for it proved not dammageble to the Publick nor burdensom to the Commonalty for two Reasons one because Ecclesiastical Goods were finally the Poors of the People and exempting those who had not and leaving the Contributions to those who had wherewithal was alwayes accounted just the other because Exempting a man when he hath little and less than what sufficeth is no Burden unto others Nevertheless no man should infer that the same liberality of Princes towards the Church would be just and Convenient in these times also when it is grown so Rich that it possesseth a quarter and without doubt more than what the remainder of the Persons and this is not laid out any longer for the Poor so that to Exempt them would be contrary to what good Princes have done in Exempting the Rich and in laying their due burdens on the Poor Wherefore the Princes at present are no less pious than those then but the Subject is different For these would also grant Exemptions to the Church if it were poor and those would not have granted it if it had been Rich. The great Devotion of Princes and of the People as it caused the Wealth of the Clergy to encrease abundantly so it excited a great Thirst in the Ecclesiastical Ministers to Multiply it or heap it up from which excess not so much as the wel-minded men were free for seeing how the Distribution of Ecclesiastical Goods fell to the Glory of God N. 20. and to the Common Good they concluded that the more the Church had to Distribute the better it was whereupon they made use of all Wayes and of all Arts to gain Wealth not considering whether the Means they used were Lawful and suitable unto Equity so that if the Effect did but ensue viz. that the Church might gain by any means whatsoever She seemed to have made a Sacrifice unto God And certainly immense and innumerable Evils proceed from this sort of Zealous Persons who do not use Discretion with their Zeal because it seeming to them that every thing sent for A Religious End by what way soever to be Good they oftentimes Act against Piety and against Humanity putting the World into a confusion thus it happened in the Primitive times that the Church obtained Power to acquire real Estates it was believed by some Religious Men to be a Service of God to deprive their own Children and Kindred to give to the Churches for which cause also they Omitted no Art to induce Widdows Damsels N. 21. and other easie Persons to deprive their own Families to leave to the Church The Disorder passed so speedily the Bounds of being overcome that the Prince was necessitated to provide against it and in the year 370 Statute of Mortmain Ao. 370. a Law was made which although it did not deprive the Churches from Acquiring or Purchasing absolutely yet it Prohibited the Clergy from going unto Widdows Houses and Orphans and from receiving by Gift or by Will any thing from Women not only directly but also by means of any third Person Which Law St. Hierome confesseth to have been a Remedy against the Corruptions entred amongst the Clergy and gone too forward in the Desire of getting Temporal Estates neither did that suffice For within few years after that is in 390 Ao. 390. another Law was made that a Widdow who devoted her self to the service of the Church could not give or leave to it by will any real Estate or precious Housholdstuff which is discoursed of at large elsewhere This Excess of getting was not very pleasing to St. Augustin N. 22. who lived in those dayes for he openly declared that it pleased him better that Inheritances should be left to the next of Kin than to the Church and indeed he refused some Inheritances left unto his Church saying openly the Ecclesiastical Ministry consisted not in Distributing much but in Distributing well Likewise he reproved a new way the Church had of purchasing found out in those dayes which was buying real Estates with the Advance made upon the Incomes or Rent which way that Holy man alwaies abhorred neither would he ever permit it in his Church for he declared in his publick Sermons that he had rather live upon the Oblations and Collections which were wont to be made in the Primitive times of the Church than to have a Care of Possessions which were burdensome to him and hindered him from attending intirely upon the Principal Charge of a Bishop that is of Spiritual things adding further that he was prepared to renounce all Possessions N. 23. if a livelihood were provided for the Servants of God and Ministers as in the old Testament by way of Tythes or of other Oblations without being subject to the Distraction which the Care of Earthly things brought along with it But for all the Checks of the Holy Fathers through their good Exhortations and of the Princes by their good Laws the Ecclesiastical Goods could not be hindered from encreasing above what they ought only the ancient manner of Governing and of bestowing them remained and lasted till the year 420 without any notable Alteration Besides all the Oblations and other Ecclesiastical Incomes proceeding from Real Estates were in Common and governed