seeing what would come of it made a journey from Narbonne to Perugia and exhorted the Cardinals several times to agree and perfect their Election And would have continu'd his importunity had he not been severely rebuked by Benedict Cajetan of Anagni who told him that he was too urgent and thereby seemed to lay a kind of restraint upon the Cardinals whose Votes ought to be free CAELESTIN V. CAELESTIN the fifth formerly called Petrus Moroneus by profession an Anchorite of Sergna who dwelt in an Abby two miles from Sulmona was made Pope at the request of King Charles and Cardinal Latinus A thing which all people wondred at so much the more because his holy retirement had voluntarily removed him out of the prospect of any such Grandeur After his Creation he went to Aquila and thither he summon'd all the Cardinals to him from Perugia But they were very importunate with him both by Letters and Messengers that he would come to Perugia which was a City more agreeable to the Dignity of a Pope Notwithstanding Caelestin's Will was at last obey'd who would needs have it so because he understood that King Charles was of the same mind Thereupon they went all thither and paid such homage to Caelestin as became a Pope Now Ptolomy says there were two hundred thousand men at his Coronation and that he himself was there too I suppose the people were taken with the newness of the thing and the holiness of the Person that a man that was an Eremite should come to such Honour as if he had been preferr'd by Heaven it self after so long a Contest between the Electors As soon as he enter'd upon the Popedom he made twelve Cardinals men of the greatest integrity of whom two were Eremites But because he did not alter his former way of living and take upon him the Grandeur of a Pope he was so kind and accessible to all that made suit to him as that he granted the same things to several persons which brought not onely a Contempt upon his Dignity but was a lessening to the Majesty of a Pope For indeed he was unfit for publick business by reason of the obscure life which he had led in the Wilderness Hereupon they talk'd of deposing him especially after the death of Latinus the Cardinal a good man by whose assistance Caelestin had hitherto made shift to support himself under so vast a burthen But some of the Cardinals being very instant especially Benedict Cajetan a cunning man and well skill'd in the Civil and Canon Law who was a great favourite of the Popes that he would remove himself from the Pontificate lest the Church of God should be endanger'd by the unskilfulness of its Governour he began to think of laying down his Papal Office But King Charles was so much concern'd at his levity and superstition that he takes the good man to Naples and endeavours to convert him from such base thoughts whilst the people cry'd out in all places that they would have no other Pope but Caelestin and heartily beseech'd his Holiness that so it might be To whom the Pope made answer That he would do nothing but what God would have him do and what he thought might be for the good of Christendom At that the Cardinals that desired he would leave the Papacy were very urgent with him to do it as soon as he could telling him the danger all Christendom was in by his ignorance and that all the mischiefs that then befell the Church would be put to his Account at Dooms-day The holy simple Man was moved with what they said and told 'em he would do as they 'd have him if it might lawfully be done Whereupon there was an Order made by unanimous consent that the Pope should have liberty to depose himself Which Constitution Boniface the eighth his Successor afterward confirm'd as appears in the sixth Book of the Decretals Then Caelestin return'd to his private life again and gave the Cardinals power to put another Pope in his place in the sixth month of his Pontificate And Benedict Cajetan by that means having most Votes was chosen Pope who seised upon Caelestin by the way as he was going into his Hermitage committing him to the custody of the Governor of a certain Castle called Fumo in Campagna di Roma For which he said his reason was lest the Authors of Sedition should one time or other bring some calamity upon the Church of God under his conduct although he really admired the Sanctity of the Man However this is certain that Boniface was very ungrateful as well as subtil first to chouse a good man out of his Dignity to satisfie his own ambition and then to take him when he would have retired again to his solitude and keep him in Prison till he dy'd for very grief before his time in seventeen months after he first came to the Pontificate There are some that say this Caelestin was so famous for Miracles after his death that there were frequent Discourses in Councils about his Canonization and that many people worship'd him as a Saint and put him in the Catalogue of Confessors His Anniversary is kept every year on the 17th of July which was the Day of his death by an Order of Clement the fifth made at Avignon BONIFACE VIII BONIFACE the eighth born at Anagni in Campagna di Roma formerly called Benedict Cajetan was made Pope at Naples upon Christmas Eve in the year 1294. He was a man of great Learning and Experience as having lived long in Publick and risen to the Popedom by all the degrees of Honour though not without some imputation of Pride and Ambition For whilst he was Cardinal-Priest of S. Martins in the Mount he was so desirous of the Papal Dignity that he omitted no fraudulent or other indirect means that might in his opinion conduce to his obtaining of it Besides he was a man of that arrogance that he contemn'd every body and recalled some Indulgences granted by Nicolas the fourth and Caelestin the fifth He also persecuted the Gibellines extreamly from whence arose that quarrel between the Pope and the Gibellines of Columna who also maintained their party against the Pope at Anagni Thereupon he began to calumniate and traduce them in general but especially two Cardinals Peter and James two famous Men of the same Family that upon the death of several Popes they had wasted the Churches Treasure and spread abroad scandalous Pamphlets against his own Person For after he had done 'em Injury they did indeed write to several Kings Princes and States concerning Boniface's Arrogance and Ambition how he had possessed himself of the Papal Sea against all right and reason after he cheated Caelestin out of it and then put him in Prison For there are some that write how Boniface sent some cunning Rogues privately in the Night-time to speak in a strange Tone through Caelestins Chamber-Wall and tell the poor simple man as it were by a
died and was buried in S. Peter's Church October the 12th He was in the Chair four years two months thirteen days and by his death the See was vacant three days BONIFACE II. BONIFACE the second a Roman Son of Sigismund was also in the time of Justinian A Prince whose vast Parts and Learning qualified him for that great Work which for the publick Good he undertook of collecting and methodizing the scattered Roman Laws and retrenching those which were useless and superfluous Yet herein he made use of the Advice and assistance of John a Patrician Trebonianus Theophilus and Dorotheus men of great Learning and Authority With their help an immense number of near two thousand Volumes of Decrees made from the building of the City to this time confusedly heaped together were digested under their respective Titles into fifty Books which are sometimes called Digests and sometimes Pandects because they contain the whole Civil Law He made also an Epitome of the Laws in four Books which go under the name of Institutes or Justinian's Code Moreover some tell us that Justinian wrote certain Books concerning the Incarnation of our Lord and that at his own charge he built the Temple of S. Sophia than which there is not a more noble and magnificent Pile of Buildings in the World In his Reign 〈◊〉 was made Bishop of Rome though not without some opposition for the Clergy being divided one Party of them chose Dioscorus into the place of Felix deceased The Contention about this matter lasted twenty eight days but the death of Dioscorus put an end to the Controversie Things being quiet Boniface applyed himself to the setling of the Church and decreed that no Bishop should appoint his own successour which was afterwards confirm'd by several following Bishops of Rome He decreed also that upon the decease of any Bishop of Rome another should be chosen to succeed him if it might be within three days to prevent any bandying or dissention which might be occasioned by delay He ordained likewise that the Clergy should be seperated and placed distinct from the Laity at the time of Celebration At the same time many of the Roman Nobility were so wrought upon by the Sanctity of Benedict that they retired to Mount Cassino and became Monks there among whom the more eminent were Maurus and Placidius Other men of Note and esteem were Dionysius the Abbat famous for the extraordinary Skill and Judgment which he shewed in his Paschal Cycle Famundus whose writings against certain Eutychians then springing up were very much commended and Martin who by his Preaching and Writings converted the People of Soissons from the Arian Heresie to the Truth But Boniface having sat in the Pontifical Chair two years two days died and was buried in S. Peter's Church The See was then vacant two months JOHN II. 〈◊〉 the second a Roman Son of Projectus lived in the time of Justinian and soon after his entrance upon the Pontificate condemned Anthemius an Arian Bishop some say that he had been Bishop of Constantinople Justinian to shew his 〈◊〉 to the Roman See sent Hypatius and Demetrius two Bishops to 〈◊〉 both to complement John in his name and to make to S. Peter's Church several rich Presents During this Embassie Mundus Justinian's General took the strong City of Salona and gain'd a Victory over the Goths though not without great loss on the Conquering side For Mundus himself together with his Son a Valiant and brave young Gentleman was slain in that Engagement the news of which misforfortune was extreamly laid to heart by Justinian he having always had a great value for that Leaders Courage and Fidelity Our Bishop John of whom Historians say very little having at one Ordination made 〈◊〉 Presbyters twenty one Bishops died and was buried in S. Peter's Church May 27. He sat in the Chair two years four months and by his death the See was vacant six days AGAPETUS I. AGAPETUS a Roman Son of Gordianus a Presbyter of the Church of S. John and S. Paul being created Bishop by Theodatus who was by him forthwith sent to the Emperour Justinian was highly incens'd against that King for his having first banish'd Amalasuntha the Mother of Athalaric into the Island of the Lake of Bolsena and afterwards caused her to be put to death there For she was a Woman so well acquainted with Greek and Latin Learning that she durst engage in Disputation with any profess'd Scholar Moreover she was so throughly skilled in the Languages of all the barbarous Invadors of the Roman Empire that she could discourse any of them without an Interpreter Her Death Justinian so highly resented that he threatned to make War upon Theodatus for that reason Hereupon Agapetus was sent to him who being receiv'd with great honour and affection and having obtain'd the peace he was sent to sue for he was then practis'd with to confirm the Eutychian Opinions But Justinian finding that the good man utterly detested any such proposal from desiring and 〈◊〉 he fell to Threats and Menaces Upon which Agapetus told him that he should have been glad to be sent to Justinian a Christian Prince but that he found a Diocletian an Enemy and Persecutor of Christians By this boldness of Speech and Gods appointment Justinian was so wrought upon that he embraced the Catholick Faith and having despos'd Anthemius Bishop of Constantinople who patroniz'd the Eutychian Heresie put into his place Menas one of the Orthodox who was consecrated by Agapetus himself But not long after Agapetus died at Constantinople and his body being wrap'd up in Lead was convey'd to Rome and buried in S. Peter's Church He sat in the Chair eleven months twenty one days and by his death the See was vacant one month twenty nine days SYLVERIUS SYLVERIUS a Campanian Son of Bishop Hormisda was chosen Bishop of Rome at the command of Theodatus though till this time the Emperours only not the Kings had interposed their Authority in that matter But the Menaces of Theodatus prevailed who had threatned to put to death every man of the Clergy who would not subscribe his name to the choice of Sylverius For this reason and that he might also revenge the death of Amala suntha Justinian sends Belisarius a Patrician with an Army into Italy In his passage thither he first put in at Sicily and brought that Island to the Emperours devotion In the mean time Theodatus dying and the Goths having chosen themselves a King against the will of Justinian Belisarius quits Sicily that he might deliver Italy from the Tyranny of the Goths Coming into Campania and the City of Naples refusing to obey the Emperours Summons he took it by Storm and plundered it putting to the Sword all the Goths that were in Garrison there and a great part of the Citizens carrying away their Children and what other spoil they could lay their hands on The Soldiers pillaged the very Churches violated the chastity of Cloystered Virgins
of his Pontificate was short but the Reputation he gain'd therein so great that one would think he had lived longer than he did by the celebrated Name which he had deservedly acquired in so little time BENEDICT II. BENEDICT the second a Roman his Father's Name John being from his Youth brought up to the Clergy was so intent upon the study of Holy Writ that he became an extraordinary Proficient in Divinity He was likewise a person of great Compassion Charity and good Will towards all espcially the Poor Virtues by which he so won the Hearts of men that he was pitch'd upon as the only person who by general consent was fit to succeed in the Place of Leo deceased The Emperour Constantine out of the Veneration he had for this mans Sanctity sent him a Decree in which it was established that for the time to come He whom the Clergy and People of Rome should chuse Pope should be forthwith acknowledged Christ's true Vicar without expecting the Authority of the Emperour or his Exarchs according to former usage when the confirmation of the Emperour or his Vicegerent in Italy was necessary to the creation of a Pope Pertheris now King of the Lombards in imitation of the Religion and Charity of Benedict built a Monastery in honour to S. Agatha at Pavia and his Wife Rhodelinda prompted by the Example of her Husband built the Church of S. Mary ad Perticas without the Walls of Pavia This they did out of a Principle of Emulation understanding that Pope Benedict had with vast expence repaired beautified and enriched the Churches of S. Peter at Rome that of S. Laurence in Lucina that of S. Valentine in the Via Flaminia and that of S. Mary ad Martyres Pertheris had designed greater things of this Nature but he was diverted by Alalchis Duke of Trent who being pust'd up by a great Victory which he had gain'd over the Bavarians turns his Arms against his King But Pertheris raising an Army at the first Engagement routs him besieges Trent whither he had fled for Refuge and though Alalchis had first made his escape thence by night takes the City However Pertheris was a Prince of so great Clemency as to receive him again into favour upon his submission and to make him Duke of Brescia Some tell us that in Benedict's time an extraordinary Star was seen near the Vergiliae several Nights together in a clear Sky between Christmas and Epiphany I deny not but that a Comet then appeared and portended something but it 's Neighbourhood to this Constellation is incoherent unless we make that prodigious too For the Vergiliae rise at the Vernal Equinox when the Sun enters the Sign Aries about the twenty fourth of March and begin to set at the Autumnal Equinox But that out of Vesuvius a Mountain in Campania so great a 〈◊〉 did at this time burst forth that it burnt up all the places round about it may seem less wonderful considering that Pliny the Natural Historian leaving the Ships which he commanded under Trajan and approaching too near it out of curiosity to find out the causes of it's burning lost his life by that means However 't is certain that not long after these things there followed Slaughters Rapines Fires the Death of great Men and particularly of Pope Benedict who as he was universally beloved in his life-time so after his Death he was famous for his Piety and the good Offices he had done to mankind He was in the Chair only ten months twelve days and was buried in S Peter's May the 15th By his Death the See was vacant two months fifteen days JOHN V. JOHN the fifth by Nation a Syrian born at Antioch his Father's Name Cyriacus was created Pope about the time when the Emperour Constantine died in the seventeenth year of his Reign and left the Empire to his Son Justinian the second The Saracens now invaded Lybia and Africa and possess'd themselves easily of all the places that lay towards the Sea But Justinian having in some measure setled the affairs of his Empire and raised a competent Army advancing against these Saracens struck such a terrour into Abimelech their Chief that without engaging he sued for a Peace and was glad to restore all his Acquests in Africa And a Peace it is said by some was granted them for ten years but upon Condition that they should pay a thousand pieces of Gold and a Slave of their own Nation on Horseback every day to the Emperour At this time John a person of great Piety and Goodness being by general suffrage chosen Pope in the Constantinian Church was consecrated in the same manner with Leo the second by the three Bishops of Ostia Porto and Veletri a Precedent which so obtained that it was afterwards constantly practised His Pontificate was rendred remarkable by two extraordinary persons Felix the Uncle of Flavianus and John Bishop of Bergamo men of such eminent Learning and Sanctity that they received from Princes themselves marks of the highest respect and Veneration Pope John who both before and during his Pontificate was a sickly man having written a Book concerning the Dignity of the Pall died in the first year after his coming to the Chair and was buried in S. Peter's August the 2d By his Death the See was vacant two months nineteen days CONON I. CONON by birth a Thracian educated in Sicily and thence entring into Orders at Rome was of a Presbyter made Pope For there happening a Controversie about the Election the Citizens being for Peter an Arch-bishop and the Soldiers for one Theodorus a Priest at length after a long Contention both Parties agreed in the Choice of Conon And indeed he did every way deserve so great a Dignity being a man of great Learning and very good Life pious and devout of a comely Person and most Venerable or as some called it Angelical Aspect of wonderful Simplicity and Sincerity Modesty and Justice Resolution and Prudence For these excellent Endowments of his all persons concern'd with mighty acclamations of Applause immediately confirm'd his Election as did also Theodorus Exarch of Ravenna who being deceased was not long after succeeded in the Exarchate by John Platina whom I believe to have given the name to the place of my Nativity called Platina within the Territory of Cremona For there being frequent Wars between the Exarchs and the Kings of Lombardy it is not improbable considering that that place was scituated almost in the mid-way between Ravenna and Pavia one of which was the Seat of the Lombard Kings the other of the Exarchs there might at some time be a Battel fought or a Camp pitched there from whence we know that names are oftentimes given to places as particularly in the same Countrey there is Vitelliana a Town so called from Vitellius his encamping there and Bebrignano not far from Bebriacum famous for the defeat which Otho there received I return to Conon who presently after his entrance upon
and defeats them Bertarius saved himself by flight but Theodoric retreating by agreement upon a Truce constitutes the victorious Pipin Mayre of the Palace and principal Administratour of his Kingdom After this Pipin returned to Austrasia upon intelligence that the Germans and Sueves infested his People and having quell'd them he sets forward towards France again upon the News that Theodoric being dead the Kingdom had fallen to his Brother Childepert Arriving there and being very kindly received by the King after he had put his son into the place of Mayre of the Palace he again returns enraged at the Sueves and Germans who were now the second time in Arms. At this time Sergius having 〈◊〉 the banishment of Justinian enjoyed Peace and Tranquility repaired the Church of S. Peter and restored to it its antient beauty The Front of it he adorn'd with Mosaick work made the Candlesticks and other Ornaments of it of Gold and Silver found a part of our Saviours Cross in a little brass Coffer and because the body of S. Leo had hitherto lain less regarded than his merits required he reposited it in a more honourable and celebrated place The Statues of the Apostles defaced with Age he renew'd and either repaired or made wholly new the Ornaments of many Churches which it would be tedious to enumerate Moreover he ordained that at the breaking of the body of our Lord should be sung O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us and that on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin and of S. Simon there should be yearly a Procession with Litanies through the City setting out at S. Hadrian He made Damianus Arch-Bishop of Ravenna and Berslauardus Arch-Bishop of Britain By his Learning and Authority he brought over to the Truth the Church of Aquileia which before consented not wholly to the fifth Synod Some tell us that at this time Lambertus a Person of great Sanctity suffered Martyrdom at Liege because he was so hardy as to reprove Pipin for slighting his Wive's Bed and keeping Alpais a Whore The author of his Death is said to have been her own Brother who afterwards died of the lousy Disease 'T is written also that by the exemplary Sanctity of Sergius the Saxons were now first wrought upon to embrace Christianity The good man having by these means gained a great reputation and having been in the Chair thirteen years eight months twenty three days he died and was with the lamentation of all men who wept as at the loss of a common Father with great Solemnity buried in the Church of S. Peter September the 8th The See was then vacant one month twenty days JOHN VI. JOHN the sixth a Grecian was elected Pope at the time when Theophylact the Exarch in his passage to Italy arrived first at Sicily Which being known to the Italian Soldiers who having of late times usually sided more with the Popes than the Emperours were afraid that his coming might betoken some ill they resolved to kill him at his entrance into Rome But by the Authority of Pope John who made himself Umpire between them Theophylact was protected and all things being made up and accommodated he goes for Ravenna In the mean time Gisulphus Duke of Beneventum taking heart upon this disagreement of the Exarch and Soldiers invades Terra di Lavoro possesses himself of Sora and Arpino burns Villages makes the Villagers his Prisoners and drives away their Cattel The Pope being deeply sensible of this Calamity sends his Ambassadours to Gisulphus to admonish him to quit those places which he had no Right to and to return into Abruzzo which if he refus'd to do he should soon feel the vengeance of Almighty God upon him Gisulphus being terrified hereby restores the Towns he had taken and returns to Beneventum Of those which were carried away Captive Pope John redeemed all he could sind out as 〈◊〉 as the Treasure of the Church would reach for their ransom At this time 〈◊〉 who as we have said had been banish'd by Leontius to the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 making his escape thence comes to Cacanus King of the Avares who at first treated him with the greatest respect and kindness and promised him his Daughter in marriage but afterwards being corrupted with bribes by Tiberius he design'd to betray his Guest and Son-in-law into his hands Justinian having notice hereof flees to Trebellius Prince of the Bulgarians by whose aid he was in a little time after restored to the Empire While 〈◊〉 things were transacted in Europe the 〈◊〉 being possessed of Libya and Africa set sail from Septa and passing over into Spain made themselves Masters of it all except that part inhabited by the Asturians and Biscains who as they had been the last People of Spain who were subdued to the Roman Empire and the last who revolted from it and the only People who shook off the Yoke of the Visigoths so now having received the Christian Faith they were the men who continued stedfastly with the greatest resolution to defend themselves by Arms against the perfidious Saracens So then Africa which being recovered by Belisarius General to Justinian the first had been subject to the Roman Empire an hundred and seventy years and also Granada in Hispania 〈◊〉 being at this time seiz'd by the Saracens have been obedient to their Laws and Customs now this seven hundred and forty years to the great reproach of Christianity the Spaniards who are wont to boast of their Wit and Valour not being able to drive them out of Europe Some tell us that Bede who lived in these times by Letters written to several Christian Princes did very much bewail this Calamity that thereby he might excite them to enter into a War against these Enemies of God and Men. This 〈◊〉 was not only extraordinarily well skill'd in the Greek and Latin Tongues but also for his eminent Piety and Modesty gain'd the surname of 〈◊〉 He wrote many things upon the Acts of the Apostles and upon S. Luke he published a Book of Chronology and several Homilies which are much used by the Gallican 〈◊〉 Moreover of Strabo and Haymo two very learned men said to be Bede's Brethren one composed divers elegant Homilies and the other commented upon Genesis As for Pope John having repaired the Church of S. Andrew in the Vatican and the roof of that of S. Mark and adorn'd with Pillars on each hand the Altar of S. Peter's in the third year and third month of his Pontificate he died as some think a Martyr but by whom he suffered Martyrdom does not sufficiently appear 'T is said he was buried in the Coemetery of S. Sebastian in the Via Appia By his Death the See was vacant one month nineteen days JOHN VII JOHN the seventh a Grecian Son of Plato enter'd upon the Pontificate at the time when Justinian being return'd to 〈◊〉 caused Tiberius and Leontius by whom he had been deposed to be
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
especially Peter and John were look'd upon as utterly illiterate men Their manner of living was measur'd by the common Good none of them challenged any propriety in any thing and whatsoever Religious Oblation was laid at their feet they either divided it between themselves for the supply of the necessities of Nature or else distributed it to the Poor These Disciples had each of them his Province assigned to him to St. Thomas was allotted Parthia to St. Matthew Aethiopia to St. Bartholomew India on this side Ganges to St. Andrew Scythia and Asia to St. John who after a long series of toyl and care died during his abode at Ephesus But to St. Peter the chief of the Apostles were assigned Pontus Galatia Bithynia and Cappadocia who being by birth a Galilean of the City of Bethsaida the son of John and Brother of Andrew the Apostle sate first in the Episcopal See of Antioch for seven years in the days of Tiberius This Emperour was Son-in-law and Heir to Augustus and for the space of twenty three years his administration of the Government had so much of change and variety in it that we cannot reckon him altogether a bad or absolutely a good Prince He was a Man of great Learnning and weighty Eloquence his Wars he managed not in Person but by his Lieutenants and shew'd a great deal of Prudence in suppressing any sudden commotions Having by Arts of flattery enticed sevcral Princes to his Court he never suffered them to return home again as particularly among others Archelaus of Cappadocia whose Kingdom he made a Province of the Empire Many of the Senators were banish'd and some of them slain by him C. Asinius Gallus the Pleader son of Asinius Pollio was by his Order put to death with the most exquisite torments and Vocienus Montanus Narbonensis one of the same profession died in the Baleares whither Tiberius had confined him Moreover Historians tell us that that his Brother Drusus was poisoned at his command And yet upon occasion he exercised so much lenity that when certain Publicans and Governours of Provinces moved him to raise the publick taxes he gave them this Answer That a good Shepherd does indeed shear but not flay his sheep Tiberius dying C. Coesar who with a jocular reflection upon his education in the Camp had the surname of Caligula succeeded him in the Empire he was the son of Drusus son-in-law to Augustus and Nephew to Tiberius The greatest Villain in the World and one who never did any worthy Action either at home or abroad His Avarice put him upon all manner of Oppression his Lust was such that he did not forbear to violate the Chastity of his own Sisters and his cruelty was so great that he is reported oftentimes to have cryed out Oh! That all the people of Rome had but one Neck At his Command all who were under proscription were put to Death for having recalled a certain person from banishment and enquiring of him what the Exiles did chiefly wish for the man imprudently answering that they desired nothing more than the Death of the Emperour he thereupon gave order that every man of them should be executed He would often complain of the condition of his times that they were not rendred remarkable by any publick Calamities as those of Tiberius had been in whose Reign no less than 20000 men had been slain by the fall of a Theatre at Tarracina He express'd so much envy at the renown of Virgil and Livy that he was very near taking away their Writings and Images out of all the Libraries the former of which he would censure as a man of no Wit and little Learning the latter as a verbose and negligent Historian and it was his common by-word concerning Seneca That his Writings were like a rope of Sand. Agrippa the son of King Herod who had been cast into prison by Tiberius for accusing Herod was by him set at liberty and made King of Judoea while Herod himself was confin'd to perpetual banishment at Lyons He caused himself to be translated into the number of the Gods and ordered the setting up Images in the Temple of Jerusalem At last he was assaulted and slain by some of his own Officers in the third year and tenth month of his Empire Among his Writings were found two Rolls or Lists one of which had a Dagger the other a Sword stamp'd upon it for a Seal they both contain'd the Names and Characters of certain principal men both of the Senatorian and Equestrian Order whom he had design'd to slaughter There was found likewise a large Chest fill'd with several sorts of Poisons which being at the Command of Claudius Coesar not long after thrown into the Sea 't is reported that the Waters were so infected thereby that there died abundance of Fish which the Tide cast up in vast numbers upon the neighbouring shores I thought good to give this account of these Monsters of men that thereby it might the better appear that God could then have scarce forborn destroying the whole World unless he had sent his Son and his Apostles by whose bloud manking though equal to Lycaon in impiety was yet redeem'd from destruction In their times lived that St. Peter whom our Saviour upon his ackowledgment of him to be the Christ bespake in these words Blessed art thou Simon Bar Jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven and Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give unto thee the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Power of binding and loosing This Apostle being a Person of most unwearied industry when he had sufficiently setled the Churches of Asia and confuted the Opinion of those who maintained the necessity of Circumcision came into Italy in the second year of Claudius This Claudius who was Uncle to Caligula and had been all along very contumeliously treated and bussoon'd by his Nephew being now Emperor making an Expedition into Britain had the Island surrendred up to him an Enterprise which none before Julius Coesar nor any after Claudius durst undertake he also added the Isles of Orkney to the Roman Empire He banish'd out of the City of Rome the seditious Jews and suppress'd the tumults in Judoea which had been rais'd by certain false Prophets And while Cumanus was appointed by him Procurator of Judoea there were crush'd to Death in the Porches of the Temple of Jerusalem during the days of Unlcavened bread to the number of thirty thousand Jews At the same time also there was a great dearth and scarcity of provision throughout the whole World a Calamity which had been foretold by â—â—â—gabus the Prophet Being secure of any hostilities from abroad he finish'd the Aquaeduct that had been begun by Caligula whose ruines are yet to be seen in the Lateran He attempted also to empty the Lake Fucinus being prompted thereto by the hope of getting
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.
Convert from the Cerinthian Heresie should at his reception into the Church be baptized At the request of Praxedes a devout Woman he dedicated a Church at the Baths of Novatus to her Sister S. Pudentiana to which himself made several donations oftentimes celebrated Mass in it and built a Font which he blessed and consecrated and at which he baptized a great number of Proselytes He also appointed a punishment upon those who were negligent in handling the body and blood of Christ. If through the Priests carelesness any of the Cup had fallen upon the ground he was to undergo a Penance of forty days if it fell upon the Altar of three days if upon the Altar-cloth of four days it upon any other Cloth of nine days Whithersoever it fell he was to lick it up if he could if not the board or stone to be wash'd or scraped and what of it could be recovered thereby either burnt or laid up in the Sacrary In his time Apollinaris Bishop of Hierapolis in Asia was much esteem'd who wrote an excellent Apology for Christianity and presented it to Antoninus the second He wrote also against the Montanists who with their two fanatick Prophetesses Priscillia and Maximilla pretended that the descent of the Holy Ghost was not upon the Apostles but themselves an opinion which they had learn'd from their Leader Montanus At this time also the learned Tatianus was in good reputation so long as he swerved not from the Doctrine of his Master Justin Martyr but afterwards being puff'd up with a great conceit of himself he became the Author of a new Heresie which being propagated by one Severus the followers of it were from him called Severians They drank no Wine ate no Flesh rejected the Old Testament and believed not the Resurrection Moreover Philip Bishop of Crete now published an excellent book against Marcion and his followers whose Errours were the same with those of Cerdo Musanus also wrote a book against the Hereticks called Encratitoe or the Abstemious who agreed in opinion with the Severians looking upon all carnal copulation as filthy and unclean and condemning those Meats which God hath given for the use of mankind But to return to Pius having at five Decembrian Ordinations made nineteen Presbyters twenty one Deacons ten Bishops he died and was buried in the Vatican near S. Peter July 11. He was in the Chair eleven years four months three days and by his death the See was vacant thirteen days S. ANICETUS ANICETUS a Syrian the son of one John de Vicomurco lived in the time of Antoninus Verus concerning whom we have spoken in the Life of Pius Which Antoninus though he were a great Phisopher yet neglected not the pursuit of Military glory For together with his Son Commodus Antoninus he did with great courage and success gain a Victory and a Triumph over the Germans Marcomanni Quadi and Sarmatoe At his first enterprizing this War his Exchequer being so low that he had not money to pay his Soldiers he expos'd to publick sale in the Forum Trajani all the furniture of his Palace and all the Jewels of his Empress But afterwards returning home victoriously to those who were willing to restore the Goods they had bought he refunded what they paid for them but used no force against those who refus'd to relinquish their bargains Upon this Victory he was very liberal to all who had done any good service to the publick to some Provinces he remitted their accustomed Tribute he caused to be publickly burnt in the Forum the Writings by which any man was made a Debtor to the Exchequer and by new Constitutions moderated the severity of the old Laws By this means he became so much the darling of the People that any man had a particular brand of infamy set upon him who had not Antoninus his Effigies in his House Anicetus that the reputation of the Church might not suffer by the extravagancy of a few men ordained that no Clergyman should upon any pretence wear long hair and that no Bishop should be consecrated by fewer than three of the same Order a Constitution which was afterwards confirmed by the Council of Nice and that at the Consecration of a Metropolitan all the Bishops of the Province should be present Moreover he ordained as Ptolomy tells us that no Bishop should implead his Metropolitan but before the Primate or the See Apostolick this being also a Constitution which was afterwards confirm'd by the Council of Nice and several succeeding Bishops of Rome and that all Arch-bishops should not be called Primates but only those of them who have a particular title to that denomination the Primates having also the 〈…〉 of Patriarchs whereas the others are simply Arch-bishops or Metropolitans In his time Egestippus was a great propugner of the Christian 〈…〉 who as an imitator of their manner of speaking of whose lives he had been a diligent observer in a very plain unaffected style wrote a History of Ecclesiastical affairs from the Passion of our Lord to the Age in which he lived He says of himself that he came to Rome in the time of Anicetus whom he calls the tenth Bishop from St. Peter and that he staid there to the time of Ele 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who had been Deacon to Anicetus He inveighed much against Idolators for building sumptuous Monuments and Temples to the Dead as particularly Adrian the Emperour who in honour to his darling Antinous had instituted solemn Games and Prizes at the City which he built and called by his name Antinoe and also erected a Temple and appointed priests for his Worship Some say that Dionysius lived in the Pontificat of Anicetus but Writers are in this place very confused in their Chronology some placing Pius first others Anicetus and so they are in their 〈…〉 too However in an History of things so remote and of which through the negligence of the Ancients we have so slender an account it will be better to say something of the matters themselves though it be some time before or after they were transacted than altogether to pass them by in silence As for Anicetus having at five Decembrian Ordinations made nineteen Presbyters four Deacons nine Bishops he received a Crown of Martyrdom and was buried in the Sepulchre of 〈◊〉 in the Via Appia April the seventeenth He was in the Chair eleven years four months and three days and by his Death the See was vacant seventeen days S. SOTER SOTER a Campanian of Fundi Son of Concordius lived in the time of L. Antoninus Commodus This Commodus was as Lampridius plays upon his name very 〈◊〉 and hurtful to all his Subjects being in nothing like his Father save that he also thanks to the Christian Soldiers for it fought successfully against the Germans In that War when the Army of Commodus was in great straits for want of Water 't is said that at the Prayers of the Christian Legion God supplied and refreshed
his constancy and Resolution was left with his Mother a Widow and six Brethren in a very low condition all his Fathers Estate being confiscated because they owned Christ to be the true God Hereupon he was forced to teach a Grammar-School to get a livelihood for himself and his Relations and among others he had for his Scholar Plutarchus who afterwards became a Martyr Not long after applying himself wholly to Religion he undertook the Office of a Catechist or Preacher He was a person of very great parts and skil'd in all Languages and kinds of Learning He was wonderfully temperate and abstemious as to meat and drink and all other things imitating the poverty of Christ and for many years walking bare-foot and moreover in his younger days he made himself an Example of that passage in the Gospel there be Eunuchs which have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake Many were so encouraged in Religion by his Pattern that they did with great 〈◊〉 lay down their lives for Christianity and particularly a Woman named 〈◊〉 who was put to death by pouring scalding Pitch upon her Head As for Zephyrinus having at four Decembrian Ordinations made thirteen Presbyters seven Deacons thirteen Bishops he died in the time of Severus and was buried in the Via Appia not 〈◊〉 from the Sepulchre of Calistus August the 26th He was in the Chair eight years seven months ten days and the See was vacant six days S. CALISTUS I. CALISTUS an Italian of 〈◊〉 Son of Domitius lived in the time of Severus an Emperour whose fortune changed with his mind For no sooner did he raise the fifth Persecution against the Christians but he was presently exposed to a multitude of dangers and engaged in several Wars on the one side by Piscennius Niger who was the cause of great Commotions in Syria on the other by Clodius Albinus whom yet he vanquish'd with great slaughter in Gaul But passing over from thence into Britain being deserted of his Friends and accompanied only with calamities he died at 〈◊〉 in the fifth year of his Empire leaving behind him two Sons Bassianus and Geta the latter of which was look'd upon and put to death as a publick Enemy both because of his abominably dissolute 〈◊〉 but especially because he had with his own hand slain Papinian the great Asylum of the Civil Law But Bassianus receiving from the 〈◊〉 the name of Antoninus became possess'd of the Empire and took the 〈◊〉 of Caracalla from a kind of long Vests which he bestow'd by way of largess among the 〈◊〉 He was of a nature more cruel than his Father and so impotently vicious thatthere was no kind of Villany which he was not guilty of He is said to have slain his Brother Geta and to have married his own Step-mother He left behind him nothing great and magnificent to perpetuate his memory save only the Antoninian Baths which bore his name as being begun by him but were indeed finish'd by the Emperour Alexander Severus and the Causey he made in the Via Nova He made it Capital for any to wear Amulets about their necks for the cure of Quartan or Tertian Agues But at length undertaking a War against the Parthians he was surprized by his Enemies between Edessa and Charroe and stab'd in the seventh year of his Reign as he was alighting off his Horse to ease Nature But during the most confused state of things and 〈◊〉 the Government of the most dissolute Emperours Calistus was not at all diverted from his purpose of Establishing a solemn Fast three times in the year to be observed on the Sabbath or Saturday particularly to implore a blessing upon the fruits of the Earth Corn Wine and Oyl viz. in the fourth month the seventh and the tenth beginning the year according to the custom of the Jews Though afterwards he changed his opinion and appointed it at the four seasons of the year viz. Spring Summer Autumn and Winter at which times in succeeding Ages holy Orders were 〈◊〉 which before was used to be only in the month of December He also ordained that Accusations against Clergymen should not be admitted of in any Court if the informers were either infamous or liable to just suspicion or avowed Enemies of the accused Moreover he adjudged those to be Hereticks who maintained that Priests after they 〈◊〉 once convicted of any notorious Crime were not to be restored to their former Dignity though they shewed never so great signs of their repentance Damasus tells us that he built Saint Maries Church in Trastevere but I cannot imagine that of his founding to be the magnificent vast one which continues there at this time since in those days of frequent Persecution all things were carried secretly and the Christians had only small Chappels and those private and hidden and for the most part under-ground He likewise built a Burial-place 〈◊〉 by his own name in the Via Appia at the very place where the ashes of a multitude of Martyrs had been formerly reposited so that 〈◊〉 Reader must not think it strange that we have already said of several that they were 〈◊〉 in the Coemetery of 〈◊〉 though it had not that name till now I 〈◊〉 self with some of my Friends have religiously went to view it 〈◊〉 the ashes and bones of the Martyrs are 〈◊〉 to be seen and 〈◊〉 and Chappels in which the Christians privately communicated when through the Edicts of some Emperours they could not do it publickly In his time lived Tertullian an African the Son of a Proconsular Centurion whom S. Hierom reckoneth next to 〈◊〉 and Apollonius the principal of the Latin Writers He was a man of excellent Parts and wrote a multitude of books I have 〈◊〉 saith 〈◊〉 at Concordia a little Town in Italy one Paul who said that when he was very young he was at Rome acquainted with S. Cyprian's Amanuensis who assured him that S. Cyprian never passed a day without the reading of Tertullian But having continued half his life-time a Presbyter at Rome through the Envy and Reproaches of the Roman Clergy he afterwards 〈◊〉 Montanist and wrote several Pieces against the Orthodox Doctrine particularly those de Pudicitiâ de Monogamiâ and de 〈◊〉 He also composed six Books against Apollonius At the same time likewise Origen flourished and did great service for the Church For he opposed the Heresie of the Ebionites who asserted our 〈◊〉 to be a 〈◊〉 Man the Son of Joseph and Mary and press'd the observation of Mosaical Rites both which Errours were 〈◊〉 by Symmachus Moreover by his Learning he brought over to the Orthodox faith one Ambrosius who had been as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 or as Hierom will have it a Marcionite to whom with 〈◊〉 a Presbyter he dedicated his book de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that violent opposer of Christianity and who was Origen's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot yet sometimes 〈◊〉 commending him calling him 〈◊〉 most learned and Prince of
as they were leading him to Punishment disposed of what he had to Stephen the Arch-deacon and afterwards upon the fifth of May was beheaded Lucina with some of the Clergy buried his body by night in a Grotto of hers in the Via Appia nor far from the Coemetery of Calistus There are some who write that the Bishop suffered under Gallus and Volusianus but I rather give credit to Damasus who affirms Decius to have been the Author of his Martyrdom Cornelius held two Ordinations in the Month of December in which he made four Presbyters four Deacons seven Bishops He sat in the Chair two years three days and by his death the See was vacant thirty five days S. LUCIUS I. LUCIUS by birth a Roman his Father's Name Porphyrius was chosen Bishop when Gallus Hostilianus was Emperour Gallus associated to himself in the Government his Son Volusianus in whose times there arose so great a Plague to revenge the cause of Christianity that there were few Families much less Cities and Provinces which had not their share in the publick Calamity But while Gallus and Volusianus were engaging in a Civil War against Aemilianus who had attempted an alteration of the Government they were both kill'd at 〈◊〉 before they had compleated the second year of their Empire Aemilianus a person of obscure birth was slain e're he had possess'd his usurped Power three months and soon after Valerianus and Gallienus were chosen Emperours the former by the Army in Rhetia and Noricum the latter at Rome by the Senate Their Government proved very pernicious to the Roman State by the means of their own Pusillanimity and the 〈◊〉 they exercised against the Christians For both the Germans had marched forward as far as Ravenna laying all 〈◊〉 where ever they came with Fire and Sword and also Valerianus himself making War in Mesopotamia was taken Prisoner by the Parthians and forced to live in the most ignominious servitude for Sapores King of Persia made use of him for a Footstool when he got up on Horseback A Punishment which justly 〈◊〉 him for this reason that as soon as he was seiz'd of the Empire he was the eighth from Nero who commanded that the Christians should be put to Tortures be made to worship Idols or upon their refusal be put to death Gallienus being terrisied by this manifest Judgment of God suffered the Christians to live quietly But it was now too late for by the Divine Permission the Barbarians had already made Inroads upon the Roman borders and certain pernicious Tyrants arose who overthrew at home what was left undestroyed by the forein Enemy 〈◊〉 hereupon leaves the care of the Publick and spending his time very dissolutely at 〈◊〉 was there slain Lucius upon the death of Volusianus being released from banishment at his return to Rome ordained that every Bishop 〈◊〉 be accompanied where-ever he went with two Presbyters and three Deacons as witnesses of his Life and Actions In his time suffered Saint Cyprian who was first a Professor of Rhetorick and afterward as St. Hierem tells us at the persuasion of Coecilius the Presbyter from whom he took his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 becoming a Christian he gave his Estate to the Poor Having 〈◊〉 first ordained a Presbyter and then Bishop of Carthage he was 〈◊〉 to death under 〈◊〉 and Volusianus His Life and Martyrdom were 〈◊〉 well written by Pontius a Presbyter and his Companion in 〈◊〉 And it ought not to be forgotten that Cyprian before he 〈◊〉 was reconciled to the Opinion of the Church of Rome that 〈◊〉 were not to be re-baptized but to be receiv'd without any further Ceremony than that of Imposition of Hands a matter about which there had been formerly a great Controversie between him and Cornelius But to return to Lucius before his Martyrdom which he suffered at the command of Valerianus he delivered up his Ecclesiastical Power to 〈◊〉 the Arch-deacon He conferred holy Orders thrice in the month of December ordaining four Presbyters four Deacons seven Bishops He was interred in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia Aug. the 25th He was in the Chair three years three months three days and by his death the See was vacant thirty five days S. STEPHANUS I. STEPHANUS a Roman the Son of Julius was chosen Bishop when the Roman Empire seem'd to be utterly ruin'd and particularly at the time when Posthumus 〈◊〉 his Usurped Power in Gallia though not without great advantage to the Publick For he governed very well ten years together freed the Countrey from Hostility and restored that Province to its ancient Form But being afterwards kill'd at Mentz in a tumult of the Soldiers Victorinus succeeded him who was indeed an excellent Soldier but being exces ssively incontinent and adulterous was slain at Cologne Stephanus applying himself to the Regulation of the Church ordained that the Priests and other Ministers should not use their sacred Vestments any where but in the Church and during the performance of Divine Offices lest otherwise they should incur the Punishment of Belshazzar King of Babylon for touching the holy Vessels with prophane hands Concerning the Re-baptization of those who returned to the Faith he was of the same Judgment with Cornelius his Predecessor and thought it by no means lawful to communicate with those who re-baptized them Whereupon Dionysius who had formerly concurred in opinion about the matter with those of Carthage and the East both his and their Sentiments of it being now altered writes to Stephen and encourages him from the assurance that both the Asian and African Churches were now reconciled to the Judgment of the Roman See concerning it About the same time Malchion a Presbyter of Antioch a person of extraordinary Eloquence became very useful to the Church of God in writing against Paulus Samosatenus the Bishop of that place who endeavoured to revive the Opinion of Artemon affirming Christ to have been a meer man and that he had no Existence till he was conceived by the Virgin Mary An Opinion which being afterwards condemned in the Council of Antioch by general consent this Malchion in the name of the Synod wrote a large Epistle to the Christians concerning it As for Stephanus when he had by his Example and Persuasion converted a multitude of Gentiles to Christianity being seized by Gallienus as some say or else by those who upon the Edict of Decius were appointed to persecute the Christians he himself together with many others his Proselytes was hurried away to Martyrdom and having suffered he was interred in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia August the 2d after that he had at two Decembrian Ordinations made six Presbyters five Deacons three Bishops He was in the Chair seven years five months two days and the See was vacant two and twenty days S. SIXTUS II. SIXTUS an Athenian of a Philosopher became a Christian the Decian and Valerian Persecution yet continuing But it
will not be foreign to our present purpose to go on as we have begun to give some account of the other Tyrants till we come to the true Successour Victorinus therefore being slain in Gallia Tetricus a Senator being at that time Governour of Aquitain was in his absence chosen Emperour by the Soldiers But while these things were transacting in Gallia Odenatus overcomes the the Persians defends Syria and 〈◊〉 Mesopotamia as far as Ctesiphon At this time in Ptolemais anciently called Barce a City of Pentapolis there was broach'd a Doctrine full of blasphemies against God the Father and against Christ whom it denied to be the Son of the most high God and the first-born of every Creature and against the Holy Ghost whose being it disowned The Assertors of it were called 〈◊〉 from Sabellius the author of this perverse Sect. What shall I say of that carnal opinion of Cerinthus who affirmed that Christ should personally Reign upon the earth a thousand years from whence by the Greeks he was called a Chiliast Being himself a man of unbounded Lust and Luxury he feigned a great plenty of delicious Viands and a great variety of beautiful Women to be the principal Ingredients of the happiness of that Kingdom Of the same opinion likewise was Nepos a Bishop in some parts of Egypt who affirmed that the Saints were to Reign with Christ on the Earth in the highest enjoyment of all sensual delights and pleasures from whom his brutish followers were called Nepotiani Sixtus had it some time in his mind to baffle and suppress these opinions but being accused for preaching the faith of Christ contrary to the Emperours Edict he was taken and led to the Temple of Mars where he must either offer sacrifice to the Idol or upon his 〈◊〉 be put to death As he was going forth to punishment Laurence his Arch-deacon thus bespake him Whither art thou going O my Father without thy Son Whither O best of Bishops art thou hastning without thy Attendants To whom Sixtus answered I do not forsake thee O my Son there are yet greater conflicts behind which thou art to undergo for the faith of Christ within three days thou as a dutiful Deacon shalt follow me thy Bishop in the mean time if thou hast any stock lying by thee distribute it all to the Poor On the same day with Sixtus which was the eighth of August there were executed six Deacons viz. Felicissimus Agapetus Januarius Magus Innocentius Stephanus And on the third day after August the tenth the same Lawrence with Claudius the Sub-deacon and Seuerus the Presbyter and Crescentius the Reader and Romanus the Door-keeper were all put to death together though with several kinds of Tortures among which it is said that Laurence was broiled upon a Gridiron Vincentius who had been Scholar to Sixtus being gone into Spain could not be present at this Martyrdom Sixtus during his Pontificate having at two Decembrian Ordinations made four Presbyters seven Deacons two Bishops his body was interr'd in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia The other Martyrs lye in the Coemetery of Proetextatus in the Via Tiburtina Sixtus sat in the Chair two years ten months twenty three days And the See was vacant thirty five days S. DIONYSIUS DIONYSIUS whose original Damasus could not trace being of a Monk advanced to the Pontifical Dignity forthwith allotted to the several Presbyters in the City of Rome their several Churches and Coemeteries and to others elsewhere 〈◊〉 their respective Parishes and Dioceses that so every one might be confined within his own bounds and limits His contemporary Emperour I take to have been Claudius who when by consent of the Senate he had undertaken the Government made War upon and with incredible slaughter defeated the Goths who had for fifteen years together wasted Illyricum and Macedonia Hereupon it was decreed by the Senate that in the Council-house a golden Shicld in the Capital a golden Statue should be erected to his Honour But falling sick at Sirmium he died before the second year of his Empire was compleated Upon his death Quintillus his Brother was straightway chosen Emperour by the Army a person of singular moderation and the only man who deserved to succeed his Brother but he also governed a very little time being slain in the seventeenth day of his Reign During the Pontificate of Dionysius Paulus Samosatenus deserting the Orthodox Faith revived the Heresie of Artemon This Paul being made Bishop of Antioch in the room of Demetrianus behaved himself with excessive haughtiness and affectation for as he passed along he affected to read and dictate Letters a great throng of Attendants going before and following him so that for the sake of his Arrogance multitudes were very strongly prejudiced against the Christian Religion But had they lived in our times wherein Pride and Pomp not to say Luxury it self are at their heighth what would they think to see Prelates led on by so many young Sparks and brought up by a crowd of Presbyters all mounted upon high-fed and gay-trapped Horses Certain I am they would abhor and execrate them and say that they were false and hypocritical pretenders to the Religion of the blessed Jesus But I return to Paul whom I may more securely reprove He was highly self-opinionated and ambitious and denied our Saviours eternal Generation or that he had a being till his conception of the blessed Virgin For this reason at the Council of 〈◊〉 he was publickly condemned by the consent of all the Bishops that were present but especially by the sentence of Gregory Bishop of Coesarea a most holy man who was present at the Council and afterwards suffered Martyrdom for the faith of Christ. Malchion also a Presbyter of Antioch disputed and wrote much against this Paul for the reason that I have already mentioned Dionysius himself could not be at this Council because of his great Age but of all the transactions there he had full intelligence given him by Maximus Bishop of Alexandria Dionysius dying was buried in the Coemetery of Calistus after that at two Decembrian Ordinations he had made twelve Presbyters six Deacons seven Bishops He sat in the Chair six years two months four days and the See was vacant six days S. FELIX I. FELIX a Roman Son of Constantinus lived in the time of Aurelianus Who came to the Empire A.U.C. 1027 and being an excellent Soldier gain'd a great Victory over the Goths at the River Danow From thence passing into Asia at a place not far from Antioch by the terrour of his name rather than by fighting he overcame Zenobia who from the time that her Husband Odenatus had been slain was possess'd of the Eastern Empire Her he led in Triumph together with Tetricus by his defeating of whom at Chaalons Gallia was again recovered Yet by the Humanity and Clemency of Aurelianus Zenobia lived all her time very honourably in the City from
