhe had amaſſed, du-
ring her long Adminiſtration. He aſſured her that no Injury ſhould
ever be offered her, but that ſhe ſhould, on the contrary, be always.
treated with the greateſt Reſpect, as Emprcſs; and the Emperor's:
Mother. In the mean Time. the Bulgarians. breaking into the Em-
pire, the Emperor marched againſt them in Perſon, engaged them,
but was entirely defeated. He was ſoon after defeated ancw.by the:
Saracens with the Loſs of all his beſt Officers, and the Flower of his
Army. Theſe Misfortunes the Friends of Irene took Care to in--
prove to her Advantage, extolling:her. Wiſdom, her Abilities, her:
Experience in public Affairs, and entreating the Emperor, out of a.
pretended Friendſhip for him, to adviſe with her at ſo critical a Junc-
ture, fince none in the whole. Empire was capable of: aſlifting him.Recalls to
with better Advice. Conſtantine fell into the Snare. For he was not
Court both
only reconciled to her, but recalled her to Court, reſtored her to her favourite
former Miniſter,
her and her
1
160
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Friends.
Year of former Authority, cauſed her to be proclaimed Empreſs anew, and
Chriſt 801.
even fuffered himſelf to be perſuaded by her to recall Stauracius, and
admit himn to his Confidence. And now Irene, having one ready
to fecond her in all her ambitious and wicked Deſigns, made it her
Study to deprive him of all his true Friends, and put him upon ſuch
Meaſures as the well know would render him odious both to the
People and Soldiery. Thus, by her Advice, he not only cauſed the
Eyes of his Uncle Nicephorus to be put out upon his being told,
that Part of the Army had formed a Deſign of raiſing him to the
She procures Throne, but commanded the Tongues of his other four Uncles
hind the Rain Chriſtopher, Nicetas, Antkimus, and Euoducimus to be plucked
of all his true out, thoʻnonc of them was any-ways privy to, or concerned in the
Plor. He was indebted, as we have ſeen, to Alexis and the Troops
of Armenia for his Liberty, and the Power he enjoyed. They were
entircly devoted to him, and had therefore oppoſed the Reſtoration
of Irene, and would not obey her when rettored by him to her for-
mer Authority. To be revenged theretorc on them, and at the ſame
Time to remove out of the Way the belt, if not the only truc
Friends the unhappy Emperor had in the whole Empire, the wicked
Mother found Means to perſuade him, that Alexis affected the Crown,
that he had a'ready formed a conſiderablc Party, and only waited for
a favourable Opportunity to put in Execution his wicked Deſign,
Hercupon Alexis was immediately ſeized, and his cyes werc put out,
neither he himſelf, nor any of his Friends being allowed to speak a
ſingle Word in Defence of his Innocence. Such Barbarity, ſuch cry-
ing Injuſtice provoked the Troops of Armenia to ſuch a Degree, that
openly revolting not from Conſtantine, they faid, but from Irene,
they refuſed to obey the Officer, whom the Emperor had, at her In-
ſtigation, appointed to command them. Irene, glad of fo plauſible
a Pretence to wreak her Vengeance on that loyal Corps, perſuaded
the Emperor to trcat them as Rebels ; and a Itrong Detachment was
ſent againſt them. They defended themſelves with great Reſolution
and Bravery, but being, in the End, overpowered, the Officers were
all put to Death, and the Soldiers led in Chains to Conſtantinople,
and conveyed from thence into different Iands.
Advifes
In the mean Time Irene, who watched every Opportunity of cxa
poſing the Emperor, obſerving that he betrayed a violent Paſſion for
lawful Wife
and marry
onc of her Maids named Theodota, reſolved to improve that Paſſion
one of her
to her Advantage, and perſuade the unwary Prince to divorce his
Maids.
5
lawful
}
to divorce bis
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
161
lawful Wife, and take Theodota to his Bed in her Room. This ſhe Year of
Chrift 801.
knew ſhe could eaſily compaſs, as the Emperor had no kind of Af-
fection for the preſent Emprcſs, whom ſhe herſelf had forced him to
marry againſt his Inclination; and ſhe was, on the other Hand, well
appriſed that ſuch a Step would occaſion no ſmall Scandal, would give
no ſmall Offence to the Clergy as well as the People, and be, in the
End, probably attended with great Diſturbances, which ſhe wanted
neither Skill nor Addreſs to improve. Having therefore one Day, in
a private Converſation with the Emperor, taken Notice of the
great
Regard he had for Theodota, ſhe told him that his Affectious were
not miſplaced; that Theodota well deſerved, not ſo much on account
of the Charms of her Perſon, as for her many other good Qualities,
all thc Regard and Eſteem hc ſhowed for her; that the heartily re-
pented her having perſuaded him to marry onc, in every Reſpect, ſo
much inferior to her; one with whom ſhe was now ſenſible he could
never taſte the Happineſs of a ſocial Life, the greateſt Happineſs Hea-
ven could indulge in this world. She added, that the Evil The had
done was not however without a Remedy; that he was veſted with an
abſolute Power; that none dared to controul him, and he therefore
might drive from, or takс to his Bed, whom he pleaſed. As this
wicked Suggeſtion was entirely agreeable to his Inclination, he rea-
dily complied with it, reſolving tliat Moment, without reflcaing on
the Conſequences, to divorce his lawful Wife, and marry his beloved
Theodota in her Room. However, to fave Appearances, le applied
to the Patriarch Taraſius, requiring him to declare his former Mar-
riagc null, to perform the nuptial Ceremony on occaſion of his new
Marriage, and to give the Veil to the Empreſs Mary, who, to ſave
her Life, had conſented to exchange the Imperial Crown with a Veil,
thic Emperor pretending, without the leaſt Foundation, that ſhe had
attempted to poiſon him, and threatening her with an ignominious
Death, if ſhe did not retire to a Monaſtery. Thc Patriarch remon-
frated, with great Zeal, againſt the intended Marriage, as forbidden
both by the Laws of God and the Empire, and alleging ſeveral Paf-
ſages of Scripture to prove the Unlawfulneſs of it, boldly declared, The Patri-
that he would be no-ways acceſſory, nor ſuffer any of his Clergy to arch, far
gained as not
be acceſſory to ſo wicked an Action. To this Reſolution he kept io oppoſe that
firm and inflexible till the Emperor, recollecting how zealous and adulternus
active he had been in reſtoring the holy Images, threatened to turn
Marriuge.
Iconoclaſt if he did not comply; to abrogate thc Acts of the Council
Vol. IV,
Y
of
---
162
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Chriſt 801.
to fer
nion of
Year of of Nice, and cauſe the Images, which he had taken ſo much Pains
up, to be all pulled down, to be caſt out of the Churches and
broken. Here the Firmneſs and Conftancy of the Patriarch failed him;
and he was ſome Time at a Lofs what Party to take. But concluding
in the End, that of two Evils he might chuſe, with a ſafc Conſcience,
the leaſt, he reſolved no longer to oppoſe the adultctous Marriage,
fince he could by no other Means reſcue the holy Images, and with
them the Chriſtian Rcligion, from the Danger that threatened them.
Forbcaring therefore all further Remonſtranccs, he allowed thic Ab-
bot of a Monaftcry in Conſtantinop'e to perform the Marriage Cere-
mony, and his own Catechiſt to give the Veil to the Empreſs Mary;
nay, and admitted the Emperor to the Euchariſt and to his Commu-
nion, thoʻliving, even according to him, in the State of Adultery.
Two famous The Conduct of Taraſius gave great Offence to many, who, tho®
Monks fepa-
no leſs deſirous than he of preſerving the holy Images, thought never-
rate them.
felves from theleſs that ſo open a Breach of the Divine Law ſhould not have been
the Commu-
cvcn connived at to preſerve them; that it was quite as criminal in
of the
Patriarcb the Patriarch to have allowed any of his Clergy to marry the Em-
and the Em-
peror, and veil the degraded Empreſs, as if he had performed both
peror.
Ceremonies himſelf; that to adınit one to the Eucharift, to commu-
nicate with one, who lived in the State of Adultery, was not barely
conniving at his Crime, but approving it. At the Head of thoſe,
who thus complained of the Conduct of the Patriarch, were the two
famous Monks Plato and Theodore, both reputed great Saints, and
highly revered by the Pcople. They not ſatisfied with loudly con-
denning the unlawful, the adulterous, the wicked and fcandalous
Marriage of thc Emperor, openly ſeparated theinfelves from his
Communion, as no longer a Member of the Church, and from the
Communion of the Patriarch too, as no leſs guilty than he.
This
occaſioned great Diſturbances in the Church of Conſtantinople, Irene
ſtirring up the Emperor under-hand againſt the Monks, and at the
And are at ſame Time the Monks againſt the Emperor. At her Inligation Con-
them to irenc ftantine ordered the two Monks to be ſeized, cauſed Theodore to be
Severely pu- moſt cruelly beaten, and ſent both into Exile with all thic Monks,
niſhed lif the who, adhering to them, did not approve of his Marriage. Irene,
Emperor.
tho' the chicf Author of all this Severity, was the firſt to complain
of it, taxing the Emperor with Cruelty, and extolling the Virtue of
thic holy Men, whom he perſecuted with ſo much Barbarity merely
on account of their Virtuc. As the two Monks were revered by all
.
as.
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
163
Chrift sor.
1.21*
as great Saints, Irene, by pretending to cſpouſe their Cauſe, gained Year of
the Affections of the People, and at the ſame Time eſtranged them,
what ſhe had chiefly in her View, from the Emperor.
Her next Care was to gain the Soldiery; and in order to that Irene gains
ſhe laid hold of the following Opportunity. The new Empreſs be-Szme of the
ing delivered of a Son, while the Emperor was uſing, with his Mo of the Army.
ther, the Baths of Pruſia in Bithynia, he repaſſed the Straits, as
ſoon as he received the joyful Tidings, with a ſmall Rctinue, leaving
his Mother with the reſt of the Court in Bithynia. In his Abſence,
liene privately applied to ſuch of the Officers of the Army as ſeenied
to her the moſt difatisfied with the Conduct of the Emperor, and
having with large Sums and great Promiſes gained them, and by their
Means moſt of the reſt, ſhc cogaged them to bind themſelves by an
Oath to depoſe Conſtantine, and place her on the Imperial Throne in
his Room. In the mean Time News being brought, that the Sao
racens had broken into the Empire, Conſtantine marched againſt
them iu Perſon at the Head of 20000 choſen Troops. Under him
commanded Stauracius, who, concluding from the Ardor he ob-
ſerved in the Soldiery that ſhould they cngage the Enemy, nothing
could prevent their gaining a complete Victory, reſolved to deprive
the Emperor, by ſome Means or other, of that Glory. Having
thercfore aſſembled with that View, ſome of the chief Officers of his
The Emperor
robbed by them
Party, and repreſented to them, that ſhould they engage the Enemy, of a Victory
a complete Victory would undoubtedly be the Iſſue of the Engage-over the Sa-
racens.
ment; that luch a Victory would recommend the Emperor to the
Love and Eſteem of the People as well as the Soldiery, and conſe-
quently defeat thcir Deſign, it was reolved, that an Engagement
ſhould by ail Means, be prevented. Purſuant to that Reſolution
Stauracius, pretending to ſend out Scouts to reconnoitre the Situa-
rion and Strength of the Enemy, commanded them to report, on
their Return, that the Saracens, Aruck with a Panic, at the Approach
of the Emperor, had all retired in Confufion, and that not one of
them was any where to be ſeen in the Field. This proved a great
Diſappointment to the Emperor; and he returned under the greateſt
Concern to Conſtantinople, which he had flattered hiinfeli he ſhould
have entered in Triuniph.
On his Return he met with a very cold Reception from the Peo They conſpire
plc. To amuſe them therсtorc, and in ſome Degree reconcile them with Irene to
to him, he reſolved to entertain them with public Shows, and theſeize himn.
Day
Y2
164
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year of Day being appointed, on which they were to be exhibited, the 17th
Chriit 801.
of June 797, Irene and the Conſpirators choſe that very Day for the
Execution of their Deſign; and it was agreed, that they ſhould ſeize
the Emperor as he returned from the Circus. But he, having cither
received private Intelligence of their Deſign, or ſuſpecting it froin
their attempting to ſurround him on all Sides, ſnatched himſelf from
them, riding full Speed, as he was on Horſe-back, to the Port, where
he threw himſelf into a Boat, and paſſing the Straits that Moment,
arrived ſafe at Pylæ in Bithynia, where ſome of the caſtern Legions
werc quartered, on whoſe Fidelity he knew he might ſafely rely.
The News of his Eſcape threw Irene, and the reſt of the Conſpi-
But are dif- rators into the utmoſt Confuſion. They all concluded the Confpi-
appointed in
the Attempt.
racy was diſcovered ; and Irene, looking upon herſelf as loſt, began
to think of applying to the Biſhops, who all adored her on account of
her Zcal for Images, and trying to obtain, by their Means, Leave to
retire from the World, and paſs undiſturbed the reſt of her Life in a
Monaſtery. But in the mean Time another Expedient, more agree-
able to her Inclination, occurring to her, ſhe thought it adviſeable to
delay applying to the Biſhops till ſhe found what Succeſs might attend
it. This was to perſuade, if by any Means ſhe could, ſuch of the
Conſpirators as had attended the Emperor in his Flight, and of whom
he entertained not the Icaſt Diſtruſt, to attempt the Execution of their
Deſign. With that View ſhe wrote to them by one, in whom ſhe
could confide, threatening to diſcover the whole Plot, and all, who
were concerned in it, if they did not, as ſhe was very confident they
might if their Courage did not fail them, ſeize on the Emperor, and
bring him Priſoner to Conftantinople. As for herſelf, ſhe ſaid ſhe
wanted not Friends to intercede for her, to whoſe Intcrceflion the
Emperor, however provoked, could not but pay great Regard, cfpe-
cially when backed with filial Duty, which they would take Care to
revive. But as for them, Death muſt be their Lot, and a molt cruel
and ignominious Death; and ſhe therefore conjured them, as they
were reduced to the Alternative of deſtroying the Emperor, or being
His Guards deſtroyed by him, to ſummon all their Courage, and put him out of
bribed by a Condition of hurting them, promiſing to reward them, if they
Jeized by them ſucceded, as ſhe did not doubt they would, with the firſt Employ-
and brought ments and Dignities of the Empire. This Letter made a deep Im-
Prifoner to preſlion on their minds; and the Danger they were in inſpiring
nople. them with Courage, they reſolved, at a private Meeting to bribe the
Guards
2
Irene and he
Leo III BISHOPS of Rome.
165
+
Mother'sOr-
Guards at any Rate, and entering the Eniperor's Bed-chamber in the Year of
Chriſt 801.
Night, to ſeize hiin, to carry him on board a Veſſel, and conveying
him to Conſtantinople, deliver him up, unhurt by then, into the
Hands of Irene. Every Thing ſucceded to their Wiſh: The Guards
were caſily gained, and the Conſpirators, entering the Room, ſeized
on the Emperor, whom they found on his Knecs at his Prayers, and
carried him, on board a VcNel prepared for that Purpoſe, to Conftan-
tinople. They arrived carly in the Morning, and having immedi-
ately acquainted Irene with their Arrival, they received an Order
from her to ſhut up their Priſoner in the Apartment of the Imperial
Palace called Porphyra, that being the moſt remote from the Street.
He had been there but a few Hours when the barbarous Mother, hav-
ing firſt adviſed with Stauracius and the reſt of the Conſpirators, His Eyes put
ordered his Eyes to be put out ; and they were accordingly put out out by his
in fo cruel a Manner, that he died ſoon after in the utmoſt Agony.der, and he
Upon his Death Irene was proclaimed Empreſs: And thus, what had dies foon
after.
never before happened, did the Empire fall to the Diſtaff.
This is the Account the contemporary Hiſtorians all give us of the
Uſurpation of Irenew, a Woman, if ſuch an Apoſtate irom Nature
deſerves the Name of a Woman, famous in Hiſtory for aſpiring, by
an Ambition unprecedented in her Sex, to the Empire, but far more
infamous for the Methods The purſued to attain it. And yet this
Monſter of Wickedneſs, as ſhe was a zealous Promoter of the Wor-
ſhip of Images, wanted not her Panegyriſts amongſt the holy Men of she is com-
thoſe Days ; nor does ſhe want her Advocates amongſt the Writers of mended as a
later Tinies. Theodorus Studita (I), the grcateſt Saint of that Age, ſtileshely Men of
her an excellent Princeſs, a Woman beloved of God, and extols her thoſe Days.
as the moſt religious, as the moſt virtuous of Women, The Monk
Michael in his Life of that Saint gives us, in the following Words,
an Account of the preſent Revolution. Conſtantine, ſays he, being
deprived firſt of his Eye-ſight, which he had miſuſed, and after-
wards of the Empire, his pious Mother Irene reſumed the Govern-
ment y; and Theophanes, ſpcaking of the Revolution, that hap-
w Theoph. in Chron. Theod. Studit. in vit. Taraſ. Mich, in vit. Theod. Studit.
Cedren, &c.
* Theod. apud Bar. ad ann. 801. y Mich. in vic. Theod. Studit.
(1) He was afterwards appointed Abbottinople; and from thence he took the Name
of the famous Monaſtery founded by the of Studita.
Conſul Studius in the Suburbs of Conftan-
(1) Niceph, l. 15. C. 25.
pened
t
166
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Chrilt 801.
Her inna-
not only ex.
1
ronius,
Year of pened foon after, when Irene was depoſed, and Nicephorus raiſed
to thc Empire in her room, aſcribes the depoſing of the most pious
Irene to the Sins of the Peoplez; nay ſhe has even a Place, in the
Minology of the Grecks, amongſt the Saints; and the 13th of Al-
gut is with them the Anniverſary of St. Irene. To worſhip Images,
to promote that Worſhip was with the Writers of thoſe Days, the
Height of all Perfection, atoned for the blackeſt Crimes, and turned
the grcatcit Monitors of Wickedneſs into Saints. On the contrary
not to worſhip Images, to oppoſe that Worſhip, was with thcm Sa-
crilege, Herely, the Height of all Wickedneſs, and turned Men, in
all other Rcfpects of unblemiſhed Characters, into Monſters of Ini-
quiry.
Amongſt the modern Writers Baronins undertakes not only to
tural Cruelty excuſe, but to juſtify the Cruelty of that inhuman Monſter to her
cuſed but juſ.Son. What he ſays on that Head I ſhall deliver in his own Words.
tified by Ba-“ Snares, ſays he under the Year 796, were laid this Year for the
“ Emperor Conſtantine by his Mother Irene, which he fell into the
“ Year following, and was deprived at the ſame Time of his Eyes
" and his Lifc. An execrabic Crimc indeed, had ſhe not been
“ prompted to it by her Zcal for Juſtice. On that Conſideration
« ſhe even deſerved to be commended for what ſhe did. But it was
not by her Command he ſuffered: She only ordered him to be re-
“ ſtrained and deprived of his Power, which was ſnatching a Sword
“ out of the Hand of a mad Man. Chriſt has taught us that it is
grcat Picty to be, on ſuch an Occaſion, cruel to a Son, ſaying, ke
" ibat loveth Sou or Daughier more than me is riot worthy of mea,
« and, think not that I came to ſend Peace on Earth; I came not
to fend Peace, but a Szordb. In more ancient Times the Hands
" of Parents were armed, by God's Command, againſt their Chil-
“ dren worſhipping ſtrange Gods, and they, who killed theni, were
commended by Mofes laying, you have confecrated to 'Day your
“ Hands to the Lord, even every Man upon his Son and his father,
“ (whom they killed) that he may beſtow upon you a Bleſſinge. It
matters much with what Intention a l'crfon acts. Had Irene, out
" of Ambition or a Deſire of reigning, plotted againſt her Son, the
« had thereby rendered herſelf more detetlable even than Agrippina,
56 the Mother of Nero, who choſe her Son ſhould reign even at the
a Mat. 10. ver. 37.
o Ibid. ver. 34.
7. Theoph. ad ann. 803.
32. Ver. 27, 29.
c Exod.
3
Expence
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
167
Year of
Expence of her own Lifc. For being foretold by a Soothſayer,
Chriſt 801.
" that if he ever reigned, he would kill his Mother, ſhe is faid to
“ have anſwered, let him kill hier on Condition he reigns, occidat
“ modo imperet. But as Irene was ſuppoſed to have done what ſhe
did, (that is, to have depoſed her Son, who alone had a Right to
rcign, and murdered him) for the Sakc of Religion, and Love of
“ Juſtice, ſhe was ftill thought by the caſtern Writers, who were
“ Eye-witneſſes of the Fact, and Men of grcat Sanctity, worthy of
« Praiſe and Commendation d.” Thus docs the Annaliſt ſtrive to
clear that Monſter of Cruelcy and Wickedneſs, nay and blaſphemouſly
to juſtify from the Old and New Tcſtament, and the Doctrine of our
Saviour, one of the nioſt horrid Murders we read of in Hiſtory. But
that Conſtantine was not only ſeized and confined, as thc Annaliſt
pretends, but deprived of his Eyes by the Command of his Mother,
is atteſted by Theophanes, one of the holy Men, whom Baronius
ſuppoſes to have been Eye-witneſſes of the Fact. They put out his
Eyes, ſays that Writer, by the Advice of his Mother and her Coun-
ſellors, with ſo much Cruelty, that he immediately expirede. Hc
adds, that the Sun was darkened for 17 Days, Heaven puniſhing
with ſo long a Darkneſs thoſe, who had for ever deprived their So-
vereign of the Comfort of Light. To ſuppoſe with the holy Men
of thoſe Days, that the unnatural Mother was prompted by her Love
of Juſtice, and Zeal for Religion, to conſpire against her Son and
her Sovereign, to dcpoſe and to murder him, is ſuppoſing ſhe was
prompted by her Love of Juſtice to commit the moſt crying Inju-
ſtice, and by her Zeal for Religion the blackeſt of Crimes. Her
Love of Juſtice, her Zeal for Religion would have prompted her,
had ſhe had any, to divert her Son with her good Advice from
abuſing his Power, whereas from Hiſtory it appcars, that he never
abuſed it, that in no Inſtance whatever he acted contrary to Rcligion
or to Juſtice but by her Advice and at her Inligation. Had the
plotted againſt her Son out of a Deſire of reigning in his Roon,
fhe had been, even according to Baronius, more deteſtable tham
Agrippina : But that ſhe did plot againſt him, that the depoſed and
murdered him out of a Defire of reigning in his Room, is as certain,
if in Hiſtory there is any Certainty, as it is certain that ſhe reigned;
and conſequently that ſhe was more deteſtable than rigrippina. In-
deed I ſee not why the Annaliſt ſhould have thought of comparing
d Bar. ad ann. 796. p. 482. e Theoph. ad ann. Iren. iterum Imper. 1.
168
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year of at all Irene to Agrippina, or Agrippina to Irene, ſince the onc facri-
Chrift 801. ficed her own Life to the Delire ſhe had that her Son ſhould reign;
which might have been owing to an unparallelled Fondneſs, as well
as to Ambition; whereas the other ſacrificed the Life of her Son to
the Deſire ſhe had of reigning herſelf, which can only be aſcribed to
the moit criminal Ambition, and the moſt unnatural Cruelty. As to
the Paſſages alleged by Baronius out of the Scriptures, to pretend by
them to excuſe, or to juſtify a Mother murdering her Son is wan-
tonly abuſing the Scriptures, and next to Blaſphemy. The Meaning
of our Saviour's Words is obvious, viz. that we are not to ſuffer
ourſelves to be diverted from his Service, or from following him, by
our Attachment to our Parents or neareſt Relations. It was by the
expreſs Command of God, delivered by Moſes, that the Parents pur
their Children to Death worſhipping ſtrange Gods, and the Children
their Parents; and the Annaliſt, I ſuppoſe, does not pretend that the
like Command was given to Irene. But there is no Wickedneſs, no
Crime however enormous, that he had not rather excuſe and cven
ſanctify, than allow one, who deferved ſo well of Images, and the
Worlhippers of Images, to be guilty of any.
Upon the Irene, having ſeized on the Empire in the Manner we have ſeen,
made it her Study to gain the Affections of the Soldicry and the
ſeveral aſpire People, of the Soldiery by Largeſſes, of the Pcople by remitting or
to the Empire. Ieſſening the Taxes, and pretending great Zeal for the Worſhip of
Images. But as the Royal Family was extinct, Conſtantine having,
at the Inſtigation of his Mother, put all to Dcach, who had, from
their Birth, any Claim to the Crown, the Nobility were all under-
hand buſy in forming Partics, and contriving the Means of raiſing
themſelves to the Einpire, for which each of them thought himſelf
better qualificd than a Woman. Stauracins, Irene's favourite Mi-
niſter, had gained great Part of the Army with a Deſign of depoſing
her, and placing himſelf on the Throne in her Room. But he dying
before his Deſign was quite ripe for Execution, an Eunuch, named
Aetius, in whom Irene placed an entire Confidence, and whom ſhe
had raifed to thc Rank of Patrician, undertook to get his Brother
Leo preferred to the Imperial Dignity, being excluded from it him-
ſelf as an Eunuch. He had procured, with that Vicw, the Govern-
ment of Thrace and Macedon for his Brother as well as the Com-
mand of the Troops quartered in thoſe two Provinces, and engaged,
by his Generoſity, the reſt of the Army to ſecond, when an Oppor-
tunity
Death of
Conſtantine
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
169
Chrift 801.
tunity offered, his ambitious Deſigns. Depending upon them he Year of
began to act more like a Sovereign than a Subject, diſpoſing of all
the Employments both civil and military to his Friends without con-
ſulting Irene, or ſo much as acquainting her with it. His Conduct
gave hier great Umbragc; but ſuſpecting all about her alike, ſhe re-
folved to recur to Charlemagne, who, ſhe was informed, laad been Irene recurs
to Charle-
lately proclaimed by the Romans Emperor of the Weſt; to conclude
magne.
upon the beſt Terms ſhe could, a Treaty of Alliance and Friendſhip
with that warlikc Prince, and engage him by that Means to maintain
her on the Throne. This Reſolution ſhe took the more readily, as
Charlemagne was then making grcat military Preparations with a De-
fign, as was believed, to invade the INand of Sicily, and it was pub-
licly ſaid at Conſtantinople that ſo important a War rcquired an Em-
peror. The Perſon ſhe choſe to employ on that Occaſion, and ſend
into France was Leo, Caprain of her Guards; and as in him ſhe
placed an entire Confidence, ſhe privately charged him to propoſe a
Marriage between her and Charlemagne, not that Ilic intended ſuch a Cauſes a
Marriage ſhould ever take Placc, but hoping ſhe ſhould thus not only Marriage to
divert him from making War on the Empire, which ſhe was ſen between him
fible would end in lier Ruin, but engage hiin to eſpouſe her Cauſe, and her.
and undertakc, with great Zeal, her Protection againſt all her Ene-
mics both domeſtic and foreign. The Propoſal was quite unexpected,
but received, as we may well imagine, by Charlemagne with the
greateſt Satisfaction. To marry Irene was uniting at once both Em-
pires in his Perſon, and acquiring more cxtenſive Dominions, with-
our friking a Blow, than he could proniiſe himſelf from a long War
however ſucceſsful. He therefore not only conſented to ſo advan-
tazcous a Propoſal, but impatient to ſee himſelf velted with ſo cx-
tenſive a Power, he ſent back with the Embaſſador, whom he had
entertained for ſome Time with the greateſt Magnificence, Hefe,
Biſhop of Amiens, and a Count named Helirgaude, to remove the
Difficultics, that might be ſtarted at the Court of Conftantinople to
obilruct the Match, and put the laſt Hand, in his Name, to the
'Treaty. His Embaſſadors were accompanied by a Nuncio from the
Pope, who, being acquainted by him with the Propoſal of Irine, was
no leſs ir patient than he to ſee it brought to a happy Illuc, ſenſible
that were Charlemagiie Maſter of the caſern Empire, he ſhould,
under hini, hold undiſturbed his temporal Dominions in Italy,
which the Greeks Itill claimed, and at the ſame Time fec his Auto-
VoL, IV.
Z
rity,
i
170
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Led III.
Chrif 801.
Tb: grect
Year of rity, which was but very little regarded in the Eaſt, as much reſpected
there, even by his hauglity Rival the Patriarch of the Imperial City; as
it was reſpected by all in the Weſt.
The Enibaſſadors were, in Appearance, received by Irene with
Lords of the uncommon Marks of Joy; and without Loſs of Time they entered,
olurmed at in Conjunction with the Pope's Nuncio, upon the Subject of their
the Pripoſal. Embaſſy. They propoſed a Marriage between the Empreſs of the
Eaſt, and the Emperor of the Weſt, and an Union of the two Em-
pires as highly advantagious to both. The Propoſal aldrmed Aetius,
and all the great Lords of the Court, well appriſed that ſuch a Mar-
riage, ſhould it cver take Place, as they apprehended it might, not
being privy to the truc Deſign of Irene, would defeat all their Mea-
ſures at once, and leave them no Hopes of raiſing themſelves, even
upon her Demiſe, to the Throne. They therefore left nothing un-
attempted they could think of to divert her from hcarkening to a
Propoſal, which they ſaid ſhe could not agree to without expoſing
herſelf to the Danger of forfciting the Power ſhc at preſent enjoyed,
and with it thc Crown; ſince the King of the Franks, accuſtomed
to govern alone, would engroſs the whole Power to himſelf, and the
Greeks, however pleaſed with her Adminiſtration, would chuſe rather
to drive her from the Thronc, than ſuffer themſelves to be thus ex-
cluded from the Imperial Dignity, and governed by a Stranger, nay.
by an open and avowed Enemy both to them and the Empire. But
Irene ſtill pretending, chiefly with a Deſign to awe the Eunuch Ae-
tius, who ruled with an abſolute Sway, to be rather inclined than
averſe to the propoſed Marriage, ſeveral of the Nobility, thinking
they could by no other Mcans, but by depoſing her, prevent their
Refolve to being governed cither by a Stranger, or an Eunuch, reſolved to de-
poſe her accordingly, and to raiſe onc of their own Body to the Em-
Chriſt 802. pire in her Rooni.
The Perſon they choſe was the Patrician Nicephorus; and having
appointed the 30th of Detober for the Execution of their Deſign,
they repaired, in the Evening of that Day, to the great Palace, prc-
tending, as Irene did not reſide there, that they came from her;
that ſhe, no longer able to bear with the inſolent and haughty Beha-
viour of the Eunuch Aetius, had reſolved, in the End, to take a
Partner in the Empire capable of curbing his Inſolence; that ſhe had
choſen for that Purpoſe the Patrician Nicephorus, and charged them
to place him on the Throne. As they were all Perſons of the greateſt
Dif-
depoſe her.
Year of
I
Leo III, BISHOPS of Rome.
171
Chriſt 802.
Diſtinction, the Soldiery, who guarded the Palace, fuſpecting no De Year of
ccit, not only admitted but joined them, proclaiming, without fur-
ther Enquiry, Nicephorus Emperor. Hereupon proper Perſons were Nicephorus
immediately diſpatched by the Conſpirators into the different Quar-Tyrone and
ters of the City with the News of the Election of Nicephorus ; and folemnly
they gave every-where out that Irene herſelf had choſen him for her crowned.
Partner in the Empire, Thus was Nicephorus, before Midnight,
acknowleged Emperor by the whole City, and without the leaſt Op-
poſition, the Conſpirators having taken Care to place Guards in all
the Avenues to the Palace of Eleutherius, where the Empreſs re-
fided, to prevent her from receiving any Intelligence of what paſſed,
or contradi&ing what they gave out. Early next Morning the new
Emperor was ſolemnly crowned in the Church of St. Sophia, a ſtrong
Body of Troops being firſt ſent to ſurround on all Sides the Palace of
the Emprcſs, with a ſtrict Charge to ſuffer none to go out, or to
enter it. Thus ſhe was kept cloſely confined that whole Day under
the painful Uncertainty of her Lot, quite ignorant of what palled in
the City, but ſuſpecting the worſt. The Day following the new
Emperor, having cauſed the Empreſs to be conveyed, under a ſtrong
Guard, to the great Palace, repaired thither attended by almoſt all
the Nobility, and entering the Apartment, to which he had confined
her, he addreſſed her with great outward Reſpect, telling her, that
the Nobility and the People, thinking the Empire ſhould be governed
by an Emperor, had offered it to him, and forced him, as thoſe,
who attended him, could witneſs, to accept of the Offer; that he
appeared before her without any of the Badges of his new Dignity,
and would not aſſume them without her Conſent, and therefore
begged ſhe would conſent to his wearing them, and at the ſame Time
diſcover to him the Treaſures of the Empire, that he might diſpoſe
of them according to the Exigency of the State.
She anſwered without betraying the leaſt Concern or Uneaſineſs,The Belia-
that ſhe aſcribed the preſent, as ſhe had done all her other Misfor-viour of Irene
on this Occa.
tunes, to her Sins; that ſince God had been pleaſed, in his infinite
fion.
Juſtice and Wiſdom, to depoſe her, and raiſe him to the Empire in
her Room, ſhe adored his Providence, and readily ſubmitted to his
Will; that ſhe begged one Favour, which ſhe flattered herſelf he
would not refuſe her, viz. that he would allow her to ſpend the reſt
of her Days, as a private Perſon, in the Palace of Eleutherius, ſince
The herſelf had built it, and that upon his promiſing to comply with
Z2
that
172
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
.
Chrilt 802.
nibed and
dies.
Year of that Requeſt, which ſhe hoped he would not think unreaſonable, ſhe
ſhould diſcover and deliver up to him, without concealing or re-
ferving for herſelf the ſmalleſt Sum, the Treaſures of the Empire.
Nicephorus bound himſelf by a ſolemn Oathi to grant her, upon that
Condition, her Requeſt. But no ſooner had ſhe put him in Poffef-
fion of the Treaſures, than the Emperor apprehending, as he was
well acquainted with hier unbounded Ambition, her Craft and hcr
intriguing Genius, that notwithſtanding her pretended Rcfignation
to the Will of God, ſhe would be ever plotting to recover her for-
mer Dignity, the rather, as the Friends of Images were all her Friends,
that is, the Bulk of the People and the Clergy, and the whole Body
of Monks, to prevent the Diſturbances ſhe might raiſe by their
She is ba- Means, he baniſhed her firſt to the Inc of Prince not far from Con-
ftantinople, and ſoon after to that of Lesbos, where ſhe died of
Year of Gricf the following Year, being ſtrictly guarded Day and Night, and
Chriſt 803. none allowed to approach her, or afford her the leaſt Comfort in her
Affiliationf. Irene was, it muſt be owned, a Woman of inoſt ex.
traordinary Par:s, ſcarce to be matched for her Abi itics and Addreſs
by any of her own Sex, and by very few of ours; but one, who
fuck at nothing, committing without Remorſe the blackeſt Crimes,
to gratify her Ambition. Had the with as much Zeal oppoſed as the
promoted the Worſhip of Images, the unparallelled Wickedneſs of
ſuch a Monſer would have ſupplied the Monkiſh Writers with ample
Matter for Inve&tives, and ſhe would have met with no Quarter at
their Hands. But as ſhe promoted that Superſtition, they have not
only ſpared her, but filled thcir Writings with her Praiſes, her Zeal
for the reigning Superſtition counterbalancing with them, and cover-
ing the Multitude of her Crimes.
A folemnEm-
This unexpected Revolution happened while the Emballadors, ſent
bally ſent by by Charl, magne to conclude the Marriage between him and Irene,
peror toChar- were fill in Conſtantinople; and it utterly defeated all their Meaſures
,
lemagne.
and the ambitious Views of their Mafter. However the new Em-
peror was no ſooner ſettled on the Throne than he ſent for them,
and receiving them in a moſt obliging Manner, aſſured them, that
he intended ever to maintain a ſincere Friendſhip with the King of
the Franks; and not ſatisfied with charging them to acquaint thcir
Malter with his pacific Diſpoſition, he ſent with them on their Return
to France a Biſhop and three Abbots with the Character of his Em-
* Theoph. ad ann. Ir. iter. Iperatric. 5. & Niceph. 1.
balladors,
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
173
Christ 8n3.
vered at
balladors, and full Power to conclude a laſting Peace between the Year of
two Nations. The Embaſſadors were well received by Charlemagne,
,
and a Peace was concluded on the following Terms: 1. That the
Greeks ſhould acknowlege Charlemagne for Emperor of the Weſt,
and allow him that Title. 2. That they ſhould afford no kind of
AMiftance to the Dukes of Benevento, who depending upon their
Friendſhip and Protection were ever raiſing new Diſturbances in Italy.
3. That the weſtern Empire ſhould not extend beyond the Dukedom And Peace
of Benevežto, and conſequently that the remaining Part of Italy, concluded be-
lying between that Dukedom and the Streights of Meſſina, with the Empires
.
INand of Sicily, ſhould belong to thic caſtern Empire, and be peace-
ably poſſeſſed by Nicephorus, and his Succeſſors in the Imperial
Thrones.
Charlimagne reccived the Embaſſadors at Saltz in Alface; and A miraculous
while he was yet there News was brought him, that a Spunge was Spunge diſco-
diſcovered at Mantila, ſteeped in the Blood of our Saviour, which Mantua.
was fill freſh, and wrought great Miracles. It was ſuppoſed, upon
what Foundation I know not, to have been left there by the Roman
Soldier, who pierced our Saviour's Side with a Spcar, and is now ho.
noured in the Church of Rome as a Saint under the Name of Lon-
ginus. This important Picce of Intelligence Charlemagne immedi-
ately imparted to the Pope, defiring him to repair to Mantua, to
inquire there into the Truth of the Matter, and acquaint hini
therewith. In Compliance with his Deſire the Pope ſet out with-
out Delay for Mantua, and being on his Arrival there fully ſatisfied
as to the Authenticity of the Relique, (for he himſelf law both the
Blood and the Spunge, and the fame Spunge, or another like it, is
fion and worſhipped there to this Day) he gave Notice thereof to
Charlemagne, expreſſing at the fame Time a great Deſire to celebrate
with him, where ever he pleaſed, thc Feſival of the Nativity of our
Saviour. Charlemagne choſe Quiercy, and ſending his Son Charles, Interviewo
King of Neuſtria, as far as St. Maurice in Valais to meet his Holi between the
neſs, he went himſelf from Aix-la-Chapelle, where he then was, to Charle-
Pope and
Reims, received the Pope there with extraordinary Marks of Friend- magne.
fhip and Eſteem, and went from thence together with him to Qui-
ercy. There they kept their Chriſtmas, and both repairing from
thence to Aix, Charlemagne after ſpending cight Days in that Place
& Eginhard. in vit. Carol. Mag. & Monach. Sangallerf. de rebus bellicis Carol.
Mag.
with
1174
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year
of with the Pope, diſmiſſed him loaded with rich Preſents, and ac-
Chriſt S03: companied by ſome of the chief Nobility, who were ordered to at-
tend him, as he propoſed returning through Bavaria, as far as Ra-
venira h.
The King of From this Time we find nothing in Hiſtory of Leo, nothing at.
Nrinthium-
lealt worthy of Notice, till the Year 808, when he is ſaid to have rc-
berland drin
ven from his ſtored, jointly with the Emperor Charlemagne, Eardulph, King of
Kingilom. Northumberland, driven out by his Subjects, to his Kingdom. Of
Year of
Chrift 808. this Event Eginhard gives us the following Account : In the meanz
Time, ſays he, the King of the Northumbrians, by Name Eardulph,
being driven from his Kingdom and Country, came from the Iſland
of Britain to the Emperor, and having acquainted him with the
Affair he came upon, ke goes to Rome, and returning from thence
is reſtored to his Kingdomn by the Legates of the Pope and our Lord
TVhether re- the Emperor i Baronius adds: the King was reſtored without Opa
flored by the co
poſition, all dceming it a Crimc not to obey the Roman Pontiff,
Pode.
or to oppoſc ſo great an Emperor. Here you have ſeen, conti-
nucs the Aonaliſt, addreſſing his Reader, the Authority of the
Roman Pontiff expreſſed in Deeds. For the Emperor, ſenſible of
" his own Want of Authority to rclore the depoſed King, and
" knowing he might be reſtored by the Authority of the Pope, he
“ fent him to Rome to the Pope to be reſtored by his Authority to
* his Kingdom and Dignity. Here you have likewiſe ſcen wliat
great Regard the Engliſ paid to the Pope; for however enraged
againſt their King, however inflamed with the Deſire of reigning,
they did not refuſe to receive the very King, whom they had dri-
ven out, but immediately obeyed k." Thus Baronius. But not
the leaft Notice is taken by any of our Hiſtorians of the Reſtoration
of Eardulph; nay, they rather ſeem to fuppoſe, that he never was
reſtored; for they tell us, that the Kingdom of Northumberland
continued involved in the utmoſt Confufion, and in a State of
Anarchy, from the Death of Ethelred, murdered in 794, to the
Year 827, when Ezbert, King of the Weſt Saxons, got Poffeflion
of thar Kingdom! In the Chronicle of Mailros Notice is taken of
thc Expulſion of Eardulph, and it is ſaid there, that upon his Ex-
puiſion the Kingdom of Northumberland continued many Ycars
1
h Annal. Metenf.
i Eginhard. in Annal.
k Bar, ad ann. 808. p. 549.
950.
Malmſb, de geſt. Reg. Angl. l. 1. C. 3. Vide Harpsfield Hill. Eccl.
(ecul. 8. c. 21.
without
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
175
without a King m; and M. Weſtminſter tells us, that Alwold, who Year of
Chriſt 8.8.
drove Eardulph from the Thronc, dying after a Reign of two
Years only was ſucceeded by Eandred, who reigned 32 Years o.
Our Hiſtorians thercfore knew nothing of the Reſtoration of Ear-
dulph, but ſuppoſe, on the contrary, that he never was reſtored.
Some foreign Writers indeed tell us that he was reſtored; but they
either aſcribe his Reſtoration equally to the Pope and the Emperor, or
to the Emperor alone. He was reſtored, ſays Eginhard, by the Le-
gates of the Pope and our Lord the Emperoro. The depoſed and
baniſhed King, fay Ado and Aventinus-p, repaired to the Court of
Charlemagne, went from thience in Pilgrimage to Rome, and on his
Return from that City was attended by the Embaſſadors of the Pope
and the Eniperor into Britain. But Sigebert, taking no Notice of the
Pope, only ſays, that the King of the Northumbrians was reſtored
by the Emperor Charlemagne to his Kingdom and his Country 9.
Upon the Whole therefore, either Eardulph never was reſtored; or
if he was, his Reſtoration was owing, not to the Authority, but to
the Interpoſition and good Offices of the Pope and the Emperor, or
of the Emperor alone; and Baronius might at leaſt as well have
alleged his Reſtorätion as an Inſtance of the ſovereign Power of
the Emperor over the Kingdoms and Princes of England, as of the
ſovereign Power of the Pope.
About this Time was moved, or rather was revived a Queſtion in The Queſtione
France, that in the following Centuries made a great Noiſe in the concerning
the Procesſion
Church; viz. whether the Holy Ghoſt proceeded from the Father
of the Holy
and the Son, or only from the Father. I fay revived, the fame Ghoſt re-
vived.
Queſtion having been propoſed and diſcuſſed in the Council held
under Pepin at Gentilli in 767, as has been related abover. The
Acts of that Council have been long ſince loft; but it is highly pro-
bable it was there declared, that the Holy Ghoſt proceeded from the
Father and the Son; for ſuch was, at this Time, the Doctrine of the
Gallican Church. The Fathers of the four firſt Centuries ſeem to
have all held the ſame Doctrine; but it had not yet been defined by
any General Council. The firſt Council of Conftantinople had in-
decd added to the Symbol of Nice, that the Holy Ghoſt procccded
from the Father, but did not determine whether le proceeded, in
in Rer. Anglican. Script. apud Gal. vol. 2. p. 141. a M. Weſtm. Flor, Hiſt.
Ang. p. 152
• Eginhard. ubi fupra. P Ado Vien. Chron. ad ann. 8o9.
Aventin. Annal. Boior. l. 4. p. 210. 9 Sigeb. Chron. ad ann. 8c8.
r See
above, P.7•
like
176 The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Chrift 808.
at Aix-la.
Year of like manner, from the Son. However in the 5th and 6th Centuries
the Churches of Spain added to the Symbol of Nice and Conſtan-
tinople the Words and from.the Sun. Their Example was followed
by moſt of the Gallican Churches, where the Symbol was read and
ſung in their Service with that Addition. But a Monk of Paleſtine,
by Name John, having, at this Tine, dcciared for the oppoſite Opi-
nion, and gained a great many Followers, the Quellion, whether the
Holy Ghoſt proceeded only from the Father? was revived and anew
debarcd in france. Whether the Monk came himſelf into that
Kingdom, or only ſome of his Diſciples, we know 110: ; but certain
it is, that ſeveral there, hearing the Arguments, that were alleged in
Favour of his Opinion, began to waver and queſtion the Truth of the
Doctrine, which they had, till then, held and profefieds. Charle-
mazne therefore to prevent the Miſunderlanding and Diviſion, that
miglit be thereby occafioned amongſt the Biſhops and Clergy of his
Kingdom, thought it adviſcable to have the point in Diſpute timely
And decided decided by a Council; and he aſſembled one accordingly at Air-la-
in a Council Chupelle in the Month of November of tic following Year 809.
Chapelle.
As none aſli:Icd at this Council from the Pope, nor indeed was any
Ycar of Notice given him of its mccring, the Point in Diſpute was fairly
Chit 809; debated, and the Reaſons for and againſt the two oppoſite Opinions
patiently lieard, and impartially cxamined. The Diſturbances and
Diſagrecnicnt we read of among the Biſhops in moſt other Coun.
cils, were owing to the Intrigues of the Legates of the Popes, their Ho.
lineſies having before-hand decided the point in Controverſy at Rome,
and charged their Logatcs to get their Deciſion by all Means approved
by the Council, or at leait to approve no other. For it was not only
to the Council of Trent, but to moſt oclier Councils, that the Pope's
Lugares carried the Holy Ghoſt in their Cloak bags.
Conference What was the Deciſion of the preſent Council Hiſtory does not
between the inform us.
But as Charlemagne wrote, on that Occafion, a long
Pope and the
Envoys of
Letter to the Pope, filled with an infinite Number of Pallages from
the Old and New Testament, as well as froin the Fathers, ſhowing
magne.
or calculated to ſhow, that the Holy Ghoſt proceeded from the Father
and the Son, there is no Room to doubt but that was the Doctrine
defined by the Council. With that Letter the Emperor diſpatched
to Rome Bernard or Bernair Biſhop of Worms, and Adelar Abbot
of Corbie, who had two long Conferences with the l'ope; and both
Eginhard. in Annal. Ado in Chron.
turned
- '
Chaile
Leo III, BISHOPS of Rome.
177
turned upon theſe two Points; whether it was an Article of Faith, Year of
Chriſt 8c9.
that the Holy Ghoſt procccded from the Son as well as from the Fa-
ther? And whether the words and from the Son, filioque, might be
added to the Symbol, and the Symbol might be read in the public
Service, or ſung, with that Addition, as was practiſed, at this Timc,
by the Gallican Church ? In Anſwer to the firſt Queſtion the Pope,
having hcard with great Attention, diligentiſſime auditis, the Autho.
rities the Envoys produced to ſatisfy him that thic Doctrine of thç
Gallican Church was entirely agreeable to the Doctrine of the Scrip-
tures and the Fathers, allowed it to be an Article of Faith that the
Holy Ghoſt proceeded from the Son as well as from the Farher, and
at tiie fame Time declared that he would communicate with nonc,
who held or profeſſed the oppoſite Opinion. Since you allow it to
be an Article of Faith, replied the Envoys, are we not bound pub-
licly to teach it, that they, who are ignorant of it, may know it, and
they be confirmed in it, who know it? You are bound to teach it,
anſwered the Pape. But can one be ſaved, ſaid the Envoys, who
either does not know this Doctrine, or does not believe it? Who.
ever has heard it, replied the Pope, and has Penetration enough to
underſtand it, but yet will not believe it, cannot be ſaved. In our
holy Faith there are many profound Myſteries, which fome do, and
ſome do not underſtand for want of Age or Capacity; and I therc-
fore fay, that whoever underſtands that Doétrine, but will not be-
licve ir, cannot be ſaved. Leo was, as is nianifeſt fron this Anſwer,
of Opinion that no Man is bound to believe what he cannot under-
ſtand. But by his Succeſſors Men are daily damned for not believing
Myſteries, which they themſelves own to be incomprehenſible, that
is, quite unintelligible. Since we are bound to teach the preſent
Doctrine, anſwered the Envoys, have we, or have we not done
amiſs in adding it to the Symbol, and cauſing it to be read and ſung
there in our Service! We know that the Words and from the Son
were not put into the Symbol by the Council, that compoſed it, and
are nor ignorant that the following Councils forbad any new Sym-
bol to be made, or any Thing to be added to, to be ſtruck out of,
or to be changed in the preſent Symbol. But had they added the
abovementioned Words, we ſhould, in that Caſe, be allowed both
to read and to ſing them in our Service. And are they not to blame
for not adding them, ſince by the Addition of four Syllables only,
filioque, and from the Son; they would have made known to all
VoL, IV.
А а
future
178
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
1
Year of future Ages ſo important a Myſtery? Had they added them, replied
Chriſt 80g; the Pope, they might both be read and ſung in the Service : But as I
dare not ſay they would have done amiſs had they added them, nci-
ther dare I ſay they did amiſs in omitting them, and forbidding
them, or any other Words whatever to be added to their Symbol.
Thcy were guided and directed not by human Wiſdom, but by Wif-
dom from above. But you ſeem to entertain a mighty Opinion of
yourſelves. As for me, far from preferring myſelf to them, I ſhould
think it the Height of Preſumption to put myſelf upon the Level
with them. Far be it from us, ſaid the Envoys here, to think other.
wiſc of ourſelves: We mean no more than to be uſeful to our Bre-
thiren; and as many have learnt that Myſtery by hearing it read and
fung in the Symbol, who otherwiſe never would have known it, we
think it ſhould rather be added to the Symbol, than ſo many Thou-
fands be left in thcir Ignorance. Here the Pope asked them, whether
they were for adding to the Symbol all the Articles of the Catholic
· Faith, that were not contained in it? And upon their anſwering that
they were not all alike neceſſary to Salvation, he maintained that
ſome however were, but being preſſed by the Envoys to point them
out, he deſired Time to recollect them, that nothing might be ad-
vanced raſhly on ſo important a Subject. And thus ended the firſt
Day's Conference.
The Pope will The next Day the Conference was refumed, when the Pope to
no ondoanele prove by Inſtances the Truth of what he had advanced the Day be-
from the Son forc, asked the Envoys whether they thought it more neceſſary to
to be added to believe, or more dangerous not to believe that the Holy Ghoſt pro-
the Symbol.
ceeded from the Son as well as from the Father, than that the Son
was the Wiſdom begotten of the Wiſdom, was the Truth begotten
of the Truth, and yet that the Father and the Son were by Nature
but onc Wiſdom, one Truth. They could not, he ſaid, think it
more neceſſary to believe, or more dangerous to disbelieve the one
Article than the other; and yet they were not, as he ſuppoſed, for
adding the one Article to the Symbol as well as the other, elſe they
muſt add many others no leſs important, that would ſwell the Sym-
bol to an immoderate Length. The Envoys pleaded the Practice of
their Churches; adding, that were they now to ſtrike it out of the
Symbol, the Rule of their Faith, the People would no longer deem
it an Article of Faith, but rather conclude the oppoſite Doctrine to
be thc Bclief and the Doctrine of the Church. To remedy that
Evil
not allow the
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
179
Evil the Pope propoſed the following Expedient, viz, not to ſtrike, Year of
Chrift 82
out of the Symbol the Words and from the Son everywhere at
once, which he ſaid might give Offence, and make a great Noiſe ;
but only to forbear reading it with that Addition in the King's Cha-
pel, fince a Practice, once eſtabliſhed there, would ſoon become ge-
neral, and be readily adopted by all other Churchest. Whether the
Gallican Church continued to keep thoſe Words in, or ſtruck them
out of the Symbol agreeably to the Practice of the Roman Church
and the Advice of the Pope, we know not. But as for the Pope
himſelf, to ſhow that he did not approve of that Addition, he cauſed
two Tables of Silver to be ſet up at the Tonib of St. Peter, and the
Symbol to be engraved in Greek on the one, and on the other in
Latin without the Words and from the Sony, which huwever were
by his Succeſſors afterwards added to the Symbol, on what Occaſion
we ſhall ſee in the Sequel.
In the mean Time in the Eaſt was killed in Battle by the Bulga-The Emperor
rians the Emperor Nicephorus; and with him was cut off almoſt the Nicephorus
killed.
whole Army, and the Flower of the Nobility of the Empire. His Year of
Body being found among the Slain, the King of the Bulgarians, Chriſt 811.
having cauſed his Head to be cut off, and kept it fome Time expoſed
to the View and the Inſults of his Soldiery, encloſed the Skull in
Silver, and uſed it thus encloſed inſtead of a Cup. Nicephorus is
faid to have befriended the Manichees and the Athingani(K), and to
have exceeded all the Princes, who reigned before him, in Lewdneſs,
Cruelty and Avarice. But it is to be obſerved, that he favoured the
Iconoclaſts; that he taxed the Clergy as well as the Laity; that he
took the Veſſels of Silver and Gold from the Churches to defray the
Expences of the Wars he waged with the Enemies of the Chriſtian
Rcligion and the Empire; that purſuant to the Decrec of a Council
held at Conſtantinople hc baniſhed ſeveral Monks, and among the
Concil. t. 7. p. 1194. Bar. ad ann. 609. p. 566. u Analt. in Leon,
3.
(K) The Athingani were a Race of the pilfering Straglers, whom the Italians
People, who wandering from their native call Zingari, and we call Gypſies or Egyp-
Country, Phrygia and Lycaonia, firſt into tians, to come originally froin thein (1).
Egypt, and from thence into moſt other The Athingani were baptized, but con-
Countries, lived by Soothſaying and tell- formed in every Thing elſe to the Law of
ing of Fortunes. From the Word Athin-Moſes and the Ceremonies of the fews (2)
gani, Goarus derives the Italian Word The Emperor Michael, ſurnamed Balbus,
Zingari, in Engliſh Gypſies, and pretends is ſaid to have been of that Sect (3).
(1) Goar. in not. ad hunc locum,
) Conſtantin. Porphyrogen, I. 2. n. 3.
(3) Idem ibid.
rcft
A a 2
TEO
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Chrift 811.
Michacl
Year of reſt the two great Saints Theodore Studita and Plate for raiſing
Diſturbances in the Church, and laſtly, that he drove from the
Throne the great Patroneſs of Images St. Irene, deprived her of the
Power ſhe had acquired by the Murder of her Son, and ſent her into
Exile. Nicephorus being dead, Michael ſurnamed Rhangabe (the
maifen to the Name of his Grandfather) who had married Procopia, the late Em-
I brone. Peror's Daughter, was by the Senate, and the few Officers, who had
eſcaped the general Slaughter, proclaimed Emperor in his Rooni, and
on the 5th of October of the preſent Year folemnly crowned by the
Patriarch w. He enriched with magnificent Preſents the Churches
and Monafterics; recalled from Exile and ſet at Liberty the Monks,
whom his Predeceſſor had baniſhed or confined ; ifucd an Edict com-
manding the Manichees to be put to the Sword throughout the Em-
pire, and moved with divine Zcal ſpared nonc, who oppoſed the
Worſhip of Images, or refuſed to worſhip them; cauſed an Hermir,
who had impiouſly preſumed to take down an Image of the Virgin
Mary, to be apprehended, and his Tongue to be plucked out, which
was attended with the Death both of his Body and his Soul; allowed
no Liberty of Conſcience, but obliged all to profeſs the ſame Faith,
ſhewing no Mercy to thoſe, who diflented from the Church, and was
therefore a Prince, or is reprefented by the Writers of thoſe Times
as a Prince, in whoni centered all Virtues without the Allay of one
ſingle Vicc.
He was no ſooner raiſed to the Throne than Nicephorus, who had
arch Nice ſucceeded Taraſius in the See of Conſtantinople ever ſince the Year
to the Pope. 806, but had not been allowed by the late Einperor to keep any
Year of Correſpondence with Rome, wrote a long Letter to the Pope to ac-
quaint him with his Promotion, to give him an Account of his Faith,
which he ſaid was entirely agrecable to that of the Roman Church,
the Mother of all Churches, and to beg his Communion. From
his Letter it appears, that he had ſucceeded Taraſius in the Office of
Secretary to Conſtantine and Irene, and that tired of the World he
had reſigned his Employment and retired to the Deſart, but upon the
Death of Tarafius had been recalled by the Emperor Nicephorus to
Conſtantinople, and obliged, thoʻyet a Layman, to accept of the
patriarchal Dignitys. He pleaded for his not writing ſooner, as he
ought to have done, and would have done with great pleaſure, the
Prohibition of the Emperor jealous of any Intercourſe between the
w Theoph. ad ann. Mich. I. Ep. Niceph. apud Bar. ad ann. 811. p. 582.
The Patri-
Chriſt 812.
two
1
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome,
181
Ch 앤
​two Sees; and with his Letter he fent, as a Preſent to his Fellow Year of
Chrift 812.
Biſhop, a rich Encolpium, that is, a Reliquary in the form of a
Croſs containing a Piece of the true Croſs, or the Reliques of
fome Saiņty. Theſe Encolpiums Biſhops uſed to wear in thoſe
Days hanging from their Necks. The Patriarch takes Care to de-
clare, with great Zeal, for the Worſhip of Images as a Practice co-
cval with the Chriſtian Religion, and docs not at all doubt bur
that he ſhall ſoon have the Satisfaction of ſeeing it univerſally clta-
bliſhed by the vigilant Care and indefatigable Zcal of the moſt re-
ligious Emperor, who ſeems to have been fent down for that Pur-
poſe from Heaven.
But that Satisfaction the good Patriarch never enjoyed, the moſt
religious Emperor reſigning the Empire, when he had held it ſcarce
two Years, and another, as zealous an Enemy to Images as he was a Michael re-
Friend, being raiſed to the Throne in his Room. For Michael be Signs the Em-
pire to Leo
ing moſt ſhamefully defeated by the Bulgarians with the Loſs of al- the Arme-
moſt his whole Army, he was affected with that Misfortune to ſuch a nian.
Year of
Degree, that he reſolved to quit thc Empire, and reſign it to one
more capable of defending it than himſelf. The Perſon he choſe was
Leo, ſurnamed from his Country the Armenian, who had diftin.
guiſhed himſelf on all Occaſions by his Courage and Conduct, and
was deemed at that Time the beſt Commander in the whole Empire.
But Leo oppoſed his Choice; and he was the only Perſon in the Em-
pire, who oppoſed it; nor could he be prevailed upon to yield to the
carneſt Entreaties of the Senate, the Patriarch, and the Soldiery till
News was brought him, that the King of the Bulgarians, elated witla
his late Succeſs, was advancing with long Marches to the Imperial
City. He then accepted the Empire to ſave it, and was ſolemnly
crowned by the Patriarch amidſt the loud Acclamations of the Peo-
le; which Michael no ſooner underſtood, than he retired with his
Wife and his Children to the Monaſtery of Pharus, and there they
all took the monaſtic Habit, leſt living in the World they ſhould give
Occaſion of Jealouſy to the new Emperor. In the mean Time the
King of the Bulgarians advancing to the very Gates of the Imperial
City, Leo marched out againſt him with the few Troops, that had
eſcaped the late Slaughter, and obliged him to retire. He withdrew
to Adrianople, and having cloſely beſieged that City. he reduced it
Chriſt 813.
y Vide Ducang. ad Alexiad. Annæ Comnenæ, p. 247, & feq.
t
Caltz (Z).
182 The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year of laftz(L). With theſe Words Theophanes cloſes his Chronography be-
Chriſt 813.
gun with the firſt Year of the Reign of Dioclefian (M). Of the
Zeal of the new Emperor for the Purity of the Chriſtian Religion,
and his indefatigable Endeavours to baniſh from the Church and the
Empire the Worſhip of Images, which he thought inconſiſtent with
that Purity, I ſhall have Occaſion to ſpeak in the Sequel. To return
in the mean Time to the Weſt.
The following Year 814, died at Aix-la-Chapelle the great Friend
magne dies
. of the Popes, and the chief Author of their temporal Grandeur the
Chrift 814. Emperor Charlemagne (N); and no ſooner was the News of his
Death
Theoph.ad ann. Incar. ſecund. Alexandrin. 805.
Charle-
(L) Thus Theophanes, who lived at this the Emperor's Guards and thoſe about him,
Time in Conſtantinople, and was an Eye were the firſt, who Aed; that Led fought
witneſs of what he wrote. But the Em- valiantly, and that the Emperor, in re-
peror Conſtantine Porphyrogennetus, who tiring from the Army, left Leo behind him
reigned in the Beginning of the following as a Bulwark to awe the Barbarians, and
Century, gives us a very different Ac- reſtrain them from ravaging the Country
count of the Promotion of Leo. For he and deſtroying the Inhabitants (1).
tells us, that the Emperor had the Advan (M) The Chronography of Theophanes
tage in the Engagement with the Bulga- was continued by the following Writers,
rians till Leo, who aſpired to the Empire, viz. Leo, ſurnamed the Grammarian, who
and was ſenſible he could never attain it, was contemporary with thoſe, whoſe Ac-
ſhould Michael return victorious to Con- tions he relates ; an anonymous Author,
ftantinople, drew off the Forces under his who
wrote the moſt remarkable Events of
Command; which fo diſheartened the Im- the Reign of the preſent Emperor Leo the
perial Troops, that they immediately be- Armenian, and is ſuppoſed to have fou-
took themſelves to a diſorderly Flight, and riſhed in his Time; the Emperor Con-
left the Bulgarians Maſters of the Field. ftantine Porphyrogennetus, who was raiſed
He adds, that the Emperor from the Field to the Empire in the Beginning of the
of Battle fled to Conſtantinople, and that tenth Century; Simeon Metaphraftes, and
Leo, by inveighing againſt him, in his Ab- a Monk named George. But, with reſpect
fence, as a weak, effeminate and cowardly to theſe Writers, it is to be obſerved, that
Prince, prevailed on the Soldiery to offer they were all no leſs zealous Advocates for
the Empire to him. Thus Porphyrogen- the Worſhip of Images than Theophanes
metus, and after him Cedrenus with the himſelf, and confcquently no lefs biaſſed
whole Tribe of the more modern Writers in Favour of thoſe, who promoted that
both Greek and Latin, all prejudiced to Worſhip, than prejudiced againſt all, who
ſuch a Degree againſt Leo, on account of oppoſed it. Hence we ſhall frequently
his Averſion to Images, as 'to prefer the find the beſt of Men, who were Enemies
Authority of an Hiſtorian, who lived an
to Images, painted by them, without any
hundred years after chofe Times, and was Regard to Truth or to Conſcience, as the
no leſs biaffed than they, to that of one, worſt, and the worſt, who were, or pre-
who lived at that very Time, who was an tended to be, Friends to Images, repre.
Eyc-witneſs of what he wrote, and whoſe fented and extolled as the beſt.
Teſtimony on all other Occafions they (N) He died on the 28th of January,
quotc as deciſive. Porphyrogennetus him- and was buried the fame Day. Indeed
felf owns that according to ſome Writers, that Cuſtom obtained, generally ſpeaking,
(1) Porphyr. ad ann, I. Leon,
during
183
Pope, who
Leo III. BISHOPS of Rome.
Death brought to Rome, than the Relations of the late Pope Ha. Year of
Chriſt 814.
drian and their Partiſans, who had uſed the preſent Pope with ſo
much Barbarity in thc Beginning of his Pontificate, conſpired againſt
him anew with a Deſign not only to depofc but to murder him. But
the Plor being diſcovered before it was ripe for Execution, the Pope
cauſed all, who were concerned in it, to be apprehended, and put to Confpiracy
:
his Father Charlemagne in the Empire of the Welt; and he was no Death con-
ſooner informed of it, than he commanded his Nephew Bernard," Year of
King of Italy, to repair forth with to Rome in order to take Cog- Chrift 815.
niſance of the whole Affair upon the Spot. Thc King, having ſpent
ſome Time at Rome in examining the Enemics as well as the Friends
of the Pope, and receiving the Depoſitions of Men of both parties,
diſpatched Count Gerholt with an Account of the Whole into
France. At the ſame Time the Pope fent John Biſhop, Theodore
Nomenclator, and Duke Sergius, with the Character of his Legates,
to juſtify his Conduct to the Emperor, and clear him from the Crimes,
that were laid to his Charge; which they are ſaid to have done to
the entire Satisfaction of Lewis. But the Pope being, in the mean
Time, ſeized with a dangerous Malady, the People roſe in a tumultu-
ous Manner, burnt or pulled down all the Farm-houſes he had built
in the Country, plundered thc Farms, to recover, they ſaid, what had
been unjuſtly taken from them, and would have committed great
Diſorders in Rome itſelf, had they not been prevented by Winigiſus,
& Anaſt, in Leon. III Eginhard. in Annal. ad ann. 815.
during the eight firſt Ages of the Church; in Imitation of the Greek Emperors, in all
and hence the Day, on which even thoſe his Diplomas, that are known to be au-
Popes were buried, who were not buried, thentic. Thoſe therefore, in which he is
as it happened to ſome, till three or four called Charlemagne or Charles the Great,
Days after their Death, is marked in fomc may be juſtly looked upon as ſuppofiti-
Pontificals as the Day of their Death. tious. Charlemagne was, as we have ſeen,
Over the Tomb of the deceaſed Emperor no leſs averſe to the Worſhip of Images
was raiſed a kind of triumphal Arch with than the Emperor Leo or his Son Conſtan-
the following Epitaph: Sub hoc conditorio tine; but yet as he was a Friend to the
fitum eft corpus Karoli, magni atque Ortho- Popes, as he made it his Study to aggran-
doxi Imperatoris, qui regnum Francorum dize and enrich them, his Hereſy was by
nobiliter ampliavit, & per annos XLVII them overlooked, and he extolled as a molt
feliciter tenuit. Decelit. Septuagenarius pious, a moſt religious, a moft Chriſtian
anno ab Incarnatione Domini DCCCXIV. Prince at the ſame Time that they in-
Indictione VII. V Kalend. Februarias. It veighed againſt Leo and Conſtantine, tho”.
is to be obſerved, that in his Epitaph he is guilty of no other Herely, as the worſt of
not ſurnamed the Great, but ſtiled Charles, Heretics.
great Emperor ; and thus he ſtiled himſelf,
Duke
4
184
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo III.
