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
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
Barnabas having travelled through divers Cities upon his return to Jerusalem was by Peter John and James chosen an Apostle of the Gentiles In the twenty fifth year after the death of Christ which was the second of the Emperor Nero and the time when Festus succeeded Felix in the Procuratorship of Judoea he with his fellow-captive Aristarchus was as a free Denizon sent bound to Rome where continuing the space of two years under very little confinement he was daily engaged in disputation with the Jews Being at length set at liberty by Nero he both preached and wrote many things We have at this day fourteen of his Epistles one to the Romans two to the Corinthians one to the Galatians one to the Ephesians one to the Philippians one to the Colossians two to the Thessalonians two to Timothy one to Titus and one to Philemon that to the Hebrews is generally said to be his though because of the difference of style and phrase from the rest it be uncertain whether it were so or no and there have been anciently divers who have entituled it some to Luke some to Barnabas some to Clemens St. Peter also wrote two general Epistles though the latter be by many denied to be his for the same reason of the difference of style But being so taken up with Prayer and Preaching that he could not attend any other great variety of business he constituted two Bishops viz. Linus and Cletus who might exercise the sacerdotal Ministery to the Romans and other Christians The holy man applying himself entirely to these things gained thereby so great and universal a Reputation that men were ready to worship him as a God The Emperor Nero being displeased hereat began to contrive his death whereupon St. Peter with the advice of his Friends that he might avoid the Emperours envy and rage departed out of the City by the Via Appia and at the end of the first mile he travelled to use the words of Egesippus meeting with Christ in the way and falling down and worshipping him he said Lord whither goest thou to whom Christ replied I go to Rome to be crucified again There is yet remaining a Chappel built on the same place where these words were spoken Now St. Peter believing this saying of our Saviour to relate to his own martyrdom because Christ might seem to be ready to suffer again in him went back to the City and forth with consecrated Clemens a Bishop and in these words recommended to him his Chair and the Church of God I deliver to thee the same power of binding and loosing which Christ lest to me do thou as becomes a good Pastor promote the salvation of men both by Prayer and Preaching without regard to any hazard of Life or Fortune Having set these things thus in order at the Command of Nero in the last year of his Empire He was put to death together with St. Paul though the kinds of their Punishment were different For St. Peter was crucified with his Head towards the ground and his Feet upwards for so he desired it might be saying That he was unworthy to undergo the same kind of death with his Saviour He was buried in the Vatican in the Via Aurelia near Nero's Gardens not far from the Via Triumphalis which leads to the Temple of Apollo He continued in the See 25 years But St. Paul being on the same day beheaded was interred in the Via Ostiensis in the 37th year after the death of Christ. This is confirmed by the testimony of Caius the Historian who in a Disputation against one Proculus a Montanist has these words I says he can shew you the Victorious Ensigns of the Apostles for you cannot pass the Via Regalis that leads to the Vatican nor the Via Ostiensis but you will find the Trophies of those Hero's that established this Church where certainly he refers to these two St. Peter and St. Paul In the fore-mentioned Gardens of Nero were reposited the ashes of a multitude of holy Martyrs For a Fire happening in the time of Nero which raging for six days together had wasted a great part of the City and devoured the substance of many wealthy Citizens the blame of all which was laid upon the Emperour He as Tacitus tells us being very desirous to quell the rumour suborn'd false Witnesses to accuse and lay all the blame of that Calamity upon the Christians Whereupon so great a number of them were seiz'd and put to death that it is said the flame of their empaled bodies supplied the room of lights for some nights together There are those who say this Fire was kindled by Nero either that he might have before his Eyes the Resemblance of burning Troy or else because he had taken offence at the irregularity of the old Houses and the narrowness and windings of the streets neither of which are improbable of such a man as he who was profligately self-will'd intemperate and cruel and in all respects more lewd and wicked than his Uncle Caligula For he both put to death a great part of the Senate and also without any regard to Decency would in the fight of the People sing and dance in the publique Theatre His dissolute Luxury was such that he made use of perfum'd cold Baths and fished with golden Nets which were drag'd with Purple Cords Yet he took such care to conceal all these Vices in the beginning of his Empire that men had generally great hopes of him For being put in mind to sign a Warrant according to Custom for the Execution of one that was condemn'd to die How glad says he should I be that I had never learnt to write Howas very sumptuous in his Buildings both in the City and elsewhere for the Baths called by his Name and the Aurea Domus and the Portico three miles long were finish'd by him with with wondrous magnificence besides which he was at a vast expence to make the Haven at Antium at the sight of which I my self not long since was wonderfully pleased I return to his Cruelty which he exercised towards his Master Seneca towards M. Annoeus Lucanus the famous Poet towards his Mother Agrippina and his Wife Octavia towards Cornutus the Philosopher Perfius's Master whom he banish'd towards Piso and in a word towards all those who were in any reputation among the Citizens In the end he so highly provok'd the rage and hatred of the people against him that most diligent search was made after him to bring him to condign punishment Which punishment was that being bound he should be led up and down with a Gallows upon his neck and being whipped with Rods to Death his body should be thrown into the River Tyber But he making his escape four miles out of the City laid violent hands upon himself in the Countrey-house of one of his Freemen between the Via Salaria and Nomentana in the thirty second year of his Age and of his Reign the fourteenth S.
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
In his time lived 〈◊〉 Bishop of 〈◊〉 who 〈◊〉 twelve Books 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 and one against 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not long 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also an 〈◊〉 who had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 old Age so great a Proficient in those Arts which most require the assistance of sight particularly in Logick and Geometry that he wrote some excellent Treatises in the Mathematicks He published also Commentaries on the Psalms and the Gospels of Matthew and John and was a great opposer of the Arians Moreover Optatus an African Bishop of Mela compiled six Books against the 〈◊〉 and Severus Aquilius a Spaniard who was kinsman to that Severus to whom Lactantius penn'd two Books of Epistles wrote one Volume called 〈◊〉 As for our Siricius having setled the Affairs of the Church and at five Ordinations made twenty six Presbyters sixteen Deacons thirty two Bishops he died and was buried in the Coemetery of Priscilla in the Via Salaria Febr. 22. He was in the Chair fifteen years eleven months twenty days and by his death the See was vacant twenty days ANASTASIUS I. ANASTASIUS a Roman the Son of Maximus was made Bishop of Rome in the time of Gratian. This Gratian was a young Prince of eminent Piety and so good a Soldier that in an Expedition against the Germans that were now harrassing the Roman Borders he did in one Battel at Argentaria cut off thirty thousand of them with very little loss on his own side Returning from thence to Italy he expelled all those of the Arian Faction and admitted none but the Orthodox to the execution of any Ecclesiastical Office But apprehending the Publick-weal to be in great danger from the attempts of the Goths he associated to himself as a Partner in the Government Theodosius a Spaniard a person eminent for his Valour and Conduct who vanquishing the Alans Hunns and Goths re-establish'd the Empire of the East and entred into a League with Athanaricus King of the Goths after whose Death and magnificent Burial at Constantinople his whole Army repaired to Theodosius and declared they would serve under no other Commander but that good Emperour In the mean time Maximus usurped the Empire in Britain and passing over into Gaul slew Gratian at Lions whose death so 〈◊〉 his younger Brother Valentinian that he forthwith fled for refuge to Theodosius in the East Some are of opinion that those two Brethren owed the Calamities which befell them to their Mother Justina whose great Zeal for the Arian Heresie made her a fierce Persecutor of the Orthodox and especially of S. Ambrose whom against his will the people of Milain had at this time chosen their Bishop For Auxentius an Arian their late Bishop being dead a great Sedition arose in the City about chusing his Successour Now Ambrose who was a man of Consular dignity and their Governour endeavouring all he could to quell that disorder and to that end going into the Church where the people were in a tumultuary manner assembled he there makes an excellent Speech tending to persuade them to Peace and Unity among themselves which so wrought upon them that they all with one consent cryed out that they would have no other Bishop but Ambrose himself And the event answered their desires for being as yet but a Catechumen he was forthwith baptized and then admitted into holy Orders and constituted Bishop 〈◊〉 Milain That he was a person of great Learning and extraordinary Sanctity the account which we have of his Life and the many excellent Books which he wrote do abundantly testifie Our Anastasius decreed that the Clergy should by no means sit at the singing or reading of the holy Gospel in the Church but stand bowed and in a posture of 〈◊〉 and that no Strangers especially those that came from the parts beyond the Seas should be receiv'd into holy Orders unless they could produce Testimonials under the hands of five Bishops Which latter Ordinance is suppos'd to have been occasioned by the practice of the Manichees who having gained a great esteem and Authority in Africa were wont to send their Missionaries abroad into all parts to corrupt the Orthodox Doctrine by the infusion of their Errours