by the Deacons by the Sub-Deacons and by other Steward 's their Assistants and Distributed for the Maintenance of the Ecclesiastical Ministers and of the Poor the Colledge of Priests and the Bishop were principally the Intendants and in short an Account of all Receits and Disbursments was kept so that the Bishop Disposed of every thing the Deacons Executed it N. 24. and all the Clergy lived upon what the Church had although all did not administer St. John Chrisostome makes mention that in those dayes the Church of Antioch fed above 3000 Persons at the Publick Expence 'T is also a thing certain that the Church of Hierusalem bore the Expences of an infinite Multitude of Persons which happened there from all parts of the World It is Recorded in Histories that Atticus Bishop of Constantinople Assisted the Church of Nicea in Bithynia by reason of a great Concourse of poor People in that City which were Numbred to 10000 in one day But after France Spain and Africa were divided from the Empire and erected into distinct Kingdoms and the Succession of Theodosius Extinct Italy after the Inundation of divers Barbarous People being fall'n into the hands of the Kings of the Goths Division of the East from the West and the East divided from the West the Churches were also differently Governed the Eastern Church followed the Common Government already instituted N. 25. In the Western the Bishops by Administrators and Superintendents began to make themselves Masters and to Govern the Goods of the Church in an Arbitrary manner from whence proceeded a great Confusion in the Distribution of the said Goods and chiefly to the Dammage of Buildings which fell to Ruin and of the Poor who were
to our Lord he spending the same and buying things necessary for them or else distributing to the Poor according to what our Lord commanded for the day St. Augustin considers that Christ having the Attendance of Angels who Ministred unto him was in no necessity of keeping or preserving of Money nevertheless he would have a Purse to give an example to the Church of what she ought to do and therefore the Church alwayes understood that from his Divine Holyness by his own Example the Form of the Ecclesiastical Money might be instituted N. 5. instructing from whence it should be taken and wherein it should be laid out And if in our dayes we see not this holy institution observed we ought to consider that for our instruction and for our consolation the Divine Scripture relates that then Judas also was a Thief and usurped to himself the goods common to the Apostolical Colledge and came to such a Height of Covetousness that what he stole seeming not sufficient for him he proceeded so far in wickedness that he sold to the Jews the very person of Christ our Lord to make his summ of Money greater And if we either in reading Histories or else in observing things occurrent in our Times we shall believe that Ecclesiastical Goods are in a great Part spent in other uses than Pious and that some of the Ministers not content of usurping to themselves that which ought to be in common to the Church and to the Poor have gone so far as to sell Sacred things and Spiritual Graces to make Money N. 6. we ought not to refer this to a Particular Misery of our or of any other times but to ascribe it to the Divine Permission for the Exercise of the Good considering that the Beginning of the Infant Church was subject to the same Imperfections Indeed we ought every one according to his Degree and Vocation to procure a Remedy and he that cannot do otherwise by his Prayers and he that can hinder the Evil by preventing and opposing the Abuses considering that although Judas had no humane Punishment because those who ought to have punished him were Complices in his Offence nevertheless divine Providence shewed what Penalty he deserved and appointed that he should be his own Executioner for a Document of what those ought to do who are given for Tutors and Defenders of the Church in following Ages After Christ our Lord had ascended into Heaven the holy Apostles followed in the Church of Hierusalem the same Institution of having the Church money for the two Effects abovesaid N. 7. that is for the Need of the Ministers of the Gospel and for Almes to the Poor and the Stock of this money was likewise the Oblations of the Faithful who also making all their Goods common sold their Possessions to make money for this use So that the Community of the Church was not distinct from the Particular of each faithful Man as is practized still in some Religions which observe those first Institutions The Christians in those primitive Times were very ready to strip themselves of their Temporal Goods to bestow them in Almes because they looked for the end of the World to be at hand Christ our Lord having left it to them uncertain and although it was to last as long as he pleased they considered it no otherwise but as being to end then holding for certain that the Figure of this World that is the State of this present Life passeth away wherefore the Oblations encreased