Year of
A
1
Year of Duke of Spoletis fent by Bernard, King of Italy, with a Body of
Chrift 815; Troops to quell and diſperſe thc riorous Multitudcb.
Leo dies. The Pope was takch ill in the Beginning of the Ycar 816; and he
died of tlaat Illneſs on the eleventh of June, having bornc it the
Chriſt 816.
whole Tinic with great Reſignation and exemplary Patience. He
liad governed the Roman Church twenty Years, five Months, and ſix-
teen Days; and being himſelf citriched by the unparallelled Gcncro-
ſity of Charlemagne, he more critiched the Churches of Rome with
coſtly and valuable Ornaments than all his Predeceſſors together. He
was buricd in the Vatican; and in Proceſs of Time an Altar was built
over his Tonib; and under the Altaï were depoſited together with his,
the Bodies of Leo I. II. and IV. as appears from the Stone that
was placed over their Bodies by Pope Pafchal II. in the Cloſe of
the eleventh Century, with the following Epitaph, Under this Al-
tår lie the Bodies of the holy Pontiffs and Confeſors Lco I. II. III.
and IVc. In the Year 1608. the Bodies of theſe four Popes were
tranſlated by Paul V. from the old to the rew Church of St. Peter;
and there they are all four worſhipped to this Day d, thio' Leo III.
has riot yet been honoured with a Place in the Kalendar. Of this
Pope we are told, that he uſed to ſay ſeven Maſſes, and ſaid fomc-
times nine on one Daye. Indeed it was no' unuſual Thing for a Prieſt
to ſay what Number of Malles he pleaſed till the Time of Pope
Alexander II. who about the Year 1070, reftraincd all Prieſts to two
Malles only, the one for thé Living, and the other for the Dead.
They were afterwards confined by Innocent III. and Honorius III. to
onc Maſs a Day, the Feſtival of our Saviour's Nativity excepted, when
all are ſtill allowed to ſay threef.
In Leo's It is obſervable, that in the Tinic of Leo fll. tlic Right Hand be-
Time the
gan firſt to be deemed the moſt honourable, St. Paul being conſtantly
Right Hand
firit deemed placed on the Right Hand of St. Peter in all the Mofaic Pieces or Pics
the moſt ho- tures of thoſe two Apoſtles, that were done before his Time, and as
confantly on his Lcft in all, that were done in his Tiinc. However
upon
his Death the ancient Cuſtom took place anew, and the two
Apoſtles were repreſented in the fame Manner after his Time as before
it till the Pontificate of Nicholas IV. raiſed to the See in 1288, when
the Right Hand was deemed again the moſt honourable; and ſo it has
continued to be deemed from that Time to the preſent g.
bo Aftron. in vit. Ludovic, Pii.
• Vide Aleman. in pariet. Lateran. c. 10.
• Henſchen ad diem xi April.
c Walfrid. Strabo de reb Eccleſiast. c. 21.
Vide Card. Bona rer. Liturgic. I. 1. C. 18. & Marten. de Antiquis Ecclef. ritib. I. 1.
& Vide Papebroc. in Conatu Chron. Hiſt.
5
STEPHEN
nourable.
. 3.
Steph. IV.
185
BISHOPS of Rome.
LEO ARMENUS,
Emperor of the STEPHEN IV.
Year of
Chrilt 816.
LEWIS THE DE-
BONNAIRE,
Emperor of the
Weft.
Eaſt.
Ninety-fixth Bishop of Rome.
IN
N the Room of Leo was choſen, after a Vacancy of ten Days, Stephen
Stephen the fourth of that Name. He was a Native of Rome, choſen.
of an illuſtrious Family, had been educated in the Lateran under
Pope Hadrian, and ordained firſt Subdeacon, and afterwards Deacon
by Leo, who cntertained, as well as the People and the reſt of the
Clergy, a nighty Opinion of his Virtue and Lcarning &.
He was no ſooner ordained than he required the whole People of Obliges the
Rome to take the ſame Oath of Allegiance to the Emperor Lewis, Romans to
which they had taken, under his Predeceſſors, to his Father Charle-of Allegiance
magne. At the ſame Time he diſpatched Legates into France to ac-ro Lewis.
quaint the Emperor with his Promotion, and ſignify to him his ear-
nelt Dcfire of conferring with him in Perſon in what Place focver he
ſhould think fit to appointh. The Emperor readily complied with
his Dcfire, ordered his Nephew Bernard, King of Italy, to attend
him on his journey, and having appointed the City of Reims for
the Place of their Meeting, he repaired thither, in Perſon, as ſoon
as he heard of his Arrival in France. When the Pope was yet at
fome Diſtance from the City, he ſent out Hildebald his firſt Chap-
lain, Theodulph Biſhop of Orleans, and John Archbiſhop of Arles,
attended by a great Number of other Eccleſiaſtics, all in their facer-Goes int;
dotal Attire, to meet him, and went in Perſon, as he approached the France.
City, with all the great Lords of the Court to receive him. He
waited his Arrival on Horſe-back at the Monaſtery of St. Remigius
a little Way out of the City, and diſmounting as his Holineſs
ap:
proached, he fell three Tinies proftrate on the Ground, welcoming
him with the Words of the Scripture, bleſed is he, who cometh in
the Name of the Lord. The Pope diſmounted at the ſame Time,
and raiſing the Emperor from the Ground returned Thanks to the
Almighty for granting him the wiſhed for Satisfaction of ſecing a
fecond King David. They then embraced each other with
grear
Affection and Tenderneſs, and walking together, with all their At-
& Anaſt. in Steph. IV.
Thegan. c. 16.
VOL. IV.
Bb
tendants,
186
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Steph. IV.
.
1
Year of tendants, to the Church, aſſified at the Te Deum, which was ſung
Chriſt 816.
with the utmoſt Solemnity. After the Te Deum they prayed in Si-
lence till the Pope riſing up ſung a Hymn with his Clergy in Pra fe of
the Emperor, which ended with a Prayer for his Health and his
Welfare. From the Church the Pope withdrew with the Emperor
into the Monaſtery, and there acquainted him with the Motives of
his Journey, laying before him the State of the Church and the City
of Rome. As the Pope was not a little fatigued with his 'Journcy,
the Emperor, Icaving him after a very ſhort Conference, returned to
the City i
The next Day the Emperor made a grand Entertainment for the
Pope ; and the Day following the Pope made the like Entertainment
for the Emperor. One of the chief Motives of the Pope's Journey
into France was, it ſeems to have thc Satisfaction of conſecrating
and crowning the Emperor; and that Ceremony he performed, with
grcat Solemnity the firſt Sunday after his Arrival at Reims. He
Crowns the crowned both the Emperor, and his Wife Hermenegard, whom hie
Emperor. Niled Empreſs, with Crowns of Gold, enriched with a great Num-
ber of precious Stones, which he had brought with him for that
Purpoſe from Rome. He is ſaid to have made many other valuable
Preſents to the Emperor, and to have received Preſents from him in
Return three Times their Valuek. Anaſtaſius tells us that the Em-
peror even gave a Village to St. Peter on the Borders of France to
be for ever poffcfed by him and his Succeſſors!. The Pope, having
fpent two Months in France, frequently conferring with the Em-
peror about the State of the Church and the Government of Rome,
Returns to ſet out from Reims in the Beginning of October on his Return to
Italy, accompanied by ſome of the great Lords of the Court, whom
the Emperor had appointed to attend him to Rome. Before he left
France he gave the Pall to Theodulph, Biſhop of Orleans ; and
thenceforth we find that Prelate conſtantly diſtinguiſhed with the
Title of Archbiſhop; tho'Inſtances are not wanting of Biſhops, after
as well as before the Time of Theod.elph, who, tho' diſtinguiſhed
with the Pall, were not diſtinguiſhed with that Title.
Of this Pope we hear no more till the Time of his Death, which
happened on the 24th of January 817, about three Months after his
Eginhard. in Annal. Thegan. Auctor..vit. Ludovic. Pii.
1 Anaſt. in Steph. IV.
3
Return
Rome.
i
k Thegan.
1
+
Paſchal.
BISHOPS of Rome.
.
187
Chriſt 816.
Return to Rome, and ſeven after his Promotion. He died, it ſeems, Year of
ſuddenly, a Refcript being Nill to be ſeen, that was ſigned by hin
the Day preceding his Deathk. He is ſaid in the Copies of Anaſta-Stephen dies.
fores by a groſs Miſtake, no doubt of the Tranſcribers, to have held Year of
Chriſt 817.
the Sea ſeven years and as many Months.
2
LEO ARMENUS,
LEWIS THE DEBON-
MICHAEL BALBUS, PASCHAL,
NAIRE and LOTHA-
Emperors of the Eaſt.
RIUS,
Emperors of the West.
Ninety-ſeventh Bishop of Rome.
STEPHEN was buried on the 25th of January, the next Day Pafchal
after his Death, and on the ſame Day the Senate, the Clergy and choſen.
the People choſe with one Voice Pafchal in his Room.
He was by
Birth a Roman, the Son of Bonofus, and at the Time of his Election
Abbot of the Monaſtery of the Protomartyr St. Stepheni.
The firſt Care of the new Pope was to acquaint the Emperor Sends Legates
Lewis with his Promotion, and he diſpatched accordingly, as foon to acquaint
as he was ordained, his Nomenclator Theodore for that Purpoſe into with his Pro-
France. He was, it ſecms, charged by ſome with having raiſed motion,
himſelf, by unlawful Mcans, to the Chair; for in the Letter he
wrote, after his Ordination, to the Emperor, he takes great Pains to
ſatisfy him, that far from aſpiring to the Pontifical Dignity, he had
declined it till the People forced him, and much againſt his Will, to
acquieſce in the Choice they had unanimouſly made. As that Letter
is by a contemporary Hiſtorian ftiled an Apology m, Platina and
after him Ciacon:11S. ſuppoſe it to have been written by the Pope to
apologize for his having ſuffered himſelf to be ordained before his
Election was approved by the Emperor. But there was no Decree at
this Time either of the Pope or the Emperor of the Weſt forbidding
the Pope to be ordained till his Election was notified to and ap-
proved by the Emperor. I ſay of the Emperor of the Weſt; for
that Cuſtom had indeed obtained while the Emperors of the Eaſt
were Maſters of Italy; and they took Care, as we have ſeen, to
have it ſtridly complied with till the Popes, ſhaking off all Depend-
ence upon them, became their own Maſters. From that Time,
k Apud Ducheſn. t. 3. p. 655.
! Anaſt, in Paſch,
the Auct, vit.
Ludovic. Pii.
B b 2
that
188
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Pafchal.
+
Year of that is, from the Time of Pope Zachary raiſed to the See in 741,
Chriſt 817; they continued to be ordained, without the Approbation of the Em-
peror
cither of the Eaſt or the Weſt, till the Year 825, the ſecond of
Pope Eugene II. who revived the ancient Cuſtom in favour of the
Emperor Lotharius and his Succeſſors in the Empire, as I ſhall relate
in the Sequel.
Who confirms The Emperor received Theodore with extraordinary Marks of Re-
the Donations ſpect and Efteem, honouring in hin thc Vicar of St. Peter, whom
and Grand- he repreſented, and in the Vicar of St. Peter the Apoſtle himſelf;
fether. aflured him of his inviolablc Attachment to the apoſtolic See, and
declared himſelf unalterably determined to maintain, if neceſſary,
with the whole Strength of his Kingdoms, the Prince of the Apoſtles
and his Succeſſors, in the quict Pofeſſion of all his Father and Grand-
father had by their Religion and Piety been prompted to give them
Lewis is ſaid to have not only confirmed on this Occaſion but en-
larged their Donations, adding by the famous Decree Ego Ludovicus
the Inands of Corſica, Sardinia, and Sicily to the Demains given to
St. Peter by Pepin and Charlemagne". But that the Donation of
Lewis yielding thoſe Iſlands to St. Peter is quite of a Piece with the
Donation of Conſtantine the Great yielding all Italy to St. Peter
But adds no-may be eaſily demonſtrated. For 1. The Donations of Pepin and
thing to them Charlemagne are frequently mentioned by the Popes, but by none
of them ever is made the leaſt mention of the pretended Donation
of Lewis; and he is only commended by them for generouſly con-
firming the Donations of his Father and Grandfather.
2. The Em-
perors Otho I. and Henry I. enumerate all the Countries and Places
in particular, that were given by Pepin and Charlemagne to St. Peter
and his Church, and confirm their Donations; but knew.of none,
at leaſt take Notice of none, that were given to St. Peter or his
Church by the Emperor Lewis %. 3. Lewis is ſuppofed by his Do.
nation to have yielded to the apoſtolic See the Ilands of Corſica, Sar.
dinia and Sicily. But he never was Maſter of Sicily, nor indeed
was any of that Race, the Iand of Sicily having been poſſeſſed by
the Emperors of the Eaſt till the Year 827, when it was betrayed to
the Saracens. 4. Lewis in the Inſtrument of his ſuppoſed Donation
is made to decree, that the Pope lawfully choſen fhall thenceforth be
o See vol. 3. p. 311.
Anaſt. in Eugen.
62.& IQ14
Eginhard. in Annal. Auctor.. vit. Ludovic. Pii.
? Apud Gratian. Diſt. 63, , Vide Baron, ad annos
ordained
Paſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
189
Chriſt 817.
ordained without Delay, and that after his Ordination he ſhall ſend Year of
Legates to acquaint therewith the Emperor and his Succeffors in the
Empire. But it is very certain, that by Pope Eugene II. the imme-
diate Succeſlor of the preſent Pope, a Decree was iſſued at the Rc-
queſt, not to ſay the Command, of Lotharius, the Son and Collegue
of Lewis in the Empire, forbidding the new Pope, how lawfully
ſocver choſen, to be ordained till his Election was approved by the Em-
peror, or thc Deputies hc ſhould appoint to aniſt at his Ordination.
Had Lewis out of his grcat Regard for the apoſtolic Sce enacted the
above-mentioned Decree, he would not have ſuffered it to be thus in
a few Years reverſed and annulled. The Decree of Pope Eugene was
obſerved with the greateſt Strictneſs, during the whole ninth Cen-
tury; and I do not find, that the Roman Clergy, tho' they frequently
and loudly complained of it, ever pleaded the Decree of the Em-
peror Lewis to exempt themſelves from complying with it, which
they certainly would have done had they known of any ſuch De-
cree. Upon the Whole the Donation of Lewis was as evidently
forged as that of Conſtantine, and probably forged in the latter End
of the eleventh Century, Leo Oſtienſis, who died in the Beginning
of the twelfth, being the firft who mentions it, telling us, that it
was made to St. Peter and his Vicar Pope Paſchal in the Palace of
Aix-la-Chapelle in the Year 817.
The Eledion of Paſchal was no ſooner known in the Eaſt than Theodore
the famous Monk Theodore Studita, Abbot of the Monaſtery of Studius Studita im-
in the Suburbs of Conſtantinople, wrote to him in his own Name, and Protection of
in the Name of four other Abbots, to acquaint him with the crucl Per-the Pope
ſecution the Orthodox, that is, the Worſhippers of Images, ſuffered again;t the
under the Iconoclaſt Emperor Leo, and implore his Protection (O). Year of
In
Chriſt 818.
* Leo Oſtienſ. Chron. Caffin. l. 1. C. 18.
(O) Of this Perſecution, as they call have it, by a Monk named Sabbatius,
it, the Writers of thoſe Days give us the and perſuaded that God alone was to be
following Account. Leo, having by a re- worſhipped, certain it is, that in the Year
markable Victory over the Bulgarians, 814, the ſecond of his Reign, he firſt
whoſe numerous Army he entirely cut off, ſhowed himſelf offended at the Worſhip,
eſtabliſhed himſelf firmly on the Throne, that was given to Images, and ſtrongly in-
undertook to reform the Abuſes, that pre- clined to baniſh it, as repugnant, in his
yailed in the Church, and what to him Opinion, to the Law of God, from the
ſeemed moſt of all to ſtand in need of a
Church and the Empire. However not to
Reformation, the Worſhip of Images. truſt to his own Judgment alone, tho he
For whether he had been always in his had, it ſeems, peruſed, and with great
Heart an Enemy to Images, as ſome write, Attention, the Acts of the two preceding
or was but lately ſeduced, as others will Councils, of the Council of Conſtantinopla
under
2
ago
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal
Year of In his Letter hc exhorts the Pope to cxect all his Zeal on ſo urgent
Ghrift 8.8.
an Occaſion, to aſſemble a Council, and to anathematize, together
wich
under Copronymus againſt Images, and of ing Truth from Fallhood, or. Fallhood
Nice under Irene in their Favour, he would from Truth; and they therefore could
take no Step in a Matter of ſuch Import- not, nor would they ſtand to his Judg-
ance till he had conſulted the Patriarch, as ment in proving the one, or confuting the
well as the Biſhops and all the Men of Cha- other. All this the Emperor bore with
racter at that Time in the Imperial City, great Temper and Patience, only remind-
and heard the Point fairly debated, in his ing them of the Reſpect, that was due to
Preſence, by the learned of both Parties. the Imperial Dignity, and telling them that
Having therefore aſſembled, in the Impe- every Chriſtian, much more a Biſhop and
rial Palace, a great Number of Biſhops Teacher of the Chriſtian Religion, ought
wich the Patriarch, the Senate, the chief to be ready, whenever he is called upon,
of the Clergy, and the Abbots of all the to give an Account of his Religion, and
Monaſteries in Conſtantinople, and its that from their Backwardneſs their: Anta:
Neighbourhood, he is faid, but very im- goniſts would conclude, that they diſtruſted
probably, to have taken an Image of our their Cauſe, or wanted Arguments to ſup:
Saviour' out of his Boſom, and killing it port it. We have abundance of Argu-
to have addreſſed them thus : I agree, as ments, replied Theopbylactus, Biſhop of
you fee, in Opinion with you. But ſome Nicomedia; but our Antagoniſts have Ears
there are, who maintain the contrary Opi- and hear not, and it would therefore be to
nion, and condemn ours: And I have no Purpoſe to produce them. Our Adver-
called together both you and them to hear faries, added Peter, Biſhop of Nice,
what you have to offer in Support of your are patroniſed and protected by you ; and
Opinion, and what they have to offer in even a Manichee would prove, under your
Support of theirs. If you ſhow that they Protection, too powerful for us. Here
teach a new Doctrine, your Opinion ſhall Euthymius, Biſhop of Sardis, addreſſing
henceforth prevail; and theirs, if they the Emperor, Chriſt, ſaid he, from the
fhow that you teach a new Doctrine. Had Time he firſt appeared upon the Earth to
an Affair of ever ſo little Moment been the preſent, that is for the Space of 800
referred to me, I ought not to have left it Years and upwards, has been painted in
undetermined; much leſs am I. to leave all the Churches throughout the World,
undetermined an Affair of infinite Mo. and adored in his Pictures. And whe
ment(1).
dares impugn, alter or condemn a Practice
Thus the Emperor: But by no Means handed down to us and approved by the
could he prevail on the Advocates' for Apoſtles, the Martyrs and all the holy
Images to enter the Liſts with their Ad- Fathers ? The Apoſtle Paul exhorts us to
verſaries. Some excuſed themſelves on ac- ftand faſt, and hold the Traditions, which
count of the Place, ſaying that Matters of we have been taught, whether by Word,
Religion, that Points of Faith were to be or his Epiftle, and will have us to anathe-
canvaſſed and determined in the Church, matize and curſe even an Angel from Hea-
and not in the Imperial Palace. By others ven, ſhould he preach any other Goſpel,-
was alleged the Obſtinacy of Heretics, or Doctrine, than what we have received
whom they ſaid it was loft Labour to ac- The holy Synod, affembled at Nice by the
tempt to convince; their Obſtinacy being pious Emperors Conſtantine and Irene, con-
Proof againſt Demonſtration itſelf. Some demned thoſe, who firſt taught that Images
taxing the Emperor to his Face with In were not to be worſhipped; and that Sy-
ſincerity, Hypocriſy, Partiality, had the nod the Son of God ligned with his own
Aſſurance to tell him, that he was too Hand. If any Man therefore ſhall pre-
much prepoſfelled and prejudiced in Fa- fume to contradict or to alter it, let him
your of Error to be capable of diftinguilh- be accurſed. That the Practice of ſetting
+
1
(1) Michael in vit. Theodór. Studit. & Theoſteriet, in vit. Nicet.
up
Paſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
igr
with the other Biſhops in the Weſt, the wicked Hereſy, that pre- Year of
vailed in the Eaſt, and all who profeſſed it. The Direction of his
Letter
Chriſt 818.
up Images in Churches, or Places of Wor- declared, that he came not to deſtroy, but
thip, was not introduced till the latter End to fulfil the Law; and conſequently if it
of the fourth Century, nor ihe Practice of was Idolatry in a few to bow down to
worſhipping them till the latter End of the Images and worſhip them, it was likewiſe
ſeventh, or the Beginning of the eighth Idolatry in a Chriſtian. In anſwer to that
has been ſhown in the foregoing Von was urged by Theodore the Example of our
lume (2); and conſequently that neither Saviour himſelf, who had ſent his Picture
was a Practice derived from the Apoſtles, to Abgarus King of Edeſa (5); the Ex-
or the primitive Martyrs and Fathers. ample of St. Luke (6), and many others,
Theodore Studita, the famous Champion of who had painted him in the earlieſt Times,
Images, pretended, that the Emperor was and whoſe Pictures were ſtill to be ſeen,
not at all to concern himſelf with the and ſtill were worſhipped by the Faithfuli
Church, or the Affairs of the Church, the many Advantages attending the Uſe as
God, ſaid he with the Words of the Apo- well as the Worſhip of Inages, and the
ftle, having ſet ſome in the Church, firſt uninterrupted Practice of the Church from
Apoflles, ſecondarily Prophets, thirdly Teach- the Times of Chriſt and his Apoftles to
ers, made no mention of Kings, who the preſent. The Emperor anſwered, that
were therefore to govern the State, but the Uſe, as well as the Worſhip of Images,
leave the Church to be governed by its was of a much later Date than he pre-
Paſtors and Doctors. Theodore added, that tended, as fome, who were preſent, would
if the Emperor was nevertheleſs deter- convince him, if he and his Brethren
mined, right or wrong, to meddle with would agree to hear them. For to this
ecclefiaftical Matters, he muſt let him Conference the Emperor had invited ſome
know, that he would not even hearken to of the moſt zealous and learned Icono.
an Angel from Heaven, ſhould he preach clafts, and among the reſt Anthony Metro-
any other Doctrine than that he had re- politan of Sylæum in Pamphylia, a Pre-
ceived, much leſs would he hearken to late, perhaps, better acquainted than any
of his Time with the Scriptures, the Wri-
But by God himſelf, replied the Em. tings of the Fathers, and the Hiſtory of
peror, we are expreſly forbidden to make the Church. But Theodore declaring, in:
any graven Images, to bow down to them, the Name of the reſt, that far from hear-
or to worſhip them. The Jews were for- ing condemned and accurſed Heretics,
bidden, anſwered Theodore : But the Law, they would not ſo much as ſee them, nor
given to them, is not binding with reſpect meet them, could they avoid it, in the
to us Chriſtians ; elſe why ſhould not we public Streets, and at the ſame Time in-
be circumciſed as well as the Jews ? veighing, without any Regard to the Im-
Where he ignorantly confounds the cere- perial Dignity, againſt the Emperor him-
monial Law with the Decalogue. But he ſelf as a Heretic, as an Abetior of Here-
had, it ſeems, peruſed the Acts of the fe- tics, as one, who had impiouſly under-
cond Council of Nice, and read there of a taken, as was apparent from his Conducty.
learned Biſhop wondering at the Ignorance to diſturb the Peace of the Church, and
of the Iconoclaſt Heretics in alleging, baniſh the true Religion from the Empire,
againſt the Chriſtians, Words ſpoken To Leo thought it adviſeable to diſmiſs the Al-
long ago to the Jews (4). The Emperor ſembly: And he diſmiſled it accordingly,
maintained that the Law given to Mofes having firſt reprimanded the infolent Monk
was binding with reſpect to the Chriſtians for treating him, he faid, not as an Em-
as well as the Jews, our Saviour having peror, but as the meaneſt of the Poplim
him(3.
(2) See vol. 3. p. 229. 236.
(3) Michael & Theoſteriet. ubi fupia..
(4) Seeabove, p. 110.
(5) See vol. 3. p. 203. (6) Ibid. p. 205.
lace (7).
192
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal.
3
Year of Letter was to Paſchal Pope of Rome, the great Light, the firſt
Prince of Biſhops, and his Apoſtolic Lord. At the ſame Time ho
Chriſt 818,
wrote
Jace (7). The Monk Michael, who lived he would not concern himſelf with their
at this time, tells us, that the Emperor, private Opinion, yet he could not allow
tranſported with Rage, drove the holy them to preach a Doctrine to the ignorant
Man with dreadful Menaces and oppro- and undiſtinguiſhing Multitude, which the
brious Language from his Prefence (8): moft learned amongſt them had not been
But Theofteri&tus, who likewiſe lived at able, or at leaſt had declined to maintain
this Time, writes that Leo patiently heard againſt thoſe, who held, and were ready to
him without ever betraying the leaſt Rc- maintain the oppoſite Doctrine. And he
ſentment or Anger (9): And Theofteri&tus therefore ordered them to obſerve thence-
was as much prejudiced againſt Leo as Mi- forth a ſtrict Silence concerning Images
chael.
and the Worſhip of Images. This Order
The next Day the Patriarch, by the he fent, by the Governor of the City, to
Advice of Theodore, afl'embled in the great the Patriarch, to the Biſhops, to the Ab-
Church the Biſhops and Abbots, who the bots; and all, except Theodore, promiſed
Day before had been preſent at the Con- in compliance with it, and promiſed in
ference, in order to deliberate, together Writing, as was required by the Emperor,
with them, about the Means of maintain- thenceforth to forbear all mention, in pub-
ing the Catholic Faith, that is, the Wor- lic, of Images or the Worſhip of Images.
ſhip of Images, in Oppoſition to the Em. But Theodore, addreſſing the Governor
peror, ſhould he attempt to baniſh it, and with the Words of the two Apoſtles, whe-
introduce the ſo often condemned and ana- ther it be right in the Sight of God to
thematized Hereſy in its Room. But the hearken unto you more than unto God, judge
Emperor no ſooner heard of their thus ca- ye(I), told him, that he would rather
balling than he ſent them an Order by the ſuffer his Tongue to be cut out than ob-
Governor of the City, commanding them ſerve the injoined Silence only one Hour:
to retire forthwith to their reſpective Ha- Nay, no ſooner did he hear that the Pa-
bitations, and forbear aſſembling again triarch had promiſed to obſerve it, than
without his Permillion or Knowlege. quitting his Monaſtery, tho' confined to it
Hereupon the Monks ſpreading themſelves, by an expreſs Order from the Emperor,
at the Inftigation of Theodore, all over the and flying to the epiſcopal Palace, he pre-
City, began to exhort the Populace to con. vailed on the weak Prelate
not only to re-
tinue ſtedfaſt in the Religion of their An- call his Promiſe, but to aſſemble, in Defi-
ceſtors, to avoid all Communication with ance of the Emperor's late Prohibition, all
Heretics, eſpecially with the accurled Ico- the Biſhops, Abbots and leading Men of
noclaſts, and to defend, even at the Ex- the Clergy, and extort from them a Pro-
pence of their Lives, the holy Images of miſe in Writing, which they all ſigned
our Saviour and his Saints, ſhould any pre- with a Croſs, binding themſelves to defend,
fume to remove or inſult them, as they if neceſſary, the holy and venerable Images
would defend our Saviour himſelf or his at the Expence of their Lives. The Ar-
Saints, ſince the Inſults, offered to their ſembly was ſcarce diſmiſſed when the Em-
Images, were offered to them. The ſe peror, informed of all that had paſſed,
ditious Conduct of the Monks obliged ſent one of the chief Lords of his Court
the Emperor, apprehenſive of the Confe- to reproach the Patriarch, in his Name,
quences that might attend it, to confine with the Breach of his Promiſe, and at the
them all to their Monaſteries. At the ſame Time to let him know, that to pre-
fame Time he let the Patriarch know, as vent the Diſturbances fa&tious Men might
well as the Biſhops of his Party, that tho'raiſe in the City, when encouraged by him,
(8) Idem ibid.
(9) Theoſterict.
(7) Michael, in vit. Theodor. Studit.
in vit, Nicet.
(1) Acts iv. 19.
he
Faſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
19}
wrote to the other three Patriarchs, beſtowing on them as pompous, Year of
Chrift $13.
and high-ſounding Titles as he beſtowed on the Pope. The Patriarch
of 'nil of te
other Pirinin
he muſt either comply with the Will of in Support of it, and both were ready to
aribs.
his Sovereign, or reſign his Dignity. The receive the Doctrine, that Mould appear to
Patriarch anſwered, with great Réſolution them the beſt grounded. He added, that
and Firmneſs, that the Promiſe he made the Queſtion had indeed been already exa-
had given great Offence to all good Chri- mined, nay and had been decided by cws
ſtians, that he therefore repented his ever different Councils, viz. thole of Conftan-
having made it, and was determined rather tincple and Nice, but as their Deciſions were
to die a thouſand Times than betray, by diametrically oppoſite to each other, it
obſerving it, ſo good a Cauſe. This An- might ſtill be looked upon as quite un-
fwer determined the Emperor to remove decided ; and he therefore fattered himſelf
him ; and he ſent accordingly an Officer that none would object to its being cxa-
to acquaint him with this his Determina- mined anew. In Compliance with the
tion, and convey him to a Monaſtery on Delire of the Emperor and the Patriarch
the other Side the Boſphorus, which he the Biſhops aſſembled at the Time ap-
himſelf had built. In his Room was raiſed pointed, and with them a great Number
to the Patriarchal Dignity Theodotus of of other Ecclefiaftics, and ſome Abbots
Meliſa, whom even his avowed Enemies and Monks. But the greater Part of the
allow to have been a Perſon of a noble Ex- Abbots were diverted by Theodore from at-
traction, of a mild Temper, of an en- tending the Council, on Pretence that it
gaging Behaviour, nay, and to have been was not lawful to re-examine a Doctrine,
univerſally reputed a Man of great Pro- that had been already examined and de-
bity, tho' his Probity, ſay they, was only fined by a General Council; the infolent
affedted, being himſelf an irreconcileable Monk had even the Aſſurance to write to
Enemy to Chriſt and his Saints in their the Council in the Name of all the Ab-
Images, and ſparing no Pains to gain over bots, ſtiling them Heretics, and declaringo
others to his deteſtable Hereſy (2).
that if Peter and Paul were to come down
The new Patriarch was no ſooner con from Heaven, and preach another Goſpel
ſecrated than he appointed, in the Empe- (beſides that, which teaches the Worſhip
ror's Name, all the Bilhops, Abbots, and of Images) they would not receive them
other Eccleſiaſtics in the City and Neigh- into their Communion (3).
bourhood of Conflantinople, to meet in the As the Acts of this Council have not
Church of St. Sophia, and there to cxa been ſuffered to reach our Times, nor in-
mine anew, ſince the Controverſy about decd any Writings whatever againſt Images,
Images was revived, and many were of- all we know of it is, that the Council of
fented at the Worſhi:), that was given Conftantinople, forbidding the Worſhip of
them, whether that Worſhip was agree. Images, was approved and confirmed, and
able or repugnant to the Doctrine of the the Council of Nice commanding that
Apoſtles and the Fathers. The Patriarch Worſhip, anathematized and condemned ;
ingenuouſly owned in the Letter he wrote that many Pithops as well as other Eccle-
on this Occalion, that as for himſelf, hcfiaftics, and even ſome Monks, folemnly
was of Opinion, that ſuch a Worſhip could renounced the Worſhip of Images (not
not be excuſed from Idolatry, ſince in the convinced, lay Michael and Theojleri£tus,
Old Teſtament it was expreſly forbidden by Reaſons or Arguments, but gained by
as idolatrous, and was no-where recom rich Preſents or Promiles of greater Pre-
mended or allowed in the New.
How- ferments), and that thole, who on this
ever he was willing, he ſaid, and ſo was Occaſion changed their opinion, ſhowed
the Emperor, to hear what they, who themſelves ever after the moſt of all averſe
were of a different Opinion, had to offer to Images, and the Worſhip of Images ($).
(3) Michael, in
(2) Continuat. Anonym. Theoph. Ignat. in vit. Niceph.
vit. Theodor. (4) Mich. & Theoſterict. ibid.
VOL. IV.
Cc
These
194
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Pafchal.
Year of of Alexandria he ſtilcs, the moſt holy Father of Fathers, the Light
of Lights, and the moſt bleſſed Pope. The very fame Letter he
ſont
Chrif &18
Theojlerietus tells us, that ſuch of the Bi- the Chriſtian Worſhip once more reſtored
thops as diſſented from the reſt, and would to its primitive Purity. This Theodore
not, together with them, condemn the an. could not bear; and he undertook to main-
rient Doctrine of the Church, were by tain, in ſpite of the Emperor and in Defi-
them cruelly beaten, and trod under Footance of his Edict, the condemned Super-
in the Council. But of that unwarrant ftition. With that View he ordered his
able Conduct no mention is made by any Monks to take each of them an Image,
other contemporary Writer; and it is quite and walking round the Monaſtery, in Pro-
inconſiſtent with the mild Temper of the ceſſion, with their Images in their Hands,
Patriarch, and the Character of the Em- to ſing aloud a Hymn, that began with
peror, who bore ſo long, and with an un- theſe Words, we'adore thy immaculate
parallelled Patience, the Oppofition and In- Image. The feditious Monk Aattered him-
ſults he met with from the enthuſiaſtic ſelf, that he ſhould thus raiſe the Multi-
Monks, eſpecially from the Author of all tude, and, being backed by them, oblige
the Diſturbances Theodore Studita.
the Emperor to repeal his Edict, or at leaſt
The Council was no ſooner diſmiſſed to connivc at a Practice, which he could
than an Edict was iſſued by the Emperor, not aboliſh without expoſing himſelf to the
wonderfully calculated, ſays Theofterietus, Danger of loſing his Crown, and perhaps
to extirpate the Catholic Faith, and cfta- his Life. But, to his great Mortification,
bliſh the worſt of Hereſies in its Room: not one Perſon joined in the Proceſſion, or
For by that Edict he ordered all the holy betrayed the leaſt Inclination of rifing for
Images, even the Images of our Saviour the sake of Images, againſt a Prince, who
himſelf, to be pulled down, to be caſt out had but very lately, by a moſt glorious-
of the Churches and broken, calling them Victory over the Barbarians, delivered the
Idols, and blafphemouſly aſcribing all the Empire, and the Imperial City, from im-
Calamities, that had befallen the Empire pending Ruin and Deſtruction. Some
ever ſince they were reſtored by the moſt however, apprehending the Diſturbances
religious Empreſs Irene, to the Vengeance the Monk might raiſe in the End, were he
of Heaven juſtly provoked at the idola- fuffered thus to infult both the Emperor
trous Worſhip, that was given them. The and the Council, and ſtir up the Populace,
Populace were not, it ſeems, at this Time, with Impunity, to Sedition and Rebellion,
ſo zealouſly attached to their Images, as loudly complained of him to Leo, adviſing
they were in the Time of Leo the Iſau- him, as he tendered the Peace and Tran-
rian, the firſt Emperor, who undertook to quillity of the Church and the Empire, to
controll that Superftition ; for I do not find remove out of the Way, by fome Means
that the Imperial Officers, who were charged or other, the only Man, who was capable
with the Execution of the preſent Edict, of diſturbing them, and made it his Study
met with any Oppoſition from them, tho' to diſturb them. But the Tyrant, as he is
they ſpared no Images, but pulled down, here ſtiled by the Monk Michael, inſtead
effaced, or broke them all in the Sight of of hearkening to them, and cauſing the re-
the People, even thoſe, that were moſt re- fractory and rebellious Abbot to be imme-
vered and reſorted to for the Miracles they diately apprehended, confined and even
were ſaid to work. They queſtioned pere put to Death, as they adviſed him, and he
haps the Truth of the Miracles, that were might have done without the leaſt Impu-
faid to have been wrought by them to ſave tation of Injuſtice or of Cruelty, con-
others, ſince they could work none to ſave tented himſelf, by an Inſtance of Cle-
themſelves. However that be, Images mency and Good-nature ſcarce to be
were once more deſtroyed throughout the matched in Hiſtory, with putting him in
Empire, or at leaſt removed, and removed Mind of his Duty, with exhorting him
without the leaſt Diſturbance, out of the to forbear ſuch treaſonable Practices, and
Churches and all other public Places, and threatening, if he did not, to let Juſtice
thenceforth
Paſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
195
Ycar of
ſent with the very fame Titles to the Patriarch of Alexandria; and
Chrilt Sis.
as to the Patriarch of Jerufalem, he calls him the firſt of all the
Patriarchs
thenceforth take Place of Mercy (5). But and the Worſhip of Images, publicly op-
the holy Man, ſays the Hiſtorian, deſpiſing poſing, and ftirring up the People to op-
alike the Careffes and the Menaces of the poſe the Execution of the Imperial Edia(6).
Tyrant, continued, in ſpite of both, the He was therefore baniſhed with the rest,
fame Practices with more Zeal than ever, after the Emperor, mindful of his former
preaching the Catholic Faith, that is the Services, had done all that lay in his Power
Worſhip of Images, in public and in pri- to divert him from oppoſing his Edict, if
vate, and exhorting all to defend, if ne he could not comply with it.
ceſſary, at the Expence of their Lives, the The baniſhed Monks were confined to
Religion they had received from their An- different Iſlands; but ſcarce had they be-
ceſtors, and their Anceſtors from the Apo- gun to feel the Hardſhips of their Exile,
Atles, and Chriſt himfell, who had ſent his when the good-natured Emperor, pitying
Image to the King of Edeſa to be worn their Condition, recalled them all but Theo
fhipped by him and his people. Hereupon dore, the chief Author of all the Diſturb-
the Tyrant, continues the Hiſtorian, quite ances, and reſtored them to their Monaf-
at a Lofs what Meaſures to take, and no teries. Upon their Return to Conftanti.
longer able to bear the Liberty and Firm- nople the Emperor ſent for them to the Im-
neſs of the holy Abbot, ordered him firſt perial Palace, and there after reproaching
to depart the City, and ſoon after ſent him, them, in a friendly Manner, with ſtriving
(no doubt upon ſome new Provocation) to maintain, by feditious Practices, a Su-
into Exile, and confined him to a Caſtle. perftition,
which they had declined to main-
And who hut a Prince of Leo's good Na- tain with Reaſons and with Arguments, he
ture and Clemency would have borc ſo long told them, that he would not thenceforth
his unparallelled Preſumption, and, when concern himſelf with their private Opi.
it was paſt all bearing, contented himſelf nions, nor even prevent them from wor-
with inflicting ſo flight a Puniſhment on ſhipping their Images, provided they con-
ſuch an incendiary We need no other tented themſelves to worſhip them within
Proof of this excellent Prince's humane the Walls of their Monaſteries, and, to.
Diſpoſition and merciful Temper, than the avoid Diviſions and a Schiſm in the Church,
very Facts, that gave Occaſion to the Wri- communicated but once with the Patriarch.
ters of thoſe Times, all bigotted Monks, To theſe Terms all readily agreed, and
to ftile him a Tyrant. With Theodore were thereupon allowed quietly to live and
were baniſhed ſeveral Biſhops, and moſt of to worſhip undiſturbed what Images they
the Abbots of the Monaſteries in Confian- pleaſed in their Monaſteries. At the ſame
tinople, who, encouraged by that turbulent Time were recalled moſt of the baniſhed
Monk, not only refuſed to comply with Biſhops, and ſuch of them reſtored to their
the Imperial Ediet, but publicly inveighed Sees as agreed to communicate with the
againſt the Emperor as a Heretic for iſſuing Patriarch, and not to oppoſe, nor ſtir up
it. Among the Abbots was the famous the People to oppoſe the Execution of the
Chronologer Theophanes, and Nicetas,whoſe Imperial Ediet. Of this Agreement Theo-
Life, written by the Monk Theafteriftus dore was ſoon informed ; and fired with
and filled with Invectives againſt Leo, has Zeal he undertook to divert his Brethren
reached our Times. Nicetas was ncarly from ſtanding to it, or ſuffering themſelves
related to the Empreſs Irene, had been Go- to be reſtrained, by any Agreement what-
vernor of Sicily, and honoured with ſome ever, from oppoſing the wicked Laws of
of the firſt Employments of the Empire, the Tyrant and his antichriſtian Edicts.
but having afterwards embraced a monaſ. Of the Letters he wrote from his Priſon
tic Life under Theodore, he rivaled even on this Occaſion to the Monks, to the
Theodore himſelf in his Zeal for Images Nuns, to the Biſhops, and to all truc
(5) Mich. ibid.
(6) Theoſterict. in vit. Nicet.
Сс 2
Chriſtians
196
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal.
Chrill 818.
Year of Patriarchs tho only reckoned the fifth. He addreſſes them all with
the greateſt Submillion, proſtrates himſelf at their Feet, and declares
himſelf unworthy of their Notice, but hopes that as our Saviour
condeſcended to receive a Letrer from Abgarıls, nay and to anſwer
it, they will condeſcend to receive one from him. Froni there Let-
ters it appears, that Images were cvery where caſt out of the Churches,
and cither broken in Pieces, or publicly burnt; that nonc were ſuf-
Chriſtians in general, near two Hundred hearkening to the Suggeſtions of Theodore,
have rea, hed our Times, all calculated to with the Liberty the Emperor allowed
ftir them up to Sedition and Rebellion, and them of worſhipping their Images within
encourage them to maintain, and publicly the Walls of their Monafteries; and to
to profeſs, in Defiance of the Tyrant, the them no kind of Violence was offered.
Faith and Religion, which our Saviour him. But thoſe, who ſtill continued, in Defiance
felf had taught, that is the Worſhip of of the Emperor and the Imperial Edict,
Images, and all true Chriftians had held publicly to preach and recommend to the
and profeſſed, ever ſince his Time to the populace the forbidden Superſtition, were
preſent. The Emperor however, ſparing all either cloſely confined, or ſent into Ex-
his Life, by an Exceſs of good Nature, ile.
ile. And it is obſervable, that in this
contented himſelf with ordering him to be cruel and bloody Perſecution, as it is ſtiled
whipped, to be removed farther from Con- and deſcribed by the later Greek Writers,
Jantinople, and to be more cloſely con and after them by Baronius and Maimburg,
fined. But as he ſtill found Means to one Perſon only ſuffered Death, a Monk
write and convey Letters to his Brethren in named Thadæus, whom Bardas, one of
Conftantinople, moſt of them filled with the Emperor's Officers, provoked at his
bitter Invectives againſt the Emperor, call- Obſtinacy, cauſed to be whipped with ſo
ing him a Tyrant, an Apolate, a Heretic, much Severity, that he expired on the
an Ammorhite, the great Dragon, the crooked Spot. Indeed Whipping, Confinement,
Serpent, a Veſſel of Wrath, an avowed and Exile were the only Punilaments the
Enemy to Chriſt and his Saints, &c. and Emperor allowed to be inficted even on
comparing him to Og, King of Baſan, to thoſe, who, not ſatisfied with tranſgreſſing
Ahab, to Julian, Leo reſolved at laſt to his Edict, had the Aſſurance publicly to
let Juſtice take place of Mercy, and order revile and inſult him as an Apoftate from
him, ſince he could by no other Means the Faith, as a Heretic, as an Enemy to
overcome his Obftinacy, to be publicly God and his Saints. And yet the Reader
executed. But his good Nature ſtill pre- will find this excellent and moſt humane
vailing over his Reſentment, he ſuon Prince painted by Maimburg as a blood-
changed his Mind, and ordered him only thirſty Tyrant, as one, who delighted in
to be conveyed to Smyrna, and delivered nothing ſo much as in Acts of the moſt
up to the Biſhop of that Place, a Prelate barbarous Cruelty, as a Nero or a Diocle-
of great Learning, and no leſs remarkable fian. But whether Leo or his Grand Mo-
for his Zeal in promoting the Worſhip of narch beſt deſerved the Name of Tyrant,
God alone than Thcodore was in promoting I ſhall leave every Man to judge, who com-
the Worship of Images. By him the pares the Treaiment, that the Worſhip-
Monk was kept clofely confined, and uſed, pers of Images met with from the former,
if the Author of his Life is to be credited, after they had provoked him in the Man-
with the utrnoft Barbarity till the Death of ner we have ſeen, with the Treatment
the Emperor, that is for the Space of two thoſe, who refuſed to worſhip Images, met
Years (). As for the other Monks, many with from the latter, whom they had no-
them, ſtanding to the Agreement they ways provoked.
had made, contented themſelves, without
(7) Mich. in vit. Theodor.
fered
Pafchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
197
1
Chrift 818.
Letter,
fered even on the ſacred Utenſils; that all, who had any Images, Pic-Year of
tures, or Books recommending either the Uſe or the Worſhip of
them, were ordered to deliver them up to the Patriarch or the Impe-
rial Officers; that thoſe, in whoſe Cuſtody ſuch Books, Images or
Pictures were found, were whipped, impriſoned or ſent into Exile;
that a great many Monks, and all the Biſhops but thoſe of Theſſa-
lonica, Epheſus, Nice and Nicomedia, rcadily complied with the The Pope's
Decree of the Emperor, and that thus was the Worſhip as well as the Anſwer to his.
Uſe of Images, which had given Occaſion to that Worſhip, a ſecond
Time utterly ſuppreſſed throughout the Empire. The Pope was
greatly affected with the Sufferings of the Monks, and the other
Worſhippers of Images, as deſcribed, and indeed exaggerated be-
yond all Meaſure by Theodore : But unable to afford them the leaſt
Relief, he contented himſelf with comforting them by Letters, aſſuring
them, that to ſuffer for Images was to ſuffer for Chriſt; that the Mar-
tyrs of Images were Martyrs of Chriſt, and that the ſame Reward
was reſerved in Heaven for thoſe, who ſuffered under the Iconoclaſt
Emperors for the Sake of Images, that was given to thoſe, who ſuf.
fered under the Pagan Emperors for the Sake of Chriſt.
The four following Years were ſpent by Pafchal in rebuilding, rc. He repairs
pairing, or embelliſhing with many coſtly Ornaments ſeveral Churches rebuilds and
and Monafteries in Rome, as is related ar length by Anaſtaſiusk, and
Churches.
out of him by Baronius. As Rome (warmed at this Time with
Greek Monks, who had fled from Conſtantinople, and the other C
ties in the Eaſt the Pope built, amongſt his other public Works, a
ſpacious Monaſtery for their Reception, and richly endowed it, that
thoſe, who had choſen to quit their Country rather than renounce
the Faith, that is the Uſe and the Worſhip of Inages, might there,
as in a ſafe Port, be comfortably maintained till it pleaſed God to lay
the Storm.
In the Year 823. Paſchal had the Satisfaction of receiving at Rome Crowns Lo-
Lotharius, the eldeſt Son of the Emperor Louis, and crowning tharius Em-
him Emperor and King of Italy. Lotharius had been taken by his terror and
King of Italy.
Father in 817. for his Partner in the Empirc; had been appointed Year of
King of Italy in 822, and was ſent in 823. to take upon him the Chriſt. 823.
Government of his new Kingdom. Paſchal no ſooner heard of his
Arrival than hc invited him by his Legates to Rome, received him
there with all poſſible Marks of Reſpect and Diſtinction, and on
k Anaſt. in Pafch.
Eater
enriches many
198
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal.
.
1
Year of Eaſter-day crowned him, with the greateſt Solemnity, at the Tomb
Chrift 823. of St. Peter, giving him at the ſame Time the Title of Auguſtus!.
In many of this Princc's Diplomas the Ycars of his Empire are reck-
oned from the Time of his Coronation, that is, from the fifth of
April, for in 823. Eafter fell on that Day. In the Supplement to the
Hiſtory of Paulus Diaconus it is ſaid, that on this Occaſion the
apoſtolic Pope Paſchal veſted the Emperor Lotharius with the ſame
Power over the Romans and the City of Rome, that had been veſted
in the ancient Emperors, that is, he yielded to him the Sovercignty
of Rome: And thus were the Emperors of the Weſt, ſays F. Pagi,
The Empe- made by the Pope Sovereigns of Rome, they being better able than
rors not made he to curb the Inſolence of the unruly and nutinous Romans m.
Rome by the But what Acts of Sovereignty or ſovereign Power were exerciſed by
the Emperors in Rome after the Pontificate of Paſchal, that were
not exerciſed before it by Charlemagne ? He coined Money in Rome,
and fent thither Commiſſioners from Time to Time to adminiſter
Juſtice, to judge Cauſes, to try Criminals, and abſolve or condemn
them, nay and to try the Pope himſelfn. It was not therefore from
the Pope Lotharius received the Sovereignty of Rome, but from his
Father Charlemagne, who yielded indced to the Pope the Dominium
utile, or the Revenues of the City and Dukedom of Rome, but kept
the Sovereignty to himſelf. The Popes, it is true, coined Money in
Rome in Charlemagne's Time; but their coining Money is no Proof
of their ſovereign Power, ſince they coincd Money after Paſchal's
Time, that is when the ſovereign Power was, according to all, lodged,
in the Emperors, and not in them (A). That Privilege was granted
them by the Emperors, and by the Emperors the ſame Privilege was
granted to the Dukes of Benevento, who acknowleged the Emperors
for their liege Lords and Sovereigns (B).
From
Pope.
· Eginhard. in Annal. ad ann. 823.
A See abovc, p. 152.
m Pagi in Annal. Bar. ad ann. 823.
(A) No Papal Money is to be met with, in 855, is the Figure of St. Peter in his
that was coincd before Charlemagne's Time, Pontifical Attire with the Letters S. P.
and very few, that were coined after it till over it, and the Name of the Pope round
the Pontificate of Leo IX. raiſed to the See it, viz. Benedict P. On the Reverſe is a
in 1049. On ſome of their Coins are only Hand between the cwo Letters R:0, that
the Names of the Popes, in whoſe Time is Roma, and the Emperor's Name Lodo-
they were coined, and on others the Names vicus Imp. round it, Louis, the third Son
both of the Popes and the Emperors. of Louis the Debonnaire, being then Em-
Thus on ſome Silver Coins of Leo IX. peror.
that have reached our Times, is his Name (B) On one of their Coins is to be ſeen
only. But on one of Benedict III. choſen the figure of Dukc Grimoald with his
Namc
A
Pafchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
199
Chriſt 823.
lace.
f
From Rome Lotharius returned to his Father then in Prance. Year of
But ſcarce was he arrived there when Word was brought himn by
a Meſſenger ſent from Rome, that two of the chief Officers of Twn Perſons
the Roman Church, Theodore Primicerius, and Leo the Nomen-Jered in the
of Rank mur-
clator, had been apprehended after his Departure, had been carried Pope's Pa-
to the Lateran Palace, and had there had their Eyes firſt cruelly put
out, and their Heads afterwards ſtruck off. The Meſſenger charged
the Pope with that barbarous Execution, pretending thoſe unhappy
Men had been by him ſo cruelly uſed merely on account of their in-
violable Attachment to the Emperors, and their known Zcal for the
Intereſts of France. The Emperor Louis, ſhocked at ſuch Barba-
rity, diſpatched immediately to Rome Adalunge Abbot of St. Vaft,
and Hunfrid Count or Governor of Coire, to inquire into the fact
upon the Spot. But they were not yet gone when John Biſhop of The Pope
the White Foreſt, a Biſhopric united ſince to that of Porto, and Be Sends Legates
on that Occa.
nedict Archdeacon of the Roman Church, arrived with the Cha- lian into
racter of the Pope's Legates, being ſent by him to aſſure the Empe. France.
rors, that he was no ways concerned in, or acceſſory to the Death of
Theodore and Leo, and beg they would not ſuffer themſelves to be
prepoſſeſſed againſt him by the malicious and falſe Reports of his Enc-
mies. The Commiſſioners however were ordered to repair to Rome :
And thither they repaired accordingly, but found the Depoſitions of
the many Witneſſes they examined ſo different and fo contradictory,
that after all thc Pains they had taken they could not in the End, with
any Certainty, declare the Pope innocent of the Murder nor guilty.
They were therefore obligcd, upon his offering to clear himſelf by
an Oath, as his Predeceſſor Pope Leo had donco, to acquieſce in the
Offer; and he folemnly declared upon Oath, in their Preſence, and And clears
in the Preſence of 34. Biſhops, that he was no ways acceflory, or privy himſelf by an
to the Muider, which his Enemics had maliciouſly laid to his Charge.
He could not however be prevailed upon to deliver up the Perfons,
by whom the Murder was committed, alleging that they were of
the Family of St. Peter, that is, his own Servants, and guilty of no
Crime or Injuſtice, ſince thoſe, whom they put to Death, had long
deſerved, by their treaſonable Practices, the Doom, that in the End
overtook them. Here Baronius, to prevent his injudicious and un,
Oath.
1
o See above, p. 152.
Name round it, and on the Reverſe Dans for he was contemporary with Charle-
Carlus R. that is Dominus Carolus et, magno.
5
diftingui/hing
203
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal.
Year of dillinguiſhing Readers from concluding, biaſſed by theſc Circum-
Chriſt 823.
Atances, that his Holineſs was privy to the Murder, and conſequently
guilty of Perjury, tells us of his miraculouſly ſtopping foon after,
with his preſence alone, a dreadful Conflagration, that threatened the
Vatican itſelf with Deſtruction. And by him Heaven would never
have wrought ſuch a Miracle, as the Annaliſt well obſerves, had he
been guilty of Murder and Perjury p. But the judicious and diſtin-
guiſhing Reader will perhaps be rather inclined to quellion the Mi-
racle, than allow two Perſons of the firſt Rank in Rome to have been
put to Death in the Pope's own Palace, and by his own Scrvants,
without his Conſent or Privity; and the rather as he approved of the
Murder, not only refuſing to deliver up the Alaſins, but pretending
they were guilty, in what they had done, of no Crime or Injuſtice.
The Imperial Commiſſioners were accompanied, on their Return
from Rome, by the Biſhop of the White Foreſt and three other LC-
gates ſent by the Pope to ſatisfy the Emperor of his Innocence. The
Emperor hicard them all with great Attention and Patience, but being
after he had heard them, quite at a Loſs what Judgment to give, he
thought it adviſeable to forbear all further Enquiries, and acquieſce,
as his Father had done on the like Occaſion, In the Oath of the Pope.
He did not however declare him innocent, but only diſmiſſed his
Legatcs, as Eginhard informs us, with a proper Antiver, dato con-
venienti refponfo.
Pafchal dies. Thc Legates, on their Return to Rome, found the Pope danger-
Year of ouſly ill; and he died a few Days after their Arrival, that is, on the
Chriſt 82.4.
tenth of February 824, having held the Sec ſeven Ycars and ſeven-
teen Daysr. The Romans, believing him guilty, notwithſtanding
the Oath he had taken, of the Murder of Leo and Theodore, would
not allow hiin to. be buried in the Vatican; and hc remained un-
buried till his Succeflor, choten after a Vacancy of four Days, cauſed
his Remains to be depoſited in the Church of St. Praxedes, which
the deceaſed Pope had entirely rebuilt. The Romans knew no-
thing, it fecnis, of his miraculouſly ſaving the Vatican, elſe they
had thought him as worthy of a Place there after his Death as any of
his Prcdeceflors.
Ebbo of
In Paſchal's Time, and with his Approbation, Elbo, Archbiſhop
Rcims frea of Reims, was ſent by the Emperor Louis to preach the Goſpel to the
ches the Gof-
pel to the
p Bas. ad ann. 823. p. 727.
9 Eginhard. ad ann. 823. Thegan. de geſt.
Danes. Ludovic. c. 30. Aſtronom. ad ann. 823.
Marcin. Polon. & Honor. Au-
guſto dunens,
s Theganus, n. 30.
Danes.
th
Paſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
20L
Danes. The Emperor named him for that Miſion; and the Pope, Year of
Chrift 824.
upon his coming to Rome, granted him full Power to preach to the
Northern Nations, eſpecially to the Nordalbingi, or the Danes;
appointed Halidgarills, afterwards Biſhop of Cambray, to aſſiſt him
as a Companion in that Undertaking; and furniſhed him with: Let-
ters of Recommendation addreſſed to the Biſhops, Presbyters, Princes,
Dukes, Counts, and all Chriſtians in thoſe Partss. The Converſion
of the Danes was firſt attempted by Willibrardus, as has been related
above, and afterwards by the Presbyter-Heridagus, ſent for that Pur-
poſe by Charlemagne into Nordalbingia, or Denmarkt; but both
were attended with little Succeſs. Ebbo is ſaid to have converted
great Numbers u; but the Glory of completing the Converſion both
of the Danes and the Swedes, was reſerved for Anſcharins, who
employed Thirty-eight Years in that great Work.
In the Fourth Year of Paſchal's Pontificate, the Emperor Leo was The Emperor
Leo barba-
barbarouſly murdered; and Michael, ſurnanied Balbus, or the Stam-
rouſly mur.
merer, was raiſed to the Imperial Throne in his room. Of this Re- dered.
volution Hiſtorians give us the following Account: Michael had
ferved from his Youth in the Army, had diſtinguiſhed himſelf, on
all Occaſions, by the Prudence of his Conduct, as well as his Cou-
rage, and had been therefore preferred by the Emperor to the chief
Command of all the Forces of the Empire; but, not ſatisfied with
that Station, he began to think of raiſing himſelf, as he was greatly
beloved by the Soldiery, to the Imperial Dignity. He was therein
encouraged by his friends; but the Plot being diſcovered before it
was ripe for Execution, he was ſeized, tried, and ſentenced by his
Judges to die in the Flames. The Sentence was to have been exe-
cuted on Chriſtmas Eve ; but the Emprefs Theodoſia having prevailed
on her Husband to put off the Execution till after that Feſtival, the
Criminal found mcans, during tliat Interval, to write to his accom-
plices, threatening to diſcover them to the Emperor, if they did not
attempt, without Loſs of Time, his Releaſe. His Letter was con •
veyed to them by ſomie religious Perſons, who had been admitted to
him with the Permiſion of the Emperor; and thcy no ſooner re-
ceived it, than alarmed at the Danger that threatned them, they re-
ſolved to deliver themſelves from it by the Death of the Emperor.
As Leo was therefore to aſlift very carly the next Day, the Feſtival of
& Rembart.
$ Annal. Fuld. Flodoart. 1. i. c. 12. Bolland. ad dicm 3 Februarii,
in vit. Anſcharii, c. 5.
u Flodoart. ubi fupra.
VOL. IV.
Dd
our
202
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchall
Year of our Saviour's Nativity, at divine Service in the Chapel of the Impe.
Chrift 824. rial Palace, the Conſpirators choſe that Time as the moſt proper for
the Execution of their Deſign; and being accordingly admitted by the
Papias, or the Door-keeper of the Palace, whom they had gained,
amongſt the Eccleſiaſtics who were to officiate, they lay concealed
till the Emperor, who took particular Delight in ſinging Pſalms and
Hymns, began the firſt, according to Cuſtom, to ſing aloud a Hymn
commencing thus, All Things have they deſpiſed for the Love of
the Lord. As that was the Signal agreed on, they ſtarted up that
Moment, and making all together, with their drawn Swords, to-
wards the Emperor, they firſt fell, in that Hurry and Confuſion, as
it was not yet Day-light, on One of the Ecclefiaftics, who greatly
reſembled him in Size and in Stature, and dangerouſly wounded
him. In the mean time the Emperor, appriſed of their Deſign, flew
to the Altar, as to a ſafe and inviolable Aſylum ; but the Conſpira-
tors, purſuing him as ſoon as they were aware of their Miſtake, fu-
riouſly attacked him on all Sides, ſtriving, without any Regard to
the Sacredneſs of the Place, who ſhould have the Glory and the
Merit of putting an End to his Life. However, the brave Prince, as
he was quite unarmed, laying hold of the Chain of the Incenſory
with the one Hand, and ſnatching with the other the Croſs from the
Altar, defended himſelf with great Reſolution and Courage, ward-
ing off the Blows with the Croſs, and returning them with the Incen-
ſory, till One of the Conſpirators, who in Strength ſurpaſſed all the
reſt, cut off, at One Blow, his Hand, and with it the Croſs in Two
Picccs. He then fell to thc Ground, pierced with numberleſs
Wounds, and covered with his Blood; and One of thc Affaſſins cut
off his Head, while the reſt continued barbarouſly mangling his Body
cven after his Death t.
Such was the unhappy and undeſerved End of the Emperor Leo,
ſurnamed the Armenian, after he had reigned Seven Years, Five
Months, and Fifteen Days. In him nothing was wanting, if his
ayowed Enemics are to be credited, but Zeal for the true Faith, that
is, for the Worſhip of Images, to complete the Character of a great
and excellent Prince; for hic was, even according to them, the beſt
General, and ableſt Stateſman, of his Time ; brave, vigilant, indu-
ſtrious, an Enemy to Pleaſure, and a Friend to Virtue. He deſpiſed
Ignat. in Taraſ. Theodor. ftudit. ep. 61. Lco Grammat. in Lon. Cedren. in
Michael.
Wealth
Leo's Cha-
Taller.
Paſchal. BISHOPS of Rome.
203
Wealth, had nothing ſo much at heart, and ever in the Firſt place Year of
Chriſt 824.
conſulted, the Welfare of the State, and the Safety of the Subject,
ſparing no Pains, declining no Danger, to procure the one and the
other. He undertook nothing rafhly, purſued ſteadily, but with
Diſcretion and Prudence, and happily accompliſhed, whatever he
undertook. He utterly abhorred all ſort of Corruption, had regard,
in beſtowing his Favours, to Merit alone ; and never was known to
have preferred any but the moſt deſerving and worthy in the State or
the Army. Not ſatisfied with appointing Men of the greateſt Inte-
grity to adminiſter Juſtice to his Subjects, he adminiſtered it him-
ſelf, hearing Cauſes Two Days in the Week in One of the great
Halls of the Palace, and deciding them with the greateſt Exactneſs
and Equity. He was at all Timcs ready to hear the Complaints, and
rédreſs the Grievances, of the meancſt of his Subjects; and of this
Cedrenus gives us the following Inſtance : As he was One Day com- Remarkablo
ing out of the Palace, a Perſon of a mean Condition accoſting him, bis Love of
begged he would ſtop for a Moment, and hear him. The Emperor Juſtice.
ſtopt, and hcard him with Patience : He complained of a Scnator,
who, hic ſaid, had by Force taken his Wife from him, and detained
her : adding, that he had applied to the Prefect or Governor of the
City ; but applied to no Purpoſe for Juſtice. Hercupon the Empe-
ror, returning to his Apartment, ſent immediately both for the Sena-
tor and the Prefect; and finding the one and the other guilty of the
Charge, he diſmiſſed the Prefcet that Moment from his Employment,
and ordered the Senator to be puniſhed, as convicted of Adultery,
according to the Rigour of the Law. Such is thc Character Theo-
phanes, the Author of the Miſcella, Anaſtaſius, and the Patriarch
Nicephorus, give us of Len the Armenian, though all his avowed
Encmics, on account of his Enmity to Images; nay, the Patriarch
Nicephorus, tho' driven by him from his See, and ſent into Exile,
did him the Juſtice to own, that they had indeed loft a great, though
not a good, Prince (a good Prince would never have oppoſed the
Worſhip of Images!) who had truly at heart the Welfare of the State
and his Subjects u. His Death was lamented by all but the Monks, His Death
and ſuch of the Monks only, as not ſatisfied with the Liberty the lamented by
good-natured Emperor had granted them of worſhipping what Ima-
ges they pleaſed within the Walls of their Monaſteries, obſtinately
all but the
Mouks.
u Cedren. in Leon. p. 490. Continuat. Conſtantin, Porphyrogen.
Dd 2
con-
204
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Paſchal.
Year of continued, in open Defiance of his Edi&ts, to recommend that
Chriſt 824.
Worſhip to the ignorant Multitude. Amongſt theſe, the mad En-
thufialt Theodore, far from ſhewing any Kind of Concern or Com-
paſion at the melancholy Account of the Emperor's Death, tranf-
mitted to him by One of his Monks named Naveratius, could not
forbcar expreſſing his Joy, nay, and blaſphemouſly inviting Heaven
and Earth, Men and Angels, to rejoice with him at fo barbarous a
Murder and Parricide. To the many good Qualities which even the
Enemies of this excellent Prince have allowed him, we may add his.
Zeal for the Purity of the Chriſtian Worſhip (B), the extraordinary
Regard he paid to Religion, and to Men truly religious, his great
Moderation in the Uſe of the Power with which he was truſted, and
his unparalelled good Nature in bearing ſo long, and puniſhing in
the end with ſo much Lenity, the unparalelled Inſolence of the
Monks, and reckon hini not only amongſt the greateſt, but amongſt
the moſt religious, the moſt humane, and beſt natured Princes we
read of in Hiſtory. As for the many abſurd, ridiculous, and impro-
bablc Stories invented by the later Greek Writers to blacken his Cha-
racter, and from them copied by Maimburg in no fewer than 98
Pages w, they are only worthy of a Place in the lying Legends of the
Monks, who invented them, or in ſuch fabulous Picces as Maimburg's
Hiſtory of the Iconoclaſts.
Michael pro-
The Conſpirators, not ſatisfied with murdering the Emperor in the
claimed, and barbarous Manner we have ſeen, dragged his Body through the pub-
lic Strects to the Hippodrome; and leaving it there expoſed to pub-
lic View, that all might know he was dead, they carried Michael
in Triumph from his Priſon to the great Hall.of the Imperial Palace,
and there placed him, loaded as he fill was with his Irons, the Keys of
them being no-where found, with loud Acclamations, on the Throne.
The ſame Day he repaired, as ſoon as his Irons.could be got off, to the
Church of St. Sophia, attended and guarded by all the Conſpirators,,
crotuned.
Hift. de l'Heref. des Iconoclaſt. part. ii. a p. 13l ad p. 229.