design to ensnare and circumvent him too till his Plot being discovered by his Daughter Fausta who revealed the whole matter to her Husband he betook himself to flight but was taken and put to death at 〈◊〉 thereby suffering the just punishment of his Villanies or as others tell us his condition being desperate he laid violent hands upon himself During the Pontificate of Eusebius on the third of May the Cross of our Saviour was found and very much adorn'd and had in great 〈◊〉 by Helena Constantine's Mother Judas also who found it was baptized and his name being thereupon changed was afterwards called Cyriacus This Bishop admitted Hereticks to the Communion of the Church upon their retractation by the imposition of Hands only Moreover he ordained that no Laick should commence a Suit against a Bishop In his time lived Lactantius Firmianus a Scholar of Arnobius Who being a Professor of Rhetorick at Nicomedia and discontented that he had so few Scholars in a City of Greece he thereupon betook himself to Writing wherein he became so excellent that he gain'd a Reputation next to that of Cicero himself He wrote many things but his works that are 〈◊〉 extant are those against the Gentiles concerning the Creation of Man and the Anger of God In his old Age he was Tutor to Constantine's Son Coesar Crispus in Gallia Eusebius also Bishop of Coesarea in Palestine a Partner with Pamphilus in the diligent search after divine Learning wrote a vast number of Books particularly those de Proepar Evangelicâ an Ecclesiastical History against Porphyry a violent opposer of the Christians six Apologies for Origen and three Books of the Life of Pamphilus the Martyr whose name he added to his own for a surname as a testimony of the strict friendship there had been between them But our Eusebius the Bishop of Rome having at one Decembrian Ordination made thirteen Presbyters three Deacons fourteen Bishops died at Rone and was buried in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia October the second He sat in the Chair six years one month three days and by his death the See was vacant one day S. MILTIADES MILTIADES an African was Co-temporary with Maxentius Maximine and Licinius a Dacian who for his being an Excellent Soldier was admitted by Galerius to a partnership in the Empire These being sensible that Constantine was well belov'd and highly esteem'd by all men did for that reason seem less enraged against the Christians Yet Maxentius sent his Soldiers about with private Instructions to massacre all they could secretly meet with and taking delight in Magick at the performance of the hellish Rites belonging to that black Art he would send for great-bellied Women especially Christians and rip them up for the sake of their unborn Infants whose ashes he made use of in his Sorceries thereby shewing that Tyranny might be supported and kept up even by Villany Maximine also exercis'd the like rage and cruelty in the East giving Rewards and Preferments to the Professours and Teachers of Witchcraft and Sorcery and being himself very much enclin'd to give credit to Auguries and Divinations became the more bitterly incens'd against the Christians because they despis'd such superstitions He commanded likewise that the decayed Idolatrous Temples should be repaired and Sacrifices offered to the Gods in them after the ancient manner Against them Constantine advancing with his Army gain'd so perfect a Victory over Maxentius at Pons Milvius that his grief to be so shamefully defeated caused him to forget the snares which himself had laid and so passing over a Bridg which he had deceitfully contriv'd to entrap his Enemies he himself with the greatest part of his Guards were drown'd in the River Having also both by Sea and Land overcome his Sisters Husband Licinius he forced him at Nicomedia to yield himself and to live privately at Thessalonica a confinement which he justly deserved because having apostatiz'd from the Faith meerly through Envy he had been a grievous Persecutor of the Christians for the good will they bare to Constantine As for Maximine he became manifestly the object of Divine Vengeance his bowels and entrails being on a sudden so swoln and putrefied that there appeared no difference between him and a putrid carcass Worms in great abundance breeding in his flesh and rottenness with intolerable stench overspreading his body This dreadful punishment had been long 〈◊〉 for by his wicked practises for he had forbidden the Christians to assemble at the Sepulchres of the Martyrs and had given out that at Antioch an Image had spoke and proclaim'd aloud that the Christians must be banish'd out of the Cities when indeed they were certain knavish Priests whom himself had suborn'd who from their adjoyning private recesses had uttered these words and moreover he had distributed Rewards through the several Provinces to the Idol-priests who were active against the Christians But at length the Physician plainly telling him the danger of his condition the Tyrant began to relent and by a publict Edict forbad all persons to molest or injure the Christians and suffered them to enjoy their liberty But this forced Repentance slood him in no stead for having been a long time 〈◊〉 with grievous pain and disease at last died this cruel and inconstant man who had been sometimes an Encourager sometimes a Persecutor of the Christians During these Calamities multitudes of Christians were put to death and particularly Dorothea a most virtuous and Beautiful Virgin who chose rather to die than to yield to the Tyrants Lust. Sophronia also having been oftentimes sollicited by Maxentius like the Noble Lucretia slew her self to avoid the danger her Chastity was in from him Miltiades ordained that no Christian should keep a Fast upon a Sunday or Thursday because those days were observed and kept holy by the Pagans and the Manichoean Heresie being at that time very prevalent in the City of Rome he made several Constitutions concerning Oblations These things being setled he was by Maximine's order crowned with Martyrdom as were also Peter Bishop of Alexandria Lucianus a a Presbyter of 〈◊〉 a man eminent for Piety and Learning Timothy a Presbyter of Rome and divers others both Bishops and Priests Miltiades was buried in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia December the tenth During his Pontificate he did at one Ordination make seven Presbyters six Deacons twelve Bishops He sat in the Chair four years seven months nine days and by his death the See was vacant seventeen days S. SYLVESTER SYLVESTER a Roman the Son of Ruffinus was Bishop in the time of Constantine A. V C. 1091. Anno Dom. 339. Under this Prince the Christians who had been continually harrassed by Tyrants began to have some respite For Constantine was equal to the best of Princes in all endowments of Body and Mind very desirous of Military Glory successful in War and yet freely granting Peace to them who asked it
a remote People were brought to the knowledg and Belief Christianity a certain Captive Woman through the Assistance and Persuasion of their King Bacurius At this time likewise the Authority of Antony the holy Hermite did much towards the Reformation of Mankind Helena did oftentimes both by Letter and Messengers recommend her self and her Sons to his Prayers he was by Countrey an Egyptian his manner of living severe and abstemious eating only Bread and drinking nothing but Water and never making any Meal but about Sun-set a man wholly rapt up in Contemplation His Life was written at large by Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria As for Sylvester himself having at seven Decembrian Ordinations made forty two Presbyters thirty six Deacons sixty five Bishops he dyed and was buried in the Coemetery of Priscilla in the Via Salaria three miles distant from the City on the last day of December He was in the Chair twenty three years ten months eleven days and by his death the See was vacant fifteen days MARCUS I. MARCUS a Roman Son of Priscus lived also in the Reign of Constantine the Great concerning whom Historians differ in their Writings For some affirm that Constantine towards the latter end of his Reign recalled Arius from banishment and became a favourer of his Heresy through the persuasion of his Sister who always insisted that it was nothing but Envy that had caused his Condemnation These I believe to be deceiv'd by the nearness of their names and so to ascribe that to the Father which was the act of the Son For it is not probable that that wise Prince who had all along before disapprov'd of the Arian opinion should now begin to incline to it in that part of his Age wherein men are usually most judicious and discerning They write moreover that Constantine was baptized by Eusebius an Arian Bishop of Nicomedia But that this is a mistake appears both from the Emperours great bounty towards the Orthodox and also from that stately Font upon that occasion erected with wonderful Magnificence at Rome at which after he had been successful in expelling the Tyrants he with his Son Crispus were instructed in the Faith and baptized by Sylvester They who are of the other opinion tell us that Constantine deferred so great an Affair till the time that he might come to the River Jordan in which he had a great desire to be baptized in imitation of our Saviour but that in an Expedition against the Parthians making Inroads upon Mesopotamia in the thirty first year of his Reign and of his Age the sixty sixth he died on the way at Nicomedia before he could reach the River Jordan for the purpose he design'd and was there baptized at the point of Death But let these men confound and perplex the matter as they please we have reason to believe according to the general opinion that Constantine who had so often overcome his Enemies under the Standard of the Cross who had built so many Churches to the honour of God who had been present at holy Councils and who had so often joyned in Devotion with the holy Fathers would desire to be fortified against the Enemy of mankind by the Character of Baptism as soon as ever he came to understand the excellency of our Religion I am not ignorant what Socrates and Zozomen and most other Writers say concerning it but I follow the Truth and that which is most agreeable to the Religion and Piety of this excellent Prince The vulgar story of his having been overspread with Leprosie and cured of it by Baptism with a previous fiction concerning a Bath of the blood of Infants before prescribed for his Cure I can by no means give credit to having herein the Authority of Socrates on my side who affirms that Constantine being now sixty five years of Age fell sick and left the City of Constantinople to go to the hot Baths for the recovery of his health but speaks not a word concerning any Leprosie Besides there is no mention made of it by any Writer either Heathen or Christian and certainly had there been any such thing Orosius Eutropius and others who have most accurately written the Memoirs of Constantine would not have omitted it One thing more concerning this great Prince is certain viz. That a Blazing Star or Comet of extraordinary magnitude appear'd some time before his Death Marcus applying himself to the care of Religion ordained that the Bishop of Ostia whose place it is to consecrate the Bishop of Rome might use a Pall. He appointed likewise that upon solemn days immediately after the Gospel the Nicene Creed should be rehears'd with a loud voice both by the Clergy and People He built also two Churches at Rome one in the Via Ardeatina in which he was buried the other within the City these Churches Constantine presented and endowed very liberally In the time of this Emperour and Bishop lived Juvencus a Spaniard of Noble birth and a Presbyter who in four Books translated almost verbatim into hexametre Verse the four Gospels he wrote also something concerning the Sacraments in the same kind of Metre Our Marcus having at two Decembrian Ordinations made twenty five Presbyters six Deacons twenty eight Bishops died and was buried in the Coemetery of Balbina in the Via Ardeatina Octob. the fifth He was in the Chair two years eight months twenty days and by his death the See was vacant twenty days IULIUS I. IULIUS a Roman the Son of Rusticus lived in the time of Constantius who sharing the Empire with his two Brethren Constantine and Constans reigned twenty four years Among the Successours of Constantine the Great is sometimes reckoned Delmatius Caesar his Nephew who was certainly a very hopeful young Gentleman but was soon cut off in a Tumult of the Soldiers though by the Permission rather than at the Command of Constantius In the mean time the Arian Heresie mightily prevailed being abetted by Constantius who compelled the Orthodox to receive Arius In the second year of his Reign therefore a Council was called at Laodicea a City of Syria or as others have it at Tyre Thither resort both the Catholicks and Arians and their daily debate was whether Christ should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same substance with the Father or no. Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria asserted it and press'd hard upon them with his Reasons and Arguments for it which when Arius found himself not able to answer he betook himself to Reproach and Calumny accusing the holy Man of Sorcery and to procure credit to his Charge producing out of a Box the pretended Arm of Arsenius whom he falsly asserted that Athanasius had kill'd and was wont to make use of that dead Arm in his Incantations Hereupon Athanasius was violently run down and condemned by the Emperour but making his escape he lay concealed in a dry Cistern for six years together without seeing the Sun but being at length
Opinions Asterius a Philosopher of that Faction at the Command of Constantius compiled divers Commentaries upon the Epistle to the Romans the Gospels and the Psalms which were diligently read by those of that Party to confirm them in their Persuasion Moreover Luciser Bishop of Cagliari together with Pancratius the Presbyter and 〈◊〉 the Deacon were sent in an Embassie from the Bishop to the Emperour and being by him banished for refusing to renounce the Nicene under the name of the Athanasian Faith he wrote a Book against Constantius and sent it to him to read But notwithstanding this provocation he lived till the time of Valentinian 'T is said also that Fortunatus Bishop of Aquileia had been tampering with Liberius just before his 〈◊〉 and endeavouring to bring him over to the Arian Heresie 〈◊〉 likewise who for his great parts had 〈◊〉 given him the Surname of Scholasticus compiled an excellent Book against 〈◊〉 nor could all the menaces of the Emperour make him desist from the open Confession of the Truth but on the contrary hoping to have rendred Constantius more favourable to Athanasius the Great so called from the constant and unwearied Opposition which he always kept up against Pagans and Hereticks into his presence he boldly goes nor did the Threats of so great a Prince cause him to stir one step backward from his Constancy and Resolution As for Liberius having at two Ordinations held in the City of Rome made eighteen Presbyters five 〈◊〉 nineteen Bishops he died and was buried in the Coemetery of 〈◊〉 in the Via Salaria April the 23d He sat in the Chair six years three months four days and by his death the See was vacant six days FELIX II. FELIX the Second a Roman the Son of Anastasius was Bishop of 〈◊〉 in the Reign of Constantius Who by the death of Constans slain by Magnentius becoming now sole Emperour sent into Gallia to suppress a Sedition arisen there his Cosin German Julian whom he had created 〈◊〉 who in a short time by his great Valour and Conduct reduc'd both the Gauls and Germans whereby he gained so much the Affections of the Army that by universal 〈◊〉 they made him Emperour At the News of this Constantius who was engaged in a War with the Parthians suddenly strikes up a Truce with them and forthwith marches forward to oppose Julian but in his March being feiz'd with an Apoplexy he died between Cilicia and Cappadocia at a Town called Mopsocrene in the 24th year of his Reign and of his Age the 45th The Physicians were of Opinion that the excessive grief and anxiety of mind which the Rebellion of Julian had brought upon him was the occasion of that fatal distemper to him He was excepting always the Case of the Christians against whom he was unjust and cruel a Person of so great moderation and clemency that according to the Ancient custom he deserv'd an Apotheosis Upon his first undertaking the Government at his entring triumphantly by the Via Flaminia into the City of Rome in his golden Chariot he did with wonderful condescention take notice of and Salute the Citizens that went out to meet him affirming that of Cyneas the Ambassadour of Pyrrhus to be true that he saw at Rome as many Kings as there were Citizens In one thing only he was the occasion of laughter to the people viz. that as he passed through the lofty gates of the City and the stately Triumphal Arches though he were a man of a very little Stature yet as though he feared to hit his head against the tops of them he bow'd it-down low like a Goose stooping as she goes in at a Barn-door Being conducted to view the Rarities of the City and beholding with admiration the Campus Martius the Sepulchre of Augustus Coesar adorned with so many Statues of Marble and Brass the Forum Romanum the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus the Baths the Porticoes enlarged like so many Provinces the Amphitheatre built with Tiburtine stone of so vast a height that a mans Eye could scarce reach to the top of it the Pantheon built with stately Arches of a wonderful Altitude the Temple of Peace Pompey's Theatre the great Cirque the Septizonium of Severus so many Triumphal Arches so many Aquaeducts so many statues erected here and there throughout the City for Ornament beholding all this I say he at first stood astonished and at length declared that certainly Nature had laid out all her stock upon one City At the sight of the famous Horse of Brass set up by Trajan he desired of Hormisda an excellent Workman whom he had brought along with him that he would make such another for him at Constantinople to whom Hormisda replyed that the Emperour ought then to build such another Stable meaning the City of Rome The same Hormisda being asked by Constantius what he thought of the City of Rome returned an Answer becoming a Philosopher That all which pleased him in it was That he understood that there also men were wont to die Felix who as we have said was put into the place of Liberius by the Orthodox though Eusebius and S. Hierom which I much wonder at affirm it to have been done by the Hereticks presently after his entrance upon the Pontificate pronounces Constantius the Son of Constantine the Great a Heretick and re-baptized by Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia in a little Town called Aquilo not far from Nicomedia And hereby may be discovered the Errour of those who accuse Constantine the Great himself of this Heresie an Imputation which certainly as appears by History neither ought nor can be fastned upon that Great Prince and great favourer of the Christian Religion While this great Contention which we have spoken 〈◊〉 between Liberius and Felix lasted the Arian Heresie branched it self into two Factions For on the one side Eunomius from whom they were called Eunomians a man Leprous both in body and mind and who had a Falling 〈◊〉 as well within as without affirmed that in all things the Son was unequal to the Father and that the Holy Spirit had no Community of Essence with the Father or the Son On the other side Macedonius whom the Orthodox had made Bishop of Constantinople before he became erroneous in his Opinions was renounced by the Arians for holding the Son to be equal with the Father though he uttered the same blasphemies against the Holy Spirit that themselves did 'T is said that Felix held a Council of forty eight Bishops in which it was decreed that all Bishops should attend in person at every General Council or else by Letter give a good account why they could not which Decree was afterwards renewed in the Council of Carthage In his time lived Acacius for his having but one Eye called Monophthalmus Bishop of Coesarea in Palestine who wrote largely upon Ecclesiastes and who by his fair Speech and swimming carriage had gained such an Ascendant over Constantius that he himself
soon rivall'd in that Dignity by Ursicinus a Deacon whose Party having assembled themselves in a Church thither also Damasus's Friends resorted where the Competition being manag'd not only by Vote but by force and Arms several persons on both sides were slain in the very Church But not long after the matter was compromis'd and by the consent both of the Clergy and People Damasus was confirmed in the Bishoprick of Rome and Ursicinus was made Bishop of Naples But Damasus being afterwards accused of Adultery he made his Defence in a publick Council wherein he was acquitted and pronounced innocent and Concordius and Calistus two Deacons his false Accusers were condemn'd and excommunicated Upon which a Law was made That if any man did bear false Witness against another he was to undergo the same punishment that the person accused should have done if he had been guilty The affairs of the Church being at length setled Damasus taking great delight in study wrote the Lives of all the Bishops of Rome that had been before him and sent them to S. Hierom. Notwithstanding which he neglected not to encrease the number of Churches and to add to the Ornaments of Divine Worship For he built two Churches one near Pompey's Theatre the other at the Tombs in the 〈◊〉 Ardeatina and in elegant Verse wrote the Epitaphs of those Martyrs whose Bodies had been there buried to perpetuate their names to Posterity He also dedicated a Marble Table with an Inscription to the Memory of S. Peter and S. Paul at the place where their Bodies had once lain Moreover he enriched the Church which he had built in honour to S. Laurence not far from Pompeys Theatre with very large donations He ordained likewise that the Psalms should be sung alternately in the Church and that at the end of every Psalm the Gloria Patri should be added And whereas formerly the Septuagint only had been in vogue Damasus first gave Authority to 〈◊〉 Translation of the Bible which began to be read publickly as also his Psalter faithfully rendred from the Hebrew which before especially among the Gauls had been very much depraved He commanded also that at the beginning of the Mass the Confession should be used as it is at this day But having at sive Ordinations made thirty one Presbyters eleven Deacons sixty two Bishops he died and was buried with his Mother and Sister in the Via Ardeatina in the Church built by himself December the 11th He sat in the Chair nineteen years three months eleven days and by his death the See was vacant twenty one days SIRICIUS I. SIRICIUS a Roman Son of Tiburtius lived in the time of Valentinian Who for his being a Christian had been very unjustly dealt withall and cashier'd from a considerable Command in the Army by Julian But upon the Death of Jovinian being by the universal consent of the Soldiers elected Emperour he admitted his Brother Valens his Collegue in the Empire and assign'd to him the Government of the East Afterwards in the third year of his Reign at the persuasion of his 〈◊〉 and her Mother he created his young Son Gratian Augustus And whereas one 〈◊〉 had rais'd a 〈◊〉 and set up for himself at Constantinople him with his Adherents the Emperour very suddenly overthrew and put to death But Valens having been baptized by Eudoxius an Arian Bishop and becoming a bigotted 〈◊〉 presently fell to persecuting and banishing the Orthodox especially after the death of Athanasius who while he lived was a mighty support to the Christian State for forty six years to gether Lucius also another Heretical Bishop was extreamly violent and outragious against the Orthodox Christians nor did he spare so much as the Anchorets and Eremites but sent parties of Soldiers to invade their Solitudes who either put them to death or else sent them into Exile Amongst this sort of men they who at that time had the greatest esteem and authority were the two Macarii in Syria the Disciples of Anthony one of which lived in the upper the other in the lower Desert as also 〈◊〉 Panucius Pambus Moses Benjamin Paulus 〈◊〉 Paulus Phocensis and Joseph in Egypt While Lucius was intent upon the banishment of these men a certain inspired Woman went about crying aloud that those good Men those Men of God ought by no means to be sent into the Islands Moreover Mauvia Queen of the Saracens having by frequent Battels very much impaired the Roman Forces and harrassed their Towns on the borders of Palestine and Arabia refused to grant the Peace which they desired at her hands unless Moses a man of most exemplary Piety were consecrated and appointed Bishop to her People This Lucius willingly assented to but when Moses was brought to him he plainly told him that the multitudes of Christians condemn'd to the Mines banish'd to the Islands and imprison'd through his cruelty did cry 〈◊〉 against him 〈◊〉 that therefore he would never 〈◊〉 the imposition of his polluted hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to consecrate him he was presented to the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 concluded But 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 still to 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 against the Orthodox though 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more favourable towards 〈◊〉 by the Letters of 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his people which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for their 〈◊〉 In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his Valour 〈◊〉 Conduct 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 But while he was making 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a War 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 who had spread 〈◊〉 through the two 〈◊〉 he died at a little Town called 〈◊〉 through a sudden 〈◊〉 of Blood At this time the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their own 〈◊〉 had 〈◊〉 themselves of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Monks and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Army 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An overthrow which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dignity it 〈◊〉 That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not be conferred at once but at certain distances 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 who 〈◊〉 in the City the 〈◊〉 of the faithful but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and return to the Orthodox Faith they should be 〈◊〉 into the Church upon condition they would undertake a 〈◊〉 course of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 themselves to Fasting and Prayer all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 that their Conversion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 approach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but a Bishop should have power to 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whosoever married a Widow or second 〈◊〉 should be degraded from his Office in the Church and that 〈◊〉 upon their Repentance should be received with only the Imposition of Hands
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
followers to inhabit had disturbance given him by one Saul an Hebrew by birth and Religion whom Stilico to the foul breach of Articles had sent with a Party for that purpose It was an easie matter to surprize and disorder the Goths who little suspected any such Practices and were peaceably celebrating the Feast of Easter But the day following Alaricus engaging with them slew Saul and made an universal slaughter of his men and then changing his former course towards Gaul moves against Stilico and the Roman Army These he overcame and then after a long and grievous Siege takes the City of Rome it self Anno U. C. MCLXIIII A. C. CCCCXII Notwithstanding this Success Alaricus exercised so much Moderation and Clemency that he commanded his Soldiers to put as few to the Sword as might be and particularly to spare all that should fly for refuge to the Churches of S. Peter and S. Paul After three days Plunder he leaves the City which had suffered less damage than was thought for very little of it being burnt and marches against the Lucani and Bruti and having taken and sacked Cosenza he there dies Whereupon the Goths with one consent made his kinsman Athaulphus his Successour who returning to Rome with his Army was so wrought upon by the Emperour Honorius's Sister Galla Placidia whom he had married that he restrained his Soldiers from committing any farther outrages and left the City to its own Government He had it certainly once in his purpose to have razed to the ground the then City of Rome and to have built a new one which he would have called Gotthia and have left to the ensuing Emperours his own Name so that they should not any longer have had the Title of Augusti but Athaulphi But Placidia not only brought his mind off from that project but also prevailed with him to enter into a League with Honorius and Theodosius the second the Son of Arcadius deceased Zosimus notwithstanding all these disturbances made several Ecclesiastical Constitutions allowed the blessing of Wax-Tapers on the Saturday before Easter in the several Parishes forbad the Clergy to frequent publick Drinking-houses though allowing them all innocent liberty among themselves or any Servant to be made a Clergy-man because that Order ought to consist of none but free and ingenuous persons Whereas now not only Servants and Bastards but the vile off-spring of the most flagitious Parents are admitted to that Dignity whose Enormities will certainly at long-run prove fatal to the Church 'T is said that Zosimus at this time sent Faustinus a Bishop and two Presbyters of the City to the Council of Carthage by them declaring that no Debates concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs ought to be managed any where without permission of the Church of Rome During his Pontificate lived Lucius a Bishop of the Arian Faction who wrote certain Books upon several Subjects Diodorus also Bishop of Tarsus during his being a Presbyter of Antioch was a great Writer following the sense of Eusebius but not able to reach his style for want of skill in secular Learning Tiberianus likewise who had been accused together with Priscillian wrote an Apology to free himself from the suspicion of Heresie Euagrius a man of smart and brisk parts translated into Latin the Life of S. Anthony written in Greek by Athanasius Ambrosius of Alexandria a Scholar of Didymus wrote a large Volume against Apollinarius At this time flourished those two famous Bishops Theophilus of Alexandria and John of Constantinople for the greatness of his Eloquence deservedly surnamed Chrysostom who so far prevailed upon Theodorus and Maximus two Condisciples of his that they left their Masters Libanius the Rhetorician and Andragatius the Philosopher and became Proselytes to Christianity This Libanius lying now at the point of death being asked whom he would leave sucsessour in his School made answer that he desired no other than Chrysosiom were he not a Christian. At this time the Decrees of the Council of Carthage being sent to Zosimus were by him confirmed and thereby the Pelagian Heresie condemned throughout the World Some tell us that Petronius Bishop of Bononia and Possidonius an African Bishop had now gain'd a mighty reputation for Sanctity that Primasius wrote largely against the Heresies to Bishop Fortunatus and that Proba Wife to Adelphus the Proconsul composed an Historical Poem of our Saviours Life consisting wholly of Virgilian Verse though others attribute the honour of this performance to Eudocia Empress of Theodosius the younger But certainly the most learned person of the Age he lived in was Augustinus Saint Ambrose his Convert Bishop of Hippo in Africa a most strenuous Defender of the Christian Faith both in Discourse and Writing As for Zosimus having ordained ten Presbyters three Deacons eight Bishops he died and was buried in the Via Tiburtina near the body of Saint Laurence the Martyr December 26th He sat in the Chair one year three months twelve days and by his death the See was vacant eleven days BONIFACIUS I. BONIFACE a Roman Son of Jucundus a Presbyter was Bishop in the time of Honorius At this time a great dissention 〈◊〉 among the Clergy for though Boniface was chosen Bishop in one Church of the City 〈◊〉 one Party yet Eulalius was elected and set up against him by a contrary Faction in another This when Honorius who was now at Milain came to understand at the Solicitation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Placidia and her Son Valentiman they were both banish'd the City But about seven months after 〈◊〉 was re-call'd and confirmed in the Pontifical Dignity In the mean time Athaulphus dying Vallias was made King of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being terrified by the Judgments inflicted on his People restored Placidia whom he had always used very honourably to her Brother 〈◊〉 and entred into a League with him giving very good Hostages for the confirmation of it as did also the Alanes Vandals and 〈◊〉 This I lacidia Henorius gave in marriage to Constantius whom he had declared 〈◊〉 who had by her a Son named Valentinian but she being afterwards banish'd by her Brother went into the East with her Sons 〈◊〉 and Valentinian Our Bonisace ordained that no Woman though a Nun should touch the consecrated Pall or Incense and that no Servant or Debtor should be admitted into the Clergy Moreover he built an Oratory upon the ground where S. Felicitas the Martyr was buried and very much adorned her Tomb. During his Pontificate flourished divers famous men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Presbyter Son of Eusebius born at a Town called 〈◊〉 seated in the Confines of Dalmatia and Hungaria but demolished by the Goths It is not to my purpose to rehearse how great benefit the Church of God reaped from his Life and Writings since he is known to have been a person of extraordinary 〈◊〉 and his Works are had in so great honour and esteem that no Author is more read by learned Men than he He died at Bethlehem on the last day of
September in the ninety first year of his Age. Besides him there were also Gelasius Successour to Euzoius in the Bishoprick of Caesarea Palestinae a man of excellent Parts Dexter Son of Pacianus who compiled an History inscribed to S. Hierem Amphilochius who wrote concerning the Holy Ghost in an 〈◊〉 style and 〈◊〉 commended by S. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his learned Book of the Destruction of 〈◊〉 'T is said also that at this time Lucianus a Preshyter directed by a divine Revelation found out the Sepulchres of S. Stephen the Protomartyr and Gamaliel S. Paul's Master of which he gave an account to all the Churches by an Epistle in Greek which was afterwards translated into Latin by 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 and sent to Orosius Some likewise tell us that John Cassianus and Maximine two very learned Men lived in this Age but though it be doubtful of them it is not so concerning Eutropius S. Austin's Scholar who in a handsom style Epitomised the Roman History from the building of the City to his own times and who moreover wrote to his two Sisters Recluses concerning Chastity and the Love of Religion to whom we may add Juvenal the Bishop of Constantinople and Heros a Disciple of S. Martin the wrongfully deposed Bishop of Arles both men of great reputation for Sanctity As for Boniface himself having at one Ordination made thirteen Presbyters three Deacons thirty six Bishops he died October the 25th and was buried in the Via Salaria near the body of S. Felicitas the Martyr He fat in the Chair three years eight months sevendays Boniface being dead some of the Clergy recall'd Eulalius but he either through indignation at his former repulse or from contempt of Worldly greatness disdained the revocation and died the year following The See was then vacant nine days CAELESTINUS I. CAELESTINE a Campanian lived in the times of Theodosius the younger This Theodosius upon the death of that excellent Prince Honorius creates the Son of his Aunt Placidia Valentinian Coesar and commits to his charge the Western Empire Who being immediately by the universal consent of all Italy acknowledged their Emperour and actually entring upon the Government at Ravenna was wonderfully prosperous in subduing the Enemies of the Roman State and particularly John the Usurper In the mean time the Vandals Alemans and Goths a barbarous and salvage people passing over out of Spain into Africa under the conduct of their King Gensericus not only miserably depopulated and harrassed that Province with Fire and Sword but also corrupted the Catholick Faith there with the mixture of Arianism and banish'd some Orthodox Bishops during which Troubles S. Augustine Bishop of Hippo died in the third month of the Siege of that City August 28. in the seventy seventh year of his Age. The Vandals having taken Carthage fail'd to Sicily and made the like havock in that Island as also did the Picts and Scots in the Island of Britain In this Extremity the Britains implored the Aid of Aetius a Patrician and a famous Soldier but he not only denied them his assistance but having other ambitious Designs to carry on solicited the Huns to invade Italy The Britains being thus deserted by Aetius call over the Saxons or English to their help whom they soon found more their Enemies than Assistants for being in a little time over run by them they lost both their Countrey and their Name While these things were transacting Theodosius dying at Constantinople in the twenty seventh year of his and his Uncle Honorius's Reign Bleda and Attila two Brothers Kings of the Hunns invading Illyricum lay'd waste and burn'd all places to which they came Notwithstanding our Coelestine ordained several Rites appertaining to divine Worship as that besides the Epistle and Gospel before the Mass the Psalms of David should be sung by all alternately Martinus Cassinas tells us that the Psalm Judica me Deus Give sentence with me O God and defend my cause c. which is used at the beginning of the Sacrifice was introduced by him as likewise the Gradual is ascribed to him Many other Ecclesiastical Constitutions he made to be seen in the Archives of the Church He also dedicated and enriched the Julian Church At this time Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople endeavoured to sow a new Errour in the Church asserting that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary a meer Man and that the Divinity was conferred upon him of Merit To this impious Doctrine Cyril Bishop of Alexandria and our Coelestine opposed themselves very strenuously For in a Synod of two hundred Bishops held at Ephesus Nestorius himself and the Heresie denominated from him together with the Pelagians who were great favourers of the Nestorian Party were by universal consent condemned in thirteen Canons level'd against their foolish Opinions Moreover Coelestine sent Germanus Bishop of Auxerre into England to oppose the Pelagian Heresie and reduce the Inhabitants to the Orthodox Faith and Palladius whom he had made a Bishop to the Scots who desired to be instructed in the Christian Religion And indeed it cannot be denied but that by his endeavours and the industry of those whom he employed to that purpose a great part of the West were converted to Christianity 'T is said that at this time the Devil assumed humane shape and pretended himself to be Moses and imposed upon a multitude of Jews by undertaking to conduct them out of the Island of Crete into the Land of Promise through the Sea as upon dry Land in imitation of the ancient Miracle wrought for that People at the red Sea Many of them follow'd this false Moses and perished in the Waters those only being reported to have been saved who presently own'd Christ to be the true God Our Coelestine having at three Decembrian Ordinations made thirty two Presbyters twelve Deacons sixty two Bishops died and was buried in the Coemetery of Priscilla in the Via Salaria April the 6th He sat in the Chair eight years ten months seventeen days and by his death the See was vacant twenty one days SIXTUS III. SIXTUS the third a Roman Son of Sixtus lived in the time of Valentinian Who being Governour of the Western Empire entred into a League with Gensericus King of the Vandals whom he permitted to inhabit part of Africa confining themselves within certain Boundaries agreed upon between them Genseric being afterwards instigated by the Arians became very zealous in propagating their Errours and violently persecuted the Orthodox Bishops And Valentinian going to Constantinople and there marrying Theodosius's Daughter the Vandals in the mean time under Genseric's Conduct re-took and sack'd Carthage in the five hundred eighty fourth year since its first being in the hands of the Romans While these things weret ransacting in Afric Attila King of the Huns not contented to have invaded the two Hungaries miserably harasses Macedonia Mysia Achaia and the Thraces and then that he might have no sharer in the Kingdom puts to death his Brother Bleda
and therefore he preferr'd his Son-in-law before his Father-in-law And gaining the Victory over the French in a very important Battel he recovers Gascoigne and undertakes the present Government of it till Almaric the son of Alaric should come to Age. The same Theodoric to his Conquest of Italy added that of Sicily Dalmatia Liburnia Illyricum Gallia Narbonensis and Burgundy He also walled round the City of Trent and to secure Italy from a forein Invasion upon the Frontiers of it near Aost placed the Heruli whose King being yet a Minor he made his adopted Son Gelasius in the mean time condemns to banishment all the Manichees that should be found in the City and causes their books to be publickly burnt near S. Mary's Church And being satisfied of the repentance of Messenus who had given in his Retractation in Writing at the request of the Synod he absolved him and restored him to his Bishoprick But having intelligence that several murthers and other notorious outrages were committed in the Greek Churches by the factious followers of Peter Mog and Acacius he forthwith sends his Legates thither with Commission to Excommunicate for ever all those who did not immediately recant their Errours a new and unusual severity whereas the Primitive Church was wont to wait long in hopes that Separatists would at length return to her Bosom At this time John Bishop of Alexandria an Orthodox Prelate and who had been very much persecuted by these seditious people fled for resuge to the Bishop of Rome who very kindly and courteously received him The Churches which Gelasius consecrated were that of S. Euphemia the Martyr in Tivoli that of S. Nicander and Eleutherius in the Via Labicana and that of S. Mary in the Via Laurentina twenty miles from Rome He had a great love and honour for the Clergy and was very liberal and charitable to the poor He delivered the City of Rome from many dangers and particularly from that of dearth and scarcity He composed Hymns in imitation of S. Ambrose published five Books against Eutyches and Nestorius and two against Arius made very elegant and grave Orations and wrote weighty and learned Epistles to his Friends of the houshold of Faith all which Works of his are at this time to be seen in the publick Libraries Some tell us that he Excommunicated Anastasius successour to Zeno in the Eastern Empire for favouring Acacius and other Hereticks which is an argument as clear as the Sun that the Bishop of Rome has power to Excommunicate any Prince who is erroneous in the Faith if he continue refractary after Admonition The same course likewise he took with the Vandals and their King who being infected with the Arian Heresie proved now very cruel and barbarous persecutours of the Orthodox At the beginning of his Pontificate lived Germanus and Epiphanius the latter Bishop of Pavia the former of Capua men who by the authority which the Sanctity of their Lives had gain'd them and by their humble and obliging deportment wrought so much upon the minds of the barbarous Invadors that afflicted Italy fared the better for their sakes At the same time also Lannociatus Abbat of Chartres with Aurelianus and Mezentius of Poictiers persons of great Piety and Learning gain'd so much ground in Gaul that they persuaded Clodoveus the French King and his Queen Crocildis to become Christians and to undertake the protection of the Catholick Faith throughout their Dominions though some attribute this honour to Remigius as hath been already said Gelasius having ordained thirty two Presbyters two Deacons sixty seven Bishops died and was buried in S. Peter's Church November 21. He was in the Chair four years eight months seventeen days and by his death the See was vacant seven days ANASTASIUS II. ANASTASIUS the second a Roman Son of Fortunatus was Contemporary with the Emperour Anastasius At which time Transamund King of the Vandals shut up the Churches of the Orthodox Clergy and banished one hundred and twenty Bishops into the Island of Sardinia 'T is reported also that one Olympius an Arian Bishop having publickly in the Baths at Carthage declared his detestation of the Doctrine of the Trinity was immediately smitten and his body burnt with three flashes of Lightning And when Barbas another Bishop of the same Faction was going to baptize a certain person in this form of words Barbas baptizeth thee in the name of the Father by the Son and in the Holy Ghost 't is said the Water disappeared which Miracle so wrought upon the man who was to be baptized that he immediately came over to the Orthodox It was this Bishop Anastasius as some Writers tell us who Excommunicated the Emperour Anastasius for favouring Acacius though afterwards being himself seduced by the same Heretick and endeavouring privately to recall him from Exile he thereby very much alienated the minds of his Clergy who for that reason and also because without the consent of the Catholicks he communicated with Photinus a Deacon of Thessalonica and an assertour of the Acacian 〈◊〉 withdrew themselves from him 'T is generally reported that the divine vengeance pursuing him for this Apostacy he died suddenly and some say that the particular manner of his death was that going to ease Nature he purg'd out his Bowels into the Privy In his time Fulgentius an African Bishop of Ruspoe though he were among the other Orthodox Bishops of Africa banish'd into Sardinia by Transamund yet neglected nothing that might contribute to the propagating of the Catholick Faith whether by Exhortation Preaching or Admonition He likewise published several Books of the Trinity of Free-will and the Rule of Faith and besides the several elegant and grave Homilies he made to the people he wrote against the Pelagian Heresie The Learned Egesippus also who composed Monastical Constitutions and in an elegant style wrote the Life of S. Severinus the Abbat was at this time very serviceable to the Church Moreover Faustus a Gallican Bishop was now a considerable Writer but among all his Works the most in esteem was his Tract against Arius wherein he maintains the persons in the Trinity to be Co-essential He wrote also against those who asserted any created Being to be incorporeal demonstrating both by the Judgment of the Fathers and from the Testimonies of holy Writ that God only is purely and properly incorporeal But I shall here conclude the Pontificate of Anastasius who at one Decembrian Ordination having made twelve Presbyters and sixteen Bishops was buried in S. Peter's Church November 19. He sat in the Chair one year ten months twenty four days and by his death the See was vacant four days SYMMACHUS I. SYMMACHUS a Sardinian Son of Fortunatus succeeded Anastasius though not without great Controversie and after a long bandying of two contrary Factions For while one part of the Clergy chuse Symmachus in the Church of S. John 〈◊〉 another part of them in S. Maria Maggiore make choice of one Laurence
the determination of the Apostolick See unless an account were first given them why Acacius was Excommunicated But Justine soon forc'd them out of the Church and City too and Hormisda dealt in the same manner with the Manichees who began to spring up afresh in Rome whose Books he caused to be burn'd before the Gates of S. John Lateran About this time Transamund King of the Vandals dying in Afric his Son 〈◊〉 whom he had by the Captive Daughter of Valentinian succeeded him in the Kingdom He inherited none of his Fathers Errours but following the Counsel of his religious Mother re-call'd all the Catholicks whom Transamund had banish'd and permitted them the free exercise of their Religion At this time also several rich Presents were sent to Rome for the Ornament of the Churches there by Clodoveus King of France and Justine the Emperour King Theodoric also richly adorn'd the Church of S. Peter nor was Hormisda himself behind these Princes in bounty and munificence to the Church Having setled things according to his mind and ordained twenty one Presbyters fifty five Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church August the 6th in the Consulship of Maximus He sat in the Chair nine years eighteen days and by his death the See was vacant six days JOHN I. IOHN by birth a Tuscan Son of Constantius was in the Chair from the Consulship of Maximus to that of Olybrius in the time of King Theodoric and the Emperour Justine Who out of his great zeal for the Orthodox Faith and that he might utterly extinguish the name of Hereticks banish'd the Arians and gave their Churches to the Catholicks This was so highly resented by Theodoric that he sends John himself with Theodorus and the two Agapeti his Ambassadours to Justine to advise him to restore the Arians or upon his refusal to let him know that he would pull down all the Catholick Churches in Italy These Ambassadours were at first very kindly and honourably received But having given an account of their Embassie and finding Justine wholly averse to grant what they desired they betook themselves to Tears and Prayers humbly beseeching him to prevent the ruin of Italy and all the Orthodox Christians in it by which means the good Prince was prevailed upon to recall the Arians and to grant them a Toleration Some write that it was in this Bishops time that Symmachus and Boethius were brought back from Exile imprison'd and slain by the cruelty and rage of Theodoric However certain it is that they were put to death by Theodoric's order and it matters not much whether it were in the Pontificate of Hormisda or John Which John returning from Constantinople Theodoric was so highly incens'd against him for his agreement with the Emperour Justine both in Faith and manners that it was a chance that he had not taken away his life immediately but throw him into Prison he did at Ravenna where through stench and nastiness and want of necessary provision the good man at length died A Cruelty for which the divine Vengeance sorely punished Theodoric not long after for he died suddenly of a fit of an Apoplexy and his Soul if you will take the word of a devout Hermit who reported it was cast into the flames of the Island Lipara Theodoric was succeeded in the Kingdom by his Daughter Amalasuntha with her Son Athalaric whom she had by her Husband Eucherius A Woman who with a prudence above her Sex rectified her Fathers ill Decrees restored the confiscated Estates of Boethius and Symmachus to their Children and caused her Son to be instructed in all kinds of good Literature though she were herein opposed by the Goths who cried out that their King was not to be bred a Scholar but a Soldier Much about this time died Justine being very Aged leaving the Empire to his Sisters Son Justinian and Clodoveus King of France leaving four Sons his Successors in that Kingdon Persons of Note and esteem at this time were Benedict of Nursia who setled among the Italians the Rules and Canons of the Monastick life and Bridget a devout Virgin of Scotland and John Presbyter of Antioch who wrote much against those that held that Christ should be worshipped in one Nature only To these Isidore adds one Cyprignius a Spanish Bishop who wrote elegantly upon the Apocalypse Our John before he went to Constantinople had repaired three Coemeteries namely that of Nereus and Achilleus in the Via Ardeatina that of the Martyrs SS Felix and Adauctus and that of Priscilla He also adorn'd the Altar of S. Peters with Gold and Jewels He likewise brought with him from Constantinople a Paten of Gold and a Chalice of Gold set with precious stones the Presents of the Emperour Justine but these I suppose to have been lost together with his life At several Ordinations he consecrated fifteen Bishops 'T is said that his Body was brought from Ravenna to Rome and buried in S. Peter's Church July the 27th Olybrius being then Consul He sat in the Chair two years eight months and by his death the Seewas vacant fifty eight days FELIX IV. FELIX the fourth a Sammite the Son of Costorius lived in the time of the Emperour Justinian Whose General Belisarius was victorious over the Persians and passing into Afric by his singular courage and conduct subdued and almost quite rooted out the Vandals whose King Gilimer he took Prisoner and brought him home with him in Triumph About this time Amalasuntha having a long time lived very uneasily with her malecontented Goths and having buried her wayward and unruly Son Athalaric associates her kinsman Theodatus in the Government This Theodatus was so great a Proficient in Greek and Latin Learning that he wrote an elegant History of his own times and was throughly skilled in the Platonick Philosophy And though he were not naturally of an active Martial temper yet at the desire of Amalasuntha he undertook a War against the Burgundians and Alemanni and manag'd it very succcesfully Felix in the mean while being careful of the affairs of the Church excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople for Heresie and built in the Via Sacra near the Forum Romanum the Church of S. Cosmus and Damianus as appears from the Verses yet remaining wrought in Mosaick work He also re-built the Church of S. Saturninus in the Via Salaria which had been consumed by fire Some write that in this Age lived Cassiodorus who while he was a Senator wrote several things in Politicks and when he became a Monk composed a Comment upon the Psalms 'T is said also that Priscian of Caesarea the famous Grammarian now wrote his Book of Grammar Arator likewise a Sub-Deacon of Rome translated the Gospels into Hexameter Verse and Justinian Bishop of Valence was had in great esteem for what he preach'd and wrote concerning the Christian Faith As for Felix himself having ordained fifty five Presbyters four Deacons twenty nine Bishops he
and was not yet punish'd according to his Demerits Those of the Clergy who had accompanied him from Rome were some of them banish'd others condemn'd to dig in the Mines But at the request of the Romans who had now a better Opinion of him and upon the importunity of Narses whom Justinian had sent to Rome to oppose the Goths Vigilius and all the others who were confin'd had liberty granted them to return into Italy But in their passage thither being come as far as Syracuse in 〈◊〉 Vigilius who had out-liv'd so many Calamities and Troubles died there of the Stone and his body was carried to Rome and buried in the Church of S. Marcellus in the Via Salaria He lived in the Pontificate at Rome and elsewhere seventeen years six months twenty six days and by his death the See was vacant three months five days PELAGIUS I. PELAGIUS a Roman lived in the time when Totilas King of the Goths advancing with a great Army from Treviso over-run and spoiled Italy in such a manner that from his salvage Cruelty he was called God's Scourge Coming as far as Mount Cassino in his way to Campania though he were in the habit of a common Soldier yet he was discovered by S. Benedict who spared not by threatning of divine Vengeance to terrifie him from raging so furiously against the Christians Moving thence towards Abruzzo he dismantled 〈◊〉 besieged Naples took Cumoe where yet he exercised an extraordinary Respect and Civility towards the Roman Women whom he found in it permitting them to go to Rome to their Friends without any violence or rudeness offered to them After this having taken Naples and made himself Master of all that part of Italy which lies towards Sicily he marches to Rome and having first seized the Port by which 〈◊〉 should come to the City he reduced them to such extremity for want of Provisions that some were forced to feed upon Mans-flesh At length forcing his entrance at the Gate which leads to Ostia he possessed himself of the City which having plundered he set on fire Some tell us that Totilas designed to save the Buildings of the City and sent Messengers about by Night to publish his pleasure in that particular but his Orders therein were not obeyed Justinian having Intelligence of these proceedings speedily dispatches Narses the Eunuch with a great Army into Italy 'T is said that this Narses was at first a Bookseller but being advanced to an Office near the Emperour's Person Justinian finding him to be a man of great merit raised him to the Dignity of a Patrician And indeed in all the accomplishments of Religion and Vertue and Clemency and Generosity and sweetness of temper he was a most exemplary and extraordinary Person Narses with the addition of some Auxiliary Forces from Alboinus King of the Lombards advances against the Goths routs them and makes a great slaughter in the pursuit of them Totilas lost his life ingloriously at Brissello and Theias who was chosen King in his stead though he behaved himself bravely yet was slain by Narses not far from Nocera And thus both the Name and Power of the Goths were extinct together in the seventy second year after that their King Theodoric first entred Italy Not long after died Justinian in the fortieth year of his Reign a Prince worthy to have his memory perpetuated to all Posterity and who according to the custom of preceding Emperours deserves the additional Titles of Alemanicus Gotthicus Wandalicus Persicus Africanus though he only advised but did not act in the successful Expeditions made against those Nations Pelagius in the midst of these disturbances not neglecting the Affairs of the Church ordained that Hereticks and Schismaticks might be suppressed by the Secular Power when they would not be reclaim'd by Reason and Argument Being accused that he was the occasion of the Calamities that befell Vigilius as having a greater interest with Justinian than Vigilius had in the sight of the Clergy and People he laid his hand upon the Cross and the Gospel and by a solemn Oath purged himself from that Charge Narses coming to Rome made a Procession from the Church of S. Pancras to S. Peter's with Thanksgiving for his late success and set himself with all possible application to repair the Damage which the City had receiv'd by the Goths In conjunction with Pelagius he ordained that no Person should be admitted to any holy Orders or Ecclesiastical Dignity by the way of canvassing or Birbery Pelagius making his Notary Valentinus a very religious person Treasurer of the Church begins the building of the Church of SS Philip and James Some tell us that the learned Monk Cassiodorus who had been first Consul then a Senator and afterwards renouncing all human Greatness embraced a Monastick life lived to this time and that Victor Bishop of Capua now wrote a Book concerning Easter in which he particularly discovered the mistakes of Dionysius the Roman Abbat who had with little care and skill composed a Paschal Cycle Moreover Sabinus Bishop of Canosa and Gregory Bishop of Langres and Vedastus a Scholar of S. Remigius and Bishop of Arras were Ornaments to the Pontificate of Pelagius and Herculanus Bishop of Perugia who had been put to Death by Totylas was Canonized Pelagius having at two Decembrian Ordinations made twenty six Presbyters eleven Deacons thirty nine Bishops died and was buried in S. Peter's He was in the Chair eleven years ten months twenty eight days The See was then vacant twenty six days JOHN III. JOHN the third the Son of Anastasius descended of a Noble Family lived in the time of Justine who succeeded Justinian but was in nothing like him For he was Covetous lewd rapacious a contemner of God and Men to such a degree that his Vices made him srantick so that his Wife Sophia managed all affairs till the time of Tiberius the second This Woman being prompted thereto by some envious persons who hated Narses recalls him out of Italy in these reproachful words That she would have the Eunuch come home and spin This he very highly resenting as well he might returns answer That he would spin such a Web as none of his Enemies should ever be able to unweave And he was as good as word For he presently sends and invites Alboinus King of the Lombards with all his people then possessed of Pannonia to come and seat themselves in the more plentiful Countrey of Italy Alboinus complying with the proposal of Narses and entring Italy with a vast number of men with their Wives and Children first possesses himself of Friuli and Marca Trivigiana thence passing into Insubria he takes and sacks Milain and at length makes himself Master of Pavia after it had held out a Siege of three years Being thus slush'd with Victory he goes to Verona which he constitutes the the Capital City of his Kingdom where being once at an Entertainment over-heated with Wine he compelled his Wife
