the Year 1409 and arriv'd at Pisa April 25th with whom were sent also Thomas an Abbot the Earl of Suffolk John Colme Kt. and Richard Canyngston Doctor of the Laws Dachery's Spicileg Tom. 6. p. 346. the Archbishops of Mayence and Collen arriv'd at Pisa. In the 6th Session the Bishop of Salisbury Ambassador from the King of England made a Discourse to the Council taking for his Text the Words of the 83d Psalm Justice and Judgment are the preparation of your Throne from which he exhorted the Fathers of the Council to Peace and said he had full Power from the King his Master as to all things which were to be treated of in the Council Nothing else was done in this Session and the next was appointed to be May the 4th In the mean time the Cardinals of Bourdeaux and Spain arriv'd at Pisa. The Council being Assembled on the Day appointed Peter de Ancharano a Dr. of Bologne made a Discourse wherein he answered some Questions propos'd by the Ambassadors of the King of the Romans altho' they were absent for they had withdrawn themselves from the 21st of April after they had publish'd on the 9th of the same Month an Act of Appeal against all that the Council had done or should do and show'd That the Objections were of no Force That the Competitors had been lawfully Summon'd That the Council had Power to proceed against them That the Intention was to procure the Peace of the Church and on the contrary the Design of the Ambassadors of the Duke of Bavaria was to hinder it In this Session Commissioners were Nam'd to receive and examine the Depositions of Witnesses that should be produc'd by the Proctor of the Council who were the Cardinals of Landi and St. Angelo for the two Colleges the Bishops of Liseaux and the three Drs. for France and one Dr. for England It was also ordain'd That the Council should send Deputies to Laodislaus who call'd himself the King of Sicily to pacifie him The next Session was put off to the 10th of May. In a Congregation which was held before the General Assembly of the 8th Session the Council nam'd Deputies to assist in the Assemblies of the College of Cardinals that all things might be done by common Agreement The same Day the Cardinal of Albano told the Assembly That he was inform'd that the Ambassadors of Peter de Luna wou'd quickly come to Pisa and that they must consider how they should be receiv'd About this there was a Consultation the next Day being the 9th of May and on the Day following being that of the Session the Proctor of the Council requir'd That they should Decree that the Union of the two Colleges was lawfully made That they were now become but one College That they should declare the Calling of the Council to be Legal by them That the Council was held in a secure and fit place That it represented the Church Universal and that the Cognizance and Decision of what concern'd the Union and Peace of the Church and the Extirpation of the Schism belong'd to them When it was demanded If all of them were of this Opinion the greater part answer'd affirmatively But the Bishops of Salisbury and Evreux remonstrated as to the first Head of this Demand That there could not be an Union of the two Colleges as long as the Cardinals of Benedict obey'd him as they did while all the rest refus'd to acknowledge Gregory the 12th That it was necessary there should be a general withdrawing of Obedience from them Many more Things were said upon this Subject The Patriarchs of Alexandria the Germans and French were of this Opinion but the Cardinals of Benedict who had not yet withdrawn their Obedience from him could hardly be brought to any Resolution in this Case In fine the Proctor of the Council having mounted into a Pulpit demanded still That in consideration of the Contumacy of the two Competitors who were notoriously guilty of continuing a Schism in the Church by their Collusion contrary to the Oaths they had taken the Council would pronounce and declare That from the time it had been manifest the two Competitors had no mind to procure the Peace of the Church by the means they had sworn to make use of it had been lawful to subtract Obedience from them and that now they ought no more to be obey'd He ask'd if this was the Opinion of the whole Council and every one answer'd in the Affirmative with Joy except two Bishops the one of England and the other of Germany But notwithstanding their Opinion the Matter was determin'd according to the Demand of the Proctor and the Patriarch of Alexandria having mounted into a Pulpit together with the Bishop of Salisbury pronounc'd the Definitive Sentence by the Authority of the Council The Proctor demanded That it should be drawn up in the Form of an authentick Act which was granted him and the next Session was put off to the 8th Day that the Commissioners might have time to examine Witnesses The 9th Session was held the 17th of May and the Act of Subtraction which had been drawn up by some Doctors and review'd in private Congregations was then presented and the Proctor demanded that it should be read in full Council The Patriarch took the Act mounted into the Pulpit and read it with a loud Voice It contain'd That the Council judg'd it had been lawful to subtract Obedience from the two Competitors ever since it was evidently prov'd That they had no mind to procure Union by the way of Resignation as they had sworn to do That all Christians ought to subtract the Obedience from them That the Council did Null and make Void all Sentences which the Competitors might have given or should give against those that did subtract Obedience from them That those who were Judges in the Council might be Witnesses against them That the Commissioners might draw up Articles of Accusation and a Verbal process of Interrogatories as they should think convenient In the 10th Session which was held the 22d of the same Month the Proctor caus'd the Advocate to inform the Council That the Commissioners had heard Witnesses and put the Depositions in Order and that they were ready to make the Report of them to the Council by the Mouth of the Archbishop of Pisa. The Council agreed to this Proposal and Deputies were sent to the Church-gate to know if any of the two Competitors who had been cited to hear the Depositions of Witnesses would appear but they not being present nor any one for them they were declar'd Contumacious and it was ordain'd That the Prosecutors might proceed further to draw up a Process against them and publish the Depositions of the Witnesses After this the Arch-bishop of Pisa went up into the Pulpit and caus'd to be read the Articles propos'd against the Competitors in the 10th Session and observ'd upon each Article by how many Witnesses it was prov'd and of what
of the Cuman Sibyl foreshewing the Birth of a new King that should deâ—oend from Heaven In short it is most certain that the Gentiles acknowledged that the Books of the Sibyls were favourable to the Christians insomuch that the later were prohibited to read them as appears from the Words of Aurelian to the Senate recited by Vopiscus I admire says he Gentlemen that you should spend so much time in consulting the Writings of the Sibyls as if we were debating in an Assembly of Christians and not in the principal place of the Roman Religion These Arguments seem to be very plausible but if we examine them we shall find that they contain nothing that is solid The Pagans never submitted to the Authority of these Books of the Sibyls that were quoted by the Fathers on the cantrary it is manifest that Celsus was perswaded that they were forged by the Christians and St. Augustine plainly declares that this was the general Opinion of all the Gentiles The Sibylâ—â—e Verses mentioned by Tully were Paracrosticks that is to say the first Verse of every Sentence comprehended all the Letters in order that began the following Verses now among all the Verses of the Sibyls only those cited by Constantine are composed in Acrosticks As for the Asseâ—tion that in the time of Pâ—â—pey Julius Caesar and Augustus there was a general report that it was â—oretold in the Sibylline Books that a new King should be born within a little while we may easily reply with Tully that the Verses attributed to the Sibyls by the Heathens were made after such a manner that any sense whatsoever might be put upon them and that perhaps mention might be made therein of a certain future King as it is usual in this kind of Prophecies Therefore when the Grandeur of Pompey began to be formidable to the Roman Empire they thought it fit to make use of this pretence to prevent him from going into Egypt with an Army And Lentulus to whom this Charge was committed being Governor of Syria vainly flattered himself with this Prediction which â—…ight peradventure be further confirmed by the Prophecies of the Jews who expected the Coming of the Messiah believing that he ought to be their King Afterwards when it happened that Julius Caesar and Augustus after him actually made themselves Masters of the Roman Empire the Prophetical Expressions of the Sibyls were interpreted in their favour neither was it necessary on this account that they should clearly point at the Coming of Jesus Christ â—s it is expressed in the Writings of the Sibyls that are alledged by the Fathers but it was sufficient that they mentioned a future King which is the usual practice of all those that undertake to utter Predictions of extraordinary Events This gave occasion to Virgil who intended in his fourth Ecâ—â—gue to compose Verses in Honour of Pollio his Patron as also to Extol Augustus at the same time and to describe the Felicity of his Reign this I say afforded him an opportunity to do it with greater Majesty to make use of the name of the Sibyl and to pronounce these Verses Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis â—t as Magâ—… ab integro 〈◊〉 nâ—scitur or do Jam 〈◊〉 progenes Câ—… alto Jam redit Virgo redeunt Saturnia regna By which nothing else is meant but that at the Nativity of Saloninus the Son of Pollio under the Consulate of his Father and the Reign of the greatest Prince in the World the Golden Age should return as it was foretold by the Sibyl That Plenty and Peace should flourish throughout the whole Universe and that the Virgin Astrâ—â— the Goddess of Justice who had abandoned the Earth at the beginning of the Iron Age should descend again from Heaven What is there in all this that resembles the Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ Or rather what is there that is not altogether prophane and â—â—gned by an Heathen Poet who only makes use of the Sibyls Name to flatter the Ambition of Augustus and to add greater Authority and Lustâ—e to that which he says in his Commendation Lastly the Words of Aurelian do not intimate that the Christians were forbidden by the Pagans to read the Sibylline Books but only that the Christians looked upon them as prophane Writings which in no wise related to their Religion and to which they gave no Credit THE Books that are attributed to Hystaspes and Mercurius Trismegistus and cited likewise by the ancient Fathers are not more Genuine than the Verses of the Sibyls There is nothing now extant of Hystaspes and this Aâ—… was altogether unknown to the ancient Heathens but the same thing connot be said of Merâ—â—riâ—â— Sirnamed Trismegistus n Sirnamed Trismegistus In Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Egyptians call him Thaaut some affirm that he was styled Trismegistus by the Grecians because he was a great King a great Priest and a great Philosopher others as Lactantius that this Name was attributed to him by reason of his incomparable Learning who is mentioned by the most ancient Pagan Writers o Mentioned by the most ancient Pagan Writers Plato in Phaedrus declares that he invented the Characters of Letters together with Arts and Sciences Cicero in Lib. 3. de Natura Deâ—rum assures us that he governed the Egyptians and that he gave them Laws and found out the Characters of their Writings It is Recorded by Diodorus Siculus that he taught the Grecians the Art of discovering the Secrets of the Mind And we are informed by Jamblichus who quotes Manetho and Scleucus that he wrote above Thirty five thousand Volumes St. Clemens Alexandrinus in Stromat Lib. 6. makes mention of Forty two Books of this Author and gives an Account of the Subject of some of them The Works of Mercurius Trismegistus are cited as favourable to the Christian Religion by the Author of the Exhortation to the Centiles said to be St. Justin by Lactantius in the Fourth Book of his Institutions by St. Clement in Lib. 1. Stromat by St. Augustine in Tract de 5. Haeres and in Lib. 8. De Civit. Dei Chap. 23. by S. Gyril of Alexandria in Lib. 1. contra Julianum and by many others as an incomparable Person and an Inventer of all the Liberal Arts and Sciences He was an Egyptian and more ancient than all the Authors whose Works are still extant Hystaspes and Mercurius Trismegistus He is believed to be as Old as Moses he either wrote or at least it is said that he wrote Twenty five or Thirty thousand Volumes But we have only two Diologues at present under his Name one whereof is called by the Name of Poemander and the other of Asclepius who are the principal Speakers The first Treatise is concerning the Will of God and the second Treats of the Divine Power these have been cited by the ancienâ— Fathers to prove the Truth of our Religion by the Authority of so famous an Author But it is certain that they cannot be