(B) Cedrenus, and after him Baronius was a Man of too much Penetration and
and Maimburg, tell us, that it was not out Senſe to give any Credit to ſuch a Predic-
of any Zeal for Religion that he undertook tion. He thought the Worſhip of Images
the Deſtruction of Images, but becauſe he inconſiſtent with the Worſhip of God as
was foretold by an Iconoclaſt Hermit and commanded in Scripture ; found the Ad-
Impoſtor, that, unleſs he deſtroyed all vocates for that Worſhip declined main-
Idols, and baniſhed Idolatıy, he would taining it againſt their Antagoniſts, and
fcon loſe his Life and the Empire. But Leo therefore proſcribed it.
and
Eugene II.
BISHOPS of Rome.
205
and was there folemnly crowned by the Patriarch. The new Emperor Year of
Chriſt 824.
iflucd an Edict, the Third Day after his Promotion, to ſet at Liberty,
and recal from Exile, all who had been confined or baniſhed by Leo
for the Worſhip of Images; which gave Occaſion to the Monk Theo-
dore, who was releaſed with the reſt, to ſtile him, in the fanious Let-
ter he wrote to him, a new David, a new Joſiah, a true Follower
of Chriltx. But he ſoon changed his Stilc, and had good Rcaſon to
change it, as will appear in the Sequel.
MICHAL BALBUS,
and bis Son
THEOPHILUS,
Emperors of the Eaſt.
EUGENE II
LEWIS THE DEBONNAIRE,
and bis Son
LOTHARIUS,
Emperors of the Weſt..
Ninety-eighth Bishop of Rome.
IN
N the room of Paſchal was choſen and ordained, after a Vacancy Eugene choá
of Four Days, and conſequently on the 14th of February
, which, fen, ande at
in 824, fell on a Sunday, Eugene, the Second of that Name, a Na- another.
tive of Rome, the Son of one Boemund, and, at the Time of his
Election, Archprieſt of St. Sabinay. He was not choſen without
Oppoſition; but at the ſame time was choſen another, whom Onu-
phrius, and after him Ciaconius, call Zinzinus 2, thoʻnamed by no
Author I know of who wrote before them. This double Election
occaſioned ſuch Diſturbances in Rome, Eugene being ſupported by
the Nobility, and his Competitor by the People, that the Emperor
Lewis, being informed of it by the Subdeacon Quirinus, whoni
Eugene had ſent to acquaint him with his Promotion, and implore
his Protection, thought it neceſſary to ſend his Son Lotharius into Lotharius
Italy to reſtore Peace to the City. Lotharius ſet out for Rome after fent by his
the Middle of Auguſt; and finding, on his Arrival there, that the Italy.
Party of Eugene had prevailed in the End, he undertook to reform
the Government of the City, and correct the many Abuſes that had.
crept into it. He loudly complained to the new Pope of the Diſor-
ders that had happened under his Predeceſſors in Rome ; of the little
Regard that was ſhown by the Romans to the French, and the Em-
peror himſelf; of their having put to Death, without conſulting him,
* Apud Bar. ad ann. 821. p. 712, 713.
y Anaſt. in Eugen. II,
2 Onuph. &
Ciacon. in Lugen. II.
Pera
Father into
206
BISHOPS of Rome.
Eugene II.
Year of Perſons intirely devoted to his Service; of their deriding, inſult-
Chriſt 824.
ing, and abuſing ſuch as were known to be his Friends, and for no
other Reaſon but becauſe they were his Friends ; of the many crying
Aas of Injuſtice and Violence, that had been committed with Im-
punity, through the Ignorance and Indolence of the Popes, and the
Reforms the infatiable Avarice of the Judges. Theſe Evils, he told the Pope,
Government
of Rome.
he was determined to redreſs; and he redreſſed them accordingly,
reviſing ſeveral Cauſes, and ordering the Eſtates, that had been un-
juſtly ſeized and confiſcated, to be reſtored to the lawful Owners.
At the ſame time he iſſued a Conſtitution, calculated to prevent ſuch
Diſorders for the future, and cauſed it, that none might plead Igno-
rancc, to be publiſhed in the Vatican. Of the Ten Articles or Heads
it contained, thc Four following are the moſt worthy of Notice :
I. That none but Romans ſhould have a Vote in the Election of the
Pope. II. That proper Perſons ſhould be appointed, both by the
Pope and the Emperor, to inform them yearly how Juſtice was ad-
miniſtered; and that all Complaints ſhould be firſt brought to the
Pope, who might either redreſs thc Grievances complained of him-
ſelf, or, acquainting the Emperor with them, Icave the Care of re.
dreſſing them to him. HI. That the Romans, and the People as
well as the Senate, ſhould be asked according to what Law they chuſe
to live (the Roman, the Lombard, or the French) that they may be
judged, and condemned or abſolved, by the Law, according to which
they have choſen to live. III. That all Dukes, Judges, and other
Perſons in Authority, ſhould attend the Emperor, when he is in
Rome, that he may know both their Number and their Names, and
put them in mind of their Duty. By the other Articles; the Empe-
ror inculcates due Submiſſion and Obedience to the Pope and his
Officers; forbids, and on Pain of Death, any Violence to be offered
to ſuch as are under his immediate Protection, or the immediate Pro.
tcction of the Pope; commands the Goods of the Church, that ſome
had ſeized and retained, pretending they had been granted to them
by the Popc, to be forth with reſtored. Laſtly, he forbids all. Plun-
der and Rapine at the Death of the Pope, or in his Life-time b. The
Romans, eſpecially the Roman Nobility, paid, it ſeems, very little
Regard to the Authority of the Pope; which obliged the Emperors
frcquently to exert the ſupreme Power with which they were veſted
Sigon. de regno Ital. I. iv. & Holſten. Collect. Rom. Part. ii. p. 242.
be
both
7
Eugene II.
207
BISHOPS of Rome.
both over them and the Popes. They were awed by the Emperors Year of
Chriſt 824
alone, and kept in Subjection; and thence aroſe that Averſion in
them to the French, which Lotharius complained of to the Pope.
The Author of the Life of the Emperor Lewis, who wrote at this
Time, tells us, that Lotharius, reviving while he was at Rome an
ancient Cuſtom, decreed, that Commiſſioners ſhould, from time to
time, be ſent by the Emperor to Rome, to hcar the Complaints of
the People, to ſee that Juſtice was duly adminiſtered, and to admi-
niſter it, in Caſes of greater Importance, themſelves c.
Lotharius revived, before he left Rome, another ancient cuſtom; Revives the
antient Cue
viz. that the new Pope ſhould not be ordained till his Elcction was
from, that the
approved by the Emperor himſelf, or by the Deputies he ſhould ap-Pope Mould
point to aſſiſt at his Ordination. This Cuſtom was firſt introduced not be ordain-
in 483 by Odoacer, then Maſter of Italy d, was adopted by the Go- Election was
thic Kings his Succeſſors in the Kingdom of Italy, and likewiſe by approved by
the Emperoró
the Emperors, upon their recovering that Country from the Goths,
and re-uniting it to the Empire ; and it was punctually complied
with by the Popes till the Ycar 741, when the Power of the Empe-
rors being at a very low Ebb in the Weſt, Pope Zachary cauſed him-
ſelf to be ordained, without waiting for the Approbation of the Em-
peror, or asking it e. This uſurped Independence the Popes enjoyed
from the Time of Zachary to the preſent Year 824, when Lotharius,
claiming all the Rights the Emperors of the Eaſt had enjoyed while
Lords of Rome, revived the ancient Cuſtom. I do not find that the
Pope offered to diſpute his Right, or any-ways to oppoſe ſuch a Re-
gulation; nay, as l'arties and Factions ran at this Time very high in
Rome, the great Families all ſtriving, upon the Deceaſe of the Pope,
to raiſe One of their friends, Relations, or Dependents to the Chair,
which, at every Vacancy, gave Riſc to endleſs Diſturbances, Eu-
gene is ſaid to have, on this Occaſion, readily concurred with the
Emperor, and to have himſelf drawn up an Oath, calculated to re-
eſtabliſh the antient Cuſtom, and obliged all his Clergy to take it.
The Form of the Oath was; IILL (theſe Letters ſtood formerly.
for the Name of the Perſon, as the Letter N does now) promiſe by
the Omnipotent God, by the Four holy Gospels, by this Croſs of our
Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and by the Body of the bleſſed St. Peter, Prince
af the Apoſtles, that, from this Time forward, Iſhall be unfeignedly
c Auct, vit. Luodvi. Pii.
d Sce. Vol. II. p. 193.
e. See Vol. III. p. 311...
faith
7
208
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Eugene II.
Year of faithful to our Lords the Emperors Lewis and Lotharius, ſaving the
Chrift 824. Faith I have promiſed to the Apoſtolic Lord; that I fall conſent to
no Elcetion of a Pontiff for this See that is not canonical; and
that he, who mall be choſen, Mall not be confecrated, with my
Conſent, till he has taken, in the Preſence of the Emperor's De-
Juty, and the People, ſuch an Oath as Pope Eugene preſcribed, of
his own Accord, for the Safety and IVelfare of all f (C).
A folemn Lotharius had not yet loft Rome, when Embaſſadors from the
Embaly Sent Emperors Michael, and his Son Theophilus, whom Michael had
rors of the taken for his Collegue in the Empire, arrived in France, having
Eaſt to the been ſent by thoſe Princes to confirm the Treaties of Friendſhip and
Emperor
Lewis.
Peace concluded between Charlemagne and their Predeceſſors in the
Empire, and at the ſame time to engage the moſt powerful King of
the Franks, and, by his Interpofition, the moſt holy Patriarch of
Rome, to concur with them in licaling the Diviſions, that thc Diſpute
about Images had occaſioned, and ſtill kept alive in the Church.
Michael was himſelf quite averſe to the Worſhip of Images ; but,
having nothing ſo much at Heart as to ſec Peace reſtored in his Days
to the Church, he had left nothing unattempted he could think of
to reconcile the Two Parties, and thus put an End to the unhappy
Diſpute. With that View he had iſſued an Edict, when he was yet
ſcarce warm on his Throne, to releaſe and recal all the Biſhops and
Monks, whom his Predeceſſor had confined, or ſent into exile, for
obſtinately maintaining, in Defiance of his Edicts, and recommend-
ing to the Populace, the Worſhip of Images. He had Aattered him-
ſelf that he ſhould thus have engaged them to hearken at leaſt to an
Accommodation; and he appointed accordingly a Synod to meet
ſoon after their Return, inviting to it the leading Men of both Par-
ties, not to diſpute, but to conſult, in an amicable Manner, about
the Means of bringing to a happy Iſſue the intended Reconciliation.
The Patrons But at that Synod the Patrons of Images, to the great Diſappointment
of Images re of the Emperor, obſtinately refuſed to aſſiſt or appear, alleging that
at a Council
. it was not lawful for them to form One Council with Heretics;
nay, on this Occaſion they wrote, at the Inſtigation of the Monk
* Supplement. Longbartic. & in Libel. de Epiſcop. Meterſ.
(C) Of this Oath no Notice is taken by ſuppoſititious. But it is to be found, and
Barorius, by Natalis Alexander, or by almoſt verbatim, in the Diplomas of the
Papebroke, in ſpeaking of Pope Eugene, Emperors Otho I. and Henry I. lodged in
probably becauſe they looked upon it as the Caſtle St. Angelo at Rome.
Theodore,
Eugene II.
BISHOPS of Rome.
209
Theodore, a Letter to the Emperor, ſuppoſed to be penned by that Year of
Chriſt 824.
Incendiary, to tell him, that he was not to concern himſelf with reli-
gious Affairs ; that Points of Faith and Religion were only to be
diſcuſſed and determined by the Succeſſors of the Apoſtles, the Five
Patriarchs ; and, if they could not be conveniently aſſembled, Re-
courſe was to be had to the Firſt Patriarch, the Succeffor of St. Pe-
ter, and all were to ſtand to his Judgment and Deciſion. This info-
lent Conduct the Emperor bore with incredible Patience ; nay, in-
ſtead of reſenting it, and ſending them that Inſtant all back to the
Places of their Confinement and Exile, he granted thenian Audience,
upon their defiring to be heard by themſelves, as they could have no
Communication with Heretics, received them in a moſt obliging
Manner, and having heard all they could offer in Defence of them-
ſelves and their Images, told them, that he never had worſhipped
Images himſelf, and was not yet convinced that they were to be
worſhipped; but nevertheleſs, as he was not for offering Violence to
any Man's Conſcience, he granted them full Liberty to ſet up and
to worſhip what Images they pleaſed; but upon the following Con-
ditions: I. That as he worſhipped none, none ſhould be ſet
up
in
the Imperial City. II. That, to prevent the ſuperſtitious Pra&ices of
the ignorant Multitude, they ſhould be placed in all Churches and
Oratories out of their Reach. III. That, to put an End to ſo long
and fo fatal a Diſpute, an intire Silence ſhould be obſerved by Men
of both parties concerning the Lawfulneſs or Unlawfulneſs of ſetting
up Images, or worſhipping them, as if no ſuch Controverſy had
ever been heard of in the Church. That Silence he ſtrictly injoined The Emperor
injoins Silence
by an Edict, declaring, that he did not take upon him to determine
with reſpect
ſo important a Queſtion ; but thought it his Duty, as he was truſted to the iVor-
with the Care of the Church as well as the State, to procure the ship of Ima-
Peace and Tranquillity of the one as well as the other, and had, with niſhes ſuch as
that View alone, impoſed Silence on both Parties indifferently, ſince do not comply
with that In.
neither would yield to the other, and Diſputes rather ſerved to divide junction.
them fill more than to unite them in one Mind. With that Edict,
how juſt foever and reaſonable, the Patrons of Inages rcfuſed to
comply, claiming, with the turbulent Monk Theodore, and at his
Inſtigation, an unreſtrained Liberty not only of profeſling themſelves,
but of preaching to others, the true Catholic Faith, and reclaiming
ſuch as had been ſeduced by the Herctics to their impious Sect. That
Liberty they aſſumed, without any Regard to the expreſs Prohibition
VOL IV.
of
Ec
210
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Eugene II.
Chriſt 824.
1
Year of of the Emperor, ſtirring up the Populace to maintain what they called
the Apoſtolic and ancient Practice of the Church, and damning all
who oppoſed it, as Enemies to Chriſt and his Saints. Their Con-
duct obliged the Emperor to change his; and he now reſolved to
proceed againſt them, as they were not to be gained by gentle Me-
thods, with the ſame Severity that his Predeceſſor had uſed. The
Prefect of the Imperial City was accordingly ordered, and ſo were
the Governors of the Provinces, to cauſe the Imperial Ediet, injoin-
ing Silence, to be ſtrictly complied with in their reſpective Juriſdic-
tions, and to ſparc none, whether Eccleſiaſtics or Laymen, who
ſhould preſume to tranſgreſs it. Purſuant to that Order, the Monk
Theodore, and with him moſt of the Monks whom the Emperor had
lately recalled, were ſent back into Exile; others were publicly
whipped, and, to prevent the Diſturbances they might raiſe, ſhur up
in Dungeons, or confined to the moſt diſtant and inhoſpitable Places
of the Empire 8.
This wholſome Severity had the wiſhed-for Effect; the Zeal of
the Monks was damped in the End; the Imperial Edi&t was ſtrictly
complied with, and Peace by that means, for the preſent, rcſtored,
throughout the Empire, to the Church. And it was to juſtify his
Conduct to the Emperor of the Weſt, as well as to the Pope, and
at the ſame time to engage them to concur with him in preventing
all further Diſputes, and uniting the Eaſt and the Weſt in one Faith,
that Michael ſent the ſolemn embaſſy, mentioned above, into France.
His Letter to The Embaſſadors, who were all Perſons of Rank and Diſtinction,
Lewis, brought a Letter from the Two Emperors Michael and his Son Theo-
philus, to the Emperor Lewis, with the following Direction ; In
the Name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt, One God,
Michael and Thcophilus, Emperors of the Romans, to their beloved
and honoured Brother Lewis, the renowned King of the Franks' and
the Lombards, who ſtiles himſelf their Emperor. By the Words,
who ſtiles himſelf their Emperor, they declared, and very unſcafon-
ably, that they did not acknowlege thc King of the Franks for law.
ful Emperor, tho' he had an unqueſtionable Right to that Title, in
virtue of ſeveral Treaties between Charlemagne and the preceding
Emperors, and by One concluded a few Years before between Lewis
himſelf and the Emperor Leo, the immediate Predeceſor of Michael
& Georg. Monach. in Michael. p. 510. Theodor. Studit. in cpiſt. apud Bar. ad
ann, 821. Cedren, ibid.
Z
the Emperor
in
i
Eugene II.
BISHOPS of Rome.
2II
1
in the Empire. In the Letter, the Two Emperors notify, in the Year of
Chrift 824.
Firſt place, to their beloved Brother the King of the Franks, their
Acceſſion to the Imperial Throne, and at the ſame time excuſe their
having ſo long delayed to acquaint him therewith, and to ſuc for his
Alliance and Friendſhip. That Delay they aſcribe to a War kindied
in the Bowels of the Empire by. an Uſurper and Impoſtor named
Thomas, who, pretending to be Conſtantine the Son of Irene, had
thereby ſeduced ſuch Numbers both of the People and the Soldiery,
as had enabled him to defeat the Imperial Army, to over-run all
Syria and Aſia, to reduce many important ſtrong-holds, and at laſt
to lay Siege to the City of Conſtantinople itſelf, and keep it beſieged
a whole Year. They add, that, by the particular Affittance of the
Almighty, they had prevailed in the End, had defeated the Uſurper,
had obliged him to fly for Refuge to the City of Adrianople, which
City they had reduced after a Five Months Sicge, and put to Death
both him and his Son, having firſt cauſed their Hands and their Feet
to be cut off. The Emperors take no Notice of the Aſſiſtance they
received from the King of the Bulgarians, who, marching unasked
to the Relief of Conſtantinople, gained the Firſt Victory over the
Uſurper; and to the Firſt the other Victories were all, in a great mca-
ſure, owing.
In the next place, the Emperors, to juſtify their Conduct with Abuſes intro-
reſpect to the Worſhippers of Images, give an Account of the many duced by the
Worſhippers
ſuperſtitious Abuſes thac had begun to prevail in that Worſhip, and
of Images.
of the Methods they had employed to reform them; adding a Con-
feſſion of their Faith, to confute the Calumnies of the Monks, who,
Alying from Conſtantinople, and the other cities of the Empire, to
Rome, had repreſented them there not only as Heretics, but as Per-
ſecutors of the Catholic Church, and Enemics to Chriſt and his Saints.
Of the many Abuſes that had crept into the Worſhip of Images, and
were patronized by thoſe who worſhipped them, they take notice of
the following: viz. that they had baniſhed the Croſs from the
Churches, and ſet up Images in its room, giving the ſame Honour
to them they gave to the Croſs; that they burnt Lights and Incenſo
before them, ſung Hymns in their Honour, implored their Aſiſtance,
and carrying them to the ſacred Font, made them Godfathers and
Godmothers to their Children; that ſome Prieſts, ſcraping off the
Colours from their Pictures, mixed them with the Wine of the Eu-
chariſt, and gave the Winc, thus mixed, to the Peoples that others,
Ee 2
putting
5
212
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Eugene II.
Faith,
Year of putting the Body of our Lord into the Hands of Images, obliged
Chrift 824; thoſe, who received it, to receive it from them; that the ſacred
Myſteries were by many celebrated not in Churches, or upon Altars,
but in private Houſes, and upon Pictures. Theſe, and many like
ſuperſtitious Practices, the orthodox Emperors, ſay they, whoſe Ex-
ample they thought themſelves bound to follow, had undertaken to
ſuppreſs, and with that View ordered, after adviſing with the moſt
Learned of the Clergy aſſembled in Council, ſuch Images to be re-
moved out of the Churches as were within the Reach of the People,
but allowed thoſe to remain that were not, to the end they, who
beheld them, might be put in mind of the Objcêts they repreſented,
without being tempted to kiſs them, to burn Lights or Incenſe before
them, or give them any kind of Worſhip whatever.
Michael's In the Third place, the Emperors give an Account of their Faith;
Confesſion of declaring, that they receive the Six General Councils; that they pro-
feſs the Doctrine defined by thoſe Councils, and hold all the Tradi.
tions that are truly Apoſtolical, or have been acknowleged as ſuch
by the Fathers. By declaring they received the Six General Coun-
cils, they tacitly rejected the Council of Conſtantinople under Copro-
nymus, commanding Images to be caſt out of the Churches, and
broken, as well as the Council of Nice under Irene, ordering them
to be worſhipped; the one being acknowleged by the Iconoclaſts,
and the other by the Patrons of Images, for the Seventh. They
cloſe their Letter with the warmeſt Proteſtations of Friendſhip and
Eftcem for their Brother the King of the Franks, carneſtly entrcating
him, as they had charged their Embaſſadors to return by Rome, and
there to negotiate an Union between the Eaſt and the Weſt, to re-
cond him in ſo pious an Undertaking, and interpoſe his Authority in
driving from Rome the wicked Incendiaries, who, flying from the
Eaſt, had taken Refuge in that City; and, miſrepreſenting to the
Pope and his Clergy the Doctrine of the Greeks, ſtrove by that means
to obſtruct the Union, and widen the Breach between the Two
Churches h.
Preſents
The Embaſſadors brought with them ſome valuablc Prefents for
brought by his the Eniperor Lewis, among which were the Works, as was then
for the Eme ſuppoſed, of Dionyſius tae Areopagite, never beiore ſeen nor heard
1
peror Lewis
and .be Pope.
Epilt. Imp. ad Ludovic, apud Bar. ad ann. 824.
of
Eugene II.
BISHOPS of Rome.
213
the allem-
of in France (D); and ſome for the Pope; viz. the Book of the Year of
Chriſt 824.
Goſpels, covered with Gold, a Chalice and à Patten, or its Cover,
likewiſe of Gold; and all Three enriched with precious Stones i.
Theſe they were, on their Arrival' at Rome, to offer at the Tomb of
St. Peter, in the Name of the Two Emperors. As the Emperor
Lewis was employed in reducing the Rebels of Normandy when the
Embaſſadors arrived in France, they waited his Return at Rouen;
and there he received them with all poſſible Marks of Honour and
Eſteem, accepted their Preſents, renewed the Alliance between the
Two Empires, and, commending the Zeal of their Maſters in ſtrive-
ing to ſuppreſs the ſuperſtitious Worſhip of Images, and re-unite the
Eaſt and the Weſt in one and the fame Faith, he promiſed to aſſiſt
them to the utmoft of his Power in ſo meritorious an Undertaking.
The Embaſſadors, encouraged with the Reception they met with, The Embaſ-
ſuggeſted to the Emperor, purſuant to their private Inſtructions, the fadors propoſe
Aſſembling of a Council in France, to examine the Doctrine and the bling a Coun-
Prađice of the Greeks with reſpect to the Uſe and the Worſhip of cil in France,
Images. Michael well know, that the Emperor Lewis, and the the Dotrine
French Nation in general, agreed in both with him and the Greeks ; of the Greeks
that they allowed, agreeably to the Doctrine of the Council of Images.
Frankfort, and the Caroline Books, the Uſe, but condemned. the
Worſhip, of Images, and conſequently rejected, with him, both the
Council of Copronymus and the Council of Irene. He therefore flat-
tered himſelf, that the Gallican Clergy, finding the Doctrine of the
Greeks intirely agrccable to their own, would look upon their Cauſe
as their own, would eſpouſe it as their own, and prevail upon the
Pope to hearken to an Accommodation, or at leaſt reſtrain him
from anathematizing the Greeks as Heretics, for holding a Doctrine
that was common to them and the French
The Emperor Lewis readily agreed to the Aſſembling of a Coun- The Emperor
cil, as was ſuggeſted by the Embaſſadors, in order to examine the
to the Propo-
Doctrine of the Greeks with reſpect to the Uſe and the Worſhip of ſal.
in relation to
Lewis agrees
i Idem ibid.
(D) As no Mention is made by Euſe- Practices that were not introduced before
bius. y Jerom, by Genuadius, or by any the Time of Conſtantine the Great, the
ot) :. Writer, tillfter the Fifth Century, Boks, that go under his Name, are now
of .... Books written's Dionyſius the Areo- univerfaliy ſuppoſed to hic been written
pagite, and, in ome of chuſe that are fy a other Dionyſius, who flouriſhed long
afcrived to him, Notice is taken of ſeveral after the Areopagile.
Images;
214
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Eugene II.
Year of Images; but apprehending that the Pope might reſent the Aſſembling
Chriſt 824.
of a Counſel, without his Knowlege or Conſent, to cxamine a
Doctrine that his Predeceſſors had alrcady examined and condemned,
and be thereupon tempted to rejcct all Propoſals of an Accommoda-
tion between the Eaſt and the Weſt, he reſolved firſt of all to ac-
quaint his Holineſs with the Requeſt of thc Embaſſadors, and obtain
his Conſent to comply with it. For that Purpoſe Freculphus, Biſhop
of Liſieux, and Adegarius, were ſent to Rome; and the Pope,
highly pleaſed with ſo remarkable an Inſtance of filial Submiſſion in
his Son the Emperor, confented at once to his gratifying the Embaſ.
fadors, and aſſembling, with that View, the Clergy of his Kingdom.
The Emperor therefore, upon the Return of the Deputies, appointed,
without Loſs of Time, the Biſhops, and moſt learned Eccleſiaſtics
of his Kingdom, to nicet, and examine the Doctrine of Images, as
taught by the Churches of Conſtantinople and Rome; to inquire into
the Subject of Diſagreement and Diſpute between the Two Churches
with reſpect to that Article, and ſuggeſt to him the Means, that,
upon mature Deliberation, ſhould appear to them the beſt calculated
The Council to reconcilc and unite them in one Faith. The Council met in the
royal Palace at Paris, on the Firſt of November in the preſent Year
Year of 825. Of what Number of Biſhops and other Eccleſiaſtics it conſiſted,
Chrift 825. Hiſtory does not inform us ; but it is certain that moſt of the Biſhops
of France and of Germany were preſent, and among the reſt Ago-
bard, the famous Biſhop of Lions, Jeremiah Biſhop of Sens, Jonas
Biſhop of Orleans, Haligarius Biſhop of Cambray, Amalarius Biſhop
of Treves, Freculphus and Adegarius, mentioned above, Theodo-
mir, Abbot of a Monaſtery in France of 140 Monks, Dungalus
Monk of the Monaſtery of St. Dinis ; all Perſons of unexception-
able Characters, and deſervedly reckoned, as appears from their
Writings, ainongſt the moſt learned Men of the Age.
They declare
The Council being met, the Letter of Pope Hadrian to the Em-
it lawful to
ſet up Ima- perors Conſtantine and Irene, in favour of Images k, was read in the
ges
, but un. Firſt place, and received as recommending thc Ure, but rejected as
lawful to
worship
commanding the Worſhip, of Images; it being lawful, ſaid they, to
ſer up Images, but unlawful to worſhip them, cum eas erigere lici-
tum, adorare vero nefas ſit. They obſerve, that, in the ſame Letter,
the Paſlages, alleged by the Pope out of the Fathers to ſupport his
Opinion, were all miſapplied, and quite forcign to his purpoſe;
k See above, p. 79-82.
valde
meets at
Paris.
them.
Eugene II.
215
BISHOPS of Rome.
1
Year of
valde abſona, et ad rem, de qua agebatur, minime pertinentia. In-
Chriſt 825.
deed no Man can peruſe that Letter, and not acquicſce in their Cen-
fure. The ſame Cenſure they paſed on the Second Council of
Nice, expreſſing great Surprize at the Preſumption and Ignorance of
the Fathers of that Aſſembly in commanding Images to be worſhip-
ped, in calling them holy, and thinking that Holineſs might be ac-
quired by them. At the ſanic time, they found great Fault with the
Council of Conftantinople under Copronymus, ordering Images, that
put us in mind of the Objects they repreſented, and cnlivened by that
means our Devotion, to be caſt out of the Churches, and broken.
In the next place, the Council cauſed the Confutation of the Pope Hadri-
Council of Nice by Charlemagne, known by the Name of the Caro- an feverely
line Books !, to be read, and Pope Hadrian's Anſwer to that Con- the Council
futation. The Caroline Books they intirely approved, as plainly con-
taining the Doctrine of the primitive Church and the Fathers. But
of Hadrian's Anſwer they deliver their Opinion in thc following
Terms : The Pope, ſay they, ſtill approving the Acts of that Coun-
cil (the Council of Nice) in ſpite of all the Arguments urged by
Charlemagne againſt it obſtinately continued to ſupport thoſe who
had argued jo abſurdly, alleging what occurred to him, but not
what became him, to excuſe them. For in his Anſwer are many
Things alike repugnant to Truth and Authority. However, in the
End of his Apology, be declares, that, as to the Subječt in Diſpute,
be agrees in Opinion with the holy Pope Gregory (Gregory the Great,
teaching that we are neither to break Images, nor to worſhip
them) ſhewing thereby, that it was not deſignedly, but ignorantly,
he went aftray from the right Path; and that he would have fallen
into the Abyſs of Superſtition, had he not been with-held from it by
the Doctrine of that holy Pope.
Laſtly, the Fathers of the Council ordered the above-mentioned Decree of
Letter of the Emperor Michael to the Emperor Lewis to be read;
the Councilor
and, upon the Whole, concluded, that Images are not to be broken,
are not be caſt out of the Churches, nor even removed in the Places
of Worſhip out of the Reach of the People; but though they are to
be preſerved for the Sake of those whom they repreſent, we are by
no means to ſerve, worſhip, or adore them, agreeably to the Doctrine
of the bleſſed Pope Gregory m.
ز
2
See above, p. 12I.
m Goldaft. Conſtit. Imper. tom. i.p. 154, 155,
The
216
Eugene II.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Chriſt 825.
Year of The Council being ended, the Biſhops wrote a Letter in common
u to the Emperor Lewis, to acquaint him with their Proceedings,
Their Letter and the Judgment they had given of the Point in Diſpute between
to the Empe- the Churches of Conſtantinople and Rome ; viz. that both Churches
were highly to blame, the one for worſhipping Images, the other
for breaking them; but that it was a far greater Crime to worſhip
than to break them. In the ſame Letter they tell the Emperor, that
the ſuperſtitious Worſhip of Images had taken deep Root at Rome,
as they were informed by Freculphus and Adegarius, lately returned
from that City ; that it was countenanced there, and promoted by
thoſe, whoſe Duty it was to oppoſe it, meaning the Popes, and was
therefore incumbent on fo Chriſtian a Prince to remove the Scandal
it gave to all good Men, and aboliſh a Practice that Ignorance had
introduced, and Cuſtom eſtabliſhed. They added, that, in ſo nice
and important an Affair, he muſt proceed with the utmoſt Caution
and Prudence, not openly diſapproving what the Apoſtolic Sce had
approved ; but only expreſſing an carneſt Deſire of ſeeing Peace re-
ſtored to the Church, and begging his Holineſs to interpoſe the Au-
thority with which he is veſted, and cauſe the Doctrine to be uni-
verſally received, that ſhould be found, upon ſearching the Scrip-
tures, and the Writings of the Fathers, the moſt agrecable to both.
With that Letter the Gallican Biſhops ſent to the Emperor a large
Collection of Paſſages out of the Fathers, all calculated to prove, that
Images, according to them, were neither to be worſhipped, nor caſt
out of the Churches, and broken. But againſt deſtroying, and baniſh-
ing them out of the Churches, not One Father is quoted of the Three
firſt Centuries; and the Teſtimonies alleged out of thoſe of the fol-
lowing Ages, only prove, that ſome Advantages attend them, and
that they might be conſequently ſet up in Places of Worſhip, pro-
vided Care were taken that no Kind of Worſhip was given them.
As the Emperor was, on this Occaſion, to write to the Pope, the
Biſhops of the Council drew up, and ſent him, before they parted,
a Sketch of the Letter, they thought, he ſhould write, and likewiſe
of the Letter they wiſhed the Pope could be perſuaded to write to
the Two Emperors Michael and Theophilus. Both Letters turned
upon this, that, as thc Uſe of Images is neither commanded nor for-
bidden in Scripture, they, who chuſe to have any, be allowed to have
thicm, but not to worſhip them; and they, who chuſe to have none,
be not obliged to have any; and that neither preſume to find Fault
with
Eugene II.
BISHOPS of Rome.
217
Year of
the Council.
with the other, ſince neither can be charged with practiſing what is
Chriſt 825.
forbidden, or not practiſing what is commanded by lawful Autho.
rity.
The Proceedings of the Council, and the Means they ſuggeſted of who ſends
Two Biſhops
putting an End to ſo long a Diſpute, were highly approved by the
to acquaint
Emperor ; and he immediately diſpatched Jeremiah of Sens, and the Pope with
Fonas of Orleans, to acquaint his Holineſs with them, and try to the Reſult of
divert him, if by any means they could, from countenancing a
Worſhip, that
gave
fo
great
Offence both to the Greeks and the Gal.
lican Biſhops. Their private Inſtructions were, to uſe, in treating Inſtructions
with the Pope, the utmoſt Circumſpection, advancing nothing rafhly, given them.
or that he could take amiſs; to read over together, with the greateſt
Care and Attention, the Paſſages the Council had collccted from the
Scriptures and the Fathers againſt the Worſhipping of Inages, and
chuic out of them thoſe that were moſt to the purpoſe, and ſuch as
neither the Pope nor his Council could reaſonably object to; to
affect, above all things, great Moderation io their Conferences with
his Holincſs, not openly contradicting him, but ſtriving to bring him,
by their Complaiſance and Condeſcenſion, to hcarken to Reaſon ;
but if he obſtinately withſtood all their Endeavours, and ſtill conti-
nued deaf both to Reaſon and Authority, yet to take care not to
be wanting in the Reſpect that is due to his Dignity, but modeſtly
repreſenting to him the many Evils that attend the preſent Diſagrec-
ment between the Eaſt and Weſt, leave his Holineſs to find out, and
employ, the Means, that ſhould appear to him, in his great Pru-
dence and Diſcretion, the beſt calculated to redreſs them.
By the ſame Biſhops, the Emperor wrote a moſt obliging Letter Lewis's Leto
to the Pope, in his own Name, and in the Name of Lotharius his
Pope.
Son, and Colleguc in the Empire ; recommending to him the Greek
Embaſſadors, ſent by the Emperors Michael and Theophilus, to ne-
gotiate an Union between the Eaſt and the Weſt, and carneſtly en-
treating him to hearken to their Propoſals, to pity the diſtracted
State of the Church, and concur with him in compoſing the Differ-
cnces, that had ſo long ſubſiſted between the Churches of Conſtanti.
nople and Rome What Reception the Two Biſhops met with
from the Pope no Writer has informed us; nor what was tranſacted
at Rome by the Greek Embaſſadors ; or at Conſtantinople by Halit-
ter to the
• Goldaft. p. 160-180.
Ff
VOL. IV.
garins
1
i
218
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Eugene II.
Chriſt 825.
The Dec
Church at
ges.
Year of garius Biſhop of Cambrai, and Hufridus Abbot of Nonantula, whom
Lewis ſent, on this Occaſion, with the Character of his Embaſſa-
dors, into the Eaſt. All we know for certain is, that the Pope ftill
continued to defend and promote the Worſhip of Images, though
condemned in the ſtrongeſt Terms by the Gallican Biſhops ; that lie
would hcarken to no Terms of Agreement excluding that Worſhip;
and that thereupon ſome of the moſt eminent Men for Piety and
Learning in the Gallican Church, fiding with the Greeks, under-
took to impugn it. Amongſt thoſe Clarıdius Biſhop of Turin, per-
trine of
the Gallican haps the moſt learned Man of that Agc, declared, in a Treatiſe he
wrote on this Occaſion, not only againſt the Worſhip, but againſt
this time con. the Uſe of Images as well as the Worſhip, and cauſed them all, nay,
cerning Ima-
and with them the Croſs, to be caſt out of the Churches through-
out his Dioceſe, and conſigned to the Flames. That Trcatiſe was
anſwered by Jonas of Orleans, who, tho'no leſs averſe to the Wor-
ſhip of Images than Claudius himſelf, was yet for retaining them as
Books for thc Ignorant, and Helps to Devotion. But, on the other
hand, Agobard was of Opinion, and that Opinion he maintained
with great Erudition and Learning, that Images rather hinder than
help true Devotion, and ought therefore to be excluded, as they were
by the primitivc Fathers, from all Places of Worſhip and Devotion P.
However, that they were neither to be broken, nor to be worſhip-
ped, was, it muſt be owned, the received Doctrine of the Gallican
Church at this time; and that Doitrine they continued to profeſs,
as will appear in the Sequel, long after the Ninth Century, retaining
Images as Ornaments, as Books for the Ignorant, as Helps to Mc-
mory, but giving them no Kind of Worſhip, and charging thoſe
with Idolatry, who
any.
They did not
To conclude: From what has been ſaid, it is manifeſt beyond all
Pope inca- Diſpute, I. That the Authority of thic Pope was not yet, that is, ſo
pe ble of
late as the Ninth Century, thought deciſive by the Gallican Biſhops,
nor he thought infallible, or incapable of crring, ſince they con-
demned, and condemned with one Voice, a Doctrinc as crroneous
and hcrctical, which ſo many Popes liad taught ex cathedra, and
defined. II. That thoſe Biſhops did not believe theinſelves bound
to receive a Council as oecumenical, tho received as ſuch by the
Pope ; nor bound to ſubmit to its Deciſions, tho'approved and con-
firmied by the Pope; but thought themſelves at full Liberty to receive
Agabard. p. 142, 143. 254-266,
gave them
bilieu: the
erra
irg.
or
Valentine. BISHOPS of Rome.
219
Year of
in
or rejcet them. III. That to reject a Council, and the Definitions
Christ 826
of a Council, received by the Pope as ecumenical, was not at this
time dicenied Hereſy, ſince the Pope did not, as appears from Hiſtory,
declare the Gallican Biſhops Heretics on that account, or exclude
them from the Communion of the Apoſtolic Sce.
Of Pope Eugene we hear no more till the Year 826, when he The Pope
aſſembled a Council in Rome, conſiſting of 63 Biſhops, 17 Presby - afſembles a
ters, and ſome Deacons; all from the Italian Provinces ſubject to Rome.
the Emperor Lewis, or the Pope. By that Council were iſſued 38
Canons; all calculated to reſtore the Eccleſiaſtical Diſcipline, and en-
courage Learning both ſacred and profane 9.
The following Ycar thc Pope died; but, as to the Time of his Eugene dies.
Death, we only know, that it happened in the Month of Auguft Chrifto 824.
827, the contemporary Hiſtorians all telling us he died in thac Month,
but not One of them mentioning the preciſe Day on which he died.
As he was ordained on the 14th of February 824, and died in Au-
guſt 827, he muſt have held the Sce at Icaſt Three Years and Five
Months.
EUGENĖ
Year of
MICHAEL and
LEWIS THE DEDON-
THEOPHILUS VALENTINE,
NAIRE and LOTHA-
Emperors of the Eaſt.
RIUS, Emperors of the
Weft.
Ninety-ninth Bishop of Rome.
was ſucceeded by Valentine, chofen, as is con- Valentino
monly ſuppoſed, after a few Days Vacancy. He was a Native choſen.
of Rome, the Son of one Peter, and, at the Time of his Electioii, Chriſt 827
Archdeacon of the Roman Church. He was greatly cſtecmcd and
beloved by the Two preceding Popes Paſchal and Eugene, cipecially
by the latter, who is ſaid to have cheriſhed him as his Son, and to
have kept him conſtantly with him in the Palacer
From the Account Anaſtaſius gives of the Ordination and Inſtal-
nient, or, as it is called, Inthronation, of this Pope, we learn the
Particulars of both thcſe Ceremonies. The new Pope was, accord- His Inshroo'
ing to that Account, attended by the Roman Clergy, the People, nation.
and the Senate, to the Vatican, was there firſt ordained, then placed
9 Eginhard. in annal. Lab. Concil. c. 8. Natal. Alex. ſect. 9. part. i. art. 4.
I Analt. in Valent.
F f 2
in
220
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Gregory IV.
Chriſt 827.
1
Year of in the ſuppoſed Chair of St. Peter, and from thence conducted in
great Pomp, after he had performed divine Service, to the Lateran
Palace, where he was intlıroncd, or ſet upon the Pontifical Throne,
and acknowleged by the Nobility and the Senatc proſtrating them.
ſelves beforc him, and kiſſing his Foot, amidſt the Acclamations of
the People. When the Ceremony was ended, the Pope gave a great
Entertainment to the Chief of the Clergy, and the Officers of State,
and enriched, to uſe the Word of Anaſtaſius, with many Gifts, the
Clergy, the People, and the Senates.
His Death. Valentine enjoyed his new Dignity but a very ſhort Time, accord-
ing to fome, ſcarce One Month t; according to others, Forty Days u.
He mult therefore have died in the latter End of September, or the
Beginning of O&tober, of the ſame Year in which he was choſen. In-
deed, from this Time to the Middle of the Eleventh Century, no
Writer I know of, beſides Anaftafius, has been ſo accurate and exact
as to mention the Months or the Days that cach Pope ſate above the
whole Years; and in Anaſtaſius the Numbers have been ſo altered,
through the Inaccuracy or the Ignorance of the Tranſcribers, that,
with reſpect to them, no Two Copies agree. We muſt therefore,
henceforth, be ſatisfied with aſcertaining the Number of the Years,
and gueſſing, where we can, at that of the Months and the Days.
Gregory
elected.
THEOPHILUS GREGORY IV. LEWIS THE DEBONNAIRE
Eaſt.
of the Weft
The Hundredth Bishop of Rome.
VALENTINE being dead, Gregory, the Fourth of that
Name, by Birth a Roman, the Son of one John, and Presbyter
of the Roman Church, was either immediately, or after a very ſhort
Vacancy, for wc rcad of no Oppoſition, raiſed to the Sec in his
room. However, as his Ordination was delayed, till the Emperor,
then in France, was acquainted with his Elcētion, and it was cxa-
mined and confirmed by Deputies from thence ſent to Rome w, we
cannot well ſuppoſe him to have been ordained till the latter End of
the preſent Year.
s Idem ibid. & Mabill. in comment, ad Ord. Roman. n. 18. • Eginhard, in
annal, u Liber Pont. Luitprand. Martin. Pclon, &c. w Eginhard. in annal.
Auctor vit. Lud. Pii Annaliſt. Bertin.
Of
Gregory IV. .
BISHOPS of Rome.
221
tween Lewis
Three Sons.
Year of
+
Of this Pope nothing occurs in Hiſtory, worthy of Notice, till the Quarrel be-
Ycar 833, when he interpoſed in the Quarrel between the Emperor ihe Debon-
Lewis and his Three Sons, Lotharius, Pepin, and Lervis. Of that naire and his
Quarrel, of the Difurbances attending it, of thc Part the Pope acted
in it, the contemporary Hiſtorians give us the following Account : Chrift 833.
The Emperor had, ever ſince the Year 817, divided his Dominions,
after the Exampic of his Father Charlemagne, amongſt his Children.
Lotharins, his cldeſt Son, he had choſen for his Succcffor in the
Empire, and taken him for his Collcguc; to 'Pepin, his Second Son,
he had given the Kingdom of Aquitaine ; and to Lewis, the youngeſt
of the Three, the Kingdom of Bavaria. This Diviſion was approved
by the general Aſembly of the States at Aix-la-Chapelle; the Three
Princes were crowned there with great Solemnity; the Act of Settic-
ment was ſent to the Pope ; and the Two Kings, repairing, as ſoon
as they were crowncd, to their reſpective Kingdoms, were every .
where received with loud Acclamations, and by all acknowleged for
their lawful Sovereigns. But the Empreis Hermengard, their Mo-
ther, dying the following Year 818, the Emperor was prevailed
upon by his Nobles, apprehending hini inclined to reſign the Crown,
and lead a retired Life, to marry again ; and he married Judith,
Daughter to Duke Welfo, deſcended from a very ancient Family,
and at that time One of the moſt powerful and illuſtrious in Bava-
ria. In 823, the Empreſs was delivered of a Son, who was called
Charles, and is known in Hiſtory by the Name of Charles the Bald.
His Birth obliged the Emperor to inakc a new Diviſion of his Domi-
nions in favour of the young Prince, born after the former Diviſion,
and conſequently left intirely to the Mercy of his Brothers. He pu-
bliſhed accordingly an Edict at Worms in 829, fettling on Prince
Charles the Country of the Alemans, or the Country lying between
the Mein, the Rhine, the Neckar, and the Danube, all Rhetia, now
the Country of the Griſons, and that Part of the Kingdom of Bur-
gundy, that extends beyond Mount jura;, that is, the Country of
the Swiſs, and Geneva.
As the Share given to Charles was taken out of the largeſt of the
Three, or out of that which Lotharius was to ſuccecd to as Empe-
ror, he loudly conq ained of the Injuſtice, as he called it, done him,
and reſolved to leave nothing unattempted, that, he thought, could
prevent the new Diviſion from taking place. With that View he
gave out, and ſo did all his Friends and Adherents, who were very
nume-
2 2 2
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Gregory IV.
Chriſt 833
ز
Year of numerous, that the Empreſs Judith, a true Step-mother, was deter-
mined to raiſe her Son to the Imperial Throne, and pave the Way
Charge for him to it by the Deſtruction of the whole Imperial Family ; that,
brought
againſt the
to the great Diſgrace of the Crown, ſhe entertained a criminal Com-
Empreſs Ju- merce with Count Bernard her principal Miniſter; that ſhe had, ini
dith, who is
Conjunction with him, baniſhed all Men of Conſcience and Ho-
Shut up in a
Monaſtery. nour from the Court, and was concerting ſuch Meaſures as mult
end, if not timely defeated, in the Ruin of the Emperor, and all
his true Friends. Theſe Reports, tho' probably deſtitute of all Foun-
dation, alarmcd not only the Kings of Aquitaine and Bavaria, and
ſome of the great Lords of the Empire, but ſeveral of the moſt cmi-
nent Men in the Church for Probity, Wiſdom, and Learning;
among
the reſt Bernard Biſhop of Vienne, Agobard Biſhop of Lions,
Jeſſe Biſhop of Amiens, Hildnin Abbot of St. Denys, and Wala
Abbot of Corbie, reckoned the greateſt Saint of the Age. Theſe
holy Men, giving intire Credit to the Reports they heard, and
thercupon declaring all Enemies to God and his Church, who did
not concur with them in reforming the Court, and effectually pro.
viding for the Safety of the Imperial Family againſt the wicked At-
tempts of the Empreſs and her favourite Miniſter, caſily prevailed,
firſt on the King of Aquitaine, and afterwards on Lotharius, and
the King of Bavaria, to join them. The King of Aquitaine,
drawing together his Troops in great Hale, ſurpriſed the Cities of
Orleans and Laon; and finding thc Empreſs in the latter, the Em-
peror being then waging War with the Rebels in Britany, after re-
proaching her with her ſcandalous Conduct, and the evil Deſigns
ſhe had formed againſt him and his Brothers, he obliged her to take
the religious veil in the Monaſtery of St. Radegonde of Poitiers.
The Emperor received, at the ſame time, the News of this Revolt
and the Captivity of the Empreſs; and, ftruck with Aſtoniſhment
at ſo bold an Attempt, he left Britany, and marched without De-
lay, but under the greateſt Concern, againſt his Son.
But the King
of Aquitaine being, in the mcan time, joined by his Brother Low
tharius, at the Head of a very numerous Army, and the Emperor's
Troops, Officers as well as Soldiers, deſerting to them daily in whole
Bodics, the unhappy Prince, thus left, in a ſhort Time, almoſt alone,
The Emperor was obliged to deliver himſelf up, with his Son Charles, to the Re-
delivers him
bels. Lotharinis treated him, in Appearance, with great Reſpect ;
felf up to his
Son Lotha. but left him no Kind of Power or Authority, nothing but the bare
Title
rius.
Gregory IV. BISHOPS of Rome.
223
Chriſt 833.
Title of Emperor; and of that Tiilctoo hc flattered himſelf he ſhould Year of
prevail on the States, that were ſoon to meet, to divoſt him, and
oblige him to reſign the Crown, and retire to a Monaſtery. But, in
the mean time, the Kings of Aquitaine and Bavaria, jealous of
the Power, and offended at the arbitrary and deſpotic Conduct of
their Brother, began to think of abandoning him, and being recon-
ciled with their Father. They were encouraged in that Thought by
a Monk, named Gombaud, in who:n they placed great Confidence;
and by his mcans, as he was a Man or great Addreſs, the Reconci.
liation was ſoon brought about. Lotiariu.', finding himſelf thus The Emperor
abandoned by his Brothers, and his Party thereby wcakened, in pro- Sons recon-
and his Threc
portion as his Father's was ſtrengthened, thought it adviſeable to ciled.
follow their Example, leſt, by his Obftinacy, he ſhould forfeit, in
the End, all Share in his Father's Dominions, and with it his Life,
or his Liberty. As he was the firſt and chict Author of all the Di-
ſturbances, and his Submiſſion was forced, and not voluntary, the
Emperor, at the ſame time that he added ſome Cities and Territo-
ries to the Share of his Biorherş, divefied hins of the iinperial Dig-
nity, declared thc Subjccts of the Empirc abſolved from the Oath of
Allegiance they had taken to him as Emperor, and leaving him only
the Title of King of lialı, trily enjoined him to undertake, cren
there, nothing of Moment without his Conſent ?
Thus was Peace reſtored to the Empire; but it was ſhort-lived:
The Three Brothers revolted foon after ancw, and were, by an Ex-
ceſs of Goodneſs, forgiven anew by the Emperor. His matchleſs 111-
dulgence and good Nature encouraged the King of Aquitaine to
revolt the Third timc; which ſo provoked the Emperor, that he was
eaſily prevailed upon by the Empreſs (who was returned to Court,
her Profeſſion, as it was forced, having been declared null by the
Pope and the Biſhops) to diſinherit Pepin, and give the Kingdom of
Aquitaine to her Son Prince Charles. Lotharius wanted no bet- His Son Lor
tharius rebels
ter Pretence to fly to Arms, and try to recover his forfcited Dignity.
He was then in Italy; and being ſenſible that he could by no other
Mcans morc effcctually ſtrengthen his Party, and diſguiſe the Injuf-
tice of his Cauſc, than by engaging the Pope to cſpouſe it, he applicd
to Gregory; and pretending he had nothing in View but to defcat
the wicked Dcfigas of the Emprefs, at whoſe Inſtigation the Empe-
anew;
z Thegan. C. 35-40. Vit. Lud. Pii, ad ann. 829-832. Nithard, vit. Wal.
Albat. Eginhard. &c.
5
ror,
224
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Gregory IV.
.
attend bim
Year of ror, diveſting himſelf of his natural Tenderneſs, had degraded him,
Chrift 833; tho' ſolemnly crowned by the holy Pope Paſchal; had diſinherited
his Brother Pepin, to make room for her Son; and was purſuing
ſuch Meaſures as muſt incvitably kindle a civil War in the Bowels of
the Kingdom; he begged his Holineſs to ſecond him in an Under-
taking, that would recommend him to the Love and Eſteem of all
good Men, of all the true Friends of the Emperor, of the Imperial
Family, and the Empire.
and perſuades
The Pope, believing allshe ſaid to be truc, readily agreed not only
the Pope to
to interpoſe his good Offices in his behalf, but to attend him in Per-
into France. ſon into France, and there mediate a Reconciliation between him
and his Father. Lotharius was then upon the Point of ſetting
out for France, at the Head of a conſiderable Army he had raiſed
in Italy, not with a Deſign, as he pretended to the Pope, of defeat-
ing the ambitious and wicked Deſigns of the Empreſs, but to drive
his Father from the Throne, and ſeize on the Empire. Having thus
gained, or rather deceived; the Pope, he began his March, attended
by him, and ſome of the chief Men of his Clergy, giving every-
where out, as he entered France, that his Holineſs, fully ſatisfied of
the Juſtice of his Cauſe, had zealouſly eſpouſed it, and was come
from Italy on Purpoſe to excommunicate the Emperor, and the
Biſhops of his Party, if an End was not put to the unjuſt Perſecution
of his innocent Children. Thicle Reports, induſtriouſly ſpread abroad
by Lotharius and his Friends, had the wiſhed-for Effect; and Men
flocked to him from all Parts, perſuaded he had Juſtice on his Side,
ſince the Pope had declared in his favour.
The Emperor In the mean time the Emperor, hearing, to his inexpreſlible Sur-
forbids the
the Biſhops prize, that the Pope was come into France with Lotharius, and
to wait on taking it for granted that he had gained him over to his Cauſe, wrote
the Pope.
a circulatory Letter to thc Biſhops, to put them in mind of their Al-
legiance, and forbid their waiting on the Pope, or entertaining any
Kind of Commerce with him ſo long as he continued with the Re.
bels; nay, he charged Agobard, Biſhop of Lions, to write againſt
the Pope, and expoſe his Conduct, at the preſent Juncture, in fiding
witli a Son, who had ſet up the Standard of Rebellion againſt his
Conduet of Father. Agobard, tho' a Prelate of a moſt unexceptionable Cha-
Agobard,
racter, and one of the moſt learned in France, was moſt unaccount-
Biſhop of
Lions, on ably prejudiced againſt the Empreſs and the Miniſters; and there-
this Occaſion. forc, inſecad of writing againſt the Pope, or blaming his Conduct,
he
Gregory IV.
225
BISHOPS of Rome.
he wrote a Letter to the Emperor, entreating him not to quarrel Year of
Chriſt 833
with his Holineſs, but to treat him with all the Reſpect that was due
to his Character. Were the Pope comc, ſaid he, to raiſe Diſturb-
ances in the Kingdom, or to foment thoſe that have already been
raiſed, you might and ought, in that Caſe, to drive him out with
Shame and Diſgrace; but, as he has undertaken this Journey with
no other View but to re-eſtabliſh Peace and Tranquillity, by remove-
ing the Cauſe of all the Diſturbances, you ought not only to receive
but obcy him. Agobard pretended, that the Diſturbances were all
owing to the Intrigues of bad Counſellors, and the wicked Meaſures
ſuggeſted by them; that the Emperor could not in Conſcience annul
the Act of Settlement, after it had been confirmed in a general Ar.
ſembly of all the States of the Empirc, and approved by the Pope;
that as the Empire was, by that Ad, ſettled on Lotharius, and the
Kingdoms of Aquitaine and Bavaria on Pepin and Lewis, he
could not, without the greateſt Injuſtice, take from them what he
himſelf, and with him the whole Nation, had given them. He add-
ed, that thic Pope, ſenſible of the Injury that was done them, and
well appriſed of the Malice and Craft of deſigning and evil-minded
Men, was come into France, to interpoſe his good Offices; nay,
and to excrt, if his good Offices proved unſucceſsful, all his Autho-
rity in behalf of their oppreſſed Innocence. He cloſed his Letter
with telling the Emperor, that having taken an Oath of Allegiance
to Lotharius as Emperor, he thought himſelf bound by that Oath
to join and ſupport him y.
On the other hand, the Biſhops of the Emperor's Party, hearing Letter from
that the Pope had attended Lotharius into France, with a Dcfign, the Bijnops of
as was given out, to excommunicate the Emperor and his Friends, ror's Party
agreed, at a Mccting they had on that Occaſion, to write a Letter to the Pope.
to him in common, and try to divert him from ſo ralh and unpre-
cedented an Attempt. In the Letter they tell him, that the News of
his Arrival in France had given the great Joy, as they fiattered
themſelves he was come with no other Vicw or Deſign but to inter-
poſe his good offices, and mediate a Reconciliation between the
contending and oppoſite Partics; and they would therefore have gonc
out to meet him, had they not been reſtrained from thewing him
that Mark of Rcgard by an expreſs Command from the Emperor;
5 Agobard. de comparat. utriuſque regimin.
Gg
Vol. IV.
chat
226
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Gregory IV.
Chriſt 833.
Year of that if what they all heard was true; viz, that his Holineſs was
come to excommunicate the Emperor, and his Friends, it could not
be expected they ſhould ſhew him any kind of Regard; and the Em-
peror had done well in forbidding all Intercourſe between his loyat
Subjects and him ; that an Excommunication ſo unjuſt, fo contrary
to the Practice and Canons of the Church, would reflect no leſs
Diſgrace on the Pontifical Authority, that would thereby be brought
into Contempt, than on the Imperial Dignity; that, if he came to ex-
communicate, he might return cxcomniunicated, fi excommunica-
tulrus veniret, excommunicatus abiret ; that, in ſo preſumptuous
an Attempt, he would mect with a more vigorous Reſiſtance from
the German and Gallican Biſhops than perhaps hc cxpected ; that, if
he did not change his Mind, they would not allow his Authority to
be acknowleged in France, or in Germany. In the Cloſe of their
Letter, they put him in mind of the Oath of Allegiance he took to
the Emperor upon his Pronotion; and cven threaten to depoſe him
for preſuming to come into France with the Emperor's Enemies, and
without his Permillion. They likewiſe threaten with Degradation
the Biſhops, who, unmindful of their Allegiance, had joined the
Rebels ; adding, that ſhould their Obſtinacy oblige the Emperor to
proceed to Extremities, the Sentence pronounced againſt them would
be irreverſiblez,
The Pope's
This Letter alarmed the Pope ; but being encouraged by Wala
Anſwer to Abbot of Corbie, and his Companion 'Paſcafius, pretending that the
ibeir Letter. Vicar of St. Peter was impowered by God to determinc all Differ-
ences whatever, and that all Men were to be judged by him, and he
by none, he anſwered the Biſhops in a Stile that gave great Offence
both to them and the Emperor, and left no room to doubt but he
had been gained over to the Party of the Rebels. He begins his An-
ſwer with upbraiding them for ſtiling him at the faine time Pope,
that is, Father and Brother; Titles that he thinks incompatible; and
tells them, that they ſhould only have given him the Title of Father,
as the more refpe&tful of the Two; as if it were Preſumption in the
Gallican Biſhops to call him their Brother, thoʻno Title was more
frequently given by the other Biſhops to the Pope, nor by the Pope to
other Biſhops, as might be. Thewn by innumerablc Inſtances. They
filed him Father and Brother in the Lord; and in that Senſe the
7
Epift. Greg. IV. ad Epiſcopos Francorum, & Vita Walæ.
Two
Gregory IV.
BISHOPS of Rome.
227
Year of
Two Titles are not incompatible. In the Second place, the Pope finds
Chriſt 83
Fault with the Biſhops for not coming out to meet him, but ſuffer-
ing themſelves to be diverted, by the Command of the Prince, from
ſhewing him that Mark of Rcſpcet that was due to his Character;
and wonders they did not know, that the ſpiritual Government of
Souls ought to take place of the teniporal Government of Princes
and Kings; that is, in other Words, they ought to obey him rather
than the Emperor, and, to wait on him, ſhould have diſobeyed an
expreſs Command of their Leige Lord and their Sovereign. He ad-
viſes them to imitate the Freedom of the holy Pope Gregory, who
was not afraid to tell the Emperor, that he too was one of his
Flock; that he ought to hcarken to hini, and act agreeably to his
Directions. But the Freedom taken by Pope Gregory was only with
reſpect to Matters of Faith and Religion, as is plain from his Words,
and not to civil Matters, as in the preſent Caſe, and merely political,
that have no kind of Connection with Faith or Religion. The
Biſhops had put the Pope in mind of his Oath of Allegiance ; and, in
Anſwer to that, he tells them, that, by his Oath, he is bound to
give the Emperor good Advice; to acquaint him with his own Faults,
and thoſe of his Miniſters; to rebuke him if he does not correct them,
and ſuggeſt to him ſuch Meaſures as ſeem the beſt calculated to re-
cſtabliſh Peace and Tranquillity both in the State and the Church;
that for theſe Purpoſes alone hc is come into France : Whereas they,
betraying their Truſt, and proſtituting their Honour as well as their
Conſciences, to the Will of their Prince, have, by a Breach of their
Oath, encouraged him in all his bad Meaſures, and ought therefore
to be charged with the Evils attending them. By bad Meaſures, the
Pope means the Emperor's diveſting Lotharius of the Imperial Dig-
nity, and Pepin of his Kingdom, tho' they had forfeited both by
their Rebellion. As for their threatening to excommunicate him,
or have him depoſed, he bids them Defiance, as they can lay no
heinous Crime to his Charge, no Theft, no Murder, or Sacrilege;
which was tacitly owning, that he might be excommunicated and
depoſed, were he guilty of any ſuch Crinies. In the End of his
Letter, he delivers it as his Opinion, gained over, no Doubt, by
Agobard, and the other Biſhops and Monks of that Party, that the
Emperor ought to ſtand to the Diviſion he had formerly made of his
Dominions, and could not, in Juſticc, deprive any of his Children
of the Share allotted them ; condemning thereby the Conduct of the
G: 2
Father,
2 28
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Gregory IV.
.
Year of Father, and juſtifying that of the Children in rebelling againſt him.
Chriſt 833. And could not the Emperor, who made the Diviſion, for juſt Rea.
fons alter it! Did not the Birth of a Son after that Diviſion, fully
juſtify the Alteration he made? Was that Son to be left to the Mercy
of his Brothers, that is, quite deftitute? Whai the Pope obſerves in:
his Lettcr, is true, viz. that they had all taken an Oath of Alle-
giance to Lotharius as Emperor ; but that Dignity he had forfeited
by his Rebellion, and, under a leſs micrciful Parent, would have
forfeited his Life or his Liberty as well as his Dignity. The Oath,
therefore, they had taken to him was no longer binding; but as that
was ſtill binding they had taken to the Emperor, it was a Breach of
his Oath in the Pope to join the Rebels; and no Breach of their
Oath in the Biſhops, but Duty and Loyalty, to ſtand by the Em-
peror.
The Pope's Letter was immediately communicated to the Empe:
ror: who no longer doubting but the Rebels had gained him to their
Party, and at the fame time ſenſible that liis Preſence, as it autho-
rized, in a manner, their Rebellion, would daily draw great Num-
bers of Ecclefiaftics, and, by their means, Men of all Ranks, to their
Party, thought it adviſeable to pur the Whole, without further Des
lay, to thc Iſſue of a Battle. The Kings of Aquitaine and Bavaria
had joined Lotharius when he firſt entered France; and they were
all Three encamped between Bale and Strasbourg. Againſt them
thie Emperor marched at the Head of his Army; but they, well
ap-
priſed that the longer they delayed giving Battle, the more ſure they
would be of the Victory, as many, abandoning the Emperor, canic
The Pope
daily over to them, bethought themſelves of fending the Pope to
ſent by the negotiate, as they pretended, a Reconciliation between them and
Rebels to the
their Father, but, in Truth, with no other Deſign but to gain Time,
Emperor.
and acquire new Strength, as they daily did. The Pope, whom they
uſed on this, and had uſed on all other Occaſions, as a niere Tool,
proud of his Commiſſion, immediately repaired to the Emperor's
Camp, that was but at a ſmall Diſtance from that of the Rebels. The
Emperor received him at the Head of his Army, with great Coldneſs,
seived. trcated him as his Vallal, and ſeverely rebuked him for abuſing the
Agthority his Character gave him, to encourage Children in an un-
nátarat Rebellion againſt their own Father; for preſuming to como
into France without his Lcave, which nonc of his Predeceſſors had
had the Aſſurance to do'; and for ſtriving to ſeducc, by his Letters,
3
tha
How reo
1
(
Gregory IV.
229
BISHOPS of Rome.
the Biſhops, who, in Compliance with their Oaths and their Duty, Year of
Chrif 833
had fided with him. The Pope ſtrove to appeaſe him; aſſuring him,
yaso? ,
that he was come into France with no other Deſign but to re-cftabliſh
Concord and Peace in the Iniperial Family. Hereupon the Emperor,
willing to hearken to any reatonable Terms of an Accommodation,
ordered him to be conveyed to his Quarters, and at the ſame time
diſpatched Bernard, Archbiſhop of Vienne, to treat, in his Name,
with the Three Princes, and try to bring them to a Senſe of their
Duty. The Pope continued ſome Days in the Camp; and having
had, during that time, ſeveral Conferences with the Emperor, he
was ſent back, upon his promiſing to employ his good Offices with
the Princes, and to return in a ſhort Time to acquaint him with the
the Succeſs that might attend them. But the Night after he left the
Emperor's Camp, and he left it on St. Peter's Day, he was followed
by almoſt the whole Army; inſomuch that the unhappy Prince, find-
ing himſelf abandoned by all, and at the ſame time ſo cloſely beſieged
by the Rebels, that it was in vain for him to attempt an Eſcape, was The Emperor
obliged to deliver himſelf up, with the Empreſs, and his Son Charles, delivers him.
into the Hands of his rebellious Children. By them he was depoſed; Rebels.
and Lothariis being proclaimed Emperor in his room, he was con-
fined to a Monaſtery, obliged to own Crimes he had never commit-
ted, and thereupon to exchange, as really guilty of thoſe Crimes, the
Inperial Robes for the Habit of a Penitent a.
Beronius, undertaking the Defence of the Pope, pretends, that The Pope
his Holineſs never declared for, or took part with, the Rebels b. But
how far to
blame in this
the Letter he wrote to the Gallican Biſhops, quoted above, is a full Affair
.
Anſwer to all that the Annaliſt has alleged, or that can be alleged,
to clear him from countenancing ſo unnatural and ſo wicked a Re-
bellion. However, hc ſeems to have borne no Ill-will to the Em-
peror, but to have been impoſed upon by thoſe of the oppoſite Party,
and to have given intire Credit to the many falſe Reports that were
by them induſtriouſly ſpread abroad to colour their wicked Deſigns ;
viz. that the Enprefs liad gained an abſolure Aſcendant over the
Emperor ; that he was wholly governed by her Counſels; that all
the Diſorders in the State and the Church, which they exaggerated
beyond all Meaſure, were owing to her; that ſhe aimed at nothing
leſs than the Deſtruction of the whole Imperial Family to make
room for her Son ; and thar ic was not againſt the Emperor, but
Vit. Lud. Pii. Vit. Walæ. Thegan. &c. Bar. ad ann. 833. p. 823.
against
4
|
1
230
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Gregory IV.