quitting all hopes of gaining the City 〈◊〉 the Siege and returns to Milain Mauritius now began to treat Gregory more respectfully but it proceeded not from a voluntary but forc'd Repentance he having heard that a certain person in the habit of a Monk with a drawn Sword in his hand had proclaim'd aloud in the Market-place of Constantinople that the Emperour should in a short time die by the Sword The same was confirmed to him by a Dream of his own in which he saw himself his Empress and their Children murdered And accordingly not long after the Soldiers being discontented for want of Pay create Phocas who was a Centurion in the Army Emperour and Assassine Mauritius in the nineteenth year of his Reign But Gregory having added what Ornaments he could to the Churches in Rome and dedicated by the name of S. Agatha the Martyr the Church of the Goths in Suburra built by 〈◊〉 Ricimerius a man of Consular Dignity converted his Father's House into a Monastery wherein he received and entertained Strangers and supplyed with meat and drink the poor which from all parts slocked to it He was certainly a person every way praise-worthy whether we regard his Life and Conversation or his Learning or his Abilities in things both Divine and Humane Nor ought we to suffer him to be censured by a few ignorant men as if the ancient 〈◊〉 Buildings were demolish'd by his Order upon this pretence which they make for him lest Strangers coming out of Devotion to Rome should less regard the consecrated places and spend all their Gaze upon Triumphal Arches and Monuments of Antiquity No such reproach can justly be fastned upon this great Bishop especially considering that he was a Native of the City and one to whom next after God his Countrey was most dear even above his Life 'T is certain that many of those ruin'd Structures were devour'd by Time and many might as we daily see be pull'd down to build new Houses and for the rest 't is probable that for the sake of the Brass used in the concavity of the Arches and the conjunctures of the Marble or other square stones they might be battered and defaced not only by the barbarous Nations but by the Romans too if Epirotes Dalmatians Pannonians and other sorry people who from all parts of the World resorted hither may be called Romans Now Gregory having used all means to establish the Church of God died in the second year of the Emperour Phocas having been in the Chair thirteen years six months ten days and the loss of him being lamented by all men was buried in S. Peter's March 12. By his Death the See was vacant five months nineteen days SABINIANUS I. SABINIAN Gregorie's Successour deserv'd not to have the place of his Nativity remembred being a person of mean Birth and meaner Reputation and one who violently opposed the great things which his Predecessour had done Particularly there being a great 〈◊〉 during his Pontificate and the poor pressing him hard to imitate the pious Charity of Gregory he made them no other Answer but this That Gregory was a man who design'd to make himself popular and to that end had profusely wasted the Revenues of the Church Nay the ill-natured wretch arrived to such a degree of Rage and Envy against Gregory that he was within a very little of causing his Books to be burn'd Some tell us that Sabinian was at the instigation of some Romans thus highly incensed against Gregory because he had mutilated and thrown down the Statues of the Antients which had been set up throughout the City but this is a Charge as dissonant from truth as that of his demolishing the old Fabricks concerning which we have spoken in his Life and considering the Antiquity of these Statues and the casualties which might 〈◊〉 them and the designs which mens Covetousness or Curiosity might have upon them 't is fairly probable that they might be mangled or lost without Gregorie's being at all concern'd therein But to go on with Sabinian it was he who instituted the 〈◊〉 of Canonical hours for Prayer in the Church and who ordained that Tapers should be kept continually burning especially in the Church of S. Peter Some tell us that with the consent of Phocas a Peace was now made with the Lombards and their King Agilulphus's Daughter who had been taken Captive in the War restored to him At this time appeared divers Prodigies portending the Calamities which ensued A bright Comet was seen in the Air at Constantinople a Child was born with four feet and at the Island 〈◊〉 were seen two Sea-monsters in humane shape Some write that in the Pontificate of Sabinian John Patriarch of Alexandria and 〈◊〉 Bishop of Carthage both persons famous for Piety and Learning did wonderfully improve the Dignity of those Churches Moreover 〈◊〉 a very learned man and an intimate Friend of 〈◊〉 wrote very much against Vincent Bishop of Saragoza who had sallen off to the Arian Heresie he also wrote to his Sister a Book concerning Virginity entituled Aureolus But Sabinian having been in the Chair one year five months nine days died and was buried in the Church of S Peter By his Death the See was vacant eleven months twenty six days BONIFACE III. BONIFACE the third a Roman with much ado obtained of the Emperour Phocas that the See of S. Peter the Apostle should by all be acknowledged and styled the Head of all the Churches A Title which had been stickled for by the Church of Constantinople through the encouragement of some former Princes who asserted that the Supremacy ought to reside there where the Seat of the Empire was But the Roman Bishops alledged that Rome of which Constantinople was but a Colony ought to be accounted the chief City of the Empire since the Greeks themselves in their Writings styled their Prince 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the Emperour of the Romans and the Constantinopolitans even in that Age were called Romans not Greeks Not to mention that Peter the Chief of the Apostles bequeathed the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven to his Successours the Bishops of Rome and left the Power which God had given him not to Constantinople but to Rome This only I say that several Princes and particularly Constantine had granted to the Roman See only the priviledg of calling and dissolving Councils and of rejecting or confirming their Decrees And does not a Church which has with so much integrity and constancy bastled and 〈◊〉 all manner of Heresies as the Roman See hath done deserve think you the preference of others The same Boniface in a Synod of 〈◊〉 two Bishops thirty Presbyters and three Deacons ordained that upon pain of Excommunication no person should succeed in the place of any deceased Pope or other Bishop till at least the third day after the death of his Predecessour and that whoever should by Bribes or by making of Parties and Interests endeavour to raise themselves to the
Popedom or any other Bishoprick should undergo the same Penalty He decreed likewise that the choice of any Bishop should be by the Clergy and People and that the Election should then stand good when it were approved by the Civil Magistrate and when the Pope had interposed his Authority in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Command An Institution in part very necessary for our times especially so many corruptions daily creeping in For it is probable that the Election being free the Clergy and People will chuse and the Magistrate approve of no other than such an one as deserves and is fit to be Governour in the Church Though if I may speak it without offence to any that are good the truth is multitudes do now aspire to the Dignity of Bishops not as they ought to do for the sake of the publick good but that they may satisfie their own Covetousness and Ambition For the great Question is what any Bishoprick is worth not how great a Flock there is to take the charge of But enough of this I return to Boniface whose Decrees as it appears were extinct with his Life He died in the ninth month of his Pontificate and was buried in the Church of S. Peter The See was then vacant one month six days BONIFACE IV. BONIFACE the fourth born in Valeria a City of the Marsi the Son of John a Physician obtained of the Emperour Phocas the Pantheon a Temple so called because it was dedicated to Cybele and all the Gods and having cast out all the Heathen Images that were in it he consecrated it on May the 12th in honour to the Blessed Virgin and all the Martyrs 〈◊〉 it was afterwards called S. Maria Rotunda and Virgo ad Martyres At this time the Persians under the Conduct of their King 〈◊〉 making an irruption into the Roman Provinces and having routed Phocas's Army possess themselves of Jerusalem prophane and pillage the Churches of the Christians carry away the Wood of our Saviour's Cross and take Captive Zacharias the holy Patriarch of that City Hereupon Phocas falling into contempt with all men but especially the Senate was deprived of his Empire and Life by Heraclius General of the Forces and Governour of the Province of Afrique Now also Caganus King of the Avares forcing his entrance through Pannonia and Illyricum into Italy was so much too hard for the Lombards that he was very near making himself Master of the Province it self and through the treachery of Romilda who was enamour'd of him he did actually take Friuli and sack'd it in such a manner that scarce any footsteps of it were left remaining While things went thus in Italy John Bishop of Girone proved a great Defence to Christianity both by his Preaching and Writings He being a Goth born in Portugal so soon as he came to the years of discretion travelled to Constantinople and parted thence so well skill'd in Greek and Latin Learning that at his return into Portugal he was able easily to 〈◊〉 the Arian Heresie which very much prevailed there For this reason he was by the Hereticks confined in Barcellona But afterwards upon the death of King Lemungildus who countenanced those Hereticks he came back into his own Countrey and both wrote very much concerning the Christian Religioon and also founded a Monastery and prescribed Rules of living which the Monks thereof were to guide themselves by Eutropius also Bishop of Valentia was now by his Learning and Example very instrumental to keep the Spaniards sound in the Faith Moreover Columbanus an Abbat a very holy man by descent a Goth coming first out of Scotland into Burgundy built there the stately Monastery of Luxevil and thence passing into Italy built another fair one at Bobio Pope Boniface that he might not be behind-hand in this matter with either of them converted his Father's House into a Monastery and gave his Estate for the maintenance of the Monks in it But not long after he died having been in the Chair six years eight months seventeen days and was buried in the Church of S. Peter in a time of Dearth Pestilence and great Innundation of Waters By his Death the See was vacant seven months twenty 〈◊〉 days DEUS-DEDIT I. DEUS-DEDIT a Roman Son of Stephen a Sub-deacon being unanimously chosen to the Pontificate proved a great Lover and Encourager of the Clergy 'T is reported that he was a person of so great Sanctity that meeting with a man who had a Leprosie he cured him of that Disease with a Kiss He ordained that the Son should not marry any Woman to whom his Father had been Godfather At this time Heraclius with a great Army recovered several Provinces which the Persians had possess'd themselves of dismounted and slew their General in a single Combat vanquish'd their King Chosdroës and took his Son Prisoner whom having first Christned he released and sent home again Entring Persia he took a strong Tower in which 〈◊〉 's Treasure lay part of which he distributed among his Soldiers and assign'd another part for the repairing of the Churches which the Persians had pillaged and spoil'd Returning to Jerusalem with seven Elephants loaded with other great Booty he brought along with him the Cross of our Blessed Saviour which the Persians had taken away and laid it up in the place where it was before Those of the Persians whom he had taken Prisoners he suffered to return into their own Countrey After this being arrived at Constantinople and taking delight in study he applied himself to Astrology But yet this great Emperour against all Law both Divine and Humane married his own Sister's Daughter and to add one Crime to another as is usual when men once become guilty he falls off to the Eutychian Heresie This happened at the time when Anastasius a Persian being converted to Christianity and having entred upon a Monastick Life was seized by his own Countrey-men and suffered Martyrdom for the sake of his Religion whose body was afterwards conveyed to Rome and reposited in the Monastery of S. Paul 'T is said that at this time Sisebute King of the Goths reduced several Cities of Spain which had revolted to the Romans and that by Torment he forced all the Jews which he discovered in his Kingdom to profess the belief of Christianity This it is reported he did at the request of Heraclius who had been fore-warn'd to beware of the Circumcised but yet afterwards he being not sufficiently careful to prevent his Fate was crush'd by the Saracens who observed Circumcision Thus things went in the East nor did the West want it's Assertours of the Christian Faith For Arnulphus Bishop of Metz by his Piety and Prudence kept Dagobert the French King within the bounds of his Duty being therein assisted by Amandus an excellent person and a vigorous defender of the Christian Religion Among the Spaniards Isidore Bishop of Sevil successour to Leander wrote several things very beneficial to the State of Christianity particularly of the
arriving in Spain ravage all the Countrey except Granada which was inhabited by those of their own Nation already and at length with their Wives and Children pass as far as Aquitain designing to possess themselves of that Province also Charles Martell the Son of Pipin was at this time famous throughout the World This Pipin after the Death of Grimoald had two other Sons left Caroloman and Charles Martell which Charles this Brother also dying gain'd afterwards to himself the Kingdom of France though not without great opposition especially of Eudo Duke of Aquitain and Chilperic whom some of the French upon the Death of Theodoric had set up to be their King But Martell having passed the River Seine and advanced to Orleans at the first Attaque puts them to flight and becomes sole Possessour of the Kingdom of France After this he passed the Rhine and conquered the Saxons Alemans Sueves and Boiarians But having Intelligence that the Saracens had been invited by Eudo into France by great Marches he comes forth against them and obliging them to fight gains a mighty Victory not far from Tours Historians write that in this Battel there were slain of the Saracens three hundred and sixty thousand but of the French only one thousand one hundred and fifty and 't is said that Eudo hereupon came over to Martel's side The Saracens being by this means through Martel's Valour diverted from any farther Attempts upon the Spaniards and French turn all the Rage and Indignation which upon so great an Overthrow had been raised in them upon the Constantinopolitans whose City they besieged by Sea and Land the space of three years But suffering all the extremities of War being pinched with Hunger and Cold and a Pestilence moreover raging among them they raised the Siege and return'd home 'T is said that of this Plague there died in Constantinople three hundred thousand As for the Affairs of Italy the Lombards now under the Conduct of Luithprandus after a long Siege took and sack'd Ravenna carrying away from thence to Pavia all things of considerable value and amongst the rest as I believe the famous Statue on Horseback in Brass Thus according to the usual Vicissitude of humane Affairs it so fell out that what Theodoric and other Kings of the Goths and after them the Exarchs had taken from Rome and carried to Ravenna was by others afterwards scattered about and dispersed into several places In the mean time there was at Rome a Plot laid by some seditious people against the Pope the Heads of the Conspiracy being Basilius Jordanus a Notary John a Sub-deacon surnamed Lurion and Marinus an Officer of the Guards who at this time was Governour of Rome under the Emperour But upon the Emperour 's recalling Marinus the business was deferred to another time The Conspiratours tampered also with Paul the Exarch being willing in a matter of so great importance to have him to head them The whole Design being at length discovered by the people of Rome they appear in Arms kill John Lurion and dissipate the other Conspiratours Basilius was confined to a Monastery where he died The forementioned Paul being highly enraged at the Pope for prohibiting his levying new Taxes did by the Emperour's Order seek all ways both secret and open of taking away the good mans life but the Romans and Lombards taking up Arms defended him The Emperour Leo hereupon publishes an Edict commanding all those who were Subjects of the Roman Empire to rase out and take away all the Pictures and Images of Saints Martyrs and Angels out of their Churches with design as he ptofessed thereby to prevent Idolatry and declaring that whosoever refused so to do should be accounted a publick Enemy But Gregory not only not obeyed this Order but also encouraged all Catholicks to stand up stoutly against it Whereupon the people of Italy were so animated that they were near chusing another Emperour had not Gregory by his authority interposed to prevent it Notwithstanding which there arose such a Dissention at Ravenna some pleading for Obedience to the Emperour others to the Pope that Paul the Exarch together with his Son was slam in the Tumult To succeed in whose place the Emperour sends Eutychius an Eunuch who by Gifts and Promises was to endeavour to break the Friendship and Alliance between the Lombards and the Pope But that Attempt having been often made in vain was drop'd for a time and the Pope being freed of this trouble began to visit the Hospitals and Churches and to repair those of them which through age or neglect had fallen to decay Moreover he made a Peace between the King of the Lombards and the Dukes of Spoleto and Beneventum which that King had intended to crush but having marched in a peaceable manner as far as Rome to confer with the Pope about the matter Gregory by his Christian Counsel so mollified his mind that laying aside all thoughts of War he offered up his Sword and other Arms in the Church of S. Peter The Emperour Leo now in another wild humour commanded all the Images either of Wood Brass or Marble to be brought to him which he forthwith caused to be burnt and seiz'd upon and put to Death those who refused to bring them Germanus the Patriarch who vigorously opposed it he banished and put into his place Anastasius an Heretick whom Gregory afterwards in a Synod deprived and interdicted the Exercise of sacred Offices if he refused to return to the Catholick Faith Furthermore as became a pious Prelate he oftentimes by Letters admonished the Emperour to quit the erroneous Opinions into which some ill men had seduced him and at length to embrace the Truth and to cease the destroying of the Images of the Saints by whose Example and Memory men might be excited to the Imitation of their Virtues Some write that in this Popes time Boniface came out of Britain to Rome and for his sanctity was of a Monk made a Bishop and sent into Germany that by his Preaching and Example he might confirm that People in the Faith which he performed so well that he was deservedly made Bishop of Mentz but passing thence into Africa he was for his preaching the Word of God put to Death by the Enemies of Christianity 'T is said also that S. Aegidius a Grecian was now famous for the holy Life he led and the miracles he wrought and that Petronax a Citizen of Brescia did by Vow repair at his own Charge the Monastery of S. Benedict which was almost quite left desolate As for Gregory who by his good Example excited all men to the practice of Piety and Virtue having been in the Chair sixteen years nine months eleven days he died and was buried in S. Peter's February the 11th By his Death the See was vacant thirty five days He is said to have consecrated during his Pontificate one hundred forty eight Bishops GREGORY III. GREGORT the third a Syrian his Fathers
Brother who had before as we have already said taken the habit of a Monk and indeed the Lombards generally except those of Tuscany were on his side But Desiderius by making large Promises to the Pope and the Romans wrought them into a favour of his Pretensions and accordingly they with all speed sent Ambassadours and among them Holcadus the Abbat to Rachis to require him to lay down his Arms and submit to Desiderius And so Faenza and Ferrara were at last delivered to the Pope and the name of the Exarchate which had continued from the time of Narses to the taking of Ravenna by Aistulphus an hundred and seventy years was extinguished Things being now peaceably setled and the Jurisdiction of the Church greatly encreased Stephen holding a Synod takes an account of his several Flocks and their Pastors gently chastises those who had offended directs such as had gone astray teaches and instructs the ignorant and finally sets before them the Duty of a Bishop of a Presbyter and of all Orders in the Clergy Moreover he appointed Litanies for the appeasing of the Divine Anger the Procession on the first Saturday to be to S. Marie's ad Proesepe on the second to S. Peter's in the Vatican on the third to S. Paul's in the Via Ostiensis He also repaired several Churches which had been damaged by Aistulphus while he layed Siege to the City yet he did not recover the Reliques of the Saints which that King had carried with him to Pavia and there reposited not dishonourably in divers Churches The good man having by these means proved serviceable to God his Countrey and the Church died in the fifth year and first month of his Pontificate and was buried April the 26th with general lamentation as for the loss of a Common Father The See was then vacant thirty two days PAUL I. PAUL a Roman son of 〈◊〉 Brother of Stephen the second became well skill'd and practiced in all things belonging to a Churchman by his having been educated in the Lateran Palace under Pope Gregory the second and Pope Zachay by which latter he was together with his Brother ordained Deacon and when upon the Vacancy of the Popedom by the Death of Stephen some persons proposed Theophylact the Arch-Deacon for his Successour yet others stood for Paul as one who both for the Integrity of his Life and great Learning deserved to succeed his Brother in that Dignity After a long Dispute therefore Theophylact was rejected and Paul by general suffrage chosen in the time of Constantine and Leo. This Paul was a person of an extraordinary meek and merciful Temper and who in Imitation of our Saviour never returned to any man evil for evil but on the contrary by doing good to them he overcame those ill men that had oftentimes injur'd him He was of so kind and compassionate a Nature as that he would go about by night with only two or three Attendants to the Houses of poor sick people assisting them with his Counsel and relieving them with his Alms. He also frequently visited the Prisons and paying their Creditors discharged thence multitudes of poor Debtours The Fatherless and Widows that were over-reach'd by the tricks of Lawyers he defended by his Authority and supported by his Charity Moreover having assembled the Clergy and People of Rome he did with great solemnity translate the Body of S. Petronilla S. Peter's Daughter with her Tomb of Marble upon which was this Inscription Petronilloe Filioe dulcissimoe from the Via Appia into the Vatican and placed it at the upper end of the Church dedicated to her Father At this time the Emperour Constantine having in all places plucked down the Images and put to death Constantine Patriarch of Constantinople for opposing him therein and made Nicetas an Eunuch his Abettour in the Sacriledg Patriach in his stead the Pope consulting by all means the Interest of Religion sends Nuntios to Constantinople to advise the Emperour to restore and set up again the Images he had taken away or upon his refusal so to do to threaten him with the Censure of Excommunication But Constantine persisting obstinately in what he had done not only despised this good Counsel but also granted Peace to Sabinus King of the Bulgarians because he also made the like havock of Images with himself though he were before engaged in a War against him Having also associated to himself into part of the Empire his Son Leo the fourth whom he had married to the most beautiful Athenian Lady Irene he enters into a League with the Saracens thereby to despite and provoke the Orthodox Christians In the mean time Pipin entirely subdues Taxillo Duke of the Bojarians and admits of a League with the Saxons but upon this Condition that they should be obliged to send three hundred Horsemen to his Assistance as often as he should have occasion to make an Expedition Against the Aquitains he maintained a tedious War which at length he committed to the management of his young Son Charles himself being so worn out with Age that he could not be present at it This War being ended Charles takes by Storm Bourbon Clermont and several other Towns of Auvergne But Pipin who as we have said was now very old not long after dies leaving in the Kingdom his two Sons Charles and Caroloman Some tell us that Aistulphus King of the Lombards who as is above declared had carried away the Bodies of divers Saints from Rome to Pavia died at this time and that he had built Chappels to those Saints aud also a Cloister for Virgins in which his own Daughters became Nuns He was an extraordinary Lover of the Monks and died in their Arms in the sixth year and fifth month of his Reign At the beginning of his Government he was fierce and rash in the end moderate and a person of such Learning that he reduc'd and form'd the Edicts of the Lombards into Laws He was as has been said succeeded by Duke Desiderius the Valour of the Lombards beginning now to dissolve and lose it self in Luxury Our Paul having repaired some old decayed Churches died in S. Paul's in the Via Ostiensis in the tenth year and first month of his Pontificate and his Body was with very great Solemnity carried into the Vatican The See was then vacant one year one month STEPHEN III. STEPHEN the third a Sicilian Son of Olibrius entred upon the Pontificate A. D. 768. a learned man and in the management of Affairs especially those belonging to the Church very active and steddy Coming to Rome very young by appointment of Pope Gregory III. he took Orders and became a Monk in the Monastery of S. Chrysogonus where he was inured to the stricter way of living and instructed in Ecclesiastical Learning Being afterwards called by Pope Zachary into the Lateran Palace and his Life and Learning generally approved of he was constituted Parish-Priest of S. Caetilia and for his great Integrity and readiness in Business both
had decreed But not long after Sergius Arch-bishop of Ravenna dying Michael Register of that Church with the Assistance of King Desiderius and Maurice Duke of Rimini whom he had corrupted with Bribes though a meer Laick possesses himself of the See in opposition to Leo the Arch-deacon whom the Clergy were very desirous to chuse Yea these Abettours of his presumed so far as to send Ambassadours to Pope Stephen to bribe him into the Consirmation of this Michael But Stephen not only resused their offers of Money but also published an Excommunication against him if he resigned not the See which he had against all Right usurped However he forcibly kept possession of it so long as he had any thing 〈◊〉 either of his own or belonging to the Church whereof to make a 〈◊〉 to greedy 〈◊〉 Upon which the Pope sending his Nun-tio's and King Charles his Ambassadours to Ravenna about that Affair who declared the Popes pleasure therein Michael was forthwith deposed and Leo chosen and confirmed by the Pope Who being for that Reason secretly despited and mischief'd by Desiderius begs Charles to oblige Desiderius to cease injuring him any farther This Charles performed with great diligence though he were not in a condition to restrain the Lombard by Force because upon the Death of his Brother who had reign'd jointly and amicably with him for two years he was necessarily engaged in several Wars at once The Aquitains against whom his Father had begun a War he brought into subjection and subdued the Gascons inhabiting part of Aquitain Then passing the Pyrenean Hills he routed the Saracens pursuing them to the River Betis as far as Granada the part of Spain wherein the Saracens are now seated In the mean time Stephen a most vigilant Pastor and true successour of Peter and imitatour of Christ having been in the Chair three years five months twenty seven days died and was buried in S. Peter's The See was then vacant nine days ADRIAN I. ADRIAN the first a Roman Son of Theodorus one of the prime Nobility entring upon the Pontificate degenerated not at all from his Ancestours being a Person who for his greatness of Mind Prudence Learning and Sanctity may be compared with the best of Popes and of whose Interest and Authority Desiderius King of the 〈◊〉 had such Apprehensions that he presently sent Ambassadours to treat of a Peace and Alliance with him But Adrian being acquainted with the extream Perfidiousness of that King deferred the concluding any thing therein to another time Now after the Death of Caroloman his Relict Bertha out of Envy towards the Grandeur of Hildegarda the Great Charles's Consort by the Advice of one Adoarius flies with her Sons into Italy to King Desiderius who received her very kindly and honourably both because he thought he should by this means be less in danger from the Power of France and also reckoned that the French upon setting up Caroloman's Sons would the sooner appear in Arms against King Charles if he should give him any Disturbance But not being able by Intreaties to prevail with Adrian to anoint these sons of Caroloman Kings he applies himself to forcible means and invading the State of Ravenna which was under the Popes Jurisdiction he takes Faenza and Comacchio Ravenna was at this time under the Government of its Arch-bishop and three Tribunes who forthwith desired Aid of Adrian The Pope at first sends to Desiderius admonishing him to contain himself within his own Territories and not to invade the Rights of the Church But understanding afterwards that this King had also possess'd himself of Urbin Senigaglia and Eugubio he then began to threaten him with the Approach of Divine Vengeance towards him for the Violation of Peace To which the Lombard made no other Reply than that Adrian ought to quit the Interest of the French King and to be of His side For it was his great Design to make a Breach between Chorles and the Pope which when he could not obtain by Solicitations and Promises he threatned to besiege Rome it self within a little time He was already come to Spoleto with Aldagasius Caroloman's Son but intended to march from thence to Rome though in a peaceable manner and as he pretended out of Devotion But Adrian having caused the Reliques of all the Churches without the Walls to be brought into the City sends three Bishops to Desiderius to forbid him entring the Confines of Rome upon pain of Excommunication who thereupon fearing lest he might incurr the divine Displeasure presently returned into Lombardy In the mean time Charles receiving from Adrian Intelligence of the injury which had been done him sends Ambassadours to Desiderius to persuade him to restore what he had wrongfully taken from the Pope or otherwise to let him know that he would soon visit him with such an Army as should oblige him to it Desiderius notwithstanding all this refuses it and so on both sides great Armies are prepared But Charles having sent some part of his Forces before to 〈◊〉 the Passes of the Alpes with wonderful Expedition leads the main Body of his Army over Monte Cenisio into Itely where encountring Desiderius he vanquishes and puts him to flight and then takes and spoils his whole Countrey Desiderius after so great an Overthrow despairing to get the better in a pitch'd Battel retreats to Pavia having sent his Wife and Children to Verona And the people of Spoleto Ricti and all the Lombards inhabiting those Parts hearing his Misfortune betake themfelves to Rome and commit their Persons and Estates to the Popes Protection taking an Oath of Fidelity to him and shavfng their Heads and Beards which among that People was the greatest sign and Token of a perfect Submission to his Power and Jurisdiction By their Example those of Ancona Osimo and 〈◊〉 did the like Now to such of these Lombards as were unwilling to return into their own Countrey the Vatican Hill was granted them to inhabit and seat themselves in whither afterwards there was from all parts a great concourse of other their Countrey-men who chose to live there But Charles leaving his Cousin-German Bernardus at the Siege of 〈◊〉 marches with part of his Army to Verona which City upon the inclination of Bertha and Caroloman's Sons to the French side in a little time after surrendred to him though Aldegisius Desiderius his Son escaping thence fled to the Emperour of Constantinople Almost all the Cities of Lombardy beyond the Po having in like manner yielded to Charles he goes towards Rome that he might there celebrate the Feast of Easter with the Pope At his Approach to the City he was in Complement met by three thousand Judges as 〈◊〉 tells us calling them Judges who were not Handycrafts-men or did not exercise any mean Trades Adrian with his Clergy expected him at the Steps of S Peter and at his coming embraced him with all imaginable Affection but could not restrain the humble King from kissing his Feet The usual
Conspiratours against the Pope should be put to Death but the Pope who was all Clemency obtained a Pardon of their Lives and they were only banished into France After this there were some who would have persuaded Charles to ex pell all the Lombards out of Italy But that not appearing to be a safe course because they had mingled in Bloud and Affinity with multitudes of Families in Italy it was determined both by Charles and Leo that the Name of Lombard should remain there only where that Nation had chiefly had their Seat Pipin being now returned to Bonevent and having continued the Siege of that place for several months without success he turns his Arms against the City Chieti of which having after some Opposition made himself Master by Force he plunder'd and burnt it Upon the terrour whereof at his marching thence he had the Cities of Ortona and Luceria surrendred to him and in the latter he took Grimoald Duke of Benevent who not long after died of Grief In the mean time the Empress of Constantinople sending Ambassadours into Italy enters into a League with Charles their several Pretensions to Italy being thus adjusted viz. Irene was to have that Part which beginning on the one side from Naples and from Siponto a City now called Manfredonia on the other lies extended between the two Seas Eastward together with Sicily all Italy beside only excepting always those places which were under the Jurisdiction of the Church were by the Articles of Peace adjudged to be Charle's own But Nicephorus a Patrician stomaching to submit to the Dominion of a Woman having craftily seized Irene and banished her into Lesbos by his Ambassadours renews the League before entred into with Charles Which Charles at this time compelled the Saxons who had so often revolted to remove with their Wives and Children into France following them close in their Passage with his Army to prevent their committing any Disorders as they went along Pope Leo being perpetually disturbed by one Sedition after another leaving Rome goes to Mantua to see the Bloud of Christ which was now in great esteem for the Miracles said to be wrought there by it Having been received with great Respect and Affection by the Mantuans and approved it to be indeed Christ's Blood upon frequent Trial of the miraculous Effects of it he makes a Journey to Charles who was very desirous to know the Truth of this matter that he might certifie him concerning it and also that he might discourse with him about setling the Affairs of Italy Returning then to Rome and being assisted by King Pipin who had his Father's Order therein he proceeded to a gentle punishment of some of the chief Plotters and movers of Sedition Charles being now very aged having intelligence that Pipin was dead at Milain declares Lous his younger Son King of Aquitain and his Successour in the Empire and Bernard his Nephew King of Italy to whom he gave Charge that he should in all things be obedient to Louis To the Extent of the Empire he set these bounds in Gallia the Rhine and the Loyre in Germany the Danow and the Saw and to these Provinces he added Aquitain Gascoigne a great part of Spain Lombardy Saxony both the Pannonia's Istria Croatia and Dalmatia excepting only those parts of it scituate on the Sea-coast which were subject to the Emperour of Constantinople Having thus setled Affairs while he was at Aken for the recovery of his Health by the use of the hot Baths there he died of a Feaver and Pleurisie in the seventy second year of his Age January the 28. An. Dom. 815. His Body was with all imaginable Pomp and Solemnity interred in the Church of S. Mary which himself had built at Aken with this Inscription on his Tomb MAGNI CAROLI REGIS CHRISTIANISSIMI ROMANORVMQVE IMPERATORIS CORPVS HOC SEPVLCHRO CONDITUM JACET He was indeed whether we regard his management of Civil or Military matters so illustrious and excellent an Emperour that none of his Successours have either excelled or equalled him Moreover when leisure from other weighty Affairs permitted him he took such delight in the study of Learning that it was he who at the persuasion of Alcuinus first made Paris an University Of three Tables of Silver which he had one on which was engraven the City of Constantinople he gave to the Church of S. Peter another on which the City of Rome was described to the Church of Ravenna the third which some tell us was of Gold on which was a Map of the whole World he left to his Sons As for Pope Leo having repaired the Roof of S. Paul's which had fallen down in an Earthquake built from the ground a very capacious Hospital for Strangers near S. Peters's and ordained Litanies on the three days before Ascension-day on the first of which the Procession was to be from S Marie's ad Proesepe to the Lateran Chruch on the second from the Church of S. Sabina to S. Paul's and on the third from S. Cross to S. Laurence's without the Walls in the twenty first year of his Pontificate he died which year there appear'd a Comet thought by some to have been a Presage of so great a calamity He was buried in S. Peter's June the 12th and the See was vacant ten days STEPHEN IV. STEPHEN the fourth a Roman Son of Julius in the third Month of his Pontificate went into France to the Emperour Lewis though the reason of his Journey is not certainly known Some conjecture that it was to secure himself from the Reliques of the Faction and Conspiracy of Campulus which upon the Death of Leo prevailed afresh The Emperour Lewis surnamed the Godly was now at Orleans who assoon as he had intelligence of the Popes coming forthwith sends all the Persons of principal Quality to meet him and among others particularly Theudolphus Bishop of Orleans with the Clergy and a great part of the People And Louis Himself going forth a whole Mile for the same purpose assoon as he saw him alighted off his Horse and after mutual Salutations had passed between them introduced him very honourably into the City the Clergy going before and after repeating the Hymn called Te Deum Laudamus For Stephen was not only a Person of Noble Extraction but of such Learning and Integrity that he easily gain'd a general Veneration for Sanctity having been well instructed by an advantageous Education under those two pious Popes Adrian and Leo. Being entred into the City supported by the Emperour because of the croud of the People who press'd out of a desire to see him he was conducted to the Apartment appointed for him in the Palace where he often had Conferences with the Emperour about the composure of the Affairs of Italy besides the other frequent mutual Entertainments and Civilities that pass'd between them 〈◊〉 would have detained the Pope longer with him had he not now been engaged in such important Wars that it was
about this time that the Body of the Apostle S. Bartholomew was translated from Lipari in Sicily to Beneventum by Sicardus Prince of that place who was personally present in this great War lest the Body of the Holy Apostle should fall into the hands of the Enemies of the name of Christ. But to return to Gregory He was a person of so much Modesty that though he were chosen as well by the Clergy as People of Rome yet he would not take upon him the Office of Pope till he was confirmed by those Ambassadours of the Emperour Louis who had been dispatch'd by him to Rome that they might 〈◊〉 an Election of so great moment This was not done by Louis out of Pride but with respect to the Preservation of the Imperial Prerogative he being naturally very kind and gracious and one that always took care of the Dignity and Privileges of the Church For he ordain'd that they who should take upon 'em a Religious Life should be exempt from all secular services and that every Church should be endowed with such a certain income as that the Priests might live without being forced for want of necessaries to forsake the Divine Service or to take up any Trade Beside in the Year 830. he held a Synod of a great many Bishops designed for the honour of God and the advantage of the Church wherein it was ordained that noither Bishops nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 degree soever should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in sumptuous and gaudy Apparel 〈◊〉 Silk 〈◊〉 or embroidered nor that they should wear on their Fingers any precious stones except Prelates at Mass nor that Gold or 〈◊〉 should be used on their Girdles Shooes or Pantosles which 〈◊〉 is far from all Religion and a manifest sign of great 〈◊〉 and vanity Would to God Lewis thou mightest live in our times Thy holy Institutions thy Censures are wanting in the Church at this present when the Clergy let themselves loose to all manner of luxury and pleasure You may see now not only the Men in Scarlet and Purple which perhaps would be no great matter but even their Horses and Beasts of Carriage and when they march in State a number of Footmen must go before them and they must be follow'd by another retinue of Priests not riding upon Asses as Christ did who was the Author of our Religion and the only pattern of well living on earth but upon Steeds pamper'd add betrapped as if they came in triumph 〈◊〉 a vanquish'd Enemy 'T would be to no purpose to speak of their Silver Vessels their choice Houshold-stuss and Dishes of Meat when in comparison of them the dainties of Sicily the most magnificent Apparel and the Plate of Corinth would be thought of no value What will be the effect of this Exorbitance I shall not determine here lest I should seem to pry into the decrees of Heaven I return to Lewis who by these means taking care as well for Religion as the Public 〈◊〉 died in the 36. year of his Empire and lies buried in the Church of S. 〈◊〉 He was not long after follow'd by our Pope Gregory remarkable for his birth famous for his sanctity notable for Learning and Eloquence and worthy of admiration for his care and diligence in both Spiritual and Civil affairs For he did after an extraordinary manner consult the good of the People by containing the wealthy in their duty by feeding the poor comforting the hopeless and reducing those that went astray into the right way by wholesom admonitions he also restor'd many Churches which time had ruined Those that were 〈◊〉 to H. Orders he kept to their duty as long as he liv'd by his advice and example This holy Pope translated the Body of S. Gregory and very much adorning it he placed it where now it lies where many people in those times either out of devotion or for the sake of some Vow were wont to keep watch 〈◊〉 said that the Bodies of S. Sebastian and Tiburtius were also translated by him from the Cemeteries in which they lay before to the Church of S. Peter Some Authors say that Gregory at the request of Lewis instituted the Feast of All-Saints on the first day of November which act of his was much commended both in Prose and Verse by Rabanus a Monk a famous Divine for in both those ways of writing that learned Man was excellent especially considering the Age he liv'd in The same 〈◊〉 also wrote Commentaries on the Books of Chronicles and 〈◊〉 He made eloquent Sermons to the people but that of his is chiefly celebrated which he made upon All-Saints day Gregory died in the 16. year of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's Church after which the See was void 15. days SERGIUS SERGIUS the second a Roman whose Father was nam'd Sergius of the fourth Ward came to the Popedom at the same time that Michael Emperour of Constantinople died 'T is said that this Sergius was surnamed Bocca di Porco or Hogs-mouth which for shame of it he changed for Sergius and that from thence came the Custom down to our times that when any one is made Pope he laid by his own name and took one of some of his Predecessours though all have not observ'd it However it was 't is certain 〈◊〉 Sergius came of a noble Family and degenerated not from his Ancestors being assisted in his good Inclinations by Leo III. Stephen IV. Eugenius II. and Gregory IV. under whose tuition he lived so well that upon the Death of Gregory he alone was thought worthy of the Pontifical Dignity At that time there was so great a feud between the Sons of Lewis about the division of the Empire that Lewis and Charles gave their Brother Lotharius Battel in the Countrey of Auxerre near Fontenay where many on both sides were slain Lotharius losing the day fled first to Aken but being forc'd from thence by the pursuing Enemy he convey'd himself with his Wife and Children to Vienna Hither also he was follow'd by his Brother with their Army to whom not only many of the great men of the Empire came but several also were sent by Pope Sergius to endeavour to make Peace between them the chief of whom was George Arch-Bishop of Ravenna who having been before to make up the matter was present with Lotharius in the second Battel and the Victory inclining to 〈◊〉 and Lewis he lost all his Train there of 300 Horsemen and hardly escap'd alone from the slaughter But these men at last looking with pity upon the misery and ruin under which the whole Empire lay procur'd a Peace upon these terms viz. That the Western part of the Empire which reach'd from the British Ocean to the Maese should be subject to Charles and the name of Franks should continue to the Inhabitants That all Germany as far as the River Rhine and so much on the other side of it as his Father had been possess'd of should be allotted to Lewis and that Lotharius
her self like a Man whereas she was a Woman she went when young with her Paramour a learned man to Athens and made such progress in Learning under the Professors there that coming to Rome she met with few that could equal much less go beyond her even in the knowledge of Scriptures and by her learned and ingenious readings and disputations she acquir'd so great respect and authority that upon the death of Leo as Martin says by common consent she was chosen Pope in his room But suffering afterward one of her Domesticks to lie with her she hid her big-belly a while till as she was going to the Lateran Church between the Colossean Theatre so call'd from Nero's Coloss and S. Clement's her travail came upon her and she died upon the place having sat two years one month and four days and was buried there without any pomp Some say the Pope for shame of the thing does purposely decline going through that street when he goes to the Lateran and that to avoid the like Error when any Pope is first plac'd in the Porphyry Chair which has a hole made for the purpose his Genitals are handled by the youngest Deacon As for the first I deny it not but for the second I take the reason of it to be that he who is plac'd in so great authority may be minded that he is not a God but a man and obnoxious to necessities of Nature as of easing his body whence that Seat hath the name of Sedes stercoraria This story is vulgarly told but by very uncertain and obscure Authors and therefore I have related it barely and in short lest I should seem obstinate and pertinacious if I had omitted what is so generally talk'd I had better mistake with the rest of the World though it be certain that what I have related may be thought not altogether incredible Some say that at this time the Body of S. Vincent was brought by a Monk from Valentia in Spain to a Village in Albigeois in France They say too that Lotharius being now aged taking on him a Monastic habit 〈◊〉 the Empire to his Son Lewis who passing into Germany by his presence composed matters there which otherwise threatned a War BENEDICT III. BENEDICT the third by birth a Roman Son of Peter he was deservedly called Benedictus for the Sanctity of his Life and his knowledg in Divinity For while he lived under Gregory he was made by him Sub-Deacon and thenceforward led so exemplary a life that upon the death of Leo he onely was thought worthy to succeed so great a Pope To him therefore they address themselves as to a kind Angel by God sent down to them and presently declare him Pope He weeping and calling God and his holy Saints to witness profess'd himself utterly unworthy of so high a dignity But the Election being universally lik'd and applauded he at last unwillingly accepted of the Office was brought to the Lateran and plac'd in S. Peter's Chair whence he was led upon a white Horse to the Church of S. Mary maggiore where he spent three days in Fasting and Prayer begging God to grant that he might govern his Church with integrity and holiness The third day past the People came thither again and according to custom kissed his feet especially those of the faction of Rhodoardus Bishop of Porto who the day before had attempted to set up instead of Benedict one Anastasius an obscure man who had been turned out of his Bishoprick by Leo but now finding their error they asked pardon and becoming of the right opinion they also made the usual adoration to this holy man As likewise did the Embassadours sent to Rome by the Emperor Lewis to confirm the Election of the Clergy and Laity The next day he was attended by the People to S. Peter's Church where being according to custom and ancient tradition publickly consecrated he received the insignia of his Office with unanimous shouts and acclamations For he was a man of so sweet a temper and so great modesty both in his mind and aspect that as well in his publick managements as in his private station he gain'd the love and respect of all men And now setting his mind on the service of God he repair'd many Churches almost tottering with age and increased their Treasures He ordain'd that the Pope and Clergy should accompany the funerals of Bishops Priests and Deacons as well to honour their Corps as to pray for their Souls and that the Clergy should in like manner attend the Funerals of Popes and what he had thus ordain'd himself observ'd punctually as long as he liv'd for he was always present at the burials of the Priests He was a frequent visiter of the sick a nursing Father to the poor a comforter of the miserable and hopeless a zealous patron of the Widow and Fatherless And in thus doing having spent a most holy life late enough for himself but too soon for the people of Rome he died having sate two years six months and nine days and was buried before S. Peter's Church-doors The Sea then was vacant fifteen days NICOLAS I. NICOLAS the first a Roman born Son of Theodosius was ingenuously and religiously educated from his Childhood and made first Sub-deacon by Sergius then Deacon by Leo. In which Order he stood when with great piety and many tears he laid the body of Benedict in the Grave whose Exequies being perform'd it was necessary to think of a Successor and the People hereupon press'd the Divine Majesty with prayers watchings and fastings that he would vouchsafe them as good a Pope as him they had lost After a long consultation in the Church of S. Denys Pope and Confessor where they convened for this purpose they chose this Nicolas Pope but he was absent and upon hearing the news fled into the Vatican and there hid himself to avoid the Dignity where at length they found him brought him to the Lateran and plac'd him however unwilling in the Apostolical Chair Being consecrated in S. Peter's Church and agreeably to custom having put on the Pontifical Mitre he concerted several affairs with the Emperor Lewis relating to the Popedom and to the Empire Lewis afterwards leaving Rome staid at a place the Romans call Quinto whether 't is said Nicolas went attended by the great men of the City and was honourably received for the Emperor came a mile to meet him and alighting took his Horse-bridle in his hand and led him into the Camp And indeed he was a man of so great veneration and majesty and of so much learning and eloquence that like the Deity he 〈◊〉 respect from all men After some repast they held a long and private Conference and then having kiss'd each other the Pope return'd to Rome which he found so overflow'd by an extraordinary rise of the Tiber that there was no passing from street to street but in boats S. Laurence's Church and the Monastery of S. Sylvester
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