Days of the Creation which are mention'd in Genesis do not begin at Night but at the Morning and end at the Morning of the Day following The First and Third of his Hymns are in commendation of the Mystery of the most Holy Trinity which he explains in many Words The Second is a Prayer to God and is rather in Prose like the Creed attributed to St. Athanasius than in Verse The Poem of the Maccabees is a Description in Hexameter Verse of the Martyrdom of those Seven Brethren There is nothing extraordinary in this Poem there is nothing Poetical in it but some mean Imitations of Virgil and for the most part the Verses are low and despicable The Commentaries of Victorinus upon St. Paul have not yet been publish'd Sirmondus found some Fragments of them in a Manuscript from which he took those two little Treatises of which we have already spoken But probably he judg d them not worth publishing though he says in his Advertisement That the Stile of these Commentaries is more clear and clean than that of his Dogmatical Works There are many Philosophical Books attributed to the same Victorinus as his Commentaries upon Tully's Rhetorick cited by Cassiodorus in his Bibliotheca and by Pope Sylvester the II. in his Epistle 130 which have been Printed several times There is also attributed to him the Version of Porphyrie's Isagoge which is amongst Boetius's Works a Book about Poetry and some Books of Grammar But those sort of Books ought not to come into our Bibliotheca which should contain none but Ecclesiastical Monuments St. PACIANUS ST PACIANUS Bishop of Barcelona no less Famous says St. Jerom for the Holiness of his Life than the Eloquence of his Discourse wrote many Books among which there is one entitled St. Pacianus Cervus or The Hart and some other Treatises against the Novatians He died under the Reign of Theodosius towards the Year 380. We have three Letters of his against the Novatians address'd to Sempronianus who was of this Sect. An Exhortation to Repentance and a Treatise or Sermon of Baptism address'd to the Catechumens All these Pieces are written with much Wit and Eloquence The First Letter to Sempronianus has Two Parts In the First he makes use of the way of Prescription from the Name and Authority of the Catholick Church to show that the Sect of the Novatians cannot be the Church of Jesus Christ. In the Second he refutes their Doctrine about Repentance He observes at the beginning of the First Part That since the coming of Jesus Christ there have appear'd an infinite Number of Sects who have all been denominated from the Names of their Authors That the Name of Catholick is continued only in the True Church That the Novatians make one of those Sects which are separated from the Catholick Church That they have forsaken the Tradition of the Church under pretence of Reformation He opposes to them the Authority of the Ancient Fathers of the Church who were Successors to the Apostles Why should not we says he have a Respect to the Authority of those Apostolical Men Shall we pay no Deference to the Testimony of St. Cyprian Would we teach this Doctrine Are we wiser than he But what shall we say of so many Bishops dispers'd over all the World who are united with these Saints What shall we say of so many Venerable Old Men of so many Martyrs and so many Confessors Is it for us to Reform them Shall our times corrupted by Vice efface the Venerable Antiquity of our Ancestors My Name says he addressing himself to Sempronianus is Christian and my Sur-Name is Catholick Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus cognomen He explains afterwards the Name of Catholick and tells us that the most Learned say that it signifies Obedient and that according to others it means one thro' all and shews that these two Significations agree to the Catholick Church which alone is obedient to the Voice of Jesus Christ and which only is the same in all the World After he has thus spoken of the Church he proceeds to Penance and so he enters into the Merits of the Question May it please God says he that none of the Faithful may ever stand in need of it That no Man after Baptism may ever fall into the precipice of Sin That so the Ministers of Jesus Christ may never be oblig'd to Preach and Apply long and tedious Remedies for fear of Patronizing the Liberty of sinning by flattering Sinners with their Remedies Nevertheless we allow this Mercy from our God not to those who are so happy as to preserve their Innocence but to those who have been so unhappy as to lose it by their Sins It is not to the Sound but to the Sick that we Preach these Remedies If the Evil Spirits have no more Power over the baptiz'd If the Fraud of the Serpent which destroy'd the first Man and gave so great occasion of Damnation to his Posterity has ceas'd If I say the Devil is gone out of the World If we may sport our selves in Peace If Man does not fall into many Sins of Thought Word and Deed Then let us not acknowledge this Gift of God Let us reject this Aid Let us have no more Confessions Let us no longer hearken to Sighs and Tears Let Justice and Innocence proudly despise these Remedies But if Man be subject to these Miseries Let us no more accuse the Mercy of God who has propos'd these Remedies to our Diseases and Rewards to those that preserve their Health Let us no more efface the Titles of God's Clemency by an unsupportable Rigour nor hinder Sinners by an inflexible hardness from rejoycing in those Gifts which he has freely bestow'd upon them 'T is not we who give this Grace of our own Authority but God himself who says Be converted to me c. After he has set down many Passages of Scripture which prove That God Pardons penitent Sinners he proposes this Objection of the Novatians God only will you say can grant Pardon of Sin That 's true answers he but what he does by his Ministers he does by his own Power For he says to his Apostles Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loos'd in Heaven But perhaps he did not give this Power to any but the Apostles If this were true then we must say That they only had also Power to Baptize to give the Holy Spirit and to Purify the Gentiles from their Sins For in the same place where he gives them Powr to Administer the Sacrament of Baptism he also gives them Power to loose Sinners Either then these two Powers were peculiarly reserv'd to the Apostles or they are both continued to their Successors and therefore since it is certain that the Power of giving Baptism and Unction is continued in the Bishops that same must consequently be granted of the Power of binding and loosing
The Conjectures for this Opinion are these That the Emperour Constantine resided in this City that he honour'd it with many Privileges and particularly to be the Place for the meeting of a Council That there is a Law of Honorius and Theodosius which Ordains that every Year an Assembly of the Seven Provinces should be held in the City of Arles in the presence of the Praefect sub Illustri praesentia Praefecturae That Agricolaus the Praetorian Praefect of the Gauls to whom this Law was address'd received it at Arles That in the Petition which those Countries presented to Pope Leo they establish the Dignity of the Ecclesiastical Metropolis of Arles upon the Privileges which had been granted to this City by Valentinian and Honorius which made it be look'd upon as the Mother of all the other Cities and upon the Honour which it had to serve for the Residence of the Praetorian Praefect 'T is added That Honoratus writes in the Life of Hilary of Arles That the Praetorian Praefect came to see this Bishop when he was reduc'd to Extremity That St. Prosper in his Chronicle speaks of a Praetorian Praefect call'd Exuperantius who resided at Arles That Liberius Praetorian Praefect of Gaul who confirm'd the Second Council of Orange dwelt at Arles That Faustus Rhedonensis writing to Felix the Praefect of Gaul says That he resided in a City where he profited by the Instructions of Eonius and this Man was Bishop of Arles All these Proofs plainly shew that in the Fifth Age the ordinary Residence of the Praetorian Praefects of Gaul was in the City of Arles but they do not prove that it was also in the time of St. Ambrose One may rather believe that it was the City of Lyons which at first was the ordinary Residence of the Praetorian Praefect of Gaul For First This City was look'd upon as the Chief City of Gaul Secondly Strabo assures us That the Praefects and Governours of Gaul commonly resided there and coyn'd Money there of Gold and Silver Now there is no probability neither is there any Proof that Constantine changed this Custom in favour of the City of Arles And therefore there is nothing very certain upon this Subject 'T is reported that while he St. Ambrose was sleeping one day with his Mouth open in the Court of this Palace a Swarm of Bees came and flew about his Cradle and having many times crept in and out to rest themselves upon his Mouth at last they mounted up into the Air so high till they quite vanish'd out of sight which was look'd upon by his Father as a Prodigy and a Presage of the future Greatness of this Infant Profane Antiquity relates the same thing of Plato and affirms That it was a Presage of the Sweetness of his Eloquence but there is more Reason to believe what the Author of the Life of our Saint says That this swarm of Bees form'd those Hony-combs in his Mouth which should one Day make us relish the Sweetness of Heavenly Gifts and raise our Hearts up to Heaven The Father of St. Ambrose dying sometime after his Widow left Gaul whether she was come to dwell only upon the account of her Husband's Office and return'd to Rome which was their Country Thither she carried St. Ambrose who was yet very Young together with Marcellina his Sister and Satyrus his Eldest Brother and she took special Care of the Education of her Children Her Daughter profess'd Virginity and received the Veil from the Hands of Pope Liberius St. Ambrose profited very much by the Domestick Examples of the Piety