9
: -
Year of againſt her, and in their own Defence, that the Threc Princes had
Chrift 833: taken up Arms. Theſe Reports the Pope too raſhly believed ; and
he is therein greatly to blanc. But he was, it ſeems, undeceived
by the Emperor, in the Interview he had with him: For we are told
by a contemporary Writer, that, being ſent back after that Inter-
view to treat with the Rebels, he was for returning to the Emperor's
Camp; but they did not think it adviſeable to let him return c. The-
ganus Biſhop of Treves, who was probably at this very time in the
Field with the Emperor, writes, that Lewis, after having conferred
with the Pope, ſent him many valuable Preſents; which it is not at
all likely he would have done, had the Pope ſtill maintained the Cauſe
of the Rebels, and juſtified their Rebellion. Some Writers, as ready
to charge the Popes with Crimes, of which they were innocent, as
Baronius is ready to clear them from the Crimes of which they are
guilty, aſcribe to the Intrigues of Gregory the general Deſertion that
enſued in the Imperial Camp the Night after he left it, as if he had
laid hold of the Opportunity he had, while in the Camp, to debauch
and gain them over to the Rebels. But of this his pretended Treachery
not the leaſt Hint is given by the Writers of thoſe Times ; and his
propoſing to return to the Emperor, clears him ſufficiently from that
Imputation.
The Emperor The Emperor did not long continue in the deplorable Condition,
refored.
to which the Treachery of his Subjects, and the Perfidy of his Chil-
dren, had reduced him. The barbarous Uſage he met with from
Lotharius, ſoftened the other Two Princes; and Compaſſion pre-
vailing over all other Regards, they reſcued him the very next Year
out of his Hands, and replaced him, to the great Satisfaction of all
Ranks of Men, on the Throne. But as the Pope was no-ways con-
cerned in his Reſtoration, I ſhall refer the Reader, for the Particulars
attending it, to the Writers of thoſe Times.
The Rebels, having no further Occaſion for the Name or Autho.
fortifies
rity of the Pope, when they had once got the Emperor into their
Oftia.
Year of Power, allowed him to return to Rome; and there he employed
Chrift 834. himſelf the Two following Years, 834, 835, in repairing and adorn-
835.
ing the Churches and Monaſteries of that City, and in rebuilding and
fortifying the City of Oſtia againſt the Incurſions of the Saracens,
who began to infeſt the neigbouring Coaſt. That City he intirely
rebuilt, ſurrounded it with a very high Wall, and a dcep Ditch,
& Auct. vit. Lud, Pii.
1
forti,
The Pope
1
1
Gregory IV.
BISHOPS of Rome.
23:1
Year of
Year of
fortified it with many ſtrong Towers, and placed a great Number
Chrift 835.1
of warlike Engines on the Towers and the Wall, to throw Stoncs,
and repulſe thc Barbarians. Thc City, thus rebuilt and fortified, he
called, from his own Name, as Frodoard informs us, Gregorio-
polis d; but it ſoon reſumed its ancient Name, and by that Name it
is known to this Day.
In the mean tinc, the Emperor, having ſettled the Affairs of the The Abbor
Adrebald
fent
Empire to his intire Satisfaction, and apprehending no further Dil
by the Emper
turbances from his Subjects or his Children, reſolved to undertake a ror to Rome.
Journey to Rome, to viſit the holy Places there, and confer with the
Chriſt 836.
Pope ; but being diverted from that Journey by a ſudden Irruption
of the Normans into Frieſland, he ſent the Abbot Adrebald to
Rome, to adviſe with the Pope, in his Name, concerning ſome par-
ticular Affairs not mentioned by the Hiſtorian. The Pope received
the Abbot with extraordinary Marks of Reſpect and Eſteem, expreſſed
great Joy in hearing that all Matters were ſettled to the Satisfa&ion
of the Emperor, and, tho' greatly indiſpoſed, and troubled with a
Bleeding at the Noſe, that had laſted ſome time, he had ſeveral Con-
ferences with the Envoy, and, upon his Departure, appointed Two
Biſhops to attend him into France, with a Letter, which they were
to deliver into the Emperor's own Hands. They ſet out together
from Rome; but, on their Arrival at Bologna, the Two Bilbops
were ſtopt by an Order from Lotharius, who was then at Pavia, and
commanded to proceed no farther. They complied: with the Order ;
but privately delivered the Letter they were charged with to Adre-
bald, who got it conveyed by One of his Domeſtics, in the Diſguiſe
of a Beggar, into France; and there it was returned to him, and by
him delivered to the Emperor €. Lotharius had lately ſuffered his
Men to pillage ſome Lands belonging to the Church of St. Peter;
and he probably apprchended, that the Two Biſhops were ſent by
the Pope to complain of that Outrage to the Emperor.
In the Pontificate of Pope Gregory, in what Year we know not, Authority of
the Imperial
occurs a remarkable Inſtance of the Authority exerciſed by the Impe-
Judges in
rial Judges in Rome. I have obſerved elſewhere, that the Emperors, Rome.
as ſupreme Lords of Rome, uſed, from time to time, to ſend Judges
to adminiſter Juſtice there; to hcar the Complaints of the People ;
to redreſs their Gricyances; and finally to determine all Cauſes both
d Frodoard. in frag. de Pont. Rom. apud Mabill: fect. 3. Benedict. part. 2.
« Auct. vit. Lud. Pii.
8.
civil:
232
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Gregory IV:
Year of civil and criminal. To theſe Judges Ingoald applied, then Abbot
Chrift 836. of the Monaſtery of Farfa in the Dukedom of Spoleti, complaining,
that the Popes Hadrian and Leo had ſeized by force, per fortiam,
on Five Poſſeſſions or Farms belonging to the above-mentioned Mo-
naſtery ; that the Monaſtery had reclaimed thoſe Poffeflions of the
Three ſuccccding Popes, Stephen, Paſchal, and Eugene, but always
in vain ; that, inſtead of reſtoring them, they had cven pretended,
that they had always belonged to the Apoſtolic Sec, and had never
been poſſeſſed by the Monaſtery. The Judges hcarkened to the Com,
plaints of the Abbot, and the Cauſe was tried in the Lateran Palace,
the Pope himſelf being preſent, and with him ſeveral Biſhops, and
other Perſons of Rank and Diſtinction. The Abbot, to make good
his Claim, produced the original Inſtrument of the Donation of thoſe
Lands made to the Monaſtery, and likewiſe the Charter of Deſide.
rius, the laſt King of thc Lombards, and of Charlemagne, who ſuc-
ceeded him in that Kingdom. But Gregory, the. Pope's Counſel,
qucftioning the Authenticity both of the Inftrument and the Char-
ters, which, if allowed to be authentic, would at once have put an
End to the Diſpute; the Judge, at a loſs what to determine, declined
coming to any Determination that Day, probably that the Inſtrument
and the Charters might, in the mcan time, be examined by Perſons
skilled in ſuch Matters with inore Care and Attention, But the next
Day, ſeveral Perſons appearing, of unexceptionable Characters, and
depoſing, upon Dath, that, in their Memory, the diſputed Lands
had been poſſeſſed by the Monaſtery, and quictly poffelled, till Pope
Hadrian ſeized then, they knew not upon what Pretence; they
were adjudged to the Monaſtery, and a Decree was iſſued, ordering
them to be forth with reſtored. The Pope, one ſhould think, would
have acquieſced in ſo juſt a Sentence, and reſtored, without Heſita-
tion, to the lawful Owners, what ſo plainly appcared to have been
unjuſtly ſeized by his Predeceſſors. But with thoſe good Biſhops it
was a Maxim, ſo far as we can judge from their Conduct, to part
with nothing they had once acquired, by what means ſocver they
had acquired it : Gregory thcrcforc, inſtead of complying with the
Sentence, and the Decree of the Judges, however cquitable, ap-
pealed from them to the Emperor; but with what Succeſs we know
notf
Chronic. Farf. apud Mabill. in Mulco Italic. t. i. part. 2. p. 62.
Of
1
Sergius II.
233
BISHOPS of Rome.
Year of
ok
Of this Pope I find nothing clſe recorded that is worthy of Notice Death of
till the Time of his Death, which happened, according to the moſt Gregory:
probable Opinion, on the 25th of January 844, after he had go. Chrift 844.
verned the Roman Church Sixteen Years, and ſome Months and
Days 6. He is ſaid by ſome to liave died on the 25th of January
843 ; but with them Eaſter-day, or the 25th of March, was the
Firſt Day of the new Year.
Two Letters, aſcribed to Gregory, have reached our Times; the His Writ.
onc reſtoring Ebbo Archbiſhop of Reims, depoſed in 835, as One of ings.
the chief Authors of the late Rebellion, to his former Dignity and
his Seeh. But as from Hiſtory it appears, that Ebbo, after the Death
of Gregory, applied to his Succeſſor, begging to be reſtored, and was
only admitted by him to Lay Communion, the Letter of Gregory,
To the Biſhops and Orthodox Chriſtians, commanding the Biſhop of
Reims to be re-inſtated in his Dignity, is now univerſally looked
upon as ſuppoſititious i. By the other Letter, the Pope appoints An-
Scharius, who had converted the Swedes and Danes to the Chriſtian
Faith, Legate of the Apoſtolic Sce to all the Northern Nations of
Germany, approves the creating the City of Hambourg, where An-
Scharius was to reſide, into an Archiepiſcopal Sec, and confirms all
the Privileges granted to that See by the Emperor.
MICHAEL
Emperor of the Eaſt.
LOTHARIUS
Emperor of the Weft.
SERGIUS II.
The Hundred and Firſt Bishop of Rome.
IM
N the room of Gregory was choſen, and ordained on the roth Sergius elect-
ed, and bis
of February, which, in 844, fell on a Sunday, Sergius, the Se-
Competitor
cond of that Name, the Son of one Sergius, a Native of Rome, and driven from
the Sce
Archiprieſt of the Roman Church k. He was not choren without
Oppoſition: John, Deacon of the Roman Church, ſupported by the
Populace, took Poffeſſion by Force of the Lateran Palace; and having
driven Sergius from thence, was placed by the Populace in the Ponti-
fical Chair ; but he was ſoon driven out, in his Turn, by the Roman
& Sigibert. Marian. Siſt. Herman. Contract. annal. Bertin. Sigon. Onuph. &c.
h Concil. t. viii. p. 1575.
i Vide Sirmond. in Append. ad Concil. Gall. t. iii.
k Anaſt, in Serg. II.
VOL. IV
Hh
Nobility,
234
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Sergius II.
him.
His Son
waſte the
ritories.
Year of Nobility, wlio would have put him to Death, had not Sergius inter-
.Chrift 844.
poſed in his favour 1,
The Emperor
As the new Pope was ordained as ſoon as elected, Lotharius, who
refonts his be-
ing ordained had ſucceeded his Father in the Imperial Dignity ever ſince the Year
before his 840, hcard at the ſame time of his Election and Ordination; and
Election was
confirmed by
highly provoked at his having been ordained before his Elcction was
examined and confirmed, according to Cuſtom, by him, or his De.
putics, he diſpatched his eldeſt Son Lewis, whom he had appointed
King of thic Lombards, with a powerful Army into Italy, to take
Poffeflion of his Kingdom, and at the ſame time to examine the Elec-
tion of the Pope, to chaſtiſe the Romans for their Preſumption, and
order Matters ſo as to prevent thcir encroaching for the future on
the juſt Rights of his Crown. The young Prince was attended by a
great many Biſhops, and other Perſons of Diſtinction, among whom
was his Uncle Drogo Biſhop of Mets; and, upon his entering the
Lewis lays
Ecclefiaftical State, he committed every-where moſt dreadful Ra-
Roman Ter- vages, put great Numbers of the Inhabitants to the Sword, burnt
their Habitations, and turned the whole Country, through which he
paſſed, into a Deſart. However, as he bent his March towards
Rome, the Pope ſent out all the Judges and Magiſtrates to meet him,
while yet at the Diſtance of Nine Miles from the City. He was
reccived, when One Mile from the Gate, by all the Roman Mi-
litia, by the Nobility, and Part of the Clergy, and attended by thein
ſinging his Praiſes, and by the People welcoming him with repeater
Acclamations, to the Vatican. There the Pope, with the reſt of the
Clergy, waited his Arrival on the Top of the Steps leading up to the
Church; which the King aſcending, he embraced the Popc, and tak-
ing hold of his right Hand, they thus advanced together to the Door
of the Church; but, when they were upon the Point of entering the
Baſilic, the Pope, unexpectedly ſtopping, ordered all the Doors to be
ſhut ; and then turning to the King, If you come, ſaid he, as a
Friend, and for the Good of the State, and this Church, I mäll or-
der the Doors to be opened; if not, they ſhall not be opened by me,
nor by my Command. The King, not a little ſurpriſed at the Reſo-
lution of the Pope, aſſured him, that he was come with no cvil In-
tention ; which he had no ſooner done, than the Doors were opened,
and the King, entering the Church with the Pope, was conducted by
him to the Tomb of St. Peter, the Clergy finging in the mean time,
1 Anaft, in Serg. II.
8 Bleſſed
Sergius 11.
235
BISHOPS of Rome.
Bleſſed is he who cometh in the Name of the Lord. There Thanks Year of
Chriſt 844.
were returned, with great Solemnity, to God, and his Apoſtle, for
the ſafe Arrival of the King; who, taking leave of the Pope when
Prayers were ended, returned, attended by all the Roman Nobility,
to his Camp. He had ſignified to the Pope his Deſire of being
crowned and anointed by hini King of the Lombards; and that Ce. He is crowun.
remony Sergius performed the following Sunday, the 15th of June, ed by the Pope
King of Italy
with the greateſt Pomp and Magnificence m.
Lewis, tho'well pleaſed with the Reception he met with at Rome, Complaints
and the uncommon Regard the Roman Nobility paid him; yet, to againſt the
Pope.
puniſh them for ſuffering the new Pope to be ordained before his
Election was approved by the Emperor, he allowed his Army to pil-
lage their Farms, to lay waſte their Lands, and to live as in an Ene-
my's Country. The City would, in all Likelihood, have fared no
better than the ncighbouring Country, had not the Pope, apprehend-
ing the Danger, ordered all the Gates to be ſhut, and the Walls to
bc Night and Day guarded by the Roman Militia. In the mean time,
the King's Camp was filled with Biſhops from the different Provinces
of Italy, come, upon their hearing that the King and the Pope were
at Variance, to complain of the daily Uſurpations of the Popes, and
the Tyranny they exerciſed over them and their Sees. Amongſt
theſe were the Archbiſhops of Ravenna and Milan, and no fewer
than Thirteen Biſhops immediately ſubject to the Apoſtolic Sec; and
they all greedily laid hold of the preſent Opportunity, encouraged,
ſays Anaſtaſius, by the Archbiſhop of Mets, to redeem themſelves
from ſo galling a Yoke. The King, glad of any Pretence to humble
the Pope, not only hearkened to the Complaints of the Biſhops, buc
ordered them to be examined by the Biſhops who were with him, and
likewiſe by the Counts, of whom Anaſtaſius names Seven, aſſem-
bled in Council, and ſummoned the Pope to appear before them,
and juſtify the Conduct of his See. That Council Anaftafius ftiles
a Cabal againſt the univerſal Church, and Head of all Churches.
The Pope, however, obcyed the Sunimons, and, if we may credit
that Writer, anſwered the Complaints of his Adverſaries with ſuch
Prudence and Wiſdom, as confounded and ſilenced them all n. The
King was probably ſatisfied with having thus humbled and mortified
the Pope for ſuffering himſelf to be ordained without the Knowlege
and Conſent of the Emperor.
m Anaft, ibid. n Idem ibid.
Hh 2
Before
+
236
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or
Sergius II.
Year of
take an Oath
10r.
roro.
The Pope ap-
Before the Council was diſmiſſed, Drogo moved, that an Oath of
Chriſt 844.
* Allegiance might be taken to King Lewis by the Pope, and the Ro-
The Pope and man Nobility and People. But this Motion, tho' ſeconded by all
the Romans
the Gallican Biſhops, was vigorouſly oppoſed by the Pope ; declare-
of Allegiance ing, that thcy were all ready to ſwear Allegiance to their great Em-
to the Empe-
peror Lotharius,; but that he neither would take ſuch an Oath him-
ſelf, nor ſuffer the Romans to take it to the King of the Lombards.
The Motion was thereforc dropt; and both Drogo and the King
contented themſelves with the Pope's taking, in their Preſence, toge-
ther with the Romans, the uſual Oath of Allegiance to the Empe-
And hence it is manifeſt, that the Pope and the Romans
acknowleged the Emperor for their Leige Lord; and that the King
of Italy could exerciſe no Power or Authority, but in the Emperor's
Name, over them or the City.
As great Confidence was repoſed in Drogo by the Emperor, as
points Drogo well as the King, and he bore great Sway in both Courts, the Pope,
France and to gain ſo powerful a Protc&tor, appointed him, before he left Rome,
Germany. his Vicar in France and in Germany, with a Power over all thoſe
Churches and Biſhops, to be controuled by none but the Pope him-
ſelf, as the immcdiatc Vicar of St. Peter. In the Letter Sergius
wrote on this Occaſion to the Biſhops of France and Germany, he
beitows the higheſt Encomiums upon Drogo; acquaints them with
his having preferred him, in Conſideration of his high Birth, and his
eminent Virtues, to the Dignity of his Vicar; and requires them to
obey him in all Things, as acting in his Naine, and by the Authority
Drogo's Con- of his Sce. But Drogo finding, upon his Return to France, the
duct on that Gallican Biſhops too jealous of their Libertics, and too much upon
Occafion.
their Guard againſt all Papal Encroachments, to acknowlege his un-
bounded Authority, he wiſely forbore exerciſing or claiming any
over them, or their Churches; and he is on that Account highly
coinmended by Hincmar, as chuſing rather to forego his Power,
than to maintain it at the Expence of the public Peace and Tranquil-
Jity P. Happy had it been for the Church, had all Biſhops, eſpecially
the Biſhops of Rome, been actuated by ſuch Chriſtian Principles :
But alas! what greater Diſturbances have been raiſed by the Ambition
of temporal Princes in the State, than by the Ambition of theſe ſpi-
ritual Princes in the Church? And what elſe is the Hiſtory of the
Church, to the great Diſgrace of the Chriſtian Religion, but the
P Hincmar, ep. 44. & l. vii. Concil. p. 1799.
Hiſtory
0 Idem ibid.
Leo IV. BISHOPS of Rome.
237
Year of
Hiſtory of Anti-chriſtian Diſputes and Quarrels of Churchmon about
Chrift 844.
Power and Pre-minence ?
The King renewed, during his Stay at Rome, the Imperial Edia, Ediet forbid-
ding the Pope
forbidding the Pope, how canonically focycr clccted, to be ordained,
to be ordained
till his Election was approved and confirmed by the Emperor; ſeverely till his Elec-
reprimanded the Pope
, as well as the People and Clergy, for having formed by think
preſumed to tranfgreſs that Edict, and recommended to all the ſtrict'Emperor.
Obſervance of it, on Pain of incurring the Diſpleaſure of the Empc-
ror, and his. He made ſeveral other Regulations, in the Eniperor's
Name, with reſpect to the Government of Rome, and the better
Adminiſtration of Juſtice; and then quitting, to the grcat Joy of the
Pope and the Romans, the Neighbourhood of the City, he repaired
with bis Army to Pavia, the Reſidence of the Kings of Italy, or
the Kings of the Lombards 9.
I find nothing elſe recorded of Sergius, beſides his admitting Sico.
nulph, Duke of Benevento, to kiſs his precious Fect, as Anaſtaſius
expreſſes it, and his rebuilding, repairing, and embelliſhing with
Pidures and other Ornaments, the Churches of Rome, and robbing
the Cemeteries to enrich them with Reliques . Indeed this ſeems
to have been the chief, if not the whole, Employment of the Popes
at this time. Sergius died on the 27th of January 8475; and con Sergius diese
fequently, as he was ordained about the roth of February 844. hc Chrift 847.
muſt have held the See Three Years, wanting ſome Days. In the
latter End of the Pontificate of Sergius, the Saracens, entering with
a numerous Fleet of ſmalt Veſſels the Tiber, landed at Rome, burnt
the Suburbs, plundered the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul with-
out the Walls, and retired, unmoleſted, with an immenfe Booty, and
a great Number of Captives.
Year of
LOTHARIUS and LEWIS, LEO IV.
MICHAEL,
Emperors of the Weſt.
Emperor of the Eaſt:
The Hundred and Second Bishop of Rome.
SER
ERGIUS was not yet buried, when Leo, the Fourth of that Leo chosein,
Name, a Native of Rome, the Son of Rodulph, and Presbyter before his
of thc Roman Church, was choſen with onc Voice in his room, was Election was
carried by Force to the Lateran Palace, and placed, with the uſual confirmed by
the Emperor
Anaſt. in Serg II. Idem ibid. • Annal. Bertin.
Cere-
238
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo IV.
1
Chriſt 847
th
Year of Ceremonies, and loud Acclamations, on the Pontifical Throne. How-
cver, he was not ordained till the rith of April, that is, till Two
Months and Fifteen Days after his Election ; and the Cauſe of ſo long
a Delay was, that the new Pope, not daring to ſuffer himſelf to be
ordained till his Election was confirmed by the Emperor, waited the
Arrival of his Deputies to examine and confirm it. But as neither
the Deputies arrived, nor did the Meſſengers return, whom the Pope
had ſent to acquaint the Emperor with his Promotion, and at the
ſame time the Saracens appeared anew on the neighbouring Coaſt,
the Roman Scnate were of Opinion, that the Imperial Edict might be
diſpenſed with at ſo critical a Juncture; and Leo was accordingly
ordained, at their Requeſt and Deſirc, on the 11th of April, which,
in 847, fell on Eaſter-Monday. On this Occaſion, however, they
took care to proteſt and declare, that, in cauſing the Pope to be thus
ordained, they did not intend, by any means, to derogate from the
juſt Rights of the Imperial Crown, or to decline complying with the
Ordinance of their Leige Lord, whom, next to God, they were bound
to obey t.
Enriches the
The firſt Care of the new Pope was, to reſtore to their former
Churches of
St. Peter and Splendor the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, which the Saracens
St. Paul;
had ſtripped of all their valuable Ornaments; and the Quantity of
Gold, of Silver, of precious Stones, he is ſaid by Anaſtaſius to have
employed for that Purpoſe, almoſt exceeds all Belief. A very ſmall
Portion of the Wealth hc thus wantonly laviſhed away, would have
afforded a comfortable Maintenance to all the Poor of the City.
Leo's next Care was, to ſecure ſo great a Treaſure againſt any
new Attempts of the Saracens ; and with that View he reſolved to
Building of
the Leonine execute the Deſign, which his Predeceffor Leo III. had formed, but
City.
was prevented by Death from putting it in Execution ; viz. to build
a new City on the Vatican, and incloſe it, as well as the Church of
St. Peter, with a Wall, left ſo much Wealth ſhould be left expoſed to
the facrilegious Avarice of every Corſair. That Reſolution he im.
parted to the Emperor ; who not only approved of it, but generouſly
contributed, and prevailed on his Two Brothers, Charles King of
Neuſtria, and Louis King of Bavaria, to contribute no leſs genc-
rouſly than himſelf, towards carrying on ſo great and ſo neceſſary a
Work. The Roman Nobility too, applauding the Deſign, afſifted
the Pope with large Sums to undertake the Execution of it without
i Anaſt. in Leon. IV.
De.
and under
takes the
Leo IV. BISHOPS of Rome.
239
Year of
Rome.
Year of
IN
Delay. Leo therefore, being thus encouraged to begin, and enabled
Chrilt 847
to purſue the intended Work, the Materials were got ready, Artifi-
cers and Workmen were, with the Promiſe of extraordinary Wages,
enriced from the different Provinces of Italy to Rome, and the Foun-
dations of the new City. were laid in the Month of September of the
preſent Year, with the greateſt Solemnity. The Pope took upon
himſelf the Office of Overſeer, ſpending all the Time he could ſpare
from his ſpiritual Functions in reviewing the Works, which he is ſaid
to have done every Day, and in all kinds of Weather, in encou-
raging the Workmen, and examining what Progreſs they made in
their reſpective Tasks or Duties u.
This great Undertaking the Pope, however, was obliged to inter. Fertifies
rupe
for ſome time the following Year, being certainly informed that
the Saracens were cquipping a powerful Fleet in the Ports of Africa, Chrift 849,
with a Deſign to make a Second Attempt upon Rome. This Intel-
ligence occaſioned a general Confternation; and Leo, abandoning
for the preſent the Work he had begun, employed all his Workmen
in fortifying the City, and putting it in a Condition to withſtand any
ſudden Attack or Surprize. He repaired the Walls in ſeveral Places,
gone quite to Decay, rebuilt moſt of the Towers, erected ſeveral
new ones, Two eſpecially of great Strength on the oppoſite Banks
of the Tiber, with a Chain drawn from the one to the other, to pre-
vent any Veſſel from paſſing; and, to defend the City ſtill more
effectually, cauſed a great many Bodies of Saints, dug up in the Ce-
meteries without the Walls, to be brought into it with great Pomp
and Solemnity.
In the mcan time the Saracens, having aſſembled their Fleet at The Fleet of
the Saracens
Tozar in Sardinia, the Place of their general Rendezvous, ſer Sail
intirely ds.
from thence for Porto, with a Deſign to land Part of their Forces ftroyed.
there, and convey the reſt up the Tiber to the very Gates of the City.
But the Inhabitants of Naples, of Amalfi, of Gaeta, and the other
maritime Places, no ſooner heard of their Deſign, than apprehending
their own Fate depended upon that of Rome, they aſſembled in great
Haſte all their armed Veſſels, and putting to Sea, failed to Porto,
reſolved to guard the Entrance into the River, and to engage the
Barbarians, ſhould they offer to enter it, or to land any Forces.
Upon their Arrival, they ſent ſome of their chief Officers to let the
Pope know that they were come as Friends (for he diſtruſted the
u Idem ibid.
Greeks
240
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo IV.
Chrift 849.
1
Year of Greeks and the Beneventan Lombards, to whom thoſe Cities be-
longed), and that they were all to a Man ready to venture their
Lives in his Defence, and the Defence of the City. Hercupon the
Pope, tranſported with Joy, flow to Porto, received there both the
Soldiers and Officers with extraordinary Marks of Eſteem and Affec-
tion, admitted theni to kiſs his Foot; and, upon expreſſing a great
Deſire to receive the Sacrament at his Hands, he went with them in
Proceſſion to the Church of St. Aurea, and having performed there
divine Service with great Solcnuity, and adminiſtered the Sacrament
to them all, he encouraged them to fight manfully, having St. Peter
and St. Paul, whoſe facred Bodies they defended, to fight with
then, gave them his Bleſſing, and recommending them to the Pro-
taction of the Prince of the Apoſtles, returned to Rome. The very
next Day, the Fleet of the Saracens appeared off Oſtia ; and the
Chriſian Fleet putting thereupon immediately to Sea, an Engage-
ment enſucd ; but the Two Fleets were foon parted by a violent
Wind, that aroſe unexpectedly, and drove moſt of the Enemy's Ships
on the Shore, where they were daſhed to Pieces, and all on board
miſerably periſhed. The reſt were diſperſed, and either ſwallowed
up by the Sca, or ſhipwrecked againſt the Rocks and the INands; and
very few had the good Luck to reach the African Coaſt. The Sa-
racens were almoſt all either drowned, ſtarved with Hunger on the
abandoned Ilands where their Veſſels were ſhipwrecked, or taken
Priſoners, and carried in Triumph to Rome. There, and all along
the Coalt, great Numbers of them were hanged, and left on the
Gibbcts, to ſtrike Terror into their Countrymen, and the reſt were
put in Chains by the Pope, and employed as Drudges in the moſt
laborious Parts of his new Works w. This Victory or Deliverance
was, we may be ſure, aſcribed to the miraculous Interpoſition of the
Saints, eſpecially of the Two Princes of the Apoſtles. By them the
Storm was raiſed; by them alone the Fleet of the Saracens was diſ-
perſed and deſtroyed.
Lewis King
While the Romans were at the Height of their Rejoicings for ſo
of Italy, remarkable a Victory, Lewis King of Italy arrived at Rome, fene
crowned Em-
thither by his father, who had lately taken him for his Collegue in
peror at
the Empire, to be crowned Emperor by the Pope. .Lco reccivcd
Year of
Chrift 8;
him with all the Marks of Diftin&tion due to his Character, and
crowned him, with the uſual Ccrcnionics, on the 2d of December
Rome.
w Idem ibid.
of
Leo IV. BISHOPS of Rome.
241
Chriſt 850.
of the preſent Year., As Leo had been ordained before his Election Year of
was confirmed by the Emperor, the Romans were under no ſmall
Apprehenſions of the King's reſenting it, as he had reſented but a few
Years before their ſuffering Sergius to be thus ordained. But Lewis
was intirely ſatisfied with the Reaſons they alleged, and their having
proteſted on that Occaſion that they did, by no micans, intend to
withdraw themſelves from the Obedience they owed to their Lcige
Lord and Sovereign.
Leo, in the mcan time, purſued with incredible Ardor the
great
The Leoninc
City confe-
Work he had begun in the Second Year of his Pontificate ; and he
crated.
had in the Sixth the Satisfaction of completing it, and ſeeing the Ba Y car of
Chriſt 852.
filic of the Prince of the Apoſtles, that had hitherto ſtood by itſelf,
defended only by thic Reverence that was due to ſo ſacred a Place,
ſtanding now in the Midſt of a City, and defended, where that Re-
verence ſhould be wanting, by a ſtrong Wall. The new City was,
from the Name of its Founder, called the Leonine City; and the
Pope conſecrated it with great Solemnity on the 27th of June. He
walked on that Occaſion in Proceſſion with ſeveral Biſhops, and all
the Roman Clergy, round the new Wall bare-foot, ſprinkled it with
holy Water, and ſtopping at the Three Gates, ſaid at each of them
a different Prayer ; begging the Almighty, by the Merits of his holy
Apoſtles St. Peter and St. Paul (not of Chriſt) to pour down his
Bleſſings on the City which he had built, and, from his own Name,
called the Leonine City; to grant it new Triumphs over thoſe againſt
whom it was built ; and to preſerve it from ever falling into the
Hands of its cruel and mercileſs Enemies. When the Proceflion
was ended, the Popc performed divinc Service in the Church of
St. Peter ; at which aſſiſted the whole Roman Clergy in a Body,
the Senate, all the Nobility, and a great many Strangers of Diſtinc-
tion, come from all Parts to ſec the new City, and be preſent at
thc Ceremony of its Conſecration. After divine Service, the Pope,
whoſe Treaſure was not, it ſeems to be exhauſted, ordered confi-
derable Sums to be diſtributed among the People, and Preſents to
be ſent to all Perſons of Diſtinction, both Roman and forcign, then
in Rome. Such is the Account Anaſtaſius gives us of the building
and conſecrating of the Leonine City; and he was an Eye-witneſs of
what he relates x.
* Idem ibid.
VOL. IV.
Ii
Leo,
242
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo IV.
Council af.
Rome.
1
1
Leo, being now at Leiſure to attend to Ecclefiaftical Affairs, and
fembled at
diſcharge the Duties of his Epiſcopal Office, undertook, with great
Year of Zcal, to rcform the Manners of the Clergy, and redreſs the many
Chrift 853. Abuſes that prevailed among them as well as the Monks. With that
View he aſſembled, in the Month of December 853, a Council at
Rome, conſiſting of Sixty-ſeven Biſhops. By them ſome new Canons
were iſſued, and the Obſervance of others, that had been formerly
nade, enforced, on Pain of Depoſition, Excommunication, exc. all
calculated to reſtore the Eccleſiaſtical Diſcipline, and baniſh the many
Abuſes that had inſenſibly crept into the Church. The Council took
particular Care, as moſt other Councils had done, thoʻ to very little
Purpoſe, to prevent the Biſhops and Clerks from frcquenting the
Company of Women, from admitting them into their Houſes, or
converſing familiarly with them. By the ſame Council Divorces
were forbidden in all Caſes, but in that of Adultery; and married Per-
fons reſtrained from embracing a monaſtic Life, without the Conſent
of the Biſhop; who was charged to inquire, with great Care, whe-
ther both truly agreed to it, and if they did nor, to deny his Con-
ſent.
The Pope and the Biſhops of the Aſſembly depoſed, before they
depoſed by the
Pope and the parted, and depoſed with one Conſent, Anaftafius, Cardinal Pref-
byter of the Church of St. Marcellus in Rome. He had been Five
Years abſent ; and tho' commanded by the Pope to return, and even
excommunicated for paying no kind of Regard to his repeated Com-
mands, he ſtill continued to live, unconcerned, in the Dioceſe of
Aquilea, pretending, that the Pope had there no ſort of Power or
Authority over him. He was therefore folemnly depoſed; and the
Sentence, declaring him diveſted of all Sacerdotal and Eccleſiaſtical
Dignity, was ſigned by the Pope, and all the Biſhops, Presbyters,
and Deacons, who were preſenty. It is obfervable, that this Coun-
cil is ſaid to have been held in the Seventh Tear of the Pontificate
of the moſt holy and univerſal Pope Lco IVth; and this is the Firſt
Inſtance we meet with of any public Deeds marked with the Years
of the Popes, or of their Pontificate.
Alfred ſent by The ſame Year came to Rome the famous Alfred, ſent by his Fa-
his Father to, ther Æthelwulf, King of the Weſt-Saxons, to be educated there
under the Care and Direction of the Pope, being then ſcarce Four
Years old; for he was born in 849. Aſferius, who lived with him,
R
Analtafius
Council
be educated at
Rome.
y Idem ibid.
and
Leo IV.
BISHOPS of Rome.
243
Year of
.;
and wrote his Life, tells us, that Leo confirmed him; that he adopted Year of
Chriſt 854.
him for his Son; and anointed him Kingz; but of what Kingdom,
neither that Writer, nor any other, has informed us. As for the
Kingdom of the Weſt-Saxons, it was then held by his Father; and
he had Three other Sons, who were all older than Alfred, and came
to the Crown bcforc hini.
As the Saracens continued, notwithſtanding their late Diſaſter, to Colony of
Corſicans
infeſt the Coaſt, the Pope fortificd, at a great Expence, the City of
ſettled at
Porto, planted there a Colony of Corſicans, and not only yielded to Porto.
them for ever that City, and its Territory, upon their ſwearing Alle-
Chrift 854.
giance to him and his Succeſſors, but generouſly ſupplied them with
Horſes, with Oxen, with Tools of Agriculture, and Arms to repulſe
the Saracens, ſhould thcy offer to attack them. He likewiſe rebuilt
the Walls of Hortana and Amerina, quite gone to Ruin, and of
many other Cities on the Coalt, left altogether defencelcſs to the
Mercy of the Encny. The Inhabitants of Centumcella had aban- And the City
doned their City, chuſing rather to wander like wild Beaſts in the Of Centum;
cellæ rebuilt,
Woods, than to live in conſtant Fear of being either maſſacred by
the Saracens, or carried by them into Captivity, with their Wives
and their Children. The Pope was affected with the Miſeries they
ſuffered ; and he determined, notwithſtanding the inimenſe Sums he
had already expended, to build them a new City. He went accord-
ingly in Perſon to look out for a convenient Place to build it on;
but, tho'he viewed, and narrowly examined, every Spot in that Part
of the Country, he could find none that he intirely approved of.
But Heaven interpoſed ; and a moſt convenient Situation for the in-
tended City was pointed out to him in a Dream, nay, and the Plan
ſhewn him, which he was to conform to in building it. The Plan
he copied in his Sleep, found it, when he awaked, in his Hand, and
had, in a very ſhort Time, thc Satisfaction of ſeeing a new City raiſed
in the Place, and in every part anſwering the Plan that Heaven had
ſhewn him a. Thus Anaftafius; and he probably Icarnt the Story
he relates from the Pope himſelf, who might not fcruple to uſe that
pious Invention or Frand to get his Deſign the more readily approved,
and the more ſpeedily executed : For wbo would not approve, who
would not, with the greateſt Ardor and Eagernels, concur in the
Execution of a Plan or Deſign fent down from Heaven: The Pope
conſecrated the new City with the very ſame Ceremonies, Pomp,
z Vit. Alfred, b Anaſt. ibid.
and
1
1 i 2
244
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Leo IV.
comes to
Year of and Solemnity he had uſed in confecrating the Leonine City; and,
Chriſt 854. from his own Name, called it Leopolis, the fame Name in Greek that
he gave to the other in Latin. I leave Anaſtaſius to reconcile his .
thus tranſmitting his Name to Poſterity with the utter Contempt he
is ſaid by that Writer to have entertained of all human Glory. In
Proceſs of Time, the Inhabitants of the new City, diſliking its Situa-
tion, and either forgetting, or not believing it had been pointed out
by Heaven, abandoned it, and returned to Centumcelle, which they
called Civita Vecchia, that is, the ancient City; and ſo it is called
to this Day h.
The Emperor Leo had ſcarce fipiſhed his new City, when News was brought
Rome.
him, to his great Surprize, of the Arrival of the Emperor Lewis in
the Neighbourhood of Rome. As hc canie quite unexpected, at the
Head of a numerous Army, and no one knew with what Deſign,
his Arrival threw the whole City into the utmoſt Confternation.
He was, however, met and attended, according to Cuftoni, by the
Roman Magiſtrates, the Clergy and Nobility, to the Vatican, and
there received, with the ufual Marks of Diſtinction, by the Pope. It
does not appear that he entered the Church on this Occaſion, or
viſited the Tomb of St. Peter. He only acquainted the Pope with
the Motive of his Journey, which, he ſaid, was to puniſh the Au-
thor of a Plot, that was privately carried on againſt him and the
French Nation in general. The Pope, not in the leaſt daunted, as
being conſcious of his own Innocence, begged he would name the
Perſon, and appoint a Day for his Tryal, fince no Man could be law-
fully puniſhed till he was heard, and convicted of the Crimes laid
Gratian, to his Charge. The Emperor named Gratian, Commander of the
Commander
Roman Militia, One of the Pope's Counſellors, and a Man of the
of the Roman
Militia,
Firſt Rank and Diſtinction in Rome; and charged him with having,
in a private Converſation, ſollicitud Daniel, another Commander of
acquitted.
the Militia, to join him in driving out the French, and calling in
their old Friends the Greeks in their room. This Charge Daniel,
ſaid the Emperor, is ready to make good : A Day was therefore
ap-
pointed for the Tryal ; and Gratian was accordingly tried in the
Preſence of the Pope, of the Emperor, of the Roman Senate, and
all the French Nobility who attended the Emperor. Before that
Affembly Daniel renewed the Accuſation with great Alurance;
but Gratian, in the Courſe of the Tryal, made his Innocence ſo
2 Bruzen. Martin. Diet. Geograph, et Crit.
Flainly
tried, and
1
Leo IV.
BISHOPS of Rome.
245
1
Year of
plainly appear, and convicted the Informer of ſuch palpable Contra-
Chriſt 855.
diâions, that he was obliged in the End to own, that the Whole
was a Calumny, intirely owing to Malice and Envy. Hereupon
Gratian was cleared, and Daniel delivered up to him, agreeably to
the Roman Law, that ſtill obtained in Rome, to be diſpoſed of by
him at his Pleaſure. The Emperor, however, begged, that his Life
might be (pared; and Gratian accordingly ſpared it c.
The Emperor left Rome as ſoon as the Tryal was over, intirely Leo dies, and
ſatisfied of the Loyalty of Gratian, and the Romans in general; and
is fainted.
Year of
the Pope died ſoon after his Departure, that is, according to the moſt Chriſt 855.,
correct Copies of Anaſtaſius, and the other Chronologiſts, on the
17th of July 855, having preſided in the Roman Church Eight Years,
Three Months, and Six Days d. In this Pope centercd, if Anaſta-
fius is to be credited, all moral and Chriſtian Virtues, without the
Allay of one ſingle Vice or Defect; and it is not to be doubted but
the Place he now holds amongſt. Saints in the Calendar, was owing
to the high Commendations that Writer beſtows on him, and the
Miracles he is by him ſaid to have wrought. Amongſt theſe, the fol-
lowing was alonc ſufficient to convince the World of his extraordi-
nary Sanctity : A Baſilisk of an immenſe Size haunted a Cave in the Miracle
Neighbourhood of the Church of St. Lucia in Orphea, and, with wrought by
its venomous Breath, killed all who approached the Mouth of the
Cave. Thus was that Part of the City ſoon turned into a Defart,
all flying from thence to avoid the Contagion. But Leo, pitying
their Condition, undertook, as ſoon as he was ordained, to deliver
them from ſo troubleſome a Neighbour. In order to that, he went
in Proceſſion, after a general Faſt, with all his Clergy, to the Church
of St. Mary ad Præfepe, and from thence to the Cave, cauſing an
Image of the Virgin Mary to be carried before him. As he ap-
proached the fatal Place, he ordered the Clergy and People to ſtop;
and boldly advancing along to the very Mouth of the Cavern, pro-
nounced ſome Prayers there, returned unhurt; and thc Baſilisk was
never more heard of e. Againſt this Miracle might be objected the
Authority of Pliny, telling us, that the Baſilisk is no-where to be
met with, but in the Province of Cyrenaica in Africa f. But that
Objection Baronius has anſwered, by letting us know, that when
i
c Anaſt. in Leo. IV.
&c. c Anaſt, ibid.
Anaſt. Herman. Contract. Orderii Vital. Martin. Pelon..
f Plin. Nat. Hift. 1. viii. c. 21.
5.
God
246
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
Year of God wants to puniſh thc Sins of Men, every Country produces cvery
Chrift 855. noxious Creature f.
The Diſpute In Leo's Time was firſt moved by:a Monk named Gotheſcalque,
about Grace
the fanious Diſpute about Grace, Predeſtination, and free Will, that
and free Will
first moved in divided the wholc Gallican Church into Two oppoſite Parties, and
Leo's Time.
was long carried on, with great Warmth, by the moſt eminent Men
of that Church. But as the Pope never interfered in the Controverſy,
nor did any of either Party ever think of appealing to him, or asking
his Opinion (an irrefragable Proof that they did not look upon him
as an unerring Judge in religious Diſputes), I ſhall refer the Rcader,
for an Account of that Diſputc, to the contemporary Writers, eſpe-
cially to Rabanus of Mentz, to Hincmar of Reims, and Amolo of
Lions, who were the chief Actors in it, and diſtinguiſhed themſelves,
above the reſt, by their Erudition and Learning.
Leo's Ho.
Leo wrote an Homily, calculated to inftruct the Clergy in the Du-
mily.
ties of their Office; and ordered it to be read by the Biſhops in the
Allemblies of the Clergy of their reſpective Dioceſes. It has reached
our Times, and is to be found in the Collection of the Councils 8.
Pope JOAN.
A
lated by feve- ever exiſted.
The Adven-
FTER Leo IV, and before Benedict III. is commonly placed
tures of Pope the famous Pope Joan, by thoſe who belicve that ſuch a Pope
Joan, as re-
cver exiſted. But before I inquire whether ſuch a Pope ever exiſted,
ral Writers. or not, the Reader will expect ſome Account of the Birth, of the
Education, of the various Adventures, of ſo extraordinary a Woman,
before, as well as after, ſhe attained to the Pontifical Dignity, as it
has been delivered down to us by the Writers, who ſpeak of her as
a real, and not as a fabulous Perſon. She was, according to moſt
of thoſe Writers, thc Daughter of an Engliſh Miſſionary ; who, Icav-
ing his own Country, went over to Germany, with great Numbers
of his Countrymen, to inſtruct the Saxons, whom Charlemagne had
converted with his victorious Army to the Chriſtian Religion. The
Miſſionary carried over his Wife with him, which obliged him, as
ſhe was big with Child, to ſtop at Ingelheim; and there ſhe was de-
Livercd of a Daughter, whom ſomc call Joan, and others Agnes,
f Bar. ad ann. 847. p. 52.
& Concil. l. vii. p. 33.
Gerbert,
Joan. BISHOPS of Rome.
247
Gerbert, Iſabel, Marguerite, Dorothy, and Jutt. As foan (fo
fhall call her, as ſhe is moſt commonly known by that Name) ſhewed
from her Infancy a ſtrong Inclination to the Study of Letters, and
her Father, who was a Man of great Learning, indulging that Incli-
nation, took upon him to inſtruct her, ſhe made under him ſuch
aſtoniſhing Progreſs in the different Branches of Literature, that ſhe
was looked upon by all as a Prodigy. Her Pallion for Learning did
not render her inſenſible to a Pallion of a different Naturc. As ſhe
was no leſs famous for her Beauty and Addreſs than for her Genius
and her Learning, a young Monk, of thc Monaſtery of Fuld in Gera
many, fell violently in Love with her; and his Flame kindling one
no leſs violent in her Breaſt, it was agreed between them, that, to
enjoy more frecly the Company of each other, ſhe ſhould privately
withdraw from her Father's Houſe, ſhould diſguiſe her Sex, and, in
that Diſguiſe, apply to the Abbot to be admitted into the ſame Mo-
naſtery. She was then only Twelve Years old; but her Pallion
inſpiring her with a Reſolution ſuperior to hier Age as well as to her
Sex, ſhe forſook her Parents unaffected, and diſſembling her Sex,
preſented herſelf to the Abbot, and ſo impoſed upon him by an
afſunied Modeſty, and a pretended Deſire of conſecrating herſelf from
her tender Years to God, and avoiding the Temptations of the
World, that might, in Confederacy with her. Paſſions when they
grew Atronger, rob her of her Innocence, that he embraced her with
great Joy, and received her, as a moſt promiſing Youth, amongſt his
Monks. And now the Two Lovers had, to thicir incxprcſible Satif-
fa&tion, Opportunities every Day of ſecing one another, of convcr-
fing familiarly together, and expreſſing to each other the Violence of
their Paſſion, undiſturbed and unſuſpected. However, they are ſaid
to have kept, notwithſtanding the Violence of their Paſſion, within
Bounds in indulging it; but within what Bounds we are not told;
and to keep any Bounds in indulging a violent Paſſion, is a Task to
which few, if any at all, are cqual. The Lovers did not long continue
in that happy State ; but eloping together, for what Reaſons we are
not informed, from the Monaſtery, they came privately over to Eng-
land, the young Monk bcing a Native of this country. Here they
purſued their Studies together with uncommon Application. From
hence they went to France, from France to Italy, and from Italy
to Greece; ſtopping where-ever they found Maſters or Profeſſors
capable of improving them in the Knowlege they had already acquired.
8
Ini
3
4
248
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
T
In Greece they choſe Athens for the Place of their Abode, to per-
fcet themſelves there in the Knowlege of the Greek Tongue. They
had not been long at Athens, when thc Monk was taken ill
, and died
in a few Days, in ſpite of all the Care that could poſſibly be uſed to
ſave his Lifc. How deeply the ſurviving Lover was affcated with ſo
fatal a Blow, no Words can cxpreſs. Not able to bear the Sight of
any Thing or Place ſhe had ever ſeen with him, ſhe reſolved, in the
famic Diſguiſe, to repair to Rome; not to viſit the holy Places there,
but to divere hier Mind from dwelling too intenſely upon the irre-
parable Loſs ſhe had ſuſtained, and alleviate her Grief with the Sight
of ſo many great Objects as would offer themſelves there to her
View. She had no Occaſion to repent of that Reſolution: Her cx-
traordinary Talents made her ſoon known in that great Metropolis;
and her Modeſty, her Addreſs, her engaging Behaviour, gained her
the Elicem as well as the Affection of all who knew her. To diſ-
play her Talents, the opened a School; and had the Satisfaction of
fccing it frequented by Perſons of the firſt Rank and Diſtinction, by
the moſt learned Men at that time in Rome; nay, and by the public
Profeſſors themſelves, nor alhamed, nor thinking it any ſort of Dif-
paragement for them to become her Diſciples. Thus ſhe continued
gaining daily new Reputation and Credit, not by her Knowlege and
Lcarning alone, but by a Conduct, in Appearance, quite blameleſs,
and an outward Shew of extraordinary Sanctity, being ever the fore-
moſt in all public Exerciſes of Piety and Devotion.
In the niean time died Pope Leo IV. and tho' Men of extraordi.
nary Merit were not then wanting in Rome, yet was a Woman pre-
ferred to them all, and, as of all the beſt qualified for ſo high a Sta-
tion, raiſed with onc Voice by the People and Clergy to the Pontifi-
cal Throne. Thus did the World behold a Woman ſitting in the
Chair of St. Peter, and the Keys, with the Power of looſening and
binding, fallen to the Diſtaff. How long ſhe was ſuffered thus to
impoſe on the Chriſtian World, is not agrced amongſt Authors
but in this all agree, that neither the People nor the Clergy had
Occaſion, till ſhe was diſcovered, to repent of their Choice ; for the
was diſcovered in the End, and the Diſcovery of her Sex was owing
to the ſame Paſſion that firſt prompted her to diſguiſe it. Had ſhe
been as chaſte as many other Women, who are ſaid to have dif-
guiſed their Sex before her Time, as well as after it, ſhe might have
continued undiſcovered, as well as they, to the Hour of her Death;
but
Is chofen
Pope.
ܪ
Joan. BISHOPS of Rome.
249
1
you when
but Chaſtity was a Virtue that ſhe had been an utter Stranger to ever
ſince her Infaney, and Opportunities now offering daily to gratify an
Inclination that ſhe never had the Reſolution to withſtand, ſhe yiclded
to it at all Adventures, diſcovered herſelf to One of her Donieftics,
on whoſe Secrecy ſhe knew ſhe could rely, and diſcloſing to him all
her Secrets, took him in the room of her former Lover. He was true
to his Truſt; and to none was their Intimacy known till the Confe-
qucnccs, naturally attending it, betrayed it to the World. Her Ho-
lineſs proved with Child; and we are told, that having prcſumed,
in that Condition, to exorciſe a Dcmoniac, and command the Devil
to tell hier when he was to quit the Body he poſſeſſed, the cvil Spirit
anſwered, Tell me firſt, you who are Pope, and the Father of Fa.
thers, when a ſhe Pope is to be brought to-bed, and I will then tell
when I am to quit the Body I poſlefs (A). That Anſwer was
underſtood by thoſe who heard it as importing no more, than that
the Devil never would depart from that Body; and 110 Notice was
thcrcfore taken of ir.
In the mean time her Holineſs advanced in her Pregnancy ; but not
thinking herſelf ſo near her Time as ſhe really was, ſhe unluckily
ventured to aſlift at a Proceſſion, the annual Proceſſion of the Roga-
tion-Weck. In that Weck, the Week preceding Whitſuntide, ex-
traordinary Devotions were perfornied to preſerve the Fruits of the
Earth yet tender and liable to be blaſted; and the Pope walked, in
folcmn Proceflion, with all the Clergy, from the Vatican Baſilic to
the Lateran. She might have excuſed hicrſelf; and a Woman of her
Art and Addreſs could not be at a Lofs to find Pretences to excuſe
herſelf from attending ſo long and ſo fatiguing a Ceremony: But ſhe
choſe to attend it, not apprehending that ſhe was ſo near her Time,
ſay ſome Writers; while others gravely tell us, that, touched with
Rcmorte, ſhe ſincerely repented of her Wickedneſs; and that an An-
gel being thereupon ſent from Heaven to offer her the Alternative,
to be either eternally damned in the other World, or endure in this
the Confuſion that was due to her Sins, ſhe choſe of the Two Evils
the leaſt. However that be, the ſet out in Proccflion from the Vatia
can, attended, according to Cuſtom, by the Clergy in a Body, by
the Senate, and immenſe Crowds of People, and walked with great
Eaſe till ſhe came to the Street between the Church of St. Clement
(A) Papa Pater Patrum Papiſe pandito partum ;
Et tibi tunc edam de corpore quando recedam.
VOL IV.
Kk
and
250
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
and the Amphitheatre. There ſhe was ſuddenly ſeized with the Pains
incident to Women in her Condition; fell, overcome by the Vio-
lence of thoſe Pains, to the Ground; and whilc all about her were
Ariving to help her up, and afford her ſomc Relief, not knowing what
had befallen her, ſhe was, in the public Street, and in the Preſence
Is delivered of the whole Multitude, delivered of a Son, or, as a Monkiſh Poct
of a Son in
the public
cxprelles it, of a little Pope (B). Some ſay, that both the Mother
Street. and the Child died on the Spot; and others, that the Child died;
but that the Mother was preſerved by a kind of Miracle, to atone,
as ſhe did in a Dungeon, for her Wickedneſs (C). They add, that,
to perpetuate the Memory of ſuch an extraordinary Adventurc, a
little Chapel was built, and a Statue erected, in thc Place where it
happened, both to the Mother and the Child; and that, in Deteſta-
tion of the Fact, the Popes and the Roman Clergy have ever ſince,
in thcir Proccflions from the Vatican to the Lateran, turned off
from that Street, chuſing rather to go a good way about than to paſs
through ſo infamous a Place.
Not ſatisfied with thus ſhewing their
Deteſtation and Abhorrence of ſuch a ſcandalous Impoſition, to pre-
vent their being thus impoſed upon for the future, they introduced
the inimodeſt Cuſtom of placing the new Pope on a perforated Stool,
before he was ordained, and obliging the youngeſt Deacon to ſatisfy
himſelf and then, that thc Perſon, whom they had choſen, was not
a Woman ; Mas eft, cried thic Dcacon; and the Clergy anſwered,
Deo gratias.
Her Auvin Such is the Account they give us of the Birth, Education, Adven-
ventures, and unhappy End of the celebrated Pope Joan. But it is
Marianus. to be obſerved, that of none of the various Circumſtances and Inci.
dents, with which they have embelliſhed her Story, has the leaſt No.
tice becn taken by Marianus Scotus, who flouriſhed 200 Years after
her Time, and is ſuppoſed to have bcen thc firſt that mentioned her.
All he ſaid of her, if he ſaid ſo much, was, that to Leo IV ſucceeded
Joan, a Woman, who held the See Two Tears, Five Months, and
Four Days. Whatever elſe we read of her, has been added by Writers
who lived, fomc One, ſome Two, fomc Three, and ſome Four hun-
tures un-
known to
(B. Papa Pater Patrum peperit Pariſſa Papellumi.
TC) She is nevertheleſs repreſented by Mantuanus hanging, with her Lover, at the
Entry into Hell :
Hic pendebat ad'hui, fexum mentita virilem
Fæmina, cui triplici Phrygiam diademate mitram
Sufpendebat apex'; et Pontificalis adulter, fays that Poet.
dred
Joan.
BISHOP.S of Rome.
251
dred Years after Marianus, and may conſequently be looked upon
as fabulous. However, as a Fact, true in itſelf, may be, and often
is, related with ſuch Circumſtances as render it incredible, I ſhall
examine here the Fact in queſtion, abſtracting from the Circumſtances
with which later Writes have embelliſhed it, and only inquire, whe-
ther Leo IV. was filcceeded by JOAN a Woman?
And, in the Firſt place, I cannot at all agree with Panvinius, that Not impoſ-
God never would have ſuffered the Sce of St. Peter, founded by Chriſtible that a
himſelf, to be ſacrilegiouſly profancd by a Woman l; ſince he him- Mould have
been raiſed to
ſelf is forced to allow, and ſo is Baronins, the Sec of St. Peter, tho'
the Pontifical
founded, according to them, by Chriſt himſelf, to have been ſacri. Dignity.
legiouſly profaned by the moſt wicked of Men, by Monſters of Ini-
quity, by the Lovers, thic Bullies, the Baſtards of public Proſtitutes,
Proſtitutes governing Rome with an abſolute Sway, and raiſing their
chief Favourites to the See of St. Peter. Neither can I agree with
thoſe, who think it impoflible that a Woman ſhould have diſguiſed
her Sex ſo artfully, as to be raiſed, quite unſuſpected, to the Ponti-
fical Dignity : For Inſtances are not wanting of Women, who have
diſguiſed their Sex no leſs ſucceſsfully than Joan is ſaid to have done,
and have lived, quite unluſpected, till Death diſcovered them, or they
diſcovered themſelves. Thus did Eugenia, Daughter to Philip Go-
vernor of Alexandria under the Emperor Gallienus, diſguiſe herſelf
ſo as to be admitted into a Monaſtery of Monks, nay, and to be made
Abbot; and ſhe would have continued undiſcovered to the Hour of
her Death, had the not diſcovered herſelf to ſave her Reputation,
being impeached of an Intrigue with a Woman of ill Famc, to the
great Scandal of all the Monks. The Fact is related by Alcimus Avi-
tus, who was Archbiſhop of Vienne in the Sixth Century, in his
Poem upon Virginityi. In like manner Theodora of Alexandria,
having committed a Fault in her Youth, reſolved to conceal the Sex
ſhe had diſgraced, and atone for it in a Monaſtery. She was accord-
ingly admitted by the Abbot in the Diſguiſe of a Man, and, thus
diſguiſed, azted her Part ſo well, that one of her own Sex conceived
a violcnt Paſſion for her; and being ſlighted by her, to revenge that
Slight, gave herſelf up to one capable of gratifying her vicious Incli-
nation, and laid to Theodora the Child ſhe had by him. Theodora
might have caſily confuted the Calumny; but ſhe choſe rather to be
thought guilty, to be driven, with Diſgrace, out of the Monaſtery,
do Onuph. Panvin. ad Platin. in Johan. VIII. • i Alcim. Avit. Premat. I. vi.
Kk 2
nay,
1
252
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
A IV oman
nay, and to bring up the Child as her own, than to pull off the
Mask. Nicephorils Caliſtus k, and the Author of the Golden Le-
gond, co whom we are indebted for this Account, add, that Theodora
was re-admitted, after ſome Years of Penance, into the Monaſtery ;
that ſhe led there, quite unſuſpected, a penitent and exemplary Life;
and that the Secret was not diſcovered till after her Death.
Many other Inſtances occur in Hiſtory of Women, who have dif-
jaid to have guiſed themſelves no leſs fucceſsfully than Pope Joan is ſuppoſed to
been raiſed 14
the See of have donc ; nay, it was even ſaid, and commonly believed, if Pope
Conftanti. Leo IX. is to be credited, that a Woman had introduced herſelf
nople.
into the Patriarchal Sce of Conſtantinople. That Report, indeed, the
Pope did not believe; but yet thought that ſuch a thing might por-
fibly have happened: And, in a Letter he wrote to Michael Patri-
arch of Conſtantinople, he expreſſes himſelf thus ; “ Far be it from
us to bclicve what is confidently reported to have happened to the
“ Church of Conſtantinople; viz. that by promoting, as ſhe does,
“ ſo many Eunuchs to the Patriarchal Sec, contrary to the Firſt Ca-
“ non of the Council of Nice, ſhe had once placed a Woman on
" that Sce. The Enormity of the Fact, joined to our fraternal Be-
“ nevolence, does not allow us to credit that Report; but yet,
when
" we reflect on the little Rcgard you pay to the Canons, and the Cuf-
“ tom, that obrains in your Church, of admitting Eunuchs not only
to holy Orders, but even to the Patriarchal Dignity, we cannot
help thinking, that ſuch a thing might poſſibly bave happened !."
Now, if it was not thought by Leo abſurd or incredible, that God
ſhould have ſuffered the Sec of Conſtantinople, tho’ founded, as is
pretended, by the Apoſtle St. Andrew, to be profaned by a Woman,
why ſhould it be thought abſurd or incredible that God ſhould have
ſuffered the Sce of Rome, tho’ founded, as is pretended, by the
Apoſtle St. Peter, to be profaned by a Woman? If Leo did not
think it impoſſible for a Woman to diſguiſe her Sex ſo artfully
as to be raiſed, quite unſuſpected, to the Sce of Conſtantinople;
why ſhould we think it impoſible for a Woman to diſguiſe lier Sex
ſo artfully as to be raiſed, quite unſuſpected, to the Sce of Rome?
The Cuſtom that prevailed at this time amongſt the Weſtern, cſpe.
cially the Italian, Clergy, of ſhaving their Bcards, contributed as
niuch as the Condition of an Eunuch towards carrying on the Impo-
ſition with Succeſs; nay, to that Cuſtom Calcondilas aſcribes the
ki Niceph. Caliſt. Hift. Ecclef. l. xvi. c. 5.
1 Leo. IX. ep. I.
raiſing
Joan.
BISHOPS of Rome.
1
253
raiſing of a Woman to the Apoſtolic Seem. And Pierius Valeria.
nus, in an Harangue he addreſſed to Cardinal Hippolitus de Medicis,
tells that Cardinal, that had the Weſtern Clergy never adopted the
effeminate Cuſtom of ſhaving their Beards, the World would never
have ſcen a Woman ſitting in the Chair of St. Peter n.
That a Woman therefore ſhould have been raiſed, in the Diſ. Pope Joan
guiſe of a Man, to the Scc of St. Peter, is a thing neither never exiſted.
abſolutely impoflible in itſelf, nor incredible: Bur yct, that ſuch a
thing never did happen, that no Woman ever did fit in that Sce,
and conſequently that the famous Pope Joan is a mere Chimera or
Fantome, has been made ſo evidently appear by ſeveral Proteſtant as
well as Roman Catholic Writers, that I can ſcarce help charging thoſe
with want of Candor, who Nill maintain ſo ſale and fo groundieſs
a Fable. In Matters of Fact, we are to ſtand to the Teſtimony of the
contemporary Writers, if worthy of Credit, or of thoſe who lived
the neareſt to the Tinies of which they write; and admit or reject
what we read in the later Writers, as it is conſiſtent or inconſiſtent
with what we read in them. Now, what we read in Anaftafius,
who lived at this very tinie in Rome, concerning the Death of Pope
Leo IV. and the Election of his Succeffor, at which he was probably
preſent, is abſolutely inconſiſtent with what we read in the Writers
who flouriſhed fome Ages after his Time; viz. that Leo IV. was
ſucceeded by a Woman; for the Bibliothecarian tells us in expreſs
Terms, that the People of Rome, the Clergy and Nobility, mcet-
ing as ſoon as Lco died (mox), to chuſe him a Succeſfor, all agreed
to a Man to confer that Honour on Benedict; that they went there-
upon immediately in a Body to the Church of St. Calliſtus; and,
having found him there at his Prayers, they carried him from thence
to the Lateran Palace, placed him on the Pontifical Throne, and ſign-
ing the Decree of his Elcction, fent it to the Emperors Lotharius and
Lewiso. Leo therefore was, according to Anaſtaſius an Eye-wit-
neſs of what he writes, immediately ſucceeded by Benedict, and not
by a Woman.
The Account of Anaftafius is intircly agreeable to what we read The female
in Hincmar, at this very time Archbiſhop of Reims, who writes pope un-
thus in One of his Letters to Pope Nicholas, the immediate Succeſ-
for of Benedi&t Ill. I diſpatched, ſays he, Envoys, with Letters to Latin Writé
m Calcond. Hift. Turc. I. vi. p. 200. Johan. Pier. Valer. pro Sacerdot. barb.
0 Anaſt. in Benedict. III.
Rome,
known to the
contemporary
ers.
ad Card. Med.
254.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
1.
Rome, who, hearing on the Road thut Lco was dead, purſued,
nevertheleſs, their fourney, and arriving at Rome, obtained of
Benedict the Privilege which they were ſent to demand p. While
the Envoys were on the Road, Leo died, and Benedict was choſen,
as appears from the Words of the Letter: We cannot therefore ſup-
poſe any other to have been choſen between them, and to have held
the Sec Two Years and Five Months, as the female Pope is ſaid to
have done, without ſuppoſing the Envoys to have been Two Years
and Five Months on the Road from Reims to Rome; which no Man
can ſuppoſe, or believe. The other contemporary Writers were all
as little acquainted with the female Pope as Anaftafius and Hincmar.
Thus Pope Nicholas, the immediate Succeſſor of Benedict, in a
Letrer he wrote to the Biſhops of the Council of Soiſſons, Eleven
Years after the Death of Leo, ſpeaks of Benedict as the immediate
Succcflor of that Pope: Leo, Pontiff of the Apoſtolic See, ſays he,
being dead, and Benedict, of koly Memory, choſen to ſucceed him,
under him the Reverend Hincmar renews the lar? In like man-
ner Ado, Archbiſhop of Vienne, wlio flouriſhed at this very time,
and died in 875, enumerating, in his Chronicle, the Popes from
Gregory IV. to Nicholas I. places Benediet III. immediately after
Leo IV. The Roman Pontif' Gregory dies, ſays Ado, and in his
room Sergius is ordained ; to Sergius fucceeds Lco; and to Leo is
ſubſtituted Bencdict. Thc Bertinian Annaliſt, who flouriſhed at the
ſame time, and brought his Annals down to the Year 882, writes
thus at the Ycar 855, Leo, Biſhop of the Apoſtolic See, dies; to him
fucceeds Benedict; to Benedi& Nicholas ; to Nicholas Hadrian ; and
to Hadrian Johor,
And likewiſe
The Greek Writers of the Ninth Century knew, it ſecnis, as little
to the Greek of a female Pope as the Latin; for the famous Phocius of Conſtan-
Writers.
tinople, and Metrophanes of Smyrna, not only take no kind of
Noticc of her, tho' both ſworn Enemies of the Sce of Tiome, but ex-
preſly exclude hier, placing Benedikt inncdiately after Leo, Nicholas
after Benedict, Hadrian after Nicholas, and John after Hadrian s;
and both Writers were contemporary with theſe Popcs. The Writ.
crs I have quoted all lived, and wrote, at the very time when the
female Pope is ſuppoſed to have been choſen, to have governed the
p Hincmar. cp. 26. tom. ii. Edit. Sirmond. p. 298. Nich, op. 46. 5 Annal.
Bertin. ad ann. 855. s Phot. de Procell. Spirit. Sanct. 1. i. Metrophan. de Spirit.
Sanct. divinitat
Church
Joan. BISHOPS of Rome.
