to take Orders In the CCXXXIId to Hildebert Bishop of Mans he maintains that a Man who had been too familiar with his Wife's Mother before his Marriage ought not to be Divorc'd from his Wife but upon good proof of his having been carnally joyn'd to the Mother In the CCXXXIIId to Henry Abbot of St. John d' Angeli he declares that he adheres to the opinion of the Popes Gregory and Urban touching Investitures given by Lay-men and believes that they who allow them the power of bestowing Church-preferments are Schismaticks nor is he affraid of hereby offending Pope Paschal who has own'd in several Letters to him that what he had done with Relation to the Investitures he had been constrain'd to do by the violence of others but was still in his heart of another opinion In the CCXXXIVth he perswades William Abbot of Marmoutier to end his quarrels with Ralph Arch-Bishop of Tours and in the CCXXXVth he tells that Arch-Bishop he is glad that the Bishops of Mans and Anger 's Labour to procure Peace between him and the Abbot The CCXXXVIth Letter is written in the Name of Daimbert Arch-Bishop of Sens and his Suffragans to John Arch-Bishop of Lions who had summon'd them to a Council call'd at Anse near Lions to consult about matters of Faith and the dispute of Investitures They assure him though they have a great respect for him yet they will not go beyond the limits set them by their Ancestors and that the Holy Fathers allow'd no Authority to the Bishop of the Chief See to call the other Bishops to any Council out of their peculiar Provinces unless by the Express command of the Holy See or that upon some Controversy which could not be Terminated within the Province any of the Bishops of it should appeal to the Primate As to the matter of Investitures propos'd to be Treated of in this Council they tell him it cannot be done without discovering the nakedness of their Father the Pope and besides 't would be needless to have any thing prov'd against persons they dare not pass Sentence upon that the Pope may be excus'd for granting Investiture since he did it only by force and in cases of necessity that 't is foolishly done of some to bestow the name of heresie upon Investitures since heresie can be only in matters of Faith not in the Practice and Discipline of the Church or at most those only can be reckon'd guilty of error who suppose some Sacrament or Grace conferr'd by the Investiture if ever any were so weak as to think so that however Investitures are an Invasion upon the Rights and Liberties of the Churches and ought to be abolish'd in all places where it may be Effected without endangering a Schism The CCXXXVIIth is the Arch-Bishop of Lions's answer to the foregoing Letter wherein he protests he did not mean to force them out of their Province to a Council but only desir'd to Confer with them and ask their advises about the State of the Church not but that the Church of Lions has such Authority over the other Churches of France As to the persons he would have Treated about he says there is not one of them but ought to submit to the pleasure of a Council even Kings and Emperors being subject to the Authority of the Bishops that he did not design to uncover but to hide the nakedness of their Father the Pope that no dangers nor obstacles ought to hinder them from courageously defending the cause of the Church that those who approve of Investitures remaining in the hands of the Laity are Hereticks in their hearts that he will not usurp any undue Authority over the Diocess of Sens but prays them to-remember 't was always Subject to the Primacy of the Arch-Bishop of Lions In the CCXXXVIIIth Letter to Pope Paschal Ivo endeavours to disswade him from constituting a Bishop over the Church of Tournay and exempting it from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Noyon it has been under these 400 Years least his Holiness by so doing create a misunderstanding between the King and the Clergy and raise such a Schism as hapned in Germany In the CCXXXIXth he Compliments King Loüis le Gros upon his intended Marriage with a Niece of the Earl of Flanders In the CCXLth he warns a certain Monk of the Scandal he occasions by his too great familiarity with a Nun. In the CCXLIst he writes to Humbaud Bishop of Auxerre not to suffer a Cause already determin'd in the Ecclesiastical Courts to be brought again before the Earl or any Secular Judge In the CCXI IId to Owen Bishop of Eureux he explains himself concerning his having given his opinion that a Free-man who had Married a Slave without knowing her to be such ought to be Divorc'd from her and adds that this is not dissolving a Lawful Marriage but only declaring that 't is unlawful for them to live together any longer their Marriage being Null by Law In the CCXLIIId to Gualon Bishop of Paris he says that a Marriage concluded on by the Parents between two Children in their Cradles is of no force The CCXLIVth is written to Pope Paschal in favour of Hubert Bishop of Senlis accus'd by some of his Clergy to the Metropolitan of selling Holy Orders He had met with hard usage from the Bishops of his own Province and therefore appeals to the Pope to whom Ivo recommends his Case The CCXLVth is to Hugh Earl of Troyes who having Listed himself for the Holy Land design'd to put away his Wife and live in Celebacy Ivo commends his Resolution but advises him to do it with his Wife's consent and to lead a Regular Life In the CCXLVIth to Lisiard Bishop of Soissons he declares that 't is not allowable for a Man to Marry two Sisters successively though the Marriage with the former of them were not consummated In the CCXLVIIth to John Bishop of Orleans Ivo highly blames him that upon a quarrel between the Earl of Orleans and Ralph Lord of Baugency he and his Church had consented that they should decide it by single Combat And In the CCXLVIIIth he advises the latter to carry himself respectfully towards the Earl of Orleans In the CCXLIXth to Gilbert Arch-Deacon of Paris he affirms that those who had been assistant and consenting to an Adultery cannot be receiv'd as witnesses against the Adulteress In the CCLth he intercedes with Pope Paschal that he will grant to Ralph Bishop of Rochester Elected to the See of Canterbury the Confirmation of that Dignity and also the Pallium which he is not able to come and ask in person of his Holiness In the CCLIst to Manasses Bishop of Meaux he tells him he did well to refuse administring the Viaticum or last Sacrament to a dying person who was troubled with a constant vomiting In the CCLIId he writes to Ralph Arch-Bishop of Rheims that he thinks it unreasonable that a Woman suspected of Adultery by her husband should undergo the
There was no other Ambrose Bishop at that time and tho' there were yet 't is plain that he speaks of our Bishop in this place since it was he who presided at the Council of Capua of the execution of whose Judgment he was treating Secondly The Stile of this Letter is no ways like that of St. Ambrose and is very like that of Siricius Thirdly It appears plainly that it is a Bishop of Rome who speaks Fourthly Holstenius has publish'd it in his Collection under the name of Siricius upon the credit of the Manuscript in the Vatican Neither is it to Theophilus of Alexandria that this Letter is address'd but to Anysius of Thessalonica and the Bishops of Macedonia For 't is evident that it was written to those to whom the Council of Capua had referr'd the Affair of Bonosus and 't is no less certain that it was referr'd to the Macedonians to the Bishop of Thessalonica and the other Neighbour Bishops of Bonosus who was Bishop of Naissa a City of Dardania To convince any Man of these Two things he needs only read the beginning of the Letter I have read the Letters which you wrote to me concerning the Bishop Bonosus wherein you desire our Opinion either to clear up the Truth or through Modesty only but the Council of Capua having order'd that the Neighbours of Bonosus and his Accusers should be Judges of this Affair and chiefly the Macedonians together with the Bishop of Thessalonica ...... It belongs to you who are entrusted with this Cause to judge according to the Order of the Council of Capua because you are substituted in the room of this Synod who has chosen you to enquire into this Affair And the same Bonosus having sent to consult our Brother Ambrose whether he should enter into his Church received for answer That he should undertake nothing against your Judgment but follow what you should Ordain since the Synod has committed to you this Trust. Two things are evident from these Words First That the Bishops of Illyricum and chiefly those of Macedonia were entrusted together with the Bishop of Thessalonica by the Synod of Capua to enquire and judge of the Cause of Bonosus Secondly That this Letter is address'd to those who were thus entrusted But some may say if it be so why does it speak of the Bishop of Thessalonica and those of Macedonia in the Third Person Why does not the Author write thus The Synod of Capua having referr'd this Cause to you and to your Brethren but The Synod of Capua having thought fit that the neighbouring Bishops of Bonosus and chiefly the Macedonians and the Bishop of Thessalonica should enquire into and judge this Cause c. 'T is easy to answer that the Reason is because he relates in this place the proper Words of the Synod of Capua Now it often happens that when such Writings are alledg'd to the Judges wherein they are spoken of the way of speaking of them is not chang'd but they are nam'd in the Third Person as they are in the Writings But what is said afterwards is address'd to them and what is related is applied to them And this the Author of this Letter does in the next Line vestrum est igitur qui hoc recepistis Judicium c. 'T is needless to insist any longer upon a thing so clear and therefore the true Title of this Letter is that which Holstenius has in his Collection Siricius to our dear Brethren Anysius and the other Bishops of Illyricum This Letter is no ways unworthy of this Pope as some pretend He does not assume to himself the Judgment of a Cause referr'd to others This is no ways contrary to the Prerogatives of the Roman Church on the contrary this is according to Rule and agreeable to the Canons This is the Practice and Judgment of the ancient Popes who had a most profound Veneration for the Decisions of Synods and who inviolably kept the Laws of the Church The Letter 58 is written to Eugenius sometime after this Tyrant came into Italy that 's to say in the Year 393. The Pagans who had attempted thrice in vain to obtain of Valentinian the Restitution of the Goods which belonged to their Temple address'd this New Emperour with the same Petition He refused twice to grant it but at last the great Lords of the Pagans having Petition'd that these things might be restor'd he did it saying That he did not give them to the Temple but to themselves for the Services they had done him St. Ambrose who mightily oppos'd all the Petitions of Pagans under Valentinian speaks with no less Boldness to the Tyrant Eugenius than he had done to Valentinian He remonstrates to him That how great soever the Power of the Emperour be 't is infinitely below that of God who sees the bottom of our Hearts and from whom nothing is hid That he ought not to grant for the Importunity of these great Lords any thing prejudicial to Religion That the Bishops would not blame him for the Gifts which he had given to the Pagans That they did not Envy them these Goods but they could not approve of his Authorizing by this Grant the Use that these Pagans would make of it to restore their Religious Worship That it was never lawful to contribute directly or indirectly to the Worship of False Gods That in former Ages the Christians of Antioch dwelling at Jerusalem being obliged to pay a Tax at Antioch at the time of the publick Sports would never give it but upon Condition that it should not be employed for the Sacrifice of Hercules but in other Expences necessary for the good of the Commonwealth That if Christian Subjects being forced to obey thought themselves obliged to do so a Christian Emperour who was Master of his own Will had much more reason to use the like precaution In the Letter 59 to Sabinus Bishop of Placentia St. Ambrose makes an Encomiastick upon St. Paulinus and his Wife who having sold their Goods to distribute the price of them to the Poor had taken a Resolution to retire to Nola. This gives him occasion to show the Advantages of Solitude and Voluntary Poverty This Letter was written some time before St. Paulinus retir'd to Nola at the beginning of the Year 393. The 60th Letter is to Severus where he speaks of a Priest call'd James who was come from Persia to retire into Campania that he might serve God more quietly as also of the troubles and Wars wherewith his own Country was harrass'd This Letter has relation to the War of Eugenius in the Year 393 or to that of Maximus in the Year 387. The Letter 61st to Paternus is about a Point of Discipline This Man who had been Lord Treasurer as we learn from the Letters of Symmachus and the 14th Law de Metallis had consulted St. Ambrose if he could marry one of his Sons to his Daughter's Daughter or his Grand-Daughter St. Ambrose answers him That he
withdrew himself into the Desarts of Thebais when Valerian and Decius persecuted the Church fearing his want of strength to resist the Temptation He spent there the rest of his Life which lasted 113 years S. Jerom gives an account of the manner of his being visited by S. Anthony and describes several Circumstances of that History that are very hard to be believed The Life of S. Hilarion is full of Miracles of that Holy Anchorete S. Anthony's Disciple S. Jerom places it in his Catalogue amongst those Books which he wrote after his Return from Rome to Bethlehem Likewise he makes mention there of the History of a Monk in the Desart of Chalcis called Malchus who having quitted the Monastery to return into his Countrey was taken and carried away Captive by the Saracens This Volume endeth with his Book oâ— the Famous men or Ecclesiastical Writers written in Latin by S. Jerom and translated into Greek as it is supposed by Sophronius n By Sophronius Erasinus published this Version under Sophronius's Name upon the credit of a Manuscript None doubted at first but that it was his Mr. Vossius the Father owned it but M. Isaac Vossius his Son contradicted that Opinion in his Notes upon S. Ignatius's Epistles where he boldly affirms that this Version is not Sophronius's that it is very bad that he that made it did not understand Greek that it is visible that it was written by an Impostor Huetius in his Book De optimo genere interpretandi refutes Vossius and doth not doubt but that Translation was made by Sophronius He did it at the request of Flavius Dexter Praefectus Praetorio in imitation of Suetonius and other profane Authors who writ the Lives of Philosophers and other Famous men He confesses that Eusebius his Books did him much Service He intreats the Authors of his own time whom he doth not mention not to take it ill he declares that he did not intend to conceal their Works but that they had never come to his hands but however if their Writings make them Famous his silence will not long prejudice them Lastly he observes that this Treatise confounds Celsus Porphyry Julian and the other sworn Enemies of the Church who reproached it as having no Philosophers no Orators or learned Men by proving to them that it was established upheld and adorned by very great Men. This Book comprehends the Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Authors and Writers from Jesus Christ to S. Jerom's time It concludes with a Catalogue of the Works which this Father had composed to the Fourth year of the Emperor Theodosius which is the Year 392 of Jesus Christ. The Second Tomb which is in the same Volume contains the Letters or rather the Discourses of Dispute and Controversie The First is his Treatise against Helvidius of the perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary That man had written a Book wherein he pretended to shew by Testimonies of the New Testament and the Opinions of some ancient Fathers that after the Birth of Christ the Virgin Mary had Children by Joseph her Husband The first passage of Scripture which Helvidius cites for his Opinion is that of S. Matthew ch 1. The Virgin being espoused was found with Child before Joseph and she came together Helvidius concluded from this place that therefore they came together afterwards S. Jerom answers him That this Consequence doth not follow because that a thing is often said to have been done before another which other is never to be done and that when it is said such a one died before Penance it doth not follow that he of whom this is spoken does Penance in the other World so likewise from what S. Matthew saith That she was found with Child before Joseph knew her it doth not follow that he knew her after she was with Child The Second passage quoted by Helvidius is another of the same Evangelist Joseph knew not his Wife till she had brought forth her Son Helvidius concludes from this passage as from the former therefore he knew her after she was delivered He maintained that the word until always signifyed in Scripture a fixed time after which the thing would come to pass S. Jerom shews him that tho' this is often true yet there are several passages where it signifies an unlimited time as it is said of God I am till you are grown old or until that which can never describe the Term or the end of God's existence seeing he is for ever And when Jesus Christ saith in the Gospel I am with you to the end of the World it were ridiculous to conclude Wherefore he will be no more after the World's end Helvidius's Third Objection is grounded on the Title of First Born given to Jesus Christ Luk. ch 2. S. Jerom affirms that it doth not suppose that he had younger Brethren for in the Language of the Scripture every Child of the first lying in of a Woman is called First-born these words being Synonymous Adaperiens vulvam and Primogenitum as appears Numb 18. Exod. 13. Levit. 12. Luk. 2. The last Objection is taken from what is said in Scripture that Jesus Christ had Brethren now among his Brethren said Helvidius are reckoned S. James and Joses Son of Mary as it is said Matt. 27. Mark 15. Luk. 24. That Mary the Mother of James and Joses was present at the Passion and at the Burial of Jesus Christ but this Mary said he is the Mother of the Lord for it is not likely that she should forsake him upon that occasion S. Jerom answers that it is very certain by S. John's Testimony that Mary the Mother of God was near the Cross of Jesus Christ at his Passion since he recommends her to that Evangelist but that Mary the Mother of James and Joses is different from the Mother of the Lord seeing that of the two Apostles called James one was Son of Zebedee and the other of Alpheus But it cannot be said that the Lord's Mother was married to either of these two Persons He maintains then that Mary the Mother of James and Joses was the Wife of Alpheus and Sister to the Mother of our Lord and is also called Mary Cleophe The Conjecture not being very certain S. Jerom gives this general Answer That the word Brother is equivocal and is taken Four ways a Brother by Nature by Nation by Relation and by Affection but sticks to the Brother-hood by Blood shewing by several places of Scripture that Cousins and near Kindred are called Brethren Having thus with much Wit and Learning refuted the false Consequences that Helvidius drew from those passages of the New Testament S. Jerom opposes to Tertullian and Victorinus whom Helvidius had quoted the Authority of S. Ignatius S. Polycarp S. Irenaeus S. Justin and other ancient Apostolical Authors who had written against the Hereticks Ebion Theodorus of Byzantium and Valentinus whom S. Jerom pretends to have been of Helvidius his Opinion But the Error of those
