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CATHEDRA PETRI.

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GREAT LATIN PATRIARCHATE.

BOOKS III. IV. & V.
FROM THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTH TO THE MIDDLE OF THE
NINTH CENTURY.

THOMAS GREENWOOD,
M.A. CAMB. AND DTJEH., F.E.S.L., BAKBISTBR-AT-LA-VT.

LONDON:
C. J. STEWART, 11 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.
1858.

LONDON :
fHINTED BK LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FHANKLSN,
Gieat New Street and Fe;icr Lane.

PREFACE.

The remarks -which the First and Second Books of this -work
have called forth, — and for which the writer begs to return his
best thanks to his censors, — induce him to explain himself
more clearly upon certain points which seem not to have been
as thoroughly understood as he desired. •
In his Preface to the published volume, the writer disa
vowed all intention to substitute any peculiar opinions of his
own for proved matter of fact. He has, in truth, endeavoured
throughout the work accurately to mark the distinction between
the testimony of the witnesses, and the conclusions or inferences
to which that testimony might conduct him or his readers.
Still it was his manifest duty to ascertain, at all risks, the
quality and value of the testimony produced to establish the
truth of the facts narrated. Having determined this material
point, and indicated the bearing of the truths thus elicited upon
the resulting series, the acceptance or rejection of the conclu
sions arrived at ought, he thought, to be left to the unfettered
judgment of the reader.
And, indeed, it has not been objected to him that he has
withheld any evidence, or that he has distorted or garbled that
which he has adduced to suit any peculiar views of his own.
The charge seems to be, that he has too rashly rejected, or
with less pardonable partiality explained away, certain proofs
which ought to have been implicitly received ; and he is told
that the inferences founded upon these errors must fall to the
ground.

IV PREFACE.
The objections taken by his courteous reviewers turn prin
cipally upon two points: I. The personal presence at some
period of his life of the apostle Peter at Rome, his preaching
in that city, and his martyrdom there in the reign of Nero :
and II. The genuine character of the primitive church-consti
tution. I. As to the first point, it is alleged that the writer has
deliberately rejected or set aside certain direct and positive
testimony to the fact of St. Peter's residence and martyrdom
at Rome. By reference, however, to his work, it will be seen
that every witness was called to the point upon whose means of
information or veracity any reliance could be placed.* It is no
imputation upon the writer, if, upon a minuter inquiry into
the value of their testimony, he should have found himself
constrained to give a preference to those witnesses who lived
nearest to the time ; who had the best means of knowing, and
the strongest inducements to publish and make known to their
hearers a fact of such extraordinary importance to the com
munity of which they were the chiefs and the instructors.
These early eye- and ear-witnesses he finds to have been either
wholly silent upon the subject, or to have abstained from
any direct assertion, as substantive facts -within tJieir own per
sonal kno-wledge, that St. Peter at any period of his life dwelt,
preached, founded a church, or died at Rome. He observes,
indeed, that the writers in question speak of Peter and Paul as
"founders" ofa church at Rome; but it is by no means clear
that they intend to affirm the personal presence of either, or
that they alluded to them in any other character than that of
the founders of a church there, as they were the founders
of a church at Antioch, at Jerusalem, at Corinth, or any other
among the multitude of Christian communities they had col
lected in the great cities of the empire and elsewhere. Two
of these witnesses, remotest in point of time to the fact in ques
tion, allude to an influential presence of St. Peter in Italy but
without specifying time or place, or any of those attendant
" See the rule laid down in p. vii. of the preface to vol. i.

PREFACE. V
circumstances which denote the existence of a positive know
ledge and belief in the mind of the witness himself, and give
us confidence in the accuracy of his deposition — which, in fact,
constitute the distinction between a faithful conviction of the
truth, and vague hearsay credence or mere traditional belief.
Yet this evidence, such as he found it, was neither rejected nor
explained away by the writer. It was allowed, on the contrary,
to have the full weight that properly belonged to it. But vague
and inconclusive testimony like this is peculiarly open to the
influence of adverse facts. Such facts may have the effect of
either overthrowing the conclusion altogether, or of rendering
it imperative upon us to suspend our judgment on the question
at issue. Several facts, in truth, were adduced which seeraed to
have a contrary bearing. It cannot be denied, for instance, that
St. Peter dates his first Epistle from a city, or region, wliich
he denotes by the name of Babylon; and in order to make
this date evidence of the place from which that epistle was really
written, it becomes necessary to determine the questions. Whe
ther the Babylon thus mentioned was the ancient Mesopota-
mian city of that name ; or the Egyptian Babylon of the Delta ;
or, lastly, whether we are to believe that Rome, the mystical
Babylon of a later age, was intended by the writer.
Now, presuming St. Peter to have written his epistle from
Rome, there springs up the question of the time when it was
written. And here step in two negative facts, which necessarily
restrict the epoch and the period of his residence there within a
very narrow span. It may be taken for granted that St. Peter
was not at Rome when St. Paul wrote his second epistle to
Timothy, very shortly before his own death (ann. 65 or 66). It
is impossible to allege any reliable proof that Peter was there
at any given point of time during the ministry of St. Paul in
Rome : he was not there when the latter arrived in the city ; he
was not there within a year of the death of St. Paul. "When
was he there ? It is replied. At some time within the latter
period. So be it; but then, whence did he come? To this
question we must either profess our total ignorance, or reply—

vi PREFACE.
from Babylon. From the Babylon of Mesopotamia, or of the
Memphian nome of Egypt ? If from the former, he must have
travelled a distance of 2000 miles, — in those days a work of
time and fatigue,— in order to dignify the Roman church by his
martyrdom : if from the latter, both time and labour would
have been less, though still considerable, as we may leam from
the length of St. Paul's voyage from Jerusalem to Rome some
five or six years before.
Without denying the possibility of the joumey, the proba
bilities are all against it; and that probability is still further
reduced by a consideration of a different character. It is not
controverted that the peculiar mission of Peter was to the Jews
of the dispersion, as that of Paul was to the Gentiles. It is
therefore more probable that he would dedicate his life and
labours to the conversion of the Jews, and that he would
choose for the scene of his activity precisely the spot where they
were collected in the greatest numbers, than that he should at
the latest period of his life have wandered to Rome, where
the field was already occupied by that fellow-labourer to whom
it had been specially assigned by himself and his apostolic
brethren. But an objection in limine is here taken to the possibility
of Babylon of Mesopotamia ever having been the residence of
St. Peter. It is alleged that at the date of the death of the
apostle, and for many years before, that city had become a desert
— an uninhabited waste tenanted only by wild beasts. But the
writer believes that this allegation is altogether untenable. The
facts stand thus : Strabo (lib. xiv. c. i. § 5) says, indeed, that in
his time " Babylon, the great city, had become a great desert."
Now, it should be borne in mind, that Strabo was bom (ac
cording to the best computation) in the year 54 B.C. ; that his
Geography was probably published about the year a.d. 18 ; and
that he died about a.d. 25, in the reign of Tiberius. If, there
fore, his description of the state of Babylon at that epoch
is to be taken in its literal import, the city must have then
been an uninhabited wilderness. But according to Josephus

PREFACE. vii
(lib. xviii. c. ix. § 38), it was at that very time the abode of
a very numerous colony of Jews. From him we learn that in
the reign of the emperor Caligula, that is, between the years
A.D. 37 and 41, a great body of Jews migrated from Babylon to
the neighbouring Seleucia to escape the persecutions of the
Parthians of that city. He then informs us, that within the
same period 50,000 of that people perished by the hands of
the hostile Seleucians. Without trusting to the accuracy of
the numbers (always a very uncertain reliance), the fact of such
a serious massacre sufficiently proves the great numbers of the
Jews shortly before then settled in Babylon.
If, therefore, the words of Strabo are to be taken literally,
they imply a direct contradiction to the information derived
from Josephus. If, on the other hand, we adopt the account
of Josephus, we must take Strabo's description of the state of
Babylon in his days, i. e. anterior by a space of at least twenty
years to the migration of the Jews to Seleucia, as intended
simply to mark the vast contrast between the extent and popu
lation of the city at this point of time, and the aspect it ex
hibited in the palmy days of its greatness and splendour. And
that this was his real meaning we may gather from the further
details of the actual state of the city. He describes the walls,
hanging gardens, colleges, and other buildings, as still standing ;
and it may be submitted, that while so much accommodation
and shelter, and such effective defences existed, it is extremely
unlikely that there should have been no dwellings and no inha
bitants to take advantage of them.
Reasoning from the analogies presented by similar events
in other parts of the world and in other times, it is not even
probable that the migration to Seleucia left no Jews behind
in Babylon, — that it comprehended the totality of the colony.
Certainly the subsequent massacre of the Seleucian Jews did
not amount to an extirpation ; for we know that they swarmed
in the neighbouring regions down to a much later age. Under
such circumstances, it is very probable that after the frightful
injuries inflicted on them by the Seleucians, many of that people

Vlll PREFACE.
resorted to Babylon to escape the persecutions of tbe latter, as
their predecessors had done to escape those of the Babylonians.
It is moreover notorious that down to the middle of the second
century, if not long afterwards, a vast colony of Jews was settled
in the province of Babylonia ; and that in tbe reign of Hadrian
(a.d. 117 to 138) they signalised their hatred of their Roman
and Parthian masters by frequent and sanguinary insurrections.
The great numbers and the stability of their religious and poli
tical establishment in Babylonia within three centuries after
Christ are attested by the transfer of the great school of rabbin
ical learning to that region, and the subsequent composition of
that marvellous monument of " human industry, human wisdom,
and human folly," as Dean Milman has so aptly described it {His
tory ofthe Jews, vol. iii. p. 171), the Babylonian Talmud. Those
who are at all acquainted with that voluminous and elaborate
production must be convinced, not only that a long period of
learned leisure and tranquillity was necessary for its composi
tion, but likewise that the minds of the compilers could not
have settled down to a work of such magnitude, if the induce
ment of a numerous school of auditors and scholars had been
wanting ; if, indeed, there had not been a numerous people to
be indoctrinated, and if that degree of repose and social dignity
had not existed which, we are authentically informed, the Jews
of Babylonia for ages afterwards enjoyed under the patronage
of the Parthian and Persian sovereigns.
It is always a critical matter to give due weight to the ac
counts of exterminations, massacres, and slaughters we read in
ancient— even in modern— historians. It is very difficult to
believe in the extinction of whole nations, or even of laro-e or
isolated sections of any people, by the hands of their enemies.
The annals of the Jews exhibit accounts of such extermina
tions, which the same records show to have been very incomplete.
The Canaanites, for instance, were never wholly expunged from
the list of the nations, nor even expelled from the very regions
they had occupied previously to the Iraelitish invasion. Na
tions, it is true, often disappear for a time from a particular

PREFACE. IX
spot ; but it is only to re-appear on the same spot not long
afterwards. The total destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was
so far from preventing the return of the Jews to that city, that
we find them in the reign of Trajan, that is, scarcely half a cen
tury after the catastrophe, again assembled there in great num
bers. The slaughter of the Jews of Alexandria, Cyrene, and
other places, about the period of the insurrection of Barcochab
(a.d. 134) under Hadrian, did not prevent the re-assembling and
domiciliation of the race very soon afterwards in the very lo
calities in which those calamities had befallen them. A similar
devoted attachment to the places where they had dwelt for any
length of time, is conspicuous throughout the history of the
Jewish people, from the Babylonish captivity down to the age in
which we live. Thus, when invited by Zerubbabel, and encou
raged by their Persian master, to return to the land of their an
cestors, to resume their national independence, and to assemble
round the temple of their God, the great majority of the people
declined to quit the land of their adoption, and remained to
share the fortunes of the heathen lords of the soil — Medes, Per
sians, Babylonians, Parthians, or Romans. The whole history
of the Jews, from the earliest to the latest period of their exist
ence, shows that though an expansive, they have never been- a
migratory people. Once settled in a particular locality, they
remain there in defiance of civil and religious oppression, —
in defiance of persecution, disabilities, and political outlawry.
Where Jews have once been, Jews will be found. It may be
doubted whether even the ruthless vigilance of the Spanish In
quisition has succeeded in extirpating them from that father
land of ignorance, superstition, and cruelty.
Taking all these considerations together, it becomes in the
highest degree probable that, as long as there remained a Baby
lon for Jews to dwell in, there Jews would be found. The pro
bability therefore that within the first century of the Christian
era that city had not fallen into such a state of hopeless decay
as to preclude a possible residence of the apostle Peter within its
walls, has, it is submitted, been satisfactorily established. Yet

PREFACE.

even if it were not so, it is by no means an irrational supposition
that, when he dated his letter from Babylon, he intended not
so much to designate the city, as the region of which it was still
the reputed capital ; from which, in fact, that region derived its
name. Thus the Jewish " Babylon" might include the colonies
of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, as well as those of Neerda, and per
haps of Nisibis and other settlements. When, therefore, to this
we adduce the preponderant probability that the apostle of the
circumcision would take up his abode where the peculiar ob
jects of his mission were collected in the greatest numbers, — in
the stronghold, that is, of Rabbinism, the nursery of that mass
of spurious learning, vulgar superstition, and inveterate formal
ism he was specially commissioned to encounter and to over
throw, — it must, we think, become clear to candid inquiry, that
the apostle wrote his first epistle general from the Mesopo-
tamian Babylon ; and that if he suffered not in that city or its
vicinity, but travelled to Rome to receive there the crown of
martyrdom, he must have undertaken that long and laborious
journey in the closing days of his life, and as far as he was
concerned, without any adequate motive ; and we must accept
the fact in the absence of any direct or positive contemporary
evidence. It may, however, not be unimportant to the more complete
justification of the writer's -views upon this important point, to
take notice of an allegation frequently — and even triumphantly
— urged by a numerous class of divines of the Churches of
England and Rome. These persons are in the habit of appeal
ing to what they choose to term the notoriety of St. Peter's
preaching and martyrdom at Rome in the earlier ages of the
Christian Church. What though, say they, neither Clemens,
nor Ignatius, nor Irenasus, nor Justin Martyr, nor Tertullian,
directly and in positive terms affirm these facts, it was because
they were matter of such general conviction, that every body
who read their writings must have taken them for granted ; and
that they could have required no statement of particulars regard
ing them. It will be seen at once that this argument involves

PREFACE. XI
a gross fallacy. It is not denied that a tradition existed that
Peter had preached at Rome at some time of his life. But
when we inquire into the origin of the tradition, we find that
nothing like authentic evidence is produceable. Every rational
inquirer must pronounce a tradition to be spurious, when he
finds contemporaries, eye-witnesses, actors in the scene, know
nothing about the facts on which it rests. The maxim, that
de non apparentibus et non existentibus eadem est ratio, is as
sound a principle in history as it is in law. Though, there
fore, the absence of direct testimony may not disprove the fact
alleged, yet it imposes almost insuperable difficulty upon those
who maintain the affirmative. Tertullian and Dionysius of Co
rinth .may have believed the tradition. There is no doubt that
three centuries after the event Eusebius did believe it. But
though we are not called upon to prove a negative, yet if we can
assign a reasonable origin of the tradition, and which may be
consistent with the vague allusions of the writers quoted to
some supposed personal presence of Peter in Rome, it would
unquestionably strengthen our claim upon those who undertake
to prove the affirmative.
Now we know that there existed in the earliest ages of
Christianity a strong mental association of the two constituent
parties in the body-corporate of the Church, — the Jewish and
the Gentile churches formed together the one great dispensa
tion ; so that, in accordance with the symbolising habit of the
age, more especially of the Oriental Christians, when the foun
dation of the churches was treated of, the names of the two
great teachers who, by special appointment, represented these
two sections, were associated both in thought and expression
as the concurrent sources of the true Christian revelation.
But it happened that before the extinction of the apostolic
college, a disagreement had arisen between the Jewish and
the Gentile converts upon points connected with the observ
ance of the ceremonial law. Paul was regarded as the ad
vocate of a more liberal treatment of the Gentile converts ;
Peter, as the patron of a severer adherence to the Mosaic or-

xii PREFACE.
dinances. The church in Rome consisted of a large majority
of Jewish converts,- anxious, doubtless, to sustain the credit
of their appointed leader. And, in fact, we leam that at a
very early point of time certain writings made their appear
ance in Rome, under the name of Peter, encouraging a popular
belief in the personal presence of the apostle at Rome ; and
representing him not only as in direct verbal communication
with their earliest elders or bishops, but as actually dictating
a series of rules and ordinances for their future government as
of divine authority. Although the date of these writings is
unknown, and although tbey were treated by the subsequent
ages as pious fictions, these circumstances form no argument
against their popularity at the time of publication ; nor would
the facts and events recorded in them be less a matter of po
pular belief. We have, indeed, no sure guide to the precise
period at which these writings were published; but the work
called the "Preaching of Peter" {K-^pvyfia UeTpov) is be
lieved to be of a very early date ; probably also the " Revela
tion" and the " Itinerary" of Peter ; and it is equally probable
that the " Recognitions" and " Clementines," as well as the
" Apostolical Constitutions" and " Canons," existed in a much
more primitive and less elaborate form, than that in which they
now lie before us. In all these writings Peter figures either as
the sole speaker and instructor, or as the president and prolocu
tor of the apostolic college ; Clement, one of the earliest presid
ing elders of the Roman church, is the chosen recipient of the
Petrine ordinances ; and the scene throughout is laid in Rome.
Now, there is no valid reason to think that any belief or report
of the presence of Peter in that city at a date antecedent to the
publication of these writings, existed in the Roman congrega
tion • and we are entitled to ask whether, in the absence of any
direct contemporary statement to the fact of such residence,
it is not just as reasonable to suppose that the tradition took
its origin from the writings in question, as that the latter sprang
from a previously accredited tradition ?<=
i- Book I. c. i. pp. 3, 4. ' Conf. Book I. c. ii. pp. 28, 48, 49.

PREFACE. xiii
II. The writer of this work has been censured for enter
taining an opinion respecting the structure and character of
the primitive church-constitution adverse to that of the most
learned divines of the churches of England and of Rome. He
is informed that there is but " one Church of God ;" that the
institution is in itself " divine ;" and that the Christian church
is no other than the Jewish church, with the addition of the
Holy Ghost ; consequently " that there has always been a
priesthood and a sacrifice." He takes, however, the liberty to
observe, that these propositions are either matters of a direct
revelation vouchsafed to the Church at large, or to some par
ticular church ; or that they must be supported upon authentic
historical fact. There is no escape from the alternative. The
writer has not presumed to meddle with these doubtless very
orthodox propositions, any further than as it was necessary to
show the bearing of the evidence upon them. It is not his
fault, if, when that evidence is faithfully produced, it is found
to afford a very qualified or doubtful support to the preten
sions of the Christian Church to a jus divinum in any respect
comparable to that which properly belonged to the Levitical
dispensation. It is obvious to all men that the idea of a special revelation
operating throughout all ages, and gradually unfolding a church-
constitution endowed with all the privileges of the Mosaic ordi
nances, is not a subject of historical proof. There is nothing
either in the instructions left behind them by Christ or his
Apostles, or in the conduct and practice of their immediate fol
lowers, which can attach a jus divinum, to any particular outward
form of church-government, discipline, or ritual. In dealing,
therefore, with the evidence touching the character and func
tions of the primitive Christian ministry, the writer submitted
to his readers that there was no sufficient evidence to prove that
the master-builders of the Church contemplated an outward
structure in any respect resembling, or claiming an authority
analogous to that of the Levitical priesthood ; he saw nothing
to the point of a positive or definite character in the ministry

XIV PREFACE.
established by the Apostles and their iramediate successors ; he
saw no altar, no -victim, no sacrificing priest, no definite orders,
no spiritual aristocracy, no high-priest but the One above and
over all, in short, no single provision for a household of God
having the remotest analogy to the Mosaic platform.
But does this observation in any degree contradict tbe pro
position that a Christian church is a divine institution ? We
think not. The question, as far as its history is concerned, is
whether the Divinity resides in the outward form or the inward
substance — the faith and the hope of the Church — or in both.
It is joyfully conceded that in the latter resides the whole di
vinity ofthe Founder — that is his work: as to the former, he
did no more than send forth ministers to preach bis gospel ;
he established no rank or order among tbem ; he gave them
no special commands as to the ordinary outward means of pro
pagating the faith ; all these things be left to their discretion.
Neither did these, his immediate emissaries, bind down their
followers by any such precise or stringent ordinances as might
interfere with that freedom of action which is essential to sus
tain the zeal and activity, indispensable to so wide, so universal
a mission as theirs. Their commission was out of all analogy to
that of the Mosaic priesthood. The latter might tolerate pro
selytism ; the former commanded, made it the first duty of its
ministers, to convert all nations, to bring all, who were will
ing to come, within the pale of the Church. They appointed
preachers, it is true ; they gave them directions how to conduct
themselves morally and religiously ; they specified the qualifica
tions requisite to the due performance of their duties ; and they
cautioned them against hasty and inconsiderate appointments.
But here the evidence stops short ; and upon this state of the
facts no method of induction can substantiate a jus divinum,
properly so called, on behalf of any outward fonn of church-
government, discipline, or ritual. There is, indeed, one mode
of arriving at such a result ; but with that mode history has
no concern. The Roman and the Greek churches have wiselv
and consistently adopted the alternative alluded to. Both th

PREFACE. XV
bodies claim a continuous revelation; both construe the pro
mised presence of the Lord with his Church to extend to the
external form as fully as to the substance of his religion : and
though bystanders may be struck with the aspect of two con
flicting rights divine, the members themselves are spared the
trouble of choice, and find rest for their souls in flrm reliance
upon the saving formularies which vouch their membership of
the " one Church," out of which there is no salvation.
To avoid misconstruction, the writer here observes, that
there is another and a different jus divinum, which, with its
corresponding obligation, presses heavily on the conscience of
every Christian. The whole Christian association — the uni
versal Church — has a divine right to call upon every one of its
members to give all diligence to search for, and to adopt, the
best outward means of maintaining and propagating the religion
of Christ in the world. In full view of this obligation, he
believes that he is not at liberty to discharge from his consider
ation the example or the precept of the apostles of Christ ; but
that he is free to consider them with reference to the state
of the Christian association at different periods of its exist
ence, and under the variety of circumstances in which it may
from time to time be placed. The earliest form was that of
apostles, presbyters, and deacons ; and immediately succeeding
it came that of bishops, or presiding elders, with presbyters,
deacons, and a variety of other functionaries, springing out of
the spiritual impulses or necessities of the times. These are
weighty facts; and unless there be preponderant reasons for
departing from them, — that is, unless the circumstances of the
times render their adoption impossible, without danger to the
vital interests of religion,— we think they ought not to be de
parted from. There have been such times in ecclesiastical his
tory. The Albigensian churches, a large section of the Lu
theran persuasion, and all the reformed churches of France and
Switzerland, rejected the episcopal form,— some from necessity,
others from deliberate choice ; and to this rejection we think we
have a right to ascribe the feebleness of their resistance to the

XVI PREFACE.
encroachments of the episcopally organised church of Rome.
We think it highly probable that, with that enlightened view
to the requirements of the future, which must be conceded to
men thus divinely commissioned, the Apostles and their disciples
would recommend a general form of outward government appli
cable to all times and circumstances ; and when we reflect that
an analogous structure of secular government has been produc
tive of an amount of power and prosperity hitherto unexampled
in the history of the world, we feel all the more strongly in
clined to do homage to the wisdom and foresight of our inspired
teachers ; and should be disposed to depart from their ordinances
— as far as we can comprehend or apply them — with a far
more sensible reluctance than that we should feel in changing
or abandoning the most salutary political scheme.
As the best means, therefore, of maintaining and propagating
Christianity in the world, we regard the constitution of bishops,
priests, and deacons as obligatory. Fortifled as it is to a cer
tain extent by apostolical example and primitive practice, and
strengthened by the adoption of eighteen centuries, we think it
requires no jus divinum to recommend it to our choice. Yet its
history discloses to us that it cannot be exalted into an article
of belief ; that it was not intended to present a perfected form;
nor — as was the case with the Mosaic priesthood — is there
in that history any thing to identify it with the moral or dog
matic teaching of the Church. Regarding the institution as an
instrument with the highest reverence, we do and say all that
the facts connected with its first institution warrant us in doing
and saying. And if we go an inch further, we are inevitably
involved in the dogma of a perpetual revelation, and driven to
search for the particular body in which that revelation resides,
— a task which lies far out of the beat of the historical student.
But, irrespective of any such inquiry, the duty remains the
same. No further stimulus is requisite to the right-minded
Christian to abide by that scheme of outward discipline which
enjoys such extraordinary recommendations, and has hitherto
been productive of such excellent results.

PREFACE.

XVIl

But the author of these sheets submits the foregoing re
marks purely as impressions derived from the history and expe
rience of the past. They are laid before his readers only with
a view to dissipate misconstructions which may affect him per
sonally ; but not in any degree to control the judgment of the
public, or to engender the idea that he has any particular theory
to maintain, any special object to write for, any desire beyond
a full and fair disclosure of the truth, as far as the materials at
his disposal shall enable him to arrive at it. The work entitles
itself a " political" history ; the writer therefore meddles with
dogmatic theology only where his subject propels, or his cen
sors drive him into it. Thus, when the jus divinum of the An
glican, the Roman, or any other outward church-constitution is
urged upon him as a matter of faith, he can only refer to the
facts, and bid the reader make of them what he can on behalf of
his own theory ; yet without renouncing the legitimate liberty
of the historian to point out the palpable bearing of such facts
upon the several subjects of investigation. Dogmatism has no
legitimate place in history. Every inference arrived at must
be supported upon the authority of ascertained fact, but not
beyond it. The rest is conjecture ; more or less probable ac
cording to the greater or less credibility of the testimony upon
which it is founded. Elaborate argumentation is out of place
in narrative ; and if, after a clear statement and proper arrange
ment of his materials, the historian thinks fit to indicate his
own views, he will be the last to find fault with the reader for
drawing a different conclusion from the same premises. This,
the writer has been informed, has occurred to some of his
readers; and he is glad of it, so far as it shows that he has
afforded them a fair opportunity of testing their own convic
tions, and to that extent of doing justice to the candour of the
statement.

CONTENTS.

BOOK III.
CHAPTEE I.
THE HENOTICON.
PAGE
Confusion of form and substance iu religion — The representative church —
The representative unity — Eome as the representative church — Imper
sonation of Christian unity in the Eoman pontiff — Simplicius pope —
Gaudentius of Aufina — Censures upon John of Eavenna — Eome and
Eavenna — Zeno of SeviUe, legate in Spain — The vicariate — The Oriental
churches — Timotheus -3filurus — Timotheus Solifaciolus — Zeno emperor —
Eestoration of .ffilurus — Acacius patriarch of Constantinople — Eestoration
of Zeno — Correspondence between Eome and Constantinople — Simplicius
and Acacius — Ordinance of Zeno in favour of Constantinople — Protest
of Simplicius — Church prerogative — Disturbances in the East — Soli
faciolus and Johannes Talaia in Alexandria — Talaia attaches himself to
Eome — Peter Mongus sides -with Acacius, and is installed in the see of
Alexandria — Talaia goes to Eome — The ' Henoticon' of Zeno — Equivoca
tions of Mongus — FeHx III. pope — Felix and Acacius — Eemonstrance and
legation of Felix against the Henoticon — Citation of Acacius — Seduction
of the legates of Felix — Condemnation of the legates — Excommunication
and deposition of Acacius by Felix — Ecclesiastical lay; its defects —
Novelty and illegality ofthe papal proceedings against Acacius— Ee-
instatement of Peter the FuUer in the see of Antioch — Name of Felix
struck out of the sacred diptychs — Death of Acacius — Fravitta and Eu-
phemius patriarchs — Euphemius attempts a reconciliation with Rome —
Death of Zeno — Anastasius I. emperor — Gelasius pope .... 1

CHAPTEE II.
PAPAL PREROGATIVE UNDER POPES GELASIUS I. AND
SYMMACHUS.
Anastasius emperor — His disposition to-wards the litigants — Pope Gelasius I.
renounces the communion of Constantinople — Euphemius patriarch — Hia
pacific disposition — Mission of Faustus and Irenseus — Monition of Gela-

XX CONTENTS.

PAGE

slus to the emperor Anastasius— Claims of Gelasius— Papal sophistry^
Constructive subjection— Letter of Gelasius to the emperor Anastasius—
Analysis of the letter — Gelasius and the bishops of Illy ricum— ihe
lUyrians entertain an erroneous notion of the Roman claims— Roman
synod and declaration of the pontifical prerogative— Letter of Gelasius to
the lUyrians— He impeaches Acacius of rebellion, &c.— Analysis ^ the
letter, &c. — Epitome ot the Gelaslan declaration of prerogative, &c.—
Scope of the document— Its results— Death of Gelasius I.— Anastasius
IL pope— His pacific character— Death of Anastasius IL— Symmaehus
and Laurentius — Contested election— Domestic state of the church of
Eome at the close of the fifth century— Government interferences in the
election of popes — under Odovaker — Law of Odovaker against the aliena
tion of church funds — offensive to the clergy — Its effect — Eeligious faction
in Eome — Contest between Symmaehus and Laurentius referred to King
Theodoric — He decides in favour of Symmaehus — Law against canvass
ing, &c.— Impeachment of Pope Symmaehus — How dealt with by Theo
doric — The Synodus palmaris — Symmaehus retracts his submission to the
synod — Plea of Symmaehus — The synod declares its own incompetency
to try the pope — Ennodius on papal impeccability — Synod ofthe year
502 — Eepeal of the laws of Odovaker — Ee-enactment of the law against
bribery — Synodal encroachments upon the civU legislature — Remon
strance of the GaUic prelates — Synod of the year 503 — Adoption of the
Ennodian doctrine of papal impeccability, &c. — Declaration of episcopal
privilege — Summary of ecclesiastical privilege, &c. — Rights of civil state
declared — Anomalous relation of the Church to the State in the age of
Theodoric the Great  41

CHAPTEE III.
THE PAPAL PREROGATIVE UNDER HORMISDA.
State of the Oriental churches— Religious parties— Rupture of Anastasius L
and Pope Symmaehus— Revival of Eutychianism— The patriarch Mace
donius deposed— Timotheus patriarch— Address of the Orientals to Pope
Symmaehus— He repudiates all compromise— Hormisda pope— Triumph
of Eutychianism in the East -Rome and the lUyrian bishops— Insur
rection of Vitalianus— A general council proposed— Papal legation to
Constantinople -Resistance of Anastasius and the church of Constan
tinople—Connection of the pope with the Vitalian insurgents— The em
peror proposes the convocation of a general council— Reply of Hormisda
—Defection ofthe Illyrian bishops — " Libellus" of Hormisda — Excom
munication of Dorotheas of Thessalonica— Papal legation— Instructions
to the legates— Arrest and deportation of the legates— Orthodo k
in the East go over to Rome— Rescript of Hormisda— His nr' ^' "l""" f
church-government -Policy of Hormisda— Death of Anasta<i-°°'T ^^ j
revival of orthodoxy in the East— The emperor Justin I ma, , '
to Rome-Haughty reply of Hormisda- Libellus and 'le^J^Z, JZ"^^
misda to Constantinople— Submission ofthe Greeks— Ostt^b/ i? '
of the submission— Its »-eaZ character— Eeligious advantage ^/^'''""¦^¦''ter

CONTENTS. xxi
CHAPTEE IV.
JUSTINIANIAN PERIOD (L). PAGE
Subserviency of Constantinople — Appeal of the Syrian fanatics — Count
Justinian and Pope Hormisda — Death of Hormisda — John I. — Theodoric
the Great protects the Arians of the East — His tyranny— Felix III. pope
— Death of Theodoric— Imperial policy — Amalasuintha and Athalaric —
Ee- annexation of Eome to the empire — State of the Eoman church —
Boniface II. pope — Decree of the Roman senate against bribery — John II.
pope — Reiterated decree against bribery — Secular interposition against
bribery, &c. — Church-policy ofthe emperor Justinian — Scope and objects
of his ecclesiastical laws— ^Their secular and political character — Limits
of the secular and ecclesiastical powers in respect of church-legislation —
Relations of Justinian to the Roman pontiffs — Title of " universal patri
arch" — Intent of Justinian — How accepted by Pope John II. — Rome and
the Gallic churches — Rome and the revived churches of Africa — Their
address to Pope Agapetus — Rome and the canons of the Church-catholic
— Agapetus pope — His embassy to Constantinople — Intrigues of the em
press Theodora — Anthimus patriarch — His deposition — Mennas patriarch
— Imperial principle of church-legislation — Course of proceeding.^Syl-
verius pope — Intrigue of Theodora and Vigilius — of Belisarius and
Antonia — Deportation of Sylverius — ^ Election of Vigilius — Murder of
Sylverius — Canonical defects in the title of Vigilius . . . .120
CHAPTEE V.
JUSTINIANIAN PERIOD (II.).
Italian conquests of Justinian — Vigilius at Constantinople — Condemnation
of the Origenists, and controversy of the " three chapters" — Justinian
condemns the " three chapters" — DUemma of VigiUus; his "judicatum"
— He proposes a general councU — The council; its imperfect constitution,
and breac-h of faith by the Greeks — Opening ofthe council in the ab
sence of the pope — His excuses disaUowed — Condemnation of the " three
chapters" — The "constitutum" of Vigilius — His name struck out of the
diptychs, and publication of the condemnation, &c. — Submission of Vi
giUus; his retractation — Contemporary opinion as to the necessity of
papal participation in a general council — Eeasons for desiring the concur
rence of the pope— Release of Vigilius; his death, and election of Pelagius
I.  Agitation in the Western churches — Decline of the papal authority
 Spiritual power, how affected by the late proceedings against the Chal-
cedonian decrees— Pelagius claims the support of the military power—
Pelagius on the duty of religious persecution— Narses declines to interfere
— Pope Pelagius and the Italian seceders — Objections of the Western
churches— Historical inferences, &c.— State and prospects of the papacy
—More favourable aspects — John HI. pope — Imperial oppression in
Italy— Heresy and death of Justinian I.— Conquest of Italy by the Lon-
gobardi  ....

xxu CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CONTROVERSY OF "THE TITLE." PAGE
Roman clergy resume their independence — The Lombards in Italy — Defence
less state of Rome — ^Byzantines and Franks — Disaffection of the Italians
— Gregory at Constantinople — John the Faster — Title of "oecumenical
patriarch" — Rebuked by Pelagius II. — The Eoman bishop the universal
primate — Pelagius on the primacy — His inconsistency — Apology for Con
stantinople — Eetrospect of the churches of Spain, France, Germany, and
Britain — Gregory I. (the Great) pope — His position — His foreign and
domestic policy — Clerical celibacy — Gregory on the celibacy ofthe clergy
— ^His secular administration — The Lombards under AgUulph — ^AgUulph
and Theudelinda — Their alliance with Eome; its justification and results
— Controversy ofthe "three chapters" in Italy — Establishment of the see
of Justiniania Prima — Gregory in the cause of Hadrian of Thebes — In
the cause of Honoratus of Salona — Equivocal termination of the dispute
— John the Faster assumes the title of "oecumenical bishop" — Eemon
strance of Pope Gregory — Protest and appeal of Gregory against Cyriacus
of Constantinople — His reply to the emperor Maurice — Gregory on the
three Petrine sees — His sentiments on the Petrine primacy — His personal
humility — Assumes the titular designation of " servus servorum Dei" —
He repudiates the title of " universal pope" — His precautions against the
ambition of Cyriacus — Latent equivocations of Gregory on the Petrine
primacy — Schism — He renounces communion -with Cyriacus . . 173
CHAPTER VII.
GREGORY THB GREAT.
Gregory and the Latin churches— Projects the Conversion of the Anglo-
Saxons — Mission of Augustine — His success — Method of conversion 
Regulation of Gregory for the Anglo-Saxon churches— British and Irish
churches— Conference of Augustine with the British bishops— Its results
—Instructions of Pope Gregory to Augustine— His toleration of pagan
rites— Patronage of images, &c.— Ecclesiastical vestures— The Dalmatic
and PaUium— Ecclesiastical government of Pope Gregory— Corruptions
of the Frankish churches— Image and Relic worship in France— Serenus
of MarseiUes against Image-worship-Pope Gregory on Image-worship
—Prevalence of Image-worship— The conventual system of Pope Gregory
-Exemptions from episcopal jurisdiction-Tendency of these exemptions
--Influence of Pope Gregory in France-Intercourse with the Spanish
churches-Cause of Januarius and Stephen, &c.-Canon-law in the cause
—Defects of papal proceeding-Prerogative versus civU and canon law-
Pope Gregory and the African churches-Moderation of Pope Greeorv
—Edict ofthe Emperor Maurice— Remonstrance of Pope Gregory— Ordi
nance respecting the admission of Soldiers into Monasteries— Murder of
Maurice-Phocas emperor-Pope Gregory congratulates the usurper—
His peculiar views and his death — Character of Gregory the Great—
His relation with the court of Constantinople— Judgment upon his con
duct in the affair of Phocas — Sabinian pope — Decree of Phocas  Tt'
authenticity, &c. — Construction ofthe decree — Results — Popes from
A.P. 608 to A.D. 625— Honorius I. pope ....

CONTENTS. xxiii

BOOK IV-
CHAPTER I.
THE TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY.
A 1. J. 1- PAOE
Approaches ot the papacy towards temporal sovereignty — Eelative position
of the nations of Christendom to each other and to Eome — Objects of
papal ambition — Subjects of inquiry — Position of the papacy in relation
to Greeks and Lombards— Reign of Agilulph — Of Adalwald— Arioald—
Rothari— Aripert— Bertarid and Godibert — Succession of popes — Mar
tin I. and Constans IL — Deportation and death of Pope Martin I. —
Constans II. in Rome — His death — Reign of Grimoald — Bertarid re
stored — Kunibert — Extinction of Arianism in the duchies of Beneven-
tum and Spoletum — Monte Casino — The "patrimony" of St. Peter — Its
exposed position — Ansprand and Luitprand — The Lombard government
— Papal succession — Papal policy — Invasions of the "patrimony" by
Lombards — Eome and the Byzantine connection — Leo the Isaurian pro
hibits image- worship — Progress of saint and relic worship — Eebellion
against iconoclasm — Gregory II. saves the exarchate — Defeats the re
forms of Leo the Isaurian — Successes of Luitprand — Gregory III. —
Luitprand before Rome — He dismembers the "patrimony" — Zachary
pope, procures restitution — He protects the exarchate — Ascendency of
Luitprand— His death and character — Hildebrand — Rachis — Ascendency
of Pope Zachary, and abdication of Rachis — Aistulph and Zachary —
Gradual secularisation of the papacy, a consequence of its territorial
wealth and ambiguous position — General plan of papal acquisitiveness
— Prospective connection with France  243
CHAPTER II.
SPAIN AND PRANCE IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY.
I. The churches ^of Spain in the seventh century — Constitutional powers
of the Spanish clergy — Papal confirmations unknown to Spanish clergy
— Communications with Rome — Independent action of the Spanish
churches — Their replies to the papal censures — Roman influence in
Spain at the epoch of the Arab conquest. II. Latin Christianity among
the Franks — Conversion of the Franks — its character — Modes of conver
sion — State of the Frankish clergy — Christianity among the Franks —
Priestcraft — Moral state— Civil and political state — Clerical judicatures,
prerogatives, and immunities — Powers and secular habits of Frankish
bishops — The mayor of the palace, his powers, &c.— Leudes — Antrustions
— Bishops a constituent estate of the kingdom— Advancing privileges of
the clergy— Declining influence of Rome in the Frankish churches —
Elements of reformation— Principle of "church unity"— Rome the "mo
ther," &o. — Vantage-ground of Rome ... ... 273

XXIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE III.
BRITISH CHURCHES IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. (L) PAGE
The British churches — Scottish and Irish ohurches — Patrick — Columba —
Origin of these churches — Differ from the Latins — Differences — Lauren
tius of Canterbury — His complaint — King Eadbert apostatises — The sons
of Sabert — Retreat ofthe Roman mission — Artifice of Laurentius — RecaU
of the mission — MeUtus and Justus — King Edwin of Northumbria — mar
ries Ethelburga — Paulinus of York — Conversion of Edwin — Vision of
Edwin — its result — Character of Edwin's conversion — The priesthood of
the Anglo-Saxons — FacUities of conversion — Mode of conversion — Re
nunciation of idol-worship — Destruction of idol-temples — ^Baptism of Ed
win — Pope Honorius I. rewards Paulinus — Rome and the British and
Scotch churches — Death of Edwin, and extinction of the Roman mission
in Northumbria — Expulsion of Paulinus — Osric — Eanfrid — Oswald re
covers the kingdom — sends for missionaries from Scotland — Aidan at Lin-
disfarn — Scottish form of episcopal ordination — Apology ofthe Venerable
Bede — Labours of Aidan — Middle Anglia and Mercia added to the North
umbrian church — Finnan of Lindisfarn — King Oswy extends the Scottish
establishment — Independence of the Northumbrian church — Simplicity
of the Scottish divines — incompetent disputants — Revival of the Paschal
controversy — Ronan — Wilfred— Agilbert — Conference of Whitby — Pub
lic discussion — Argument of Bishop Colman — Reply of WUfred — Incon
sistency of the Paschal theory of the Scots— Rejoinder of Colman —
Answer of Wilfred^aUeges the Petrine power — Victory of the Latins —
Examination of their argument — Intent of the Latins — Eetreat of the
Scottish hierarchy  289

CHAPTEE IV.
BRITISH CHURCHES IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. (II.)
Submission of the prince and people— New bishops in Northumbria— WU-
fred— Chad- Conformity of the Anglo-Saxon churches to the Latin rite-
Embassy of kings Egbert and Oswy to Pope VitaUan— Reply of the pope
—Appointment of Theodore as archbishop of Canterbury  Decree of
appointment — ^Removal of Chad, and reinstatement of Wilfred in the see
of York— Introduction of the Roman canon-law— Benedict Biscop and the
Latin ritual— Services, ornaments, church-furniture— Biscop the Ritualist
—Character of image and reUc worship— Advantage of Rome— Wilfred of
York— Elfrida^Edilburga— WUfred expeUed— His appeal to the pope-
Papal adjudication-rejected in Northumbria— Imprisonment and libera
tion of Wilfred— His restoration— His second expulsion— CouncU of Nes-
terfield— Recusancy of Wilfred— Adjudication— Berthuald archbishop of
Canterbury in the appeal of Wilfred— Judgment of Pope John VI.— Final
success and restoration of WUfred— His death, and distribution of his
treasures  „„,
. 324

CONTENTS. XXV

CHAPTEE V.
PAPAL SUPREMACY IN FRANCE AND GERMANY IN THE
SEVENTH CENTURY.
TJ If I. PAGE
Ideas of the temporal and spiritual powers in the seventh and eighth cen
turies — Divergences — The papal theory — Anglo-Saxon missions— Ecg-
bert — Wicbert — WiUibrord — Frisian and Saxon churches founded — Mis
sions of Ecgbert to central Germany— KiUian— Colman— Totman — Duke
Hedan — Compromise with heathenism — Emmeramm in Bavaria — Eupert
archbishop of Salzburg — Corbinian in Bavaria — Ascendency of Eome —
Great extension of Latin Christianity in the seventh century — Causes —
Winfred of Winchester (Boniface) — His devotion for Rome — Winfred
among the Hessians — His method of conversion — His reforms — His Anglo-
Saxon coadjutors — His missionary colonies — Mode of instruction — Win
fred, by the name of Boniface, archbishop and legate— His ecclesiastical
divisions — Papal confirmation — Charles Martel obstructs the papal po
licy — Carlmann invites Boniface to France — Report of Boniface on the
Frankish churches — Synods of Salzburg and Leptines — Reforms — Adop
tion of Roman canon-law — Adalbert and Clemens in schism — Charges
against them — Merits of the charges— Difficulties of Boniface in France
— His report to Cuthbert of Canterbury — ^Difficulties and impediments —
Boniface archbishop of Maintz and primate of aU Germany — RebeUion of
Adalbert and Clemens — Heathenism and married priests — Obstacles to
the scheme of Boniface — The remedy — Synod of VerneuU — Condemna
tion and banishment of Adalbert and Clemens — Synopsis . . . 345

CHAPTER VI.
APPROACHES OP THE PAPACY TO TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY. (I.)
Connection of ecclesiastical and political history — Merovingian race in France
supplanted by the f amUy of Pippin of Landen — The mayor of the palace —
Pippin the Short — Pippin, Boniface, and Pope Zachary — Pippin takes the
title of king — Proximate causes and character of the revolution — Papal
participation — Opinions thereon — Tlie precedent — Pope Stephen III. and
Aistulph king ofthe Lombards— Papal poUcy— Joumey of Pope Stephen
to Pavia— His flight into France— His reception there— Moral and poli
tical effect of this reception— Negotiations, and treaty of Pontyon— Diet
of Quiercy-sur-Oise— Coronation of Pippin and his sons— Papal views of
the transaction— Pippin invades Lombardy— Subraission of Aistulph and
treaty of Pavia— Relations ofthe papacy to the Byzantine empire— Re
treat ofPippin-Pope Stephen claims the fulfilment of the treaty of Pavia
—Donation of Pippin; its character, scope, and intent— Aistulph again at
tacks the "patrimony of St. Peter"-Siege of Rome-Pippin raises the
siege-Second treaty of Pavia-Confirmation and final execution of the
donation-Be^th of Aistulph, and elevation of Desiderius-Extortions of
Pope Stephen-Treaohery of Stephen-Paul L pope-His complaint to
Pippin— Charges against Desiderius— Results  372

XXVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.
APPROACHES OP THE PAPACY TO TEMPORAL
SOVEREIGNTY. (II.) PAGE
,Progress of Rome in the eighth century — State of law and legislation— Ac
cession of Charlemagne — Project of Queen Bertrada — Disorders in Rome
— Constantine and Philip, popes— Stephen IV. pope — Ferocity of faction
— Stephen IV. against Desiderius and the Lombards — Remonstrance of
the pope against the project of Bertrada — Menaces of the pope — Divorce
of Charlemagne and Irmengarda — ^Pope Stephen's decree to regulate the
papal elections — Disorders in Rome — The Lombard faction — Paul Afiarta
— Humiliation and death of Stephen IV. — Hadrian I. pope — Suppression
of sedition — Desiderius invades the "patrimony" — Flight of Gerberga,
widow of Carlmann — Desiderius and Gerberga — He espouses her cause
— His advance to Eome — Sudden retreat — Charlemagne invades Lom
bardy — Winter campaign in Italy — Foreign poUcy of the papacy — Ap
proaches of the papacy to political sovereignty — Siege of Pavia — First
expedition of Charlemagne to Eome — Charlemagne at Eome — ratifies the
treaties of Pontyon andQuiercy— The donation of Charlemagne — obtained
by misrepresentation or fraud — Execution of the deed of donation — Char
lemagne "patrician" — Surrender and deposition of Desiderius — Charle
magne king of Italy — Gains ofthe papacy — Position ofthe papacy in
respect of the lands granted — ^Actual result  395

BOOK V.
CHAPTER L
THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY.
General retrospect— Eome in the controversies of the sixth and seventh cen
turies — Monothelite and Iconoclastic controversies — The MonotheUte
controversy ; its origin and character — Unguarded conduct of Pope Ho
norius I. — The Ecthesis of Heraclius — Character of the Ecthesis  Pope
John IV. — His apology for Honorius — He condemns the Monothelite
heresy — Conversion of Pyrrhus — Address of the Africans — The Type 
The Latins reject the Type — Martin I. pope — Council ofthe Lateran
against the Type — Condemnation of the Ecthesis and Type, &c.  Excess
of jurisdiction — Canon-law of Eome — Arrogance of Pope Martini. — Pope
Martin endeavours to recover his influence over the lUyrians — Arrest
imprisonment, and death of Pope Martin I. — Uncanonical election of Eu
genius I. — VitaUan pope — He makes approaches to Constantinople 
Case of John of Lappsa — Constans II. enforces the Type — Expedition

CONTENTS. XXVII PAGE
and death of Constans II. — Relations between Rome and Constantinople
between the years 668 and 679 — Roman synod ofthe year 679 — Synodal
acts and report— Character ofthe synod — Assembling of the (so-caUed)
Sixth General Council — Constituency of the council — Proceedings, and
their result — Condemnation of the Monothelite beresiarchs — Sentence
upon Pope Honorius I. — Concluding acts of the council — Edict of con
firmation — Pope Leo II. accepts the decrees, and adopts the anathemas . 419

CHAPTEE II.
THE RAVENNATINE CONTROVERSY— THE QUINISEXT.
Political and religious position of the holy see — Participation of Rome
in the sixth general council — Comparative state of the Eastem and
Western churches — Death of C. Pogonatus — His successors — Leontius —
Tiberius III. — Bardanes — Religious revolutions in the East— Claims of
Ravenna — History of the Eavennatine patriarchate — The Autocephaly —
Conflict between Eome and Eavenna — Privileges of Eavenna cancelled
by C. Pogonatus — Benedict II. pope — Election of Sergius I. — Substitution
of saint and relic worship for idolatrous superstitions, &c. — Success of
Pope Sergius I. — Origin and convocation of the " Quinisext" council —
Objections to the constitution of the Quinisext councU— Canons of the
Quinisext — Pope Sergius I. rejects the council — Abortive attempts to
compel acceptance of the Quinisext decrees — Complaisance of Justinian
II. towards the holy see — Mysterious journey of Pope Constantine to
Constantinople — Conjectural explanation .... , . . 443

CHAPTER III.
THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY. (I.)
Elevation of Leo III. the Isaurian— Origin of the iconoclastic controversy-
Primitive opinions as to image-worship— Sudden rise of image- worship-
Causes of the rise of image-worship-First breathings of the controversy
—Arguments-Controversy stimulated by the Arab conquests -Aver
sion of Arabs and Jews to the use of images - Earlier steps of Leo the
Isaurian against images-Germanus on image-worship-Pope G>-egory H-
onimage-worship-Eeply ofthe iconoclasts-Inveterate character of the
controversy-Leo's second edict against images - Insurrection -Papal
denlcTat ons of iconoclasm-Gregory IH.-His insolent address to the
™or--His fabulous portraits, images, &c.-Ignorant -vituperations of
GXryin-l-Gregory defies the emperor-Impotency of the empire in
ftalv-CouncU at Eome against the image-breakers-Leo confiscates the
Italy — ijouucii 0,1, j-w * , , „,„ rr.1,. _„„„ retains his nominal
patrimonies of the Roman ''^^if^'^fl-^^^JZ the death of Gre-
allegiance to the empire — State ot the papacy « ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^
gory III 

XXVIII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.
THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY. (II.) PAGE
Constantine V. (Copronymus) emperor — ReUgious trace with Eome — Ge
neral synod of the Greek church on image-worship— Character of the
factions— Their mutual hatred— Stephen of St. Auxentius— His interview
with Constantine V.— Murder of Stephen of St. Auxentius — Constan
tino's embassy to Pippin of France— Leo IV. and Irene— Constantine
VI. and Irene — Negotiation with Eome — Convocation of the (so-caUed)
seventh general councU (Nicaea H.) — Deliberations and resolutions of the
council — Restoration of image-worship — Pope Hadrian I. accepts and
ratifies the decrees of Nicasa — Protest of the Gallic churches — The
" Libri Carolini"— Apology of Pope Hadrian L — Great synod of Frank
fort — Condemnation of image-worship — Concurrent relations of the pope
to the Frankish and Byzantine courts — Byzantine arrogance — ^Papal cupi
dity — Mutual disgust — Papal principle of secular acquisition — Negotia
tions between Charlemagne and the Byzantines — Emperor Nicephorus
averse to image-worship — His toleration — Insurrection — Revolutions at
Constantinople for and against image-worship — Michael I. — Leo V. —
Theodore the Studite — His adulation of Pope Paschal I. — Value of these
encomiums — Reception of the Studite memorial at Rome — Michael II., the
Stammerer, convokes a. general council — Opposition ofthe Studites —
Grounds of opposition — Reply of Michael II. to the Studites — Insolence
of the Studite party — Value ofthe Studite testimony to the supremacy
of Rome — Embassy of Michael to Louis the Pious — Moderation of
Michael U  482

CHAPTER V.
ISSUE OP TflE CONTROVERSY ON IMAGE- WORSHIP.
Ecclesiastical relations with Eome during the reign of Charlemagne — Louis
I. the Pious — GaUic view ofthe question of image-worship — Commission
of inquiry and report — Substance of the report — Censure passed upon
Hadrian I. and Gregory H.— Proposals of the commissioners to the em
peror Louis— Gallic estimate of papal authority — General exposition of
the report, &c. — Letter of Louis the Pious to Pope Eugenius — Inconse
quential issue of the emperor's proposal — Claudius Clemens, bishop of
Turin — The reforms of Claude fall to the ground — Subsidence of the
iconoclastic distm'bances — TheophUus ^emperor — John Leconomontis 
Eestoration of images in the East by the emperor Michael III.  Epoch
of 844  508

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX  523

CATHEDRA PETRI

POLITICAL HISTORY

GREAT LATIN PATEIAROHATE.

Book III. Chapter I.
THE HENOTICON.
Confusion of form and substance in religion — ^The representative churoh — The
representative unity — Rome as the representative church — Impersonation
of Christian unity in the Roman pontiff — Simplicius pope — Gaudentius of
Aufina — Censures upon John of Ravenna — Rome and Ravenna — Zeno of
Seville, legate in Spain — The vicariate — The Oriental churches — -Timo
theus iElurus — Timotheus Solifaciolus — Zeno emperor — Restoration of
jElurus — Acacius patriarch of Constantinople — Restoration of Zeno — Cor
respondence between Eome and Constantinople — Simplicius and Acacius —
Ordinance of Zeno in favour of Constantinople — Protest of Simplicius —
Church prerogative — Disturbances in the East — Solifaciolus and Johannes
Talaia iu Alexandria — Talaia attaches himself to Eome — Peter Mongus sides
with Acacius, and is installed in the see of Alexandria — Talaia goes to Eome
— The ' Henoticon' of Zeno — Equivocations of Mongus — Felix III. pope — Felix
and Acacius — Eemonstrance and legation of Felix against the Henoticon —
Citation of Acacius — Seduction of the legates of Felix — Condemnation of the
legates — Excommunication and deposition of Acacius by Felix — Ecclesiastical
law ; its defects — Novelty and illegality of the papal proceedings against
Acacius — Eeinstatement of Peter the Fuller in the see of Antioch — Name of
Felix struck out of the sacred diptychs — Death of Acacius— Fravitta and
Euphemius patriarchs — Euphemius attempts a reconciliation with Rome —
Death of Zeno — Anastasius I. emperor — Gelasius pope.
The special end or purpose of institutions^ political or
religious^ is very commonly confounded with the Confusion
means adopted for their estabhshment and main- °^/;^™„^1^
tenance. In this way principle and practice are religion.
VOL. II. B

2 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book III.
no longer distinguished in our minds ; the means are mis
taken for the end ; and we lose sight of the latter in our
over-estimate ofthe former. Thus likewise form and sub
stance are made to flow into, and mutually obscure one
another^ until the very faculty of distinguishing between
them is lost, and men feed upon the husk in preference
to the nourishing fruit it was intended to protect and
mature. But principles are not properly the subject of
change, while the machinery for their practical applica
tion is capable of infinite variety and perpetual improve
ment. The error of confounding them with each other
has led to much mischief in the management of human
affairs, religious and political. The managers of all ex
clusive systems in either department have always con
ceived their interests to lie in promoting this miscon
ception ; and have never felt themselves safe ag'ainst
external interference or pressure until they had extin
guished in the minds of the subjects of government the
capacity to discern the difference between the form and
the substance — between the end and the means — between
the principle and the practice. Thus it has been the
almost universal habit of the managers of political in
stitutions to lift the forms of government into at least
equal importance with the welfare of the state and people,
the extension of industry, knowledg'e, and general civili
sation. So likewise in the case of religious establish
ments, the priesthood have invariably striven to invest
the outward forms — church government, discipline, and
ritual — with the same authority as that upon which the
religion itself was established. But Christianity — unlike
many ethnic systems — deals with principles onl3^ The
Pounder of our religion contented himself with iiiculcat-
¦ ing the duty of carrying those principles into practical
operation throughout the world; leaving the methods
to be pursued — the entire machinery of his Church — to
the piety, zeal, and discretion of his disciples. Yet it is
an established truth, that the powers assumed by the
Christian hierarchy at the close ofthe fifth centuiy^ and
more especially those which Rome had at that period ap
propriated to herself, were not only founded upon assump-

Chap. L] ROME THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH. 3
tions of fact unknown to the primitive churches as they
came from the hands of the evangelists and apostles, but
that those powers were now placed on the same basis, and
invested with the same authority, as the revelation itself
And, indeed, in any other view the manifest inconsistency
between the facts and the theory of ecclesiastical powers
must have operated to the overthrow ofthe whole scheme
of church-government. There was no remedy for the
weakness of this position but in the establish- r^^g ^^ ^^_
ment of a representative church, endowed with semative
all the powers of the Saviour himself, more ''^"™'''
particularly the right to legislate for the Church in his
place and on his behalf. These powers might, it was
believed, be deduced from his promise that " he would
be present with his disciples even unto the end of the
world."'' Here was a principle and a power of develop
ment ostensibly derivable from the same authority as
that by which the religion itself was established. Thoug'h
the command and the promise related solely to the prin
ciples and the practice he had while on earth personally
enjoined upon all his followers, yet the Christian priest
hood had appropriated both the command and the pro
mise to themselves exclusively, and interpreted them to
justify any superstructure which they, in their representa
tive capacity, might think fit to erect upon them. Neither
Christ nor his apostles had left any express provision for
a definite framework of church government, discipline, or
ritual. But it was soon perceived that the Mosaic forms
presented both a convenient model and an authoritative
precedent for the new edifice ; hence the zeal and alacrity
with which that model was resorted to, and the close
analogy of the forms and powers adopted with those of
the Levitical priesthood.''
But an ohgarchical hierarchy like that of the Chris
tian churches ofthe fifth century, was altogether ^^^ ^^ ^^_
wanting in that unity which was of the very sentative
essence ofthe Mosaic scheme. There is reason ";;;*y;^^^°^"
to believe that this defect was generally felt and sentative
acknowledged. Rome boldly took the remedy '=i>'^oh.
» Matt, xxviii. 18-20. ^ Book L c. vi. passim.

4 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book HL
into her own hands, and proposed herself to the Christian
world as the representative of that visible unity which
was wanted to complete the ecclesiastical edifice. In this
enterprise she started from a far more advantageous
position than had fallen to the lot of any other Christian
community. The greatness ofthe city as the capital of
the empire ; her central position and preponderating in
fluence ; her close alliance and communion with the civil
government ; her independent organisation ; and her re
putation as the see of Peter, — placed her in advance of
all competition. In her origin she was, in the opinion
of all Christendom, pre-eminently apostolical : the m^^th
of the cathedra Petri was established as an article of
undisputed tradition ; and the world, confounded by the
indefinite latitude of the powers incident to this attribu
tion, was not prepared to investigate with any degree
of discernment, or to resist with any confidence, the ex
tensions which the Roman pontiffs mig'ht from time to
time think fit to impart to it. But in the theory of the
chair of Peter there lurked a principle of development at
open warfare with that of oligarchical government in the
Church. According to the prevaihng theory, each par
ticular hierarch was both priest and king within his own
impersona- dioccse or parish.*" But as in the great celes-
tion of Chris- tial hierarchy, and in its representative imaffe
tian unity in .,-..¦.' -^ , . . r &
the Roman the Lcvitical dispensation, there was but one
pontiff, monarch, one high-priest, so the whole analogy
of the scheme founded upon it required that there should
be one supreme representative priest and king upon
earth. Thus the ground was at once struck from beneath
the feet of the government of many. In that scheme
there could be no real and visible representation of the
celestial high-priesthood of Christ. He was onej they
were several : as represented by one, he inight be visibly
present with his Cliurch in his oneness ; if his powers
were divided with others, the question must always arise,
" Where is the Christ ?" and the Church might thus find
itself destitute of a distinguishable visible head either in
heaven or on earth. A representative headship of any
' Conf. vol. i. c. vi. pp. 146-148.

Chap. I.] SIMPLICIUS POPE. 5
kind, therefore, necessarily implied a unit-y of personal
representation. The perception of this difficulty, it is ob
vious, had weighed heavily upon the spirit of the Church
from the time that the theory of visible representation
had got afloat ; and this perception disposed them to
hsten with awe, though it might be with secret aversion,
to the exclusive pretensions ofthe single pontiff of Rome.
The church of Constantinople was more immediately
affected by these pretensions ; and was, by her pecuhar
position, brought into closer conflict with them. Un
willing to admit a principle which must have brought
her under subordination to Rome, 3'^et unprepared to deny
or to assert on her own behalf the dogma of a single
representative priesthood, she found herself involved in a
war of principle in which there was no good defensive
position to fall back upon. On the other hand, the strug
gle brings out in full relief the advantages derived on
behalf of the Roman prerogative ; the skill, the perse
verance, the political courage and discernment displayed
in the management of the contest : but more especially
that bold and definite character which it imparted to the
Roman claims: a true conception of which is so necessary
to a right understanding of the progress of the papacy
towards the spiritual autocracy to which she now un
disguisedly aspired.
The state ofthe Italian churches must now for a while
engage our attention, with a view to the domestic influ
ence of Rome in the ecclesiastical affairs of Italy itself.
Pope Hilarus died in the year 407,'' and, as already
observed, was succeeded by Simplicius, a native simplicius
of Tivoli, the son of one Castinus :" more is not p°p''-
known of his origin or pretensions. But his pontificate
reveals some not unimportant particulars relative to the
growth ofthe pontifical authority within the confines of
Italy itself. The ordinary jurisdiction of the bishop did
not extend beyond the Provinciae suburbicarise, or ori
ginal vicariate of Rome f and even in regard to this do-
1 See vol. i. Book II. c. vii. p. 448. ' Conf. Book L c. viii. pp. 188 and
= Tillemont, Mem. Eccl. tom. xvi. p. 192.
287.

6 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book HI.
mes tic jurisdiction we learn little or nothing prior to this
pontificate. Yet the amount of influence now brought to
bear upon the Itahan churches cannot but have been of
long standing; no institution of recent growth would
Deposition ^^^'^ bomc the rough hand of Pope SimpUcius.
ofGaudentius About the year 472" — perhaps a year or two
of Aufina. jater— the pontiff, on the relation of three pro
vincial bishops, arbitrarily deprived Gaudentius bishop
of Aufina'' of the rights of ordination, cancelled the or
ders previously conferred by him, and confiscated three-
fourths of the revenues of his see, transferring them to
Simplicius the management of a stranger.' About the
censures same time — be it a 3'ear or two earlier, or
bi°shop^of sometime afterwards — John archbishop of Ra-
Ravenna. yeuna had depi'lvcd one Gregor}', a presbyter
of his church, of his canonry or benefice at Ravenna,
and forcibly and against his will ordained him bishop of
Modena. For this offence the pope reprehended the arch
bishop with great severity. " He who was capable of
such an abuse of his powers, he said, deserved to forfeit
them altogether : but to so harsh a measure he was dis
inclined from considerations of mercy to the delinquent ;
nevertheless Gregory should now be withdrawn from the
spiritual jurisdiction of the archbishop, and all causes
both for and against him be henceforward submitted to
the arbitrament of Rome."J
The practice of ordaining persons of eminent piety
or of popular reverence in opposition to their
Relation of ¦ V: j ^ ^ .' ^ ,i •
the see of OWH wish, and cvcu D}' a species of gentle vio-
Eavenna to lencc, to the cpiscopate, was not uncommon in
that and the preceding ages. But in the case
of Gregory, the motive appears upon the papal charge
to have been a covetous desire on the part of the arch-
s The dates of the Epistles of Pope sively upon the relation of the three
Simplicius are very ill ascertained. See bishops (Florentlus, Equitius, and Se-
Tillemont, c. xvi. p. 287. But little de- verus). Tillemont (ubi sup. p. 288) is
pends upon their chronological order. shocked at this proceeding, and charit-
I' The modern town or vUlage of ably suggests that the pope must have
Ofena in the Abruzzi, therefore within heard the bishop's defence in council.
the provinciae suburbicarise. J Cone. tom. ii. p. 803 ; Baron, ad
' Epp. Simplicii Pap. Cone. tom. ii. Ann. 482 ; Fleury, H. E. tom. vi. p. 619.
p. 804. It is clear from the terms of Conf. Boiver, H. of the Popes, vol. ii.
the letter that the pope acted exclu- pp. 166 et sqq.

Chap. I.] EOME AND RAVENNA. 7
bishop to possess himself of certain lands enjoyed by his
presbyter, which he hoped to appropriate by the for
cible elevation of the owner to the episcopal bench. The
sentence of the pope was communicated to the arch
bishop by a bishop-delegate from Rome ; but, it should
appear, without canonical trial or opportunity of defence.
It is, however, a matter of doubt whether John of Ra
venna took any such ^•iew of his own position in the
Church as that adopted by the pope. The Emperor Valen
tinian III. had transferred the imperial residence from
Rorae to Ravenna, and thereby raised her to the civil as
well as the ecclesiastical rank of a metropolitan city. The
same cause which had liberated Constantinople from the
jurisdiction of Heracleia,'' had exempted Ravenna from
that of her former metropolitan of Milan, and probably
assigned to her an eparchal or patriarchal district of her
own, conterminous with the province of JEmilia, of which
she was the most important city. Though lying beyond
the limits of the provinciae suburbicarise, Simplicius ob
viously conceived himself invested with the same powers
with regard to Ravenna as those he exercised within
those limits — powers destitute of any apparent canonical
forms or limitations,' and controllable only by considera
tions of expediency or mercy. He might, he observed,
for this offence have sequestered the archbishop from all
episcopal function; but, to avoid scandal, he should in
this instance content himself with exempting the bishop
of Modena from his jurisdiction and taking him under
his own protection ; commanding him at the same time
to restore the lands he had so nefariously usurped to the
church of Ravenna."'
Of the result of this affair we have no account ; but
further light will probably be thrown upon the ecclesi
astical relations of the see of Ravenna at this period by
her resistance to the supremacy claimed by subsequent
I* Conf. Book I. e. vni. p. 193. to any regular or canonical forms of
I The tone of both letters presumes trial or precept of law.
an arbitrary visitatorial power; aright ° This harsh jugoment, as Tillemont
to inquire into, to condemn, and to pun- observes (vol. xvi. p. 289), did not pre-
ish ecclesiastical deUnquents ; subject vent Archbishop John from being hon-
to considerations of mercy rather than cured by the Churoh as a samt.

8 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book III.
pontiffs, and the pretension to autocephaly (self-govern
ment), to which we shall hereafter have to advert.
The earhest of the few extant letters of this pope con-
Sim licius ^^y^ *^^ appointment of Zeno archbishop of Se-
appdnts^zeno viUc, iu Spain, to be the pontifical legate for that
a°^ostdicai kingdom." " He had heard, he said, from many
Xgate in persons, how that, by the special grace of the
Spain. j^qIj Spirit, Zeno had so piloted the vessel of
his church as to steer clear of the dangers of shipwreck
with which she was beset on all sides;"" and he ad
monished him in nowise to permit the decrees of "¦ apos
tolical institution," or the " ordinances of the holy Fa
thers," to be overstepped.^ The peremptory assertion
of a general visitatorial power over the whole Church by
Leo the Greaf clearly pointed out the track to be fol
lowed ; and his successors did not fail to pursue it with
The perseverance and success. Among the means
vicariate, adopted, none was more promising than the
appointment of vicars or representatives of the holy see
in all the more important churches to which the bishops
of Rome had access. Notwithstanding, however, the fre
quency of the practice, we are still left much in the dark
as to the point of view in which those commissions were
accepted and acted upon by the bishops and churches to
which they were addressed."^ We have, in the case before
us, no hint as to the light in which the papal appointment
was considered by the archbishop of Seville — whether it
was accepted as a proof of pontifical favour and confidence,
or as a legal delegation of powers he did not possess be
fore, and regarded as proceeding from a lawful superior.
" Harduin. Concil. tom. ii. p. 803 ; plicius intended simply to inculcate a
Baron. Ann. 482, § 46. careful observance ofthe canons of the
" " Comperimus  _. fervore Spi- Church. But we think that at least as
ritus Sancti ita te ecclesise gubernato- early as the pontificate of Innocent I.
rem existere, ut naufragii detrimenta, (a.d. 402 to 417), the popes had been
Deo auctore, ncin sentiat." The " de- in the habit of including among the
trimenta naufragii" here alluded tn, " apostolical decrees" aU ordinances
were, no doubt, the disturbed state of issuing from the " apostolical" see of
public affairs in Spain at this time, but Eome, whether relating to doctrine, dis-
more especially the contact with the cipline, or ritual. See the Decretal to
Arianism of the Gothic conquerors. Duoentius, Book II. u. i. p. 282.
P Fleury (H. E. tom. vi. p. 618) and i Conf. Book H. c. iv. pp. 348 et
Father Pagi (ad Baron, in Ann. 482, sqq.
§ 26) agree that by this admonition Sim- ' Conf. Book II. c. i. p. 280.

Chap. L] THE EASTERN CHURCHES. 9
In general, it may be affirmed that we have, up to this
point of time, no sufficient historical ground to determine
the question, whether the submissive respect with which
the mandates of Rome were generally received by the Wes
tern churches proceeded from a sense of strict ecclesiastical
duty, or whether it denoted no more than that reverential
deference for the chair of Peter which might still leave
them entirely their own masters except in cases of ex
traordinary doubt and difficult}^, or of emergencies in
which, by a voluntary submission to her authority, they
bound themselves to abide by her decision. But it was
of little consequence to Rome whether this obsequious
spirit proceeded from the one motive or the other. Armed
with an admitted right of interference, she felt herself
at liberty to adopt that explfination of the conduct of
foreign churches which was most favourable to her
claims ; with the advantage of having it to say that she
had at no time kept them back or dissembled them.
Reverting to the state of the Oriental churches at the
accession and throughout the pontificate of oriental
Simplicius, we encounter a prospect of the most "hurches.
gloomy and revolting character. The definitions of Chal
cedon had answered no purpose but to exasperate the
existing dissensions. The Eutychian party, so far from
yielding to or accepting, had rejected those decrees with
tenfold fury and animosity. The churches of Alexandria
and Antioch became the principal /oci of religious agita
tion. In the former, as we have seen," the orthodox pre
late Proterius had been deposed and murdered by a Eu
tychian mob, under the direction of Timotheus Timotheus
JElurus, a zealot of that profession. .J^llurus .^lurus.
occupied the see of Alexandria from the year 457 to 460,
when he was driven from his usurped chair by the Em
peror Leo at the solicitation of the orthodox and pacific
Gennadius, the successor of the slippery Anatolius of
Constantinople.* The orthodox party were now at liberty
to elect a patriarch ; and their choice fell upon Timotheus
Timotheus Solifaciolus, a man of peace. Under SoUfacioius.
» Conf. Book IL c. vi. pp. 428 et sqq. ' Conf. ubi sup. p. 433.

10 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book III.
him the Church looked forward to a long period of tran
quiUity; but in the year 474 the orthodox Emperor Leo
the Thracian died, and was succeeded by his son-in-law
Zeno, the ^cno, sumamed " the Isaurian"." The new em-
isauria'n em- pei'or profcssed Eutychiau tenets ; the scene
^''™''' was suddenly changed ; and now, under the
sinister auspices of that profligate adventurer, a gloom}^
futurity loomed upon the orthodox churches of the East.
Two years afterwards, Zeno was deposed by his brother-
in-law, the base and profligate Basiliscus, and compelled
to take refug'e among- his predatory countrymen, the
mountaineers of Isauria. Basiliscus stood forth as the
declared champion of Eut3^chianism, and initiated his
reign by an edict declaratory of his rejection and con
demnation of all creeds or definitions of faith excepting
those of Nicaea (335), Constantinople (381), and Ephesus
(431), but more especially of those of Chalcedon and the
letter or tomus of Pope Leo to Flavian ; he commanded
that all such creeds, confessions, and writings, wherever
they might be found, should be destroyed, and that all
bishops within his dorainion should signif3' tiieir adhesion
to his decree by their subscriptions, on pain of deposition,
banishment, and forfeiture, if the3' should at 3113' time use
or teach any other creed than that of Nicaea, confirmed as
aforesaid, or in any manner advert or recur to the hereti
cal ordinances or tenets ofthe pseudo-83^nod of Chalcedon."
Solifaciolus of Alexandria, deserted by the court.
Restoration which had hitherto extended its protection to
of ^lurus. jjjjj^^ gjj(j exposed to the violence of a party in
his own church he had no longer the means of controlling,
retired to his monastery ; and the turbulent and blood
stained iElurus was forthwith recalled from banishment,
and replaced by his elated partisans upon the throne of
Alexandria. But his triumph -n'as of short duration.
His spiritual throne partook of all the infirmities of that
Acacius pa- of his temporal patron Basihscus. In the year
Constonti- 47 1 the saintly G ennadius of Constantinople had
nopie. been succeeded hy Acacius under the influence
" Evag. Schol. lib. iii. c. iv., set out by Baron. A. 476, § 30 et sqq. Conf.
Fleury, H. E. tom. vi. p. 596.

Chap. I.] EOME AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 1
of Zeno, who three years afterwards hiraself succeeded to
the throne of the East.' Whether he had adopted the
creed of his patron, is not' very clearly established ; the
connection was probably sufficient to expose him to the
jealous suspicions of the severer adherents of the Chal-
cedonian confession. Yet his first public act after the
usurpation of Basihscus would seem to rebut any pre
sumption adverse to his orthodoxy. Acacius boldly pro
tested against and rejected the decree of Basiliscus. He
had influence enougli to raise the monks and populace of
the capital, and the skill to stir up such a storm of agita
tion against the feeble t3a'ant as to compel him to retract
his decree, and even humbl3^ to sue for pardon at the feet
ofthe patriarch and his able assistant, the rigid enthusiast
Daniel Stylites.*' But this transaction appears to have
revealed to the friends of the exiled Zeno the Eestoration
extreme weakness of the usurper's position ; the °^ 2«''°-
former emerged from his mountain-home, marched with
a few followers upon the capital, and was jo3'fully hailed
by all parties. The luckless usurper took refuge in the
cathedral church ; but was delivered up to his enemy by
Acacius, and condemned, together with his whole family,
to a lingering death by starvation in a distant castle in
Cappadocia." During the short reign of Basiliscus, the orthodox
clergy of Constantinople had kept the pope correspond-
fuUv informed of the enormities committed by «°?<= between
J .-. „. TT-t ur i_Ai Rome and
-^lurus and his friend Peter Mongus at Alex- constanti-
andria, as well as of the misdeeds of the Euty- ""p^^-
chian bishop of Antioch, Peter the Fuller (Gnapheus).
Hearing nothing from Acacius himself about these fatal
disorders, Simplicius wrote to the patriarch, urging him
to resist to the -utmost all changes in the established
creed ofthe Church; and,— in real or affected ignorance
' Tillemont, tom. xvi. p. 286. " Conf. Gibbon torn. v. p. 4, ed. Sm.
" See an amusing Ufe of this singular and Milm. The historian of The De-
fanatic in Tillemont, Mem. Eccl. tom. cline and Fall" is extremely meagre
xvi. pp. 4,39 et sqq: Like his friend and upon these transactions. Coni. Idle-
prototype, Simeon the Syrian Stylite, mont, Mem Eccles torn. ^vi. -Vie
he had succeeded in eliminating all the d'Acace, art. vu. and xi. pp. 295 and
carnal, and with them, not improbably, 302.
all the human elements of his nature.

13 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IH.
of the sentiments of the usurper Basihscus, — exhorting
him to represent to the emperor in the strongest terms the
guilt and the danger of neglecting the punishment ofthe
crimes committed by the heretical intruders.^ He acknow
ledged at the same time the zeal ofthe metropolitan clergy,
and thanked them for their intelligence.' But after the re
instatement of Zeno, Simplicius entered into more intimate
relations with the emperor and court of Constantinople."
The monarch immediately addressed the pope, announcing
his restoration, and in return received the congratula
tions of Simphcius. Acacius himself despatched a de
tailed statement of occurrences in the East; and received
in reply the warm thanks of the pontiff for the welcome
intelligence of the final expulsion from their usurped
sees of Peter the Fuller of Antioch, Paul of Ephesus,
a certain Antonius whom he designates as the standard-
bearer of tyranny, and John of Aparasea- — ^all leaders
of the Eut3'chian movement in the Asiatic and S3^rian
dioceses.'' -^lurus, however, was permitted to occupy the
chair of Alexandria until his death, \vhich occurred not
many months afterwards." That e^ent, and the restora
tion ofthe legitiraate patriarch Solifaciolus, was promptl3''
reported b3' Acacius to the pontiff;'' and in the following
3^ear the latter, b^^ autograph letters both to the emperor
and the patriarch, signified his satisfaction at the in
telligence received ; calling at the same time for the
expulsion and punishraent of Mongus, and the erasure
of the names of the heretical teachers from the sacred
lists.' Almost every step taken by the court of Constan-
, y Cone. tom. ii. p. 806. tom. vii. p. 995,— ap. Jaffe, p. 50.
^ Simplicius is also reported to have c Evag. Schol. lib. iii. c. xi.
written twice in the year 476 to Basil- ^ Ep. Acac. ad Simpl. ap. Hard. Con-
iscus himself, entreating him to expel cilia, tom. ii. p. SOI. After the death of
the intrusive bishop of Alexandria, ^lurus, Peter Mongus had, it seems
-lElurus, and to maintain the Catholic seated himself for a short time upon
doctrine of the incarnation, as his pre- the chair of Alexandria ; but was soon
decessors Marcian and Leo had done. dispossessed in favour of Solifaciolus
See Jaffe, Regist. Pont. Rom. p. 50. by the orthodox party.
^ See abstract of his letter to Zeno, = Ex Mansi, Cone. tom. vii. pp. 983,
from Mansi, Cone. tom. vii. p. 980, ap. 984,— ap. Jaffi,^. 50. See also the let-
Jaffe, U.S. p. 50. ters in pari materia, ap. Mansi, loc. cit
^ Simpl. ad Acac. ap. Holsten. Coll. pp. 985, 986, 987.
Rom. i. p. 194. See also Mansi, Cone.

Chap. I.] DECREE OF ZENO. 1.3
tinople against the prevailing heresy in the j^ggendenc
East had been thus anticipated by the pope, of Rome in
He had pointed out the means to be adopted ^^^ ®^^'-
for the purification of the churches ; he had designated,
probably by name, the bishops to be expelled, the here
tics to be punished ; and thus appropriated the lead in
the ecclesiastical revolution which restored the ascend
ency of the Chalcedonian confession in the East. The
orthodox churchmen were thus accustoraed to look to
Rome as the standard-bearer of the faith, without trou-
bhng themselves to inquire whither she might lead them,
so long as she served their present turn, or afforded a
strong point-d'appui against their domestic enemies. But
a very few months after the restoration of Zeno, the pope
was no less surprised than shocked by the startling in
telligence that the emperor had issued an edict for the
regulation of many important ecclesiastical raatters, on
which he might at least expect to have had previous no
tice, if not a consultative voice. The offensive Disturbed
ordinance was addressed to the praetorian pre- ^y^^^ ^f^f^
„„. 1/. . . '^ f, ot Zeno m fa-
lect Sebastian; and, alter many provisions tor vour ofCon-
maintenance of the orthodox doctrine, the pre- stantinopie.
cedency and privileges of the bishops in their several
ranks, the orders of the clergy, and the estates of the
Church, it proceeds to confirm all the honours, dignities,
and prerogatives of the church of Constantinople, in as
ample a form as they had ever been enjoyed under any
of his predecessors ; more especiaUy the rights of ordi
nation, and the precedency before all the bishops of the
erapire ; expressly grounding this declaration of right on
the political dignity and importance of the metropolis of
the erapire; and thereby once more reoccupying the
very ground from which his predecessor Marcian had
been driven by the successful audacity of Pope Leo the
Great.*^ ' Conf Book II. c. V. p. 118. See Constantinople to the primacy of the
the Ed°et in Corf. Justin, lib. i. tit. ii. Eastern empire. It is to be noted, that
tne Jiaiet m J. ^^ ^^.^ ordinance expressly grants or con-
Chledon is lot named in this law, it firms the primacy "regime urbis mtu-
was doubtless intended to confirm that itu.
and every other title of the church of

14 CATHEDRA PETRI. [Book IH.
But although, for the sake of peace, Marcian had
Protest of consented to cast a veil over the obnoxious
Pope Sim. xxvui'" cauou of Chalccdon, and to stifle the
^^""'' resistance of Anatohus, there is no reason to
believe that the church of Constantinople ever regarded
herself as bound by the act of her patriarch. It suited,
indeed. Pope Leo to affirm that the bishop in such wise
represented his church, that his official act must be con
strued to be the act of the body corporate ; but the rule
was by no means so well understood, or so generally esta
blished, as to pledge the latter to terms of which it may
have had no previous knowledge, and to which certainly
there is no evidence of its ever having given a corporate
assent. Pope Simplicius, however, immediately despatched
Probus bishop of Canusiura to the court of Constantinople
to protest against this alleged outrag-e upon the Ordi
nances ofthe Fathers. " Such usurpations," he declared,
" were altogether inexcusable: ecclesiastical dignities were
by no means dependent upon the magnitude or the
ranh of the cities to '>\'hich they might be attached ; but
could be regulated solely b3^ ecclesiastical dispensation,
as deterinined by the ' traditions of the Fathers.' "^ It
Papal theory ^^ hardi3^ ueccssary to observe, that by this time
of ecciesiasti- those " ordiuauces" and "traditions" were all
ca privi ege. gm^j^jg^j ^p 'y^ ^{^g Roman version of the vi"'
canon of Nicsea, with the arbitrary construction put upou
it by Leo the Great,'' and supported b3' him upon the
supposititious prefix extant in that version, and in that
version only. The alleged ordinances and traditions of
the Fathers 'were at the same time all comprised in, and
made dependent upon, the one primary tradition of St.
Peter's chair; and in this combination they had furnished
Rorae with a plenary justification for rejecting the ad
verse decrees of two general councils oil behalf of the
rival see. And, indeed, the vi'" canon of Nicsea could in
E This protest, it should be ob- but he is corrected by Pagi, who rightly
served, is collected from a letter of Pope traces it to Zeno, a.d. 477.' He is foi-
Gelasius I., as extradted by Baron. lowed by Tillemont, Mim. Ecclds tom
A. 472, § 6, p. 312. In § 2 the car- xvi. p. 306.
dinal tells us that the edict was issued '' Conf. Book II. c. v. pp 400 401
by the Emp. Leo the Thracian in 472; 402,406.

Chap. I.] DISTURBANCES IN THE EAST. 16
no imaginable mode but this be made to support the
Roman scheme of ecclesiastical privilege.
In this state of the controversy, we find the battle
field between both parties, independently of all j^^^^ . .
other considerations, fairly defined and marked theories of
out. On the one side it was to be contended that P^^^'^g^-
the " ordinances and regulations" of the Fathers were
satisfied by the attribution of prerogative and jurisdiction
to the rank and dignity ofthe cities upon which they were
conferred ; and on the other, that by these very '^ ordi
nances and regulations," political rank or position was
absolutely excluded as a ground of ecclesiastical privi-
leg-e ; and that as to the sees of apostolical pedigree, such
as Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and others, no law, whe
ther founded upon conciliar enactraent, or usage of any
antiquit3^, could avail to chang'e their position in the
Church, consequentl3r must be inoperative to impart to
B3^zantiura any other station araong the churches of
Christendom than that which she occupied as the hurable
suffragan of the raetropolitan of Heracleia.
But for the present the voice of altercation was si
lenced by the dangers which threatened the Disturbances
orthodox parties in the East. After the resto- Eastern
ration of Solifaciolus in Alexandria, the Euty- churches.
chian faction elected Peter Mongus, the friend of iElurus,
and the supposed accomplice of all his misdeeds, in op
position to the orthodox patriarch. But his attempt to
possess himself of the patriarchal'throne appears to have
failed. Solifaciolus soon regained the ascendency, and
Mongus slunk for the time into obscurity.' The influ
ence of Acacius at the court was at this moment predo
minant ; and Zeno, in spite of his compromising disposi
tion, was impelled to those measures of severity against
the turbulent Orientals to which we have already adverted.
The governor of Egypt received instructions to protect
Solifaciolus bv the railitary force of the diocese, and to
punish Mongols and his accoraphces.J Sorae degree of
' Evag. Schol. lib. iii. u. xi.; £ibe- loc. Evag.; and conf. -ETarrf. Cone. tom.
raiMS,Breviarium,o.xvi..— ap.Ti&ffloni, u. p. 805.
tom. xvi. p. 310; and Vales, in not. ad J JJraff. Schol. loc. cit. says with death:

16 CATHEDRA PETEL [Book III.
tranquillity was thus restored in the Alexandrian church,
and the aged patriarch continued in quiet possession of
his chair till his death in the year 482.
His demise, however, was the signal for a renewal of
Death of So- *^^ rcligious disturbances in his church. The
Ufacioius, Eutychians once more drew Mongus from his
of JotaniiTs concealment, and reinstated him upon the pa-
Taiaiaat triarchal throne. On the other hand, the or-
Aiexandria. .^jj^^j^^ p^rty chosc Johauncs Talaia, the friend
and archdeacon of the late patriarch. But Talaia, it is
said, had disqualified himself for the appointment. Be
fore the death of Sohfaciolus, and at the personal solici
tation of Talaia, as the envoy of his church, the emperor
had restored to the Alexandrians the right freely to elect
their own bishop as soon as the see should fall vacant.
But Zeno, suspecting that Talaia was intriguing at court
to procure his own nomination, exacted from him a so
lemn oath that he would neither solicit the suffrages of
the clerg3r, nor accept the dignity of patriarch of Alex
andria if offered to him."" Disregarding, however, both
his oath and the displeasure of his sovereign, he exerted
all his influence to procure his own election, and was
according^ seated by his friends as legitimate bishop.'
It may be surmised that Zeno at this point of time had
already entertained the idea of putting an end to the civil
and religious disorders which gave so much trouble to
his governinent, by means of a compromise by which all
parties- might be persuaded to lay down their arms; and
that he regarded Talaia as a person not at all hkely to
assist him in his well-meant but hazardous design. And,
in fact, the latter appears, from the very first steps in
his career, to have defied both the court and patriarch
of Constantinople. He not only neglected the ordinary
but essential forms of announcing his election, but en
hanced the offence by an insulting contrast in his de
meanour towards the pope, to whom he sent special
Valesius contests the reading which ' Evag. (loc. mod. cit.) says upon
would convey that meaning. In fact, the authority of his informant Zacha-
nobody appears to have suffered. rias, that he purchased this support by
¦^ Evag. Schol. lib. iii. u. xi. cum not. money. *^
Vales.

C'hap. L] acacius and MONGUS. 17
delegates to report his accession to the apostohcal chair
of Alexandria, and (probably) to request the papal con
firmation."" It is suggested that Acacius was the first to suspect
Talaia's designs upon the see of Alexandria,
and that he communicated those suspicions to gttfatTwuii
the emperor. Whichever way the truth may I'eter Mon-
lie, the two prelates became irreconcilable ene- ^"''
mies. It is probable that both the patriarch and his mas
ter were by this time bent upon their scheme of union,
and that both were prepared to sacrifice former friend
ships and enmities for the attainment of their purpose.
It was obvious that the new patriarch of Alexandria could
not be prevailed upon to engage in any scheme which
might comproraise hira with Rome and' the more rigid
supporters of the Chalcedonian profession in the East.
Mongus, on the other hand, was withheld by no similar
scruples. He flattered himself that, with the imperial
support and a little management on his own part, he
might satisfy his Eutychian partisans that his formal
reconcihation with the court and patriarch of Constan
tinople implied no sacrifice of principle ; and that he
could succeed in persuading them that no raeasures he
might propose for their adoption would be of a nature
to bind them to the obnoxious decrees of Chalcedon, or
to compromise the consistency of opposition. Mongus
was not troubled by any scruples in the accoraplishraent
of his desig-ns." Acacius, on the other hand, had deeply
pledged himself against the enemies of Chalcedon ; and
against none of these — with the exception perhaps of
Peter the Fuller of Antioch — had he lifted up his voice
more loudly than against Mongus himself." Pope Sim-
" Conf. Baron. Ann. 482, § 14, p. 403; all episcopal elections, and that Talaia
and Pagi's note, p. 406. The letter of acted under that conviction.
Simplicius in Baronius is not in the col- ° Evagrius (lib. iii. c. 17), a writer
lection of Harduin. The privilege of con- not generally ill-disposed towards the
firmation by patriarchs or metropoli- Eutychians, describes him as a person of
tans was not confined to Eome, but was so crafty and versatile a genius, that he
the common right of aU of equal degree. could at pleasure assume any disguise
This lays bare the sophism of the zeal- that suited his purpose.
ous cardinal, who would have us to be- » In a letter to Simplicius of the year
lieve that it wai the exclusive preroga- 477, upon occasion ofthe first intrusion
tive of Eome to assent to and confirm of Mongus, therefore five years only
VOL. II. C

18 CATHEDRA PETRL [Book HI.
plicius may have accepted these denunciations as a posi
tive pledge of antagonism ; but in the mean time circum
stances had undergone a great change, and Acacius might
reasonably allege the prospect of peace in the Church, and
the advantage of gaining over so important an adversary,
as a sufficient plea for the accommodation proposed. He
therefore consented to the nomination of Mongus to the
vacant chair of Alexandria, upon condition that he should
agree to certain terras to be proposed by the emperor for
the eventual union of all parties in the Church, and the
restoration of religious and domestic tranquillity. Mon
gus readily accepted those conditions ; and the emperor
wrote to Pope Simplicius a letter explanatory of his
motives for rejecting Talaia, and for preferring Mongus
as a proper successor to the orthodox Solifaciolus.''
Meanwhile Talaia had retired to Rome,'' where he
Pope Sim- was wcU received, and acknowledged by the
^demns'the" P°P.^ ^^ legitimate patriarch. But upon the
election of arrival of the imperial missive, Simphcius for
Mongus. ^ijg moment retracted the confirmation of Ta
laia's election, " inasmuch," he said, " as in so important
an affair nothing ought to appear to have been done in
a hurry." He added, that indeed that election had given
him the sincerest pleasure ; but that upon the arrival
of the imperial letters he had learnt with surprise that
the new patriarch la3' under the charge of perjury, and
ivas therefore not deemed a fit person to occupy the
chair to which he had been raised : at the same time,
however, he had heard with still greater astonishment
that it A\'as intended to promote Peter (Mongus), an as
sociate, na3-, a chief of heretics, and long since an out
cast fi-om all catholic communion, to the government
of the great church of Alexandria ; and that this had
been done ivith the knowledge and consent of Acacius,
to M hom the life and character of Mongus could be no
thanerson'^'in'^! l^ *''"' describes -Hard. Cone. tom. ii. pp. 804, 805. Conf.
alionus apnarens'^o^,^^''";' ^'^«™«"'" " Conf. Tillemont, tom. xvi. p. 325.

Chap. I.] THE HENOTICON. 19
secret. To this man the emperor, he was informed, had
proposed terms of communion, though a person with
whom no terms of anj kind could be made, no associa
tion permitted, until he should have been reconciled to
the Church by due canonical penance — one who even,
when reconciled, was canonically incapacitated from hold
ing any ecclesiastical dignity or preferment: this man
now aspired to rule over that catholic flock from which
he had long since been expelled — for what purpose, but
that he might make them the instruments for the pro
pagation of his infamous doctrines, by the introduction
of discord among the orthodox, who could never live at
peace under heretical domination ? The pope concluded
his address by an earnest exhortation to the patriarch
to be instant in season and out of season, with a view
to divert Zeno from his unhallowed project ; and in the
mean time to omit no opportunity of informing' him (the
pope) of the state of affairs in the East, and of taking
council with him as to the measures necessary to avert
the impending calaraity from the catholic Church."
Acacius appears to have paid as little attention to the
papal rescript as the emperor had thoug'ht proper to
bestow upon a letter addressed to himself personally by
the pope to the like effect.' The patriarch, it seems, was
too intently engaged in the composition and publication
of the celebrated instrument called the " Hen- „ , ,. ..
,, ^ „ T--- . 1 1 • Publication
oticon, or Compact of Union, to attend to ms ofthe "Hen-
relations with Rome. That document was pre- °*'^°'J'of''''
faced by a fervid eulogium upon religious union, Union ; its
and a vivid description ofthe spiritual and tem- ^"''^*''°<=^-
poral evils, disturbances, seditions, and murders, which
had resulted from the late dissensions in the Church;
it adopts the Nicene creed as confirmed and explained
by the synods of Constantinople (381) and of Ephesus
(431) ; it condemns the opposite errors of Nestorius and
Eutyches ; it confesses that Jesus Christ is God m the
flesh, veritably consubstantial with the Father as touch-
' Baron. Ann. 482, 88 13 to 18. silence, and urging him to renewed
' Four months, or thereabouts, after exertions to thwart the late measures
the last two letters, the pope again of the court; Hard. Cone. tom. ii.
wrote to Acacius, rebuking him for his p. 806.

20 CATHEDRA PETRL [Book III.
ing his godhead, and with us men as touching his
manhood ; that He came down from heaven, and was
incarnate ofthe Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, Mother
of God; that He is one Son, and not two Sons; the
same also which suffered for us in the flesh : it adopts the
Twelve Anathemas of Cyril,' but is .silent as to the letter
of Leo to Flavian : it denounces all i\'ho divide or con
found the two natures in the Christ, or hold a mere
serablance of an incarnation ; and it anathematises all
who, at Chalcedon or at any other council,hgive otherwise
believed and taught, more particularly Nestorius and
Eutyches and their followers. The edict concludes with
an earnest injunction to all men faithfull3' to adopt and
maintain the articles of union therein set forth."
To Mongus these articles offered several advantages ;
for while it left him in full possession of the
conducrof Twelve Anathemas of Cyril" — the text-book of
Peter Mon- t]^g Eut3^chians — it passcd over in silence, or
^"^" with such censure as that silence might well be
construed to impl3", the Leonine Tomus, the text-hook of
their antagonists. The dark shade cast upon the council
of Chalcedon b3^ the terms of the edict raight furnish
him with a plausible plea for keeping it out of sight, and
thus far gratifying the implacable animosity of a large
portion of his supporters. His slipper3- reputation might,
however, give colour to any reports of comphances,
which might seem requisite to maintain his equivocal
position. And, in fact, he was soon accused of having
pubHcly anathematised the council of Chalcedon and the
Leonine edict, and thereby not only broken faith with
the emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople, but
deranged the entire scheme of the Henoticon." It was
further alleged against him that, ivith the hke intent,
he had struck out from the sacred diptychs, or tablets
of his church, the names of the orthodox prelates Pro
terius and Solifaciolus, and inserted those of the con
demned heretics Dioscorus and iElurus. Acacius re-
' Conf.BooklL e. iii. p. 329; and c. » Conf. Book II c iii n -527
IV. pp 358 et sqq . jb„„^. Schol. Ub] " l' ^6
" Evag. Schol. lib. iii. o. 14. °"

Chap. I.] DEATH OF POPE SIMPLICIUS. 21
ceived the intefligence of the raisdeeds of his new ally
with dismay. Mongus lost not a moment in contradict
ing these reports ; he assured the patriarch that he had
always felt, and still professed, in pubhc and private, the
most profound reverence for the holy synod of Chalce
don ; but that such was the turbulent and unmanageable
disposition of his people, " who rather governed him than
he thera," that wild raonks and other disorderly folk ran
about spreading all manner of evil reports respecting
himself, and endeavouring, b3r every kind of falsehood, to
disturb the peace of the Church and sow discord araong
the people.'' But though Acacius may have found it convenient to
accept the apology, no such disposition could -p^^jj^ ^^
be expected to exist at Rome, where Talaia and Pope simpii-
his friends were in full possession of the papal "'^^"
ear. The very appearance of the Henoticon, — the ambi-
¦ guity of its language, the apparent slight put upon the
council of Chalcedon, and above all the studied neglect of
the canonical letter of Leo, standing, as it did, foremost
upon the records of that council, — denoted not merely a
secession from the standard of Roraan orthodoxy, but an
intentional insult to the chair of Peter. Yet we are not
in possession of any public act of official recognition of
the claims of Talaia, nor indicative of any open breach
with the court or patriarch of Constantinople, during the
pontificate of Simplicius. That pontiff died in the month
of March 483, after a reign of fifteen years, five months,

^ Evag. Schol. lib. in. c. 15. But culty. He says that the Acephali, a
Mongus, in this letter, does not deny body of monks in Alexandria, had se
in direct terms that he had " anathe- ceded from Mongus, because he main-_
matised the decrees of Chalcedon." He tained the validity ofthe oouncU of
only desires that negative to be implied. Chalcedon ; that, fearing a total loss
He asks, " How could I, after so many of his popularity, he had endeavoured
solemn protestation^ of adoption, be to arrest the secession by a pubhc con-
supposed to have so belied my profes- demnation of the council ; but without
sions ?" There is at least an unfor- success, inasmuch as, having once em-
tunate air of insincerity or mental re- braced its decrees, he was held to have
servation in the defence of Mongus. irremediably committed himself to that
Leontius of Byzantium, », rather volu- confession, and disqualified himseK to
minous writer on ecclesiastical subjects, be the head of its opponents He was
who lived at the end -of the fifth or the " neither fish nor flesh to them. See
beginning of the sixth century, gives the extract ap. Baron. Ann. 482, § 42.
a very probable solution of the -diffi- p. 410-

23

CATHEDRA PETEI. [Book HI.

Accession of and ten days ;^ and was succeeded by Felix III.,
Felix IH. a Roman priest, and a person of a more ener
getic and vehement nature than his immediate predeces
sor. Under him the warfare of the Henoticon partook
of a fiercer character, and soon assumed more than the
ordinary venom of ecclesiastical disputes.
Throughout the transactions hitherto noticed, the
Acacius not couduct of Acacius and his patron appears ra
the enemy of thcr iu the fight of au error in judgment than
Chalcedon. ^£ ^^ intentional attack upon the orthodox faith
ofthe Church, as charged against them by their adversa
ries. The choice of Mongus as an instrument for carry
ing* out their plan of union, was a serious mistake. This
choice, in the actual state of men's minds, necessarily
reflected the suspicion of insincerity and deceit upon his
protectors ; it served to give colour to all the obloquy
justl3^ or unjustly cast upon the latter by their opponents,
and to fling their slanders back upon the scheme itself as
well as its authors and contrivers. The conduct of Aca
cius in this respect naturally exposed him to the charges
of levity and insincerit}" : this sudden adoption into his
communion of one whom, but five years before, he had
publicly censured as a "heretic and a child of perdition;"
this unprepared exchange of ancient fellowship for a hos
tile alhance, — could not but startle the orthodox both in
the East and West, and dispose them to regard the ad
vocates of peace and union as the covert enemies of
the faith, and the scheme itself as a cunningly devised
plot against the Chalcedonian confession. But with all
this, there is no valid ground to believe that Acacius and
his patron were animated by any other than an anxious
desire for religious peace and unanimity in Christendom;
or that in the method they adopted they intended to
weaken the established standards of the faith they had
themselves uniformly professed.
The language of Simplicius to the rival patriarch,
Correspond- though moderate in its tone, was still that of a
^Eomi*'' superior to his responsible officer. He takes it for
granted that the completeness of all ecclesiasti-
» According to Anastasius the Ubrarian, ap. Baron. Ann. 483, § 4.

Chap. I.] APOLOGY FOE ACACIUS. 23
cal title depends upon the papal confirmation." Through
out the correspondence, he assumes the responsibility of
Acacius to the see of Rome as a matter understood and
admitted. We notice the same matter-of-course refer
ence to Rome as the ultimate dispenser of all ecclesias
tical powers as that we have observed upon in the inter
course of his predecessors with the churches of the East,
of Gaul, Spain, and Africa ;" and though, perhaps, in the
letters of Pope Simplicius, the tone of rebuke is softened
down, and the usual spiritual courtesies somewhat more
carefully observed, 3'et all acts done, or to be done, in
conformity with the expressed wishes or expectations of
the pope, are as carefully put upon the footing of dutiful
homage to the moderatorial authorit3^ of the holy see as
in the correspondences of his predecessors. And in this
tone the intent to humble Constantinople could hardly be
mistaken. It conveys a practical commentary upon Pope
Leo's rejection of the xxvui"' canon of Chalcedon — an
offensive denial of the " equal privilege" solemnly adjudi
cated to that church, and a pregnant proof that peace
with Rome was to be obtained only by an unqualified
abandonment of that station in which, by the consent of
Christendom, she had been solemnly installed.
To avoid the threatened peril, no course remained to
Acacius but to act for the future entirelj' upon Apology for
his own conciliar authority, and to rely upon Acacius.
the support of the government. He lay under no defini
tive engagements with the see of Rome ; and he might
reasonably decline to be fettered by language held by him
¦ '¦ Thus, announcing his approval of vicar of the holy see, imposing the du-
the election of Talaia, he says: "NihU ties of an inferior officer to his chief,
omnino restare videbatur (that is, to its and of course implying a negation oi
canonical validity), nisi ut . . . . apo- that spiritual equality eiaimed by all
stolicce quoque moderationis assensu voti- Christian bishops. There is, however,
vam sumeret firmitatem." It may here no pretence for any such delegation.
be noticed, that Card. Baronius desires The "munus" aUuded to denotes sim-
it to be understood that Simplicius had ply the office of the bishop, whose duty
constituted Acacius his vicar for the it was to discourage and suppress he-
affairs ofthe East. He draws his infer- resy. Conf. Ba.ron. Ann. 482, ^13.
ence as weU from the tone ofthe pope's ^ Conf. Book II. c. u. PP- 299 et sqq ;
letters to Acacius as from an incidental ibid. p. 300 ; tlnd pp. 31 0, 311; ihid
expression in one of these letters:- c. in. pp. 331 335; ibid, c iv. pp. 351,
"proinde delegaium tibi munus impen- 361, 374; ibid. c. y. pp. 395, 403, 410.
dens," &c., which he construes into an 415, 416; ibid. c. vi. pp. 440 et sqq., p.
aUusion to his appointment as ordinary 445.

24 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
under a very different state of circumstances. He had
embraced in one broad view the great spiritual and tem
poral interests of the sovereign and his states. The poli
tical object of the Henoticon was strictly consistent with
the cause of true religion ; it involved no contradiction
to the universally received doctrine ofthe Church ; and it
pointed out the means of assuaging those exasperating
controversies, those tumults and civil dissensions which
had so long distressed the governraent and destro3'ed the
peace of society. And in this view of its tendency, the
Henoticon of Zeno was joyfully accepted by all who felt
more concerned for the maintenance of Christian fellow
ship than for success in a controversy upon which nothing
is clearly revealed in Scripture, or decisively defined by
council or s3'nod within the first four centuries of Chris
tian history.''
But this view of the Henoticon was in a great de-
Acacius at- grcc Unintelligible to the parties to whom it was
r^clthoi^s ^^i^i^'^ssed. The orthodox persisted in repre-
and Euty- scntiug that instrument as conveying a rejec-
chians. tiQ„ and condemnation of the council of Chal
cedon; while their adversaries denounced it because it
left that acceptance or rejection an open question. They
could be satisfied with nothing less than a' total renuncia
tion ofthe obnoxious decrees. Amore formidable objection,
weighing equally with both the extreme parties, was that
it was the work of lay hands — a daring attempt to smotiier
a question of vital importance to religion — a sacrilegious
intrusion upon the sacerdotal office." These views bound
both parties irrevocably: the orthodox, to the rigid main
tenance ofthe council of Chalcedon; the ultra-Euty chian
party, to its unconditional rejection and abrogation. The
middle course proposed by Zeno and Acacius was equally
fatal to both views. On the one hand, if accepted uni
versally, it manifestly tended to enfeeble the spiritiial
mfluence of Rome, and to strengthen that of Constanti
nople m the East; while on the other, it must strike
the ground from beneath the feet ofthe powerful party

Chap. I.] EEMONSTEANCE OF POPE FELIX. 25
which had- up to this time pretty equally divided the
conscientious allegiance of the Oriental churches with the
orthodox. Both factions therefore agreed in stigmatis
ing the Henoticon- as a device of hell for the extinguish
ment of true religion. Acacius had been all along re
garded by the Monophysites as their bitterest enemy,
while the orthodox branded him as the associate and
accomplice of heretics; his rigidly orthodox profession
of faith was treated as a fraudulent pretence ; he was
at once a conspirator and an impostor, one who, under
false pretences, drew away those who adhered to his
scheme into an adulterous connection with the damned,
and thereby involved them in the like condemnation.''
Such was the position ofthe controversy when it fell into
the hands of Felix IIL, a person very well disposed to
make the most of it.
At Rorae, the Henoticon had become an object of
profound fear and abhorrence. Within the first Eemon-
year of his pontificate. Pope Felix assembled a pope"jeiix
synod of his subject provinces to deliberate with to Acacius.
hira upon the best mode of dealing with that perplexing
instrument and its adherents. In the result a mission,
consisting of two bishops, Vitalis and Misenus, with the
presbyter Felix, was despatched to Constantinople with
letters to the emperor and the patriarch from the pope
and his synod, conve3ang a solemn protest against the
Henoticon and all proceedings under it. Such was the
professed object of the embass3' ; and had it rested there,
little objection could have been taken to the papal com
munication. The tone of the monition addressed to Aca
cius was not unbecoming a Christian pastor whose inter
est in the welfare of the whole Christian family fully en
titled him to a respectful hearing. He reminded Acacius
of his obligations as a prelate of the cathohc Church, and
ofthe devout respect due to the decrees of an cecumenical
council hke that bf Chalcedon. He reproved him in gentie
terms for his unaccountable sffence respecting the state
1 Conf. raZmoKi,tom.xvi. pp. 362 et and the Henoticon. Baronius is asusual
sqq. Tillemont has ably and elEfectively violent and declamatory; TiUemont
sZmed up the articles of accusation quiet, but venomous: both are equally
brought by his church against Acacius partial.

26 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IIL
of the Alexandrine church ; he urged upon him that the
Christian pastor who keeps any terms with heretics must
be deemed an accomplice of heretics, and that when the
truth is dissembled by its appointed guardians, it is in
reahty betrayed by them : that such conduct on his part
could not but <;aus6 well-founded suspicions of his ortho
doxy; for that he who consorts with the very criminals
whom it is his duty to punish cannot, and ought not, to
escape the charge of participating in their evil designs.'
To the emperor, Felix addressed at the same time
—to the Em. an earnest supphcation on behalf of the AJex-
peror Zeno. andriuc church : he implored him, in the name
of the Apostle Peter, to have a care lest the emblematic
garment of Christ be rent by schism ; he reminded him
of his former meritorious struggle for the faith against
the tyrant Basiliscus ; of his restoration of the orthodox
Sohfaciolus, and the condemnation of the convicted he
retic Mongus ; and remonstrated with him upon the in
consistency of his late proceeding's, in upholding the cause
of one whom but shortly before he had condemned and
banished as a malefactor.*^
If Pope Felix III. had stopped here, he might per
haps have made a plausible case for renouncing
tion and pre- the communion ofthe emperor and patriarch,
A aci*°s ^^ even for procuring a like renunciation by all
who adopted the maxim that they who com
municate with heretics must be presumed to participate
in the heresy. But, besides these documents, it appears
that the legates were intrusted with two others. The
first of these was a formal citation addressed to Acacius,
setting out a judicial appeal to the chair of Peter by
Johannes Talaia against Acacius, on account of injuries
suffered by the legitimate patriarch and church of Alex
andria by his procurement or connivance ; and command
ing him, by the supreme power to bind and to loose
conferred by Christ on the Apostle Peter and his succes
sors, without loss of time to present himself at Rome, and
there, before a bench of his brother bishops, to purge
himself of the offences laid to his charge. The second
e Hard. Cone. tom. ii. pp. 811 et sqq. ' Hard. Cone. tom. u. p. 814.

Chap. I.] PAPAL CITATION TO ACACIUS. 27
document was in the shape of a monition to the emperor,
calling upon him to corapel the appearance of Acacius,
to answer the coraplaint and appeal in question, " before
the holy Apostle Peter and his episcopal brethren."^
Such a citation could not but be inexpressibly offen
sive to the metropolitan patriarch, and very character
irritating to his imperial patron. It was not and intent of
merely an outrage upon all known ecciesiasti- *'^'' '="^*'™-
cal law, but implied a direct infraction of the decrees
of that very council in defence of which the pope pro
fessed to do battle. The xxviii"' canon of Chalcedon im
parted equal privilege to Constantinople with that en
joyed by old Rome : the Oriental bishops had taken no
notice ofthe proud rejection of that ordinance by Leo the
Great, it was therefore still res integra upon their sta
tute-book ; and as long as Constantinople maintained the
lofty position adjudged to her by a general council of the
Church, she could acknowledge no single bishop, how
ever exalted his position, as her legitimate judge. Rome,
therefore, never ceased to press for a practical abandon
ment of a ¦ law which struck at the root of her power.
And now, if Acacius could be prevailed upon, either by
persuasion or intimidation, to answer the appeal of Talaia,
— whether in person or by deputy mattered little, — the
cause of Rome was won, and Constantinople must sink
at once from the eminence so solemnly assigned to her
to the insignificant position of a suffragan, or parochial
church. And whatever the success of this daring at
tempt, the position of Pope Felix could not be endan
gered, though it might well serve the purpose of shaking
that of his adversary. Rome, or rather the bigots of or
thodoxy, had many stanch partisans in Constantinople and
the East; and although the Henoticon had been very
generally subscribed by the Oriental prelacy, the ele
ments of dissension were still in active operation, and
required little more than able management to fan them
into a flame that must sweep the last vestige of relig'ious
fellowship from the hearts and memories of the several
parties of the Christian world.
s Hard. Cone. tom. u. pp. 829-831; Evag. Schol. lib. iu. c. 18.

28 CATHEDEA PETEI. [^°°^ ^^^•
Some unexplained delays appear to have retarded the
Eome and joumcy of the papal legates, so ^«/« ^^jgj^
theAcoeme- Pope Fcfix time to communicate witn tnem
ToStanti"^ before their arrival in the imperial city, ihus
nople. it happened, that after their departure envoys
arrived at Rome from Cyril, archimandrite, or abbot ot a
certain monastic colony at Constantinople known by 1;he
name of the Acoemetan monks,"— a community wholly
devoted to the formal orthodoxy of Chalcedon, -urging
fresh complaints against Acacius ; more particularly
charging him with a criminal connivance and partici
pation in heretical communion. In consequence of these
communications, Felix changed his plan of operations,
and directed his legates to take no step towards the ac
complishment of their mission till they should have con
ferred with and taken the advice of Cyril as to what
was further to be done in the matter.' The court, it ap
pears, had obtained information of this underhand design,
Defeat of ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^ alarm. Upon the arrival ofthe
the papal legates at Ab3'dos, the}" found themselves under
project, ari-ggt J tlieir papers were taken from them, and
the attempt of the pope, through his legates, to combine
a formidable body of opposition to the court and patriarch
before committing himself to the decisive attack medi
tated in the letters of citation, was at once detected and
defeated. J
But in the game of double-dealing the Greeks were
Seduction of too ^\-e\\ \ersed to be at a loss how to retort it
the legates upou their enemies. The patriai-ch found the
o '^'^ ¦ legates Vitalis and Misenus — possiblv already
subdued b}' their imprisonment, or not inaccessible to
bribes —ready to give at least a silent consent to, and even
b}' their personal presence to sanction his communion
with the adherents of the Henoticon. It was customary
in the liturgical ritual of the Eastern churches to recite
the names ofthe emperors with those ofthe living prelates
'' 'AkoC^tjtoi, or "sleepless" monks, going to sleep.
so calkil biciuKse the services in their ' Evag. Scliol. lib. iii. c. xix.
cliurcb « eie kept up night and day J Ep. Fel. Pap. ad Acac. ap. Eard.
wilhoutinternilsjiouby leliiysofmonks; Concil. tom. ii. p. 832.
wlieuee they got the reputation of never

Chap. I.] SEDUCTION OF THE LEGATES. 29
of the superior sees and the predecessors of the reigning
pontiffs, in token of Christian fellowship and communion.
All who attended such services were considered as ac-
knoviledging religious communion with the persons so
named.'' The legates, in direct contravention ofthe pajial
instructions, allowed themselves to be prevailed upon on
several occasions to communicate publicly with Acacius
and the legate of Mongus himself, and to permit the re
citation of the prohibited names of that person and other
condemned heretics in their presence without objection or
protest.' Cyril and his monks lost no time in informing the
pope of the treason of his legates. They dwelt synod at
upon the mischievous consequences of their de- ^°Y' ^^^
fection from the faith ; they said that a "general tion of the
impression would thereb}^ be produced that the legates.
arch-heretic Mongus had been received into the com
munion of the holy see of Rome ; and they urged that
unless the promptest measures were adopted to dissipate
that impression, the cause of orthodoxy in the East must
suffer irretrievable injury.'" Pope Felix, who had all
along acted upon the advice ofthe Acceraetans, compre
hended at once the difficulty of his position, and the ne
cessity of prompt and decisive action. An immediate
disavowal of their acts, and the exemplary punishment
of his legates, was, he perceived, the appropriate mode of
purging the chair of Peter from the foul blot of here
tical comraunion. A full S3'nod of sixt3^-seven bishops
was instantly convened ; the recreant legates were put
upon their trial, condemned, excommunicated, and de
graded from all order or rank in the church ;" and the
promptest notice of these proceedings was despatched to
the friends and agents of Rome at Constantinople and in
the East. The synod then proceeded to take in hand the
special charges against Acacius and Mongus. No dis
tinction was even thought of between the cases of the
•' From a list recited in the diptychs, or mont, ubi sup.
sacred tablets of the particular church. " Ep. Synod. Eccl. Eom. ad Clericos
^ Evag. Schol. lib. iii. c. xx. Conf. et Monachos Orientales, ap.flard. Cone.
ra/emoB*, tom.xvi. pp. 348, 349. tom. ii. pp. 853-856. Conf . Tillemont,
¦» Evag. Schol. ubi sup. Conf. Tille- ubi sup. pp. 353 et sqq.

30 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
declared heretic and his protector ; both were involved in
the like condemnation, and were deeraed to have incurred
the hke penalty. Acacius had indeed treated the papal cita
tion with that contempt which so informal and anomalous
an instrument deserved." He and his patron
the Heno°^ Zcuo had proceeded with zeal and activity in the
ticon in the promulgation and execution of the Henoticon
^'''*" in every province of the East. While the pope
was assaihng the defenders ofthe Henoticon in the West,
several Eutychian subscribers were raised to the episcopal
bench; the archbishopric of Tyre was conferred upon the
reputed heretic John of Apamsea ; Peter the Fuller was
confirraed in the see of Antioch, to the prejudice of the
orthodox Calendion f and Martyrius bishop of Jerusalem
was persuaded to send letters of communion to Mongus
of Alexandria. The scheme of Zeno prospered be3'^ond
expectation, and the prospect raised a storm of wrath
and alarm in every orthodox bosom. It was raanifest
that all chance of defeating the imperial project by nego
tiation, persuasion, or intimidation had vanished. Rome
felt that she must finally cast off the flims3" veil which, in
deference to the still unsubdued spirit of oligarchical in
dependence in the greater churches, she had hitherto con
sented to wear, and display her prerogative in its full
proportions, even at the risk of offending the weak vision
Pope Felix of somc of hcp owii supportcrs. Felix therefore
passes sen- rcsolvcd upou the ultimate step, by which he
communicT- hopcd to givc Confidence to the orthodox, to
tion and inspire a salutary fear into all waverers, and to
deposition j.i, . i "^ i j' c ¦ .\
upon Aca-. Carry the standard ot open warfare m the very
. "'"s- centre of the enemy's quarters. He passed the
irrevocable sentence against Acacius of Constantinople
in terras best suited to dissipate all doubt both as to the
scope and extent of the power of the chair of Peter, and
as to the person in whom that power was lodged. After
reciting the manifold transgressions of the offender, — his
° There was no mode by which the the chair of Peter; a principle certainly
jurisdiction of Eome could be establish- never recognised by Constantinople,
ed, except by the adoption of the Leo- nor, that we can find, by any canon
nine principle of the " superabundant or council of the East or the West.
power" (conf. Book II. c. iv. p. 348) of p Evag. Schol. lib. iu. c. 16.

Chap. I.] CONDEMNATION OF ACACIUS. 31
heretical promotions ; his rejection of all orthodox (recu
sant) candidates ; his alliance with the convicted and con
demned heretics, Mongus, John of Antioch, Mart3^rius
of Jerusalem, and others; the expulsion ofthe legitiraate
patriarch Talaia; the seductions practised upon the le
gates, — the sentence concluded by announcing* to him that
he (Acacius) thereby stood condemned by him (Fehx),
acting for and by the authority of the holy see and of
the blessed Apostle Peter, to eternal seclusion fi*om the
comraunion of the faithful every where, and final priva
tion of all sacerdotal or ministerial function.''
We observe that this step of Pope Fehx IIL, though
it exhibits several novel features, was in reality
a perfectly legitimate sequence to the Leonine manifefto of
theory of the cathedra Petri. And it was so ^ope Felix.
in the most absolute sense and in the purest form; for
it would be hard to discover a sing-le scrap of proper
church-legislation or canon-law upon which he could
have ventured to rely for the validity of his proceedings.
Felix himself was indeed sensible of this dangerous defect
of jurisdiction ; following, therefore, the example of his
great predecessor, he eagerly seized upon the vain and
spurious prefix to the sixth canon of Nice."' '''As often,"
he says, in his synodical epistle to his friends in the
East, — " as often as within the precinct of Italy the
priests of the Lord are assembled for ecclesiastical de
liberation, the custom is observed, that the successor of
the bishops of the apostolic see doth, in his own per
son, officially represent the whole prelacy, and shall do
and constitute all things by himself, because he is^ the
head of all,' according to the word of the Lord to Peter,
saying, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I
build m3'' Church.' . ... In obedience to which words,
the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers assembled at
Niccea did decree the confirmation of the state and au-
1 See the act at length, ap. Hard. sufficiently explain the anxiety of Pope
Cone. tom. u. p. 831. Conf. generaUy, Leo the Great to assemble the great
upon these transactions. Baron, ad council against the Eutychians, which
ann. 482, 483, and 484, passim, with afterwards met a,t Chalcedon, within
Pagi's notes. the confines of Italy. Conf. Book II.
¦• Conf. Book II. c. v. pp. 406 et sqq. u. /. p. 383.
» A pretension which would of itself

32 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HL
thority of the holy Boman Church ; which state and
authority they (the pontiffs) and their successors to this
day have, by the grace of Christ, preserved inviolate.'"
A doubt might perhaps be raised whether this strange
¦Defect of ec- exposition of the vi* canon of Nicsea was not,
clesiastical i^ ^j^g mind of the writer, restricted to Italian
plied by tti^" bishops iu an Italian synod. But the reason
pope. given for the jurisdiction claimed — "because,
according to the word of the Lord, he is the head of all"
— is universal; and the application to Acacius himself
follows in the next sentence." But this is the sole ground
Pope Felix could have chosen. There was, in truth, no
provision of existing ecclesiastical law which could bring
a patriarchal prelate Avithin any canonical jurisdiction,
unless by sorae means he could be brought down to a
subordinate position in the Church. Hence the eager
desire of Rome to reduce the patriarch of Constanti
nople to the status of a suffragan of Heracleia, and to
deprive him of all ecclesiastical rank above that of a
dependent and responsible provincial prelate. The v'
canon of the Nicene decrees, even in their spurious con
junction with the Sardican resolutions, established either
no jurisdiction at all over a metropolitan patriarch, or it
contemplated a tribunal of a totally different character."
The popes, therefore, had nothing to rely upon but this
spurious canon, as expounded by Leo the Great, though
labouring under the peremptory contradiction ofa general
council of the whole Christian world.'' A plea in favour
of the arbitrary pretension of Rome upon the ground of
an acknowledged deficiency of ecclesiastical law," as it
Eome resorts effected morc craineut delinquents, cannot be
tothespuri- sustained. Rorae herself was so doubtful ofthe
tron'ot-tht success of such a plea, that she eagerly snatched
vi'" canon of at the shadow of canonical authorit3' adum-
NicEea. jjrated in her own spurious addition or com-
< Hard, ubi sup. p. 856. " See Book I. c. ix. p 203 note (o)-
» "Quod ergo placuit sanctse synodo ibid. pp. 205-208. Compare with these
apud beatum Petrum Apostolum, et quotations what is said in Book II c
beatissimus vir Felix (the pope) caput ii. pp. 300, 301, 306 et sqq., and chap v'
nostrum, papa et archiepiscopus, .iudi- pp. 400, 401.
cavit, in subditis continetur," Then " See Book II. c. v. pp. 400, 401
follows the sentence. >¦ Conf. Book II. c. iv. p. 346.

th

Chap. I.] PEOCEEDINGS AGAINST ACACIUS. 83
mentary — it is doubtful which — to the vi"' canon of Ni
caea. And in fact, upon the two great occasions on which
it had been put forward, it had been deliberately set aside.
The Africans in the fourth, and the Fathers of Chalcedon
in the fifth century had reproved and rejected it.f But
whatever its merits, the arg'ument drawn from the canon
in question in its Roman form 'w^as not really necessary to
sustain the power claimed by the pontiffs. That power
rested not upon conciliar enactment, but upon antecedent
and independent authorisation — upon the alleged grant
from the Saviour to his apostle Peter, and through him to
his presumed successors the pontiffs of Rome. The failure
of the attempt to add a title by conciliar recognition to
that of an original divine grant, served rather to weaken
than strengthen the cause of Rome against the episco
pal oligarchy. The later popes very wisely relinquished
it, and took up their position under the shadow of the
cathedra Petri.
But up to this point of time the bishops of Rome had
not ventured upon any such startling exercise Novelty and
of the arbitrary jurisdiction claimed under that illegality of
authority as that assumed by Pope Felix III. in^s^Igalnst
in the case before us. Though his predecessors Acacius.
had frequently secluded refractory bishops of other dio
ceses from their own communion and that ofthe churches
properl3'- subject to thefr own domestic jurisdiction ;' yet
up to this point of time we do not know of any instance
in which, by thefr own mere authority independentl3'- of
episcopal or canonical assent, they had ventured to cast
out the meanest individual from the bosom ofthe Church-
catholic, much less to degrade a brother patriarch from
all spfritual rank and function without so much as a locus
poenitentiae." In all the more important acts done by
them in the exercise of their presumed visitatorial powers,
we have been accustomed to see the provincial and dio
cesan synods estabhshed by the " holiest of councils"
treated with some degree of respect. No bishop of Rome
r See the quotation from the Second the case of Chrysostom, Book He. i.
Book of this work, ubi sup. PP- 278 et sqq., especiaUy note (?), p.
¦¦ Conf. Book I. c. vn. p. 165. 279, col. 2.
» Conf. the conduct of Innocent I. in
VOL. II. ^

84 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
had hitherto ventured to substitute his own despotic fiat,
attested only by the signatures of a packed committee
of his Italian dependents, for those deliberative and re
sponsible bodies to which the pubhc law of the Church
had consigned the trial of spiritual offenders.
It may perhaps be aUeged, that the Nicene canons for-
state ofthe bid the reception of any excommunicated bishop
canon-law qf pcrsou iuto the commuuion ofother churches.
to the tial But the canon apphes only to the sentences of
of bishops, pi-elates or synods having canonical jurisdic
tion over the subject. In the case of Acacius, no pre
tence can be set up to such a jurisdiction upon canonical
grounds. Niccea recognises no courts for the punish
ment of spiritual offences but the semestral synods esta
blished by its fifth canon.^ The problematical ordin
ances of Sardica would indeed warrant a qualified in
terference on the part of Rome; but they prescribe a mode
of procedure totally unlike that now under review." The
Fathers of Constantinople (371) expressly condemned
foreign interference in the domestic government ofthe
churches.'' The first synod of Ephesus (431) inhibited
all the bishops from invading the diocese or province of
any other, and declared it to be the duty of all to pre
serve to all the quiet enjoyment of their respective rights
and liberties.' The most numerous of all synods, that
of Chalcedon, scrupulously defined the tribunals for the
trial of ecclesiastical offences ; referring the churches in
all cases of dispute to the ancient and well-known cus
toms which had hitherto prevailed, to the exclusion of
all innovation.' The only security, in short, for the rights and liberties
Special cano-^^^^^ churchcs provided by the existing law of
nicai defects the uuivcrsal Church, was that estabhshed by the
leeL^gs" v" ^^"^"i.?! '^ic^a, viz. trial by comprovincial
against synod. Hithcrto it was an undeniable principle
Acacius. Qf 1^.^^ tjj^t ^Q bishop could be accused or at
tainted of any offence whatever, though it were by his
" Conf. Book I. c. viu. p. 191. in the cause of the f!vni-inT, ^,;»l..^«<,
c Conf. Book I. c. ix. p 206. Hard. ConcU. torn i p^siT ^'
o Conf. Book II. c. i. p. 256. ' See particulariy Cann ik 5r -viv
° Decree of the synod of Ephesus xx. Hard. Cone. tom. ii. pp. 605 610

Chap. I.] THEIE CANONICAL DEFECTS. 35
own metropohtan, without the intervention of a synod
of the province. But in the proceeding against Acacius,
although the sentence pronounced was signed by sixty-
seven prelates, yet the S3rnod itself was convoked in a
foreign diocese, and consisted wholly of foreigners, pre
sided over by aforeign priest having no canonical au
thority in the cause; therefore a tribunal out of all ana
logy to any known ecclesiastical judicature. At the same
time it should be noticed, that the case brought forward
by Talaia against Acacius was not an appeal, but an
original complaint, triable, if at all, only before the coun
cil of the East, or the provinces of the vicinage. But no
such trial had taken place; there was therefore neither
judge nor decision to appeal from. Consequently Rome
was not even in a condition to resort to her own self-
imputed appellate jurisdiction ; the act was thus reduced
to a naked infraction of all ancient rights and privileges,
and could be defended only on the ground ofthe supreme
"visitatorial powers" — the " superabounding" authority
— i.e. the altogether exceptional prerogative ofthe see of
Peter. Nor is this all: the members of this nominal synod
were scarcely a deliberative, certainly not a judicial body;
the adjudication and the sentence was the pope's, not
theirs : and thus it occurred, that when some not un
friendly members of the Oriental church accidentally
present in the assembly complained to Felix of the irre
gularity in the proceedings arising* out of the absence of
any prior canonical trial and sentence, it was answered,
that in an Italian council the pope was always supreme ;
and that as the representative of all ecclesiastical autho
rity and general visitor of all churches, he was empow
ered to determine and promulgate afl such things in his
own name and as of his own mere motion.*
The reconciliation of Acacius with Peter Mongus had
¦^ See above, p. 31 of this chapter. vi. pp. 436, 438). In this view of the
Conf. Pagi, Crit. ad Baron. Ami. 484, matter, we can easUy understand the
S 5. According to the Eoman exposi- process of reasoning by which Pope
tion of the vi"' ianon of Niccea, it was Felix may have persuaded himself that
held to give power to the universal his explanation ought to be received as
primate to reduce the customs of all a satisfactory solution ot the doubts of
dioceses to a conformity with those of the objectors.
Eome Cconf. Book II. c. v. p. 408; ch.

36 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
Eeinstate- naturally exposed the former to the gravest
ment of Peter imputations. But his share in the restoration
"Iwe'oi^f Peter the Fuller, the chief of the Mono-
Antioch. physite party in the S3^rian diocese, gave the
finishing blow to his reputation among their opponents.
Peter had, partly by favour of the Eraperor Zeno, and
partly by the occasional ascendency of his party in An
tioch, succeeded in obtruding himself three several times
into that see ; and thrice he had been expelled by the
efforts of his adversaries. Subsequently two bishops of the
Chalcedonian confession had held the see for a term of three
years under the patronage of Acacius. The last of these,
Stephen, had been assassinated by an Eutychian mob at
the foot of his own altar. Acacius interfered to put an
end to these disgraceful disorders ; and in the year 482,
by his influence, Calendion, a rigid advocate of Chalce
don, was consecrated to the vacant chair. But Calen
dion was found an unfit instrument for the imperial
purpose; he not only resisted all soheitations to sub
scribe the Henoticon, but entered into a close under
standing with Talaia of Alexandria and the pontiff of
Rome against the imperial project. Calendion was ac
cordingly deposed ; and Peter the Fuller, whose influence
with the Eutychian party in Syria was not inferior to
that of Mongus in Egypt, was reseated upon the throne
of Antioch. Not even Mongus himself had in times
past incurred more vehement censures from Acacius
than this person. The glaring inconsistencies involved
in these proceedings were eagerly seized upon by the
zealots of both parties; both agreed in branding him as
a false friend, an impostor, and a cheat. No ingenuity
could now rescue him from the false position in which
his mode of conducting it, rather than the design itself,
had placed him. ° . '
At Rome the reinstatement of Peter the Fuller- was
Effect ofthe ^^^^"'^'^ /,« ^§-^««sj^g-.gravation ofthe many
reinstatement ofteuces ot Acacius. FehxIII. forthwith cau^p'd
of Pet. the the sentence delivered against Petir Mon|us
to be republished, with the name of his friend
and associate m guilt included ; and both were " In, no,

Chap. I.] EOME AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 37
thority of the apostolic see, ejected from the episcopate
and cut off from the communion of the faithful." Every
attempt that monastic cunning could devise was made
officially to serve the patriarch himself with a copy of
the sentence, and to give it the utmost publicity in Con
stantinople. But the Acoemetan monks, to whom that
dangerous duty was assigned, were assafled b3' the in
dignant populace ; some of them were slain outright,
and othei's thrown into dungeons.'' Acacius himself re
sented the attempted outrage by causing the
name of Felix to be struck out of the sacred pope^ux
diptychs of his church ; and by that act form- ^'™^ °^^°^
ally cut off the pope from his own communion ^^ ^'^ °'
and that of the church over which he presided.'
These reciprocal acts of defiance completed the schism,
and revived the spiritual warfa,re which the
Henoticon had for a time appeased. The sue- nag^enHf
cess of that scheme was now more distant ti»econtro-
than ever. Rome had always less to fear frorn ^*'^^^'
open war than fi-om peace upon any terms not dictated
by herself: she had drawn all the advantages that could
be derived from the prevarications and inadvertencies
of her opponents ; and she had, by an assertion of pre
rogative with a plainness and to an extent hitherto un
exampled in ecclesiastical history, established her own
position, impressed both friends and enemies with an im
posing idea of her power to protect or injure, and taken
her stand upon an eminence from which no extent of
jurisdiction or authority in the Church seeraed beyond
her reach.
Reckoning from the close of the great council of
Chalcedon, the conflict of claims and interests contrasted
between Rome and Constantinople had lasted ^oJ^'g^nl
for a term of twenty-two years. Yet during all constanti-
that time we are surprised to find that it had ""uggiefor
not occurred to a single writer of that age-— power.
^ One of these devoted persons, we to escape detection. Baron. Ann. 484,
are told, had the hardihood to pin a § 35.
copy ofthe sentence to the pallium of ' Baron. Ann. 484, §§ 31, 34, 35.
the patriarch as he entered his cathe- Cont. Niceph.,&,sq}xoteA.hj Cent. Magd.
dral to say Mass, and the good luck cent. v. p. 1210.

38 CATHEDEA PETEI. [^°o* ^^^•
that no advocate ofthe rights ofthe great metropolitan
church had started up— to inquire into the historical foun
dation of claims which now unequivocally threatened to
swallow up every other ecclesiastical power or authority.
But when we refiect how very probable it is that tew
churches were in possession of copies of the councils, or
of any documents likely to throw fight upon the past his
tory of Roman prerogative ; that in the dearth of written
record, tradition, — vague, unauthenticated, fictitious, —
constituted the body and the bulk of historica,l testimony;
that such records as already existed were m many in
stances of very questionable genuineness and authen
ticity; that, moreover, theological scholars could reap
little credit with the world but by outbidding each other
in the subtlety of their argumentations or the boundless
fury of their zeal, — we are no longer surprised to find
Greeks, Asiatics, Syrians, Egyptians, ahke destitute of
the weapons necessary to defend their common independ
ence. And in fact, to all but Constantinople, Rome lay
too far away for any direct interference with thefr do
mestic government ; and the ever- varying movements of
faction so absorbed their attention, that a legion of emis
saries, armed with all the power of the Church-cathoUc,
could not have aroused them to a sense of thefr common
interests, or of the necessity of combined resistance to a
common enemy. Among such elements, Rome's task re
qufred only minute information and clever management.
Constantinople stood foremost in the fist of foes to be en
countered ; and she stood almost alone. She was, indeed,
supported for the present by the civil government ; but
within her own bosom, and in every province subject to
her jurisdiction or influence, she nourished a numerous
and determined faction in close alliance with her great
adversary. At perpetual feud with her own subjects or
dependents, she could count upon no more solid basis of
defence than the precarious favour of the civil govern
ment. The sequel will show how this reliance served
her turn in the time of need.
In the year 488 Acacius died, and was succeeded by
Fravitta : a person described by one class of writers as

Chap. L] ATTEMPTED EECONCILIATION. 39
a hypocritical pretender ; by others, as a man
of undoubted piety and ability. But he gave ac^ius!
in his adhesion to the Henoticon, and for that fravitta and
act incurred the envenomed hatred of Rome hi"s''suc™es-
and her partisans. His pontificate of barely four ^°''^-
months would perhaps have escaped attention, if he had
not been marked out b3' the opposite faction for post
humous persecution. He was succeeded by Euphemius,
an Alexandrian by birth, and a presbyter of the church of
Constantinople. His creed was unimpeachable, and his
character beyond suspicion; he professed inviolable alle
giance to the Chalcedonian confession, and testified on all
occasions his abhorrence of the Eutychian error. Soon
after his accession he strove to discharge his Attempted
chair from the odium incurred by communion reconciliation
with its now notorious champion Mongus of ^"1^^°™^-
Alexandria; he struck the name of that adventurer out
of the sacred calendar of his church ; and, without pub
licly renouncing the Henoticon, strove to mitigate the
evils of which that unfortunate document had been the
occasion. In proof of his earnest desire for the restoration
of union, he entered into correspondence with Pope Fehx
IIL; and as a preliminary step to the restoration of peace,
he reinstated the name of that pontiff in the diptychs of
his church, from which it had been struck out by Acacius.
But the latter sternly refused to listen to any overtures
of reconciliation until the names of the deceased patri
archs Acacius and Fravitta should have been doomed to
the ignominy of ar public erasure from the sacred calen
dar. Euphemius was unwilling- thus to disgrace his own
church; and probably, if wiUing, was unable to carry a
measure alike insulting to the court and dangerous to
the peace of the metropolis. Felix was, however, inacces
sible to all entreaty to admit to his communion any one
who, directly or indirectly, professed sympathy or spiri
tual fellowship with excommunicated heretics. He con
tended that the sentence of the apostohc see attached to
the whole ecclesiastical status and character ofthe de
ceased prelates ; he asserted that conderanation and de
position by that authority was destructive of all rank or

40 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
place in the Church ; and that those who still upheld them
must be deemed accomplices and participators of those
errors for which they had already suffered the spiritual
death.J In the year 491 the emperor Zeno died, and the senate
Anastasius I. Proclaimed Anastasius I.; and in the following
emperor; ' year Gclasius, an African by birth, and the se-
FtifxHL; cretary and confidential friend of Pope Fehx
Gelasius' HL^ succceded that pontiff upon the papal
^°^^' throne. The new pope united the zeal of Au
gustine with the integrity of Leo the Great, together
with every spark of that pride of power and station that
had ever animated the occupants of St. Peter's chair.
But this pontificate ushers in a new phase ofthe great
controversy between Rome and Constantinople — a con
test, on the one hand, for universal spiritual dominion ;
and on the other, for existence as an independent patri
archate. i Baron. Ann. i89, §§i. etsqq. Conf. Niceplior.,—&n. Cent. Magdeb. cent. v.
pp. 1214, 1270.

CHAPTER II.
PAPAL PEEEOGATIVE UNDER POPES GELASIUS I. AND
SYMMACHUS.
Anastasius emperor — His disposition towards the litigants — Pope Gelasius I. re
nounces the communion of Constantinople — ^Euphemius patriarch— His pacific
disposition — Mission of Faustus and Irenseus — Monition of Gelasius to the
emperor Anastasius — Claims of Gelasius — ^Papal sophistry — Constructive sub
jection — Letter of Gelasius to the emperor Anastasius — Analysis ofthe letter
— Gelasius and the bishops of lUyricum — The lUyrians entertain an erroneous
notion of the Eoman claims — Eoman synod and declaration of the pontifical
prerogative — Letter of Gelasius to the lUyrians — He impeaches Acacius of
rebellion, &c. — Analysis of the letter, &c.— Epitome of the Gelaslan declara
tion of prerogative, &c. — Scope of the document — Its results — Death of Gela
sius I. — Anastasius II. pope — His pacific character— Death of Anastasius H.
— Symmaehus and Laurentius — Contested election — Domestic state ofthe
chm-ch of Eome at the close of the fifth century — Government interferences in
the election of popes — under Odovaker — Law of Odovaker against the aliena
tion of church funds — offensive to the clergy — Its effect — Eeligious faction in
Eome — Contest between Symmaehus and Laurentius referred to King Theo
doric — He decides in favour of Symmaehus — -Law against canvassing, &c. —
Impeachment of Pope Symmaehus — How dealt with by Theodoric — The
Synodus palmaris — Symmaehus retracts his submission to the synod — Plea
of Symmaehus — The synod declares its own incompetency to try the pope —
Ennodius on papal impeccability— Synod of the year 502 — Eepeal of the laws
of Odovaker — Ee-enactment of the law against bribery — Synodal encroach
ments upon the civil legislature — Eemonstrance of the Gallic prelates — Synod
of the year 503— Adoption ofthe Ennodian doctrine of papal impeccability,
&c. — Declaration of episcopal privilege — Summary of ecclesiastical privilege,
&c. — Eights of civil state declared — Anomalous relation of the Church to the
State in the age of Theodoric the Great.
Ariadne, the daughter of Leo the Isaurian and the
widow of Zeno, on whom the choice of a sue- Anastasius
cessor to her late husband devolved, without emperor.
delay nominated their common friend Anastasius ; and
within forty days of the demise of Zeno crowned and
married the new emperor, with the hearty concurrence of
the senate and people of Constanthiople. As a temporal
ruler, the balance of testimony is in his favour; and those
qualities which had contributed to his elevation raain
tained him upon the throne for the unusual period of

42 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
twenty-seven years.* But Anastasius appears, as far as
the testimony of his adversaries may be trusted, to have
His disposi- pledged himself to the Eutychian party prior
tion towards to his elcvatiou ; and for the same cause Eu-
partiesrihephemius of Constantinople is reported to have
Church, vehemently opposed his elevation, and to haye
consented only upon receiving from him a promise in
writing to maintain the cathohc profession, to permit no
innovation in the Church, and to adopt the rule of the
council of Chalcedon in all things touching the faith." It
is not alleged that the promise was ever withdrawn; and
indeed little active partisanship in matters of refigion is
imputed to this prince. The Roman pontifiP, at least in
the outset of his reign, treated with him rather as with a
friend than a foe ;" and Evagrius assures us that he was
the devoted advocate of peace, an enemy of all innova
tion, and intent only on banishing fi-om his states all oc
casion for rehgious or civil strife."* It is, however, pretty
clear that the policy of Anastasius inclined in favour of
the Henoticon of his predecessor; that he endeavoured to
hold the balance between the various sects and factions'
into which the Eastern churches were split up, and to
preserve to all the right to put their own interpretation
upon that instrument, provided they should grant the
hke hberty to the rest. He appears to have indifferently
protected those who adhered to, and those who rejected,
the Chalcedonian decrees and the expositions of faith
appended to them. But the methods of conciliation and
mutual toleration lay beyond the comprehension of that
age; the experiment was eminently unsuccessfiil, and
Rome remained the only gainer by all that was lost to
the true interests of Christian faith and practice.
In Pope Gelasius I. the church ofRome found an
able advocate and a resolute champion. He declined
"¦ See the testimony for and against c Conf. Gelas. Pap. Ep. 'vr.,—Hard.
the character of Anastasius very fairly ConcU. tom. ii. pp. 893 et sqq
set out by Father Tillemont, Hist, des i Evag. Schol lib. iii. c. 30. And
imp. tom. VI., Vie d' Anastase, arts. iii. with this agrees the extract of Valesius
b ^;,-PI'-. ^^.\ ^° ^?^', (^"i E™g- loc. cit.) from the Breviarium
" ihis incident is derived from the of Liberatus.
Byzantines Theophanes and Cedrenus. » Conf. Evaq. loc mod cit
7 illemont, ubi sup. p. 533.

Chap. IL] GELASIUS AND EUPHEMIUS.
to announce his election to the patriarch of
Constantinople until assured of his submission siuTdedllTe's
to the terms prescribed by his predecessor, episcopal
Thus when Euphemius of Constantinople com- wUh cTon"
plained that Gelasius had omitted to send him ='«'°'iiopie-
the usual synodal letters announcing his election to the
see of Rome, he promptly replied that " though it was
customary to give such notification as a mark of favour to
those prelates who cherished the communion of the hol3^
see, yet that it was in no degree obligatory upon the
latter; and though a matter of strict duty on the part of
all other churches in their ordinary intercourse with the
first see of Christendom, there was no reciprocity of obh
gation, nor was the supreme pontiff of Rome in any way
bound to announce his accession to the inferior sees of
Christendom."' And it must be admitted, that a custom
springing from the original equality of all bishops was
wholly inconsistent with the novel position assumed by the
see of Rome. That Christian fellowship, that free com
munion denoted by the mutual delivery of synodal letters
by the bishops upon their election, or on other important
occasions, had become an anomaly in the scheme of
the Roman primacy. Pope Gelasius therefore took care
to divest these documents of their primitive significance,
and to place them upon the footing of acts of special
grace and favour towards those whom his church might
deem worthy of such a distinction.^
The anxiety which Euphemius took no care to con
ceal for the communion and support of Rome, served only
to reveal the weakness of his position. He apologised to
the pope for his participation in the imperial scheme of
union : he had, he said, been driven into compromise for
the sake of peace, but had never swerved from the ortho
dox faith of the Church ; and he mildly remonstrated
with his brother patriarch for objecting to the retention
ofthe names of his predecessors in the sacred diptychs as
a condescension in itself immaterial, yet necessary to the
' Ep. Gelas. ad Euphert.., Hard. Cone. §§ 10 and 14. But neither of these pass-
tom. ii. pp. 879, 880: see the passages ages is very clearly expressed.
« non arbitramur," &c. and " cum lu- ^ Conf. Baroa. ubi sup. § 7.
tem dicis," &c. Conf. Baron. Ann. 492,

44 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
attainment of the great end in view— peace and unity in
the Church." Gelasius replied, that by permitting his
name, with that ofthe pope and other orthodox prelates,
to be associated with the name ofthe condemned heretic
Acacius,' he had placed himself in the false and humili
ating position in which he now stood ; and that it he
(Gelasius) should connive at such a course of proceeding,
he should himself become a sharer in the spiritual dis
grace attending it: that therefore, unless Euphemius
should without delay obfiterate all traces of communion
or sympathy with heretics and heresy, by the erasure of
the names of the delinquents from the liturgies of his
church, he could not consent to restore him to the com
munion of the holy see.^
If it had been the single, or even the principal, object
Double of Pope Gelasius, in repelling the advances of
aspect of the pacific patriarch, to save the reputation of
tSurah"- his church and to avoid the contamination of
policy, heretical communion, some apology might be
suggested for the course he adopted. But it is undeniable
that the main intent of the pope was to establish in him
self the character of supreme ecclesiastical judge; a motive
of conduct different in its nature from that defensive at
titude to which no just exception can be taken.'' Yet the
orthodox churches of the East may reasonably be sup
posed to have regarded the conduct of Gelasius from this
latter point of view, and to have looked up to him with
out suspicion as the single-minded defender of the ortho
dox faith. With this feeling on their minds, they could
not be expected to distinguish accuratel3^ between the
defensive measures to which they were well disposed to
give thefr support, and that offensive warfare \^-aged by
the see of Rome against every rival judicature in the
^ According to Baronius (Ann. 492, nius discovers, with a view to explain
§§ 7, 8, 9), two letters were written by the address of Gelasius's letter to Eu-
Buphemius to Pope Gelasius : the above phemius: "Dilectissimoyrafr! Euphe-
facts are extracted from the reply of miano," &c. The highest charge that
the latter to the second letter, sent by could be brought against Acacius was
the hand of his deacon Sinclitius. that of schism*
' Pope Gelasius, it appears, did not J Ep. Gelas. «.d Euph., — Hard.Conc.
take the distinction between a heretic loc. sup. cit.
aud a schismatic which Cardinal Baro- i* Conf. Book I. c. vu. pp. 161-163.

Chap, n.] MISSION OF FAUSTUS AND IRENEUS. 4,5
Church. Thus, on the one hand, the Roman advocate
might feel himself at liberty to discern in each act of
acquiescence or submission a fresh proof of the acknow
ledged universality of the papal jurisdiction ; while on
the other, the unreflecting, the unwary, or the ignorant
might be unconsciously ensnared into dependence where
they intended no more than Christian trust and fellowship.
And there is no room to doubt, that by this time the see
of Rome had succeeded in so commingling and Rome admits
confounding the ideas of communion and sub- °o distinction
jection, that she was probably herself hardly mmUonand
sensible of any distinction. Certainly she ad- subjection.
mitted none such in her intercourse with foreign churches.
At this juncture a simply political event afforded to Pope
Gelasius an opportunity to lay before his friends in the
East a full and explicit statement of his reasons'for reject
ing the application of Euphemius, and of placing the pre
rogative of St. Peter's chair in a light so broad and clear
that no one could thereafter plead ignorance ofthe terms
of Roman communion, or hope to obtain it but by the ab
solute surrender of all corporate or individual privilege.
King Theodoric the Great had occasion to send two
Roman envoys, Faustus and Irenaeus, to the Mission ^f
court of Constantinople upon certain secret ne- Faustus and
gotia tions of importance. These persons pos- ^'¦<^'"^'^5-
sessed the confidence of Gelasius, and, without reference
to his lay character, he selected Faustus to be the bearer
and publisher of his mandates in the East; a step, it must
be observed, hitherto unprecedented in the annals of eccle
siastical intercourse.' Euphemius had closed his corre
spondence with Rome in anger and disgust. He was pro
bably now disposed to let things take their course, and to
trust to time and his own exertions to counteract the grow
ing influence of Rome among the fanatical adherents of
the Chalcedonian confession. But neither the traditional
policy of his see nor a sense of his duty as he conceived
it permitted Pope Gelasius to tolerate such a state of qui-
• Faustus had been, it appears, in the sent to l'*'" .^'^^^f ^^gP^^"^^^^^^^^
first instance intrusted with verbal in- his repor of the state of things at Con
structions from the pope. The commo- stantmople.
nitorium, or written instructions, were

46 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
escence ; suspension of intercourse must not be allowed
to imply even a truce with the enemies of the faith, or
the gainsayers ofthe supremacy of its divinely appointed
Papal in- guardian and dispenser. From the report of
structions Faustus he learnt that Euphemius, so far from
to Faustus. exhibiting a disposition more favourable to the
demands of Rome, was drawing away his party from
the papal comraunion. He therefore despatched to the
former a " commonitorium," or instruction, embracing
every point of the existing controversy, with a view to
furnish his friends in the East with the most effective
argumentative artillery against the "hypocritical pre
varications" to whose machinations he imputed the daring
rebellion ofthe patriarch and his party.""
The emperor Anastasius had, it seems, complained to
Monition of tne cuvoys that the censure passed upon his
^°P^^^g«^^^i"s religious profession had caused the senate to
peror Anas- rcfusc to communicatc with him. Gelasius
tasius. denied that he had ever reflected upon the em
peror's rehgion; "but if," he added, "it should please
him to make common cause with the damned, he had
no right to blame him for the consequences ; more espe
cially as, by renouncing his connection with heretics, he
might not only escape the like condemnation, but acqufre
a title to the affectionate regard and communion of the
holy see :" that the senate of Constantinople should have
declined rehgious intercourse with him, was no ground
of complaint ; for they were fully justified in avoiding
the contamination of heresy, whereby they must have
torteited the favour of the apostohc see : " but " said
the indignant monitor, "these folk demand in one breath
tha,t I shoud pardon the unrepentant and hardened
malefactor-him who hath died in mortal sin— in order
that they may be received into our communion; and in
the next they threaten to withdraw themselves from that
commumon. A vahant threat indeed ! For have they
not long ago most effectually renounced our communion ?
doHutTr-^tth/vert'i^- r 'r' "^ ^^''^*- - --j°-- "-
diatelyathand-tellsusthatEuphe^u^ § 9." '°'"'°*'^ "''""'''''" *<=-^""- *'''

Chap, h.] CLAIMS OP POPE GELASIUS. 47
Did they not know that Acacius was damned already by
the very terms of the Chalcedonian decrees, in that he
took under his protection that error which, among many
Others, was therein specially condemned ? But Acacius,
forsooth, was sentenced without trial ! What need of
trial in the case of one already under condemnation ? Is
it not manifest that all the abettors of his heresy were
thereby condemned, in the same manner and forra as
was also every other heresy since the foundation of the
Church ; and that my predecessor (Felix III.) was but
the hand by which that judgment was executed, not the
originator of any new process ? And this proceeding is
within the competency not of the holy see alone, but of
every bishop ; for they are all at liberty to separate from
their communion any one, whoever and whatever he may
be, who hath participated in any heresy afready con
demned by the Church-catholic."
The (areeks, it appears, had shown a disposition to
inquire too curiously into the grounds of the p^ ^ ^^.^^_
Roman claim to this universal jurisdiction, sius claims
They had put forward the decrees of the four ^^''^^^''^om
general councils of the Church for securing the aU canonical
liberties of the individual churches against fo- '•«5*"'='^'™=-
reign encroachment." The case of Acacius was mani
festly not that of a judicially convicted heretic, as the
pope assumed it to be. The offence of the deceased pa
triarch, if any, amounted at the utmost to that of schism ;
and it was surely a matter of inquiry whether that of
fence had indeed been committed, and whether it could
be brought within the description of any of the heresies
condemned by conciliar enactment. To that law, there
fore, the Greeks had very reasonably appealed. They
had presumed to quote the canons against the arbitrary
act of Felix, and thereby drew down upon theraselves a
storm of pontifical wrath. "They fling the canons in
our teeth," said he : " verily they know not what they are
talking about; for they are themselves the very first to
break through these canons, by the mere act of refusing
obedience to the primate of all the chairs: for it is by vir-
" Conf. chap. i. of this Book, pp. 42, 43.

