LINUS LINUS by Nation a Tuscan his Father's name Herculeanus was in the Chair from the last year of Nero to the times of Vespasian and from the Consulship of Saturninus and Scipio to that of Capito and Rufus In this space of time there were no less than three Emperours Galba Otho and Vitellius each of them reigning but a very little while Galba a Person descended of the most ancient Nobility being created Emperour by the Soldiers in Spain assoon as he heard of the death of Nero came immediatey to Rome But rendring himself obnoxious to all men by his Avarice and Sloth through the treachery of Otho he was slain at Rome near Curtius's Lake in the seventh month of his Reign together with Piso a Noble Youth whom he had adopted for his Son He was doubtless a man who before he came to the Empire was very eminent in the management both of Military and Civil affairs being often Consul often Proconsul and several times General in the most important Wars That which makes me speak this in his praise is the Learning of M. Fabius Quintilianus whom Galba brought with him out of Spain to Rome Otho a man of better extraction by his Mother 's than by his Father's side who while he led a private life was very loose and effeminate as being a great and intimate Friend of Nero's in the midst of tumults and slaughters as I hinted before invaded the Empire But being ingaged in a Civil War against Vitellius who had been created Emperour in Germany though he got the better in three small Skirmishes one at the Alps another at Placentia the third at Castor yet losing the day in the last and most considerable which was at Bebriacum he thereupon fell into so deep a melancholly that in the third month of his Empire he stab'd himself Vitellius concerning whose Extraction there are different Opinions coming to Rome and obtaining the Empire soon degenerated into all manner of lewdness cruelty and gluttony being used to make several Meals in a day and some of them to such an height of Luxury that there have been at one Supper no less than two thousand Fishes and seven thousand Fowl serv'd up to his Table But having intelligence that Vespasian who had been created Emperour by the Army in Judoea was advancing with his Legions he at first determin'd to quit the Empire yet being afterwards encouraged by those about him he took up Arms and forc'd Sabinus Vespasian's Brother with his Flavian Soldiers into the Capitol which being set on fire they were all burnt Hereupon being surpriz'd by Vespasian and having no hope of pardon left him he hid himself in a private Chamber in the Palace from whence he was most ignominiously drag'd and carried naked through the Via Sacra to the Scaloe Gemonioe where being quartered he was thrown into the River Tyber During this time Linus was Successor to St. Peter though there are some who place Clemens here and wholly leave out Linus and Cletus who yet are sufficiently confuted not only by History but also by the authority of S. Hierom who tells us that Clemens was the fourth Bishop of Rome after Peter for Linus was accounted the second and Cletus the third notwithstanding that most of the Romans immediately after Peter reckon Clemens To whom though St. Peter had as it were by Will bequeath'd the Right of Succession yet his modesty was so great that he compelled Linus and Cletus to take upon them the Pontifical Dignity before him lest any ambition of preheminence might be of ill example to after Ages This Linus by Commission from St. Peter ordained that no Woman should enter the Church but with her Head veiled Moreover at two Ordinations which he held in the City he made eighteen Presbyters and eleven Bishops He wrote also the Memoirs of St. Peter and particularly the Contention he had with Sinion Magus In his time lived Philo a Jew by Nation of Alexandria in whose Writings there is so much Wit and Judgment that from the likeness there appears between them he deserv'd to have it proverbially said Either Plato does Philonize or Philo does Platonize By his Learning and Eloquence he corrected the rashness of Appion who had been sent Ambassadour from the Alexandrians with Complaints against the Jews While he was at Rome in Claudius his time he contracted an acquaintance with St. Peter and thereupon wrote several things in praise of the Christians Josephus also the son of Matathias a Priest at Hierusalem being taken Prisoner by Vespasian and committed to the custody of his son Titus till that City was taken coming to Rome during the Pontificate of Linus presented to the Father and the Son seven Books of the Jewish War which were laid up in the publick Library and the Author himself as a reward for that performance had most deservedly a Statue erected to him He wrote likewise twenty four other Books of Antiquities from the beginning of the World to the fourteenth year of the Emperour Domitian As for Linus himself though he had gain'd a mighty reputation by the sanctity of his Life by his Power of casting out Devils and raising the Dead yet was he put to Death by Saturninus the Consul whose very Daughter he had dispossess'd and was buried in the