alwayes the more yet the Custom of not having any thing of ones own but all things in Common N. 8. so that there was neither poor nor rich but all lived equally went not out of Hierusalem For in the other Churches which the Holy Apostles planted it was not instituted neither did it last long in Hierusalem Whereupon 26 years after the Death of Christ it is read that the publick was distinct from the private every one knowing his own but the money being common in that Church as in others founded in Oblations which placed in Common served for the Ministers only and for the Poor and it was not Lawful for him who had wherewithal of his own to live upon the Churches Stock whereupon St. Paul ordained that Widdows who had Kindred should be relieved by their Relations that the Church Goods might be sufficient for those who are widdows indeed that is Widdows and poor The first day of the week which for that cause was called the Lords day the Faithful met together N. 9. and each one offered that which he had set apart of the foregoing week for the Necessities of the Common The care of these Goods which our Lord whilst he was in this Mortal Life gave unto Judas was administred by the Apostles themselves for a short Time after the Ascension but afterwards perceiving that Murmurings and Seditions did arise amongst the Faithful about the Distributions that were made it appearing to some that they were not so great Sharers of the Common as they willingly would have been and believing that others had more than they ought so as the Common Evil in all Times in dispensing the Goods of the Church the Apostles knew they could not attend this perfectly together with preaching of the Word of God they determined to retain to themselves the Ministry of Preaching and teaching appointing for this Office of having care of Temporal things another sort of Ministers quite different from that which we see done in our Times wherein the chief Prelates of the Church attend the Government of Temporal things N. 10. and the Office of Preaching and teaching the Word of God and the Doctrine of the Gospel is left unto the Fryars or Brethren or to some inferior Priests in the Church But these new Ministers which the holy Apostles instituted for governing Temporal things were called Deacons Deacons for which purpose Election was made of six from all the Body of the Faithful which the Apostles appointed for that Ministry and wheresoever they founded a Church they also appointed Deacons in the same Manner as also they ordained Bishops and Priests and other Ecclesiastical Ministers Fasting and Prayer preceeding and the Common Election of the Faithful following after Observing inviolably this order of never deputing any man to any Ecclesiastical Charge who was not first elected by the universality of the Church which is of all the Faithful together This Custome continued in the Church in such a Manner for about 200 years N. 11. maintaining the Ecclesiastical Ministers and the Poor also with the publick Goods there being no other Stock but the Oblations which were made by the Faithful in the Church which Oblations were in great Abundance because out of Fervency of Charity every one offered all that he could according to what he had so that when the means of the Faithful in one City were abundant for the supplying the wants of their own Church they
forsaken For which Cause about the year 470 't was ordained in the Western Church Ao. 470. Division of Goods Ecclesiastical that four parts should be made one should be the Bishops the second for the other Ministers the third for building of the Church which Comprehended not only the Building of the Place where the People met together but also the Habitations of the Bishops and other Clergy-mens and of the sick and Widdows and the fourth for the Poor But these Poor amongst most of the Churches as St. Gregory relates were meant only the Poor of the place because all the Hospitality belonged to the Bishop page 26. who upon the Expence of his own Portion was Obliged to Lodge the Forraign Clergy and to feed the Poor which came from abroad Yet 't is not to be believed that this Division was in four Arithmetical and equal Parts but Proportionably because in some Churches the Number of the Clergy required that their Expences should be greater than for the Poor on the contrary the great Number of Poor and the small Number of Clergy-men required otherwise even as in the greatest Cities the Charges of Building was great but not so in the ordinary ones because every Church accepting the Decree of Dividing into four parts made the Divisions with different proportions according to their own different Necessities I know that some do attribute this Division to Pope Sylvester who was 150 years before grounded upon some feigned Scriptures after with little Honour to that Age which was not then much Polluted In the Theodosian Codicil Ao. 359. there is found a Law of Constantius and Julian page 27. in the year 359 Exempting the Marchant-Clergy from paying Custome or Tribute because what they gained was the