although there was no Invocation of Saints yet many Doctrines and practices were allowed and believed which laid the Foundation of Saint-Worship which was introduced soon after As 1. It was held That the Souls of the Martyrs were every where present but especially at their Tombs where several Miracles were wrought 2. Many of the eminent Fathers both for Learning and Devotion made Rhetorical Panegyricks of the Christians deceased wherein by Apostrophe's and Prosopopeia's they seemed to invoke Souls departed Thus S. Jerom in his Epitaph of Paula saith Farewel O Paula and â—y thy Prayers help the decrepis Age of him that honours thee And so Nazianzen in his Invectives against Julian saith Hear O â—â—ou Sâ—ul of great Constantine c. 3. The Christians in their Prayers at the Commemoration of the Memories of the Martyrs not only used many unwary Expressions implying a sort of Invocation of them but did formally pray to God to grant them such Blessings as they stood in need of through their Intercession for so Austin says We mention not them as Aug. in Joan. tract 84. though we prayed for them but that they may pray for us These Doctrines and Practices so prepared Men's Minds for the Invocation of Saints that about the Year 60â— S. Gregory inserted Petitions to them in the publick Litanies among the Latins as Petrus Gâ—apâ—aus had some time before among the Greeks and it was quietly received and allowed and so continued to the Times of Charles the Great and downward till the Reformation without any considerable Opposition So apt are Men to cherish Will-worship was much used Relicks and the Cross were reverenced ii Relicks reverenced Altho the Reverence of Bones and other Relicks of Saints seems as absurd a piece of Idolatrous Worship as the Heathens themselves were guilty of yet it was the first that crept into the Church through the Policy of Satan which was effected by this Means It pleased God for the Testimony of his Doctrine and Truth to work great Miracles by the dead Bodies of his Saints in witness that they had been his Messengers and Instruments of his Will But that which was intended by God for the good of Men and Conversion of Souls became a Snare to lead them into Error for their admiration of the vertue which God seemed to put into them stirred them up not only to seek for them and use them as Amulets and Remedies against all Evils and Distempers but also made them give them a singular Respect and Veneration as we may gather from S. Austin's Words I know many Aug. de Eccles Man c. 34. that worship Graves Images c. Indeed there was a Respect always paid to the Martyrs deceased by the Christians by celebrating their Memories at their Tombs upon the anniversary of their Martyrdom and by bestowing a neat and convenient Burial upon them but it was never allowed by the Orthodox Fathers to give them a Divine Honour Yea S. Gregory says That it is not lawful to bring the Greg. lib 3. ep 30. Body of the Saints into a publick view or handle them with the Hands 'T was Satan's Subtilty to insinuate Idolatry by an intemperate Devotion But in France no veneration of Images was allowed The Prohibition of contracting Marriages was extended to the fourth degree of Consanguinity Spiritual Affinity kk Prohibition of Marriage to the fourth Degree of Consanguinity Spiritual Affinity To avoid all incestuous Marriages such Canons as these prohibiting Marriage within certain degrees are very convenient to be imposed and ought to be observed And tho' indeed this may seem too strict restraining such Kindred from Marriage as the Word of God it self doth seem to permit Lev. 18. being extended to the fourth degree of Consanguinity yet 't is better to prohibit something in it self lawful where there is little or no inconvenience consequent upon it than to permit a thing which in strictness perhaps is lawful but is in appearance evil and scandalous as a Marriage-Conjunction of Persons near-a-kin is commonly accounted But as to Spiritual Consanguinity or Affinity as it is no real Relation so to hinder such as are thus allied from Marriage is an Instance of Papal Tyranny and Usurpation no Persons being really better qualified for Marriage together than such as are Brethren and Sisters in the Lord So that though the Constitution for not marrying to the fourth degree is tolerable enough yet the latter since it may produce many Inconveniences among Men deserve no Regard or Observation and it is to be believed that it had long since expired had it not been much for the Advantage of the Papal Hierarchy by creating an abundance of Dispensations began then to take Place The Celebration of Sundays was then very solemn On this Day they did forbear all manner of servile Work and Christians were obliged to be present at Divine Service which was solemnly perform'd The keeping of publick Markets was prohibited on this Day This is the number of the Holy Days then kept set down in the 158th Chapter of the first Book of the Capitularies The Festivals of Christmas S. Stephen S. John the Evangelist the Innocents the Octave of the Lord the Epiphany the Octave of the Epiphany the Purification of the Blessed Virgin eight Days at Easter the great Litany the Ascension Whitsunday S. John Baptist S. Peter and S. Paul S. Martyn and S. Andrew As to the Virgin 's Assumption it is said We leave it out to enquire into it Churches were built with as much splendor and Magnificence as the Age would permit they were decked and adorn'd the Altars consecrated and covered with Linen-Cloath the Service was performed with great Pomp. The Roman way of singing was brought into the Churches of France but they kept still their own peculiar way of Singing They took great care of the Church-Books and Singing Women were forbidden to come near the Altars and Abbesses to give the Blessing to make the Sign of the Cross upon Men's Heads and to give the Veil with the Sacerdotal Benediction Simony was severely forbidden They made Laws against Usury then not only in Ecclesiastical but Laymen There were many Hospitals for the Poor and the Sick The paying of Tithes was become obligatory and all sorts of Persons were constrained to pay them to Church-Men They were forbidden exacting any thing for the Sacraments or for Ecclesiastical Offices Church-Revenues were divided into three Parts one part was for the repairing of Churches the other for the Poor and the last for Churchmen They began to oblige the Clergy of Cathedrals to live together canonically They made divers Constitutions to keep Monks in order They forbad to receive Children without the Parent 's Consent and to veil Virgins before 30 Years of Age and Widow-Women before the thirtieth Day after their Husbands Decease They prohibited a Sort of Clerks which wore the Religious Habit and would live neither as Monks nor Clergymen The Rectors of Country Parishes
the Separation was neither for the love of Continence nor for publick and certain Adultery but only on meer Suspicion and that this Matter should have first have been examined by Lay-Judges and then the Bishops should have done their Duty and used the Authority of the Church He brought an Example of a Case that happened in the Reign of Lewis the Kind how a Woman of Quality Named Nothilda presented to a General Assembly of the Estate a Petition against her Husband Argembert This Prince bid her apply her self to the Bishops who should put her over to the Lay-men that they might judge of that Matter and enjoined her to follow their Judgment reserving to themselves a Power of putting either her or him to Penance who should be convinced of any Crime After the Judgment by hot Water was found favourable to the Princess Theutberga they that accused her said that these sort of Proofs were forbidden Hincmarus endeavours to maintain them by Authority and Use and affirms That the Man named by the Queen to undergo the Proof of hot Water not being so much as burnt or scalded it was a Miracle that could not be done to Authorize a Lye He adds That since this Judgment was not certain and they could not accuse the Person so cleared they ought not to make use of a secret Confession for that end It was also asked Hincmarus if it were not possible that the Queen might have to do with her Brother and conceive by him without losing her Virginity He laughs at this Proposition and says That if she were a Virgin when she was Married it was foolish to accuse her of being Defiled and imagine that she had conceived before her Marriage He sent back this Question to the Lay-Judges with another viz. Whether if a Woman who hath not lived honestly before Marriage but after lives honestly with her Husband deserves to be condemned to Death for her former Lewdness and whether it be not more fit to Pardon her They also asked Whether the King having had to do with another Woman after he heard that his Wife had committed this Crime was not guilty of Adultery He answers That he could not deny it but that he was guilty altho' at last his Wife were found guilty of the Crime for which he suspected her because he had done it before the Sentence of Divorce was passed He adds That tho' a Man be engaged by Oath to live with another Woman besides his Wife or a Woman with another Man besides her Husband they ought not to observe that Oath They also asked him If it were true that Sorcerers could make a Man and his Wife to hate each other Mortally He affirms that they can and proves by several Relations that there were such Magicians and Sorcerers and that the Devils could by the permission of God possess Men make them Mad and torment them He owns that if it were found that according to the Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws the Marriage of Theutberga were invalid she might be Divorced and the King Marry another but he maintains that till his Wife be declared unworthy to be so by the Judgment of the Lords and Advice of the Bishops he ought not to think of Marrying his Concubine Lastly After he hath confuted several pretences alledged for the maintenance of the Divorce of Lotharius and Theutberga he concludes that the Bishops ought to oppose such disorderly proceedings and if they did it not or did encourage them they were highly blameable before God Notwithstanding this opposition made by Hincmarus there was a Synod held in 862 at Aix la Council of Metz. Chapelle in which the Bishops assembled allowed Lotharius to Marry another Woman whereupon he immediately Married 〈◊〉 This business made a great noise and being carried to Rome Pope Nicolas wrote about it 〈◊〉 Charles who desired an opportunity to Quarrel with Lotharius and deprive him of his Kingdom but Lewis of Germany endeavoured to compose the Matter and Lotharius referred it to the Judgment of the States Then having Appealed to the Pope two Legats were Named to hold a Council where two Bishops of Lewis's and two of Charles's Kingdom met them that they might judge of this Matter This Council was held at Metz June 863. In it Lotharius went about to confirm his Marriage by the Artifices of Gonthierus and Thietgaldus and by corrupting the Popes Legats Gonthierus and Thietgaldus had the boldness to bring the A Council at Rome Sentence to Rome but Pope Nicolas instead of confirming it called a Council in which he declared the Judgment of the Synod at Metz null and void Deposed Gonthierus and Thietgaldus and declared That all the Bishops which concurred in that Sentence had incurred the greatest Punishment which he resolved to inflict on them unless they changed their Opinion Gonthierus and Thietgaldus stoutly defended themselves and sent a Letter against Pope Nicolas's Sentence to all the Bishops with a Protestation That they had signified it to him in which they declare him Excommunicate because he had as they said gone contrary to the Canons favouring persons Excommunicated and separating himself from the Society of other Bishops meerly through Pride But the other Prelates of Lotharius's Kingdom excused themselves to the Pope Thietgaldus also begged Pardon but could not obtain Absolution so long as Pope Nicolas lived but Gonthierus Archbishop of Cologne could never be brought to beg Pardon Lotharius himself did all he could to appease the Pope who desired that Waldrada should come to Rome in Person and receive Absolution She promised him and went twice into Italy but repenting as often of her submission returned back again wherefore the Pope having called a Synod Excommunicated her and wrote several sharp Letters to Lotharius the Younger Afterward he sent a Legat into France Named Atsenius who addressing himself to Lewis of Germany called a Synod in which Lotharius was forced to take his former Wife but as soon as the Legat was gone he began to use her ill and to enter a Process against her for Adultery so that she was forced to put her self under the Protection of King Charles The Pope was very much concerned at it and Excommunicated Waldrada a-new At the same time there were two other Matters of like nature Debated between Hincmarus the Bishops of the Kingdom and Charles on the one part and Gonthierus and the Bishops of The Business of Judith and Baldwin Lotharius's Kingdom on the other The one was about Judith the Daughter of K. Charles the Widow * Ethelbald whose Father Ethelwolfe had had her to Wife before of the King of England who was taken away from Senlis by Earl Baldwin who was fled into the Kingdom of Lotharius and the other concerning Ingeltrude the Wife of Boson who had left her Husband and was fled into the Diocess of Gonthierus As to the first of these it was soon ended by the intercession of Pope Nicolas for Earl Baldwin whom
he had Excommunicated at the Sollicitation of K. Charles coming to Rome with Judith cast himself at the Popes seet at which he was so much moved that he wrote several Letters to King Charles his Queen Hermentruda and the Bishops to obtain their Pardon by which means the King consented to the Marriage and so it ended As to the Wife of Boson Gonthierus wrote about her to Hincmarus An. 860. propounding the Question thus to him If this Woman come to me and tell me that she hath committed Adultery The business of Boson desiring that I would protect her from Death which she is afraid of from her Husband ought I to put her to publick Penance in my Diocess at a distance from her Husband or shall I send her again to her Husband making him promise that he will not put her to Death Hincmarus Answers That he ought not to put another Man's Wife to Penance who belongs to another Diocess nor Protect her That Boson doth not accuse her of Adultery but complains That she hath left him and promises that he will do her no harm So that all you can do upon this occasion is this That the King of the County whether she is fled should make her return to her Husband but withal taking such security of her Husband as is usual to be given for those who have put themselves under the Protection of the Church There was also another business of the like nature in which Hincmarus was engaged Count The business â—f Count Raimond Raimond had Marry'd a Daughter to a certain Lord Named Steven who would not live with her as his Wife under a pretence that she had had a Carnal knowledge of one of her near Relations but would not tell who it was E. Raimond wrote a Letter of Complaint about it to the Synod held at Toussi 860 whereupon Steven was Summoned to the Synod where he propounded the business and told them That whereas in his Youth he had had a Carnal Knowledge of one of the near Relations of the Daughter of Earl Raimond it happened that he desired to have her in Marriage and obtained it but afterward calling to mind what he had formerly done he went to a Confessor to know whether he might not do Penance for his Sin in private and Marry the Earls Daughter as they had agreed The Confessor Answered No and shewing him a Book which he said was a Book of Canons by which it was Decreed That he that hath had any Carnal Knowledge of the Womans Relations whom he would Marry must not Consummate the Marriage with her That afterward falling under the Displeasure of the King his Lord he was forced to leave the Kingdom without breaking of the Contract with Raimonds Daughter or Marrying her so that it was put off for some time That afterward he was constrained to Marry her publickly but for fear he should Damn his Soul he would not have any Carnal Knowledge of her This he assured the Council with an Oath that it was true and that he did not do it for Interest or because he loved another Woman declaring That he was ready to follow the Judgment of the Bishops if they could satisfy him that his Honour and Salvation might be alike secured in giving contentment to his Father-in-Law and Wife The Synod resolved that it was necessary to call a Council of Bishops and Lords at which the King himself should be present That the Lords should examine the business and