255
A
Church Two Years and Five Months, and to have at laſt been diſ-
covered in the manner we have ſeen; and yet not One of theni
takes the leaſt Notice of ſuch an extraordinary Event; nor One of
them mentions the ſhe Pope, but, on the contrary, all abſolutely
exclude her, by making Benedi&t the inmediate Succeſſor of Leo,
and thus leaving no room for any other. Should therefore thic Writ-
ers, who lived and wrote ever ſo little a Time after them, all to a
Man relate ſuch an Adventure ; Mould they all perfectly agree in
every Circumſtance attending it; their Evidence, nevertheleſs, ought
not to be regarded as contradicting the Teſtimony of thoſe, whom
we muſt ſuppoſe to have been better informed than they. But even
the earlieſt Writers, upon whom the Account of a female Pope has
been farbered, lived Two hundred Years after the Writers I have
quoted; and ſcarce Two of them agree in the Account they give of
her : And are we to believe, upon the Teſtimony of ſuch Writers,
ſo remarkable an Event, thoʻutterly unknown to all the contemporary
Hiſtorians, nay, and inconſiſtent with what they have writ: Who
could inform them of what paſſed in formicr Times, if the Writers
did not inform them who lived in thoſe Tinics, or, at lcaſt, nearer
them than they
I am well appriſed, that, in ſome Manuſcript Copies of Anaftafius, An Account
an Account is given of a Woman Pope between Leo IV. and Bene-
of the female
Pope foified
diet III. But as that Account is not to be found in the more ancient into fome Co-
and authentic Copies of that Writer, if we may depend upon the pies of Ana-
.
Teſtimony of many learned Critics, Proteſtants as well as Roman
Catholics, who have narrowly examined them, and it cvidently
contradicts the Account given by Anaſtaſius himſelf, and all the
contemporary Writers, of the Election of Benedict, it is now, almoſt
univerſally, looked upon as ſuppoſititious, as not given by Anaſta-
fius, but inſerted, in later Times, into his Work by ſome injudicious
and ignorant Tranſcriber, unwilling that ſuch an extraordinary Ad-
venture, whether true or falſe, ſhould be wanting in his Copy. And
truly that thc Relation of this Tale was added by ſome other Hand
to the Manuſcript Copies of Anaftafius, appcars, I think, undeniablç
from the Manner in which the Relater expreſſes himſelf; viz. it is
Said that Leo was ſucceeded by a Woman: For can any Man think
+ Onuph. in addit. ad Platin. Blondel. Eclairciſſ. de la queſt. Si une femme, &c.
Serrau. ep. 138. 146. Florimond de Remond. l. i. Antipapeffe. Balc, arr. Papeile,
Note A.
8
thar
256
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
.
that Anaſtaſius, who lived in Rome át that very time, who was an
Eyewitneſs of what he wrote, and conſequently muſt have known
for certain whether or no Leo was ſucceeded by a Woman, would
have ſpoken of ſuch an extraordinary Event as a Fact that was ſaid
to have happened, and not poſitively aſſerted, or poſitively denied it ?
Would any Hiſtorian, who in our Days ſhould write the Hiſtory of
Great Britain, expreſs himſelf thus in ſpeaking of thc Succeſſion of
our Kings, it is ſaid that George I. was ſucceeded by George II. ?
This is one of the many Reaſons that inclined Mr. Sarrall, a zcal-
ous Protclant, and very able Writer, to conclude the above-men.
tioned Paſſage to have been added to the Manuſcript Copics of
Anaſtaſius by one who made an ill Uſe of his leiſure Hoursu; and
this Rcafon the penetrating Mr. Bayle looked upon as a Demon.
(tration w
As for the Writers who flouriſhed in the ſame Century
with Anaſtaſius, or in the following, it is not even pretended, that
by any of them mention has been made of a female Popc; and there.
fore it matters little whether ſhe was firſt mentioned by Marianus
Scotus in the End of thc Eleventh Century, by Sigebert in the Be-
ginning of thic Twelſth, or by Martinus Polonus about the Middle
of the Thirteenth ; for the famic Queſtion or Difficulty ſtill occurs,
how came they to know what was utterly unknown to, or, at leaſt,
paſſed over in Silence by, all who wrote before them?
By włom this Who was the Inventor of this Fable, or by whom it was firſt re-
vented.
lated, is uncertain, it being by ſome charged upon Marianus Scotus,
by lome upon Sigebert, and by ſome upon Vincentius Bellovacenſis,
or Martinus Polonus ; while others pretend no mention to be made
of the female Pope in the more ancient Manuſcript Copies of theſe
Writers. But whoever was the Firſt Author of that Tale, it was, in
Proceſs of Time, cmbelliſhed with many Circumſtances or curious
Anecdotes unknown to thoſe who liad firſt related it. In the Copics
of Marianus, where mention is inadc of Pope Foan, no more is ſaid
than that Joan, a Woman, fucceeded Pope Leo IV. during the Space of
Two Tears, Five Months, and Four Days; but by thoſe who wrote
after him we are told, as has been obſerved above, that the ſhe Pope
was delivered of a Son in the public Street between the Church of
St. Clement and the Coliſeo, or the Amphitheatre of Titus ; that
thenceforth the folcmn Proceſſions have cver avoided the ſame Street;
Fable in.
u Sarravius, epift, 138.
Bayle Dist. Hiſtor. Papeffe Jeanne.
that
1
Joan. BISHOPS of Rome.
257
that a Marblc Statue was erccted there in Deteſtation of ſuch an
Event *; and that the perforated Chair was, from that time forward,
made uſe of, to prevent the like Miſtake in the Election of the Pope 5.
But it does not appear, that the ſolemn Proceſſions ever paſſed through
that Street; and, if they did, it was for other Rcaſons, perhaps be-
cauſe it was too narrow, that they afterwards took another Way. We
cannot doubt that a Statue was to be ſeen in the Place where Joan
was ſuppoſed to have been delivered of her Son, being aſſured by
Theodoric of Neim, who paſſed the beſt part of his Time at Rome,
and was Secretary to Two Popes, that it was ftill 'extant at the Time
he wrote, that is, in 1413. But from thence we cannot conclude
the Story to be truc, but only that it was believed when the Statue
was created (D); as it was believed when the Statue of the ſhe Pope
was placed, in the Cathedral of Siena, among thoſe of the Popes Her Stolue
from St. Peter to Pius II. and placed between Leo IV. and Bene- Gralar Siena.
diet III. with this Inſcription, Joan Vill. an Engliſh Woman. In
Baronius's Time this Statue was ſtill to be ſeen in the Cathedral of
Siena ; bur Cardinal Tarugi, Archbifhop of that City, applying to
the Grand Duke, at his Requeſt the Fcatures were altered by his Royal
Highneſs, and the Statue of Pope Joan was metamorphoſed into that
of Pope Zachary; bur, as all knew that it had once repreſented the
female Pope, it was broken, or removed, before the Year 1677, to
aboliſh her very Memory 2 (E). As for the perforated Chair, Three
Chairs
* Theodoric. Niem. de Priv. et Juribus Imp.
Ecclef. z Pagi, ad ann. 853. n. 17.
y Guillem. Brevin. de ſept. Romæ
(D) It was more probably an ancient they, to his great Surprize, pretended all
Statue ; but believed by Theosloric of Niem to a Man never to have heard of ſuch a
to be Pope Juan's, as it repreſented a Wo. Statuc. Hereupon Pagi, finding they
man and her Child; and the Fable of the avoided, he knew not why, entering upon
the Pope univerſally obtained in his Time. the Subject, repaired to the Cathedral, and
(E) What Care was taken at Siena to addreſſing moſt of the Prebendaries as they
abolith all Remembrance of Pope Foung as came out of the Choir after Vefpers, toid
well as of the Statue with which the was them, that he wanted to ſee the Statue of
honoured in the ſtately Cathedral of that Pope Joan, and begged they would ſhow
City, will appear from what happened to it him, as it might afford him ſome new
the very learned Father Antonius Pagi, Light to confute the Fable, and confound
and is related ly himicif: As lie patied the Heretics; but they all walked off,
through Sena in 1677, and was very de- without ſo much as deigning to return hiin
firous of being informed upon the Spot of an Anſwer.
an Anſwer. When they were all gone, a:
every Particular relating to the famous Man, advanced in Years, accolting him,
Statue of the fhe Pope in that Cathedral, told him, that he had long belonged to
he applied for Information to the Religious that Cathedral; and that, as it was not to
of his own Order, the Minoritesį but gratify his Curioſity, but, as he underſtood,
VOL. IV.
L1
258
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Joan.
The perfo-
rated Chair.
Chairs were formerly made uſe of in the Inſtallation of the Pope:
The Firſt was of white Marblc, food in the Porch of the Lateran
Church, and was not perforated; the other Two were of Porphyry,
were both perforated, and they ſtood before thc Chapel of St. Sil-
veſter in the ſame Church. In the Firſt of theſc Chairs the new
Pope was placed, after he had been acknowleged by thc Cardinals ;
and while he roſe from it, the 7th and 8th Verſes of the 13th
Pſalm were lung in Latin, Sufcitat de pulvere egenum, et de ſtercore
erigit pauperem, buc. and from thence that Chair took the Name of
Stercoraria. From that the Pope was attended by the Cardinals to
the Two other Chairs, was placed in both ; and, whilc he ſat in the
onc, the Keys of the Lateran Church were delivered to him by the
Prior of St. Laurence, and he returned them to him while he ſat in
the other. The Reader will find this Ceremony deſcribed in Verſe by
a Cardinal, in a Poem he wrote on thic Coronation of Boniface VIII a.
At what time, or by whom, the Uſe of theſe Chairs was firſt intro-
duced, we know not. Cencius, who wrote in the Twelfth Cen-
tury, is the Firſt who mentions them ; but it is not certain that No,
& Cardin. Jacob. apud Bolland. tom. iv. Maii, p. 471.
for the Good of the Church, he wanted to Order had been iſſued, no doubt, by the
be informed concerning the Statue of Pope Inquiſition, commanding all the Inhabit-
Joan, he would give him what Informa- ants of Siena to obſerve a ſtrict Silence with
tion ſhould be thought neceſſary for ſo reſpect to Pope Joan and her Statue. And
good a Purpoſe, provided he engaged never it is not at all to be doubted but the like
to diſcover the Perſon who had given it Older has been lately iſſued by the ſame
With this Condition Pagi very readily Tribunal in another City of Italy, injoin-
complied ; and thereupon the good olding the Inhabitants to forbcar all Mention
Man anſwered all his Queſtions to his full of one, whom they cruelly tortured and
Satisfaction, fhewed him the Place where racked to Death. In Compliance with that
the Statue had food, told him when it was Order, they muſt all pretend never to have
changed into that of Zachary, when it was heard of ſuch a Man, as the Friars at Siena
removed; viz. in the Pontificate of Alex. pretended never to have heard of the fan
ander VII. a Native of Siena, &c. (1). mous Statue, which had ſtood ſo many
Thus Pagi; and I cannot help obſerving Years in that Cathedral, and had but a
here, that the Promiſe of Secrecy inſiſted little Time before been removed. But an
on by the old Man, the clowniſh Behaviour honeſt Man, I truſt, will one Day be found
of the Dignitaries of the Church in One of at Macerata, as well as at Siena, who will
the moſt polite Cities of all Italy, and the ſpeak the Truth, to the eternal Infamy of
Shyneſs of the Friars, averſe to enter upon the Miniſters of that hellith Court, ftriving
the Topic of the female Pope even among to conceal with lying Certificates, and lving
themſelves, and with a very learned Man Atteſtations, as remarkable an Inſtance of
of their own Order, who, they knew, their Cruelty and Injuſtice as any
that oc-
would make a good Uſe of the Information curs in Hiftory.
they ſhould give him, plainly thew, that an
(1) Pagi, ad ann. 853. n. 17.
tics
Joan.
BISHOPS of Rome.
259
tice was taken by any Writer before the Fifteenth Century of the
Uſe that was then ſaid to have been made of them ; viz. to know
whether the Perſon they had choſen was a Man or a Woman. The
Chairs, eſpecially the Two perforated ones, arc thought by learned
Antiquaries to have been uſed by the Romans (for they are ancient)
in their hot Baths; and they are ſaid to have bcen diſcovered in the
Ruins of thoſe Baths. As the Placing of the new-choſen Pope in them
confirmed the ignorant People in the Belief of the Fable of the the
Pope, it was thought adviſeable to aboliſh that Ceremony; and it
was accordingly aboliſhed in the Sixteenth Century b.
The female Pope owes her Exiſtence and her Promotion to the The Fable of
Roman Catholics themſelves; for by them that Fable was invented,
the female
Pope invent.'
was publiſhed to the World by their Prieſts and Monks before the ed by the Ro-
Reformation, and was credited, upon their Authority, even by thoſe man Catho-
who were moſt zcalouſly attached to the holy See, and among the
reſt by St. Antoninus, Archbiſhop of Florence; nor did they begin
to confute it till Proteſtants reproached them with it, as reflecting
great
Diſhonour on thc See of St. Peter. Æneas Silvius, after-
wards Pope Pius II. in the Fifteenth Century, was the firſt that
quellioned the Truth of the Fact, ſaying, that the Story was not
certain c. After him Aventinus, who was a Lutheran in his Heart,
abſolutely denied it, and many others undertook to confute it; but
none, perhaps, with better Succeſs than the Two Proteſtant Writers
Sarau and Blondel; who have alleged ſuch Reaſons againſt the Exiſt-
ence of the ſhe Pope as are abſolutely unanſwerable : And indeed,
had they not been convinced themſelves of the Falſity of the Fact,
no Man can think, that Two ſuch zealous Proteſtants would have
taken ſo niuch Pains to convince others.
Various Conjectures have been offered by thoſe who have thought Conjeſtures
it worth their while to inquire into the Origin of this Fable : Some concerning
the Origin of
ſay, with Baronius, that John VIII. betrayed ſo much Cowardice in that Fable.
the Cauſe of Photius, as I ſhall have Occaſion to relate hereafter,
that it was thought he ſhould rather be called a Woman than a Man.
Aventinus will have the Fable to have taken its Riſc from the Elec-
tion of Pope John IX. raiſed to the Sce by the Intereſt of Theodora,
a noble and imperious Courtczan. Onuphrius Panvinius is of Opi-
nion, that Joan Rainiere, another fainous Courtezan, who governed
John XII. as well as the State, with an uncontroulcd Power, was
b. Mabil. Mufæum Italic. part. i. p. 159.
LI 2
called
1 Æn. Sil. ep. 130.
260
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Benedict III.
4
L
called in Raillery the phe Pope. Many other Conjectures have been
alleged concerning the Origin of a Fable, that was for ſo long a
Time and ſo univerſally credited d; but, as they are only Conjec-
tures, I ſhall not trouble the Reader with them, the Story of a
female Pope being now gencrally, not to ſay univerſally, rejected by
Men of Learning, whether Proteſtants or Papiſts, as an Event firſt
mentioned by Writers who flouriſhed Two hundred Ycars at leaſt
after the Fact in queſtion, and abſolutely irreconcilable with indiſ-
putable Fa&ts related by cotemporary Hiſtorians.
.
IN
LOTHARIUS BENEDICT III.
MICHAEL
and Lewis II.
Emperor of the Weft.
Emperors of the Eat.
The Hundredth and Third Bishop of Rome.
Benedi&t III. N the room of Leo, the Roman People, the Clergy, and the
chofen. Nobility, choſe immediately, ſays Anaftafius e, and with one
Year of
Chrilt 855. Conſent, Benedict, the Third of that Name, a Native of Rome, the
Son of one Peter, and Presbyter of the Title of St. Calliſtus. He was
at his Prayers in that Church when News was brought him of his
Election; and thinking himſelf unequal to ſo great a Charge, he
begged with many Tears they would Icave him where they found
him. But the People, paying no kind of Regard to his Tears and
Entreatics, carried him in Triumph to the Lateran Church, and
there placed him, with loud Acclamations, on the Pontifical Throne.
At the ſame time the Decree of his Election was drawn up, was
ſigned by the Clergy and the Nobility, and ſent, in Compliance with
the ancient Cuftoni, to the Emperors Lotharius and Lewis f. But
thoſe who were charged with it, viz. Nicholas Biſhop of Anagui,
and Mercurius, magiſter militiæ, being gained over by Arſenius
Biſhop of Eugubio, as they paſſed through that City, promiſed to
declarc, upon their Return to Rome, for the Presbyter Anaſtaſius,
who had been depoſed in a Council, and cxcommunicated by the
The Imperial preceding Popca. The Roman Deputies, returning to Rome, were
Envoys de foon followed by thoſe from the Two Emperors, ſent to aſliſt at
clare for
Anaſtaſius. the Ordination of the new Pope. But the latter being met at Horta,
« See Blondel. Ecclairciſſement. p. 85, &c. * Anaſt, in Benedict. III.
ibid.
& See above, p. 2429
about
f Idem
Benedi&t III. BISHOPS of Rome.
261
1
ز
about Forty Miles from Rome, by the Biſhops Arfenius, Nicholas, Year of
Chrift 855.
and Two others; viz. Rodoald of Porto, and Agatho of Todi, and
Three Captains of the Militia, they were prevailed upon by them to
abandon Benedict, and ſide with Anaſtaſius. Of this Benedict was
no ſooner informed, than he diſpatched the Two Biſhops Gregory
and Maio, with Letters to the Envoys. But they, paying no kind
of Regard to the Pope or his Letters, or even to the Right of Na.
tions, ordered, no doubt at the Inſtigation of Anaſtaſius, the Two
venerable Prelates to be bound, and ſtrictly guarded. Hereupon
Benedict ſent Hadrian, Secundiccrius of the Apoſtolic Sce, and
Duke Gregory, to meet the Envoys; who, in the mean time, ſent an
Order to Romne, requiring, in the Name of the Emperors, the Clergy,
the People, and the Senate, to meet them the next Day beyond
Ponte Molle. They complied with the Order; and the Envoys,
attended by them, entered thc Leonine City, where Anaſtaſius
pulled down, and either burnt or broke in Pieces thc Images that
Leo had ſet up there in the Church of St. Peter ; among the reſt an
Image of our Saviour, and another of the Virgin Mary; and effaced
the Repreſentation of a Council, perhaps of the Council that de-
poſed him, which Leo had cauſed to be painted on the Gates of that
Baſilic. From the Leonine City, Anaſtaſius, advancing through
Rome to the Lateran Palace, and placing himſelf in the Pontifical
Throne, ordered Benedict to be ſtripped of the Enſigns of his Dig- Benedit is
nity, to be cruelly beaten, and to be delivered up to the Two Pref. Aripped of
the Enſigns
byters John and Hadrian, whom Pope Leo had depoſed for their
of his Dig-
Crimes. This occafioned a general Grief and Conſtcrnation among nity, &c.
all Ranks of Men: The Clergy and the Biſhops, who were then in
Rome, attended by the People, repaired to the Æmilian Church,
to implore there the Protection of Heaven at ſo critical a Juncture;
but they were ſoon interrupted by the Imperial Envoys, who, break-
ing into the Church, threatened them with preſent Death, if they
did not acquieſce in the Elc&tion of Anafi afins. The Biſhops an-
fwered with great Firmueſs and Intrepidity, that they would rather
fuffer a thouſand Deaths than be any-ways acceſſory to the Confecra-
tion of one depoſed and anathematized by a Council. The En-
voys, finding they were not to be frightened into a Compliance,
retired to a Room in the Baſilic; and having ordered the Biſhops of
Oſtia and Albano to attend thein there, they ſpared neither Threats
nor Promiſes to gain them over to the Party of Anaftafius, and prevail
3
upon
1
262
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Benedict III.
Year of
Chriſt 855.
A
upon
them to perform the Ceremony of his Conſecration. But the
S: Two Prelates not only withſtood both their Threats and their Promiſes,
The Biſhops but had Reſolution enough to reprimand the Envoys for thinking them
refuſe to con-
ſecrate Ana- capable of ſo enornious a Crime as that of confecrating one, whom a
Itafius. Council had depoſed, and tempting them to it.
The Envoys, now
ſenſible they could not prevail, began to relent; and the Point being
diſputed on both Sides with great Warmth, in a Conference they
had with the Biſhops and the Clergy in the Lateran Palace, they
He is aban- yielded in the End ; and, driving Anaftafius from the Palace, or-
doned by the dered Benedi&t to be ſet at Liberty, and he was, Three Days after,
Imperial En-
voys, and Re-carried in Triumph to the Church of St. Peter, and there ordained
nedict conſe in the Preſence of the Imperial Envoys, of the Biſhops, and of the
crated.
Roman People and Nobility, and acknowleged by all, cven by the moſt
zcalous Partizans of Anaſtaſius, for lawful Pope. Thus far the Biblio-
thecarian 6.: And, in his Account, onc Thing occurs worthy of
Notice; viz. that the ancient Cuſtom Aill obtained of ſending
the Decree of the Election of the new Pope to the Emperor, and not
ordaining him till the Emperor confirmed it, and ſent Deputies to
aſlift at his Ordination; for Anaftafius tells us, that it was in Com-
pliance with ſuch an ancient Cuſtom that the Clergy and Nobility
of Rome ſigned the Decree of the Election af Bencdict, and ſerit it
to the moſt invincible Emperors Lotharius and Lewis. That Cuſtom,
therefore, was not yet abrogared, as is ſuppoſed by Baronius, pre-
tending that the Emperors Lotharius and Lewis yielded to Leo, the
immediate Predeceſſor of Benedict, the Right they claimed of con-
firming the Election of the new Pope, or interfering any ways in it.
Ethelwulph
Soon after the Election of Benedict, Æthelwn.ph, King of the
King of the Weſt Saxons, came to Rome with his Son Alfred, and continued
ons, with his there a whole Year ; during which time, he made rich Offerings to
Son Alfred, St. Peter, whereof the Reader will find a long Catalogue in Anafta-
a Rome.
fius, and Preſents to the Clergy, thc Nobility, and the People b.
He is likewiſe ſaid to have rebuilt the Engliſh School at Rome, that
had been conſumed long before by Firci, and to have granted Three
hundred Mancuſes (F) a Year to the Biſhops of Rome, in Honour of
St. Peter and St. Paulk. As he paſſed through France on his Return
i
t Anaſt. in Bencdict. III.
* Idem ibid.
Polyd. Virg. I. v. p. 96.
k Afler. annal. ad ann. 855.
(F) The Saxon Mancuſe is, according nalis, cqual in Value to Three Half-Crowns
to the Authorfof the Theſaurus Septentrio. of our Money.
to
Benedict III. BISHOPS of Rome.
263
to his own Kingdom, he married Judith, the Daughter of Charles , Year of
Chriſt 855.
the Bald, and brought her with him into England. In his Abſence,
his eldeſt Son Æthelbald uſurped the Crown; but as the Danes
had already committed dreadful Ravages in his Dominions, and
thrcatened them with a new Invaſion, Æthelwulph chofe rather to
compound with the Uſurper, than to kindle a War, at ſo critical a
Juncture, in the Bowels of the Kingdom ; and he contented himſelf
accordingly with the Eaſtern Provinces, that is, with Kent, Suflex,
and Surry, and left his Son in the quict Poſſeſſion of the reſt.
Æthelwulph is greatly commended by the Monkiſh Writers for his
Picty, that is, for his Prodigality in enriching the Church at the
Expence of his Subjects; but he would have better deſerved the
Commendations they below on him, if, inſtead of undertaking ro
long a Journey to viſit the pretended Tombs of the Apoſtles, and
ſtaying ſo long abroad, he had not firred from home, where his
Preſence was neceſſary to repulſe the Danes, now become a very
troubleſome and formidable Enemy, but employed in the Defence
of his people the Wealth he ſquandered away upon the Prieſts, the
Saints, and holy Places at Rome.
The following Year Michael, Emperor of the Eaſt, hearing of the Preſents fent
Ele&tion of Benedict, diſparched to Rome one Lazarus a Monk, and by the Empe-
ror Michael
skilful Painter, to congratulate, in his Name, the new Pope upon to the Pope.
his Promotion. By this Monk the Emperor ſent many valuable Pre-
Chrift 856.
ſents to St. Peter, and among the reſt the Book of the Goſpels
covered with pure Gold, and a Golden Chalice, both enriched with
precious Stones of various kinds k.
The ſame Year the Pope received a Letter from Lupus Abbot of Letter of Lu-
Ferrieres, a Man greatly cíteemed in this Age, recommending to his pus, Abbot of
Férrieres, to
Holineſs Two Monks of his Monaſtery, who had undertaken a Pil-
grimage to the Tombs of the Apoſtles, and begging him to inſtruct
them in the Practices and Cuſtoms of the Roman Church, and to
fend him by them, upon their Return, the following Books, the
Commentaries of St. Jerom upon Jeremiah, from the Sixth Book
to the Ends Cicero de Oratore; the Twelve Books of Quintilian's
Inſtitutions; and the Commentary upon Terence; which Books, he
ſays, he cannot procure in France, and will ſend back to his Holi-
neſs as ſoon as tranſcribed 1.
Year of
the Pope.
k Anaft, ibid.
! Lupus, ep. 103
The
264
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Benedict III.
Benedict dies The Pope died the 8th of April 858, having governed the Roman
Year of
Chriſt 858.
See Two Years, Six Months, and Ten Days. He was choſen, indeed,
a few Days after the Death of Leo, which happened on the 17th of
July 855; but inc was not ordained till the 29th of September of the
His Letters. ſame Year. Of this Pope Two Letters have reached our Times; the
one to Hincmar of Reims, confirming the Acts of the Second
Council of Soiſſons, which Leo his Predeceffor had refuſed to con-
firm, as thoſe who were condemned by that Council had appealed
to Romel; the other is a Letter to the Biſhops of the Kingdom of
Charles the Bald, wherein he enumcrates the niany Crimes that a
Subdeacon, named Hubert, the Son of Count Boſo, was accuſed of;
viz, of Murder, of Adultery, of Fornication, of ſpending his whole
Time in the Company of Actreſſes, and other lewd Women, of
ſeizing on the Goods of the Monaſtery of St. Maurice, in Defiance
of the Privileges granted to that Monaſtery by the Apoſtolic Sec; of
violently breaking into another Monaſtery, which no Woman had
ever been allowed to ſet Foot in, and rioting there, for ſeveral
Days together, with Proſtitutes, &c. The Pope requires the Sub-
deacon, by virtue of his Apoſtolic Authority, to appear at Rome
within the Space of Thirty Days after the Receipt of his Letter, in
order to plead his Cauſe in Perſon before the Apoftolic See, on Pain
of being excluded from the Company of the Faithful m. Two other
Letters are aſcribed to this Pope; the one confirming the Privileges
of the Abby of Corbie; and the other thoſe of the Abby of St. De-
nis: But ſome queſtion the Genuineneſs of theſe Letters. Benedict
was buried in the Vatican, whither his Body, attended by the Biſhops,
and all the Clergy, was carried by the Deacons, among whom was
his immediate Succeſſor, on their Shoulders, and placed by them in
the Grave, purſuant to an ancient Cuſton which he had revived,
ordering all Biſhops, Presbyters, and Deacons, to aſſiſt at the Fune-
rals, and
pray
for the Souls of their deceaſed Brethren. He enriched
the Churches of Rome with many Preſents of grcat Value, which
Anaftafius has taken care to enumerate, telling us that he was no
leſs generous to the Poor, to the deſtitute Orphans and Widows,
than he was to the Clergy and the Churches. He is ſaid to have
been bleſſed with a Sweetneſs of Temper that endcared him to all s
! Benedict. III. cp. I. tom. iii. Concil. Gal.
m Benedict. ep. 2. ibid.
1
and
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
265
and he is commended on that account even by Photius of Conſtan-
tinople, tho' a ſworn Enemy to the Apoſtolic See n.
Year of
LEWIS II.
NICHOLA S. Michael and Basilius,
Emperor of the Weft.
Emperors of the Eaſt.
The Hundred and Fourth Bishop of Rome.
BENEDICT was ſucceeded by Nicholas, a Native of Rome, Nicholas
the Son of Theodore, and Deacon of the Roman Church. The chofen,
Clergy, the Nobility, and the People, choſe him, with one Conſent, Chriſt 858,
a few Days after the Deccaſe of his Predeceſſor, and carrying him, by
Force, from the Baſilic of St. Peter, where he had concealed him-
ſelf to avoid being choſen, to the Lateran Palace, placed him there
on the Apoſtolic Throne. The Emperor Lewis had left Rome a
little Time before the Death of Benedict ; but he no ſooner heard of
it, than he returned to that City, and there aſſiſted in Perſon at the
Conſecration of the new Pope. That Cercmony was performed,
according to Cuſtom, in the Baſilic of St. Peter, on the 24th of
April 858, after the See had been vacant Fifteen Days; and from
thence the Pope was carried back to the Lateran Church, and there
crowned, amidſt the loyd Acclamations of the Roman Pcoplco. The The Firſ
Ceremony of crowning the Pope was, it ſeems, firſt introduced at
was crownedo
this time; no Noticc, at leaſt, has been hitherto taken of it by Ana-
ſtafius, or any other ancient Writer. The Emperor, having enter-
tained the Pope at Dinner the Third Day after his Election, retired
from Rome to a Place in the Neighbourhood, called Quintus; and
being informed while he ſtaid there, that the Pope, attended by the
Roman Nobility, was coming to viſit him, he not only went out to How honour-
nicet him, but, diſmounting as he approached, took hold of his ed by the Em-
Bridle, and, forgetful of his Dignity, led his Horſe the Diſtance of peror Lewis.
a Bow-lhot on Foot, and did ſo again at their parting P. The State
that the Popes afterwards took upon them, was chiefly owing to theſe
and ſuch-like Marks of extraordinary Reſpect ſhewn them by ſuper-
ftitious and bigotted Kings and Emperors; for, elated therewith,
they began to look upon themſelves as Lords of the Univerſe, and
upon
the Princes of the Earth as their Vallals.
Phot. de Proceßl. Spirit, Sancti. • Anaft. in Nichol. I. P Idem ibid.
VOL. IV.
The
Pope that
Mm
266
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
The Church
Year of
Theodora
The Firſt thing I find recorded of this Pope is his confirming the
of Bremen
Union of the Churches of Hamburgh and Bremen. As Hamburgh
Jubjected to
that of Ham- had been made an Archiepiſcopal See in the Time of Gregory IV.
burgh.
but had no Suffragans, Lewis, King of Germany, thought of ſub-
Chrift 8 59. jcêting to it the See of Bremen ; and he did ſo accordingly, upon the
Death of Leuderic, the Third Biſhop of that City. This Change
met at firſt with no Oppoſition, the Archiepiſcopal Şee of Cologne,
to which that of Bremen was Suffragan, being then vacant. But
Gunthier, the new Archbiſhop, remonſtrating againſt it as ſoon as
he was choſen, the King, and the Biſhops of his Kingdom afſem-
bled in Council ar Mentz applied to him for his Approbation and
Conſent. Guthier referred the wholc Affair to the Pope; and his
Holineſs not only confirmed the Change of Juriſdiction, but ap-
pointed Anſcharins, then Archbiſhop of Hamburgh, Legate of the
Apoſtolic Sce to the Swedes, the Danes, the Sclavi, and the other
Northern Nations
The Empreſs
The Depoſition of Ignatills, Patriarch of Conſtantinople, and In-
truſion of Photius that happened in this or in the preceding Ycar,
confined to a
Menoſiery. engaged, above all Things, the Attention of the new Pope, as the
Diſturbances that aroſe from thence, and divided the Eaſtern Biſhops
into Two oppoſite Parties, gave him an Opportunity of exerting the
Power and Authority claimed by his Predeceſſors over that Patriar-
chal and rival See. Ignatius, originally called Nicetas, was the
Third Son of the Emperor Michael, ſurnamed Rhangabe ; but being
obliged by Leo the Armenian, when he drove his Father from the
Throne, to take the monaſtic Habit, he exchanged on that Occaſion
the Name of Nicetas for that of Ignatius, and lived retired in the
Iands of Hyatros and Terebinthus, which he is ſaid to have peopled
with Monks, till the Year 846, when he was raiſed to the Patriarchal
See by the Intereſt of Theodora, Guardian to her Son Michael, the
preſent Emperor, and Siſter to Bardas * This Man Ignatius had
frequently reprimanded, with the Liberty becoming a Perſon of
his Character and Station, for divorcing his own Wife, and living
publicly with his Brother's, and even refuſed him the Euchariſt, as
he came to receive it on the Day of the Epiphany with the other
Officers of the Crown. This Bardas highly reſented; but ſenſible
that he could not wrcak his. Vengeance upon the Patriarch till Theo-
s Nicetas.
9 Rembert:- vit. Anſchar. c. 30. 36. et Annal. Fuldens. ad ann. 857.
in vit. Santi Ignat. tom. viii. Concil. p. 1180, & ſeq.
dora
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
267
dora, his great Friend and Prote&reſs, was removed, he undertook, , Year of
Chriſt 859.
in the Firſt place, to eſtrange the Mind of the Emperor from her,
painting her to him as a Woman of an unbounded Ambition and reſt-
leſs Temper; as one who ingroſſed the whole Power to herſelf, and
ſeemed determined never to part with it: He therefore adviſed him
to ſhake off at laſt the female Yoke, to take the Reins of the Govern-
ment into his own Hands, and to cauſe his imperious Mother and
his Siſters, who would lay hold of every Opportunity to diſturb him
in the Exerciſe of his ſovereign Authority, to be ſhaved and veiled
in a Monaſtery. The Emperor, jealous of his Power, and ſuſpecting
no cvil Deſign in Bardas, hearkened to his Advice; and ſending
immediately for the Patriarch, ordered him to conſecrate on the Spor
his Mother and his Siſters to a religious Life ; it being his Will and
Pleaſure that they ſhould ſpend the reſt of their Days in a Monaſtery.
The Patriarch, ſurpriſed at ſuch a Propoſal, remonſtrated againſt it
as repugnant to the Canons, forbidding any to be conſecrated to a
religious Life againſt their Will, and abſolutely refuſed to perform
the Ceremony. The Emperor, impatient to get rid of his Mother
and his Siſters, was highly provoked at thic Refuſal of the Patriarch ;
and Bardas, not to let ſlip ſo favourable an Opportunity of compan-
ing his Ruin, took care to incenſe the Emperor fill more againſt
him, pretending tliat he had cncouraged one Gebus a Rebel, who,
giving out that he was the Son of Theodora by another Husband, had
gained by that means many Followers. The Charge was quite
groundleſs; but the Emperor believing, or pretending to believe it,
ordered the Patriarch to be forth with driven from the Patriarchal Ignatius of
Conſtantin
Palace, and tranſported to the Iand of Terebinthus, where he had
nople driven
lived before his Election. He had not been Three Days in the Place from bis See,
of his Exile, when the Emperor ſent firſt ſome of the Icading Men and fent inte
among the Biſhops, and a few Days after ſome of the Patrician Or-
der, and the chief Judges, to perſuade him to reſign in due Form
the Patriarchal Dignity ; but tho' they could neither by Threats nor
by Promiſes prevail upon him to comply, they nevertheleſs declared
him lawfully depoſed; and Photius, tlien a Layman, was choſen in Photius
raiſed to the
his room s.
Patriarchal
Photius was deſcended of an illuſtrious Family; had diſcharged See in his
the firſt Employments of the Enipire with uncommon Applauſe;
was univerſally looked upon as a Man of extraordinary Abilities, as
• Nicetas ibid,
Exile,
room.
Mm 2
268
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of a conſummate Stateſman, as the beſt skilled of all his Contempora-
Chriſt 859.
ries in Grammar, in Poetry, in Oratory, in Philoſophy, nay, and in
Phyſic; and thought to rival the Ancients themſelves in every Branch
of Literature. As his Ambition and Love of Glory knew no Bounds,
he had likewiſe applied himſelf to the Study of Eccleſiaſtical Mat
ters, aſpiring at, and not deſpairing of being One Day able to attain
to the Patriarchal Dignity in the Imperial City. To that high Station
he was raiſed by the Intereſt of Bardas; who now had none to ſhare
with him thc Power, and the Emperor's Favour, Theodora and her
Daughters having been veiled by One of the Biſhops of the Court, and
ſhut up in a Monaſtery. As Photiits was a Layman at the Time of
his Election, and the Canons required all Eccleſiaſtics to riſe by. De-
grees, he was the Firſt Day made a Monk, the Second Reader, the
Third Subdcacon, the Fourth Deacon, the Fifth Presbyter, and the
Sixth he was conſecrated Patriarch by Gregory, ſurnamed Arbeſta,
Biſhop of Syracuſe, whom the Patriarch Ignatius had depoſed in a
Council for his irregular Conduct + (K).
Ignatius The Expulſion of Ignatius, and Intruſion of Photius, occaſioned
great Cruelty, great Diſturbances in the Eaſtern Churches, eſpecially in the Patri-
archate of Conftantinople, ſome of thoſe Biſhops acknowleging the
one, and ſome the other. They who acknowleged Photius inſiſted
upon a Promiſe from him in Writing, that he would not moleſt or
perſecute the depoſed Patriarch ; but, on the contrary, honour and
eſpect him as his Father. But he was ſcarce warm in the Patriarchal
treated with
1 Idcm ibid.
(K) Photius thought he ſhould thus fwered'the End of the Canon, which was,
avoid the Imputation of being raiſed to the that, in every Order, a Man ſhould give
Epiſcopal Dignity, without paſſing through fome Proof of his Faith and good Conver-
the inferior Orders of the Church, as was ſation. However, the Cuſtom introduced
required by the Canons, eſpecially by the by Photius, and condemned by Pope Ni-
Tenth Canon of the Council of Sardica. cholas and for a long Time by his Succef-
And this is, perhaps, the Firſt Inſtance fors, now obtains in the Church of Rome;
that occurs in Hiſtory of ſuch a. Practice ; for tho' that Church, to avoid a Breach of
for, in the preceding Ages, when a Lay- the Canons, never confers all the Orders
man was, in caſe of Neceſſity, or on ac. at once, nor on ſo many following Days,
count of his extraordinary. Merit, prefer- leſt ſhe ſhould be thought to have adopted
sed to the Epiſcopacy, he did not receive a Practice brought into the Church by
one Order one Day, and another the next, Photius, and ſo much inveighed againſt by
&c. but was ordained Biſhop at once. One of the greateſt of her Biſhops ; yet
Photius really paſſed through all the infe- the confers them on ſo many following:
rior Degrees to the Epiſcopal Ordination; Sundays, by as manifeſt a Breach of the
but nevertheleſs Pope Nicholas declared his Canons, as if ſhe conferred them all at
Ordination uncanonical, as his paſſing thro' once, or on ſo many following Days.
abem in the manner he did, no-Ways an-
Chair,
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
269
cated and
Chair, when, unmindful of his Promiſe, he raiſed a nioſe furious Year of
Chriſt 859.
Perſecution againſt his Rival, and the Biſhops who adhered to him,
as well as his other Friends, pretending they had conſpired againſe
the Stare, but, in Truth, to oblige Ignatius by that means to reſign
his Dignity. Under that Pretence, his Friends were ſeized, were
cruelly 'beaten, and confined to the moſt inhoſpitable Places of the
Enipire. One of them, by Namc Bafilius, who ſpoke with more
Freedom than the reſt, had his Tonguc cut out, and was otherwiſe
uſed with the utmoſt Barbarity. Ignatius himſelf met with no ber-
ter Treatment than his Friends: He was moſt inhumanly beaten,
without any Regard to his Character, or his high Birth, was loaded
with Irons like a common Malefactor, and thus carried from the
Iſland of Terebinthus, where he lived in a moſt magnificent Mona-
ſtery built by the Emperor his Father, to ſeveral abandoned Places,
and laſtly to Mitylene, and there ftri&tly guarded u.
In the mean time, ſuch of the Metropolitans, and other Biſhops, Excommuni-
as were the moſt zcalouſly attached to Photius, meeting in a Coun-
depoſed in a
cil at Conſtantinople, Ignatius was by them declared unworthy of Council
.
the Patriarchal Dignity; and they accordingly excommunicated and
Year of
Chriſt 860
depoſed him. This Council was held in the Church of the holy
Apoſtles; and in that of Irene was held another at the ſame time
by the Biſhops of the Party of Ignatius; and they, in their Turn,
condenincd Photius as an Intruder into the Patriarchal Seew. Pho-
tius, finding the Biſhops thus divided, reſolved to apply to the Pope,
and get his Ele&tion, by fomc means or other, approved by him.
With this Vicw, he perſuaded the Emperor to ſend a ſolemn Em-
baſſy to Rome, and entrcat his Holineſs to diſpatch Legates into the
Eaſt, in order to reſtore therc, jointly with him, the decayed Diſei-
plinc, and utterly extirpate the Hereſy of the Iconoclaſts, that bc-
gan to ſpring up anew. This Embally, he knew, would be accepta
able to the Pope; and hc flattered himſelf that he ſhould be able to
prevail on the Legates to confirm his Election. Photius ſent at the Photius ap
ſame tinic Four Biſhops, in his own Name, to acquaint the Pope, that plies to the
.
Ignatius had reſigned the Patriarchal Dignity on account of his Age
and Infirmities; that, upon his Rclignation, he had retired to a Mona-
Aery in an Iand, where the greateſt Reſpect was ſhewn him both
by thọ Emperor and the People; that the Clergy and the Metropo-
litans had unanimouſly choſen him to fill the vacant Scc, and forced
* Idem ibid. Epiſt. Metroph. apud Baron. ad ann. 870.
him
270
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
!
Year of him, jointly with the Emperor, to accept of a Charge, to which he
Chriſt 850.
knew himſelf to be altogether unequal *. “When I reflect,” ſays hic
in his Letter, “on the Greatneſs of the Epiſcopal Dignity, on the
“Weakneſs of Man, and my own in particular, and recollect, that to
me it had always been Matter of the greateſt Aftoniſhment that
any
one, liable to the Infirmities of human Nature, ſhould take upon
“him ſo tremendous a Charge, I cannot expreſs the Concern I am
" under at my being obliged to take that very Charge upon myſelf.
" But the Clergy, the Metropolitans, and the Emperor kind to all, and
“ cruel to me alone, have laid ſo heavy a Burden upon me, without
.“ hearkening to my Entreaties, or being affected with my Tears.”
The Pope received the Imperial Embaſſadors, of whom the Chief
was Arſa the Protoſpatharius who brought many rich Preſents for
St. Peter y, and likewiſe the Aprocriſarii or Legates of Photius, in
the Church of St. Mary ad Præfepe, now St. Mary the Greater ;
and being informed by them of the Depoſition of Ignatius, and
Ordination of Photius, hic reſolved, with the Advice of a Council,
which he aſſembled on that Occaſion, to ſend Legates to Conſtanti.
nople, in Compliance with the Requeſt of the Emperor; and the
Two Biſhops, Rodoald of Porto, and Zachary of Anagni, were
named for that Legation. Their Inſtructions were, to conform to
the Decrec of the Seventh Council in what they ſhould determine or
define concerning the Article of Images ; but as the Pope had not
heard from Ignatius himſelf, they were ordered only to procure the
neceſſary Informations relating to his Affair, and to refer the final
Deciſion to the Judgment of the Apoſtolic See.
The Pope's The Pope wrote by the Legates both to the Emperor and to Pho-
Letter to the
Emperor.
tius. In his Letter to the Emperor, he complains of their having
depoſed Ignatius without conſulting the Apoſtolic See, and appointed
a Layman in his room, in Defiance of the Canons of the Church,
and the Decrees of the Roman Pontiffs ; declares that he cannot ap-
prove of the Ordination of Photius, till his Lcgates have informed
him of every Particular concerning it ; will have Ignatius to appear
in Perſon before his Legates and the whole Council, that they may
learn from himſelf the Rcaſon why he has forſaken his Flock, and
at the ſame time inquire, whether his Depoſition has been in every
reſpe&t agreeable to the Canons. When a true and faithful Report,
Nicetas, ubi ſup. Anaſt. in hift, Synod. 8. Metrophan. ubi fup.
y Anaft. in
Nicol. .
ſays
X
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
271
ſays the Pope, ſhall be made to us of theſc, and other Circumſtances. Year of
Chriſt 860.
attending his Depoſition, we ſhall thereupon determine what ſhall
ſeem to us moſt conducive to the Peace and Tranquillity of your
Church. In the next place, he recommends to the Emperor the
Worſhip of Images as agreeable to Scripture; entreats him to reſtore
the Patrimonies of the Roman See in Sicily and Calabria, which
his Predeceſſors had ſeized, and with them the Authority and Jurif-
di&tion which the preceding Popes had exerciſed, by the Biſhop of
Theſalonica their Vicar, over Old and New Epirus, Illyricum, Ma-
cedonia, Theſſaly, Achaia, both Dacias, Myſia, Dardania, and
Prævalis ; begs he will allow the Biſhop of Syracuſe to be thence-
forth ordained, according to ancient Cuſtom, by the Roman Pon-
tiffs; and cloſes his Letter with a warm Recommendation of the
Two Legates 2. The Direction of the Letter was, Nicholas Biſhop,
Servant of the Servants of God, to his beloved Son Michael, glo.
rionts Emperor of the Greeks.
The Pope, in his Letter to Photius, owns his Belief to be alto. His Letter to
Photius.
gether orthodox, for Photius had ſent him a Confeſſion of his
Faith; but expreſſes no ſmall Concern at the Irregularity of his Or-
dination, in being raiſed from the Condition of a Layman to the
Dignity of a Patriarch, by a manifeſt Breach of the Canons, and
the Decrees of the holy Roman Pontiffs Leo, Celeſtine, and Gelaſius;
and he therefore tells him, that he cannot approve of his Ordination,
till the Legates he is upon the Point of fending to Conſtantinople,
have informed him of his Manners, of his Behaviour, and his At-
tachment to the Doctrine of the Church a. There Letters are both
dated the 25th of September, no doubt, of the preſent Ycar 860. L
cannot help obſerving here, that in the Confeſſion of Faith, which
Photius ſent to Rome, and the Pope received as altogether orthodox,
it is ſaid, that the Sixth Council rejected or condemned Pope Hono-
rius, and all who held and taught with him the impious Doctrine of
One Will in Chriſt, and One Operation : A plain Proof that it was
nor yet thought heterodox by the Pope himſelf for a Man to believe
hint capable of crring, and even of teaching herctical Doctrines.
With the Two above-mentioned Letters the Legates ſet out for.
Conſtantinople, not doubting but they ſhould meet with a favourable
Reception from the Emperor, at whoſe Requeſt they were ſent. But
Michael no ſooner underſtood that the Pope had not acknowleged
* Nicol. ep. 2. tom. jii Epift Roman. Pontif.
Photius,
a Ibid, ep. 3.
272
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
The Pope's Photins, and that the Legates were to communicate with him only.
Legates ill-
as a Layman, than he ordered them to be confined, and carefully kept
uſed.
Year of from converſing, or even ſpeaking, with any but their own People,
Chrift 861.
left the Friends of Ignatius ſhould inform them of the true State of
Affairs, and they thic Pope. When they had been thus cloſely con-
fined, and ſtrictly guarded, for the Space of an Hundred Days, the
Emperor ſent One to let them know, that he was determined, if
they did not comply and acknowlege Photius, to baniſh them to
the moſt abandoned and barren Places of the Empire, where Hunger
would oblige them to feed upon their own Vermin b. The Legates,
terrified with theſe Menaces, and at the ſame timc tempted with the
Acknowlege Promiſe of great Rewards, yielded in the End, acknowleged Pho-
Photius.
tills, and engaged to exert all their Intereſt and Credit in his favour.
Hereupon a Council was aſſembled, near as numerous, as the Empe-
ror boaſted in One of his Letters to the Pope, as the great Council
of Nice at which were preſent Threc hundred and Eightcen Biſhops.
This Courcil was held in the ſpacious Church of the holy Apoſtles
at Conſtantinople, the Emperor aſſiſting at it in Perſon, with the
Pope's Legates, and all the great Officers of the Crown. When
A Council af; they were all mct, Meſſengers were ſent to ſummon Ignatius, who
ſembled, and
had been recalled from Exilç, to appear, without Delay, before the
Ignatius
fummoned to great and holy Synod, and anſwer the ſeveral Charges brought
it.
againſt him. But Ignatius asking them whether he was to appear as
a Biſhop, as a Presbyter, or as a Monk, they were at a loſs what
Anſwer to return; and therefore telling him, that they ſhould let
him know the next Day, they went back to thoſe who ſent them,
and coming again, ſunimioned him a Second time, in the Name of
Zachary and Rodoald, the Pope's Legates, to appcar before the
Council in the Habit that he thought he could take in Conſcience.
Attiring himſelf therefore as Patriarch, he advanced, thus attired, to.
wards the Place where the Council fat, attended by ſome Biſhops
and Clerks, and a great Number of Monks and Laymen. But being
met in his Way by a Patrician, whom the Emperor had ſent to
threaten him with Death, if he preſumed to appear in any other
Habit but that of a Monk, he quitted the Patriarchal Robes, and ap-
peared before the Council only as a Monk. Upon his entering
the Aſſembly, he was received by the Emperor with moſt opprobri-
ous Language; but, taking no notice of it, he begged leave to ſpeak
• Nicol. ep. 6.
to
--
+
2
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
273
Year of
Chriſt 861.
to Zachary and Rodoald ; and having obtained it, asked them, Who
they were and what they were come for? They anſwered, that
they were the Legates of Pope Nicholas, who had ſent them to judge His Beha.
viour.
his Cauſe. He then deſired to know whether they had brought
Letters from his Holineſs to him. The Legates anſwered they had
not, becauſe they did not look upon him as Patriarch, but as onc
who had been depoſed by the Synod of his Province, and ſhould
therefore proceed according to the Canons. If ſo, replied Ignatius,
begin with driving out the Adulterer: If you cannot do that, you
cannot be Judges. He commands us, the Legates anſwered, point-
ing to the Emperor, to be judges. 'In the mean time, the Metropo-
litans who adhered to Photius, jointly with the Miniſters of State,
left nothing unattempted to extort from Ignatius a Rclignation of
his Dignity. But, as he withſtood both their Threats and their Pro.
miſes, declaring with great Firmneſs and Intrepidity, that he would
never yield to another the Church that had been committed to his
Care, the Council was adjourncd.
At their next Meeting, they ſent Two Meſſengers to Ignatius, the He appeals to
onc a Deacon, the other a Layman, to let hiņi know they were met the Pope.
again, and order him, in the Name of the great and cecumenical
Council, to appear before them. With that Order he refuſed to
comply, declaring, that he did not acknowlege thoſe for his Judges,
meaning the Legates, who, inſtead of driving out the Intruder, lived
in. great Intimacy and Friendſhip with him, feaſted daily at his
Table, and had not even been aſhamed to accept of his Preſents;
that he therefore appealed to the Pope, and ſubmitted to his Judg-
nient, being authorized therein by the Fourth Canon of the Council
of Sardica. At the ſame time he told the Meſſengers, that they
who ſent them, knew not the Laws of the Church ; that, by thoſe
Laws, an accuſed Biſhop ſhould be ſummoned by Two Biſhops to
appear at a Synod, and not by a Deacon and a Layman. But, in
Anſwer to that, they urged the poſitive Order they had received;
and Ignatius, upon their threatening to drag him with them, if he
did not go of his own Accord, thought it adviſeable to yield. He
therefore appeared once more at that Aſſembly; but as lic continued,
in ſpite of all their Threats and Promiſes, unalterable in his Rcfo.
lution not to reſign, the Validity of his Ordination was called in
queſtion ; and no fewer than Seventy-two Witneſſes were produced
to ſwear, that he was choſen by Favorir, and conſequently that his
Vol. IV.
Election
Nn
274
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of Elc&tion and Ordination were both uncanonical. They then ordered
Chrilt 861.
the Thirtieth Apoſtolic Canon to be read, where it is ſaid, If a
Bishop, applying to worldly Princes, ſhall obtain a Church by their
Favour, let him be depoſed. It is added in the Canon, and let all
be depoſed who communicate with him ; but that Part they ſuppreſſed,
as they had all communicated with Ignatius. He excepted againſt
the Witneiles as evidently ſuborned, and atteſting what he could
prove to be falſe; and, as to the Apoſtolic Canon, he urged, that
they, who had conimunicated with hini, were, by that Canon, to
bc depoſed as well as he; and that, if he was no Patriarch, they were
He is depoſed no Bilhops, ſince they had been all ordained by him. But his Depo-
by the Coun
ſition was reſolved on; and the Sentence, declaring him unworthy
cil,
of the Epiſcopal Dignity, being read accordingly, he was firſt cloathed
with, and then, in a formal Manner, ſtripped of the Patriarchal
Robes by a Subdeacon, who had been degraded by him for his
wicked Life, and was therefore choſen by Photius and the Council
to perform the Ceremony c. His Depoſition was approved by the
greater Part of the Biſhops who were preſent at the Council, and
confirmed by the Legates. However, as ſeveral Metropolitans and
other Biſhops ſtill adhered to him, and had only through Fear agreed
to the Sentence of the Council, Photius, who knew it, apprehend-
ing he ſhould not be allowed quietly to enjoy the uſurped Dignity,
and treated till Ignatius had reſigned it, cauſed him, as ſoon as the Council was
with great , diſmiſſed, to be ſhut up in a painful Priſon, to be loaded with Irons,
Barbarity by
Photius. and daily beaten with the utmoſt Barbarity, hoping that, to rcdcem
himſelf from the Miſeries hic ſuffered, he would comply in the End,
and reſign. But, as he continued unaltcrable in his Reſolution to
ſuffer all the Torments his Enemies could inflict, and Death itſelf,
rather than betray his Truft, he was one Day moſt inhumanly beaten
by Theodore, One of his Kecpers ; who, taking hold of his Hand
while he lay quite ſenſeleſs on the Ground, formed a Croſs with it
on a blank Page, and carried the page thus ſigned to Photius; who
wrote upon it the following Words ; 1 Ignatius, of Conſtantinople,
own myſelf to have been choſen againſt the Canons, and to have
governed the Church as an Uſurper and a Tyrant. Photius now
pretended to be ſatisficd, as if Ignatius had really owned himſelf un-
worthy of the Patriarchal Dignity; and he was thereupon ſet at Li-
berty, and allowed to retire to a Palace that had formerly belonged
¢ Nicet. in vit. Ignat.
to
1
+
Nicholas. BISHOP'S of Rome.
275
to his Mother; but he had not been long there, when lic was in
Year of
Chrift 861.
formed, that it was agreed between Photius and the Emperor, that
he ſhould be made publicly to own he had been unlawfully raiſed to
the Epiſcopal Dignity; that he ſhould publicly read, in the Church
of the Apoſtles, the Act of his Reſignation, nay, and cven anathe-
matize himſelf; and that afterwards his Eyes ſhould be put out, and
his Right Hand cut off. He had ſcarce reccived this Intelligence,
when his Houſe was ſurrounded by a numerous Body of the Impe.
rial Guards ſent to apprehend him. But he, in the Diſguiſe of a He makes his
:fiape.
Porter carrying Two Baskets, pafled undiſcovered through the Midſt
of them, and got ſafe to the Iſlands. Photius, tranſported with
Rage at his Diſappointment, cauſed all the Monaſteries in Conſtanti-
nople and the Neighbourhood to be narrowly ſearched; and Mellen-
gers were diſpatched into all Parts, with Orders to put Ignatius to
Death whicre-ever they found him. But, by conſtantly flying from
one Place to another, and every-where paſſing for a conimon Beg-
gar, as he could ſupport himſelf by no other Means, he had the
good Luck to eſcape the Fury of thoſe who fought his Deſtruction,
till Providence interpoſed in his favour ; for frequent and dreadful
Shocks of Earthquake happening at Conſtantinople in the Month of
Auguſt of the preſent Year, the People, conſtruing them into a Pu-
niſhment from Heaven for the barbarous Treatment of their innocent
Patriarch, began loudly to complain of the Cruclty of his perſccu-
tors, as drawing down upon the whole City the Vengeance of Hea-
ven; inſomuch that the Emperor, to appeaſe them, and prevent a
general Inſurrection, was obliged to promiſe upon Oatli, and cauſe
it to be publicly proclaimed that Ignatius might ſafely diſcover him-
ſelf; that he might ſafely return to his Monaſtery; that he ſhould Is allowed to
be allowed to live there quite undiſturbed ; and that none of his Monaſtery.
Friends ſhould be any-ways moleſted, not even thoſe who had been
aiding and aſſiſting to him in his Flight, or had concealed him.
Hercupon Ignatius diſcovering himſelf, and appearing before Bar-
das, was allowed by him to return to his Monaſtery; and the Earth-
quake ceaſed, ſays Nicetas, after it had ſhaken the City in a mort
dreadful Manner for the Space of Forty Days d.
Ignatius had, before his Flight, cauſed an Appeal to the Pope to His Appeal
be drawn up by Theognoſtus, formerly Exarch, but at this time
to the Pope.
Monk, and Abbot of a Monaſtery in Rome. It was addreſſed, in the
d Idem ibid.
N n 2
Namc
return to his
276
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of
Nanic of Ignatius, of Ten Metropolitans, of ſeveral Biſhops, and
Chrift 861.
an infinite Number of Presbyters, to the moſt holy and bleſſed Pre-
fident and Patriarch of all Sees, Succeſſor to the Prince of the
Apoſtles, and univerſal Pope. Theſe, and ſuch-like Titles, flattered
the Vanity and Ambition of the Popes; and they were freely given
them by other Biſhops when they wanted their Aſſiſtance and Protec-
tion. Ignatius, in his Appeal, gives the Pope a minute Account of
every thing that paſſed on Occaſion of his Expulſion, and the Intru-
fion of Photius; of the Proceedings of the Council that depoſed
him ; of the Prevarication and Corruption of the Apoſtolic Legates;
and of the barbarous and inhuman Treatment he had met with;
begs the Pope to undertake his Cauſe, as his Predeceſſor Innocent
undertook that of Chryſoſtome, and, treading in the Footſteps of
Fabian, Julius, Innocent, Leo, &c. to exert himſelf, as they had
done, in the Defence of one who had ſuffered ſo much, and ſo
unjuſtly f.
The Emperor With this Appeal, Requeſt, or Memorial, Theognoſtus ſet out for
of the Council Rome, in the Diſguiſe of a Layman ; but the Two Legates, Rodoald
that depoſed and Zachary, arriving there before him, informed the Pope, by
Ignatius to
Word of Mouth, that Ignatius had been depoſed, and the Election
the Pope.
Year of of Photius confirmed 8. They took no kind of Notice of the Part
Chriſt 862. they had acted in that Affair, nor of the Violence that was uſed.
Two Days after arrived Leo, Secretary to the Emperor, and brought
with him Two Volumes, which he delivered to the Pope, in the
Name of the Emperor ; the onc containing the Acts of the Council
concerning the Depoſition of Ignatius ; the other the Acts of the
ſame Council relating to the Worſhip of Images, which was defined
anew by that Aſſembly h. The Emperor's Letter has not reached
our Times ; but it appears, from the Popc's Anſwer to it, to have
been calculated to perſuade his Holineſs, that Ignatius had procured
the Patriarchal Dignity by indirect and unlawful Means, and prevail
upon him, on that Account, to agree to his Depoſition, and the
Ordination of Photius in his room. The Subſtance of Photius's
Letter, which was of an extraordinary Length, but written with
great
Art, is as follows:
Photius's “ Charity is the Firſt of all Virtues; it joins thoſe who are diftant,
Letter to the « unites thoſe who are at Variance, baniſhes all Contention and Diſ-
Pope.
e See Vol. I. p. 294.
f Apud Baron. ad ann. 861. n. 28, & feq.
8 Nicol.
ep. 1o.
Nicol. ep. 7.
cord,
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
277
B
« cord, reconciles Enemies, and ſtrengthens the Bond of Friendſhip Year of
Chriſt 862.
" between Friends. Charity endures all Things; and it is Charity
" that makes me patiently endure the ſevere Reproaches of your
Holineſs, and aſcribe them not to Paſſion, to Enmity, or to Ha.
“ tred, but to the Sincerity of your Friendſhip for me, and your
« Zcal for the Honour of the Eccleſiaſtic Order. As I am fully con-
• vinced of thc Uprightneſs of your Intentions, your Holineſs will
“ forgive me, if I open my Mind to you with that Freedom which
“ Brothers uſe with each other, and Children with their Parents. I
" ſhall ſpeak nothing but the Truth, and ſpeak it not to contradict
you, but only to defend myſelf. It behoved then one of your
" eminent Virtue to have conſidered, that this heavy Burden was
“ forced upon me, and, upon that Conſideration, to have piticd,
“ and not reproved mc, to have condolod, and not found Fault
" with me. God, from whom nothing is concealed, knows what
« Violence has been offcred me. I would have made my Eſcape,
“ but was detained againſt my Will, was impriſoned, and guarded
" like a common Malcfactor, and in the End elected, in ſpite of my
" Remonſtrances, of my Sighs and my Tcars. Theſe Things are
“ publicly known, as they have not been tranſacted in a Corner of
« the Earth: Should not I therefore rather be comforted than up-
“ braided! I have forfeited the undiſturbed Peace and Tranquillity
" I enjoyed in the Company of my Friends, to whom I was dearer
" than their own Relations. To no Man have I ever given juſt
“ Cauſe of Complaint ; on the contrary, I have made it my Study
to oblige all Men ; and they never will, I hope, have Reaſon to
repent of the Commendations they have on that Account be- .
“ ſtowed upon me. To my Houſe reſorted daily Men verſed in all
" the Branches of Literature; and with them I palled my Time in
" the Study of the Sciences hunian and divine. I frequently went
“ to Court, and they attended me thither, grudged the Time I ſpent
" there, and accompanied me back to my Houſe, where we reſumed
our Studies. Who can bear the Loſs of ſuch a Life! What a
" Flood of Tears has it coſt me? I know, thoʻI had not experienced
" it, what Cares and Anxictics attend the Situation in which I have
« been placed : I was no Stranger to the Obtivacy and Perverfeneſs
« of the Multitude, to their feditious, fickle, and reſtleſs Temper.
“ If you refuſe them what they ask, they murmur ; if you grant it,
" they inſult you, as if you durft not refuſe it. All think themſelves
" quali-
A
278
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of
Chrift 862.
1
" qualified to govern, and dictate to their Superiors; but what will
" become of the Veſſel that has no other Pilot but the Multitude ;
" of the Army that has no other Commander ! The Veffel will ine-
vitably be loſt, and the Army utterly deſtroyed. They who go-
vern, muſt accommodate themſelves to the Tempers and the Paſ-
« fions of thoſc whom they govern; they muſt pretend to be chcar-
« ful wlicn they are ſad, and to be ſad when they are chcarful; mult
" ſeem to be angry when free from all Anger, and thus live under a
" perpetual Reſtraint: But, in private Life, and aniong Friends, a.
" Man may appear to be what he really is. I muſt, in my preſent Si•
• tuation, chride niy Friends, flight my Relations agrecably to the
" Command, ſhow myſelf reſerved with Offenders, and thus incur
“ Hatred on all Sides. This I foreſaw, and therefore ſtrove, but ftrove
“ in vain, to avoid ro troubleſome a Charge. If what I ſay is be-
" lieved, they injure me who believe it and do not pity me; if it is
not believed, they injurc me who do not believe me when I ſpcak
“ Truth. You will ſay no Violcncc ought to have been offered ;
" and in that indeed we agree : But they are to blame who offered
« it, and not I to whom it was offered. But it is, you ſay, a Breach
“ of the Canons to raiſe a Layman to thc Epiſcopal Dignity. Be it
" ſo; they are guilty of that Breach who forced the Epiſcopal Dig.
nity upon me, and not I upon whom it was forced. But to thoſe
" Canons we are here all intire Strangers, as they have never obtained
“ in the Church of Conftantinople. However that be, I am as wil-
ling to reſign as I was unwilling to accept ſo toilſome a Charge.
“ It is not at all commendable, I own, to commit the Government
“ of the Church to Laymen, nor do I by any means approve of ſuch
a Practice, and am therefore ſtill in Suſpence; nor ſhall I give an
“ intire Conſent to my Promotion till the Return of thc Apocrifarii
“ I have ſent to your Holineſs.”
Photius cmploys the remaining Part of his very long Letter to
ſhow, that the Canon, forbidding Laymen to be ordained Biſhops,
had never been received by the Church of Conſtantinople, nay, that
ſuch a Canon never had been heard of there; alleges ſeveral Inſtances
to prove it; viz. of Nectarius ; of his Great-uncle Taraſius ; of
Gregory the Father of the Divine; of Thalaſſius of Cæfarea, &c.
who were all raiſed to the Epiſcopal Throne while they ſtill were
Laymen, and cannot be ſuppoſed to have been guilty, in conſenting
thereunto, of the Breach of any Canons which they were ac-
7
quainted
(0
>
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
279
!
quainted with; obſerves, that the Canon in queſtion has been dif Year of
Chriſt 862.
penſed with even by the Latins; that Ambroſe was preferred to the
Sec of Milan while yet a Layman; nay, that Ambroſe, and Necta-
rills whoſe Ordination was confirmed by a General Council, were
not only Laymen, but Catechumens, wlien raiſed to the Epiſco-
pacy (F); takes notice of ſeveral Laws or Canons that are obſerved
by fome, but have never been ſo much as heard of by others; and
among then he reckons the Canon forbidding the Ordination of
Laymen received at Rome, but utterly unknown at Conſtantinople ;
and adds, that thoſe Laws alone are univerſally binding that are uni-
verſally received ; and that, inftcad of blaming thoſe who are raiſed
from the State of Laymen to the Epiſcopal Dignity, we ought to
honour and commend them for leading ſuch Lives as rendered them
more worthy of that Dignity than any of the Prieſthood. However,
that for the future no room might be left for Complaints of this Na-
ture, he tells the Pope, that, in the Council lately held in the Impe-
rial City, he had conſented to the iſſuing of a Canon, forbidding
any Monk or Layman to be thenceforth ordained Biſhop, without
paſſing through all the inferior Degrees; wiſhes that ſuch a Law
had always obtained in the Church of Conſtantinople, ſince it would
have delivered him from the many Cares and Difficulties that attend
his preſent Situation, in which it is, he ſays, incumbent upon him to
inſtruct the Ignorant, to confirm the Wavering, to animate the Sloth-
ful, to inſpire the Avaricious with the Contempt of Riches, the
Proud with mean Thoughts of themſelves, the Lewd with the Love
of Purity, to check the Impiety of thoſe who inſult Chriſt in his
Images, who confound or deny his Naturcs, or introduce a new one,
who curſe the Fourth Council, doc. As the Legates had applied to
him for the Reſtoration of the Juriſdiction formerly enjoyed by the
Roman Sec over Epirus, Illyricum, &c. he tells the Pope, that he
would, with great Joy, reſtore thoſe Churches to their ancient Mo-
ther, were it left to him, ſince he ſhould be thereby eaſed of Part of
his Burden ; but that it is the Province of the Civil Power, and not
(F) Nectarius was not a Catechumen, the Time of his Election, he was ſtill
but a Neophite, or newly baptized, when cleathed with his myſtical Garments, that
he was choſen to ſucceed Gregory Nazien. is, the white Garments, which the newly
zen in the See of Conſtantineple: For So- baptized uſed to wear.
crates (1) and Sozomen (2) tell us, that, at
(1) Socrat. I. v. c. 8.
