order to Rome where he publickly interdicted Gregory from doing any thing for the future that belong'd to the Office of a Pope commanding the Cardinals to leave Gregory and come to him for they were like to have another Pope Gregory not able to endure such an affront upon God and the Church deprived Sigifred and the rest of the Clergy that took Henry's part of all their dignities and preferments and likewise laid a Curse upon the Emperour himself after he had degraded him from his Imperial Honour And of this Degradation or Deprivation the form was as followeth Blessed Peter Prince of the Apostles I beseech thee hearken unto me and heat thy servant whom thou hast educated from my infancy and preserved to this day from the hands of wicked men that hate and persecute me for the faith I have in Thee Thou art my best Witness Thou and the holy Mother of Jesus Christ together with Paul thy fellow Martyr that I did 〈◊〉 enter upon the Papacy without reluctance not that I thought it robbery lawfully to rise into thy Chair but I was more willing to spend my days in Pilgrimage than at that time to supply thy place for ostentation and vain-glory I must needs confess that it was thy goodness and not my deserts that brought me to the Cure of Christendom and gave me the power of loosing and binding and therefore in confidence of that and for the honour and safety of the Church I do deprive King Henry son to Henry who was formerly Emperour of all Imperial Power in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost for that He so boldly and rashly laid violent hands upon thy Church and I absolve all his Christian Subjects from their Oaths that bind 'em to pay Allegiance to true and lawful Kings For it is fit that he should lose his honour who would diminish the Honour of the Church And furthermore because he has contemn'd mine or rather thy admonitions concerning his own and his peoples salvation and separated himself from the Church of God which he would fain destroy I set him under a Curse as being well assured that thou art Peter upon whose Rock as a true foundation Christ Jesus our King has built his Church There were at that time a great many that talk'd of Peace when the Execration was past to whom Gregory made answer that he did not 〈◊〉 conditions of Peace if Henry would first make his peace with God You said he must needs know what injury he has done the Church and how often I have admonished him to reform his life and conversation And this I did in respect to Henry his Father's memory who was my very good Friend but to no purpose he having entertain'd principles quite contrary to his Father's Nevertheless some of those that were present continu'd to urge him and persuade him that a King ought not to have been anathematiz'd so hastily To whom the Pope reply'd When said he Christ committed his Church to Peter and said Feed my sheep did he except Kings No when he gave Peter the power to bind and loose he excepted none nor exempted any man from his Authority Wherefore he that says He cannot be bound by the Churches power must needs confess he cannot any more be absolved by it now whosoever is so impudent as to affirm this makes himself a perfect Separatist from Christ and his Church When Henry heard what Gregory had done he wrote many Letters to several Nations complaining that he was condemn'd by the Pope against all Law and Reason 〈◊〉 Gregory on the other hand demonstrated not only by words and Letters but also by Reason and Witnesses in the face of the World that he had done nothing but what was just and right But in the mean time part of the Kingdom revolted from Henry and the Saxons prepared for a War against him upon which the German Princes fearing some misfortune might 〈◊〉 their Country decreed in a publick Assembly that if Gregory would come into Germany Henry should humbly beg his pardon and the King swore he would do it Thereupon the Pope who was induced by the promises and prayers of the Arch-bishop of Treves Henry's Embassadour was going on his journey toward Augst but when he came to Vercelli was privately inform'd by the Bishop of that place who is Chancellour of all Italy that Henry was coming against him with an Army At which the Pope forbare to go any further but went to Canosso a Town near Rheggio under the Countess Matilda Henry also made thither as fast as he could with his whole Army and laying aside his regal Habit he went barefoot to the gate of the Town to move the Townsmens pity and desired to be let in But he was deny'd entrance and took it very patiently or at least seemed so to do though it were a sharp Winter and all things bound up in frost Notwithstanding he tarried in the Suburbs three days and begg'd pardon continually till at last by the intercession of Maude and Adelaus an Earl of Savoy together with the Abbat of Clugny he was introduced absolved and reconciled to the Church having sworn to a Peace and promised future obedience The form of the Kings Oath was this I King Henry do affirm that I will keep all the conditions and engagements that are in the Peace which our Lord Gregory the Seventh has drawn up according to his mind and will take care that the said Pope shall go where he pleases without the least molestation either to Him or his Attendants especially through all our Dominions and that I will be no hinderance to him in the exercise of his Pontifical authority in any place whatsoever and this I swear I will observe Done at Canosso January the 28. Indiction the 15th But when he had succeeded according to his wish and all people were gone to their several homes Henry moved toward Pavia but lost Cincius by the way who dy'd of a Fever and yet Henry though that Villain was gone did not desist from innovation For he broke the Peace and thereby vexed the German Princes to such a degree that they declared Rodolphus Duke of Saxony King and rejected Henry That moved Henry to petition the Pope that he would disposses Rodolphus of the Kingdom by Excommunication But seeing he could not obtain so great a favour he betook himself to his Arms and engaged him in a bloody Battel where the Victory was uncertain on both sides And then they each sent Embassadours to the Pope to beg of him that he would assist 'em to which he made no other answer but that he would have 'em quit their Arms. But notwithstanding Henry and Rodolphus fought a second time without any odds and therefore when they had engaged the third time and kill'd a great many men on both sides Henry who seemed to have a little the better of it would not hear Rodolphus's Embassadours that came to him for Peace but wrote to the
especially Peter and John were look'd upon as utterly illiterate men Their manner of living was measur'd by the common Good none of them challenged any propriety in any thing and whatsoever Religious Oblation was laid at their feet they either divided it between themselves for the supply of the necessities of Nature or else distributed it to the Poor These Disciples had each of them his Province assigned to him to St. Thomas was allotted Parthia to St. Matthew Aethiopia to St. Bartholomew India on this side Ganges to St. Andrew Scythia and Asia to St. John who after a long series of toyl and care died during his abode at Ephesus But to St. Peter the chief of the Apostles were assigned Pontus Galatia Bithynia and Cappadocia who being by birth a Galilean of the City of Bethsaida the son of John and Brother of Andrew the Apostle sate first in the Episcopal See of Antioch for seven years in the days of Tiberius This Emperour was Son-in-law and Heir to Augustus and for the space of twenty three years his administration of the Government had so much of change and variety in it that we cannot reckon him altogether a bad or absolutely a good Prince He was a Man of great Learnning and weighty Eloquence his Wars he managed not in Person but by his Lieutenants and shew'd a great deal of Prudence in suppressing any sudden commotions Having by Arts of flattery enticed sevcral Princes to his Court he never suffered them to return home again as particularly among others Archelaus of Cappadocia whose Kingdom he made a Province of the Empire Many of the Senators were banish'd and some of them slain by him C. Asinius Gallus the Pleader son of Asinius Pollio was by his Order put to death with the most exquisite torments and Vocienus Montanus Narbonensis one of the same profession died in the Baleares whither Tiberius had confined him Moreover Historians tell us that that his Brother Drusus was poisoned at his command And yet upon occasion he exercised so much lenity that when certain Publicans and Governours of Provinces moved him to raise the publick taxes he gave them this Answer That a good Shepherd does indeed shear but not flay his sheep Tiberius dying C. Coesar who with a jocular reflection upon his education in the Camp had the surname of Caligula succeeded him in the Empire he was the son of Drusus son-in-law to Augustus and Nephew to Tiberius The greatest Villain in the World and one who never did any worthy Action either at home or abroad His Avarice put him upon all manner of Oppression his Lust was such that he did not forbear to violate the Chastity of his own Sisters and his cruelty was so great that he is reported oftentimes to have cryed out Oh! That all the people of Rome had but one Neck At his Command all who were under proscription were put to Death for having recalled a certain person from banishment and enquiring of him what the Exiles did chiefly wish for the man imprudently answering that they desired nothing more than the Death of the Emperour he thereupon gave order that every man of them should be executed He would often complain of the condition of his times that they were not rendred remarkable by any publick Calamities as those of Tiberius had been in whose Reign no less than 20000 men had been slain by the fall of a Theatre at Tarracina He express'd so much envy at the renown of Virgil and Livy that he was very near taking away their Writings and Images out of all the Libraries the former of which he would censure as a man of no Wit and little Learning the latter as a verbose and negligent Historian and it was his common by-word concerning Seneca That his Writings were like a rope of Sand. Agrippa the son of King Herod who had been cast into prison by Tiberius for accusing Herod was by him set at liberty and made King of Judoea while Herod himself was confin'd to perpetual banishment at Lyons He caused himself to be translated into the number of the Gods and ordered the setting up Images in the Temple of Jerusalem At last he was assaulted and slain by some of his own Officers in the third year and tenth month of his Empire Among his Writings were found two Rolls or Lists one of which had a Dagger the other a Sword stamp'd upon it for a Seal they both contain'd the Names and Characters of certain principal men both of the Senatorian and Equestrian Order whom he had design'd to slaughter There was found likewise a large Chest fill'd with several sorts of Poisons which being at the Command of Claudius Coesar not long after thrown into the Sea 't is reported that the Waters were so infected thereby that there died abundance of Fish which the Tide cast up in vast numbers upon the neighbouring shores I thought good to give this account of these Monsters of men that thereby it might the better appear that God could then have scarce forborn destroying the whole World unless he had sent his Son and his Apostles by whose bloud manking though equal to Lycaon in impiety was yet redeem'd from destruction In their times lived that St. Peter whom our Saviour upon his ackowledgment of him to be the Christ bespake in these words Blessed art thou Simon Bar Jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven and Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give unto thee the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Power of binding and loosing This Apostle being a Person of most unwearied industry when he had sufficiently setled the Churches of Asia and confuted the Opinion of those who maintained the necessity of Circumcision came into Italy in the second year of Claudius This Claudius who was Uncle to Caligula and had been all along very contumeliously treated and bussoon'd by his Nephew being now Emperor making an Expedition into Britain had the Island surrendred up to him an Enterprise which none before Julius Coesar nor any after Claudius durst undertake he also added the Isles of Orkney to the Roman Empire He banish'd out of the City of Rome the seditious Jews and suppress'd the tumults in Judoea which had been rais'd by certain false Prophets And while Cumanus was appointed by him Procurator of Judoea there were crush'd to Death in the Porches of the Temple of Jerusalem during the days of Unlcavened bread to the number of thirty thousand Jews At the same time also there was a great dearth and scarcity of provision throughout the whole World a Calamity which had been foretold by â—â—â—gabus the Prophet Being secure of any hostilities from abroad he finish'd the Aquaeduct that had been begun by Caligula whose ruines are yet to be seen in the Lateran He attempted also to empty the Lake Fucinus being prompted thereto by the hope of getting
Presbyter should not consecrate the Elements upon a Pall of Silk or dyed Cloth but only upon white Linnen for the nearer resemblance of the fine white Linnen in which the Body of Christ was buried He also fix'd the several degrees in the Orders of the Church that every one might act in his own sphere and be the Husband of one Wife But Constantine being desirous to promote the Christian Religion built the Constantinian Church called the Lateran which he beautified and enriched with several great Donations the Ornaments and Endowments which he conferred upon it being of a vast value Among other things he set up in it a Font of Porphyry-stone that part of it which contains the Water being all Silver in the middle of the Font was placed a Pillar of Porphyry on the top of which stood a golden Lamp full of the most precious Oyl which was wont to burn in the night during the Easter Solemnities On the edge or brink of it stood a Lamb of pure Gold through which the Water was conveyed into it not far from the Lamb was the Statue of our Saviour of most pure Silver On the other side stood the Image of John Baptist of Silver likewise with an Inscription of these words Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World There were besides seven Harts placed round about it and pouring Water into it For the maitenance of this Font he gave several Estates in Land and Houses Moreover Constantine at the motion of Sylvester built and dedicated a Church to S. Peter the chief of the Apostles in the Vatican not far from the Temple of Apollo where he very splendidly reposited the body of that Apostle and covered his Tomb over with Brass and Copper This Church likewise he magnificently adorn'd and 〈◊〉 largely endow'd The same Emperour also at the instance of Sylvester built a Church which he enriched and endowed as he had done the former in the Via Ostiensis in honour to S. Paul whose body he entomb'd after the same manner with that of S. Peter By his order also a Church was built in the Sessorian Atrium by the name of S. Cross of Jerusalem wherein he reposited a part of the holy Cross which was found out by his Mother Helena a Lady of ineomparable Piety and Devotion Who being promted thereto partly by the greatness of her own mind and partly by Visions in the Night went to Jerusalem to seek after the Cross upon which Christ was crucified To find it was a very difficult task because the ancient Persecutors had set up the Image of Venus in the same place that so the Christians might by mistake worship her in stead of their Saviour But Helena being animated with Zeal proceeded on to dig and remove the rubbish till at last she found three Crosses lying confusedly one among another on one of which was this Inscription in three Languages Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews Macarius the Bishop of that City was at first mistaken in his opinion which was the right but at length all doubt concerning it was removed by an Experiment upon the body of a dead Woman who was raised to life at the application of the true one From the sense of so great a Miracle Constantine publish'd an Edict forbidding any Malefactor to be from thenceforward punish'd by Crucifiction Helena having first built a Church upon the ground where this Cross was found return'd and brought the Nails with which our Saviours body was fastned to it as a present to her Son Of one of those Nails he caused to be made the bit of the bridle with which he manag'd the Horse he us'd in War the other he wore on the Crest of his Helmet and the third he threw into the Adriatick Sea to suppress the rage and tempestuousness of it That part of the Cross which the devout Lady brought along with her in a Silver Case set with Gold and precious Stones was placed in this Sessorian Church To which Constantine was very liberal and munificent Some tell us that the Church of S. Agnes was built at Constantin's Command upon the request of his Daughter Constantia and a Font set up in it where both his Daughter and his Sister of the same name were baptized and which in like manner he largely presented and endowed The same Emperour built also the Church of S. Laurence without the Walls towards which he was not wanting to express his usual Beneficence 〈◊〉 in the Via Lavicana he built a Church to the two Martyrs 〈◊〉 the Presbyter and Peter the Exorcist not far from which he built a stately Monument in honour to his Mother whom he buried in a Sepuichre of Porphyry This Church also received signal Testimonies of his exemplary Bounty Besides these Churches in the City of Rome he built several others also elsewhere At Ostia not far from the Port he built a Church in honour to S. Peter and Paul the blessed Apostles and John Baptist near Alba he built a Church peculiarly dedicated to 〈◊〉 Baptist at Capua also he built in honour to the Apostles that which the called the Constantinian Church all which he enriched as he had done the former At Naples he built another as Damasus tells us but it is uncertain to whom he dedicated it And that the Clergy of New Rome also might be sharers in the Emperours 〈◊〉 he built likewise two Churches at Constantinople one dedicated to Irene the other to 〈◊〉 Apostles having first quite destroy'd the Delphick Tripods which had been the occasion of a great deal of mischief to superstitious People and either demolished the Pagan Temples or else transferr'd them to the use and benefit of the Christians Besides all the foregoing instances of Constantine's Munificence he distributed moreover among the Provincial Churches and the Clergy a certain Tribute or Custom due to him from the several Cities which Donation he made valid and perpetuated by an Imperial Edict And that Virgins and those who continued in Celibacy might be enabled to make Wills and so to bequeath by Testament something to the Clergy from whence I believe the Patrimony of the Church to have received a great encrease he repealed a Law which had been made for the propagating of mankind by which any Person was rendred uncapable of entring upon an Estate who had lived unmarried till five and twenty years of Age a Law upon which the Princes had founded their Jus trium liberorum the Right or Priviledg of having three Children of which they often took advantage against those who had no Issue All these things are exactly and fully delivered to us by Socrates and Zozomen the Historians In the time of Sylvester flourished several persons of extraordinary Note by whose labour and industry many Countreys and Nations were converted to Christianity and particularly by the preaching of Julianus Frumentius and Edisius whom certain Philosophers of Alexandria had carried thither The Iberi also
soon rivall'd in that Dignity by Ursicinus a Deacon whose Party having assembled themselves in a Church thither also Damasus's Friends resorted where the Competition being manag'd not only by Vote but by force and Arms several persons on both sides were slain in the very Church But not long after the matter was compromis'd and by the consent both of the Clergy and People Damasus was confirmed in the Bishoprick of Rome and Ursicinus was made Bishop of Naples But Damasus being afterwards accused of Adultery he made his Defence in a publick Council wherein he was acquitted and pronounced innocent and Concordius and Calistus two Deacons his false Accusers were condemn'd and excommunicated Upon which a Law was made That if any man did bear false Witness against another he was to undergo the same punishment that the person accused should have done if he had been guilty The affairs of the Church being at length setled Damasus taking great delight in study wrote the Lives of all the Bishops of Rome that had been before him and sent them to S. Hierom. Notwithstanding which he neglected not to encrease the number of Churches and to add to the Ornaments of Divine Worship For he built two Churches one near Pompey's Theatre the other at the Tombs in the 〈◊〉 Ardeatina and in elegant Verse wrote the Epitaphs of those Martyrs whose Bodies had been there buried to perpetuate their names to Posterity He also dedicated a Marble Table with an Inscription to the Memory of S. Peter and S. Paul at the place where their Bodies had once lain Moreover he enriched the Church which he had built in honour to S. Laurence not far from Pompeys Theatre with very large donations He ordained likewise that the Psalms should be sung alternately in the Church and that at the end of every Psalm the Gloria Patri should be added And whereas formerly the Septuagint only had been in vogue Damasus first gave Authority to 〈◊〉 Translation of the Bible which began to be read publickly as also his Psalter faithfully rendred from the Hebrew which before especially among the Gauls had been very much depraved He commanded also that at the beginning of the Mass the Confession should be used as it is at this day But having at sive Ordinations made thirty one Presbyters eleven Deacons sixty two Bishops he died and was buried with his Mother and Sister in the Via Ardeatina in the Church built by himself December the 11th He sat in the Chair nineteen years three months eleven days and by his death the See was vacant twenty one days SIRICIUS I. SIRICIUS a Roman Son of Tiburtius lived in the time of Valentinian Who for his being a Christian had been very unjustly dealt withall and cashier'd from a considerable Command in the Army by Julian But upon the Death of Jovinian being by the universal consent of the Soldiers elected Emperour he admitted his Brother Valens his Collegue in the Empire and assign'd to him the Government of the East Afterwards in the third year of his Reign at the persuasion of his 〈◊〉 and her Mother he created his young Son Gratian Augustus And whereas one 〈◊〉 had rais'd a 〈◊〉 and set up for himself at Constantinople him with his Adherents the Emperour very suddenly overthrew and put to death But Valens having been baptized by Eudoxius an Arian Bishop and becoming a bigotted 〈◊〉 presently fell to persecuting and banishing the Orthodox especially after the death of Athanasius who while he lived was a mighty support to the Christian State for forty six years to gether Lucius also another Heretical Bishop was extreamly violent and outragious against the Orthodox Christians nor did he spare so much as the Anchorets and Eremites but sent parties of Soldiers to invade their Solitudes who either put them to death or else sent them into Exile Amongst this sort of men they who at that time had the greatest esteem and authority were the two Macarii in Syria the Disciples of Anthony one of which lived in the upper the other in the lower Desert as also 〈◊〉 Panucius Pambus Moses Benjamin Paulus 〈◊〉 Paulus Phocensis and Joseph in Egypt While Lucius was intent upon the banishment of these men a certain inspired Woman went about crying aloud that those good Men those Men of God ought by no means to be sent into the Islands Moreover Mauvia Queen of the Saracens having by frequent Battels very much impaired the Roman Forces and harrassed their Towns on the borders of Palestine and Arabia refused to grant the Peace which they desired at her hands unless Moses a man of most exemplary Piety were consecrated and appointed Bishop to her People This Lucius willingly assented to but when Moses was brought to him he plainly told him that the multitudes of Christians condemn'd to the Mines banish'd to the Islands and imprison'd through his cruelty did cry 〈◊〉 against him 〈◊〉 that therefore he would never 〈◊〉 the imposition of his polluted hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to consecrate him he was presented to the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 concluded But 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 still to 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 against the Orthodox though 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more favourable towards 〈◊〉 by the Letters of 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his people which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for their 〈◊〉 In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his Valour 〈◊〉 Conduct 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 But while he was making 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a War 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 who had spread 〈◊〉 through the two 〈◊〉 he died at a little Town called 〈◊〉 through a sudden 〈◊〉 of Blood At this time the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their own 〈◊〉 had 〈◊〉 themselves of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Monks and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Army 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An overthrow which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dignity it 〈◊〉 That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not be conferred at once but at certain distances 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 who 〈◊〉 in the City the 〈◊〉 of the faithful but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and return to the Orthodox Faith they should be 〈◊〉 into the Church upon condition they would undertake a 〈◊〉 course of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 themselves to Fasting and Prayer all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 that their Conversion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 approach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but a Bishop should have power to 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whosoever married a Widow or second 〈◊〉 should be degraded from his Office in the Church and that 〈◊〉 upon their Repentance should be received with only the Imposition of Hands
Soon after his growing ambition prompts him to endeavour the gaining of the Western Empire and therefore getting together in a very little time a great Army he begins his March upon that Design This Aetius having intelligence of forthwith sends Ambassadours to Tholouse to King Theodorick to strike up a Peace with whom so strict a League was concluded that they both jointly engage in the War against Attila at a common charge and with equal Forces The Romans and Theodorick had for their Auxiliaries the Alanes Burgundians Franks Saxons and indeed almost all the people of the West At length Attila comes upon them in the Fields of Catalaunia and Battel is joyn'd with great Valour and Resolution on either side The Fight was long and sharp a Voice being over-heard none knowing from whence it came was the occasion of putting an end to the Dispute In this Engagement were slain on both sides eighteen thousand men neither Army flying or giving ground And yet 't is said that Theodorick Father of King Thurismond was killed in this Action Sixtus had not long enjoyed the Pontificate before he was publickly accused by one Bassus but in a Synod of fifty seven Bishops he made such a Defence of himself that he was by them all with one consent acquitted Bassus his false Accuser was with the consent of Valentinian and his Mother Placidia excommunicated and condemn'd to banishment but with this compassionate provision that at the point of death the Viaticum of the Blessed Sacrament should be denied him the forfeiture of his Estate was adjudged not to the Emperour but the Church 'T is said that in the third month of his Exile he died and that our Bishop Sixtus did with his own hands wrap up and embalm his Corps and then bury it in S. Peters Church Moreover Sixtus repaired and enlarged the Church of the Blessed Virgin which was anciently called by the name of Liberius near the Market place of Livia then had the name of S. Mary at the Manger and last of all was called S. Maries the Geeat That Sixtus did very much beautifie and make great additions to it appears from the Inscription on the front of the first Arch in these words Xystus Episcopus Plebi Dei for according to the Greek Orthography the name begins with X and y though by Custom it is now written Sixtus with S and i. To this Church that Bishop was very liberal and munificent among other instances adorning with Porphyry stone the Ambo or Desk where the Gospel and Epistles are read Besides what he did himself at his persuasion the Emperour Valentinian also was very liberal in works of this nature For over the Confessory of S. Peter which he richly adorned he placed the Image of 〈◊〉 Saviour of Gold set with Jewels and renewed those Silver Ornaments in the Cupola of the Lateran Church which the Goths had taken away Some are of an Opinion that in his time one Peter a Roman Presbyter by Nation a Sclavonian built the Church of S. Sabina upon the Aventine not far from the Monastery of S. Boniface where S. Alexius is interred 〈◊〉 I rather think this to have been done in the Pontificate of Coelestine the first as appears from an Inscription in Heroick Verse yet remaining which expresses as much 'T is said also that at this time 〈◊〉 Eusebius of Cremona and Philip two Scholars of S. Hierom both very elegant Writers as also Eucherius Bishop of Lyons a man of great Learning and Eloquence and Hilarius Bishop of Arles a pious Man and of no mean parts Our Sixtus having employed all his Estate in the building and adorning of Churches and relieving the poor and having made twenty eight Presbyters twelve Deacons fifty two Bishops died and was buried in a Vault in the Via Tiburtina near the body of S. Laurence He was in the Chair eight years nine days and by his death the See was vacant twenty two days LEO I. LEO a Tuscan Son of Quintianus lived at the time when Attila having return'd into Hungary from the Fight of Catalonia and there recruited his Army invaded Italy and first set down before Aquileia a Frontier City of that Province which held out a Siege 〈◊〉 three years Despairing hereupon of success he was just about to raise the Leaguer when observing the Storks to carry their young ones out of the City into the Fields being encouraged by this Omen he renews his Batteries and making a fierce assault at length takes the miserable City sacks and burns it sparing neither Age nor Sex but acting agreeably to the Title he assum'd to himself of being God's Scourge The Huns having hereby gain'd an Inlet into Italy over-run all the Countrey about Venice possessing themselves of the Cities and demolishing Milain and Pavia From hence Attila marching towards Rome and being come to the place where the Menzo runs into the Po ready to pass the River the holy Bishop Leo out of a tender sense of the calamitous state of Italy and of the City of Rome and with the advice of Valentinian goes forth and meets him persuading him not to proceed any farther but to take warning by Alaricus who soon after his taking that City was by the Judgment of God removed out of the World Attila takes the good Bishops Counsel being moved thereunto by a Vision which he saw while they were discoursing together of two men supposed to be S. Peter and S. Paul brandishing their naked swords over his head and threatning him with death if he were refractory Desisting therefore from his design he returns into Hungary where not long after he was choaked with his own bloud violently breaking out at his Nostrils through excess of drinking Leo returning to the City applyes himself wholly to the defence of the 〈◊〉 Faith which was now violently opposed by several kinds of Hereticks but especially by the Nestorians and Eutychians Nestorius 〈◊〉 of Constantinople affirmed the Blessed Virgin to be Mother not of God but of Man only that so he might make the Humanity and Divinity of Christ to be two distinct persons one the Son of God the other the Son of Man But Eutyches Abbot of Constantinople that he might broach an Heresie in contradiction to the former utterly confounded the divine and humane Nature of Christ asserting them to be one and not at all to be distinguished This Heresie being condemned by Flavianus Bishop of Constantinople with the consent of Theodosius a Synod is called at Ephesus in which Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria being President Eutyches was restored and Flavianus censured But Theodosius dying and his successour Marcianus proving a Friend to the Orthodox Doctrine Leo calls a Council at Chalcedon wherein by the authority of six hundred and thirty Bishops it was decreed as an Article of Faith that there are two Natures in Christ and that one and the same Christ is God and Man by which consequently both Nestorius and Eutyches the pestilent Patron of the
whereupon the Senate and people of Rome being divided into two Parties the dissention rose to such an heighth that to compromise the business a Council was by mutual consent called at Ravenna where the whole matter being discuss'd in the presence of Theodoric he at length determined on the side of Symmachus and confirmed him in the Pontificate who by a singular act of Grace made his very Competitour Laurence Bishop of Nocera Yet about four years after some busie and factious Clergy-men being countenanced and assisted by Festus and Probinus two of the Senatorian Order set up for Laurence again upon which King Theodoric was so highly displeas'd that he sends Peter Bishop of 〈◊〉 to Rome to depose them both and possess himself of the Chair But Symmachus called a Synod of an hundred and twenty Bishops wherein with great presence of mind he purg'd himself of all things 〈◊〉 to his Charge and by a general suffrage obtained the banishment of Laurence and Peter who had occasion'd all this mischief Hereupon so great a 〈◊〉 arose in the City that multitudes both of the Clergy and Laity were slain in all parts not so much as the Monastick Virgins escaping In this Tumult Gordianus a Presbyter and a very good man was kill'd in the Church of S. Peter ad Vincula nor had an end been put to slaughter here had not Faustus the Consul in compassion to the Clergy appear'd in Arms against Probinus the Author of so great a Calamity After this the Christians having some small respite Clodoveus banishing the Arian Hereticks restores the Orthodox and Constitutes Paris the Capital City of his Kingdom Symmachus at this time expell'd the Manichees out of the City and caused their Books to be burn'd before the Gates of S. John Lateran Several Churches he built from the ground and several others he repair'd and beautifi'd That of S. Andrew the Apostle near S. Peters he entirely built enriching it with divers Ornaments of Silver and Gold and he adorn'd S. Peters it self and its Portico with chequer'd Marble making the steps of Ascent into it more and larger than they were before Moreover he erected Episcopal Palaces He built also the Church of S. Agatha the Martyr in the Via Aurelia and that of S. Pancrace He repaired and adorn'd with painting the Cupola of S. Pauls and built from the foundations the Church of SS Silvester and Martin the Altars of which he very richly adorned He made also the steps that lead into the Church of S. John and S. Paul and enlarged S. Michaels He built from the ground the Oratories of Cosmus and Damianus being assisted in that work by Albinus and Glaphyras two men of principal Note Besides this near the Churches of S. Peter and S. Paul he builded two Hospitals making provision of all things necessary for the poor who should dwell in them For he was in all respects very charitable and sent supplies of Money and Cloaths to the Bishops and other Clergy in Africa and Sardinia who had suffered banishment for the profession of the true Religion He repaired the Church of S. Felicitas and the Cupola of that of S. Agnes which was decay'd and almost ready to fall He also at his own charge redeemed multitudes of Captives in several Provinces He ordained that on Sundays and the Birth-days of the Martyrs the Hymn Glory be to God on High should be sung and indeed left nothing undone which he thought might tend to the Glory of Almighty God In his time Gennadius Bishop of Marseille a great imitatour of S. Augustine did good service to the Church He wrote one Book against Heresies wherein he shews what is necessary to every man in order to his Salvation and another de viris illustribus in imitation of S. Hierom. As for Symmachus having at several Ordinations made ninety Presbyters sixteen Deacons one hundred twenty two Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peters Church July the 19th He sat in the Chair fifteen years six months twenty two days and by his death the See was vacant seven days HORMISDA I. HORMISDA the Son of Justus born at 〈◊〉 lived in the time of Theodoric and Anastasius as far as to the Consulship of Boethius and Symmachus These two upon suspicion of designing against his Government were by Theodoric at first banish'd and afterwards imprisoned Boethius during his confinement wrote several things extant to this day and translated and made Commentaries upon the greatest part of Aristotles Works He was throughly skill'd in the Mathematicks as his Books of Musick and Arithmetick clearly demonstrate But at length both he and Symmachus were put to death by the order of Theodoric Some tell us that the cause of Boethius his sufferings was the zeal he shewed in opposing the Arians who were favoured by Theodoric but I think the former Opinion to be more probable Hormisda with the advice of Theodoric held now a Provincial Synod at Rome in which the Eutychians were again condemn'd by universal consent He also sent Letters and Messengers to John Bishop of Constantinople admonishing him to renounce that Heresie and to believe there are two Natures in Christ the Divine and Humane But John continued refractory trusting to the interest he had with the Emperour Anastasius who not long after was struck dead by a Thunderbolt which was believ'd to be a just Judgment upon him both for his patronizing so pernicious an Heresie and especially for his ill usage of the Legates sent to him by Hormisda whom contrary to the Law of Nations he treated very contumeliously and sent them home in a shattered leaky Vessel ordering them to return directly into Italy without touching at any shore in Greece 'T is said that he bid them tell the Bishop that he must know it to be the part of an Emperour to Command not to obey the Dictates of the Bishop of Rome or any other These Legates were Euodius Bishop of Pavia Fortunatus Bishop of Catina Venantius a Presbyter of Rome and Vitalis a Deacon Anastasius dying in the twenty seventh year of his Reign Justine a Patron of the Catholick Faith succeeds him who forthwith sends Ambassadours to the Bishop of Rome to acknowledge the Authority of the Apostolick See and to desire the Bishop to interpose his Ecclesiastical Power for the setling the peace of the Church Whereupon Hormisda with the consent of Theodoric sends Germanus Bishop of Capua John and Blandus Presbyters and Felix and 〈◊〉 Deacons his Legates to Justine by whom they were receiv'd with all imaginable expressions and testimonies of Honour 〈◊〉 Respect John the Bishop of Constantinople with multitudes of the Orthodox Clergy and other Persons of principal Note going forth in Complement to meet them and congratulate their Arrival But the followers of Acacius dreading their coming had shut themselves up in a very strong Church and upon Consultation what to do sent Messengers to the Emperour declaring that they would by no means subscribe to
only in Christ. But these Seducers at the Instance of Honorius who was very diligent to reclaim Heraclius were afterwards banished And Honorius having now some respite from other cares by his Learning and Example proved a great Reformer of the Clergy The Church of S. Peter he covered with Brass taken out of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus repaired that of S. Agnes in the Via Nomentana as appears by an Inscription in Verse therein and likewise that of S. Pancras in the Via Aurelia built those of S. Anastasius S. Cyriacus seven miles from Rome in the Via Ostiensis and S. Severinus in Tivoli all which he made very stately and adorn'd with Gold Silver Porphyry Marble and all manner of Ornamental workmanship He repaired also the Coemetery of SS Marcellinus and Peter in the Via Labicana and was at the charge of building other Churches besides those before-mentioned Moreover he ordained that every Saturday a Procession with Litanies should be made from S. Apollinaris to S. Peter's But having been in the Chair twelve years eleven months seventeen days he died and was buried in the Church of S. Peter October the 12th By his death the See was vacant one year seven months eighteen days SEVERINUS I. SEVERINUS a Roman Son of Labienus being chosen in the place of Honorius deceased was confirmed therein by Isaacius Exarch of Italy the Election of the Clergy and People being at this time reckoned null and void without the Assent of the Emperours or their Exarchs Now Isaacius having made a Journey to Rome upon the occasion of confirming this Pope that he might not lose his labour fairly sets himself to plunder the Lateran Treasury being assisted in that attempt by several Citizens though he were resisted for a time but in vain by the Clergy of that Church the principal of which he afterwards banished The ground of this Action was Isaacius's Resentment that the Clergy alone should grow rich without contributing to the Charge of the Wars especially at a time when the Soldiers were reduc'd to the greatest want and extremity Part of the spoil he distributed among the Soldiers part he carried away with him to Ravenna and of the rest he made a Present to the Emperour Those of the Saracens who had been listed by Heraclius being discontented for want of Pay march'd into Syria and made themselves Masters of Damascus a City subject to the Empire Then joyning with the other Arabians and being furnished with Provisions and Arms and heated by Mahomet's Zeal they over-run Phoenicia and Egypt and put to the Sword all those who refused to subscribe to their Government and Mahomet's Religion Advancing thence against the Persians and having slain Hormisda the Persian King they ceased not to commit all manner of outrages upon that People till they had entirely reduced them to subjection But Heraclius having intelligence of what work these Saracens made especially upon their taking of Antioch and searing that they might possess themselves of Jerusalem it self which they not long after did took care to have the Cross of our Saviour conveyed to Constantinople that it might not again come into the hands of the Agarens for so the Greeks in contempt call the Arabians as descending from Agar Abraham's Servant But Mahomet as we are told dying at Mecha was succeeded in the Command by Calipha and he by Hali who being laid aside for his being too superstitious the Egyptians make another Calipha their Commander 'T is said also that to complete the Calamities of the Roman Empire Sisebute King of the Goths did at this time recover out of the hands of the Romans all the Cities of Spain and so a period was put to the Roman Government in that Countrey As for 〈◊〉 who was a person of extraordinary Piety and Religion a Lover of the Poor kind to those in affliction liberal to all and in adorning of Churches very munificent having been in the Chair one year two months he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church August the 2d The See was then vacant four months twenty days JOHN IV. JOHN the fourth a Dalmatian Son of Venantius entring upon the Pontificate forthwith expressed a wonderful Compassion in employing the remainder of the Treasury of the Church which Isaacius had left behind him for the redemption of a multitude of Istrians and Dalmatians who had been taken Captive In the mean time Rhotaris who succeeded Arioaldus in the Kingdom of Lombardy though he were a person eminent for Justice and Piety yet became a Favourer of the Arians and permitted that in every City of his Kingdom there should be at the same time two Bishops of equal Authority the one a Catholick and the other an Arian He was a Prince of great Parts and reduc'd the Laws which Memory and Use alone had before retain'd methodically into a Book which he ordered to be called the Edict His Excellency in Military Skill appear'd in that he made himself Master of all Tuscany and Liguria with the Sea-coast as far as Marseille But in the sixth year of his Reign he died and 〈◊〉 the Kingdom to his Son Rhodoaldus 'T is reported that a certain Priest entring by night into the Church of S. John Baptist and there opening the Tomb in which the Body of Rhotaris lay rob'd it of all the things of value with which the Bodies of Kings are wont to be interred Hereupon John Baptist a Saint to whom Rhotaris had been in his life-time very much devoted appear'd to the Priest and threatned him with Death if he ever entred his Church again The like happened even in our times to Cardinal Luigi Patriarch of Aquileia whose Sepulchre was broke open and pillaged by those very men whom he himself had enriched and raised from a mean condition to the Sacerdotal Dignity Rhodoaldus entring upon the Government of the Kingdom marries Gundiberga the Daughter of Queen Theudelinda who imitating her Mother's Devotion built and richly adorned a Church in Honour to S. John Baptist at Terracina in like manner as Theudelinda had done at Monza But Rhodoaldus being taken in Adultery was slain by the Husband of the Adulteress Successour to him was Aripertus Son of Gudualdus and Brother of Queen Theudelinda he built our Saviour's Chappel at Pavia and very much beautified and plentifully endowed it Pope John fearing now lest the Bodies of Vincentius and Anastasius might sometime or other be violated by the barbarous Nations took care to have them safely conveyed to Rome and with great Solemnity reposited them in the Oratory of S. John Baptist near the Baptistery of the Lateran We are told that in his Pontificate Vincentius Bishop of Beauvais and Muardus Arch-bishop of Reims were in great esteem for their Learning and Sanctity Moreover Reginulpha a French Lady was very eminent for Piety and Renaldus Bishop of Trajetto famous for his Life and Miracles Jodocus also was not inferiour to any of these who though he were the Son of a King of the