48 CATHEDEA PETEI. [^°<>^ ^^^•
tue of these very canons that an appeal to the chafr of
Peter lieth open to all and every portion of the Lhurch-
cathohc; the sarae law constituteth Rome the supreme
iudge over the whole Church, though herself amenable to
no earthly tribunal; from her decrees there is bo appeal;
her sentences are irreversible and binding upon the whole
worid."" , ... J r • •
There is here an apparently calculated contusion m
Papal the language of Pope Gelasius. There was
sophistry, really no appeal in the case. The complaint
of Talaia to the pope could not come before him by wa3^
of appeal ; but must, in conforraity with the decision ot
Pope Sfricius in the case of Bonosus, and, we may add,
that of Innocent I. in the case of Chrysostom,^ be first
adjudicated upon by the synod ofthe province or diocese
where the reputed delinquent resided. It was no answer
to the objection, that the difficulties in the way of as
sembling such a synod were insuperable, and therefore
that the pope miglit dispense with that preliminar}^, and
treat the cause as if it had come before him in the
ordinary canonical form of an appeal from the decision
of a competent ecclesiastical tribunal.'' In this daring
appeal to the canons. Pope Gelasius, however, does not
venture to fix upon any single ordinance among them
on which he grounded his proud assumption of juris
diction and universal immunity. But we are b3' this
time sufficiently familiar with the mode in which the
Roman pontiffs connected their claims M'ith the canons
of the Church. As we have more than once repeated,
the vi'" canon of Nicsea, with its spurious Roman prefix,
was the only scrap of canon law she could allege with
any chance of a hearing from the Christian world. And
if, in the case before us, the traditional position of the
o See the whole document ap. Hard. it is indeed difiicult to say to what court
Cone. tom. ii. pp. 884-887; .Baron. Ann. he was by law amenable in the first
493, §§ 13, 14, 15. instance. But though his case were a
P See Book II. c. i. p. 266; and Book " casus omissus," the pope could npon
II. c. i. p. 279 note (8). no principle of law or common sense
•1 Acacius, even if treated as simple thereby acquire a right to deal with it
bishop of Byzantium, must have been either as an original or an appeal cause
tried before the comprovincial bishops in his own court.
of the Thracian diocese. As patriarch.

Chap. II.] CONSTEUCTIVE SUBJECTION. 49 '
pope had not been much stronger than his law, he could
hardly have escaped the reprobation or the derision of
Christendom. But at the close ofthe fifth century the myth ofthe
chair of Peter was so far established, that no
verbal contradiction was to be apprehended; wltKesee'
and Pope Gelasius was prepared with a series of Eome a
J. ^1. ...^.^ .jz-i j constructive
01 precedents and admissions against Constan- acknowiedg-
tinople, which raight at all events serve to ""1°* "^^ ="*>¦
perplex his antagonists and to give confidence ^^'' """'
to his own supporters in the East. " It was obvious,"
he said, " that the late proceedings against the heretics
Timothy ^lurus, Peter Mongus, Peter (Gnapheus) of
Antioch, John of Apamsea, and divers others, originated
with, and were the spontaneous act and deed of, the
apostolic see : that in all these causes Acacius had so
licited and received his instructions frora Rorae ; and
that he acted in all things only as the willing official,
the obedient minister and agent ofthe holy see for the
due execution ofthe sentences pronounced by the pope
(Felix IIL). These sentences," he added, " were pro
mulgated and authenticated in due .synodal forra ; con
sequently no one— least of all the agent himself— could
be at hberty to recede from them, or again to take the
condemned delinquents to his bosom : neither could Aca
cius himself complain if he were dealt with in the same
manner as they had been, for having fallen back into
fellowship with the men whose conderanation he had
served and proraoted. And yet," exclaimed the pope,
" the apologists of this person have dared to aUege against
us those canons ^\'hich they themselves have so grossly
infringed, to serve the interests of their own exorbitant
ambition !"
It is almost superfluous to point out to the reader
that, as far as the evidence before us goes, Forotd con-
Acacius himself had not the remotest intention ™^°^;/
to do homage to the chair of Peter while con- Acacius by
senting to act with Rome in pursuit of a com- 'Jepop-
mon purpose. It is true that he had approved the cen
sures passed upon the heretics Mongus and his associates ;
VOL. II. ^

60 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
but he had not been an original party to the quasi-judi
cial proceedings at Rome against those persons, nor had
he acknowledged their validity so as to bind himself as a
party to the sentence. While Rome restricted her pre
tensions to the right of excluding them from her own
particular communion, Acacius might indeed approve the
act ; but when told that such verbal approval not only
bound him as a party to the process, but degraded him
to the position of a simple rainister or agent for its exe
cution, he and his apologists had a full right to ask upon
what canonical grounds such a demand was based. The
expulsions of JElurus and Gnapheus from their sees, in
deed, appear to have been altogether arbitrary: no synods
had been convoked to decide between them and their op
ponents ; the acts by which they lost their chairs — like
those b3^ Avhich they regained them — "were rather popular
and tumultuary than judicial: there was therefore no re
cord by which Acacius could be so far bound as to con
vert a verbal approval into a conclusive engagement such
as that alleged against him b3^ the pope.
Yet there was enough in his conduct throughout
Eome pre- thcsc trausactious to fix him with the charges of
sumes a uni- inconsistency and subterfuge ; though perhaps
versal assent . •' , , f ' ori
to her supre- m no greater degree than must necessaril3' be
macy. incurred in all cases of comproraise with former
antagonists. But after making the most of these incon
sistencies, Gelasius found himself at last thrown back
upon the canons. It was important to impress upon the
Oriental world that Acacius had adopted the Roman con
struction of those canons : and to that end, when acting
in concurrence with Rorae, he is treated as her submis
sive agent and servant ; when in opposition, as a mere
traitor and a rebel. His acts are valid to prove submis
sion and dependence, but worthless to excuse or explain
resistance. But this process of proof could be of avail only
upon the supposition that the law or the custom regulat
ing the relation ofthe sees of Christendom to that of Rome
had received the universal assent affirmed by the pope :
otherwise the mere joint pursuit of a common purpose
could furnish no evidence at all to show the legal subiec-

Chap. II.] PAPAL DEALING WITH CANON-LAW. 51
tion of the one jurisdiction to the other. Rorae could
claim no other than a legal supi-einac3^; nor could 'she
put her own construction upon isolated acts until she had
settled the law applicable to those acts — until she should
have shown that that law was known to and adraitted by
the actors, and that they intended to be bound by it. But
for this she had not a fragraent of an admission "to exhibit
.... the alleged law was unknown to, and unacknow
ledged in any shape by, the prelacy ofthe East: if they
acted with Rome, they did so for their own purposes, biit
without the remotest intention of professing theraselves
the agents and subjects of Rome.'
It is, however, tolerably clear that Pope Gelasius had
in his own mind identified and incorporated the
prerogative of St. Peter's chair, as he found it ^ withTx-
upon the records of his church, with the corpus i^""!? ""¦^o'l-
of ecclesiastical law. The canons to which he
appealed were in truth made up of the traditional com
mentaries of his predecessors — more especially those of
Leo the Great — upon the vi"' canon of Nicaea, and the sub
sequent ex-parte declarations of prerogative arising out
of them ; and he was therefore fully prepared to treat all
resistance to that prerogative as a sacrilegious outrage
upon the operative ecclesiastical law. Hence his indig
nant invective against Euphemius and his patron for re
jecting the decisions of the late Roraan s3mods : " They
had dared to sit in judgment upon the chair of Peter ;
they had presumed to dispute the authority and to qiies-
tion the powers of the apostolic commission ; the bishop
of a see which by the canons (!) hath no place araong- the
spiritual thrones of Christendora,' hath ventured upon his
own judgment to gainsay the canonical rights of the
apostolic see,' as affirmed by the holy synods." An indi
rect attack had in fact been made upon the fundamental
' For further Ulustration of some of pp. 300-311, ch. iv. pp. 374-376, ch. v.
the points contained in the last two pa- pp. 390-392, 400, 401 , 406-411 .
ragraphs,— particularly as to the mode • It wiU be remembered that the lu^
of dealing with the canons so frequently and iv"' canons of Constantinople (371)
resorted to by the Eoman pontiffs,— and the xxviii* of Chalcedon were waste
the reader is referred to the following paper at Eome. , , ,
passages in the first two Books of this ' The vi"> of Nicffia was passed before
work, viz. Book I. ch. viii. pp. 191-193, Constantinople was m existence.
and ch. ix. pp. 202, 203; Book IL c. ii.

53 CATHEDEA PETHl. [Book III.
doctrine ofthe chair of Peter; the Roman exposition of
the "Tu es Petrus" was in danger. Gelasius felt and
acknowledged the challenge; and it drew from him the.
fuUest, plainest, and most instructive declaration of the
papal prerogative that had ever issued from the papal
oracle. This remarkable document was drawn up in the form
Letter of of an apologctic letter, addressed to the em-
Pope Gelasius peror Auastasius, with a view to convey a full
pe°ror aTs- aud frauk exposition ofthe relation between the
tasius. Church and the State, and of the reciprocal
obligations incident to their independent character and
free alliance. In the exordium Gelasius professes abso
lute submission in all matters of lawful obedience. But
the world, he observes, is ruled by two powers, the pon
tifical and the royal; the more grave and important of
the two is that which appertains to the priesthood ; for
fhej it is who must hereafter render an account unto the
Lord for the deeds of kings themselves. " You cannot
be ignorant, most gracious son," that though 3"ou rule
over men in the world, 3'et, as a devout prince, 3'ou are
in duty bound to submit in spiritual concerns to 3'our
prelates, and to look to them for the means of 3^our sal
vation ; that as to the administration of divine ordinances
you are not a ruler, but a subject ; that in such concerns
you have no right to command ; that it is you that are
dependent upon them as your spiritual pastors ; that it
is not for them therein to consult your will, or for you
to obtrude it upon them."
The pope indeed graciously excepts civfl government
Paramount from the Competency of the priesthood, and ad-
SoHty^ "^^*^ *^^* obedience to the lawful commands of
ofthe the sovereign cannot be refused by his bishops
pontificate, without incurring a heavy debt of sin. But this
topic soon vanishes from his view, and Gelasius addresses
himself with fervour to the contemplation ofthe graver of
the two powers by which the world is ruled— that power
before which even princes must veil their heads in humble
submission. " But among all the sacerdotal principafities,
» The first time this mode of address to princes occurs in the papal writings ( ?).

Chap. II.J GELASIUS ON THE PONTIFICATE. 53
where," he aisks, " is that which is comparable Pontifical
in dignity to the power which God himself had argument.
placed on an eminence high above all — that which is ac
knowledged hj the universal Church — which was erected
by the word of Christ himself—that power which, though
often assailed by the kings of the world, still, like the
rock on which it is founded, stands invincible and im
pregnable — the primacy of the Boman church ? For as
by virtue of this commission the Roman pontiff becomes
the gage and pledge to God for the soundness of tke whole
body qf the Church, if the apostolic see should even in the
minutest matter betray its trust, or deal falsel3r by the
faith, the whole fabric ofthe Church, which is built upon
the single foundation of St. Peter's confession, raust be
shaken to its base. There can be therefore no peace or
corapromise with her until the very seeds of perversity, the
very roots and fibres of error, be first wholly destro3^ed
and exterminated ; in her bosom there can be no commu
nion or sympathy with heresy. If it be once believed that
the Eut3'chia,n dogma may stand side by side or be raade
to agree with the catholic faith, that heres3'' is thereby
published and afiirmed. So if any man make papai i^.
common cause with the patrons of heretics, he peachment
must be deemed an abettor of heres3^ For by ° oacms.
all human state-law the harbourer ofthe thief becomes
involved in the guilt of his confederates ; nor can ke be
regarded as innocent who, though not himself directly
implicated in the crirae, yet hesitates not to admit the
criminal to his intimacy. By such a course it was that
Acacius had becorae involved in the guilt of his confede
rates ; and was therefore of necessity cut off from the com
munion ofthe catholic Church and ofthe apostolic see, lest
that see might, even by the remotest appearance of conniv
ance, seem to contract sorae taint of the like perfid3'.
But in deahng with the more direct assault p^^^ands im-
of the Greeks upon the alleged prerogative* of pUcit obedi-
St. Peter's chair, the pontifl" did not thmk tit to preliminary
face the objection. No foreign church, he inti- ^^^'^
mated, could lawfully reopen or discuss a subject
* See p. 47 of this chapter.

54 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
settled from aU antiquity ; nor could any but the general
voice of all Christendom be competent to instruct the
chafr of Peter upon the scope and meaning of the Mcene
decrees: until therefore that voice should be heard, the
duty of obedience remained in full force. -ti^st, he ex
claimed, " let the abhorred names be blotted from the me
morials ofthe Church; and when that is done, let any one
that dares stand forth and impeach in due form the vener
able decrees of tke Faikers: it shall then appear which
party hath faithfully kept the traditions ot the elders,
and which hath, by irreverent impeachment, become as
a thief and a robber in the Church. ' In the
?hTp?ea*o? same peremptory tone he set aside all con-
political siderations of pohtical expediency against the
expediency. ^^^^^^^ ^f ^^e obuoxious uames from the dip
tychs : " What if it should happen that the erasure of
those names should be followed by popular tumult or
disturbance of the pubhc peace ? That," he said, " was
the emperor's pecuhar care ; for was it not obvious that
if he should at any time find it necessary to make use of
the public force to carry an unpopular law into execu
tion, he would not hesitate to exert his lawful powers for
that purpose ; how much more, then, was it incumbent
upon him to put those powers in motion when called
upon to reduce his people to obedience to the divine
precept!"'^ Such, at the close of the fifth centur3^, was the case
Gelasius and sct up OU behalf oftlic Petriuc primacy by one
thecompro- of its most leamed and most resolute advo-
bishop^of cates. But Gelasius was a man of prompt and
lUyricum. (Jecisivc actiou — one to whom compromise was
an abomination — one who knew no middle path between
precept and practice ; between the right to command and
the duty to obey. The bishops of lUyricum Orientale —
a diocese which had for ages past been regarded by
Rome as within her special superintendence" — had hesi-
^ See the entire document, ap. Hard. ^ Conf. Ep. Gelas. ad Anastas., — ap.
Cone. tom. ii. pp. 893 to 896. Conf. Hard. Cone. tom. ii. p. 896.
Baron. Ann. 493, §§ 10 to 21, with the '^ Conf. Book II. ch. i. pp. 279, 280;
cardinal's running commentary; also and ch. ii. pp. 310-313.
Ep. ad Orientales, Hard. tom. ii. p. 924.

Chap. II.] . GELASIUS TO THE ILLYEIANS. 55
tated to make the erasure of the names of Acacius and
Fravitta from their registers a condition of church-fel
lowship among themselves. Many of them had, indeed,
struck those names out of their own services; but had not
declined communion with their metropolitan of Thessa
lonica, who resolutely retained them. Others, it appears,
were still upon friendly terms with Euphemius of Con
stantinople, but at the same time anxious not to forfeit
the communion of Rome. Gelasius hastened to convince
them that such a position was untenable. The arch
bishop of Thessalonica was put out of the Roman com
munion for his obstinate syrapathy with Constantinople.
But it was of iraportance that this act of power should
be unconditionally adopted by all whom the voice of
Rorae could reach. Gelasius therefore suraraoned a com
mission, or S3rnod, consisting of seventy bishops of his
Italian dependencies, for the publication of a solemn de
claration of right, embracing the whole prerogative of
the see of Peter and the duties which the relation thus
created entailed upon the universal Church and all its
members. The lUyrians, it appears, had fallen ^^^.^j. ^^ ^^^
into the error of supposing thatthe see of Rome, lUyrian
like all others, was bound by existing canons totheaifeged
in adjudicating upon ecclesiastical causes, and jurisdiction
were therefore at a loss to comprehend by what ° °™*'
public law or ecclesiastical custom a single patriarch,
without the intervention of a regular synodal inquiry
and sentence, pretended to excommunicate and depose
a bishop of equally exalted rank. This was dangerous
ground; and Pope Gelasius resolved to convince them of
their mistake on the two points which the objection em
braced. It was indispensable that they should be made
to understand first, that the holy see was not bound by
the ordinary rules of synodal proceeding where it saw
good cause for departing from them; and secondly, that
the bishop of Constantinople not only stood beneath the
see of Rome, but beneath aU other patriarchal and me
tropolitan sees ; that, in fact, his church could pretend
to no canonical place, rank, or authority of any but of
the lowest degree among the sees of Christendom.

56 CATHEDEA PETUI. . [Book III.
Whether the declaration of right published by the
seventy Roman prelates preceded or followed
^uddecC'the remarkable epistle of Gelasius to the lUy-
tion ofponti- rian prelates to be next adverted to, is of small
ficai right. jj^Qj^^gj^^_ j^ furnishes the best commentary
upon the scope and design of that epistle, and_ may be
treated as an appropriate prelude to it. " We think it re
quisite," said the assenting fathers, " to make known to
aU, that as there can be but one bride-chamber of Christ,
the holy apostolical church of Rome does not owe its high
pre-eminence above all other churches to any synodal law
or constitution ; but that it was conferred upon her by
our Lord and Saviour in his gospel, when he pronounced
the words, ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock wiU I
build my church, and the gates of heU shall not prevaU
against it ;' and again by the words, ' I wiU give unto
thee the keys ofthe kingdom of heaven; and whomsoever
thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whomsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven :'.... therefore the Roman church of the blessed
apostle Peter . . . is the primate over all. The next to
her in oeder is the see of Alexandria, consecrated in the
name of Peter by his disciple and evangelical secretary
Mark. The third see is that of Antioch, likewise ren
dered illustrious through the name of the blessed Peter,
seeing that he dwelt there before he inhabited Rome, and
because there the followers of the new religion were first
called Christians."^
This deduction of title, it will be seen, at once cleared
Scope and *^^^ ^^^^ ^^"^"^ ^^^ t^^ iutricacics and impedi-
purpose ofthe mcuts with which a canonical derivation — if
rightTie°t'tef ^"^h '^^^¦e possible— was encumbered, and won-
to'the derfuUy assisted the pope in dissipating the
lUyrians. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ IllyriaUS. The objCCt, it wiU bc
borne in mind, was to convince them that the deceased
patriarch Acacius was not entitled to a canonical trial;
that no inquest as to his participation in the guUt of
heresy was necessary; that he was self-condemned, and
>¦ See Cone. Eom. i. can. i.,— ap. Hard, Cone. tom. ii. p. 938. Conf. Baron.
Ann. 494, §§ 20, 21.

Chap. II.] GELASIUS TO THE ILLYEIANS. 57
that whatever deficiencies might be alleged in the pro
ceedings against him were properly supplied by the un
bounded prerogative of the holy see. JBy thus shaping
his case, the pope got rid of all the material questions
both of law and of fact involved in it. The pope, he
says, was, in virtue of the primacy of the Roman see,
invested with full authority to carry into execution all
such conciliar decrees as should have received his con
currence and confirmation; consequentl3' the questions
whether Acacius was personally chargeable with Eut3--
chian heresy, and whether a person not so charg-eable
could contract the guilt of heres3' by holding intercourse
or comraunion with heretics, were raatters triable by the
pope in his capacity of universal bishop, without the con
currence of an3' council, general or special. It was, he
declared, the invariable practice of the holy see to hold
those who professed heretical tenets, without judicial
inquiry into the particular facts, as conderaned already
by the siraple tenor of the decree which defines the error.
The chair of Peter he afiirmed was endowed with the
sole moderatorial and executive power for the due admi
nistration of ecclesiastical law ; that is, in each case to
declare the fact, and to apply the law upon its own arbi-
trairy judgment.
Gelasius then passes on to the articles of impeach
ment against Acacius. In all antecedent pro- Gelasius im-
ceedings, said the pope to his correspond- peaches
ents, against the heretics .^lurus, Mongus, prevarication
and others, Acacius had acted as the self-pro- andrebeiuon.
fessed agent and servant of Rome ; he had not only con
curred in the condemnation of those delinquents, but had
actively assisted in executing the sentences passed upon
them by the holy see : but that after that he had sud
denly discontinued his dutiful intercourse with Rome;
he had withheld information, wrapped himself in guilt3^
silence; and at length he, the official executor ofthe papal
commands, was found to have renewed his connection
with the very men whom he had but a short time before
denounced and punished. In addition to these offences,
. he had been guilty of a contempt of the most fiagrant

gg CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IU.
character, in declining the jurisdiction of the bishop-
primate of Christendom when summoned to answer be
fore him by the pontiff of the second see.'= For aU these
delinquencies the pope assumed that he had a lull ngnt,--
upon his own inquest, by his own judgment, and m strict
pursuance of the decrees of the synod of Chalcedon, —to
conderan and depose Acacius, and to expunge his name
from the hearts and memories of the faithful, as a heretic
and the friend and associate of heretics. , ,, ,
"And," continues Gelasius, " what m aU this hath Aca-
Takesthe 'cius or his posthumous comforters and abettors
charges to complaiu of ? Was he not himself the fore-
IcaSul most to condemn these his new friends and al-
pro confesso. jies ? Hath he not, by so connecting himself,
pronounced his own doom ? Have we not letters under
his own hand, convicting him of aU we charge against
him? Surety, with such testimony before us, there can be
no need of further inquiry; more especially after he hath
wilfully thrown away the opportunity afforded him of
exculpating himself— after rejecting the summons of the
second see to clear himself before the pontiff of the first
see, to whom he is canonically amenable. That he is
so amenable, is a matter of universal notoriety. -AU the
The holy see world kuows that the holy see hath power to
the sole judge rcvisc and reverse all ecclesiastical sentences;
Uw and the to sit in judgment, in the last resort, upon all
f*=*- ckurches; and that no pontiff" or person is com-
pietent to call her judgment in question: and tkis in such
wise, that if at any time the canons of the Church should
be alleged ag-ainst her, it is answered that there lietk no
appeal to tke canons, for that she is the sole judge of
their import and application."
" But, passing by all this, let Acacius be judged by
^ The pope takes for granted the va- not competent to cite Acacius according
lidity of the election of Talaia to the to the pope's own principle, and then
see of Alexandria ; a question of fact there would have been no question to
which Acacius might have good ground try.
for disputing. But this, it seems, was » Which, however, neither defined the
one of the facts determinable by Eome particular offence charged against Aca-
at her own discretion, though raising a eius, nor pointed out the persons of any
most material issue in the case. For if delinquents.
Talaia's election was irregular, he was >> Judge both of the law and the fact.

Chap. II.] GELASIUS TO THE ILLYEIANS. 59
his own conduct. Let his advocates inform us
by what authority he deposed bishops canoni- estoppe'd by
cally elected, and instituted his own creatures ^^^ °^? .•'^-
in their places. What synod did he convoke? ^^
Or by what right did he interfere in these raatters ? Of
what see is he the bishop ? Of what raetropolitan church
is he the priraate ? Let them show, if they can, that he
stands one step higher in rank than that of a dependent
parochial bishop of the diocese of Heracleia ; or that
he hath power to convoke synods, or to do any ecclesi
astical act implying such a power. Such acts are a raa
nifest invasion of the prerogative of the greater sees, and
therefore in themselves altogether nugatory and void.
And this more emphatically so, when it is remembered
that no synod hath any validity without the approbation
of the holy see ; and that that see hath the power, even
Tbitkout synod, of reversing all conciliar decisions, of ab
solving- those who may have been synodically condemned,
and condemning those who ought to be condemned." We
therefore laugh to scorn," exclaims the indignant pontiff,
"jthose who would assign authority to Acacius because
he was bishop of the iraperial city. Have not eraperors
on many occasions resided at Ravenna, at Milan, at
Treves 1 and have those cities claimed any additional dig
nity on that pretence?'' And surely," he adds, " if the
° The pope here alleges- the cases of might be reversed hy a legitimate coun-
Athanasius, Chrysostom, Flavian, and cii, supported by the approval of the
Dioscorus, as instances or precedents of holy see ; but only with such support,
this sole self-action of the holy see, — and to the extent to which that support
with what propriety may be seen by was granted. This is added to save the
reference to the first vol. of this work, rejection of the xxviii"" canon by Leo
Book I. c. ix. pp. 200 etsqq.; Book II. the Great; a canon fatal to one ofthe
c. i. pp. 274 et sqq., ihid. c. iv. pp. 373, most material points in the pope's argu-
374, 375. She alone, Gelasius assures ment, and therefore carefully kept out
us, decreed and convoked the great of sight throughout this document.
oouncU of Chalcedon; in that councU "i A temporary residence of the prince
she, of her sole authority, granted her certainly does not constitute a capital.
pardon to many bishops who had been But Eome and Constantinople were the
impUcated in the proceedings of the legal and chartered capitals ot the em-
" ruflSan synod" (Ephesus IL), and re- pire. Eavenna, Milan, and Treves were
iected those who continued obdurate ; residences for the convenience of provm-
which sole power was admitted and acted cial government, the conduct of wars, or
upon by -that council, to the intent that security against invasion. But Gelasms
nothing should stand firm but what the chooses to forget that these oecumenical
holy se! approved; thus estabUshing the councJs had adopted the very ground
principle thatwhat had been decreed by for the attribution of power to Coustan-
a false and wicked synod (Ephesus II.) tinople which he laughs to scorn.

60 CATHEDEA PETEI. C^ook III.
question of right to do aU these things which Acacius
hath done should be made to turn upon the dignity ot
the cities, then the dignity of the three great patriarchal
sees is superior to that ofthe city, which not only hath
no narae or place araong those sees, but hath not even
metropolitan rank or right of any kind. And again, when
men talk of a royal city, its rank or prerogjative, they
ought to be reminded that the power ot secular royalty
is one thing, but the distribution of ecclesiastical dignity
a totally different thing. For as even the most insigni
ficant place of residence could not derogate from the im
perial prerogative, so neither can the imperial presence
alter the measure of rehgious attribution."
" The patrons of Acacius," he continues, " cannot be
Eepudiates permitted to aUege either that he had no means
the apologies to rcsist the authority of the emperor in the
on'brhriro^f disposal of episcopal sees, or th'at the emperor
Acacius. had reason or right to voice or power in any
ecclesiastical matter. He could not resist, forsooth ! He
had no powers of remonstrance ! He could lift no warn
ing voice! He could not rebuke, as Nathan rebuked
King David, or as the holy Ambrose rebuked the em
peror Theodosius the Great! But he could resist the
tyrant Basihscus when it suited his purpose, and even
compel hira to relinquish his nefarious designs. And
shall it be believed that he could not in the same way
have rebuked and resisted Zeno in his evil scheme of
union with excommunicated heretics? And, above all
other considerations, if he reall3' felt himself so feeble,
why did he not take counsel of the Roman see, wkose
delegate ke was, and from whom he notoriousl3' derived
all the authority he possessed over the regions he go
verned ?'' But his conduct exhibits the reverse of all this;
" The pope supports this proposition thority from Eome to the bishop of Con-
upon the submission of the emperor stantinople; of which, however, thtre
Marcian and the penitence and obedi- is no further evidence. I believe the
ence of Anatolius in the affair of the delegation here alluded to denotes no
xxviii"' canon of Chalcedon, but always more than the generally derivative cha-
without naming that abomination. See racter of the episcopate so fondly che-
vol. i. Book II. c. V. pp. 416 et sqq. rished by the see of Eome. See Op-
' There are here and there obscure tatus of Milevis on the Petrine primacy,
hints in the writings of this pontiff of a Book II. c. u. pp. 294, 295.
kind of vicariate, or delegation of au-

Chap. II.J GELASIAN PEEEOGATIVE. 61
for he was, and must be reputed to be, a principal delin
quent, whether it be on the ground of connivance at the
crimes of others, or as himself an active participator and
accomplice." With a view to dissipate all reraaining doubt in the
rainds of his Illyrian correspondents, Gelasius g ^0^50^,
condescends to apologise for the Roraan S3'nods a mode of^
he had convoked to adjudicate upon the whole tC'detreef
' relation between the holy see and that of Con- ofthe
stantinople. " Not," he said, " that any synod ^°^^ ''^•
was necessary to deterraine a matter already decided by
authorit3' ofthe hol3^ see; but because that proceeding ap
peared requisite to give publicit3^ to her sentences and to
clear awa3' the impediments her adversaries raight throw
in her way ; finall3', because no other raode was open to
her, inasmuch as there were no orthodox bishops in the
East, but such as were deprived of all liberty or inde
pendence. The holy see therefore was left to act — as ske
had at all times and under all circumstances a. right to
do — upon her own authority ; wken ske could, wkere ske
could, and in conjunction witk any persons ske could, in
the execution of the laws of tke Ckurck, committed to ker
charge."^ The laboured attempt of the pontiff to reconcile the
ex-parte proceedings of Rome against Acacius ^ .^^^^ ^^
with the laws of the Church could be success- the Geiasian
ful only by estabhshing the prior fact, that the ^^^l^^^^
delinquent was ex confesso a heretic and an
associate of heretics. But of this there was no judicial
proof. Gelasius felt that without a judge there could be
no judgment; and with aU his ingenuity he could find
no way out of the dUemma but by the broadest asser
tion of irresponsible prerogative. Driven forwards by the
nature ofthe case under his hand and the arbitrary maxims
of his predecessors, he soon rehnquished the weak ground
of law, and struck boldly into the broad path ol privUege.
1 iu „ tJmpfl eloauent. The abstract in the
B See the document at length, ap. J'^f „^^ ^ the general sense rather
Hard. Cone tom. ii. pp. 905-916 It is le J expressions used. Conf.
extremely prolix, full of repetitions toan tn ^ V
and here and there abundantly obscure; Jiaron. J^n
but often cogent in argument, and some-

63 CATHEDEA PETEI. [J^ook III.
Divested of the fringe of professions— regard, for in
stance, for the rights ofthe episcopacy, the homage due
to the ca,nons, the dignity of the more ancient patri
archates, the respect to be paid to the ordinances ot
general councUs— Chalcedon in particular— we have no
difficulty in detecting the broad proposition that the wUl
ofthe pope is tke law of tke Ckurck. This proposition he
developed and defined under the five following heads:
1. The Roraan church is invested with a primacy
antecedent to, and independent of, aU church legislature,
whereby she is constituted guardian and general exe
cutor of tke canons, the supreme judge and visitor of aU
churches. 2. No church legislation, canons, or concUiar decrees
are vahd to deprive her of any part of that original juris
diction which she derives under the commission of Christ
to St. Peter.
3. No such canons or decrees are of force for any
purpose affecting the rights of the holy see, but such as
shall have received her express or implied sanction.
4. No teraporal power or consideration of a secular
nature can confer ajjy rank or station in the Church but
that which is acknowledged by the Roman pontiff: con
sequently no council, general or particular, is competent
to confer it, or to withdraw any church from his visita
torial and executive jurisdiction ; so that, aii3^ canon or
ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding, Constanti
nople must still stand in this respect as a dependent suf
fragan church of the province of Heracleia.
5. When any illicit or unauthorised assumption of
spiritual character in derogation of the Roman primac3",
or of any other acknowledged power in the Church, shall
take place, and the pope shall see no prospect of sup
pressing the usurpation by the ordinary ecclesiastical
judicatures, he is fully empowered to effect that purpose
by the employment of any means at his command.
Thus, as far as the broadest and plainest implication
Scope of the cau amouut to affirmation, Gelasius I. afilrms
document, that the poutiff of the see of Rome is endowed,
as of divine right, with the fullest powers to supersede.

Chap. IL] ANASTASIUS II. POPE. 63
at his own discretion and upon his own sole judgment,
all other church legislation, and to dispense with all en
acted law or canon whenever that law stands in the way
of the antecedent and paramount primacy ; and that if
he consent at any tirae to be bound by conciliar law, it
is rather from considerations of expediency or deference
for the great ecclesiastical constituency, than from any
respect of religious obhgation. All the elements of spi
ritual autocracy are wholly contained in these proposi
tions; and henceforward history has in fact little else
to do than to mark their progress, and to show how they
worked their way into that full practical development
arrived at in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.''
The Illyrian churches were much attached to Rome ;
their addresses abounded with expressions of
duty to the holy see ; and though we are with
out precise inforraation as to the effect of the papal ex
planations in reraoving from their minds the difficulty of
reconciling the conduct ofthe pope with the familiar prin
ciples of church legislation, it is, upon the whole, more
probable that ground was gained than that any advan
tage was lost. Subsequent events, we think, show that
Rome retained throughout her controversy with Con
stantinople a powerful body of devoted friends in that
important diocese.
But the pontificate of Pope Gelasius was too brief
to bring this vast autocratic scherae to matu- Death of
rity. He died in the year 496, after a reign of Gelasius i.
scarcely four years and nine months,' and was peaceably
succeeded by the Roman ecclesiastic, Anastasius Anastasius
II. The new pontiff appears to have in some "s^Tc^fii;
respects recoUed from the daring measures of character.
his predecessor. He is even reported to have regarded
the retention ofthe names of Acacius and Fravitta m the
» The culminating epochs-those of and t^e dangers of private judgment.
Gregory YII. and Innocent III. The He ej^aWished the^/n «.« .c«.^^^^ ^^^^
former stated and estabhshed the Gela- ,, ' ^'"^^"t^^inonths, and twenty-one
sian propositions in their naked form, years, e^g ^^^^^ ^^ j^^ ^^^.^ ^^_
and divested of aU reserves; the latter aay ¦ ^e term of four years, eight
hedged in and fortified them by a strong «™^^f ^^^ eighteen days.
scheme of temporal checks and counter- montus, ana e g j
poises against the private conscience

64 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
Oriental calendars— now the only ostensible cause of quar
rel between the two churches — as too trivial a ground of
schism. He took no notice ofthe more than suspicious
orthodoxy of the emperor ; and with aU gentieness of
speech and spirit strove to induce him quietly to drop the
name of Acacius frora the diptychs.^ But neither emperor
nor clergy could be prevailed upon thus to compromise
the honour of the metropolitan church. The pope find
ing that the Henotic clergy apprehended a design on the
part of their opponents to vacate the holy orders con
ferred by Acacius, declared all such orders to be good
and vahd : he even went so far as to insinuate a possibil
ity tkat the condemnation of that prelate inight have been
informal; and he sent his friend, the patrician Festus,
then at Constantinople upon a political errand frora the
Gothic king Theodoric the Great, instructions of a lati
tude which appears to have giv^eii serious offence to the
high-church part3r at Rome. But before the return of
Festus, Pope Anastasius II. died, and his project of union
appeared likely to fall to the ground. Festus, however,
made a bold push in favour of his patron's scheme, the
particulars of which have not come down to us ; and to
that end proraoted with all his influence the election of
Symmaehus the archpriest Laurentius, a friend of peace, to
and Lau- the pontifical throue.'' But his opponents were
conle's^ted beforehand with him, and by a small majority
election, carried the election of Coelius Symmaehus, a
Sardinian by birth, to the papal chair, and installed him
in the basUica of Constautine. On the other side, the
friends of Laurentius inaugurated their candidate in the
church of St. Mary the Greater ;' and once more the
streets of the city became the arena of one of those sangui
nary election riots which had on several occasions polluted
and disgraced both the church and people of Rome.""
1 Ep. Anast. Pap. ad Anast. Aug., place in the Eoman calendar by a too
Hard Cone. tom. ii, pp. 947 et sqq. apparent condescension to the Greek
Seo the documents relating to the schismatics. His letter to the eraperor
shorty pontificate of Anastasius II., ap. stands in marked contrast with the fiery
7;T7„„ "'S- ^""-J?!'-' -^"™"- ^^ ^""- i-betoric of his predecessor Gelasius.
497, 498. Conf. Fleury, H. E. tom. vu. ' See Ciacone, Vit. Pont. tom. i. p 339
p. 97 and Bower, vol. ii. pp. 236-248. ™ Conf. Book I. c. x. p. 223; and Book
Anastasius II. certainly forfeited his II. c. ii. pp. 314 et sqq

Chap. IL] CHUECH AND STATE IN EOME. 65
But for the more complete elucidation ofthe domestic
position of the Roman pontificate at this point
of time, it is requisite to take a short retrospec- ^sv^lToi-
tive survey of the relation in which the Italian *e church
churches and their chief were placed towards
the new barbaric governments under which they had fallen
by the overthrow of the Western empire.
It should be observed, that from the establishment
of Christianit3^ it does not appear that the emperors ever
meddled seriously or offensively with the freedom of the
electoral bodies ; or that when they did interfere, it was
for an3" other purpose than the raaintenance ofthe public
tranquillity. Peaceful canvass, though contarainated by
bribery, corruption, intrigue, or even siraony, does not
seem to have afforded any proper ground for secular inter
ference. Nevertheless, when the public interests Government
were threatened, the imperial court knew of no interferences
article in its compact with the Church to take tiono/the
away or abridge the right of self-preservation, p^p^^-
In such cases, the eraperors did not hesitate to exercise
a power of selection among rival candidates, with a view
to put an end to the war of factions which disturbed the
course of government. In this way the secular authori
ties interfered between Damasus and Ursinus, confirming
the election of the former, and banishing the latter from
the cit3^.'' And thus also the sanguinary schism which,
in the reign of Honorius, preceded the election of Boni
face I., was similarly dealt with by the court of Ravenna."
These precedents are the more remarkable, as they show
the mode and measure of secular interference tolerated,
if not solicited, b3'- the Roman clerg3r at those periods.
In neither case was any fault found with the imperial
proceeding by the clerical body ; the State entertained no
doubt of its competency, as guardian of the public peace,
to adjudicate upon the rival claims, and thus to exercise
a direct influence in determining the discretion of the
By "the dissolution of the Western empire under
the whole power of the State devolved upon the o^o^ker.
n Conf. Book L c. X. p. 224. " Conf. Book IL c. ii. pp. 314 et sqq.
VOL. II. 'P

66 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IH.
succeeding governments ; and Pope Simplicius had acted
on this presumption. Apprehending that on his decease
the election of a successor might lead to a repetition of
the irregularities which had so often disturbed the pubhc
tranquiUity, he took the precaution of requesting Basihus,
the preetorian prefect of King Odovaker, not to permit the
electoral body to proceed to the choice of a pontiff other
wise than in his presence and under his control.'' After
the death of Simplicius, however, the clergy and people
of Rome proceeded to elect a successor without giving
due notice to the civU magistrate, in breach, it should
seem, of a subsisting rule or custom on hke occasions.
Basihus went to the electoral assembly, and complained
of the irregularity. "It was their duty," he said, "to
give due notice to the representative of the sovereign
power on so important an occasion, because to him it
belonged to take all proper precautions to prevent those
disturbances which might so easily arise — disturbances
which were very apt to pass from the Church to the State,
and therefore to be provided against by the authority in
trusted with the preservation of the public peace."'' :
But the right to adopt measures of this nature might
be easily construed so as to limit the discretion
Taker to pre- of the electoral bodies themselves, and to au-
vent the thorisc preventive precautions inconsistent with
diversion oit' „ , ^ . • n ,. t ^ ^
church- the freedom ot election itselt and the acknow-
funds. ledged privileges of the electors. And in the
instance before us the civil power took a step not easily
reconcilable with the rights of the churches, or with any
antecedent custom. Hitherto the administration and ex
penditure of all church-funds had been in practice left in
the hands ofthe clergy; but at this juncture Ave find that
King Odovaker had felt the inconvenience arising from
the frequent and habitual diversion of the wealth of the
churches to the purposes of faction, and that he had de
termined, on his own authority, to dry up this source of
uneasiness to his government. In pursuance of this re-
.. '' Syn.Eom.an. 502, flarrf. Cone. tom. rather painfully from the record ofthe
ii. § 2, p. 977. several synods held under Pope Sym-
¦i The details of this transaction, and machus in the years 499, 501, 502. See
that which follows it, must be collected Hard. Cone. tom. ii. pp. 957, 967, 975.

Chap. IL] DECEEES OF ODOVAIiEE. 67
solution, the prefect Basihus communicated to the elec
toral councU a royal ordinance prohibiting aU alienations
of lands, sacred vessels, or other church-property ; all
such sales, or contracts of sale, he declared void, and the
property so alienated hable to be recovered to the churches
after any length of adverse possession. This ordinance
he confirmed in episcopal form, denouncing anathema
against all who should either buy or sell, give away or
accept, any article of value that had ever belonged to
the Church.^
In every precedent of secular interference with the
course of ecclesiastical government to which we
have hitherto adverted, there were points in the character
highest degree offensive to the feelins's and opi- °?""^
. ^ il 1 • 1 , • 1 • T« ordinance.
mons ot the high-prerogative clergy m Rome
and Italy." That body had begun to shrink from even
the gentlest touch of the secular hand ; they regarded
the State as a thing unholy in itself, and to be purified
only by the sanctifying hand of the Church. Yet that
unhallowed power had presumed to tamper with the
holiest, to meddle with the chair of Peter, to provide for
the services, to interfere with the sacred property of the
Church, and to prescribe at its own will and pleasure
the mode and manner of its adrainistration and disposal;
lastly, it had in the later times passed on to the extra
vagance of sacrilegious presumption, by taking to itself
the episcopal character, and usurping the awful power of
the anathema.'
But King Odovaker was not a person to be lightly
opposed; his minister Basihus was temperate Efi'ect ofthe
and firm, and the election of Felix II. passed ordinance.
off without disturbance. The inaugurations of the popes
Gelasius I. and Anastasius II. were equally peaceable.
But prior to the death of the former, Odovaker had suc
cumbed to the energy and talents of Theodoric king of
the Ostrogoths, of Epirus, and .Pannonia (a.d. 493). At
' See Baron. Ann. 483, §§10 etsqq.; we perceive no trace in the Oriental
Fleury, tom. vi. p. 620. Conf. Antonio churches. ^„„ rr j *
de nLinis, tom. i. p. 485; and Bower, ' Syn. Rom. an. 502, Hard. tom. ii.
vol. ii. p. 193. PP- 9", 978.
• Feelings and opinions of which

68 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
the decease of the latter, the Ostrogothic power had not
acquired that solidity which the talents of Theodoric af
terwards imparted to it; and the death-bed of Anastasius
became the signal of a sanguinary civil war in Rome.
Eeligious P^stus and his party, in defiance ofthe priority
faction in of Symmachus and the majority of suffrages
^°'^^' in his favour, installed their candidate Lauren
tius, as already observed, in the church of St. Mar3' the
Greater. That basilica and the hall of Constantine be
came respectively the head-quarters of the contending
factions, from whence they issued forth, clergy and laity
in mixed bodies, to the fray ; and the streets of the city
became the arena of bloody conflicts, in which many per
sons of both conditions lost their lives." (a.d. 499.)
Both parties at length agreed to refer their pretensions
to King Theodoric ; though he had not as yet
Symmaehus visitcd the Capital, and was therefore imperfectly
and Lauren- acquainted with the temper of its inhabitants.
ifIus rGicrrGCl . .. J- ¦»¦
to Theo- The reference of an ecclesiastical dispute of such
"^Grea^^ moment to a temporal prince, and that prince
himself an Arian heretic, was a sore mortifica
tion to the high-church party, whom Symmachus repre
sented. It was, indeed, resorted to under the pressure
of dire necessity alone, and Theodoric dealt with it en
tirely as a secular affair. Without meddling with the
merits, personal or professional, of the candidates, he
looked to the majority of votes as the test of the elec
tion ; and as soon as it was made clear to him that Sym
machus had the advantage of his rival, both in time
and numbers, he threw his sword into the scale : the
clamour of sedition was hushed, and the storm subsided
as suddenly as it had arisen. The Gothic prince, in
truth, thought of little in the whole affair but the restor
ation of public order ; he was loth, both from disinchna-
tion and policy, to mix in the religious broUs of his new
subjects ; but he demanded of them an effectual security
against the sanguinary broUs by which they had lately
disgraced themselves and the g-overnment.
In compliance with this reasonable deraand, a council
" Paul Drac. in Hist. Miscell., ap. Muratori, Er. Ital, So. vol, i. p. 101.

Chap. II.J LAW AGAINST CANVASSING. 69
was assembled by royal precept to inquire into
and adopt the best means for preventing the re- ^a^vSg'
currence ofthe like cabals, intrigues, and rival- forthe
ries for the future. The synod, when assembled, p^p'^''^-
numbered no fewer than seventy-three bishops, sixty-
seven presbyters, and seven deacons. The pope stated
the object of the meeting to be the necessity of provid
ing a remedy against the disorders that had occurred at
his own election ; and, upon his proposal, the assembly
adopted the foUowing resolutions : First, That if in the
lifetime ofthe reigning pontiff, and without his know
ledge, any presbyter, deacon, or clerk, should canvass for
or solicit votes for the pontificate, or make or exact any
promise, oath, or other engagement, or should for such
purpose hold any private consultation to deliberate on
or decide any common measures, he be degraded from
his office and excommunicated. Secondly, That if an3'^
person should, in the lifetime of the pontiff, be convicted
of canvassing for or soliciting the papacy, he should
incur the penalty of the anathema. Thirdly, That if
the pope should die so suddenly as to kave no time to
take order for tke choice of a proper successor, the ab
solute majority of the votes should decide the election,
unless the candidate came within the penalty of the
foreg-oing resolution. Fourtkly, That any person, even
though he be himself an accomplice in any of the above-
named offences, who should freely denounce, and by rea
sonable testimony convict, his associates of any such
cabals or intrigues, or other participation in the forbidden
practices, should not only go fi-ee from all punishment,
but be handsoraely rewarded for his trouble."
But the low-church, or conciliation party, with the
patrician Festus at their head, continued for some time
' Syn. Eom. sub. Symm. Pap.,flard. is to decide. The word "decernere"
Cone. tum. ii. pp. 959, 960; and conf. in this connection can be no otherwise
Baron. Ann. 499, §§ 6-9. The cardi- rendered than by the terms, " to ap-
nal is a good deal startled at the idea point or decide upon." The phrase must
of a pope choosing his own successor. therefore stand thus : " If the reigning
But the wording of the resolution hardly pontiff should die so suddenly as not to
admits of any other interpretation : " Si have had time to appoint a successor,
transitus papas inopinatus evenerit, ut the majority of the electors shall ap-
de sui electione suocessoris non possit point."
ante decernere," &c., then the majority ^

70 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IU.
Impeachment lo°^er to agitate the Roman populace. In
of Pope the following year (500) they imjjeached bym-
Symmachus. machus before King Theodoric of divers crimes
and misdemeanors, and procured from him an order to
have the charges inquired into by a synod of bishops. In
the city of Rome, disorders of every kind, murders, and
piUage, had broken out afresh; and Festus persuaded
the king that his only remedy lay in the appointment of
an ecclesiastical commissioner, who, in conformity with
the precedent established in the reign of Honorius,''
should supersede the pope, and take order for his trial
upon the articles to be exhibited against him; and in
the mean time to perform the sacred functions as if the
see were vacant. Yielding to this advice, Theodoric,
who knew very little, and probabl3'^ cared less, about the
state of parties in the church of Rome, named Peter
Peter of bishop of Altiuum in Venetia as ad-interim ad-
Aitinum ad- miuistrator of the holy see ; but with instruc-
ministrator. .(.JQ^^g ^^ couduct himself with all due considera
tion and respect towards the pope. Peter, however, in
apparent disregard of these instructions, proceeded, upon
his arrival in Rome, to sequester Symmachus from aU
his functions without seeing or hearing him in his defence.
This inconsiderate step added fuel to the flame of popular
discontent, and the state of the capital became at length
so critical as to require the presence of the king. Theo
doric entered the city, accompanied b3' a sufficient escort
of his own trusty Goths ; and the seditions which had
now for nearly two years deluged the streets of Rome
with blood ceased as by the touch of magic. The king
devoted all his energies to obliterate every vestige of re
cent outrage, to bring the populace into better humour,
and to improve their condition, before he proceeded to
deal with the delicate and irritating inquiries to which
he had pledged hiraself.
Dealing of T^c advantages conferred upon the Itahan
^wfth^^hl" Pi'ovinces by the governraent of Theodoric the
chTrch and Great have been adverted to at the close of our
clergy, ggcond Book. The perfect freedom of rehgious
" Conf. Book II. c. u. pp. 315 et sqq.

Chap. IL] THE " SYNODUS PALMAEIS." 71
opinion and practice is proved by the free movements
of the ecclesiastical body during the greater part of his
reign. Within the first years, no fewer than seven synods
are said to have been held at Rome ;" and his general con
duct on these occasions, we think, furnishes good evidence
that he thoroughly comprehended the position in which
he was placed as successor to the imperial power, and
that he adhered as closely as circumstances permitted to
the terms ofthe ancient compact between the Church and
the State,^ saving only those contingencies in which the
exigencies of the moment mig-ht call upon the govern
ment peremptorily to put the ecclesiastical powers in mo
tion, or to check and control their movement when their
action becaine so abnormal or violent as to be inconsistent
with the public welfare. Some length of time was allowed
to elapse before matters were thought to be in a proper
train for the inquiry into the articles of charge ag-ainst
Pope Symmachus.'' The royal precept for the
convocation of the synod had been met by un- couvokTsa
expected dela3^s; the bishops hesitated, or quitted syn9<i to lu-
Rorae : a second and a third summons appear thrcharges
to have met with more ready obedience. The- ?,s^^°^* ^°p^
1 . , , . , ¦' ,, , oymmachus.
odoric took pams to reassure them as to any
intended interference on his part be3^ond what was ne
cessary to protect them from interruption, and to ensure
a speedy suppression of the dangerous and vexatious
broils which had arisen out ofthe disputed election.^ The
bishops of the Itahan and suburbicarian pro- The " Syno-
vinces at length met at Rome to the number of "^^spahnaris."
one hundred and fifteen. With a view further to assure
them of their independence, he himself removed to Ra
venna, leaving only a sufficient force, under his household
officers, Gudela, Bedulph, and Arigern, to keep the peace
and watch over the safety of the meeting. The assembled
prelates, in the first instance, called upon the pope to ap-
'' Pagi, in Baron. Ann. 500, not. vi. second or the third synod held in the
ad §§ 2 and 9. pontificate of Symmachus, i. e. in the
y Conf. Book IL c. iv. p. 354; ch. v. year 501 or 503. See Pagi and Mansi's
p. 378; and ch. vi. p. 436 of this work. notes ad Baron, loc. mod. cit.
'^ It is a matter of some uncertainty " ' Praeoeptiones regis,' apud Hard.
whether the inquiry took place at the Cone. tom. ii. pp. 971, 972.

73 CATHEDEA J-ETEL [Book III.
pear before the synod— it should seem — as his legitimate
judges. Some members, however, intimated to the king
that they entertained doubts as to their competency to sit
in judgment on the successor of St. Peter ; but Theodoric
relieved their scruples by the assurance that the pope him
self had caUed for the inquiry. Symmachus confirraed that
assurance to the councU in person ; but he demanded that
before he should be caUed upon to answer for himself,
the royal sequestrator, Peter of Altinum, the friend of
his enemies, should be sent away, and that he (the pope)
should be restored to the fuU enjoyment of his functions
and of the patrimony of his church. Theodoric, however,
thought that such a course might look too much like an
acquittal before trial, and refused to entertain the pro
posal. Neither pope nor council thought proper to press
this question any further.''
Symmachus, it seems, had several times attended the
Tumult preliminary meetings of the council, in which
in Eome, probably the question of competency had been
discussed. The pope was popular in Rome, and had pro-
hahlj by this time ascertained his strength, in the synod.
On his last attendance he was escorted from the church
of St. Peter to the hall of session by a large concourse
of friends and partisans. The opposition part3'^, conceiv
ing that so great an assemblage conveyed a defiance to
themselves, or that it was intended to intimidate the coun
cil, attacked and dispersed the pope's friends; several
priests and laymen were killed in the affra3' ; and Sym
machus himself was with some difficult3- rescued frora
the hands of the assaUants by the Gothic officers of the
king, who had hastened to the spot on the first rumour
of the tumult.
Shortly after this incident, the correspondents of The-
and retracta- odoric in the couucU reported to the king a
submissi'on "^^ssagc froui the pope, peremptorily renouncing
by Pope the jurisdiction. " He had," he said, " at his
Symmachus. fl^st meeting with the king, while he resided
in Rome, hastened without hesitation to wave his pre
rogative, and to give authorit3' to the council to proceed •
'' Syn. Eom. Palmaris, ap. Hard. Cone. tom. ii. p. 967.

Chap. IL] IMPEACHMENT OF SYMMACHUS. 73
but that, according to ecclesiastical rule and order, he had
demanded his reinstatement in his churches, but without
success; that afterwards, and while he was proceeding
accompanied by his clerg3r to the hall of session, he had
been cruelly assailed and personally injured : that he there
fore declined to submit further to the proposed inquir3r ;
and that he placed himself in the hands of God and of his
lord the king, to deal with hira as he might think proper."
The bishops added, that they had sumraoned the
pontiff to attend the synod ; that he had rejected decfares^L
their request ; that they had then sent the royal o™ 'icom.
. • A ¦ 1 • 1 1 1 1 • IJ" potency.
minister Arigern to him, who would himselt
convey to the king the answer he had received ; that they
Avere, in fact, at their wit's ends, for that they found them
selves destitute of all power to compel the pope to appear
before them : and they suggested, that by the terms of
the ecclesiastical law the pope, to whom all bishops have
a right to appeal, is not bound himself to appeal to anj-
one ; if he decline, he can be dealt with neither in his ab
sence nor for contumacy : that lastly, this was a novel
case, inasmuch as there was no precedent for calling upon
a pontiff of this see to answer before his own bishops.
They concluded by assuring hira that there was no pro.-
spect of bringing the subsising disputes to a close by a
regular ecclesiastical decision : they could do no more than
exhort all parties to peace ; and that expedient having
failed, it remained for the king to take such steps as he
might think expedient for the redintegration ofthe Church,
the peace of the cit3^, and the quietude of the provinces."
Theodoric replied by reminding- them that he had
called thein together under a just expectation theodoric
that the3' would find the means of putting an throws the
end to the prevailing disturbances ; that as long ™|the public
as they succeeded in that object, he cared very p^ace upcm
little about the raode of accomplishing it. He ' ® ^y"° •
could, he said, with the help of his trusty nobility, have
settied matters himself, so that neither the present nor
any future age could find serious fault with his decision ;
c 'Eelatio Episcoporum,' ap. Hard. Cone. tom. u. p. 974; Synod. Palm. ibid.
p. 969.

74 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IH.
but inasmuch as he had not thought it his proper duty
to decide upon ecclesiastical subjects, he had deemed it
expedient to refer the whole matter to them, that they
might have the merit of restoring concord. Under the
circumstances, it was now for them to decide in any
manner they liked : aU he required of them Avas, that
they should, whether with or without discussion, come to
such a decision as they could answer for before God ; pro
vided only that thereby peace be restored to the senate
and people of Rome ; so that when judgment should be
given, it should have the effect of eradicating the seeds of
sedition and discord : for by tkat test the world would
judge of the soundness and integrity of their inten
tions.'' The honesty of the pope's plea for his change of
purpose may be suspected. The nature of the
plea for pcrsoual injury sustained by him is not stated ;'
evading the and it might be supposed that the soldiery who
inquiry, ^gg^^g^j jjjjj^ £pqjjj ^jjg danger could as easily
have protected him against a repetition of the attack.
He had had ample opportunity to sound the fathers as
to their disposition towards him, and had every reason to
believe that they had acquiesced with reluctance in the
king's project of pacification. He was fully informed of
the disinclination of Theodoric to drive thera into com
pliance by violent measures ; and with so inviting a pro
spect of evading the critical inquiry impending over him,
the personal outrage he had sufiered must have offered a
strong temptation to retract a promise which mortified
his pride, and threw an important advantage into the
hands of his enemies. Be this as it may, the bishops
eagerly embraced the opportunity to get rid of the whole
inquiry. "Considering," they said, "the manifold incon-
^ ' Praeceptio regis,' Hard. Concilia, pertinere," &c. The king puts his non-
tom. ii. pp. 974, 975. The Fathers, in interference more upon the ground of
their report of the proceedings, put a expediency than of obUgation. Syn.
stronger construction upon the words Palm, ubi sup. See also Baron. Ann.
of Theodoric than they properly bear. 502, § 15. Conf. Fleury, H.E. tom. vu.
"Ad hoc serenissimus rex . . . . In sy- pp. 104-109; .Bozoer, vol. ii. pp. 252-260.
nodaU esse arbitrio in tanto negotio se- " He only says that the mob " eum
quenda prsescribere ; nee aliquid ad se crudeliter tractavit," crueUy entreated
prater reverentiam ecclesiasticis negotiis him.

Chap. II.] PAPAL lEEESPONSIBILITY. 75
veniences that must attend a further prosecution
ofthe charges against the pope,^ but more espe- JedareThl
cially the transcendent character and authority pope irre-
of the see of Peter, they had resolved that, in- 'p'"^'''^'-
asniuch as they considered themselves incompetent to pass
a binding decree in the matter, the accused pontiff must
go free and be discharged from all huraan responsibility,
and be restored to all his functions and honours: and
that the merits ofthe causes of accusation, whatever they
might be, must be referred to the judgment of God."^
It should be here observed, with a view'to the future,
that neither the pope nor the synod were dis
posed to deny their responsibiUt3' to the head of sponsibuuy ;
the State for any line of conduct which raight its character
endanger the peace ofthe community. In this
respect the3' submitted themselves implicitly to the king
as supreme. So far from pronouncing Symmachus " not
guilt3'," they had simply declared their incompetency to
try him : as they had no power to condemn, so neither
had they any to acquit ; there was, in fact, no provision
of ecclesiastical law that could reach the chair of Peter,
therefore the pope must go free of all ecclesiastical cen
sure, and his religious guilt or innocence be referred to
the divine tribunal as the only competent judgment-seat.
But when it is considered that the civil and criminal law
of the State still stood upon precisely the sarae ground as
it had done under the empire, and that if the articles of
impeachment against S3'mmachus had been of a civil or
political as well as of a religious character, (which we
have good reason to believe they were), he was strictly
amenable to the ordinary criminal judicature, we have no
difficulty in understanding the expression of submission
employed by both pope and council, as well as those of
Theoderic himself regarding his own authority in the
cause, to have reference to that secular hability shared
by the priesthood with the commonalty in aU matters to
which no legal exemption or immunity was attached in
' It is remarkable, that these charges ^ Syn. Palm., ap. Hard. Cone. tom.
are nowhere specified in any ofthe do- ii. p- 970.
cuments relating to these proceedings.

76 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
behalf of the former." The acquittal of Pope Symmachus
(if so it may be caUed), and the unusual forbearance of
the king, afford no grounds for believing that up to the
close of the fifth century any altitude of ecclesiastical
dignity or privUege imparted exemption from the judi
cature" of the State in the cases provided for by the civU
law as it stood at that period ; or that such dignity or
privilege was regarded as pleadable in bar of criminal
actions against ecclesiastical dehnquents of any rank.
Yet it must be admitted that the current of opinion
Ennodius on ^moug the high-church clergy ofthe Latin com-
papai impec- muiiioii had ah-eady set-in in an opposite di-
cabihty. j.g(,^io]j_ Ennodius, the deacon and secretar3' of
Pope Symmachus,' undertook officially to defend an opi
nion, which appears to have been extensivel}' entertained
by the Italian clergy, that the successor of the apostle
Peter was, virtute officii, impeccable. This opinion had
been impugned by the Laurentian or low-church party,
as implying a perpetual hcense to sin in favour ofthe
pope. Ennodius denied the inference : " We do not say,"
he declares, " as 3^ou tell us we do, that the Lord gave to
Peter and his successors, by virtue of the office conferred
upon them, a license to comrait sin : Avhat we affirm is,
that Peter transmitted to his successors, together with
the whole endowment of his own merits, hkewise that of
hereditary innocence; so that all that was granted to
him (Peter) as the reward of his deserts, inures also to
them, they being thereby illumined by the hke bright
ness and purity of conversation. Who, then," he exclaims,
" shall deny him to be a saint, who is exalted to so high
a dignity ? or that he who steps into the place of such
a predecessor hath not all his own personal deficiencies
amply compensated by Peter's merits ? For such a sta
tion must always either find its occupant pure and illus-
'' Conf. Book II. c. vu. p. 467. See mus invenire justitiam," &c. And com-
the remarkable words of Theodoric : pare the concluding words of the papal
(Praecept. Eeg., Hard. torn. u. p. 974) message declining the councU i "In po-
" Cum si nos de prsesenti ante voluis- testate Dei est, et domini regis, quid de
semus judicare negotio" (namely, the me deUberet ordinari." Hard. ibid.
charges against Symmaehus) " habito ' In the year 510 Ennodius became
cum proceribus nostris de inquirenda bishop of Pavia.
veritate tractatu, Deo auspice, potuisse-

Chap. IL] CHUECH AND STATE.

77

trious, or it makes him so."J It is easy to conceive the
invincible repugnance of persons entertaining an opinion
of this nature to the mere idea of human responsibility
attaching to one endowed with the divine attribute of
impeccability. But ever since the establishment of the barbaric go
vernraents in the West of Europe, we observe
a strong tendency among the Latin clergy to ofthepowera
dispute the jurisdiction ofthe State in all di- "ftiiecivii
rections. Constantine and his successors enter- as against
tained neither doubt nor scruple as to their *'^^ Church.
right to interfere for the due regulation and administra
tion of the funds, property, or even the discipline of the
churches, as often as abuse or mismanagement called for
the reforming hand of the civil power.'' But when they
had passed from the scene, the connection between the
Church and the State had become greatly relaxed. The
foreign princes and their military followers, aliens alike
in language, religion, and habits, looked with little jea-
lous3^ or apprehension upon the growth of ecclesiastical
pretensions with which they had no sympathy. Thus,
under the shadow of barbaric indifference, the churches
learned to identify modes of acquirement, funds, posses
sions, administration, with their whole status, and to in
vest them with all their own personal privileges and im
munities. Temporals and spirituals fell together under
the one great class of ideas which constituted that of tke
Ckurck, and gradually partook of the inviolable sanctity
attached to the category as a whole : to lay hands upon
one was a violation ofthe rest. The smothered indig
nation of the Roman prelacy when, in the year synod of the
483, Odovaker published his ordinance for pre- y^^"^ ^°^-
venting the alienation and misappropriation of church-
funds to electioneering and other purposes, broke out at
the third synod, convoked by Pope Symmachus at Rome
in the year 502.' It is probable that the clamours ofthe
i Baron. Ann. 503, § 6. Extracted synod of the year 503.
from a controversial work of Ennodius ¦¦ Conf. observations m Book I. c v,i.
against those who had impugned the p. 178; c vni.p 181 ; e.x. PP-226-228.
slnod. The work was read before, and ' I decline pledging myself to the
published in the acts of, the subsequent precise accuracy ot the dates assigned

78 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
Laurentian party had at the same time called the atten
tion ofthe government to the abuses which that ordi
nance had failed to reform. But Symraachus himself had
severely felt the inconveniences ofthe diversion of church-
fiinds to the purposes of bribery and corruption. The
special object, therefore, proposed by the pope to this
synod was, to devise a remedy against those iUicit misap
propriations which had become so fatally prevalent, more
especially in the church of Rome.
There was now, however, a law in existence passed
Eepeaisthe for the cxprcss purposc of putting an end to
OdlTvIkef on *his cvU ; but that law was the work of lay
the papal hauds, and was moreover, in its concoction,
^'^aga^nsr*^ couuected with a transaction extremely repug-
bribery, &c. naut to clerical prepossessions. In the 3'ear 483,
Odovaker's prefect Basihus, as alreadj^ related, had been
requested by Pope Simplicius, immediately after his de
cease to take measures for preventing those disorders
which he apprehended might occur upon the occasion of
a new election ; and for that purpose that pope on his
death-bed besought him not to permit the election to take
place but by his consent and under his personal superin
tendence. The minute of this request, as it was stated
by Basihus to the electoral council at the election of
Felix IIL, was called for by the fathers of the S3mod
now assembled, and immediatel3' objected to upon the
ground that, in fact, it superseded the clergy, and placed
the election in the hands of the laity ; that therefore it
was wholly irregular and uncanonical. In like manner,
the minute of the Basilian law for the prevention of cle
rical ahenations was called for, read, and unanimously
rejected. No layman, it was urged, had authority thus
to meddle with ecclesiastical concerns : the ordinance had
not been signed by the pope (Felix IIL), nor even by a
single metropolitan bishop; and even if it had been signed
by aU the bishops, tkey could not bind the pope; it was
therefore a mere nulhty. The synod, however, was satis-
to these Eoman synods. The arrange- again, Pagi's dates are disputed by
ment in Harduin is obviously wrong; Mansi. The question is of little im-
that of Baronius is contested by his portance to our subject.
commentator Pagi with great learning;

Chap. IL] SYNOD AGAINST BEIBEEY. 79
fied with this emphatic repudiation of lay interposition
and proceeded themselves to frame a law corresponding in
all points with the ordinance of Odovaker. They
declared aU alienations of church-property, to- enait^^Iiaw
gether with all contracts for sale or purchase, against
to be uncanonical and ineffectual ; and they " ^'^^'
decreed that all such alienations, or contracts of aliena
tion, should expose the parties to such acts to the penalty
of the anathema ; but if perchance that penalty should
prove ineffectual, they further decreed that all such acts
or contracts should be deemed altogether void, and the
property conveyed liable to be reclaimed or recovered,
together with the rents and profits, by the alienors, or by
any other ecclesiastical person who might sue for it.'"
If it was the intention of the synod, as upon the face
of their proceedings it appears to have been, to synodal en-
quash the Basilian ordinance, by which alone croachmeut
the remedy against the lay alienees of church- cmi legis-
propertj- could be made available, thej had ob- '^^^e.
viously exceeded their competency. They could neither
enact a law tp bind the laity, nor carry it into effect when
made. We do not find that any antecedent law had
made the acquisition of church-lands criminal, or even
civilly reversible, as against lay purchasers or donees.
Neither bishops nor any order of churchmen could make
laws, hold courts, or try causes, except such as concerned
the doctrine, discipline, or constitution ofthe Church, nor
enforce their judgments by any but spiritual penalties."
Ifj therefore, the synod meant to repudiate the Basilian
ordinance, they thereby surrendered the temporal remedy
which it supplied. It would be, perhaps, erroneous or
unfair to stigmatise this synodal decree as an intentional
encroachment upon the State judicature ; and we would
notice the anomaly only with a view to illustrate the
tendency of the Latin churchmen to encourage that con
fusion in men's minds between secular and religious
obUgations which has at aU times proved so essentially
conducive to the advancement of the priesthood, and
enabled it gradually to draw within its own judicial
"¦ Hard. Cone. torn. ii. pp. 975 et sqq. ° Conf. Book IL c. vu. p. 468.

80 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IH.
cognisance so large a portion of the public rights and
interests." When, a little before this point of time, the report of
Eemon- the intended proceedings against Pope Sym-
^ GaUic ° r*^ ™^chus, at the instance of Theodoric, reached
lates against the Galfic churches,they were seized with alarm-
trfai^of Pope Mg' apprchensious for the safety^ of the whole
Symmachus. gtatc of the Church and ecclesiastical privilege.
Avitus the archbishop of Vienne accordingly received a
commission from the synod of Burgundy to remonstrate
with the Itahan prelates against the proposed inquiry.
It was, he said, the unaniraous opinion of the Gallic
churches that the pope could not be tried by his bishops ;
he was the superior — the head and chief of the Church-
catholic ; they, his inferiors and subjects. Who had ever
heard of a teraporal prince having been judged by his
own servants ? How rauch less, then, a sovereign pontiff
by those who, instead of accusing, were by the divine
ordinances commanded to cherish and support hira.''
Ever3'^ member was interested in the head ; and if the
head be smitten, the injury must be felt in every fibre of
the body. Which of the bishops would be safe, if the see
of Peter be thus exposed to the persecution of his, infe
riors ? Or how, if the pope of the hol3r see be imperilled
by those whose duty it is to protect him, were they, the
bishops, to contend against the heresies and calamities
with which they were surrounded on all sides? On these
grounds, he implored them to proceed no further in the
proposed inquest, and to hasten the return of their mes
senger with assurances of 'the restoration of unity and
concord in the Church.''
Stimulated by this unanimous concurrence of so im-
Synod of the portaut a scctiou of the Latin prelacy in sup-
year 503. poi-t of the irresponsible dignity and authority
of the Petrine chair. Pope Symraachus, in the year 503,
convoked a fourth synod of the Italian churches, for the
purpose of enregistering that opinion in legislative form.
° On this transaction, conf. Baron. vol. ii. pp. 263, 264.
Ann. 502, §§ 22-24, cum not. Pagi; p Quoting 1 Tim. v. 1.
Fleury, tom. vii. pp. 117, 118 ; Bower, l Hard. Cone. tom. ii. pp. 981 et sqq.

Chap. IL] PAPAL IMPECCABILITY. gl
among the muniments of his chair. At that meetino-
the treatise of Ennodius, declaratory of the official im
peccability of the pope of Rome, was read and enrolled
among the acts of the councU."^ They decreed that the
pope being, by virtue of the divine commission, the su
preme judge on earth of all matters ecclesiastical and
spiritual, could be made responsible for kis acts to
God alone. Furthermore, for the security of episcopal
privilege, they decreed that though a bishop might be
justly reprehendible, yet that he may not be taken to task
by his flock ; and that he should not be bound to make
answer, even to a S3''nodal impeachment, until he should
have been fully restored to all property, dignity, or pri
vilege of which he might have been deprived by his ac
cusers ; and that he should have ample space of time to
verify and recover his losses to the satisfaction of the
comprovincial prelates. These regulations the3' confirmed
by the penalty of degradation and deposition against all
clerical offenders, and of excoraraunication against lay
men and monks. The synod proceeded to visit upon the
enemies of Symmachus their late infractions of the im
prescriptible prerogatives thus assigned to him. But
after the solemn enrolment of such boundless immunity,
the pope could well afford to be merciful. He therefore
generousl3'' pardoned his adversaries; adding only, by
way of caution, that they must take good care for the
future more scrupulously to observe the "ancient canons f^
and that the flock should on no account presume to call
their pastors to account, except for cause of heresy or of
injury to individuals.*
, In these successive synods a majority of the Latin
' The honest historian Fleury, tom. of them are quoted, or even the sources
vn. p. 119, is anxious to get rid of the from which they were derived indi-
idea of personal impeccability. " It was," cated.
he says, "thought that God would not « Large items of exception, it must
permit any one to ascend the throne of be admitted, more especially the latter!
Peter but those whom He had predes- The " injury to individuals 'is protobly
tined to be saints." not that which might arise from oflicial
» It is remarkable, that on aU the in- acts, but strictly private and personal
numerable occasions upon which these wrongs, unconnected with any ecolesi-
"ancient'canons" are mentioned and re- astical privilege, bee byn. Kom., ap.
lied upon, we do not find a single in- Hard. Cone. u. pp. 983 et sqq. This
stance (except that of the vi'" canon of synod was attended by no fewer than
Nicaja) in which the contents of any one 218 bishops of Italy.
VOL. II. ^

82 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
Summary of churchcs had therefore affirmed the foUowing
ecciesiasti- propOSitioUS :
?s Sar?l 1. That the pontiff of the see of Rome is
by these absolutely irresponsible to every tribunal, whe-
synods. ^-^^^ ecclesiastical or temporal.
2. That the pope, in his official capacity, cannot be
supposed capable of wrong ; consequently he is under no
cfrcumstances chargeable with wrong.
3. That the temporal state is not entitled to any
share or participation, direct or indirect, in the election
of a Roman pontiff.
4. That no temporal power, law, or legislature hath,
or ought to have, any authority to deal with or to inter
fere in the regulation of ecclesiastical property, because
the temporal estate ofthe Church partakes ofthe same
independent spiritual character as that which attaches
to its possessors.
5. That as the pope is the head of aU the churches,
and therefore cannot be judged by his inferiors, so neither
shall the bishop be called to account by any member of his
flock; nor even by his own peers untU satisfactory restitu
tion shall be made to him of all damage or loss he ma3' have
sustained prior to, or in consequence of, the accusation.
On the other hand, the State had within the same
Eights of period as fully asserted its right to make the
the civU state necessary orders and regulations to prevent
withinthe and puuish all breaches of the public peace
same period, ^hich might occur by the abuse, or in the course
of the exercise, of ecclesiastical functions. The govern
ment had claimed and enforced its right, 1st, to provide
for the performance of ecclesiastical services when, by
reason ofa contested election or other popular disturb
ance, no properly-qualified ecclesiastic was at hand to
take the duty ; 2dly, to superintend the papal elections,
with a view to the suppression of those cabals and riots
which had so frequently and so fataUy convulsed the whole
frame of Roman society ; 3dly, to prevent those misappU-
cations of ecclesiastical funds which had been found to be
productive of public criraes and disorders faUing directly
under the jurisdiction ofthe secular state, and which either

Chap. IL] CHUECH AND STATE UNDEE THEODOEIC. 83
actually were or might reasonably be deemed the sub
jects of temporal punishment.
And it must be observed, that the clergy had not yet
ventured in general terms to deny the power of Anomalous
the State to interfere for these purposes ; but ^f^'^r °i
,1,, 11. 11 . *"^ Church
the3^ had strenuously objected to each parti cu- to the state
lar measure that m'ight introduce the hand of ' Vhe^odoric^
the laity into the interior sanctuary — all that the Great.
might operate as a check upon the unlimited liberty of
election, the uncontrolled regulation of church-property,
or the perfect immunity of the clergy from all secular
responsibility in the exercise, regular or irregular, of
their recognised functions. It is obvious, that in the ac
tual state of the Roman church these conflicting clairas
admitted of no adjustment but that which the hand of
power could bring- to pass. The policy of Theodoric was,
in fact, grounded upon military possession onl3^ His
Gothic followers looked with indifference or conterapt
upon the squabbles of churchmen; his bishops meddled
as little with the affairs of the establishment as his raili
tary subjects with the civil administration. But with all
this real or affected respect for the institutions and sen
timents of the vanquished, Theodoric contrived to con
vince them that he entertained no idea of a lawful resist
ance to any raeasures he raight think fit to adopt for the
prevention of faction and disorder, however derogatory to
the presumed liberties ofthe church and clergy. The pope,
while repudiating- the principle of lay interposition, took
care to satisfy the demands of the king-, by adopting the
measures he recommended ; raeasures, indeed, in which his
personal interests were as much involved as those of the
public. Theodoric cared for and asked no more. This
isolation of government for the moraent facihtated the
maintenance ofthe truce between the antagonistic ele
ments of which his power was compounded ; but it af
forded time and opportunity to the Church to mature and
digest its pretensions, to extend its influence, and tp sap
the foundations of a throne based upon heretical religion,
foreign habits, and anti-national prepossessions,"
" Conf. Book 11. c. vii. p. 484.

CHAPTER III.
THE PAPAL PEEEOGATIVE UNDEE HOEMISDA.
State of the Oriental churches— Eeligious parties— Eupturc of Anastasius L and
Pope Symmachus— Revival of Eutychianism— The patriarch Macedonius de
posed— Timotheus patriarch— Address of the Orientals to Pope Symmachus—
He repudiates all compromise — Hormisda pope — Triumph of Eutychianism in
the East— Eome and the lUyrian bishops — Insurrection of VitaUanus — A ge
neral council proposed — Papal legation to Constantinople — Eesistance of Ana
stasius and the churoh of Constantinople — Connection of the pope with the
Vitalian insurgents — The emperor proposes the convocation of a general coun
cil — Eeply of Hormisda — Defection ofthe Illyrian bishops — " LibeUus" of
Hormisda —Excommunication of Dorotheus of Thessalonica — Papal legation —
Instructions to the legates — Arrest and deportation of the legates — Orthodox
monks ^n the East go over to Eome — Eescript of Hormisda — His principles of
church-government —Policy of Hormisda — Death of Anastasius I., and revival
of orthodoxy in the East — The emperor Justin L makes advances to Eome —
Haughty reply of Hormisda — Libellus and legation of Hormisda to Constan
tinople — Submission of the Greeks — Ostensible charsiCteT of the submission —
Its real character — EeUgious advantage of Eome.
While in the West the Church was successfully paving
State ofthe *^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^"^^ emancipation Irom the
Oriental control of the State, her prospects in the East
churches. y^^Qj.^ obscurcd by the immitigable spirit of re
hgious discord. The sovereigns of that division of the
empire had never been able to hold the balance of theo
logical opinion, though its periodical disturbances had
been attended with great detriment to every public inter
est, and frequently with the destruction of property and
loss of life. AU these evUs, however, caUed for and jus
tified the constant interference of the secular power in
the affairs of the Church. The Oriental sovereigns were
unable to avaU themselves of that natural neutrahty of
position enjoyed by Theodoric the Great. Their interests,
opinions, prepossessions, were aU intimately linked with
those of their subjects. They were agitated by the same
wayward passions; they foUowed the same pursuits; they

Chap. III.] EELIGIOUS PAETIES IN THE EAST. 85
were possessed with the same disputatious spirit, the
same love of cavil, sophistry, and chicanery. Instead,
therefore, of standing proudly aloof frora the vulgar theo
logical brawls of the times, the sovereign and his court
plunged headlong- into the vortex of religious faction.
Embracing by turns the most opposite dogmas, the con
tending factions looked for their advantage in a change
of government or in the oscillating opinions of the court.
The Church, as a body, lost all coherence, and became
inca]pable of defending its liberties against the prince or
the favourite of the day. Thus canonical elections were
set aside or forestalled ; patriarchs and bishops appointed
or deposed at the pleasure or the caprice of the court.
In all such cases, neither the clergy of the particular
church nor the metropolitan of the province were con
sulted but for the purpose of giving a formal and often
reluctant consent. On the other hand, whenever any re
ligious part3'' was for the moment too strong for court-
management, or could contrive by bribery or intrigue to
secure connivance, the3' never hesitated to commit the like
outrages upon the liberties of neighbouring churches ; the
ecclesiastical bodies among themselves showed, in short,
no more respect for the canonical rights of election and
self-government than the sovereign and his ministers.
This pernicious exaraple was scrupulously iraitated by
the swarms of monks and anchorites which peopled the
deserts of Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt. In all
these regions persecution in its most odious forms, tu
mults, seditions, murders, disgraced the Christian cause,
and perplexed and irritated the civil magistrates. In a
comraunity where all were engaged in wrong-doing, httie
could be said about riarhts; and thus, while the law and
the discipline of the Western churches were with every
year becoming more firmly consolidated, the whole or
ganisation of the Eastern hierarchy was gradually faUing
into weakness and decay.
At the period now under review the Oriental churches
were spht up into four principal factions : 1. Of ReUgious
these the most consistent, and probably the most P^^^^ m
numerous, were the rigid Catkolics, who rejected ' ^ =^= •

86 CATHEDEA PETEI. [^oo'^ ^I.
with abhorrence the Henoticon of Zeno, accepted the
whole councU of Chalcedon, and professed religious sym
pathy with Rome; 3. The extreme Futyckian, or Mono-
pkys'ite, party, who rejected with equal detestation the
councU of Chalcedon and Zeno's act of union, and kept
theraselves steadily aloof from every middle course or
comproraise proposed ; 3. The moderate Eutychians, who
accepted the act of union, but rejected the decrees of
Chalcedon; and 4. The moderate Catholics, who sub
scribed the Henoticon, saving always their devout aUe
giance to the Chalcedonian doctrine and discipline.^ Be
sides these active bodies, the provinces and cities of the
East swarmed with schismatics and heretics of various
shades and denominations, chiefly Novatians, Nestorians,
Arians, and Manichaeans.
The fourth of these sectional parties was, if not the
more nuraerous, the more pacific and rational.
themoderate At the head of this body stood the patriarch
P^rty inthe Euphemius; aperson of opinions strictly ortho
dox, enjoying a high reputation for piety and
probity, and animated by a sincere desire to heal the
prevaihng schism between the Latin and Greek commu
nions. During the short pontificate of Pope Anastasius
the prospect of accommodation had been flattering ; but,
as we have seen, the death of that estimable pontiff, and
perhaps the impatience or ambition ofthe fi-iends of union
at Rorae, frustrated all hope of compromise. The election
of Pope Symmachus decided the downfall ofthe moderate
catholic party in the West ; a party which owed its ex
istence in Rome to the political influence or the intrigues
of the court of Constantinople, and was supported only
by a pacific minorit3', who saw little danger to their or
thodox profession from the adoption of the act of union,
and no alternative between its reception and the perpetua
tion of the schism.
^Personal The eiuperor Anastasius had for some time
^^t^veerthe' P^st bceu suspcctcd of a stronger leaning to-
andPo^e ^^^'^^ *^^ cxtrcme Eutychian tenet than was
Symmachus. cousistcnt with his public professions. This
» Evag. Schol. lib. iii. e. 30.

Chap, m.] ANASTASIUS AND SYMMACHUS. 87
impression was confirmed in the year 496, when, upon
some apparently futile charges of an Uhcit understand
ing with the Isaurians, with whom he was at war, the
patriarch Euphemius was sequestered frora his functions,
and soon afterwards formally deposed by a packed synod
assembled at Constantinople for that purpose. His real
crime is believed to have been his obstinate adherence to
the Chalcedonian formulae, against which the emperor
had conceived a secret dislike. The latter, however, stUl
professed to maintain the Henoticon, and caused that
instrument to he confirmed and republished by the very
synod by which Euphemius was deposed. He went a
step further in the popular direction, and consented to
the elevation of the orthodox priest Macedonius to the
vacant see. The latter accepted the dignity, if not with
reluctance, yet with a generous feeling of compunction for
thus supplanting his predecessor and regard for his ex
alted virtues.'' But private worth and rectitude of inten
tion were of no avail against the huraours and passions
of the despot who wielded the sceptre of the East, or
the unyielding pretensions of the spiritual autocrat of the
West. On his part. Pope Syramachus was irritated by
the raarked neglect of the emperor in withholding the
usual letters of congratulation upon his accession to the
pontificate ; and Anastasius took to hiraself the whole
insult conveyed in the harsh and unbecoraing invectives
of the Roman pontiffs against all who directly or indi
rectly favoured the " adulterous" Henoticon, or declined
to blot out the hated name of Acacius from the merao
rials of the Church. His resentment found its appro
priate solace in a violent libel against the pope, in which
he imputed to him all the heresies of which he had been
himself accused, more especially that of Manichaeism —
the deadliest insult that could be inflicted upon any or
thodox professor. " The pope," he said, " had dared to
excommunicate an emperor." " And why not," was the
proud reply of Symraachus, " if the emperor chooses
his friends and associates among condemned and anathe
matised heretics ? In what is he who consents to heresy
^ Tillemont, tom. xvi. pp. 659 et sqq.

88 CATHEDEA PETEI. [2oo=^ ^^¦
better than he who publishes heresy? Acacius was a
heretic because he communicated with heretics : for this
he was condemned ; and with him aU who participated
in, or sympathised with, his error. But," continues the
pope, " we deny that we excommunicated you. We ex
communicated Acacius, indeed ; but if you depart from
him and his communion, you withdraw yourself hkewise
from his sentence : if you persist in his commumon, it is
not we that excommunicate you, but you that excommuni
cate yourself.""
It may be questioned whether the violence ot Anas-
insoient t^slus, or the touc of iusolcnt superiority as-
treatment of gumcd by the popc, was the more blamable. The
%'popr clash of the spirits of temporal and spiritual
Symmachus. despotism is a revolting spectacle ; the words of
" peace and goodwill towards men" in the mouths of either
give back a! singularly harsh and grating echo to the
Christian ear.'' The vehement passions which the con
troversy engendered drove both parties to the extremes
of intolerance. WhUe Anastasius was pursuing the re
cusants of the Henoticon in the East, the pope was per
secuting the Manichaeans in the West ;' but the emperor
had a fevourite who was strongly suspected of that he
resy, — he was therefore himself set down as a Mani
chaean, and was so treated by the pope. Certainly the
moderate Catholics had lately fallen into discredit at court,
probably because they would not be persuaded to aban
don their desire for an accommodation with Rome. By
favour of this change in the imperial mind, and under
the protection of the court-favourite Xenaias, the Mono
physlte bishop of Hierapohs, the extreme Eut3'^chians
"See this answer of Pope Sy mma- pleasing enough ; but the frequent quo-
chus in extenso, ap. Baron. Ann. 503, tations from Scripture in justification
§§18-30. It is hardly possible to con- of the very conduct which he blames in
ceive how Baronius could gather from Anastasius are positively disgusting.
this passage that Symmachus had ex- ' Symmachus takes great credit to
coraraunicated Anastasius by name as himself for his activity against these he-
a heretic in the Eoman synod of 502. rctics, and throws in the teeth .of Anas-
All he has to allege for this story, says tasius his supineness in rooting oat the
Tillemont (tom. xvi. p. 674), is this very swarras of heretics which polluted the
passage,which in fact refutes him. Conf. East. ' He does not persecute, therefore
Baron. Ann. 503, § 17. he is a favourer and accomplice of all
'' The spirit of intolerance that these heresies in the mass !'
breathes in the papal rescript is tlis-

Chap, in.] EUPTUEE WITH EOME.- 89
once more appeared in the field: they boldly r, • , »
maintained that the Chalcedonian decrees were uu7a^Euty-
a mere revival of the old Nestorian errors, "•^'^nism.
which, by predicating ofthe Christ that he was of two na
tures, — namely, a human, born ofthe Virg-in, and a divine,
not born of the Virgin, thus depriving her of her hon
ours as the Motker of God, — was derogatory to the great
doctrine of an incarnate Deity, and subversive of the
whole scheme of redemption.^ While all the four parties
agreed in maintaining the " one Christ who was crucified
for us," the friends of Chalcedon, in particular, without
further refinements, asserted that the Christ alone suf
fered on the cross : the Eutychians cried aloud that God
himself va. the Christ, that is, the holy Trinity in him, had
made atonement for the sins of the world upon iteUgious
the cross. Thus in the year 511 a Eutychian commotion.
mob broke into the great church of Constantinople ; and
when in the course of the service the " Trisagion" was
chanted, vociferously added the words "who wast crucified
for us."*^ The interruption Avas repeated on the following
Sunday, and led to an affray in the church which ended
in the expulsion of the offenders. The emperor himself
is charg-ed by the orthodox party with having encour
aged this riotous demonstration; the notorious Euty
chian monk Severus, now the recognised leader of the
ultra-Monophysite party, threw back the blame upon
the patriarch Macedonius ;'' be this as it may, Anasta
sius availed hiraself of the alarm thus created Alienation
to wreak his displeasure upon the patriarch, ofthe em-
Disgusted at the Ul success of the Henoticon, the OTthodox
and violently irritated against the catholic party P^^'y-
for their adhesion to Rorae and their uncoraproniising
defence of the decrees of Chalcedon, to which the impe-
' See the intrigues of Xenaias, as de- services it appears to have been sung in
tailed by the orthodox Syrian monks in several forms ; but the words " who wast
their letter to Alcison, bishop of Nioo- crucified for us" was never any part
polis in Epirus, ap. Evag. Schol. lib. iii. of it. Peter Gnapheus, the iutyehian
c. 31; and conf. Tillemont, tom. xvi. pp. patriarch of Antioch is said to have
679 et sqq been the first to introduce them. Vide
c The Tpiaiyws Sfjipos, or Thrice Holy, Hoffmann. Lex. Univer. ad voc. Tris-
is embodied in the Latin communion or agios.
eucharistic formulic. In the Oriental '' Evag. Schol. lib. in. c. 44.

90 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
rial dogmatist had always been indifferent or averse, he
was now driven to take measures to secure his throne
and person against the seditious zeal of the orthodox po
pulace of the capital.' AU these influences taken toge
ther had for some tirae past gradually estranged him from
the scheme of his predecessor. The intrigues of the Per
sian adventurer Xenaias and the audacity of the Syrian
Severus were more in harmony with the temper and
feehngs of the despot than the ineffective _ compromise
which had been thrust upon him by his political position.
But the firmness and integrity of Macedonius opposed
a serious obstacle to the contemplated change. When
pressed by the emperor to renounce the council of Chal
cedon — a first step only in the intended rehgious revolu
tion — Macedonius peremptorily declined. The alternative
proposed to him was the surrender of the autograph en
gagement to sustain the council of Chalcedon given by
the emperor to the patriarch Euphemius at his accession
to the throne. This document was in the custody of
Macedonius; and he preserved it, as the palladium of
orthodoxy, with a jealous vigilance which baffled all the
craft of Anastasius and his satellites Xenaias and Severus.
The patriarch returned to this demand the same refusal
as to the prior mandate. Every artifice of intrigue, every
resource of calumny, sohcitation, bribery and deceit, we
are told, were put in motion to destroy the character of
Macedonius, and to procure a sentence of deposition, how
ever unfair or irregular, from some recognised ecclesias-
vioient de- ^^^^^ judicature. But the universal respect and
position of affection with which he had inspired all classes
mSow ofthe citizens of Constantinople frustrated every
chance of assembling a council that could be
trusted with the work of iniquity ; and Macedonius was
arrested in the night-time in the patriarchal residence, and
Timotheus somc time afterwards banished to Eucactes in
patriarch. Pontus.J lu lus placc Auastasius nominated
' See the curious story of the stage- &?zantine historians Theophanes and
trick played off by the emperor to aUay Theodorus Anagnostes.
the seditious spirit of the people, ap. i Theophanes, ap. Tillemont, loc. cU.
Evag. Schol. Ub. iii. c. 44. Conf. Tille- pp. 690, 691.
mont, tom. xvi p. 688, foUowing the later

Chap. III.] ADDEESS OF THE OEIENTALS. 91
Timotheus, a priest and treasurer of the metropolitan
church, who seems to have professed no creed but the
will and pleasure of the court for the tirae being. The
new patriarch forthwith despatched letters of comraunion
to John Nicaiotes, the Eutychian patriarch of Alexan
dria, and other prelates of his confession ; and at the sarae
time renounced religious intercourse with the defenders
of orthodoxy, Flavian of Antioch and Ehas of Jeru
salem.'' MeanwhUe the religious uproar in Syria and Pales
tine had reached an extreme amid which no supplicatory
sounds could be heard but those of cursing and address of
invective. The moderate CathoUcs, under the to Pope^ ^
direction of the thaumaturgic anchorite Sabas Symmachus.
and the patriarch Flavian of Antioch, determined tobespeak
the interposition of Rome, if by that means they might
put an end to the subsisting miseries and disorders. With
that view, they wrote a supplicatory letter to Pope Sym
machus, containing a hvely description of the distracted
state of the Oriental churches, and imploring his good
offices for the restoration of peace and union in the Chris
tian world. But they knew that all who approached the
chair of Peter for spiritual help or comfort must be pre
pared to do the homage ofthe lips to that exalted spiritual
prerogative which she had claimed on like occasions. "Let
there be no delay," said the meraorialists, " but hasten at
once to our deliverance. You, who are daily taught by the
mouth of that holy doctor of your church, the apostle Peter,
that the whole flock of Christ throughout the world, not
hy compulsion, but by their own free choice, are intrusted
to your pastoral care — you who call to us, 3'our spiritual
pupils, in the words of the great doctor of the Gentiles,
the raost learned Paul — ' neitker have we dominion o-ver
your faith, but are helpers of your joy," — to you we ad
dress ourselves, as to one whose special duty and office
it is to bring succour to the distressed and corafort to
I* Both these prelates had, it seems, with having renounced the council ;
subscribed tbe Henoticon ; but Flavian which, however, he himself flatly de-
with a reservation iu favour of the de- nied.
erees of Chalcedon. Elias is charged ' 2 Cvr. i. 24.

92 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
the afflicted."'" The memorialists admitted that
They excuse , . i i i x- j •
their com- many among their number had continued in
theadToclte'^s comrauuion with the eneraies of Chalcedon : yet
ofthe these, they said, might justly claim exemption
Henoticon. £^^j^ ^j^^ ccusures passcd upon Acacius, on the
ground of the manifold difficulties of their position ; but
more especially upon the consideration, that if they had
renounced all spiritual intercourse with the dissidents,
the3- would thereby have at once been compelled to aban
don their flocks to others, from whom they must have con
tracted the infection against which they (the memorialists)
were most anxious to guard them. It was, they protested,
the necessity of their position solely, and not any agree
ment in principle, that had driven them into connection
with schismatics ; and this position it was from which not
only those who had refrained from, but those who still
reluctantly continued in, heretical communion looked for
deliverance from to the churches of the West. Upon this
plea they craved the interposition of Rome, as the only
physician capable of healing their wounds by the resto
ration of peace and concord, and their own re-admission
to the communion of the West ; and this they claimed
rather as a debt of Ckristian charity than as a matter
of favour or mere discretion on the pope's part." To this
supplication they appended an unexceptionable profession
of faith, equally condemning the opposite errors of Nes
torius and Eutyches, and signifying their plenary adhe
sion to the decrees of Chalcedon, including the " tomus"
of Pope Leo ; and they professed a devout beUef in the
union of the divine and the human nature in the Christ,
neither confounding nor dividing them.
Eome repu- What a,nswer Pope Symmachus returned to-
diates aU the memorial is unknown. We are, however,
compromise, assured that the general instructions from Rome
" The reservation in this preamble they pray not tbat the pope would treat
could hardly satisfy the claims of the them as a parent, always loath to desert
pontiff, to whom nothing but uncondi- his children, but pretend that theyAore
tional submission eould be welcome. a right to his services." But the words
» Baronius (Ann. 512, § 46) thinks " sancta adoramus tua vestigia" are
this tone highly indecorous on the part nevertheless a very good precedent,
ot the Orientals. " They wished," he establishing the very ancient practice
said, to extort these favours as a debt ; of kissing the pope's feet '

Chap. HL] EELIGIOUS POLICY OF EOME. 93
to the catholic party in the East were as strongh'- pro
hibitory of rehgious intercourse with the conforming
churches and favourers of the Henoticon as with the
ultra-Eutychians themselves : all who hesitated to ana
thematise the memory of Acacius, Fravitta, Euphemius,
or any one who had ever poUuted himself with the accur
sed thing — the "adulterous Henoticon" — and persisted
in his error, were to be deemed equally guilty with the
professed followers of Eutyches — with Mongus, ^lurus,
Dioscorus, and the host of beresiarchs condemned by the
hol3^ S3'nod of Chalcedon. The betrayers ofthe truth were,
if possible, even more dangerous than the disseminators
of falsehood ; they who were ready to bring- this unholy
sacrifice to worldly expediency — they who would admit
the wolf into the fold, in the hope of muzzling or pacify
ing him when there, were false shepherds, unworth3'^ of
Him who had intrusted them with the care of the sheep.
Obedience and not profession, acts and not confessions
of faith, were the onl3^ proofs of true communion Rome
would accept : all, therefore, who declined to strike out
the name of the heresiarch Acacius from the services of
their churches, in strict unreasoning obedience to the de
cree ofthe Roman pontiff, were to be held as accomplices
of the criminal whom they wanted courage to abjure."
Contemplating the religious policy ofthe Roman pon
tiffs with reference to the objects in view, and .
with their peculiar political position, this mode and cou^
of conduct was both consistent and safe. As reli- ^^^'^''J^f
gious rulers they were perfectly exempt from all
external control ; and this position enabled them without
fear to take up ground which under other circumstances
would have been untenable. Without doubt or hesitation
they proclaimed to the world that " he that was not for
them was against them." And this course was in strict
conformity Avith the nature and character of that scheme
of incontrovertible dogmatic truth of which they conceived
the chair of Peter to be the exclusive depository. To
tamper with defined and absolute truth is to deny it; to
connive at dissent under any form, or upon any pretence,
o Conf. Baron. Ann. 512, § 34.

94 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
is a betrayal of the sacred trust. As long, therefore, as
no more was done than was strictly necessary to enforce
recognised and unimpeached principles, there would be
littie room for charging personal ambition or undue
severity against the official managers of such a system,
to whatever extravagance of assumption, whatever enor
mity of power, it might, in strict logical consequence,
conduct them. The Christian world had, in fact, too long
listened in suUen or in awe-stricken silence to the daring
pretensions of the Roman pontiffs, to cast off the fetters
which had been sUently forged and fitted in the Roman
workshop. The cathohc world had once for aU admitted
that the reputed chair of Peter was the representative of
orthodox religion in the world ; why not, then, the arbiter
and the judge ? The question transcended the logic of
the age ;" and all who would not follow the papal chair as
captives were necessarUy deemed traitors and rebels. It
Submissive is true that the admission of those claims was
spirit of vouched by no forraal or even definite acts of
to the cL^ submission extending to all the branches of the
of Eome. Church-catholic, or even to a ma-jority ; yet all
approached Rome with awe and trepidation : they who
desired her communion or support did not, indeed, as yet
ver3' clearly discern that they could obtain it only at the
price of their freedoni, but they preferred apolog-ising for
every exercise of their Christian liberty to an honest as
sertion of it against her despotic mandates. And thus it
happened that the pontiffs of Rome were permitted with
out verbal objection or reproach, to stand forth as the
champions of that very council whose decree they had
been themselves the first to set at naught — whose laws
they had cancelled by their own mere authority in favour
of their own power.P
Pope Symmachus died in the 3'ear 514, and was suc
ceeded by Coelius Hormisda ; a man after the
mTsdrp^pe! heart of his predecessors, Leo, Felix, and Ge
lasius, and with them equally determined to
interfere in the affairs and troubles of the Church in
no other character than that of absolute master and
p Conf. Book II. v;. v. pp. 408 et sqq.

Chap, in.] FALL OF THE MODEEATES IN THE EAST. 95
ruler. In the year 512 the moderate patriarch Flavian
of Antioch was deposed by the court, and the
Eutychian zealot Severus was placed in his ^he"fiy-^
chair. The Syrian raonks belonging to both c^iansin
parties marched to the support of the contend
ing bishops ; and civil confusion, riot, and bloodshed,
prevailed in the streets of Antioch and the neighbour
ing districts. The patriarch Elias of Jerusalem, though
a subscriber to the Henoticon, and suspected of disaf
fection to the council of Chalcedon, declined communion
with the Eutychian usurper of Antioch ; and he was sup
ported against the court-faction by the orthodox ceno
bite Sabas at the head of a vast concourse of warlike
and fanatical monks.'' But the civil power carried all
before it; and now, of the four great patriarchates of
the East, three had fallen into the hands of the enemies
of Chalcedon and of Rome." In the year 513, Elias of
Jerusalem was likewise deposed ; but his successor, John
III., managed to hoodwink the civil governors Olympius
and Anastasius, and preserved his orthodoxy at the ex
pense of his integrity. Jerusalem in his hands reraained
the last remaining bulwark of catholicity in the East.^
At this point of time' the prospects of Rome in the
East seemed on the decline. She had been emi- .^
,1 n ^ iiii?j»i 1 Downfall of
nently unsuccessful on behait ot her own exclu- themoderate
sive scheme : yet her position was in one respect p^^^ ™ ^^^
improved ; she had witnessed the downfall of
the party from which she apprehended far more danger
than from her declared eneraies. The latter had long
since stood forth in battle-array against her ; the raoderate
party could be of use only while hanging upon the skirts
of her declared antagonists, crippling their moveraents and
disturbing their coherency. But after answering that pur-
1 It is inconceivable how Baronius, as we have seen, have been admitted by
the official reformer of the Eoman ha- the Eoman pontiff of the day.
giography, could permit Sabas to re- ' Constantinople, Antioch, and Alex-
tain a place in the Latin catalogue of andria.
saints; for he not only supported EUas ' Baron. Ann 513, 514, pp. 126-152;
of Jerusalem and Flavian of Antioch, jRewry, tom. vii. pp. 182-186; Tillemontr
both of them subscribers to the " adul- tom. xvi. pp. 72 1, 722 ; Evag. Schol. lib.
terous Henoticon," but lived in strict iii. c 32. Conf. Art de vSr. les Dates,
communion with both. His apology for vol. i. pp. 225, 243.
this contaminating connection could not, ' Circa a.d. 513 and 514.

96 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
pose they were worse than useless ; and it must be ad
mitted, she had never given them any positive encourage
ment. The first object of Rome, from the beginning of
the controvers3^, was to cut off every channel of commu
nication and stifle every vestige of sympathy between her
flock and the condemned faction ; for thereby alone could
she escape being driven into the fatal path of compromise.
In the northern provinces ofthe Byzantine em-
Eomel!?the pfrc, particularly in Mcesia and the region caUed
Dardanian Dardauia," and in the capital itself, she stiU

provinces.

retained a considerable body of adherents faith
ful to her interests, and, it appears, read3', if need be, to
support her cause in arms. From the age of Damasus"
the attention ofthe Roraan pontiffs had never been with
drawn from the great diocese of Ill3Ticum Orientale. The
Dardanian and Moesian provinces formed the northern
portion of that vast region, and bordered upon the con
fines of the metropolitan province of Thrace. Vitalianus
was at this moment military governor of Dardania and
Insurrection Mccsia. That officcr Suddenly coUectcd his forces,
of Vitalian. and marchedupou the capital with such rapidity,
that the eraperor beheld his squadrons of Huns and Bul
garians frora the walls before he had had time to coUect
a sufficient force to oppose any effectual resistance. The
objects of Vitalian, however, were rather of a_ religious
than a political nature, and he made no objection to ne
gotiate with the emperor for their accomplishment. He
demanded, first, the immediate restoration of orthodox
Macedonius to the chair of Constantinople, and of Fla
vian to that of Antioch ; secondly, the reinstatement of
all the bishops who had been deposed for dechning Eu
tychian communion; and thirdly, the speedy convoca
tion of a general councU of the Church, at which the Ro
man pontiff" and all the bishops of tfre empire should be
invited to attend, for the purpose of inqufring into the
legality of the imperial decrees lately pubhshed against
the prelates and other supporters ofthe orthodox com
munion. Anastasius, his court, and senate assented to
these terras without scruple, and pledged their oaths to
" The modern Servia. » Book II. c. i. pp. 258, 259.

Chap. IIL] PEOPOSAL FOE A GENEEAL COUNCIL. 97
the performance. Vitalian withdrew his troops to more
distant quarters, and the wily Anastasius gained the time
necessary to enable him to evade his engagements."
The emperor might feel pretty confident that the con
vocation ofa general council could not be made
palatable to Rome, except upon conditions that propote1"a
should not only throw the entire management genera'
and control into her hands, but that should en- """"^ '
able her to dictate the results. It was at the same time
not very probable that any section of the Greek church
could be brought to agree cordially to such an arrange
ment. But it was not yet safe to repudiate his promise ;
and in the year 514 the emperor opened his communi
cations with Pope Hormisda in a cold and formal mis
sive, in which he vaguely notified to him the intention to
convoke a general synod at Heracleia in Thrace, and
requested the pope's personal attendance" as mediator be
tween the contending parties for the restoration of peace
and unity in the Church. But the office of mediator could
hardly be acceptable to a pontiff of Rome. In his com
munications with Anastasius, the pope therefore treated
the proposed council with studied reserve, postponing his
reply upon the subject until he should be better informed
as to the expediency of such a measure ; but he signifi
cantly observed that he knew of no precedent justifying
the attendance of a Roman pontiff at any council held
beyond the confines of Italy .^ But when his temporal
sovereign Theodoric added his instances to those ofthe
emperor, the proposal could not be decently evaded,'' and
in the year 515 Hormisda despatched two bishops, En
nodius of Pavia and Fortunatus of Todi, with the priests
Venantius and Vitahs, to open negotiations with that view.
-" See the narrative of Marcellinus stances: a passing compliment to the
Chron. and Cedrenus, ap. Baron. Ann. see of Peter— " in quo (Salvator) forti-
514, §§ 40, 41; and that of Theophanes tudinem suse ecclesise constituit —is
of Byzantium, ap. Pagi, Crit. ad loc. the only redeeming point. "No com-
Baron. Evagrius (lib. iii. c. 43) makes punction, no repentance for his manitold
no mention ofthe treaty, and imputes to offences here !" exclaims the zealous Ba-
Vitalian a design to usurp the empire. ronius, Ann. 515, §4.
" The terms were barely civU; he ^ Baron. Ann. 515, §§ 15 and 20.
imputes the cessation of intercourse to ' See Theophanes, ubi sup, and the
the stiffness (duritia) of the popes, and edict of Theodoric to that ettect,— ap.
the renewal to the pressure of circum- Baron. Ann. 515, § 39.
VOL. II. H

98 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
But, to provide against any false step in deahng with
Papal the wily Greek, the pope furnished his legates
legation.. ^ff{^}^ instructions which should not only vindi
cate to the utmost his supreme pastoral authority, but
supply them with appropriate rephes to every probable
question or interrogatory that might be addressed to
them by the emperor. He strictly forbade them to eat,
drink, or hold any coramunication with bishops or clergy
untU they should have delivered their credentials into the
hands ofthe emperor himself; and even after that, they
were commanded to observe the severest caution in their
intercourse with all ecclesiastics, lest, like the unfortunate
legates of Pope Felix III.,^ they should be entrapped into
communion with heretics. With the emperor himself they
were forbidden to hold religious communion until the
arrangement for the restoration of peace was completed
and executed, inasmuch as an earlier reconcUiation might
be taken advantage of to delay or defeat the required sa
tisfaction. They were moreover instructed to insist upon
an immediate and unquahfied adoption of the Chalcedo
nian decrees, together with the " tomus" or letter of Pope
Leo the Great thereunto appended; but to reserve all
other questions, more especially the rival claims of Mace
donius and his successor Timotheus, for the adjudication
ofthe holy see. In the next place, they were to make the
assent ofthe pope to the convocation ofa general councU
dependent upon the absolute submission, ofthe emperor
and the Oriental churches to the papal guidance and di
rection. Anastasius was then to be called upon to dehver
a personal declaration of adhesion to the Chalcedonian
decrees, with the tomus of Leo annexed ; to make pro
clamation of that fact to all the bishops of his commu
nion; and to command them to signify the hke conformity
by appending their signatures to a " libellus," or formula,
to be presented by the legates for that purpose."
» See Book III. e. i. p. 29. lute condemnation of the beresiarchs
'•Baron. Ann. 515, §§ 30, 36, 37; Nestorius, Eutyches, Dioscorus, and
conf J'/cary, tom. vii. pp. 187-193. The their followers; ^lurus, Mongus, and
libd^lus embraced the following points: others their feUows. 3. The eondem-
nu 1 j""''®^®'^™'^ acceptance ofthe nation of Acacius, Peter Gnapheus, and
Chalcedonian decrees (the xvui'h canon, aU the adherents of Zeno's Henoticon.
ot course, Bouncluded). 2. The abso- 4. The reference of all differences af-

Chap. III.] CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY EOME. 99
It is tolerably manifest, that after the acceptance of
terms amounting to an unconditional surrender
of every point in dispute, and an equally un- SnlTtasiuf
qualified adoption ofthe supreme jurisdiction of elo"btt*n^
Rome upon all matters in difference, a general d?maiids"of
council could answer no purpose but to regis- ^^°""''
ter her decrees, and the more effectually to rivet her yoke
upon the neck ofthe Oriental churches. Anastasius was
not in a condition peremptorily to reject the hard terms
thus iniposed upon him by the pope, now in open aUiance
with his own rebelhous lieutenant ; but there yet remained
one debatable spot of ground, from which he could not be
so easily dislodged. He knew that the populace of the me
tropolis, and probably likewise many ofthe orthodox pre
lates of the East, were devoutly attached to the memory
of their pious pastors, Acacius, Fravitta, and Euphemius,
all of them labouring under the anathema of Rorae : the
first of them in consequence of his labours for the peace
of the whole Church; the two latter for defending his
memory from posthumous insult and their church from
irretrievable disgrace. The emperor, who was no stranger
to the sentiments of his clergy upon this point, received
the papal legates with distinguished honours ; he readily
assented to all their propositions till they came to the
article requiring the erasure ofthe name of Acacius frora
the sacred diptychs. Up to this point the ortho- ^^^^ church
dox clergy had raised no objections ; but when of Constanti-
they were called upon to pronounce the irre- ^ ^^onsenTto
vocable sentence of degradation against their her own de-
beloved church, — not perhaps without some g'^'^^t'O"-
suspicion that few thinga lay nearer to the heart of Rome
than to entail discredit upon the rival see, — the voice of
contradiction became loud and general. It is beyond
question that, from the beginning to the end of the con
troversy, it had been the settled purpose of the Roman
pontiffs to reduce the see of Constantinople in all respects,
excepting perhaps in name, to the level ofthe unimportant
city of Byzantium before Constantine the Great raised it
fecting ecclesiastical title, together with arisen out of the late religious quar-
aU disputes whatever .which might have rels, to the arbitrament of the pope.

100 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
to the dignity of second capital of the empire. An aU-
important step in the accomphshment of this purpose
was to affix indelible disgrace upon the succession of^her
bishops, and thus prepare the Christian world to concur
in her erasure from the list of the great patriarchal sees.
'The legates, therefore, strenuously insisted upon this car
dinal point in the negotiation. The emperor urged that,
after accepting all the material terms proposed, he ought
not to be called upon to expel the living from the Church
for the offences of the deceased ; he hinted significantly
enough at the danger impending over those who derived
thefr orders from the condemned prelates, and protested
that such a course on his part would be inevitably at
tended with civil disturbance, insurrection, and blood
shed. He cunningly added, that this subordinate and
comparatively unimportant question might be much more
satisfactorily discussed at the ensuing general council;
and he promised to send envoys to Rome to convey the
ratification of the treaty, and to give the pope the fullest
assurance of his sincerity and good faith."
The emperor Anastasius certainly had sufficient rea-
Anastasius SOUS to bchevc that Popc Hormisda stood in
poprof wm- communication, if not in league, with the Vita-
munication liau iusurgeuts. The operations of Rome in the
"tSian^iZ'" provinces of Dardania and Moesia had been at-
surgents. tended with sigual succcss. The majority of the
prelacy of those regions had zealously embraced her com
munion, and professed themselves her subjects: Vitalian
had presented himself in arms at the gate ofthe imperial
palace as their spokesman and champion; the chain of cir
cumstances seemed to point unmistakably to the pope as a
principal promoter or abettor of the insurrection. Hor
misda, at all events, availed himself of the distresses ofthe
court, thus brought to pass, to an extent that left- no doubt
of his hearty concurrence in the treasonable proceedings of
the dissidents. Four ofthe Illyrian prelates, conspicuous
« Though no record of the actual con- to the Eoman senate in the latter year
ferences remains, it appears, — from the (§ 1 1), — that such must have been the
correspondence set out at length by Ba- course of the negotiation. Conf. Fleury,
ronius, ad Ann. 515 and 516, but more tom. vii. p. 193; and Bower, vol. ii. p.
especiaUy from fhe letter of Anastasius 285.

Chap. IIL] DEIFT OP THE PAPAL PEOPOSALS. 101
for their recent adhesion to Rome, happening to be at
that time in the emperor's power, were detained in cus
tody* for complicity in the insurrection; a circumstance in
dicating which way the suspicions ofthe eraperor pointed.
But things were not yet ripe for any retrograde step on
his part. The legates of the pope, finding that nothing
more could be accomplished consistently with their in
structions, relieved the court from their importunate pre
sence. Little reflection was requisite to convince the most
orthodox friends of Romp in the East that the vital in
terests of their comraunion were very remotely, if at all,
involved in the condemnation ofthe memory of Acacius;
that, in fact, that demand was of importance to no party
but to Rome alone. A doubt could hardly fail to cross
their minds that the real object of the Roman pontiffs was
much less to preserve the unity and the purit3^ ofthe faith,
than to establish a test whereby they might try the fidelity
and obedience of their adherents, and lay a solid foundation
of an influence in the East equally exclusive with that to
which they had so closely approximated in the West.'
But it could escape neither the eraperor nor any party
iu the Church, that the proposed arbitrament jj^j^j^jf^^g
of all disputes about ecclesiastical claims which Eoman
had accrued during a long period of schism, proposals.
must ultimately bring aU ecclesiastical title under the im
mediate cognisance and decision ofthe pope; and that,
if successful in the process of purification, he would be
enabled to pack a councU from w^hich he would have little
to apprehend. But the pope himself might doubt his
power to carry out so critical an operation, and might
fear to risk the advantages already gained. On the
other hand, Anastasius had proposed the convocation of
a councU rather with a view to involve his opponent in
•i These were, Alcy son bishop of Ni- referred to. All the papal demands
copolis, Gayanus of Nayssa, Laurentius were intended to unite the orthodox of
of Licida, and Evangelus of PauUtaUa. the East in unconditional obedience to
The two first died at Constantinople Eome; and the acceptance of the terms
this year (516). Evangelus was soon proposed was to be the test ot tb«ir ».t-
released; but Laurentius was detained tachment: " Quod tune qui sunt ortho-
some time longer. Nicephorus, ap. Bar. doxi de unitate sedis apostolicse niinime
Ann. 51 6, SS 36, 37 ; and Cedrenus, ap. separentur, et qui his sunt eontraru cog-
eund. § 38. Conf. Fleury, tom.vii. p. 194. noscentur." See the Instructions, ap.
= This object is, in fact, very dis- iJaroM. Ann. 516, § 30, ubi sup.
tinctly avowed in the instructions above

102 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
difficulties he could easily anticipate than from any sin
cere desire for the accommodation of existing differences.
In the Eastern churches no echo of his ostensible anxiety
for a general s3'nod was heard ; and though the Western
churches in some degree encouraged the project, there
was no such general call for the proposed remedy as to
tie the hands ofthe pontiff, or impel him in any direction
inconsistent with the interests of his policy.
Anastasius, however, might not be willing at once to
The emperor release the pope from a possible embarrassment;
sends envoys aiid therefore, in the month of July in the 3'^ear
to the pope. Qig^j^g despatched two great ofecers ofthe
court^ to present to the pope his confession of faith and
solemn ratification of the terms, as far as they had been
agreed upon, with the legates in the preceding j'ear. The
pope, however, took offence at a mission of laymen for the
transaction of ecclesiastical affairs, and felt himself at the
same time disappointed and baffled by the cold and in
different tone of the letters they brought with them ; he
therefore declined to accept the submission, and instructed
the senate, to whom Anastasius had addressed letters by
the same hands, to inform the emperor that there could
be no peace with Rome until the name of Acacius should
be erased frora the list of Christian bishops. Hormisda
himself, in his reply, repeated his decision upon this vital
Eeply of the poiut ; he bcsought the emperor to hasten his
pope- conversion, and to testify his sincerity not by
words but by deeds, — by renouncing all sympathy with
the abettors and defenders of heretics. " Reject, I be
seech you," he said, — " reject altogether the contagion of
the accursed thing (the Henoticon) and its authors, know
ing that the pure hath no portion with the impious, and
that there is no fellowship between faith and falsehood."*
But in the course of 515 and the beginning of the
Impolicy of following 3'ear, political affairs had taken a turn
''defecdon o'f "^^''^ favourable to the emperor. The strength
the Illyrian of Vitalian had melted away under the effects
bishops, of dela3^ and intrigue ; the chief comraand of
' Theopompus count of the domestics, s See the documents in extenso, print-
and Severianus count ofthe consistory. ed by Baronius ad Ann. 516, §§ 4-16.

Chap. IIL] "LIBELLUS" OF POPE HOEMISDA. 103
the Illyrian forces had been peaceably transferred to the
friendly hand of Ruffinus, and Rome had lost aU the ad
vantage ofthe terror she had inspired by her aUiance with
the rebel subjects of Anastasius. But the latter hastened,
as far as in him lay, to forfeit the benefit of this change
of position by impolitic severities against the refractory
bishops of lUyricum. Dorotheus of Thessalonica, the
metropolitan ofthe diocese, had all along disregarded the
papal injunction to renounce the coraraunion of the dis
sident patriarchs of Constantinople ; but he was not sup
ported by the bishops of his diocese as the court desired,
and a foolish atterapt to drive them into conformity by
useless annoyances only contributed to hasten a general
defection. The bishops of Epirus, after the impolitic
arrest and death of their metropolitan bishop Alcy son,
elected John, a devout adherent of the Roraan commu
nion, to the vacant chair of Nicopolis. The new archbishop
hastened to announce his election to the pope by the usual
synodal letters from hiraself and the council of compro
vincial bishops.'' The pope, in reply, congratulated them
on the orthodoxy of their profession ; he cautioned them
against the artifices of the court-heretics, and exhorted
them to perseverance in avoiding all coramunications with
those whose faith was doubtful or unsound ; and he added
that, as no precaution could be regarded as superfluous
which would in any way secure the integrity of the faith
and the stability of true religion, he called upon them to
affix their signatures to a libellus, or written .jj^^ ubeUus
engagement, by which they should bind them- of Pope
selves to observe and defend the whole doctrhie °™'^ ^'
of Rome, to adopt or reject what she adopted or rejected ;
but more especially to abide by the condemnation of the
Eutychian heretics and their posthumous advocates Aca
cius, Fravitta, and Euphemius, and to avoid comraunion
with the " execrable" heretic Timotheus of Constanti
nople. This hbeUus, or act of submission, was sent by the
same hand to aU the churches of Epirus, and probably
'¦ See the letters, ap. Baron. Ann. simo et beatissimo Patri Patrum, com.
5 16, §§ 44, 45, 46. They are inscribed ministre nostro et Principi Episcoporum
in the ordinary form of Oriental syco- HormisdiE Papse."
phancy: "Domino per cuncta Sanctis-

104 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
received the signatures of the great majority of the pre
lates ofthe province.'
If the dfrect interferences of Rome with the Illyrian
The 111 rian ^piscopacy had been a novelty, Dorotheus, the
scMsmrex- patriarchal metropolitan of the diocese, would
communica- jjg^^g jjg^^ g-QQ^j o^rouud of compkiut. The pa
tion ofDoro- , *=,. S .- 1.^ -i?ii.t.
theus of pal proceeding was indeed m mamtest breach
Thessalonica. ^f all ecclcsiastical law, as it stood upon the
statute-book of the Church, and could be justified only
under the presumed power-superabundant and extraor
dinary of the Petrine see. The theory of the law-eccle
siastic against the intromission of one prelate upon the
diocese, province, or parish of another, was clear and
stringent; and if even it were granted that a general
superintendence had from all times appertained to the see
of Rome over the provinces of lUyricum Orientale, there
is no evidence that it had ever been exercised otherwise
than by or through the pontifical vicars of Thessalonica.'
Now, however, that intermediate authority was frankly
cast aside, Pope Hormisda assumed to himself the whole
metropolitan prerogative, and ordained bishops to all the
vacant sees within the provinces of Epirus and Dardania.''
Dorotheus, the eparch of Thessalonica, whose rights were
thus unscrupulously invaded, manifested his resentment
by a closer adhesion to the prohibited communion of Con
stantinople. He was accordingly excommunicated by the
pope ; the bishops of his diocese were exempted from
his jurisdiction, and prohibited fi-om holding religious or
official intercourse with him as their primate upon pain
of forfeiting the communion of the Church-cathohc'
' Baron. Ann. 516, §§ 60-64. and metropolitan churches. The prac-
j See Book II. e. i. pp.258, 259, 280; tice of vicarial interference was now of
c. ii. pp. 310-312. more than a hundred-and- thirty years
¦¦ For authority, we must refer tbe standing, from the episcopate of Dama-
reader to the large collection of origi- sus to that of Hormisda; a very suffi-
nal documents apud Baron. Ann. 516, cient perpetuity in the estimate of the
tom. ix. ofthe Lucca edition of 1741. Eoman ecclesiastical jurists to establish
Directing his attention to note (K) p. 312 the right, even independently of the
of the Ild Book of this work, he will theory of Pope Leo the Great.
not fail to recognise iu this step of Pope ' See the letter of Hormisda to his
Hormisda, another and a very marked legates Ennodius and Peregrinus; but
stage in the gradual process of substi- particularly the epistle to John of Ni-
tuting the papal authority for the sta- copolis, the metropolitan of Epirus, on
tute and common law rights of eparchal the request ofthe bishops of his pro-

Chap. IIL] LEGATION AND INSTEUCTIONS. 105
The rehgious agitation which began, but did not end,
with the rebelhon of Vitalian, was improved b3'^ p^ ^^^^ ^
Hormisda with vigour and ability. The pros- tiorofX.'
pect of successful operations upon the liberties, ^^^^ ^^'''
or by what other name they may be called, ofthe Eastern
churches through the fears of the aged and wayward
despot was indeed at an end ; but Hormisda was quick to
discern, and prompt to avail himself of, the anarchical
condition ofthe East for reducing the Greek hierarchy to
the Roman platform. The first requisite was to maintain
and strengthen his communications with the enemies of
the government. It is at first sight difficult to conceive
what hopes he could have founded upon a repetition of
the experimental legation ofthe year 515. Yet in the
month of April 517 he despatched two legates of epis
copal rank, Ennodius of Pavia and Peregrinus of Mise-
num in Campania, for the ostensible purpose of reviving
the negotiations which had been broken off upon the ques
tion ofthe erasure ofthe name of Acacius from the sacred
diptychs. The legates were provided with public letters
of introduction and recommendation to the emperor, and
some others of general iraport to the Oriental churches of
all denominations : containing exhortations and admoni
tions to the orthodox to keep the faith and persevere in
well-doing; to the heretical or the contaminated, to hasten
their return to the Roman communion, " the rock upon
which the whole Church is founded."""
But it soon became obvious, that though the legates of
Hormisda were ostensibly accredited to the em- instructions
peror, their real business was with others. They to the
were provided with secret or private letters to ®sates.
the orthodox monks and people of Constantinople, the
contents of which soon became known to the court, and
must have appeared to the jealous despot as scarcely a
step removed from treason. Their charge was to estabhsh
vince to be allowed to send the usual the breach of them on the grounds of
letters of communion to Dorotheus of his connection with heresy and the ne-
Thessalonica, ap. Baron. Ann. 517, §§ cessity of arresting the contagion. Id.
34-39 ; and conf. the letter of the same ibid. § 39.
to Dorotheus himself, amply recognis- ^ See the letters, ap. Baron. Ann.
ing his diocesan rights, but justifying 517, §§ 3-25.

106 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book Ul.
a more intimate sympathy and understanding with all the
orthodox prelates of the East ; to advocate the cause of
the persecuted Epirot and Illyrian bishops against their
metropolitan Dorotheus; to disturb and, if possible, to
break up the still subsisting harmony between the ortho
dox party and the church of Constantinople ; to inculcate
with all earnestness the proposition that there could be
no church-fellowship out of the pale of the apostolic see,
no return to the unity of the Church-catholic without an
unconditional renunciation of all adverse comraunion, no
valid ecclesiastical authority but that which was bestowed
or sanctioned by the pope of Rome." To this end, they
were further supplied with a formula of recantation,
damning all beresiarchs, more particularly Nestorius and
Eutyches, with an especial curse upon the memory of
Acacius and aU the defenders and advocates of the He
noticon. If this document should be repelled by the em
peror and the bishops of his party, of which the pope could
have entertained no doubt, the legates were instructed pri
vately to procure as many signatures as possible, and by
every means in thefr power to disseminate a secret libel
against the emperor and the court-prelates ; in short, to
make friends with the adversaries of the government, and
do their utmost to convert its friends into foes.
Connecting the tenor and spirit of these documents
Character of ^i^^ the late insurrectiou of Vitahan, brought
the instrue- about by similar means ; with the open defec
tion ofthe churches of lUyricum, Dardania, and
Epirus, from the communion of Constantinople at the so
licitation of the pope, and the long-subsisting intercourse
between Rome and the swarms of disaffected and riotous
monastic bodies in the capital and in the Asiatic pro
vinces, — the emperor, not unreasonabl3'-, came to the con
clusion that the Roman claims were destructive of hberty
of conscience to his own communion, and to that ofa
large portion of his subjects ; that they were incompatible
with the raaintenance ofthe pubhc peace, and dangerous
to his throne and government.
" Card. Baronius (Ann. 517, §§42- instructions to the legates, in aU their
44) detects these propositions in the nudity; and vve think he is ri"-ht.

Chap. IIL] OFFENSIVE MOVEMENT OF HOEMISDA. 107
But, in the true spirit of Byzantine pohcy, the legates
were permitted to execute their secret commis- Qg.^^^; ^
sion without impediment. Instead of treating measures of
them as double-dealers and secret fomenters of t?e™itfe'^'of
disturbance in his dorainions, Anastasius, we are Dorotheus.
told, endeavoured in vain to overreach or to bribe thera;
thus incurring disgrace and exposure where law and rea
sons of state might have stood his friends. The irarae
diate cause of the breach with Rorae arose out of the
resolution of Archbishop Dorotheus to resist the papal
intrusion in his diocese. Johannes, the successor of Al-
cyson, had declined the jurisdiction of Thessalonica, and,
at the suggestion of Rorae, omitted to send the usual sy
nodical letters after his election to the see of Nicopolis in
Epirus. Dorotheus, it appears, took measures, — of what
nature we are not precisely informed, — to reduce him to
canonical obedience. These measures were reported to
the pope, and were by him treated as acts of^ crirainal
persecution and open rebellion against the supreraacy of
the holy see, from which, as he hinted, the metropolitan
powers of the archbishop originally eraanated ; powers
which of course might be resumed for disobedience or
contumacy*" He gave strict orders to his legates to deal
with Dorotheus as one who had forfeited the coraraunion
of the catholic Church ; they were to hold no intercourse
with hira but for the purpose of inducing him to renounce
connection with the patriarch of Constantinople and all
other heretics or defenders of heretics ; they were to in
sist that no one who sincerely wished to return to the
bosom of the catholic Church, to which there was no door
but through Rome, could be upon good terms with those
who continued in outer darkness ;¦' and he directed them,
o The legates were to promise that converted into an original endowment,
the privileges of his church granted by emanating from the see of Eome alone;
his (the pope's') predecessors should not the fact being that Thessalonica was
be withdrawn if he observed the " laws the diocesan metropolis of Illyricura
of ihe Church.." "Let him," said Hor- Orientale long hefore the earliest ofthe
misda, " return to ' the unity,' and no vicarial delegations. See Baron. Ann.
one shall insist more earnestly than 517, § 43. Baronius adopts this inter-
ourselves that all the privileges he de- pretation ; and we think the words wiU
rives from the apostolic see be preserved bear it.
inviolate." These words are perhaps P " Admonitio ad legates," ap. Ba-
ambiguous; it should seem as if the ron. Ann. 517, ubi sup.
grant of the vicariate were now to be

108 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
if their remonstrances should prove fruitless, to post copies
of the apostolic letters in the cause of Johannes at the
places of pubhc resort in Thessalonica and other conve
nient localities. In the last place, they were directed to
inform the emperor that, the bishops of Nicopolis having
returned to the bosom of the holy Roman church, and
thereby incurred the vengeance of Dorotheus, the holy
father and the orthodox churches demanded that such
annoyance should be at once discontinued, so as to give
assurance to the world that repentance and return to
the true fold were not to expose men to penalties and
persecutions. Whether the means adopted by Anastasius to avert
Arrest and the threatened danger were such as they are
deportation described to US'* or not, the emperor might
gates of justly Tcsent a proceeding perhaps more likely
Hormisda. ^jj^n any other to plunge him back into the
perils from which he had so recently escaped. The only
remedy in 'his power, short of abject submission to the
arrogant demands of the Roman pontiff, was accordingly
resorted to. The legates were arrested and shipped for
Italy, but without any special precautions to prevent
communication with the enemies of the court. On their
voyage, they put in to several important ports; and
through the agency of friendly monks distributed manj^
copies of the papal manifesto, or libellus. But most of
these writings fell into the hands of the imperiahst offi
cers and clergy, and were transmitted to Constantinople.
Some sinister light seems to have been thrown upon
the conduct of the legates by these documents. Almost
every vestige of their late successes appears to have
vanished with their presence. The bishops who had
signed the papal formulae hastened to renounce their en-
gagements, and to resume communion vvith the see of
onstantinople."' Anastasius closed his correspondence
with the pope in a letter, contrasting the proud and dic-
1 By Anastasius the librarian, a very therefore, was their consternation when
untrustworthy authority. they found themselves exposed without
' It seems most probable that they defence to the wrath of their sovereign.
had never intended that their signatures Baron, ubi sup. § 47.
should be shown up against them : great.

Chap. IIL] MONASTIC WAEFAEE IN THE EAST. 109
tatorial language of Hormisda with the gracious lessons
of the Saviour, and concluding with a declaration that
" though he might submit to be vilified and made of no
account, he would not tolerate the language of command."'
While affairs were in this position between Constan
tinople and the West, the churches of Pales- ri ^u j
Cl • 1 -n -ll 111 Orthodox
tme, byria, and Egypt were still convulsed by monks of
bitter contentions for and against the decrees *«^^s'
of Chalcedon. The Eut3^chian patriarch, Severus of An
tioch, perpetrated, we are told, unheard-of cruelties upon
the Maronite and other monastic communities ofthe ortho
dox confession. From spiritual maledictions and cursings,
these factions advanced to carnal warfare; and many mur
derous affraj-'s took place between the hostile Laurae or con
vents, in which it appears the so-called catholic party were
worsted. In one of these sanguinary encounters, no fewer
than three hundred and fifty monks are said to have been
left dead upon the field ; very many more were wounded,
and others ag-ain dragged from the very altars at which
they had taken sanctuary to instant death. The van
quished hopelessly appealed to the emperor for protection
and redress ; but the Eutychian interest was paramount at
court, and their cries fell upon deaf ears. On the other
hand, as long as they adhered to the Henoticon, or held
communion with the moderate of any party, they could
expect neither sympathy nor assistance from Rome or
the Western churches. But their condition was now too
desperate to admit of hesitation ; and they came to the
resolution of abandoning the middle path of
compromise, and throwing themselves without persecution
reserve into the arms of Rome. In this spirit, '"'J^fg^mg'"*
they addressed a humble memorial and supplica
tion to the pope and the bishops of the Western churches
for aid and comfort under their manifold afflictions. " We
beseech and implore you," they said, " most holy fathers,
to arise quickly for the healing of the lacerated body of
the Church ; fbr the vindication of the faith contemned,
the canons trodden under foot, the fathers blasphemed,
' "Injuriari et annuUari sustinere ron. ubi sup. §49. Conf. J'/eury, tom. vn.
possumus, juberi non possumus." Ba- p. 201.

110 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
and the hohest of synods (Chalcedon) set at naught and
cursed. For unto you hath God given the power to bind
and to loose. . . . Arise, therefore ; and be ye imitators
of the Lord, who came down from heaven to seek and to
save the lost sheep. Take example of the blessed Peter,
the prince of the apostles, whose seat you (the pope) so
worthily fill ; and of Paul, that vessel of election, who went
forth preaching to and enlightening all nations 
And now, for the more perfect information of him who is
the angel of your church (Hormisda), we do, by this our
writing, cast out, anathematise, and pronounce accursed
all who are or have been cast out, anathematised, and cursed
by 3'our apostohc see ; we name more particularly Nesto
rius, Eutyches, Dioscorus, Peter of Alexandria (Mongus),
Peter of Antioch (Gnapheus), and all who have consorted
with, comforted, or abetted any of these heretics."' This
address was signed by twenty-five Archimandrites or ab
bots, and one hundred and seventy priests and deacons.
The pope received the document as a plenary renun-
Congratuia- ^iation of the Henoticon, and as a formal deed
tory rescript of submissiou to the dominion of Rome. In the
to throrielT- foUowing year Hormisda replied in a tone of ex-
tai monks, ultiug Congratulation upon the complete though
tardy conversion of the memorialists. " At
length," said he, " you have conformed to the doctrine,
and obeyed the mandate of the apostohc see. But nom
you have passed through the purifying fire of affliction ;
now you have learnt wisdom from much tribulation!
And what wonder that 3'-ou should have been afflicted,
seeing that heretofore you had gone astray from the only
true fold, wandered from the only true shepherd I We
therefore exhort you to persevere in the struggle, to
shake off the mire of filthy communications ; to shrink
with religious horror from all who have ever swerved
frorn the letter of Boman doctrine  Let there
be no manner of contact with heresy ; let the lessons of
the fathers, as taught at Bome, be in the hand, in the
heart, and on the lips of aU of you ; let the decrees of
214-2!^ *^^ ^^'°0"''l. ap- Baron. Ann. 517, § 57. Conf. Fleury, tom. viii. pp.

Chap. IIL] CHUECH-G.OVEENMENT UNDEE HOEMISDA. Ill
Chalcedon and the letter of Pope Leo to Flavian be the
standard of your faith, the weapons of the Spirit whereby
to vanquish and overthrow the Nestorian and Eutychian
blasphemies, whereof the former denieth that the most
blessed Virgin is verily the Mother of God, and the lat
ter extinguisheth altogether the sacred mystery of the
redemption. But raore especially we exhort 3'ou to yield
no manner of obedietice to the mandates of secular per
sons in spiritual concerns ; the sacred altars may not be
contaminated by strange sacrifices ; God himself hath
established the distinction of office between tke Levites
and tke laity. Human authority is one thing, the pre
rogative of the priesthood is another and a peculiar func
tion ; and it was for usurping the latter that Uzziah king
of Judah was smitten with leprosy :" know ye, therefore,
that the ordinances of profane authority in things spi
ritual are treated by God as contempts of his comraand
raents, and that they are altogether destitute of force or
effect in his Church."
The principles enounced in this document, and indeed
generally maintained throughout the pontificate Pope Hor-
of Hormisda, are in substance the following : '"^^f^gg^Jf""
1. Rome is the sovereign arbitress of doctrinal Church-go-
orthodoxy, and she is entitled to iraphcit sub- ¦fe™"'ent.
mission in all matters of faith. 2. She is the only authen
tic interpreter of the decrees of a general council. 3.
Every mandate or judicature that she rejects is ipso facio
unlawful and void. 4. The interference ofthe secular
power within the wide field of ecclesiastical jurisdiction
or interest, except it proceed under the direction or sanc
tion of Rorae, is a substantive act of sacrilege and treason
to God and his Church. In many respects they agree
with the propositions contended for by his predecessor
Gelasius. The pontifical maxims of the latter deal more
exclusively with the ecclesiastical element of the papal
power, because they were caUed forth by a question of a
more purely ecclesiastical character ; while those of Hor
misda turned more especially upon the conflicting rela
tions of the spiritual to the temporal power." But we
» 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21. " See Book IIL c. ii. pp. 78, 79.

1 12 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
have seen'' that in one great department of ecclesiastical
government — that relating to the management of church-
property — Pope Symmachus had put upon record a so
lemn protest against the right ofthe secular power to in
terfere with the Church in the disposal of its funds. Hor
misda consistently generalised the principle of his prede
cessor, and extended it to every subject-matter in which
the Church might take an interest, direct or indirect, — d.
fortiori to any law, rule, or regulation emanating from
the secular power which might circumscribe or impede
the course of spfritual government, or the measures ofthe
superintending and visitatorial authority vested in the Ro
man pontiff. The steps in the advancement of
prindpies'of the Romau claims during the three pontificates
the papal of Gclasius, Symmachus, and Hormisda, are very
strongly marked ; and, if maturely considered,
will be found to embrace all the material elements of a
power theoreticaUy excluding all external reformation or
amendment as fully as it repudiates all limitation or con
trol. The history ofthe papacy is, in truth, but the simple
development of pre-established principles, dating from the
latter half of the fifth, and the first twenty years of the
sixth, century.
It has been observed, that until the extinction of na-
The poKcy tioual government in the West, scarcely a mur-
of Hormisda. jj^^j, jj^d been heard against the frequent med
dlings ofthe civU power with ecclesiastical affairs." But
the pontiff of Rome was now the subject of a foreign
prince ; and by that change of position he was enabled to
deal with the Eastern emperor as an independent power.
He was politicaU3'-, as well as religiously, emancipated
from all obUgations which might impede the natural de
velopment of the rehgious scheme of which he was the
self-constituted chief and champion. Pope Hormisda was
the first of his rank who fully discerned the advantages
of this novel state of things ; he was hkewise the first
to denounce the interference of the civU government in
the affairs of the Church in terms wide enough to make
the tranquillity of the state for all time to come depend-
" Book IIL c. ii. pp. 99, 103, 104. » Book III. c. ii. p. gg.

Chap. IIL] DEATH OF ANASTASIUS L 113
ent upon the passions or the prudence ofthe reigning
pontiff. Hormisda followed closely in the footsteps of his
predecessors Leo the Great and Gelasius. There was in
his addresses to his spiritual subjects, as well as its scope and
to recusant parties, an honesty and fervour of character.
expression which left no room for doubt of his sincerity.
His comrainations — daring and unsparing as they were
— always assumed the tone ofthe purest aspirations of
peace and goodwill towards men. Thus he managed to
kindle in the minds of his party a burning desire for the
termination of the frightful anarchy which for more than
half a century had desolated the Eastern churches, with
out holding out the remotest prospect of its accomplish
ment by any other means than unconditional submission
to the arbitrament of Rorae. Few pontiffs had deserved
better of the holy see than Horraisda. Though less scru
pulous than Leo the Great as to the raeans eraployed for
the ends in view, he cannot upon the whole be charged
with any glaring departure frora that strict rule of per
sonal integrity which had earned for his great predecessor
so lofty a position in the Church, and so well-deserved a
character in the religious world.
In the raonth of April 517 Timotheus the Eutychian
patriarchbf Constantinople died ; and was sue- Death of
ceeded by his syncellus, or secretary, John of -^"5^'*^™%^-
./. ¦' ' J ^ and revival
Cappadocia. Ihe emperor does not appear to of orthodoxy
have interfered with the election, and John was ™ ^^^ ^''^'¦
allowed to profess orthodox sentiments during the few re
raaining months of the life of Anastasius. But the latter
survived only till the July in the following year ; and was
succeeded by the adventurer Justin, the commander of
the iraperial guards, who, after adroitly overreaching an
incapable competitor, by favour of a popular confession
of faith secured the concurrence of the clergy, senate,
and people of Constantinople.^' The first movement of
reviving orthodoxy was announced by the devout voci
ferations of the populace of the capital. The patriarch
y Baronius (Ann. 518, §§ 2, 3) gener- cruing to the Church. As under the old
ously forgives the breach of faith by dispensation, Ehud and Jael are ms
which he obtained the diadem, in con- vouchers.
sideration of the advantage thereby ac-
VOL. II. I

114 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
John and the court-party turned over in a body to the
imperial creed. All concurred in denouncing anathema
against Nestorius, Eutyches, Severus of Antioch, and
every one who, hving or dead, had ever held communion
with them. The general councils, especiaUy that of Chal
cedon, were adopted, confirmed, and canonised afresh;
and the names of Macedonius, Euphemius, and Pope Leo
the Great, were reinscribed by acclamation upon the
sacred tablets of the church."
Yet in these transactions, greatly as they tended to
The revival narrow the chasm which divided the Eastern
independent and the Wcstem churches, there was much to
o Eome. g^Q^j.^^ ^]jg jealousy of old Rome. A synod was
assembled at Constantinople to confirm and register the
hasty resolutions of the court, patriarch, and people, after
their sudden emancipation from the yoke of an heretical
prince. But the acts of this synod made but smaU ac
count of the papal authority. Excepting the restoration
of the name of Leo the Great to the sacred diptychs,
no notice whatever was taken of Rome or any interest
of hers in the whole transaction.^ The bishop of Con
stantinople accepted the suspicious title of " cecuraenical
patriarch ;" and the names of Macedonius and Euphe
mius — both the advocates of Acacius, both subscribers
to the Henoticon of Zeno, both accursed of Rome-
were plaeed above that of Leo the hohest of pontiffs, the
pride and glory of the Latin church.
The triumph of doctrinal orthodoxy was, however, aU
The emperor ^"* Complete iu the East. Antioch was soon
Justin makes after wards liberated from the odious yoke ofthe
Irp^ope!" impious and blood-stained Severus. John of
Jerusalem had contrived, by dint of dissimula
tion, to avoid comphance with the heresy of his imperial
'See the acts, ap. Baron. Ann. 518, sufSoient grounds. The question wiU
lo, n.u' j^'^f^' *"'"• ¦>'"• PP- 216- arise hereafter.
diVnatln tw -""fi ""''"f T'u^ ^'§^ "" ' '^^^ assumption of Baronius (Ann.
stfnttonle^t »\ ff^^"*^ "^k^" f ^°"- ^1^' § ^°^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^tern bishops only
menMatri«rI *? ^.^^g^""' " <^<='i- acted provisionally, and that they well
"rgoodfelron ;enrnW ^kT^i,"^'^ ''"'^ ?''' ^'^'^* t^ey ^'^^ i» their iynod
lorgoo^reason-reprobatedby the holy was of no force till confirmed by the
tion of^tL'utr te":^:., "LrupoTL^- ffi. '^ ^^ '^^ ^ ^^'^^ ^-- '»>«

Chap. IIL] JUSTIN L EMPEEOE. 116
patron : aU the bishops ofthe eastern dioceses floated with
the current of reviving orthodoxy ; Egypt alone conti
nued to hold out against the decrees of Chalcedon. But
the Orientals were not to be permitted thus easily to set
tle terms with Rome ; nor could it be tolerated that the
pacification ofthe Church should be the work of any other
hand but hers. To satisfy the dignity and maintain the
position of the Petrine chair, there could be no advance
on the part of the pontiff. Nor was any such step re
quisite : the new emperor was determined upon peace
at any price ; he accordingly opened his communications
with Pope Hormisda by an imperial autograph drawn
up in a flattering and reverential tone, and transraitted it
to Rorae by the hands of Count Gratus, the friend and
confidant of his nephew and successor Justinian. By the '
sarae hand the patriarch John sent his synodal letters,
containing his confession of faith in the terms of Pope
Leo's celebrated treatise ; he inforraed the p^e that he
had restored the names of all his (Horraisda's) predeces
sors to the sacred calendars of his church ; and concluded
his address with the request that the pope would send pro^
perly-accredited legates to ratify on his part tlie reunion
of the two churches. Justinian added a letter from him
self to the same purport." The answers returned Eepiy of
were short and dry. The pope declared, that Hormisda.
before any thing could be concluded, the narae of Acacius,
the associate and accoraplice of the worst of heresiarfehs, .
Peter (Mongus) of Alexandria, raust be struck out ofthe
hst of the blessed, and consigned to infamy or oblivion.
He haughtUy informed the apphcants that they had now
no retreat ; and that having once embraced the creed of
Rome, they had tied and bound themselves down to obe
dience to her precepts in ,aU matters, and to accept her
decisions upon every point included in that confession.
" You have renounced heresy," said the pontiff, " you have
taken upon you tke faitk of tke blessed Peter, knowing
!> Baron. Ann. 518, §§ 74, 75. The dry supjerscription of the reply runs
letter of the patriarch was kddressed : thus: " Hormisda bishop to John bishop
" To my lord and most holy brother of Constantinople.
and fellow-minister Hormisda." The

116 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
that in that faith alone you have salvation : therefore
now set your hands to the written covenant {libellus)
herewith sent you for your subscription, that thereby
we may be united in one holy communion with each
other.'"^ This "hbellus," or covenant, was substantially the same
with that which had been so scornfully rejected
legltron^^f by the deceased emperor and his clergy. The
Pope Hor- Jegatcs who conve3"ed it received the same mi-
Constanti- uutc and cautious instructions as those ofthe
nople. preceding jeav% 515 and 517. They were en
joined to take no step that might compromise the rigid
consistency, or cast a shadow over the omniscience of Rome
in all matters of faith. The3'^ were directed to open no
coraraunication with clergy or layraen, to decline all inter
course with the patriarch of Constantinople, and to hold
no discourse with any one touching the subject of their
mission, until the3^ should have introduced themselves
and delivered their credentials and all the documents ac-
compan3ring them to the emperor's own hands ; after that
they were _immediatel3^, and without allowing space for
hesitation or reflection, to demand his subscription and
the instant publication of the act. The onl3' point they
were empowered to 3aeld was an insult rather than a
concession : the pope graciousl3^ consented that the names
ofthe imperial heretics, the predecessors of Justin, should
not be publicly associated with the vulgar herd ofthe
damned, but should be privatel3'^ withdrawn from the
registers of the faithful sons of the Church. As soon,
then, as the emperor and patriarch should have performed
these conditions, the legates were to be at liberty to re
ceive them into the communion of the catholic Church ;
and so on with the rest; alwa3's carefully exacting
such a degree of publicity in all these acts of conformit3'^,
as that no one might thereafter plead ignorance of the
full extent of the obligation contracted, or be enabled to
evade the conditions, or question the authority which
imposed them.
The progress of the legates to Constantinople rather
¦^ Baron. Ann. 518, §§ 81, 82.

Chap. IIL] CESSATION OF THE SCHISM. 117
resembled a triumphal procession than a mission submission
of peace. The bishops ofthe cities on their of ti>e Greeks,
route signed the libels without waiting for the o'fEome°m'
imperial license. Dorotheus of Thessalonica the East.
alone hesitated at this wholesale surrender ofthe liberties
of his church. On their arrival at Constantinople, the
legates found all men prepared to accede to the papal
demands ; and a few da3's sufficed to bring the eraperor
and his court, the patriarch and his clerg3'^, within the
pale of the Roman church ; for such was both the form
and the understanding of the whole transaction, as far as
outward acts could be made to denote intention. The
names of Acacius, Fravitta, Euphemius, and Timotheus,
together with those of the emperors Zeno and Anasta
sius, were struck out of the lists of the faithful, and every
bishop and abbot of the raetropolis and the diocese at
tached to it signed and delivered his libel in the form
required. The great schism thus brought to an end'' had con
vulsed Christendom for a period of thirty-five ^ ^ ...
years. And so far as practical admissions may character
extend in construing intention, the subscribers g^,,^issfon_
of the libelli of Pope Hormisda could hardly
deny the obligation of spiritual allegiance to the chair
of Peter. The claim to that aUegiance, its extent and
meaning, were clearly stated and brought to their know
ledge before they executed the bond : all the demands of
the pope had been ostentatiously grounded upon a divine
right, overriding all other law or order in the Church ;
and, as far as in him lay, he had taken care that the
surrender should be unconditional, and that the act itself
should bear the stamp of rightful horaage to the apostohc
see. His legates discussed nothing ; they were intrusted
with no power to treat, or to vary the terms of submis
sion; every appearance of independent action on either
side was carefully excluded ; there were no parties, no
dispute, no negotiation; submission, absolute and un
conditional, was the form and the substance of the whole
«i Eeckoning from the condemnation of Acacius by Pope Felix II. in the year
484 to 519.