and Vertue of his Mother his Sister and the Virgins that were with them they inspir'd into him from his tender Youth the love of Vertue and secured him from the Corruptions of the Age and he joyn'd Learning to his Piety His Works discover how vigorously he applied himself to humane Learning Having finish'd his Studies he acquir'd by his Merits the Friendship of Anicius Probus and of Symmachus two very Honest and Learned Men tho' of different Religions The First was the Praetorian Praefect of Italy in whose Court St. Ambrose pleaded Causes with so much renown that Probus made choice of him to be his Assessor Afterwards he made him Governour of Liguria and Emilia that is of all that Country which comprehends at this Day the Archbishopricks of Milan Liguria Turin Genoa and Bolonia 'T is reported that Probus said to him at parting Go thy way and Govern more like a Bishop than a Judge which Words were a Prediction of what happened afterwards For a little while after Auxentius Bishop of Milan who was of the Arian Faction being dead the Bishops of the Province of Italy assembled to place one in his room according to the Orders of the Emperour Valentinian who would not himself interpose in the Election and upon this Occasion there arose a great Contention among the People because the Arians and the Orthodox on each side did all that laid in their Power to choose a Bishop of their own Party This Quarrel being like to raise a Tumult St. Ambrose thought it the Duty of his Office to come into the Church and prevent it whither being come he made an Oration to the People with much Discretion and Mildness exhorting them to proceed in their Choice with the Spirit of Peace and without Tumult While he was yet speaking the People unanimously proclaim'd him Bishop of Milan This unexpected Choice surpriz'd him he presently 〈◊〉 and made use of all the Artifices he could to shun this Bishoprick He ascended the Bench of Justice and affecting to seem cruel and unworthy of the Priesthood he caused the Criminals to be brought before him loaded with Chains and commanded them to be rackid with great severity This 〈◊〉 failing he contrived another by making Women of lewd Lives come into his House But the People perceiving all this to be attested continued still in their Choice Whereupon he stole out of the City by Night with a design to retire to Ticinum but missing his way he wandred up and down all Night and found himself next Morning at the Gates of Milan His Flight being known a Guard was set about him and a Relation of all that had pass'd was sent to the Emperour St. Ambrose wrote also to him on his own behalf that he might be excus'd from that Office But the Emperour being wonderfully pleas'd with this Choice of the People did 〈◊〉 only confirm the Election but gave Order to the Lieutenant of Italy to see the thing effectually done In the mean Lieutenant St. Ambrose once more made his escape and hid himself in the House of one 〈◊〉 But the Lieutenant of Italy having published the Order against all those that knew wheâ—â—â— he was and did not discover him Leontius by an Innocent kind of Treachery declared where â—he was and then St. Ambrose finding it was in vain to resist any longer was first baptized and some time after made Bishop
the Spirit of God as Sampson was He concludes with a Description of the Depravation of the Romans and the Disorders of their Manners at that time In the Second Book he affirms That the corruption of Manners which is the greatest of Mischiefs was always reigning in Rome and that the Gods they Worshipped were so far from prescribing them Laws for the Reformation of their Manners that on the contrary they encouraged them to Vice by their Examples and by the Ceremonies that were used in their Worship In the Third Book he goes back as far as the Siege of Troy and then takes a view of the principal Events which happened to the People of Rome to convince the most Stubborn That their Gods preserved them not from the same Disasters and Calamities which the Heathen now imputed to the Christian Religion In the Fourth Book he shews That the encrease of the Roman Empire can be attributed neither to all the Divinities which they adored nor to any one in particular That however no Empire is to be called Happy which is encreased only by War as the Roman Empire was That great Empires without Justice were but great Robberies and that the true God alone is the sole Dispenser of the Kingdoms of the Earth He prosecuteth the same Subject in the Fifth Book and proves in the beginning That the greatness of Empires depends not upon Chance nor upon a particular Conjunction of the Stars Which gives him occasion to speak of Destiny and to refute judicial Astrology at large He acknowledges a Destiny if by this Term is meant a series and concatenation of all Causes which God foresaw from all Eternity but he advises Men rather not to use that word which may have an ill Sence He endeavours to make God's Fore-knowledge and the infallibility of those Events which he foresees to agree with Man's Free-Will Then from this Disposition of Things he comes to enquire into the Causes of the Roman Victories and he meets with none more probable than their Honesty He confesses That God rewarded their moral Vertues with those sorts of Recompences adding That thereby God made the Inhabitants of the eternal City to know what Recompence they were to expect for their Christian Vertues Since the counterfeit Vertues of the Heathen were so well rewarded that he set this Example before their Eyes to teach them how much they ought to be in love with their Heavenly Country for an immortal Life since the Inhabitants of an Earthly Country were so much in love with it for an humane and a mortal Glory and how hard they were to Labour for that Heavenly Country since the Romans had taken such great Pains for their Earthly One. He examineth afterwards wherein consists the true Happiness of Christian Kings and Princes And he shews That they are not Happy for having reigned long for dying in Peace and leaving their Children successors of their Crowns nor for the Victories which they obtained because such Advantages are common to them with ungodly Kings But that Christian Princes are said to be Happy when they set up Justice when in the midst of the Praises that are given them and the Honours that are pay'd unto them they are not swell'd with Pride when they submit their Power to the Sovereign Power of God and use it to make his Worship to flourish When they fear love and worship God when they preferr before this which they now enjoy that wherein they are not afraid to meet with any Competitours when they are slow to Punish and ready to Forgive when they punish only for the good of the Publick and not to satisfie their Revenge and when they forgive purely that Men may be Corrected and not that Crimes may be Countenanced when being obliged to use Severity they temper it with some Actions of Meekness or Clemency when they are so much the more temperate in their Pleasures by how much they have a greater Liberty to exceed when they affect to Command their Passions rather than all the Nations of the World and they do all these Things not out of Vain-Glory but to obtain eternal Happiness and in short when they are careful to offer unto God for their Sins the Sacrifice of Humility Mercy and Prayer These saith St. Augustin are the Christian Princes whom we call Happy Happy even in this World by Experience and really Happy when what we look for shall come Finally he proposes the Examples of some Christian Emperours and particularly of Constantine and Theodosius whose Greatness and Prosperities he extols and sets forth In the Sixth Book St. Augustin proves by the Authority of Varro that the fabulous Divinity of the Heathen is ridiculous he makes the same Conclusion concerning their civil Theology and grounds what he saith of it upon Seneca's Authority He goes on in the Seventh to discover the Falshood of the Heathen civil Theology shewing That their chiefest Divinities or select Gods do not deserve to be called Gods and that the Christian's God alone governs the World The Eighth Book refutes the natural Theology of their Philosophers He preferrs the Platonists before all other Philosophers and owns that they knew the True God shewing withall that they were deceiv'd by honouring Daemons as subaltern Deities and Mediators betwixt God and Men He shews That the Christians never committed this Mistake and that they are so far from adoring the Daemons which are evil Spirits that they do not worship the Angels nor the Holy Martyrs that they do indeed Honour and Reverence them as the Servants of God but that they did not build Temples for them nor consecrate Priests nor offer Sacrifices unto them For saith he who among Christians ever saw a Priest before an Altar consecrated to God upon the Body of a Martyr say in his Prayer Peter Paul or Cyprian I offer you this Sacrifice It is offered to God though it be upon the Monuments of Martyrs and these Ceremonies were appointed to be performed upon their Monuments for no other end but to give the True God Thanks for the Victories which they had obtained and at the same time to stir up Christians to imitate their Courage and to make themselves worthy to have a share in their Crowns and Rewards So that all the Acts of Piety and Religion which are done at the Tombs of the Holy Martyrs are Honours pay'd to their Memory and not Sacrifices offered to them as Divinities But forasmuch as they owned Two sorts of Daemons some good and some bad St. Augustin examines that Distinction in the next Book where he shews by the Principles both of Apuleius and of the Chief of Heathenish Authors that all Daemons are Evil. Whence he concludes That they cannot be Mediatours between God and Men. He doth not believe That Angels deserve that Title affirming That it belongeth to none but Jesus Christ alone In the Tenth Book he treateth at large of Angel Worship He saith That they are Creatures whose Felicity is all