Vatican near the Body of St. Peter on the twenty first day of September when he had sat in the Pontifical See eleven years three months and twelve days There are some who affirm that Gregory Bishop of Ostia did according to a Vow which he had made remove the Body of this holy Bishop to that place and solemnly interr it in the Church of St. Laurence S. CLETUS CLETUS born in Rome in the Vicopatrician Region Son of Aemilianus through the persuasion of Clemens unwillingly took upon him the burden of the Pontificate though for his Learning Life and Quality he was a Person of very great esteem and Authority among all that knew him He lived in the time of Vespasian and Titus from the seventh Consulship of Vespasian and the fifth of Domitian to Domitian and Rufus Coss according to Damasus Vespasian as I said before succeeding Vitellius committed the management of the Jewish War which had been carrying on two years before to his Son Titus which he within two years after with great resolution finished For all Judoea being conquer'd the City Hierusalem destroyed and the Temple levelled to the ground it is reported that no less than six hundred thousand Jews were slain nay Josephus a Jew who was a Captive in that War and had his life given him because he foretold the death of Nero and that Vespasian should in a short time be Emperor relates that eleven hundred thousand perished therein by sword and famine and that a hundred thousand were taken Prisoners and publickly exposed to sale Nor will it seem improbable if we consider that he tells us this happened at the time
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
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
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
15th By his Death the See was vacant twelve days STEPHEN II. STEPHEN the Second a Roman Son of Constantine from one Degree in the Church to another ascended at length to the Papal Dignity although upon the Death of Zachary the People presently made Choice of another Stephen a Priest who on the third day of his Pontificate awaking out of Sleep and beginning to settle his domestick affairs was suddenly seiz'd with a fit of an Apoplexy of which he died After whom our Stephen the Second for we reckon not his short-liv'd Predecessour of that name in the List was unanimously elected by the Clergy and People in the Church of S. Mary ad Proesepe and being highly beloved by all was carried upon mens shoulders to S. Saviour's called also the Constantinian Church and from thence into the Lateran Palace He was a Person of extraordinary Piety and Prudence a Lover of the Clergy a Repairer of Churches a diligent Preacher and Writer of the Doctrine of Christianity a Father of the Poor a zealous Defender of Orphans and Widows and in going through with any thing he undertook hardy and resolute but not obstinate For Aistulphus now making Inrodes upon the Borders of the Romans he at first endeavoured by Persuasions and Presents to bring him off But that covetous Prince requiring the payment of a Tribute of so much a head yearly from the People the Pope thereupon was forced to seek for help from abroad and accordingly he sent Nuntio's to Constantine the Emperour of Constantinople to desire Aid of him against Aistulphus who gave disturbance to all Italy and had already taken Ravenna the Seat of the Exarchate and a great part of Romagna But finding no hope of succours from him he resolves to go to Pipin of France and therefore sends to that King to desire that he would prevail with Aistulphus to permit him safe passage through his Countrey which Aistulphus at Pipin's Request consented to Stephen now reaching the Borders of the Kingdom of France Pipin's Son Charles who from his mighty Atchievements was afterwards surnamed the Great in token of honour goes forth an hundred miles to meet him Pipin himself met him three miles from the City alighting off his Horse kiss'd his feet and led the Horse upon which he rode by the Bridle till he had conducted him into the City and brought him to his Apartment Aistulphus now fearing that the Pope was practising against him sends Caroloman a Monk to his Brother Pipin to persuade him not to make War upon the Lombards in Stephen's Quarrel which Pipin not only refused to grant but also confined the Monk to a Monastery in Vienne where not long after he died of Grief But it not being a fit season of the year to undertake an Expedition and Pipin allowing much to the ancient Friendship there had been between them he sends Ambassadours to Aistulphus to advise him to restore the Places he had taken or otherwise to let him know that he should be obliged in a short time to recover them by force of Arms. Aistulphus hearkned not to this good Counsel whereupon Pipin the Spring now approaching advances with an Army against the Lombards and having sent before some light-harnessed Soldiers to force Aistulphus's Guards to quit the Passes of the Alps he marches down into the Plain of the State of Milain and having without any opposition sacked and harassed all places he came to at length he invests Pavia the Seat-Royal of