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A56252 The history of popedom, containing the rise, progress, and decay thereof, &c. written in High Dutch by Samuel Puffendorff ; translated into English by J.C. Pufendorf, Samuel, Freiherr von, 1632-1694.; Chamberlayne, John, 1666-1723. 1691 (1691) Wing P4176; ESTC R5058 76,002 238

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THE HISTORY OF Popedom Containing the RISE PROGRESS AND DECAY Thereof c. Written in High Dutch BY SAMUEL PUFFENDORFF Translated into English by J. C. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange 1691. Imprimatur C. Alston October 2 d. 1690. To the Right Reverend Father in God HENRY Lord Bishop of LONDON Dean of the Chappel Royal and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honorable Privy Council This TREATISE is most humbly Dedicated By John Chamberlayne CONTENTS Paragraph 1. POlitic Reflections on the Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope Par. 2. Of the Blindness of the Heathens in Matters of Divinity what they proposed to themselves by choosing the Paths of Virtue wherein their Religion consisted Par. 3. Of the Jewish Religion why other Nations did not embrace the Religion of the Jews Par. 4. That the Christian Religion is adapted to the humours of all People that it admits no Respect of Persons that it is not contrary to Civil Government that there is no other sort of Religion or Philosophy that can equal it why many of our Christians live like Heathens Par. 5. Of the External Government of Religion what is here to be understood by the External Government of the Christian Religion of the Ministry of the Church of the calling of the Apostles Par. 6. The Division of this Question that this necessity does not proceed from the nature of every Religion in general how the External Government of Religion was transmitted from the Fathers of the Family to the Sovereigns of each State Par. 7. That it is not inconsistent with the Christian Religion for the Sovereign to have the direction of it as to its External Government Par. 8. The First Progress of the Christian Religion the Divine Conduct in the Establishment of this Religion how the Jesuits Preach the Gospel to the Chineses why God called the Ignorant rather than the Wise and Learned Men. Par. 9. The Persecution of the Primitive Church the New Christians Slandered and Calumniated the Romans upon Reasons of State oppose their Religion the Roman Persecution condemn'd Par. 10. Of the Ancient Government of the Christian Religion Differences arising about Religion Terminated by Assemblies why the Authority of these Assemblies ought to be permitted under Heathen Emperours Par. 11. That the External Government of the Church by being lodged in the hands of the Primitive Christians has produced strange disorders that from hence some have supposed two Powers in the State that Ecclesiastics ought to receive their Call from the Sovereign of each State Par. 12. That it was not in Constantin's Power wholly to change the State of the Church how the Bishops and other the Ecclesiastics came to Vsurp the Sovereign Power that the Sovereign may preside in the Assemblies where Controversies are treated of the abuse of Councils Par. 13. The Jurisdiction of Bishops abused other Abuses concerning Marriages Ecclesiastical Discipline abused the Popes misuse the Power of Excommunication Par. 14. The Rise of the Popes Authority that Ignorance and the Barbarity of the Age contributed much thereto the causes of this Ignorance that ignorance help'd much to the Establishing of the Popedom the Introduction of Pedantry into the Schools that the Politiques of the Greeks and Romans were contrary to Monarchy two dangerous effects of the ignorance of Politiques Par. 15. Why the Monarch of the Romish Church has chosen Rome for the place of his Residence how the Pope Establish'd his Hierarchy of the Metropolitan Bishops how the Bishops of RomeVsurp'd the Preheminence Reflections on the Popes Power Par. 16. How the Pope came to Domineer o'er all the Western Part of the World of the Confirmation of Bishops by the Pope Decisions of the Pope Dispensations of the Popes Vicar in France of the Monk Winifred the Pope makes him his Vicar he advances the Grandeur of the Popes of the Annates the Popes annul the Decisions of Provincial Synods they force the Bishops to swear Fidelity to them Par. 17. The Riches of the Church and how first gotten the Avarice of the Church-men and divers effects thereof the Institution of the Crusado a stratagem of Popes Par. 18. Of the great number of Ecclesiastics the Original of Monks and other Religious Orders of the Multitude of Monasteries of the Order of Begging Friars why they chose that sort of Life the Reasons that induce men now adays to choose a Monastic Life that Monks have been very prejudicial to other Church-men that they alone hinder the Bishops from opposing the Pope 's Authority that a great many Bishops would be glad to shake off the Yoke of Rome that it is the Interest of Bishops to submit to the Pope Par. 19. How the Church has shaken off all Temporal Jurisdiction how the Bishops of Rome slipt their Neck out of the Emperours Collar Par. 20. The Pope implores the French Kings Protection against the Lumbards the French enter Italy they bestow the Exarchat on the Pope that the Popes did heretofore hold those Countries under them of the Emperour Par. 21. The Popes Establish an Ecclesiastical Sovereignty Pope Gregory Excommunicates the Emperour Henry the Fourth the Pope endeavours to Domineer o'er the Emperour