kiss He was a man of so obliging a temper that no person went away sad out of his Presence And being so happy as to have a Contemporary Emperour like himself he designed to hold a Council vpon the account of the Monothelites Only he waited the time till Constantine should return from the War who had vanquish'd the Saracens and made them tributary to the Roman Empire But the Bulgarians advancing out of Scythia into Thrace and the Emperour endeavouring to put a check to their motion he was with great loss routed between Hungary and Moesia Hereupon he found himself obliged to strike up a peace with them upon disadvantageous terms permitting them to inhabit Hungary and Moesia though that Concession in the event proved a great benefit to the State of Christianity For these are the men who for this seven hundred and seventy years since have maintained a continual War and been the Bulwark of Christendom against the Turks Well a Peace being upon these Conditions concluded Pope Agatho sends to Constantinople his Legates John Bishop of Porto and John a Deacon of Rome Them Constantine receiv'd with all expressions of respect and very affectionately advised them to lay aside all Cavils and sophistical wranglings and Controversies and sincerely to endeavour the uniting the two Churches There were present at this Synod two hundred and eighty nine Bishops and by the Command of the Emperour there were brought out of the Library of Constantinople those Books from whence the Opinions and Determinations of the Ancients might be collected Gregory Patriarch of Constantinople and Macarius Bishop of Antioch perverting the sense of the Fathers maintain'd only one Will and Operation in Christ. But the Orthodox pressing hard with their Reasons and Authorities they thereby reclaimed Gregory and Macarius adhering obstinately to his Opinion they 〈◊〉 him and his Followers and made Theophanes an Orthodox Abbat Bishop of Antioch in his stead This Affair being thus successfully managed that thanks might be return'd to God for this Union of the two Churches in heart and mind John Bishop of Porto on the Octave of Easter in the presence of the Emperour Patriarch and the People of Constantinople in the Church of S. Sophia celebrates the Mass in Latin all that were present approving that way and condemning those that thought otherwise This was the sixth General Council consisting of two hundred and eighty nine Bishops held at Constantinople wherein upon the Authority of Cyril Athanasius Basil Gregory Dionysius Hilary Ambrose Augustine and Hierom it was concluded that there were two Wills and Operations in Christ and their pertinacy was exploded who asserted one Will only from whence they were called Monothelites The first General Council of three hundred and eighteen Bishops was as we have already said held at Nice in the Pontificate of Julius and the Reign of Constantine against Arius who asserted several Substances in the Trinity The second at Constantinople of an hundred and fifty Bishops in the Reign of Gratian and the Pontificate of Damasus against Macedonius and Eudoxus who denied the Holy Ghost to be God The third in Ephesus of two hundred Bishops in the Reign of Theodosius the second and the Pontificate of 〈◊〉 against Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople who denied the Blessed Virgin to be the Mother of God and made Christs Humanity and Divinity two Persons asserting separately one to be the Son of God the other the son of Man The fourth at Chalcedon a City over against Constantinople of six hundred and thirty Prelates in the Pontificate of Leo and the Reign of Martian against Eutyches Abbat of Constantinople who durst affirm that our Saviour after his Incarnation had but one Nature The fifth at Constantinople against Theodorus and all other Hereticks who asserted the Virgin Mary to have brought forth Man only not God-man in which Synod it was concluded that the Blessed Virgin should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Mother of God Concerning the sixth Synod we have spoken already in which the Letters of Damianus Bishop of Pavia and Mansuetus Arch-bishop of Milain were very prevalent the principal Contents of them these viz. The true Faith concerning Christ God and Man is that we believe two Wills and two Operations in him Our Saviour says with respect to his Divinity I and my Father are one but with relation to his Humanity My Father is greater than I. Moreover as Man he was found asleep in the Ship as God he commanded the Winds and the Sea As for our Agatho in whose time after two Ecclipses one of the Moon another of the Sun there followed a grievous Pestilence having been in the Chair two years six months sifteen days he died and was buried in S. Peter's January the 10th The See was then vacant one year five months LEO II. LEO the second a Sicilian Son of Paul was as appears by his Writings a person throughly learned in the Latin and Greek Languages Having also good skill in Musick he composed Notes upon the Psalms and very much improved all Church Musick He ordained likewise that at the Celebration of the Mass the Pax should be given to the people Moreover he so vigorously maintained and asserted the sixth Synod of which we have spoken in the Life of Agatho that he Excommunicated all those whom in the presence of Constantine that Synod had condemned He also repress'd the pride of the Bishops of Ravenna a matter before attempted by Pope Agatho and ordained that the Election of the Clergy of Ravenna should be invalid unless it were confirmed by the Authority of the Roman See whereas before they presuming upon the power of their Exarchs managed all things arbitrarily owning no subjection to any but mating even the Popes themselves He likewise solemnly decreed that no person promoted to the dignity of an Archbishop should pay any thing for the use of the Pall or upon any other score a Decree which I could wish it were observed at this day seeing how many Evils have arisen through Bribery While Leo was busied in these matters Rhomoaldus Duke of Beneventum having raised a great Army possess'd himself of Taranto Brindisi and all Puglia and his Wife Theodata a devout Lady out of the spoils of the War built a Church in honour to S. Peter not far from Beneventum and a Nunnery Rhomoaldus dying was succeeded by his Son Grimoaldus who deceasing without Issue male left the Dukedom to his Brother Gisulphus Our Leo who besides his great Learning and Eloquence was also an extraordinary person for Devotion and Charity and by his Doctrine and Example very much promoted Justice Fortitude Clemency and Good Will among all men having been in the Chair only ten months died and June the 28th was accompanied to his burial in the Church of S. Peter with the tears of all men who deplored the loss of him as of a Common Father After his Death the See was vacant eleven months twenty one days The time
publickly put to Death Many of his Enemies he cut off by sundry kinds of Death and many he imprison'd some one or other of which he would every day order to be kill'd when the wiping of his Nose put him in mind of the injury that had been done him Moreover having caused the eyes of Callinicus the Patriarch of Constantinople to be put out he banish'd him to Rome and made Cyrus an Abbat who had maintain'd him in Pontus Patriarch in his stead Being acted by the same foolish humour as he had been before his loss of the Empire in the time of Pope Sergius he sends to Rome two Metropolitans to persuade Pope John to hold a Synod wherein they of the Western Church might confirm the truth of what those of the East believed concerning the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father sending to him the Articles to which he would have him Subscribe The Pope sends the Men back again to the Emperour without doing any thing in the matter but yet he did not by his Censures and Interdicts correct the erroneous 〈◊〉 concerning God as it was fit he should and as it would have become a steady and resolute Pope to have done Some write though without good authority that Arithpertus King of the Lombards from a religious Principle gave the Cottian Alpes and all the Tract that reaches from Piedmont to the Coast of Genoa to the Church of Rome Others say that this Donation was only confirmed by Arithpertus But since there is no certainty concerning the Donation it self and the Lawyers call it the Chaff because it yields no Corn and it appears in no respect to have been the Gift of Constantine how can there be any evidence of its Confirmation I return to Pope John a Person who spake and lived very well and who built an Oratory in the Church of S. Peter in honour to the Blessed Virgin upon the Walls of which on each hand were wrought in Mosaick Work the 〈◊〉 of several of the holy Fathers Moreover he repaired the Church of S. Eugenia which had long before been decayed through Age. He adorn'd also the Coemeteries of the Martyrs Marcellinus and Marcus and Pope Damasus Finally he beautified divers other Churches with the Pictures and Statues of the Saints wherein the Painters and Statuaries had so well imitated the Gravity and Majesty of his own aspect that whosoever looked upon them thought they saw the Pope himself Having been in the Chair two years seven months seventeen days he died and was buried October the 18th in the Church of S. Peter before the Altar of the Blessed Virgin which himself had built The See was then vacant three months SISINNIUS SISINNIUS or as others call him Sozimus a Syrian his Fathers name John lived in the Pontificate no more than twenty days in which time 't is said the body of S. Benedict was by stealth conveyed away from Mount Cassino by reason of the solitude of the place and carried into France Now Sisinnius though he were so afflicted with the Gout both in his Hands and Feet that he could neither walk nor feed himself yet he took such 〈◊〉 both of the City and Church of Rome as to leave nothing undone which became a good Pope He had already prepared all materials for the raising the decayed Walls of the City and the repairing and beautifying of the old ruined Churches but he died suddenly and was buried in S. Peter's February the 6th The See was then vacant one month eighteen days CONSTANTINE I. CONSTANTINE another 〈◊〉 his Father's name likewise John was created Pope at the time when there happened to be a Famine at Rome which lasted three years in which exigence he was so charitable to all but especially the poorer sort that men thought him to have been sent down from Heaven for their relief In the mean time 〈◊〉 out of the hatred he bore to the name of Pontus sends Mauritius one of the Patrician Order and Helias one of his Guards with a Fleet to the Chersonese where he had been in Exile with Commission to put all above the age of fourteen to the Sword which to glut the Emperours Rage they accordingly put in execution And that we may not think that Cruelty was his only Vice he became guilty of so great Ingratitude as in an hostile manner to surprize King Trebellius by the Aid of whose Forces he had been restored to the Empire at a time when he was engaged in a War with the Thracians But Trebellius not only bore the Choque but also forced him to retreat with Loss There was no alteration from his former course of Life wrought in him by the Calamities he had underwent in any thing save in this that he now venerated and defended the Apostolick See contrary to 〈◊〉 he had formerly used to do For when Felix having been consecrated Arch-Bishop of Ravenna by the Pope was required according to custom to send in writing his ackowledgment of the Papal Authority and Money to Rome which he stifly refused to do Justinian upon knowledg of the matter presently sends order to Theodorus a Patrician his Admiral with the first opportunity to leave Sicily and go against the Ravennates He obeying the Emperours Order and having in 〈◊〉 gain'd a Victory over them exercises the greatest cruelty towards them and sends Felix bound in Chains to Constantinople whom Justinian afterwards banish'd into Pontus having first deprived him of his sight after this Manner He caused him to fix his Eyes long upon a red-hot Concave-vessel of Brass out of which there issued a firey Pyramid which easiy overcame his Eyes and blinded him Yet Constantine did by no means approve of this Cruelty being more desirous of his 〈◊〉 than his Punishment While the Pope and Emperour were thus employed Aisprandus endeavouring with the Aid of the Bavarians to recover the Kingdom of his Ancestours comes into Italy and engaging in a pitch'd Battel with Arithpertus vanquishes him and gains the Kingdom of the Lombards Arithpertus himself by a too fearful and hasty flight being drown'd in a swift River But Aisprandus not long after dying did with general approbation leave his Son Luithprandus Successour to his Kingdom Justinian being now very desirous to see Pope Constantine having sent Ships to convey him safely makes it his request that he would come to him Constantine yielding thereunto and approaching now near to Constant inople Tiberius Justinian's Son with a Princely Retinue and Cyrus the Patriarch with all the Clergy in honour to him go out eight miles to meet him and being dress'd in his Pontificalibus they conduct him with solemn Pomp into the City and lead him into the Palace Going from thence to Nicomedia whither also the Emperour was to come from Nice he was received there after the same manner as at Constantinople Justinian entring the City soon after 〈◊〉 only embraced the Pope but also kiss'd his Feet in sign of honour Having on the days following
Gregory having well discharged his Duty towards God and Men died in the tenth year eighth Month and twenty fourth day of his Pontificate and was with general lamentation buried in S. Peter's November the 28th The See was then vacant only eight days ZACHARIAS I. ZACHARIAS a Grecian the Son of Polychronius is reckoned in the number of the best Popes For he was a Person of a very mild Disposition and wonderfully sweet Conversation every way deserving a Lover of the Clergy and People of Rome slow to Anger but very forward to exercise Mercy and Clemency rendring to no man evil for evil but in Imitation of our Saviour overcoming evil with good and that to such a degree that after his arriving to the Papal Dignity he preferred and enriched those who had envied and hated him At the beginning of his Pontificate finding Italy enflamed in War in order to procure a Peace he forthwith sends Legates to Luithprandus King of the Lombards who now made War upon Transamundus Duke of Spoleto But these Legates not effecting the Design he himself goes in person accompanied with the Roman Clergy into Sabina and 't is said that in sign of honour the King met him eight miles from Narni and alighting off his Horse accompanied him on Foot into the City The day following while they were at Mass the Pope made publickly an Elegant Oration wherein he set forth the Duty of a Christian King both in the time of Peace and War and 't is reported that the King was so wrought upon by it that he presently put the sole Power of accommodating matters into the Pope's hands The King had already deposed Transamund and invested Agrandus his Nephew in the Dukedom Yet at the Pope's Intercession Transamund was received into favour but he quitting all Pretensions to the Dukedom entred into holy Orders All the Towns which had been taken in Sabina were restored as also Narni and Ancona and whatever places the Lombards had for thirty years past made themselves Masters of in Tuscany Moreover all who had been made Prisoners during the War were set at Liberty Luithprandus having been treated by the Pope with all imaginable expressions of Indearment and Respect marched thence peaceably with his Army and not long after died in the thirty second year of his Reign He was a person who deserved that Kingdom both for his extraordinary Wisdom and Prudence and also for his Valour and warlike Temper in which no man excell'd him so eminent also for Justice and Clemency that it is hard to judg whether of these two Vertues were more conspicuous in him His Nephew Aldeprandus succeeded him in the Kingdom which having held only six months he also died and Duke Rachis a Prince whose Piety and Integrity deserve the highest praise was unanimously chosen in his stead By him also a League was renewed with the Pope to whose Legates the devout and religious King graciously granted whatever they desired But having reigned four years he quitted his Government and betook himself to a Monastick Life encouraging his Wife and his Sons to do the like His Brother Aistulphus succeeded him whose crafty and fierce Temper threatned disturbance to all Italy but especially to the Pope and the Romans whom he designed by Force to bring under his Jurisdiction In the mean time Charles Martel being seiz'd with a violent sickness at the persuasion of his Friends divided his Acquests between his two Sons of whom Caroloman the elder had Austrasia and Suevia and 〈◊〉 Burgundy and part of France And so that valiant and wise man died at Cressey sur Serre in the thirty fifth year of his Office of Mayre of the Palace and was buried at Paris in the Church of S. Dennis He had had by a former Wife another Son named Grypho whose rapacious Temper suited with his Name he prevailed with the warlike Saxons to assist him in making War upon his Brethren But 〈◊〉 and Pipin entring Saxony with an Army force their Prince Theodoric to submission After this Expedition Caroloman comes to Rome and there renouncing the Pomp and Glory of Empire he goes to Mount Cassino and takes the habit of a Monk of S. Benedict But Pipin being of an aspiring Mind sends Ambassadours to the Pope desiring that by his Authority he would confirm to him the Kingdom of France The Pope upon the score of former good Services performed by his Family and the ancient Friendship which had been between them and the Popes his Predecessours yields to his Request and accordingly confirms him An. Dom. 753. and so from Mayre of the Palace who was the first Officer of the Kingdom Pipin was advanc'd to the Kingdom of France it self from whom the succeeding Kings derive their Original 'T is reported that Caroloman who as we have said had taken the habit of a Monk came now with others of the same Order from Mount Cassino to Pope Zachary desiring that by his mediation they might gain leave to remove the Body of S. Benedict which had by 〈◊〉 been carried away to the Abbey of Fleury in the Kingdom of France The Pope granted their Desire and thereupon sent a Message to King Pipin who upon Information in the matter freely gave way to it Zachary now enjoying Peace on every side set himself to the repairing of several decayed Churches The Tower and Portico before the Lateran Church he built from the ground made the Windows and Gates of Brass and upon the Frontispiece of the Portico caused a Map of the World to be delineated He renewed the defaced Images of the Saints enlarged and beautified the Lateran Palace repaired the Palatine Library and assigned to every Church a Revenue for the maintenance of Oyl for their Lamps He gave to S. Peter's an Altar-Cloth embroidered with Gold and set with Jewels having the Essigies of our Blessed Saviour wrought upon it He built the Church of S. George in Velabro and reposited the head of that Saint therein as also the Church of S. Coecilia in the Via Tiburtina six miles from the City and in it an Oratory in honour to S. Cyrus the Abbat setling a maintenance for the Priests that ministred in it He re-built the Roof of the Church of S. Eusebius which happened in his time to tumble down He also gave order that his Servants should daily distribute and give out at the Lateran Palace Alms to the Poor of all sorts Moreover he forbad the Venetians upon pain of Excommunication the selling of Christian Slaves to Saracens and Heathens which those Merchants were before wont to do Finally that we may not think that his Advancement to so great a Dignity made him neglect his Studies he translated out of Latin into Greek four Books of Gregory in Dialogue that so the Grecians might be instructed in the Rules of good living But having with such Integrity to the Satisfaction of all men governed the Church ten years three months he died and was buried in S. Peter's March the
should with the title of Emperour hold the City of Rome with Italy and that part of France which was formerly call'd Gallia Narbonensis now Provence To this they added that Countrey lying between the Rivers Scheld and Roan which as I suppose now took the name of Lotharingia Lorain from Lotharius Matters being thus composed Lotharius sends his Son Lewis whom he had taken into a Partnership in the Empire into Italy with a mighty Army giving him for Companions Drogon Bishop of Metz and others of the Clergy eminent for Prudence and Gravity by whose advice he was to govern himself But the young man being puss'd up with his great fortune wheresoever he march'd sill'd the Countrey with slaughter rapine and destruction Yet when he approach'd the City and the Citizens of Rome came out of respect to meet him laying by his Gaulish sierceness he grew more mild because contrary to his expectation he found that he might enter the City without force of Arms. The Religious also came a mile out of the City to meet him with their Crucifixes singing Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the Highest Thus they accompanied him as far as the steps of S. Peter's Church where meeting the Pope they reciprocally kissed and greeted each other and went together to the Silver Gates which were not opened Then said the Pope If thou comest hither with peaceable and friendly intentions and if thou hast more regard to the advantage of Christianity than to the pleasure of exercising cruelty and rapine then with my good will thou mayest enter if thou art otherwise minded touch not these Gates for over thy head hangs a Sword which will certainly avenge any such wickedness But when he had given the Pope assurance immediately the doors were thrown open Hereupon a multitude of Romans and Franks entring pel-mel as soon as they came to the Altar of S. Peter they all kneeling down together gave thanks to God Almighty and to the Prince of the Apostles that matters had been carried according to their minds without hurt to any body this was done upon the Monday after Whitson-day But soon after the Suburbs were sack'd by the Soldiers and it wanted little but that they had got into the City for the same end so that the eighth day aster their coming the Pope anointed Lewis with the holy Oil crown'd him and declar'd him King of Italy Soon after came Siconolfus Prince of Beneventum to congratulate him and then the multitude was such that the Trees were lopt the Beasts driven away and even the standing-Corn cut down that their Horses might not want Provender The Pope therefore easily agreed to all their requests if they were reasonable that he might the sooner rid the City of them and the Romans being now delivered from the fear of their tyrannical Barbarity celebrated their Pope as the true Vicar of Christ and the only Father of his Countrey He betaking himself to the beautifying of Churches reslor'd that of SS Sylvester and Martin which time had ruin'd and in it together with those of the two Confessors he plac'd the Bodies of Fabianus Stephanus Sotherius Asterius Cyriacus Maurus Smaragdus Anastasius Innocentius Quirinus Leo Arthemius Theodorus and Nicander He built also near that Church from the foundation a Monaslery dedicated to SS Peter and Paul where Mass was incessantly sung But at last this holy Pope having manag'd the assairs of the Church with great integrity and success in the third year of his Pontisicate died and was buried in S. Peter's Church The Sea was vacant upon his death fifteen days LEO IV. LEO the fourth a Roman son of Radulphus was in the year 848. by a general consent elected Pope and very deservedly for he was one that whilst he liv'd a private life was very eminent for Religion Innocence Piety Good Nature Liberality and especially for Ecclesiastical Learning He was a person of so much Prudence and Courage that as the Gospel directs he could when it was necessary imitate either the Wisdom of the Serpent or the Innocence of the Dove So general was the good Report of him that Pope Sergius II. was persuaded to create this pattern of Virtue a Priest from a Sub-deacon and to give him the Title and Church Sanctorum quatuor Coronatorum from whence upon the death of Sergius he was brought to the Lateran Church and plac'd in S. Peter's Chair being universaily saluted as Pope all that were present according to ancient Custom kissing his feet There are some of opinion that by the prayers of this good man it was that God was mov'd to repress the rage of the Saracens by drowning their Fleet as they were returning home laden with Spoil For they having overcome Theodotius Admiral to the Emperor Michael in a Sea-fight near Tarentum they ravag'd far and near through Italy without opposition and having taken and sack'd Ancona and harass'd the Coast of Dalmatia when they were returning triumphantly to their own Countrey it pleased God they were cast away at Sea by storm So that Leo being free from his fear of the Saracens betook himself to publick works and caused Benches of Marble to be plac'd in the entrance to the Lateran Cloister and finish'd the Gallery which Leo III. had begun This good Prelate ordain'd that yearly in the Church of S. Paul on the Birth-day of that Apostle Vesper's should be said by all the Clergy He prohibited all Lay-men entrance into the Chancel during Divine Service About this time at his command solemn Supplications were made to avert Gods anger which the frequent Earthquakes seem'd to threaten He adorn'd after an extraordinary manner the Cross which Charles the Emperor had given to the Basilica Constantiniana which had been pilfer'd of the precious stones that belong'd to it 'T is sure he was a man of so great sanctity that by his Prayers he drove away out of an Arch in S. Lucie's Church a Basilise call'd by the Latins Regulus which with its breath and poison had kill'd many and by the sign of the Cross he stop'd a great fire which had burn'd down the quarter where the Saxons and Lombards liv'd and reach'd very near S. Peter's Church This happened the eighth day after the Assumption of our Lady which day was afterward kept as a Festival without the walls not far from S. Laurence's Church where stood a Church dedicated to the B. Virgin to which this munificent Pope had made many donaries of Gold and Silver Beside this he finished the Mosaic work in the Churches of SS Martin and Silvester in montibus and the Pargetting which Scrgius had begun as the Inscription shews which is all that is lest the painting being long since perish'd either for want of care or by time and rottenness He took care also that the Cross of Gold which uses to be born before the Pope was deck'd with precious stones and neglected no manner of Ornament that might contribute to the honour
done without great slaughter of his own men he granted them that part of Prance to live in which lies beyond the River Seine and is still call'd from the name of the people Normandy They were bound to pay a yearly tribute to the Crown of France to mind them that they stood possess'd of the Countrey not by their own power but by the bounty of the Emperor Charles At this time William surnam'd the Godly Duke of Aquitain and Earl of Auvergne not having any Heirs male began magnificently to build the Monastery of Clugny in his Fathers Mannor in a Village of Burgundy and made Berno Abbot of the place having set out an Income for the maintenance of the Monks But he dying left it unfinish'd having constituted Ebbo Earl of Poictou his Heir who should take care according to his Last Will of the whole matter And now Hadrian of whom for his courage and haughty Spirit the Clergy and People of Rome had conceived so great hopes died in the first year and second month of his Popedom and was buried in S. Peter's Church with the general lamentation of the People for the unseasonable loss of such a Father STEPHEN V. STEPHEN the fifth a Roman Son of one Hadrian of the Via lata was made Pope at the time when the Normans assisted by the Danes contrary to their Treaties had well-nigh over-run all France For fear of these Invaders the body of S. Martin was carried from Tours to Auxerre and plac'd in the Church of S. German which begot a feud among the Monks who could not agree by the name of which of the two Saints the Church should be call'd to solve this doubt they took this way They set a Leper in the midst between the two Saints Bodies who grew whole onely on that side which was towards S. Martin and then turning the other side towards him he was quite healed This Miracle determin'd the Controversie which S. German is thought to have suffered his new Guest to perform 〈◊〉 it should be thought that the Body had lost any of its Sanctity by being translated Authors say that during this Popes time Charles the Gross who had been Emperor twelve years was deposed by his Nobles for his sloth and dulness and Arnulphus his Nephew was set up in his stead who was the seventh Emperor from Charles the Great This troublesom state of things tempted the Huns a Scythian Nation according to Vincentius and Martinus to make a descent into Tannonia where joyning their Brother-Tribe the Hungari they possess'd themselves of the Countrey driving thence the Gepidi and Avares and from hence marching with their forces into Germany they pierc'd as far as Burgundy destroying all with fire and sword Stephen in this confusion of Affairs was yet not a little comforted with the sanctity of Luithprandus Deacon of Pavia Waldrad of Bavaria and Bernard of Picardy by whose lives and conversation the Christian Religion got so great Reverence that many Monasteries and Churches were sumptuously built throughout France In the sixth year and eleventh day of his Papacy he died and the Sea was vacant five days FORMOSUS FORMOSUS Bishop of Porto succeeded Stephen and in the beginning of his Pontificate adorned S. Peter's Church with some slight Paintings This Formosus had formerly for fear of Pope John left his Bishoprick and fled to France and denying to return when he was recall'd he was anathematized and then coming to Rome he was depriv'd of all his Preferments Ecclesiastical and put on profane manners with his secular habit Some think the reason that Formosus was thus persecuted was for that he was a Party if not Ring-leader of the Faction that put John into Prison However Formosus was so enraged at this hard usage that he swore he would never return either to Rome or to his Bishoprick but Pope Martin who succeeded John absolv'd him from his Oath and restor'd him to his Countrey and to his former Dignity whence not long after he came to the Popedom rather by bribery than for the sake of any good that was in him many men opposing his Election Arnulphus now the seventh Emperor from Charles the Great as we said before marching valiantly against the still rebellious Normans gave them several Overthrows but was too much puffed up with his success and became so intolerably imperious to all men especially to the Clergy that it pleased God he died soon after of the lousie Disease In whose room Lewis was put up for Emperor but we read not that he was ever Crowned for as Martinus writes Berengarius Duke of Friuli descended of the old Kings of Lombardy renewing his claim to the Kingdom of his Ancestors and bringing his pretensions to the decision of War though at first he was overcome by Lewis yet giving him Battel again at Verona Lewis was vanquished and with great slaughter of his men being taken Prisoner had his eyes put out And thus the Empire which the Franks had enjoy'd almost 100 years was transferred to the Lombards Constantine the Son of Leo being Emperor of the East I know not how it fell out that at this same time that the Emperors shewed so little Courage the Popes too were as greatly wanting in Virtue and Integrity which render'd those times very miserable Subjects being very apt as Plato says to follow the Examples of their Princes I return to Formosus whose times left they should have been the most unhappy that ever were were honour'd with the Learning and good Life of Remigius of Auxerre who wrote divers Commentaries especially upon the Gospel of S. Matthew and S. Paul's Epistles Some say indeed that Author was not the person of whom I speak but Remigius of Rhemes however that be 't is certain they were both very learned men Formosus died in the fifth year and sixth month of his Pontificate and the Sea was vacant two days BONIFACE VI. BONIFACE the sixth a Tuscan was created Pope in the room of the deceased Formosus but how long he continued in the Papacy is a great question for some Writers say longer others say shorter I am of opinion with the most that he sate but twenty six days and that which makes me think so is that Historians make little or no mention at all of him and how can it be that as some say he should sit twelve years in the Chair of S. Peter and yet his Reign be past over unregarded I have plac'd him therefore in the Catalogue of Popes not for any thing done by him for he did nothing indeed what could be expected to be done in so short a time but because he was regularly and canonically elected Pope He died as I said before in the 26. day of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's Church STEPHEN VI. STEPHEN the sixth a Roman Bishop of Anagni being made Pope persecuted the memory of Formosus with so much spite that he abrogated his Decrees and rescinded all he had done
laid by his habit and entred Rome as a private Man accusing himself that he had chosen to obey the Emperor rather than God The Roman Clergy then by the persuasion of Hildebrand elected Baunon Pope and so much the more readily because he had prosess'd the right of electing Popes ought not to be in the Emperor but in the Clergy And yet the Vices of several Popes were as we have said so great that it seem'd to be done by the judgment of God that this Power should be taken from the Clergy that they might amend their flagitious lives and sinful inclinations and that the Church of Christ might not suffer ruin in the hands of such evil Prelates Thus Baunon having got the Papacy and having chang'd his name to Leo IX he immediately created Hildebrand a Cardinal-Deacon and gave him the Government of S. Paul's Church so that it seem'd as if they had divided the Pontifical charge between them one ruling the Church of S. Peter the other that of S. Paul In the mean time Drogo Chieftain of the Normans in Apulia dying his Brother Gisulphus succeeded him and possess'd himself by force of the City of Benevent which was the Popes by surrender for when the Emperor Henry having built a Church at Bamberg to the honour of S. George and had a great mind it should be made a Cathedral Benedict VIII consented upon condition the said Church should pay yearly as a kind of Tribute a hundred Marks of Silver and a white Horse with his caparisons which yearly payment Leo IX remitted to the Church of Bamberg receiving of the Emperor in lieu thereof the City of Benevent Leo therefore strengthened with the justice of his Title and the Emperor's Forces marches against Gisulphus with an undisciplin'd Army and is by him defeated and taken Prisoner but was soon remitted to Rome with an honourable retinue T is storied that in his time Robert Guiscardi bringing an Army out of France into Italy and driving the Greeks and Saracens before him possess'd himself of Apulia where he chanc'd to find a Statue with these words engraven in a brass Circle round the head The first day of May at Sun-rising I shall have a golden head which words being well considered by a certain Saracen who was Robert's Prisoner a skilful Magician he mark'd how far the shadow of the Statue extended and on the first day of May at Sun-rise having dug up the place he found a great Treasure with which he bought his liberty of Robert But to return to Leo who was certainly a Man of great devotion innocence benignity and religion particularly so eminent sor hospitality that his Palace was always free for Pilgrims and poor People nay once when he found a poor Leper at his door he with pity ordered him to be taken in and laid in his own bed but in the Morning when the Door-keeper opened the door the Leper being not to be found it was thought that it was Christ himself that lay there as a poor Man In matters relating to the Faith he used great diligence and industry for in a Council holden at Vercelli he condemned Berengarius for a Heretick and by his Monitories put the Emperor of Constantinople upon repairing the holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem which had been spoil'd by the Barbarians At this same time lived Theobald a noble French-man famous for his holy life at Vicenza and Vincentius Bishop of Liege a person remarkable for Learning and Piety wrote many things skilfully and acutely concerning the Quadrature of the Circle to Hermannus a Man of an excellent Wit Leo died when he had been Pope five years two months and six days VICTOR II. VICTOR the Second before called Glaberdus a Bavarian succeeded Leo rather by the favour of the Emperor Henry than by a free Election For the Clergy and People of Rome stood in great fear of the Power of Henry whom they had before offended by putting up new Popes and therefore lest contrary to their Oath they should seem to make any Innovations they propose this Victor and by Hildebrand their Embassadour to Henry all things were managed to both their satisfactions Victor being by universal consent plac'd in the Chair with the approbation of the Emperour he called a Council at Florence where he depriv'd a multitude of Bishops of their Bishopricks for Simony and for Fornication and admonish'd the Clergy of their duty threatning severity against those that should transgress the Canons Some write that Victor made a Visit to Henry and that he was splendidly entertain'd by him but I am of opinion that Hildebrand onely went thither who by vertue of his Legantine power created Henry III. the Son of Henry Coesar Capua was now besieg'd by the Saracens which strook terror into all the neighbouring Cities but Robert Guiscardi taking up Arms set upon the Saracens and defeated them thereby delivering at once Capua from a Siege and their Neighbours from their fears Of what extraction this Robert was is not certain some accounting him a French-man others a Norman however it be 't is sure he was a person of a noble Spirit and an excellent understanding so that he deserv'd the Crown he held of Apulia Pope Victor whose life we are upon died in the second year third month and fourteenth day of his Pontificate after which the Sea was vacant eleven days STEPHEN IX STEPHEN the Ninth before nam'd Frederick a Lorainer Abbat of Monte-Cassino was no sooner made Pope but he took care that the Church of Milan which for almost two hundred years had withdrawn its subjection to that of Rome was now at length reduc'd to obedience thereto as to the Mother and Nurse of all Churches which obedience she has since persevered in as becomes true Daughters to do to a pious Mother Near about this time Henry III. succeeded his Father deceased and Alexius succeeded Nicephorus Emperor of Constantinople Robert Guiscardi also in a mighty Battel overthrew the Greeks and drove them out of Calabria leaving none but Greek Priests who even to our times kept their own Language and Customs Indeed the Constantinopolitan Empire was now so broken by the Saracens that they had much ado to preserve Thrace Galatia Pontus Thessaly Macedon and Achaia and even out of these either the Turks or Saracens every day cantled out one place or other But Stephen when he had been Pope seven months and eight days died at Florence where he was honourably buried as Martinus writes Some say that Pope Stephen accused the Emperor Henry of Heresie for endeavouring to diminish the Papal Authority without regard to Religion and the immortal God BENEDICT X. BENEDICT the Tenth a Capuan before named Nuntius Bishop of Veletri was by a faction of Noblemen created Pope at the same time that Agnes Mother of Henry III. constituted Gilbert of Parma a Man of great abilities Viceroy of Italy There was then in Italy also Godfrey the Husband of the Countess Mathild a most noble Lady who was
of Sicily in the absence of Count William had seiz'd upon Calabria and Puglia the charge of both which Countries William going to Constantinople to espouse the Daughter of Alexius the Emperour had committed to the care of the Pope Upon this therefore the Pope left Rome and went to Benevento from whence he sent Cardinal Hugo to Roger as he was besieging the Rocca di Niceforo to persuade him to lay down his Arms and quit the Siege but he little regarded the Pope's Order rather pursuing the War more vigorously fearing lest if his Cosen William should arrive before he had possest himself of those two Countries it might render his design unfeasible The Pope then began to raise an Army when on a sudden both himself and many of the Cardinals were taken ill of Fevers which forc'd him to return to Rome without performing any thing so that Roger not meeting any resistance easily made himself Master of Calabria and Puglia Thus was William 〈◊〉 of his Country and of the Wife he expected and being forc'd to betake himself to live in the Court of the Prince of Salerno he died a little while after without Heirs and Roger having lost so considerable an Enemy arrogates to himself the Title of King of Italy Calistus as soon as he recover'd his health held a Council in the Lateran of nine hundred Fathers where it was consulted how with the first opportunity they might send Recruits to the Christian Army in Asia then much weakned the news whereof gave such courage to Baldwin King of Jerusalem that he set upon Gazis a King of the Turks that inhabited Asia minor who was coming against him with a great Army vanquish'd him and took him Prisoner and with like success he encountred the King of Damascus who was marching against Jerusalem whom he defeated having kill'd two thousand of the Enemy and taken a thousand But Balahac King of the Persians coming on with numerous sorces and Baldwin not staying till the Auxiliaries could arrive he rashly adventur'd to fight him and was totally routed and himself and many of his Nobles made Captives This made Pope Calistus hasten their assistance lest the remainder of the Christians should be destroy'd having no King and by the mediation of Veramundus Patriarch of Jerusalem a learned and a good Mam he animated the Venetians with hopes of glory and reward to man out a stout Fleet upon the service in the year 1121. Dominico Michiele being Duke which arriving at Joppa then streightly besieged both by Sea and Land by the Saracens they overcame them with great slaughter and raised the Siege Hence they went to Tyre which after a long and bloody Siege they took having first made it their bargain that half Ascalon and Tyre should be theirs if by their means they happened to be taken But Emanuel Emperour of the Greeks Successour to Calo-Joannes enving these great successes to the Latines or those of the Roman Communion commanded the Venetians to recall their Admiral which they did and he obey'd but he was so inrag'd that in his return he sack'd Rhodes Chios from whence he translated to Venice the body of S. Theodore the Martyr Samos Mitilene and Andros Islands belonging to the Emperour He took Modone and 〈◊〉 it and subjected the Island Trau before in the hands of the Hungarians to the Venetian Commonwealth He brought also along with him to Venice the Stone upon which at Tyre Christ is said to have sate In the mean time Baldwin who we said was taken Prisoner being ransom'd return'd to Jerusalem and for a while kept up the Christian Cause so that Calistus having now a little leisure from forein troubles creates twelve Cardinals rebuilds several Churches that were ruin'd with age repairs the City Walls makes Conduits 〈◊〉 Castles belonging to the Church and distributes great Donaries of Silver and Gold to several Churches purchases several pieces of ground to augment S. Peter's Revenue and within the Court builds the Church of S. Nicolas But so great felicity cannot long be enjoy'd on Earth without interruption for Gregory the Anti-Pope before nam'd Bordino attempting to usurp the Papacy kept at Sutri where with the assistance of some Roytelets thereabout he did great damage to the Romans by his incursions and plunder'd all the Strangers he could meet with that travel'd to Rome either out of devotion or about business Calistus therefore gets together an Army on a sudden and sending before John de Crema Cardinal of S Chrysogon with the most expedite part of Soldiery himself follows and defeating the Enemy takes Sutri and sets Bordino upon a Camel leading him so in triumph to Rome and then forgave him his life but thrust him into the Monastery of Cave At last Calistus having deserv'd well both of God and Man died in the Lord after he had been Pope five years ten months and six days The Sea was then vacant eight days HONORIUS II. HONORIUS the Second at first named Lambert born in the Country of Imola was made Pope about the time that Baldwin being ransom'd from his imprisonment added the Principality of Antioch to the Kingdom of Jerusalem all the Heirs being dead to whom of right it belong'd But so great a Province not being to be govern'd without a Lieutenant he made Raymund Son to William Duke of Austria their Governour whose Wife was the Daughter of Boemund the elder and having thus setled matters he went against the King of Ascalon who being assisted with forces from Aegypt infested the 〈◊〉 of Jerusalem and him he utterly routed in one Battel Afterward Baldequan a petit King of Damascus attempting the same thing but with greater forces he overthrew him in three fierce Battels his men in their flight being kill'd up and down like sheep To return to Honorius though his Parentage was mean yet for his excellent Learning and conversation he was every way worthy of so high a Dignity not but that the methods by which he obtain'd it were not altogether commendable the Election having been procur'd rather by the ambition of some private Men than by unanimous consent For when upon the death of Calistus the Consultation was held about chusing a new Pope Leo Frangipane imposed upon the Conclave that the Election should be deferred for three days under pretence of more mature deliberation and a stricter search into the Ecclesiastical Canons though neither of these were part of his design but it was craftily and politickly done by him to gain time in which Votes might be procur'd for the choice of Lambert The People were extreamly desirous to have had the Cardinal of S. Stephen which Frangipane also pretended that so he might by this trick draw over the People and the unwary Fathers which some of the Cardinals observing because they would not have a Pope according to his mind they set aside the Cardinal of S. Stephen and chose Theobald Cardinal of S. Anastasio Pope by the name of Coelestine Leo now thought it
out freely every Man with his own Clothes but when they could not make good the agreement because the piece of the Cross was not to be found Richard put many of the Barbarians to death Saladine was so dismay'd at these losses that despairing of being able to defend them all he dismantled several Cities in that Region and was upon the point of delivering up Jerusalem itself if it had not been for a difference which arose between Philip and Richard concerning Precedency upon which Philip pretending himself sick departed home from Asia Richard then apply'd himself more vigorously to the War though at this time Conrade of Montferrat was assassinated in the Market-place of Tyre by two Saracen Ruffians who had bound themselves under an Oath and Vow to destroy all the Enemies of their Religion after the same manner but as they ran away they were caught and put to death with the most exquisite Torments and Henry Earl of Champagne taking Queen Isabel to Wife entred upon the Dominion of Tyre Richard giving some fair words to Guy of Lusignan persuaded him to pass over to him his Kingdom of Jerusalem which the Kings of England still put among their Titles and herewith taking courage he march'd his Army to beleaguer the City of Jerusalem but Saladine in his Journey falling in with his Rear forc'd him to a Battel in a very disadvantageous place in which though he at last came off Conqueror yet it was with great loss of men Saladine after this encamp'd not far from Bethlehem in a commodious place to intercept any manner of Provisions that might be sent from Egypt to the Christian Army as they should lie before Jerusalem wherefore and because the Winter was coming on Richard puts off his designs for this so necessary Siege the Pope yet urging him and continually supplying him with Money and retreats to Ascalon which as well as Gaza he fortifies again they having before been slighted by Saladine In the mean time the Sea-forces by degrees leave him and the Pisans sailing into the Adriatic seiz'd Pola with intent to Winter there but the Venetians reinforcing their own Fleet set upon 'em took the Place and sack'd it and drove out the Pisans and had pursued them to extremity if Celestine out of care for the good of Christendom had not mediated between them Spring now came on and Richard was preparing for the Siege of Jerusalem when on a sudden news was brought him that King Philip had invaded Normandy and intended to pass into England to procure that Kingdom for his Brother John Richard then laid by those thoughts and strook up a Peace with Saladine upon these Articles That Saladine should enjoy all but Tyre and Ptolemais to which with their Territories remaining in the hands of the Christians he should give no molestation Richard having thus settled Affairs there returning into Europe was taken by his Enemies from whom he was ransom'd with a vast sum of Money and at last arriving in England he had many a Battel with the King of France much against the Pope's mind who was griev'd that so fierce a War should be raised among Christians at so unseasonable a time when Saladine being now dead it was thought to have been a very fit time to have recovered Jerusalem It is reported of that illustrious Prince that one Ceremony at his Funeral was this His Shirt was hung upon the end of a Pike and carried before the Corps and one with a loud Voice cryed Behold Saladine the mighty Lord of Asia of all his Realms and of all his Wealth takes no more than this along with him A spectacle well befitting so great a Man to whom nothing was wanting but the Character of a Christian to have rendred him a most consummate Prince Upon the death of Saladine as was said before Celestine had fresh hopes that Jerusalem might be regain'd and so urg'd the Emperour Henry who Tancred being dead succeeded to the Kingdom of Sicily to undertake the Enterprize that though he could not go in person yet he sent thither with great speed a good Army under the Arch-bishop of Mentz and the Duke of Saxony The King of France would have gone too but that the Saracens who inhabited Mauritania now the Moors had cross'd the Streights and having taken the King of Castile Prisoner had possess'd themselves of that part of Spain now call'd Granado where the French fear'd they would hardly continue long quiet but go near to infest the neighbouring Nations and therefore would not draw their forces out of Europe The Germans however arriving in Asia fortified Berylus which had been deserted by the Saracens and rais'd their Siege from before Joppa from whence when they were about to go to Jerusalem Celestine this most holy Pope who never let slip any opportunity for the recovery of the Holy Land died upon which they desisted Notwithstanding all these troubles and these great charges of War our Pope built two Palaces one near S. Peter's the other near S. John in the Lateran fit for the reception of Popes The brasen Gates yet remaining in the Lateran over against the Sancta Sanctorum which were made by his Order and at his charge Moreover he made Viterbo a City raising the Church there to a Bishops Sea to which Diocese he added Toscanella and Centum-cellae Celestine died when he had been Pope six years seven months and eleven days to the great grief of all good Men and was buried in St. Peter's Church INNOCENT III. INNOCENT the Third born in Anagni Son of Trasimund of the Family of the Conti was for his great Learning and many Virtues made a Cardinal by Celestine and upon his death was by general consent chosen Pope Which he had no sooner arriv'd to but he applied his thoughts to the Holy War and by Letters Messengers large Promises and Largesses endeavour'd to contain the Germans within the bounds of their duty who after the decease of their Emperour Henry were all in a mutiny but 't was to no purpose for they disdaining any Commander left Asia and to the extream damage of the Christian Cause return'd to Europe whereby those of Joppa especially suffered most for being destitute of help the Turks and Saracens came upon 'em and while they were about to yield they took the City by force and cut them all off rasing it to the ground In Germany also all things seem'd to threaten confusion some of the Electors stickling hard for Otho Duke of Saxony others standing resolutely for Philip a German Duke of Tuscany who was left by Henry upon his death bed Guardian to his young Son And to improve this mischief to the height the King of France took part with Philip and the King of England was for Otho Innocent then to obviate the impending miseries that must follow upon such a state of Affairs confirms Otho in the Empire as duly elected by those who had just suffrage Philip notwithstanding would not lay down his
