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diff --git a/32483-h/32483-h.htm b/32483-h/32483-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7eafda8 --- /dev/null +++ b/32483-h/32483-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11877 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sketches of Church History, by James Craigie Robertson. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +p.notes {font-weight: bold; + margin-top: 2em;} + +p.astertop {margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center; vertical-align: 0.5em;} + .asterlow {vertical-align: -0.5em;} + +hr { + width: 50%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.small {width: 25%; + margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 4em;} + +hr.tiny {width: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +/* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ +div.centered {text-align: center;} + +/* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ +div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} + +td.rn {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; width: 12%;} +td.ln {text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 13%;} +td.c {text-align: center;} +td.l {text-align: left; padding-left: .5em;} +td.r {text-align: right; padding-right: .5em;} +td.r2 {text-align: right; padding-right: .25em;} + +td.rnad {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; padding-bottom: .75em; width: 12%;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: normal;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter {margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 4em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + width: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnote {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 87%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +a {text-decoration: none;} + +.big {font-size:150%;} + +.ind { text-indent: -1em; + padding-left: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +.ind10 {width: 30%; text-align: left;} +.ind30 {width: 30%; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 0; padding-right: 30%;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Sketches of Church History, by James Craigie Robertson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sketches of Church History + From A.D. 33 to the Reformation + +Author: James Craigie Robertson + +Release Date: May 22, 2010 [EBook #32483] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCHES OF CHURCH HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Dring, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a href="images/bigmap.jpg"> +<img src="images/smallmap.jpg" width="500" height="327" alt="Map illustrating the HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, during the +First Six Centuries." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">Map illustrating the HISTORY <small>OF THE</small> CHURCH, during the +First Six Centuries.</span> +</div> + +<h1>SKETCHES</h1> + +<p class='center'>OF</p> + +<h1>CHURCH HISTORY.</h1> + +<p class='center'><br /> +<i>From</i> <small>A.D.</small> 33 <i>to the Reformation</i>. +</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><br /> +<small>BY THE LATE</small><br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Rev</span>. J. C. ROBERTSON, M.A.<br /><br /> +<small>CANON OF CANTERBURY.</small><br /><br /><br /><br /> +</p> + +<hr class='tiny' /> + +<p class='center'> +<small>PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE.</small> +</p> +<hr class='tiny' /> + +<p class='center'><br /><br /><br /> +LONDON:<br /> +SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,<br /> +NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.<br /> +<small>43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.</small><br /> +<small>26, ST. GEORGE'S PLACE, HYDE PARK CORNER, S.W.</small><br /> +BRIGHTON: <small>135, NORTH STREET.</small><br /> +<span class="smcap">New York</span>: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO.<br /> +1887.<br /> +</p> + +<hr class='small' /> + +<div class='centered table'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" width="75%" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS"> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'><span class='big'>CONTENTS.</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'>PART I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'><small>CHAP</small>.</td><td> </td><td class='rn'><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>1.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">The Age of the Apostles</a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></td><td class='rn'>1</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>2.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">St. Ignatius</a></td><td class='rn'>5</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>3.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">St. Justin, Martyr</a></td><td class='rn'>10</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>4.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">St. Polycarp</a></td><td class='rn'>13</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>5.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne</a></td><td class='rn'>15</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>6.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Tertullian—Perpetua and her Companions</a></td><td class='rn'>17</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>7.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Origen</a></td><td class='rn'>21</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>8.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">St Cyprian—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>25</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2em'><a href="#P1_8_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>27</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2em'><a href="#P1_8_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>29</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>9.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">The Last Persecution</a></td><td class='rn'>31</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>10.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Constantine the Great</a></td><td class='rn'>38</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>11.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">The Council of Nicĉa</a></td><td class='rn'>43</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>12.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">St. Athanasius—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>47</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'><a href="#P1_12_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>51</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'><a href="#P1_12_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>54</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>13.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">The Monks</a></td><td class='rn'>59</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>14.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzum—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>67</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P1_14_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>70</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>15.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">St. Ambrose</a></td><td class='rn'>73</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>16.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">The Temple of Serapis</a></td><td class='rn'>77</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>17.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Church Government</a></td><td class='rn'>80</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>18.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Christian Worship—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>85</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2em'><a href="#P1_18_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>87</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2em'><a href="#P1_18_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>90</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>19.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Arcadius and Honorius</a></td><td class='rn'>93</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>20.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">St. John Chrysostom—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>95</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'><a href="#P1_20_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>100</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'><a href="#P1_20_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>103</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'><a href="#P1_20_IV">Part IV.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>105</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>21.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">St. Augustine—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>108</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>111</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_III">Part III. (Donatism)</a></span></td><td class='rn'>114</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_IV">Part IV.</a></span><span style='padding-left: 2em'>"</span></td><td class='rn'>118</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_V">Part V.</a></span><span style='padding-left: 2.25em'>"</span></td><td class='rn'>120</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_VI">Part VI. (Pelagianism)</a></span></td><td class='rn'>124</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'><a href="#P1_21_VII">Part VII.</a></span><span style='padding-left: 1.5em'>"</span></td><td class='rn'>127</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>22.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon</a></td><td class='rn'>128</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>23.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Fall of the Western Empire</a></td><td class='rn'>131</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>24.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Conversion of the Barbarians—Christianity in Britain</a></td><td class='rn'>133</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>25.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Scotland and Ireland</a></td><td class='rn'>136</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>26.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Clovis</a></td><td class='rn'>140</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>27.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Justinian</a></td><td class='rn'>142</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>28.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Nestorians and Monophysites</a></td><td class='rn'>144</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>29.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">St. Benedict—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>147</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P1_29_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>150</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>30.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">End of the Sixth Century—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>152</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'><a href="#P1_30_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>154</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>31.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">St. Gregory the Great—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>156</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P1_31_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>159</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P1_31_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>160</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P1_31_IV">Part IV.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>163</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'>PART II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>1.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_I">Mahometanism—Image-worship</a></td><td class='rn'>169</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>2.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_II">The Church in England</a></td><td class='rn'>171</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>3.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_III">St. Boniface</a></td><td class='rn'>173</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>4.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_IV">Pipin and Charles the Great—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>177</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4.75em'><a href="#P2_4_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>179</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>5.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_V">Decay of Charles the Great's Empire</a></td><td class='rn'>181</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>6.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VI">State of the Papacy</a></td><td class='rn'>184</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>7.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VII">Missions of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries</a></td><td class='rn'>185</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>8.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VIII">Pope Gregory VII.—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>191</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'><a href="#P2_8_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>193</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'><a href="#P2_8_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>194</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'><a href="#P2_8_IV">Part IV.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>196</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>9.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_IX">The First Crusade—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>198</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.75em'><a href="#P2_9_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>201</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 4.25em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.75em'><a href="#P2_9_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>204</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>10.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_X">New Orders of Monks—Military Orders</a></td><td class='rn'>205</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>11.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XI">St. Bernard—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>211</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3em'><a href="#P2_11_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>213</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>12.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XII">Adrian IV.—Alexander III.—Becket—The Third Crusade</a></td><td class='rn'>214</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>13.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XIII">Innocent III.—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>217</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P2_13_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>220</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P2_13_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>223</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P2_13_IV">Part IV.