He ordained likewise that no person 〈◊〉 of body or maimed or defective of any Limb or Member should be admitted into holy Orders Moreover he dedicated the Crescentian Church which stands in the second Region of the City in the Via Marurtina The Pontificate of this Anastasius as also that of Damasus and Siricius his Predecessors were signaliz'd not only by those excellent Emperours Jovinian 〈◊〉 Gratian and Theodosius but also by those many holy and worthy Doctors both Greek and Latin that were famous in all kinds of Learning Cappadocia as Eusebius tells us brought forth 〈◊〉 Nazianzen and Bazil the Great both extraordinary Persons and both brought up at Athens Basil was a Bishop of 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 a City formerly called Mazaca He wrote divers excellent Books against Eunomius one concerning the Holy Ghost and the Orders of a Monastick life He had two Brethren Gregory and Peter both very learned Men of the former of which some Books were extant in the time of Eusebius Gregory Nazianzen who was Master to S. Hierom wrote also many things particularly in praise of Cyprian Athanasius and Maximus the Philosopher two Books against Eunomius and one against the Emperour Julian besides an Encomium of Marriage and single Life in Hexameter Verse By the strength of his reasoning and the power of his Rhetorick in which he was an imitatour of Polemon a man of admirable Eloquence he brought off the Citizens of Constantinople from the Errours with which they had been infected At length being very aged he chose his own Successour and led a private life in the Countrey Basil died in the Reign of Gratian Gregory of Theodosius About the same time 〈◊〉 Epiphanius Bishop of Salamine in Cyprus a strenuous oppugner of all kinds of Heresies as did also Ephrem a Deacon of the Church of Edessa who composed divers Treatises in the 〈◊〉 Language which gained him so great a Veneration that in some Churches his Books were publickly read after the Holy Scriptures 〈◊〉 having at two Decembrian Ordinations made eight Presbyters five Deacons ten Bishops died and was buried April 28. He was in the Chair three years ten days and by his death the See was vacant twenty one days INNOCENTIUS I. INNOCENTIUS an Alban Son of Innocentius was Bishop in part of the Reign of Theodosius Who with great Conduct and singular Dispatch overcame the Usurper Maximus and at Aquileia whither he had fled retaliated upon him the Death of Gratian. A
all manner of Vice and wickedness and if he had any time to spare from his lusts he spent it in Hunting and not in Prayer The Romans had at this time two Consuls annually and one Prefect who was a Judg among the Citizens Out of the People were created twelve Decarchons who were instead of the Senate neither were the Romans without some kind of Dominions for the neighbouring Towns of Tuscany between Orvieto and Todi and all that lies between the City and Benevent Naples Tagliacozzo and Riete were subject to the City of Rome What lies beyond was possessed partly by the Greeks and partly by the Saracens It is not altogether certain who then held Marca di Ancona and the Dutchy of Spoleto In the City thus free Octavian favour'd by the power of his Father assumes the Papal Dignity a weight for which his shoulders were very unfit which gave so great offence that two Cardinals who were nettled at it sent to Otho beseeching him to come and deliver the Clergy and the People of Rome out of the hands of Berengarius and this Pope John otherwise telling him that the Christian Religion and the Empire too would both be ruin'd Otho was at that time great in the estimation of all people having as we said before conquered Boleslaus King of Bohemia and routed the Hungarians that 〈◊〉 Germany in three fierce Battels taking three of their Princes who were hanged up by the Germans against the mind of the Emperor While Otho was expected the whole design was betray'd to John who took both the Cardinals and cut off the Nose of the one and the hand of the other This mov'd Otho to hasten his march into Italy where first he took Berengarius and his Son Albertus Prisoners and banish'd one to Constantinople the other into Austria and soon after entring Rome he was splendidly received even of John himself and Crown'd as some write Emperor of Germany and Hungary the Empire being now first translated to the Germans There are Authors yet that place this to the times of Leo VIII of whom we shall speak hereafter whose Opinion is follow'd by Gratian in his Decree though Ricardus and Cuseulinus disallow not the former but the Lateran Library-keeper writes that Otho came to Rome in John's time but says not a word of his Coronation so perplex'd and confused are the Affairs of those times by the carelesness and neglect of their Writers Otho however having somewhat setled the State of the City had some conference in private with John dissuading him kindly from his naughty way of life and exhorting him to reform but when he found fair words would not avail he made use of threats and declar'd for a General Council convening all the Bishops of Italy to judg of the way of life of this wicked Fellow The Censures of these good Men he apprehended would be heavy and therefore fled to Anagni sculking up and down in by-places like a wild Beast So that Otho by the persuasion of the Clergy creates Leo a Roman a keeper of the Archives in the Lateran Pope But upon the departure of the Emperor the Kinsmen and Friends of John turn out Leo and recall him who within few days after was struck dead as was thought from Heaven lest the Church of God should be ruin'd by so pernicious a Sedition as was then growing on Some indeed write that this wicked Wretch or Monster rather was taken in Adultery and there stabb'd However this put not an end to the Schism for the Romans upon the death of John put up Benedict in his room and were earnest with the Emperor who was then at Spalato to confirm their choice But the Emperor was highly displeased and not onely denied their request as unjust but as shall hereafter be told compelled them by force of Arms to abrogate Benedict and receive Leo. Many Prodigies are said to have been seen at this present time in Italy for in a mighty tempest of wind and rain there fell a stone of a wonderful 〈◊〉 from the Sky and in the garments of many persons the figure of a bloody Cross appeared miraculously which portents were look'd upon to 〈◊〉 great Slaughters and calamities to the Church This John who was certainly the most pernicious profligate Fellow of any that preceded him in the Pontifical Chair died in the ninth year third month and fifth day of his Popedom upon whose death during the Sedition the Sea was vacant twelve days BENEDICT V. BENEDICT the Fifth a Roman in the Sedition was of a Deacon made Pope chiefly by the assistance of the kinred and Dependents of John to whom the Preferment of Leo by Otho gave great disgust But the Emperor disapproving this Election flatly the confirmation of it to the Romans who earnestly sought it and wasting the territories of the City with fire and sword forced them not onely to turn out but to yield up Benedict and submit to Leo with an Oath not to attempt any alteration in what the Emperor had establish'd in the affair of the Popedom Matters thus composed in Italy Otho goes back for Germany taking Benedict with him who soon after died at Hapspurg whither he was banish'd He held the Papacy six months and five days The Sea was after vacant thirty days LEO VIII LEO the Eighth the Proloscriniary as I said before upon the expulsion of John was created Pope by the Clergy and People of Rome For when John led such an abominable and exorbitant life that the Romans urg'd the Emperor to depose him and set up another Pope he answered that the Election belong'd to the Clergy and People and let them chuse a Man they took to be most fit he would confirm him immediately Hereupon when they had chosen Leo and the Emperor had confirm'd him soon after altering their minds they deposed him and put up Benedict which so angred Otho that he compelled them by force of Arms to yield up Benedict and accept of Leo again who was so teiz'd with the mutinous humour of the Romans that he transferred the whole power of electing of Popes from the Clergy and People to the Emperor But he liv'd not long after dying in the sixteenth month of his Popedom JOHN XIV JOHN the Fourteenth Bishop of Narni a Roman Son of John a Bishop succeeded Leo. But the Romans having got the trick of expelling their Popes vex'd this Man also with seditions for having call'd to their assistance Geffrey Lord of Terra de Lavoro they broke into the Lateran Palace and feiz'd upon John whom they first cast into the Prison of Castle S. Angelo and soon after banish'd to Capua but Geffrey with his onely Son being slain by John Prince of Capua the Pope return'd straight to Rome in the eleventh month of his Exile Otho also upon notice of the Pope's distress together with his Son Otho and a good Army by long journeys came to Rome and immediately threw the Consuls the Praetor and the Decarchons
very powerful for Beatrix the Mother of Mathild had been Sister to the Emperor Henry II. and had married one Boniface a potent Man and of an honourable Family of the City of Lucca in Tuscany upon whose death all his Estates fell first to Beatrix and after her decease were devolv'd upon Mathild and her Husband Godfrey so that they stood possess'd of Lucca Parma Reggio Mantua and that part of Tuscany now call'd S. Peter's Patrimony But to return to Benedict he was deposed by Hildebrand because he came not in by the right way but by force and Simony for the generality of the Clergy had pass'd their words to Arch-deacon Hildebrand when he went to Florence that they would not proceed upon any Election of a new Pope till his return to the City When he was come back therefore together with Gerard Bishop of Florence he inveigh'd most bitterly against them all especially against those who had promised to stay till his return But there arising great contention upon this matter many approving of Benedict as a very good and prudent Man though they disallow'd that Election of him with great clamours that it was irregularly and illegally done yet at last by the persuasion of Hildebrand Gerard a Man worthy indeed of so high a Dignity was by a majority of Votes created Pope and Benedict turn'd out Some will have this Election to have been made at Siena because a free choice could not be had at Rome by reason of the partialities of some Men in Power there Benedict was deposed after he had sate nine months and twenty days and then was confined to Veletri NICOLAS II. NICOLAS the Second a Provençal at first nam'd Gerard Bishop of Florence for his Virtue and excellent spirit upon the expulsion of Benedict who was not regularly so created was made Pope at Sienna and immediately thereupon withdrew to Sutri where An. Dom. 1059. he called a Council whither came not onely the