a quarrel between the King of England and his Bishops that succeeding Emperours have in vain endeavoured to regain their lost Authority Par 22. The Pope exalts himself above all Temporal Powers the use he made of his Excommunicating Power how the Pope colour'd his usurpations the Pope takes upon him the cognisance of Matrimonial Affairs that the Pope allur'd the most knowing Men into his service the unbounded Ambition of Pope Boniface the Eighth Par. 23. The Popes find their Authority oppos'd that the great Schisms in the Church have much weakened their Authority the first Schism the second Schism the third Schism the fourth and last Schism that the Pope has not been able to Lord it over Councils the Confession of several Popes concerning the Authority of Councils that Popes have been Depos'd by Councils Par. 24. The removal of the Popes Seat from Rome to Avignon that it was prejudicial to the Pope 's Authority the Pope reduces to his Obedience the City of Rome the History of Caesar Borgia natural Son of Alexander the Sixth the Ecclesiastical State reunited to the Popedom Par. 25. That the Papal Authority receiv'd a terrible blow by the Doctrine of Luther the Virtues and Vices of Leon the Tenth of Indulgences Luther Preaches against them and against the Power of the Pope Par. 26. That Luther's opposition met with a seasonable juncture of the times the miserable State of Christendom at that time the ignorance of Luther's adversaries Erasmus favours Luther that his silence alone was very prejudicial to Luther's adversaries that the Princes of Germany were unsatisfied with the Pope why Charles the Fifth was willing that Luther's Doctrine should make some progress the Popes ill conduct in the Business of Luther the imprudence of Cardinal Cajetan
the effects thereof Luther appeals to a Council Par 27. Why Luther's Doctrine did not make greater advances a Schism among the Protestants the Protestants abuse the liberty of the Gospel of the Academy of Paris of Zwinglius and Calvin that Luther took a great many of the Romish Ceremonies that the riches of the Church have been one cause of the progress of Protestant Religion Par. 28. The Pope recovers from the fright which Luther had put him into that he now acts more cautiously than heretofore that Priests and Monks live more regularly at present of the reestablishing of Learning in the Church of Rome the ways of enticing Protestants to that Church that the House of Austria has mightily contributed to the Papal Grandeur Par. 29. Of the Temporal Dominions of the Pope of the Countries that are under his Jurisdiction of the Popes Militia of the Popes Interest in relation to Germany France and Spain that the Pope need not fear the Power of the other States in Italy Par. 30. Of the Popes Spiritual Dominions that the Pope has different Interests from those of other Princes the Foundation of the Papal Monarchy that the absolute Power of Popes can't be prov'd from Scripture nor from the example of the Apostles in General nor from that of St. Peter in particular how the Papists Answer these Objections Par. 31. Why the Sovereignty of the Roman Church could not well admit of any other Form than a Monarchical that there could not be invented a more regular Monarchy than that of the Popes why this Monarchy ought to be Elective why the Popes don't Marry of the Conclave why the Popes are generally Italians why they usually chuse an old Man for Pope why they don't chuse one of kin to the last Pope nor one that is too much devoted to the French or Spanish Interest of the Colledg of Cardinals of the Dignity of Cardinals of their Number of their Election that the Popes always endeavour to enrich their Kindred with the spoils of the Church of the Cardinal Patroon why the chief Ministers of the Pope are his Nephews Par. 32. Of the Celibacy of the Ecclesiastics of their great number the several sorts of Ecclesiastics Par. 33. That the Doctrine of the Church of Rome does very well square with the Popes Interests that it prohibits the reading the Holy Scriptures of Traditions of Venial and Mortal Sins of the Remission of Sins of Works of satisfaction of the merit of good Works of Works of Superrogation of Ceremonies and Feasts of forbidding the Cup of the Sacrament of Marriage of the forbidden Degrees of extreme Vnction of Purgatory of the Adoration of Relicks of the Invocations of Saints and of Canonisation other means that the Clergy uses to drain the Purses of ignorant People Par. 34. That Vniversities have been no small means of supporting the Papal Authority that the Professors were the Popes Creatures that the Philosophers were his Slaves of the Scholastic Divinity and Philosophy that the same Pedantry is yet in vogue Par. 35. Why Jesuits intrude themselves into the Government of Schools and Colleges the service they render thereby to the See of Rome that they have insinuated themselves into the Courts of Princes of the Censuring Books that the Romish Priests inspire their auditors with an ill opinion against Protestants of the false rumors they spread to their own advantage Par. 36. That the Excommunication of the Popes is not so terrible as it used to be Par. 37. The Reasons that oblige these People to stick to the Romish Religion that a great many of them do it for Interest others through ignorance why some of them are guilty of Atheism that there is Preferment in the Roman Church for all sort of People why the Princes of the Roman Religion do not abandon it Par. 38. Of those States whose Interest it is to maintain the Authority of the See of Rome of Italy