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>225</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>14.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XIV">Frederick II—St. Lewis of France—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>228</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.75em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P2_14_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>229</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.75em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.25em'><a href="#P2_14_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>230</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>15.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XV">Peter of Murrone</a></td><td class='rn'>232</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>16.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVI">Boniface VIII.—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>235</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'><a href="#P2_16_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>236</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>17.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVII">The Popes at Avignon—The Ruin of the Templars—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>239</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4.5em'><a href="#P2_17_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>241</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>18.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVIII">The Popes at Avignon (<i>continued</i>)</a></td><td class='rn'>245</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>19.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XIX">Religious Parties</a></td><td class='rn'>247</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>20.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XX">John Wyclif</a></td><td class='rn'>249</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>21.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXI">The Popes return to Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>252</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>22.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXII">The Great Schism</a></td><td class='rn'>254</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>23.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXIII">John Huss</a></td><td class='rn'>256</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>24.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXIV">The Council of Constance—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>258</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'><a href="#P2_24_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>260</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 3em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 4em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'><a href="#P2_24_III">Part III.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>261</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>25.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXV">The Hussites</a></td><td class='rn'>263</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>26.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXVI">Councils of Basel and Florence</a></td><td class='rn'>265</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>27.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXVII">Nicolas V. and Pius II.</a></td><td class='rn'>268</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>28.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXVIII">Jerome Savonarola—Part I.</a></td><td class='rn'>271</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> </td><td><span style='padding-left: 2em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 2.5em'>"</span><span style='padding-left: 3.5em'><a href="#P2_28_II">Part II.</a></span></td><td class='rn'>273</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>29.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXIX">Julius II. and Leo X.</a></td><td class='rn'>275</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'>30.</td><td class='l'><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XXX">Missions—The Inquisition</a></td><td class='rn'>277</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'><span class='big'>TABLE OF DATES.</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'>PART I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='rn'><small>A.D.</small></td><td> </td><td class='rn'><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>33.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#Page_1">Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost</a></td><td class='rn'>1</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>62.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_3">Martyrdom of St. James the Less</a></td><td class='rn'>3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>64.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_2">Persecution by Nero begins</a></td><td class='rn'>2</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>68.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_2">Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul</a></td><td class='rn'>2</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>70.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_3">Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus</a></td><td class='rn'>3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>95.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_3">Persecution by Domitian</a></td><td class='rn'>3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>100.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_5">Death of St. John</a></td><td class='rn'>5</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>116.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_9">Martyrdom of Ignatius</a></td><td class='rn'>9</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>166.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_10">Martyrdoms of Justin and Polycarp</a></td><td class='rn'>10-15</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>168.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_17">Montanus publishes his heresy</a></td><td class='rn'>17</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>177.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_15">Persecution at Lyons and Vienne</a></td><td class='rn'>15</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>190.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_18">Tertullian flourishes</a></td><td class='rn'>18</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>202.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_18">Persecution by Severus begins</a></td><td class='rn'>18</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_21">Martyrdom of Origen's father</a></td><td class='rn'>21</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>206.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_18">Martyrdom of Perpetua and her companions</a></td><td class='rn'>18</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>248.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_25">Cyprian, bishop of Carthage</a></td><td class='rn'>25</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>249.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_23">Persecution by Decius</a></td><td class='rn'>23</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>251.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_60">Paul, the first hermit</a></td><td class='rn'>60</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_27">Troubles at Carthage—Novatian separates from the Church</a></td><td class='rn'>27</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>253.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_27">Plague at Carthage</a></td><td class='rn'>27</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>254.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_24">Death of Origen</a></td><td class='rn'>24</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_29">Disagreement between Cyprian and Stephen, bishop of Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>29</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>257.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_29">Persecution by Valerian</a></td><td class='rn'>29</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>258.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_31">Martyrdom of Cyprian</a></td><td class='rn'>31</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>260.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_40">Conversion of the Goths begins</a></td><td class='rn'>40</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>261.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_32">Valerian taken prisoner in Persia—Gallienus allows liberty to the Christians</a></td><td class='rn'>32</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>270.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_110">Manes publishes his heresy</a></td><td class='rn'>110</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>298.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_33">Diocletian requires soldiers, &c., to worship the heathen gods</a></td><td class='rn'>33</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>303.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_34">The last general persecution begins</a></td><td class='rn'>34</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>311.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_44">Separation of the Donatists from the Church</a></td><td class='rn'>44, 116</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>313.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_38">End of the persecution—Constantine and Licinius give liberty to the Christians</a></td><td class='rn'>38</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>314.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_117">Council of Arles about the affairs of the Donatists</a></td><td class='rn'>117</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>319.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#Page_44">Arius begins to publish his heresy</a></td><td class='rn'>44</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>324.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_38">Constantine defeats Licinius, and declares himself a Christian</a></td><td class='rn'>38</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>325.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_46">The First General Council held at Nicĉa—Arius condemned—The Nicene Creed made</a></td><td class='rn'>46</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>326.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_47">Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria</a></td><td class='rn'>47</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>335.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_48">Council of Tyre</a></td><td class='rn'>48</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_49">Athanasius banished to Treves</a></td><td class='rn'>49</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>336.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_50">Death of Arius</a></td><td class='rn'>50</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>337.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_51">Death of Constantine</a></td><td class='rn'>51</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>338.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_52">Athanasius restored to his see</a></td><td class='rn'>52</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>341.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_52">Second banishment of Athanasius</a></td><td class='rn'>52</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>343.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_41">Persecution in Persia</a></td><td class='rn'>41</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>347.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_117">Revolt, defeat, and banishment of the Donatists</a></td><td class='rn'>117</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>348.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_93">Ulfilas, bishop of the Goths</a></td><td class='rn'>93</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>349.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_52">Second return of St. Athanasius</a></td><td class='rn'>52</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>356.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_53">Third exile of Athanasius</a></td><td class='rn'>53</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_61">Death of Antony the hermit</a></td><td class='rn'>61</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>361.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_57">Julian, emperor—Paganism restored</a></td><td class='rn'>57</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>362.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_120">The Donatists recalled</a></td><td class='rn'>120</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_56">Athanasius restored, but again banished</a></td><td class='rn'>56</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_57">Attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem</a></td><td class='rn'>57</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>363.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_58">Death of Julian</a></td><td class='rn'>58</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>370.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_68">Basil, bishop of Cĉsarea, in Cappadocia</a></td><td class='rn'>68</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>372.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_69">Gregory of Nazianzum consecrated as bishop of Sasima</a></td><td class='rn'>69</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>373.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_59">Death of Athanasius</a></td><td class='rn'>59</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>374.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_73">Ambrose, bishop of Milan</a></td><td class='rn'>73</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>378.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_69">Gregory of Nazianzum goes to Constantinople</a></td><td class='rn'>69</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>379.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_70">Theodosius, emperor</a></td><td class='rn'>70</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>380.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_70">Gregory, bishop of Constantinople—Death of Basil</a></td><td class='rn'>70</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>381.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_70">Second General Council held at Constantinople—Gregory withdraws from his see</a></td><td class='rn'>70</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>385.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_72">Execution of Priscillian</a></td><td class='rn'>72</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>387.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_113">Baptism of Augustine</a></td><td class='rn'>113</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_97">Sedition at Antioch</a></td><td class='rn'>97</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>390.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_75">Massacre at Thessalonica, and repentance of Theodosius</a></td><td class='rn'>75</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>391.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_78">Destruction of the Temple of Serapis</a></td><td class='rn'>78</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>395.