118 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book UL
transaction ; the demand itself was, with all possible pub
licity and notoriety, based upon the proposition tkat out
of tke pale of St. Peter's ckair tkere was no ckurck, no
unity, no promise, no salvation."
The sequel wiU, we think, show that the Oriental
Beal charac- churchcs ucvcr intended that absolute surrender
ter of the of their independence which their acts seemed
submission. ^^ jj^p|y_ ^|j ^jjg j.gj^j|y pj^^^g ^^^ right-miuded
clergy thought of little more than the restoration of union
in the Church, and the termination of those unhappy dif
ferences which had caused the effusion of so much Chris
tian blood and so long banished Christian charity from the
world ; the statesmen were anxious to aiTest the civil dis
orders, and dry up the sources of sedition and rebeUion
which had sprung from the prevaihngrehgious dissensions.
No party probably paid much attention to the principle of
the papal demands upon them, or to the construction that
might be put upon their own acts. The correspondence
of emperor, court, and clergy conveys the impression that
their minds were wholly absorbed by the strong desfre for
peace ; nor do we find, amid the many comphraentar3'^ and
flattering expressions of deference for the holy see, any
thing that could be made to convey a direct verbal ac
ceptance ofthe papal principle — any acknowledgment of ^
subjection or aUegiance. The pope alone busied himself '
with the principle ; the Greeks looked only to the prac
tical benefits of the desired union. A name or two more
or less upon the hsts of saints and benefactors, was of
httle moment compared with the serenity and security
resulting from a durable rehgious peace. The new em
peror was a veteran soldier, to whom theological disputes
were altogether strange, and who might therefore look
with contempt upon the quarrels of troublesome priests,
and with resentment at the amount of civU mischief they
Eeligious ^^^ ^^^^ found capable of perpetrating. But
''of Eom^^^ Rome had obviously succeeded in making her
self the mistress of the controversy. WhUe
the r^!irt^°»*,!^^.t""''^'Pw'^^"''^ between Ann. 519, tom. ix. We point particu-
mav be flnH t F^^^t"^- "^^^ ^.*'* ^^'''^ *° *^^ 1««<^^ "^ Justinian to the -
may be tound at length in Baronius, pope, § 98.

Chap. IIL] ADVANTAGE OF EOME. 119
fighting for spiritual dominion, she carefully adhered to
those dogmatic formulse which had hitherto coramanded
the assent of a raajority in the Christian world. And
true it is, that while she raaintained the four general
councils, and steadily set her face against the vain and
pernicious speculations of the Oriental divines, she could
raake sure of the first place in the estimation of the
catholic body. It was to this natural and legitimate
supreraacy that the emperor Justin and his clergy did
homage; and posterity will ratify the act. But these
merits being conceded, the like approval cannot be ex
tended to the obvious 'design to make them the ground
work — as it were the credentials — of a divine commission
to exercise absolute dominion, irrespectivel3'' of future
merit or demerit, over the religious conscience of man
kind, and to make the victory she obtained in this great
strugg-le evidence of her right to retain and exercise
that dominion for all time to corae.

CHAPTER IV.
JUSTINIANIAN PEEIOD (L).
Subserviency of Constantinople— Appeal of the Syrian fanatics— Count Justinian
and Pope Hormisda — Death of Hormisda — John I. — Theodoric the Great
protects the Arians ofthe East— His tyranny — FeUx UL pope — Death of
Theodoric— Imperial policy — Amalasuintha and Athalaric— Ee-annexation of
Eome to the empire — State ofthe Eoman church— Boniface II. pope — Decree of
the Eoman senate against bribery — John II. pope — Eeiterated decree against
bribery — Secular interposition against bribery, &c. — Church-policy of the em
peror Justinian — Scope and objects of his ecclesiastical laws — Their secular
and political character — Limits of the secular and ecclesiastical powers in re
spect of church-legislation — Eelations of Justinian to the Eoman pontiffs —
Title of " universal patriarch" — Intent of Justinian — How accepted by Pope
John II. — Eome and the Gallic churches — Eome and the revived churches of
Africa — Their address to Pope Agapetus — Eome and the canons ofthe Church-
cathoUc — Agapetus pope — His embassy to Constantinople — Intrigues of the
empress Theodora — Anthimus patriarch — His deposition — Mennas patriarch
— Imperial principle of church-legislation — Course of proceeding — Sylverius
pope — Intrigue of Theodora and Vigilius — Of Belisarius and Antonia — De
portation of Sylverius — Election of VigUius — Murder of Sylverius — Canonical
defects in the title of VigiUus.
Pope Hormisda survived his victory for a term of four
Subserviency J^ars. Of the host of oppoueuts, two only re
ef Constanti- maiucd in the field : Timotheus the Monophy-
nople. site patriarch of Alexandria still maintained his
ground against pope and emperor by the aid ofthe popu
lar support ; and the refractory Dorotheus of Thessalo
nica could not be persuaded to subscribe to the degra
dation of his church. In all other quarters the religious
influence of Rome was for a time paramount. All im
portant ecclesiastical raeasures and appointments were
submitted to the pontiff; and any departure from alleged
law or usage affecting the claims bf Rome was promptly
rebuked and obsequiously apologised for by the trans
gressors. Thus it occurred that, after the death of the
patriarch John, his successor Epiphanius was deeraed to
have delayed his official letters of notification to the pope

Chap. IV.] JUSTINIAN AND HOEMISDA. 121
beyond a reasonable time; for this neglect the latter
administered a sharp rebuke, and drew from the new pa
triarch a hurable apology, accompanied by ostentatious
protestations of attachment to the see of Peter and per
fect acquiescence in every step ofthe pontiff for the raain
tenance and purity of the faith — heartily condemning
and rejecting all and every person, matter or thing, that
had been condemned and rejected by the holy see."
The relig-ious movement in the East presented some
novel features. Certain Syrian fanatics main
tained that for the completion ofthe rule of faith the Sp'ian
it was necessary to pronounce that " a Person fatties to
ofthe Holy Trinity had suffered on the cross for
the redemption of the world." This extravagant dogma
they supported b3' clamorous charges of heterodoxy
against their opponents. Though they had found favour
at court, they were discountenanced by the patriarch and
the Roman legates. But by the recoraraendation of Count
Justinian they carried their complaints to Rorae ; and the
future emperor in an autograph epistle pressed the pope
for a decision, assuring- him that the orthodox churches
ofthe East would receive his adjudication upon the merits
of the question as catholic doctrine. With the habi
tual indulgence of Rome for all appellants from foreign
churches, the pope entertained the cause ; but declined to
give judgment, and dismissed the applicants without sa
tisfaction indeed, but without reprehension or censure.''
Within the same period the Count Justinian appears
upon the stage as the intimate ally and pupil Eelations of
ofthe pontiff of Rome. He asked and received Count justi-
!• pii-iTrt'-i- c "'an and
solutions of theological difficulties ; sent tor re- Pope Hor-
lics from the shrines of the apostles, and inter- ™'^'^*-
ceded for those whose orthodoxy entitled them to indulg
ences from the holy see.*^ The plentiful crop of rehgious
conceits which had lately sprung up within the pale ofthe
Chalcedonian profession itself, afforded araple occupation
^ Baron. Ann. 520, §§ 29-35. of the pious patriarchs Macedonius and
i> Fleury, H. E. tom. vii. liv. xxxi., par- Euphemius. Hormisda appears to have
ticularly p. 253. yielded the point to the powerful inter-
•^ More especiaUy for those churches cession of Justinian. Baron. Ann. 520,
which StUl retained in honour the names § 36.

misi

122 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
for the theological acumen of Justinian and his pontifical
pedagogue. Epiphanius dutifully reported the proceed
ings of his synodal courts to the pope, and the emperor
and his ministers accepted his directions for completing
what remained to be done in the great work of reconciha
tion. Except from open and declared enemies, opposi
tion had ceased on aU hands; and, before his death, Hor
misda rejoiced in the prospect of a wider influence and a
more sohdly-established power than had been enjoyed by
any of his predecessors.'' Pope Hormisda died
p^pe Hot early in the month of August of the year 523 ;
ttisda; John and was succeeded by John I., surnamed Cata-
I. pope, jj^^g^ ^ Tuscan by birth, and a priest of the
district or parish of St. John and St. Pau? at Rome.
The accession of John I. carries us back to the state of
Persecution Italy, a couutry becoming with every succeed-
of heresy, jxig year morc and more closely connected with
the fortunes of the Byzantine empfre. As long as the
pubhc attention was absorbed by religious controversy,
raen could not find time or leisure to look out for the minor
objects of persecution ; but as soon as by the coahtion of
the stronger parties their mutual jealousies were laid
asleep, the mind of the churchmen applied itself to the
task of reducing all dissentients to conformity. But to
that end they knew of no methods but imprisonments,
civil penalties, disabilities, and even capital punishments.
Thus the Manichaeans were hunted down and ruthlessly
burnt to death in every province ofthe empire. Other he
retics, of a less obnoxious description, were deprived of
liberty, station, property, and civil rights. The Arians were
¦• Baron, ad Ann. 520-522. seUors in ordinary of the bishop, and
8 Both Baroni-us (Ann. 423, § 10) and his oficial attendants on aU public occa-
Ciacone (Vit. John I.) describe John sions and ceremonies. When the pope
Catalinus as cardinal--priest of St. John became the monarch of the Church, it
and St. Paul, by the title of Pammachius. was natural enough that they who made
Though the title of cardinal-priest — him and surrounded him from his con-
principal or chief priest — may have been secration to his grave should be styled
of early date, yet rbeUeve it was not princes of the Church. But it is a disin-
used in the sense afterwards affixed to genuous artifice to carry back the title to
it much before the age in which the an antiquity to whieh it has no preten-
parish clergy of Eome acquired the sole sion. There could be no princes before
power of electing the Eoman pontiffe. there was a king. Conf. Ducange, ad
Theparochialolergy of Eome, however, voc. CardinaUs.
became at a very early period the coun-

Chap. IV.] TYEANNY OF THEODOEIC. 123
StiU a numerous rehgious profession, even in the East ; in
Italy Arianism was the religion of the governing power.
It was not advisable, therefore, to extend the like disci
pline to this class of dissenters ; and the attempt of the
emperor Justin to expel the Arians from their churches
and to transfer them to the catholics — a prelirainary step
to more active persecution — was resented by Theodoric
Theodoric the Great as a flagrant insult to his ^^^ ^^^^^
own creed. With characteristic vigour, he de- ^Arians of"
termined to make the pope hiraself the instru- ^^^ ^^^'•
ment for redressing the wrongs of his co-religionists.
The pontiff was accordingly sent to Constantinople, with
peremptory instructions to press the revocation of the
obnoxious edict. The measure was for the moment suc
cessful : the pope was received with thehighest honours ;
he occupied the first place at the altar, crowned the em
peror, and prevailed upon him, for obvious reasons, to
forego for the present the gratification and the profits to
be derived from the persecution of his Arian subjects.'
But by this time suspicion ofthe ulterior designs of
the court of Constantinople had taken fuU pos- Tyranny of
session of the mind of Theodoric. Age, and the Tiieodoric.
disappointment of every scheme for the accomplishiuent
of a closer national union between his Roman and Gothic
subjects, had exhausted his forbearance. He perceived
that the Itahans requited the contempt of the Gothic
soldiery with a persevering aversion, enhanced by reli
gious hatred. They had thwarted the measures of the
sovereign by irritating resistance, and were more than
suspected of treasonable intrigues with the chief of their
own religious communion in the East. Hurried on by
' Card. .BaromM«(Ann. 523, §§8-11) Greeks, i^/cary (tom. vn. p. 284) can-
fuUy sympathises with the pope and the not get rid of the concurring testimony
emperor in this unfortunate dilemma. of the " Liber PontificaUs," the Greek
He repudiates with indignation thg sup- Theophanes, and the " Historia Miscella
position that a Eoman pontiff could, to that fact; but he rightly, no doubt,
from compulsion or from any other con- attributes the intercession of Pope J ohn
ceivable motive, become the protector to no desire to relieve the Arians, or to
of heretics. See Ep. Joh. Pap. Ann. any motive of religious toleration, but
526, § 2. From this epistle, and a pass- simply to his anxiety to protect the Ita-
age from the "Lives of the Martyrs" lian churches from the resentoent of
of Gregory of Tours, he endeavours to their Arian masters. Conf. Pagi, not.
show that the imputation of interceding ad Baron. Ann. 525, §§ 5-9.
for the Arians is a calumny ofthe later

124 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
jealousy and resentment, the aged monarch cast aside
the principles upon which his governraent had been hi
therto conducted.^ Bis suspicions feU upon the innocent
heads of his ministers Boethius and Symmachus ; and
Death of Popo Johu was iiumured in an unwholesome
John I. prison at Ravenna, where he shortly afterwards
died." Theodoric took the selection of a successor .to the
Election of deceased pontiff into his own hands ; and by
Felix III. hig precept, Fehx, the third of the name, a
Samnite by birth, and probably a meraber of the Roman
church, was after slight hesitation placed upon the papal
throne.' The king had fathomed the designs of the By
zantine court for the recovery of its Italian dominion;
nor could it have been a secret to him, that that scheme
turned upon the religious sympathies of his people for the
distant chief of their communion. The late accommo
dation, therefore, of the religious differences between the
East and the West must have appeared to hira fraught
with danger to his government ; perhaps he had arrived
at some surmise that the facility ofthe emperor in the late
arrangement was not unconnected with the execution of
the sinister designs of the court of Constantinople. Cer
tain it is that the late reconciliation opened a broad path
for political intrigues : the correspondence of the Itahan
malcontents with the Byzantines had become intimate and
active, and Theodoric resorted to measures of severity to
check the spirit of resistance which his unbounded tolera
tion had engendered and fostered among his Itahan sub
jects. But before the effects of these steps became mani-
Death of ^^^^} ^ distemper, which affected mind and body
Theodoric simultaneously, put an end to his existence,^
the Great, ^^^^j, ^ long, and upon the whole beneficent,
reign of thirty-four years from the death of Odovaker.
s Conf. Book II. c. vii. pp. 483, 484. examine laudatum," &c. (_Baron. Ann.
"i Conf. Baron, and Fleury, ubi sup. ; 526, § 3.) Conf. Ciacone, tom. i. p. 353.
Hist, of the Germans, p. 542. It appears, nevertheless, that FeUx IH.
! Athalaric, the successor of Theo- has obtained a niche in the Eoman Pau-
dorio, in a letter to the Eoman senate, theon.
alludes to this election in these terms: J Theodoric the Great died on the
" Eecipistis virum (Felicem), et divina 30th August 526.
gratia probahiliter institutum et regali

Chap. IV.] DEATH OF THEODOEIC. 125
The precise relation subsisting at this point of time
between the Greek emperors and the Gothic so- imperial
vereigns of Italy is of some moraent to the pro- poii^y-
gress of papal history. Though the emperor Zeno and
his successors had sanctioned the introduction of foreign
government in Italy by the successive recognitions of
Odovaker and Theodoric, they pertinaciously continued
to regard that country, no less than every other region
that had at any time formed a portion of the empire,
quite as much in the light of a province or appendage of
their titular sovereignty as if it had never been severed
from their dominion. With the pedantry of jurists, they
maintained that in parting with the present possession
they had never abandoned or impaired their dominium
supremum ; and that on the occurrence of any technical
cause of forfeiture or escheat, they raight lawfully resurae
the grant. In point of fact, the Gothic prince had taken
possession as the grantee of the eraperor ;'' and although
the former always carefully excluded all interference with
his government, yet he was equally solicitous to preserve
in his addresses and demeanour that respectful tone and
manner which threw a graceful veil over the more offensive
forms of independent power. During the whole period
of his reign, therefore, the claims of the Byzantine era
perors were suffered to sleep. But his death, and the
events which foUowed it in rapid succession, put an end to
this amicable understanding, and introduced a change in
the position ofthe Gothic monarchy which held out great
encouragement to the scheme of re-annexation always
uppermost in the mind of the court of Constantinople.
Theodoric was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric,
a chUd as yet scarcely eight years of age, un- Amaiasu-
der the regency of his mother Amalasuintha, a ^*a and
daughter of the late monarch. The kingdom
of the Goths thus became a prey to aU the evils of a
minority; the haughty warriors submitted reluctantly to
female rule ; and the regent was unable to control the
precocious vices and caprices of the youthful king. But
in the year 534 Athalaric died from the consequences of
k Jornandes, e. 57, p. 696; Procopius, Hist. Goth. lib. 1. c. i. p. 308.

126 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
premature intemperance ; and his mother, in an evil hour,
thought to perpetuate her power by marrying the Amalan
prince Theodotus. But the new king-consort quickly
undeceived her ; he excluded her from all particip.ation in
the government, and soon afterwards caused her to be
secretly strangled in the bath.'
In the year 527, the emperor Justin had caused his
nephew the count Justinian and his wife Theo-
tbn of Eome dora to be nominated and crowned as his sue-
to the cessors on the throne of the East. He himself
empire. ^^^^ ^ ^^^ raouths aftcrwards, at the age of
seventy-seven, after a reign of nine years. Within the
first seven years of his reign Justinian had concluded a
peace with the preponderant Persian power on his east
ern frontier, and accomplished the conquest of the Vandal
kingdom of Africa. His victorious general Belisarius
had rapidly overrun the barbarian realm, recaptured Car
thage, and conducted the Vandal king Gelimer a prisoner
to the foot of his throne. With an arm3^ and a captain
such as Rome had not seen since the days of Scipio or
of Csesar, the eraperor boldly aspired to the conquest of
Italy, where dissensions and the incapacity of Theodotus
had prepared the way for his arms and fortune. He
affected to consider the raurder of Amalasuintha as a
legitimate cause of forfeiture ; a stranger to the original
grant had usurped the vassal throne, and the inheritance
of Theodoric was held to lapse to the imperial grantor.
In the year 536 Belisarius, without a battle, overran
the island of Sicily ; whence he crossed to Calabria, and
possessed himself of the important cities of Naples and
Cumse. In Rome, the boihng hatred of the citizens for
their heretical rulers, co-operating with the misgovern
ment of Theodotus, had predisposed the minds of all
classes for a change of masters. The Gothic garrison,
enfeebled by rautiny and discontent, felt itself incompe
tent to defend its extended quarters against the appre
hended insurrection of the citizens emboldened by the
approach of their deliverers ; they abandoned the city ;
and Behsarius put his sovereign once again in the posses-
' Jornand. c. lix. p. 701 ; Procop. ubi sup. lib. i. c. iv. p. 317.

Chap. IV.] EECONQUEST OF ITALY. 127
sion ofthe ancient capital ofthe empire after a severance
of sixty years' duration.-"
During the period of nine years which elapsed be
tween the death of Theodoric and the conquest Rei nin
of Rome by Belisarius," the chair of Peter was pontifTb?-
occupied by four popes — Felix III., Boniface y'Iars527
IL, John IL, and Agapetus — all elected under ''"'^ ^^s.
the patronage of the Gothic viceroys, if not by the direct
nomination of the regent. But Amalasuintha, during
her short ascendency, felt the expediency of keeping the
Romans in good humour too strongly to pursue the ri
gorous measures contemplated by her father against the
disaffected clergy of the capital. With a view to regain
the lost popularity of the court of Ravenna, she pub
lished an edict transferring all suits, civil or criminal,
brought against any clerk or minister of the Roraan
church to the adjudication of the pope himself, with an
appeal to the civil courts only in the case of a palpable
denial of justice by the pontiff." The alleged motive for
this extension of privilege was the frequency of vexatious
actions, civil and crirainal, against the Roman clergy ; not
improbably traceable to the restless spirit of that body,
and the retaliatory disposition ofthe government officials.P
But the feeble government ofthe regent was unequal
to the difficulties she had to contend with, and ^^^^^^^^^^
the removal of the strong hand ot iheodoric Roman
the Great at once reproduced the fruits of dis- t^tttl*'
order and corruption in every element of the riod;
State. The Roman clergy, no longei- curbed by •
the moral vigour of a Gelasius, a Fehx, or a Hormisda,
ffave way to that seditious spirit, and lapsed into the cor
rupt habits, which the barbaric government and their own
» For these incidents the reader is P-^f ,,f ^-,/"J^^^^^^^^^^^ Tm^rZ
referred to the works oi Jornandes and before the cm „ ^j^^ ^ ^P^..
Procopius, as above quoted p Tey. ItTsCe that the Eoman clergy,
» From the year 527 to 536. ?n their netition to the court, claimed
' See the eict, ap. Baron. Ann. 537, ^^.f/^P^^^^ ^^ ^ „,tter of long cus-
§V^h'e'Theodosian laws certainly did ^C^°:^:^^^^TZi,r
not exempt the clergy from the juris- ^ut the claim i^ neg y ^^^^ ^^^^
diction of the cmi courts - -y J^ut spi- "^ ^'^^^'^^'f^,^ ,, admitted by the
ritual causes of action. AU tne gra u &
viorescaus^" were reserved; andincivil btate.
actions the lay party had his election to

128 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
ablest pontiffs had so long and so anxiously combated.*'
Pope Felix III. held the pontifical chair for the short
space of three years and two months. He died in the
. ^ year 530 ; and Avas succeeded by Bonifachis,
. ^j^^ ^^^ ^^. gjg.gyy]^^ 3^ priest of Gothic extrac
tion, after a severe contest with a raore popular candidate
naraed Dioscorus. Both parties appear to have prac
ticed open and shameless bribery,'' and Boniface II. was
indebted for the throne to the sudden death of his rival
within a few days of his successful appeal to the popular
constituency. The new pope ushered in his pontificate
by a solemn curse upon the meraory of his late com
petitor. In breach of all ecclesiastical order, he obtained
fi-om his synod a decree which empowered him to appoint
his own successor; and he nominated his deacon Vigilius
to the reversionary dignity. But a decree which anni
hilated the rights of the electoral bod3', and deprived the
sovereign of his veto, offended all parties, and alarmed
the regent. A synod convoked in the following 3'ear (531)
annulled the decree ; Boniface himself admitted his error,
and in the presence of the council and senate burnt the
decree with his own hand, confessing himself guilty of
the crime of treason in procuring its enactment.'
Odovaker had prohibited the diversion of church-
property to secular purposes ; and Theodoric,
deoreeoi through the Church herself, had provided
the senate agalust the recurreucc of those cabals and in-
against it. .H i-iii p iii i. i
trigues which had so frequently led to disturb
ances of the public peace, and given so much trouble to
the government.' But these ordinances had been found
to be practically inoperative. They did not extend to
the crime of bribery in general, but to bribery b3r ahena-
tion or diversion of church-funds only ; and it is probable
that the execution of these statutes was not very closely
watched so long as the infi-action of them did not mate
rially affect the interests of government. At this time,
however, the senate of Rome — which as a political body
1 Conf. Book III. cii. pp. 85,87, 88. 531, §2; Kcury, tom.vii. p. 317— "Papa
¦¦ See Ep. Justiniani, ap. Boron. Ann. reum se confessus est majestatis."
530, § 4. t Book m. c. u. pp. 88-100.
' Anastas. inBonif., ap. Baron. Ann.

Chap. IV.] EDICi AGAINST BEIBEEY. 129,
had almost disappeared from the historic stage, took an
unwonted interest in the reforraation of this abuse. The3'
issued a decree, that if any one should, for the purpose of
obtaining the fiishopric of the city of Rorae, be convicted
of giving or proraising any article or tking by way of
bribe, either on his own behalf or on behalf of any other
person, such contract or agreement should be altogether
void ; the guilty parties should forfeit their right of suf
frage ; the promises made be vacated, and the article or
thing given be recoverable by action against the receiver."
But the authority of the senate to make laws binding
upon the clergy was soon put to the test. The
death of Pope Boniface II., in the year 532, "reUera^er'
was followed by a repetition of those scenes of edict against
briDGrv
bribery and corruption which had disgraced his
own election. Through the weakness of the regency, the
choice of a successor had fallen back into the ordinary
channel ; and after a vacancy of unusual duration John,
surnamed Mercurius," was chosen pope. But in the
course of his election the goods and property of the
churches had been recklessly squandered in bribes by the
candidates and their friends ; promises had been lavishly
dispensed, and even the sacred A'essels of the altars put
up to auction to procure funds for bribery or to favour
friendly purchasers. The senate, indignant at so open a
contempt of its recent ordinance, and disgusted with this
public display of venality, presented the abuse to the court
of Ravenna, and obtained a rescript addressed to Pope
John II. confirming the senatus consultum for the sup
pression of bribery and simoniacal practices. The re
script recited and re-enacted all the provisions of that
decree; but it went a step beyond, and extended thera
to all the patriarchal and raetropolitan chairs throughout
the kingdom of Italy ; and lastly, with a view to pre
vent extortion on the part of the officers of government,
it was ordered that whenever a contested election should
occur, and the successful candidate should come to the
sovereign for his confirmation, the officers of the court
" Cassiodorus, Epp. lib. ix. ep. 15.
' He is said to have been so called on account of his eloquence.
VOL. II. K

130 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IH.
should in no case accept from a newly elected pope more.
than 3000 solidi as fees of office, nor more than 2000 from
patriarchs and metropolitans. Siraple bishops were to
be allowed to distribute among their people a sum not
exceeding 500 solidi; and rigorous punishments were
denounced against all who should either offer or accept
more than these specific sums. The pope was moreover
ordered to publish the ordinance in all churches subject
to his pastoral superintendence ; and the prefect of the
city, Salvantius, was directed to have it inscribed upon
marble tablets and posted up conspicuously in the vesti
bule of the church of St. Peter, as the proper mode of
recording the royal pleasure, " and giving due honour to
the laudable decree ofthe most noble senate.""
The character of these decrees has been thought ma-
Secuiar in- Serially to affcct the papal claims. It appears
terposition clcarly euough that neither the Roman senate
'reedon'of ^lor the Gothic rulers entertained any doubt of
ecclesiastical their competeucy to recall the pastors of the
a uses, gjmrch to a sense of their duty by direct legis
lative interference, and to enforce the abatement of the
scandalous nuisance complained of by legal penalties.
The pope himself was to be bound by the decree in the
same sense, and to the same extent, as all other persons
named ; and he is treated throughout as an instrument in
the hand ofthe legislature for the purpose of bringing the
law to the knowledge of the clerg3' and people of Ital3'.
The ordinance ofthe senate, and the confirmatory decree
of Athalaric, therefore bear the stamp ofa direct secular
interposition for the correction of ecclesiastical abuses."
Church-po- It may be advantageous in this place to
'em "eror* compare the almost simultaneous policy of the
Justinian, cmpcror Justiniau in relation to ecclesiastical
" Cassiodor. lib. ix. ep, 16; Baron. was assigned to the churches to watch
Ann. 533, §§ 32, 40j Fleury, tom. vii. over their interests in the civil courts.
pp. 322, 323. Whether this officer was the direct re-
* Baronius endeavours to get rid of presentative or agent of the bishop at
the offensive aspect of this decree by the court of the sovereign or not, it is
a disingenuous misinterpretation of a clear from the words of the edict that
passage in the decree. The complaint he made his complaint " cum aposto-
of those malpractices is stated to have licre sedis -peterelur antistes ;" conse-
reached the royal ear through the " De- quently, before John II. was pope.
fensor Ecclesise Eomanffi," an ofificer who Baron. Ann. 333, § 33, p. 467.

Chap. IV.] THE JUSTINIANIAN LAWS. 131
legislation, with a view to obtain a more general idea of
the respective shares which pubhc opinion in this age as
signed to the temporal and spiritual powers in the exter
nal government ofthe Church. Upon the lights we raay
obtain on this point, it is obvious, must in a great mea
sure depend the claim of the great Latin patriarch to
have been from all time exempt from secular legislation,
except such as either moved from himself, or was sanc
tioned by his solicitation or direct participation.^
Between the years 528 and 534, the emperor Jus
tinian issued numerous decrees directly affect- ^^^ e of his
ing the government, discipline, and revenues of ecclesiastical
the churches within his own dominions. Though ^'^^'
throughout this period Rome was in the hands of the
Goths, yet Italy was still regarded by the Byzantine
monarchs as an integral portion of the erapire, so that,
when reduced into possession, it would be legally re
garded as in all respects subject to the existing laws of
the State and the Church ; consequently, in that contin
gency, the chief of the Latin coraraunion would corae
under that general code of laws then lately published by
the emperor for the prevention of abuses and the main
tenance of canonical discipline in the whole body of the
Church. We describe generally the more important of these
laws, especially those which most plainly show Qfjjg^jg ^f (.,^3
the intent of the legislator to impose laws upon Justinianian
the Church by the authority of the State-po
litic. In one of these earlier ordinances he enforces the
residence of the bishops on their sees, and attaches the
penalty of excommunication for non-residence." Another
of an equally early date regulates episcopal elections and
defines the persons by whom bishops shaU be elected,
and the qualifications of candidates for the episcopacy.
The same law places the civU rights of the bishops,
more especially as respects property and succession to
private estate, upon more certain grounds; it provides
for the proper management of church-funds, with a view
y The affirmative is dogmatically Eoman prerogative.
maintained by aU the advocates of the ^ Cod. Just. Ub. i. tit. m. 1. 43.

132 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
to the prevention of embezzlement and misapplication ; it
rigorously denounces bribery and aU simoniacal practices
at ordinations and in fiUing ecclesiastical appointments ;
it prescribes the strict perforraance of their duties by
the body of the clergy; and holds the bishops respon
sible for the conduct of their inferiors and officials, direct
ing them to degrade from their orders aU who should
neglect the service of their churches."
For the due regulation of episcopal elections, Justinian
ordained that on every vacancy, three persons of orthodox
faith and blameless lives should be nominated by the elec
toral body, and presented by them to the emperor for his
choice." Other laws were enacted for the regulation of
monasteries and rehgious houses ;" for the settlement of
the civU rights and liabilities ofthe clergy and other religi
ous persons ;'' for extending- and defining the jurisdictions
of the bishops in sundry civil matters ; and for determin-
ino- the forra of proceeding in the trial and punishment
of bishops and clergy for ecclesiastical offences.'
The ecclesiastical code of Justinian is arranged under
no fewer than thfrteen titles, and it enters into
pdu!icaicha-all the miuutise of doctrine and disciphne: it
racter of defiucs orthodoxy ; it provides for the suppres-
sion and punishment of heresy ; it determines
the rights and privileges of bishops and clergy, their of
ficers and assistants ; it regulates the government, con
duct, and discipline of the monastic orders, ascetics, and
cenobites; and la3'^s down precise rules for the dispensa
tion ofthe funds belonging- to hospitals and charitable
institutions. To the breach of these laws the code ap
plies temporal as well as spiritual penalties, in most cases
without reference to any other authorit3r but the plenitude
ofthe imperial prerogative. AU canons and ecclesiastical
reg-ulations acquire the force of law only by the fiat of
the prince f and so araply is this arbitrary ag-ency dis
played, both in the internal and external government of
' Cod. Just. lib. i. tit. ui. 1. 42. ' " Sancimus enim vicem legum obti-
^ Ibid. 1. 48. nere sanctas ecclesiasticas regulas quse a
¦^ Ibid. 11. 44, 47. Sanctis quatuor conciliis expositse sunt
"i Ibid. ). 53. aut formatse;" &c. Novell, cxxxi. c. i.
' Ibid. Ub. i. tit. iv. 1. 29.

Chap. IV.] CHUECH-LEGISLATION OF JUSTINIAN. 133
the Church, that the eraperor does not scruple to supply
the deficiencies of canonical precept, wherever change or
addition appeared requisite for the raore perfect execution
of spiritual ordinances and their adaptation to the civil
law of the empire.*
Yet it should be observed, that the whole tone and
tenor of these laws denote a desire on the part nen, v -.
/. , 1 . • 1 1 • 1 11 1- • ^ 1 ot the limits
Ot tne imperial legislator to adhere religiously of the eccie-
to apostohcal authority ; and, above all things, slcuiar pow*^
to avoid innovation or encroachment upon the ers in church-
primitive doctrine, discipUne, and customs of ^'^e'^'''*'*"'-
the Church. He believed, indeed, that the free concur
rence and consent of the prince, testified by his official
authentication, was essential to impart legal force and
validity to all general ordinances of the Church ; but he
as fully admitted that primitive antiquit3^ and the canons
of the four general councils constituted the rule by which
both the teraporal and spiritual powers were to be go
verned ; and that neither party could lawfully act in de- ,
fiance of the other, or without regard to the fundaraental
rule binding upon both. The initiative in tke origination
of ecclesiastical ordinances does not yet appear to have
been a matter of dispute between the Church and the
State; and although the independent character which
the former had always raaintained in its relations to
the latter tended naturally to cast the duty of original
legislation into the hands of the clergy, yet it was so
always with the understanding — at least on the part of
the civU state — that that power was not to be excluded
from a direct influence and control in all cases where the
interests of the State became in any way involved in the
order, government, or constitution of the Church. But
in the process of time these cases became every year
more and more numerous. The clergy increased yearly
in numbers, wealth, privUeges, exemptions, and raore
particularly in raoral and political power over the tera
per and opinions of the subjects of the teraporal state.
Accordingly a much greater latitude of interference in
e Pagi, Annot. a4 Baron. Ann. 528, § 6, p. 392. Conf. P. de Mornay, Myst.
Iniquit. pp. 82, 83.

134 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
ecclesiastical legislation had become indispensable ; and it
was — reluctantly perhaps — conceded to and exercised by
the prince. A sense of manifest convenience and of ob
vious political expediency alone had hitherto for the most
part determined the reciprocal action of the spiritual and
temporal powers upon each other ; and any attempt from
acts done under this state of things by either or both
parties to extract definite legal principles, fixing the hmits
of thefr respective shares in church-legislation, must lead
to very questionable results.
The relations of the emperor Justinian with the pon
tifical court of Rome prior to the conquests of
Eelations oi yt t • iT j. i j j i.
Justinian to Belisarius are somewhat perplexed and obscure.
the Eoman jjjg (Jesigus for the rccovcry of Italy depended
^°° ^ ^' mainly upon the dispositions of the clergy, and
the favour of their chief. Again, the influence of the
pope in the East was still formidable. Before the death
of Boniface II. (a.d. 532), the bishops of Iltyricum Ori
entale had again hoisted the standard of revolt, and for
raally renounced dependence upon thefr ancient metro
pohtan of Thessalonica, who had adhered firmly to the
communion of Constantinople, and acknowledged in some
shape the superiority of the metropohtan patriarch over
his diocese.'' The emperor supported the pretensions of
Thessalonica and Constantinople ; but the bishops aUeged
the universal priraacy of St. Peter's chair, and their own .
ancient connection with Rorae, as grounds of exemption
from all other patriarchal superintendence. Constanti
nople resented this claim as spiritual rebellion, and the
emperor adopted her cause ; in all the memorials and re
monstrances addressed to him, he would not permit the
narae of the bishop of Rome to be even mentioned.'
But the language, and probably the policy, of Justi-
Ambiguous i"^'^ tended — perhaps designedly — to introduce
language of ambiguity in the relations of the two great
"title oT' patriarchates to one another and to the State.
a"rkrJh^' ^^ ^^^ coursc of his spiritual legislation, he ad
dressed the patriarch of Constantinople by the
style and title of " the most holy and blessed archbishop
i" Conf. ch. iii. of this Book, p. 129. ¦ Fleui-y, tom. vii. pp. 318 to 332.

Chap. IV.] TITLE OF " UNIVEESAL PATEIAECH." 135
ofthe imperial city, and universal patriarch p and de
scribed the church of that capital as the ^^head of all tke
ckurches." And yet, in the prearable to a decree passed
in the following year (534) touching heretical opinions,
the confession of faith, the four general councils, and
sorae other matters of purely religious interest, the em
peror addressed Pope John II. as "the most holy John,
archbishop and patriarch ofthe iUustrious city of Rome."
" Rendering," he said, " aU honour to the apostohc see,
and to your hohness as our father in the faith, we have
given all due dihgence to bring to the knowledge of your
hohness all things which concern the state ofthe Church.
For it hath always been our especial study to maintain the
unity of communion with your see, and to preserve that
state of the holy churches which hath hitherto subsisted
and stUl subsists undisturbed. Therefore we have been
diligent both in subjecting and uniting unto your holiness
all the clergy of the entire region of the East ; . . . and
it is our firra resolve never to permit any matter touching
the general state ofthe Church to be stirred, however ma
nifest and free from doubt such matters may be, without
notifying the same to your holiness, who are the head of
all the holy chu/rches ; thiis in all things striving to in
crease the honour and authority of your see."''
The metropolitan of Constantinople, though compli-
j Cod. Justinian, lib. i. tit. i. 1. 7, de i-mi quod, quoties in iis locis haeretici
Summa Trin.: a remarkable instance pullii]arnnt,et sententia, et recto judicio
of studied verbal ambiguity. After ad- (rp yvtifi-ri rea! op6^ Kpltrn) illius venera-
dressing Epiphanius by the title of bilis sedis ooerciti sunt." Upon these
" universal patriarch," he declares it to words Eome might claim as " caput om-
be his intention that all things relat- nium, &c." what Constantinople might
ing to the state of the Churcli should with equal propriety re.ject as " oecu-
be brought to his cognisance: "Cog- menical patriarch." Both had an equal
noscere volentes tuam sanctitatem ea claim to judicial cognisance of all mat-
omnia quse ad ecclesiasticum spectant ters touching the state ofthe Church;
statum." But in the same breath he but Eome mightpretend to be the higher
declares it to be his pleasure to pre- tribunal, both as "caput" and as "uni-
serve the union ofthe churches with versal pope." But this term " caput" is
the " most holy the pope of Old Eome," after all reduoeable to mere social rank,
and that all matters pertaining to the as explained by the canons of Constan-
state of the Church shall be in like tinople (341) and of Chalcedon (452).
manner deferred to the pope : "Neo However, he afterwards gave the same
enim patimur ut.^uicquam eorum quse tille to Constantinople.
ecclesiasticum spectant statum,non etzam ^ Cod. Just. lib. i. tit. ii. de Episc.
ad ejusdem (papse) referatur beatitu- et Cler. 1.24. See also the terms of h 6,
dinem; quum ea sit caput omnium sane- lib. i. tit. i.
tissimorum Dei sacerdotum : vel eo ma.r-

136 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
Probable ™^^*^d wi*'^ t^6 title of " cecumeuical patri-
intTnt'^and arch" and " head of all the churches," and
tW3kn°fa°e ^^^^ ^^^ placed upon a level with the bishop of
13 anguage. jj^^^^g^ ^^^^ ^^^^ -^ ^^^^ ^^ admitted, appear
in the same strong light with the latter as the centre of
religious union. Justinian, it is true, abstained from
defining the kind of " subjection" to which he desired to
reduce the Eastern churches; v'et the language of his
address might encourage the church of Rome to propose
herself to the world as the acknowledged spiritual chief
of the visible Church in every respect of rank, dignity,
and authority. But we suspect that this language was
either merely complimentary, or that it imported some
thing very different from the sense attached to it by
Rome. The treatment of the Ill3Tian bishops when they
evinced their determination to carry out practicaU3' the
principles of subjection and obedience ostensibly adopted
by the emperor in his public professions, seems to indicate
that he did not intend to yield up the independence of
the Eastern churches, or to impute to the see of Rome
a spiritual autocracy at all analogous to that which he
himself exercised in the temporal government. It is
tolerably clear that Justinian kept in view the principles
adopted by the councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon;'
and that he was as little disposed as the fathers of the
Greek church to yield either the kind or the amount of
jurisdiction clairaed by the see of Rome. Thus, at a later
period of his reig-n, he declares and ordains that, " in con
formity witk tke definition of tke general councils of the
Church, the raost holy the pope of the older (senioris)
Rome shall be the chief of all priests ; and that the most
blessed the archbishop of Constantinople, or New Rome,
shall have the second place after the most holy apostolic
see of Old Rorae, and shall ranh above all otker sees."'°
But Pope John II. accepted these declarations in
' Conf. Book II. c. i. p. 257 ; and ries of Dacia Mediterranea, Dacia Ei-
ibid. 0. V. p. 402. pensis, Prsevalitana, Dardania, Moesia
" Novell, cxxxi. cii. Thisnovell con- Superior, and Pannoqja, and they shall
tains the following provision in favour be ordained by him ; he himself (the
of the newly-erected archbishopric of archbishop) shall be ordained by the
JustinianiaPrinia: "The archb. of J.P. bishops ofthe diocese, so as in the pro-
shall have jurisdiction over the bishop- vinces subject to him to have the place

Chap. IV.] EOME AND THE GALLIC CHUECHES. 137
their literal and widest sense ; and in his ac- p
knowledgment for the edict of 534, he thus en- a™ept°s the '
larges upon the terms : " Among the conspi- cTara«on*^^'
cuous virtues," he sa3's, " which adorn your an acknow-
wisdom and clemency, most gracious prince, ufeTuWe"-^
that virtue which shineth with a purer lustre ^ai primacy
is, that with the love ofthe faith and the study °''^°""'-
of charity you combine a perfect acquaintance with ec
clesiastical law and discipline ; and that, preserving the
reverence due to the Roraan see, you have subjected all
things unto her, and reduced all churches to that unity
whick dwelletk in her alone, to whom tke Lord, through
the prince of tke apostles, did delega,te all power ; . . . .
and that the apostolic see is in verity the head of all
ckurckes both the rules of the fathers and the statutes of
the princes do manifest^ declare, and the same is now
witnessed by 3'our imperial piety."
But though there was here ample room for explana
tion and discussion, neither party seemed will
ing to ventilate the raatter any further. Theofthe&dUc
eraperor was satisfied with vindicating the dig-- churches to
nity of his metropolitan see upon the ground
already laid down by two general councils ofthe Church ;
and Rome, backed by the prodigious spiritual influence
she had established in the Christian world, was left at
liberty to appeal to the terms ofthe imperial acknowledg
ments, as confirmatory evidence of her title to the uni
versal primacy with all its inferential rights and appur
tenances. The Gallic churches at this period were falling
rapidly into the Roman view of the priraac3^ From the
time of Pope Hilarus, successor to Leo the Great," those
churches remained in undeviating attachraent to Rome.
(tSjc t6kov i-irex^iv) of the apostolic see pope in the new diocese, as the arch-
ofEome, according to the regulation of bishop of Thessalonica had been in the
the most holy pope Vigilius." What old. If the latter exposition be adopted,
that regulation was, we do not know; it might (if we knew what this regula-
but the words ofthe decree may denote tion of Pope VigiUus was) amount to a
either a transfer of the powers there- legislative acknowledgment ofthe papal
tofore exercised by the popes in those vicariate in all the provinces which con-
provinces (all of them portions of the stituted the two dioceses of Thessalo-
great diocese of lUyricum Orientale) to nica and Justiniania Prima.
the new archbishop, or that the latter ° Conf. Book II. c. vi. pp. 439 et
was to be,regarded as the vicar of the sqq.

1 38 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IIL
AU the " more weighty causes" (graviores causae) which
had arisen in the administration of ecclesiastical law and
discipline, had been aUowed to flow to Rome as the
proper court of appeal in like cases. The decree of Va
lentinian III. had fructified in Gaul and many other
portions of the Latin church to such an extent, as to
stifie every idea of lawful resistance to the supreme visi
tatorial and appeUate jurisdiction of the pope. And as
soon as Africa was annexed to the empire b3^ the vic
torious arms of Belisarius, the orthodox bishops of that
province hastened to renew the spiritual bonds
^enet^S' which uiiited them with Rome, and reiterate
communion their assurauccs of unbounded confidence and
ome. jj^^^gjjjQgjj^ ^Q ^jjg ijQiy gge_ Qq in the year
534, Reparatus bishop of Carthage, by the advice of a
council of two hundred and seventeen African prelates,
respectfully addressed Pope John IL, requesting his ad
vice and instruction as to the course to be pursued with
reference to the Arian prelates whp with the change of
rulers had embraced the Catholic doctrine. " Though,"
they said, " we thought it inexpedient that these converts
should be allowed to retain their ecclesiastical rank, yet
it seeras to us raost consistent with the law of charity
that this our opinion should not be made public with
out first ascertaining what custora or authentic rule may
have been adopted by the Roman church upon this ques
tion. Now we — being persuaded that 3^ou, sitting upon
the chair of Peter, and being thereby entitled to all re
spect and reverence, are filled with all charity, and ever
speak the truth in sincerity, and do nothing in the spfrit
of pride — with the true affection of our whole communion,
resort to you for your counsel and advice in this matter.""
This address was received and rephed to b3r Agapetus,
Their ad- tU^ succcssor of Johu II. OU the papal throne.
dress ; how Though uothiug morc appears in it than a high
Pope Aga- regard for St. Peter's chair and an earnest de-
petus. gij.g to be guided in a matter of difficulty by the
advice ofthe pontiff as laid down by the rules of "his own
church in like cases, yet Agapetus, in accordance with the
° Baron. Ann. 535, §§ 22 to 24; Hard. Cone. tom. ii. p. 1154.

Chap. IV.] CANON-LAW OF EOME. 139
now habitual policy of Rome, treated the application purely
as a matter of dutiful homage, and called upon them to
accept and publish his decision — a decision expressly asked
for of their own " free love and affection" — as the decree of
a lawful superior. " I rejoice," said the pope in his reply,
" that amidst the afflictions of your bondage you have not
lost sight of the principality of tke apostolic see ; but that,
as by your duty you are bound, you have sought relief
from the doubt which hath of late arisen among you from
that chair to which the power of the portals (of heaven
and hell) hath been committed." And Reparatus was
especially directed to interpose his metropolitan authority
for the due execution of the pontifical decree ; " so that
no one thereafter should be enabled to pretend ignorance
of the decision of the apostolic see upon consideration of
tke canons."^
The Roman church had by this time contracted the
habit of confounding the " canons," properly so Practice of
called,'' with her own local customs and maxims, confounding^
What those " canons" were upon which the de- ^of th™^
cision on the application of the African bishops ciiurch-ca-
f. 1*^ IIJ? il 1 J} tholic with
was framed, appears cieariy from the repl3' ot the particu-
the same pope to the intercession of the em- ^f-J^ constitu-
peror Justinian on behalf of the Arian convert Eoman
bishops and priesthood of Africa. Agapetus church.
observed, that the difficult3'' in acceding to the eraperor's
request arose from the impossibility of reconciling the
retention of their sees by the penitents with the "public
synodal constitutions"' of the apostolic see. These con
stitutions therefore, which were now destined to form a
code of law for the Church-catholic, were in truth no other
than the particular customs and usages of the church of
Rome. But that church did not often deal with the term
with the same degree of plainness as upon this occa
sion. She much oftener used it without any reference to
its source, and in such general words as to keep out of
sight its special and local origin. Of this habit some
P See the two letters", ap. Baron. Ann. ' "Aperta et synodalia constituta."
535, §§ 37-41 . Not in Hard. Cone. See the Eescript of Agapetus, an. Baron.
1 That is, the rules laid down by coun- Ann . 535, § 50. Conf. note C>) ch. in.
oils of the Church, general or special. p- 103 of this Book.

140 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IIL
instances have already, and many more must hereafter,
come under our notice. But the long-cherished principle,
that all spiritual enactments derived their sole claim to
the obedience of Christians from the chair of Peter, led
naturally to the assumption of a direct legislative autho
rity in herself; and thus the papal law became in papal
contemplation the law of the Church-catholic ; and with
this persuasion on their minds, the popes of Rome could
admit no distinction between their own " public synodal
ordinances" and the enactments of the whole church-con-
stituenc3^ The power of the ke3^s was held to override
all other considerations in the construction and adrainis
tration ofthe law-Christian ; and b3' the law of Rome the
African church would be now as little excused in distin
guishing between that law and the legislative acts of the
four general councils, as the3^ were held to be when, in the
3^ear 422, they objected to the supposititious canons ofthe
council of Nicaea urged upon thera by Pope Coelestine.'
Pope Agapetus had succeeded to John II. in the 3'ear
536 ; and found himself at his accession in a
pope^hls position of great danger and difficulty. The
'^''ST throne of the Goths was occupied by the feeble
posi ion. ^^^ abandoned Amalan prince Theodotus, the
husband and murderer of the unfortunate daughter of
Theodoric the Great. The disaffection of the senate, the
clergy and the people of Rome towards their barbaric
rulers was ripening into open revolt. Meanwhile the con
quest of Sicily by Belisarius, and his active preparations
fbr the invasion of Italy, had filled the minds of the
Gothic occupants with jealous alarm threatening to the
lives and property of the citizens. A proposal of peace
upon terms of great advantage to the eraperor had been
rejected, and Theodotus resolved to make the pope his
instrument for diverting the threatened invasion. Aga
petus was put on board a ship for Constantinople, with
orders to dissuade Justinian from his design ; with the
threat that the senators, their wives and children, should
answer with their lives for the success of his mission.
Poverty, distress, and danger, surrounded the pope on
' Conf. Book IL c. u. pp. 306 et sqq., and ibid. c. v. p. 410 with note (").

Chap. ly.] INTEIGUES OF THEODOEA. 141
every side. The Church was at this moment reduced
to such a state of penury, that Agapetus was „.
obliged to pledge the sacred vessels of his altars to Constln^
to procure the needful funds for his journey;' 'inopie.
and when, on the 2d of February 536, he arrived at Con
stantinople, he found the emperor inexorably bent upon
the re-conquest of Italy, and deaf to every proposal that
might arrest the progress of his arms. Belisarius was
already far advanced on his march to Rome ; and the
mission of the pope, so far as it related to any pohtical
object, was at an end. But this termination of his
embassy was by no means prejudicial to the spiritual
interests of the papacy. Political and rehg-ious cabals
were as the breath of life to the Byzantine court ; and it
was now, as ever, split up into factions contending for
ascendency by every artifice of intrigue and deceit. On
his arrival in the capital, Agapetus found himself for the
moment the object of commanding interest to all these
p-arties. Singular as it may seem, the empress intrigues of
Theodora had placed herself at the head of a *e empress
faction professing the most violent antipath3' to Anthimus
the decrees of Chalcedon, while her imperial patriarch.
consort professed an equally devout attachment to catho
lic doctrine. By her secret influence, Anthimus bishop
of Trapezus, a prelate hi private attached to the Eu
tychian tenets, was, upon the death of Euphemius in
the year 535, raised to the patriarchal chair. But Pope
Agapetus, to whom the heresy of Anthimus was speedily
raade known, resolutely refused to coraraunicate with him
unless he consented to make a pubhc declaration of his
belief in the "two natures;" to admit the uncanonical
character of his election," and return to his bishopric of
Trapezus. The patriarch declined these hard terms ; the
emperor withdrew his support ; and Anthimus resigned
' We meet with no complaints of period. Conf. CassiWor. Varior. lib. xii.
spoUation by the Goths; consequently ep. 20; and ch. u. pp. 85 and 99 of
this sudden faUure of the hitherto no- this Book.
torious wealth and luxury of the Eoman ° The more ancient canons of the
pontiffs can only be accounted for by the Church strictly excluded bishops from
prodigaUty of bribery, simony, and cor- deserting their sees for others. Trans-
ruption, more especially in the papal lations were altogether uncanonical
elections, which seems to have become down to a much later period.
a chronic disease of that church at this

142 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
. . his chair. Mennas, the orthodox warden ofthe
ofAnthimu''s; hospital of St. Samsou at Constantinople, was
Mennas elected to succced him ; and at the request of
patriarc . j^gj-jjjj^jj ^|jg j^g.^^. patriarch was solemnly con
secrated by the pope."
The cathohc party, who had from the moment of his
arrival regarded the pope as the champion of
principle their cause, were well disposed to reward him
of church- -^ith the outward honours of the victory. And
egis ation. .^^ ^^^.^ frame of mind, they were not likely to be
either shocked or alarmed to hear the deposition of An
thimus — perhaps also the elevation of Mennas — described
as the simple act of papal omnipotence. But at court
certain other proceedings were thought necessary to give
legal validity to the papal sentence. A synod was in the
first instance called to register and confirm the decree ;
and thus the canonical rule which assigns the cognisance
of episcopal causes to the comprovincial bishops was to a
certain extent satisfied.'^ Yet although the ecclesiastical
proceeding may have been completed in due form, it could
not become law without the imperial consent." But Pope
Agapetus had in the mean time died at Constantinople ;
and not long afterwards, and within the same year, the
emperor published his legislative decree in terms clearly
indicating the share which he assigned to the civil power
in the enactment of ecclesiastical laws. The edict was
addressed to the patriarch Mennas ; it sanctioned all the
proceedings ofthe late S3'nod, including more particularly
the deposition of Anthimus. In the preamble he set forth
the principle adopted for the government of the case.
" As often," he said, " as by sentence of the bishops un
worthy priests have been deposed from their sees, tke
imperial decree hath passed concurrently niith theirs ; in
order that, human and divine authority, combining in
one and the same act, may together frame one true
and perfect law for all  Upon this principle we
» Liberatus, ap. Baron. Ann.536,§17; Conf. Book I. c. ix. pp. 206, 207 : see par-
Lib. Pontif. Anastas., ap. Muratori, Ss. ticularlyBookl.c. viu. pp. 190,191; and
Er. Ital. tom. iii. pp. 128, 405. Book IL c. i. p. 256.
" Presuming even the Canons of Sar- * Conf. Book I. c. viii. p. 184.
dica to have been accepted as the rule.

Chap. ly.] CHUECH-LEGISLATION. 143
propose to treat what hath lately been done in the cause
of AnthimuB, whom Agapetus of holy and glorious rae
mory, late pontiff of the most holy and most ancient see
of Old Rome, hath in the first instance by common con
sent deposed from our holy (metropolitan) see, for that he
(Anthimus) had without his consent and against the holy
canons intruded himself into that see, and who after that
was also condemned and deposed by a sacred synod here
assembled, for divers errors in faith and doctrine."^
The course of proceeding- in this case was obviously
the following: the papal resolution upon the co^rseof
subject in hand had set the proper ecclesiastical proceeding
authority in motion ; and when that tribunal had '^^^''"'•^'i-
performed its part, the emperor stepped in with the tem
poral sanction necessary to irapart the force of law to the
common decision. The share assigned to the pope is little
more than that of official prosecutor, though acknow
ledged in terms more ample and flattering in proportion
to the exalted dignity of the prelate from whom the pro
ceeding moved in the first instance. The origination is
beyond dispute assigned to the pope; yet no larger parti
cipation can be imputed to hira, unless we should hold
that the respective shares ofthe several authorities en
gaged in the transaction had at the time been all believed
to merge in that participation — a supposition for which
no sufficient ground appears in the docuraents before us."
Pope Agapetus died at Constantinople on the 22d of
April A.D. 536, about eight months before the intHgue of
occupation of Rome by Belisarius ; and Sylve- Theodora
rius, a son of Pope Horraisda, was norainated ^"^ ^'^' ™^'
by Theodotus and adopted by the clergy of Rorae as his
successor.^ At this raoraent Vigilius, a deacon of the
church of Rome, resided at Constantinople as apocrisarius,
or resident legate, of the holy see. Under the patronage
of the erapress Theodora, the intrigues of the Eutychian
r Cod. Just. Const. NoveU. xUi. p. 77. clarations of Baronius, Ann. 536, §§ 22,
This decree condemned together with 23, 408.
Anthimus, Theodosius of Alexandria, » Anastas. Biblioth. says that the
Severus of Antioch, Peter of Apamaea, election was procured hy intimidation.
and Zoaras ; all of them leaders of the Vit. Sylv., ap. Murat. Ss. Er. Ital tom.
Eutychian faction. iii. p- 129.
' But on the other part, see the de-

144 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
party in the East had become active and general; and
the chance which now presented itself of establishing that
doctrine in the West was too inviting to be overlooked
by the unscrupulous princess. Vigilius lent hiraself to the
scheme of the empress for deposing Sylverius, and substi
tuting a Eutychian pope in his chair. It was privately
agreed between Theodora and the legate that the former
should supply him with letters to Belisarius and his wife
Antonina to forward his elevation to the papacy; that
for that purpose a sum of seven hundred pounds of gold
should be placed at his disposal ; and that he should — -pri
vately in the first instance, and, when successful, publicly
— embrace the communion of Theodosius of Alexandria
and the Eutychian confession.''
On the 10th of Deceraber 536, Belisarius, by the aid
Intrigue of of Popc Sylvcrius and the citizens, had made
¦^^and""^^ himself raaster of the city of Rorae. Theodotus
Antonina. had fallen by the hands of his indignant sub
jects ; and Vitiges, a prince of ability and vigour, had
mounted the tottering throne of the Goths. In the fol
lowing 3'ear the concentrated force of the Gothic mon
archy marched to recover their capital ; but the masterly
defence of Belisarius repelled every assault of the be
siegers, and his good fortune or sagacity enabled him to
frustrate the intrigues of the enemy with a party favour
able to their views within the walls. The detected plot
served the confederates, Vigilius, Behsarius, and Anto
nina, as the basis of the intrigue for the accomphshment
ofthe views of their imperial patroness. Sylverius was
charged with holding treasonable communications with
the Gothic partisans ; and Belisarius adopted the accusa
tion with a view to intimidate Sylverius rather than to
proraote the prospects of VigUius, whom he and his ra
pacious consort thus hoped to deprive of the pecuniar3r
advantage of his bargain with the empress. But the
integrity of the pope was proof against the threats and
promises ofthe general ; and when all prospect of prevail-
hig upon him to apostatise from the faith of Chalcedon
" Liberal, in Brenar.c. xxii.; Baron. Ann. 536, § 123; J'/eurw, tom. vU. p. 389;
Anastas. Bibhoth. ubi sup. , o , at r .

Chap. IV.] DEPOETATION OF SYLVEEIUS. 145
had vanished, he was secretly conveyed on board a ship
and detained a prisoner at Patara, in Lycia.''
The immediate effect of the re-annexation of Rorae
to the erapire was to place the see of that city
in much the same position with respect to the SlyiS,
civil state as that of Constantinople. Practi- ^""^ election'
cally the Byzantine patriarch was the nominee ° '^' '"¦^'
ofthe crown, and had always been de facto removable at
the pleasure ofthe prince. 'And now that Belisarius was
master of Rome, he saw no reason to vary the practice in
favour of the Roman patriarch. The very day after the
abduction of Sylverius he called the clergy together ; he
announced the deposition of the traitor-pope, and met
with no difficulty in procuring the iramediate election of
Vigilius, as if the throne were vacant. According to
corapact, Belisarius now appropriated two hundred out
of the seven hundred pounds of gold which VigUius had
obtained from the erapress, and insisted upon the im
mediate execution of the secret articles of the compact.
But Vigilius knew how worthless a possession the see of
Rome must becorae in the hands of one who should ven
ture to strike a blow at the venerated council of Chal
cedon. He took refuge in procrastination, and awaited
the progress of events. The policy of Justinian is enig
matical; it is not, indeed, improbable that he connived
to a certain extent at the machinations of his consort;
but the lawless deposition of Sylverius was too violent a
measure to pass unreproved, and the persecuted pontiff
was conve3'ed back to Rome, to await there the result
of an inquiry into the charg-es preferred against hira.
Alarmed by the re- appearance of his rival, Vigilius ad
dressed the stipulated letters of communion to Theodosius
of Alexandria, and to Anthimus and Severus, the repro
bate patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch. In these
letters he professed to hold the same faith with them ; he
denied the " two natures," abjured the doctrines of Chal
cedon, and renounced comraunion with its defenders."*
" Baron. Ann. 538, §§ 15-19. Conf. rat. in Breviar.; Anastas. in Vit. Sylv.
Id. Ann. 540, § 4 : see also Fleury, tom. et Vigil. The cardinal denies the an
vil, p. 391. thenticity of these letters: see Pagi,
•^ Baron, and Fleury, nbisn^.; Libe- not. ad loc. Baron, contra. Fleury
VOL. II. L

]^40 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
The miserable bargain was sealed by the murder of
Murder of Sylverius. Behsarius delivered the deposed
Sylverius, pontiff into the hands of his rival, and he was
Nation of" by him conveyed to the island of Palraaria,
VigUius. -vvhere he was soon afterwards starved to death.
But it appears that Justinian had by this time obtanied
more definite inteUigence of the intrig-ues of his Euty
chian consort at Rome ; and though not disposed to scru
tinise the iniquities of his empress or his officers as long
as they did not materially interfere with his own crooked
policy, it becarae clear to the confederates that the con
templated apostasy was too dangerous an experiraent to
be persevered in. They therefore withheld the letters of
communion addressed to the heretical prelates ; and Vi
gilius hastened, no doubt this time with unfeigned alacrity,
to purify himself to Justinian from the suspicion of having
participated in that criminal transaction : he protested
that his faith had ever been that of his predecessors, St.
Leo, Hormisda, John I., and Agapetus ; he profes.sed his
unvarying belief in the doctrine ofthe four general coun
cils, with the tomus of Pope Leo on the " two natures"
annexed ; and he renounced and condemned with all his
heart the doctrine of the heretics Theodosius, Anthimus,
Severus, Zoaras, and Peter of Apamaea.*
Though the doctrinal apostasy of Vigilius admits of
^, , . no reasonable doubt, vet as it was not made
The election iT-r» • ij> ,i t p
of VigiUus public, Rome is saved from the disgrace of
void a6 numbering a self-condemned heretic amonff her
pontiffs. But the defects of his election are in
curable ; and if this pope is to be taken as a link in an
uninterrupted succession of canonical pontiffs, his advo
cates have insuperable difficulties to encounter. B3'- every
known rule of canon law his election was void frora the
beginning. It cannot be pretended that Sylverius was
legally deposed ; therefore when Vigilius intruded himself
tkere was no vacancy. This defect in his title was not
cured by any subsequent valid election •/ and the legal in-
agrees with Pagi as to their genuine- stantinople, and after that by the de-
ness. cree of Justinian, Novell, p. 42.
" The names are those of the persons ' Baronius boldly affirms that the un-
condemned by the last synod of Con- canonical election of VigiUus was a/Zer-

Chap. IV.] DEFECTS IN THE PAPAL TITLE. 147
ference arises that Vigilius never was pope, and that the
whole space of his alleged pontificate was one long inter
regnum of eighteen years and upwards. Hence doubt
and perplexity are introduced into the succession of aU
ecclesiastical orders and offices derived through hira ; and
the Latin church cannot at this raoraent have any suffi
cient assurance ofthe title of its priesthood or the vahdity
of its orders.^
It is true that Vigihus has retained his place among
the legitimate popes. And, indeed, if the church
of Rome had suffered his narae to drop out the canonical
ofthe catalogue, it is uniraaginable how she title of the
could retain those of many of his predecessors. ^^'^^^'
For if bribery and simoniacal bargainings, if secular
interference and intrigue, popular intimidation and vio
lence, had been thought fatal to the validity of the papal
elections, not raany pontiffs within the last century could
have exhibited an unexceptionable title. The only course,
therefore, is to rest that title upon recognition ; and
to presume that in every case to which an historical de
fect attaches, it was set rig-ht by some subsequent unre
corded curative proceeding. None of the raore iraportant
sees of Christendom were in fact in any better condition
in this respect than that of Rome. Constantinople, Alex
andria, Antioch, and probably raany others, had for a
long time past been polluted by disorders which set all
laws, human and divine, at open defiance. Simony, in
trigue, and violence were the ordinary weapons of spiri-
wards cured by a valid election. His tara, or to Palmaria, it is undoubted that
only witness is Anastasius the librarian, Vigilius wrote his letters of communion
whom on other occasions he flouts un- to the heretical bishops before the death
mercifully. But the words of Anasta- of Sylverius at Palmaria. Therefore
sius himself prove nothing. He says, the latter was alive long after Vigilius
that after Sylverius was sent away "ces- occupied the chair.
savit episcopatus dies sex." " There- k That is, always supposing that an
fore," saith the cardinal, " Vigilius must uninterrupted transmission through ca-
have descended from the usurped chair, nonioally qualified pastors be essential
and submitted to a regular election." to the validity of orders. Cardinal i?a-
But Anastasius hlunders,as usual. He ronius{Ann. 540, §§8- 10) cuts the Gor-
mentions only one exile of Sylverius, dian knot: "The providence of God,"
and tells us that he died and was bu- he says, " permits no moral or ceremo-
ried in Pontus. It is, however, clear that nial stain to adhere to the chair of Peter,
he was alive when VigUius was raised to however gross the personal demerits of
the pontificate. But whether the words its occupants."
have reference to the abduction to Pa-

148 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HL
tual candidature ; and when these weapons were sheathed,
bishops were most frequently chosen out of simple defer
ence for the equally scandalous interference of the civil
magistrate. Defects in secular title to power, estate, or
inheritance, are supposed to be cured by long undisturbed
possession or uniform recognition. But it may be rea
sonably doubted whether a jus divinum can be made to
stand upon the same ground, where contemporary testi
mony discloses a manifest impurity of origin, or kiatus in
its transmission. The boldest ecclesiastical jurist would
shrink from asserting that a bishop might be consecrated,
or a priest ordained, by one who never was a bishop.
Unless, therefore, we presume a special provision of Pro
vidence to legitimatise a power tainted with every defect
that can attach to human title, the pontificate of VigUius
discloses an incurable flaw in the claim of the Roraan
pontiffs to any other power than that of a merely secular
or mundane principality.

CHAPTER V.
JUSTINIANIAN PEEIOD (IL).
ItaHan conquests of Justinian — Vigilius at Constantinople — Condemnation of the
Origenists, and controversy of the " three chapters" — Justinian condemns the
"three chapters" — Dilemma of Vigilius; his "judicatum" — He proposes a
general council — The council; its imperfect constitution, and breach of faith
by the Greeks — Opening of the council iu the absence of the pope — His ex
cuses disaUowed — Condemnation of the "three chapters" — The "constitu
tum" of Vigilius — His name struck out of the diptychs, and publication of the
condemnation, &e. — Submission of Vigilius ; his retractation — Contemporary
opinion as to the necessity of papal participation in a general council — Eeasons
for desiring the concurrence of the pope — Eelease of Vigilius ; his death, and
election of Pelagius I. — Agitation iu the Western churches — Decline of the
papal authority — Spiritual power, how affected by the late proceedings against
the Chalcedonian decrees. — Pelagius claims the support of the military power
— Pelagius on the duty of religious persecution — Narses declines to interfere —
Pope Pelagius and the Italian seceders — Objections ofthe Western churches —
Historical inferences, &c. — State and prospects of the papacy — More favour
able aspects — John III. pope — Imperial oppression in Italy — Heresy and
death of Justinian I. — Conquest of Italy by the Longobardi.
The conquest of Rome and Southern Italy by Justinian
properly introduces a new era in the history of „
5u J. T X- J. ¦ 1 J. mi .L X "^ Effect of the
the great Latin patriarchate, ihat event ma- itaUancon-
terially altered the relation which had subsisted ^^^^j^j^*^^
between the Church and the State during the
Ostrog-othic period. It throws at the sarae time a clearer
light upon the imperial method of ecclesiastical govern
ment; and exhibits a manifest decline both in the reh
gious and the political character of the papacy. The
annexation of Italy to the Byzantine dorainion at once
dissipates the cloud which the enigmatical dealing of
Justinian with the Roman pontiffs has hitherto cast upon
his personal views of religious leg-islation.
Pope Vigilius, whose elevation had been ^^^^^^^^^
stained by notorious simony and yet toufer ofvigiUus
crime, continued to render himself odious to his *« ^^pi'^";""'
spiritual subjects by rapacity and cruelty in the

150 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
discharge of his sacred office.^ The empress Theodora took
advantage of the complaints of those who had suffered by
his persecutions to procure an order from the emperor to
have him brought to Constantinople. But the vindictive
feelings ofthe empress were allowed to proceed no fiirther.
It suited the present purpose of Justinian that the pope
should be received with honour. He was therefore treated
as a friend and spiritual father, and instead of a prison
he found a palace ready to receive him. The cause of
this sudden change of purpose is a matter of importance
to the progress of the narration.
A religious tempest, traceable as much to the idle
The emperor thcological Vanity of the emperor as to the co-
condemns the vert intrigues of the empress and the Eutych-
Origemsts. -^^ party, was at this moment agitating every
church and province of the East. The persevering ef
forts of that party had now for nearl3^ a century been
directed to overthrow, or at least to weaken, the autho-
rit3'' of the council of Chalcedon. A direct attack, indeed,
was not to be thought of; but the records of that council
revealed certain weak points, of which advantage might
be taken to impeach the credit of the whole. An oppor
tunity for this movement was afforded by an envenomed
quarrel of some standing between the disciples of Origen
and the orthodox prelates in the Syrian diocese. WhUe
the martial monks of Syria and Palestine waged carnal
warfare with the Origenists ; the catholic patriarchs, Eph
rem of Antioch and Peter of Jerusalem, prosecuted the
same suit at Constantinople before the emperor Justinian.
They pleaded that Origenism was, in fact, the basis of
the Eutychian errors, and that an imperial decision was
necessary to enable them to encounter those errors with
effect. Justinian erabraced the opportunity for the dis
play of his theological acumen with all imaginable ala
crity ;'' and without the aid of patriarch, pope, or council,
issued an imperial decree condemning the alleged errors
of Origen and his disciples.
a Anastas. iu VigU. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. dens se de talibus causisjudieium ferre.''
iii. p. 130. Liberatus, ap. Neander, K. G. vol. ii. p.
I" " Annuit imperator facUlime, gau- 1 143.

Ghap. v.] THE "THEEE CHAPTEES." 151
The numerous but quiescent party of Nestorius con
curred with the orthodox, or catholic, section
in their aversion to the tenets of Origenism, o^thf-Thre^e
and regarded the condemnation of those doc- chapters"
trines as a tacit homage to their own opi- ^^'^^^'
nions. The Eutychians were proportionably alarmed and
irritated by a blow aimed at the phUosophy of their sys-
tem." They affected to regard the condenination of Ori
genism as a revival of the Nestorian error ; and thefr
friends at court pressed upon the attention of Justinian
the necessity of an equally emphatic declaration against
that heresy, both with a view to preserve his own ortho
doxy and to deprive the Nestorians of any hope of ad
vantage from the condemnation ofthe adverse opinions
of the Origenists. Nestorian errors, they said, had be-
jond doubt been allowed to creep into the acts of the
council of Chalcedon, and to these documents theraselves
those heretics might now appeal in support of their doc
trinal pravities ; it was therefore indispensably necessary
to expunge the vicious acts and articles from the records
ofthe council ; these were three in number : 1. A treatise
of Theodore of Mopsueste, the friend and spiritual in
structor of the heresiarch Nestorius ; 2. A tract by The
odoret of C3^rrhus, in defence of Theodore against the
attacks of Cyril of Alexandria ; and 3. A letter written
by Ibas, bishop of Edessa, on the same side. By this
measure the records of the council would, they contended,
be purified from the offensive matter which now polluted
them ; the emperor would make it raanifest to the world
that no favour was intended to either of the opposite
heresies ; all reasonable objection to the authority of the
council would be reraoved ; and the wisdom of the mon
arch would thus have cleared the way towards a final
union of the contending parties in the Church.
Allured by the prospect of a spiritual victory justinian
so easy, so complete, and so flattering to his ™°?^^^°^t''«
personal vanity, Justinian yielded to the insi- chapters."
" The Monophyslte party had very the principles of his theological phUo-
generally embraced the speculations of sophy. Fleury (tom. vii. p. 416) gives
Origen, and supported their opinions an epitome of these opinions.
upon the incarnation by reference to

1 52 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
dious proposal, and pubhshed an edict in legislative form
against the denounced articles, or ckapters, of the coun
cil, concluding with a forraal sentence of condemnation
and anathema. The catholic party were struck with the
difficulties in which ihis bold measure of their adversa
ries had involved them. On the one hand, the theologi
cal errors of Theodore of Mopsueste could not be denied,
and a direct defence of the "three chapters" became a
work of difficulty and danger ; on the other hand, there
appeared equal disadvantages to be apprehended from
any attack upon the wisdom and sanctity of the councU
of Chalcedon. That council was universally regarded as
the great bulwark of Catholicism ; and it was to be feared
that if a single stone were removed, the whole edifice
might ere long crumble under the assaults of its invete
rate and persevering enemies. The intent of that party
was indeed obvious enough : but the arguments advanced
by their opponents made no irapression upon Justinian ;
his will was law to his clerg)^, and the obsequious patri
archs Mennas, Ephrem, and Peter, with a majority of
the orthodox prelates ofthe East, affixed their sig-natures
to the decree of condemnation. The dissentients were
summarily ejected from their sees ; they appealed to the
papal legate — -afterwards Pope Vigilius — for protection,
and renounced the communion of Mennas and all who con
curred in this impious attack upon the holy synod. Their
example was zealously adopted by all the .African bishops;
and the episcopacy of Illyricura Orientale refused every
token of subraission to a mandate at once threatening to
the integrity of the catholic comraunion and to their con
nection with Rome as the patron and defender of the
Chalcedonian decrees.''
In this position of the controversy Pope Vigilius ar-
. rived at Constantinople. All parties were anx-
Dilemma ot. j. ^ j. • -x • ...i . i
Pope Vigilius; lousto ootaiu his support m the coming struggle;
''ca'tum'^'" ^^^ emperor regarded his assent to the decree
of conderanation as a matter of course, and it
^ Thissummaryoftheeventsthatled Baronius, Ann. 549; J'/eury, H. E. tom.
to the so-called fifth general council is vu. ; and Neander, K. G. vol. ii.
drawn up' from the materials found in

Chap. V.] DILEMMA OF VIGILIUS. 153
Avas manifest that no considerable number could be brought
to support him against the court. On the other hand,
he was no stranger to the sentiments of the Latins, and
saw the danger of laying violent hands upon the sanc
tuary of their faith. In this dilemma, he struck out a
middle course, which, while it compromised his own or-
thodox3r, satisfied no one else. He issued a writing, or
manifesto, entitled "judicatum," in which he pronounced
against the " three chapters," " saving always the autho
rity of the council of Chalcedon." The. Eutychians re
jected the saving clause with contempt, for it defeated the
object of their machinations ; and the Catholics felt keenly
that anyform of condemnation or rejection of thatwhich an
inspired council ofthe Church had approved and adopted
into its authentic acts must throw discredit upon them all.
The Roman clergy in the suite of Vigilius deserted him,
and proclaimed to the catholic world that a Roman pontiff
had turned his back upon the standard ofthe faith — that
he had denied" the holiest of the holy councils of the
Church !" The bishops of Africa and Illyria excomrau
nicated Vigilius ; and from Gaul and Italy anxious in
quiries poured in, to learn the particulars of this deplor
able defection. Beset by solicitations and reproaches on
all sides, the pope replied, probably with sincerity, that
he had neither by act or intention done any thing to
prejudice the authority of Chalcedon ; and he resented
the reports disseminated by his own malcontent followers
to the injury of the holy see by sentence of excommuni
cation.^ The emperor became aware that he had raised
a storm he could not conjure down ; and Mennas, with the
court clergy and the Oriental patriarchs, importuned the
pope to withdraw his "judicatum," and to pubhsh an un
quahfied sentence. Thus hard-pressed on aU sides, Vi
gilius proposed the convocation of a general He proposes
council for the final adjudication ofthe ques- ^^f^^f-
tion ; the emperor accepted the proposal ; and it *^°'"'''' "
was solemnly agreed that no further step should be taken
either for or against the " three chapters" until the as-
<¦ Baron, cum not. Pagi, Ann. 548, ' Ibid. Ann. 548, §§3-6; Ann. 550.
^§ 2, 3. §§ 16-26.

154 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
sembling ofthe proposed synod: that the question should
then be referred in integro to the council, and that no per
son should be precluded by his past acts or declarations
from adopting that conclusion which argument and con
science might then suggest. Upon these terms the pope
withdrew his "judicatum," and the bishops were allowed
to retract their subscriptions to the imperial decree.^
The meeting of the council, however, was impeded by
many dela3's and difficulties. The bishops of
cons'titution lUyricum Orientale flatly refused to attend ; not
ofthe council, many African prelates, and those of no repute,
of compact appeared to the summons. Ofthe Italian epis-
by the copacy the attendance was scanty, and all of
them were stanch champions of the Chalcedo
nian confession. The Greek bishops, and the court party
with Theodore archbishop of Caesarea at their head, be
came impatient ; and before the council was constituted in
numbers sufficient to satisfy the terms of their compact
with the pope, they proceeded arbitrarily to confirm and
republish the imperial decree against the "three chapters."
The pope resented this breach of faith by fulminating a
sentence of excommunication against the perpetrators ;
and took refuge frora the apprehended wrath of the em
peror at the altar of St. Eupheraia at Chalcedon. The
pious populace of Constantinople defeated an attempt
of Justinian to drag him from his asylum ; and now no
alternative remained but to revert to the broken com
pact, and for that purpose to treat with the pope and the
prelates who shared his exile at St. Euphemia. Nego
tiations were accordingly opened with the pontiff. Vigil
ius was satisfied by a retractation ofthe irregular decree,
and a promise on the part of the delinquents to observe
faithfully all things contained in, or ordained hj, the four
general councUs :'' he, on his part, withdrew the censures
e Fleury, tom. vii. pp. 462, 463. any council that had not received the
'' The promise was, that they would assent of the pope. But this is a very
faithfully observe and keep all things violent inference. All, I think, that can
•wh'ich, " with tJie consent of the legates and be fairly extracted from the words is,
vicars of the lioly see presiding therein, that they engaged not to hold the pope
had been decreed and ordained." Fleury bound by any of the terms of those
(tom. vii. p. 474) thinks that this de- councils but those to which the assent
claration invalidates all proceedings of of the holy see might be presumed. If

Chap. V.] THE FIFTH GENEEAL COUNCIL. 155
he had launched against his opponents, and returned to
Constantinople. In the month of August 552 the patriarch Mennas
of Constantinople died ; and was succeeded by opening of
Eutychius, a Phrygian monk of great reputation *!>« councU;
for sanctity and learning, and sincerely attached absenfs^
to the Roman coraraunion. The council was by J^i^seif.
this tirae fully constituted, and all parties joined in an
earnest request to the pope to open and preside at the
conferences. Vigilius consented ; but, with a view to gain
time, suggested that the Latin churbh could not be pro
perly represented elsewhere than in Italy or in Sicily ;
and he requested that the council raight be adjourned to
some city within the confines of either country. But the
Orientals were too well acquainted with the dispositions of
the Latin churches not to foresee defeat and ruin to their
project from such a measure ; the Western prelacy were
known to be unalterabl}'- attached to the decrees of Chal
cedon, and averse to any tampering with the integrity
of the sacred record : a majority so composed must be
fatal to the erasure and condemnation of the obnoxious
documents. But Vigilius, on the other hand, knew that
he possessed no infiuence in the council as it was then
constituted, and that the emperor expected the same sub
mission on his part as that he uniformly exacted frora the
prelates of his ancient dominions. Thus shut out from all
share in the management of the proceedings ; deprived
of all liberty of action, and of all power of controlling the
decision, — the pope trusted to procrastination to evade the
humUiating part assigned to him. After much negotia
tion, in which little honesty or sincerity was displayed on
either side, the council, weary of delay, opened its sittings
in the absence of the pontiff.'
The fathers, it is true, made it their first duty to in
vite the pope to take the presidential chair ; His excuses
but VigUius declined, upon the ground that the ^^^^Z'^
Latin church was not duly represented, and councU.
they had meant it as Fleury states, they cannot be imputed to them without the
must have abandoned aU the claims of strictest proof. Certainly no such in-
Constantinople to patriarchal rank (see tention existed in the age of Justinian.
Book II. c. V. p. 408). Such an intent ' Namely, on the 4th May 553.

156 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
signified his intention to lay before the emperor his writ
ten judgment upon the " three chapters." The council
disallowed the excuse, and censured the proposal with
which it was accompanied. The pope himself, they said,
had appealed to a council of the catholic communion,
which comraunion they were ; the emperor had placed the
decision in the hands ofthe synod, and with them it must
rest ; and lastly, they urged that in none ofthe antecedent
general councils had the Latin church been so fully re
presented as in that now assembled. The pope, however,
persisted in withholding all countenance to their proceed
ings; and the fathers declared that, inasmuch as they
were not justified in permitting groundless objections to
stand in the way of a decision indispensable to the peace
of Church and State, they should proceed to a decision
without further reference to, or notice of, the pope.
Without delay the fathers opened the sessions, and
proceeded to condemn the writings of Theodore
tiononhe" of Mopsueste and the apologies of his advocates
ers^.'^!."''on '"^'heodoret and Ibas ; and struck them out ofthe
stitutum"of Chalcedonian records. Vigilius meanwhile had
^ "^iuT'^^' P^^P^^^d liis " constitutum," or pontifical adju
dication, upon those documents ; in which, after
specifically condemning the errors alleged to be contained
in them, he somewhat inconsistentl3r prohibited any im
peachraent of the personal orthodoxy of the writers,
because, he said, the fathers of Chalcedon had not cen
sured thera, and because it was not lawful to pass such
sentence upon defunct persons.^ This decision, or " con
stitutum," was countersigned hj seventeen bishops and
three deacons from his own immediate retinue ;'' but when
presented to the imperial officers for dehvery into the
hands of their master, they declined to receive it, rightly
objecting that it ought to have been addressed to the
synod then sitting ; and they assured the pope that even
now, if he should think proper to attend the meetings, he
would be received as their father and president. De
termined, however, to confer no sign of recognition upon
> VigiUus forgot the proceedings of of the Henoticon.
his predecessors, FeUx, Gelasius, and " See the entire document, an. Hard.
Hormisda, against the deceased patrons Cone. tom. iii. pp. 10-48.

ters

Chap. V.] THE "THEEE CHAPTEES" CONDEMNED. 157
the councU or its proceedings, Vigilius sent his " consti
tutum" to the emperor by the hands of his own deacon in
attendance. Justinian, in conforraity with his
engagement with the council, peremptorily re- '^t^the'^
jected it ; intimating to the pope that, after ap- «™P«™r.
pealing to a council convoked at his own special request, he
could not be permitted to propose himself as the sole judge
ofthe questions submitted to them. If, the emperor added,
the proffered instrument went to condemn the "three
chapters," he had no need ofit, because he was alrea d3' in
possession of the pope's own solemn adjudication on that
matter ;' but if, on the contrary, its purport were different,
how could he set any value upon a document in which
the writer only proclaimed his own inconsistency ?
To the council itself the emperor justified himself by
producing all the previous acts and declarations The council
of Vigilius against the " three chapters," and ?'^il^« "^^
his unquahfied engagement to abide by the deci- the "acred™
sion ofthe council assembled in compliance with diptychs,
his own requisition ; and exhibited at the sarae tirae a writ
ten promise that he would do his utmost to procure a pure
and simple condemnation of the " three chapters," which
he alleged to have been made by him to the late empress
Theodora."" The indignant fathers without hesitation re
solved that for these breaches of faith, and for his several
contempts of the council, the name of Vigilius should be
erased from the diptychs ofthe churches; and and publish
disdaining: further reference to any authority ,*^'*i'^^?°"^-
,.a T ^^ ^ ^ n -I j_ c demnation oi
but their own, they published a final sentence ot the "three
condemnation and anathema against the person, <=*'apters."
memory, and writings of Theodore of Mopsueste and his
advocates Theodoret and Ibas. The sentence was unac
companied by any reservation in favour of the inspiration
which had sanctioned and adopted those documents ; and
an irreparable breach was thus effected in the main de
fences of that hitherto impregnable bulwark of orthodoxy."
1 The " iudieatum ;" by which, how- " Baron. Ann. 553, §§ 215 et sqq.;
ever, from the terms of the compact be- Hard.Conc. torn. in. pp 194 et sqq. ;
fore the convocation of the councU, he Cent.Magd.centvij,-s.i^-5W;Fl^ury,
was not bound. to™-.."'- PP- f «' ^Ol ; Neander, K. G.
¦» Theodora had died in 549. vol. n. p. 1166.

158 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
The number ofthe prelates assembled in this so-called
Submission ^^^^ general council never exceeded one hun-
ofPope dred-and-sixty, exclusively of the twenty or
Vigihus. ^]^ij.^y bishops who seceded with the pope. The
objects of its promoters are not very clear from the be
ginning. The majority, it may be believed, entertained
no designs hostile to the integrit3^ of the Chalcedonian
decrees. The refractory pontiff was treated with the re
spect due to his rank in the hierarchy, but without a
thought that either his presence or his consent M'ere es
sential to irapart to their proceedings the force of law ;
they believed that what had been erroneously or heed-
lessl3' done in a general council might be corrected by a
general council; a proposition obviously inconsistent with
that absolute reservation in favour of the infallibility of
the erring council insisted upon by Pope VigiUus. After
the conclusion of their labours they were therefore re
leased from their long and wearisorae attendance, without
a suspicion that any thing- more was wanting- to accomplish
the object of their convocation. The pope and his friends
His re- HOW saw UO chaucc of release from the weari-
tractation, gome cxUc uudcr which they had suffered for a
term of more than six 3'ears° but in a plenary retractation
of their objections to the councU and its proceedings. The
emperor was convinced that the religious peace of his
dorainions depended upon the acquiescence of the West
in the decision of the council, and that that acquiescence
could only be insured by the adhesion ofthe pope. By
the victories of Narses^ the whole of Italy was by this
tirae reduced into the tranquil possession of the erapire ;
Rome no longer afforded a refuge against the displeasure
ofthe temporal sovereign; the pope, whether at Constan
tinople or at Rome, was his subject, and could no longer
shut his eyes to the intention of Justinian to raake him
the instrument of his scheme of rehgious union. Vigihus
had already incurred the resentment of the Western pre-
° According- to Fleury, tom. vii. pp. p The defeat and death of Totila on
443 and 504, Vigilius arrived at Con- the field of the "Busta Gallorum" took
^antinople on the 25th January 547. place in the month of July 552, and of
I he council was dissolved in the month his gaUant successor Teias at the " Mons
ot J line 553. Lactarius" in March 553.

^HAP. v.] POPE AND COUNCIL. 159
lacy by his late condescensions ; and to avoid the total
loss of the confidence of the Latins, his return to Rorae
was of indispensable necessity. Six months after the dis
solution, he gave in his formal and uncondi
tional adhesion to the decrees ofthe councU; he "Son'S'
condemned the " three chapters," their authors, ^""'"'"'^ of
advocates, and foUowers; he embraced the fa- ^'^^ ''°'"''"-
thers as his brethren and fellow-labourers in the great
work of purification ; he quashed all writings or tracts
issued by hiraself or in his name in the course ofthe con
troversy, and solemnly ratified aU the acts and proceed
ings of the councU.^
There are circumstances connected with the convoca
tion and character of this^i^A general council
which throw some Ught on the state of ecclesias- <^ontempo-
ticai opinion respecting papal pa,rticipation in respecting
the dehberative assemblies ofthe Church-catho- pa^icfpTon
lie. The share taken by Pope VigUius in the con- ^ t^e con-
vocation of this synod is absolutely evanescent. vaUdlty ora*^
The simple suggestion of, or appeal to, a general general
assembly ofthe Church — a suggestion immedi- ''°™*'' '
ately afterwards retracted — does not amount to a partici
pation of any kind. It follows that the convocation was
the sole act of the emperor, and that the fathers derived
their powers to meet and deliberate from the imperial
authority alone. We gather moreover from the whole
tenor and spirit ofthe acts, that they supported themselves
upon the imperial summons as the meritorious basis of
their commission ; and that they regarded the accession
of the pope as altogether unessential, either to their rig-ht
to inquire and discuss, or to the vahdity of the decision
1 Both the Greek and the Latin "con- que secuti sunt; cum constet a Sanctis
stituta" of Pope Vig-ilius in confirmation memoratis patribus ; et ma.vime a .sancto
of the fifth general council are inserted Chalcedonensi concilio, nullum de quo
by Harduii^, Cone. tom. iii. pp. 214-244. fuit suspicio fuisse susceptum, nisi qui
In the Latin constitutum we observe a superius designa' as blasphemias, vel his
laboured effort to save the credit of similia, respuit," &c.: i.e. the council
Chalcedon, or at least to encounter the never i tended to admit the " three chap-
charge of vacating its authority : " Quas ters," because it never can be supposed
omnes designates blasphemias (of the that they would tolerate any such here-
" three chapters") absit ab universali sies as those they disclosed, &c. A vague
ecclesia ut quisquam quatuor prsedictas conjecture set up against a deliberate
synodos, vel unam ex iis, asserat sus- act! See also .Baron. Ann. 554, § 7, and
cepisse ; vel eos qui talia sapuerunt at- Pagi ad eund.; Fleury, tom. vii. p. 507.

160 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IH.
they might arrive at. We observe, at the same time, that
Vigilius repudiated its authority in all its stages; that
he raade unavailing efforts to supersede the synodal juris
diction, and to substitute his own in lieu of it ; and that
he continued to pursue the same course of opposition tiU
six months after the official promulgation ofthe decision,
and the consequent dissolution of the councU. We there
fore reg-ard his subsequent ratification, as far as it affected
the legal validity of the acts of the council, as a mere
nullity. It is but reasonable to suppose, that if the fathers
had thought the papal presidency and sanction essential,
they would have either dropped all thought of meeting
in council, or that they would have awaited the operation
ofother motives to overcome the reluctance ofthe pontiff.
But now the question presents itself, what was the real
effect of the subsequent ratification ? If his initiator3'
consent were essential, the council must have been illegal
from the beginning : and we know that the pope re
garded it in that light. How then could any subsequent
ratification cure the fatal irregularity ? If that consent
was unnecessary, no such subsequent act of the pope
could impart to the proceedings an3^ force which they did
not possess without it : all that it could effect would be to
bind the pope hinigelf, and to bring him under the same
obligation as the rest of Christendom.
And upon this ground it was that the practical im-
Operative portaucc of tlic papal assent to the decision of
reasons for the couucU rcstcd. It could uot be unknown
papaffon-^ to the Byzautiues that the see of Rome dis-
currence. claimed all spiritual control ; that she was in
the habit of discharging herself from all obligations but
those she imposed upon herself; and that she disregarded
all church-legislation but that which originated with
herself, or which had received the stamp of her appro
bation. Though neither the emperor nor the Orientals of
his age knew of any power of the chair of Peter compe
tent, either before or after enactment, to impart to, or
withhold legal validity from, the acts of a general council,
they were at the same time well aware that Rome had
the power to thwart or to impede their operation. Nor

Chap. V.] ELECTION OF PELAGIUS L 161
do we see reason to believe that the desire of the em
peror and the fathers of the second council of Constan
tinople in this instance to obtain the concurrence of the
pope proceeded frora any doubt of their own authority
to raake laws binding upon the catholic body, but purely
from their anxiety to neutralise the adverse influence of
the papacy in the West, and to impart to their resolu
tions that force which alwa3rs attaches to unanimity of
suffrage.'' If the papal biographer Anastasius be entitled to be
lief, the release of Pope VigUius from his long Release of
exile was attended by circumstances indicating "Vigiiius.
the small respect with which the emperor was disposed
to treat the representative of St. Peter, as soon as he
had ceased either to be formidable as an opponent, or
useful as an instrument. That writer informs us, that
through the intercession of Narses the Roraans obtained
from Justinian the recall of Vigilius, and of those of the
Roman clergy who had shared his exile, from their places
of banishment back to Constantinople; and that when
they were brought before hira, he superciliously inquired
of them, whether they were still inclined to take back Vi
gilius as their pope, or whether the3' preferred his arch
deacon Pelagius: to himself it was a matter of indiffer
ence, and he would give them either the one or the other.
In reply, they declared for Vigilius ; but they added that,
if such were his ^ileasure, they were ready, after the de
cease of the reigning pontiff, to adopt the archdeacon as
their bishop.'
The pope and his friends were allowed to depart home
ward.' But Vig-ilius died in Sicily ; and it is jjis death:
remarkable that the archdeacon Pelagius was election o^
forthwith installed in the papal chair without ^^^s'"^
any recorded election, as it were by the direct appointment
of the eraperor. The late pontiff was announced to have
died of the stone ; but report laid his death at the door
of his successor, whose ill-usage during the voyage is
' On the other part, see Baron. A. ' Anastas. Bibl. in Vit. Vigil, ap.
553, §§ 118 to 124 ; ibid. A. 555, § 5: Murat. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. Ul. p. 132.
and conf. Fleury, tom. vu. p. 503. ' a.d. 554.
VOL. II. M

162 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
said at least to have accelerated the vacancy to which he
looked forward. The heart of the Latin comraunion re
volted at the appointment ; and so great was the unpo
pularity of Pelagius I., that only two bishops and a single
presbyter could be found to officiate at his consecration.
The first act of the new pope was to submit to a solemn
A itation in purgatiou, for the purpose of clearing himself of
the Western the iraputcd participation in the death of his
churches, predeccssor." But that proceeding, however
requisite it might have been to silence busy tongues,
did not touch the true cause of the aversion which the
new pontiff had to encounter at his entrance into office.
The agitation which the late successful assault upon the
sanctity of the Chalcedonian decrees had engendered, at
once broke up the harmony of submission to Rome^ which
had prevailed in the Western churches with little inter
ruption ever since the extinction of the Arian contro
versy. The attachment of those churches to their pa
triarch, however submissive, had been at the same time
both genuine and genial. We have now to contem
plate the reverse of this picture : the papal authority re
duced to the brink of ruin ; the vaunted independence of
the Latin church sacrificed ; and the magnificent scheme
of Leo the Great pining away under the incubus of im
perialism. We have afready observed, that under the Gothic go-
DecUne of vemmeut the pressure of the temporal power
the papal had been scarcely felt ; the pope was the almost
power. uji(jigputg(j arbiter ofthe Latin communion, and
felt, his hands at liberty for spiritual conquest in aU di
rections. But the successes of Behsarius and Narses
altered the whole aspect of affairs. The election of Vi
gihus, and stiff more properly that of Pelagius I., may
be said to have announced the revolution which was to
reduce Rome to the level of Constantinople. The em
peror scarcely made a secret of his pretensions to exercise
a spiritual influence in Christendom, at least very closely
" Pagi thinks Anastasius wrong in tor of Tunoni, Chron. ap. Pagi, Crit. ad
ascribing the defection of the Eoman Baron. A. 555, § 9; and Anastas. Vit.
A^IM *?JS^.?.'^^''ge of accelerating the VigU. ubi sup. Conf. Fleury, tom. vii.
death of VigUius. See extr. from Ftc- p. 512.

Chap. V.] DECLINE OF THE PAPACY IN THE WEST. 163
approaching in its character to the temporal power he
wielded. The court of Constantinople had uniformly dealt
with the patriarchate of that city, and of all the greater
sees ofthe East, as articles of imperial patronage. And it
is admitted by pontifical writers of eminence that, after
the expulsion of the Goths, it became the practice that the
election of a pope by clergy, senate, and people, should be
regarded as provisional only ; that the new pontiff could-
not be lawfuUy consecrated until the iraperial letters of
confirmation and license were received from court; and
that until then the pontiff-elect was incompetent to exer
cise any of the rights, or to perform any of the duties, of
his office :" a state of things practically identical with that
which prevailed in the East. The bishop and clergy of
Rome had, therefore, no good reason to beheve that the
eraperor would raake any difference in the exercise of his
veto, or that he would feelany greater hesitation to super
sede a refractory pontiff in that portion of his dominions
than he had hitherto evinced in any other.
But the loss of independence was attended by a more'
serious comproraise of character and influence
in the West. The churches of Gaul and all the pow^er'of ae
sees dependent upon the patriarchate of Aqui- ^J^l^^,
leia silently withdrew frora, or boldly i-enounced uovv affected
the coraraunion of Rome ; the Illyrian episco- ^J^^^^^^J'^^
pacy prepared to follow their exaraple ; those of
Africa, the most independent and boldest of the Latin
communion, though retaining their ancient attachment
to Rome, glowed with a warmer affection for that ca
tholic confession for which they had suffered and bled
through a century of persecution and affliction': the im
perial decree against the " three chapters" was as a' va
pour too thin to dim the brightness of Chalcedon ; the
tardy and reluctant concurrence of Rome was powerless
to convict the most numerous and holiest of oecumenical
synods ofthe patronage of rehgious error; nor could any
sophistical reservation persuade the Western church that
the impeachment involved in the solemn condemnation of -
dogmatic writings, as solemnly adopted by the fathers'
' Pagi, Crit. ad Baron. A. 555, § 10. Conf. Mornay, Myst. liiq. p. 93.

164 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book UL
of Chalcedon, could operate otherwise than to overthrow
their title to the spiritual allegiance ofthe Christian world.
Error in one point implied the possibility of error in all ;
it thus opened out every point of doctrine to renewed dis
cussion, and threw back the Christian community into the
chaos from which she had now emerged for more than an
entfre century. The steadiest ofthe friends of Rome stood
aghast at the dark prospect before them ; her most zealous
adherents were converted into her most formidable oppo
nents ; and the papacy was compelled to descend from the
high ground of spiritual prerogative, and to take shelter
under the wing of the temporal power against the merited
resentment of her exasperated dependents.''
Pope Pelagius acknowledged the novelty and difficulty
Pelagius I. ofhis position, and availed himself with promp-
oiaimsthe titudc and vigour of the means in his hands
the^emporai for arresting the progress of rehgious rebelhon.
power. 2is attention was directed in the first instance
to the suppression of disaffection in the provinces of Li
guria, Venetia, and Istria. Setting aside the ordinary
modes of ecclesiastical proceeding in hke cases, he apphed
to Narses, the imperial vicero3' of Ital3r, at once to arrest
the refractory bishops of those regions, and to send them
to Constantinople for punishment. The vicero3'^, however,
either from want of instructions from court or from re
luctance to endanger the peace of the province, dechned
compliance, on the ground that it was no part ofhis duty
to interfere in ecclesiastical matters, and that it was in
expedient that he should appear in the character of a
rehgious persecutor. The reply of Narses drew from the
pope a luminous exposition of the claims of Rome upon
the secular arm for the support of her spiritual domin-
Peiagius on iou. " Be uot led astray," said Pelagius, " by
d'ut^ofreu'-^*^^ vain babble of those who caU it persecution
gious perse- to reprcss crimc, and to labour for the salva-
cution. .j-JQj^ Qf gQyig . jjQ Qjjg gg^jj |jg accused of perse
cution, except he use force to compel men. to do wrong ;
but he that punishes a crime already perpetrated, or seeks
to prevent the commission by the threat of impending
"¦ Neander, K. G. vol. ii. p. 1151; Fleury, tom. vU. p. 510.

Chap, v.] PELAGIUS ON EELIGIOUS PEESECUTION. 165
punishment, doeth a deed of love rather than of perse
cution : for if, as some will have it, no one is to be pre
vented by punishment from evil-doing, or afterwards to
be reclaimed b3^ the same means, there is an end of aU
la ws,_ human and divine; for it is in the very nature of
laws to dispense penalties against the wicked and re
wards to the righteous, as justice requires it. That schism
is a crime, and that such persons as the present delin
quents ought to be put down by the temporal power, both
the authority of Scripture and the ordinances of the fa
thers do positively affirm and teach : moreover it is not
to be doubted that whosoever separateth himself from the
apostolic see is in sckism, and that he setteth up a strang-e
altar in the face of the Church. . . . And therefore it
was affirmed by the council of Chalcedon,^ that' if any
one shall suspend himself frora comraunion by setting up
a separate altar, and after proper admonition shall de
cline to live in unity with his bishop, such an one shall
be altogether reprobate, and never again have the benefit
of the prayers of the faithful, nor enjoy the comforts of
religion. And if such persons shall continue in exclusion,
and skall make riotings and seditions in the Church, they
shall be put down b3^ the civil power as movers of rebel
lion. And in the same strain speaketh St. Augustine
in his treatise against the Donatists. Now as to the ac
tual offenders, they were in duty bound, before renouncing
obedience to their lawful patriarch, to have sent, accord
ing to ancient practice, a deputation from their own body
to give and receive satisfaction upon the matters in dis
pute ; and not bhndly to tear to pieces the body of Christ,
which is His holy Church. You cannot, therefore, en
tertain any further doubt that these persons ought to be
' In its fourth session the councU But It is obvious that the words quoted
recited the weU-known fifth canon of and adopted by the councU of Chalce-
the councU of Antioch, held m the year don, as weU as the dictum of St. Angus -
341, directing that schismatic clerks be tine (Enchir. e. 7), contemplate some-
deposed from their clergy; adding the thing more than doctrinal or discipUna-
noticeable words, " And if they continue rian schism to entitle the Church to caU
to disturb the Church, let them be put in the secular arm; it must, in fact, be
down by the external power os movers aocomT^&niedhy disturbance and sedition,
of sedition." " This," say the authors in other words, by a breach ofthe pub-
of the Art de verifier les Dates (vol. i. lie peace. Conf. Cent. Magd. cent. v.
p. 139), "is the origin of the modern p. 941; Fleury, tom. vu. 419.
practice of ' caUing in the secular arm.' "

166 CATHEDEA PETEL ., CBook IIJ.
constrained by the authority of the sovereign or of his
magistrates. . . . Now we have laid before you these rules
of the fathers, lest perchance your mind may have been
rendered timid by the fear of being accounted and hated
as a persecutor ; but you will now perceive that both the
Scriptures and the canons teach that it is not persecution
to repress crime, and to labour for the salvation of souls.
Therefore, in punishing the obstinate schismatics of Li
guria, Venetia, and Istria, you have nothing to fear ; for
there are a thousand precedents and a thousand ordin
ances to prove that it is the duty of the temporal state
to punish spiritual delinquents of this sort, not only by
exile, but by confiscation of goods and the severest per
sonal coercion."^
The rigkt and the duty of the temporal state to inter-
Narses de- ^'^^^ ^^ putting dowu schismatic disturbers ofthe
dines to public pcacc fias never been called in question ;
mterfere. ^^^ -^ -^ ^^ -^^ supposcd that if the vigUaut vice
roy had detected the seditious spirit complained of in the
conduct of the Ligurian bishops, he would not have ef
fectually quelled it. But until then, neither the right
nor the duty to interfere arose ; and Narses dechned to
support the papal authority at the risk of civU confu
sion in the new and stiU unsettled provinces of Northern
Italy. Neither the reiterated instances of Pelagius, nor
even the fanatical proceedings of Pauhnus of -A^quileia and
Honoratus of MUan,^ could induce him to change his
pohcy. If any steps were taken to arrest the progress
of the schism, they only served to feed the flame ; for
now the bishops of Venetia and Istria formally renounced
communion with Rome, and declared their independence
under the archbishop of AquUeia, whom they elected pa
triarch of their diocese.^ At the same time the bishops
of Tuscany joined the ranks ofthe seceders, and the Galhc
churches resounded with the appaUing report that the
y Baron. A. 556, §§ 5 et sqq.; Fleury, also Baron. A. 556, § 10.
f-Ji!'- P- ^^1' ' ¦S'^™»- ^- "0. § 12- The annalist
Itiose prelates are said to have ex- admits that the origin of the patriar-
communicated Na,rses himself, and may chate of Aquileia dates from this schism.
Fp^»^if ^ ^"n"^? ^^Z^ 5"*^?^^*^ *'°'' *^''" ^' '^^^ eertainly never abrogated; but
stalhl'i\.n -A ^\- T^^ ^e™"^ "S°" J*"* jurisdicUon was afterwards trans-
*!5ron!«sde Occident. Imp. hh. XX. See ferred to Venice.

Chap. V.] SCHISM IN ITALY. 167
late council, with the pope at their head, had enacted
statutes contrary to the catholic faiths
Pope Pelagius encountered the storm with a steady
countenance. With no weapons at his com- p^j^ .^^^
mand but the time-honoured claims and habi- and the
tual deference of the West for the Petrine see, =®'='''^®''=-
he ceased not to declaim against the unheard-of auda
city of seceding- from that apostolic see in which the Lord
himself had established the foundation of his Church.
" For," he said, " none can be ignorant that there neither
is, nor can be, any Church but that whieh is rooted and
grounded in the chair of Peter, and that all who are cut
off from that chair are ipso facto cut off from the body
of Christ." Neither he nor his predecessor, he protested,
had done any thing to the prejudice of the faith of Chal
cedon ; for though certain matters there adopted had been
touched upon by the late synod which required to be set
right, yet were these things wholly unconnected with
doctrine ; the faith of Chalcedon had iiot thereby suf
fered injury, but, on the contrary, had been fortified and
strengthened against the attacks of its subtle enemies, by
whose disappointed malice or desire of revenge the false
reports of what had been done by the late council had
been put in circulation.''
In the Galhc churches the religious turmoil appears
to have gradually subsided. In Italy, not all .
the thunders and protestations ofthe pope could of thT^
remove the impression that a deadly blow had Westem
been aimed at the credit of the council of Chal
cedon. Several circumstances attending the late proceed
ings against the "three chapters" tended to deepen the
impression. At every step of the transaction the inter
ference of the secular arm was plainly visible ; the pope
was during the whole of the discussions in actual or yit--
tual captivity, and exposed to influences which deprived
him of the freedom of wiU requisite to bind hiraself and
his Spiritual subjects : he had raoreover for a long period
resisted the imperial demand, and in the course of that
^ Baron. Ann. 556, §§ 26-36; Fleury, tom. vu. pp. 517-519.

168 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IH.
resistance had urged the same reasons as those which the
seceders now relied upon against hiraself: he had pro
tested then — as they, the seceders, now protested — that
the feelings and the opinions of the Latin _ communion
were not adequately represented in the councU ; and they
urged, upon the authority of the pope hiraself, that no
principle was more firmly estabhshed than that the acts
of an oecumenical councU could not be reversed by a synod
unendowed with the hke attributes of universality.
The historical inferences to which the controversy of
the " three chapters" enables us to arrive, as to
inferences the statc of the papacy during the period over
from the in- -virhich it extended, are rather negative than
"controversy^ positivc. Wc at oucc pcrccive that it was not
of the "three ^ general^ received opinion even in the Latin
c apters. gj|.|jj.j,^ ^-j^^^ ^l^g powcrs of the chair of Peter suf
ficed in any respect to abrogate, to dispense with, or to
modify the statutes of an oecumenical council. It is equally
obvious that those powers were not generally allowed to
impart to any council or assembly of the Church the cha
racter of universality, unless it should be acknowledged
to possess the independent legal attributes essential to
that character. The pontiff himself, and with him a large
section of the Latin comraunion, held that completeness
of representation was an essential attribute of universal
ity, and that the second great council of Constantinople
was therefore insufficiently constituted to represent the
Church-catholic. Vigilius might, indeed, for the sake of
convenience, subsequently excuse his adoption of this and
other weighty objections, by imputing- it to Satanic sug
gestion ;" but no one can doubt that in giving them utter
ance he spoke the genuine language ofthe communion he
represented. Nor is it less a matter of certainty, that his
desertion of the ground he had taken up at the outset
was very generally deemed an abandonment of his duty
to the Church ; that it was regarded as a legitimate cause
of separation fi?om his communion ; and that it operated
•= See the letters of confirmation ad- ticularly the introductory paragraph,
dressed to the patriarch Eutychius, ap. " Scandala quse humani generis inimi-
Hard. Cone. tom. iu. p. 214. See par- cus," &c.

Chap, v.] PEOSPECTS OF THE PAPACY. 169
SO as to shift the reproach of schism from the seceders
upon the pontiff himself.
And, indeed, those who looked back to the palmy days
of Chalcedon could not but feel the raortifyino:

Actual state

pros-

contrast between the position ofthe great Latin and,..,
patriarchate in those days and that which it pects of tiie
now occupied. Leo the Great had regarded and p"'^^'^^-
dealt with that council as the siraple instruraent of his
supreme will; the voice of the temporal sovereign was
heard only to confirm and enregister his decrees; tfie
fathers themselves had reverently permitted their acts to
be recorded in the name, and to stand there as the work,
of the great pontiff;'' and the single departure from his
instructions they had ventured upoif served only to call
forth a renewed display of power, and to add another
victory to the ample wreath which already encircled his
brows.*^ If then they carried onward their view to the
victorious career of Felix, Gelasius, Hormisda, and there
beheld the Eastern hierarchs bowing down before the re
buke of Rome — ever3r party and faction alternately flying
to her for comfort and protection, or retreating crest-fallen
before her rigorous and uncompromising- rebuke — the
sovereign and his court shifting and dodg-ing to elude
her vigilance or to overreach her caution, yet ultimately
driven like stray Sheep into her fold,^they, we sa3', who
beheld these things could scarcely recognise in their Vi
gilius or their Pelagius the successors of those heroes who
had planted the banner of Roman supremacy in every
corner of Christendom, and imposed their laws alike upon
princes and prelates. Such a spectator would now have
to contemplate the reverse of this bright picture : the
pontiff a prisoner in the hands of a vain and vicious
court; reduced to practise the arts of evasion and dis
simulation to escape the overbearing influence of the
temporal power ; vainly strugghng to reserve to himself
the means of escaping- that ruinous apostasy from every
maxim of his predecessors which the tyrant of the day
¦* Book II. c. V. pp. 395-397, and c. vi. p. 421.
" The passing of the xxviU"" canon, Book II. c. v. p. 403.
' Book IL e. V. p. 416.

170 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
had iraposed upon him; retreating at length from the
scene ofhis defeat with disgrace and contumely; his suc
cessor reduced to becorae the passive instrument ofthe
same iron despotism, and to struggle against the indig
nation of the world with little to support him but the
meraory of past glories ; — all these things he would see,
and raight — if he did not altogether despair of the see of
Peter — look forward to an age of conflict to regain the
lost ground, and to replace the pontiff in a position which
at this moment might well appear beyond the chances of
huraan events.
But in this dark and gloomy prospect there were still
Brighter here and there a few lights to cheer the spirit
aspects, of the devouter adherent of Rome. Though her
influence both in the East and the West had been over
clouded b3^ the crimes, the vacillations, and the self-de
sertion of Vigilius, yet the tkeory of the chair of Peter
had never been directly called in question. Though the
victory of Rome in the great Eutychian controversy may
have been balanced by her defeat in that of the " three
chapters," 3'et that defeat had at bottom been brought
about by the vulgar expedient of ph3'sical force. Though
abandoned for the moment, the maxiras of Roman eccle
siastical policy were neither forgotten nor renounced. If
the pope had not been carried away as a state-prisoner
to Byzantium, there would have been no schism ; if the
imperial mountebank who ruled the remnant ofthe em
pire had not by a mere military accident become the
master of Italy, there would have been httle to prevent
the same bold repudiation of his factious and raischievous
experiraent upon the settled faith of Christendom. And
already a promising change had come over the political
atmosphere : the revived dominion of the empire in Italy
was already tottering to its fall ; the instrument was at
hand that was to break in pieces the frail edifice of the
Byzantine power. The presence of Narses upon the scene
of his triumphs alone delayed the catastrophe ; and dur
ing the remainder of his life Justinian was indulged with
the vain contemplation of a conquest he had neither the
heart to value nor the talent to maintain.

Chap. V.] DEATH OF JUSTINIAN I. 1^1
In the year 659, Pope Pelagius I. was succeeded by
John III, (Catelhnus.) The reign of this pon- j^^^ ^^
tiff was distinguished by the restoration of the (Cateiiinus)
revenues ofthe holy see and an increased splen- p°p®'
dour of pubhc worship. The vanity of Justinian and the
liberality of Narses contributed to rescue the holy see from
the indigence to which the prevalence of corruption and
the troubles ofthe times had reduced it. But in the mean
time the Byzantine tyranny was exhausting both the
patience and the resources of the province. WhUe Narses
lived, some degree of political order was pre- j^ ^^.j j
served ; but by this time the Italians would have pression m'
been glad to re-exchange the vectigaha and -^'^'y-
tributa of the ancient despotism for the milder tertiae of
the Goths. Justinian, in whose mind conceit, indolence,
and rapacity held an equal dominion, looked to the country
not only for reimbursement of the expenses of the con
quest, but as the source of an araple revenue for the tirae
to come. Every obolus that could be extracted by the
most ingenious and unrelenting- extortion, was transraitted
to the court; the pay ofthe arraies was allowed to fall
into arrear ; their discipline was broken up ; and the of
ficers of government stained themselves with every kind
of peculation and abuse. While he lived, religious dis
cussion was suppressed by a spiritual despotism closely
akin to that secular tyranny which weighed upon the
spirits and fortunes of all his subjects alike ; and the life
of society would have become extinct, if that vitality
which was fast disappearing araong the laity had not
survived in the churches of the West.
In the latter years of his life the emperor Justinian
listened to the dreamy speculations of a sect Heresy and
which raaintained that the body of the Saviour death of
was " impassible," i. e. not subject to human "^ '°"'° '
passions, or to the wants, the sufferings, or the natural ap
petites of the human body.^ This opinion was, in truth,
a revival of an ancient Gnostic error in a slightiy varied
form. Besides this, it foU in with the most dangerous
ofthe Eutychian theories^ namely, the absorption ofthe
« This doctrine was, in the affected a(t>0apToSoK-riTurii6s. Neander, K. G. vol.
theological jargon of the East, called U. p. 1168.

172 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
human in the divine nature of the Logos. The patriarch
Eutychius could not be prevailed upon to adopt or to
countenance the iraperial doctrine, and was at once de
posed from his chair and dismissed to distant banish
ment. The new creed was despatched to all the churches,
with a peremptory command for its publication and adop
tion by all the prelates ofthe empire; and all the ordinary
machinery of imperial tyranny was about to be put in
motion to compel obedience, when the author himseff was
reraoved from the scene of his mischievous activity.
Justinian died in the year 566 ; and was succeeded
Justin II. by his nephew Justin II., the son of his sis-
emperor : ^er VigUautia, at the moment of his accession
Baiy'bythe filling the officc of high-stcward ofthe imperial
Longobardi. houschold. The HOW cmperor retraced the later
steps of his predecessor, and suffered ecclesiastical affairs
to fall back into their former channel. But in no other
respect was the world benefited by the government ofthe
vicious being who now occupied the throne ofthe Caesars.
A new swarra of Germanic invaders hovered upon the
northern frontier of Italy ; the land was exhausted of its
substance to gratify B3-zantine cupidity ; the spfrit of the
people was broken by extortion and oppression ; famine
and pestilential diseases thinned and disheartened the
population ; the array, corrupted by hcense, was dispersed
over the face of the country for the necessary supplies ;
and the aged coraraander, disgusted by neglect and in
sult, tarnished his loyalty by entering into treasonable
correspondence with the formidable Alboin, king of the
Pannonian Longobardi. Death saved him from greater
criminality ; and Alboin descended like a thunder-cloud
upon the defenceless provinces of Italy. Thus, within
the space of three years, the whole of .^Emilia, Venetia,
Tuscany, Umbria, and the Tyberine districts feU an easy
prey to the barbarians ; and after the fall of Pavia, the
splendid acquisitions of Justinian were reduced to the
cities of Rome, Ravenna, Naples, and the provinces which
constitute the modern kingdom of the Two Sicilies.'"
'The incidents in this chapter, for Germans,EookI. c. xi. §§ 3and4,where
which no authority is quoted, are ad- the historical proofs may be referred
opted from the author's History of the to.

CHAPTER VI.
THE CONTEOVEESY OF "THE TITLE."
Eoman clergy resume their independence — The Lombards in Italy — Defenceless
state of Eome — ^Byzantines and Franks — Disaffection of the Italians — Gre
gory at Constantinople — John the Faster — Title of " oecumenical patriarch" —
Eebuked by Pelagius II. — The Eoman bishop the universal primate — Pelagius
on the primacy — His inconsistency — Apology for Constantinople — Eetrospect
of the churches of Spain, France, Germany, and Britain — Gregory I. (the
Great) pope — His position — His foreign and domestic policy — Clerical celi
bacy — Gregory on the celibacy of the clergy — His secular administration —
The Lombards under Agilulph — Agilulph and Theudelinda — Their alliance
with Eome ; its justification and results — Controversy of the " three chap
ters" in Italy — Establishment ofthe see of Justiniania Prima — Gregory inthe
cause of Hadrian of Thebes — In the cause of Honoratus of Salona — Equivocal
termination of the dispute — John the Faster assumes the title of "cecume
nical bishop" — Eemonstrance of Pope Gregory — Protest and appeal of Gre
gory against Cyriacus of Constantinople — His reply to the emperor Maurice
— Gregory on the three Petrine sees — His sentiments on the Petrine pri
macy — His personal humUity — Assumes the titular designation of " servus
servorum Dei" — ^He repudiates the title of " universal pope" — His precautions
against the ambition of Cyriacus — Latent equivocations of Gregory on the
Petrine primacy — Schism— He renounces communion with Cyriacus.
Pope John III. died in the year 572, after a calamitous
pontificate of thirteen years. The public mi- ^he Roman
serv and the ravages of the Lombards delayed clergy re-
.,•'.,• 1 ^ n „ C^„ sume their m-
the nomination and approval ot a successor tor dependence:
a terra of ten months. Benedict I., surnamed ^J'^'^^^j^^^j-
Bonosus, was at length confirmed by the court,
and seated upon the pontifical chair. His administra
tion ofthe holy see is marked by no incident of historical
interest. Rehgious controversy wa,s drowned by the uni
versal cry of distress which resounded from aU quarters
of the land. These evUs— the offspring of its own inca
pacity and folly— had so effectually unhmged the Byzan
tine authority, that, upon the death of Benedict 1. m the
year 677, the Roman clergy resumed their independence,
and ventured to consecrate and to inaugurate a successor

174 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HL
without waiting for the imperial letters of license ; and
thus the successful candidate, Pelagius IL, a Roman by
birth, was the first independently-elected pontiff that had
occupied the papal throne since the Byzantine conquest.
The sanguinary Alboin fell by the hand of his vin-
The state of ^ictive cousort Rosamuuda, the daughter of his
the Lombards slaughtered foc Kunimuud, king ofthe Gepidae.*
in Italy, rpj^^ Lorabards raised Cleph, the most distin
guished of their chiefs, to the vacant throne ; but, after a
short reign of about eighteen months, he was slain by a
doraestic assassin, and the nation reverted to their more
ancient state of clanship ; they divided the conquered ter
ritory into thirty-six districts, under as many chiefs or
dukes, who, with the " faras," or clans attached to their
respective banners, established themselves in the more
important cities and towns of the new kingdom. The
most advanced of these duchies, those of Tuscany, Bene-
ventum, and Spoleto, surrounded and enclosed on all but
the maritime frontier the entire territory still remaining
in the occupation of the Byzantines. The latter resorted
to a corresponding division ofthe remnants of their do
minion. Under a governor-general or exarch, resident in
the strong fortress of Ravenna, two governors or dukes
of Rome and Naples defended the reduced frontier from
the desultory attacks ofthe neighbouring Lombard clans.
Defenceless Thus, duriug the interregnum, the Roman.
state of Eome. (jugjjy j^^j becomc the arcua of unsparing plun
der and devastation. "Italy," said Pope Pelagius II. to
his legate at Constantinople, Gregory, abbot of St. An
drew's," " is trodden under foot by the heretical and mur
derous Longobardi; thepeople here are destitute of arms,
money, leaders; the greater part ofthe Roman territory
hath neither troops nor garrisons to defend it ; and the
exarch Decius of Ravenna sends us word that he hath
scarcely men enough under arms to maintain the post
committed to his charge.""
But in the year 578 the idiotic and profligate Jus-
° ^?™e time early in the year 573. Hist. Longob. lib. U. c. xxviU. p. 435.
bee Hist, ofthe Germans, ubi sup. p. 619 ^ After wards Pope Gregory the Great.
^n. 21). Ihe tragic story of Alboin and >• BaroK. A. 584, p. 400. Conf. Hist.
liosamunda is told by Paul Warnefrid, of the Germ, ubi sup. p. 638.

Chap. VI. ] STATE OF ITALY. 175
tin II. was succeeded on the throne ofthe East
by Tiberius IL, a man of superior intelligence ^lojeJili
and integrity ; probably for that very reason aiuauce with
unfit to contend against the inveterate vices
of the Byzantine court and government. His successes
against the Persians in the East scarcely balanced the
decline ofthe imperial power in Italy. Not a man could
be spared for the defence of that province ; and all that
the eloquence of Gregory could obtain from the impover
ished court was a scanty sum of monej-, to be employed
by Pelaghis either in purchasing a truce from the Lom
bards ; or, if thought expedient, in subsidising- the Franks
to invade Lorabardy, and thus at least to create a diver
sion in favour of the harassed Romans. After the death
of Tiberius in 583, his successor Maurice, b3^ the inter
vention of the pope, treated with Childebert II., the king
of the Austrasian Franks, to procure a joint invasion and
partition ofthe territories overrun by the Lorabards: and
the latter, alarraed at the prospect of so powerful a coa
lition, and convinced of the necessit3' of unity of com
mand to avert the danger, determined to elect a king ;
and raised Authari, son of Cleph, a prince of talent and
integrity, to their throne. This step, while it defeated
the coahtion, greatl3' improved the condition of the con
quered people. Authari attacked the evil at its root ; he
reformed with a vigorous hand the worst of the abuses
in the existing relations between the Lombard lords and
their native dependents : and these measures, we are told
by the national historian of the Lombards, were imme
diately attended by the restoration of peace and content
ment within his dominions.''
But though thejudicious.pohcy of Authari suspended
the predatory warfare which had reduced the Disaffection
frontier territories to a desert, the Byzantines ^of th^
reaped no benefit from the change. The miser- ^ '*'^"
able dispute about the "three chapters" ahenated the
cathohc clergy of Ravenna, Venetia, and Istria from
the Greek government, as much as it had already dis
gusted them with Rome; and now, while the exarch
ll Paul Diac. Ub. Hi. c. xvi. p. 444.

176 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book m.
Smaragdus was striving by temporal penalties to set
up the Byzantine standard of orthodoxy, the Lombards
made themselves masters of the whole of Venetia and
Istria, and dispossessed the erapire ofthe last remnants
of its conquests in Northern Italy."
The patriarch Eut3'chius of Constantinople) whom
Gregory the Justiuiau iu his dotagc had deposed and ban-
apocrisarius. fghed, was rcstorcd to his see by Tiberius. Gre
gory, the papal legate or apocrisarius at court, lived in
sincere friendship with the excellent patriarch. But the
latter, at the verge of hfe, leaned to an opinion which
seemed to impugn the received doctrine ofthe resurrec
tion of the body. He thought, namely, that the raised
body could not be identical with the dissolved mass of
bones, muscle, and sinew composing the mortal body;
and that the body of the resurrection must be of a more
ethereal or spiritual substance. The hteral orthodox)^ of
Gregory took offence at this deviation from the received
opinion, and a hot dispute fl'as kindled between the subtle
Greek and the more practical Latin doctor. The quarrel
was suspended by the severe indisposition of both dis
putants. Eutychius died (a.d. 585) ; and Gi-egor3^ sur
vived, soon to preside over the Latin communion in a
nobler spirit, and with greater advantage to the interests
ofhis church, than any pontiff since the death of Leo the
Great. John, surnamed the " Faster," a person of reserved
John the ^^^ austere habits, succeeded Eutychius on the
Faster pa- throuc of Constantinople. As a churchman he
triarch; ^^^ much estecmed by the court and people for
apparent self-abaseraent and ascetic practice. He ac
cepted his elevation with seeraing reluctance ; but Gre
gory, himself a spectator of the scene, suspected his sin
cerity, and justified his suspicions by pointing to that
presumptuous spirit which induced the humble monk im-
^ mediately to assume the proud title of " oecu-
assumes the • i j. • -i n /~t '¦ n y.
title of " cecu- menical patriarch." Gregory may have for-
"triirch/^" g"otten that Pope John II. had accepted from
the emperor Justinian the equally objectionable
' Hist, of the Germ, ubi sup. p. 641.

Chap. VL] JOHN THE FASTEE. 177
title of "head of aU the churches;'"' but certain it is that
he overlooked the fact that John had forborne to notice
the glaring contradiction involved in the simultaneous
attribution of an equivalent title to the patriarch of Con
stantinople. As long, however, as the Byzantine govern
ment in Italy retained any degree of consistency, it was
not likely that this anomaly would be made a ground of
quarrel between the two sees. But the pretensions of
Constantinople were not forgotten ; and as soon as the
external pressure which kept down the rankling jealousy
between the rival pontiffs was reraoved, occasions could
not be wanting- to rekindle the flame.
Two years after the accession of John the Faster (a.d.
687), articles of impeachment were presented peiagius ii.
to the emperor Maurice against the patriarch rebukes the
Gregory of Antioch. The latter demanded a ofl'Xn'the
canonical trial, and appealed to a canonical faster.
tribunal to consist of the asserabled bishops of the dio
cese and the adjoining provinces. Maurice granted the re
quest; the synod, coraposed ofthe patriarchs ofthe East,
and other metropolitan prelates, assembled at Constanti
nople ; the articles were discussed before the emperor and
the senate ; a sentence of unqualified acquittal was re
corded in favour of the defendant, and his prosecutors
were stigmatised as vulgar delators and slanderers.^ But it
came to the ear of Pope Pelagius II. — probably through
the information of his apocrisarius — that in the course of
the proceedings, and in his signature to the final decree,
John of Constantinople had adopted th©, proud title of
" cecumenical patriarch." Whether this assumption was,
in fact, a mere novelty, or whether it had been customarily
used by the metropolitan bishops since it was first intro
duced in the rescripts of Justinian addressed to Epiphanius
in the year 533, is unknown. But no sooner was its ap
pearance on the face of the proceedings against Gregory
of Antioch notified to Pope Pelagius than he declared
that the irregularity vitiated every step in the cause ; and
he annuUed the sentence, on the express ground that John
' See chap. iv. of this Book, p. 1 68.
« Evag. Schol. lib. vi. c. vn. ; Baron. A. 587, § 4.
VOL. II. N

178 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
of Constantinople had unwarrantably assumed a title and
a function to which he had no claim, and had
the universal thereby violated the sole and exclusive privilege
P^^^yo*" ofthe holy see to summon and to preside over
all greater councils ofthe Ckurck. At the same
time he re-affirmed, in its broadest and most offensive
form, the long-cherished theory of the universal primacy
of tke see of Bome, its paramount indefeasible authority,
as vested by Ckrist kimself in the see of Peter ; and he
roundly asserted that whatever was at any time done
without that authority was void from the beginning.
" If, therefore," said the zealous pontiff, in the pero-
ration to his address, " 3'ou have any regard for
on the"titie' the comrauniou of the hol3r see, cast out from
of ^.^"j^^ersai amoug you this profane title of universality ;
nor let any one of 3^ou sanction by his presence
any synod holden without the license of the holy see.
None of your patriarchs have ever assumed this unholy
name ;'' for they knew that if ever he who in verity is the
supreme patriarch over all (the bishop of Rome) were to
take it specially to hiraself, he would, as respects the
episcopacy in general, thereby derogate from the rank
and dignit3^ of all. Far be such a deed from ms. God
forbid that we should desire to diminish the honom-s of
our brethren. Therefore, let no one among you assurae
the name of ' universal bishop,' lest, by depriving others
of their honours, he forfeit that which he himself hath.'"
It is not easy to unravel the confusion of ideas which
The pope's t^is extraordinary document betra3^s. The ira-
objections port of the words leads to the inference that
consi ere . :J.jjQyg.j^ ^]^g bishop of Romc was bound to re
gard himself as dejure tke "cecumenical patriarch," ^&t
that he voluntarily abstained from adopting the title, lest
he should give offence to his brethren by the assertion
of his rigkt, and by exhibiting himself to the world in his
true character. Reasonable persons would imagine that
the real offence lay, not in the name, but in the thing
^ We have not the means of verify- thimus, Mennas, or Eutychius, having
ing this statement ; no official act of come down to us.
Epiphanius, or of liis successors An- ' Baron. A. 587, § 5.

Chap. VL] TITLE OF "CECUMENICAL BISHOP." 179
signified. If there was any invasion of the rights of the
episcopacy, it arose rather from the real pretensions of
Rome than from the titular claim of Constantinople.
But, as a matter of fact, Rome herself would have found
it a difficult task to clear herself of the identical offence
she now cast in the teeth of her rival. Pope Leo the
Great hiraself had permitted his legates at the great
council of Chalcedon to designate him as " bishop of the
whole Church," "pope ofthe Universal Church," — titles
not easily distinguishable from the designatiofr assumed
by John the Faster ; nor perhaps from those more ancient
words of universality — " summus sacerdos," " pontifex
maximus" — which gave just offence to the zealous Afri
can TertuUian.'' It might, indeed, have lain in the mouth
of any but the bishop of Rome to contend that the term
itself implied such an exhausting universality as to leave
no place for any other episcopal function side by side
with it. But it seems clear that neither Justinian in
conferring, nor the patriarchs in adopting, the st3de and
title of oecumenical bishops, spoke in a sense to exclude
any simUar distinction elsewhere. In all their public acts,
on the contrary, care was taken, not only to preserve
to Rome her primacy of rank, but also to save harm
less the honours, titles, and jurisdictions of all the great
patriarchal churches.'
The synod of Constantinople in the cause of Gregory
of Antioch, though declared by the pope to be inconsistency
a mere nullity, "void fi-om the beginning"-^ of Pelagius.
void " to all intents and purposes" — was yet, it seems,
susceptible of confirmation. Pelagius approved the ab
solution of Gregory of Antioch, and solemnly pronounced
j Conf. Book II. 0. v. pp. 396, 397 of sense of the first councU of Constanti-
this work. nople, and in that of Chalcedon, as de
li Conf. Book I. c. v. pp. 107, 108 of clared in its sixteenth session. At the
this work. It may be noticed, tbat tbe second councU of Constantinople, we
decree ofValentinian IIL, solicited and learn that he repeatedly importuned
adopted by Leo. the Great, gave the Pope VigUius to preside at that synod
" universality," both dejure and de facto, as the " primse sedis episcopus." Pela-
to the see of Eome ; though it does not gius II. himself admitted that John the
totidem verbis confer the title. See Book Faster had disclauned the offensive im-
II. c. iv. j)p. 353, 354 of this work. putation, though he refused to admit the
' Justinian, as we have seen, justly disclaimer.
admitted the primacy of Eome in the

180 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IH.
his restoration to his church and functions : though the
synod was " no synod at all," but a " mere conventicle,"
yet the only object for which it had met, and the only
act it did, was approved by the pope. Upon the proper
merits ofthe synod there was, therefore, no question ; nor
was there any objection raised to John of Constantinople
beyond a merely personal irregularit3', which could not
affect the competency of the tribunal of which he was a
quahfied member. Yet upon this ground Pope Pela
gius directed his legate at court to excommunicate the
patriarch, and to continue him in separation frora the
catholic body until he should publicly renounce the of
fensive designation.
We can hardly speak of the merits of a dispute in
Apology for which the demerits on both sides seera pretty
Constanti- evcnly balanced. Some suggestions, however,
^ *' ma3' be tendered in excuse for the presumption
of John the Faster. Rome had shown no disposition to
withdraw her protest against the xxviii"' canon of Chalce
don, by which Constantinople was placed on an equality
of privilege. But the latter church had now not only a
canonical position among the great patriarchates, and a
legislativel3' recognised jurisdiction of her own, but she
had been also de facto raised to a presidency in the Ori
ental church closely resembling that which Rome had
long since exercised in the West, and therefore naturally
took to herself the sarae general superintending power
within the sphere of her spiritual influence as that pos
sessed by Rorae — subject only to that precedence of rank
which she had all along acknowledged to belong to the
elder patriarchate. But Rome had insolently rejected a law
of the Church which confined her supremacy to a simple
privUege of rank and honour ; and she had encountered
it by an unqualified claim of paramount jurisdiction and
power subversive of all equalit3^, whether of rank, or hon
our, or privilege. Under such circumstances, it ma3' be
urged on behalf of Constantinople, that she must either
have submitted to a domination subversive of positive law
and natural justice, or at once have proclaimed her own
privilege, and asserted her legislative equahty by boldly

Chap. VI.] EETEOSPECT: SPAIN. 181
assuming the rank and character attributed to her by a
general edict of the catholic body. This course she may
reasonably be presuraed to have regarded as the best
mode of saving the rights and jurisdictions synodically
secured to her from the grasp of her antagonist — rights
which she could not abandon without sacrificing her hon
our and dignity, and encouraging encroachments to
which neither she nor the sister churches ofthe East could
be called upon to submit. Upon the whole, it seems
most probable that the claira of " universality" set up by
John the Faster was a defensive rather than an aggres
sive measure, and that nothing raore was meant by it
than to place Constantinople upon that level with Rome
to which she held an unquestionable legislative title.
As we approach the pontificate of Gregory the Great,
it may be useful to take a short retrospective
view of the state ofthe churches of Spain, Gaul, ^ "^"^^^^ '
Germany, and Britain. In all these regions the hand
of the reraarkable man whose acts raust occupy some
space in our narrative is clearl3'' visible; and in all of
them he left behind hira the traces of his able and active
administration. In the Visigothic kingdom of Spain, the vestiges of
pontifical influence down to the close of the .
sixth century are extreme^ faint. Like the mi- ^^^°'
litary followers of Theodoric in Italy, the Visigoths of
Spain professed the Arian form of Christianit3' ; and like
them, had all along to contend against a commonalty
and a clergy of Roraan origin and rigidly orthodox pro
fession. The conquerors were, however, as little inclined
to religious persecution as the kindred tribe occupying
the Itahan peninsula. The catholic clergy, therefore, had
the advantage of a fair field for the raaintenance and ex
tension of their creed ; and towards the raiddle of thesixth
century reaped the reward of their zeal and activity in
the acquisition of a degree of influence over the public
mind which left the Arian princes no longer in doubt that
they possessed the confidence of a large majority among
their subjects. In the year 569, Liuvegild, a zealous

183 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
Arian, mounted the throne of Spain. About nine years
afterwards (a.d. 578), this prince married his eldest son
Hermenegild to the catholic princess Ingunda, a daugh
ter of Sigibert, king of the Austrasian Franks. Through
her influence, Leander, the catholic archbishop of SevUle,
gained the ear of the prince, and succeeded in converting
him to the creed ofthe majority. Disgusted, however, by
the severities to which his desertion of the faith of his
forefathers exposed him, he fled to the neighbouring Suevi
of Lusitania for protection, and with their aid raised the
standard of rebellion against his father. But the unfor
tunate prince and his alhes suffered a total defeat ; he him
self became a prisoner, and was ruthlessly put to death
in his dungeon. The kingdora of the catholic Suevi was
absorbed in the Visigothic dorainions, and the prospects
of the orthodox seemed more gloomy than at any period
since the Gothic invasion. But at the death of LiuvegUd,
in the year 686, the conversion of Hermenegild bore
Conversion fr^its ; Rcccarcd, the second of the sons of the
of King deceased monarch, succeeded to the throne, and
eccare . j.ggQ]yg(j ^q ^q]^q ^jjg geusc of the natiou as to
the merits of the contro vers3'^ which divided the court
and people of Spain, and had so recentl3' and seriously
endangered the public tranquilhty. To that end, he as
sembled a general council at Toledo, consisting indif
ferently of the orthodox and the Arian prelates of his
dominions ; and after a long discussion of the points in
dispute in his presence and that ofhis court and nobihty,
the king declared in favour of the cathohc confession.
His example was foUowed, with few exceptions, by his
bishops and subjects; and the synod of Toledo was
permitted to proclaim the faith of the first four general
councils as the only true faith and the estabhshed religion
of the nation and governinent of Spain. King Reccared
confirmed the resolutions of the fathers of Toledo by an
edict denouncing excommunication against all recusant
bishops and clerks, and condemning the laity who should
reject the royal confession to the loss of estate and
honours.™ ¦" See Cone. Tolet. III., ap. Hard. Cone. tom. iii. p. 484.

Chap. VI.] EOME AND THE SPANISH CHUECH. 183
This sudden and simultaneous conversion ofthe Span
ish nation has been generally imputed to the „, .
learning and eloquence of Leander of Seville, Eome to a
and to the gradual prevalence of the Nicene ^^"""^ ™.*''®
. . o I , . . . conversion
opinions, SO long and so earnestly mamtained ofthe
by the cathohc clerg-y. Rome has, indeed, put ^p^'^^'"'^^-
in her claim to a large share in the meritorious work ;
Leander, she tells us, was the legate of Pope Pelagius
in Spain, and acted under that commission. But of this
there is not a trace of credible evidence ; and the extant
record of the council bears no marks of Roman interpo
sition." The assembly was convoked in the customary
form by the single act of the sovereign, without mention
of any concurrent authority." Leander himself, though
a principal actor and speaker upon the scene, did not
present himself as the delegate of the holy see ; and sub
scribed the acts of the council — not in the first place, as
upon the supposition of a legantine authority he would
have been entitled to do, but — in the third place, and in
his own name only as metropolitan of the province of
Boetica.P There is therefore little reason to doubt but that
the movement in favour of catholicity in Spain was the
spontaneous act ofthe sovereign and the nation, springing
probably from motives quite as much of a pohtical as a
religious character.
The religious state of Gaul — or, as we may now with
n Baronius (Ann. 589, § 9, p. 461) quote from, cent. vi. pp. 606, 607. In
quotes a passage from Lucas of Tuy, a Harduin's edition of the councils (ubi
writer of the thirteenth century, living sup.) the name of Leander stands third
in the reign of Gregory IX. and a ve- after that ofthe king; acircumstance not
hement persecutor of the Albigenses. very favourable to the legantine cha-
Lucas is said to describe Leander as the racter imputed to him by Baronius on
legate of the pope in Spain. The car- the vague authority of Lucas of Tuy.
dinal, in support of his authority, sta,tes " See the recital of the letters of con-
that the popes always kept a legate vocation in the exordium of the report,
in Spain; but upon what authority he Hard, ubi sup. p. 467. The royal sub-.
says this, we are not informed, except scription to the canons or ca.pitula is
it be the obscure appointment of Zeno remarkable : " Flavins Eeccaridus rex,
archbishop of Seville by Pope SimpU- hanc deliberationem, quam cum sancto
eius to be the papal legate in Spain, definivimus synodo, confirmans sub-
A.D. 484: see ch. i. p. 8 of this Book. scripsi." Ibid. p. 484.
De Mornay, c. xcviii., observes, that the P " Leander in C. N. ecclesia Hispa-
name of Leander 'is not found in some lensis metropolitanus Bceticse provinciae,
ofthe copies ofthe councU; nor is it in his constitutionibus  annuens sub-
that which the Magdeburg Centuriators scripsi." Id. ibid.

184 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
state of the ^^^^ propriety caU it, Frarice^ — differed mate-
Frankish rially from that of Spain. While the latter
churches. gQ^^try was from the moment of the Visigothic
conquest divided between hostile religious sects, Roman
Christianity had raaintained itself without a rival in
France. The form of faith which Clovis found established
among- the conquered people at the period ofhis conversion
became the religion of the State ; and though the inter
course with the religious metropolis may have been im
peded by the Frankish irruption, the authority of the
Roman pontiff had suffered no serious diminution or dis
continuance. From the first introduction of Christianit3'
into the new kingdom, the clergy were all of Roman race ;
they connected the narae of Rome with all their ministra
tions ; and through them the religious character of the
pontiff of Rome became a genial bond of union between the
whole body both of the conquerors and the conquered.
But during all this period the predUection ofthe Gal-
Eeiations of ^^'^ ^^^^SJ ^'^^ Romc was uot inconsistent with
the Frankish a general state of religious independence. The
EomeYnd°to ^ishops of the Burguudiau and Arelatian dio-
their own ccses^ — pcrhaps of some others — might, as we
government, ^^^^y^ seen, at timcs appeal to Rome, or shelter
themselves under papal decisions and constitutions against
their superiors or their metropolitan S3mods, with a view to
evade the penalties due to their own irregularities ; yet
practically the religious government ofthe Church rested
with the provincial councils, without any ordinary or ha
bitual resort to Rome. At the same time', the appointment
to vacant bishoprics of importance feU into the hands ofthe
temporal princes ; the spiritual judicatures remaining in
the prelates, though without the power of inflicting any
other than spfritual penalties. But the social relations in
which they were placed operated still further to throw the
episcopacy into political dependence upon the monarch :
the greater prelates frequented the court, and adopted the
habits of the lay nobihty ; like the latter, they indulged
in the coarsest convivialities and debaucheries ; they made
war upon, they robbed, they plundered, and occasionally
murdered, one another with impunity ; they mingled in-

Chap. VL] THE FEANKISH CLEEGY. 185
discriminately in pohtical broils and court cabals ; they
buckled on armour, and led their dependents and retainers
to the field ; they adopted the modes of life, the sports
and the pastimes of the secular nobles, and performed all
the services of lay vassals in the camp, court, and councils
of the sovereign.''
This state ofthe clerical body in France was the natu
ral result of the lavish grants of beneficiary lands
to the churches b3^ the superstitious liberality tion^oTth^
of Clovis, his sons, and g-randsons. In these Prankish
grants little or no distinction was made between
the clerical and lay grantees ofthe crown ; the State held
all liable alike to the military and fiscal burdens attached
to the benefices they held.'' This state of church-property
threw the nomination ofthe holders, as a matter of course,
into the hands ofthe kings. During the whole period over
which the histor3'^ of Gregory bishop of Tours extends,
the appointment to vacant sees rested practically with
the court, though the forras of election were still retained.'
The clerg3r raight occasionally insist upon the right of
free election,' yet they always admitted the royal veto;
while the kings, without directly contesting the right of
the churches, practically assumed the appointment by
virtue of the veto." The more arabitious among the
clergy knew too well where that power rested, to be very
vigilant in the maintenance of the privileges of their
churches against royal encroachment. Those who looked
for bishoprics, sought them at court by solicitations and
bribes." At length it became the practice to appoint la.3^-
men to vacant sees without any form of election ; and so
numerous were these nominations, that during the reign
1 Gregory of Tours furnishes numer- p. 681), chiefly from Gregory of Tours
ous proofs of the state of things de- and the Formulae of Marculfus.
scribed in the text: see particularly lib. ' See extracts from the councils of
iv. CC. xii. and xliU. pp. 208 and 227; Paris, a.d. 551,andof Orleans, a.d. 549,
lib. V. c. xxi. p. 247 ; lib. vii. co. xi. ap. Conciani, Barb. Leg. Anfiq. tom. u.
xxxvii. and xxxix. pp. 272, 309, 310. pp. 190, 191, note (3).
See Book II. c. U. p. 342. " See History of the Germans, ibid.
^ Greg. Turon. Ub. ii. e. n. p. 204 ; p. 685, note 45, where the authorities
lib. vii. c. xiu. p. 311 ; lib. v. c. xxvii. wiU be found at length.
p 250. " Conf. Greg. Turon. lib. iv. c. xi.
" See the forms, as described in my p 205.
History ofthe Germans (Book I. u. xii.

186 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
of Chilperich, the Merovingian king of Soissons, very few
of the ordained clergy obtained bishoprics.''
Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that
Priviie es oiS^^^^ Uncertainty should exist as to the privi-
the Frankish legcs of the clcrgy iu Fraucc during the Mero-
ciergy. vingian period. As a body, they still remained ci
villy and criminally amenable to the laws ofthe land; but
the bishops and higher ecclesiastics stoutly resisted every
judicature but that of their own order ; the3^ claimed to
be tried by canon-law, and to be liable to canonical punish
ments oniy." But the only sources of canon-law known
in the Frankish states were rather of Roman
their'attach- than national derivation ; the associations both
ment to of clcrgy aiid people all pointed to Rome as the
cradle of their faith and the fountain of religious
law ; and thus an appeal to Rome in support of that law
lay fully within the sphere of the national prepossessions.
Thus, when the bishops, Salonius of Embrun and Sa
gittarius of Gap in Provence, were convicted before a
s3^nod of the Arelatensian province of the crimes of rob
bery, homicide, and adultery, and sentenced to privation
and deg-radation, the culprits obtained the permission of
Gunthram, king of Orleans, to carry- thefr cause by way
of appeal to bishop John III. (Catelhnus) of Rome. The
pope for no discoverable reason reversed the sentence, and
reinstated the bishops. The Gallic church patientty ac
cepted the decision ; but a repetition of the offences sub
jected the delinquents to a reiterated sentence, which
seems to have raet with no further opposition from Rome.''"
Though, therefore, the transaction wears an exceptional
rather than a normal aspect, it affords evidence of a sub
sisting regard for the pontifical authority, susceptible of
a vast expansion as soon as foreign support should be
come needful or available for the maintenance of the
presumed privileges of the Gallic clergy.

" Greg. Turon. lib. vi. cc. xxxviii. and Greg. Turon. libb. v. vii. and x., in His-
xlyi. ; lib. viii. c. xxxbc. p. 330: conf. tory ofthe Germans, p. 686.
Eichhorn, Deutsch - Staats und Eechts ? Greg. Turon. lib. v. cc. xxi. and
Alterthiimer, vol. i. § 101, p. 272. xxviu. pp. 247, 250.
" See the instances, collected from

Chap. VL] EELIGIOUS STATE OF GEEMANY. 187
A glance at the religious state of Germany-Proper
within the sixth century of the Christian era,
presents the picture of a half-Christian, half- ^sTatTor
heathen people struggling into political and re- christian
ligious life, with that earnestness and vigour i"""®^^'""-
which distinguished the Germanic races from their earliest
encounters with the power of Rome to their final victory
over the expiring giant. Among these tribes, the numer
ous clans of Frisians and Saxons inhabiting the banks
ofthe Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe, still lived in a state
of unreclaimed heathenism. The AUemanni or Swabian
Germans, the Thuringians, Bavarians, and Lombards,
though nominally Christians, were scarcely less addicted
to the magic superstitions and sacrificial rites of heathen
ism than before the cross was raised within their can
tons. The rude and ignorant clergy who administered
the public worship, were either themselves deeply tainted
with the popular superstitions, or driven to indulge their
people in many ofthe grosser practices ofthe old idolatry
in order to maintain their own influence and keep alive
a semblance of Christianity in the land.
But towards the close of the period, a movement for
the conversion ofthe heathen tribes ofthe north, j^^yi and
and, what was of equal importance, for the re- Angio-Saxon
formation of the heathenised Christians of the ™^^'°°^-
midland and southern regions of the vast wilderness, ori
ginated in the far west — in a region distant from the
centre of Christendom, and beyond the largest limits
which, at this point of time, can be assigned to the spi
ritual influence of Rorae, Two Irish monks, Colum
banus and Gall, issued from the zealous and learned se
minary of Icolmkil in the Hebrides, and planted churches
in Swabia, Switzerland, and Lombardy. Soon after
them, Emmeram, a Frankish raissionary raonk, undertook
to reform, or rather to repubhsh, the rehgion of Christ
among the half-heathen Bavarians. These devoted raen
were followed frora tirae to time by others, who carried
forward the same good work in Germany with no other
warrant or^ authority than that which their own earnest
conviction and zeal imparted. Neither bishop nor arch-

188 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
bishop interfered with, or claimed control over, their la
bours ; nor was it till the appearance of the celebrated
Anglo-Saxon preacher Winfred of Winchester — more
famiharly known by the narae of Boniface — in the mid
dle of the eighth century, that the name of Rome or the
voice of her pontiffs was heard in the primitive wUds of
Germany.'' Ofthe state of Christianity in Britain, it is only neces-
Britain and ^^^J ^^ *^^^ placc to obscrvc, that the religion of
"^Briti'sh Christ, planted there by the Roman Christians,
Christianity, j^^^ ^^gg^^ swcpt awa3' by the heathen swarm
which, at the beginning of the sixth century, is found to
have already occupied and colonised the greater part ofthe
British islands. In some districts, however, particularly in
the mountain regions ofWales, Cumberland, Cornwall, the
west of Scotland, and in Ireland, whither the ruthless
sword of the Saxon had not 3-et penetrated, Christianit3'
stUl survived. There multitudes of Christians — clergy,
laity, and rehgious men — retained and propagated the
purer forms of the old religion. The northern coasts
of Ireland and the Southern Hebrides became a far-
famed seminary of religious learning and raissionar3'- zeal.
Twent3r 3rears before the mission of Augustine, the emis
sary of Pope Gregory the Great, to this country, the
monastery of lona had, as we have seen, sent forth de
vout men to preach the Gospel to the wild Frisians and
Saxons who still inhabited the regions which cradled the
conquering races of Gaul and Britain. Meanwhile the
Welsh Christians, under their metropolitan bishop of
Caerleon, maintained their religious state and their poli
tical independence, in absolute seclusion from the rest of
Christendom, against the neighbouring Saxon princes and
people. The latter, though still adhering to their ancient
superstition, and disdaining to adopt the creed of a van
quished enemy, were a siraple and vigorous race, open to
' I must refer the reader, for a fuller all the authorities are collected, and
account of the labours ofthe Irish, An- the history of the Germanic churches
glo-Saxon, and Frankish missions, to carried down to the appointment of
sect. iii. of the xiii"" chap, of my His- Boniface to the metropolitan dignity by
tory of the Germans, pp. 770-792, where Pope Gregory II.