much out of hopes of success that upon hearing this ill news of the misfortune of his Friends and Allies he began to think of retiring to Rome though his coming thither was opposed by one John Cincio a potent Citizen and Senator whose intolerable arrogance yet was so curb'd by James Capocio another Roman Citizen that the Pope was received into Rome with great splendor magnificence This was that James whose name is yet to be seen and read in the little Chappel of Mosaic Work which was built at his charge in the Church of S. Mary Maggiore in which also was buried Peter Capocio who was a Cardinal of the Church of Rome and while he liv'd a bitter Enemy of this Schismatical Emperour Frederic at whose expence the Hospital of S. Anthony not far from the aforesaid Church and the College for Scholars at Perugia now call'd la Sapientia was also erected Gregory having quieted the minds of Men in the City again pronounces an Anathema against Frederic and declares him to have forfeited his right to the Empire and deprives him of it then he sends for the Ambassadours of the States of Venice and Genoa between whom there was so great a quarrel as it was fear'd a War would ensue to mediate their differences which he did so effectually as that he procur'd an Agreement between 'em to a Peace upon condition that without mutual consent neither of the two States should make Peace with the Emperor of Constantinople that they should be Enemies to the Enemies of each other and join their Forces upon every occasion for the common defence and this Treaty to be in force and complied withal for nine years by them both under pain of Excommunication to be denounc'd by the Pope upon the Infractor About this time died Baldwin who upon the Death of John had succeeded to the Empire of Greece and made shift to hold it for two years but with so great difficulty by reason of his poor Treasury that he could hardly defend himself from his Enemies being forc'd to deliver his Son for a Pledg to the Venetian Merchants for Money that he had borrow'd of 'em and to make Money of the Lead that belong'd to the Churches beside he sold to the Venetians who were wealthy and able to purchase 'em the Spear with which our Saviour Christ's Body was pierc'd and the Sponge which was reach'd to him to drink out of Frederic had a great spight at these Venetians because they were on the Pope's side and drove them into their Marishes where their City stands for security and did them great damage but in the mean while happened a general revolt of the Cities of Lombardy by the Procurement and instigation of Gregory Monte-longo who was Legat at Bononia and Ferrara which had revolted before from the Pope to the Emperour was retaken by them though Salinguerra a valiant Commander was in it and made a brave defence As soon as it was taken it was put into the hands of Azo of the House of Este who was a considerable Person in this Enterprize to be govern'd by him in the name of the Church An. Dom. 1240. This so alarm'd the Emperour who was then at Pisa that being under great uncertainty whom to look upon as Friends to himself or Wellwishers to the Pope he divided first the Cities of Italy into two Factions giving the name of Guelphs to those who were for the Pope's Interest and that of Gibellines to them that were for the Imperial These most pernicious names of distinction invented surely for the mischief of mankind were first made use of at Pistoia where when the Magistrates expell'd the Panzatichi who were Gibellines out of the City there chanc'd to be two Brothers Germans the one of which whose name was Guelph was for the Pope the other for the Emperour and his name was Gibel from which these two Parties were discriminated by those different appellations On the other side those of Arezzo and Sienna drive out the Guelphs whose example being follow'd by many other Cities of Italy gave occasion and rise to a worse than Civil War Several Cities after this revolted from the Pope as well in Vmbria as in Tuscany and particularly the Citizens of Viterbo threw off their obedience The Romans also would fain have been doing the same thing but that the Pope carrying the heads of the Apostles SS Peter and Paul through the City in Procession moved the People to commiserate the State of the Church and then making a most excellent Oration in S. Peters Church he had the power and good fortune by it to persuade even the Seditious who were ready to mutiny to take his part and to list themselves under the holy Cross for the defence of the Church of God These when some time after Frederic came in hostile manner before the Walls of Rome gave him a repulse which so enrag'd him that whatsoever Prisoners he had taken he put to death with divers tortures and retir'd towards Beneventum which City he took by force sack'd and dismantled it Then returning by the Via Latina with his heart full of fury toward the City by the way he plunder'd the Monastery of Monte-Cassino and turn'd out the Monks he destroy'd also with fire and sword the City of Sora formerly belonging to the Samnites situate at the head of the River Garigliano and pillag'd any thing that belong'd to the Templers wherever he could meet with it He was so great a Lover of the Saracens that he made use of them rather than any other People in his Wars made Magistrates of them and gave them a City for themselves which is call'd to this day Nocera di Pagani He threaten'd the Brother of the King of Tunis because he was come as far as Palermo to receive the Sacrament of Baptism By a sudden Onset he also made himself Master of Ravenna which appertain'd to the Church All which Gregory well considering he appointed a Council to be holden in the Lateran there to find out means to depose Frederic but the Emperour had so beset all the ways that with the help of the Pisans he took several Cardinals and Prelates as they were travelling both by Sea and Land and cast them into Prison Which so griev'd the good Pope that he liv'd not long after dying when he had been Pope fourteen years and three months There happen'd an Eclipse of the Sun a little before his death greater than ever was seen Raymund of Barcelona flourish'd in his time and assisted him in compiling his Book of Decretals whom many Authors so commend that nothing can be added to his Praise CELESTINE IV. CELESTINE the Fourth a Milanese of the Family of the Castiglioni Bishop of Sabina famous in his time for his exemplary life and great Learning being very old and sickly was yet chosen Pope in the room of Gregory but died on the eighteenth day of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's Church to the great
receiv'd the Sacraments of the Church and then died in the eighth month of his Pontificate and was buried at Viterbo He was a Man as I said before of great Learning but little Prudence For he wrote many Tracts in his life especially certain Rules relating to Physick for he was counted a very good Physician He wrote also another Book and called it Thesaurus Pauperum or the Poors Treasure and set out Problems in imitation of Aristotle But 't is certain however it comes to be so that many very learned Men are not at all fit for business Yet I need not doubt how it comes to pass but take it rather for a greater Wonder if he that takes pleasure in Contemplation should apply his mind to Wordly Affairs too NICOLAS III. NICOLAS the Third a Roman of the Family of the Vrsini formerly called John Cajetan was made Pope at last after the Election had been six months in suspence by reason of a great Contest that was among the Cardinals Now the King of Sicily as Senator had the guard of the Conclave at that time and was very urgent with 'em to chuse a French-man But Nicolas assoon as he began his Reign in the year 1278 resolv'd to restrain Charles's Power and took from him the Lieutenancy of Tuscany because he said that Rodulphus took it ill and would not perform his promise of going upon the Expedition into the holy Land upon any other terms since Tuscany was reckon'd to belong to the jurisdiction of the Empire Though the Pope gain'd this point yet he reduced Romagna and Bologna it self together with the Exarchate of Ravenna which at that time were under the Emperor and made 'em subject to himself And thither he sent Bertholdus his Nephew who was declared Earl of Romagna He sent also another Nephew of his that was a Cardinal called Latinus Legat into Tuscany who restored the Gibellins in all places and imposed what Officers he pleased upon the Citizens at Florence and in other parts of Tuscany But the Office of Senator which used to be granted or committed to Kings and Princes he discharg'd himself alone He would not see the Embassadors from the Venetians who at that time harass'd the Anconeses with War and so they departed But he called 'em back and chid 'em severely nay he threaten'd to ruin their City if they did not desist from besieging or storming Ancona At length when both parties had suffer'd great inconveniencies they made a Peace upon equal terms But this Pope had a mind to create two Kings both of the Vrsini one of Tuscany and the other of Lombardy to keep those Germans on the one side that inhabit part of the Alps and the French on the other side that lived in Sicily and Naples within their bounds And to bring it about he persuaded Peter King of Aragon to endeavour the recovery of the Kingdom of Sicily upon the title of his Wife Constantia who was heir to it And he took the Honour of Senator from Charles and conferr'd it upon himself and made an everlasting Edict that no King or Prince should dare to sue for or bear that Office This Nicolas as Authors say was a man of great courage and conduct and so perfect in his life and conversation that in Italian he was commonly called il Composto or Composto He was a lover and admirer of learned men especially of those who had Learning mingled with prudence and Religion But he was reckon'd impartial to all in the distribution of honours and dignities For at his first Ordination he chose a Bishop for Alba out of the Order of Minors for Ostia and Porto out of the Preachers The Bishops of Palestrina and Trescat were Seculars He created besides these two Cardinal-Priests that is to say Gerard with the Title of the Twelve Apostles and Jerome of the Order of Minors with the Title of S. Pudentiana To them he added two Deacons that is to say Jordan his Brother Cardinal of S. Eustachius a man of much Learning and innocence and James Colonna of S. Maries in Via lata a person of great Religion and gravity He adorn'd and enlarged the Papal Palace with other Buildings which he added For he built a convenient house nigh S Peters part of which is yet to be seen which Nicolas the fifth afterward repair'd to his great cost and charge He also walled S. Peter's Garden which now they call Belvedere Then he repair'd S. Peter's Church when it was ready to fall with age and adorn'd it with the Pictures of the Popes The same he did in S. Pauls More than all this he advanced divine Worship most wonderfully by encreasing the number of Canons and the provision that had been made for those who serv'd in Churches Again he divided the Ecclesiastick Orders and appointed to each their Offices He likewise assigned every one his Lodging that even Strangers might know where every Officer especially the chief Officer was to be found He finish'd the Lateran Palace which was begun before by Adrian the fifth He built the Sancta Sanctorum from the ground after the first Chappel was ruin'd with age and beautified the Church it self with Mosaic work as it is now to be seen and with plaister of Marble And thither he removed the Apostles heads till he had reqair'd St. John's Church at his own Charge But when it was finish'd he presently brought 'em back again in Silver Cases made by his Order and attended by all the People he laid 'em up in the Chappel which was built for the purpose The same day he consecrated the Church that is upon the eighth of July Some Historians say that no one ever said Mass with more Devotion than he for during the performance of that Divine Office he constantly wept He was very godly and such a Lover of the Friers Minors for that they contemn'd the World that he has explain'd many doubts relating to that Order in a decretal Epistle When Churches were void there never was a Pope that took care sooner or more deliberately giving them to the best and the fittest Men he could find For he first look'd into a mans life and his Learning and then gave immediately the vacant Seas to those that he thought worthy For he used to say Delays were dangerous because there were such men in the World as would commit Sacriledg with all their hearts He could not endure Proctors and Attornies because they liv'd upon the bloud of the Poor and those that went to Law but hated them as a Plague in which he imitated Gregory X. and John XXI But because there were great corruptions among Magistrates in all places he ordain'd that all Offices should be annual only and if any one durst to hold 'em longer he was liable to an Anathema from which he could not be absolv'd but by the Pope himself Besides these things he did a great many more for the good of the Clergy and all Christian People as it
thousand pounds every year to the Church of Rome This Pope in all his Reign made but six Cardinal-Presbyters and that at one time who were excellent Persons not of his own kindred as 't is usual now a days but men called forth to receive such a Dignity out of several Nations Yet I do not disapprove of them that are preferr'd to honour because they are related to the person who confers it if they are deserving Besides he was a Man of such constancy that he could not be induced to do an injury either by force by importunity or promises of gain For he loved good Men and on the contrary was an open Enemy to all evil and â—lagitious persons He likewise often attempted by his Legats to make Peace between Philip of France and Edward of England but to no purpose since they were such foes as to have fought many bloody Battels one with another For Edwards Navy engaged with the French above Selusas near Flanders so fiercely that he overcame them and kill'd they say full thirty three thousand French in that one fight But the Pope having tried to effect that business so often at last desisted and betook himself to building a Palace for succeeding Popes with several Towers and making of Orchards which he finished He also repaired the Roof of S. Peter's Church at his own charge as the Inscription under his Statute there shews He died in the seventh year third month and seventeenth day of his Pontificate and left a great quantity of Gold behind him not to his Relations but to the Church He had a Design to have Zoto a famous Painter of that Age to draw the Histories of the Martyrs in the House that he built but was prevented by Death At which every body was grieved he was so good and so learned a Man and shewed their sorrow by their Tears and Sighs whilst they attended at his Funeral CLEMENT VI. CLEMENT the sixth a Limousin formerly called Peter at first a Monk and then Arch-Bishop of Rouen was at last made Pope at Avignion He was a Man of great Learning and exact Eloquence liberal to all men affable and very humane elected Pope the seventh of May and Crowned the sixteenth of June in the year 1342. In the first year of his Pontificate and the Ember-week after his Coronation he created eight Cardinal-Priests and two Deacons that is to say his Brother who was a Monk of Tulle and William his Sisters Son Of those Priests also which he made one was his Relation by Marriage and the following year he made two more of which one was his Nephew by another Sister This Pope when the Romans petition'd and told him that whereas Boniface the eighth had formerly granted a full Remission of sins to all that visited the Shrines of the Apostles Peter and Paul every hundredth year which space of time the Romans anciently called Saeculum an Age and thence their Games once in an hundred years Ludi Saeculares they thought it more convenient the time should be contracted because men seldom lived so long he freely consented that the Jubilee should be kept every fiftieth year But when he sound that all Italy was in an uproar he confirmed onely Luchinus and John two Viscounts his Lieutenants in the Dutchy of Millain without mentioning the other Princes of Italy For he thought that they alone were able to resist the Bavarian who as he gave out himself was coming down into Italy and to requite the Pope confirm'd many Lieutenants in the Towns and places belonging to the Church by his Imperial Authority For he continued John of Vicourles at Viterbo Galeot Malatesia and his Brethren at Rimini Pesaro and Fano Antonio Feletrario at Vrbino Nâ—lphus and Gallasius two Brothers at Callio Allegretus Clavellus at Farriano Bulgarutius at Matelâ—ca Ismedutius at Sancto Severino Gentilis Varraneus at Camerino Michael at Mount Milon Pongonius at Cingoli Nicolas Boscaretus at Esio Guido Polentensis at Ravenna Francis and Synebald at Forli and Caesena John Manfred at Faenza though before some of these men had gotten the same places under them partly by force and partly by the good will of the Inhabitants as I said in the life of Benedict But in the mean time the Frescobaldi who were eminent Citizens of Florence were banish'd by their fellow-Citizens and would have instigated the Pisanes to War but it was at an ill time For the Florentines at that time were just upon buying Parma of the Scaligeri and to that end had sent some of their Sons to Ferrara as Hostages promising to give 'em for it 500000 l. For there were two Arbitrators one chosen by each party out of Ferrara But the Florentines having engaged in several bloody fights one upon the neck of another were extreamly weaken'd both by the Pisanes and their Allies and at last even forced to slip the opportunity of such a bargain Yet they did not neglect to send aids to the people of Lucca when they were besieged by the Pisanes besides that their Allies helped 'em too under the conduct of Malatesta of Rimini surnamed Vngarus who forced the Pisanes from Lucca At that time Robert who was an Ally of the Florentines being moved with the calamities of his Confederates sent one Gualter a French man that they called Governor of Athens with a small party of Horse into Tuscany who having by mere stratagem defeated Malatesta who was but an unskilful Captain he gain'd so cunningly upon the favour of the Florentines that in a short time he was both General of their Forces and Governour of their City and turn'd out all the other Officers in it Those of Arezzo also if Pisâ—oia and Volaterra promoted his success by surrendering themselves immediately to him But when Accio Corrigienses had deliver'd up Parma which he could not keep to Obicio d' Este Philippino Gonzaga provoked to War by Obicio got an Army together and near to Reggio engaged with him so furiously that he routed and pursu'd him as far as Ferrara Then Obicio finding his condition desperate put Parma which he could not defend under the protection of Luchino in the year 1366. But when the Florentines could no longer endure the Tyranny of Gualter and many were put to death every day for conspiring against him how to get their Liberty Angelo Acciaiolo Bishop of the City sends away for the Citizens ready armed into his Bishoprick with a resolution to recover the liberty of his Country At which the Tyrant seeing himself too weak for the Citizens made the Bishop himself Umpire concerning the Terms of Peace and so march'd off in safety with what he had in the tenth month of his Reign But the Rabble of the City shewed themselves ungrateful as indeed they always do and banish'd the Nobility by whose conduct and courage they had gain'd their Liberty spoiling their Goods and demolishing their Houses And lest any thing should be lacking that might disturb all Italy there were great
Francis whom he had left behind him in Ancona when Cardinal Firmanus was Legat was vanquish'd by Francis Sfortia But the year after Philip took courage and advised Eugenius to endeavour the recovery of Bologna promising to supply him with Men and bear his share in the charge of the War By which the Pope was so wrought upon that he made a League with Alphonso and sent Sigismund Malatesta with a great body of Horse into Ancona against Francis that when the Florentines were otherwise imploy'd Bologna might be forced to surrender Now Philip had sent William Montferrat and Charles Gonzaga before with a great Army who entering the Territory of Bologna in an Hostile manner plunder'd all before ' em But the Florentines who were concern'd for the danger of their Allies dispatch'd Astorgius Faventinus with one thousand five hundred Horse and two hundred Foot to aid the Bolognians till farther order from them and the Venetians Things stood thus in Romagna when Philip on the sudden sent for Francis Picenninus from Ancona and gave him order to go with a great Army upon May Day against the Cremoneses who apprehended no such thing He went as he was commanded and took a great many of the Country Fellows and strook such terrour into the Citizens by battering their Walls both Night and Day that he had very near taken the City But the Venetians and Florentines were troubled at the danger which Francis and their Friends were in and resolv'd to defend Cremona and Bologna at the same time and sent Tibertus Brandolinus a very active Commander who taking along with him the Bologneses and the Auxiliaries from Florence march'd toward the Enemy who did not well agree among themselves and were encamp'd at a Town call'd St. John's and when he had brought William Monferrat over to the Bolognians by Promises and Presents and easily routed Charles he quickly retrieved all the Towns which the Enemy had in their hands Bologna being thus quieted and the Auxiliaries of Florence and Venice divided by order into two parts the one half were sent to avoid Francis Sfortia whom Eugenius and Alphonso had beaten as far as the Walls of Vrbino and the other half to the Cremoneses who were hard put to it by Francis Picenninus The Venetians resolving upon an open rupture with Philip sent Embassadours to him to denounce War unless he would desist from the Siege of Cremona But they were answer'd by a Messenger for they could not speak with Philip himself that they might be safer any where than at Millain At which the Venetians were very angry and commanded Michelot Cotignola their General who was then at Brescia to march forthwith into Cremona which Philip had got most part of and engage the Enemy wherever he met them He readily obey'd their Commands and passing the River Oglio at Casale with all expedition found the Enemy encamped upon the Po in an Island which having forded he attack'd them in their Camp and soon routed them taking a great part of their Cavalry After that he recover'd all the Towns and freed Cremona from the Siege and having augmented his Army by Lewis Gonzaga's additional Forces who had reduced Platina and some Castles in Cremona to the Venetians they march'd toward Geradada and left nothing for Philip but Crema Then crossing the River they entred Millain filling all places with fire and rapine And when they had taken Monte di Briausa and Brevio where there is a Bridg over the Adda they attaqued Leco which those within stoutly defended and batter'd their Ships so severely that whole Men might have got in at the sides of 'em so that having lost many Men and being in great want of Forage they were fain to depart without accomplishing their Design for fear of Francis Sfortia who they heard was privately gone over to Philip's Party Mean time Aloisius Patavinus the Pope's Legat General of the Forces which went against Francis Sfortia into Ancona hearing that Italiano and James Gatuano who had fought partly under Philip and partly under Eugenius were revolting to Francis he commanded them to be taken before they could arrive there and put to Death for both of 'em had one thousand five hundred Horse under them Francis Sfortia was much concern'd at that and finding himself not able to sustein the shock of his Enemies any longer being set upon by so many at a time and assisted by no body by the persuasions of Eugenius and Alphonso who envied the Venetians success he left Ancona and went into Philip's Army over which he was made General Eugenius now lest he should seem to mind nothing but War made Nicolas Tolentinas of the Order of S. Austin who was famous for Miracles a Saint and went personally in Procession from S. Peter to S. Austin's attended by all the Clergy the Roman People and the Cardinals After that he expelled the Canons Secular from the Lateran and admitted onely the Regulars He also built the Portico that goes from that Church to the Sancta Sanctorum and repaired the Cloister for the Priests to live in He also augmented the painting of the Church which Martin had formerly begun and carried the Mitre of S. Sylvester which was brought to Rome from Avignion in his own hands from the Vatican to the Lateran with great veneration of all the Priests and People of Rome Afterward King Alphonso came to Tivoli and would have treated with Eugenius about the management of the War but he heard he was sick and so-stay'd for some time there Eugenius had a great mind to have plagu'd the Florentines for helping his Enemies and doubted not but if he attaqued them with his own the King 's and Philip's Forces all together he might bring that City to what he pleased But all his Designs were frustrated by his Death for he dy'd in the sixteenth year of his Pontificate February 23. 1446. He was a Man of great inconstancy at the beginning of his Reign he was led away by ill Counsels and disturb'd all things to that degree that he incited the Roman People to War and gave Authority to the Council of Basil which was the original of much mischief by approving of their Decrees in Letters Apostolical But in process of time when he came to himself he acted very prudently and with good resolution He had a very venerable aspect but was rather grave than eloquent in his Speech an indifferent Scholar though a knowing Man especially in History He was bountiful to all more especially Learned Men whose company he loved For he admitted Leonard Aretinus Charles Poggius Aurispa Trapezuntius and Blondus very learned Men to be his Secretaries He was not easily provoked to anger for injuries done him or by the Calumnies jibes or scoffs of any He was a great Patron of all Schools especially that at Rome where he had all kind of Learning taught He loved the Religious wonderfully and gave 'em many Priviledges besides Revenues which he added to
it as he said There was also left a good pretence for a War either by the neglect or design of the Embassadours which Alphonso made use of afterward against Sigismund Malatesta that he should receive Money of Alphonso as a Soldiers pay and yet fight under the Florentines against him But Nicolas the Pope whether for grief at Constantinoples being taken or whether of a Fever and the Gout wherewithal he was very much tormented died in the eighth year of his Pontificate 1455. and was buried in S. Peter's very honourably upon whose Tombstone this Epitaph is deservedly inscribed Hic sita sunt quinti Nicolai antistitis ossa Aurea qui dederat secula Roma tibi Consilio illustris virtute illustrior omni Excoluit Doctos doctior ipse Viros Abstulit errorem quo Schisma infecerat urbem Restituit mores moenia templa domos Tum Bernardino statuit sua sacra Senensi Sancta Jubilei tempora dùm celebrat Cinxit honore caput Frederici conjugis aureo Res Italas icto foedere composuit Attica Romanae complura volumina linguae Prodidit en tumulo fundite thura sacro He was commendable for his Liberality toward all especially Learned Men whom he advanced with Money Court-preferments and Benefices whom he would sometimes put upon reading publick Lectures sometimes upon writing some new thing and sometimes upon translating Greek Authors into Latin insomuch that the Greek and Latin Tongues which had lain hid for six hundred years at last regain'd their splendour to some considerable degree He also sent those Learned Men all over Europe to find out such Books as had been lost either by the negligence of Antiquity or the brutal fury of the barbarous Nations So that Poggius found out Quintilian and Enoch Asculanus Marcus Caelius Appicius as also Pomponius Porphyrio a famous Writer upon Horace Besides he erected most stately Buildings in the City and the Vatican in the City a noble House for Popes near S. Marie the Greater and repaired S. Stephen's Church that stands in the Mount di S. Giovanni but built S. Theodores that stands upon the Plain between the Palazzo Maggiore and the Campidoglio from the ground He likewise covered the roof of S. Mary the Round which stands in the middle of the City an ancient Temple built by Agrippa with Lead And in the Vatican he not onely beautified the Pope's House after that manner which we see but he began the Walls of the Vatican very large and high laying foundations for Towers and a vast Superstructure whereby to keep the Enemy from plundering the Pope's House or St. Peter's Church as formerly was often used Furthermore at the upper end of S. Peter's he began a great Gallery to make the Church more glorious and hold more People He also repaired Ponte Melle and built a fine House at Viterbo near the Baths Nor onely so but he lent many others Money who were a building in the City and by his order the Streets were paved He was very Charitable especially to Persons of Quality if they happen'd to be reduced to poverty and gave poor Maids a competent Portion when they were married He always received forein Embassadours very honourably and freely He was easily anger'd to say the truth being a cholerick Man but he was easily pleased again and that gave some ill-natur'd People the occasion to carp at him though he deserved extreamly well of God and Man Then he was so far from Covetousness that he never sold any Place nor ever was guilty of Simony He was kind to them who had deserved well of himself and the Church of God a lover of Justice the Author and preserver of Peace merciful to Offenders a diligent observer of Ceremonies and would omit nothing belonging to Divine Worship The Vessels of Gold and Silver Crosses set with Jewels Priestly Robes adorn'd with Gold and Pearls the Arras Hangings interwoven with Gold and Silver and a Papal Crown are yet to be seen as Monuments of his Munificence I do not mention the many holy Books that were transcribed by his Order and embossed with Gold and Silver but you may see the Pope's Library which was wonderfully augmented by his care and at his charge He was so kind to the Religious that he gave 'em a great deal of Money and Ecclesiastical Benefices besides and Canonized S. Bernardine of Siena a Frier Minor because by his Preaching Admonitions and Reproofs he had almost extinguish'd the Factions of Italy that is to say the Guelphs and the Gibelline Faction and shew'd Christians the way to live well and happily whose Body is now to be seen and daily visited with great veneration at Aquila CALIXTVS III. CALIXTVS the Third first called Alphonso Borgia a Spaniard born at Sativa in the Diocese of Valenza whose Father and Mother were called John and Francis of a Gentile Family and gave him good Education was made Pope by consent of the Cardinals April 8. 1455. First for his Education he was but fourteen years old when having laid the foundations of Learning elsewhere he went to the University of Lerida where he attained to such perfection that in a short time he commenced Doctor in Civil and Canon Law and made very learned Readings to those that came to hear him So that Peter Luna called Benedict the XIII on his own accord and without asking gave him a Canonship of the Church of Lerida And now becoming famous for his Learning he went to Alphonso King of Aragon and was made his Secretary and one of his Privy Council Afterward he was made Governour of the Church of Majorca and his Friends persuaded him to be Parson of that Church he refused it and said he expected to be Bishop of Valenza as not long after he deservedly came to be For when Benedict the XIII was dead and those two Anti-Cardinals which I told you of in the life of Martin had made one Giles a Canon of Barcelona Pope in the room of the other that dy'd at Panischola whom they called Clement the eighth Alphonso Boria was presently sent thither by King Alphonso who was now agreed with Martin not without apparent danger of his own life as well as those that attended on him So tyrannically was Panischola kept and govern'd by those chiefly whose interest it was to breed discord This Alphonso then made Giles so sensible of his Errour by his Reason and Authority that upon the arrival of Peter the Pope's Legat he quitted the Popedom and submitted to the Papal jurisdiction Upon this account Martin made Giles Bishop of Majorca and Alphonso Bishop of Valenza After that when Wars arose between Alphonso of Aragon and James King of Castile Alphonso Borgia was thought the onely fit Man to go and exhort the two Kings to peace and amity which after seven years Wars he procured and made such a lasting Peace by conjugal Alliances as well as other means that some Conditions of that League are observed even to this day But when
be receiv'd upon its own credit though it had never been back'd with Miracles That there were three Persons in the Godhead not proved to be so by Reason but by considering who said so That those Men who pretended to measure the Heavens and the Earth were rather bold than certain what they did was right That to find out the motion of the Stars had more pleasure in it than proâ—it That God's Friends enjoy'd both this Life and that to come That without Vertue there was no true Joy That as a covetous Man is never satisfied with Money so a Learned Man should not be with Knowledg But that he who knew never so much might yet find somewhat to be studied That common Men should value Learning as Silver Noblemen as Gold and Princes as Jewels That good Physitians did not seek the Money but the health of the party diseas'd That a florid Speech did not move wise Men but Fools That those Laws are Sacred which restrain Licentiousness That the Laws had Power over the Commonalty but were feeble to the greater sort That great Controversies were decided by the Sword and not by the Laws A Citizen should look upon his Family as subject to the City the City to his Country his Country to the World and the World to God That the chief place with Kings was slippery That as all Rivers run into the Sea so do all Vices into Courts That Flatterers draw Kings whether they please That Kings hearken to none more easily than to Sycophants That the tongue of a Flatterer was a King's greatest Plague That a King who would trust no body was good for nothing and he that believed every body was no better That it is necessary he that governs many should himself be rul'd by many That he deserv'd not the name of a King who measur'd the Publick by his private abvantage That he who neglected holy Duties did not deserve the Church Revenue nor a King his Taxes that did not constant Justice He said those that went to Law were the Birds the Court the Field the Judg the Net and the Lawyers the Fowlers That Men ought to be presented to Dignities and not Dignities to the Men. That some Men had Offices and did not deserve 'em whilst others deserv'd 'em and had 'em not That the burthen of a Pope was heavy but he was happy who bore it stoutly That an illiterate Bishop was like an Ass That ill Physicians kill'd the body and ignorant Priests the Soul That a wandring Monk was the Devil's Bondslave That Virtue had enriched the Clergy but Vice made 'em poor That there was great reason for the prohibiting of Priests to marry but greater for allowing it again That no Treasure was preferrable to a faithful Friend That Life was like a Friend and Envy like Death That he cherishes an Enemy who pardons his Son too often That a covetous Man never pleases any body but by his Death That Mens faults are conceal'd by Liberality and discover'd by Avarice That it was a slavish Vice to tell Lyes That the Use of Wine had augmented the Cares and the Distempers of mankind That a Man ought to take as much Wine as would raise and not overwhelm his Soul That Lust did fully and stain every age of Man but quite extinguish old Age. That Gold it self and Jewels could not purchase Content That it was pleasant to the good but terrible to the bad to die That a noble Death was to be preferr'd before a dishonourable Life in the Opinion of all Philosophers And this is all or most that can be written of Pius except I add that he canonized St. Catharine of Siena and laid up St. Andrew's head that was sent from Morea to Rome in St. Peter's Church with great Veneration and Processions perform'd by the Clergy and People in a Chappel built on purpose after he had clear'd the Church in that place especially and removed the Sepulchres of some Popes and Cardinals that took up too much room PAVL II. PAVL the Second formerly called Peter Barbo a Venetian whose Father 's Name was Nicolas and his Mothers Polyxena Cardinal Priest of St. Marks was made Pope August 30. 1664. being Pope Eugenius's Nephew by his Sister he was just going as a Merchant to Sea an Employment not ungentile among the Venetians and not disapproved of by Solon and having carry'd his Scritore and other Implements on Board he heard that his Uncle Gabriel Condelmerius was chosen Pope Whereupon he stay'd ashore and at the request of his Friends and his elder Brother Paul Barbo apply'd himself to his Book though he was pretty well in years under the Discipline and tutelage of James Ricionius who used to commend his Diligence He had also other Masters but made no great proficency considering his Age however he preferr'd 'em all when he came to be Pope excepting only Ricion to shew that it was none of their faults he was not made a Scholar But Paul Barbo who was a stout and a wise Man and knew his Brother's nature inclined him rather to ease than business intreated Eugenius whom he went to visit at Florence to send for Peter and give him some Ecclesiastical preferment He did so and Peter was made first Arch-Deacon of Bologna with which not long after he held the Bishoprick of Cervia in Commendam and was made a Protonotary one of that Rank who receive the greatest Fees In this condition he lived for some years till at last he was made a Cardinal at the same time with Alouisius a Physician of Padua whom they afterward call'd Patriarch and Chamberlain which was done at the request of some Friends of Eugenius's who desired to have a Man that might thwart Alouisius upon occasion And indeed it happened afterward that they grew such Enemies as never were known by the insinuations of others especially whose interest it was to foment the Quarrel For Peter was vexed that he should be inferiour to any Man about Eugenius since he was his Nephew and of a Patrician Family in Venice Upon this account he fell out most grievously with Francis Condelmerius the Vice-Chancellour who was Eugenius's Cousin-german and when he died he turn'd all his fury upon the Patriarch though they two had been often seemingly reconcil'd by the intercession of Friends Hereupon they were such Enemies to one another in several Popes Reigns that they did not spare each others either Estate or honour but mutually reviled each other in words which I will not relate lest I should seem to believe ' em But when Eugenius was dead and Nicolas the Fifth in his place he prevailed so far upon him by his kindness and flattery that he not onely got the uppermost place of all his Nation in Nicolas's Court but by assistance of Nicolas's Brother did so animate him against Alouisius that he retrenched the Chamberlain's Office For Peter Barbo was naturally fair spoken and could feign good nature when occasion serv'd But he was
them by right of inheritance which for many years they maintained against the power of the Turk who made many attempts to make seizure of it About the same time also Dabuson the Great Master of Rhodes valiantly defended his City against Mahomet causing him to raise his Siege and retire with disgrace The fear of the Turk by their Retreat out of Italy being extinguished Sixtus re-assumed his former designs and in order thereunto favoured the party of the Venetians who made War upon Hercules da Este Duke of Ferrara by these means all Italy was put into a new flame of War being divided into diverse Parties and Factions On one side were the Pope the Venetians Genoueses and those of Siena with other Cities allied in a Confederacy On the other were Ferdinand King of Naples the Florentines Lodowick Sforza Protector of the State of Milan during the minority of the young Duke The Pope in favour of his own Party managed his War with the Spiritual as well as with the Temporal Arms for in the year 1482. he Excommunicated all his Enemies and as many as took their part or favoured their Cause and encouraged René Duke of Lorain and Anjou to return into Italy and recover his Kingdom of Naples But René being otherwise employed could not make use of this opportunity which was offered and therewith Ferdinand being enraged entered the Dominions of the Pope with a great Army and approached to the Gates of Rome with which Sixtus being greatly incensed issued out an Army against him under the command of Robert Malatesta and both Armies joyning Battel in a place called Campo Morto near Velitri Sixtus had the fortune of the day and to overthrow his Enemy many were slain on the place many principal Officers taken and carried in triumph into Rome and Ferdinand himself narrowly escaped by flight Three days after which Victory Malatesta died not without some suspicion of being poisoned Not long after a Peace being concluded between Pope Sixtus and the King of Naples all the Prisoners were set at liberty amongst which were the Cardinals Colonna and Savelli who at the beginning of the War were as disaffected persons committed to custody This War being in this manner ended the Pope turned his Arms upon the Venetians in favour of Hercules Duke of Ferrara lest that State being too powerful for him should augment their Force by the addition of that Dukedom and in regard that State would not give ear to his admonitions and desist from prosecution of their War at his command the Pope made use of his spiritual Arms Excommunicating all the Subjects under the Dominions of Venice and entering into League with all the Confederate Princes of Italy waged the most dangerous War that ever the Venetians had sustained and certainly had proved fatal to them had not Lodowick Sâ—forza Duke of Milan made a separate Peace with them against the sense and opinion of all the other Confederates Sixtus having by these many Wars and several ways exhausted his Treasury contrived by sale of new Offices never before known to replenish his Coffers he also imposed new Taxes and raised the old ones but that which most reflected on his Reputation and blemished him with the character of a covetous person was that he decimated the Prelates and laid new impositions on the Clergy but to do this Pope justice and give him his due never was any more generous or munificent in his gifts or more delighted to do good offices than this for he freely and at his own charge maintain'd Andrew Paleologo Prince of the Morea with Leonard di Focco Despor of Albania who had been deposed and exterminated their Dominions by the Turk he likewise with great magnificence and courtesie treated the Queens of Cyprus and Bosna whom the Turk had forced to abandon their Dominions and fly for refuge under his protection Also when the Kings of Denmark Swedeland Norway and Gothland with the Dukes of Saxony and Calabria being moved and guided by their Devotion came to visit the Roman Sea he received them with great State and treated them with a magnificence becoming Kings And when in the year of Jubile Ferdinand of Aragon King of Naples came to gain Indulgences at Rome he remitted to him the yearly Tribute which he was obliged to pay for that Kingdom and in lieu thereof contented himself with the yearly acknowledgment of a White Horse with its Furniture which is continued to this day And farther to demonstrate his generous and great Soul he re-built the Hospital of S. Spirito for maintainance and education of young Children he built the Church of S. Mary of Peace he adorned the Basilicon of S. Peter with new Windows making the Church more lightsome and pleasant than before he repaired the Palace of Lateran as also the Churches of the Holy Apostles with several other Churches The Pons Janicularis or the Bridg of Janicula being ruined he took up all the Stones and built an other Bridg over Tybur in the place thereof which since that time is called by the name of Ponte Sesto or the Bridg of Sixtus He cleared all the Common sewers of Rome making conveyances for the sullage of the City to run into the Tybur he repaired many Aquaeducts and Fountains and brought the brazen Statue of M. Aurelius from an obscure place and erected it in the more open Area of the Capitol It was he that reduced the Vatican Library into such a condition as hath made it famous through all the world for he not only brought Books thither from all parts of Europe but left also certain Rents and Revenues for the increase of them with Pensions also to the Library-keepers and under-Officers On the Pedestal of his Statue in the Library these Verses are written Templa Domum expositis vicos fora maenia pontes Virgineam Trivii quod reparatis aquam Prisc a licet Nautis Statuas dare commoda Portus Et Vaticanum cingere Christe jugum Plus tamen urbs debet nam quae squalore latebat Cernitur in celebri Bibliotheca loco In short there was nothing which tended to the glory and ornament of the City which was neglected by him and such was his zeal and power in defence of the Privileges of the Church that he would never suffer them to be infringed nor did any Prince offer him an injury or indignity which he did not return with due revenge As for instance appears by the War he made in confederacy with Venice and Genoua against the Duke of Ferrara and his Allies the which he managed with so much heat that when the Venetians made a separate Peace without his consent or approbation he so highly resented it that it brought him to a fit of the Gout which increased on him with that violence that he died thereof on the 13th of August 1484. having held the Pontifical Sea for the space of 13 years and four days having arrived the age of 70 years and 22 days At
on a Crucifix he said a short mental Prayer as was accustomary and then the Master of the Ceremonies asked him Whether he was pleased to accept of the Papal Office At which turning about with a Majestick and grave Countenance he replyed We are not now to receive that which we have already accepted but if you had another Popedom to confer we were capable also to receive that for by the Grace of God we are well assured that we have force and vigour sufficient to Rule and govern two Worlds with as much facility as we can do this one Popedom When the Masters of the Ceremonies vested him in his Pontifical Habit they observe d with what marvellous vigour he extended his Arms to cloth himself with his Robes which he performed with such haste and agility as if he feared to lose his Office and honour by appearing slow and unactive which Cardinal Rusticucci attentively observing said to him Most Holy Father the Papal Dignity is a most admirable Medicine for it turns old Cardinals into young Men and sickly and unfirm Persons it makes sound and robustious To which the Pope replyed That it was very true for he found it so by good experience But what was most remarkable in this Pope was that no sooner was the Scrutiny past than immediately the Scene was changed with him for he was now no longer the humble modest and infirm Cardinal Montalto but the haughty Majestick and grave Pope Sixtus he was now no longer familiar and jocular with the Cardinals but severe and morose disdaining to maintain an easie conversation with any nay even with those who had promoted him to the Papal Dignity Being thus habited in his Pontificalibus and conducted to St. Peter's Church where was a great concourse of People from all parts of the City to behold the new Pope and being come to the Portico he was met by the Canons of that Church singing that Antiphona Ecce Sacerdos Magnus qui in diebus suis placuit Deo inventus est Justus which is Behold the High Priest who in his days was pleasing unto God and was found just As he passed forward into the Church he went making Crosses and scattering his Benedictions on the People with such firmness of Hand and strength of Arm that they all wondered at the change and as if they could not give credit to their Eyes they cryed aloud which is the Pope which is the Pope Others also running to one and other said is this the Cardinal who the other day was so feeble and decrepit that he seemed ready to fall at every step is this he who walked always stooping with his Head hanging down and awry towards one shoulder but how is he now changed with what vigour and Majesty doth he now walk like another Aaron It is reported when his Physitians came to pay him their respects and adoration as he sat in his Throne in St. Peter's Church that one of them should say to him Your Holiness seems to have another garb and meen than when you were Cardinal to which the Pope replyed 'T is true indeed for when we were Cardinal we went always stooping and poring on the ground to find the Keys of Heaven gate but now having found them we need not to look so low but rather cast our Eyes aloft towards Heaven having need of no other matter now upon Earth The Ceremonies in S. Peter's being over he was conducted by the Cardinals to the usual Lodgings of the Pope where having left him alone he refreshed himself onely with a little Bisket passing the whole day with great abstinence and being alone his Servants observed him to walk in his Chamber quick and fast but in a thinking and pensive manner at which they much wondered because they never knew him before to move from his Chair to walk in that manner and being in this melancholly motion the Steward of his House came to him as usually to know what he was pleased to order for his Supper whereunto the Pope replyed with his Eyes fixed on him and with a stern countenance It is not accustomary to demand of great Princes what it is that they are pleased to eat but prepare us such a Supper as is Royal and then we shall choose that Dish which is most agreeable to our Palate Then he commanded that the Cardinals Alessandrino Medici Rusticucci Este San-Sisto and Altemps should be invited with him to Supper which being accepted by them they all appeared except onely Este who for some reasons excused himself and being sat down at the Table the Pope began a Discourse of the great honour which was due to the Papal Dignity and of the high favour which Christ had bestowed on the Pope in making him his supreme Vicar on Earth repeating often those words Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church And then with vehemence of Speech he proceeded O said he how profound are the Judgments of God Christ would not ordain on Earth more than one Peter one high Priest one Vicar one Head To one single Person onely he gave Authority to govern his Flock and to feed his Sheep Tu es Petrus Thou Thou onely art High Priest To thee will I give the Keys of Heaven To thee onely do I give the Keys to open and shut and to bind and loose To thee to Thee onely do I give Authority to sustain and govern my Flock to Thee only who art my Vicar and not to others who are Servants and simple Ministers of thine The Cardinals had all this while wit enough to understand that this whole Discourse was levelled onely at them and at the beginning to take them off of all expectation of governing or managing Affairs for him For he was willing to eradicate that Opinion out of their minds which they had conceived of him that being a weak and an infirm person he would easily have submitted to the management and direction of his Cardinals which was true enough and which doubtless was the chief motive at his Election And to evidence farther his resolution to rule alone he would scarce suffer any of them to interpose a word but he would take them short and still repeat that saying That in the Church there ought to be but one Commander With this satisfaction the Cardinals after Supper returned to their own Lodgings discoursing as they went of the Complement the Pope had passed on them and of the manner how he had unfolded his mind and thoughts but above all Cardinal Medici seemed to be most concerned having had the fairest game in all appearance at the Election and therefore could not contain himself from saying I see a great storm coming towards us but who is to be saved shall be saved The day following or some short time afterwards the Pope called before him the Governour of Rome and all the Judges of civil and criminal Causes to whom he recommended with great fervour and zeal of spirit an