Bishops but many of the Noblemen of Italy where he forc'd Benedict to resign the Office and Habit of Pope and to retire to Veletri from hence he went to Rome where in the second Lateran Council he procur'd a Law to be enacted very wholesom for the Church of Rome which is to be seen among the 〈◊〉 to this purpose That if any one either by Simony or by the favour of any powerful Man or by any tumult either of the People or Soldiery shall be placed in S. Peter's Chair he shall be reputed not Apostolical but an Apostate one that transgresses the rules even of common Reason and that it shall be lawful for the Cardinals Clergy and devout Laity with Weapons both spiritual and material by Anathema's and by any humane aid him to drive out and depose and that Catholicks may assemble for this end in any place whatsoever if they cannot do it in the City In the same Council Berengarius Deacon of the Church of Anjou was reclaim'd from his Error concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the Bread and Wine whereof he affirm'd the true and intire Body and Blood of Christ was not present but onely by a sign figure or mystery which Error at the instance and persuasion of Nicolas and Albericus a Deacon a very learned Man he recanted affirming the Eucharist to be the true and intire Body and Blood of Christ. We have said that this Error was condemned by Leo IX but never amended the praise of which belongs wholly to Nicolas as Lanfranc writes a Man at that time very learned who in an excellent Work of his confuted the Tenets of Berengarius While these things were acted at Rome by Pope Nicolas Godfrey the Norman who succeeded his Brother Drogo in the Earldom of Apulia and Calabria dying left his Son Bagelardus his Heir which Robert Guiscardi his Brother as some will have it not liking he drove out his Nephew and seiz'd upon the Earldom taking in Troia also which had long been Subject to the Sea of Rome At this the Pope was not a little enraged at Robert till by his invitation taking a journey into Apulia whatsoever the Church had lost was return'd again and then he not onely took Robert into favour but making him a feudatary of the Church he was constituted Duke of Calabria and Apulia After this receiving of him a great assistance of Forces and returning to the City he subdued the Prenestines Tusculans and Nomentans who had revolted from the Church and crossing the Tiber he sacked Galese and took in other Castles of Count Gerard as far as Sutri rendring the territories of Rome hereby much more secure T is written also that Henry III. was crown'd by Nicolas with the Imperial Diadem and out of gratitude for it all his time never attempted any thing against holy Church But Nicolas having concluded this life with great praise of all Men died when he had been Pope three years six months and twenty six days The Sea was then vacant twelve days ALEXANDER II. ALEXANDER the Second whose name at first was Anselm a Milanese Bishop of Lucca upon the death of Nicolas though absent was for his good temper affability and Learning elected Pope But the Bishops of Lombardy thinking for the honour of their Country that it was just a Pope should be chosen out of their number Gilbert of Parma at that 〈◊〉 very powerful taking their parts vigorously they obtain'd of the Emperor Henry against the mind of his Wife Agnes that they might set up an other Pope Whereupon the Bishops holding a consult made one Cadolus Pope who was Bishop of Parma to whom all Lombardy straightway submitted except Mathild a noble Lady who had great reverence for the Roman Sea Cadolus being soon after called to Rome by the Adversaries of Alexander both Parties engag'd in Battel in the Prati di Nerone at the foot of the Hill Montorio in which fight many were slain on both sides Alexander and Godfrey the Husband of Mathild staid in the Lateran Palace not knowing where to trust themselves all places were so full of treachery though some say that Alexander to avoid the bloody sight did before the Battel retire to Lucca and lived there securely for some time which kind Protection from the Luccheses he gratefully acknowledged by granting both to their Church and City very notable Priviledges Cadolus was repulsed at Rome but rested not long at quiet in his Country being invited again by some Citizens who found that to satisfie their Avarice it was their Interest that the City should be kept in confusion and getting together a greater Army than before he comes to Rome and by force seizes the Citta Leonina and S. Peter's Church But the Romans with the Forces of Godfrey falling forth strook such a sudden terror into the Enemy that they betook themselves to their heels and Cadolus narrowly miss'd being taken having been forsaken by his Friends but Cincius Son to the Prefect of Rome with a strong Squadron carried him
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
Florentines and the other people of that Province to break up their Siege of Pistoia They all obey'd him save onely the Florentines and those of Lucca so that he interdicted those two States But Robert went away for Avignion to complement the Pope and then the Pistoieses tired out by this long Siege at length concluded upon a Surrender The Florentines and those of Lucca pulled down the Walls of the City as soon as they had taken it and filling up the Trenches divided the Country among them leaving to the Citizens their lives onely the City it self remaining equally subject to both But it was not long before the Florentines made themselves sole Masters of it by Walling it round within the Trenches contrary to the Articles agreed upon by them and those of Lucca And that they might make all things the more secure they bought Aciano a Castle belonging to the Vbaldini which they pulled down and in the Plain not far distant they built Scarparia as some few years before they had done Castel-Franco and S. Johns in the Valley of Arno. Cardinal Vrsin was now sent into Tuscany to compose the differences whom the Florentines and those of Lucca contemned and thereby put him into such a passion that he publickly reiterated his Curses and his Interdiction For that reason the Florentines revenged themselves upon the Clergy by exactions very long and very much Nay farther they used such severity upon this occasion that they put Cursio Donato an eminent Citizen and one that had deserved well of the Publick to death for marrying Vgutio Fagiolanis Daughter such Enemies they were to all Nobility But afterward they were receiv'd into the Popes favour for assisting Pelagura the Legat in the recovery of Ferrara and the Castle of Thedaldo which was in possession of the Venetians in the year 1309. Charles the Second of Naples dying the same year his Son Robert was sent by the Pope to be his Successor but he went to Bologna to Pelagura who presently in the name of the Church made him Governour of Ferrara while it was yet in Arms. But he was to go on toward Naples and so left Dego Catelano an eminent Person with a Troop of Horse in the Garison This Dego seeing he could not contein the People of Ferrara within their Duty by fair or foul words sent his Horse down upon them from the Castle and kill'd a great many of them hanging up eight and twenty of the House of Este who aspir'd to the Dominion At that time Henry of Lucenburgh was chosen Emperor by the Germans and confirm'd by the Pope upon condition that he should come into Italy within two years and receive his Crown at Rome This the Pope did to the end that the commotions in Italy would be suppress'd by the arrival of the Emperor Who promised to perform what the Pope had injoyn'd him and immediately sent Agents into Italy to all the States and Princes there but chiefly to the Florentines who at that time harass'd them of Arezzo The Florentines made answer That so great a Prince as he was did not do prudently in endeavouring to bring Foreiners into Italy which was a Country that as Emperor he ought to defend from such with his utmost power And that he did not do well to protect them of Arezzo who he knew had banish'd the Guelphs their fellow Citizens whereas it was the Emperors prerogative alone to banish or to recall from Exile They say that Dante 's then told the Florentines They were blind for making such a foolish answer to the Emperor than which nothing could be more to the disadvantage of their State especially when so great and Warlike a Prince with so great an Army approached them But indeed they were encouraged by the promises of King Robert who as he went into his Kingdom gave them assurance that he would always be a Patron to the Guelphin Faction The Emperor was now advanc'd as far as Piedmont where in the Plains all the Princes or Governors of Cities came to meet him There were at that time two principal Factions in Millain the Turriani and the Viconti Guido Turriano was Head of the Guelphs as being Captain of the people to use their own word and Maffeo Viconti of the Gibellins And Guido fearing lest the Viconti should get into Henry's favour before him upon the account of their Faction he raised an Army and encamped in the Country of Millain to see as he himself said who durst come into that City without his leave When at the same time Maffeo sent Agents to the Emperor to invite him to Millain which was a City he told him that was the very Mansion-house of the Roman Empire Thereupon Henry drew his Forces near to the City and made a great bustle though Guido was got in before him But he allay'd all Tumults by a composition which he made upon these Terms That Guido should have Marcelli and Maffeo be Captain General of his Horse And thus the Emperor having gotten possession of Millain almost all the adjacent Cities surrendred presently except Alessandria Then he received the Iron Crown at Millain according to custom but put the Citizens to so much expence that the Commonalty finding themselves rather oppressed than vested with the Liberty they expected betook themselves to their Arms The Germans seeing their men kill'd by both Factions went out of the Suburbs into the City and called the Heads of the Parties to ' em But Galeatius Son to Maffeo Viconti left his Father at home and went with a considerable number of Suppliants to wait upon the Emperor and told him That the Turriani affecting Sovereignty had made that uproar in the City Whereupon the Germans joyning the Gibellin Faction drave the Turriani after some small resistance at S. Martes New-street out of the City from whence they fled in great numbers to Vercelli by the persuasion of Guido Thirty of this Faction being kill'd of which four were Turriano's After this Henry moved toward Cremona and Crema and called the Guelphs before him there who had turn'd out the Gibellins but he dealt mildly with the Cremoneses because they rendered themselves so freely though he was a little severer upon the Cremeses and demolish'd their Walls Which strook such terror into those of Parma who by the persuasion of one Gilbert Correggio had received the Rossi into their Town that immediately they drove out the Guelphs and took in the Emperors Lieutenant Those of Brescia defended themselves for some time but being smartly attaqued by Henry they fled in the Night to the Mountains and left the City quite empty The Germans enter'd it presently and pulled down the Walls At which Calamities of their Neighbours the people of Mantua Verona Vicenza Padua Treviso and Venice were so affrighted that they immediately submitted to the Emperors Orders Those also of Piacenza turn'd out Albertus Scotus Captain of the Guelphs and took in the Emperors Governour Having setled Affairs after this
