196

BRIBERY PRACTISED AND TOLERATED AT ROME.

--

had aimed to bring back the church to its purely spiritual character, to deliver it from the yoke of secularization, yet this secularization sprung up again in another form, from the mixing up together of court and church in Rome. The complaints about the corruptibility of the Roman court, of the officials by whom the judgment of the popes was influenced or determined, these complaints, which we have already noticed as existing in the preceding periods, only went on multiplying with the increased influence of the papacy. It must have appeared strange, that on the very spot where simony, as practised by the princes and bishops, was so vigorously combated, the same thing, though under more specious names, should prevail to no less an extent. When the odious charge was issued from Rome against bishop Yves of Chartres, that simony reigned openly in his church, he replied: "He had not as yet been able to do anything towards suppressing the ancient custom by which the candidates for a canonry must pay something to the deans and the cantor; for men appealed to the example of the Romish church itself, where the cubicularii and ministri sacri palatii demanded no small sum of money for the consecration of bishops and abbots, under the specious names of an oblatio or a benedictio. Not the stroke of a pen, not a sheet of paper, was to be had for nothing. He knew not how to answer those who brought this matter against him, except in the words of Christ: "All whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works." Matth. 23: 3. Disputes about election in churches and convents, carried up to Rome for decision, were welcomed there by those whose only object was money, because the contending parties must resort to gold in order to effect their object.2 The officers of the papal court were bribed by

an apology like the following: All the members of the body complained of the stomach, that whilst they were all obliged to labor for that, the stomach was idle, and did nothing but consume what was furnished to it by the labor of all the other members. They declared it the enemy of all, and determined to punish it, to rest from their labors and starve it out. Thus passed several days, till all the members had become quite faint, and were no longer able to perform their appropriate functions. They were now under the necessity of holding another consultation; they found out that, in consequence of withholding every. thing from the stomach, that organ had been unable to supply them any longer with what was requisite to give them strength and vigor. They found themselves compelled, therefore, to restore back to it all they had withheld, and now the members were strong and vigorous again, and peace was restored to the whole. So it was with those who ruled in the church or in the state. Although they required much, yet it was not for their own advantage, but for the good of the whole. If they were not rich and mighty themselves, they could not help the members. Noli ergo neque nostrum neque

saecularium principum duritiam metiri, sed omnium utilitatem attende. See Joh. Saresberiensis Policraticus sive de nugis curialium et vestigiis philosophorum, I. vi, c. xxiv.

'Quae oblationis vel benedictionis nomine palliantur. Ep. 133.

2 We present a few examples. Near the close of the twelfth century, Peter de Blois complains of the fact that a homo illiteratus et laicus, sed in emendis honoribus circumspectus, was endeavoring by means of his gold to establish in Rome his illegal claims to an abbot's place in Canterbury. He was there received in a friendly manner by those, qui sicut scitis gratius acceptant hominum munera, quam merita personarum. Sperabant enim, quod promotio ejus esset rixae materia et majoris emolumenti occasio. His party exerted themselves to the utmost to make themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness at the Roman court, and thereby to nullify the just charges brought against this man (opinionis et infamiae vulneribus vinum et oleum infundere). Exhaustis itaque Flandriae mercatoribus in argento, a Romanis tandem infinitam multitudinem auri mutuavit. Ep. 158. The abbot Guibert, of

ACTIVITY OF THE PAPAL LEGATES.

197

presents or promises, and then sought to mislead the judgment of the pope. This was the ordinary way of gaining a bad cause.1 Surrounded by such a swarm of corrupt courtiers, it was not enough, therefore, that the individual who stood at the head should be rigidly incorruptible and disinterested. Eugene the Third is extolled as a model in this respect.2 But he should also possess the power of control over the corrupt creatures around him, and wisdom to detect the fraudulent acts by which truth was kept back from him. Bernard had good reason, therefore, for remarking to this very Eugene :3 "Of what avail is the good disposition of the individual, when still the bad disposition of others predominates!"

We shall now proceed to consider the several branches of the papal authority, as they were separately exercised by themselves.

II. DISTINCT BRANCHES OF THE PAPAL CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

Important effects undoubtedly resulted from the fact that the popes visited particular countries in person, and spent some time in them.4 We have seen how the events which compelled them to take refuge in France, operated in giving a new spring to their authority. Still, the cases were quite rare in which they could obtain, by their personal presence, a knowledge of the condition of particular nations and churches, counteract abuses which had crept in, and lend force to their laws. There was need of a permanent and general order of men, to serve as a substitute for the immediate personal presence of the pope. To this end served the cardinals, or other persons from the clergy, clothed with plenary powers, who, under the name of legates, were sent to all quarters of the world. To be sure, a legate whose knowledge of the country was only such as could be derived from a transient residence in it, and from superficial observation, might easily be deceived by appearances. For which reason, Yves of Chartres wished that the popes would, as was sometimes done indeed, appoint as their legates the bishops in the countries themselves, who would be accurately acquainted with the region and its relations.5 Against this

Novigentum, says, in his autobiography, in the beginning of the twelfth century, 1. iii, c. iv, f. 498, concerning the palatinis Papae: Quibus moris est, ut audito auri nomine mansuescant. A bishop who was suspected, on good reasons, of having committed a murder for the sake of revenge, found means to clear himself, adulatione donorum, at the Roman court, under pope Paschalis the Second.

