A general history of the Christian church, from the fall of the western empire to the present time (Volume 2) online

that frefh oil might be confecrated for the purpofe ;
and as there were no confecrated waters with which
to give the viaticum to the dymg, he faid their faith

O 4 muJJ



nQ THE HISTORY OF Pjir. XIX.

jnuft fupply that deficiency, firice Auflin had faid,
that if they beUeved that they partook oi it, they
virtually did fo.

Tho' this interdi6i had continued two years,
the king was fo far from m.dking any conccflions,
that he violently perfecuted the clergy ; and this
frefh provocation ^ed the pope, on the 1 2th of Ja-
nuary A. D. 1209, to give the three bifliops acom-
iniflion to excommunicate him, which accordingly
they did. A theologian of the name of MatTon
encouraged the king in his refiftance, teaching that
the pope had not received from St. Peter any au-
thority in things of a temporal nature, and in can-
fequence of this obtained feveral church livings,
But the pope being informed of the maxims that
he taught, deprived him of them ; fo that, as the
hillorian fays, he begged his bread from door to
^oor.

In A. D. 1211 the pope fent his legate Pandolf,
^nd others, to perfuade the king to give fatisla£tion
to the church ; but he not agreeing to the pope's
terms, his fubjeds and vaffals were declared to be
abfolved from their oath of allegiance to him ; all
perfons were forbidden under pain of excommuni-
cation to have any intercourfe with him, even at
table, or fo much as fpeak to him. Bat fome of
the bifliops encouraging the king, he perfevered in
his obftinacy.



S.sc.IV. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. ^iT

On ihis the pope wrote to the king of France,
exho)tin,(^ him, for the lemiffion of his lins, to un-
dertake the dethrorsMig of John, and feizing his-.
kin^T'^oin. He alfo addrelied a letter to the lords
and knij^hts of other nations, urging them to take
the erofs for the invafion of England ; promifing
thsE; t'jey who engaged in this expedition ihould
receive the fame prote6^ion Irom the holy fee as if
they had gone to the holy land. In confequence
of this, the king of France, havit^g long wifhed for
fucb an excufe, a6iually declared war againft John ;
and at this time it was that, to recommend himfelf
ilill more to the pope, he took back his wife In-
gelburga, from whom, notwithftanding the repeated,
orders of the pope to the contrary, he had been fe-
parated fixteen years.

This conduft of the king of France gave John
fo much alarm, that he was perfuaded at length to
fubmit to the pope, as the only way to preferve his
kingdom. Accordingly he fignilied his intention
to do fo on the 13th of May a. d. 1203, ^^^ ^^
the J 5th of the fame month he even made a formal
furrender of the kingdoms of England and Ire-,
land, holding thera from that time as a vaffal
of the pope ; and befides Peter's pence, he pro-
mi fed to pay to the pope every year a thoufand
marks of filver, and to oblige all his fucceffors io
do the fame, on pain of forfeiting his crown. In

O 5 the



218 THE HISTORY OF Per. XlX.

the prefence of the legate Pandolf, he laid afide
his crown, and took the oath of fealty, receiving it
again from his hands. A piece of money being
delivered as a pledge of the fealty, the haughty
prelate trampled upon it.

From England the legate went to France, and
ordered the king to defift from his invafion of the
dominions of king J ohn, now a vaffal of the pope ;
at which, having been at a great expence in his
preparations, he was much enraged ; and fo far
was he from rejoicing at the converfion of his bro-
ther, as a Chriftian king ought to have done, that
lie would have proceeded, but that his vaffal the
count of Flanders abandoned him. The exiled
bifhops then returned, and having all their pro-
perty reflored to them, they took off the king's ex-
communication ; and tiie interdi6l on the kingdom
was taken off the 25th of June a. d. 1214, after
it had continued fix years and three months.