in any thing whatsoever unless it were towards maintenance of a War for recovery of the Holy Land In the third year also of his Pontificate he laid up another million to the same end and purpose swearing himself never to make use of the same but for that War or for some other War in defence of the Church against Infidels or Hereticks and this Oath of his he would have all Popes obliged to conserve and keep inviolate And that he might the better accumulate Wealth in this nature as he was sparing in his Diet so he was also in his Clothing causing his very Shirts to be patched before he would give them to his Servants and besides these two millions he laid up three other in the same Castle so that at his death five millions were found of his hoard and heaps And yet notwithstanding all this Riches which he had spared he had been most profuse in his publick Buildings and magnificent in Noble Structures Aqueducts and other things of common use and benefit and besides all this he employed a stock of two hundred thousand Crowns to maintain plenty in Rome during the times of scarcity and famine in other parts of Italy He ordained that the number of Cardinals should not exceed seventy in all amongst which four at least ought to be Doctors in Divinity chosen out of the several Orders of Friers as well Mendicants as Regulars and that Cardinals should never be ordained but in the Ember Week of December as had been observed from the time of Clement I. though in the promotions of Cardinal Allen and Morosini he himself transgressed that Rule and created in his time thirty three Cardinals For more speedy decision of matters of Law and that Suits might not spin out into many years he erected a Court of Conscience composed of wise and godly Men and such as feared God He enacted that Adultery should be punished with Death and prohibited judicial Astrology About four Months before his death he began to find himself indisposed and complained of an illness in his Head of which distemper and of the nature of his Disease he often discoursed with much reason according to the Rules of Galen and Hippocrates howsoever during the time of this indisposition he omitted nothing of his business and ate and drank of such Meats and Liquors as are usual for Men of the best health having often in his Mouth the saying of Flavius Vespatian the Emperor That a Prince ought to die on his feet and in action signifying that a Prince ought to die in the work of his Vocation But being more grievously feised by a malignant Fever on the twentieth of August 1590. on the thirtieth of the same Month in the Evening he died being in the seventieth year of his Age having governed the Papal Sea five years four months and three days The Night after his Body was carried in a Hearse to the Church of St. Peter near the Vatican for he died at his Palace of Monte Cavallo from whence Cardinal Montalto caused it to be transported with solemn and Princely equipage to a Chappel which Sixtus had built adjoyning to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore After whose death the Sea was vacant eighteen days VRBAN VII URBAN the Seventh called John Baptista Castagna was born at Rome his Family came from Genoua being descended from the Antient Nobility of that City but his Mother was a Roman of the house of the Ricci He was educated in all the usual Methods of good Literature and applying himself chiefly to the Studies of the Canon and Civil Law he became so good a Proficient therein that he attained the degree of Doctor in the University of Belogna In the time of Julius III. he accompanied his Uncle Veralli into France who was employed in that Court in quality of Legat and acting there under his Uncle he gave clear demonstrations of quickness of parts and vivacity of Spirit fit for great and important undertakings returning afterwards to Rome he dwelt in the House of the Arch-bishop of Rosano Paul IV. made him Governour of Perusa and Pius IV. who immediately succeeded him sent him with the Character of his Legat into Spain in which employment he was continued by Pius V. for the space of seven years Gregory XIII recalled him out of Spain to Rome and bestowed on him the Arch-bishoprick of Rosano without reservation to himself of any quit-rent thereupon and afterwards delegated him his Nuntio to Venice and with that Character gave him a Commission to treat a Peace in the Low Countries between King Philip and those States At his return to Rome he was made Counsellour of the Ecclesiastical State and assumed into the number of Prelats of the Office of the Inquisition in which Employments he continued until the year 1583. when he was created Cardinal by the said Gregory with the Title of Saint Marcellus at a promotion of nineteen Cardinals and soon after he was sent Legat to Bologna He was also held in great esteem by Sixtus V. and entrusted by him in the management of the most important Affairs both in Church and State and by him judged the most probable person to succeed him in the Papal Chair the which he expressed one day when contriving in what manner to enlarge the Street from Santa Croce to Santa Maria Maggiore and thence how it might be continued in a direct line to Santa Maria del popolo he turned about to Cardinal Saint Marcellus and told him That to finish that work would belong to him meaning that the succession being his it would appertain to him to compleat what he had happily begun Nor was it onely the Opinion of Sixtus that Cardinal Marcellus was to be his Successour but the common Voice and rumour of the people fixed the Papal Dignity upon him the which accordingly succeeded for so soon as Sixtus was dead and the usual Obsequies of his Interment solemnized the Cardinals to the number of fifty four on the 7th of September 1590. entred the Conclave where a very great party laboured much for the election of Cardinal Colonna who though he were a person of merit and worth yet he was so highly opposed by a contrary faction that both parties being intrigued in difficulties did as it were by mutual consent concur in their suffrages for Cardinal St. Marcellus who was a person without exception and grateful both to Princes Cardinals and People for no sooner was the Scrutiny begun than all things so appeared in his favour that on the 14th of September at Night the Cardinals were assured of the person on whom the Election should fall more Votes appearing for him than the Complement required howsoever though the Election was deferred until the next day at Noon yet so unanimous and constant was every person to his Vote that the delay of time produced no alteration so that on Saturday the 15th he was with common consent declared Pope And then clothing himself in his Pontifical
nam'd Sancta Maria ad Nives because that in the heats of the month of August it was revealed in a Vision to those who first founded this Church that they should build it in that place where at that season they found Snow which it seems appeared within the compass of that Church and gave measures for all the dimensions of it there being no Snow in any other part of all the City or Country And in regard the Vatican Palace was esteemed to be situate in an unhealthy Air and almost pestilential in the heats of the Summer it was accustomary for the Popes in the hot season of the year to remove themselves to a small House on the Mons Quirinus hiring to the great inconvenience of the Inhabitants several Houses for accommodation of the Servants and followers of the Court But this Pope Paul who was of a great and large Soul not enduring to be confin'd within so narrow a compass bought several Houses belonging to the Neighbourhood the which having pulled down he in the place thereof erected that large and stately Palace now called Monte Cavallo from the two Horses which are erected on a Pedestal before this Palace in memory of which Building on the Eastern side thereof there is this Inscription engraved Paulus Quintus Pont. Max. Anno Salutis MDCXI Pont. Sui VII There was no Pope that was ever more magnificent in Building than this or who delighted more in publick Works which tended to the common benefit of the City either for use or Ornament for he enlarged the ways on the Mount Quirinus leading to this Palace which were before very narrow and inconvenient and brought several Aqueducts to it with plentiful streams many streets of the City which were before crooked he made direct and streight with much Beauty and Ornament All that part of the City which is situate on the other side of the Tybur called at present Frastevere suffering much for want of Water he refreshed with admirable Streams flowing in great abundance Ex Agro Braccianensi which he brought by Aqueducts at thirty five miles distance partly under ground and part with arched Work which was divided into four Fountains or rather Rivers of Water falling from the top of that Hill where is now a Church and Monastery of Franiscan Friers and there they shewed us a Chappel built over that place where St. Peter as they said was crucified and the very hole where his Cross was fixed On the high Altar of this Church was that excellent and famed Piece of our Saviour's Ascension made by Raphael Vrbin he was himself so pleased with it and so much admired it that he ordered it should be carried next to his Coffin when he went to be buried Besides all these and many other publick Works which this Pope performed he was much to be commended for his charitable Gifts and Alms to the Poor amongst which it was none of his least acts of Charity that he established a Revenue out of which every month there was raised a convenient Portion whereby to bestow an honest and vertuous Maid in Marriage He was greatly pleased with Frescati a Village about ten miles distant from Rome called anciently Villa Tusculana where Cicero was much delighted and made it the place of his retirement and Studies and for that reason this Pope enlarged the Papal Palace there and brought it into great reputation with the Cardinals and Nobles of Rome During the Wars between the Emperour and the Count Palatine of the Rhine which happened in the Reign of this Pope he laid a Tax on all the Clergy towards the maintenance and support of the Catholick Cause and a new Order of Knighthood was created under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin St. Michael and St. Francis who entered into a Vow to make War against the Hereticks and extirpate them and the Heresies they professed And about this time began that great Controversie between the Jesuits and the Dominicans concerning the immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin which was rather smothered than decided Thus did this Pope Paul V. pass his time in Peace for the quarrel he had with the Venetians having given him some taste of the inquietudes of War he ever afterwards attended to a pacifick and reposed Life which produced those excellent effects of Peace such as great Structures and munificence towards the Poor which by unquiet Spirits are always diverted by the expences of War And thus having consumed his days he departed this life on the 24th of January 1621. and in the seventieth year of his Age having reigned fifteen years eight months and thirteen days he was buried for a while in the Church of St. Peter but his Body was in a short time after removed from thence to his Chappel which he had erected and added to the great Church of Santa Maria Maggiore During his Reign he created sixty Cardinals The Epitaph on his Monument is as followeth Paulus V. Pont. Max. Patria Romanus ex Burgesia Familia Cui perpetua Vitae innocentia sectata Virtus Bononiae Prolegato praefuit mox à Gregorio XIV Causarum Cam. Apost Auditor Creatus à Clemente VIII Ad Philippum II. Hispaniarum Regem de gravissimis rebus Legatus In Amplissimum Ordinem cooptatus inter Generales Inquisitores Adscriptus Et Vrbis Vicarius Electus cum omnes tantorum Munerum Partes Summa cum laude obivisset Ad Summum Pontificatum Leone XI è Vivis Erepto Florens Adhuc Aetate Incredibili Patrum Consensu Evectus Est Cumque Vigili Solicitudini Securitatem Annonae Copiam Justitiam Et Quietem Populis Ecclesiasticae Ditionis Concordiam Vero Et Pacem Vniverso Christiano Orbi Semper Praestitisset Religionem Summa Pietate Coluissit Vrbem Magnificentissimis Adificiis Ornasset Atque Gregoriis Omnium Virtutum Officiis Aditum Sibi Ad Immortalitatem Aperuisset E Mortalibus Raptus Grave Cunctis Sui Desiderium Reliquit Sedit in Potificatu Annos XV. Menses VIII Dies XIII Obiit Anno Sal. MDCXXI Die XXII Januarii GREGORY XV. THE Funeral Obsequies of Paul V. having been celebrated for the space of nine days according to the usual Form and Custom the Cardinals on the tenth day being the eighth of February entered the Conclave to the number of fifty to which two others were added who arrived at Rome a few days after the death of the Pope one of which was Cardinal Alexander Ludovisio Arch-bishop of Bologna who after many and various Factions and diversity of Opinions in the Conclave was chosen Pope the first and most antient Party was that of Montalto the second of Aldobrandino the third of Borghese the fourth was that of the Spanish Faction the fifth was of the French besides which were Bonti Sforza Farnese Medici and Este all which stood on their own bottoms and formed distinct Parties of their own When the first Scrutiny was made Bellarmine had far the greater number of Votes but falling short of two Thirds he
our Saviour was crucified whereas at other times the celebration of the Mass was forbidden till the third hour or between the hours of nine and twelve a Clock the time when as St. Mark tells us he was fastned to the Cross. He also appointed that the Hymn Glory be to God on High should be sung before the Sacrifice In his time Justinus a Philosopher of Neapolis a City of Palestine labour'd successfully in the defending Christianity presented to Antoninus and his Sons a book which he had written against the Gentiles and held a Dialogue with Tryphon a principal Jew He wrote also very warmly against Marcion who adhering to the Heresie of Cerdo affirmed that there were two Gods the one good the other just as two contrary principles of Creation and Goodness He opposed likewise Crescens the Cynick as a person gluttonous fearful of Death given over to Luxury and lust and a blasphemer of Christ. But being at length by this mans treacherous practices betray'd he suffered in the cause of Christianity Eusebius writing of this Cynick allows him only to have been a vain-glorious Pretender but not a Philosopher At the same time the Valentinian Hereticks prevail'd who were the followers of one Valentinus a Platonist and held that Christ took nothing of the body of the Virgin but passed clean through her as through a Pipe Now also Photinus Bishop of Lyons a man of singular Learning and Piety as Isidore tells us suffered Martyrdom with great resolution being ninety years old Telesphorus having at four Decembrian Ordinations made fifteen Presbyters eight Deacons thirteen Bishops died a Martyr and was buried in the Vatican near Saint Peter He was in the Chair eleven years three months twenty two days By his Death the See was vacant seven days S. HYGINUS HYGINUS an Athenian Son of a Philosopher succeeded Telesphorus during the Empire of Antoninus Pius Wâ—â—â—se extraordinary merit compels me to add something farther in his praise 〈…〉 I come to give an account of Hyginus He was so far from the vanity of valuing himself upon the glory of his Arms that he made it his business rather to defend the Provinces of the Empire than to encrease them and had often that saying of Scipio in his mouth that he had rather save one Citizen than destroy a thousand Enemies being herein of a quite contrary temper to that of Domitian who from a consciousness of his own cruelty did so hate and fear a multitude that he would expose the Roman Army to the fury of its Enemies on purpose that it might return home thinner and less formidable Moreover Pius was so famous for his Justice that several Princes and Nations did at his Command cease their Hostilities making him the Arbitratour of their differences and standing to his determination as to the Justice of their Pretensions For these admirable qualities the Romans after his much lamented death in honor to his memory appointed Cirque-shews built a Temple and 〈…〉 a Flamen with an Order called by his name At this time Hyginus prudently setled and confirm'd the several Orders and Degrees of the Clergy and ordain'd the Solemn Consecration of Churches the number of which he would not have encreas'd or diminish'd without leave of the Metropolitan or Bishop He forbad also that the Timber or other Materials prepared for the building any Church should be converted to prophane uses yet allowing that with the Bishop's consent they might be made use of towards the erecting any other Church or Religious House He likewise ordained that at least one Godfather or one Godmother should be present at Baptism and that no Metropolitan should condemn or censure any Bishop of his Province until the cause were first heard and discussed by the other Bishops of the Province though some make this latter an Institution of Pelagius not Hyginus In his time lived Polycarp a Disciple of St. John the Apostle and by him made Bishop of Smyrna the most celebrated man for Religion and learning in all Asia He coming to Rome reduc'd to the Orthodox Faith multitudes who had been seduc'd into the Errours of Marcion and Valentinus the former of which by chance meeting him and asking whether he knew him Polycarp answered that he knew him to be the first-born of the Devil For this Heretick denied the Father of our blessed Saviour to be God the Creatour who by his Son made the World But afterwards in the time of M. Antoninus and L. Aurclius Commodus who raised the fourth Persecution Polycarp was burnt at Smyrna by order of the Proconsul Melito also an Asian Bishop of Sardis and a Disciple of Fronto the Oratour presented to M. Antoninus a book written in desence of the Christian Doctrine Tertullian highly extols his Parts and says that most of the Christians look'd upon him as a Prophet Moreover Theophilus Bishop of Antioch wrote a book against the Heresie of Hermogenes who asserted an uncreated eternal matter co-eval to God himself As for Hyginus himself having deserved well of the Church and at three Decembrian Ordinations made fifteen Presbyters five Deacons six Bishops he died and was buried in the Vatican by S. Peter January 11. He was in the Chair four years three months four days The See was then vacant four days S. PIUS I. PIUS an Italian of Aquileia son of Ruffinus lived to the time of M. Antoninus Verus who together with his Brother L. Aurelius Commodus jointly exercis'd the Government nineteen years These two Princes undertook a War against the Parthians and manag'd it with such admirable courage and success that they had the honour of a Triumph decreed to them But not long after Commodus dying of an Apoplexy Antoninus was sole Emperour a person who so excell'd in all good qualities that it is more easie to admire than to describe him for both because from his very youth no change of his Fortune made any alteration in his mind or his countenance and because it is hard to determine whether the sweetness of his natural temper or the knowledg he learnt from Cornelius Fronto were more conspicuous in him he deservedly gain'd the surname of Philosopher And indeed as Capitolinus tells us he was often wont to use that saying of Plato That then the World would be happy when either Philosophers were Princes or Princes would be Philosophers He was so great a lover of Learning that even when he was Emperour he would be present at the Lectures of Apollonius the Philosopher and Sextus Plutarch's Nephew and he set up the Statue of his Tutour Fronto in the Senate-house as a Testimony of the Honour he had for him At this time Pius maintain'd a strict friendship and familiarity with Hermes who wrote the book called Pastor in which book he introduces an Angel in the form of a Shepherd who commanded him to persuade all Christians to keep the Feast of Easter on a Sunday which Pius accordingly did Moreover he ordained that every
his constancy and Resolution was left with his Mother a Widow and six Brethren in a very low condition all his Fathers Estate being confiscated because they owned Christ to be the true God Hereupon he was forced to teach a Grammar-School to get a livelihood for himself and his Relations and among others he had for his Scholar Plutarchus who afterwards became a Martyr Not long after applying himself wholly to Religion he undertook the Office of a Catechist or Preacher He was a person of very great parts and skil'd in all Languages and kinds of Learning He was wonderfully temperate and abstemious as to meat and drink and all other things imitating the poverty of Christ and for many years walking bare-foot and moreover in his younger days he made himself an Example of that passage in the Gospel there be Eunuchs which have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake Many were so encouraged in Religion by his Pattern that they did with great 〈◊〉 lay down their lives for Christianity and particularly a Woman named 〈◊〉 who was put to death by pouring scalding Pitch upon her Head As for Zephyrinus having at four Decembrian Ordinations made thirteen Presbyters seven Deacons thirteen Bishops he died in the time of Severus and was buried in the Via Appia not 〈◊〉 from the Sepulchre of Calistus August the 26th He was in the Chair eight years seven months ten days and the See was vacant six days S. CALISTUS I. CALISTUS an Italian of 〈◊〉 Son of Domitius lived in the time of Severus an Emperour whose fortune changed with his mind For no sooner did he raise the fifth Persecution against the Christians but he was presently exposed to a multitude of dangers and engaged in several Wars on the one side by Piscennius Niger who was the cause of great Commotions in Syria on the other by Clodius Albinus whom yet he vanquish'd with great slaughter in Gaul But passing over from thence into Britain being deserted of his Friends and accompanied only with calamities he died at 〈◊〉 in the fifth year of his Empire leaving behind him two Sons Bassianus and Geta the latter of which was look'd upon and put to death as a publick Enemy both because of his abominably dissolute 〈◊〉 but especially because he had with his own hand slain Papinian the great Asylum of the Civil Law But Bassianus receiving from the 〈◊〉 the name of Antoninus became possess'd of the Empire and took the 〈◊〉 of Caracalla from a kind of long Vests which he bestow'd by way of largess among the 〈◊〉 He was of a nature more cruel than his Father and so impotently vicious thatthere was no kind of Villany which he was not guilty of He is said to have slain his Brother Geta and to have married his own Step-mother He left behind him nothing great and magnificent to perpetuate his memory save only the Antoninian Baths which bore his name as being begun by him but were indeed finish'd by the Emperour Alexander Severus and the Causey he made in the Via Nova He made it Capital for any to wear Amulets about their necks for the cure of Quartan or Tertian Agues But at length undertaking a War against the Parthians he was surprized by his Enemies between Edessa and Charroe and stab'd in the seventh year of his Reign as he was alighting off his Horse to ease Nature But during the most confused state of things and 〈◊〉 the Government of the most dissolute Emperours Calistus was not at all diverted from his purpose of Establishing a solemn Fast three times in the year to be observed on the Sabbath or Saturday particularly to implore a blessing upon the fruits of the Earth Corn Wine and Oyl viz. in the fourth month the seventh and the tenth beginning the year according to the custom of the Jews Though afterwards he changed his opinion and appointed it at the four seasons of the year viz. Spring Summer Autumn and Winter at which times in succeeding Ages holy Orders were 〈◊〉 which before was used to be only in the month of December He also ordained that Accusations against Clergymen should not be admitted of in any Court if the informers were either infamous or liable to just suspicion or avowed Enemies of the accused Moreover he adjudged those to be Hereticks who maintained that Priests after they 〈◊〉 once convicted of any notorious Crime were not to be restored to their former Dignity though they shewed never so great signs of their repentance Damasus tells us that he built Saint Maries Church in Trastevere but I cannot imagine that of his founding to be the magnificent vast one which continues there at this time since in those days of frequent Persecution all things were carried secretly and the Christians had only small Chappels and those private and hidden and for the most part under-ground He likewise built a Burial-place 〈◊〉 by his own name in the Via Appia at the very place where the ashes of a multitude of Martyrs had been formerly reposited so that 〈◊〉 Reader must not think it strange that we have already said of several that they were 〈◊〉 in the Coemetery of 〈◊〉 though it had not that name till now I 〈◊〉 self with some of my Friends have religiously went to view it 〈◊〉 the ashes and bones of the Martyrs are 〈◊〉 to be seen and 〈◊〉 and Chappels in which the Christians privately communicated when through the Edicts of some Emperours they could not do it publickly In his time lived Tertullian an African the Son of a Proconsular Centurion whom S. Hierom reckoneth next to 〈◊〉 and Apollonius the principal of the Latin Writers He was a man of excellent Parts and wrote a multitude of books I have 〈◊〉 saith 〈◊〉 at Concordia a little Town in Italy one Paul who said that when he was very young he was at Rome acquainted with S. Cyprian's Amanuensis who assured him that S. Cyprian never passed a day without the reading of Tertullian But having continued half his life-time a Presbyter at Rome through the Envy and Reproaches of the Roman Clergy he afterwards 〈◊〉 Montanist and wrote several Pieces against the Orthodox Doctrine particularly those de Pudicitiâ de Monogamiâ and de 〈◊〉 He also composed six Books against Apollonius At the same time likewise Origen flourished and did great service for the Church For he opposed the Heresie of the Ebionites who asserted our 〈◊〉 to be a 〈◊〉 Man the Son of Joseph and Mary and press'd the observation of Mosaical Rites both which Errours were 〈◊〉 by Symmachus Moreover by his Learning he brought over to the Orthodox faith one Ambrosius who had been as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 or as Hierom will have it a Marcionite to whom with 〈◊〉 a Presbyter he dedicated his book de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that violent opposer of Christianity and who was Origen's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot yet sometimes 〈◊〉 commending him calling him 〈◊〉 most learned and Prince of
C. 997. having brought home his Army out of Syria into Italy reigned together with his Son whom he joyned to him as a Partner in the Empire five years He was the first Christian Emperour and 't is said of him that he never presumed to go to the holy Mysteries before he had confessed After the third year of his Reign the thousandth year from the building of the City being compleated he caused to be celebrated the Secular Games which were wont to be repeated every hundredth year They were first instituted by Valerius 〈◊〉 after the expulsion of the Kings and had their name from the Latin word seculum which signifies the space of an hundred years But by the fraud of Decius both the Philips were slain though in divers places the Father being put to death at Verona the Son at Rome Fabianus distributed the several Regions of the City among the seven Deacons by whom the Acts of the Martyrs written by the Notaries were to be collected and digested for the example of others who professed the Faith of Christ. He also built Monuments in the Coemeteries for the honour of the Martyrs Further he ordained that every year at some Sacrament the Chrism or holy Oyl should be new consecrated and the old burnt in the Church In his time sprang up the Novatian Heresie For Novatianus a Presbyter of the City of Rome out of an eager desire of being Bishop put all things into a great disorder that the Pontificate might not come into the hands of Cornelius who was Successor to Fabianus Having separated himself from the Church he gave to himself and his Followers the Denomination of the Pure and denied that Apostates though truly penitent ought to be received into the Church Upon this occasion a Council of sixty Bishops as many Presbyters and several Deacons was held at Rome in which the opinion of Novatianus was condemned as false for that according to the example of our Saviour Pardon is to be denied to no man that repents At the same time Origen opposed the heretical Doctrine of certain persons who affirmed that the Souls of men died with their bodies and were both together to be raised again at the Resurrection as also that of the Helchesaites who altogether rejected the Apostle S. Paul and asserted that though a man in his Torments should outwardly deny Christ yet he might be free from Guilt provided his heart were upright The same Author wrote against Celsus an Epicurean who opposed the Christians and sent Letters concerning Religion to the Emperour Philip and his Wife Severa and wrote also many things concerning the order of Faith to Fabianus Alexander Bishop of Cappadocia having from a desire to see the holy Places made a Journey to Jerusalem was there compell'd by Narcissus Bishop of that City and now grown old to be his Assistant in the Administration of that Bishoprick But the Persecution under Decius growing hot at the same that Babylas suffered Martyrdom at Antioch he being carried to Coesarea was there put to death for the faith of Christ. As for Fabianus concerning whom it is commonly believed that when enquiry was made for a Successour to Anterus a Dove lighted upon his head in the same shape with that which descended upon the head of Jesus at Jordan he received a Crown of Martyrdom after that at five Ordinations which he held in the month of December he had ordained twenty two Presbyters seven Deacons eleven Bishops and was interr'd in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia Jan. the 19th He was in the Chair fourteen years eleven months eleven days and by his death the See was vacant six days S. CORNELIUS CORNELIUS a Romam the Son of Castinus lived in the times of the Emperour Decius Who being born at Buda in Hungary upon the death of the two Philips assumed the Empire proving a bitter Enemy to the Christians because those Philips had been favourers of their Religion But having with his Son Caesar reigned only two years he was so suddenly cut off by the Goths that not so much as his dead body was ever found A just Judgment upon him who raising the seventh Persecution had put to death a multitude of most holy Men. During the Pontificate of Cornelius whose Judgment was that Apostates upon their Repentance ought to be received Novatus irregularly ordained Novatianus and Nicostratus upon which occasion the Confessour's who had fallen off from Cornelius being of the same opinion with Maximus the Presbyter and Moyses reconciled themselves to the Church again and thereby gained the name of Confessours indeed But not long after these Hereticks pressing hard upon him Cornelius is banished to Centumcelioe to him Cyprian Bishop of Carthage being himself imprison'd wrote Letters by which he came to understand both the calamity of his Friend and the confirmation of his own Exile There are extant 〈◊〉 other Epistles of Cyprian to Cornelius full of Religion and Piety but the choicest of them is accounted to be that wherein he accuses and condemns Novatus a certain Disciple of his Concerning the same Heresie Dionysius B. of Alexandria who had once been Scholar to Origen wrote to Cornelius and in another Epislle reproves Novatianus for having deserted the Communion of the Roman Church and pretending that he was forced against his will to take the 〈◊〉 upon him to whom he thus replies That thou wert says he O Novatian chosen to that Dignity against thy Will will appear when thou dost voluntarily leave it Cornelius before he went into banishment at the Instance of Lucina a holy 〈◊〉 by night removed the bodies of S. 〈◊〉 and S. 〈◊〉 out 〈◊〉 the publick burial places where they seemed to be less secure that of S. Paul was by Lucina her self reposited in ground of her own in the 〈◊〉 Oxiensis near the place where he suffer'd and that of Peter was by 〈◊〉 laid near the place where he also was Martyr'd not far 〈◊〉 the Temple of Apollo But when Decius came to understand that 〈◊〉 had received Leters from Cyprian he caused him to be brought from Ceutumcelioe to Rome and in the Temple of Tellus the 〈◊〉 Praefect being 〈◊〉 he thus 〈◊〉 with him Are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 thus 〈◊〉 that neither regarding the gods nor fearing the commands and threatning of Princes you keep a 〈◊〉 tending to endanger the publick Weal To whom Cornelius replied That the Letters which he receiv'd and return'd were only concerning the Praises of Christ and the Design of the Redemption of Souls lut contain'd nothing in them tending to the Diminution of the Empire At this Decius being enraged gave order that the holy man should first be scourged with a kind of Whips that had small globes of Lead 〈◊〉 to the end of them that afterwards he should be carried to the Temple of Mars to pay Adoration to his Image and upon his refusal so to do that he should be put to death The good man
When his other great Affairs permitted he took very much delight in the study of the Arts by his Bounty and Goodness he gained the love of all men many good Laws he enacted repeal'd those that were superfluous and moderated those that were too rigorous Upon the Ruines of Byzantium he built a City of his own Name and endeavouring to make it equal in stateliness of buildings to Rome her self he ordered it to be called New Rome as appears from the Inscription under his Statue on Horse-back This great Prince well weighing and considering all things when he came to understand the Excellency of the Christian Religion how it obliges men to be moderate in their Enjoyments to rejoyce in poverty to be gentle and peaceable sincere and constant c. he thereupon heartily imbraced it and when he undertook any War bore no other Figure on his Standard but that of the Cross the form of which he had seen in the Air as he was advancing with his Forces against Maxentius and had heard the Angels near it saying to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this do thou overcome which accordingly he did freeing the necks of the people of Rome and the Christians from the Yoke of Tyranny and particularly defeating Licinius who had expell'd the Christians from City and Camp and persecuted them with banishment Imprisonment and Death it self exposing some of them to the Lions and causing others to be hung up and cut to pieces limb by limb like dead Swine Sylvester having so potent and propitious a Prince on his side leaves the Mountain Soracte whither he had been banished by the Tyrants or as some say had voluntarily retired and comes to Rome where he soon prevailed with Constantine who was before well enclined towards the Christians to be now very zealous in deserving well of the Church For as a particular testimony of the honour he had for the Clergy he allowed to the Bishops of Rome the use of a Diadem of Gold set with precious Stones But this Sylvester declined as not suiting a person devoted to Religion and therefore contented himself with a white Phrygian Mitre Constantine being highly affected with Sylvesters Sanctity built a Church in the City of Rome in the Gardens of Equitius not far from Domitians Baths which bore the name of Equitius till the time of Damasus Upon this Church the munificent Emperour conferr'd several donations of Vessels both of Gold and Silver and likewise very plentifully endowed it While these things were transacting at Rome at Alexandria a certain Presbyter named Arius a man more remarkable for his Person than the inward qualifications of his mind and who sought more eagerly after Fame and vain-glory than after Truth began to sow dissention in the Church For he endeavoured to separate the Son from the Eternal and ineffable Substance of God the Father by affirming that there was a time when he was not not understanding that the Son was Co-eternal with the Father and of the same substance with him according to that assertion of his in the Gospel I and my Father are one Now Alexander Bishop of Alexandria having in vain attempted to reclaim Arius from this his Errour by Constantines Appointment and at his great Charge a General Council was called at Nicoea a City of Bithynia at which three hundred and eighteen Bishops were present The Debates on either side were long and warm For divers persons subtil at Arguing were favourers of Arius and opposers of the simplicity of the Gospel though one of these a very learned Philosopher being inwardly touched by the Divine Spirit all on a sudden changed his opinion and immediately embraced the sound and Orthodox Doctrine which before he had pleaded against At length the matter being throughly discuss'd in the Council it was concluded that the Son should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. acknowledg'd to be of the same substance with the Father Of those who were of Arius's Opinion affirming the Son of God to be created not begotten of the very Divinity of the Father there were seventeen But Constantine coming to understand the truth of the Controversie confirmed the Decree of the Council and denounc'd the punishment of Exile to those who contradicted it Hereupon Arius with only six more wer banish'd the rest of his Party coming over to the Orthodox Opinion In this Council the Photinians were condemned who had their name from Photinus a Bishop of Gallogroecia who taking up the Heresie of the Ebionites held that Christ was conceived of Mary by the ordinary way of generation as were likewise the Sabellians who affirmed that the Father Son and holy Ghost were but one Person In this Council also the Bishops according to Custom gave in Bills of Complaint to Constantine wherein they accused each other and desired Justice from him but the good Emperour burnt all their Accusations and told them that they must stand or fall by the Judgment of God only and not of men In this Council moreover it was decreed That no person who upon pretence of allaying the heat of his Lust had castrated himself should be admitted into Orders that no new Proselyte without a very strict Examination should be ordained and being so that it should not be lawful for him to co-habit with any other Women than his Mother or Sister or Aunt that none should be promoted to the Order of a Bishop unless by all or at least by three Bishops of the Province and that one Bishop should not receive any person whether Clerk or Laick who stood excommunicated by another It was decreed likewise and that very sacredly to prevent all oppression that there should be a Provincial Synod held every year whither any who thought themselves injured by the Bishop might appeal and I cannot see why this wholsom Institution should be abolished by the Prelates of our Age unless it be because they dread the Censures of the pious and Orthodox It was decreed also that they who in time of Persecution fell away before they were brought to the Torture should from thenceforward continue five years among the Catechumens Finally it was decreed that no Bishop should upon the account of Ambition or Covetousness leave a smaller Church for a greater a Canon which is quite laid aside in our days wherein with eager Appetites like hungry Wolves they all gape after fatter Bishopricks using all importunities promises and bribes to get them The Constitutions of Sylvester himself were reckon'd these that follow viz. That the holy Oyl should be consecrated by the Bishop only that none but Bishops should have the power of Confirmation but a Presbyter might anoint any person baptized upon the occasion of imminent death That no Laick should commence a Suit against a Clergyman that a Deacon while he was doing his Office in the Church should use a Cope with Sleeves that no Clergyman should plead for others or himself before a Secular Judg. That a
a remote People were brought to the knowledg and Belief Christianity a certain Captive Woman through the Assistance and Persuasion of their King Bacurius At this time likewise the Authority of Antony the holy Hermite did much towards the Reformation of Mankind Helena did oftentimes both by Letter and Messengers recommend her self and her Sons to his Prayers he was by Countrey an Egyptian his manner of living severe and abstemious eating only Bread and drinking nothing but Water and never making any Meal but about Sun-set a man wholly rapt up in Contemplation His Life was written at large by Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria As for Sylvester himself having at seven Decembrian Ordinations made forty two Presbyters thirty six Deacons sixty five Bishops he dyed and was buried in the Coemetery of Priscilla in the Via Salaria three miles distant from the City on the last day of December He was in the Chair twenty three years ten months eleven days and by his death the See was vacant fifteen days MARCUS I. MARCUS a Roman Son of Priscus lived also in the Reign of Constantine the Great concerning whom Historians differ in their Writings For some affirm that Constantine towards the latter end of his Reign recalled Arius from banishment and became a favourer of his Heresy through the persuasion of his Sister who always insisted that it was nothing but Envy that had caused his Condemnation These I believe to be deceiv'd by the nearness of their names and so to ascribe that to the Father which was the act of the Son For it is not probable that that wise Prince who had all along before disapprov'd of the Arian opinion should now begin to incline to it in that part of his Age wherein men are usually most judicious and discerning They write moreover that Constantine was baptized by Eusebius an Arian Bishop of Nicomedia But that this is a mistake appears both from the Emperours great bounty towards the Orthodox and also from that stately Font upon that occasion erected with wonderful Magnificence at Rome at which after he had been successful in expelling the Tyrants he with his Son Crispus were instructed in the Faith and baptized by Sylvester They who are of the other opinion tell us that Constantine deferred so great an Affair till the time that he might come to the River Jordan in which he had a great desire to be baptized in imitation of our Saviour but that in an Expedition against the Parthians making Inroads upon Mesopotamia in the thirty first year of his Reign and of his Age the sixty sixth he died on the way at Nicomedia before he could reach the River Jordan for the purpose he design'd and was there baptized at the point of Death But let these men confound and perplex the matter as they please we have reason to believe according to the general opinion that Constantine who had so often overcome his Enemies under the Standard of the Cross who had built so many Churches to the honour of God who had been present at holy Councils and who had so often joyned in Devotion with the holy Fathers would desire to be fortified against the Enemy of mankind by the Character of Baptism as soon as ever he came to understand the excellency of our Religion I am not ignorant what Socrates and Zozomen and most other Writers say concerning it but I follow the Truth and that which is most agreeable to the Religion and Piety of this excellent Prince The vulgar story of his having been overspread with Leprosie and cured of it by Baptism with a previous fiction concerning a Bath of the blood of Infants before prescribed for his Cure I can by no means give credit to having herein the Authority of Socrates on my side who affirms that Constantine being now sixty five years of Age fell sick and left the City of Constantinople to go to the hot Baths for the recovery of his health but speaks not a word concerning any Leprosie Besides there is no mention made of it by any Writer either Heathen or Christian and certainly had there been any such thing Orosius Eutropius and others who have most accurately written the Memoirs of Constantine would not have omitted it One thing more concerning this great Prince is certain viz. That a Blazing Star or Comet of extraordinary magnitude appear'd some time before his Death Marcus applying himself to the care of Religion ordained that the Bishop of Ostia whose place it is to consecrate the Bishop of Rome might use a Pall. He appointed likewise that upon solemn days immediately after the Gospel the Nicene Creed should be rehears'd with a loud voice both by the Clergy and People He built also two Churches at Rome one in the Via Ardeatina in which he was buried the other within the City these Churches Constantine presented and endowed very liberally In the time of this Emperour and Bishop lived Juvencus a Spaniard of Noble birth and a Presbyter who in four Books translated almost verbatim into hexametre Verse the four Gospels he wrote also something concerning the Sacraments in the same kind of Metre Our Marcus having at two Decembrian Ordinations made twenty five Presbyters six Deacons twenty eight Bishops died and was buried in the Coemetery of Balbina in the Via Ardeatina Octob. the fifth He was in the Chair two years eight months twenty days and by his death the See was vacant twenty days IULIUS I. IULIUS a Roman the Son of Rusticus lived in the time of Constantius who sharing the Empire with his two Brethren Constantine and Constans reigned twenty four years Among the Successours of Constantine the Great is sometimes reckoned Delmatius Caesar his Nephew who was certainly a very hopeful young Gentleman but was soon cut off in a Tumult of the Soldiers though by the Permission rather than at the Command of Constantius In the mean time the Arian Heresie mightily prevailed being abetted by Constantius who compelled the Orthodox to receive Arius In the second year of his Reign therefore a Council was called at Laodicea a City of Syria or as others have it at Tyre Thither resort both the Catholicks and Arians and their daily debate was whether Christ should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same substance with the Father or no. Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria asserted it and press'd hard upon them with his Reasons and Arguments for it which when Arius found himself not able to answer he betook himself to Reproach and Calumny accusing the holy Man of Sorcery and to procure credit to his Charge producing out of a Box the pretended Arm of Arsenius whom he falsly asserted that Athanasius had kill'd and was wont to make use of that dead Arm in his Incantations Hereupon Athanasius was violently run down and condemned by the Emperour but making his escape he lay concealed in a dry Cistern for six years together without seeing the Sun but being at length