Cabals which are us'd for the Election of a Pope contrary to the Order of this Council and that if he who shall discover them had a hand in them he shall not be molested These Canons were read by a Notary and approv'd by the reiterated Acclamations of all the Fathers of the Council Anastasius or the Author of the Pontifical which goes under the Name of Damasus make mention of a second Council of Rome under Symmachus in which they pretend that this Pope was acquitted by 115 Bishops and that Peter of Altinum who was nam'd Visitor was Condemn'd together with Laurentius who had been Symmachus's Competitor But we have no Monument of this Synod neither is it probable that there was such a one since there is no mention made of it in the Synod which we are now about to speak of nor in the Apology of this Synod compos'd by Ennodius wherein he would never have fail'd for the Defence of Symmachus to alledge the first Judgment that was given in his favour The Synod which is now reckon'd the third was call'd by the Authority of King Theodoric in the Year 501 to judge of the Accusations charg'd upon Symmachus The Bishops of Emilia Liguria and of the Country of Venice went to Ravenna and enquir'd of the King for what cause he call'd them together He answer'd them That it had been reported to him that Symmachus was accus'd of many horrible Crimes and that he thought it necessary to examin the matter and determine in a Council whether he was guilty of them or no. The Bishops remonstrated that he who was accus'd should have call'd a Council himself because they were perswaded that the Merit and Primacy of St. Peter and the Decrees of the Holy Councils had appropriated to his See a supereminent Power and that it was never heard that the Bishop of Rome submitted to the Judgment of his Inferiors The King said That the Pope himself had consented to the Calling of a Council and caus'd the Letter to be shown them wherein he signified that he desir'd it This Conference is as it were the first Session of this Synod When the Bishops were come to Rome the Pope came the first time to the Assembly and having testify'd his Obligation to the King for Calling this Synod he demanded in the first place that the Visitor who had been appointed for his Church contrary to Order should withdraw and that all things should be restor'd to him of which he had been depriv'd The Synod found his Demand just but durst not decide any thing without knowing the Will of the Prince Whereupon a Remonstrance was sent to him but he would not look upon it and order'd that Symmachus should first justifie himself before his Patrimony and his Churches were restor'd to him The Synod being assembled a third time in the Chappel of the Palace it was desir'd that the Libel might be receiv'd which contain'd the Articles whereof Symmachus was accus'd but here the Council found two Difficulties The first was That therein it was alledg'd that the Crimes whereof Symmachus was accus'd had been prov'd before the King which could not be since he had order'd them to judge of them The second was That in this Libel it was desir'd that Symmachus should be condemn'd to give up his Slaves that so he might be convicted by their Depositions of of the Crimes wherewith he was charg'd This Proposition appear'd contrary to the Canons of the Civil Laws since Slaves were not permitted to accuse any Man in a Court of Judicature These Difficulties retarded the progress of this Affair but on the other hand the Pope press'd the Decision of it and said That he was set upon as he came by a Multitude who had abus'd him as appear'd by his Wounds and that he should have been kill'd if the King's Officers had not reliev'd him This Session pass'd in confusion without being able to do any thing 'T was resolv'd to go again and wait upon the King and inform him how the matter stood The Deputies at the same time told him That the Pope had declar'd that hitherto he was willing to offer himself to the Judgment of the Synod but at present it was not safe for him to come thither after he had been in so great danger of his Life That the King might do what he pleas'd in this Case but the Synod could not force him to come thither according to the Canons of the Councils The King made Answer That it concern'd the Synod to consider what they had to do for his part he would not interpose in Ecclesiastical Affairs but only show all due respect to the Determinations of the Bishops that he would leave the Bishops at their liberty to decide this Cause or let it alone provided they restor'd Peace to the City of Rome The Bishops having receiv'd his Orders thought that they had nothing more to do but exhort the Romans to Peace And for this end they sent Deputies to the Senate which was against Symmachus and remonstrate to them the dangerous consequences of urging Pope Symmachus to Extremities and exhorted them to re-unite themselves unto him After which they declar'd in a fourth and last Session That Pope Symmachus the Bishop of the Holy Apostolical See against whom many Articles of Accusation had been propos'd should be acquitted and discharg'd from these Accusations in regard of Men for with respect to God the Judgment of them was left to him and that he shall freely perform his Office in all the Churches of his Jurisdiction and that in consequence of the Prince's Declaration they exhorted all the Faithful to return to his Communion and embrace Peace reserving the Judgment of the Justice of this Cause to God As to his Clergy who had separated from him and made a Schism 't is ordain'd That upon their making satisfaction to him he shall pardon them and restore them to their Offices but that those who for the future should dare to Celebrate in any place without communicating with him should be Excommunicated and treated as Schismaticks This is what is contain'd in the Acts of this Council after which follow the Monuments which concern the Council The first is a Letter of Theodoric to the Council written after the second Session dated the ninth of August The second is another Letter to the same Bishops written the 28th of the same Month The third is the Relation of the Council after the third Session when the Pope had declar'd that he would come no more to the Council The fourth is the Answer of Theodoric wherein he exhorts them to determine the Pope's Affair but leaving them at liberty to do in it as they should think fit provided they restor'd Peace to Rome This Letter is dated the last of September The last is a Memorial of Instructions given to him whom the King sent in his Name to the Council The Dates of these Monuments serve to fix the Epocha's of the four
River of the same Name Anno. 742. by the care of Baufail but charge of Charles the Great and Pepin Kings of France to the Monastery of Fulda Founded by Boniface which imports that this Monstery shall be Subject to the Holy See only and that no Person shall say Mass or exercise any Jurisdiction there unless invited by the Abbot There is also a Letter of Boniface to Griphon Pepin's Brother wherein he recommends tâ— him some Monks of Turingia to protect them against the Pagans The 15th Letter of Zachary is directed to the Bishops of France He sent it by some Monks or Clerks who were sent by Optatus Abbot of Mount Cassin and from Caroloman to procure Peace between Gripho and Pepin and to demand a second time St. Benedict's Body which they pretended had been stolen away from Mount Cassin He exhorts the French Bishops to maintain the Justice of their Demand In the 16th he exhorts the French to suffer no Ecclesiastical Person guilty of Murder or Fornication and advises them to assemble Councils every Year to restore the Discipline The 17th Letter is supposititious at least the Title and Date of it are false for it is directed to Austrebert Bishop of Vienna and there was no Archbishop of that Name in that Church under Zachary's Pontificate and it is dated the 7th of March of the first Year of Constantine which is the Year 741 of the Vulgar Aeâ—a at which time Zachary was not Pope The 18th is not more certain 'T is a Prohibition somewhat ill written that a certain Person should not marry his Father's God-Daughter because of the Spiritual Consanguinity These Epistles are all of them extant in Tom. 8. of the Councils p. 1498. ANDREAS CRETENSIS ANDREW born at Damascus having finished his first Course of Studies in his own Country came to Jerusalem towards the year 730 where he embraced a Monastick In this Story of Andreas Cretensis there is certainly a great Mistake for how coul'd he come to Jerusalem in 730 and become a Mâ—nk and in that Quality represent his Patriarch Theodorus at the sixth General Council which was 50 Years before viz. in 680. His coming to Jerusalem ought to be placed doubtless towards the Year 630 and then his Death will fall toward the beginning of the 7th Century according to the Calculation of Dr. Cave Cas. Oudin and the best Chronologers Life and was at the 6th Council in his Patriarch Theodorus's stead and there encountred the Monotholites He was detained at Constantinople and put among the Clergy or that Church he was ordained Deacon and had the care of the Education of Orphans committed to him A little after he was ordained Archbishop of Creete he governed this Church many years and died at Mitilene in the beginning of the eighth Century of the Church He composed a great number of Sermons and particularly Panegyricks Father Combefis collected all that he could meet with in the Libraries and printed them in Greek and Latin at Paris in 1644. With Notes and an Index to explain the Words This Collection contains 17 of them The first is upon the Virgin 's Nativity He extols this Festival which he looks upon as the Original and Principal of all the Feasts of the New-Law He there speaks of Joachim and Anne of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple The 2d is upon the Annunciation In it he maketh several Divine Reflections upon the Angel's words The 3d is on the Circumcision and upon St. Basil He follows Africanus's Opinion about Joseph's Ancesâ—ors and says he was Jacob's Natural Son and Heli's according to the Law He speaks of the Names of Immanuel and Jesus and makes some Mystical and Moral Observations upon the 8th Day Then he passes to the Praises of St. Basil in the end whereof he maketh an excellent Prayer to him The 4th is upon our Lord's Transfiguration It contains several Allegorical Reflections upon the Circumstances of this Miracle The 5th is an Homily in which he explains Lazarus's Resurrection He there confounds Mary Lazarus's Sister with the Woman that was a Sinner The 6th is upon Palm-Sunday The two next upon the Exaltation of the Cross. The three following are upon the Virgin 's Death In it he describes several miraculous Circumstances of her Death and particularly her Triumphant Ascension into Heaven in Body and Soul The 12th is a Panegyrick upon Titus first Bishop of Creete The 13th is upon St. George whose Martyrdom he relates The 14th is a Panegyrick upon St. Nicholas Bishop of Myra He says nothing of his Life in particular but only that he encounter'd the Arians that he preserved Lycia from Famine and Andâ—… 〈◊〉 â—â—nverted an Heretick Bishop The 15th contains the Praise the Life and Miracles of a certain Monk named Patapiâ—s The 16th which is another Panegyrick upon Patapius is not Andrew's of Creete but some of his Scholars who relates how that holy Hermit appeared to Andrew of Creete and what he had told him of his Life The 17th contains excellent Instructions about the Miseries and Uncertainty of Human Life F. Combefis in his Addition to the Bibliothecâ— Patrum attributes also to Andrew of Creet two Homilies the one upon the Virgin 's Nativity which had been published by Schottus under the Name of German Bishop of Constantinople Allatius hath attributed it to Gregory Bishop of Nicomedia and it is found in some Manuscripts under St. John Damascene's Name But F. Combefis having seen it in a Manuscript under Andrew of Creete's Name believes it rather to be his than the others because of a great number of Compound Words commonly used by Andrew of Creete The second is a Sermon upon the Beheading of St. John Baptist already published by Lipomannus They attribute to this Archbishop Andrew a great number of Odes Pieces in Prose upon the Festivals of the Year which F. Combefis hath joyned to his Homilies He does also ascribe to him some Iambick Verses directed to Agatho the Deacon which are at the end of the Letter of this latter in the second Volume of the Addition to the Bibliotheca Patrum Some believe that this Archbishop of Creete is also the Author of the Commentary on the Revelation bearing the Name of Andrew of Caesarea Which maketh others think that he was translated from the Arch-bishoprick of Creete to that of Caesarea in Cappadocia But there is no need to suppose this groundless Translation For though we should suppose this Work to be of Andrew's of Creete which is uncertain Caesarea might perhaps have been put for Creete This Author's Sermons are not so contemptible as the most part of those of the modern Greeks they are full of Wit Learning and Morality and want not Eloquence nor Greatness His Discourse abounds with compound and hard Words his Narrations plain his Reflections just his Praises vehement his Figures natural and his Instructions solid ANASTASIUS ANASTASIUS Abbot of the Monastery of St. Euthymius in Palestine flourished about the year 740.