the Kings of Lombardy which Aistulphus and those that were in Garrison with him defended But Stephen moved with Compassion at the numerous Calamities which this obstinate man had brought upon himself and his People voluntarily offers Aistulphus a Peace upon condition he would restore what he had taken which Aistulphus at length consented to and promised upon Oath more than was demanded Pipin reckoning that the Pope had now satisfaction raises the Siege and returns into France leaving Varrenus the Arbitratour of this Peace between them Stephen and Varrenus go to Rome not doubting but that Aistulphus would in a little time perform his promise instead of which he presently mustering up from all parts what Forces he could with a tumultuary Rout rather than a just Army follows them and besieges Rome laying waste and burning the Suburbs and Places adjacent insomuch that the People of Rome suffered more Damage by the Outrages he then committed than they had received in three hundred forty four years before from the declining of the Empire Hereupon Pipin being again sued to by the Pope to aid the distressed City of Rome against the Perfidiousness and Cruelty of Aistulphus he with all possible expedition raises an Army for that purpose In the mean time the Turks willing to mend their Quarters over-run and conquer the Alanes first then the Colchians and Armenians after them the People of the Lesser Asia and lastly the Persians and Saracens An. Dom. 755. Some Writers tell us that these were of the Race of those Scythians whom Alexander the Great kept within the Hyperborean Mountains with Iron-Bars meaning by that Metaphor that he had shut up that wild Nation there as into a Prison But after much mischief done and received on both sides a Peace being concluded between the Saracens and Turks it was agreed that the Turks which dwelt in Persia should be called Saracens and by this means the Saracens did more patiently suffer the Turks to bear sway in Asia especially apprehending moreover that they might soon be brought to embrace the Mahumetan Religion But we return to Pipin who coming again with his Army into Italy was met by Gregory principal Secretary to the Emperour Constantine the fourth who desired him in his Master's name that is he should prove victorious over the Lombards he would not give the Exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope or the Romans it belonging of right to the Emperour To which Pipin answered that he came into Italy to do the Pope and People a kindness and that he should consult their advantage to the utmost of his Power After this he marched to Pavia and reduced Aistulphus to such extremity that he was forced to accept of the former Conditions of Peace Hereby the Exarchate was restored to the Romans together with all the Tract contained between the Po and Apennine from Piacentino to the Gulf of Venice and whateyer lies between the River Isara the Apennine and the Adriatick with all that Aistulphus had taken in Tuscany and Sabina Pipin stayed at the Foot of the Alps till Conditions should be performed having left Holcadus an Abbat with part of his Army to oblige Aistulphus to perform what he had promis'd and moved no farther till he understood that Aistulphus had died of an Apoplexy while he was hunting before the surrendry was fully made Upon his Death Desiderius Duke of Tuscany forthwith raises an Army of Lombards with design to possess himself of the Kingdom The same also did Rachis Aistulphus's
necessary for a War with assistance of the King's Forces he surprised and subdued 'em within fourteen days after he attaqued 'em reducing nine Castles under the jurisdiction of the Church of which some were so well fortified both by Art and Nature that they seemed impregnable Deiphobus fearing lest if he were taken he should be sent to the King made his escape But Francis his Brother and his Son were taken and kept five years in Castel St. Angelo till upon the Creation of Sixtus they were freed And hence afterward arose great enmity between the Pope and the King when Ferdinand demanded that Paul would remit the Tribute which he was to pay the Church as a reward for his great merits and would retrench or take off part of it for the future seeing his Uncle enjoy'd the Kingdom of Sicily though he paid Tribute for that and Naples too and told him That he ought to consider his Deserts and what might happen for that he had always some Batalions in Arms not more upon his own than upon the Pope's account as he found in the late War against the Aversans Paul on the other hand recounted the Churches merits toward Ferdinand and so they spun out the Debate a long time by these kind of wranglings each of 'em seeking an opportunity to recover their Right In the mean time the King was very cautious how he caused any new Commotions because he fear'd James Picenninus's Power who had Sulmona in Abruzzo and some other Towns in his possession whom afterward his Father-in-law Francis Sfortia sent to the King who gave him his word that he should come and go in safety when he pleased But all things did not go according to James's