wrote much in praise of the Blessed Virgin and of the Holy Cross and Albo Abbat of Fleury who afterward in Gascoign suffer'd Martyrdom for the faith of Christ Men famous for Learning Religion and Sanctity are said to have flourish'd This John died after he had been Pope ten years six months and ten days and the Sea was vacant six days GREGORY V. GREGORY the Fifth a Saxon Son of Otho before call'd Bruno by the Authority of Otho III. for Kinred sake was made Pope But upon the return of Otho into Germany being vex'd by the Roman factions he fled first into Tuscany and thence into Germany to the Emperor Mean while the Romans vest Crescentius with an absolute Consular Power who immediately creates Pope John a Greek Bishop of Piacenza not more wealthy than learned whose name I confess is by some left out of the Catalogue of Popes as not regularly created but others make him John XVII because he was chosen by the Clergy and People of Rome to whom of right the Election belongeth Crescentius upon the news of Otho's approach with his Army fortifies the Walls and Gates of the City with all diligence he fortifies too the Castle S. Angelo and places strong Guards in every Post that required so that for some time after it was called Crescentius's Castle taking the name of him that fortified it instead of that of the Builder At length the Emperor arriv'd and investing the City when the Romans perceived themselves unable to withstand so great Forces trusting to the clemency of Otho they opened their Gates to the Germans And now Crescentius and John being without Friends and at their wits end fled into Castle S. Angelo and defended themselves well till upon hopes of Pardon coming forth to address themselves to the Emperor Crescentius receiving many wounds from the Multitude was kill'd but John having his Eyes first put out lost both his Popedom and life together and Gregory after he had been expell'd nine months was restored He taking notice of the weakness of the Empire and the uncertainties of Chance and being willing to preserve the Empire among the Germans and that he should be preferred before other who excell'd in worth and Virtue with the consent of Otho he made a Decree concerning the Election of an Emperor An. Dom. 1002. which has continued in force to this day To wit that it should belong to the Germans alone to chuse a Prince who should be Coesar and King of the Romans till the Pope should have confirm'd him and then to have the Titles of Emperor and Augustus Ptolemy writes that at first the power of Election of Emperor was in the Arch-bishop of Mentz for Germany the Arch-bishop of Triers for France and the Arch-bishop of Cologn for Italy To these were added four Secular Princes the Marquess of Brandenburgh who after the Election is Chamberlain to the Emperor the Count Palatine who is chief Sewer the Duke of Saxony who is Sword-bearer and the King of Bohemia the seventh Elector and Cup bearer was added they say to prevent discord between parties for if the rest were equally divided his Vote turned the Scale This 't is said gave distaste to the French but because the Line of Charles the Great being extinct in Lewis the Son of Lotharius that Realm was fallen into the hands of Hugh Capet the chief Minister at that time the great affairs of that Kingdom for some time not being manag'd by Kings they wav'd all thoughts of retrieving the Empire but the main reason was that the new Possessors were well enough yet satisfied with their fortune and dar'd not attempt any thing further 'till they were certain that their late acquir'd Regal Power stood upon a good foundation Robert the Son and Successor of the Great Hugh is much and deservedly praised for his Courage Justice Modesty and Religion for though he exercised himself very much in the Art Military yet he found time so often to frequent the Churches of God and to celebrate the Divine Service as if he had been in holy Orders He is said to have made the Hymn Sancti spiritûs assit 〈◊〉 gratia and by these Arts not less powerful than his Arms he gain'd the hearts of the People and drew those honourable respects to his Family which they had before given to that of Charles the Great Robert a certain Bishop of Chartres is about this time said to have been in great repute for Learning and Sanctity he having written much and reduced the singing in Churches to a better method Gregory died after he had been Pope two years and five months The Sea was vacant fifteen days JOHN XVIII JOHN the Eighteenth Bishop of Piacenza by the power of Crescentius the Consul as we said whom he had corrupted with his Money in the time of Gregory V. was made Pope by a Faction for he brought so much Money with him from Constantinople that even the good Men might be brib'd to serve his ill ends much less might he prevail with the Covetousness and Ambition of Crescentius I wonder that Historians place this John in the number of the Popes he having got into the Chair while Gregory was alive unless that in writing the Lives of Popes it may be thought fit as in a continued History to set down the outrages of Usurpers and Tyrants as well as the worthy Actions of good and lawful Princes that Readers may observe the difference between good and bad and upon the sight of examples of both be deterred from vitious and encouraged to virtuous practices and lead a blessed and happy life in the Earth Which blessedness and felicity John wanted for being a Robber and a Thief in his Pontificate and coming not in as he ought by the Door He died with ignominy enough in the tenth month of his Usurpation The Sea was vacant twenty days SYLVESTER II. SYLVESTER the Second before called Gilbert a French Man got the Popedom as they say by ill Arts. When he was young he was entred and sworn a Monk of Fleury in the Diocese of Orleans but he left the Monastery to follow the Devil to whom he had wholly delivered himself up and went to Sevil in Spain to study humane Sciences being extreamly greedy of Knowledg and Learning in which he made such progress that of a Scholar he soon became an excellent Master Martinus writes that the Emperor Otho King Robert of France and Lotharius a Man of noble birth and great learning afterward Arch bishop of Sens were his Scholars Gilbertus therefore full of Ambition and push'd on with the diabolical desire of Rule by Simony first gets the Arch-bishoprick of Rhemes and then of Ravenna at last the Devil helping him with an extraordinary lift he got the Popedom upon this Condition that after his death he should be wholly the Devils by whose assistance he had arriv'd at so great a Dignity Being greedy of Rule he ask'd the Devil once how long he should enjoy the
had not the like fortune who retreated to the Sittizonio di Severo and wanting courage to defend it basely deliver'd it up But Henry hearing that Guiscard Duke of Puglia was coming to assist Gregory he thought it no time to dally and therefore contrived this stratagem He sent the Bishop of Clugny to Gregory in the Castle to offer him that if he would crown him in the Lateran he would return into Germany with his Army immediately and the Roman people requested him to do it too Gregory answer'd he would do it if Henry would amend his errors and beg pardon This he not only refused to do but hearing that Guiscard was near with his Army he crown'd Clement the Anti-Pope with the Pontifical Crown publickly in the Lateran the Bishops of Bologna of Cervia and Modena attending at the 〈◊〉 After which he went to Siena and took Clement along with him But Guiscard breaking in at the Porta del popolo burnt the City all along to Domitian's Triumphal Arch though the people did what they could to resist him The Citizens had fortified the Capitol and defended themselves briskly against Guiscard who had already taken the Lateran From whence there were a great many skirmishes and sallies made on both sides and that part of the City which lies between the Lateran and the Capitol was demolish'd and the Capitol it self at length taken by storm and laid almost even with the ground Having thus made himself Master of Rome and given the Citizens goods as plunder to his Soldiers he march'd to Castle St. Angelo where the Pope lay besieged and freeing the miserable man at last from all his foes he carried him along to Cassino and Salerno with him Where in a short time after he made a godly Exit after he had sate in S. Peter's Chair twelve years one month and three days He was a Man no question that God loved prudent just merciful a Patron of the poor the Widows and the fatherless and the only Champion of the Church against Hereticks and wicked Princes who strove to make themselves Masters of the Churches patrimony by Violence VICTOR III. VICTOR the Third before called Defiderius Abbat of Mount Cassino being chosen Pope immediately took example by Gregory And therefore I suppose it was that Henry and he were Enemies by whose contrivance he was taken off with Poison conveigh'd into the Chalice as he was administring the Eucharist as St. Martin writes though Vincentius says on the contrary that he died of a Dysentery which may possibly seem not altogether unlike poysoning since those that are poison'd do sometimes fall into a Dysentery by the corruption and relaxation of the Intestines But Guiscard would have revenged so great a Villany if he had not chanced to die too soon for when he had subdued the Greeks he went to Corfu and died to whom because Boemund was absent Roger his younger Son succeeded in the Dutchy of Puglia At that time there was a famine throughout most part of the World by means whereof the King of Gallitia took 〈◊〉 from the Saracens after he had besieged it many years and gave it to the Christians But Henry had ill success against the Saxons in Germany being defeated with the loss of four thousand Soldiers God permitting this calamity that he might at last desist from harassing the Church There are who say that there appeared a great many Prodigies at that time as that the domestick birds as Hens Geese Pigeons and Peacocks fled into the Mountains and grew wild that Fishes in general both in Rivers and in the Sea died and that some Cities were so shaken with Earth-quakes that the great Church at Syracuse fell down at Vespers and kill'd all those that were in it saving only the Deacon and Sub 〈◊〉 who were miraculously saved 'T is said the body of St Nicolas was translated to Bari by the Merchants about this time and there much honour'd as Martin Scotus a Man of great Learning and singular Morals tells us in his History But Victor by whose procurement Deusdedit reduced the book of Canons into method died in the first year and fourth month of his Pontificate not without suspicion of being poison'd URBAN II. URBAN the Second before called Otho or Oddo at first a Monk of Eboina and after that Cardinal of Ostia was at last deservedly made Pope about five months after Victor's death For he was a very learned and an holy Man and fit for any great Employment At that time Roger took his opportunity now Gregory was dead and a new Successor come into the place to take Capua and all places that belong'd to them betwixt that and Tiber from the Pope and the Romans Thereupon Urban who could hardly trust the Romans by reason of their former inclinations to Novelty went to Melfi Where being resolv'd to call a Synod it was convenient to secure all people in their passage to it and therefore he commanded Roger and Boemund who were at variance about the Dutchy of Puglia to quit their Arms upon this condition that Roger should let Boemund have part of Puglia and himself enjoy all the rest of his Father's Dominion And when he had thus settled the Italian affairs to his mind and put the Church in a good condition as far as was possible in such an hurry he went to Toia to enquire what the Clergy of that place did and to correct the errors of some ill-livers among ' em But in the mean time Boemund whilst his Brother Roger made War in Sicily against the Saracens took Melfi by surprise Whereupon Roger returning from Sicily besieged his Brother Boemund at Melfi with twenty thousand Saracens which he hired to come along with him though those within the City defended it very stoutly The Pope seeing he could have no quiet in Italy design'd a Journey into France but first held a Council at Piacenza in which he wonderfully curb'd the licentiousness of some Clergymen From thence he went into France and began a thing very memorable For he call'd a Council at Cleremont wherein he so far animated the Princes of France toward the retaking of Jerusalem which had been so long in the hands of the Sarazens that in the year 1484. three hundred thousand Men enrolled themselves as Soldiers under Christ's Banner After which he returned to Rome with an intention that when he had composed things in Italy he would excite the Italians also to the same end In the mean time King Henry wicked man ceased not to affront Robert Earl of Flanders and provoke him to Battel that he might divert him from the holy Expedition Notwithstanding many followed one Peter an Eremite who was a man of incomparable sanctity and travelling through Germany and Hungary arrived at Constantinople then the common Seat of War And they were not long after followed by Eustathius and Baldwin surnamed of Bulloign men famous for feats of Arms. But besides these there was the Bishop of Pois Raymund Earl
nenew'd and quarter given to all that desired and would lay down their Arms. But the Christians after such a Victory when they had rested eight days from the toil of War and had visited the holy places of the City and our Lord's Sepulchre took Godfrey upon their shoulders and carry'd him into the Palace where by universal consent they chose him King And he though he did not refuse the Title of King yet he would not have a golden Crown because he thought it unseemly for any one to wear a golden Diadem where Christ the King of Kings wore one of Thorns when he redeemed mankind Then also was Arnulphus the Priest made Patriarch and consecrated by the Bishops that were there present The Citizens of Neapolis in Assyria were so frighted at this Victory that they sent Ambassadours to Godfrey to surrender themselves and all they had Soon after news came that a mighty Army of Soliman King of Babylon was come to Ascalon a City twenty miles from Jerusalem was always in 〈◊〉 with the People of it Godfrey resolv'd to meet 'em and therefore left Peter the Hermit to guard the City and recall'd Eustace and Tancred whom he had sent to Neapoli with two Legions As he march'd against the Enemy he was inform'd by the Prisoners he took that Clement was Soliman's General and had fifty thousand Men under him and a Navy laden with Provision and Artillery but notwithstanding was resolv'd to fight him which he did and Godfrey who had the day kill'd thirty thousand of his Men as the story goes But Clement who led the Enemy escaped away The Ascalonites having received such a blow deliver'd up their City streight to Godfrey in which he found as much Gold and Silver as ever was seen together before Jerusalem being thus retaken many of the Princes who had perform'd their Vow and had their desire began to take their journeys home into Europe among the rest the Earls of S. Giles and Troyes But Godfrey and his Brothers who had great success took Joppa a Sea-port Town and Rama which hinder'd the Christians passage from Ascalon to Jerusalem He also besieged Cassa otherwise called Porfiria at tho foot of Mount Carmel four miles from Acon But whilest the Siege lasted Tiberias a Town of Galilee surrender'd of their own accord and Caffa was not long after yielded upon terms But nothing that Men call Happiness is very lasting For a year after the taking of Jerusalem which cost so much labour and pains Godfrey died of a Fever and the Christians to prevent any damage that might happen by an Interregnum 〈◊〉 Brother Baldwin in his room A. D. 1101. But to return to Paschal whom Gregory the Seventh made Cardinal Priest of S. Clements for his Learning and Vertue He was chosen Pope by the Clergy after Urban's death though he could have been well satisfied with a private life for he was formerly a Monk and made Pope against his will denying himself to be capable of so great a Charge but yet at the desire of the People because the Clergy chose him unanimously and the College of Cardinals approved of it he did take upon him the Pontificate but not till they had thrice repeated these words with acclamations St. Peter has chosen Rainerius a very good Man Pope and the Secretaries and Clerks after that gave him the Title of Paschal Then he put on his Scarlet Cloak or Robe with a Mitre on his Head and was attended to the Lateran by the Clergy and People upon a white Horse until he came to the South Portico that leads to St. Saviours Where when he had sate some time in a Seat made on purpose as the custom is he went up into the Court of the Lateran and put on a Girdle upon which hung seven Keyes and seven Seals to let him know that according to the seven fold grace of the Holy Ghost he had Power to govern the Church under God and to bind loose open or shut Then with a Papal Scepter in his hand he visited those places which are to be enter'd onely to 〈◊〉 and the day following he received his Consecration at St. Peter's where Oddo Bishop of Ostia Maurice of Porto Gualter of Alba Bono of Lavico Milo of Palestrina and Offo of Nepeso anointed him with Chrism at which Ceremony the Bishop of Ostia had the chief Place which continues so till this day After his Unction he return'd into the City and took his Crown according to the Custom That this would so happen Albert Bishop of Alatri had formerly foretold For being ask'd by a Friend of his who he thought would succeed Urban God said he will choose Rainerius for his faith and constancy Nay they say that the same Albert foretold also the exact time that he should live in his Pontificate But Paschal who consulted the good of the Church then like to be ruin'd by seditious Men sent out his Forces against Gibert the Anti-Pope the Ring leader of all the mischief And to render himself sufficient for so great a War he borrowed several Troops of Roger Earl of Sicily and a thousand ounces of Gold Gibert that Villain lived then at Abba de Marsi and when he understood that the Enemy was coming he durst not trust to his own strength which he had procured of Richard Count of Capua but left Alba and went with all speed into the Mountains near Aquila where not long after he died suddenly and paid for all his iniquities But notwithstandstanding his being taken off the Church of God did not rest altogether from troubles For Richard who we told you supply'd him with Men and Mony put up in his room one Albert a Citizen of Aversa between 〈◊〉 and Capua who was compelled immediately by the well-affected Party to quit the place and go into banishment But the People of Cava near Palestrina following the Example of Richard's solly and arrogance made one Frederick Pope But they also repented of what they had done and one hundred and five days after turn'd him out of his Pontificate compelled him to take upon him the habit of an Anchorite and lead a private life Besides these there was a Third also one Maginulphus a Roman who was so bold as to usurp the Title of Pope at Ravenna But the Romans banish'd him and those of Ravenna when he had no Friend left expelled him their City The Roman Church being thus settled Paschal who was a Man of great Wit and Courage diverted his Mind from Religion to Arms and by the help of Roger retook Castellana and Benevento from the Enemies But in the mean time Peter Columna a Roman Citizen by the advice of Richard Count of Capua whose main design was to divide the Pope's Army seiz'd upon Cava a Town in the Pope's Dominions Thereupon the Pope marched against him and not only retook Cava but also took from him Zangarola and Columna two Castles of his paternal Inheritance from whence the Family of
the Columneses took their Title There was another Family at Rome called the Corsi very powerful and so true to Gregory VII that their Houses which were under the Capitol were burnt by Henry down to the ground yet afterward Stephen the chief of that Family chang'd sides and in Paschal's absence surpriz'd St. Paul's Church and the Castle hard by from whence he continually teazed the City of Rome with inroads very strangely For this reason the Pope omitted all forein Affairs and return'd with all speed to the City from whence he drove Stephen who went safely off disguised in a Monks Habit and so deceived those that came to take him At that time many Authors say there appeared a great many Prodigies as that the 〈◊〉 gain'd in some places full twenty paces into the Land more than ordinary and on the other side in some places retired from the shore an hundred And the like I saw at Pozzuoli the last year by some old weather beaten Marble Pillars that were wasted to three Cubits though the Inhabitants told me that three years before they were wash'd by the Sea They tell you likewise that a Comet appeared of a vast bigness that was seen at Sun-setting Paschal however was not disturb'd at any of these things because he knew 'em to be natural But when he heard the Bishop of Florence should say that Antichrist was born he went immediately thither and calling a Council who discussed the matter very nicely he perceived the Bishop was onely ambitious of being the Author of some great matter and therefore when he had chid him he sent him away and went himself into Lombardy where he called an Assembly at Guardastallo of many Princes and Bishops and held a long debate about Homages Fees and the Oaths of Bishops that had been or should be administred to Laymen And hearing of the scandalous lives of the French Priests he went into France and at Troyes he called a Synod in which having taken order for the more decent adorning of Churches and partly expelled partly chastised their Incumbents he returned in haste into Italy because he heard all things were there in an uproar For Stephen Corsus had taken Montalto and Pontechio from that part of Toscany which now they call St. Peter's Patrimony and had fortified them with Castles from whence he pillaged the whole Country with frequent inroads but the Pope fell upon him and beat him out of one of his Castles though he could not storm the other by reason of its situation and the Winter season which was at hand Going therefore into Puglia to compose the differences of those parts he committed the care of the Church to the Bishop of Lavico to Peter the Son of Leo and to Leo the Son of Fregepan the City and all its concerns and to Ptolemy Lord of Subiaco the territories adjacent leaving his Nephew Godfrey General to assist them in the defence of the Churches jurisdiction But in the Pope's absence Ptolemy the reputed Author of all that mischief threatned he should never return to the City any more and all these revolted from the Church to wit Peter Columna whom the Pope had taken into favour the Abbat of Farfa together with those of Anagni Palestrina Tivoli Frascati and Sabina The same Ptolemy also raised an Army and besieged Alba in Campagna di Roma which the Citizens very stoutly defended But when the Pope and the Prince of Cajetta came up together with Richard of Aquila two excellent Commanders they drove out these Usurpers that would have possessed themselves of the Church Revenues and freeing Alba from the Siege he also had the other revolting Towns surrender'd up to him except that he was fain to storm Tivoli which stood out very obstinately and occasion'd much damage on both sides though he took Montalto and turned out Stephen and quieted the whole Patrimony in a short time Assoon as he had made Peace here he apply'd himself to the War in Asia and to that end wrote Letters and sent Nuntios to all Christian Princes to exhort and animate 'em to it as much as possible because he heard that 〈◊〉 the death of Godfrey the Saracens brought great Armies to Jerusalem designing to re-take it as also that the Christians had received a great overthrow that the Earl of Burgundy was slain in the fight that Boëmund was taken alive and that Baldwin himself Godfrey's Brother then King had made a narrow escape so that the City was well-nigh taken But the Barbarians though they had gotten such a Victory yet they durst not attempt Jerusalem For Tancred who had defended Antioch very valiantly did also take Laodicea which belong'd to the Emperour of Constantinople by storm because he heard that Alexius was pleased to hear that so many Christians were killed and hinder'd our Men from passing out of Europe into Asia Baldwin the King encouraged by the good fortune and resolution of Tancred raised an Army as fast as he could he resolv'd to march against 〈◊〉 having sent to Genoua and Venice for Auxiliaries from whence he had eighty Ships of War besides many Galleys that were sent to the place insomuch that the City was besieged both by Land and Sea very closely and in twenty days was taken and the Saracens that came to defend it utterly routed and defeated Tancred shew'd great piety towards his Uncle Boëmund who had been kept in Prison by the Enemies for three years and restored him to the Principality of Antioch after he had redeemed him with a great Ransom of Silver and Gold After that 〈◊〉 committed the care of Antioch to Tancred and went first into Italy and then into France and married Constantine King Philip of France's Daughter but hearing that Alexius Emperour of Constantinople infested the Seaport Towns near Antioch he return'd into Italy and getting a Navy 〈◊〉 sailed into Dalmatia where he besieged Durazzo that he might divert Alexius from the War in Asia as he soon did and Alexius desiring a Peace Boëmund granted it upon condition that he should put an end to the War against Antioch and let the French Soldiers pass through his Country into Asia without any hindrance Peace thus made Boemund sail'd for Asia with the Navy which he had provided against Alexius and did so recruit and chear the spirits of the Christians that King Baldwin storm'd and took Baruti a Maritime Town of Phaenicia between Sidon and Biblos whose Metropolis is Tyre after he had besieged it two months but not without great loss of Men so that he was very severe with 'em and gave the City as a Colony to the Christians At the same time was Sidon also taken But amidst these successes of the Christians Boemund that famous Prince died which caused an 〈◊〉 sorrow and left his little Son Boemund whom he had by his Wife Constantia and who was to be his Successor in the Principality of Antioch under Tancred's Tuition till he grew up In the mean time Henry the
Monuments of his Wit in writing especially his Commentaries upon the Canticles and his considerations of divine Contemplation dedicated to Eugenius the Pope from whence he might learn the duty of a Pope He likewise wrote many Epistles one above the rest to the Romans in which he much blames 'em as also an Apology and some Sermons upon solemn occasions But to return to Paschal who decreed in a Council held at Guardastallo that no Cities of Romagna as Piacenza Parma Reggio Modena nor Bologna should be any longer subject to Ravenna which had been formerly the Metropolis and Mother-Church because the Bishops of Ravenna had often exalted their horns against the Roman Sea But when the Pope came back to the City the People desired him that he would make Peter's Son Governour of the City upon the death of his Father who was so in his life time which the Pope denying to do by reason of his nonage for he was scarce ten years old there was such a tumult of a sudden that he was forced to leave the City for fear of some great mischief for there were many that said it was not fit that such a Boy should be intrusted with such a weighty Employment But that would not do for when he was at Alba and heard that Peter Leo a great friend to the Church was set upon in his own House by the adverse Faction he immediately sent Ptolomy from Ariccia with a good competent number of Men to assist him who drove the Enemy over the Tiber killing some and taking others whom he divided among the several Towns to be kept But there soon appeared great inconstancy in Ptolomy For those whom he had taken but a little before he set upon by surprise as they went through the Selva del Aglio by his Order to the several Towns and took 'em again and carry'd 'em with him to Ariccia among whom was also the dead Governour 's Son Nor was Ptolomy content to do so onely but he possess'd himself of Sarmoneta Nymphaeo Tiberia and the Sea-coasts In the mean time Henry came out of Germany into Italy with an Army which strook terrour into all that heard of it But when he was come to Rome in the Pope's absence who at that time held a Council in Puglia and thought himself deprived of his Imperial Dignity together with the Power of bestowing Bishopricks he was Crown'd a second time before St. Gregory's body by the Arch bishop of Braga who was banish'd by his own Country and so went home again But Paschal when the Council was dismiss'd came out of Puglia to Rome with an Army of Normans and retook many Towns from the Enemy and at 〈◊〉 gave willing Audience to the Ambassadours of Calo Johannes Emperour of Constantinople who succeeded his Father Alexius and bid 'em be sure to animate their Master against the Sarazens Then the Abbat of Farfa and Ptolomy whose ill actions were too great to be pardon'd sculk'd about a good while till at last Paschal who was a very mild Man took 'em into favour When things were thus settled and a Church dedicated to Agapetus built at Palestrina which he consecrated he returned from thence in Pomp to Rome where he was met by the whole City in which croud he fell sick and perceiving his approaching death he received the Sacrament exhorted the Clergy to Peace and Concord and dy'd after he had been Pope eighteen years six months and seven days upon the 14th of January and was honourably buried in the Lateran Church He in his Pontificate made fifty Priests thirty Deacons and an hundred Bishops He also consecrated fifteen Churches at Rome especially that of St. Adrian intrefori which had been prophaned by some of the factions and the Church of St. Mary in Monticello In fine he repaired and consecrated the Church of the Sancti quatuor Coronati which was defaced when Robert Guiscard Prince of Salerno set that part of the City on fire which goes from the Lateran to the Capitol as I have said in the life of Gregory the Seventh GELASIUS II. GELASIUS the Second before nam'd John born at Gaeta his Father's name was Crescentius of a noble Family from his youth up well educated and learned in Monte-Cassino under the religious Abbat Odrisio he learn'd the fundamental Principles of the Christian Faith For this Reason he was sent for to Rome by Urban II. who knew him to be trusty and virtuous and ever had a great esteem for him But his fidelity was then most conspicuous when Pope Urban was besieged by the Germans and sectators of Gilbert the Anti-Pope in the Isle of S. Batholomew between the two Bridges for he only and that noble Person Peter Leone never abandon'd him Urban therefore when he was in his prosperity again mindful of so great kindness and for his learning and fidelity made him his Secretary and because he had an elegant way of writing he committed to him the charge of reforming the style of the Court of Rome which by the ignorance and negligence of former Ages was very much corrupted And afterwards observing the great worth of the Man he resolv'd to make him a Cardinal and proposed it often in the Consistory with the good liking of all But Urban dying soon after Pope Paschal taking notice of his great deserts immediately made him Cardinal-Deacon and upon the death of Pascbal when the Consultation was held for the electing of a new Pope all the Cardinals being to that purpose assembled in the Monastery below the Palace of Leo and Cincio Frangipane by an universal consent John of Gaeta was chosen Pope by the name of Gelasius This Election put Cincio Frangipane into so great a rage because the College had rejected a Creature of his whom he had proposed to them to be Pope that accompanied with many armed Men he 〈◊〉 into the Monastery breaking down the doors and beating down whomsoever he met in his way and taking the Pope himself by the Collar he slung him upon the ground and kick'd him and then made him a Prisoner The Cardinals who endeavour'd to make their escape he threw 〈◊〉 their Horses and Mules not sparing any manner of contumely that could be put upon so venerable an Assembly But the People of Rome would not endure the assront but gathered together in Arms before 〈◊〉 House and threatned death and ruin to himself and his Family 〈◊〉 he did not immediately set 〈◊〉 safe and sound at liberty The Frangipani comply'd with all their demands and Leo in the sight of all falling at the Pope's feet kiss'd 〈◊〉 and most humbly beg'd his Pardon The Pope then mounted his white Horse and attended by the Clergy and People of Rome he rode to the Lateran and was there Crown'd according to custom At this time Baldwin who had been exhorted by the Pope both by Letters and Messengers to withstand 〈◊〉 the Barbarian Forces till some supplies could be sent into Asia to his assistance took Sobal a
debated Upon the receit of this Answer Alexander went to Anagnia and Octavian to Segna This the Emperour took so heinously that he sent two Bishops to Alexander to cite him before a Council by the name of Cardinal and not of Pope Alexander stood upon his right and rejected them whereupon they went to Octavian and brought him to Pavia with intent to set him up against Alexander which they did for holding a Council Frederick confirms him in the Papacy leads him sitting upon a white Horse through the streets of Pavia and performs the usual adoration to him Alexander was much mov'd at this and having first admonish'd them to no purpose he sets them both under an Anathema and writes Letters to all the Princes and Nations of Christendom in justification of himself for so doing Then returning to Rome in the second year of his Pontificate he finds he had many Adversaries there who took the boldness to oppose him because Frederick's Army had now possess'd themselves of all St. Peter's Patrimony but Orvieto and Anagnia Wherefore Alexander by the persuasion of King Philip of France went to Terracina and there embark'd in a Ship provided for him by Order of William King of Sicily and arriv'd in France where in a Council holden at Clermont he pronounc'd the Anathema before laid upon the Emperour and Octavian While these things were doing in Europe Baldwin III. died at Jerusalem and his Brother Almeric step'd into the Throne lest if an Interregnum should have been among so barbarous and treacherous a People it might have given occasion to some mischievous revolution and having settled his affairs for the time he led his Army against the Egyptians and defeated their General Drogon with a great slaughter he laid Siege to Alexandria of which Tiracino Lieutenant to the Soldan of the Saracens had traiterously made himself Lord which Siege he urg'd on with so great diligence that the Alexandrians could hold out no longer and yet were not willing to be made subject to the Christians but offer'd to yield upon condition they might be freed of this new Lord and be restor'd to the Dominion of the Soldan Almeric was content and receiving a vast sum of Money redeliver'd the City to the Soldan who ungratefully put off the performance of the full bargain which caused Almeric to march against him and to lay Siege to Cairo Mean time in Europe Frederick acts very tyrannically for he sack'd Tortono and laid Milan even with the ground from whence he translated the bodies of the Magi to Cologn of which I think Rodolphus was then Arch Bishop and did great mischief to the Cremoneses Upon this those of Verona Vicenza Padoua and Venice resolv'd unanimously to stop all manner of assistance that Frederick should stand in need of while he thus harass'd Lombardy This angred Frederick so that he was about to invest Verona with his Army but hearing that the other Cities had sent thither their Auxiliary Troops he retreated to Pavia from whence by Letters and Ambassadours he exhorted the King of France that to put an end to the Schism he would bring Alexander before a general Council where also he would appear with Victor The City of Dyon situate where the River Savo divides France from Germany was the place appointed for the Council whither Frederick having composed his Affairs in Italy for a time arriv'd together with Octavian and the Kings of Scotland and Bohemia and attended by great numbers of armed Men. But when Alexander refused to go to that Council which himself did not call but had begun another at Tours Frederick full of rage and threats returns into Germany having sent Octavian into Italy intending speedily to follow him but he dying at Luca Guy of Crema was set up for Anti-Pope in his stead The Romans had now chosen Consuls who were Friends to Alexander they immediatey recall him out of France and he taking Ship arrives first in Sicily and thence comes to Rome where he was very kindly receiv'd with universal acclamations and the People of Lombardy were by the arrival of Alexander put in hopes of retrieving their liberty so that they took up Arms against Frederic who had used them so tyrannically and drove several of his Garrisons out of their Towns An. Dom. 1165. Frederic hereupon marches with a numerous Army into Italy and without doing damage to any one contrary to all expectation enters the Territory of Bononia where he divides his Army and sends some Battalions to Luca to be a Guard to the Anti-Pope who then resided there whilst he invests Ancona with his Army and after a Siege of some time takes it In the mean time the associated Cities of Lombardy re-edifie Milan and fortifie it and receive those of Lodi who had been Enemies to the Milaneses into their Confederacy the more to enable them to resist Frederick if he should invade them But Frederick had somewhat of greater moment to think of for upon the death of William the Norman King of Sicily Emanuel Emperour of Greece had sent Ambassadours to the Pope to offer him a great Army to be employ'd against Frederick and to promise a perfect agreement of all the Grecians with the Church of Rome that so the Eastern and Western Churches might be all one if he would suffer the Roman Empire then divided to be again reduc'd into one body What Answer these Ambassadours receiv'd is not certain for by reason of a War then begun between the Romans and those of Tusculum and Alba the Pope could not give them a positive resolution The cause of this was that the Romans being too rigorous in the exaction of their Gabels the Tusculans and Albans denied to pay them which enraged the People of Rome so that they march'd out contrary to the Pope's will against them tumultuously but at that time Raino who had been sttip'd of the Dukedom of Puglia by Roger bore the chief sway among the Tusculans a Man well skill'd in the Arts of War who sending for the German Soldiers from Nepi and Sutri made so great a slaughter among the Romans that they afterwards had much ado to defend their Walls much less could they meet an Enemy in the Field Frederick took this occasion to avenge the wrongs as he call'd 'em which Alexander had done him and leaving Ancona leads his Army to Rome and encamps in the Prati di Nerone from whence he made an Attack upon the Vatican Suburb but was stoutly repell'd by the Friends of Alexander The next day he attempted to set fire to S. Peter's Church and had effected it if those who had the care of it would have suffered it and the Pope not thinking himself safe in the Lateran into which he saw the Germans would soon enter remov'd to the House of the Frangipani near the Palladio William King of Sicily Son of the Great William hearing of the Pope's danger sent him a good sum of Money and two Gallies well man'd which
came in good time for Frederick having promised Peace to the Romans was very urgent with them of the two Popes to chuse the more worthy and to depose and reject the other which when Alexander knew must be done as the Emperour should please he embark'd in the Gallies and escap'd first to Gaieta and from thence to Benevent Frederick afterward was driven from the City by a Plague of which both Citizens and Soldiers died like Sheep and as he march'd back through Lombardy the Army of the Confederate Cities met him and urg'd him to a Battel which he carefully declin'd and arriv'd in Germany When he was departed the Associates built a City at their common charge near Roueretto upon the River Taro which from the name of the Pope they call'd Alexandria to inhabit which from all the Cities they sent fifteen thousand Men dividing the ground equally among 'em and setting out the dimensions of their Streets and Houses The Romans yet regretted the slaughter made among 'em by the Tusculans and their Friends and therefore upon the departure of Frederick they took Alba and demolish'd it and had done the like by Tusculum if the Pope had not terrified them with Threats and Anathema's from doing so great a mischief At this time Emanuel Emperour of Constantinople sent other Ambassadours with greater Promises than before if the Pope could be brought to comply with his desire to whom Alexander gave this Answer that he was not willing to unite what his Predecessors had thought good industriously to disjoin In the mean time Guy the Anti-Pope died in S. Peter's Church which was still strongly garrison'd by Frederick in whose room the seditious substituted John a Hungarian Abbat of Sirmio who had before the repute of a Thief to him Raino who was afraid of the Romans upon account of the mischief he had formerly done them deliver'd up Tusculum upon condition that he should have Monte-fiascone in lieu of it but when Raino went to take possession of it the Inhabitants would not receive him neither would the Tusculans submit to the Anti-Pope upon which he return'd to Tusculum but was forbidden entrance From thence therefore he went to Alexius who was then at Veruli and surrendred to him all his Title to the place which when the Tusculans heard upon mature deliberation by a publick Decree they acknowledg'd their subjection to the Pope and receiv'd him Here it was that the Ambassadours of Henry King of England were heard when they came to clear their King of the false Accusation of having conspir'd the death of S. Thomas Arch-bishop of Canterbury But the Pope not easily giving credit to the King's Ambassadours sent two Cardinals into England with plenary Power to examine the matter to whom Henry paid so great respect that though he was engag'd in a War with Ireland yet he came as far as Normandy to meet ' em Upon debating the case it came to this end that Henry should by an Oath because the matter of fact was not clear purge himself and promise to do Penance for the murther of that holy Man of which though he were not guilty nor conscious yet it seem'd that the great spite and grudg he bore him in his life-time had given some occasion to the assassination and moreover that he should raise and maintain two hundred Soldiers for a year to assist the Christians in the Holy Land that he should within three years himself with what force he could raise undertake an Expedition to the same purpose that he should conserve the Ecclesiastical immunities in his Realm and not oppose any Appeals that might be made by his Subjects to the Court of Rome All these Conditions he having sworn to perform he had and he deserv'd it the right and Title to the Crown of England confer'd upon him and his Heirs with the Pope's consent Hence it may be observ'd that all the English Kings acknowledg themselves to have receiv'd the Title to their Realms of the Pope of Rome But Alexander having long strugled with the Romans offered them if they would admit him into the City to leave the whole Civil Government to their own managery and to intermeddle onely in religious matters but this would not be granted by them so he retir'd to Segna and there being inform'd by the English Ambassadours of the Miracles wrought by S. Thomas Becket he canoniz'd him Frederick now returning into Italy by Moncenisi took Seculia by treachery and demolish'd it he took also Asti which surrendered for fear and laid close Siege four months to Alexandria but receiv'd so much loss from the Sallies of the besieged that he grew weary of it and on Easter day rose up from before it and went to Pavia where a Treaty for the peace of Italy was carried on by the mediation of the Pope which the Venetians were willing to embrace who though they had been favourers of Emanuel before yet had receiv'd from him a horrid affront contrary to the Law of Nations for he had with red hot plates of Brass blinded their Ambassadour Henry Dandalo by holding them before his Eyes Mean time Almeric King of Jerusalem raised his Siege from before Cairo though he was not without hopes of carrying the place but was bought off with a great sum of Money and afterward march'd against Ascalon but was forc'd to quit that Expedition being in great want of provisions and finding his Soldiers to be very much tired and broken with the great and tedious toils of War they had undergone He did not long outlive his return but died and left his Kingdom to his Son Baldwin who though he labour'd with a dangerous Leprosie yet he manag'd his Government with great constancy and Wisdom Alexander thinking now to enjoy a perfect Peace made the new City of Alexandria a Bishops Sea An. Dom. 1177. but soon after Frederick re-enters Italy with great Forces and put all into confusion till the Milaneses with the joint forces of the Confederates so broke his Troops with frequent Onsets that in one of them Frederick's Horse was kill'd under him and he narrowly scap'd with life himself many of those of Pavia and Como being on his side were lost The Bishop of Pavia also because he took the Emperour's part was by the Pope deprived of his Pall and the honour of bearing the Cross Frederic's great Men thought these mischiefs happen'd to 'em because they persecuted the Church of God and openly threatned to return into their own Country and leave that wicked Warfare except he would be reconcil'd to the Pope speedily A Treaty then was begun for the Peace of Italy when Saladine a Person of great courage succeeded Noradine then deceased in the Empire of the Saracens who having taken and slain the King of Egypt added that Country and Syria to his Dominion not that his success was alike when he fought with the Christians being defeated by Baldwin in two Battels one at Ascalon and another at Tiberias but
pretensions but strengthen'd himself with good Garisons both in Tuscany in Italy and Schwaben in Germany The like with a more than Womanly fortitude also did Constantia the relict of Henry in Sicily on the behalf of her Son Frederic II. yet a Child rendring the Frontier-places defensible against any Enemy Though these Animosities every day grew higher yet Innocent still thought of renewing the War in the Holy Land and to that Expedition he stir'd up Boniface Marquess of Montferrat Baldwin Earl of Flanders Henry Count S. Paul and Lewis of Savoy who all arriving at Venice could not persuade that State to rig out their Fleet for the Service till they had all promised to recover Zara for them which again was revolted to the Hungarians the Fleet then being fitted out they first routed those of Trieste who piratically infested the Sea and then after a long Siege re-took Zara. While these things were acted in the Adriatic Alexius dethrones his Brother Isaac Emperor of Constantinople who had been a good Friend to the Latins and putting out his Eyes throws him in Prison But his young Son Alexius escap'd by flight to the Christian Camp and begs the assistance of those Commanders for his Father against the Usurper which they consented to give him on condition that his end being atchiev'd the Greek Church should be subjected to the Latin and that thirty thousand Marks of Gold should be paid for the damage which Emanuel the late Emperour had done to the French and Venetians and thus when they had agreed they set sail from Zara and passing by Candy that Island submitted itself which young Alexius bestow'd upon his Kinsman Boniface of Montferrat Hence they proceeded to Constantinople which while they besieged by Sea and Land Theodore Lascari Son-in-law to Alexius endeavouring to sally forth was driven back and the City after two days close Siege was taken by storm Alexius got away in the night leaving behind him a great quantity of Gold in the custody of Irene a Nun. Isaac the Father with his Son Alexius then entred the City but liv'd not long after the Father dying of sickness and the Son being poison'd Upon this Boniface of Montferrat gets the Kingdom of Thessaly but wanting Money he was persuaded by Baldwin to sell Candy to the Venetians which he did and having receiv'd a vast sum for it he beleaguer'd Adrianople then opprest by the Usurper but this gave so much distast to the Walachians who live on the further side of the Danube and to the Bulgarians that fearing the number of his Enemies he took his way to Constantinople intending to go meet the Turkish Sultan of Iconium who having taken the City Satellia from the Greeks did much and continually incommode the Christians Innocent encompass'd thus with Enemies raised what Forces soever he could to reinforce from time to time our Armies but when he heard that Hilminoline a Saracen with a great Fleet had cross'd the Streights into Spain and had sate down with his Army before Toledo he publish'd a Bull inciting all those that could bear Arms to oppose this torrent whereupon numbers of French men got together in order to assist the Spaniards but perceiving they were not welcome to them they return'd home so that Hilminoline in a short time over-run all Spain after a hostile manner and came as far as Arles and Avignon filling all places where he came with spoil and slaughter This Calamity roused the four Kings of Spain that is of Castile Aragon Portugal and Navarre so that joyning their forces together they set upon the Saracens and gave them a total rout leaving nothing to 'em of what they had but onely Granado At this time sprung up a Heresie at Tholouse which by Innocent's means the blessed Dominic who was afterwards made a Saint repress'd with the aid of Simon Montfort for it had gone so far that he had need of the help of the Arm of Flesh as well as of Arguments and spiritual Weapons Mean time Otho Emperour of the Romans was every where worsted by Philip and at last besieg'd by him in the City of Cologn where he making in Person a successless Sally the Citizens shut him out and surrendred to Philip who yet did not long out-live the Action being soon after treacherously made away by the Count Palatine Upon his death the Electors chose the Duke of Saxony Emperour nam'd Otho V. who the next year was crown'd by Innocent at Rome The Venetians now being very powerful at Sea and the State having greater matters in hand private Men had leave to make themselves Masters of what Islands they pleased provided they continued their Allegiance to the Government upon which many Citizens entred upon several Isles in the Ionian and Aegaean Seas and at the publick charge were seiz'd Corfu Modone and Corone Otho having as is aforesaid receiv'd the Imperial Crown of the Pope against all justice and right possesses himself of Montefiascone Radicofano and several other Towns belonging to the Church and then marches into the Kingdom of Naples designing to take that Kingdom from Frederic II. who was young and as yet under Guardians which so angred the Pope that having first admonish'd him without any effect he excommunicated him at last and depriv'd him of his Imperial Title and the King of Bohemia with the Arch bishops of Mentz and Triers by the persuasion of the Duke of Austria and Landgrave of Turingia chuse Frederick King of Sicily then in the twentieth year of his age Emperour in his stead Otho hereupon returns into Germany to take care of his Paternal Estate by which means Innocent had an opportunity to his mind to recover whatsoever he had taken from the Church Those of Candy now rebelling against the Venetians they were by force of Arms reduc'd An. Dom. 1214. and brought into the constitution of a Colony many Citizens being sent to live among 'em and to observe ' em At this time Frederic II. came to Rome to receive the Imperial Diadem but could not prevail with him to bestow it upon him so he return'd into Germany and there was by the Arch-bishop of Mentz Crown'd King of Germany and then made an Alliance and League with the King of France which added so much to the strength of that King that he invaded the Realm of John King of England with such success that John was fain to make use of Divine aids as well as humane force to resist him by making his Kingdoms of England and Ireland tributary to the Church of Rome in the payment of one hundred Marks yearly which for some years after was perform'd Frederic now in pursuit of Otho who had been totally defeated by the King of France takes in Aquisgrane and there by Authority receiv'd from Pope Innocent he sets up the Standard of the Holy Cross promising speedily to march to the assistance of the Christians against the Saracens in Asia beside that he might shew with what a grateful mind
Cubit in depth This so terrified the Christians that they were glad to accept of Peace upon condition that Damiata should be re deliver'd to the Egyptians the Prisoners on both sides be discharg'd and the piece of the Holy Cross then in the hands of those Barbarians should be restor'd to the Christians and they suffer'd to retire quietly to Acon and Tyre Thus was Damiata which was begun to be inhabited by the Christians upon the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin deliver'd up according to the Articles on the Birth-day of the same An. Dom. 1221. In which year the Tartars a Nation of Scythia or as others will have it of the mountainous parts of India leaving their own Country ravag'd through Parthia Media Persia Assyria and came as far as Sarmatia where not far from Palus Meotis driving out the old Inhabitants they seated themselves The Christian Commanders finding at this time that nothing was to be attempted in Asia the Enemy being too powerful they together with John Colonna return'd into Italy and were soon follow'd by John King of Jerusalem who came to Rome and was by the Pope kindly entertain'd and had large Presents made to him Afterward he gave his Daughter which he had by his Wife Jole in marriage to the Emperor Frederic though he was under the Pope's Anathema and pass'd over all the Title he had by hereditary right to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to him by way of Dowry Hence it is that all the succeeding Kings of Sicily and Naples use the Title of that Kingdom also though they make their claim to it with words only and not with Arms. John then took a Journey into France where he had better luck than he was wont to have for Philip King of France bequeath'd in his last Will forty thousand pounds in Silver to him and as much to the grand Master of the Templers and with the help of this Money he went into Spain to perform a Vow he had made to S. James of Compostella where he took to Wife Berengaria Sister to the King of Spain This year died S. Dominic that holy Man at Bononia and Frederic declar'd his Son Henry a Boy but of ten years old King of Germany Our Honorius being a little quiet from forein troubles repair'd the Church of S. Laurence without the Walls that is call'd Sancta Sanctorum and the Church of S. Vivian beside he built a Palace at Casa Marii and adorn'd the Cibory Altar-Canopy or Covering of S. Peter with excellent workmanship He also compil'd the Decretal Epistles and confirm'd the Order of S. Francis who within two years after was canoniz'd by Pope Gregory After this blessed manner did Honorius lead his life and as became a careful and a good Shepherd and dying when he had been Pope ten years seven months and thirteen days he was buried in the Church of S. Mary Maggiore After his death there happened so great Earthquakes that in the Monti Salvii five thousand persons were slain by the falls of Houses and by the Stones that were thrown into the Vales from the tops of the Mountains GREGORY IX GREGORY the Ninth born at Anagni a City of Campania of the Family of the Conti and Nephew to Innocent III. was created Pope at the Settizonio a place in Rome so call'd from seven rows of Pillars there plac'd by the Emperour Severus Which was no sooner done but he dispatch'd away monitory Letters to require Frederic the Emperour under pain of an Anathema that he should with the first opportunity march with his Army into Asia there to endeavour the recovery of the holy City Frederic receiv'd the Admonition and indeed promised so to do accordingly giving out Orders that all who had entred themselves of the Crusado should by a day appointed repair to Brundusium with their Arms. Great numbers met there from all Countries particularly from Germany came the Lantgrave of Hesse who waiting there for the arrival of Frederic out of Sicily where he staid and prolong'd the time feigning himself sick died himself and a great number of his Soldiers and as soon as the news of his death was brought to Frederic he then immediately set sail for Brundusium and seiz'd into his hands whatsoever the Lantgrave had left of value which act plainly detected the fraudulence of his pretence However he continued to make the World believe that he was really intent upon the holy Expedition and after the rapacious action aforesaid upon the goods of the Lantgrave he hoisted Sail and commanded the rest that were there to follow him but in a little while after return'd to Brundusium forc'd as he pretended by the tempestuous weather 1. The noise of this Expedition mov'd John King of Jerusalem and Berengaria his Wife knowing well that they did what would be very acceptable to the Pope to take a journey to Bononia meaning to make use of some Shipping of the Venetians to carry him to Asia but the Pope understood well enough the tricks of Ferdinand and what little credit was to be given him and lest John should quite lose his labour and come for nothing he confer'd upon him the Government of the Exarchate of Ravenna and ratified the Sentence of Excommunication which was pronounc'd by his Predecessor Honorius III. against the Emperour Frederic and had done worse things against him if himself had not been under some fearful apprehensions of an Invasion from the Moors who were then out at Sea with a powerful Fleet but were afterwards vanquish'd by Ferdinand of Aragon with so great loss on their side that in a short time he possess'd himself of Majorca one of the Islands call'd the Baleares and took the City Valentia driving out the Saracens and compelling the Inhabitants to receive the Christian Religion At last yet Frederic was what by the intreaties of his Friends and the threats of the Pope wrought upon to begin his Voyage sailing first to Cyprus which afforded some hopes to the Christian Soldiers that were in Asia whom he had so often deceiv'd But while he staid there sending out Spies to bring him an account of the strength of the Soldan's Forces his General Rainaldo whom he had left in Sicily invades the Pope's Territories and takes several Towns in the Marca di Ancona The Pope was then at Perugia designing to go to Assisi there in person to examine the truth of those reports which had been of Miracles wrought by that holy Man S. Francis and when he found what he had heard concerning him to be really true he canoniz'd him with great solemnity in the presence of great numbers of Christian People who came together for that end While these things were acting by the Pope another Commander of the Emperours by siding with a Faction seizes Fuligno but was quickly expell'd by the Power of some good Men who stood up for the holy Church By this time Frederic was got to Acon and from thence solicited the Pope earnestly by Letters