same year he Excommunicated * Or Fulcherus Soucherus and Hardoisa who Married their near Relations and would not be parted from them In the year 876 Pope John VIII Named for his Vicar in France and Germany Ansegisus Arch-bishop Hincmarus's Book against Ansegisus's Priviledge of Sens. This Priviledge being prejudicial to the Church of Reims and the Authority of Hincmarus he wrote a large Treatise to defend the Rights of Metropolitans against the new pretences of these Vicars And in particular glories much in the Rights and Priviledges of the Church of Reims He cites a Letter of Pope Hormisdas in which he makes Remigius his Vicar in France and a Bull of Benedict which asserts That all Persons in the Province of Reims are subject to their Metropolitan and that no Man can go before any other Judges without prejudice to the Right of the H. See He adds That he would not refuse to meet at a Synod of several Provinces provided that it be called either by the Pope or Emperor because the first General Councils were called by the Emperors and S. Gregory himself bids the Kings of France to assemble Synods in their Realms He observes that Boniface Bishop of Maience whom the Pope had made his Vicar in France and Germany had never encroached upon the Rights of the Metropolitans That Drogon Bishop of Metz having obtained the same Prerogative of Pope Sergius could not enjoy it because they who sustained any loss by it would not acknowledge him Ansegisus's Letter of Priviledge was brought to the Council held June 19. at Pontegon where the Popes Legats were met to represent the Pope The Emperor who was present asked the The Council of Pontigon Bishops what they had to say against the Pope's Bull. They answered They were ready to obey it so far as was consistent with the Right of their Metropolitans according to the Canons and Decrees made and confirmed by the Popes agreeable to the Laws of the Church The Emperor and the Pope's Legats urged them to approve the Priviledge granted to Ansegisus without any restrictions but they persisted in the Exception only Flotarius Archbishop of Bourdeaux Answered as the Emperor desired being willing to be Translated to Bourges because his Country was Ravaged The Emperor insisted on it That the Pope had Named Ansegisus to keep his place in the Synod and he had set him above all the Bishops of his Realm on the side of the Pope's Legats Hincmarus exclaimed against it and publickly complained That they had done a thing contrary to the Canons of the Church The Question was revived again in another Session July 14. in which the Bishops protested That they would obey the Popes Letters in the same manner that their Predecessors had obeyed his Predecessors according to the Constitutions This Answer satisfied the Emperor and Pope's Legats somewhat more but the business being again Debated in the last Session they explained themselves in the same manner that they had done in the first Session so that Ansegisus could gain nothing more of them In the same Synod Hincmarus and the other Archbishops were forced to take an Oath of Fidelity openly to the Emperor This Action much displeased Hincmarus so that he made several Observations upon the Terms in which the Oath was expressed but that which troubled him most was That his Fidelity seemed to be questioned in requiring of him a new Oath of Fidelity who had for so many years served his Prince faithfully The same year he composed a Writing to shew that the Land of Neuills belonged to the Church of Reims In the year 877 Hincmarus wrote a Letter to the Pope in the Name of Charles the Bald about Hincmarus's Letter about Appeals the Appeals of Priests to the H. See Several Priests Justly and Canonically condemned by their Bishops went to Rome and surreptitiously obtained Letters of Absolution This abuse freed Criminals from punishment weakened and disannulled the Bishops of Authority and quite destroyed the Order and Discipline of the Church So that to stop the course of these Actions the Emperor wrote a Letter to the Pope in which after a Collection of Canons which respected the Judgment of the Bishops and Priests he prayed him to observe them and conform to the Council of Sardica in the Appeals of Bishops and as to Priests they ought by the Canons to be Judged by their Bishops and can't Appeal from the Judgment of their Bishop and Metropolitan In the end he prays the Pope to admonish the Bishops that they be moderate in their Judgments and not suffer themselves to be transported either with Passion or Pride Charles the Bald died a little time after and left for his Successor his Son Lewis Balbus or the Hincmarus ' s Advice to Lewis Balbus Stammerer who was Crowned by Hincmarus Dec. 8. 877. Soon after this Archbishop sent him a Paper of Directions how to govern his Realm He advises him to prevent all disagreements among his great Men to assemble them and take their Advice in Government to put in Execution the Ordinance made by his Father concerning the Honour of Bishops and Priviledges of Churches to keep his Subjects in Peace and Unity to oppose the Inroads of the Britans and hold Friendship and Correspondence with the Kings his Cousins He exhorts him to pray to God that he may attain an Heavenly felicity administer Justice and live like a Christian. About the same time upon the occasion of the Election of the Bishop of Beauvais he wrote Hincmaru 's Tract upon the Duties of Bishops a Treatise of the Duties of a Bishop and his Functions which are to Sing the Publick Service of the Church Consecrate the Chrism to Administer Baptism according to the Tradition of the Church and to take care that the Priests also Baptize to Ordain Priests Deacons and other Or ders of the Clergy at the time set apart by the Church to call Synods of Priests to go to Provincial Synods and to assist at the Ordination of Bishops when they are invited or to send a Priest and a Deacon to excuse him to govern his Clergy and furnish the Church with all things necessary to have Hospitals to receive the Poor and Passengers to have a care of the Monasteries in his Diocess and the Country-Parishes to Preach the Word of God to the People to Confirm impose Publick Penance Absolve those that have gone through with it to have a care of all the Revenues of his Church to serve the Prince in his Wars for the Defence of his Church to make a good use of the Church-Revenues to know and observe the H. Canons Lewis the Stammerer dying in 879. left two Sons Lewis and Caroloman These two Princes having Hincmarus ' s Letter to Charles the Grosse many Enemies lying upon them had need of the Emperors Protection who was Charles the Gross Hincmarus wrote to him to thank him for the kindness he seemed to have for these
but to Men and consequently 't is they not the Spirit which are the Authors of the Words and Expressions which they use although he inspires them with the Sense and Doctrine they ought to write In his Answer to the Third Objection he opposeth the Opinion of his Adversary who maintain'd that the Souls of Men were Created separated from the Bodies he affirms that we ought to believe that they are created in and with the Body although the Philosophers delivered the contrary and Austin doubts of it In the next place he answers a question put to him by his Adversary Whether Truth be any thing but God He answers That Truth is not always taken for God himself although 't is not to be doubted but that God is Truth The Fourth Question concerns the Righteous Men of the old Law Agobard maintains that they may be called Christians although they were not called so because they believed in Jesus Christ and belonged to him being anointed with the invisible Ointment of his Grace as well as those who were good Men among the Gentiles The Jews who were in credit at Court because they had Money obtained an Edict from the Emperour which contained many things in their Favour and among the rest that none of their Slaves should be baptized but with their Masters Consent This Edict being very prejudicial to Religion and contrary to Christian Piety Agobard addressed a Writing to Hilduin the King 's great Chaplain and to the Abbot Vala who was at Court in which he shews the injustice and impiety of that Prohibition being evidently contrary to the Design of the Gospel and the intention of Jesus Christ who will have all Men to be saved and hath commanded his Apostles to preach the Gospel to all Creatures and baptize all that believe whether Bond or Free He desires them to whom he writes to endeavour all they can to get this Edict recall'd which he hoped might be done more easily because he offered to pay the Jews the Ransom of those Slaves according to the appointment of the Canons made in that Case In the Letter written by Agobard in his own Name and Hildegisus and Florus's who were Clergy-men of Lyons to Bartholomew Bishop of Narbonne he speaks of a certain Distemper which took Men suddenly and threw them down like the Falling-Sickness Some also felt a sudden Burning which left an incurable Wound This ordinarily happen'd in the Churches and the astonish'd People to guard themselves from it gave considerable Gifts to the Churches to secure them Agobard disallows this practice and searching into the Cause of this Plague he says 't was nothing else but the will of God who punisheth Men by the Ministery of an Angel After which he relates several Examples of the like Chastisements out of Scripture in which God hath exercised his Justice by Angels and other Creatures He affirms that these sort of inflictions are not from the power of the Devil although he owns that God sometimes suffers the Devil to disquiet and torment Men. Returning then to the Question of Bartholomew viz. what we ought to think of the practice of those who coming into the Churches where they were seized with this Distemper bring presents to them He says that fear causes these people to do what they ought not and hinders them from doing what they ought for it were better says he to give Alms to the Poor or Strangers to address themselves to the Priest to receive Unction according to the Command of the Gospel and of the Apostle to