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_77">Death of Theodosius</a></td><td class='rn'>77</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_114">Augustine, bishop of Hippo</a></td><td class='rn'>114</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>397.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_77">Death of Ambrose</a></td><td class='rn'>77</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_100">Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople</a></td><td class='rn'>100</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>400.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_124">Pelagius teaches his heresy at Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>124</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>403.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_95">Death of Telemachus at Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>95</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_105">Council of the Oak—Chrysostom banished and recalled</a></td><td class='rn'>105</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>404.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_106">Chrysostom banished to Cucusus</a></td><td class='rn'>106</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>407.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_107">Death of Chrysostom</a></td><td class='rn'>107</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>409.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#Page_135">The Romans withdraw from Britain</a></td><td class='rn'>135</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>410.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_93">Rome taken by Alaric</a></td><td class='rn'>93</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_125">Pelagius and Celestius in Africa</a></td><td class='rn'>125</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>411.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_122">Conference with the Donatists at Carthage</a></td><td class='rn'>122</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>412.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_136">Ninian, bishop of Whithorn</a></td><td class='rn'>136</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>415.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_126">Councils in the Holy Land as to Pelagius</a></td><td class='rn'>126</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>429.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_135">Pelagianism put down in Britain by German and Lupus</a></td><td class='rn'>135</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>430.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_128">Death of Augustine</a></td><td class='rn'>128</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>431.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_129">Third General Council held at Ephesus—Condemnation of Nestorius</a></td><td class='rn'>129</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>432.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_136">Death of Ninian—Patrick goes into Ireland</a></td><td class='rn'>136</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>449.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_129">Council, known as "The Meeting of Robbers," at Ephesus</a></td><td class='rn'>129</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_136">Landing of the Saxons in England</a></td><td class='rn'>136</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>451.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_129">Fourth General Council held at Chalcedon—Condemnation of Eutyches</a></td><td class='rn'>129</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_131">Attila in France—Deliverance of Orleans</a></td><td class='rn'>131</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>452.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_132">Attila in Italy</a></td><td class='rn'>132</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>455.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_132">Rome plundered by Genseric</a></td><td class='rn'>132</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>476.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_133">End of the Western Empire</a></td><td class='rn'>133</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>464-519.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_144">Separation between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople</a></td><td class='rn'>144</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>493.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_138">Death of Patrick</a></td><td class='rn'>138</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>496.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_141">Conversion of Clovis</a></td><td class='rn'>141</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>527.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_142">Justinian, emperor</a></td><td class='rn'>142</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>529.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_143">The heathen schools of Athens shut up</a></td><td class='rn'>143</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_149">Benedict draws up his Rule for monks</a></td><td class='rn'>149</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>541.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_145">Jacob, leader of the Monophysites</a></td><td class='rn'>145</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>553.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_145">Fifth General Council held at Constantinople</a></td><td class='rn'>145</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>565.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_139">Columba settles at Iona</a></td><td class='rn'>139</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_142">Death of Justinian</a></td><td class='rn'>142</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>589.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_134">Third Council of Toledo—The Spanish Church renounces Arianism</a></td><td class='rn'>134</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_139">Columban goes into France</a></td><td class='rn'>139</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>590.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_155">Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>155</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>596.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_163">Mission of Augustine to England</a></td><td class='rn'>163</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>597.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_164">Landing of Augustine in England—Conversion of Ethelbert</a></td><td class='rn'>164</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>604.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_166">Deaths of Gregory and Augustine</a></td><td class='rn'>166</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'>PART II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='c' colspan='3'> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>589-615.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#Page_205">Missionary labours of St. Columban</a></td><td class='rn'>205</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>612.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_169">Mahomet begins to publish his religion</a></td><td class='rn'>169</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>627.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_169">Jerusalem taken by the Mussulmans</a></td><td class='rn'>169</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>632.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_169">Death of Mahomet</a></td><td class='rn'>169</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>635.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_172">Settlement of Scottish missionaries in Holy Island</a></td><td class='rn'>172</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>664.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_172">Council of Whitby</a></td><td class='rn'>172</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>724.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_170">Beginning of controversy as to images</a></td><td class='rn'>170</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>732.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_174">Victory of Charles Martel over the Saracens</a></td><td class='rn'>174</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>734.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_173">Death of the Venerable Bede</a></td><td class='rn'>173</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>715-755.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_174">Missionary labours of St. Boniface</a></td><td class='rn'>174</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>752.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_177">Pipin becomes king of the Franks</a></td><td class='rn'>177</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>787.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_180">Second Council of Nicĉa</a></td><td class='rn'>180</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>794.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_180">Council of Frankfort</a></td><td class='rn'>180</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>800.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_178">Charles the Great crowned as emperor</a></td><td class='rn'>178</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r'>—</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_192">(about) Forgery of Constantine's donation</a></td><td class='rn'>192</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>814.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_181">Death of Charles the Great</a></td><td class='rn'>181</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>826-865.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_187">Missionary labours of Anskar</a></td><td class='rn'>187</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>846.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_192">(about) Forgery of the False Decretals</a></td><td class='rn'>192</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>860-870.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_185">Conversion of Bulgarians, Moravians, Bohemians, &c.</a></td><td class='rn'>185</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>912.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_206">Foundation of the Order of Cluny</a></td><td class='rn'>206</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>962.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_183">Otho I., emperor</a></td><td class='rn'>183</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>988.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_188">Conversion of Basil, great prince of Russia</a></td><td class='rn'>188</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>999.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_184">Sylvester II., pope</a></td><td class='rn'>184</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>994-1030.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_189">Conversion of Norwegians</a></td><td class='rn'>189</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1046.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_185">Council of Sutri</a></td><td class='rn'>185</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1048.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_193">Pope Leo IX.—Beginning of Hildebrand's influence over the papacy</a></td><td class='rn'>193</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1073.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_193">Hildebrand elected pope (Gregory VII.)</a></td><td class='rn'>193</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1074.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_207">Foundation of the Carthusian Order</a></td><td class='rn'>207</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1085.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_197">Death of Gregory VII.</a></td><td class='rn'>197</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1098.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_208">Foundation of the Cistercian Order</a></td><td class='rn'>208</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1099.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_202">Jerusalem taken in the First Crusade</a></td><td class='rn'>202</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1113.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_209">Order of St. John (or Hospitallers) founded</a></td><td class='rn'>209</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1116.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_210">Order of the Temple founded</a></td><td class='rn'>210</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1123.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_198">Agreement between the pope and the emperor at Worms</a></td><td class='rn'>198</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1147-1149.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_213">The Second Crusade</a></td><td class='rn'>213</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1153.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_214">Death of St. Bernard</a></td><td class='rn'>214</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1154.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_214">Nicolas Breakspeare, an Englishman, chosen pope (Adrian IV.)</a></td><td class='rn'>214</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1170.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_216">Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket</a></td><td class='rn'>216</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1189.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></td> + <td class='l'><a href="#Page_217">The Third Crusade</a></td><td class='rn'>217</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1198.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_218">Innocent III. elected pope</a></td><td class='rn'>218</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1203.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_222">Constantinople taken by Crusaders</a></td><td class='rn'>222</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1208.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_219">England put under an interdict</a></td><td class='rn'>219</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1208-1229.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_223">War against the Albigenses</a></td><td class='rn'>223</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1215.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_227">Fourth Council of the Lateran—Innocent sanctions the Dominican and Franciscan Orders of Mendicant Friars</a></td><td class='rn'>227</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1240.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_230">First Crusade of St. Lewis</a></td><td class='rn'>230</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1270.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_231">Second Crusade and death of St. Lewis</a></td><td class='rn'>231</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1274.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_232">Second Council of Lyons</a></td><td class='rn'>232</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1294.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_233">Election of Pope Celestine V.</a></td><td class='rn'>233</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r2'>——</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_235">Election of Pope Boniface VIII.</a></td><td class='rn'>235</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1300.