1

Ep. 87. Of bishop Yves of Chartres, John of Salisbury writes (ep. 222): Romanos amicis verba dare jam nemo miratur, quia percelebre est, et innotuit universis, quod apud eos, quantum quisque nummorum habet in arca, tantum habet et fidei, et plerumque obliquata mente legum et canonum,

qui munere potior est, potentior est jure.

2 A prior, whose case he had not yet examined, once pressed him to accept from him a mark of gold, as a testimony of regard; but he declined, saying, "Thou hast not as yet stepped into the house, and already wouldst thou bribe the master?" Joh. Saresb. Policrat. 1. v, cxv.

3 See on a former page, 152.

This subject, the influence which proceeded from the journeyings of the popes in the Middle Ages, deserved certainly to be more accurately investigated in a fuller Monography than Johann von Muller's Essay, von den Reisen der Päpste.

Cum enim a latere vestro mittitis ad nos cardinales vestros, quia in transitu

198

DIFFERENT MODES OF ACTION OF THE LEGATES.

well-meant proposal, however, it might be objected, that native legates were more exposed than foreign ones to the influence of impure motives and considerations, — which difficulty might be illustrated by examples.

Much could be effected in these times by a legate, who, as Bernard required, should interest himself for the people and the poor in their spiritual and bodily necessities, steadfastly oppose himself to the arbitrary will of the mighty, and everywhere promote the supremacy of order and of law. Bernard cites examples of such legates, who avoided the very appearance of self-interest. A certain cardinal, Martin, returned back from a distant country to Italy so poor that, in Florence, he found himself without money or means to continue his journey except on foot; whereupon, the bishop of Florence made him a present of a horse. He next met with this bishop in Pisa, where the papal court then resided; and here being told that the bishop had a process going on and was depending upon his vote, he gave the horse back to him on the spot. Bishop Gottfried of Chartres refused to accept from a priest the present of a costly fish, except on condition that he might be allowed to pay the price of it. But Bernard, in relating these facts, could not help exclaiming, "Does it not seem like a story of some other world, that a legate should return with his purse empty of gold, from the very land of gold?" He had himself to complain of a legate, who, in Germany and France, left everywhere behind him the marks of his wickedness,2 everywhere sought to place beautiful boys in high offices in the church, and everywhere made such exactions, that many preferred purchasing a release from him, that he might not near them. Bishop Yves of Chartres invites pope Urban the Second to send on a legate, because there was special need of a person clothed with such authority, when arbitrary will everywhere ruled supreme, when there was nothing which any man might not dare to do, and dare with impunity; but at the same time, he asked for a legate of good name and reputation, who would seek not his own, but the things of Jesus Christ.3 The same bishop wrote to a legate a beautiful letter, reproving him for his inconsistency in zealously contending against lay-investiture, while he did not give himself the least concern with many openly prevailing vices. "He wished," he said, "with many pious men, that the servants of the Romish church would, like experienced physicians, seek first to heal the greater disorders, and not give occasion for their banterers to say that they strained at gnats and swallowed camels."

Under this head belongs, again, the authority exercised by the Ro

apud nos sunt, non tantum non possunt curanda curare, sed nec curanda prospicere; hence, ut alicui transalpino legationem sedis apostolicae injungatis, qui et vicinius subrepentia mala cognoscat et ea vel per se vel per relationem ad sedem apostolicam maturius curare praevaleat. Ep. 109.

1 Qui vulgus non spernant, sed doceant, divites non palpent, sed terreant, minas

principum non paveant, sed contemnant, gloriantes, non quod curiosa seu pretiosa quaeque in terram attulerint, sed quod reliquerint pacem regnis. legem barbaris, quietem monasteriis, ecclesiis ordinem, clericis disciplinam. De considerat. 1. iv, c. iv.

Vir apostolicus replevit omnia non evangelio, sed sacrilegio. Ep. 290. Ep. 12. Ep. 60.

MISCHIEFS OF INDISCRIMINATE APPEALS TO ROME.