fast and pray and do works of Charity It is true adds he that if the Offerings given to the Church be employed as they ought they are an Action of Charity but because at present they are used only to satisfie the Covetousness and Avarice of Men and not to honour God or relieve the Poor it is a shame to give them to such covetous Wretches to be kept or ill imployed by them The Injustice and Violence which was practised among the people of Lyons and could not be restrained obliged Agobard to write to Maâ—fredus a powerful Man in the Emperour's Court. He begs of him to use his Interest with his Prince to hinder those Disorders and cause justice to be done This Compliment is short but urgent The Letter to the Clergy of Lyons concerning the manner how the Bishops and Pastors ought to govern is an excellent instruction for them He says that those who are entrusted with the Government of the Church the Spouse of Christ who is Peace Truth Justice and the Author of all Good ought to love that his Spouse singularly as himself and apply himself entirely to the spiritual good of his only Spouse That those who neglect to do their Duty and place all their Pleasure and Affections upon Riches Finery Hunting and Debauchery are the destroyers of God's Work and the Assistants of Anti-christ That though they seem to be Bishops in the Eyes of Men they are not so in the Eyes of God no more than Hypocrites who affect to appear outwardly Holy but whose Heart is full of Impurity who seek not the Edification and Instruction of the Faithful but their own Interest and Glory such are those who seek to get into the sacred Ministery only to obtain Honour and Riches or to live finely He adds that all those that make it their main Business to gain themselves the Love and Respect of those that are under their Charge and not to make Jesus Christ be loved and honoured by them who is the only Spouse of the Church are Adulterers and unworthy of the sacred Ministery because they design rather to feed themselves than their Flock Nevertheless he advises that the Sheep should endure wicked Pastors through Prudence when they can't reform them His Book concerning the Dispensing of Ecclesiastical Revenues was not written against the ill usage which Clergy-men might make of them but against the Laity who took them away and kept them unjustly Lewis the Godly having called an Assembly of Clergy-men and Lords at Attigny in 822. for the Reformation of Church and State Agobard advises Adelardus Abbot of Corbey and another Abbot called Helissicarius that they ought to rectifie the Disorder that was in the Church about the Ecclesiastical Revenues which the Laity had appropriated to themselves that they might speak to the Emperour of it He zealously represents to them that the Churches having been enriched by the Gifts of the Emperours Princes and Bishops had made an abundance of Laws and Canons for the preservation of the Revenues and to hinder Lay-men from encroaching upon them That the necessity which they alledged was not a sufficient Reason to over-look those Laws nor to authorize the Usurpations they had made of them The year following this matter was more fully debated in an Assembly held at Compeigne where the Clergy again represented that the Laity were not to be suffered in the quiet Possession of the Revenues of the
this Objection to himself But must we suffer all the Faults which Ecclesiasticks may commit to go unpunish'd He answers that there are some Persons who ought to suffer it and that there are other Persons whose duty it is to reprove and punish them according to the Power invested in them for that purpose and with the necessary Precautions but that a rash Judgment should not be pass'd on those who have receiv'd a Power to judge the very Angels That the Clergy ought not to be judg'd by Laicks but by Bishops and that Laicks ought not to concern themselves with punishing their Crimes unless they are appeal'd to by the Bishop of the Diocess And yet says he the quite contrary is now observeable For the Civil Authority incroaches on the Ecclesiastical and the latter is now crush'd by the former which ought to support it So that as in the Election of Prelates the Will of the Prince is follow'd more than the Decrees of the Holy Fathers even so in their Condemnation more regard is had to gratifie their Humours than to proceed according to Canon Law And from hence it happens that by the Injustice of unrighteous Judges the Offences of the Guilty are no Bar to the holding their Dignity and Dignity does not exempt any Person from an unjust Accusation The Second Part is about the Authority which Princes had usurp'd in the Ecclesiastical Ordinations of Bishops He says that they ought to be made by those who have a Right thereto according to the Canons and Customs of the Church but that Princes absolutely require that their Edict should be of universal force in the case That he whom they chose must be receiv'd tho' never so wicked and that the Man whom others shall elect should be rejected tho' never so deserving That the Faults of those whom they chuse how great soever were look'd upon as nothing That they had no regard to the Vertues but to the Riches the Parentage and the Services of the Persons That many were ordain'd for Money others by Recommendation or because they are Relations or in recompence of some Service they had done That there are some Princes so blind as to prefer Infants to Bishopricks who had not so much as one of the necessary Qualifications and who are oblig'd to be under the Care of Tutors and Masters even while they are the Masters and Judges of a whole Diocess In the last Part he reprehends the Abuse which prevail'd in his time of rifling the Revenues of the Church when the Episcopal See was vacant by the Death or by the Expulsion of a Bishop He cites in the three Parts several Canons and a great many fine Passages out of the Fathers to back his own Arguments To these Treatises are annex'd Eleven Letters of Atto The first is directed to a Bishop nam'd Waldon who was at variance with his Prince He exhorts him to submit to his Prince and produces several Passages out of the Fathers concerning the Obedience which is due to Kings This Walden is doubtless the same with him whom Berenger had made Bishop of Cumae and who afterwards prov'd treacherous to him and withdrew to the Emperor Otho as Luitprand relates it The three following Letters are directed to the Faithful of his own Diocess The two first are against those who pretended to Divine and Prophesie of things to come and the last is against those who would feast on Fridays The fifth is directed to a Bishop nam'd Aso. He therein shews by the Ecclesiastical and Civil Laws that Marriage is prohibited between those who had contracted a Spiritual Affinity by Baptism contrary to the Advice of that Bishop who found fault that one Thierry who had marry'd his God-father's Daughter was divorc'd from her and Excommunicated till such time as he made his Appearance in a Court of Judicature before the Archbishop and Bishops The sixth is a Letter of Gunzon Deacon of the Church of Navarre wherein he sends Atto the Copy of a Letter pretended to be Pope Zachary's to Theodorus Bishop of Pavia about the Prohibition of Marriage between those who have contracted a Spiritual Affinity The seventh is a Letter of Ambrose a Priest of Milan directed to Atto whereby he gives him to understand that these sorts of Marriages were likewise prohibited in his Church and desires he would let him know the meaning of the Titles Pristesses and Deaconesses mention'd in Zachary's Letter Atto replys in the eighth Letter That the Priestesses and Deaconesses were Widows chosen to assist the Women in the Administration of the Sacrament of Baptism He does not approve at all their Opinion who pretend that the Deaconesses were Abbesses and he observes that these Titles of Priests and Deacons might likewise be given to Women The ninth and tenth are directed to the Ecclesiasticks of his own Diocess against those who kept company with lewd Women with whom they maintain'd a scandalous Familiarity and whom they kept and maintain'd out of the Revenues of the Church In the last he advises the Bishops his Brethren upon what was necessary to be done in case the Kings of Italy viz. Berenger and Adalbert mention'd formerly fearing their Enemies should require him and the rest of the Bishops to continue Loyal to them not only by the Oath of Allegiance but by exacting Hostages from them He gives them to understand that 't is not his Opinion that they ought to give them any 1. Because he is not sensible that the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers have commanded any thing else than to be loyal and subject to one's Prince and to do one's best to preserve the publick Peace of the State and to provide for the Safety of one's King 2. Because 't is a sort of Punishment inflicted on the Innocent for another's Fault which is contrary to Justice 3. Because 't is the exposing of a Man's Life for some Temporal Interest and the leaving it to the changeable Will of others 4. Because 't is such a new and strange thing as would make the World believe either that the Bishops of whom these Hostages were requir'd are more disloyal than their Predecessors or else that the Princes are more odious Whereupon he exhorts his Brethren to pray to God for the Safety of their Princes and to beg him to infuse into them a good Opinion of the Loyalty of the Prelates of their Kingdom and that he would preserve them steddy and constant in their Fidelity There is still in the Manuscript at Rome another piece of Atto intituled The Poliptick or The Perpendicular which serves as a Reproof of Vice and a Recommender of Vertue and seventeen Sermons which 't is impossible to Transcribe because the Manuscript is so torn in this place that one cannot read it There are likewise several things wanting in the Works which are copied out all which might be supply'd by the Manuscript which they say is in the Archives of the Church of Verceil but the Canons of that Church