Thomas chiefly with the assistance of his Infantry gave the Enemy such a blow that of six thousand Horse which fought under Hawkwood few escaped and the Captain himself yielded Those that had revolted from the Church when they heard of this great Victory immediately surrender'd Vrban then came into Italy in the fourth year of his Pontificate to settle things and Giles the Legate met him at Corneto and rendring an account of what he had done was discharg'd from his Legateship and the Pope going on his way from Corneto to Rome he retired quietly in his old Age at Viterbo where he died in three months after He was a Man of singular Virtue and Courage and preserv'd the Honour of the Church whilst he lived most wonderfully His Body was carried to Assisi and buried in the Church of S. Francis in a Tomb that he built himself whilst he was living When Charles the Emperor understood that Vrban was gone to Rome he went thither too as fast as he could with his Wife and Children but by the way took Lucca from the Pisanes and Sancto Miniato from the Florentines Whether he went to Rome or no is not certain because 't is said he received his Imperial Crown from Pope Innocent the Sixth who sent the Cardinal of Ostia to Rome for that purpose But having received a great sum of mony of the Florentines to buy their own peace he march'd out of Italy the third month after he came thither in the year 1368. Vrban had sought a long time for the Heads of SS Peter and Paul which through the ignorance of the times had long been neglected and having light upon them at Sancta Sanctorum he put 'em up in Silver Cases next the great Altar of the Lateran where they were highly honourâ—d by a great concourse of all the Clergy and People of Rome The same Pope built one Palace in the old City and another in Montefiascone that he and other Popes might retire thither to avoid the Heat and bustle of the Town But resolving to go back shortly into France he made John Hawkwood an excellent Commander whom he released out of Prison General of all those Forces that had serv'd under Giles to guard the Church Patrimony till he return'd again For he design'd to return for Italy But going into France he died at Marseilies in the eighth year and the fourth month of his Pontificate or as others will have it he dy'd at Avignion just about the time when Briget a devout Woman who was a Princess of Switzerland came to Rome upon a Vow she had made There were at the same time some Commotions in Puglia after the death of Nicolas Acciolo who was Governour of that Province and a Stout Wise Man GREGORY XI GREGORY the Eleventh of Lymosin formerly call'd Peter Belford and Cardinal-Deacon of New S. Maries was made Pope at Avignion by a general consent Clement VI. his Uncle made him Cardinal when he was scarce seventeen years of age But that he might not seem to consult the good of his Kindred more than that of the Church he sent him to the best Masters he could find for breeding and especially to Baldus who at that time was a Professor at Perugia Under whom he made such progress in all sorts of Learning that Baldus often used his Authority to clear a Doubt And then he was a Man of such innocence good nature affability and piety that he was generally beloved At his entrance upon the Pontificate this was the state of things in Italy at Rome the Courts of Justice were held by Senators whom the Pope appointed for every six months but the Guard of the City and all the management of publick Affairs were in the hands of the Banderesii so named from their Banners a Teutonic word which they used in War by which every Decuria now called Capo di Regione or Head of a Ward was distinguish'd In Lombardy those Nobles who as I said before conspired against the Viconti surprised the City of Reggio by treachery which was before in their possession but the Castle holding out Bernabos entring the City that way at the first Onset overthrew the Enemy and driving away Lucius the German Commander repossess'd himself of the place Thus went matters in Italy when Perinus King of Cyprus who succeeded his Father Peter was the cause of great animosities between the Genoeses and the Venetians For when he was Crown'd at Famagosta and two Bailiffs as the Merchants call their Residents one from Genoa and the other from Venice were there attending they strove who should walk on the right hand the King which raised such a Tumult that the Genoeses were beaten and wounded basely the King favouring the Venetians The Genoeses hereupon got a Navy of 40 Ships together under the command of Peter Fregoso Brother to Dominick Fregoso and invaded Cyprus and landed fourteen thousand men to destroy all the Island with fire and sword for violating the Law of Nations The King being deserted on all sides submitted to their mercy and surrendering Famagosta promised the Genoeses to give them 40000. per annum to purchase his Peace The Popes Legate was now come into Italy and had setled the state of the Church he made a Peace with the Viconti when a new Tumult arose at Prato which was the original of great confusion For the Inhabitants of Prato endeavouring to vindicate themselves from the Dominion of the Florentines called the Church Forces into Tuscany by permission from the Legate But the Florentines so far corrupted them with money that they enter'd Prato by their assistance put the Conspirators to death and sent a great many Banners with Liberty written upon them by several Troops to several Towns exhorting the People as their Lords that they would remember the Liberty of the Church and cast off the yoke of Servitude The first that revolted from the Church were the Castellani then the Perugians those of Todi Spoleto Gubio Viterbo Forli and Ascoli follow'd their Example At that time too Astorgius Manfred under the Bavarian having tasted the sweetness of absolute Dominion had possess'd himself of Granariolo a Castle near Faenza against whom the Legate sent John Hawkwood with some Troops out of Bologna The Florentines and those of Bologna defended Astorgius and keeping out Hawkwood with all his men asserted their Liberty But Hawkwood seeing the Faenzeses ready to rebel he not onely plunder'd the City severely and kill'd all that his Soldiers met but he sold the very ground on which it stood to Nicolas and Albert d' Este two Brothers for 20000 l. reserving onely Bagnacavallo to himself where the Carriages of his Army lay The Pope hearing of such great Revolutions sent Cardinal Cevennes as his Legate with six thousand British Horse ito Italy who coming down through Piedmont march'd as far as the very Gates of Bologna without doing any hurt designing to besiege the City But when the Legate heard the Florentines were come to
and was buried in the Church of Recanati Now though two Popes were removed there remained a third who gave 'em more trouble than the other two and that was Peter Luna called Benedict XIII as I told you before But to force him to resign Sigismund went personally with some Agents of the Council to the Kings of England and France and perswaded them for the sake of Christianity so much endanger'd by the Schism to assist him now that the other two had laid down in the removal of Benedict who answering him to his mind he went straight to Ferdinand King of Aragon whose Subjects generally stood for Benedict who agreed among other Articles either to persuade Benedict to resign or to cause his People to withdraw their subjection to him as Gregory and John had done in the Council and to submit to the Council But Benedict kept in his strong Castle and would not comply persisting that he was Christ's true Vicar and that the City of Constance where Pope John had been forc'd even by his own Friends to exauctorate himself was not a place of Freedom requisite for a General Council The Spanish Nobility seeing Benedicts obstinacy followed the Order of the Council and came over to the rest Now things were carried in the Council by the Suffrages of five Nations Italy France Germany Spain and England And whatsoever was Decreed by their Votes was confirm'd and publish'd by a Beadle publick Notary before the Court as a general Act. By this Authority Benedict when the matter had been bandied for some time was deprived of the Popedom the Nations that were of his side being either absent or rejected especially the Scots and the Earl of Armagnac In the same Council the Heresie of John Wickliffe was condemned and two of his followers to wit John Hus and Jerome his disciple as heads of the Heresie were burnt because they affirm'd among other Errors That Ecclesiastical Men ought to be poor for that all People were offended at their great wealth and Luxury Matters being thus composed and mention made concerning Reforming the Church and manners of the Clergy they thought that could not be done whilst the Sea was vacant Then they Discours'd about electing a new Pope that the Decrees of that Council might have the more Authority And in order to it they resolv'd to choose six good Men out of every Nation who together with the Cardinals should go into the Conclave and choose a new Pope Novemb. 8. 1417. they went into the Conclave and by consent of 32 Cardinals and all the several Nations contrary to the expectation of all Men in the presence of many of the Schismaticks Otho Columna a Nobleman of Rome and Cardinal Deacon of S. George was made Pope upon S. Martins day Novem. 