BONI- to more modesty and justice; that he would retrench their Abp. Cant. grandeur, and reform them to the primitive practice; that in the first ages they lived like apostles, and made an humble figure. That under this private and unpretending appearance they were visited by angels, had the honour of a correspondence with heaven, and the privilege of working miracles: they cured diseases, and raised the dead: and when they conquered princes, it was by strength of character and exemplary piety, and not by drawing their swords and raising armies against them. But now, that order is strangely degenerated: the clergy are now all interest and ambition: they are debauched with their prosperity, and religion is almost choked with too much nourishment. It will be therefore a charitable undertaking to force them out of these circumstances of danger; to rescue them from their wealth, and reduce them to a mediocrity: "And therefore I hope your highness, and all other princes of ChristenId. p. 680. dom, will join with me in the pursuit of this enterprize." From this letter, the historian observes, the emperor discovered his ill intentions to the Church; that his passion had thrown him off his guard, and divulged his secrets; but, waiving the remarks of Matthew Paris, it must be said, the emperor was outrageously ill-used, and had reason for his resentment. However, many of his expressions are pushed too far, and by no means defensible. His satire against the Church in general, will hold good against the rich laity, and bring all things to the plan of the leveller's. For that wealth and power are no more dangerous to the clergy than to other people, is too evident to be denied. Of the two, one would think the Church should be the better fortified; for without asserting any extraordinary assistances of grace to that function, which is, I hope, no unreasonable supposition; without the help of this argument, I say, the clergy seem to have the advantage; for, besides the common reasons against misconduct, they are under peculiar restraints from their character. Unless, therefore, we will suppose that the most extravagant and ungovernable part of the world belong to this order, they must, of course, be more regular than other people; and, I believe, upon an impartial enquiry, experience will abundantly make good this observation. III. crown not pope's cen After the emperor was thus deposed, the pope's party set up HENRY Henry, prince of Hesse; but Frederick maintained his claim, K. of Eng. and maintained his ground; neither was the pope, nor any The emperor other prince successful enough to prevail against him. He de- keeps his spised the pope's censure, kept the crown upon his head, and withstandhad a considerable part of the empire in his interest to his in the dying day. He marched into Italy after his pretended sure. deposition, and distressed the pope and his adherents to such a degree, that he made his holiness's life a burden to him, and heartily to repent his proceeding to those extremities. This unhappy contest embroiled the Italians, and gave occasion to the rise of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, which factions continued a great while, and pursued each other with the utmost rage and aversion. As for the emperor, Concil. tom. when he came to die he was not of the opinion of his letter ex Trithem. above mentioned; for, in his will, he ordered a reparation to Paris, p. those churches which had suffered by him. 11. col. 675. 804. The English turn dissa To return to the council: the English agents, to whom agents rethe pope had given an expectation of satisfaction, were at tisfied. last disappointed. When they found their application was to no purpose, earl Bigod, with the rest, retired with all the signs of resentment, and swore they would never truckle so far to Roman avarice as to be brought under tribute and contribution; neither would they suffer the revenues of their churches to be seized, and carried off by foreigners. The tribute they so much resented, was the yearly payment of a thousand marks, covenanted by king John. They complained that the court of Rome took advantage of that prince's necessities, and extorted this acknowledgment from him when he was distressed by his subjects; that the nation was dissatisfied with the submission; that Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, entered a protestation against it in the name of the whole community; and that neither their ancestors, nor themselves, would ever endure such a mark of slavery. The pope was so politick as to pass over this Westmomenacing, and wait for an opportunity of exerting himself. nast. ad an. In the meantime he sent a peremptory order to the English singham, Hypodigma bishops to put their seals to that lamentable charter de- Neustr. ad livered to Pandulphus by king John; which, it seems, the An. 1245. bishops were so tame, and over-timorous as to comply with. The king being apprehensive that the prelates might be carried 1244. Wal BONI- too far, and overborne by the pope's authority, sent them an FACE. order, at their going to the council, not to consent to anything prejudicial to his prerogative; putting them in mind that they were bound by their oath of allegiance to maintain the rights of his crown; and that, in case they failed in their duty, they must expect to lose their temporalities. 452. The English bishops forced to sign king John's charter and the deposing bull. Conven teræ, &c. tom. 1. p. 434. How far the bishops misbehaved themselves in this point I shall not determine; but it is certain the king was extremely displeased at the meanness of their compliance, tiones, Li- and swore he would never be made an homager to the court of Rome. The pope's being so earnest with the bishops to sign king John's charter, looks as if the original was burnt in the late fire at Lyons; for if the old authentick instrument was remaining, what need was there of any farther corroboration, what occasion for pressing the bishops to so unacceptable an expedient? Besides their putting tiones, Li- their seals to this charter, the English prelates complied still farther with the rest of the council, and signed the deposing bull against the emperor. Paris, p. 681. Conven teræ, &c. tom. 1. p. 437. 