Chap. VL] ELEVATION OF GEEGOEY THE GEEAT. 189
conviction when the new creed was presented to them in
a form suited to their capacities, and not offensive to their
national pride. In default of that discriminating reason
which education alone can irapart, the modest Saxon in
clined to authority; the high road to the heart of the
people lay through their warrior-chiefs and princes ; and
the latter, with the exaraple ofthe christianised Franks
before them, had few scruples to overcome but those which
arose from the influence of simple habit, unsupported by
dogmatic opinion or principle. Their superstitions were not
the subjects of faith or conviction; and those who could
proffer either through an acceptable raediura, raight be
sure ofa hearing, and might with time and patience count
upon success." The sequel proves that the Anglo-Saxon
race was little raore difficult to deal with than the kindred
Frankish tribes in the first years of this century-.
Pope Pelagius II. died in the 3^ear 690, after a reign
of twelve years and three months. Gregory,
abbot or principal ofthe religious house of St. PopVore"
Andrew at Rome, had for sorae years past gory the
drawn upon himself the attention of the religi
ous world. Conspicuous among the churchmen ofhis age
for learning, integrity, and piety, not a voice was raised
against his elevation to the papal chair b3^ any but himself.
Gregory recoiled from the burden thus cast upon him
by the unaniraous suffrages of his church ; he fled from
Rome to escape the zeal of the electors, and earnestly
besought the emperor Maurice to withhold the imperial
approbation. He honestly shrunk from a task which ap
peared to him to transcend his strength and ability. But
when the ratification of his election arrived, and no pro
spect remained of escaping the superhuman burden, he
took possession ofthe see in a spirit of tempered courage,
springing, we believe, from a genuine sense of obligation
to the Church, and in pious reUance upon Providence for
the strength needful to fulfil his high destiny.
The virtues of Gregory the Great, though the offspring
of the truest piety, were not those of an expansive or en-
' On the state of Britain in the sixth century, consult Bedte Hist. Ecc. lib. i.

190 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IH.
His cha- lightened understanding. No man ofhis age
d^ffi^ui'^-"'^ ^^^ more thoroughly imbued with the preva-
of his po- lent ecclesiastical views ; nor do we believe that
sition. g^jjy Qjjg Qf jjjg most streuuous predecessors en
tertained a more lofty conception ofthe Petrine power.
But these views were under the control ofa cooler judg
ment and a more Christian temper. He surve3-ed at a
glance all the difficulties of his position ; and these were,
indeed, such as might shake the stoutest nerves, and put
in requisition powers for which no man could give him
self credit. When he ascended the papal throne, the
plague was raging within the walls of Rome ; the Lom
bard enemy hovered around her desolated and impover
ished territory ; the bishops of Istria and Venetia, —
suffragans of the archbishop of Aquileia, — stood in open
schism upon the still-vexed question of the " three chap
ters." In Africa, the remnants of the Donatist and Ma
nichaean heresies were still stirring ; the external influence
ofthe holy see was as a thing that had passed away ; and
it seemed as if the task of reconstructing the whole edifice
of Roman power had been cast upon the new pontiff, with
out any of those external facilities or supports to which
his predecessors had been so larg-ely indebted.
His first efforts to restore the decaying influence of
His foreign Ro™© iu the outl3'iiig dependencies of the Pe-
and domestic triuc cliair wcrc iiot attended with the desired
^° '"¦''¦ success. His atterapt to reduce the dissident
bishops of Northern Italy to obedience was arrested by
a peremptory command of the emperor, to which he sub
mitted without remonstrance. In Africa, his labours to
disturb the ill-omened harmony which the common cala
mities had established bet\\een the Catholic and the Do
natist clergy, were equally unsuccessful. But at home
his peculiar virtues and abilities found a fairer field of
action. His first care was to administer consolation and
rehef to his afflicted flock. Next he turned his attention
to the reform of the many abuses that infected the inter
nal state of his church ; more especially in the monastic
S3rstem, which had by this tirae risen into a most im
portant element ofthe ecclesiastical polity. Gregory was

Chap. VL] GEEGOEY ON CLEEICAL CELIBACY. 191
devoutly attached to that mode of Christian life ; he had
adopted it with all his heart ; and never lost sight of it
even in the heig-ht of his success, nor amid the bustle
and turraoil of public business.'' No raan was raore pro
foundly convinced that the efficiency of every system of
government must depend upon the strength and adapta
tion of its internal machinery. Many fatal irreg'ularities
had crept into the Roman monasteries, fi-om indiscri
minate admissions and loose superintendence. For the
remedy of these evils, he ordered that no youth under the
age of eighteen years should be admitted into any reh
gious house ; and that no one should be allowed to take
the vows until he should have undergone a two-3'^ears pro
bation. Monks who forsook their convent and returned
to the world were condemned to the strictest seclusion
for the remainder of their lives. The prevalent habit of
vagrancy was repressed ; and it was ordered that when
ever a monk, even upon lawful occasions, should pass
beyond his convent- walls, he should always be accom
panied by a corapanion, as a witness ofhis conduct and a
check upon his passions." In reforming the vices of the
prelates and clergy of his iramediate dependency, Gre-
gorj proceeded with equal vigour. He deposed Deme
trius, bishop of Naples, for crimes which, under any
sounder and strong-er system of government, must have
forfeited the life of the delinquent to the outraged laws.**
In like manner, and for like offences, he expelled Agatho,
bishop of Lipari, and Paul, a Dalmatian prelate, from
their sees. The voluminous correspondence of Gregory
discloses other instances of punishraents of the same na
ture inflicted and submitted to ; but in no department of
ecclesiastical discipline did he display more inexorable
rigour than in the article of clerical celibacy.
The combined ideas of poverty and chastity origin and
—or rather abstinence from connubial enjoy- p'j,"^^^;'^^
ment — formed the basis of the monastic sys- of,ciericai
tem. That system was, as we have seen,'= of celibacy.
" Epp. S. Greg. Mag. lib. i. passira. ' Ibid. lib. ii. ep. 3.
<: Ibid. lib. X. ep. 22 : " Qui sine teste ' Conf. Book L c. iv. p. 86. See par-
ambulat, non recte vivit." ticularly note (").

192 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
very ancient date ; and during the period of persecution
found favour with all the raore earnest Christians, from
its adaptation to the militant state ofthe Church in its
primitive stages. The taint of Orientalisra, so observable
throughout the earl3^ history of the Christian comraunity,
led gradually to the notion of a raeritorious self-sacrifice ;
and that which was originally no more than a raatter of
prudence or expediency, was raagnified into a virtue — a
means of grace — a spiritual instrument of mighty power
for the salvation of the possessor, and even of those to
whom the same gift was denied.*^ It was honestly be
lieved b3' many devout sons of the Church that a state
of virginity was indispensable to that perfect purity essen
tial to the mediatorial character of the priesthood. The
priest, it was said, must always be engaged in pra3^er for
the lait3'' ; his pra3^ers were supposed to derive their effi
cacy from an absolute freedom from the remotest taint of
carnalit3'^ ; marriage, whatever its intrinsic merits, must
divert his thoughts from heaven, where alone they ought
to rest, to the earthly objects ofhis affections, and quench
the spirit within upon which all operative intercession
depended.^ The raonastic coraraunities universally em
braced this view of technical purity ; from them it gra
dually extended itself — at first only as a local custom —
to the secular clergy ; adopted by some churches, raodi
fied and occasionally rejected by others, but rarely en-i
countering contradiction in principle. Still the practice
never araounted to an absolute prohibition to niarr3'-, even
after the reception of holy orders ; so neither was the
raarried state regarded as a disqualification for the min
istry. Yet, towards the close of the sixth centur3r, it was
generally thought that all who took upon themselves the
episcopal office, or entered into the orders of priest or
deacon, ought, if alread3r married, to abstain from con
nubial intercourse, though without the degrading forma
lity of repudiation. It became at length custoraary for
candidates for orders in this predicaraent to take a solemn
'' See the passages from Hermas' K Conf. Book II. c. i. p. 264 of this
Shepherd, as quoted in the passage of work.
this work last above cited.

Chap. VL] GREGOEY'S SECULAE ADMINISTEATION. 19S
engagement to live in a state of abstinence for the term
of their natural lives; and in all cases the residence of
the wife with the husband was permitted, provided it took
place with such precautions as might secure the conti
nence of the parties.
Pope Gregory I. insisted rigorously upon the observ
ance of these customs; and extended them to
the order of sub-deacon, which the3' had not Great°on the
hitherto been held to affect. ¦" But it seems celibacy of
that he did not regard them as ordinances of ^''^''^y-
universal obligation, nor as binding beyond the limits of
his own immediate jurisdiction and the other dependen
cies of the holj see. And in recommending the Roman
custom to other churches, he abstained from the impe
rious language of his predecessors ; choosing rather the
path of persuasion ; and generally exhorting the foreign
churches he addressed to enforce their own special disci
pline upon this head, and to insist on the rigid execution
of existing rules and regulations against incontinence
and dissoluteness of life among their clergy.'
The administration of Gregory embraced spirituals
and temporals with equal vigour. He iiitro- ^is secular
duced various reforms in the management of administra-
the estates of the Church essential to the effi- *'""'
ciency and economy of ecclesiastical governraent. The
property or endowments of the Roman church consisted
of numerous lands and territories scattered over the whole
surface of Italy and Sicil3'^, as well as over some parts of
the Gallic province between the Alps and the Rhone;
without, however, as yet any approach to a claira of
secular lordship or sovereignty. Though the extent of
these endowments may have suffered some reduction in
the course of the revolutions of the last century, yet the
church was stiU possessed of large tracts of land, which,
under proper management, might still yield a consider
able revenue. The poverty to which she was reduced had
been the result of the peculation of the church-stewards,
and the diversion of the funds to the purposes of bribery.
>" Epp. S. Greg. Mag. lib. iii. epp. 34 ' Ibid. libb. iii. vu. ix. and xi. pas-
and 50. sim.
VOL. II. O

rsooK. III.
194 CATHEDEA PETEI.
AU these evils were effectually checked by the c^^^^^ and
dUigence of Gregory. A system of manage
introduced, by which the income was '^fjl^^l^^j^^
 ^„A ,„;k.:,,+ i^cnrir,. rpp,mirse to any extraoramary

mented without having recourse to au^^ a^etiva^
fiTfbqnstinsr measures for rendering u mui i

or
10- recourse tu ""j  ^
p 1 ¦  u TTinrp. nronuctive
exhausting measures
From this general view ofthe measures of Pope Gre-
P-ory^for the internal consolidation of the see.
Progress of & ^ ¦> ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ogg incidents ot his pontificate
birds uS"er ^hich relate to the external relations ofthe pa-
Agiiuiph. ^^ ^^.g p^j^^^ of time. The first and most
important of these relations is that which subsisted be
tween Rome and the Lombard occupants of Italy. The
Lombard king Authari had been succeeded in the year
590 by Agilulph duke of Turin. At his accession the
warfare between the Greeks of Ravenna and the conquer
ors of Italy had languished into an exhausting and unpro
fitable A\arfare of outposts and mutual inroads ; but the
new king, freed b3' pestilence from the formidable inva
sions of the Franks on his northern fi-ontier, was now at
leisure to prosecute the war with vigour and effect. He
expelled the B3^zantines from Tuscany and Picenum, and
extended his conquests to the gates of Rome. The city
was almost destitute of the means of defence ; yet in this
terrible emergency the spiritual influence of the pope
sufficed to save the citv' from the calamities of a siege
and capture.
Agilulph had married Theudehnda, the daughter of
AgUulph and ^^"^ald, dukc, or — as he is sometimes called —
Theudelinda king, of the Bavariaus. Theudehnda was the
wUh Eome. T^'^^"^ °^^^'^ ^^te king Authari ; and in his hfe
time had, by her beauty and talents, inspired
the nation with the most profound admiration and respect.
Her marriage with Agilulph greatly strengthened his
position ; with this advantage the new king combined a
noble and generous character capable of valuing the vir-
tion nL ^^ %'"'^'''^^' '''''i disposing him to lean with affec
tion^ and deference to her suggestions, religious or poh-
nomy^oloJ^g^^y^:.^- *°"' ^"'' P^' ^^ '° ^6, for a detaUed account of the eco-

Chap. VI.] EELATIONS WITH THE LOMEAEDS. 195
tical. The queen had all along raaintained an intimate cor
respondence with Pope Gregory; a circumstance which
established a 83'rapathy with Rome in the heart of her
husband. Theudelinda vv'as a strict Catholic, and pro
fessed herself the spiritual pupil of the pontiff. Through
her, his admonitions and councUs could not fail to acquire
great weig-ht in the mind of the Lombard prince ; and
it was agreed between Agilulph and his queen to regard
Rome rather as the abode of their spiritual friend the
pope than as a dependency of their treacherous enemy
the Byzantine emperor. The Lorabard armies were con
sequently withdrawn from the territory of the city, then
comraonly designated as the "duchy of Rorae;" and for
many succeeding years a friendl^^ relation was established
between the citizens and the neig-hbouring Lombards.''
When Pope Greg-ory came to this amicable under
standing with the enemy of his own sovereign,
he entertained no thought of that political sepa- of^he^auu"
ration which seemed to result naturally from the ^""^i, ^*^
new position he had chosen for himself and the
defenceless people who trusted to his spontaneous chief-
ship. His thoug-hts and aspirations were wholly directed
to the interests of the religious S3^stem of which he was
the official guardian, and the temporal welfare of his
deserted and helpless flock. It is hardly possible to con
ceive a more absolute identification of spiritual and poli
tical duties than that which the anomalous state of Italy
at this point of tirae introduced into the external relations
of Rome. The Byzantine influence was almost annihi
lated; with the power to protect, the right to govern
passed away from the inept court of Constantinople ; a no
minal allegiance was all that could be claimed or yielded,
while the real powers of government fell by a natural ne
cessity into the hands ofthe chief who possessed the pub
lic confidence. Thus the enemy ofthe nominal sovereign
became the friend of the pope. The Lombard king put
an end to the persecutions which had from tirae to tirae
afflicted the catholic comraunion within his territories.
Their worship was not merely tolerated, but protected
'' Paul. Diac. lib. vi. cc. ix. and x. p. 496.

190 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IIL
and encouraged. Theudelinda established the Irish mis
sionary priest Columbanus in a cell at Bobbio, and en
dowed it with aU the land for four miles around. She
caused her son Adalwald to be baptised according to the
cathohc ritual ; she built a spacious church at Monza, not
far from MUan, and decorated it with aU the magnifi
cence ofthe age; the churches throughout Lombardy arose
from their ashes ; the cathohc bishops, who had hitherto
lived in penury an'd obscurity, were enriched with lands
and endowments, and thus raised to honour and credit
among the people ; and now in every city and town of
the kingdom a catholic prelate watched and controlled
the influence of his Arian rival."
Gregory thus became the parent of a religious revo-
Controversy lutiou which added a vast amount of spiritual
of the influence to the chair of Peter, and served in a
chapters" great degree to balance the loss sustained from
in Italy, ^j^g contiiiued schism ofthe "three chapters."
The bishops of Rhaetia, Venetia, and Istria, attached to
the patriarchate of Aquileia, persisted in their opposition
to the general council of Constantinople of the 3'^ear 661,
and in their consequent separation from Rome. Gregory
himself was not prepared to encounter the theological
argunients of his opponents. His own published opinion
placed the decisions of a general council of the Church
upon the level of inspiration." The erasure of the three
treatises •\vhich the fathers of Chalcedon had solemnly
adopted into their proceedings was a raanifest attack on
the canon of Christian faith. The seceders reasonably
affirmed that any attempt to invalidate a part must, if suc
cessful, overthrow the whole, and re-open ever3'^ question
therein discussed and determined. This objection was not
replied to by Gregor3' ; in lieu of argument he endea
voured to substitute authority ; and to that end solicited
the court of Constantinople — which still partially retained
Ughelli, Ital. Saec, a,^. Murat. Ss. edifice of the faith ; and every one who
Er. Ital. torn. i. p. 455. refuseth to build thereon, though he
I'aul Diac hb. vi. cc. v. vi. p. 455; appear to belong to the whole, is not-
?^.'. TT "^' ''*'• '''^- ®PP- 12 & 14. withstanding afar off on the outside of
Upon these (the general councUs), the enclosure." S.Greg JI/ Enn Hh i
as upon a polished rock, rests the whole ep. 24. " i'l"- ""¦ '•

Chap. VI.] EOME AND THE ILLYEIANS. 197
the sovereign authority in the refractory region — to direct
the convocation of a general council of the Latin church,
to be held at Rome ; and to issue his mandate to the dis
sidents to give their attendance, and abide by the de
cision to be there pronounced upon the question at issue.
But the latter loudly protested against a tribunal to be
composed of so large a majority of opponents as that which
now stood at the disposal of the pope ; and they rested
their cause upon the " constitutum" of Pope Vigilius, as
declaratory at once of their rigid orthodoxy and of their
aversion to every inroad upon the inviolable sanctity of
a general council of the Church."
The proposal of Pope Gregory fell to the g-round.
Neither was he more successful in his endea- ...
vours to maintain the ancient claims ofhis see ment of the
upon the Illyrian provinces. The fatal contro- "eHf Jus^-"
versy of the " three chapters" had impaired the tiniania
influence of Rome there as elsewhere. Again, ^""'ffl^-
the vicariate of Thessalonica, even if available at this junc
ture, had been practically annulled by the division of the
great diocese of Illyricura Orientale introduced by the
emperor Justinian. In the earlier years of his reign, he
had withdrawn the provinces of Epirus, Dardania, Prseva
litana, and Moesia, from the jurisdiction of Thessalonica,
and annexed them to that of Justiniania Priraa, a new
patriarchal see founded by the emperor in honour of the
place ofhis birth.f In the 3rear 541 he confirmed the prior
ordinance, and decreed that the new archbishop should
stand in the same relation to his subordinate prelacy as
that actually subsisting between the pope of Rome and the
bishops of the provinces subject to his patriarchal super
intendence.'' The establishment of the new archbishopric
" Baron. Ann. 690, § 38 : conf. c. v. stolicee Eoma3." It seems to me that the
pp. 156, 157 ofthisijook. See also ibid. words -rhv Ti-irov ^ire'xeiy cannot with-
p. 163. out violence be extended to any prior
r See Corp. Jur. Civil. noveU. xi. p. relation existing between these pro-
28, and noveU. cxxxi. p. 184, fol. ed. vmces and the see of Eome. The ex-
1 This seems to me the fair construe- pressions here strongly recaU to our re-
tion of the words, riiv rSirov eVe'xfiv nu- coUection the words used by the Nicene
Tbe TOV ciiroffToAiKoD 'Ptin-ns 0p6mv. The Eathers in dehning the jurisdictions of
Latin translators render the words thus : Antioch and Alexandriar— eVeiS^ koI t§
"in subjectis sibi provincus locum ob- iv "Pdin-ri iiria-K6Trai tovto aiviBis ioTiv.
tinere eum (archiepiscopum) sedis apo- Eome is here the constitutional model

198 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
. was not propitious to the claims of Rome. In
theTau7e'of the year 592, Hadrian, bishop of Thebes in
Hadrian of Thessaty, was deposed by a provincial synod.
He appealed to the primate of Justiniania, who
affirmed the decree ofthe inferior court. Hadrian car
ried his coraplaint before Pope Gregory ; and the latter
took upon hiraself to annul the proceedings, and enjoined
the primate to restore the appellant to his see upon pain
of excommunication, exempting him thenceforward from
the jurisdiction of his metropolitan."'
The result of this experiraent upon the attachment of
Cause of *^^ prelacy of Ill3a-ia is unknown. The issue
Honoratus of the traiisactiou next to be adverted to is
of Salona. gquivocal. lu the same year Natalis of Salona,
the metropolitan of Dalmatia, a province ofthe diocese
of Justiniania Priraa, deposed his archdeacon Honoratus.
The latter appealed to Pope Gregor3^, who directed him
to be reinstated. But Natalis dying soon afterwards,
Honoratus himself v.as elected by the clerg-y and people
of Salona to the vacant see. But the new bishop was
obnoxious to the prelates of the province, and they took
upon themselves to nominate one Maximus to succeed
Natalis ; and this person soon afterwards obtained his let
ters of license and confirraation from the court of Con
stantinople. The people and clergy of Salona resisted the
or precedent on which the emperor, like that the term Ttijros is that ordinarUy
the Nicene Fathers, desired to define the used to signify a representative agency ;
jurisdiction ofthe new archbishop. The and that the attribution ofthe t6-tov to
lUyrians might, and probably did, pre- Justiniania was a natural consequence
fer the Latin forms of church-govern- of the division of the province, and an
ment to those of the Greeks ; and to this arrangement necessary to preserve the
we attribute the selection of Eome in- ancient j iirisdiction of Eome within the
stead of Constantinople or Antioch as diocese. The term may, indeed, some-
the model of the new church-consti- times have been soused; but in the case
tution. It should be remembered too of Cyril, who was the self-professed
that Justiniania was not substituted for agent of Eome at Ephesus (Book II.
Thessalonica,where— if any where— tlie c. iii. p. 331 of this work). Pope Coeles-
papal vicariate StiU resided; sothatifthe tine describes him as TOTroTrjpuv ti/mv —
word T<!iros meaut this vicariate, there " watching, or taking care, in our place"
would be now two vicars instead of one. —words of a much more definite signi-
It may be further remarked, that the fication. Besides the word tS-itos, when
imperial government never recognised used to denote place or representation,
the papal vicariate of lUyricum Orien- is generally put in the dative followed
tale; but rather encouraged the prelates by a genitive, tiStt^ tWj. The second
of that diocese to resort to Constanti- branch of the argument cannot be siis-
nople in the " majores causee" of their tained for the reasons already assigned.
churches. On the other side, it is urged ' S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. ii. epp. 6 and 7.

Chap. VL] CASE OE HONOEATUS OP SALONA. 199
instaUation of Maximus, and the new bishop was inducted
by the civil power with the aid of a military force. Pope
Gregory at once declared the election void, and by au
thority of the chair of Peter set aside all the proceedings.
He treated the imperial letters either as a naked for
gery, or as obtained b3'' misrepresentation and fraud;
and peremptorily commanded Maximus to abstain frora
all episcopal functions until the emperor should be more
perfectly informed, and the decision of the hol3'- see upon
the subject be definitively published. Maximus paid no
attention to the papal mandate, and Gregory summoned
him to Rome to answer for his contumacy : but the
emperor Maurice — irritated perhaps by the peremptory
bearing of the pope, perhaps with intent to support the
jurisdiction ofthe primate and the authority ofhis own
letters of license — commanded Gregory to g'ive no further
disturbance to the new archbishop of Salona. The re
monstrances ofthe pope at Constantinople were unheeded ;
and Gregory, dreading a direct collision with the imperial
Serogative, dextrously shifted his ground, and summoned
aximus to Rorae to answer to an impeachment of purely
ecclesiastical offences, among the rest those of siraony and
sacrilege, preferred against him by his rival Honoratus ;
a proceeding- by which the pope hoped to deprive him of
the imperial- protection. Maximus and his part3' put in
the strictly canonical plea that the summons was irregu
lar, because no bishop could be arraigned of 3113'^ eccle
siastical offence out of the metropohtan diocese to whieh
he was alone amenable.' Pope Gregory again apphed
to the emperor Maurice to support his authority ; and
the latter at length sent instructions to the exarch Cal
linicus of Ravenna to interpose by choosing proper ar
bitrators for the settlement of this vexatious dispute.
Maximianus, patriarch of Ravenna, Avas approved by
both parties as a quahfied referee ; and, in obedience to
' Conf. Book I. c. viii. p. 191, c. ix. politan bishops charged with ecclesias-
p. 207; and Book II. ci. p. 256. Some tical offences. But the analogy of the
doubts might perhaps be raised upon older canon-lawis decidedly in favour of
the canons of Nicaia, Sardica (if ever archbishop Maximus, if we set aside the
known to the Orientals), and Constanti- claim ofthe cathedra Petri, which could
nople (I.),whether any canonical remedy hardly be said to rest upon any canoni-
had been provided in the case of metro- cal title.

200 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
his award, the archbishop of Salona professed contrition
for his contempt of the papal suramons, and was per
mitted to purge himself by his own oath from the criminal
charges preferred against hira. After this he accepted
absolution, and was acknowledged by the pope as the
legitimate metropolitan ofthe Dalmatian province.'
This termination of the dispute satisfied neither the
demands of the canon-law nor the claims of St.
tSi^atfon Peter's chair. For, as far as the rule of law
ofthe -^ygg involved, the irregularity of the trial of
^^P"^"^- Maximus adraits of no question. He was com
pelled to answer before a foreign tribunal, constituted by
secular authority, and without any diocesan decision, from
which there could have been a canonical appeal either to
Rome or to any other ecclesiastical authority. Next, —
supposing Rome to have taken her stand upon the equi
vocal canons of Sardica," she could lay claira to no right
to interpose until coraplaint made of a denial of justice
by the canonical tribunal established by the fifth of the
Nicene canons. No such complaint was made, because
there had been- no decision to appeal from. Honoratus
had appealed to Rome in the^r.5^ instance; and Rome
had arbitrarily reversed the act of the Dalmatian prelacy
without any cause in hand. In the next place, the judg
ment was given at Bome, in defiance of the forms pre
scribed by the Sardican fathers. The pope had issued no
summons to the neighbouring bishops ofthe eparchia ; he
had nominated no triers ; he had sent no "legates a latere"
to preside; nor had he delegated the powers vested in
him to other prelates of his own choice. There is, in
truth, no article of ecclesiastical law which had not been
violated or ignored in this extraordinary proceeding.
Moreover the pontiff had failed in his attempt to drag the
archbishop of Salona before his own tribunal. The right
of direct interference with the privileges of the provincial
churches was practically repudiated; and the original
jurisdiction over the matter in hand claimed by the chair
' S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. iii . epp. 1 5 & 20. epistles.
The subject recurs frequently in the " Conf. Book I. c. ix. pp. 204 et sqq ¦
second and seventh hooks of Gregory's' Book III. c. i. pp. 43-45, ibid. c. U. p. 60.'

Chap. VL] GEEGOEY AND JOHN THE PASTEE. 201
of Peter was neutralised b3'' the interposition of an ano
malous judicature equally unknown to the canon-law and
subversive of the privilege set up by Rome herself. The
pope appears in the transaction as a party rather than as
a judge ; and though the decision was in his favour, yet
no safe inference as to the actual relation ofthe parties
can be deduced from a proceeding in which every rule of
law, custom, or privilege that might have been alleged on
either part had been wilfully set aside or overlooked.
Though the Roman pontiffs had not paraded the
titles of " cecumenical bishop" and " chief of all john the
the churches" at the head of their public acts, Easter pa-
yet their pretensions to that suprem ac)' had ad- constanti-
vanced to the broadest assertion of ecclesiastical "°p^®-
sovereignty." Constantinople, on the other hand, had con
fidently assumed the titular rank assigned to her by syno
dal and imperial authority. Whatever extent of meaning
may have been attached to it. Pope Pelagius had, as we
have seen, taken great offence at the lofty designation.
John the Faster had not yielded to the threats of the
pope ; he was aware that the real question touched the
dignity and independence ofhis church, and that he would
be supported by the court of the emperor Maurice, who
preferred the communion of his own domestic pastor
to the remoter connection with the head of a distant,
and at this moraent precarious, dependency.
Pope Gregory, however, at this early period of his
pontificate shrunk frora a quarrel with Constan-
tinople ; he therefore thought fit to give the go- ^S^of
by to the censures fulminated by his predecessor "universal
J . . , 111 i-i-.i bishop.
against the patriarch, and addressed to hira the
usual synodal letters announcing his accession to the pon
tificate. In the repty to this act of ecclesiastical courtesy
John again subscribed himself " universal bishop." Pope
Gregory promptly rebuked the pretension, and reminded
the patriarch that his predecessor had for that single cause
v Conf. Book II. c. iv. pp. 349 et sqq. ; pp. 51, 55, 56, 58, more particularly pp.
Book III. c. i. pp. 34, 35, 37: see also 61, 62, 63; and that of Hormisda, c. iu.
the language of Pope Gelasius I., ch. ii. pp. Ill, 1 12, 1 1 7.

203 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book UL
annulled the decree of a general synod. " Lay aside,"
he said, " the haughty and damnable distinction. What
reply will 3'ou make to Christ, tke only Head of
strance°of tkc Universal Ckurck, at the last day, for thus
Pope Gre- usurping his office, — you, who, by this title of
^°'^"*^' universality, have presumed to subject all His
members to yourself? Besides, it is known to all that the
apostle Peter is tke ckiefoftke universal Ckurck. Paul,
Andrew, John, — what were these other than heads of
particular churches ? Yea all are meinbers under the one
head, which is Christ ; 3^et not one of these ever coveted the
title of ^ universal bishop.' Now it is well known to your
holiness that the most reverend council of Chalcedon ex-
pressty yielded'' to the apostolic see, in which I now sit,
the distinctive title of universal bishop ; 3"et none of my
predecessors ever assumed that name of singularity, lest
by imputing to any one bishop an attribute of a singular
and exclusive significance, the whole episcopate should
thereby be shorn of its due honour  Let us therefore
beware lest our names be written among those who covet
the first places in the synagogues ; who are anxious for
salutations in the market-place ; who desire to be caUed
of men ' Rabbi :' for against these our Lord saith to his
disciples, ' Be not ye called " Rabbi," for one is your
Master, and 3'e all are brethren ; and be not 3'e called
" Father" on earth, for one is your Father.' What, then,
beloved brother, will 3'ou reply in that terrible da3^ of the
coming- J udge, — you who desire to be called not merely
' Father,' but ' universal Father ?' " In the same strain
Pope Gregory remonstrated with the emperor Maurice
upon his connivance at the misconduct of the patriarch.
He persisted in affirming- that the title of " cecumenical
bishop" implied a claim to a sole episcopate; that it
araounted, in short, to a swallowing tip, or absorption, of
all episcopal rank or office into one.''
At the death of John the Faster, in the year 595, his
'' S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. iv. ep. 38. It is would be perhaps hardly correct to af-
not perhaps too much to say, with Pope firm that they adopted the act of Pas-
Gregory, that the fathers of Chalcedon chasinus and his feUow-legates. See
yielded tho title to the Eoman pontiff. Book II. c. v. p. .397.
His legates assumed it for their master " Ibid. Epp. Ub. iv. epp 32 34 36
with the consent of the fathers; but it 38. ir , ,

Chap. VL] TITLE OE CECUMENICAL BISHOP. 203
archpriest, Cyriacus, succeeded to the see of
Constantinople. The new patriarch sent his appeSof*^
synodal letters announcing his election to Pope ^°p'' ^'¦'^-
Gregory, with the official signature of " oecu- ^'"^^'
menical patriarch."^ The pontiff did not take immediate
notice of the offensive designation; but still observed
towards him the usual forms of ecclesiastical courtes3'.''
Yet when he heard that the people of Constantinople had
hailed the inauguration of Cyriacus with extravagant
demonstrations of joy, he did not omit to express his dis
approbation ; predicting that, after all, he would not turn
out the blessing to the Church which the acclamations of
the people seeraed to predict.^ Gregory, however, for
the present restricted his resentraent to a solemn moni
tion, addressed to Cyriacus, warning him that there could
be no solid peace in the Church until he should have re
nounced the " superstitious" title. At the sarae time he
struck up a correspondence with the patriarchs Anasta
sius of Antioch and Eulogius of Alexandria, with a view
to obtain their participation in the censure he had passed
upon the act of C3Tiacus. " It behoved them," he said,
" to keep a watchful eye upon the church of Constanti
nople." " That church," he remarked, " had been ever
fruitful of heresies; and now a greater danger threatened
them from the sarae quarter ; for if a single bishop be per
mitted to assurae the attribute of universality, and should
afterwards fall into error, the whole Church raust fall with
him."' V S. Greg. Mag. lib. vi. epp. 4 & 24. with that of Optatus of Milevis, as ap-
2 Ibid. lib. vi. epp. 6 and 30. plied byhimto the see of Eome: Book IL
" Ibid. lib. vi. ep. 7. The populace c. ii. p. 295 of this work. That see by
hailed the new patriarch with the words itself alone represented the visible unity
of Scripture : "This is the day which of the apostolic power, that is the Church;
the Lord hath made ; let us rejoice and and it was to provide against the chance
be glad in it." Gregory remarked that of that see falling into error, and there-
this was a profane adaptation to a mor- by drawing after it the downfall of the
tal of prophetic words applicable to the whole edifice, that Ennodius introduced
coming of the Saviour. the extravagant presumption that the
i" Ibid. Epp. lib. vi. ep. 24. The idea bishop of Eome was impeccable, inas-
here expressed seems to he, first, that much as it was not to be supposed that
the Church subsists in the episcopacy; God would permit his Church to fall.
and secondly, that a universal bishop Conf. c. ii. p. 76 of this Book. If the
would absorb the episcopacy— he would /rsi proposition be true, it would be difS-
embody in himself the whole Churoh, cult to disprove the second, or to deny
so that if he faU, the Church must faU the presumed necessity of an impeccable
with him. This opinion corresponds head.

204 CATHEDEA PETEI. 1^'^°°'^ ™-
The emperor Maurice, however, disapproved of this
„. , , attempt ofthe pope to introduce discord into the
^r4ero° Church; and expressed his profound regret that
Maurice, g^ trivial a thing as a name or title ot honour
should be aUowed to disturb the subsisting harmony.
Gregory rephed by denying the triviality ; he contended
that he who assumes so proud a name is a forerunner of
Antickrist, for he thereby exalteth himself high above
all ; such a name is not a trivial thing, for it is a scan
dal in the Church, and for that cause alone ought to
be sacrificed to the peace and contentment of the whole
body." Eulogius of Alexandria entered cordially into the
views of Gregory, and rephed in a strain of
Gregory on complimeut to the chafr of Peter highly ac-
the three ccptablc to the popc. The answer of Greg-ory
i ctnnc SGGs. i- o ¦/
" is remarkable : " I have read," he said, " with
delight the things 3'ou have written me touching the chair
of Peter, the prince of the apostles ; wherein also you
remind me that I at this time am seated in that chair as
one of his successors. And although I am unworthy of
a place among the number, yet do I willingly take to
rayself what 3'ou have said of me ; because it was said
only in reference to me as sitting upon this holy chair.
.... For it is universally acknowledged that the hol3'
Church is established upon the solid foundation of the
prince of the apostles, i\-ho, by the name given unto
him, '^ Peter,' which is derived from ^ petra,' a rock,
showed forth the firmness of his faith ; , whom also the
voice of truth proclaimed to be the rock ; thereby that it
was said unto him, ^I wUl give unto thee the'^keys of
the kingdom of heaven.' Again : ' When thou art con
verted, strengthen the brethren.' And again : ' Simon,
son of Jonah, lovest thou me 1 Feed my sheep.' There
fore, though there be many apostles, yet, because of that
sole principality which was given to him, the see of the
prince of the apostles is exalted above all ; a see which
though set up in three different cities, is derived from
him alone. For he did most highly of aU exalt that see
"= S. Greg. Mag. lib. vi. ep. 30, ad Maurit. Imp.

Chap. VL] GEEGOEY ON THE PETEINE PEIMACY. 205
in which he took up his final abode, and honoured by
finishing there his mortal career. But he also founded
and honoured that see in which he seated his disciple,
Mark the Evangelist. And lastly, he erected that see
in which he himself sat for the space of seven years,
though he afterwards rehnquished it. Since, therefore,
these three are derived from one, and are one ; and see
ing that now, by Divine authority, three several bishops
do preside over them, — I do therefore take unto myself
all the good I hear of you; and I beseech you, that
whatever good you hear of me, to count it among your"
own merits ; for we are one in him, who prayed for his
disciples that, as he and the Father were one, they also
might be one in him."''
We do not find that at any former period of ecclesias
tical history the bishops of Rome had admitted sentiments
so close a parallel between the three great sees, of Pope Gre-
or that they had ever conceived them in so near petrine"pri!
an approach to equality .° The oneness of the ^^°y-
three sees almost appears to have been suggested to the
mind of Pope Gregory by the terms of the Nicene doc
trine of the Trinity; it is an identity of being, with a
distinction of persons only. This conception is not in
consistent with a priority of place, but altogether irre
concilable with a priority of power or authority. As a
compliment to Alexandria and Antioch, it was dangerous ;
if intentional, it was fatal to the Roraan supreraacy.
But in the works of this reraarkable raan there are
more proofs than this of a confiict in his mind between
his internal convictions and his outward position. The
forraer often break out in words, where the latter would
prescribe a discreet silence. In his hands the theory of
St. Peter's chair is far less peremptory, less sharply de
fined, than in those of his predecessors. He satisfies
himself with reminding his brother bishops ofthe oneness
of the Church-catholic in and through the prince of the
•' S. Greg. Mag. Epp. Ub. vi. ep. 37. the Eoman chair of Peter. Seetheopi-
' To the best of my belief, this is the nions of Optatus, Augustine, Jerome,
first mention ofthe parallel occurring CoelestineI.,andLeotheGreat: Bookl.
in any papal document. All other opi- c. x. p. 231 ; Book II. c. i. p. 286, e. u.
nions conteraplate the sole primacy of pp. 294 et sqq., and c. iv. pp. 348 et sqq.

206 - CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
apostles. And in this view, his conception ofthe rela
tion borders rather upon a s3^mbolical than an actual
oneness. Peter appears as the s3'-mbol rather than the
personal representative of the outward unity.*^ The pope,
indeed, accepts the eulogies of the patriarch of Alex
andria, but sinks the dignity of St. Peter's chair in the
oneness of the three principal sees ; he strives to hold fast
his supremacy, and the prerogatives implied therein, if
possible, without offending against Gospel humility by
the assumption of the names and titles properly denoting
them. Though claiming-, as pope, to be regarded as the
" Father of fathers," he repudiated — probably with sin
cerity — all that might redound to the gratification of
personal vanity; herein, as he believed, satisfying the
Saviour's precept, " Be not 3'^e called Rabbi." Although,
therefore, his exultation in the dignit3r of his office is
very apparent, his professions of personal self-abasement
and humility are frequent, and sometimes overcharged ;
he is humbled to the dust by his sense of the tremendous
duties cast upon him ; he is appalled, even to death, by
the dangers to which his elevation may expose his spi
ritual interests. On the other hand, he is wrapt in the
contemplation of the sublime trust confided to him ; and
consoles himself with the reflection that he sought it not,
that he fled from it, that it was the will of God and not
his own will that had thus lifted him up on high above
his fellows.^ There is every reason to beheve that this diffidence
His personal "^^as a genuine feeling. It is, in fact, accounted
humUity. for by his prior monastic habits, and by the tra
ditional views of Christian life from which the conventual
system took its origin.'" This genuineness, we think,
shows itself in the absence of that unchristian harshness
of pretension which marks the language and demeanour
of some of his most distinguished predecessors. In this
humble disposition, Gregory is ready to share his honours
with the sister sees ; and in the same spirit, he desires to
' Conf. Book L c. iv. p. 89. . '¦ Conf. Book I. c. iv. p. 96 of this
s & Greg. iV/ao. Epp. lib. i. epp. 1,4, work.
5, 7, 29, 30, &c.

Chap. VL] GEEGOEY THE " SEEVUS SEEVOEUM," &c. 207
expel high-sounding titles and personal distinctions from
the Church, and for his own person to be known only as
the " servant of tke servants of God."'
In the like temper of mind he reproves his friend Eu
logius of Alexandria for receiving his admoni- jje assumes
tions as " commands." " I protest," he writes, the designa-
" against every phrase implying command as •^serv'tfs^sCT-
between you and me; for I know who I am, ^ommDei."
and who you are : in station you are ray brother ; in spi
ritual attainments you. are my father: I have therefore
commanded nothing, I have but pointed out to 3^ou what
I think expedient. But you, my brother, have not com
prehended my meaning ; and this I perceive from the
form of your address : for in the very exordium of your
letter I find tke forbidden words of pride ap
plied to rae; you style me ' universal pope.' I "^thrtitk of ^
beseech your holiness to do this no more ; for " universal
you must perceive that what is assigned to ^°^^'
me beyond the measure of right, is withdrawn from the
brethren. I do not desire to deprive them of their hon
ours : I do not desire to make them poor ; for my honour
consists in upholding their honour  If you call
me ' universal pope,' you deny yourself to be that which
you say I am. Away, then, with all empty titles.
Away with words and names that puff up unto vanity,
which wound charity. And although you know that at
the holy s3^nod of Chalcedon, and by the fathers their
successors, this title was assigned to my predecessors,
yet not one of them ever thought it right to assurae
it ; in order that by thus showing their jealousy for the
honour of all bishops, they might not forfeit their own
before Almighty God."J
But the precautions taken on a subsequent precautions
occasion betray an apprehension that cannot of Gregory.
be wholly accounted for by his jealous desire to Sltious^
protect the character and honour ofhis episcopal ^ ^^^^5^°^^
brethren. Cyriacus of Constantinople had sum- constan-
moned a general synod of the Oriental churches *^°°pi«-
' " Servus servorum Dei." S. Greg. J S. Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. vu. cp. 30.
Mag. Epp. Ub. i. ep. 34, ad Petrum.

208 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
to meet at the capital; and the pope ¦was informed, or
suspected, that he intended to use this raeeting as a mode
or opportunity of procuring a conciliar sanction — sirailar
probably to that obtained by Pope Leo at Chalcedon — to
the use of the title of " oecumenical patriarch." Gregory
lost no time in apprising the prelates of Illyricura Orien
tale, more especially the primates of Thessalonica, Justi
niania Priraa, and Crete, of the presuraed design of Cy
riacus. He reminded them, that some time ago Bishop
John (the Faster) of Constantinople had assembled a coun
cil of his church by the style and title of " cecumenical
bishop;" and that his predecessor Pelagius II. had for
that cause, of kis own autkority, annulled all the acts
of that synod ; yet Cyriacus had retained and used the
forbidden title. He therefore warned them on no account
to consent to, or to write — or, if written to, to approve or
allow, or to countersign — any document in which the for
bidden title should be used. '^ It had come to his know
ledge," he said, " that a synod was convoked at Constan
tinople, and that they were summoned to attend it; and
he had reason to believe that perverse men might be
tempted to avail themselves of that meeting clandestinely
to obtain undue sanction to the usurpation of C3Tiacus."
" And although," he continues, " 3'ou cannot be ignorant
that without tke autkority and consent of tke holy apos
tolic see of Bome the acts of such assembly can have no
force or validity, yet I do hereby admonish and adjure
you beforehand, that no one of you be induced by any
persuasions or blandishments, by any hope of reward or
fear of punishment, to consent to a proceeding of this na
ture; but that, on the contrary, you raise jovly voices with
one accord against any such depraved design; and that,
taking your stand upon the apostolical autkority, you
drive away the thievish wolf about to break into your
fold : betray not your churches into the hand of the de
stroyer: permit no synod to be holden concerning this
matter : thwart every device to bring it together. For
such a synod is no lawful synod ; it is no synod at aU. If,
however, the meeting should turn upon other matters, be
upon your guard ; be vigilant ; be circumspect ; lest any

Chap. VL] GEEGOEY. ON THE PETEINE PEIMACY. 209
derogation to person or rank be allowed to creep into the
Church through jour negligence.'"'
It is apparent that the renunciation on his own be
half of the title of " universal bishop" did not Latent equi-
extend to the abandonment of a single article vocations of
of prerogative claimable under that title. Gre- thrfSne
gory peremptorily debars the bishops he ad- P"macy.
dresses from the free exercise of their private judgment,
and interdicts all deliberation upon the merits ofthe claim
of Constantinople. He dogmatically affirms, as a matter
of legal notoriety , that all synodal assemblies unsanctioned
by Rome are null and void ; and strongly implies a right
to stifle all opposition to the papal commands. He inti
mates that, as a matter of strict right, the Roman pontiff
was entitled to use the designation in question ; and that
the nonuse was a matter of expediency : it might be per
sonally discreditable to the pontiff; it might engender
strife and jealousy ; it might be regarded as derogatory
to the rights and honours ofother bishops. Yet upon no
one of the raany occasions upon which he claims the au
thority of Chalcedon on behalf of the Petrine universalit3'^,
does he ever notice that alleged grant as an error or a
mistake — as unduly or uncanonicall3' conferred. He suf
fers it to stand upon the statute-book of the Church as a
matter of established prerogative ; approving the thing,
reprobating the name only.
We do not pretend to reconcile the moral equivoca
tions and inconsistencies observable in the opinions and
conduct of this distinguished pontiff. Whether they jus
tify a charge of disingenuousness; or involve the deeper
guilt of hypocrisy; or only raise a suspicion of paltering
with an internal unacknowledged sense of the essential
vanity of the pretensions implied in the title of " oecume
nical bishop," and ofa desire to satisfy his own raisgiving-s
by a colourable repudiation of an erapty name, whUe
reserving to himself the exorbitant powers which his
secret conscience reproved ; — these and siraUar questions
must be left to the judgment of the individual inqufrer,
upon a careful and candid perusal of his works.
k 5". Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. vii. pt. ii. ep. 70.
VOL. II. P

210 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
Gregory completed the schism by the recall ofhis apo
crisarius, or resident legate, at the church and
He renounces ~'~ . . ^ y . . . .

ne renounces j^ r /^ , ,¦ n i i • xl
the commu- court of Constantinople, and by renouncing the
nionof communion of the patriarch Cyriacus. The
yriacus. .^^^j-^y ^f ^]^g Greek court, and the ever-rankling
jealous)'^ of the church, left no room for corapromise. As
heretofore, a victory could be expected from political re
volution only. And thus, perhaps, among- other causes
to be hereafter adverted to, it happened, that the bloody
tragedy which befel the reigning sovereign and his unfor
tunate family soon afterwards fell upon the ear of Pope
Gregory like tidings of great joy.

CHAPTER VII.
GEEGOEY THE GEEAT.
Gregory and the Latin churches — Projects the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
— Mission of Augustine — His success — Method of conversion — Eegulation of
Gregory for the Anglo-Saxon churches — British and Irish churches — Confer
ence of Augustine with the British bishops — Its results — Instructions of Pope
Gregory to Augustine — His toleration of pagan rites — Patronage of images, &c.
— Ecclesiastical vestures — The Dalmatic and PaUium — Ecclesiastical govern
ment of Pope Gregory — Corruptions of the Prankish churches — Image and
Eelic worship in France — Serenus of Marseilles against Image- worship — Pope
Gregory on Image-worship — Prevalence of Image-worship — The conventual
system of Pope Gregory — Exemptions from episcopal jurisdiction — Tendency
of these exemptions — Influence of Pope Gregory on France — Intercourse with
the Spanish churches — Cause of Januarius and Stephen, &c. — Canon-law in
the cause — Defects of papal proceeding — Prerogative versus civil and canon
law — Pope Gregory and the African churches — Moderation of Pope Gregory
— Edict ofthe Emperor Maurice — Eemonstrance of Pope Gregorj* — Ordinance
respecting the admission of Soldiers into Monasteries — Murder of Maurice^
Phocas emperor — Pope Gregory congratulates the usurper — His peculiar views
and his death — Character of St. Gregory the Great — His relation with the court
of Constantinople — Judgment upon his conduct in the affair of Phocas — Sa
binian pope — Decree of Phocas — Its authenticity, &c. — Construction of the
decree — Eesults — Popes from a.d. 608 to a.d. 625 — Honorius I. pope.
Before we pass on to the further details of Pope Gre
gory's dealing-s with the Oriental churches, it is
necessary to advert shortly to his intercourse deaimgs'wUh
with the churches ofthe Latin communion ; and '"^^ ^^'''l
, , .-II.I- j_ • • churches, &c.
somewhat more particularly to his enterprising
and successful attempt to extend the benefits of Roraan
Christianity to the heathen occupants ofthe British islands.
In the year 597, the attention ofthe pontiff was called
to the religious destitution of the Anglo-Saxon his scheme
conquerors of Britain ; and he conceived the *°^^gr'^o„°o''f'
design of effecting their conversion, and thus the Angio-
reducing a powerful and vigorous race of bar- Faxons.
barians under the spiritual dominion ofthe holy see. The
opportunity which presented itself at this point of time
was not to be overlooked. In the Anglo-Saxon kingdom
of Kent, the king, Ethelbert, had married Bertha, daugh
ter ofthe Frankish king Charibert of Neustria; but under

Q12 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI
express stipulation for the free exercise of her religion.^
She was accompanied, as her chaplain, by a bishop named
Luithard ; and from him encouraging reports were trans
mitted to Pope Gregory ofthe disposition ofthe king and
people of Kent to accept the faith of Christ." This inteUi
gence revived in his mind a desire which, as we are told
by the Venerable Bede,'' the aspect of certain Anglo-Saxon
youths exposed for sale in the slave-market at Rome had
"suggested some 3^ears before his elevation to the papacy.
An opportunity so favourable as that which now pre
sented itself, appeared to Gregory in the light of a pro
vidential interposition on behalf of the benighted heathen
of Britain. With this impression, he despatched a com-
Mission of pany of forty missionary monks, under the com-
Augustine. jjiaud of Augustiue, the prior ofhis own monas
tery of St. Andrew, to preach the Gospel according to
Rome to the benighted Anglo-Saxons. The zeal of the
pope sustained the fainting spfrits of the missionaries,
whom ignorance of the language of the barbarians, and
alarming reports of their savage character and habits,
had at the outset seriousl3r discouraged. They landed
on the Isle of Thanet, and announced thefr arrival to
Ethelbert, with good tidings of great jo3^ from Rome to
himself and his people. Augustine and his retinue were
allowed to proceed to Durovernum, or Canterbury, the
residence of the king; where also his Christian queen.
Bertha, was permitted to hold Christian worship in the
ruins of an ancient British church dedicated to St. Mar
tin. A public audience ^^as granted to him, and permis
sion was given to preach the Gospel to the prince, his
court, and people, freely and at all seasons.
IS success. j]^ijgi|jgj.t was favourably impressed; and the
approval of the monarch opened the ears and the hearts
of his subjects to the new teachers. Their national pre
judices yielded to the royal inchnations, the example
of their queen, and the earnestness of the missionaries.
They had no properl3^ religious impressions to oppose
to the splendid promises ofthe Gospel; the3'- saw little
» Greg. Turon. Ub. ix. c. xxvi., ap. » S. Greg. Mag. Epp. Ub. v. ep. 58.
X». Bouquet, tom. U. p. 348. <= Hist. Angl. Eccl. Ub. ii. c. i.

Chap. VIL] CONVEESION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 213
reason to believe that their Odin or Thor were more
powerful protectors than the God to whom their thriving
neighbours and kinsfolk, the Franks, had consecrated their
political state. Ethelbert himself took care that the pro
ceedings of the missionaries should be open to public ob
servation, in order that no forbidden rites, no compulsory
or clandestine methods, should be resorted to to gain con
verts. Augustine accommodated himself to these regu
lations ; he preached freely and publicly to the people
through interpreters supplied to him from Rome. Con
verts multiplied; and we are told that, on the Christmas
Day of the year 597, no fewer than ten thousand heathen
were gathered in a mass into the fold of the Christian
Church by baptism. Ethelbert himself prudently forbore
to announce his own conversion until he had not only satis
fied himself of the genuine character of the missionaries,
but had also formed a true estimate of the dispositions of
his own subjects towards the new religion. After this
he himself accepted baptism ; and Christianity, in the Ro
man form, became the established religion of the Kentish
kingdom as long as he lived to profess and protect it."*
The scheme of doctrine and discipline introduced by
Augustine was essentially monastic; that is,
it was narrow, exclusive, and intolerant. The conversion,
missionary monk was little influenced by that ^"^s^ff^J''
spirit of patient forbearance which his master
had imbibed from the wellspring of Christian wisdom.
But his management was vigorous, and his method was
well adapted to the coarse apprehensions of his barbarian
hearers. Success like that which attended his labours
might well disturb the equilibrium of a mind forraed in
the seclusion ofthe cloister, and stimulated by the con
templation of those miraculous interpositions by which it
had pleased God to manifest himself to the heathen at
the first preaching of the Gospel. Under the like cir
curastances, it was not unnatural that he should look for
the like assistance. The heat of his zeal, and the incapa
city of his mind to embrace aU the aspects of his new
position, disposed him to behold a mfracle in each instance
¦* Ep. S. Greg. Mag. ad Eulogium,— .Beiiffl, H. E. Angl. libb. i. and ii.

214 , CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IH.
of uncomprehended success, or some special incidents at^
tending it. His own credulity stood probably much upon
a level with the superstition of his converts ; each aiding
the delusion in the mind of the other, until neither was
inchned to doubt the reality of that which both expected
with equal faith and earnestness. The work of conver
sion and miracle went on hand in hand ; tiU Pope Gregory
found it necessary to check the self-sufficient spirit which
such a state of things was sure to engender, and to_ reduce
the elated apostle of the Anglo-Saxons to the position of
a humble emissary of the Gospel of Christ.'
Among- the Anglo-Saxons, as among all the Germanic

Eegulations

races, the first adoption of Christianity was sug-

of Gregory gcstcd or favourcd by temporal motives. But
/ernmenftf ^heii their coiiversion, such as it was, was ac-
the Anglo- complishcd, the Christian scheme was found
saxonchurch. admirably suited to the strong and virgin soU
into which it was thus transplanted. That scheme was
offered to them as the sole gift of Rome ; the raeans as
well as the tidings of salvation came from Rome rather
than from Christ. The converts themselves perceived no
distinction between the source and the means of grace ;
both were represented to them as at the disposal of the
Roman pontiff. The constitution of the Anglo-Saxon
church therefore assumed an exclusively Roman form.
There was no living tradition of a more primitive date to
control the operation ofthe missionary scheme. Not many
years before the advent of Augustine, the last British
bishop of London had died or emigrated ; and it is pro
bable that the remnant of his flock existed only as the
ignorant and helpless bondsmen ofthe conquerors. In
the 3^ear 601, Gregory despatched a new colon3'^ of mis
sionary monks under Mellitus and Justus, to reinforce the
establishraent of Augustine. The latter meanwhile had
settled himself at Durovernum, or Canterbur3'-, the capital
ofhis ro3'al convert ; where also a church and a monastery
had been built for hira. MeUitus brought with him the
pallium of an archbishop for Augustine, with instructions
from the pope to consecrate twelve bishops for his pro-
= S.Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. ix. ep. 58, ad August. Conf. also Id. lib. xu. ep. 84.

Chap. VIL] BEITISH AND IEISH CHUECHES. 215
vince ; and, if he should see a prospect of advantage
to the propagation of the faith, to establish a bishop at
York, who should then have authority to nominate twelve
other bishops for the northern districts of the island.
Augustine himself was empowered to retain the general
superintendence of the Anglo-Saxon churches during his
lifetime ; but after his decease, the bishop of York, with
the pallium of metropolitan, was to assume the independ
ent government of his provincial suffragans.*^
In the ecclesiastical view ofthe case the Anglo-Saxon
church was the genuine daughter of Rome. ^ - . .
But be3'^ond the limits of that establishment, no and Wsh
right of parentage can be assigned to her within <=ii"™'»os.
the British islands. A numerous Christian population still
existed in the northern and western districts, whose tra
ditions gave no countenance to the Roman claim of ma
ternity. The ritual and disciphne of the British, Welsh,
and Irish churches differed in many points from those of
Rome and the Latins generally. They celebrated the
Easter festival in conformity with the practice ofthe Ori
ental churches ; and in the form of their tonsure, as well
as in that of the baptismal rite, they followed the sarae
model ; differences which of themselves seem sufficient to
preclude all probability of a purely Latin pedigree. Thus
we find the Irish missionary Columbanus, from his mon
astery at Luxeu (Luxoviura), in the Ardennes, disdain
fully rejecting the instances of a papal legate, seconded by
the Frankish bishops, to induce him and his companions
to depart from the ancient practice of keeping Easter, as
observed in the Irish church ; at the sarae time boldly
assuring Pope Gregory, that if any man should upon that
point controvert the authority of Anatolius of Laodicaea,^
as approved by St. Jerome, he would be regarded as a
heretic by the British Christians.''
The Ignorant Anglo-Saxon convert was incapable of
distinguishing between the rehgion and its messengers ;
the authority of the priest was the authority of the Deity
f S. Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. xii. ep. 15. upon the Easter festival, which Jerome
e Anatolius was bishop of Laodica^a knew and thought weU of.
in the year 269, and wrote a treatise ¦¦ Fleury, H. E. tom. viu. p. 222.

216 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
Augustine's ll whosc name the priest appeared and taught.
conference Qu the othcr hand, the British Christians knew
britiih the pope only as bishop of Rome, and were
bishops, -^y^ell disposed to pay him that free deference due
to the head of so important a branch of the Christian
Church. Beyond this, they saw no reason to impute to
him any more comprehensive authority than that they
attributed to the primate of Caerleon in their own primi
tive establishment. The introduction of the Christian
faith among their enemies, the Saxons, could not be ex
pected to increase their respect for their pastors the mis
sionaries ;' and the conduct of Augustine in no respect
tended to mitigate the national aversion which divided
the two races. The new archbishop made no distinction
between the unconverted heathen and the Christian not
within the pale of Rome. He was, if possible, more
anxious for the subjugation of the latter than the con
version ofthe former; and with this view, he prevailed
upon king Ethelbert to negotiate a meeting with the
British bishops at a spot on the borders of the Anglo-
Saxon territor3\ At the first meeting, Augustine limited
his demands to the adoption of the Roman ritual in the
celebration of Easter and the administration of baptism.
The abbot Dynoch of Bangor, in the name of the British
bishops, replied, that though they should always feel
bound to follow the precepts and monitions ofthe Church
of God, whether proceeding from the bishop of Rome or
any pious Christian, yet they knew of no other kind of
obedience ; and that obedience they were at aU times
ready to yield to any who came to them in the name of
the Lord. The demands of Augustine were, however, of
a nature to require a more general discussion, and a se
cond meeting was agreed upon for that purpose. The
simple Britons knew of no mode of tr3'ing the spirits,
whether they be of God or man, but the law of their
Master — the law of fraternal affection and humility: and
it was resolved that if the missionary should meet them
upon terms of. Christian brotherhood, it would then be
come them to hear him in a corresponding spirit, and
upon conviction, to foUow his councils; but if, on the

Chap. VIL] GEEGOEY'S INSTEUCTIONS TO AUGUSTINE. 217
contrar3'-, ^^ should come with a proud and haughty
bearing, they would decline all further intercourse : and
the test was to be, that if, upon entering the place of
meeting, he should rise from his seat and come forward
to greet them as his brethren, they should regard him as
a man of God, and give him a patient hearing. The confer-
Augustine arrived first at the place of meeting ; ®"'^®jj"'°^g"
where, seated and surrounded b3' his scanty re- demeanour
tinue, he witnessed the entry ofthe numerous °^-^"S"stii>e.
train of British bishops, but rose not from his seat or
gave sign of recognition. The impression was instan
taneous and indelible; he who disdained to rise at the
approach of his episcopal brethren could be no genuine
messenger of the meek and gentle Saviour ; and they
declined all further discussion. Not even miracle, they
justly thought, could reconcile the palpable contradiction
between the real and the assumed character of the man
of God ; and if further evidence had been wanting to un
mask the impostor, the concluding threat of the wrathful
priest would have supplied it. "If," said he, "ye will
not acknowledge the Saxons as brethren, and proclaim
to them the way of life, they shall be your enemies, and
their vengeance shall surely fall upon you."'
It may be presumed that Gregory understood the
character of the raan to whom he had intrusted
this critical errand. There is little doubt that of Pope
he suspected him of contracted and ambitious Gregory to
TT . -11 • 1 1 • • 1 Augustine.
Views, tie repeatedly cautioned him against
inordinate assumption of power, and that spiritual pride
which invades feeble minds raised to sudden eminence and
authority .j But the spiritual conquest achieved through
him gave the pope unmingled delight. He spared no
labour or expense to promote the success of the mission ;
nor does he appear to have weighed the means to be re
sorted to for that purpose in any very dehcate balance of
rehgious propriety. He desired that Augustine should
throw away no chance of extending the dominion of the
Saviour, and of his representative on earth, which the
1 BedcB Ven. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. u. > S. Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. ix. ep. 58;
ed. Smith, p. 79. and lib. xii. ep. 31.

218 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HL
course of huraan events, or the religious prepossessions
of the people, might offer. He therefore instructed his
emissary not to overthrow the idol altars ; but after a
solemn purification, to dedicate them to the worship ofthe
His toiera- ^^^^ ^''^" "^^ cautioued him against the in-
tion of discriminate abolition of heathen sacrifices ; and
pagan rites, i-ecommeuded that the victiras that had been
theretofore slain in honour of idols, should thenceforward
be kUled and eaten by the worshippers at the celebration of
the great Christian festivals, the consecration of churches,
the birthda3's of saints and inart3^rs, the solemn deposi
tion of holy rehcs, and other occasions of ecclesiastical
festivity.'' In order to suppl3r visible objects of devotion in the
and patron- placc of thoso abandoned by the converts, Gre-
age of images, 0-ory transmitted to Augustine abundance of
F6IICS fl:IlU. •
religious relics and church-furniture.' The vacancy of
symbolism, ^jjg rcligious mind was thus promptly and
adroitly filled up : those outward usages and customs
which adhere raost pertinaciously to the popular affections
were saved to thera ; and it was believed that thereby a
path would be kept open for the introduction of a more
genuine spiritual worship. We cannot doubt that such
was the intention of Pope Gregory ; nor do we think that
that distinguished pontiff was tinctured with that idola
trous syrabolisra to which this and the subsequent ages
bear such abundant testiraony. But he approved of the
use of images hi churches as a means of popular instruc
tion in the absence of books, or the incapacity to make use
of them."" He held the relics of saints and raartyrs in
the highest honour, and required the like observance from
others. It probably did not occur to him to inqufre into
the relationship between the kind of veneration he con
templated, and the popular idea of worship. In both, the
sentiraent is generically the sarae, differing only in in
tensity ; the visible manifestation is in both cases identi
cal ; the sentiment naturally follows and partakes of the
character of the outward act of worship. The distinction
r^ fiF^^'T^'^;.^'^'''' "^- '^' ^P- '^l- ' ^«''«' J^™- E. H. lib. i. c. xxi.
Cont. Beda Ven. lib. i. u. xxx. p. 71. « S. Greg. Mag. Epp. Ub. ix. ep. 9.

Chap. VII.J ECCLESIASTICAL VESTUBES. 219
transcends the discrimination of the mass ; and it was
against this natural infirraity ofthe human heart that the
Mosaic law provided by an absolute prohibition ofthe use
of images or visible symbols of any kind in the ceremo
nial of divine worship. That he overlooked this danger
in consideration of the manifest utility of symbols and
images for the instruction of the ignorant multitude, will
shortly appear. At the same time, it is not to be denied
that he imputed miraculous virtues to the relics of saints
and mart3'rs. He was extremely solicitous about the gen
uineness of relics, and gave special directions to Augus
tine upon this important topic." The religious policy of
Greg-ory the Great took into account the carnal as fully as
the spiritual nature ofthe beings he had to deal with. But
the greatest leaders of mankind have — with but One excep
tion — never been free from the bias ofthe age in which
they lived ; had they been otherwise, they would probably
have been unfit for the limited task intrusted to them.
During the pontificate of Gregory the Great, ecclesi
astical fashions fiowing from Rome spread with ^^
unexampled rapidity over the Western churches, sents of sa-
raore especially those of France. In the ordi- '^^f^^^^
nary every-day dress of the priesthood, there
had probably been little distinction between clergy and
laity. In the celebration of Divine service, however, sorae
additions and changes were usual ; more par- ^j^g ^^^j.
ticularly in the use of the dalmatic and the matie and
pallium ; the latter only on extraordinary oc- * ^ ^^ "™'
casions, and by bishops of metropolitan rank. The greater
prelates were in the habit of sending presents of clerical
vestures to their subordinate clergy as testimonials of
affection and confidence. In this way the popes often
sent dalmatics, and other sacred vestures, to their confi
dential friends as symbols of office conferred, or in reward
for services rendered. For sorae time past it had been
customary for the metropohtan bishops to officiate in a
particular dress of ceremon3^, the principal article of
- See his reply to the ninth inter- 31 : and conf. his letter to Serenus of
rogatory of Augustine, Epp. lib. xii. ep. Marseilles, lib. viii. ep. 110.

220 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book III.
which was the pallium — a scarf of white linen or wool,
worn over the shoulders, the ends of which were allowed
to hang down the back. These scarfs, or palha, were fre
quently presented by the Roman pontiffs to the metro
politans of those churches which maintained a more in
timate correspondence with Rome, though at first only
as symbols of approval or acknowledgment of rank. In
process of tirae it becarae usual to send these robes to the
reraoter churches ; and when received, they appear to have
been regarded as conferring precedency in rank only over
those bishops to whom they had not been vouchsafed."
In the sixth centur3'', we see no reason to believe that
these presents were looked upon in any other light than
as spiritual tokens of intimacy and good- will, and not as
syrabols of official investiture. Yet the high rank of the
giver imparted an additional value to the gift ; and Pope
Gregory himself imputed overweening significance and
importance to such tokens of favour when bestowed by
the holy see f but he treated the grant of the paUium as
a custom only, though of long standing, and thought it
ought not to be conferred without the consent of the
temporal prince, and never except at the earnest desire
and personal application ofthe bishop who wished for it.''
The scheme of ecclesiastical government pursued by
Ecclesiastical f'^P^ Gregory I. was greatly modified both by
government his personal convictious and his outward posi-
the^oTaZ ^^°^.- Unlike his distinguished predecessors,
Fehx, Gelasius, and Hormisda, he made no am
bitious efforts to extend his jurisdiction. But he spared
no exertions to establish the influence ofhis see wherever
it could be planted without offence, and with a prospect
of advantage to the cause of vital Christianity. He re
stricted the exercise ofthe supreme superintending power,
which he as fully as any previous pontiff beheved to re-
0 But they did not raise them to me- P See his letter to VigiUus, arch-
tropolitan rank or jurisdiction. Thus bishop of Aries, Epp. lib. v. ep. 53,— ap.
Syagrius, bishop of Autun, received the D. Boug. tom. iv. p. 14. Conf. Fleury,
pallium from Gregory the Great, but tom. viu. p. 149.
was not thereby released from the juris- <i Conf. Ducange, Gloss, voc. "Dal-
diction of his provincial metropolitan matica" and " PaUium."
the archbishop of Lyons.

Chap. VIL] CHUECH-GOVEENMENT OP GEEGOEY. 221
side in the holy see, to those churches with which he stood
m more ancient and more immediate communion. The
churches of France, Spain, Africa, and lUyricum feU
within that description ; but we do not find that he ever
hazarded any decisive operation of Petrine omnipotence
in either of the other great patriarchates. It is true that
he reproved Bishops John' and Cyriacus of Constanti
nople on more than one occasion ; and that he finally re
nounced the comraunion ofthe latter as an incorrigible
offender against the first principle of the episcopal polit3%
But Constantinople was beyond his reach, and he wisely
forbore to widen the breach by any excessive stretch of
the Petrine prerogative. Again, his high respect for the
apostolical dignity of Alexandria and Antioch seems to
have withheld hira from all interference with the internal
g-overnment of those churches. But in other portions
of Christendom no previous pontiff had ever exercised a
more active and persevering superintendence. The Gallic
and Frankish churches were, as we have seen,
polluted by abuses of many kinds, of which si- ° oTthe°"^
mony was the most common. Ag-ainst this ^'ankish
practice, as well as against the non-observance
of clerical celibacy, he loudly and incessantly protested.
He wrote urgent letters to the queen Brunehildis, widow
of Sigebert, king ofthe Austrasian Franks, and regent of
the kingdom during- the non-age of her son Childebert IL,
exhorting her to put an end to this shameless traffic in
ecclesiastical benefices ; to the consecration of laymen to
bishoprics ; the forbidden practice of marriage or concu
binage, almost universal among the Frankish clergy ; and
upon the priesthood themselves he irapressed the necessity
of frequent synods, with a view to the suppression of these
and numberless other abuses.
But the attention of Pope Gregory was called rather
to the disregard of canonical ordinances, and image and
departures from the practice and discipline of '"''li'' worship.
' Among others, for his harsh and he made no decree of reinstatement, nor
unjust condemnation of two eccclesias- interfered in any way with the proper
tics ofhis diocese for imputed heresy. jurisdiction ofthe patriarch. S. Greg.
He absolved them from the charge, and Mag. Epp. Ub. ii. ep. 52.
received them into his communion. But

222 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book HI.
Rome, than to that moral decay which tainted the whole
body of the Frankish church. If the candid history
of his namesake, the bishop of Tours, had been before
him,' his Christian discernment must have discovered far
deeper wounds than the restoration of formal discipline
could have cured. In truth, little short of a republica
tion of the Gospel in a purer form— the infusion of a
nobler spirit, of a higher conception of Christian duty-—
could suffice to remedy the evUs introduced by the semi-
pagan habits and practices which the Frankish clergy had
tolerated and encouraged, tiU they themselves became
infected, and swam with the current of idolatry and su
perstition. Yet neither the means nor the zeal necessary
for such a reformation were altogether wanting. _ The
very first requisite was to check the universal practice of
image and rehc worship. Serenus, archbishop
agafnst"mlgeof MarsciUes, was foremost to raise his voice
and relic ag-alust the monstrous abuse of images and pic-
wors ip. ^^^^^ .^ j^.^ ^^^ diocese. He had witnessed
and deprecated the palpable adoration paid to these re
presentative symbols ; he had broken them in pieces, and
cast them out of his temples with abhorrence. In this
violent act of faith, Gregory detected an excess of zeal,
and a serious error of judgment. It did not square with
the accommodating policy he had adopted in dealing with
an ignorant and superstitious generation. "You have
Eebuked by douc wroug," he wrote to Serenus, " to break
Gregory, those imagcs in pieces ; for they have been put
up in the churches from time iraraemorial. They ought
not, indeed, to be adored ; and it is your duty to warn your
flock against paying them any kind of worship. Never-
• Gregory of Tours had visited Eome, of the saints, and the efficacy of pious
and conversed with the pontiff, in the gifts to churches and monasteries, for
year 594. He brought down his history the pardon of sins, and the settlement
of the Gallic churches to the year 595, of accounts with the next world; his
theyear of his death. His work depicts bitter resentment of injuries, real or
the corruptions of the clergy, but more imaginary, to Church or churchman ;
particularly the evils of saint and image — these, and other indications of a
worship, in the darkest colours ; yet coarse, vulgar, and unchristian spirit,
without the least apparent suspicion that place him far beneath the level ofhis
the mischief he describes really resulted illustrious namesake; whose mind, with
from those practices. His honest but all its weaknesses, was attuned to a far
boundless credulity ; his unshaken he- higher standard of Christian virtue.
lief iu the virtues of relics, the power

Chap. VIL] GEEGOEY ON IMAGE- WOESHIP. 223
theless, 3'ou ought not to set yourself up for more pure
and pious than your brethren. It is your duty to teach
your flock the proper use of pictures and images, but not
to destroy them ; for these pictures and images are the
substitutes for the books which they cannot read. Be
sides, you have g-iven great scandal to the people by your
violence ; and many have in consequence withdrawn from
your communion. You ought, therefore, to call them to
gether, and to prove to them from the Holy Scriptures
that they are on no account to adore any thing that is
the work of man's hands : you should give as the reason
why you have thus cast out and broken their images,
that they had swerved from the proper use of them ; and
tell them that if they desire to have them restored, they
must learn to regard them only as memorials ofthe faith,
and a means of instruction, but that they must on no ac
count presume to adore them.""
But while Gregory thus denied the divine virtues,
and forbade the worship, of images, the Frank
ish clergy were striving with all their inight to andlntensiry
impart to them the forbidden character. The °^ image-
saints were every where regarded as local di- ^""^^ ^^'
vinities, endowed with power to reward friends, favour
ites and devotees, and to punish with the most sudden
and appalling visitations any disrespect to themselves,
their images, their churches, and the guardians of their
shrines. The universal faith reposed in the miraculous
virtues of relics became a source of gainful traffic ; relics
of reputation were bought and sold at fabulous prices;
they were worn as amulets and charms against all sorts
of chances and mishaps ; they wrought miracles, rendered
the soldier invulnerable, saved the sailor from shipwreck
and disasters of every kind ; they absorbed, in short, the
rehgious interest of the age, and withdrew it from the
vital duties of a moral and religious hfe." Of all this
Pope Gregory appears to have taken little notice; so
" Thesubstance of two letters of Gre- ing the sacred images and reUcs sent
gory to Serenus — the first written in him, ap. Baron. Ann. 599, §§ 16, 17.
599 (Epp. lib. vii. ep. UO), the second in ' Conf. History of the Germans, pp.
600 (lib. ix. ep. 9)— is given in the text. 681, 682, and the authorities there
Conf. his letter to Secundinus concern- quoted.

224 CATHEDEA PETEL , [Book III.
little, in fact, that when an opportunity occurred to check
an evil he himself admitted and condemned, he allowed
the feeble plea of convenience to prevail against the dis
continuance of a practice which had already poisoned the
source of pure religion in the heart of Christendom.
Under the patronage of Pope Gregory the Great the
The conven- mouastic systcm acquired an accelerated move-
tuai system meut. All the Ordinary occupations and duties
"gory th?' of life appeared to the religious mind ofthe age
Great, gg incurably tainted with the corruptions pre
vaihng in the world, — corruptions from which there was
no escape but in absolute seclusion from all the common
pursuits of men in the world. Gregory himself was im
pressed with the behef that such seclusion alone could
afford the needful security against the abject carnahsm of
the times. He regarded monachism as the perfection of
Christian life, and the fittest instrument for reforming man
kind. Nothing pleased him more than the foundation and
endowment of monasteries ; and in this respect the reli-
fion or superstition of the age favoured his predilections.
[any new congregations of monks had sprung up in
France. Kings and nobles had built houses for those pious
recluses, and endowed them with lands, revenues, and
serfs. After this fashion many opulent sinners were per
suaded to settle thefr accounts with the next world ; and
the Church accepted the composition in fuU atonement
and satisfaction for sins of the blackest die." But these
Exemptions establishments had hitherto fallen under the
from epis- direct coutrol of the prelacy, and had in con-
copal control. /v -i .i v • -i .
sequence suffered greatly trom episcopal t3'-
ranny and extortion. The independent founders and in
mates were naturally averse to external interference with
their domestic g-overnment ; and began at an early pe
riod to look to Rome as the only competent protector
against the vexations of their ordinaries and the secular
clergy. Rome was nothing loth to meet the wishes of
her petitioners ; and thus privileges were from time to
time granted to the monasteries, in the first instance for
" See extracts from Gregory of Tours 'm my Hist, ofthe Germans, pp. 687,8.

Chap. VIL] GEEGOEY'S INFLUENCE IN FEANCE. 225
the security of the conventual propert3r, and soon after
wards for their total exemption frora episcopal visitation
and government."
It cannot escape ¦ us that these grants of privilege
imply an important step in advance of the Ro-
man prerogative. The pCwer assuraed on these ofVe^e'''
occasions arbitrarily to curtail the ordinary ju- o^emptions.
risdiction of the bishops, cannot be brought under the
description of simple acts of visitation or superintendence ;
they can be regarded in no other light than as direct
violations of the episcopal constitution. But it is impro
bable that they were so considered at the time. In a
rude age, men rarely look beyond the expediency of the
moment in preserving the consistency, or calculating the
consequences of their own acts : 5'et in these apparently
inconsiderate grants we discern the first beginnings of
that combination between popes, princes, and raonks, which
gradually under rained the episcopacy, and contributed
perhaps raore powerfully than any other cause to exalt
the papac3'- high above the heads of all the parties to the
orisfinal raoveraent. Brunehildis, the regent of ^ „
France, drew Pope Gregory into her councUs m of Pope
many weighty affairs both of Church and State. ^J^'tS'"
In his replies, the pope assuraed a tone of siraple
advice or adraonition in no manner inconsistent with the
independence of the teraporal sovereignty. He reproved,
indeed, the siraoniacal practices so coraraon in the Frank
ish churches, as well as the uncanonical promotion of lay
men to bishoprics ; but he did not meddle with the usual
mode of appointment, though it mig-ht not be unknown to
him that the re^l evU originated in the profligate deahngs
of princes and courtiers with candidates and apphcants^
for ecclesiastical appointments. The Frankish bishops
" Gregory the Great granted such pri- Bouq. tom. iv. pp. 21, 27, 35, 36. In
vUeges to the religious houses founded the foUowing ages forged privilegia
by queen BrunehUdis at Autun. He were circulated under the name ot Gre-
was aware of the rapacious character gory the Great. Conf. ^aroB. Ann. 593,
ofthe GaUic bishops, and recommended §§ 85, 86; Dupm, De Antiq. Eccl Dis-
the recluses to look sharply to the pre- - cipl. dissert, vn. pp. 504, 505; I-leury,
servation of their independence. Conf. tom. viii. p. 221. „ . . t. ,
S. Greg. M. Epp. Ub. vii. ep. 12; lib. ix. J Conf. ch.vi. p. 226 of this Book.
ep. lUj lib. xiii. epp. 8-10, — ap. D.
VOL. II. Q

226 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
had, in fact, forfeited their independence by their own
vices. Yet among them there stiff remained a fund of
genuine piety, and an anxious desire to retrieve the lost
ground. To that spirit Gregory appe-aled ; and upon this
he rehed as a powerful counterpoise to the corrupting in
fluence of secular habits. He appointed Virgilius arch
bishop of Aries and Syagrius of Autun his ordinary vicars
in France ; he encouraged religious foundations ; he kept
up an intimate correspondence Avith the princes ; he acted
where and as he could in harmony with them ; and by
deoi-ees established a system of superintendence, the ex
pediency of which was undeniable, and which was unac
companied by any displa3' of those offensive or alarming
pretensions which might have irritated the high-spirited
barbarians he had to deal with.^
The Spanish churches were in a condition not very dif-
intercourse foreut from thosc of Fraucc. At the sohcitation
of Gregory of Gregory, a council was assembled in the year
Spanish 599 for tlic purposc of putting- down the venal
churches, traffic ill hol3' orders, and the elevation of lay
raen to the episcopal bench. The synod decreed that all
such appointments were unlawful, though sanctioned by
the sovereign himself; and the3^ resolved that, in filling
up vacant sees, the clerg-y and people should elect and
present three candidates to the archbishop of the pro
vince, and that he should choose one of them by lot. In
conforraity, it is said, with ancient custom, Gregory sent
the palhum to Leander, archbishop of Seville, as a token of
his regard for that prelate. He corresponded famUiarly
with the Gothic king- Reccared, whora, from his recent
conversion, he considered in some sort as his son in the
faith. Questions of discipline were frequently referred to
his decision by the Spanish churches. Whenever any
complaint was broug-ht under his notice of an infraction
of discipline, he was, it seems, accustomed to appoint de
legates, whom he called " defensores," to inquire into the
\ Dom. Bouquet, editor of the " His- which touch upon GaUie affairs in the
rtlTf. ^^ Caules," has collected aU fourth volume of his coUection, pp. 1 to
tne letters of Pope Gregory the Great 36. ^^

Chap. VIL] GEEGOEY AND THE SPANISH CHUECHES. 227
matter on the spot, and to give judgment, if need be,
without further reference to himself, in conformity with
instructions previously furnished to them.
In the 3'ear 603, Januarius and Stephen, two bishops
of the province of Malaga, complained that the Papai inter-
civil magistrate of the district had broken into ference in
their churches by force, seized their persons, januMi^s
. and arraigned them of certain crimes and mis- ^"'^ Stephen.
demeanours before the secular courts ; that they had been
thereupon condemned and deposed ; and that intrusive
bishops had been inducted into their sees. Upon receipt
of this report. Pope Gregory sent his presb3^ter John as
" defensor" on behalf of the Roman church, with precise
instructions how to proceed against the civil raagistrate
and the intrusive bishops if the deposed prelates should
raake good their coraplaint. The defensor was directed
in the first place to depose the intruders, to degrade them
from their orders, and either to deliver thera over into the
hands of the appellants, or to send thera, with all the
docuraents in the cause, to Rome, there to abide the papal
judgraent. This proceeding might be thoug-ht abundantly
sufficient to vindicate the privileges of the clergy as
against the civil magistrate. But Gregory's instructions
did not stop there. The defensor was next to condemn
the district judge, or, if no longer living, his heir or re
presentative, to the payment of all costs and damages
sustained by the two bishops in consequence of his illegal
proceedings ; and to punish all bishops and clergy who
should have assisted at the consecration of the intruders
with seclusions and penances proportionate to the amount
of their guilty participation ; lastl3^, he was authorised to
rest the case of the complainants upon their own oaths,
without requiring any confirmatory testimony.^
Malaga was at this point of time stiU subject to the
Byzantine Caesars." Pope Gregory was therefore justi-
a S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. xii. ep. 52. (Atlas der Geschichte aller Europa-
i> The whole of the southern coast ischen Lander und Staaten), Seventh
from Cape St. Vincent to Cape Sparti- Century. The Byzantine dominion in
vento, and perhaps beyond it, was still Spain was finally put an end to by the
held by Eoman, or rather, Byzantine, Visigothic king Suintila, in the year
garrisons. See JTrwse's Historical Atlas 624.

228 CATHEDEA PETEI. L^ook IIL
Canon-law fied in appcahug to the imperial laws in sup-
as appUcabie port of his proceedings. In his instructions
ceedinls'^in to the defcnsor, he stated, correctly enough :
the cause. J, That the crimes of breaking into a church,
interrupting divine worship, or doing violence to the offi
ciating- clergy, were equivalent to treason, and punishable
Avith death." 2. That no bishop could lawfully be tried by
the civU raagistrate, except by the order of the sovereign,
for any cause, whether pecuniary or criminal, without his
own consent, under a penalty of twenty pounds of gold,
to be paid to the bishop so iUegally impleaded.'' 3. That
if either layman or priest have any cause against a bishop,
he shaU carry his complaint before the metropolitan, so
that no bishop be compelled to answer out of his own pro
vince ; and that if exception be taken to the decision of
the metropolitan, an appeal shall lie to the patriarch ofthe
diocese, to be determined by him in accordance with the
law of the land and the canons of the Church.' By way
of further caution, the pope added a formula of acquittal
in favour of the appellants, and of the sentence to be
pronounced against their accusers, with blanks for their
names. This sentence ran in the narae of Gregory, and
purported to pass as of his sole authorit3''.^
The forraula, however, though prepared beforehand,
Defects of ^^J ^^^^ bccu provisional only and director3'',
the papal not peremptor3^. But the functions of the
proceeding, (jgfgjjsor Were not limited to inqufry into the
truth of the charges exhibited before the civil magistrate
against the appellant bishops. It is obvious that he was
sent in the character of judge of appeal in the last resort,
and that his commission invested him with a power for
which no legal warrant could be alleged. He arrived in
Spain not raerely as judge in the cause, but as the "exe
cutive officer ofthe holy see, authorised to inflict fines and
¦¦ Cod. Theod. lib. xvi. tit. U. 1. 31; politan control. Gregory instructed
Cod. Just. Ub. i. tit. iii. 1. 10. his defensor, in case tliat should be al-
¦i Coll. Auth. ix. tit. vi. novel, cxxiii. leged in defence, to reply that in such
§ 8. case the apostolic see, which is the head
" iiid novel, cxxiii. § 22. It is possi- of all churches, v/as fully competent to
ble that the church of Malaga belonged hear and decide the cause notwith-
to a class of churches known as " ace- standing any such privilege.
phalae," that is, not subject to metro- ' S. Greg. M. Epp. Ub. xii. ep. 55.

Chap. VIL] CAUSE OF JANUAEIUS AND STEPHEN. 229
to exact damages against the civil magistrate in a cause
cognisable only by the civil courts or by the sovereign
hiraself. Though by the law, as it stood, the crime raight
be of the raost penal character, yet it could be dealt
with only by the secular tribunal; the sentence of the
pope could have no legal validity, and was in itself a
manifest invasion of the secular jurisdiction.
In its ecclesiastical aspect this 'proceeding appears
therefore to have been equally irregular and ex- canonical
ceptive. The course of law described by Gre- defects, &e.
gory himself was not observed, nor intended so to be. No
provision of ecclesiastical law existed to justify the papal
intrusion upon acephalous churches, even upon the sup
position that Malaga belonged to that class ; neither is it
alleged on the part of the pope that such was the case.
The deposition of Januarius and Stephen was an eccle
siastical act, to which the civil governor had lent his ex
ecutive aid ; and the appeal still lay to the metropolitan
bishop and his council. Till that judgment was pubhshed,
there was nothing to appeal against, and the suprerae
appellate authority could not be called into action.^ But
even in that case, it ought to have clearl3^ appeared that
there existed no competent patriarchal jurisdiction to ap
peal to in the last resort before the Roman pontiff could
claim a shadow of canonical jurisdiction. This, however,
is not alleg-ed ; so that under eveiy aspect of the cause
the papal interference appears to have been altogether
extra-judicial and anomalous. The law is paraded only
to be set at naught, and an executive power assumed for
which neither canon nor precedent could be alleged.''
Yet there is no valid reason to believe that Pope Gre.
f The letter of ecclesiastical law is triarch of the diocese, from whose de-
clear upon this point. After setting cision there was no further appeal. Cod.
forth the course of proceeding in the Just. lib. i. tit. iv. L 29. The pope was
case of a clerk of inferior rank, it goes neither metropolitan nor patriarch of
on to prescribe what is to be done where the province of Malaga.
the culprit wasofepiscopalrank: '¦Hoc >¦ The decree ofValentinian HI. would
idem servandum est si . . . episcopus not help out the case; for even that de-
accusatus sit; nam ut statim accusatio cree gave no executive power to the pope
ad sanctissimos patriarchos deferatur, to compel the appearance of those whom
et ut accusati in aliam provinciam mit- he might summon before his judgment-
tantur, omnino prohibemus," &c. The seat. That power rested always with
first resort was to the metropolitan; the the governor ofthe province: Book 11.
second and the final resort to the pa- c. iv. p. 354 of this work.

230 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
CivU and ca- goTj was disposed to sacrifice the interests of
non law re- justicc to proiuote thosc of his scc. It is obvious,
ancUiary^to that Ul his vicws of ecclcsiastical judicature he
theprero- \iad SO coufouuded the positive principles ofec-
^cafeedra ^ clcsiastical law with the anomalous practice of
Petri, jjjg predecessors and the traditional pretensions
of St. Peter's chair, as to be no longer able to reconcile or
even distinguish between law and prerogative. Thus he
overlooked the obvious inconsistency of requiring the re
moval of spiritual delinquents to Rorae for trial with the
law to which he himself emphatically directed the attention
ofhis agent. Though, therefore, -we believe that no injus
tice, or even any breach of ecclesiastical rule, was intended,
we perceive in this transaction a step towards the esta
blishment of a spiritual police for bringing the bodies of
misderaeanants into court. The pope of Rorae, though
still a subject of the erapire, was to be bound by its laws,
spiritual or teraporal, no further than as those laws raight
serve to support the prerogative of St. Peter's chair. The
discretionary adoption of secular forras was not to be con
strued as a homage to the State-laws. Those laws were
to be regarded, not as principles, but as instruments only,
to ie used or cast aside as they might turn out to be
useful or useless for the emergenc3'- in hand.' The result
is unknown ; but the attempt furnishes one of the most
instructive pages in papal histor3%
The attention of this active pontiff had been much
Pope Gre- engaged b3^ the disordered state of the African
f;,°^y,'^4"Pf^-f churches. He assumed the most ample spiri-
the African tual jurisdiction over the raetropolitans and pre-
churches. j^tes of Mauritania and Numidia; he caUed on
them to render frequent and accurate accounts of their
stewardship to the holy see ; he reproved their simoniacal
practices ; he reprobated their habit of proraoting boys
and raw youths to the priesthood ; he condemned their
lukewarmness for the suppression of heresy. He corre
sponded at the same time ^vith the civil governors of
63 of^tlUs'Bo°l°''^'^^^'° of Pope Gelasius to the Illyrian bishops, chap. ii. pp. 56 to

CiiAp. VIL] MODEEATION OE GEEGOEY. 231
these provinces, with a view to prevail upon thera to put
in force the existing laws against the Donatist heretics.^
The bishops, on the other hand, complained to him ofthe
governors ; the laws, they said, were allowed to sleep, and
the faithful were sold to the heretics for the price of g-old.
The pope sent the coraplainants to the emperor for re
dress ; but the latter was loth to take upon himself the
correction of ecclesiastical abuses; and thus, when the
priraate of Byzacene was impeached by his bishops, the
emperor referred the inquiry back to the pope for canonical
adjudication. Gregory declined the task ; but rather frora
a conscientious fear that the difficulties he would have to
encounter were beyond his powers of discernment than
from any doubt about his jurisdiction : " for," said he,
^^the primate may well affirm that he is subject to the
holy see, for I know not what bishop is exempt from such
subjection when in error ; although, that case excepted,
all bishops are raade equal by the law of hurailit3^"''
This transaction, and sorae others, indicate an unwil
lingness on the part of the' worthy pontiff to Moderation
put the powers of the Petrine principality in of Pope
action where the ordinary ecclesiastical powers ''^gory.
seeraed sufficient for the purpose. A case of this nature
occurred in the year 601. Certain African bishops and
clergy complained to him ofthe oppression of their su
periors ; but, instead of treating the complaint as an ap
peal, he referred them back to the primate ofthe neigh
bouring province of Numidia, requesting- him and another
prelate to inquire and do justice between the parties;
adding that, if needful, he had given directions to the land-
steward of the Roman patrimony in Africa to be present
at the hearing on his behalf.' The tone of these letters
is monitory rather than imperative ; hortatory rather than
peremptory ; referential rather than absolute ; legal rather
than despotic : a departure this from the habitual formulae
j With the exception of the Nes- baptised aU whom they received into
torians, the Donatists were the most their communion.
long-Uved of all the Christian sects. " S. Greg. Mag. Epp. lib. vii. ep. 65.
They formed at this moment a rich Conf. Fleury, tom. vm. p. 157.
and influential class of seceders from ' See the letters of Gregory on this
the Latin church. They repudiated the subject, ap. Baron. Ann. 602, §§ 4 and 5.
orders of the catholic clergy, and re- Conf. Fleury, tom. viu. pp. 218,219.

232 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IIL
of his predecessors indicative of a wiser and humbler
spirit. And injustice to this good man it should be ob
served, that in all his coraraunlcations with his episcopal
brethren he prefers appearing before thera as their pa
ternal president and monitor rather than as the spiritual
monarch and sovereign lord. In his management we
perceive httle of that eager encouragement of appeals
from the ordinary tribunals of the Church so common in
the practice of his predecessors. In his language and
demeanour there is an unaffected respect for the rights
and privUeges of other churches ; and although his con
ception of his own position was quite as loft3'^ as that of a
Felix, a Gelasius, or a Hormisda, it was tempered down
by a strong-er sense of official and personal responsibility,
by natural beneficence and acquired self-control.
Yet Pope Gregory I. believed that the welfare of re-
The emperor ligion was essentially dependent upon the main-
vd""h^ ^°r f ^ii^^ce of the prerogatives of the holy see, as
diery to turn wcU as the I'ights of the churches subject to his
monks, superintendence. Political raeasures, or State
ordinances, which he regarded as inconsistent with the
spiritual interests of the great flock intrusted to his care,
were set down as infractions of Church privilege. He
roundly affirmed that kings and princes who governed
ill might be treated as tyrants, more especially those who
encroached upon that " liberty which Christ had bought
for his Church by the shedding of his precious blood ;"
for such rulers were to be deemed transgressors of all
the hmits of the royal authorit3^, and might lawfully be
treated as usurpers." This opinion is expressed in his
commentaries upon the penitential psalras of David, in
which the royal poet complains against the transgressors
of God's laws. But it appears rather in the shape of
an occasional reflection than of a principle of conduct, in
tended to define dogmatically the obligations of the sub
ject towards the sovereign. In the 3'ear 692, Gregory
thought he had abundant reason to complain of the em
peror Maurice. That prince had prohibited his soldiery
from evading their service by turning monks. The pope
» -S. Greg. Mag. in Ps. Poenit. c. iv.,— ap. Baron. Ann. 593, §§ 14 et sqq.

Chap. VIL] EEMONSTEANCE OF GEEGOEY. 233
regarded this ordinance as a grave spiritual error, and
highly obstructive to the salvation of souls. In a respect
ful and submissive remonstrance, he declared ^^^^
his conviction of the unlawfulness of the edict, strance of
" I speak," said the pope, " in my private capa- '^'^^s^^y-
city, as the least worthy of your raajesty's subjects, and
neither as bishop nor as servant of the State. Your law
has been laid before me ; but I was disabled by infirmity
of body from replying by the messenger who brought it.
You have ordained that no one engaged in the public
service shall take upon him the ecclesiastical state. This
I greatly approve  Not so what follows ; for you
have also decreed that no such person, Jior any of your sol
diery, shall be permitted to enter the monasteries. This
law has greatly alarmed rae ; because thereby the road to
heaven is closed against many. For though man3^ there
are who are capable of a religious life even under a secu
lar habit, yet there are many more who, unless they cast
all other things behind thera, can by no raeans be saved.
And I, who say these things, who ara I but dust and
ashes ! Yet, inasmuch as I feel that this ordinance is
directed ag-ainst God, the Ruler of all, I dare not be silent
before my earthly master. For unto this end was the
power given unto him from above, that he might be a
help to those who seek after that which is good ; so that
the gates of heaven raay be thrown wide open, and that
the terrestrial may become the handmaiden ofthe celestial
kingdora. Yet by this decree it is proclaimed aloud that
he who hath once been branded for earthly warfare, shall
never, except by the expiration of his service, or by infir
mity of body, be allowed to become the soldier ofthe Lord
Jesus Christ. To this Christ, throuo-h me, the meanest
of his servants, saith unto you : ' I raade thee Caesar
and emperor ; was it for this that I committed ray priests
to thy charge, that thou shouldest withdraw thy soldiers
from my service ?' What answer, I pray, wiU you return
when you stand in judgraent before your Lord? ....
Nevertheless I, as subject to your order," have caused this
your edict to be circulated for publication ; and have pro-
" " Jussioni subjectus."

234 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
tested against it, as plainly repugnant to the law of God.
Thus have I in both respects performed my duty ; yield
ing due obedience to the sovereign, yet speaking my mind
with all openness and freedom."
In a letter written to his confidential friend the phy
sician Theodorus, with a view to engage his
idea^o°f the interest for the repeal of this decree, he thus
relation be- exprcsscs his idea of the relation of the civil to
spbitTa'and the ecclcsiastical powcr : "Language fails me
temporal ^q express how many favours I have enjo3^ed
powers. ^^^^ Almighty God and my raost serene lord
the eraperor. For all these favours, what better return
can I make than by foUowing their footsteps in purity of
heart and affection ? But, — whether for my sins or for
3'-ours I know not, — he hath in the year last past pub
lished such a law, that whosoever truly loveth him raust
mourn over it with raany tears  Hard indeed doth
it appear to me that he should withdraw his servants
frora the service of Hira who gave him aU he hath, and
granted him to have dominion not only over the soldiery
but likewise over tke priestkood."°
But the pope honestly desired to reconcUe his duty
His ordin- to the Church with his obligations as a subject.
ance re- jjg therefore recommended the bishops ofthe
admission of Italian proviuccs, as well as those of Iltyricum
soldiers, &c. Qricntale, to use the utmost circumspection in
the adraission of railitary raen into their convents. He
directed that no one should be received till after a three-
years probation, before the expiration of -which he was not
° See the letters in extenso, ap. Baron. needless to reply that there is nothing
Ann. 593, §§ 8-13; and see S. Greg. whatever in these letters to show that
Mag. Epp. lib. ii. epp. 62, 65. The car- Gregory was speaking in a double sense,
dinal is sadly shocked at the use made or that he did not regard himself as
by the centuriators and the Protestants quite as much dejure as de facto the sub-
of these latter expressions. Gregory, he ject of the emperor. The prompt pub-
says, spoke not of any legal subjection, lication of the edict, though as bishop
but only ofa subjection dc facto, in the he objected to it, was a public official
same sense as the bishops of Eome were act accompanying the declaration, and
the subjects of Nero and Domitian, or shows that he deemed himself bound by
as, by divine permission, Christ became the decree as much in his character of
subject to Pilate. Besides, he adds, pope as in that of subject. And com-
Gregory did not speak in his episcopal, pare his conduct in the case of Alcyson
but only in his private character; and bishop of Corfu, ap. Fleury, tom. viii.
therefore used words adapted to the p. 228.
character personated. But it is almost

Chap. VIL] USUEPATION OF PHOCAS. 235
to be allowed to assume the monastic habit. By this
and other precautions he hoped to deter from simulated
conversion, and to convince the emperor that under such
regulations no public inconvenience could arise frora the
admission of mihtary penitents into the raonasteries.^
But the loyalty expressed in this correspondence ap
pears to have grown raore and raore faint in his
raind as time wore on. The schism ofthe " three MauricTand
chapters" still continued to divide the Italian ^'^p^™''y
churches, especially in the districts still subject ^
to the exarchate of Ravenna. In that region the pontiff
found it impossible to engag-e the co-operation of the
Greek governor for the suppression ofthe schism. This
misunderstanding was no doubt enhanced by the con
tinued adherence of the court and bishop of Constanti
nople to the title of " oecumenical patriarch." These and
perhaps other causes of offence appear to have dried up
the wellspring of charity in the heart of Gregory ; and
when, in the year 602, the unfortunate eraperor Maurice
and all his faraily were ruthlessly murdered by his worth
less subject Phocas, the event appeared to Gregory in
the light of a providential dispensation, and the actors in
that bloody tragedy as the divinely appointed instruments
for the chastisement of tyranny and the deliverance of
the Church from intolerable bondage. As soon as the
news of these frightful criraes reached him, he hastened
to set up the image of the usurper in the oratory of St.
Caesarius of the Palatine ; and, with a full knowledge of
all the odious particulars, wrote a congratulatory epistle
to the new eraperor.
" Glory to God in the highest," he wrote, — " glory to
God in the highest, who changeth seasons and ^^^ ^^ ,^
transferreth kingdoms. Also for that he hath congratuia-
made manifest the things which he spake by the *'°^Vrper^^
mouth of the prophet, saying, ^ The Most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he wiU.'"" Sometimes he raiseth up a severe ruler to punish
p S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. vi. ep. 2. " And setteth up over it the basest of
1 See Daniel iy.n. Gregory might men."
haye added the sequel of this passage :

236 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
the unrighteousness of raen, and to bow down the necks of
the disobedient. But when he prepareth comfort for the
hearts of his afflicted servants, he raiseth up one among
them whose bowels of mercy make others to partake of
that J03'' which he himself feels in his own exaltation. And
thus it is that we also are refreshed by the abundance of
your joy. Therefore let the heavens rejoice, and let the
earth be glad. Nay let the whole realm, hitherto plunged
in raourning, be of good cheer. May tke proud neck of
the enemy bend beneath your yoke. By your loving-kind
ness raay the contrite and dejected spirits araong your
subjects be lifted up.' By the virtue of divine grace,
may you be made a terror to your enemies and a blessing
to -yovx people;"'
Gregory wrote in the same strain of comphment to
His peculiar Leoutia,' the vicious consort ofthe blood-stained
views of this usurper. And when Phocas complained to him
that when he mounted the throne he found no
resident apocrisarius of Rome at the capital, Gregory
replied, that in consequence of the tyranny of Maurice,
and the vexations he had inflicted upon the Church, he
had been compelled to suspend all intercourse ; but that,
now that by the beneficent interposition of Providence
all irapediraents were removed, no inconvenience of that
kind should occur for the future." The crimes of the
usurper had, in short, been all purged away by the inci
dental benefit accruing from them to Pope Gregory's
peculiar views of religious duty and the exaltation of his
see. The pope himself did not survive to reap the full
harvest of advantage which the hopes or fears of the
His death "^^^ cmperor might cast into the lap of Rome.
He died on the 12th of March a.d. 604, worn
out by disease of bod3^, engendered or aggravated by in
cessant application to the duties and fatigues of his high
office. The conduct of Gregory as bishop of Rome displays
less of that haughty self-sufficiency which distinguished
^ In aUusion to the exclusion of the ' See the character of Leontia in Ce-
penitent soldiers from the convents. drenus, ap. Baron. Ann. 603, 8 9.
» -S. Greg. M. Epp. lib. xi. ep. 38. " S. Greg. M. Epp. Ub. xi. ep. 45.

Chap. VIL] DEATH AND CHAEACTEE OF GEEGOEY. 237
the public acts and language of his great pre
decessors, Leo, Fehx, Gelasius, Horraisda. In chwictoof
his hands the theory of the papal supreraacy Gregory
assumed an aspect modified by his personal
virtues. The distinction between his authority as head of
the Church and his duty as a subject, though vague and
ill-defined, was nevertheless strongl3i' present to his mind.
Though he was never in doubt as to which of the two
was entitled to the preference, yet when the obligations
of both came into conflict with each other, the struggle
ofthe spirit within him is not to be mistaken. The piety
. or the superstition of the age in which he lived, and the
peculiar temper of his monastic profession, inclined him
to look to divine interposition for the solution of his con
scientious difficulties. Gregory regarded political events as
providential expositions of the duty of religious govern
ment ; no wonder, then, that he should have considered
the murder of Maurice, and the elevation of Phocas, as a
providential solution of all his doubts, and a relief vouch
safed to him from above frora the terrible dileraraa of
transgressing one great duty in the performance of an
other. To a conscientious mind, this dilemma was indeed of
serious moment. For a period of more than a his equivocal
century and a half the great object of papal po- relations to
licy had been the overthrow ofthe pretensions constanti-
of Constantinople, and the reduction of that "^"p^®-
church to its primitive rank among the sees of Christen
dom ; incidentally, therefore, to humble the temporal power
which encouraged and supported it. Such objects were
in their nature inconsistent with the aUegiance of the
pontiffs towards the temporal sovereign, and involved
both in a state of perpetual warfare, now and then sus
pended by temporary truces of a political rather than a
religious character. The difficulties arising out of this
state of things were raore acutely felt by Gregory than
by any of his predecessors ; partly because his raind was
of a more delicate moral texture, and partly because his
dependence upon the Byzantine court was direct, and his
duty as a subject positive and unequivocal. Concurrently,

238 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book III.
therefore, with the strongest professions of duty and aUe
giance, he was unremitting in his endeavours by reraon-
strance to raodify, or by raanagement to elude, the exe
cution of the imperial mandates, rather than to thwart
them by open resistance or contradiction. In his cor
respondence with the court he never assuraed a harsh
or peremptory tone ; he was anxious to avoid those occa
sions of collision between the states teraporal and spiritual
which always involve the most perplexing and distressing
struggles incident to human government. Yet when he
thought he had arrived at the limits of dutiful forbearance,
and plunged past remedy into the conflict, he accepted
what he had taught hiraself to believe to be providential
aid in the performance of his duty, in any shape it might
please God to send it ; it was, he thought, his part to
rejoice in the result, not to scrutinise the means.
Though it be true that in none of the letters of Pope
Jud ment Grrcgory, Written within the sixteen months
upon his which intervened between the usurpation of
andTonduct Phocas aud his own death, any notice is taken
in the affair of the criiues and cruelties perpetrated by the
0 ocas. .,jgyj.pgj. ijpon the innocent family and kindred
of the emperor Maurice,'' 3'et we cannot think that the
absence of reprobation in this case raises an3' direct or
unavoidable presumption of approval on the part of Gre
gory, or of a natural callousness of moral feeling. If error
there was, it appears to have lain in regarding the crimes
of Phocas through a medium better suited to the old than
to the new dispensation. After the publication of the
Gospel, the deed of a Ehud or a Jael could no longer take
shelter under the sanction of a divine coramand ; and the
zeal which would extend that sanction to the offences of
a Phocas cannot meet with sympathy of any kind in the
heart of a Christian. Providence has in mercy saved us,
through Christ, from the dreadful necessity of denying our
own moral nature in obedience to his more secret- and
mysterious dispensations. But the cloud still hung over
the mind of this distinguished pontiff; and we are disposed
to regard this passage in his otherwise conscientious and
" Bower, vol. ii. p. 538.

Chap. VIL] DECEEE OF PHOCAS. 239
useful career rather in the spirit of commiseration than
of censure. Pope Gregory the Great was succeeded by Sabinian ;
but the new pontiff" held the see only five months Sabinian
and sixteen days. At his death a vacancy of p°p®-
nearly a twelvemonth intervened, unaccounted for by the
Roman annalists. At the end of that term Boniface
Boniface, a deacon of the church of Rorae, was P"?**-
installed in the pontifical chair. At the death of Sabinian
the new pontiff" was at Constantinople, whither he had
been sent by Gregory as his resident apocrisarius or re
presentative. During his sojourn in the capital he had
insinuated himself into the favour of Phocas; while the
patriarch Cyriacus and the metropolitan clerg-y had in
curred his resentment by their humane attempts to pro
tect the erapress Constantina and her three daughters
against the brutality of the tyrant. It can hardly be
doubted that one object of the raission of Boniface was
to obtain from the court the rejection of the claim of the
patriarch to the title of " oecumenical bishop." The junc
ture was favourable ; and we are told that at the Decree of
instance of Boniface it was decreed by Phocas I'l^ocas.
— -" that the apostolic see of Rome was the head of all
ckurches, for that the church of Constantinople had taken
to itself the title of primate of all tke ckurckes."""
The authenticity of the report is questionable. It oc
curs in a single, short, and unconnected passage . .
in Paul Warnefrid's History of the Lombards, ^oAhe" ^
written at the close ofthe eighth century. We decree ques-
. T . ° n 1 • j_i tionable.
next meet with it a century afterwards, m the
writings of the Venerable Bede," copied literally from the
notice of Paul the Deacon ; again, after the lapse of three
centuries, we find it inserted verbatim by Anastasius the
" Paul. Diac. De Gest. Longob. lib. clesiarum scribebat."
iv. c. 7, in edit. Lindenbrog. p. 272,— ap. " De Sex ^tat. Mund. ed. Smith, p.
Murat. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. i. p. 465. The 29 : " Hic (Phocas) rogante papa Boni-
wbrds run thus : " Hic (Phocas) rogante facio statuit sedem Eomana; et apos-
jjtlpa Bonifacio statuit sedem Eomanse toUcse ecclesiaj caput esse omnium eccle-
et apostoUcje ecclesiae caput esse om- siarum, quia ecclesia ConstantinopoU-
nium ecclesiarum, quia ecclesia Con- tana primam se omnium ecclesiarum
stantinopolitana primam se omnium ec- scribebat.'

240 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IIL
Ubrarian, in his Lives ofthe Roman Pontiffs, a work of ver3'-
doubtful authority.'' After him it was inserted by Siege-
bert of Gembloux in his work entitled " Chronographia."^
From these works it has been simply copied by all subse
quent writers. Man3' succeeding historians and contro
versialists have, strangely enough, taken it for granted that
this was the frst legislative recognition ofthe sole primacy
Construe- of the scc of Romc over all Christian churches.
tion ofthe The poutifical advocates allege that the decree of
eoree. pjjQcas was a siraplc act of confirmation, or legis
lative republication, of that primitive priraacy assigned by
the Church-catholic to that of Rorae from the foundations
of the Christian Church. Both the3^ and their opponents
appear to agree in construing it as adverse to the claim
of Constantinople." Yet it is sufficiently clear that the
decree was not the first solemn adjudication in favour of
the Roman primacy ; and, if the ^^'ords have any meaning,
neither assigns an exclusive primacy to the holy see, nor
abrogates the title of " cecumenicai patriarch" claimable
under the same authority by the bishop of Constantinople,
at least since the reign of Justinian.'' We do not hear
that any protest was ever put in b3' Constantinople against
the decree ; and it is notorious that her patriarchs did
not discontinue the use of their customary title of honour."
The decree of Phocas, as it stands, in substance imports
no more than a confirmation ofthe precedency previously
granted to Rorae by the councUs of Constantinople (I.) and
Chalcedon, strengthened b3^ the more recent recognition
of the emperor Justinian ;'' but in no respect varies the
y j4nas<as. Vit. Bonif. III., ap.il/araf. to the ground. Other words must be
Ss. Er. Ital. tom. iii. p. 138. introduced into the second clause of the
^ Siegeb. Gembtac. Chronogr., ap. Pis- sentence to give it such an import; as,
torium, Er. Germ. Ss. tom. 1. p. 746. for instance, " Because Constantinople
^ Baron. Ann. 606, §§ 11 et sqq.; has wrongfully written herself dovm
Fleury, H. E. tom. viii. p. 238. See con- primate of all churches, therefore it is
tra Philip de Mornay, Myst. Iniq. p. decreed that Eome is really the head of
106; Cent. Magd. cent, yii, -p. '228; and aU the churches."
Bower, vol. ii. p. 146. = Conf. Fleury, ubi sup. De Mornay
•" iVo«c/Z. cxxxi. c. 2. It should be ob- has collected the passages in the noveUs
served, that the whole question of con- of the emperor Leo the Isaurian, and in
struction turns upon the single word the acts of the second Nicene council, in
" quia" in the report of Paul the Deacon. which the title of " cecumenical bishoff'
Eendering the word by the English is given to the bishop of Constantinople.
equivalent "because," the construction "^ Conf. Book III. c. iv. p. 134; and
contended for by the papal writers faUs c. vi. p. 179.

Chap. VIL]

EESULTS. HONOEIUS L

241

position of the church of Constantinople to that of
Rome. There is no reason to believe that Rome herself took
any steps to improve the presumed advantage. „ ,
All 1 -i-l- J £ i • J. • Eesults.
All we know with any degree ot certainty is,
that after the receipt of the decree. Pope Boniface III.
assembled a council in the basilica of St. Peter's for the
correction of divers abuses in the papal and episcopal
elections.' Boniface himself held the chair for the short
period of eight months and twenty-three days only. Be
tween the years 608 and 625, Boniface IY ., and after him
Deusdedit and Boniface V., occupied the papal
chafr. In the latter year Honorius I. mounted
the papal throne. His pontificate introduces us to a new
phase in the relations between the Eastern and Western
churches, — a revival, in a somewhat different form, of the
old Monophyslte controversy ; and scarcely less efficacious
in stimulating those heart-burnings and jealousies which
ended in the final separation ofthe two main branches of
the Christian profession.

' Platina, a papal biographer of the
fifteenth century, affirms that Boniface
III. hastened, upon the arrival of the
decree of Phocas in Eome, to assemble
a synod consisting of sixty-two Italian
prelates ; and that, in conformity with its
tenor, he solemnly proclaimed the holy
see to be the " head of all churches,"
and the pope " universal bishop," &c.
We know of no original or contempo
rary authority for this transaction. It
wUl be seen that it is not borne out by

the statement of Anastasius (ap. Murat.
Ss. Er. Ital. tom. iii. p. 135), and cannot
be taken upon the sole credit of a writer
who lived six centuries further removed
from the date of the event. It is, how
ever, quoted from Platina by the Centu
riators (cent. vii. p. 251), and by Bower
(vol. U. p. 548). Ciacone (Vit. Pont.
tom. i. p. 425), though he writes from
Platina, yet doubts a part of his state
ment, " because," savs he, " the acts of
Boniface IU. have med with him."

VOL. II.

R

BOOK IV.
CHAPTEE I.
THE TEMPOEAL SOVEEEIGNTY.
Approaches ofthe papacy towards temporal sovereignty — Eelative position ofthe
nations of Christendom to each other and to Eome — Objects of papal ambition
— Subjects of inquiry — Position of the papacy in relation to Greeks and Lom
bards — Eeign of Agilulph — Of Adalwald— Arioald — Eothari— Aripert — Ber
tarid and Godibert — Succession of popes — Martin I. and Constans II. — ^De
portation and death of Pope Martin I. — Constans II. in Eome — His death —
Eeign of Grimoald — Bertarid restored — Kunibert — Extinction of Arianism
in the duchies of Beneventum and Spoletum — Monte Casino — The "patrimony"
of St. Peter — Its exposed position— Ansprand and Luitprand — The Lombard
government — Papal succession — Papal policy — Invasions of the " patrimony"
by Lombards — Eome and the Byzantine connection — Leo the Isaurian pro
hibits image- worship — Progress of saint and relic worship — Eebellion against
iconoclasm — Gregory II. saves the exarchate — Defeats the reforms of Leo
the Isaurian — Successes of Luitprand — Gregory IIL— Luitprand before Eome
— He dismembers the "patrimony" — Zachary pope, procures restitution —
He protects the exarchate — Ascendency of Luitprand — His death and cha
racter — Hildebrand — Eachis — Ascendency of Pope Zachary, and abdication of
Eachis — Aistulph and Zachary — Gradual secularisation of the papacy, a con
sequence of its territorial wealth and ambiguous position — General plau of
papal acquisitiveness — Prospective connection with France.
In the preceding Books we have passed in review the
first six centuries of papal history. Within that
period we have detected the germ, and exhibited the papacy
the gradual advances ofthe see of Rorae towards *°yP°gj''Qf
the establishment, of a hierarchical monarchy :
we have found that every principle of an unhmited reli
gious autocracy had been avowed and adopted by or on
behalf of the holy see, and that these principles had been
to a considerable extent practically established. The out
ward machinery of this spiritual absolutism had been put
in motion ; yet many impediments to the smooth working
of the system stiU existed. The hand which guided it
was not its own master ; and it is obvious that, until the
fetters of political dependence were removed, it could never
be safe from those disturbing external influences which

244 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
must render all its operations inconsequent and uncertain.
But the commencement of the seventh century marks
a new period in the history of the Latin patriarchate.
Hitherto the political headship which the popes of Rome
had assumed had been the ofltspring of unforeseen or ac
cidental emergencies, and had never outlasted the occa
sions which called it forth ; but ever since the downfaU
of the Western empire, the absence of any truly na
tional government had directed the attention of the Ro
man people to their bishop as their natural chief, and
contributed to invest hira with a special political influence
distinct from his religious character. After the over
throw of the Ostrogothic power, the short-hved ascend
ency of the B3'zantines was in no respect more popular
than that of Odovaker or Theodoric. The invasions of
the Xombards and the merited reverses of the Greeks in
Italy were productive ofa large increase of political power
in the hands ofthe pontiffs. Oppressed first, and after
wards deserted, by their sovereign protector, the senate
and people of Rome leaned upon their spiritual chief for
counsel and support under the calamities of thefr pohtical
position, and soon learnt in a great measure to overlook
the disthiction between the essentiall3'^ religious and the
incidentally political character accruing to him. Both
powers began, as it were by a natural necessity, to flow
into the hands of the pontiffs ; and now a corabination of
external causes unparalleled in the history of the world
favoured the eraancipation of the papacy from the last
feeble trammels of a norainal dependence, and added the
substantial attributes of temporal sovereignty, though
without the name, to the boundless spiritual prerogative
already practically acknowledged by sorae of the" most
important sections of the Christian community.
The characteristics of the period we are now entering
Eelative upou, iu their bearing upon the advances of the
tL° natTons°of P^P^^ POwcr, are very remarkable. The seventh
Christendom and eighth centuries of European history ex-
*andto°thr ^ibit the elements of religious and political life
papacy, in a State of incessant and violent fermentation.
The relative positions of races and nations were underg-oing

Chap. L] THE PAPACY AND THE NATIONS, &c. 245
great and sudden changes. Many of the older consti
tuents of the Christian commonwealth were struck out,
and some new ones introduced. The pohtical govern
ments of the world were as yet destitute of S3'stem, and
were carried on in conformit3' vdth customs and habits
suited rather to a migrator3'- than a settled state of in
habitancy. The position of the subsisting pohtical asso
ciations was altogether new and unsettled ; and thus,
while the ecclesiastical system flowed steadily on in the
ancient channel which it had worn for itself, the more
recent states had painfuUy to work thefr wa3' into some
kind of national consistency. The papac3", though not
3'et numbered among the kingdoms of the world, stood
before them aU as a self-existent power, exercising an
influence of a character to command the personal obe
dience of princes and subjects. The ignorance and the
indolence of the northern barbarians, and the supercihous
neglect or the crooked pohc3' of the feeble B3zantines,
kept the new states in estrangement, and there remained
only the common religion and its ministers to connect
them ^"ith each other. Governments were every where
isolated and anarchical : in the Church alone there was
method, order, subordination, vigour, aud unit3' of design ;
there was among its membei-s a faciiit}'^ of communication,
a cordial and rapid interchange of views and ideas, of
knowledge and intelligence, of which there are few traces
in the intercourse of the nations. From the Bosphorus
to the shores of the Atlantic, the European tribes knew
little, and cared less, -about each other's movements, wants,
dangei-s, or embarrassments. On the other hand, the
bishops of Rome were in active communication with them
aU : the3' were busUy engaged in fortifying thefr position
within, and in propagating Roman rehgion be3-ond the
pale of Christendom ; and thus forming an extemal belt of
intelUgence and infiuence which encfrcled and bound up in
its embrace aU the elder branches ofthe Christian fanuly.
But during this period the current of papal history
is found no longer to flow in the same uniform objects of
course. On the contrary, it mixes itself up the papal
with, it diverges frora, ani again runs into, the ""*"^°"-

240 CATHEDEA PETKL [Book IV.
current of political history through a hundred difforent
channtis: its religious character is for a time almost
swallowed up iu the sociilar stniggl(> for political life and
power; yet wt^ can \orv clearly discern a double object
in view throughout the "policy of Konie during the \\ hole
courae of the se\enth and eighth centuries. Tli(> great
problem she had to sol\ e was, how to manao-e the spiritual
ascendency ah-eady achiev(Ml over one half at least of the
Christian world, so as to riMuhn- it ser\iceable in the ac
quisition of that political .-^tlf-i.ri.'itrncc essential to the
maintenance ofthe position she had already gained, and
the unlimited extension of those principles of religious
government upon which she had staked her e.\isteiice.
Though the double object adverted to introduces compli
cation into the narrative, yet it is necessary to keep it
steadily in Aiew in order to do justice to the leaders and
managers ofthe great moxement, and nt the same time
not to lose sight of its bearing- upon the progress of civi
lisation and the int(M'ests of civil and religious liberty.
The period to be reviewed hi this and the following
Gonorai ^?^^ "^^ ^'^^^ ^^'01'^ embrace.'^ the .¦seventh nnd
plan of eighth centuries ofthe Christian era, nnd mav
'i»i>">y- [,„ properly described as the transition period of
the papacy from a state of subordination to the civil power
to that or political self-existence. The ecelesinsticnl nud
the political branches of tiie inquiry diverge for asenson:
it may therefore be convenient, forthe sake of perspicuity,
to treat them iu some resp(>cts separately; noticing their
mutual connection at tiiose spt>eial periods when tiiKt con
nection urttunilly chnlleiig(>s our alt(>nti(Ui. The topics to
which we shall advert are geueralh- the following :"
I. The political history of th(> papacy in Daly during
the seventh and (Mghth centuries of the Christian" era.
II. The [)rogress of Roman influence nnd religion in
the Visigothic aud I'rnneo-GalUc 8tnt(<s.
1 [I. The advance's of tiie papacv iu th.> Anglo-Saxon
and more nortiieru portions of tiie i]uropean continent.
IV. The Roman missions in France and Germany ;
" J'"' onuinoratii.n of topics is in- not cngago to pursue (hom in thoir .trint

Chu-. I.] rOLmCAt POSn^ION OF THE l-.W.VCV. 047
and the methods resorted-to to rt>nder thtnn productive of
adv!uitng-e to the {>rogrt>ss of tho papiU supreuincy, tem
poral aud spiritual.
V. The final estiiblishment ofthe politienl independ
ence of iinpal Home as a member of tiie restort>d empire
of tlu> West.
VI. Tlie elVecIs ofthe .Vrab conquests nnd Hv/.nntiiie
misgx)veriimeut upon the political svnd religious state of
tJie Ijiisteru empin'; and the policy of Rome in the iMo-
notholite aud Icouoclnstie controversies.
Pope tireg-orv the tinnithad neeomplished the formal
reooucilintiou of the Tiombnrd monarch and peo- ,,^..^ ^.
pU> with tlie ehurelv and republic of Rome. But iho'pai«u-v
this recoueilintion invobed a separate couipaet "",'^''4'^!;"'"
with tho enemy of his own sovereign the em- CiwUsami
penn- ; aud though it w ivs a strictlv nnturnl cou- i'^»"i'»J^'-'-
stHpienee ofthe iunbilitv of tlie Oy/.nntines to alibi"d tho
protectiiui tht^ Rinnans had n right to expect, yet it was
extremely otVousivo to thivt haughty and imbecile power.
Tho success of tho Nieone conft^ssion in tho Lombard
strtt«\s of Italy was rapid, huiotHl, but incomplete, and did
not eiunueipute fhe popes fiiun the dang-ers inoidont to
the uusottltHl st.'Uo of tho countrv. As subioets of tho
«>n»{HMvr. tho\- could lun tM- rt\'kou upon tho forheurnuoo of
his onomies. \\'hilo fhe Ijombanl princes were straiuing-
ovorv uorvo to expel tlie C rooks from the lust i-emnaufvS
of fheir Italian possessions, the wily Ryzautinos sfnno
to rtM^fnblish thtMr dominion bv tho arts of docoif and
intriii-uo, iu the uso of whieh tliov had arrivtnl at un-
ri\-5vllod pnWieitMicy. RotwtHMi tJieiu sfoiMl the popes of
Homo, wpially (^xpostnl to the a**JuUts of both, ami throw n
whoUv upon' their owu ttvblo resources for fhe dotoneo
of their widolv-sproad territorial domains and fhe nwner-
iMis population practically iloptnulouf upon thom tor the
sati^tv l>oth of lite and pnNporfy. Thus fhoug-h sriU a ni>-
juiiuvl dopondoncy ofthe Ryzsiiifiue ompiiv— though o\ou
an imporuU duk»» or viooivy might still reside thor** — the
duchy of Uomo was without any military deftnuv oxoopt
tho rudo militia which tho omefgouoios of tho times had
calUni into oxistonco. Tho auciont souato of Rome vanishes

248 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
gradually from the page of history ; and no names but
those of the popes seem to float on the surface of the
turbid stream of her domestic annals. In such a state
of things, the pontiffs stepped spontaneously into the
position of temporal princes ; the community attached
themselves to them as their natural chiefs; and, as a
matter of course, the former converted their spiritual
powers into instruments of temporal government, — for
they possessed no others.
Touching the relation of the duchy of Rome to Con
stantinople during the continuance ofthe struggle forthe
dominion of Italy between the Greeks and Lombards, we
observe, that during the whole of that period the authority
of the empire had been uniformly exercised to the detri
ment of its Italian dependencies. From the death of Jus
tinian to the age ofthe vicious Constans II. extortion and
oppression had done their worst on the unfortunate inha
bitants of the scattered cities and districts in which the
Byzantine garrisons and governors stiU maintained a pre
carious dominion. And here the political state ofthe pa
pacy connects itself so essentially with the history of the
Lombard ascendency in Italy, that a somewhat particu
lar account of that people must be given in this place."*
The political conduct of the kings, after the restora-
tion of the royal authority among the Lom-
history: bards, had been, upon the whole, moderate and
A''-S°h P^^^fi^' Early in the reign of Agilulph, that
prince had converted the truce which his prede
cessor Authari had concluded with the Franks into a sohd
peace ; the khan of the Avaric tribes, which bordered on
his Histrian and Friulian provinces, courted his aUiance ;
and internal rebelhon was every where repressed and
punished. The impotent pride ofthe Byzantine court,
indeed, revolted from a formal treaty with one whom it
affected to regard as a barbarian rebel ; but the exarch
of Ravenna was empowered to conclude successive truces,
by which active hostilities were periodicaUy suspended.
•¦ I make no scruple of reprinting published more than twenty years ago.
almost in extenso the narrative intro- All the authorities will be given as they
duced into the 1st section of the xivth stand iu the notes to the passage in my
chapter of my History of the Germans, former work.

Chap. L] AEIOALD— EOTHAEL 249
In the year 599, however, the exarch CaUinicus thought
fit to break the then subsisting truce, and was punished by
the loss of the cities of Padua, Monsehce, Cremona, and
Mantua ; and from the y^ear 605 to the death of Agilulph,
in 616, no foreign or domestic enemy appears to have
materi-ally disturbed the tranquilhty of his dominions.''
Adalwald, the son and successor of AgUulph, was in
his thirteenth y^ear at the death of his father.'' Reign of
The regency during his nonage was intrusted Adaiwaid.
to his mother Theudelinda ; and she emplo3'ed her influ
ence for the confirmation and extension of Catholicity in
Lombard3'. But when the young king entered upon the
govemment, he was found to labour under a mental
malady which manifested itself in a wanton dehght in
bloodshed and cruelty, to which raany of the first per
sons in the kingdom feU victims. He was at length
deposed, and placed in confinement; and the Lombard
nobihty chose Arioald duke of Turin, who had married
a daughter of Agilulph, to succeed him.'
The reign of Arioald has left no record, except the
name and the period. After goveming the Arioald:
Lombards for the space of twelve 3'ear8, he was ^ti»ari-
succeeded by Rothari, a noble of the royal sept^ of Arad.
" This prince," says the historian, " was strong in person,
and a great lover of justice, though stained with the faith
less heresy of the Arians." The CathoUcs were not, how
ever, disturbed in the enjoyment of their civil or rehgious
liberties ; though both the pope and the court of Constan
tinople chose to treat this king as a usurper.^ The latter
paid the penalty of its folly and presumption, by a severe
defeat in a battle fought on the banks of the Scultenna
in TEraiha, and the capture of aUthe towns stiU occupied
by the Greeks on the Ligurian coasts as far as the con
fines of the province.""
' Paul. Diac. lib. ir. cc. xiii. to xxix. Greek envoy Eusebius. He died soon
Conf. Mascou, Hist, of the Germans, after his deposition, as it was believed,
vol. iL pp. 218 to 222. of poison.
<• He was bom in 603. Murat. ad ' "Fara," translated "generatio" by
Paul. Diac. note 21.3, p. 469. Paul the Deacon. The name " Arad" is
' Paul Diac. Ub. iv. c. xliU. Fredigar. otherwise spelt Harad : qy. " Harohi?"
Chron. c. xlix. p. 432. The disorder of ? Seethe letter of Pope Honorius, ap.
Adalwald was currently imputed to a Mascou, vol. U. p. 259.
charm or poison administered by the "• Paul. Diac. Ub. iv. c. xlvii. p. 471.

250 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
In the year 652, Rothari was succeeded by his son Ro-
Eodoaid ^°^^*ij w^o ^^^ married Godeberga, a daughter
Aripert,' of Agilulph and Theudelinda. The new queen
2«^^'^^^M^^^°d protected the Catholics, and incurred serious
danger from the partisans of the Arian confes
sion.' Rodoald himself was slain by one of his own sub
jects, in revenge for a private injury ; and the Lombards
chose Aripert, a nephew of Queen Theudelinda, for their
king.J In his reign the orthodox faith gained a decisive
ascendency in Lombardy. At his death, in the year 661,
he was peaceably succeeded by his two sons Bertarid and
Godibert ; but, in consequence of an intrigue set on foot
by Garibald duke of Turin, the two kings fell out ; and a
road to the throne was opened to Grimoald, the powerful
duke of the Beneventine Lombards. Godibert fell by the
hand of his rebellious vassal ; and Bertarid fled for pro
tection to the khan of the Avars of Pannonia.''
From the death of Gregory the Great, in the year
Succession 604, to the acccssiou of Honorius I. in 625, five
of popes, successive popes had, as already observed, oc
cupied the chair of Peter. These pontificates present no
matter of importance to our subject. But that of Ho
norius once more introduces the papacy into active and
ill-omened participation in the affairs of the Church. In
his pontificate, the Christian world involved itself in a dis
pute respecting the nature of the divine and human will
in the person of the Saviour, to which we shall hereafter
. have to advert more particularly. Honorius
died in the year 638, after a reign of nearly
thirteen years. Between the year of his death and the
accession of Pope Martin I., in 649, Severi-
^"^ ' nus I., John IV., and Theodore had succes
sively mounted the papal throne. We have no precise
information as to the freedom of election in the choice of
the bishops of Rome within the first half of the seventh
century. A Byzantine governor still exercised certain
civil powers within the city and duchy of Rome ; and oc-
' An attempt was made to establish half, and the king and nation bowed to
against her the charges of adultery and the " judgment of God."
treason; but her champion was victo- J Paul. Diac. lib. iv. c. xlix. p. 473.
nous in the wager of battle on her be- " Id. lib. iv. c. liii. p. 475

Chap. L] POPE MAETIN L 251
casionally we hear of an imperial garrison stationed there.
There is, however, no doubt that the confirmation of the
emperor was still regarded as essential to complete the
title of the pope-elect, and that he could not be inau
gurated until the formal consent of the court arrived
from Constantinople. Honorius I. was strongly impressed
with the importance of maintaining the union of Church
and State in the actual position ofthe papacy in Italy;
he had, in fact, carried his acquiescence in the theolo
gical schemes ofthe emperor Heraclius far beyond the
hne that a prudent regard for the opinions ofthe Western
churches would have induced him to pass. Meanwhile
the controversy in the East had assuraed that acriraonious
character which almost always accorapanied Oriental
dogmatism ; and Pope Martin I. was dragged into the
vortex by the intolerance of the grandson of Hera chus,
Constans II. Pressed onwards b3^ the strong preposses
sions of his own church against the Monothelite dogma,
he boldly repudiated the middle term, or compromise, pro
posed by the court, with a view to smother a contro
versy that had become inconvenient. In the year of his
election he convoked a council of Italian bishops in the
church of the Lateran, and obtained from them a formal
condemnation of the new heresy. Carried away by their
zeal, the Latin fathers imprudently excomraunicated the
patriarch Paul of Constantinople, as a reviver and patron
of the exploded heresy of Eutyches." Irritated by the
indignity to his church, and flagrant disregard of his
sovereign pleasure, the Byzantine tyrant caused the
pope to be secretly conveyed to Constantinople ; ^ ^ ^^^
where he underwent a mock trial upon charges Deportation
unconnected with the real subject of complaint, *^^^^«?^'»j»f
and was afterwards condemned to linger out the
few remaining months of his life in an obscure prison on
the Hellespont."
This violent proceeding embittered the quarrel be
tween the two churches. In the year 661 constansiL
Constans was driven from his capital by the in Eome.
' Baron. Ann. 648, with Pagi's note, sufferings, written by a humble attend-
pp. 387 et sqq. Conf. Epp. Mart. 1., ap. ant, who was permitted to wait upon
Hard. Cone. tom. iii. pp. 645 et sqq. him in his affliction, is stiU extant. See
"¦ A memoir of his imprisonment and Mans. Concil. tom. x. pp. 786 et sqq.

252 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
indignation of his subjects ; but with the treasure at his
command he collected a large mercenary force, landed at
Tarentum, and totally destroyed the Lombard city of Lu-
cera. After this success, he advanced against the strong
fortress of Beneventum ; but the brave defence of Ro-
muald, son of duke Grimoald, compelled him to abandon
the siege, and to take refuge in Naples." Soon after
wards, the gallant youth encountered Suburrus, the heu
tenant of Constans, in the field ; and though greatly infe
rior in numbers, completely defeated him. Constans, thus
compelled to abandon his designs against the Lombards,
prepared to wreak his disappointment upon the disaf
fected Romans. The venerable aspect of the fallen mis
tress of the world, the submissive reception he met with
from the pope Vitahan, the clergy and principal citizens,
failed to awaken any feeling of sympathy for the departed
glories of the empire, or regard for the property of the
citizens. With scarcely conceivable cupidit3^, he employed
the twelve days of his residence in the ancient capital of
the empire in stripping her of all her most portable public
wealth and ornament. He robbed the gorgeous dome of
the Pantheon of its brazen tiles, and carried off the metal
ornaments and statues, which even in her decay still de
corated the public buildings and palaces of Old Rome.
After shipping- off his plunder to Syracuse, he followed
into Sicily; where he was permitted for a short time
longer to try the loyalty of his subjects by all those
outrages from which a heart seared by debauchery and
blood-guiltiness may derive a momentary^ oblivion or a
passing excitement." At length a comraon serving-man
took upon himself the revenge of outraged humanity, and
struck the tyrant to death in the bath.p
The victory of Romuald drew after it the conquest
Eeign of of nearly all that remained to the Greeks in
Grimoald. |;]je province of Apulia, and added the cities of
Bari, Brundusium, and Tarentum to the acquisitions of
the Beneventine Lombards. The war with the Greeks of
Ravenna languished during the remainder ofthe reign of
n Paul. Diac. lib. v. cc. vi.-ix. pp. when it fell into their hands, and was
479, 480. carried away to Alexandria.
o The plunder of Eome lay at Syra- i" Paul. Diac, lib. v. cc. x. xi. xiii.
euse till the Saracen invasion of Sicily; pp. 480, 481.

Chap. L] EXTINCTION OF AEIANISM IN LOMBAEDY. 253
Grimoald ; and upon his sudden demise in the tenth year
of his reign, the Lombard nobUity reverted to the Une of
Agilulph and Theudehnda, in the person of the exiled
king Bertarid. Garibald, the elder ofthe two Bertarid
sons of Grimoald, took refuge with his 3'^ounger restored.
brother, Romuald, at Beneventum. No attempt was made
to retrieve the honours of royalty; and the enmity of
the Agilulphian and Beneventine races was extinguished
by the marriage of Grimoald, a son of Romuald, with
the princess Winolinda, the daughter of Bertarid. After
a reign of five or six years longer, Romuald transmitted
the duchy of Beneventum to his son ; and in the year
688 Bertarid was succeeded upon the throne of
the Lombards by his son, the valiant and ortho- ""^ ^"^ "
dox Kunibert.''
This king and his father were both zealous Catholics.
Agilulph, Rothari, Rodoald, Garibald, and Gri-
moald had extended at least equal protection to tinction of
the two great religious parties in the Lombard L^mb^rd'"
dominions ; the queens Theudelinda, Godeberga, """ "''^ ^'
and Rodelinda,"^ had proved the nursing-mothers of or
thodoxy ; and though the Arian party was still strong
in numbers, it appears that by this time the principal
famihes of the kingdom had slidden gradually into the
catholic profession. It is probable that it was to the
support of that party that Bertarid was indebted for his
throne; and it is certain that the only civil commotion
which disturbed the reign of Kunibert was caused by
the efforts of the Arians to regain their ancient ascend
ency. The strength of the old rehgion of the Lombards
consisted mainly in its alhance with the pagan supersti
tions ofthe people ; Christianity had not as yet overgrown,
much less superseded, the more inveterate prejudices of
barbaric rehgion ; and the assaults of the orthodox were
directed at least as much against the practices of the
heathen as against the speculative tenets of the heretic.
The more methodical zeal ofthe catholic clergy had, how
ever, by this time placed them upon firm ground ; by assi-
<i Paul. Diac. lib. v. cc. xvii.- xxii. and lib. vi. c. ii. p. 490.
xxvi. xxvu. xxxii. xxxiu., pp. 484, 485 ; ' The wife of Bertarid.

254 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
duity and perseverance they had raised themselves to ac
knowledged rank, wealth, and social respectabiUty : in lieu
of their ancient groves and fountains and rude altars,
their converts were provided with stately temples, rehcs,
images, and processions ; and a showy ritual offered an
acceptable substitute for their bloody sacrifices, their riot
ous festivals, and mischievous mummeries.^ StiU much
of the old leaven remained to be purged away ; and the
reign of Kunibert was for a time suspended by an insur
rection, arising in a great degree from the dissatisfaction
of the people with the growing power of the cathohc
clergy, the decline of the older religion, and the priva
tion of the pagan indulgences connected with it.
Kunibert was driven from his capital; but a short
The same in time sufficcd to provc the power of the cathohc
of Benevin- P^^'ty. The usurpcr, Alachis duke of Trent, was
tum and cxpeUed from Pavia, and Kunibert was restored
Spoletum. ai^j[(j ti^g acclamation of all classes.' MeanwhUe
the progress of orthodoxy among the southern, or Spole-
tan and Beneventine Lombards had been at least equally
rapid. Romuald and his successors, Grimoald and Gi-
sulf, were steadily attached to the cathohc doctrine and
ritual. Under the auspices of the latter of these princes,
Ee estabUsh ^^^ monastery of Monte Casino, founded by the
ment of patriarch of Latin monachism, the celebrated
^sin'o. ^*' Benedict, towards the close of the fifth cen
tury, but which had been unoccupied for a pe
riod of one hundred and ten years, was re-peopled by a
numerous colony of monks, under the presidency of St.
Petronax." The Lombard clergy of the two duchies tes
tified their adhesion to the Roman scheme of orthodoxy
by the solemn adoption of the sixth general council, held
at Constantinople in the years 680 and 681, in which
the heresy of the Monothelites was condemned.^ Priests
and people had passed sUently and gradually into the
worship of the saints, relics, and images, which their
teachers had substituted for the numerous objects of su-
¦ For a more detailed account of these pp. 487, 488.
superstitions, I must refer the reader to " Id. lib. vi. c. Ix. p. 603
¦°y g'^t- of the Germ. ch. xiii. p. 770. v y<£. nb. yi. c. iv. p. 492 "
i'aul. Diac. lib. v. ce. xxxviU. xxxix.

Chap. L] THE PATEIMGNY OF ST. PETEE. 255
perstitious or idolatrous reverence of which they had been
deprived. They now trusted to the mediation of saints
and the vii-tues of relics, as formerly to thefr charms and
amulets and incantations, to avert natural calamities,
contagious disorders, and other public and private mis
haps. They became equally eager with the devout Frank
for the acquisition of efficacious relics, and vied with each
other in the construction of shrines and churches for their
due commemoration and worship.''
After the death of Kunibert, in the year 700, a sud
den revolution placed Aripert duke of Turin Thepatri-
upon the throne of Lombardy ; and there he mony of St.
maintained himself for a period of eleven years." ^^*^''"
Meanwhile Gisulf duke of Beneventum attacked the im
perialists of Naples ; an operation of which the popes, as
professed subjects of the Byzantine Caesars, were not
entitled to complain. But the incessant warfare carried
on by Greeks and Lombards of necessity involved the vio
lation of that sacred territory which the Roman church
had afready hallowed to itself, under the name of the
Patrimony of St. Peter. Over the whole and every part
of these domains the popes threw the aegis of their great
patron, and claimed for it immunity from all the incidents
of secular warfare. Even at this early period, the " pa-
trimony^" comprised a very large part of the Byzantine
duchy of Rome. The estates attached to the holy see are
said to have extended from the vicinity of Naples as far
northward as the city of Viterbo. Besides these, the popes
possessed, or claimed, many more distant domains iu the
north of Italy, and even on the Gallic side of the Alps,
in the southem districts of the Burgundian kingdom.^
" See Paut X)tac. lib. vi. c. iv. p. 492. parts of both bodies. And see the Abbe
When St. Petronax returned to Monte Muratori' s learned summary ofthe long
Casino, the community found that they controversy about the relics of St. Bene-
had suffered an unspeakable loss. The diet, note 19 ad loc. Paul. Diac. mod. cit.
bones of St. Benedict, and of his sainted » 7rf. lib. vi. cc. xvU.-xx.
sister Scholastica, had been feloniously J Gregory the Great, in Epp. i. and U.,
earriedaway byaparty ofrelic-stealers ap. D. Bouq. tom. iv. pp. 12, 13, gives
from Mons and Orleans to enrich the particular directions for the manage-
monastery ofSt. Benoit-sur-Loire. The ment ofthe Arelatensian estates ofthe
brethren of Monte Casino, however, see of Eome ; or, as he calls it, the
comforted themselves with the posses- " patrimonium GaUicanum." Confer
sion of the undoubted nose, mouth, and Mannert, Geogr. der Gr. und Eom. vol.
eyes ofthe saint, and of all the fleshy i. p. 311.

256 CATHEDEA PETEI. ^^°°^ ^¦
Extensive and widely-scattered districts, whose geogra-
its exposed phical positiou necessarily exposed them to the
position, incursions of the beUigerents, fell thus within
the sacred pale of the Church ; and the pope, as official
guardian of the hallowed precinct, declared spiritual war
against every intruder within those limits. It would have
been fortunate for the interests of humanity if the pontiffs
could have maintained their claim ; but the immunity de
manded was too inconvenient to the beUigerent powers to
command acquiescence. Thus the wars of Duke Gisulf
with the Greek governor of Rome had brought him into
the vicinity ofthe city ; but there he was met by so pow
erful a remonstrance on the part of the Roman clergy,
that he relinquished his enterprise and retired (a.d. 702).'
Three years later the usurper Aripert acquired a claim
to the gratitude of Pope John VII. by the restitution
of a district in Lombardy aUeged to have belonged to
the Roman church prior to the Lombard invasion.* But
these were tokens of early zeal, and occurred before the
attachment of the Lombards to the see of Rome was ex
posed to severer trials.
In the 3^ear 712, Aripert was driven from his usurped
Ansprand throue, aud slain in battle by Duke Ansprand
and and his renowned son Luitprand. The father
uitpran . gjjJQyg^j ^^^ thronc but a few months after the
downfall of their adversary; and Luitprand succeeded to
an insecure and precarious inheritance. In the first year
State of go- of his reign he defeated more than one conspi-
^'•'""ent in racy against his throne and hfe." But activity
om ai y. ^^^ vigilance enabled him to maintain his au
thority. This insecurity of the central government in
Lombardy resulted from the rude state of society, and
the absence of any settled rule of succession. And thus
it happened, that every duke or noble who could rely
upon the attachraent of his fara, or clan, or could coUect
a party strong enough to raake head against the govern
ment, might aspire to the throne. The dukes again re-
- ¦Ir.Ki"'' ¦^'"''- .'']'.; "'' "' ^^™' P- *^3' '" '*"'='¦» of gold, and was afterwards
with the note of Muratori (1 1 1). Conf. confirmed by King LuiTprand Xf
Anastas. ap. eund. tom. iu. p. 151. Diac. lib. vi. c. xliii d Ini
» The deed of restitution was written " Ibid. lib. vi. ^. xxxv p 502

Chap. L] PAPAL SUCCESSION FEOM 654 TO 712. 257
lied upon the same support to' protect them against the
tyranny of the sovereign, and to secure impunity for
disobedience or treason. When the crown was strong
enough, dukes were appointed or deposed at the royal
pleasure ; when the government was weak, duchies and
offices of State were usurped or disposed of at the will
of the strong-est ; each duke yielding to or resisting the
authority of the king according to the strength, number,
and attachment of his followers and clansmen. Among
the Lombards, as among the Franks and Germans, of
fices, honours, estates, were gradually assuming an here
ditary character. The more distant duchies of Spoletum
and Beneventum lay too far away from the seat of go
vernment to be under the effectual control of the central
power ; the comraand of the military force, and with it
every function of government, fell of necessity into the
hands of the dukes ; and, with such means at their com
mand, it would have been surprising if they had not used
them to perpetuate authority in their own families."
Between the abduction and death of Pope Martin I.,
in the year 654, and the accession of King Luit- -p^^^^ ^^^_
prand, — a period of about sixty years, — a series cession from
of no fewer than fourteen popes occupied the ^^^^o^i^-
pontifical chair of Rorae. The dry list runs thus : Eu
genius I., VitaUan, Adeodatus, Bonus or Doranus, Aga
tho, Leo IL, Benedict IL, John V., Conon, Sergius I.,
John VI., John VIL, Sisinnius, and Constantine II.
Of these, one pontificate — that of Sisinnius — was under a
month ;'' three — those of Leo IL, Benedict IL, and Conon
— under a twelvemonth ; the longest — those of Vitalian,
Adeodatus, Sergius I., and Constantine I. — reached re
spectively the terms of fourteen years and a half, four
years and a half, thirteen years and three quarters, and
eight years.' These pontificates, though in many in
stances distinguished by vigorous spiritual action, mani
fest none of that political vitality which subsequently in-
= Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. xxxviU. p. 503. the reader is not troubled with the
^ Sisinnius, according to Cmcoree, Vit. months and days, according to the mi-
Pont., only reigned twenty days. nute, and often discrepant, computations
e So Uttle depends upon the exact ofthe papal writers Baronius, Pagi, Cia-
chronology of this rapid succession, that cone, Olduinus, VictoreUi, and others.
VOL. II. S

258 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
spired the papal chafr. The beginning ofthe eighth cen
tury opens a new era in the history of the papacy, ihe
prominent character of this era is the struggle and final
success of the Roman pontiffs in shaking off the tram
mels of temporal subjection, and the acquisition of a firm
standing among the ruling powers of this world. We
pursue this subject in connection with the Lombard and
Frankish history of the eighth century.
Notwithstanding the advantages accruing to the pa-
,. pacy from the general prevalence of catholic
w^thin^that^ orthodoxy in Lorabardy, the divisions and se-
period. p.^jrate interests of the kings and chiefs, but
above all, the incessant warfare waged by aU, jointly or
severally, against the scattered dependencies of the By
zantines in Italy, exposed the estate of the Church to aU
the incidents of war, and kept the city in a state of per
petual apprehension for the safety of the inhabitants and
the suppUes requisite for their support. On the one hand,
it was obvious that the Romans could claim no forbear
ance from the Lombards as long- as they continued to
profess themselves the subjects of the emperor ; on the
other, it became a matter of serious consideration whe
ther their renunciation of the Byzantine connection might
turn out any better than an exchange of masters. No
result could be more dreaded b3' the Roman pontiffs ; and
the pohcy by which they successfoUy eluded the dilemma
constitutes the main interest of the period we have now
to consider. The accession of the warlike and enterprising Luit-
invasion P^aud to the throne ofthe Lombards again drew
of the ^ upon the " patrimony" of the Church devasta-
of st"p°eto *ion and pUlage. In the course of their warfare
Lombards '^S'^^"^* ^^^ Grccks, the Beneventine Lombards
had possessed theraselves ofthe town of Cumte,
^^'lt.hiu the pale of the Greek duchy of Naples. But Pope
Gregory Ii. claimed that town as part and parcel of the
" patrimony" of St. Peter, and made many fruitless at
tempts, by spiritual censures and remonstrances, to induce
the captors to abandon their prey ; nor could they be pre
vailed upon to evacuate the place tiU the pope had paid

Chap. L] LEO AGAINST IMAGE-WOESHIP. 259
them seventy pounds' weight of gold as a ransom.'^ A few
years later, Faroald duke of Spoletura invaded the Ra-
vennatine territory, and possessed himself of the town of
Chiasso, a dependency of the holy see. Luitprand, it is
true, compelled his reluctant subject to restore the place
to the Church; but a short time afterwards, he himself,
in the course of his wars with the Greeks, retook and
totally destroyed Chiasso.*
No circumstance in the actual position of the Roman
church had in fact been hitherto the cause of so ^^^^^
much difficulty and embarrassment as the sub- and the
sisting dependence upon the Byzantine empire, ^y^^''*"®^-
That connection now becarae year by year raore perplexing
and dangerous. The people of Rome, who had suffered less
from the incursions ofthe Lombards than the more distant
parts ofthe so-called " patrimony" of St. Peter, looked for
ward with anxious solicitude to their emancipation from
the extortions of a weak and vicious government. The
pontiffs, though not less impatient under this equall3'' use
less and pernicious incubus, would have waited till sorae
powerful counterpoise against the dangerous ascendenc3r
of the Lorabards should present itself. But events over
which the Church had no control set all caution at naught,
and threw them into the position they were thenceforward
compelled to maintain, or sink back into the humble —
and, it must be admitted, perilous — position of simple
Christian bishops.
In the 3rear 717, Leo, an Isaurian soldier of fortune,
had deposed and supplanted the feeble emperor Leo the
Theodosius III. Within a few days of his ^^""H^^
accession, Leo was called upon to defend his image-
throne against an army of one hundred and worship.
twenty thousand Arabs, under the command of Moslehma,
the brother of the Cahph Suleym^n. The valour of the
defenders, and the skilful use of the Greek fire, a new
and formidable instrument of defence, — but, in popular
estimation, far raore effectually the miraculous powers of
' He borrowed the gold of the Greek expense ofthe empire. Paul. Diac. lib.
governor, or patrician, of Naples, whose vi. c. xl.; Baron. A. 715, p. 258.
duty it was to defend the city at the ^ Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. xUv. p. 504.