Poors so far are we that the Church Goods should be Divided that they left their gains in Common Ao. 550. but in these years which were about 500 although the Rents were Divided into four parts yet the Estates were not Divided neither the real Estates nor the Oblations and Almes but all Governed together by the Deacons and Sub-Deacons and the Incomes Divided into four Parts which thing hath been necessary to be mentioned in this Place because in Succeeding times there will be declared such a change of Government which in and through all things proved Contrary to the Antient as also the Manner of Chusing Ministers was as is abovesaid Instituted by the Holy Apostles that Bishops Priests Election of Bishops 〈◊〉 and other Ministers of Gods Word and the Deacons Ministers of Temporal things should be Elected by the Vniversality or Generality of the Faithful and should be Ordained by the Bishops with laying of Hands on the Head a thing which lasted without alteration The Bishop was chosen by the People page 28. and Ordained by the Metropolitain in the Presence of all the Cumprovincial Bishops or else by their Consent granted by Letters from those who could not be present and if the Metropolitain was hindred the Ordination was made by three of the Neighbouring Bishops with the Consent of him and of those that were Absent And after that many Provinces for a better Form of Government were Subject to one Primate his Consent was also required for Ordaining Then the Priests Deacons and other Clergy-men were presented by the People and Ordained by the Bishop or else Nominated by the Bishop and with the Consent of the People Ordained by him An unknown man was never received neither did the Bishop ever Ordain one who was not approved of and Commended or rather presented by the People and the Consent or interveening of the People was Judged so necessary that Pope Leo the first treateth amply that the Ordination of a Bishop could not be valid nor Lawful which was not required or sought for by the People and by them approved of N. 29. which is said by all the Saints of those times and St. Gregory esteemed that Constance could not be Consecrated Bishop of Milan who had been Elected by the Clergy without the Consent of the Citizens who by reason of Persecutions were retired to Genoa and prevailed that they should be first sent unto to know their Will a thing worthy of being noted in our dayes ☜ when that Election is declared to be Illegitimate and Null where the People have any Share Thus things are changed and passed into a quite Contrary Custome calling that Lawful which then was accounted Wicked and that Unjust which then was reputed Holy Sometimes when the Bishop was grown Old he nominated his own Successor Thus St. Augustin nominated Eradius but that Nomination was of no value unless it were first approved of by the People all which things are necessary to be kept in mind to compare them with the Customs and Manners which were seen to be practised in subsequent times 'T is necessary now to make a little Digression for a new Cause N. 30. which hath brought a very great Encrease to Ecclesiastical Estates and sprang up in these very times about the year 500 and this was another sort of Religious Colleges called Monasteries Ao. 500. Monasteries Monkery Ao. 300. Monkery began in Aegypt about the year 300 those who fled from the Persecutions and from thence past into Greece where by St. Basil about the year 370 it was formed in the manner which yet continues in those Countries But in Italy about the year 350 it was brought to Rome by Athanasius Ao. 350. where he had but few followers and little Applause in that City and in the Neighbouring Places until that time of about the year 500 when St. Equitius and St. Benedictus gave it a setled Form and difused it though indeed the Institution of St. Equitius Extended it self but little and soon fail'd but that of St. Benedict spread it self all over Italy and went beyond the Mountains Monks nor Clerks but Seculars The Monks in those dayes and for a long time after were not Clerks but Seculars and in the Monasteries which they had without the Cities they lived upon their own Labours of Husbandry and other Arts together with some Oblations made them by the Faithful all which was Governed by the Abbot But in the Cities they lived by their work N. 31. and by that which was appointed for publick Expences by the Church These retained their Antient Discipline much longer The Clerks after the Stock of the Church was divided lost sufficiently of the Peoples Divotion whereupon there were few who either gave or left any more Goods to them so that the Acquisitions and Purchases of the Church would have been at an end But the Monks continuing the living in Common and in Pious Works were cause that the Liberality of the People was not extinguished but forsaking the Clerks turned towards them who were greatly Instrumental in Encreasing Ecclesiastical Wealth and in progress of time augmented greatly in Possessions and Incomes given to them and