199

man curia, as the highest tribunal; a tribunal, to which appeal could be made from the whole of Western Christendom, in all matters that stood in any relation whatsoever to the church. Salutary as this branch of the papal authority, rightly used, might have proved, it would in the same proportion turn out hurtful, when every appeal was received without discrimination at Rome; and corruption by bribes, partiality, zeal,-not for justice and law,- but only for ambitious projects and the dignity of the church of Rome, prevailed there; when, as men were forced to complain was really the case, he who appealed to the ecclesiastical laws instead of leaving everything to depend solely on the plenary power of the pope, was already put down as an enemy of that church. In this way, appeals would necessarily result in effects directly contrary to the end for which they were instituted. They no longer served the purpose of procuring protection for the weak and oppressed against the will of the mighty, but much more of securing for arbitrary power a convenient handle by which to thwart the execution of the laws and defeat the ends of justice. Every sentence, however just and lawful, could, by an arbitrary appeal on the part of him whose selfish interests it opposed, or whose sole object it was to revenge himself on an enemy, be either reversed, or at least seriously retarded in its execution. As early as the year 1129, Hildebert, bishop of Mans, found cause for declaring, in a freespirited letter to pope Honorius the Second, that all church discipline would come to an end, all vices must get the upperhand, if, as the case had hitherto been, every appeal should without distinction be admitted at Rome; he calls upon him to provide, that appeals without good reasons assigned, and that aimed only to procure a delay of justice, should be wholly rejected.2 Bernard advised pope Eugene the Third not to listen to every man's story, but sometimes to strike in with the rod.3 Men came at length to perceive, therefore, in Rome itself, the necessity of setting limits to arbitrary appeals. The eminent wisdom of Innocent the Third as a ruler, was shown in this matter as well as in others; while at the same time, however, his ordinances testify of the enormous abuses which were practised in the matter of appeals. He directed, at the fourth Lateran council, A. D. 1215, that bishops should not be hindered, by any appeal, from punishing the transgressions of their subjects, and from the reformation of their dioceses, unless they had violated the legal forms.5

1 Yves of Chartres, ep. 67. Peter of Blois, ep. 158. Leges et canones et quicquid de sacro eloquio ad nostrae partis assertionem poteramus inducere, funestum et sacrilegum reputabant nosque hostes Romanae ecclesiae publice judicabant. Men were not to cite any canones, or leges, but only (papal) privilegia.

Moratorias appellationes et superfluas omnino a vestra elongendas esse audientia. Ep. 41.

Non semper praebere aurem, quae audiat, sed aliquando et flagellum quod feriat.

E. g. epp. ii, 13. Benignitate juris plurimi hodie abutentes in sui erroris defen sionem assumunt, quod in gravaminum fuerat revelationem inventum, et ut suorum superiorum correctionem eludant, sine cau sa frequenter ad apostolicam sedem appellant. cf. i, 237; ii, 99; v, 23.

"Ut correctionis et reformationis officium libere valeant exercere, decernimus, ut exsecutionem ipsorum nulla appellatio valeat impedire, nisi formam excesserint in talibus observandam, c. vii.

200 OATHS BY BISHOPS. FILLING OF CHURCH OFFICES.

As by the Hildebrandian system, the whole government of the church was placed in the hands of the pope, and the bishops were to exercise some part of it only as his instruments; so it was but a consistent application of the principles contained in that system, when bishops, by the act of their institution, by the predicates they bestowed on themselves, came to be placed more and more in a relation of dependence on these unlimited rulers of the church. Had it not been for the reaction of the old ecclesiastical laws, which were still valid in church practice, the consequences flowing out of that system would have been realized much earlier than they were. That no choice of a bishop could be valid without the pope's confirmation was, properly, but a necessary deduction from that system; still, however, it came to be so considered only by slow degrees. Disputes on the choice of bishops furnished occasion, for the most part, for the practice of the individuals elected going themselves to Rome to secure the confirmation of their election; and thus this papal confirmation came more and more into use in the course of the thirteenth century. The formulary which designated bishops as appointed by the grace of God, was increased by adding, "and by the grace of the apostolical chair." At length, they were bound by oath to such obedience to the popes as vassals paid to their liege lords. This oath was similar to the one which Boniface first took to the pope. From the time of Gregory the Seventh, the Italian metropolitans immediately subordinate to the church of Rome, placed themselves under such an oath; next, it was required of all metropolitans that received the pall from Rome; finally, of all bishops whatsoever. They bound themselves thereby to appear at every synod when cited by the popes; to keep secret whatever might be communicated to them either orally or in writing, by the popes; to treat the Roman legates with honor and respect; to provide them with everything they needed, and in all cases of necessity to stand by the popes with force of arms.

The popes, who at first contended against arbitrary appointments to church offices by princes, afterwards became chargeable themselves with the same arbitrary mode of procedure, to the great injury of the churches. It was first in the twelfth century, that they recommended by way of petition, to vacant benefices, individuals who had done eminent service for the Romish church. (Their recommendations still appear, under the modest name of preces; hence the persons recommended, are called precistae.) But in the beginning of the thirteenth century these preces were changed into mandata; and finally, the popes of this century took the liberty to supersede all other rights (by the formula "non obstante"), and to promote their favorites to vacant benefices in whatsoever country they might be found; insisting, with a threat of the ban, that their commands should be obeyed, as we have seen in the case of Robert, bishop of Lincoln. Thus could the most unfit and the most unworthy men be promoted to such offices; boys under age, or at least such as were entirely ignorant of the language

1 Vol. iii, p. 48.