the Bishops conclude it Steven accepted this condition and Hincmarus was employed by the Council to search into the Truth of the Matter by which he was obliged to write to the Archbishops of Bourges and Bourdeaux and the Bishops of their Provinces He tells them that they ought to bring Raimond's Daughter to the Assembly and inquire of her whether it was true that her Husband had no Carnal Knowledge of her That it ought to be searched into whether Steven did not say this that he might leave his Wife That he ought to Name the near Relation he had known That he ought to Swear it was true and if it did appear to be true that he had really done so with any of her near Relations they shou'd be parted and Steven should be put to publick Penance In 842 Nov. 1. Hincmarus held a Council at Reims with the Priests of his Diocess in which The Council of Reims 842. several very useful Consultations were made They Decreed and Ordered that all Priests should know how to explain the Creed and Lord's Prayer and be able to repeat by heart the Preface and Canon of the Mass and recite distinctly the Psalms Hymns and Athanasius's Creed That they should know how to Administer Baptism Absolve Penitents and Anoint the Sick That on every Sunday they should Consecrate Water and burn Incense after the Gospel and Offertory That they should distribute the Holy Bread to all those that would not Communicate That they should read the 40 Homilies of St. Gregory That they should know the Kalendar and how to Sing and should Sing the Service That they should take care of the Poor and Sick That they should not Pawn the Holy Vessels That they should not Bury any Man in the Church without permission from the Bishops and should demand nothing for Burials That they should take no Gifts of Penitents That when they meet at Feasts they should be sober That when they meet at Conferences they should not make any Feasts but be contented with Bread and two or three Glasses of Wine and no more That Fraternities should be upheld for Piety-sake and none should be suffered to promote Feasting and Revels And lastly That when any Priest Died no Man should get possession of his Church without the Bishops Order He gave also at the same time to the Prebends and Deans that were to visit his Diocess some Articles of Enquiry viz. What Titles every Priest had and by whom he was Ordain'd What is the Revenue of his Living and how many Houses in his Parish In what condition the Ornaments of his Church are and how the Relicks are Preserved If there be a place to throw the Water in with which the Vessels of the Altar and Ornaments are washed If the Holy Oils were kept Locked up If there be a Clergy man that keeps School In what case the Church is and whether it be in good Repair Whether the Tithes be divided into three parts and an Account be given of two of them to the Bishops Whether there be any Church Wardens Whether the Church Revenues be improved and no private advantage made of them If the Clergy live orderly and do not familiarly converse with Women frequent Ale-Houses How those that are vicious should be reproved and for what Crime they may be Condemned and Degraded In 857 which was the 12th Year of Hincmarus's Bishoprick June 9. he held another Synod A Syned of Reims in 857 874 in which
he confirmed the Canons of the Council of Soissons and made several Constitutions for the better support of Ecclesiastical Discipline of which I shall speak afterwards Which were published and confirmed at the Synod held at Verbery the same year which made some other Canons also confirmed by Charles's Authority In December the same year he nominated several Ecclesiastical and Lay-Commissioners in all the Provinces of France and gave them several Heads of Instruction to act by in their Office among which the Second concerns the Honour of the Church There are also one or two about the Revenues of the Churches and Monasteries in the Constitutions made at Attigny in 854. In his Letters-Patents of the same year given at Verbery Aug. 23d King Charles confirms to the Prebendaries of the Church of Tournay the property of the Revenue she was possessed of and limits the number of them to 30. In an Assembly of Bishops and Lords held Anno 856 at Bonnevil they petition the King to put the Monasteries in Order and to execute the Constitutions made at Couleine Beauvais Thionville Verneuil and Soissons and declare all those things Null that shall be made in prejudice to those Laws They threaten him with God's Judgments if he doth not perform their desires In 857 King Charles made two Constitutions at Quiercy which he sent to the Commissioners of his Realm by which he gave them power to bring all Offenders to Civil or Ecclesiastical punishments and particularly Ravishers In 862 he put out a severe Edict at Pista against Robberies and other publick Disorders very common at that time in which the Bishops joyn with the King and condemn those Malefactors to Canonical punishment which the King condemned to Civil In 866 there was a Constitution made at Compeigne about the Liberties and Privileges of Churches and the Authority of Bishops But above all his Edict of 869 made at Pista upon the Seine is the most considerable of all that he made about Ecclesiastical Discipline In it he declares himself the Defender of the Bishops Authority and Liberty of the Churches He orders all his Ministers to respect their Power execute their Commands and preserve the Churches in the enjoyment of their Privileges He requires all Earls great Lords and Judges to give the Bishops their due subjection and on the other side that the Bishops should not encroach upon the Rights of the Earls Lords and Judges He commands the Bishops to doe no Injustice either to the Clergy or Laity under their Jurisdiction and that their Curates should give the Lords of their Parishes the respect due to them He enjoyns the Bishops not to reject those Clergy-men that are presented to them by Abbots Abbesses or Lords to serve in their Churches if they are not worthy of blame for their Conversation or Doctrine He renews the Constitution which forbids the Lords requiring any thing of the Clerks they present He forbids them Excommunicating any persons who were not full convicted of the Faults they were accused of and who after admonition to amend and repent have not obstinately refused to submit He recommends Peace Union and Friendship among his Civil Magistrates Bishops and Clergy He orders his Bishops to defend the Privileges granted to their Churches by the Church of Rome and by the Charters of his Royal Progenitors and that they be careful to have the Rents paid that are due to them The King having received Intelligence at Pista that Lotharius was dead went immediately to Lorrain to be Crown'd King of it And being arrived there in Sept. 869. after Adventius Bishop of that City had declared in the Name of all the Bishops and People that they all accepted him for their King he took an Oath to preserve the Honour and Privileges of their Churches to doe Justice impartially to every Man according to the Laws and protect that Kingdom After this Hincmarus who performed the Ceremony of the Coronation and Ordain'd some Bishops being Admonish'd by Adventius and other Bishops which belonged to the Province of Treves that this Action would prejudice the Rights of their Metropolis made a Declaration That it would be no prejudice to the Rights of the Province of Treves because that Province and that of Rheims were like Sisters so firmly united that they made but as it were one Province since the Bishops of both met at one Synod observed the same Canons and among the Arch-bishops of Treves and Rheims the most Aged always took place but yet were it not so he ought not to be accused for medling with the Jurisdiction of another Province by his own Authority or of putting his Sickle into the Harvest that did not belong to him since he had not concerned himself with that Province but at the Request of the Bishop and out of Charity Lastly That they ought to look upon it as a special Favour of God that Charles was Crowned King at Metz because heretofore his Father Lewis the Godly who was descended of Clovis the French King who was Converted by S. Remigius and Baptized in the Church of Rheims where he was Anointed and Consecrated King by a Chrism sent down from Heaven which they still have at Rheims That Lewis the Godly was Crowned Emperour in that City and after he was Deposed from his Imperial Throne by the Conspiracies of his Enemies he was restored and was Crowned again in the same City and in St. Stephen's Church whose Name was a good Omen because it signifies a Crown After this Declaration he asked the People If the Coronation should be Celebrated before the Altar and whether that Prince should be Consecrated by the Holy Unction The People having testified their Approbation by their Acclamations they Sang Te Deum and the King was Crowned by the Priestly Benediction of the Bishops This Constitution is very remarkable In the year 874 Charles Judged some Ecclesiastical Causes at Attigny at the Request of the Bishop of Barcelona The First was about a Complaint made to him That one Thyrsus a Priest of Corduba had called the People together at a Church of Barcelona and had taken away from him almost two thirds of his people That he Celebrated Mass and Administred Baptism without his permission That he caused those people to go to his Church on the Feasts of Nativity and Easter which ought to be at his Cathedral and gave them the Sacrament The King Recited the Canons which condemned the practice of that Priest The Second complaint made by the Bishop of Barcelona was That another Priest had engaged the Inhabitants of the Castle of Terracine not to submit to his Jurisdiction The King order'd that the Canons in that case should be observed The Third was against two private persons who having Intercepted the King's Letters had possessed themselves the one of St. Stephen's Church and the other of certain Lands belonging to the Church of S. Eulalia The King commanded that if this cou'd be prov'd his Commissioners should
The Three and twentieth ordains that Ecclesiastical Causes shall be judged by the Bishop either according to the Deposition of Witnesses or by the Oath of the Accused and none shall be admitted for a Witness unless they be 14 years of Age. The Four and twentieth recommends Peace Unity and Loyalty to their Prince The Five and twentieth orders those who have the Patronage of Monasteries committed to them to place such Superiours over them as may doe their Duty and will govern such as are subject to their power as they ought The Six and twentieth forbids that Widows should be easily admitted to the Veil and declares that they ought to be left at liberty either to Marry or embrace a single Life till their conversation be approved If they embrace a Single Life it orders that they be put into the Monasteries where they shall live regularly with the Nuns If they violate their â—…sion they shall be punished Canonically They renew the Canon of Elvira made concerning Virgins devoted to God which violate their Virginity The Council of Metz. I Place this Council after the preceeding because we do not precisely know the year of its The Coâ—ncil of Metz. Meeting yet it was held under the same Prince by Rathbodus Bishop of Treves and Robert Bishop of Metz. The Bishops of Verdun and Toul were present at it with one Abbot and several Priests Many Earls Lords and other Persons of worth were also at it The following Constitutions were made at it The First is a resolution to endeavour to establish Peace in the Church promote Piety and Discipline and hinder the Poor from being pillaged The Second provides that Tithes shall be paid to the Priest that serves the Church to which they were anciently due to maintain him to furnish the Church with Lights and Ornaments and to make necessary Repairs for the Buildings The Third requires that every Priest shall have but one Church unless there hath been a Chapel annexed to it time out of Mind The Fourth forbids that any Tribute shall be exacted for a Farm or Four Slaves belonging to the Church or for Lands given for a Burial-place and that nothing shall be paid for a Burial The Fifth orders that Priests shall have no Women with them no not so much as their Mother or Sister The Sixth enjoyns that Priests shall shew their Bishop the Books and Sacerdotal Habits that they shall keep the Throne under a Key that Clergy-men shall not bear Arms nor wear Lay-mens Habits nor Lay-men Priests that none shall be admitted for God-fathers but such as understand the Confession of Faith and that one God-father is sufficient The Seventh forbids Christians eating with Jews The Eighth orders that Mass shall not be celebrated in places which are not Consecrated and that Bishops shall Consecrate those Churches a-new which have been consecrated by Suffragan Bishops onely The Ninth commands that they shall veil and shut up in some Monastery two Nuns of the Monastery of St. Peter who had been put out of it and unveiled for their Crimes and that a Deacon convicted of Sacrilege shall be put in prison The Tenth pronounces Excommunication against some persons who had Guelt a Priest who would oblige one of their Kinswomen to return to her Husband The Eleventh Excommunicates those persons who exercised pillaging in the Province and did not come to the Synod to acknowledge their Crime It issues out in particular an Excommunication against two private persons the one guilty of a Rape committed upon a Nun the other of Man-slaughter The Twelfth asserts it to be unlawful to Communicate with Excommunicate persons or give any tokens of Communion to those who died under the Bonds of Excommunication The Thirteenth orders prayers to be made for King Arnoldus with a Fast of three days and some Processions to obtain of God the Peace and Quiet of the State The Council of Vienna THe Bishops of the Province of Arles made in 892 some Constitutions like those which had The Council of Vienna been made in Germany Two Legates from Pope Formosus were present at that Assembly In it they Excommunicated â—st those who invaded or unjustly detained the Revenues of the Church 2dly Those who injured or abused the Clergy 3dly Those who misemployed the Alms given by a Bishop or Priest in their Sickness 4thly It was forbidden Secular persons to bestow Churches without the consent of the Diocesan and to exact any Present of the Priests they put into them By the 5th 't is ordered that Priests have no Women with them The Council of Tribur OF all the Councils held at this time there were none so numerous or that made more considerable The Council of Tribur Constitutions than this which was held in 895 under King Arnoldus at his Palace called Tribur situate near Mentz The Arch-bishops of Mentz Cologne and Treves were at it with 19 German Bishops The Constitutions of it are contained in 58 Articles or Canons which are set after a long Preface The First is onely an Invocation of the Spirit of Peace In the Second upon occasion of a Priest who complained that a Lay-man had put out his eyes and his Bishop pronounced him Innocent and because the Lay-man would not appear before him nor undergoe Penance for his crime they renewed the Canons which forbid to receive persons Excommunicated by their Bishop or communicate with them And in the following Article they enjoyn all the Counts to apprehend the Excommunicate who will not submit themselves to Penance and bring them before their Bishop that those who are not afraid of the Judgments of God may be terrified by the Severities of Men. They promise Impunity to them who slay them when they defend themselves against their apprehension and will not have them obliged to pay the Fine in that case usually imposed The Fourth directs how the Fine which is to be paid for hurting and wounding a Priest shall be employed If he survive he shall have it all if he dies it shall be divided into three parts and given one part to the Church in which he was Ordained the other to his Bishop and the third to his Relations In the Fifth they impose upon him that kills a Priest Five years Penance during which time he shall eat no Meat nor drink any Wine unless it be on Festivals and Sundays He shall carry no Arms go always on foot and never come into the Church After these years are expired he may come into the Church but shall not Communicate till Five years more be expired in which time he shall keep three days of Abstinence weekly The Sixth condemns him as guilty of Sacrilege who enters into the Church-porch with a naked Sword The Seventh is against such as violently extort the Goods of the Church The Eighth is against those that will not perform the Penance imposed on them by the Bishop The Ninth shews that if the Bishop and Count call an Assembly both in