of Poland of Portugal of Germany that Charles the Fifth neglected the occasion of making a Reformation in Germany what had probably happened if Charles had turned Protestant of Spain of France of the Formalities that the Nuncioes are oblig'd to observe in France a project of making a Patriarch in France that the Pope has an aversion for the French Monarchy of the principal support of the Popes of their conduct heretofore in respect of the Spaniards and also in respect of the French Par. 39. How the Popes stand dispos'd towards Protestants why they have favour'd them upon certain occasions Par. 40. If there are any hopes of an accommodation between the Pope and Protestants the Reasons of the Impossibility that such propositions are chimerical and dangerous of the strength of Protestants and Catholicks of the Protestant States Divisions between the Protestants other inconvenients of the Jealousie that reigns between the Protestant States of the Huguenots of France of Poland how strong the Protestants are in Germany if they are able alone to defend themselves without the aid of France and Swedeland that the security of the Protestant States does not depend on Treaties of the Sovereign States of the Protestant Religion of the means of maintaining the Protestant Religion whether the Lutherans and Reformed may be brought to any accommodation of the Socinians and Anabaptists THE HISTORY OF Popedom THE POPEDOM may be consider'd Two ways First As it's Doctrine which is singular and different from that of other Christians does fall in with the Holy Scripture and does either impede or promote the means of our Salvation the consideration thereof as 't is taken in this Sence we leave to the Divines And Secondly As the Pope does not only make a very considerable Figure amongst the rest of the Italian Princes but does also pretend to the Soveraignty of Christendom at least in all Spiritual Affairs and does in effect Exercise such a Supreme Authority over all the States of Europe that have the same Sentiments in Religion with him 'T is this second Consideration which particularly and immediately belongs to the Politicians since such a spiritual Soveraignty does not only bridle the Supreme Power of every State but is altogether absurd and inconsistent with the nature of such a Power Hence is it That Religion is so confounded and intangled with the politick Interests of Rome that he who will understand the latter must be perfectly inform'd of the Rise of that spiritual Monarchy and by what means it is Arriv'd to so prodigious a Growth and what Intrigues are used to preserve its usurped Greatness For thereby will likewise appear what relation it has with the Controversies so rife at present among the Western Christians and how far one may attribute those disagreeing Sentiments of Religion either to different Interpretations of the Scriptures or to the prospect of Temporal Interests After a strict Examination of which we will leave it to the Judgment of Wise and Impartial Men to determine whether there can be any hopes of a
the pretext of establishing the Affairs of the Church and setting them in good order to which end the Bishops began to Lord it over the ordinary Priests and to observe even a kind of Subordination amongst themselves and to such as were Bishops of the Capital Cities in each Province they appointed the Care and Inspection over the rest of the same Province and nam'd them Metropolitans who about Eight Ages afterward took upon themselves the Name and Title of Arch-Bishops amongst these there were four that had the preheminence above all the rest namely the Bishop of Rome Constantinople Antioch and Alexandria those being the most considerable Cities of the Roman Empire to which we may add Jerusalem Famous for its ancient Holiness And altho' the Emperor Phocas out of the hatred he bore to the Bishop of Constantinople who had refus'd to approve of the Murder of the Emperor Maurice had given the preheminence to Boniface the Third Bishop of Rome who thereupon took the Name of Oecumenical or Universal Bishop yet this Prerogative did only consist in a simple preference and did not carry along with it any Power or Jurisdiction which none of the other Patriarchs would ever yield to him And we read that the Bishops in Africa when he of Rome would have oblig'd them to truckle to his Power alledging to that intent a falsifi'd Canon of the Nicene Council did very vigorously resist and baffle that his design Besides in the whole frame of the Papal Supremacy we find nothing Divine but all built upon Humane Institutions and there is no more reason to be given why the Bishop of Rome has the first place than he of Antioch the third And forasmuch as one State has no power to prescribe Laws to another wholly independent of it therefore those privileges which have been granted to the Popes by the Roman Emperors and the ancient Councils which were nothing else but a Congregation of the Clergy of the Roman Empire cannot oblige any other State to obedience nor extend themselves farther than the bounds of the ancient Empire And if perhaps in succeeding times some few Christian States have given the Pope any Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters within their Dominions they did it without doubt either because they knew upon what grounds that pretended Power was founded or else they were surpriz'd and cheated into obedience If it be the first there is no other probable reason to be given for it than that it originally proceeding from some Covenant or Agreement made betwixt those States and the