So far was it from being thought that the king
a£led from a principle of confcience in this bufmefs,
that, according to Matthew'Paris, he made an of-
fer of the fubjedion of his kingdom to the Maho-
metan king of Morocco, prbmifing to renounce
Chriftianity, in order to obtain his affiftance, but
that the muffelman treated the ofFer with con-
tempt. As a farther evidence that he was no be-
liever in Chriflianity, it is faid that, feeing a flag

which



Sec. IV. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 219

which he had taken in hunting to be very fat, he
obferved, that he had thriven very well, tho' he
had never gone to mafs. The pope, however, on
the idea of his being a true penitent, and faithful.
fon of the church, wrote to him ; faying that what
he had done was without doubt from the Ipirit of
God, and that he now polfeffed his kingdom in a
more fublime and fohd manner than ever ; fince it
was become, in the language of fciipture, a facer-
dotal kingdom.

After this the king having been compelled to
grant his lay barons a charter of liberties, and re-
penting of what he had done, the pope not only
abfolved him from his oath, but forbad his ob-
fervance of it on pain of excommunication. He
alfo ordered the barons to renounce their claims ;
and as they paid no regard to this, he excommu-
nicated them. But as this excommunication was
only general, they made no account of it. At the
council of Lateran in a. d. 1215, this excommuni-
cation of the refraftory Englifli barons was repeat-
ed, and now fome of them were mentioned by
name. An interdict was, moreover laid on their
lands, and alfo on the city of London ; but the
citizens defpifed it, and maintained that the ba-
rons ought not to regard it, nor the clergy to pub-
lifh it, fince the pope has nothing to do with tem-
poral affairs, but that the cowardly Romans

wifhed



220 THE HISTORY OF Per. XIS.

wifhcd to rule the ivorld by their excommunica-
tions.

The barons Gontinuing their oppofition macb
an offer of the kingdom to Lewis the fon of the
king of France, but the pope forbad him to accept
of it, as it belonged to the holy fee. In anfwer
to this, the king of France and his- Jords faid that
no king bad aright todifpofe of his kingdom with-
out the confent of his lords ; and Lewis not>vi£h-
ftanding the remonftrance of the pope's legate,
who excommunicated him and all his adherents,
and efpecially Simon de Langton, brother of th«
arehbifhop of Canterbury, went to England ; and)
the war was carried on with various fuccefs. After
the death of John in a. d. 1216, and the acceflion
of Henry III, the affairs of Lewis declined, and
the legate joining the army of the young king, ex<
communicated Lewis, and publifhed a plenary in -
dulgence to thofe who fought againft him. Being,
^fter this, defeated by the army of Henry, he lett
the kingdom in May a. d. 1217.



SECTION



Sec. V. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 223

SECTION V.

Oj the State of the Clergy in this Period,

X HE fpirit of the clergy continued as
high in this period as in the preceding, tho* the
fpirit of the laity rofe in oppofition to them, and
tlio' many of their ufurpations had been of fo long
continuance, that they were not difputed.

It appears from what paffed at the council of
Milan, in a. d. 1225, that the king of Franceal-
lowed the jurifdiflion of the clergy to extend to
all cafes refpeQing oaths, fealty, and homage,
wills, and marriages. The bifhops had alfo claim-
ed the cognifance of all caufes in which the vaffals
of the church were concerned againft any perfon
whatever.

In A. D. 1232 Maurice archbifhop of Rouen
being cited to appear before the king, refufed, fay-
ing, that after God he had no other judge than the
pope, both in things temporal and things fpiritual.
On this the king ordered all the domains of the
church to be feized ; but the archbifhop laid ail
the eftates of the king in his diocefe under an inter-
(di6t ; and on his complaining to the pope, the
king was obliged to reftore what he had taken, af-
lei the interditl: had continued thirteen months.

In



:224 THE HISTORY OF Per. Xlt.

the people did not oppofe him, the country was to
be laid under an interdi6l.