an account of all these particular Circumstances to the Pope in a Letter and the two Legates went to Communicate them to the King of England Whereupon that Prince and the Prelates of his Kingdom demanded of the Legates whether they had not receiv'd Orders from the Pope to bring Thomas Becket to his Tryal or whether they were not impower'd to do it by vertue of their Office They declar'd that they had no such Power and that all that they could do was only to cause the Pope's Letters to be read publickly by which he prohibited the Arch-bishop of Canterbury to Excommunicate the King or to pass any Sentence of Suspension on his Kingdom as also to inform him of the purport of them with a prohibition to attempt any thing to the prejudice of that Order and to confirm the Absolutions that were given to the Bishops and other Excommunicated Persons under pretence that the Pope allow'd that such Absolution should be granted them in case they were in danger of Death and that those Persons being constrain'd by the King's Orders to pass over the Sea ran the hazard of losing their Lives But the Pope having permitted it only upon Condition that they should restore the Church-Revenues and the greatest part of them not having done it Thomas Becket wrote to the Legates that they ought to oblige them to make restitution if they were desirous that their Absolution should be ratify'd The Pope himself likewise wrote to the same effect but the Cardinal of Pavia eluded that Order alledging that he could not put it in execution without offending the King In the mean while Thomas Becket made great complaints against those Proceedings and sent word to the Court of Rome at the same time entreating the Pope to recall those two Legates who shewed too much partiality insomuch that his Holiness not being able to withstand the importunity of those who adher'd to the Interest of that Arch-bishop at Rome immediately sent for the Legates and depriv'd them of all manner of Authority Cardinal Otho before his departure us'd his utmost endeavours to induce the King of England to do Justice to the Arch-bishop whereupon his Majesty reply'd that he would consent that that Prelate should return to Canterbury and possess his Church in Peace and that he for his part would renounce the Customs that were not in use in the time of his Predecessors but that he would not hear talk of doing him Justice and those of his Party as to the Estates they enjoy'd for a long time pretending that they had put them to a good use The Cardinal in like manner spoke to the King much to the same effect but all their Remonstrances serv'd only to draw upon them the displeasure of that Prince who complain'd when they came to take leave of him that he was betray'd by the Pope and threatn'd to yield him Obedience no longer if he did not take care to do him Justice with respect to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury Afterwards the King of France interceded at the sollicitation of the Pope to accommodate An Interview be-between Thomas Becket and King Hen. Iâ— in the presence of the King of France that Business with the King of England and procur'd an Interview during which the Arch-bishop of Canterbury threw himself at King Henry's Feet and after having implor'd his Clemency declar'd that he would resign to him every thing that had occasion'd the differences between them provided that the Glory of God might be indemnify'd His Majesty receiv'd that Restriction with a great deal of dissatisfaction and propos'd to the King of France that he would leave Thomas in the quiet possession of the See of Canterbury saying That he expected to enjoy'd the Rights that were enjoy by the Kings his Precedessors in the time of the Predecessors of the Arch-bishop who should likewise enjoy the Immunities that his Predecessors had actually enjoy'd This proposal seem'd reasonable to the Assistants and even to the King of France nevertheless Thomas Becket would not accept of it alledging that his Predecessors had Tolerated some Abuses which his Adversaries would fain compel him to approve against his Conscience This refusal caus'd a murmuring among the Lords of both Nations and gave no manner of satisfaction to the two Kings The Enemies of the Arch-bishop accus'd him of Arrogancy and even many of his Friends did not approve his Inflexibility However the King of France soon alter'd his Mind commended the constancy of that Prelate and instead of Banishing him out of his Dominions as it was expected he admitted him into his Presence suffer'd him to reside at Sens and continu'd to assist him King Henry sent Envoys to complain to that Prince that he treated a Rebel so kindly who had refus'd to accept of Peace upon reasonable Terms but perceiving that the French King was resolv'd not to abandon him he sollicited the Pope again by two Deputations and prevail'd with the King of Sicily and the Estates of Italy to joyn their entreaties to his against the Arch-bishop of Canterbury However all that could be obtain'd of the Pope was that he would send two other Legates to endeavour again to procure a Reconciliation between them Gratian the Nephew Other Legates sent into England and their Negotiation of Pope Eugenius III. and Vivian Advocate of the Church of Rome were chosen for that purpose The Pope deliver'd to them the Articles of the Agreement ready drawn up and oblig'd them to take an Oath not to go beyond the Orders he had given them He prohibited them to receive any thing of the King of England till the conclusion of the Treaty and order'd them to declare to that Prince that if he neglected to make Peace upon the Conditions prescribed by him he would enjoyn the Arch-bishop of Canterbury to make use of the Authority of the Church against him These Legates manag'd divers Negotiations in the Year 1169 but none of them took Effect King Henry offer'd to permit Thomas Becket to return to England and to re-establish him in his Arch-bishoprick and in the possession of his Estate but would have this Condition annexed Provided always that the Rights of the Kingdom be maintain'd but the Legates refus'd to admit that Clause unless this were also Inserted Provided that the Liberties of the Church be not infringed There was also an Interview at St. Denis between the two Kings the Legates and the Arch-bishop which prov'd ineffectual So that the Legates return'd without coming to any manner of Agreement The King of England who was not well satisfy'd with these Legates demanded others of the Pope with much importunity and even with Menaces His Holiness was not of Opinion that his request ought to be deny'd and even Suspended the Arch-bishop's Authority till the Differences were finally determin'd He nominated Simon Prior of Mont Dieu and Bernard de Corila to be his Legates on that occasion and gave them two Letters for King Henry viz. one full
revoked all the Commendams of Cathedral Churches and Abbies granted by his Predecessors to all Persons whatsoever except Cardinals and Patriarchs He compelled all Bishops to reside in their Churches forbad plurality of Benefices made void all Favours Expectant which were not agreeable to the Rules of the Civil Law he deprived all Persons unworthy of their Benefices and carefully put in fit Persons where he had Power he abolished the use of several Dispensations remedied many Abuses and Clancular Dealings made use of in gaining Bulls employ'd rightly the Revenues of the Church of Rome by giving Alms and bestowing Charity on the Poor during the Famine He took great pains to unite the Christian Princes and did all he could to procure Peace with all Kings He revoked the Tax of Tenths which his Predecessor had granted to Philip King of France for his Voyage into the Holy Land because that Prince could not go through with his Design He shewed his Zeal to Justice by causing those Officers to be punished severely who had deliver'd the Ambassadors of Edward King of England which were come to Avignon to the King of France He made a Reformation among the Black-Monks as well as Cistertians who lived loosely he appointed persons of Merit and Learning to visit their Monasteries that they might inform him of such Abuses as ought to be amended and made Constitutions for the Reformation of them He had also made several Rules for the Friars Mendicants if he had not been prevented by Death He only ordered that such Monks as were in his Court without any permission obtain'd should return to the Monasteries and forbad them leaving their Order to go over to the Cistertians or Cluniacks without the express permission of the Pope Lastly That Pope lived in a way suitable to so great a Bishop keeping close to his Duty being Zealous for Religion and for the Discipline and Reformation of the Church Virtuous Charitable free from Ambition and wordly Interests He did not as several other Popes have done raise his Nephews and Relations to the great Offices and Dignities of the Church nor enrich them with the Goods of the Church or by impoverishing private Men. He preferred but One of his Relations whom he made Archbishop of Arles for his Merit which he did not do without some difficulty at the earnest Request of the Cardinals He married but one of his Neices whom he bestowed upon a Merchant refusing several great Lords who offered themselves as being above her Quality This is the Relation which all the Historians of his Time give of his Piety and Virtue who are more to be relyed on than some Modern Authors who will have him to have been a Man of a disorderly Conversation He died at Avignon April 25. 1342. which was the Eighth Year of his Papacy This Pope Composed several Works Rainaldus has published his Opuscula or small Tracts The Works of Benedict XII concerning the Poverty of JESUS CHRIST and his Apostles and about the Vision of God There is a more considerable Treatise of this Pope's in the Vatican Library upon the last of these Subjects He also made a large Commentary upon the Gospel of St. Matthew which is yet in MS. in Mr. Colbert's Library with Three other Treatises against Ockham Most of his Letters and Bulls are extant in the Annalists and Register of Bulls Clement VI. was chosen Pope May 7. 