EXHORTATIONS OF WILLIAM OF MODENA. 41 Hildebrand, that the civil as well as the ecclesiastical law might be introduced amongst them, and that their disputes might be settled by it.1 At the close of the war in 1224, pope Honorius the Third, in compliance with the request of the bishop of Riga, sent William, bishop of Modena, the papal chancellor, as a legate to Liefland. This prelate spared no pains in dispensing amongst the ancient inhabitants of the country and their conquerors, such exhortations as their respective circumstances required. The Germans, he exhorted to mildness in their behavior to the new converts; charging them to lay on their shoulders no intolerable burdens, but only the light and easy yoke, and to instruct them constantly in the sacred truths. He cautioned those who bore the sword against being too hard on the Esthlanders, in the collection of tythes and imposts, lest they should be driven to relapse into idolatry.3 These exhortations to a mild, indulgent treatment of the natives, he repeated, on various occasions, amongst the different classes. With the establishment of the Christian church in these lands, was closely connected its establishment also amongst another Slavic people, the Prussians; for that same order of spiritual knights, which had been founded for the purpose of giving stability to the Christian foundations in Liefland, formed a union with another order for the accomplishment of this work. We must now revert to many things strictly belonging to the preceding period, but which, for the sake of preserving the connection of events, we reserved to the present occasion. Adalbert of Prague, the archbishop who had to endure so many hard conflicts with the rudeness of his people, betook himself, after he had abandoned his bishopric for the third time, to Boleslav the First, duke of Poland, expecting to find amongst the pagans in this quarter a field of activity suited to the glowing ardor of his zeal. He finally determined to go amongst the Prussians. The duke gave him a vessel, and thirty soldiers to protect him. Thus attended he sailed to Dantzic, as this was the frontier-place between Prussia and Poland. Here he first made his appearance as a preacher of the gospel, and he succeeded in baptizing numbers. Then sailing from this place, and landing on the opposite coast, he sent back the ship and her crew. He desired to commit himself, as a messenger of peace, wholly to God's protection. He did not choose to appear standing under the protection of any human power, but would avoid everything which might awaken suspicion amongst the pagans. The only persons he kept with him were the priest Benedict and his own pupil Gaudentius. It was an open beach where they were set down; and taking a small boat, they rowed to an island formed at the mouth of the river Pregel.6 'L. c. f. 46. The priest Heinrich says, that the Lieflanders were at first very well satisfied with their judges, or so-called advocates; namely, so long as pious men, who were governed only by Christian motives, administered this office. But it turned out otherwise, when laymen, who sought only how they might enrich themselves, obtained these posts. 42 MARTYRDOM OF ADALBERT OF PRAGUE. But the owners of the land approached with cudgels to drive them away, and one dealt him so severe a blow with an oar, that the psalter, from which he was singing, dropped from his hand, and he fell to the ground. As soon as he had recovered himself he said, "I thank thee, Lord, for the privilege thou hast bestowed on me of suffering even a blow for my crucified Saviour." On Saturday, they rowed to the other shore of the Pregel, on the coast of Samland. The lord of the domain, whom they happened to meet, conducted them to his village. A large body of people collected together. When Adalbert had given an account of himself, of the country he came from, and of his errand, the people told him they wanted to hear nothing about a foreign law, and threatened them all with death unless they sailed off the same night. Compelled to leave these coasts, they turned back again, tarrying five days in a village where they brought up. Here, on the night of Thursday, the brother Gaudentius had a dream, which next morning he related to the bishop. He saw standing on the middle of the altar a golden chalice half filled with wine. He asked permission to drink from it, but the servant of the altar forbade him. Neither he nor any other person could be allowed to drink from it, said he. It was reserved against the morrow, for the bishop, to give him spiritual strength. May the Lord's blessing," said Adalbert, on hearing this," bring to pass what this vision promises; but we should place no confidence in a deceitful dream." At the break of day, they proceeded on their journey, cheerily making their way through the pathless woods, shortening the distance with spiritual songs. About noon they came to some open fields. Here Gaudentius celebrated the mass: Adalbert received the cup, then took some refreshment, and after they had proceeded a few steps farther, the three seated themselves upon the grass. Wearied with travel, they all fell into a profound sleep, which lasted till they were awakened by the noise of a tumultuous band of pagans, who seized and bound them in chains. Said Adalbert to his companions, "Be not troubled, my brethren, we know, indeed, for whose name we suffer. What is there more glorious, than to give up life for our precious Jesus." Upon this Siggo, a priest, plunged