There appeared ih this period to be little wif-
dom in thefe violent church cenlures, the laity in
general having, in many places at leaft, begun to
confider the natural equity of them, and if they
.thought them unjuft, to pay no regard to them ; fo
that it was thought neceffary to add civil to eccle-
rfiaftical punilhments. It appeared particularly at
the council of Narbonne in a, d. 1227^ when it
was ordered that as the laity of that province def-
pifed excommunication, every excommunicated
perfon fhould be fined nine livres and one deniei-^
and that if he remained in a ftate of excommunica-
tion a whole year, his goods fhould be confifcated.
InA;D, 1253 clergy of France applied to
Lewis IX for his order to confifcate the efFe6ls of
thofe who refufed to be abfolved after being excom-
municated a year and a day ; fmce, as they faid,
no regard was paid to their excommunications, and
perfons eveii thofe to die in that ftate. The king
-replied, that he would willingly grant it with re-
{peO: to thofe who were juftly excommunicated;
but the bifhops replying that they were the only
judges of that, he refufed, mentioning the cafe of
the count of Britany ; who after having been feven
years execmmunicated by the bifhop of his pro-
vince, was judged by the pope himfelf to have been

treated



j^m.V. tHE CHilISTlAN CHURCH. sM

treat^i unjuftlf, atid abfolved. Aboat the fame
time itwais agreed at the council of Bourdeaux, that
if any perf&n iti a ftate of excommunication did not
get abfolved within a year and a day, he Ihould
be confidered as a heretk, and fubje6l:ed to tem-
poral puniftiment as fuch.

* In A. f). 124^ there had been a more ferious
alarm given to the clergy of France, by a general
<:oiifpiracy of the barons of that kingdom againft
•them, exprefling their determination not to fubmit
to their jnrifditlion, except in cafes of herefy,
marriage, and ufury. They took an oath to ftand
by one another, appointed the duke of Burgundy,
and three others, to a6l for them, and taxed them-
felves for the fupport of the common caufe. Pop6
Innocent IV was much difturbed when he heard
of this ; but advifed the clergy to oppufe the mea-
sures of the barons with all their powen Perceiv*
^ng, however, that church cenfures had no eflPe^j
he gained many of the principal of the barons by
giving church livings to their relations, and grant-
ir4g them other favours, and by this means warded
oiF the blow for that time.

If it had not been for the fpirit that now began
to be roufed by the incroachments and exadions
of the clergy, it is not to fay where they would
have ended. At the council of Lyons in a. d.
1245, the Englifh ambaffador complained that tlie

Vol. IV. F Italian



J24 THE HISTORY OF Per. XIX.

the people did not oppofe him, the country was to
be laid under an interdift.

There appeared iti this period to be little wif-
dom in thefe violent church ceniures, the laity in
â– general having, in many places at leaft, begun to
confider the natural equity of them, and if they
thought them unjuft, to pay no regard to them ; fo
that it was thought neceffary to add civil to eccle-
fiaftical punifhments. It appeared particularly at
the council of Narbonne in a* d. 1227J when it
was ordered that as the laity of that province def-
pifed excommunication, every excommunicated
perfon Ihould be fined nine livres and one denier^
and that if he remained in a Hate of excommunica-
tion a whole year, his goods fhould be confifcated.

In A. p, 1253 clergy of France applied to
Lewis IX for his order to confifcate the efFe6ls of
thofe who refufed to be abfolved after being excom-
municated a year and a day ; (ince, as they faid,
no regard was paid to their excommunications, and
perfons even chofe to die in that ftate. The king
replied, that he would willingly grant it with re-
fpe6l to thofe who were juftly excommunicated ;
but the bifhops replying that they were the only
judges of that, he refufed, mentioning the cafe of
the count of Britany ; who after having been feven
years excommunicated by the bifhop of his pro-
vince, was judged by the pope himfell to have been

treated



^c-V. tHE CFmiSTlAN CHURCH. sif

fr6ate.i unjuftly, and abfolved. About the fame
time it Was agreed at the council of Bourdeaux, that
if any perf(!)niA a ftate of excommunication did not
get abfolved within a year and a day, he ftiould
be confidered as a heretic, and fubje6:ed to tem-
poral puniftiment as fuch.