11. when the Sea had been without a true Pope for four years And this was done so much to the satisfaction of all Men that the joy was inexpressible The Emperor was so mightily pleased at it that he went into the Conclave and gave 'em thanks without any respect to his own Dignity for choosing so good a Man and one so fit to support Christianity which was almost decay'd And then falling down prostrate before the Pope he kiss'd his feet with great Veneration whilst the Pope on the contrary embraced him and valued him as a Brother and gave him thanks that by his means and industry Peace was restored once more to the Church of God But the reason why he would be called Pope Martin was because the Election was upon S. Martins day Whilst these things were transacted at Constance Ladislaus dying as he was going against the Florentines the cry at Rome was To Arms and for Liberty Whereupon Peter Mattheucii was forced against his Will to assume the Government of the City though afterward he relinquish'd the Office when he understood that a Legate whom Pope John had design'd to send thither would shortly come with a Senator of Bologna As soon as they were come they put Paul Palonius and John Cincius two seditious Citizens to death The year following Brachius Montonius came with an Army to Rome and getting into the City began to storm the Castle S. Angelo which was defended by a strong Garison of Queen Joans who succeeded her Brother Ladislaus in the Kingdom But when Sfortia the Queens General came up he not onely raised the Siege but beat Brachius out of the City the Romans siding with neither Party John Columna was kill'd in that fight by a private Soldier that formerly had fought under Paul Vrsin whom Lewis Columna in Brachius's Army had formerly kill'd at Fuligno Now the Soldier had a mind to kill Lewis to revenge Pauls death but John who was innocent died for it as he was going to save Lewis Whilst Rome was in this tempestuous condition rowing to and fro it conceived at length some hope of quiet upon Martin's being chosen MARTIN V. MARTIN the Fifth a Roman formerly called Otho Columna was made Pope in the Council by the general consent of all the Nations and Cardinals at a time when he as well as the Church was in a declining condition For he had been well educated by his Parents care from his Childhood and when he grew up he studied the Canon Law at Perugia from whence he return'd to the City and for his integrity and learning was made Referendary by Pope Vrban VI. Which place he acquitted with so much humanity justice and mildness that he was created Cardinal Deacon by Innocent VII Nor did that make him forego his natural Disposition For he was more courteous than before and lent his assistance to all that wanted it yet so as not to meddle much in publick matters So that when there were many Debates in the Council of Constance by reason of the Factions he took the middle way and seemed to incline to neither Party but always studied the general good Being therefore beloved by the Emperor the Cardinals and indeed by all Men he was chosen Pope In which Office he was not idle but active and careful hearing refuting and approving persuading disuading exhorting or deterring those that came before him according to reason and the merits of the Cause For he was very accessible and never denied a reasonable request besides that he was a Man of great prudence in Debates For he would tell what ought to be done as soon as a thing was proposed to him He was short in his Speeches and wary in his Actions insomuch that people saw a thing effected before they could imagine he had thought of it His Discourse was full of Sentences nor did any word come from him so often as Justice frequently turning to his Attendants and Familiars especially them that govern'd Cities and Provinces and saying Love Justice ye that judg the Earth Indeed the Church of God wanted such a Pope at that time to sit at the Helm and steer S. Peter's Boat then batter'd with Waves of Schism and
good as my word and would often boast what a kindness he had for me and what great things he would do for me as soon as Borsius d' Este was gone who coming to the City with a great Equipage was very magnificently and splendidly received by him The same he had often promised to the Ambassadours of Venice and Milan who had spoken on my behalf For two years I was led on or rather beguil'd with these hopes till at length I resolv'd to go with the Cardinal of Mantua to Bononia of which he was Legat. But Paul forbad me and after his jesting manner said I had wit enough already and wanted Wealth rather than Learning And now while I was in expectation that I should be reliev'd after so many troubles and afflictions behold the Pope dies of an Apoplexy about two hours within night being alone in his Chamber having been well that day and held a Consistory His death happened July 28. 1471. in the sixth year and tenth month of his Pontificate As to his Personage it was Majestic and becoming a Pope for he was so portly and tall that he was easily distinguishable from the rest when at Mass In his dress though he was not curious yet he was not reputed negligent Nay 't is said that when he was to appear in public he would use to paint his face In his Pontifical Vestments he outwent all his Predecessors especially in his Regno or Mitre upon which he laid out a great deal of Mony in purchasing at vast rates Diamonds Sapphyrs Emeralds Chrysoliths Jaspers Unions and all manner of precious stones wherewith adorn'd like another Aaron he would appear abroad somewhat more august than a Man delighting to be seen and admir'd by every one To this purpose sometimes by deferring some usual Solemnities he would keep Strangers in Town that so he might be view'd by greater numbers But lest he alone should seem to differ from the rest he made a Decree that none but Cardinals should under a Penalty wear red Caps to whom he had in the first year of his Popedom given Cloth of that colour to make Horse-Cloths or Mule-Cloths of when they rode He was also about to order that Cardinals Caps should be of Silk Scarlet but some Persons hindred it by telling him well that the Ecclesiastical Pomp was rather to be diminished than encreased to the detriment of the Christian Religion Before he was made Pope he used to give out that if ever he came to that good fortune he would give each Cardinal a Castle in the Country where they might retire conveniently to avoid the Summer-heats of the City but when he was once got into the Chair he thought of nothing less However he endeavour'd by his Authority and by force too to augment the Power of the Papacy For he sent the Bishop of Tricarico into France to hear the Cause of quarrel between the Duke of Burgundy and the People of Liege and upon their reconciliation to take off the Interdict laid upon the Liegeois for wrongfully expelling their Bishop but while the Legat took great pains to subject all matters to the Pope's Judgment he and their Bishop too were clapt up by the Liegeois Hereupon the Duke of Burgundy makes Peace with the French King with whom he was before at War and with his aid gives those of Liege several great defeats and at length sacks their City and sets free the imprison'd Bishops Moreover Paul hearing of the Apostasie of the King of Bohemia he by his Legat Lorenzo Roverella Bishop of Ferrara raised the Hungarians and Germans upon him so that he had certainly cut off both the King George and his Progeny and utterly rooted out the Heretics had not the Polanders who laid claim to that Kingdom held Matthias King of Hungary employ'd in War lest he should have made himself Master of it He undertook two Wars of no great moment in Italy which being not openly declared but begun by picqueering Parties he afterwards abandon'd For first he attempted the seizing the Signeury of Tolfa by cunning wiles which failing with open force under the conduct of Vianesius he set upon it and besieged it but the King's Army in which the Vrsini serv'd returning from the War they had now ended with Bartholomew of Bergamo on a sudden he raised the Siege in great disorder though the Enemy was not within sixty miles of the place so that after a long contention in which he had extreamly disobliged and almost enrag'd the Vrsini against him he was fain to purchase Tolfa for seventeen thousand Ducats of Gold for fear of that potent Family who were related to the Lords of the place After the same manner he set upon Robert Malatesta Son of Sigismund when having taken the Suburbs of Rimini by a Stratagem and for sometime having besieged the City Lorenzo Arch-Bishop of Spalato being the chief in the Enterprise Frederick D. of Vrbin came upon him with the King's Forces and those of the Florentines who forc'd him to raise his Siege and foil'd his Army shamefully so that he accepted of a Peace upon very dishonourable terms Lorenzo charg'd the reason of the loss of Rimini upon the niggardliness of his pay to the Soldiers and to the great slowness of his Resolution while through ignorance in affairs of that nature he deliberated long about actions which should be done in a moment Paul was indeed so awkward at business that except he were driven to it he would not enter upon any Affair however plain and unencumbred nor when begun would he bring it to peofection This humour of his he was wont to boast had done him great service in many concerns whereas to speak truth it had been very mischievous both to himself and the Church of Rome He yet was very diligent in getting Mony so that he generally intrusted the disposal of Bishopricks and Benefices to such Courtiers whose Places being saleable nothing could be bestowed without a Present All Offices indeed in his time were set to sale whereby it came to pass that he who had a mind to a Bishoprick or Benefice would purchase of him at a good rate some other Office and so get what he would have in spight of any other Candidates who could pretend upon the score of either Learning or good Life to be capable of whatsoever honour or preferment Beside when Bishopricks were vacant he would remove the more worthy as he call'd them to the more wealthy Seat by these Translations raising vast Sums of Mony because more Annates became due at the same time He also allow'd the purchasing of Salaries With these Moneys he would sometimes be very liberal giving exhibitions to the poorer Cardinals and Bishops and to Princes or Noblemen that were driven out of their Country and relieving poor Maidens Widows and sick People He took great care too that Corn and all manner of Victuals should be afforded cheaper at Rome than formerly He was at the charge of several