(2) Sozom, !. vii. c. 8.
his,
1
280
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
....
Year of his, to ſettle the Limits of Countries, and, with the Limits, the
Chriſt 861.
Juriſdiction over them.
On this Occaſion, he does not forget to
commend the Legates, as Men who have diſtinguiſhed themſelves by
their Virtue, their Prudence, their Experience, and by their whole
Conduct have done Honour to him who fent them. His Holineſs,
he ſays, will learn of them many Things which he would otherwiſe
have written, but has not thought it neceſſary, as they can inform
him of every thing by Word of Mouth, and are more worthy of
Credit than any-body elſe. As many of the perſecuted Patriarcli's
Friends had privately withdrawn from Conſtantinople to Rome, Pho-
tius, to prejudice the Pope againſt them, and prevent by that means
his being informed of the true State of Affairs in the Eaſt, cloſes his
Letter with entreating him not to receive any who ſhall come from
thence without Letters of Recommendation, ſince many, under
Colour of Piety and Religion, reſort to Rome, only to avoid the
Penance or the Puniſhment that is due to their Crimes. The Direc-
tion of Photius's Letter was, To our moſt holy Brother and Fellow-
Miniſter Nicholas, Pope of Old Romc, Photius Biſhop of Conſtan-
tinople, New Rome i.
The Pope
By theſe Letters, and ſtill more by the Acts of the Council, the
proteſts
againſt the Pope underſtood, that Ignatius had been depoſed, and Photius fub-
Conduct of ſtituted in his room ; that his Legates had agreed to the Depoſicion of
bis Legates. the one, and the Intruſion of the other ; that they had acknowleged
Photius, and communicated with him as duly elected, and lawful
Patriarch. In order therefore to ſhow to all the World, and in the
moſt public Manner, his Diſapprobation of their Conduct, he immc.
diately aſſembled the whole Roman Church, and ſolcmnly declared,
in the Preſence of Leo thc Imperial Embaſſador, that his Legates had
acted contrary to their Inſtructions ; that they were not authorized
to confirm the Depoſition of Ignatius, and the Election of Photius ;
and that he never had conſented, that he never would conſent, to
the one or the other k.
Upon the breaking up of the Council, the Pope wrote Two
to the Empe- Letters in Anſwer to thoſe he had received from the Emperor and
from Photius, and delivered them to Leo, who was upon the Point
of returning to Conftantinople. In his Letter to the Emperor, he
proteſts againſt the Proceedings of his Lcgates, as well as of the
Council at which they aſlifted; aſcribes their Prevarication to the
i Baron. ad ann. 861. n. :9, & ſeq. k Nicul. ep. 7. 20. 18.
cruel
His Letter
ror.
ho
22
281
CH
tius.
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
crucl Treatment they met with, and the Violence that was offered Year of
Chrift 862.
them; and wonders that the Emperor ſhould now charge Ignatius
with having procured the Patriarchal Dignity by unlawful and indi-
rcet Means, when he has in his Hands Letters from him to his Pre-
deceſſor Leo, and to himſelf, wherein he owns him to have been
regularly clected, and lawfully ordained. As to his Council having
been compoſed of as many Biſhops as was that of Nice, which the
Emperor liad boaſted of in his Letter, the Pope tells him, that, as they
had all departed from the Regulations of that great and vencrable
Affembly, it matters little whicther they equalled, or even excccded
it in Number; nay, that their Number only ſerved to add to their
Guilt 1.
The Popc, in his Letter to Photius, takes it for granted, that, by And to Pho-
the Words, Thou art Peter, doc. the Primacy was conferred upon
St. Peter, and upon all who ſhould ſucceed him in thc See he had
founded at Rome; and that it is therefore incumbent upon him, as
the Succeſſor of that Apoſtle, as preſiding in the Church that is the
Firſt and the Head of all Churches, to ſee that the Inſtitutions of
the Fathers, and the Laws they have wiſely enated, be punctually
complicd with by all other Churches, as well as his own. He then
comes to thc Canon forbidding any to be raiſed to the Epiſcopal
Throne, who have not paſſed through the inferior Degrees of the
Church m; reproaches Photius with a Breach of that Canon, in pre-
ſuming to take upon him the Epiſcopal Dignity while yet a Layman.
And in Anſwer to the Inſtances he had alleged in favour of his Or-
dination, the Pope pretends Nectarius to have been raiſed to the
Patriarchal Sec while he was yet a Layman, becauſe not one Eccle-
fiaftic could be found at that time in the whole Body of the Con-
ſtantinopolitan Clergy quite frec from Hereſy; and adds, that in
ſuch Cafes, Caſes of Neceſſity, thc Canon may and ought to be
diſpenſed with. As to the Promotion of Taroſius, hc quotes the
Words of his Predeceſſor Hadrian, diſapproving and cenſuring it as
irregular ; but nevertheleſs conniving at it, in Conſideration of Ta.
rafius's known Zcal for Images. The Election of Ambroſe he
aſcribes to a Miracle, and tells the following Talc; viz. that the
Becs ſwarned in his Mouth while he was an Infant, and aſleep in
his Cradle; that from the Cradle they flew up into the Air quite
out of Sight; that from thence his Father prognoſticated the Child
m Concil. Sardic. Can. 10.
Vol. IV.
would
+
i Nicol. ep. 5.
O o
។
D
moin'
282
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of would one Day atrain to ſome very high Dignity; and that he was
Chriſt 862.
accordingly choſen, many Years afterwards, while yet a Catechu-
men, to ſucceed Auxentius the Arian Biſhop in the See of Milan,
and miraculouſly choſen, an Infant, enat happened to be preſent at
the Election, crying oui aioud, while the People were divided in
their Suffrages, Ambroſe is our Biſhop, and the whole Multitude
joining in the Cry as a Voice from Heaven (L). Thus, ſays the
Pope, were Nectarius, Taraſius, and Ambroſe, preferred from the
State of Laymen to the Epiſcopal Dignity. But what can you plead
in Defence of your Promotion, you who have not only been unlaw-
fully ordained, but have intruded yourſelf into the See of another
ſtill living? Photius had ſaid in his Letter, that the Canon of the
Council of Sardica, and the Decrees of the Popes, prohibiting the
Ordination of Laynien, had never been received by the Church of
Conſtantinople. In Anſwer to that, the Pope tells him in plain
Terms, that he cannot believe him, as the Council was held in the
Eaſt, and is received by the whole Church, as well as the Decrees of
the Apoſtolic Sec, by whoſe Authority all Councils are confirmed.
He then reproaches him with his unprecedented Severity, that of
a Tyrant rather than a Father, in perſecuting Ignatius, and arbitra-
rily depofing Biſhops and Archbiſhops, for no other Reaſon but be-
cauſe they adhered to him ; complains of the cruel Treatment his
Legates had met with, and the Violence that was offered then
declares that he cannot, and never will, acknowlege any other for
lawful Biſhop of Conſtantinople, till he is ſatisfied that Ignatius has
been lawfully depoſed; and cloſes his Letter with aſſuring Photius,
that he is not influenced therein by Envy, Hatred, or any Ill-will
he bcars him, but only by Zeál for the Obſervance of the Canons,
of the Traditions of the Fathers, and the Decrecs of the Apoſtolic
Biſhop. .
(L) The Truth of it is : Ambroſe was ing a Speech, that, laying aſide their Dira
Prætor at Milan when the Bifhop of the pute, they all cried out with one Voices
Place died; and the whole City being in We will have Ambroſe for our
an Uproar on account of the Diſagreement This ſudden and unexpected Agreement
among the Inhabitants about the Election the Emperor looked upon as miraculous ;
of a new Biſhop, Ambroſe, on whom it and therefore ordered himn immediately to
was incumbent, as Prætor, to appeaſe the be baptized, for he was yet a Catechumen,
Tumult, repairing to the Place where the and a few Days after to be ordained Biſhop.
Electors were met, exhorted them to Unity Thus Paulinus (3), Ruffinus (4), Theoda-
and Concord with fo elegant and ſo affect. ret (5), Socrates (6), and Sozomen (7).
(3) Paulin, vit. Ambroſ. (4) Ruffin. l. ii. C. II. (5) Theod. 1. iv. c. 6.
(6) Socrat. ). iv. c. 30. (7.), Sozom. l. vi. C. 24.
See,
1
1
Nicholas, BISHOPS of Rome.
283
Year of
1
Sce. The Pope, to ſhew that he looked upon Photius only as a
Chrift 862.
Layman, gave him no other Title in the Direction of his Letter but
that of a moſt prudent Man; Nicolaus Epiſcopus ſervus fervorum
Dei prudentiffimo viro Photio m.
At the ſame time, the Pope wrote a circulatory Letter to all the His Letter
to the Faitlis
Faithful in the Eaſt, to acquaint them with the Depoſition of Igna- ful in the
tills, the Intruſion of Photius, and the Prevarication of his Legates Eaft.
conſenting thercupto, contrary to the Inſtructions he had given them;
and addreſſing himſelf, in the Cloſe of his Letter, to the Three Pa-
triarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jeruſalem, to the Metropoli-
tans and other Biſhops in thoſe Parts, he declares, that it is the fixed
Reſolution of the Apoſtolic Scc to reinſtate the venerable Patriarch
Ignatius in his former Dignity, and drive out the moſt wicked Pho-
tius, who has uſurped it in Defiance of the Canons; and he enjoins
and commands them, by virtue of his Apoſtolic Authority, to think
as he does with reſpect to the Expulſion of Photius, and Reſtoration
of Ignatius, and to cauſe his Letter to be publiſhed in their reſpec-
tive Dioceſes, that it may be known to all n. This Letter, as well
as that to Photius, is dated the 18th of March of the preſent Year
862, and the Letter to the Emperor the 19th of the fame Month.
About this Time, one Euſtratius arriving at Conſtantinople in the Contrivance
Habit of a Monk, went ſtrait to the Patriarchal Palace; and giving of Photius to
out that he came froni Rome, publicly delivered Two Letters to Ruin of Ig-
Photius, the one from Ignatius, as he pretended, to the Pope, natius.
the other from the Pope to Photius. Ignatius, in the Letter that
was ſuppoſed to have been written by him, gave the Pope a minute
Account of the Perſecution he had ſuffered, and painted the Empe-
ror in the blackcft Colours. That Letter, Euſtratius ſaid, the Pope
would not receive, and he had therefore brought it back. Tlie Popc;
in his Letter, was made to apologize for the Miſunderſtanding that
had hitherto ſubſiſted between him and Photius, and to expreſs an
earneft Deſire not only of communicating with him, but ctabliſhing
a laſing. Peace and Harmony between thc Two Sees. Theſc Letters
Photius immediatcly communicated to the Emperor, and to Bardas,
in order to incenſe them anew againſt Ignatius, whom they had
ſuffered, ever ſince thc Time of the Earthquake, to live undiſturbed
in a Monaflcry. He was accordingly taken into Cuſtody, and ſtrictly
guarded; but Euſtratius pretending, upon his Examination; the
w Nicol, ep. 6.
0 0 2
Letter
ca
1
1
» Nicol. ep. 4.
ft.
284
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of Letter for the Pope to have been delivered to him by one Cyprian,
Chriſt 862.
a Diſciple, as he ſaid, of Ignatius, and no ſuch Perſon being any-
where found after the moſt diligent Inquiries, the Impoſture was dif-
covered, and Eluſtratius moſt ſeverely whipt by an Order from Bar.
das, in ſpite of the moſt prcfling Inſtances of Photius in his favour o.
Theſe Letters are both ſuppoſed to have been forged by Photius
himſelf, hoping that the Emperor, provoked at the odious Picture
that was drawn of him in the Letter to the Pope, would, in the
Tranſport of his Wrath, order the ſuppoſed Writer to be put to
Death without further Inquiry. But ſo wicked an Attempt raiſed in
all Men, ſays Nicetas, the greateſt Indignation againſt Photius, and
a general Compaſlion for Ignatius.
Lotharius, An Affair of far greater Moment in the Weſt than the Quarrel
King of Lord between Ignatius and Photius about the Sce of Conſtantinople in
raine charges
his Wife
the Eaſt, engaged at the ſame time the Attention of the Pope; and
Theutberga he excrted his Authority with no leſs Steadincſs in the one than he
with Inceſt.
did in the other: Lotharius King of Lorraine, or Auſtraſia (M),
Son of the late Emperor of that Name, and Brother to the preſent
Emperor Lewis, had married Theutberga, Siſter to Hubert Duke of
Burgundy ; but wanting to divorce her, and to marry Waldrada one
of his Miſtreſſes in her room, he accuſed her of Inceſt with her Bro.
ther. The Queen denied the Charge in an Affeinbly of Biſhops and
all the chief Lords of the Kingdom, whom the King had called to-
gether to examine into that Affair; nay, and to convince them of her
Innocence, underwent with their conſent, if not by their Command,
the Trial, or, as it is called, Ordeal, by hot Water. She was ex.
cuſed, in Conſideration of her Rank and her Sex, from undergoing
that Trial in Perſon ; but thc Man, whom ſhe choſe to act in her
room, received not the leaſt Hurt from the ſcalding Water ; and the
She is clear. Quicon was thereupon declared innocent by the whole Aſſembly, was
ed, and re-
by the King recalled to Court (for he had cauſed her to be ſhut up
Court; in a Monaſtery), and reſtored to all the Prerogatives of her Royal
Dignity p. But, notwithſtanding ſo convincing a Proof of the Quicen's
Innocence, Waldrada Nill cogrolled the King's Affection, and his
o Nicet. in vit. Ignat. p Hincinar, de divort. Loth. & Theutb, Annal. Bertin.
(M) In the Diviſion of the French Im- ral Provinces; and it was thenceforth call-
pire made by the Emperor Lotharius ed in Latin Lotharingia, from its new
amongſt his Children, the ancient King- King Lotharius; and from Lotharingia
dom of Auftrafia was allotted to Lotharius they derive the Name of Lorraine.
his Second Son, with the Addition of ſeve-
1
Pallion
called to
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
285
1
Year of
Chriſt 862.
Pallion for her allowed the unhappy Theutberga but a very ſhort
Reſpite from her Troubles; for Lotharius, determined at all Events
to part with her, in order to make room for Waldrada, appointed,
foon after the above-mentioned Trial, ſome of the chief Biſhops of
his Kingdom to meet at Aix-la-Chapelle; and there arraigning the
Qucen ancw of Inceſt, prevailed upon them to declare, that he could
not in Conſcience live with her as his Wife, though not a ſingle
Evidence was produced in Support of the Charge. This Point being
gained, the King aſſembled the ſame Year, 860, another Council in
the ſame Place; and having, with terriblc Menaces, obliged the but after-
Queen to own herſelf, in their Preſence, guilty of the Crime ſhe wards forced
to own herfilf
was charged with, he applied to the Biſhops for Leave to marry again, guilıy.
ſince they had declared, that it was not lawful for him to cohabic
with Theutberga as his Wife 9. I do not find, that, in this Council,
the Biſhoşs came to any Determination with reſpect to the King's
Requeſt : They only ordained, that Theutberga, convicted by her
own Confeſſion, ſhould do public Penance for her Crime. But ſhe
eſcaped into France to her Brother Hubert, who had taken Refuge
there, and was well received by the King, Charles the Bald, Uncle
to Lotharius r.
Two Years after, that is, in 862, a Third Council was held at Lotharius
allowed by a
Aix la-Chapelle, at which were preſent Gonthier Archbiſhop of Co-
Council to put
logne, Teutgaud Archbiſhop of Treves, and the Biſhops of Metz, away Theut-
of Verdun, of Tongres, of Utrecht, and Strasburgh; and the time-
berga, and
ſerving Biſhops declared all to a Man, that the King might lawfully cler
diſmiſs Tkeutberga, and marry another in her room ; nay, and alleged
ſeveral Paſſages out of the Fathers, and ſome Canons of the Church,
to juſtify the Declaration they had made. We are told, that, in this
Affair, the Archbiſhop of Treves, and the other Biſhops, were mil-
led and impoſed upon by the Archbiſhop of Coligne, a Man of great
Authority among them, whoſe Nicce the King had promiſed to
marry, provided he could get his Marriage with Theutberga declared
null by a Council s. The Queen, on her Arrival in France, had
written to the Pope, to acquaint hin with the baſe Treatment ſhe
had met with from the King, and the Biſhops of his Kingdom, and
at the ſame time to implorc his Protection. Of this the Biſhops were
awarc, and had therefore diſpatched Teutgaud of Treves, and Hatio
of Verdun, to entreat the Pope, in the King's Name and their own,
9 Annal Bertin, s Ibidem.
marry an-
• Annal Metenf.
not
1
286
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
I
Year of
1
quaints the
Pope with
not to give car to, nor fuffer himſelf to be prejudiced by, the falſe
Chrilt 862.
Reports and Miſrepreſentations of their Enemies, ſince, in thc Affair
of Theistberga, they had proceeded upon her own Confeſlion, and
had hitherto only ordered her to do public Penance for her Sin,
which ſlic had avoided by quirting the Kingdom, and flying into
France. The Pope had heard all they ſaid with great Attention
but returned them no other Anſwer than that it was an Affair of
The King ai-great Importance, and ought to be thoroughly examined: The King
therefore, upon the breaking up of the laſt Council, ſent Two Counts
the Deciſion to Rome, to acquaint the Pope with the Deciſion of that Aflembly,
of the Coun- to beg his Holincts to confirm it, and affurc him, that he ſhould wait
cil,
for, and acquicſce in, the Judgment of the Apoſtolic Sec. To them
the Pope returned the ſame Anſwer he had given to the Biſhops ;
adding, that he ſhould ſend Legates to inform themſelves of the
Whole upon the Spot; and entreating the King, in the mean time,
not to act over-haſtily in an Affair of ſuch Moment and Concern.
From this Anſwer, and from the Pope's refuſing to confirm the Sen-
tence of the Council, thc King concluded, that his Holineſs was by
110 means inclined to conſent to his Marriage ; and therefore, ſuffer-
and marries ing his Paflion to prevail over all other Regards, he married Wal-
drada publicly ſoon after the Rcturn of the Two Counts from Rome,
gave her the Title of Queen, and built her a ſtately Palace for her
Habitation t.
In the mean time. came to Rome Count Bofo, to complain to the
complains to
the Pope of Pope of Lotharius, for harbouring in his Dominions his Wife Ingel-
trude, the Daughter of Count Matfrid, who, eloping from him
for harbour- with her Adulterer, had taken Refuge in the Kingdom of Lorraine,
ing bis Wife,
and there, to the great Diſgrace of her own Family and her Hur-
eloped from band's, led the Life of a common Proſtitute. The Count had, for
the Space of Seven Ycars, frequently invited her to return to her
Duty, with th'c Promiſe of an unlimited Pardon, and a kind Recep-
tion; had applied to Lotharius, entreating him not to countenance
her in her Lewdneſs, but to drive her from his Dominions, and had
omitted nothing in his power to reclaim her. But finding that no
Regard was paid by her to his Offers, nor by the King to his preſling
and repeated Inſtances, he rcfolved in the end to apply to the Pope,
Letters writ- and undertook for that Purpoſe a Journey to Rome. The Pope,
Pope on that having hcard his Complaint, wrore, before the Count left Rome, to
Occaſion.
· Nicol. ep. 38. Annal. Bertin,
3
the
Waldrada,
Count Boſo
Lotharius
who had
binn,
.
1
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
287
meet at
Year of
the French Biſhops, to the Kings, and to Lotharius himſelf. In his
Chriſt 862.
Letter to the Biſhops, he required them to excommunicate Ingeltrude,
if ſhe did not forthwith return to her Husband : In his Letter to the
Kings, viz. Charles King of France, Lewis King of Germany, and
Charles King of Provence, he exhorted them to interpoſe their good
Offices in favour of Boſo, and prevail upon Lotharius, if by any
means they could, to baniſh the noble Proſtitute, as the Pope Niles
her, out of his Dominions, and not to admit her into theirs, that
ſhe might thus be obliged to throw herſelf at her Husband's Feet,
who was ready to receive and forgive her. In his Letter to Lotha.
rius, he thrcatened him with the Cenfures of the Church, if he con-
tinued to countenance Ingeltrude in her Wickedneſs, or ſuffered
her to remain any longer in his Kingdom u.
Thefe Letters the Pope delivered to the Count himſelf; and tak. Council ap-
pointed 10
ing the Affair of Lotharius into ſerious Conſideration upon his De-
parture, he thought it a Matter of too great Importance to be finally Metz, to de-
determined by the Biſhops of the Kingdom of Lorraine only. Of
the fame Opinion were Hincmar and Ado, the one Archbiſhop of Lotharius.
Reims, the other of Vienne ; and the Proceedings of the Three
Councils held at Aix-la-Chapelle were cenſured by the other Galli-
can Biſhops, as repugnant to the Canons, and the Practice of the
Church, and only calculated to gratify the Paſion of their Sovereign,
which it was their Duty to check and reſtrain. The Pope therefore,
paying no kind of Regard to the Deciſions of thoſe Councils, re-
ſolved to cauſe the Affair to be examined anew in an Aſembly of all
the Biſhops of France and Germany, and to ſend Legates, fince both
Parties had appealed to him as an Arbiter, to aſliſt at that Aſſembly
in his Nanie. The City of Metz was the Place appointed for the
Meeting of the Council ; and the Pope chofe Rodoald Biſhop of The Pope
Porto, and John Biſhop of Ficocla in Romania, to preſide at it, fends Legates
with the Character of his Legates a latere (N). The Pope charged
them with Letters to Lotharius, to Lewis King of Germany, to
Charles King of France, his Uncles, to Charles King of Provence,
his Brother, defiring them to ſend Two Biſhops cach to the Council,
Of termine the
Of Affair of
a
# Apud Barori. ad ann. 862. n. 38.
(N) As the Biſhop of Porto had lately ſince he could no longer doubt of his Miro
betrayed his Truft in the Eaſt, it is not a conduct there, though he had not yet re-
little ſurprifing that the Pope ſhould have ceived any authentic Proofs of it.
employed him on the preſent Occaſion,
with
-
288
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Chrift 862
Letters be
ز
Year of with a circulatory Letter to all the Biſhops of France and Germany,
and with one to the Biſhops who ſhould be preſent at the Council u
In his Letter to Lotharius, he recommends his Legates to him; tells
wrote on that
Occaſion.
him, that, in Compliance with his Deſire, he would have ſent them
fooncr, had hc nor been diverted from it by Affairs of the utmoſt
Importance; deſires that Two Biſhops from the Kingdom of Lewis
King of Germany, Two from that of Charles King of France, and
Two from the Kingdom of Charles King of Provence, may be al-
lowed to alliſt at the Council; and wiſhes, that, upon the Return
of his Legates, he may have Occaſion to rejoice, to return Thanks
to the Almighty, and to ſend to the King his Apoſtolic Benediction.
The Pope, in his Letter to the Biſhops, informs them, that Theut-
birga, whom Lotharius liad put away to marry another in her room,
had applied to him, deſiring that her Caufe might be judged by the
Apoftolic Sce; and that he had thereupon fent Two Legates to judge
it, jointly with them, in a Council that was to meet at Metz; rc-
quires them to repair to the Council, in order to aſliſt his Legates
with their Advicc ; tells them, that, when the ſaid Legates were
upon the Point of ſetting out from Rome, he had learned that Lo.
tharius had diſmiſſed Theutberga, and married another Woman,
without waiting for the Judgment of thc Apoſtolic Sce, to which he
had appealed, and promiſed to ſubmit; and lie therefore dcfires, that
the King may be ſummoned to appear, and plead his Cauſe in Per-
ſon before them and his Legates, on Pain of being cut off by the
Apoftolic Sec from the Communion of the Faithful w. In thc Let-
ter that was addreſſed to the Biſhops of the Council, and was to be
read to them at their Firſt Meeting, the Pope exhorted them to judge
juſtly, without Reſpect of Perſons; and required them to tranſmit to
hin the Acts of the Council, in order to their being confirmed by
the Apoſtolic Sec, if in every Reſpect agrecable, or corrected, if
any-way repugnant to the Laws of Juſtice and the Rules of the
Church x.
The Pope me-
At the ſame time the Pope wrote, and ſent by his Legates, Two
diates a Re- Letters concerning a very different Affair ; the one to Charles the
Bald, the other to Hermeni rude his Queen : Judith, their Daughter,
Charles of had married Æthelwulph King of the Weſt Saxons, as has been
France and
related above y; and ſhe married, upon his Death, Æthelbald, the
Baldwin
Count of u Nicol. ep. 17, 18, 19, : w Nicol. ep. 22.
x Nicol. ep. 23.
y Cee above,
Flanders.
p. 255.
dcccared
conciliation
between
I
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
289
Year of
deccaſed King's cldeſt Son. But he dying ſoon after that inceſtuous
Chriſt 862.
Marriage, ſhe returned to France, and, by her Father's Appointment,
lived at Senlis, under the Direction of the Biſhop of the Place, to
whoſe Care the King had recommended her, as ſhe was yet very
young. During her Stay there, Baldwin Count of Flanders, a Man
of great Diſtinction, but the King's Vaffal, fell paſſionately in Love
with her, and the with him; but being both ſenſible that the King
would never be brought to agree to their Marriage, Baldwin, with
her Conſent, and the Conſent of her Brother Lewis Duke of Maine,
carried her off; and they fled for Refuge to the Kingdom of Lotha-
rius. Charles, highly provoked at ſuch an Inſult offered him by
One of his own Subjects, had Recourſe to the Biſhops; and having
aſſembled thoſe of his Kingdom, he prevailed upon them to thunder
out the Sentence of Excommunication againſt Judith as well as
Baldwin, agrecably to the Decree of. Pope Gregory the Great, ex-
communicating all who mould ſteal Widows, and all who should
communicate with them z. Baldwin, ſtruck with Terror at this
Sentence, undertook a Journey to Rome; and there, throwing him-
ſelf at the Pope's Feet, owned his Crimc, begged his Holineſs to
abſolve him from the Excommunication, and to interpoſe his good
Offices with the King in his behalf. The Pope did not think it ad-
viſeable to abſolve him from the Excommunication till the King was
reconciled to him, but readily undertook to mediate a Reconcilia-
tion; and wrote accordingly the above-mentioned Letters to Charles
and Hermentrude, warmly recommending to both the penitent
Count, who, he apprehended, might call in the Normans, if driven
to Deſpair, and, jointly with them, make War upon France. His
Mediation had the wiſhed-for Effect; Baldwin and Judith were
received by the King into Favour; the Marriage was folcmnized in
duc Form at Auxerre; and the Count reinſtated in the Government
of Flanders, with the Titic of Count of the Kingdom; by virtue of
which he was to defend the Kingdom of France againſt the Normans,
or, as the Pope calls them, Northmans, and all the Northern Bar-
barians a.
Beſides theſc Letters, the Popc delivered to his Legatrs their In- Infrutions
ftruâions in Writing, called, in the Language of thoſe Days, Com-given to the
monitorium, being caiculated to admoniſh or put them in mind of were to apijt
a Annal. Bertin. Floioard. I. iii. c. 12. Meyer. annal. Fland. cil of Metz,
1. j. Nicol, ep. 20, 21.
VOL. IV.
PP
the
at the Coun.
z Annal. Bertin.
290
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
ܪ
Year of the principal Heads of their Charge. As Lotharius pretended to have
Chrilt 862.
beci married to Waldrada by the latc Emperor his Father, while he
was yet very young, and conſequently that he could not, in Con-
ſcience, cohabit with Thertberga as his Wifc, thc Legates were
dircited, firſt of all, to cxamine with great Care into the Truth of
the Fact; to cauſe the Marriage Treaty to be produced, as well as
the Witnelles who were preſent ; to inquire why the King put her
away to marry thc Daughter of Boſo, that is, Theutberga, in her
room; and not to proceed till theſe Points were all cleared up to their
intire Satisfaction. If, upon Examination, the King's Marriage with
Waidrada was found to be a mere Invention or Pretence, the Legates
werc, in that Calc, to come to the Charge brought againſt Theut-
berga : And here the Pope informed them, that ſhe had implored
Three different times the Protection of the Apoſtolic Sec againſt the
Violence that was offered her ; that ſhe had indeed confeſſed the
Crime ſhe was charged with to fome Biſhops of the Kingdom of
Lorraine ; but had ſent a Perſon to Rome before the made that Con-
fellion, to complain of the violent Means that were uted to extort
from her the Confellion of a Crime which ſhe had never commit-
ted, and at the ſame time to declare, in her Name, that if the ſhould
own that, or any other Crime, it was not becauſe ſhe was guilty,
but to ſave her Life, that the owned it. The Pope therefore charged
the Legates to call Theutbe:ga to the Council, that ſhe might plead
her Cauſe in Perſon before them; and to reverſe the Sentence that
had been pronounced againſt her at Aix-la-Chapelle, if ſhe retracted
the Confeflion that had given Occaſion to it, as not voluntary, but
cxtorted by Force, or by Menaces b.
The Legate
With theſe Inſtructions thc Legatos fet out for Metz, where the
Zachary de- Council was to meet ; and in the mean tinc the Monk Theognoftus, of
Aled in a
Council
, for whom I have ſpoken above, arrived at Rome, with the Appeal of Igna-
conſenting to tills, containing an Account of his Depoſition, of the Intruſion of Pho-
té Depola-
tion of Igna-
tills, and the Prevarication of the Legates Rodoald and Zachary.
The Porc, in reading it, was not more affccted with the Sufferings
of Ignatiuis, which were there minutely deſcribed, than provoked at
the Conduct of his Legates, who, inſtead of complying with, liad
acted in direct Oppoſition to, the Inſtructions he had given then, and
even endeavoured, after their Return, to inpoſe upon him, by miſ-
o Ivo, part. 8. c. 334. Gratian. quæft, 2. C. Lotharius, apud Baron. ad ann. 862.
n. 61–65.
3
repreſenting
tius.
Year of
Chriſt 863
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
291
Year of
1
.
repreienting to hin the whole Affair. In order therefore to clear the
Chriſt 863
Apoſtolic Sce from the Imputation of having been any ways acceſſory
to ſuch irregular and unjuſt Proceedings, and at the ſame time to afford
to the perſecuted Patriarch all the Comfort and Relief in his Power, he
reſolved to cxert his whole Authority in his Defence, and to puniſh,
in a moft exemplary Manncr, thc Prevarication of the Legates. With
that Vicw he aſſembled, ſoon after the Arrival of Theognoſtus, a numc-
rous Council of the Weſtern Biſhops in Rome, who met firſt in the
Vatican, but were ſoon obliged, by the Cold, to adjourn from thence
to thc Lateran. In this Council were read, in the Firſt place, the Aas
of that which Photii:s had held at Conſtantinople, the Emperor's Lot-
ters to the Pope, and, no doubt, thc Act of the depoſed Patriarch's
Appeal to the Apoſtolic Sce, all tranſlated from the Greek into La-
tin. In the next place, Zachary was brought before the Council,
was ſtriąly cxamined, and being convicted, by his own Confeflion,
of having conſented to the Depoſition of Ignatius, and acknowicged
Photius, he was by the Council excommunicated and depoſed. The
Judging of Rodoald, his Fellow-legate and Accomplice, fent lately
into France, was put off till his Return to Rome and thc Meeting
of another Council c.
In the ſame Council, the following Sentence was pronounced by Sentence pro-
the Pope againſt Photius, with the unanimous Conſent of all the nounced in
Biſhops who compoſed it : “Whereas Photius, raiſed from a ſecular againſt Pho-
“and military Occupation to the Epiſcopal Dignity, and
Dignity, and ordained by tius.
Gregory of Syracuſe, long ſince condemned, has, in the Life-time of
“our Brother Ignatius, Patriarch of the holy Church of Conſtantinople,
« intruded himſelf into his See, and entered the Sheepfold not by the
“Door, but like a Thief and a Robber; has communicated with thoſe
" whom Pope Benedict our Predeceſſor had excommunicated and de-
“ poſed; has preſumed to aſſemble a Council of his Followers, all
depoſed and condemned, excommunicated and anathematized, and
s to condemn, anathematize, and depoſc, jointly with them, our Fel-
“ low-minifter the Patriarch Ignatius; las, in Defiance of the Law of
- Nations, offered Violence to the Legates of the Apoſtolic Scc, and
« forced them to act contrary to the Orders they had received; has ſent
“ into Exile the Biſhops who would not communicate with him, and
- appointed ſuch only in their room as were Partakers with him in his
“ Wickedneſs ; las perſecuted, and continues to perſecute, with un-
that Council
c Nicol. ep. 7.
P P 2
c heard of
292
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
(C
Year of "heard of Barbarity, the holy Patriarch Ignatius, and all who ſtand
Chriſt 863
up
in Defence of his Innocence, and the Laws of the Church; the
" ſaid Photius guilty of theſe and ſuch-like Enormitics, is, by the Au-
"thority of Almighty God, of the bleſſed Princes of the Apoſtles Peter
and Paul, of all the Saints, of the Six General Councils, and the
Judgment which the Holy Ghoſt pronounces by us, direſted of the
“ Prieſthood, and all ſacerdotal Honours: So that if, after this Decrec
(iflied by the Council with one Conſent, and dictated, as we be-
lieve, by the Holy Ghoſt) comes to his Knowlege, he ſhall attempt
to preſide in the Sec of Conftantinople, or ſhall any ways diſturb Ig-
"natius in the Government of the Church committed to his Care, or
"preſunie to perform any Function of thc ſacred Miniſtry, lic ſhall
“ never again be admitted to Communion, but remain, with all who
" (hall communicate with him, or ſupport him, anathematized, and
“excluded from partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jeſus
“ Chriſt, cxcept at the Point of Death (A)."
Ani Gre The like Sentence was pronounced againſt Gregory of Syracuſe,
gory of Sy- for having preſumed to ordain Photius, and perform ſeveral other
Functions of the Epiſcopal Office, after he had been diveſted of the
Epiſcopal Dignity, and all the Power attending it; and an Anathema
was denounced againſt him, if he thenceforth took upon him to
exerciſe any ecclefiaftical Function whatever (B), if he raiſed new Dif-
turbances againſt Ignatius, or attempted to divert any
from commu-
nicating with him as their lawful Biſhop. By a Third Sentence, all
were excommunicated and degraded, whom Photius the Neophyte,
as the Pope calls him by way of Contempt, and Ulurper of the Pa-
triarchal Sce of Conſtantinople, had preferred to any Order in the
Church. The Pope then, proceeding to the Reſtoration of Igna-
(A) That the Pope's excommunicating Church, and might aſliſt at the Service of
and depoſing the Biſhop of Conftantinople, the Catechumens, that is, at the Pſalmody,
or any other Biſhop, is no Argument of at the Reading of the Scriptures, and the
his Supremacy, has been ſhewn elſewhere, Sermons. But
ſuch as were anathematized,
on Occaſion of the Excommunication and were totally expelled the Church, and de-
Depoſition of Acacius of Conftantinople by barred from all Communion with the
Pope Felix, the Second of that Name (?). Faithful, who were not even allowed to
(B) Excommunication and Anathema were receive them into their Houſes, to eat at
Two different Things : An excommuni- the fame Table, or converſe familiarly
cated Perſon was excluded from partaking with them. From them no Offerings or
of the Euchariſt and the Prayers of the Oblations were received ; nor were they
Faithful, and beſides ſuſpended, if an Ec- buried, tho' abſolved before Death, with
cleſiaſtic, from all ecclefiaftical Functions; the ſame Rites as all other Chriſtians were.
but he ſtill continued a Member of the
(1) Sce Vol. II, p. 205, 206. 220.
tius,
1
A
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
293
Year of
co
<C
tius, pronounced the following Sentence, in the Name of the Coun-
Chriſt 863.
cil and hisown:
“As our moſt reverend and moſt holy Brother Ignatius, Patriarch
" of the holy Church of Conſtantinople, has been driven with Violence Sentence in
“ from his Sec by the Emperor ; has been anathematized by the Uſur-favour of
Ignatius.
per
Photius and his Acconiplices, whom Benedict of holy Memory,
our Predeceſſor; had long ſince cxcommunicated ; and has been ſtrip-
“ped of the Enſigns of his Dignity by the Legates of the Apoftolic
"Sce, contrary to our expreſs Orders; we declare, by the Authority
“ of the ſupreme Judge our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, that he has never been
“ anathemarized or depoſed; ſince they, who judged and condemned
him, had reccived no ſuch Power from the Apoftolic See: We there-
“ forc, by virtue of the Power conferred by our Lord upon us in St.
« Peter, by thc Authority of thc Canons, and the Decrces of our Pre-
« deceſſors, reſtore our ſaid Brother Ignatius to his fornier Dignity,
to his See, to the Rank of Patriarch, and to all the Badges of his
« Office ; and whoever, after the Publication of this our Decree, ſhall
« dare to molcft or diſturb him in the Exerciſe of his Miniſtry, ſhall
" ſeparate himſelf from his Communion, or preſume to judge him
anew, without the previous Conſent of the Apoſtolic Sec, ſhall be
“ depoſed, if he is a Clerk, and condemned, with the Traitor Judas,
to ctcrnal Puniſhment: If he is a Layman (be who he will), he ſhall
“ be excommunicated, accurſed, and ſentenced by the eternal Judge,
" unleſs hc repents, to the ſame Puniſhnicnt As for the Biſhops and
“ Clerks, of what Order foever, or Degree, who have been baniſhed
or depoſed on Occaſion of the unjuſt Expulſion of Ignatius, we coni-
"mand them to be recalled, and reſtored to their Sees and reſpective
" Ranks; and anathematize all who ſhall preſunie to oppoſe the Execu-
“tion of this our Decree. If any Crime is laid to their Charge, let them
" be firſt reſtored, and then judged; and by none will we ſuffer them to
be judged but by us, and our See, being authorized therein by the Ca.
“nons.". Laſtly, a Decree was iſſued by the Council, confirming what
had been decreed by the Popes, and other Councils, concerning the
The tip and
Iniages of our Saviour, of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary, of all the Sain:s, 1Vorflip of
whoſe Life and Converſation had been pleaſing to God, from the Images con;
Time of Abel to the preſent; and anathematizing John of Conſtan- the Theopal-
tinople, with his Followers, teaching that Images ought to be chites con-
broken, and trampled under foot c. To theic the Pope added Two
Nicol. ep. 7. Libellus Synodic.
De-
CC
denned.
c
294
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
galls.
Year of Decrccs of a Council he had held in Rome the preceding Year; the
Chrill 863
onc declaring againſt the Theo:afchuites, whoſe Herely began, it ſecnis,
to ſpring up anew, that Chriſt had ſuffered in his Humanity, and not
in his Divinity, as they pretended; the other anathematizing all who
ſhould maintain, tcach, or propagate the oppoſite Doctrinc d. How
the Pope's thundering Edicts were reccircu at Conſtantinople, we
fhall ſee in the Sequel.
Lotharius This Council was held in the Month of March of the prcſent
gains Olay the
Pope's Lee Year, as is ſaid by the Pope in a Letter he wrote to Ado Archbiſhop
of Vienne, when he ſent him the Palle; and in june following, an-
other was convencd likewiſe in Rome, to examine the Aas of the
Council of Metz relating to thc Divorce of Lotharius and Theut-
berga, an Affair that engaged the Attention of the Pope no leſs
than that of Ignatius. He had appointed a Council to aſſemble
at Metz, which was to confit, as has been related above, not of
the Bi!hops of thic Kingdom of Lorraine only, who were jully
ſuſpected of Partiality for their Prince, but of all the Biſhops of
Fraice and Germany; and berh Partics, Theutberga as well as Lo.
tharius, were to plead their Cauſe in Perſon before them and the
Legates; but the final Deciſion of the Point in Diſpute, the Lawful-
neſs of the Divorce, was to be referred to the Judgment of the Apo.
ſtolic Sce. With theſe Inſtructions the Two Legates, Rodoald and
John, fet out from Rome; and repairing, in the Firſt place, in Com-
pliance with their Orders, to the Court of Lorraine, they commu-
nicated them there to the King. Lotharius well knew, that his
whole Conduct in this Affair had given great Offence to all the Gal-
lican Biſhops, except thoſe of his own Kingdom; that they all loudly
cxclaimed againſt the Deciſion of thic Council of Aix-la-Chapelle ;
and conſequently that they would oblige him to diſmiſs Waldrada,
and take Theutberga again to his Bed. As for his former Marriage
with Waldrada, and the Crime he laid to the Charge of the Queen,
lie was ſenſible that neither would fand the Teſt of an impartial and
Itria Exantination: The only pollible Means, therefore, that occur-
red to him of ſurmounting all Difficulties, and carrying his Point,
was to prevent any other Biſhops from aſſiſting at the Council but
his own, whoſe Complaiſance he had already cxperienced in Three
different Councils. He applied accordingly to the Legates, and,
with rich Preſents, and immenſe Sums of Money, immenfis opibus,
d Nicol. ibid.
e Bibl. Floriac. p. 53.
(ſays
:
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
295
Year of
(ſays Regino) prevailed upon them to ſuppreſs the Pope's Letters to
Chriſt 863
the French Kings, defiring them to ſend cach Two Biſhops to the
Council; and likewiſe the circulatory Letter to all the Gallican
and German Biſhops : So that the Council only conſiſted of the
Biſhops of Lorraine ; and they indeed were all preſent, except Hun-
garius of Utrecht, who was prevented by Sickneſs from attending
with the reſt. By the Inſtructions given to the Legates, the Queen
was to be admitted to the Council, was to plead her Cauſe in Perſon
before theni, and if ſhe denied the Crimc laid to her Charge, and
retracted her Confeſſion, they were to revoke thc Sentence
pronoun-
ced by former Councils againſt her. But the Legates, departing in
every thing from their Inſtructions, did not ſo much as acquaint the
Queen with the Meeting of the Council, nor did they at all inquire,
as they were ſtrictly charged to do, into the pretended Marriage of
Lotharius and IValdrada; but having heard ſome ſuborned Witnef-
ſes againſt Theutberga, and cauſed the Acts of the Council of Aix-
la-Chapelle to be read to them, they confirmed thoſe Acts, and de-
clared Walirada to be the lawful Wife of the moſt glorious and Waldrada
religious King Lotharius. One of the Biſhops, whoſe Name is not declared by
the Council
recorded, in ſigning that Decree, added, that nothing ought to be
his lawful
finally determined till it was ſubmitted to the Judgment of the Wife.
Pol. But theſe Words were cancelled by the Archbiſhop of Co-
logne, and the Biſhop's Name only left, as if he had ſubſcribed with-
out any Reſtriction, as well as the reſt d.
As the Legates, and the other Biſhops of the Council, were con• The Council
ſcious to themſelves of the Irregularity and Injufice of their Proceed- of Merz con-
demned ly
ings, it was agreed among them, that the Two Archbiſhops ſhould
the Pope, and
repair to Rome in Perſon, ſhould deliver the Acts of the Council to the Archbi-
the Pope, and at the ſame time repreſent the Affair to his Holineſs, Fions of Co-
by Word of Mouth, in the moſt favourable Light. This Province Tieres de-
the Two Prclatcs readily undertook; and being admitted to the poſed,
Pope's Preicncc as ſoon as they arrived in Rome, they delivered the
Acts into his Hands, telling him, that they had neither done more
nor leſs than what was there contained. As, before thcir Arrival,
the Pope had been informed by feveral Perſons come to Rome, as
well as by Letrers, probably froin the Gal:ican and German Bilnops,
of cvery thing that had palled at Metz, he asked them, Whether
they would hand to what they had done? They anſwered, They
Nicol. ep. 58. Annal. Bertin.
would
296
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
+
Year of would not contradict with thcir Lips what they had ſigned with their
Chrift 863. Hands. The Pope
Hands. The Pope ſaid no more; but, diſmiſling them, cauſed the
As they had brought to be read in a Council that was then fiſting
in the Lateran Palace; and they were found to full of profane and
unhcard-of Propoſitions, ſays the Bibliothecarian, that the Biſhops of
that Aſembly could not heip looking upon thoſe of Metz as Men
ſeized with a kind of Phrenzy. The Judgment, therefore, which
they had given, was, with one Conſent, annulled by the Pope, and
all the Biſhops who were preſent, as only calculat d to encourage
Adultery and Adulterers; and the Council itſelf was ſtigmatized with
the Name of a Brothcl. The Two Archbiſhops, Theutgand and
Gunthier, were depoſed, and forbidden, on Pain of Exco:ninunica-
tion, to exerciſe any Sacerdotal or Epiſcopal Functions whatever.
The other Biſhops their Accomplices were threatened with the like
Sentence, if they did not repent, ask Pardon, and repair the Scan-
dal they had given. Engeltrude, the Wife of Count Bolo, who
had been excommunicated by the Pope e, but was abſolved from that
Excommunication by the Council of Meiz, was excommunicated
ancw, with all who ſhould favour or countenance her, or communi-
cate with her. However, ſhe was promiſed Forgivencís, if ſhe re-
turned to her Husband, or, repenting of her paſt Wickedneſs, applied
for Abſolution to the Apoftolic See. Lally, all were anathemarized
who did not pay due Obedience to the Decrees of the Apoſtolic
See concerning the Catholic Faith, the Eccleſiaſtic Diſcipline, and
the Rcformation of Manners.
who apply to
The Two Prelates, highly provoked at thc haughty and arbitrary
the Emperor.
Proceedings of the Pope and his Biſhops, in thus condemning them
and a whole Council, without having firſt heard what they had to
allege in thcir Defence, left Rome, and repairing to the Emperor,
who was then at Benevento, complained to him of the unworthy
Treatment they met with as an Affront not only offered to his Bro-
ther thc King of Lorraine, whoſc Deputies they were, but to him-
ſelf, and the whole Royal Family ; repreſented to him the depoſing
a Metropolitan, without the Approbation of the Prince, and the
Conſent of the other Metropolitans, as a Thing never before hcard
of, as a notorious Breach of the fundamental Laws of the Church,
and an Encroaching on the Prerogatives of Princes, as well as on
the Rights of all other Biſhops; and therefore entreated him to exert
• See above, p. 287.
his
men
1
Chriſt 863
Year of
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
297
his Authority to reftrain the growing Power of the Pope within the Year of
Limits preſcribed by thic Canons, and oblige him to reſtorc thoſe,
whom he had ſo unjuſtly depoſed, to their former Rank and Degrecs.
The Emperor readily interpoſed, and wrote to the Pope in their
favour; but finding him unalterable, and being, at the ſame time,
animated againſt him by the Two Archbiſhops, he reſolved to let
him know that he was his Lord and his Maſter. He ſet out accord - The Emperor
ingly for Rome, with the Emprcſs, with the Two Archbiſhops, and goes to Rome.
a Body of Troops, determined to make the Pope pay dear for his Chrift 864.
Diſobedience, if he did not, in Compliance with his Will, reinſtate
the depoſed Biſhops in their Secs. The Pope, informed of the Reſo-
lution of the Emperor, ordered a public Falt, with public Prayers
and Proceſlions, to implore the Protection of Heaven, and bcfcech
the Almighty, in whole Hands arc the Hearts of Kings, to inſpire the
Prince with a more favourable Diſpoſition of Mind for the Sce of St.
Peter. The Emperor took up his Abode near the Church of St.
Peter; and the People coming thither in Proceſſion to the Tomb
of that Apoftic, his Guards, alarmed upon ſecing the populace aften.
bled in ſuch Crowds, fell upon them as they were going up the Steps
to the Church, threw ſome of them down, bcat others, broko
thcir Croſſes and Banners, and diſperſed the wholc Multitude. The
Pope, who was then in the Lateran Palace, being informed of
what had paſſed, and at the ſamic time told, that the Emperor de-
figned to ſeize on his Perſon, privately withdrew from thence, and
embarking on the Tyber, took Refuge in the Church of St. Peter, The Pope
takes Refrige
and remained there Two whole Days, without cating or drinking in the Chuvia
In the mean time thc Emperor was, very ſeaſonably for the Pope, of St. Peter.
ſeized with a Feyer; and it was given out, that one dicd ſuddenly,
who, in the late Tumult, had broken a Croſs, which St. Helena,
the Mother of Conſtantine the Great, had formerly given to the Ro-
man Church, and in which was incloſed ſome of the Wood of the
true Croſs. Whether this was true, or, what is more probablc, a
miere Invention of the Pope or his Friends, we know not. But it
had the wiſhed for Effect; for the Emperor believing it, and there. The Emperor
upon ſuffering Superſtition to prevail over his good Scnfc, fent reconciled
with line.
the Empreſs in Perſon to let the Pope know, that he might quit his
Aſylum with great Safety, and to invite him to a Conference. In this
Interview, thc Popc, no doubt, informed the Emperor of the truc State
of the Affair of his Brother Lotharius, and the ſhocking Proceedings
VOL IV.
09
of,
2.98
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas
Year of
Room
the Pope.
of the Council of Metz: And the Reſult was, that the Emperor,
Chrift 864.
abandoning the Protection of the Two Archbiſhops, ordered them
back into France. As the Emperor came to Rome full of Wrath
againſt the Pope, the Troops he had with him committed, at firſt,
moſt dreadful Diſorders; they plundered thic Houſes, and burnt
them; broke into the Churches, and ripped them of all their valu-
able Ornaments; murdered the Men, and raviſhed the Womcn, not
ſparing even thoſe who were ſhut up in the Monaſteries f. But if
the Emperor gamę like a Lion, þic went away like a Lamb; and re-
pairing to Ravenna, he there kept his Eaſter, which, in the preſene
Ycar 864, fell on the Second of April.
Gunthier's The Archbiſhop of Cologne, finding himſelf forſaken by the Em-
Letter to the peror, and thercupon despairing of being ever reſtored to his Sce,
Biſhops of
Lorraine and
drew' up, in the Name of the Archbiſhop of Treves, as well as his
own, a Kind of Proteft, or rather an Inyective againſt the Pope, and
ſent it to the Biſhops of thic Kingdom of Lorraine. He there entreated
thoſe Biſhops not to credit the Reports they might hear to his Pre-
judice and his Collegue's; exhorted them not to think the worſe
of either for any thing Nicholas had done, Nicholas, ſaid he,
who is called Pope, but affects the Empire of the whole World ; cn-
couraged them to continue united among themſelves, to viſit their
King frequently, to aflift him with their Advice, to engage as many
as they could in his Cauſe, and, above all Things, to keep his Uncio
Lewis King of Germany (teady in his Intereſt. Gunthier, having
thus far directed his Speech to the Biſhops of Lorraine, addreſſes him-
felf in the next place to the Popc, in the following Words: “Wó
were deputed to you by the Biſhops our Brethren to acquaint
you with the Judgment we had given, and lay before you the
“ Authorities and Reaſons that induced us to give it. We commu.
unicated them to you accordingly in Writing, in order to know
" whether you approved or difapproved of what we had done; and
humbly cntrcated you to teach and inſtruct us, being ready to cm-
“ bracc what ſhould be thought beſt. But you, after keeping us
“ for Three whole Weeks in Suſpence, only declared ono Day. in
“ public, that, according to what was ſet forth in our Writing, we
" ſeemed innocent and excuſeable. At laſt you ſent for us; and
« when we were brought into your Preſence, ſuſpecting no ill Treat.
ment, you cauſed the Doors to be ſhut, and we were firſt ſec upon
1
f Annal. Bertin,
5 by
1
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
299
(6
" by a mixed Crowd of Clerks and Laymen ; and then, without any
Year of
Chrift 864.
" Synod, or any canonical Examination; without Accuſers, Wit-
“ nefies, or any Proofs from Authority or Reaſon to convince us;
without our own Confeſſion; without the Concurrence of other
Biſhops or other Metropolitans; you arbitrarily condemned us our
" of your tyrannical Rage, being inſtigated thereunto by your only
" Counſellor Anaſtaſius, a condemned, depoſed, and anatheinarized
" Prieſt: We do not therefore ſubmit to your wicked Sentence, but
" reject and deſpiſe it as a Curſe uttered in the Tranſport of your
Fury, contrary to Juſtice, to Reaſon, to the Canons : And ſatiſ-
"fied with the Communion of the Catholic Church, which you
arrogantly deſpiſe, and of which you have rendered yourſelf un-
“ worthy by your Pride, we exclude you from our Communion, as
an Abettor of excommunicated Perſons, and one who communi-
cates with them. You have anathematized yourſelf in anathema-
« tizing thoſe who do not obſerve the Apoſtolical Precepts, when you
“ yourſelf have tranſgreſſed them in ſo many Inſtances, annulling,
« ſo far as in you lics, the Inſtitutions of your Predeceſſors, and with
" them the divine Laws, as well as the Laws of the Church. It is
not to revenge the Injuſtice you have done to us in particular that
we thus addreſs you, but to vindicate the Dignity, and affcrt the
Rights of our Order, which you have fo iniquitouſly invaded."
He cloſes his Letter with declaring, that, notwithſtanding the Judg-
nient given by Pope Nicholas and his Council, Waldrada was, by
the Laws divine, civil, and canonical, not the Concubine, but the
lawful Wife of the King of Lorraine 8. The Direction of this Wrie-
ing was, Gunthicr and Theurgaud to Pope Nicholas, tiro' Theut-
gaud was 110-ways concerned in it. Gunthier ſent Copies of it to all
the Biſhops of Lorraine ; One hc tranſmitted to Photius, defiring
his Communion, and entering into a Kind of Alliance with him
againſt the Pope ; and Onc he charged his Brother Hilduin to deli-
ver into the Pope's own Hands, and, if he would not receive it, to
lay it on the Tomb of St. Peter. Hilduin went accordingly, attended
by a Troop of armed Men, to preſent it to the Pope while he was
in the Church of St. Peter ; but the Popc refuſing to receive it, and
the Keepers of the Church ſtriving at the ſame time to prevent him
from approaching the Tomb of St. Peter, his Men fell upon chem
Sword in Hand, killed one of them, wounded others, and thus inade
1
}
6 Annal. Bertin.
Qq2
way
300
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
tra&f the
given.
Year of
way
for Hildnin, who laid the Writing on the Tomb of the Apoſtle,
Chriſt 864.
and then withdrew to his Brother, who was, it ſeems, Nill in Rome ;
is laid on the but he ſoon after returned to Cologne, and there ſaid Maſs on Maundy
Tomb of St. Thurſday, conſecrated the Cliriſm, and performed every other Func-
tion of the Epiſcopal Office h.
The Archbi.
Of all the Biſhops who had afliſted at the Council of Metz; Gun-
Shop of thier alone had the Courage to oppoſe the uncanonical and arbitrary
Treves fub.
mits to his Proceedings of the Pope. As for the Archbiſhop of Treves, he
Sentence, acquieſced, from the Beginning, in his Sentence, and abſtained from
all Epiſcopal Functions; and the reſt of the Biſhops, finding then-
ſelves threatened with Excommunication and Depoſition, if they did
not retract the Judgment they had given, thought it adviſeable to
and the other ſubmit; and they wrote accordingly to the Pope, owning or excuſing
Biſhops re-
their Fault, and begging his Holineſs to forgive them. Of the ſeve-
Judgment ral Letters that, on this Occaſion, were written to the Pope by the
they had
penitent Biſhops, that only of Adventius of Metz has been tranf-
Letter of the mitted to us. He begins it with extolling the Pope for the inimit-
Biſhop of able Sanctity of his exemplary Life, and excuſing himſelf, on account
Metz to the
Pope.
of his Age, of the Gout, and other Infirmities, for not repairing in
Perſon to the Threſholds of the Apoſtles, and his moſt deſirablc Pre-
ſence. He then declares, that he no longer looks upon Gunthier
and Theutgaud as Biſhops, tho' the latter ſubmits to his Sentence, for-
bears exerciſing any Epiſcopal Function, confeſſes his Fault, and owns
himſelf to have been led aſtray by the perverſe Obſtinacy of the other,
mcaning Gunthier; and on him he lays chiefly the Blame, exagge-
rating his Guilt in prcſuming to perform the Functions of the Archic-
piſcopal Office, tho' degraded and cxcommunicated by the Autho-
rity of the Apoſtolic Scc. As for himſelf, he proteſts before God,
before the Angels and Archangels, that, in the Affair of King Lo-
Tharins, he verily believed the Facts that were related in the Coun-
cil, relying on the Veracity of thoſe who related them (Q); that,
agreeably to the Canons, he ſubmitted his Judgment to that of the
Metropolitans, as it did not become him to oppoſe them and ſo
h Annal. Bertin.
(Q) The improbable Tale that Lotha. phale, to marry his Siſter Theutberga, was
rius married Waldrada by the Command related in the Council of Aix la Chapelle,
of the Emperor Lotharius his Father, while by this very Biſhop, as a Fact not io be
he was yet very young, and was afterwards queſtioned; nay, and is ſuppoſed to have
forced by Count Hubert, furnamed Ace. been invented by him, to gratify thc King.
many.
Nicholas, BISHOPS of Rome.
301
Year of
many Biſhops, all his Seniors in the Epiſcopacy; that too much Cre-
Chriſt 864.
dulity, and a blind Deference to the Opinion of his Superiors and
his Brethren, are the only Things that can be laid juſtly to his
Charge; that he was no ways concerned in the Abfolution of En-
geltrude; that he not only abſtains himſelf, but exhorts others to ab-
ftain, from the Communion of ſuch as have been excommunicated
by the Vicar of St. Peter, if they preſume to perform any ſacred
Functions; that he is guilty of no Sedition or Conſpiracy, but invio-
lably attached to the Sec of the prinie Apoſtle, whom our Saviour had
truſted with thc Kcys of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Cloſe of
his Letter, he cxcuſes his Delay in ſending to Rome this his Declara-
tion; aſcribes it to his having firſt endeavoured to perſuade the reſt
of his Brethren to act in Concert with him ; and beſeeches his Holi-
neſs to let him know, by the Return of the Meſſenger, that he has
forgiven him, that, as he is near his End, he may have the Satisfac-
tion of dying in his Communion i. With this Letter Adventius
ſent another, written at his Requeſt to the Pope, by Charles King of
France; wherein that Prince warmly recommended him to his Ho.
lineſs, as one whoni his Unclc Drogo, the immediate Predeceſſor
of Adventius in the Sce of Metz, had cducated, and thought worthy
of his Friendſhip, and whom he himſelf had always loved and
eftecmed.
The Pope received the Apology of Adventius, ſuch as it was, and The Pope's
ſo he did that of all the other Biſliops, upon Condition that thcy Anſwer to
renounced the Communion of Gunthier, and encouraged the King, Metz.
the Biſhop of
as was incumbent upon them, to repair the Scandal he had given.
Adventills had ſaid in his Letter, that he had ſubmitted to the
King agrecably to the Command of the Apoſtle, Submit yourſelf to
every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's fake, whether it be to the
King as Supreme, &ck. In Anſwer to that, the Pope, in his Let-
ter, approves the Saying of the Apoſtle; but adds, See whether the
Princes and Kings, to whom you ſubmit, be really Princes and
Kings; whether they govern themſelves well, and likewiſe their
Subjects; for to whom will he be good, who is not good to himſelf?
See whether they have a Right to the Title of Princes, otherwiſe
we ought to look upon them as Tyrants rather than Princes or
Kings, and, inſtead of ſubmitting to them, refift and oppoſe them;
fince we cannot ſubmit to them without favouring their Vices:
Apud Baron. ad ann. 853. n. 59, & feq.
k St. Peter, c. xi. ver. 13.
I
Sub-
។
302
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
#
1
Year of Submit therefore to the King as Supreme, or as exceeding all by his
Chrift 864. Virtues, and not by his Vices; and ſubmit to him for the Lord's
Sake, as the Apoſtle commands, and not againſt the Lord. We
have here a notable Diſagreement between the Two Popes, Popc. Pe-
ter and Pope Nicholas. Pope Peter thought Obedience was due
to Princes, bc they ever ſo bad; for Nero, that Monſter of Wick-
edneſs, was King or Emperor when he commanded the Faithful to
ſubmit themſelves to every Ordinance of Mant, whether it be to the
King, &c. But Pope Nicholas tcaches a very different Doctrine,
viz. that Obedicnce is not due to bad Princes, pervcrting for that
Purpoſe the Words of his pretended Predeceſor ; be ſubject to the
King as excelling, that is, ſays he, as excelling in Virtues, not in
Vices: Wherças the Apoſtlc evidently meant an Eminency in Power,
abſtracting from the Vices, as well as the Virtues, of him in whom
it was veſted. Beſides, the Pope here ſuppoſes thar. a. Prince, may
forfeit his Crown and his Title by perſonal Vices that hurt none but
himſelf; and that, for ſuch Vices, we ought to look upon him as a
Tyrant, and, inſtead of ſubmitting to him, reſiſt and oppoſe him ;
A moſt feditious and inspious Do&rine!
The Two Archbiſhops were not ſo much concerned at the Con.
abandons the duct of their Brethren on the preſent Occaſion, as at that of the King:
Archbiſhop of
Cologne, They had acted in this whole Affair as he had directed them, and it
was to gratify him that they had incurred the Diſpleaſure of the Pope.
But he, inſtead of ſupporting them, no ſooner heard of the Sentence
pronounced againſt them at Rome, than he withdrew from their
Communion, and no longer looking upon them as Biſhops, would
not aſlift at the Mals that Gunthier, his grand Chaplain, ſaid upon
his Return to Cologne. He even wrote to the Pope by Rabold Biſhop
of Strasburgh, highly diſapproving the refractory Behaviour of the
Archbiſhop of Cologne, and at the ſame time commending the op-
poſite Conduct of his Collcguc thc Archbiſhop of Treves in ſubmit-,
ting to his Sentence, and abſtaining from all the Functions of his
Office. In another Letter which he wrote at this time to the Pope,
he referred the Point in diſpute to the Judgment of the Apoſtolic
See;
offered to go to Rome to plead his Cauſe there in Perſon';
folcmnly declared that it was againſt his Will the Archbiſhop of
Cologne had ſaid Mals; and that, far from countenancing him in his
Diſobedience, he had adviſed and cxhorted him to acquicſce, as the.
che other had donc, in his Sentence. The King did not content
4
himns
Lotharius
1
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
303
Year of
himſelf with thus only diſapproving the Conduct of Gunthier ; hc
Chriſt 864.
foon after intirely forſook him, confirmed the Sentence of his Depo.
fition, and, to recommend himſelf the more effectually to the Favour
of the Pope, appointed him a Succeſſor in the See of Cologne, viz.
Hugh, Couſin-german to Charles the Bald, and Nephew to the
late Empreſs Judith, who was only a Subdcacon, and led a Life
unworthy of a good Layman. Gunthier, highly provoked at the In-
gratitude of Lotharius in thus acknowleging his Services, plundered
the Treaſury of his Church, and, repairing to Rome with all the
Wealth he found in it, diſcloſed to the Pope, without Reſerve, the who diſcloſes
the It hole to
various Artifices and Inventions that had been made uſe of by him-
the Popes
ſelf and the King in the Affair of Theutberga and Waldrada, to in-
poſe upon the other Biſhops, as well as the Apoſtolic See. He flat-
tered himſelf, and ſo did Theutgard, who went to Rome at the ſame
time, that the Pope, ſatisfied with their public Confeſſion, would
abſolve them from the Excommunication, and perhaps reſtore them
to their Sces, if the Emperor, to whom they deſigned to apply, inter-
poſed in their favour. Bur: Nicholas, inſtead of revoking, confirmed, but is not
in a Council aſſembled in the Lateran, the Senterice he had formerly flored to his
pronounced againſt the Two Prclates, and acquainted therewith, by Sce.
a circulatory Letter; the German and Gallican Biſhops, that they
might not picad Ignorance in treating them thenceforth as Biſhops,
or communicating with them li
It was probably in this Council that the Legate Rodoald, Biſhop of The Legate
Rodoald ex-
Porto, whoſe Avarice and ſcandalous Conduct both in the Eaſt and
communicated
the Weſt, reflected ſo much Diſgrace on the holy Sce, was excom- and depoſed.
municated and depoſed. Conſcious of his Guilt, he had abſconded
after the Council of Metz; but returning to Rome when the Empe-
ror and the Two Archbiſhops were there, he unexpectedly appeared
before the Popc whilc he was ſhut up, and ſurrounded by his, Enc.
mies, in the Church of St. Peter. As the Pope could not then con-
vene a Council to judge him, he ordered him to remain in Rome
till the Meeting of one, when he ſhould have an opportunity of
juſtifying his Conduct; afurcd him; that, in the mean tiớc, lie had
nothing to fcar; but threatened him with Excommunication and De-
poſition, if, without his Leave, he withdrew, and abſconded anew.
Rodoald well know what would be the Conſequence of his being
judged by the Pope and a Council; and therefore leaving Rome
Annal. Bertin,
privately,
1
304
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Chrift 864
mar and
Rothade.
Year of privately, he firſt plundered his Church, that of Porto, and then flcd
to ſome other Country, where he was never morc hicard of. Here-
upon the Pope, looking upon his Flight as a Confeſion of his Guilt,
cxcommunicated and depoſed him ; threatening at the ſame time to
anathematizo him, if he communicated with the anathematized Pho-
tius, or gave any Troub!c to the Patriarch Ignatius m. The Pope,
it ſeems, apprehended, that hc liad Acd into the Eaſt, to put himſelf
thicre under the Protection of his Friend Photius.
Diſpute be In this fainc Council, or in Onc held about the ſame time, was
tween Hinc determined the Diſpute between Rothade Biſhop of Soiſſons, and his
Metropolitan the celebrated Hincmar Archbiſhop of Reims.
Ro.
thade had depoſed a Presbyter of his Dioceſe guilty of Fornication.