left by Will which indeed was then spent by them in the Maintenance of a great Number of Monks and in Hospitality in Schooling and Education of youth and in other Pious Works The Abbot Tritemius makes account that the Monasteries of Benedict in Monks were to the Number of 15000 N. 32. besides the Prepositures and lesser Convents Prepositure The Monks themselves chose their own Abbot who Governed them Spiritually and Ruled also as well the Goods which came by the Charitable Offerings of the Faithful as of those which proceeded from the Labour and Art of the Monks and in progress of time those also which came from setled Revenues But the Bishops in these dayes which Succeeded the year 500 Ao. 500. being become absolute Dispensators of the fourth part of the Church Goods began also to mind more Temporal Things and to make themselves to be followed in the Cities whereupon Elections were no more used as the End of Divine Service but with Seditious Practices Proceeding oftentimes from Practices to Publick Violences for which cause Princes who until then took but little thought of whom should be Elected unto this Ministery began to bethink themselves of it N. 33. being advertised by the Holy men of those times that God had Committed the Protection of his Church unto them and therefore they ought by the Command of his Divine Ministery to take such care that Ecclesiastical Affairs should be Lawfully Managed The Princes also saw evidently how great Impediments were brought against the Quietness of the State and against the good Government of the Common-wealth by the Private Interests of the Ambitious Clergy and by the Seditious Practices which they used to acquire Ecclesiastical Dignities whereupon partly out of Divine Respect and partly for Human they began to prevent the Clergy and the Laity from providing themselves after their way according to their Affections as well because Affairs being altered and the Bishoprick no more shun'd but coveted they made Parties from whence proceeded Seditions and sometimes popular Slaughters by means of the Concurrents as also because sometimes Factious Persons were chosen for Bishops who held private Intelligence with the Princes Enemies which were never wanting in the Western Confusions N. 34. and sometimes Persons were chosen who having gained a Train of People Attempted some Design to Attribute the Jurisdiction of the Magistrate to themselves and would stir up the People to Defend their Enterprises whereupon the Princes Ordained that no Person Elected should be Consecrated without their Consent or the Magistrates the Prince Reserving to himself the Confirmation of the great Bishopricks as in Italy of Rome Ravenna and of Milan leaving the lesser Bishopricks to the Care of the Ministers But taking more heed to the Substance of the thing than to the Appearance when in a City there was an Eminent Subject known to the People to whom all were enclined ☞ and the Prince satisfied that he pleased the People Occurrenza when an Occurrence came he was Consecrated without more ado Sometimes also there happened through Accident of War or of Plague that one had been Ordained before he had the Confirmation of the Prince N. 35. as happen'd to Pelagius the 2d Predecessor to St. Gregory Rome being Besieged by the Lombards after the Siege was raised he sent Gregory who was then Deacon to make Excuse to the Emperor beseeching him to Confirm what Necessity had Constrained him to do In this manner Popes were Elected and Bishops in Italy until the year 750 Ao. 750. with the Imperial Confirmation but in France and in other places beyond the Alps the Regal or the Princes Authority was herein more absolute for the People totally desisted from the Election when the Prince took it in Hand good men forbore because believing themselves to be well provided with Kings esteemed their Interventions Superfluous evil men because they were not certain of being able to bring their Designs to pass whereupon the Kings gave the Bishopricks to them only throughout the Kingdom In all Gregory Turonensis ' History from Clodovius the first Christian King of France unto the year 590 no Bishop was known to be made but by the Command or by the Consent of the King N. 36. and St. Gregory who was made Pope that year writing to the Kings of France upon different occasions Complains to them that the Bishopricks were not bestowed on sufficient men and prayes them to make choice of good and understanding men He never reprehends the Provision made by the Kings when the Person provided was deserving As for Bishops who were chosen without the Authority of the People it was easie to exclude them also from the Election of Priests Deacons and other Ecclesiastical Ministers reducing the Power of nominating them to the Prince only without the Intervention of the People part of them having withdrawn themselves totally from meddling in Ecclesiastical Congregations to attend their Domestick Affairs others through the Inconveniencies which did arise amongst popular Factions and some others for seeing themselves disrespected by the Bishop grown