much out of hopes of success that upon hearing this ill news of the misfortune of his Friends and Allies he began to think of retiring to Rome though his coming thither was opposed by one John Cincio a potent Citizen and Senator whose intolerable arrogance yet was so curb'd by James Capocio another Roman Citizen that the Pope was received into Rome with great splendor magnificence This was that James whose name is yet to be seen and read in the little Chappel of Mosaic Work which was built at his charge in the Church of S. Mary Maggiore in which also was buried Peter Capocio who was a Cardinal of the Church of Rome and while he liv'd a bitter Enemy of this Schismatical Emperour Frederic at whose expence the Hospital of S. Anthony not far from the aforesaid Church and the College for Scholars at Perugia now call'd la Sapientia was also erected Gregory having quieted the minds of Men in the City again pronounces an Anathema against Frederic and declares him to have forfeited his right to the Empire and deprives him of it then he sends for the Ambassadours of the States of Venice and Genoa between whom there was so great a quarrel as it was fear'd a War would ensue to mediate their differences which he did so effectually as that he procur'd an Agreement between 'em to a Peace upon condition that without mutual consent neither of the two States should make Peace with the Emperor of Constantinople that they should be Enemies to the Enemies of each other and join their Forces upon every occasion for the common defence and this Treaty to be in force and complied withal for nine years by them both under pain of Excommunication to be denounc'd by the Pope upon the Infractor About this time died Baldwin who upon the Death of John had succeeded to the Empire of Greece and made shift to hold it for two years but with so great difficulty by reason of his poor Treasury that he could hardly defend himself from his Enemies being forc'd to deliver his Son for a Pledg to the Venetian Merchants for Money that he had borrow'd of 'em and to make Money of the Lead that belong'd to the Churches beside he sold to the Venetians who were wealthy and able to purchase 'em the Spear with which our Saviour Christ's Body was pierc'd and the Sponge which was reach'd to him to drink out of Frederic had a great spight at these Venetians because they were on the Pope's side and drove them into their Marishes where their City stands for security and did them great damage but in the mean while happened a general revolt of the Cities of Lombardy by the Procurement and instigation of Gregory Monte-longo who was Legat at Bononia and Ferrara which had revolted before from the Pope to the Emperour was retaken by them though Salinguerra a valiant Commander was in it and made a brave defence As soon as it was taken it was put into the hands of Azo of the House of Este who was a considerable Person in this Enterprize to be govern'd by him in the name of the Church An. Dom. 1240. This so alarm'd the Emperour who was then at Pisa that being under great uncertainty whom to look upon as Friends to himself or Wellwishers to the Pope he divided first the Cities of Italy into two Factions giving the name of Guelphs to those who were for the Pope's Interest and that of Gibellines to them that were for the Imperial These most pernicious names of distinction invented surely for the mischief of mankind were first made use of at Pistoia where when the Magistrates expell'd the Panzatichi who were Gibellines out of the City there chanc'd to be two Brothers Germans the one of which whose name was Guelph was for the Pope the other for the Emperour and his name was Gibel from which these two Parties were discriminated by those different appellations On the other side those of Arezzo and Sienna drive out the Guelphs whose example being follow'd by many other Cities of Italy gave occasion and rise to a worse than Civil War Several Cities after this revolted from the Pope as well in Vmbria as in Tuscany and particularly the Citizens of Viterbo threw off their obedience The Romans also would fain have been doing the same thing but that the Pope carrying the heads of the Apostles SS Peter and Paul through the City in Procession moved the People to commiserate the State of the Church and then making a most excellent Oration in S. Peters Church he had the power and good fortune by it to persuade even the Seditious who were ready to mutiny to take his part and to list themselves under the holy Cross for the defence of the Church of God These when some time after Frederic came in hostile manner before the Walls of Rome gave him a repulse which so enrag'd him that whatsoever Prisoners he had taken he put to death with divers tortures and retir'd towards Beneventum which City he took by force sack'd and dismantled it Then returning by the Via Latina with his heart full of fury toward the City by the way he plunder'd the Monastery of Monte-Cassino and turn'd out the Monks he destroy'd also with fire and sword the City of Sora formerly belonging to the Samnites situate at the head of the River Garigliano and pillag'd any thing that belong'd to the Templers wherever he could meet with it He was so great a Lover of the Saracens that he made use of them rather than any other People in his Wars made Magistrates of them and gave them a City for themselves which is call'd to this day Nocera di Pagani He threaten'd the Brother of the King of Tunis because he was come as far as Palermo to receive the Sacrament of Baptism By a sudden Onset he also made himself Master of Ravenna which appertain'd to the Church All which Gregory well considering he appointed a Council to be holden in the Lateran there to find out means to depose Frederic but the Emperour had so beset all the ways that with the help of the Pisans he took several Cardinals and Prelates as they were travelling both by Sea and Land and cast them into Prison Which so griev'd the good Pope that he liv'd not long after dying when he had been Pope fourteen years and three months There happen'd an Eclipse of the Sun a little before his death greater than ever was seen Raymund of Barcelona flourish'd in his time and assisted him in compiling his Book of Decretals whom many Authors so commend that nothing can be added to his Praise CELESTINE IV. CELESTINE the Fourth a Milanese of the Family of the Castiglioni Bishop of Sabina famous in his time for his exemplary life and great Learning being very old and sickly was yet chosen Pope in the room of Gregory but died on the eighteenth day of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's Church to the great
supplied with necessaries beside that the Patriarch of Jerusalem coming that way with some number of Ships was made a Prisoner so that Lewis being afraid his Army should be lost by famine resolv'd to return to Damiata and in his way fell into a great Ambuscade of the Enemy by whom he was routed and himself with Alphonsus Earl of Poitiers and Charles Earl of Anjou his Brothers-German was taken Prisoner but the Soldan not long after this great Victory was slain by his own Men and he that succeeded in his stead having Damiata surrendred to him and a good sum of Money discharg'd all the Christians and sent them under safe conduct to Ptolemais where Lewis sent away his two Brothers into his own Country and by the persuasion of Pope Alexander staid in Asia till Cesarea Joppa and Sidon Cities the Christians had newly gain'd from the Saracens were well garison'd with Men which done after having been six years on this Expedition he return'd home While this was doing Pope Alexander having excommunicated Manfred went to Anagni and dispatch'd away Octavian a Cardinal of the Church of Rome of the Family of the Vbaldini to confirm the Neapolitans in their resolutions against Manfred assuring him that he would in a short time come in person with good succours to the aid of them and those of Campania but Manfred not contenting himself to teize the Neapolitans raised up also several Factions in Tuscany especially at Florence which City upon the death of Frederic had asserted its Liberty where matters were carried so high that they were fain by a publick Edict to call home those persons who in the days of Frederic had been banish'd for being Guelphs that they might be rendred able to withstand the contrivances of the Gibellines by which means the Guelphish Faction got so great strength in Tuscany that they harass'd and did much mischief by their Troops to those of Pistoia Arezzo Pisa and Siena who had expell'd their fellow-Citizens for being Guelphs the Luccheses more than any helping them against the Pisans who had been certainly ruin'd by the Florentines after they had been overcome by 'em at the River Ansari but that they were afraid of those of Boggibonzi This Town stood in the Valley of Helsa about twelve miles from Siena very strong by its natural situation and by artificial strengths of which the Gibellines made use against the Guelphs as a Garison but it was at length taken and rased and then the Florentines being Enemies to Manfred made offer to the Pope of their assistance against him which so mov'd Manfred that having been first declar'd King at Palermo and with the help of some Saracen Auxiliaries having in divers conflicts broken the Forces of the Pope under the command of the Legat he sent his Lieutenant-General Jordan with one thousand five hundred Horse to the aid of the Sieneses against the Florentines who not long after were met by the Sieneses near the River Arbia and receiv'd so great an overthrow that they were forc'd to leave their City to the will of the Enemy The Pope yet ceased not to persecute the tyrannical Lords wheresoever they were for when Ecelino as was said had seiz'd into his hands almost all the Venetian Territories and had laid Siege to Mantua he immediately sent away Philip Fontanese Arch-bishop of Ravenna to Venice where having publish'd the Crusado he got together a good Army and with it drove Anselm Ecelino's Nephew out of Padua upon news whereof Ecelino raises his Siege from before Mantua and marches in great haste to Verona but understanding he could have no hopes of recovering Padua he put to death with divers torments all the Paduans he had in his Camp to the number of twelve thousand At this time the Friers Minors who were sent to Brescia had by their preaching persuaded those Citizens to recal the banish'd Guelphs and to declare for the Church and the same success they had had at Piacenza and Cremona but that Obert Pallavicino with the help of the Gibellines had taken the Goverment into his sole Power Against him then and Ecelino his Confederate the Pope's Legat assisted by the Guelphs marches with his Army but near Gambara he is defeated with great loss and himself with the Bishop of Brescia and the chief of the Guelphish Faction taken Prisoner all whom upon the surrender of Brescia Ecelino let go free An. Dom. 1249. This success of Ecelino made the Legat Apostolick very fearful of the increase of his Power and put him upon the design of bringing off Obert Pallavicino from his side which he effected by the means of Boso Donario a noble Citizen of Cremona who laying before him the barbarous and detestable cruelty of Ecelino wrought upon him to throw off his Alliance with him and to enter into the League with the Milaneses and Mantuans and those of the other confederate Cities This much enrag'd Ecelino seeing so many Enemies conspiring against him so that rendezvousing his Army at Cassano he from thence ravag'd all the Country about Milan provoking the Associated Cities to give him Battel which they did and not only vanquish'd him but took him Prisoner and he died soon after at Soncino of a wound he had receiv'd Upon his death all the Cities of Lombardy recover'd their liberty and became obedient Sons of the Church and the Pope's Legat who had procur'd to the Paduans their freedom as aforesaid to make an end of all the reliques of the War drives out of Treviso and puts to death Alberic Brother to Ecelino with his Wife and Children Pope Alexander having taken off these tyrannizing Lords and put an end to so many great confusions set his mind upon renewing the War in Asia but by reason of a quarrel which happen'd between the Genoeses and Venetians this pious and necessary Expedition was laid aside The Christians then inhabited Ptolemais and Tyre two opulent and wealthy Cities which were especially peopled with Genoese Pisan and Venetian Merchants who now for sixty four years had engross'd almost all the Trade both from East and West These Merchants had their several Exchanges their several Streets and Landing-places and nothing was common to both the Venetians and Genoeses but the Churches when a contention arose between 'em about the Monastery of S. Saba which each City claim'd to itself alone The Pope would fain have composed the difference and sent his Letters to both willing that the Monastery should be equal free to both Nations but the Genoeses having notice aforehand how the Pope intended to determine in the Case by the favour of Philip Montfort Prefect of the City they excluded the Venetians possess'd themselves of the Monastery and fortified it The Venetians hereupon unanimously leave the City and making League with Manfred King of Sicily raise Forces against the Genoeses and setting upon their Fleet consisting of two Gallies and twenty three great Ships then in the Port of Ptolemais they burn 'em and following
the Guelphs that had been banished into their own Cities He was no sooner come thither but the Gibbelins departed on their own accord and he without any disturbance appointed a certain number of Officers at Florence which the neighbouring Natives call the Heads of the Guelphian Faction Thence he moved against the Sienneses and made all the Gibellins of Tuscany but especially those of Pisa his Enemies because he besieged Poggibonci which the Gibellines stoutly defended Now when Charles had reduced both Kingdoms all but Nocera de Pagani he at last grants the Saracens a Peace and let 'em live in Italy upon their own terms as they thought good But he himself with his Army upon the Popes invitation went to Viterbo where Henry banish'd by his Brother the King of Castile was not long before arrived Of whom when the Pope had heard Charles's good Character he was so pleased with it that he presented him with great things and made him a Senator of the City After that Charles marched into Tuscany to suppress the Gibellins who desired Corradin a young Man Nephew to Conrad of Schwaben to come into Italy and assist them against the Guelphs And seeing that he could not take Poggibonci by storm because it was so well fortified both by Art and Nature he resolved to starve it into a Surrender And by that means after a long Siege he took it and then going against them of Pisa he took a Town of theirs called Mutrone and gave it to the State of Lucca Charles at that time was very likely to have done greater things but that his friends called him hastily home to his Kingdom by reason of some factious People that favour'd Corradin's Party but most of all upon account of the Saracens whom he presently shut up in the strong Castles of Nocera de Pagani that he might go the safer against Corradin whom the men of Pisa endeavour'd to make their King after they had not only laid waste all the Countrey of Lucca but conquer'd and kill'd Charles's Mareschal at Arezzo by the assistance chiefly of Guido of Montferrat and all the Gibellin faction on that side the Alpes They say that as the Youth passed through the Countrey near Viterbo toward the Kingdom the Pope who pitied his condition said in a Prophetick manner that Corradin himself was led as a Sacrifice to the slaughter So then he went toward Rome and was met at Ponte Molle by Henry the Senator together with all the people of Rome who saluted him with loud acclamations by the name of Emperor but whether out of fear or love is not well known At Rome he dismissed Guido of Montferrat and went himself in all haste with his Army toward the Kingdom where when he understood how Charles had taken possession of Compagna di Roma and the great Road that goes through it he turn'd away to the Mountains called Tagliacocii toward Marsi And there he encamp'd first of all near the Lake being fortified with an old Conduit and ruinated Houses Charles mov'd that way too and pitch'd his Tents within ten furlongs of him at the entrance of an hollow Vale where by advice of Alardus a Neapolitane who had been an old Soldier in Germany he immediately sent away part of his Army under the command of his Marshal who was disguis'd like a King with a design to provoke the Enemy But he himself staid the mean while on the other side the Hill with his best Soldiers in Ambuscade to wait for a good occasion of doing his business effectually They fought full three whole hours without being able to say who should have the better of it till the Marshal who behav'd himself very bravely fell At whose death the French began to give back but the Germans were more brisk than ever and pursu'd them to all places without any manner of Order By this means Charles came upon 'em in a Confusion routed 'em and made 'em run for 't but kill'd a great many of 'em as they fled Henry the Senator was taken Prisoner at Rieti whilst he endeavour'd to escape and Corradin being discover'd at the same time with the Duke of Austria as he attempted to pass the Tiber and go by Boat into Tuscany was brought to Charles and put to death as the Pope we told you had prophesied it would shortly happen Charles therefore in the year 1268 after so great a Victory and having made himself absolute in the Kingdom went to Rome where for some time he acted as a Senator by the Popes permission and sent his Marshal into Tuscany by whose pains and care a Peace was made between the Sieneses and the Florentines But when Clement was dead in the third year of his Popedom and twenty first day and buried at Viterbo there was such a Difference presently not onely between the People of Italy whom the godly Pope whilst alive had by his Authority and awe upon them kept within some kind of measures but also between the Cardinals about the choice of a new Pope that the Sea was void two years At that time Charles who took a great care that the Church should not suffer any damage went with part of his Army into Tuscany where he took Poggibonci the place from whence all the Troubles sprang and sold it to the Florentines Which when they had demolish'd they built a new Town not far from thence upon a plain ground which they call Poggibonci whereas the old one was called antiently Bonitium After that Charles made Peace with those of Pisa whose Ships he design'd to make use of to carry him over into Africk and then intended to return to his Kingdom leaving Ruffus Earl of Anguillara with part of his Army in Tuscany to keep the Tuscans in Order In the mean time King Lewis set sail from Marseilles and was follow'd by three of his Sons Theobald King of Navarre and the Earl of Champaigne together with an Apostolical Legate All these arrived at Tunis the very same time and besieging the City they destroyed all that ever came to their hands But a Plague happening in the Camp which for a good while had infected none but inconsiderable Persons at last took off Lewis with his youngest Son and the Legate To him succeeded Philip his Son who began now to think of going homeward But Charles King of Sicily coming up to him a Peace was concluded upon this Condition that the Captives on both sides should be dismissed and the King of the Countrey should pay Charles a certain Tribute besides that he should suffer the Gospel to be freely preach'd in his Dominions Then they brought back their forces into Sicily where the King of Navarre and the Earl of Campaigne died at Trapani which made Philip and Charles partly for Devotion and partly to avoid the Contagion sail to Civitavecchâ—a with an intent to go from thence by Land to Viterbo where the Cardinals were still contending about the choice of a Pope For they imagin'd
that the presence of two such great Kings would certainly move them as it did to make Theobald of Piacenza Arch-deacon of Liege Pope though he were absent But to return to Clement Whose life is to be commended in every part of it for his Learning Piety Religion Humanity Charity to his Neighbours and to all poor Christians As for the goods or the Church he distributed them at such a rate and with such discretion that he in all probability gave more to God than to his own Relations He had two Daughters by his Wife who died before his Popedom to one of which that liv'd in a Nunnery he gave thirty pounds of small Deniers Tournois and to the other who was married to a man of an equal fortune he ordered a portion of three hundred pounds Tournois upon condition she should never ask for one penny more He had besides a Nephew that was a Clergy-man whom when he found to have three Prebends for so they call Canonries he forced him to take his choice which of 'em he would keep and leave the other two But when his friends were urgent with him not onely to let his Nephew enjoy what he already had but give him more and greater preferments the Holy Man made answer I would the Popes in our time would follow his Example that he would obey God and not flesh and bloud That it was Gods pleasure what belong'd to the Church should be bestow'd to charitable uses nor was he worthy to be S. Peter's Successor who would give more to his Kindred than to Religion and to Christ But whilst he was at Viterbo and news was daily brought to him that Ednigeth a Dutchess of Poland who had been long dead was in very great esteem for her Miracles he canoniz'd her He was also wonderfully satisfied with the Doctrine of Bonaventure General of the Order of Friers Minors who at that time wrote gravely and copiously upon the first second third and fourth Books of the Sentences Now the Holy Man dying with such a Character was much lamented and miss'd by all men And hence arose the Controversie among the Cardinals to find out a fit Person to succeed Clement GREGORY X. GREGORY the tenth formerly called Theoâ—ald an Italian born at Piacâ—nza and Arch deacon of Liege was created Pope by the Colledg of Cardinals at Viterbo whilst he was in Asia For at that time when Lewis went into Africa Edward Son to the King of England sailed from England into Asia with a great Navy in order to regain the holy Land But staying so long at Ptolemais till Lewis King of France came out of Africa with Victory according to his promise he was stab'd in three places by one Arsacida a Companion of his as he was alone in his Bed chamber and by the assistance of another friend of his very hardly escaped his Death For that other person held the Russians hand so long till the People of the House came in who tare treacherous Arsacida to pieces and dragg'd him out of the Room But Edward when he was cured of his Wounds had a great esteem for his friend Theobald because he continually animated all Christian Kings and Princes against the Saracens and when he went to Rome in order to receive the Popedom being sent for by the Cardinals who had elected him he assisted him extraordinarily with a Ship with Money and a splendid equipage especially at that time when Henry a Youth and Son of Richard Earl of Cornwall who was lately dead came to Viterbo to see Clement After whose death staying there for some time he was unluckily kill'd For Guido Monford who went to the Cathedral Church along with Philip the French King to hear Divine Service stabbed him before the Altar because his Father Simon had been basely murther'd in England by Richard He having reveng'd his Fathers death in this manner he escaped with safety to Ruffus Governour of Tuscany Not long after Philip and Charles vexed at such an Indignity went from Viterbo the former into France the latter into Puglia For having made a Peace with the Saracens Charles went along with Theobald who was arrived at Siponto now call'd Manfredonia as far as Ceperano From thence his Holiness travell'd through Marsi and Sabini to Viterbo where he was receiv'd by the Cardinals with all Respect and Honour imaginable and being crown'd with the Pontifical Diadem he was invested with all the Power that Christ left Peter When that was done and that he had setled the Popedom for a time he was desirous to make Peace between the Genoeses and the Venetians For these two States had been engaged one with another in great and bloudy Conflicts for a long time Upon this account Philip King of France who tarried at Cremona was prevail'd upon by the Pope to send for the Genoese and Venetian Embassadors and made a Peace between 'em for five years that they might all go in one body against the Saracens Italy was now quiet when the beginning of an universal disorder rose from the Venetians now Exactions For they made a Law that no one should sail in the Adriatick especially from Pola to Venice unless they paid a Gabel according to the value of their goods But the Bologneses could not endure this as being at that time masters of a great part of Romagna and therefore for three years together they fought the Venetians with great variety of Fortune At last being tired out they accepted of a Peace upon this Condition that they should demolish a Castle which they had built upon the very mouth of Po that they should have free leave to carry out some goods that were there and then the Venetians should have the sole custody of the Mouth of the River Po. They also of Ancona were offended that the Venetians challenged the absolute dominion of the Adriatick Sea and exacted Custom from those that sailed there And hereof they complain'd to the Pope whose Duty it is to see that no new Taxes be imposed He therefore immediately commanded the Venetians to take off that Imposition who answered him in these very words That the Pope did not perfectly understand the matter and that when he did he would be able to judg better of it Gregory could not make an end of this matter to his mind because he was forced to go to the Council which he had called at Lyons Thither also went Paleologus Emperor of Constantinople with a great Retinue and made the Greeks comply and subscribe to the Opinion of the Church of Rome now the thirteenth time they having so often revolted Nay farther some Noblemen of Tartary were induced by his Authority to receive Baptism Mean time the Western Empire being vacant Rodolphus Earl of Assia is made Emperor by the Electors upon condition that he would go to Rome the next year to receive the Crown there But the Florentines who were Guelphs immediately turned out their Countrymen the Gibellins though they had been restored
return to Prison giving his two Sons for Hostages one of which was named Charles who was afterward created King of Hungary and called Marcellus and the other Lewis who when he had lived a good life in the Order of S. Francis was canoniz'd for a Saint Whilst these things were transacted in Europe the Great Turk made use of that occasion and whilst the Christians quarrell'd among themselves thought himself secure Wherefore he goes with fire and sword and razes Tripoli a famous City in Asia killing all the Christians that were there in Garison Said and Baruâ—i suffer'd the like Calamity having no body to assist ' em Aca of old called Ptolemaâ—s stood because they made a truce with the Sultan for two years And to defend it for time to come Nicolas the Pope did all he could to get Soldiers under Christ's Banner and paid them with his own money They were about one thousand five hundred but there were a great many more that follow'd 'em without being inrolled without Colours or any body to conduct ' em Who when they were come to Aca they did the Christians as much hurt as they did the Saracens But the Sultan demanded what was his due as he pretended which when the Christians refused to restore he threaten'd utter ruin to 'em all Then there arose a great question among the Christians who should have possession of Aca for the Patriarch of Constantinople the Templars of Germany the King of Cyprus and Charles King of Sicily did all lay claim to it Those also of Pisa had a mind to demand Aca and lawfully as they said themselves but that a War which brake out in Tuscany diverted them from such an ill design For they starv'd Earl Vgulinus in Prison where they kept him his two Sons and two Nieces and after that did so far animate the Gibellins against the Guelphs that they threaten'd equal destruction to 'em all They fell first upon those of Arezzo because the banish'd Gibellins desir'd it when William Petramala was Bishop of that place who was aided by Earl Feltri the Florentine But the Florentines did not think themselves strong enough and therefore they sent Charles the Second also thither with some forces as he was going through their Country to wait upon the Pope Their Camps were pitched near one another in the Country of Tipherno by which name they now call the City having alter'd the name of the Castle Immediately as the Battel was just begun there were a great many Florentines kill'd but not long after the case was alter'd and though William the Bishop and Earl Feltri were slain yet there fell of the Gibellini three thousand and two thousand were taken The Neighbours call the place where they fought Campaldino Charles having obtain'd so great a Victory goes straight to Nicolas and gets the favour to hold of him in Fee the Crown of both the Sicilies Which when James of Aragon understood he presently goes and attaques Cajetta But lest any thing should be wanting that might disturb the quiet of Christendom a fatal War broke out between Philip of France and Edward King of England which did not onely trouble the Christians in Asia very much but also gave our Enemies great confidence and hopes that they should totally obliterate the Christian Name throughout all Asia For the Sultan who at that time was sick had sent an hundred and fifty thousand men to Acra under the Command of his Son But the Siege continuing for two months the Father died in that time and the Son succeeded him who attaqued the Town with much greater resolution For he filled the Trenches and promised all the plunder to the Soldiers But when he had fought his way to the very Walls he was beaten back by the Christians who made a Sally upon him even to his Camp and had a great many of his men hurt in the Action Whilst they were thus employ'd in Asia Nicolas the Pope sends two Legats à Latere as they call 'em i. e. Benedictus Cajetanus and Gerard of Parma with all speed into France to make a Peace between the two Kings and animate 'em against the Saracens who then besieged Acra For he had made a Peace between James of Aragon and Charles who was a Captive upon those Conditions that I told you before that they might all be the more free to go against the common Enemy Nay he had begun to provide a Navy as thinking himself almost sure of a Peace but to no purpose For the Kings did not obey him when he gave 'em good advice nor did they that were in Garison at Ptolemais agree so well among themselves as to keep out the Enemy according to their power For having daily lost a great many of their men there were at that time but twelve thousand left who afterward made their escape in a Corsaire or a swift sailing Frigot kept for that purpose along with the Patriarch of Jerusalem And though at first they had good shipping yet at last they were Shipwreck'd near Cyprus But the Sultan enter'd the City when the Inhabitants had left it and destroy'd it immediately with fire and sword in the 196th year after Godfry had taken it But amidst so many Calamities the Island of Cyprus and Armenia the less formerly called Cilicia continued Christian At that time Nicolas was very urgent with Rodulphus the Emperor to send his Army into Asia for fear the Enemy should get the remaining part of it But Rodulphus soon after died and Adolphus Hasso was chosen to be his Successor who demanding the Rights of the Empire was kill'd in a fight at Spire by Albertus Son to Rodulphus He was indeed a brave Man but had neither men nor money enough and that was the reason that they said he was rather overpower'd by multitude than fairly Conquer'd But Nicolas the Pope through discontent as some suppose to see all things go cross to his expectation and being conscious that he had favour'd Parties more than became a Pope died at Rome in the fourth year first month and eighth day of his Pontificate near S. Maries the Great and is there buried at the upper end of the Church by Cardinal Columna as you may see upon the Pavement where his Picture is in Porphyry But after his death the Cardinals went to Perugia that they might choose a Pope with greater freedom but protracted the business by quarrels among themselves two years and three months In the mean while Michael Palaeologus Emperor of Constantinople dies but the Priests and the Monks would not suffer his body to be buried in an holy place because he joyned with the Western Church in the Council of Lions And indeed Andronicus Michael's Son would have declared himself of the same opinion as the Latins if he had been assisted by our Party But when the Sea was vacant Andronicus was destitute of Friends and so at last apostarized from the faith But Charles the Second King of Naples
animosities arisen in the Kingdom of Naples For King Robert dying without Issue male bequeathed Johanna Daughter of Andrew his Nephew for a Wife to King Charles of Hungary's Son who came at that time a Youth to Naples But Johanna hating him for a dull fellow kill'd him by surprise in the City which was generally against the Match and was married to his Cousin German one Lewis Son to a former Prince of Tarento who was known to be Robert's Brother But Lewis King of Hungary and Brother of her first Husband resolving to revenge so great a piece of Villany came into Italy with a very well order'd Army and first attaqued the Sulmoneses who had the boldness to oppose him But in the mean while the manner of choosing Senators at Rome was alter'd by Apostolical Authority and Nicolas de Renty Citizen of Rome and publick Notary a man very earnest and high for Liberty when he had taken the Capitol gain'd so much good will and Authority among all the people that he could incline them to what he pleased And that he might work upon them the more effectually he used this Motto Nicolas the severe and merciful Patron of Liberty Peace and Justice and the illustrious Redeemer of the Sacred State of Rome With these great Words he created such an admiration of himself that all the people of Italy desired by their Embassadors to enter into League and friendship with him Beside that some forein Nations look'd upon the glory of the Roman Empire to be now reviving But his vain Boasting continu'd not long for whilst he was kind to some Citizens and an Enemy to others he all on the sudden was accounted instead of a Patron a Tyrant So that in the seventh month of his Government of his own accord without any bodies knowledg on a dark Night he went disguised from Rome into Bohemia to Charles the Son of John whom Clement a little before had made the Electors put in nomination for Emperor because he was so fine a Scholar besides that he had a mind to affront the Bavarian by setting up a Competitor So the Tribune i.e. Nicolas was taken by Charles and carry'd to Avignion for a Present to the Pope But Lewis having gotten into Sulmona after a long Siege makes himself easily master of the whole Kingdom since Johanna and the Adulterer Lewis were fled for fear into Narbonne and had left onely the Duke of Durazzo Nephew to King Robert to protect the Kingdom who was conquer'd and taken by Charles and put to Death But the Plague being very hot all over Italy Charles left sufficient Garisons there and return'd into Hungary in the third month after his arrival which was just about the time when John the Arch-Bishop a man of great courage and conduct received from the Pope the Lieutenancy of Millain upon the death of his Brother Luchino But Clement kept Nicolas in Prison and sent some Cardinals to Rome to settle the State of the City to whom Francis Petrarcha wrote persuading them to chuse Senators impartially out of the Commonalty if they would appease the Tumults since it did not sufficiently appear in Rome who were of the Senatorian and who of the Plebeian rank because they were almost all Foreigners and born of strange Parents Upon this Petro Sarra of Columna and John Vrsini were declared Senators At this time the Plague raged so all over Italy for three years that there was scarce one man in ten that escaped Nor is that any wonder for there was such a concourse of men from all places to Rome at the Jubilee which was then celebrated that they not onely brought the Contagion along with 'em but by the throng and bustle and sweating that was among 'em infected all places and persons At that time the Town of Colle and Geminiano were made subject to the Florentines and Bologna to the Arch-Bishop of Millain by the voluntary surrender of the Citizens At which the Pope being disturb'd sent a Legate into Italy to instigate the Florentines and Mastino Scala against the Viconti But when Mastino was dead the Arch-Bishop endeavour'd to draw Canegrande Son to Mastino and all the Gibellins in Romagna and Tuscany to make an Alliance with him and sent his Nephew Bernabos to Bologna to keep the Citizens in Obedience In the mean time the Florentines without any resistance set upon the Pistoians and the Prateses and at length reduced 'em by main force But after that being harrass'd by the Arch-Bishop's force under the command of John Aulegius they could hardly defend themselves within their Walls At that time Anguillara and Borgo di Sancto Sepolchro belonging to the Church revolted to the Viscounts and then also we read that the Genoeses and Venetians fought a Sea-Battel in which the Genoeses at first were conquer'd but afterward they were more victorious under the Command of Admiral Philip Auria and not onely took the Island Scio from the Venetians but kill'd a great many men in Vbaea now called Necroponte But Clement resolving at last to consult the quiet of Italy Decreed that Lewis Prince of Taranto should be King of Naples renew'd the Peace with the Hungarian bought the City of Avignion of Queen Joan whose Inheritance it was and paid for it by remitting of a certain Fee that amounted to rather more than the price of it and was due from her to the Church of Rome upon the account of the Kingdom of Naples But whilst Olegio Viconti besieged Scarperia in Muciallia those of Siena Arezzo and Perugia being affrighted enter'd into a new Confederacy with the Florentines against the Viconti The Pisans could not shew their friendship to the Viconti for the Gambacorti a Noble Family that were Allies of Florence who being now unable to withstand the Viconti alone call'd Charles the Emperor into Italy At this the Pope was concern'd and fearing Italy might be destroy'd with fire and sword as the Emperor threaten'd he deliver'd Bologni ro the Viconti upon Condition that they should pay the Church twelve thousand pound a year and made Peace between the Viconti and the Florentines upon these terms That neither of 'em should molest those of Pisa Lucca Siena or Perugia and that Borgo di Sancto Sepolchro should be subject to the Church and the Viconti should preserve the Liberty of the Cortoneses He also endeavour'd to compose the differences between Philip of France and Edward of England but in vain for they were so incens'd to fight that in one Battel Edward kill'd twenty thousand French and after eleventh months Siege victoriously took Calais by storm The same success he had against the Scots But the Pope having done the Duty of a good Shepherd seeing he could not advantage Christendom abroad he consulted how to do the Church some good at home For he chose excellent Persons for Cardinals especially Giles a Spaniard who was Arch-Bishop of Toledo Nicolas Cappocius a Roman Citizen Rainaldo Vrsina Protonotary of the Church of
indeed might have retein'd some part of their Dominion by the assistance of James the Cardinal of Columna a man who was a great friend to their Family but they chose rather to lose the whole like men than save any part of it sneakingly But Giles having quieted Romagna was so pleased at Forli that he laid up not onely the Treasure of the Church but also all the money which was sent from Avignion into Italy to build Castles in that Town and made some Ordinances which the Province uses to this Day But when Giles had setled Italy and built a great many very necessary Forts in the Church Dominions and reduced all the Italian Princes and States to Obedience he had a Successor in the fifth year of his Embassy called Arduinus a Burgundian Abbot of Cisteaux a man not at all fit for business Wherefore when Giles was gone all the Princes and States of Italy took up Arms. For the Pisans did so molest the Florentines that seeing no body durst oppose 'em they plunder'd all the Country of Florence and took Figino a Castle lying up the River Arno burning all the Villages which were built thereabout At that time Pandulphus Malatesta was Captain General of the Florentine Army whom the people forced to relinquish his civil Government because he had never shewn that he had courage enough to engage with an Enemy But the Pisans were then much higher than before not so much out of any hope they had of taking the City as that they should bring a scandal upon it and therefore after some light Skirmishes before the Gates they return'd home with great spoils about the beginning of Autumn And Bernabos also demolished many Castles in Bologna which was now harass'd with War though the Abbot of Clugny defended it stoutly Bologna as I told you before was subject to the Viconti but Aulegianus betray'd it to the Abbot of Clugny and was to have Fermo as the reward of his Treachery But whilst that Bernabos made War upon Bologna and Reggio the Apostolical Legate makes an Alliance with Philippino Gonzaga Canes of Verona and Nicolas d' Este to go against the Brescians Then Bernabos being concern'd for the danger which those of Brescia were in left Bologna and Reggio and march'd toward the Enemy but was so defeated at Montclere that afterwards he could hardly defend the very Walls of the City About the same time the Florentines overcame the Pisans under the command of Galeot Malatesta by corrupting their Soldiers to come over to their Party For this reason the Pisans laid all the fault upon the Cambacurti who were eminent Citizens there because they paid the Soldiers covetously and stingily and therefore recall'd John Agnellus who was banish'd as being a friend to Bernabos and against the Cambacurti and he in a little time reduced the City and made it acknowledg him for their Governour having removed all the friends of the adverse faction But when the Pope had made a Peace between the Pisans and the Florentines one John Haucut who had been used to fight under the Pisans got together all the Soldiers in Italy and gave all people occasion to fear especially since Rome was in such an uproar at the choosing of Senators But Innocent easily appeased their Discords by sending a forein Senator to 'em called Raimund Ptolomy a Citizen of Siena who bore that Office a whole year and that was in the year 1359. But though things were setled in this manner yet the Romans could not be quiet For they turn'd out their Senator and created seven Citizens with Sovereign Power whom they called the Reformers of the whole Republick Upon this account Innocent made Hugo Lusignaneus King of Cyprus who was going then to War against the Turks Senator and commanded totally to abolish that Society of Reformers But he at that time was very intent upon making an end of the War betwixt England and France that all might go against the Turk But when the English had overcome the French in Poictou and had taken their King with Philip his Son they were thought to have done a great exploit yet at the same time Edward out of his Princely generosity gives all the Captives their Liberty upon condition that they would never fight against him more But they soon after broke those terms of Peace and forced Edward to resume his Arms and besiege Paris Innocent design'd also to prepare a Navy against the Infidels when at the same time the Pisans who were excellent Seamen and the Venetiano that had a great Navy were at War the former with the Florentines and the latter with Lewis King of Hungary For that King did then besiege Treviso with a great Army besides that the Venetians were at variance among themselves For Marino their General being accused as if he aspired to Sovereignty was beheaded Innocent being thus discomposed in his mind he died in the ninth year eighth month and sixth day of his Pontificate just about the same time with Bartholus Saxoferratus the wisest man in all that Age. But before the Popes death there was such an Eclipse of the Sun as never was before wherefore all people thought that such a great Man could not die but even the Planets would give some presages of his departure VRBAN V. URBAN the fifth of Lymosin formery called Will. Grisant Abbot of S. Victor at Marseilles was made Pope in his absence by universal consent For at that time he was gone into Italy as Legate to the Viconti but being called to Avignion he enter'd upon the Popedom And no sooner was he got into the Chair but being a person of singular Virtue great Courage and very innocent in his Conversation he immediately apply'd himself to vindicate the Churches Liberty and made use of such Instruments as were zealous for the business For he sent Giles a Spaniard of whom we said something before into Italy with full Power and Authority who so far animated and engaged Lewis Gonzaga Nicolas d' Este and Francisco Carrario against Bernabos that he was overcome by them and lost his Son in the Battel and being wounded hardly escaped with his life Nor was that all but the Enemy took Andrew Pepulo a Bolognian Banditto Synebald Ordelaphus Paulus Mirandula Guido Foliano Azo of Corrigia William Cavalcabos the most Signal Commanders of the Army But the Kings of England France and Cyprus were concern'd at the misfortune of the Viconti and sent Embassadours to Giles to desire him that he would make Peace with them Which Embassadours were not sent in vain for a Peace was concluded though it were of no long continuance For John Hawkwood on the behalf of the Viconti having engaged the Florentines routed their Army at S. Miniato which caused Giles the Legate to send Thomas Obicio an excellent Commander with three thousand Horse and a competent number of Foot to help the Florentines They fought betwixt Arezzo and Cortona four hours together stoutly but at length
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
by the importunity of his Friends to let it alone And for this reason I think it would go better with the Church of God if Popes would not mind their kindred or at least not too much but consult the good and honour of the Papacy rather than promote the interest of flesh and blood Especially at that time when Tamberlain who conquer'd the Turks and led their Emperor in Chains along with him was dead and had left all the Armenians Persians Egyptians and Assyrians without Governors so that the Christians might easily have recover'd Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre But his care was plac'd nearer home for he persecuted the Albi Bianchi or Whites that would have introduced a new sort of Superstition under his Pontificate of whom I heard my Father who saw the Man say that there was a certain Priest who came down from the Alps into Italy the year afore the Jubilee with a great many after him and being clothed in white Cloth pretended so much modesty that every body look'd upon him as a Saint So that this Fellow coming into Italy drew a great number of Men and Women over to his Opinion in a short time And these People at Night lay Men or Women Pesants or Citizens Servants or Freemen promiscuously together cover'd with their white Robes like so many Sheep They feasted in the publick Streets and strove who should bring the best provisions The Priest himself carried a Crucifix which he said wept for the sins of Mankind and as often as it did so the people set up a clamour and begg'd pardon of God They sang the Lauds or Praises of the Blessed Virgin going along and standing still in Hymns made for that purpose But as he came from Piedmont and that way into Romagna Tuscany and Millain the Opinion of his sanctity was advanced whereby he brought over not only the rude and unlearn'd Commonalty but even great Men and Bishops of several Cities At Viterbo being tired with travelling he tarried with the multitude and from thence said he would come to Rome to visit the holy Places and Bodies of the Saints But Boniface fearing him to be a Cheat and thinking as he said that the superstitious Knave had a mind to get the Popedom by the assistance of that Gang about him he sent Soldiers to meet him and bring him to Rome Which done some write that his knavery was detected by Fortune and that he was deservedly burnt alive but others say the Man was guiltless and that it was onely a trick of the Pope to raise that report of him whereas he put him to death out of envy Which is true God knows But this is certain that after so great a conflux of people caused partly by this and partly by the Jubilee a number of Men died of the Plague But amidst all the evils wherewith Italy was afflicted we received one Benefit For Chrysoloras Byzantius brought the Greek Learning into our Country which had been neglected in Italy for four hundred years Hence came the Greek and Latin Schools where Guarinus Victorinus Philielphus Ambrose the Monk Leonard and Charles of Arezzo and many more were educated by the emulation of who many Wits were excited to laudable Studies INNOCENT VII INNOCENT the Seventh of Sulmona before named Cosmo Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce was made Pope at Rome when all Italy was in an uproar For John Galeatius being dead and leaving two Sons but young all Italy betook themselves to Arms. John Maria the elder Son got the Dutchy of Millain and Philip Maria the younger made himself Lord of Pavia with ease as lawful Earl of it The other Cities to the number of twenty five revolted from the Viconti Paul Guiniffius a Citizen of Lucca usurped the Dominion of his Country Francis Carrara now that General was gone off whose Arms he exceedingly fear'd that he might enlarge his Territories sent Embassadours to Verona Brescia Bergamo and Cremona to sollicite the Guelphs to be on his side But when he saw William Scala and Charles Viconti who desired to govern their own Cities could hinder his attempts he promised William the Signiory of Verona and that of Millain to Charles of whom he borrowed thirty thousand pounds So he restored William to his Country but he soon after was poison'd and then Verona fell again to Francis He would have serv'd Charles the same trick when he was urgent with him either to perform his promise or to pay the money he had lent him He also advised Francis Gonzaga by Letter to come over to his side and embrace his Alliance and if he would not that he would look upon him as an Enemy and give him reason ere long to repent of his obstinacy And that he said was easie because he having gotten Verona which border'd upon Mantoua he should shortly compass Brescia too and so teaze the Mantoueses as he pleased Francis resolv'd to say nothing in answer to him till he heard what the Venetian Embassadors said whom he understood to be upon the way coming to him For the Venetians suspecting the power of the Carraresi took Vincenza into their protection by a free surrender of the Citizens who fear'd Francis's strength and would rather be under any Lord than one of Padua for there was a mortal hatred between the Paduans and those of Vincenza So then the Venetians admonish'd Francis Carrara that he should not meddle with those of Vincenza who were their Tributaries and that he would raise the Siege from Cologna which they accounted within their Dominions if not that the Venetians would revenge their quarrels Francis reply'd that he admired at the impudence of the Venetians who though they have no right or claim to any thing upon the Continent yet would prescribe Laws to them who had just Titles He therefore bad 'em go and confine themselves within their Bays and Fens and let them alone to govern the several Cities who had derived a right to it from their Forefathers This enraged the Venetians who thereupon sent instructions to their Embassadors then upon the Road to make a League with Francis Gonzaga and choose him General of their Forces with an honourable yearly stipend And Francis when the League was made thought it best to make haste because he heard the Enemy had gotten Cologna and raising a great Army attaqued the Veroneses on that side that lies toward Mantoua The Venetians from Vincenza did the same Which so terrified the Veroneses that having no hopes of help they surrender'd For the Citizens hated Francis Carrara for having poison'd William Scala and imprison'd his Sons after he had gotten Verona by a Wile But as the Army enter'd the City keeping their exact Order for fear of some stratagem of the Enemy James Carrara who had commanded the Garison ran away with some few Soldiers to Hostia But as he cross'd the Poe he was taken Prisoner and sent to Venice Now the Venetians having fortified Verona as well as they could march'd
thence with all their Forces to Padua which they besieged though it were fenced with very high Walls and a deep Ditch and garison'd with stout Men and after some months having block'd up the Avenues for provision they had it yielded to them Francis was fled into the Castle with his Sons and Nephews but the Venetians took that too not long after by surrender of the Soldiers within who were ready to starve But Francis being taken and sent to Venice was put to death along with his Brother And this was the end of him who indulged his own lust of ruling so much that he contemn'd Peace and would get all things by force of Arms. But this was not the end of our misfortunes For either by the neglect of Popes who used to procure Peace either by Interdictions Menaces or force or rather by means of the Schism under which the Church of God did at that time labour it was come to that pass that every base Usurper after the death of John Galeatius would venture upon any mischievous Design And though Innocent whilst he was Cardinal used to blame the negligence and timorousness of former Popes saying their sloth was the cause that the Schism which was the bane of the Church of Rome and of all Christendom was not rooted out Yet when himself had gotten the Popedom he follow'd Vrbans and Bonifaces steps in several things which he had carp'd at in them when he was a private person and not onely did not what he had before commended but took it very ill if any one mention'd it to him Beside he was so furious in his Administration of the Government that once when the Romans desired to have their Liberty restored and that the Capitol Ponte Molle and S. Angelo might be put into their hands and also were urgent with him to extirpate the Schisms which had been so destructive and of such ill example out of the Church and that he would seek the Peace of Christendom since the King of France promised to assist him in it and Peter Luna the Anti-Pope was not against so good a work the Pope e'en sent the Romans themselves to Lewis his Nephew who lay at the Hospital of the Holy Ghost in the Stone-Way as to an Executioner For eleven of these publick-spirited Citizens were presently put to death and thrown out at the Windows for that he said was the onely way to remove Schism and Sedition The People of Rome were so incens'd at this cruel usage that they sent for Ladislaus King of Naples and took up Arms to revenge themselves of Lewis But the Pope to avoid the fury of the People took Lewis along with him and ran away to Viterbo Whereupon the People seeing they could not satisfie their wrath upon the Author of the Villany they turn'd their indignation upon the Courtiers and plunder'd them of all they had Yet some they say were preserv'd in the Houses of several Roman Cardinals who with much ado did make a shift to protect those that fled to 'em by the assistance of their Clients Then the Romans having taken the Capitol and Ponte Molle they attempted S. Angelo but in vain though they were assisted by John Columna Earl of Troja Gentilis Monteranus Earl of Carrara great Commanders under King Ladislaus But when Paul Vrsin came upon them by order of the Pope with Mostarda and Cecchalino they routed John Columna and Ladislaus's Men that were left in a place called Neros Meads This was a great damage to the Romans for their Men and Cattel were driven away and therefore when their anger was over they became friends with the Pope and desired him to return home to the City For he was naturally courteous and affable learned in the civil and Canon Law and well skill'd in the Art of Perswasion When therefore things were thus composed he came to Rome and made more Cardinals among which were Angelus Carrara a Venetian Cardinal of S. Mark after called Gregory XII Peter Philardi a Candiot Cardinal of the Twelve Apostles afterward Alexander and Otho Columna Cardinal of S. George after called Martin V. Thus having setled the Popedom he created Lewis his Nephew Marquis of Marca d' Ancona and Prince of Fermo but he himself died a little after at Rome in the second year of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peters in a Chappel that was formerly dedicated to the Popes which Nicolas V. afterward repair'd and his Tomb bears this Inscription Innocentio VII Pontifici Maximo cum neglecti ejus Sepulchri memoria interiisset Nicolas V. Pontifex Maximus restitui curavit In the mean time the Italians wanted a true Pope and a good Emperor and therefore every one did what they pleased For Cabrinus Fundulus of whom Charles Cavalcabos made great use both in War and Peace being puffed up with hopes of being sole Governour because all Magistrates and Lieutenants of Castles obey'd him as much as Charles he murther'd Charles with his Brethren and Kindred at Machasturma ten miles from Cremona as he was coming back from Lodi From thence he fled with a few Men to Cremona before the thing was known in the City and having gotten possession of the Fort and all the Gates he went into the Market all in Arms and whomsoever he saw that was likely to withstand his Designs he banish'd or put to Death But to make himself absolute he omitted no kind of cruelty Nor could the great Men of Milan hinder this being themselves embroil'd by the different Designs of Gucegaldo Governour of Genoa who attempted to bring Milan to subjection to the French King and of Facino Cane an excellent Commander who strove to conserve it in the hands of the Heir John Maria Visconte Now also Otho III. Lord of Parma was enticed upon pretence of treating with him by Nicolas d' Este to Rubera a Castle of his where at the command of Nicolas he was kill'd by Sforza Cotignola upon whose death Nicolas immediately got Reggio and Parma by surrender of the Citizens who hated the name of Otho But Ladislaus having been possess'd of Rome as I said before and Perugia being put into his hands which had been brought low by the Forces of Braccio he led his Army into Tuscany which by the industry and conduct of Malatesta of Pesaro was so bravely defended that Ladislaus was beaten thence and retreated into his own Kingdom having received more damage than he had done his Enemies But the Florentines being deliver'd from such an Enemy turn'd their Arms toward the Pisanes and after a long Siege took Pisa under the conduct of Tartaglia and Sforza in the year 1406. GREGORY XII THE Schism continuing still in the Church to the decay of Christianity one Pope being chosen at Rome and another at Avignion the Princes of France to wit the Dukes of Berry Burgundy and Orleans who at that time governed all France during the Kings indisposition took pity on the Church at last and came