decide this difference of which he inform'd Charles the Simple in another Letter The two Competitors obey'd and came both to Rome where the Cause was decided in favour of Richerus who was ordain'd Bishop of Liege by the Pope and Hilduin was excommunicated This contest began in the year 920 and ended in the year 922. The third Letter of Pope John X. is directed to the Bishops of the upper Narbonnois The Church of Narbonne which was the Metropolis of that Country being vacant Agius had been elected into it according to the Canon but a powerful man named Gerard possess'd himself of that Archbishoprick having counterfeited Letters from the Pope John X. disowns them in this Letter and declares that he would not give him a grant thereof when he came to Rome tho he was ignorant of his Treachery and Knavery but that being since fully inform'd of the matter he orders them not to acknowledge him any longer for Bishop since he had been neither elected by the Clergy and Laity of that Town nor ordain'd by the Bishops of the Province By the same Letter he sends the Pall to Agius These three Letters of John X. are extant Concil Tom. IX p. 574. Leo VII WE have likewise three Letters remaining of Leo VII The First is directed to Hugh Duke of France and Abbot of S. Martin of Tours The Letters of Leo VII He therein enjoyns him under the pain of excommunication not to suffer any Women to stay or so much as enter within the inclosure of that Monastery The Second is directed to Gerard Archbishop of Lorch in Germany He grants him the Pall and permits him to make use of it not only on the days of consecrating the Holy Chrism and of the Resurrection of our Lord but also on the Festivals of Christmass of the Blessed Virgin of the Apostles of St. John the Baptist of St. Lawrence of St. Stephen and of all those Saints whose Bodies lay interr'd in his Church and on the Day of his own Consecration and of the Dedication of the Church during the consecration of Bishops and Priests and the Sermons to the new Converts He exhorts him to behave himself so as that the Sanctity of his Moâ—als may be suitable to the Dignity of that Ornament and afterwards makes a very edifying Moâ—al discourse upon that subject This Gerard came afterwards to Rome and consulted with the Pope about several Questions to which he gave an answer directed to the Bishops of France and Germany The first of these Questions is concerning Necromancers Magicians and Wizards whether they ought to be admitted to Penitence The Pope reply'd that the Bishops ought to bring them over to repentance by their exhortations that so they might live like Penitents rather than dye like Criminals He adds that if they slighted the censures of the Bishops they ought to be punish'd according to the Rigor of the civil Laws The second Question is whether the Bishops ought to say Pax Vobis or Dominus Vobiscum the Pope reply'd that they ought to act conformably to the custom of the Church of Rome wherein Pax Vobis was said on Sundays the principal Festivals and on the Festivals of the Saints on which days they likewise said Gloria in excelsis and that Dominus vobiscum was us'd in the time of Lent the Ember-Weeks the Vigil of Saints and â—n Fast-days The third Question is to know whether the Lords Prayer ought to be said at the benediction of the Table The Pope reply'd No because the Apostles recited it at the consecration of the Body and Blood of JESUS-CHRIST The fourth is whether a man might marry with his God-mother or God-daughter The Pope reply'd that such Marriages were forbidden The fifth has respect to those Priests who marry publickly The Pope orders that thâ—y shall be depriv'd of their Dignity but that their Children should not be endamaged thereby The sixth is whether Surfragan Bishops can consecrate Churches ordain Priests or Confirm The Pope prohibits it according to the tenth Canon of the Council of Antioch The seventh is concerning those who marry their Relations without knowing it and who afterwards upon the knowledge thereof confess it to the Priest the Pope orders that they shall be parted and enjoyn'd Pennance The last is concerning those who rob Churches the Pope declares that the Bishops ought to proceed against them with all the Authority God has put into their hands At the end of this Letter he adds that he constituted Gerard his Vicar in Germany and exhorts the Bishops to joyn with him in reforming those abuses which the Incursions of the Pagans and the persecution rais'd by false Christians had introduc'd These Letters of Leo are written in a pretty good Stile and full of good Maxims and confirm the Judgment which Flodoard has passed upon him that he was a great Servant of God His Letters are extant Concil Tom. IX p. 594. Agapetus II. WE have likewise a Letter of Pope Agapetus II. wherein he adjusts the difference which A Letter of Agapetus II. was then on foot between the Church of Lorch and that of Salzburgh concerning the Right of Metropolitanship by giving the Priority to the Archbishop of Lorch whose See was the most ancient Metropolitan together with a Jurisdiction over the Eastern Pannonia and over the Country of Avarois of the Moravians and Sclavonians and by granting to the Archbishop of Salzburgh whose See was rais'd to an Archbishoprick by Leo III the Right over the Western Pannonia There is another Letter of this Pope which is a Priviledge in favour of the Abby of Clâ—ny Both these Letters are extant Concil Tom. IX p. 618. John XII WE have two Letters of John XII One by which he grants the Pall to Dunstan The Letters of John XII Archbishop of Canterbury and the other whereby he excommunicates Issuard and his Adherents who had seiz'd upon the Lands and Estates belonging to the Abbey of S. Simphorien in Provence These Letters are extant Concil Tom. IX p. 641. John XIII THere are four Letters of John XIII The first is directed to the Bishops of Bretagne The Letters of John XIII whom he exhorts to acknowledge the Archbishop of Tours for their Metropolitan The second is directed to Edgar King of England wherein he promises him to turn out of the Church of Winchester such Prebendaries as lead a scandalous Life and to put some Monks into their places The third and fourth are two priviledges which he grants one to the Monastery built by Berenger Bishop of Verdun the other to the Monastery of S. Remy of Rheims These four Letters are extant Concil Tom. IX p. 663. Benedict VI. POpe Benedict VII by his Letter to the Bishops of France and Germany confirms the The Letter of Benedict VII Arbitration made in favour of the Church of Lorch by his Predecessor Agapetus and sends the Pall to Pilgrin who was Archbishop of the place This Letter is extant Concil
forthwith to Rome with some Forces and retook from Guilbert that part of the City of Rome which he was possess'd of and the Castle of S. Angelo Within a while after the Romans who favour'd that Antipope being got together assaulted the Church of S. Peter on the Vigil of that Apostle's Festival and oblig'd those who held out for Victor to throw themselves into the Castle of S. Angelo The two Parties continued these Acts of Hostility for several Days together But at last Victor desisted and retired to his Monastery from whence he went out in August to hold a Council at Benevento compos'd of the Bishops of The Council of Benevento under Victor III. Apulia and Calabria wherein he made a Speech against Guilbert and issu'd out a fresh Anathema against him He therein likewise excommunicated the Arch-bishop of Lions and Richard Abbot of Marseilles renew'd the Prohibitions against receiving Benefices from the Hands of Lay Patrons and the Penalties inflicted on those who were guilty of Simony and prohibits the receiving the Communion from the Hands of excommunicated and simonical Persons Victor fell Sick during this Council which oblig'd him to return immediately to Mount Cassin where he died September the 16th 1087. after he had recommended Otto Bishop of Ostia for his Successor Otto was a French Man of Chatillon upon the Marne in the Diocess of Rheims He had Urban II. been taken out of the Monastery of Cluny to be Cardinal and had done signal Services for Gregory VII who had sent him Legat into Germany against King Henry He could not be Elected immediately after the Death of Victor because the Cardinals and the Bishops were dispers'd The Countess Matilda conven'd them again at Terracina the beginning of Lent in the Year ensuing whither John Bishop of Porto brought the Consent of the absent Cardinals and Benedict Prefect of Rome brought a Commission from the People of that City to acknowledge him who should be elected Pope by the Assembly Otto was proclaim'd by the Cardinal Bishops of Porto Frescati and Albany and the Choice confirm'd by the whole Assembly They gave him the Name of Urban II. and plac'd him on the Papal Chair Upon his departure from Terracina he went to Mount Cassin where they say that he was miraculously Cur'd of a Pain in his Side by S. Benedict who appear'd to him and who assur'd him that his Body was reposited in that Monastery Roger and Beaumont the Counts of Apulia and Calabria waited upon him in that Place and carry'd him along with them into Apulia He was almost constantly resident on their Territories or in Campania and went now and then to Rome which sometimes favour'd Guilbert and sometimes Him For Guilbert was at first turn'd out by the Romans and oblig'd to renounce the Popedom Afterwards he was receiv'd there in the Year 1091. retook the Castle of S. Angelo and continued Lord of that City so long as the Emperor Henry had the better of it But his Son Conrad revolting in the Year 1093. and in League with Welpho Duke of Italy whom Urban had got to Marry the Princess Matilda Guilbert's Faction began to grow weaker and Conrad whom that Pope favour'd in his Revolt caus'd Urban to be acknowledg'd in Lombardy and to be receiv'd in Placenza where he held a famous Council in the Year 1095. He went from thence into France where he call'd a Council at Clermont in Auvergne wherein he gave in the Project of the grand CROISADE which was perform'd under his Popedom in the East When he return'd into Italy he at last became Master of Rome tho' Guilbert had a great many Favourers in that City He dy'd there July the 29th in the Year 1099. The Register of this Pope's Letters is lost Those that are left us are as follow Urban's first Letter is a Privilege granted to the Monastery of Bantino which the Pope The Letters of Urban II. had founded at the Instance of the Dukes Roger and Beaumont The Second and Third are directed to the Arch-bishops of Toledo and Tarragon about their Primacy In the Fourth he prescribes to the Arch-bishop of Milan the method he ought to use in reconciling those who had been ordain'd during the Schism Which is to order them to come at the time wherein he gives the Blessing and the Imposition of Hands that is at the time of Ordination and to perform all the Ceremonies with relation to them except the Unction By the Fifth he confirms to the Arch-bishop of Bari or Canosa the dignity of Metropolitan and grants him the Pall. In the Sixth he exhorts the Dukes Roger and Beaumont to protect the Abbot and Monks of Bantino against the Lords who persecuted them and seiz'd upon their Estates In the Seventh he grants the Arch-bishoprick of Tarragon to the Bishop of Vich which Berenger Count of Barcelona had lately re-establish'd and Peopled with Christians In the Eighth he sent word to the Clergy and People of Chartres that he approv'd of the Choice which they had made of Yves for their Bishop in the place of Geofrey who had been depos'd and that he would send him to them after he had Consecrated him By the following Letter he acquainted Richerus Arch-bishop of Sens with the same thing who had refus'd to Consecrate him and injoyns him to receive him and to use him kindly This Letter is follow'd by a Discourse of that Pope which contains a great many Instructions in a few Words directed to Yves of Chartres after his Consecration The Tenth is a Privilege granted by the Pope and Duke Roger to the Monastery of Cave The Eleventh and Twelfth contain the Confirmation of the Privileges granted to the Canons of S. Martin of Tours The Thirteenth is a kind of Declaration which the Pope made to Roger Count of Calabria and Sicily that he would not send any Legat into his Dominions without his Consent That he and the Princes his Successors shall be the innate Legats of the Holy See in their own Territories And that when the Pope shall send for any Bishops or Abbots of their Country he gives them leave to send whom they pleas'd and retain those whom they should think fit In the Fourteenth he advertises the Count Radulphus that the Clerks ought to be Subject to none beside their Bishops and that secular Persons have no Jurisdiction over them In the Fifteenth he interdicts a Priest of Salerno who held a Church as the Patronage of a Laick and pronounces the same Penalty against all those who receiv'd the Investiture of Benefices from any beside their Bishops By the Sixteenth he acquaints Alexius the Emperor of Constantinople of the great number of those engag'd in the CROISADE for the Relief of the Christians of the East and exhorts him to assist them in their Expedition In the Seventeenth he replies to Lucius Provost of S. Iuvensius of Pavia upon several Questions which he had proposed to him In this Letter he proves
The CCVIIth is a Letter of Thanks to the Bishop of Worcester In the CCVIIIth Letter Ivo reproves Geofrey Abbot of Vendome that having quitted that place and retir'd into a private Cell he entertains there Monks that are disobedient to and abuse their Abbot and that he hinders those who hold Estates of the Abbot from doing homage to him In the CCIXth he represents to Hugh Earl of Troyes that the Consultation intended to be held at Sens about the validity of the King's Marriage with the Marquess Boniface's Daughter the Earls Kinswoman will neither be honourable nor of any advantage to her It will be to no purpose because the Marriage will certainly be declar'd Null by the Bishops and Lords of the Realm nor will it be for her honour because it will occasion the illegitimacy of her Birth to be talk'd of so that Ivo advises the Earl to hinder if he can all debates about that matter In the CCXth he writes Pope Paschal word that Odo Bishop of Cambray complains of his Holiness for turning out of the Arch-Deaconry of his Church one who was a zealous friend of the Holy See and putting in one who is an Enemy to it In the CCXIth to Ralph Arch-Bishop of Rheims he deduces the Genealogies of the Earl of Flanders and the Daughter of the Earl of Rennes to shew they are nearly Related The CCXIIth to Geofrey Bishop of Beauvais is about the validity of a Donation granted to the Monastery of St. Simphorien In the CCXIIIth to John Bishop of Orleans he proves that the Regular Clergy may have Cure of Souls and Parishes committed to them In the CCXIVth to Bruno Arch-Bishop of Treves he bemoans the sad State of Religion under the unhappy divisions between the Church and the Civil Government The CCXVth is a Letter of compliment and friendship to Thomas Arch-Bishop of York In the CCXVIth and CCXVIIth Letters he give Richard Bishop of Albane Legate of the Holy See an account of the dispute between the Monks of Bonneval and those of Blois which he tells him he had us'd his best endeavours to accommodate but could not yet effect it In the CCXVIIIth he writes to Gualon Bishop of Paris that the Canon of that Church who had lately been Married ought to loose his preferment and be degraded from being a Clergy-man but that his Marriage must remain good and valid In the CCXIXth he justifies himself to Pope Paschal for having divided part of a Prebend of his Church among the Canons by dayly distributions for the Encouragement of such as assisted constantly in performing Divine Service In the CCXXth to Hildebert Bishop of Mans he shews that when an appeal is made from one Judge to another the party concern'd is within five days after he appeals to get a Letter from the first Judge to the other he appeals to who is not else oblig'd to take cognizance of the Matter He asserts also in this Letter that it is not in the power of any Bishop to give up the Estate of a Religious Society to the sole disposal of the Abbot In the CCXXIst Letter to John Bishop of Orleans concerning a free-man's having Married a Slave without knowing her to be so Ivo says that by the Civil Law the Marriage is void and he may quit her and marry another Woman but that by the Laws of God and of Nature they ought to keep together or at least if he put her away he may not marry again In the CCXXIId to the Clergy of Autun he inquires if a Woman that has been guilty of Adultery must necessarily be Divorc'd from her husband and concludes that in strictness she ought but by the wisdom of the Gospel such a Temper was prescrib'd as may reconcile her to her husband In the CCXXIIId to Owen Bishop of Eureux he perswades him to Excommunicate and deny Christian Burial to such as embezil the Patrimony of the Church In the CCXXIVth he tells Guy Abbot of Molême that one of his Monks having been with him and acknowledged with great Sorrow that he took Orders for the sake of Temporal gain only though by the Rigour of the Canons he ought for ever to be turn'd out of the Clergy yet having express'd true Repentance for his Sin he thinks he may be permitted to retain his Orders and to Exercise the Functions of them In the CCXXVth to Daimbert Arch-Bishop of Sens he delivers his judgment that a certain person who came and confess'd that before he was Married he had Carnal knowledge of his Wife's Sister ought to be deem'd ever after infamous and his evidence not to be heard against any man that he ought also to be Divorc'd from his Wife and live the rest of his Life unmarried but that his Wife should have her Portion back again CCXXVIth he requests Bernier Abbot of Bonneval to receive kindly one of his Monks who was sorry for having left his Monastery and beg'd leave to come into it again The CCXXVIIth is a Letter of Condoleance to Pope Paschal and acquaints him that being desirous of bestowing a Prebend in his Church upon Guarin he is oppos'd therein by the Dean and Chapter In the CCXXVIIIth to Gonhier a Priest Ivo answers a Scruple he had propos'd to him viz. How to reconcile these words of the Prophet Ezechiel At what time-soever a sinner shall Repent and turn from the Evil of his ways he shall save his Soul alive or be forgiven with the Sentence and discipline of the Ecclesiastical Canons which suspends for some time even penitents from the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and how it comes to pass that those whom Christ who is the head immediately releases the Church who is the body should detain under the Penalty of sin This difficulty Ivo says 't is Easie to solve if we consider the manner of God's remitting sins and the frailty of Mankind that God who knows the heart forgives the sin as soon as he sees the heart is converted but that the Church which knows not the inward thoughts of a Man cannot absolve a sinner till his Conversion be made evident by Publick Signs of it In the CCXXIXth to Lisiard Bishop of Soissons he declares that a Man who defames a Married Woman to any of her Relations by saying he had Carnal knowledge of her before her Marriage ought not to be admitted in Court as an evidence against her because he is criminal himself by his own Confession In the CCXXXth to Hildebert Bishop of Mans he asserts that a Jewish Woman who turns Christian may not quit her husband nor Marry another at least unless her husband were her near Relation In the CCXXXIst to Pontius Abbot of Cluny after giving some mystical reasons of the Elevation of the Chalice and the Host and the Signs of the Cross made upon those occasions he delivers his opinion that a Monk who was forc'd to make himself an Eunuch to prevent Epileptick fits he was subject to may notwithstanding be allow'd