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_235">Boniface celebrates the first jubilee</a></td><td class='rn'>235</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1303.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_239">Death of Boniface</a></td><td class='rn'>239</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1310.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_240">The popes settle at Avignon</a></td><td class='rn'>240</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1312.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_243">Council of Vienne—The Order of the Temple dissolved</a></td><td class='rn'>243</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1377.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_253">Gregory XI. removes the papacy from Avignon to Rome</a></td><td class='rn'>253</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1378.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_254">Beginning of the Great Schism of the West</a></td><td class='rn'>254</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1384.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_251">Death of John Wyclif</a></td><td class='rn'>251</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1414-1418.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_258">Council of Constance</a></td><td class='rn'>258</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1415.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_260">Pope John XXIII. deposed</a></td><td class='rn'>260</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='r2'>——</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_261">John Huss burnt by order of the Council</a></td><td class='rn'>261</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1417.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_262">Election of Pope Martin V., and end of the Schism</a></td><td class='rn'>262</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1418.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_264">Religious war of Bohemia breaks out</a></td><td class='rn'>264</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1431.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_265">Council of Basel opened</a></td><td class='rn'>265</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1438.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_267">Council of Ferrara and Florence</a></td><td class='rn'>267</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1453.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_268">Constantinople taken by the Turks</a></td><td class='rn'>268</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1455.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_269">Invention of Printing</a></td><td class='rn'>269</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1464.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_270">Pope Pius II. vainly attempts a crusade</a></td><td class='rn'>270</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1498.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_274">Death of Savonarola</a></td><td class='rn'>274</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1503.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_275">Death of Pope Alexander VI.</a></td><td class='rn'>275</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class='ln'>1517.</td><td class='l'><a href="#Page_276">Appearance of Martin Luther as a reformer</a></td><td class='rn'>276</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<h2>EXPLANATION OF THE MAP.</h2> + +<p class='center'>(<i>To be read after Chapter XXII.</i>)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> +The Map is meant to give the names of such places only as are mentioned +in the History.</p> + +<p>The bounds of the patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, and +Jerusalem are marked as they were settled at the Council of Chalcedon, +in the year 451.</p> + +<p>Only the northern part of the Alexandrian patriarchate is seen, as the +Map does not reach far enough to take in Abyssinia, which belonged to +it.</p> + +<p>At the time of the Council of Nicĉa (<small>A.D.</small> 325) the bishop of Rome's +patriarchate was confined to the middle and the south of Italy, with the +Islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. It afterwards grew by degrees, +until at length it took in all the countries of the west, although it +had lost Illyricum, which was once a part of it. But this was not until +long after the time to which our little book relates, and in the +meanwhile its extent varied very much. The reason why its bounds, at the +time of the Council of Chalcedon, or in the days of Gregory the Great, +cannot well be marked in a map is, that in some countries the bishops of +Rome had much <i>influence</i>, but had not <i>power</i>. They gave <i>advice</i> to +the bishops of Gaul (or France), Spain, and Africa, and sometimes +ventured to give them <i>directions</i>. But they could not make the bishops +of those countries obey their directions, and had not <i>authority</i> over +them in the same way as the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, +Antioch, or Jerusalem had over the bishops within their patriarchates. +To mark such countries as belonging to the Roman patriarchate would be +too much; to mark them as if they had no connexion with it would be too +little.</p> + +<hr class='small' /> + +<p class='center'>SKETCHES<br /><br /> +<small>OF</small><br /><br /> +<span class='big'>CHURCH HISTORY.</span></p> + +<hr class='small' /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE AGE OF THE APOSTLES.<br /><br /> + +<small>FROM A.D.</small> 33 <small>TO A.D.</small> 100.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> +The beginning of the Christian Church is reckoned from the great day on +which the Holy Ghost came down, according as our Lord had promised to +His Apostles. At that time, "Jews, devout men, out of every nation under +heaven," were gathered together at Jerusalem, to keep the Feast of +Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks), which was one of the three holy seasons +at which God required His people to appear before Him in the place which +He had chosen (<i>Deuteronomy</i> xvi. 16). Many of these devout men were +converted, by what they then saw and heard, to believe the Gospel; and, +when they returned to their own countries, they carried back with them +the news of the wonderful things which had taken place at Jerusalem. +After this, the Apostles went forth "into all the world," as their +Master had ordered them, to "preach the Gospel to every creature" (<i>St. +Mark</i> xvi. 15). The Book of Acts tells us something of what they did, +and we may learn something more about it from the Epistles. And, +although this be but a small part of the whole, it will give us a notion +of the rest, if we consider that, while St. Paul was preaching in Asia +Minor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +in Greece, and at Rome, the other Apostles were busily doing the +same work in other countries.</p> + +<p>We must remember, too, the constant coming and going which in those days +took place throughout the world; how Jews from all quarters went up to +keep the passover and other feasts at Jerusalem; how the great Roman +empire stretched from our own island of Britain as far as Persia and +Ethiopia, and people from all parts of it were continually going to Rome +and returning. We must consider how merchants travelled from country to +country on account of their trade; how soldiers were sent into all +quarters of the empire, and were moved about from one country to +another. And from these things we may get some understanding of the way +in which the knowledge of the Gospel would be spread, when once it had +taken root in the great cities of Jerusalem and Rome. Thus it came to +pass, that, by the end of the first hundred years after our Saviour's +birth, something was known of the Christian faith throughout all the +Roman empire, and even in countries beyond it; and if in many cases, +only a very little was known, still even that was a gain, and served as +a preparation for more.</p> + +<p>The last chapter of the Acts leaves St. Paul at Rome, waiting for his +trial on account of the things which the Jews had laid to his charge. We +find from the Epistles that he afterwards got his liberty, and returned +into the East. There is reason to suppose that he also visited Spain, as +he had spoken of doing in his Epistle to the Romans (ch. xv. 28); and it +has been thought by some that he even preached in Britain; but this does +not seem likely. He was at last imprisoned again at Rome, where the +wicked Emperor Nero persecuted the Christians very cruelly; and it is +believed that both St. Peter and St. Paul were put to death there in the +year of our Lord 68. The bishops of Rome afterwards set up claims to +great power and honour, because they said that St. Peter was the first +bishop of their church, and that they were his successors. But although +we may reasonably believe that the Apostle was martyred at Rome, there +does not appear to be any +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +good ground for thinking that he had been +settled there as bishop of the city.</p> + +<p>All the Apostles, except St. John, are supposed to have been martyred +(or put to death for the sake of the Gospel). St. James the Less, who +was bishop of Jerusalem, was killed by the Jews in an uproar, about the +year 62. Soon after this, the Romans sent their armies into Judea, and, +after a bloody war, they took the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the +Temple, and scattered the Jews all over the earth. Thus the Jews were +punished, as our Lord had foretold, for the great sin of which they had +been guilty in refusing to believe in Him, and in putting Him to death.</p> + +<p>Thirty years after Nero's time another cruel emperor, Domitian, raised a +fresh persecution against the Christians (<small>A.D.</small> 95). Among those who +suffered were some of his own near relations; for the Gospel had now +made its way among the great people of the earth, as well as among the +poor, who were the first to listen to it. There is a story that the +emperor was told that some persons of the family of David were living in +the Holy Land, and that he sent for them, because he was afraid lest the +Jews should set them up as princes, and should rebel against his +government. They were two grandchildren of St. Jude, who was one of our +Lord's kinsmen after the flesh, and therefore belonged to the house of +David and the old kings of Judah. But these two were plain countrymen, +who lived quietly and contentedly on their little farm, and were not +likely to lead a rebellion, or to claim earthly kingdoms. And when they +were carried before the emperor, they showed him their hands, which were +rough and horny from working in the fields; and in answer to his +questions about the kingdom of Christ, they said that it was not of this +world, but spiritual and heavenly, and that it would appear at the end +of the world, when the Saviour would come again to judge both the quick +and the dead. So the emperor saw that there was nothing to fear from +them, and he let them go.</p> + +<p>It was during Domitian's persecution that St. John was banished to the +island of Patmos, where he saw the visions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +which are described in his +"Revelation." All the other Apostles had been long dead, and St. John +had lived many years at Ephesus, where he governed the churches of the +country around. After his return from Patmos he went about to all these +churches, that he might repair the hurt which they had suffered in the +persecution. In one of the towns which he visited, he noticed a young +man of very pleasing looks, and called him forward, and desired the +bishop of the place to take care of him. The bishop did so, and, after +having properly trained the youth, he baptised and confirmed him. But +when this had been done, the bishop thought that he need not watch over +him so carefully as before; and the young man fell into vicious company, +and went on from bad to worse, until at length he became the head of a +band of robbers, who kept the whole country in terror. When the Apostle +next visited the town, he asked after the charge which he had put into +the bishop's hands. The bishop, with shame and grief, answered that the +young man was dead, and, on being further questioned, he explained that +he meant <i>dead in sins</i>, and told all the story. St. John, after having +blamed him because he had not taken more care, asked where the robbers +were to be found, and set off on horseback for their haunt, where he was +seized by some of the band, and was carried before the captain. The +young man, on seeing him, knew him at once, and could not bear his look, +but ran away to hide himself. But the Apostle called him back, told him +that there was yet hope for him through Christ, and spoke in such a +moving way that the robber agreed to return to the town. There he was +once more received into the Church as a penitent; and he spent the rest +of his days in repentance for his sins, and in thankfulness for the +mercy which had been shown to him.</p> + +<p>St. John, in his old age, was much troubled by false teachers, who had +begun to corrupt the Gospel. These persons are called <i>heretics</i>, and +their doctrines are called <i>heresy</i>, from a Greek word which means to +<i>choose</i>, because they <i>chose</i> to follow their own fancies, instead of +receiving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +the Gospel as the Apostles and the Church taught it. Simon +the sorcerer, who is mentioned in the eighth chapter of the Acts, is +counted as the first heretic, and even in the time of the Apostles a +number of others arose, such as Hymenĉus, Philetus, and Alexander, who +are mentioned by St. Paul (1 <i>Tim.</i> i. 19, 20; 2 <i>Tim.</i> ii. 17, 18). +These earliest heretics were mostly of the kind called <i>Gnostics</i>,—a +word which means that they pretended to be more <i>knowing</i> than ordinary +Christians; and perhaps St. Paul may have meant them especially when he +warned Timothy against "science" (or <i>knowledge</i>) "falsely so called" (1 +<i>Tim.</i> vi. 20). Their doctrines were a strange mixture of Jewish and +heathen notions with Christianity; and it is curious that some of the +very strangest of their opinions have been brought up again from time to +time by people who fancied that they had found out something new, while +they had only fallen into old errors, which had been condemned by the +Church hundreds of years before.</p> + +<p>St. John lived to about the age of a hundred. He was at last so weak +that he could not walk into the church; so he was carried in, and used +to say continually to his people, "Little children, love one another." +Some of them, after a time, began to be tired of hearing this, and asked +him why he repeated the words so often, and said nothing else to them. +The Apostle answered, "Because it is the Lord's commandment, and if this +be done it is enough."</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. IGNATIUS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 116.</p> + +<p>When our Lord ascended into Heaven, He left the government of His Church +to the Apostles. We are told that during the forty days between His +rising from the grave and His ascension, He gave commandments unto the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +Apostles, and spoke of the things pertaining (or <i>belonging</i>) to the +kingdom of God (<i>Acts</i> i. 2, 3). Thus they knew what they were to do +when their Master should be no longer with them; and one of the first +things which they did, even without waiting until His promise of sending +the Holy Ghost should be fulfilled, was to choose St. Matthias into the +place which had been left empty by the fall of the traitor Judas (<i>Acts</i> +i. 15-26).