260 CATHEDEA PETEL [^°°^ ^^¦
the most holy effigy of the divine Theotokos,— delivered
the city and empire from this imminent peril. The po
pulace of the capital, encouraged by their holy patriarch
Germanus, were at this period devoutly addicted to saint,
rehc, and image worship ; and the terrors of the siege
had multiphed wonders, and strengthened the belief in the
rairaculous powers imputed to the images of the Virgin
and the Saints. But the emperor Leo had received his
religious education in a purer school; he had imbibed
from his early instructors a strong prepossession against
the palpable idolatries which the practice in question had
fostered in all the provinces of the East.*" The state of
public affairs engaged for some years so much of the
emperor's solicitude, that he was unable to give his at
tention to the contemplated religious reforraation. But
in the 3'ear 726, the Christian world was shaken to its
centre by an edict prohibiting- the adoratjpn of images,
either in public or private worship.' The explosion of
religious zeal or prejudice was universal, and the bishops
of Rome became involved in irreconcilable hostilities with
their titular sovereign. For the first time in the history
of the papac3', the notions of religious duty came into di
rect contradiction to civil allegiance ; and the popes pre
ferred insulting their sovereign to offending their saints.
Within the century which had elapsed since the date
Pro ess of ^^ Popc Gregor3r the Great's address to Serenus
saint and of Marseilles upon the use of images in public
7nt^yrelF ^'orship,J the interests of Roman Christianity
had beconie in a rauch greater degree involved
in the practice than at any forraer period of its history.
In France, Britain, and Germany, some progress had
been made in introducing a taste for pictures and images.
Relic- worship had been for ages a popular form of de
votion ; and efforts had been made to persuade the people
that the interposition ofthe saints in heaven for temporal
and spiritual blessings was to be obtained through the
medium of their images and relics, and that such images
Occasion wiU hereafter occur to brought will no longer be imputed to
enter more fully into this topic; and it Protestant prejudicer
IS confidently expected that after that ' Baron. Ann. 726 p 335
the charge of idolatry here deliberately i Conf. Book III. c' vii pp 22" 293

Chap. L] EEBELLION IN ITALY. 261
and relics were the sanctified instruments by which the
saints still continued to exercise, on behalf of their vota
ries and favourites, those miraculous powers with which
they were believed to have been endowed during their
abode upon earth. But within the same period the en
tire Lombard race had been gathered into the Roman
fold. With the tenets of orthodoxy, the new converts
had imbibed a strong devotion for that outward ritual
which their teachers had substituted for the national idols
and superstitions. They had acquired a strong taste for
images and shrines, and pilgrimages and pompous pro
cessions. King Luitprand himself was a devout admirer
of relics ; and is reported to have g-iven a large sum of
money to the Saracens of Africa for the restoration ofthe
body of St. Augustine of Hippo, and to have enshrined
it in a sumptuous mausoleum at Pavia.''
It is natural to suppose that the edict of Leo against
the sacred objects of national adoration greatly
embittered the hereditary animosity ofthe Lom- j^ IJ^iy
bards against their Greek opponents. Pope agamst the
Gregory IL, who had succeeded Constantine I. ordinances
in the year 714, fulminated sentence of con- °jg^^°;^*^®
demnation and anatheraa against the edict and
its authors ; and publicly declared his resolution to resist
by force all atterapts to carry the ordinance into execution
within the Itahan peninsula (a.d. 726).' But when, in
the year 730, Leo the Isaurian put the finishing-stroke to
his scheme of reformation by decreeing the expulsion of
all images of worship frora the churches of the erapire,
the Greek troops quartered in the exarchate, the Penta
polis, and the Venetian dependencies, refused to execute
the raandate of the court. The governors of Ravenna
and the other imperial cities and dependencies, however,
continued actively to second the views of their master ;
and a party favourable to the abolition of image-worship
" Circ. A.D. 725. Paul. Diac. lib. vi. and vectigalia to the imperial treasury.
c. xlviii. p. 506. Conf. Baron, ad Ann. But this, as well as the reported excom-
725. muuioation of the emperor Leo by Gre-
I Baronius (Ann. 730, p. 390) says, gory II., is problematical. Conf. Pagi,
that the pope upou his own authority not. ad Baron, in loc. cit.; and Bower,
suspended the payment of the tributa vol. iii. p. 289.

262 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
was not wanting even in the Italian provinces of the em
pire."" Thus religious discord, rebellion, and mutiny re
duced the Greek dominion in the peninsula to the brink
of ruin. Luitprand, to whom this state of things opened
brilliant advantages, entered zealously into the views and
feelings ofthe orthodox supporters of image-worship. He
invaded the exarchate, and by the aid of the exasperated
inhabitants of Ravenna, made himself master of that
city. All Italy lay at his feet ; a deadl3' blow had been
dealt at the project of the heretical emperor, and Luit
prand was exalted to the dignity of the champion of
orthodoxy and image-worship."
But this was a triumph in no respect agreeable to the
Gregory II. pootiff- The succcss of Luitpraud occasioned
saves the hardly less consternation at Rome than at Con-
exarc ate. gfantiuople ; aud Gregory II. urgentl3'^ entreated
Ursus, the imperial commander in the Venetian pro
vince, to spare no exertion for the recovery of Ravenna.
Fortune, or the incapacit3' of the Lombard governors, fa
voured the iraperialists ; and Ravenna was restored to the
heretical emperor by the efforts of the most determined
of his religious opponents." During the first effervescence
of public feeling against the sacrilegious decrees of Leo,
the armies of the exarchate had been upon the point of
renouncing their allegiance and setting up an emperor of
their own choice. This design was strenuously opposed
by the pope. There is, however, no ground for imputing
these manifestations of 103'alty to any feeling of dutiful
obedience resembling that which induced his great narae
sake and predecessor to publish the much reprobated ordin
ance of the emperor Maurice.'' The measures in question
were, in fact, suggested by obvious political expediency.
It would have been but sorry policy to exchange the pro
tection of the empire, however distant and precarious, for
that of any feeble usurper whom it might please a fickle
and lawless soldiery to set up ; and it was as clear to the
pope as it is to us now that the triumph of the rebellion
in the exarchate must soon, if not imraediateh',^ have
" Anastas. Bibl. ap. Baron, tom. xii. ° Anastas. ap. Baron. Ann. 726, § 26,
P- 361. p. 343. Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. liv. p. 508.
° Paul. Diac. Ub. vi. c. xlix. p. 506. i' See Book III. c. vU. p. 233.

Chap. L] SUCCESSES OF LUITPEAND. 263
delivered all Italy, with Rome herself, into the hands of
the Lombards.''
But Gregory II. was not the less anxious to avail him
self of the enthusiasm of the moment to defeat
the religious projects of his sovereign. In fact, the refoTm^s
his personal safety depended now wholh' on the °l ^"^l ^^^
protection which the attachment of the image-
worshiping majority threw around him. Paul exarch of
Ravenna, and the dukes Basihus of Rome and Exhila-
ratus of Naples, had received positive orders frora the
court to seize the person of the pope as a traitor to the
State. Basilius was, however, attacked by the Roraans
and shut up in a monastery ; while his officers, Johannes
and Jordanes, paid the penalty of obedience with their
lives. At Naples, Duke Exhilaratus and his son An-
driaims raet with the same fate; and when afterwards
the exarch Eutychius of Ravenna endeavoured to carry
the imperial decree against Gregory into execution, he
was met by so stout a resistance that he was promptly
compelled to abandon the attempt.'
But these disturbances did not improve the political
position of the papacy in Italy. During the successes of
iconoclastic seditions at Ravenna, in which the Luitprand.
exarch Paul (the predecessor of Eutychius) lost his life,
Luitprand had possessed himself of many strong places
in the .^milian province : he had captured Montebello,
Buxetura, Persiceta, Bologna, and Osirao," and reduced
the exarchate to a narrow strip of coast-land along the
north-western shores of the Adriatic. In the midst of
these turmoils, the able Pope Gregory II. passed from the
scene ; and was succeeded by an impetuous and unlettered
Syrian priest, under the name of Gregory III. q, jjj
(a.d. 731.) At this juncture, the attention of
Luitprand was diverted for a time from the affairs of
southern Italy by the alarming inroads of the Sclavi of
Carinthia. The war with the Greeks was carried on with
various success ; and in the year 739, Luitprand raarched
to the assistance of Charles IVIartel, the heroic raajor-dorao
1 Conf. Baron, ubi sup. §§ 26, 27. Anastas. ap. Baron. A. cit. §§ 38, 39,
¦¦ Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. xlix. p. 506; ' Anastas. ap. Baron, ubi sup.

264 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
of the Franks, in expelling the Saracens of Spain from the
provinces of Languedoc and Provence. By these services
he relieved himself from all apprehension on his north
western frontier, and acquired a claim to the gratitude of
his powerful neighbour. He was now at leisure to mark
what had been done amiss on his southern frontiers. For
some years past the vassal dukes of Beneventum and
Spoletum had given ample cause for uneasiness and re
sentment. Both had been found tampering with the Greek
governors of Rome and Naples to the prejudice of their
suzerain. In the year 740, Luitprand marched against
Thrasimund of Spoleto with an overwhelming force, and
corapelled hira to take refuge with his confederate Stephen,
the governor, or patrician, of Rome ; and his duchy was
given to a nobleman named Hilderich. Luitprand ad
vanced forthwith to the gates of the city, and demanded
the immediate surrender of his rebel subject. Upon their
advance the Lombards laid waste the circumjacent coun^
try, and even despoiled the church of St. Peter of its
most costly ornaments.'
In this emergency. Pope Gregory III. opened a
Luitprand communicatioii with Charles Martel, the major-
before Eome. domo, or prince, of the Franks, with a view to
obtain his interference for the protection of the holy see."
No satisfactory reply was obtained. But Luitprand did
not press the siege of Rome ; he satisfied himself with
Dismembers detachiug four towus or cities, with the districts
the "patri- appurteuaut to them, from the "patrimony" of
mony.' g^^ Peter, and annexing thera to the duchy of
Beneventum. He had, however, hardly withdrawn from
the Roraan territory before the citizens raarched out to
restore their ally Thrasimund to his duchy. The operation
was successful ; and the duke was reinstated upon con
dition that he should procure the restoration of the four
towns detached by Luitprand. But Thrasimund forgot,
. Zachary or was uuable to perforra, his promise. Mean-
pope, while Gregory III. had been succeeded in the
' Particularly a magnificent cande- alliance, from wliich the papacy derived
labrum of silver. See .Baron. Ann. 740, advantages little contemplated at the
§ 20, tom. xii. p. 454. time.
" The first step towards that intimate

Chap. L] ZACHAEY PEOTECTS THE EXAECHATE. 265
papal chair by Zachary,'' a name of celebrity in the papal
annals. The new pope insisted upon the restoration
of the four towns ; but with no better success than that
which had attended the requisitions of his predecessor.
Thrasimund was therefore adjudged to have forfeited
all claim to further protection ; and Zachary sent word
to Luitprand that he was prepared to abandon his late
ally to the vengeance of the king, and even to send the
Roman militia to his assistance, upon condition that the
four towns should be restored to the " patrimony" of St.
Peter. Luitprand adopted the proposal ; the forces ofthe
Romans marched to co-operate with the king's troops;
and Thrasimund, hopeless of repelling both his enemies,
threw himself at the feet of his suzerain, and put him in
possession of the whole duchy without further resistance.
After this easy success, Luitprand affected to undervalue
the assistance of the pope, and hesitated to pay the heavy
price demanded. But Pope Zachary, whose procures
political influence in Rome obviously overbal- restitution
anced that of the imperial patrician, raade the confiscated
whole matter his own affair and that of his ''^'^®^-
church. He went in person to the Lombard camp at
Narni, and urged his demands with so rauch eloquence
and address, that Luitprand not only surrendered the
territory in dispute, but restored certain estates claimed
to have been in times past a portion of the '^ patrimony"
of the Church ; and, as a further protection to the holy
see and her domain, consented to a truce of twenty years
with the imperial governor of Rome."
In the year 741, the king found hiraself in possession
of the entire duchy of Spoletum, as well as of
that of Beneventum ; thus enclosing the estates zacifary
of the Church, together with the remnant ofthe ^^l^l^^^
Greek duchy of Naples, in his dangerous em
brace.'' RebeUion and disaffection had been repressed and
punished ; the Greek exarchate had been by this time
shorn of the greater portion of its territory in the Penta-
'' A.D. 741, Dec. 5th. Olduin. ap. Cia- Anastasius there quoted.
cone, in Zach. pap. '' Paul. Diac. lib. vi. co. iv. and ivi.
" Baron. A. 739, § 5. Id. ibid. Ann. pp. 508, 509.
741 and 742, and the extracts from

266 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
polls ;^ and by the recent capture of Cesena, Ravenna
itself was placed in a state of blockade, and exposed to dis
tress and famine at the pleasure of the enemy. In this
difficulty, the exarch Eutyches and the archbishop John
entreated the intercession of Pope Zachary to save the
church and people of Ravenna from the perils which sur
rounded them. The pontiff" himself, notwithstanding the
advantages gained in his late interview with Luitprand,
was none the less alarmed at the progress of the Lombard
power; and the raessage ofthe Ravennatines was felt by
him to be quite as much an appeal to his own interests as
to his humanity or his duty to the threatened Church. He
therefore applied himself proraptly to the task assigned
him. Presuming upon his influence with the king, he ad
monished him on the part of holy Church to desist from his
designs against the city. Luitprand turned a deaf ear to'
the deraand, and even refused to admit the papal emissa
ries to an audience. In this emergency, Zachary, inspfred
perhaps by the example ofhis great predecessor Leo, who
had successfully bearded the lion Attila in his lair, set forth
on a journey to Pavia, with the resolution to urge his suit
before the king in person. Luitprand received him reluct
antly, but respectfully. After performing pontifical mass
in the metropolitan church of the cit3-, he dined with the
king- ; and on the following day he raade, we are told, so
powerful an appeal to the understanding and religion of
the monarch, that, though he listened at first with ex
treme impatience, he became gradually interested, and
was at length completely won over to the views of the
pontiff. He consented to raise the blockade of Ravenna ;
to restore immediately two-thirds ofthe district of Cesena;
and, in the event of a peace with the eraperor Constan
tine Copronymus, — to whom ambassadors were to be de
spatched for that purpose, — to give up the remaining
third to the empire.''
V The modem legations of Bologna But see Art. de vir. Ifc. tom. i. pp. 257
and Ferrara. and 421. The journey of Zachary to
^ Constantine came to the throne in Pavia forms a chapter of Johannes Mul-
the year 741. The date of Zachary's ler's interesting little volume, entitled
journey to Pavia is fixed by Muratori "Journeys ofthe Popes," — Works, vol.
(Ss. Er. Ital. tom. i. p. 511, note 244) in viu. p. 23.
the last y6ar of the reign of Luitprand.

Chap. L] CHAEACTEE OF LUITPEAND. 267
Pope Zachary raight indeed congratulate hiraself and
his spiritual subjects on their deliverance frora the irame
diate danger which threatened them; but what he had
seen at Pavia did not encourage the hope of a durable
state of tranquillity for Church or State. He returned
thanks to God for his providential success ; but in the very
terms of that thanksg-iving besought " the great Giver of
peace and Lover of concord" to deliver those intrusted
to his charge, Romans as well as Ravennatines, from the
deceiver and persecutor Luitprand. " Nor," says his bio
grapher Anastasius, " were the prayers of the holy man
poured forth in vain ; for not long afterwards the Lord
withdrew that prince from the light of this world, and all
persecution ceased. Then was there joy, not only among
the Romans and Ravennatines, but likewise among the
Lombards themselves.""
In the reigns of Zachary and his two pre- Ascendency
decessors, the political views ofthe papacy hadofi'»itP''and:
undergone a very raarked expansion. Zachary had, it is
true, failed in obtaining all the concessions he had ex
pected ; and the power of the Lombards, under the able
management of Ijuitprand, had acquired a strength and
consistency very prejudicial to the prospects of the holy
see. But that prince, the most deserving of the Lom
bard kings of Italy, died at a mature age in the his death and
spring of the year 744, after a reign of thirty- "i^aracter.
one years and seven months. He had revised and im
proved the laws of his predecessor Rothari, and adorned
his cities with many sumptuous buildings. During his
reign Arianism had become almost extinct ; the ancient
heathenism was superseded by saint, relic, and image
worship ; churches, raonasteries, convents, and clerical
seminaries were multiplied and amply endowed ; internal
tranquillity was, upon the whole, successfully raaintained ;
and habits of subordination, to which his princes and
subjects had been hitherto strongly averse, were intro
duced. The raihtary force of the kingdora was improved,
the frontiers weU defended, and the raore distant depend
encies brought within reach of the central authority.
" Anastas. Vit. Pont. ap. Murat. torn. iii. p. 163.

268 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
" This prince," says Paul the Deacon, " was a person of
great wisdom, sagacity, and piety ; a lover of peace, yet
mighty in battle; merciful towards offenders; chaste,
modest; munificent in almsgiving; ignorant, indeed, of
letters, but a philosopher rather by nature than by educa
tion ; for he was the father and legislator ofhis people."""
The Lombards chose Hildebrand, a nephew of the
Hildebrand late king, to succccd him on their throne. But
i^°g- his vices and cruelties soon disgusted his sub- .
jects, and he was deposed after a reign of seven months
Eachis only. Rachis, son of Pemrao duke of Friuh,
^^"S- was next raised to the throne. Though a bold
and successful warrior, he was ofa religious and contem
plative turn of mind. Pope Zachary saw his advantage,
and without difficulty obtained frora hini a confirmation
ofthe twenty years' truce granted by Luitprand in favour
of the territories ofthe church of Rome. But this treaty
did not protect those ofthe Greek exarchate; and in the
year 750 the Lombard armies invaded Tuscan3'^, and laid
siege to the city of Perugia. But Pope Zachary — upon
^Yhat ground it is difficult to conjecture — chose to con
sider that city as part and parcel of the Petrine patri
mony, and therefore protected by the truce. The danger
ous approach ofthe Lombards once more called forth the
personal interference of the intrepid pontiff. He took up
his staff and crosier, and proceeded with a small
oTpope"^ retinue to the camp ofthe king before Perugia."
Zachary, J^achis, who mcaut no offence to the Church
in the invasion of a territory belonging to an
enemy, was taken by surprise. The sudden and impos
ing visit implied, and was intended to impH", some crime
of magnitude against the awful raajesty ofthe Church, to
which he was devoutly attached; the eloquent denun
ciations of the saintly pontiff, his pious conversation and
apostolical authorit3', smote his royal auditor to the heart,
and he recoiled from the abyss of guilt into which his
.J o
'' Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. Iviii. p. 511. it had again fallen into their hands, or
¦= Perugia had been recaptured from that it had ever been annexed to the
the Lombards by the exarch Smarag- states of the Church, or even included
dus, in the year 595; and from that pe- within the duchy of Eome.
riod there is no reason to believe that

Chap. L] EACHIS-AISTULPH. 269
martial ardour had been on the point of plunging him.
The siege of Perugia was instantly abandoned ; and Ra
chis, grateful for his escape from the apprehended penal
ties of perjury and sacrUege, carried into iramediate exe
cution a resolve which, frora his peculiar tone of raind,
there can be little doubt he would sooner or abdication
later have adopted. He descended from his ofEachis.
throne, renounced the world, and entered himself a hum
ble probationer of the fraternity of Monte Casino ; where
but lately Carlmann, the brother of Pippin the Short,
major-domo and king of the Franks, had sought an asy
lum from a world of violence and guilt.''
By the retirement of Rachis the throne of the Lom
bards became vacant ; and it was immediately Aistulph
filled by the elevation of his ambitious brother and
Aistulph. _ The kingdom had at this point of ^''"''^"y-
time attained a degree of power to which no effectual
resistance could be offered within the limits of Itaty. The
Byzantine exarchate, in fact, existed only under the pro
tectorate of the Church ; the military force of the Roraan
duchy was insignificant, nor could the arraies ofthe united
fragments of Greek territory within the peninsula have
furnished the means of a single campaign in the field. The
character ofthe new king ofthe Lombards offered no pro
spect of success for that course of policy which had told so
well upon his more devout predecessors ; and Pope Za
chary soon became sensible that the corslet of Aistulph
was very likely to turn the edge of the keenest of his
spiritual weapons.
We find, in fact, that we have now arrived at a great
turning-point in papal history. The bishop of geouiarfsa-
Rome had in many respects stepped into the tion ofthe
position of a temporal prince. The political p^p^^^'
* Chron. Cassinense, ap. Murat. tom. veral retreats. Eachis was received into
iu. p. 358. Conf. .Borora. A. 750, tom.xii. the Benedictine brotherhood at Monte
p. 558, cum Pag. Crit. The devotional Casino; and Thasia and her daughter
contagion seized at the same time his . collected a community of pious sisters
queen Thasia and his daughter Eatruda. around them at Plumbariola, not far
The royal penitents proceeded in pii- distant from Monte Casino. Both es-
grimage together to the shrine of St. tabUshments profited not a little by the
Peter; and after receiving the aposto- munificence of the royal inmates.
Heal benediction, departed for their se-

270 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
balance of Italy was in his hands : and the maintenance
of that position had become a matter of necessity rather
than of choice ; for b3' this time it was beyond human
contemplation that he should ever step back into the con
dition ofa humble spiritual chief or pastor. A long train
of events and aspirations, in most instances wholly for
eign to the character and the duties of Christian bishops,
had inevitably tended to secularise the papacy. The vast
endowments lavished on the see of Rome by the piet3^ or
a necessary the poUcy of a loug huc of imperial and royal
'^ oTftl v™r benefactors ; the scattered and precarious posi-
territoriai tlou of thcsc cndowmfents ; the disputable titles
possessions under which they were held or claimed ; the im
practicable immunities setup in their favour, — immunities,
nevertheless, of the utmost importance to their security
and quiet enjoyment, — imposed upon the holder of the
chair of Peter all the duties of a temporal prince, and flung
him headlong into the vortex of secular politics. Though
the bitterest spiritual eneray of the empire, the pope had
been converted by a strange compUcation of circumstances
into a political friend ; and in that character had become
involved in a conflict which he had no outward nieans of
bringing to a successful issue, except by converting his
spiritual powers into the instruraents of secular warfare.
Nothing was farther frora the pontifical scheme than the
exaltation of his spiritual enemy the heretical emperor ;
and in an age Uke that we are contemplating, the naked
duty of allegiance, divested as it was of all reUgious
support, would never have induced him to save a shred
and am- ^^ ^^^ Byzautiue dorainion in Italy. Yet his
biguous own arabiguous position as a member of the
position. beUigerent state exposed him at every turn to
the justifiable attack of the opposing power ; and against
neither had he any adequate material resources to back
up his pretensions to stand between them in the character
of a secular mediator. He could not renounce his con
nection with the empire without at the same time aban
doning the last frail prop ofhis anomalous authority at
home ; abroad he had nothing to rely upon against the
organised and gallant arraies of the Lombards but the

Chap. L] PEOSPECTIVE CONNECTION WITH FEANCE. 271
wretched Byzantine garrison, and the tumultuary militia
of the Romans. Every circumstance, therefore, irresisti
bly impelled the pope to the conclusion that there could
be no peace for Rome, no solid teraporal foundation foj-
the spiritual supreraacy already achieved by the see of
Peter, but in the total overthrow both of the Greek and
the Lombard powers in Italy, and the appropriation of
their spoils by the holy see.
There is abundant historical ground to believe that
this object had by this time shaped itself very
distinctly in the mind ofthe papacy: tke terri- oTcontSu-"
torn of its reliqious enemy, the emperor, must v^^}^,^, ac-
be definitively annexed to tke patrimony of St.
Peter, together with as rauch more extensive a territorial
estate as opportunity raight bring- within its grasp ; and
for the entire domain thus acquired, all the iraraunities
and exemptions frora secular control, and the incidents of
secular warfare, hitherto claimed onbehalf of the Church
patrimony, must be irreversibly established. But there
remained the arduous and apparently hopeless task of
wresting these prospective acquisitions from the hands of
the Lombard enemy. And, in fact, the whole course of
the papal policy was thenceforward directed to the ac
complishraent of this single object. That object was to
be effected by a simple cliange of protectorate ; and that
protectorate to be of a nature to secure all tke advan
tages of effectual secidar support without the incidents of
political dependence, or of any such reciprocity of obliga
tion as raight bind the hands of the pope or irapede the
progress of the spiritual autocracy.
The religious and political state ofthe Frankish king
dom afforded the desired opportunity, and pre- prospective
sented the means for the solution ofthe problem ^connection
in hand. The eyes of the popes had been for ^'
some time past fixed upon the church and government of
France as the quarter from which their deliverance was to
proceed. But with a view to show the progress already
raade by the see of Rome, and the meaus, spiritual and
teraporal, at her comraand for further encroachments upon
the constitutional privUeges of other churches, we must

272 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
cast a glance back at the state of the Christian churches
in Western Europe during the seventh and the first half
of the eighth century. We shall thereby acquire a more
distinct notion of the relations in which the more im
portant branches of the Latin church stood towards the
Roman patriarch, and bring under observation the ele
ments of that nearer connection which was to grow up
between them in the following age.

CHAPTER II.
SPAIN AND FEANCE IN THE SEVENTH CENTUEY.
I. The churches of Spain in the seventh century — Constitutional powers of the
Spanish clergy — Papal confirmations unknown to Spanish clergy — Commu
nications with Eome — Independent action of the Spanish churches — Their
replies to the papal censures — Eoman influence in Spain at the epoch of the
Arab conquest — II. Latin Christianity among the Franks — Conversion of the
Franks — its character — Modes of conversion — State of the Frankish clergy —
Christianity among the Franks — Priestcraft — Moral state — Civil and political
state — Clerical judicatures, prerogatives, and immunities — Powers and secular
habits of Prankish bishops — The mayor of the palace, his powers, &c. — Leudes
— Antrustions — Bishops a constituent estate of the kingdom — Advancing pri
vileges ofthe clergy — Declining influence of Eome in the Frankish churches —
Elements of reformation — Principle of " church unity" — Eome the "mother,"
&c. — Vantage-ground of Eome.
Though ultiraately struck out of the list of Christian na
tions by the Arab conquest of the eighth cen
tury, yet the Gothic monarchy of Spain was of SpairTin^
stili destined to endure for more than a een- *®g^j„™*
tur3'^, frora the conversion of Reccared to the
overthrow of King Roderick in the year 712. And there
are peculiarities in the history of the intercourse of the
Spanish churches with the holy see during that period
which throw some light upon the degree and intensity
of papal influence at this stage of its progress, and may
enable us to form a more accurate estimate of the value
attached by the men of that age to the claims of the
Petrine chair upon the Christian world.
The conformity of King Reccared to the catholic
faith, in the year 586, certainly increased the powers of
influence of Rome » in the Visigothic kingdoms, the Spanish
Pope Gregory the Great had taken steps to "^'^^^'
withdraw the appointment of bishops and superior clergy
from the direct noraination of the laity, and to correct
the siraoniacal practices which poUuted the churches of
Spain ;^ but he did not attempt to draw these appoint-
» Conf. Book III. c. vi. p. 183, and e. vu. p, 226.
VOL. II. T

274 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
ments to hiraself; nor is it probable that he succeeded
in the single atterapt recorded of him to acquire original
jurisdiction in the so-called " Causae majores" or " Epis-
copales.'"" And it so happened that during the whole
course of the seventh century the attention of the Roraan
pontiffs was so absorbed by the solicitudes of their own
political position, their controversies with the Orientals,
and the management of the Itahan and Gallic churches,
that they had little leisure to attend to the affairs ofthe
remote peninsula of Spain. The ecclesiastical system was
therefore left to work its own way, and was enabled to
acquire a position of great social and political iraportance.
The clergy, in fact, becarae the preponderating power in
the state," and took a large share in State-legislation and
the raanagement of public affairs. The periodical assem
blies of the superior clergy flowed into and becarae em
bodied with the legislative diets ofthe kingdom. At these
great meetings kings, princes, nobles, and prelates dis
cussed together matters teraporal and spiritual : they re
gulated the succession to the crown ; they deposed and set
up kings; they absolved subjects frora their oaths of alle
giance, and imposed others corresponding- with the changes
of government; and enacted laws for the whole body of
the State. At the same tirae, and in the same assemblies,
they took order for the government ofthe churches ; they
appointed and deposed bishops; and passed numerous
canons for the better celebration of divine worship, the
regulation of discipline, the prevention of simon3', the sup
pression of popular superstitions, and a variet3r of other
objects of purely religious and ecclesiastical interest.
Ofthe twenty-eight national synods held within the
Papal power scveiith ccutury, we are in possession of the
of confirma- acts of tweuty-seveii. In all these docuraents
tion unknown • t • j. i j? r
to the Span- a Single instance only occurs of any reference
ish churches, to the Confirmatory or visitatorial authority of
the see of Rome. There is not a vestige of evidence to
" Conf. Book III. p. 227. benediction. Baronius (.A.. 688) remarks
' It is related of King Egica, that of this humble demeanour, that it was
when he opened the xvith council of "dignum exemplum catholici princi-
Toledo, he prostrated himself before pis."
the assembled prelacy, and craved their

Chap. IL] EOME AND THE SPANISH CHUECHES. 275
show that the canons or body of laws enacted by those
assemblies were ever reported to, or brought officially to
the knowledge of, the holy see. From this circumstance
it raay be safel3^ inferred, that the papal claim to imme
diate and circumstantial reports of all that should be re
solved or decreed in national or provincial S3'nods, with
a view to the unfettered exercise of the alleged power to
confirra or annul such acts or resolutions, was during all
that period unknown to the Spanish churches.
It might not, indeed, be quite fair, considering the re
moteness of the Spanish peninsula, to deraand communica-
the proof of a uniforra transmission of reports ''°"^ °f ^^
and orders to and from Rome, before we admit chCrches
any of these clairas as established in Spain. '""'^ ^'"^^¦
Yet the confident language of the papal writers, in affir
raation ofthe absolute universalit3^ ofthe practice, would
lead us to expect, in the case of Spain, as of other prin
cipal churches, to find araong the acts of these great
national synods some positive acknowledgment of Roman
supremacy ; or at least some reverential allusion to the
pontifical acts and ordinances, sorae dutiful mention of
their authority, some expressions of regret at being- de
prived of the papal instructions, or that, whUe raaking-
laws for the government of the national church, they
should have been kept in ignorance of that perfect code
of prerogative law held out to them as the only true
principle of religious legislation, binding- alike upon all
Christian princes, prelates, and people. But of all this
there is no trace in the records themselves. The fourth
council of Toledo, held in the 3'ear 610, mentions the
narae of Pope Gregor3' the Great, and authorises the
Roman forra of adrainistering the eucharist upon his
authority.'' At the council of SeviUe, held in the year
619, " the decrees of the kings and the edicts of the
popes are raentioned as authorities or rules for deter-
raining the territorial extent ofthe episcopal jurisdictions
and the hmits of dioceses.' After this, no aUusion to
Rome occurs in any extant Spanish councU till the year
"' This occurs in the xviiith canon. ' Id. ibid. p. 296.
Fleury, H. E. tom. viu. p. 364.

276 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
683. In that year Pope Leo II. sent a legate into Spain
to demand the submission of those churches to the acts
of the sixth general council, then lately held at Con
stantinople, against the heresy of the Monothehtes. The
legate carried with him a copy of the acts in question,
together with letters from the pope to the king, the
clergy, and nobility of the realm,' apprising them of the
proceedings of the council, and calling upon them to ac
cept and publish the acts as the established rule of faith
upon the dogma of the divine and human wUl in the
Christ, and to send them back to Rome with the signa
tures of all the bishops attached to them.^
But before a reply to the papal demand could be
received from Spain, Pope Leo II. died, and
action 0° th'e* was succceded by the popular Roman presbyter
Spanish Bcuedict II. His first care was to remind the
the Mono- legate ofthe holy see in Spain ofthe important
theiite con- (j^^y committed to hira, and to urg-e him with-
troversy. ^ i- • i • i ^
out loss of time to obtain the confirmatory sig
natures of the bishops to the acts of the general council
of Constantinople, held three years before (a.d. 681). But
this monition arrived immediately after the dissolution of
the general annual synod of the Spanish churches, and
the lateness of the season rendered it impossible to recall
them.* It is obvious that the Spaniards regarded the
whole subject as a question, not of individual, but of ag
gregate concernment. Their church had received no in
timation of the matter of controversy, nor of the inten
tion to bring it before a general assembly of the Church.
No summons to attend such assembly had reached them ;
nor had time or opportunity been afforded to consider
and decide upon the merits of the discussion. Such an
exclusion from the councils of Christendom entitled them
to regard the whole question as open to a free inquiry on
their part ; and in that opinion the bishops ofthe Cartha
ginian province, assembled at Toledo, in the winter of the
' Cardinal Baronius (A. 683) unfor- however, regard them as genuine.
tunately finds the name of Pope Hono- e See the letter of Leo II. ap. Hard.
rius I. on the list of beresiarchs condem- Cone. tom. iii. p. 1733 et sqq.
ned by the councU, and pronounces the ^ Cone. Tolet. xiv. § 3, ap. Hard. tom.
letters to be forgeries. Pagi and Fleury, in. p. 1754.

Chap. IL] INDEPENDENCE OF THE SPANISH CHUECHES. 277
year 684, with as many of the neighbouring prelates, or
their vicars, as could be conveniently brought together,
fully concurred. They carefully examined the acts sent
for their signatures with those of the first four general
councils, with a view to ascertain their dogmatic conform
ity ; and having satisfied themselves that no discrepancy
or departure from the catholic faith was to be detected in
them, the3' freely sig-nified their concurrence in the deci
sions ofthe late council, and assigned to thera a rank next
after the first four general councils among the records of
the national church.'
The Spanish prelacy thus appear to have adopted the
acts of the synod of 681 spontaneously, and Their reply
without regard to extraneous authority. They to the papal
confirmed this decision in the subsequent Tole- "*"^"''®-
dan council of 688. That they had proceeded upon a per
fectly independent examination of the whole subject, is
apparent frora an incident adverted to at great length in
the minutes of the latter synod. It appears that in their
letter transmitted by the legate to Pope Benedict II. on
the prior occasion, they had used certain terras respect
ing the procession of the divine will in the Christ,^ which
had been raisunderstood or misconstrued by the pope.
They therefore replied to the pontifical censure by an ela
borate appeal to the writings of the fathers in proof of
the orthodox3' of their opinions upon the points in dispute,
concluding with a solemn declaration, that " if, after that
explanation, and the dicta of the fathers by which it was
supported, they (the Roman divines) should in any way
differ or dissent from their decision, no further controversy
ought to be entered into ; they knowing that by adhering
rigidly to the instructions of the fathers, their answers
would stand high in the opinion of all who by the grace
of God were (real) friends ofthe truth, although ignorant
cavillers might regard them as frivolous.'"'
The independent tone of the Spaniards ; their indif-
' Cone. Tolet.-xiv. § 3, ap. Hard. pp. '' Cone. Tolet. xv. loc. eit. pp. 1766,
1753-1756; particularly § vi. p. 1755. 1767. Conf. Fleury, tom. ix. p. 92; Bar-
i " Voluntas genuit voluntatem, ut sa- ron. A. 684, tom. xu. pp. 99, 100.
pientia sapientiam."

278 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
Eoman in- f^rcnce to the papal mandate, and their ayerse-
fluences in ucss to acknowledge any conciliar decision to
^epoch'o*" which they were not made parties as binding
the Arab upou them, offer conclusive proof that up to this
invasion, p^jj^j q£ ^.jj^g ^^^g papal preteusious had made
but little progress in the peninsula. The reason ofthe
failure is to be sought in the remoteness of that country
from the centre of Latin Christianity, and the self-existent
character of the Spanish hierarchy, resulting from the
long suspension of political and social intercourse with the
rest ofthe Christian world. It would be curious to specu
late upon what might have been the ultiraate effect of this
independent spirit, if the Arab invasion had been success
fully repelled. But by that event the Visigothic church
and nation were well-nigh extirpated from the land ; and
by the time that the distressed remnant which survived
the general wreck had struggled once raore into national
life, the ensign of Rome floated triumphantly over the
nations of the West ; and neither S3'mpathy nor aid was
to be looked for from any other quarter. It is not im
probable that the Arab scimitar fought the battle of Rome
raore eff'ectually than all the spiritual artillery she could
have brought to bear.
Some notice has already been taken of the state of
the Gallic churches under the earlier princes
Christianity of the Meroviugiau d3rnasty.' It is, however,
'^p°°°k'*^ important in this place to direct our attention
raore at length to the operation of Latin Chris
tianity upon the state both of clergy and commoiialt3" in
those iraportant realms, with a view to account for that
more intiraate connection by which the papac3^ was about
to profit so largely.
Though the Franks had, by their conversion, changed
the objects of their religious worship, it was long
of the before the)^ could be prevailed upon to abandon
Franks; its ^{jg forms of paganism. From their earlier
character. •' i i i i • i
teachers they learnt that the saints, as the spi
ritual ancestry of their church, were familiarly conversant
' Book in. c. vi. pp. 183-186.

Chap. H.] THE FEANKISH CLEEGY. 279
with, and took a lively interest in, all that passed on the
scene of their passion and their labours here below ; that
their intercession with the glorified Saviour was always
listened to with peculiar favour ; that a raysterious virtue,
highly beneficial to the possessors, was attached to their
relics ; and that it was the duty of every good Christian
to visit their shrines, to lay his requests before them, and
to expect a favourable answer, if his petitions were pre
ferred with earnestness and sincerity : and that the proofs
of this proper state of mind lay in liberal gifts to the
guardians ofthe shrines, in building and endowing places
of worship in their honour, and in the transfer to the new
temples of every remnant or memorial of them that could
be procured by the raost dUigent search.
These instructions fell in aptly with the national pre
dilections, and facilitated the progress of con- Modes of
formity. For, in fact, the so-caUed conversion eonversion.
of the barbaric races amounted to little raore than a shift
ing of the honours they were accustoraed to pay to their
own deified ancestry to the saints whom the new teachers
taught them to adore. Instead of the groves, the hill
tops, and the fountains, where their progenitors had sacri
ficed, they now chose the churches for that purpose ; they
slew the victims at the church-porch ; the3' deposited the
carcasses upon the altar; they feasted upon the sacrificial
meats, and emptied the bowl in honour of the confessors
and martyrs of the faith.'" The primitive missionaries
-Remigius, Columbanus, Gall, Wilfred, Willibrord, and
others, aimed, indeed, at a purer forra of Christianity.
Neither their religion nor their methods of conversion
were derived from Rome. But the spirit of accommoda
tion and comproraise soon tainted the rainistrations of
their successors; and when the purer race of teachers
had passed a-way, the clergy almost universally abandoned
themselves to the current of popular habits and g^^^^ ^^ ^.j^^
superstitions. The rural priesthood was of ne- Prankish
cessit3' recruited from araong the new converts ; ''^®"'^^-
" Vit. S. Columb. by Jonas, as quoted cmnt, loc. m. cit. pp. 66,77,106; Hartz-
by Canciani, Barb. Legg. Antiq. tom. iU. heim, ConcU. Germ. Ann. 742, can. 5;
p. 90. Epp. S. Greg. Mag. Ub. xi. ep. Capit. Eeg. Franc. Cone. ibid. p. 216.
76. Indiculus superstitionum, ap. Can-

280 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
and thus it happened that in many provinces bishops
were to be found ignorant of the common ritual of the
Church, — unacquainted even with the proper form of ad
ministering the rite of baptism. Admission to the priest
hood was obtained without inquir3'^ into the life and con
versation of the candidate ; often, indeed, without regular
ordination, and by means of impudent pretension or im
posture." The superior clergy frequently interfered to check
Christianity *^^ grosscst of thcsc heathenish practices and
among the abuscs ; but the mode of cure for the most part
""*" ^' consisted in giving encouragement to saint-wor
ship, the use of consecrated tapers, votive images and
tablets, processions, and other observances, which mio-ht
furnish a sufficient variety of objects and forms of wor
ship to satisfy the cravings of the popular appetite, and
perhaps gradually tend to divert the attention of the
people frora those grosser usages they were required to
abandon." The religion of Franks, Saxons, and Ger
mans consisted in a firm belief in the miracles of the
Saviour and the host of saints whom their teachers had
substituted for the discarded deities of their ancestors.
They held themselves rigidly bound to the performance
of certain outward acts pertaining to the worship of God ;
but those acts had little connection in their minds with
an3- rule of personal raorality. The offences they were
most careful to avoid were, disrespect or contempt of the
saints, their churches, their relics, and their priests ; but
even these, and ever3' other offence in the great catalogue
of human infirmities, might be atoned for by the building
and enriching of churches, monasteries, and hospitals;
by liberality to the clergy, and (in case of the worst) the
punctual performance of certain stated penances.^ With
° Cap. Beg. Franc. lib. vi. § 72, p. c. vu. p. 222-224.
267; lib. vn. § 316, p. 338; and §405, P See the beatifi.eation of Chrodinus
p. 347. Cap. Carol. Mag. ap. aartz- for his benefactions to the churches, ap.
heim. Cone. Germ. tom. i. p. 271. Cap. Greg. Turon. lib. vi. c. xx. p. 277; and
Beg. Franc. Add. tom. iii. § 93, p. 393; the reprobation of Marcus the Eeferen-
lib. vii. § 195, p. 325; and Add. iv. § 32, dary ifor his sordidness, notwithstand-
p. 393. ing that he had received the tonsure on
° See the recommendations of Gre- his deathbed. Ibid. lib. vi. c. xxviii. p.
gory the Great to Augustine. Book III. 280.

Chap. IL] THB FEANKISH CLEEGY. 281
all this, the pupil went on sinning till his priest clairaed
the penalty ; and then — be it in the day of affliction and
anguish, or in a sudden paroxysm of compunction, or at
the hour of death — it was almost always punctually dis
charged. In such a state ofthe religious conscience, it is a raatter
of experience that violent outbursts of remorse priestcraft
should produce the most singular acts of self- among the
torture and ascetic extravagance. The clergy ^'¦^''''^¦
of France were in the habit of holding up such practices
to public admiration ; they seized upon the merits of mar
tyrs, confessors, saints, and anchorites, as their own spe
cial property ; they enhanced their brightness by a long
catalogue of miracles appended to each name of note ;
the muster-roll of saints was swelled b3'' names of doubt
ful tradition or pure invention ; and every raeans was
adopted to irapart to them (as heretofore observed) the
character of local divinities, endowed with power to re
ward friends, favourites, and devotees, and to punish with
the most sudden and appalling visitations any disrespect
to themselves, or injury to their chuyches or the appointed
guardians of their shrines.''
But besides these sources of gain,"' the wealth of the
clergy had been greatly augmented by lavish „ ,
n n 'J» e* JM[ora<l COIl-
grants of land from the fiscal estates ofthe sove- dition ofthe
reigns ; and these lands had become for the most ^rani^ish
part discharged of all state imposts or taxes.'
In fact, the extent and -value of church property had,
within the sixth century, swelled beyond proportion to
1 Conf. the following passages in the burdened with the old Eoman tributum.
History of Gregory of Tours, Hist. Eccl. Lists of all such tributary lands as had
Fr. lib. iv. c. ir. p. 204 ; lib. v. c. vi. been thus retained were scrupulously
p. 257; lib, vU. c. xxii. p. 300. Ibid. preserved in the fiscus of the kings;
c. xiii. p. 31 1 ; Ub. viii. c. xvi. p. 320. and according to these Usts the crown
Ibid. a. xxxiu. p. 323. Ibid c. xxxiv. and its grantees were entitled to levy
p. 329. tribute upon the possessors. But in a fit
¦¦ The traflSc in relics had proved very of compunction, or superstitious terror,
profitable to the clergy. See the story the notorious Fredigundis .burnt the
of the "Thumb of St. Sergius," ap.Grejr. registers ofthe church lands inwhich
'Turon. lib. vui. c. xxxi. p. 305. she was entitled to tribute, and per-
» The Gallic churches had, in fact, suaded her husband Chilperich to do the
never been wholly deprived of the lands like with those of all the crown lands
and revenues they enjoyed before the enjoyed by the churches. Cfreg. Turon.
Frankish conquest. These lands they lib. v. c. xxxv. p. 253.
continued to hold as allodia, but stUl

282 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
that of any other class of subjects. The vices and cor
ruptions of" the clergy kept even pace with this increase
of their wealth. They stigmatised every attempt to check
the career of acquisition as godless persecution. Thus
Gregory of Tours describes the government of King Chil
perich of Soissons as one continuous series of persecutions,
because that monarch endeavoured to set bounds to the
rapacity ofthe churchmen. Yet it is remarkable that the
bishop himself bears testiraony to the literal truth of every
allegation by which that prince justified his obnoxious pro
ceedings. He accuses the superior clergy of unblushing
covetousness and debauchery ; he rebukes the wholl3'' secu
lar, and even the mUitary, habits of bishops and abbots ;
their rautual feuds, homicides, and murders, and their in
decorous alacrity in mixing themselves up on ever^^ prac
ticable occasion with the political broils ofthe worldlings.'
As far as the interests of the civil state were affected
Civil condi- ^y ^^^^ formidable accumulation oflanded wealth
tion of the in the hands of the clerg3', the remedy, as al-
ciergy- ready observed, had suggested itself." The veto
assumed by the kings restored to them almost all the
advantages, civil, military, and fiscal, which they had
theoretically forfeited by tlieir pi-odigalit3' to the Church.
The prerogative of free election to vacant sees and spi
ritual benefices of importance was practically annuUed ;'
3-et the personal privileges of the clerg3r do not appear
to have suffered more than occasional infractions. The
bishops, as already remarked,"' were exempted from the
lay judicature in all criminal cases, that of high treason
not excepted. For the latter offence, as well as all other
crimes of" an aggravated character, they were amenable to
' Greg. Turon. lib. iv, c. ii. p. 208; ce. v. vii., with Canciani^ s nole, p. 193.
lib. V. c. xxi. p. 247. Clerical homicides Infractions ofthe right of free eleolion,
and assassinations, lib. viii. c. xxix. p. ap. Greg. Turon. lib. iv. c. xv. p. 210,
324. Intriguing priests, lib. vi. c. xi. p. and c. xxvi. p. 215. Conf. Cane. Barb.
272; 0. xxii. p. 277. Martial prelates. Leg. Ant. tom. in. pp. 190, 191, note (3).
lib. vi. c. xliii. p. 225; Ub. vii, c. xxxvii. Lay bishops, Greg. Turon. lib. vi. c.
p 309, andc. xxxix. p. 310. See Book xxxviii. p. 286, and c. j^lvi. lib. viii. c.
III. c. vi. p. 185. xxxix. p. 330, and c. xii. p. 331. And
" Book III. c. vi. pp. 185, 186. compare Greg. Mag. Epp. ap. D. Bouq.
" As to the proceedings at such elec- tom. iii. pp. 13-16.
tions, we refer to Greg. Turon. lib. v. " Book III. c. vi. p. 184.
c. V. p. 235; Marculfi, Formulae, lib. i.

Chap. IL] CLEEICAL JUDICATUEES, &c. 283
no tribunal but that of the peers of their own order ; and
the only law held applicable to their case was the Roman
and the canon laws, as contained in the Theodosian code,
and the usual collections of general or national synods."
But the inferior clergy were still responsible to the civil
judicature for the crimes of treason, murder, and theft.
Of their private disputes among one another, the bishop
was the only competent judge. Yet, as in the da3's of
the empire, the bishop raight, with the consent clerical judi-
of the parties, take cognisance of a great many matures.
civil causes ; and, when to this voluntary refereeship was
added the cognisance of a multitude of other crimes, —
such as adultery, sacrilege, blasphemy, sorcery, desecra
tion of churches and holy places, shedding of blood within
the sacred precincts, breach of sanctuary, and others of a
like mixed description, — the whole amount ofjurisdiction
acquired iraplied an enorraous encroachment upon the
competency of the civil judicature. Such temptations to
break down all barriers must, in so rude and incautious
an age, have been irresistible ; and although the eccle
siastical judge could inflict none but canonical punish
ments, 3-et all that is most valuable to raan in society —
the title by which he holds all the rest, honour, reputa
tion, and station in the world — was placed at his mercy.
For their personal immunities, their jurisdictions, and
their accumulations, the clergy strenuously in- q^^^-^^^-^
sisted upon absolute exemption from taxation, rogatives and
public services, and from all unprofitable or ™'""""i'*s-
merely burdensome secular offices. T^hey maintained that
they "were the servants of the poor, and their possessions
the propert3r of the poor ; that property was, the3- alleged,
a hallowed fund, which might not be touched by profane
hands without incurring the highest displeasure of Al
raighty God, and the certain vengeance of the patron
saint.^ These privileges were, upon the whole, raaintained
" Eichhorn, Staats "und Eechts-Ge- dius of Eheims for high treason, lib. x.
schichte, vol. i. p. 260. See the cases c. xix. p. 396.
of Praetextatus of Eouen, those of the ^ Conf. the maledictions of Gregory
bishops of Gap and Embrun, and of of Tours upon King Chilperich, H. E.
Gregory of Tours himself,— Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. xxvU. p. 250. See also lib.
Ub. V. c. xix. p. 246; c. xxi. p. 247; c. iv. c. U. p. 204, and lib. x. c. xxx. p.
xxviu. p. 250. See also the trial of ^gi- 350.

284 CATHEDEA PETKL [Book IV.
with success. Though, in the heat of passion, or in the
eagerness of gain, it often happened that the distinction
between priest and layman was lost sight of, and that
occasionally, for the gratification of revenge or avarice,
bishops and abbots were imprisoned, tortured, beaten, or
even mortally injured -^ yet a profitable compunction ge
nerally followed the offence. The Frank was firmly per
suaded that he could compound with the saints for such
irregularities in the same way that he was in the habit
of compounding with his neighbour for personal injuries,
thefts, robberies, and the like ; that is, by a money-pay
ment — a spiritual weregeld, whereby he raight, if he had
the pecuniary raeans, satisfy the most unreasonable of
the celestial host.* In this way the clergy were often
enabled to carry their grievances and sufferings to an
advantageous market, and get back, in the shape of pen
ances, a great deal more than they lost b3^ the offences
which had incurred them.
While the clergy individuall3^ were thus rapidl)'^ ex-
Po^gr of tjjg tending their influence, their superiors had as-
Frankish sumcd all the prerogatives of la3^ princes : they
'^ °^''' went out to battle with one another, and with
the nobles of their own dioceses and cities ;'' they took an
active part in the civil wars and intrigues of the day.
In these encounters they exhibited all the ferocity and
craft which distinguished the wars and the politics of
the age. Thus, Bishop Arnulph of Metz became the
leader of the rebellion which dethroned and ruined the
celebrated Queen Brunehildis, and placed Chlothar II.
upon the throne ; and it is to that active prelate that we
trace the germ of that revolution which gradually sub
stituted the power of the mayors of the palace for that of
the legitimate descendants of Clovis."
As early as the beginning of the seventh centur3'^, the
The mayor mayor ofthepalacc of the Frankish kings — ori-
^ace-^hi'' ginally only the chief officer, or lord-steward, of
power's, &c. tile royal household — had obtained the uncon-
2 Greg. Turon. lib. v. e. xxix. p. 251. xxi. pp. 294-297.
» Eichhorn, op. mod. cit. § 28, p. 90. •= Cont. in Fredig. Chron. cc, xxxix.-
i" Greg. Turon. lib. v. co. xxi. xxv. xiii. ap. D. Bouq. tom. ii. pp. 423-430.
xxvi. pp. 247-250; lib. vii. cc. ii. xiii.

Chap. IL] THE BISHOPS. 285
trolled management and administration of the royal do
mains. In that capacity he became the chief
of the Leudes, or beneficiaries of the crown. ^^^ ^™'i^^-
The latter soon learnt to regard that great officer as
their constitutional superior, and to take a lively interest
in the appointment. The king could no longer venture
to place a person displeasing to his Leudes at their head.'*
The ancient birth-nobility ofthe Franks had by this time
raerged in the raere nobility of office ; the old allodial
partitioners of the territory conquered from the Roraans
had melted into the mass of ministerials and retainers of
the court, and in those capacities had fallen under the
jurisdiction of the raayors of the palace. But araong the
raass ofthe aristocracy we distinguish a less nuraerous
but raore powerful body of officials called the " king's
Antrustions." This class consisted of the more
wealth^'" lay nobles', or " Proceres," and of the
great prelates of the realm. These persons constituted
the ordinary council ofthe crown; but upon special occa
sions the kings were accustoraed to convoke the body of
the nation, consisting of bishops, Proceres, Leudes, An
trustions, and free men, in one huge assemblage.' The
right of the prelates to take a leading part in
these national meetings rested upon the same ^ '^ °^^'
ground as that ofthe landed aristocracy generally; viz.
high office, and territorial power derived from the exten
sive allodia of their churches, or the still more important
grants of crown domain. But as the greater prelates all
bore the character of the " king's Antrustions," they en
tered into the closer community ofthe king's ordinar3- or
priv3- council. They were for the most part the creatures
of his appointment ; and they looked to him for further
advancement, and for protection against the ever-ready
encroachments of the lay nobility. They were, in short,
regarded as the "king's friends," and soon became the
secular as well as the spiritual advisers ofthe crown.
^ The tragical fate of Brunehildis is " Called the Field of March, because
attributed to ber determination to main- commonly assembled in that month of
tain her favourite Protadius in that post the year. Eichhorn, St. u. Eechts-Gesch.
against the wishes ofthe Austrasian and vol. i. p. 298 ; Cancian. Barb. Leg. Ant.
Burgundian aristocracy. Cont. T^red^. tom. iii. p. 114.
ubi sup.

286 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
As an acknowledged estate ofthe king-dom, the bishops
a constituent ^^^^ greater abbots took a share in all important
estate of the trausactious of statc. Thus the great revolu-
'^'^^'°'- tion which (a.d. 613) raised Chlothar II. to
the throne upon the ruins of the house of Childebert, was
the joint work of the prelates and nobilit3- of the three
realms of Neustria, Austrasia (Germanv), and Burgundy.
Two years after this event (a.d. 615), a general S3^nod,
or diet, consisting of the clergy and laity of the three
kino-doras, was held at Paris. The nobles deraanded and
obtained securities ag-ainst the arbitrary resumption of
benefices by the crown. The clerg3r brought under dis
cussion the irregular interferences of the kings with the
canonical course of episcopal elections, and the frequent
citations of spiritual persons before the secular judges.
It was obvious to the clerg-y that the power of the kings
to promote their interests was upon the decline; their
attention was therefore necessaril3r turned to the task of
creating for themselves a position in the commonwealth
independent both of the crown, that could no long-er pro
tect, and of the great nobility, that had alternatel3' en-
. J riched and plundered them. To that end, they
Advancing ,.,^^n t p/ni
privileges of obtained from the great diet ot61o decrees pro-
the clergy, hffji^ijjg. q]\ appeals by spiritual persons to the
king, his court, or council, to the prejudice of the episco-
paljurisdictions, or to obtain immunity against ecclesias
tical censures. At the same time the king renounced the
prerogative of arbitrar3'' appointment to vacant sees, as
hitherto practised. '^ In the civil suits of spiritual persons
the jurisdiction of the civil courts was taken awa3^, but
in criminal cases the inferior clerg3- still remained in the
hands of the secular judge ; 3'et now, even in the case
of an ordinar3'^ clerk, the presence of a bishop was made
necessary to constitute a corapetent tribunal ; and it was
decreed that the culprit should be tried, not b3r the com
raon or civil law, but by the canons of the Church.^
This state of things endured throughout the seventh
' The decree of the diet differs from tom. viii. p. 280-282.
the recorded rule or canon of the Church. s Baluz. Capit. Eeg. Fr. tom. i. p. 8.
The former reserves the royal velo, the Conf. Schmidt, Gesch. der Deutschen,
latter takes no notice ofit. Conf. Fleury, vol. i. pp. 271, 272.

Chap. IL] ELEMENTS OF EEFOEMATION. 287
and the first half of the eighth centur3^ During the
whole of that period — or, we should perhaps rather
say, till the appearance ofthe reformer Boniface upon the
stage — the traces of connection between Rome Dechning in-
and the Gallic churches are extremely faint, fluence of
Since the incidental appointraents of Virgilius French
of Aries and Syagrius of Autun by Gregory oi^i^rches.
the Great as his vicars in France,'' we hear of no renewal
or revival of that office. Those prelates were the last who
had applied for and accepted the gift of the paUiura ;
appeals to Rorae had become extremely rare ; the Gallic
bishops, like those of Spain, continued to hold their pro
vincial and national s3'nods without reference to the pon
tiffs, and without even the ordinary notification of their
proceedings, or the transmission of copies of the acts
of council, certainly without troubling themselves about
their confirmation or approval.'
As we approach the reforms ofthe eighth centur3r, we
are curious to know what tendencies or capabi- Elements of
lities ofa favourable change existed in the actual reformation.
constitution ofthe GaUic and Germanic churches. Upon
this subject we here observe that in France, as in Spain,
the clergy were, as a body, a constituent estate of" the
kingdora, — an estate possessed of preponderance of wealth
and political po"wer. Corruptions of the worst description
had, indeed, crept into the system ; but not, as in Spain,
to the almost total absorption of the spiritual in the poli
tical character. The vices of the French clerg3^ had en
countered vehement censure from thepurer-rainded among
themselves ; and it is raanifest that there remained at
bottora a fund of piety favourable to the introduction of
a raore regular and purer systera of moral and religious
discipline. The raost iraportant feature in Gallic cliurch-
poht3', however, was the ever- living- principle of principle of
church unity. Amid all their deviations from <-^^'^".jcii
Christian practice, no change is perceptible in
the idea of that outward uniformity, which, in the general
absence of spiritual Christianity was perhaps the only
!¦ Book III. c. vU. p. 226.
' Conf. Mannert, Gesch. der Frank. &c. tom. i. p. 315.

288 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
security for the subsistence of religion in the world.
Practically that unity, or uniformity, was the solitary
principle the clergy could build upon, both against the
encroachments ofthe laity and the disturbers ofthe re
ligious peace among themselves. The Franks
mother of contiuued to regard Rome as their spfritual
Gallic progenitrix. The advocates of reform had, in
cJtiurcii6S ~ rm-m
fact, no other support to rely upon. There was
obviously no remedy to be found but in the interposition
of a strong hand endowed with power and authority to
sweep away the accumulated pollutions which defiled
the national church.
At an3r favourable juncture, therefore, it was in the
Vantage- power of Rouic to present to the Gallic clergy
ground of their actual condition as a state of unnatural
^°^^' estrangeraent frora the source of religious and
ecclesiastical life. It would be, then, no difficult matter
to direct the national conscience into the channel already
prepared for it to flow in ; the frst step being always to
engage the interest of tke princes in the meditated re
forms ; and the next, to substitute, in the place of the
var3dng forms, customs, and canons received in the Gal
lic churches, a new and uniform rule of ecclesiastical law
— that rule to be always the canon and decretal law of
Bome.

CHAPTER IIL
BEITISH CHUECHES IN THE SEVENTH CENTUEY. (L)
The British churches — Scottish and Irish churches — Patrick — Columba — Origin
of these churches — Differ from the Latins — Differences — Laurentius of Can
terbury — His complaint — King Eadbert apostatises — The sons of Sabert — Ee
treat of the Eoman mission — Artifice of Laurentius — Eecall of the mission —
Melitus and Justus — King Edwin of Northumbria — marries Ethelburga — Pau
linus of York — Conversion of Edwin — Vision of Edwin — its result — Character
of Edwin's conversion — The priesthood of the Anglo-Saxons — Facilities of
conversion — Mode of conversion — Eenunciation of idol-worship — Destruction
of idol-temples — Baptism of Edwin — Pope Honorius I. rewards Paulinus —
Eome and the British and Scotch churches — Death of Edwin, and extinc
tion of the Eoman mission in Northumbria — ^Expulsion of Paulinus — Osric —
Eanfrid — Oswald recovers the kingdom — sends for missionaries from Scotland
— Aidan at Lindisfarn — Scottish form of episcopal ordination — Apology ofthe
Venerable Bede — Labours of Aidan — Middle Anglia and Mercia added to the
Northumbrian church — Finnan of Lindisfarn — King Oswy extends the Scot
tish establishment — Independence of the Northumbrian church — Simplicity
ofthe Scottish divines — incompetent disputants — Eevival ofthe Paschal con
troversy — Eonan — Wilfred — Agilbert — Conference of "Whitby — Public dis
cussion — Argument of Bishop Colman — Eeply of Wilfred — Inconsistency of
the Paschal theory ofthe Scots — Eejoinder of Colman — Answer of Wilfred —
aUeges the Petrine power — Victory ofthe Latins— Examination of their argu
ment — Intent of the Latins — Eetreat of the Scottish hierarchy.
In reviewing the progress of the papal scheme during
the sixth and seventh centuries, the state of The British
Christianity in the British Islands caUs for a churches.
considerable share of our attention. Though the re-
establishment of the Christian profession in Britain was
in a prominent degree the work of Rome, yet it should
not be forgotten that that profession had never been
wholly extirpated b3'" the Saxon conquest. The remnant
of the British race, confined to the mountain regions
of Wales and Cumberland, stiU kept alive the embers
VOL. II. u

290 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
of the common faith in the West ; while in the south
western districts of Scotland a church had recently
sprung up in absolute independence of all foreign con-
The Scottish Election or control. This branch of the great
or Irish Christian community took its origin from the
church, priniitive church of Ireland, estabhshed in that
island about the middle of the fifth century by a mission
from the Gallic churches, under the direction of certain
devout men, who in after-times have found a common
Patrick, representative under the narae of Patricius, or
Coiuinba. Patrick.* In the 3^ear 565, Columba, or Colom,
an Irish monk, obtained frora the raaritirae chief of the
Caledonian Picts a gr-ant of the sraall island of Hii,
now known by the name of Icolmkil. This spot, though
barren and exposed, was sufficientl3'" near for easy com
munication with the mainland, yet remote enough to se
cure the monastic community which Columba had settled
upon it from disturbance. The establishment prospered ;
and in process of time a numerous colony of devout men
from the adjacent coasts of Ireland resorted thither to
take part in the conversion of the Pictish tribes dwelling
to the nortli of the Grampian range. Their labours met
with merited success ; and shortly the faith of Christ was
professed by numerous adjoining clans of the Pictish
family. But it appears that the tribes of the sarae race
dwelling to the southward of the Grampians had pre
ceded their more northern brethern in the knowledge and
profession of Christianity. Nynian, a supposed disciple
of the m3-sterious Patrick himself, had, raany 3^ears before
the establishraent of Coluraba at Hii, succeeded in con
verting those tribes, and had settled his episcopal see at
Withern, a locality situated within the modern district of
Galloway. Thus the extent of territory brought within
"The legends of this celebrated saint the fifth and the first years of the sixth
are so totally inconsistent with com- century preached the gospel in Ireland.
mon chronology or common sense, as to I incline to agree with this hypothesis
raise a doubt whether any such indivi- as to a plurality of missionaries ; but
dual ever existed. With a view to recon- think that tradition has assigned their
cile the contradictory legends of Pa- actsandmeritstoonefavouritename;the
trick's life and labours, several persons person bearing tbat name being the most
ofthe same name are supposed to have active, possibly the earliest preacher.
at different times within tbe compass of Conf. Moreri and Smith ad voc.

Chap. IIL] BEITISH AND SCOTTISH CHUECHES. 291
the pale of the Christian Church embraced the entire
region known to us as the Western Highlands of Scot
land. Here, in comparative obscurity, but in absolute
independence, th'ese communities subsisted long before,
and until long after, the advent of the Roman mission of
Pope Gregory I., in Great Britain.''
Though the evidence of Communication between the
Scottish and British or Cambrian churches is ^ . .
deficient, yet the proof of the Latin descent ofBritish'
or origination of either is still raore so. It has ^"^ Scottish
been alleged that the legendary St. Patrick, the
coramon ancestor — if we ma3'^ use the phrase — ofthe Irish
and Scottish churches, had been consecrated bishop of
Ireland by Pope Celestine I. at some time between the
3'ears 422 and 438 ; and that that circumstance estab
lished the maternity of Rome in Ireland, and all deriva
tive churches. But even if the inference were correct, the
fact upon which it is founded is altogether apocr3'phal;
neither is there a trace of any subsequent connection to
authenticate it." It may therefore be safely presuraed
that the churches founded under the narae of Patrick in
the north of Ireland formed an independent nucleus of
Christian doctrine, discipline, and ritual; and that the
Scottish offsets, propagated b3" N3'nian and Columba,
partook of the same self-existent and autonomous cha
racter. Now, though we are in the dark as to any actual
coramunications between the Carabro-British and Scottish
churches, yet we have proof that they agreed on certain
points of disciplinarian and ritual observance, which esta
bhsh a generic difference between them and the churches
of Latin or Roman pedigree. These differences, it should,
however, be observed, involved no essential doctrine of
Christianity ; but turned solely upon external — principally
ritualistic — observances. Yet, in this age, it lay far away
frora the habits of the rehgious mind to distinguish with
any degree of accurac3" between form and substance —
doctrine and discipline — unity and uniforrait3^ A depar
ture in outward form involved a breach of the theoretic
!> Beda H. E. lib. iii. c. iv. p. 106. penberg, Gesch. v. Engl. vol. i. p. 133.
<: Neander, K. G. vol. ii. p. 262; Lap-

292 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
unity, — the odious sin of schism, or the less pardonable
guilt of heresy."* The British and Irish churches had
been, at the period we have arrived at, shut out for ages
frora all communication with the rest of Christendom.
Differences TU^y had adhered with technical precision to
^tween the ecclcsiastical forms, differing materially from
the Latin the then prevaUing disciphnarian and ritualistic
churches, observauccs ofthe Latin churches, and bearing
the unmistakable impress of an Oriental origin of a very
early type. These differences touched chiefly upon five
points : first and principal^, upon the time for the cele
bration of the Easter festival ; secondly, upon the precise
form of the sacerdotal tonsure ; thirdly, upon the cere
mony of marriage ; fowrtkly, upon the cehbacy of the
clergy ; aud fifthly, upon the mode of episcopal ordina
tion. It may be doubtful whether at this precise period
of Christian history the four last points would have fur
nished matter for those bitter dissensions they occasioned
in a subsequent age. The controversy at this time tm-ned
almost whoUy upon the computation and celebration of
the Paschal festival, and the canonical form of the sa
cerdotal tonsure. These variances in themselves were of
very minor moment, when compared with the evidence
they furnished of a spirit of independence and self-re
liance repugnant to the scheme of Roman supremac3^,
and the theory of the sacramental unity, which had by
this time taken so firm a root in the principle and poht3'
of the Latin primacy. The reluctance of the
n agomsm. (2!aj^|jpo.Bi.itig]j Christians to acknowledge any
jurisdiction superior to that of their own national and
patriarchal prelates, placed them, in fact, in a position of
direct antagonism to that scheme. The attempt of Au
gustine to entrap or intimidate them into submission, both
characterises the agent, and lays bare the principle upon
which he acted ; and it is obvious to us that, as soon as
the Northern churches should come in contact with the
Latins ofthe South, the contest must be revived upon the
<> Some remains of Pelagianism may afterwards. See Bede, lib. i. c. i. x. xvu.
have lingered in the island as late as the xxi., and lib. ii. c. xix. Conf. Lappen-
seventh century; but I believe that no berg, vol. i. p. 135.
revival of that heresy was ever heard of

Chap. IIL] LAURENTIUS. 293
like grounds, though it might be not precisely in the same
mode or form.
That point of time, in fact, lay at no great distance.
When Archbishop Laurentius succeeded Angus- Laurentius
tine in the see of Canterbury, the Roman missions "^ canter-
possessed three episcopal stations in England, theprimacy
While that prelate presided over the see of Can- °f aii the
terbury, those of Rochester and London were Great
respectively assigned to Justus and Melitus, both ^"'^i"-
members of the second Gregorian mission.^ Between the
death of Augustine and that ofhis royal patron, Ethelbert
king of Kent, a period of eleven years elapsed. During
all that time the missionaries had ample leisure to improve
their position ; but do not appear to have raaterially ex
tended the knowledge of Christianity, or the limits of their
respective dioceses. But Laurentius was too well versed
in the Latin tactics to permit any ground to be lost for
want of claira : " He took upon himself," sa3rs Bede, " the
pastoral superintendence, not only ofthe churches brought
together from among the Angles and. Saxons, but also
of the more ancient churches ofthe Britons; including
those of the Scots inhabiting the parts of Ireland ad
jacent to the British coasts."* To these communities he
presented himself as the chosen representative of the one
episcopate, and the sole channel of catholic communion.
" He had," he said, " expected to find among them a con
formity of rites and usages with the catholic his
body ; but had been grieved to perceive an ob- complaint.
stinate spirit of resistance — an irreligious adherence to a
ritual inconsistent with catholic (Latin) tradition ; more
especially in the refractory demeanour of their repre
sentatives Daganus and Columbanus in Gaul."^ The re
monstrances ofthe archbishop, however, drew forth no
reply from Scots or Britons ; and for the present the con
troversy upon which those churches appear by this time
to have staked their independence, fell to the ground. The
new establishments in Kent and the adjoining districts
See Book III. c. vii_p. 214. Conf. « Bede, ubi sup. ; and conf. Book IIL
BedcB H. E. lib. ii. c. in. p. 81. c. vii. p. 215 of this work.
' Bede, lib. U. c. iv. p. 82.

294 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
of Essex and Middlesex prospered under the patronage
of Ethelbert and his nephew, the vassal king Sabert of
the East Saxons. We observe that the Gregorian settle
ments in England were founded exclusively upon the
monastic principle ; and in the year 610 Laurentius
despatched Bishop Melitus to Rome to obtain further
instructions from Pope Boniface IV., for the better or-
gainsation of his churches, but more especially to bring
back with him a more perfect scheme of monastic disci
pline, fortified by papal authority, and to be enforced by
pontifical letters addressed to the kings and clergy of the
converted districts.''
This tranquil progress of the mission was interrupted
Apostasy by the deaths of Ethelbert and of his nephew
ofEadbaid. Sabert ofthe East Saxons, in the 3^ear 616.
The Kentish prince was succeeded by his son Eadbald, a
Christian by baptism, but impatient of the moral control
which his new profession imposed, and his priests were by
no means backward to insist upon. Shortly after his acces
sion he had married his father's widow. The act, though
probably not inconsistent with the loose habits of his age
and the privilege of his rank, drew upon him the severest
denunciations of his spiritual monitors. The parox3rsins
of rage into which he was thrown b3" this check upon his
wanton desires were imputed to deraoniacal influence, and
regarded as a punishment for his contempt of the ordin
ances of the Church. He withdrew his countenance from
the new establishment, and his example was followed b3'"
a general defection from the faith among his subjects.
The sons The inheritance of Sabert had meanwhile fallen
of Sabert. ^0 his three untamed and unbaptised sons ; and
the people of Essex reverted mechanically to the groves
and idol-temples in which their ancestors had worshipped.
These princes sought and soon found a cause of quarrel
with the bishop and his followers. Melitus was accus
tomed to administer the eucharistic bread and wine to his
flock in public. On one of these occasions, the royal 3rouths
broke in upon the congregation, and demanded a share
of the goodly elements they saw distributed among the
' Bede, ubi sup.

Chap. IH.] VISION OF LAUEENTIUS. 295
faithful. The bishop rephed, "If you consent to be washed
in the sacred font of baptism, you may then partake of
this bread, as did your father before 3"ou. But if ye despise
the holy fountain of life, ye can by no means be partakers
of the bread of life." Enraged by the refusal, the princes
rephed that, " if in so trivial a matter the bishop refused
to gratif3'" their reasonable request, he should no longer be
permitted to dwell among them." The contest ended with
the expulsion of Melitus and his followers, and the almost
total extinction of Christianity within the diocese.'
Their retreat was not molested ; and after a long and
anxious consultation with Laurentius, the state „, . .
/. .v. . . 1 1 , . , ^, , The mission-
ot affairs in both kingdoms appeared so des- aries resolve
perate that it was resolved to withdraw the to quit the
^ . . T-, , . . . . -, island.
mission to b ranee, there to await a providential
solution of their difficulties. Justus and Melitus set sail
for France ; Laurentius delayed his departure awhile, no
doubt with the purpose of making a last appeal to the
obdurate monarch. He raight hope that the superstitions
of the king were at bottora stronger than his passions.
He was probably aware that in the loose apprehension of
the half-Christian, half- heathen barbarians, the Christian
saints were a scarcely less forraidable order of divinities
than their own Thor or Wodan ; and that he might there
fore, with some prospect of success, stake the credit ofthe
prince of the apostles against the gods of his credulous
auditor. At considerable personal risk, he one ^^^^^ i i
day entered the presence of the king and his artifice of
court, and boldly affirmed that on the preced- i-aui-entius.
ing night, while engaged in prayer within the walls ofhis
church, he had fallen into a trance ; and in that state had
received a most merciless flagellation from the hands of
St. Peter himself as a punishment for his cowardly de
sign of deserting the church by him specially committed to
his charge. Then, baring- his back, he exhibited his waled
and lacerated shoulders, as ocular proof of the severity of
the castigation inflicted, to the astonished prince and his
court. Eadbald was, we are told, so profoundly affected
by this pregnant proof of divine displeasure, that he on
' Bede, lib. iU. c. v. p. 84.

296 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
the spot renounced his idols, repudiated his step-mother,
EecaUand ^^^ recalled Melitus and Justus from exile.
restoration The latter was peaceably reinstated in his epis-
missfontries '^'^P^^ ^^^ ** Rochester ; but Melitus had a
' harder battle to fight. Though the ribald sons
of Sabert had a short time before perished in battle with
the West Saxons, the people of Essex continued to adhere
to their groves, their idols, and hedge-enclosed temples,
and pertinaciously refused to admit the eneraies of their
late chiefs within their territory .¦*
The difficulties and distresses which these incidents
Melitus and inflicted upou the infant churches arrested for
Justus arch- a time the progress of Latin Christianity in the
ishops. British islands. Archbishop Laurentius died in
the year 619, and was succeeded by Melitus the exiled
bishop of London. The latter, however, foUowed him to
the tomb in the year 624, and Justus of Rochester was
installed in his chair. The following year opened a wider
Edwin of prospect of Spiritual conquest. Eadwin, or Ed-
Northum- wiu, king of Northumbria, at this moment the
erian . jj^^gj extcusive and powerful ofthe Anglo-Saxon
principahties of Britain, sued for the hand of Ethelburga
or Tata, a daughter of the late king Ethelbert of Kent.
The dominions of Edwin extended from the estuary of
the Humber northward to where the Grampian chain
divided it from the wild and unsubdued Pictish hordes
of the Northern Highlands. To the westward his power
embraced the British tribes, and the offsets of the Anglo-
Saxon race inhabiting the counties of Cumberland, West
morland, Lancashire, and Cheshire, inclusive of the re
moter islands of Anglesea and Man. Eadbald, the brother
of Ethelburga, maintained fi-iendly relations with the king
of Northumbria ; but the latter was a heathen, and in re
ply to his suit Eadbald frankly declared that a Christian
virgin could not lawfully be joined in wedlock "with a
pagan man, lest thereby the faith of Christ should be pro
faned and his sacraments defiled by idolatrous example
or compliance. But Edwin succeeded in setting aside the
J These events seem to have occurred between the years 616 and 618. See
Bede, Ub. u. c. vi. p. 85.

Chap. IIL] MAEEIAGE OF EDWIN AND ETHELBUEGA. 297
objection on the score of religion ; he engaged that no
impediraent or interference should be thrown in the way
ofthe princess or any of her suite, be they men or women,
ecclesiastics or laymen, in the full and free exercise of
their religious worship ; and he hinted that if after due
deliberation with the ancients and learned of his council,
the faith of the bride should be pronounced more pleasing
to God than the religion of his people, he should not be
disinclined to adopt it himself.''
So propitious an opening for the introduction .
of Christianity in the most widel3r extended and Edwin^rnd
powerful kingdom of the island was not to be Ethelburga.
neglected. AU objections were withdrawn, and
Paulinus, the last survivor of the Gregorian mission,
was appointed with a proper staff of clergy to accompany
the young queen and her attendants to the court of her
affianced husband. It appears to have been understood
that Paulinus, who for that purpose was ordained bishop
by Justus, should be regarded as the supreme pastor of a
Northumbrian church, with full authority to preach the
new faith to the court and people of the realm. On his
arrival, the bishop was received with the cordial welcome
befitting the joyful occasion ofhis advent. The king hiraself
listened with becoming attention to his discourses and ex
hortations ; but, with' the ordinary caution of his contera
poraries, delayed his decision until it could be pronounced
"with safety to his teraporal interests. A twelveraonth
was allowed to elapse, and the new queen bore hira a
daughter. The king rendered thanks to his gods for the
safe delivery of his consort ; Paulinus protested that the
happy event must be ascribed to the prayers he had of
fered up on her behalf to Christ. Edwin made no objection
to the claim ; the divine aid for the promotion of his per
sonal and political views, frora whatever quarter it might
proceed, was equally acceptable ; and he promised the
bishop that if by the like assistance he should obtain the
victory over his treacherous enemy Cuichelm, the king of
the West Saxons,' against whoni he was about to take
I* Bede, lib. ii. c. ix. p. 87. rowly escaped the dagger of an assassin
' He had, a short time before, nar- hired by his antagonist.

298 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
the field, he would himself embrace the faith of Christ.
Conversion The cvcut of the war answered his most sanguine
of Edwin, expectations; his enemies fell before him; the
gratification of revenge and ambition opened his ears and
his heart to the exhortations of Paulinus ; and, as a first
step towards conversion, Edwin publicly renounced idol-
worship. No long tirae afterwards he was persuaded to
convoke a general asserably of his priests and nobles so-
leranl3' to discuss the expediency of abandoning the altars
they had hitherto served, and calhng upon the God ofthe
queen and her attendants.""
The asserably and its results deserve a more particular
The vision Consideration. The intercourse between Edwin
of Edwm. and Paulinus, dated obviously from some point
of tirae probably anterior to his accession to the throne
of Northumbria. At an earlier period of life Edwin had
lived for some years in exile at the court of Redwald,
king of the East Saxons," consequently within the reach
ofthe Augustinian missionaries, whose influence then ex
tended over the counties of Kent, Middlesex, and Essex.
Acquaintance between him and Paulinus might easily be
supposed to have sprung up during this afflictive period
of Edwin's life; nor is it raore difficult to believe that the
suggestion of a Kentish bride proceeded frora the sarae
quarter. While living in daily apprehension of being de
livered by his treacherous host into the hands of his per
secutor ^delfrid king of the Bernician Angles, a person
of strange countenance and habit appeared, we are told,
before hira in the dead ofthe night, and inquired the cause
ofhis wakefulness, while the rest ofthe world was wrapped
in sleep. Edwin, in return, asked how it could concern
him to know the cause of his wakefulness. The stranger
replied, that he wanted not to be told what he well knew
alread3^ " But what reward," said he, " would 3^ou be
stow upon one who should deliver you from this mortal
anguish, and turn the heart of Redwald, so that he should
neither do 3'ou an3^ harm, nor deliver -3'ou up to your
eneraies to be put to death ?" Edwin declared that to so
" Bede, ubi sup. p. 88. probably a Vassal king, of Ethelbert of
" Eedwald was a contemporary, and Kent, circ. a.d. 604.

Chap. IIL] VISION OF EDWIN. 299
great a benefactor he could deny nothing within his power
to bestow. "But," said the ghostly visitor, "what if
he were to promise you a throne, and actuall3^ raise you
to a power and eminence among the kings of England
superior to those enjo3^ed by any of j^our ancestors, or of
any reigning prince among- 3'our countrymen ?" Edwin
replied, that such benefits would indeed deraand the raost
grateful return. " But," said his monitor, " if he who
shall thus have voraciously predicted such advantages
should also offer to 3rour acceptance counsels of life and
salvation better and raore advantageous than any your
ancestors or kindred ever heard of, would you consent
to render obedience to his salutary admonitions?" The
prince without hesitation promised, that should the event
answer the prediction, he would assuredly accept the in
structions of his benefactor. The stranger then solemnlv
laid his hand upon the prince's head, " When hereafter,"
said he, " this sign shall be repeated unto you, reraeraber
this interview, and delay not to perforra that which you
have now promised." He said, and vanished from the
sig-ht of the astonished and consoled mourner. The heart
of Redwald was chang-ed from that hour. By his aid
Edwin was restored to his kingdom, and in a few 3'ears
was raised to that eminence of power and influence pre
dicted by his nocturnal comforter."
This story sug-gests a suspicion either that Paulinus
in person had enacted the part ascribed to the Result of
ghostly monitor, or that Edwin was himself a ^^^ "^'^'^'"^¦
party to the pious fraud. Before the meeting of the
council of his realra, Edwin had, we are told, deferred his
conversion frora time to time, while anxiously revolving
in his mind the propriety of changing his religion. One
day when, as usual with him of late, he was thus engaged
in solitary reflection upon this iraportant subject, the
"man of God" suddenl3' appeared before him, and so
lemnly laying his hand upon his head, inquired ^^'hether
he recognised the sign. The king fell trembling at his
feet; Paulinus raised hira from the ground-, and address
ing him in a tone of paternal affection, " By the help of
" Bede, lib. ii. c. xii. p. 92.

300 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
the Lord," he said, " you have escaped the snares of your
enemies ; by the same munificent hand you have obtained
the kingdom you desired : and now, in return, it is for
you to perforra your engagement, by accepting the faith
and precepts of Him who delivered you out of all your
temporal adversities, and raised you to worldly honour
and power, and who, if 3'ou obey his will as it is preached
to you through me, will also save 3'ou from the pains of
eternal torture, and make you a partaker with him in His
eternal kingdom."''
Without, however, discussing the questions of collu
sion on the part of the king, or of wilful impos-
oithe^^ ture on that of Paulinus, there is enough in the
ofEdwin" ^isf'0r3' of Edwiu's conversion to assure us that
long prior to the advent of the new preacher,
the latter was favourably inclined to Christianity. The
demand of a Christian bride, the promise of unlimited in
dulgence to her and her attendants, the boundless facilities
afforded to Paulinus to publish the gospel, as he under
stood it, to the court and people ; the respect with which
the king himself listened to the instructions ofthe preacher,
and the easy credulity with which he accepted the sign
and avowed the obligations it implied, — all these circum
stances taken together show a mind strongly impressed
with one prevailing bias, and hesitating only until ex
ternal circumstances should be propitious for the execu
tion of the foregone intent. The impediment most to be
apprehended arose from the possible opposition
hood among of the national nobility and priesthood. The
*''sax°n'° ^i'^g"^ <5f the Teutonic races, of whom the Nor
thumbrians were an offset, were generally
clothed with the sacerdotal office ; but besides the ro3^al
chief-priest, a college or corporation of priests was ordi-
naril3' chosen from among the most distinguished families,
but without heritable privilege or right of caste.'' As a
religious establishment, — if it may be regarded in that
light, — the sacerdotium of the Anglo-Saxons has left so
P Bede, ubi sup. p. 93. little information touching the status of
1 Conf. Grimm, Deutsche Eechts- Al- the priest among the Teutonic nations
terthiimer, p. 243 ; see also Grimm, has come down to us prior to the intro-
Deutsche Mythologie, p. 61. But very duction of Christianity.

Chap. IIL] CONVEESION OF THE NOETHUMBEIANS. 301
few historical traces behind it, that we are warranted in
beheving that, independently of the monarch, they pos
sessed little influence among- the people, although when
acting in support of his authority, they ma3' have had
it in their power to render important services. There
is no appearance of a properly sacerdotal opposition to
the labours of the Roraan raissionaries in any portion of
Great Britain.' The anxiety of the reigning princes ap
pears to have been solely directed to the ascertaining ofthe
dispositions of their subjects towards the new i-acUities of
faith. Edwin himself was obviously solicitous conversion.
to feel the pulse ofhis nobles and people before taking any
decisive step in furtherance of the important change pro
posed. In this case, as in that of Ethelbert of Kent, the
religious revolution was prepared b3' the establishment of
a powerful interest in the household and affections of the
prince. No extraordinary class-privilege stood opposed
to the change, and, as in the case of the people of Kent
at the preaching of Augustine, the prepossessions of the
king, the exaraple of their queen, and the earnestness of
the raissionaries achieved an easy victory over the loose
superstitions which formed the basis of all the Teutonic
religions." Both parties — missionaries and their proposed
converts — shared the opinion that the merits of a reli
gious scheme were to be tried by the temporal advantages
believed to result from it ; success in battle, the achieve
ment of political power, the acquisition of wealth, a fruitful
season, and other elements of a happy and prosperous
life, were regarded as proofs of divine favour to nations
and individuals ; and the service which promised the
greatest amount of these advantages was regarded as the
most acceptable to God. The missionaries were lavish of
promises of temporal advantages. Favourable Method of
events were uniforml3'" represented as answers conversion.
to the prayers of the servants of God ; while sinister
occurrences, calamities, or accidents, were with like con-
' It is deservirfg of notice, that in the to the best of my recollection, in any
history of the conversion of Ethelbert other of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
by Augustine we have no hint even of ' See also a striking parallel in the
the existence of a pagan priesthood, nor, conversion of Clovis by Eemigius, —
with the exception of Northumberiand, Hist, of the Germans, p. 511.

302 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
fidence imputed to the anger or the chastisements of Him
whom they preached. But perhaps there was no more
serious temptation to pious fiction than that which the
proneness of these races to believe in supernatural ap
pearances, oraens, charms, and prognostics, presented to
enthusiastic men, theraselves strongl3^ predisposed to hope
for, and to expect special interpositions for the promotion
of the great work of" human salvation. In such a state of
opinion and belief on both sides, it can hardl3^ be a matt^
of wonder that pious frauds should raultiply in proportion
to the credulity both of the deceivers and the deceived.'
The task which king Edwin had taken upon himself
Public re- ^as, in fact, accomplished at the meeting ofthe
nunciation deliberative asserabl3r ofthe kingdom. The spot
of idolatry. gjjQgg^^ f-Qj. |.}jg convocatiou lay at no great dis
tance from York, and still nearer to the most venerated
temple or sacred g-rove ofthe heathen people. After some
discussion, the chief ofthe sacerdotal college, whom Bede
calls Coifi, addressed the assembly : " If," said he, " any-
raan among us had a rightful claim to the favour of the
gods, it is 1, who have ever been their most devout wor
shipper : 3ret have my services and pra3"ers been in vain ;
they have brought me no gain ; nay, I have found less
favour in 3-our sight, 0 king, and have been in all respects
a less prosperous man than many other persons present.
If these g-ods of ours were of any use, they ought to have
done most good to him who served them most diligently.
I therefore advise, that if on examination these new
things that are preached to us shall be found better and
more effectual than the old, we embrace them without
delay." A second speaker contended that inasmuch as
human life endured but for a moment, and then passed
away ; and considering that the old religion disclosed
nothing, either as to the state of man before birth or
after death, — then if the new doctrine should be found
to afford greater certainty upon so important a matter, it
ought to be adopted. Other speakers to the same effect
'The religious state ofthe Teutonic The reader may be further referred to
na,tions is elaborately described in my pp. 503-57, and pp. 675 et sqq. of the
Hist, of the Germans, pp. 771 et sqq. same work.

Chap. III.] SUCCESS OF PAULINUS. 303
confirraed their predecessors; and it was resolved that
Paulinus himself should be heard. The eloquence of the
preacher prevailed ; the chief-priest pubhcly declared his
conviction that the Christian faith was the true path to
happiness temporal and eternal ; and with the zeal of
a new convert proposed that they should without delay
proceed to destroy the idol-temples, with their images
and altars. In token of his renunciation of the Destruction
sacerdotal office, he mounted a charger, armed oftheidoi-
himself with a spear, and flung it into the sacred bTptitm o"
enclosure ofthe neighbouring temple : after this ^dwin.
act of formal self-desecration, he and his companions set
fire to the building and burnt it to the ground. The ex
araple of the king and his nobles appears to have been
passively followed by the people. Edwin himself was
solemnly baptised by Paulinus at York on the 13th of
April in the 3^ear 627 ; and with him two of his sons
by a former marriage."
For a further period of six 3'^ears the labours of
Paulinus appeared to prosper abundantly ; and successes of
multitudes were gathered into the Roman fold. Paulinus
Through the zealous advocac3^ of king Edwin, Erpoald,
the son and successor of his former friend Redwald king
of the East Angles," was persuaded to embraced Chris
tianity ; and after his death, in the year 631, his brother
and successor Sigbert established a bishopric at Dunwich
in favour ofthe Gallic missionar3' Felix, who continued in
undisturbed occupation of the see for a terra of seventeen
years."' Meanwhile Paulinus had extended his labours to
the people of North Lincolnshire, and won over the pagan
prince and the people of the division of Lindsay, or Lin-
dissi, to the Christian faith." In acknowledgment of his
manifold merits towards the holy see. Pope Ho- rewarded
norius I. sent him the archiepiscopal pallium, by Pope
and condescended to expound to king Edwin by
an autograph letter the high honour and privilege attached
to that iraportant symbol of spiritual authority.^ By the
" Bede, lib. ii. c. xiii. pp. 94, 95. " Bede, ibid.
" Kedwald had himself accepted bap- " Bede, lib. U. c. xvi p. 97.
tism, but had afterwards relapsed into f Seetheletterap. .Bcrfe, lib. ii.c. xvii.
idolatry. See Bede, lib. ii. e. xv. p. 96. p. 98.

304 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book HI.
same messengers the pope addressed letters to the Scottish
churches, conve3dng a grave rebuke ofthe error into which
they had fallen respecting the Easter festival, and requir
ing them at once to embrace the practice of the catholic
church as exemplified in that ofthe Roman communion.^
In the church-histor3r of this period there are plain
Eome and traccs of the sccrct uneasiness with which the
?^^^ori- close proximity ofthe British and Scottish com-
and Scotch muuities to their own flourishing establishments
churches, j^ Britain inspired the Romanising clergy. The
Pelagian heresy, so it was whispered, still lurked among
them ; the variance in the observance of Easter stood out
in mortifying contradiction to the proud claim of ma
ternity set up by Rorae over all the churches of the
West ; while other rainor differences of ritual seemed to
strengthen the unwelcome presumption of another and a
more priraitive origin. But these churches had not yet
been severed frora the Latin coraraunion by any judicial
or conciliar act. Rome had not thought fit formaUy to
declare them in schism, but for the present treated them
rather as refractory children of the great Latin family.
Paulinus was not at leisure to follow up the controversy ;
and when at leng-th Pope Honorius I. sounded from Rorae
the trumpet of religious discord, there was no longer a
Northumbrian church to repeat the alarm.
In the year 633, Cadwalla ap Gwynneth, the sove
reign prince ofthe Western Britons, in alliance
ofEdwin^Id with Penda, the pagan king of Mercia, defeated
downfall of aud slcw Edwiu in a pitched battle on the river
estaWish" Dou, to the southward of York. The victors
ment in rauffed throusfh every district ofthe kingdom,
Northumbria. °. .^^° - i -i i i
sparing neither man, woman, nor child ; and
ruthlessly destroying every vestige of civilisation and
religion which had sprung up under the hand of the
Christian missionaries, with the avowed purpose of con
verting that lately flourishing region into a pathless de
sert. Cadwalla, though a Christian b3'^ profession, acknow
ledged no bond of religious kindred with the eneraies of
his race, and repelled every plea for mercy on the score
' Bede, lib. ii. c. xix. p. 100.

Chap. IIL] EEVOLUTION IN NOETHUMBEIA. 305
of their common creed. As long as he maintained a
footing in the hapless country, the work of slaughter
and devastation proceeded without a pause. But entire
nations are not easily extirpated : the survivors collected
gradually round their native chiefs ; the light of religion
dawned upon them from a more distant quarter; and
the overthrow ofthe Latin establishment in Northumbria
afforded an opening for the revival of Christiau faith and
practice which no human foresight could have anticipated.
After the defeat and death of Edwin, Paulinus took
refuge in Kent with the queen and the surviv- Expulsion
ing members of the royal family of Northum- ofPauUnus.
bria. The son and nephew of Edwin were sent to France
for their education, where both died in their childhood ;
and his male progeny thus became extinct. Paulinus ac
cepted the bishopric of Rochester, vacated by the death
of Romanus, who was accident-ally drowned on a vo3'^age
to Rome.^ But two sons and a nephew of Edelfrid the
usurper, whom Edwin, with the aid of Redwald, had sup
planted and slain, still survived. The nephew, osric and
Osric, placed hiraself at the head of the Deirian Eanfrid.
division of the kingdora, and Eanfrid, the elder of the
two sons, was acknowledged by the Bernicians as their
chief. These princes had passed their earlier lives as
exiles among the Scots and Picts ofthe north, and had
been baptised and educated by the recluses of Icolmkil.
Thither the sons and relatives of many of the raost noble
families in the kingdora had taken refuge from the enmity
of Edwin, and had been received into Christian commu
nion in the Scottish form. After their restoration to their
country consequent upon the downfall of their persecutor,
both princes renounced their new profession, and relapsed
into heathenism. "But," says Bede, "the punishment
quickly followed the crime, and by the just judgment of
God both fell by the irapious hand of His eneray Cad-
waUa." The attempt to throw off the 3^oke of the com
bined Welsh and Mercians aggravated the ca- oswaid
lamities of the unhappy Northurabrians ; till in delivers tho
the following year (635), Oswald, the youngest kingdom.
' Paulinus died at Eochester about nine years afterwards (a.d. 642).
VOL. II. X

306 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
son of Edelfrid, stepped forth as the champion ofhis people
and of Christianity. Unhke his brother Eanfrid, Oswald
had holden fast to the hope of divine support from the
faith in which he had been instructed by his Scottish pre
ceptors. He collected around him a small but resolute
and compact body of followers, whom he had managed to
inspire with the pious confidence which animated his own
heart. Thus prepared, he fell upon the ferocious Cadwalla
before he could collect his forces, and obtained a decisive
victory. Cadwalla was slain in the battle, and the North
umbrian kingdom speedily cleared of every enemy.'' '
The unsparing devastations of the Welsh and Mer-
He sends f r ^^^^^ ^^^ obliterated almost every vestige of
missionaries Christianity from the face of the land. The
Scot°^d '"'istic churches and religious houses built b3r
the Latin missionaries had been burnt to the
ground; neither priest nor catechist remained to keep
alive the remembrance ofthe still recent conversion. Os
wald, however, had fought and conquered under the ban
ner of Christ ; and he led his new subjects, their swords
still reeking with the blood of their enemies, to the foot
of the lofty cross he had caused to be erected upon the
spot where he had fought and won. The sight of the
trophy of their salvation, temporal and spiritual, revived
the dormant devotion ofhis people, and awakened in all
hearts an ardent desire for instruction in the Ufe-giving
truths of which it was the auspicious symbol." The affec
tions of the king naturally reverted to the source from
which he had himself derived his knowledge of divine
truth; and he sent messengers with an earnest request
to Soger, the abbot of the Scottish colony of Icolmkil, to
supply him and his people with a bishop and a qualified
staff of clergy to instruct them in the principles of reli
gion, and to administer the sacraments of the Church.
A first unsuitable choice was followed by the
Aldan sent. . , , (> * • i j> i i
appointment ol Aidan, a man ot exemplary zeal
and piety, and richly endowed with those Christian vir
tues whicli win the hearts of raen. At his request, a reli-
Lindisfarn. gious housc was buUt for him on Lindisfarn, an
^ Bede, lib. Ui. u. ii. p. 104. <¦- Ibid.

Chap. III.] THE SCOTO-NOETHUMBEIAN CHUECH. 307
island of the Fearn (or Farn) group nearest to the main
land of Northumberland. But the monks who accom
panied Aidan were but imperfectly acquainted with the
language of the country; and Oswald, who had been
brought up at Icolmkil, and was therefore farailiar with
the Erse language, condescended to act as interpreter be
tween thera and his own subjects. The cordial reception
which Aidan had raet with soon brought with it an infiux
of spiritual teachers from Scotland, till every portion of
the land enjoyed the privilege of a stationary rainistry.
But in that age all institutions for religious instruction
assuraed a raonastic form ; the clergy residing in cora
raunities, or collegiate bodies, subject to regular life and
discipline. The first care of the king, therefore, was to
provide his clergy with suitable residences, and to erect
churches for the celebration of divine service. For the
support of these establishments the king gave liberal
contributions of land, and endowed them with domainial
possessions upon a like tenure with the estates of the
secular nobility. Under the royal patronage, schools
and serainaries for the education of youth sprung up in
every province and district ; the children of the people
were catechised, and the adults instructed in the doc
trine, discipline, and ritual of the church of Scotland.''
In respect of church-governraent, there was a re
markable difference between the practice of the .
Scottish and that of the Latin church. Among form'of
the former, presbyterian ordination was thought ^^;^'"!?^^
effectual for the due transmission ofthe episcopal
poAvers. Aidan himself had been consecrated to that office
by the imposition of the hands of the abbot and presby
tery of his monastery, no bishop having been present at,
or taken part in, the ceremony. This practice was derived
from their sainted progenitor Columba, who had himself
never received episcopal consecration, 3-et entertained no
doubt ofhis right or competency to ordain bishops for the
outlying dependencies and raissions of his coramunity.
There can be little doubt that the practice was in con
formity with the earliest traditions of the Irish and Scot-
¦i Bede, Ub. iii. c. iii. pp. 104, 105.

308 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
tish churches. Shocking as so flagrant an anomaly must
have appeared to the prepossessions of the Latin disci
plinarians, it is singular that no objection to the minis
trations of this holy man should have been founded upon
it. The reason for such unexampled forbearance may be
gathered from the undesigned testimony of Bede to the
impregnable reputation Aidan left behind him : " It is
Apology of fr'ie/' he says, " that his ordination was of an
Bede for nuusual character ; . . . yet whatever may have
Aldan. ^^^^ j^j^ ^^^^ position iu the Church, this we
do most surely know of him, that he left behind him suc
cessors like himself singularly endowed with the gift of
continence, marvellousl3^ possessed of love divine, and
governed by the strictest rules of Christian life ; and al
though frora the reraoteness of his position he was neces
sarily ignorant of the ecclesiastical modes of determining
the festivals of the Church, yet was he abundantly as
siduous in the performance of all those virtues of piety
and of chastity that might be learned from prophets,
evangelists, and apostles."' Abbot Seger of Icolmkil, the
Labours fourth iu succcssion from Columba, exhibited
of Aidan. Jn jjig own pcrsou a model of Christian virtues ;
aud, Uke him, his friend and pupil Aidan Uved not for
this world, its pursuits or affections. Whatever presents
he might receive from the king or wealthy laymen, he
hastened to distribute to the first poor that crossed his
path. In the performance ofhis ministry he always went
about on foot, never mounting a horse except in cases of
extreme urgency. In the course of his itinerant labours,
he did not confine himself to particular localities or con-
greg-ations ; but wherever he found numbers collected he
turned aside to preach, to baptise, to confirm in the faith
and in the practice of love and charity towards all raen.
He was at all tiraes indefatigable in encouraging religious
meditation, and in recommending the diligent study of
the Scriptures and the use of psalmody. These were,
indeed, the favourite and the daily occupations ofhis life ;
and if, as raight now and then happen, he was invited to
the royal table, he eat sparingly, and soon took his leave
' Bede, lib. iii. c. iv. p. 107.

Chap. III.] EXTENSION OF THE SCOTTISH CHUECH. 309
to resurae his diurnal task of reading and prayer with his
clergy and pupils. He was strict in the observance of
the fasts prescribed by his church : the sins ofthe wealthy
and the great he rebuked with impartial severity : he
never stooped to purchase the favour of men in power,
but distributed that which he occasionally accepted from
thera to the poor about him, or expended it in the re
demption of slaves and captives, raany of whom he en
rolled among his scholars ; and if, after proper instruction,
he found them qualified, he advanced them to be his col
leagues and helpers in the ministry.^
Merits like these put to silence the formalism of the
Latins. Columba and Columbanus, Seger and Extension of
Fursey, Aidan and Egbert, and their succes- the Scottish
sors, had gained too firm a footing upon the ''''"'^'='^-
holy ground they had occupied in their lifetime to be
dispossessed by conventional objections or synodal regu
lations. From the date of the overthrow of Latinism in
Northumberland by the invasion of Cadwalla, the Scot
tish churches attained an extraordinary ex;t£aision. In
the year 633, about two years before the arrival of Aidan,
Fursey, an Irish ecclesiastic of Scottish extraction, had
preached successfully to the East Angles of Norfolk and
Suffolk, and founded a monastery at Borough Castle.^
Three years afterwards (636), Cynegilse, king ofthe West
Saxons, demanded a daughter of Oswald in marriage ;
the request was granted, on condition that the bridegroom
should adopt the faith of the bride. The terms appear to
have been accepted without hesitation ; Oswald himself was
present at the baptism ofhis son-in-law, and became his
sponsor at the font. Birino, a Latin missionary-bishop,
was installed at Dorchester, a village or station in Oxford
shire. But in the year 643, Oornwalch, the successor of
Cynegilse, was expelled from his kingdora by Penda, the
pagan king of Mercia. He retired to the court of Anna,
king ofthe East Angles ; and here he resuraed the profes
sion of Christianity he had thrown off in prosperity. When
restored to his throne, in 650, he re-estabhshed the bishop
ric of Dorchester in favour of Agilbert, an Irish monk, edu-
' Bede, lib. iu. e. v. p. 108. ^ Ibid. Ub. iu. c. xix. p. 122.

to

310 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
cated in France ; and the ascendency of Christianity, pro
bably in the Latin forra, suffered no further interruption
in this important section ofthe Anglo-Saxon community.''
It appears, therefore, that within the episcopate of
Middle -^i^au the influence of the Latin and Scottish
Anglia and forms of church-governmeut and discipline in
^Th^JNOT'th-^he British islands was pretty evenly balanced.
umbrian But about two ycars after his death (a.d. 651),
church. .j.jjg latter received an important accession of
strength by the conversion of Peada, a son of Penda, who
had obtained the sovereignty of the southern division of
the Mercian kingdom, known among the Anglo-Saxon
principahties by the name of Middle Anglia. In the
year 643, Oswald of Northumberland had been succeeded
by his son Oswy, or Oswin, who inherited with his father's
dominions the office of Braetwalda, or king-president, of
the Anglo-Saxon association. Peada, anxious for the
support of his powerful superior, obtained the hand of a
sister of Oswy, and with his bride agreed to adopt her
Finnan of reUgiou. Fiiiuan, bishop of Lindisfarn, the suc-
Lindisfarn. ggggQp of Aidau, performed the rite of baptism ;
and an important division of the Mercian kingdora was
brought under the spiritual influence ofthe Northumbrian
church. The profession of Oswy appears not to have
stood in the way of profitable crime. By the murder of
his pious cousin Oswin, he obtained possession of the
Deirian division of Northumbria ; and a short time after
wards he wreaked his vengeance upon the sanguinary
enemy of his people, the pagan king Penda of Mercia.
^y the defeat and death of this formidable rival, the
entire kingdom of Mercia was added to his patrimonial
dominions ; the sword of Oswy carried the profession of
Christianity into the conquered territories; the mission
aries, Cedd, Adda, Betti, and Diuma, who had preached
successfully to the Middle Angles, were transferred to
Mercia ; and Diuma was consecrated by Finnan bishop
of the united church of Middle Angha and Mercia.'
King Oswy, in the vain belief that he could atone for the
¦¦ Bede, lib. iii. c. vii. p. 109. id. ibid. c. xiv. p. 117; id. ibid. c. xxiv.
' Ibid. lib. in. c. xxi. pp. 125, 126; p. 129.

Chap. IIL] THE NOETHUMBEIAN CHUECH. 311
crimes of ambition and bloodshed by the display Further ex-
of extraordinary zeal for religion, devoted his tensions ofthe
infant daughter Alfleda to perpetual virginity ustaient\y
in a convent which he founded and endowed for ^'^^s ^swy.
her reception when she should be of age to take the vows •/
he provided for a due succession of bishops to govern the
Mercian churches; and though in the year 658 that
kingdom recovered its independence under the Christian
king Wulfhere, the communion between those churches
and the Northumbrian establishment does not appear to
have been interrupted, — indeed, the successive bishops who
presided over the Mercians and Middle Angles were, with
a single exception, all of them either Scotchmen or pupils
ofthe school of Icolmkil.'' The christianising influence of
Osw3^ extended, indeed, as far south as the kingdora ofthe
East Saxons. Since the expulsion of Melitus, in the year
610, that people had reverted to the old Germanic''poly-
theism. No attempt had since then been made by the
Roman clergy to recall them to a better faith. But in
the year 653, their king, Sigbert, was induced by the
personal persuasions of Oswy to embrace the religion of
Christ. Cedd, or Chad, with another member ofthe Mer
cian presbytery, was consecrated by Finnan of Lindisfarn
as bishop of the East Saxons. Chad displayed exem
plary activity and zeal in his new office : he ordained a
full complement of priests and deacons ; he built many
new churches, and erected two goodly monasteries, where
he collected and trained a numerous body of devout men
for the ministry, raore especially with a view to the
maintenance of that scheme of conventual or collegiate
life which had hitherto furnished so effectual an instru
ment of missionary success.'
It appears, then, very clearly, that about the middle
of the seventh century an independent English ^ ^
iiiT •' IJ- Independent
church had sprung up, comprehending every character of
part of the island frora the Humber to the*«^^orthum-
Grampian hills, together with the midland dis-
i Dr. Smith supposes this monastery took the veil at tbe convent of Strenes-
to have been built upon the site of the chalk, or "Whitby, under Abbess HUda.
town of Hartlepool, in the county of '' Bede, lib. iU. c. xxiv. p. 130.
Purham,— note 47, p.l29. But Alfleda ' Id. ibid. c. xxii. pp. 126, 127.

312 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book I\ .
tricts of Mercia, Middle Anglia, Lindsay, and East
Saxony or Essex. The church founded by Paulinus be-
t"ween the years 625 and 633 had been strangled in its
birth ; so that after his secession in the latter year, not
a vestige ofa Roman establishment survived in the north
to tell that it had ever existed. From that point of time
a period of twent3'^ years had elapsed, within which we
perceive no traces of Latin interference or agency in the
restoration ofthe Northumbrian church; we hear of no
such connection or intercourse with Rome, or the latinised
clergy of the south, as might warrant an inference dero
gatory to the perfect independence ofthe revived church.
But although she derived her orig-in from a source uncon
nected with Rome, there was in the breast of the Scoto-
Irish clergy no disposition to secede from the communion
of the Latin body, or to quarrel with the spiritual influ
ence \he3'^ had yielded to the pope within thefr own pale.
The subsisting differences touched on matters rather of
a formal than a substantial character ; but the divergent
customs were sanctified by a practice coeval, as they be
lieved, with the earliest ages of Christianit3-, and founded
upon apostolic ordinance and example. The
versiafspirit Scottish Christians were inexpert in the arts ol
of the Scot- scientific controversy", and were wholly exempt
"tilSll Q1V1I16S •/ ' »/ J.
' from that dialectic subtlety which had by thie
time well-nigh banished the true apostolic spirit from tht
heart and life-blood of the Greek and Latin churches.
Their missionaries, on the contrary, devoted themselves
exclusively to the practical duties of their profession;
they occupied theraselves incessantty "with the study of
the Scriptures, the exercises of pra3rer and psalraod3", the
labours of preaching and catechising, and the cultivation
of that ascetic self-denial, that resolute self-seclusion fi-om
the world and its occupations and enjo3'ments, which they
regarded as the closest approach to spiritual perfection
attainable by sinful man. But the isolation incident to
their remote position in the Christian world left them
destitute of those weapons for the defence of their inde
pendence, in the use of which the Latin doctors had
arrived at an unenviable proficiency ; they had therefore

Chap. III.] EEVIVAL OF THE PASCHAL CONTEOVERSY. 313
little to oppose to the apocryphal stateraents or logical
subtleties of their opponents but their own simple tradi
tions and honest convictions. The organisation of the
Scottish churches was of that primitive congregational
character which resisted centralisation of power. The
bond which united them consisted rather in a sentiment
of dutiful attachment and confidence than in any sense of
allegiance to a superior. The idea of a supreme repre
sentative head of the Church on earth was new to them ;
and when the doctrine of a Petrine principality was pro
pounded, they were unable to meet it with an ar
gumentative resistance or denial. Their alleged theXnflict
customs and traditions were met by stateraents ^Itins^
and allegations of fact they were not prepared
to contradict or refute ; and when the question came to
rest on the preponderance of authority, the balance was
found against thera : and these hurable servants of God felt
that no alternative remained but to abandon a position, and
to abdicate a function, for the support of which the requi
site credit and confidence had been withdrawn from them.
Eanfleda, daughter of Edwin and queen of Oswy of
Northumbria, when she fled with Paulinus be- Revival of
fore the merciless Cadwalla ap Gw3'nneth, re- the dispute
mained for sorae 3^ears at the court of Eadbald ^ "^ ^^ ^^'
of Kent, where she was educated and instructed in the
Latin ritual. To that form she continued to adhere after
her marriage with Oswy ; and in this way it soraetiraes
happened that the king and the queen celebrated the
Easter festival at different times.'" While Aidan lived,
the spiritual advisers of Eanfleda abstained from all
attempts to disturb the subsisting religious calm. The
spirit of discord was rebuked by the reverential awe
which that saintiy person had inspired. Vulgar objec
tors shrunk from"^ the lustre of his virtues ; the raore
liberal ofhis opponents were loth to dweU upon the spots
which raight tarnish their brightness." But the purely
«¦ The most shocking anomaly of this keeping the rigid fasts of holy week.
kind occurred when on one occasion the ° Bede numbers Honorms of Canter-
times disagreed so materiaUy, that while bury, and lelix bishop of the East
the king was celebrating his Easter in Angles, among his admirers: lib. in. u.
feasting and revelry, the queen was stiU xxv. p. 131.

314 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
personal advantages enjoyed by Aidan were not trans
ferable to a successor ; and Finnan found himself at the
outset of his episcopate involved in an unmanageable
controversy, without tiiose aids which were possessed by
the Latin disputants in a measure unappreciable by the
Scottish churchmen. The year after the death of Aidan
(a.d. 652), the discussion about the proper time for the
celebration of the Easter festival assumed a more lively
tone. The controversy was set on foot by Ro
nan, a Scottish presbyter, educated in France.
He was followed by the Anglo-Saxon monk
Wilfred, the friend and preceptor ofthe prince
Aelchfrid or Alfrid, a son of Oswy. This person had
travelled for some years in Italy and France, where he
had diligently studied, and formed his own opinions, at
the most celebrated serainaries of Latin discipline and
ritual. By the influence of the prince, Wilfred was ap
pointed prior of the monastery of Ripon, which had a
short time before been assigned to a colony of Scottish
raonks. Finding the brethren devoted to the traditional
usages of their church, the prince, at the solicitation of
Wilfred, expelled them from their convent, and surren
dered it to his friend and his pupils. Simultaneously with
this moveraent of the Latin party at court,
^ ^'^ ' Agilbert, bishop of the West Saxons, at the
request of the prince, took up his residence in Northum
bria, accompanied by his presbyter Agatho. The strong
party thus assembled now resolved upon decisive steps for
the reduction ofthe Scottish and Northumbrian churches
to conformity with the Latin discipline and ritual; and to
that end, they proposed a free conference between them
selves on the one part, and the bishops and clergy of the
realm of Northumbria on the other, with a view to deter
mine all points in dispute, more especially those relating to
the celebration of Easter and the forra of clerical tonsure.
While the scherae for the restoration of this important
The confer- proviuce to the communion of Rome was ripen-
enoe of ing, Finuaii, the successor of Aidan, had passed
Whitby. a,way, and was succeeded by Colman, a devout
disciple ofthe Scottish school. At his accession to the

Chap. HL] THE DISCUSSION. 31.5
government of the Northumbrian church, he found an
uneasy feeling prevailing among his clergy as to the
orthodoxy of their computation of the Easter festival.
With regard to the raerits of the question in dispute, the
court appears to have stood nearly indifi'erent between
the parties. The king was, indeed, anxious for the settle
ment of a quarrel which disunited him frora his consort
and his son ; and, with the knowledge that the ultimate
decision must rest with himself, he saw no objection to
the proposed discussion. The Scottish party, when called
upon " to give a reason for the faith that was in them,"
could not decline the challenge ; and it was agreed that
the colloquy should take place at the convent of Strenes-
chalk, or Whitby, in the presence of the court, and under
the personal presidency of the king.
At the day and place of raeeting there appeared, on
the part of the Latin coraraunion, Bishop Agil- The discus-
bert, with his friends Wilfred and Agatho, aided ^'on.
by the aged deacon Jacob," and Romanus, the queen's
Italian director. The national church was represented
by Colman of Lindisfarn, the bishop Cedd, the abbess
Hilda, and other clergy of the Scottish persuasion. The
king- opened the discussion by calling* upon Colman to
give an account of the raode of celebrating the paschal
feast according to his communion, and to state upon what
traditional grounds that observance was founded. Col
man replied, that the mode of the celebration ^^ ^^^^^
was notorious to all men; that it had always of Bishop
been practised in that precise manner by the ^°^^^'^-
church from which he derived his commission; that it
had been handed down to them by an unbroken tradition
from St. John, the beloved disciple ofthe Lord; and had
been practised by all the churches over which that great
apostle had in his lifetime presided. AgUbert, on whom
the reply devolved, professed himself too imperfectly ac
quainted with the speech of the north to be the spokesraan
ofhis party ; he therefore proposed that Wilfred, to whom
that dialect was familiar, and who was besides perfectly
" Jacob had been deacon to Pauli- through all the calamities ofthe Welsh
nus, and had managed to hold his post and Mercian invasion.

316 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
conversant with the controversy in hand, should be heard
in his place. The request was granted ; and Wilfred re-
Harsh reply pUcd, that the mode of keeping the Easter feast
of Wilfred, observed by himself and his friends was that
which was practised at Rome, where the blessed apostles
Peter and Paul had lived, and taught, and suffered; and
were buried; that the same rite was in the sarae man
ner adopted and performed throughout all Italy, Gaul,
Africa, Egypt, Greece, in short, in the whole Christian
world ; that it was by all celebrated at one and the same
time, excepting only b3' his actual opponents, and their
accomplices in folly and obstinac3^, — the Picts, the Scots,
and the Britons, — who were vain enough to imagine that
the obscure occupants of the two remotest islands of the
ocean — aud even they not unanimously — could raaintain
a vainglorious pretence ofexclusive conformity with apos
tolic ordinance ag-ainst the voice of the whole catholic
world. Shocked by the harsh tone assumed by the Latin ad-
Eemon- vocatc, Colmau calmly inquired " whether it
strance of -^yas justifiable to apply such epithets to the
°r"p^iy oi faithf^ul followers of the beloved friend and dis-
Wiifred. ciple of thefr common Lord?" "God forbid,"
said Wilfred in repty, " that I should charge the great
apostle with folly for accommodating his practice to the
Jewish prejudices he found prevailing among a majority
of his converts." Instances of this kind of condescension
were, he urged, numerous in the conduct of the apostles,
more especially in that of St. Paul. Yet many of the
practices the3' deeraed lawful, on account ofthe prejudices
then prevailing in the Church, were no longer so now
that the full light ofthe Gospel had illuminated the whole
world ; though, therefore, there was at that time good rea
son wh3'^ the apostles should deem it expedient to keep the
paschal feast according to the law of Moses, to wit, on the
fourteenth day of the first moon",'' whether that day fell on
a sabbath or on any other day of the week ; 3-et when St.
Peter preached at Rome,'' he, remerabering that the Lord
p See Exod. xii. 6. 'K-fipvy/j.a Iterpov, a, very early apocry-
1 1n allusion, no doubt, to theso-ealled phal work, of the same category as the

Chat. HL] WE.UCNESS OF SCOTTISH TIIEOKY. 317
rose fi-om the dead on the first day of the Meek, thouo-ht
that the paschal feast ought to be kept on that da3',  that
thei-efore, iu couformitA" M"ith the Mosaic ordinance, the
Church should aMait the fourteenth da 3- of the moon ;
and if a sabbath immediately preceded that day, the
feast should begiii on that same sabbath exening-, just as
it is UOM' observed ; but if a Lord's-day did not follow on
the morroM' ofthe fourteenth da,3-, he (the apostle I^eter)
Maited tiU the sixteenth, the se\"enteenth, or aii3' other
Loi*d's-da3-, so 01113' that such Lord's-daA" should happen
before the tMciitN- -first da^- of the moon. Thus the
Easter Lord's-da3' could 011I3" occur betM een the fifteenth
of the moon and the twenty -tirst. Now, inasmuch as
b3' the law of Moses the paschal feast is to be observed
during the \\ hole inter\ al betMeeu the fourteenth and the
tMeiity-first, there is no disagreement betM'een the la^v
and the apostle.'' This rule Mas that mIucIi all the suc
cessors of the apostle John iu the churches over w hich he
presided did, after his death, unanimously agree to abide
by ;' and thus, in like raanner, all churches throughout
the M'orld, the same having been afterMards confirmed
b3' the great councU of Nicjea.
But M-hat most nearly- touched the Scottish doctors in
the aro-umeut of Wilfi-ed, Mas the charg-e that ,
, ,^ , ,. 1 ,' 11 14-^ Inconsistency
though they professed to toUoM" the Asiatic prae- of the Soot-
tice as deri"v'ed from the apostle John, yet that *'^'^ theory.
their actual usag-e corresponded neither Mith that nor
with the Latin computation. That practice, he contended,
M-as in ti-uth deri\ ed from the Jews, and foUoiived strictlv
their reckoning. The Scotch, hoMever, had departed
fi-om that rule by transferrmg their festi\ al to some Sun-
daA" occurring "withui the period extending from the thir
teenth to the twentieth ofthe first moon, thus entirely
displacing the "nhole period.' Such a Sunday Mould not,
" Apocalypse of Peter." the " Itinerary ment; the Jewish mode of keeping the
of Peter," and the Clementine fictions. feast having pre\-ailed in the Asiatic
Conf, Book 1. c, ii. p. 2S of this work. churches Ibr ages after the death of
' That is. the time fbr the observance John.
is the same in both.o;isos ; the day ' The Quartodecimanians computed
¦nithintheperiodbeingoul.vchosenwitii tho period of the fea«t from the 14th
reference to that on which Uie Eesur- at ove till the 21st at eve ofthe first or
rection occurred. equinoctial month.
' This is, howcA'er, a gross mi.<state-

318

CATHEDEA PETEI.

[Book TV.

he affirmed, always occur within the period allowed by
the law of Moses for the celebration ofthe paschal feast;
consequently the festival could not be lawfully kept in
every 3^ear ofthe nineteen-year C3rcle ofthe Alexandrines,
by which both Jews and judaising Christians were equally
guided." To this reproach Colman had no better reply at
Eejoinder haud than that the hol}'^ Anatolius of Laodicaea''
of Colman. jj^d always been their guide, and that from
him they had learnt to keep the paschal feast between
the fourteenth and twentieth day of the moon. That he
thought this plea conclusive when fortified by the im
meraorial practice of his church, is clear frora the sequel.
" Are we," he asked, " to be conderaned for following our
holy father and founder Coluraba and his successors, men
beloved of God, "who alwa3's kept the feast in the manner
we now keep it ? Are they, M'hose sanctity was vouched
b3r raany miracles, to be reproached "v\"ith ignorance both

" The nineteen-year cycle of the
Alexandrines was invented in order to
bring the commencement of the lunar
year into coincidence with a particular
day of the civil or solar year. It was
found, namely, that 235 lunar months
coincided very nearly with nineteen
solar years, so as to bring round the
new moon to the same day in the nine
teenth as in the first year of the cycle.
The first new moon in each ofthe nine
teen civil years being easily obtained,
and denoted hy a number called the
Golden Number, there could be no dif
ficulty in finding the new moon imme
diately preceding the vernal equinox,
that moon being the Nizan or Abib of
the Jews. It was the practice ofthe lat
ter to wait till that moon was at the full
— that is, till the fourteenth day — and
on the eve of that day to sacrifice the
paschal lamb, whatever day of the week
it might fall upon. The first month, or
Nizan of the Jews, must therefore fall
within our months of March and April;
and the fourteenth day of that moon
must be computed from some newmoon
occurring on or after the 7th of March,
in order to bring it to the full on or after
the 21st of that month. But the 14th
of the month Nizan marks the full moon
immediately succeeding the vernal equi
nox (21st of our month of March) :
now a full moon may occur on the 20th
of March, and the next full moon would

not occur till the 1 9th or 20th of April,
on which day the Jews would keep
their latest Passover in any year. But
as the Latin churches always waited
tiU the Sunday after that full moon,
the Christian feast of Easter might faU
seven days later, that is, at the latest
on the 26th or 27th of April. Of course,
at the earliest, it would not fall till the
22d of March, and then only if the 21st
turned out to be a Saturday. The
Eastern churches, as far as I am able
to understand the question, always kept
their Easter on the same days as the
Jews ; therefore any departure from
that day was a departure from the al
leged usage of the Johannite churches.
Wilfred seems to have imputed to the
Scotch some error in the computation
ofthe particular Sunday to he observed,
otherwise there would be no discre
pancy between their computation and
that of the Latins. See Ideler, Handb.
der Chronol. vol. ii. pp. 175 et sqq.;
Rosenmiiller, ad Exod. xii. 6 et sqq.
Conf. Dr. Smith on the Paschal con
troversy, in his edition of Bede, app.
ix. a. p. 694.
' Anatolius flourished in the latter
part of the third century, circ. a.d. 278
to the end of the century. His work
on the Easter festival is mentioned by
Jerome with approbation. That work
still exists in an ancient Latin ver-

Chap. IIL] VICTOEY OF THE LATINS. 319
ofthe law and the gospel, and with teaching us what was
contrary to both ?" " Nay," rejoined WUfred, Answer of
" we deny not the sanctity of your Anatolius wiif^ed.
or your Columba ; but we charge you with ignorance
and neglect of the precepts of that very Anatolius upon
whom you rest your case; for he computed his Pasch
by the nineteen -3^ear period (of the Alexandrines), a
cycle (of lunations) of which you take no notice ; thus
repudiating a rule so far acquiesced in by all parties,"
and celebrating your Pasch at a time differing from that
adopted by every other body of Christians. But what
though your holy men raay have wrought signs and won
ders, — what, I ask, might be the reply on that day of
final judgment when they shall claim the benefit of their
miraculous works before the Lord? — ^' Depart from me,
for I know ye not !' Not that it must be so, — God
forbid that I should thus harshl3r judge ofthe dead! —
Granted, then, that they were the genuine servants of
God, — that the3' served Him uprightly in their rustic
ignorance ; being blameless as long as no one appeared
among them who raight instruct thera in the better way.
And verily I believe of them that if a catholic calculator
had had access to thera, they would have followed tke
command of God. But now, if you and your followers,
after having keard tke decree of the apostolic see, in con
formity witk tkat of tke univer,sal Ckurck, and confirmed
by tke sacred letter addressed to you, shall disobey or ne
glect that better commandment, ye shall surely fall into
mortal sin. What though your fathers were holy men,
should their sraall number, confined in an obscure corner
of the world, prevail against the decisions of ^^eges
the universal Church 1 Should your Columba, the Petrine
holy man though he were, be preferred to the P'^^''^'^-
blessed prince of the apostles, to whom the Lord said,
' Thou art Peter ; and I will give unto thee the keys of
the kingdom of heaven' ?"
The text thus dextrously reserved to the close of the
discussion decided the victory of the Latin dis- victory of
putants. One word of authority outweighed all ^^^ i-atins.
* Although differing as to the feria, or week-day, upon which it was to be held.

320 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
the learned arguments lavished upon the unlettered ear
of the court. King Oswy, struck b)^ the quotation, asked
Colraan whether, in truth, the Lord had thus addressed
Peter ? The naked fact was undeniable. " Then," said
the king, " show me any similar authority imparted to
your Columba or his saintly successors." The bishop
could allege none such. " You are, then, agreed," rejoined
the king, " on both sides, that these words were addressed
specially to Peter, and that the Lord did thereby confer
upon hira the keys of the kingdom of heaven ?" The
truth of the allegation was admitted. '^ Then," said Oswy,
" I tell you, that I will not stand in opposition to the
doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven ; nay, I will in all
things obey his coraraands : lest by offending him who
keepeth the keys, I should, when I present myself at the
gate, find no one to open unto me.""
A very superficial acquaintance with ecclesiastical
^ . . history would suffice for the refutation of the
Examination ..ip. i-i.i .!•
of the Latin principal tacts upon which the argument of
argument. '\\7"iif].ed was fouuded. Not to insist upon the
apocryphal allegation of a positive apostolic ordinance
delivered jointly by Peter and Paul at Rome, nothing can
be more contrary to the fact than the supposed unanimity
of observance in the catholic Church so confidently as
serted by Wilfred. It is a matter of notoriety, that the
disputes respecting the proper season for celebrating the
paschal festival continued to divide both the Eastern and
the Western churches for man3^ ages after the decease of
the apostle John ; and so far was it from the truth that
the same usage had prevailed ever since that time in all
the " churches of Italy and Gaul, of Africa, Asia, Eg3'pt,
and Greece," that it would be a difficult matter to show
that any two of them at any one time had adopted the
same practice, or that any definite rule of computation
had obtained the suff'rages of a majority of the Christian
world.^ Though Bishop Colman and his friends were not
bound to accept this statement at the hands of their op-
'' Bede, lib. iii. c. xxv. pp. 131 et sqq. the paschal controversies, ap. Bingham,
y Conf. Book I. e. v. pp. 102 et sqq. Antiqq. vol. vii. book xx. c. v. § 2, p.
of this work. See also the history of 89.

Chap. III.] THE LATIN AEGUMENT. 321
ponents, they were unprepared with any direct contra
diction of the alleged facts. They were ignorant that
Polycarp of Smyrna, the disciple of John, had maintained
an analogous mode of computation with their own, — that
Polycrates, his successor in that see, had defended the like
cause against Victor of Rome ; and though they were
aware that Anatolius of Laodicaea, at the close of the
third century, had written an approved treatise defending
the Quartodeciraanian opinion, they did not know that at
that very tirae the churches of Asia, Syria, and Meso
potamia followed generally the same practice, as handed
down to them from the earliest apostolic age. Had it come
to their knowledge that this mode of keeping the Easter
festival had but in a single instance met with any violent
expression of dogmatic opposition ;" had they known that
down to the middle of the fourth century no synodal de
cree to which any plausibly legal force could be attached
had been in existence to brand that opinion as schismatic
or heretical ;' and that until then no penalty had been an
nexed to the practice founded upon it,— -the3' might have
put a direct negative upon the bold misstatements of Wil
fred, and have affirmed with truth that the differences
complained of were not in the purer ages of the Church
regarded as essential to church-fellowship among Chris
tians,'' and that they had never been so regarded until the
^ That of Victor of Eome iu excom- However, in the year 345, the council of
municating the Asiatic churches ; an Antioch (not an oecumenical council)
act severely reprehended by Irenseus. formaUy and canonically decreed the ob-
Conf. Book I. c. v. p. 103 of this work. servance of the Egyptian practice, and
• The council of Nicsea, in 325, had branded the disobedient as schismatics
indeed, at the recommendation of Con- and heretics. Conf. Hard. Concil. tom.
stantine, taken the question into con- i. pp. 338, 442, 450; and ConciZ. Antioch.
sideration, and had adopted the Gentile Id. ibid. p. 591.
view of the Christian Pasch as distin- •• See all the authorities upon the
guished from that of the Quartodecima- paschal controversy, fuUy but concisely
nians or Judaisers ; aud had referred collected, ap. Erseh. und Gruber's Cy-
the churches to that of Alexandria, be- clop. art. ' Oster-fest.' I am incUned to
cause that church enjoyed the reputa- think that the error imputed to the Scots
tion of greater scientific attainments was not precisely that of the Quarto-
than any other. But this resolution did decimanians ; for they observed their
not take the form of a canon or synodal paschal feast on a Sunday, in conformity
decree, nor was any penalty annexed with the Nicene practice. It arose most
to neglect of the recommendation. It probably from some misunderstanding
becomes known to us, iu fact, for the of the meaning of Anatolius of Laodi-
first time in the narrative of their trans- csea, and it may be from the adoption of
actions, and in the letters of the em- some other cycle (of which there were
peror Constantine; but it is not em- several) than that of Alexandria.
bodied among their legislative acts.
VOL. II. Y

323 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
lust of power had extinguished all distinction between
unity and uniformity in their minds.
But the real object of the Latin disputants lay wide
Intent of of the simplc questions proposed to the assembly.
the Latin That objcct was primarUy the establishment of
doctors, ^i^g Roman supremacy in the British islands.
From the commencement of their meritorious labours, the
Latin missionaries came prepared to disallow and disown,
as far as circurastances perraitted, any but a dependent
church-constituency. In the very announceraent of their
mission new churches and old became, in their view, the
subjects of Rome. In her name they seized upon the
whole jurisdiction, and declined to recognise any but a
delegated authority, ultimately referable to Rome as the
source of all spiritual power. Wilfred, as we have seen,
closed his case with the broad assertion, that dissent from
the decrees of him who bore the keys of the kingdom of •
heaven amounted to the crirae of disobedience to the
commands of God, and must incur the penalty of ex
clusion from His kingdom. "The Lord," he argued,
"had made a discretionary transfer of the keys to St.
Peter : he was therefore the literal janitor of the Chris
tian paradise, with power to admit or to shut out whom
he pleased. The apostolic gatekeeper had spoken by the
mouth of his representative the pontiff of Rome ; the
command of God had gone forth ; there remained no
duty but to obey." To the siraple and the ignorant the
method of literal exposition recommends itself; and thus
figures of speech become histories, and metaphors are
converted into matters of fact. The Scottish prelates were
Eetreat of overmatchcd by the Latins in argumentative
the Scottish scioUsm. Unprepared with any reply to the
clergy, triumphant " Tu es Petrus" of their opponents,
they retired from the field in the same humble unselfish
spirit which first prompted them to quit their solitude to
spread the gospel among a despairing and deserted .peo
ple. Thither they again retreated, without any ambitious
attempt to disturb the peace of the flock they had gone
forth to seek and to save. Defeat M'^as to them no ground
for schism : the authority had slipped from their hands ;

Chap. IIL] UETEEAT OF THE SCOTTISH CLEEGY. 323
their occupation abroad was gone; and they returned
to obscurity, leaving behind thera that genuine odour of
sanctity, the example ofa holy and laborious life, — a source
of far greater advantage to the world they quitted than
any that could have resulted from a continuance of their
ministry under circumstances that must have led to schism
on the one hand, or to an absolute surrender of their own
religious liberties on the other." The Scottish and Irish
clergy in other parts of Northumbria and the British
isla,nds followed their prelates, and retired before the in
flux of Latinism which followed the conference of Whitby.
With them the last vestiges of an independent church-
constituency vanished from the land ; Rorae becarae the
cynosure of religious aspiration : in her name and under
her banner the victory had been won ; and the chair of
Peter was, it must be adraitted, rescued frora a greater
peril than any by which it had been threatened since the
first Roraan emissary had planted his foot upon British
ground. = The character given by Bede of the of those reUgious persons who, like the
Scottish clergy is the strongest testi- venerable Bede himself, had not yet
mony to the disinterested and self-de- whoUy succeeded in merging the truth
nying conversation of these holy men, and substance of reUgion in the outward
as weU as to the profound impression forms of ritual and worship. Conf,
they left behind them upon the minds Bede, Ub. iii. c. xxii. p. 135,

CHAPTER IV.
BEITISH CHUECHES TS THE SE"VENTH CENTUEY. (II.)
Submission of the prince and people — New bishops in Northmnbria — Wilfred —
Chad— Conformity ofthe Anglo-Saxon churches to the Latin rite — ^Embassy
of kings Egbert and Oswy to Pope Vitalian— Eeply ofthe pope — Appointment
of Theodore as archbishop of Canterbury — Decree of appointment — Eemoval
of Chad, and reinstatement of Wilfred in the see of York — Introduction of the
Eoman canon-law — Benedict Biscop and the Latin ritual — Services, ornaments,
church-furniture — Biscop theEitualist — Character of image and relic worship —
Advantage of Eome — ^Wilfred of York — Elfrida — ^EdUburga — WUfred expeUed
— His appeal to the pope — ^Papal adjudication — rejected in Northumbria — Im
prisonment and liberation of WUfred — His restoration — His second expulsion
— CouncU of Nesterfield — Eecusancy of WUfred — Adjudication — Berthuald
archbishop of Canterbury in the appeal of Wilfred — Judgment of Pope John VL
— Final success and restoration of Wilfred — His death, and distribution of his
treasures.
What the result might have been, if the Scottish bishops
Submission had added knowledge to their zeal, it is difficult
ofthe to conjecture. It were equally vain to speculate
prfnces anTas to what might have been the effect upon the
laity, mind of the barbarian king, if the principle of
literal exposition had been boldly repudiated, or duly con
trolled by an enlightened comparison with other portions
of the sacred text, or even with the writings of fhe most
eminent Christian fathers. Neither can we anticipate the
result of a direct appeal to the temporal interests of the
prince against a system which cast the religious liberties
ofhis people at the feet of a foreign master, and esta
blished among them a priesthood whose influence might
soon supplant the prince in the affections, and ultimately
in the allegiance, of his subjects. But such views lay far
beyond the hmited horizon of that age. There was in
the barbaric mind an integrity of submission which, after
admitting- certain given premises in good faith, recoiled
from the cold calculation of consequences. Forecast and

Chap. IV.] BISHOPS CHAD AND WILFEED. 326
scrutiny implied a suspicion inconsistent with the spon
taneous trust they were accustomed to repose in their in
structors and leaders. When, therefore. King Oswy, with
his court and people, had determined to earn the good
will of the " doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven," their
eyes w^ere at once riveted upon his presumed successor
at Rome as the only safe channel of communication with
that formidable official.
In the first instance, the king selected Tuda, a con
formist to what was now called the catholic
ritual, to be the new bishop of Northumbria ; n^inateF
and promoted a friar named Eata from the typing
monastery of Melrose to the abbey of Lindis
farn, there to preside over as many ofthe Scottish monks
of that colony as could be persuaded to adopt the new
forms of Easter, the sacerdotal tonsure, and a few other
formalities proposed by the court-clergy as the tests of
catholic profession." Tuda held the episcopate a very
short time ; and after his death, by the desire of Prince
Alfrid, Wilfred, the hero ofthe late religious re- wufred
volution, was sent to France to receive episcopal ^°^ Chad.
ordination.'' But at the same time, under the auspices of
Oswy himself, the presb3'^ter Ceadda, or Chad, was sent
to danterbury for the like purpose. Chad, finding on
his arrival that the archbishop Deusdedit had just ex
pired, turned aside to the West Saxons, and M^as duly
consecrated by Vin, or Win, the bishop of that diocese."
Chad was a pupil of the saintly Aidan, and a diligent
imitator of his virtues. WhUe he was traveUing on foot
through the leng-th and breadth of the land, instructing
thg ignorant, visiting every town and vUlage, and turning-
aside to each hovel, house, and mansion on his road to
preach the gospel of Christ, his coadjutor, WUfred, applied
himself with equal assiduity to the task of disciplinarian
and ritual reform, introducing the Latin regulations into
the churches, and innovating, says Bede, " in such wise,
» Bede, ubi sup. c. xxvi. p. 134. Anglo-Saxon (Eoman) bishop with two
>> In the place of Tuda, as archbishop British bishops ; the reason assigned
of York or Northumbria. ~ being that no others were at hand to
<: The consecration of Ceadda exhi- confer the episcopal benediction— three
bits the singular phenomenon of an as- being the canonical quorum. Bede, ubi
sociation for a reUgions purpose of an sup. c. xxviu. p. 137.

326 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
that the clergy who adhered to the Scottish forms either
gave him the hand of feUowship, or — returned to their
own country."''
The victory of Whitby had cleared the British islands
Conformity of au oppositiou, the morc forraidable to the
"^churches^'' Lati'us that it was in a far higher degree based
to the upon spiritual and practical views of religious
Latin rite. ^xity. On the other hand, up to this period of
tirae the whole strength of Rome had been put forth to
promote the substitution of her own pragmatic scheme
for that spiritual principle which forraed the ground-M^ork
of the religious education of the Scots. Every, even the
rainutest, departure frora that scherae made all the differ
ence between catholicity and schism. The theory of the
sacramental unity of the Church was indissolubly bound
up with the outward forms which upheld it ; and religion
was in a manner divorced from its natural alliance with
the moral and spiritual nature of man. With every period
of their progress, the anxiety of the roraanising clergy
to circumscribe orthodox religion within orthodox forms
became more and more conspicuous ; and dissent in mat
ters of external discipline or ritual practice became more
odious, because more dangerous, than doctrinal heresy.''
From this peril the power of Rome in England was now
delivered ; the form and the substance of religious duty
flowed into the same channel, and both were comprised
in the single precept of allegiance to the chair of Peter.
The effects of the revived predilection for the Latin
discipline araong the Anglo-Saxon churches and
Egbert and pcoplc soou bccame manifest. Three 3^ears after
Oswy to Pope the Conference of Whitby, Egbert of Kent and
OsM'^y of Northumberland preferred a joint re-
'' Bede,n.bi sup. p. 138. The general suasion is manifest in many passages of
conduct of Wilfred does not encourage his great work.
us to believe that he resorted always to « It may be remarked, that none of
the gentlest means of conversion. The the imputed heresies in the Western
contrast between his official demeanour churches, between the sixth and the six-
and that of Chad may be taken as the teenth centuries, touched upou any ma-
generic difference between the spirit of terial gospel doctrine, excepting those
the Scottish clergy and their romanis- of Berengarius in the eleventh, and of
ing competitors. The secret predilec- the Albigenses in the thirteenth century.
tion of the venerable historian for the All the rest turned simply upon the de-
long-sufferingr-and, we may say, spi- nial of Boman supremacy, or the rejec-
ritualising— clergy of the Scottish per- tion of Eoman formulae.

Chap. IV.] EOME AND THE ANGLO-SAXON CHUECHES. 327
quest to Pope Vitalian to consecrate a priest of their
joint nomination named Wigard, to the see of Canter
bury, vacant by the death of the late archbishop Deus
dedit. The letters of requisition are no longer extant ;
but, if we may judge from the reply of Vitalian, they
were sufficiently reverential and submissive. It is ob
vious that the Anglo-Saxon princes had desired to have
a native primate, familiar with the national language and
habits, and capable ofpreaching to princes and people in
the vulgar tong-ue.*^ But soon after his arrival in Rome,
Wigard, and most ofhis companions, died of a pestilential
disease then prevailing. The pope, in his reply to the
royal letters, dr3Uy informed the princes of Wi- Reply of
gard's death, but took no notice of the intent VitaUan.
and object of his mission. Presuming, as a matter of
course, that the choice of a proper person to fill the vacant
see rested with himself, the pope excused any delay he
might be compelled to incur in filling the chafr of Can
terbury by the difficulty of finding at a moment's notice
one properly qualified for that high office. He expressed,
however, his high approbation of their devotion to the see
of Peter ; their laudable efforts to convert tkeir people to
tke true catholic and apostolic faitk ; and to that end ad
monished them to give all pains in enforcing the observance
of tke rules and regulations of tke koly see, whether they
regarded the celebration of the Easter festival, or other
traditions of tke holy Apostles Peter and Paul. He
assured them that the person whom he raight send them
should be provided with instructions M'^hich would enable
him thoroughly to root out the tares M'hich the old enemy
might have sown among their people;^ and concluded
with an earnest exhortation to dedicate theraselves and
their whole island to Christ, and to deserve his blessing,
teraporal and eternal, by establishing there the wkole ca-
tkolic and apostolic doctrine.^
The sequel sufficiently explains the raeaning attached
to the terras, "catholic and apostolic faith," "doctrine,"
' Bed(E Vit. Abbat. &c. p. 294. Scottish formulje of Easter, the tonsure,
a No doubt in allusion to the linger- sacerdotal marriage, &c.
ing of dissent in Scotland, and perhaps ^ Bedm H. E. Ub. ui. c. xxix. pp. 138,
elsewhere, especially in respect of the 139.

328 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Appointment " tradition," in this document. Whatever may
of Theodore haye bccu the auxicty of the papal court to
archbishop of promote the ascend enc3'" ofthe purely Roman
Canterbury, tradltious iu all the churches of the Latin
profession, it was not tiU after the death of Gregory the
Great that the pontiffs ventured to prescribe their unqua
lified adoption as the sole condition of communion and the
test of orthodoxy. After the delay of nearly a twelve
month, Vitahan consecrated Theodore, a Greek monk and
a native of Tarsus in CUicia, to be the chief-pastor of the
remote church of Britain. Theodore himself had but
recently renounced the peculiar practices of the Oriental
church from "which he sprung in favour of the Latin
form. He was profoundly ignorant ofthe geographical
position, the language and manners of his new flock ;
even his orthodoxy was not altogether clear of suspicion."
But no other person was to be found willing to exchange
his native clime for the unknown and distant ocean-island,
or to forsake the warm and sunny Italy for the cold and
barbarous regions of the North. The opportunity to
latinise the Anglo-Saxon churches was, however, not to
be neglected ; and Vitalian resolved that Theodore should
not have it in his power to plead any misunderstanding
of his mission. The extant decretal of appointment ex-
The decree of pressly describcs all the powers and functions
appomtment. of the ucw prelate as flowing spontaneously and
exclusively frora St. Peter, " Prince of the Apostles, to
whom the Lord God hath g-iven power to bind and to loose
in heaven and on earth, and unto whom, as also to his suc
cessor, the Roman pontiff, were likewise intrusted the keys
of the kingdom of heaven."J The papal letters in terms
identify the Roman church with the body of Christ, and
the pope of Rome with the person and office of Christ upon
earth. The parallel is completed by the application ofthe
prophetic oracles relating to the kingdom ofthe Messiah''
to his representative at Rome ; and the decree of appoint
ment concludes with a solemn anathema against all who
I See Bede, lib. iv. c. ii. p. 142. ^ Isaiah xi. 10 ; xiii. 6, 7 ; xlix.
j Ibid. lib. iii. c. xxix. pp. 138, 139; 1, 6-9.
Wilkins, Concil. tom. i. pp. 40, 41. w:a_

Chap. IV.] WILFEED AECHBISHOP OF YOEK. 329
should at any time invade or abridge the privUeges thereby
conferred upon the archbishop and his successors.
We think that Theodore thoroughly understood the
conditions of his appointraent. On his arrival in Theodore re-
England, he announced hiraself to his churches moves chad
as the delegate ofthe Roman pontiff.' When he andUistitutes
took possession of hjs see, the church of Canter- Wilfred.
bury had been vacant for a period not far short of five
years ;"" within which some irregularities had occurred
requiring correction. Wilfred had obtained episcopal or
dination in France; and after his return to England, had
taken upon himself the ad-interim administration of the
see of (5anterbury. In the North, several bishops and
clerg3r had heedlessly accepted orders from the schismatic
Church of Scotland ; and the pious presbyter Ceadda,
or Chad, after his appointment to the see of York from
King Oswy, had been consecrated by the bishop of the
West Saxons, with the assistance of two bishops of the
intercommuned Welsh church." Bishop Wilfred at the
same time clairaed a prior appointment to that see : and
upon both these grounds Theodore adjudged the ordina
tion of Ceadda to be defective ; but, in consideration of
his prompt submission, remedied the defect by a " catho
lic" consecration. He declined, however, to uphold his
pretensions to the see of York, which he had held up to
that time under the ro3'^al warrant, and Chad was, at the
request of Wulfhere, the Christian king- of the Mercians,
transferred to the see of Lichfield; York, with episcopal
jurisdiction extending- from the Humber to the Pictish
"borders, being assigned to his rival Wilfred." These
changes and reforms were carried out without opposition ;
and Theodore enjoyed, says Bede, the honour of being
the first archbishop to whom the whole church of the
Anglo-Saxons had offered the right-hand of feUowship.?
Amid the manifold pohtical and rehgious changes
' " Ab apostolica sede destinatus." May 669.
See the preamble to the councU of He- ¦" See p. 325 of this chapter.
rudford, ap. Wilkins, Cone. tom. i. p. 42. ° Bede, Ub. iv. c. ui. p. 143, a.d. 669.
"Deusdedit, the sixth archbishop, died ¦¦ Scilicet by the suppression of the
on the 14th July 664. Theodore took Scottish schism. Bede, ubi sup.
possession on Trinity Sunday, the 27th

330 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Introduction which had occurrcd in England since the land-
of the Eoman ing of Augustinc, it was not surprising that
Tntrthe^ Theodore should have found the outward orga-
ehurch of nisatiou of his church in some disorder. The
"^ ^^ ' native churches had probably never possessed
any proper code of ecclesiastical law, or any other rule
of discipline than their own particular traditions. The
archbishop felt the necessity of a closer bond of union,
and resolved upon the introduction ofthe Roman code of
discipline and ritual. With that view, he convoked a
general assembly of the native clergy, attended as asses
sors by certain foreign ecclesiastics, at Bishop's Hatfield
(Herudford) ; and laid before them a book or code, which
he described as " the book of rules and orders in ancient
times decreed b3' the fathers" and adopted by the church
of Rorae. Ofthe special contents of this volume we have
no other intimation but what may be collected from the
short extracts recommended by the archbishop for imme
diate adoption. Those extracts were ten in nuraber, and
contain no regulations but such as raay be gathered from
the extant codices of general ecclesiastical law. The first
upon the list of these excerpta is the raost iraportant,
purporting that the Easter festival should be thereafter
uniformly celebrated on the Sunday immediately follow
ing the fourteenth day of the first, or vernal, raoon ;'' a
step Avhich had the inevitable effect of perpetuating the
schism of the British and Scottish churches.'' But the
result was overlooked as of httle importance; the dis
senting churches had been all along treated by the Latins
as weak and rotten branches, and therefore of no account
in the calculation ofthe additional strength to be derived
from a closer union of all with Rome.
1 In conformity with the first canon see Book III. c. iv. p. 139 of this work.
ofthe councU of Antioch, A.D. 341. It may with equal probability be conjec-
¦• Bede, lib. iv. c. v. pp. 147-149. It tured tbat the latter code was no other
is not improbable that the " Book of than the digest of canons and conciliar
the Canons" presented to the synod at enactments published by Dionysius Ex-
Herudfordwasthe identical code quoted iguus at the close of the fifth century,
by Pope Agapetus in reply to the appU- but in combination with the papal de-
cation of the emperor Justinian on be- cretals and the ordinances of Italian
half of the converted clergy of Africa, synods subsequently issued under the
under the title of the " Aperta et sy- authority of the holy see.
nodalia constituta Ecclesias Eomanse :"

Chap. IV.] BISCOP AND THE LATIN EITUAL. 331
The conforming clergy of Northumbria becarae the
zealous coadjutors ofthe archbishop for the pro- Benedict
motion of that object. Among the able men Biscop and
who had accompanied Theodore frora Italy, rituai'in
Hadrian of Naples, abbot of Canterbury, was England.
the most distinguished. Under his superintendence
schools were set on foot ; a taste for the systematic study
of sacred literature, church-music, and the sciences auxi
liary to theological and ritualistic education," was en
couraged. The clergy, and a few disting-uished layraen,
made frequent pilgrimages to Rome, and returned the
zealous advocates of the gorgeous ritual- worship the3r had
there witnessed. The most important of these visitants
was Benedict Biscop, a Northumbrian presbyter, a forraer
pupil of Aidan, and the diligent iraitator of his virtues.
At the age of twenty-five Biscop had devoted hiraself to
the Church ; he had made a journey to Rorae on a pious
visit to the holy places ; and on his return had taken the
habit at Lerins, a raonastery situate on an island at the
mouth of the Var in Provence, a religious seminary at that
period in the highest celebrity. He afterwards returned
to Rorae, and, at the request of Pope Vitalian, accora
panied Theodore of Tarsus to England as his interpreter.
Shortly afterwards he made a third journey to Rome, and
returned with a large collection of books, and a rich store
of relics of apostles and martyrs. Having, then, on his
passage through Ital3'- and France, acquired a perfect ac
quaintance with the rites and cereraonies, and new points
of discipline, observed in the most orthodox academies
of theological learning in those countries, he went into
Wessex, with the intention of introducing them into the
churches of that kingdom. But the death of his friend
King Kenwalch prevented the execution of this plan;
and he returned to his native Northumberland with a
reputation enhanced by his multifarious acquirements and
indefatigable zeal in the cause of ritual religion.
MeanwhUe Oswy had been succeeded on the throne
of Northumbria by "his son Egfrid (a.d. 670). On his
s Among the -studies of these schools and " astronomia et arithmetica eccle-
Bede enumerates the "ars metrica," siastica:" lib. iv. c. ii. p. 143.