to Avignion to Peter Luna who was called Benedict XIII and desired him to commiserate the Church now falling to ruin though it were to relinquish the Pontificate he having promised so to do upon Oath in the Conclave when he was made Pope And they engaged the other Pope that was then made at Rome after Innocents death should do the same For these Princes and those of Italy who both were hearty Lovers of Christianity had agreed that those two which strove for the Pontificate of whom one was of the French and the other of the Italian faction should be put by and some one afterward elected that might be the common Father and Pope of all Nations Benedict reply'd That he should grievously offend God if he forsook the Church of God whose Patron and publick Father he was made by universal consent of all good Men and that he would not hold that Seat precariously to which he had been so fairly chosen As to what they said concerning extirpating the Schism and treating of Unity he profess'd it pleased him very much so it were debated in a free place and that no man might lie under any force from either Party Yet one thing he promised 'em and confirmed it with an Oath that if the Schism could not be composed by any other means that then he would wholly lay down the Pontifical Dignity if the other Anti-Pope would do so at the same time Thereupon the Princes began to consult among themselves how they should bring over Benedict to their Opinion But he fearing their Consults and conferences furnish'd the Papal Palais with Arms and all necessary provisions and there he stay'd and was besieged for some months till at last he got Galleys ready for his escape and sailed down the Rosne into Catalonia where he was born There are indeed who write that the Princes of France did make that attempt upon Benedict by the perswasion of French Cardinals who hated him because he was not of their Nation For when they could not agree concerning the choice of a French Pope after Clement's death they elected him after a long Debate as a Person of great Virtue and Devotion but he often admonishing them to live soberly and holily and forbidding Simony upon severe penalties they grew weary of his strictness and notwithstanding his love to Christianity instigated the French Princes against him Christianity was in all Countreys but most of all in France they met at S. Peters in the Vatican where each of 'em took an Oath and bound it with the greatest imprecations that they would relinquish the Pontificate whosoever of 'em happen'd to be elected to that great Dignity upon condition that the Anti-Pope would do the same They came to this resolution to satisfie the French Nation who having been so foolish to make an Anti-Pope had brought in a custom from which they could not recede without dishonour unless the Italians did so too and not onely so but to comply with Benedict's judgment who said the Church could never be healed but by that means onely But if both were deposed one true Pope might be elected by consent of all the Cardinals there to whom all Kings and Princes should pay obedience Upon this condition Angelus Corarius a Venetian Cardinal of S. Marks who as I told you was called Gregory XII was chosen at Rome Novem. 2. 1406. and immediately in writing by the hands of Notaries and before witness confirm'd what he had promised before his Pontificate and set his hand to it But when they came to discourse about a place where they might both meet without danger and could not agree they were esteemed by both Assemblies of Cardinals no better than Shufflers and Promise-breakers Nevertheless the Cardinals some from Rome and some from Avignion met at Pisa and there with one accord they deprived Benedict and Gregory of their Pontifical Honour and that by the consent of all Nations except the hither part of Spain the King of Scotland and the Earl of Armagnac who favour'd Benedict Then they proceeded to elect a new Pope who might govern the Church of God without Sedition and the result was the creating of Gregory being absent and this Election depending Rome was all up in Arms. For Ladislaus the King had taken Ostia and put his Land and Sea-forces into it and thereby so harass'd the Romans with inroads that he forc'd them to sue for Peace and to receive him honourably into the City as their Governour where he changed their civil Officers fortified according to his own mind their Gates and Walls But Paul Vrsin General of the Church-forces came upon him they fought stoutly in the Septimiano near S. James's and lost a great many Men on each side For the King kept his Men on the farther side of Tiber supposing that he should be the safer in that place by reason of his Naval Forces whom he had brought from Ostia to Rome But at last yielding to rather than flying from the Vrsin Faction which increased every day he went to Naples his Party being very much weaken'd by a Victory obtain'd before he came thither over the Columneses that fought under John Columna Baptista Sabellus James Vrsin and Nicolas Columna who had taken S. Laurences Gate and got into the City But when Paul Vrsin came up as I told you they were most of 'em taken and all vanquish'd Two of them were put to death one of which was Galeot a famous Norman Cavalier and the other was called Richard Sanguineus of a Noble and an ancient Family The rest were discharg'd upon condition they would never fight for Ladislaus again From these troubles at Rome there arose such a Dearth of all Provisions that a Rubio of Wheat was sold for eighteen Florins because the Cattel were all driven away and the Husbandmen destroy'd as is usual in the Wars ALEXANDER V. ALEXANDER the Fifth of Candia formerly called Peter Frier of the Order of Minors and Arch-Bishop of Millain a Man famous for Holiness and Learning was made Pope by consent of all the Cardinals that were at that time in the Pisan Assembly So that Gregory fled as it were into Austria and talk'd there of a General Council But not thinking himself safe enough there he went for Rimini and was splendidly receiv'd by Charles Malatesta And Benedict having a Council at Perpignan fled to the Castle of Panischola a very strong place where he staid a good while for his better security But though they were both deposed in the Council at Pisa yet they created Cardinals like true Popes especially Gregory who whilst he tarried at Lucca made Gabriel Condelmero Cardinal by the consent of all the Cardinals that continu'd of his Party which Gabriel was after elected Pope and called Eugenius IV. But I return to Alexander who was an excellent Man in the whole course of his life He was of the Order of Minors from his youth and took so much pains in his Studies at Paris both
in Humanity and Divinity that he soon became a publick Reader and wrote very acutely and learnedly upon the Books of the Sentences He was also reckon'd a great Orator and a great Preacher And therefore he was sent for by John Galeatius Duke of Millain and made his chief Counsellor After that at Galeatius's request he was made Bishop of Vincenza then translated to Novara and last of all being made Arch-Bishop of Millain he was created Cardinal of the Twelve Apostles by Innocent VII From which step he rose to the Pontifical Dignity and was deservedly stiled Alexander because he might compare with any Prince for liberality and greatness of mind For he was so munificent to the poor and all that deserved his bounty that in a short time he left himself nothing That made him use to say in a joke that he was a rich Bishop a poor Cardinal and a beggarly Pope For he was free from that desire of getting which increaseth usually with a Mans Estate and his Age. But it is a Vice that cannot be found among good Men that contemn the World who the older they grow the less Viaticum or provision they know they shall want for their Journey and therefore they restrain their Desires bridle their Covetousness and extinquish all evil lusts Nay Alexander was a Person of that Courage as to depose that powerful King Ladislaus who in the absence of several Popes had for a long time much spoil'd and harass'd the Church Dominions and taken some Towns by force at Pisa in the Council there by approbation of all that were present and declared his Kingdom to belong to Lewis Duke of Anjou But when the Council of Pisa brake up the Pope went to Bologna of which Baldesar Cossa Cardinal of S. Eustachius was Governour Him Alexander confirm'd in his Office because by his industry and conduct the Council was held at Pisa and because he was a Man fit to oppose Usurpers or such as encroached upon the Church Revenues Yet there was more of rusticity boldness and worldliness in him than his profession required He led a military Life and his manners were Soldier-like and he took the liberty of doing many things not fit to be named But when Alexander was very sick and knew his death was very near he exhorted the Cardinals that visited him to Concord and Peace and to defend the Honour of the Church And swore by that Death he was just now about to undergo and by the Conscience of his well-acted Life that he did not think or believe that any thing was Decreed in the Pisan Council but with all justice and integrity without any deceit or fraud This said and the People weeping that stood by he repeated that saying of our Saviour with much ado My peace I give unto you my peace I leave with you and immediately dy'd in the eighth month of his Pontificate and was buried at Bologna in the Church of the Friers Minors in which year there was a Famine and a Plague JOHN XXIV JOHN the Twenty Fourth a Noble Neapolitan formerly called Cossa Baldesar was chosen Pope at Bologna by general consent though some say the Election was carried by force because he was not only Legate of Bologna but had Soldiers in the City and Country planted for the purpose so that if he could not get it by fair means he would by foul However it was it is most certain that he was made Pope and always aspired to that Dignity For when he was a Youth and studied Civil Law at Bologna for some years he took his Degree there according to Custom and then went to Rome And being ask'd by some Friends whether he was going he answer'd To the Pontificate When he came to Rome he was entertain'd by Boniface IX and made one of his Privy Chamber Then he was made Cardinal of S. Eustachius's and sent as Legate à Latere to Bologna which he in a short space subjected to the Church together with a great part of Romagna beating aut some Usurpers and putting others to death But after nine years when he had enlarged the City of Bologna in a wonderful manner by a long Peace and gotten a great deal of Money Alexander died and then he used Bribery especially to the Cardinals that Gregory had made who were yet poor and so was made Pope Thereupon he sent Agents to the Electors of the Empire to desire of 'em that they would choose Sigismund of Lucenburg King of Hungary and Bohemia Emperor as being a person very stout and fit as he said for all brave Actions For this was his way to get into Sigismunds's favour And that succeeding according to his mind he told 'em before-hand that whereas it had been order'd in an Assembly at Pisa that a Council should be call'd at such a certain time he would hold it at Rome and no where else And that all might have the freer access thither he endeavour'd to settle Italy especially that part near the Alps in which the War did daily encrease by the instigation of Fazinus Canis who could not keep his mercenary Soldiers under his Command without employment For he used to maintain them by rapine and plunder At that juncture it happen'd that the Pavians whom Philip could not contain in awe by reason of his Minority were grown factious and took up Arms. Then the Gibellins under the conduct of the Beccarian Family brought Fazinus and his Army into the City and were to have the Guelphs Estates for doing it But Fazinus entering the Town with his Soldiers spared neither one nor the other but plunder'd both And when the Gibellins complain'd that their goods too were plunder'd against his Promise he reply'd The Gibellins in their Persons should be safe but their Goods were Guelphs which he would give as Spoil to the Soldiers deriding the folly and covetousness of both Factions When he went from thence he left a good Garison both at the Gates and in the Fort pretending to be Philips Protector till he grew of Age and so went against Pandulphus Malatesta where he teazed the Brescians and the Bergameses with frequent inroads and ravagings nor did he spare those of Cremona at that time govern'd by Cabrinus Fundulus During these transactions the King of Hungary who was going as he pretended to Rome freely to receive the Imperial Crown sent twelve thousand Horse and eight thousand Foot against the Venetians and seizing Friuli he set upon Treviso Against this great Army the Venetians sent Charles Malatesta to keep them off not so much by fighting as by protracting of the time The Venetians had like also to have lost Verona the same year by treachery of some of the Citizens who had more mind to try what they could get by violence than to preserve their Liberty But those that were guilty were punish'd and there was an end of that Fazinus Canis died the same year after which several persons conspiring together kill'd John Maria
and endeavoured to regain the City which was his paternal Inheritance but had been so many years possess'd by that Usurper Yet there was a report that Pandulphus had bought the City of Cabrinus and promised to give him Riviera di Salo for it But John Francisco strove all he could to keep him from this War and sent Embassadors to tell him that he did contrary to all Law and Reason in violating of Leagues defending a Tyrant and taking up Arms against him who gave him the Government of Brescia And that Martin's Authority ought not to be slighted to say nothing of his own by whose Arbitrement the Peace was made But if he slighted the Authority of Men at least he should reverence that of God whom they had invoked as a witness to the League which he had broken Soon after the Pope went away from Mantoua in the fourth month after he came thither and passing through Ferrara and Romagna he came to Florence without calling at Bologna which he shun'd on purpose For when they of Bologna heard that Baldesar Cossa was forced to lay down the Pontificate they expelled the Church-Officers and asserted their Liberty At that time Carmignola press'd hard upon Pandulphus by his breach of the Peace made justly obnoxious to a War and in a short space took a great part of the Country of Brescia and pitch'd his Camp at Montclere there to encounter Lewis Meliorat Nephew to Innocent VII who was said to be coming with a great Body of Horse to help Pandulphus For they two were kindred by Marriage and Lewis did it in respect to his Relation So they joined Battel wherein Lewis was basely routed and not long after Carmignola reduced Brescia and made it subject to Philip who also within a little while was Master of Cremona and put Cabrinus the Usurper to Death Nicolas d' Este being mov'd at Philip's great success went of his own accord and did what he might have been forced to that is he went to Millain and restored Parma which he possess'd himself of when Otho the Third died to Philip but kept Rheggio at the request of Pope Martin as a Fee Thither also went John Francis Prince of Mantoua to congratulate Philip's Successes But when he saw Philip look gruffly upon him and understood that he design'd to renew his Claim to all that he held of the Cremoneses and the Brescians he went from Millain in haste and enter'd into Alliance with the Florentines and Venetians For those two States were very timorous and took pains to draw over whom they could to their Party because Philip who loved Dominion had broken the League with them and not onely given Sarzana upon the River Magra to Thomas Fregoso whom he had expelled from his Principality lest he should join with the Bandittoes of Genoa against him but also had incited the Bolognians who were Allies of the Florentines to revolt and in order to it hired their Soldiers to fight under him nay he had got possession of Forli under colour of the non-age of Theobald or to gratifie the Prince of Ferrara whereas there was a proviso in the League that Philip should not meddle with Bologna and Romagna They feared likewise lest all would be carried by the power of the three mighty Princes to wit Philip Pope Martin and King Lewis whom they knew to be Confederates Whereas on the other side Philip laid all the fault upon the Venetians because they had endeavour'd to keep Pandulphus in the Government of Brescia and because the Florentines and Genoeses had assisted some of his Enemies with Money and Ammunition and had bought Legorne which he had lately Conquer'd of the Genoeses for an hundred thousand pounds These seeds of Discord might seem enough to raise a War at that time but nothing did more set on the Venetians than the Authority of Carmignola a person mightily famed for warlike Discipline as any of that Age. This person could not endure as he used to say himself the insolence of Philip and therefore came over to the Venetians and animating them to War promised to assist 'em with his utmost Whereupon these two States assisted by the Princes of Mantoua and Ferrara and going Partners in the charge of the War set out an Army of twelve thousand Horse and eight thousand Foot over whom Carmignola was General And then setting upon Philip from every quarter at once with Boats upon the River as well as Ships upon the Sea they were invited into the Town by the Guelphs of Brescia who were against Philip. And having seized some part of it they reduced it all into their own power within seven months Then Carmignola led them to take the Castles which belonged to Brescia when Pope Martin very much concerned for Philips misfortune sent the Cardinal of S. Crosses to the Venetians to mediate between them and Philip. But that did not succeed because the Venetians and Florentines made unreasonable Demands and so they began again mighty preparations for a War They fought thrice in that year first at Cotolengo a Castle of Brescia the second time at the upper part of Cremona in which two places they parted pretty equal and neither had the better on 't and the third time at Maclodio where Philip was defeated and Charles Malatesta the General taken This was so great an overthrow that if Carmignola would have kept the Soldiers that he took and have pursu'd 'em whilst they were in such a consternation it had been no great pains to have turn'd Philip out of his Principality Charles I told you was taken in that Battel but was sent away safe by the Prince of Mantoua his Kinsman But Carmignola employing the Army against the Towns belonging to the Brescians which had continu'd in their Allegiance to Philip he gave him time to breath upon it For he not onely made Peace with Amadens Duke of Savoy who lay hard upon him yielding him Vercelli but he instigated the Emperor Sigismund and Branorus Scala against the Venetians But Pope Martin seeing Philip in such dangerous Circumstances sent the Cardinal of S. Crosses again to make peace between him and the Venetians who staying at Ferrara till the several Embassadors of the Princes and Cities came with instructions he made a Peace upon these Conditions That the Venetians should keep Brescia and all the Towns belonging to the Brescians or Cremoneses which they had taken that Philip should surrender Bergamo and all that appertain'd to it to the Venetians and that he should not molest their Allies or those of the Florentines or perswade any of 'em to revolt Martin approved of this Peace for fear Philip should be quite turn'd out of his Dutchy For as he could not be his Friend though he loved him well upon the account of Religion so neither could he then especially because at that time the Church-Treasury had been exhausted for several years by the War against Brachius For when he went to Florence he found Brachius
Church should be at quiet those two Anti-Cardinals that I told you of were persuaded by Alphonso who was Martin's Enemy to choose Giles Munio a Canon of Barselona and a Nobleman Pope and call'd him Clement VIII He was no sooner chosen but he made Cardinals and acted as Pope But when Martin and Alphonso were friends again he sent Peter de Fuso a Cardinal as Legate from the Sea Apostolick thither to whom Giles resign'd his Title to the Popedom at the command of Alphonso For which Martin was so kind to him afterward that he made him Bishop of Majorca And the Cardinals also that were made by Giles did voluntarily lay down their Dignity But those two that Peter Luna made remain'd still obstinate and therefore because they would not obey the Pope the Legate put them in Prison Thus Martin's industry and prudence removed the Schism from all parts and when the Church was setled he used as much skill and discretion in conferring of Benefices For he did not bestow 'em upon every one that ask'd him but consider'd who was fittest to receive them and to take such a charge upon him And if he did not know any body in the Country where Benefices fell he used to send and enquire of those that knew the place who was qualified with Learning Birth or breeding fit for any Office And thus did he advance the Church and deserving Men at the same time to his great Honour In fine so couragious and resolute he was that though he had two Brothers the elder of which Jordanus Prince of Salerno died of the Plague and the other Lorenzo was burn'd to death in a Turret which was casually set on fire he was not known to say or do any thing that argued Impatience or lowness of mind But this same Person so exactly good in the whole course of his life died at Rome of an Apoplexy in the fourteenth year and the third month of his Pontificate and the sixty third year of his Age and was by his own Order buried in S. Johns Church near the Heads of the Apostles in a brazen Tomb and attended by all the people of Rome and the Clergy weeping as if the Church of God and the City of Rome had been bereft of their onely and their best Parent The Sea at that time was vacant twelve days EVGENIVS IV. EVGENIVS the Fourth a Venetian of the Family of Condelmero a common but ancient name whose Fathers name was Angelo arrived at the Pontificate after this manner When Gregory XII was made Pope who was of the Family of Coraro and a Venetian Anthony Corar Gregory's Nephew a Canon of S. Georges in Alga going to Rome took Gabriel Condelmero who was of the same profession and had lived with him from his Childhood along with him somewhat against his will Gregory was so taken with his Wit and Parts that he first made him his Treasurer and then Bishop of Siena having made his Nephew Anthony Bishop of Bologna The Sieneses refused Gabriel at first and would not have him for their Bishop alledging that a Foreiner ought not to be set over them in that high Function but one that knew the customs and usages of their City But when Gregory afterward upon a distrust of his condition left Rome for Lucca and encreased the number of Cardinals he made Anthony his Nephew and Gabriel Condelmero two who was made use of by Gregory after that and when he was turn'd out by Martin in many great Affairs especially in the Embassy to the Marcha d' Ancona in which he not only confirm'd the Inhabitants in their Allegiance to the Church by punishing some seditious Conspirators but also repaired the Church of S. Agnes at Ancona which was decay'd and the Port of the same City which was Weather-beaten very old and ruinous so as to make it like Trajans And afterward when Martin understood that the Bolognians were set upon innovations he sent Gabriel from Ancona thither who suppress'd the Sedition as soon as he came Where coming to Rome and Martin soon after dying he alone was thought fit to be made Pope out of eighteen Cardinals who at that time were in the Conclave and changing his name to Eugenius was brought immediatey to S. Peters attended by all the People and Clergy in the year 1431. March 3d. And having received the Papal Crown he went to the Lateran and from thence to the Vatican where he set a day for a general Consistory to be held At which there was such a Concourse of People that the Timber of the building where they met and where the publick Consistory now stands gave way and put the people into such a consternation that the Bishop of Sinigaglia a Citizen of Rome of the Family of Mella was trodden to death in the throng For the Popes House was not built at that time as it is now When the Consistory was dismiss'd Eugenius took all care to avoid Tumults But some Sycophants persuading him that Martin who was very covetous had left somewhere a great Treasure behind him of which he might be inform'd by Martin's Friends and Relations they made the Man so mad that he commanded Oddo Poccio Martin's Vice-Chamberlain to be laid hold on and gave the charge of the business to Stephen Colonna his General the onely person of his Party among the Colonna's Cardinal Vrsin and Cardinal Comitum egging him on by whose contrivance 't is thought all these things were done against the Colonneses out of an old grudg between the two Factions Eugenius however commanded that Oddo should be brought to him quietly and civily which was quite contrarily executed by Stephen For not onely his goods were plunder'd by the Soldiers but he was carried by force or rather dragg'd like a Robber publickly into the Pope's presence Eugenius was very angry at this rude usage of him and checked Stephen for it nay threaten'd to punish him severely for bringing not onely Oddo but the Bishop of Tivoli who was formerly Martin's Chamberlain before him after such an unworthy manner Hereupon Stephen fearing the Popes displeasure fled to Palestrina to Prince Colonna and desired him to join with him to drive Eugenius from the City because he said Eugenius had a Design to extinguish the whole Family of Colonna And that he knew that to be so for he was privy to it himself and that he ran away from the City because he knew that he also must bear a part in that common Calamity unless they all avoided it together The Prince moved with what he said and with the misfortunes of such as had been Martin's Friends took up Arms and immediately resolv'd to set upon the Pope staying onely a little till his Brother Prosper a Cardinal Deacon whom he had forewarn'd of the business could get out of the City And as soon as he saw him he march'd from Palestrina to Marino and thence to Rome against Eugenius and having the Gate di Sancto Sebastiano deliver'd
the Council in or else they threaten'd to oppose him as a prevaricating and an obstinate person Eugenius was moved at their words and confirmed the Council at Basil by a new Breve giving every one leave to go thither for he was so tormented with Wars on all sides of him that he had hardly time to breath But having recover'd Rome he sent John Viteleschus thither immediately who was a Man indeed very fit for business but savage and severe who marching against the Colonneses the Sabelli and all the Gibellin faction he sack'd and razed the Castle of Gandulpho standing on the Lago Albano as also Savello and Borgeto He likewise took Alba Civita Lapuvina Palestrina and Zagatolo and sent all the Inhabitants that were alive to Rome Then turning his course into Campagna di Roma he brought 'em all over to the Church and having taken Anthony Pontadera he hang'd him upon an Olive-Tree at Fraselone Then coming back to Rome he put 'em all in a fear and pull'd down several Houses of Conspirators that had taken possession of the Porta Maggiore in a tumult and declared them Enemies to the Church Among the rest he took one Pulcellus and tortur'd him with red hot Pincers and then hang'd him in Campo Fiore When the Roman people complain'd that the covetousness of some rich Men had brought a Famine upon the Country there was so much Wheat immediately brought into the Market by his Order that there ensued great plenty of all things in a short time so readily were his Commands obey'd When he had thus setled Affairs he went into the Kingdom of Naples which Alphonso had lately got possession of and which he said belonged to the Pope and the Church and there he took the Prince of Tarento with two thousand Horse and invaded the Dominion of the Earl of Nola. He also had like to have taken Alphonso by fraud rather than force when they had made a Truce and a Peace was as good as concluded When he had taken the Towns belonging to the Church he freed the Prince And going back to Rome he demolish'd Palestrina which was ready to rebel by the persuasion of Lorenzo Colonna and turned out the Inhabitants in great numbers to roam about the Country in the year 1435. In which year Eugenius went from Florence having first consecrated the Cathedral Church there and going to Bologna he built a Fort near that Gate which leads towards Ferrara and fortified the House where the Legate now resides with a good high and broad Wall behind especially and with Turrets The year after he in a publick Consistory translated the Council of Basil though he had approved of that place from thence to Ferrara and said that the Greeks who had a mind to join with the Church of Rome had chosen that City to meet in Then the Presidents of the Council at Basil were very urgent with the Greeks and did exhort them with Prayers and Promises that they would leave Eugenius and come to them Nor were they content to do so onely but they bragg'd that they would depose Eugenius too if he would not come thither also Eugenius could not tell for some time what to do but yet he sent thither as Legate one John Francis Capitelista a Lawyer and a Knight of Padua to plead his cause But when Sigismund the Emperor was dead by whose favour the Council of Basil flourish'd and Albert Duke of Austria was chosen in his room the Cardinal of S. Crosses began the Council of Ferrara in the name of Eugenius Eugenius also went thither when he heard the Emperor of Constantinople whose name was John Paleologus was coming with a great many Gallies of his own as well as what the Venetians for Eugenius's sake sent to meet the Emperor lest any violence should have been offer'd him because he had an account that certain French Gallies were sent by the Council into the Archipelago with Orders either to bring the Emperor to them or if they could not do so that at least they should keep him from going to Ferrara But Eugenius so far corrupted the Admiral of those Galleys with Money that he left the Council at Basil and came over to his Party When the Emperour came to Ferrara he was entertain'd by Eugenius as the Roman Emperours used to be treated But Viteleschus when he had quieted the Church Dominions and punish'd several Priests that had pilfer'd certain Jewels out of the Heads of Peter and Paul the Apostles in the Lateran Church to which they belong'd and after that had put James Galesius and his Accomplices to death for attempting to make Innovations upon the Government he went to Ferrara where in a publick Consistory he was receiv'd into the number of Cardinals with great Honour For he had been made Cardinal six months before at Bologna and then returning with greater Authority he put the Governour of Vetralla and the Lord of Fuligno after he had expell'd him from his usurp'd Dominion to death in the Castle of Surio But Eugenius desiring to unite the two Churches that were so long of different Opinions in the year 1438 having made solemn Prayers and celebrated the Mass of the Holy Ghost he went to the Council along with the Emperour and Patriarch of Constantinople where the Emperour being seated on a Throne suitable to his Dignity and the other Greeks in a place opposite to the Pope the question was first ask'd Whether the Latins and the Greeks who had been so long of different Opinions were willing to be united into one Church At which they all cry'd out They would very willingly provided that their differences were first reconciled by Reason In order to which there were Disputations every day between those that the Latins and Greeks had chosen to debate those weighty Points But there happening a Plague at Ferrara which continued a good while it was not safe staying there and therefore the Council was removed to Florence And as soon as they came thither Picenninus presently took possession of Forli Imola Ravenna and Bologna by command from Philip with a design to thwart Eugenius's intentions who was a Friend to the Florentines and Venetians his Enemies After that he came back into Parma and raising a great body of Horse he passed the Po and took in a short time the greater Casal and Platina my native Country and all that the Venetians had about Cremona Then he routed Gattamelata General of the Venetian Army at Calvatoni and with the Prince of Mantoua his Ally he besieged Brescia for some months which was stoutly defended by the Citizens and one Francis Barbar a very learned Man and their chief Magistrate Whereupon he pass'd from thence to seize several Castles thereabout and hinder provisions from being brought into the City plundering and destroying all the Country as far as Verona and Vincenza so that he left the Venetians nothing to live upon but yet all this was not accomplish'd without great damage to
Francis whom he had left behind him in Ancona when Cardinal Firmanus was Legat was vanquish'd by Francis Sfortia But the year after Philip took courage and advised Eugenius to endeavour the recovery of Bologna promising to supply him with Men and bear his share in the charge of the War By which the Pope was so wrought upon that he made a League with Alphonso and sent Sigismund Malatesta with a great body of Horse into Ancona against Francis that when the Florentines were otherwise imploy'd Bologna might be forced to surrender Now Philip had sent William Montferrat and Charles Gonzaga before with a great Army who entering the Territory of Bologna in an Hostile manner plunder'd all before ' em But the Florentines who were concern'd for the danger of their Allies dispatch'd Astorgius Faventinus with one thousand five hundred Horse and two hundred Foot to aid the Bolognians till farther order from them and the Venetians Things stood thus in Romagna when Philip on the sudden sent for Francis Picenninus from Ancona and gave him order to go with a great Army upon May Day against the Cremoneses who apprehended no such thing He went as he was commanded and took a great many of the Country Fellows and strook such terrour into the Citizens by battering their Walls both Night and Day that he had very near taken the City But the Venetians and Florentines were troubled at the danger which Francis and their Friends were in and resolv'd to defend Cremona and Bologna at the same time and sent Tibertus Brandolinus a very active Commander who taking along with him the Bologneses and the Auxiliaries from Florence march'd toward the Enemy who did not well agree among themselves and were encamp'd at a Town call'd St. John's and when he had brought William Monferrat over to the Bolognians by Promises and Presents and easily routed Charles he quickly retrieved all the Towns which the Enemy had in their hands Bologna being thus quieted and the Auxiliaries of Florence and Venice divided by order into two parts the one half were sent to avoid Francis Sfortia whom Eugenius and Alphonso had beaten as far as the Walls of Vrbino and the other half to the Cremoneses who were hard put to it by Francis Picenninus The Venetians resolving upon an open rupture with Philip sent Embassadours to him to denounce War unless he would desist from the Siege of Cremona But they were answer'd by a Messenger for they could not speak with Philip himself that they might be safer any where than at Millain At which the Venetians were very angry and commanded Michelot Cotignola their General who was then at Brescia to march forthwith into Cremona which Philip had got most part of and engage the Enemy wherever he met them He readily obey'd their Commands and passing the River Oglio at Casale with all expedition found the Enemy encamped upon the Po in an Island which having forded he attack'd them in their Camp and soon routed them taking a great part of their Cavalry After that he recover'd all the Towns and freed Cremona from the Siege and having augmented his Army by Lewis Gonzaga's additional Forces who had reduced Platina and some Castles in Cremona to the Venetians they march'd toward Geradada and left nothing for Philip but Crema Then crossing the River they entred Millain filling all places with fire and rapine And when they had taken Monte di Briausa and Brevio where there is a Bridg over the Adda they attaqued Leco which those within stoutly defended and batter'd their Ships so severely that whole Men might have got in at the sides of 'em so that having lost many Men and being in great want of Forage they were fain to depart without accomplishing their Design for fear of Francis Sfortia who they heard was privately gone over to Philip's Party Mean time Aloisius Patavinus the Pope's Legat General of the Forces which went against Francis Sfortia into Ancona hearing that Italiano and James Gatuano who had fought partly under Philip and partly under Eugenius were revolting to Francis he commanded them to be taken before they could arrive there and put to Death for both of 'em had one thousand five hundred Horse under them Francis Sfortia was much concern'd at that and finding himself not able to sustein the shock of his Enemies any longer being set upon by so many at a time and assisted by no body by the persuasions of Eugenius and Alphonso who envied the Venetians success he left Ancona and went into Philip's Army over which he was made General Eugenius now lest he should seem to mind nothing but War made Nicolas Tolentinas of the Order of S. Austin who was famous for Miracles a Saint and went personally in Procession from S. Peter to S. Austin's attended by all the Clergy the Roman People and the Cardinals After that he expelled the Canons Secular from the Lateran and admitted onely the Regulars He also built the Portico that goes from that Church to the Sancta Sanctorum and repaired the Cloister for the Priests to live in He also augmented the painting of the Church which Martin had formerly begun and carried the Mitre of S. Sylvester which was brought to Rome from Avignion in his own hands from the Vatican to the Lateran with great veneration of all the Priests and People of Rome Afterward King Alphonso came to Tivoli and would have treated with Eugenius about the management of the War but he heard he was sick and so-stay'd for some time there Eugenius had a great mind to have plagu'd the Florentines for helping his Enemies and doubted not but if he attaqued them with his own the King 's and Philip's Forces all together he might bring that City to what he pleased But all his Designs were frustrated by his Death for he dy'd in the sixteenth year of his Pontificate February 23. 1446. He was a Man of great inconstancy at the beginning of his Reign he was led away by ill Counsels and disturb'd all things to that degree that he incited the Roman People to War and gave Authority to the Council of Basil which was the original of much mischief by approving of their Decrees in Letters Apostolical But in process of time when he came to himself he acted very prudently and with good resolution He had a very venerable aspect but was rather grave than eloquent in his Speech an indifferent Scholar though a knowing Man especially in History He was bountiful to all more especially Learned Men whose company he loved For he admitted Leonard Aretinus Charles Poggius Aurispa Trapezuntius and Blondus very learned Men to be his Secretaries He was not easily provoked to anger for injuries done him or by the Calumnies jibes or scoffs of any He was a great Patron of all Schools especially that at Rome where he had all kind of Learning taught He loved the Religious wonderfully and gave 'em many Priviledges besides Revenues which he added to
Sieneses and sending them away to solicite their Fellow-Citizens he promised them to be there in such a time But Nicolas the Pope who was a lover of peace and quietness after he had kept his Coronation as the fashion is and made many Processions on foot in his own Person he sent Cardinal Morinensis to Ferrara a place which being neutral was fit for the Treaty that by the persuasion and Authority of his Legat the Factions might be the more induced to a composure Thither also did Alphonsa Philip the Venetians and Florentines send their Embassadours who after a long Debate gave Philip leave to choose whether he would make a Truce with the Venetians and Florentines for five years both sides keeping what they had or conclude a Peace and change Crema for those Towns which the Venetians had taken upon the River Adda leaving onely Cassan at the Pope's disposal as being his due by compact to make amends for the injuries which he first received But that also was afterward thrown in to make the Peace more lasting And one of Philip's Embassadours was sent to make the Proposal to him who found him dead of an Apoplexy the day before he came to Millain August 8. 1447. Morinensis hearing of Philip's death sent for all the Embassadours in haste to his House and urg'd for Peace as earnestly as ever The Venetians when they were ask'd if they would continue of their former Opinion made answer That they could not tell what they might do now Philip was dead but that they would write to the Senate concerning that Affair and do as they should order them In the mean time the other Embassadours that were there knowing the Venetians ambition to govern all Italy dissolv'd the Assembly and went every one to their own Home the Pope's Legat exhorting them to Concord but all in vain But the Venetians whose Camp was at Sorefina near Cremona in hopes to take that tumultuous City by surrender with the help of the Guelphs when they heard of Philip's death march'd presently to Lody which having taken they receiv'd those of Piacenza into their Alliance upon the same terms as them of Lodi and sent one thousand five hundred Horse thither immediately to assist the people of Piacenza if any body should molest ' em Francis Sfortia who at that time was beaten out of Ancona and quartered in Bologna to refresh his Army whose Arms Horses and Men were almost spent with this long War when he heard that the Venetians had seiz'd all upon his Father-in-law's death went great days Journeys till he came to Cremona and was chosen General by the universal consent of the Millaineses over all their Forces against the Venetians And having made a Bridg over the River Po which he fortified with Castles and Artillery to hinder the Venetians from coming with a Navy to Piacenza he passed the Adda at Picigitono and encamp'd not far from the Enemy who lay at Camurago And there they had some light Skirmishes to try I suppose the Enemies courage The People of Pavia were so much encouraged at Francis's coming and so glad to see him because they hated to be subject to the Millaineses upon an old grudg that was between them and on the other hand would rather suffer any thing than submit to the Venetians who had formerly despised their Alliance insomuch that they deliver'd their City up to Francis without any more ado by consent of the Governour of the Castle which was such an Addition to his grandieur that Sfortia presently affected to be Lord of the whole Dutchy of Millain These things passed in Lombardy and thereabouts whilst Alphonso at the same time fell down with his Army into the Sea-coast of Siena and had subdued them though the Pope was against it had not the Florentines who knew the King's intention sent a Messenger to Siena to advise them that Alphonso who was covetous of Dominion was no less their Enemy than the Florentines The Sieneses hearing what danger they were in they did not deny the King any kind of provisions but yet they would not suffer any of his Soldiers to come within their Walls So that the King when he observ'd their caution march'd down into Volaterra and Pisa and took many Castles there partly by surrender and partly by storm which yet the Florentines recover'd not long after all but Castiglione under the command of Sigismund Malatesta whom they had corrupted to come over from Alphonso to their side In the mean time Nicolas the Pope continually persuaded the King and the Venetians to Peace rather than War but they who were grown proud and unruly would not hearken to his good Advice Thereupon Francis raised a great Army out of the main strength of Italy uniting the Brachian and Sfortian Soldiers and pitch'd his Camp in the middle of Autumn at Piacenza in which was a good Garrison of Venetians and beating down part of the Walls with Cannon he stay'd before it so long till the Po rose to that prodigious heighth that his Galeoones came up to the very Walls and so attacking it both by Land and Water at last he took and plunder'd it This was a great Honour to Francis to take so great a City and that in the Winter-time when it rained so hard that the Soldiers were ready to leave their Tents Yet Nicolas was even then still talking of Peace and the Florentines were urgent with their Allies the Venetians because they fear'd the King's Power who was then with his Army in Tuscany But nothing was done in it because the Venetians were unwilling to restore Lodi to the Millaineses which they earnestly sought So that Nicolas after so many attempts to no purpose laid aside all thoughts of making Peace by such means and applying himself to religious exercises he order'd Days of Humiliation to be kept for appeasing God's anger and Prayers for the Peace of Christendom And at the Solemnities the Pope himself assisted with all the Clergy in Procession from S. Peter's to S. Mark 's with great Piety and Religion But the wrath of God was not abated for all that so much had Men probably deserved it For two years after there was such a Plague in almost all places that few survived out of great numbers And this Calamity was foretold by frequent Earthquakes and an Eclipse of the Sun nay it had been often foretold by the Friers Predicants especially one Robert a Franciscan and famous Preacher who so moved the people of Rome with his Sermons that the Women and Children ran about the City desiring God to be merciful unto them And least any misfortune should be lacking in Italy the Wars which we told you were begun before did so increase that one would have thought it impossible to have put an end to them For Francis Sfortia the next Summer having taken some Castles from the Venetians went with his Land and Sea-forces against their Navy which block'd up the Cremoneses and forced it to
civil Animosities and have pursu'd that great Conquest by Land and Sea as Calixtus advis'd But the Turk recovering strength took Trabisond killing the Emperour and then Bossina where he took and slew the King All wise Men perceiving as from a Watch-Tower and advertising the Christians of the Calamities that were like to befal Calixtus especially never desisted from exhorting the Christian Princes by Letters and Messengers to open their eyes at last amidst such great dangers for that they would seek a remedy in vain when the Enemy was recruited But whilst the good Man was thinking and talking of these things James Picenninus revolted from the Venetians and march'd into the Territories of Siena with a numerous body of Horse and Foot to demand of the Sieneses some thousands of pounds which he said they ow'd him upon his Father Nicolas's account who had formerly fought under their Commission The Sieneses fearing the worst sent to the Princes of Italy to assist 'em as they were bound by Contract especially the Pope who first advised 'em not to give James one farthing and then sent his Forces against him and admonish'd the Princes of Italy to do the same lest a flame should break out in Italy which might be too fierce for them to quench The Italians fearing the Pope's words would prove too true sent speedy succours to the Sieneses onely Alphonso favoured James and sent for him to his House as being mindful of the Friendship he had formerly contracted with Nicolas Picenninus his Father nor would he assist the Sieneses as he ought to have done nay he so far animated Count Petilian against them that he seemed to be the chief cause of all the mischief But when the Auxiliaries came in not onely from Francis Sfortia but the Venetians also Picenninus was reduced to that pass in some few Battles that if he were not routed he was mightily weaken'd especially at Orbitello insomuch that he was fain to take shipping in Alphonso's Gallies that were sent to him in his distress and sail into his own Country without any success in that great Attempt Thus by the assistance of Calixtus and his Allies were the Sieneses freed from great danger though they were still troubled with intestine and domestick as well as forein broils by reason of some Citizens that contemn'd their present Liberty and follow'd Alphonso's Faction by whom also 't is thought that great War was first raised But the honest Citizens turn'd out or kill'd the rest and do to this day retain that Liberty which they purchased at so dear a rate Nor did they omit to punish the licentiousness of the Soldiers or those that fled from their Colours as Gilbert Corrigia whom they put to death and gave his Men for a common prey to the rest Sigismund Malatesta had like to have been serv'd in the same sauce who at that time fought under them for protracting the War and driving away their Cattel out of their grounds as if he had been an Enemy That year there happen'd such an Earthquake in the Kingdom of Naples upon the seventh of December that many Churches and Houses fell down to the great destruction of Man and Beast especially at Naples Capua Cajetta Aversa and other Cities in old Campania whose ruines I since have seen with great astonishment when I went thither to look after Antiquities Then also did Alphonso often repeat his Vow which he had made against the Turks and said he would shortly perform it but he could never be brought to the Holy War for all that so mightily was he taken with the delights of Naples But Calixtus when he had setled the Affairs of Italy created nine Cardinals of whom two were his Nephews by two Sisters of his to wit Roderick Borgia and John Miliano his Sisters Son He also made Aeneas Bishop of Siena a Cardinal and made use of him to procure the peace of Italy whilst the Sieneses were teazed with War The Earl Tagliacocius being dead whom the Pope had made Governour of the City the year before there rose a Controversie between Neapolio Vrsin and the Count Aversus for that the later had possession of Monticello not far from Tivoli he pretending it belong'd to his Daughter-in-law who was the Count's Daughter and Neapolio urg'd on the other side that it ought to be his himself being reckon'd to be of the Vrsine Family Whilst these two contended thus for their Patrimony and that with Arms too the Roman people suffer'd very greatly But when this Controversie also was over and both sides commanded to lay down their Arms Calixtus made his Nephew Borgia not onely Governour of the City in the room of the Count deceased but made him General of the Church-Forces that he might keep the great Men of the City the better in order Alphonso not long after dying without a lawful Heir Calixtus had the courage to demand that Kingdom and said it belong'd to the Sea Apostolick as an Escheat Whereupon Armies were raised on both sides and Ferdinand Alphonso's Heir fear'd Calixtus's resolution for he knew his nature and the greatness of his Soul But his death also put all things into confusion and freed Ferdinand from great consternation of mind Calixtus died in the third year the third month and sixteenth day of his Pontificate and was buried in the Vatican on the left hand of St. Peter's in the Round Church dedicated to St. Marie del Febri which was formerly repaired by Nicolas Borgia also his Nephew died not long after at Civita Vechia whither he had fled to save himself from the Vrsins whom he had disobliged by favouring the opposite Faction But to give you a short Character of Calixtus He was a very upright Man and is to be commended for one thing above all That when he was Bishop or Cardinal he would never keep any Benefice in Commendam but said he was content with one Wife and that a Virgin i.e. the Church of Valenza as the Canon Law ordains Besides he was very charitable to poor Christians both in publick and private and gave portions to several poor Virgins when they married kept indigent Noblemen at his own charge and when occasion was he was munificent to Princes especially those that could assist the Church of Christ He likewise sent Lewis of Bologna of the Order of St. Francis Vsun-Cassanus Prince of Persia and Armenia and to the King of the Tartars with many great Presents to animate them against the Turk and by his persuasion they did the Enemy great damage and sent their Embassadours that were design'd to come to Calixtus after he dy'd to Pope Pius which was an admirable Rarity to us not onely upon account of the distant Countries from whence they came but their habit which was unusual and very strange to our eyes They say that Vsun-Cassanus after many Victories over the Enemy wrote to the Pope that he had conquer'd the Foe by the Pope's prayers and that he would one day
magnificent Buildings near Saint Mark 's and in the Vatican An instance of his Munificence was the Hunting which with great charge he caused to be represented in the Campo di Merula for the entertainment of the Duke of Ferrara The management of which was committed to his Nephew by his Sister whom he had made Cardinal of S. Lucia and at the same time conferred the like honour of a Cardinal on Baptista Zeno his other Nephew It was a hard thing to gain access to him considering he would sleep in the day-time and be awake in the night looking over his Jewels and pretious Stones and if after long waiting you came into his presence you might hear him indeed but your self could not be heard he was so very talkative He was morose and peevish as well to his Courtiers as Strangers and would often alter his mind from what he had promised He had a great mind to be thought a politick Man and would therefore give very ambiguous answers so that he continued not long his Friendships with any Princes or Commonwealths himself having several different Interests He lov'd to have great variety of Dishes at his Table and generally eat of the worst but would be clamorous if what he used to like were not provided He drank often but his Wine was small and diluted with Water He loved Melons Crabs Sweetmeats Fish and Bacon which odd kind of Diet I believe caused the Apoplexy of which he died for the day before his death he had eat two very large Melons He was reputed a just and yet a merciful Man endeavouring to amend even Thieves Murderers Traitors and perjur'd Villains by tedious Imprisonment But he was a great Enemy and Despiser of Human Learning branding those for Heretics that gave their minds to it and dissuading the People of Rome from putting their Children to be brought up to it telling them that it was enough if they had learn'd to write and read He was known to be ill-condition'd and inexorable to Petitioners not onely denying but reproaching and abusing them but yet he would make a show of doing less than he would do Lastly one thing he was highly to be commended for that he kept no ill Men about him but contain'd his Family and all his Domestics in their due bounds that their pride and insolence might not procure him the hate of the great Men and People of Rome The End of the Lives of the POPES Written by B. Platina A CONTINUATION OF THE Lives of the Popes SIXTVS IV. FRANCIS della Rovere born the 21. of July Anno 1414. at Celle a Village near Savona a City under the Dominion of the Republick of Genoua was created Pope on the 9th of August 1471. he was as some write the Son of a Fisherman tho Onofrio Panvinio in the History of his Life deduces his Original from a noble and ancient Extraction of the Longobards and reports that Simon della Rovere in the year of our Lord 700. transplanting himself from Premont to Savona was the first of that Family from whom this Sixtus IV. descended His Fathers name was Leonard a person of Authority and Reputation having managed many publick Offices for the Service of his Country This Francis della Rovere was in the time of his infancy dedicated by the Vow of his Mother to the Order of S. Francis and at the age of nine years was put into a Convent and committed to the charge of John Pinarolo a Frier of that Society by whom he was instructed in the Rules of the Franciscan Order and in the first Rudiments of Grammar and being of good Wit and Capacity he became Master of the Ciceronian Stile and Language He afterwards went to Cheri where he studied Logick and thence travelled to Pavia and Bologna where he became a great proficient in Philosophy and Divinity Being of twenty years of age he disputed with great acuteness and subtilty in the Schools at Geneva and afterwards taking the degree of Doctor in Padua he was made Reader of the Divinity and Philosophy Lectures at Padoua Pavia Siena and other parts in Italy In process of time his abilities being made known he was esteemed and courted by all and having many Scholars and admirers amongst which Cardinal Bessarion was one he gained a great esteem and interest in all Courts of Europe so that in time he was constituted General of his Order Procurator of the Court at Rome and Vicar-General of all Italy He was highly esteemed by Pius the second and Paul the second being a great admirer of his abilities and Learning did at the instance and persuasion of the Cardinals Bessarion and Francis de Gonzaga admit him with seven others to the order of Cardinals without any motion In process of time his abilities being made known he was esteemed and courted by all and having many Scholars and admirers amongst which Cardinal Bessarion was one he gained a great esteem and interest in all Courts of Europe so that in time he was constituted General of his Order Procurator of the Court at Rome and Vicar-General of all Italy He was highly esteemed by Pius the second and Paul the second being a great admirer of his abilities and Learning did at the instance and persuasion of the Cardinals Bessarion and Francis de Gonzaga admit him with seven others to the order of Cardinals without any motion or address from himself or so much as his own knowledg being then at Pavia with design to go for Venice On this occasion coming to Rome he was created Cardinal the 17th of September 1467. and being by the beneficence and favour of the Church assisted with many large Contributions he was enabled to repair the Palace of S. Peter ad Vincola where he formed and kept his Court after the Rules and Customs of a Convent The exercise of this eminent Office and his attendance on the Government of the Church could not so distract or divert his mind from his Studies but that he found time to write many Tractates and Treatises in Divinity namely a Tract of the Blood of Jesus Christ of the Conception of the Virgin Mary de futuris contingentibus and of the Power of God against the Opinion of a certain Carmelite Frier who held that God could not by his Omnipotent Power save any person whom he had predestinated to damnation He also wrote a Tractate reconciling the opinions of Aquinas and Scotus shewing that they did not differ in substance or reallity but in words or ways of expression All which procured him such fame and credit that Paul the second dying suddenly on the 28th of July he was in a Conclave of seven and twenty Cardinals elected Pope on the 9th of August 1471. After his Election he was Crowned the 24th of September following after which he esteemed it his first business to reconcile the Discords amongst Christian Princes and to turn the hatred they conceived one against the other upon their common enemy the Turk To