</p> + +<p>After this we find that they appointed other persons to help them in +their work. First, they appointed the <i>deacons</i>, to take care of the +poor and to assist in other services. Then they appointed <i>presbyters</i> +(or <i>elders</i>), to undertake the charge of congregations. Afterwards, we +find St. Paul sending Timothy to Ephesus, and Titus into the island of +Crete (now called <i>Candia</i>), with power to "ordain elders in every city" +(<i>Tit.</i> i. 5), and to govern all the churches within a large country. +Thus, then, three kinds (or <i>orders</i>) of ministers of the Church are +mentioned in the Acts and Epistles. The <i>deacons</i> are lowest; the +<i>presbyters</i>, or <i>elders</i>, are next; and, above these, there is a higher +order, made up of the Apostles themselves, with such persons as Timothy +and Titus, who had to look after a great number of presbyters and +deacons, and were also the chief spiritual pastors (or <i>shepherds</i>) of +the people who were under the care of these presbyters and deacons. In +the New Testament, the name of <i>bishops</i> (which means <i>overseers</i>) is +sometimes given to the Apostles and other clergy of the highest order, +and sometimes to the presbyters; but after a time it was given only to +the highest order, and when the Apostles were dead, the <i>bishops</i> had +the chief government of the Church. It has since been found convenient +that some bishops should be placed above others, and should be called by +higher titles, such as <i>archbishops</i> and <i>patriarchs</i>; but these all +belong to the same <i>order</i> of bishops; just as in a parish, although the +rector and the curate have different titles, and one of them is above +the other, they are both most commonly presbyters (or, as we now say, +<i>priests</i>), and so they both belong to the same <i>order</i> in the +ministry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +One of the most famous among the early bishops was St. Ignatius, bishop +of Antioch, the place where the disciples were first called Christians +(<i>Acts</i> xi. 26). Antioch was the chief city of Syria, and was so large +that it had more than two hundred thousand inhabitants. St. Peter +himself is said to have been its bishop for some years; and, although +this is perhaps a mistake, it is worth remembering, because we shall +find by-and-by that much was said about the bishops of Antioch being St. +Peter's successors, as well as the bishops of Rome.</p> + +<p>Ignatius had known St. John, and was made bishop of Antioch about thirty +years before the Apostle's death. He had governed his church for forty +years or more, when the Emperor Trajan came to Antioch. In the Roman +history, Trajan is described as one of the best among the emperors; but +he did not treat the Christians well. He seems never to have thought +that the Gospel could possibly be true, and thus he did not take the +trouble to inquire what the Christians really believed or did. They were +obliged in those days to hold their worship in secret, and mostly by +night, or very early in the morning, because it would not have been safe +to meet openly; and hence, the heathens, who did not know what was done +at their meetings, were tempted to fancy all manner of shocking things, +such as that the Christians practised magic; that they worshipped the +head of an ass; that they offered children in sacrifice; and that they +ate human flesh! It is not likely that the Emperor Trajan believed such +foolish tales as these; and, when he <i>did</i> make some inquiry about the +ways of the Christians, he heard nothing but what was good of them. But +still he might think that there was some mischief behind; and he might +fear lest the secret meetings of the Christians should have something to +do with plots against his government; and so, as I have said, he was no +friend to them.</p> + +<p>When Trajan came to Antioch, St. Ignatius was carried before him. The +emperor asked what evil spirit possessed him, so that he not only broke +the laws by refusing to serve +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +the gods of Rome, but persuaded others to +do the same. Ignatius answered, that he was not possessed by any evil +spirit; that he was a servant of Christ; that by His help he defeated +the malice of evil spirits; and that he bore his God and Saviour within +his heart. After some more questions and answers, the emperor ordered +that he should be carried in chains to Rome, and there should be +devoured by wild beasts. When Ignatius heard this terrible sentence, he +was so far from being frightened, that he burst forth into thankfulness +and rejoicing, because he was allowed to suffer for his Saviour, and for +the deliverance of his people.</p> + +<p>It was a long and toilsome journey, over land and sea, from Antioch to +Rome; and an old man, such as Ignatius, was ill able to bear it, +especially as winter was coming on. He was to be chained, too, and the +soldiers who had the charge of him behaved very rudely and cruelly to +him. And no doubt the emperor thought that, by sending so venerable a +bishop in this way to suffer so fearful and so disgraceful a death (to +which only the very lowest wretches were usually sentenced), he should +terrify other Christians into forsaking their faith. But instead of +this, the courage, and the patience with which St. Ignatius bore his +sufferings gave the Christians fresh spirit to endure whatever might +come on them.</p> + +<p>The news that the holy bishop of Antioch was to be carried to Rome soon +spread, and at many places on the way the bishops, clergy, and people +flocked together, that they might see him, and pray and talk with him, +and receive his blessing. And when he could find time, he wrote letters +to various churches, exhorting them to stand fast in the faith, to be at +peace among themselves, to obey the bishops who were set over them, and +to advance in all holy living. One of the letters was written to the +Church at Rome, and was sent on by some persons who were travelling by a +shorter way. St. Ignatius begs, in this letter, that the Romans will not +try to save him from death. "I am the wheat of God," he says, "let me be +ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of +Christ.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +Rather do ye encourage the beasts, that they may become my +tomb, and may leave nothing of my body, so that, when dead, I may not be +troublesome to any one." He even says that, if the lions should hang +back, he will himself provoke them to attack him. It would not be right +for ordinary people to speak in this way, and the Church has always +disapproved of those who threw themselves in the way of persecution. But +a holy man who had served God for so many years as Ignatius, might well +speak in a way which would not become ordinary Christians. When he was +called to die for his people and for the truth of Christ, he might even +take it as a token of God's favour, and might long for his deliverance +from the troubles and the trials of this world, as St. Paul said of +himself, that he "had a desire to depart, and to be with Christ" +(<i>Phil.</i> i. 23).</p> + +<p>He reached Rome just in time for some games which were to take place a +little before Christmas; for the Romans were cruel enough to amuse +themselves with setting wild beasts to tear and devour men, in vast +places called <i>amphitheatres</i>, at their public games. When the +Christians of Rome heard that Ignatius was near the city, great numbers +of them went out to meet him, and they said that they would try to +persuade the people in the amphitheatre to beg that he might not be put +to death. But he entreated, as he had before done in his letter, that +they would do nothing to hinder him from glorifying God by his death; +and he knelt down with them, and prayed that they might continue in +faith and love, and that the persecution might soon come to an end. As +it was the last day of the games, and they were nearly over, he was then +hurried into the amphitheatre (called the <i>Coliseum</i>), which was so +large that tens of thousands of people might look on. And in this place +(of which the ruins are still to be seen), St. Ignatius was torn to +death by wild beasts, so that only a few of his larger bones were left, +which the Christians took up and conveyed to his own city of Antioch. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. JUSTIN, MARTYR.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 166.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +Although Trajan was no friend to the Gospel, and put St. Ignatius to +death, he made a law which must have been a great relief to the +Christians. Until then, they were liable to be sought out, and any one +might inform against them; but Trajan ordered that they should not be +sought out, although, if they were discovered, and refused to give up +their faith, they were to be punished. The next emperor, too, whose name +was Hadrian (<small>A.D.</small> 117 to 138), did something to make their condition +better; but it was still one of great hardship and danger. +Notwithstanding the new laws, any governor of a country, who disliked +the Christians, had the power to persecute and vex them cruelly. And the +common people among the heathens still believed the horrid stories of +their killing children and eating human flesh. If there was a famine or +a plague,—if the river Tiber, which runs through Rome, rose above its +usual height and did mischief to the neighbouring buildings,—or if the +emperor's armies were defeated in war, the blame of all was laid on the +Christians. It was said that all these things were judgments from the +gods, who were angry because the Christians were allowed to live. And +then at the public games, such as those at which St. Ignatius was put to +death, the people used to cry out, "Throw the Christians to the lions! +away with the godless wretches!" For, as the Christians were obliged to +hold their worship secretly, and had no images like those of the heathen +gods, and did not offer any sacrifices of beasts, as the heathens did, +it was thought that they had no God at all; since the heathens could not +raise their minds to the thought of that God who is a spirit, and who is +not to be worshipped under any bodily shape. It was, therefore, a great +relief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +when the Emperor Antoninus Pius (<small>A.D.</small> 138 to 161), who was a +mild and gentle old man, ordered that governors and magistrates should +not give way to such outcries, and that the Christians should no longer +be punished for their religion only, unless they were found to have done +wrong in some other way.</p> + +<p>There were now many learned men in the Church, and some of these began +to write books in defence of their faith. One of them, Athenagoras, had +undertaken, while he was a heathen, to show that the Gospel was all a +deceit; but when he looked further into the matter, he found that it was +very different from what he had fancied; and then he was converted, and, +instead of writing against the Gospel, he wrote in favour of it.</p> + +<p>Another of these learned men was Justin, who was born at Samaria, and +was trained in all the wisdom of the Greeks. For the Greeks, as they +were left without such light as God had given to the Jews, set +themselves to seek out wisdom in all sorts of ways. And, as they had no +certain truth from heaven to guide them, they were divided into a number +of different parties, such as the Epicureans, and the Stoics, who +disputed with St. Paul at Athens (<i>Acts</i> xvii. 18). These all called +themselves <i>philosophers</i> (which means, <i>lovers of wisdom</i>); and each +kind of them thought to be wiser than all the rest. Justin, then, having +a strong desire to know the truth, tried one kind of philosophy after +another, but could not find rest for his spirit in any of them.</p> + +<p>One day, as he was walking thoughtfully on the sea-shore, he observed an +old man of grave and mild appearance, who was following him closely, and +at length entered into talk with him. The old man told Justin that it +was of no use to search after wisdom in the books of the philosophers; +and went on to speak of God the maker of all things, of the prophecies +which He had given to men in the time of the Old Testament, and how they +had been fulfilled in the life and death of the blessed Jesus. Thus +Justin was brought to the knowledge of the Gospel; and the more he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +learnt of it, the more was he convinced of its truth, as he came to know +how pure and holy its doctrines and its rules were, and as he saw the +love which Christians bore towards each other, and the patience and +firmness with which they endured sufferings and death for their Master's +sake. And now, although he still called himself a philosopher, and wore +the long cloak which was the common dress of philosophers, the wisdom +which he taught was not heathen but Christian wisdom. He lived mostly at +Rome, where scholars flocked to him in great numbers. And he wrote books +in defence of the Gospel against heathens, Jews, and heretics, or false +Christians.</p> + +<p>The old Emperor Antoninus Pius, under whom the Christians had been +allowed to live in peace and safety, died in the year 161, and was +succeeded by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, whom he had adopted as his son. +Marcus Aurelius was not only one of the best emperors, but in many ways +was one of the best of all the heathens. He had a great character for +gentleness, kindness, and justice, and he was fond of books, and liked +to have philosophers and learned men about him. But, unhappily, these +people gave him a very bad notion of Christianity; and, as he knew no +more of it than what they told him, he took a strong dislike to it. And +thus, although he was just and kind to his other subjects, the +Christians suffered more under his reign than they had ever done before. +All the misfortunes that took place, such as rebellions, defeats in war, +plague, and scarcity, were laid to the blame of the Christians; and the +emperor himself seems to have thought that they were in fault, as he +made some new laws against them.</p> + +<p>Now the success which Justin had as a teacher at Rome had long raised +the envy and malice of the heathen philosophers; and, when these new +laws against the Christians came out, one Crescens, a philosopher of the +kind called <i>Cynics</i>, or <i>doggish</i> (on account of their snarling, +currish ways), contrived that Justin should be carried before a judge, +on the charge of being a Christian. The judge +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +questioned him as to his +belief, and as to the meetings of the Christians; to which Justin +answered that he believed in one God, and in the Saviour Christ, the Son +of God, but he refused to say anything which could betray his brethren +to the persecutors. The judge then threatened him with scourging and +death: but Justin replied that the sufferings of this world were nothing +to the glory which Christ had promised to His people in the world to +come. Then he and the others who had been brought up for trial with him +were asked whether they would offer sacrifice to the gods of the +heathen, and as they refused to do this, and to forsake their faith, +they were all beheaded (<small>A.D.</small> 166). And on account of the death which he +thus suffered for the Gospel, Justin has ever since been especially +styled "The Martyr."</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. POLYCARP.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 166.