Tryal of Ordeal but that it is sufficient for her to purge her self upon Oath In the CCLIIId he recommends to King Loüis's favour and protection Godfrey Bishop of Amiens who had met with ill usage in his Diocess In the CCLIVth he vouches for Geofrey Arch-Bishop of Roüen to Pope Paschal that it was not in his power to wait upon his Holiness at Rome as he would otherwise have done The CCLVth is a Letter of Consolation to Ralph Abbot of Fusein in his sickness exhorting him to bear his afflictions patiently and to see one chosen in his stead to govern the Monastery if he find himself uncapable of doing it telling him also that the Extream Unction being a Sacrament needs not be Repeated In the CCLVIth he disswades Rainaud a Monk from turning Hermite In the CCLVIIth he gives Philip Bishop of Troyes an Account of the Accommodation made by the Regular Canons of St. Quintin at Beauvais between Odo Prior of St. Georges and some of his Canons In the CCLVIIIth he recommends to Pope Paschal the Affairs of Hubert Bishop of Senlis In the CCLIXth he expostulates with Ralph Arch-Bishop of Rheims concerning a Judgment he had given against the Church of St. Quintin at Beauvais with Relation to a Mill they claim'd Right to and lays before him the wrong he conceives done to them In the CCLXth he assures Steven of Guarland the King's Chancellor that he may with a safe Conscience be Elected to succeed Gualon Bishop of Paris who is to be remov'd to Beauvais In the CCLXIst he disswades Henry King of England from Marrying his Daughter to Hugh an Earl in the Diocess of Chartres there being too near a Relation between them In the CCLXIId to Pontius Abbot of Cluny he shews him the reason why in the Consecration of the Cup at the Lord's Supper the words Mystery of Faith are added which were not us'd by our Saviour at the Institution of this Sacrament and says among other things that this is done because we judge of the greatness of the Mystery contained in it not by the Senses but by Faith By the CCLXIIId he represents to the Clergy of Beauvais how much he is griev'd for their sufferings In the CCLXIVth he intercedes with King Louis for the Clergy and People of that City In the CCLXVth he acquaints that Prince how much he had been misinform'd by some who had suggested to him that the Clergy of the Church of Chartres do invade the Rights of the Chapter and represents to him that they only hinder them from some exactions prohibited by the Holy See In the CCLXVIth to Conon Bishop of Palestine and Legate of the Holy See in France after giving him an Account of his having Excommunicated Hugh for a breach of Peace he prays him to make choice of wise and Religious Persons to be judges at the Tryal he is to have with the Monks of Marmoutier for the Church of St Nicholas de Courbeville The CCLXVIIth Letter is to the same Legate about the same Affair Ivo therein sends his excuse that he could not wait on him in person to plead for himself In the CCLXVIIIth he writes to the Bishops of Beauvais Chalons Amiens and Senlis Commissioners for hearing this Cause letting them know that judgment had already been given in favour of the Bishop of Chartres by Hugh Bishop of Die in a Council held at Issoudun In the CCLXIXth he tells Bernier Abbot of Bonneval that he ought not to hinder one of his Monks from turning Hermite In the CCLXXth to Turgedus Bishop of Auranches he advises him to submit to the decision of the Pope's Legate or to send deputies to Rome to plead there in his own behalf In the CCLXXIst he thanks Pope Paschal for granting to the Clergy of Chartres a Confirmation of their Privileges to shelter them from the exactions of the Chapter And whereas two of that body had disputed the Authority of the Popes Decree and complain'd of it to the King he prays his Holiness to do what he thinks farther necessary to enforce the Execution of it In the CCLXXIId he exhorts Reginald Bishop of Anger 's to be reconciled to one Mathilda of his Diocess and to endeavour to reclaim her from ill courses In CCLXXIIId he intercedes with Conon the Pope's Legate to moderate the Sentence of Excommunication issued out by him against the Bishops of Normandy in favour of the Bishop of Bayeux In the CCLXXIVth he writes to Pope Paschal concerning a Controversy he has with the Monks of Marmoutier who to create him trouble had appeal'd to Rome and cited him to appear there though living at a great distance and very ill he intreats the Pope to appoint some to judge between them at home and wishes him not to grant any Clergy-man a dispensation to hold two Benefices In the CCLXXVth he informs Conon the Pope's Legate that he has acquainted Count Theobald with the Sentence of Excommunication he had published against all that had a hand in taking the Earl of Nevers and which would have its course against him if he did not set the Earl at Liberty by a time therein prefix'd him He says the Count was somewhat surpriz'd that the King had referr'd this matter to the Ecclesiastical Judicature since he is very ready to appear before the King's Judges and doubts not but he can make it appear to them that not he but the Earl of Nevers is to blame and offers if they shall require it to deliver him up to them By the CCLXXVIth he recommends to Pope Pascal Turstin Arch-Bishop of York Elect. In the CCLXXVIIth to Aldebert Bishop Elect of Mans he tells him he hears he was guilty of several irregularities while he was an Arch-Deacon and that he was nor Canonically Elected to the Bishoprick He refers him therefore to the witness of his own Conscience and exhorts him not to take the Government of others upon him while he himself lies under any such guilt The CCLXXVIIIth is a Letter of Compliment to Robert Bishop of Lincoln In the CCLXXIXth to Lisiard Bishop of Soissons he perswades him to receive one of the Clergy of his Church upon his submitting to Penance or to give him leave to remove to some other Church In the CCLXXXth to the same Bishop Ivo determines that a Married man may not be suffer'd to accuse his Wife of Adultery upon suspicion only nor to force her to pass the Tryal by red-hot irons In the CCLXXXIst he writes to Ansehn Bishop of Beauvais that he is ready at any time to attest that the Clergy of St. Peters in Beauvais had granted to the Regular Canons of St. Quintin in that City the inheritance of a piece of Land they now lay claim to again The CCLXXXIId is an Instrument in Form by which Ivo takes into the protection of the Church of Chartres an Hospital for poor People lying at Châteaudun The CCLXXXIIId is an Act for Consecrating a piece of ground near Tiron for a Church-yard
being design'd for the Church under the Protection of the Holy See In the Sixth directed to the Clergy of Tours he confirms the Excommunication pronounc'd by his Legat against Fulcus Earl of Anger 's by reason that he did not break the Marriage between his Daughter and William Son of Lord Robert The Seventh is a Confirmation of the Privileges granted the Abbey of Cluny by his Predecessors The Three following relate to the Legateship of Cardinal John de Creme into England The Last Address'd to the Bishops of the Province of Tours to exhort them to Observe the Decrees of the Council of Nantes The Letters of Innocent II are very many In the First he confirms the Judgment of the Council of Jouare against the Associates of Thomas The Letterâ— of Innocent II. Prior of St. Victor as likewise against those of Archembaud Sub-Dean of Orleans adding several Punishments which were before Omitted By the Second he gives all the Lands which the Princess Matildis enjoy'd in Italy and which she had left to the Holy See to the Emperor Lotharius and Henry Duke of Bavaria his Son in Law on condition that they swear Fealty and do Homage to the Church of Rome and moreover to pay yearly a Hundred Pound in Gold The Third is a Confirmation of the Immunities and Revenues belonging to the Church of Pistoia in Tuscany Address'd to the Bishop of that City The Five Letters following are written to the Patriarch of Jerusalem and Antioch and the other Bishops of the East for Conservation of the Dignity and Rights of Fulcus Arch-Bishop Tyr. In the Ninth he confirms the Grant made by Pope Honorius II. to Roger of the Kingdom of Sicily Dutchy of Apulia and Principality of Capua together with the Title of King The Next following contain the Condemnation of Peter Abaëlard and Arnold de Bresse The Twelfth is a Privilege granted to the Abby of St. Memme In the Three Next he confirms the Power of the Arch-Bishop of Hambourg over the Bishopricks of Denmark Sueden and Norway In the Sixteenth he Admonishes Hugh Arch-Bishop of Roan to comply with the King of England his Master and to permit the Abbots of Normandy to pay Fealty and Homage to him In the Seventeenth he acquaints King Lewis that he is Arriv'd in perfect Health at Cluny By the Eighteenth he commands Geofrey Bishop of Chartres and Stephen Bishop of Paris to restore to Archembaud Sub-Dean of Orleans and his fraternity the Benefices and Goods that had been taken from them In the Nineteenth he orders the same Bishop of Paris to take off the suspension which he had awarded against the Church of St. Genieveve The Four next relate to the Abbey of Vezelay to which he orders an Abbot and whose Privileges he confirms In the Twenty fourth he commands Alâ—isus Abbot of Anchin to take care of the Church of Arras of which he was Elected Bishop In the Twenty fifth he confirms the Rights and Privileges of the Bishop of Bamberg In the Twenty sixth he receives Hugh Arch-Deacon of Arras under protection of the See of Rome The Fourteen Letters which follow concern the Privileges and Revenues of the Abbey of Cluny and in the fifteenth he recommends himself to the Prayers of this Monastery The Forty second is a piece of a Letter wrote to Otho Bishop of Lucca concerning those Witnesses who are related to either Party In the Forty third he acquaints Guigue Prior of the Great Charter-House that he has Canoniz'd Hugh Bishop of Grenoble and farther Commands him to write what he knows of his Life or Miracles There are also five more Letters which belong to Innocent II. and relate to the Affairs of Germany and two concerning the Church of Anger 's The first are at the end of the 10th Tome of the Councils and the two last in the 2d Tome of the Miscellanies of Monsieur de Baluze We have but three Letters of Celestine II. IN the First he acquaints Peter the Venerable Abbot of Cluny with his Accession to the Pontificate The Letters of Celestine II. In the Second he confirms the Donation of the Church of St. Vincent to the Order of Cluny by the Bishop of Salamanca In the Last he orders the Arch-Bishop of Toledo to restore to the Bishop of Orense some Parishes which the late Bishop of Astorgas had seiz'd upon The Letters of Pope Lucius II. are about Ten. BY the First he gives Peter of Cluny to understand that he has made a Truce with Roger King of The Letters of Lucius II. Sicily By the Second he demands aid of King Conrade against the Italians who were revolted and who had chosen Jordanes for a Patrician In the Third and Fourth he confirms the Primacy of the Church of Toledo over all the Churches of Spain The Fifth contains a Privilege granted to the Abbey of Cluny In the Sixth he submits the Monastery of St. Sabas to the Abbey of Cluny By the Seventh he Commands the Abbot of St. Germain's of Auxerre to discharge the Servants of the Abbot of Vezelay who were Bail for him and he moreover removes the Suit before Godfrey Bishop of Langres In the Eighth he confirms the Judgment given by Pope Paschal against those that had kill'd Artaud Abbot of Vezelay and forbids their being receiv'd any more into any Monastery By the Ninth he orders the Count of Nevers to restore to the Abbey of Vezelay whatever he had taken from it And by the Tenth he enjoyns St. Bernard to warn the said Count from exacting any thing from the aforesaid Abbey The Letters of Eugenius III. are in a far greater number THE First Address'd to Lewis King of France is an exhortation to the Croisade to encourge the retaking Eugenius III. the City of Edesse with all others that had been Conquer'd and in a word to defend the Holy-Land from Invasion He therein confirms all the Privileges granted to the Knightâ— of the Cross by his Predecessor Urban and moreover puts their Wives Children and Estates under protection The Letters of Eugenius III. of the Churches and Bishops then he prohibits any Process being issu'd out in prejudice of the said Knights till they were either Dead or return'd from their Voyage Next his Will is that they be paid Interest for the Money they had Permits them to Mortgage their Estates to the Churches without equity of Redemption warns them not to be at a needless charge about unprofitable Equipage but to lay the most part out in Arms Horses and other Instruments of War And lastly he grants them Remission and Absolution of all their Sins which they shall have Confessed with an humble and contrite Heart By the Second directed to Thibaud Arch-Bishop of Canterbury he Commands and Provides that the Bishop of St. David's shall be subject to the See of Canterbury and likewise requires the two said Bishop's Attendance at Rome the Year following on St. Luke's day that he may Judge farther of the matter The
taking away from them such effects as they had unjustly gotten by their Usuries and Extortion In the Fourth Letter of the Fifth Book he writes to Pope Eugenius III. the Causes which the Abbot de la Chaise-Dieu alledg'd against the Arch-Bishop of Arles and the Bishop of Viviers nominated by his Holiness to take Cognizanae of the Difference which was between the Bishop of Nismes and that Abbey In the Fifth he wrote to the same Pope about the refusal which the Arch-Bishop of Bourdeaux had made of ordaining him who had been elected Bishop of Angoulème In the seventh he replies to several questions which had been propos'd to him by Thibald Abbot of St. Colomba of Sens. Among the rest was this Why they repeat the Unction of the Sick at Cluny Peter the Venerable says that the Case is not the same with the Unction of the Sick as with the Unctions of Baptism and Confirmation whose Efficacy is simple and only One nor the same as with the sacerdotal Unction or the Unctions of Churches and Holy Vessels which imprint a Consecration which can never be effac'd Whereas the effect of the Unction of the Sick being only Remission of Sins wherein Men fall after they are recovered of their Sickness it ought to be repeated in the next Sickness The Sixth Book contains several Letters of Peter of Cluny to St. Bernard and of St. Bernard to Peter of Cluny of which the fourth is somewhat remarkable Peter of Cluny therein intreats St. Bernard to procure an Union between the Monks of Cluny and of Cisteaux by ordering that whenever the Monks of Cluny should come into the Monasteries of those of Cisteaux they might be entertain'd as the Monks of the Monastery and admitted into the Refectory the Dormitory and the other Regular Places There are likewise in the same Book several Letters to Pope Eugenius III. in one of which viz. the Ninth he assures him that the Arch-Bishop of Vienna does not at all oppose the Interests of the Order of Cluny as the Pope had suppos'd and sent him word in the preceeding Letter In the Twelfth he advertises him of the Division which was in Chartreux the Great upon occasion of a Person Elected to the Bishoprick of Grenoble In the Twenty Fifth he gives him to understand of the Irregularities of the Bishop of Clermont In the Twenty Seventh he wrote to him in favour of Humbert of Beaujeu who returning from beyond Sea was setled in the Neighbourhood of Cluny and had put a stop to the Wars and Robberies committed there in his Absence and had quieted all the Countrey thereabouts but because he had quitted the Order of Knights Templars and taken his Wife again the Pope could not endure that he should live in the World Peter of Cluny in this Letter remonstrates to him that it was very proper for him to use his Indulgence towards this Lord and to grant him a Dispensation of living with his Wife and of leading a secular Life Peter the Venerable Abbot of Cluny In the Twenty Eighth he wrote to him against the Provost Abbot and other Ecclesiastical Lords of Brioude who had turned a Clerk out of his Church and his demeans without any form of Justice nay so much as denying him to clear himself by the Tryal of Fire as he had offered them to do The Forty Second Forty Third Forty Fourth and Forty Fifth Letters are likewise written to Eugenius III. The first in favour of the Abbot of Brems and the second in favour of Guy Lord of Domnus who had been interdicted by the Pope for having marryed a second Wife in the Life time of his first Peter of Cluny shews the Pope the Reasons upon which he believes that the first Marriage ought not to stand and prays him to determine this Affair according to this Remonstrance and to take off the Interdiction which he had issued out against this Lord. The Third is in favour of the People of Placenza who were unwilling to admit of a Bishop consecrated by the Arch-Bishop of Ravenna and they thought they had reason for it because they were to admit of no Bishop but who was sent by the Pope In the last he acquaints the Pope of a Treaty which he had made with a Lord of his Neighbourhood The Fifteenth Letter of this Book is a circular Letter written by Peter of Cluny to all the Superiors of the Houses of his Order wherein he warmly reproves the Abuse which was establish'd among the greatest part of his Religious of eating Meat every day in the Week except Friday He shews that this was forbidden by the Rule of St. Benedict which enjoyns them to eat nothing but Fish and by the Example and Institution of Odo one of the Founders of their Order The Seventeenth Eighteenth Nineteenth and Twentieth Letters are about the Croisade Peter of Cluny had been invited by Sugerus Abbot of St. Denys and by St. Bernard to meet at that Assembly which was to be held at Chartres upon this Design he excuses himself from coming by two of his Letters but withal commends that design In the Twenty Sixth written to Everard Grand-Master of the Order of Knight Templars he commends their Institution and interceeds for Humbert of Beaujeu who had left them The Thirty Ninth written to his Nieces is in commendation of a Virgin Life The Seventh Book contains three Letters written by Peter of Cluny to Sugerus Abbot of St. Denys an Answer of that Abbot three Letters of St. Bernard and one Letter of Peter of Celles written to Peter of Cluny Besides the Letters we have already mentioned there are a great many others which are either Letters of Compliment or on Affairs of little Moment and several other Moral ones about the Spiritual Monastick Life such as the Ninth and Tenth of the first Book the Twelfth Fifteenth Twenty Second and Fiftieth of the Second the Fourteenth Thirty Ninth Fourtieth Fourty First and Fourty Second of the Fourth Book the third of the Fifth and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth of the Sixth All these Letters are penn'd with a great deal of Purity and pleasantness of Stile full of Life and solid Thoughts They are not indeed so Airy as the Letters of St. Bernard nor so full of Turns and playing upon Words but the Style is more Correct Even and Pure These Letters are follow'd by the Tracts of Peter of Cluny The first is dedicated to Peter of St. John's who in a Conference which they had together had told him that some of those with whom he convers'd had asserted that Jesus Christ is not expresly call'd God in the Gospel Peter of Cluny in this Treatise proves the contrary from all those Passages in the Gospel where Jesus Christ is stiled God and has such Attributes apply'd to him as belong to none but God The Second Tract is against the Jews wherein he proves the Divinity of Jesus Christ that he is the Messias who had been foretold by the Prophets