But Hincmar, to whom the Presbyter appealed knowing that he
had long borne a ſecret Grudge to the Biſhop of Soiſſons, ordered
him to be reſtored after Three Ycars ; and excommunicating in the
mcan time the Presbyter, whom Rothade had appointed in his room,
infilled on his being forthwith removed from his Church, and ſhut
up
in a Priſon. As the Judgment given by Rothade had been con-
firmed by no fewer than Thirty Biſhops, he refuſed to comply with
that of the Metropolitan ; who having thereupon aſſembled a Coun-
Rathade is cil in the Suburbs of Soiſſons in 861, ſuſpended him, for lais Dif-
Suſpended, obedience, from Epiſcopal Conimunion, till he obeyed. The fol-
10 the Popc. lowing Ycar, Charles the Bald having appointed a Council to meet
at Piſtes, now Poiſi, Rothade repaired thither, to aſſiſt at it with
the reſt of the Biſhops; but finding they would not admit him, allege-
ing that he had been excluded by his Metropolitan from Epiſcopal
Communion, he appealed to the Apoſtolic Sce; and his Appeal was
allowed by the Council. He therefore returned to Soiſſons, in order
to prepare for his Journey to Rome ; but, before he ſet out, he
wrote to the King, and to Hinc mar, recommending his Church to
their Care in his Abſence; and likewiſe 1o One of the Biſhops his
particular Friend, dcfiring him to apply to the other Biſhops, and
implore, in his Namc, their Aſiſtance. The Biſhop, to whom this
Letter was addreſſed, was returned to his Dioceſe, when the Pref.
byter, who was charged with it, arrived at Poiſſi. But Hincmar
and the King, who were ſtill there, obliged him to produce it; and
Hincmar, having got it into his Poſſeſſion, laid hold of what was
puis a stop ſaid in it to put a Stop to Rothade's Journey to Rome. He pretended,
to his four-
ney to Rome.
m Nicol. ep. 7.
that
Hincmar
!
Nicholas. . BISHOPS of Rome.
305
.
that Rothade, by imploring the Protection of the Biſhops of France, Year of
Chriſt 864.
kad conſented to his being judged by then, and dropt his Appeal to
thc Popc. He was therefore ordered, in the King's Name, not to
ftir from his Diocele; and Hincmar repairing from Poiſi, with the
Biſhops who ſtill remained there, to Soiſſons, ſummoned him to
appear before them, in order to be judged by thoſe, whom he him-
ſelf had choſen for his Judges, and from whoſe Judginent there lay
no Appeal, agrecably to the univerſally received Canon of the Coun-
cil of Carthage, ab ele&tis judicibus appellare non licet, it is not
lawful to appeal from Judges of one's own chuling. Rothade refuſed
to comply with the Summons, ſolemnly declared it had never entered
into his Thoughts to chuſe thc Biſhops of France for his Judges,
taxed Hincmar with unfair Dealing, in intercepting and miſinter-
preting a Letter he had written to a Friend, and renewed his Appeal
to the Pope.
In the mean time the King coming to Soiſons to aſlil at the Rothade de
Council, Rothade had an Interview with him, and was graciouſly poſed in a
Council, and
received; but he could not prevail upon him to agree to his going impriſoned.
to Rome without the Conſent of his Metropolitan, and the Biſhops
of the Council, whoſe Province it was, he ſaid, to determine that
Point. After this Interview, he was ſummoned the Third time, and,
upon his ſtill refuſing to appear, taken into Cuſtody, and ſhut up in
a Cell, to wait there for his Sentence. He had not been thus long
confined, when Three Biſhops came to acquaint him, in the Name
of the Council, that he was depoſed, and no longer a Biſhop. From
this Sentence Rothade appealed anew to the Apoſtolic See; but
Hincmar, paying no kind of Regard to his Appeal, cauſed him to
be impriſoned, and even ordained another in his room. He offered
hin, however, a rich Abbey, upon Condition that he withdrew his
Appeal, and acquieſced in his Sentence. This Offer Rothade rejected
with Scorn; and Hincmar in the mean time, having cauſed the
fornicating Prieſt, whom he had depoſed, to be made an Eunuclı
(perhaps the only effectual Remedy againſt the Incontinence of Prieſts)
reſtored him to his Church. Thus Rothade in the Act of his Appeal
to the Popen. But the Bertinian Annaliſt, who lived at this time,
approves
of his Depoſition, ſtiles him a new Pharaoh, on account of
his Obſtinacy in nof ſubmitting to his Sentence, and ſpeaks of him
as a Man changed into a Bructe, homo mutatus in belluamo. How-
Apud Baron. ad ann. 863. n. 81, • Annal. Bertin. ad hunc ann. & Nicol. ep. 29.
YOL. IV.
RE
eyer
306
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas,
*
ders Hinc-
mar to re-
bis See.
Year of ever that be, he was, it ſeems, grcatly beloved by the People of his
Chriſt 864. Dioceſe; for when the Legates, Rodoald and John, came to Soiſſons
to deliver the Pope's Letter in favour of Baldwin to the King?, they
crouded from all Parts, demanding, with loud Cries, the Liberty
and Reſtoration of their Biſhop, though Hilmerade, Biſhop of Cha-
lons, commanded them, in the Name of the King and the Arch-
biſhop, to deſiſt, and endeavoured to diſperſe them with Blows, as
well as with Menaces. I cannot perſuade myſelf that he would have
been ſo dear to his Flock, had he anſwered the Character that Hinc-
mar and the Bertinian Annaliſt, perhaps partial to Hincmar, have
given him. The Pope ſpeaks of him very favourably"; but his ap-
pealing from his Metropolitan and a national Council to the Apoſto-
lic See, was enough to recommend him to his Holineſs's Favour.
The Pope or -
The Pope was ſoon informed by ſeveral Perſons of what had paſſed
at Soiſſons; and he no ſooner received that Information, than look-
ſtore him to ing upon the Depoſition of Rothade as contrary to the Canons, and
derogatory to the Privileges of the Apoſtolic Sce, he wrote to Hinc-
mar, ordering him to reſtore the depoſed Biſhop within the Term
of Thirty Days after the Receipt of his Letter, to grant him Leave
to come to Rome, and either to come with him, or to ſend a Deputy
to act in his Name, on Pain of being ipfo facto ſuſpended from fay-
ing Maſs; and that Sentence he extended to all the Biſhops who had
conſented to the Depoſition of Rothade. Upon the Receipt of this
Letters from Letter, Hincmar, and the other Biſhops of the Council of Soiſſons,
Hincmar to diſpatched Odo, Biſhop of Beauvais, to Rome, with thc Acts of that
from the Pope Council, and Letters to juſtify their Conduct, and entreat the Pope
to Hincmar. to confirm the Judgment they had given. The King wrote at the
fame time, and ſo did Hermentrude the Queen, at his Requeſt, to
beg the Pope not to patronize or protect one, whom the other Biſhops
had judged unworthy of the Epiſcopal Dignity, and depoſed in a
Council. But thoſc Letters, and much more, the Aas of the Coun-
cil, only ſerved to engage the Pope more warmly in the Defence of
Rothade, or, as he pretended, of the violated Privileges of his Sec:
He therefore wrote to Hincmar, expreſſing great Surprize and Con-
cern at his preſuming to judge and depoſe one who had appealed to
the Apoſtolic Sec, nay, and to appoint him a Succeffor, notwith-
ſtanding his Appeal, in Dcfiance of the Canons received by the
whole Church. This, he tells Hincmar, he cannot bcar, nor diſ-
? See above, p. 289.
. Nicol. ep. 29
ſcmble
+
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
307
ز
ſemble being detcrmined to maintain, to his laſt Breath, the juſt Year of
Chriſt 864.
Rights of his Sce; exhorts, or rather commands him to ſer Rothade
forth with at Libcrty, and no longer to obſtruct his Journey to Rome
under any Pretencc whatſoever, ſince he ſhould think himſelf ob-
liged, if he did not obey after the Third Admonition (and this, he
tells him, is thc Second) to proceed to the Sentence that his Diſo-
bedience and Obſtinacy deſerved r. The Pope wrote at the ſame
time a Letter, much to the ſame Purpoſe, in Anſwer to that of the
Biſhops of the Council; for he there declared the Sentence they had
pronounced to be repugnant to the Canons, to thoſe of Sardica in
particular; to be inconſiſtent with the Privileges of his See, and con-
fequently null; ordered them to ſend Rothade to Rome, and Two
or Three Biſhops with him, or, at leaſt, Two Deputics, in order to
his being judged anew, and either condemned or abſolved, accord-
ing to the Canons; and concluded with threatening to treat them
as they had treated him, if they did not obey within the Space of
Thirty Days after the Receipt of his Letters. In this Letter, the Popc
lays it down as a general Rule, that when the Canons and the Im-
perial Laws, which the Biſhops had alleged againſt Appeals, inter-
fere with one another, the Canons ought to take place; which, in
cffcct, was not only eſtabliſhing onc Empire within another, impen
riim in imperio, but ſubjecting the ſecular Empire to the cccleſiaſtic,
the State to the Church, and Princes and Emperors to the Pope and
the Clergy. The Pope wrotc at the ſame time to the King, Charles
the Bald, defiring him to grant Rothade Liberty to come to Romet;
and likewiſe to Rothade himſelf, to acquaint him with what he had
written to Hincmar and the other Biſhops, and encourage him to
purſue, in ſpite of all Oppoſition, his Appeal to the See of St. "
Peter u.
Upon the Receipt of theſe Letters, Hincmar, unwilling to quar.
Rothade reo
rel with the Pope, releaſed Rothade from his Confinement; and the allowed to go
leaſed, and
King, in a Council held at Verberie, conſented in the end to his to Rome.
going to Romew. They took care to acquaint the Pope immcdiately
therewith, by the Deacon Lindo, whom they diſpatched to Rome for
shat Purpoſe; and by the ſame Deacon, on his Return to France,
the Pope wrote to the King, to the Qucen, and anew to Rothade.
In his Letter to the King, he expreſſed great Satisfaction at his having
- Nicol. ep. 28. s Idem, ep. 32.
u Idem, ep. 29.
Annal. Bertin.
Rr2
granted
Idem, ep. 30.
!
308
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Hincmar's
Year of granted to Rothade the ſo long wiſhed-for Liberty of coming to
Chriſt 864.
Rome, and exhorted him to ſupply him with what was neceſſary for
his Journey .
He excuſed himſelf, in his Letter to the Queen, for
not complying with her Requeſt, ſince he could not abandon one,
whọ thinking himſelf injured, had appealed to him y; and encou-
raged Rothade anew, in his Letter to him, to adhere to his Appeal,
provided he was conſcious to himſelf of his Innocence ; but, if he
was not, to acquieſce in his Sentence, and not give himſelf and
others unneceſſary Troublez.
Hincmar, finding his Conduct gave great Offence at Rome, wrote
Letter to the
a long Letter to the Pope, to ſlew that Rothade had no Reaſon to
Pade.
complain of any Injuſtice done him; but, on the contrary, that they
had treated him with morc Lcnity than he deſerved, and had acted
agrecably to the Canons both in judging and condemning him. The
only Charge brought againſt him by Hincmar in the Council, was
his obftinately refuſing to reſtore the Presbyter whom he had de-
poſed, not withſtanding the expreſs Command of his Metropolitan,
to whom he owed Obedience. But, in his Letter to the Pope, he
charges him beſides with having alienated and ſquandered away the
Revenues of his Church, with having diſpoſed of many rich Offer-
ings made by his Predeceſſors, and others, for the Redemption of
their Souls ; with having pawned a golden Chalice enriched with
precious Stones, without the Knowlege of the other Biſhops, of his
Metropolitan, or even of the OEcononus, or Steward of the Church;
and, laſtly, with having lived, in ſpite of repeated Admonitions, in
a Manner unworthy of any Ecclefiaftic, and much more of a Biſhop,
to the great Scandal of the Flock committed to his Care. Hincmar,
in the nicxt place, proceeds to ſhew, that Rothade had acted contrary
to the Canons in appealing, after his Condomination, to the Pope,
and not the Biſhops of the Council in rejecting his Appeal, and not
ſuffering him to purſue it at Rome. But, to prove this, he takes it
for granted, that Rothade had withdrawn his Appeal, and conſented
to be judged by the Biſhops of the ſame Province; which he abfo-
lutely denied, as has been obſerved above. As the Pope had, in all
his Letters, reproached Hincmar, as well as the other Biſhops of
the Council of Soiſſons, with a manifeſt Breach of the Canons, eſpe-
cially of the Canons of the Council of Sardica, in not permitting
Rothade to go to Rome after his Appcal; and plead his Cauſe in
y Epift. 36.
Epiſt. 37.
:
Pero
3
* Epift. 35.
Z
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
309
contrary to
Perſon at the Tribunal, to which he had appealed; Hincmar, in Year of
Chriſt 864.
Anſwer to that Reproach, allows the Pope to have been impowered
by the Council of Sardica to receive Appeals from the Judgment of He taxes him
with acling
the Metropolitans and provincial Synods; and that, by virtue of ſuch
a Power, he may order the Cauſe to be judged anew. But he ob- the Canons.
ferves at the ſame time, and very juftly, that this is not to be done
at Rome, but in the Province; it being ordained by ſeveral Coun.
cils, and even by that of Sardica itſelf, that all Diſputes ſhould be
determined in the Places where they aroſe; and that the Pope may
therefore cauſe the Judgment to be renewed in the Province where
it was given, and ſend, if he pleaſes, a Legate to aſliſt at it in his
Namc; but is not authorized by the Council of Sardica, or any
other Council, to ſummon the depoſed Biſhop, or thoſe who depoſed
him, to Rome. He adds, that nevertheleſs, at thic Deſire of his Ho-
lineſs, Rothade has been ſet at Liberty, and may undertake, when
he pleaſes, his intended Journey to Rome; but that if the Pope
ſhould reverſe the Sentence pronounced againſt him by his Metropo.
litan and the Biſhops of the Province, the Judgment of provincial as
well as national Synods would, for the future, be quite diſregarded;
that the greateſt Offenders, when condemned by them, would recur to
Rome as to a ſafe Aſylum; and that, as for himſelf, he would never
again take upon him to judge any other, but ſhould only admoniſh
them, and, if they did not hearken to his Admonitions, refer them
to the Judgment of the Apoſtolic Seca.
As the Pope had, in all his Letters to Hincmar and the other
Biſhops of the Council of Soiſſons, inſiſted on their ſending Deputies
to Rome, to maintain the Judgment they had given, they yielded at
laſt; and their Deputies ſet out accordingly, together with Rothade,
and Robert Biſhop of Mans, who was charged with Letters from the
King to the Pope, and probably with the Letter which I have juſt
mentioned from Hincmar. But the Emperor refuſing to let them país
through his Dominions, they ſtopt at Beſançon ; and from thence
the Biſhop of Mans and the Deputics, not diſpleaſed at the Diſap.
pointnient, wrote to the Pope to acquaint him with it, and then
returned to France. But Rothade, pretending Sickneſs, ſtaid at Rothade goes
Beſançon, till, by means of his Friends at the Courts of Lotharius to Rome,
and Lewis King of Germany, he obsained the Emperor's Permiſſion
to purſue his Journey to Rome, where he arrived in the Month of
. Apud Flodoard. l. iii. c. 13. & Baron. ad ann. 865. n. 35.
June
310
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Chritt 864
Year of June 864. Some time after, Deputics arrived, ſent by Hincmar
with the Letter nicntioned above, and Two more from him to the
Pope b. But as thoſe Deputies were not commiſlioned to accuſe or
proſecute Rothade, and no-body elſo appeared againſt him, the Pope,
after performing divine Service on Chriſtmas-Eve in the Church of
St. Mary the Greater, went up into the Rcading-desk; and having
from thence related and explained the whole Affair of that Biſhop,
as ſet forth by him in his Memorial, and obſerved in particular, that
he never had withdrawn his Appeal to the Apoſtolic Sce, as was
falſly and maliciouſly aſſerted by Hincmar, he declared him worthy
and its rein of the Epiſcopal Ornanients, and ordered him to reſume them;
Sated in his
Dignity,
which he did accordingly, with the Conſent and Approbation of the
Biſhops, Presbyters, and Deacons, who were preſent, and the whole
Aſembly, promiſing to anſwer his Accuſers when any ſhould appear
againſt him c. Thus was Rothade reinſtated in his Dignity; but the
Pope, waiting for his Accuſers, did not reſtore him to his Sec, nor
allow him to perform any Epiſcopal Functions, till the 21ſt of Ja-
nuary, the Feſtival of St. Agnes, when officiating in the Church of
that Saint, he declared him, in a mnoſt folenn Manner, to have been
and reſtored unjuſtly depoſed, to appear innocent of the Charge brought againſt
Year of him, ſince nonc had attempted to make it good during the long Stay
Chriſt 865. he had made at Rome, and conſequently to have never forfeited
phie Right he had to preſide in the Sec of Soiſſons. The Act of his
Reſtoration was then publicly read; and he thereupon ſaid Maſs with
grcat Solemnity in the neighbouring Church of St. Conſtantia d.
Arfenius ſent Soon after Rothade ſet out from Rome on his Return to France,
into France, accompanied by Arfenius, Biſhop of Orta in Tuſcany, a Man of a
Charafler of moſt haughty and imperious Temper, whom the Pope ſent with him
Legate a la- to ſee him reinſtated in his Sce, and at the ſame time to determine
termine the .
the Affair of Lotharius. Arfenius was charged with Letters from
Affair of the Pope to Charles the Bald, to Hincmar, and to the Gallican
Charged
Biſhops; all tending to aſcertain the Right he claimed of receiving
with ſeveral Appeals from national as well as provincial Synods; of obliging the
Letters.
Parties to plead their Cauſe at Rome; and of confirming or annulling
the Judgment given in the Provinces, as it ſhould be found agreeable
or repugnant to the Deciſions of the Councils, or the Decrees of the
Apoſtolic Sec. But the only Proofs he alleged to maintain this pre-
tended Right, were either taken from the Canons of Councils falli-
Apud Flodoard. l. xii. c. 14. ¢ Anaft. in Nicol,
fied
to bis Sie.
tere, to de
Lotharius.
d Idem ibid.
I
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
311
fied or miſunderſtood, or from ſuch Decretals as are now univerſally Year of
Chriſt 865.
allowed to be ſpurious. However, Nicholas declared them all to be
ancient, genuine, and of great Authority in the Church; and be.
cauſe the greater Cauſes, caufæ majores, were ſaid by Gregory the
Great to belong to the Firſt Biſhop, or the Biſhop of Rome, by
greater Caufes, he underſtood the Cauſes of Biſhops; and from thence
concluded, that they could be finally determined only at Rome. In
his Letter to Hincmar, he acquaints him with the Judgment given
in favour of Rothade, and commands him, by virtue of his Apofto-
lic Authority, either to come in Perſon to accuſe hin, or to acquicſce
in that Judgment, on Pain of being himſelf degraded, and for ever
cut off from the Communion of the Catholic Church e. He tells the
Gallican Biſhops, in his Letter to them, that Rothade did not with-
draw his Appeal, that he could not withdraw it, and conſent to his
being judged by them, all Appeals from a ſuperior to an inferior
Tribunal being in themſelves void and null. He adds, that they are
ſtill free to make good, if they can, the Charge brought againſt
him at the Tribunal to which he appealed; but inſiſts on their firſt
reinſtating him in his Sce, and reſtoring him to his former Condi-
tion; which was requiring them to reverſe their own Sentence.
To this the Gallican Biſhops would not agree; and therefore, unwil-
ling to quarrel with the Pope, the rather as they apprehended that
the King, who, at this Juncture, wanted his Alliſtance, would not
ſupport them, they ſuffered Rothade to take undiſturbed Poffcſſion
of his Sce (O).
The
• Nicol. cp. 41.
(0) From the Letters of Hincmar, and by thoſe Canons, the Pope was not im.
the whole Conduct of the Gallican Biſhops powered to re-examine the Cauſe upon an
on this Occaſion, it appears, I. That they Appeal; but only to determine whether it
knew of no other Tribunal for the judging ſhould or ſhould not be re-examined. If
of Biſhops but the Council of the Province. he found that it ſhould, becauſe it had 1103
II. That they allowed of Appeals to the been ſufficiently diſcuſſed, or the Judges
Apoſtolic Sce after, but not before, Judge had been influenced by Favour or Hatred,
ment was given by the Biſhops of the Pro. he was, in that caſe, to order the Judg-
vince. III. That they acknowleged no ment to be renewed in the Province, either
Power in the Pope, when appealed to, of by the famc Biſhops only, and his Legate
semoving the Cauſe to Rome, but that on-
of Legates, or by the Biſhops of the neigh-
ly of ordering the Judgment to be renew- bouring Province together with them. Leo
ed in the Province, and ſending, if he the Great was the Firſt who claimed a
pleaſed, Legates to alliſt at it in his Name. Power of ſummoning Biſhops to Rome, and
And truly no other Power was granted to judging their Cauſe anew there (). Hinc-
the Pope by the Canons of Sardica ; nay, mar and the Gallican Biſhops were ſenſible,
(1) See Vol. II. p. 18. Noie (C).
1
that,
*
312
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of
The Reſtoration of Rothade was not the only Commiſlion that
Chrift 865; the Legate Arfenius was charged with. As Charles King of Pro-
Arſenius re. vence, Brother to the Emperor Lewis, and to Lotharius King of
pairs to the
Lorraine, died at this time without Iſſue, and a War was thereupon
Courts of the
French likely to coſue about his Dominions, between the Two Brothers of
Princes,
the deceaſed Prince and the Two Uncles, Lewis King of Germany,
and Charles King of France, the Pope interpoſed, at thc Requeſt of
the Emperor; and glad of an Opportunity to oblige him, as he wanted
his Aſliſtance againſt Lotharius, he ordered his Legate to repair to
thic Courts of France and Germany, and exert the whole Authority
of his Sce in diverting thoſe Princes from any Attempts upon a
Kingdom, to which the Emperor had, he ſaid, an hereditary and
with Letters unqueſtionable Right. He wrote by Arſenius to both Princes, ex-
in favour of horting them to Peace and Concord; and likewiſe to the Biſhops of
the Emperor.
their reſpective Kingdoms, requiring them to promote, to the utmoſt
of their Power, a friendly Correſpondence between the Two Kings
and the Emperor, that the Emperor might not be obliged to turn
againſt thc Faithful the Sword, which he had received from the
Vicar of the Prince of the Apoſtles to be employed againſt the Infi-
dels (P), but might be allowed to govern, with Piety and Juſtice,
the Kingdoms which had devolved to him by Inheritancc, and he
had been confirmed in by the ſovereign Pontiff placing the Crown
on his Head. He cloſes his Letter with threatening to excommuni.
cate, and exclude for ever from the Church, all thc Enemies of his
Son the Emperor, and all who ſhall preſume to make War upon
him, or invade his Dominions e.
Is well reo
With theſe Letters Arſenius repaired firſt to the Court of Lewis
ceived by the
King of Ger. King of Germany, who was then at Francfort ; and he not only
many.
received him with extraordinary Marks of Honour and Reſpect, but
agrccd, at his Requeſt, to meet the Two Kings Charles and Lotha-
• Nicol, ep. 25.
that, in this whole Affair, the Pope had contented themſelves with remonftrating,
acted contrary to the
very Canons he quot. in all their Letters, againſt it, as repugnant
ed to authorize his Conduct. But loth to to the Canons, as tending to ſubvert all
break with him, which, they apprehended, Diſcipline, and encourage Offenders to
would be attended with no finall Diſturb- pay no ſort of Regard to the Judgment of
ances in the State, as well as the Church, the Metropolitans and provincial Synods.
they did not oppoſe the Reſtoration of the (P) The Pope had crowned the Empe-
depoſed Biſhop, how arbitrary ſoever and ror; and he alludes here' to that Cere-
uncanonical, the rather as the Perſon they mony.
bad named to ſucceed him was dead; but
rius
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
313
rius at Cologne, and there to renew, jointly with them, the Trcaty Year of
Chrift 865
of Peace, which they had concluded among themſelves and with the
Emperor, before the Death of the King of Provence 5. The Legate,
at the ſame time, engaged the King to concur with him in perſuading
his Nephew the King of Lorraine to diſmiſs Waldrada, and to be
reconciled to his lawful Wife Theutberga. As it was chiefly to
determine that Affair Arſenius had been ſent into France, and the
Popc had veſted him for that Purpoſe with all his Power and Autho-
rity, from Francfort he purſued his Journey to Lorraine, where he
was no leſs honourably received by Lotharius than he had been in
Germany by Lewis. The King granted him a public Audience the
Day after his Arrival, attended by moſt of the Biſhops and great
Lords of the Kingdom, received him, as repreſenting the Vicar of
St. Peter, with all poſſible Marks of Diſtinction, and declared him-
ſelf ready to comply in all Things with the Admonitions and Direc-
tions of the holy Pope Nicholas. In return for theſe Civilities, the His infoien:
haughty Legate abruptly told him, that he was ſent by the ſovereign and laughty
Behaviour at
Pontiff to remove the Scandal he had given by putting away his the Court of
lawful Wife, and marrying a Proſtitute in her roon; and that he Lorraine.
muſt therefore conſent to diſmiſs the one, and take back the other,
or he would that Inſtant pronounce the Sentence of Exconimunica-
tion againſt him. The King was no leſs provoked than ſurpriſed at
the Boldneſs of the Legate; but apprehending that, were he excom-
municated, the Kings of France and Germany would lay hold of
that Opportunity to invade his Dominions, he thought it adviſcablo
to yield. But the Legate, not ſatisfied with his promiſing to drive
Waldrada from his Bed, obliged him to ſwear that he would never
rccal her; that he would break off all Correſpondence with her ;
that he would cver thenceforth treat Theutberga as his lawful Wife,
and marry no other in her Life-time. The fame Oath was taken,
in the King's Name, at the Defire of the Legatc, by Twelve of the
chief Counts of the Kingdom h.
Arſenius, proud of the Succeſs of his Negotiations at the Court of His Negoti-
ations with
Lorraine, proceeded from thicnce, purſuant to his Inſtructions, to
Charles of
that of Charles of France, to perſuade that Prince, as he had donc Francc.
Lewis of Germany, to renew thc Trcaty of Peace with the Emperor,
as well as with the King of Lorraine : And his Negotiations were
attended there with the ſamc Succeſs as at the other Two Courts;
& Annal. Fuld. # Annal. Bercin. & Metenf. ad ann. 865, 866. Nicol. ep. 58.
VOL. IV.
Ss
for
Theme
314
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas
1
1
tharius to
take back
1
Year of for Charles not only confirmed the Peace, but agreed to an Inter-
Chrift 865. view with his Nephew Lotharius, who had ſollicited the Legate to
procure it, in order to ſettle ſome points that might create a Miſun-
derſtanding between him and his Uncle, and eſtabliſh by that means
a perfect Harmony between the Two Kingdoms. Lotharius no
ſooner heard of the praceable Diſpoſition of his Uncle, than he
repaired to Attigni, where Charles then was; and there, by the
Interpoſition of the Lcgate, Matters were ſettlcd in a very ſhort Tinie, ,
to the intire Satisfaction of the Two Kings. As Theutberga had
taken Refuge in the Kingdom of Charles, upon the Death of her
Brother Count Hubert, with whom ſhe had lived in the Territories
of the Emperor, Arfenius ſent privately for her before Lotharius
Obliges Lo- left Attigni ; and, in order to render thc Reconciliation more au-
thentic and ſolemn, prefented her to him when he leaſt expected it,
Theu berga. in the Preſence of the King his Uncle, of all the great: Lords of his
Court, and of a great many Biſhops, whom he had aſſembled for
that Purpoſc, telling him with an Air of Authority, that hic preſented
to him his lawful Wifc, in the Name of the Prince of the Apoſtles,
and the ſovereign Pontiff his Vicar; that if, unmindful of his Oath,
he refuſed to take her back, if he ever parted with her again, or per-
ſecuted her anew as he had hitherto donc, in Defiance of the moſt
facred Laws human and divine, he declared him excommunicated in
this World, and cternally damned in the other. Lotharius was, as
we may well imagine, highly provoked at the haughty and impo
rious Behaviour of the Legate ; but, diſſembling the Indignation it
raiſed in his Breaſt, as he knew that the King his Uncle, and the
whole Court, favoured the Queen, he offered her his Hand with
a chearful Countenance, declaring, that he was ready to comply in
all Things with the Directions of the holy Pope Nicholas i.
Thunders The Legate, having thus happily executed the chief Commiſſion
Two Excom- he was charged with, publiſhed, before he left Attigni, a Letter
from the Pope, fraught with moſt dreadful Curſes, ſuch, ſays the
Bertinian Annaliſt, as had never before been heard in France, againſt
certain Perſons, who had robbed the Legatc of a conſiderable Sum of
Moncy fome Years before, if they did not reſtore it. At the ſame
time he thundcred out anew, in the Pope's Name, the Sentence of
Excommunication againſt Ingeltrude the Wife of Count Boſo; who,
abandoning her Husband, as has been related above, had taken Re-
1
i Annal. 'Bertin. & Mctenſ. ibid.
T
5
fuge
***
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
315
.
t
1
fuge, with her Adulterer, in the Kingdom of Lorraine. The Legate, Year of
Chriſt 865
availing himſelf of the great Rcgard ſhown by Charles for the Apo-
ſtolic Sce, demanded, and obtained of him, the Reſtitution of cer-
tain Lands that Lewis the Debonnair had formicrly granted to St.
Peter, and a Count, named Wido, had poffefled for many Years k.
On this Occaſion, Arſenius preſented Rothade to the King, and
warmly recommended him, in the Name of his Holineſs, to his Pro-
tection and Favour; and he governed the Church of Soiſſons in Peace
and Tranquillity to the Hour of his Death.
From Attigni the Lcgate ſet out, in the Month of Auguſt of the Theutberga
preſent Year 865, with the King of Lorraine and Queen Theut-reinſtated in.
her Dignity.
berga, for Gondreville, a Royal Palace belonging to that Prince on
the Moſelle. Upon their Arrival there, Arſenius, encouraged by
the Succeſs that had hitherto attended him, and more by the Dread
the King ſtood in of the Excommunication, with which he was threat-
ened, inſiſted on his publicly repairing the Scandal he had publicly
given by putting away his lawful Wifc, and marrying another Wo.
man in her room. To this too thic King conſented, much againſt
his Will; and on the Isth of Auguſt, the Feſtival of the Aſſump-
tion of the Virgin Mary (R), the Legate faid Maſs with great So-
Icmnity; and the King and Queen aſſiſted at it in their Royal Habits
and their Crowns, attended by the Biſhops, and all the Grandces of
the Kingdom'l.
1
k Idem ibid.
1 Ibid.
1
(R) The Aſſumption of the Virgin Pellart, who wrote in the Fifteenth Cen-
Mary, in Soul and Body, into Heaven, tury, and dedicated his Book to Pope Six-
was never heard of till the Eighth Century, tus IV. a very particular and curious AC-
the Abbot Authpertus, who died in 778, count of the Death of the Virgin Mary,
being the Firſt who ſpoke of it, and uſed at which affifted all the Apoſtles, conveyed
the Word Aſſumption: And from his on white Clouds to her Houſe from the dif-
Words it appears, that, in his Time, fome ferent Corners of the Earth ; of her Re-
believed that ſhe was aſſumed in her Body, furrection, and her Aſſumption into Hea-
and ſome that ſhe was affumed out of it, ven in Soul and Body. As ſhe was thus
five in corpore, ſays he, five extra corpus af- aſſumed, we have no Reliques of her be-
ſumptam ſuper coelos credamus (1). "How- fides her Milk; but of that there is ſuch a
ever, that ſhe was aſſumed in Soul and Bo- Quantity, as fufficiently ſupplies the Want
dy into Heaven is now generally believed of all other Reliques. As to the Paſſage
in the Church of Rome; and woe to the in the Chronicle of Euſebius, and the Pieces
Man who ſhould affert the contrary in 'afcribed to St. Auſtin, to St. Jerom, and
Spain or in Italy, tho' it has not the leaſt to Dionyſius the Åreopagite, wherein men-'
Foundation in the facred Writings, in thoſe tion is made of the Allumption, they are
of the Fathers of the firſt Eight Centuries, now univerſally allowed to be ſpurious.
or in Hiſtory. The Reader will find in
(1) Vit. S. Ambrof. Authpert. apud Mabil. fect, iii. Benedict. part. ii.
SS 2
Thc
I
1
.
3.16.
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of
VValdrada
The Legate was not yet ſatisfied ; but apprchending that the Pre-
Chritt 865
ſence of Waldrada would ſoon rekindlc the King's Paſlion, and make
Tye Legate, hinn forget all his good Rcſolutions, he ordered her to attend him
Vits out with
to Rome, to be there abſolved by the Pope from the heinous Sin ſhe
on his Return was guilty of in living with the King as his Wife. Waldrada, awed
to Rome.
by the Anathema with which the Legate threatened her, durft not
diſobey; and Lotharins had the Mortification to ſee her ſet out with
the Legate on her Journcy to Rome. Arſenius paſſed, in his Return
to Italy, through Germany and Bavaria, to recover, by the Favour
of King Lewis, ſome Patrimonies of St. Peter that lay in thoſe
Ingeltrude Countries. He found the King at Worms; and there Ingeltrude,
joins them;
being driven by Lotharius from his Dominions, unexpectedly pre-
ſented herſelf before him, in order to go with him to Rome, and
there obtain of the Pope, by his Mediation, Abſolution from the
Excommunication he had twice thundered out againſt her. At
Worms ſhe took the following Oath, in the Preſence of the Legate,
and probably at his Requeſt : “ I Ingeltrude, Daugliter of the late
“ Count Mattefrid, and Wife of Count Bofo, ſwear to you Lord
Arfenius Biſhop, Envoy, and Apocriſarius of the holy Catholic and
“ Apoftolic Sce, and in you to my Lord Nicholas, ſovereign Pontiff
« and univerſal Pope; I ſwear, I ſay, by the Father, by the Son, by
" the Holy Ghoſt, and by the Four holy Goſpels, which I kiſs with
my Mouth, and touch with my Hands, that I ſhall quit the wicked
“ Life I have led to the Diſgrace of the above-mentioned Bofo my
“ Husband; ſhall return, like a ſtrayed Sheep, to the Fold of the
« Catholic Church, upon ſuch Terms as it ſhall pleaſe my Lord
Nicholas, fovereign Pontiff and univerſal Pope, to preſcribe; ſhall
« travel into Italy, either before you or with you, as you ſhall think
proper ; and ſhall comply in all things with the Injunctions of
my Apoftolic Lord m.” Arfenius chofe ſhe ſhould go with him,
flattering himſelf that he ſhould enter Rome in a kind of Triumph,
being attended with Two ſuch illuſtrious Penitents. But his Vanity
but foon
was diſappointed; Ingeltrude attended him no farther than the
leaves them, Danube ; for her Heart failing her as they were upon the point of
and is excoin
municated croſſing that River, ſhe forgot her Oath, and, under colour of viſit-
ing a Rclation in that Neighbourhood, who, ſhe ſaid, would fur-
niſh her with Horſes to purſue her Journey, ſhe left the Legate,
aſſuring him that ſhe would meet him at Augsburg. But, inſtead of
m Apud Baron. ad ann. 865, n. 63.
keeping
andw.
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
317
keeping her Appointment, ſhe returned to France ; which Arfenius Year of
Chriſt 865.
no ſooner knew, than he wrote to all the Biſhops of France and
Germany to acquaint them with her Flight, notwithſtanding the
Oath ſhe had taken, and require themi, in the Name of St. Peter,
and of the ſovercign Pontiff and univerſal Pope Nicholas, not to ad-
mit her into thcir Dioceſes, but to declare her excommunicated and
anathematized for the Breach of her Oath, as well as for her other
Crimes, till ſhe appeared in Perſon before the Pope, and was ab-
folved by his Holineſs himſelf n. What became of her afterwards we
know not, no further mention being made of her in Hiſtory.
As for Waldrada the other Penitent, the purſued her Journey Waldrad
with the Legate as far as Lombardy. But when ſhe was there upon Lotharius,
the point of ſetting out from Pavia in her Way to Rome, ſhe
received a Letter from Lotharius, ordering her, as he could no
longer bear her Abſencc, to return with all Speed to his Dominions.
Upon the Receipt of that Letter, which the Meſſenger privately de-
livered to lier, purſuant to his Inſtructions, her good Reſolutions all
vaniſhed in an Inſtant; and leaving the Legate abruptly, ſhe haftened
back to Lorraine. Arfenius, thus diſappointed of his cxpccted Tri-
umph, entered Rome alone, and gave an Account of the Whole to
the Pope 3 who, no leſs provoked than he at the Behaviour of the
Two pretended Penitents, immediately confirmed the Excommuni-
cation of Ingeltrude, and, on the Second of February 866, ſolemnly and excom.
excommunicated Waldrada, and tranſmitted to all the Biſhops of municated by
Italy, France, and Germany, the Sentence he had pronounced againſt
her, ordering them to publiſh it in their reſpective Dioceſes. He
tells thic Biſhops in his Letter, that tho' Lotharius is no leſs guilty
than Waldrada, yet he has not cxcommunicated him, for juſt Rea-
ſons, which he is not obliged to communicate to them, the Apo-
ftolic See, that is truſted with the Care of all Churches, being ac-
countable to none for its Conduct o.
Lotharius, hearing of the Excommunication of Waldrada, and Adventius
apprehending that the Pope might be brought at laſt, by his Enemies writes to the
and the Queen's Friends, to pronounce the ſame Sentence againſt voer of Lo-
him, got Adventius Biſhop of Metz to write to his Holineſs in his tharius.
favour ; and the Letter the aged Biſhop wrote, plainly ſhows him to
have been as ſimple a Man as any of his Time, or as great a Syco-
phant; for, in that Letter, he aſſured the Pope, that the King had
Ibid.
4
lad
- Nicol. ep. 49.
318
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Lotharius
time,
1
Year of had no Intercourſe or Correſpondence with Waldrada ſince the De-
Chriſt 866.
Lamy named.parture of Arſenius; that he carneſtly and conſtantly exhorted her to
comply with the Injunctions of his Holineſs; that he treated Theut-
berga in every reſpect as his lawful Wife; that he aſſiſted with her at
divinc Service, admitted her, as he ought, to his Table and his Bed,
and ſhowed, on all Occaſions, an intire Submiſſion to the Authority
of thic Apoſtolic See p. The Direction of this Letter was, To the
moſt holy, moſt bleſſed and angelic Lord Nicholas, ſovereign Pontiff,
and univerſal Pope. Lotharius himſelf wrote, and ſent by the
writes to bim Chancellor Grimlandus, a very ſubmiſſive Letter to the Pope, more
at the ſame
ſubmiſlive than was conſiſtent with his Dignity; for, in that Letter,
proſtrate at his Holineſs's Feet, he profeſſes an unreſerved Obedience
to the Orders of the Apoſtolic Sce; humbly beſeeches the Pope not
to raiſe his Equals above him (meaning, as appears from the Con-
text, not to excommunicate him, which would afford his Uncles a
Pretence to invade his Dominions); and declares, that he will be
ſubject to none but to God, to St. Peter, and to his holy Lord and
Father Pope Nicholas. As for Waldrada, he folemnly proteſts that
he has never been in her Company, nor ſo much as ſcen her, ſince
the Departure of Arfenius, and her Return from Italy; and gives the
Lyc to any who ſhall ſay that he has 9.
Lotharius flattered himſelf that he ſhould thus impoſe upon the
Pope. But Nicholas was, in the mean time, informed by ſeveral
Perſons worthy of Credit, that the King met Waldrada in private ;
that he perſecuted the Queen more cruelly than he had ever yet done;
and that, blinded by his Pallion, he ſeemed determined to remove
her out of the Way by ſome Means or other, and make room for
Waldrada, pretending that ſhe, and not Theutberga, was his lawful
The Queen Wife. Hercupon the Queen, apprehending her Life to be in Dan-
writes to the
Pope for
ger, wrote to the Pope to acquaint him therewith, and at the ſame
Leave to re- time to beg Leave, as ſhe ſaw no End of her Troubles, to reſign her
Sign her Dig. Dignity; to yield her Place to Waldrada; and ſpend the reſt of her
Days in Retirement. To induce the Pope to comply with her Re-
queſt, ſhe even pretended in her Letter, that the King had married
Waldrada before he married her; and conſequently that he could
not live with her as his lawful Wife, nor ſhe with him as her lawful
Husband. But the Pope well knew, that it was only to gratify the
nity,
P Apud Baron. ad ann. 866. n. 31, & feq.
9 Apud Baron. ad ann. 866. n. 38,
& feq.
t
King,
}
]
1
+
Year of
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
319
King, and purchaſe fomc Reſpite from her Troubles, that ſhe wrote which he re-
thus, and turned Evidence againſt herſelf: He thereforc told her, in
fuſes.
his. Anſwer to her Letter, that lie did not receive her Confeſlion, Chriſt 867.
having been aſſured by ſeveral Perſons no leſs cminent for their Rank
than their Piety, that it was not voluntary, but cxtorted by Me-
naccs; rcproached her with want of Courage in thus yielding to
her adverſe Fortune, in betraying her own Cauſe, and owning her-
ſelf guilty when ſhe was conſcious of her Innocence ; exhorted her
to ſpeak the Truth at all Events, ſince ſhe had better ſuffer Death
by thc Hand of another for ſpeaking it, than kill her own Soul by
departing from it. He added, that were he to admit her Confeſſion,
and declare her Marriagc null, cvery Husband, who diſliked his
Wife, would be thereby encouraged to uſe her ill, in order to extoro
from her by that means the like Confeſſion ; that ſhould he cven
grant her leave to quit Lotharius, their Marriage would not there-
fore be diffolved, nor could the King marry Waldrada, or any other
Woman, in her Life-time; and that ſhe muſt not think of living in
a married State as if ſhe were not married, unleſs the King folemnly
promiſed to live fo too. The Queen bad begged the Pope's Leave
to come to Rome, and unburden her Mind in Perſon to his Holineſs.
But he, not thinking it proper that ſhe ſhould be at ſuch a Diſtance
from the King while Waldrada was ſo near him, would not allow
her to undertake that Journcy, unleſs thc King ſent: Waldrada to
Rome before her r. This Letter is dated the 24th of January 867.
The Pope wrote at the ſame time to Charles of France, to the The Pope
Biſhops of Lotharius's Kingdom, and to Lotharius himſelf. In his writes to
Charles of
Letter to Charles, he commends him for his Generoſity in taking France, to
thc perſecuted Queen into his Protection, and exhorts him to conti- Lotharius,
nue to her the ſame Protection, till it ſhall pleaſc God to put an End and the B:-
to fo cruel and ſo unjuſt a Perſecution s. He reproaches the Biſhops, Kingdom.
in his Letter to them, with an unpardonable Neglect of their Duty
in not ſeconding him in his Endeavours to reclaim their King froni
his Wickedneſs; aſſures them, that he did nor grant Waldrada Leave
to return to France, as was, it ſeems, reported;. declares licr cxcon-
municated for the Third time; and threatens to pronounce the ſame
Sentence againſt them as Abettors of Adultery, if they continued
to connive, as they have hitherto done, at the Scandal which it was
1
» Nicol. ep. 48.
• Idem, ep. 50 Annal. Bertin.
1
chcie
5
320
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas,
Adventius's
Letter to
Year of their indiſpenſible Duty to remove t (S). From the Pope's Letter to
Chrift 864. Lotharius it appears, that the King laid great Streſs on the Confef-
ſion of the Queen owning that Waldrada was his Firſt, and confe-
quently his only lawful Wife. But, in Anſwer to that, the Pope
tells him in his Letter, that all France knew Theutberga was his Firſt
and only lawful Wife; and that the Confeſſion ſhe had made was
not voluntary, but extorted by Force and by Menaces; entreats him
to lay aſide all Thoughts of putting her away, and marrying any other
in her room, ſince the Apoſtolic Sce, he might depend upon it,
never would conſent to the one or the other ; expreſſes great Con-
cern at the King's attempting thus to impoſe upon him, and, in the
end, threatens him with Excommunication, if he did not break off
all Correſpondence with Waldrada as an excommunicated Perſon,
and repair the Scandal he had given u.
Adventius of Metz, hearing that the Pope had thrcatened the
Hatto of
King with Excommunication, and being at the ſame time informed,
that it was the fixed and unalterable Reſolution of the Apoſtolic
Lord Nicholas to exclude him from entering into the Church, if he
did not diſmiſs Waldrada by the Eve of the Purification, wrote, un-
der the greateſt Concern, to Hatto of Verdun, his intimate Friend,
carneſtly cntrcating him to repair without Delay to the King, to ap-
priſe him of his Danger, and perſuade him to ask Pardon for his paſt
Offences, in the Preſence of at leaſt Three Biſhops, with a firm
Reſolution and Promiſe to mend his Life in time to come, that, being
thus abſolved, he might enter the Church, and celebrate the Feſti.
val, without expoſing, as he otherwiſe would, himſelf and his King-
dom, as well as thcm, to irretrievable Ruin. He deſires his Brother
Hatto to tell the King, that as for his Sin againſt God, or his public
Adultery, he has no Occaſion to make himſelf uncały about it, God
haviog promiſed by his Prophct to forgive the Sinner thc Monient
he repents of his Sin. The good Biſhop ſeems to have thought it
Matter of more Importance to obtain of the Pope than of God For-
giveneſs of his Sin. He tells his Brother, that he has thus written
Verdun.
-
1
* Idem, cp. 49.
u Idem, ep. 51.
(S) What Opinion muſt we entertain not one who did not proſtitute his facred
of the Biſhops of Lotharius's Kingdom, Character to his lawleſs Luſt, and coun-
among whom not one was found, who tenance him in a Crime that gave ſuch Of-
had Courage or Zeal enough to ſay unto fence to the honeſt Laity, eſpecially to the
the King, with the Words of the Baptiſt, Princes of the Royal Family,
It is not lawful for thee to buve hır; nay,
to
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
321
Year of
Los
tharius.
to him ſub ſigillo confeſſionis, under the Seal of Confeſſion; and
Chriſt 867
therefore conjures him to ſhow his Letter to none but the King, and
to ſuggeſt ſuch Counſels to him, as may reſcue from imminent Ruin
both him and them u, Adventius apprehended, that, if the King
was excommunicated, his Uncles would be thereby encouraged to
invade his Dominions, which would involve the whole Kingdom in
the utmoſt Confuſion, and end, in all Likelihood, in his Ruin.
The Pope, however, did not think it adviſeable to proceed to ſuch that re-
Extremities, the rather as a perfect Harmony ſubfifted between the trained the
Pone from
Emperor Lewis and Lotharius, tho' Lewis was no leſs offended excommunia
than his Uncles at the Conduct of his Brother in the Affair of Thent-
cating
berga and Waldrada, and had frequently preſſed him to diſmiſs the
one, and be reconciled to the other. Nicholas, therefore, unwilling
to diſoblige the Emperor, contented himſelf with writing moſt preff-
ing Letters to the Two Kings Lewis and Charles, entreating them
to interpoſe their good Offices anew with the King of Lorraine, to
employ ſuch Means to reclain him, as ſhould appear to them the
moſt cffcctual, and in particular to aſſure him in his Name, that
what Declarations ſoever he might force from Theutberga, he would
ever oppoſc, with all the Authority of the Apoſtolic See, his marry,
ing any other w.
Upon the Receipt of thcſc Letters, the Two Kings had an Inter-Lewis of
view, the Rcſult of which was, that Charles ſhould go and commu-
Germany
nicate them in Perſon to the King of Lorraine ; that he ſhould re- of France
preſent to him, in the ſtrongeſt Terms, the Obligation he was under endeavour to
reclaim La-
of removing the Scandal his Treatment of Theutberga had given to tharius.
all good Men, and entreat him, in the Name of both, to ſatisfy the
Pope, fince he could entertain no Hopes of ever prevailing upon his
Holineſs to approve of, or even to connive at, a Conduct which lic
had ſo often and ſo loudly condemned. Charles and Lotharius
mct, by Appointment, on the Borders of their reſpective Kingdoms,
the Dinor being attended on that Occaſion by a Biſhop. But their
Mecring had not the wiſhed for Succeſs: Lotharius chicfly inſiſted
or the Declaration of the Queen, which he maintained not to have
bien force, as had been repreſented by his Enemies to the Popc,
6:!!te free and voluntary, as ſhe, who ought to be credited before
th«m, had publiciy owned; complained as much of the unworthy
Traducnt he had met with from the Pope, as the Pope complained
u Ind Baron. ad ann. 867. n. 121.
Von V
of
and Charles
.
1
w Nicol. ep. 53
Tt
5
==
"
1
322
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of of the Treatment Theutberga had met with from him; proteſted,
Chrift 867; that, to gratify his Holineſs, he had never ſuffered Waldrada to ap-
proach the Court; that he had never ſeen her ſince her Return from
Italy. He added, that his Enemies made it thcir Buſineſs to low
the Sccds of Diſcord between him and thc other Princes of the Royal
Family; that they had miſrepreſented the whole Affair both to them
and the Pope: But that he was determined to go to Rome, and treat
with his Holineſs in Perfon, not doubting but he ſhould be able to
Who writes undeccive him, and confound his Enemics x. With this his Inten-
moſt ſubmiſ- tion he acquainted the Pope by a moſt ſubmiſſive Letter, cntrcating
five Letters
to the Pope ; him, in the mean time, not to hearken to the Suggeſtions of thoſe,
who Itrove to eſtrange his Holineſs from him, and raiſe by that
means Diſturbances in his Kingdom. As a numerous Body of Sara-
cens had lately landed in Italy, and committed dreadful Ravages
there, he offered, in the ſame Letter, to join his Forces to thoſe of
the Emperor againſt the common Enemy, to head them in Perſon,
and defend, if neceſſary, even at the Expence of his Life, the Patri-
monics of St. Peter y. But the Pope well knew, that he wrote thus
only to amuſe him ; that he ſtill continued to correſpond privately
with Waldrada excommunicated as ſhe was; that ſhe governed with
an abſolute Sway both him and his Kingdon, while Theut berga
had but the cmpty Title and bare Name of Queen. He therefore
deſired the Two Kings, in his Anſwer to their Letter, to divert by
all means the King of Lorraine their Nephew from his intended
Journey to Rome, till he had given ſuch Proofs of the Sincerity of
his Reformation, as left no room to queſtion it, leſt he ſhould not
meet with the Reception he expected 2. The Proofs required by the
Pope were, that he ſhould not only break off all Correſpondence
with Waldrada, but ſend her to Rome; that he ſhould trear Theut-
berga ſo as to ſatisfy all France that he looked upon her as his law-
ful Wife; and that, to leave no Hopes to Gunthier and Theutgard,
who had countenanced him in his Adultery, of being cyer reſtored,
he ſhould cauſe others to be choſen for the ſtill vacant Sees of Treves
and Cologne in their room (L). Theſe Terms ſeemed too hard to
* Idem, ep. 55.
y Apud Baron. ad ann. 867. n. 123, & ſeq.
.
7 Nicol. ep. 53
(L) Hugh, nearly related to Charles of ſeems, take place. Indeed the Sword and
France, had been nominated by Lotharius the Helmet better became the Abbot Hugh,
for the See of Cologne, as has been ſaid as he is commonly ftiled, than the Crofier
above; but that Nomination did not, it and the Mitre.
Lotka.
FA
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
323.
threatened.
Lotharius ; and therefore, laying aſide all Thoughts of his Journey Year of
Chrift 867.
to Rome, he continued, during the ſhort Time Pope Nicholas lived,
to ward off, with moſt ſubmiſſive and reſpectful Letters and Pro- and thus
teſtations, the Sentence of Excommunication with which he was sentence with
wards of the
threatened. What was the Ifue of this Affair, we ſhall ſee in the which he was
Pontificate of the ſucceeding Popc.
From the grcat Pains the Pope took in thc Affair of Lotharius,
and the numberleſs Letters he wrote relating to it, one would con-
clude that it' had engroſſed his whole Attention ; but he had at the
ſame time many other Matters on his Hands that required no leſs
Attention, Reſolution, and Addreſs; and among the reſt, what he
moſt of all laboured to bring about, as it would moſt of all redound
to thc Honour of his See, the Reſtoration of the Patriarch Igna-
tius. Nicholas had, as we have ſeen a, in a Council held at Rome
in 863, folemnly excommunicated Photius as an Uſurper, with all
his Adherents, and deciared Ignatius to have never been depoſed,
but only driven with Violence and unjuſtly from the Patriarchal See.
With this Sentence the Pope deſigned to acquaint the Emperor Mi-
chael, and had already written a Letter giving him an Account of
the Proceedings of that Council. But, in the mean time, the Em- Tire Emperor
peror was by others informed of the Whole ; and, before the Legates
writes to the
ſet out for Conſtantinople with the Pope's Letter to him, Michael Pope concer'n-
the Protoſpatharius arrived at Rome with one from him to the Pope, ing the Affair
of Photius.
fraught with Invectives, Reproaches, and Menaces. The Pope hap-
pened to be greatly indiſpoſed when he received the Emperor's Let-
ter; and the Protoſpatharius, impatient to return as the Winter ap-
proached, left Rome, without taking Leave, ſoon after he delivered
it, inſomuch that the Pope was obliged, ill as he was, to write his
Anſwer in great Hafts, and ſend it after him to Oftia. The Empe-
ror's Letter has not been ſuffered to reaclı our Times ; but what it
chiefly turned upon we learn from the very long Letter the Pope
wrote in Anſwer to it, notwithſtanding his Illneſs, and the Hurry
in which he wrote it. He begins it with an Addreſs to Heaven, be- The Pope's
feeching the Almighty, in whoſe Hand is the King's Heart, to ſug- his Lötter.
geft to him what may make an Impreſſion on the Mind of the Empe-
ror, and at the ſame time to diſpoſe his Mind to receive that Impreſ-
fion, and profit by it. He then proceeds to anſwer, one by one,
the various Articles, or, as he files them, Blaſphemies againſt God
Michael
1
ih
2 Sec above, p. 291.
Tt2
and
324
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
1
Year of and St. Peter, contained in his Letter. Michael had, it ſeems,
Chriſt 867.
complained of the Treatment he had met with from the Apoſtolic
See, tho’no Eniperor, ſince the Time of the Sixth General Council
had, as he pretended, honoured and reſpected thoſe who ſat in it,
however worthleſs, more than he. In Anſwer to that Complaint,
the Pope tells him, that it is quite groundleſs; that he has on no
Occaſion uſed him ill, but only admonilhed and rebuked him for the
Welfare of his Soul, which it was incumbent upon him to do, as
well as upon every other Biſhop ; and that, as to the Reſpect and
Regard he had ſhewn for the Apoſtolic Scc, ſome of his Predeceffors,
even fince the Sixth Council, had not been wanting therein no more
than he; but that moſt of them werc Herctics, with whom the holy
Sec could not communicate, nor have any Intercourſe. The Eni-
peror, alluding to one of his former Letters to the Pope, had ſaid,
we commanded you, &c. That Word was grating to the Ears of the
haughty Pope Nicholas; and, in his Anſwer, he pretends the Words
we pray, we entreat, we exhort, to have been uſed by other Em-
perors in writing to the Popes, and by none of them the imperious
Expreſſion we command (S); nay, he maintains the Words we beg
and conjure, and not we command, to have been made uſe of by
Michael himſelf in the very Letter he quotcs; and concludes, that
hc either does not know what he wrote, or repents of his laudable
Submiſſion and Humility. The Emperor had called the Latin
Tongue a barbarous and Scythic Language; which the Pope highly
reſented, gravely reproaching him with having reviled in the Height
of his Fury, a Language inſtituted by God, and made uſe of in the In-
ſcription on the Croſs. He adds, that if he deſpiſes, becauſe he does
not underſtand the Latin Tongue, it is quite abſurd and ridiculous
that he thould be ſtiled Emperor of the Romans; who is utterly igno-
rant of thic Language of the Romans; that the Language he takes
the Liberty to brand with the Epithets of barbarous and Scythic, is
uſed in divine Service by the whole Latin Church, nay, and by the
Greek Church too, the Epiſtles and Goſpels being read in Latin in
the Stations at Conſtantinople (T), before they are read in Greek.
The
1
b
(S) Baronins himſelf owns the Words him, and his unhappy End, to his having
we command to have been uſed by the Em- uſed it (2).
peror Mauritius in writing to the Pope; (T) By Stations are meant the Aſſem-
and aſcribes all the Misfortunes that befel blocs of the Faithful on Wedneſdays and
Fridays;
(2) Baron. ad. ann. 865. 1. 83.
f
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
325
The Emperor had ſaid, that it was not to judge Ignatius anew, but Year of
Chriſt 867
to determine the Diſpute about Images, that he had commanded the
Pope to ſend Legates to Conſtantinople. Nicholas anſwers, that the
Event proves the contrary ; that Ignatius was actually judged anew
in the Preſence of his Legates; and that it was for that Purpoſe, but
under colour of the Diſpute about Images, that he was deſired to
ſend them to Conſtantinople. He cnlarges here on the unjuſt and
irregular Proceedings of the Council that condemned Ignatius ;
declares, that his Legates acted contrary to their Inſtructions in con-
ſenting to his Condemnation ; and maintains, that there is ſcarce an
Inſtance of a Biſhop of Conſtantinople being depoſed, unleſs by He-
retics or Tyrants, without the Knowlege, the Approbation, and the
Concurrence of the Roman Pontiff. In Anſwer to what the Empe-
ror had advanced againſt the Pre-eminence, Primacy, and Privileges
of the Roman See, the Pope tells him, that thoſe Privileges have
not been granted by the Councils, but by Chriſt himſelf to St. Peter,
and in him to his Succeſſors in the Roman Sec ; thar the Councils
have only acknowleged and revered them (U); that they are per-
petual, immutable, and will remain, in ſpite of all human Efforts,
lo long as the Chriſtian Name ſhall be preached in the World. The
Emperor wanted the Pope to ſend back to Conſtantinople the Monk
Tbeognoſtus, and other Monks Friends to the depoſed Patriarch,
who had taken Refuge at Rome. But the Pope, after ſhewing the
Unrcaſonableneſs of ſuch a Demand, aſſures the Emperor, that he
has no Cauſe to complain of Theognoſtus, nor of the other Monks,
who have told him nothing but what he had heard before from many
others come from Alexandria, from Jeruſalem, froni Conſtantinople,
&c. nay, and from his own Embaſſadors, and what all the World
knew to be true. As to the Emperor's Menaces, for he had threat-
Fridays ; for theſe Two Days were parti (U) That no Privileges were granted to
cularly ſanctified from the earlieſt Times; St. Peter, but what were common to the
Wedneſday, becauſe on that Day the Jews other Apoſtles with him ; that all Biſhops
conſpired to put our Saviour to D'ath; were originally alike abſolute and indepen-
and Friday, becauſe he f. ffered on that dent in their own Churches, and that the
Day (3). On both Days the Service be- Privileges, Prerogatives, and Pre-ominence,
gan early, and did not end till Three in which, in After-ages, fome Biſhops en-
the Afternoon; and from the Length of joyed over others, were granted to them by
the Servic thoſe Aflemblies were called the Councils, or were a free Gift of the
Stations, and the Days, on which they Emperers; has been faewn in many Places
were held, ſtationary Days.
of this Hiftory (4).
(3) Tertul. de jejun. C. 14. Orig. hom. 10. in Levit. Petr. Alexandrin. can. 15,
&c. (4) See Vol. II. p. 79, 80, 81, 82. 87. & alibi paflim.
encd
!
-
Chrift 867
The Pope
3:26
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of cncd the City of Rome with utter Deſtruction, if the Sentence againſt
Photius was not revoked; the Pope bids him Defiance, telling him,
that the Angels watch over the Safety of Rome, and putting him in
mind of Sennacherib and his numerous Army. As the Saracens
had lately invaded Crete, had ravaged Sicily, had made themſelves
Maſters of ſeveral Provinces belonging to the Greeks, and even ſet
fire to the Suburbs of Conſtantinople; the Pope takes Occaſion from
thence to reproach the Emperor with Injuſtice and Cowardice, in
tamely ſuffering himſelf to be thus inſulted by the Enemies of the
Chriſtian Name, and threatening to wreak his Vengeance upon him
and the unarmed Romans, who have donc him no Injury. This,
ſays the Pope, is acting like the Jews, who diſcharged the Mur-
derer, and condemned the Author of Life, releaſed Barabbas, and
put Jefus to Death.
The Popc, having thus anſwered the chief Heads of the Emperor's
propoſes the Letter, comes to the Caſe of Ignativ:s, which, though already fully
Ignatius and examined, and even determined by the unbiaſed Judgment of the
Apoſtolic Sec, he declares himſelf willing to examine anew, and has
thie Aſurance to deſire the Emperor to ſend for that Purpoſe both
Ignatius and Photius to Rome, and, together with them, the Biſhops
who adhered to the onc and the other. In thc Cloſe of his Letter,
he exhorts the Emperor to tread in the Footſteps of his pious Prede-
ceſſors Conſtantine, Conſtans, Theodoſius the elder, Valentinian, &c.
who made it their Study to cxalt, honour, and enrich the Roman
Church, and have thereby acquired immortal Fame; declares, that,
as he has been truſted with the Care of all Churches, he will not
neglect that of Conſtantinople; that he never will ſuffer the Patriar-
chal Scc of the Imperial City to be polluted by an Uſurper; that no
Menaces ſhall ever deter him from complying with his Duty; and
that lic is determined to ſtand up, to his laſt Breath, in Defence of
Truth and injured Innocence. To this Letter hc adds the following
Poftſcript : “ Whoever ſhall read this our Letter at Conſtantinople,
" and conccal any part of it from our moſt auguſt Son Michael, let
“ him be anathema: Whoever, in tranſlating the ſaid Letter, ſhall
“ alter any thing in it, ſhall add to it, or take any thing from it beſides
“ what the Greek Idion requires, unleſs it be done through Igno-
rance, let him be anathema b."
Photius to
Rome,
Nicol. ep. 8.
1
This
L
/
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
327
1
Year of
This Letter the Pope conſigned to the Protoſpatharius returning to
Chriſt 867
Conſtantinople; but apprehending that it might be either intirely
ſuppreſſed or falſificd, as had happened to moſt of his Letters, by the He ſends Le-
Friends of Photius, he reſolved, with the Advice of the neighbour- Eaft with ſe-
ing Biſhops, to write another and ſend it by Legates, who ſhould veral Letters.
deliver it into the Emperor's own Hands. For that dangerous Lega-
tion Nicholas choſe Donatus Biſhop of Oſtia, Leo Presbyter, and
Marinus Deacon of the Roman Church ; and by them he wrote
not only to the Emperor, but to the Biſhops and Clergy ſubject to
the Sce of Conftantinople, to Photius, to Bardas (X), to Ignatius,
to the Empreſſes Theodora and Eudoxia, the one the Mother, the
other the Wife of the Emperor, and to ſuch of the Senate as be-
friended Ignatius c. Theſe Eight Letters bear all the ſame Date, the
13th of November 866. The Pope, in his Letter to the Emperor,
warmly recommends the Legates to his Protection, as repreſenting
the Vicar of St. Peter, and in him St. Peter himſelf; maintains the
Ordination of Photius by Gregory of Syracuſe, who had been de-
poſed, and was no longer a Biſhop, to be null; puts him in mind of
the Account he was to give on the laſt Day for ſupporting an Ulur-
per on the Epiſcopal Throne, who has no Power to perform any
Epiſcopal Functions ; declares his unalterable Reſolution of acknow-
leging Ignatins for lawful Patriarch, till the Apoſtolic See ſhall judge,
condemn, and dépoſe hims cxhorts the Emperor to diſown the blaf-
phemous Letter he ſent him by his Embaſſador Michael, and order
it to be publicly burnt, otherwiſe he will cxcommunicate the Authors
of it in a Council of all the Biſhops of the Weſt, and cauſe the Letter
itſelf, as he cannot put up ſo groſs an Affront offered to the Ponti-
fical Dignity, to be fixed to a Stake, and thus burnt, to his Shame
and Diſgrace, in Sight of the different Nations that flock froni all
Nicol. ep. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
}
(X) Bardas was murdered by Order of berlain; for as Michael had an utter Aver-
the Emperor Michael, grown jealous of his fion to all manner of Bufineſs, and ſpent
Power, on the 21ſt of April of the preſent his whole Time in Sports and Banquets,
Year, as Porphyrogennetus informs us (4). he immediately committed the Manage-
But the News of his Death had not reached ment of public Affairs to Bafilius ; and ſoon
Rome in the Month of November, when after, that is, on the Feſtival of IVhitfun-
the Pope wrote to him. The Death of tide, which, in 866, fell on the 26th of
Bardas made room for Baſilius, the chief May, declared him his Partner in the Em-
Author of it, and at that time great Cham- pire (5).
(5) Idem, n. 42.
(4) Porphyrogen, n. 41.
I
Parts
328
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
+
Year of Parts of the World to the Tomb of St. Peter. The Pope, in his
Chrift 867; Letter to the Biſhops under the Sce of Conſtantinople, and the Clergy
of that City, acquaints them with the whole Proceedings of the
Council of Rome in the Affair of Ignatius and Photius, and loudly
complains of the Practice of raiſing Laymen to the Epiſcopal Dignity,
a Practice, he ſays, countenanced by Princes, as Laynen are more
apt to connive at their wicked Lives than thoſe who are brought up
in the Diſcipline and Service of the Church. He reproaches Photius,
in his Letter to him, with his numerous Prevarications, which he
cnumcratcs, and exhorts him to atunc for by a ſincere and timely
Repentance. He tells Bardas, that he is ſaid to have been the chief
Author of the Expulſion of Inatius, and of all the Eviis attending
it ; expreſſes great Concern at his not anſwering the good Opinion
he had entertained of him; and exhorts him to repair thc Miſchief
he has done by clpouſing the Cauſe of the lawful Patriarch, and with-
drawing his Protection from the Ulurper of his Sce. Happy Bardas,
ſays here Baronius, had he hearkened to the fatherly Exhortation of the
Pope ; but he diſregarded it, and therefore Vengeance from Heaven
foon overtook himn d. But the Murder of Bardas, the Vengeance
from Heaven which the Annaliſt here ſpeaks of, happened, as we
have ſeen, ncar Seven Months before the Pope wrote his exliortatory
Letter. The Pope, in his Letter to Ignatius, acquaints him with
what he has done in his favour ; aſſures him that he never will for-
ſake him; and encourages him to bear his Sufferings with the famo
Patience and Reſignation as he has hitherto done, till it ſhall pleaſe
God to relieve him. He comforts the Empreſs Theodora confined,
as has been ſaid, to a Monaſtery, telling her, that the Time is come
when Children ſha:l riſe up againſt their Parents ; but that, by pa-
ticntly bcaring the Loſs of a temporal Kingdom, ſhe will carn an
eternal one; recommends his Legates to the Empreſs Eudoxia; and
rcpcats, in his Letter to the Friends of Ignatius in the Senate, what
he wrote to the Biſhops and the Clergy ſubject to the Scc of Con-
ftantinople.