332 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Latin church arrival, Biscop, whosc noble birth and princely
furniture nurture entitled him to every privilege of audi-
^'ion intoo^ cucc, presented himself to the king ; and in
duced, terested him so deeply by the narrative of his
continental experiences and acquisitions, that he immedi-
atel3'^ assigned to him a tract of land, with seventy famihes'
upon it, for the construction and maintenance of a mon-
aster3\ Upon this land he built the religious houses of
Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, in honour of the apostle
Peter (a.d. 674). But as native artists and materials
could not be found to supply the requisite decorations
and utensils, he undertook a vo3^age to the Continent, and
brought back with him from France masons to erect a stone
church for the brethren, together with glass and glaziers
to make and glaze the windows of the new building. He
imported at the same time church-lamps, and a variety of
vessels and vestments for the use of the holy offices ; and
encouraged the immigration of foreign artificers, to ini
tiate the native work-people in the manufacture of these
and other articles of church-furniture and ornament
hitherto unknown in the ritual of the EngUsh churches.
Still dissatisfied with the decorations and devotional
Biscop the stimulauts that France could supply, he set out
Eituaiist— upou a fourth journey to Rome ; and returned
his services. ^,- jj^ ^ much richer cargo of spiritual merchan
dise ; books without number, and of all sorts ; of the
relics of mart3Ts and apostles a treasure large enoug-h
to enrich many churches with their gracious infiuences.
With these he brought over Abbot John, precentor of St.
Peter's, to instruct his disciples in the Roman music, and
the formulse of daily service as practised in the capital
of Christendom. To all these acquisitions he -added a
letter of privilege from Pope Agathon, with the full con
sent and privity of King Egfrid, for ever exempting his
raonastery from all extrinsic (episcopal) control and in
tromission. " He brought with him likewise portraits and
holy images of the Blessed Virgin mother of God, and
' Hydes, or carrucates, the land at of land as might be cultivated by one
tached to a house or family. This was plough, and maintain a single family.
generally supposed to be such a piece Ducange, Gloss, voc. Hida et Hidua.

Chap. IV.] IMAGE AND EELIC WOESHIP INTEODUCED. 333
of the twelve apostles ; delineations of the apocalyptic
visions of St. John, and pictures of gospel history : all of
which he so disposed along the side-walls and screens of
his new church, that all who were ignorant of letters,
whichever way they turned, should always have before
their eyes the ever-gracious effigies of Christ and his
saints, calling up a more lively recollection of the Lord's
incarnation, or the perils of the last judgment ; so that,
having as it were these things before their eyes, they
might be led to a severer self-examination.""
It is a matter of comraon experience, that the most
effectual mode of instructing children, or igno- Natural
rant and unlettered persons, is to exhibit to character
their senses visible deUneations of the primary andrefi^
subjects of education. Such objects we know worship.
may be made to present to the minds of infants and bar
barians the elementary truths we wish to inculcate with
a force which no form of words can exert. Such men as
Gregory the Great and the venerable monk of Jarrow
might reg-ard the use of pictures and effigies as a prelimi
nary step only in Christian education ; and indeed in the
existing state ofthe world in their days, the widest range
of speculation could hardly have disclosed any prospect
beyond a successful beginning in the knowledge and prac
tice ofthe Christian virtues. 'That these infants in the faith
should ever become adults, or that a time might arrive
when the pupils should rise to the level of their teachers,
did not enter into the simply elementary calculations of
these good men. Neither could it occur to them, that an
expedient recommended by obvious utility in the earUer
stages of religious progress, might in the end lead teachers
and pupils back by an easy road to that abject creature-
worship from which it was perhaps in the first instance
instrumental in withdrawing- them. Charmed with the
first effects of this new devotional apparatus, Bede and
his contemporaries, whether of the Scottish or the Latin
school, could discern no prospective danger of this kind.
Though the disciples of Columba and of Aidan had been
" i5e(fe Vit. Bened. Bisc. in his lives ofthe Abbots ofWearmouth and Jarrow,
ed. Smith, p. "295.

334 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
satisfied with the simpler methods of " fishing for men"
adopted by their Lord and his apostles, they could not
deny that the broad cast of Rorae had brought a much
heavier draught to her nets. But as yet no one had duly
reflected upon the possibility of any serious amount of
superintendence and caution on the part of the pastors
becoraing necessary to neutrahse the natural effects of such
a scherae of instruction, or to prevent the ever-recurring
error of confounding the representative iraage or symbol
with that which it represents or symbolises, and to guard
against imparting a sanctity to the former quite distinct
from its original purpose. And by this tirae the error which
Greg-or3r the Great had deprecated — an error of which
we find no trace in the Scottish churches — had already
tainted the whole Latin world ; it had become an essen
tial part of the " pomp and circurastance" of religious
worship ; it had contributed to fix the attention of the
people ; it had attracted their curiosity ; it had engaged
on its behalf all the lurking superstitions ofthe barbarian
character, and brought with it an incalculable increase
of influence to those in whose hands the duties of in
structing and amusing the people were combined. This
Advantage acccssiou of Strength was, as elsewhere, of incal-
to Eome. culablc advantage to the progress ofthe Roraan
pretensions in the British islands : all the stimulants of
popular devotion carae from Rome ; from her was de
rived that pontifical benediction which sanctioned their
use, and almost identified them with the objects they
represented; the people were taught to look to her as
the fountain-head of pious aspiration, and the sole depo
sitary of the authentic means of grace to the Christian
world. But the final establishment of the Anglo-Saxon
WiHred churches upon papal ground was reserved to
archbishop the couragc and perseverance of Archbishop
of York. Wilfred of York. That prelate permitted no
raotives of forbearance or dehcacy to interfere with his
projects for proraoting the spiritual or material interests
of his church. In his apprehension, the supereminent
merits of monastic life amply justified the desertion of

Chap. IV.] EXPULSION OF WILFEED, &c. 335
every other earthly duty. Under his sanc
tion, Edelfrida, or Elfrida, the queen of Egfrid,
had, it is said, registered a vow of perpetual virginity,"
and had sued for permission to renounce her marriage
and to retire to a convent. The king consented with
some reluctance, and not long afterwards mar-
ried Edilburga, a lady of high birth and still ' ™^^'
higher spirit. Wilfred disapproved of the match, and
publicly reproved the new queen of the vices of levity,
frivolity, and rapacity. The latter retorted by raaliciously
pointing out to her husband the overgrown wealth and
power of the archbishop ; the number of the monasteries
he held in his own hands, the sumptuousness ofhis palaces,
the multitude ofhis retainers." "Wherein," said she, "are
you greater than he ; you, whose whole kingdom is but
his episcopate?"" These insinuations, confirraed by the
morose demeanour ofthe archbishop, and stimulated by
the jealousy of power, produced their full effect on the
mind of Egfrid, and Wilfred was banished from North
umberland^ (a.d. 678).
With a view to provide a remedy against the threat
ening accumulation of ecclesiastical and terri- ^^
torial influence in the hands of one man, the of'wiifred,
king and the prelates of Northumberland in- ^^^^l^^^
vited Theodore of Canterbury to his court. The
latter, on his arrival, acceded to the wishes of Egfrid and
his estates ; and upon his own authority as primate of
England," made a new distribution of episcopal powers
by dividing the whole kingdom into three dioceses,*
^ According to Eadmer, the biogra- " " Et quid amplius ipse tibi quam tu
pher of St. "Wilfred. If made before sibi? Totum regnum tuum ipsius epis-
marriage, the vow wasa fraud ; if after copatus est!" 7a. ihid.
marriage, an outrage. See Smith, ad ^ Bede (lib. iv. c. xix. p. 163) merely
Bedse Op. p. 747. Eadmer tells us, on states the fact of the divorce of Elfrida,
the authority of Wilfred himself, that and the expulsion of Wilfred ; but makes
Elfrida had spontaneously annuUed her no mention of the cause. See H. E.
marriage-vow, and uniformly decUned lib. iv. cxii. p. 155.
all intercourse with her husband. If ' After the appointment of WUfred,
so, Wilfred cannot be acquitted of the the right of ordaining bishops for the
charge of at least conniving at both per- northern province with reference to the
jury and fraud. decretal of Pope Gregory the Great
" " Subditorum principum turba;" a seems to have been vested in the arch-
curious phrase.. See Smith's extract bishop. Conf. Book HI. c. vu. p. 215
from the biographies of Wilfred, in of this work.
Bedis Op. pp. 747, 748. * Those of Lindisfarn and Hagul-

336 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
and appointing three new prelates to superintend them.
Though right in substance, the archbishop and the court
were, it seems, wrong in form. The measure was in itself
expedient ; but the mode of execution was both contrary
to canon-law, and in excess ofthe primatial powers ofthe
see of Canterbury. Wilfred's remonstrances were treated
with neglect or contempt, and he announced his intention
of appeahng to Rome against the lawless proceedings of
his antagonists.'' With this intent he embarked for the
Continent, and by the way preached to the heathen Fri
sians with great success. He did not arrive in Rome
till the foUowing year (679), and met with the reception
which commonly awaited all appellants to the holy see.
Pope Agatho convoked a numerous council in the basi
lica of Constantine, where Wilfred encountered an agent
previously despatched by Theodore to justify his pro-
Adjudication ceedings before the pope. The synod decided
upon the ^ith the arclibishop (Theodore) as to the right
appea. ^£ appointing bishops for the whole of the
British islands to the nuraber oftwelve, and consequently
that the division of Northumbria among three bishops
was within his competency ; but that inasmuch as this
had been done in the absence of, and against the will of
WUfred and other bishops,'' and without a regular syno
dal adjudication, the council decreed that he be restored
to the see which he had last holden ; that he should him
self elect his coadjutors, whom the archbishop should con
secrate to the new sees, and that the intruders should be
forthwith removed therefrom ; lastly, that aU persons,
whoever they might be, who should attempt to violate or
any way infringe that decree, " should be smitten with
an ever-enduring anathema."''
After this decision, Wilfred remained some months
His rejection ™ Romc, and sat as archbishop of York in
in North- the great synod congregated by Pope Agatho
umbria. ^gaiust the MonotheUte hereliics (a.d. 680).
stad (Hexham), York, and Lindsay, or 751, 752.
Lincoln ; all of which it is tolerably ° What others is not mentioned in
clear Wilfred had held in his own any account of the transaction I can
hands. find.
^ See Abstr. ap. Smith in Bed. pp. "• Abstr. ap. Smith, ubi sup. p. 753.

Chap. IV.] EESTOEATION OF WILFUED. 337
Hastening then to cross the channel, he presented him
self before his sovereign with the papal bulls and letters
of rehabilitation in his hand. A council of the nobility
and clergy of the kingdom was convoked, and the papal
letters were read ; but the contents were so unpalatable,
that the assembly voted the decree of the pontiff to be
null and void ; it M'as even whispered by Wilfred's ene
mies that it had been obtained by bribery. The appeal
itself was treated as a public offence, the papal imprison-
letters as an insult, and Wilfred was condemned ™^'^'-
to nine months' imprisonment. At the moment of his
arrest under his sentence, the queen, who was present,
snatched his reliquary frora his breast, and hung it about
her own as an amulet of sovereign virtue ; his servants
were dismissed, his property taken from him, and his
friends forbidden to visit him. But the voice of psalm
ody and pra3^er day and night was heard from the cell
in which he was confined; a supernatural light which
shone around him revealed the saint to his terrified
guards ; no fetters, it appeared, could be forged to fit
his limbs; a rairaculous cure wrought upon his gaoler
converted him into a friend; and so strong was the
sympathy he managed to create in the breasts of all
who approached him, that the king was at last compelled
to transfer him to another prison for safer custody. Soon
afterwards, the queen herself was seized with a serious
illness ; the stolen reliquary itself had, it was whispered,
been the instrument of her punishment, and she was
easil3'" persuaded that she could not hope to recover her
health till she should have restored the stolen goods,
^nd given back Wilfred to his liberty and his
friends. The archbishop was accordingl3^ re
leased from his dungeon, and his property returned ; and
he quitted Northumbria with but a remote prospect of
recovering his see or his forfeited domains."'
= See Extr. from Eddi's life of Wil- by dextrous practice upon the supersti-
fred, a\>. Fleury, H. Ti. tom. ix. p. 96. tionsofhis wardens,aidedby liisfriends
Conf. Smi^A, ubi sup. pp. 753, 754. Un- without his prison- waUs ; of whom pro-
less we should altogether reject this bably the abbess of the convent where
account of the release of "Wilfred, there Ermenburga was taken iU was the most
can be Uttle doubt that it was effected active.
VOL. II. Z

338 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
From this period (681) WUfred led a migratory hfe ~
Eestoration araoug the Mercians, the West and the South
of Wilfred. Saxons, pursued, as it should seem, by the hos
tUity of Ermenburga and her husband. In the latter
country he established himself for a short time, and suc
ceeded in converting the heathen people of Sussex to the
Christian faith. In these various labours he spent five
years, dating from his expulsion from Northumbria. But
in the year 685 his adversary Egfrid had been succeeded
by his brother Aldfrid, the former friend and pupil of the
exiled prelate. About the sarae tirae, the aged arch
bishop Theodore, approaching the verge of life, looked
back with regret upon the still subsisting estrangement
between himself and his former friend. The reconcilia
tion, whether proceeding from contrite scruples or from
affectionate recollection of their prior relations, was cor
dial and sincere.^ The archbishop sent pressing letters to
Aldfrid of Northumbria, to his sister Eanfleda abbess of
Whitb3r, and to Ethelred king ofthe Mercians, exhorting
them to receive Wilfred into their favour, and to restore
to him the episcopacies, monasteries, and lands, of which
he had been disseized. The princes promptly acceded to
the request ; Wilfred returned in triuraph, and without de
lay took possession of all the power, wealth and influence
he had enjoyed before his exile ; the intrusive bishops of
Hagulstad, Lindisfarn and Lincoln having been reraoved,
or, for the sake of peace, retracting their pretensions.^
But the autocratic position in the Northumbrian
church which Wilfred had assumed, and his
pulsion ?f inattention to the anxious desire of the court
"^^wu^d"^ and clergy for a due division of ecclesiastical
authority and endowments, soon awakened the
resentment of both estates. Whether apprised of his re
conciliation with Archbishop Theodore or not, they were
far from regarding the regulations of that prelate for the
' Eddi says that the archbishop hum- nish usual in hagiography.
bly sued for pardon, and even desired to e Eddi, ap. Smith, ubi sup. p. 754.
nominate Wilfred his successor in the We hear no more about the division of
see of Canterbury, but that the saint de- the province as approved by the Eoman
clined on canonical grounds. But such synod of 679,
statements probably belong to the gar-

Chap. IV.] COUNCIL OF NESTEEFIELB. 839
government ofthe province as annulled by the restoration
of Wilfi-ed. Accordingly, in the yoar 701, Aldfi-id pro
posed the erection of Wilfred's monaslorv of Ripon into an
episco])nl see, and, of course, the appropriation of its en
dowments to the support ofthe new bishop. But to this
proposition, as \\ ell as to the entire scheme of Archbishop
Theodore, Wilfred opposed a determined resistance, and
was again deposed by the Idng \\ith the consent ofthe
clergy of the proAince.'' Shorn of his power and great
ness in one region of Britain, he carrieil his zeal and la-
bom- to another, and was received by his fi-iend Ethelred,
king of the Mercians, A\ith open arms. Here he pre
sided for a time over the Mercian churches, at first as
hjshop-administi-atiu- of the see of Lichfield, aud subse
quently, "\\ith a ro\ ing commission, as itinerant superin
tendent of all ecclesiastical affiiirs in that kingdom. His
influence in Mercia m as founded fully as much upon the
large monastic property he possessed within its hmits, as
upon his reputed saiictity or acknowledged merits in the
cause of relig-ion. But here again, as in Northumbria,
the jealousy both of the court and clergy soon conncii of
maiiifested itself; aud A\hen, in the year 703, Nest.iiioid
Archbishop BertJiuald of Canterbm'3', at the re- o^iJnaliceVof
quest of Aldfi-id, convoked a. general council of -'^|''''j'i*J^';i'
prelates and clerg}- at Nesterfaeld, not far from nlt'insr
Ripon, Uttle difierence of opinion as to the claims ^^ 'i'''"^>'
of WUfi-ed appears to have existed in any quarter. The
s\mod was presided over by Berthuald hi person, and
Wilfred was summoned to attend ; the assembled fathers
inchned strongly to maintain the ordinances of Archbishoji
Theodore, without notice of the adA erse decretal of Pope
Agatho (a.d. 679). WUfi-ed appeared, and in lus de
fence alleged tfre pontifical decision b3" whieh the ordi
nances in question Avere set aside in his favour. The plea
was, however, unanimously disalloA\ed, and Wilfi-ed Avas
desfred to sign a deed of renunciation, signifs'ing- his ab
dication of ail episcopal jurisdiction Avithin the two realms ;
'' " Ab eodem ipso rege, et plurimis «cpollod from their .'^ix^s ; but may pro-
epiiscopis," Bede, Jib. v. c. xix. p. ior. bably havo been caUed into council o.c
AVho these bishops vi-cr« is not men- Ai,<Ao;w, ;ind ninyhaxo voted in the con-
tione<l. Theodore's bishops had lueii vocation in ihat diaraetir.

340 CATHEDEA PETEL [2°°^ IV.
in consideration of which, he was to be aUowed to retain
his favourite monastery of Ripon, provided always he
continued to reside there, and refrained from all attempts
to disturb the existing settlement of the churches. But
neither menaces nor persuasion could prevail upon the
Eecusancy cxUc to acccdc to thesc humiliating tcrms. _He
of WUfred. accorapanied his protest with an ostentatious
enumeration of all his merits on behalf of the catholic
profession in Britain : " After the death of aU those holy
men whom St. Gregory sent to these islands," he ex
claimed, " was not I the first to encounter and root out
the errors of the Scottish schismatics, and to bring back
the Northumbrians to the orthodox observance of the
paschal feast and the coronal tonsure? Nay, but I like
wise taught them the antiphonal chant ; I established the
true monastic life according- to the rule of St. Benedict, of
which to that time all were alike ignorant ; and, touching
the proposal 3'ou now make to me, I do hereby solemnly
appeal to the hol3' apostolic see, and I challenge any one
who hath any thing- to allege against me to proceed with
me directly to Rome, there to abide the judgraent that
. shall be there given in the cause." The arch-
ju ica ion. |jig}iop.pi.ggjf[eji^ and the king replied, that b3'
his appeal to the pope he had pronounced his own con
demnation, and tkat a preference for any otker tribunal
over tkat of tke native synod was an araple justification
of the judgment already pronounced.'
Archbishop Theodore had died at a very advanced
B rth aid ^8"^; ^^ ^^ J^^^" ^^^ 5 ^^* ^^ "^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^
Archbishop 3'ears afterwards that Berthuald, the learned
of Canter- abbot of Rcculver, was elected to fill the vacant
bury m the -n i 1 1 ti i • i • 1
appeal of sce.^ Berthuald, like his predecessor, conceived
Wilfred, ^j^g powers and privileges of the metropolitan
church over which he presided to rest upon chartered
grant, not liable to arbitrar3r reversal, though it Avere even
by the authority from Avliich it emanated. Though Theo
dore had accepted his appointment from Pope Vitalian,
* Smith, ubi sup. pp. 755, 756; Eddi, lowing year (693). Bede, lib. v. c. viii.
ap. Fleury, H. E. tom. ix. p. 139. p. 190.
1 He was not consecrated till the fol-

Chap. IV.] APPEAL' OF V/ILFEED. 341
and with it a charter of privilege imparting all the usual
rights of a metropolitan bishop, he believed himself, so
long- as he acted within those liraits, justified in governing
his churches as might seem best for the general interest ;
Avhen he exceeded them, the ordinar3' canonical tribunal
for rectifying his errors was certainly not that of Rome,
or an Itahan councU. The practice of appealing to Rome
had not 3'et so completel3^ obliterated the canonical privi
leges of metropolitan sees as to exempt her pontiffs from
occasional alarms at the independent spirit manifested by
these prelates in many parts of Latin Christendom. Ber
thuald, like his predecessor, treated the appeal of Wilfred
as a conterapt ofthe chartered prerogative of his see ; and
upon this ground he was prepared to defend his proceed
ings before the pope. Wilfred, on his arrival at Rorae,
coraplained to John VI. that the archbishop had, in con
terapt of the decree of Pope Agatho, confirraed by those of
Benedict II. and Sergius, deprived him 'of his bishopric
of York, and ofhis monasteries, estates, and jurisdictions
in the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia.'' A general
council of Italian prelates was assembled to adjudicate
upon the plaint of Wilfred. The delegates of Berthuald
in reply urged the chartered powers of the metropolitan
church of Canterbury to govern the Anglican churches,
and contended that Bishop Wilfred had, before a compe
tent council, deliberately declined the metropolitan au
thority of the archbishop, and contemptuously refused to
comply with certain g-eneral regulations published by the
late primate for the better government of his northern
dependencies, falsely and injuriously alleging that such
iurlsdiction and reg-ulations might be, and had been, su
perseded by certain papal decrees AAliich in fact repealed
the privileges of the Anglican church, and rendered the
appellant independent of all metropolitan control.
A plea to the jurisdiction Avas of all others most dis
pleasing to Rome. The defence was therefore Adjudication
laughed out of court;' the councU declared ^f°Pp«^J°J;^
that Wilfred had canonically exculpated him- appeal.
'' See letters of appeal to Pope John ' See Extr. from Eddi, Vit. WUf. ap.
VI. ap. Hard. Concil. tom. iU. p. 1823. Fleury, tom. ix. p. 143.

342 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
self, and pronounced him free from every offence which
could have drawn down upon him the penalties of depri
vation and exile. Pope John VI. confirmed this decision
by letters of monition, addressed to the kings Ethelred
of Mercia and Aldfrid of Northumbria, expressive of his
vexation at the dissensions Avhich had arisen in their
churches, and more especially of his regret that these
disputes should have led to a contempt qf tke pontifical
decrees. There had been, he said, a prior appeal and de
cision of the holy see in the matter of Wilfred, which had
been duly acquiesced in and executed by Archbishop The
odore; but the revival of these disputes had now rendered
a final settleraent indispensable. The pope therefore re
quired the princes to cause a synod to be convoked by
Berthuald, archbishop of Canterbury, " whora," added
the pontiff, " we, by the authority of the prince of the
apostles, have confirmed in that see." Wilfred was to be
invited to attend, and the bishops Boza (of York) and
John (of Hagulstad) to be in like manner summoned, with
a view, if possible, to raake an end of these vexatious dis
putes; but if the parties should be unable to corae to
terms in their provincial council, in such case the Avhole
raatter must be referred back to the holy see ; and that
the parties be cited to appear at Rome to plead their re
spective causes before the pontiff in person. " But," he
added, " all such persons should be well apprised, that
if any one so sumraoned should dela3'^ his appearance, or
be guilty of the execrable offence of contempt of the pon
tifical court, he must be degraded, and disowned by every
prelate and faithful raan in the Church : for he who is
disobedient to his parent in tke faitk"" is not worthy to ba
nurabered among ministers and disciples.""
The papal monition, however, was not followed by the
Eestoration 'l^^"'^^ subiuissiou. Aldfrid of Northumberland
and triumph coutiuued implacablc. His death, which hap-
of Wilfred, pened in the year 705, brought with it no im
mediate change ; his successor JEdulph reigned but a
" " Suo auctori." Whether here the Christ.
pope or Christ is meant is ambiguous " See abstr. of the Life of WUfred,
— probably the pope in tho place of ap. Smith, loc. cit. pp. 757, 758.

Chap. IV.] SUCCESS AND DEATH OF WILFEED. 343
few months ; a sudden revolution raised Osred, a son of
Aldfrid, to the Northumbrian throne, and his accession
smoothed the way to the final restoration of Wilfred.
Meanwhile the latter had been delayed on his return from
Rome by severe indisposition ; but after his unexpected
recovery and arrival in England, he procured the con
vocation of a synod of the Northumbrian churches at
a spot on the river Nidd.° Here Eanfleda, abbess of
Whitby and the sister of Aldfrid, produced a will of the
late king, reciting that death had prevented him from
obe3'ing the papal comraand for the restoration of Wilfred,
and that he had, in token ofhis repentance, delegated the
execution to his son and destined successor Osred. An
irapression had at the sarae tirae got abroad that the dis
turbances which attended the usurpation of JEdulph were
a visitation upon the kingdora for the violated rights ofthe
indoraitable saint, Avho now, after a struggle of upwards
of twenty years, appeared once more to claim the un
divided allegiance of his spiritual subjects. The will of
Aldfrid passed uncontested, and the humbled clergy of
Northumbria sent three deputies frora their own body to
the exiled prelate inviting him to return and resurae his
rightful throne, and all other rights and properties of
which he had been dispossessed.^
Wilfred continued for four 3^ears in undisturbed en
joyraent of his restored power and wealth. Death of
Within that period he appears to have accumu- wufred, and
lated a considerable treasure, which he laid up ' of Ms'
in his favourite raonastery of Ripon. Shortly wealth.
before his death (a.d. 709) he divided his savings into
four parts, one of which he bequeathed, in token of de
votional gratitude to his spiritual preceptress, to the
churches of St. Mary and St. Paul at Rorae ; the rest he
divided among the poor, his monks, and those faithful
companions who had adhered to him throughout his la
borious and adventurous life. His final victory was the
victory of the raistress to whose interests he had devoted
° Now a village about four miles r Conf. tiard. Concil. tom. iii. pp.
west of Knaresborougb, in the West 1825-1823.
Eiding of Yorkshire.

344 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
himself; it was substantially a triumph over the inchoate
liberties of the national church — the substitution of a
distant, arbitrary, and uncertain control for those char
tered rights of self-government to which the Anglo-Saxon
prelacy had conceived themselves entitled under their ori-
ghial act of settlement, until undeceived by the successful
efforts of Wilfred in putting a new construction upon the
relation thereby created between them and their foundress.
Certainly the spirit of independence was not thereby extin
guished ; though quelled for the present, the elements of
future struggles reraained behind ; and it may be reason
ably questioned whether the submission of the Anglican
churches to Rome Avas ever so complete as it was in other
branches ofthe Latin communion.

CHAPTER V.
PAPAL SUPEEMACY IN FEANCE AND GEEMANY IN THE
SEVENTH CENTUEY.
Ideas of the temporal and spiritual powers in the seventh and eighth centuries —
Divergences — The papal theory — Anglo-Saxon missions — Ecgbert — Wicbert
— WiUibrord — Frisian and Saxon churches founded— Missions of Ecgbert to
central Germany — KiUian — Colman — Totman — -Duke Hedan — Compromise
with heathenism — Emmeramm iu Bavaria — Eupert archbishop of Salzburg —
Corbinian iu Bavaria — Ascendency of Eome — Great extension of Latin Chris
tianity in the seventh century — Causes — Winfred of Winchester (Boniface) —
His devotion for Eome — Winfred among the Hessians — His method of con
version — His reforms — His Anglo-Saxon coadjutors — His missionary colonies
— Mode of instruction — Winfred, by the name of Boniface, archbishop and
legate— His ecclesiastical divisions — Papal confirmation — Charles Martel ob
structs the papal policy — Carlmann invites Boniface to France — Eeport of
Boniface on the Frankish churches — Synods of Salzburg and Leptines — Ee-
forms— Adoption of Eoman canon-law — Adalbert and Clemens in schism —
Charges against them — Merits of the charges — Difficulties of Boniface in
France — His report to Cuthbert of Canterbm'y — Difficulties and impediments
— Boniface archbishop of Maintz and primate of aU Germany — Eebellion of
Adalbert and Clemens — Heathenism and married priests — Obstacles to the
scheme of Boniface — The remedy — Synod of VerneuU — Condemnation and
banishment of Adalbert and Clemens — Synopsis.
It has been remarked" that the idea of spiritual authority
in the Transalpine churches on raatters of faith ^^^^ ^^
and discipline partook of all the incoherency and temporal
vagueness of the barbaric ideas of the teraporal g'J.^eramenf
sovereignty; both rested on the same founda- inthe
tion, namely, habitual respect and observance, elgh°]i cen-
gradually maturing into custom. The P''6^o§'*".j3i^*g""g^ggg
tive — if it maybe so called — ofthe kings of ^''^'¦g'="<=^=-
France and Spain and the Anglo-Saxon princes, left a
large margin of liberty to all subjects who Avere strong
enough to claim and maintain.it. The hierarchy of those
a By the writer of these pages, in another work. See History of the Germans,
p. 777.

846 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
regions took nearly the same view of their relation to their
spiritual chief. The greater metropolitans considered
their spiritual connection with Rome very much in the
same light as that in which they regarded their secular
relation to their own sovereig-n, and were as impatient
under the Byzantine absolutism ofthe papal court as they
would have been of the like form of government in their
temporal capacity. Theodore and Berthuald of Canter
bury were contented to act as feudatories of Rome, but
always with an independent comraand ; nor could they be
easily brought to understand the relation of siraple dele
gates or mandatories of a spiritual autocrat. This remark
is of sorae historical iraportance, because it points out the
character of the struggle Rorae was about to enter upon.
The Roman pontiffs had, on the one hand, inherited and
imported the traditions ofthe empire into their spiritual
kingdom ; while on the other, their Transalpine subjects
brought with them into the Church the temper and habits
of their barbaric kindred ; their ideas of spiritual govern
raent rarely travelled out of the channel in which their
notions of temporal allegiance were accustomed to flow ;
and with all their reverence for the chair of Peter, the
superior prelates found great difficulty in accomraodating
theraselves to a theory borrowed from the code of the
Caesars. The sarae views were largely entertained by the
clerg3'" of inferior degree towards their superiors. And
we have now to trace the steps resorted to by the pontiffs
for the purpose of supplanting the free spirit of Germanic
allegiance, and substituting for it a code of Rome-made
laws which should exclude all those reserves in favour of
free action and self-government which lay at the root of
the national prejudices they had to deal with.
Such was the problem to be solved. It embraced
The theory nothing Icss than the transfer of the spiritual
of the government to an autocratic basis altogether out
papacy. q£ analogy to that ofthe temporal sovereignt3^
It iraplied a centralisation of power unknown to kings,
princes, nobles, or people ; a plan which, if successfully
accomplished, could not fail at pleasure to put out of
joint and override the rude systems of secular govern-

Chap, v.] THE ANGLO-SAXON MISSIONS. 847
ment prevailing in the outer world, and leave the spiritual
monarch in uncontrolled possession of aU the most power
ful springs of human action.
And ,it is reraarkable that the most skilful and zealous
agents that could have been found to fig-ht the .j.^^ j^^ j^
battle of spiritual absolutism sprang from that Saxon
school which had in its earlier development ™'5='°''=-
threatened the most serious danger to the Latin despotism.
While the disciples and followers of Augustine in Eng
land were struggling under their commission from Rome
to establish and perpetuate her dominion in that country,
the pupils of the great seminary of Icolmkil were spread
ing a knowledge of the gospel araong the heathen Fri
sians, Franks, Thuringians and Bavarians of Germany,
in perfect independence of Rome, and confirming their
converts upon the traditional bases of their own comrau
nion.'' But when the earlier raissionaries of that school
had passed from the scene, their followers from the same
hive, finding theraselves cut off from communication with
the church from which they sprang-, looked to the nearest
Christian bodies for that support Avhich they soon found
Avas to be purchased only by conformity to their ritual
usages. And, in fact, such compliance appeared at first
sight to be the only sacrifice deraanded. No properly dog
matic differences divided them from the Latins ; and their
simple religious feelings fell in well with those of the
devouter merabers of the national churches with which
they were brought in contact. The result of the confer
ence of Whitby had raeauAvhile placed the parent,church
of Scotland and Ireland in a woful minority. The good
sense'and intelligence of the Christian world had decided
against them upon the great question of the paschal ob
servance ; resistance to the Latin forms was dying away
araong both Scottish and Irish Christians;'' and it is pro
bable that before the close of the seventh century, few, if
any, adherents of the ancient ritual were to be found,
except perhaps among the older members of the comrau
nity of lona.
'' Conf. Book III. c. vi. pp. 187, 188 of this work. See also c. vu. p. 215.
<: Bede, Ub. v. e. xv. p. 200.

348 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
The younger clergy ofthe Scottish and Irish churches,
it is obvious, had for sorae tirae previously in-
"^ ^'^ ' clined to the views of the Latins in raatters of
ceremonial observance. WhUe Finnan and Colman were
unsuccessfully disputing the ground with WUfred of
York, Ecgbert, an Anglo-Saxon gentleman of noble line
age, with many other youths of the like and of inferior
station, had been attracted to Ireland in pursuit of reli
gious knowledge. Here they had adopted the severest
ascetic habits, and becorae aniraated with an ardent de
sire for the conversion of the heathen. But the duties
of Ecgbert at home, and the affectionate solicitude of the
brethren, prevented him from personally taking- part in
the good work. In the 3'ear 689, he therefore
sent his friend Wicbert* into Germany to preach
the gospel to the wild inhabitants of the raouths of the
Rhine, the Elbe, and the Weser. A hurried visit of Wil
fred of York, on his progress to Rorae in the year 678, to
the court of Aldgisel, king or duke of the heathen Fri
sians, had, it was believed, prepared the way for the con
version of his subjects ; but on his arrival, Wicbert found
that the patron of Wilfred had been succeeded by Rad-
bod, a bitter enem3r of the Franks and their religion;
scarcely a trace of Christianit3'" had survived the change
of rulers ; the preaching- of Wicbert was disregarded ;
and after two 3'ears of fruitless labour, he abandoned as
hopeless the task coramitted to him.'
But the purpose of Ecgbert was not to be shaken by
d ^ ^^^ faUure. In the 3^ear 692 he despatched
¦ twelve missionar3^-priests, under the direction of
a brother naraed Wilbrord, or Willibrord, to the court of
the Frankish raayor of the palace. Pippin of Heristall, to
solicit from him a station on the borders of the pagan
Frisians, from whence they might carry the gospel
tidings into the interior of the countr3' ; so also as to
give thera access to the Saxon tribes of the Weser and
'' He had embarked in person for the provalof his project. .Berfe, lib. v. c. ix.
same purpose, but was stranded in a p. 191.
storm ; an incident which he interpreted = Bede, ubi sup. p. 191.
as an intimation of providential disap-

Chap. V.] FEISIAN ANT) SAXON CHUECHES FOUNDED. 349
the Elbe. Their request was cordiall3' coraplied with,
and the3^ were stationed amid the ruins ofthe old Roman
municipium of Ultrajectum, the modern Utrecht. While
Wilbrord and eight of his companions wrought with di
ligence and success among the heathen dwelhng- between
the Rhine and the Vhe, two of the number were sent to
preach in the nearest Saxon cantons. But these devoted
men failed to produce an3' impression on the obdurate hea
then of those districts, and both perished in the attempt.^
After various disappointments and hardships, the
word took root, and began to flourish among . .
the heathen of Friesland; monasteries were ands'axon
founded, and churches were built, in various ^''^''^^^
parts of the wilderness. In aid of their labours,
the indefatigable WUfi-ed of York consecrated Luidbert,
one of the twelve companions of Wilbrord, bishop of the
Saxon hordes settled on the LoAver Rhine; whUe that
eminent missionar3' himself journe3'ed to Rome to pro
cure the necessai-3' store of church-furniture and rehcs
for the due suppl3^ of public worship. A Christian
church was, in fact, in that age as incomplete without its
stock of relics as a Greek or Roman temple without its
idol. WUbrord according-ly returned amph" provided
with the requisite gear ; and in the 3ear 696 was, at the
request of Pippin, consecrated archbishop of the Frisi
ans b3' Pope Sergius I.* A new cathedral was built at
Utrecht, and amph- endowed b3' the munificence of Pip
pin; new monasteries and churches were founded; and
couA-erts multiphed. A moment of adversitA', it is true,
darkened the prospect of the Frisian church; but the
victory of Charles Martel OAer his ri\al Raginfred, and
his confederate Radbod, speedih" restored them to their
new homes. Charles rebuilt the riuned churches and re
hgious houses at his OAvn charge ; and after the death of
Radbod, in the year 716, his son and successor accepted
baptism fi-om the archbishop, and thus decided the
triumph of Christianity in Friesland, after a struggle of
' Bede,'\ih.y. c. x. pp. 192, 193. See s After his consecration, WUbrord
his account of the death and miracu- assumed the name of Clemens. Conf.
lous recovery of the bodies of the two Bede, Ub. t. c. U. p. 1 94.
martyrs.

350 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
twenty-seven years from the landing of Wilbrord, and
of forty-one from the first fruitiess attempts of Wilfred
and Wicbert.'"
While Wilbrord and his associates were labouring
Ec bert's successfuUy on behalf of Latin Christianity in
m'isfion'^to the north-western angle of Germany, a fresh
GeTman i^vasion of heatheudom in that vast region was
ermany. ig^^j^^^j ^^^j executcd by the unwearied perse
verance of-the abbot of lona.'
In the 3'ear 686 a raission consisting of three priests
KiUian, Col- — KUhau or GiUun, Colraan, and Totman — ap-
man, and peared iu the district of central Germany known
Totman. ^j^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ ^£ Thuriugla. The
missionaries, like their chief, are represented to us as g'en-
tlemen of noble birth, who had renounced their secular
calling-, and yielded themselves to the current of reli
gious aspirations which ran so strong in the churches
of their native land. After visiting Rorae, and obtaining
episcopal ordination from Pope Conon, KiUian penetrated
into the interior of Germany, and commenced his labours
at Wiirzburg-, the castle and residence of Gozbert, king
or duke of Thuringia. The people were specially addicted
to the worship of a deity, whom the biographer of KiUian
calls " Diana ;"J but their superstitions were of the same
infirm and yielding character which marks alraost all the
forms of Germanic religion. The nation readily submitted
to the engrafting of any new form upon the old stock of
prejudice and superstition, but were very reluctant to part
with the festive rites interwoven Avith their ancient wor
ship, or even wholly to dismiss their old divinities from
thefr thoughts. The duke and many ofhis subjects were,
^ Conf. J5e(/c, lib. V. c. xi. p. 193. See stands in the text of that work, append-
also Alcuini Vit. S. Willibrordi, ap. ing the notes and authorities as in the
Canisium, Lect. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 464; original.
and Vit. S. Bonifacii a WUlibaldo, ap. i They are said to have sacrificed
Pertz. tom. ii. p. 339. horses to this divinity, and to have de-
' I make no apology for transferring voured the flesh of the victims. Vit. S.
to these pages the foUowing account of Killiani, ap. Cams. Lection. Antiq. tom.
the mission to central Germany from iii. p. 175. See also Eckhart, Francia
a work, published by me some twenty Orientalis, tom. i. p. 276, who connects
years ago, on the early History of Ger- this Diana with tbe great patroness of
many, and not much known to the witches and witchcraft of the middle
reading public. On examination, I find ages.
little to alter, and therefore give it as it

Chap, v.] THUEINGIAN AND BAVAEIAN MISSIONS. 361
indeed, baptised by KiUian, and for a time the cause of
religion seemed to prosper ; but the strict moral censor
ship, which the raissionaries did not think fit to teraper
with the needful reserves, brought upon them the evils
which the like severity had incurred in other cases. Duke
Gozbert had, consistently with the custom ofthe coun
try, married his deceased brother's widow ; and KiUian,
in private, insisted upon his repudiating her. The indis
creet proposal was betrayed to the princess, who, availing
herself of a temporary absence of her husband, avenged
the insult by causing the imprudent missionaries to be
put to death.'' But the crirae of Duchess Geilana did not
materially impede the progress of conversion.^ , „ ,
TTJ A -I ^° i?/-iii Duke Hedan.
Meaan, the son and successor ot Gozbert, was
one of the earliest of Killian's converts ; and Archbishop
Wilbrord was permitted, or solicited, to take charge of
the new Thuringian church. Duke Hedan himself for
warded the good work by large grants of lands, build
ings and lordships, with the serfs appurtenant to them, to
the archbishop for the endowment of churches compromise
and religious houses.' The popular resistance with
to religious innovation was not, hoAvever, so '>^^*'^"'=™-
easily overcome. The objections of the people arose, not
so much from what was enjoined, as from Avhat was pro
hibited b3^ the Christian teachers ; but, as in many parallel
cases, the Church yielded to the prejudices of her converts
on condition that they abstained from sacrificing horses
to " Diana," and that when they immolated victims, they
should be sanctified by la3'ing them upon the altar, and
making the sign ofthe cross over them, before they were
eaten by the worshippers."
This long series of campaigns against paganism in
the vast region of Germany had been begun Emmeramm
under the leadership of the Irish missionaries ™ Bavaria.
Colombanus and Gall. Their labours had been confined
k Vit. S. Kill, ubi sup. p. 181. lichen Europa, vol. U. p. 24. This sys-
> See the original documents, ap. Eck- tem of accommodation was, as we have
hart, Fran. Orient, tom.i. p. 312. Most seen, expressly sanctioned hy Pope Gre-
of these instruments bear the dates of gory the Great in the earlier manage-
704 and 706. ment ofthe Anglo-Saxon converts. Conf.
¦"Conf. Mone, Heidenth. im Nord- Booklll. c. vii. p. 218 of this work.

352 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
to the AUemannic or Suabian districts ;° but the3r, and
those who foUowed them in the sarae field of spiritual
conquest, had found the path rather obstructed than faci
litated by the remains of Roman Christianity, which still
lingered amid the heathenish rites which obscured and
degraded it." Not long after the triumph of Gall in
AUemannia, the Frankish missionary Emmeramm un
dertook to reforra, or rather to republish, Christianity in
the country of the Boioarii, or Bavarians.P His efforts
were seconded by Duke Theodo, and received by the
people with the liveliest satisfaction ; but an imprudent
interference with the domestic affairs of the reigning
family in this, as in other instances, proved fatal to the
Eupert arch- missionary. Eraraeramm was put to death;''
bishop of and it was not till several 3"ears afterwards
Salzburg. ^^^^ Rupert bishop of Worras (a.d. 680) un
dertook, with the concurrence of Duke Theodo II., to
restore order and discipline in the Bavarian churches.
He rebuilt the ancient Juvaviura of the Romans, — the
modern Salzburg, — and was made bishop ofthe new see ;
he erected schools and monasteries, and brought the lands
around them into cultivation ; he made frequent visita
tions of all the churches of his diocese ; in imitation of
the Saviour, he kept on foot a corapan3' oftwelve disciples,
and with thera penetrated into the countr3'" ofthe wild
Av4rs of Pannonia. After a successful career of judicious
reform, and munificent provision for the advancement of
Christianit3^, Rupert died in the 3'ear 718. Neither in
the course of his labours, nor of those of his predecessor
Emmeraram, do aa'c meet with an3' appearance of com
munication AA'ith or commission frora Rorae ; but in that of
Corbinian in his succcssor Corbiuiauus, a Frankish monk, the
Bavaria, couuectiou bccomes palpable and direct. Cor
binian appeared, in fact, in Bavaria as the avowed emis-
n Including at that time all the can- together with apart of Vindelicia. The
tons of modern Switzerland, the Ehoetia river Inn was no longer the boundary,
and Vindelicia of the Eomans. as it had been under the Eomans.
o See Arnulph. De Miraculis S. Em- i Meginfred, Vit. S. Emmeramm. cc.
merammi, ap. Canis. Lect. Antiq. tom. ix.-xii. ap. Canis. Lect. Antiq. tom. iii.
iii. p. 105. pp. 97, 98. See an absurd legend of
P Comprising the western portion of Emmeramm in Hist, of Germans pp
the great Eoman province of Noricum, 782, 783. '

Chap. V.J EOMANISM IN BAVAEIA. 353
sary ofthe ]^oman Church. He had prepared himself
for the ministry by a residence of some years at Rome ;
and had been selected by Pope Gregory II. to introduce
the peculiar reforms in the Bavarian churches best cal
culated to engender a raore coraplete sympathy with the
great Latin body. He was endowed by nature Avith com
manding eloquence, great hardihood, and rigid severit3'^
of purpose. By the devout liberality of Duke Theodo
II. and his son, he obtained the means of buildino- and
endoAA'ing several monasteries; he erected the hamlet
of Freisingen into an episcopal see, and endowed it with
large grants of the richest lands in the neighbourhood.
But the unrelenting rigour ofhis discipline drew doAvn
upon him the enmity of a larg-e party in the countr3'.
Pilitrudis, the Avidow of Theudebald duke of Southern
Bavaria, had married his brother Grimoald, a connection
legitimatised by the laAV and custom of the country. Cor
binian, who could be brought to acknowledge no law but
that of Rome, stig-raatised the raarriage as incestuous,
and inexorably insisted upon a separation. His vigorous
remonstrances, aided by spiritual raenaces, Avere for a
time successful: but to outward appearance only; the
guilty pair still continued their intercourse in private.
Elated by success, the firmness of the reformer soon de
generated into insolence. The proud spirit of Pilitrudis
could no long-er endure the insults heaped upon her by
the upstart priest, and she struck at the life of her
oppressor. Though the blow missed its aira, Corbinian
Avas corapelled to quit the country, after launching sen
tence of excommunication against both husband and wife.'
But in the year 725, Charles Martel, the ir- ^gcendency
resistible prince of the Franks, invaded the of Eomanism
duchies of^ AUemannia or Suabia and Bava- '" ^^^^i''^-
ria. Duke Griraoald fell by the hand of a doraestic as
sassin; Pilitrudis and her daughter becarae the prisoners
— the latter soon afterwards the wife — of Charles Martel ;
¦• The Bavarian history of Adelzreiter meagre abstracts in D. Bouq. Vit. S.
gives copious extracts from .4n'Ao'« Life Corbin. tom. iii. p. 653, and with M.
of St. Corbinian. See that work, parti. Veber, "Ees Boiicse," lib. iv. pp. 135-
lib. vii. §§ 18-20, pp. 160-162. These 138. The original life is in the Acta
extracts have been compared with the Ord. S. Bened. of Mabillon.
VOL. II. A A

-,^. CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
354 and Bavaria was annexed as a tributary duchy to the
Merovingian kingdom. Corbinian returned in triumph to
his church, and continued to govern it till his death, in
the year 780.'
Looking back upon the series of events connected
Extension of with the extcusion of Latin Christianity in the
Latin Chris- British islauds and Germany, we perceive that
tianity in the , i i^, . • ^ t ¦ ,> F • -i
viith century: the Komau cmissarics had, m fact, seized upon
its causes, g-pound already either wholly or partially pre
occupied. In the former, Ireland, Scotland, Northum
bria; in the latter, Rhaetia, Thuringia, and Bavaria, —
were no strangers to Christianity. The ocean-islands had,
indeed, adopted a more primitive form, unmixed with re
cent Hellenistic or Latin innovations.' The Germanic
nations had engrafted upon this new religion many ofthe
grossest ofthe older popular superstitions and heathenish
practices. The Frisians ma3'^ be regarded as an original
acquisition of Rome; but an acquisition of the utmost
importance to church-communication, and essential to the
coherence of the general plan of spiritual conquest which
followed the breaking-up of the Scottish establishment in
Northumbria. If the brethren of lona had been able to
stand their ground against Wilfred and his friends, Rome
might have had greater difficulty in appropriating to
herself the merits and the profits of missionary labour in
Britain and elsewhere. The victory of the latter, as we
have seen, determined the course and current of that
stream of missionary zeal Avhich flowed so abundantly
from the coasts of Great Britain aud Ireland, and di
verted it so decidedly into the channel marked out for it
by Rome. Looking for the causes of this extraordinary
success, we find that the efforts of Aidan and the brethren
of lona were the result of religious impulse rather than
adorned the!e^?nd''nfhP''j;'''°'''".^' "P°'^°"<' P^'^''^''^ discernible in the Ve-
darT.^^t.^i:]i:^^3ttdgmttL7G^d arTthe fh.t'fT"""'''^*^^^'''^"™'"
upontheabaudonidaiu?e":PUitrudis o? reU s^^ predS^ ^r™^"'''''?"
But the story is altogether incredible. and ascetic Uf^ and thp 1'' Tr^f
See note 148 p. 758, History ofthe Ger- dreams, omens Wsfons .1^°"' '"*^'^"'
mans, and the authorities there quoted. ral manifestations obvi^ , ^"Pernatu-
Ihe onlpr variances from primitive from their heathen anoes"r '°^*^*'^''

Chap. V.] EOMANISM IN THE SEVENTH CENTUEY. 355
of systeraatic church-craft ; that they relied upon no out-
Avard support, and were unprepared to encounter any
outward assaults. Unable to discern the political drift of
the paschal controversy in the hands of their opponents,
or to encounter the dogmatic myth so triumphantly urged
against thera, they surrendered power to save their some
what slender conscientious objections to a mere cere
monial change. Again, in southern Germany the iso
lated enterprises of Emmeraram and Rupert had left some
traces behind them ; but they were not of a nature to
oppose any material obstacle to the sustained and syste
matic efforts of Corbinian and other directly-commis
sioned emissaries of Rome, seconded by the irresistible
arms of the formidable Charles Martel. The overthrow
of Colman and his friends at Whitby had the ultimate
effect of throwing the whole game into the hands of
Rorae. Ecgfrid and all his fellow-seceders frora the Scot
tish forras had cast themselves without reserve into her
arms, in the fullest confidence that, under the banner of
St. Peter, they were fighting the battles of the Saviour.
Enthusiastic raen rarely reflect upon the reraoter conse
quences of their raost innocent acts when exposed to the
corroding action of huraan passions and human ambi
tion. When those devoted men enlisted in the service
of Rome, they little dreamt of the danger of any one
thereafter mistaking her for the " captain of their salva
tion." The immense advantage of combined raoveraent
and systematic support lay upon the surface ; while the
dogmatic " comraunion of saints" stood before them as
visibly expressed in that chair, which had hitherto so
successfully advanced its claim to be the representative
of " sacramental unity" in the universal church.
The days of the venerable Ecgbert and WiUibrord
were drawing to a close, when a greater than Avinfred, or
they made his appearance upon the scene of Boniface.
missionary labours and struggles ; a man in whose raind
the identification of the cause of Christ and of Rorae was
coraplete and absolute. The Anglo-Saxon monk Win
fred was* educated at a convent in Exeter, and after
wards studied at the monastery of Netley in Hampshire,

356 CATHEDEA PETEI. ^^°°^ ^^'
where he perfected himself in all the secular and spu'ituai
learning ofthe age. He had adopted with enthusiasm
the dogma of the absolute unity of the Church-cathohc,
extending to the minutest particulars of faith and govern
ment, discipUne and ritual. The communion of the see
of Rome seemed to him to afford the only centre of union
capable of answering all the conditions of the great
problem. By the advice ofhis friend Daniel bishop of
Winchester, he proceeded to Rome, and placed himself
at the disposal of Pope Gregory II." That pontiff sent
him into Thuringia, to supply the places of KiUian and
his mart3^red companions. That country was at that
period included within the spiritual jurisdiction of the see
of Utrecht ; and Winfred proceeded thither to consult with
the venerable Archbishop Willibrord upon the means ne
cessary to strengthen discipline, and root out the corrup
tions and superstitions to which the recent Thuringian
converts were still addicted. The archbishop, uoav in the
decline of Ufe, was anxious to retain him as his actual
coadjutor and ultimate successor ; but Winfred, faithful
to the destination assigned to him h3^ his superior at Rome,
returned to his post ; and extending the sphere of his la
bours, met with some success among the Saxon cantons
bordering- upon his proper province. In all these districts
he had to encounter a spurious kind of Christianity, de
based by numerous superstitions and pagan pollutions.
But these errors yielded to the earnestness and eloquence
of the preacher ; and in a short tirae so great Avas the
number of converts, that the dutiful missionary thought
it necessary to solicit further instructions and more ample
powers from Rome. To that end, he again proceeded
thither, and was there ordained bishop by Pope Gregory
IL, who upon that occasion changed his barbaric name
for that of Bonifacius, by which he is ever afterwards de
signated in church-histor3'.
The juncture was extremely favourable to the en-
He devotes largement of the papal influence ¦ nnrl "Prino
himself to n tt j. i o-UU JTOUo
the service Gregory II. took every means to attach the
of Eome. new bishop to the special service ofthe t"
" This pontificate faUs between the years 715 and 73j.

Chap. V.l AVINFRED OE BONIFACE. 357
ficate. Boniface was admitted to the "familiarity" of
the holy see ; neither country nor name were any longer
his own, — by accepting the inestiraable privilege he took
upon himself a new nature ; he identified hiraself with a
new service ; he became the exclusive minister ofthe head
of the sacerdotal faraily ; he stood discharged from all
obedience or responsibilit3'" to any other superior ; and be
came entitled to have at all tiraes direct personal commu
nication with his lord, and to take his orders from him
alone.'' " His instructions," saAJ^s his biographer WiUi-
bald, " Avere contained in a book in which were written
the most holy laws of the ecclesiastical constitutions, as
enacted in the pontifical synods ;" and by them he was
directed to frame his own conduct, and to instruct his
fiock by precepts and examples drawn from them."
Boniface entered with all his heart into the plan and
the detail of his spiritual mission. On his way Boniface
to his new diocese, he visited the court of the among the
heroic prince of the Franks Charies Martel, ^''''""'¦
and received fi-om him the strongest professions of S3'm-
pathy and support. In reliance upon these assurances,
and Avith full faith in the competency of his spiritual
powers, he treated the religious prejudices ofthe heathen
Hessians, among whom he first took up his abode, with
very little respect. The formidable raissionary was pro
bably known to have temporal protectors at his back
Avho would araply vindicate his pretensions. He there
fore boldly ventured to cut doAvn the sacred oak of Thor
the Thunderer even before the eyes ofhis astonished wor
shippers. The tree fell beneath the axes ofthe zealous as
sailants, and the god took the insult without the smallest
token of displeasure. The spectators reasonably enough
inferred that Thor had forsaken his forest-sanctuary, or
had retired with fear or indifference from the scene ofhis
discomfiture. The " apostle of Germany" and his brave
companions sawed up the huge trunk into beams and
" In strict analogy to the privileges with that which Archbishop Theodore
enjoyed by the " familiares" of princes presented to the Anglo-Saxon bishops
and great men of that age. Ducange, ad at the synod of Herudford, and with the
voc. " familiaris" and " familiaritas." " Aperta et synodalia constituta eccle-
»¦ It is most probable that the book siseEomanae" of Pope Agapetus. Conf.
in question was of the same character note sup. p. 330 of this volume.

358 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
planks, and framed them into an oratory, which the3'^ de
dicated to the Apostle Peter, upon the spot where it had
stood." The method pursued b3^ Boniface for the propagation
His method of the Gospcl ill Germany was in all respects
of con- the same as that recomraended by Gregory
version, ^j^^ Grcat.^ Hc took care on aU occasions to
plant a church upon the site of every place of religious
resort or popular veneration; he substituted a saint for
every idol destroyed, or other proscribed object of super
stitious worship ; he permitted the customary feasts and
sacrifices, but carefull3r provided that the games and
sports which accorapanied them should be celebrated,
and the flesh of the victims consumed, in honour of some
great Christian festivity. He was a declared enemy of
sacerdotal raarriage ; and, it appears, met with some dif
ficulty and opposition in the prosecution of his scheme
for enforcing the celibacy of his clergy. He introduced
the observance of the feast of Pentecost into Germany ;
he promulgated the rule of Latin canon-law, regulating
the degrees of consanguinity within which lay matrimony
might not be contracted; and he fixed the rotation of
feasts to be observed throughout the 3'ear in strict con
formity with the ritual of the Roman church.^
During the absence of Boniface in Rome, Duke He-
dan of Thuringia had died, and his sons had
relapsed into heathenism. The clergy them
selves, we are told, were infected with heresy." Certain
priests, " false hrethTen,fo7micators, adulterers, — whom,"
sa3's his biographer, " God hath judged according to
the word ofthe Apostle Paul," — had seduced the people
into all manner of impurities and heathenish abomina
tions ; many persons had forsaken the faith, and the rest
knew not Avhoni to follow. The resistance of the raarried
and heathenised priesthood Avas long and obstinate ; but
" The materials for this short sketch p. 403.
of the acts of St. Boniface are wholly » Again I take leave to borrow, with
derived from the Vita S. Bonif. a Wil- slight alterations, the account of the
lihaldo, ap. Pertz, Monum. Germ. Hist. ministry of Boniface from my work on
tom. ii. pp. 343, 344. Early German History, pp. 795-808. I
y Conf. Book III. c. vii. p. 218 of this have placed the authorities from which
work. it was compiled, after re-examination,
^ See Eckhard, Franc. Orient, tom. i. at the foot of the page.

Chap. V.] BONIFACE IN GEEMANY. 359
under the persevering efforts of the raissionaries, these
" false brethren" were at length driven from the field, the
deca3'"ed churches were repaired, and new ones were built.
Success brought him many assistants from all parts of
Christendom. But Boniface had a strong predilection
for his own countrymen, of whose zeal, doci- jj;^ ^ngio-
lity and courage he had ample experience. He Saxon
therefore sent messengers to England to engage <=°*'^J"'°"-
fellow-labourers in his vine3'^ard ; and in a short time a
colony of devout persons of both sexes from that countr3'"
joined him in the wilderness of Gerraany. Many of these
Avere of high birth, and all were filled with courage and
piet3' ; " lettered persons were they, and well instructed
in every branch of religious and worldly knowledge :
Burchard and Lulius ; the brothers Willibald and Wun-
nibald, with their sister Walpurgis ; Wetta and Gregor3'",
and the religious women, Chunehild the niece of LuUus,
and her daughter Berathgit; also Chunetrudis, Tecla,
and Lioba."'' The new teachers, as far as their numbers
would permit, were dispersed in every hamlet his mission-
and homestead of Thuringia ; the women were ^^y colonies.
settled in convents, under the guardianship of Chunehild ;
Teela became the prioress ofthe devout sisters stationed
at Kenzingen and Ochsenfurth on the Mayne, and Lioba
took charge of a rehgious house at Bishoffsheira. At
the same time monasteries and oratories sprung- up at
Fulda, Wiirzburg, Holzkirchen, Ordruff, Orthorp, Geis-
raar, and many other spots ; most of thera upon the sites
of the old heathen places of worship.''
The advantages of this practice were, that it saved
harmless that sacred principle in human nature Mode of in-
frora which religion itself takes its source ; and struction.
that it shortened the process of con version, by simply trans
ferring- the devotion ofthe new converts, without any start
ling intermediate process, from the heathen to the Chris
tian divinities. On the other hand, the disadvantages
were serious and alarming. The custora of substituting
on all occasions a saint for an idol, building churches
i> Othloni Vit. S. Bonif. lib. i. c. xxiii., ¦= The " fana,' ' " eapitolia," and " de-
— ap. Pertz, ii. pp. 344, 845. lubra" ofthe hagiographers.

360 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
and altars upon spots where every thing was calculated
to keep alive the memory of the discarded superstitions,
brought with it many of those evils of which the mis
sionaries themselves were the first to complain. It is a
remarkable fact, that at this very period heathen festi
vities were still observed even in the capital of Christen
dom. Boniface himself boldl3r charged Pope Zachary
with remissness in permitting mummeries and proces
sions, accompanied with profane song and clamour, in the
streets and public places of the city, especially on the
1st of January ; and he reasonably asks by what right,
after that, the pope could find fault with the Uke practices
among his own flock."* Yet it can hardly be denied, that
even if the missionaries themselves had been capable of
imparting, their hearers Avere wholly unprepared to re
ceive the doctrines of a purer and more spiritual religion.
The predecessors of Boniface had done no more than to
obtain from the heathen a public profession ofthe Gospel,
and a certain outward conformity with the Latin rites.
Their successors pursued the same plan : they still re
sorted to the old compendious method, rashly trusting to
their own vigilance and assiduity to prune away the vi
cious excrescences which might grow out of this hazard
ous scheme of conversion.
The results bore out in a great degree the confi-
Boniface ^^^^ expectations of its authors. Converts and
archbishop churches multiplied so rapidly that a more
and legate, gygtematic Organisation had become necessary.
These new establishments were as 3'et without an acknow
ledged chief; and although Rome might claim a large
share in the merits of her emissaries, she was not yet in
possession of any corporate or general acknowledgment
of supremacy in this great department of spiritual con
quest. But now her " familiaris" applied to Pope Gre
g-ory IIL, successor to the second of that name, for the
powers requisite for that purpose. The pope gladly com
plied ; and, with the archiepiscopal pallium, sent to Boni
face a coraraission as papal legate over the churches of
all Germany. In the year 738, he went to Rome, and
'' Epp. S. Bonif. ep. 132, ap. Eckhart, Franc. Orient, tom. i. p. 402.

Chap. V.] GOVEENMENT OF BONIFACE. 361
resided there nearly a twelvemonth, occupied in organ
ising Avith the pope a strong and. consistent scheme of
church-government, which was to erabrace not raerely
Great Britain and Germany, but all Christendom, and
to unite all under the sceptre of St. Peter's chair. For
the two last-mentioned provinces of the projected empire
Boniface could undertake to answer to his master ; but
both were sensible that the Frankish churches Avould op
pose more serious difficulties.' Yet much might be ex
pected from the talents and adroitness of Boniface ; more
from the ignorance and worldly spirit of the Frankish
hierarchy.; and more still from the secret views of the
powerful family which presided over the government of
France, — views of whicli it is impossible to believe that,
either Boniface or his patron were wholly ignorant.'^
The coraraission ofthe new archbishop-legate extended
over every part of Gerraany, with the exception jjj^ ecoiesi-
of Friesland. In the first instance, Boniface asticai
visited Bavaria, where he found the roots of '^'^^^i''"^-
the old superstitions still rankling in the soil; irregula
rities of all kinds, such as raarried or heretical priests,
depraved teachers, bishops without due consecration, and
clergy without canonical orders.^ As the proper reraedy
for these evils, he prevailed upon Odilo, the feudatory
duke of Bavaria, to divide the duchy into four dioceses ;
and he appointed to them four of his own most confiden
tial followers. With the same views, he divided the pro
vince of Franconia, or "Francia Orientalis" — by which
name the more southern districts ofthe great Thuringian
region had begun to be distinguished — into three dio-
e It is -observed by Mannert, in his ' In the year 737 — therefore the year
History of the Merovingian Franks (vol. before the arrival of Boniface in Eome
i. p.315),thatsincethe firstpallium and — thenominalking,TheuderichIV.,had
legantine commission conferred by Gre- died, and Charles Martel had neglected
gory the Great upon the archbishop of to fill the vacant throne ; a circumstance
Aries, scarcely a single metropolitan had so pregnant with inference, that it could
applied for the confirmation of Eome, hardly have been overlooked either by
tiU the Anglo-Saxon Willibrord set the Boniface or the pope. Conf. Eckhart,
example circa 692. "No appeal," he tom. i. p. 370.
says, " was ever brought before the e " Injusta hsereticffi falsitatis secta
legate; and the bishops continued, as et/orni'corjo sacerdotum ;" i.e. a priest-
before, to hold their synods under their hood not ordained according to theLatin
respective metropolitans, without re- forms, and Uving in a state of marriage.
porting to Eome, and without any no- A'it. S. Bonif. aWillib. ubi sup. p. 345.
tice of her authority."

363 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
ceses, under three ofhis Anglo-Saxon associates. These
sees were amply endowed by the simplicity or the muni
ficence of the great lay proprietors, confirmed and aug
mented by the piety of Charles Martel and his devout
son Carlmann.'' All these appointments were carefully'
reported to the pope, and by him returned with the re-
Papai confir- quircd ratifications and admonitions : " Cease
mation. ngt^ most rovereud brother,"^ — so the pope writes
in reply,' — " cease not to inculcate the koly traditions of
tke catholic and apostolic see of Bome ; . . . desist not
from preaching the way of salvation ;' and wherever 3'Ou
may meet with a proper occasion, ordain bishops canoni
cally in our name and place ; and look to it that the new
bishops keep wkole tke same apostolical and canonical
tradition."^ And now indeed the pontiff might AA'ith sorae
degree of confidence regard nearly the whole of Ger
many as enclosed within the Roman fold.
In France, however, the papal projects had up to this
time worn a less promising aspect. It is true
teirobstruT-' that Chai'lcs Martel had liberally supported the
tion of papal gffortg of the " apostlc of Germany;" but he
TlollP"V 1/ '
intimated, by his conduct in other directions,
that he had no mind to saddle himself either with a tem
poral or a spiritual superior within his realm ; more espe-
ciall3'^ that he had a very decided objection to admit any
sharer in the vast ecclesiastical plunder or patronage which
he and his predecessors had so long dispensed. The re
sentment with which his memory has been treated by the
churchmen, shows prett3' clearly how little he was dis
posed to promote the further extension of clerical wealth
and power. After his death, in the 3'ear 741, the roraan
ising clerg3' took courage; and frora this epoch, every
succeeding 3'ear brought forth some event which raised
their hopes, and smoothed the path to further acquisition.
The earliest of these propitious occurrences appeared
Carlmann in the shapc 01 a raessage from Carlmann, the
B^n^face pious SOU of Charles Martel, inviting Boniface
to France, to pay a visit to the Frankish court, with a
'¦ Egilward, in Vit. S. Burchardi ' Viz. the said holy traditions, &c.
Episc. Wirziburg, ap. Eckhart, tom. i. J See the letters of confirmation, ap.
pp. 379, 390, 391. Eckhart, ubi sup. tom. i. p. 378.

Chap. V.] BONIFACE AND THE FEANKISH CHUECHES. 368
view to the reformation of the more manifest abuses in
the churches of the realm. The legate complied, and
wrote to Pope Zachary, the successor of Gregory III.
(741), requesting his permission to convoke a national
synod for the remedy of existing evils. He informed
the pontiff that no general assembly of the Eeport of
churches had been held in France for a period ^^°''?°® °^
ofeigkty years ; that during all that time there the Prankish
had been no laAvful metropolitan bishop;'' that <='ii™^'^s-
the Roman canon-law had never been promulgated by
public authority ; that the greater number of the bishop
rics were held by greedy layraen; "and that others were
filled by false clerks, persons of evil repute — wkoremongers
and publicans.' It should be observed in this place, that
not only those who lived after the manner of men of rank
in that countr3', — that is, without any very severe restric
tions upon the number or character of their feraale asso
ciates, — but also all the raarried prelates and clerg3r, fell
under these vituperative designations. Pope Zachary, in
his reply to the application of Boniface, adopted the like
vicAV ; and pronounced it to be law that no bishop could
have been more than once married, and tkat before con
secration ; and if at that time he chanced to be married,
he must ever afterwards abstain from cohabiting with his
wife." After obtaining the requisite permission from Rome,
Boniface convoked a synod of the Germanic synods of
churches at Salzburg in Thuringia, a spot uponSaizburg and
the river Saale ; and announced a second assem- ^p'™«^-
bly for the following year, to be held at Leptines, near
Carabray, for the Neustrian kingdom." The ordinances
passed at these assembhes denounced degrada- -^^^^.^^
tion and other canonical punishments against
all clerks leading irregular lives, or keeping wives or con
cubines ; priests were prohibited from bearing arms, or
taking part in any mUitary adventure ; they were strictly
excluded from the profane sports of the field, and to
1' That is, no one who had taken out " Eckhart, ubi sup. tom. i. p. 403.
his paUium from Eome. ° Ibid, ubi sup. p. 404. These two
' " Scortatores," "fomicatores," " ad- synods are sometimes confounded with
ulteri," &c. each other.

364 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
that end were ordered to put away aU sporting-dogs and
falcons from thefr premises : the prelates were directed to
call in the aid ofthe civil power to suppress all heathen
ish practices, such as profane offerings for the dead, soi--
tUege, charms, incantations, lustral fires," sacrifices m
honour of sanits, " which foolish persons do sometiraes
perform within the precincts of the churches, after the
raanner of the heathen, though outwardly in honour of
raartyrs and confessors, provoking thereby the wrath of
God and his saints."? This first attempt to set bounds
to a practice hitherto encouraged by Rome was followed
by a schedule or short catalogue of prohibited practices,''
Avith a brief formula of renunciation, and a profession of
faith to be made by all new Christians as weU as persons
Adoption of si^spected of heathen pravity. Under the dic-
the Eoman tatiou of Bouiface, both synods adopted the
can°o^n-raw. ^^^f^ou-law of Bome as the sole rule of faith and
discipline; the3' declared all marriages void
Avhich had been contracted in contradiction to that law,
and strictly prohibited the sale of Christians as slaves to
pagans.'' Not the least remarkable, however, ofthe transactions
Adalbert and of the CouucU of Lcptiues was the condemna-
ciemens. ^[qj^ ^ud deposition of two bishops, Adalbert and
Clemens — the former a Frank, the latter an Irishman —
for repudiating the legantine powers of Bonfface, and op
posing the introduction ofthe Roman canon-law into the
Frankish discipline. Such at least was be3'ond doubt
the real offence of these prelates. The indignant and vitu
perative tone of Boniface, in his report of this circum-
charges staucc to Popc Zachary, leaves the moral and
schismatic Gcclesiastical characters of the tAvo prelates un-
bishops touched. Adalbert, said the imperious accuser,
o "The Nodfyr" or "Niedfyr." See third vol. of his "Leges Barbarorum
Cancian. ad Indie. Superst. in Barb. Leg. Antiquse."
Antiq. tom. iu. § 1 5, p. 97. See also ' In this and several succeeding ages
Grimm, Deutsch. Mythol. p. 345. _ an active slave-trade was carried on
P Hartzheim, ConcU. Germ. tom. i. between the half-converted borderers
pp. 48-50. of the Frankish dominions and the
1 The "Indiculus Superstitionum," pagans of the eastern frontier, espe-
which is so learnedly and amusingly cially the Sclavic tribes of the Elbe
commented upon by Canciani in the and the Avars of Hungary.

Chap. V.] ADALBEET AND CLEMENS. 365
Avas an enthusiast and an impostor; .he condemned the
interference of the pope with the national church ; he de
nied the lawfulness of dedicating churches to saints ;' he
derided pilgrimag-es to Rome ; and repudiated auricular
confession. Boniface adds a charge of imposture; he pro
claimed himself, he says, an inspired teacher, and usurped
the place of the apostles by pretending- to give absolution
for all manner of sins.' The offences of Clemens involved
a peremptor3^ denial ofthe Roraan canon-law, or, as Boni
face is pleased to describe it, the " canons of the Church
of Christ;" he rejected the sermons and treatises of
St. Augustine, St. Jerorae, and St. Gregory the Great ;°
he spurned the acts of the SAmods, and " of his own au
thority affirraed that, though he had two sons born in
adultery, 3^et he Avas still a Christian bishop.""
The last of these articles of impeachment denotes in
reality no more than that Clemens raaintained vaiue of the
his rig-ht to retain his wife after consecration ; charges.
and that he asserted the legitimacy of the children born
to him Avhile that relation subsisted. The terras " adul
tery" and " fornication" are so generally used by the Latin
doctors in describing- the raatriraonial engagements of
the clergy, that some pains are required to distinguisli
between the moral and the canonical offence. In this
case, the statement, as against Clemens, is upon the face
of it a naked falsehood, covered by the use of a word put
into the mouth of the accused by the enraged accuser,
and intended to convey an impudent avowal of guUt and
depravit3-.'" It is, hoAvever, obvious that the real offence
of the two recusant prelates Avas their resistance to the
imposition of a foreign 3'oke, and the introduction of a
' Probably he reprobated the practice " Probably as appertaining to tradi-
of substituting saints for idols, and de - tion, rather than to revelation.
dicating the temples of Thor or Woden " See the epistle of Boniface to Pope
to St. Peter or St. Paul. Zachary, ap. Hartzheim, ConcU. Germ.
' A singular complaint in the mouth tom. 1. p. 62.
of a spiritual plenipotentiary of the " Clemens is also charged with main-
successor of St. Peter. The false pre- taining that wben Christ descended into
tence charged was, not that he exer- hell he liberated all who were detained
cised the power to forgive sins, but that there, whether they were Christians or
he claimed to exercise it independently pagan : an eccentric, hut rather harm-
of the Petrine commission, and without less, exposition of a probably apocry-
regard to the Latin canons. phal clause in the Apostles' Creed.

866 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV,
scheme of canon-law inconsistent with the liberties of
their churches and the customs and habits of their people.
A more formidable obstacle to the meditated reforms
Difficulties a^ose from the reluctance of the Frankish no-
of Boniface bUity — Autrustious and Leudes — to part with
in France, ^j^^ peveuues of the sees which the necessities of
the princes, particularly of Charles Martel, had compeUed
them to bestow on powerful lay claimants. Boniface, it
is true, with the consent of the pope, consecrated arch
bishops to the metropolitan sees of Rouen, Rheims, and
Sens ; but the Princes Carlmann and Pippin were unable
or nuAvilUng to dispossess the lay occupants of the lands
and endowments attached to those sees, and for the pre
sent the appointments remained unexecuted. In other
respects the legate met with better success. An assem
bly, both of clergy and laity, Avas held at Soissons in the
3'ear 744, in the presence of Pippin himself. Here all
the canons of the previous S3mods were confirmed and
republished ; clerical marriages were more explicitly con
deraned and prohibited ; the new archiepiscopal and le
gantine jurisdiction in all ecclesiastical matters Avas esta
blished ; and bishops and people were required to resort
to those courts upon all occasions.''
The successes of Boniface are ver3' clearly summed up
Eeport of in the roport of these proceedings which he sent
Boniface to to his friend Cuthbert archbishop of Canterbury,
Archbishop ... n a ..- f ,-i i i •
Cuthbert of IU the ycar 745, for the encouragement and m-
Canterbury. gtructlon of the Auglo-Saxou prelates. " In this
s3mod (of Soissons)," he said, " we have confessed and
decreed the whole catholic faith in communion with, and
in subjection to, the Roman church ; and we have vowed
obedience and true service to St. Peter and his vicar.
We have resolved to hold annual synods, and to appl3'" for
our paUia to the see of Rome ; and that Ave wiU in all
things strive to pay canonical obedience to the precepts
of St. Peter, in order that we may show ourselves worthy
to be numbered with his flock. We have likewise re
solved, that in every synod the canonical decrees and
ecclesiastical laws (as received fi-om Eome) shall be read
" See Hartzheim, Concil. Germ. tom. i. pp. 57, 58.

Chap. V.] BONIFACE PEIMATE. * 367
and published ; that the metropolitans shaU examine into
the raorals and dUigence of the bishops ; that, after each
synod, diocesan assemblies shall be held for carrying the
synodal resolutions into effect ; and, in order to afford to
every bishop the means of reforming what is amiss within
his diocese, we have directed that he shall publicly cora
plain thereof to his archbishop : for thus, at ray own
consecration, I swore to the Roraan church to act, viz.
that if I should find priests or people grievously and
incorrigibly departing from the law of God, / would at
all times faithfully report such cases to the apostolic see
and to the vicar of St. Peter for correction ; and in the
same way, I think all bishops ought to report to their
raetropolitans, and they in turn to the church of Rorae,
whenever they meet with hindrances with which they
are of themselves unable to contend."^
Though secure of the cordial co-operation of the go
vernment, Boniface had still to contend against Difficulties
difficulties arising from the pertinacity of the and im-
lay holders of ecclesiastical property, and the re- ^^ ™«iits-
sistance of a certain part3^ araong the clergy to the sweep
ing reforras he meditated. The only advantage obtained
over the former was a reluctant consent to pay a trifling-
acknowledgment for their tenure of the church-lands ;
3'et this admission sufficed to keep alive the claims of the
plundered sees.^ A more important step in advance was
gained by the establishment of the legate in Boniface
the important see of Mogiintiacum, or Mayntz primate of
(Mayence), with raetropolitan jurisdiction over *'°'^'
all the reg-ions in which he had ever preached, as far as the
borders ofthe pagan Saxons and Sclavi, including the dio
ceses of Tongres, Colonia- Agrippina (Cologne), Worms,
Speyer, Maastricht, Wurzburg, Eichstedt, and Bureburg."
But many 3^ears elapsed before the inert resistance ofthe
provincial clergy to the innovations of the legate could
be overcome. Adalbert and Clemens persevered in their
struggles for the independence of their churches. In
y Hartzheim, ConcU. Germ. tom. i. * Othloni Vit. S. Bonif. lib. ii. c. 14;
p. 67. Eckhart, Fr. Orient, tom. i. p. 485.
2 Ibid. tom. i. p. 71.

368 * CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
other places the new ordinances were ostensibly adopted,
but neutralised by neglect or passive resistance. The
metropohtan bishops were found unaccountably remiss
in applying to Rome for their paUia ; and the perpetual
wars of Pippin against the hitherto independent princi
palities of Gerraany for a long time impeded or thwarted
the scheme of Boniface for a. raore complete establishment
of his gfeat province upon the Roman platform.
In the 3'ear 747, his pious friend and supporter Carl-
Eesistance '^'^^^j ^^^ joint-priucc, or major-domAs, of the
of Adalbert Frauks, retired from the world. In the interim
Clemens, ^o^fface had found leisure and funds for the
erection of several religious houses, more par
ticularly of the afterwards celebrated abbey of Fulda in
Hessia. At Rome all his views were adopted without
comment or delay ; and mandates were issued in confor
mity with his designs for drawing the Frankish and Ger
manic lurches into the closest dependence upon the holy
^^A u. . tne active resistance ofthe schismatic bishops
Adalbert and Clemens, and the inert opposition of p/o-
bably a majority ofthe Prankish clergy, had materially
disturbed the project. Of this portion of the priesthood,
Heathenisingthe archbishop givcs a very unfavourable por-
and married trait. " Renegade priests," he says, " were stiU
pnests. fgyjj^ y^r}iQ sacrificcd bulls and goats to the
pagan gods, or themselves partook ofthe meats offered
to idols ; the number of the schismatic clergy who, under
the narae of bishops and presb3^ter.s, deluded and carried
away the people, A^as much greater than that of the or
thodox : among these,, there were A^ery many vagrant
adulterous (married), sacrilegious, hypocritical pretenders^
as also many shaven serfs who had fled from their mas
ters; — servants of the devil, living after their own de
praved lusts, and seducing multitudes of the people to
support them in their resistance to the bishops. These
persons, he averred, carried on their nefarious trade in
wUd and lonely places, or in the cabins of the countrA--
" Conf. Ep. Zach. Pap. ad Bonif., ap. Ep. GemmuliXi'iac. ad Bonif. ibid r. ««
Hartzheim, tom. i. p. 59; Concil. Eom. Ep. Zach. Pap., ad Franc et pTil -aj
de Hasret Adalberto et Clemente, ibid. p. 68; Ep. ejusd. ad Bonif i/MJ:^^
p. 60; Ep. Bontf. ad Zach. ibid. p. 61; ¦'• "'"• P- ^9-

Chap. V.] SCHEME OF BONIFACE. 369
folk, where they might the more easily practise upon the
ignorance of their dupes, and evade the correction of
their bishops.""
It had, indeed, become apparent that nothing but the
energetic support of the secular government Nature of
could carry through a scheme of discipline *''\°^^'?^''^^^
involving at once the sacrifice ofthe favourite of Boniface:
vices of the higher clergy, the superstitions of ^^'^ remedy.
their inferiors, aud the independence of the national
church. It may be admitted, that the state of the infe
rior orders, as described by Boniface, afforded no hope
that they could be persuaded to reform themselves, much
less to assist in reforming the higher. But a closer study
of the documents from which we draw our information
leads to the conviction, that the superstitions and corrup
tions complained of were not the principal grounds of ap
prehension, but are put forward chiefly with a view to fill
the cup of guilt to the brim, and cast on the obnoxious in
dividuals and religious parties all the odium it was desired
should attach to their cause. Reflecting upon the extra
ordinary latitude alloAved to the Roman emissaries in deal
ing with the superstitions and prejudices of their con
verts,** we naturally conclude that Boniface was far less
moved by the danger from that quarter than from the in
fluence ofthe schismatic clergy, and the lingering attach
raent to the independence of their churches. This obstacle,
in fact, lay directly in the path of the delegates towards
the accomplishraent of their scherae for " uniting all the
Frankish churches in coraraunion with Rome, and in
obedience and true service to St. Peter and his vicar :"
and it was manifest to Boniface that, untU this spirit
was quelled, the special object ofhis mission could not be
attained, and that till then he must be accounted an
" unprofitable servant" by the raaster whora he served.
After the retireraent of Carlraann, his brother Pippin
convoked an asserably of all the estates and synodof
prelates ofthe realm at VerneuU, to cause him- ^ernemi.
= Epp. Bonif, ap. Eckhart, tom. i. p. the Great to Augustine,— Book HI. c.
479; Hartzheim, torn. i. p. 84. vii. p. 217 of this work.
"f Conf. Instructions of Pope Gregory
VOL. II. B B

370 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
self to be recognised as sole major-doraAs, or prince, of the
Franks. Among the prelacy appeared Adalbert and Cle
mens, attended probably by a retinue of clergy of their
party. Boniface perceived, and availed hiraself promptly
of, the opportunity to crush his opponents. He produced
before the assembly the papal sentence of deposition and
anatheraa with which he had long since provided himself,
and called for the imraediate apprehension of the offend
ers. The motion was approved; the bishops,. and their
Condemna- adherent the presbyter Gotschalk, were com-
banlshmen ^^^^^^ *° ^^^ custody, aud forthAvith removed
of Adaiben by him as prisoners to the remote abbey of
and Clemens. Fulda, iu the heart ofthe archbishop's pecuUar
domain. Here the offenders were unlikely to give him an3'"
serious trouble ; and -a salutary lesson was read to all who
might be inclined to follow their contumacious courses.
There is, however, reason to believe that resistance to the
new state of things did not -altogether cease with the de
portation ofthe ringleaders. Boniface and his coadjutors
had still many difficulties to encounter, and the continued
support of the prince and the government alone held out
any certain prospect of success. That support, however,
was not Avanting ; every political circumstance ofthe times
tended to draw closer the alliance between Pippin and
the papacy. The events now to be brought under our
observation will dispel the obscurity which may hang over
that connection, and place the interests of the parties and
the motives of their conduct in a very sufficient light.
Hitherto Ave have endeavoured to bring the advances
. of Latin Christianity in Great Britain, France,
ynopsis. ^^^^ Germany, into their true historical con
nection Avith the progress of the see of Rorae towards
that suprerae spiritual dominion inherent in the theory,
and inseparable frora the practice of the chair of Peter.
Within a centur3^ and a half frora the landing- of Augus
tine, the systematic efforts of Rorae had been rcAvarded
by the most remarkable successes. Within that time
she had drawn round the outer margin of Latin Christen
dom a belt of dependencies capable of balancing or con-

Chap, v.] S"yN0PSIS. 371
trolling any adverse influences among the older consti
tuents of that body; — a band of adherents fresh and
zealous in her cause, and armed for battle against the
last remnants of religious liberty or license in the enclosed
regions. For all these advantages she was indebted to
her Anglo-Saxon emissaries. The names of Ecgfrid,
Biscop, WiUibrord, WUfred, and Winfred, must ever
stand highest in the grateful meraory of the Romish
church, and be entitled to the first places in the calendar
of her missionary saints. Their merits are the more con
spicuous, that theirs was the first Christian mission im
mediately connected with, and historically traceable to,
the personal procurement of her pontiffs — the first that
was sent forth in the name of Rome, by her authority,
and for the promotion of her peculiar ends. Up to the
epoch of Augustine's mission to Britain, the claims of
Rome to the spiritual raaternity of Latin Christendom
rested upon the infirmest of legends ; but by the suc
cesses of her Ang-lo-Saxon emissaries that claim obtained
a certain historical basis ; a colour of truth was cast back
upon her antecedent pretensions ; and it is shoAvn how a
really unconnected series of facts might, by good manage
ment, be construed into a simple continuation of one and
the same succession of parental interferences ; — proceed
ing, of course, upon the foregone presumption that the
parent could never become superannuated, and that the
pupils could never come of age.

CHAPTER VI.
APPEOACHES OF THE PAPACY TO TEMPOEAL S0"VEEEIGNTY. (I.)
Connection of ecclesiastical and poUtical history — Merovingian race in France
supplanted by the family of Pippin of Landen— The mayor of the palace —
Pippin the Short— Pippin, Boniface, and Pop* Zachary— Pippin takes the
title of king — Proximate causes and character of the revolution — Papal parti
cipation — Opinions thereon — The precedent— Vope Stephen IH. and Aistulph
king of the Lombards — Papal policy— Joumey of Pope Stephen to Pavia —
His flight into France — His reception there — Moral and political effect of this
reception — Negotiations, and treaty of Pontyon — Diet of Quiercy-sur-Oise —
Coronation of Pippin and bis sons — Papal views of tbe transaction — Pippin
invades Lombardy — Submission of Aistulph and treaty of Pavia — Eelations
ofthe papacy to the Byzantine empire — Eetreat of Pippin — Pope Stephen
claims the fulfilment of the treaty of Pavia— Donation of Pippin; its cha
racter, scope, and intent — Aistulph again attacks the "patrimony of St.
Peter" — Siege of Eome — Pippin raises the siege — Second treaty of Pavia —
Confirmation and final execution of the donation — ^Death of Aistulph, and ele
vation of Desiderius — Extortions of Pope Stephen — Treachery of Stephen —
Paul I. pope — His complaint to Pippin — Charges against Desiderius — ^Eesults.
We now connect the progress of papism, as presented to
Connection the reader in the foregoing chapters, with the
of^eciesias- most important political events of the eighth
*poUtic"ai century ; more especially with the transfer of
history. ^[yQ cTowu of Fraucc from the MeroAungian to
the Carlovingian race, and the consequent advancement
of the papacy from a state of theoretical, if not actual,
subjection to that ofa temporal and political sovereignt3'.
The name and achievements of Archbishop Bonfface form
the connecting link ; the part he took, and the character
of his agenc3', will therefore require an attentive exami
nation. The antecedent history of the Merovingian princes
The Mere P^escuts the commou phenomenon ofa rainister
vingian race of statc gradually usurping all the powers of go-
suppianted. ygmi^ent. Superseding the norainal sovereign,
and ultiraately placing the crown upon his own head.
In the infancy of feudalisra, estates, offices, immunities,

Chap. VL] THE MAYOE OF THE PALACE. 873
proceeding from the free grants of the crown to meri
torious subjects, were resuraable at the pleasure of the
grantor, or at the expiration or cessation of the services
for which they were granted. But as the relation thus
created between the sovereign and the free subject rarely
ceased but with the life of the latter, and as in the sub
sisting state of society the resuraption was often attended
with difficulty and danger, the estate by degrees lost its
resuraable character. In this state of things, the tran
sition from a precarious to an hereditary tenure was na
tural and easy. The great feudatories, Antrustions and
Leudes, of the Merovingian kings g-enerally engrossed
the favours of the crown ; and at length so far outgrew
its control as to convert the conditional into an absolute
estate in the possessions, lands, and lucrative offices they
had thus acquired. The ma3'or, or high-steward, of the
royal household had always been regarded as the prime
minister ofthe sovereign, and the chief of the official and
territorial nobility — Antrustions and Leudes. At the
epoch of the deposition of the last nominal sovereign, the
office and authority of mayor of the palace had become
hereditar3'^ in the family of Pippin of Landen, who died
in the year 689. From hira it was within the ensuing
century transraitted through six descents to Pippin sur
named "the Short," who, after the retireraent of his
brother Carlmann, remained the sole major-doraAs and
prince of the Franks.
Within that century the office of raayor of the palace
had swaUoAved up all the powers of the state, ^^^ ^
together with all the attributes of sovereignty of the
excepting the title. The titular kings had sunk P"'^''''^-
down into raere state puppets. The popular reverence
for the descendants of Clovis had been gradually sub
siding into indifference ; and the occasional exhibition of
the ro3'^al pageant^ upon certain state cereraonials, had
begun to excite the conterapt or the derision of the specta
tors. The interposition of a norainal sovereign between
the people and the real ruler was inconvenient to the
forraer, and mortifying to the ambition ofthe latter. The
mayor of the palace, and probably all the influential

374 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
classes, desired the re-annexation of the title to the office
of king. The poor puppet with the long hair and the
floAving beard was consigned to oblivion in the remote
and shabby vUla assigned for his abode ; Pippin himself
assuraed the state, and adopted the language, of a sove
reign prince without contradiction or raurraur in any
quarter where resistance might have been seriously dan
gerous; and nothing reraained but to bring about the
catastrophe of the long and tedious draraa.
The caution, however, with which Pippin proceeded
Pippin the ™ f^is Stage of his fortunes seems to show that
Short, he did not think himself as yet beyond the
reach of difficulty and danger. But Pippin possessed
in full measure all the qualities Avhich the wild and law
less Frankish nobility and people were accustomed to
respect in their princes. He Avas a gallant Avarrior, and
an experienced statesraan. By a brilliant series of suc
cesses against the insurgent Aquitanians, the Saxons,
the AUemans, and the Bavarians, he had greatly ex
tended the dominion ofthe Franks ; he had humbled his
domestic enemies, and attached the great bulk of the
feudatories to his person and government. And now,
in the last stage of his progress, a large and active body
araong the clergy of his realm rested upon him all their
hopes for the accomplishraent of a religious revolution,
frora which they expected to derive an imraediate in
crease of wealth and power, and in the distance dis
cerned a boundless extension of spiritual dominion.
With such encouragement. Pippin began by sounding
the disposition of the estates in reference to the
Bomflce, - projected transfer ofthe crown to his own head.
and Pope jJe had for some years past kept the phantom-
^^ °''^^' king altogether out of sight ; and in the 3'ear
751 he assembled a diet of the realm at Attign3' in
Champagne, at which he assumed the state and cere
monial of royalty without remark or contradiction. In
the foUoAving year he tried the like experiment with the
same success. Archbishop Boniface was present at both
asserablies ; and soon afterwards appears on the stage as
negotiator with Rome for a purpose at the moment kept

CiiAp. VL] USUEPATIOiST OF PIPPIN. 375
. secret. Again, in the year 753, he despatched his confi
dential friend and destined successor Lulius to Rome, with
instructions to lay before Pope Zachary " certain grave
matters, some by word of mouth, with others that he had
coraraitted to writing ;" and to request an immediate reply
''upon the autkority of St. Peter prince of tke a,postles," in
order that he (Boniface) might know how best to meet the
views ofthe hol3' see.^'Not long afterwards Pippin deputed
his chancellor, Fulrad abbot of St. Denis, accorapanied
by Burchard bishop of Wurzburg, a creature of Boniface,
to propose to the pope the laconic question, "Whether
the Merovingian, who stUl retains the title of king, but
without the power ; or the major-doniAs, in whora by the
will ofthe people all real poAver was vested, — ought to
bear the royal title ?" The reply of Zachary was prompt
and favourable : " He who lawfully possesses the royal
power may also lawfully assurae the royal title." Not
withstanding the latent ambiguit3r of the ternis, the oracle
was deeraed satisfactory. But the gravity of the question,
and the proraptness of the reply, presumes previous com
munication ; and we are entitled to assurae that the unre
ported message of Boniface had already apprised the pope
of what he was required to reply to, and solicited a favour
able response. And now Pippin, fortified by p; .^
the ostensible approval of the hig-hest ecclesias- assumes the
tical authority, and assured by previous experi- "^"^^^ '"^®"
ment ofthe acquiescence ofthe people and the support of
a powerful part3'" in the Church, boldly assumed the ro3^al
title. He and his wife Bertrada were solemnly crowned
by Boniface, as legate and representative of the holy see,
at Soissons, in the presence of the assembled nobles and
prelates of the realm. The unfortunate Childerich III.
was deprived ofthe last attribute of royalty ; he was shorn
of his long tresses and beard, and immured in the abbey
of St. Omer, where he died two years afterwards.''
> See extr. of letter of Boniface to Annal. Mettens. ibid. p. 331 ; Annal.
Pope Zachary, ap. Eckhart, Fr. Orient. Moissiac. ibid. p. 292 ; Annal. Lauria-
tom. i. p. 496. cens. ibid. p. 138. Conf. Fragm. Hist.
>> The authorities for these transac- ap. D. Bouquet, tom. ii. p.' 694 ; and
tions are the following: Annal. Fuldens. ihe " Genealogia Caroli Mag." ibid. p.
ap. Pertz, Mon. Germ., tom. i. p. 346; 698.

376 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
Papal writers have been at some pains to exonerate
Proximate Bouifaco and his patron the pope from the
causes and charge of lending theraselves to so gross a viola-
" oilhT tion ofthe sacred rights of kings as appeared to
revolution, ^g involvcd iu the deposition of ChUderich III."
But a very slight inquiry into the position of both parties
discloses powerful motives for the course they pursued.
Boniface was impatient under the impediments opposed
to his contemplated reforms and restitutions by the great
feudatories on the one hand, and the recusant churchmen
on the other. We find him at this point of time com
plaining bitterly to the pope ofthe inertness of Pippin in
helping him to recover the usurped lands of the three
archbishoprics, and his backwardness in aiding in the
suppression of the schism ; and avowing that without the
co-operation of the prince he had no hopes of success in
either attempt. His only course, therefore, was to fall
in with, and promote by all the means in his power, the
political schemes ofthe latter; and that he did so is con
clusively proved by his prompt consent to place the crown
upon the head of the usurper as soon as the response
from Rome had furnished him with the all-sufficient au
thority of the holy see. Zachary, on the other hand, was
at this point of time looking to Pippin for deliverance
frora the vexations of Greeks and Lorabards, and the com
plete possession of the territories which he and his pre
decessors had so clamorously demanded."* It is moreover
not very probable that, if either Boniface or the pope had
regarded Pippin as unfriendly to the Church, they should
have so promptly assented to an odious act of injustice to
the legitimate hne of princes, to whatever state of feeble
ness and inefficiency they might have faUen through the
treasonable encroachments of thefr own servants. Re
flecting, then, that the legate was present at both the
diets of Attigny (751, 752); that the embassy of Fulrad
and Burchard followed closely upon that of Lulius • that
the reply of Zachary bears every mark of premeditation •
and lastly, that his vicar and legate Boniface consum-
" See particularly Eckhart, Franc. '' Conf. Mascou, Hist nf *i, ,-i
Orient, tom. i. p. 496. mans, book xvi. § 34, p. 334 '°^ ^rer-

Chap. VL] PAPAL PAETICIPATION. 877
mated the deed, in the name of the pope, by croAvning
and anointing Pippin with his oavu hands, — there can be
little roora to doubt the full participation of the holy see
and its agent in bringing about a revolution which pro
mised advantages of so substantial a kind towards the
attainment of the cherished objects of their ambition.
If, however, any doubt should remain as to that par
ticipation, we think it would be removed by the p j
deliberate judgment ofthe annalists ofthe age. ticipation:
In one of these° we read that Pippin received the °P'"'°°^-
title of king of the Franks " in pursuance of the sanction
ofthe Roman pontiff;" in another, "that by the consent
of the blessed Zacharias the pope. Pippin thie prince was
constituted king of the Franks by Boniface," &c. f again,
in a third, that " in conformity with the ordinance of the
Roman pontiff Pippin assumed the ro3'al title ;"^ again,
in a fourth, we read that, " by the authority of the Roman
pontiff. Pippin, from being ma3ror of the palace, A\'as con
stituted king ;" and a fifth writer of the age informs us,
that " Pope Zachary, by autkority of the Apostle Peter,
issued Ms mandate to the people of the Franks that Pip
pin, who afready wielded the royal power, should with it
enjoy the ro3'al dignity."'" These writers, it should be ob
served, one and all took the view of the transaction the
papacy was at all times most anxious to uphold. And, in
fact, the application of Pippin substantially coramitted to
the arbitrament of the holy see the highest of all political
questions — the right of a sovereign to kis throne. Such
an advantage was not likely to be overlooked by a power
which had hitherto persev-eringly endeavoured to obliter
ate the distinction between counsel and precept, advice
and command.'
^ Annal. Bertin.: " Hoc anno, secun- tate regia utebatur, nominis quoque
dum Eomani pontificis sanctionem, Pip- dignitate frueretur."
pinus rex Francorum appellatus est." ' It may be said that all counsel
^ Annal.Mettens.:"'E.xconsenauheati or advice given "virtute officii" is in
Zacharise papae urbis Pippinus princeps the nature of precept. Whatever was
a Bonifacio rex Francorum" constitui- done by the popes was done " by the
tur," &c. authority of St. Peter," &c. ; and when
K .4nre.Za«r.: "Secundum Eom. pent. invested with that authority, their re-
sanctionemPippinus rex appeUatus est." spouses were " as the oracles of God."
^ Annal. Fuld. : " Zacharias papa, ex The popes themselves took no notice of
auctoritate S. Petri apost., mandat po- the distinction between the language
pulo Francorum ut Pippinus, qui potes- of advice and command in their own

378 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
The tranquU elevation ofthe new faraily to the throne
The ofthe Franks appears upon the whole before us
precedent, as the natural result of that intimate alliance
Avhich had for some time past been groAving up between
the Church and the governraent of France. The advan
tage on the part of Pippin Avas immediate and palpable,
— ke had gained a throne : but the pontiff /tfl^ established
a precedent which by skUful management might elevate
him to be the arbiter and dispenser of thrones. We repeat,
therefore, that the value of such a precedent could not
reraain long- hidden frora the eagle-glance of a poAver
whose existence depended upon close observation of, and
prompt practice upon, the natural infirmities ofthe human
character and the public mind of nations.
Pope Zachary died on the 15th of March 752 ; and
Pope was succeeded by Stephen, a presbyter of the
Stephen and Uomau church. The neAV pontiff obtained from
king of-the the Lombard king Aistulph a ratification ofthe
Lombards, treaty concluded with Rachis by his predecessor.
But scarcely a twelvemonth afterwards, Aistulph, in con
tempt of his engagements, invaded the so-caUed duchy of
Rome with the avowed purpose of incorporating the city
and its territory Avith the bulk of his dominions.^ In this
extreraity, the pope appealed for protection to his nominal
sovereign the heretical emperor Constantine, surnamed
Copron3'mus ; but the latter A\'as too rauch embarrassed
at horae by the difficulties in AA'hich his obstinate efforts
to extirpate image-worship among his subjects had in
volved him to attend to the interests of his religious
opponent, however closely connected Avith his own. As
to the Lombard prince, supplications, remonstrances,
menaces, bribes, had been lavished upon hira without suc
cess ; his uniform reply was, " Yield, or await your fate
from the edge of the sword."
Reflecting, indeed, upon the political position of the
The papal papacy at this raoraent,^ avc find it surrounded
policy, with difficulty. The Lombard princes,it appears,
language; and when their ex-officio sug- to a lawful mandate.
gestions were accepted and acted upon, i Anastas. Biblioth. in Vit. Steph.
the conduct of the recipient was always III.; Baron. Ann. 752, SS 13^ 14.
construed into an overt act of obedience '^ See c. i. of this Book, pp. '247-249. •

Chap. "VI.] PAPAL POLICY. 879
had completelA- misconceived their relations to the hoh"
see. The latter claimed, with astonishing hardihood, the
entire benefit ofthe Lombard conquests ; while the forraer
naturaUA" conceived themselves entitled to the sovereio-nty
of the territories AAi-ested from their adversaries the By
zantines — the duchA' of Rorae among- the rest — as enemy's
propertA'. The claims ofthe Church as proprietress ofthe
various territories stiU Avithin the lawful dominion of the
emperor, and her habihties as his subject, were so con
founded together, that at this distance of time it is difficult
to discover whether she herseff was sensible of any distinc
tion. All indications tend to the inference that the B3-zan-
tine governors of Rome were in fact dependents upon the
pontiff, whom the weakness of the government had long
since raised to the pohtical chiefship of the city and its
appurtenant territorA'. That territorv the pope dealt with
as his own ; he neootiated and fought for it as his oavu :
he entered into foreig-n aUiances. and treated or tampered
with the subjects ofhis neighbours, for its defence or aug
mentation;' and he claimed everA' inch of ground won
from his OAvn sovereign by his soa ereign's enemies as at
once devoh ing upon fiimseff'in fuU propertA." As it might
serve his turn, he was either the friend or the foe of the
emperor, — he was the adversarA* or the aUv of the em
peror's foes. His spfritual influence was freelv used for
the purposes of this ambidextrous poUcA": and as long as
its proper drift remained undetected, it was successful. It
had overawed the able and gaUant Luitprand ; the feeble
Rachis was its dupe and victim : but the rude soldier Avho
now occupied the throne ofthe Lombards had cast off the
trammels of papal influence ; and the foUed pontiff was
driven bA* the short-sighted Aiolence of his adversarA" to
throw himself Avithout reserve into the arms of a power
whose protectorate might, under ordinarA" cfrcumstances,
have appeared no less dangerous than the open hostihty
ofthe Lombards.
But noAA-,bA' the zeal and actiA-ity of Boniface and the
far-sjo-hted policy of Pope Zacharj-, the relations of the
' Cont c. i. pp. 245. 246 of this Book.
¦ As in the case of Perogia; see ch. i p. 26S of this Book.

880 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Journey toly sCc with the Frankish kingdom had been
stf ^n^iii P^^^^*^ ^P^^ ^ footing which not only left little
toThe^court grouud 'to apprehend any hostUe interference
of Aistulph. .^i^iy the peculiar views ofthe papacy in Italy,
but, on the contrary, opened an unbounded prospect of terri
torial acquisition at home and of spiritual influence abroad.
Yet Pope Stephen III. was not without hope that the
course theretofore pursued might still avail him to avert
the necessity of so critical a step. He therefore prepared
to visit the capital of his enemy, and to repeat the experi
raent which had succeeded so Avell in the hands ofhis pre
decessor Zachary. Before his departure, he strengthened
the hearts ofhis people bj' litanies and pra3'er8 for deliver
ance from the imminent peril which threatened them. He
carried in his arms the " Acheiropoeta," or iraage of the
" Virgin Mother of God" made without hands, in solemn
procession from her shrine to the church of the Praesepe ;
" and," we are told, " the people followed barefooted and
AA'eeping, strewing ashes on their heads, and carrying with
them the broken treaty suspended to the cross of Christ."
He gave notice to the king of the Franks that he in
tended, upon the approach of the Lombards to Rorae, to
seek an asylum within his dominions; but delayed his
departure as long as any hope remained that the storm
might, as on former occasions, pass over Avithout im
mediate injury. But when, in the year 763, he heard that
Aistulph had taken Ravenna, and reduced the Greek ex
archate into his possession, he commended his flock " to
the gracious protection ofthe prince ofthe apostles," and
took the road to Pavia, still hoping to soften the obdurate
heart of the Lombard by a moving appeal to his religion
or his interests. But Aistulph was equally deaf to argu
ment, remonstrance, or censure; and the pope becanie
Flight of seriously alarmed lest he might be detained as
the pope, the prisoner of his impracticable host. In this
state of apprehension, Stephen and his suite suddenly took
horse ; they hastened with all speed to cross the pass of
St. Bernard, and never drew bit until they had reached
the monastery of St. Maurice in the Valais."
¦¦ Anastas, Vit. Steph. Pap. ap. Murat. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. iu. p. 168.

Chap. VI. ] POPE STEPHEN IIL TN FEANCE. 381
That this was a preconcerted movement appears from
the circumstance that two deputies from Pippin,
in the persons ofthe abbot Fulrad of St. Denis tion aTthe
and Duke Rothard, were in readiness to meet °°^^^ °^
and entertain the pontiff upon his entrance into
the Frankish dominions, and to conduct him to the pre
sence of the king, then resident at Pont3^on.° The king's
sons, Carlmann and Charles (Charlemagne), with a large
retinue of lords and prelates, advanced to the distance of
one hundred miles from the residence to welcorae the
pope. When the escort arrived within three miles of the
royal villa, the pontiff found the king with all his court
awaiting his arrival. As soon as he came in sight, the
latter dismounted, and went forward on foot to meet him ;
Pippin and all his suite then prostrated themselves before
him, and in that posture devoutly received his benediction.
After that the king walked for some distance beside the
palfrey of the pope, performing the humble office of bridle-
groom. "Then," sa3^s the biographer Anastasius, "did
the raan of God, with all his company, lift up their voices
with one accord, rendering glory and thanksgiving unto
Almighty God with hymns and spiritual songs, until they
entered the gates of the palace."*"
The moral effect of this extraordinar3'" reception must
o ThemodernPont-sur-Yonne, in the pope, which, the annalists tell us, took
department of that name. place on the following day. Anastasius
P Anastas. ubi sup. The words used says that the negotiation occurred im-
by the reporters and biographers are of mediately upon the arrival of the pope,
some historical importance, especially* and at a/in'wate interview with the king.
with reference to the menial service The annalists affirm that the subject of
said to have been performed to the pope the pope's visit was not entered upon till
by Pippin: " Cui (Stephano) et vice stra- the foUowing day, and that he then ap-
toris usque ad aliquantum locum ejus peared before the king in public, clothed
sellarem properavit ;" literally, " He in sackcloth and with ashes on his head,
walked a certain space beside his (Ste- craving aid against the enemies of God
phen's) palfrey in the place, or capacity, and St. Peter. No hint of these in-
of groom." But the greater Frankish cidents is found in the minor Frankish
annalists, who give the most detailed ac- annalists. Though Anastasius wrote at
counts of the meeting {Annal. Mettens. an earlier period than most of the lat-
an. 753 ; Annal Einhardi; and Chron. ter, it is nevertheless believed that they
Moissiacence, ap. Pertz, tom. i. pp. 331, wrote from much more ancient accounts.
293, 139), are altogether silent as to the But the truth ofthe ^atement of Anas-
alleged prostration and service, nor do tasius is of less importance than the fact
they make any mention of the three- that it met with almost universal belief,
mile procession. On the other hand, and that it has been converted into a
the papal biographer is altogether silent formidable instrument for the promo-
upon the aUeged self-humiUation of the tion of the papal scheme.

882 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Moral and ^^^6 been great at the time. Both parties, ho w-
pouticai ever, may be believed to have acted upon the
effect ofthe iufjpuigg ofthe momeut, without reflecting on
reception. .^J^ . , .ii /-ij.
the construction that might thereafter be put
upon their reciprocal demeanour. But when the pontiff
or his successors reflected on the hind of homage paid by
the most powerful monarch of the age to the vicar of St.
Peter, the advantage to be derived from it lay under the
eye ofthe papacy in too bold relief to be easily overlooked.
As soon as it became (whether truly or falsely) a matter
of universal belief that the great king of the Franks had
fallen down and worshipped — that he had performed the
raenial office of groom to the successor of St. Peter, no
doubt could, in that age of simple faith or credulity, be
entertained of the transcendental dignity and authority
of him to whom such honour was rendered. It raay be
adraitted that the story of the papal biographer is open
to suspicion ; yet it soon became a matter of perspicuous
belief, confirmed and strengthened by the whole course of
subsequent events.
The substance and subjects ofthe ensuing negotiation
J, between Pippin and the pontiff is involved in
and treaty ' somc obscurity ; the forra is ostentatiously de-
of Pontyon. ggpibed by the papal biographer. On the day
after his arrival at Pontyon, we are told, the pope and his
corapanions appeared before the king clothed in sackcloth
and with ashes upon their heads. The pontiff prostrated
himself upon the earth before the temporal prince, and ad
jured him, by the raerc3r of Alraighty God and the merits
of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, to hasten to the
rescue of the church and people of Rome. In this hum
ble posture the pastor of the Christian Church obstinately
persisted, until the king and his two sons had pledged
hand and oath to the fulfilment of the papal petition : the
suppliant then assumed the joyous and erect posture of
one who had been suddenly raised frora a state of bond
age to liberty and life. Pippin, his sons, his court, and
his nobles, swore to cause araple satisfaction to be ren
dered to the pope and the Church ; they engaged to re
duce the Lorabards to subraission, and to insist upon the

Chap. VL] COEONATION OF PIPPIN AND HIS SONS. 383
araplest restitution of all the "rights and possessions" ofthe
" republic" in Italy .'' The terms of this treaty, if it may
be so called, are so large and indefinite that it is difficult
to say whether any definite understanding was at this
time con?e to between the contracting .parties. Whatever
that understanding was, the purport of the treaty was
soon afterwards confirraed at a full asserably of T^¦ . r
J.1 n ^ 1111-ji n Diet of
the estates of the realra, held m the presence ot Quiercy-
the pope at Quiercy-sur-Oise." The practical ^'^''-O'^e.
exposition must be gathered from subsequent events.
During the winter of the year 753 to 754, Pope
Stephen resided in the monastery of St. Denis coronation
near Paris, and was there frequently visited by °f Pjppin
Pippin and his two sons. Within that period ^^onsV/"
he was reduced to the verge of the grave by a Stephen iil
severe malady ; but was, we are told, by the intercession
of holy Dion3rsius, the patron saint of the monaster^',
suddenly and miraculously restored to perfect health.
In testiraony of his gratitude for this gracious interposi
tion, Stephen announced his intention to consecrate an
altar in the abbe3' church in honour of the apostles Peter
and Paul. The cereraony was perforraed in the presence
of the king and queen, the two princes, and a nuraerous
assemblage of ecclesiastics and persons of all ranks. In
the midst ofthe serAdce, the pope, as if impelled by some
sudden inspiration, broke off, and proclaimed Pippin and
his consort Bertrada king and queen of the Franks.
He bestowed the like grace upon the two princes Carl
raann and Charles (Charlemagne) ; and after a solemn
blessing upon the whole congregation, he addressed the
nobles and dignitaries present, " binding thera by the
authority^ of St. Peter, by God hiraself delegated and
intrusted to hira, that, for all ages to come, they should
1 Annal. Moissiac. ap. Pertz, tom. i. the emperor in Italy. But as the pope
p. 293 ; Annal. Mettens. ibid. p. 331 ; certainly never intended that any part
Anastasius, ubi sup. The words used of those territories should be restored
by the latter are the following: "Pei- to the heretical emperor, it is most pro-
publicce jura seu loca reddere modis om- bable that the term "respuhlica" merely
nibus." The word "respuhlica" is am- had reference to the so-called duchy of
biguous. It is generally used to denote Eome and the districts claimed as the
the whole state or empire; and the pro- special patrimony of the Church.
mise might in this sense be made to ' Anast. ap. Murat. tom. iii. pt. i. p.
extend to every thing stUl possessed by 1 69. The place is named Carisiacum.

384 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
not presume to choose them a king from any other race
or family but that which had now been elected and set
apart by Divine Providence/or tke protection ofthe most
koly and apostolic see ; and by him, tke vicar of St. Peter,
yea, even by our Lord Jesus Ckrist himself, by that most
holy unction raised up and consecrated unto the royal
dignity."' The pope thereupon pronounced a solemn
sentence of excommunication and anathema upon any
transgression of the precept which annexed that sove
reignty exclusively and for ever to the family and pos
terity of Pippin.'
It is of no great historical importance to ascertain
Papal view whether this act of consecration was sponta-
ofthis neous or premeditated on either side. Yet
transaction. j.}jgj.g weve rcasous why it should have been
desirable both to Pippin and the pope. The former must
have been anxious to strengthen his title, and to save
harmless the principle of hereditary succession, so se
riously shaken b3r the detrusion of the Merovingians : a
scion of that family might still be forthcoming to put in
an appeal to the ancient attachment of the people ; a dis
position which, it may have been thought, so solemn an
act of appropriation by the suprerae pastor ofthe Church
might extinguish, and the reigning d3'nasty be invested
with a sanctity not enjoyed by that it had supplanted.
On the other hand, the pontiff, to whom so lofty a func
tion was tacitly assigned, could not but rejoice at the
opportunity of exercising a power little less than divine.
And, in truth, we are not long left in the dark as to the
view taken by the pope himself of this celebrated transac
tion. " You have received," he says, in a letter written
shortly afterwards to Pippin and his sons, "that which
none of your ancestors- or kindred have been deemed
worthy to receive ; inasrauch as the prince of the apostles
has chosen 3'ou araong all farailies and nations to be his
own peculiar servants, "" and hath committed all his causes
unto 3'our hands : and sureh' you shall render unto God
»Baron.(ex Areopagiticis) Ann. 754, " "PecuUares;" a term used in the
p. 590. ninth century in the sense oi property,
' Clausula de Pipp. in Franc. Reg. whether applied to persons or things.
Consec. ap. D. Bouquet, tom. v. p. 9. Ducange, Gloss, ad voc. " Peculiaris."

Chap. VL] PIPPIN INVADES LOMBAEDY. 385
a strict account of tke manner in which you skall kave
advocated the rights of tke doorkeeper of tke kingdom of
heaven."" The sequel proves how well Stephen had succeeded
in impressing- Pippin with the nature and ex- pippin in
tent of the obligations thus cast upon him. vadesLom-
The first and most important of these lay in
the tacit stipulation that he (Pippin) was to reap no
benefit, personal or political, from the labour and expense
he was called upon to incur. The entire profit was to
result to the "respuhlica," or to the holy see, in such
manner as the pontiff should thereafter determine. Yet
the king, with the utraost proraptitude, despatched raes-
sengers to the court of Aistulph, demanding the amplest
satisfaction to the pontiff and church of Rome for all the
injuries and losses he had inflicted upon thera. To this
deraand Aistulph returned a defiant refusal ; and in the
spring of the year 754 Pippin crossed the Alps with an
array, to which the Lorabards could oppose no effectual
resistance in the field. But the consideration that he
was fighting for a cause foreign frora his own or his
people's interests probably inclined him to a raoderate
course, and he once raore tried the effect of negotiation.
His envoys deraanded the restitution of the Pentapolis,
or five cities of the ancient Picenura, besides the towns
of Narni and Cecanura in Umbria, to the church and
" republic" of Rome ; for which restitution he offered an
indemnity of 12,000 solidi. It is reraarkable that all
these places and districts had been very recently severed
frora the Greek exarchate, — districts, in fact, to which
Aistulph possessed the clearest title which the right of
conquest can giA'e, and which could be reclairaed by Rome,
whether republic or church, only as the subject of the
Byzantine Caesars. But the difficulties that might have
arisen from this state of things concerned rather the pope
than the king ofthe Franks ; the most important consider
ation in his case being- how to get rid of a burdensome
'' Steph. Pap. Ep. ad Pipp. &c. ap. metaphor which so greatly alarmed King
D. Bouq. tom. V. : " Pro 'justitia' ipsius Oswy of Northumbria. See c. iii. of this
janitoris regni coelorum." ItwiU be re- Book, p. 319.
membered that this was the formidable
VOL. II. C C

386 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
obligation at the least expense to himself and his people.
But the very moderation of the terms proposed contri
buted probably to weaken their chance of acceptance.
Aistulph peremptorily rejected the king's ultimatum ; de
claring that he would yield to the pope no greater boon
than his permission to return to Rome whenever such
should be his pleasure. Pippin now pushed on to Pavia,
where Aistulph had resolved to make his stand till the
advance of the season, the effects of the climate, and the
activity of his own operations on the flanks and rear of
the invaders, should corapel them to retreat. But the
Frankish king pushed the siege with so much vigour and
success that the heart of the Lombard failed him ; and he
. . consented to the required restitutions, with the
of Aistulph, additional mortification of paying the expenses
Tf'pavfa^ of the war, besides an annual tribute of 5000
solidi, in token of vassalage to the Frankish
crown. The treaty was ratified by the oath of the Lom
bard king and his nobility ; and forty hostages from the
most distinguished families in the kingdom were given
up as pledges for its fulfilment. Pippin formally trans
ferred the ceded districts to the pope; and when he
evacuated Ital3^, left his chancellor, Fulrad abbot of St.
Denis, behind hira to enforce the folfilment ofthe treat}^''
Though we are told that a Greek envoy accompanied
, , the pope to the court of Pippin, no further
tion of the mention ot that personage occurs m the course
papacy to pf the transactions at Pontyon and Quiercy.
e empire, jv^g-^j^gj. J^j ^Jjg aCCOUUts WC pOSSCSS of tho'sc
negotiations, nor in the terras ofthe treaty of Pavia, — as
far as our inforraation extends, — is any notice taken of
the Greek emperor or his rights. The only parties Avho
appear to have any interest in the result are, on the one
side the pope and the Romans, and on the other the Lom
bards : the only names mentioned are those of Pippin and
the Franks, the pope and the Romans, Aistulph and the
Lombards. The objects specified in the treaties are, "jus
tice to St. Peter," and " restitution of the rights of the
Roman republic." The bearing of these facts upon the
'^Anastas. ubi sup. pp. 169,1 70; Annali. Mettens. et Moissiac. ap. Pertz,loc. cit.

Chap. VL] TEEATY OF PAVIA. 887
irreconcUable theological quarrel which divided the Greek
and Latin churches — to which Ave shall hereafter have
occasion to refer raore particularly — leaves no doubt that
religious alienation, political isolation, and the desire of
territorial aggrandisement, had obliterated from the minds
of the Roman pontiffs all meraory or sense of allegiance
to their Byzantine masters, and awakened the raost san
guine hopes of profiting by their weakness, and sharing
their spoils.
Pope Stephen would fain have persuaded Pippin to
tarry in Italy until he should have been put Retreat of
into actual possession of the ceded territories. Bippin.
But Pippin was of opinion that he had done enough to
redeem his costly engagements to the pope, and satisfied
hiraself by deputing to others the execution of the treaty
he had extorted. The pope was left in the enjoyraent of
a raagnificent " donation" on paper, but destitute of the
means to put hiraself into possession of an acre of the
promised land. In submitting to the mortifying terras of
the treaty of Pavia, Aistulph had no other object than to
get rid of the invaders, and to gain tirae. No sooner,
therefore, was the Frankish heriban dismissed for the,
season, than Aistulph collected his scattered divisioris,
and resumed his attacks upon the territories of the Church.
The pope, incensed as much at the iraputed tergiversation
of Pippin as at the perfidy of the Lorabard,^ very erapha
tically reminded his Frankish protectors that Stephen
they would not be permitted thus to trifle with "li^^^ **'
the terras ofa treaty to which the holy see was ofthe
a party. " We pray 3''ou," he writes, " most *''®**y-
excellent sons in the Lord, to take compassion upon the
holy church of God and St. Peter, and to put her in pos
session of all that by 3^our donation 3^ou are firraly tied
and bound to render unto her. Remeraber, and in your
heart's core hold fast by, the promises you have made
unto the keeper ofthe gates ofthe kingdom of heaven.
Think not that you will be perraitted to keep your pro-
raise by raere words ; hasten rather to expedite the deli
very of your donation, that 3^ou may not mourn 3'our re
missness to all eternity. For the life of this Avorld is short

388 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
indeed; like a shadow it becometh shorter, and like a
garraent it waxeth old. Rather, therefore, lay hold of
that eternal Ufe which the blessed Peter holds out to
you, in his cause and that of righteousness. Accomplish,
therefore, the good work you have begun ; for know that
the prince ofthe apostles holds your chirograph as firmly
as he holds the donations therein set forth. And surely
ye shall fulfil it, lest, when the great Judge shall eorae
to judge the living and the dead, and to chastise the
world with fire, the same prince ofthe apostles shall draw
forth 3^our broken covenant in jjidgment against 3^ou.
We therefore adjure 3^ou, by Almighty God, by His
mother the ever-glorious Virgin, by the blessed princes
ofthe apostles Peter and Paul, and by the tremendous
day of judgment, that 3'ou cause to be delivered up all
towns, places and districts, hostages and captives unto
St. Peter, and all that to 3'our donation belongs ; because
for that purpose it was that tke Lord, by -my kumility
and the mediation ofthe blessed Peter, anointed you to be
kings, that through you the Church might be exalted, and
the prince of the apostles receive his righteous due.""
It should be observed, that the ceded districts, though
but indistinctly marked out by the annalists,
of'ihe ^'^ must have comprised by far the largest portion
donation pf ^hat remained of the late exarchate of Ra-
ippin. .^gj^j^g^^ rjij^g p^pg therefore, by this treaty, with
out shame or hesitation, annexed to his church in full
property a territory belonging dejure (at least as far as he
was concerned) to his acknowledged sovereign. That ter
ritory he accepted in the absolute form ofa "donation," or
free gift, from a stranger, whom he himself had bribed
or hfred, without provocation or pretext, to rob both his
raaster and his raaster's eneray for his own exclusive
profit. Pippin acquired none ofthe rights ofthe sove
reigns he had plundered, whUe he adopted raore than all
the obUgations the pontiff could have caUed upon the
latter to fulfil. The pope contracted no teraporal duty
in return: he was, indeed, quite AvilUng that his debt
should be reg-istered in heaven ; but the payment was to
'- Ep. Steph. Pap. ap. D. Bouq. tom. v. p. 488.

Cuap. VL] OBJECTS OF THE TEEATY OF PAVIA. 389
be sought there likewise. The debt of the church-tem
poral was adroitly transferred to the account ofthe church-
spiritual ; a state of reciprocity in which the policy of the
church of Rome contrived for centuries to retain her spi
ritual subjects.
But Constantine V. (Copronymus) was reputed a
heretic of the blackest die, therefore entitled to its scope
no religious or political sympathy. As a pro- ^"<i intent.
tector he was impotent ; as a friend not to be trusted :
his sovereignty was merely titular, his power evanescent.
Such a position, in such an age, removed every considera
tion of lo3^alty or allegiance far out of sight; and Stephen
felt no more serious scruple in appropriating the plunder
ofhis ostensible sovereig-n than in wresting it. frora the
grasp of the " perfidious" Lorabards. Again, it should
not be overlooked that the interposition of the terra " res
puhlica" in the articles of treaty was siraply colourable.
The donation was taken, not to Rorae as a state or body
politic, but to the " blessed Peter, prince of the apostles,"
and to his church ; it was a bond payable to the " door
keeper of the kingdora of heaven," and its redemption
was the price of admission to his realra above. The pon
tiff moreover desired it to be understood, that it was with
the sole vicAV to insure such payment that Pippin and his
sons had been anointed kings ; so that " through them the
Church might be exalted, and the prince of the apostles
receive his righteous due." After this, we can entertain
no doubt that the pope required the annexation of all
these extensive territories in full sovereignty to the " pa
trimony of St. Peter ;" and that the treaties of Pontyon,
of Quiercy, and Pavia, entitled hira to deraand frora both
parties, not only a full recognition of right, but also the
corporeal possession of all towns, places, and districts
comprised in the donation, together with all hostages,
captives, and other securities for the full delivery and
quiet enjo3'raent of the same.
But the trials of Stephen III. were not yet at an end.
In the Avinter ofthe year 754 to 755, Aistulph Aistulph
suddenly appeared with overwhelming forces ^f^^jl,'°^^4f
before the gates of Rorae, and invested the city mony."

390 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV-
on aU sides. His wild hordes spared neither churches
Siege of nor shrines. The contagion of iconoclasm
Eome. liad infected his troops, and contributed to the
wanton destruction of sacred objects : they broke into
and plundered the churches ; they threw the consecrated
elements which they found upon the altars into their
cauldrons, and mixed them in thefr. messes ; they spitted
the sacred images on thefr swords, and flung them off into
the blazing temples. The suburbs of Rome, and ever3^
house, hovel, or building that impeded the operations of
the besiegers, were leveUed with the earth. For a period
of two months the Romans defended themselves with des
perate valour. Their proposals for peace were repelled
with scorn and menace. Aistulph could be brought to no
more favourable terms than iraraediate and unconditional
surrender, and the delivery of the pontiff into his hands :
if these terms were complied with, he promised the citi
zens to spare their Uves ; if refused, he swore to put to
the sword man, woman, and child, and to raze the cit3r
to the ground.^
But for sorae time previously to the commencement
Pippin raises ^^ *^^ sicgc, Pope Stephen had foreseen, and,
the siege to the bcst of his abihty, provided against the
of Eome. ^g^^ygQ^. Duc preparations were made to sup
port and encourage the citizens ; and raessengers AAere
despatched to France with pressing supplications for re
lief from the irapending peril. The siege-operations be
fore Rorae, it appears, began in the month of January ;
and before the first day of March 765 King Pippin was
encamped in the plains of Lorabardy, threatening the Lora
bard capital with iraraediate danger. Aistulph Avas com
pelled to withdraw from Rorae at the very raoraent when
the citizens were reduced to the extreraity of distress,
and hasten by forced marches to reheve Pavia. But,
sensible that he was overmatched in the field, and Avith
the knowledge that the views of Pippin did not extend
beyond the deliverance of Rome, and the surrender ofhis
conquests to the pope, with an indemnity for the ex-
y 4nastas.Yit. Steph.m.ap. Murat. Bouq. tom. v. p. 490; Fredig. Chron.
tom. Ui. p. 173; Ep. Steph. IIL ap. D. Contin. ibid. p. 3.

Chap. VL] THE DONATION OF PIPPIN. 391
penses of the war, he humbly proposed that the terms of
peace should be determined by the arbitrament ofthe great
nobihty and clergy of the Frankish host. This offer was
accepted : the arbitrators were appointed ; and second treaty
the award directed that Aistulph should pay to °^ ^a™-
Pippin one-third ofthe treasure ofhis kingdom for the
costs of the war, with gratuities to the principal officers ;
that he should thenceforward punctually discharge the
trifling- tribute stipulated by the prior treaty ; that he
should deliver to the pope all the lands, cities, and dis
tricts therein comprehended ; and again make oath and
give hostages for the perforraance of these obligations.^
These terms were accepted by Aistulph ; and this time
better care was taken to secure their fulfilment.
Fulrad abbot of St. Denis, as coraraissioner of and exeeu-
Pippin, received the surrender of Ravenna and ..*^^°[i*^.,
the Pentapolis. The king then caused a forraal
deed of donation to be drawn up, whereby he made over
" to the apostle Peter and tke koly Boman ckurck all the
cities, towns, territories, and jurisdictions therein naraed,
to be held and enjo3'ed by the pontiffs of the apostolic
see for ever."" Fulrad, after taking formal possession in
the name of the pope, proceeded to Rome, and dutifully
presented the deed to the holy father, with the keys of
the ceded cities and the hostag-es taken from the citizens
for thefr future fidelity.
The accidental death of Aistulph by a fall Death of
from his horse in the chase (a.d. 756) opened ^^'"i^^^^'.
a new field to the enterprising genius of the tion of
pope. The duke Desiderius of Tuscany and i^^sidenus.
the retfred king Rachis becarae rival candidates for the
vacant throne. The forraer, however, got the start of
his opponent, and secured the favour of Stephen. Ful
rad, accorapanied by Paul, the brother of the pontiff, re-
2 Anastas. Vit. Steph. III. loc. cit. p. glia, Eso, Forlimpopoli, ForU, Susub-
173; Fredig. nhi sup. ^. 4. bio, Monferrata, Commachio, Urbino,
a Anastas. in Vit. Steph. III. loc. eit. Narni, and several places whose names
p. 171, says that the deed of donation have vanished from our modern maps;
was extant in the archives ofthe holy such as Acerragio, Monte Lucari, Serra,
see in his own times. The ceded terri- Castellum St. Mariani, Bobrl, Callio,
tory consisted of the cities of Eavenna, and Luculo.
Eimini, Pesaro, Fano, Cesena, Senniga-

392 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
paired to the camp of Desiderius, and obtained from him
a deed of gift in favour of the holy see, comprehending
the cities and territories of Ferrara, Castrum Tiberiacum,
and Faenza. Fulrad after this joined the forces of Desi
derius with a body of Frankish troops left at his disposal
in Italy; the pope ordered Rachis back to his convent,
and his rival was acknowledged king of the Lorabards
without further opposition.''
But Stephen could not rest satisfied with his position
Extortion of in Italy until the last fragment ofthe Greek
Stephen, possessions was delivered into his hands. Soon
after the accession of Desiderius, he obtained from him a
verbal cession of the cities of Bologna, Osimo, and An
cona ; and endeavoured to prevail upon Pippin, as advo
cate of the Church, to becorae bound for the fulfilment of
this promise. He urged the king " to cause a quick end
to be made to the cause of his great patron St. Peter ;
and with that view, to command all tke otker cities which
were formerly comprised under one dominion,^ A^ith all
their territories, forests and dependencies, in integro, to
be given up to his spiritual mother the Church, that she
might live in perfect peace and happiness ; for that the
people of the Church could not move freety beyond their
own frontier without the possession of those cities, which
had always been connected with them under one govern
ment."'^ How far he was successful in his atterapts to
interest the Frankish prince in his arabitious scheraes,
does not appear; but Desiderius aftervi-ards declined to
perform his engageraent, upon grounds with which the
Treachery of conduct of Stephen hiuisclf Supplied hira. It
Stephen III. appeared, naraely, that while the pope was ex
acting frora Desiderius new conditions as the price ofhis
support, he was at the sarae tirae busy in effecting the
disraeraberment ofhis kingdom. He had not only drawn
the great Lombard duchies of Beneventum and Spoletum
into the closest intimacy with the holy see, but had encour-
•> Anastas. ubi sup. the king that to his certain knowledge
= The whole exarchate of Eavenna, the late king Aistulph was now in hell,
as lately held by the Greeks. he gives the particulars of the further
¦• Ep. Steph. Pap. HI. ap. D. Bouq. cessions extorted from Desiderius.
tom. V. p. 499. After duly informing

Chap. VL] DESIDEEIUS. 893
aged them to renounce their dependence upon the crown
of Lombardy." Alarmed and irritated by such dupUcity
and treachery, Desiderius hastened to reduce the revolted
dukes to obedience. While engaged in these operations,
the active and arabitious Stephen passed from the scene ;
and was succeeded by his brother, the deacon
Paul. Desiderius had marched his armies ^^ ' ^°^^'
through the districts lately ceded to the pope, for the
purpose of quelUng the rebellion of his Beneventine and
Spoletan subjects. Paul complained of this to his com-
Pippin, as an invasion of the territory of the pi^int.
Church.'^ With unparalleled effronter3r, he inforraed the
king of the Franks that the people of the duchies had
thrown theraselves upon the protection of the Frankish
monarchy ; but that uoav Desiderius, to the great con
tempt and disparagement ofhis (Pippin's) royal dignity,
had dared to waste the toAvns and villages of his clients
with fire and sav ord ; that he had taken prisoner Albinus
duke of Spoletum, who kad but a short time before sworn
allegiance to St. Peter and to Pippin, with several ofhis
nobles, and after severely Avounding and ill-treating them,
now detained them in chains.^
But an offence of greater magnitude remained behind.
The king- of the Lombards, said Pope Paul in charges
his letter of complaint to Pippin, had entered Desiderius
into a treasonable negotiation with the recreant 7aey against
Byzantines; and was at that moraent engaged the holy see.
in concerting with the emissaries of the emperor an at
tack upon the cit3' of Ravenna both by sea and land.
The intelligence, hoAvever, does not appear to have pro
duced the desired effect : Desiderius stiU delayed the sur
render of Bologna., Ancona, Osimo, and Imola ; and the
pope continued to pour his importunities into the ear of
» " The people of Spoletum," says him as the price of his friendship and
Stephen, in the letter last quoted, " have support.
taken to themselves a duke from the hand • A glance at the map wUl show that
ofthe blessed Peter ; and so likewise the the cessions in question almost barred
ienewcKfa'ne* have through us commend- the access of the central government
ed themselves to your favour." It ad- to the dependent duchies of the south.
mits, therefore, of no doubt, that the The treaty could not have contemplated
pope had tampered with the loyalty of such an isolation.
the subjects of Desiderius, at the very ^ Ep. Paul. Pap. I. ap. D. Bouq. tom.
time he was extorting cessions from v. pp. 503, 504.

394 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Pippin. He spared neither flatteries nor threats to pre
vail upon the king once more to stretch forth his arm to
enforce the demands of the holy see.*" His alarm as
suraed a raore lively character as soon as it was found
that the B3^zantines had b3r every raeans of active in
trigue, but raore particularly b3' disseminating the dan
gerous principles of iconoclasm, endeavoured to disturb
the Church in her Ravennatine dependencies. The de
monstrations of a maritime invasion were continued ; and
it suited the papal policy, whether truly or falsely, to
represent every movement of Desiderius as evidence of a
criminal compact with the spiritual enemy ofthe Church,
and of the protecting power whose interests the pontiff
on all occasions identified with those of his see and the
success of his political schemes.
Throughout these latter transactions the zeal of Pip
pin does not appear to have burnt very brightly.
At length, however, the persevering importu
nities of Pope Paul produced sorae fruits. In the year
760 Pippin sent Remidius archbishop of Rouen and
duke Autchar to the court of Desiderius, to corapel him
to g-ive satisfaction tethe pope — to what extent Ave are
uninformed.' Envoys or representatives of the Prank
ish king took up their permanent residence in Italy, and
became the medium of communication between the holy
see and the Lombards. With this state of things the
pope appeared to be for the present satisfied .^
>> Ep. Paul. Pap. I. ep. iv. ap. D. Bouq. p. 522.
ubi sup. p. 504. j Ep. Paul. Pap. I. epp. vui. xxiv.
' Ep. Paul. Pap. I. ad Pipp. loc. cit. xxv. xxvi. ubi sup. pp. 509 et sqq.

CHAPTER VII.
APPEOACHES OF THE PAPACY TO TEMPOEAL
SOVEEEIGNTY. (II.)
Progress of Eome in the eighth century — State of law and legislation — Accession
of Charlemagne — Project of Queen Bertrada — Disorders in Eome — Constan
tine and Philip, popes — Stephen IV. pope — Ferocity of faction — Stephen IV.
against Desiderius aud the Lombards — Eemonstrance of the pope against the
project of Bertrada — Menaces of the pope — Divorce of Charlemagne and Ir
mengarda — Pope Stephen's decree to regulate the papal elections — Disorders
in Eome — The Lombard faction — Paul Afiarta — Humiliation and death of
Stephen IV. — Hadrian I. pope — Suppression of sedition — Desiderius inVades
the " patrimony" — Flight of Gerberga, widow of Carlmann — Desiderius and
Gerberga — He espouses her cause — His advance to Eome — Sudden retreat —
Charlemagne invades Lombardy — Winter campaign in Italy — Foreign policy
of the papacy — Approaches of the papacy to political sovereignty — Siege of
Pavia — First expedition of Charlemagne to Eome — Charlemagne at Eome —
ratifies the treaties of Pontyon and Quiercy— The donation of Charlemagne —
obtained by misrepresentation or fraud — Execution of the deed of donation —
Charlemagne " patrician" — Surrender and deposition of Desiderius — Charle
magne king of Italy — Gains of the papacy — Position of the papacy in respect
of the lands granted — Actual result.
The donation of Pippin the Short forras an epoch in the
history of the advancement of the papacy to „
temporal sovereig-nty. But Rome had not yet the papacy
formally renounced her dependence upon Con- ™ ^^^ ^^^^^^
stantinople. It is even probable that a Byzan
tine governor still resided there; and it is known that
the pontiffs continued for some time longer to date their
public acts by the current year of the Byzantine Caesars.^
The senate and people of Rome retain a narae and place
in history ; nor have we reason to believe that they had
as yet publicly or officially recognised any constitutional
power or autliorit3' in their bisliop distinct from his spi
ritual functions. But it has been rightly observed," that
« Art de v6r. les Dates, tom. i. p. 259 ; xliu. p. 409.
and conf. Fleury, H. E. tom. ix. liv. •> Fleury, ubi sup. p. 408.

396 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
Pope PaulL, after the example ofhis predecessor Stephen,
had systeraatically confounded his teraporal with his spiri
tual faculties. We raay add, that in every docuraent of
this and the preceding pontificate the republic and the
papacy are in such wise identified with each other, as to
appear to form one body-corporate, having no distinct
existence or interests. And this was the medium through
which it was most important to the advanceraent of the
pontificate that the world at large should view the rela
tion in question. The originally voluntary and sponta
neous chieftainship ofthe popes was to be made to assume
a definite constitutional form ; not so rauch by express
claim or enactraent, as b3' gradually acquired habits of
subraission at horae and general estiraation abroad. No
course could be better adapted for the purpose than that
pursued by the pontiffs of Rome. Though possessed of
no defined prerogative within the cit3' or its appendant
territory, the wealth and revenue ofthe State was for the
most part at their disposal ; they belonged, indeed, neither
to the senate nor the people, but their spiritual character
raised them to an erainence iraraeasurably above both.
Such advantag-es, under proper raanagement, could not
fail to facilitate a de-facto concentration of political power
in their hands, ampl3^ compensating by its own indefinite
and illimitable character the absence of a formal legis
lative prerogative. Abroad the state or republic of Rome
was known only through the pope ; ever3^ recorded trans
action with foreign states, Constantinople itself not ex
cepted, passed through his hands, or those of his accre
dited agents : embassies, correspondence, negotiations,
emanated from hira ; all reports were raade to him — ap
parently to him alone ; treaties Avith foreign powers were
concluded in his name ; hostages and securities were deli
vered to and held by him : nor is there in all these trans
actions any appearance of participation on the part of
the Roman republic, at all distinguishable, religiously or
politically, from that of the Roman pontiff.
State of ^^ ^® *^"^ *^^^ ^"^^^^ ^^^^ anoraalies in this
law and statc of thiugs that could not but be obstruc-
legisiation. .^-^^ ^^ regular governraent at home. But in

Chap. VIL] ACCESSION OF CHAELEMAGNE. 397
an age in which habit and custom for the most part sup
plied the place of law, the papacy was in no worse po
sition than that of the races with which it was brought
into contact. In this respect Italy differed little from
the rest of Europe. Systematic legislation was irrecon
cilable with the barbaric character of subsisting govern
ments ; and the popes of Rorae were as little able to
escape the perils and disorders incident to such a state of
things, as the kings of the Franks or the Anglo-Saxon
royalets of Britain. The progress of civilisation alone
can consolidate the diversity of custora and usage into law.
The pontifical government at home stood upon nq better
foundation than that upon which the conteraporary
princes of the world had to rely for the obedience of their
subjects ; yet it is reraarkable, that this defect in its out
ward position was never absent from the mind of the
papacy ; and we think we cannot err in imputing to this
cause the unceasing efforts in all its relations to give an
authoritative pre-eminence to its own positive system of
canon-law. We must hereafter recur to this subject, in
connection with the progressive consolidation ofthe papal
power. At present we revert to those political events
Avhich imparted to pontifical Rome a standing araong the
" kingdoras of this world," and which enabled her to avail
herself of her spiritual resources with increased vigour and
effect. Pippin, surnamed " the Short," first king of France
of the dynasty called after the name ofhis more Accession
celebrated son, died in the year 768. Before ofcharie-
his death, he divided the government between ™*sie.
his sons Charles, — generally knoAvn by the name of
"Charlemagne,"'— and Carlmann. At the moraent of
their accession, a transient feeling- of jealousy and aliena
tion between the brothers was assuaged by the inter
ference of their raother Bertrada, to whora both ppnces
were sincerely attached. Before the death of Pippin,
<: I regret to be obliged hy French him " Carolus Magnus," and the Ger-
custom to use this awkward appeUation. mans " pharles the Great"—" Karl der
The original histori»iis always name grosse."

398 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
Tassilo duke of Bavaria had incurred the penalties of
herelitz, or treason, by deserting the standard ofhis uncle
and liege lord.'' The offence could not be overlooked;
and Bertrada, apprehensive of a sanguinary rupture
between her sons and their refractory cousin, devised a
Project of scheme by which she hoped to effect a recon-
Bertrada. cUiatiou, aud to cousolidate the peace by a
closer family union. The duke of Bavaria had raarried
a daughter of Desiderius, the king ofthe Lorabards. The
duchess had a sister named Irmengarda ; Bertrada nego
tiated a marriage between the latter and her elder son
Charles, with a view, through the influence of the sisters,
to preserve the peace between their husbands.^ But
events which had in the mean time occurred at Rome
overclouded the prospects of the benevolent queen, and
so exasperated the fears of the pontiff as to stamp every
connection with his Lombard enemy with the brand of
treason to the cause of rehgion and the Church.
After the death of Paul I., in the month of June 767,
Disorders Toto, lord or duke of Nepi, a town and district
in Eome. not far distant from the city, had procured
anTphiUp^ *^^ elevation of his brother Constantine, then a
popes. Ia3'man, to the pontifical throne, by the aid of
a party among the populace of Rome. Christopher and
Sergius, two priests ofthe adverse faction, resorted to king
Desiderius to expel the intruder ; and by his influence or
directions the Lorabard duke of Spoletum furnished them
with a militai-A^ force to restore order in the city. Duke
Toto Avas killed in an attempt to expel the Lombards :
Constantine vvas deposed and thrown into prison ; and
the Lombards thought this a favourable opportunity to
set up a pope of their own. For that purpose, they
forcibly drew forth from his cell a humble recluse named
Philip, conducted hira to the Lateran, and installed him
in the pontifical chair. But Christopher and Sergius
¦¦ Einhart, Annales, ann. 757; Annal. rissiac. ad eund. ann. ap. Pertz, tom. i.
Laurissiac. ad eund. ann. Conf. the pp. 148, 149; Ann. Fuld. ibid. p. 348;
oath of vassalage under the Frankish Chron. Moissiac. ibid. p. 295. Conf!
princes, ap. Marculf. Formulae, ap. Can- Baron. Ann. 770, cum not. Paqi no iii
cmn/, Barb. Leg. Ant. tom. ii. p. 201. p. 61. •:/>•¦
' Ann. Einliart,ann.'J10; Ann. Lau-

Chap. "VIL] STEPHEN IV. FACTION IN EOME. 399
now protested as loudly against the elevation of Philip
as they had before claraoured against that of Constan
tine. The Lombard duke found himself unable to raain
tain his ground against the insurgent populace ; and the
involuntary intruder PhUip Avas permitted to retire to
his cell. The presbytery then went through the form of
a valid election ; and, after a reputed vacancy of a year
and a month, raised Stephen, cardinal-priest of StCsecilia,
to the pontifical throne by the name of Stephen IV.
The victorious faction glutted their veng-eance upon
the supporters of Constantine, as well as upon Stephen iv.
their own treacherous allies, with impartial fe- pope-
rocity. The guiltless intruder Philip was drag- Ferocity of
ged from his retreat and brutally murdered by the victorious
the populace. Constantine hiraself, his brother
Passivus, and other friends, were deprived of sig-ht, and
suffered the raost barbarous indignities. The new pope
raade no movement to check these enormities ; and not
many da3^s after his election summoned a holy synod in
the church of the Lateran, to add further punishment
and disgrace to the personal injuries already inflicted
upon Constantine and his followers. The blind man was
ignominiously dragged before this assembly of Christian
fathers, and fiercely interrogated touching the daring
irapiety he had committed. The miserable man humbly
confessed his error; but ventured to insinuate that his
elevation to the episcopal dignity frora the condition of a
layman was not unprecedented, and imprudently called to
mind several cases of a like elevation to the pontificate
in justification of that part of his own conduct. " But,"
says the papal biographer, " while he was babbling on in
this fashion, the zeal ofthe holy bishops for the sacred
traditions ofthe fathers was suddenly kindled; they rose
with one consent from their seats, and with many kicks
and buffets cast him out of the church. All his acts
were burnt, his ordinations cancelled ; and now all those
who had supported or communicated with him cast them
selves upon the ground, crying loudly for mercy."'
These atrocities Avere no doubt in a great degree
' Anastas. Vit. Steph. IV. ap. Murat. tom. iii. p. 177.

400 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
Pope stephencaused by the fever of alarm into which the
DSerius '^^^i'^g' attempt of the Lombards upon the pon-
and the tifical throue had cast the new pope and his
Lombards, fj-jends. They Avere aware that there stUl ex
isted in Rome a party favourable to the Lombard con
nection, and holding communication with Desiderius.
And now, in addition to forraer causes of fear and ani
raosity, carae the news of Queen Bertrada's scherae for
drawing closer the bonds of araity between the sworn
protectors and the mortal foe of the 11013^ see. The news
of a union between Charles of France and a daughter of
Desiderius sounded in the ear of Pope Stephen as the
death-knell of the darling- scheme of temporal aggran
disement which his three predecessors had pursued with
such sleepless vigUance and activity. The church of Rome,
her rights, her possessions, her patronage, forraed in his
raind, as it had in theirs, one sacred and inseparable trust
— one undivided and indivisible representation of the di
vine majesty upon earth ; to the raaintenance of which
King Charles, as their advocate and protector, was no
less irrevocably pledged than he Avas to that of the di
vine unity itself. As the Lord had said before him, so
now his express image and representative, the pope,
declared of hiraself : " He that is not Avith me is against
me ; he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."
With all the energy of grief and indignation Stephen
addressed the king- ; treating the bare idea of an alhance
between the phghted defender of holy Church and her
relentless persecutor as an outrage too flag-rant, a con
tempt of his engageraents too flagitious, a pollution too
monstrous, to be cpnteraplated without aversion and
Eemon- ^orror. "Steep and slipper^^," he exclaimed,
strance of " is the path that leadeth to destruction : of all
a^aTn^stlhe temptatious to sin, Avoraan is the most danger-
scheme of ous : a marriage with a daughter of the ira-
Bertrada. pj^^g Lorabard would be no raarriage, but a
mere intercourse of abomination — a pure suggestion of
Satan. Whence, then, this sudden madness, 0 most ex
cellent princes ! Shame that it should be even whispered
abroad, that the nation of the Franks, the glorious race of

Chap. VIL] STEPHEN IV. AGAINST THE LOMBAEDS. 401
princes that sits upon the throne of that illustrious peo
ple should think to pollute itself with the perfidious, the
filthy Lombards, — that unclean rabble which deserveth
not to be named among the nations of the earth ! 0, let
it not go abroad that kings so exalted could ever have
thought to defile themselves b3r so infernal a mixture !
For what part hath light with darkness ; or what por
tion hath the faithful Avith the unbeliever ? Reraeraber,
raost excellent sons, that you are a holy people, a royal
priesthood, sanctified and anointed to be the defenders
of your koly motker tke Ckurck. Call to raind hoAV that
3^ou vowed to our holy predecessor Pope Stephen (III.)
and unto St. Peter, that 3'ou Avould be the friends of our
friends, and the enemies of our enemies. Can it, then, be
that you have really so grievously sinned against 3'our
own souls as to contract alliance with the persecutor of
the Church, the invader of her provinces, the deadly enemy
of her pontiff?"
The pope further reminded the kings that they had
sworn true faith and obedience to the pontiff Papai
of the holy see ; and he adjured them by the ™e°ace.
blessed Peter, by the only true and living God, and b3'
the tremendous day of judgment, that they and neither
of them should presurae to take to wife the abhorred
daughter of Desiderius, or to give their sister to his son ;
but, on the contrary thereof, raanfuUy contend against
the Lorabard until they should have constrained him to
render unto tke Ckurck all that he owed to ker, and make
araple satisfaction for all the injuries and raiseries he had
inflicted upon her people. In conclusion, he informed
them that he had laid that his epistle upon the altar of
the blessed Peter; and had thereupon offered up the holy ,
sacrifice, and sent it wet with his tears direct from the
holy place. "If, therefore," he said, "you presume "to
disobey this our soleran exhortation, be it known to ypu
that you tkereby incur tke sentence of anatkema; and we
do pronounce you aliens from the kingdom of heaven :
we give you over unto Satan and his torments, to have
your portion with the outcasts here below, and to be
consumed in everlasting fire hereafter. But if 3'ou shall
VOL. II. D D

403 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
receive and observe this our ordinance to keep it, unto
you be eternal benedictions from the Lord our God, and
the reward of everlasting io3^s with the saints and elect
ofthe Lord."«
But in the interim the apprehended marriage had
been consummated, and the papal thunderbolt
Charlemagne had misscd its aim. In this emergency, acci-
and irmen- (jg^t camc to the relief of the pope : the new
^^^ ^' queen was found to be of so infirm a constitu
tion as to be incapable of bearing children ; and upon
that plea King- Charles repudiated her before the expira
tion of a twelvemonth ; and with the approbation of the
Proceres and clergy of the realra, married Hildegarda, a
noble lady of Suevic extraction, hy whom he afterwards
had several children.
The general government of Pope Stephen IV. at
Pope Ste- home bore the same character of vigour and
phen's decree firmiicss of purposc. Very shortly after his
lation^ofThe elevation (a.d. 769), he despatched his minister
pontifical Scrglus iuto Fraucc to announce his election,
and to solicit the king, Pippin, to send a select
number of the bishops of his realra to Rome, there to
attend a great council, to be held in the basilica of the
Lateran, for the adjustment of certain important matters
arising out of the late disorders, and the adoption of the
necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of the Uke
enormities, as also to encounter the evils brought upon
the Church by the iconoclastic abominations prevailing
in the East. But before the arrival of Sergius at the
Frankish court. Pippin had passed away. The new
kings, however, cheerfully complied with the request of
the pope ; and the council was attended by twelve bishops
'from France — " men approved for their learning, well
versed in the Scriptures and in the ceremonies of the
holy canons." The synod, when assembled, proceeded in
the first place (as already noticed) to inflict condign pun
ishraent upon the principal offender and his accessories ;
they decreed in the next place that no layman, nor any
clerk who had not proceeded regularly to the order of
« Baron. Ann. 770, t. xiii. p. 61. See the letter, ap. D. Bouq. t. v. p. 541.