other Prelates except the Bishop of Winchester were of the same Opinion Thomas would not hearken to that proposal but to be set at Liberty he express'd his desire to speak with two Lords who were with the King when they were come he desir'd that he might be allow'd time till the next day and said that then he would make such an Answer as God should direct him Whereupon the Assembly deputed the Bishops of London and Rochester to deliver that Message to the King but the former said that the Arch-bishop was desirous to have time in order to look over his Papers and to prepare to give an account to his Majesty The King being satisfy'd with that Declaration sent him word by the two Lords with whom he desir'd to speak That he was willing to grant him the time he sued for provided that he kept his word in giving an account of the things that were committed to his Charge Thomas forthwith declar'd that he never made such a promise However he was permitted to depart and that very Night he was seiz'd with a violent fit of the Colick which hindred him from rising the next Morning The King sent two Lords of his Court to enquire whether he were Sick and at the same time to give him a Summons He excus'd himself for the present by reason of his Indisposition of which they were Witnesses and promis'd to appear the next day In the mean while a report was spread abroad that if he went to the Royal Palace he would be Assassinated or arrested the next day several Bishops us'd their utmost endeavours to perswade him to make a resignation of his Arch-bishoprick and of all his Possessions to the King in regard that they were much afraid lest he should lose his Life if he did not submit He did not seem to be at all concern'd at their Remonstrance but forbid all the Bishops to assist at the Proceedings that were to be carried on against him and declar'd that he appeal'd to the Holy See The Bishop of London protested against the Prohibition â—he then made and retir'd with all the Bishops except those of Winchester and Salisbury who continu'd with Thomas Becket However that Prelate after having Celebrated Mass went to the Palace bearing his Crosier Staff himself The King refus'd to admit him into his Presence and retiring into a private Chamber sent for the other Bishops and made great complaints to them against Thomas Becket The Bishops approv'd the King's Resentments avouching that that Arch-bishop was a perjur'd Traytor and that it was requisite to proceed against him as guilty of High Treason However they durst not bring him to a Formal Tryal but only sent him word by Hilary Bishop of Chichester That forasmuch as after having promis'd Obedience to the King and Sworn to observe the Customs of the Kingdom he acted contrary to his Oath they did not take themselves to be any longer obliged to obey him that therefore they put their Persons and Churches under the Popes Protection and cited him to his Tribunal The King likewise sent him word by Robert Earl of Leicester that he expected an account Thomas Becket's Retreat to France of the Things committed to his Charge Thomas protested that he was discharg'd by the King's Son when he was made Arch-bishop of Canterbury Afterwards he refus'd to submit to the Judgment of the King Bishops and other Lords of the Kingdom declar'd that he would acknowledge no other Judge but the Pope and cited the Bishops before him After having made this Declaration he went out of the Palace the Doors of which he open'd with the Keys that were found hanging on the Wall and was accompanied to his House by a crowd of poor People On that very Night he took a resolution to retire and to the end that it might be done more secretly he feign'd an inclination to lie in the Church and made his escape having chang'd his Cloaths and Name but before he embark'd he took some turns about the Coasts of England to avoid being apprehended Then he pass'd over into Flanders arriv'd at Graveline and retir'd from thence to the Abby of St. Berthin where he discover'd himself and sent Deputies to Lewis VII King of France to inform him of his present distress and to entreat his Majesty to permit him to stay in his Kingdom They were prevented by the Deputies of the King of England but the French King did not receive them favourably and declar'd on behalf of Thomas Becket even before the arrival of his Deputies These last were kindly entertain'd and the King promis'd all manner of Protection to the Arch-bishop in his Kingdom and said that in that Point he only follow'd the Custom of the Kings his Predecessors who by a very peculiar Privilege were always in a capacity to afford a Sanctuary in their Dominions to Persecuted Bishops and to defend them against all their Enemies The Deputies of the King of England and those of the Arch-bishop went to the Pope The Pope's Declaration in his Favour who was then at Sens The former brought over some of the Cardinals to their side but the Pope stood for the Arch-bishop nevertheless he gave Audience to the Deputies of the King of England who press'd him to oblige the Arch-bishop to return to England and entreated him to send a Legate a latere to take cognizance of that Affair and to accommodate it or to determine it without Appeal The Pope refus'd to do any thing till the Arch-bishop arriv'd in Person and having declar'd his resolution to the Deputies they departed very much dissatisfy'd A little after Thomas Becket accompanied by the Arch-bishop of Trier and the Abbot of Berthin came to Soissons where King Lâ—wis admitted him into his Presence and re-iterated the promises he had made to his Deputies Afterwards he went to Sens to meet the Pope whom he soon made sensible of the Justice of his Cause by shewing him the Articles that were drawn up at Clarendon which with common consent were found contrary to the Interest and Liberty of the Church The next day he proffer'd to quit his Metropolitical Dignity and entreated his Holiness to nominate another Person to supply his place But the Pope would by no means allow it order'd him to keep his Arch-bishoprick and recommended him to the Abbot of Pontigny into whose Monastery he retir'd The King of England being informed of the Pope's Answer by his Deputies consiscated the wâ—ole Estate and Goods of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury with those of his Relations and Friends banish'd them from his Kingdom and publish'd new Ordinances more prejudicial to the Liberty of the Church than the former Thomas Becket wrote to him as also to some Bishops of England about that Matter but those Remonstrances prov'd ineffectual However he propos'd a Conference in which the Pope was to assist but his Holiness being return'd to Rome the King sent Deputies to him whom he caus'd to pass through
to Italy in 1235 and sets upon those Towns of Lombardy which had entered into League against him he takes Verona and Vicenza and lays all the Country round waste His Son Henry being discontented enters himself into the League with the Towns of Lombardy and had drawn over many of the German Princes to his Party had not Frederick applied a ready remedy by getting the Pope's Letter charging the Princes of Germany not to take the Son's part against the Father and thereupon he arrested and deposed his Son and banished him into Apuleia where he ended his Life the following year in a Prison Frederick gets his second Son Conrade elected King of Germany and brings Vienna and all Austria which had hitherto opposed him to an acknowledgment of their Duty While he was thus labouring to establish his Power in Germany he did not forget his Pretensions to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and thinking that they had been encroach'd upon he wrote to Pope Gregory by the Archbishop of Ravenna to do him justice in that matter The Pope gave the Archbishop commission in quality of his Legate to take care of the preservation of the Rights of Frederick which is an evident proof that from the year 1230 the Pope had not made an open breach of his Agreement with Frederick till 1238. But in this year their Differences began to grow very hot because Frederick had made war The War of Frederick against the Pope upon those Cities of Lombardy that would not acknowledg him The Pope sent the Cardinals to him to make him desist from carrying on the War in Italy but all in vain for Frederick who was strongest continued his Progresses defeated those of Milan that opposed his passage took Brescia and all the other Cities of Lombardy except Bologna and Parma The Pope seeing that Affairs went but ill with him would have retired to Rome but there John Cincius a Senator of Rome that the Emperor had gained procured the Gates to be shut against him yet the Pope by the assistance of his Friends that were in possession of the Capitol got into Rome drove out Cincius procured a Peace between the Venetians and Genouese and taking courage made the States of Italy enter into a League against Frederick He moreover exercised his spiritual Arms against him in publishing a Sentence of Excommunication The Sentence of Pope Gregory against Frederick against his Person and in declaring all his Subjects dispensed with for the Oath of Fidelity to him and in fine to raise a powerful Enemy against Frederick he sends his Nuncio's into France to offer the Imperial Crown to Earl Robert Brother of St. Louis King of France but that Prince refused it and by the advice of the French Lords sent back his Answer in these words What strange spirit or what boldness indeed is this in the Pope that he should go The Opinion of the French upon the Deposition of Frederick about to rob of his Estates and depose so great a Prince as Frederick without either proof or acknowledgment of the Crimes of which he is accused and who did he deserve such dealings could not be lawfully deposed but by a General Council for his Enemies of whom it's evident the Pope is one of the chief ought not to be credited in those things of which they accuse him As for Us We see no reason hitherto to think him otherwise than innocent he has dealt with us as a good Prince and Neighbour and we have nothing to find fault with either in his Fidelity or Religion which is truly Catholick Do not We know that he has made war for the Name of JESUS CHRIST and has exposed himself both by Sea and Land for the Church This is greater Religion than we can yet discover in the Pope who instead of aiding and defending him that fought God's Battels did all he could to cross and destroy him We do not desire to throw our selves into so evident a danger as attacking a Prince so powerful as Frederick who would be assisted by so many Kingdoms and whom the Justice of his Cause alone is sufficient to uphold We see very well how little the Romans care how lavish we are of our Blood so we be but the Instruments to satisfy their passions and We cannot but foresee if the Pope should happen to conquer by our means how he would trample all the Potentates of the Earth under his Feet exalted with the Pride of having crush'd so great an Emperor as Frederick He promised however to send his Deputies to Frederick to know what his Sentiments were about Religion assuring him that he was ready to persecute and destroy all those who had any evil Principles in that tho it were the Emperor or the Pope himself Accordingly he sends his Deputies to the Emperor who acquainted him with the Propositions that the Pope's Nuncios had made The Emperor assured them that he was a Catholick and thanked the Deputies of France who satisfied him that their Prince had no designs against any Christian Prince whatsoever counting it sufficient to be Brother to the King of France which in their opinion was more glorious than Emperor the one being a King born the other receiving his Title only by Election The Emperor and the Pope accused one another mutually in their publick Manifestos The The War between Frederick and the Pope Emperor complain'd that the Pope had broken the Peace by entring with Arms into Sicily while he warred in the East by opposing his passage into Italy by assisting the Lombards against him and by having excommunicated him unjustly The Pope in answer to these Reproaches says That he was obliged to employ both his spiritual and temporal Arms for the recovery of those Lands which Frederick detained from the Church to which they belonged That he had offered himself to mediate a Peace between the Emperor and the Lombards and that the Emperor refused to hearken to it That he had heaped a multitude of Favors upon Frederick and that that Prince in acknowledgment of them had aimed at nothing less than the destruction of the liberty of the Churches the robbing them of their Possessions the stopping and hindring Crusades and ruining the Authority of the Holy See These Accusations on one side and the other were follow'd by an intestine War most of the Provinces and Cities in Italy being divided into two Parties that of the Gibelins which held with the Emperor and that of the Guelphs which was for the Pope The party of the Gibelins being encouraged by the presence of the Emperor and his Army almost always had the upper hand so that the greatest part of the Cities were brought under obedience to the Emperor and there had been good reason to fear that he had taken Rome it self where he kept secret correspondence with the principal Citizens had not the Pope made all the People of Rome take upon them the Cross for their defence The noble resistance
Henry Duke of Bavaria but understanding that William was in his march to set upon him with a numerous Army he betook himself back again into Apuleia where he died not without suspicion of being poisoned by his Brother Manfred the 22d of May in 1254 leaving his Son Conradine Heir to Sicily Manfred who did not care for The Government of Manfred in Sicily parting with Sicily pretended a desire of being friends with the Pope and thereupon invites him to come to Sicily Accordingly the Pope comes with an Army to make himself acknowledged Soveraign of that Kingdom but Manfred quickly picks a quarrel with him and routs part of his Army which so seized upon Innocent's Spirits that he died at Naples the 7th of December 1254. Alexander the 4th who succeeded him did not lay down his Predecessor's design upon Sicily but he had no better fortune Manfred defeated his Troops and made himself Master of Apuleia and Sicily The Pope seeing he was not able to maintain this War gave the Kingdom to Edmund Son of the King of England and dispensed with the Vow of that King to go for the Holy Land on condition he would make war upon Manfred against whom he also appointed a Crusade While Manfred was strengthening himself in the Kingdom of Sicily Ecelin who took the Troubles in the Empire and Italy part of Frederick's Heirs had made himself master of Lombardy and the Pope to drive him from thence had published a Crusade against him too at Venice The greatest part of Germany had acknowledged William for their Soveraign and as he was preparing to take a journey into Italy there to receive the Imperial Crown he was forced to march against the Friezlanders who had entered into Holland but going against them he fell into a Fen that was frozen and was there killed by an Ambuscade of his Enemies in December 1256. After his death the German Princes were divided about the Election of an Emperor some of them declaring for Richard Brother to the King of England and the others for Alphonsus King of The Elections of Alphonsus and Richard to the Empire Castile The former was Elected at Francfort on the Octave of the Epiphany in the year 1257 by Conrade Archbishop of Cologn who was also Proxy for Gerard Archbishop of Mentz by Lewis Count Palatine of the Rhine and Henry Duke of Bavaria the other in Lent by Arnold Archbishop of Treves as Proxy for the King of Bohemia the Duke of Saxony the Marquiss of Brandenburgh and many other Princes Thus did the German Princes basely sell the Honor of their Nation and their own Votes to Strangers who for many years together disputed the Empire without ever agreeing the matter All which time Lombardy was the Seat of the War between the Guelphs and Gibelines of the former of which Albert of the latter Ecelin was the Head The latter was wounded and taken Prisoner in 1260 and died of his wounds after having for four and thirty years been master of the most considerable Cities in Lombardy His death set Italy at rest which was not long after broken by the War between the Venetians and Genouese Richard and Alphonsus were elected Emperors but got nothing by it save the bare Title Alphonsus never set foot in Germany and Richard being come to Francfort after having spent all that he was worth was forced to return to England In their absence Ottogar King of Bohemia extended his Dominions in Germany so that in a short time he was become one of the most powerful Princes in Europe In Italy Urban the 4th who succeeded