â–  In A. D. 124^ there had been a more ferlous
^larm given to the clergy of France, by a general
^onfpiraey of the barons of that kingdom ^gainft
them, expreffing their determination not to fubmit
to their jurifdit^ion, except in cafes of herefy,
marriage, and ufury. They took an oath to fl^and
by one another, appointed the duke of Burgundy,
and three others, to a6l fol- them, and taxed them-
felves for the fupport of the common caufe. Popd
Innocent IV was much diflurbed when he heard
of this ; but advifed the clergy to oppufe the mea-
'^ures of the barons with all their powen Perceiv-
ing, however, that church cenfures had no efFcQjj
he gained many of the principal of the barons by
giving church livings to their relations, and grant-
-ing them other favours, and by this means warded
off the blow for that time.

If it hid not been for the fpirit that now began
to be roufed by the incroachments and exa6lions
of the clergy, it is not to fay where they would
have ended. At the council of Lyons in a. d.
1245, tbe Englifh ambaffador complained that tlie

Vol. IV. P Italian



226 THE HISTORY OF Per. XIXw

Italian clergy, who were non refident, drew from
the kingdom more than fixty thoufand marks oi
filver annually, which was more than the king's
revenue.

In the Eafl; the clergy never had the power,
or the immenfe revenues, of thofe in the Weft;
but while Conftantinople was poflefTed by the La-
tins, fome fteps were taken towards bringing them
into the fame fituation. It had not been the
cuftom in the Eaft to pay tythes; but it was de-
creed at the council of Lateran in a. d. 1215, that
they fliould be levied in all parts of the Chriftian
world before any other tax, as a mark of the uni-
verfal dominion of God. The provilion for tl>e
bifhops in that part of the world not being thought
to be fufficient, the pope was lequefledC 10 reduce
their number- but he chofe rather to give two o
them to one peifon, that in future time it might be
more eafy, if it ftiould be convenient, to feparate
them again. This, fays Fleury, was the origin of
the perfonal union of church livings during the
life of the incumbent, which was much abufed af-
terwards.

The diforderly lives of many of the clergy, the
natural confequence of their wealth and power, no
lefs than their exadlions and ufurpations, contri-
buted to make them odious, and make their cen-
fures little regarded. It appears from the council

of



\'



girc.V* THE CHRISTIAN CIIURCit. nzf

of Virfburg in a. d. 1286, tbtf the clergy of Ger-
many were in general very diforderly. Some of
them were not fufficiently modcfl: in their drefs,
they frequented tavers, played at dice, vilited the
nuns, chatted and played with them in their owa
rooms, exercifed themfelves at tournaments, kept:
concubines, got polTeflion of livings by fraudulent
entry, or violence, and fome faid mafs every day
merely for hire. Some of the prelates alienated
the goods of the church on the pretence of debts.
In the wars, which were then frequent in that coun-
try, they who took poffeflion of the churches made-
fortreffes of them, which gave occafiion to the ene-
my who took them to dellroy or burn them. Bi-
fliops fo negle6led vifitations, that fome perfons
were not confirmed at the age of lixtyi

But the moft extraordinary charocler of a cler-
gyman that occurs in the courfe of this period, is
that of Henry bilhop of Liege, brother of Otho
count of Guelderland, and coufm of William count
of Holland. He had been promoted to that bi-
fhoprick by Innocent IV, who wifhed to fupporfe
that count in his pretenlions to the empire. Gre-
gory X, who had been archdeacon of Liege in the
time of this Henry, on being made pope, wrote
him a letter of expoflulation, from which we have
the following particulars. *' We learn," he fays,
•' wirii grief, that you are addiQed to fimony arid

P 2 ♦* in^



52« THE HISTORY OF Per. XIX.