a lance through his body; the others then vented their rage upon him. Adalbert, streaming with blood, kept his head erect and his eyes fixed on heaven. This happened on the 23d of April 997.1 The second person who attempted to convert the Prussians was Bruno, surnamed Bonifacius. He was descended from a family of 66 April, t. iii, c. vi, fol. 186: "Intrant parvam insulam, quae curvo amne circumjecta formam circuli adeuntibus monstrat." See Voigt's remarks, respecting these specified marks in relation to the geographical situation of places, in his Geschichte von Preussen Bd. i, s. 267. We certainly cannot doubt, that the circumstantial and simple narrative came from the mouth of one of Adalbert's companions, who probably were redeemed from their captivity among the Prussians by duke Boleslav; for the author of the second account of Adalbert's life states, that the Prussians preserved his body with a view of afterwards disposing of it for a large ransom to duke Boleslav. This surname was the occasion of a mistake, two different persons having been made out of these two names, and a missionary Boniface was invented, who is to be wholly stricken out of the list of historical persons. CHRISTIAN'S SUCCESS IN PRUSSIA. 43 note in Querfurt, and became court-chaplain of the emperor Otto the Third, who valued him highly on account of his spiritual attainments. This monarch took him along with him in a journey to Rome, where perhaps it was the sight of a picture of Boniface, the apostle to the Germans, which led him to resolve on withdrawing from court, becoming a monk, and conveying the message of salvation to the heathen. nations. Carrying this resolution into effect, he became a monk of the order of St. Benedict. He procured from Sylvester the Second, full powers to engage in a mission to the heathen. This pope conferred on him, for the same end, episcopal ordination, and the pall of an archbishop. With eighteen companions he repaired, in 1007, to Prussia; but all perished by martyrdom on the 14th of February, 1008. From this time two centuries elapsed, during which, so far as we know, nothing farther was done for the conversion of the Prussians. It was not until 1207, that any new attempt was made for this purpose. At that time, Gottfried, a Polish abbot, from the monastery of Lukina, sailed down the Weichsel, in company with Philip, a monk; and they succeeded in gaining the confidence of the heads of the people. Two of these, Phalet and his brother Sodrach, embraced Christianity and received baptism. At this point the work was interrupted, indeed, by the assassination of monk Philip; but some years later another man appeared, who was far better calculated for such an enterprise, and who began his work with more promising results. Christian, a native of Freienwalde, in Pommerania, went forth at that time from the monastery of Oliva, near Dantzic, where, perhaps, the reports he heard concerning the Prussians and the first attempts which were made to convert them, had served to call forth in him the desire of conveying to them the message of salvation. With several other monks, among whom one in particular is mentioned, named Philip, he repaired, after having first obtained ample authority for this work from pope Innocent the Third,' to the adjacent province of Prussia. happy results of his labors in Prussia induced him, perhaps in accordance with some agreement between him and the pope, in the years 1209 and 1210, to make a journey to Rome. Innocent the Third, espoused this cause with that active zeal and prudent forethought, embracing the interests of the whole church, for which he was distinguished. He committed to the archbishop of Gnesen, the pastoral care over this mission and the new converts, till their number should be such as to require the labors of a special bishop of their own. his letter addressed to this archbishop, he says, "Through the grace of him who calls into being that which is not, and who out of stones 'As pope Innocent the Third, in his let ter to the archbishop of Gnesen, epp. 1. xiii, ep. 128, says, expressly, concerning Christian and his companions: "Ad partes Prussiae de nostra licentia accesserunt;" and in the letter to the Cistercian abbots, 1 xv, ep. 147: "Olim de nostra licentia inceperunt seminare in partibus Prussiae verbum Dei," it is impossible to doubt, that The In the monks at the very beginning, either 44 LETTER OF POPE INNOCENT THE THIRD. raises up sons to Abraham, a few of the nobles and some others in that region have received baptism; and would that they might daily make progress in the knowledge of the true faith." Christian and his companions returned and prosecuted their labors with good success. But from one quarter, where they had every reason to expect countenance and support, they experienced hindrances of all sorts in the prosecution of their work. The Cistercian abbots grew jealous of the independent activity of these men; they put them in the same class with those vagabond monks, who had broken loose from all discipline and order. They refused to acknowledge them as brethren of their order, and denied them those kindly offices which in all other cases the members of the order were wont to show to each other. Therefore the pope issued in behalf of this mission, in the year 1213, a letter addressed to the abbots of the Cistercian chapter. With the cautious wisdom manifested by this pope on other occasions, he intended, on the one hand, to restrain those monks who merely wished to throw