discovered by a certain Servant 〈◊〉 when his Enemies were just ready to seize him by Divine Admonition he 〈◊〉 to the Emperour Constans who by Menaces compelled his Brother Constantius to receive him again In the mean time Arius as he was going along in the streets attended with several Bishops and multitudes of people stepping aside to a place of Easement he voided his Entrails into the Privy and immediately died undergoing a Death agreeable to the filthiness of his Life Our Bishop Iulius having been very uneasie amidst this confusion of things at length after ten months banishment returns to Rome especially having receiv'd the news of the death of Constantine the younger who making War upon his Brother Constans and fighting unwarily near Aquileia was there slain But notwithstanding the present face of things Iulius desisted not from censuring the Oriental Bishops and especially the 〈◊〉 for calling a Council at Antioch without the command of the Bishop of Rome pretending it ought not to have been done without his Authority for the preheminence of the Roman above all other Churches To which they of the East returned this Ironical Answer That since the Christian Princes came from them to the West for this reason their Church ought to have the preference as being the fountain and spring from whence so great a blessing flowed But Iulius laying aside that Controversie built two Churches one near the Forum Romanum the other in that part of the City beyond Tyber He erected also three Coemeteries one in the Via Flaminia another in the Via Aurelia the third in the Via Portuensis He constituted likewise that no Clergyman should plead before any but an Ecclesiastical Judg. He appointed likewise that all matters belonging to the Church should be penned by the Notaries or the Protonotary whose Office it was to commit to writing all memorable Occurrences But in our age most of them not to say all are so ignorant that they are scarce able to write their own Names in Latin much less to transmit the actions of others Concerning their Morals I am ashamed to say any thing since Pandars and Parasites have been sometimes preferr'd to that Office During the Reign of Constantine and Constantius Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra was a man of considerable Note and wrote several things particularly against the Arians Asterius and Apollinarius wrote against him and accused him of the Sabellian Heresie as did likewise Hilarius whom while Marcellus is confuting his very Defence shews him to be of a different Opinion from Iulius and Athanasius He was opposed likewise by Basilius Bishop of Ancyra in his Book de Virginitate which Basilius together with Eustathius Bishop of Sebastia were the principal men of the Macedonian Party About this time also Theodorus Bishop of Heraclea in Thrace a person of terse and copious Elequence was a considerable Writer as particularly appears by his Commentaries upon S. Matthew S. John the Psalms and Epistles As for Iulius himself having at three Decembrian Ordinations made eighteen Presbyters three Deacons nine Bishops he died and was buried in the Via Aurelia in the Coemetery of Calepodius three miles from the City Aug. the 12th He sat in the Chair fifteen years two months six days and by his death the See was vacant twenty five days LIBERIUS I. LIBERIUS a Roman the Son of Augustus lived in the times of Constantius and Constans For Constantine as I said before engaging unadvisedly in a War against his Brother Constans was therein slain And Constans himself having fought with various success against the Persians being forced by a Tumult in the Army to joyn Battel at midnight was at last routed and designing afterwards to make an example of his seditious Soldiers he was by the fraud and treachery of Magnentius slain at a Town called Helena in the seventeenth year of his Reign and the thirtieth of his Age. Constans being dead the old Boutefeaus of the Arian Heresie began afresh to make head against Athanasius For in a Council held at Milain all those that favoured Athanasius were banish'd Moreover at the Council of Ariminum because the subtil 〈◊〉 Eastern Prelates were too hard at Argument and 〈◊〉 for the honest well-meaning Bishops of the West it was thought good to let fall the Debate for a time the Orientalist denied Christ to be of the same substance with the Father This because Bishop Liberius did at first oppose and because he refused to condemn Athanasius at the Emperours Command he was banish'd by the Arians and forced to absent from the City for the space of three years In which time the Clergy being assembled in a Synod in the place of Liberius made choice of Felix a Presbyter an excellent person and who immediately after his choice did in a Convention of forty eight Bishops excommunicate Ursatius and Valens two Presbyters for being of the Emperours opinion in Religion Hereupon at their request and importunity Constans recalls Liberius from Exile who being wrought upon by the kindness of the Emperour though he became as some tell us in all other things heretical yet in this particular Tenent he was on the Orthodox side that Hereticks returning to the Church ought not to be re-baptized 'T is said that Liberius did for some time live in the Coemetery of S. Agnes with Constantia the Emperour's Sister that so through her assistance and intercession he might procure a safe return to the City but she being a Catholick and apprehending he might have some ill design utterly refused to engage in it At length Constantius at the Instance of Usatius and Valens deposed Felix and restor'd Liberius Upon which there arose so fierce a Persecution that the 〈◊〉 and other Clergy were in many places murthered in their very Churches Some tell us that they were the Roman Ladies at a Cirque-shew who by their intreaties obtained of the Emperour this Restauration of Liberius Who though he were of the Arian opinion yet was very diligent in beautifying consecrated places and particularly the Coemetery of S. Agnes and the Church which he built and called by his own Name near the Market place of Livia During these calamitous times lived Eusebius Bishop of Emissa who wrote very learnedly and elegantly against the Jews Gentiles and Novatians Triphyllius also Bishop of Ledra or Leutheon in Cyprus wrote a large and exact Commentary upon the Canticles Moreover Donatus an African from whom the Sect of the Donatists are denominated was so industrious in writing against the Catholick Doctrine that he infected almost all Africa and 〈◊〉 with his false Opinions He affirmed the Son to be inferiour to the Father and the holy Spirit inferiour to the Son and rebaptized all those whom he could pervert to his own Sect. Several of his heretical Writings were extant in the time of S. Hierom and particularly one Book of the Holy Spirit agreeing exactly with the Arian Doctrine And that the Arians might neglect no ill Arts of promoting their
undertook to appoint Felix an Arian to be 〈◊〉 in the room of Liberius this S. Hierom tells us though I much marvel at it since as we have already said it is evident that Felix was a Catholick and a constant Opposer of the Arians At length after Felix had done all that in him lay for the propagation and defence of the true Faith he was seized by his Enemies and together with many other Orthodox Believers was slain and buried in a Church which himself had built in the Via Aurelia two miles from the City November the 20th He was in the Chair only one year four months two days through the means of a Sedition raised by Liberius whom I have inserted into the number of Bishops more upon the Authority of Damasus than for any deserts of his own DAMASUS I. DAMASUS a Spaniard Son of Antonius lived in the Reign of Julian Who was certainly an extraordinary person if we regard his fitness either for Civil or Military affairs He had his Education under Eubulus the Sophist and Libanius the 〈◊〉 and made such proficiency in the liberal Arts that no Prince was his Superiour in them He had a capacious Memory and a happy Eloquence was bountiful towards his Friends just to Foreiners and very desirous of Fame But all these qualities were at last sullied by his Persecution of the Christians which yet he managed more craftily than others had done for he did not persecute at first with Force and Torture but by Rewards and Honours and Caresses and Persuasions he seduc'd greater numbers of them than if he had exercised any manner of Cruelties against them He forbad the Christians the study of Heathen Authors and denied access to the publick Schools to any but those who worship'd the Gentile Gods Indeed he granted a Dispensation to one person named 〈◊〉 a most learned man to teach the Christians publickly but he with disdain refused to accept of that Indulgence He prohibited the conferring Military 〈◊〉 upon any but Heathens and ordered that no Christians should be admitted to the Government or Jurisdiction of Provinces upon pretence that the Laws of their Religion forbad them the use of their own Swords He openly opposed and banished Athanasius at the instigation of his 〈◊〉 and South-sayers with whose Arts he was wonderfully pleased they complaining to him that Athanasius was the cause why their Profession was in no greater esteem At a certain time as he was sacrificing to Apollo at Daphne in the Suburbs of Antioch near the Castalian Fountain and no Answers were given him to those things concerning which he enquired expostulating with the Priests about the cause of that silence the Devils replyed that the Sepulchre of Babylas the Martyr was too near and therefore no responses could be given Hereupon Julian commanded the Galileans for so he called the Christians to remove the Martyrs Tomb farther off This they applyed themselves to with wondrous exultation and chearfulness but rehearsing at the same time that of the Psalmist 〈◊〉 be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols They hereby so 〈◊〉 the rage of Julian that he forthwith commanded multitudes of them to be put to death which he did not before intend I much wonder that Julian should act after this manner having had before experience of the vanity of diabolical Arts. For entring once into a Cave in company with a Magician and being sorely 〈◊〉 when he heard the Demons howl in the surprize he used the sign of the Cross at which the Demons immediately 〈◊〉 Upon this telling his Companion that certainly there must needs be something miraculous in the Sign of the Cross the Sorcerer made him this Answer That indeed the Demons themselves did dread that kind of punishment By this slight account of the matter Julian became more 〈◊〉 than before so strangely was he addicted to Magical delusions though he had formerly to decline the displeasure of Constantius seignedly embraced the Christian Religion publickly read the holy Scriptures and built a Church in honour to the Martyrs Moreover this Emperour on pur pose to spite the Christians permitted the Jews to rebuild their Temple at 〈◊〉 upon their declaring that they could not sacrifice in any other place By which concession they were so mightily 〈◊〉 up that they used all their endeavours to raise it more magnificent than the former But while they were carrying on the Work the new Fabrick fell down in an Earthquake by the fall of which multitudes of the Jews were crush'd to death and the Prophesie a second time verified That there should not be left one stone upon another On the following day the very Iron Tools with which the Workmen wrought were consumed by fire from Heaven a Miracle by which many of the Jews were so wrought upon that they became Proselytes to Christianity After this Julian undertakes an Expedition against the Persians of whom he had Intelligence that they were endeavouring a Change in the Government but before he set forth he spared not to threaten what havock he would make among the 〈◊〉 at his return But having vanquished the Enemy and returning Conquerour with his Army though in some disorder he died of a Wound given him near 〈◊〉 Whether he received it from any of his own men or from the Enemy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us that he was pierced through with an Arrow sent no 〈◊〉 knew from whence as also that when he was just expiring with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lift up to 〈◊〉 he cried out Thou 〈◊〉 overcome me O 〈◊〉 for so in contempt he was wont to call our Saviour the 〈◊〉 or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon which was grounded that Answer of a young 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 the Sophist asking him by way of derision What he thought the Carpenters Son was doing To whom the youth replyed That he was making a Coffin for Julian a witty and Prophetick Reply for soon after his saying so Julians dead body was coffin'd up and brought away We are told that this Emperour had once been in holy Orders but that afterwards he fell away from the Faith for which reason he is commonly call'd the Apostate He died in the 〈◊〉 month of his Reign and in the thirty second year of his Age. Him Jovinian succeeded who being voted Emperor by the Army refused to own that Title till they should all with a loud Voice confess themselves to be Christians This they having done and he having commended them for it he took the Government upon him and freed his Army out of the hands of the barbarous with no other composition but that of leaving Nisibis and part of Mesopotamia free to Sapores the 〈◊〉 King But in the eighth month of his Reign whether from some crudity upon his stomach as some will have it or from the faint and suffocating steam of burning Coals as others or by what means soever certain it is that he died suddenly Damasus being chosen to the Pontificate was
Manichees were condemned Moreover the Books of the Manichees were publickly burnt and the pride and heretical Opinions of Dioscorus discountenanced and suppress'd In the mean time Valentinian being treacherously murdered Maximus usurps the Empire and against her will marries Eudoxia the Widow of Valentinian Upon this occasion the Vandals being called out of Afric Genseric being their Leader force their entrance into the City of Rome throw the Body of Maximus who had been kill'd in the Tumult by one Ursus a Roman Soldier into the River Tyber plunder and burn the City pillage the Churches and refuse to hearken to Bishop Leo begging them what ever spoils they carried away only to spare the City it self and the Temples However on the fourteenth day from their entrance into Rome they left it and taking away with them Eudoxia and her Daughter with a great number of other Captives they return'd into Africa Leo being now very intent upon making good the damages sustain'd from this People prevailed upon Demetria a pious Virgin to build upon her own ground in the Via Latina three miles from the City a Church to S. Stephen and did the same himself in the Via Appia in honour to S. Cornelius The Churches which had been in any part ruined he repaired and those of the sacred Vessels belonging to them which had been bruised and broken he caused to be mended and those which had been taken away to be made anew Moreover he built three Apartments in the Churches of S. John S. Peter and S. Paul appointed certain of the Roman Clergy whom he called Cubicularii to keep and take charge of the Sepulchres of the Apostles built a Monastery near S. Peters introduced into the Canon of the Mass the Clause Hoc sanctum sacrificium this holy Sacrifice c. and ordained that no Recluse should be capable of receiving the Consecrated Veils unless it did appear that she had preserv'd her Chastity spotless for the space of forty years But while the good man was employed in these things there started up of a sudden the Heresie of the Acephali so called because they were a company of foolish undisciplin'd Schismaticks or if it be not a quibble because they wanted both Brains and Head These men decried the Council of Chalcedon denied the propriety of two Substances in Christ and asserted that there could be but one Nature in one Person But our Leo abundantly confuted their absurd Doctrines in his elegant and learned Epistles written to the Faithful upon that Argument Men of Note in his time were Paulinus Bishop of Nola Prosper of Aquitain a learned man and Mamercus Bishop of Vienne who as 't is said was the first that appointed processionary Supplications or Litanies upon the occasion of the frequent Earthquakes with which Gaul was at that time very much afflicted To conclude Leo having ordained eighty one Presbyters thirty one Deacons and eighty one Bishops died and was buried in the Vatican near S. Peter April the 10th He sat in the Chair twenty one years one month thirteen days and by his death the See was vacant eight days HILARIUS I. HILARIUS a Sardinian the Son of Crispinus continued in the Chair till the time of the Emperour Leo Who being chosen Emperour upon the death of Marcianus creates his Son of his own name Augustus During his Reign the Roman State suffered very much by reason of certain Ambitious men who endeavoured to get the Government into their own hands And Genseric the Vandal King being tempted with so fair an opportunity sails out of Afrique into Italy with design to gain the Empire for himself Leo having intelligence hereof sends Basilicus a Patrician with a mighty Fleet to the Assistance of Anthemius the Emperour of the West These two with joint force and courage meet Genseric near Populonia and force him to an Engagement at Sea in which being routed with a great slaughter of his men he was glad to make an inglorious flight into Africa again In the mean time Ricimer a Patrician having on the Mountains of Trent conquer'd Biorgus King of the Alanes and being puff'd up with that Victory was purposed to attempt the City of Rome had not 〈◊〉 Bishop of Pavia made him and Anthemius Friends Hilary notwithstanding this confused state of things did not neglect the care of Ecclesiastical Affairs For he ordained that no Bishop should chuse his own Successour a Constitution which belongs as well to all other Ecclesiastical Degrees as that of Episcopacy he also made a Decretal which he dispersed throughout Christendom and wrote certain Epistles concerning the Catholick Faith by which the three Synods of Nice Ephesus and Chalcedon were confirmed and the Hereticks Eutyches Nestorius and Dioscorus with their Adherents condemned In the Baptistery of the Lateran Church he built three Oratories which were adorned with Gold and precious Stones their Gates of Brass covered with wrought Silver those he dedicated to S. John Baptist S. John Evangelist and S. Cross. In the last of these was reposited some of the wood of the Cross nclosed in Gold and set with Jewels and a Golden Agnus upon a Pillar of Onyx He added moreover the Oratory of S. Stephen built two Libraries adjoyning and founded a Monastery I shall not here recite the almost numberless Donations which he made to several Churches of Gold Silver Marble and Jewels Some tell us that Germanus Bishop of Auxerre and Lupus Bishop of Troyes lived in his time both great supporters of the Christian cause which was now very much undermined by the endeavours of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Pelagians Gennadius also Bishop of Constantinople did great service to the Church by the integrity of his Life and the excellency of his Parts and Learning During the Pontificate of our Hilary Victorinus of Aquitain a famous Arithmetician reduced the Easter account to the course of the Moon far out-doing Eusebius and Theophilus who had attempted it before him And among those that flourished at this time by some is reckoned Merline the famous English Bard concerning whom we are told more than enough As for Hilary himself having performed the duty of a good Bishop both in building and adorning of Churches and also in Teaching Admonishing Censuring and giving Alms where need required and having also ordained twenty five Presbyters five Deacons twenty two Bishops he died and was buried in the Sepulchre of S. Laurence near the body of Bishop Sixtus He sat in the Chair seven years three months ten days and by his death the See was vacant ten days SIMPICIUS I. SIMPLICIUS Son of Castinus born at Tivoli was Bishop during the Reigns of Leo the second and Zeno. For Leo the first falling sick makes choice of Leo the second Son of Zeno Isauricus and his own Nephew by Ariadne his Sister to be his Successour who not long after being seiz'd by a violent Distemper and apprehending himself to be at the point of death leaves the Empire to his
Father Zeno. In the mean time Odoacer invading Italy with a great Army of his Heruli and Turingians conquers and takes Prisoner Orestes a Noble Roman near Pavia and then causes him to be put to death in the sight of his whole Army at Placentia Hereupon Zeno pitying the calamitous state of Italy speedily sends Theodoric King of the Goths a man whom he had before very much esteem'd with a mighty force to oppose him who having in a pitch'd Battel not far from Aquileia near the River Sontio overcome Odoacer's Captains and having oftentimes the like success against Odoacer himself at length he besieg'd him three years together in Ravenna and reduc'd him to that extremity that with the advice of John the Bishop of that City he consented to admit Theodoric as his Partner in the Empire But the day following both Odoacer and his Son were contrary to promise and agreement slain by which means Theodorick possess'd himself of the Government of all Italy without any opposition In the mean time Simplicius dedicated the Churches of S. Stephen the Protomartyr on Mons Caolius and that of S. Andrew the Apostle not far from S. Maries the Great in which there appear to this day some footsteps of Antiquity which I have many a time beheld with sorrow for their neglect to whose charge such noble piles of building now ready to fall are committed That this Church was of his founding appears by certain Verses wrought in Mosaick work which I have seen in it He dedicated also another Church to S. Stephen near the Licinian Palace where the Virgins body had been buried He also appointed the Weekly-waitings of the Presbyters in their turns at the Churches of S. Peter S. Paul and S. Laurence the Martyr for the receiving of Penitents and baptizing of Proselytes Moreover he divided the City among the Presbyters into five Precincts or Regions the first of S. Peter 2. S. Paul 3. S. Laurence 4. S. John Lateran 5. S. Maria Maggiore He also ordained that no Clergy-man should hold a Benefice of any Lay-man a Constitution which was afterwards confirm'd by Gregory and other Popes At this time the Bishop of Rome's Primacy was countenanced by the Letters of Acacius Bishop of Constantinople and Timothy a learned man in which they beg him to censure Peter Mog Bishop of Alexandria an assertour of the Eutychian Heresie Which was accordingly done but with Proviso that he should be receiv'd into the Communion of the Church again if within a certain time prefix'd he retracted his Errours Some say that during his Pontificate lived Remigius Bishop of Reims who as History tells us baptized Clodoveus the French King Now also Theodorus Bishop 〈◊〉 Syria wrote largely against Eutyches and compiled ten Books of 〈◊〉 History in imitation of Eusebius Coesariensis At this time almost all Egypt was infected with the heretical Doctrine of Dioscorus concerning whom we have already spoken and Huneric King of the Vandals a Zealot 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Faction raised a Persecution against the Orthodox Christians in Afrique Upon this Eudocia Niece to Theodosius a Catholick Lady and Wife to Huneric left her heretical Husband upon pretence of a Pilgrimage to Hierusalem to perform a Vow which she had made but upon so long a Journey the effect of which prov'd intolerable to the tenderness of her sex she there soon died 'T is said that at this time were found the bones of the Prophet Elisha which were carried into Alexandria as also the body of S. Barnabas the Apostle together with the Gospel of S. Matthew written with his own hand As for Simplicius himself having by his Constitutions and Donations very muchpromoted the interest of the Church of Rome and having at several Ordinations made fifty eight Presbyters eleven Deacons eighty six Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church on the second day of March He was inthe Chair fifteen years one month seven days and by his death the See was vacant twenty six days FELIX III. FELIX by birth a Roman Son of Felix a Presbyter was Bishop from the time of Odoacer whose power in Italy lasted fourteen years till the Reign of Theodoric Who though he made Ravenna the seat of the Empire yet the City of Rome was much indebted to his Bounty For he re-built the Sepulchre of Octavius exhibited shews to the people according to ancient custom repaired the publick Buildings and Churches and indeed neglected nothing that became a good and generous Prince And to confirm and establish the Empire he married Andefleda Daughter of Clodoveus King of France and gave in marriage his Sister to Huneric King of the Vandals and one of his Daughters to Alaric King of the Visigoths and the other to King Gondibate Felix now fully understanding that Peter Mog the Eutychian who had been banished for his heretical Opinions upon the complaint and at the desire of Acacius was by the same Acacius recall'd from Exile suspected that there was a private Agreement between them and therefore excommunicated them both by the authority of the Apostolick See which was confirm'd in a Synod of the Orthodox But three years after the Emperour Zeno testifying that they were penitent Felix sends two Bishops Messenus and Vitalis with full power upon enquiry into the truth of their repentance to absolve them These Legates arriving at the City Heraclea were soon corrupted with bribes and neglected to act according to their Commission Whereupon Felix out of a just indignation having first called a Council upon that occasion excommunicates them too as Simoniacks and betrayers of the trust reposed in them Though Messenus who confess'd his fault and begg'd time to evince the sincerity of his repentance had it accordingly granted him The same Felix also built the Church of S. Agapetus near that of S. Laurence and ordained that Churches should be consecrated by none but Bishops 'T is said that at this time Theodorus a Greek Presbyter wrote against the Hereticks a Book of the Harmony of the Old and new Testament and some reckon among the men of Note in this Age the Learned and famous Divine John Damascene who wrote the Book of Sentences imitating therein Gregory Nazianzene Gregory Nyssene and Didymus of Alexandria and compiled also certain Treatises of Medicin in which he gives an account of the Causes and Cure of Diseases Our Felix having at two Decembrian Ordinations made twenty eight Presbyters five Deacons thirty Bishops died and was buried in the Church of S. Paul He sat in the Chair eight years eleven months seventeen days and by his death the See was vacant five days GELASIUS I. GELASIUS an African Son of Valerius was Bishop of Rome at the time when Theodoric made War upon his Wives Father Clodoveus the French King for that he had slain his Daughter's Husband Alaric King of the Visigoths and seiz'd Gascoigne They were both allied to him by marriage but the cause of Alaric seem'd to him the more just
the determination of the Apostolick See unless an account were first given them why Acacius was Excommunicated But Justine soon forc'd them out of the Church and City too and Hormisda dealt in the same manner with the Manichees who began to spring up afresh in Rome whose Books he caused to be burn'd before the Gates of S. John Lateran About this time Transamund King of the Vandals dying in Afric his Son 〈◊〉 whom he had by the Captive Daughter of Valentinian succeeded him in the Kingdom He inherited none of his Fathers Errours but following the Counsel of his religious Mother re-call'd all the Catholicks whom Transamund had banish'd and permitted them the free exercise of their Religion At this time also several rich Presents were sent to Rome for the Ornament of the Churches there by Clodoveus King of France and Justine the Emperour King Theodoric also richly adorn'd the Church of S. Peter nor was Hormisda himself behind these Princes in bounty and munificence to the Church Having setled things according to his mind and ordained twenty one Presbyters fifty five Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church August the 6th in the Consulship of Maximus He sat in the Chair nine years eighteen days and by his death the See was vacant six days JOHN I. IOHN by birth a Tuscan Son of Constantius was in the Chair from the Consulship of Maximus to that of Olybrius in the time of King Theodoric and the Emperour Justine Who out of his great zeal for the Orthodox Faith and that he might utterly extinguish the name of Hereticks banish'd the Arians and gave their Churches to the Catholicks This was so highly resented by Theodoric that he sends John himself with Theodorus and the two Agapeti his Ambassadours to Justine to advise him to restore the Arians or upon his refusal to let him know that he would pull down all the Catholick Churches in Italy These Ambassadours were at first very kindly and honourably received But having given an account of their Embassie and finding Justine wholly averse to grant what they desired they betook themselves to Tears and Prayers humbly beseeching him to prevent the ruin of Italy and all the Orthodox Christians in it by which means the good Prince was prevailed upon to recall the Arians and to grant them a Toleration Some write that it was in this Bishops time that Symmachus and Boethius were brought back from Exile imprison'd and slain by the cruelty and rage of Theodoric However certain it is that they were put to death by Theodoric's order and it matters not much whether it were in the Pontificate of Hormisda or John Which John returning from Constantinople Theodoric was so highly incens'd against him for his agreement with the Emperour Justine both in Faith and manners that it was a chance that he had not taken away his life immediately but throw him into Prison he did at Ravenna where through stench and nastiness and want of necessary provision the good man at length died A Cruelty for which the divine Vengeance sorely punished Theodoric not long after for he died suddenly of a fit of an Apoplexy and his Soul if you will take the word of a devout Hermit who reported it was cast into the flames of the Island Lipara Theodoric was succeeded in the Kingdom by his Daughter Amalasuntha with her Son Athalaric whom she had by her Husband Eucherius A Woman who with a prudence above her Sex rectified her Fathers ill Decrees restored the confiscated Estates of Boethius and Symmachus to their Children and caused her Son to be instructed in all kinds of good Literature though she were herein opposed by the Goths who cried out that their King was not to be bred a Scholar but a Soldier Much about this time died Justine being very Aged leaving the Empire to his Sisters Son Justinian and Clodoveus King of France leaving four Sons his Successors in that Kingdon Persons of Note and esteem at this time were Benedict of Nursia who setled among the Italians the Rules and Canons of the Monastick life and Bridget a devout Virgin of Scotland and John Presbyter of Antioch who wrote much against those that held that Christ should be worshipped in one Nature only To these Isidore adds one Cyprignius a Spanish Bishop who wrote elegantly upon the Apocalypse Our John before he went to Constantinople had repaired three Coemeteries namely that of Nereus and Achilleus in the Via Ardeatina that of the Martyrs SS Felix and Adauctus and that of Priscilla He also adorn'd the Altar of S. Peters with Gold and Jewels He likewise brought with him from Constantinople a Paten of Gold and a Chalice of Gold set with precious stones the Presents of the Emperour Justine but these I suppose to have been lost together with his life At several Ordinations he consecrated fifteen Bishops 'T is said that his Body was brought from Ravenna to Rome and buried in S. Peter's Church July the 27th Olybrius being then Consul He sat in the Chair two years eight months and by his death the Seewas vacant fifty eight days FELIX IV. FELIX the fourth a Sammite the Son of Costorius lived in the time of the Emperour Justinian Whose General Belisarius was victorious over the Persians and passing into Afric by his singular courage and conduct subdued and almost quite rooted out the Vandals whose King Gilimer he took Prisoner and brought him home with him in Triumph About this time Amalasuntha having a long time lived very uneasily with her malecontented Goths and having buried her wayward and unruly Son Athalaric associates her kinsman Theodatus in the Government This Theodatus was so great a Proficient in Greek and Latin Learning that he wrote an elegant History of his own times and was throughly skilled in the Platonick Philosophy And though he were not naturally of an active Martial temper yet at the desire of Amalasuntha he undertook a War against the Burgundians and Alemanni and manag'd it very succcesfully Felix in the mean while being careful of the affairs of the Church excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople for Heresie and built in the Via Sacra near the Forum Romanum the Church of S. Cosmus and Damianus as appears from the Verses yet remaining wrought in Mosaick work He also re-built the Church of S. Saturninus in the Via Salaria which had been consumed by fire Some write that in this Age lived Cassiodorus who while he was a Senator wrote several things in Politicks and when he became a Monk composed a Comment upon the Psalms 'T is said also that Priscian of Caesarea the famous Grammarian now wrote his Book of Grammar Arator likewise a Sub-Deacon of Rome translated the Gospels into Hexameter Verse and Justinian Bishop of Valence was had in great esteem for what he preach'd and wrote concerning the Christian Faith As for Felix himself having ordained fifty five Presbyters four Deacons twenty nine Bishops he
not been driven from its Walls by the great Rains which sell so violently and incessantly and made such an Inundation that men look'd upon it as a second Noah's Floud This was the only cause why Pelagius was made Bishop of Rome without the consent of the Emperour the City being so closely besieged that none could pass to know his pleasure therein For at this time the Roman Clergie's Election of a Bishop was not valid unless they had the Emperour's Approbation Hereupon Gregory a Deacon a man of great Piety and Learning was sent to Constantinople to appease the Emperour where having effected what he came for he neglected not to employ his time and parts but both wrote Books of Morals upon Job and also at a Disputation in the presence of the Emperour himself he so basfled Eutychius Bishop of Constantinople that he was forced to retract what he had written in a Book of his concerning the Resurrection in which he asserted that our Bodies in that glory of the Resurrection should become more thin and subtile than the Wind or Air and so not tangible Which is contrary to that of our Saviour Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have As for Pelagius having at the request of the Citizens of Rome recalled Gregory turned his Fathers House into an Hospital for poor old men and entirely built the Coemetery of Hermes the Martyr and the Church of Laurence the Martyr he died of the Pestilence which at that time was very epidemical throughout Europe after he had been in the Chair ten years two months ten days and was buried in S. Peter's in the 〈◊〉 The See was then vacant six months twenty eight days GREGORY I. GREGORT a Roman Son of Gordianus one of the Senato rian Order was against his will unanimously chosen Bishop of Rome Anno Dom. 590. Now because as I have already said the consent of the Emperour was required herein he dispatches Messengers with Letters 〈◊〉 Mauritius that he would not suffer this Election of the Clergy and People of Rome to stand good These Letters were intercepted and torn by the 〈◊〉 and others written by which the Emperour was requested to confirm him who was by universal suffrage thus chosen There could nothing be more pleasing and acceptable to the Emperour than the News of this Choice for the conversation of Gregory while he was at Constantinople had been very grateful to him and moreover he had Christned his Son Mauritius therefore speedily sends word back to Rome that he did confirm the Election of Gregory and that in such a 〈◊〉 state of things they should compel that holy man to undertake the Government of the Church He therefore not consulting his own inclination but the 〈◊〉 of Mankind and the honour of God which as he was a most devout and religious man he had ever preferred before all other things without any regard to Riches or Pleasures or Ambition or Power takes the burden of the Pontificate upon him And he behaved himself so well in it that no one of his Successours down to our times has been his Equal much less Superiour either for Sanctity of Life or for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in managing Affairs or for his Learning and Writings He composed a Book of the Sacraments wrote Commentaries upon 〈◊〉 and as I have already said upon Job and Homilies upon the Gospels four Books in Dialogue and that which he called the Pastoral to 〈◊〉 Bishop of Ravenna concerning the way of governing the Church Moreover he introduced several Rites and made several Additions to the Offices of the Roman Church and particularly he first instituted the greater Litanies or 〈◊〉 and appointed a great part of the Stations And that the good man might not in any thing be wanting to the Church he held in S. Peter's a Synod of twenty four Bishops wherein he took away many things which might prove pernicious and added many which might be beneficial to Religion He also 〈◊〉 into England Auguscine Melitus and John and with these divers other Monks all persons of approved lives by whose Preaching the 〈◊〉 were then first entirely converted to Christianity By his means likewise the Goths returned to the Union of the Catholick Church We are told by some Writers that Gregory sent his Dialogues concerning Morals to Theudelinda Queen of the Lombards by the reading of which she might smooth and polish the rugged temper of her Husband 〈◊〉 and bring him to a better sense of Religion and Morality She was an excellent Lady and a zealous Christian and not only built the Church of S. John Baptist at Monza a Town ten miles distant from Milain but also furnished it with Vessels of Gold and liberally endowed it T is said that at the time when 〈◊〉 was put to death by his Father Levigild King of the Goths because he professed the Catholick Faith the 〈◊〉 Coat of Christ which fell by Lot to one of the Soldiers was found in the City Zaphat laid up in a Marble Chest there Thomas being then Bishop of Jerusalem John Bishop of Constantinople and Gregory Bishop of Antioch In the mean time Mauritius having in 〈◊〉 and Terra di Lavoro by his General Romanus the Exarch gain'd the better of the Lombards who from a confidence grounded upon their former successes were now degenerated into all manner of Vice makes a Law that no person who had listed himself in the Roman Army should be at liberty to withdraw and take upon him a Religious life till either the War were ended or the man himself 〈◊〉 or disabled Gregory being moved hereat admonishes him not to oppose the Religion of that God by whose bounty he had been raised from a very mean condition to the highest Degree of Dignity Moreover John Bishop of Constantinople having in a Synod which he held procured himself to be styled the Oecumenical i. e. Universal Bishop and Mauritius hereupon requiring Gregory to yield obedience to John He being a person of great Courage and Constancy returns answer That the Power of binding and loosing was committed to Peter and his Successours not to the Bishops of Constantinople and therefore warns him to desist from provoking the wrath of God against himself by being too 〈◊〉 in sowing Dissention in the Church But Mauritius not content with the mischief he had done already re-calls his Soldiers which were in Italy and encourages the Lombards to assault the Romans without any regard to the League they had entred into with them Hereupon Agilulphus moving from Lombardy and laying waste all Tuscany through which he passed invests and very much annoys the City of Rome one whole year in which time Severus Bishop of Aquileia becoming Heretical was the occasion of many Evils For after his Death the Patriarchate of Aquileia was divided into two Agilulphus King of the Lombards constituting John of Aquileia and our Gregory Candianus of Grado Bishops to the people of Friuli But Agilulphus
Chief Good of Famous Men of Grammar and Etymology an History from Adam to the times of Heraclius the Lives of several Saints the History of the Lombards and a short Cosmography Some say that this Isidore was a German though the Spaniards lay claim to him but whatever Countrey-man he were 't is certain that he was a most excellent person both for his great Learning and his greater Sanctity As for Deus-dedit the time of whose Pontificate besides what we have already mentioned was rendred remarkable by an Earthquake and a Scab so near approaching to a Leprosie that it deformed men beyond each others knowledg he died in the third year and twenty third day of his being in the Chair and was buried in the Church of S. Peter November the 8th By his Death the See was vacant one month sixteen days BONIFACE V. BONIFACE the fifth a Campanian his Father's name John was chosen Pope at the time when Eleutherius a Patrician being sent by Heraclius to Rome and having reveng'd the Death of John the late Exarch of Ravenna usurped the Kingdom of Italy But in his way to Rome he was put to Death by his own Soldiers and his Head sent to Constantinople Upon which Isaacius of Constantinople another Patrician was made Exarch in his stead Theudelinda now after the Death of her Husband Adoaldus governing together with her Son the Kingdom of the Lombards very prudently and justly maintained a Peace between her People and the Italians for ten years together made several Presents and Donations to several Churches and endowed them with Lands for the better maintenance of the Clergy belonging to them In the twelfth year of Heraclius Mahomet an Arabian as some will have him or as others a Persian descended of a Noble Family his Father a Gentile his Mother a Jewess was the Author of so much mischief to the Christian State that I am afraid lest his Sect should utterly extinguish the Remains of Christianity especially in our Age wherein we are grown listless and unactive and stand still tamely exspecting our own Ruin His Sect prevails and encreases now more than ever All Asia and Africa and a great part of Europe is subject to Mahometan Princes the Turks press bard upon us by Sea and Land that they may ferret us like Coneys out of these Burrows in Europe In the mean time we sit idly looking upon one another as if the whole State of Christianity were not at all in danger The Clergy expect that so important and necessary a War should be undertaken by the Laity The Laity expect that the Clergy should expend their Money to bear the Charge of a War for the Defence of Religion and not put it to worse Uses as most of them are wont to do laying out their Stock gotten by Alms and Martyr's Bloud upon huge large Vessels of massy Gold and Silver while themselves in the mean time carry it arrogantly towards Men are contemners of God whom they serve only for Gain and are not at all solicitous for the time to come But I return to Mahomet a man of so wily a Temper and so sharp a Wit that having long conversed among the Christians and acquainted himself with all the Sects that had been before him he introduced a new kind of Superstition which has as we see almost rooted out Christianity Moreover having got together a great Army of Arabians he was so hardy as to encroach upon the Borders of the Roman Empire but Heraclius soon put a stop to his Motion having by Promises and Bribes prevailed with his Soldiers to make a Revolt from him As for Pope Boniface he was a person of singular Humanity Clemency and obliging Deportment towards all men and neglected no part of the Duty of a good Bishop He ordained that Criminals who fled for Refuge to Churches should not be taken thence by force that the Acolythi should not meddle with the Reliques of the Martyrs that belonging to Presbyters and Sub-deacons and that in every place those who were guilty of sacriledg should be Excommunicated He built and dedicated the Coemetery of S. Nicomedes and was in an extraordinary manner liberal and munificent towards those of the Clergy who led exemplary Lives At this time Gallus a Scholar of S. Columbanus lived so devoutly that he deserved to be canonized a Saint even in his life-time Eustachius the Abbat followed his Example and so did S. Aurea in honour to whom Eligius built a Nunnery 'T is said also that at this time one Basilius was very famous for his Life and Learning and in both equal to Isidore himself Our Boniface having been in the Chair five years ten days died and was buried in the Church of S. Peter By his death See was vacant thirteen days HONORIUS I. HONORIUS a Campanian Son of Petronius a man of Consular Dignity entred upon the Pontificate at the time when Theudelinda died and her Son Adoaldus was deposed Arioaldus being made King in his stead At which time Heraclius who had been victorious over the Persians was very urgent to have all the Jews who were Subjects to the Empire baptized Hereupon the Saracens and Arabians taking up Arms Anno Dom. 623. gain'd such a Victory over Heraclius's Army that they rendred that successful Man the most unfortunate This was done under the Conduct of Mahomet who pretending himself to be the great Prophet of God and deluding the Asians and Africans by Magical Arts put such vigour into the people who embraced his new Religion that he was very near to have ruin'd the Empire having taken Alexandria and several important Cities of Syria and Cilicia He had for his followers the Saracens so called from Sarah Abraham's lawful Wife as if they were the only legitimate Successours and Heirs of the divine Promise The crafty man herein followed the Example of Jeroboam who prescrib'd distinct Rules of Worship to his Tribes that they might not be subject to the Jewish Government The same also afterwards did the Greeks who dissented from the Catholicks not only for the sake of Religion but Empire upon the score of which they followed the Errours of the Nestorians Jacobites and Ebionites But in the end their pertinacy reduc'd them to that pass that their Religion and Government were dissolved together and they brought into the vilest servitude But Mahomet as we see in the Alcoran that he might separate his Disciples as far as possible from Christianity in composing his Laws followed the Example of several Hereticks and especially the Nestorians collecting here and there and reducing into one Body many things repugnant to the Law of Moses and the Gospel 'T is said that at this time Heraclius distrusting his own strength struck up an inglorious Peace with the Saracens and that being impos'd upon by the Arts of Pyrrhus Patriarch of Constantinople and Cyrus Bishop of Alexandria he fell off to the Heresie of the Monothelites a Sect so called from their asserting one Will
Britains yet despising worldly Greatness he became for some time an Hermit and died at length in an obscure Village Pope John having been in the Chair one year nine months nine days died and was buried in the Church of S. Peter October the 12th The See was then vacant one month thirteen days THEODORUS I. THEODORUS a Grecian Son of Theodorus a Bishop born at Jerusalem was no sooner in the Chair but he applyed himself like a good Bishop to all those things which he thought might tend to the advancement of the Christian Religion being a person obliging to all men but extraordinarily bountiful to the poor At this time Heraclius died of a Dropsie in the thirtieth year of his Reign having a little before made Theodorus surnamed Calliopa his Exarch in Italy in the place of Isaacius deceased Heraclius was succeeded by his Son Constantine who in the fourth month after his coming to the Empire was poisoned by the procurement of his Step-mother Martina and her Son Heracleon whom it is said Pyrrhus the Patriarch prompted to commit that Villany Heracleon upon the Death of his Brother takes upon him the Government at that time particularly when Cyrus Sergius and Pyrrhus reviving the Heresie of the Acephali maintained the Opinion of one only Nature in Christ one Operation and one Will. Among these Pyrrhus hearing of the Death of Heraclius and being very desirous to return out of Asrica whither he had been banished into his own Countrey coming to Rome and making an hypocritical Retractation of his Errours was restored by Theodorus and received from him a Form of Belief But he lost his Life before he could accomplish the end which he sought to compass by such ill means For the Senate and people of Constantinople being acquainted with the cause of Constantine's Death first seize Martina and Heracleon and having cut off his Nose and cut out her Tongue banish them both then apprehending Pyrrhus who endeavoured to make his escape they put him to Death Constantius the Son of Constantine who had been thus treacherously murdered they create Emperour and instead of Pyrrhus make Paul their Bishop whom yet Theodorus deprived for being in the like kind Heretical his pertinacy therein being favoured by Constantius who was unadvisedly fallen into the same Heresie But the Pope laying aside this Controversie and applying himself to other cares caused the bones of the Martyrs Primus and Felicianus to be removed out of a sandy Grotto in the Via Nomentana to Rome where he reposited them in the Church of S. Stephen the Proto-martyr sparing no cost in Ornaments both of Silver and Gold upon their Tomb. He also built and adorn'd a Church in the Via Flaminia as likewise two Oratories one near the Lateran Church dedicated to S. Sebastian the other in the Via Ostiensis to Eupolus the Martyr Having finished these things and been in the Chair six years five months eighteen days he died and was buried in S. Peter's May the 14th The See was then vacant fifty two days MARTINUS I. MARTINUS the first born at Todi Son of Fabricius succeeding Theodorus forthwith dispatches his Legates to Constantinople to admonish Paul to quit his Errours and at length to return into the way of Truth But he not only disobeyed the Popes Commands but also being countenanced therein by Constantius offered great indignities to these Legates and then banish'd them into several Islands Martinus highly resenting this usage calls a Synod of an hundred and fifty Bishops at Rome wherein he renews the Condemnation of Cyrus of Alexandria Sergius and Pyrrhus and excommunicates and deprives Paul the Patriarch with the bitterest Anathemas imaginable While these things were transacting the Peace of Italy which had lasted between the Romans and the Lombards thirty years began now to be disturbed For the Lombards took mightily upon them and imposed such unjust conditions upon the Romans as they could not submit to particularly Rhotaris being himself an Arian had scarce any City over which he did not set up an Arian as well as a Catholick Bishop This was an Evil which both Theodorus and Martine had often endeavoured to remedy but in vain For this reason and also at the instance of Theodorus the Exarch a War was proclaimed with the Lombards whereupon they take up Arms and near Scultenna a River of Modena a sharp Engagement there was on both sides But in the end Theodorus was vanquish'd and routed and lost in the fight near seven thousand of his Men. Rhotaris being flush'd with this Victory in a short time easily made himself Master of all Liguria Now Constantius hoping that the change of his General might change his Fortune too recalls Theodorus and sends Olympuis his Exarch into Italy with Instructions both to propagate the Sect of the Monothelites throughout Italy and also either to put Pope Martine to Death or else to take care to have him sent Prisoner to Constantinople Olympius coming to Rome where there had been already a Synod held against this and other the Errours of the Oriental Church and finding that he could not disperse the Contagion as he thought to do sends one of his Officers to seize Martine in the Church of S. Maria Maggiore and either to bring him to him or else to kill him if he refus'd and made resistance The Officer being just ready to execute this Order was by Miracle suddenly struck with blindness and so by divine Providence Martine escaped the danger The Saracens taking heart upon this great dissention between the Eastern and Western Church set sail from Alexandria with a great Fleet and arriving at Rhodes and taking the City they destroyed the famous and celebrated Coloss there with the Brass of which it 's said they loaded nine hundred Camels this Coloss being seventy foot high the Workmanship of Chares the Scholar of Lysippus Afterwards having possessed themselves of several Islands in the Archipelago and thence sailing to Sicily they very much infested the Inhabitants of that Island Hereupon Olympius at the entreaty of Pope Martine makes an Expedition and forces them thence though not without the loss of many of his Ships and Men and even that of his own Life too for he fell sick in Sicily and died there But Constantius who was not in the least bettered by all these Calamities commands Theodorus Calliopa again into Italy with express Order that he should forthwith send Pope Martine bound to him and to assist him in that Affair he joins Paulus Pellarius with him who was to take care to see it done Theodorus having been honourably received by the Romans and going upon pretence of making a Visit to the Pope seizes and puts him in Fetters and so sends him to Constantinople from whence he was afterwards banish'd to the Chersonese the place where Clemens Romanus had formerly been an Exile Now Martine being thus compassed with Calamities and pinch'd with extreme want at length dies in Banishment after he had been in the