Alexander had published a Crusade against Manfred and all that sided with him in Apuleia or Lombardy and stirred up some French Lords to come into Italy Manfred on his part entred with his Troops into the Estate of the Church and to strengthen himself against the Pope entred into an Alliance with Jame's the 3d King of Arragon by marrying his Daughter Constantia to Peter the King 's eldest Son The Pope on his side seeing that Edmund could not prosecute the Conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily by reason of the Troubles that were in England invested Charles Earl of Anjou Brother of St. Louis therewith who came to Rome in 1265 and was there crown'd King of Sicily on the 28th of June by Clement the 4th Urban's Successor Charles Earl of Anjou defeats Manfred and seizes himself upon Sicily who also made him Senator of that City He was followed with an Army by Sea and Land and giving Battel to Manfred on the 26th of February the following year near Benevento he gained an absolute and bloody Victory over his Troops Manfred himself being killed upon the spot After his Death the Kingdom of Sicily submitted to the Conqueror but Conradin whose right this Kingdom was wrote a Letter to the Princes of Europe wherein he laid open the justice of his Pretensions and implored their assistance for its recovery He got together an Army composed for the most part of Voluntiers with which by the advice Conradin disputes the Kingdom of Sicily with Charles he is defeated and executed of Henry Brother of Alphonsus he made a Descent into Tuscany where he surprized and cut in pieces those Forces which Charles whom the Pope had constituted Vicar of the Empire in that Country had left there and at the same time Conrade a Son of one of the Emperor Frederick's Bastards who was come from Antioch drew off all Sicily from their Obedience except Messma and Palermos while Conradin by the assistance of the Gibelines made himself Master of all Tuscany and Romagna and entred in Triumph into Rome where he was proclaimed Emperor by the People But being entred into Campania with a design to go into Sicily Charles met him at the Lake of Fucin called the Lake of Celano where he gave him Battel on the 25th of August 1268 in which Charles got the day Conradin Frederick Duke of Austria and Henry of Castile betook themselves to flight but happening to be known in the way were brought back again to the Conqueror who put them into prison and gave them their Trial the next year Conradin and Frederick were put to death and Henry of Castile confined to Prison Just about the same time too Conrade was taken by some of Charles's Party who hanged him up and a short time after Entius the only one remaining of the Princes of Suabia died in his Prison of Bologna Thus unhappily perished the whole Race of the Emperor Frederick The House of Austria quickly succeeded that of Suabia in Glory and Power for Richard The Election of Rodolphus to the Empire and his Actions being dead and Alphonsus having no friends left him in Germany the Electors assembled themselves in October 1273 at Francfort according to the counsel of Pope Gregory X. and there elected Rodolphus Earl of Hapsburg without any regard had to the Remonstrances of the Deputies of Alphonsus or
the Sollicitations of those of Ottogar King of Bohemia who thought the Empire had been assured to him tho some Historians say that he refused it Rodolphus was crowned the same year at Aix la Chapelle and the next was confirmed by the Pope in the Council at Lions and acknowledged in an Assembly at Nuremberg by all the Princes of Germany except Ottogar King of Bohemia who refused to be there Rodolphus declared him a Rebel and required him to deliver up Austria and many other Provinces which he pretended belonged to the Empire Ottogar refusing to deliver them Rodolphus declares War against him and lays siege to Vienna in 1276. Ottogar came with an Army to its assistance and the King of Hungary to that of Rodolphus but yet they did not come to a Battel the Princes of Germany interposing their Authority to make up these Differences 'T was agreed that King Ottogar should content himself with Bohemia and Moravia and should restore Austria Stiria Carinthia Carniola and the other Provinces to Rodolphus for the performance of which he should take his Oath and to the King of Hungary those Cities which he had taken from him as well as the Hostages and Treasures that he had of his This Peace did not last long for the King of Bohemia not caring faithfully to perform these Articles and being very angry that he should be thus forced to submit to Rodolphus provides a new Army and comes to set upon the Emperor but he lost the Battel and his own life Rodolphus took Moravia from Wenceslaus the Son of Ottogar about eight years old leaving him Bohemia under the Tuition of his Uncle Otho Marquess of Brandenburg He gave Austria to his eldest Son Albert whose Posterity took the name of Austria as more illustrious than that of Hapsburg The Establishment of Rodolphus lessen'd Charles the King of Sicily's Authority in Italy Pope Charles despoiled of his Authority by the Pope Nicholas III. took from him the Vicariate of Tuscany and the Quality of Senator of Rome and in recompence received of Rodolphus Romagna and the Lieutenancy of Ravenna which he gave to the Holy See leaving all the other States of Italy in a sort of liberty dependant upon the Empire But it would not content the Pope that he had deprived Charles of his Authority in the upper Italy he had a design to get the Kingdom of Sicily from him too and about this deals with Peter King of Arragon as Heir of the House of Suabia by his Mother Constantia the Daughter of Manfred This gave occasion to the Conspiracy that was laid by Sicily rebels against Charles The Sicilian Vespers Charles his defeat and death John Lord of the Island of Crocida whom Charles had rob'd of his Possessions against this Prince and all the French that were in Sicily which did not break out till after the death of Nicholas when the Sicilians massacred all the French in the Kingdom on Easter Sunday 1282. Charles coming to revenge this cruel Action the King of Arragon enters into Sicily with his Army and amuses Charles with a Truce His Admiral Soria lays siege to Naples in the year 1284 and having defeated Charles his Troops takes his Son Charles the Lame Prisoner and sends him into Arragon Charles had enough to do to keep Apuleia and Calabria and not being able long to survive his Misfortunes died at Foggia in Apuleia the 7th of January 1285 leaving his Son Charles the Lame his Heir who got out of Prison in 1287 but on condition that he should renounce all Pretences to Sicily Yet he was no sooner got out but he made himself The division of the Kingdom of Sicily be crowned at Rome King of Sicily and Apuleia on the 28th of May 1289. Alphonsus dying some time after Charles made up the matter with Dangianus his Successor the latter renouncing his Pretensions to the Kingdom of Sicily on condition that Charles of Valois should lay down his to Arragon Yet for all this Charles the Lame could not enjoy Sicily in peace for Frederick the younger Brother of Dangianus to whom Alphonsus by his Will had left this Kingdom got himself crowned King by the Sicilians so that Charles was never in possession of any but the Continent the Kingdom of Sicily as it is called being from that time divided into two one beyond the Pharos of Messina which is the Island of Sicily the other on this side of that Tower call'd the Kingdom of Naples The Emperor Rodolphus ended his days at Germesheim near Spire the last day of September The Reign of Adolphus 1291 having reigned eighteen years He laid the foundation of the prodigious Greatness of the House of Austria but he laid down as it were the Empire of Italy by neglecting to go thither as well as by selling his Power over many Cities of Tuscany Adolphus Earl of Nassaw was chosen into his place the 6th of January 1292 and crowned at Francfort He peaceably enjoyed the Empire for some years but the German Lords being discontented that he had not allow'd them a share in a sum of Mony that the King of England had given for help The deposing of Adolphus against France and seeing that he had not authority nor strength sufficient to maintain the peace of Germany deposed him in 1298 and in his stead elected Albert Duke of Austria Son of the Emperor Rodolphus Adolphus defended his right but the fortune of War quickly decided Election of Albert Duke of Austria the case in favour of Albert Adolphus being defeated and kill'd in the first Engagement near Worms in the month of July After his death Albert was elected anew and crowned at Aix la Chapelle and remain'd in peaceable possession of the Empire of Germany CHAP. II. The Life Letters and other Writings of Pope Innocent the Third INNOCENT the Third before he was raised to the Pontifical Dignity went by the The Life of Pope Innocent III. name of Lotharius He was born at Anagni being the Son of Thrasimond of the Family of the Earls of Signi and of Claricia a Roman Lady He studied at Rome Paris and Bologn and being upon his return to Rome was ordained Subdeacon by Gregory the 8th and when he was but 29 years old was made Chief Deacon by the Title of S. Sergius and S. Bacchius by Clement the 3d. His Learning and Merit made him be unanimously chosen by the Cardinals on the very day of Celestin the 3d's Death which happened on the 8th of January 1198 although he was then but very young and no more than Deacon He was consecrated Priest the 21st of February the same year and raised to the Pontifical Throne on the Sunday next after the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch After having satisfied the People by the ordinary Largesses and received an Oath of Allegiance from them he made an Order forbidding all Officers in the Court of Rome to take any Fee or
turned out by the Bishop of Chester under pretence of a Brief gained by a Trick from his Predecessor By the two hundred and forty sixth he commissioned the Archbishop of Bourdeaux and the Abbots of St. Cibar of Angouleme and of Nanteuil to be Judges in a Difference between the Bishop of Angouleme and the Archdeacon of Mairinac In the two hundred and forty seventh he committed to the Bishop of Nevers the examination of a Difference between the Bishop of Autun and the Abbot of Bussiere about the goods of an Archpriest who had desired to be made a Monk in this Abbey and had let them enjoy his Goods while he lived of which the Bishop of Autun stript them when he was dead pretending that when this Archpriest offered himself to the Monastry he was not well in his senses but as he answered the Monks who asked him Will you be a Monk Yes I will so he answered another who asked him Will you be an Ass Yes I will The Pope order'd that if the Bishop could prove that the Archpriest was beside himself at the time he made this Donation then the Monastry should be condemned to restore his Estate and the Use of it but if he could not prove that they belonged to the Monastry In the two hundred and forty eighth he entrusted the Abbot of St. Eucher the Dean and a Canon of Treves with the Judgment of a Suit about a Prebend of St. Mary Magdalen of Verdun In the two hundred and forty ninth he order'd Cardinal Rainier to oblige the Kings of Portugal and Castile to observe the Conditions of peace which they had agreed upon The six next Letters have nothing worth notice in them In the two hundred and fifty sixth he determin'd That the Acts of Judges are not authentick unless they are authorised by the Witnesses In the two hundred and fifty seventh he confirmed some Rules made by the Magistrates of Benevento about the dues of Officers of Justice By the two hundred and fifty eighth he order'd the execution of a Mandate granted by Pope Celestin for a Canonship of Benevento In the two hundred and fifty ninth he order'd the Archbishop and Chapter of Rouen to proceed according to the Resolution of the greatest and wisest part of the Chapter that every Canon should contribute out of his Revenue towards the repairing of the Church In the two hundred and sixtieth written to the same Archbishop he exhorts him not to yield to the agreement which the Kings of France and England had made together by which they resolved to appoint four Ecclesiasticks to examine whether the Judgments he had given or should give ought to be executed by them against their Subjects and in case they should not give Judgment that they ought to force them by seizing on their Estates to revoke their Judgment In the two hundred and sixty first he wrote to the Bishop of Winchester to punish the Simoniacks in his Diocess notwithstanding their appeal to the Holy See In the two hundred and sixty second to the Bishop and Chapter of Vesca he order'd them to turn a certain Clergyman out of his Living for having forged Letters by which he got his Living again after having left it In the two hundred and sixty third he gave leave to the Bishop of Amiens to put what Canons he pleased into a House which he had given the Abbot of St. Martin of the Twins to place his Canons in if the Abbot should neglect to do it after being put in mind by the Bishop In the two hundred and sixty fourth to the Archbishop of Rouen he determined That a person who hath the Patronage of a Living cannot present himself to it however fit he be for the Place In the two following to the same Person he declar'd That all the Diocesans as well Ecclesiasticks as Laicks are obliged to submit to the Sentences of Interdiction published by the Bishop In the two hundred and sixty seventh written to the Bishop Archdeacon and Sacrist of Maguelone about a Difference between this Bishop and the Provost of his Church concerning a Person nominated to the Archdeaconship of this Diocess after having related the reasons urged on one side and the other he declar'd That following the Footsteps of his Predecessors who were of opâ—nion that the Judgments of the See of Rome might be altered when it was found there had been a Trick he revoked the Donation of this Archdeaconship made by the Bishop although approved of by his Predecessor Pope Alexander and order'd the Chapter to proceed to a new Election By the five hundred forty and first he settled the Archdeaconship upon him who had had it conferred upon him by the Archbishop of Arles In the two hundred and sixty eighth he recommended the protection of the Monastry of St. Victor of Marseilles to the Archbishops of Arles Aix and Embrun and to the Bishops their Suffragans In the two hundred and sixty ninth he order'd the Bishop of Varadin to come to Rome to receive the Absolution of the Excommunication which he had incurred In the two hundred and seventieth he gave leave to the King of Hungary to keep back an Earl and some other Holy Soldiers to the number of twenty whom he had need of to keep himself firm in his Kingdom In the two hundred and seventy first he exhorted an Hungarian Lord to be loyal to his King In the two hundred and seventy second he confirmed a Judgment given by his Legate Cardinal Gregory in favour of the Bishop of Transilvania By the two hundred and seventy third he entrusted the Archbishop of Arles with the Reform of the Monastry of Lerins with leave to put in some of the Monks of Citeaux if he did not find any of that Order there In the two hundred and seventy fourth he gave leave to this Archbishop to put some of the Monks of Citeaux into an Island in the stead of the Canons which were there but had not subsistence In the two hundred and seventy fifth he order'd the Archbishop and Archdeacon of Narbonne to nullify all that the Abbot of St. Saviour of Lodeve had done against the Monks of his Monastry and other Persons to the prejudice of their Appeal put into the Holy See In the two hundred and seventy sixth he gave leave to the Canons of St. John of Besancon to settle another House with the consent of their Bishop By the two hundred and seventy seventh he discharged the Archbishop of Besancon from the accusation which his Canons had laid against him they not caring to prosecute it and he forbids them for the future to propose any thing against their Archbishop but in the mean while he sets the Bishop of Challon and the Abbot de la Fertè to inform him of the Conduct of this Archbishop By the two hundred and seventy eighth he commissioned the Abbots of Citeaux and de Toul to proceed against the Treasurer of Besancon to oblige him