Chap. VIL]

DISOEDEES IN EOME.

403

cardinal (titled priest or deacon) of the church of Rorae,
should be raised to the pontifical throne ; that no la3niian,
whether soldier or civilian, should participate in, or be pre
sent at, the election of the pope ; that none but cardinal
or titled priests and deacons, with the whole congrega
tion of the clergy, should have voice or part in such elec
tion : but that after\\ards, and before his instalment in
the pontifical palace, the chiefs ofthe mUitia, the soldier3r,
the citizens of credit, and the whole populace of Rome,
should hasten to salute the new pontiff; and that every
one present should subscribe the authentic act of elec
tion." Some effective measures, to put an end to the disorders
incident to the popular right of intervention Disorders in
in the election of the pontiff of Rome, were no I'o^e-

" Anastas. in Vit. Steph. III. seu IV.
loo. sajp.'cit. ; Hard. Concil. tom. iii.
pp. 2013-2016. There is much confu
sion in the wording of the several do
cuments from whieh the acts of this
council are compiled. Fleury (tom. ix.
p. 464) thinks that the militia and gene
ral body of the people were called upon
to ratify the choice of the cardinal, or
titled clergy and the churchmen gene
rally. The words, however, do not seem
to bear that construction. The terms
used are the foUowing : " Et priusquam
pontifex electus fuerit, et in patriar-
chiam deductiis, omnes optimates mili-
tise, vel (et) cunctus exercitus, et cives
honesti, atque universa generalitas po
puli hujus Eomanae urbis ad salutandum
eum, sicut omnium dominum, properare
debeat." There is, perhaps, a stronger
ground for believing that they were not
intended to bear tbat meaning. A power
to do an act generally implies a power
to decline to do it. In this case, if the
mUitia and people of Eome had been
empowered to refuse to ratify the choice
of the presbytery, it would have thrown
wide open the door to all those disorders
the council was most anxious to shut
out; it would have rendered the elec
tions uncertain and precarious ; it would
have given full play to the factions which
already infected the clergy and people ;
and must have ended in the establish
ment of that mischievous interference
most apprehended by the government.
The wording of the decree, I think, ira
plies no more than that, after election.

and before enthronement, the new pontiff
was to be produced to the public atlarge,
in order that they might recognise and
salute him as their lord and master. I
am, however, perplexed by a passage
in the Decretum of Gratian (Distinct.
Ixxix. c. 4), which assigns as a reason for
changing the mode of election that "at
the death of the pontiff the Church had
suffered violence, because the elections
had proceeded without the knowledge and
consent of the emperor (of Constantino
ple) ; and that no nuntii from the em
peror were present at such elections, as
according to canonical rite and custom
they ought to have been, with a view to pre
vent the occurrence of scandals." Then
foUows an ordinance apparently in con
tradiction to that reported by Auasta
sius : " We therefore decree that when a
pontiff is to be consecrated, the bishops
and all the clergy heing assembled, he
that is to he ordained be elected in the
presence of the senate and people; and that
thus, being elected by all, he he then con
secrated in the presence of the imperial
legates." I can hazard no conjecture as
to the quarter whence Gratian gathered
his version ofthe ordinance. Eeferring
it, as he has done, to the reign of Stephen
I"V., it is an obvious anachronism: inas
much as all intercourse with Constanti
nople had long since ceased. The heresy
of Constantine Copronymus would of
itself have suf&ced to keep any emis
saries of his at a distance, and much
more to exclude them from all share in
the management of the papal elections.

404 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
doubt necessary. The transference of that right to the
clergy exclusively raay have been warranted by the state
of the tiraes, and the inveterate spirit of faction now al
raost indigenous among the population ofthe city and its
appurtenant territories, chiefly those of the Tuscan and
Campanian dependencies. -A provision was therefore
inserted in the acts of the council prohibiting the pro
prietors and indwellers of the castles or strongholds sur
rounding the city from flocking to Rome upon election
occasions, to the great danger of the public peace. Such
a prohibition indicates a serious state of insecurit3', and
serves to throw sorae light upon the strauge disturb
ances which embittered the pontificate of Stephen IV.
Though deliAered frora the perils he anticipated frora the
menacing- alliance of his protectors with the faraily of his
deadly eneray, he beheld with alarra the continued ex
istence of a strong party attached to that enem3' both
within and without the AvaUs of Rorae. At Ravenna, De
siderius had managed to expel the legitimate archbishop
Leo, and to raaintain a creature of his own in the chair
of that city for nearly a twelvemonth. But the active
ministers Christopher and Sergius succeeded in expell
ing- the intruder, and restoring the rightful incumbent.
The king encountered his opponents by dissimulation and
intrigue. Not venturing upon an open attack, he pre
tended a pious desire to visit the holy places; and re
lying upon the party he had kept together within the
The Lom- walls, he appeared before the city AA'ith an es-
bard faction, gort iiot morc iiuracrous than becarae his royal
dignit3'. But, by the diligence ofthe two ministers, he
found the country on all sides in arms, and the gates of
Paul Rome closed against him. In this dilemma,,
Afiarta. gn intriguing priest named Paul Afiarta stood
his friend, and raised a faction among the fickle populace
against the papal party ; the pontiff became alarmed, and
consented to an interview with the king in the church
of St. Peter of the Vatican. The first conference went
off smoothly, and the pope returned in safet3^ to his palace.
Meanwhile Paul Afiarta and his friends were gaining
strength ; and the pontiff, in still more serious alarm, was

Chap. VH.] STEPHEN IV. 406
tempted to try the effect of a second meeting, in the hope
of persuading Desiderius to desist from his purpose of
entering the city. But b3'" this time matters were ripe for
action : while the pope was detained a close prisoner in the
basilica of St. Peter by the Lombards, and cut off fi-om
all communication with his supporters, Desiderius, or his
agents within the AvaUs, raanaged to persuade the popu
lace that the two rainisters Christopher and Sergius had
conspfred to murder the pope and possess themselves of
the government ofthe repubhc. This groundless false
hood so exasperated the people, that the two ministers
with difficulty escaped immediate destruction. Stephen
at the moraent saw no means to save their lives but by
dismissing them from their offices ; secretl3' advising them
either to take refug-e in a convent, or, if they could, to
join him at St. Peter's. The3' preferred the latter course,
and with no small difficulty reached their raaster in his
as3'lura. Having thus g-otten his raore active opponents
into his power, Desiderius saw no further advantag-e in
detaining the pontiff. Stephen was perraitted to return
to the Lateran ; while a Roman rabble, under the direction
of Paul Afiarta, broke the sanctuar3^, tore their A-ictims
from the altar, and put out their e3'es with such barba
rous crueltv' that Christopher sank under the infliction,
and died in ag-ony a few hours afterwards."
The spirit of the pope was thoroughh' broken b3'^ these
enormities ; and Desiderius, with the aid of his
confederate Paul, extorted fi-om him autograph tio™and
letters addressed to Queen Bertrada and her ^^^^ "^
son Charles, in which he accuses his two minis
ters, and with them duke Dodo, then acting as Frankish
commissioner for carr3'ing- into execution the cession ofthe
territories comprised in the donation of Pippin, of divers
acts of treason against his (the pope's) person and autho-
ritv'. He is then made to declare that these crimes had
so exasperated the people, that when broug-ht before him
for trial, he had been unable to save them from personal
ill-treatment ; that he hiraself owed his life to the protec
tion extended to him b3' his most exceUent son Desiderius,
' Aiia.<!tas. ap. Murat. tom. iu. p. 179.

406 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
who happened fortunately to be at that moment at Rome
on a pious visit to the hol3^ places ; and that, without his
aid, he would beyond doubt have fallen a sacrifice to the
malignity of the two traitors, and the diabolical machi
nations of duke Dodo and his Frankish satellites. The
letter concluded^ with a strong invective against the latter,
and an assurance that he had received from Desiderius
the fullest satisfaction for all the territorial claims of the
Church.^ Pope Stephen IV. did not long survive this severe
Hadrian I. humiUation. He died on the 31st of January
pope. 772 • and was succeeded within the first fortnight
of the raonth of February"" by Hadrian, an ecclesiastic
of noble birth, experience, and courage. In the interim
the party of Paul Afiarta and the Lombards in Rorae
had apparently lost ground ; certain it is that in the very
outset of his pontificate the new pope felt himself strong
Suppresses euough to cast off the mask which his prede-
the sedition, cessor had becu compelled to Avear, and to bid
defiance to the adverse faction. The Lombard king made
an unsuccessful atterapt to carry on the game of fraud
and violence which had proved effectual against the late
pope. His emissaries, however, failed to raake any im
pression upon Hadrian; they were, we are told, driven
to admit the sins of their master, and to promise in his
name to make due surrender of all the lands and terri
tories he had hitherto wrongfully resuraed or neglected
to surrender. Hadrian accepted this subraission; and
appointed coraraissioners to receive the cession of the
various towns comprised in the donation of Pippin, or in
the treaties or promises subsequently extorted from Desi
derius. But the latter, unable to suppress his hatred of
the Frankish yoke, or his resentment against the holy see
for robbing hira of all the fruits of legitimate conquest, to
which he might reasonably lay claim, had in an evil hour
taken a step which led immediately and inevitably to his
ruin. Oaths and promises were as vapour compared with
J See the letter, no. xxvi. Codex Ca- responding with the 9th Feb. in that
rolinus, — ap. D. Bouq. tom. v. p. 537. year. Ciacone makes the v. id. Feb. to
'' Strictly on the v. id. Feb., or the fall on a Sunday. See Vit. Hadrian I.
Monday after Quinquagesima, 772, cor- p. 545.

Chap. VIL] DESIDEEIUS AND GEEBEEGA. 407
the dazzling but delusive prospect before him. Instead
of the expected cession, the papal corarais
sioners found that he had suddenly possessed invadtrihl
hiraself of the papal cities of Ferrara, Com- papal terri-
macchio, and Faenza; that he had closely in- °^^'
vested Ravenna, and carried away all the inhabitants of
the surrounding- country, thus cutting off the means of
subsistence which the besieged might have hoped to ob
tain from them.'
On the 4th of December, in the year 771, Carlraann,
the younger of Pippin's two sons, had died sud
denly"" at Seltz, in Alsatia, leaving a widow, Gerberga,
Gerberga, and two infant children. The ordi- widow of
'-<i ¦' r • 111 • 1 . Carlmann.
nary rule ot succession would have assigned to
the latter the dorainions of their parent. But after his
death, the Frankish estates raade no raoveraent in favour
of the sons : Charles was unaniraously hailed sole king
of the Franks ; and Gerberga, fearing that the lives of
her children were not safe in the custod3' of their uncle,
fled with thera to the court of Desiderius, probably in
the hope, by his assistance, of reinstating them in their
inheritance. The apparent advantage thus offered was
joyfully accepted by the intriguing Lombard ; Desiderius
and the breach with the pope was the first-fruit and Ger-
of the new alliance. The king of the Franks was ^'^^^'
at the same time aware that a party in the Neustrian and
Burgundian kingdoms had been, even in the lifetime of
Carlmann, intriguing to procure a separation from the
Austrasian, or purely Germanic division; and to that
end had endeavoured to provoke a civil war between the
brothers. That Charles entertained any design against
the lives of his nephews, is not probable ; but the flight
of Gerberga, and the shelter afforded to the pretenders by
his vassal Desiderius, was, in the opinion of the age, as
it was in fact,,an act of rebellion. And now the danger
to which his own interests raight be exposed concurring
with his obligations as official protector of the Roman
' Anastas. in Vit. Pont, ubi sup. pp. Pertz, i. p. 148 ; and Ann. Einhard.
179, 180. p. 149.
" Annal. Laurissiac. ad ann. 771, ap.

408 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
church, inclined him to lend a favourable ear to the com
plaints of the pope ag-ainst his faithless and perjured
enemy." lipon the report of his coraraissioners, Hadrian ad-
Desiderius drcsscd the most urgent remonstrances to De-
espouses the sidcrius. The reply carae in the shape ofa civil
Ger"berga rcqucst that the pope Avould grant the king an
and her sons, ijjj-gpyjg^ at Pavia, whcrc, he said, aU matters
of difference raight be raost conveniently arranged. But
the presence of Gerberga and her two sons rcAcaled to
Hadrian the raotive and the probable consequences of
the insidious invitation ; the proposal was declined ; and
Desiderius without dela3' threw off the mask. He ad-
A'anced with his army towards Rome, with the tAvo infant
princes in his train ; and, with the announcement of his
speed3' arriAal, he bade the pope prepare to irapart the
ro3'al unction to the sons of the late King Carlmann."
But in the mean time the vigorous pontiff had esta-
Advance of blishcd hirasclf firmly upon the throne. The
Desiderius part3- of Paul Afiarta had been dissolved, and
anTsudifen the ringleaders arrested and banished from
retreat. 11313'. Hadrian now entertained no doubt of
his abihty to hold the cit3r till the arrival of the succours
he felt secure of obtaining from France. His messengers
Avere already on their road to the court of Charles at
Thionville, with the clearest claim to the covenanted pro
tection in their hand ; and he boldh* retorted the menaces
of Desiderius with a threat of excommunication. At
this critical moment ofhis fate, the heart ofthe Lombard
king failed him ; and he reconducted his arraies to PaAda.
Charles had by this tirae collected an overwhelraing- force
at Geneva, ready to give effect to negotiation, rather
than with the iramediate design of punishing his rebel
lious vassal. He contented himself for the present with
sending commissioners into Lorabardy to inquire into
the truth of the matters of charge alleged against Desi
derius. Their report left no doubt of the duplicit3' and
falsehood of the Lombard. He therefore demanded ini-
" Einhard. Vit. Car. Mag. t. Ui., ap. numenta Germanica."
Pertz. tom. ii. p. 445; and see also the " Anastas. ubi sup. p. 184.
AnnaUsts in the same vol. of the " Mo-

CiiAr. A'lL] rilAELEJIAGNE IN LOMBAEDY. 409
mediate restitution to the holy see of all the lands and ter
ritories uicluded in the donation of Pippin, together A\'ith
three hostages of sufficient rank for the due execution of
the mandate ; and he engaged, if these conditions Avere
coraplied Avith, to paA' to Desitierius the sum of 14,000
golden solidi at stated terms by Avay of indemnitA .
The motiACS for this extraordinary moderation have
not been disclosed to us.p AVe are equaUy atci,j^rig^,j,„„g'
a loss to comprehend those of Desiderius for invade?
rejecting the terms ofi'ered, and preparing to """ ""^ ^''
meet in the field forces so superior in number and dis
cipline to those he could oppose to them. Be this as it
inaA', the Frankish arraies poured across the passes of
Mont Cenis and the Great St. Bernard directly upon
the Lombard capital. Disaftection dissolved the Lom
bard armies ; the best of his troops deserted the standard
of their prince ; the Spoletaus and Beneventines returned
home ; the3* came at once to an understanding- Avith the
pope, and Avere taken under the protection ofthe holy see.
The king-, AAith a remnant ofhis lately nuraerous host, took
refuge in Pavia ; AvhUe his son Adalgis, accompanied bA"
tlie AvidoAV and sons of Carlmann, shut himself up in Xe-
rona. Leaving- a sufficient force to obser\ e PaA^ia, Charles
pursued the latter iu person ; and duke Autchar, AA'ho had
hitherto proved the ftiithful companion and guardian ofthe
^¦ouno" princes, Avas pre\"ailed upon to surrender them to
their uncle. Verona, hoAve\"er, continued to hold out, aud
Desiderius defended himself Avith courage in Pavia. The
term of serAice for which the constituency ofthe Frankish
heriban AA-ere bound A\as about to expire, and little pro
gress had as yet been made by the besiegers. But Charles
iiad obtained an ascendency over the minds ofhis mihtary
retainers Avhich none of his predecessors had enjoyed;''
p EmAnn/. in his Life of Charlemagne, i AA'e learn from Einhard i,A'>t. Car.
seenis to intiraato that the king was at Mag. ubi sup. c. vi. p. 446), that Pip-
that time, or h:ul but verv hitelv been, pin had encountered tlie most serious
engaged in a war in Aquitaine. In such difficulty from this cause: and that
•aii~ unsettled state of things, it is not though his work in Italy was attended
improbable that he miglit regard an with much less inconvenience, and was
accommodation with Desiderius. upon sooner aecomplislied, many of his no-
terms compatible with his suzerain dig- bles threatened to desert him when their
nity, as desirable. See Einh. Vit. Ca\-. term of service had expired.
M;i,2:. ap. Pert:, ii. ce. v. and vi. p. 445.

410 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
and he met with Uttle difficulty in persuading- them to
prolong their term of service through the mild winter of
Winter cam- Lorabardy. To that end, he gave to his camp
paign in beforc Pavia the aspect and character of an
Lombardy. ij^pg^ial capital. Hc sent for his consort Hil
degarda and his chUdren to join hira there, and domi
ciled himself and his court Avith befitting splendour and
magnificence to sustain that character, and to deprive
the besieged of all hope of relief; indicating at the same
time the disposition of the Frankish prince to acquire an
interest in Italy, which, Ave are inclined to believe, came
as unexpectedly upon the pope as it did upon the Lom
bards themselves.'
A very superficial consideration of the historical facts
Forei n ^^^ documentary testiraony which have hitherto
policy of come under our observation would suffice to
the popes. gj^Q^^ ^^^i though the Roraan pontiffs desired
nothing raore ardently than the disraeraberment of the
Lorabard kingdora, yet that they desired it onl3' for their
own profit. In their bitterest invectives against the he
reditary enemies of the Church, the3' carefully avoid an3'"
hint at the transfer of the minutest portion of the spoil to
a stranger, be he ever so serviceable to their projects.
In all their numerous and length3' addresses to the '" ad
vocates and protectors" of the holy see, they carefull3'
keep out of sight an3^ prospect of indemnity for the blood
to be shed, the labour to be endured, the cost to be in
curred, in helping them to the propert3'" of their neig-h-
bours. With singular adroitness, they contrived that no
hint of remuneration of a teraporal nature should ever
enter into their coraraunications. Yet if the thought
could be stifled in the rainds of the sovereigns, it was im
possible that it should not occur to the subjects as often
as such unrequited expenditure of their blood and trea
sures was required at their hands. All this must have
been obvious to a man of Pope Hadrian's discernment
and experience : he could not but knoAV that such a game
must have an end ; and that then the great problem
¦¦ Conf. Anastas. Vit. Pont, ubi sup.; Pcrfz, i. p. 151. See also Eckhart,'Frano.
Annal. Lauriss. et Einh. ann. 773, ap. Orient, tom. i. pp. 623-625.

Chap. VIL] THE STATE AND THE PONTIFICATE. 411
would arise, how to escape being drawn into the vortex
of reciprocity in which he raight thereafter becorae in
volved, and to avoid the manifest danger of sinking frora
the state of an unarmed and defenceless all3r into that of
a dependent or a subject of the protecting poAver.
But no such danger Avas likely to arise, unless the pon
tiffs should comrait the error of encircling their ^^ . .^^^
brows with the diadera before the world was relation of
fully prepared to tolerate the anomaly of a ^''^o^'thr^
Christian bishop wearing a kingly crown. The temporal
estate of the papacy, vast as it was, was re- sovereignty.
garded at the tirae raore in the light of ecclesiastical
endowraent than of temporal sovereignty. The title set
up by the church of Rome to its territorial possessions
was not different in its nature from that of alraost every
church or convent to the lands attached to it. The privi-
leg-es and jurisdictions enjo3'ed in right of those endow
ments were in the nature of royalties, and comprehended
man3' ofthe essential prerogatives which in raore raodern
times are regarded as belonging exclusivel3' to the sove
reign authority. But the difference between the position
ofthe church of Rome and that of all others with refer
ence to their respective endowments consisted in this,
that against the claims of the central power the Roman
pontiff might set off the illimitable prerogative of St.
Peter's chair; and there was little danger that the oc
cupant of that chair should fall back into the condition
of a subject, as long as he could impart to the temporal
estate of his see the exemptions and iraraunities properly
belonging to his assumed spiritual character. This was,
as we think the sequel will make sufficiently raanifest, the
all-iraportant position the papacy had to maintain. Cen
turies elapsed before it was fully established ; but in the
interim we may place our finger upon a peculiarity in
the relative position of the holy see to the European
monarchies which operated so as to secure her incident
ally against all duties or liabUities implying political de
pendence. Popes Zachary and Stephen III. had laid
a solid foundation for the doctrine, that a mere inchoate
or simply possessory claim, to thrones and dominions was

412 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
by tke papal sanction convertible into a solid title to tke
sovereignty; and tkat crowns migkt be conferred, and
.successions unalterably determined, by tke spontaneous
act of tke Boman pontiff:^ doctrines which, if pursued
to their ultimate consequences, must not only emanci
pate the dispenser of crowns from all subordination to the
recipients, but tend to reduce the latter to political as well
as spiritual dependence upon the forraer.
But as yet no serious progress had been made towards
Sie e of establishment of this palmary doctrine of
Pavia; papal omnipotence. Charlemagne had not learnt
magne'^s>si ^^ postpouc his tcraporal interests to his spi-
expedition ritual obligations to the holy see. He had ir
to Eome. revocably resolved to take his reward for the
hitherto unrequited laboui's of his predecessors into his
OAvn hands, and to place upon his own head the croAvn
of Italy. Yet even the might3'" monarch of the West
did not so far trust his own competency to make a valid
transfer of the new kingdom as to dispense with the con
currence of the Church. He therefore converted the siege
of Pavia into a close blockade ; and leaving a large body
of troops behind to watch the besieged, he repaired at
the approach of Easter to Rome Avith a briUiant retinue
of prelates and abbots, dukes and barons, ostensibly to
celebrate the feast of the Resurrection at the shrine of
St. Peter.'
The Romans received the king with unbounded de-
E ffi th ™onstrations of jo3^ Thirty thousand citizens,
treaties of WC are told, wcut forth to meet him, bearing
Pontyon and before them the "bandora," or sacred standard
of the republic. The whole bod\' of the clergy,
with crosses and banners, escorted him to the basilica of St.
Peter, where he spent the Easter-eve in devout exercises
and prayers. On the foUoAving raorning Pope Hadrian,
surrounded by his clergy, took his station at the porch
of the church ready to welcome the king. The latter ad
vanced up the flight of steps leading to the pope's station,
devoutly kissing each step of the ascent. At the landing
» Conf. ch. vi. pp. 377 et sqq. and ' ^EtnA. et Xaurissiac. Annal. ann. 774,
384 of this Book. pp. 153, 154.

Chap. VH.] THE DONATION OF CHAELEMAGNE. 413
Hadrian erabraced him, and saluted him Avith the kiss of
peace ; and taldng him by the left hand, led him into the
church, the clergy- singing praises to God, and chanting
in full chorus, " Blessed is he that cometh in the narae
of the Lord." The pontiff and the king then prostrated
themselves in devout adoration at the shrine of Peter ; the
sacred body of the apostle was uncovered ; and Charles
solemnly ratified tke treaties of Pontyon and Quiercy by
oatk upon tke relics ofthe prince ofthe apostles.
In the course of the week, Charlemagne visited and
Avorshipped at aU the hol3^ places iu succession ; r^,^^ donation
ou the fourth day Hadrian repaired to the ofCharie-
quarters of the king, and opened negotiations '"ague,
for a new deed of donation to the holy see. Why such a
deed should have been necessary, it is not dif
ficult to conjecture; for so it was, that Avhen obtTmedby
the pontiff had rehearsed to Charlemagne kis misrepre-
copy of the treaty to Avhich his father Pippin,
his brother Carlmann, and hiraself, had been original par
ties," that deed appeared to convey to the church of Rome
territories which are named in no contemporary docu
ment as portions of the donation of Pippin and his sons.
Some of these had never belonged to the exarchate of
Ravenna, as it existed under the Greek dynasty, nor
had ever been comprised within it at an3- time since the
Lombard invasion in the 3'ear 068. Of this deed, as read
by the pope, Charlemagne himself was entirely ignorant.
The districts named comprehended aU the territories fi-om
" the port of Lunae and the island of Corsica, Luriano,
Monte Bardone, Berceto, Parma, Reggio, Mantua, Mon
sehce, the entire exarchate of Ravenna, with the provinces
of Venetia and Histria, togetker with the duchies of Spo
letum and Beneventum.^ But it should be observed, that
Spoletum and Beneventum had been in fact all along in
tegral portions of the Lombard kingdom ; moreover it is
known that Pippin did not dismember that kingdom in
favour of the pope, and that those duchies were not com
prised in the surrenders which Pippin extorted from
" See chap. vi. pp. 382 and 39 1 of this " Anastas. in Vit. Hadrian. Pap. I. ap.
B jok. Murat. iU. p. 186.

414 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
Aistulph in pursuance of the treaties of Pontyon and
Quiercy.* It is further known, that at the time of the
conclusion of those treaties the pope had as yet laid no
claim to the possession ofthe two duchies ; that they were
held by professed feudatories of the Lorabard kingdora ;
and that they continued to form a part of that kingdom
down to the latest period of its existence." It should be
noticed at the same time, that the biographer deposes to
the fact that the deed of Pippin, Charlemagne and Carl
mann was extant in his own da3's ; and it raay be reason
ably supposed that he extracted his enumeration of the
ceded territories frora its contents. The suspicion of some
deception, therefore, cannot but occur to us Avhen we find
the same Avriter, in his account of the transactions Avith
Charlemagne, putting into the mouth of the pope a to
tally different statement of the contents of the operative
docuraents, and adding as original portions of the dona
tion of Pippin territories as to which his earlier enurae
ration is altogether sUent.''
That Charleraagne possessed any copy of the dona
tion of Pippin, is very doubtful ; if he had, the
ofthe discrepanc3' betAveen that document and the ac-
donationof j^^r,] (Jeraauds of Pope Hadrian could not have
CharJemagne., • i i f t • i • -n
been withdrawn frora his observation. But on
the supposition that he was ignorant ofthe contents of
the earlier donation, the temptation to misrepresentation,
for the purpose of bringing those demands into ostensi
ble harmony with the prior concessions, is very obvious.
" The enumeration of Anastasius him- had subsequently put in a claim, more
self, in his Life of Stephen III., agrees especially the two duchies. The pro-
in few particulars with the statement vinces of Istria or Histria, and Venetia,
in his Life of Hadrian I. See c. vi. pp. had heen conquered from the Greeks at
385, 386 of this Book. a very early period ofthe Lombard do-
" That is, until the dissolution ofthe mination. It is possible that the south-
armies of Desiderius, when the dukes of ern portion of the former region had
Spoletum and Beneventum threw them- been retained by the Greeks, and that
selves upon the protection of the pope. it formed a part of the Eavennatine ex-
See p. 409 of this chapter. archate. But Venetia, otherwise called
y I conceive that the only mode of Friuli (Forum Julii), had always been
reconciling these contradictory state- one ofthe great duchies of the Lombard
ments is to suppose that Anastasius was kingdom. No mention of either occurs
mistaken as to the latter enumeration; in the earlier enumeration of Anastasius
and that he confounded the contents of of the territories given up by Pippin to
the prior donation with the new duna- Pope Stephen III. See the disserta
tion of Charlemagne, which no doubt tion upon this donation, ori. Pert:, Mon.
contained territories to which the pujies Germ., tom. iv. legum ii. part ii. p. 7.

Chap. VIL] EXTINCTION OF THE LOMBAED KINGDOM. 41.5
The king might be induced to beheve, that, in making
the additional grants, he was only carrying out the trea
ties of Pontyon and Quiercy, in fulfilment of the ori
ginal pledges given to Pope Stephen IIL, to Avhich he
had been a party. This irapression Avould account for the
facility with which Charleraagne transferred to the pope
nearly the whole of southern Italy,^ together with the
Venetian and Istrian dependencies of the Lombard king
dom. Be this as it may, the donation executed by Charle
magne, at the request of Pope Hadrian I., was, in fact,
an entirely new grant, comprising, indeed, much of the
older claim, but extending it to at least double the area
stipulated for in the prior donation. This document was
formally executed by the king, in the presence Execution of
of the pope, and attested by all the prelates the deed of
and dignitaries of his itinerant court. The so
lemn delivery was accompanied by every cereraony which
could irapart to it the character of a sacraraental act.
The deed was first deposited upon the altar of St. Peter ;
it was then removed to the shrine itself, and placed be
tween the book ofthe Gospels and the sacred body; after
which the king and all his attendants made oath unto St.
Peter, and unto Hadrian his vicar, that they Avould faith
fully observe and keep all things therein contained upon
pain of eternal damnation. The docuraent was then
finally delivered into the hands of the pope, and two
copies or counterparts were deposited by the hand of the
king hiraself in the shrine of the apostle.* When this care
ful and minute ceremonial was completed, Charlemagne
appeared in public clad in the robes of the
patrician, in accordance with the ceremonial of ^ftrk^T^
the Byzantine court, and in token of his inau
guration as the temporal " advocate," or sworn protec
tor, of the holy see. Soon after the conclusion of these
solemnities, he took his leave of the pontiff, and rejoined
his forces before Pavia.
2 Tie whole, with the exception of stiU held by the Greeks.
the small territories of Naples, Brun- » It does not appear that he carried
dusium, Tarentum, and the southern away with him any authenticated copy.
extremity of the peninsula of Calabria,

416 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book IV.
The garrison of the city was by this tirae reduced to
extrerae distress by famine. All hope of relief
and'depo- had Vanished; and'Desiderius,with the surviving
Deslderf I'emnaut of his adherents, surrendered at dis-
^^' ''""^" cretion. The captive king and his famity were
iramured in distant convents, Avhere they were permitted
to Avear away the remnant of their da3^s, under a custody
more vig-ilant than any single g-aoler could exercise, Avith
the advantage of a certain degree of personal liberty.
The capture of Pavia was followed by the subraission of
every province and city of the kingdora. Adalgis eva
cuated Verona, and retired to Constantinople ; and Pope
Hadrian hastened to hail the conqueror " king of the
Lombards." Charleraagne himself, howeA'er, varied the
Charlemagne title, and crowucd himself " Uug of Italy f a
king of change — as raay hereafter appear — not indiffer-
'^ ^' ent to the papal court. But the exarchate, toge
ther AA"ith all the territories comprised in the new dona
tion, were punctually delivered into the actual possession
of the pontiff. Charlemagne, it is true, had added a new
kingdom to his erapire; but Hadrian had reaped even
more solid advantages. Besides an enormous addition
Gains of the of territorial wealth, he had acquired a moral
papacy. ascendenc3' of far higher value. In his deal
ings with the greatest sovereign of the age he had, with
out remark or censure, assumed the tone and demeanour
of a superior : he had exacted promises ; he had imposed
oaths ; he had granted titles ; he had received homage
susceptible of any extraAagance of interpretation : and
all this Avas gained without contracting a single obliga
tion, and without defining either his oavu position AA'ith
relation to his benefactor, or his poAvers as temporal pro
prietor ofthe vast domains annexed to his see."
It is a question of very great difficulty to determine
either what the legal character of that position was, or
Avhat were the lawful powers and prerogatives acqufred
' In this portion of the narrative we tom. v. p. 544; the Annal. Lauriss. ann.
have consulted (besides the Life of Ha- 774, ap. Pertz, ubi sup.; and Eckhart
drian by Anastasius the " Librarian") Franc. Orient, tom. i. p. 629.
the Epistles of Hadrian I. ap. D. Bouq.

Chap. VIL] ACTUAL EESULT. 417
by the pope within the ceded territories. If it indetermi-
be asked whether the pontiff, by virtue of this onhe'papacy
donation, acquired the suprerae dorainion or Jj^ ''.^^P^f ?^
J.., ' . ^ CIT- 1 1 the territories
tuff sovereignty ot the districts annexed to the granted.
holy see ; or whether he took by it only the " dorai-
niura utile," enabling him to dispose of the profits and
revenues to arise from thera, without poAver to alter the
political or municipal constitution ; or, generally to take
to hiraself the teraporal governraent, — we must adrait
that the course of history has not as yet furnished us
Avith facts enough for a satisfactory reply. It has, in
deed, been contended that Charleraagne intended to trans
fer, with the territor3', all the rights exercised by the
Greek emperor within the exarchate, or by the Lombard
kings within the components of their kingdora. Others
have thought that nothing raore was granted than the
feudal renders and tributes payable by tenants to their
superior lords. But the deed itself, even if extant, would
probably reveal no raore than a general grant of posses
sion, without any specification of incidental rights ; and
the question raust await its answer frora the subsequent
acts of the parties and their successors. It is, however,
remarkable that Charleraagne should in the outset have
put aside the title assigned to hira by the pope for the
more comprehensive designation of " King of Italy," —
a title certainly not indicating an intention to part with
the " dominium supremura" implied by it.
But whatever may have been the contemporary intent
or understanding of the donation of Charle- Actnai
magne, certain it is that the holy see became '¦«^"i'-
thereby possessed of a territorial power and jurisdiction
which must ever after rank her with the great dynasts
of Christendom. The spiritual empire of the head of the
Latin church rested no longer solely upon the Petrine
m3'^th. It was now based on the broader and safer foun
dation of a corabined sacerdotal and teraporal authority,
far more consonant with the character of the times than
that unsupported, unarmed, externally helpless priesthood
upon which the pontiffs had hitherto been compelled to
rely ; a position, it must be confessed, fraught Avith incon-
' VOL. II. E E

418 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book IV.
venience, distress, and danger ; and from which there was
probably no escape but in the course of teraporal aggran
disement to which they so perseveringly and successfully
resorted. It may strike us as singular that not a whisper
of surprise or dissatisfaction should have been heard when
the chief pastor of the Saviour's spiritual kingdom lifted
up his head high among the princes of this world. But
the explanation provided b3^ the papacy was for the pre
sent satisfactory. " Our kingdom," said they, " is not
of this world ; it is like that of Christ, in all, above all,
over all. As all are subject to Christ, so hkewise are
they subject to his vicar and representative on earth in
all that appertains to His kingdom. But that kingdom
extends over all; therefore nothing belonging to this
world or its affairs can be above or be3^ond the jurisdic
tion of St. Peter's chair." In conformity with this theor3'",
no amount of temporal dominion requisite for the sup
port of this spiritual prerogative was to be regarded as
in any respect inconsistent with the Saviour's declaration
respecting the nature ofhis kingdom. It waited simply
as the accident upon the principal ; the universality of the
spiritual authority conferred carried with it, as its natu
ral corollar3'^, a corresponding grant of temporal power.
The premises being admitted, we think the conclusion
sufficiently logical to command attention ; at all events,
it surpassed the comprehension of the age to emancipate
itself from the practical inference.

BOOK Y.
CHAPTEE I.
THE MONOTHELITE CONTEOVEESY.
General retrospect — Eome in the controversies of the sixth and seventh cen
turies — Monothelite and Iconoclastic controversies — The Monothelite contro
versy; its origin and character^ — "Unguarded conduct of Pope Honorius I. —
The Ecthesis of Heraclius — Character of the Ecthesis — Pope Johu IV. — His
apology for Honorius — He condemns the Monothelite heresy — Conversion of
Pyrrhus — Address ofthe Africans-^The Type — The Latins reject the Type —
Martin I. pope — Council of the Lateran against the Type — Condemnation of
Ecthesis and Type, &c. — Excess of jurisdiction — Canon-law of Eome — Ar
rogance of Pope Martin I. — Pope Martin endeavours to recover his influence
over the lUyrians — Arrest, imprisonment, and death of Pope Martin I. — Un
canonical election of Eugenius I. — Vitalian pope — He makes approaches to
Constantinople — Case of John of LappsB — Constans II. enforces the Type —
Expedition and death of Constans II. — Eelations between Eome and Constan
tinople between the years 668 and 679 — Eoman synod ofthe year 679— Sy
nodal acts and report— Character ofthe synod — Assembling ofthe (so-caUed)
Sixth General Council— Constituency of the council — Proceedings, and their
result — Condemnation of the Monothelite beresiarchs — Sentence upon Pope
Honorius I. — Concluding acts ofthe council— Edict of confirmation — Pope
Leo II. accepts the decrees, and adopts the anathemas.
The preceding Book of this volume has been devoted
rather to the external and political history of General re-
the papal power, than to the theoretic develop- *'""«?«'=*•
ment of the properly hierarchical supremacy. Before the
close of the eighth century, the Western churches had,
upon the basis of purely Roraan tradition and hardihood
of assertion, adopted tlie principle of the chair of Peter.
That tradition had been accepted Avithout inquiry, and
raanifest progress had been raade in obliterating all dis
tinction betAveen the spiritual unity of the Christian body
and the outAvard raeans proposed by Rorae for its main
tenance. The annexation of a temporal dominion to ifie
spiritual headship was in all respects the most important

420 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
of the securities demanded of the world for its spiritual
allegiance ; and hereafter it wiU become our duty to trace
the process by which she succeeded in imparting to that
dominion the inviolable sanctity of the spiritual prero
gative she claimed ; and ultimately to expand it into an
autocratic scherae, embracing all temporal government,
and implying the extinguishment of aU spontaneous move
ment in the exercise either of religious or political power.
In the division ofthe narrative to Avhich our attention
Eome in the 19 "0^ Called, the subjcct must be viewed in
controversies another aspcct. In the struggle ag-ainst Ori-
and Mvmth cutal thcosophy, we trace Avith greater perspi-
centuries. cuity the thcorctic development of that supre
macy to Avhich the Latin churches had submitted without
material resistance. Remembering that Rome had im
posed upon herself the task of sustaining- the character of
fountain of orthodox tradition and sole channel of sacer
dotal authorit3','' it will be acknowledged that every reli
gious discussion of importance must involve her both as
party and as judge in the controversy. We have already
had occasion to notice her participation in the great Arian
struggle, and her manageraent of the equally important
divergences of opinion upon the doctrine ofthe incarna
tion and of the union of the divine and human nature in
the Saviour.'' We are uoav called upon to exaraine the
character .and results of her interposition in the tAvo great
theological raoveraents which agitated the Christian world
in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Christian era.
The^/-.s^ of these — the so-called Monothelite
and icono-* coutrovcrsy — may be described generally as a
clastic con- revival, under a soraewhat different form, of
the old Monophyslte, or Eutychian, heresy. The
second — generally kiioAvn by the description of the Icono
clastic controversy— arose out ofa question relating to
the proper use of images as objects of Christian Avorship.
The objections urged by the enemies of images, though
less of' a strictly dogmatic character, were of the high
est interest to religion, as they touched upon the great
» Conf. vol. i. Book II. c. i. pp. 285, *• Conf. Book I. c. ix. pp. 201 et sqq.;
286;— c. U. p. 294 of this work. and Book II. cc. iv. and v. passim.

Chap. L] THE MONOTHELITE CONTEOAHEESY. 421
practical distinction between Christianity and heathenism.
The question the3' reaU3^ iuAolved was, Avhether the whole,
or the great majorit3' ofthe Christian bod3-, had not apos
tatised from the faith, and turned them back to idols.
This statement of the question thrUled throug-h every
uerA'e of the Christian bod3', and kindled passions and
animosities which had their natural issue in ruthless blood
shed and persecution.
Honorius I. succeeded to the papal throne in the 3'ear
625, his pontificate coinciding with the last fif- The Mono-
teen years of the reign of the eraperor Hera- *^^^'*' ™°'
clius. From the conclusion of his successful orlgln^and
wars against the Persians, reUgion, or rather mature.
reUg-ious controversy," had become the almost exclusive
object of his soUcitude. WhUe the Arabs under Abubekr
and Omar were overthroAN'ing army after arm3' sent to
repel them, and wresting proAdnce after province from the
empfre, the emperor occupied himseff with the discussion
of theological questions, and with ingenious devices for
reconciUng religious differences among his subjects.'' His
attention was at this moment more especiall3' attracted to
an opinion first started b3' Theodore bishop of Pharan in
Arabia, touching the modus operandi of the divine and
human wUl in the " Logos." Theodore raaintained that
there was in aU their manifestations such a sameness of
action as substantiall3' to identif3' them with each other ;
a view Avhich led HeracUus to imagine a plan for reducing
the remnant of the Monoph3^site, or Eut3'chian, pai-tA' to
a conformit3' with the Chalcedonian formula. With this
vicAA', the patriarch Sergius of Constantinople and his
imperial pupU gave their assent to a scheme proposed
by C3TUS patriarch of Alexandria for reconcUing Seve-
rians, Jacobites, Theodosians, and other ofifeets of the
great Eut3'chian school, founded upon a presumed iden-
' The mould, we may observe, in which upon the proper subject of our narra-
the reUgious mind in the East was ge- tive, this advantage, Uke many others
neraUy cast. of an episodic character, must be sacri-
"¦ Without denying the occasional ficed to the inexorable law of time and
light which a sketch of the Arab con- space. We must therefore confine our-
quests, and of their effects upon the selves to the incidental mention of such
Christian body iu general, inight throw connections as they arise.

422 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
tity of tke mill, divine and human, in tke Christ; and
they announced it to Pope Honorius as holding out a
flattering prospect of religious comproraise, in which
neither party should be called upon to make any ma
terial sacrifice of opinion. The document, when published,
appeared in aU respects to be in exact verbal agreement
with the doctrine of Chalcedon. But the seventh article
affirmed, " that it is tke same Ckrist and the same Son
who produces operations, divine and human, by one and
the same theandric manifestation of his will, wkick will
is at once both kuman and divine ; and that to make any
distinction between the human and the divine, is be3'ond
the powers of human discernment."'
This proposition, though it involved no dogmatic as-
Un u rd d ^^'"^^^^ ^^ ^^^ identity of the two AAdlls, was pro-
a°sfent of perly held to iraply it. Sophronius bishop of
^°?L?r°' Jerusalera first sounded the alarm in the East ;
but Sergius of Constantinople was first in the
field; he preoccupied the ear of Pope Honorius by a
long and not very ingenuous account of the origin and
design ofthe movement, and ofhis own share in it. The
reply of Honorius to this coraraunication indicates some
misgiving; he nevertheless adopted the document, and
full3^ appears to have assented to an absolute oneness of
the human and the divine aa'UI in the Christ. Yet he
recommended the utraost caution in the promulgation of
the doctrine, and strongly urged that, as the subject
Avas acknoAvledged to be above human comprehension,
all discussion of it oug-ht to be avoided. Sophronius,
however, soon afterwards pointed out to him with great
earnestness the danger to Avhicli this unguarded act must
expose him,; and Honorius apphed himself with redoubled
industry to suppress the controversy. In his corarau
nications with the East he therefore flung hiraself back
on the Chalcedonian doctrine, and dograaticall)' affirmed
that " as there is but one Christ, Avho, operating by two
natures, Avorks things human and divine, so there ought
to be but one doctrine (respecting him) grounded upon
forbearance to teach Aviiat is not expressly revealed of
' Baron. Ann. 633, § vii.; Fleury, tom. viii. p. 348.

Chap. L] THE ECTHESIS OF HEEACLIUS. 423
him in Scripture, nor affirmed by the fathers of the
Church."^ But this prudent advice did not suit the dogmatising
huraour of the Greeks ; neither would the quiet The Ecthesis
abandonment of the proposed scherae have °^ ^eracUus.
answered the purposes ofthe eraperor and his advisers,
Sergius and Cyrus. Their definition ofthe relation be
tween the nature and the wUl of the divine Logos was
therefore published, under the title of "Ecthesis," or
exposition of faith. Setting- aside the modus operandi,
this document affirmed purely and simply the identity of
the human and the divine will in the following terms :
" Therefore we, following in all things the holy fathers,
confess but one will in the Christ ; and we believe that his
flesh, animated by a reasonable soul, hath never made
any natural raoveraent, separately and of itself, differing
from or contrary to the spirit of the Logos which sub-
sisteth in hypostatical union with his flesh."^
In all matters of dispute which interest or excite the
public mind, however trivial or obscure they character of
may be, it is as well, in the statement at least, ^^^ Ecthesis.
to have the comraon sense of raankind in our favour.
The Monothelites lay under a serious disadvantage in
this respect. The assertion of one will in tAvo natures
coraes as near as possible to a contradiction in terras ;
and their adversaries of the Eutychian party might rea
sonably call upon them, after that, to renounce the two
natures as well. This argument was successfully urged
by the Catholic opponents of the Ecthesis ; and they did
not scruple to stigmatise the imperial exposition as sink
ing down into the loAvest form of Eut3'chianism : it was an
affirraation and a denial of the sarae thing in the same
breath ; it made every thing uncertain ; and could serve
no purpose but that of a trap for the unwary on both
sides. But before the publication of the Ecthesis, Pope
Honorius I. died. He was succeeded by Severinus I., to
whom the docuraent was transmitted through the hands
of Isaac, the exarch of Ravenna. How it was treated by
f Baron. Ann. 633, §§ 27 and 42; e Ibid. Ann. 639, § 12; Fleury, torn.
Fleury, tom. viU. p. 385. vni. p. 41 1.

424 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
this pontiff, we have no certain information ;*¦ his pontifi
cate lasted only two months and three da3's ; and on the
25th Dec. 638 John IV. was elected to fiU the papal
chair. In the month of May 641, the emperor Hera
clius passed from the scene of his raischievous activity,
and was succeeded by his son Constantine IIL' To him
Pope Pope John IV. addressed an apologetic letter,
John IV.; denying the complicity ofthe late Pope Hono-
is apo ogy ^.^^ .^ ^-^^ heretical ravings ofthe Monothelites.
Honorius. jjg affirmed that he could not have raeant to
approve the doctrine of a single will, but only to assert
that there were not two contrary and conflicting wills in
the Christ. That Honorius had seen his error, hardly
admits of a doubt; but the Christian world was unfor
tunately in possession of his reluctant yet explicit consent
to the Monothelite opinion, and has declined to withdraw
the charge of heresy.
In the year 639 Sergius of Constantinople was suc-
Theodore cccded by Pyrrhus, a stanch advocate of the
pope. He Monothelite dogma. But a few months after-
condemnsthe ... i • i i -ii ^ • i ^ • i
MonotheUte Avards he was banished, without canonical trial
heresy, qj. genteuce of deposition, for a supposed parti
cipation in the murder of Constantine IIL, the son and
successor of Heraclius (a.d. 641). Meanwhile Pope
John IV- was succeeded by Theodore, lately the resident,
or apocrisarius, of Rome at the court of Constantinople ;
a person conversant with the state of parties in the East,
and a strenuous opponent of the new heresy. Without
delay he forAvarded to Constantinople his condemnation
of the late patriarch Pyrrhus, and of the Ecthesis of
Heraclius ; but declined to approve the elevation of his
successor Paul. The new patriarch, hke his predecessor,
was, in fact, an advocate of the Ecthesis, and rejected
the requisition of the pope to remove that document from
the churches and public places, where, according to cus
tom, it had been conspicuously posted. The pope then
h Baronius and Pagi (A. 639, § ii.) was poisoned by his step-mother Mar-
assert, upon insufficient ground, that tina; and her son Heraclionas raised to
the Ecthesis was refuted by Pope Seve- the throne. But the new emperor was
rinus. within a short time deposed, he and his
' Who only a few months afterwards mother cruelly mutUated and banished.

Chap. L] ADDEESS OF THE AFEICANS. 425
reduced his demand to a simple request that his condem
nation of the Ecthesis should be raade equally notorious,
and be as conspicuously exhibited to public view. But
the emperor Constans III. adhered pertinaciously to the
religious policy of his grandfather ; and the papal remon
strances remained without result.
But accident threw an important advantage into the
hands of Rome. Maxiraus, a monk of Chrysa- conversion
polis near Chalcedon, during his exile in Africa °^ Byrrhus.
had fallen in with and converted the banished patriarch
Pyrrhus, and persuaded him to resort for absolution to
Rorae. Pope Theodore received the penitent with be
nignity ; and he absolved and recognised him as the legi
timate patriarch of the imperial city. In the East, the
bishops of Palestine and Cyprus supported the papal views,
while those of the three great ecclesiastical ^^^^ess
divisions of Africa lent their undivided assist- ofthe
ance towards the suppression ofthe new heres3'. -*^^"''^°^-
The3'^ addressed the pontiff of Rorae as the " father of
fathers," the " chief of all pontiffs," the " never-failing-
fountain of power," the " conservator ofthe faith," without
whom, said they, " nothing, even in the remotest places,
shall be discussed or deterrained ; neither shall any judg
raent be rendered, except it be first brought to the know
ledge of that holy see, and be fortified by its authority."
After this araple libation on the altar of Roraan preroga
tive, they besought the pope to issue a dograatic condem
nation of the Ecthesis, to inquire into the heresy of Paul
of Constantinople, and upon conviction to cut hira off
frora the sacred body of the Church.^ The prelates ofthe
Byzacene province adopted a bolder course. They ad
dressed the emperor Constans directly, calling upon him
peremptorily to renounce the Ecthesis, and constrain the
patriarch Paul to revert to the Catholic confession. They
rerainded hira that God had raade hira eraperor, that he
might be the guardian of His truth ; that he was bound
to use the power given to him in subservience to his duty
to the Church ; that that was indeed his principal duty ;
and that " He by whom kings reign and princes exercise
j Baron. Ann. 646, § 3.

426 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
judgment" had thus exalted him that he might put down
heresy with a strong arra, and prefer the raaintenance of
the orthodox faith above all secular pursuits or interests.''
The resistance to the luckless Ecthesis gathered
The Tl e strength frora day to day. The patriarch Paul
^^^' involved hiraself in a public disputation with
Serious and Martin, the legates of Pope Theodore, upon
the theological raerits of that docuraent ; a step which
served rather to provoke than to allay contradiction.
Deserted by reason and comraon sense, the patriarch took
refuge in authorit3r, and finally supported himself upon
the decisions of the two great patriarchs, Honorius of old,
and Sergius of new Rome. The appeal was treated by
the pope as an insult to the holy see ; by the adverse
party in general as a mere subterfuge. Alarmed by the
alraost desperate state of public affairs, and the increasing
disaffection ofhis subjects, the emperor Constans thought
it expedient quietly to set aside the Ecthesis, 3'et without
in terras renouncing the heres3' sheltered under it. With
this view he issued a decree, to which he gave the narae of
the Type (formula), with the professed intent to put down
all discussion of the mystery of the two aaIUs. The in
strument contained a naked statement of the questions at
issue, and then shortly and peremptorily prohibited all
discussion of its substance, or allusion to its terms, by
clergy or laity, under the severest temporal penalties.'
It is doubtful whether the publication of the " T^'pe"
The Latins ^^^ kuowu at Romc before the death of Theo-
condemn dorc," aud it is probable that all the steps taken
the Type. ^g.^jjjg^ j^g author and his accomplices are refer
able to the pontificate of his successor, Martin I. The
Type had, in fact, become an object of unmitigated aver
sion in the Latin church. Like the unfortunate Heno
ticon of Zeno, it was universally stigmatised as a device
^ Baron. Ann. 646, §§ 6 and 7. This Fleury foUows Baronius in supposing
letter was, according to Baronius, sent the condemnation of Paul and Pyrrhus
to Pope Theodore at Eome, to he deli- with the Ecthesis and Tjrpe to have
vered to the emperor by his apocri- been decreed in a Eoman council held
sarins. under Theodore. Pagi, with apparent
' Ibid. Ann. 648, § 2. reason, refers the entire transaction to
¦" He died on the 14th of May 649. the reign of Martin I.
See Pagi ad Baron. Ann. 648 and 649.

Chap. L] CONDEMNATION OF THE ECTHESIS AND TYPE. 427
of Satan for the extinguishment ofthe truth, by extending
protection to error, — it was a sacrUegious encouragement
to men to hold in private, and even to profess a here33'
they could not defend before the tribunal of the Church ;
an iniquitous attempt to suppress the truth, and a de
testable persecution of its defenders. After the death
of Pope Theodore, the Roman clerg3' and people marked
their indignation by electing Martin, one ofthe Martin l
papal champions at the conferences held at Con- p°P'^-
stantinople, to the vacant chair, and consecrating him
on the spot, without waiting for the legal confirmation of
the emperor. No tirae was lost b3'" the new pope in fur
therance of the wishes of his constituents. In councU of
the month of October 649 a general council was *^^ Lateran.
assembled in the palace of the Lateran, attended by one
hundred Italian and Gallic bishops, together Avith some
prelates of the Latin party in the East. In the interim
the patriarch Paul of Constantinople, irritated by the
iraplacable hostilities of the Latins, had caused the altar
of the pope, which stood in the palace of Placidia," to
be reraoved or thrown down, and prohibited divine ser
vice according to the Latin forra Avithin his jurisdiction.
About the same time, it appears that the ostensible con
vert Pyrrhus had been persuaded, b3' some hopes held out
to him b3r the exarch of Ravenna, to retract his late re
cantation, and again to enrol himself in the ranks of the
Monothelites. Pope Martin opened the session of the
council by a diffuse exposition of the errors of Cyrus of
Alexandria, of Sergius, Pyrrhus and Paul of Constanti
nople ; he described the " execrable Type" as an open
device of Satan for the suppression of the truth ; he de
claimed furiously against the sacrilegious overthrow of
the papal altar, and the persecution of the legates ; and
moved for a canonical decision and sentence against the
culprits, together with a due condemnation of the un
speakable heresy and its promoters.
In all papal synods the subjects of discus- Condemna-
sion were always beforehand rigorously defined *EahIs^s,^
and raarked out by the pontiff hiraself; the pro- Type, &o.
" Probably the private chapel and altar of the resident apocrisarii.

428 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
ceedings were directed by him, and the validity of the
resolutions and decrees made to depend upon his present
concurrence or subsequent sanction. Such a course of
proceeding deprived the acts of these synods of all value
independentl3'^ of such sanction, and placed the members
in the position of a mere court for reg'istering the decrees
of the pope. By the directions of Martin, the council,
when assembled, proceeded to examine minutel3r into the
theological character of the MonotheUte heresy ; and in
the result that error was unaniraously denounced and
anatheraatised. The Ecthesis and T3rpe fell under the
like conderanation ; not only all who should maintain the
one will in the Logos, but all who should attempt to evade
the censures ofthe Church by a criminal corapliance with
the iraperial scherae for suppressing inquir3' and discus
sion, were soleranl3' pronounced to be accursed. The per
sons of the beresiarchs were involved in this sentence ;
and Theodore of Pharan — the priraal offender — C3'rus of
Alexandria, Sergius of Constantinople, and his successors
P3rrrhus and Paul, Avere deposed and anathematised in
due order, and all their acts and writings declared void
and of none effect."
The progress of our narrative hardly as yet warrants
ess of ^'^y definite historical judgment upon these pro-
jurisdiction. cecdiugs. It nia3r, however, be borne in mind
Canon-law ^jj^t the popc had taken upon himself the office
of Eome. Pr. ^ ¦ x,- i. -L. iJ
of supreme judge in a cause m which he could
not pretend to a scrap of properly canonical jurisdiction.
It ma3r also be reraarked that the terms " canon," " ca
nonical," " canon-law," had by this time acquired a
signification at Rome having no manner of reference
to their original import. It may be conjectured that in
the use of these terras the pontiffs had in raind only the
Roman collections of ecclesiastical ordinances under the
several titles of " Pubhc synodal constitutions," " Godl3'"
laws of the Prince of the Apostles," " Book of the Ca
nons," &c., containing, in all probability, a medle3' ^^
general and particular ordinances as received in the Ro-
" See the proceedings, ap. Baron. Ann. pp. 648 et sqq.
648, for 649 ; and Hard. ConcU. tom. ui.

Chap. I.] MAETIN L 429
raan church, and founded upon maxiras and principles
drawn indifferently from cecuraenical statutes and papal
decretals or dicta; the whole being- invested with the
universal authority currently imputed to the Petrine pre
rogative. And in this sense Pope Martin I. understood
and applied them. By virtue of this local code he as
sumed the character of universal judge ; he caused the
decrees of his council to be translated into Greek, and
transmitted to the emperor Constans II. ; he informed
the latter of the utter rejection of the Ecthesis and Type,
and the solemn repudiation of all comproraise with he
resy ; and arrogantly demanded the iramediate registra
tion ofhis censures among the laws ofthe tem- Arrogance
poral state. As if to give raatters a turn still of Pope
more offensive to the government, he took the *"^'™ '
execution into his own hands, and disseminated copies of
his adjudication over all Christendom. He coramanded
the clergy of Antioch and Jerusalem to cut themselves off
from all intercourse with the advocates of the Ecthesis and
the Type ; he deputed a vicar-general for the dioceses of
Syria and Palestine, with powers to try and deterraine on
behalf of the holy see the faith and qualifications of all
candidates for the episcopal office ; declaring at the sarae
time all ordinations raade in conterapt ofthe vicarial au
thority, thus arbitrarily conferred, to be absolutely void.''
Pope Martin I. applied himself with equal zeal to the
maintenance of the ancient claims of his see, as ,, ,. ,
T. . n 1 • Martin J.
to the accomplishment of his more recent en- attempts to
croachraents upon foreign jurisdictions. Arch- JurSdlction
bishop Paul of Thessalonica had offended hira over
by sending in a confession of faith which did ^"y"cum.
not contain a verbal adoption of the late proceedings of
the Lateran. For this offence the pope suspended him
from aU sacerdotal function untU he should have purged
his " contempt of the holy see" by recording an express
curse against the MonotheUte delinquents. He wrote
urgent letters to all the bishops of the great Illyrian dio
cese, commanding them to hold no communion with their
P Baron, Ann. 649, § 59 ; Fleury, ConcU. tom. Ui. loc. cit.
tom. viii. pp. 480-483: and coni. Hard.

430 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
metropolitan, to repudiate his ordinances, and to permit
him to do no functional act until he should either retum
to his dut3^ to the holy see, or his place be filled up by an
orthodox successor. But the state of the times was un
favourable to the execution ofthe coraprehensive scherae
of Pope Martin. The spirits of men Avere paralysed, and
their attention distracted, by the rapid progress of Arab
conquest. The advantages he had gained in Syria and
Palestine were of no avail to Rome, in the prostrate con
dition of those churches. The patriarch of Constanti
nople was not now assailable from that quarter ; and the
attempt to re-establish the papal jurisdiction in Ill3'ricum
led to no better result than further to inflarae the ran
corous spirit of Constans II., and prompt him to instant
vengeance against the haughty opponent of his cherished
scheme of religious comproraise.
While the council was still sitting at the Lateran,
Arrest, im- the ciuperor sent his chamberlain Olympius into
prisonment, Italy with a prccept to all bishops and secular
^ofPope persons of rank and authority to subscribe the
Martin L ic Type." This raandate was accorapanied Avith
a secret order to cause Pope Martin to be arrested and
sent in custody to Constantinople. For the moment this
scheme was unsuccessful. But about four 3rears afterwards
the exarch Calliopas was more fortunate. Martin was
at length apprehended and conveyed to the capital by the
satellites ofthe exarch. This violent proceeding was not
altogether destitute of legal excuse. The pope had been
consecrated without soliciting or Avaiting for the iraperial
warrant; Constans Avas therefore justified in treating him
as an intruder. But no such apology can be pleaded for
the wanton cruelty which the aged and infirm pontiff
suffered at the hands ofthe worthless tyrant into whose
power he had fallen. He was transferred from one prison
to another for a period of more than two 3'ears, till his
death, at Cherson in Scythia, on the 16th of September
655. But the cotip-d'etat was for the moment successful ;
and the reluctant clergy of Rorae, after resisting the irape
rial coraraands for the election of a new pope as long as
possible, at length, on the Sth of September 654, — conse-

Chap. L] UNCANONICAL ELECTION OF EUGENIUS L 431
quently more than a year before the death of Pope Mar
tin, — fiUed the chair by the election of the archpriest
Eugenius, as if it had been vacated by death.''
Pope Martin I. could exhibit a title to the chair of
Peter clear of all canonical obiection. The se- .,
1 j/*j."iii 1 1 111 Uncanonical
cular detect it laboured under could have no election
ecclesiastical consequence; and as long" as he °^^°v^.,
T 1 I-l 11 •. il ¦ ,1 ,1 Eugenius I.
lived, no bishop could, consistently with the ge
neral law of the Church, be elected in his room. If we
should incline, with Fleury, to admit the necessity of the
case as an apology for this fatal irregularity in the
election of Eug-enius I., we should be driven from our
position by what took place at Rome not long after his
instalment in the papal chair. The double apostate Pyr
rhus had been reinstated in the chair of Constantinople ;
but survived his restoration little raore than four months.
He was succeeded by the cardinal priest Peter, a pro
fessed Monothelite heretic. Peter, however, announced
his election in due form to the new pope, and directed his
synodal letters to be publicly presented to the pontiff
in the great church of the Lateran before the assembled
clergy and people of Rome. But Eugenius was saved
from the indignity of holding communion with a notori
ous heretic by a spontaneous movement of the assembled
multitude. When the imperial messengers approached
with the docuraent in their hands, the bystanders rushed
upon thera, seized the letters, and flung them contemptu
ously out of the window, and exacted a solemn engage
ment from the pope never to hold communication with the
heretical pretender.'' This contempt of the imperial com
mands remained unpunished ; and it may be confidently
believed that, under the protection of the zealous popu
lace, the clergy raight, if it had so pleased them, have
successfully resisted the revolting raandate for the irapo
sition of a new pope while his predecessor was not only
StUl Uving, but suffering in the cause so fondly cherished
and boldly vindicated by the people.
1 Anastas. in Vit. Mart. I. et Eugen. 253 ; and Fleury, tom. viu. pp. 540, 541 .
Pap., ap. Murat. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. iii. " Ibid. Vit. Eug. Pap. ubi sup. p.
p. 190. Conf. Art de vir. §-c. tom. i. p. 140.

432 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
But we believe that the latter acted with more sincer-
vitaiian ^^3^ ^^^'^ their ecclesiastical leaders. A spirit
pope; of circumspection — to give it the mildest term
"proachX — from this momeut raarks the conduct of the
to Constan- Roraau clcrgy in their relations to the court of
tinople. Constantinople. Pope Eugenius died on the
2d of June 668 ; and the clerg3^, with the consent of
the emperor, chose Vitalian, a native of Sigae in Cam
pania, to succeed him. We may be allowed to express
some surprise when we find that the first act of the new
pontiff was a renewal of that communication with the he
retical Peter of Constantinople which his predecessor had
so solemnly renounced. Vitalian lost no time after his
inauguration in transmitting his S3'nodal letters both to
the eraperor and patriarch, announcing his elevation to
the papal chair.' But the position of Pope Vitalian was
in raany respects critical ; and we observe throughout
his pontificate considerable caution and cbmplaisance in
his demeanour towards his heretical sovereign. With
the example of Martin I. before hira, and an obsequious
exarch at hand to execute the imperial commands, the
stern opposition of his predecessor had no charras for
hira. The controversy of the " one will" was allowed to
sink to a whisper ; and Pope Vitalian was perraitted by
a return of courtesy to exercise a degree of influence in
the ecclesiastical affairs of the East which Martin had in
Case of John vaiu eudeavourcd to vindicate as his right. John
of Lappse. bishop of Lappse, or Lampione, a district of the
province of Crete subject to Thessalonica, had been de
posed by Paul, the metropolitan bishop of that city. John
appealed to Rome against the sentence ; the S3'nod ofthe
diocese inhibited the appeal ; but the pope, regarding the
inhibition as a conterapt of his authorit3^, quashed all
» Baronius thinks that the letter ad- the pope : " Spiritalem nobis Isetitiam
dressed to Peter was merely hortatory, peperit Utera vestra unanimis sanctffi
and not a proper synodal letter imply- fraternitatis." Pagi (ad loc. Baron.)
ing communion (Ajin. 65.5, § 5). The takes pains to prove that Vitalian did
existence of the letter is only known not write on this occasion to Peter, but
fromthereplyofPeter, which waspartly only to the emperor Constans andhis
read at the General Council of Constan- son. i^fcury, on the other hand under-
tinople. Hard. Cone. tom. iii. p. 1347 A. stands the letter to have been a formal
The expressions quoted certainly imply synodal epistle. H. E. tom. viii. p.
a very friendly tone in the letters of 562.

Chap. L] CONSTANS II. ENFOECES THE TYPE. 433
proceedings against the deUnquent bishop, and com
manded the metropolitan to reinstate him in his see,
with a pecuniary indemnity for all costs and charges he
had incurred in consequence of the prosecution. The
actual result of this exercise of power is not known ; but
as Paul afterwards so far assented to the legality ofthe
appeal as to send the minutes of the provincial trial to
Rome for the pope's inspection, it is not improbable that
he withdrew the inhibition and submitted to the reversal
of his judgment.'
Constans II. was not wanting in a return of courte
sies to the pope. He received the letters and constans n.
legates of Vitalian with great respect ; he con- enforces
firmed the privUeges of the holy see, and in *® '^^^¦
token ofhis favour presented a superb Ms. ofthe Gospels,
in a case of gold, to the church of St. Peter at Rome.
The costly gift was received by the pope with the most
profound reverence, and solemnly deposited in the trea
sury of the church. But the controversial truce did not
extend beyond the confines of Italy. Constans was as
firmly as ever resolved, by raeans fair or foul, to compel
the adoption of the " Type" among- his Eastern subjects.
While his theologians, with the patriarch Peter at their
head,, were inventing expedients to reconcile adverse
opinions on the subject of the " one will," he occupied
hiraself in hunting down the adversaries of his own par
ticular scherae for ridding his governraent ofthe disturb
ances arising out of these vexatious meddlings with the
popular creed". The "¦ Type" was to accomplish all this ;
but its opponents treated it with derision and scorn ; they
defied the tyrant by every form of resistance, and courted
persecutions, imprisonments, and mutilations, even death
itselfj so they might but kindle into a flame the conterapt
and abhorrence with which the people were beginmng to
regard the bloodthirsty debauchee upon the throne.
The self-devotion of the fanatics produced Expedition
the intended effect. The martyrdoms of Maxi- and death of
mus of Chrysapohs and his disciple Anastasius" Constans n.
' Ciacone, Vit. Pont, tom, i. p. 462; p. 114.
Fleury, tom. vni. p. 603; De Mornay, " These men had represented their
VOL. 11. F F

434 CATHEDEA PETEI. [BookV.
drew after thein hosts of equaUy resolute followers and
victims ; the public hatred hovered like a thunder-cloud
over the head ofthe tyrant, and he determined to remove
himself out of its reach before it should burst upon and
overwhelm him. Collecting a considerable fleet and land
force, he diserabarked on the coast of Calabria, with a Adew
to the recovery of the long-lost provinces of Southern
Italy. But he met with so severe a check frora the Bene
ventine Lombards as to divert him from the enterprise.
He retired upon Rome ; and after plundering the city of
almost aU its remaining treasures of art and portable
public wealth, he finally retreated to Syracuse in Sicily ;
and was there slain by the hand of a slave, in the year
668. From this point of time the decline ofthe Monothelite
party in the East may be dated. The odium
^omeTnd^ which the persecutions, cruelties, and caprices
Constant!- of its imperial patron had brought upon that
tween the confcssiou tended to produce a pretty general
years 668 approximation to the CathoUc party. Peter
of Constantinople, the ingenious inventor of a
threefold will in the diAdne Logos, was succeeded in the
year 666 by the archdeacon Thomas ; between that period
and the year 678 no fewer than five patriarchs succes
sively occupied the chair of Constantinople. All these
prelates were treated by Pope Vitahan and his short
lived successors Adeodatus, Domnus, and Agathon, as
professed or suspected heretics ; and their synodal letters,
though regularl3'" sent, were as regularly rejected. Con
stans II. had been succeeded by his pacific son Constan
tine IV., surnamed Pogonatus. Four years afterwards
(672) Pope Vitalian sank into the tomb, and Adeodatus
foUowed him upon the papal throne. This pontiff held
the see for the short term of four years and a few days
under six months; and in 676 he was succeeded by
Donus, or Domnus, for the brief period of two years and
rather raore than five months. But short as these periods
party in the East at the council of the often mistaken for Christian firmness in
Lateran under Pope Martin I. ; and support of the truth. Inordinate theo-
on their return maintained its decisions logical pride has its martyrs as weU as
with that insolent audacity which is so honest conviction.

Chap. L] EOMAN SYNOD OF 679. 435
were, the latter pontiffs witnessed the first approaches
towards a relig-ious pacification. Constantine IV. pro
posed to Pope Domnus that a conference should be held
between Theodore of Constantinople and Macarius of
Antioch on the one side, and the pope in person, or his
legates, on the other, for the purpose of deterraining the
terras of reunion between the East and the West. Dora
nus did not live to reply to the emperor's proposal ; but
in the following year (679) his successor Agathon con
voked a general council — or what was intended to repre
sent a general council — of the Western churches, for the
ostensible purpose of deliberating upon the proposal under
his own superintendence.
The synod, when assembled, consisted of a large
majority of Italian prelates subject to the see jjonjan
of Rome, including the metropolitans of Milan, synod of the
Aquileia, and Ravenna. From France we read ^^^^ ®^'-
the names of only three bishops ; and, incidentally, that
of Wilfred, titular archbishop of York, who was then at
Rome for the purpose of prosecuting his suit against the
presumed usurpers ofhis province." All that we know
about the proceedings of this council must be gathered
from two letters addressed to the emperor Constantine ;
the first from the pope himself, the second from the
council over which he presided.'' The pontiff sets out by
affirming the maternal authority of the holy see over all
the churches of the West ; the council then sitting he
declared to be a full representation of the whole Latin
church ; although some time had been required to collect
a sufficient constituency to enable it to sustain that cha
racter. " He was," he said, " sincere^ anxious to render
to the eraperor all due obedience ; and he had with that
intent hastened to appoint proper legates to confer with
him : not, however, to debate or to discuss matters of
" See Book IV. e. iv. p. 336 of this "the pope and council;" both are ad-
work, dressed to the emperor Constantine and
'" These epistles, or rather treatises, his two brothers, Heraclius and Tibe-
may be studied by those whose patience rius Augg. The substance is, as usual,
is proof against the duUest prolixity-, in very well and shortly given by Fleury,
.Harrf. Cone. torn. iii. pp. 1074 and 1115. tom. ix. pp._ 13 and 16. Conf. .BaroK.
The second epistle runs in the name of Ann. 680, §§ i. et sqq.

436 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
faith, but solely to lay before him succinctly the a,rticles of
the Catholic creed relative to the question then in hand;
and this he stated dogmaticaU3'^ to be, that ' as in the
Lord Jesus Christ there are two natures, there are like
wise two wUls and a twofold modus operandi.^ And from
this faith he affirmed the holy church of Bome had never
swerved." The second epistle contained the proper report of the
Synodal acts syuod, and was signed by the pope in the first
and report, place, and after him by all the bishops, accord
ing to rank and seniority. They are, in thefr aggregate
capacity, described as the " Council ofthe Apostohc See ;"
their functional competency was — so they desired it to be
understood — deduced from the papal authority, and all
their acts were supposed to derive their validity from his
concurrence and sanction alone. Their faith, they de
clared, was that of Rome ; they implicitly adopted the
whole Roman tradition, upon the avowed ground that
their own ignorance and incapacit3' to judge for them
selves were so profound that they could find no sure
refuge against the entanglements of religious error, but
in the closest adhesion to the "dogmatic forms handed
down to them through the chair of Peter."
The apprehension of heretical contamination was, in
Character ^^^^h, increased to a panic by the sense of help-
of this less ignorance here expressed. Throughout the
^y^o^- whole course of her history the church of Rome
was as deeply indebted to this state of religious diffidence
as to any other of those numerous foibles which contri
bute to weaken self-reliance, and to reduce the mind of
men and nations to a state of quiescent dependence upon
intelligences destitute of any stronger claim to authority
than that which their own individual or aggregate judg
ment, if properl3r exerted, might have supplied. Yet, in
cases like the present, the Roman pontiffs were anxious
not to forfeit the support to be derived from these synodal
assemblies by depriving them altogether of that appear
ance of spontaneous and deliberative action which was
necessary to g-ive a current value to their deliberations.
^ Baron, ubi sup. §§ xxxii. -xxxiv.

Chap. L] THE SIXTH GENEEAL COUNCIL. 437
True it was that this council at Rome was, like other
Italian synods, in no material sense either a representative
or an independent body : no notice of the meeting had
been given to the bishops of Spain, Britain, or Germany,
and only partially to those of France ; but it suited the
papal policy to assign to it the ostensible functions of a
deliberative body competent to represent the sentiments
of the entire Latin communion ; and thereby to impart
to its decisions, though purely papal, that authoritative
character which belongs to a properly coEstituted legis
lative body.
The papal manifesto and the synodal report were de
livered to the emperor by separate deputations ;
and great care was taken that the instructions o/th^sixa
of the envoys should be in both cases in perfect general
harmony with each other. The emperor was
informed that the delegates had no power to enter into
any discussion ; that their only duty was to deliver into
his hands the confession of the entire Latin church upon
the disputed question ; that that confession was not sub
ject to any alteration or correction ; and that it was the
unanimous resolution of all the " churches of the West
and the North" to regard all who rejected it as outcasts
from Christian coraraunion. Constantine had in the mean
time removed the obnoxious patriarch Theodore, to make
room for George the Syncellus, a person of a more tract
able disposition; and he had caused a synod of bishops
sirailarly disposed to assemble at Constantinople. At the
same time he ordered the patriarch Macarius of Antioch,
the champion of the Monothelite opinion, to assemble the
bishops ofhis persuasion in the greatest possible number,
and freely to examine and report to him upon the matters
to be subraitted to a general council by the deputies of
Pope Agathon and the Western churches. It does not
appear that the eraperor disclosed to the dissentients the
contents ofthe papal instructions ; he baited his trap with
the lure of free discussion, though fully and emphatically
apprised that the suppression of aU inquiry was the first
condition of reconcihation. The Monothelite bishops fell
into the snare ; and Macarius, with his friends, took their

438 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
seats in the council, which was then regarded as fully
constituted, and invested with the proper character and
functions of au oecumenical council of the Christian
church. The first meeting was held in the palace of the Trul-
Constituencylum at Constantinople on the 7th of November
caUed^sS'th ^^^' '^^^ emperor, attended by thirteen mem-
"^enerS bers of his councU of state, presided as judge, or
councU. moderator. The highest places of honour were
assigned to the legates of the pope ; the next, to the
patriarchs George and Macarius, the metropoUtan of
Ephesus, and the legates ofthe sees of Alexandria and
Jerusalera, in their order ; the Spanish, GalUc, German,
and British churches were unrepresented ; nor does it
appear to have been thought at all necessary to notice
them as constituents of the Latin communion otherwise
than as represented by the papal legates.^ The latter
Proceedings, opcued the proceedings by denouncing the he-
and their resy of the " ouc will," but in conformity with
result, ^heir instructions dechning to enter upon any
dogmatic discussion of the controverted doctrine. The
emperor, however, called upon both parties to declare
their opinions, and to defend them freely by reference to
the councils and the writings of the fathers. The meta-
ph3'sical and religious difficulties involved in the contro
versy were not much discussed ; Scripture, and its genuine
interpretation, was scarcel3^ adverted to at all : both par
ties confined themselves to long quotations and extracts
from the councils and the dicta of the catholic fathers ;
J Baronius and his commentator Pagi I think, however, that the term " lega-
(Ann. 679, § i.) were sensible of this tus," used in the four subscriptions of
obiection to the universality of this so- Adeodatus of Gaul, WUfred of York,
called sixth oecumenical council. Ba- Felix of Aries, and Taurinus of Toijon,
ronius tells us that the records of aU the denoted simply their official character
other preUminary or constituent provin- as presidents ofthe several Gallic and
cial councils held by order of the pope British provincial councUs. And in that
are lost ; and Pagi adds, that the Gal- character the three French metropoli-
lic bishops present at the preparatory tans, like Wilfred of York, took upon
council held at Eome had, by their sub- themselves to speak for the bishops of
scriptions, vouched themselves as depu- their provinces. There is no evidence
ties of the churches of Gaul and Ger- whatever of any special proviucial con-
many. But, as Fleury properly remarks, vocations for the purpose of collect-
Wilfred of York also took upon himself, ing the suffrages of the unrepresented
without a shadow of authority, the cha- churches. See the subscriptions, apud
racter of legate of the Anglican church. Hard. Concil. tom. iii. p. 1131.

Chap. L] CONDEMNATION OF THE MONOTHELITES. 439
and indulged in mutual revUings and charges of forgery,
interpolation, false quotation, suppression, and fraud.
Macarius of Antioch was at first feebly supported by the
patriarch George ; but when overpowered by the superior
learning or volubility of his opponents, he took his stand
upon the authority of the three great patriarchs, Hono
rius of Rome, Sergius of Constantinople, and Cyrus of
Alexandria. It was, however, pretty soon apparent to
which side the emperor inclined, and the patriarch George
accordingly professed himself convinced. He and his
clergy declared that the authorities rehed upon by the
Latins were conclusive. All the Thracian and Asiatic
bishops, with the exception of five, deserted Macarius ;
and when the latter, nothing daunted, poured out his
maledictions upon his opponents — more especially the
hero of the adverse faction, the martyred Maximus —
reasserted the fidelity of his quotations, and eulogised
Honorius, Sergius, and Cyrus as the piUars of the or
thodox faith, he was answered by an almost unanimous
sentence of excommunication and deposition, involving
him and all his remaining adherents in one general con
demnation. The success of the Latins was not, however, without
serious alloy. Macarius had brought the name ^emna-
of Pope Honorius so prominently forward dur- tion of the
ing the eight or nine first sessions, that the fa- ^"ggj^^jgh?
thers could not avoid dealing with him as they
were called upon to deal with the associated names of
Sergius and Cyrus. In the thirteenth session it was there
fore resolved that the writings of all these persons, having
been found to be at variance with the doctrine of the
Apostles, the decrees of the councUs, and the concurrent
opinion of the fathers, heretical in theraselves, and dan
gerous to the welfare of men's souls, they, their persons
and their doctrine be blotted from the memory of all
Christians, and erased from the records of the cathoUc
Church. The sentence thus concludes : " Sergius there
fore, late bishop of the city of Constantinople, the author
of this heresy, Cyrus of Alexandria, Pyrrhus and Paul of
Constantinople, Theodore bishop of Pharan, and aU others

440 CATHEDEA rE'nil. [Book A'.
A\ hom Pone Agatliou hath condemned, avc do Iiereby ciui-
demu ana drive out of the Church ; nud together Avith
these Ave do pass the like sentence, nnd do in lilvc innnncr
doom to eternal perdition Honorius httc^ pope
hmoel^Z.' of old Bome, fin- that it hnth bet'u manifestly
ot^K^JIliT Pi'O'^'ed, by his epistle to tbe said Sergius, lu^ e.\-
omo. Jjjijjig^ to us, that lu> hnth in all things folloA\cd
and adopted the impieties of him tiie said Sergius." 'I'lie^
orighialletters of Honorius, toii'etlier Avith the writings of
all the condemned persons, which w(u-e to bt> found iu the
archives of the church of Constant inople, wer(> publicly
consig-ned to the flames; the nnnics of the mnrt \ rs and
confessors of the orthodox 0}>uii(ui were restored to their
honours iu the Church ; and hi the sixttHMitb session, the
annthemns decreed in the thirteenth wert< rend and pro
mulgated, including the solemn curse upon the memory
of the " heretic lloiioriits of Boiiic."
In the eighteenth and last session, the fiitlun-s drew
Comhidino- "P ''"'^ agreed upon their coiift>ssion of faith,
nets ofthe to Avliich tlicv appended au authentic list of the
couiumI. ^Qf^^ ,.,jjfi living lieretics Avlioni tliey had con
demned. The list wns found to contaui tbe names of Ho
norius, C3rus, nnd Macarius, lhc pntrinrchs of tln> three
Petrine sees of Pope (Gregory the Great," besides those of
many minor heretics. As each name Avas pronounced in
succession, Avith the appended nnathemn, tiie holy fathers
echoed the curse with A\ondcrful zeal nnd unction. With
Avhnt feehngs the papal legntes listeii(>d to this scur\y
treatment of n successor of St. Peter, Ave arc not in
formed. In other respects their triumph A>ns couqilete.
Au nddress was voted to the emperor, eulogishig Im
})iety, reitel-ating the nnnthenias, praising Pope Agathon,
— " through Avhom," said thev, " the blessed niiosflc Peter
hath spoken unto ns," — and concluding aa ith n reiuicst that
he Avould ratify tlieir proceedhigs AMth the seal of tem
poral laAV, by liis imp(>rinl subscription nud publication.
A synodal letter to Pope Agathon a\ an then drawn uj),
informing him thnt they had, agreeabl3' to his dciriire,
condemned tbe hert^ticnl teachers nnmed in his lettci'S,
¦ Sou Book III. c. vi. pp. S04, 208 of this work.

Cm.vp. I.] ADOPTION OF TUK SIXTH GENEEAL COUNCIL. 441
including- that of Honorius, whom the pope had certainly
not named among the number. In conclusion, they be
sought the pope to adopt their confession of faith, Avhich
net they doubted not would call down the divine blessing
upon himself j the emperor, and the whole estate of the
church and republic of Rome."
The synod closed its sittings on the 16th of September
Ul the year 681 ; and the emperor without delay imperial
issued his edict for the execution of the conci- edict of con-
liur decrees. The edict followed accurately the ^'"'"^''O"-
terms of the decrees, even to the enumeration of the per
sons coiubunned, among whom the name of Honorius of
Rome stood out conspicuously ; it concluded with an
absolute prohibition to all classes of persons, lay or eccle-
sia.stical, 03- private or pubhc discussion, or otherwise, to
revive the disputes noAV so happily brought to a conclu
sion. Every transgression of this precept was to be
\isited by tlie Uke civU penalties as those annexed to
doctrinal recusanc3\
Pope Agathon died iu the month of January 682 ;
and was succeeded by Leo II. , an ecclesiastic Pope loo n.
of a'ood repute for piety and learning. Owing "•^¦'¦^Tff '^e
e 1 i.'i'ii J. n A. !.• 1 council, and
to some unexplained delay at Coustantinoiile, adopts the
the new pope Avas not consecrated till the fol- anatiiemas.
lowing October. A few months afterwards, he sig-nified
to the emperor his " pure and simple" adoption and con
firmation of the decrees of the late council. " After due
(examination," he declared, " we pronounce this sixth ge
neral council ofthe Church to be in strict conformitv' Avith
the five preceding councils. We also received with plea
sure tiie (confirmatory) edict of your majesty ; because,
iu conjunction with the decree ofthe councU, we are thus
put iu possession ofa two-edged SAVord for the extirpation
of aU manner of heresy. We therefore give our entire
consent to tiie definitions of this holy sixth general coun
cil, and receive it as of equal authority Avith the five
preceding councUs of the universal Church ; and we do
» Thia very short synopsis ofthe so- folio pa.^cs. Seethe abridgments of
cftU.'d sixth giMiond oounoU may bo com- IJuroniu.s. Ann. 680and681 ; oadFleury,
pared with the dutftila In the Concilia, tom. ix. pp. 2o-65.
tom. iii. pp. 1043-1644, — six hundred

442 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
hereby anathematise the inventors of the new heresy — to
wit, Iheodore of Pharan, Cyrus of Alexandria, Sergius,
Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter of Constantinople, and lastly
Honorius, who, instead of maintaining the bright purity
ofthe apostolic see, did conspire and raake common cause
with heretics for the overthrow of the true faith.''
^ 5aron. Ann. 683, §§ xiii. -XV. The churches) as forgeries ; but Pa^t treats
cardinal rejects this and other four let- the cardinal's objections as " inep-
ters of the same pontiff (to tbe Spanish tiie."

CHAPTER II.
THE EAVENNATINE C0NTE0"VEESy— THE QUINISEXT.
I'olitical and religious position of the holy see — Participation of Eome in the
sixtli general council — Comparative stato ofthe Eastern and Western churches
— Death of C. Pogonatus — His successors — Leontius — Tiberius III. — Bardanes
— Eeligious revolutions in the East— Claims of Eavenna — History of the Ea
vennatine patriarchate — The Autocephaly — Conilict between Eome and Ea
venna — Privileges of Eavenna cancelled by C. Pogonatus — Benedict II. pope
— Election of Sergius L — Substitution of saint and relic worship for idolatrous
superstitions, &e. — Success of Pope Sergius I. — Origin and convocation ofthe
" Quinisext" council — Objections to the constitution of the Quinisext councU
— Ciuions of the Quinisext— Pope Sergius I. rejects the couucU — Abortive
attempts to compel acceptance of the Quinisext decrees — Complaisance of
Justinian II. towards the holy seo — Mysterious journey of Pope Constantine
to Constantinople — Conjectural explanation.
In considering the political and ecclesiastical position
ofthe papacy subseouentlv to the fifth g:eneral p_^j.^.^^ ^^^
councU, Ave are struck by the decline it exhibits reUgious
both in spiritual dignity and reUgious influence, ^^y^^^
The schism ofthe "three chapters" had inflicted the seventh
a deep Avound on the constitution ofthe papacy '=®"'"'y-
in the West; a Avound Avliich rankled in the bod3^of the
Roman church for more than half a century, and was
A\'ith difficult3" closed by the zeal and discretion ofthe
great Greg-or3'. Within the seAcnth centur3' the vexa
tious neighbourhood of the Lombards, and the stiU more
Aveakening political connection with Constantinople, was
not as yet balanced by any external political support;
and the pontiffs of Rome "had been compelled to trim
betAveeu the Greek aud Lombard beUigerents hi Italy to
obtain for their spiritual subjects a precarious immunity
from the visitations of A\ar, and the dangers of religious
contamination. The Mouothehte controAersy Avas the
chmax of misfortune to Rome. The error ' of Pope
Honorius I. drew after it a frauk abandonment of the

444 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
Ennodian doctrine of impeccability," and an incalculable
loss of spiritual dignity. The abductions of YigiUus and
Martin had affected only the temporal power of the
holy see ; the lapse of Honorius shook the foundation ofa
supremacy grounded upon a reputed incapabUity of doc
trinal error. The, ff possible, stiU more palpable mistake
of Pope Leo II.,in consenting to the condemnation of his
predecessor, fixed the stigma of dogmatic peccabUity on
the chair of Peter ; and, whUe this backsliding should
be remembered among men, the proud position gained for
Rome by the labour of Leo I., and the learning or logic
of Symmachus, could never be recovered.'' But, in truth,
the whole attention of the pontiffs of this and the follow
ing centur3r had been in a great degree withdrawn from
the ecclesiastical, and riveted — perhaps by the necessities
of their political position — upon their temporal interests.
The loss of spiritual dignity sustained b3^ the result of the
late council was to some extent compensated to Leo II.
by court favour. Constantine Pogonatus granted cer
tain important privileges to the see of Rorae : a material
reduction of the sum pa3^able to the imperial treasury
for confirmation was consented to ; and the customary
deliveries of corn hitherto leviable upon the patrimonial
estate of the Church in Calabria and Sicily, together with
a few other fiscal burdens, Avere remitted.
But in other respects the holy see had been treated
„ . . . with no deg-ree of respect or deference corre-
Participation .. Ri.i i- rn
of Eome in spoudiug With the claims SO successfully main-
the sixth ge- faiued by former pontiffs. So rapid had been
TifiTH.l council »/ J. *
' the decline of true theological learning, so pro
found the decay of genuine piet3', so absorbing the pur
suit of raerely Avorldly objects among the hierarchy and
clergy generall3r, that the influence of Rome, great as it
was, had to work with far baser materials, and with far
less skilful hands, than those at her coramand when Leo
I. convoked, directed, and controlled the great s3rnod of
" Conf. Book in. c. ii. p. 76 of tbis had been evanescent. But the pure and
work. simple acceptance of the decrees of the
>> If Leo II. had dealt with the con- sixth general council left no room for
demnation of Honorius as Leo the Great escape. Conf. Book II. u. v. p. 408 of
had treated the twenty-eighth canon this work. '
of the council of Chalcedon, the danger

Chap. IL] EOMAN INFLUENCE IN THE EAST. 445
Chalcedon. Marcian, and his wife Pulcheria, supported
that pontiff upon religious rather than political grounds ;
Pogonatus took no other than a purely poUtical interest
in the proceedings of the sixth cecumenical synod. Leo
the Great could build upon a foundation of solid learning
and an enlightened exposition of Scripture ; he addressed
himself to a world not yet wholly enslaved to sacerdotal
tradition : Agathon presumed upon the ignorance, rather
than the intelligence, of his party ; and supported himself
almost solely upon traditional lore and patristic autho
rity. The great object of papal ambition in that age was
the extension of the temporal estate ofthe Church; while
the eraperor was thinking of nothing but how to put an
end to the vexations of religious faction, and to raake the
suppression of discordant theological opinions the step
ping-stone to the extension ofthe iraperial power in Italy.
The theological sceptre had thus passed from the hands
of Rome. Agathon could no longer insist upon a po
tential presidency ; the acts of the council no longer ran
in the name of the pope of Rome.; the council was no
longer convoked by him ; his legates no longer presided
over and directed all proceedings ; nor did the fathers re
gard themselves as called together for his purposes, or to
do his work. Constantine presided, directed, and mode
rated in raatters of religion, as well as in those of form
and order; he affected to treat the litigants as equally
privileged, and the matters and things to be brought
under discussion as subject to his scrutiny and approba
tion. He took no account of the attempt of the pope to
limit the powers of the synod to the simple acceptance of
his definitions ; he permitted and encouraged reiterated
discussion of the controverted dograas, and virtually re
pelled the pretension of Rorae to bind down the Chris
tian world to the despotic decision of the Latin chief.
The prospects of Rome in the West wore a raore favour
able aspect. Bating the independent attitude comparative
ofthe Spanish prelacy," so soon to be altogether |,*^^^»j^^^ ^^«^
struck out of the hst of Christian establishments, Vestem
the Western and Northern churches were draw- churches.
<: See Book IV. c. U. p. 275.

446 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
ing daily closer around her. In fact, the ignorance or
credulity of the Christians of the West afforded a better
security for thefr religious coherency than the theological
acumen of the Greeks for the maintenance of their own
ecclesiastical integrity and independence at home, or their
influence abroad. In the East practical religion was almost
swallowed up by dog-matic forraalism, leaving- the heart
emptied of every principle of resistance to the baser pas
sions and interests ofthe moment. Honesty and sincerity
are the only permanent securities for Uberty or independ
ence in Church or State ; and where these are wanting, in
dependence, if not a chimera, more frequently turns out a
curse than a blessing. Within the remnant ofthe Oriental
empire still unconquered by the Arabs, the Christian pre
lacy had abandoned themselves to the baneful spfrit of
theological faction ; and when not engaged in denouncing
and persecuting one another, had become the servile in
struments ofa government infected with every vice en
gendered in the hotbed of despotism. The ultimate results
ofthe great Mouothehte controversy must be here shortly
adverted to, with a view to the contrast of feebleness and
of strength in the rehgious state of the two great divi
sions of Christendom.
Constantine Pogonatus died in the 3'^ear 685, and was
Death of Succeeded by his worthless son Justinian II.
Pogonatus: After a reig-n of ten years, — consumed in seU-
his successors. • j ^ -ii i i. i j
indulgence, indolence, and cruelty, — he was de-
Leontius. P^scd, mutilated, and banished by Leontius, the
popular favourite of the day. Within the first
three years of his exile, his enemy was supplanted by
Tiberius III ^P^imar, who ascended the throne by the title
¦ of Tiberius III. ; but in the eighth year of the
reign of the latter prince, Justinian II. suddenly reap
peared at the gates of Constantinople, and was introduced
into the city by the ever-fickle populace. His restoration
was the signal for the renewal of those unheard-of cruel
ties which in him had become a second nature ; and in
Phiiippicus the year 711 Phifippicus Bardanes ridded the
Bardanes. -v^rorid of the tyrant, without mitigation of the
tyranny to which all these miseries were ascribable. Bar-

Chap. IL] EELIGIOUS EEVOLUTIONS m THE EAST. 447
danes professed Monothelite opinions ; and the first act
of his governraent was to abolish or destroy every rae
morial of the sixth general council upon which he could
la3'^ his hands. At the simple mandate of the new em
peror, a nuraerous synod of bishops was found fully pre
pared to anathematise every enemy of the Monothelite
tenets, and to restore to farae and honours all whora
that council had condemned or deposed. The names of
Sergius, Honorius, and all who had suffered with them,
were solemnly reinscribed in the sacred diptychs, and
their effigies were again set up in the holy places. Cyrus,
the orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, was deposed,
and the Monothelite Johannes seated in his chair.
Passing over the intermediate successions, the see of
Rome was at the period ofthe elevation of Bar- t,,. .
T / \ • t ^ -r\ nt • Iteligious re-
danes (a.d. 711) occupied by Pope Constantine. volutions in
The former thought fit to send an apology for ^^^ ^^^*-
his conduct to Rome ; but the pontiff rejected his expla
nations with contempt ; he cast out the emperor's statues
from the holy places, and erased his narae from the hturgy
of the Church : yet he carefully avoided carrying his
religious resistance be3fond the limits of teraporal allegi
ance ; and successfully defended the iraperial coraraander
Peter against the rebel Christophiles, who, under favour
of the religious fermentation in Rome, endeavoured to
maintain himseff in arms against the sovereign. Three
years afterwards a new revolution hurled Bardanes from
the throne ; and now Anastasius IL (Arteraius), his suc
cessor, professed the orthodox faith. With sycophantic
alacrity the clergy of the East hastened to restore the
sixth general council to all its pristine dignity and honour.
The acts ofhis predecessor were annulled, and the senti
raents of the new emperor were conveyed to Pope Con
stantine through the exarch Scholasticus of Ravenna.
The intrusive patriarch John at the sarae time sent in an
ample retractation of the MonotheUte error, with a lame
apology for his late defection from the faith, and partici
pation in the deposition of the orthodox Cyrus. He con
cluded his excuses by asking pardon for his sins, and
entreating the pope to accept his synodal letters in token

448 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
of communion and amity. The example of John was fol
lowed by all the metropolitans and prelates of the East ;
and the3' now professed and taught the doctrine ofthe
two wills with at least as furious a zeal as they had, under
Phiiippicus, taught the adverse tenets.
From such a rival, Rome, though she might not have
Claims of much to gain, could have little to fear. The
Eavenna. hypocritical vacUlatious of the Greek hierarchy
justified the simple confidence of the Western churches
in the honour and integrity of Rorae ; while the alterna
tions of frantic dograatisra and unprincipled sycophancy
in the Greeks shut out from their view all the remoter
consequences of their own misderaeanours, and threw
the advantage into the scale of ignorant integrity and
consistency. But this spontaneous self- surrender of
the Western churches partook of none of the capricious
servility of the B3^zantine character. A spirit to insist
upon ancient rights, even against the chair of Peter, often
caused embarrassment to the course of pontifical govern-
ment. The citizens of Ravenna had not forgot-
of the°Ea- ten that their city had ranked with the imperial
vennatine capitals of the empire ; and that the bishop of
patriarchate. ^-.^ ,, ipi it..
Ravenna had partaken ot the proud distinction
conferred upon the city when it became the imperial resi
dence of Honorius and his court. The privileges claimed
were understood to extend to an exclusive jurisdiction
over the JEmilian province, reserabhng that of Constan
tinople over her Thracian diocese. These privileges
The Autoce- Were designated by the Greeks by the narae of
phaiy. "Autocephaly," implying exemption from patri
archal or other visitatorial control.'' After the decree of
Valentinian IIL, it is difficult to conceive on what legal
ground Ravenna could claim exemption from the patri
archal jurisdiction of Rome.' Though not lying within
the Roman vicariate, or " provinciae suburbicariae," and
therefore not an immediate or ordinary dependency of
the holy see, she was obviously included within the vast
region erabraced by that decree. Yet it seems that Ra-
^ Bingham, Ecclesiastical Antiq. vol. i. " See abstract of the decree, in vol. i.
p. 277. Book n. c. iv. p. 353 of this work.

Chap, n.] CONTEST BETWEEN EOME AND EAVENNA. 449
venna had been raised to patriarchal rank when the city
became the seat of government. She is said to have
been taken out of the province of Milan, as Constanti
nople had, for a like reason, been severed from that of
Heracleia; and when thus separated, her autocephaly
seems to have been, at least for a tirae, fully acknow
ledged. It may, however, be doubtful whether the pri
vilege extended to exemption from the ultimate pontifical
or superabounding jurisdiction of the pope, or whether it
only hberated her from the ordinary patriarchal autho
rity of the holy see. It is even probable that the claim
of Ravenna extended only to exemption from the latter
jurisdiction. But the popes, not content with asserting
their general visitatorial powers, — which gave them only
an indirect and incidental privilege of interference,- — de
nied not only the self-existence of Ravenna as an inde
pendent church, but also her special patriarchal character.
In the exercise of this supremacy. Pope Vitalian had
consecrated bishops within the province of Ravenna in
the teeth of the remonstrances of the patriarch Maurus.
The latter applied for redress to the emperor Constaiis
IL, and obtained from him an imperial charter, exempt
ing the church of Ravenna from all foreign interference,
" in such wise that that church should be in no manner
subject to the patriarch of old Rorae, but be absolutely
self-existent and self-governed ; that the bishops of Ra
venna should be no longer obhged to go to Rome, but
should be consecrated by the bishops of the diocese, in
the same manner as other archbishops are consecrated,
and, Uke them, receive their pallium from the emperor.'"'
It appears, therefore, that neither Maurus nor the
emperor intended any more than to secure to ^^^^^^^^
the ecclesiastical province of Ravenna the orr be'tween
dinary canonical privileges of aU metropoUtan ^^^^^^
churches ; that, namely, of choosing and conse
crating their own archprelate. On the other hand, it is
manifest that the bishop of Rome regarded both church
and province as simple dependencies of his chair ; the
' See Agnellus, Vit. Pont. Eavenn. ap. Muratori gives the entire charter.
Murat. Ss. Er. Ital. tom. U. pp. 143-6.
VOL. II. G G

450 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
choice of the prelate to rest, probably, with the suffra
gans," the approval and consecration being reserved to
himself. Vitahan, therefore, treated the apphcation to
the emperor as an insult to the supreme patriarchal juris
diction of the holy see, and cited Maurus before himself
at Rome to answer for the contempt. In his reply, the
archbishop maintained that the independence ofhis church
had been secured by ancient and positive agreement
with the holy see ; he rejected the citation, and bade the
messengers of the pope faithfully report this answer to
thefr master. Vitalian took no notice either ofthe alleged
compact or the charter of Constans, and excommunicated
the archbishop in due form. The latter retorted the in
jury with the Uke solemnity ; and to the close of thefr
Uves both pontiffs treated each other as aliens and out
casts from Christian communion.^
The rehgious revolution which followed upon the ac
cession of Constantine Pogonatus completely
of^Eavlma changed the position of the two sees. The ob-
canceUed by noxious grant of Constaus II. was reversed by
ogona .j^.^ successor: he cancelled the claim of auto
cephaly ; he directed the charter, " surreptitiously" ob
tained by the late archbishop, to be delivered up ; and
ordered that for the future the pontiff-elect of Ravenna
should repair to Rome to receive consecration at the
hands of the pope. At the same time he prohibited the
usual honours to the memory of Maurus ; but exempted
the Ravennatine church from the customary payment to
the holy see for investiture."" Constantine was in truth
anxious to uphold the work of concUiation begun at the
great council of 681. The alhance of Rome was of more
importance than the rights or honours of the capital of
a precarious dependency. He had the sagacity to per
ceive that the support of the head of the Latin church
must be more conducive to Byzantine interests in Italy
than the goodwill of any individual or section of the
hierarchical body. He therefore strove to maintain the
' Agnellus, ubi sup. ; and see the un- in Vit. Leo II. ap. Murat. tom. iu. p.
satisfactory " observations," p. 145. 145.
I" Or grant of the paUium. Anastas.

Chap.IL] LEO H. BENEDICT IL CONON, SEEGIUS L POPES. 451
pacific understanding established with Leo II. ; and when,
in the year 684, that pontiff was succeeded by Benedict n.
Benedict II., he dispensed with the expensive pop^-
and dilatory proceedings hitherto requisite to obtain the
imperial confirmation, and directed that on every occasion
of a papal election, instead of the customary embassy to
Constantinople, the exarch of Ravenna should be empow
ered to issue the imperial warrant for the consecration of
the pontiff-elect.' As a further testimony of his high re
gard and reverence, he dedicated his two sons, Justinian
and Heraclius, to the service of the holy see, by the deli
very of the long hair which, in accordance with custom,
was cut off from the heads of youths when they arrived at
the age of manhood, into the hands of the pope in token
of the fihal relation of which that act was a symbol and
a pledge.^ The death of Constantine Pogonatus in 685 opened
the succession to the elder of these youths, Jus- Papai
tinian II. Between the new emperor and the elections.
holy see the same relations of amity continued for some
years to subsist. At home the papacy was not altoge
ther free from domestic disturbances. The archbishop
of CagUari in Sardinia was infected with the Uke schis
matic spirit of autocephaly with the prelates of Ravenna.
He was, however, speedily reduced to submission.'' But
a more threatening demonstration occurred in the choice
ofa successor to Benedict II. himself. The armed popu
lation, or mihtia, of Rome refused to concur in the elec
tion of the nominee ofthe clergy, and put up a candidate
of thefr own. After many days of fruitless conference,
fortunately unattended with any breach of the peace, the
affafr was happily settled by both parties abandoning their
respective favourites, and agreeing to the elec- conon
tion of Conon, a very respectable but extremely p^p^-
infirm old man.' The new pope soon sank into the tomb ;
and his death was, as usual, the signal for a renewal of
' Anastas. 'm Vit. Bened. II. ubi sup. that he was almost incapable of per-
p. 146; conf. Fleury, tom. ix. p. 75. forming the duties ofhis ofSce. He sat
i Ibid, ubi sup. j conf. Ducange, Glos. only ten months and twelve days. Co-
voc. " CapiUi." non sateleven months and twenty-three
^ Ibid, ubi sup. p. 146. days. Anastas. ubi sup.
' Benedict II. himself was so feeble

452 CATHEDEA PETEL (iiS5.X-
the contentions which had attended his own election.
People and clergy separated into two factions, each of
which put forward its own candidate, and took up a mi
litary position, with a view to intimidate each other rather
than to commit themselves to actual warfare. The more
Election of moderate on both sides at length seceded from
Sergius I. the factions, and elected Sergius, the precentor
of the Roraan church. Meanwhile Paschal, one of the
adverse candidates, had put hiraself in communication
with the exarch Platys of Ravenna, and engaged to pay
him the sum of one hundred pounds of gold as the price
of his patronage. Allured by the prospect of so rich a
bribe, Platys furtively appeared in Rome, resolved at aU
events to secure the promised treasure. But finding that
the interest of Sergius was in the ascendant, he extorted
from the successful candidate the bribe he had no longer
any prospect of obtaining fi-om the unlucky Paschal. The
?ope-elect met with some difficulty in raising the money ;
*latys was, however, at length satisfied, and Sergius was,
with his consent, installed and consecrated."
The payraent of this exorbitant demand does not seem
Substitution HiateriaUy to have crippled the pecuniar3' re
ef saint and sources ofthe new pontiff. He expended larger
"^^forldoU-'^ suras upon the repairs and internal decoration
trous super- of his churchcs tfiau any of his predecessors ;
stitions, &c. j^g introduced new ceremonies into the ritual,
and increased the pomp and show of public worship ; a
display in harraony with the habitual policy ofthe Roman
church. It should be borne in mind, that though the
spurious Christianity introduced by the Lombard con
querors into Italy was in a great degree extinct ; and
though the majority of that people had within the seventh
century slidden gradually into the Latin profession, — still
many heathen practices remained to be overcome. Arian
ism, in aUiance with the old popular superstitions, stiU
lurked in the habits and prepossessions of the new con
verts. The zeal and assiduity ofthe Latin clergy had suc
cessfully combated many of these evils. In lieu of their
ancient groves and fountains and rude altars, the papal
" Anastas. in Vit. Sergii I. ubi sup. p. 148.

CHAE^ii.] POLICY OF POPE SEEGIUS L 453
churchmen had proA'ided t^e people with stately temples :
reUcs, images, processions, and a showy rituail offered an
acceptable substitute for their bloody sacrifices, their riot
ous festivals, and their idolatrous mummeries. Princes
and people slipped gently into the smooth path of relic
and image worship, recommended to them as substitutes
for the numerous objects of superstitious reverence they
had heen required to abandon. They now put that trust
which they had formerly reposed in charms, amulets, and
incantations, in the power ofthe saints and the virtues of
their relics ; they became as eager as the devout Franks
themselves for the possession of these efficacious remains,
and vied with each other in the erection of shrines and
churches for their due honour and worship."
This course of reUgious policy, considered with refer
ence to the objects in view, such as they were, p^j.^
was recommended by its obvious expediency, of Pope
Any expenditure of treasure for the purpose of s^'^s"'^ ^¦
captivating the senses, — perhaps ultimately of fixing the
attention of a semi-barbarous race upon the higher doc
trines and nobler practice of the Christian profession, —
could not fail to bring with it a rich increase of influence
and wealth to the priests of the shrine. The mainten
ance of the honours supposed to be due to the images of
the Virgin mother and the saints was a measure of at
least equal importance. Sergius I. took advantage of
the religious sympathy which in these respects subsisted
between his church and his Lombard neighbours to elimi
nate the last remains ofthe schism ofthe "three chap
ters," Avhich still lurked in some districts of the Lombard
kingdom. Nearly a century and a half had elapsed since
that unhappy experiment upon the settled faith of Chris
tendom had been tried. Murraurs were already begin
ning to be heard in sorae quarters ag-ainst the abuses of
image-worship ; and Pope Sergius might, on that ground
alone, be more keenly sensible of the importance of com
bining the undivided force of religious prepossessions for
° See the history of the restoration the bones of St. Benedict by the Frank
of the Abbey of Monte Casino, ap. Paul. ish reUc-venders, Ibid. Ub. vi. c. 2. Oonf.
Diac. Ub. vi. u. 40 j and ofthe theft of Hist, ofthe Germ. p. 816.

454 CATHEDEA PETEL [BOS-.Y-
the defence of a practice by this time intertwined with
all the devotional habits of his spiritual subjects, and es
sential to the whole course of the reUgious policy of the
holy see." In this effort the pope, we are told, was emi
nently successfol; and Sergfius enjoyed the prospect of
unbroken reUgious peace throughout the vast extent of
his patriarchal influence.
It is not to be denied that the Roman pontiffs were
Origin and justified in regarding the Eastern churches as
convocation the proper foci of rehgious strife. As long as
Quinisext thefr couiiection with the Byzantines lasted,
councU. they were never safe from the disturbing influ
ences of Greek tergiversation and dishonesty. Thus, in
the year 691, the emperor Justinian II. was informed
by his restless ecclesiastics that as the two last general
councils had omitted to pubUsh any positive ordinances
or canons, no rule existed for the practical application
and execution of the general principles of ecclesiastical
government the fathers had then and there laid down.
With a view to supply this defect, the emperor was per
suaded to summon an extraordinary assembly of the
Oriental churches, which was to be regarded as an
adjournment of, or supplementary to, the two preceding
general councUs : all acts and proceedings to be there
adopted were to flow out of those councils, and to derive
thefr authority from them ; so that the convocation should
not assume an oecumenical character in any other respect
than as part and parcel of the great synodal bodies they
undertook to represent. They agreed, in short, to regard
themselves as a sort of executive council, invested with
the powers necessary to frame the body of rules requfred
for the practical execution of the principles of ecclesias
tical government and discipUne previously estabhshed.
And in that view of its functions, the meeting afterwards
became known to the Latins as the " Quinisext" CouncU,
° Paul the Deacon has hit upon the were supposed to threaten to the hon-
true motive for the suppression of the ours of the divine " Theotokos." See
writings of Theodoret, Theodore, and Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. 14; andconf.Book
Ibas. Eutychians and Catholics were IV. c. v. p. 157 of this work.
equally alarmed by the dangers they

CHAjp,^i-i7j THE QUINISEXT COUNCIL. 455
and to the Greeks as the irvvohog -ffivdixryi. - The fathers met
in the TruUum, or vaulted hall, of the imperial palace at
Constantinople, from which circumstance it is very com
monly known by the name of the council of the TruUum.
The fii-st session was held on the 31st of August 691;
and in that and the following sittings no fewer than one
hundred and two canons were enacted. But as it is not
proposed in this place to advert fully to the manner in
which the fathers of this council dealt with the whole
system of church-legislation,^ we confine our remarks to
a few of the more prominent characteristics of this body
of ecclesiastical law, iri their bearing upon the interests
of the Latin church and her pontiff.
The pretence set up by the Greeks, that this synod
was an adjournment or continuance of the two objections
prior general councils, is altogether untenable; to the
the fifth having been held nearly 140 years, and *'°°of the'°°
the sixth only eleven years, before its convoca- Qumisext.
tion. Though in strictness it might not be necessary
that the members attending should be the same either in
respect of persons or numbers, yet in this case the dispa
rity is so great in both respects as to leave no room for
that identity of mind and purpose which must always
subsist between an original and an adjourned meeting ofa
deliberative body. A more important objection arises out
ofthe non-participation of the Latin church. There is but
scanty evidence that any notice of the intent of the con
vocation was given to the great Western patriarch ; and
certain it is that the acts of the council were not signed
by a single prelate of that great division of Christendom''
to whom any representative character could with decent
probabiUty be assigned.'' Spaces are, indeed, left in
p Further remarks upon this subject rian says that the legates of the holy
must be reserved for a future opportu- see were present; hut there is nothing
nity, more especially iu our proposed in the signatures to confirm him but
ecthesis of the ecclesiastical law of the this anomalous " locum tenens," whose
ninth century. pretensions to represent any body or
1. Unless we reckon BasiUus bishop any thing are negatived by every other
of Gortyna in Crete, as a province of circumstance in the transaction. But
the eparchia of Hlyricum Orientale, to conf. Anastas. ubi sup. p. 149 ; and the
the Western patriarchate. This person subscriptions, ap. Hard. Cone. tom. in.
signs as "locum tenens totius synodi S. pp. 1699 et sqq.
Eom. ecclesise." Anastasius the libra- ' I have looked carefully through the

456 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
blank for the signatures of the pope, and fhe archprelates
of Thessalonica, Ravenna, Sardinia, and Corinth ; but
there is no ground to believe that these spaces were ever
filled up by any of the great ecclesiastics for whom they
were reserved. The Latins were therefore at full liberty
to regard the proceedings as incoraplete and void, even
if the fathers of the council had not evinced in the whole
course of their deliberations an almost total disregard of
the opinions and interests of the Latin communion. This
supercilious spirit is plainly brought to light in drawing
up their catalogue of the fathers whose writings should
be admitted as of canonical authority in the Church.
Among these no single name of a Latin father appears
but that of Cyprian of Carthage.^ It can hardly be sup
posed that, if that church had been either personally or
virtually represented, such an omission could have been
perpetrated. But even while thus canonising their own
peculiar body of tradition, the subtle Greeks could not
abstain from attacking that of thefr Western brethren.
Up to this moment, it may be observed, the question of
sacerdotal raatriraony had never been made the subject
of general conciliar deliberation, nor even of pubhc dis
cussion, between the two divisions of Christendom. The
meddlesome subtlety, however, of the Quinisext fathers
noAV raised the question b3'^ a direct comparison of the
Roman practice with their own in respect of the mar
riage of ecclesiastics; without perhaps perceiving that the3'
were thereby drawing a line of separation between them
selves and the Latins, which, but for this impertinence,
might for ages have remained in convenient and peacefol
obscurity. The extrerae feebleness of the reasoning by which
Canons ^^^7 luaiutaiued the validity of thefr own prac-
of the tice, could not but add conterapt to the dishke
Qumisext. ^j^j^ which Rouie ahvays conteraplated the mi
nutest departure from her own pecuhar discipline. The
Greeks fully admitted that indelible taint of impurity
signatures in my copy of the councils his works, tom. Ui. p. 359.
(as above), but do not find any signature " See canons i. and ii. among the
" looo Eavennatis," as there ought to be " Canones TruUanas," ap. Van Espen,
according to Van Espen's reading. See tom. iu. pp. 360, 361.

Chap. IL] COLLISION WITH THE LATINS. 457
which, in the opinion ofthe more rigid Latin doctors, at
tached to the matrimonial connection,' and acknowledged
the principle, that the mediating priest ought to be free
from such taint. Consistently with this profession, the
Latins very generally held it necessary to eradicate the
evil, and to prohibit the marriage of all orders of the
priesthood without distinction. Supporting themselves
upon the same grounds, the Greeks vainly dreamt that
by restricting raatriraonial intercourse they could divest
it of its inherent character, and present their priesthood
without the reproach of sensual contaraination."
In the same Utigious spirit, the council declared the
Roman custom of keeping every Saturday as
Avell as every Wednesday in Lent as a day of wuSbS
rigid abstinence from food, to be contrary to wjtt tte
the apostolic rule ; and they ordered that that
church should be admonished to reform its practice.''
Some irritation might naturally have been felt by Rome
at the reiteration of the narae of Pope Honorius among
the beresiarchs condemned b3'^ the sixth general council ;"*
but that feeling must have been stimulated to resent
ment by the xxxvi"" canon, which revived the ancient
pretensions of Constantinople to equality of rank, and
resuscitated the question of political attribution in op
position to spiritual pedigree.'^ The xxxviii"", indeed,
imparted, ipso facto, conformable ecclesiastical privilege
to every city which it might please the emperor to ad
vance to higher rank, whether municipal, provincial, or
' Conf. vol. i. Bookll. c. i. pp.262 et ap. VanEspen,tom.iii.-p.Z6S. Thede-
sqq. of this work. fensive allegation that the Lord and his
" The Greeks admitted that the Latin apostles had sanctioned marriage did
practice was a rule " exactse perfecti- not on their own principle apply to the
onis ;" a clear admission that their own priesthood ; for if it did, they could
did not come up to that standard. They not justify their restrictions, because the
decreed thatno clerk or presby ter should sanction pleaded imposed none. The
marry after orders ; if married before, root of the error, we conceive, lies in the
he might retain his wife, provided gross misconception of the nature ofthe
she was his first and only wife, and a matrimonial connection from which
virgin at the time of marriage. But a both parties set out.
temporary abstinence from connubial ' Can. Trullan. Hard. Cone. ui. can.
intercourse was made a canonical quali- Ivi. p. 1682. See also Van Espen, xibi
fication forthe celebration ofthe divine sup. p. 390.
offices; and when a presbyter was made " See can. i. Hard, ubi sup. p. 1658.
a bishop, he was to banish his wife, if he ^ Conf. vol. i. Book TL. c. v. pp. 399-
had one, from his presence for the rest 405 et sqq.
of his Ufe. See Can. Trullan. can. xU.

458 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
metropolitan;" a provision which threw spiritual rights into
the background, and in a great measure placed them at
the mercy ofthe sovereign.'' This canon was probably all
the more offensive to Rome, because it introduced and
recognised as law the very principle upon which the rank
of the patriarch of Constantinople rested ; a principle at
all times contemplated by Rome with unmitigated disgust
and alarm. The fathers, however, at the close of their
sitting, signed the acts of the councU in the order of their
respective rank — the emperor at the head, the four patri
archs in succession, leaving a blank space for the signa
ture ofthe pope ; and, in thefr proper places, three simUar
spaces for those of the bishops of Thessalonica, Ravenna,
Sardinia, and Corinth. Soon after the conclusion
Serous L of the acts, Justinian sent off a dupUcate origi-
rejects the jj^l to Pope Scrgius, requfrinff him to siern and
council. . ^ , o .' A-, ® , . , o .. ,
return the document. But to this demand the
pope returned a peremptory refusal. We are not in pos
session ofthe grounds 'alleged by the pontiff at the time
in justification of his disobedience ; but where so much
appears upon the face of the document itself to awaken
the suspicions and excite the apprehensions of Rome, the
reasons of the refusal may be very readUy apprehended.*
Stung to the quick by this contemptuous treatment of
. his mandate, Justinian II. despatched orders to
attempts to Zacharias, his protospatharius, or officer in com-
"""e'ton^e ^'^^^^ ^^ ^^ Raveimatiue army, to arrest Pope
ofthe Sergius, and send him in chains to Constanti-
*d^"eeT* ^ople. In obedience to the imperial command,
that officer marched an army to Rome, and en
camped outside the walls of the city. But soldiers and
citizens were equaUy disgusted at the sacrilegious at
tempt : the former broke into open mutiny; and, supported
y The clause as quoted in Hard. Con- ti^ois ical ^ tZv 4KKK-tia-ttttmKZi> wpay-
cU. ii. p. 607 (ConcU. Chalced.), is part /toToji' rd^is OKoXouSelTM. Id. ibid. torn.
of tbe xvii"" canon. It runs thus: « Se iii. p. 1675. The verb Kaiv6a is here
TU iK 0aa-t\ucris i^ova-las iKaailairi ir6\is, obviously used in the sense of " to de-
^ aZris Kaivtadelri, tois -itoMtmois Kal vote," " to change to higher rank," " to
Srjfwa^lois Tinrois Kal tS>v iKKX-,iaiaiTTMS>v dedicate to higher purposes."
¦jragoiKiaviiTa^isaKoKovBeiTa). TheQuini- ^ Conf. Van Espen, vol. iu. pp. 379-
sext thus quotes this canon: rf tis iK 381 ad Trullan. Cone.
^aatXtKTis i^ovfflas iKaiviffOri TrdXis, ^ ab- ^ Conf. Bower, vol Ui. p. 152.
Tis KoiviaBri, tois ttoXitikois Kal Sriiiotriois

Chap. IL] COMPLAISANCE OP JUSTINIAN. 459
by the populace, compelled Zacharias to take refuge from
their indignation under the protecting mantle ofthe pon
tiff himself. The latter, anxious to save the minister of
his nominal sovereign, exerted himself to assuage the
tumult, and with some difficulty persuaded the populace
to permit the offender to leave the cit3*.'' It was obvious
that no impression could by such means be made upon
the ecclesiastical position of the papacy ; and within tour
years of the close of the Quinisext council, Justinian, as
already noticed, was deposed, mutilated, and banished.^
He lived in exile till the year 699 ; but by boldness and
promptitude recovered a throne which he afterwards pol
luted with every imaginable crime that disgraces human
nature. In the year 701, Sergius was succeeded by
John, sixth of that name. During- this pontificate we hear
of no attempt to compel the acceptance of the Quinisext
statutes." But in that of his successor John VIL, Jus
tinian renewed the experiment ; and this time, in a spirit
of reasonable forbearance. A copy ofthe decrees was sent
to Rome, with the request that the pontiff would consider
them in council; and that after due deliberation he would
sanction such of them as he should think right, and ob
ject to those he might see reason to disapprove. The
pontiff, however, declined the office of censor thus thrust
upon him, as he might reasonably suspect, not without
design, and sent back the document in the same state as
that in which he received it, without signifying either
adoption or rejection.
Constantine succeeded to John VII. on the papal
throne,'' in the month of December 708. It is
remarkable that this Constantine was the se- of^ustinla^
venth in succession of popes all natives of Greece ^^^ ^J^y^^^g
or Syria ; a cfrcumstance pointing to some re
maining influence of the imperial court in the pontifical
elections. Yet in all these pontiffs the sentiment of na-
*> Anastas. in Sergio, ap. Murat. vol. •" Sisinnius intervened, but for a few
iu. p. 149; Ciacone, Vit. Pont. tom. i. -daj'S only. He died within the month
p. 489; Paul. Diac. lib. vi. c. 11. ofhis election or consecration, in No-
= According to Ciacone, John VI. vember 708 of our calendar. Ciacone,
reigned three years, two months, and in Sisinnio.
twelve days.

460 CATHEDEA PETEI. ^^°°^
tionality yielded to the sense of official oh%^*^*'^' J^ial
this difference, perhaps, that thefr resistance ^^^.^^ ^^^^
irregularities or innovations was rather oi a ^^^^^^^^ ^^
an active character. We are not, ^"^^"r -• ^ „., i,p.
the ultimate fate of Justinian's recommendation on be
haff ofthe Quinisext decrees; ^^^ ^f J'^ wiofore sub
point of time a more cordial foeUng than h«i"et^^^^^^^^^
sisted between the pope and the ^^'P1^''\.'^''±'''Z.!:
came not merely indulgent, but, after his own savage
fashion, complaisant to the holy see. The pg)e havmg
complained of the contumacious conduct of Felix arch
bishop of Ravenna, the emperor obhgingly caused that
prelate to be deposed, imprisoned, and blinded: he at
the same time put to death certain officers of the arch
bishop ; and reiterated the decree of Pogonatus cancel
ling the charter of privUege granted by Constans II. to
the see of Ravenna.'
But perhaps these characteristic proofs of imperial
Mysterious favour wcrc as much calculated to inspire ter-
journey of ror as Confidence in the mind of the pope. At
^aStine°to ^U cvents, they served as an introduction to a
Constanti- sccHC of mystcry, to which we have only a con-
°°^^^' jectural solution to offer. In the fourth year of
his pontificate, Pope Constantine received an order from
the court to repafr to Constantinople. He obeyed Avith
out delay, and took the road to Naples with a numerous
retinue of clergy. Scarcely, however, had he turned his
back upon Rome, when the exarch Rizocopas appeared in
the city ; and, for no assig-ned cause, put to death Saulus,
a cardinal-deacon of the Church, and three principal offi
cials ofthe pontifical court. After this tragedy, the pope
without delay embarked and pursued his voyage. In
every city where he landed, he was, by order ofthe court,
received with extraordinary demonstrations of reverence ;
and on his approach to Constantinople he was met by
Tiberius, the eldest son of the emperor, accompanied by
the patriarch Cyrus and his clergy, and all the great offi
cers of the iraperial court, at the distance of seven miles
from the city, and conducted in state to the residence
' Anastas, ubi sup. p. 1 52. Conf. pp. 449, 450 of this chapter.

Chap.IL] POPE CONSTANTINE AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 461
assigned to him in the palace of Placidia. After some
days of repose, he received a summons to meet the em
peror at Nicomedia in Bithynia. Constantine obeyed,
and was received by Justinian with the most marked re
spect and courtesy. The emperor, we are told, prostrated
himself at the feet of the pontiff, and afterwards em
braced him amid the joyfol acclamations ofthe assembled
people. On the following Lord's-day, the pope and the
emperor communicated together; and on that occasion
Justinian solemnly entreated the prayers of the pontiff
for the remission of his sins. This was to all appear
ance the last scene of the comedy enacted at Nicomedia.
Constantine was given to understand that he might now
set out on his return as soon as it should please him. Not
a raoraent was lost in availing himself of the permission ;.
and he arrived safely in Rome about a twelvemonth from
the date of his departure for the East.*^
For these grotesque demonstrations of cruelty and
ostentation the papal biographer assigns no conjectural
motive. The outrage inflicted upon the arch- explanation.
bishop of Ravenna, the sudden deportation of the pope,
the murder of four of the cardinal-clergy of Rome, the
extravagant display of respect lavished upon the pontiff,
the scenic performance at Nicomedia, and the dismissal
of Constantine with as little ceremony as that which ac-
• companied the summons, — all these incidents pass before
us rather like romance than history. Still there are some
reasons to believe that much more passed at the confer
ence at Nicomedia than appears upon the face of the
narrative. The unswerving obedience of the pope after
the murder of his friends at Rome, his perseverance in
his journey, notwithstanding the infirm state of his own
health and the death of several of his companions on the
voyage, are strong indications of the terror inspired by
the preliminary measures of the emperor. The obstinate
determination of the latter to carry through the decrees
of the Quinisext council, however disguised under the
cloak of raoderation or deference, was too notorious not
to have struck the pope as the probable, if not the ascer-
f Anastas. ubi sup. pp. 152, 153.

462 CATHEDEA PETEI. tB°°« ^•
tained, motive for the summons. And when we reflect
that in the course of time the TruUan decrees made tneir
appearance in the pubhc code ofthe Latin churcH, tnou^n,
it might be, to the exclusion of some of the more offensive
articles,^ we shaU probably have no great difficulty in ar
riving at the conclusion that some understanding was
estabUshed at the interview of Nicomedia, having tor its
object the acceptance of those decrees m some such form
as to reconcUe them with the scheme of decretal law
upon which the whole structure of the Roman church-
government rested.
f Anastasius himself, in the preface consistent with the older canons and
to the acts ofthe so-called seventh ge- decretals ofthe pontiffs. Sard. ConcU.
neral councU (Nicsea IL a.d. 787), ad- tom. iv. pp. 19, 20. Conf. Van Espen,
mits that the see of Eome had adopted Dissert, ad Synod. Quinisext. torn. iii.
the Quinisext decrees as far as was p. 359.

CHAPTER III.
THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTEOATEESY. (L)
Elevation ofLeoIH. the Isaurian — Origin ofthe iconoclastic controversy — Primi
tive opinions as to image-worship — Sudden rise of image-worship — Causes of
the rise of image-worship — Pirst breathings of the controversy — Arguments
— Controversy stimulated by the Arab conquests — ^Aversion of Arabs and
Jews to the use of images — EarUer steps of Leo the Isaurian against images
— Germanus on image-worship — Pope Gregory II. on image-worship — Eeply
of the iconoclasts — Inveterate character of the controversy — Leo's second
edict against images — Insurrection — Papal denunciations of iconoclasm —
Gregory IH. — ^His insolent address to the emperor — His fabulous portraits,
images, &c. — Ignorant vituperations of Gregory IH. — Gregory defies the em
peror — Impotency ofthe empire in Italy — CouncU at Eome against the image-
breakers — Leo confiscates the patrimonies of the Eoman church, &c. — The
pope retains his nominal allegiance to the empire — State of the papacy at the
death of Gregory IH.
Three years after the death of the tyrannical Justinian
XL, his conqueror PhiUppicus Bardanes was Elevation of
himseff deposed by Arteraius, or Anastasius II. Leo iii. (the
(a.d. 714) ; and within the foUowing four years ^*"''*°)-
the latter yielded up the throne to Theodosius III. But
at that moment the capital of the empire was threatened
both by sea and land by countless hosts of Arabs, under
thefr caUph Suleiman. The feeble emperor and his sub
jects concurred in opinion, that he was unequal to the
government in so critical a state of pubUc affairs; he
therefore surrendered the sceptre into the abler hands of
Leo, an Isaurian soldier of fortune, who, by long and me
ritorious serAdces, had acqufred the respect and confidence
of aU classes, but more especiaUy of the army, which he
for some time commanded with ability and success.
The emperor Leo IIL, better known in history by
the name of Leo the Isaurian, ascended the origin of the
throne ofthe East in the month of March 717. ieonooiastie
His first achievement was the total defeat and «°°*™^«"y-
destruction of the Moslem fleet and army before Con-

464 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
stantinople, after sustaining a pertinacious siege of four
teen months. But for the purpose of our narrative, the
name of Leo the Isaurian is chiefly interesting as it
connects itself with a controversy of higher importance
to the history of the politico-religious scheme of Rome
than any that had hitherto disturbed the peace of the
Church. This controversy and its issue are known to
the Latins by the name ofthe "Iconoclastic, or image-
breaking, schism." It arose out of a very general opi
nion among the Christians of the East adverse to image,
picture and relic worship, and a widely-spread project
for the total and simultaneous aboUtion of these practices
throughout the Christian world; an attempt which en
gendered hatred more intense, and a fanaticism more
mischievous, than any preceding divergency of religious
opinion. The merits of the questions debated on both
sides do not enter into the purview of our history ; but
as pubUc opinion is a material element in determining
the course of human events, we cannot avoid adverting
to the state of the general mind upon the subject of re
presentative worship, and the steps by which visible and
material objects of religious reverence came to engross
so large a share in the devotional practices of the Chris
tian Church.
It is generally admitted, that within a period of more
than three centuries from the first pubUcation
X'^'^^to of the Gospel neither images nor any other
image- yisiblc objccts of rcUgious reverence were ad-
p. j^j^^g^ -j^^jj ^jjg pubhc ritual of the churches,
or adopted into the exercises of private devotion. The
reasons for this abstinence from all external or represen
tative worship are sufficientl3'^ obvious ; for, in the first
place, if any such practice had been perraitted, the Chris
tian community would have inevitably exposed them
selves to the charge of that idolatry which they repro
bated in the heathen ; and would have thereby practically
abandoned their protest against the besetting sin of an
unconverted world. In the next place, the judaising
Christians, and with them all who adopted the literal
exposition of the second commandment, could not but

Chap. HL] OEIGIN OP IMAGE-WOESHIP. 465
regard the exposure of images, pictures, reUcs, or other
visible objects of devotional reverence, as a positive-breach
of the rigid and uncompromising law of God. Some of
the earlier fathers carried this severity of exposition so
far as to pronounce unlawful the exercise ofthe imitative
arts of sculpture and painting, not only because they
were, in fact, the ministering arts of idolatry, but from an
opinion that the absolute and unconditional prohibition
to make or set up any image or representative object of
worship, was intended to encounter and to strangle in
its birth the criminal predilection of mankind for sym-
boUsm, and its ordinary consequence — ^idolatry.
But when Christianity was once safely lodged under
the protecting wing ofthe law, a change in g^^jenrise
this state of public opinion becomes almost im- of image-
mediately apparent. The empress Helena dis- ^°^^^'^'
interred the wood ofthe "true cross ;" and the discovery
sharpened the appetite for similar memorials ofthe Sa
viour, his holy mother, and his inspired disciples. Stories
got abroad of an autograph letter ofthe Lord, sent by
Himself to Abgarus, king or prince of Edessa ;" Nico
demus was reported to have made an image ofthe divine
humanity; not long afterwards portraits of Christ and
his mother were ascribed to the hand of the evangehst
Luke ; an original statue of the Lord himself was re
ported to be still extant at Caesarsea Philippi in Syria.
These statements gave encouragement to other inventions
ofthe like character; effigies of sacred persons and things
multiplied with surprising celerity, and were exhibited
for the reverence of the faithful, without a whisper of
objection on the part ofthe Church or its ministers. It.
might be truly said that Christians had with one consent
faUen down and worshipped graven images.
It is not difficult to comprehend the causes of this
sudden revolution of the reUgious mind. From
the age of Constantine the Great till the epoch the rise of
ofthe Arab invasion, the Christian community ^^^^'
had, for more than three centuries, been relieved ^°" '^'
from all fear of the reproaches or the evil example of the
a Euseb. H. E. lib. i. c. xiU.
VOL. II. H H

466 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
heathen; and the reason founded on that apprehension for
persisting in the renunciation of representative worship
ceased altogether. In the same degree as this fear van
ished from their thoughts, the clergy became ahve to the
incidental advantages to be derived from the use of im
ages and pictures. In consequence of the almost total
decay of Uterature, both among clergy_ and laity, pic
tures and statues, and visible representations of sacred ob
jects and subjects of Scripture-history, became the readiest,
alraost the only mode of conveying instruction, encourag
ing devotion, and strengthening rehgious sentiments in
the minds of their people. Neither is it altogether impro
bable that, in the absence of other means of instruction,
the whole scheme of Christianit3^, thus divested of exter
nal forras, raight have fallen into oblivion, or have become
so inextricably confounded with the mythic superstitions
of the heathen converts, as to be scarcely distinguishable
fi-om the grossest paganism. The introduction of images
and pictures of the Saviour and his saints may therefore
at least have had the merit of excluding merely heathen
forms, and directing the religious sentiments of the ig
norant to the contemplation of worthier objects of ado
ration.'' By the substitution of the hallowed personages
of the Christian revelation for the profane and fabulous
objects of heathen idolatry, it Avas believed that a suffi
cient distinction between the two antagonistic practices
was established ; the line was thought to be thus drawn
in a manner the most intelligible to the apprehensions of
the multitude : and, indeed, it is likely that in such a state
of the pubhc mind as that in which this theory found
favour, whatever the dang-er of a virtual relapse into
idolatr3r, something was gained on behalf of spiritual
religion ; and that though the outward shell or husk
•> Many persons contend that there ultimate object must always be the
is a twofold method of inculcating reli- promotion of spiritual religion, the real
gious truth open to the Church, namely, issue to be tried between the patrons
the exoteric or formal, and the esoteric and the adversaries of representative
or spiritual; and that the former being worship must be, whether the admis-
left to the discretion of the Church as sion of images, pictures, &c. into Chris-
an external visible body, she is at fuU tian worship is at all, and in what de-
liberty to choose the best and readiest gree, consistent with the attainment of
of the two modes of clearing the path that ultimate object of aU religious in
to religious knowledge. But, as the struction.

Chap. IIL] THE CONTEOVEESY OP IMAGE-WOESHIP. 467
which enveloped the sacred fruit may have been thereby
hardened and rendered less accessible, it was nevertheless
preserved entire for the enjoyment ofa future and a wiser
generation. ToAvards the close ofthe sixth century, the question of
image-worship had already attracted the attention of the
Western churches. Serenus, bishop of Mar- pj^gj jj^gj^ti^.
seilles, as raentioned above," had, in agreement ings of the
with the earlier fathers, put in an emphatic pro- ""'^'¦^"^^'^^y-
test against the adraission of pictures and images into his
churches. His foUoAvers boldly maintained that ^^ ^ments
the proper objects of Christian worship dwelt
not in any temple made with hands ; that their only true
shrine was in the heart and affections of the worshippers ;
that visible representations of the Godhead were incon
sistent with his nature and attributes, degrading to his
honour, and destructive of genuine spiritual reUgion in
the heart. They regarded the Mosaic comraandment as
absolute both in its terms and effect; and gave to the
words, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven
image, -&,c. ; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor wor
ship them," a sense extending the prohibition to all ex
ternal and factitious objects of devotion, whether divine or
human. Christian or pagan. " If," said they, " the Jew
lay under the curse for setting up images, whether of the
true God or the false gods of the heathen, then, by strict
consequence, the Christian lay under the like penalty for
exposing iraag-es of Christ, whether in his character of
God or man." Against this mode of stating the question,
Gregory the Great oppos^ed the argument frora expe
diency and convenience. Without denying the danger
attending the practice, he thought he could hold fast the
benefit without incurring the penalty. He maintained
that the practice did not necessarily lead to idolatry;
that it might be avoided by proper precaution ; and that
the danger was less serious from permitting, than the
inconvenience that must arise from prohibiting the use of
images. The question rested in this state from the death of
¦¦ Book III. c. vU. p. 222 of this work.

468 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
Gregory the Great, in the year 604, down to the year
Controvers '^^^' ^^ *^® interim the Arabs had overrun and
s^iXted^ subdued the three great dioceses of the East.
''co^u^te'' -^^dnow one ofthe most serious practical incon-
conques . ^enieuces so earnestly deprecated by the earher
chm-ches recurred with augmented effect. Ba'^ an exag
gerated devotion to images, the Eastern world had, with
more than a mere show of reason, exposed itseff to that
charge of idolatr3' which thefr earlier instructors had so
seriously reproved in the heathen; a charge of which
thefr actual accusers stood so remarkably clear : and thus
from the moment the Mohammedan adversary set his foot
upon their soil, the3- found themselves involAcd in the
same odious categor3^ with other worshippers of false gods
and idols. Fi-om tlie 3-ear 640, to which epoch we may
assign the corapletion of the conquest of Syria, Pales
tine, and Egypt, the Cliristian population had, for a period
of more than eight3" 3-ears, been surrounded and closely
watched bA' the deAOut adversaries of their faith ; and
had obtained fi-om their Moslem conqueror no more than
a scornful toleration of their religion and its rites, upon
the scAcrest and most burdensome terms. The Jews now
beheld with malignant joy their old persecutors and task
masters involved in the like sei-A"itude with themselves.
To that vindictive race, no opportunity of retnhation is
unwelcome ; and thus it happened that, amid the uphfted
voices of the infidels, none were more clamorous than
those of the Jews. The majority of the Christian coni-
munit^r listened to their blasphemies Avith the bitterest
resentment. But the iron had entered into the souls of
maiw : they hesitated, doubted, and cast thefr images
behind them ; some probably in a spirit of contrition for
past error, the mnjorit3' fi-om that feeling of wounded
pride engendered b3'- the discover3'^ that the3'^ had been so
long the dupes of a miserable and anti-christian super
stition. Aversion In the year 721 the caliph Yezid cast the
of Arabs first stoiic at the Christian iuiages. He issued
tTthe^uIe an edict for the ejection of all images and pic-
of images, ^m-es froui the tolerated churches. This insult

Chap. IIL] ARABS AND JEWS AGAINST IMAGES. 469
Avas imputed by the exasperated worshippers to their old
eneraies the Jews. It Avas affirmed that so diaboUcal an
outrage upon all that was most holy could have been
suggested by none but an apostate or a Jcav. Their
opponents, however, regarded the edict with a raore fa
vourable eye; and amoiig- these the eraperor Leo the
Isaurian stood foremost. For some years before his eleva
tion he had commanded the imperial armies on the Qy-
rian frontier, and had had opportunity enough to contrast
the lofty theism of the Arabs with the coarse devotion of
the Christians for their images and relics. He saw and
felt the difficulty of establishing any intelUg-ible distinc
tion between image- A\'orship, as it Avas practised in the
East, and the most abject idolatry. How, indeed, was
that distinction to be maintained, Avhen, to the eye of an
undiscriminating adversary, all public worship was ac
companied by every external token Avhich the heathen and
the infidel Avere accustomed to reg-ard as constituting-
tlie essence of idolatry ? Arabs and Jews had but one
name for all kinds of representative worship. The afflicted
Cliristiiin knew and felt the scorn Avith A\hich both must
treat his raost elaborate apologies ; they would, he knew,
point in derision to the prostrate worshipper and the
imag-e before him — to the censer, the burning- tapers, the
altar, and the oflering upon it : 3ret the only defence he
could set up consisted ofa refined distinction between the
symbols and the thing- represented, which he equally Avell
kncAV would find no avenue to the understandings or the
feelings of the objectors. There A^•as but one path open
to him, A\hich might relieve him at least from half his
difficulty, and that path la3' hi a strict adherence to the
divine commandment; he would tiien have but one po
sition to defend — one battie to fight. Fleury indeed re
marks, that the emperor Avas too ignorant to comprehend
the difference betAAcen absolute and relative worship ; but
it Avouldjprobably be equalh' just to say, that, in common
Avith many men of a later a"nd more eiUio-htened age, the
eraperor Leo saAv no good reason to adopt a distinction
A\liere the difierence, ff not distinctiy perceiAcd, and ever
present hi the mind of tiie Avorshipper, must lead to idol-

470 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
atry, and if devoutly apprehended, would be altogether
useless.'' Many years before the emperor Leo took any steps for
Earlier mea- the supprcssiou of imagc-worship, he is known
thrisaur^^" to have regarded the practice as a crying na-
\gS° tional sin. But the crUical state of pubUc
images, affairs deterred him from any active hiterfer-
ence with the popular predilection for images ; though in
the mean time his agents and preachers succeeded in
Avithdrawing many persons frora the grosser practices of
iconolatry. " But," saith his bitter opponent John of
Damascus, "he at length (a.d. 726) assembled his senate,
and vomited forth the absurd and impious dogma that
images and pictures of devotion partake of the nature of
idols, and ought not therefore to be adored by the faith
ful, lest ignorant and heedless persons should thereby be
seduced into paying to the images that worship which is
due to God alone."" The intent ofthe eraperor is so far
correctly described ; and the edict issued upon the prin
ciple he had adopted tended in the first instance only to
reraedy the apprehended evil with as slight a shock to the
popular prejudices as was consistent with the purpose in
hand. All iraages and pictures of worship in the churches
were ordered to be reraoved from the lower and more ac
cessible places they occupied to greater heig-ht and distance
frora the worshippers, so that the3' could not be touched
or kissed, and 3'et not be rendered useless for the pur
poses to which they were originall3' appropriated,— the in
struction ofthe ignorant, and the corafort ofthe afflicted.
A StiU more formidable enemy of the iraperial scheme
r „ . appeared in the person of the patriarch Ger-
Germanus ^* n /-^ , ':. -i e -r ...'^
on images mauus of Constantinople.' In direct opposition
^worrwf" t° *^^ principle ofthe decree, he stoutly main
tained that the adoration ofthe images of Christ
and his saints could in no conceivable sense be regarded
as idolatrous, or that it could ever become so. " For "
^ No really spiritual worshipper ' Baron. Ann. 726, 8 4.
would care to have before him a repre- ' In consideration o'f his services both
sentative symbol, who felt himself capa- the Greek and the Latin churches' have
ble of immediate access to the subject raised him to the rank of saiut
of the symbol itself.

Chap. IH.] GEEGOEY H. ON IMAGE-WOESHIP. 471
said he, " when Christ took upon himseff the form of a
man, and was born of a pure and holy virgin, the God-
man Christ became in his own person the proper object
of personal adoration; consequent^, if the worship ofthe
divine original would not have been idolatry, so neither
can it be idolatry to adore the iraage or picture which
represents that person." He affirraed further, that " the
precept to adore images had been handed down in the
Church b3' the clearest tradition." He adopted with the
simplest creduhty the tale of a rairaculous portrait of
himself sent by the Lord to the toparch Abgarus, and
quoted other legends of the like authenticity that had
obtained a place in the popular creed; with a view to
show, not merely the lawfulness, but the obUgatory cha
racter of image-worship.*
In every stage of his opposition to the edict of Leo
the zealous patriarch was ably supported by
Pope Gregory II. "How," he asked, "can go^^iL^on
they love Christ who insult the visible effigies Jmage-
of his diAdne person? Do not they who dis
honour the image dishonour him whom that image re
presents ? For, that he came among- us men in a visible
form, visibly hved, visibly wrought many mfracles, visibly
suffered and rose again for our salvation,^ all this is
surely sufficient to justif3' his followers in making visible
representations of his natural bod3'." The same argu
ment he — somewhat loosely — affirraed apphed to the holy
Virgin, the apostles, the saints and mart3Ts ofthe faith.
The word ' idolatry,' he contended, was not applicable to
such service ; " no kind of divinit3^ being ever iraputed to
the images themselves, as is done by the heathen to their
idols ;¦¦ neither do Christians sacrifice to them, nor apply
to them that name which is above all other names. Be
sides, these images are only another kind of Avriting;
they are merely Adsible S3'mbols through which the tme
B Baron. Ann. 726, § vL p. 335. divine powers to the images of Christ
'¦Sedqusere? The conf usion of object andhis saints. The distinction is almost
and subject here imputed to the heathen evanescent. The heathen thought nei-
seems to be equaUy chargeable upon the ther more nor less highly of their images
Oriental Christians, who, like the Latins than the Christians ofthe East thought
of the subsequent ages, always imputed of theirs.

473 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
believer adores Him whose birth and death, whose glori
ous resurrection and ascension, are thereby made percep
tible to our senses; bringing, as it were, in a written
book, the Son of God before us, whereby the soul is re
joiced in the remembrance of his resurrection, or softened
by reflecting upon his agon3" and passion."'
But after the allied patriarchs had exhausted^ the
The second ^^ouuds of defence turning mainly upon the
command- distinction between absolute and relative wor-
enco°u*^^red ^^^P^ *^® intrinsic nature of Christian images,
and the authority of tradition, they had still to
encounter the intractable terms of the second command
ment. Gregory II. affirmed that that ordinance had no
application to Christians ; that it had reference solely to
the heathen nations by whom the Jews were surrounded,
and to the idols worshipped by those nations ; such idols
being the mere work of men's hands, and the objects
represented being in fact demons and evil spfrits, and
effigies neither of God nor of godly men. So far, indeed,
from there being any sohd objection to images of holy
things, God himself had dfrected certain symbols to be
set up in his sanctuary for his own special service : such
were the tables of the law, the ark, the cherubim over
the altar, the table of showbread, &c. Yet even Chris
tians have never allowed any visible image of God himself:
such a representation was always regarded as unlawfol :
the Christian worshipper is in this respect indeed bound
by the comraandraent as rigidly as the Jew himself, — he
never paints God, any more than the Jew paints Jeho
vah, because the divine form is as inconceivable as his
nature is ineffable : but when Christ appeared in the flesh,
the case was altered ; as to him the commandment was
by that act repealed. And so it would be in relation to
the eternal Father himself, ifhe had ever assumed a form
visible to human eye : but inasmuch as " no man hath
seen God at any time," therefore it is unlawful to make
an image of him. J
' See the entire epistle of Greg. II. Baron. Ann. mod. eit. ; and the address
to Germanus, ap. Baron. Ann. 726, §§ of Pope Gregory III. to the Eoman
xv.-xx. Council, Ann. 732, §§ 17 and 18, p.
j See the documents at length, ap. 342.

CHAP.m.] CHARACTER OP THE CONTE OA-TESA". 473
The industi-y ofthe victorious party in this great con
troversy has so effectually succeeded ui destroy- Kepiy of the
ing- every orighial A^Titing from Avhich the re- iconoclasts.
plies of thefr nutngonists can be coUecteil, that we are
driAen to the garbled and vitupei-ntive statements ofthe
latter to discoAer the answers returned to these argu
ments. Fi-om the extant documents it appears that they
either altogeiher denied the distinction between absolute
and reloti\ e worship, or that they repudiated it as inap
preciable in itself, and therefore dangerous. In com
mou with the JcAvs and Arabs, they m-ged the notorious
fiiet, that it had been praeticiiUy inoperative ; and that
in strict consequence the Chiu-ch had become poUuted by
the grossest superstitions and idolata-ies : that, in fact,
miraculous poAvers had been, and were still, ascribed to
the images of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints : that
when such an opinion was once afloat among the Aiilgar,
there was an end ofthe speculative distinction — the image
was of necessity converted into something far aboA'e a
mere instrument of devotion; the wood, the stone, the
board or canvas, acquu-ed a sanctity of its own quite
independent of the object represented. In the state of
mind whieh such practice inevitnblA' engenders, no pre
caution coiUd guard men from trespassing beyond the
evanescent boundar3"-line between aUowable and idol
atrous serAice. Lasth', the practice of unage-worship
was in so mauA" waA s injm-ious to spiritual religion, as
to forfeit aff claim to toleration in auA' form of Chiistian
AA'orship. A more critical question had never been raised since
ChristianitA' becunie the religion of the Roman jj,.^,^^.^,^
world ; nor is there an mstance in which both chaxact^M of
parties were more unequivocaU}" iu earnest, '^^^^j™"
The abstract or metaphysical diameter of all
the antecedent disputes of itseff tended to restrict the dis
cussion, however stormy, to the clergy- and thefr imme
diate partisans. But iii the case before ns, the question
to be dealt A\ith eame dfrectly home to the individual con
science : it imphed the attack and the defence of senti-
ment« the most sacred ; a war of principles eushrineS in

474 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
the recesses of the intellect, the heart, and the affections
of the whole reUgious world. On the one hand, an enor
mous national apostasy was charged; on the other, an
intolerable sacrUege was to be avenged. Every element
of immitigable religious war was at hand ; and the for
tunes of the reigning prince — perhaps of the state itself
— were staked upon the issue. Though the weaker in
point of numbers, the iconoclasts were led by a man of
high reputation and intrepidity. The imraediate con
sequence of the raoderate edict of 726 was a forraidable
insurrection in the Greek islands. The rebels collected
a nuraerous fleet and arra3r, and ventured to lay siege
to Constantinople. But the regular forces of the empfre
adhered to their indomitable chief, and a decisive victory
over the rash assailants was speedily achieved. Punish
ments, or — as the defeated party generally call the seve
rities which follow upon unsuccessful resistance — perse
cutions, Avere unsparingly inflicted. In the elation of
triuraph, the eraperor and his friends, as usual, forgot
the rule of moderation they had hitherto observed. Their
religious opponents had become their political enemies ;
and their ultimate safety was uoav involved in the suc
cess of raeasures orio-inally resorted to for the satisfac-
tion of their private consciences.
In the year 730 the eraperor issued a second edict,
Leo's second ^J which he coraraaudcd the total expulsion of
edict against images frora all the churches of the empire.
images. rJ^^^ imperial party went be3^ond the precept;
the raost sacred effigies and pictures were every where
ruthlessly broken or torn to shreds, or pubUcly committed
to the flames, under the eyes ofthe enraged worshippers.
. Heedless of danger and death, men, women,
surrec 'on- g^^^j children rushed to the defence of objects as
dear to them as life itself. They attacked and slew the
imperial officers eng-aged in the work of destruction : the
latter, supported by the regular troops, retahated with
equal ferocity; and the streets of the metropolis exhibited
such a scene of outrage and slaughter as can alone pro
ceed from envenomed religious passions. The leaders of
the turault were for the raost part put to death on the

Chap. III.] GEEGOEY IIL POPE. 475
spot; the prisons were fiUed to repletion with delinquents;
and raultitudes, after suffering various corporeal punish
ments, were transported to places of penal banishment.''
Unable to divert the emperor from his purpose, or to
arrest the fury of iconoclasm, the patriarch Ger- Papai de-
manus surrendered his pallium into the hands nunciations.
of the sovereign, and was permitted to end his days with
out further molestation.' He was succeeded in the chair
of Constantinople by Anastasius, a convert to the impe
rial opinions on image- worship ; but when the new pre
late ventured, according to custom, to send his inaugural
letters to Pope Gregory IL, the storra of indignation,
which had been fast gathering in the West, burst upon
his devoted head. The pontiff in his reply, reviled him
as a heretic ; and threatened that, unless on receipt of his
admonitory letters he renounced his error, and returned
to the bosom of the catholic Church, he would pronounce
him an irreclaimable reprobate, depose him from the epis
copate, and strip hira of all sacerdotal office, dignity, or
authority." It is probable that, before the death of Gre
gory IL, orders had arrived from the court to put the
decree against images in force within the Italian depend
encies of the empire. In the month of Feb- Gregory ih.
ruary 731, that pontiff was succeeded by his v°v^-
namesake Gregory III. The emperor, it appears, had
addressed justificatory letters to the pontiff of Rome ; but
whether before or after the death of Gregor3^ IL, seeras
not certain. This docuraent, like every other frora which
the genuine arguments of the party mig-ht have been
' It is unnecessary to quote authority Baronius and the fanatical Jesuit
for these matters of notorious historical Father Maimbourg have collected them
detail. We cannot bring ourselves to with great diligence for the edification
believe the monstrous stories of cold- of the faithful.
blooded and malignant cruelty circula- ' Baronius and Maimbourg repeat the
ted by the Greek writers of the eleventh stories of the later Greek writers, af-
and following centuries. The credu- firming that Germanus was deposed,
lity of the age, and the obvious malig- tortured, and then strangled, by order
nity ofthe reporters, taken together with of the emperor. Fleury (tom. ix. p. 227)
the assiduity of the orthodox clergy in takes no notice of these tales ; and Paul
destroying every record, defence, or Warnefrid (lib. vi. c. 49) mentions the
apology that may have heen offered by resignation of Germanus without fur-
the iconoclast party, throws upon them ther particulars. Anastasius the Libra-
a strong suspicion of forgery and sian- rian copied Paul. Conf. Vit. Greg. IL
der. Fleury does not appear to value Murat. tom. iii. p. 158.
them more highly. But the credulous "¦ Anastas. in Vit. Greg. H. ubi sup.