into whose hands he had committed the most important Government of the Ecclesiastical State for they having misbehaved themselves the Pope in a publick Consistory discharged Cardinal Caraffa of his Government and Legantine Power in Bologna the Duke of Palvano he dismissed from being General of the Ecclesiastical Army and Admiral of the Gallies belonging to the Church and the Marquis of Montebello from being Captain of his Guards which Sentence against them the Pope thundring with impetuous Rage certain Cardinals would have offered something to mitigate his fury and extenuate the faults of his Nephews but those Lenitives adding more flame to his Fury he instantly charged the Cardinal Caraffa without farther delay to depart from Rome and remain confined to the City Indivina and the other two unto their respective Castles in places of these he constituted other grave Prelats whom he esteemed able and worthy to bear that share of Government which by reason of the infirmity of his old age he was uncapable to support And having thus disposed the Affairs of his Temporal Government he returned his thoughts to perfect that Reformation which he had then projected when he first came to the Papal Chair believing that the accomplishment thereof would be the greatest Ornament of the Apostolical Sea and give it a reputation over all the World In pursuance whereof he erected a Congregation composed of twenty four Cardinals and forty five Prelats and other Persons of the most wise and learned of all the Court to the number of one hundred and fifty These he divided into three Classes or Chambers to each of which he allotted eight Cardinals and fifteen Bishops and as many others as made up the number of fifty the chief incumbence and business of whom was to examine and enquire into the several degrees and natures of Simony the which being stated and concluded by this Congregation Coppies thereof were taken and published and sent to all Universities and Schools of learned Men requiring them to take notice of the particular Cases stated and concluded by the Holy Sea which was the Chief Doctor and Cathedratical Casuist in all Points of Religion and Conscience And though he himself as he affirmed had no need of such Regulations being well acquainted with the mind of Christ and versed in the Duty of that Office to which he was called yet that he might in all his endeavours for Reformation forestall the Objection which might be made him of Physitian cure thy self he resolved to begin at home and reform the Crimes of Simony which were objected as the crying sins of the Court of Rome and that when he had gone so far he would then remonstrate unto other Princes the Simony of their own Courts which was more rife and more intolerable in them than was ever allowed or practised at Rome But when the particular Cases of Simony came distinctly to be handled instancing in what manner Money might be taken and in what not there arose such diversities of Opinions that at length the conclusions came to be laid before the Pope as the ultimate Moderator of all Differences the which he having with some perplexity considered he finally resolved That it was not lawful to receive any Price Money Alms or any reward whatsoever for conferring any spiritual Graces or Benefices Ecclesiastical and that as to the Dispensations in cases of Matrimony though it had been the custom to receive Money for them he resolved that the same should never be again brought into practice by himself Howsoever so many scruples and Objections arose in many particular matters that nothing could ever be drawn to general Heads and so being environed by difficulties which procured delays nothing came to a full resolution the which a certain Cardinal having observed proposed to have these Questions reserved for a General Council at which the Pope being moved with extreme Choler replied That he had no need of any Council being the supreme Head and above it but the Cardinal being desirous to mollifie and appease his anger with some qualifications of his Speech said that though it was true that a Council was not necessary for giving force and Authority to the Pope's Determinations yet it might be convenient to have a Council for settlement of that Uniformity of Worship which was necessary in all Christian Churches to which the Pope assenting farther added That in case he should at any time call a Council that the same should be held at Rome and not at Trent which was in the midst and almost the Nest of the Lutherans Moreover in case he should at any time call a Council it should be composed of none but Catholicks for that they might with as much reason admit a Turk to those Debates and Consults of Religion as a Lutheran or any other Heretick and that it was unreasonable and preposterous to send sixty able and learned Bishops and forty Doctors to a Town within the Mountains as had been done twice already on supposition that they were better able to govern the World than the Vicar of Jesus Christ joined to the wisdom of his College of Cardinals who were selected out of the most wise religious and excellent personages of the Chistian Church During his time this Pope at four several Ordinations created nineteen Cardinals and changed the Festival of St. Peter which by antient Canons was celebrated on the 18th of January to the end of June supposing that season of the year most convenient for that Solemnity It is certain that this Pope intended well and designed with the strictest severity the reformation of Manners but his way of acting therein was so fierce and with those disobliging circumstances having a motion with his Head which spoke anger and spight that he could perform nothing though never so holy and laudable but what was ill censured by evil Tongues and indeed he was generally hated and that even by good Men. And though all the good actions which this Pope performed were done with so ill a meen as made them appear bad yet he had the good Conduct and fortune to prove a successful Instrument in making that memorable Peace between Philip King of Spain and Henry King of France for which happiness and Rejoycing Tilts and Tornaments being appointed at the French Court King Henry himself acting a part in it was unfortunately slain and his Son Francis II. being then a Youth succeeded in his Throne About which time the Pope being fallen into a Dropsie with which finding himself to decay and his end approach he summoned all the Cardinals to his Chamber desiring them to cast their thoughts upon some Person excellently qualified both for holiness of Life and Wisdom whom they might judg worthy to succeed him in the Apostolical Chair but in an especial manner he recommended to them the continuance of the Inquisition to which he gave the Epithet of most Holy declaring to have by good experience proved that the same had been the support of his
Authority and would be the chief Basis and Pillar of the Papal Dignity But so soon as it was noised abroad that the Pope drew towards his end the People arose in a tumult and without Counsel or Rule running through the City cursed the name and actions of Paul IV. damning all the Family and Party of Caraffa and having opened all the doors of the common Prisons they ran to the House of the Inquisition of which having opened the Gates and released the Prisoners they set fire to the Building which consumed the Prison and the place of Judicature together with all the Processes Papers and Records of that Court and had proceeded to have offered the like to the Minerva where several of the Judges of the Inquisition were lodged but that the Rhetorick and persuasions of some who had power with the Rabble diverted their fury In fine this Pope died the 18th of August 1559. being aged eighty three years one month and twenty two days and having governed four years two months and twenty seven days and his Body was carried with little Pomp and buried in a Sepulcre of Brick in the Church of St. Peter after which the Sea was vacant four months and seven days but no sooner was the breath out of his Body than the furious and mad Rabble ran to the Capitol where he had a Statue of Marble erected by an excellent Artist and placed amongst the Conservators of Rome the Head and right Hand of which they having taken off drew them for three days together through all the filth and ordure of the City and afterwards wearied with the sport they threw them into the Tyber and finally by publick Decree of the People of Rome it was commanded that in what place soever of the City the Arms of Caraffa were found either painted or engraven they should be defaced or broken the which was executed with so much readiness that in one days time there were no signals or memorials of the Caraffian Family remaining in the whole City By all which it appears that this Paul IV. had been happier and more reverenced had he died with the Title onely of Cardinal Caraffa and with the Opinion of being worthy to govern though he had never reigned Dignus fuisset Imperii si non regnasset PIVS IV. PAVL the Fourth being dead and his Funerals performed the Cardinals after the Accustomed manner entered the Conclave to the number of forty four for Election of a new Pope the Contests on which were so many and so obstinately maintained by the interest of powerful Cardinals whose equal Authority and grandeur of Families were in such an even ballance that after a thousand shufflings and alterations of Suffrages which happened in the space of four months and seven days all the Votes came at length on the 24th of December 1559. being the Eve of the Feast of Christmas to terminate in the choice of John Angelo de Medicis Cardinal of Santa Prisca On the Feast of Epiphany or Twelfth-day 1560 he was Crowned to the common joy and satisfaction of the whole City of Rome which conceived great expectations of good Government from the testimonies of Piety and Virtue which he had given by many instances of his past Life in conformity whereunto he took on himself the name of Pius IV. This Pope was of the Illustrious Family of the Medicis born at Milan to which place his Father amidst the turbulencies and intestine Discords of Florence was constrained to sly for refuge he was in his youth educated and trained up in all the Methods of good Literature in which having run through all the Studies and Exercises of Philosophy and Physick and then studying the Civil Law he took his degree of Doctor applying himself afterward to the practice of the Law In the time of Clement VII he was made one of the Protonotaries which they call Partecipanti under Paul III. He exercised many considerable Charges and Offices amongst which he was made Commissary of the Army of the Church then Arch-Bishop of Ragusa and lastly before his preferment to the Popedom he was by Paul IV. made Priest and Cardinal of Santa Prisca Du Chesne and others who write of the election of this Pope report that the Debates thereupon having been long and intricate the Choice came at length to be decided by the Holy Ghost which in the form of a Dove entering the Chappel of Sixtus after many flights round came at length to pierch on the Cell or Seat of Cardinal Santa Prisca which being observed was agreed to be the Holy Omen by which the Holy Ghost pointed out the Person to be Elected concluding all Controversies by a Miracle but other more judicious Authors are silent in such a foppery and particularly Onufrius Panvinius who writing the life of this Pope mentions nothing of this nature though he prosesses to have known him and to have frequented his Table when he was Cardinal which was always incompassed with Men of Learning and parts who conversing one with another with much ingenuity and Candour seemed to form a College of wise and virtuous Persons and he farther declares that having been present at the solemnities of his Election and Inauguration he had seen and observed all the passages of it He moreover pretends to have had a personal acquaintance with him and that he was in his own nature generous and compassionate having by many and great Charities he had performed obtained the Title of Father of the Poor and thus having acquired a general esteem amongst the Cardinals of a meek gentle and pious temper he found a more easie access to the Papal Chair which had lately been possessed by gall and bitterness and from whence nothing but Thunder and Lightning and terrours had proceeded But this Pope being desirous to rectifie this harsh humour of the Chair gave himself the name of Pius IV. And for instances thereof his first care and incumbence was to pass an Act or Decree of General Pardon to all such who during the vacancy of the Sea had committed any enormous Crimes and in common to all the people who had with insolent despight broken the Statue and defaced the Arms of Paul IV. Then his next business was to enquire into and redress the Oppressions and agrievances imposed by his Predecessour referring the examination of those matters to a Committee of wise and sober Men who rectifying that which was amiss all things might at length return to their due and accustomed Channel upon revision of which cases many Decrees passed by Paul IV. in point of Simony were repealed or at least moderated many Friers who had with too much severity been expelled their Monasteries were restored the punishments and cruelties of the Inquisition were regulated with more moderation and in fine many of those who under colour of Heresie though in reality out of malice or other design had been committed to that Prison were by Order of the new Inquisitors released and set at