off the forms of legitimate dependence, from roving about, uncalled, as missionaries; and, on the other, to provide that the preaching of the gospel should not be hindered under the pretext of checking such disorders. To secure these ends, the whole matter was placed under the general oversight of the archbishop of Gnesen. He was to apply the right rules for the trying of the spirits, and to furnish those, whom he found qualified to preach and influenced by the spirit of love, with testimonials of good standing and letters of recommendation. The pope commanded the Cistercian abbots to forbear from hindering in their work such persons as were thus accredited. Furthermore, the pope had heard complaints, that the dukes of Pommerania and of Poland, turned the introduction of Christianity into a means of oppressing the Prussians; that they laid on the Christians heavier burdens than they had previously borne; which, as had often been shown in the case of the Slavic tribes, might end in making Christianity hateful to the people, whose burdens it only served to increase, and to bring about the ruin of the whole mission." He therefore sent to these princes a letter, couched in firm and decided language, setting before them the unchristian character of such proceedings. "Although, in the words of the apostle, without faith it is impossible to please God, still, faith alone is not sufficient for this purpose; but love is, in an especial manner, also necessary. As the apostle says: though one may have faith so as to be able to remove mountains, and though one may speak with the tongues of angels and of men, and though one give his whole substance to feed the poor, and have not charity, it profiteth him nothing. Now if, according to the law of Christ, this love is to be extended even to our enemies, how much more is it incumbent on all to practice it towards the newly converted, inasmuch as they, if 1 L. c. l. xv, ep. 147. "Quidam vestrum," says the pope, in his letter to them, 1. xv, ep. 148-"minime attendentes, et quaerentes, quae sua sunt, non quae Christi, quam cito intelligunt aliquos e gentilibus per Prussiam constitutis novae regenerationis gratiam suscepisse, statim oneribus eos servilibus aggravant et venientes ad Christianae fidei libertatem deterioris conditionis efficiunt quam essent, dum sub jugo servitutis pristinae permanseriut." CHRISTIANITY IN FINNLAND. NESTORIANS IN ASIA. 45 hardly dealt with, may easily be led into apostasy." "We therefore beseech and exhort you," continues the pope, "for the sake of him who came to save the lost, and to give his life a ransom for many, do not oppress the sons of this new plantation, but treat them with the more gentleness, as they are liable to be misled, and to relapse into paganism; since the old bottles can scarcely hold the new wine." We find from this letter, that Innocent had empowered the archbishop of Gnesen to pronounce the bann on the oppressors of the new converts in Prussia, if they would not listen to reason. So the monk Christian succeeded in overcoming these difficulties, and his work for the first time went prosperously onward. Two princes whom he had converted made over to him their territory, as a possession for the new church. He travelled with them to Rome; they were there baptized, and Christian was now consecrated to the office of bishop. But after his return, a stormy insurrection arose on the part of his pagan people, provoked perhaps, in part, by the conduct of the above-mentioned Christian princes. Then similar enterprises followed to those which had taken place in Liefland. The order of German knights, founded during the crusades in the twelfth century, joined themselves for the purpose of engaging in them with the order of the Brethren of the Sword; and it was not till after a long series of years, in the year 1283, that the work was completed; four bishoprics having been previously, in the year 1243, founded for the Prussians;-Kulm, Pomesanien, Ermeland, and Sameland. a Nearly after the same manner was the church planted amongst the Finns. King Eric, of Sweden, whose zeal for the church caused him to be venerated as a saint, undertook for this purpose - inasmuch as the Finns could not be induced to submit in a peaceable manner crusade, in which he was accompanied by bishop Heinrich, of Upsala. A characteristic trait, indicating the point of religious development at which he stood, and the strong inclination of his times to cling to external things, is related of him. Kneeling down to thank God, after having won a battle, he was observed to be profusely weeping: and being asked the reason, confessed that it was for pity and commisseration at the fate of so many who had fallen in the fight without being baptized, and were consequently lost, when they might have been saved by the holy sacrament.1 Let us now throw a glance at the spread of Christianity in Asia. It lay in the power of the Nestorians to do the most for this object; for their communities were widely scattered over eastern Asia; they were more favored by the Mohammedan princes than any of the other Christian sects;2 and were the most familiarly acquainted with the languages and customs of the Asiatic nations. Till within the ninth century, the Nestorian church3 still maintained flourishing schools for the education of their clergy; but after that time these schools seem c. i. 1 See the vita s, Erici. Mens. Maj. d. 18, See, on this point, the extracts from Oriental sources in Assemani Bibliotheca |