Affairs it is to be noted that about this time most mortal feuds and quarrels arose between this Pope Sixtus and the two Brothers of the House of Medicis Julian and Laurence the original of which proceeded from the great displeasure which Laurence took at the Pope for not conferring a Cardinals Cap on his Brother Julian in revenge of which he being very potent in Florence gave assistance both of men and mony to Nicolas Vitelli Count of Tiferno and Lord of the City of Castello whereby after he had been subdued and banished by the Pope and had resigned his Right and Possession to him he returned again with the favour of the people and re-assuming his Inheritance he demolished the Citadel which Sixtus for his better security had made and fortified with a good Garison Upon revolt of the City the Pope sent his Nephew Cardinal Julian with a strong Army against it and by a long Siege of three months became master of it Nor did Laurence de Medicis only show his indignation against the Pope by furnishing men and mony to Vitelli but likewise by disappointing him of the purchase of Imola the Prince whereof being reduced to great necessities for want of mony offered to sale to prevent which and that it should not fall into the hands of the Pope who now grew above measure great and powerful in Italy Laurence supplied the mony and so eased the Prince of those necessities which compelled him to a sale of his Patrimony The Pope growing very angry hereat and resolving to revenge these affronts entered into a secret conspiracy with Francis de Pazzi who was head of that Faction which was contrary to the House of Medicis whereby it was resolved that both the Brothers Laurence and Julian should be murdered and that the Commonwealth of Florence should be disposed of according to the pleasure of the Pope But that a design so impious as this should not seem to have entered into the heart of a Pope the whole management was committed to the conduct of Jeronimo Riario who in the first place prevailed with Ferdinand King of Naples to send an Army into Tuscany under the command of Alonso his Son and compel the Florentines either to extirpate the Family of the Medicis or force them to abandon their Country and that then under colour of the Papal Dignity the King of Naples might introduce his own Authority and set up for himself but to make all things sure in case this should fail Jeronimo communicated his design to John Baptista Montesecco a man very expert and ready in such attempts who quickly engaged several with him in the Conspiracy namely Bartholomew Salvian Arch-Bishop of Pisa who had conceived a private pique against Laurence also Francis de Pazzi and James Poggio whose Father was a famous Orator in his time And to put a better face on the matter and countenance the Plot Raphael Riario Cardinal of S. George a youth and Nephew of Jeronimo was sent to Pisa on pretence of his Studies under whose protection the Assassinates having performed their work might be the better secured Sunday being the 26th of April was the day appointed for this murder and accordingly the Conspirators who were many assaulted the two Brothers in the Church whilst they were hearing Mass Julian was there killed but Laurence having received a slight wound sled into the Vestery where he was saved from the violence of the Assassinates and in the mean time the Archbishop of Pisa and James Poggio endeavoured to possess themselves of the Palace belonging to that Signiory But the rumor hereof spreading quickly over all the City and that Julian was killed and Laurence still living the Party of the Medicis took courage and with Arms in their hands seized the Arch-Bishop of Pisa and James Poggio together with their Companions and putting a Halter about their necks they executed speedy Justice hanging them out at a window Antonio da Volterro and Stefano a Priest who attempted Laurence incurred the like fate Montesecco was tortured to make Confession which having done he was likewise put to death The Cardinal at the time of this Combustion flying to the High-Altar was scarce protected by the sacredness of the place and the earnest intercession of Laurence notwithstanding which having for some days been committed to safe custody until he had cleared his Innocence he was out of respect and favour to the Pope set at liberty Howsoever Sixtus was not so well pleased with the grace showed to the Cardinal but that he resented the severity they had used against a Priest and an Arch-Bishop to that degree that at the persuasion of Jeronimo Riario he interdicted the people of Florence and made War upon them Frederick Duke of Vrbin was made General of the Papal Army and Alfonso Duke of Calabria Son of Ferdinand King of Naples was also ready with another Army in favour and assistance of the Pope On the other side Lewis the 11th King of France sent a Succor of 300 Horse to Florence under the Command of Philip de Comines Lord of Argenton and farther to affright the Pope he ordered a Synod of Prelates assembled at Orleans to Decree that no more mony should be carried out of France to Rome for vacant Benefices The Venetians and Dukes of Milan Mantoua and Ferrara concerned themselves in the League that they might repress the ambition of the Pope whom they esteemed to be full of designs to advance his own power and glory in Italy Laurence de Medicis by his vigilance good address and conduct so well accommodated matters with Ferdinand King of Naples that he engaged that King to his Party and into an agreement of an Offensive and Defensive War with which Union and Alliances the Pope being discouraged the War concluded without any remarkable successes the Pope suppressing his resentments until a more seasonable time when he could with better effect reak his anger and revenge on his enemies which he had certainly performed with the first opportunity had he not been surprized with a suddain alarm from the Turk who having unexpectedly seized the City of Otranto put all Italy into fear and confusion This accident confirmed the Peace more firmly between Sixtus and the Florentines on whom by way of Penance for their late crime he imposed a charge of maintaining 15 Gallies against the Turk whose great force having entered into Italy would certainly in despight of all the power of that Country have made great devastations had not the death of Mahomet the Great who had taken Constantinople put a stop to the progress of his Arms and moved Bajazet his Son and Successor to recall Aâ—â—met Pasha his General with his Army out of Puglia and this happened in the year 1481. when the King of Cyprus and his Son being dead and the whole power remaining in the hands of the Queen who was of the noble Family of Cornaro the Venetian Senate laid claim to the Kingdom as devolving to
this Dignity Julius appeared extremely grave and modest in all his actions so that he acquired the good esteem and opinion of all persons obliging all those with whom he treated by his courteous and affable behaviour he afterwards obtained the Title of Bishop of Albano then of Sabino and great Penitentiary and lastly of Bishop of Ostia Velletri and Legate at Avignon In the time of Innocent the Eighth he had gained great power and interest in the Court of Rome but in the time of Alexander the Sixth he was forced to give way to other Favorites and the difficulties of those times and retire into France where he remained for the space of ten years At length as we have said having amassed great wealth he was almost by the common agreement of the whole Conclave promoted to the Papal Chair not without the astonishment and displeasure of many who being acquainted with his fierce and impetuous Spirit did admire as Guicciardin saith how a man known to be impatient of rest and tranquillity who had consumed his Youth in continual Travels offended many by necessity and exercised hatred and hostility could so speedily operate on so many dissenting Spirits and cause them to conspire in an unanimous agreement for his promotion But on the contrary it will not seem so strange if it be considered that he had been a long time Cardinal and by degrees gained such interest and authority in the Court of Rome that he was stiled the principal Defender of the Ecclesiastical Dignity and Authority that he was magnificent in his Buildings generous in his benefits and so punctual to his word that Pope Alexander who was otherwise his mortal enemy would yet do him that right as to confess him faithful and just to the performance of his promises but yet this good quality which he was so careful to preserve in his private condition he made no scruple or conscience to violate that he might become Pope for the obtaining of which he made such immoderate promises to Cardinals Princes and Barons that he well knew the whole Revenue and Price of the Papal Sea if set to sale had not been able to have satisfied and therefore 't is not difficult to imagin how the promises of a person not used to beguile should procure a confidence in the minds of the most scrupulous and wary persons Nor were the Cardinals only possessed with these expectations but Cesar Borgia himself conceived hopes upon his promises of being confirmed General of the Armies of the Church and of a Marriage between his Daughter and the Popes Nephew called Francis Maria de la Rovere the Prefect of Rome But he soon discovered the vanity of these hopes for Julius being Crowned the 26th of November and setled in the Papal Chair would afford him no other grace or favor than his liberty and freedom from imprisonment upon condition that he should deliver up into the Power of the Church the Fortresses of Cesena and Forli which were the retirements of his impious Guards Borgia who had deserved a thousand deaths being in this manner set at liberty from the Castle of S. Angelo embarked at Ostia in a Boat for Naples where so soon as he arrived he was seized by the great Captain Gonsalvo by order from the Catholick King and being thence transported into Spain he made his escape and fled to John King of Navarre where in a certain fray he was cut in pieces by the Cantabrians who are a people that border upon Asturias Julius being thus rid of this Pest of mankind by whom all Italy was embroiled and several dominions dismembred from the Church he endeavoured to recover all back again for being a true Defender of the Ecclesiastical Possessions and Rights he would compound for nothing but rather amplifie than retrench the Dominions of the Church The first enterprise therefore that he undertook was to drive out and expel John Bentivoglio his old inveterate enemy who had unjustly usurped a power over the City of Bologna forcing him with his Wife and Children to remain banished in Bassetto a Country belonging to the Dominions of Parma and contentedly to consent to the destruction of his Palace which was a fair and noble structure His next design was against the Venetians for recovery of Arimino and Ravenna with the Territories thereunto belonging by force of Arms from the Venetians and to that end entered into a League with Maximilian the Emperor the Kings of France of Spain with the Dukes of Ferrara and Mantoua all conspiring to the total ruin and subversion of the Venetian State the which League was agreed and signed at Cambray a City of Flanders Moreover the quarrel between the Pope and the Venetians was augmented by the dispute they had for the City of Faenza which the Pope laid claim unto as having always been a part of the Ecclesiastical State the which he resolved to wrest from their hands by the Spiritual as well as by Temporal Arms having thundered out his Excommunications both against the Senate and People On the contrary the Venetians pleaded that the City of Faenza was no part of the Possessions of the Church in regard that the Pope and Cardinals had in a full Consistory amply transferrred the Rights and Jurisdiction thereof to Cesar Borgia formerly Duke Valentino That before that Grant the Popes had never possessed Faenza but from time to time had given it to new Vicars without acknowledging other superiority than the Tribute which they offered to pay readily when it should be required These Arguments were seconded by the Venetians with an Army which appearing before Faenza and the Batteries began the City yielded it self into the hands of the Enemy they might with like facility have taken Imola and Furli but not to excite the indignation of the Pope too far they abstained from farther proceedings being masters already of Faenza and Rimini in Romagna with their Countries Montefiora S. Archangeo Verruca Gattere Savignano and Meldole with the Haven and Country of Cesena and in the Territory of Immola of Tossignana Solarvola and Montfattagla Notwithstanding this success and force of the Venetians the storm and power of so many potent Confederates raised against them was too furious and a match unequal for them to contend with The first beginning to so great a War was made the 15th of April when Monsieur de Chaumont with 3000 Horse passed the Ford of Adda and joyning afterwards with the other Confederates gave Battel to Alviano the General of the Venetian Forces the Fight was continued and maintained with great bravery and resolution on both sides but at length the Venetians being overwhelmed with the number of their Enemies and deprived of strength rather than courage without turning their backs to the Enemy they remained almost all dead upon the place After this Defeat which happened on the 14th of May 1509. at Guiaradadda the Emperor Maximilian took possession of Verona Vicenza Padoua and Trivigiano
were affixed in all publick places denouncing and publishing a Council to be held and celebrated on the first day of September following at Pisa where the Pope himself was also cited to appear This Council was convened by the Authority of the dissenting Cardinals such as Bernardino Carvagiale a Spaniard who was the chief leader and director of the Schism William Brisoner a French Bishop Francis Borgia a Spaniard Cardinal of S. Cecilia Renat de Brie a Frenchman Cardinal of S. Sabina and Frederick Sanseverino an Italian Cardinal of S. Angelo all which agreed and pretended that a Council might where was apparent necessity be judicially convoked by them and that when a Pope was guilty of Simony infamous and damnable in his manners Author of so many Wars and notoriously incorrigible to the universal scandal of all Christendom that then the power of convocating a Council which was the only remedy and redress for so many evils did lawfully devolve unto them especially having the Authority of the Emperor and the consent of the most Christian King together with the Clergy of Germany and France concurring The Pope enraged with this bold attempt of his contumacious Cardinals issued out his Excommunications against them depriving them of their Hats Honors and Dignities Ecclesiastical notwithstanding which the design of the Council proceeded and on the first day of September the Proctors of the Cardinals being come to Pisa did there celebrate the Acts for opening of the same with which the Pope conceiving yet higher indignation against the Florentines for that they had suffered the Conventicle for so he called it to take beginning in their State did declare and publish that whosoever did favour the Conventicle of Pisa did stand actually Excommunicated Interdicted and subject to all the Penalties severely ordained by Laws against Schismaticks and Hereticks and that accordingly Lewis XII King of France together with the Cities of Florence and Pisa did stand actually Excommunicated and Interdicted And farther to countermine this Council he published a General Council to be held at the Lateran and to do the greatest despight imaginable to the Florentines he constituted Cardinal John de Medices who with his whole Family was exiled from Florence Legate of Bologna Romagna and of the whole Army of the League and to give farther diversion and trouble in France he incited Henry VIII King of England and Ferdinand King of Spain to joyn in a League with him the first to enter his Forces into Aquitaine and the latter to wage War on the King of Navarre who being joyned in Confederacy with Lewis did likewise lie under the censure of Excommunication Matters being thus disposed he finished the Articles of a League made with the Catholick King and the Senate of Venice which was solemnly published on the 5th of October in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo the Pope and Cardinals being present where it was solemnly declared that the intent thereof was to preserve the Unity of the Church to defend her from the present Schism to recover the City of Bologna which was the right of the Church to confound the Assembly at Pisa and finally to chase and expel the French by force of Arms out of Italy Lewis finding himself on all sides hardly beset hastned the Recruits of his Army and withdrawing the Forces he had in Brescia which he had lately recovered from the Venetians and from Bologna which composed in all a Body of about 15500 men he marched by Ravenna in order to joyn with the Troops of the Duke of Ferrara who was then Confederate with France The Popes Army with the Allies consisting of about 13000 Foot and 1800 men at Arms marched towards the relief of Ravenna which was then hardly besieged by the French Army under the Command of Gaston de Foix a valiant and experienced General The Papal Army being encamped at no far distance from the French endeavoured to avoid a Battel which the Enemy frequently offered them but finding that unless they did fight Ravenna would be taken for such wide breaches were made in the Walls by the Cannon that the Enemy was ready to enter and in sight of their Army to make themselves Masters of the City to prevent which and the disgrace of such a mischief time was not farther to be lost nor an Engagement to be longer declined so that on Easter day both Armies joyned Battel The Fight continued so very long and bloody that in the space of six hours it was scarcely discernable to which side the Victory inclined At length by direction of the Duke of Ferrara the Cannon being brought by a long compass about to play on the Flank of the Army the Spaniards and Italians began to fly leaving their Baggage and the glory of the day unto the French which they gained with so much blood and loss of the principal Commanders and flower of their Army that they seemed rather vanquished than Conquerors and to remain in a condition which afforded them no cause of triumph in their Victory It is said that twenty thousand men were slain in this Battel and the numbers almost equal on each side amongst which 150 Gentlemen belonging to the Court of the French King were killed five of the Family of Colonna with Gaston de Foix their General Of the Popes Army the Legate John de Medices with several other Captains was taken Prisoner The first news of this Defeat and the ill consequences thereof which was the taking and sacking of Ravenna was entertained at Rome with great fear and tumult so that the Cardinals running hastily to the Pope urged and pressed him with earnest and vehement Petitions to conclude the War and accept such reasonable and moderate conditions as they were assured the King of France would be ready to offer On the other side the Embassadors of the King of Aragon and the Senate of Venice entertained other sentiments judging from the advices they had received that matters were not reduced to such extremities as the fears and melancholy fancies of the Cardinals suggested for that the French Army had not gained this Victory with so little loss but that the great effusion of blood which it had cost had weakened their Force to a degree as was not in a short time to be recovered nor was the death of that valiant and wise General Gaston de Foix and other Captains slain on the French side to be repaired in this age Likewise it was further urged that the Vice-Roy was escaped with the greater part of the Cavalry and that the Spanish Infantry were retreated from the Battel in good order which being joyned with the Swissers which were daily expected there would be no necessity at present of yielding to the conditions of the French which in this conjuncture would be very unequal and dishonorable and that therewith they must expect to receive Laws from the pride of Bernardin Carvagiale and the insolence of Frederick de Sancta Severin and the
perpetual banishment Thus by the punishment and degradation of several Cardinals the College being wanting and unprovided of its due numbers the Pope with much liberality created one and thirty at one time all persons of quality belonging to several Countries of Christendom some of which were advanced for their Virtue and Merit and others by the Favour and Interest of great Personages This Pope created two and forty Cardinals in all during the time of his Reign besides the restauration of the four rebellious Cardinals deprived by Julio amongst these Cardinals which he had ordained Julio de Medici his Kinsman was one whom he made his Vice-Chancellor and was afterwards Pope under the name of Clement VII About this time Maximilian the Emperor dying Charles King of Spain Naples and Sicily was elected to the great regret and indignation of Francis King of France who with much envy and emulation was displeased to see the Imperial Dignity added to the many Kingdoms and Estates holden by the King of Spain And because according to the ancient Rule and Canon the King of Naples was excluded from all capacity of being Emperor a Dispensation was purchased from the Pope with expence of 7000 Ducats qualifying the King of Naples for the Election Afterwards the Pope having favoured the cause of Charles and he by his assistance being Elected Emperor an Alliance and League was agreed between them to drive the French out of Italy a design ever pleasing to the Popes and particularly to Leo who was impatient of the infamous loss of Parma and Piacenza which being gained with so much glory and trouble by Julio he hoped to regain and restore to the Possessions of the Church In pursuance of this enterprize a considerable Army of Germans and Switzers were sent by the Emperor into Italy and joyned with the Forces of the Pope Prospero Colonna was made Generalissimo and Frederico Gonzaga of Mantoua General of the Army of the Church and Julio de Medici Legate of the whole Army The success proved agreeable to the preparations for the French were droven out of Italy which had long groaned under their pride and tyranny after which Milan was according to Articles surrendred into the hands of Francis Sforza the true and natural Lord and Parma and Piacenza restored to the Church with the news of which the Pope conceived such extremity of joy that he died suddenly on the first of December 1521. at the Village of Magliana where he used often for recreation to retire himself from whence the next day his body was removed to Rome not without suspicion of having been poisoned by his Chamberlain Malâ—spina who thereupon being imprisoned was afterwards released by Cardinal De Medicis so soon as he came to Rome no farther proceedings being made thereupon lest the matter being examined should reflect too far in disgrace of the French King Thus died Leo X. at the age of 45 years 11 months and one day having held the Papal Chair for the space of eight years and twenty days having at the hour of his death testified the great satisfaction he received by the restitution of Parma and Piacenza to the Ecclesiastical State without the effusion of the least drop of blood This Pope was esteemed a great lover of Justice having been severe against Thieves and Robbers He was a great lover of his Recreation and Pleasures spending much time in Hunting and Banquets and was more delighted with Musick than became the gravity and severity of a Pope He was highly magnificent in his Buildings and munificent in his gifts with which and by his Wars he had consumed so profusely beyond his Revenue that for maintenance of this charge he was forced to exact mony for making Cardinals and to set several Offices of his Court to sale He was a great lover of Learning and learned men to whom he was very liberal in his gifts imitating therein the spirit of his Father Laurence de Medicis He enlarged the Power of the Potesta or Civil Magistracy of Rome and bestowed on them several Privileges and Immunities for which reason by a Solemn Decree they made Julian his Brother a Citizen of Rome and treated him at the Campidoglio with Feasting and other Entertainments where they also erected a Statue of Marble and dedicated it to Leo with this Inscription Optimo Principi Leoni X. Med. Joan. Pont. Max. ob restitutam instauratamque Vrbem aucta Sacra bonasque artes adscitos Patres sublatum vectigal datum congiarium S.P.Q.R. In fine the face of the City of Rome was never more pleasant nor chearful than in the time of Leo X. His body was buried for that present in a Sepulchre of Brick erected in S. Peter's Church and for afterwards by direction of Paul III. translated to the Minerva together with the body of Clement VII ADRIAN VI. POPE Leo being dead and his Obsequies solemnly performed the Cardinals on the 16th of December 1521. assembled in the Chappel of Sixtus Quartus in S. Peter's Church and thence adjourned to the Vatican where 29 Cardinals entered into the Conclave and having sang Veni Spiritus they for some days were employed in giving Audiences to Forein Ministers in ordering matters for the more orderly Government of the City and regulating the Conclave in relation to their choice so on the 20th they began seriously to proceed to an Election Cardinal De Medicis aspiring to that dignity seemed to stand the most fair for it because that by the reputation of his greatness and by the interest of his Revenues and his glory lately acquired in the Conquest of Milan he had obtained the Voices of 15 Cardinals howsoever many considerations crossed his desires for it seemed irregular and against the common Policy for one of the same Family to succeed in the place of the Pope deceased for that such Presidents might soon bring the Popedom to a state of being disposed by Succession for which cause all the ancient Cardinals who pretended to be of the French action and all those who were enemies to Leo and discontented by him stood in opposition against him Moreover all the Cardinals who were Competitors and lived in hopes of succeeding could not endure and suffer the Election of a person under the age of fifty years These difficulties occurring retarded the Election for several days at length as they made scrutiny according to the custom of the Conclave Cardinal Adrian a Hollander by Nation was proposed one who had been School-master to the Emperor and by his means made Cardinal under Pope Leo so soon as he was nominated the Cardinal S. Sixtus began to recount and amplifie his Virtues in a long Oration which so took that the Cardinals began to yield and give up their Voices for him the residue followed from one to another seeming guided rather by chance than Counsel so that by the common Suffrages of all the Cardinals Adrian was Elected and Created Pope on the 9th of January 1522. the parties themselves not being
to Priests and Divine Service performed in the Vulgar Tongue but more especially their thoughts were busied about reformation of the Church and the dissolute Manners both of the Head and Members of it The Cardinal being returned to Trent kept all his Discourses and Negotiations at Inspruck as a Secret declaring himself onely in general terms that he observed in the Emperor a passionate desire of a Reformation but yet without any diminution or abatement of the Papal Authority About this time the Cardinal of Mantoua died who was the first President of the Council by whose decease the Cardinal Seripanda being the next Legat took on him that Office until such time as the Pope nominated two other Cardinals namely Moron and Navagier to succeed into his place the which he did with admirable expedition to prevent the instances which the French might make in the behalf of the Cardinal of Lorain And now the Point of Celibacy or single lives of Priests which was one of the eight particulars relating to Marriage came into question which was reserved until the time that the Cardinal of Lorain could be there present in handling of which all the Divines agreed that it was Heresie to believe that the Priests of the Western Church being under a Vow and an Ecclesiastical Canon to the contrary were capable of entering into a lawful State of Marriage onely the difficulty was whether it was in the Power of the Pope in some cases to grant a Dispensation to a Priest against his Vow of Celibacy and Chastity and whether the present emergencies and necessities were such as might induce the Pope to grant such Dispensations In discussing of which question it was confessed that the Oriental Churches did frequently confer Holy Orders on Persons who were already married but yet that it was never their custom to give liberty to unmarried Priests to change the State of their single life But others extended this liberty yet farther not restraining even Monks from that satisfaction in maintenance of which they alledged the Authority of St. Austin whose Opinion it was That Monks taking Wives their Marriage was Legal though it was undecent and what rendered them Prevaricators from their Vows to God and their Promises to the World In fine though the generality of Voices would not proceed so far as to make the marriage of Monks lawful yet by Plurality of Votes it was carried that in some cases a Dispensation might be granted for a Priest to marry for which Sentence and for hazarding that question on its tryal the Pope much blamed his Legats in excuse of which they alledged their inabibility to withstand the earnest instances which the Emperors and the Duke of Bavaria's Ambassadours had made in that particular About this time the Cardinal of Lorain received the bad news of the death of his Brother the Duke of Guise who was murthered by a Ruffian before the City of Orleans which allarm'd the Cardinal and caused him to set a more secure Watch and Guard over his own Person nor was the Council less concerned in the death of this great Man who was esteemed the Head and Chief Protector of the Catholick Party in France Amidst these troubles the Bishop of quinque Ecclesiae returned from Inspruck to Trent bringing two Letters with him from the Emperor one whereof was to the Council instantly exhorting them to labour in the work of Reformation and another to the Pope earnestly entreating him not to dissolve the Council lest thereby he should give scandal to the Hereticks and cause them to reproach and divide both the Church and its Assemblies But above all he desired that the Council might be free and not confined by the Orders of his Court nor by such Methods of proceeding as stop'd the mouths of all but his Legats there being nothing to be propounded but by their words Proponentibus Legatis and in fine he complained that after all the labours and Disputes of the Bishops and Divines to set things right there was no conclusion or establishment of any matter until it had first received its approbation from Rome This bold Letter which the Emperor adventured to write with more plain dealing than ever Charles V. or his other Predecessors durst to use highly offended the Pope causing him to return a smart Answer to it in terms very disobliging to the Emperour telling him amongst other things that he was very acute in observing the Disorders of the Council but in the mean time was blind in discerning from whence they proceeded which if well considered were chiefly from himself and from others who instead of receiving Laws were pleased to give them and that had he followed the example of Constantine and Theodosius those divisions and discords which appear in the Council would never entered or would speedily have vanished Howsoever the Emperor still continuing to oppose the Pope joyned with the Cardinal of Lorain and the French Party to examine and confute the arguments which the Papal Faction brought to sustain the clause of Regens Ecclesiam Vniversalem which set up the Pope above the Authority of a General Council So that the Pope perceiving that there was no hopes of gaining either the Emperor or the French to his side resolved to joyn himself to the Spaniards who having received the Council of Florence were easily persuaded to admit the clause against which the others had objected So that the Pope having his chief support from the Spanish party treated the Ambassadour of that Nation with a distinguishing kindness and respect for which reason the Count de Luna then Ambassadour for Spain at the Emperor's Court wrote to the Secretary of the Embassy at Trent as also to the Arch-Bishop and Bishop of Granada Leon and Segovia desiring them to persuade the other Spanish Bishops to moderate their passions against the Court of Rome and convert them into a zeal for the Papal Interest so that the like inclinations swaying that whole Nation the Count d' Avila who was Ambassadour for Spain at Rome became extreamly partial to the Pope's side for when the Imperialists at a Conference with the Pope demanded that the Cup might be given to the Laiety and that Priests might be permitted to marry the Spaniards opposed both by which Divisions the Pope gladly made his excuse to determine neither Point pretending in that doubtful condition to refer all to the determination of the Council About this time the Cardinal Seripanda one of the Legats died as had not long before his Colleague the Cardinal of Mantoua so that for some time the Congregation adjourned until the supply of new Legats were come from Rome who were daily expected And now the Pope who with long delays and general terms had wearied out the patience of those who expresly contended for a Reformation began to consider of the ways and means how he might absolutely throw off the thoughts of it and handsomly acquit himself with the French Nation thereupon He was once
the Oar in the Gallies of the Turks Of the Christians after the fight was ended upon the numbers wanting in every Vessel the account of the slain amounted to seven thousand six hundred fifty six This signal Victory was attributed as much to the devout Prayers and Benediction of the Pope as to the valour of the Soldiers and conduct of the Captains the report of which as it filled all Europe with joy so it made way for the glories of Don John who was received into Messina with all the Triumphs and Festivals which that City could express also Antonio Colonna was with the like honour and triumph received at Rome Nor did the Venetian General want such encouragements and honours as that Republick commonly bestows in reward of Valour and Merit In memory of which signal Victory they stamped divers Medals with this Inscription Anno Magnae Navalis Victoriae Dei gratiâ contra Turcas This memorable Victory was obtained in the time of this Pius V. who was certainly one of the best of the Popes and therefore I know not why we may not say without offence to any that this happy success might be given in reward of the Devotion and Piety of this Pope for I am persuaded that God hath a particular care of godly Kings and Princes for whose sake as he often blesseth their people so he bestows some memorable blessings on them of signal Remark in their Reign On which persuasion I am apt to believe that as God bestowed this Victory on the Christians in the time of this Pius V. against that great Sultan Selim II. So now in these our days he hath given Victory and unexpected success to the Christians before the Walls of Vienna against Mahomet IV. in reward of the great Piety and Devotion of Leopold the Emperour whose Devotion and Prayers joyned to the Arms of the King of Poland and of other Princes have operated Miracles and delivered Germany in a wonderful manner from the power of the Turk And yet notwithstanding the religious temper of this Pope we find that he excommunicated Queen Elizabeth as far as his Bull would operate he deposed her from Royal Dignities and conferred her Crown on Mary Queen of Scots and persuaded Philip King of Spain to seize on the effects of the English Merchants at Antwerp and other parts of the Low-Countries and to assist the Catholick Subjects in England in their godly and religious Conspiracies as Gabutius calls them against the Queen their natural Sovereign Pius oblatam occasionem haud contemnendam esse ratus efflatigabat ab Rege ut Anglorum in Elizabetham pie conspirantium studia foveret Thus we see how far a mistaken zeal may transport good Men which though it may in some measure excuse from the aggravation of a Crime yet it cannot prove sufficient to set Men entirely upright at the great day of the just Ballance This Pope added also to his other Excellencies the Virtue of loving wife and learned Men and such as were endued with a vivacity and acuteness of parts for he scarce preferred any to considerable Dignity but such as were excellent in some degree or other and of the twenty one Cardinals which he created at three several times there were five of them at least who were Men of extraordinary Abilities and famous in their Generation He founded certain publick places for Learning and Piety amongst which he endowed a College in the University of Pavia for the Education of Youth and affixed over it the Arms of the Ghislers at Boschi the place of his Birth he built a Monastery for Dominican Friers and endowed it with a competent Revenue and to demonstrate his gratitude to his Antient Benefactors he created a Magnificent Sepulcre in memory of Paul V. by whom he was created Cardinal and in short he made many new Buildings and repaired several that were decayed in the Vatican and both within and without the City of Rome After all which about the middle of March 1572. he became indisposed by a stoppage of Urin of which he commonly had a fit in that Month the which illness encreasing upon him gave him notice that his end approached from which time converting all his thoughts to holy and pious meditations he spent the short remainder of his time in the preparation of his Soul for death which happened on the first of May following the same day he died his Body was embowel'd and three little stones found at the neck of his bladder which the Physitians declared to be the cause of his death He was generally lamented by all and especially by vertuous Men for considering his principles his Enemies had nothing worse to object than that he gave a Dispensation to Philip King of Spain to marry with the Daughter of his Sister and of Maximilian his near Kinsman and yet would never be induced to consent unto the Marriage of Margaret of Valois Sister of the King of France with Henry King of Navarre making the difference of Religion a greater bar to Marriage than the degrees of consanguinity forbidden by the Levitical Law The day after his death his Body being clothed in the habit of a Jacobin was carried into the Church of St. Peter where the people assembled in great numbers to render him Honour and Veneration every one touching their Beads and Rosaries at his Body in the same manner as was their practice at the Reliques of Saints and afterwards he was honourably buried in the same Church where his Body lay deposited until afterwards Sixtus V. in grateful remembrance of the benefits he had received from him transported it to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and erected a stately Monument over it in a Chappel built for that purpose with this Epitaph inscribed upon it Pio V. Pont. Max ex Ordine Praedicatorum Sixtus V. Pont. Max. ex Ordine Minorum grati animi monumentum posuit GREGORY XIII PIVS the Fifth being dead and his Funeral Rites after the accustomed manner being performed the Cardinals entred the Conclave and with common consent elected Hugo Buoncompagno who was Priest and Cardinal of S. Sixtus to the dignity of Pope he was born at Bologna of the antient Family of the Buoncompagni his Father was called Christopher and his Mother Agnola Marascalchi by whom he was at first educated in the Studies of the Civil Law in which having made great proficiency he took his degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna at the age of twenty eight years and in a short time was made Judg of the Court of Trade erected in that City for tryal of Mercantile Causes afterwards in hopes of better preferment he went to Rome where he was constituted an Assistant to the Senator who was Judg of the Court held in the Capitol and the year following he was made Clerk of the Signet for Dispensasations and other Beneficences In the time of Paul III. he was employed at the Council of Trent and made Vice-Auditor of the
soon as it was convenient revenged the blood of his Friend Starace in such a signal manner that the Pope changed his Note and began to applaud him and â—estow the Character on him of a most Excellent Governour These Commotions happened at Naples some few days after Sixtus was elected Pope and before he was scarce warm in his Chair for had he been well setled therein it may reasonably be collected from some sayings of his that he would rather have nourished and somented those broils then instigated the Vice-King to punish the Authors of them for having always had an ambition to convert the feud of that Kingdom into an actual possession he would have made use of those late disturbances to inflame the minds of the people and exasperate them against the Government as a means to introduce his own Authority into the place thereof and so much may be collected from his words one day to Cardinal Rusticucci when discoursing of the death of Starace This Man said he might have done us great Service had he lived at least one year longer Sixtus all this time would not suffer or endure any Counsellour to advise or direct him in his Affairs but affected to manage all by his own wisdom and conduct howsoever he was desirous of Confidents and familiar Acquaintance with whom he might discourse matters and use for Spies to inform him of all passages in the World amongst this sort of Creatures his Nephew Cardinal Montalto possessed a considerable share of his affection for though he was but a young Man yet he was of a mature judgment and for his years well practised in the Affairs of the World howsoever he gave him this caution that he should beware how the kindness he had for him did encourage him to a confidence of making any request for Benefits or favours either for himself or others the like Admonition he gave also to his Sister and his other Nephews whom he tenderly loved and laboured to make rich oftentimes forbidding them to ask any thing of him For said he I charge you never to make any motion to me in behalf of any for we resolve to do all our selves and consider that what bribes soever you take are but unlawful and ill-gotten goods but what Money you receive from us will be hallowed and blessed Notwithstanding this severity and morose humour of Sixtus he would sometimes divertise himself with more pleasant and delightful entertainments amongst which he took a particular contentment to read a Book of Memoirs or recital of several passages which in the time when he was a young Frier he had wrote for his own remembrance the which being now Pope he was much pleased to read and contemplate One whereof was That being at Macerata he had occasion to buy a pair of shooes for which the Shoo-maker demanded seven Giulios or three shillings and six pence English Frier Montalto desirous to get them cheaper offered him three shillings and assured him that some time or other he would bring him the other six pence Yes said the Shoo-maker and when when you are Pope I warrant you Yes said he stay but till then and I promise to pay you the Money with full Interest until that time The Shoo-maker laughing delivered him the shooes and said since I find you disposed to accept the Popedom be sure you remember to pay this Debt when you are exalted to that Dignity Sixtus as I say reading this passage in his Book immediately wrote to Macerata to know if this Shoo-maker were living which when he understood he ordered the Governour of the place to send him up by one of his Officers The poor Shoo-maker surprized and affrighted with the news that the Pope desired to see him in Rome for he neither remembred any thing either of the shooes or of the Giulio it being a matter of forty years standing so that at every step he made he was still thinking and wondring at these Summons recalling to mind all the sins he had committed in his life considering for which of them he was thither cited Being come to Rome and introduced to the Pope's presence He asked him whether he remembred ever to have seen him at Macerata the poor Shoo-maker trembling told him No. Nor do you remember ever to have sold me a pair of shooes No said the poor Fellow shrinking up his shoulders but said the Pope we well remember that we are your Debtor and have sent for you to pay you your Money for we owe you a Giulio on account of a pair of shooes which we are now to pay you with Interest according to agreement and so calling for the Steward of his House to pay him the Giulio with the Interest upon it for forty years which amounted to two Giulios more he then dismissed the Shoo-maker bidding him go in peace The Shoo-maker having received his three Giulios murmured and complained very much that the Pope should send for him and bring hâ—m from so remote a place and from his Trade and Employment which was above twenty Crowns charge and damage to him onely to give him three Giulios or eighteen pence which he always carried in his hand and complained to every one he met The news of the Shoo-maker's laments being brought to the Pope by his Spies he presently sent for him again and demanded of him if he had a Son the Shoo-maker answering yes and that he was an honest good Priest of the Order of the Servi whereupon the Pope caused him to be called to Rome and before the departure of his Father invested him in a small Bishoprick within the Kingdom of Naples and then bid the Shoo-maker make up his Account and see to what sum the Interest of his Giulio had amounted Many are the stories of this nature recounted of this Pope which we shall omit contenting our selves to have given the Reader this familiar Tale which seems too light and frivolous for History yet since it is our end and design to give a Character of the Popes their humour and disposition may some times be more clearly shewn by familiar passages than by the more profound transactions of business The Jesuits who formerly were in high esteem with Gregory XIII and influenced his Counsels in such manner as that he acted nothing but by their pleasure and direction were very studious to insinuate themselves in the like good Opinion of Sixtus and to that end courted Cardinal Montalto inviting him often to the Recreations and Exercises of their Schools that if possible they might prefer a Confessor to the Pope which motion when it was made to Sixtus he in great indignation answered That it were better that the Jesuits confessed to the Pope than the Pope to the Jesuits Howsoever they still continued their courtship towards him and invited him one day to hear Mass in the new Chappel built by Gregory and being introduced thereunto by way of the Cloisters he was detained a while by the young
speedily the which he accordingly did in the space of two days after in words to this effect That his Holiness would be pleased together with him to render thanks to God Almighty for being pleased to conserve the remnant of his Fleet from such dreadful storms and tempests and for bestowing on him Riches and Power sufficient to set out and equippe an other equal to the former That he had sent his Fleet to fight against the Enemies of Christ but not to Combat with the Seas and Winds and therefore saw no cause to blame his Officers either Civil or Military And in fine perceiving the subtil manner of the Pope to forestall his demands of succours or reparations he concluded his Letter in this manner That the loss did as well concern the Pope as himself by whose directions and encouragement he had undertaken that Enterprise That he having had the glory to have lost a Fleet in the service of Christ had already performed his part and that now for the future the next attempt belonged to the Church in which he promised to follow but not to precede It was believed that the King wrote with this resolution and indifferency of mind to the Pope to let him know that this misfortune did not abate his Courage or force in defence of his own Dominions for the King was jealous and had cause sufficient to suspect that the Gallies which the Pope had lately built and the vast sums of Money which he had lately amassed were with design on the Kingdom of Naples on which the Count Olivarez Ambassadour at Rome having always a vigilant Eye did constantly inculcate to the Pope in his Discourses That so much as his Master had lost in seeking the Conquest of others Kingdoms as much he did not doubt but to recover on any Prince who should attempt on his Dominions This year 1588. famous for the destruction of the Spanish Armada was signalized also towards the end thereof on the 23d of December by the death of the Duke of Guise a Prince of such popular esteem that he appeared greater than the King and to eclipsed the Sovereignty that not longer enduring to be so clouded he resolved to break through the obscurity by the destruction of the Duke whom the King caused to be assassinated by eight Executioners as he was entering into his Closet being thereunto called by his Command these Officers of the King's displeasure so effectually performed their work by the mortal stabs they gave him that he had not time to utter one word but onely breathed out his life with dying groans the same day the Cardinal his Brother was imprisoned and the next day being the Eve of Christmas was put to death the which misfortune to the House of Guise was followed by the imprisonment of the Cardinal of Bourbon the Pope's Legat at Avignon the Arch-bishop of Lions and of the eldest Son of the Duke of Guise The news of the Duke's death was dispeeded to Rome with such diligence by an Express that the Pope received it on the 3d. of January 1589. at the same time that he was discoursing with the Cardinal Joyeuse touching the Affairs and interest of France The Pope at the arrival hereof did not seem troubled or in the least manner surprized for though the Duke was a zealous Defender of the Roman Catholick Religion yet considering that he was ambitious and popular and one who checked the Sovereign power the Pope who was a great Assertor of the Monarchical Authority in its Supreme degree received the news of his unhappy fate without any remorse or resentment and so shrinking up his shoulders said Had we been King of France we should have done the same And when the particulars were all recounted he added Such is commonly the destiny of Men who committed many Errors with subtil Arts but then know not how to conserve themselves with mature judgment and due caution But when about four days after that Intelligence came how that the Cardinal of Guise was likewise put to death and that the Cardinal of Bourbon and the Arch-bishop of Lions were imprisoned he then began to fume and storm like an enraged Bear venting his passion with ten thousand violent expressions against the King clapping his hands and stamping with his feet on the floor in such manner as affrighted all his Servants and Attendance Henry III. of France being acquainted with the humour of Sixtus and how apt he was to resent the least injuries towards Ecclesiastical persons and encroachment on his Authority dispatched Girolamo Gondi a Florentine Gentleman with all expedition to Rome to join with his Ambassadour the Marquess Pisani in making excuses for the death of the Cardinal and the imprisonment of the Cardinal of Bourbon and Arch-Bishop of Lions being thereunto necessitated contrary to his own nature for the conservation of his own life and Crown Gondi being arrived at Rome and having consulted together with the Ambassadour the way and manner to address themselves unto the Pope and being admitted to Audience the Pope with a stern Countenance looked on them and with sharp and severe terms began to reproach the King wondering how he could dare to violate the immunities and priviledges of the Ecclesiastical State and the dignity of Cardinals and against all Laws both Divine and humane could entertain so much wickedness in his heart as to murther a Cardinal and imprison two others of eminent dignity in the Church as if they had been subjected to the Secular power The Ambassadours for Reply hereunto in modest terms but yet with grave and unmoved constancy began to relate the Treason and Plots of which the Cardinal was guilty contrary to the Faith and Allegiance which he owed unto the King with whom also the Cardinal of Bourbon and the Arch-bishop of Lions had been Complices It is true said they it would have best become the righteousness and judgment of a King to have proceeded in a juditiary way according to all the methods and rules of Law but the Cardinal assisted by the power of his Brother and by the Authority of the two other potent Prelates was become too strong for the Law or to be treated by the usual formalities of common Process for they having forced the King to abandon his Palace and fly in disguise through the streets of Paris there remained no mild terms of Accommodation but either the King must become a Subject unto them and divest himself of his Dignity and resign his Power into the hands of those Guardians as if he were in his pupillage or years of minority or else he must serve himself of those means which God appointed him for conservation of his Crown and Regal Office in which he was anointed In fine they concluded that the King was an obedient Son of the Church and was ready to satisfie the desires of his Holiness to the utmost of his power and to that end he had expresly sent this Gondi now present before him
Princes to depose them and could command Legions of Angels to come to his aid and assistance The Senate having received these Informations from their Ambassadour did well weigh and consider the anger and furious displeasure of the Pope on the one side and the publick liberty and the necessity of upholding their Government on the other and having put both these considerations into the balance they returned this answer to the Pope's Nuntio and wrote also to their Ambassadour at Rome to this effect That they could neither release the Prisoners lawfully arrested nor repeal or dispence with those Laws which were justly established lest they should violate that natural liberty which God had bestowed on their Republick and which had been conserved for many hundreds of years by the wisdom and with the blood of their Ancestours For that to admit such a breach into their Power would breed such confusion in their Government as could not but end in a dangerous Sedition The which resolution was so unanimous and general that not one Vote in the Senate was dissenting and accordingly it was signified to the Nuntio that so they might disabuse and take off the Pope from those expectations which the Jesuits had promised of making a division and Schism amongst the Senators But these reasons made little impression in the mind of the Pope or did in the least move him from prosecuting the violent course he designed and accordingly he ordered two Briefs to be drawn up one relating to the two Laws and the other to the two Prisoners for besides the Canon or Prebend whom we have formerly mentioned the Abbot of Nervesa was also apprehended by the Secular Justice The Crimes laid to the charge of this Abbot were such as were flagitious and of a high nature being accused of having exercised an unlimited tyranny upon his Neighbours and Tenants that he had robbed and taken away their goods at the prices he was pleased to set that he lived in Whoredom and committed Rapes on the Bodies of vertuous and chast Women and that in order thereunto he used Magical Spells and Enchantments and compounded subtle Poisons by which he had destroyed his own Brother who was an Augustine Frier and with him his Servant that by his Poisons he had macerated the Body of his Father in such manner as had reduced him to the last extremity of life That he had committed Incest with his own Sister and poisoned her Maid lest his Crime should be detected by her besides many other Murthers and wickedness of the deepest dye of which he was guilty and this was the pretious Fellow with his Comrade the Canon of Vicenza whom the Pope was so instant to defend and exempt from the Sentence of the Secular Justice The Breviates as we have said being wrote and Sealed were directed in this manner Marino Grimano Duci Reipub. Venetorum and then dispeeded with all secrecy by the Pope to his Nuntio at Venice which when he had done he called a Consistory of Cardinals and then first published and made known the whole matter to them enlarging himself with such heat and vehemence on every particular Point as that he seemed impatient of any contradiction not admitting any debate or consultation thereupon The Cardinals not being used to this manner of treatment who according to the antient constitution of Consistories were not only reputed Counsellours but Parties also in all matters of this moment did murmure at this rash and precipitate resolution of the Pope and having understood the reasons of the Pope on the one side and of the Republick on the other were divided into various Opinions The Consistory being ended the Cardinals Baronius and Perron used many arguments in private to the Pope persuading him to desist from so difficult and hazardous an Enterprise at least that he should expect a more favourable conjuncture of Affairs rather than adventure all by a hasty and inconsiderate advice but the Pope who was fixed on his Design became deaf to all Counsels which concurred not with his sense The Nuntio having received the Briefs delivered them on Christmas day in the Morning to the Counsellours at the time when they were assembled to hear the high Mass but the Doge Grimani lying at that time on his Death-bed and dying the next day the Senate delayed to open the Briefs until according to their usual Methods they had compleated the election of a new Prince Of which the Pope having advice he immediately dispatched Orders to his Nuntio commanding him to protest against the Republick and against their Election as being void and invalid and of no power whilest they remained under the Censure of Excommunication with this new device the Pope expected to make a division and a confusion in their Councils for he measuring the constitutions of Venice at the death of their Prince with those at Rome during the vacancy of the Sea did imagine that such a Bone as this thrown into so numerous an Assembly would beget great disturbances and diversity of Opinions but this Government which hath always been firm and constant and which admitted of no Interregnum kept constant to their antient Principles refusing to give Audience to the Nuntio or any other forein Representative unless it were to pass the Offices of Condolance for the death of the Prince Thus as we say this Election admitting of no interruption the same was compleated on the 10th of January 1606. by the unanimous consent of the Nobles concurring in the choice of Leonard Donato a Senatour of great eminence and esteem for the probity of his life his experience in Government and knowledg in Learning besides his heroick Vertues and qualities which recommended him to all mankind After this Election all the Ambassadours from forein Princes went to congratulate with the new Doge onely the Pope's Nuntio refrained from this Office notwithstanding which the Doge according to the usual form wrote to the Pope giving him advice of his Election to which the Pope contrary to his former intentions returned a favourable answer giving his Nuntio Order to pass the Complement and in person to congratulate with the Doge for the honour with which he was invested The first thing which after the election of the Prince was transacted in the Senate was the Controversie between the Pope and the Republick and in the first place the Cavalier Peter Duodo was appointed Ambassadour to be dispeeded to Rome Then the Pope's Briefs were in the next place to he considered the which being opened and read were found to run almost in the same stile and tenure one having reference to the Laws and the other to the Prisoners the Contents whereof were as followeth That whereas for some years past the Senate had in their publick Councils transacted and established several matters against the Liberties and Immunities of the Church and against the Canons Councils and Pontifical Constitutions And whereas the Council of the Pragadi in pursuance of such Laws