</p> + +<p>About the same time with Justin the Martyr, St. Polycarp, bishop of +Smyrna, was put to death. He was a very old man; for it was almost +ninety years since he had been converted from heathenism. He had known +St. John, and is supposed to have been made bishop of Smyrna by that +Apostle himself; and he had been a friend of St. Ignatius, who, as we +have seen, suffered martyrdom fifty years before. From all these things, +and from his wise and holy character, he was looked up to as a father by +all the Churches, and his mild advice had sometimes put an end to +differences of opinion which but for him might have turned into lasting +quarrels.</p> + +<p>When the persecution reached Smyrna, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a +number of Christians suffered with great constancy, and the heathen +multitude, being provoked +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +at their refusal to give up their faith, +cried out for the death of Polycarp. The aged bishop, although he was +ready to die for his Saviour, remembered that it was not right to throw +himself in the way of danger; so he left the city, and went first to one +village in the neighbourhood, and then to another. But he was discovered +in his hiding-place, and when he saw the soldiers who were come to seize +him, he calmly said, "God's will be done!" He desired that some food +should be given to them, and, while they were eating, he spent the time +in prayer. He was then set on an ass, and led towards Smyrna; and, when +he was near the town, one of the heathen magistrates came by in his +chariot, and took him up into it. The magistrate tried to persuade +Polycarp to sacrifice to the gods; but finding that he could make +nothing of him, he pushed him out of the chariot so roughly that the old +man fell and broke his leg. But Polycarp bore the pain without showing +how much he was hurt, and the soldiers led him into the amphitheatre, +where great numbers of people were gathered together. When all these saw +him, they set up loud cries of rage and savage delight; but Polycarp +thought, as he entered the place, that he heard a voice saying to him, +"Be strong and play the man!" and he did not heed all the shouting of +the crowd. The governor desired him to deny Christ, and said that, if he +would, his life should be spared. But the faithful bishop answered, +"Fourscore and six years have I served Christ, and He hath never done me +wrong; how then can I now blaspheme my King and Saviour?" The governor +again and again urged him, as if in a friendly way, to sacrifice; but +Polycarp stedfastly refused. He next threatened to let wild beasts loose +on him; and as Polycarp still showed no fear, he said that he would burn +him alive. "You threaten me," said the bishop, "with a fire which lasts +but a short time; but you know not of that eternal fire which is +prepared for the wicked." A stake was then set up, and a pile of wood +was collected around it. Polycarp walked to the place with a calm and +cheerful look, and, as the executioners were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +going to fasten him to the +stake with iron cramps, he begged them to spare themselves the trouble: +"He who gives me the strength to bear the flames," he said, "will enable +me to remain steady." He was therefore only tied to the stake with +cords, and as he stood thus bound, he uttered a thanksgiving for being +allowed to suffer after the pattern of his Lord and Saviour. When his +prayer was ended, the wood was set on fire, but we are told that the +flames swept round him, looking like the sail of a ship swollen by the +wind, while he remained unhurt in the midst of them. One of the +executioners, seeing this, plunged a sword into the martyr's breast, and +the blood rushed forth in such a stream that it put out the fire. But +the persecutors, who were resolved that the Christians should not have +their bishop's body, lighted the wood again, and burnt the corpse, so +that only a few of the bones remained; and these the Christians gathered +out, and gave them an honourable burial. It was on Easter eve that St. +Polycarp suffered, in the year of our Lord 166.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE MARTYRS OF LYONS AND VIENNE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 177.</p> + +<p>Many other martyrs suffered in various parts of the empire under the +reign of Marcus Aurelius. Among the most famous of these are the martyrs +of Lyons and Vienne, in the south of France (or <i>Gaul</i>, as it was then +called), where a company of missionaries from Asia Minor had settled +with a bishop named Pothinus at their head. The persecution at Lyons and +Vienne was begun by the mob of those towns, who insulted the Christians +in the streets, broke into their houses, and committed other such +outrages against them. Then a great number of Christians were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> seized, +and imprisoned in horrid dungeons, where many died from want of food, or +from the bad and unwholesome air. The bishop, Pothinus, who was ninety +years of age, and had long been very ill, was carried before the +governor, and was asked, "Who is the God of Christians?" Pothinus saw +that the governor did not put this question from any good feeling; so he +answered, "If thou be worthy, thou shalt know." The bishop, old and +feeble as he was, was then dragged about by soldiers, and such of the +mob as could reach him gave him blows and kicks, while others, who were +further off, threw anything which came to hand at him; and, after this +cruel usage, he was put into prison, where he died within two days.</p> + +<p>The other prisoners were tortured for six days together in a variety of +horrible ways. Their limbs were stretched on the rack; they were cruelly +scourged; some had hot plates of iron applied to them, and some were +made to sit in a red-hot iron chair. The firmness with which they bore +these dreadful trials gave courage to some of their brethren, who at +first had agreed to sacrifice, so that these now again declared +themselves Christians, and joined the others in suffering. As all the +tortures were of no effect, the prisoners were at length put to death. +Some were thrown to wild beasts; but those who were citizens of Rome +were beheaded; for it was not lawful to give a Roman citizen up to wild +beasts, just as we know from St. Paul's case at Philippi that it was not +lawful to scourge a citizen (<i>Acts</i> xvi. 37).</p> + +<p>Among the martyrs was a boy from Asia, only fifteen years old, who was +taken every day to see the tortures of the rest, in the hope that he +might be frightened into denying his Saviour; but he was not shaken by +the terrible sights, and for his constancy he was cruelly put to death +on the last day. The greatest cruelties of all, however, were borne by a +young woman named Blandina. She was slave to a Christian lady; and, +although the Christians regarded their slaves with a kindness very +unlike the usual feeling of heathen masters towards them, this lady +seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +yet to have thought that a slave was not likely to endure +tortures so courageously as a free person; and she was the more afraid +because Blandina was not strong in body. But the poor slave's faith was +not to be overcome. Day after day she bravely bore every cruelty that +the persecutors could think of; and all that they could wring out from +her was, "I am a Christian, and nothing wrong is done among us!"</p> + +<p>The heathen were not content with putting the martyrs to death with +tortures, or allowing them to die in prison. They cast their dead bodies +to the dogs, and caused them to be watched day and night, lest the other +Christians should give them burial; and after this, they burnt the +bones, and threw the ashes of them into the river Rhone, by way of +mocking at the notion of a resurrection. For, as St. Paul had found at +Athens (<i>Acts</i> xvii. 32), and elsewhere, there was no part of the Gospel +which the heathen in general thought so hard to believe as the doctrine +that that which is "sown in corruption" shall hereafter be "raised in +incorruption;" that that which "is sown a natural body" will one day be +"raised a spiritual body" (1 <i>Cor.</i> xv. 42-44).</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>TERTULLIAN—PERPETUA AND HER COMPANIONS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 181-206.</p> + +<p>The Emperor Marcus Aurelius died in 181, and the Church was little +troubled by persecution for the following twenty years.</p> + +<p>About this time a false teacher named Montanus made much noise in the +world. He was born in Phrygia, and seems to have been crazed in his +mind. He used to fall into fits, and while in them, he uttered ravings +which were taken for prophecies, or messages from heaven: and some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +women who followed him also pretended to be prophetesses. These people +taught a very strict way of living, and thus many persons who wished to +lead holy lives were deceived into running after them. One of these was +Tertullian, of Carthage, in Africa, a very clever and learned man, who +had been converted from heathenism, and had written some books in +defence of the Gospel. But he was of a proud and impatient temper, and +did not rightly consider how our Lord Himself had said that there would +always be a mixture of evil with the good in His Church on earth (<i>St. +Matt.</i> xiii. 38, 48). And hence, when Montanus pretended to set up a new +church, in which there should be none but good and holy people, +Tertullian fell into the snare, and left the true Church to join the +Montanists (as the followers of Montanus were called). From that time he +wrote very bitterly against the Church; but he still continued to defend +the Gospel in his books against Jews and heathens, and all kinds of +false teachers, except Montanus. And when he was dead, his good deeds +were remembered more than his fall, so that, with all his faults, his +name has always been held in respect.</p> + +<p>After more than twenty years of peace, there were cruel persecutions in +some places, under the reign of Severus. The most famous of the martyrs +who then suffered were Perpetua and her companions, who belonged to the +same country with Tertullian, and perhaps to his own city, Carthage. +Perpetua was a young married lady, and had a little baby only a few +weeks old. Her father was a heathen, but she herself had been converted, +and was a <i>catechumen</i>—which was the name given to converts who had not +yet been baptized, but where in a course of <i>catechising</i>, or training +for baptism. When Perpetua had been put into prison, her father went to +see her, in the hope that he might persuade her to give up her faith. +"Father," she said, "you see this vessel standing here; can you call it +by any other than its right name?" He answered, "No." "Neither," said +Perpetua, "can I call myself anything else than what I am—a Christian." +On hearing this, her father +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +flew at her in such anger that it seemed as +if he would tear out her eyes; but she stood so quietly that he could +not bring himself to hurt her; and he went away and did not come again +for some time.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Perpetua and some of her companions were baptized; and +at her baptism she prayed for grace to bear whatever sufferings might be +in store for her. The prison in which she and the others were shut up +was a horrible dungeon, where Perpetua suffered much from the darkness, +the crowded state of the place, the heat and closeness of the air, and +the rude behaviour of the guards. But most of all she was distressed +about her poor little child, who was separated from her, and was pining +away. Some kind Christians, however, gave money to the keepers of the +prison, and got leave for Perpetua and her friends to spend some hours +of the day in a lighter part of the building, where her child was +brought to see her. And after a while she took him to be always with +her, and then she felt as cheerful as if she had been in a palace.</p> + +<p>The martyrs were comforted by dreams, which served to give them courage +and strength to bear their sufferings, by showing them visions of +blessedness which was to follow. When the day was fixed for their trial, +Perpetua's father went again to see her. He begged her to take pity on +his old age, to remember all his kindness to her, and how he had loved +her best of all his children. He implored her to think of her mother and +her brothers, and of the disgrace which would fall on all the family if +she were to be put to death as an evil-doer. The poor old man shed a +flood of tears; he humbled himself before her, kissing her hands, +throwing himself at her feet, and calling her <i>Lady</i> instead of +<i>Daughter</i>. But, although Perpetua was grieved to the heart, she could +only say, "God's pleasure will be done on us. We are not in our own +power, but in His!"</p> + +<p>One day, as the prisoners were at dinner, they were suddenly hurried off +to their trial. The market-place, where the judge was sitting, was +crowded with people, and when Perpetua was brought forward, her father +crept as close to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +her as he could, holding out her child, and said, +"Take pity on your infant." The judge himself entreated her to pity the +little one and the old man, and to sacrifice; but, painful as the trial +was, she steadily declared that she was a Christian, and that she could +not worship false gods. At these words, her father burst out into such +loud cries that the judge ordered him to be put down from the place +where he was standing, and to be beaten with rods. Perhaps the judge did +not mean so much to punish the old man for being noisy as to try whether +the sight of his suffering might not move his daughter; but, although +Perpetua felt every blow as if it had been laid upon herself, she knew +that she must not give way. She was condemned, with her companions, to +be exposed to wild beasts; and, after she had been taken back to prison, +her father visited her once more. He seemed as if beside himself with +grief; he tore his white beard, he cursed his old age, and spoke in a +way that might have moved a heart of stone. But still Perpetua could +only be sorry for him; she could not give up her Saviour.</p> + +<p>The prisoners were kept for some time after their condemnation, that +they might be put to death at some great games which were to be held on +the birthday of one of the emperor's sons; and during this confinement +their behaviour had a great effect on many who saw it. The gaoler +himself was converted by it, and so were others who had gone to gaze at +them. At length the appointed day came, and the martyrs were led into +the amphitheatre. The men were torn by leopards and bears; Perpetua and +a young woman named Felicitas, who had been a slave, were put into nets +and thrown before a furious cow, who tossed them and gored them cruelly: +and when this was over, Perpetua seemed as if she had not felt it, but +were awaking from a trance, and she asked when the cow was to come. She +then helped Felicitas to rise from the ground, and spoke words of +comfort and encouragement to others. When the people in the amphitheatre +had seen as much as they wished of the wild beasts, they called out +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +that the prisoners should be killed. Perpetua and the rest then took +leave of each other, and walked with cheerful looks and firm steps into +the middle of the amphitheatre, where men with swords fell on them and +dispatched them. The executioner who was to kill Perpetua was a youth, +and was so nervous that he stabbed her in a place where the hurt was not +deadly; but she herself took hold of his sword, and showed him where to +give her the death-wound.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ORIGEN.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 185-254.