Bishops of Rome whilest the former imagin'd that their Churches could not be well govern'd till they abandoned the Care and Direction of 'em to the latter Now such an Agreement primarily depending on the free will and consent of any Republick according to the nature of all other obligations is ipso facto void and of no effect when it turns to the extream disadvantage of the Republick or when the Popes abuse that Power which is granted to them But if this Papal Supremacy be introduc'd dolo malo by the tricks and cheats of the knavish Priests then the abus'd and miss-led States as soon as they can discover how they have been impos'd on may lawfully cast off so unjust a yoke and have right to pursue the cheater and oblige him to refund all the Damages they have sustain'd by his usurpations Sect. 16. But it was not all at once that the Bishop of Rome was able to lay so heavy a yoke on all the Western Churches on the contrary he found himself oblig'd to insinuate this his usurp'd Authority by little and little and steal it insensibly by divers Slights and Artifices and where once he happen'd to fasten his Claws 't was impossible to make him lose his hold till he had carried away a good share of the prey Besides the Bishops of Rome never were wanting to serve themselves very advantageously of a good occasion of which the most advantageous to 'em in my opinion was the Emperours leaving Rome and chusing other Cities for their Residence whereas if they had always continued to have maintain'd their Authority in that place the Bishops thereof would have never had the confidence to have erected themselves into Soveraigns as we see that the Bishop of Constantinople who perhaps had no less vanity and itching after Gevernment than he of Rome was never able to raise his Authority to so high a flight The division of the Roman Empire into several new Kingdoms founded by the Heathen and unlearn'd People did no less contribute to the aggrandizing the Bishop of Rome for these People being all converted by the Prelates of the Romish Church thought themselves therefore very much oblig'd to honour and respect them and paid a deference to them as the most ancient and most considerable Christians of the West It is not our design here to deduce all circumstances at length 't is enough that we represent the most remarkable in haste as it were and en-passant but one thing we can't let slip unobserv'd that the Bishops beyond the Alps after the Fifth Century were us'd to go in Pilgrimage to Rome to visit there the Graves of St. Peter and St. Paul either out of Superstition and Biggottry or else in sign of their approving and following those Apostles Doctrine which voluntary piece of Devotion was afterwards chang'd into an act of necessity so that as many as afterwards neglected that Voyage were excommunicated from which Custom without doubt the Popes have pretended to oblige all Bishops to receive their Confirmation from Rome The other Bishops too and Churches had often recourse to that of Rome as Novices to their Superiours in all weighty Affairs consulting their advice in the use and explication of the Canons now when the Bishops of Rome perceiv'd that their answers were receiv'd as absolute Decisions they began to make Decrees and Orders before e'er they were desir'd to do it under the pretence that Rome being the first and chiefest Seat of Christendom it was the Right and Office of the Bishop thereof to see that the Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws were put in execution thereupon they constituted immediate Judges of the Differences amongst the other Bishops encroached upon the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans depos'd the Bishops which were either not rightly Ordain'd or that were accused of any great Crime and forced them to come to Rome to plead their cause in person after which all such as desir'd to enjoy any prerogative or exemption from the ordinary Canons went to Rome where they were always well receiv'd and gratifi'd in their request that so the Popes might there erect a general Office of all sort of Dispensations Those also that had lost their Cause before the ordinary Magistrates were wont out of spite to appeal to Rome where they were always welcome and seldom fail'd of a good exit Thus the French Historians tell us that when the Emperor Honorius had erected the City of
proportionably augmented whilest there were not a few that were glad to be fed by a fat Kitchin and make good cheer without taking any care for the provision thereof and it was not enough that each Church had its ordain'd Priests Chaplains and other necessary Servants but the most considerable must have an addition of Canons and Prebends which places consisting of so great profit and so little pains were soon fill'd by men of all sorts and sizes and thus the inconveniences of a single life which the Popes not without a great deal of pains and opposition had introduc'd in the eleventh and following Centuries were sweetned by the Honours and large Revenues of these Charges which they so quietly enjoy'd Besides all Christendom swarm'd with a prodigious number of Monks and Nuns which springing up in the times of Persecution in the fourth and fifth Centuries have afterwards strangely increas'd These sort of people at the first were content to get their living by their own Industry many of 'em gave all their goods to the poor without being in the least oblig'd thereto and liv'd under the care and inspection of the Bishops according to the Discipline that was prescrib'd them in the Canons In