hung with Tapistry and other Ornaments and thronged with people to receive his Benediction at which great honours though he was observe d to smile and carry a countenance not becoming the gravity of a Pope yet he would often praise God and say Lord I thank thee that with all these honours and worship thou hast not suffered the heart of thy servant to be puffed up or transported with worldly glory And for the greater solemnity of this Procession the People of Rome erected a triumphal Arch with this Inscription Gregory XIV ob Egregia Felicia Pontificatus auspicia pristina Munera Beneficia Capitolio restituta Civitatem egestate atque annonâ laborantem opportunâ liberalitate sublevatam insignibus ejus virtutibus SPQ.R. On the other side were Inscribed Optimo Principi Gregorio XIV Pont. Max. ab ineunte aetate per gradus verae Sapientiae Pietatis Beneficentiae caeterarumque virtutum ad Apostolici Fastigii gloriam Majestatem evecto ob fausta Sacri Augustique Principatus initia non dubiam spem rerum Maximarum Reipub. Christianae oblatam S.P.Q.R. Fornigem Triumphalem pro tempore excitavit On the other sides were divers Verses Inscribed out of Holy Scripture signifying the great hopes and expectations they had from the administration and good Government of Gregory On the 19th of this Month of December he held the first Consistory commonly called the Consistory of peace because as is usual the Popes do with fair words harangue the Cardinals and endeavour an amicable correspondence with them after which he at this Consistory created his Nephew Cardinal On the 18th of January he published a form of Jubily whereby he ordained That all Christians should offer up their Prayers unto God in his behalf that he might have grace faithfully to feed the Flock of Christ and wisely and successfully to administer the Affairs of the Universal Church On the 6th of March following he created six Cardinals and a short time afterwards he made his Nephew Count Sfrondati Duke of Mont-Marcian and General of the Forces of the Church sending him into France with an Army for assistance of the League in which War he spent five hundred thousand Crowns of Gold At Whitsunday which happened that year on the 9th of May he bestowed on the Cardinal Friers a License and priviledg to wear red Hats for until that time their Hats were of the same colour with the habit of their Order the which favour of wearing red Hats and Caps was demanded in the time of Pius V. Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. but it was refused and those Cardinals confined to their own colour In the Month of August the Duke of Ferrara came to Rome to receive his Investiture into the Dukedom from the hands of the Pope where he was received with great pomp and honour and his Table and other Charges defrayed at the expence of the Pope On the 22th of September he began to find himself indisposed of a Fever the which encreasing daily caused by the Stone and retention of his Urin he expired his last on the 15th day of October 1591. with excessive pains Being dead his Bladder was opened a stone taken from thence weighing two ounces and a quarter His Body was carried that Night to St. Peters where it was buried in the Chappel of Gregory He had been Pope ten months and ten days after which the Sea was vacant fifteen days INNOCENT IX IF ever any Person was elected to the Popedom with the common and general consent of the whole Conclave and without those factions and parties which usually arise at those Meetings it was certainly this Innocent IX who in the Conclave which chose his Predecessour Gregory XIV had so fair a prospect of this promotion that he missed of it then but by some few rubs onely which he had time afterwards to remove and so probable was the Papal Diadem to be his that the Mitre of Gregory fell on his Head when he came in an humble manner to pay his Respects and obedience at the feet of the Pope the which accident seemed to foretel and be prophetick of that fortune which afterwards ensued In this manner on the 29th of October 1591. the Papal Chair was again supplied by John Anthony Fachinetti commonly called Cardinal of Santi Quattro taking on himself the name of Innocent IX but his time was short for he reigned onely two Months his Father and Mother were Natives of Gravegni a City in Navarre but he was born at Bologna and there educated in good Learning until the year 1544. when he took the degree of Doctor Afterwards coming to Rome he was entertained in the Family of Cardinal Farnese who sent him for his Vicar to Avignon and afterwards to Parma Pius IV. created him Bishop of Nicastro a City in Calabria and in the year 1561. employed him at the Council of Trent In the year 1566. Pius V. delegated him his Nuntio at Venice where he was a successful Instrument in making a League and confederacy between the Pope the King of Spain and the Venetians against the Turk Gregory XIII created him Patriarch of Jerusalem President of the Court of Inquisition and Cardinal with the Title of Santa Quattro by which appellation he was commonly known And lastly after the decease of Gregory he was unanimously elected on the day before-mentioned The first thing he did after his Election and which he was so ready to perform without loss of time that even then when he was vesting himself in his Pontifical Habit he signed the Bolle De non alienandis bonis Ecclesiae and then declared with words proceeding from the depth of his heart that he was resolved to provide for the afflicted people of Rome and contrive some effectual means to relieve the necessities of the City which laboured almost under a Famine or scarcity of Bread To which end he summoned a Congregation and commanded that the Barons of Rome should bring their Corn into the City and made Vitelli Overseer of the Provisions or Praefectus Annonae On Sunday the second of November he was Crowned but not on the stairs ascending to St. Peters but in a little Apartment which looks towards those stairs by which means a thousand Crowns were saved of the expence the next day he held the first Consistory at which he returned his hearty thanks to the Cardinals for favouring his Election proposing several things which he esteemed convenient for conservation of the Ecclesiastical State amongst which he gave them to understand how necessary it was to keep always a considerable sum of Money in the Treasury as a reserve at all times to supply the necessities and emergencies of the Church the which had been an antient practice in the Republick of Rome where as Tacitus saith they ever reserved a secret Treasure distinct from their running Cash never to be used but then only when the ultimate exigencies of State required it In the next place he wrote
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
censure and condemn two Books the one of James Vernant who asserts the Pope's Power and Infallibility of the Pope in derogation of Councils Kings and Bishops and the other of Amadeus Guimenius who defends the Morals of the Jesuits the Pope being displeased with this confidence of the Sorbonists who being but a Colledg only should presume to determine Cases of such high nature complained to the King who in compliance with his Holiness assembled a Congregation of Bishops at Pontoise the which being met passed a Censure on the Sorbonists not condemning their Opinion but their presumption for that being but a private Colledg they should usurp a Power which appertained to the Congregation and not unto them The Pope not satisfied with these imperfect proceedings amends them at Rome and by a Bull condemns the Opinions of the Sorbonists under penalty of Excommunication But this Doctrine of the Pope's could not be digested by the Parliament of Paris who appeared Favourers of the Sorbonists howsoever lest these questions should engender discords and cause great trouble in the State they were silenced and by the King's Authority suppressed every one being under severe penalties forbidden to dispute or handle questions of this dangerous consequence Wherefore these Points being laid asleep rather than eradicated are sometimes revived and suffered to be started whensoever they are seasonable and judged commodious for the welfare of the State The same year likewise the Pope condemned the five Propositions of Cornelius Jansenius Bishop of Ypres concerning Grace and Free-Will and confirmed the Edict which Innocent X. had made against them Notwithstanding which so little regard was had thereunto that those Opinions are still maintained and defended both by words and Writings But now to proceed to his Acts and publick Works That Alexander VII might not appear less splendid in his publick Monuments than other Popes he repaired many Ruins enlarged and adorned many Streets much to the Ornament of the City and convenience of the Inhabitants The Pantheon which was a famous Temple of Old Rome built by M. Agrippa and afterwards by Boniface IV. dedicated to the Blessed Virgin he repaired and altered with much advantage for whereas formerly they descended unto it by steps he filled the low places with rubbish so that an entrance was made thereunto upon a level and having raised the Pillars which were almost buried in the Earth he therewith erected a stately Portico making it a magnificent structure which before was filled up with dirt and rubbish cast thereunto by the neighbouring Market The Forum or Market-place where the Columna Antoniana stands he cleansed and removed all rubbish from it and so beautified it on all sides that it is now a pleasant and convenient part of the City