1342. and Crowned the 9th of the same Month. He The Election of Clement VI. was called before Petrus Rogerius Born in the Castle of Maumont in the Diocess of Limoges He was a Monk of the Abby of Casa-Dei in Auvergne and having taken his Degrees in Divinity he went to the Court of John XXII at Avignon This Pope gave him the Abby of Fescamp and made him afterward Bishop of Arras He received as much Favour at the Court of France as Avignon for there he was admitted into the Council of that King who had a particular respect for him insomuch that he was translated from the Bishoprick of Arras to the Arch-bishoprick of Sens and in the next Year to that of Rouen and lastly was raised to the Dignity of a Cardinal of the Title of S. Nereus and Achilleus by Benedict XII The First thing that he did after his rise to the Papal Dignity was to send his Legatees to Rules made by Clement about the Affairs of Italy make way for a Peace between the Kings of France and England He sent also a Cardinal-Legate into Italy to appease the Troubles and Wars which were in that Country Robert King of Apulia died about that time and his Kingdom fell to Jane his Daughter then an Infant who was married to Andrew King of Hungary The Pope took upon him the Government of that Realm till that Prince came to take Possession of it which he was scarce come to do but he was Slain by Treachery The Romans sent to the Pope 18 of their principal Citizens to desire Three Things of him I. To make the Senators Governor and other Magistrates of their City Friends who presented themselves to him as Petrus Rogerius and not as Clement VI. who was Pope for his Life only II. To come and make his Residence at Rome III. That since the Life of Man is so short that few lived to an Hundred Years to which Age Boniface VIII had annexed a Plenary Indulgence for those who visited the Church of S S. Peter and Paul at Rome he would please to reduce that time to the Fiftieth Year The Pope granted the First and Last of their Demands for he reconciled the Magistrates presented to him upon Condition that it should be no Prejudice to his Rights and brought the Jubilee to the 50th Year appointing That every 50th Year there should be a Jubilee but for the Second he put it off by declaring That the design which he had of coming to Rome he could not put in Execution for the present and he could not tell them when he should be able to do it Lewis of Bavaria used all his Endeavours in this Papacy to be reconciled to the Church and Lewis of Bavaria Excommunicated a-new by Clement prayed the King of France to intercede for him This Prince told him That he must submit himself and humbly beg Absolution The Ambassadors of Lewis desired such a Form as the Pope would accept but they gave him such an intolerably severe one that he would not subscribe it when he was in Prison for it signified that he gave Power to Humbertus the Dauphin's Uncle to the Provosts of Augsburg and Bemberg and to Henry his Arch-Chancellor to confess all the Errors and Heresies that he was accused of to make a Renunciation of the Empire with a Promise never to resume it but by the Pope's consent and to put his Children and Goods into the hands of his Holiness They annexed also other Clauses which concerned the Empire These Ambassadors approved of this Proposal but when
Maxims to hinder Men from falling into these Follies and Errors into which the Mystical Authors are many times led by an indiscreet Devotion In the next Treatise address'd to William Minand formerly Physician to the Cardinal of Saluzzes and then a Carthusian he resolves divers Questions which he had put to him as to the manner in which the Prior of the Carthusians ought to behave himself upon different occasions towards his Regulars In the Treatise Entitled A Theological Question viz. Whether the Light which shines in the Morning begot the Sun He treats of the Practice of Evangelical Counsels and the Perfection of their State who take upon them a Vow to Practise them and shews That the State of Prelats and Curates is more perfect than that of Monks and Regulars The same Question he handles in the Treatise of the perfection of the Heart which is written by way of Dialogue The following Treatises are Works of Piety whose Titles discover their Subject viz. A Treatise of Meditation A Treatise of Purification or Simplicity of Heart A Treatise of Uprightness of Heart A Treatise of the Illumination of the Heart A Treatise of the Eye A Treatise of the Remedies against Pusillanimity Scruples false Consolations and Temptations written in French and translated into Latin A Treatise of divers Temptations of the Devil translated also out of French An Instruction concerning the Spiritual Exercises of simple Devotionists A Treatise about the Communion A Piece against a Regular Profess'd who was Disobedient and another about the Zeal of a Novice Eight Spiritual Letters A Treatise of the Passions of the Soul Two Spiritual Poems A Treatise of Contemplation which was also translated out of French A Conference of a Contemplative Man with his own Soul whereof the second Part contains several Prayers and Meditations A Letter to his Sisters about the Thoughts we ought to entertain every Day An Act of Appeal from the Justice of God to his Mercy A Treatise of Prayer and its Effects An Explication of these Words in the Lord's Prayer Pardon our Sins c. A Prayer of a Sinner unto God Many Treatises upon Scripture-Songs particularly upon the Magnificat and the Canticles A Treatise of the Elevation of the Soul to God or the Alphabet of Divine Love A Treatise upon the seven Penitential Psalms Donatus Moraliz'd that 's to say Moral Questions in the form of Donatus's Grammar A Poem of a Solitary Life These are the Books contain'd in the second Part of Gerson's Works at the end of which are put two Epitaphs of the Author and a Letter from his Brother John the Celestine about Gerson's Works after which follows a Caralogue which contains a Great Part of the Works whereof we have spoken The fourth Part contains many Sermons some Letters and divers Treatises The first Sermon is a Discourse about the Angels rather Dogmatical than Moral after which follows a Conference about the Angels A Sermon about Circumcision and the Panegyricks of St. Louis and St. Nicholas Two Discourses for the Licentiates in Law A Sermon upon the Supper of Our Lord A little Tract wherein he advises to read the Ancients rather than the Moderns Three Letters about Spiritual and Contemplative Writers to Peter of Ailly Bishop of Cambray A Supplement to a Sermon which begins with these Words A Deo exivi A Memorial about the Duty of Prelats during the Subtraction Two pieces containing divers Proposals for the Extirpation of Schism A Tree of Right and Laws and the Ecclesiastical Power containing their Divisions A second Panegyrick of St. Louis and a Letter to John Morel Canon of St. Remigius of Rhemes about the Life of a Holy Woman which he thought not convenient to publish The Treatises which follow are more considerable the First contains a Definition of all the Terms of Speculative and Moral Divinity and also of the Vertues Vices and Passions the Second is an Addition to the Treatise of Schism the Third is a Letter address'd to the Abbot of St. Denis to persuade him to suppress a Placard injurious to the Parisians wherein he accuses them of an Error and a Fault about the Relicks of St. Denis the Fourth contains some Proposals about the Extirpation of Schism the Fifth two Lectures against Curiosity and Novelty in Matters of Doctrin the Sixth a Treatise against Horoscopes and Judicial Astrology the Seventh a Sermon for Holy Thursday the Eighth another Sermon upon the Feast of St. Louis the Ninth two Letters about the Celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph the Tenth a Treatise of the Marriage of St. Joseph and the Virgin with the Office of the Mass for that Day the Eleventh divers Conclusions about the Power of Bishops in Matters of Faith the Twelfth a Treatise of the Illumination of the Heart the Thirteenth a Resolution of a Case viz. whether it be lawful for the Regulars of St. Benedict to eat Victuals in the House where they use to do it to which he answers affirmatively the Fourteenth a Tract against the Superstition of those who affirm That such as will hear Mass on a certain Day shall not die a sudden Death The Fifteenth Instructions to John Major Preceptor to Louis XI Dauphin about his Duty the Sixteenth a Sermon preach'd at Lyons in 1422. about the Duty of Pastors the Seventeenth a Treatise to justifie what he had written of Lascivious Pictures against the Writing of one who would justifie this Custom the Eighteenth a Treatise of Good and Evil Signs to discern where a Man is Just or Unjust the Nineteenth an Imperfect Sermon about the Nativity of the Virgin the Twentieth of Principles against a certain Monk who preferr'd the Prayers of a devout Woman and Lay men before those of Ecclesiasticks who are Sinners the Twenty first a Sermon Preach'd the Day after Pentecost the Twenty second a Rule for a Hermit of Mount Valerian the Twenty third an Opposition made to the Subtraction of Obedience from Benedict XIII the Twenty fourth a Letter written from Bourges in the Year 1400. about the Calamities of the Church the Twenty fifth the Articles for the Reformation of the University the Twenty sixth the Centilegium of the final cause of the Works of God the Twenty seventh a Treatise of Metaphysicks and Logicks After these Treatises follow many Sermons preach'd in French by Gerson and translated into Latin by John Briscoique after which there are printed also some other Tracts viz. a Treatise of Consolation upon the death of his Kindred A Discourse spoken in the Louvre in the presence of King Charles VI. the Dauphin and the Court containing many Instructions for a Prince to which are join'd Ten Considerations against Flatterers Another Discourse spoken also before the same King in the Year 1408. about the Peace of the State and the Church A third Discourse about Justice A Sermon upon the Passion preach'd in the Church of Notre Dame in Paris A Treatise against the Romance of the Rose Some Conclusions against the