expectation for he was taken at Naples by Ferdinand as so was his Son and there thrown into Prison and not long after put to Death though there was a false report given out that he fell down in the Prison and broke his Leg as he was inconsiderately staring through the Window to see the King's Galleys that came from Ischia with Victory over the French There were who thought him still alive which I can never believe because there was no Man in all Italy more fit if you look upon him as a Soldier to subvert the Government of King Ferdinand The Duke of Millain's Daughter when she heard of it tarry'd by the way at Siena as she was going to her Husband at Naples to persuade the World that her Father was not any way concern'd with Ferdinand in contriving the Death of Picenninus But what People thought of it we very well know There were likewise some that said the Pope knew of it before hand because at that time the Arch-Bishop of Millain went often from the Pope to the King and from the King back again and because Paul said when he heard of his Imprisonment that the Judg of Appeals was taken off But that of Virgil is too true Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae Little do Men their future Fortune know For Paul could not have made use of any one to fit to curb Ferdinand as James Picenninus was if he had been alive when their Debate arose about the Tribute for which a War was like to have been proclaimed For when he had kept his Daughter-in-laws and his Son's Wedding and that thereby and by the death of James his Kingdom was setled Ferdinand was instant with the Pope that he would retrench the Tribute and give him back certain Towns which belong'd to the Kingdom but were in possession of the Church Thereupon Paul sent to him Bartholomew Roverella Cardinal Priest of St. Clements as Legate who did in some measure satisfie the King And at that time I believe they both fear'd lest the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon which all Men were then astonish'd at might portend some changes in Government Nor can you think the heavenly Bodies have no efficacy for the year after Francis Sfortia Duke of Millain and Genoua died For he had gotten Genoua two years before being after a long War surrender'd by the Citizens For they having rejected the French Government which they had formerly courted kill'd six thousand of the French under the Nose of King Renatus who came with some Galleys well arm'd to retrieve the City that had now revolted from the French When Francis Sfortia Duke of Millain was dead Paul summon'd the Cardinals to consult what was to be done They all concluded that he must send Letters and Nuncioes to all the Princes of Italy and to all States to persuade 'em against Innovations and to maintain the establish'd Peace especially at that unhappy time when we were so threatned by the Turk the common Enemy And afterward he sent the Bishop of Conca to Millain to persuade that State to have regard to the Allegiance they had sworn to Galeatius Francis's Son At that time Galeatius was absent in France whither his Father had sent him with an Army to assist King Lewis against the Princes of his Kingdom that acknowledg'd not his Authority For Francis was bound by the League he made with him when he possest himself of Genoa to supply him with some Auxiliaries Besides the Allegiance which they had contracted obliged him to it for he had married the Sister of the Queen and the Duke of Savoy When he heard of his Father's Death he relinquish'd the War which he engaged in upon the King's account against the Duke of Burgundy and going from Lions return'd with a small Retinue and in a disguise to his own Country where he peaceably possess'd himself of his paternal inheritance by the help of his Mother who kept the people in Obedience till he came But Paul when the Affairs of Italy were thus composed hearing that the Rhodian Soldiers were ready to starve he summon'd the Grand Master and the great Clergymen to Rome to consider of a Relief who after frequent meetings in St. Peters died for grief and Age and was buried in that Church not far from St. Andrew's Chappel in whose room Charles Vrsin was chosen and sent immediately to defend the Island In the mean time when Paul heard that there were a great many Hereticks in Tagliacozzo he having heard their cause severely branded the Lord of the place eight Men and six Women which were caught and brought before him being those that were most obstinate but dealt more favourably with those that confessed their Error and begg'd pardon They were of those perverse sort of Hereticks who say there never was any true Vicar of Christ since St. Peter but who had imitated Christ's Poverty Then he encreased the number of Cardinals and made ten at one time of which number were Francis of Savona General of the Order of Minors M. Barbo Bishop of Vincenza whose Advice he always took in great Affairs Oliver Arch-Bishop of Naples Amicus Bishop of Aquila and Theodore Montferrat and the rest were partly French Hungarians and English Having thus
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