Prince of Antioch and desiring the Pope to protect him and send him some assistance against the Saracens The Pope makes answer in the two hundred and fifty third Letter that he will send to his Legates upon the place to judg in all these Differences and that in the mean while he 'll order the Earl of Tripoli not to meddle By the two hundred and fifty fourth Letter he order'd the Lords and People of Armenia to assist their King in making war against the Saracens and by the next he sends him the Standard of St. Peter to encounter the Enemies of the Cross. By the two hundred and fifty seventh he revok'd a Judgment given by the Bishop of Sidon in Syria who was commissioned by the Holy See against the Templers And by the two hundred fifty ninth he order'd the King of England to restore the Templers a Castle which belonged to them In the two hundred and sixtieth he appointed Commissaries to inform of the matters for which the Abbot of Pomposa was accused In the two hundred and sixty first to the Bishop of Rossano he answer'd divers Questions which this Bishop had proposed to him 1. That the Kindred of a Woman might marry the Kindred of her Husband 2. That although a Husband and Wife are Godfather and Godmother to a Child yet they do not thereby contract any such Compaternity as can hinder them from living as Man and Wife 3. That the Latin Priests might neither have Wives nor Concubines 4. That he might force the Abbots and Priests to come to his Synod 5. That the Chaplains of the Castle of Rossano had nothing to do to judg of the validity or invalidity of Marriages In the two hundred and sixty second he gave some Lands to the Judg of the Archbishop of Fermo's Temporal Jurisdiction or his Theologal In the two hundred and sixty fifth he order'd That a Clergyman who had gained a Commission about an Affair that had been decided before by telling a false Story should have no advantage by this Commission In the two hundred and sixty sixth he gave a Lord notice to receive the Legate which he sends him with all due respect The two hundred and sixty seventh is a Mandate for a Canonship in the Church of Breuil In the two hundred sixty eighth and two hundred and seventy second he enjoins the Abbots of Citeaux and Premontre to give the fourth part of the Estates of their Abbys towards the Holy War By the next two he required of all the Bishops of Europe supplies of Men and Mony for that War and of all the Faithful the same in the two hundred and seventy first In the two hundred and seventy third he appointed the Archbishop of Tyre and the Bishop of Sidon his Commissaries to judge in a Suit between the Church of Tripoli and the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem about a Church The two hundred and seventy fifth and sixth are written about the Process concerning the Prebends of the Church of Padua The two hundred and seventy seventh is written about the Election of an Archbishop of Capua by two thirds of the Chapter maugre the opposition of the Pope's Legate and some Canons the Pope found no fault in the form of the Election and because he was not yet satisfied that the Person elected was thirty years old he puts off the Confirmation of the Election and in the mean while till the thing was settled appointed the elected Person who was Subdeacon of Rome to administer both Spirituals and Temporals The two hundred and seventy eighth is also written about the removal of the excommunicated Bishop of Hildesheim because he would without the permission of the Holy See take the Bishoprick of Wirtzburg The Pope gave order to the Bishop of Bamburg to inform whether he observed and was obedient to the Interdict that he might know whether it was fit to pardon him By the two hundred and seventy ninth he confirmed the Institution which the Bishop of Amiens had made of four Religious in a Church In the two hundred and eightieth he advised the Lords and Magistrates of Sicily to labour with his Legate to promote the good of that Realm By the two hundred eighty first he confirmed an Agreement made between the Templers of Sclavonia and the Monastry of St. Cosmus and St. Damienus of the same Country In the two hundred and eighty second he declar'd null a Resignation made for fear of the King of England In the two hundred and eighty third he finished a Suit that had been depending at Rome about the Election of the Bishop of Sutri The four following are the same with some before By the two hundred and eighty eighth he confirmed the new Bishop of Hildesheim who was chosen in the place of him who would remove to Wirtzburg and declar'd null all the Alienations that the latter had made of the Possessions of the Church of Hildesheim In the two hundred and eighty ninth he empowered some Abbots in his name to present to the vacant Prebends of the Archbishoprick of Magdeburg which the Archbishop and Chapter had neglected to fill within the time appointed by the Council of Lateran Monsieur Baluze takes notice after this Letter that this second Book of the Register of Pope Innocent's Letters is not compleat because Roger of Hoveden quotes a Letter of this Pope's of the year 1199 about Giraudus Bishop of St. Davids which is not to be found among these and he adds for a Supplement some Letters which he had taken from divers places The first which is the two hundred and ninetieth of this Book is addressed to the Clergy of the Diocess of Penna in the Province of Abruzzo whom he orders to submit to the Jurisdiction and Justice of the Bishop as well in what respects their Tithes and Incomes as what concerns the Causes of Marriage and Penance The two hundred and ninety first is a Confirmation of the Privileges of the Church of Volterra The two hundred and ninety second is a Protection granted to a Priest In the two hundred and ninety third and fourth he exhorted all the Princes of Germany to labour for the Peace of the Empire and for an Accommodation between Otho and Philip. By the two hundred and ninety fifth he commits to the Bishop of Verceil and the Abbot of Lucedia the Judgment of a Process between the Monks and Canons of Milan The two hundred and ninety sixth is a Confirmation of the Privileges of the Abbey of Mariadura By the two hundred and ninety seventh he takes the Earl of Montpellier into his protection and tells him in the next that he will send him Legates to labour for the destroying of Heresy The two hundredth and ninety ninth and three hundredth are written about the Removals of Bishops He of the Isle of Lesina upon the Coasts of Dalmatia had been required for the Archbishoprick of Zara and before this Demand was admitted in the Court of Rome he had
his Writings Constantine Acropolita Logothetes Mark and Job Jasites against Veccus and so did a Monk nam'd MARK and JOB JASITES who compos'd a Book sometime before the other two against a Writing of the Emperor Michael and an Apology for Joseph We may likewise reckon among the Greek Authors GREGORY ABULPHARAJE an Arabian Gregory Abulpharaje an Arabian of the Sect of the Jacobites or Melchites who compos'd an History of the Dynasties which ends at the 683 year of the Hegira that is Anno Christi 1284. He was in great esteem in the East His Tract was Publish'd in Arabick and Latin by Dr. Pocock and Printed at Oxford in the Year 1663. CHAP. VI. Of the Councils held during the Thirteenth Century THere is scarce any Age wherein more Councils were held in the West and wherein more Laws Constitutions and Ordinances were made than in this of which we are giving you an History The Councils held during the Thirteenth Century The Popes Arch-Bishops and Bishops were all in a particular manner engag'd in reforming the Church in regulating the Manners and Conduct of Ecclesiasticks and in informing them of their Duties This is the Subject matter of most of the Canons and Ordinances of the Councils and Synods held in this Century Therein the manner how the Clerks ought to be habited and the Life they ought to lead are adjusted the Luxury and the Disorders of several are Condemned with the utmost Severity Therein they have a great many Instructions about the Administration of the Sacraments the Celebration of Mass and the Ceremonies of the Church There the Bishops Priests and the other Clergy are inform'd of their Functions and Office Therein Plurality of Benefices is Prohibited and Residence Enjoyn'd and a great many Proviso's made about the Collation of Benefices Therein a great many Laws are Enacted relating to Ecclesiastical Causes and to prevent the Abuses which several made of the Commissions they took out of the Holy See Therein are Renew'd and Confirm'd the Privileges and Immunities of the Clergy and the Penalties inflicted on those who offer any Violence to their Persons or Estates or seise upon their Tithes Therein new Methods are found out to Punish Hereticks and to support the INQUISITION lately set up Therein Sorcerers and Usurers are Condemned Therein all the Faithful are enjoyn'd to be present at the Parochial Mass on Festivals and Sundays and to confess themselves and receive the Communion at least once a Year These are the Principal Matters treated of in the Canons of the Councils of which we are going to give you a Particular Account according to the Order of Time wherein they were held The Council of Sens in the Year 1198. MIchael Corbeil Arch-Bishop of Sens being come to the Town of La Charité at the instance of the Bishop of Auxerre whether the Bishops of Nevers and Meaux were likewise come and having The Council of Sens in the Year 1198. made enquiry what Hereticks there were in that Place they found that Reginald Abbot of Saint Martin at Nevers and the Dean of the Cathedral Church of that City were accus'd of Heresie and that there were a great many Accusers and Witnesses against them They Suspended them and Cited them to Auxerre where they made their Appearance The Abbot would not make his Defence but appeal'd to the Holy See before his Process was drawn up The Arch-Bishop of Sens without regarding this Appeal continu'd the drawing up his Process and cited him to the Council which was to be held at Sens. The Tryal of the Dean was likewise referr'd to that Council that so they might have time to receive the Depositions of Witnesses on both sides The Council was held at Sens in the Year 1198 and the Bishops of Troyes Auxerre and Nevers were there present The Abbot of St. Martin appear'd before these Prelates and endeavour'd to make his Defence but seeing his Affair was like to have no success he renew'd his Appeal Tho' it was against all Form and the Bishops were not oblig'd to take any notice of it yet they would not pronounce any thing against him upon the account of Heresie but condemn'd him for other Crimes whereof he stood Convicted and for the Scandal he gave and depos'd him for ever They afterwards sent to the Pope the Depositions drawn against him which imported that he had asserted That the Body of Jesus Christ went into the Draught and that all Men would one day be saved As to the Dean there were not Evidences strong enough to Convict and Condemn him but since there were a great many Presumptions against him because of his intimacy with Hereticks they would not give him Absolution but sent him to Rome Innocent III. after he had heard him and examin'd his Process order'd that he should clear himself by the Testimony of Fourteen Witnesses and wrote to the Arch-Bishop of Sens that he would admit him to clear himself and restore to him his Benefice after he had done it The Abbot of St. Martin having likewise remov'd his Cause to Rome the Pope referr'd him to Peter Cardinal of St. Mary his Legate in France and to Odo Bishop of Paris We are inform'd of this Piece of History by the Letters of Innocent III. and by the Chronicon of Auxerre wherein 't is said that those two Hereticks were of the Sect of the Poblicans The Council of Dalmatia in the Year 1199. TWo Legates of Pope Innocent III. in Dalmatia one of whom nam'd John being only a Chaplain The Council of Dalmatia 1199 and the other call'd Simon a Sub-deacon made Twelve Orders for the Clergy of that Kingdom wherein they prohibited Simony renew'd the Law of the Celibacy of Ecclesiasticks fix'd the Times of Ordinations and the Intervals betwixt them approv'd of the Ancient dividing of the Church-Revenues into four Parts enjoyn'd the Secrecy of Confession provided for the security of Ecclesiasticks by declaring those Excommunicated who abus'd them and by prohibiting them from being carry'd before secular Judges prohibited Marriages between Relations to the Fourth Degree enjoyn'd Clerks to have the Clerical Tonsure condemn'd the Laicks who collated Benefices and those who receiv'd them from their Hands excommunicated those who retain'd the Treasures of the Church and such who left their Wives prohibited Bastards from being admitted into Holy Orders and forbad the Ordaining any one who was not full Thirty Years Old The Council of London in the Year 1200. HUbert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury call'd a Council at London in Westminster-Castle against the Prohibitions The Council of London 1200. which the Earl of Essex Lord Chancellor of England had made wherein he Publish'd several Injunctions By the First he orders That the Words of the Canon of the Mass shall be pronounc'd distinctly and sincerely by the Priests without relying too much upon them In the Second He prohibits Priests from saying two Masses a day without urgent Necessity and when a Priest shall be oblig'd to
Celebrate twice he enjoyns that after the first Celebration he shall take care to drink up what is left in the Chalice to wipe his Fingers to wash them and to take care to have Water to Wash after the Second time of Celebrating at least that there should not be any Deacon or any other Minister assisting at the first Celebration who should be capable of this Ablution He likewise Orders That the Eucharist shall be kept in a proper and decent Box and shall be carry'd to the Sick cover'd over with a White Cloth a Taper and Cross being carry'd before it and that it shall not be given but in publick and only to those who desire it The Third imports That such Children as are expos'd shall be Baptiz'd that no Person shall be presented to Confirmation by his Brother by his Mother or his Uncle or his Mother-in-Law and that Deacons shall not Administer Baptism or enjoyn Pennance unless in case of necessity The Fourth enjoyns the Priests in inflicting of Pennances to consider the Circumstances and the Qualities of the Sins and the Condition of the Persons and to take care not to impose any Pennance which may discover the Crime as for instance not to make a Woman suspected by her Husband He prohibits Priests who have fall'n into any Sin to approach the Altar to Celebrate Mass before they have confess'd their Sins And Lastly He Orders That the Priests should not enjoyn the Laicks as a Pennance to Order so many Masses to be said for them The other Constitutions of this Council are taken out of the Lateran Council under Alexander III. The Council of Lambeth in the Year 1206. IN the Year 1206 Stephen of Langton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury held a Synodal Assembly at his The Council of Lambeth 1206 Palace of Lambeth wherein he made Three Institutions The First about the Right of Mortmain which was paid to Churches The Second against Drunken Clubs and the Third to prohibit Priests from saying above one Mass a day except in the Christmass or Easter Holy-days or when a Curate is oblig'd to bury a Corps in his Church in which Case he who celebrates ought not to receive the Ablution but at the last Mass. The Constitutions of Cardinal Gallo drawn up in the Year 1208. GAllo Cardinal Deacon of St. Mary's who liv'd under the Pontificate of Innocent III. and was sent The Constitutions of Cardinal Gallo in the Year 1208. by that Pope as his Legate into France has left us several excellent Constitutions about the Behaviour of the Clergy drawn up in the Year 1208. In the First he condemns all the Priests and other Ecclesiasticks who kept in their Houses suspicious Women excepting those Clerks who were of the Minor Orders who might marry but not hold their Benefices with their Wives He orders That the Ecclesiasticks should be admonish'd not so much as to keep their Mothers or their Wives or any of their Nearest Relations in their Houses In the Second he prohibits under pain of Excommunication the demanding any thing for Baptism Burial Benediction and the rest of the Sacraments of the Church and yet he allows that Laicks should be admonish'd not to refuse out of a Motive of Avarice what the Faithful were us'd to give out of Devotion to testifie the respect they bore to the Sacraments The Third and Fourth prohibit the Clergy and Beneficed Persons from wearing red Habits or such as were made in the fashion of the Laicks Habits The Fifth prohibits Monks from wearing sumptuous Robes or of any other Colour than Black The Sixth prohibits the Clerks and Monks from being Usurers or Merchants under the Penalty of Excommunication The Seventh enjoyns the Superiours to put these Constitutions in Execution The Eighth and Ninth import That they shall admonish the Scholars to observe them and if they will not then they shall be declar'd Excommucate by the Chancellor who shall have no correspondence with them till they have made satisfaction and receiv'd Absolution from the Bishop or in the Bishop's Absence from the Abbot of St. Victor Lastly He enjoyns the School-masters to explain these Constitutions themselves These last Articles shew that these Orders were made at Paris The Council of Avignon in the Year 1209. IN the Year 1209 Hugh Raymond Bishop of Riez and Milo Legates of the Holy See held a Council The Council of Avignon 1209 at Avignon the 6th of September at which were present the Arch-Bishops of Vienna Arles Ambrun and Aix with Twenty Bishops several Abbots and several Curates There they made these following Constitutions By the First Bishops are enjoyn'd to Preach the Word of God and cause it to be Preach'd in their Diocesses The Second imports That the Bishops shall make use of Censures if occasion require to oblige the Earls Lords and other Persons to swear That they will extirpate the Hereticks and turn the Jews out of all manner of Offices The Third That Usurers shall be Excommunicated The Fourth That the Jews shall be hinder'd from exacting Usury from working on Sundays and from eating Flesh on days of Abstinence The Fifth Orders the paying of Tithes to the Ecclesiasticks and forbids the Alienation of them The Sixth Prohibits unjust Exactions and Taxes made by the Lords without the Authority of the Prince and Orders That the Territories of those Lords who exact them shall be interdicted The Seventh prohibits Laicks under Pain of Excommunication from exacting any Taxes from the Clergy and from seizing upon the Estates of Bishops or Ecclesiasticks after their Death The Eighth likewise Prohibits the Laicks from intermeddling with the Elections or from hindering the freedom of them The Ninth Prohibits the Building of Churches Fortify'd with Castles and enjoins the Fortifications of such as have them to be Demolish'd except such as are necessary for the Repulsing the Pagans The Tenth Confirms the Laws made for the preservation of Peace and condemns the Arragonese the Barbanzonese and Routiers who disturb it The Eleventh Enjoins the Ecclesiastical Judges speedily and with Resolution to Dispatch the Causes which shall brought before them The Twelfth is against the forwardness of some in taking off an Excommunication or Interdiction 'T is declared according to a Decretal of Pope Innocent III. That no Excommunication made for some Dammage done shall be taken off till such time as the Excommunicate Person shall Swear to make Reparation and if it be for having committed a default in Judgment till such time as he likewise Swear to appear before the Judge The Thirteenth Contains a new Law against Perjured Persons by which the Absolution of those who are guilty of that Crime is reserv'd to the Pope as well as the Absolution of Sacrilegious Persons and Incendaries The Fourteenth Renews the Law of the Lateran Council to oblige the Collators of Benefices to Present within Six Months The Fifteenth Prohibits Bishops Abbots and other Superiors from allowing the Monks to hold any thing by way of Property and the