of his Pontificate was short but the Reputation he gain'd therein so great that one would think he had lived longer than he did by the celebrated Name which he had deservedly acquired in so little time BENEDICT II. BENEDICT the second a Roman his Father's Name John being from his Youth brought up to the Clergy was so intent upon the study of Holy Writ that he became an extraordinary Proficient in Divinity He was likewise a person of great Compassion Charity and good Will towards all espcially the Poor Virtues by which he so won the Hearts of men that he was pitch'd upon as the only person who by general consent was fit to succeed in the Place of Leo deceased The Emperour Constantine out of the Veneration he had for this mans Sanctity sent him a Decree in which it was established that for the time to come He whom the Clergy and People of Rome should chuse Pope should be forthwith acknowledged Christ's true Vicar without expecting the Authority of the Emperour or his Exarchs according to former usage when the confirmation of the Emperour or his Vicegerent in Italy was necessary to the creation of a Pope Pertheris now King of the Lombards in imitation of the Religion and Charity of Benedict built a Monastery in honour to S. Agatha at Pavia and his Wife Rhodelinda prompted by the Example of her Husband built the Church of S. Mary ad Perticas without the Walls of Pavia This they did out of a Principle of Emulation understanding that Pope Benedict had with vast expence repaired beautified and enriched the Churches of S. Peter at Rome that of S. Laurence in Lucina that of S. Valentine in the Via Flaminia and that of S. Mary ad Martyres Pertheris had designed greater things of this Nature but he was diverted by Alalchis Duke of Trent who being pust'd up by a great Victory which he had gain'd over the Bavarians turns his Arms against his King But Pertheris raising an Army at the first Engagement routs him besieges Trent whither he had fled for Refuge and though Alalchis had first made his escape thence by night takes the City However Pertheris was a Prince of so great Clemency as to receive him again into favour upon his submission and to make him Duke of Brescia Some tell us that in Benedict's time an extraordinary Star was seen near the Vergiliae several Nights together in a clear Sky between Christmas and Epiphany I deny not but that a Comet then appeared and portended something but it 's Neighbourhood to this Constellation is incoherent unless we make that prodigious too For the Vergiliae rise at the Vernal Equinox when the Sun enters the Sign Aries about the twenty fourth of March and begin to set at the Autumnal Equinox But that out of Vesuvius a Mountain in Campania so great a 〈◊〉 did at this time burst forth that it burnt up all the places round about it may seem less wonderful considering that Pliny the Natural Historian leaving the Ships which he commanded under Trajan and approaching too near it out of curiosity to find out the causes of it's burning lost his life by that means However 't is certain that not long after these things there followed Slaughters Rapines Fires the Death of great Men and particularly of Pope Benedict who as he was universally beloved in his life-time so after his Death he was famous for his Piety and the good Offices he had done to mankind He was in the Chair only ten months twelve days and was buried in S Peter's May the 15th By his Death the See was vacant two months fifteen days JOHN V. JOHN the fifth by Nation a Syrian born at Antioch his Father's Name Cyriacus was created Pope about the time when the Emperour Constantine died in the seventeenth year of his Reign and left the Empire to his Son Justinian the second The Saracens now invaded Lybia and Africa and possess'd themselves easily of all the places that lay towards the Sea But Justinian having in some measure setled the affairs of his Empire and raised a competent Army advancing against these Saracens struck such a terrour into Abimelech their Chief that without engaging he sued for a Peace and was glad to restore all his Acquests in Africa And a Peace it is said by some was granted them for ten years but upon Condition that they should pay a thousand pieces of Gold and a Slave of their own Nation on Horseback every day to the Emperour At this time John a person of great Piety and Goodness being by general suffrage chosen Pope in the Constantinian Church was consecrated in the same manner with Leo the second by the three Bishops of Ostia Porto and Veletri a Precedent which so obtained that it was afterwards constantly practised His Pontificate was rendred remarkable by two extraordinary persons Felix the Uncle of Flavianus and John Bishop of Bergamo men of such eminent Learning and Sanctity that they received from Princes themselves marks of the highest respect and Veneration Pope John who both before and during his Pontificate was a sickly man having written a Book concerning the Dignity of the Pall died in the first year after his coming to the Chair and was buried in S. Peter's August the 2d By his Death the See was vacant two months nineteen days CONON I. CONON by birth a Thracian educated in Sicily and thence entring into Orders at Rome was of a Presbyter made Pope For there happening a Controversie about the Election the Citizens being for Peter an Arch-bishop and the Soldiers for one Theodorus a Priest at length after a long Contention both Parties agreed in the Choice of Conon And indeed he did every way deserve so great a Dignity being a man of great Learning and very good Life pious and devout of a comely Person and most Venerable or as some called it Angelical Aspect of wonderful Simplicity and Sincerity Modesty and Justice Resolution and Prudence For these excellent Endowments of his all persons concern'd with mighty acclamations of Applause immediately confirm'd his Election as did also Theodorus Exarch of Ravenna who being deceased was not long after succeeded in the Exarchate by John Platina whom I believe to have given the name to the place of my Nativity called Platina within the Territory of Cremona For there being frequent Wars between the Exarchs and the Kings of Lombardy it is not improbable considering that that place was scituated almost in the mid-way between Ravenna and Pavia one of which was the Seat of the Lombard Kings the other of the Exarchs there might at some time be a Battel fought or a Camp pitched there from whence we know that names are oftentimes given to places as particularly in the same Countrey there is Vitelliana a Town so called from Vitellius his encamping there and Bebrignano not far from Bebriacum famous for the defeat which Otho there received I return to Conon who presently after his entrance upon
name John was unammously elected Pope in the Year seven hundred fifty nine He was a Person of singular Learning very well skill'd in the Greek and Latin Tongues and of such an Insight into the Sense of Holy Writ that no man was more ready at the expounding of the abstruse and difficult places in it Nor 〈◊〉 he work upon the People merely by his Preaching and Eloquence but in all respects he gave them such a prevailing Example that it is difficult to determine whether he spake or lived better He was so valiant a 〈◊〉 of the Catholick Faith that he thereby contracted the displeasure and hatred of the greatest Princes but by no Force or Power or Menace was removed one step from his Resolution Finally his good-will towards all men was such that he cherished and relieved the Poor redeemed Captives releas'd insolvent Debtours and asserted the Cause of Widows and Orphans against potent Oppressours in such a manner that he deserved the Name of a common Father and 〈◊〉 Soon after his entrance upon the Pontificate with the Consent of the Clergy of Rome he excommunicated and deposed the Emperour Leo for his having rased the Pictures of the Saints out of the Churches and destroyed their Images and also for not being Orthodox in Opinion concerning the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father In the mean time Luithprandus King of the Lombards from an ambitious desire of enlarging his Dominions having possess'd himself of all the Towns round about lays Siege to Rome it self whereupon Gregory forthwith dispatches Messengers by Sea it not being safe for them to pass by Land to Charles Prince of the French to pray him that he would speedily aid the distressed City and Church of Rome Indeed formerly the Popes when they were in any great Danger from abroad had been wont to seek for succour from the Emperour of Constantinople but Gregory now declined it both for the Causes we have just before mentioned and also especially because Leo was now hard put to it to defend Constantinople it self against the Saracens and therefore little able to protect others By which means it came to pass that the Constantinopolitan Emperours being for the time to come unapplied to the Protection of the Church was from henceforward put into other hands Upon Gregorie's Request Charles undertaking the Church's Patronage desires Luithprandus as his Friend and particularly upon the account of his Son Pipin his near Allie to quit his Enterprize and not give the Pope any disturbance whereupon Luithprandus raises the Siege The 〈◊〉 of Italy being thus composed Charles turns his Army with success against the Burgundians crushes the Idolatrous Prison's takes Lions Arles and Marseilles from the 〈◊〉 who thereupon invite to their Aid Athimus the King of the Saracens Who passing the Rhone takes Avignon by Storm intending to make use of the convenience of that place for a Citadel But Charles upon Intelligence hereof hastens thither with his Army and re-takes Avignon putting to the Sword all the Saracens who were in Garrison in it From thence he marched to Narbonne whither he understood that Athimus had fled But having advice that Amoreus another Saracen King of Spain was coming with a great Army to the Aid of Athimus he quitted the Siege of Narbonne and march'd to the Valley of Corbiere not far off wherein there was a fair Plain very commodious to joyn Battel in Amoreus thinking that Charles having been routed had fled thither enters the Valley and prepares to engage which Charles did not decline though the number of the Adversaries Army was incredibly great The 〈◊〉 having continued for some time very warm and Amoreus himself having been slain at the beginning of the Engagement at length the Saracens were forced to betake themselves to slight and a great part of them were kill'd in the Fens and 〈◊〉 thereabouts Athimus as good luck would have it making his Escape by Sea towards the farther part of Spain in Rage and Despair lay'd 〈◊〉 by Fire and Sword all the Islands which he arrived at in his passage Much about this time the Body of S. Augustine which two hundred and fifty years before when the Vandals wasted Africa had been carried away from Hippo into Sardinia was by the care of Luithprandus translated thence to Pavia and reposited in a very honourable place of Interrment The Saracens being now pretty well tamed kept themselves within the Pyrenean Hills upon which all the Visigoths who possessed the hither parts of Spain and part of France being not able to defend themselves were subdued by Charles and so that People who had domineer'd for almost three hundred years were utterly extinguished except some few who were saved by the People of Barcelona Some write that Charles was in this War assisted by Luithprandus with Men who after the Victory returned home laden with Booty In the mean while Pope Gregory not neglecting to improve the time of Peace he now enjoyed applyed himself to Church-work The Altar of S. Peter's he made more stately by erecting a Row of six Pillars of Onyx on each hand of it where as many of the same magnitude and figure had formerly stood but were now decayed through 〈◊〉 Upon these Pillars were Architraves gilt with Silver on which he set up the Images of our Saviour and the Apostles at equal distances He built also an Oratory in the same Church in which he reposited some of the Reliques of almost all the Saints and ordered Mass to be therein daily performed in the Canon of which he added these words which were engraven upon the Marble round the Oratory Quorum Solennitas in conspectu tuoe Majeslatis celebratur Domine Deus noster toto in Orbe terrarum c. i. e. Whose Anniversaries are celebrated in the sight of thy Majesty O Lord our God throughout all the World c. which Clause is not in the general Canon now used Moreover he gave to this Church several Vessels of Silver and caused to be made at his own Charge the Image of the Blessed Virgin with our Saviour in her Arms of Gold which he placed in the Church of S. Mary ad Proesepe He also repaired the Roof of the Church of S. Chrysogonus appointing Monks for the daily performance of divine Service therein and setling an Estate for their Maintenance Several Monasteries he either repaired or built from the ground to the Recluses whereof he prescribed Rules of strict and holy living He re-built also the ruined Walls of the City of Rome and in like manner those of the almost desolate Civita Vecchia Furthermore he ordained the Celebration of Mass in the Church of S Peter almost without Intermission both by the Priests in Weekly Attendance and by the Monks upon which account we may observe the Cells of the Monks and the Houses of the Secular Priests to be in several places contiguous each of them striving to out do the other in diligence at their Devotion Our
Conspiratours against the Pope should be put to Death but the Pope who was all Clemency obtained a Pardon of their Lives and they were only banished into France After this there were some who would have persuaded Charles to ex pell all the Lombards out of Italy But that not appearing to be a safe course because they had mingled in Bloud and Affinity with multitudes of Families in Italy it was determined both by Charles and Leo that the Name of Lombard should remain there only where that Nation had chiefly had their Seat Pipin being now returned to Bonevent and having continued the Siege of that place for several months without success he turns his Arms against the City Chieti of which having after some Opposition made himself Master by Force he plunder'd and burnt it Upon the terrour whereof at his marching thence he had the Cities of Ortona and Luceria surrendred to him and in the latter he took Grimoald Duke of Benevent who not long after died of Grief In the mean time the Empress of Constantinople sending Ambassadours into Italy enters into a League with Charles their several Pretensions to Italy being thus adjusted viz. Irene was to have that Part which beginning on the one side from Naples and from Siponto a City now called Manfredonia on the other lies extended between the two Seas Eastward together with Sicily all Italy beside only excepting always those places which were under the Jurisdiction of the Church were by the Articles of Peace adjudged to be Charle's own But Nicephorus a Patrician stomaching to submit to the Dominion of a Woman having craftily seized Irene and banished her into Lesbos by his Ambassadours renews the League before entred into with Charles Which Charles at this time compelled the Saxons who had so often revolted to remove with their Wives and Children into France following them close in their Passage with his Army to prevent their committing any Disorders as they went along Pope Leo being perpetually disturbed by one Sedition after another leaving Rome goes to Mantua to see the Bloud of Christ which was now in great esteem for the Miracles said to be wrought there by it Having been received with great Respect and Affection by the Mantuans and approved it to be indeed Christ's Blood upon frequent Trial of the miraculous Effects of it he makes a Journey to Charles who was very desirous to know the Truth of this matter that he might certifie him concerning it and also that he might discourse with him about setling the Affairs of Italy Returning then to Rome and being assisted by King Pipin who had his Father's Order therein he proceeded to a gentle punishment of some of the chief Plotters and movers of Sedition Charles being now very aged having intelligence that Pipin was dead at Milain declares Lous his younger Son King of Aquitain and his Successour in the Empire and Bernard his Nephew King of Italy to whom he gave Charge that he should in all things be obedient to Louis To the Extent of the Empire he set these bounds in Gallia the Rhine and the Loyre in Germany the Danow and the Saw and to these Provinces he added Aquitain Gascoigne a great part of Spain Lombardy Saxony both the Pannonia's Istria Croatia and Dalmatia excepting only those parts of it scituate on the Sea-coast which were subject to the Emperour of Constantinople Having thus setled Affairs while he was at Aken for the recovery of his Health by the use of the hot Baths there he died of a Feaver and Pleurisie in the seventy second year of his Age January the 28. An. Dom. 815. His Body was with all imaginable Pomp and Solemnity interred in the Church of S. Mary which himself had built at Aken with this Inscription on his Tomb MAGNI CAROLI REGIS CHRISTIANISSIMI ROMANORVMQVE IMPERATORIS CORPVS HOC SEPVLCHRO CONDITUM JACET He was indeed whether we regard his management of Civil or Military matters so illustrious and excellent an Emperour that none of his Successours have either excelled or equalled him Moreover when leisure from other weighty Affairs permitted him he took such delight in the study of Learning that it was he who at the persuasion of Alcuinus first made Paris an University Of three Tables of Silver which he had one on which was engraven the City of Constantinople he gave to the Church of S. Peter another on which the City of Rome was described to the Church of Ravenna the third which some tell us was of Gold on which was a Map of the whole World he left to his Sons As for Pope Leo having repaired the Roof of S. Paul's which had fallen down in an Earthquake built from the ground a very capacious Hospital for Strangers near S. Peters's and ordained Litanies on the three days before Ascension-day on the first of which the Procession was to be from S Marie's ad Proesepe to the Lateran Chruch on the second from the Church of S. Sabina to S. Paul's and on the third from S. Cross to S. Laurence's without the Walls in the twenty first year of his Pontificate he died which year there appear'd a Comet thought by some to have been a Presage of so great a calamity He was buried in S. Peter's June the 12th and the See was vacant ten days STEPHEN IV. STEPHEN the fourth a Roman Son of Julius in the third Month of his Pontificate went into France to the Emperour Lewis though the reason of his Journey is not certainly known Some conjecture that it was to secure himself from the Reliques of the Faction and Conspiracy of Campulus which upon the Death of Leo prevailed afresh The Emperour Lewis surnamed the Godly was now at Orleans who assoon as he had intelligence of the Popes coming forthwith sends all the Persons of principal Quality to meet him and among others particularly Theudolphus Bishop of Orleans with the Clergy and a great part of the People And Louis Himself going forth a whole Mile for the same purpose assoon as he saw him alighted off his Horse and after mutual Salutations had passed between them introduced him very honourably into the City the Clergy going before and after repeating the Hymn called Te Deum Laudamus For Stephen was not only a Person of Noble Extraction but of such Learning and Integrity that he easily gain'd a general Veneration for Sanctity having been well instructed by an advantageous Education under those two pious Popes Adrian and Leo. Being entred into the City supported by the Emperour because of the croud of the People who press'd out of a desire to see him he was conducted to the Apartment appointed for him in the Palace where he often had Conferences with the Emperour about the composure of the Affairs of Italy besides the other frequent mutual Entertainments and Civilities that pass'd between them 〈◊〉 would have detained the Pope longer with him had he not now been engaged in such important Wars that it was
necessary he should oppose the Enemy in Person For both the Gascons had revolted whom in a short time he reduc'd and those of Bretaigne began to endeavour a change of Government whom in like manner by his Arms he kept in Obedience and moreover at an Assembly held at Aken he granted Peace to the Ambassadours sent from the Saracens inhabiting Saragosa Stephen being now upon his departure in Imitation of our Saviour who spared even his Enemies obtained of Louis that all those whom Charles had punished with Banishment or Imprisonment for their Conspiracy against Leo might have their Liberty He also carried with him a Cross of great Weight and Value made at the Charge of Louis and by him dedicated to S. Peter But returning to Rome he died in the seventh month of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's and by his Death the See was vacant eleven days PASCHAL I. PASCHAL a Roman Son of Bonosus was created Pope without any Interposition of the Emperours Authority Whereupon at his first Investiture in that Office he forthwith sends Nuntio's to Louis excusing himself and laying all the blame upon the Clergy and People of Rome who had forcibly compell'd him to undertake it Louis accepting this for Satisfaction from Paschal sends to the Clergy and People admonishing them to observe the ancient Constitution and to beware how they presum'd for time to come to infringe the Rights of the Emperour Also in the Assembly held at Aken he associated to himself in the Empire his eldest Son Lotharius and declared Pipin his second Son King of Aquitain and Louis his third Son King of Bavaria But Bernardus King of Italy having upon the Instigation of certain Bishops and seditious Citizens revolted from the Empire and compelled some Cities and States to swear Allegiance to himself Louis being hereat incensed sends a strong Army into Italy whose Passage over the Alpes Bernardus endeavouring to oppose he was vanquished The Heads of the Rebellion being taken were presently cut off and Bernardus himself though he very submissively begg'd forgiveness was put to Death at Aken Those Bishops who had been Authors of the mischief were by a Decree of Synod confined into several Monasteries This Tumult for so it was rather than a War being thus composed Louis moves with his Army against the Saxons rebelling now afresh and overcomes and slays Viromarchus their hardy Chief who aspired to the Kingdom After this he sends his Son Lotharius whom he had declared King of Italy to the Pope by whom he was anointed in the Church of S. Peter's with the Title of Augustus But there arising great Commotions in Italy and Lotharius seeing himself unable to withstand them he goes to his Father in order to provide greater Force Upon which Theodorus the Primicerius and Leo the Nomenclator having had their Eyes first pull'd out were murdered in a Tumult in the Lateran Palace There was some who laid the blame of this Disorder upon Paschal himself but he in a Synod of thirty Bishops did both by Conjectures and by Reasons and by his Oath purge himself of it Louis rested himself satisfied herewith and as Anastasius tells us that no future Disturbance might arise from uncertain Pretensions writing to Paschal he declared in his Letters what Cities of Tuscany were subject to the Empire viz. Arezzo Volterra Chiusi Florence which had been repaired and enlarged by his Father Charles the Great Pistoia Luca Pisa Peragia and Orvieto the others he allowed to be under the Jurisdiction of the Church of Rome He added moreover Todi in Umbria and Romagna beyond the Appennine with the Exarchate of Ravenna The same Anastasius says that Louis granted to Paschal a free Power the same which he also tells us was given by Charles to Pope Adrian of chusing Bishops whereas before the Emperours were wont to be advised and their consent and Confirmation desired in the Case Our Paschal who for his Piety and Learning had been by Pope Stephen made Prior of the Monastery of S. Stephen in the Vatican being now in the Chair both caused the Bodies of several Saints which before lay neglectedly to be conveyed into the City with great Solemnity and honourably interred and also by paying their Creditors procured the Release of divers poor Prisoners He also built from the ground the Church of S. Praxedes the B. Martyr not far from the old one which through Age and the Clergy's neglect was run to Ruin This Church having consecrated he oftentimes celebrated Mass in it and also reposited therein the Bodies of many Saints which lay about unregarded in the Coemeteries In the same Church was an Oratory dedicated to S. Agnes which he made very stately and ornamental Moreover he built the Church of S. Cecily as appears still by an Inscription on the Nave of it in which he in like manner reposited the Bodies of that Virgin her self and her affianced Husband Valerianus as also of Tiburtius and Maximus Martyrs and Urban and Lucius Bishops of Rome adorning it with all kinds of Marble and enriching it with Presents of Gold and Silver He also repaired the Church of S. Mary ad Praesepe that had been decayed by Age and alter'd the Nave of it to advantage In fine having been very exemplary for Religion and Piety Good Nature and Bounty after he had been in the Chair seven years two months seven days he died and was buried in S. Peter's The See was then vacant only four days EUGENIUS II. EUGENIUS the second a Roman Son of Boemundus was for his Sanctity Learning Humanity and Eloquence unanimously chosen into the Pontificate at that time particularly when Lotharius coming into Italy made choice of a Magistrate for the Administration of Justice and Execution of the Laws among the People of Rome who after a long and heavy Servitude had enjoyed some Liberty under the Emperour Charles and his Sons In the mean time Louis after he had for forty days been spoiling and laying waste the Countrey of Bretagne with Fire and Sword having received Hostages he goes to Roan and there gives Audience to the Ambassadours of 〈◊〉 Emperour of Constantinople who came to consult what his Opinion was concerning the Images of the Saints whether they were to be utterly abolished and destroyed or kept up and restored again But 〈◊〉 referred them to the Pope who was principally concerned to determine in the Matter After this he marched against the Bulgarians who were now making Inrodes into the Pannonia's and at first repelled them but Haydo Governour of Aquitain upon confidence of 〈◊〉 Forces from Abderamann King of the Saracens having rebelled he was obliged to quit this War and so the Bulgarians in an hostile manner march'd without controll through the middle of the hostile manner march'd without controll through the 〈◊〉 of the Pannonia's into Dalmatia But before Louis advanced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great part of Spain had revolted to Haydo who sent out a 〈◊〉 which annoyed the Sea-port Towns all
of the Christian name He re-edified the City-Walls and Gates that had suffer'd by Age and raised from the Ground fifteen Forts 〈◊〉 the defence of the City of which two were very necessary one 〈◊〉 the right 〈◊〉 other on the left hand of the Tiber below the Hills Janiculus and Aventinus to hinder the Ships of any Enemy from entring the Town He by his diligence found out the Bodies of the Sancti quatuor coronati and built a Church to them after a magnificent manner and reposited their bodies under the Altar viz. Sempronianus Claudius Nicostratus Castorius to which he added those of Severus Severianus Carpophorus Victorinus Marius Felicissimus Agapetus Hippolytus Aquila Priscus Aquinus Narcissus Marcellinus Felix Apollos Benedict Venantius Diogenes Liberalis Festus Marcellus the head of S. Protus Cecilia Alexander Sixtus Sebastian Praxedes But while he was diligently intent upon these Affairs as became so holy a man news was brought that the Saracens were coming with a huge Fleet to sack the City and that the Neapolitans and the Inhabitants upon that shore would come to his assistance whereupon with what forces he could raise he march'd to Ostia and summon'd thither the Auxiliaries designing upon the first opportunity to fight the Enemy But first this holy Pope exhorted his Souldiers to receive the Sacrament which being devoutly perform'd he prayed to God thus O God whose right hand did support the blessed Peter when he walk'd upon the Waves and sav'd him from drowning and delivered from the deep his fellow-Apostle Paul when he was thrice shipwrack'd hear us mercifully and grant that for their merits the hands of these thy faithful ones fighting against the Enemies of thy holy Church may by thy almighty arm be confirm'd and strengthened that thy holy Name may appear glorious before all Nations in the Victory that shall be gained Having pronounc'd this by making the sign of the Cross he gave the signal for Battel and the onset was made by his Souldiers with great briskness as if they had been sure of Victory which after a tedious Dispute was theirs the Enemies being put to flight many of them perish'd in the fight but most were taken alive and brought to Rome where the Citizens would have some of them hang'd without the City for a 〈◊〉 to the rest very much against the mind of Leo who was very remarkable for Gentleness and Clemency but it was not for him to oppose the rage of a multitude Those that were taken alive Leo made use of in 〈◊〉 those Churches which the Saracens had heretofore ruin'd and burnt and in building the Wall about the Vatican which from his own name he call'd 〈◊〉 Leonina This he did lest the Enemy should with one slight assault take and sack the Church of S. Peter as heretofore they were wont The Gates also had his Prayers for upon that which leads to S. Peregrin this was graven in Marble O God who by giving to thy Apostle S. Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven didst 〈◊〉 upon him the Pontifical Authority of binding and loosing grant that by the help of his intercession we may be delivered from all mischievous Attempts and that this City which now with thy assistance I have newly founded may be free or ever from thine anger and may have many and great Victories over those Enemies against whom it is built And on the second Gate near S. Angelo that leads into the fields were these words O God who from the beginning of the World didst vouchsafe to preserve and establish this holy Catholick and Apostolical Church of Rome mercifully blot 〈◊〉 the hand-writing of our iniquity and grant that this City which we assisted by the Intercession of the Apostles Peter and Paul have newly dedicated to thy holy name may remain secure from the evil machinations of its Enemies The third was on the front of the Gate by which we go to the Saxons School in these words Grant we beseech thee almighty and merciful God that crying to thee with our whole heart and the blessed Apostle Peter interceding for us we may obtain thy favour We continually beg of thy mercy that the City which I thy servant Leo IV. Bishop of Rome have dedicated anew and called Leonina from my own name may continue safe and prosperous This City he began in the first year of his Pontificate and finish'd in his sixth and gave it to be a habitation for the men of Corsica who had been driven out of that Island by the Saracens to each of whom also he assign'd a piece of ground for his maintenance But I wonder now that another Inscription is to be read on these Gates in dull Hexameter Verse which I cannot by any means think to be Leo's though it go under his name Of the Spoils of the Saracens he made several donations of Gold and Silver to the Churches of Rome Some write that 't was by his command that S. Mary's Church in the new street and the Tower in the Vatican next S. Peter's now to be seen were built Beside he restor'd the Silver-door of S. Peter which had been pillag'd by the Saracens He held a Synod of 47. Bishops wherein Anastasius Presbyter Cardinal of S. Marcellus was by the Papal Canons convict of several Crimes upon which he was condemned and excommunicate the chief allegation being that for five years he had not resided in his Parish Moreover he brought Colonies from Sardinia and Corsica which now upon the repulse of the 〈◊〉 had some respite and planted them in Hostia which partly by reason of the unhealthiness of the Air and partly by being so often 〈◊〉 was left without Inhabitants Lastly he fully satisfied Lotharius who having been inform'd that Leo was upon a design of translating the Empire to the Constantinopolitans came himself to Rome But the Informers being caught in Lies received condign punishment and the friendship was on both sides renewed 'T is said that Johannes Scotus a learned Divine liv'd at this time who coming into France by the command of K. Lewis translated S. Dionysius's Book de Hierarchia out of Greek into Latin but was soon after as they say stab'd with a Bodkin by some of his Scholars but the occasion of this villanous act is not any where recorded 'T is said too that now Ethelwolph K. of England out of devotion made his Countrey tributary to the Church of Rome by charging a penny yearly upon every house Our holy Pope Leo having deserv'd well of the Church of God of the City of Rome and of the whole Christian name for his Wisdom Gravity Diligence Learning and the Magnificence of his works died in the eighth year third month and sixth day of his Pontificate on the 17. day of July and was buried in S. Peter's Church The Sea was then void two months and fifteen days JOHN VIII JOHN of English Extraction but born at Mentz is said to have arriv'd at the Popedom by evil Arts for disguising
person was deposed and Ignatius restor'd who had been wrongfully turn'd out before In this Council a long debate was held whether the Bulgarians whose Embassadors were present should be subject to the Roman or Constantinopolitan Sea And by the favour of the Emperor Basilius they were adjudged to the Sea of Rome whereupon the Bulgarians making their 〈◊〉 to Hadrian that some man of good life and ability might be sent into their Countrey by whose authority and example they might be retain'd in the Christian Faith he sent three most religious men with plenary power to settle the Churches there as they should see fit They were Sylvester the Sub-deacon Leopardus of Ancona and Dominic of Trevisa who soon composed the whole Affair to the Popes mind though 't was not long ere the Bulgarians corrupted with gifts and promises by the Constantinopolitans expel'd the Latin Priests and receiv'd the Greeks and this Sedition gave occasion to many quarrels betwixt the Greeks and Latins Hadrian still opposing himself to all the Enemies of the Church as much as was possible when he was about to anoint Charles Emperor in the room of Lewis now deceased died himself in the fifth year ninth month and twelfth day of his Popedom A little before his death it rain'd bloud for three days together at Brescia and France was miserably wasted with Locusts both certain presages of his much lamented death JOHN IX JOHN the ninth a Roman Son of Gundo as soon as he was made Pope declared Charles surnamed the Bald who came to Rome for that purpose Emperor which so enraged the Sons of his elder Brother Lewis King of Germany Charles surnam'd the Gross and Caroloman that levying an Army they invade Italy resolving to deprive their Uncle of his Crown and Life Charles hereupon makes haste towards Verona with his forces intending to cut off the passage of his Nephews by Trent but was taken ill at Mantua and there poisoned as 't was thought by one Zedechias a Jew whom he made use of for a Physician Upon this news Pope John used his utmost endeavour that Charles his Son Lewis surnamed the Stammerer King of France might be made Emperor but the great men of Rome opposed it desiring rather that Charles III. King of Germany might succeed who with his Brother Caroloman had now over-run a great part of Italy So great was the Sedition that though many favour'd Lewis yet they took the Pope and clap'd him in prison But by the help of some Friends he soon made his escape into France to Lewis where he slaid a year anointed him King and ended some Controversies depending between the Ecclesiastics For Gibertus Bishop of Nismes had by force turn'd Leo an Abbot out of his Monastery This Monastery was dedicated to S. Peter and in it lay buried the body of S. Giles it is situate in a place call'd Flaviano from a Valley of that name given to S. Giles by a certain King nam'd Flavius and he built there a Monastery to the honour of SS Peter and Paul The Pope in the presence of many Bishops and Judges heard the Cause and adjudg'd the Monastery to Leo. This was done at Arles from whence John departing with the approbation of Lewis he held a Council at Troyes where he made several Decrees about religious affairs and appointed a Bishop for the Flemings who having left their Woods and fastnesses now betook themselves to an orderly way of living But Italy all this while being harrass'd by the Saracens who had taken and plundered the Monastery of Monte-Cassino John was call'd home to Rome and with the help of some Christian Princes drave the greatest part of them out of Italy and Sicily and at last that he might live the more quietly in the City he plac'd the Imperial Crown on the head of Charles III. who quickly after marching against the Normans then infesting the borders of France and Lorain defeated them so that their King Rothifredus was forc'd to sue for peace and to become a Christian the Emperour himself being his Godfather and taking him into favour This writes Anastasius the Roman Library-keeper who was then highly in vogue being so skilful in both Tongues that by the persuasion of the Emperor Charles he translated out of Greek into elegant Latin the seventh General Council and Dionysius the Areopagite's Book de Hierarchiâ with the lives of several Saints Some say that this Charles built many Monasteries and was liberal to the Church but 't is certain that it was his particular commendation that he put many learned men upon writing for Milo a Monk of S. Amand wrote the Life of that Saint very exactly and Joannes Scotus did very solidly and acutely handle many points of our Religion nor was our Pope John without desert in the same way having while he was Deacon excellently composed the Life of Gregory I. in four Books When he had sate ten years and two days he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church MARTIN II. MARTIN the second a Frenchman Son of Palumbus succeeded John Some perhaps deceiv'd by the likeness of the names call him Marinus This Martin the story of whose Life is so short because of the small time he held the Chair was Pope at the time when the Sons of Basilius Leo and Alexander were Emperors in the East and Charles III. in the West who we told you was crowned by John VIII and who broke the forces of the Normans infesting France in so many Battels that he forced them to submit to him and receive the Christian Faith Some write that 't was this Martin that with his tricks of which somewhat will be said in the Life of Formosus did so plague Pope John with Seditions as to get him thrown into prison and force him to fly But having by ill means gotten the Popedom he soon died having sate but one year and five days and in that time doing nothing remarkable either because his time was short or because no occasion offered it self from whence he could acquire repute except we may suppose it to be the Will of God that those who attain to Power by indirect means should lose that true glory which is the chief aim of every good Prince HADRIAN III. HADRIAN the third a Roman Son of Benedict was a man of so great a Spirit that immediately upon his entrance on the Popedom An. Dom. 895. he proposed to the Senate and People that a Law should pass that no regard should hereafter be given to the Authority of the Emperor in the creation of any Pope but that the Election of the Clergy and People should be free this Institution was rather attempted than begun before by Nicolas I. as was said but I believe Hadrian took now the opportunity when the Emperor Charles was march'd with his Army out of Italy against the Rebellious Normans He went with a design utterly to extirpate that unquiet people but perceiving that would be difficult and not to be
matter he died at Pisa the fifty seventh day of his Pontificate CLEMENT III. CLEMENT the Third a Roman Son of John surnam'd the Scholar as soon as he was made Pope sent forth a Bull to encourage Men to go to the Holy War for Saladine following the course of his Victories had taken twenty five Towns in the Principality of Antioch and at last had by bribing the Patriarch rendred himself Master of Antioch it self This gave the alarm to the Christian Princes so that now complying with the Pope's exhortations they raised Men the chief of those who engaged in the Expedition were the Emperour Frederic Philip King of France Richard King of England and Otho Duke of Burgundy beside many Arch-bishops and Bishops who accompanied them The Venetians and Pisans set forth their several Fleets well equip'd that of Venice was under the command of the Arch-bishop of Ravenna and that of Pisa under their own Arch-bishop And William King of Sicily having clear'd the Sea of Pirates took care to supply them by the way out of Puglia and Sicily with all sorts of Provisions Beside these the Friselanders Danes and Flemings with a Fleet of fifty Gallies landing on the African shore did the Saracens much mischief taking and plundering Siluma one of their Cities Bela also King of Poland out of good will to the Christian Cause made Peace with the Hungarians that so the passage through that Country might be more easie and safe for those who were to take their way through it to this great Expedition At last they all arriv'd at Tyre and from thence they march'd unanimously to Ptolemais and besieg'd it where Saladine with a great Army came and beat up their quarters so that having the Enemy before them and behind they were forc'd to fight The Battel was long and bloody and the Victory inclin'd to the Christians side when the mischance of a Horse slipping out of the hand of a common Soldier gave them an occasion of flight our Men thinking that the Saracens had got the better but Geoffrey of Lusignan who was left to guard the Camp in the nick of time giving a brisk Onset shock'd their pursuit and gave the Christians an opportunity to rally However 't is certain the Christians lost two thousand men that day beside that the Master of the Templers and Andrew Earl of Bremen died afterward of their wounds In the mean time the Siege lasting long the Christians were reduc'd to so great a want of all things that they were forc'd to procure Victuals of the Enemy which Saladine having notice of laid hold on the opportunity and deserted his Camp which he left without any Guard but furnish'd with all manner of necessaries which when the Christians altogether in disorder enter'd and fell to plundering Saladine return'd and kill'd many of them ere they were aware or prepared to receive him Yet did not the Christians quit this tedious and toilsom Siege though to their other distresses this was added that a Dysentery rag'd in their Camp of which Disease Sibyl the Wife of Guy with four Sons which she had by him all died While matters went thus in Asia William King of Sicily died at Palermo not leaving behind him any lawful Heir so that that Kingdom fell to the Church but the Noblemen of the Island set up Tancred in his room natural Son of Roger the Norman by a Concubine a Man of so great cowardize and sloth that William would not believe him to be Roger's Bastard Pope Clement not willing to lose his right sends away an Army thither with all speed between whom and Tancred who opposed them the Country was fill'd with slaughters and outrages Frederic the Emperour was now by the way of Hungary and Thrace march'd with his Army as far as Constantinople in order to advance against the Enemies of Christ where Isaac the Emperour of the Greeks fearing his Power persuaded him to cross the Bosporus which he did and Clement still hastening him on by Letters and Nuntio's he sate down before Philomena a City of the Turks and took it then he wasted the Country about Iconium and possess'd himself of all Armenia minor but going one time into a rapid stream to wash himself without regarding the depth he was drown'd and his Soldiers retreating towards Antioch either were lost or died so that his Army came to nothing The two Kings Philip and Richard having pass'd the Gallic and Tyrrhene Seas arriv'd together at Messina after which they met with different fortune for Philip had a good Voyage and coming safe to Ptolemais brought great strength and courage to the Christian forces but Richard being born by contrary Winds to the coast of Cyprus and being by the Greeks denied the liberty of landing he entred the Island by force and conquering it he plac'd therein Garisons of his own and then went to Ptolemais That City was then stoutly attack'd but Saladine had put in it so strong a Garison that with their frequent Sallies they did the Christians much damage Pope Clement now thought good to defer his Controversie with Tancred till the Christians should have more success against the Saracens and betook himself to regulate some Ecclesiastical Affairs and with great severity animadverted upon the scandalous lives of Clergy-men Moreover he built the Monastery of S. Laurence without the Walls and with great expence repair'd the Lateran Palace and adorn'd the Church there with excellent Mosaic work not long after dying when he had been Pope three years and five months and was buried in the Lateran Church with great Funeral Pomp. CELESTINE III. CELESTINE the Third a Roman Son of Peter surnam'd Bubo succeeded to the Chair who grudging that Tancred should enjoy the Kingdom of Sicily secretly gets away Constantia Daughter to the late King Roger out of a Nunnery at Palermo and though she was under the Vow of Chastity yet granting her the Apostostical Dispensation gives her to Wife to Henry VI. Son of Frederic Barbarossa upon these terms that he should be empowered to attempt the recovery of both the Sicilies which he should enjoy in the name of a Dowry with his said Wife paying a yearly tribute to the Pope as Feudatary of the Church Henry was so sensible of this extraordinary kindness of the Pope that he restor'd to him Tusculum which he had before strengthen'd with a good Garison which Celestine immediately bestowing upon the Romans they so spoil'd and ruin'd it that the very stones of the demolish'd City were brought to Rome and many of them were for a long time to be seen in the Campidoglio as Monuments of this great devastation Henry and his Wife Constantia laying Siege to Naples were forc'd to raise it by reason of a Plague which rag'd in their Army but the Christians who had now for two years besieg'd Ptolemais had it surrendred to them upon condition that they restoring that piece of our Lord's Cross which we before told you was lost should march