'â– ' irTconflnence, fo tfiat you have had many child-
" ren both before and after your promotion to the
** biniopnck. You have taken an abbefs of the
" Older of Si. Bt;riedi6l for your public concubine,
" and at a public entertainment boafltd before the
^^ company that in twenty-two months you had
*' fourteen children, to fome of whom ynu have
*' given or procured benefices with care of fouls
â– *"' before they were of age, and you have given to
*' others of your children the goods of your bifhop-
rick, and thus married them advantageoufly. In
one of your houfes called the Paik, you have
"*' long kept a nun, together with other women,
A nunnery in your diocefe having loft their a^b-
befs, you have annulled a canonical eleftion,
and- put in a daughter of a count, to whofe fon
*' you had married one of your daughters ; and
they fay that this abbefs is delivered of a child
which flie had by you. You are fo negligent in
" the exercife of your temporal power, that you
^' exempt from punifhment thieves, murderers,
*' and other malefadors, provided they give you
** money. You never recite the liturgy, or even
*' hear it, being wholly illiterate; and you often
*' appear in a fecular habit, with fcarlet, fo that
*' you are more like a knight than a prelate." Af-
ter thisietnonftrance the pope exhorted him to re-
pent, and not to truft to his youth, which promifed

him









Ss^.Y. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 329

him a long life. This friendly letter, however,
produced no efTt <5t,. and at the council of Lyons in
A. D. 1274 he was depofsd, and lived twelve years
pfter it. . .

So many of the clergy in this period rendering
themlelves odious by their profli-Tacy and rapaci-
t;^ we cannot wonder that in fome of tl^e lefs ci-
vilized parts of Europe, they weireexpofed to great
violence. They fufiFered much in Denrnaik, as
appears from the a6ls of a council confirmed by
Alexander IV in a. d. 1257, wher« it was ordered
that, if any bilhopfhould be feized, d^eprived of any;
limb, or any othei" injury be done to him in ther
kingdom of Denmark, by the order or with he:
confent of theking, the country Ihould be laid un«
der an interdift. In the remote parts of Germany
the perfons of the clergy were no more ;pared thaa
their goods ; no refpeft was paid to the env<;ys of
the bilhops, or the legates of the church ol Ryme.
They were often arrelled, beaten, and Iliipped,.
and the letters they carried tern.

In this, as alfo in a former period, the clergy
were fometimes gpilty of great violence to one an-
olher. In a. d. 1222 the bifhop of Caithnefs in
Scotland having a diEForen-Ge with his clergy about
tythes, and other rights of his church, they mur-
dered him, and burned him in his own kitchen.

? 3 SECTION



no THE mSTORY OF Per. XIX.



SECTION Tl.

Of the Monks in this Period, and the Rijc of the
Francifcans, and Dominicani*

XN this period of our hiftory we find a
new and moft important aera in the affairs of the
church, viz. the ri-fe of the mtndicant orders, who,
when the preceding orders of monks were in gene-
ral fallen into difreputc, on account of the relaxa-
tion of their difcipline, acquired tlie greatefl: repu-
tation, not only for their auflerity and abftraded-
nefs from the world, but- for their a£livity, and
real fervices to what was then called the churchy
and efpecially the church of Pvome, to which they
were particularly devoted.

The diforders into which the monks in general,
jiot even excepting thofe of Clugni, or mount
Cafiin, formerly fo famous, had fallen, appeared
from the proceedings of the council of Lateran in
A. D. 1215. In the former the prior of la Chaiite
revolted from the abbot, and an open war was car-
ried on between them. At this council orders
were given for the reformation of the monks in gene-
ral, but more efpecially thofe who had no general
(hciptcrs, as they appeared to be more diflblute

tbau



Sec. VI. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 231

than the reft. All the orders of monks were,
therefore, now required to have general chapters,
for the exprefs purpofe of the refajtmation ot abufes;
and as the multiplicity of the orders was found to
be a great fource of abufe, it was decreed that
there fhould be no new ones formed. So little ef-
fe6i:, however, had this regulation, that more new
orders were founded after this council than had
exifted before it.