</p> + +<p>The same persecution in which Perpetua and her companions suffered at +Carthage raged also at Alexandria in Egypt, where a learned man named +Leonides was one of the martyrs (<small>A.D.</small> 202). Leonides had a son named +Origen, whom he had brought up very carefully, and had taught to get +some part of the Bible by heart every day. And Origen was very eager to +learn, and was so good and so clever that his father was afraid to show +how fond and how proud he was of him, lest the boy should become forward +and conceited. So when Origen asked questions of a kind which few boys +would have thought of asking, his father used to check him; but when he +was asleep Leonides would steal to his bedside and kiss him, thanking +God for having given him such a child, and praying that Origen might +always be kept in the right way.</p> + +<p>When the persecution began, Origen, who was then about seventeen years +old, wished that he might be allowed to die for his faith; but his +mother hid his clothes, and so obliged him to stay at home; and all that +he could do was to write to his father in prison, and to beg that he +would not fear lest the widow and orphans should be left destitute, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +would be steadfast in his faith, and would trust in God to provide for +their relief.</p> + +<p>The persecutors were not content with killing Leonides, but seized on +all his property, so that the widow was left in great distress, with +seven children, of whom Origen was the eldest. A Christian lady kindly +took Origen into her house; and after a time, young as he was, he was +made master of the <i>Catechetical School</i>, a sort of college, where the +young Christians of Alexandria were instructed in religion and learning. +The persecution had slackened for a while, but it began again, and some +of Origen's pupils were martyred. He went with them to their trial, and +stood by them in their sufferings; but although he was ill-used by the +mob of Alexandria, he was himself allowed to go free.</p> + +<p>Origen had read in the Gospel, "Freely ye have received, freely give" +(<i>St. Matt.</i> x. 8), and he thought that therefore he ought to teach for +nothing. In order, therefore, that he might be able to do this, he sold +a quantity of books which he had written out, and lived for a long time +on the price of them, allowing himself only about fivepence a day. His +food was of the poorest kind; he had but one coat, through which he felt +the cold of winter severely; he sat up the greater part of the night, +and then lay down on the bare floor. When he grew older, he came to +understand that he had been mistaken in some of his notions as to these +things, and to regret that, by treating himself so hardly, he had hurt +his health beyond repair. But still, mistaken as he was, we must honour +him for going through so bravely with what he took to be his duty.</p> + +<p>He soon grew so famous as a teacher, that even Jews, heathens, and +heretics went to hear him; and many of them were so led on by him that +they were converted to the Gospel. He travelled a great deal: some of +his journeys were taken because he had been invited into foreign +countries that he might teach the Gospel to people who were desirous of +instruction in it, or that he might settle disputes about religion. And +he was invited to go on a visit to the mother of the Emperor Alexander +Severus, who was himself +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +friendly to Christianity, although not a +Christian. Origen, too, wrote a great number of books in explanation of +the Bible, and on other religious subjects; and he worked for no less +than eight-and-twenty years at a great book, called the <i>Hexapla</i>, which +was meant to show how the Old Testament ought to be read in Hebrew and +in Greek.</p> + +<p>But, although he was a very good, as well as a very learned man, Origen +fell into some strange opinions, from wishing to clear away some of +those difficulties which, as St. Paul says, made the Gospel seem +"foolishness" to the heathen philosophers (1 <i>Cor.</i> i. 23). Besides +this, Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, although he had been his +friend, had some reasons for not wishing to ordain him to be one of the +clergy; and when Origen had been ordained a presbyter (or priest) in the +Holy Land, where he was on a visit, Demetrius was very angry. He said +that no man ought to be ordained in any church but that of his own home; +and he brought up stories about some rash things which Origen had done +in his youth, and questions about the strange doctrines which he held. +Origen, finding that he could not hope for peace at Alexandria, went +back to his friend the bishop of Cĉsarea, by whom he had been ordained, +and he spent many years at Cĉsarea, where he was more sought after as a +teacher than ever. At one time he was driven into Cappadocia, by the +persecution of a savage emperor named Maximin, who had murdered the +gentle Alexander Severus; but he returned to Cĉsarea, and lived there +until another persecution began under the Emperor Decius.</p> + +<p>This was by far the worst persecution that had yet been known. It was +the first which was carried on throughout the whole empire, and no +regard was now paid to the old laws which Trajan and other emperors had +made for the protection of the Christians. They were sought out, and +were made to appear in the market-place of every town, where they were +required by the magistrates to sacrifice, and, if they refused, were +sentenced to severe punishment. The emperor wished most to get at the +bishops and clergy; for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +he thought that, if the teachers were put out +of the way, the people would soon give up the Gospel. Although many +martyrs were put to death at this time, the persecutors did not so much +wish to kill the Christians, as to make them disown their religion; and, +in the hope of this, many of them were starved, and tortured, and sent +into banishment in strange countries, among wild people who had never +before heard of Christ. But here the emperor's plans were notably +disappointed; for the banished bishops and clergy had thus an +opportunity of making the Gospel known to those poor wild tribes, whom +it might not have reached for a long time if the Church had been left in +quiet.</p> + +<p>We shall hear more about the persecution in the next chapter. Here I +shall only say that Origen was imprisoned and cruelly tortured. He was +by this time nearly seventy years old, and was weak in body from the +labours which he had gone through in study, and from having hurt his +health by hard and scanty living in his youth; so that he was ill able +to bear the pains of the torture, and, although he did not die under it, +he died of its effects soon after (<small>A.D.</small> 254).</p> + +<p>Decius himself was killed in battle (<small>A.D.</small> 251), and his persecution came +to an end. And when it was over, the faithful understood that it had +been of great use, not only by helping to spread the Gospel, in the way +which has been mentioned, but in purifying the Church, and in rousing +Christians from the carelessness into which too many of them had fallen +during the long time of ease and quiet which they had before enjoyed. +For the trials which God sends on His people in this world are like the +chastisements of a loving Father; and, if we accept them rightly, they +will all be found to turn out to our good. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. CYPRIAN.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I. A.D.</small> 200-253.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +About the same time with Origen lived St Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. He +was born about the year 200, and had been long famous as a professor of +heathen learning, when he was converted at the age of forty-five. He +then gave up his calling as a teacher, and, like the first Christians at +Jerusalem (<i>Acts</i> iv. 34-5), he sold a fine house and gardens, which he +had near the town, and gave the price, with a large part of his other +money, to the poor. He became one of the clergy of Carthage, and when +the bishop died, about three years after, Cyprian was so much loved and +respected that he was chosen in his place (<small>A.D.</small> 248).</p> + +<p>Cyprian tried with all his power to do the duties of a good bishop, and +to get rid of many wrong things which had grown upon his Church during +the long peace which it had enjoyed. But about two years after he was +made bishop, the persecution under Decius broke out, when, as was said +in the last chapter, the persecutors tried especially to strike at the +bishops and clergy, and to force them to deny their faith. Now Cyprian +would have been ready and glad to die, if it would have served the good +of his people; but he remembered how our Lord had said, "When they +persecute you in this city, flee ye into another" (<i>St. Matt.</i> x. 23), +and how He Himself withdrew from the rage of His enemies, because His +"hour was not yet come" (<i>St. John</i> viii. 20, 59; xi. 54). And it seemed +to the good bishop, that for the present it would be best to go out of +the way of his persecutors. But he kept a constant watch over all that +was done in his church, and he often wrote to his clergy and people from +the place where he was hidden.</p> + +<p>But in the meanwhile, things went on badly at Carthage. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> Many had called +themselves Christians in the late quiet times who would not have done so +if there had been any danger about it. And now, when the danger came, +numbers of them ran into the market-place at Carthage, and seemed quite +eager to offer sacrifice to the gods of the heathen. Others, who did not +sacrifice, bribed some officers of the Government to give them tickets, +certifying that they <i>had</i> sacrificed; and yet they contrived to +persuade themselves that they had done nothing wrong by their cowardice +and deceit! There were, too, some mischievous men among the clergy, who +had not wished Cyprian to be bishop, and had borne him a grudge ever +since he was chosen. And now these clergymen set on the people who had +<i>lapsed</i> (or <i>fallen</i>) in the persecution, to demand that they should be +taken back into the Church, and to say that some martyrs had given them +letters which entitled them to be admitted at once.</p> + +<p>In those days it was usual, when any Christian was known to have been +guilty of a heavy sin, that (as is said in our Commination service), he +should be "put to open <i>penance</i>" by the Church; that is, that he should +be required to show his repentance publicly. Persons who were in this +state were not allowed to receive the holy sacrament of the Lord's +Supper, as all other Christians then did very often. The worst sinners +were obliged to stand outside the church-door, where they begged those +who were going in to pray that their sins might be forgiven; and those +of the penitents who were let into the church had places in it separate +from other Christians. Sometimes penance lasted for years; and always +until the penitents had done enough to prove that they were truly +grieved for their sins, so that the clergy might hope that they were +received to God's mercy for their Redeemer's sake. But as it was counted +a great and glorious thing to die for the truth of Christ, and martyrs +were highly honoured in the Church, penitents had been in the habit of +going to them while they were in prison awaiting death, and of +entreating the martyrs to plead with the Church for the shortening of +the appointed penance. And +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +it had been usual, out of regard for the +holy martyrs, to forgive those to whom they had given letters desiring +that the penitents might be gently treated. But now these people at +Carthage, instead of showing themselves humble, as true penitents would +have been, came forward in an insolent manner, as if they had a right to +claim that they might be restored to the Church; and the martyrs' +letters (or rather what they <i>called</i> martyrs' letters) were used in a +way very different from anything that had ever been allowed. Cyprian had +a great deal of trouble with them; but he dealt wisely in the matter, +and at length had the comfort of settling it. But, as people are always +ready to find fault in one way or another, some blamed him for being too +strict with the <i>lapsed</i>, and others for being too easy; and each of +these parties went so far as to set up a bishop of its own against him. +After a time, however, he got the better of these enemies, although the +straiter sect (who were called <i>Novatianists</i>, after Novatian, a +presbyter of Rome) lasted for three hundred years or more.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_8_II" id="P1_8_II"></a><small>PART II. A.D.</small> 253-257.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the end of the persecution, a terrible plague passed +through the empire, and carried off vast numbers of people. Many of the +heathen thought that the plague was sent by their gods to punish them +for allowing the Christians to live; and the mobs of towns broke out +against the Christians, killing some of them, and hurting them in other +ways.</p> + +<p>But instead of returning evil for evil, the Christians showed what a +spirit of love they had learnt from their Lord and Master; and there was +no place where this was more remarkably shown than at Carthage. The +heathen there were so terrified by the plague that they seemed to have +lost all natural feeling, and almost to be out of their senses. When +their friends fell sick, they left them to die without any care; when +they were dead, they cast out their bodies into the street; and the +corpses which lay about unburied +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +were not only shocking to look at, but +made the air unwholesome, so that there was much more danger of the +plague than before. But while the heathen were behaving in this way, and +each of them thought only of himself, Cyprian called the Christians of +Carthage together, and told them that <i>they</i> were bound to do very +differently. "It would be no wonder," he said, "if we were to attend to +our own friends; but Christ our Lord charges us to do good to heathens +and publicans also, and to love our enemies. HE prayed for them that +persecuted Him, and if we are His disciples, we ought to do so too." And +then the good bishop went on to tell his people what part each of them +should take in the charitable work. Those who had money were to give it, +and were to do such acts of kindness as they could besides. The poor, +who had no silver or gold to spare, were to give their labour in a +spirit of love. So all classes set to their tasks gladly, and they +nursed the sick and buried the dead, without asking whether they were +Christian or heathens.</p> + +<p>When the heathens saw these acts of love, many of them were brought to +wonder what it could be that made the Christians do them; and how they +came to be so kind to poor and old people, to widows, and orphans, and +slaves; and how it was that they were always ready to raise money for +buying the freedom of captives, or for helping their brethren who were +in any kind of trouble. And from wondering and asking what it was that +led Christians to do such things, which they themselves would never have +thought of doing, many of the heathen were brought to see that the +Gospel was the true religion, and they forsook their idols to follow +Christ.