Potent as well by the Riches he had to spend as by his Dependance on the Prince by whom he was Nominated to or Confirmed in the Bishoprick The Prince sometimes Nominated those that were to be Ordained N. 37. at other times he left the Care wholly to the Bishop chiefly when he was fully Consident which Considence was also Cause that the Prince oftentimes made use of the Bishop either to compose Difficalties amongst the People or to determine Difficult Causes the Respect of Religion being the Cause that they were more believed than the Magistrates whereupon they were more intent upon that than in teaching the Christian Doctrine which at first was given them in Charge Therefore when making of a Bishop was in Question it behooved rather to have Respect unto a wise Wordling than unto one understanding in Matters of Faith which remains still unto this time it being said that excepting the Places bordering on the Insidells it is better making a Bishop of a good Jurisconsult or Lawyer than of a good Divine and truly 't is a reasonable thing if the Principall Office of a Bishop were to judge Causes N. 38. Christ our Lord Ordaining his Apostles said as my Father hath sent me so send I you by which they understood to be sent to Teach If now all be sufficiently instructed and there be no more need of it he may attend somewhat else Heretofore the Principal Care of the Bishop was to Teach and the next to oversee the Government of the Poor so that in the second as well as in the first there was some Relaxation and therefore in making the Division into four parts abovementioned the Administration of the Goods being in the Hands of the Clergy and those were they who divided after their way so that where the Bishop and the Priests were Conscionable men the Division was Justly
to wonder if so many modern Writers in such like Questions as in this which makes the Pope absolute Master of all the Benefices and of all Ecclesiastical Estates do defend Opinions contrary to Antiquity and contrary to those Institutions which had their Rise from the Apostles themselves and from Apostolical men because that as St. Cyprian very sensibly Complained that it is one of the Imperfections of man that whereas Customs should be Conformable to good Doctrine and to Laws on the contrary the Doctrine of Interessed men accommodates it self to the Customes and it is observable that in all the course of so many Ages there hath been no Novelty introduced even concerning Religion but immediately it hath met with Defenders What a wonder will it be N. 93. that this should happen in those Novelties and Introductions which serve for Wealth Ease and humane Concerns whereunto many may aspire The Confusion which was in Italy in Politick Affairs by reason of so many Kings and Emperors which were made in those times caused also an extream disorder in other Cities about Ecclesiastical Affairs Bishops and Abbots being sometimes made by Princes and sometimes intruded by their own Power and other Ecclesiastical Ministers likewise were sometimes made by those who bore sway in the Cities and sometimes by the Bishops and now and then Benefices were Possessed by him who had Power or popular Favour In the year 963 Otho a Saxon brought his Arms into Italy and became Master of it and to give Form unto the Government he Assembled a little Council of Bishops deprived Pope John 12th who being made Pope in his Minority under the Age of 18 by the chief of the Roman Nobility and by a great Concourse in that City N. 94. and lived in the Popedome Committing Adulteries Perjuries and other irreligious Customes Otho made him to be renounced by the People and by Pope Leo the 8th Created by him instead of John The Authority of creating the Pope and the other Bishops in Italy he retained and his Son and his Nephew of the same name unto the year 1001 for the space of 36 years and during the number of twelve Popes which were in that time Two of them were Created quietly by the Prince the others in Seditions for which cause the first Otho carryed one Prisoner into Germany and Otho the third carryed another one was strangled by him who had a mind to be made in his Room one run away having Robb'd the Treasury of the Church Ornaments and another withdrew himself into a voluntary Exile so that in these years we meet with Popes yet as Baronius saith Scontriame they are in the Catalogue only to fill up the Number for as to the Rest the Church had no other head but Christ. The other Bishops and the Abbots were Created by the Emperors without any Contradiction N. 95. and the manner was that when a Bishop dyed his Crosier-Staff and his Ring were carryed to the Emperor who having determined on whom to bestow the Benefice he invested him by giving him the Ring and the Staff upon Receiving of which Tokens he went into Possession and got himself Consecrated by his Metropolitan or by the Neighbouring Bishops which Custom was observed also in France and in Germany Other smaller Benefices were Conferr'd by the Bishops or by the Abbots under whom they were unless the Prince Nominated