indeed might have retein'd some part of their Dominion by the assistance of James the Cardinal of Columna a man who was a great friend to their Family but they chose rather to lose the whole like men than save any part of it sneakingly But Giles having quieted Romagna was so pleased at Forli that he laid up not onely the Treasure of the Church but also all the money which was sent from Avignion into Italy to build Castles in that Town and made some Ordinances which the Province uses to this Day But when Giles had setled Italy and built a great many very necessary Forts in the Church Dominions and reduced all the Italian Princes and States to Obedience he had a Successor in the fifth year of his Embassy called Arduinus a Burgundian Abbot of Cisteaux a man not at all fit for business Wherefore when Giles was gone all the Princes and States of Italy took up Arms. For the Pisans did so molest the Florentines that seeing no body durst oppose 'em they plunder'd all the Country of Florence and took Figino a Castle lying up the River Arno burning all the Villages which were built thereabout At that time Pandulphus Malatesta was Captain General of the Florentine Army whom the people forced to relinquish his civil Government because he had never shewn that he had courage enough to engage with an Enemy But the Pisans were then much higher than before not so much out of any hope they had of taking the City as that they should bring a scandal upon it and therefore after some light Skirmishes before the Gates they return'd home with great spoils about the beginning of Autumn And Bernabos also demolished many Castles in Bologna which was now harass'd with War though the Abbot of Clugny defended it stoutly Bologna as I told you before was subject to the Viconti but Aulegianus betray'd it to the Abbot of Clugny and was to have Fermo as the reward of his Treachery But whilst that Bernabos made War upon Bologna and Reggio the Apostolical Legate makes an Alliance with Philippino Gonzaga Canes of Verona and Nicolas d' Este to go against the Brescians Then Bernabos being concern'd for the danger which those of Brescia were in left Bologna and Reggio and march'd toward the Enemy but was so defeated at Montclere that afterwards he could hardly defend the very Walls of the City About the same time the Florentines overcame the Pisans under the command of Galeot Malatesta by corrupting their Soldiers to come over to their Party For this reason the Pisans laid all the fault upon the Cambacurti who were eminent Citizens there because they paid the Soldiers covetously and stingily and therefore recall'd John Agnellus who was banish'd as being a friend to Bernabos and against the Cambacurti and he in a little time reduced the City and made it acknowledg him for their Governour having removed all the friends of the adverse faction But when the Pope had made a Peace between the Pisans and the Florentines one John Haucut who had been used to fight under the Pisans got together all the Soldiers in Italy and gave all people occasion to fear especially since Rome was in such an uproar at the choosing of Senators But Innocent easily appeased their Discords by sending a forein Senator to 'em called Raimund Ptolomy a Citizen of Siena who bore that Office a whole year and that was in the year 1359. But though things were setled in this manner yet the Romans could not be quiet For they turn'd out their Senator and created seven Citizens with Sovereign Power whom they called the Reformers of the whole Republick Upon this account Innocent made Hugo Lusignaneus King of Cyprus who was going then to War against the Turks Senator and commanded totally to abolish that Society of Reformers But he at that time was very intent upon making an end of the War betwixt England and France that all might go against the Turk But when the English had overcome the French in Poictou and had taken their King with Philip his Son they were thought to have done a great exploit yet at the same time Edward out of his Princely generosity gives all the Captives their Liberty upon condition that they would never fight against him more But they soon after broke those terms of Peace and forced Edward to resume his Arms and besiege Paris Innocent design'd also to prepare a Navy against the Infidels when at the same time the Pisans who were excellent Seamen and the Venetiano that had a great Navy were at War the former with the Florentines and the latter with Lewis King of Hungary For that King did then besiege Treviso with a great Army besides that the Venetians were at variance among themselves For Marino their General being accused as if he aspired to Sovereignty was beheaded Innocent being thus discomposed in his mind he died in the ninth year eighth month and sixth day of his Pontificate just about the same time with Bartholus Saxoferratus the wisest man in all that Age. But before the Popes death there was such an Eclipse of the Sun as never was before wherefore all people thought that such a great Man could not die but even the Planets would give some presages of his departure VRBAN V. URBAN the fifth of Lymosin formery called Will. Grisant Abbot of S. Victor at Marseilles was made Pope in his absence by universal consent For at that time he was gone into Italy as Legate to the Viconti but being called to Avignion he enter'd upon the Popedom And no sooner was he got into the Chair but being a person of singular Virtue great Courage and very innocent in his Conversation he immediately apply'd himself to vindicate the Churches Liberty and made use of such Instruments as were zealous for the business For he sent Giles a Spaniard of whom we said something before into Italy with full Power and Authority who so far animated and engaged Lewis Gonzaga Nicolas d' Este and Francisco Carrario against Bernabos that he was overcome by them and lost his Son in the Battel and being wounded hardly escaped with his life Nor was that all but the Enemy took Andrew Pepulo a Bolognian Banditto Synebald Ordelaphus Paulus Mirandula Guido Foliano Azo of Corrigia William Cavalcabos the most Signal Commanders of the Army But the Kings of England France and Cyprus were concern'd at the misfortune of the Viconti and sent Embassadours to Giles to desire him that he would make Peace with them Which Embassadours were not sent in vain for a Peace was concluded though it were of no long continuance For John Hawkwood on the behalf of the Viconti having engaged the Florentines routed their Army at S. Miniato which caused Giles the Legate to send Thomas Obicio an excellent Commander with three thousand Horse and a competent number of Foot to help the Florentines They fought betwixt Arezzo and Cortona four hours together stoutly but at length
delightful and cool too by reason of its situation and the shady Groves that are about it He frequented the Baths at Macerata and Petriolana for his healths sake He used thin Cloths and his Expences in Silver look'd more frugal than Princelike For his whole delight when he had leisure was in writing and reading because he valu'd good Books more than precious Stones for in them he said there was great plenty of Gems He so far contemn'd a splendid Table that he went oftentimes to Fountains Groves and Country recesses for his own humour where he entertain'd himself not like a Pope but an honest humble Rustick Nor were there wanting some who found fault with this his frequent change of places especially his Courtiers because no Pope had ever done so before him unless in time of War or of a Plague But he always slighted their Cavils and said that for all his pleasure he never omitted any thing that befitted the dignity of a Pope or tended to the good of the Court. In all places he Sealed heard Causes Censur'd Answer'd Asserted and Confuted to give full satisfaction to all sorts of Men. He could not eat willingly alone and therefore invited either the Cardinal of Spoleto of Trani or of Pavia commonly to Dine or Sup with him At Supper he used to discourse of Learning and rubb'd up his old Notions of the Ancients shewing how commendable each of 'em was in this or that particular He frequently exhorted his Relations to Virtue and deterr'd 'em from Vice by recounting the good or ill actions of others Augustine Patritio was his chief Reader and Amaniensis He was also sometimes pleased to hear Wit especially when he had nothing to do and therefore he had one Grecus a Florentine who would mimick and ridicule any ones behaviour garb or way of speech with great diversion to the Audience He was an honest upright plain Man without fallacy or guile And so zealous a Christian he was that there appear'd no colour of Hypocrisie in him He frequently confess'd and receiv'd the Communion and at divine Service either performed the Priestly Office himself or assisted at the Ceremonies He always contemn'd Dreams Portents Prodigies Lightning and the like There was no sign in him of fear or inconstancy but he seemed as little elevated at his good as dejected at his ill Fortune He often reproved his Friends for Cowards and sneaking Fellows that they should be affraid of telling him what mischances they had as it sometimes happens in the War because he said those things might have been remedied if he had known of 'em in time He never forsook his Allies either upon account of Charges or fear of his Enemies He went to War with an ill will but fought for the Church and Religion when he was forced to 't He was mightily pleased with Building and at his charge were the Steps in the Vatican Church repaired the Portico of it made glorious and strong And he had a design to carry away the rubbish from before the Church-door and pave the Piazza He was about to make a Portico from whence the Pope might bless the People He built a Castle at Tivoli before people thought he had begun it and at Siena he built his Countrymen a Portico of square stone very high and very fine As likewise he made Corsiniano which he called Pienza from his own name Pius a City and built there a noble Church with a Cupalo together with a fine House He erected also a Tomb for his Father and Mother at Siena in St. Francis's Church with this Distich for an Epitaph Sylvius hic jaceo conjux Victoria mecum est Filius hoc clausit marmore Papa Pius He had four Nephews by his Sister of which the two youngest through his Authority and the respect that was shewn him were made Knights by the King of Spain The eldest who had married King Ferdinand's Daughter was made Duke of Malphi and the second whom Pius as I told you before had made a Cardinal lives yet in such repute of integrity and Vertue that there is nothing wanting in him that is required in an excellent Person being adorn'd with Wit Manners Policy Religion Modesty and Gravity But to return to Pius who never omitted his Studies though he were advanced to such an eminent Station When he was a Youth indeed and not yet initiated into Divinity he set out Poems that were rather light and jocular than serious and grave and yet sometimes even in them he was elevated nor did he want satyrical sharpness amidst his merry Conceits There are Epigrams of his extant that are full of Wit and he is said to have written about three thousand Verses which were lost most part of 'em at Basil The remainder of his life he wrote in Prose onely his grand Affairs rather inclining him to it but he also loved a mixt Stile more fit for Philosophy He set forth several Books of Dialogues about the Power of the Council at Basil about the Rise of Nile of Hunting of Destiny of God's Prescience and of the Heresie in Bohemia He left an imperfect Dialogue which he began against the Turks in defence of Christianity He digested his Epistles into their several occasions and seasons when they were written and those that he wrote when he was a Layman a Clergy a Bishop or Pope he put into distinct Tomes Wherein he excites Kings Princes and others to engage in the War for Religion There is an Epistle of his extant which he wrote to the Turk to persuade him from Mahometanism to the Christian Faith He also wrote a Book about the Life of Courtiers as likewise a Grammar for Ladislaus the young King of Hungary He farthermore composed thirty two Orations exhorting Kings Princes and Commonwealths to Peace and in defence of Religion to promote the quiet and Concord of the whole World He perfected the History of Bohemia but left that of Austria imperfect And though he was upon a History of all the remarkable Actions in his Time yet he was never able for his business to finish it He wrote twelve Books and began the thirteenth of things done by himself His Stile was soft and easie in which he made several excellent and pertinent Sermons For he could readily move the Affections with handsom and graceful Expressions He very aptly describes situations of Places and Rivers assuming various ways of Eloquence as the occasion required He was well acquainted with Antiquity nor could any Town be mention'd but he could tell its rise and situation besides that he would give an account in what Age famous Men flourish'd He would sometimes take notice of Mimicks for his pleasure and left many Sayings behind him of which I thought fit to add some to this account of his Life to wit That the Divine Nature was better understood by Believing than by Disputing That all Sects though confirm'd by humane Authority yet wanted Reason That the Christian ought to
have got Wings like Daedalus and fled out of our Prison he projected the making a dungeon for us and set Workmen about it When it was finished he put into it Francisco Anguillara Gattalusco Francisco Alviano and Giaiomo Ptolemeo who had already pin'd away four years in Prison But not a word yet could we hear of our freedom At this time the Emperor came to Rome according to a Vow he had made with a splendid Attendance whom Paul entertain'd with great magnificence at the expence of eighteen thousand Ducats I saw them from the Castle returning under the same Canopy from the Lateran with a noble retinue and Paul stood still upon the Bridg while the Emperor made several Knights The Emperor departing and Paul by having quarter'd the greatest part of his Forces both Horse and Foot in the City being rid of the fear he had lest the People should have raised tumults upon him when the Emperor was there after we had lain ten months in Jail he comes to the Castle himself and that it might seem that he made so great ado not without cause he charged us with many things but especially that we had disputed concerning the Immortality of the Soul and that we held the Opinion of Plato which S. Augustin says is very like to the Christian Faith 'T is with good reason says the Saint that Cicero makes Plato a God among the Philosophers who certainly out-went them all for Wit and Understanding and with him therefore I chose to dispute because he reasons concerning the last end of Man and the Divine Nature better than any of the rest But says Paul By disputing you call'd the Being of a God into question Now this was no more than may be objected to all both Divines and Philosophers of our times who for Discourse-sake and that the truth may appear do frequently make a question of the beings of Souls and of God and of all separate Intelligences Besides as S. Austin says those are Heretics who defend with earnestness any false Opinion they have taken up We never declin'd sound Discipline which as Leo says is wont to be done by the Ringleaders of Error who are deservedly called Heretics according to S. Jerom for maintaining Opinions in opposition to the Church I could give you an Account of my Life from my youth till this time ever since I came to years of understanding No ill action can be charg'd upon me no theft no pilfering no sacriledg no cheat upon the publick no murther no rapine nor Simony I have lived like a Christian confess'd and receiv'd the Communion at least once a year Nothing ever fell from my mouth against the Faith or relishing of Heresie I follow'd neither Simoniacs the Carpocratiani Ophilae Severiani Alogii Paulini Manichees Macedoniani nor any other heretical faction But beside Paul accused us as too great admirers of Pagan Antiquities of which no Man could be more fond than himself for he procur'd all the Statues of the Antients that he could throughout the City and plac'd them in his House which he had built near the Campidoglio among the rest he took away a Porphyry Tomb of S. Constantia out of the Church of S. Agnes maugre the denial of the Monks of the place who yet after Paul's death got it again of Pope Sixtus Beside after the old Heathen way he coin'd an infinite number of Medals with his own Image of Gold Silver and Brass and laid them in the foundations of his House herein imitating rather the antient Paynims than S. Peter Anacletus or Linus Upon a debate of our matter before the Court-Bishops and two Friers one a Franciscan the other a Dominican they agreed all that nothing could be charged upon us that savour'd of Heresie But Paul coming to the Castle and having on purpose excluded Francisco who favour'd us that so Leonardo our Accuser might speak the more freely he repeated what he had said the day but one before and then ask'd the Opinion of those that were present who though they spoke somewhat to please the Pope yet they made a light business of it and endeavour'd to persuade him into a milder temper Amongst them all Lelio del Val a Citizen of Rome and an Advocate in the Consistory defended our Cause very generously He confuted all that Leonard had said and what the other Advocate had asserted but as they were arguing mention chanc'd to be made of the Academy which was no sooner said but M. Barbo Cardinal of S. Mark cries out that we were not Academicks but a scandal to the name Now I cannot think how we should bring any reproach to it at all we were neither thieves nor pilferers nor incendiaries nor prodigal fools we were sectators of the old Academy despising the new as establishing nothing certain upon which Science might be built but Paul would not have the Academy so much as mention'd under pain of being pronounc'd Heretical which was a reflection upon good old Plato and let him look to it Paul lov'd in every kind of learning to be thought an acute and skilful Man he desir'd too to go for a facetious Person so that he derided and contemn'd almost all Men. He after a scornful manner ask'd Pomponio what was the name his Parents gave him who answer'd he was Binomius i.e. had two names which Paul not understanding persisted to ask his name still At last turning to me he fell into a rage to such a degree that beside charging me with the Plot Heresie and Treason of which I had cleared my self he upbraided me too with Ingratitude against so kind a Friend as he had been to me If it be a kindness for a Man to be turn'd out of that which he has bought with his Mony without telling any reason if to be imprison'd tormented disgrac'd and slander'd be a kindness then Paul was my special bountiful Friend and I was very ungrateful who unmindful of such Courtesies did not depart the City in obedience to his command when I had been so often deceiv'd by his Promises He went away threatning us and kept us in Prison a whole year as I believe he had sworn he would when he took us first and clap'd us up and he was not willing to seem forsworn At length however we were enlarg'd so far as to have the liberty of his own House but not to stir a foot out of it and soon after we had the freedom of the Vatican and in the end being wearied with the Intercessions of the Cardinals he set us free Not long after I was sent for by Lewis Gonzaga Duke of Mantua to the Baths in order to cure my right Arm which had contracted a great indisposition during my imprisonment which Paul forbad me at first to do promising to do great things for me in a little time but I went and return'd Cardinal Bessarion a Person of great wit and learning being Security for my coming back Paul commended me that I was as
first year of his Reign had been celebrated with the like glory as was the former his beginning would have been too happy and auspitious Therefore that the ensuing year might prove more fortunate he intended to make it his chief employment of the whole Winter to offer his Prayers and supplications to God with fasting Masses and Processions that he would be pleased to favour and assist the Cause and Arms of the Christians against the Enemies of the Cross of Christ But whilst the Pope was meditating of these things and contriving means to prosecute the War with most advantage the Venetians unexpectedly about the beginning of the year 1573. clapt up a Peace with the Turks by the mediation of their Bailo who then with the French Ambassadour at Constantinople had treated the Conditions with good success to which Sultan Selim the more readily inclined for having done right to his honour by the Conquest of Cyprus and by taking several Fortresses in Dalmatia he more easily condescended to terms of Peace without diminution or disparagement as was supposed to the greatness of his Power But both the Pope and the Spaniards were not satisfied with the Venetians for having without their consent and privity and contrary to the Articles of their League made this Peace with the Turk In excuse for which the Venetians dispatched their Ambassadours to the Pope and King of Spain giving them to understand that the extream urgency of their Affairs which by many circumstances were rendered difficult had forced them to an Accommodation with the Turk and in like terms they expressed themselves to Cardinal Buoncompagno the Pope's Nephew whom Gregory had in the year 1574. sent unto Venice to complement Henry King of Poland who by the death of Charles IX was returning by that way into France to take possession of that Kingdom In this manner the Pope being eased of his expensive War against the Turk converted the current of his Treasure to the assistance of Henry III. against his Protestant Subjects in France for supply of which he raised the sum of four hundred thousand Crowns by Impositions which he laid on Cities belonging to the Church and confirmed the Bull given by Pius V. for sale of Church-Lands of which there remaining as yet to the value of fifty thousand Crowns of yearly Rent unsold he constituted the Cardinals of Bourbon Guise and Lewis d' Eâ—â—e Commissioners for the Sales Nor was this Pope in other matters esteemed less generous and magnificent for to the Duke of Bruswick who came to visit him at Rome he made a Present of seven thousand Crowns and erected many Churches there from the foundation and built Colleges and Churches to the number of twenty seven in divers remote parts of the World for Seminaries and places of Worship and Religion And for the more solemn and ornamental Celebration of the Jubilee in the year 1575. he enlarged the Street leading from the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore to the Lateran for the more commodious passage of Pilgrims and having repaired the Portico or Porch of S. Maries which was become ruinous he caused this Inscription to he engraven over it Gregorius XIII Pont. Max. Eugenii labantem Porticum refecit magnificentius restituit Viam rectam ad Lateranum aperuit Anno Jubilei MD. LXXV In this year arose dangerous Discords and civil Dissentions between the antient and the new Nobility of Genoua to which latter the Commonalty of the City adhered having by them been possessed with an Opinion that the Antient Nobles in favour of whom most of their Laws ran intended to usurp such an Authority over them as should be little different from Slavery this jealousie made so deep an impression in the minds of the people that they betook themselves to Arms and had proceeded to blood and ruin had not a stop been made thereunto by the Wisdom and Oratory of Senarega the Chancellour who being a moderate Person and one of whose prudence and honesty the people had a great Opinion persuaded both Parties to remit their differences to the Pope the Emperor Maximilian and the King of Spain The which being accorded on all hands Senarega was in behalf of the New Nobility dispeeded to the Pope with whom whilst he was stating the case between both Parties Intelligence was brought to Rome that Don John d' Austria was then at Gaeta preparing a very great Fleet against Genoua in expectation and with probable hopes to prevail by the means and advantages of those intestine Discords of the City But the Pope at the request and upon the applications made by Senarega dispatched a Letter to Don John exhorting him to desist from his Design which was so displeasing to him that in case he persisted therein he was resolved to raise all the force of Italy to oppose his Enterprise the which Menaces having given a stop to the proceedings of Don John several persons were substituted Arbitrators in these differences by the Pope the Emperor and the King of Spain namely Cardinal Morone Castacciaro Borgia and Idiaquez who taking the state of the whole matter into their consideration rectified and reformed many antient Statutes established new in their places and so governed all things with that even hand that an accord was made and concluded in the Month of May 1576. with that satisfaction to both Parties that the Citizens and Inhabitants who had retired from Genoua for fear of the civil Dissensions returned again to enjoy their repose and ease according to their accustomed Liberty Nor was the Pope less concerned for the Peace of Poland where great differences arose amongst the Nobility as hath been accustomary about the election of a King For Henry III. of France having as we have said resigned his Elective Government to take possession of his hereditary Kingdom of France the Election of a new King administred great cause of dispute and argument by reason of the many powerful Princes which stood in competition and were Candidates for the Election as namely the Emperor Maximilian II. and Ernest his Son with his Brother the Arch Duke of Austria Stephen Battori Prince of Transilvania Alphonso II. Duke of Ferrara together with the Great Duke of Moscovy The Contests between these mighty Rivals proceeded to that degree that nothing but force of Arms could determine the Controversie which the Arch-bishop of Gnesne with many other Associates intending to prove forsook the place of Election and with armed Bands declared for Maximilian the Emperor against whom an other party appeared in favour of Anne Daughter of the Royal Family of Jagellona in Poland intending in right of her to confer in Marriage the Crown upon Battori Prince of Transilvania but these dissentions were soon after concluded by the death of Maximilian the Emperor Battori being after his Marriage with Anne by general consent of all the Nobles received and crowned King of Poland and thereupon sent his Ambassadours to Rome to pay his respects and obedience to the
Scholars who rehearsed many Verses in honour of their great Benefactor Pope Gregory particularly recounting the thousand Benefits and Donations they had received from him hoping by this example to excite Sixtus to the like bounty but he not being a Person to be wheedled with fine Verses after he had heard all they could say he told them plainly Fathers said he you are much mistaken you take us to be Gregory and we are Sixtus and We promise you ever to remain the good Sixtus and never to be the bad Gregory At another time being persuaded by them to come to a solemn Festival celebrated at their College they with that occasion shewed him the magnificence and neatness of their House and the convenience of their Offices all which Sixtus much approving merrily told them That he would rather see their Treasury than their Refectory to which the Father Rector answered That they had never been so poor as at present Continue so still said Sixtus for unless you be poor you shall never be truly Religious for your Poverty is beneficial to the Church and your Riches prejudicial to the Popes By these sharp Replies the Jesuits had touched the pulse of the Pope and finding that nothing was to be gotten by him would never trouble him afterwards with Requests or begging Petitions Howsoever Sixtus in his heart loved and affected this People â—eing excellent Spies and such as brought him the best Intelligence and therefore he was often heard to say That the Jesuits were the best sort of Religious Orders and useful in the Church and that he loved them heartily because they asked him nothing Sixtus had for a long time got a fancy or project in his head to confine all the Courtesans or Whores in Rome within a place or circuit of the City as the Jews were and having communicated this Design to the Governour of Rome he was made sensible by him of the great difficulty of the thing for that their numbers filled the greatest part of the City howsoever not being able to suffer the propudious and shameless Courtesans to live intermixed with the honourable and vertuous Matrons he banished the most common and impudent strumpets from the City confining the remaining part within a certain limit and quarter of the Town But this remedy of Vice enereased two great Evils for the small number of Courtesans did not abate the sin but procured greater custom and Trade to the Ladies of Pleasure who having more employment than they could turn their hands unto the looser sort of Italians for want of Women burned in lust one towards the other and addicted themselves to that abominable and unnatural Crime of Sodomy of which the Pope being made sensible he reversed his sentence and gave license to the banished Whores to return to their usual stations howsoever strict Orders were given that Priests should not entertain Wenches in their Houses under the notion of Servants or House-keepers which yet was so connived at that when it was told the Pope that a certain Cardinal kept a Mistris The better said he for having his Conscience stained with this scandal he will be the more cautious how he speaks boldly or with freedom in our presence This first year of the Pontificate of Sixtus was in the Month of December ended with the promotion of eight Cardinals all Men of honour and merit amongst which Hippolito Aldobrandino of Florence was one with title of Cardinal Pancratio who was afterwards created Pope and called Clement VIII Sixtus being now at ease in his Chair began his second year with the long desired work of raising the Obeliske called by the Italians Aguglia or Guglia which had lain for many years neglected in the Circus of Nero where now is the Sacristia or Vestry of St. Peter's Church This Obeliske as some Writers affirm was made by Nycoreus who reigned in Egypt about the time of Numa Pompilius and that at first it was one hundred and fifty Cubits high but in raising of it it broke and so was shortned fifty Cubits which afterwards with several others of less magnitude was brought to Rome and consecrated to Octavianus Augustus and Tiberius his adopted Son as may be seen by this Insciption now remaining Divo Caesari Divi Julii F. Aug. Tiberio Caesari Divi Aug. F. Augusto Sacrum But being erected in the times of Christianity it was consecrated to the Holy Cross with this Motto Sanct. Cruci Sacravit Sixtus V. Pont. Max. E priore sede avulsum Ces Aug. Tib. ablatum On the Basis of it on the South side are these words Sixtus V. Pont. Max. Cruci Invictae Obeliscum Vaticanum ab impurâ superstitione expiatum justius felicius Consecravit Anno MD.LXXXVII Pont. II. To erect this Obelisk without breaking it was accounted a matter of that difficulty and Art that none would undertake it till at length Domenico Fontana a rare Architect of Como contrived the Engines to perform the work which were so many that the materials of them the labour and the workmanship cost thirty six thousand Crowns there is a Book extant in the Vatican Library which I have seen that describes all the Instruments and Engines which were formed for that Design The whole weight of the Obelisk rests on four Lions of Brass which are placed on a Pedestal Besides this great Work Sixtus also was very industrious this year and intent in great and mighty works of Munificence and Charity For he raised and repaired four other Obelisques in divers parts of Rome He built also a Chappel in Santa Maria Maggiore which he dedicated to the Manger of Christ called ad praesepe which he adorned with rare and precious stones of the finest Marble Porphiry Alabaster Agats and the like which cover the walls of the Chappel within he erected a stately Sepulcre or Monument in memory of Pius V. He was at great charge and expence in bringing the Water by Aqueducts to his Palace of Monte Cavallo antiently Mons Quirinus He also brought Water to Rome by Pipes from the possessions of Prince Colonna far distant from Rome yet by the help of two thousand Men which he employed for the space of eighteen Months he happily finished the same the charge of which amounted to 270000 Crowâ—s comprehending the sum of twenty five thousand pounds which he gave to Prince Colonna in purchase of that stream of Water which he had taken from his Land To which Aqueduct he gave the name of Felice which was the name he owned when he was a Frier He built also the Portico of the Lateran which is a Noble Sructure He caused a Statue of St. Peter to be cast in Brass and placed it on the Pillar of Trajan and an other of St. Paul which he set on the Column of Antonius Pius He enlarged many of the streets in Rome made them strait and so wide that five Coaches might pass abreast He built a very stately Church and dedicated it to St. Jerome and
which though it be a year of repentance yet it is also a year of Jubilee and of spiritual joy and comfort Now because the love of Christ for whom we are Ambassadours to all Nations constraineth us and the zeal which we have for your Souls doth consume our spirit we exhort and beseech you all by the blood which Jesus Christ hath spilt and by his coming in the last day of Judgment especially at this time of Jubilee That every one be converted from the evil of his way and turn unto the Lord with a pure heart and good conscience and faith unfeigned because the Lord is gracious and merciful full of compassion and long-suffering Wherefore according to the duty of our Pastoral Office we do call and chearfully invite you Our dear Children in Christ namely the Emperor the Kings and Catholick Princes with all the faithful of Christ wheresoever dispersed in the most remote parts of the World that they would be present at this joyful solemnity of the Jubilee though we cannot but at the same time be miserably afflicted with consideration of the great numbers of people who have separated themselves from the union and Communion of the Catholick and Apostolical Church within the last Age of one hundred years past did with one mind and heart celebrate this holy year of Jubilee for the eternal salvation of whose souls we would gladly and willingly spill our blood and give our lives Wherefore you who are obedient Children and Catholick and beloved of God and us Venite Ascendite ad locum quem elegit Dominus Come unto this spiritual Jerusalem and to this holy Mount of Sion not according to the letter but Allegorically and by spiritual understanding because that from this place the holy light of Evangelical truth hath from the first beginning of the Primitive Church been diffused through all Nations This is that happy City whose faith the Apostle praises and commends in these words I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole World This is the City where the Chief of the Apostles Peter and Paul did vent their Doctrine with the effusion of their blood that Rome being the sacred Seat of St. Peter might become the capital City of the World the Mother of all the Faithful and the Majesty of all the other Churches Here is the Rock of Faith placed and from hence springs the fountain of the Priestly unity from hence are derived the clear streams of the purest Doctrine here are found the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven with full power to bind and loose and lastly here is conserved that Treasure of Indulgences which shall never fail of which the Roman High Priest is the principal keeper and Dispenser And though he doth dispense some part hereof every year as occasion doth require yet more especially in this Holy year of Jubilee a greater affluence thereof is dispersed when according to the solemnity of the most antient Churches of Rome when the gates are opened by the pious and liberal hands that so entering into the presence of God with joy and having cast off from their shoulders the yoke of sin and the tyranny of the Enemy you may be reconciled unto God by means of the Sacrament and therefore come you as true Children Heirs of Heaven and Possessours of Paradise Given at Rome near St. Peters in the year of our Lord's Incarnation 1599. June 18. in the 8th year of our Pontificate The Copy of this Letter being sent to all Christian Princes in communion with the Court of Rome the Pope busily employed himself in making preparations and provisions for entertainment of Pilgrims who in the following year of Jubilee crouded in those numbers to gain the Indulgences and Pardons as of Men and Women the account made amounted unto three Millions of Persons But the Pope was not so busily employed in his preparations for the Jubilee but that he attended to the decision of the Controversie of the Marquisat of Saluces which as we have said was at the late Treaty at Vervins put into his hands and power to be concluded and determined in the space of one year In order unto which the President Bruslard was dispatched to Rome in behalf of the French King and the Count d' Archonas of the Duke of Savoy and both met there about the beginning of this year 1599. the Cause being pleaded before the Pope both Parties pressed the Arguments so home in favour of the right of their respective matters that the Pope esteeming the Point difficult to be decided required some longer time before he would undertake to pass his judgment and in the interim proposed that the Marquisat should remain in his hands as a Depositary and an indifferent person between both Parties And though neither the King nor the Duke were well pleased with these delatory proceedings yet the King was contented to allow two Months for such determination but the Duke who had been possessed by the suggestions of his Minister at Rome that the Pope required to be the Depositary with design to bestow the Marquisat on one of his Nephews conceived such a jealousie of the Pope's intentions that he began to decline the Umpirage which when the Pope understood he with great indignation refused to interpose farther resolving neither to meddle with the Arbitration nor the Deposite The King who knew well in what manner to do right unto himself by his Sword was not much concerned for the rejection which the Pope had made of the Arbitration and the Duke being contented to have his Cause pass by other formalities than that of the Consistory judged his right more secure and more easily convincing by a personal Treaty with the King himself which matter being now taken out of the hand of the Pope we leave to the temporal determination of these Princes and proceed to other matters more agreeable to this History Henry IV. of France being in good favour and correspondence with Clement VIII treated with him about obtaining a Divorce or rather a dissolution of marriage between him and Margaret Dutchess of Valois to which this Pope might perhaps be more inclinable and easie on some reflections he made on the ill consequences which the delays of the like Divorce to Henry VIII of England produced to the Papal Power The Cardinal d' Ossac with the President Monsieur de Silery having Orders to prosecute this matter in the Court of Rome represented to the Pope the state of the marriage with Queen Margaret and that though the King their Master had ever since his conversion to the Catholick Religion entertained reverend and obedient thoughts towards the Papal Sea and might on score of being the eldest Son of the Church expected more than ordinary favours yet on consideration of the Nullity of this Marriage he desired nothing more than common justice The Pope who was very desirous to favour and
manner altered or transported conserving still a Majesty becoming the gravity and seriousness of the Papal Chair unto which he was promoted Nor did he ascend unto this height on a sudden but by degrees and previous dispositions for besides the advantages of his birth being the Son of Octaviano de Medicis Cousin of Cosmo Great Duke of Tuscany he had exercised many honourable and important Offices for in the first place he had been Arch-bishop of Florence and Francis the Great Duke of Florence had sent him his Ambassadour at Rome Gregory XIII created him Cardinal under the Title of St. John and St. Paul and the 13th of December 1593. Clement VIII deputed him his Legat to Henry IV. King of France and Navarre in which Office he was a good Instrument in making the Peace between this Henry and Philip II. King of Spain in recompence of which and to evidence the respect he had for him King Henry presented him with a Jewel of ten thousand Crowns and finally being chosen Pope to the general satisfaction of all Rome he was on the 2d of April carried with the usual pomp to the Church of St. Peters where Te Deum was solemnly sang after which the people of Rome coming to salute him he promised to abate their Subsidies and Taxes to adorn the City to treat the Nobility with favour and respect and conserve and maintain the priviledges of all People respectively according to their qualities and conditions On the 10th of April being Easter day he was solemnly Crowned but the day of Procession to St. John de Lateran where the Pope takes the possession was deferred until the seventeenth instant when the Florentines and the several Orders of the City did endeavour to outvy each other in such demonstrations as might evidence the satisfaction and contentment they received by this Election amongst which the Florentines erected a Triumphal Arch with this Inscription on the one side thereof Leoni XI Florentino P.O.M. Florentini ad declarandam fidem laetitiam animi alacritatem And on the other side Dignus est Leo in virtute Agni accipere librum solvere septem signacula ejus But this joy and contentment did not continue long for the Pope being wearied with the tedious length of these Ceremonies and over-heated with the Weather and weight of his Vestments took an extream cold which turned to a Fever which encreasing daily on him he expired his last breath on the 25th day after his Election and in the seventieth year of his age the same Evening his Body was carried to the Chappel of Sixtus and the next day being the 28th of April to the Church of St. Peters where according to the usual custom great numbers of people thronged to kiss his feet The sadness at Rome for this sudden accident was certainly very great but none had so much reason to lament this loss as his own Family who had not time to receive the honours designed for them and particularly his great Nephew Octaviano on whom he intended to bestow his own Cardinals Hat After which the Papal Sea was vacant for nineteen days PAVL V. LEO the Eleventh being deceased the same Cardinals who had elected the preceding Pope to the number of sixty one entered the Conclave on the 8th of May where the day following the first Scrutiny was made but without effect by reason of the diversity of Votes and divisions amongst the Cardinals Sauli was then proposed but excluded Bellarmine was then next who in all probability might have carried the Prize had not the Scrutiny been deferred after the Pratica was made for him Camerino and Clemente were also put to the Votes but excluded only Cardinal Tosco had gained so great a Party being assisted by Aldobrandino Montalto and others of the best Interest that his Election had certainly been perfected had not Baronius and Farugio crossed the matter which caused a loud cry for Baronius but by a like accident of contradiction as well Baronius as Tosco was excluded at length after diversity of Successes Cardinal Borghese being nominated such unanimous consent appeared in all the Conclave that every one seemed to assent having no other objection against him than the small number of his years having scarce attained to the age of fifty three but that scruple not availing he was conducted to the Chappel of Paolino where he was elected and having vested himself in his Pontifical garments was worshiped as Pope on the 16th of May which being performed he took on himself the name of Paul V. This Camillo for so was his Christian Name was born at Rome his Father was Antonio Borghese of Siena but his Mother was a Roman Lady His Studies were chiefly in the Civil Law in which having taken his degree of Doctor he became so famous that he was made Referendary both of one and the other Signet In the year 1588. he was constituted Vice Legat of Bologna Gregory IV. made him Auditor of the Chamber which is an Office that requires great dexterity and experience in Affairs Clement VIII created him Cardinal with the title of St. Chrusogono and afterwards made him his Vicar which is one of the four principal Dignities of Rome In this manner he still advanced in greatness and honour until he came to the height of the Papal Dignity seeming to have arisen thereunto rather by the force of his own merits and Virtue than by fortune or the favour and recommendation of Friends or Patrons On the 29th of May being Whit-sunday he was Crowned with all the usual Ceremonies and then he bestowed freely his general Indulgences exhorting all people to pray for the encrease of God's Church the tranquillity and peace of the Christian State and extirpation of Heresie He abated or took off some of the Taxes which lay most heavy on the People moderated the price of Provisions at Rome and contrived a great abundance of all things necessary or convenient for humane life And to give some indication to the World of his magnificence and generous Mind he built a Chappel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore just opposite to that of Sixtus V. which he enriched and adorned with Porphiry and Marble and endowed afterwards with a considerable Revenue Paul V. being thus setled in the Papal Chair and invested with all the Power attendant on that supreme degree made it the scope and chief end of all his designs and Counsel to scrue up the Ecclesiastical Authority to the sublime pitch of greatness or to use his own words to restore it to that State from which his Predecessours and particularly Clement VIII had by their remissness or want of care suffered it to elapse and decay And indeed his own natural disposition and the course of his life seemed to have fitted him for such a work as this for having been educated a Lawyer and made Auditor of the Chamber whose title is Sententiarum censurarum intus extra latarum universalis Executor he made
any Tax or Imposition on Christian Princes and require from them whatsoever they judged for the common good and welfare of Christendom But the Pope did not think this ground to have sufficient foundation on which to build and commence a quarrel but rather on the matters which did more neerly relate to the Interest of the Papal Sea It was not long before an occasion of this nature offered it self by means of one Scipio Saraceno a Prebend of Vicenza who had contemptuously torn off and broken the Seals which the Magistrates had fixed on the Episcopal Chancery during the vacancy of that Office and likewise finding that he could not debauch a Lady of known Vertue whom he tempted in the Churches and Streets and in all places where he could have any convenience to meet her he became so enraged with lust and malice that he besmeared with filthiness and tar the Gate and front of her House which being a high affront and disgrace to the Lady she with the advice of her Friends cited this insolent Prebend before the Court of Justice at Venice who as readily and willingly appeared being encouraged and bolstred up by the Bishop of Citta Nuova a person of great esteem in Venice and one who was Director of the Affairs of all the Nuntios and Papal Ministers at that place The Nuntio who was desirous to obtain a licentious exemption of all Priests from the Secular Power embraced the cause of the Prebendary with all readiness imaginable and immediately dispatched the news hereof to the Pope and to the Bishop of Vicenza who was then at Rome where after divers Consultations it was resolved as an essential Point relating to the Ecclesiastical liberty that the Cause of the Prebend should be maintained and defended and therefore the Pope who was glad of this occasion to assert the Authority and Rites of the Churches stormed and raved with the Venetian Ambassadour telling him that he would not endure or suffer the imprisonment of an Ecclesiastical Person by the Precepts of a Secular Tribunal nor would he admit that a Judg of temporal matters should take cognisance of any Cause wherein a Priest or Churchman was concerned Of all which the Ambassadour gave advice to the Senate The Pope at an other Audience complained to the said Ambassadour that the Senate of Venice had since the death of Clement VIII made a Statute of Mortmain whereby Lay-persons were forbidden and restrained from bequeathing or bestowing their Estates on the Church which Statute though it were founded on an old Law yet the new one was more restrictive but both of them being against the antient Canons Councils and Imperial Laws were in themselves void and null being scandalous and impious in that they made the state and condition of Churchmen worse than that of infamous persons and therefore those who made these Laws did incur the Censures of the Church in the like terms the Nuntio at Venice explained the mind of the Pope unto the Senate and when the Ambassadours arrived at Rome to congratulate the Pope for his exaltation to that dignity he could not refrain even before the Ceremony was ended to make his resentments and complaints of those Laws made in derogation of the Rites and immunities belonging to the Church And thus we have laid down the true state of the quarrel between the Pope and the Venetians to which we shall add a third Point namely a Law made at Venice in the year 1603. prohibiting the building of Churches without consent and license for it obtained from the Senate which the Pope termed a piece of Heresie These being the three Points in Controversie the Senate for answer thereunto commanded their Ambassadour to represent in their name unto his Holiness That the just Right and Title they had to judg Ecclesiastical Persons in Secular Causes was founded in the natural Power of the Supreme Prince and confirmed by an uninterrupted course of a thousand years the which may be proved by the Pontifical Briefs extant in their publick Archives or Records That the Law of Mort-main or Statute restraining Laymen from alienation of their Estates to the Church was not onely enacted at Venice or peculiar to the Cities under that Metropolis but exercised in other Christian Kingdoms and States and that this Law was more conducing to the welfare of Venice than to any other people being that which could onely conserve its Forces entire against the common Enemy of Christendom which would otherwise be enfeebled by those daily Legacies and Endowments which were bequeathed and conferred on the Church The Pope was so netled with this way of reasoning that he sat all the time uneasie in his Seat shrugging his shoulders and turning his head which intimated the unquietness of his mind At length he replyed That those arguments were invalid and of no force for that there was no foundation to be made on the accustomed course of their Judicature which was so much the worse by how much more they pretended Antiquity And as to the Briefs there was no authentick Register or Record of them but what was found at Rome and that the others were forged Copies and cheats imposed on the Clergy And as to their Acts and Ordinances he was so well acquainted and versed in them since the time of his youthful Studies and that having passed the Offices of Vice-Legat Auditor of the Chamber and Vicar of the Pope he was sufficiently assured that that Law could not stand and that the old Act made in the year 1536. which takes from the Laiety a power of disposing of their own private Estates was in it self void and of no force and a tyrannical imposition on the Subject That the Senate themselves were so sensible of this injurious Law that they were ashamed to issue forth any Copies of it and if in case a Law of this nature were found in any other Country it was established by the Authority and with the concurrence of the Popes and then he concluded that he was resolved not to make a long work of it for that in case he were not obeyed he would make use of such Remedies as he thought convenient being so positive in this matter and zealous for the Church that he was ready to spill his blood in this righteous Cause and in the defence thereof That in case it were necessary to give a stop to the alienation of Lands or a restraint of building Churches he would always have been ready to have followed the sentiments of the State and to have concurred in just causes with the desires of the Secular Council but as to the point of drawing the Clergy to the Secular Tribunals he would never admit that such as were his Subjects should be liable to the sentence of an other Jurisdiction this in fine was his resolution on the three foregoing Cases in which he was resolved to be obeyed and make use of that Power which God had given him over all things and over all