The Archigymnasium Romanum which was begun by Leo X. he finished and adorned with a sumptuous Library the Chamber for which he erected at his own charge and supplied it with excellent Books for the common use of learned Men. He also designed to build a Colledg wherein to entertain the most learned and famous Men of the Age invited thereunto from all parts of the World So that where any one was esteemed excellent and famous in any Science and especially if he were learned and an acute Disputant in Divinity he might be here entertained with a convenient subsistence to support which and make a Revenue for this Colledg he designed the desolation of some Monasteries which having formerly been ordained with holy Discipline and to a good end were now fallen from their original and primary Institution but whilest he was contemplating and contriving this design he became infirm and afflicted with a Chronical Distemper which abated the heat of his proceedings which afterwards ended and were wholly laid aside by his death He erected a noble and magnificent Hall adjoyning to the Vatican which he called an Archivium or a place to lodge all Papers and Writings relating to the Apostolical Sea that is all Papers rendering an account of the Negotiations of Nuntios in the Courts of forein Princes Likewise the Letters written to Popes from the Governours and Ministers of Provinces belonging to the Church such Letters also as had been written concerning the Rights and Priviledges of the Papal Chair for which there having formerly been no certain place allotted wherein to conserve them they were dispersed and scattered in divers places and many of them in the hands of such whose Uncles or Relations had been Popes The Vatican Library he encreased with an addition of all the Books of the Dukes of Vrbin both Manuscripts and Books printed And lest whilest he was intent to the adornment of Rome he should seem forgetful of his own City he beautified the Cathedral Church of Siena which by demolishing the Houses which stood near it he made a large and open Area to it removing all impediments which obscured or obstructed the Prospect The barbarous Latin which is written about the outside of this Church is very observable the words are these Omnis centenus Romae semper est Jubilenus Crimina laxantur cui paenitet ista donantur Et confirmavit Bonifacius roboravit Whilest Alexander was employed in these and other greater Works he was esteemed to have neglected those assistances which former Popes have usually given and contributed for support of those Princes which have been borderers and in War with the Turk who is the grand Enemy of Christendom Wherefore that he might give some instances to the contrary in the year 1666. he equipped his Fleet of Gallies under command of Bichi and having joined them with the Gallies of Malta which by their Institution are obliged to serve under the Standard of the Church they entered the Archipelago and committed some spoils on the Maritime Towns or places under Dominion of the Turk in which having passed that Summer without any action very memorable they returned towards the end of the year to their Winter quarters and this year the Pope recruited the Regiment which he maintained in Dalmatia with two hundred Soldiers During the twelve years of this Pope's Reign he created thirty eight Cardinals of which eight were made in the last year of his life namely Roberti his Nuntio in France Visconti his Nuntio in Spain Julio Spinola his Nuntio to the Emperour Caracciolo Auditor of the Camera likewise John Dolfino Patriarch of Aquileia was made Cardinal at the instance of the Venetians Ghidobald de Thun Arch-bishop of Saltzburg at the desire of the Emperour the Duke of Vendosme in compliance with France and the Duke of Montalto to please Spain And farther to exalt and dignifie the degree of Cardinals he appointed a Congregation of the Sacred Colledg to consider and direct some Formulary or Rules which might serve to augment the Prerogatives of Cardinals in opposition to the pretences of the Roman Barons one amongst which was that the little Bell which was carried and sounded before the Cardinals should be no more in use for that
by the Venetian Ambassadour the Pope as is reported was so affected therewith that grief taking a deep impression in his heart he suddenly fell into a species of Apoplexy from which first Fit though he at present revived yet melancholy suppressed his spirits in such manner that in the space of one month following he on the ninth of December 1669. expired his last breath having lived seventy one years or thereabouts and governed the Pontificate two years five months and eighteen days He was universally lamented being a Man of a publick Spirit and great generosity so that his Family was rather impoverished than enriched by his advancement to the Papal Authority He was a Person not ambitious or desirous of the vain glory of this World of which that he might give a testimony at his death he forbad his Relations to raise any magnificent Monument in recommendation of him to posterity leaving behind him some few words for a short Epitaph to be inscribed on the Marble which was to cover him which were scarce sufficient to denote the Character by which he was to be known and recommended to Posterity to supply which his Successour Clement X. at the desire of the Publick and in gratitude to the memory of his deceased Friend and Benefactor inscribed on the pedestal of a Pillar which Clement IX at the foot of the Bridg Aelius had repaired at his own charge a brief Narrative of his life and having likewise erected a stately Monument with his Statue thereupon in the Church of S. Peter he adorned it with this Inscription Clementis IX Aeternae memoriae Pontificis Magni Cineres Ne absque ullo Sepulchri Honore Sicut Ipse jusserat Humi laterent Clemens X. Pont. Max. Benefactori Suo Et ob Spectatum Fidei Zelum Ob Egregiam Erga Omnes Beneficentiam Et Charitatem De Re Christiana Optime Merito Grati Animi Monumentum Posuit Anno Domini MDCLXXI This Pope being dead was generally lamented by all People of what Degree or Nation or Quality soever for he was of a most gentle and easie temper delightful and pleasant in his Conversation and studied sincerely the welfare of the Church without much regard to the advancement of his Family in his Diet he was very abstemious and lived much after the fashion of the Primitive Christians He was ever zealous of a good correspondence with Kings and Princes subjected to the Papal Sea and always endeavoured to reconcile them one to the other as appears by his endeavours at Aix la Chapelle where a Peace was concluded between the two Crowns of Spain and France And when the difference arose between the Queen Regent and Don John of Austria he interposed in such manner by his Nuntio Cardinal Borromeo that with much success he reconciled matters and diverted a storm which might have engaged Spain in ruinous troubles Though this Pope from the humility of his Spirit was not very forward to raise Columns of his own praise or engraven Inscriptions like other Popes on every fair Marble that was erected in the most publick and conspicuous places of the City yet the People of Rome did voluntarily and of their own accord supply several Euloges to the honour of his memory of which we shall add this one which is worthy to be rehearsed for being engraven in the Area of the Capitol on the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus being a comparison of this Pope with that Emperour in these words Triumphale Septimii Severi Caesaris Nomen ne quaeras Lector Ad Orientem Clementis IX P.O.M. Majestatem obscuratur Quid prodeat Severus Vbi Clemens elucet Legationem ille Gallicam suâ ferociâ funestavit Hispanicam iste munificentiâ beavit suâ sibi purpuram ille cruore tinxit Hic sudore manu ille hic mente firmavit Imperium bellorum ille flammas accendit hic conatur extinguere Tributa ille auxit hic levavit uterque rei frumentariae Amplificandae studiosus sed ille Ambitionis Ingenio hic Genio Charitatis Supra Caesarem in cunctis Pontifex Spectacula ille Pop. Rom. dedit hic unum se Gentibus Omnibus adorandum Spectaculum fecit CLEMENT X. CLEMENT the Ninth dying as we have said on the ninth of December 1669. his Funeral Obsequies were celebrated with the usual Rites and Ceremonies practised in honour to deceased Popes After which the Cardinals entered the Conclave to make election of an other Successour to S. Peter but such were the difficulties which arose thereupon by reason of the many Candidates which appeared to the number of no lesâ— than twenty two all which both for years gravity wisdom and Auâ—hority seemed worthy of the Papal Dignity that until the end of four months and twenty days the different Interests could not agree and be reconciled and at length concurred in the Election rather out of weariness than satisfafaction in their Choice Cardinal Chigi was then at Florence when he received the first news of the death of Clement IX where entering into a private Cabal with the Great Duke and Cardinal Medici and with some other Associates of the Spanish Interest they pitched upon one of these four namely Elci Celsi Bonvisi and Vidoni but with especial regard to the exclusion of Barberino but as this was an account made up without their Hoast so it had a success accordingly and they forced to an other reckoning Chigi to strengthen his Party made his addresses to the French pretending great services for that Crown and in the mean time despised the interest of the Flying Squadron but the Duke of Scion being then arrived from France in quality of Ambassadour made scorn of the applications of Chigi so soon as he discovered his practices with the Spaniards and indeed his double dealing abated much of his reputation in the Conclave where he might have formed a strong Party had not his ambition to become sole Arbitrator weakened his Interest and brought all his words and actions under a suspition This Opinion of Chigi gave a beginning to a Combination between Barberino Rospigliosi and the Flying Squadron which strong Parties standing in opposition each to other fifty days were passed without any effect and so resolved were Chigi and Barberino that one said He would eat Cherries and the other Figs in the Conclave with which sayings all Parties growing warm Cardinal Este declared openly with exclusion against Chigi Retz against Medici and the French King against Elci with which Medici growing angry replied that if France excluded Elci that Spain should do the like by Vidoni Thus Factions daily increasing and new difficulties arising Chigi and Medici the two great sticklers in the Conclave grew more calm and less concerned for those whom they had once designed to promote and to make appear how disinterested they were put every Person that was qualified into some hopes of being chosen Amongst the rest they complemented Câ—rpegna one of the Spanish Faction and a favourite of the Great Duke