any one to a Vacant Benefice For to such a one it was given without any Reply or if he were Recommended by the Prince to have a Benefice when it should be Vacant who by reason of that Expectation granted by the Prince came to be provided by the Bishop with the first Vacancy Thus did the Otho's Govern without Contradiction from the Popes although the second of them dwelt a very long time in Rome where he dyed also and was buryed After the Death of the Othos N. 96. there was preserved among the Succeeding Emperors the same Power of Bestowing of Bishopricks and Abbeys and also of Nominating unto inferior Benefices or else of giving Expectancies of Benefices which were to become Vacant Indeed the Imperial Authority diminishing in Rome the Confusions returned into that Church for the People having reassumed the Authority of Electing the Pope and chose three of them quietly Benedictus Octavus and John the 20th Brethren were Elected one after another with some shew of Faction and this last being dead Benedictus 4th their Nephew was Chosen at 12 years of Age who besides many other Excesses sold a part of the Popedome to one Sylvester the 3d and another part to Gregory 6th and all three sate in Rome at the same time with much Confusion chiefly that this Gregory having Armed himself with Souldiers Foot and Horse N. 97. and with great slaughter gotten the Possession of St. Peter's Church he enlarged his Part by Arms wherefore the Emperor Henry the Black went into Italy put Benedictus to Flight sent Sylvester away Banished Gregory into Germany and deprived the People of Rome of the Power of making any more Popes And he made three Popes successively all Germans by Nation who being chosen by the Emperor took upon them the Pontifical Habit and Ensigns without any thing else the third who was Brunus Bishop of Zul having by the Emperors Deputation taken upon him the Habit in Trisinga and therewith taken his Journey as far as Clugni Hildebrand a Monk Foster-Son of St. Peters Church in Rome a man of singular subtilty would by Art restore the Election to the Romans Counsell'd Brunus who Cloathed in his Pontifical Habit was call'd Leo 9th to Cloath himself like a Pilgrim and so to go to Rome and that he would be more acceptable to the Roman People N. 98. Leo Consented and entred Rome in a Pilgrims Habit and by the Suggestion of Hildebrand was Proclaimed Pope of Rome by the People But this Art did not prevent the Emperor when Leo was dead from chusing in Mentz Geberard of Aichstat who immediately put on the Habit and was called Vector the second the Emperor then did not only bestow Benefices but also made Constitutions against those who obtained them by Symonie Pardoning the Errors Committed until that time and Imposing Penalties for the Future Henry the Black dying left the Empire to his Son Henry the 4th who Succeeded him in a tender Age during whose Minority although the Popes were Created by the Consent of the Emperors Tutors and the Bishops and the Abbots were Invested by him with the Ring and the Crozier Staff the Popes nevertheless making use of the Occasion gained by little and little some greater Liberty adhering also to one side or party of the Tutors who differ'd about them and made Factions whereupon Nicolas 2d N. 99. made a Constitution about the Election of the Pope Ordaining it should first pass through the Cardinal Bishops then should be proposed to the Cardinal Clergy-men in the third place to the Clergy and
drew out of England he found it to be equal to his own Revenue which is sixty thousand Marks The King proposed some of these Differences to the Council at Lions making Complaint of the abovesaid grievances whereto the Pope answered the Council was not Assembled for that purpose and that it was no time to harken to it In the said City of Lions during the time of the Council N. 154. the Pope would have given to his Kinsmen some Prebendaries of those Churches upon which there was a great Commotion in the City and the Pope had notice given him that they should be thrown into the Rhone wherefore the Pope sent them away privately Rhodano For all this the Court left not off its Designs but in the year 1253 the same Pope Commanded Robert Bishop of Lincoln a man in those times Famous in Doctrine and in Goodness that he should confer a certain Benefice upon the Genoése against the Canons which appearing inconvenient and unjust to the Bishop he answered the Pope that he Honour'd Apostolical Commands Conformable to Apostolical Doctrine wherefore that non obstantibus is a Deluge of inconstancy a Breach of Faith a disturbance of the quietness of Christendom that it is a grievous Sin to defraud the Sheep of their Pasture that the Apostolical See had all Power to Edification none to destroy N. 155. This Answer received the Pope grew wroth exceedingly But Cardinal Egidius a Spaniard being a Prudent man endeavour'd to Mitigate him representing to him that to proceed against a man of such Reputation for a cause so abhorr'd by the World could not bring forth a good Effect But whilst the Pope studyed