The monafteries in England being in a ftate of
great diforder, the pope in a. d. 1234 fent vifitors
to all of them that depended upon him. They
were chiefly abbots of the CiRercian order^ and that
of Premontre, but they aded with fo much harfh-
nefs and indifcretion, that there were many appeals
from them to the pope, and other vifitors were ap-
poinled. On the whole, however, according to
Matthew Paris, more harm than good retulted
from the vifitation, which extended to all the
kingdom.

Sunk, however, as the monks were in the gene-
ral efteem, there were fome inftances in this period,
as well as the preceding, of perfons of diftinftion
thinking there was fome advantage in dying in that
charatler. James I king of Arragon, furnamed
the Conqueror, on account of his many vi6lories
over tlie Moors, but remarkably addidled to wo-
men, finding himfelf dangeroufly ill, put on the

P 4 habit



?333 THE HISTORY OF Pkr. XI5(;.

habit, of a Ciflercian monk, and made a vow that
if, herecpveifcci he would fpeud 1 he remainder of
his life ina^n^qpiaftery, .^e. diiv;d a. d. 12; 6.

WeHtid, hotvever, much ot real rehgion, tho'
mixed wi'h fn peril ir:ous ugour, w the locicty of
th( Bi^'hcf ds, \sho weremen, and of the Btguies, who
\y?ere vvomui, .who ap;)eared about this time. Th^-
terms hgtni^ beggars in the Gei man language. They,,
dillinguiflicd themfcives by the meannefs of theit;
appearance, aswtii as their earnellnefs in prayer;
and for this reafon the appellation was often given,
wi;hout proper dilcrimination, to very different
liind^ of religionifts. The fame perfons were fom.e*
times c.iiled Lollards, and in France Beghines. In
Flanders they were fometiraes called the fraternity
of weavers, as they were chiefly of that occupation.
The firll regular fociety of thefe perfons was form-
ed at Antwerp in a. d. i2'28* They agreed to
live according to a certain rule, and in fubje6lion
to a chief, but with liberty to return to their former
mode of life. Thefe Ibcieties never obtained the
fan£tion q( ^he popes, tho' they -wq-yq often pro*.
tefted by thera from the violence of their enemies.
^i'^Jlieivi, Vol. 3. p. 82. 87.

After giving this unfavourable account of th«
morks in general within this period, I proceed to
relate the extraordinary hifl.ori(s of St. Francis. and
J)ominic, e^ch the founder of a diftincl order,

tho^



Ssc. VI. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 2M-

tho' much refembling one another, both profefled-
ly mendicants, and both -preachers, in which t^-
fpctls they were exceedingly different ftpro the pre^
ceding order of monks, who were confined .to oxx^
place, and wi h whom begging was difieputabl-e.i
and who, far from preaching, devoted themfelves,
to folifary meditation, or joint prayer. Francis
appearing a (ho>'t ,ti.me before Duminic, I fhall
give his hift.ry, and that of his order, in the firft
place.

St. Francis, as he was afterwards denominated-
was born at AfHli in Umbria in a. d. 1182, hi»
fafher being a merchant. At the age of twenty-
§ve he difcovered a turn of mind fo wholly reli-
gious, and fo unfit for bufinefs, that his father
was much difpleafed, and threatened to dilinherifc
him. To this the young man was fo flir from
having any objeclion, that, in the prefence of ths
bifliop of AfTifi, he folemnly difclaimed all ex^
peQ:ations from him, cand declared that from that
time he would acknowledge only hrs father in
heaven.

From this time he devoted hirafelf to woiks of
charity, and thofe of the mofl humiliating kind,
fueh as attending upon ]epers.[He repaired, and chief-
ly with the labour of his own hands, two churches
which were in a ruinous condition, the l;tter about
a mile from Affifi, and in this he locjged, and pafled

P 5 two



524 THE HISTORY OF Per. XIX.