most Eminent and most Reverend but as to the Order of the Knights of St. George instituted by Paul V. he wholly abolished it The Illyrian Colledg founded at Loreto by Gregory XIII but translated afterwards to Rome by Clement VIII consisting in all but of twelve persons he restored again to Loreto with augmentation of the Revenue and of the Scholars to the number of thirty six And in regard his hand was now employed in giving and taking away Honours he was pleased to declare that the Commonwealth of Venice was a crowned Head and was to be treated with a Dignity equal to that of Kings About this time great combustions and terrible Wars threatned Italy for the House of Gonzaga which reigned in Mantua was now considered without issue male and as a dead Corps without hopes of any branches springing from thence neither could Ferdinand the elder Brother nor Vincenzo the present Duke leave after them any other than the young Princess Mary their Niece who as a Woman was excluded from the Investiture of the Dutchy had yet some reason though doubtful to pretend to that of Montferrat In her marriage therefore the pledges of Peace or the seeds of great contention seeming to be lodged many believed it expedient to marry her to Charles Duke of Rhetel Son of the Duke of Nevers the nearest and lawful Heir for this Branch though transplanted to a forein Soil was sprung from the same Root enjoying in France the revenue of three large Dukedoms viz. Nevers Rhetel and Maine The Spaniards who were jealous of this House and above any thing apprehended this Succession lest it should introduce the French into Italy promised the pretensions of Ferrand Prince of Guastalla a branch also of the House of Gonzaga but derived farther than that of Nevers but by how much the Austrians favoured Guastalla with benefits and declarations by so much the more was France earnest to strengthen the rights of Nevers with whom the Venetians also concurring in Opinion put the Duke in mind to establish the Succession in his life-time and therewith confirm the Peace of Italy Nor was Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy less attentive to his interest and game than the others designing upon the death of Vincenzo now crazy and infirm not so much with age as with riot and luxurious living to revive his pretended title to Montferrat and colour it with the marriage of Mary to his Son Maurice To pervent which Vincenzo with great secrecy called to him Rhetel that he might marry him to the Princess declaring him immediately upon his arrival Lieutenant General and his Heir by solemn Testament To perfect this Marriage nothing was now wanting but the Pope's Dispensation in matter of consanguinity or nearness of kindred which being obtained the Bull seasonably arriv'd the night before that Duke Vincenzo died so that the marriage was consummated whilst the Corps were yet warm and the day following the Bridegroom together with his mourning assumed the Title of Prince of Mantua and having in his power the Garrison and the Cittadel called Porto required from the people an Oath of Fidelity in the name of his Father Guastalla in the mean time published a Patent from the Emperour empowering him to take possession of Mantua until the right should be declared and commanding the Governour of Milan to maintain this Decree by force if need should require Guastalla also had thoughts of going himself to Mantua but the passage was already stop'd by the anticipations of Rhetel wherefore he practised upon Casal endeavouring to alienate the minds of that people from their new Prince but all in vain because the name of Nevers was universally cryed up both at Casal and in the Country of Montferrat The interest of Princes being now discovered reason or justice were no longer debated in the cause of Mantua but calculations made of Force opportunity and advantage The Republick of Venice resolved to joyn with Nevers as the safest interest in which to maintain the liberty of Italy howsoever being willing to decline the assistance of France and other Strangers they designed a middle party composed of a League with the Pope and other Princes of Italy by which they believed it easie to protect the Justice of Nevers by Negotiation and defend themselves on all occasions against violence This Remonstrance of the Venetians Vrban approved and offered his interposition with powerful Offices But what said he can be promised from Reason without Arms in dealing with him who places Reason and Justice in nothing but Arms the excess of Power in Princes makes little account of the Pope's Prayers and their Mediation is reduced to almost nothing else but to adorn the Frontispiece of Treaties with his Name The intentions of Vrban were in reality conformable to his expressions for he desired to maintain Nevers in the succession of Mantua but abhorred to engage himself so far as to be obliged to come to the extremity of taking up Arms. But whilest these things were in meditation and discourse between the Pope and other the Friends of Rhetel the Duke of Savoy taking the advantage of the diversion which the Arms of Lewis XIII found against his Protestant Subjects in France entered with his Army into Montferrat and hoped to be speedily Master both of that Country and of the strong Fortress of Casal which was besieged already by Marquis Spinola Lieutenant General of the Spanish Forces in Italy as was Mantua also at the same time by the Forces of the Emperour At length on the 18th of July 1630. in the Night the City of Mantua was by treachery taken by the Germans and for the space of three days committed to the pillage and cruelty of the Soldiers with all the outrages which lust impiety and licence could suggest to merciless Conquerours the Princess Mary retired into a Monastery where being respected for her Sex and Quality she obtained licence to be carried to the Empress to whom she was nearly related the Duke retired hastily into Porto where the Ammunition for full accomplishment of the Treason taking fire he was forced to surrender on condition that he should be convoyed by two Companies of German Horse into the Country of Ferrara to remain at Melara where the Duke was supplied with Mony for his maintenance from the Venetians The taking of Mantua in this terrible manner increased the hopes of the Spaniards who besieged Casal that they should speedily become Masters of that important place but their expectations were disappointed by the coming of the French Troops under the command of Mareschal Schomberg sent by Lewis XIII for relief of his Ally the Duke of Mantua Thoiras who was Governour of Casal defended the place with great gallantry which gave such discouragement to the Enemy that upon approach of the French Troops the Siege was raised and the Town conserved to its lawful Master In this manner was France Spain and the Emperor engaged in a bloody War within the confines of
the success soon quieted their minds and the Great Duke to shew a confidence in his people put Arms into their hands which had not been accustomary for many years past Thus did matters pass with various successes but most commonly in favour of the Confederates until the season proper for action ended when the Winter approaching the Treaties interrupted by the War were again reassumed And indeed Vrban discovered not only an inclination but a desire of Peace for being burthened with years and weary of the cares which War carries with it was desirous to end his days in calmness and quiet and though his Nephews endeavoured to disguise matters which were the most tragical and sad yet the clamours of the people which had suffered under the devastations and pressures of War had come to his Ears wherefore he consented to a Treaty with the restitution of Castro entreating the Cardinal Bichi who was sent by the Court of France for the Office of Mediation to hasten the Peace that the short residue of his life might terminate in quietness The Congregation of State erected purposely for direction of the Military Affairs concurred in their desires with the Pope to which Cardinal Barberin though much against his will was forced to condescend knowing that with the restitution of Castro a dishonourable Peace was to be the consequence of an unhappy War With these dispositions towards a Peace Cardinal Bichi departed from Rome and in his way to Venice passed through Florence where in Discourse he understood from the Great Duke that saving his own Rights and Interests the Confederates would be satisfied with the full restoration of the Duke of Parma The Cardinal being arrived at Venice was followed by the Dukes of Modena and Parma Gondi and Testi were already there debating with Nani and Gussoni whom the Senate had deputed for that purpose It was now the beginning of the year 1644. when the Cardinal Bichi proposed That Absolution and Pardon should be demanded by France for Duke Edward and that Castro should be restored to him and that the rights of the Montists should remain as before and that the Confederates should restore that which they possessed belonging to the Church And to take off the diffidence which the Confederates conceived of non-performance of Articles by the Barberins he proposed the word of France for Guarantie upon declaration and promise that their Arms should be employed against him that should fail in execution of the Agreement Vrban falling extreamly sick whilst matters were in Treaty Bichi hastned the conclusion considering that his death would cause great alteration in the Treaty and as a preparation thereunto proposed a cessation of Arms to which the Confederates assented being sensible that such an accident could not happen without great revolutions in the Dominions of the Church and that with the death of the Pope the Authority of the Nephews ceasing those motives would vanish which had been the Original and cause of the War but the Pope's recovery altered all those Counsels which were contrived in case of his death and induced them to hasten a conclusion of the Peace The Articles therefore proposed by the Cardinal being debated in several Assemblies were at last concluded and agreed and subscribed at Venice by Cardinal Bichi for France by Giovanni Nani for Venice by Battista Gondi for the Great Duke and by the Marquis Fassoni for Modena and though the Duke of Parma refused to subscribe upon certain difficulties he made yet being over-ruled by the Confederates he was forced to concur The Cardinal with this Agreement posted in all hast to Rome being entertained in all places of the Ecclesiastical State with the Acclamations and Prayers of the People longing for Peace The Articles subscribed by the Confederates began with a Preamble and Declaration That they had entered into this War with no other Design than for the restoration of Prince Edward reserving in all other matters their most constant Obedience to the Pope and the Holy See That all acts of Hostility be suspended and that the Confederate Princes withdraw their Forces into their own Dominions That all Fortifications raised during this present War shall be demolished on one side and the other To the Persons and Places which had served or rendred themselves to any other Party Pardon was granted Prisoners were set at liberty the Religious Persons who had withdrawn themselves were permitted to return and the Sequestration was taken off from the Rents of the Knights of Malta and all Rights were clearly reserved to the Parties as aforesaid For execution of all which Hostages were given to the French King and the King for satisfaction of both Parties declared that he having become Guarantie for the Peace his Arms should be employed against those who observed not the Articles and in favour of those who executed the Accord Thus Castro was rendered and the Accord on all sides executed and Peace ensued to the satisfaction of the Pope and quiet of Italy but Vrban did not long enjoy the happiness of this Peace for being entered into the seventy seventh year of his age he died on the 29th of July in the year 1644. having reigned twenty one years wanting eight days He was certainly a Person of high prudence generosity and fit for Business in his youth he was esteemed a great Poet and excellently well versed in all the Books of Antient Poesie He was very munificent in his publick Buildings and in his own private Concernments he was no less splendid having in his life-time erected a stately Monument for himself in a corner of St. Peter's Church near the Sepulchre of Paul III. and adorned it with pillars of Marbles according to the contrivance and direction of Cavalier Bernini with this Inscription Vrbani VIII Barberini Florent Pont. Max. In Vaticano Tumulum Excitavit Ornavit Johannes Laurentius Berninus Eques His greatest fault was Nepotisme or too great a fondness for his Nephews and indulgence to his whole Family which he was resolved to make Rich and Great and indeed he had opportunity so to do in the long time of his Pontificate having reigned almost twenty one years during which at nine several Creations he made seventy four Cardinals of which number of seventy four three were his own Nephews viz. Francisco Barberino Antonio Barberino the Capuchin commonly known by the name of Cardinal Barberino to distinguish him from the other Cardinal Antonio the younger Brother of Cardinal Francisco who was Prior of the Order of Jerusalem and a Knight of the Great Cross of Malta and made General of the Ecclesiastical Army in the place of Taddeo Barberino the Prefect who for his cowardise and ill success was recalled from that Charge INNOCENT X. URBAN VIII having as is said breathed his last on the 29th of July the Cardinals then residing in Rome to the number of thirty nine assembled at a Congregation in order to dispose and settle matters for the more quiet and
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
Assistances and Contributions he made to the Emperour whereby to enable him to carry forward his War against the Turk who is the formidable Enemy of all Christendom Nor did he onely furnish him with great sums of Money at divers times but invited and instantly exhorted the King of Poland to undertake that Heroick Act whereby the City of Vienna was delivered and all Austria rescued from desolation and from being a prey to the Mahometan Arms And farther his Negotiations prevailed to engage the Venetians in the same War and to complicate a triple League between these Princes Thus have we seen that during the Reign of this Pope nothing hath been acted by him but what was designed to the common Good of his Church and State for having laid aside all the private considerations of his Nephews and Family his cares have been diverted towards the Common Good so that being freed from the importunities of a Cardinal Patron and the unsatiable Avarice of Favourites and other dependencies his Government is much less subject to Pasquils or libellous Censures but on the contrary applauded and honoured by all wise and good Men so that continuing in this steddy course through the whole remainder of his Reign he may be esteemed and numbered in the rank and degree of the good Popes FINIS AN INDEX Of the principal matters in the Lives of the POPES written by B. Platina For the Names of the Popes themselves see the Table at the beginning of the Book A. ABimelech Chieftain of the Saracens 121 124. Abraxas of Basilides the Heretick 16. Acephali Hereticks 77. Adauctus a pious Roman 45. Adelphonsus King of Asturia and Gallicia 149. Adrian Emperour his qualities and works 15 16 17 19. S. Aegidius a Grecian 133. Aelius Pertinax Emperour 25. Aemilianus Emperour 37. Aeneas Sylvius created Pope 389. Aetius a Roman General 75. Agarens who they are 108. Agrippa Castor a learned Christian 16. Aisprandus gets the Kingdom of Lombardy 129. Aistulphus King of the Lombards 137 139 his death 140. Alalchis Duke of Trent 120. Alaric King of the Goths takes Rome 70. Albericus Marquess of Tuscany 180. Albert Duke of Austria chosen Emperour 363. Alboinus 94. Aldeprandus King of the Lombards 137. Alexander Severus Emperour 31. Alexander Bishop of Cappadocia 35. Alexius Emperor of Constantinople his treachery to the Christian Forces 217. Allocephalis a nick-name for Ravenna 116. Almeric King of Jerusalem 242. Amadeus Duke of Savoy set up for an Anti-Pope submits 377. Amalasunta Queen of Italy 87. S. Ambrose chosen Bishop of Milan 66. appears to the Emperor Conrade 198. Amoreus a King of the Saracens 135. Anastasius gets the Empire of Constantinople 130. Anastasius a Heretick 133. Anastasius the Library-keeper 171. Anatolius Bishop of Laodicea 42. Andrew Earl of Bremen 251. Andrew King of Hungary 258. Angelot a Cardinal murther'd 369. Antioch besieg'd by the Christians 219. taken 220. Anti-Pope See Schism Antoninus Pius Emperour his Virtues 18. Ant. Verus Emperour 20 21. Antoninus Heliogabalus his vicious life 30. Antony the Hermit 54. S. Antony Canoniz'd 262. Apelles a Heretick 23. Apollinaris Bishop of Hierapolis 21. Another Bishop of Laodicea his heretical Opinion 69. Apollonius a learned Christian martyr'd 24. Aquila translated the Old Testament 17. Aquileia destroy'd 76. Arator a Christian Poet 88. Arcadius Emperour 70. Arioaldus 〈◊〉 of the Lombards 106. Aristides a Philosopher converted to Christianity 15. Arithpertus King of the Lombards 127. loses his Kingdom and life 129. Arius the Heretick 51 56 his death 57. Arnulphus Emperour 173. Another of that name Patriarch of Jerusalem 221. Another a great Preacher murther'd by the procurement of some Priests 234. Asterius an Arian Philosopher 59. Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria 56. Athaulphus King of the Goths 71. Athimus a King of the Saracens 134. Attila King of the Hunns invades Illyricum 73 fights the joint Forces of the Romans Goths c. 75. Audoenus Bishop of Roan 122. S. Augustin Bishop of Hippo 71 his body translated 135. Avignon taken by the Saracens 134. re-taken 135. Aurelianus Emperour 41. Aurelius Commodus Emperour 20 23 24. B Babylas the Martyr his Body remov'd 62. Baianus Prince of the Bulgarians 188. Balahac a King of the Persians 232. Baldequan King of Damascus 233. Baldus a great Lawyer 320. Baldwin of Bulloign 217. gets a Signiory in Asia 218. made King of Jerusalem 224. taken Prisoner 232. Baldwin Emperour of Constantinople 265. Baltasar Cossa Anti Pope reconcil'd to the Pope 352. Banderesii what 320. Bardesanes a Christian Writer 25. S. Barnabas the Apostle 5. S. Bartholomew his body translated 158 190. Baruti taken by the Turks and rased 291. Basil the learned Bishop of Caesarea 67. Basilides the Heretick his death 16. Bassianus See Caracalla Bede the Venerable when he lived 126. Belisarius 88. comes into Italy 91. beats Vitiges from Rome and takes him Prisoner 92. S. Benedict 87. his body translated 137. Berengarius I. King of Italy 173. made Emperour 178. the second of that name 181. the third 184. Berengarius of Tours a learned Man 190. condemned for a Heretick 203. recants 205. Bernard Abbat of Clairvaux 227. Bernardus King of Italy 154. Beryllus a Heretick 32. Bishop not to be ordain'd by fewer than three Bishops 13 22. to be attended by seven Deacons when Preaching 14. the accusation of a Layman not to be admitted against him ibid. when cited by the See Apostolick to be receiv'd again by his Flock without a Certificate 17. not to be censur'd by the Metropolitan without consent of his fellow-Bishops 19. Bishops of Rome allow'd to wear a golden Diadem 51. Blastus a Heretick 25. Blood of Christ a Relique at Mantua 151. Bocca di Porco a name not fit for a Pope 160. Bodies of Saints translated 163. Boemund a great General engaged in the Holy War 217. wounded 220 dies 225. Constantine Son of Heraclius 110. routed by the Bulgarians 117. Another of the same name Leprous 148 Constantine an Anti-Pope 142 Constantius Caesar 44. Emperour 47. Another of the same name 58 59. Another who spoils Rome 114 Constitutions See Decrees Corporal to be made of fine Linen onely 17 Council of Nice 51. Of Constantinople 117 169. Of Lions 280. Of Constance 345. Of Basil 362. General Councils where and when holden 118 Court of Rome when remov'd to France 300. returns to Rome 322 Crescentius Consul of Rome 192 Holy Cross found by Helena Constantine's Mother 48. brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople 108 Cunigunda Empress 197 Cup in the Holy Sacrament Orders of Pius I. if any be spilt 20 21 S. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage 36. martyr'd 37 S. Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem 69 D J. Damascenus a learned Divine 81 Damrata besieged by the Christians and retaken 258. deliver'd 259 Dante 's Aligerius a learned Man 297 Deacons appointed to attend a Bishop when he Preaches 14 Decius Emperour 35 Decrees of Anacletus 13. Euaristus 14. Alexander I. 16. Sixtus I. 17. Telesphorus 18. Hyginus 19. Pius I. 20. Anicetus 22.
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread when they came from all parts of Judoea to Jerusalem as into a publick Prison and especially on the day of the Passeover upon which they crucified Christ being now to undergo the deserved punishment both of their frequent revolts from the Roman Government and also of their villany and perfidiousness in putting to death the innocent Jesus Upon this Victory over the Jews the Father and Son were honoured with a Triumph both riding in the same Chariot and Domitian upon a white Horse following them The Monuments of this Triumph remain still in the Via Nova where are to be seen engraven the Candesticks and the Tables of the old Law that were taken out of the Temple and triumphantly brought away Yet Vespasian exercised so much humanity towards the Jews even when they were conquered that for all those whom he found among them remaining of the House of David as being of Royal descent he had a very good esteem And indeed he always used his Power with great Moderation being of so mild and merciful a Temper as to discharge even Traytors with no other than a verbal Correction and to slight the Discourses of insolent and talkative people and in general to be forgetful of Faults and Injuries He was look'd upon as too much enclin'd to Avarice and yet he used no oppression for the getting of Money and what he had he employed in Bounty and Magnificence For he both finish'd the Temple of Peace adjoyning to the Forum that had been begun by Claudius and began that Amphitheatre a part of which is yet to be seen with admiration He had so great an opinion of the Bravery and Merit of his Son Titus that upon occasion of certain tumults rais'd by some ambitious men who aspir'd to the Empire he said publickly That either his Son or no man would be his Successor in the Empire And good ground he had to say so for that Titus both for his Courage and Integrity was accounted the Darling and Delight of Mankind He was endued with an Eloquence excellency suited to the times of Peace and with a Courage to those of War he was very merciful to Offenders and so kind and bountiful to all that he never denied any man any thing Upon which occasion when some of his Friends took the liberty to find fault with him as too profuse he told them It was not fit that any man should depart sad out of the presence of a Prince And remembring at a certain time that he had not conferr'd any benefit in a whole day he thereupon cried out to those about him My Friends I have lost a Day Never any Emperour was superiour to him in Magnificence the Amphitheatre together with the Baths near adjoyning being perfectly compleated and dedicated and an Hunting of five thousand wild Beasts exhibited by him He recall'd from Exile Mursonius Rufus a famous Philosopher and was much pleased with the conversation of Asconius Poedianus a most learned man He died in the second year of his Empire and was carried to his Sepulchre with so great and universal a lamentation as if every man had lost a Father There are some who write that Cletus succeeded Linus in the second year of Vespasian who held the Empire ten years Whether that were so or no 't is certain that Cletus was a most holy and good man and that he left nothing undone that might contribute to the enlargement and increase of the Church of God In his time lived Luke a Physitian of Antioch one extraordinarily well skilled in the Greek Language a follower of S. Paul the Apostle and his constant attendant and Companion in his Travels He pen'd the Gospel which is commended by S. Paul and which S. Paul for a good reason calls his Gospel He wrote also the Acts of the Apostles being himself an Eye-witness of them He lived eighty four years was married in Bithynia and buried at Constantinople whither his bones together with those of Andrew the Apostle were in the tenth year of Constantius conveyed out of Achaia At the same time likewise Philip returning out of Scythia which by his Example and Preaching he had kept stedfast in the faith for twenty years together into Asia died at Jerusalem As for Cletus himself having setled the Church as well as the Times would bear and ordain'd according to St. Peter's command twenty five Presbyters he was crown'd with Martyrdom in the Reign of Domitian and buried near the body of S. Peter in the Vatican April 27. There were many other Martyrs about the same time among whom is reckoned Flavia Domicilla Sisters Daughter to Flavius Clemens the Consul who was banish'd into the Island Pontia for the profession of Christianity Cletus sate in the Chair twelve years one month eleven days and by his Death the See was vacant twenty days S. CLEMENS CLEMENS born in Rome in the Region of Mons Coelius his Fathers name Faustinus lived in the time of Titus his Successor Domitian Who was more like to Nero or Caligula than to his Father Vespasian or his Brother yet at the beginning of his Empire he kept within some tolerable bounds but soon after he broke out into very great enormities of Lust Idleness Rage and Cruelty crimes which brought upon him so great an Odium as almost quite defac'd the Memory and Renown of his Father and his Brother Many of the Nobility he put to death whereof most were by his order assassined in the places whither he had banish'd them He was so industriously idle as to spend the time of his privacy and retirement in killing Flies with a Bodkin for which reason when a certain person coming out of his Presence was asked whether any one were with Coesar he answer'd merrily No not so much as a Fly He arriv'd to such an heighth of Folly and arrogance as to expect divine Honours and command that in all Discourses and Writings concerning him the Title of Lord and God should be given him He was the second from Nero that rais'd a Persecution against the Christians Moreover he gave order that all those of the Linage of David among the Jews should by Interrogatories and racking them to Confession be diligently search'd after and being found utterly destroy'd and extin guish'd In the end the divine Vengeance overtaking him he was in the fifteenth year of his Empire stab'd to death in the Palace by his own servants His Body was carried out by the common Bearers and ingloriously buried by Philix at her Countrey-house in the Via Latina Clemens was now as I have said the fourth Bishop of Rome from S. Peter Linus being accounted the second and Cletus the third though the Latins generally reckon Clemens next after Peter and that he was design'd so appears from his own Letter to James Bishop of Jerusalem wherein he gives him the following account of that matter Simon Peter being apprehensive of his approaching Death in the
presence of several Brethren taking hold of my hand This says he is the person whom having been my assistant in all affairs since I came to Rome I constitute Bishop of that City and when I shewed my willingness eo decline so great a Burden he exposulated with me in this manner Wilt thou consult only thine own convenience and deny thy assistance to the poor fluctuating Church of God when it is in thy power to steer it But he being a person of wonderful modesty did freely prefer Linus and Cletus to that dignity before himself undertook it He wrote in the name of the Roman Church a very useful Epistle to the Corinthians not differing in style from that of the Hebrews which is said to be St. Pauls This Epistle was formerly read publickly in several Churches there is another bearing his name which the Ancients did not thing authentick and Eufebius in the third Book of his History does find fault with a long Disputation between St. Peter and Appion said to be written by our Clement 'T is certain that John the Apostle son of Zebedee and Brother of James lived till this time who was the last Penman of the Gospel and confirmed what had been before written by Matthew Mark and Luke The reason why he wrote last is said to be that he might confront and defeat the Heresie of the Ebionites who impudently denied Christ to have had a being before his Birth of the Blessed Virgin and accordingly we find him very particular in demonstrating the Divinity of our Saviour He wrote several other things and among the rest his Revelation during his banishment into the Island Patmos by Domitian who being afterwards slain and his Acts for their excessive severity rescinded by the Senate he returned to Ephesus in the time of Nerva where he continued till the Reign of Trajan supporting the Churches of Asia by his Counsel and Writings till at last being worn out with Age he rested in the Lord the sixty eighth year after the Passion of Christ. Our Clemens by his Piety Religion and Learning made daily many Proselytes to Christianity whereupon P. Tarquinius the High Priest and Mamertinus the City Praefect stir'd up the Emperour against the Christians at whose command Clement was banish'd to an Island where he found near two thousand Christians condemn'd to hew Marble in the Quarries In this Island there being at that time a great scarcity of water which they were forced to fetch at six miles distance Clement going going to the top of a little Hill hard by sees there a Lamb under whose right foot flowed miraculously a plentiful Spring with which all the Islanders were refresh'd and many of them thereupon converted to the Christian faith At which Trajan being enraged sent some of his Guards who threw Clement into the Sea with an Anchor tied about his neck But his blessed Body was not long after cast on the shore and being buried at the place where this miraculous fountain had sprung up a Temple was built over it This is said to have happened September the fourteenth in the third year of the Emperor Trajan He was in the Chair nine years two months and ten days he divided the Wards of the City among seven Notaries who were to register the Acts of the Martyrs and at the Ordinations which he held according to Custom in the Month of December he made ten Presbyters two Deacons and fifteen Bishops By his death the See was vacant two and twenty days S. ANACLETUS ANACLETUS an Athenian son of Antiochus was successor to Clement in the time of Trajanus This Trajans Predecessor Nerva Cocceius was an excellent person both in his private and publick capacity just and equal in all his proceedings and one whose Government was very advantageous to the Republick Through his procurement the Acts of Domitian being repeal'd by Decree of the Senate multitudes thereupon return'd from banishment and several by his bounty had the Goods of which they had before been plundered restor'd to them But being now very old and drawing near to the time of his Death out of his care of the Publick Weal he adopted Trajan and then died in the sixteenth Month of his Reign and of his Age the seventy second year Trajan himself a Spaniard surnamed Ulpius Crinitus coming to the Empire surpassed the best of Princes in in the glory of his Arms the the Goodness of his Temper and the moderation of his Government He extended the bounds of the Empire far and wide reduced that part of Getmany beyond the Rhine to its former state subdued Dacia and several other Nations beyond the Danow recovered Parthia gave a King to the Albanians made Provinces beyond Euphrates and Tygris overcame and kept Armenia Assyria Mesopotamia Seleucia Ctesiphon and Babylon and proceeded as far as the borders of India and the Red Sea where he left a Fleet to infest those Borders The Ecclesiastical Laws and Constitutions of Anacletus were as followeth viz. That no Prelate or other Clerk should suffer his beard or hair to grow long that no Bishop should be ordained by less than three other Bishops that the Clergy should be admitted into holy Orders in publick only and that all the faithful should after Consecration communicate or be put out of the Church By this means the Christian interest encreas'd that Trajan fearing lest the Roman State might be impaired thereby gave allowance to a third Persecution of the Christians in which multitudes were put to Death and particularly Ignatius the third Bishop of the Church of Antioch after St. Peter Who being taken and condemn'd to suffer by wild beasts as he was carried to Rome by his Guards whom he called his Ten Leopards he all along in his passage encourag'd and confirm'd the Christians by Discourse with some and by Epistle to others declaring his readiness to suffer in this manner Come Cross come Beasts come Wrack come the torture of my whole body and the torments of the Devil upon me so I may enjoy Christ. And upon the occasion of his hearing the Lions roar Corn says he I am let me be ground by the teeth of these beasts that I may be found fine bread He died in Trajan's eleventh year and his bones were afterwards buried in the Suburbs of Antioch But Plinius Secundus who was then Governour of that Province being moved with compassion to see so many executed wrote to the Emperour Trajan informing him that incredible numbers of men were daily put to Death who were persons of an unblameable life and who in no point transgressed the Roman Laws save only that before day-break they would sing Hymns to Christ their God but that Adulteries and the like Crimes were disallowed and abominated by them Hereupon Trajan gave order that the Magistrates should not make search after the Christians but only punish those who voluntarily offered themselves During this Persecution Simeon the kinsman of our Lord son of
Soon after his growing ambition prompts him to endeavour the gaining of the Western Empire and therefore getting together in a very little time a great Army he begins his March upon that Design This Aetius having intelligence of forthwith sends Ambassadours to Tholouse to King Theodorick to strike up a Peace with whom so strict a League was concluded that they both jointly engage in the War against Attila at a common charge and with equal Forces The Romans and Theodorick had for their Auxiliaries the Alanes Burgundians Franks Saxons and indeed almost all the people of the West At length Attila comes upon them in the Fields of Catalaunia and Battel is joyn'd with great Valour and Resolution on either side The Fight was long and sharp a Voice being over-heard none knowing from whence it came was the occasion of putting an end to the Dispute In this Engagement were slain on both sides eighteen thousand men neither Army flying or giving ground And yet 't is said that Theodorick Father of King Thurismond was killed in this Action Sixtus had not long enjoyed the Pontificate before he was publickly accused by one Bassus but in a Synod of fifty seven Bishops he made such a Defence of himself that he was by them all with one consent acquitted Bassus his false Accuser was with the consent of Valentinian and his Mother Placidia excommunicated and condemn'd to banishment but with this compassionate provision that at the point of death the Viaticum of the Blessed Sacrament should be denied him the forfeiture of his Estate was adjudged not to the Emperour but the Church 'T is said that in the third month of his Exile he died and that our Bishop Sixtus did with his own hands wrap up and embalm his Corps and then bury it in S. Peters Church Moreover Sixtus repaired and enlarged the Church of the Blessed Virgin which was anciently called by the name of Liberius near the Market place of Livia then had the name of S. Mary at the Manger and last of all was called S. Maries the Geeat That Sixtus did very much beautifie and make great additions to it appears from the Inscription on the front of the first Arch in these words Xystus Episcopus Plebi Dei for according to the Greek Orthography the name begins with X and y though by Custom it is now written Sixtus with S and i. To this Church that Bishop was very liberal and munificent among other instances adorning with Porphyry stone the Ambo or Desk where the Gospel and Epistles are read Besides what he did himself at his persuasion the Emperour Valentinian also was very liberal in works of this nature For over the Confessory of S. Peter which he richly adorned he placed the Image of 〈◊〉 Saviour of Gold set with Jewels and renewed those Silver Ornaments in the Cupola of the Lateran Church which the Goths had taken away Some are of an Opinion that in his time one Peter a Roman Presbyter by Nation a Sclavonian built the Church of S. Sabina upon the Aventine not far from the Monastery of S. Boniface where S. Alexius is interred 〈◊〉 I rather think this to have been done in the Pontificate of Coelestine the first as appears from an Inscription in Heroick Verse yet remaining which expresses as much 'T is said also that at this time 〈◊〉 Eusebius of Cremona and Philip two Scholars of S. Hierom both very elegant Writers as also Eucherius Bishop of Lyons a man of great Learning and Eloquence and Hilarius Bishop of Arles a pious Man and of no mean parts Our Sixtus having employed all his Estate in the building and adorning of Churches and relieving the poor and having made twenty eight Presbyters twelve Deacons fifty two Bishops died and was buried in a Vault in the Via Tiburtina near the body of S. Laurence He was in the Chair eight years nine days and by his death the See was vacant twenty two days LEO I. LEO a Tuscan Son of Quintianus lived at the time when Attila having return'd into Hungary from the Fight of Catalonia and there recruited his Army invaded Italy and first set down before Aquileia a Frontier City of that Province which held out a Siege 〈◊〉 three years Despairing hereupon of success he was just about to raise the Leaguer when observing the Storks to carry their young ones out of the City into the Fields being encouraged by this Omen he renews his Batteries and making a fierce assault at length takes the miserable City sacks and burns it sparing neither Age nor Sex but acting agreeably to the Title he assum'd to himself of being God's Scourge The Huns having hereby gain'd an Inlet into Italy over-run all the Countrey about Venice possessing themselves of the Cities and demolishing Milain and Pavia From hence Attila marching towards Rome and being come to the place where the Menzo runs into the Po ready to pass the River the holy Bishop Leo out of a tender sense of the calamitous state of Italy and of the City of Rome and with the advice of Valentinian goes forth and meets him persuading him not to proceed any farther but to take warning by Alaricus who soon after his taking that City was by the Judgment of God removed out of the World Attila takes the good Bishops Counsel being moved thereunto by a Vision which he saw while they were discoursing together of two men supposed to be S. Peter and S. Paul brandishing their naked swords over his head and threatning him with death if he were refractory Desisting therefore from his design he returns into Hungary where not long after he was choaked with his own bloud violently breaking out at his Nostrils through excess of drinking Leo returning to the City applyes himself wholly to the defence of the 〈◊〉 Faith which was now violently opposed by several kinds of Hereticks but especially by the Nestorians and Eutychians Nestorius 〈◊〉 of Constantinople affirmed the Blessed Virgin to be Mother not of God but of Man only that so he might make the Humanity and Divinity of Christ to be two distinct persons one the Son of God the other the Son of Man But Eutyches Abbot of Constantinople that he might broach an Heresie in contradiction to the former utterly confounded the divine and humane Nature of Christ asserting them to be one and not at all to be distinguished This Heresie being condemned by Flavianus Bishop of Constantinople with the consent of Theodosius a Synod is called at Ephesus in which Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria being President Eutyches was restored and Flavianus censured But Theodosius dying and his successour Marcianus proving a Friend to the Orthodox Doctrine Leo calls a Council at Chalcedon wherein by the authority of six hundred and thirty Bishops it was decreed as an Article of Faith that there are two Natures in Christ and that one and the same Christ is God and Man by which consequently both Nestorius and Eutyches the pestilent Patron of the
Manichees were condemned Moreover the Books of the Manichees were publickly burnt and the pride and heretical Opinions of Dioscorus discountenanced and suppress'd In the mean time Valentinian being treacherously murdered Maximus usurps the Empire and against her will marries Eudoxia the Widow of Valentinian Upon this occasion the Vandals being called out of Afric Genseric being their Leader force their entrance into the City of Rome throw the Body of Maximus who had been kill'd in the Tumult by one Ursus a Roman Soldier into the River Tyber plunder and burn the City pillage the Churches and refuse to hearken to Bishop Leo begging them what ever spoils they carried away only to spare the City it self and the Temples However on the fourteenth day from their entrance into Rome they left it and taking away with them Eudoxia and her Daughter with a great number of other Captives they return'd into Africa Leo being now very intent upon making good the damages sustain'd from this People prevailed upon Demetria a pious Virgin to build upon her own ground in the Via Latina three miles from the City a Church to S. Stephen and did the same himself in the Via Appia in honour to S. Cornelius The Churches which had been in any part ruined he repaired and those of the sacred Vessels belonging to them which had been bruised and broken he caused to be mended and those which had been taken away to be made anew Moreover he built three Apartments in the Churches of S. John S. Peter and S. Paul appointed certain of the Roman Clergy whom he called Cubicularii to keep and take charge of the Sepulchres of the Apostles built a Monastery near S. Peters introduced into the Canon of the Mass the Clause Hoc sanctum sacrificium this holy Sacrifice c. and ordained that no Recluse should be capable of receiving the Consecrated Veils unless it did appear that she had preserv'd her Chastity spotless for the space of forty years But while the good man was employed in these things there started up of a sudden the Heresie of the Acephali so called because they were a company of foolish undisciplin'd Schismaticks or if it be not a quibble because they wanted both Brains and Head These men decried the Council of Chalcedon denied the propriety of two Substances in Christ and asserted that there could be but one Nature in one Person But our Leo abundantly confuted their absurd Doctrines in his elegant and learned Epistles written to the Faithful upon that Argument Men of Note in his time were Paulinus Bishop of Nola Prosper of Aquitain a learned man and Mamercus Bishop of Vienne who as 't is said was the first that appointed processionary Supplications or Litanies upon the occasion of the frequent Earthquakes with which Gaul was at that time very much afflicted To conclude Leo having ordained eighty one Presbyters thirty one Deacons and eighty one Bishops died and was buried in the Vatican near S. Peter April the 10th He sat in the Chair twenty one years one month thirteen days and by his death the See was vacant eight days HILARIUS I. HILARIUS a Sardinian the Son of Crispinus continued in the Chair till the time of the Emperour Leo Who being chosen Emperour upon the death of Marcianus creates his Son of his own name Augustus During his Reign the Roman State suffered very much by reason of certain Ambitious men who endeavoured to get the Government into their own hands And Genseric the Vandal King being tempted with so fair an opportunity sails out of Afrique into Italy with design to gain the Empire for himself Leo having intelligence hereof sends Basilicus a Patrician with a mighty Fleet to the Assistance of Anthemius the Emperour of the West These two with joint force and courage meet Genseric near Populonia and force him to an Engagement at Sea in which being routed with a great slaughter of his men he was glad to make an inglorious flight into Africa again In the mean time Ricimer a Patrician having on the Mountains of Trent conquer'd Biorgus King of the Alanes and being puff'd up with that Victory was purposed to attempt the City of Rome had not 〈◊〉 Bishop of Pavia made him and Anthemius Friends Hilary notwithstanding this confused state of things did not neglect the care of Ecclesiastical Affairs For he ordained that no Bishop should chuse his own Successour a Constitution which belongs as well to all other Ecclesiastical Degrees as that of Episcopacy he also made a Decretal which he dispersed throughout Christendom and wrote certain Epistles concerning the Catholick Faith by which the three Synods of Nice Ephesus and Chalcedon were confirmed and the Hereticks Eutyches Nestorius and Dioscorus with their Adherents condemned In the Baptistery of the Lateran Church he built three Oratories which were adorned with Gold and precious Stones their Gates of Brass covered with wrought Silver those he dedicated to S. John Baptist S. John Evangelist and S. Cross. In the last of these was reposited some of the wood of the Cross nclosed in Gold and set with Jewels and a Golden Agnus upon a Pillar of Onyx He added moreover the Oratory of S. Stephen built two Libraries adjoyning and founded a Monastery I shall not here recite the almost numberless Donations which he made to several Churches of Gold Silver Marble and Jewels Some tell us that Germanus Bishop of Auxerre and Lupus Bishop of Troyes lived in his time both great supporters of the Christian cause which was now very much undermined by the endeavours of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Pelagians Gennadius also Bishop of Constantinople did great service to the Church by the integrity of his Life and the excellency of his Parts and Learning During the Pontificate of our Hilary Victorinus of Aquitain a famous Arithmetician reduced the Easter account to the course of the Moon far out-doing Eusebius and Theophilus who had attempted it before him And among those that flourished at this time by some is reckoned Merline the famous English Bard concerning whom we are told more than enough As for Hilary himself having performed the duty of a good Bishop both in building and adorning of Churches and also in Teaching Admonishing Censuring and giving Alms where need required and having also ordained twenty five Presbyters five Deacons twenty two Bishops he died and was buried in the Sepulchre of S. Laurence near the body of Bishop Sixtus He sat in the Chair seven years three months ten days and by his death the See was vacant ten days SIMPICIUS I. SIMPLICIUS Son of Castinus born at Tivoli was Bishop during the Reigns of Leo the second and Zeno. For Leo the first falling sick makes choice of Leo the second Son of Zeno Isauricus and his own Nephew by Ariadne his Sister to be his Successour who not long after being seiz'd by a violent Distemper and apprehending himself to be at the point of death leaves the Empire to his
Father Zeno. In the mean time Odoacer invading Italy with a great Army of his Heruli and Turingians conquers and takes Prisoner Orestes a Noble Roman near Pavia and then causes him to be put to death in the sight of his whole Army at Placentia Hereupon Zeno pitying the calamitous state of Italy speedily sends Theodoric King of the Goths a man whom he had before very much esteem'd with a mighty force to oppose him who having in a pitch'd Battel not far from Aquileia near the River Sontio overcome Odoacer's Captains and having oftentimes the like success against Odoacer himself at length he besieg'd him three years together in Ravenna and reduc'd him to that extremity that with the advice of John the Bishop of that City he consented to admit Theodoric as his Partner in the Empire But the day following both Odoacer and his Son were contrary to promise and agreement slain by which means Theodorick possess'd himself of the Government of all Italy without any opposition In the mean time Simplicius dedicated the Churches of S. Stephen the Protomartyr on Mons Caolius and that of S. Andrew the Apostle not far from S. Maries the Great in which there appear to this day some footsteps of Antiquity which I have many a time beheld with sorrow for their neglect to whose charge such noble piles of building now ready to fall are committed That this Church was of his founding appears by certain Verses wrought in Mosaick work which I have seen in it He dedicated also another Church to S. Stephen near the Licinian Palace where the Virgins body had been buried He also appointed the Weekly-waitings of the Presbyters in their turns at the Churches of S. Peter S. Paul and S. Laurence the Martyr for the receiving of Penitents and baptizing of Proselytes Moreover he divided the City among the Presbyters into five Precincts or Regions the first of S. Peter 2. S. Paul 3. S. Laurence 4. S. John Lateran 5. S. Maria Maggiore He also ordained that no Clergy-man should hold a Benefice of any Lay-man a Constitution which was afterwards confirm'd by Gregory and other Popes At this time the Bishop of Rome's Primacy was countenanced by the Letters of Acacius Bishop of Constantinople and Timothy a learned man in which they beg him to censure Peter Mog Bishop of Alexandria an assertour of the Eutychian Heresie Which was accordingly done but with Proviso that he should be receiv'd into the Communion of the Church again if within a certain time prefix'd he retracted his Errours Some say that during his Pontificate lived Remigius Bishop of Reims who as History tells us baptized Clodoveus the French King Now also Theodorus Bishop 〈◊〉 Syria wrote largely against Eutyches and compiled ten Books of 〈◊〉 History in imitation of Eusebius Coesariensis At this time almost all Egypt was infected with the heretical Doctrine of Dioscorus concerning whom we have already spoken and Huneric King of the Vandals a Zealot 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Faction raised a Persecution against the Orthodox Christians in Afrique Upon this Eudocia Niece to Theodosius a Catholick Lady and Wife to Huneric left her heretical Husband upon pretence of a Pilgrimage to Hierusalem to perform a Vow which she had made but upon so long a Journey the effect of which prov'd intolerable to the tenderness of her sex she there soon died 'T is said that at this time were found the bones of the Prophet Elisha which were carried into Alexandria as also the body of S. Barnabas the Apostle together with the Gospel of S. Matthew written with his own hand As for Simplicius himself having by his Constitutions and Donations very muchpromoted the interest of the Church of Rome and having at several Ordinations made fifty eight Presbyters eleven Deacons eighty six Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church on the second day of March He was inthe Chair fifteen years one month seven days and by his death the See was vacant twenty six days FELIX III. FELIX by birth a Roman Son of Felix a Presbyter was Bishop from the time of Odoacer whose power in Italy lasted fourteen years till the Reign of Theodoric Who though he made Ravenna the seat of the Empire yet the City of Rome was much indebted to his Bounty For he re-built the Sepulchre of Octavius exhibited shews to the people according to ancient custom repaired the publick Buildings and Churches and indeed neglected nothing that became a good and generous Prince And to confirm and establish the Empire he married Andefleda Daughter of Clodoveus King of France and gave in marriage his Sister to Huneric King of the Vandals and one of his Daughters to Alaric King of the Visigoths and the other to King Gondibate Felix now fully understanding that Peter Mog the Eutychian who had been banished for his heretical Opinions upon the complaint and at the desire of Acacius was by the same Acacius recall'd from Exile suspected that there was a private Agreement between them and therefore excommunicated them both by the authority of the Apostolick See which was confirm'd in a Synod of the Orthodox But three years after the Emperour Zeno testifying that they were penitent Felix sends two Bishops Messenus and Vitalis with full power upon enquiry into the truth of their repentance to absolve them These Legates arriving at the City Heraclea were soon corrupted with bribes and neglected to act according to their Commission Whereupon Felix out of a just indignation having first called a Council upon that occasion excommunicates them too as Simoniacks and betrayers of the trust reposed in them Though Messenus who confess'd his fault and begg'd time to evince the sincerity of his repentance had it accordingly granted him The same Felix also built the Church of S. Agapetus near that of S. Laurence and ordained that Churches should be consecrated by none but Bishops 'T is said that at this time Theodorus a Greek Presbyter wrote against the Hereticks a Book of the Harmony of the Old and new Testament and some reckon among the men of Note in this Age the Learned and famous Divine John Damascene who wrote the Book of Sentences imitating therein Gregory Nazianzene Gregory Nyssene and Didymus of Alexandria and compiled also certain Treatises of Medicin in which he gives an account of the Causes and Cure of Diseases Our Felix having at two Decembrian Ordinations made twenty eight Presbyters five Deacons thirty Bishops died and was buried in the Church of S. Paul He sat in the Chair eight years eleven months seventeen days and by his death the See was vacant five days GELASIUS I. GELASIUS an African Son of Valerius was Bishop of Rome at the time when Theodoric made War upon his Wives Father Clodoveus the French King for that he had slain his Daughter's Husband Alaric King of the Visigoths and seiz'd Gascoigne They were both allied to him by marriage but the cause of Alaric seem'd to him the more just
kiss He was a man of so obliging a temper that no person went away sad out of his Presence And being so happy as to have a Contemporary Emperour like himself he designed to hold a Council vpon the account of the Monothelites Only he waited the time till Constantine should return from the War who had vanquish'd the Saracens and made them tributary to the Roman Empire But the Bulgarians advancing out of Scythia into Thrace and the Emperour endeavouring to put a check to their motion he was with great loss routed between Hungary and Moesia Hereupon he found himself obliged to strike up a peace with them upon disadvantageous terms permitting them to inhabit Hungary and Moesia though that Concession in the event proved a great benefit to the State of Christianity For these are the men who for this seven hundred and seventy years since have maintained a continual War and been the Bulwark of Christendom against the Turks Well a Peace being upon these Conditions concluded Pope Agatho sends to Constantinople his Legates John Bishop of Porto and John a Deacon of Rome Them Constantine receiv'd with all expressions of respect and very affectionately advised them to lay aside all Cavils and sophistical wranglings and Controversies and sincerely to endeavour the uniting the two Churches There were present at this Synod two hundred and eighty nine Bishops and by the Command of the Emperour there were brought out of the Library of Constantinople those Books from whence the Opinions and Determinations of the Ancients might be collected Gregory Patriarch of Constantinople and Macarius Bishop of Antioch perverting the sense of the Fathers maintain'd only one Will and Operation in Christ. But the Orthodox pressing hard with their Reasons and Authorities they thereby reclaimed Gregory and Macarius adhering obstinately to his Opinion they 〈◊〉 him and his Followers and made Theophanes an Orthodox Abbat Bishop of Antioch in his stead This Affair being thus successfully managed that thanks might be return'd to God for this Union of the two Churches in heart and mind John Bishop of Porto on the Octave of Easter in the presence of the Emperour Patriarch and the People of Constantinople in the Church of S. Sophia celebrates the Mass in Latin all that were present approving that way and condemning those that thought otherwise This was the sixth General Council consisting of two hundred and eighty nine Bishops held at Constantinople wherein upon the Authority of Cyril Athanasius Basil Gregory Dionysius Hilary Ambrose Augustine and Hierom it was concluded that there were two Wills and Operations in Christ and their pertinacy was exploded who asserted one Will only from whence they were called Monothelites The first General Council of three hundred and eighteen Bishops was as we have already said held at Nice in the Pontificate of Julius and the Reign of Constantine against Arius who asserted several Substances in the Trinity The second at Constantinople of an hundred and fifty Bishops in the Reign of Gratian and the Pontificate of Damasus against Macedonius and Eudoxus who denied the Holy Ghost to be God The third in Ephesus of two hundred Bishops in the Reign of Theodosius the second and the Pontificate of 〈◊〉 against Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople who denied the Blessed Virgin to be the Mother of God and made Christs Humanity and Divinity two Persons asserting separately one to be the Son of God the other the son of Man The fourth at Chalcedon a City over against Constantinople of six hundred and thirty Prelates in the Pontificate of Leo and the Reign of Martian against Eutyches Abbat of Constantinople who durst affirm that our Saviour after his Incarnation had but one Nature The fifth at Constantinople against Theodorus and all other Hereticks who asserted the Virgin Mary to have brought forth Man only not God-man in which Synod it was concluded that the Blessed Virgin should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Mother of God Concerning the sixth Synod we have spoken already in which the Letters of Damianus Bishop of Pavia and Mansuetus Arch-bishop of Milain were very prevalent the principal Contents of them these viz. The true Faith concerning Christ God and Man is that we believe two Wills and two Operations in him Our Saviour says with respect to his Divinity I and my Father are one but with relation to his Humanity My Father is greater than I. Moreover as Man he was found asleep in the Ship as God he commanded the Winds and the Sea As for our Agatho in whose time after two Ecclipses one of the Moon another of the Sun there followed a grievous Pestilence having been in the Chair two years six months sifteen days he died and was buried in S. Peter's January the 10th The See was then vacant one year five months LEO II. LEO the second a Sicilian Son of Paul was as appears by his Writings a person throughly learned in the Latin and Greek Languages Having also good skill in Musick he composed Notes upon the Psalms and very much improved all Church Musick He ordained likewise that at the Celebration of the Mass the Pax should be given to the people Moreover he so vigorously maintained and asserted the sixth Synod of which we have spoken in the Life of Agatho that he Excommunicated all those whom in the presence of Constantine that Synod had condemned He also repress'd the pride of the Bishops of Ravenna a matter before attempted by Pope Agatho and ordained that the Election of the Clergy of Ravenna should be invalid unless it were confirmed by the Authority of the Roman See whereas before they presuming upon the power of their Exarchs managed all things arbitrarily owning no subjection to any but mating even the Popes themselves He likewise solemnly decreed that no person promoted to the dignity of an Archbishop should pay any thing for the use of the Pall or upon any other score a Decree which I could wish it were observed at this day seeing how many Evils have arisen through Bribery While Leo was busied in these matters Rhomoaldus Duke of Beneventum having raised a great Army possess'd himself of Taranto Brindisi and all Puglia and his Wife Theodata a devout Lady out of the spoils of the War built a Church in honour to S. Peter not far from Beneventum and a Nunnery Rhomoaldus dying was succeeded by his Son Grimoaldus who deceasing without Issue male left the Dukedom to his Brother Gisulphus Our Leo who besides his great Learning and Eloquence was also an extraordinary person for Devotion and Charity and by his Doctrine and Example very much promoted Justice Fortitude Clemency and Good Will among all men having been in the Chair only ten months died and June the 28th was accompanied to his burial in the Church of S. Peter with the tears of all men who deplored the loss of him as of a Common Father After his Death the See was vacant eleven months twenty one days The time