to shew his Resentment Robert fell sick and to the end of his Life held the same Reasons and dyed with an Opinion of Holyness and 't was fam'd that he wrought Miracles The Pope hearing of his Death caused a Process to be formed for the King to dis-inter the dead mans Corps But the night following in a Vision or in a Dream he had Robert in Pontifical Robes who Rebuked him for persecuting his memory and smote him on the Flank with the But-end of his Crosier-Staff The Pope awoke with an excessive Pain in that Place which afflicted him unto his Death that happened within a short time after In the year 1258 Alexander the 4th Excommunicated the Arch-Bishop of York for the like Cause who persevering in his Deliberation N. 156. endured the Persecution with much Patience and drawing neer to his Death wrote a very Prudent Letter to the Pape exhorting him to imitate his Holy Predecessors and to take away the Dammageable Novelties from the Church and from his own Soul He dyed with the Opinion of a Saint and a Martyr In these times 't was likewise necessary in France to make a Provision which I shall relate after having given notice that for these and for other Impediments which the Princes and the Bishops opposed against the endeavours of the Court which never thought of giving over For Clement the 4th in the year 1266 resolved to lay the Foundations whereby he or his Successors might declare themselves to be absolute Patrons in all the Collations of Benefices throughout the World and remove the necessity of finding out Wayes and Arts to draw the Collations unto Rome and made a Bull which concluded nothing else but the Reservation of the Vacanti in Curia saying that the Collationing of them by an Antient Custom is reserved to the Pope and therefore he approved of this Custom and wil'd it to be observed N. 157. But to conclude this alone So much an Hyppothetical Premium can do in saying that although the plenary Disposal of all Benefices Premio Hippotetico belongs to the Pope of Rome so that he may not only confer them when they become Vacant but he may also before Vacancy grant a Right for the acquiring of them Nevertheless the Antient Custom hath more especially reserved the Vacanti in Curia Wherefore we approve of that Custom If the Pope had made a concluding Edict that the Disposal of all Benefices belonged to him the World would have stir'd in it and as well the Clergy-men as Princes and other Lay-Patrons would have declared their Reasons But this Proposition being put into a Conditional without a Conclusion went on easily without any notice taken of how much it might Import But two years after that is in the year 1268 without having any Respect unto this Bull N. 158. St. Lewis King of France seeing that the Provisions made by the Queen Regent his Mother during his Minority and during his Absence in the Holy Land were not sufficient to remove the Confusions introduced in the matter of Benefices Pragmatic Sanction made his famous Pragmatick wherein he Commanded that Cathedral Churches should have their Elections Free and the Monasteries likewise that all other Benefices should be given according to the Disposition of the Law and that no Imposition of the Court of Rome could be levied upon Benefices without his Consent and the Churches of his Kingdom This Holy Kings going into Africa against the Mores and his Death which happened in the year 1270 and the need the House of Anjou had of the Popes Favour to settle his Kingdom in Naples and to recover that of Sicily and the Power which the Pope granted to the King of imposing Tythes under Pretext of the War of the Holy Land were cause that the French easily permitted the Court of Rome to regain the same Authority N. 159. whereupon in the year 1398 Boniface the 8th placed the Constitution of Clement in the Decretals and made that That which was said Hyppothetically and Incidentally became the Principal and to give it the greater Authority he exposed under the name of Clement leaving it dubious whether it were the 4th or the 3d. Therefore now in some Copies it is Read the 3d in others the 4th For which cause this Proposition was given to be believed at first i. e. That the plenary Disposal of all Ecclesiastical Benefices belongs to the Pope which is pretended to be meant in a Sense not altogether perverted which is that the Pope should have full Power but yet Regulated by the Laws and by Reason A little after Clement the 5th made void all good understanding by saying that the Pope had not only full Power but also free over all Benefices which freedom is understood by the Canonists Exempt from all Laws and Reason so that he may do all that he pleaseth notwithstanding the Reason or the Interest of whatsoever Church or of Particular Person yea even of a Lay-Patron This Proposition is put into the Bulls upon every occasion N. 160. and there is no Canonist but passeth it for clear yea for an Article of Faith saying that the Pope in the Collation of any Benefice whatever may Concur with the Ordinary and also prevent it and if it so please him he may