the seventh Century through all the Western Empire was the Monastical way of living extreamly in fashion and all places were fill'd with Cloysters in the founding of which the Princes and Great Men did seem to vie with each other but after that their Liberality was as it were quite exhausted by the Endowments and Gifts made to so many old Monasteries and that there was not place enough for such as desir'd to be receiv'd into those Orders There was at length in the thirteenth Century form'd an Order of Mendicants or Begging Monks which made a greater show of Holiness forasmuch as they would not be thought to go into a Cloyster in hopes of a plentiful and lazy Life but renouncing all the pleasures of the World they would live by Alms and the Beggars-Basket The Fancy of a singular Merit and Supererrogative Holiness induced the People to this Austerity and Hardship of living or rather an unbounded Ambition and Pride so natural to all mankind that not contented to live up to the Commandments of God and barely to fulfil what he prescribes they had rather deserve Heav'n than accept it as a pure Gift of their Creator or purchas'd for them by the Merits of their Redeemer and the desire they have of Superiority and Preference above the rest does even extend it self to the other life To the embracing of this single and solitary Life some are carried by despair others out of a prospect of ease and laziness others are thrust into Cloysters by their Parents and Relations either out of a motive of Religion or Poverty or else for fear of ruining their Family by the division of their Goods amongst a great many Children From these Monks has the Pope form'd his Pretorian Band or Regiment of Guards whom he has not alone quarter'd as troublesome Companions upon the Laity but does make use of 'em also as spies over the actions of the Bishops and rest of the Clergy Therefore it is that the Popes have with so much zeal maintain'd the privileges of the Monks especially when in the thirteenth Century they would have forc'd themselves from the Bishops Jurisdiction and subjected themselves immediately to the Pope and the Pope has found out the way to carry himself so evenly with them that altho' there are great Jealousies betwixt their Orders as for example betwixt the Franciscans and Dominicans yet he holds the Balance always so even and dispenses his Favours so impartially that one Order cannot be oppress'd by the other nor has reason to complain of the Pope's injustice These Monks are very prejudicial to the ordinary Priests insomuch as they attract to themselves the greatest part of the Alms Legacies and Gains proceeding from the Burials of the Rich besides the Direction of Consciences and Administration of the Sacraments which has drawn upon them the immortal hatred of the Bishops and Secular Priests which those other don't much value whilest they are under the care and protection of the Pope and besides when a Bishop at any time oppos'd the Pope the Monks like so many Blood Hounds were immediately after his heels and by their bawlings and exclamations soon made him lose his Credit with the People by whom their Hypocrisy and pretended Sanctity made them much respected so that the Bishops were forced to truckle to the Pope's Authority because the People would afford them no Support or Assistance thus the Monks were set as so many spies over the Conduct of the Bishops which when they found blamable they did not fail immediately to signify to the Generals that resided always at Rome so that the Pope might make a timely opposition against their practices In short these Monks were not the least cause of the Bishops not resisting the growing Power of the Pope for finding it always in vain they were forced with the rest to yield to the mighty Torrent Tho' there were a great many of 'em likewise that were well enough contented to submit to this slavery in hopes of sharing the Prey with their Chief and because they were thereby freed from the Jurisdiction of their Temporal Princes whose power they more dreaded than that of a distant Tribunal the Judges whereof being of the same Trade as they were not so terrible to them for one Crow will not pick out its fellow's Eyes In the mean while 't is most certain that a great many Bishops especially of this side the Alps do with a great deal of impatience groan under the yoke of Rome which did appear sufficiently in the Council of Trent where the French and Spanish Bishops did with great earnestness endeavour that it might be declar'd quod Residentia Episcoporum sit Juris Divini or that by the Divine Appointment each Bishop is oblig'd to reside in his own Church as all the Jansenists of France and the Low-Countries do maintain Now the wisest could easily penetrate what lay hid under this specious Doctrine for if God has commanded that it must necessarily follow that he would afford the way and means of putting it in practice qui dat jus ad finem dat jus ad media and then by consequence it is no longer needful to run to Rome and buy the permission of exercising their charge And it cost the Pope a great deal of pains and a great deal of fears before he could oblige the Council of Trent to desist from a design which extreamly shook his usurp'd Authority and therefore we may be assur'd that that shall be the last General Council nor will the Pope ever more venture his Authority in such like Assemblies which besides will be but very useless things as long as the Jesuits and others teach That the Pope is above the Councils and That he cannot err and That the Councils themselves