made by their Predecessours had in the year 1603. Ordered and enacted That no Churches or religious Houses should be built or erected without license first obtained from the Senate And whereas such Laws being in themselves void ought to have been repealed and cancelled the said Council did not onely confirm but enlarge the same making those Laws which were once restrained and limited to the City of Venice onely to reach and extend to all parts and places subjected to that Dominion under severe forfeitures and penalties to the Offenders as if both Churches and Ecclesiastial persons were subjected to the temporal Jurisdiction and as if it were a capital crime nnd wickedness to build a Church And whereas in pursuance of an other Law made in the year 1536. whereby a Statute of Mortmain was made and penalties laid on such who should without license obtained from the Senate alienate the Lands of Lay-persons and bestow them to pious uses which Law as it ought to have been repealed so on the contrary in the Month of March last past the Senate did not onely confirm the same but did likewise enlarge and extend the power thereof to all parts within their Dominions as if that Signory which is but a temporal power had Authority with consent or concurrence of the Pope to dispose of Ecclesiastical Estates Goods or Revenues though left by pious and faithful Believers as an Offering for sin and as an ease to their burdened Consciences The which things being damnable scandalous and contrary to the Ecclesiastical liberty are null and void in themselves and from the observance of which all persons are disobliged And it is hereby farther declared that those who have been contrivers or Legislators of these or the like Statutes have incurred the censure of the Church and a forfeiture of all those Lands which they hold of the Church and their States and Dominions are also liable to other punishments So that unless every thing be restored to its pristine State perseverance in the same will be an aggravation of the crime for which no absolution can be given but on terms of restauration of all matters to their original condition Wherefore being exalted on our supreme Throne on which we cannot nor ought to dissemble any matters We admonish you to consider the danger of your Souls for which this Republick is obliged to provide for we command under pain of Excommunication that the aforesaid Laws whether antient or modern be revoked and cancelled and that the same be published in all parts of your Dominions and in case you refuse to perform the same We shall then be forced to proceed to the execution of this Our Sentence so soon as we have understood the presentation of these Our Letters from the report of Our Nuntio and afterwards you are not to expect any other citation or process from us for we are unwilling that God should in the last day of Judgment demand an account of this matter and condemn us for want of performance of Our duty in this case Wherefore we whose end and design it is to govern the Christian State in peace and righteousness cannot dissemble in cases where the Apostolical Sea is offended the Ecclesiastical liberty trampled under foot the Canons neglected the Rites of the Church and the priviledges of the Clergy violated which is the sum of this Our accusation against you And We do farther make known unto you that we are not moved to pass this Our Censure out of any worldly respect having onely an ambition of zeal to exercise our Apostolical Government as far as we are able in its due perfection And as we would not intrench on the temporal Authority so neither will we permit that the Ecclesiastical should be infringed But in case the Republick would be obedient to these Our Commands they would free Vs from great troubles and anguish of mind which we sustain for their sakes And they also may conserve the Lands which they hold from the Church nor can this Republick defend themselves from the force and violence of Infidels by any better and prevailing means than by doing right and justice to the Clergy who day and night watch over them and pray unto God for this Republick The Senate having read and considered these Briefs thought fit to confer and consult with the most judicious and able Lawyers of their age such as Antonio Pellegrini and Erasmus Gratiani together with Father Paul of the Order of the Servi a person profoundly learned in Theology and the Canons of the Church unto these three they added several other learned Men eminent for wisdom and piety of Life not Subjects onely to the State of Venice but belonging to other parts of Italy namely Menocchio President of Milan and others in consideration of which case they perused and search'd the Books and Writings of the most famous Doctors of France and Spain and according to the Opinion and sence of all those learned Men in the Law the Controversie between the Pope and the Republick did relate wholly to temporal matters unto which the Papal Authority did not extend and that the Republick might in such cases order and determine according to the nature and exigency of their Affairs and in farther proof and testimony hereof many Laws were cited which had been enacted in other Christian Countries and Dominions of the same substance and tenure with these And in this manner the Senate having received and understood the Opinion and report of their Doctors returned their answer unto the Pope to this effect dated the 28th of January With much astonishment and trouble of mind this Republick hath been informed by Letters from your Holiness that those Laws which for some ages have been observed with much benefit to this Republick and never questioned by your Predecessors should now be reprehended and repealed by the Authority of the Apostolical Sea the which Laws are so sound and safe for us that the alteration of them would shake the very foundation of this Government And we are troubled to think that those Persons who were of excellent piety and vertue that made and established these Laws and who are now in Heaven should be termed and branded as violators of the Ecclesiastical liberty And now according to the desire of your Holiness we have caused all our Laws both antient and modern relating to the points in Controversie to be reviewed and examined and we find nothing which hath been established by the Power of the Supreme Prince in the least derogatory to the Papal Authority it being apparent that it is the duty of the Secular Magistrate to inspect and consider what kind of Companies are fit to be admitted into the City what Edifices are fit to be erected and what are not and what may in time prove hurtful to the publick safety for in regard the Dominion of Venice doth abound with Churches and religious Houses as much as any other part and that when it was
convenient to erect more a license to build was not onely granted but contributions made thereunto by the publick liberality and munificence so when it was necessary to set bounds and limits thereunto this Senate made use of their own Power alone without any diminution to the Canons of the Church And whereas the Pope hath a Power to restrain the Clergy from alienating their Lands and Estates to the Laiety without his consent and dispensation so also hath the temporal Prince the like Authority to forbid and inhibit all Lay-persons from making alienation of their Estates unto the Church Nor do Ecclesiastical persons lose any thing by this restriction but rather procure a benefit for when the temporal Power is weakned by such alienation this State which is the Bulwark of Christendom will not be able to withstand the common Enemy nor afford due protection either to the Clergy or Laiety And therefore the Senate doth not believe that they have incurred the Ecclesiastical Censure considering that Secular Princes have received that Power from God of making Laws which no other humane Authority is able to take from them and much less have the Briefs of your Holiness any place or prevalence in matters purely temporal which are clearly distinct from those which are spiritual to which the Papal Power doth singly extend Nor can this Senate imagine that your Holiness who is full of Piety and Religion will persist in these your Comminations until the cause hath first been fully examined and discussed And thus much they thought fit in short to make known unto your Holiness referring all things to be treated and explained more at large by their Ambassadour Extraordinary These Letters of the Senate being arrived at Rome were presented to the Pope by the hands of the Ambassadour who immediately opened and read them but the Contents so little pleased him that he was angry and froward all the time that they were in reading and in fine he told the Ambassadour that those Letters were no Answer to his Admonitory Briefs that the Answer was frivolous and insignificant that the matter was clear and evident on his side and that therefore he was resolved to proceed unto Sentence that the Senate must resolve to submit and obey for his cause was the cause of God Et Portae Inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam If the Monks of Padoua had purchased more Lands than were requisite or consistent with the welfare of the State upon address made to him he could have applyed a Remedy but the Senate proceeding in another manner were Tyrants Usurpers and Men of Principles different from their Ancestours wherefore he exhorted them not to deceive themselves with the thoughts of protracting the time in hopes of deciding the Dispute by his death for that in case he received not satisfaction therein in the space of fifteen days he would then proceed to execution of his Sentence The fifteen days were scarce expired when the Ambassadour Nani acquainted the Pope that Duodo was dispatched from Venice in quality of Ambassadour Extraordinary to inform his Holiness more amply of all matters to which the Pope replied that there was no need of farther expostulations the matter was clear and he would be obeyed But notwithstanding the Pope's hast time was protracted till towards the end of March when Duodo the Ambassadour Extraordinary arrived at Rome to whom the Pope would not have patience to grant all the methods of Complements but immediately at his arrival admitted him to Audience when the Ambassadour largely discoursing on every point in Controversie concluded that the Senate could not yield to the Demands of his Holiness without betraying that Power which God had put into their hands But the Pope making no reply to the Arguments in particular adhered close to the Conclusion that Ecclesiastical persons were exempted Jure Divino from the Secular Dominion that he had heard enough from Nani of this kind of reasoning that the Cause was God's and must prevail This resolution of the Pope being made known at Venice the Senate thought fit to communicate these their differences to the Ministers of forein Princes desiring their Opinions on those Points From which the Spanish Ambassadour excused him not desiring to concern his Master in those matters which might yield the least displeasure to the Pope but the Imperial and French Ambassadours were much more frank and open in their Opinions for the first did allow and approve the reasons of the Senate alledging the Customs of his own Country the French Comte where the same things were practised and Monsieur de Fresnes the French Ambassadour declared that he could not understand those Papal Laws which deny unto Princes the Government of their own State and therefore the Republick was much to be commended for preferring their liberty before any other respect At Rome the Cardinals of Verona and Vicenza used all the Interest and persuasions they were able to induce the Pope to defer the promulgation of his Sentence for some time putting him in mind that the Spiritual Arms were not to be exercised but in cases where they were sure to prevail Then said the Pope I shall make use of the Temporal and in the mean time to manifest to the World my patience and tenderness towards them I shall grant them the term of twenty four days to consider and repent and accordingly having formed and printed his Monitory on the 17th of April he caused it to be read and published in the Consistory After which he added That he had greatly studied this Point and having consulted with the most famous Canonists the general Opinion of them all was that the Republick acted contrary to the Authority of the Apostolick Sea and against the liberties and immunities of the Church alledging in his favour the Council of Simmaco and of Lions under Pope Gregory with other Decrees made by the Councils of Constance and Basil and that the same was so declared in the case against Henry II. against the Kings of Castile and other Kings and caused a Constitution made by Innocent III. to be read and to proceed the more regularly in this important matter the Votes of the Cardinals were distinctly required the number of Cardinals then present in the Consistory were forty one all which did either in few words assent or more at large produce the Authority of the Canonists in confirmation of the Pope's reasons And indeed little less than this free concurrence could be expected from them for though some few out of a zeal towards the Ecclesiastical liberty might really be possessed with this Opinion yet the generality were guided by other Principles some perhaps were unwilling to displease the Pope in expectation of preferments of themselves or Friends others had a prospect of arising to the Popedom and for that cause were willing to exalt its Power every one had some consideration or other for his own benefit but not such consideration as was required in study of the
case or to find out the truth of the matter under debate For Popes in the Consistory are always sure to find the Cardinals pliant and ready to yield assent unto whatsoever they propose that is Assentiri in Assentari The Consistory being risen the Monitory was affixed in all the publick places of Rome of which a multitude of Copies both in Latin and Italian were printed and dispatched into all the Cities of Italy especially into the Dominions of Venice and dispersed into all parts by the Jesuits accompanied with seditious Letters and Pamphlets derogatory to the honour of the Republick The Monitory was directed to the Patriarchs Arch-bishops Bishops Vicars and all Ecclesiastics either Secular or Regular who held any Dignities and preferments of the Church within the Dominion of Venice and therein it was exposed That whereas some Months past he was given to understand that is the Pope how that the Doge and Senate of Venice had for many years past made several Decrees in prejudice of the Apostolical Sea and priviledges of the Church notwithstanding that the same were repugnant to the General Councils and to the antient Canons and Constitutions of the Popes of Rome and now more lately a Law was made in the year 1602. whereby Ecclesiastical persons are incapacitated to appropriate to themselves any Lands or Estates Secondly He mentioned the Law made in the year 1603. which restrains and prohibits the erecting or building any Churches or religious Houses without the leave or license of the Senate Thirdly He mentioned the Law in 1605. which extends these Laws over all the Dominions of the Republick which formerly were terminated to the City of Venice onely and lastly the imprisonment of the Canon of Vicenza and the Abbot of Nervesa by which particular offences the Ecclesiastical liberty being infringed the Doge and Senate of Venice have to the danger of their own Souls and scandal of the World incurred the Ecclesiastical Censures to the forfeiture of their Lands and Jurisdiction from which they cannot be absolved but by the Pope himself who being satisfied with their repentance demonstrated by a repeal of those Laws and restauration of all things to their pristine condition hath the sole power to receive them again into the bosom of the Church And whereas the Doge and Senate after many fatherly Admonitions have not repealed those Laws nor released the Prisoners he could in no wise suffer that the liberties and immunities of the Church and the Authority of the Apostolical Sea should be violated and infringed And though those Laws are in themselves void and of none effect yet by the example of ten Popes and more his Predecessours in confirmation hereof and by and with the consent and counsel of the Cardinals with whom he had advised hereupon he doth farther declare those Laws to be null and cancelled and doth farther declare and denounce Excommunication against the Doge and Senate in general in such manner as if they had been particularly named and against their Successours Councellours Adherents and Abettors in case the said Doge and Senate shall not within the space of twenty four days after the publication hereof assigning eight days for each term of Admonition repeal cancel and make void the aforesaid Decrees with all Writs and Orders proceeding thereupon and without farther delay or Excuse shall not restore all things to their former and original condition with promise never to do or perform the like again And shall not consign into the hands of his Nuntio both the Canon and the Abbot giving advice and notice of all unto the Pope himself and for default thereof the Excommunication to remain in force from whence no Absolution can be granted but by the Pope himself unless at the point of death from which State in case the person so absolved shall recover and still continue and persist in the same obstinacy he shall again be liable to the same Excommunication as before and in case he die his body notwithstanding shall not be interred in any consecrated place until obedience be yielded unto these Commands by all others concerned And in case after the expiration of twenty four days the Doge and Senate shall still persist in their contumacy for other three days then he did Interdict all their Dominion forbidding all Masses and divine Offices to be performed therein unless in such places manner and cases as are granted by the Common Law And farther he did deprive the Doge and Senate of all their Revenue and possessions which they hold of the Roman Church or other Churches and of all the priviledges granted them in favour thereof reserving still unto himself and his Successours a Power to aggravate and encrease the Censures and penalties against them their Adherents and Abettors therein c. And to proceed unto farther punishments and Remedies in case of continuance in such like contumacy Notwithstanding c. Commanding all Patriarchs Arch-bishops and Bishops and other Inferiour Clergy upon penalty c. That after the receipt of these Letters or notice thereof given that they publish the same in the respective Churches at such times as when the greatest concourse of people is present and to affix the same at the Church doors c. After publication was made of this severe Excommunication thundered out against a Republick of such greatness and esteem in the World all the Ambassadours and Ministers of foreign Princes residing at Rome were greatly troubled and concerned considering that an Act of this nature had some oblique reflection on every Prince that professed obedience or devotion for the Papal Sea Wherefore every one of those Ministers residing at Rome made their applications and addresses to the Pope desiring him to moderate and prorogue the Sentence until the matter were examined and considered by the Republick and ways or means contrived for an accommodation To whom the Pope returned this general Answer That the way to compose and accommodate these differences were to incline the Republick to a resolution of becoming obedient but that word Obedient would not well pass with the Ministers who made some reflections thereon as unbeseeming the degree of Sovereign Princes and therefore persuaded the Pope rather to use some more moderate and gentle terms and enlarge the time allotted for termination of the Sentence The news hereof being come to Venice the Senate immediately and in the first place ordered that Prayers should be made in all Churches and Chappels imploring the Divine assistance in that great emergency of Affairs and in the next place they resolved to recall their Ambassadour Extraordinary from Rome leaving Nani to reside there lest they should seem to despise and stand in open defiance against the Apostolical Sea Sir Henry Wotton was at that time Resident for the King of England at Venice when the Senate thought fit to communicate to him the rigour of the Pope's Sentence for until then they had never mentioned any thing with him of their Controversie
until these days there are several Bishops of the Roman rite in Armenia and Monasteries of Dominican Friers In the year 1610. this Pope beatified Ignatius Loyola who was the first Founder and Institutor of the Order of Jesuits giving them leave and permission amongst themselves and publickly in their own Churches to invoke him as a Saint or as one of those happy Souls who live and reign in Heaven with God but not to be prayed unto or invoked by the Universal Church But with more Ceremony and joy he canonized the same year Charles Borromeo the Arch-bishop of Milan In the time of Clement VIII the people of Milan had earnestly desired this grace and had begun the methods and rules of proceedings observed in that case the which being continued until the time of this Paul V. were then at the desire and request of the Kings of Spain Poland and Sweden as also of the College of Cardinals and Bishops of the Province of Milan consummated and finished with great pomp and expence In the Month of May of this year 1610. Henry IV. King of France was wickedly and traiterously assassinated by Ravillac the particulars of which are specified in the French History the which diabolical Act as it astonished the whole World so it sadly affected Pope Paul who had received many Obligations from that King being endeared to him by many late circumstances in the Controversie with Venice and upon this score he deeply lamented this unhappy fate which he said was a loss to all Christendom and the Universal Church and understanding that some young French Men then at Rome rejoyced at the fact and stiled the villanous Assassinate The Deliverer of their Country he caused them to be seized and upon Process made against them he condemned them to the Gallies And though Popes do seldom assist at the Obsequies of deceased Princes yet he was resolved to be present at these which were celebrated at Rome with great solemnity where one Sequier preaching the funeral Sermon of this great Prince he bestowed on him these Titles of Praise and Dignity calling him The Protectour of the publick Peace the Ornament of the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church the sole Arbitrator between Christian Kings and Princes and the delight of the Universe with which the Pope was so well affected that he acknowledged all that was said of him to have been true but yet that this Elogium came far short of the merit of this great Prince Besides these honours performed to the three forementioned Parties he beatified Phillippus Nerius Founder of the Order of the Fathers of the Oratory called in French Les peres d' Oratoire and in Spain known by the name of Observantes Minores as also the Virgin Teresa who for it instituted the Order of descalced Carmelites with divers others But now to enumerate the many publick works done by this Pope we shall find none to have exceeded him in Magnificent Structures For in the first place he highly beautified the Vatican Basilicon called by us the Church of S. Peter which being begun by Julius II. and amplified and encreased by Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. was not yet perfected until the time of this Pope who by the help and contrivance of Michael Angelo de Bonarora caused the old Building of Constantine to be demolished and began a most stupendous work erecting from the very foundation the whole body of the Church from the Chappel of Gregory to the farthest end building the Quire Chancel and both the lower and upper Portico from whence the Pope on certain days blessed the People and in remembrance whereof this Inscription is engraven within the Church Paulus V. Pont. Max. Vaticanum Templum a Julio II. Inchoatum Et usque ad Gregorii Clementis Sacella Assiduo Centum Annorum Opificio Productum Tantae Molis Accessione Vniversum Constantinianae Basilicae Ambitum includens Confecit Confessionem Beati Petri Exornavit Frontem Orientalem Porticum Extruxit But besides this foregoing work of great Magnificence and charge bestowed on St. Peter's Church he enlarged the Vatican Palace adding several convenient Stairs and passages into the Garden called the Bel vedere by which in a more direct way he might pass into it for that Palace is said to be so great as to contain five thousand six hundred and fifty Chambers He also enlarged the Vatican Library and adorned it with the Pictures of many Men famous in their Ages made and drawn by excellent hands to this Library he added a place to keep the Records of the secret transactions of the Roman Sea which he called Archivium Apostolicum Nor did his Munificence end with this work but with more State and charge he erected a Chappel called the Chappel of Burghese in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore dedicated to the Blessed Virgin the outside of which though built of Stone digged from Quarries on the banks of the Tybur yet the inside was enriched with Numidian and Carian Marble and with Granite Marble and Alabaster fetched from Chios and Phrygia the High Altar was supported with four lofty Pillars of Jasper-stone beset with Topaces Rubies Emeralds Chrysolites Onyx Amethysts and divers other pretious Stones from Persia and India and dressed up the Image of our Lady upon it with rich embroidered Cloths with Chains of Gold and Pearl and the rarest Gems To this Chappel he gave a Cross of Silver weighing one hundred twenty eight pounds costing two thousand one hundred and fifty Ducats He also erected the Statues of the Twelve Apostles in Silver which cost six thousand Ducats of Gold with six silver Candlesticks gilded which cost three thousand Crowns also two massy Candlesticks of Silver which were placed at the foot of the high Altar weighing one hundred and fourteen pounds and cost one thousand four hundred Ducats of Gold Moreover he gave the heads of six Saints in Silver which cost two thousand and thirty Ducats and the Arms of six Saints which cost one thousand two hundred Ducats and also two Silver Basons weighing twenty three pounds and which cost five hundred pieces of Eight the Crown which he bestowed on the Image studded with precious Stones was valued at twelve thousand Ducats of Gold before which was hanged a Lamp of Silver weighing thirty one pounds with many other rare and rich gifts which amounted in all to 31725 Ducats of Gold I remember my self to have seen and observed this Chappel with great admiration and particularly noted the four Pillars of Jaspar and Bases of Brass and that the back of the Altar was all of Lapis Lazuli and the Cupolo of the Chappel was painted by Guido Rheni of Bologna this Chappel is just opposite to another built by Sixtus V. the chief Architect of which was Domenico Fontana and cost seven hundred thousand Crowns they are both additions to the Sancta Maria Maggiore which is one of the greatest Churches in Rome it is seated on Mons Esquilinus and by some is
punish those Crimes in them which savoured of partiality or corruption Examples hereof we have in many kinds and particularly it is not to be forgotten that a certain Nobleman of Rome having been guilty of many enormous Crimes could not be protected from his Justice by the Power and Interest of his Friends and Relations for having threatned one of the Judges to be revenged one day upon him in the vacancy of the Sea he was apprehended and accused upon those words which though they would bear no action in rigour yet they were so severely interpreted against him being aggravated by his former Offences that he was condemned to die and accordingly suffered in the publick face of all the City Another instance we have of his fortitude in the punishment of a Judg of the Court for Bribery whom he committed to Prison and afterwards condemned to the Gallies With the like impartiality and resolution he punished the people of Firma for having in a Mutiny and Sedition killed Viscount Vbert their Governour in prosecution of which justice he sent Count Vidman his chief Captain with some Troops against the City that those who were the principal leaders in this Sedition might without fear or favour be brought to condign punishment and accordingly some were imprisoned others banished others fined or sent to the Gallies or put to death and that he might attemper in some measure Clemency with his Justice he enclined a favourable Ear to the submissive petitions of that People and received them into his gracious favour and mercy Nor was his justice less eminent in the punishment of Mascambruno who was Sub datary of the Apostolical Chamber in which Office having behaved himself without regard to the faith and integrity required he forged many false Writings affixing the Pope's Seal to them and counterfeited his Hand besides many other accusations of bribery and corruption all which being proved against him he was devested of his Office and dignity of Priesthood and publickly executed in the face of the whole City It is also farther to be added in commendation of this Pope that he restored the Elogy which Alexander III had inscribed in the great Hall of the Vatican in memory of the assistances which the Venetians had given to the Church and which Vrban VIII without any just cause or reason had blotted out and defaced He was also munificent in publick Buildings and adornments of the City and according to the generous temper of his nature had been much more had not his Moneys been intercepted by Olympia Howsoever he enlarged the common Prisons of the City and built others which were before so narrow and streight as to be noisom and unhealthy to the Prisoners He also finished the Walls of the City on the other side of the Tyber which were begun by his Predecessour Vrban VIII He farther repaired and adorned the Church of St. John Lateran being much decayed since the time of Constantine the Great who had built it for a Chappel to his Palace and had been neglected by former Popes But more especially munificent was he towards the great Church of St. Peter for that a Memorial might remain of his Beneficence amongst other Popes to that place he added many and various Works and beautified those places which wanted Ornament but what the particulars were will best appear by this following Inscription which was engraven over the great Gate of this Church Basilicam Principis Apostolorum In hanc molis Amplitudinem Multiplici Romanorum Pontificum Aedificatione perductam Innocentius X. Pont. Max. Novo Caelaturae Opere Ornatis Sacellis Interjectis in utraque Templi Ala Marmoreis Columnis Strato è Vario lapide Pavimento Magnificentius Terminavit Besides all which publick Works many others are recorded of him by Ciconius in the life of this Pope to whom the Reader may be referred In the beginning of 1649. the year of Jubily approaching he caused great provisions to be made for entertainment of Pilgrims and that there should be no want of Bread and Wine in the City he sent Ofcers and Purveyors into all the neighbouring Countries to buy up the Corn and fill up the granaries of the City and lest in so general a concourse of people who flocked to enjoy the Indulgences and Pardons granted at that season Provisions should be raised to excessive Rates care was taken to moderate the prices and render every thing cheap and commodious for Pilgrims On the 24th of December 1649. the year of Jubily began when the Pope in presence of all the Cardinals Ambassadours and Magistrates of the City opened the Holy Gate which being again shut by him at the end of the following year this Inscription was engraven upon a Cross of stone over the portal of the Gate Innocentius X. Pont. Max. Portam Hanc Sanctam Reseratam Clausam AB Vrbano VIII Pont. Max. Anno Jubilei MDCXXV Aperuit Clausit Anno Jubilei MD.C.L. About this time a Book was published in France written by an unknown Author which aimed to subvert the Pope's Authority by proving that there was an equality in Order and Government between the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul or that the Authority of St. Paul was not subordinate to that of St. Peter This Book falling under the examination and scrutiny of the Inquisition was condemned as heretical and the same Censure was passed thereupon by the Pope who caused a Brief against it to be affixed in all publick places of Rome But the Opinions of Jansenius Bishop of Ypres more successfully prevailed in France and Flanders for prevention whereof and to give a stop to the farther spreading of those Tenents which were five in number a Congregation composed of Cardinals and Divines was appointed by Innocent to examine the several Articles and to give their Opinion upon the same And to quicken the Pope and make him more zealous in the Work both the King of France and Queen Regent sent their Letters to the Pope desiring him in a matter of such importance the determination whereof would tend to the settlement and quiet of Mens minds and Consciences to interpose with the final Sentence of his Infallibility and Apostolical Doctrine In like manner most of the Bishops of France desired the Pope's distinct determination of every one of those five Propositions for though Vrban VIII of happy memory had in general terms published a Bull against the Book of Jansenius and had confirmed the Decrees of Pius V. and Gregory XIII against Michael Baius whose Doctrines concurred with those of Jansenius yet were not convincing to the multitude for want of a distinct explication and particular Sentence against every one of those five Propositions wherefore the Pope after discussion of all those Points by the aforesaid Congregation at which he was for the most part personally present he promulged these his determinations thereupon and affixed these distinct Notes and Censures to every Proposition which we have thought fit to deliver in Latin
limited 205. dignified with the Title of Eminence 278 Casimir King of Poland 3 Castagna John Battista created Pope by the name of Vrban VII 205 Castro utterly demolish'd with an Inscription 315 Charles King of Spain 33. Emperour 39. Crown'd 61. renounces his Imperial Dignity 116 Charles VIII of France assists the Pope 10. claims the Kingdom of Naples and enters Italy 13. gains and loses Naples 14. dies ibid. Charles IX King of France 126 Chigi Fabio created Pope under the name of Alexander VII 321 Christina Queen of Sweden 319. abjures the Reformed Religion and comes to Rome 327 Cibo John Battista made Pope with the name of Innocent VIII 8 Colonneses and Vrsini a fewd between 'em 9. reconcil'd 10. both suffer much from Caesar Borgia 16. Colonneses vigorous Imperialists 52 Congo an Embassie from thence to the Pope 262 Conventus the word gives offence at the Council of Trent 94 Congregation for propagating the faith instituted 270 Cortesans used unkindly by Pius V. 158 Council against the Pope's mind appointed at Pisa 25. Another call'd at the Lâ—teran 25. that at Pisa declar'd a Conventicle 27. its acts and decrees abjur'd 31 General Council indicted at Mantua 7â— then at Vicenza ibid. after all at Trent 78. begun there 80. prorogu'd to Bologna 85. transferr'd to Trent 90.93 debates there 94 to 103. prorogu'd for two years 104. renew'd 125.127 transactions there from 128 to 156. Cranmer Arch bishop of Canterbury depriv'd 111 Duke of Crequi the French Ambassadour affronted at Rome 332. a quarrel thereupon 333 to 340 Cyprus demanded by the Turks of the Venetians 160. invaded and taken by them 161 D Dalmatia invaded by the Turks 75 D'aubusson Master of Rhodes 6 Denmark the Pope's Nuntio denied admittance there by the King 126 Diet at Regenspurg 77. at Noremberg 80. at Worms 82. at Auspurg 85 Divorce of Henry VIII and Queen Katharine debated 59. Of Henry IV. of France and Margaret Dutchess of Valois 221. Of Alphonso of Portugal and his Queen 351 E Elizabeth Queen of England denies admittance to the Pope's Nuntio 126. Excommunicated 159 and deposed by the Pope 162. well esteem'd by Sixtus V. 182. yet much hated 197 Eminence the Title bestowed on Cardinals when 278 England the States of Affairs there upon throwing off subjection to the Pope 74. returning to its Obedience how ordered by the Pope 111 F Fachinetti Cardinal chosen Pope and nam'd Innocent IX 210 Faenza taken by the Venetians 22 Farnese Alexander Pope under the name of Paul III. 67 Farnese Prince Alexander a Commander against the Turks 165. Governour of Flanders 197 Ferdinand I. King of Naples defeated by the Pope's Forces 6. makes War again 9. violates his faith 10. his death 13. Ferdinand II. quits his Kingdom 14 Ferdinand of Spain honour'd with the Title of Catholic King 13 Ferrara the Dukedom devolves to the Church 215 Fisher Bishop of Rochester made a Cardinal 68 Florence surrendred to the Imperialists 62 Florentines favour the House of Medici against the Pope 5. join with the King of Naples 9 Franche Compte seiz'd upon by the French King 349 Francis I. King of France 31. taken Prisoner 48. maintains unchristian correspondences with the Turks 63 Francis II. K. of France 118. dies 126 Friers Mendicant and Secular Priests a Dispute between 'em determin'd 4 G Gaston de Foix a French Commander slain 26 Geneva the City hated by the Pope 124 Genoa taken by the French 88. the Magistracy there give offence to Paul V. 229 Ghisler Anthony made Pope by the name of Pius V 157 Gonsalvo a brave Commander recovers Naples from the French 15 Gregorian Account when begun 169 Guise the Duke thereof assassinated 199. and the Cardinal put to death ibid. Gunpowder Treason in England 261 H Hats red granted to be worn by Cardinals Friers 209 Henry VIII King of England 25 28. writes a Book against Martin Luther 37. his Divorce debated 59. throws off all subjection to the See of Rome 64. Excommunicated 66 Henry II. King of France slain 118 Henry III. of France assassinated 202 Henry King of Navarre excommunicated by the Pope 181. acknowledged King of France 202. professes the Catholick Fath 214. marries Mary de Medicis 222. murther'd by Ravillac 203 I James I. King of Great Britain 223 Jansenius his Opinions 318. determinations of the Pope upon them 318.341 Japannese Ambassadours to Gregory XIII 171. kindly receiv'd by Sixtus V. 176 Jesuits College at Rome by whom built 170. their Services to the Church 171. not openly favour'd by Sixtus V. 148 Jew at Rome converted by Pius V. 159 Ignatius Loyola canoniz'd 262.270 Index expurgatorius by whom publish'd 116 Indulgences restrain'd by the Pope 214.384 Inquisition by whom contriv'd 110 Interim of Charles V. what 87 Interview of the King of England and French King of Boloign 64. of the Pope and French King at Marseilles 65 Inundation of the Tiber 218.326 Don John of Austria General of the Fleet against the Turks 161.165 Italy divided into Factions 6. embroil'd in War 9. invaded by the French and their Confederates 23 clear'd of them 27 Jubilee celebrated by Sixtus IV. 3. by Paul III. 83. by Julius III. 90. by Gregory XIII 166. by Vrban VIII 275 K Key of the H. Sepulchre presented to the Pope by Bajazet Emperour of the Turks 11 Kinred unreasonably preferred by Pope Sixtus IV. 2.3 and by Alexander VI. 12. not much regarded by Adrian VI. 45. nor Paul III. at first 68. indulged by Paul IV. 110.114 disregarded by Pius V. 159. too much indulged by Vrban VIII 293. the present Pope Innocent XI not fond of 'em 382 Knighthood a new Order instituted by Paul V. 266 L Lance which pierced Christ's side presented to the Pope by the Grand Signior 11 Lautrec General of the French in Italy 57. successful 56. dies 59 League of several Princes and States against the K. of Naples and D. of Milan 14. Of many Italian Lords against Borgia 16. League of Cambray against the Venetians 22. Of the Pope and King of Spain with the Venetians 25. Of the King of England and the French King 57. the Triple League 350 Lepanto the Battel there 161 Letter Apostolical publishing the Jubilee 218 Lewis XI of France favours the Medici against the Pope 5 Lewis XII enters Italy and possesses himself of Milan 15. gains and loses Naples ibid. is excommunicated 25. dies 31 Lucca the Magistracy there give offence to Paul V. 229 Lucretia the Pope's Bastard how bestow'd by him 15 Ludovisio Alexander chosen Pope and nam'd Gregory XV. 267 Luther his first appearance in Germany 36.37 his Sectators increase 62 M Mahomet the Great dies 6 Malatesta Robert General of the Pope s Forces 6 Malta a Controversie there between the Master and the Knights 169 Mantua the troubles there 279.280 Marignano General for the Emperour retakes Siena 105 Marriages of several Princes of the same name 217. Of Lewis XIV and Maria Teresa Infanta of Spain 330 Mary Queen of England her acknowledgment of
to their Countrey by Gregory as he went into France At which the Pope was so angry that he interdicted them from all benefit of the Law and was very near doing the same thing by the Bologneses who had ejected the Lambertescii and the Asinelli Gibellins of noble Families but they suffer'd for it not long after For when they went to fight against the Forleses that had kindly entertain'd some persons whom they had banish'd 't is said eight thousand of the Bologneses were slain at one Sally from the Town Upon which misfortune some Cities of Romagna grew confident and immediately revolted from the Bologneses themselves Especially Cervia from whence they received a great Revenue out of Salt But Gregory when he had dismissed the Council at Lyons in which many Decrees were made relating to the choice of Popes the expedition against the Saracens the union of the Greek and Latin Churches and the peace of Christendom as he was going into Italy he met Alphonso King of Castile at Bellocadoro complaining grievously that he had given the Empire to Rodulphus But when the Pope had satisfied him he resign'd all his right to Rodulphus The Pope was very kindly receiv'd by all the Italians as he travell'd through Tuscany but shunn'd the Florentines on purpose and went to Arezzo lest they should have prevailed with him to take off his Interdiction At Arezzo he died in the fourth year second month and tenth day of his Pontificate and there he was buried He was a Man of an extraordinary Reputation through his whole Life for Prudence in the conduct of his Affairs for Courage and greatness of Mind that made him contemn Money and all mean things for humanity clemency bounty to poor Christians and those especially that fled for refuge into the bosom of the Apostolick Sea INNOCENT V. INNOCENT the fifth formerly called Peter of Tarantaise a Burgundian a Dominican a man very learned in holy Writ was created Pope at Arezzo in the year of our Lord 1275. From thence not long after he went to Rome where he was crown'd in S. Peter's Church and from that time immediately apply'd himself to compose the Affairs of Italy To this end he sent Legats men of great Authority to command not onely the people of Tuscany who conspir'd the ruin of those of Pisa but also the Genoeses and Venetians who were mortal Enemies to quit their Arms. Assistant to them were the Embassadors of Charles the King by whose Awe over them he hoped to have his business done more to his mind The People of Tuscany did as he commanded them but especially the Florentines whom the Pope absolv'd from Gregory's Interdiction upon that very score But the Genoeses and Venetians whose hatred was more inveterate were still in Arms perpetually butchering each other and yet Innocent if he had lived a little longer had brought them over to his Opinion so zealous he was in that matter But he died in the sixth month and second day of his Pontificate and was buried in the Lateran Church Now the secular Priests had no great reason to lament his death by reason of a Sentence which he gave just before he dy'd For when there arose a Dispute between the Priests of the Cathedral Church and the Friers Preachers concerning the body of Clement the fourth for each Order desired to have the disposing of it he gave judgment that it ought to be committed to the Friers for he said his Holiness had order'd it so whilst he was alive Upon this account Innocent was a little maligned but was otherwise a very good Man and such a Person from whom those of his time might have expected all the good imaginable ADRIAN V. ADRIAN the fifth a Genoese of the Family of the Flisci before called Othobon was made Pope at Rome in the Court of the Lateran He was Innocent the fourth's Nephew by whom he was created Cardinal Deacon of S. Adrian and sent Legat into England with plenary Power to compose the differences between that King and his Barons Assoon as he was made Pope he presently went to Viterbo and invites Rodulphus the Emperor into Italy to lessen the Power of Charles who at that time did what he pleas'd at Rome But Rodulphus being ingaged in the Bohemian War could not comply with Adrian In the mean time Charles was very cautious to avoid the envy of the World and turn'd all the stress of the War upon Achaia so to make his way toward the Empire of Constantinople But Adrian dying in the fortieth day of his Pontificate he came back into Italy This Pope died at Viterbo before his consecration and was buried in a Convent of Freres Minors He had an intention not onely more and more to secure the Churches Patrimony from Tyrants but also to reduce Gregory's Decree for the Choice of a Pope into a better method not totally to abolish it But Death obstructed his endeavours and withstood the greatness of his Mind The Sea at that time was vacant twenty eight days JOHN XXII JOHN the Twenty-Second a Spaniard born at Lisbon and formerly call'd Peter was made Pope being then Bishop of Frascati Who though he were reckon'd a very learned man yet by his ignorance in business and the unevenness of his Conversation he did the Popedom more injury than Honour or kindness For he did many things that argued him to be guilty of Folly and Levity and does not deserve commendations unless it be for one thing and that was that he assisted young Scholars especially the poorer sort with money and preferments At that time the Venetians infested those of Ancona for Merchandizing in Dalmatia without paying any custom to the Venetians and yet the Pope himself to whom they were tributary did not protect them as he should have done but onely seemed ready with his Tongue to say what he was too much a Coward ever to do Nevertheless the Anconeses though the Pope would not aid them took courage and made a Sally so briskly that they rais'd the Siege and drave the Venetians from the Town a good way not without considerable damage to them By the advice of John Cajetan who govern'd all things at that time for that he was made Pope by his assistance and the Votes he procured he sent Legats to Paleologus and all the Western Kings to exhort 'em in his name that they would make Peace with one another and bend their Forces against the Saracens and other Enemies of Christianity The Man was a Fool to promise himself a long Life and to tell every body he should live a great while because every body knew his life and Conversation he was so immodest and so sottish But behold as he was betraying his Folly to all that were about him a certain new Apartment that he had built in the Palace at Viterbo fell down all of the sudden and he was found among the Wood and the stones seven days after the fall of it but he