The Legates With theſe Letters the Three above-mentioned Legates ſet out for
not admitted.
Conſtantinople; but as they travelled by Land, in Company with
Two other Legatos ſent at the ſame time into Bulgaria (of which
Legation I ſhall ſpeak in the Scquel) they no ſooner entered the Ter-
ritories of the Empire bordering upon that Country, than Theodore,
a Baron. ad ann. 866. n. 14.
who
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
ܪ
329
Chrift 867
Year of
who guarded thoſe Frontiers, meeting them, and ſtriking the Heads
of their Horſes, an Affront which the Bibliothecarian cannot digelt,
told them, that the Emperor did not want them, and they might
therefore return home. However, they did not return till they were
informed, and they waited Forty Days for that Purpoſe, that they
were ſtopt by the Emperor's Order. Indeed it happened fortunately
for them that they paſſed through Bulgaria ; for the Emperor told
the King of Bulgaria's Embaſſadors, that, if they had not conte
through their Country, they ſhould never have ſeen him, nor Rome
again ſo long as they lived e. Such was the Iflue of this Second Le-
gation; and thus was all Intercourſe now broken off between Con-
ftantinople and Rome.
In the mean time Photius, now determined to keep no Mea-
ſures with the Pope, propoſed to the Emperor Michael the aſſem-
bling a Council at Conſtantinople, in order to judge, depoſe, and
excommunicate Nicholas with the ſame Solemnity as he had judged,
depoſed, and excommunicated him in a Council at Rome. To this
Propoſal the Emperor readily agreed; and a Council accordingly met
by his Order, conſiſting of ſeveral Biſhops under the immediate Jurif-
diction of the See of Conſtantinople, and ſome obſcure Perſons, who
called themſelves the Legates of the Three other great Sees, Alexan-
dria, Antioch, and Jeruſalem. Before this Aſembly Accuſers ap-
peared, who arraigning Pope Nicholas of many Crimes, and deplor-
ing his Wickedneſs, applied to the holy æcumenical Council for
Juſtice. Witneſſes were likewiſe produced to attet what the Accu-
ſers had laid to his Charge. But Photius, pretending to take the
Pope's Part, urged in his favour, that no Man ought to be judged
while he is abſent. But his Reaſons being anſwered, as was agreed
before-hand, by the Biſhops of his Party, the Pope was judged, was Photius ex-
found guilty of innumerable Crimes, was folemnly depoſed as alto-
communicates
and depoſes
gether unworthy of the Epiſcopal Dignity, and cxcommunicated, with the Pope in a
all who ſhould communicate with him. The Acts of this Council Council.
were ſigned by a very ſmall Number of Biſhops, and the pretended
Legates of the Three above-mentioned Sees; but to their Signatures
Photius added thoſe of both Emperors, Michael and Bafilius, of the
whole Senate, of a great many Biſhops who had never heard of that
Council, of almoſt all the Abbots in the Eaſt, and of a valt Number
of Eccleſiaſtics of all Ranks and Degrecs, in order to ſend thc Acts
. Anaft, in Nicol,
YOL IV.
Uu
thus
1
330
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Chriſt 867
Dottrines
Year of thus ſigned to the Pope f. In the ſame Acts he cauſed Acclamations
to be inſerted in Honour of the Emperor Lewis and his Wife Ingel-
berga ; and in thoſe Acclamations he gave the Title of Emperor to
Lewis, and to Ingelberga that of Empreſs, and of a Second Pul-
cheria, flattering himſelf, that, by diſtinguiſhing them with thoſe
Titles, he ſhould bias them in his favour, as the Greeks had hitherto
looked upon the Emperors of the Welt only as Kings, and given
them no other Title.
Photius
Photius, not ſatisfied with thus condemning, excommunicating,
charges the and depoſing the Pope, wrote a circulatory Letter to the Patriarch of
Church with Alexandria, and the other Patriarchs and Biſhops of the Eaſt, charge-
erroneous ing the Roman Church with ſeveral erroneous Doctrines, and various
Practices countenanced by the Popes, but rcpugnant to the Decrees
and Practices
condemned by and the Canons of the Church univerſal. Theſe arc, 1. At Rome
the Canons. they falt on Saturdays, by a manifcft Breach of the Sixty-fourth Ca-
non of the Apoſtles, depofing ſuch Clerks as ſhould falt on Satur-
days, except the Saturday before Eaſter.day, or on Sundays, and
excommunicating Laymen; and likewiſe of the Fifty-fifth Canon of
the Sixth æcunicnical Council, cenſuring the Roman Church for
fafting on Saturdays, and ordering them to correct that Practice (Y).
II. They
f Metrophan. in liter. ad Michael. Patric. Auct. lib. de Synod. Sinod. 150.
(Y) The Words of the Canon are; the Twenty-ninth Canon of the Council
Whereas we underſtand, that, in the City of Laodicea. The Obſervation of the Sabo
of Rome, the Sabbath in Lent is kept as a bath is commonly, and moſt probably,
Faft, contrary to the Rule and Cuſtom of thought to have been continued by the
the Church ; it ſeemed good to the holy Sy. Chriſtian Churches to gratify in this, as
nod, that in the Roman Church alſo the they did in many other indifferent Things,
ancient Canon fhould be revived and enfor. the Jewiſh Converts, who ſtill retained a
ced, which ſays, If any Clergyman be found great Veneration--for the Moſaic Inſtitu-
to faſt on the Lord's Day, or on the Sab- tions (1). Some Writers are of Opinion,
bath, one only excepted (the Saturday be- and among the reſt Albaſpinæus, that the
fore Eafter-day) let him be depoſed; if a Sabbath was originally obſerved as a Feſti-
Layman, let him be excommunicated. Sa- val by the Latin Churches, as well as by
turday, or the Sabbath, was obſerved from the Greek, even by that of Rome (2:).
the earlieſt Times, by all the Eaſtern However that be, it was certainly kept
Churches, as a Feſtival, with the ſame re- very early by the Roman Church as a Faſt,
Jigious Ceremonies as Sunday, or the Lord's and her Example was, in Proceſs of Time,
Day. There was only this Difference followed by all the Weſtern Churches.
between theſe Two great Feſtivals of the The Church of Milan, though ſo near to
Week, as they were called, that Chriſtians Rome, was one of the laſt that turned the
were not required to reſt from bodily La- Feſtival into a Faft; for St. Ambrioſe, Bi-
bour on the Sabbath; nay, they who did ſhop of that City, tells us, that, in his
ſo, were excommunicated as Judaizers by Time, not only the Lord's Day, but every
Sabbatha
(1) See Cave, Prim. Chriſt. I. i. c. 7. (2) Albaſpin. Obſervat.'l: i. c. 13.
!
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
331
1
II. They cut off the Firſt Week of Lent, indulging themſelves in Year of
Chriſt 867
that Week in the Uſe of Milk and Cheeſe (Z). III. They do not
Sabbath, except the great Sabbath before by Ratramnus in his Anſwer to Photius ;
Eaſter, was obſerved there, even in Lent, and he concludes from thence, that the
as a Feſtival (3). He did not, however, quadrageſimal Faſt is obſerved more exactly
condemn the contrary Practice ; for being in the Roman Church than it is in that of
conſulted by St. Auſtin upon this particu- Conſtantinople. I cannot help obſerving
lar Point, he told him, that he could give here, that neither the Lent Faſt, nor any
him no better Advice than to do as he him- other, anciently conſiſted, as it does now
felf did; for, when I am at Rome, ſaid he, in the Church of Rome, in a Change of
I faſt on Saturday as they do at Rome; Diet from Fleſh to Fiſh, but in a total Ab.
when I am here, I do not faft (4). In St. ftinence from Food till Evening; and they
Auſtin's Time, ſome pretended the Cuſtom then thought it indifferent whether they
of fafting on Saturdays at Rome to have refreſhed themſelves with Fiſh, Fleſh, or
been introduced by St. Peter, who being any other Food. Indeed Fafting, as it is
to contend with Simon the Sorcerer on a commanded by the Churcb of Rome, is
Sunday, fafted the preceding Day; and mere Mockery; for, according to their
having overcome him, continued ever af- Caſuiſts, no Drink breaks a Faft, be it
terwards, with the Roman Church, to faft Wine, be it Chocolate ; ſo that a Man
on the ſame Day. But this Tradition was, may drink as much Chocolate as he pleafes,
as St. Auftin informs us, looked upon in his nay, and may get drunk with Wine, or
Time, and very deſervedly, as a mere any other Liquor, and yet faſt as the
Fable by ſome of the Romans themſelves Church commands; fince he would in
(5). However, it was alleged by Ratram- that Cafe, ſay they, break the Command
xus, in lis Anſwer to Photius's Letter, to of God againſt Drunkenneſs, but not the
juſtify the Roman Practice. But neither he, Law of the Church about Faſting (6).
nor Æneas Biſhop of Paris, take any no Paſqualigus, who has written molt fully
tice, in their Anſwers, of the Apoſtolic on this Subject, adds, that, as it is not
Canon, or of that of the Sixth Council. wholſome to drink without eating, you may
(2) There was anciently great Variety eat (Two Ounces of Bread, ſays Eſcobar)
as to the Number of Weeks in the Lent when you drink, that not being forbidden,
Faft. Some Churches began it Six Weeks becauſe it is taken by way of Medicine ; and
before Eafter, fome Seven,
fome Eight, for this Practice he quotes a great Number
fome Nine, and ſome even Ten; and yet of Caſuiſts (7). All are allowed a Colla.
none of them hit on the preciſe Number tion in the Evening, and there is no cer-
of Forty Days. The Churches, that kept tain Rule, ſays Lellius, for the Quantity of
their Faſt Six Weeks, excepted all Sundays it (8). In ſhort, Faſting in the Church of
out of it; and ſuch as kept it Seven Weeks, Rome conſiſts merely in a Change of Food,
excepted all Saturdays, but one, as well as or in an Abftinence from Fleſh, and every
Sundays. Thus they agreed in the Number thing that comes from Fleſh; fo that a
of fafting Days, viz. Thirty-fix, while Papilt may in Lent, and on all other Faſts,
they diſagreed in the Number of Weeks. riot upon Salmon, Sturgeon, and other
The Churches, that began their Faſt Eight, ſuch delicious Fiſh, may drink the richeſt
Nine, and Ten Weeks before Enſter, ex- Wines, and yet obey the Command of his
cepted ſo many Days, that their faſting Church, and earn Heaven by fafting. But
Days did not
exceed that-Number. Pope ſhould he taſte any Fleſh, however coarſe,
Gregory the Firſt, or, as others will have or the Liquor it was boiled in, or any Lac-
it, the Second of that Name, added to the ticinia or Milk-meats, he would diſobey
Thirty-fix Days of the Six Weeks:Wed cher Command; and her Commands are all
neſday, and the Three following Days of no leſs binding, on Pain of Damnation,
the Seventh, to make them completely than thoſe of the Decalogue.
Forty. Of this Addition Notice is taken
(3) Ambrof. de eⓇem. & jejunio, c. 10. (4) Auguſt. ep. 86'&z-i 18. (5) Aug
(6) Paſqualig. Praxis jejunii decif. 116. Eſcobar. Leſius, &c.
deçil. 119. (8) Leff. Inſtruct. Sacerdat. 1. v. c. 2.
allow
1
ep. 86.
(7) Ibid.
U u2
332
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of allow their Prieſts to marry, and ſeparate thoſe fron their Wives
Chriſt 86.7
who were marricd before they entered into Orders; and to this Prac-
tice, adds Photius, it is owing that we ſee ſo many Children, but
know nothing of their Fathers (A). IV. They anoint anew with the
holy Chriſm thoſe who have been already anointed by Presbyters,
pretending, that Biſhops alone are authorized to perform that Cere-
mony (B). V. They teach, that the Holy Ghoſt proceeds not from
the Father alone, but from the Father and the Son; and thus divide
the undivided Deity into Two Principles. This, ſays Photius, is
the moſt horrid Blaſphemy that ever was, or ever can be uttered,
not only againſt the Holy Ghoſt, but the whole Trinity, and alone
deſerves a Thouſand Anathemas (C). VI. They raiſe Deacons to
the Epiſcopal Dignity, without conferring upon them the Order of
Prieſthood. VII. In Imitation of the Jews, they conſecrate a Lamb
at Eaſter, and offer it on the Altar with the Body of the Lord (D).
VIII. Their Clergy ſhave thcir Beards (E).
Theſe
(A) It were to be wiſhed, ſays Alvarus uſed, is uncertain ; but Tertullian and Ori-
Pelagius, Biſhop of Silva in Portugal in gen, who flouriſhed in the Third Century,
the Beginning of the Fourteenth Century, are the firſt who ſpeak of it. However, in
that the Clergy had never vowed Chaſtity, the Church of Rome it is one of the Se.
eſpecially the Clergy of Spain, where the Sons ven Sacraments, and is believed to be of
of the Laity are not much more numerous divine Inſtitution, and to imprint an inde-
than the Sons of the Clergy (1).
lible Character (2).
(B) All Perſons, Children as well as the (C) This Point is the Subject of Three
Adult, were anciently anointed with the whole Books out of the Four that Ratram-
holy Unction, and received the Impoſition nus wrote in Anſwer to the Objections of
of Hands, as ſoon as they were baptized ; Photius. The firſt conſiſts of Paſſages
which Ceremony we now call Confirma- from Scripture, and the other Two of Pal-
tion. In the Roman Church, ſeveral Unce fages from the Fathers, to prove the Pro-
tions were uſed on that Occaſion, viz. of ceſſion of the Holy Ghoſt from the Father
the Forehead, of the Eyes, Noſe, Mouth, and the Son.
and Ears. That of the Forehead, which (D) That ſuch 2. groſs Piece of Super-
was, always attended with the Impoſition of ſtition as that of confecrating a Lamb at
Hands, was reſerved to the Biſhop as his Eaſter, and eating the Fleſh of it, once
peculiar Office; but Presbyters were allow- prevailed in the Roman Church, appears
ed to perform all the other Unctions, and, from Walafridus Strabo, who ſeverely cen-
in moſt of the Eaſtern Churches, even that ſures it (3); and likewiſe from the old
of the Forehead, and the Impoſition of Ordo Romarus, where a Form is ſet down
Hands, with the Permiſſion of the Biſhop. for the Confecration of a Lamb at Eaſter.
The Chriſm, uſed in theſe Unctions, was But as Strabo takes no notice of their offer-
a Mixture of Oil and Balfam, which the ing it on the Altar with the Euchariſt, that
Biſhop alone was allowed to conſecrate, was probably an Aggravation of the Thing,
and it was always conſecrated at Eaſter. and perhaps putidum mendacium, as Cardi-
When this Ceremony, which was origi. nal Bona calls it (4).
nally but one of the Parts or Rites of the (E) The Clergy were forbidden, by the
Sacrament of Baptiſm, began firſt to be Fourth Council of Carthage, to let their
Hair
(1) Alvar. de plancłu Eccleſ. I. ii. art. 27. (2) Concil. Trid. de Sacram. can. 9.
(3) Strabo de reb. Ecclef. c. 18. (4) Bona rer. Liturg. I. ii. c. 8.
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
333
th
1
Theſe were the chief Articles of the Charge brought by Photius Year of
Chriſt 867
againſt the Roman Church, in his Letter to the Eaſtern Biſhops; and,
in the fame Letrer, he exhorts them to concur with him in re- He exhorts
the Eaſtern
forming that Church, and to ſend their Deputics to aflift, in their
Biſhops to
Name, if they cannot aſſiſt in Perſon, at the oecumenical Council join him
that is appointed to meet for that Purpoſe. He tells them, that he againſt the
Pope
has received a ſynodical Letter from Italy, filled with unheard of
Complaints from all Ranks of People againſt their Biſhop, whoſe
Tyranny they can no longer bear; and therefore cntreat him to deli-
ver them from ſo galling a Yoke. In the Cloſe of his Letter, he
exhorts the Patriarchs and Biſhops, to whom it was addreſſed, to re-
ceive the Seventh Council, that condemned, under his Uncle Tara-
fius, the Hereſy of the Iconoclaſts, and cftabliſhed the oppoſite Doc-
trinc. In his Letter, he takes notice of the Converſion of the Bul-
garians, and likewiſe of the Ruteni or Ruſſians, ftiling them a Na-
cion that exceeds all other Nations in Slaughters and Cruelty (F).
The Pope, finding the Roman Church and his See thus attacked, The Pope re-
applied to Hincmar and the other Metropolitans of Charles's King Gallican Bin
dom, defiring them to aſſemble their reſpeativc Suffragans to cxa-hop for an
mine and anſwer, jointly with them, the Reproaches of Photius, Anſwer to the
Reproaches of
levelled againſt all Churches that uſed the Latin Tongue, as well as Photius.
Hair grow long,
grow long, or to ſhave their Beards, to Confiantinople itſelf; but not ſucceeding
ericus nec comam nutriat, nec barbam ra. in that Undertaking, which Porphyrogen-
dat. As the contrary Cuftom, with re netus aſcribes to the Prayers of Photius,
ſpect to the Beard, obtains in the Latin they returned home, and, upon their Re-
Church, and they will not allow any of turn, embraced the Chriſtian Religion,
their Practices to be contrary to the ancient received a Biſhop, and of Enemies became
Canons, but will have them all, however Friends and Allies of the Empire. To
indifferent, to be pregnant with ſome Myf. what ſo ſudden a Change was owing in ſo
tery, Bellarmine pretends, that the Word cruel, fo fierce, ſo inhuman a Nation, as
radat ſhould be left out; and he reads the Porphyrogennetus calls them, or by, whoſe
Canon thus; Clericus nec comam nutriat, means it was brought about, neither he
nec barbam, a Clergyman ſhall neither let nor Photius has informed us. But they re-
his Hair grow long nor his Bead (5). But lapſed afterwards into Idolatry; for St.
that the other is the true Reading has been Adelbertus, who was ſent by Otto King of
unanſwerably proved from the ancient Ma- Germany, in 959, to preach the Goſpel to
nuſcripts (6).
that People, found no other Chriſtian
(F) In the Year 861, they over-ran among them but Helena their Queen, who
many Provinces of the Empire, committing had been baptized at Conftantinople in
every-where moſt dreadful Ravages, and 954 (7).
fhocking Barbarities, and even laid Siege
+
A
1
(5) Bellarmin. de monach. I. ii. C. 40.
ep. 24. & Spondan. epit. Baron. ad ann. 858.
Muſcovit. p. 3. Curopalates, Zonar. &c.
(6) See Savaro not. in Sidonium, l. iv.
(7) Cedren. p. 636. Herbeſt. rer.
4
the
334
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
The Biſhops
Michael
--
Year of the Roman, and to tranſmit their Anſwers to him 8.
Chriſt 867
niet, in Compliance with the Deſire of the Popc; and having exa-
mincd, with their Metropolitans, the Points in Diſpute, anſwered
one by one the Obje&tions of Photius. The Anſwers of the Biſhops
of the Province of Sens, collected by Æneas Biſhop of Paris, have
reached our Times; but thoſe of the Biſhops of the Province of
Reims, collected by Odo Biſhop of Beauvais, are loſt. Ratramnus,
one of the moſt lcarned Men of his Age, wrote on the ſame Sub-
jcct, probably at the Deſire of the Biſhops ; and his Performance,
which is ſtill extant, far exceeds that of Æneas.
be Emperor
In the mean time happened in the Eaſt an unexpected Change of
murdered. Affairs both in the Church and thc State : The Emperor Michael
was murdered by his Guards, cither at the Inſtigation of the Friends
of Bafilius, or by a Decree of the Senate, ſays Porphyrogennetus,
exculpating his Grandfather Baſilius. But the other Byzantine Hi-
ſtorians, and among them Leo Grammaticus and Symeon Logotheta,
tell us, that Bafilius being informed, that Michael deſigned to re-
move him out of the Way, and raiſe a Patrician, by Name Bafilifci-
anus, to the Imperial Throne in his room, he reſolved to ſave his
own Life at the Expence of the Emperor's; and that, ontering accord.
ingly his Room one Night whilc lic was drunk and allcep, he firſt
cut off both his Hands as he held them up, and then diſpatched
him with innumerable Wounds, after he had reigned Twenty-ſeven
Years and Four Months. Bafilius, now ſole Maſter of the Empire,
Photius de- ordered Photius the very next Day to be confined to a Monaſtery ;
and having ſent for Ignatius, commanded Silence upon his appear-
Ignatius re-
vetored. ing before him, beſtowed upon him the higheſt Commendations,
and reſtored him to his See, Eleven Years after he had been driven
with Violence from it h. Nicetas wrires, that the Emperor depoſed
Photius in a Council, which muſt have confifted of ſuch Biſhops
only as happened then to be at Conſtant inople, ſince he was depoſed
the very next Day after the Murder of his Collegue Michael. Zo-
naras and, long before him, Leo Grammaticis, Symeon Logotheta,
and George thc Monk, aſcribe the Depoſition of Photius to his
having puſhed back Bafilius as he approached the Altar to receive the
Euchariſt, telling him, that he could not adminiſter it to him, as
his Hands were ſtill recking with the Blood of his Bencfactor. But
of that 110 Notice is taken by Porphyrogennetus, more ancient than
& Nicol. cp. 70. apud Baron. ad ann. 867. n. 46, & feq.
Nicet. in vit. Ignat.
any
.
poſed, and
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome:
335
any of thoſe Writers, nor by Nicetas, who was an Eye-witneſs of Year of
Chriſt 867,
what he relates, and would ſcarce have ventured, how prejudiced
ſoever againſt Photius, to paſs ſo remarkable a Circumſtance over
in Silence. And truly that Photius was a Man to flatter Princes in
their Wickedneſs, rather than to reprimand them, ſufficiently ap:
pears from the Letter he wrote to the Emperor Michael when he
received the News of the Death of Bardas, murdered by his Order;
for though he owed, as we have ſeen, his Promotion to Bardas alone,
yet, in that Letter, he approyed of his Murder, nay, and painted
his deceaſed Friend and Benefactor as the moſt wicked of Men, and
richly deſerving the Farc he had met witlr.
Photius being driven from the Patriarchal Palace, the Emperor The Papers
ſent the Governor Bahanes to him, with an order to deliver up all of Photius
ſeized,
the Writings he had taken with him. He pretended to have taken
none; but, in the mean time, Word was brought to Bahanes, that
his Domneftics were juſt gone out with Seven Sacks full of Writings.
Theſe Bahanes immcdiately ordered to be ſeized, and carried to the
Emperor ; who, upon opening them, found Two Books aniongſt and among,
them the Aasi
them with very rich Coverings, the one containing the Acts of the
of his pre-
Council that had depoſed Ignatius, the other the Acts of that which tended Couna
had depoſed the Pope. The former was divided into Seven Seſlions,
to each of which was prefixed ſome Repreſentation of Ignatius done
by Gregory of Syracuſe, the moſt skilful Painter in Miniature of his
Time. Before the Firſt Seſſion, he was repreſented dragged to the
Council, and beaten by thoſe who dragged him, with the Word the
Devil over his Head. Before the Second he was buffetted, ſpit upon,
and otherwiſe inſulted by his Keepers ; and the Inſcription was, the
Beginning of Sin. In the Beginning of the Third, the Fourth, and
the Fifth Seſſions, he was ſeen diveſted of his Patriarchal Robes, ana-
thematized, and fcttered like a common Malefactor, with the Mot-
tocs, the Son of Iniquity i Simon the Sorcerer ; exalting himſelf
above all that is called God. Before the Sixth and the Seventh, he
was drawn as condemned to Death, and carried to the Place of Exc-
cution, with the Inſcriptions, the Abomination of Deſolation ; the
Antichriſt. The other Book contained the Acts of the Council
that depoſed the Pope, the Crimes that were laid to his Charge, with
their Proofs, and the Sentence that was pronounced againſt him,
with the forged Subſciptions mentioned above. Of thcſc Books Two
Copics were found, Photius intending to keep one for himſelf, and
cil.
to
336
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of to ſend the other to the Emperor Lewis, with many rich Preſents,
Chrift 867: and a flattering Letter, which fell likewiſe into the Emperor's Hands,
wherein he acquainted Lewis and his Wife Ingelberga with the
Depoſition of the Pope by an æcumenical Council, as he called it,
and at the ſame time entreated them to drive him from Rome, in
Compliance with the Decree of that Council i. Theſe Books were,
to the unſpeakable Mortification of Photius and his Friends, publicly
ſhewn by the Emperor to the Senate and the Clergy of Conſtanti-
nople, and afterwards conſigned to the Flames by Order of the Eighth
General Council.
The Emperor
Photius being thus driven from the Patriarchal See, and Ignatius
Pope with reinſtated in his former Dignity, the Emperor diſpatched immediately
the Reffora. Baſilius the Protoſpatharius to acquaint the Pope therewith ; and
tion of Igna- with him John, Metropolitan of Sylæum, was ſent by Ignatius, and
Peter, Metropolitan of Sardis, by Photius, the Emperor, who
affected grcat Impartiality, allowing him to ſend one to plead his
Cauſe at the Tribunal of the Apoſtolic See. But the Metropolitan
of Sardis was ſhipwrecked in the Gulph of Dalmatia ; and Pope
Nicholas died before the Arrival of the other Two at Rome, bereaved
by Death of the Satisfa&tion the Reſtoration of Ignatius, which he
had laboured, during the whole Time of his Pontificate, to bring
about, would have given him. The Envoys therefore delivered the
Letters they were charged with to his Succeffor, who ſtrove, as we
ſhall ſee in the Sequel, with no leſs Zeal than his Predeceſſor had
done, to bring this Affair to a happy Ilue.
Conteſt be Beſides this Diſpute with Photius and his Partizans in the Eaſt,
Nicholas was engaged, during the Two laſt Years of his Life, in a
Pope and the
warm Conteſt with Hincmar and the other Gallican Biſhops in the
Biſhops, Weft, on the following Occaſion: Ebbo, Archbiſhop of Reims,
concerning
the Ordina- having ſided with the Children of the Emperor Lewis the Debon-
tion of Wulinaire in their Rebellion againſt their Father, was, on that Account,
Siber Clerks
. dcpoſed in a Council held at Thionville in 835, bur, upon the Death
of Lewis, reſtored to his Sce by the Emperor Lotharills, in a Coun-
cil convened in 840 at Ingelheim on the Rhine. Upon his Reſto-
ration, he applicd to l'ope Sergius II. defiring to be reconciled to the
Church by the Authority of his Sec. But the Pope only granted
him Lay Communion; declaring him unworthy of communi-
cating in the Quality of a Clergyman. He was, however, prevailed
Nicet. in vit. Ignat.
upon
tween the
Gallican
A
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
337
1
Chriſt 867
1
upon by the Emperor Lotharius to order his Cauſe to be cxamined Year of
anew; and Guntbold Archbiſhop of Rouen, and the other Biſhops of
Charles the Bald's Kingdom, mct for that Purpoſe at Paris in 846.
But Ebbo did not appear at that Council : and he was thereupon ba-
niſhed the Dioceſe of Reims till his Cauſe was finally determined in
a gencral Afcmbly k. Being thus obliged to quit his Dioccſe, hic
withdrew into Germany, where he was kindly received by King
Lewis, and appointed Biſhop of Hildeſheim in the Country of the
Saxons, that See happening to be then vacant. Ebbo had ordained
ſome Clerks after his Depoſition in 835, and thoſe Hincmar, who
ſucceeded him in 845 in the See of Reims, would not receive, allegc.
ing their Ordination to be null, as they had been ordained by one
who was diveſted of all Epiſcopal Power and Authority. Hereupon
the Clerks, among whom was Wulfade, who had been Preceptor
to Carloman the Son of Charles the Bald, and was therefore greatly
favoured by that King, applied to a Council that was held at Soiſſons
in 853, and conſiſted of the Biſhops of Five Provinces, Hincmar
preſiding at it, with the Archbiſhops Venilo of Sens, Paul of Rouen,
and Amauri of Tours. But by that Council a Decree was iſſued,
declaring the Ordination of thoſe Clerks to be null; and that Decree
was, at the Requeſt of Hincmar, confirmed by Pope Benedikt, the
immediate Succeſſor of Pope Nicholas.
However, Iulfade, encouraged by Charles of France, who wanted Wulfade ap-
to prefer hin, appealed from the Judgment of the Council to that peals to the
of the Apoſtolic Sec; and Nicholas, ever ready to countenance,
right or wrong, all who had Recourſe to his Sce, not only received
his Appeal, but having cauſed the Papers in the Archives of the Ro-
man Church, relating to that Affair, to be examined, declared the
Acts of the Council of Soiſſons to be uncanonical and null; and, at
the ſame time, wrote to Hincmar, to Herard of Tours, and to all
the Biſhops of France and Neuſtria, requiring them to reinſtate Wula
fade and the other Clerks in their reſpective Degrees, or to examine
their Cauſe ancw in a general Aſſembly. He appointed thc Time
for the Meeting of that Affembly, viz. the 16th of Auguſt 866;
and added in his Letter, that if any Difficulties aroſe, or the Clerks
appealed to the holy See, they ſhould grant them Leave to come to
Rome, and either come with them in Perſon, or ſend Deputies to
act in their Names. The Pope's Deſign in this was, either to make
k Flodoard. hiſt. Remenf. I. üii, c. 2.
VOL. IV.
Xx
the
Pope.
A
vare
1
+
338
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of the Gallican Biſhops reſtore Wulfade and the other Clerks in this
Chriſt 867
Second Council, and thus reverſe the Judgment they themſelves had
formerly given, or to have the Cauſe, if they confirmed their Firſt
Judgment, removed to Rome, as he did not doubt but, in that Cafe,
Wulfade, ſupported by the King, would appeal to the Apoſtolic Scc.
But thc Gallican Biſhops, appriſed of his Deſign, inſtead of annul.
ling, confirmed the Judgment of the former Council, coinmended
Hincmar for not reſtoring the depoſed Clerks after the Receipt of the
Pope's Letter, as they had been depoſed by a Council; but added,
that, by way of Favour, they might be reinſtated in their former
Degrees, which they left, they ſaid, to the Pope, out of their great
Regard to the Sec of St. Peter. This they notified to the Pope,
aſſuring hini, that they were ready to execute what his Holineſs
ſhould ordain; but left he ſhould think, that they had revoked the
Decrce of the other Council, Herard of Tours declared, in the Name
of all the Biſhops who were preſent, that they did not depart from
the Judgment they had giveo, but only conſented, by a merciful
Charity, to the Mitigation of a Sentence, which they had pronoun-
ced according to the Rigour of Juſtice, imitating therein the Fathers
of Nice, who had received in like manner thoſe whom Melitius
had ordained ! Many Letters paſſed, on this Occaſion, between the
Popc and chc Gallican Biſhops. The Pope pretended, that Hincmar
had miſrepreſented the Proceedings of the Firſt Council of Soiſſons
to his Predecctor Benedict, and ſurreptitiouſly obtained of him a
Confirmation of the ſaid Council; complained of their not having
tranſmitted to him a diſtinct and authentic Account of the Depoſition
of Ebbo, and the controverted Ordination of Wulfade and the other
Clerks; and required them to meet again, and inform hin minutely
Council of of the Whole. Thcy met accordingly at Troyes, on the 25th of
'Troyes.
Celober 867, and, in Compliance with the Pope's Requeſt, acquainted
him, in their fynodical Letter, with every Particular relating to the
Depoſition of Ebbo, to his pretended Reſtoration, and the Ordina-
tion of !irlfade and the other Clerks, after his Depoſition. Attard,
Bilhop of Nantis, was appointed by the Council to go with that
Letter to Rome, and deliver it into the Pope's own Hands.
Letter from But the King, Charles of France, obliged him to deliver it to him;
the King to
the Poje in and having opened and peruſed it, though ſealed with thc Seals of
fivour of Five Archbiſhops, he wrote another to the Pope more favourable to
Nicol. ep. 58. Concil. t. 8. p. 830.833.
Ebbo
Wulfade.
A
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
319
Year of
Ebbo and to Wulfade, whom he had already named to the vacant
Chrift 867
Scę of Bourges; for, in that Letter, he aſſured his Holineſs, that
Ebbo had been preferred by the Emperor to the Sce of Reims merely
in Conſideration of his Merit, and that the People had received hini
with Joy; that, in the Firſt Rebellion of the Children of Lewis the
Debonnaire, his Conduct was that of a loyal Subjcct ; but, being
unluckily drawn into the Second by the Faction of Lotharius, he
had publicly acknowleged his Fault in the Church of St. Stephen at
Metz; that the Eniperor had written to Pope Gregory, defiring him
to confirm his Depoſition, and the Pope had anſwered his Letter ;
but, as the Emperor kept the Contents of his Holineſs's Letter ſecret,
and did not name another to the Sce of Reims, it was highly prob-
able that Gregory did not approve of the Depoſition of Ebbo; that,
upon the Death of the Emperor Lewis, he was acknowleged for
Jawful Biſhop of Reims by all the Biſhops ſubject to that Sce; that
they all communicated with him, and ſuch of them as had been
ordained in his Abſence, received from him, upon his Return, the
Ring and the Croſier. From thence the king concludes Wulfade
and the other Clerks to have been lawfully ordained, becauſe ordained
by a Metropolitan, who was acknowleged as ſuch by all his Suffra-
gans. In the Cloſe of his Letter, the King excuſes his having cauſed
Wulfade to be conſecrated Archbiſhop of Bourges before he received
his Holineſs's Anſwer; and deniands the Pall for him.
As the Pope had reproached Hincmar, in one of his Letters to Hincmar's
him, as well as in that to the Biſhops of the Council of Soiſſons, with
Pride, with unfair Dealing, and want of the Reſpect and Submiſ.
fion that was due to the Apoſtolic Sec, he wrote, by Axtard, a long
Letter to clear himſelf from thoſe Reproaches, and ſatisfy his Holi-
neſs, that, in chis whole Affair, his Conduct had been intirely agrec-
able to the Canons and the known Laws of the Church. With theſe
Letters Axtard ſet out for Rome in the Beginning of November; but
Pope Nicholas dying in the mean time, the Affair was finally deter-
mined, to the Satisfaction of both Parties, by his Succeſſor, as we
ſhall ſee in the Sequel.
Nicholas died on the 13th of November 867, after he had go. Nicholas dies
verned the Roman Church Nine Ycars, Six Months, and Twenty
Days. He was, without all Doubt, a Man of very uncommon Parts, His Charac-
and has by ſome been compared, nay, and cqualled to Leo and to
Gregory, as no leſs worthy of the Surname of Great than either of
X X 2
them.
Litter to the
Pope.
ter.
1
340
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of them. His Ambition, at leaſt, did not fall ſhort of theirs ; and, tread-
Chriſt 867
ing in their Footſteps, he made it his Study, during the whole Time
of his Pontificate, to engroſs all Power to himſelf, to enſlave, in
Defiance of the Councils and their Canons, all other Sees to his own,
and exalt himſelf above all that is called God. He paid no greater
Regard to Princes than to his Fellow-biſhops, commanding Princes,
to uſe the Words of Regino, as if he were their King, and Kings
as if he were the ſole Monarch of the Univerſe. Notice is likewiſe
taken, by the Bertinian Annaliſt, of his writing to Princes, eſpe-
cially to the French Kings, in a hanghiy, imperious, and threatening
Stile, and not with the Submiſſion, Deference, and Respect that his
Predeceſors had ever ſhewn them m. Of this we have ſeen ſeveral
Inſtances, to which I ſhall add one more from Gratian, quoting the
following Words out of one of this inſolent Pope's Letters to King
Lotharius'; We command thee by Apoſtolic Authority not to ſuffer
any Biſhop to be choſen for Treves or Colognc before a Report be
made to our Apoſtleshipn. Nicholas, ſo far as we can judge from
his whole Conduct, had nothing ſo much at Heart as to vilify and
depreciate the Authority of Princes, in order to raiſe his own above
theirs, and the Church above the State; and it was, no doubt, with
thar View that he taught the infamous Doctrine, that Subjection
is not due to bad Princes, and left every Biſhop to judge and deter-
mine whether the Prince was a good or a bad one, a lawful Prince
or a Tyrant ; a Doctrine that, ſhould it ever prevail, would involve
all Kingdoms in endleſs Rebellions, and fill them with Blood and
Slaughter. But how great foever his Demerit was in other Reſpccts,
he certainly deſerved well of the Apoſtolic See; and his Succeſſors
in that See have accordingly honoured him with the greateſt Mark
of Diſtinction in their Power, that of Saintſhip. Indeed, that he
was received into Hcaven among the Saints of the Firſt Claſs, was
atteſted by an Eye witneſs, viz. by John the Deacon, to whom ho
appeared in the Company of Gregory the Great, ſurrounded with the
fanie Glory as that renowned Pontiff.
His Charity, Nickolas is commended by Anaſtaſius for his Charity to the Poor,
Munificence,
of whom he kept a Liſt, ſending a daily Supply of Proviſions to all
the Blind, thc Lamc, and the Infirm, in the different Quarters of the
City, and giving Tickets to thoſe who could walk, to ſome for one
Day, to others for another; ſo that they were all, in their Turn,
m Bertin. annal. ad ann. 865.
» Gratian. diftinct. lxiii. c. 4.
plenti
&c.
Nicholas.. BISHOPS of Ronie.
341
Year of
plentifully fed by him once a week º. He made many rich Pre.
Chrift 867.
ſents to the Churches of Rome, cſpecially to that of St. Peter, of
which the Reader will find an Inventory in the Bibliothecarian. As
to his public Works, he repaired an Aqucduct that conveyed Water
to the Vatican Baſilic, and rebuilt the City of Oſtin, ſtrengthening
it with new Works againſt any ſudden Attack of the Saracens, who
continued to infeſt that Coaſt p.
Of this Pope we have near an Hundred Letters; but of many of His IVritings
them I have already given the Contents in ſpeaking of the Subjects
to which they related; and ſhall only take notice here of ſuch of the
reſt as may ſerve to acquaint us with the Doctrines, the Practices, and
the ecclefiaftical Diſcipline of thoſe Times. Amongſt theſe, the moſt
remarkable is that which Nicholas wrote in 866 in Anſwer to the
Queſtions, Doubts, or Conſultations of the Bulgarians, converted
Five Years before to the Chriſtian Religion (E). It contains no fewer
than
• Anaft, in Nicol.
P Idem ibid.
(E) The Bulgarians, a fierce and war- ſpecial Manner : A dreadful Famine began
like Nation, came originally from the to rage all over the Land, and was ſoon
Country bordering on the Palus Mæotis, followed by a more dreadful Plague, that
were converted to the Chriſtian Religion ſwept off daily many
Thouſands. Theſe
in 861, on the following Occaſion: In an Calamities the pious Princeſs looked upon
Irruption they had made a few Years be- as ſent by Heaven to ſecond her Endea-
fore into the Empire, the Siſter of Bogoris vours; and therefore renewing her Exhor-
their King was taken, and carried, with tations with more Zeal than ever, ſhe pre-
the other Captives, to Confiantinople. The vailed on the King at laſt to apply for Re-
King, who tenderly loved her, was greatly lief to the God of the Chriſtians. He ſoon
affected with her unhappy Fare; but it felt the good Effect of this Application
proved, in the End, the Source of the the Plague ceaſed ; and the King, fenſible
greateſt Happineſs that could befal him and to whom he was indebted for ſo quick a
his People : For the Princeſs, having em- Deliverance, diſpatched Ambaſſadors to
braced the Chriſtian Religion during her Conſtantinople for proper Perſons to inſtruct
Captivity, and being ſoon after exchanged and baprize him and his People ; and he
for one Theodore Cuphara, ſaid to have was accordingly inſtructed and baptized,
been a Man of great Learning, ſhe under- with many of his Subjects, by Miſſionaries
cook, upon her Return home, to gain over ſent from thence. Such is the Account
she King her Brother to the ſame Faith, Porphyrogennetus gives us of the Converſion
repreſenting to him, on all Occaſions, the of the Bulgarians (1); and his Account has
Greatneſs and the Power of the God of been copied by Zonaras, Curopalates, and
the Chriſtians, as well as the Vanity of his Cedrenus. Bút Symeon Logotheta, taking
Idols, and exhorting him to baniſh them, no notice of the King's Siſter, tells that
and adore one God, the Maker of Heaven the Emperor Michael having made great
and Earth, and the only true God, in their Preparations by Sea and Land to fall upon
The King hearkened to her ; but the Bulgarians, Gibores their Kirg (for ſo
his Attachment to the Religion and the he calls him) alarmed thereat, as he was
Gods of his Anceſtors was Pro if againſt not in a Condition to withſtand ſo great a
all her Reaſons, Remonſtrances, and Ex- Force, a dreadful Famine raging at that
hortations, till Providence interpoled in a time in his Kingdom, fent Amballadors to
ths
(1) Porphyr. in Vit. Michael.
US,
room.
342
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
-
Year of than 105 Articles ; for ſo many were the Qucftions propoſed by the
Chrit 867. Bulgarians, or rather by their King; and it deſerves the Name of a
His Arſwer Work rather than a Letter. The chief Queſtions, and the Anſwers to
to the Conful-them, are as follows : Such of the Bulgarians as had not cimbraced
tations of the
Bulgarians. the Emperor, to let him know, that he and Conſultations that he wrote the preſent
his people were deſirous to embrace the Letter. Nicholas was overjoyed at the
Chriſtian Religion, and become Subjects News of the Converſion of ſo numerous a
of the Roman Empire ; that Michael, tranſ- Nation, and, perhaps, more at their chu-
ported with Joy at ſo unexpected a Mef- fing to recur to him rather than to his Ri-
ſage, invited the King to Conſtantinople; val the Patriarch of Conftantinople, to have
and that he was there baptized, taking at their Doubts folved, and Miffionaries ſent
his Baptiſm the Name of the Emperor (2). to inſtruct them. He received, therefore,
Bogoris, or, as I ſhall henceforth call him, and treated the Ambaſſadors with the
Michael, was, it ſeems, baptized by Pho- greateſt Marks of Kindneſs and Diſtinc-
tius, for he poffefled at this time the Sec of tion; anſwered their Conſultations in
Conſtantinople; and in a Letter he wrote Writing, even the moſt trifling, for ſuch
to the King upon the Duty of a Prince, the were many of them; and ſent back with
completeſt Piece of the Kind that is extant, them the Biſhops Paul of Populonia, and
he fometimes ftiles him his beloved Son, and Formoſus of Porto, both renowned for their
ſometimes his ſpiritual Son (3).
Sanctity (4). The King applicd at the
The Bulgarians, highly provoked at ſame time to Lewis King of Germany,
their King's forſaking the Religion of his with whom he lived in Peace and Amity,
Anceſtors, roſe up in Arms, with a Deſign defiring that Prince to ſend him Prieſts,
to drive him from the Throne. But he, and a Biſhop to aſliſt and direct them.
taking the Croſs for his Standard, or wear Lewis, in Compliance with his Requeſt,
ing it, as Logotheta fays, on his Breaft, appointed Ermenric Biſhop, with ſeveral
marched out againſt them, and having, Prieſts and Deacons, for that Miſſion; but
with a ſmall Number of Men, intirely de- left his Brother Charles of France to ſupply
feated the numerous Army of the Rebels, them with ſacred Veſſels, Books, Vest-
he reſolved to bring the whole Nation over ments, &c. and by him they were fupplied
to the Religion he profelled. The Empe- with them accordingly, but at the Expence
ror ſent Conſtantine, ſurnamed the Philijon of the Biſhops of his Kingdom, upon whom
pher, and known afterwards by thc Name he levied a conſiderable Sum for that Pur-
of Cyrill, to inſtruct them; and by him poſe (5). Ermenric arrived in Bulgaria,
great Numbers were baptized. But Con- with his Troop of Miſſionaries; but find-
ftantine being invited by Raffilaus, Princc ing there the two above-mentioned Bi-
of Moravia, to preach the Goſpel to his ſhops, and other Miſſionaries come with
People, the King of the Bulgarians rc them from Rome, he thought it adviſeable
ſolved, upon his Departure, to apply to to return home, left he ſhould give Um-
the Pope for proper Perſons to inſtruct the brage to them, and to the Pope who had
reſt of the Nation. For that Purpoſe he fent them. The Bertinian Annaliſt adds,
ſent, in 866, his own Son to Rome, at that the Emperor Lewis, hearing of the
tended by a great Number of the chief Armour and other rich Offerings made by
Lords of the Kingdom, with many rich the King of the Bulgarians to St. Peter,
Preſents for St. Peter, among which was ſent to the Pope, commanding him, jubemus,
the Armour he wore when he defeated his to tranſmit them to him that the Pope
rebellious Subjects. The Amballadors were thereupon ſent him Part of the ſaid Offer-
ordered to conſult the Pope about ſeveral ings by Arſenius, and begged him to excuſe
Doubts or Queſtions relating to religious his not ſending the reſt (6).
Matters; and it was in Anſwer to theſe
i
(2) Sym. Logoth. ad ann. 4. Mich. (3) Phot. ep. I. (4) Auct. anonym .
vit. SS. Cyril. & Method. Anait, in Nicol. Annal. Bertin. ad ann. 861.
(5) Annal.
Bertin. Fuldenf. Anaſt. in Nicol. (6) Annal. Bertin. ad ann. 866.
5
Chriſtia-
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
343
Chriſtianity, provoked at the King's introducing a new Religion Year of
Chriſt 867
among them, roſe in Rebellion againſt him, with a Deſign to put him
to Death, and place another on the Throne in his room. But the King
having gained a complete Victory over them, and put to Death all
the Grandces, as well as their innocent Children, but pardoned all
the reſt, he wanted to know, whether he had been therein guilty
of any Sin. The Pope anſwered, that he had undoubtedly finncd in Decifions re-
putting thic Children to Death, who had no Share in thc Guilt of lating to le-
verai Points,
their Fathers; and that he ſhould have ſpared all who fell not in Bat-
tlc; but, as he had committed thoſe Murders out of Ignorance, or
Zeal for Religion, he might obtain Pardon by performing Penance.
To murder the Innocent out of Zcal for Religion, was, it ſeems, in
the Opinion of Pope Nicholas, an Alleviation of that Crime; and
we ſhall ſee, in the Courſe of this Hiſtory, the Slaying of Thouſands
and Ten Thouſands, the Extirpating of wholc Nations commended,
nay, and commanded, by his Succeſſors, as highly meritorious. Ni-
cholas himſelf approved and applauded one of the moſt bloody Mar-
ſacres we read of in Hiſtory: For what Encomiums docs he not be-
ſtow in one of his Letters upon the Empreſs Theodora, Mother to
the Emperor Michael! He extols her as one of the moſt pious,
moſt religious, and truly Catholic Princeſſes that crer ſwayed a Scop-
What Theodora had donc to deſerve ſuch high Commenda-
tions, Porphyrogennetus informs us in the following Words: Theo-
dora, ſays he, refolved to bring the Paulicians (a Sect of Heretics)
to the true Faith, or cut them all off Root and Branch. A Reſo-
lution worthy of a truly Catholic Princeſs! Purfitant to that Rejo-
lution, me fent fome Noblemen and Magiſtrates, not Preachers or
Miſlionaries, into the different Provinces of the Empire ; and by
them fome of thoſe unhappy Wretches were crucified, fome put to
the Sword, and ſome thrown into the Sea, and drowned This
were they ſlaughtered to the Number of one hundred thouſand, and
their Goods and Eſtates confiſcated r And to this bloody Matlacre
the Pope alluded in commending Theodora for the manly Vigour je
exerted, the Lord co-operating, Domino cooperante, as he blaſphc-
mouſly adds, againſt obſtinate and incorrigible Heretics. Nicholas
adds in the fame Letter, that the Heretics, experiencing in her all the
Reſolution and Vigour of a Man, could ſcarce believe her to be a
Woman. Indeed Zeal for Religion had changed in her, as it did it
: Porphyr. in vit. Mich.
ter.
s Nicol. ep. 14.
OLE
344
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Chriſt 867
1
His Doctrine
Year of
our Queen Mary, the tender and compaſionate Heart of a Woman
into that of mercileſs and blood-thirſty Tyrant. And here I cannot
help obſerving, that, from the Pope's own Words, it appears, that
the Apoſtolic Sec had its Share in the glorious Exploit ſpoken of
above ; for the Pope, after telling her, that the Heretics dreaded,
and at the ſame time admired, her Reſolucion and Sreadineſs in
maintaining the Purity of the Catholic Faith, adds, and why ſo, bit
becauſe you followed the Documents of the Apoſtólic See?
A Greek, pretending to be a Prieſt, had adminiſtered to many the
concerning
the Admini- Sacrament of Baptiſm; and the Bulgarians, diſcovering the Impof-
Aration of ture, had condemned the Impoſtor to have his Noſe and Ears cut off,
Baptiſm.
to be publicly whipped, and had baniſhed him the Country. This
Piece of Cruelty the Pope did not approve, and therefore told the
Bulgarians, conſulting him about it, that their Zcal was not accord-
ing to Knowlege; that Baniſhment was a ſufficient Puniſhment;
that the Validity of Baptiſm did not depend upon the Virtue of the
Miniſter; and conſequently that they, whom the Greek had baptized,
muſt not be re-baptized, provided he had adminiſtered that Sacra-
inent in the Name of the Trinity (F)..
How Apo-
As ſome of the Bulgarians, after embracing the Chriſtian Reli-
fates to be
dealt with. gion, had relapſed into Idolatry, they wanted to know how ſuch
Apoftatcs ſhould be dealt with. To that Queſtion the Pope anſwered,
that they ſhould firſt be admoniſhed by their Godfathers; that, if
tlicy did not hear then, it ſhould be told to the Church; and, if
(F) Pope Nicholas required no more. Jew to have had the Intention required by
But the Council of Trent makes the Inten- the Council of Trent, that of adminiftering
tion of the Prieſt neceſſary (1) in the Ad a Sacrament.--The Doctrine here defined
miniftration of Sacraments; ſo that, unleſs by Pope Nicholas, viz. that Baptiſm admi-
the Prieſt intends to baptize, the Child is niſtered by a few, and conſequently by a
not baptized, nor is any other facred Of- Pagan or an Infidel, is valid, and ought
fice performed, as I have obſerved elle not to be reiterated, has been, ever ſince
where. And who can anſwer for the In- his Time, the received Doctrine of the
tention of a Man, whoſe Thoughts may Church of Rome (2). But, among the
eaſily wander from the Buſineſs he is en Latins, Ferom looked upon it as a ſtrange
gaged in? The Pope returned the fame Paradox, that a Man ſhould be made a
Anſwer to the Bulgarians, conſul.ing him, Chriſtian by one, who was himſelf no
whether they ſhould be re-baptized whom Chriſtian (3); and ſo did Nicephorus
a few had baptized, viz. that they ſhould among the Greeks, declaring, that no Man
not, if he had baptized in the Name of the
can baptize others, who is not firſt bap-
Trinity; and he could not ſuppoſe the tized himſelf (4).
(1) Concil. Trid. ſell. 7. can. II. (2) Ordo Roman. p. 15. Eugen. decret, ai
Armenos. Concil. I. xiii. p. 535.
(3) Hier. dial. ady. Luciferianos, c. 5.
ceph. hiſt. 1. xi. C. II.
they
(4) Ni.
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
345
ferent Cuſtoms that obtained amonia
Year of
they neglccted to hear the Church, they ſhould be looked upon as
Chriſt 867.
Heathens, and beſides, be puniſhed by the ſecular Power. However,
he was againſt their uſing any Violence or Compulſion with ſuch as
never had cmbraced the Chriſtian Faiths a Principle which, had it
becn adopted by his Succcffors, would have ſaved the Lives, I might
perhaps ſay, of Millions.
As Self-murder was mot, it ſeems, an uncommon Thing amongſt Of Suicides,
&c.
the Bulgarians, the Pope allowed them to inter ſuch as were guilty
of that Crimc, Icft thc uninterred Bodics ſhould produce an Infection;
but forbid any Prayers to be ſaid, or any Oblations to be made for
the Redemption of thcir Souls. It is obſerveablc, that the Council
of Braga ordered thoſc, who ſuffered for their Crimes, to be treated
in the ſame manner, as being acceſory to their own Deaths, and in
that Senſc Suicides. The reſt of the Pope's Letter relates to the Feaſts
and Faſts of the Church, and the Manner of obſerving them; to the
Ceremonies of Marriage; to ſeveral ſuperſtitious Practices and indif-
the Fleſh of Animals killed or hunted by the Pagans, or to make
any Treatics with them, unleſs it be to gain them over to the true
Faith ; to ſwear upon their Swords, or in the Name of any Creature;
to take from the Churches ſuch Criminals as have ficd thither for
Rcfuge; to wcar their Turbans in the Church; to have any Com.
merce with their Wives during Lent, or on Sundays, or while they
ſuckle, &c. The Pope cloſes his Letter with exhorting the Bulga-
rians and their King to have Recourſe, in all their Doubts, to the
Roman Church, the Head of all Churches, that has never deviated
from the true Faith, and is ever ready to inſtruct all who apply to her
for Inſtruction.
In a Letter he wrote to Rodulph Archbiſhop of Bourges, he de. His Letter
clarcs the Chorepiſcopi (G) to have the Power of performing Epif to the Arch-
biſhop of
copal
· Concil. Bracar. I. C. 34.
Bourges como
Chorepiſcopi
(G) As Biſhops were allowed, when to inſpect their Conduct, and acquaint the
diſabled by Age or Infirmities, to ordain City-Biſhop therewith. As they were true
themſelves Coadjutors, ſo were they per. Biſhops, they were veſted with all Epiſco-
mitted, in extenlive and populous Dioceſes, pal Power ; but limited as to the Exerciſe
to ordain Chorepifcopi, that is, as the Greek of that Power. Thus, though they might
Word imporrs, Country-Biſhops, to afliſt confer the inferior Orders without the
them in the Country. The Chorepiſcopi Conſent, or even the Knowlege of the
were, according to the moſt probable Opin City-Biſhop, they were not authorized to
nion, real Biſhops ; and it was their Pro- ordain, without his Leave, either Prieſts
vince to preſide over the Country Clergy, or Deacons. Pope Nicholas, in a Letter
Vol. IV.
Y y
cerning the
346
The Hiſtory of the POPES, ir Nicholas,
Year of 'copal Functions, as they were created in Imitation of the Seventy
Chrift 867: Diſciples, who were veſted with that Power; and conſequently the
Ordination. of Prieſts and Deacons made by them to be valid. He
adds, that they are forbidden by the Canons to perform ſuch Func-
tions; and.commands thoſe Canons to be obſerved in Tinic.to comc.
In the ſame Letter, he will have thoſe who kill their Wives, if they
are not taken in Adultery, to undergo the Penance impoſed by the
Church on Murderers.
Penance in. In a Letter to a Biſhop named Ronolard, he acquaints him with:
joined by Ni- the Penance he had impoſed upon a Father, who, having murdered
cholas on a
his Three Children, came to Rome to be abſolved by his Apoſtleſhip
Father, who
bad murdered from ſo heinous a Crime. The Penance he injoined was, that, for the
Children.
Thrce firſt Years (for his Penance was to laſt Twelve) he ſhould not
be admitted into the Church, but pray at the Door; that, during the
next Four, he ſhould remain amongſt thc Hearers ; ſhould in theſe
Seven Years bc excluded from the Euchariſt, ſhould drink no Wine,
except on Sundays and:Halidays, and abſtain from Fleſh ſo long as
he lived.;, that, in thc Three lait Years of his Penance, he ſhould
drink no Wine Three Days in the Wick, ſhould.go barc-footed, and
never bear Arms; except. againſt the. Pagans. However, the Pope
allowed him to eat Cheeſe, to keep his Eftarc, and to cohabit with
his Wife, left, ſays the Pope, he ſhould fall into the Sin of Adul-
tcry, and thus, while he atones for one Crime, Caleadlong into a
bis Three
1
1
to Harduic Archbiſhop of Beſançon, tells the Second, that no Chorepifcopi ſhould
him, that the Chorepiſcopi are not only be ordained in Time to come : And by
forbidden to ordain Pricits or Deacons, but the Third their Acts were all declared
to conſecrate Churches, and even to admi- null, and they placed among the Preſby-
niſter Confirmation to Children (1). How- ters. Theſe Decrees were confirmed by
ever they were allowed to fit and vote in Pope Leo III. (2); but nevertheleſs that
Councils ; and the Decrees of the Firſt Order was not yet intirely ſuppreſſed in
Council of Nice were figned by no fewer the Time of Pope Nicholas, as appears
than Fifteen of that Order. As the Chor- from the Letter of that Pope now before
epiſcopi were ordained by one Biſhop only, us. To Baronius and Bellarmine I ſhalt
the Biſhop of the City to whiofe Juriſdic- leave the Talk of reconciling the Decrees
rion they belonged, the Validity of their of Ratiſbon, placing the Chorepifcopi :-
Ordination began in After-ages to be queſ- mong the Preſbyters, and declaring all
toned; and, by a Council held at Ratif. their acts to be null, which Dcerces Leo
bon in 803, Three Decrees were iſſued re- confirmed, with the Decretal of Pope Ni.
lasing to them, under the Name of l'illuse cholas, defining the ſame Chorepiſcopi in
Biphops, vilicnos Epifcopose By t'ie Firit be vetted with Epiſcopal Power, and the
it was enocted, that they hould thence- Ordination even of Priests and Deacons by
forth perform no Epiſcopal Functions: By then to be valid.
(1) Dacheri ſpicileg. t. 12.
(2) Lall. t. 7. Concil. p. 1152.
3
grcator.
2
1
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
345
1
Year of
greater t
1
So that the Murder of Threc Children by thicir own Fa-
Chriſt 867
ther was, iti the Opinion of Pope Nicholas, a leſs heinous Crime
than Adultery. Indeed, the Civil Law 'makcs Adultery a capital
Crime as wil as Murder; and as ſuch it was puniſhed under the Pa-
gan Empero is as well as the Chriſtian; nay, Conſtans, the Son of
Conſtantint, appointed the famc Puniſhment to be inflicted upon
Adulterers is upon
upon Parricides; and theſe were either burnt alive, or
drowned i.. a Sack, with a Snakc, an Ape, a Cock, and a Dog,
tied up wita them,
I ſhall add here the Account we read in Anaſtaſius of the Quarrel
between this Pope and John Archbiſhop of Ravenna, as we know
not preciſely in what Ycar it happened: John acting, according to
the Bibliothccarian, more like a lawleſs Tyrant than a Biſhop, had
excommunicated ſeveral Perſons without juſt Cauſc, and ſcized on
their Efates; had poſſeſſed himſelf of Lands belonging to the Roman
See, and annexed them to his own; had arbitrarily, and without
any Regard to the Canons, depoſed, impriſoned, and confined in
Dungeons Presbyters and Deacons, not only of his own Dioceſe, but
of the Province of Æmilia, under the immediate Juriſdiction of the
Apoſtolic Sec; and, what was ſtill worſe, divcrted devout People
from taking Pilgrimages to the Tombs of the holy Apoſtles; nay,
and pretended, that the Pope had no Power to ſummon him to
Rome. This Nicholas could not bear; and therefore, after citing him
Three times to a Council, which he had appointed to nicet at Rome,
he pronounced in that Council, upon his not appearing, the Sentence
of Excommunication againſt him. But the Archbiſhop, not intimi-
dated in the leaſt at that Sentençc, rcfolved to maintain, even at
Rome, the Independency of his Sec; and he ſet out accordingly for
that City, in Company of ſeveral. Perſons of Diſtinction, whom the
Empcror Lewis had appointed to attend him in the Character of his
Envoys, and countenance him on his Arrival there. But the Pope
having gained over the Envoys, and at the ſame time ſent an Order to
the Archbiſhop to appear on the First of November before the Council
that had excommunicated him, and there give an Account of his
Conduct, he left Rome, paying no kind of Regard to that Order, and
returned to his Sce, His Return alarmed the Inhabitants of Ravenna;
and Perſons of the Firſt Diſtinction in that City, as well as in the
Province of Æmilia, flew to Rome, attcoded by Crowds of People,
t Apud Iron, par. 10. C. 33.
Yy 2
4
to
348
The Hiſtory of the POPES, or Nicholas.
Year of to lay their Grievances before the Pope: They even cntrcated him
thrift 867
to viſit that unhappy City and Dioceſe in Perſon, in order to ſatisfy
himſelf that thc Calamitics they complained of were not exaggerated,
and at the ſame time to redeem them, with his preſence, from the
inſufferablc Oppreſlion they groaned under. The Pope, touched
with Compaflion, complied with their Requeſt; and being informed
upon the Spot of the Tyranny and Rapines of the Archbiſhop and
his Brother Gregory, hic rcſtored to every Man his own, and ifucd a
Decrce confirming what he had donc. The Archbiſhop did not
wait the Arrival of the Pope ; but, hearing of his Approach, ficd
in
grcat Haſte to Pavia, to implore thc Protection of the Emperor,
who reſided there; but, to his grcat Mortification, Luithard, Biſhop
of that City, and the Inhabitants, hearing that he was excommunicated,
would not admit him into their Houſes, would not allow any thing
to be ſold to him or his Attendants, nor would they ſo much as
ſpeak to him, or to them; nay, they pointed at them in the public
Strcers, as Men whom they were to avoid on Pain of being excom.
inunicated, and ſhunned by all as well as thcy, The Treatment the
Archbiſhop nict with from the Emperor was not leſs mortifyingi
for Lewis, refuſing to admit him to his Preſence, fent him the
following Meſſage; Let him go and hrimble himſelf before po great for
Pope, to whom we and the wbole Church fubmit ; for he can 10
otherwiſe obtain what be deſires, meaning, I ſuppoſe, his Favour
and Protection. How the Emperor ſubmitted to pogreat a Pope when
he diſapproved of his Conduct, or when the Pope did not comply
with his Demands, we have ſeen above 4. The Archbiſhop, finding
himſelf thus abandoned to the Mercy of the Pope, reſolved in the
end to ſatisfy him, in Compliance with the Deſire of the Emperor ;
and with that Vicw he ſet out for Rome, the Emperor having, at his
carneſt Requeſt, appointed Envoys to attend him thither. Thc En-
voys were kindly reccived by the Pope; but, upon their reco01-
mending the Archbiſhop to him in their Maſter's Name, he told
them, that if his beloved Son the Emperor were well informed of
his whole Conduct, far from recomniending or ſcrecning him, hc
would himſelf have ſent him to the Apoſtolic Sce for Correction,
The Popc paid more Regard to the Tcars and Prayers of tlic Arch-
biſhop than to the Intcrccflion of the Envoys; for John ſubmitted
in the end, finding himſelf forſaken by all, cxprcfed great Contri-
# Sec above, p. 297.
tion
Nicholas. BISHOPS of Rome.
349
!
tion for his paſt Offences; and appearing before a Council aſſembled Year of
Chriſt 867.
by the Pope on that Occaſion, he there wrote the Act of Submiflion,
which the Popes exacted from the Archbiſhops of Ravenna at the
Time of their Ordination, but both he and his Predeceffor Felix had
falſificd, read it in the Hearing of thc wholc Aſembly, and ſwore,
upon the Croſs and the Goſpel, to conform to it in Timc to come.
The next Day John appeared again before the Council, and having
cleared himſelf from the Crime of Hercſy, for that Crime too was
laid to his Charge, the Pope abſolved him from the Excommunica-
tion, gave him Icave to ſay Mals, and the Third Day allowed him
to take his Seat in the Council. But a Petition being preſented to
the Council by the Biſhops of Æmilia, and the Inhabitants of Ra-
venna, complaining of John's Extortions and Tyranny, a Decrec
was drawn up by the Council, in the Pope's Name, to reſtrain him
from thus abuſing his Authority, and addreſſed to him in the fol-
lowing Words : “ We command you, Archbiſhop John, to come
once a Ycar to Rome, if you are not prevented by Sickneſs, or
“ excuſed from it by the Apoſtolic See. You ſhall conſecrate 110
" Biſhops in the Province of Æmilia till they have been elected
by the Duke, the Clergy, and the People, and you have obtained
« leave to conſecrate thein from him who ſhall preſide in the holy
" See; nor ſhall you hinder them from coming, as often as they
« ſhall think fit, to Rome. You ſhall exact nothing from them
contrary to the authorized Cuſtom, to the Canons, or the Privi-
“ leges of Biſhops. You ſhall not appropriate to yourſelf what an-
“ Other Man poſſeſſes, till it has been legally adjudged to you at
" Ravenna, in our Preſence, or in the Preſence of our Deputies and The See of
yours w." And thus was at laſt the Sec of Ravenna intirely ſub-
tirely ſub-
Acted to that of Rome (G).
jected to that
Ofof Rome,
W Anaft. in Nicol.
Ravenna in
(G) Of this Quarrel between John of ſeized on the Patrimonies of the Roman
Ravenna and Pope Nicholas we read a very Church in Romagna and the neighbouring
different Account in an anonymous Author, Provinces, and even went in Perſon'with
who is ſuppofed to have lived in or near the Archbiſhop to Rome, where great Diſ.
thoſe Times; for he tells us, that the Pope, orders were cominitted by his Followers,
jealous of the Archbiſhop's Intimacy with &c. and that the Pope was in the end ob.
the Emperor Lewis, ſummoned him to liged to yield. But as no Notice is taken
Romne, to give an Account of his Conduct, by the other contemporary Writers of any
włich ſome had impeached; that the Pope Diſagreement on this Occaſion between
having excommunicated him upon his not the Pope and the Emperor, nor of the
obeying the Summons, the Emperor, who Emperor's Journey to Rome, &c. nay, as
had espouſed his Cauſe, highly reſented it, the ſuppoſed contemporary Author contra-
diets a
350
The Hiſtory of the POPES, &c. Nicholas.
Of the Diſpute that aroſe in the Tinic of Pope Nicholas about the
Preſence of Chriſt in the Sacrament, and the Manner of his being
preſent there, I ſhall ſpcak, when the Popes begin to take part in
that Controverſy.
dicts, in many Particulars, thc Hiftorians, The Hiſtory of the Popes by Anaftafius
who undoubtedly flouriſhed in thoſc Times, the Bibliothecarian ends at the Death of
we may well conclude the Piece aſcribed to this Pope. The Life of his Succeſſor Ha-
a contemporary Writer to be of a much drian II. was written by Guliiclmus like-
later Date, and in all likclihood ſuppoſiti- wiſe Bibliothecarian, and that too of Stea
tious.
phen V. or, as others will have it, VI.
$
C-
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