476 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
collected, has perished, and its contents are now known
only in the mutUated, and probably garbled, extracts of
the adversary. From all that appears, we infer that the
emperor relied upon all or most of the grounds, for the
rejection of images, to which we have already adverted.
The pope, Gregory IIL, upon whom the task of reply
ing to the imperial manifesto devolved, did not advance
any new argument : but the tone of his communication
was disloyal and offensive in the extreme; every sentence
breathed a spirit of insolent and seditious defiance un
paralleled in the correspondence of the bishops of Rome
with the temporal sovereign, and equalled only by the
marvellous credulity and ignorance it displayed.
" Ten years of empfre, said the pope, " p-assed away
His insolent hcfore you discovcred that images were unlaw-
addressto fol. By what right, we would ask, do 3^ou
e emperor. ^^^ affect to treat them as idols? You say
that we are forbidden to venerate things made by men's
hands. But you are an unlettered person, and ought
therefore to have inquired of your learned prelates the
true meaning ofthe commandment. If you had not been
obstinately and wUfuUy ignorant, you would have learnt
frora them that your acts are in direct contradiction to
the unanimous testimony of all the fathers and doctors of
the Church, and in particular repugnant to the authority
Fabulous ^^ the six general councUs."" Repeating the
portraits, argumcuts dcduccd from the decorations of the
images, c. g^^tar and mercy-seat of the Jewish Temple, the
visible appearance of Christ in the flesh, his visible Ufe
and death, and the sacrament instituted in commemora
tion of his bodily presence among us men, he informs
the emperor that the impression of that presence was so
strong upon the minds of his disciples, that " no sooner
had they cast their e3^es upon him than they hastened
to make portraits of him, and carried them about with
them, exhibiting them to the whole world, that at the
" In none of which, however, does a Great, I have not met with any men-
word about images or image- worship tion of the practice of image-worship
occur. The " unanimous testimony of in the fathers of the first six centuries
the fathers" is equally at fault. Ex- of the Christian era.
cepting in the works of Gregory the

Chap, m.] GEEGOEY IH. ON IMAGE-WOESHIP. 477
siw-ht of them men might be converted from the worship
of Satan to the service of Christ, — but so only that they
should woi-ship them, not Avith an absolute adoration or
latria, but only with a relative veneration." In hke man
ner, — so the pope assured his correspondent, — pictures
and images had been taken b3' the disciples of the proto-
martAT Stephen, and aU other saints of note ; and in the
same wa3' dispelled over ever3- part of the earth, to the
manffest increase of the gospel cause."
" If," said GregorA*, " 3-ou had taken the trouble to in
qufre, aU thb would have been explained to 3"ou. ,^^
But, in truth, it is due only to 3"our unparalleled vituperation
dullness of apprehension'' that you have not long °^ ^^'^^^ ^^•
since embraced the truth. Turn, then, from the evU of
your ways, nnless you A\-ish to become a laughing-stock
to the veriest chUdren in the faith ! Go, we prav 3"ou,
into the schools tor infants, and there proclaim 3-ourseff a
desti-oyer of holy iraages, and verUA" they shaff, one and
aU, fling thefr hornbooks at 3'our head ; and rightL-, for
if 3011 AviU not be taught bA* the A\-ise, it is fit you be
schooled bA" the foolish and the unlearned." By a strange
perversion or confiision of scriptm-al facts, the pope com
pares the emperor Avith " the impious Uzziah, who," he
tells him. " sacrUegioush" removed the brazen serpent,
A\hich Moses had set up, out of the temple, and broke it
to pieces" (\) .' Leo was, in fact, worse tlian other heretics,
many of whom sinned fi-om mistake or ignorance ; but
he, with his CAes open : he had sinned against the light
itseff; hi^ frenzy was directed ag-ainst objects seen. knoAvn,
handled, and revered by aU. The emperor, he continues,
had caUed tor a g-Qneral councU. •' WeU," exclaims the
pope, '- but where are we to look for the God-fearing em
peror to preside in such a councU ? And, indeed, what
need ofa councU at aU, U'a'ou would but hold Aour peace ?
• This account seems to be a simple had some confiised recollection of ihe
exaggeration of the legends reUed on by story of frsah or Uzna (who was pim-
Gcnnanns. Pope Gregory in„ how- ished for laying hands on the ark), and
ever, has the merit, of 3ie earliest pnb- confounded it with the act of HeieMali,
Ucation of this new edition of these who broke in pieces the brazen serpent
le^ndsL expresslv to prevent the people from
f 'Arrz„r9^aia. ^jing Sirine homage to it. Conf. 1
4 I presume that the leamed pope Chron. xiii. 9, and S Kings sriii 4.

478 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
.... Cease but A'^our clamour, and there will be no call
for S3-nods ; retain, if you please, 3'our opinions about
iraages, and we wUl absolve you fi-om the sin of silence ;
for we have authority to absolve both in earthly and in
heavenly things."
Heaping every calamity which had befallen the Church
Greo- in ^^^ ^*'''^*^ ^^^ Italy upon the imprudence and
defies the foUy of the eiiiperor, the pontiff then derisively
emperor, r^ij^fjgg ^q ^i^q personal meuaces in A^diich Leo
had indulged against hiraself. "You haA'-e," he sa3^s,
" dared even to threaten vs. . . . You have boasted that
you Avill send 3-our officers to Rorae, that you will break
in pieces the statue of St. Peter, that you will send us
aAvay in chains, as your predecessor Constans did unto
our predecessor Martin : but know that 3'our jurisdiction
does not extend to the pontiffs of this see ; for tkey are
tke arbiters and judges of tke wkole Ckristian common-
wealtk botk in tke East and the West. But with the best
will, 3'OU have not the power to carry 3rour threat into
execution ; assail, insult us as you please, we have only to
retire twent3'-four stadia fi-om Rome at your approach :
follow us whither we go, if you list — you might as ra
tionally pursue the wind ! Take, therefore, a lesson from
the fate of 3^our infaraous predecessor Constans (II. ). He
was a heretic ; and thus it happened, that Avhen his servant
Nezeuxius Avas told by the faithful bishops of Sicil3'^ that
he had been denounced as a heretic by the Church, that
zealous raan sIcav him within the Axalls ofthe temple of
God.' But Martin is to this da3f reverenced as a sa.int, —
and would to God we were honoured by such a death as
his ; but Ave have other duties. The whole of the West
looks to us for help ; and we put our trust in Peter, wliom
e-very region of the world worships as a god on earth.
Come, then, if you dare, and repeat your outrages ; lift
up 3-our hand against his holy statue, and you shall find
to 3rour cost that the people are prepared, not only to de
fend their own cause and his, but to retaliate upon you
the mischiefs you have perpetrated in the East. You
' Whence Gregory III. obtained this unknown. It is not to be met with in
version of the death of Constans II. is any other writer.

I

Cu.vr. III.] ClHTNClt. AGAINST THE lAt.VCE-BRK.VKEES. 479
may, hideed, succeed iu driving us out of Rome ; but the
pontifi* will be beyond your reach : . . . . theu, if 3'ou
persist iu your design to throw down the statue ofthe
irince of tiie apostles, may the innocent blood which shall
e shed fall upon your head, and yours oiil\- !"'
Gregory was, as Ave lune seen,' at this moment in a
convenient positiou to hold this defiant language i„,potou,-v of
Avith safetA". The army of RaA-enna, upon which tUocmpi'™
alone the emperor eould reckon for the execu- "' '"•¦
tion of his designs against the pope, could no longer be
used for such a purpose. The Lombard dukes of Bene-
A-entuni and Spoleto had joined in aUiance Avitli the pope
e\eu against their oavu so\ ereign ; and their territorA'
could be reached in a few hours fi-om the citA'. Tlie
im{)erial troops had been removed from Rome for the
defence of Rra euna and Naples ; and the government
A\as therebA' Avholh' surrendered into the hands of the
urban magistracA', under the presidency of their bishop.
jV militia for the protection ot the republic Avas speedily
leA-ied. and trained In* the joint authority of the magis
trates and the pontifl'. The late Pope tiregory II.. prior
to his decease, had repaired and strengthened the defences
ofthe citv; aud everv preparation for resistance to the
threateue(\ attack A\as completed. Yet the temporal in
terests ofthe pontiff' still pointed to the maiiitenauee of
the Byzantine connection, as long as it could be retained
Avitbout a total sacrifice of reli^'ious character. The
jiatriinonies of the Church in the Xeapolitau and Sicilian
provinces \\ere at the luercA' of the emperor : Avhile the
possessions of the holy see in the Deeapohs, Romagna.
and LombardA', A\"ere in the power of King liuitprand.
The advances "of the latter had been always a subject of
ileep apprehension to the pontiffs of Rome ; and to haA^e
se\ered the tie AAdiioh still bound them to the ouly mih
tary power at that nioiueut capable of checking the pro
gress of Lombiu-d ambition Avas not to be thought of."
* S<v tlie prolix oridnal. ap. iJ.mvu. his allegiance to the emperor. But there
Ann. rac.tom, xi\.pp.;UO!ots.ni. Conf. is not onlv uo \-a.lid authority frir the
Fl<-i,-v'.-< .Xbstniot, fact, biit tho iuipnibabilily ot such a
« IVwk IV. 0, i. pp. S19 ot s.vi- s'^'P >* abiuulantly app;>ivnt upon the
" Somo lator writers h.ivo atfirmod surliioe of the political history of the
that Pope Givg\iry II, had tv'nounced times.

480 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
But the vituperative letters of Gregory had been re-
Councii jected by the emperor with well-merited cou
at Eome tempt. The presbyter George, whom the pope
s>?£iiiist the J.*/ G J XX
image- had sclccted to deliver them, shrank from the
breakers, perilous task, and returned with them in his
hand to Rome. For this act of cowardice he was severely
censured, and condemned a second time to incur the risk
he had attempted to evade. But on this second journey
he was by the emperor's comraand detained a prisoner
in Sicily, and the papal raissive was ignorainiously taken
from hirn." Gregory revenged the insult by a threaten
ing demonstration against the religious reforms of the
emperor. A solemn council was convoked at Rome, con
sisting of all the bishops of the Lombard and Byzantine
territories in northern Italy, to the number of ninety-three
prelates. The assembly was held in the actual presence
ofthe sacred relics ofthe apostle Peter, and was attended
by the whole body of the city clergy, the consuls, and a
vast concourse of people ; and a decree was framed, unani
mously adopted and signed by all present, to the effect
that " if any person should thereafter, in contempt of the
ancient and faithful customs of all Christians, and of the
apostolic church in particular, stand forth as a destroyer,
defamer, or blaspheraer of the sacred iraages of our God
and Lord Jesus Christ, and ofhis mother, the immaculate
ever-virgin Mary, of the blessed apostles, and all other
saints, he be secluded frora the body and blood of the
Lord, and from the communion ofthe universal Church.""
Successive messengers were despatched to court with
Leo eonfis- mouitory letters, officially notifying the above
catesthe pa- decree to the eraperor and all the Eastern
trimonies ot . , -r» i • . i
the Eoman churchcs. But OU cvcry occasion the raessen-
church, &c. g.gi.g ^gre arrested, and their despatches taken
frora them; they themselves were detained for many
months in custody, and ultimately dismissed with dis
grace and contumely to their employer. A numerous
fleet and arm3'- were, at the sarae time, fitted out for the
» The contents of the letters must seizure of their despatches. Anastas. in
have transpired. The detention of Vit. Greg. IIL; Murat. iii. p. 158.
the messengers was, in every instance « Anastas. ulii sup.
we read of, accompanied by a forcible

Chap. IIL] THE PAPACY AT THE DEATH OP GEEGOEY IIL 481
subjugation of the obstinate recusants in Italy : the ar-
raaraent was, however, disabled by a sudden terapest on
its outAvard vo3^age ; and Leo was corapelled to postpone
his designs for enforcing the execution of his edict against
iraages in the Italian dependencies ofthe empire; though
he indemnified himself, as far as possible, by the confi^s-
cation of all the estates belonging to the church of Rome
in Calabria and Sicily. Under any other state of circum
stances, no step ofthe court could have tended raore efi'ec-
tually to dissolve the connection of the empire The pope
and the pontificate. But as long as the arabi- P''''^?''^f',™
T T T . . T . ~ 1 nominal alle-
tious JLorabard retained the power to arrest the glance to the
progress of territorial acquisition, in which the empire.
whole heart and soul of the papacy was engaged, or to
endang-er that which was already won, nothing could be
further from the contemplation of Rorae than the over
throw of the iraperial power in Italy, feeble as it was.
So decisive a raoveraent could not but have been attended
with disturbances inconvenient, if not obstructive, to the
whole policy of the papal court ; more especially since, by
a fortunate concurrence of circumstances, the pope was
under no positive compulsion to obey the commands, or
to consult the wishes, of his nominal sovereign.
The last year ofthe pontificate of Pope Gregor3' III.
was, as already observed," disturbed by the
efforts of Luitprand to counterwork the in- papacy at the
trigues of the papal court with the vassal dukes n^^^^^^ "^j
of Beneventum and Spoletum. But the pontiff ^
had laid the foundation of that raore powerfiil political
connection which was soon to supersede that trouble
some and hazardous trimming to which the papacy had
hitherto been compelled to resort ; more perhaps by lust
of temporal dorainion than by its pretensions to univer
sal spiritual autocracy. Luitprand could not, however,
neglect the expressed" wishes of his powerful neighbour
and actual ally Charles Martel. His armies were with
drawn from the vicinity of Rome ; and Gregory III.
departed in peace on the 28th Nov. 741.^
» Book IV. c. i. p. 264. r Ciacone, in Vit. Greg. III. p. 513.
VOL. II. I I

CHAPTER IV.
ICONOCLASTIC CONTEOVEESY. (H.)
Constantine V. (Copronymus) emperor — Eeligious truce with Eome — General
synod of the Greek church on image-worship — Character of the factions —
Their mutual hatred— Stephen of St. Auxentius — His interview with Constan
tine V. — Murder of Stephen of St. Auxentius — Constantine's embassy to
Pippin of Prance — Leo IV. and Irene — Constantine VT. and Irene — Nego
tiation with Eome — Convocation of the (so-called) seventh general council
(Nicsea II.) — Deliberations and resolutions of the council — Eestoration of
image-worship — Pope Hadrian I. accepts and ratifies the decrees of Nicaea—^
Protest of the Gallic churches — The " Libri Carolini" — Apology of Pope
Hadrian L — Great synod of Prankfort — Condemnation of image-worship —
Concurrent relations of the pope to the Prankish and Byzantine courts —
Byzantine arrogance — ^Papal cupidity — Mutual disgust — Papal principle of
secular acquisition — Negotiations between Charlemagne and the Byzantines —
Emperor Nicephorus averse to image-worship — His toleration — Insurrection
— Eevolutions at Constantinople for and against image- worship — Michael I.
— Leo V. — Theodore the Studite — His adulation of Pope Paschal I. — Value
of these encomiums — Eeception of the Studite memorial at Eome — Michael II.,
the Stammerer, convokes a general council — Opposition of the Studites —
Grounds of opposition — Eeply of Michael II. to the Studites — Insolence of the
Studite party — Value of the Studite testimony to the supremacy of Eome —
Embassy of Michael to Louis the Pious — Moderation of Michael IL
The emperor Leo the Isaurian died six months before
. the mayor of the palace Charles Martel, and
Constantine . ^ i. i c r~\ ttt t
V. (Copro- about five before Gregory ill. Leo was suc-
nymus) cccdcd by his son Constantine, nicknamed Co
pronymus by the enemies of his creed and per
son. Constantine V. was inspired with a devout hatred
of image-worship, and he was probably even less under
the control of prudential considerations than his father.
The beginning of his reign was inauspicious. A danger
ous insurrection, under the banner of image-worship,
threatened his throne. The rebellion was quenched in
rivers of blood. But after the restoration of tranquillity,
few persons Avere made to suffer for their share in the
late disturbances; the people were amused and conci-

Chap. IV.] GEEEK SYNOD ON IMAGE-WOESHIP. 483
Uated with pubhc shows and games, and cajoled by a
proraise that the question of image-worship should be
shortly subraitted to the impartial consideration of a ge
neral council of the Church.*
As soon as the state of public affafrs permitted the
emperor to attend to domestic matters, he gra- Religious
ciously received and gave audience to the en- tmce with
voys of Zachary, the successor of Gregory III. ^"™*"
This was no time for the revival of religious disputes ;
the new pope dutifully announced his election to his so
vereign, and continued, to all outward appearance, to
acknowledge his dependence upon the throne of Constan
tinople. In truth, the menacing attitude of the Lom
bard king Luitprand at this moment absorbed all other
cares ; while at the same time the emperor was too ear
nestly bent upon the recovery ofthe eastern provinces
of the empire from the Arabs to desire a renewal of re
Ugious hostUities. This unpremeditated truce lasted for
a period of thirteen years. An advantageous peace was
at length concluded with the Saracens ; and Constantine
found himself at leisure to redeem his engagements to
both parties to the controversy in hand by the convoca
tion of an oecumenical council for the final adjustment
of the great question of image-worship. In General
the year 754, a general synod, consisting of^y"'','^?^*''?
three hundred and thfrty-eight bishops, met at on image-
the palace ofthe Hiera at Constantinople ; and, worship.
to the best of our information, were permitted to discuss
the subject with all ostensible freedom. But the records
of this synod no longer exist; and all that can now be
gathered about it must be taken from the mouths of
envenomed adversaries. Whether any difference of opi-
• The self- refuted slanders vented inconsistent with the character for un-
against the memory of Constantine V. mitigated animal ferocity, cruelty, and
by the Byzantine writers, more especi- tyranny, it has been attempted to fas-
ally of the monk Theophanes, are par- ten upon him. Fleury (tom. ix. p. 292)
aded by Baronius and his commentator quotes Theophanes with reluctance and
Pagi, ad ann. 741, tom. xii. pp. 459, 460. circumspection. Gibbon, notwithstand-
Theophanes rails more like a maniac ing his disclaimer, thinks that " where
than a person of sound understanding. there was so much smoke, there must
But the almost uniform success of have been a little fire," — Decl. and Fall,
Constantine, bis undisturbed reign, his vol. vi. p. 83, ed. Milm. and Smith.
administrative ability and activity, are

484 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
nion existed in the assembly, or what arguments were
urged on either side, cannot be ascertained. This much,
however, is certain, that it was unanimously resolved that
no worship ought to be paid to images ; that the act of
bowing down before or worshipping any created being or
thing, is robbing God of the honour due to Him alone ;
that men thereby fall back into idolatry ; and, generally,
that image-worship is inconsistent with the spiritual re
ligion of Christ. They therefore strictly prohibited the
making or setting up of any image ofthe Saviour, the Vfr
gin, or other Saint ; but reserved to the sacred persons all
that spiritual devotion which the Church had ever decreed
to them. The proceedings concluded, according to cus
tom, with a general anatheraa against all who should dis
pute the authority of this "great seventh general council."^'
The raass of raankind generall3'^ attaches itself to some
Charaeter 8™gl6 aspcct of evcry qucstion that closely
ofthe touches its interests or feelings, and gives to
factions, .j.^^^ .^-g.^ ^jjg most exaggerated form it is capa
ble of assuming. The image-breaker took it for granted
that every image of Christ, the Virgin, or Saint, was as
much an idol as the effigies of Jupiter, Mercur3'-, or Venus;
while, on the other hand, the image-worshipper fell into the
opposite extrerae of paying to those images a homage in
no outward or practical respect distinguishable from the
veneration or adoration due to the originals. In this dis
position, the former faction accused their adversaries of
Mutual the foulest idolatry ; while the latter described
hatred, their oppoueuts as an asserablage of beings too
vile to tread the same earth with themselves, — an aban
doned horde of blasphemers and raurderers of all that
was adorable in heaven and on earth. The deraeanour of
the iconoclasts, while the power rested with them, gave
colour to the most odious misrepresentations of their
tenets and motives. After the first moderate move
raents against that AA'hich they believed to be an objec
tionable practice, they plunged headlong into a course
¦¦ The only remaining record of this which is recited in art. vi. Cone. Ni-
council, whose claira to universality caea H. ap. Hard. ConcU. tom. iv. pp.
stands upon grounds equally valid or 323 et sqq.
invalid with the six preceding, is that

Chap. IV.] MUTUAL HATEED OP THE FACTIONS. 485
of provoking and contemptuous outrage against the
venerated objects of popular devotion, affording thereby
plausible evidence of an impious mind. The distinction
between the honour due to the image and the subject it
represented was as unintelligible to the raass ofthe iraage-
Avorshippers, as that which the latter atterapted to esta
blish between absolute and relative worship was to the
comraon herd of image-breakers. But the demeanour of
the parties proved in reality no more than the intensity
of their rautual hatred ; the impiet3' charged was in nei
ther case very different from that which they mutually
strove to fasten upon each other : neither faction was
inclined to tax its passions and prejudices on behalf of
truth or sober inquiry ; and neither would consent to dis
pense with an atom ofthe stock of combustibles wherewith
the flame of mutual hatred was kept alive. The swarms
of monks which peopled the cities and deserts ofthe East
beheld with dismay the religious ferment settling down
into an ominous tranquillity under the iron hand of Con
stantine V. Shrieks of horror and disgust resounded
from every pulpit and cell ; regardless of life or safet3',
they painted the emperor as an abandoned apostate — a
Julian^' a Valens — a monster of impiety : he was by turns
an atheist, an Arian, a Nestorian, a Eut3rchian — one AA'ho
in his single person combined every heresy that had ever
polluted the Christian faith and endangered the souls of
men. The iconoclasts retaliated in language borrowed
trom the fiercest scriptural denunciations against idols
and idolaters, without the remotest regard for the differ
ence between the objects represented in one case and the
other. The spirits of persecution and raartyrdom flowed
into one another ; the tormentor of to-day was ready on
the morrow to take his turn on the rack or the scaffold ;
and thus, without any vital or essential difference, both
factions ardently thirsted for each other's blood.*^
¦= It should be bome in mind, that that by the argument of the image-
neither faction denied the doctrine of worshippers, their practice mijAibecome
saint-worship;nordoIfinditanywhere idolatrous, if at any time the distinc-
stated that the iconoclasts objected to tion between relative and absolute wor-
the reverence of relics, or questioned ship should be absent from the mind of
their efficacy. It may also be noticed, the worshipper.

486 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
The rigid ascetic Stephen, abbot of the monastery of
Stephen of ^*- Auxeutius iu Bithynia, stood forth as the
St. Auxen- champiou ofiraage-worship."' So great was his
*'"'• reputation for zeal and piety, that the eraperor
thought him worth the honour of a personal refutation.
His inter- ^^^ whcu summoued to the presence of Constan-
view with tine, he returned a defiant and insulting reply.
the emperor, rpj^^ former, who was animated with the hke fa
natical spfrit, now commanded the interview he had in the
first instance condescended to solicit ; and Stephen was
conducted to the palace by the officers of the court. On
his way to the audience, he borrowed, and concealed under
his habit, a coin bearing the effigy of the reigning sove
reign. The disputation grew warra ; the eraperor roughly
described all images of worship as idols, and their worship
pers as idolaters: Stephen pronounced the imperial opinion
to be a damnable heresy; he denied that he or his com
munion adored the wood, the stone, the gold, or the silver
of which the image was composed : "But," said he, "you
break them in pieces ; you treat the image of Christ as
you would treat that of the false god Apollo ; the like
ness of the ever-blessed Mother of God as that of the
demon Diana ; you destroy, you tread them under foot,
3rou burn them !" The veheraent saint then drew forth
the coin frora his bosora, and exhibited it to the emperor.
" Whose image and superscription is this ?" he asked.
Constantine admitted them to be those of the emperor.
" If, then," rejoined the abbot, " I were to cast this image
and superscription upon the ground and tread it under
foot, what, I pray, might be the penalty?" The by
standers unanimously exclaimed that such an act would
be treason to the narae and image of the sacred majesty
of the empire. " Then," exclaimed the saint, with a pro
found sigh, " what should be done to the man who treads
under foot the holy name and majest3^ of Jesus Christ and
his divine Mother, as represented and inscribed on their
sacred iraages? Ought he not to be at once deUvered
¦' Stephen strenuously maintained the defenders of that practice thought it
distinction of absolute and relative wor- requisite to fence around their theolo-
ship, with which even the most frantic gleal positioB.

Chap. IV.] STEPHEN OP ST. AUXENTIUS. 487
over to the devU and his angels ?" The saintly aspiration
was devoutly expressed by casting the coin to the earth
and staraping upon it with his foot.
The emperor was not prepared with an answer to this
coarse but plausible sophism.' The treasonable
apologue of Stephen would have cost him his ofStepiTen
life — for which, however, he cared very little — °^ St.
but for the interference of the emperor. In the "^^^ '"'"
prison to which he was led away, he exhorted and com
forted his friends, and reviled his sovereign with ten
fold acrimony and with the manifest intent to sting him
into the last act of tyrannous violence. Whether with
the intent of indulging his anxious desire for the crown
of martyrdom or not, is not very apparent ; the saint was
turned out of his prison, and instantly torn limb fi*om
Umh by an enraged mob of iconoclasts, who do not ap
pear ever to have been punished or even blamed for the
murder. "^ The eraperor dissolved the monasteries, and
stripped thefr churches of all images ; those monks who
turned upon thefr persecutors were tortured, exiled, or
put to death, and a deceitful peace was restored, which
left all the elements of discord fermenting beneath the
surface of the religious world.
In Italy the fortunes of the Byzantine power con
tinued on the dechne. Since the faUure of the constantine
expedition, from which Leo the Isaurian had ^- ^ends an
formed great expectations, no attempt had been Tippin^of°
made to interrupt the communications between France.
e He might have replied, " The image Christian martyrdom in this heroic act
and superscription I reject is a forgery of self-sacrifice. But it is to be appre-
and a counterfeit, condemned and de- hended that the unselfish devotedness
nounced by the prince it pretends to for whieh this description of martyrs
represent : that which you have trodden give themselves credit veils from their
under foot is a genuine current coin, mental vision the dark and gloomy pas-
stamped with a true effigy, and Issued sions which revel in their hearts — that
by the authority of the earthly sove- indomitable spiritual pride which, while
reign whose image and superscription it hardens them against suffering and
it bears." death, shuts out compassion or charity
' Baron. Ann. 754, §§ 26 et sqq. ; with for the sufferings of opponents. As long
Father Pagi's extracts from the Life of as persons of this stamp are supported
St. Stephen Junior (as he is styled), by a Ijy the applause of a party, conscience
deacon of Constantinople, written about never complains ; and thus they are ever
forty-two years after his aUeged mar- ready to accept from the disguised fiend
tyrdom. Conf. Fleury, tom. ix. p. 41 1. within a forged passport to Paradise.
We wish we could discern the spirit of

488 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
the Roman pontiffs and their Lombard or Frankish pro
tectors. Now, however, Constantine V. made a tardy effort
to recover by negotiation what had been lost b3'^ the A^^eak-
ness and folly of Byzantine management. Pope Paul L,
the brother of Stephen IV., was at this point of time urging
with indecent vehemence the surrender of the last rem
nant of the exarchate to the holy see ; and the emperor,
with a view to dazzle the Frankish barbarians, and, if
possible, to lure them into an alliance against the papal
encroachraents, despatched a raagnificent embassy', with
rich presents, to the court of Pippin, the recently-crowned
king of France, to propose a close alliance between the
two states, which was to be cemented by a marriage
between Leo, the emperor's son, and Gisela the daughter
of Pippin. Pope Paul, who beheld in the success of
this proposal the ruin of his high-wrought hopes of a
speedy transfer of all that remained of Byzantine ter
ritory in northern Italy into his own hands, spared no
pains in prejudicing the Frankish prince against both
Greek and Lombard. The eraperor he depicted as a here
tic and a persecutor, with whom no Christian prince could
hold any intercourse or have any dealings ; the Lombard,
as a perjured tyrant, whom it behoved the king, as the
patron and protector of the Church, to reduce fiy force
of arms to the minutest fulfilment of his late covenants
with the holy see.^ Pippin received the imperial envo3'^s
Avith civility, but declined the proposed alliance. The
reasons alleged by the king were probably connected
with the relig-ious differences pointed out by the pope.
Pippin entertained the erabassy at Gentilly, where he
was celebrating the Easter festival. The questions of
iraage- worship, and the insertion ofthe "filioque" into the
Nicene symbol, were, it seems, discussed in the presence
of the papal legates ; and, in the result, the Byzantine
embassy was dismissed without any satisfactory reply .''
After a reign of nearly thirty-four years, the emperor
e Epp. Paul. Pap. I. in Cod. Carolin. pt. li. pp. 76 et sqq.
ap. D. Bouq. tom. v. ep. xiv. pp. 120, ^ I adopt this incident from Fleury
121; ep.xv.p.l24; ep. xvii. p. 129; ep. (H. E. tom. ix. p. 438), with some hesi-
XX. p. 126; ep. xxiv. p. 142; ep. xxxiv. tation.
p. 159. The same, ap. Murat. tom. iii.

Chap. TV.] EECONCILIATION WITH EOME. 489
Constantine V., surnamed Copronymus, was Leo iv. and
succeeded (a.d. 775) by his son Leo IV. The i''«°«-
new emperor maintained the religious polic3^ of his fii-
ther; but died after a short reign of five years (a.d.
780), leaving the throne to his son Constan- constantine
tine VL, an infant of the age of nine 3^ears,^i-^'>'ii'"ene.
under the guardianship of his raother the erapress Irene ;
a woman whose personal attractions and abilities were
eq^ualled only by her ambition and profligacy. During the
lifetime of her husband she had been strongly suspected,
if not actually convicted, of addiction to image-worship.
After his death, she cast off the mask she had hitherto
been corapelled to wear ; she b3^ degrees reintroduced the
proscribed images ; she published an ordinance for liberty
of conscience and free discussion ; she recalled and rein
stated the monks whom Constantine V. had banished ;
and in the year 784, she placed her favourite Tarasius,
though still a layman, upon the patriarchal throne of
Constantinople. Anxious to justif3' this flagrant irregu
larity, she despatched an embas83'' to Pope Hadrian I. to
explain the transaction, and to express her de- Negotiation
sire to earn the restoration of comraunion with '«''* Rome.
the hol3' see by the reinstatement of the holy images in
their forraer honour and worship. The envo3's were, as
raight have been expected, received with the warmest
Avelcome by the pontiff. Sorae forraal objection was, it is
true, taken to the uncanonical elevation of a layman to
a patriarchal throne,' and a more serious protest entered
against the title of "universal patriarch" assuraed by
Tarasius ; but in consideration of the critical state of reli
gion in the East, and the fitness of the person chosen to
encounter the difficulties ofthe times, the papal repug
nance was got over.: yet upon the express understanding
that aU the estates of the Church confiscated by preced
ing eraperors should be restored to the hol3^ see, and
that Tarasius and his sovereign should purge aU pre
vious errors by their zealous efforts for the extirpation
of that " execrable heresy" which had deprived the holy
' Ep. Had. Pap. I. ad Taras. ConeiL tom. iv. p. 98.

490 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
images of the honours they had enjoyed " from the be-
ginning."J To that end the iraperial envoys proposed the convo-
Convocation catiou of a general synod, at which the pontiff
rfiied/'"'" himself was requested to preside. To this invita-
generai cwn-tion the poutiff dcraurrcd, but promised to send
oil, Nicsea IL legates to represent the holy see. The convo
cation ofthe proposed synod was, however, delayed by
the disaffected state of the army; and it was not tiU three
years afterwards that the taint of iconoclasm could be
eradicated from the various corps quartered in the metro
polis and the principal cities ofthe empfre. But even
after these purifications, it was not thought expedient to
expose the assembled fathers to the caprices of the fickle
populace of Constantinople ; and the council was trans
ferred to Nicsea in Bithynia, where it was formally in
augurated and opened on the 24th of September in the
year 787, in the presence of the legates of the pope, the
patriarch of Constantinople, two deputies of the Oriental
patriarchates, and three hundred and seventy - seven
bishops, coUected from every part ofthe empire.''
Although Pope Hadrian I. omitted no form of words
.^ ,.,^ which could give colour to his own vfrtual pre-
Deuberations . . • ii • • ,i i
and resolu- sidcucy IU this, as IU cvcry other general coun-
*'c^cii''^ cii,' yet it appears beyond doubt that the Greeks
took upon themselves without contradiction the
i Ep. Constant, et Irenes ad Had. ends; and theu the questions arise, —
Pap. I. in Cone. Nicsea II. ap. Hard. Were they contained at all in the ori-
tom. iv. pp. 21 et sqq. — ^Apol. Taras. id. ginal epistle sent by Hadrian to the em-
ibid. p. 23. See especiaUy the letter peror and empress ; or, might they not
of Hadrian to the emperor and em- have been fraudulently inserted to save
press. Ibid. p. 79. Anastasius accuses harmless the pontiff from the charge of
the Greeks of having mutilated this having connived at the irregularity of
epistle, with a view to save the credit Tarasius, to found an implied promise of
or the pride of the court and patriarch the restitution ofthe confiscated estates,
of Constantinople. The Latin version and to keep up the Eoman protest
eertainly contains a great deal more against the title of " cecumenical patri-
than the Greek original. The restora- arch," without endangering the success
tion ofthe estates ofthe Church, the ofthe religious movement for the re-
protest against the title of"cEcumeni- storation of image. worship?
cal patriarch," and the objections to '' The authorities are carefully eol-
the election of Tarasius, are not con- lected hy Fleury, tom. ix. pp. 515-527;
tained in the latter. It is singular, if and see Baronius and Pagi, ad ann.
not suspicious, that aU these topics are 780-787. Conf. Gil>bon, ed. M. and S.
inserted at the close of the Latin ver- vol. vi. pp. 163 et sqq.
sion, aud come in where tbe Greek ' See his letters as above quoted.

Chap. TV.] EESTOEATION OF IMAGE-WOESHIP. 491
entfre direction ofthe proceedings." The Western churches
were no otherwise represented in this so-called general
council than by or through the legates of the pope." The
order of proceeding was prescribed and directed by Ta
rasius ; and all the forms observed in preceding general
synods were scrupulous^ followed. There was, however,
but one thing to be done. A period of scarcely thirty-three
years had elapsed since three hundred and thirty- eight
bishops of the East had solemnly denounced image-wor
ship as derogatory to the honour of God, his virgin mother,
and all the saints, — as idolatrous in itself, and obstructive
of human salvation. They had decreed the total abolition
of images and every kind of representative worship ; and
they had, upon grounds equally tenable with those upon
which the preceding councils had based their oecumenical
character, constituted themselves, and assumed the name
and title of, a seventh general synod ofthe whole Christian
body. Now, however, many of the identical prelates who
had set hand and seal to the decrees of 754 eagerly
tendered their recantation ; they alleged duress, seduction,
fraud, artifice — any plea — in mitigation of their error,
and, with the zeal of apostates, urged, with frantic vehe
mence, the condemnation ofthe tenets they had professed
and taught for the greater part of their lives, jjggtoration
The restoration of iraages, with all the honours of image-
of adoration and worship which had been there- ^'"^^•''p-
tofore paid to them, was unanimously decreed ; a general
anathema was pronounced against the iconoclastic opinion
and practice ; and all the acts and writings of the here
tics, more particularly the records of the council of 754,
were carefully coUected and committed to the flames.
Seven sessions were consumed in proUx discussion and
™ The Latins confined themselves to the convocation or its object. The oecu-
a simple demand of conformity with the menical character, therefore, can only
sentiments expressed by Hadrian in his be sustained by supposing that the chair
letter to Tarasius. Hard. Cone. tom. iv. of Peter might at its pleasure, and with-
p_ 103. out notice or concurrence, take upon
"» Besides them, not a single prelate itself to represent the Church universal;
from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, andby assuming, as of course, that both
or England, had received either sum- the Greek and Latin churches admitted
mons or seat. It is barely a matter the right of Eome to take upon herself
of conjecture whether tbe Westem that character.
churches had received any notice of

.492

CATHEDEA PETEL

[Book V.

vehement declamation. In the fifth, the archpriest Peter
moved that an iraage of the Saviour be on the morrow
introduced into the asserably, to be devoutly saluted and
adored by all present. The raotion was adopted, and the
assembly fell doAvn and worshipped — a graven image."
Hadrian I. promptly ratified the decrees of this seventh
p^ g general council, and sent copies of its acts and
Hadriani. dccrccs to Charlemagne, and the bishops of
ratmes'tTe'^ Fraucc and German3^, for thefr adoption. _ The
decrees of reccptiou which thesc docuraents met with in
Nicsea. .^jj^gg fgalms bclougs to the most remarkable
and interesting features in the religious history of the
period. The acts of the Nicene fathers were examined
with attention and minuteness, and — peremptorily re
jected. The document by which this solemn protest is
vouched passes under the title of the " Libri Carolini."
It was published about the 3^ear 790, in the name and
by the authority of Charleraagne himself, and purports
to contain a refotation of the conflicting errors of the
councils of 754 and 787. The author or authors ex-

° Hard. Cone. tom. iv. p. 322. It is
not said that the act of adoration was
actually performed; but the resolution
passed without a dissentient voice, and
we may presume of course that it was
complied with. The solicitude of tbe
interlocutors, especially in the fifth and
sixth sessions, to substantiate the dis
tinction between the material image
and the sacred person or thing repre
sented, is remarkable. Upon this point
tbe entire debate turned. It was per
ceived that the whole difference be
tween absolute, or idolatrous, and re
lative, or spiritual, devotion, before or
in the presence of a representative
image, depended upon their success in
establishing the distinction clearly and
universally in every Christian mind.
Unless they could accomplish this
practical point, the image must be
come a trap to the unwary and the
¦ ignorant worshipper, and the Church
must charge upon its own shoulders all
the consequences of conducting the re
ligious conscience in a path beset by so
many spiritual dangers. Por it could
not escape attention that, unless the
worshipper could be made to appre
hend with unerring distinctness and

precision what it was that he wor
shipped in the image, the visible object
must, in the great majority of eases,
supersede the spiritual object, and the
worshipper be thereby seduced into
absolute or idolatrous worship. The
difficulty was seriously increased by
the very general idea of a miraculous
power or efficacy residing in the effi
gies of the Saviour, the Virgin, and the
Saints; an opinion which of necessity
transferred to the wood, the canvas, or
the stone used in the manufacture, a,]l
the sanctity — it might be said, the di
vinity — of the object represented. The
only mode of rendering images innocu
ous, aud yet preserving their use in the
sense of I'ope Gregory the Great (see
Book III. c. vii. p. 223 of this vol.), is
to prohibit rigidly all outward acts of
adoration, retaining them only as me
morials ofthe founder and the heroes
of the faith. This seems to have been
the original intention of Leo the Isau
rian; but the fury of party spirit, and
the great difficulty of preventing the
forbidden practice, soon diverted him
from his purpose, and drove him to the
shorter but very dangerous measures
he afterwards adopted.

Chap. IV.] PEOTEST OF THE GALLIC CHUECHES. 493
amined with unsparing severity every step in protest of the
the argument by which the fathers of Nicsea had ctaiiic
arrived at the conclusion that worship ought t'he""Lfbri
to be paid to images : they disputed their inter- Caroiini."
pretations of holy writ ; they ridiculed the miraculous
tales upon which the3' relied; they impeached thera ofthe
grossest ignorance, superstition, and credulity; and they
protested against the presuraption and vanity which had
prompted them to impose their partial definitions on the
whole Christian world, as if the3' alone had been its sole
representatives. "What infatuation," they exclaimed,
"that a particular church should presume to bind the
whole Christian world by its anatheraa ! What raving-
madness, that a part should dare to pronounce a solemn
curse upon the whole 1 This is indeed cursing without rea
son — rage withoutpower — judgment without jurisdiction."
Political jealousies and resentments swelled the storm of
angry, feeling; and it is hinted that Pope Hadrian and
his part3' in the Nicene council had sacrificed religion
and conscience to the material and temporal interests of
their church.'' Therefore, while they conderaned the in
solent and irreverent act ofthe council of 754, in dis
placing and breaking to pieces the iraages of Christ and
his saints, they denounced with equal severity the attri
bution to them of those outward and formal tokens of
devotional homage they had always regarded as unlaw
ful ; consequently, no decree of an3' council to such effect
could have validity or currency within the Frankish
realms, but must be absolutely rejected."
P The recovery of the forfeited estates paid to them; but the wanton destruc-
of the Church in Sicily and Calabria, tion of images they condemned as an
probably. The Protestants of the Libri insulting outrage upon a rehgious usage
Caroliui, however, expressed equal dis- of great antiquity and utihty, and knew
approbation of the decrees ofthe image- of no language strong enough to con.
breakers. Images and pictures, they vey the sentiments of disapprobation
said, had for ages past heen used with and disgust at the conduct ofthe coun-
great and salutary effeot in France, oil of 754 in decreeing their expulsion
where they had been retained in pur- from the churches.
suance of the wholesome counsels of " The prohibition of Charlemagne
Pope Gregory the Great in his pastoral included all acts of adoration, service,
letter to Serenus of Marseilles. But the veneration, and worship of every kind-
French churches had, they affirmed, " omnimodum cultum," «. g. praying,
adhered to the letter of that advice, bowing, kneeling, burning incense or
and had never permitted any external tapers before them, or any of those
honours in the nature of worship to be marks of devotion by which men sig-

494 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
Pope Hadrian received this uncivU document with
extraordinary forbearance. He replied to it in
Pope°ffad- a very diffuse apology for the decrees ofthe late
chariemr e ^ouucU of Nicaea ; professing to have adopted
aremagne.^j^^^ solely bccausc he had believed them to
be in conformity with the ancient practice of the Roman
church, and the expressed opinion of Pope Gregory the
Great ; and he urged that if he had not sanctioned them,
the Greeks might have reverted to the shocking heresy of
iconoclasm, to the imrainent peril of men's souls. But cir
cumstances, he said, had since occurred to delay his final
approval ofthe council ; neither had he given any definite
answer to the Byzantine court upon the subject : for that,
in fact, the Greeks kad delayed tke fulfilment of their spe
cial engagements with the holy see ; the metropoUtan and
other jurisdictions of the church of Rome had not been
surrendered ; and her patrimonial possessions sequestrated
during the predominance ofthe iconoclastic heresy had not
been restored. He therefore proposed, with the permis
sion of Charlemagne, that his letters of acknowledgment
to the emperor, for the restoration of the sacred images,
should convey a severe rebuke for this breach of faith;
that the emperor be pressed closely upon the subjects of
jurisdiction and patrimony; and that, if he continued
obdurate, he should be at once published a heretic."^
The attempt of Pope Hadrian to involve Charlemagne
in his quarrel with the emperor and his mother
S Frankfort I^cne docs uot appear to have been followed by
any practical result." But the genuine rever
ence of the Western sovereign for the holy see, and the
anxiety of the pontiff to raaintain a good understanding
with his powerful protector, disinclined both frora pushing
the difference upon the subject of image-worship to the
nify their adoration of God and Christ. ¦¦ Hard. Cone. tom. iv. pp. 818 et sqq.
Fleury, tom. ix. pp. 579 et sqq. Conf. » The courts of France and Constan-
Cent. Magd. cent. viii. pp. 641 et sqq.: tinople were at this moment not in the
see also the account of the synod held best humour with each other. Irene
at Paris in the year 825 upon the sub- had negotiated a marriage between a
ject of image-worship, published for daughter of Charlemagne and her son
the first time in 1596 ; though im- Constantine ; but from some caprice
pugned "by Baronius, subsequently re- had subsequently changed her mind,
printed from an authentic Ms. ap. and married him to an obscure Arme-
D. Bouq. tom. vi. pp. 338 et sqq. nian girl.

Chap. IV.] CONDEMNATION OF IMAGE-WOESHIP. 495
length of a rupture. But in the year 794 the question of
image-worship was brought forward at a great synod of
the Frankish churches, probably without premeditated de
sign. A council, consisting of three hundred French, Ger
man, and Spanish prelates, had been convoked in that year,
at the royal villa of Frankfort-on-the-Mayne, to discuss the
alleged heresy ofthe Adoptioiiarians, a revival ofthe Nes
torian theory ofthe incarnation, with some slight difference
of form. Felix bishop of Urgel in Spain, and EUpandus
archbishop of Toledo, lay under accusation as the authors
ofthe new heresy. After a minute inquiry, the opinion of
the Spanish prelates was condemned. But, that business
accomplished, the acts of the second Nicene councU were
incidentally brought under the notice of the synod. " The
doctrine," says the second canon, " enounced at the late
synod of i^e Greeks held at Constantinople (Ni- „ ,
\ •ii-jj.-Jj.- Condem-
csea) concerning the adoration due to iraages nation of
being brought under the consideration of this ^^^{
council, that, namely, they who refused to pay
unto them the like adoration as to the holy Trinity should
be adjudged anathema, the fathers of this council do
hereby declare their rejection and contempt of adora
tion or servitude in anyform paid to such images, and do
unanimously condemn the same.'"
It should be observed, that legates from Pope Hadrian
were present at this council; that they approved the
acts and canons ; and that the pontiff himself took no
« Hard. Cone. tom. iv. p. 904. It is ration. Fleury chooses to render the
probable, as Fleury observes (tom. ix. words " adorationem et servitutem" in
p. 607), that this canon was suggested this clause hy the terms " cette ado-
by some misstatement of the doctrine ration et cette servitude;" which, to my
of the second Nicene council, which mind, alters the real sense of the pass-
certainly took good care to guard itself age, and makes the latter clause to
against the charge of paying to images have specific reference to the ki-nd of
the same kind of worship as that due to adoration and service described in the
God or Christ or the Holy Spirit. But first. But the Caroline books contain
his version of the canon is, I think, not the clearest condemnation of every kind
quite candid. The fathers of Frankfort of adoration or service to images ; and
appear to me to have put the exagger- it is not imaginable that the fathers of
ated proposition in the former clause Frankfort should so soon have forgot-
of the canon, with a view to intensify ten their prior opinions, as now to re-
the contrast between their view of strict themselves to the denunciation of
image-worship and that of the Nicene that which all the world acknowledged
fathers. The word used in the second to be an enormous heresy, equivalent to
or prohibitory clause is "omnimodis," idolatry.
in any manner or form, scilicet, of ado-

496 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
Concurrent objectiou to auy siuglc article or canon among-
relations of them aU. A glaucc at the relative position of
theVrankfshthe popc, the cmpcror, and the raighty king
and Byzan- of the Frauks, will, we think, explain the un-
tine courts, ^g^^^^ subiuissiou of the pontiff under religious
contradiction. The attitude of Charlemagne had become
threatening to the B3'z-antines. His assumption of the
crown of Ital3' had. placed him, in raost respects, in the
threatening position abdicated by the Lorabards. He had
pushed his conquests eastward to the very confines of the
B3"zantine dorainions on the Danube and the Save ; and
now had good cause of offence in the capricious rejection
of an alliance touching the honour of his family. The
Byzantine court at the same time beheld with indigna
tion the transfer of an integral portion of her dorainions
in Italy to the vassal bishop of Rorae. That court had
Byzantine Icamt uothiug by raisfortuuc : like fraudulent
arrogance, traders, the Caesars still placed their hopeless
losses to the credit of their account ; and insisted upon
the dominium supremum of vast countries in which they
had not for ages possessed a foot of ground. Charle
magne himself was, in their view, at best a barbarian
vassal ; the pope a political traitor, whom it 'behoved
them to cajole or coerce as opportunity ofi'ered or expe-
Papai diency might suggest. The pontiff, on the other
cupidity, hand, intent upon robbing his nominal sove
reign, demanded a right to the produce of his political
industry as perfect and indefeasible as that which the
nominal head of the holy Roman erapire clairaed to every
region and province which had at an3' time formed .a
part of that empire. We have alread3^ seen, that while
Leo the Isaurian and Constantine V. were striking heav3'
blows against the religious influence of Rome, the pon
tiffs were engaged in appropriating to themselves every
inch of the imperial territory ,in Italy they could lay
their hands upon : the emperors retaliated b3'^ the seques
tration of the estates of the Roraan church within their
reraaining Italian and Sicilian dependencies, and permit
ting her spiritual jurisdiction over the extensive dioceses
of Macedonia, Greece, Epirus, Preevalitana, Dardania,

Chap. IV.] PEINCIPLES OF PAPAL ACQUISITION. 497
and lUyricum, to pass into the hands of the national pre
lacy and their patriarch. In these respects the Mutual
successful issue of the iconoclastic controvers3r disgust.
does not appear to have improved the position of the
papacy; the confiscated estates were not restored, and the
Greek hierarchs were less than ever disposed to abdicate
their natural jurisdictions for the benefit ofthe Western
patriarch, from whom they had now little to fear and no
thing to expect. The resentment of Hadrian I. at the dis
appointment ofhis hopes, leads to a strong suspicion that
his concurrence in the extravagant theory of image- wor
ship adopted by the second council of Nicsea was prompted
rather by political than religious raotives. Certain it is,
that when he found that he had been overreached by the
wily Greeks, he was quite prepared to pronounce sentence
of heresy against the erapress and her son, if Charlemag-ne
should encourage him to hope for his assistance in reco
vering the territorial losses his see had sustained during
the progress of the controversy.
The pontiffs of Rome raight, it may be thought, have
reasonably regarded the great g-aiiis achieved
through the Frankish alliance as an ample set- cipks^™'
off against these losses. But it was not so; a^^^^-^jjoj,
the papacy did not acknowledge any principle
of reciprocity or compensation in their accounts with the
people or the rulers of the world : they received, but never
paid ; and even that which they received was, in the con
templation of Rome, always accompanied with a perpe
tual covenant for undisturbed enjo3'ment, at the peril of
the bodies and souls of the grantors. The breach of this
iraplied covenant was as much a heresy as doctrinal error.
But as long as any thing was to be gained, or any loss
retrieved, by the aid ofthe secular arm, the pontiffs wisely
forbore to put forward this unquahfied warranty. For the
moinent Hadrian fully appreciated the value ofhis alliance
with Charlemagne for protection against the resentments
and intrigues of the Byzantines ; to that connection he
looked for the chance of reestablishing his spiritual power.
in the East, and the recovery of the patrimonial territo
ries in southern Italy and Sicily. Contrasting this posi-
VOL. II. K K

498 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
tion with that in which he stood towards the Csesars of
Constantinople, we may, therefore, readily iraagine what
would have been the fate of the Caroline books, or of
the second canon of Frankfort, had they appeared under
the patronage of Constantine and Irene instead of that
of Charlemagne. The Greek historians hint at a project of the empress
to strengthen her own power against the court factions
Negotiations of Constantinople by a marriage with Charle-
Charirmr e°^^§""^ himsclf." Erabassics passed between the
and the two courts ; but whatever may have been thefr
Byzantines, object, before any definite understanding could
be arrived at, Irene was deposed by her minister Nice
phorus. The envoys ofthe king to the late empress were,
however, civilly received and entertained by her succes
sor ; and a settlement of boundary in Italy, in some re
spects advantageous to the empire, was ultimately agreed
upon. A treaty of alliance was, it seeras, at the same
tirae under negotiation ; but in the interim Charlemagne
had assumed the imperial crown ofthe West. Embassies
still continued to be exchanged between the two empe
rors, and treaties were concluded with three successive
Csesars of Byzantium; but the latter could not be pre
vailed upon to concede the title of emperor and Augus
tus to the barbarian prince ; nor could they cast off the
suspicion that the powerful monarch ofthe West intended
this assumption of iraperial rank and title as a first step
towards the acquisition of the empire to A\^hich, in thefr
rainds, that title was exclusively appropriate."
We have no doubt that so vain a project had no place
The emperor amoug the political schemcs of a monarch so
Nicephorus;' distinguished for practical good sense as Charle
magne. The suspicion itself was the offspring of the
jealous vanity and constitutional timidity of the court of
Constantinople. Nicephorus dabbled in religious con-
trovers3' with the same raorbid zest as his predecessors.
But he struck into a different path for the success of his
» Theophanes, Chronog. ap.D.Bouq. Einhardi, ann. 803, 806, 812, pp. 191-
tom. V. p. 188. 193, ibid.; Annal. Fuld. ann. 803, 811,
" Einhardi, Vit. Car. Mag. ap. Pertz, ibid. pp. 353-355.
tom. ii. p, 451, §§ 7, 33. See also Annal.

Chap. IV.] EELIGIOUS EEVOLUTIONS. 499
schemes. The new emperor was averse from
,1 , . n • 1 • 1111 averse from
the practice ol image-worsnip, probably be- image-
cause its triumph had been the glory of his worship:
predecessor's reign; he reprobated the violent
methods adopted by Irene, and published an edict of
general toleration in favour of those who, like hiraself,
raight object to the prevailing ritual. But toleration is
the bane of fanaticisra ; and the Studite monks of Con
stantinople, under their ringleader Theodore, made the
welkin to ring with exclamations of horror and disgust
at this sacrilegious attempt to re-open the floodgates bf
iconoclasm. At their instigation the populace insurrec-
of the city rose in the mass, and were with ^lons.
difficult)'- reduced to subraission ; the raonks themselves
were expelled, and the ringleaders ofthe sedition were
incarcerated. Nicephorus, and his patriarchal namesake
and nominee, drew upon themselves the foul charge of
Manichgeism, the epitome of every heresy that had ever
polluted the heart of an apostate ; Irene Avas elevated to
the rank of a saint and mart3'r ; and the death of Nice
phorus (a.d. 811) in battle with the Bulgarians was hailed
by the frantic Theodore and his monastic bevy as a deli
very frora the dominion of sin and Satan.''
His successor, Michael I. (Rhangabe), reversed the
religious policy of Nicephorus. The patriarch devolutions
of Constantinople hastened to excuse his com- at Constan-
pliance with the heresy of his late raaster on aiTag^ainst
the usual plea of corapulsion, and poured out ™age-
his devout orisons for the success of the holy ^""^ '^'
cause of the sacred images.'' In the year 813 Michael
resigned the crown to Leo V., surnamed the Armenian,
a soldier of fortune, and a devout adversary of image-
worship. Again the city and court of Constantinople
became the arena of fierce and often bloody contests for
and against iconolatry. The patriarch Nicephorus he
sitated at a second apostasy, and was deposed; in his
place the emperor installed Theodatus, Uke his predeces--
w Baronius, Ann. 802, § 6, from the -¦ See this disgusting effusion of hy-
furious invectives of Theophanes and pocrisy and effrontery, ap. Baron. Ann.
Theodore the Studite. 811, §§ 20-43; more especially § 41.

500 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
sor a layman, in the patriarchal chair ; and the new pon
tiff instantaneously became, in the hands of his adver
saries, the representative of every vice that disgraces
human nature. According to invariable custom, Theo
datus sent his inaugural letters to the reigning pontiff of
Rome, Paschal I. In the interim, however, a close alli
ance had been struck between the Studite faction and the
papal court. The indomitable Theodore, archimandrite
of the Studite community, unsheathed the sword of con
troversy with fanatical alacrity. The reasonable desfre
ofthe emperor for the convocation ofa general council, at
which the contradictory decisions of two equally qualified
and equally numerous general S3Tiods (a.d. 754 and 787)
should be discussed and reconcUed, was defeated by the
furious declamations of Theodore and his friends; and
the emperor contented hiraself for the present with the
banishment from the metropolis of iraages and monks
together. Though he raaintained the pohcy of toleration
in the provincial cities and districts, the Studites and
their leader found means from their prisons to keep ahve
the flame of religious discord, and even to open a confi
dential coraraunication with Rome, where their hopes of
ultimate triumph appear, by this time, to have centred.
Theodore continued to pour forth from his place of
Theodore the confinement, where he appears to have enjo3'ed
Studite. every indulgence consistent with safe custod3'^,''
the most unmeasured and venomous aspersions upon his
sovereign. He issued appeals to the passions of the
populace ; indited and despatched hortator3r letters to the
four patriarchs of Christendora descriptive of his own
sufferings and those of his friends in the cause
phantm adu- of the holy images ; and addressed to Pope Pas-
lationofPopegiial I. a memorial and supphcation, omitting
no phrase of Oriental adulation Avhich might
conciliate the well-known favour of Rome for those who
flattered her pretensions. The pope figures in this address
as "the great light; the prince of all the priests ofthe
y We altogether reject the tales of and his copyists. Such rigour is totally
inhuman cruelties and persecutions in- inconsistent with the freedom of com-
flicted onthecaptive advocates of image- munication and the unity of effort to
worship by the mendacious Theophanes which these same writers depose.

Chap. IV.] STUDITE SYCOPHANCY. 601
Lord ; the apostoUc chief, chosen by God himself to be the
supreme pastor ofhis Church ; the doorkeeper ofthe king
dom of heaven ; the roch upon which the cathoUc Church
is built: he is Peter, and rules all-glorious in Peter's
chair ; he is prince over all, established in and by God."
Other addresses of Theodore and his faction may match
these in extravagance. The pope " is to be adored as the
supreme light ofthe world ; the universal pope that sitteth
upon the highest of the apostolical thrones, and made
manifest as the true successor ofthe prince ofthe apostles
by his sympathy with the suffering churches : he is more
over, and hath been^om tke beginning, the clear and
unpolluted source of divine trutk ; the sure and only
haven of refuge from the storms of heresy ; the divinely-
appointed city of refuge unto salvation." Then, as if
struck by the immensity ofthe distance at which all other
raortals stand before the raajesty of St. Peter's chafr, he
exclairas : "Ofa truth it is a bold thing for us, miserable
and unworthy beings, thus to approach with our profane
praises that divine name whicli hath, by the tongue of
Christ himself, been pronounced ' blessed.' '"^
We may perhaps form the safest judgment ofthe true
value to be attached to the encomiums of the y^j^^ ^^
Studite faction upon the pope of Rome, by com- these enco-
paring them with the parallel eulogistic ex- """°'^-
pressions adopted in their correspondence with the three
bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Thus
the first of these patriarchs is addressed as " the in-all-
things most holy father of fathers, the light of light, the
most blessed the pope of Alexandria." The sarae adula
tory phrases are bestowed upon the patriarchs of Antioch
and Jerusalem ; and the latter more especiaUy is assured
that he is, in fact, the first of all the patriarchs, though
but the fifth in nominal rank ; for that his seat was es
tablished upon the very spot where He, the great bishop
of souls and universal pontiff, was born, lived, and suf
fered, was buried, and rose again, and was received up
into heaven ; where, therefore, the supreme patriarchal
dignity must needs reside."^
» Baron. Ann. 818, §§ 1, 2, p. 604. > Ibid. Ann. 817, § 20, p. 590.

602 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.

Attributions of so universal a character are necessa
rily exclusive of all concurrent clairas, and when
thritudite applied to raore than a single subject, of ne-
memoriai ccssity neutralise one another." But the cor-
at Eome. •'- .__... ... . .

respondence of the Studites Avith the churches
of the East was probably unknown to Pope Paschal;
and when the s3'nodal letters ofthe patriarch of Constan
tinople arrived, they were rejected with disdain ; while
those of his opponents met with the most gracious recep
tion. The memorialists had, however, ignorantly fiattered
themselves with the belief that there was but one opinion
among the Western churches upon the subject of image-
worship ; and had proposed a general council for the pur
pose of giving expression to that opinion. But the pope
knew that the ground was hollow beneath him, and wisely
abstained frora the untiraely measure suggested by his
friends in the East. In his reply he confined himself to
expressions of warm approval of their efforts, and sym
pathy with their sufferings in the good cause ; with an
earnest exhortation to persevere unto the end in opposi
tion to the heresy of the court."
Though the votaries of image- worship gained nothing
Michael the ^y their appeal to Rome, they were soon after-
stammerer wards relieved from the pressure of real or con-
""gJnerri * structivc persccutiou by the death ofthe emperor
council, ijeo the Armenian (a.d. 820). His assassin and
successor, Michael IL, surnamed the "Stamraerer," began
his reign by a general amnesty ; he reinstated the monks,
restored their property, and issued a decree of perfect re
Ugious toleration, to continue in force untU the contro
versy should receive its proper solution at the hands of an
impartially selected and independent general council of
the Christian Church. The emperor was in earnest, and
fc Cardinal Baronius is very disagree- risen that might raise either of them
ably affected by the address of Theodore above the other; yet, inasmuch as the
to the patriarch of Jerusalem ; but he bishop of Eome alone possessed the
rather thinks that he meant to say no power to serve his interests and those
more than that the Christian Church be- ofhis party, he prostrates himself some-
gau at Jerusalem. It seems tolerably what lower before the majesty of Eome,
clear that Theodore wished to eonvey to and uses the terms most jfikely to corn-
each of his correspondents the highest mand the sympathies of the pope.
opinion of his official dignity, conse- <^ Baron. Ann. 818, § 13, and passim.
quently he avoids all terms of compa-

Chap. IV.] OPPOSITION TO A GENEEAL COUNCIL. 503
appears to have persuaded himself that he might appropri
ate to himself the glory of reestablishing religious pfeace,
after nearly a century ofthe most embarrassing and perni
cious dissension. Without any of those previous inquiries
which, in like cases, appear requisite to ascertain the dis
positions of the contending parties, he issued his sum
monses to the prelates of the empire. But the opposition
Studite party at once avowed their uncorapro- ofthe
mising opposition to any proposal that might *'"''''^^-
bring them into the raost distant communication with
their antagonists, or have the effect of re-opening a ques
tion they maintained to have been finally settled by cecu
menical decree (a.d. 787) ; they vehemently denied the
right ofthe temporal sovereign to convoke a council, or
at his pleasure to set the Church in motion for the discus
sion or deterraination of religious questions, — that func
tion, they maintained, belonged exclusively to the Church
at large ; and they affirmed, that when any difficulty was
apprehended, the emperor was bound by ancient custom
to take council of Rome, and abide by her decision.
" For," said they, " that is the supreme Church of Christ
on earth, in which Peter sat in the beginning ; and unto
whom the Lord had said, ^Thou art Peter, and upon
this rock will I buUd my Church.' "
The Studite party had by this time ascertained that
a general assembly of the churches raust seri- Grounds of
ously endanger their dograatic position. Under opposition.
favour of the court,, and encouraged by the tolerant po
licy of the eraperor, there was the raost iraminent peril
of what they most dreaded — a free discussion. The pope,
they now found, could not coramand the suffi-ages of the
West : a really cecumenical convocation would, in all pro
bability, register the adoration of images, pictures, and
symbols of every kind in the catalogue of heresies. They
therefore prudently took their stand upon the decrees of
Nicaea (787) and the papal alliance; and in aid of their
position they aUeged two principles not hitherto dogma
tically admitted by any considerable party in the Ori.
ental churches— ^^rs*, that the temporal sovereign is in
competent to set the ecclesiastical powers in motion ; and

504 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
secondly, that for any such purpose the previous assent
of the pope of Rome, as supreme president of the whole
Church, is indispensable. Thus prepared, they impor
tuned the emperor to restore the sacred images to their
places and their honours, to expel the bishops of the
opposite party, to reinstate their friends in their forfeited
sees, and to revoke his decree of toleration. Michael
Eeply of treated the petitioners with much courtesy, but
Michael IL declined to put power into the hands of persons
from whom no mercy to the members of his own com
munion was to be expected. He had, he said, himself
never bowed down before an image ; but as far as he
was concerned, others might, in that respect, do as they
pleased, provided they granted to others the Uberty the3^
claimed for themselves. In all parts of the empire, there
fore, they who worshipped images were free to set them
up where and however they pleased, excepting only in
Constantinople; but as that city was the place of his
iraperial residence, he had resolved to raark his own per
sonal and conscientious opinions by prohibiting them
altogether within its purUeus.''
The cool civility of the sovereign convinced the peti-
insoienee of tiouers that he would not be easily driven from
the Studite, his coucihatory policy. The edict of toleration,
party. ^^^Qy perccivcd, was sUentl3r undermining their
infiuence ;' and they expressed their rage and apprehen
sion in terms of such disloyal and contemptuous vitu
peration as they thought must impel the court into those
raeasures of repression which would once more elevate
them to the dignity of martyrs and confessors.'' The
seditious violence ofthe petitioners was punished by sim
ple banishment. Though interrupted by civU war, Mi
chael persisted in his project of a general council ; and
was again encountered by a peremptory and insolent
^ Baron. Ann. 821, § 39, p. 26. that " the only access to the Saviour and
' " Quse utilitas si nos, qui Dei tem- his saints was through their holy images ;
pia et sumus et dicimur, inutiles facti that therefore all who reject his image
sumus, et inanimas domus servamus." reject Christ, and are the very worst
Baron, ubi sup. § 48, p. 29. of heretics; for hy their contempt of
f Theodore, the champion of image- the type they signify their rejection of
worship, put the finishing hand to the the prototype." Baron. Ann. 823 S 25
professionof iconolatry: he maintained p. 54.

Chap. IV. VALUE OF STUDITE TESTIMONY. 505
denial ofhis right to interfere, directly or indirectly, in
matters of religious concernment: "The aposties and their
successors," it was contended, " were alone corapetent to
judge and determine upon divine things ; and who those
successors were was equally manifest : first, naraely, he
who occupied the highest chair, to wit, that of old Rome;
next, the bishop ofthe second see, that of Constantinople,
or new Rorae ; in the third, fourth, and fifth places, the
bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem : these
were the croAvn ofthe ecclesiastical pyramid, and in them
resided the exclusive right of adjudicating upon spiritual
matters and things : the emperor's sole duty was to sup
port them Avith the civil power ; to stamp their decrees
with the seal of secular law, and to suppress all carnal
resistance or contradiction." They frankly informed him
that the only course open to him was without delay to
suppress the prevalent heresy, to turn out the recreant
bishops, and to put their sees into the hands of their own
friends. After that, they said, they would not object to
a synod, provided it were convoked by an orthodox pa
triarch, with the concurrence of his four colleagues, more
especially that of the great pontiff of Rome, to whora of
right belonged the supreme power {summa potestas) in
all oecumenical synods.^
These professions of subserviency to Rome cannot be
regarded historically in any other light than as yaiue of
the expression of part3'- attachraent, and the de- studite testi-
sire of the weaker to purchase at any price the ™upremacy^
support of the stronger power. Destitute of of Eome.
all authorit3'- to speak for the majority, even in their own
church, it is a simple imposture to assign to the ravings of
the Studites and their charapion the character of histori
cal evidence, or to present them to the world as authentic
expositions of ecclesiastical law.'' The sole object of that
s Baron. Ann. 823, §§ 9-15, pp. 48- over the very unorthodox association
51. The zealous cardinal exults in the of Constantinople with the other apos-
orthodoxy of Theodore, and extracts tolical sees; and the equally unortho-
from his effusions a complete theory of dox supposition that the concurrence of
Eoman prerogative as to the convoca- the latter was in any respect necessary
tion, management, and control of the to complete the powers ofthe pontiff of
councils of the Church. It is surprising Eome.
that he should have so easily passed ^ Baronius has, however, adopted

506 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
party was to multiply obstacles to the free discussion of
the question of image-worship. They were determined
at all hazards to maintain the decrees of 787, and were
anxious to engage the pope in the like uncompromising
defence of the second Nicene council The emperor Mi
chael, however, was well informed ofthe reluctance of
the GaUic churches to adopt the extremes proposed by
the Studite party ; and in the year 824 despatched a
solemn erabassy to the Western emperor, Louis
of MiSi the Pious, with a view to engage his religious
to Louis sympathies against the more serious abuses of
image- worship. After describing the coarse and
degrading superstitions to which that practice had given
rise within his own dominions,' Michael vowed that he
had caused all images and pictures in the churches to be
removed from the lower and more accessible places to
others where they were beyond reach of the touch or
osculation of devotees, yet so visible as still to serve their
proper purpose of instruction to the unlearned, Avithout
offering them to the adoration ofthe ignorant and super-
this course throughout his great work. sing hymns to them, and adore them,
Whenthecreditof his authorities comes and supplicate aid from them. Many
under our consideration, we often find persons clothe them in white raiment,
that it rests upon phrases and opinions and cause them to hold their children
of a like partial and unauthoritative over the baptismal font. Others again,
character. when they embrace the monastic pro-
' Though not immediately connected fession, and cut off their hair, cause it
with the narrative, we may be allowed to fall into tbe lap of an image (in to-
in a note to give an extract from the ken of spiritual adoption), instead of
letter of the emperor, descriptive of the consigning it to some ancient of the
practices complained of. Without plac- order to be kept by him. Again, many,
ing any undue reliance upon Byzantine both of clergy and laity, are guilty of
veracity, we accept his account with the the extravagant superstition of scrap-
remark that it has never been contra- ing off the outside colour from their
dieted. " We further take leave," says images, mixing it with the sacramental
Michael IL, " to inform your highness elements, and administering it in that
that many of our clergy and laity have state to the communicants. Again,
of late gone back from the apostolic others place the bread and wine in the
tradition, and have become the inveu- hands of an image, and pretend to re-
tors of strange and wicked delusions. ceive them from it. Again, others spread
In the first instance they effaced the pictures of saints upon altars in private
symbol of the cross from the churches, houses, and celebrate the sacred mys-
and afterwards they substituted images, teries upon them ; and many other
and now they burn lamps before them, things do they in the churches contrary
and fumigate them with incense, and to our religion, and to the great scan-
hold them in as high honour and wor- dal of the more learned and sober-
ship as if they were made of the iden- minded among ourselves." Baron. Ann.
tical wood upon which Christ our God 823, §§ 10, 1 1, p. 66, cum not. Pagi.
was crucified for our salvation; they

Chap. IV.] MODEEATION OF MICHAEL II. 507
stitious, or allowing lamps to be kept burning before
them, or fumigations of incense to be performed in their
honour. " For we think," said the emperor, " that the
persons who practise or encourage such pernicious inven
tions ought to be expelled from the Church of Christ.
Yet because we have set our faces against such doings,
certain persons have had recourse to old Rorae, and have
traduced our church and true religion by denying our
orthodoxy; in proof whereof, however, we herewith send
you our confession of faith."
In every essential point of doctrine, that confession
was strictly orthodox. But while it adopted Moderation
the first six general councils, it passed over of Michael n.
in silence both the iconoclastic council of 754 and the
second council of Nicsea of 787 ; thereb3'- tacitly disa
vowing the extrerae tenets of either party. Michael, in
fact, took his stand rauch upon the same ground as
that chosen by the Caroline books and the s3-nod of
Frankfort (794), and closed in accurately with the doc
trine of Gregory the Great in his instructions to Serenus
of Marseilles. He expressed at the same tirae an ex
ceeding aversion from schism, and the highest reverence
for the holy see ; and intimated that his envoys were in
structed on their return to visit Rorae, and to convey
to the holy pope of that city certahi rich presents, to be
offered on the shrine ofthe great intercessor Peter prince
ofthe apostles.J
This embassy gave rise to transactions between the
eraperor Louis the Pious and the papacy of sufficient
importance to form the subject of a fifth and concluding
chapter of this Book.
i Baronius, Ann. 824, §29.' The mingling so much good orthodoxy with
cardinal is highly scandalised by the his blasphemies against images and
audacity of the heretical emperor in their worshippers.

CHAPTER V.
ISSUE OF THE CONTEOVEESY ON IMAGE-WOESHIP.
Ecclesiastical relations with Eome during the reign of Charlemagne — ^Louis I.
the Pious — Gallic view of the question of image-worship — Commission of in
quiry and report — Substance of the report — Censure passed upon Hadrian I.
and Gregory H. — Proposals of the commissioners to the emperor Louis —
Gallic estimate of papal authority — General exposition of the report, &e. —
Letter of Louis the Pious to Pope Eugenius — Inconsequential issue of the
emperor's proposal — Claudius Clemens, bishop of Turin — The reforms of
Claude fall to the ground — Subsidence of the iconoclastic disturbances — Theo
philus emperor — John Leconomontis — Eestoration of images in the East by
the emperor Michael HI. — Epoch of 844.
The death of Pope Paschal L, in 824, had placed Eu-
Eeciesiasticai genius II. upou the papal throne. PoUtical
relations evcuts, of which WC shall take occasion here-
durinf'the ^ft^"" ^^ g"^^^ ^ more detailed account, had
reign of cemeuted the connection between the court of
ar emagne. -pj^^ncQ aud the papacy, and added to the influ
ence ofthe secular power to an extent unprecedented in
'the annals of papal Rorae since the downfall ofthe em
pire of the West. A spirit of self-reUance had sprung
up araong the French clergy siraultaneously with the de
velopraent ofthe empire of Charlemagne. His acute dis
cernment ofthe religious wants ofthe times had placed
on the spiritual thrones of France and Germany a class
of raen of theological and secular attainments greatly in
advance of their predecessors, — it raay, indeed, be added,
of the age in which they lived. As long as he occupied
the throne, ecclesiastical and secular legislation proceeded
hand in hand. The high spiritual regard in which the
see of Rorae was held ahke by church and state, was not
allowed to interfere with the fullest freedom of movement

Chap. V.] GALLIC VIEW OF IMAGE-WOESHIP. 509
in the reUgious body. The interpositions of Rome, when
they occurred, were treated with respect ; and although
the GaUic bishops held themselves at liberty to deal freely
with all questions of faith or disciphne which arose in the
course of their ministrations, they still regarded them
selves bound to report their proceedings to Rorae, and to
take counsel of the chair of Peter in all matters of more
than ordinary doubt or difficulty. In the year louIs the
814, Louis I., surnamed the Pious, had sue- ^ious.
ceeded his renowned father upon the imperial throne of
the West. But the character ofthe new emperor was cast
in a widely different mould. Louis was wanting in all
those vigorous and self-reliant qualities which subdued the
hearts and spirits of men to his great predecessor. His
religious education had tended to weaken rather than to
strengthen his natural character. His raental constitu
tion was singularly liable to rehgious disturbance ; and
his feeble judgraent inclined him to lean upon authority
rather than upon independent inquiry or per- ™ „ , .
sonal conviction. Hitherto the authority ofthe church'"
Caroline books and the council of Frankfort o" image-
had remained unimpeached in the church of '^'
France. All the more learned of her clergy — probably the
majority of the whole estabhshment — zealously maintained
the unlawfulness of image-worship in any shape. They re
jected the Greek distinction between absolute and relative
worship ; they disavowed aU uses of images but those of
instruction and encouragement to devotion ; and rigidly
denounced the perforraance of all external acts of horaage
to any visible objects as S3'mbols of religious contempla
tion. The erabassy of the emperor Michael powerfully
affected the minds of Louis and his clerg-y. The disgust
ing abuses brought to Ught by the stateraents of the
Byzantines produced a lively zeal for the purity of their
own practice, and awakened a strong desire to see the
precise line which divides the legitimate use of images
and pictures frora the idolatrous abuses prevaUing in the
Oriental churches fully and finally deterrained.
For that purpose, the eraperor Louis, with the con
currence of his clergy, besought Pope Eugenius II. to

610 CATHEDEA PETEL [BookV.
sanction by his Ucense, and become a part3^ to,
pr^op^serra formal investigation of the great questions
^j°'"^^"^|,°^ involved in the doctrine of image - worship.
inquiry, c. ^^^ ^^^^ purposc, he proposcd that the inquiry
should be conducted by a select commission consisting of
the most learned divines of the catholic comraunion of
France; and that they should be instructed to search
the Scriptures and the writings of the Christian fathers,
with a view to collect the aggregate suffrages of the
Church as the groundwork of a foture and definitive set
tleraent of all questions at issue between the fanatical
image-worshippers and the equally fanatical image-break
ers.^ Pope Eugenius gave the requfred perraission with-
Commission ^ut delay, aud without any recorded objection.''
of inquiry The coraraissiouers accordingly raet at Paris in
and report.. ^-^^ ^^^^^ of Novcraber 826; and, after diUgent
inquiry, made their report to the emperor Louis with a
freedom of censure which we must take for the result of
that increase of self-reliance which the advance of infor
raation and knowledge, had engendered. The reign of
Charleraagne, among its manifold merits, could boast of
none more justly than the liberal patronage extended to
learning and learned men, the endowment of schools,
and the general provisions made for the education of the
" The pontifical advocates contend, and that of Eome ; and that to that
with some appearance of reason, that end they regarded the opportunity as
the application of the emperor Louis favourable to make the pope a party to
to the pope for his license (licentia) to the inquiry, and to bind him to its re-
the proposed inquest is satisfactory suits. It is obvious that they thought
evidence that it was unlawful to hold a general synod premature; and that
any kind of inquiry having relation to without a previous inquiry, under the
matters of faith or doctrine without sanction of the holy see, no definite
the previous permission ofthe holy see. issues could be proposed to the council
Baron. Ann. 824, §§ 9, 31, 32. In the for discussion or adoption. Hence the
reign of Charlemagne, however, there necessity of a license or permission
is at least equally satisfactory evidence from the pope for the proposed inves-
that no such license was regarded as tigation.
essential to the legality of public or i" Baronius (Ann. 824, § 33) says,
private inquiry. There is not a tittle that he reproved the rashness of the
of evidence to show that the discussion emperor and his advisers for opening
which produced the Caroline books, or afresh an inquiry already determined
the convocation of the great synod of by immemorial tradition ; yet yielded,
Frankfort, was preceded by any appli- in order that he might not be supposed
cation for leave or license to the holy to aot arbitrarily rather than accord-
see. But we see no reason to doubt ing to reason. The cardinal quotes no
that the GaUic clergy were anxious for authority, nor can I find any, for this
a uniformity of doctrine respecting the statement.
use of images between their own church

Chap. V.] CENSUEE UPON HADEIAN L 611
people. The clergy of France no longer laboured under
the thraldom of ignorance ; conscious of the power, they
no longer doubted the right to investigate for themselves
the most profound questions of theology, and to censure
error wherever they believed it to lurk, whether in the
head or the merabers of the Christian body."
The commissioners opened their report by a deliber
ate censure of the letter of Pope Hadrian I. to
Constantine and Irene on behaff of image-wor- ^tte'leport*!^
ship."* Though they approved his condemnation Censure upon
of those who laid violent hands upon, or alto- * "^'^^ ^
gether prohibited the use of, iraages, yet they reprobated
the sanction he had given to the bestowal of tokens of
adoration or worship, the application to thera of the epi
thet " holy," and his ratification ofthe decrees of a synod
which upheld such reprehensible usages." His quotations
from the fathers of the Church in support of those prac
tices, they said, were strange and little to the purpose ;
tending rather to mislead than to enlighten those whom
he addressed; inasmuch as they, were adduced, not to
show that images and pictures ought not to be dishon
oured or broken in pieces, but that they might be adored
and called " holy," and that they were capable of impart
ing to the worshipper a certain special grace {quandam
sanctimoniam). The emperor Charles, they further re
marked, had in many respects disapproved that synod,^
and had freel3'' communicated his objections to Pope Ha
drian I.;^ but that, instead of correcting what was found
amiss, he (Hadrian) had defended the superstitious de
crees of the synod article by article, to the great scandal
ofthe faithful, and to the manifest disparageraent as well
ofthe pontifical dignity as ofthe truth itself. The pontiff
had professed to be guided by the precepts of the holy
" The Caroline books, the canon of error otherwise than by an implicit re-
Frankfort, and tbe report of the com- liance upon the doetrine of Eome. See
missioners of the emperor Louis, fur- ch. i. p. 436 of this Book.
nish a remarkable contrast to tbat plain ^ See ch. iv. p. 490 u. (J) of this Book.
avowal of ignorance which a century ' The second Nicene council to wit.
and a half before induced them to adopt ' By the promulgation of the Caro-
the whole Eoman tradition, because line books.
they felt their own incompetence to « See ch. iv. p. 493 of this Book.
escape the entanglements of religious

512 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
pope Gregory (the Great); it was manifest that he had
misunderstood the doctrine of that holy man : the3'^ be
Ueved, indeed, that he had erred not so rauch against
better knowledge as fi'om positive ignorance ; yet unless
he had fortunately, though accidentally, found a partial
support in the institutes of that blessed person, he must
inevitably have faUen headlong into the gulf of super
stition. The commissioners took the Uberty of commenting
and with equal severity upon the letters of Pope
Gregory IL Gregory II. : they compared the decrees ofthe
second council of Nicaea with the Caroline books, and
adverted to the epistle of the preceding year from the
emperor Michael to their own pious sovereign. From
these documents, and other authentic reports that had
corae to their knowledge, the3' had conceived the most
serious alarm at the extent to which that " wicked cus
tom and pestilent superstition" (image-worship) had taken
root and fiourished : they could now understand A\'h3' the
emperor Louis wished for its aboUtion ; more especially
since it was found that the popes, whose special duty it
was to keep others in the right path, had themselves
strayed far away from it. And although the emperor
had set on foot this inquiry for the satisfaction of his
private conscience, and for that reason had thoug-ht it re
quisite to obtain the consent of the pontiff; 5'^et as, before
that, he had the will to inquire without the power, so now,
being pro\-identially furnished with authority frora him
who had himself swerved from the truth, that erring
authority itself raust wUlingly or unwillingly yield to
the force of truth.''
•• This passage is ambiguous. It may sion into the general proposition, that no
be doubtful whether the commissioners assembly or synod whatever, touching
are describing the state of mind of the faithordoctrine, eould have any validity
emperor Louis — that is, his private without the prior sanction ofthe holy
doubts of his competency, as a layman, see. I think the ' power' here alluded to
forhis ownpersonal satisfaction to seton does not denote the ecclesiastical power
foot so important a theological inquiry ; to discuss and to determine the points
or whether they meant to state it as a in issue; but the necessity, in this par-
matter of ecclesiastical law, that the pa- ticular case, of the papal coucurrence,
pal license was essential to all inquiries for the purpose of settling one uniform
of that nature. The papal writers, of practice regarding the use of images in
course, understand them in the latter the Latin church. Without that eon-
sense, and expand the apparent admis- currence, he would have been deprived

Chap. V.] EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONEES. 51,3
But with all this freedom of reprehension, they ad
vised the emperor in his dealings with the pope
to avoid, as much as possible, casting blarae ofthe com-
upon him personally ; and they suggested that "''ifl^^''^
there were others upon whom the whole charge emperor
of these misdoings might be laid without caus- ^°^^^'
ing scandal in the Church :* they thought that by sparing
the pontiff, and yet not shrinking from a frank profession
of what he believed to be the truth, the emperor would
best consult the interests of church union, as well as those
of the holy see itself: by such means the pontiff might
be gently led to adopt sounder views ; and the3^ advised
that an answer should be sent to the eraperor of the
Greeks in conforraity with their report, and that at the
sarae time the pope should be furnished with a copy of
the extracts they had raade from the holy Scriptures and
the fathers of the Church for the use of their master.
With a view to arm him at all points, they subjoined the
draughts of two letters ; one to accompany- the book of
extracts, and the other to be proposed to the pope as the
pontifical reply to the emperor Michael touching the ob
jects ofthe late embassy. In order, however, to dissipate
all question as to their own convictions, they declared it
to be their opinion that the iraages ofthe saints ought
not to be abrogated nor broken, nor altogether set aside ;
yet that they oug-ht b3^ no raeans to be made the objects
of worship or superstitious reverence, but be retained
only in memory, and for the love of those whom they
represent, according to the strict tenor of Pope Gregory
the Great's decretal upon the whole question.^ •
of the means of bringing the discussion J See the entire report, ap. D. Bouq.
to any profitable issue; and he con- Hist, de Fr. tom. vi. pp. 338-341. And
tended, that as soon as he obtained it conf. Baron. Ann. 825, §§ 7 to 18. Ba
the pope was bound to acknowledge his ronius flouts this remarkable document.
error if the decision should be against Bellarmine flatly denies its genuineness.
him. The Jesuits Labbi and Sirmond omit it
' Meaning the Greeks, who had not from their collections. Pagi admits that
cleared themselves ofthe imputation the practice of the Galilean church was,
of iconoclasm to the satisfaction of for many ages afterwards, in conformity
the commissioners ; and whose reputa- with the terms of the report. It is now,
tion for general orthodoxy was not so however, on all hands admitted to be a
well established as to make it incon- genuine document. It was, indeed, first
venient to shift the whole sin upon their discovered and anonymously printed at
shoulders. Frankfort in the year 1596, by Pro-
VOL. II. L L

614 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
It is, however, somewhat startling to find that, with
aU this anxiety to spare the sensitiveness ofthe
eSte pontifical court, more especially after admitting
of papal in gojng aort the right ofthe pope to the initi-
aut ority. ^^.^^ .^ ^^^ inquiries of a religious character,
the commissioners should advise the emperor to assert
an independent and unquahfied right to search the Scrip
tures and the writings of the " divinely inspired fathers;"
and that they should express an opinion that in so doing
the holy see is bound to approve ofthe act, "because that
see itself was subject to tke dictates of Scripture and of
tke holy catholic fatkers, and ought therefore to be care
ful how it refused a reason to a reasonable inquirer: that,
in fact, he (Louis) had duties to perform which must
be grounded upon personal conviction, and therefore re
quired personal research : that he was bound to pity and
reUeve the distracted churches of the East ; where it so
happened, that while one party would not endure images,
the other not only set them up but bowed down to them
and worshipped them ; yet that both parties heaped up
quotations from Scripture and the fathers in support of
such contradictory views : that in the performance of
this duty he (Louis) had an absolute right to the sup
port of him to whom the Almighty had committed the
vicariate over His whole Church, — of him to whom a
name is given above all other names in the ranks of the
pontificate ; who is alone ordained to be caUed ' uni
versal,' not to do his own wiU, but to do the wiU of his
apostolic founders : that he (the pope) had therefore no
alternative but to stand forth for the correction of these
evils, and the bringing back the strayed sheep to the path
of truth : that when Satan, as then, went abroad to de
stroy in men's hearts the holy law of charity, it was the
duty of the whole order to go forth to battle against
him ; but more especially was it the duty of him who by
apostohcal authority and the reverential deference of the
testants ; but whatever suspicion might Fleury' s account, or abstract, is unusu-
have attached to it from that circum- ally meagre ; H.E. tom. x. p. 269. D.
stance has since been dissipated by the Bouquet, it should be mentioned, does
discovery of an undoubted Ms. copy not publish the two draughts proposed
in the library of the learned Thuanus. by the commissioners.

Chap. V.] EESULT OF THE COMMISSION. 616
Christian world is exalted to the universality : for even he
cannot be called 'universal' ifhe doth not combat with all
his might on behalf qf universal truth."^
It is not easy to determine with precision the views
entertained by the commissioners of the proper General
functions of the papacy which these documents exposition
disclose. That the GaUic clergy were disposed "ofthe'^om-
to uphold the universal primacy of the chafr of ™issioners.
Peter in some sense, is obvious ; yet it is equaUy so that
they were far from conceding a prerogative independent
of the ecclesiastical body corporate. Granting the uni
versality of function, yet it is apparent that the Church
was the equally universal monitor and adviser of the
pontiff. They addressed him with the freedom of a co
ordinate rather than a subordinate authority, and seem
to treat his fonction rather as a ministerial than a judicial
or self-acting power. His responsibility to the Church is
assumed in principle, though not affirmed in any specific
form of words. The universality, though broadly assented
to, is treated as dependent upon the due execution of the
duties attached to the office ; it is made to rest rather on
the personal and official merits of the holder than upon
the Petrine commission. They believed that by neglect
of duty that commission would be virtually canceUed,
or rest in abeyance until satisfaction be made to the
Church. Consistently with this opinion, the powers vested
in the chafr of Peter were therefore not of a nature to
transform the Church into a merely derivative institution,
destitute of aU life or self-action, but such as it might
please the representative of St. Peter to impart: that
chafr was, indeed, held to be the regular instrument for
setting the ecclesiastical authorities in motion ; yet this
was not to preclude the self-action of the hierarchy, or
any constituent portion of that body, where it was requi
site to support or to rectify the movements of the pon
tifical powers.'
¦• Baron. Ann. 825, §§ 15 to 20, pp. thoseofhis communion that the Church
75j 76. was a merely derivative and depend-
' Baronius (Ann. 825, § 20) is more ent association, without life of its own
than usually sore at the touch of these but what it borrowed from the Petrine
documents. His business was to satisfy source.

616 CATHEDEA PETEL [BookV.
Louis the Pious appears, however, not altogether to
Letter of ^^^^ rcUshed the bold bouncUs of his commis-
Louis'^the siouers. After mature consideration, he des-
t^i°"o*e P^tch^d envoys to Rome furnished with a letter
e pope. ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ somewhat different tenor to
that drawn up for him by his late advisers. The letter
avoids the tone of counsel or remonstrance ; the emperor
disclaims all intention to dictate to the pope, and places
his own interference solely upon the ground of religious
duty. " He could not," he said, " conscientiously omit
to lend his aid to the pontiff: but the matter of images
having been brought under his notice by the Eastern
emperor, he could not avoid dealing with it ; he had
therefore chosen the course he had pursued as in his
judgment the best; and herein he had all along acted
strictly in aid of the holy see, with the knowledge and
consent ofthe pope himself, and was therefore entitled
to his utmost confidence and approbation."" His en
voys were at the sarae time furnished with a copy of the
extracts; but with injunctions to use them with great
circumspection, and to quote such only as they knew
could not be contradicted or refoted by the pope : they
were to be cautious in thefr personal demeanour ; to
avoid irritating hira by contradiction or resistance, but
rather to draw him into their views by bland and gentle
speech. If, with the usual " Roraan pertinacity," the ,
pontiff should decline every approach to an accommoda
tion, there was no help for it ; but if he should shoAv a
disposition to negotiation or compromise, they were then
to propose a joint erabassy to Constantinople ; and to ap
point time and place for the envoys of the emperor Louis
to meet those of the pope, that both might proceed to
their destination together."
The sequel of this transaction is not upon record.
Pope Eugenius appears from beginning: to end
Inconsequen- '¦ P ^^ r\ j. • ^ ,
tial issue of as a passivc personage. Certainly no step was
the emperor's taken to Carry into effect the proposal of Louis
proposa . ^^^ Pious duriug his short pontificate ; and in
" D. Bouq. tom. vi. p. 342 ; Baron. " D. Bouq. and Baronius, ubi sup.
Ann. 825.

Chap. V.] CLAUDIUS CLEMENS. 517
that of his successor, Gregory IV., matters of a more
absorbing interest occurred to engage the attention of
the papal court. It is not improbable that Louis himself
soon became convinced of the impracticability of his pro
ject. The history of the Oriental churches held out no
encouragement to any scheme of union based upon com
promise. The fate of the " Henoticon," the " Ecthesis,"
and the " Type ;" the failure of the successive atterapts of
Leo the Isaurian, Constantine V., Nicephorus, Leo the
Arraenian, and Michael Balbus, — might concur in sup
pressing every expectation of success in his mind. All
those attempts had proceeded on the presuraption that
sorae neutral ground raight be raarked out, upon which
both parties raight meet, if not in amity, yet in mutual
forbearance and toleration. The scheme of Pope Gre
gory the Great offered perhaps the fairest chance of ac
ceptance; but the fanatics on both sides rejected every
middle course with equal abhorrence. It was manifest
that the battle in the East must now be fought out, and
the issue of orthodoxy be staked upon insensate clamour
and brute force. But in the West, the powerful hier
archy of France had placed its foot firmly upon pontifical
ground ; they had hoisted the banner of Pope Gregory
the Great, and under it were enabled in a measure to re
concile resistance and even censure ofthe pope with their
loyalty to the see of Peter.
But that loyalty was still a strong and genuine sen
timent ; and this is sufficiently proved by the ^jj^^^jj^g
active protection extended to the holy see when ciemens
its vital prerogatives were assailed. In the ''^urki."^
latter years of Pope Paschal I., Claudius Cle
mens, bishop of Turin, had protested more loudly against
the prevalent taste for images and image-worship in Italy
than any of his contemporaries. In process of time his
dissent took a wider sweep, and he denounced with equal
vehemence every kind and form of symbohcal worship :
he rebuked the practices of adoring the cross, of kissing
or foraigating the rehcs of saints ; he proscribed images
and pictures of every description, and repudiated their

518 CATHEDEA PETEL [BookV.
use for any purpose, whether of devotion or instruction ;
he caused all symbols or representative objects to be cast
out of his churches and pubUcly committed to the flames.
Step by step he was led on to deny the spfritual efficacy
of many other outward acts of re'Ug-ious duty generaUy
regarded as meritorious ; for instance, pUgrimages to
Rome, the shrines of saints, and other spots reputed
holy. The last step in the progress of dissent or reform
led him to deny the supremacy of the chair of Peter,
and to proclaim the apostoUc commission to him and
his successors to be in no wise constitutional, but fonc-
tional and ministerial only; dependent, therefore, for its
force and vitaUty upon the due performance of the duties
attached to it.
The schism of Claude of Turin created a sensation
The reforms ^^ France the reverse of what might have been
of Claude fall expected from the late opposition to image-
totheground.^^jj.gjjjp -^ ^^^^ Mugdom. And ifhe had re
stricted his censures to that practice, even the act of
casting out and destroying images might have been over
looked." But when he attacked the favourite devotion to
the holy cross, refosed the accustomed reverence to re
Ucs, proscribed pilgrimages, and reduced the Roman pri
raacy to a mere presidential and moderatorial office, thefr
wrath knew no bounds. The dUemraa to which they had
reduced themselves by their repudiation of image-worship
was cast in their teeth by the extreme parties on both
sides. Though it were true that rehcs were neither pic
tures nor statues — though they were utterly unhke "any
thing in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, or the
waters under the earth" — yet both advocates and oppo
nents might return the derisive reply : " If you kiss and
fondle the dry bones, the shriveUed skin, or the tattered
garments of the Saviour and his saints, why should you
object to do the Uke reverence and worship to those effi-
" The celebrated Archbishop Ago- be destroyed, to prevent the growth of
bard of Lyons not only denied the law- idolatrous practice. Fleury, tom. x.
fulness of image-worship, whether ab- p. 273; and conf. Pagi's accoimt ofthe
solute or relative, but maintained that, different views and opinions of the
as soon as the people showed a dispo- French controversialists, ap. Baron.
sition to worship images, they ought to tom. xiv. pp. 70-90.

Chap. V.] DECLINE OF ICONOCLASM. 519
gies to which antiquity has imputed a living resemblance
to the sacred persons they are verily believed to repre
sent ?" A sense of this difficulty appears in most of the
writings by which the GaUic champions strove to put to
silence the formidable heresy of Claude. While some
who went out to battle for Rome were drawn into a
closer approximation to the Nicene doctrine, others were
throAvn off to a greater distance. But it is obvious that
the GaUic divines were ready rather to compromise their
dogmatic consistency than to abandon or endanger their
connection with the chair of Peter. The pontiff, on the
other hand, prudently refrained from interfering with his
defenders, merely because the weapons they used were
not attempered in the Roman forge. Time and the
course of events justified this forbearance; and Claude
and his innovations passed away without further injury
to the papal cause, or perceptibly advancing the interests
of a purer reUgious practice in the world.''
In the West, the controversy of iconolatry died off
of itself, or became absorbed in the contempla- ^ ^ . ,
,. p''., • , .• J.' !• i Subsidence of
tion ot the more interesting perspective which the icono-
had already begun to dawn upon the mind of "^^o^g^g™'
the Gallic and Germanic hierarchy. In the ^ ^'
East, a different state of circumstances led to a like result.
Theodore, the abbot of the Studite community, died in
exile in the year 826. During the latter years of the
life of Michael II. (the Stammerer), the faction of the
image- worshippers had ceased to disturb the peace ofthe
metropohs. In other parts of the empire, they were per
mitted to bow down before their images without molesta
tion. But TheophUus, who succeeded his father TheophUus
in the year 829, appears to have deserted the emperor.
tolerant poUcy of the latter. He forbade the use of
images, pictures, or religious symbols of any kind ; he
directed them to be ejected from aU the churches ofthe
empire, and the pictures which ornamented the waUs of
the sacred buUdings to be erased. The carvers of images,
and the painters of holy portraits — a nuraerous class of
p See Baron. A. 825, §§ 56-63. Claude versy he had kindled.
of Turin died in the heat of the contro-

520 CATHEDEA PETEI. [Book V.
artists — ^were objects ofhis special aversion.'' The monks
became frantic, and were probably treated with as little
regard to humanity as to sound policy. The govern
ment expelled them frora tiieir convents, and drove them
to desperation by adding the stings of hunger and desti
tution to their native fanaticism. The prisons, we are
informed, were fiUed with a motley crowd of bishops,
priests, monks, and image-painters, ready to endure the
scourge, the scaffold, or the rack, so they might but be
permitted to exhibit with aU publicity their affection for
the holy images, and their contempt and scorn of the
iraperial heretic. The sufferings endured by these faith
ful A\itnesses are described in lively colours by the ortho
dox Greek Avriters, but without alleging specific facts
enough to justify the exaggerated terms in which they
depict them.
Amid the confosion of conflicting invective, it is diffi-
john Lecono- cult to distinguish the aggressor from the vic-
montis. jjui^ iji^g empcror and his friend John Lecono
montis, patriarch of Constantinople, were assailed by the
sufferers in every form of insolent invective or malignant
slander. The latter was the object of special invective :
he was, we are g-ravety told, a professed necromancer, a
juggler, a whoremonger, a defiler of religious woraen ;
but all his criraes were coraraitted in secret, for he had
taken care to hide his abominations from the public eye
in the recesses of a building expressly constructed for the
indulgence of his hidden lusts and debaucheries. Yet it
is singular that neither the cruelt3^ nor the vigilance of
Leconomontis and his raaster had the effect of excluding-
iinage-worshippers from the palace itself, or even from the
intiraate association ofthe raonarch. Methodius, a devout
member of the religious opposition, was at this very time
living in the palace, apparently upon good terms with
Theophilus and the imperial family. The empress Theo-
' A monk named Lazarus was the red-hot irons, to deprive him of the use
most popular among these artists. He of his fingers ; but all to no purpose —
was frequently and cruelly scourged for the blessed saint went on painting as
his perseverance in producing holy pic- vigorously as ever, and survived his
tures, yet went on painting as if nothing persecutor many years. Fleury adopts
had happened, tiU at length tho emperor this tale from Theophanes, H. E. tom. x.
ordered his hands to bo seared with p. 334.

Chap. V.] EPOCH OF THE YEAE 844. 521
dora, and her daughter Theoctista, were known to be
attached to the practice of image- worship ; but the re
sentment of the emperor went no further than to deprive
them of the doUs they kept hidden in smaU boxes under
thefr pUlows for occasional worship when unobserved."^
Thus it appears that even during the reign ofthe zea
lous iconoclast TheophUus, the court itseff had imbibed a
strong taste for the prohibited devotion ; and when, in
the year 842, that prince was succeeded by his
son, Michael III., surnamed the Sot, no ob- images iu the
stacle existed to the reintroduction of image- ^rf ^tll'fn-
worship in aU its pristine extraAagance. The
empress mother, the patrician Bardas, and the powerful
eunuch Theoctistes, concurred in the work of restitution :
the monks were recalled, the prisons emptied, and the
martyrs ofthe late persecution restored to honoiu* and
estate. A single opponent held out against the universal
apostasy; the reprobate Leconomontis was found to haA'e
a conscience, and to prefer the resignation ofhis high
office, and the very means of continuing the indulgence
of his alleged vices, to the trivial compUances so famUiar
to his predecessors Avhich raig-ht have saved him from
ruin.^ The triumph of image- worship in the East restored
for the present peacefiU relations between the Epoch of the
Greek and Latin churches. That event, we year 844.
find, coincides accurate^ Arith an epoch of high import
ance to the progress of the pontifical power. In the
year 843 the empire of Charlemagne was disintegrated
b3' the treaty of Verdun between his three grandsons ;
and to the foUoAving year we trace the pubUcation of the
false decretals of Isidore Mercator, or Peccator ; a pro
duction which imparted a momentum to the sacerdotal
scheme hitherto unparaUeled in the history of hierarchical
pretensions. In the ensuing Book it wUl, however, be
' Theodora was once detected in the merit of a voluntary resignation; but
act by the court buffoon, and betrayed the stories they tell wear every appear-
to her husband ; but she evaded his ance of gross slander, and are in them-
anger by a falsehood, and administered selves so frivolous, that it is impossible
a severe whipping to the luckless fooL to attach any credit to them. See the
Fleury, tom. x. p. 332. narrative of Fleury from Theophanes,
« His enemies do not grant him the pp. 401 et sqq.

622 CATHEDEA PETEL [Book V.
necessary to revert to the relations subsisting between
the different sections of the Latin church and its chief,
with a view to exhibit the series of extemal causes whicli
contributed to those striking changes in the law and
constitution of that section of the Christian body which
transferred the claims ofthe papacy to a new and, politi
cally speaking, a far stronger basis than that which ex
isting ecclesiastical law, the policy of states, or the simple
prepossessions of the people could supply.

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX TO VOL. H.

BOOK IIL
CHAPTER I.
DATE rAGE
Confusion of form and substance in religion .... 1
The representative church  3
The representative v/tdty  3
Rome proposes herself as the sole representative of Christian unity 4
Impersonation of Christian unity in the Roman pontiflF . . 4
467. Simplicius pope  5
AflFairs of Italy. Influence of the papacy in the Italian churches 6
472 (?) Simplicius deposes Gaudentius of Aufina ..... 6
Rebukes and censures John archbishop of Ravenna, and with
draws Gregory of Modena from his jurisdiction . . . 6, 7
Actual relation of the see of Ravenna to that of Rome . 7
482. Simplicius appoints Zeno archbishop of Seville apostolical legate
in Spain  8
The vicarial appointment, its object and eflFect . . _. .8
State of the Oriental churches in the pontificate of Simplicius . 9
457-1 Church of Alexandria — Proterius — Timotheus jElurus expelled —
476. J Solifaciolus elected — Zeno emperor — Basiliscus . . 10, 11
474. Restoration of .^ilurus  10
471. \ Acacius patriarch of Constantinople — Rejects the decree of
476. J Basiliscus  10
Restoration of Zeno  • •'•^
Correspondence betvyeen Rome and Constantinople — Simplicius
and Acacius  II, 12
Simplicius takes the lead in the restoration of the Chalcedonian
confession in the East . . . . . . . . 13
477. DisturbedbytheordiiianceofZenoinfia,vourofConstantinople 13
Protest of Pope Simplicius  !¦*
Papal theory of ecclesiastical privilege  14
Antagonistic theories of church-privUege .... 15
Disturbances in the Eastem churches  15
482. Death of Solifeciolus and election of Johannes Talaia at Alex
andria  1^
Objections to the election of Talaia  16
He defies the court and patriarch of Constantinople— Attaches
himself to Rome  16
Acacius negotiates with Peter Mongus vrith a view to a scheme
of union with the Eutychian parties  17
Mongus accepts the conditions proposed . . . . .• ^^
Pope Simplicius condemns the election of Mongus to the chair
of Alexandria . .  ¦ ¦'•^
And protests against the scheme of imion with the heretics 19

iV24 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.

\AfiK

4v<i!. Publication of the IfenotiMi, or act of uuiou, by Zouo and Acacius 1!»
The Hfiioticim, its subsbuico .  \~
Equivoc-.itious of Peter Alougus  t'
183. Death of Popo Simplicius  ^L
Accession of Kolix III  ' ' 10
Aoaoius not the oueuiv of the Cluvloodouiau confession . . -a
Oon-cspoiuieuco botweoii Rouio aud Coustjuitiuoplc — its purport
and charaotor . ... * ' o^
Apolosjv for .U';ioius ..... . . . —i
He is assailed both by the Oatholio aud the Mouophysite parties 24
Reuiousti-auco of IVipo FeUx III. against the lleiiotieou^to
Aeaeiiis ....... • ^"J
To the einpei'or Zeno ....¦••-''
484. Citation and piveept to Aeaoius to a.ppoai- befei-e the pope at
Rome to auswer the appeal of Talsiia . . ' '
CluiKieter and intent of the citation . . . .
Koine and the .Vcojnietan monks of Constantinople — The papal
project defeated .'.... . .
Seduction of the losr.xtes of Felix III 
Synod at Rome auii eoudemuation of the legates for heresy and
treason. ........
Success of the Ileuotieoii in the East .....
Pope Felix III. passes seutouee of excommunication aud deposition
upou Aencius ........
Apologetic mauitesto of Pope Felix .....
Defect of ecclesiastical law as applieablo to the proceedings against
.\eaeius, how supplied by the pope 
Pope Felix alleges the spurious exposition of the sixth canon of
Nieiva in justilioatiou of his proceediugs ag-aiust .Veaeius
Novelty and illegiility of the proceedings against .U-aeius
State of the canou-law applieable to the trial of bishops
Special eanouical defects of the proeeodiugs against .Veaeius
Uoiustatemeut of Peter the Fuller iu the see of .Vutioeh
Etloct of the reinsbitenieiit, .V.e. .....
The name of Pope Felix struck out of tlie diptychs — Completion
of the schism 
Roman niajiagemeut of tho eon troversy ....
Contrasted position of Koine and Constantinople in the stru^lo
for power .........
488. Death of .Veaeius — Fravitta and laiphemius bis sueeessoi-s .
Eiipheinius attempts a reeoueiliatiou with Rome — He is repell
by Pope Felix 
4!)1. Death of Zeno — Anast^isius I. emperor ....
-l!)i!. Death of Felix I IL— Gelasius pope 

¦-8 is30
30 31

:!2.'Ct
3434
30 r.(i

3737

37

40 40

CHAPTER II.
PAPAL TREROOATIVE UNPEll POl'ES OELASUTS AND STMMACIUIS.
491. Anastasius emperor  41
Ilis disposition towards tho litigant parties in tlio Church . . 12
4'J-X Pope t\^lasius I. dediues episcopal eomniuuion witli Constanti
nople  43
The patriarch Enjihemins makes apjiroaehes to the popo . . 13
Which are rejected by Gelasius  4 1
Double aspect of lumuin church-policy .... 44

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. GO.')
n,\rK PAOl!
4!»d. home admits uo distinction between coniinunion and snhjoction . 45
4!t3. Mission of Fanstus and Iivnrons . ...... 4;")
PaptU iiistniotions to Faustus ....... 4(i
i\Uinitiou of Pope Gelasius to the ompeior Anastasius . . .46
Pope tlelasius claims caiioHioiil t-.wmption from tlio oodesiastical
legislatuit)  47
Papal sophistry ........ .48
Co-operation with tho soo of Rome, a coiustnictii-c- acknowledgment
of snhjoction .......... 4i)
l'\iivod construction of tlio acts of .Veaeius by the pope . . 49
Rome (uysinnes a universal assent to hor claim of supremacy . 50
Pajial doiiliug with existing canon-law . . . 51
Letter I'/ I'o/'t- (Miisiti.i to the emperor .Vuastasius I. . . !'>'2
Relative dignity of tlie royal and pontilical ofiices . . 5-2
I'lU-amount dignity and authority of tlie pontificate . . 5-2
Pontitioal wguinoiit in support of tliat dignity . . .53
Papal iuipeaelmient of .Veaeius  .53
Demands implicit obedience as proliminai-y to conciliar
inquiry  53
Repudiates tlio plea of i'olitical expediency . . .64
Gelasius aud tho eomprouiising bisliops of lllvricum . _^ . .54
49,'i 1 Kxoomraunioates the ardibisliop of T"liessjiUnuca * . . 55
or [Kn-or of tlio Ulyriiui bisliops as to the alleged jurisdiction of
4!>C.. I Uomo  .56
ISM. Romau syuod and declaration of pontilical lights . . 56
Scope aud object ofthe deelaratiou of right — Letter to the
Ulyriims  56
(\>lasius impeaches .Veaeius of piwarication and rebellion 57
Teigiversiition of .Vwicius . . . . . • 1 1-7
His ivutempt of tho seo of Peter . . . . • , ^v;
.¦V;\iudioatiou  ) ''''
Takes the cluu'ge agiiinst Acacius piv cidj/V.^w) . . . 58
Tho holy see iu all Ciises tlio solo judge botli of the law
and the tiict . , . . " . . . .58
iVcacius cannot ivuiplain of irrogulai'ity — esteppeii by his
own invgulnrities ....... 59
Ooustautiuople a provindal suffi'agan of Heracleia, and no
moro  l!0
Repudiates the apologies put forwani ou behalf of Acacius 60
Synods uo meiv than instruments fbr tho publication of tlio
decrees ef the holy seo ... . . 61
Kpitome of the Gelasiau </rtVii«ilw» 0/" »'i](7Aif . . . 61,62
Scope of tho document  62
Result ."  63
496. Death of Gelasius I  .63
Ausistasius II . pope — His piicitie charaeter  63
Death of Auastasius II. — 8ymiaadius and Lauieutius — Oonteste^l
ohvtion ........ .64
XXunostio pos.ition of the ehureh of Reiue at the eloso of the fifth
ivutury ...  &.'>
Go\i.iriinient iuterferomvs in tho election of the popes. . . t>5
I'uder Odovaker  . 65, <H>
Law of Odo\-aker to pivvout tho divoi-sion of ehuivh-fuuds, &C. 66
OtVeusivo ehajivctor of this oixliuaneo . . . tC
KJtbot of tho oixiinanoo . . ... 67
Religions fcietion in Bome . ¦ . . . . .68
Ohwnis of ^'uuuaohus aud L-uuvut ius leferrvd to Theoderic tho Groat 68

626 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.

DATE

PAGE

/.Q
496. He decides in favour of Symmachus  °°
Law against canvassing for the papacy, <fec. . ¦ " ^^
Impeachment of Pope Symmachus  'ji^
Peter of Altinum administrator of the holy see . . • • 70
Dealing of Theodoric with the Church and clergy . • 70, 71
Theodoric convokes a synod of inquiry into the charges exhibited
against Pope Symmachus  ^ j
The " Synodus palmaris"  i * ^i
501. Tumult, and retractation of his submission by Pope Symmachus . 72
' The synod declares its own incompetency to try the pope . 73
Theodoric throws the responsibility of the public peace
upon the synod  '^
The papal plea for evading inquiry  '4
Decision ofthe synod — The pope irresponsible to a-ny human
tribunal  _ . > _• .75
Papal irresponsibility ecclesiastical only, not civil or political, at
this period  75
Ennodius on papal impeccability. . . . . . .76
Relaxation of the powers of the civil govemment as against the
Church  '77
502. Synod of the year 602  77
TRepeals the laws of Odovaker for the regulation of the
papal elections and against bribery . . . .78
Re-enacts the law against bribery . . . . . 78
Synodal encroachment upon the civil legislature . . 78
Remonstrance of the Gallic prelates against the proposed
trial of Pope Symmachus  80
503. Synod ofthe year 503  . _ . 80, 81
Adoption of the Ennodian doctrine of imfpeccahUity, &c. . 81
Declaration of episcopal privilege  81
Summary of ecclesiastical privilege as declared by these
synods ......... 82
Rights of the civil state asserted within the same period . 82
Anomalous relation of the Church to the State in the reign of
Theodoric the Great  83

CHAPTER III.'
PAPAL PEEROOATITE UNDER HORMISDA.
State ofthe Oriental churches — Decay of discipline — Subserviency
to the court  84, 85
Religious parties in the East  85
DecHne of the moderate party in Rome  86
503. Personal rupture between the emperor Anastasius and Pope Sym
machus  86, 87
Insolence of Pope Symmachus towards Anastasius — Treats him as
a Manichaean heretic  88
Revival of Ultra-Butychianism . _  89
611. Religious commotions at Constantinople  89
Alienation of the emperor from the orthodox party . . 89, 90
611. Violent deposition of the patriarch Macedonius . . . .90
Timotheus patriarch  91
612. Supplicatory address of the Orientals to Pope Symmachus . . 91
They excuse their communion with the advocates of the Heno
ticon  ••.... 92

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 627
^^rE PAGE
512. Rome repudiates all compromise ....... 93
Efficiency and consistency of the Roman policy . . . .93
Submissive disposition of the Christian world — Its nature and
causes  94
614 Coelius Hormisda pope — Triumph of Eutychianism . . .95
DownfaU of the moderate party in the East — Strength of Rome
in the Dardanian and Illyrian provinces . . . .96
Insurrection of Vitalian . . -  96
Anastasius proposes a general council for the pacification of the
Church  97
515. Papal legation — Instructions to the legates  98
Defence ofthe emperor Anastasius against the exorbitant demands
of Rome  99
The church of Constantinople refuses her consent to her own de
gradation  99
Anastasius suspects the pope of secret commvmication with the
Vitalian insurgents  100
Drift of the Roman proposals  101
616. The emperor sends envoys to the pope vrith a view to the convo
cation of a general council  102
Reply of Pope Hormisda  102
Impolicy of the court, and defection of the lUyrian bishops . 103
The IM>dlus of Pope Hormisda  103
Illyrian schism — Excommunication of Dorotheus of Thessalonica 104
617. Papal legation of the year 617  105
Instructions to the legates  105
Character of the instructions  106
Offensive measures of Hormisda inthe matter of Dorotheus 107
Arrest and deportation of the legates of Hormisda . . 108
Orthodox monks of the Bast driven by persecution into the arms
of Rome  109
517. Congratulatory rescript of Hormisda to the monks of the East . 110
Pope Hormisda's principles of church-government . . .111
jE'Zemewiary^riracipfes of the papal power . . . 112
Policy of Hormisda, its scope and character . . . 112-13
518. Death of Anastasius I. and revival of orthodoxy in the East . 113
The revival independent of Rome  114
The emperor Justin I. makes advances to the pope . . 114-16
Haughty reply of Hormisda  .115
Libellus and legation of Hormisda to Constantinople . . .116
Submission of the Greeks and triumph of Rome . . . .117
Ostensible character of the submission .... 117
Its real character  118
Religious advantage of Rome  118

CHAPTER IV.
JUSTINIANIAN PERIOD. (l.)
Subserviency of Constantinople  .120
Appeal of the Syrian fanatics to Rome  121
Relations of Count Justinianus with Pope Hormisda . . .121
523. Death of Pope Hormisda— John I. pope — Persecution of heresy . 122
Theodoric the Great protects the Arians of the East . . .123
Tyranny of Theodoric  123
526. Death of John I.— Election of FeUx III  124

628 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
DATE PAGE
526. Suspicions, malady, and death of Theodoric the Great . . .124
Imperial poUcy  125
Amalasuintha and Athalaric  125
530. Re-annexation of Rome to the empire .... • 126
Reigning pontiffs between the years 527 and 636 .... 127
State of the Roman church within that period— Boniface II. 127-8
531. Bribery, and decree of the senate of Rome against it . . . 128
532. John II. pope — Reiterated edict against bribery . . . .129
Secular interposition for the correction of ecclesiastical abuses . 130
Church-policy of the emperor Justinian . . . . I131
Scope of his ecclesiastical laws  ) '
Objects of the Justinianian laws  131
Secular and poUtical character of these laws .... 132
Of the limits of the ecclesiastical and secular power in respect of
church-legislation in the Justinianian period .... 133
Relations of Justinian to the Roman pontiffs .... 134
Ambiguous language of Justinian — Title of " universal patriarch" 134-5
Probable intent and meaning of that language .... 136
634. Pope John II. accepts the imperial declaration as an acknowledg
ment of the universal primacy of Rome  137
Attachment of the GaUic churches to Rome  137
634. The Africans renew their communion with Rome .... 138
535. Their address, how received and repUed to by Pope Agapetus . 138
Roman practice of confounding the " canons" of the Church-ca
thoUc with the usages and constitutions of the particular
church of Rome  139
536. Agapetus pope, his dangerous position and deportation to Constan
tinople  140
Intrigues of the Eutychian empress Theodora at Constantinople —
Anthimus patriarch  141
Deposition of Anthimus — Mennas patriarch  142
Imperial principle of church-legislation  142
Course of proceeding described  143
Sylverius pope  143
Intrigues of Theodora and Vigilius  144
Intrigues of Belisarius and Antonina  144
Deportation of Sylverius, and election of Vigilius . . . 145
638. Murder of Sylverius and recantation of VigiUus .... 146
Canonical defects in the title of VigiUus to the papacy. . 146-7

CHAPTER V.
JUSTINIANIAN PERIOD. (ll.)
Effect of the Italian conquests of Justinian .

649. Deportation of VigiUus to Constantinople
The emperor condemns the Origenists .
Controversy of the " three chapters" raised .
Justinian condemns the " three chapters" .
Dilemma of Pope VigUius— His "judicatum" . . ^^^.^
He proposes a general councU — Withdraws his "judicatum" . 153
Imperfect constitution of the councU, and breach of compact by
the Greeks  154
653. Opening of the council — The pope absents himself . . .155
His excuses disaUowed  155-6

. 149
. 149
. 150
. 151
151-2
152-3

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 5'JO

n.KTK

553. Condemnation ofthe "three ohnptei-s" — "Constitutum" of Pope
Vigilius . . ....... 156
Rejected by tlie emperor ........ 157
The eeuiidl strike out VigUius fi-om the sivci-ed diptychs, and pub
lish tlieir condemnation of the tliroe chapters . . . 157
Submission of Pope VigiUus  158
Ilis retractation, and ratification of the decrees of the council 158-9
Contemporary opinion rospeetiug the papal participation in the
eouvecaiiou a.nd validity of a general couueU . . . 15s)
Operative reasons for desiring the papal eoucuneuee . . . 160
555. Release of Vigilius — His death — Election of Pehigins I. . . 161
Agitation in the Western churches ...... 1(>2
Decliue of the pap.ll authority . . . . . . I(i2
Spiritual power of tiie papacy, how affected hy the late pi-oceed-
ings against the Chalcedonian decrees  163
Pelagius I. claims the support of tiie military power . . . 164
Pope Pelagius on the right and duty of roligions pei-scentioii 164-5
Narses decUnes all interference to compel reUgious conformity in
Italy  166
Pelagius and the secedei-s .  I(i7
Ohjectious of the Western churches  167
Historical inferences from the inddeuts involved in the contro-
vei-sy of the "three chaptera"  168
Actual state and prospects of the papacy ..... 160
Brighter aspects  .110
550. John in. ^Cateiiinus) pope— Imperial oppression in Italy . . 171
Heresy and death of Justinian I. ...... 171
g-^," I Justin II. emperoi>— Conquest of Italy by the Longobardi . . 172

CHAPTER VI.
eeXTROTERST OP THE "THREE CHAPTERS."
The Roman clergy resume their independence— .lohn III. — ^Bene
dict 1  173
, State of tlie Lomhfirds in Italy  174
Defenceless state of Rome . . . . . . . .174
Byzantine project of aUiance with the Fi-anks .... 175
Disaffection of the ItaUans  175
Grogory the apocris;irius  17(!
John the Fiister patriarch  176
Assumes the title of avumenical patriarch  176
. Pelagius II. jvbukes the presumption of John the Faster . . 177
He rt^;\ssei-ts the universal primacy of Rome .... 178
Pelagius on the title of luilversjil bisliop ..... 178
The pope's objections considered  178
lueonsistency of Pdagius ... .... 170
Apology for Const an tinople . .  180
Rotr\^spect of the st^ite of the churches of Spjviu, Gaul, Gterm.iny,
and Britain  181
Siviin  181
C^^nTe^sion of King Reccared . . . . .182
Claim of Rome to a share in the couversion ofthe Spaniards
considered  183
State of the Frankish churches . . . . .184
VOL. II. -M M

530 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
DATE PAGE
686. Relation of the Prankish clergy to Rome and to the civil
government  ^^
Secularisation of the Frankish clergy . . • .186
PrivUeges of the Frankish clergy — Source of their attach
ment to Rome  }^^
Germany ; state of Christianity in that country . . 187
Irish and Anglo-Saxon missions in Germany . • ¦ 187
Britain and British Christianity subsequent to the Anglo-
Saxon conquest  188
590. Elevation of Pope Gregory the Oreat to the papacy . . . 189
His qualifications, and diflfictUties of his position .... 190
His foreign and domestic policy  190
Origin and progress of the theory of clerical ceUbacy . . 191-2
Gregory the Great on the ceUbacy of the clergy .... 193
His secular administration ........ 193
691- ] Progress of the Lombards under king Agilulph . . . .194
615.J AgUulph and Theudelinda in aUiance with Rome . . . 194
Justification of the aUiance, and its resvUts . . . . .195
Controversy of the " three chapters" in Italy .... 196
541. Establishment of the metropoUtan see of Justiniania Prima . . 197
692. Gregory in the cause of Hadrian of Thebes  198
The cause of Honoratus of Salona  199
Equivocal termination of the dispute  200
682- } Johu the Faster, patriarch of Constantinople, assumes the title of
695. J " oecumenical bishop"  200
592. Remonstrance of Pope Gregory  202
596. Protest and appeal of Gregory against Cyriacus of Constantinople 203
His reply to the emperor Maurice  204
Rescript of Gregory on the tliree Petrine sees .... 204
Sentiments of Pope Gregory on the Petrine primacy . . . 205
His personal humility .  . 206
Assumes the titular designation of " servus servorum Dei "—
Repudiates the title of " universal pope" .... 207
Precautions of Gregory against the ambitious design of Cyriacus
of Constantinople  207-8
Latent equivocations of Gregory on the Petrine primacy . . 209
He renounces communion with Cyriacus of Constantinople . .210

CHAPTER VIL
SREGORT THE GREAT.
Pope Gregory's deaUngs with the Latin churches, &o. . . .211
His scheme for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons . . .211
697. Mission of Augustine  212
His success  212
Means of conversion adopted by Augustine, and the results 213
Regulations of Gregoi-y for the govemment of the Anglo-
Saxon church ....... , 214
British and Irish or Scottish churches . . . .' 216
Augustine's conference with the British bishops . . 216
603. The conference broken up by the haughty demeanour of
Augustine  216-17
Pope Gregory's instructions to Augustine . . .217
His toleration of pagan rites, and patronage of images and
religious symbolism . . . . . , .218

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 531
DATE PAGE
603. Papal presents of sacerdotal robes  219
The dalmatic and the pallium  219
Ecclesiastical government of Gregory the Great .... 220
Corruption of the Prankish churches ...... 221
Image and relic worship . . . . . . .221
Serenus of MarseiUes against image and relic worship . 222
He is rebuked by Gregory ...... 222
Prevalence and intensity of the practice of image-worship 223
The conventual system under Gregory the Great . . . 224
Exemptions fi-om episcopal control ..... 224
Tendency of these exemptions  225
Influence of Pope Gregory in France ...... 225
Intercourse of Gregory with the Spanish churches . . . 226
Papal interference in the cause of Januarius and Stephen . . 227
Canon-law as applicable to the proceedings of Gregory in
the cause of Januarius and Stephen .... 228
Legal defects of the papal proceedings .... 229
Canonical defects of the same  229
Civil and canon law regarded as ancillary to the prerogative
of St. Peter's chau; . . ._ . . . .230
Pope Gregory's superintendence over the African churches . . 230
Moderation of Pope Gregory  231
592. The emperor Maurice forbids his soldiery to turn monks . . 232
Remonstrance of Gregory I.  233
Pope Gregory's idea ofthe relation between the spiritual and tem
poral powers ......... 234
His ordinance respecting the admission of soldiers into the
monasteries  . 234
602. Murder of the emperor Maurice and aU his famUy by Phocas . 236
Gregory's congratulatory letters to the usurper . . 235
His pecuUar views of the revolution .... 236
604. His death  236
Apologetic character of Gregory the Great . . . 237
His equivocal relation to the court of Constantinople . 237
Judgment upon his conduct in the affair of Phocas . . 238
Sabinian pope  239
606. ] Boniface III. pope — Decree of Phocas  239
or [ Authenticity of the decree questionable .... 239
607. j Construction of the decree of Phocas .... 240
Results  241
Pontiffs between the years 608 and 625  241
625. Honorius 1  241

BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
THE TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY.
Approaches of the papacy towards political sovereignty . 243-4
Relative position of the nations of Christendom to each other
and to the papacy  244-5
Objects of papal ambition throughout the seventh and eighth cen
turies  245

632 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
DATE PAGE
626. Plan of inquiry into the history of the period .... 246
Positionofthepapacy in relation to the Greeks and Lombards . 247
Lombard history — Reign of AgUulph  248
616. Reignof Adalwald  249
625-1 Arioald— Rothari  ^Tr.
662.jRodoald— Aripert— Bertarid and Godibert  250
g^g" I Succession of popes from 604 to 649— Honorius I.— Martin I. . 250
649. Pope Martin I. and Constans II  250
654. Deportation and death of Martin 1  251
661. Constans II. in Rome — His death  251-2
662.) 671. Reign of Grimoald — Bertarid restored— Kunibert . . 252-3
686. J Gradual extinction of Arianism in Lombardy .... 253
In the duchies of Beneventum and Spoletum . . . 254
Re-estabUshment of the monastery of Monte Casino . . . 254
The patrimony of St. Peter  255
Its exposed position  256
712-1 Ansprand and Luitprand  256
744. Istate of the Lombard govemment  256-7
Papal succession from 654 to 716  257
Papal poUcy within that period  258
Invasions of the patrimony of St. Peter by the Lombards . . 258
Rome and the Byzantine connection  259
726. Leo the Isaurian prohibits image-worship . . . . 259
Progress of saint and relic worship in the West .... 260
730. RebeUion against the iconoclastic ordinances of Leo the Isaurian
in Italy  261
Gregory II. saves the exarchate  262
He defeats the reUgious reforms of Leo the Isaurian . . . 263
Successes of Luitprand — Gregory III  263
Luitprand before Rome  264
He dismembers the " Patrimony"  264
741. Zachary pope — He procures restitution of the confiscated towns . 266
He protects the exarchate  265-7
Ascendency of Luitprand — His death and character . . . 267
744. Hildebrand king— Rachis  268
750. Ascendency of Pope Zachary, and abdication of Rachis . 268-9
AistiUph and Zachaiy  269
Secularisation of the papacy  269
A necessary consequence of its vast territorial endow
ments, &c.  270-1
General plan of contemplated acquisition  271
Prospective connection with Prance  271

CHAPTER II.
SPAIN AND FRANCE IN THB SEVENTH CENTURY.
I. The churches of Spain in the seventh century . . . .272
Constitutional powers of the Spanish clergy . . . 273
Papal confirmations unknown to the Spanish churches . 274
Communications of the Spanish churches with Rome . 275
684. Independent action of the Spanish churches in the Mono
thelite controversy . . . . . . . 276

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 633

PAGE

Their reply to the papal censure  277
Roman influence in Spain at the epoch ofthe Arab invasion 278
II. Latin Christianity among the Pranks .
Conversion of the Franks — Its character .
Modes of conversion ....
State of the Frankish clergy .
Christianity among the Franks
Priestcraft among the Pranks .
Moral condition of the Frankish clergy
Civil and poUtical condition of the clergy .
Clerical judicatures .....
Clerical prerogatives aud immunities
Power and habits of the Prankish bishops
The mayor of the palace, his powers, &c.
The Leudes — Antrustions
The bishops a constituent estate of the realm
Advancing privUeges of the clergy .
DecUning influence of Rome in the French churches
Elements of reformation
Principle of church unity

278
. 278
. 279
. 279
. 280
. 281
. 281
. 282
. 283
. 283
. 284
1 284
285-6. 286
. 287
. 287
. 287

Rome the "mother," &c. — Vantage-ground of Rome . 288

CHAPTER III.
BRITISH CHURCHES IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. (l.)
The British churches  289
565. Scottish or Irish church — Patrick — Columba .... 290
Origination of British and Scottish churches .... 291
Differences between the British and the Latin churches . . 292
Antagonism  292
610. Laurentius archbishop of Canterbury assumes the primacy of aU
the churches of Great Britain  293
His complaint  293
Apostasy of Eadbald  294
The sons of Sabert  294
The missionaries resolve to quit the island  295
Successful artifice of Laurentius .... ... 295
RecaU and restoration of the missionaries ..... 296
619. MeUtus and Justus archbishops  296
Edwin of Northumberland  296
Marriage of Edwin and Ethelburga  297
PauUnus  297
Conversion of Edwin ......... 298
The vision of Edvrin  298
Result of the vision .  299
Character of Edwin's conversion  300
The priesthood among the Anglo-Saxons .... 300
Pacilities of conversion  301
Method of conversion  301
Public renunciation of idolatry . . . • . ¦ • 302
Destmction of the idol-temples, and baptism of Edwin. . . 303
Successes of PauUnus rewarded by Pope Honorius I. . . . 303
Rome and the aboriginal British and Scotch churches . . . 304
633. Overthrow and death of Edwin— DownfaU of the Roman estabhsh
ment in Northumbria  304

634i

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.

DATE633. Expulsion of PauUnus — Osric — Eanfrid
634. Oswald delivers tho kingdom
He sends for missionaries from Scotland
Aidan sent — Lindisfarn
Scottish form of episcopal ordiiiatiuii
Apology of Bede for Aidan .
Labours of Aidan 
655. Middle Anglia and Moroia added to the Northumbiian church
Finnan of Lindisfarn 
Further extension of the Scottish establishment by King Oswy
Independent character of the revived churoh of Northumbria
Non-controversial spirit of the Scottish divines
Unequal to the conflict with the Latins
652. Revival of the Paschal controversy
Ronan— Wilfred — Agilbert .
654. Tho conference of Whitby .
Tho discussion .
Argument of Bishop Colman .
Harsh reply of Wilfred
Remonstrance of Colman, .and reply of Wilfred
Inconsistency of the Scottish theory
Rejoinder of Colman
Answer of Wilfred .
He alleges the Petrine power .
Victory of the Latins
Examination of tho Latin argument
Intent of the Latin doctors .
Retreat of the Scottish clergy

:i05
. 30(i
. 306
. .307
. 307
. 308
. 3(tH
. 310
. 310
311
. 311
. 312
. 313
. 313
. 314
. 314315
. 315
. 310
. 316
. 317
. 318
. 319
. 310
310-20 320-1 . 322
. '.i-2ii

CHAPTER IV.
DRITISII OHUnOIIES IN THB SEVENTH CENTURY. (ll.)
Submission of the Anglo-Saxon princes and people . . . 324
New bishops nominated by King Oswy  325
WUfred and Chad  326
Conformity of the British churches with the Latin rites . . 326
657. Embassy of Egbert and Oswy to Popc Vitalian .... 327
Reply of Vitalian  327
Arbitrary appointment of Theodore of Tarsus to be archbishop of
Canterbury  328
Papal decree of appointment  ;j2.s
Theodore removes Chad, and institutes Wilfred archbishop of
York  329
670. Introduction of the Roman canon-law into the church of Eng
land  330
Benedict Biscop and tho Latin ritual in England . . . .331
Latin church-decoration and furniture introduced . . . 332
Biscop the ritualist — his services ... . . 332
Natural character of image and relic worship .... 333
Advantage to Rome  . . 334
Wilfred archbishop of York .  334
Elfrida — Edilburga  33/5
678. Expulsion of Wilfred, and appeal to Rome . ... 335
Adjudication upon tho appeal of WUfred  336
His rejection in Northumbria  336

CURONOI.OCIOAL INDKX.

635

HATK678.(iSl.(!!> I.
703.

602.

Uis imprisonment and liberation . ...
Ui'sliiral.ion of Wilfred ... ...
Second expulsion of Archbishop Wilfred
Ciiuucil ot Neslerlield supports the ordinances of Arc
Theodoro . . . . .
Recusancy of Wilfred .......
Ai^judieiitiou ......
lierdiuald archbishop of Canterbury iu the appeal of WUfi

701(?) .\djudie:iliou of Pope .lohn VI. upou (he appeal
l''iual n-storaliou and triumph of VVilfred
706. Death of WillVed, and distribution of his treasures

hbishop

¦ed 3
3

TAGS .337338 338
339 310310
10-1 11-2 312 313

Oll.VrTKU. V.
l..\'inN Sl1PlllJM.\eV IN l"ll.\N'C|.'. .VNll OlSUMANY POUNDUll. seventh and

680. 602. 716.

Ideas of temporal and spiritual governmeut in tli
ei.ghth centuries — Divergences
The papal task (theory) . ...
The .Vuglo-Saxou missions .....
Kcgbert — Wicbert- W illibrord ....
I'lisiau and Saxon churches founded .

Rcgbert.'s missions to central (iermauy ....
686. KiUian, Colman, Toluiau ......
Duke lledan A\impromise with healheuisui . .
(>.^2(?) Kmmeraium iu Uavavia ......
680. Ivupert, archbishop of SaWAuirg .....
715-\(?) Corbinian iu Bavaria ... . .
73(). I .\seeudeuey of Koiuanisiu iu Ravaria ....
Kxleusionof hatiu Ohvist.ianity in the seventh ceutury — Its
715-"l W intVed, or Rouiface ......
731. 1 He devotes hiinsolf to the service of Uomo .
Rouifiice among the Hessians .....
His method of couveraiou . ....
Ilis reforms .........
His Auglo-Saxou eoad.jutoi'S .....
His missiouary colonies ......
11\1 ode of instruction .......
Honifaee archbishop and legiite 
Ilis ecclesiastical divisions 
Papal coufirniation .......
Oharles Martel (Ihstrnets the papal policy
Oarliuann invites Ronifaee to France .
711. Report of Rouiface on ihe slate of the Prankish ehuivhes
713. 8\ nods of 8al?.bnrg and Leptines . ...
Reforms .........
.\dopl.iou of the Roman code of canon-law .
Adalbert and Olcmens .......
(.Charges ag';uust. the schismalie bishops ....
Merits of the charges . . ....
DilhcuUies of Rouiface in France .....
715. Reiiort, of .Rouiface to Archhislu>p (\it.hbert of Oanterbury
Diilicullies and impediments 
7-17 (?) Honifaee primate of Germanv — 8ee of iMaiutz .
717. Resistjiucc of .\dalbert and OleuuMis

315346
317 348 349350350351351352 353 353
1 3,-.l355356 357358
358 350350 350360
, .361
, 362
. .362
, 362
. :563
. .363
. 363
. 361
. 364
. 365
. 365
. 366
. 366
. 3(i7
. 3(i7
. 3(;8

636 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. q*68
747. Heathenising and married priests . . • • _,, " ' . ' Xaa370

Nature of the obstacles to the scheme of Boniface— The remedy
Synod of VerneuU  „„„
Condemnation and banishment of Adalbert and Clemens . ¦ ^^|J
Synopsis

370

CHAPTER VI.
ADVANCEMENT OP THE PAPACY TO POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY. (l.)
Connection of ecclesiastical and political history . . • . '
The Merovingian race supplanted in France hy the family of Pip
pin of Landen  ^^^
The mayor of the palace  ^ J^
741-1 Pippin the Short  t''*
768. J Pippin, Boniface, and Pope Zachary  374
752. Pippin assumes the royal title . ¦ • • • ¦ • 375
Proximate causes and character of the revolution .... 376
Papal participation — Opinions  377
The precedent ' . . . . ¦ ¦ • • • .3*8
Pope Stephen III. and Aistulph king of the Lombards . . 378
The papal poUcy in this age ........ 379
753. Journey of Pope Stephen III. to the court of Pavia . . . 380
FUght of the pope into France  380
His reception at the court of France  381
Moral and political effect of the reception  382
Negotiations and treaty of Pontyon, <fec  382
Diet of Quiercy-sur-Oise  383
754. Coronation of Pippin and his two sons by Stephen III. . . 383
Papal view of this transaction  384
Pippin invades Lombardy  385
Submission of AisttUph, and treaty of Pavia .... 386
Actual relations of the papacy to the empire .... 386
Retreat of Pippin — Stephen claims fulfilment of the treaty . . 387
Character of the donation of Pippin  388
Its scope and intent  389
756. Aistulph again invades the " patrimony" — Siege of Rome . . 390
Pippin raises the siege — Second treaty of Pavia .... 390
Conformation and execution of the " donation" .... 391
Death of Aistulph, and elevation of Desiderius . . . .391
Extortion of Stephen III  392
Treachery of Stephen III  392
Paul I. pope — His complaint to Pippin  393
Charges Desiderius with conspiring against the holy see . 393
Results  394

CHAPTER VII.
ADVANCEMENT OP THB PAPACY TO POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY. (ll.)
Progress made in the course of the eighth ceutury . . . 395
State of law and legislation  396
768. Accession of Charlemagne  397
Project of Queen Bertrada  398
Disorders in Rome — Constantine and Philip popes . . . 393

DATS768.

"70.

771.

773

r74.

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 637
^ FAGS
^tephen III. (IV.> pope — Ferocity of the victorious faction . . 399
Pope Stephen agaiust Desidoios and the Lombards . . . 400
Remonstrance of Stephen against the sdieme of Bertrada . . 400
Papal menace  401
Divorce of Chariemagne and Irmenguda  40i:
Pope Stephen's decree for the regulation ofthe pontifical dections 402
Disorders in Bome — The Lombaid fection — Paul Afiarta . 403^
HumiUation and death of Stephen III.  405
Hadrian I. pope  406
Suppression of the sediticm  406
Desideritis invade the papal territoiy  407
FUght of Gerbei^i, widow of CarhnaDn  4^V
Desiderius and G«ii>erga  407
He espouses the cause of Gerberga and her sons .... 4a i8
Advance of D^derins upon Rome — ^EQs sudden retreat . . 4<is
Charlemagne invades Lomhaidy  41.19
Winter campaign in Lombardy  410
Fweign poUcy of ihe popes  410
Approaches of the papacy to the temporal sovereignty . . .411
Siege of Pavia — Charlemagne'syfrs? expedition to Rome . . 4i2
Ratines the tneaties of Pontyon and Quiercy .... 4i2
The donation of Charlemagne  ) .
Probably obtained by misrepresentation or fraud . j
Chaiaeter of the donation, i^c  414
Execution of the deed of donation . . . . 1 .i -
Charlemagne fvtrician  j "*
Surrender and deposition of Desiderius . . . . "i
Charlemagne i-j»^ it" /ra/^' — Gains of the papacy . . . --11 6
Indeterminate podticm of the papacy in respect of the granted
territory  417
Actnai resuli  417

BOOK Y.
CHAPTER L

THK MOyOnrKT.TTE COSTBOTKBST.
General retrospect 
Rome in the controTHsLes of the sixth and seventh centuries
3Ionotiielite and ioonoclas::ic CK-ntTOTeise? .
The mvinothelite c.^T^troTeTSy, it.5 .rigiuand character
Fngnarded conduct of Pope Honorius I.
639. The Ecthesis cf Heraclius 
Character of the Ecthesi? 
C3S. Pope .John IV. — ^Hi; apol: jy for Honorius .
He condemns the monothelite heresy .
Oanrersion of Pyrthiii— Adirt^ of the Afi-iran-g
^48. The r,;:* .... . .
The Latins condemn the Type
649. Martin I. pope .....
Conncii of the Lateran airainst the Type, ,tc-
Ccndemnanon ofthe Ecthesi^, Type, itc.
Excess CI jurisdiction — Cai: : n-Iair cf Rome .
Arrcgance of Pope Martin I. ....
Po{* Martin I. eadeavours to recover his jurisdicnon over ILvricum
VOI- II. > >

419 420
4i:i»
421422423
423 424
424425
426 426
427

428
42il429

688 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
BATE rAGE
653- 1 Arrest, imprisonment, and death of Pope Martin I. . . • 430
655. J Uncanonical election of Pope Eugenius I  '^31
658. VitaUan pope — Approaches Constantinople  432
Case of John of Lappse  432
Constans II. enforces the Type  433
668. Expedition and death of Constans II  434
Relations between Rome and Constantinople between the years 668
and 679  434
679. Roman synod of the year 679  436
Synodal acts and report  436
Character of this synod  436
680. \ Assembling of the sixth general council  437
681. f Constituency of the so-oaUed sixth general councU . . . 438
Proceedings, and their result  438
Condemnation of the monothelite heresiarchs . . . 439
The like sentence upon Pope Honorius of Rome . . 440
Concluding acts of the council  440
Imperial edict of confirmation  441
682. Pope Leo II. accepts the decree and adopts the anathemas . . 441

CHAPTER II.
EAVENNATINE CONTEOVERSY— THE QUINISEXT.
PoUtical and religious position of the holy see in the seventh cen
tury  443
Participation of Rome in the sixth general council . . . 444
Comparative state of the Eastern and Westem churches . . 445
685- ] Death of Constantine Pogonatus — His successors — Leontius —
711. j Tiberius III.— Bardanes  446
Religious revolutions in the East  447
Claims of Ravenna  448
History of the Ravennatine patriarchate — The autocephaly . . 448
Contest between Rome and Ravenna ... ... 449
Privileges of Ravenna cancelled by Constantine Pogonatus . . 450
684. Benedict II. pope  451
686. Papal elections — Conon pope . . .... 461
687. Election of Sergius 1  462
Substitution of saint and relic worship for idolatrous supersti
tion, <fec  452
Success of Pope Sergius 1  453
691. Origin and convocation of the Quinisext council .... 454
Objections to the constitution of the councU . . . 456
Canons of the Quinisext  456
Wanton coUisions with the Latins  457
Pope Sergius I. rejects the councU  458
699- 1 Abortive attempts to compel the acceptance of the Quinisext
701. j decrees ,  468
708. Complaisance of Justinian II. towards the holy see . , . 469
710. Mysterious journey of Pope Constantine to Constantinople . . 460
Conjectural explanation  461

CHRONOLOGICVL INTtEX.

589

llATR 717.

726.

730.

731.

741

CHAPTER III.
THE ICONOCI.AST10 CONTROVERSY. (l.)
Elevation of Loo III. (tho Is:inri;in) .
Orijijin of tho /.mh.iv/ii.«/)> rciMfiviVfsy
IViinitivo viows as to iniajjjos of woi"ship
Snddon riso of ini:igo-worship ....
Caiisos of tbo riso of iiuago-woi-ship
Fii'st hpoiithiugs of the oontrovorsy
Argnnionts .... ...
ControYOi-sv stinnilatod by tbo .\rab conquests
.\Yor,<ioii of .Vrabs and .lows from tho uso of iinai;os
Earlier stops of liOO (ho l.<anrian aipiin.'st unad;os .
Oennanns on iin:vgos and imai^^-worship
Popo lilivsjory 11. on imaifo-woi-ship
Tho second oonnnandinont, how eucountorod
Uoply of tlio iconoolasts
Invotonito charaotor of tho controversy
Levi's sooond edict against imagos
Insnrrootion .......
Papal donunciations of iconodasm
(^rojs;orY 111. popo ......
His insolent adaross to (ho omporor
Pabulons portnvits, imajjos, &o. ....
l.ijnoniiit vitnporation of Oroajory III. .
l^rogoiy 111. doiios tJio einpoi-or ....
InipotonoY of tho cinpiiv in Italy
Oouno.il at Rome against the iniajjo-biv^ikoi-s
IjOO oonlisc;itos tho j-vatriraonios of tho Rctnian church, &c.
Tho popo poi-soYoros in his nominal allegianoo to the empire
State 01 tho p\pacy at tho death of (.Gregory HI. .

TAnii;
. 463
. 463
. 464
. 466
4(>5-6 . 4i;7
. 467
. 468
. 4(il)
. 470
. 470
. 471
. 472
. 473
. 473
1 474
. 475
. 476
. 476
. 476
. 477
. 478
. 47!)
. 480
. 480
. 481
. 481

CH.VPTER IV.
lOOXOOlASTU' OOXTISOYERSY. (ll.)
Constan(ino V. (Oopronyinus) emperor .
Ueligions trnoo with Rome 
Oonorjvl synod of (ho Orook dmrch on image-worship
01iai-:)o( or of the factions 
Mutual hatred . . ....
762. Stoplion of 8(. .Vnxo.nlins ...
His iiito.rvioNY with tho omporor Constantino A'. .
Murder of 8(ophon iif St. .Vuxoni ins ...
Constaniino sends an ombassy to llppin of Prance
775. Loo 1 Y . and Irono - ....
780. Oonsfcvntino YI. and Irene .....
Negotiation witli Ronio 
787. OoiiYoosition of (ho (,so-ea.lled) ¦)¦)»¦" croJcml cavncil (Nie
Dolihe.ra(.ions and resolu(ions of tho councU
Rost om (ion vif imagi^woi-ship ....
Popo Hadrian 1. aooopts and r;i(i(ios (ho decrees of Nie
790. Protest of Uie (JiiUio dinivhes (Libri (.Tarolini)
Apolog) of Pope Hadrian to Charleiuagne .
794, flroat s) 110*1 vif Pr:n\kfort 
Oondenniation of imago-woi-sliip

a a II

. 482
. 483
. 483
. 484
. 484
1 486
. 487
487-8 . 4.89
. 489
. 489
. 490
. 4.90
. 4;n
. 4fl2
. 493
. 4VU
. 4iW 495

540 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
DATE . ''^'"'
794. Concurrent relations of the pope to the Frankish and Byzantine
courts  4'gg
Byzantine arrogance — Papal cupidity  *g2
Mutual disgust  ^L
Papal principle of secular acquisition  ^^'
Negotiations between Charlemagne and the Byzantines . • 4»a
702. The emperor Nicephorus averse from image-worship— Edict ot
toleration — Insurrections 
Revolutions at Constantinople for and against image-worship—
Michad I.— Leo V  fJ.
Theodore the Studite  ^""
His sycophantic adulation of Pope Paschal I  oO"
Value of these encomiums  ^Jr i,
Reception of the Studite memorial at Rome . . _. • • oO^
820. Michael II. (the Stammerer) convokes a general councU • • 60^
Opposition of the Studites  ^^'^
Grounds of opposition  "03
Reply of Michad II  504
Insolence of the Studite party  504
Value of Studite testimony to the supremacy of Rome . . . 605
824. Embassy of Michael II. to Louis the Pious  506
Moderation of Michael II  507

609
•610

I.

CHAPTER V.
ISSUE OP THE CONTEOVEESY ON IMAOB-WOESniP.
Ecclesiastical relations vrith Rome during the reign of Charlemagne 608
814. Louis I., the Pious . . . . _  509
(3allic view of the question of image-worship
The emperor proposes a committee of inquiry, ifec.
Commission of inquiry and report . . .
Substance of the report — Censure upon Hadrian
And Gregory II. .
Proposals of the commissioners to the emperor Louis
Gallic estimate of papal authority
General exposition of the report
Letter of Louis the Pious to the pope .
Inconsequential issue of the emperor's proposal .
Claudius Clemens bishop of Turin
The reforms of Claude fall to the ground
Subsidence of the iconoclastic controversy .
829. Theophilus emperor 
John Leconomontis 
842. Restoration of images by Michael III. .
Epoch of the year 844 .

611 612613514515
616 615617618 619619520621 621

END OF VOL. II.

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