444. A dispute bishop and Lincoln. Paris, p. 689. This year, the pope granted a bull for pluralities to noblemen's sons, provided they were well qualified as to learning and morals. And not long after, he dispensed with the court clergy for non-residency. Grosteste, bishop of Lincoln, who had a cause depending between the in the court of Rome, prevailed at last against the canons of chapter of his cathedral. He set forth, in his appeal, that by virtue of his episcopal office he ought to have a jurisdiction over the dean and chapter, to enquire into their management, and punish them as their misbehaviour deserved; that at the election of a dean his consent ought to be asked; that the dean and prebendaries ought to swear canonical obedience to him at their instalment; that when any of these dignities are vacant, the sequestration of the profits ought to lie in the bishop's hands. These, and some other privileges, which the bishop claimed, were denied by the dean and chapter to mention only one instance; the chapter pretended a right to choose a dean, without leave from the bishop; now, though the bishop gained the cause, it was not without some abatement to his claim; it is true, the pope allowed him to visit the dean and chapter, the clergy of the choir, and all the chapels and parishes belonging to the III. cathedral; but then the chapter was not to pay procurations HENRY at the bishop's visitation; and as for those disorders which K. of Eng. were customarily punished by the chapter, that jurisdiction was continued to them, provided they proceeded to censure upon the bishop's admonition, otherwise the discipline was left to the bishop and his successors. The chapter, likewise, was ordered to pay canonical obedience to their bishop; but the pope was so scrupulous as not to bind them to swear or promise any such submission, because, it seems, there was no custom for any such solemn profession. I have mentioned the issue of this contest, because it gives some insight into the state of cathedrals in this age. The pope France to The pope began now to discover his resentment at the late remonstrance of the English agents. He was extremely attempts to ruffled that they should dispute the yearly payment of the king of persuade the thousand marks, and question his new sovereignty over the invade Engcrown of England. To revenge himself, he endeavoured to land. persuade the king of France to invade king Henry, and either to seize his kingdom, or, at least, humble him to an entire submission to the court of Rome; but the king of France excused himself to his holiness, told him he was under the engagements of a truce, that the enterprise would occasion the effusion of a great deal of Christian blood, that the Holy Land wanted his assistance, with some other reasons not necessary to mention. This year, Alexander Hales departed this life. He had his surname from Hales in Glocestershire, where he was born, or, as some say, from the monastery of Hales, where he received his first education. After he had studied for some time in England, he travelled into France, and settled at the university of Paris, where he was king's professor of divinity. He was likewise a great canonist. In short, he had a great reputation for a general scholar, and had the title of the Irrefragable Doctor, with some other creditable distinctions. He made a postil upon the whole Bible, and wrote several other tracts. His principal performance was a Pits de Ilsummary, or commentary, in four books, upon the master of lust. Angl. Scriptor. the sentences. This work, as the learned Du Pin observes, Du Pin's discovers more skill in logick and metaphysicks, than in the New Ecantiquities of the Church. The Predicants, or Dominicans, being fortified with cles. Hist. FACE. The en of the Do 453. BONI- authority from the court of Rome to preach and take conAbp. Cant. fessions, made intolerable encroachments upon the bishops and parochial clergy; they were now grown so hardy as to croachment appear at diocesan synods and maltreat the bishops and clergy; they produced their instruments of privilege, insisted upon the reading of them in open synod, and demanded the liberty of preaching either in parochial churches, or wherever they thought fit. Neither were they only thus troublesome to the secular clergy, but the ancient monasteries were sometimes disturbed with them. To make way for their interest they used to charge the parochial and monastick priests with ignorance and incapacity. They understood nothing of divinity as they said, never studied the canon law, nor had any skill in resolving cases of conscience. They were blind guides of the blind, therefore there was a necessity to apply to these Predicants, who, if their own word was to be taken, were wonderfully learned and judicious, qualified to disentangle the most difficult questions, and thoroughly acquainted with all the mysteries in religion. This assurance, this flourishing upon the qualifications of their own order, and decrying others, brought them into great business; insomuch that many people of quality, and especially women, deserted the parochial priests, and confessed to these Dominicans. Thus the character of the secular clergy sunk, the discipline of the Church was broken, and the government drawn, as it were, into a new channel. This innovation gave occasion to disorder and dissolution of manners; for the people, finding themselves under no necessity to confess to the priest of the parish, took the greater liberty in misbehaving themselves. For the shame of confessing to their own rector was a restraint upon their conduct, and accounted the hardest part of the penance; but now they broke through their duty with less reluctance, in hopes of meeting with a Dominican or Franciscan confessor. For these friars, generally travelling about, making no stay where they came, and being strangers to their penitents, the people did not count it any mortification to disburden their consciences to those they were thus unacquainted with, and never likely to see again. Paris, p. 693. et deinc. And after all, this privilege of receiving confessions, granted to the Dominicans and Franciscans, by Gregory |