</p> + +<p>After this, Cyprian had a disagreement with Stephen, bishop of Rome. +Rome was the greatest city in the whole world, and the capital of the +empire. There were many Christians there even in the time of the +Apostles, and, as years went on, the church of Rome grew more and more, +so that it was the greatest, and richest, and most important church of +all. Now the bishops who were at the head of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +this great church were +naturally reckoned the foremost of all bishops, and had more power than +any other; so that if a proud man got the bishopric of Rome, it was too +likely that he might try to set himself up above his brethren, and to +lay down the law to them. Stephen was, unhappily, a man of this kind, +and he gave way to the temptation, and tried to lord it over other +bishops and their churches. But Cyprian held out against him, and made +him understand that the bishop of Rome had no right to give laws to +other bishops, or to meddle with the churches of other countries. He +showed that, although St. Peter (from whom Stephen pretended that the +bishops of Rome had received power over others) was the first of the +Apostles, he was not of a higher class or order than the rest; and, +therefore, that, although the Roman bishops stood first, the other +bishops were their equals, and had received an equal share in the +Christian ministry. So Stephen was not able to get the power which he +wished for over other churches, and, after his death, Carthage and Rome +were at peace again.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_8_III" id="P1_8_III"></a><small>PART III. A.D.</small> 257-258.</p> + +<p>About six years after the death of the Emperor Decius, a fresh +persecution arose under another emperor, named Valerian (<small>A.D.</small> 257). He +began by ordering that the Christians should not be allowed to meet for +worship, and that the bishops and clergy should be separated from their +flocks. Cyprian was carried before the governor of Africa; and, on being +questioned by him, he said, "I am a Christian and a bishop. I know no +other gods but the one true God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and +all that is in them. It is this God that we Christians serve; to Him we +pray day and night, for ourselves and all mankind, and for the welfare +of the emperors themselves." The governor asked him about his clergy. +"Our laws," said Cyprian, "forbid them to throw themselves in your way, +and I may not inform against them; but if they be sought after, they +will be found, each at his post." The governor said that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> no Christians +must meet for worship, under pain of death; and he sentenced Cyprian to +be banished to a place called Curubis, about forty miles from Carthage. +It was a pleasant abode, and Cyprian lived there a year, during which +time he was often visited by his friends, and wrote many letters of +advice and comfort to his brethren. And, as many of these were worse +treated than himself, by being carried off into savage places, or set to +work underground in mines, he did all that he could to relieve their +distress, by sending them money and other presents.</p> + +<p>At the end of the year, the bishop was carried back to Carthage, where a +new governor had just arrived. The emperor had found that his first law +against the Christians was of little use; so he now made a second law, +which was much more severe. It ordered that bishops and clergy should be +put to death; that such Christians as were persons of worldly rank +should lose all that they had, and be banished or killed; but it said +nothing about the poorer Christians who do not seem to have been in any +danger. Cyprian thought that his time was now come; and when his friends +entreated him to save himself by flight, he refused. He was carried off +to the governor's country house, about six miles from Carthage, where he +was treated with much respect, and was allowed to have some friends with +him at supper. Great numbers of his people, on hearing that he was +seized, went from Carthage to the place where he was, and watched all +night outside the house in fear lest their bishop should be put to +death, or carried off into banishment without their knowledge. Next +morning Cyprian was led to the place of judgment, which was a little way +from the governor's palace. He was heated with the walk, under a burning +sun; and, as he was waiting for the governor's arrival, a soldier of the +guard, who had once been a Christian, kindly offered him some change of +clothes. "Why," said the bishop, "should we trouble ourselves to remedy +evils which will probably come to an end to-day?"</p> + +<p>The governor took his seat, and required Cyprian to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> sacrifice to the +gods. He refused; and the governor then desired him to consider his +safety. "In so righteous a cause," answered the bishop, "there is no +need of consideration;" and, on hearing the sentence, which condemned +him to be beheaded, he exclaimed, "Praise be to God!" A cry arose from +the Christians, "Let us go and be beheaded with him!" He was then led by +soldiers to the place of execution. Many of his people climbed up into +the trees which surrounded it, that they might see the last of their +good bishop. After having prayed, he took off his upper clothing; he +gave some money to the executioner, and as it was necessary that he +should be blindfolded before suffering, he tied the bandage over his own +eyes. Two of his friends then bound his hands, and the Christians placed +cloths and handkerchiefs around him, that they might catch some of his +blood. And thus St. Cyprian was martyred, in the year 258.</p> + +<p>Valerian's attempts against the Gospel were all in vain. The Church had +been purified and strengthened by the persecution under Decius, so that +there were now very few who fell away for fear of death. The faith was +spread by the banished bishops, in the same way as it had been in the +last persecution<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>; +and, as has ever been found, "the blood of the +martyrs was the seed of the Church."</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"> +<span class="label">[1]</span></a><a href="#Page_25">See page 25</a>.</p> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>FROM GALLIENUS TO THE END OF THE LAST PERSECUTION.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 261-313.</p> + +<p>Valerian, who had treated the Christians so cruelly, came to a miserable +end. He led his army into Persia, where he was defeated and taken +prisoner. He was kept for some time in captivity; and we are told that +he used to be led forth, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +loaded with chains, but with the purple robes +of an emperor thrown over him, that the Persians might mock at his +misfortunes. And when he had died from the effects of shame and grief, +it is said that his skin was stuffed with straw, and was kept in a +temple, as a remembrance of the triumph which the Persians had gained +over the Romans, whose pride had never been so humbled before.</p> + +<p>When Valerian was taken prisoner, his son Gallienus became emperor (<small>A.D.</small> +261). Gallienus sent forth a law by which the Christians, for the first +time, got the liberty of serving God without the risk of being +persecuted. We might think him a good emperor for making such a law; but +he really does not deserve much credit for it, since he seems to have +made it merely because he did not care much either for his own religion, +or for any other.</p> + +<p>And now there is hardly anything to be said of the next forty years, +except that the Christians enjoyed peace and prosperity. Instead of +being obliged to hold their services in the upper rooms of houses, or in +burial-places under ground, and in the dead of night, they built +splendid churches, which they furnished with gold and silver plate, and +with other costly ornaments. Christians were appointed to high offices, +such as the government of countries; and many of them held places in the +emperor's palace. And, now that there was no danger or loss to be risked +by being Christians, multitudes of people joined the Church who would +have kept at a distance from it if there had been anything to fear. But, +unhappily, the Christians did not make a good use of all their +prosperity. Many of them grew worldly and careless, and had little of +the Christian about them except the name; and they quarrelled and +disputed among themselves, as if they were no better than mere heathens. +But it pleased God to punish them severely for their faults; for at +length there came such a persecution as had never before been known.</p> + +<p>At this time there were no fewer than four emperors at once; for +Diocletian, who became emperor in the year 284, afterwards took in +Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +to share his power, and to help +him in the labour of government. Galerius and Constantius, however, were +not quite so high, and had not such full authority, as the other two. +Galerius married Diocletian's daughter, and it was supposed that both +this lady and the empress, her mother, were Christians. The priests and +others, whose interest it was to keep up the old heathenism, began to be +afraid lest the empresses should make Christians of their husbands; and +they sought how this might be prevented.</p> + +<p>Now the heathens had some ways by which they used to try to find out the +will of their gods. Sometimes they offered sacrifices of beasts, and, +when the beasts were killed, they cut them open, and judged from the +appearance of the inside, whether the gods were well pleased or angry. +And at certain places there were what they called <i>oracles</i>, where +people who wished to know the will of the gods went through some +ceremonies, and expected a voice to come from this or that god in answer +to them. Sure enough, the voice very often <i>did</i> come, although it was +not really from any god, but was managed by the juggling of the priests. +And the answers which these voices gave were often contrived very +cunningly, that they might have more than one meaning, so that, however +things might turn out, the oracle was sure to come true. And now the +priests set to frighten Diocletian with tricks of this kinds. When he +sacrificed, the insides of the victims (as the beasts offered in +sacrifice were called) were said to look in such a way as to show that +the gods were angry. When he consulted the oracles, answers were given +declaring that, so long as Christians were allowed to live on the earth, +the gods would be displeased. And thus Diocletian, although at first he +had been inclined to let them alone, became terrified, and was ready to +persecute.</p> + +<p>The first order against the Christians was a proclamation requiring that +all soldiers, and all persons who held any office under the emperor, +should sacrifice to the heathen gods (<small>A.D.</small> 298). And five years after +this, Galerius, who was a cruel man, and very bitter against the +Christians +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +(although his wife was supposed to be one), persuaded +Diocletian to begin a persecution in earnest.</p> + +<p>Diocletian did not usually live at Rome, like the earlier emperors, but +at Nicomedia, a town in Asia Minor, on the shore of the Propontis (now +called the Sea of Marmora). And there the persecution began, by his +sending forth an order that all who would not serve the gods of Rome +should lose their offices; that their property should be seized, and, if +they were persons of rank, they should lose their rank. Christians were +no longer allowed to meet for worship; their churches were to be +destroyed, and their holy books were to be sought out and burnt (Feb. +24, 303). As soon as this proclamation was set forth, a Christian tore +it down, and broke into loud reproaches against the emperors. Such +violent acts and words were not becoming in a follower of Him, "who, +when he was reviled, reviled not again, and when he suffered, threatened +not" (1 <i>Peter</i> ii. 23). But the man who had forgotten himself so far, +showed the strength of his principles in the patience with which he bore +the punishment of what he had done, for he was roasted alive at a slow +fire, and did not even utter a groan.</p> + +<p>This was in February, 303; and before the end of that year, Diocletian +put forth three more proclamations against the Christians. One of them +ordered that the Christian teachers should be imprisoned; and very soon +the prisons were filled with bishops and clergy, while the evil-doers +who were usually confined in them were turned loose. The next +proclamation ordered that the prisoners should either sacrifice or be +tortured; and the fourth directed that not only the bishops and clergy, +but all Christians, should be required to sacrifice, on pain of torture.</p> + +<p>These cruel laws were put in execution. Churches were pulled down, +beginning with the great church of Nicomedia, which was built on a +height, and overlooked the emperor's palace. All the Bibles and +service-books that could be found, and a great number of other Christian +writings, were thrown into the flames; and many Christians, who refused +to give up their holy books, were put to death. The plate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> of churches +was carried off, and was turned to profane uses, as the vessels of the +Jewish temple had formerly been by Belshazzar.</p> + +<p>The sufferings of the Christians were frightful, but after what has been +already said of such things, I shall not shock you by telling you much +about them here. Some were thrown to wild beasts; some were burnt alive, +or roasted on gridirons; some had their skins pulled off, or their flesh +scraped from their bones; some were crucified; some were tied to +branches of trees, which had been bent so as to meet, and then they were +torn to pieces by the starting asunder of the branches. Thousands of +them perished by one horrible death or other, so that the heathens +themselves grew tired and disgusted with inflicting or seeing their +sufferings; and at length, instead of putting them to death, they sent +them to work in mines, or plucked out one of their eyes, or lamed one of +their hands or feet, or set bishops to look after horses or camels, or +to do other work unfit for persons of their venerable character. And it +is impossible to think what miseries even those who escaped must have +undergone; for the persecution lasted ten years, and they had not only +to witness the sufferings of their own dear relations, or friends, or +teachers, but knew that the like might, at any hour, come on themselves.</p> + +<p>It was in the East that the persecution was hottest and lasted longest; +for in Europe it was not much felt after the first two years. The +Emperor Constantius, who ruled over Gaul (now called France), Spain and +Britain, was kind to the Christians; and after his death, his son +Constantine was still more favourable to them. There were several +changes among the other emperors, and the Christians felt them for +better or for worse, according to the character of each emperor; but it +is needless to speak much of them in a little book like this. Galerius +went on in his cruelty until, at the end of eight years, he found that +it had been of no use towards putting down the Gospel, and that he was +sinking under a fearful disease, something like that of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> which Herod, +who had killed St. James, died (<i>Acts</i> xii. 23). He then thought with +grief and horror of what he had done, and (perhaps in the hope of +getting some relief from the God of Christians) he sent forth a +proclamation allowing them to rebuild their churches, and to hold their +worship, and begging them to remember him in their prayers. Soon after +this he died (<small>A.D.</small> 311).</p> + +<p>The cruellest of all the persecutors was Maximin, who, from the year +305, had possession of Asia Minor, Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt. When +Galerius made his law in favour of the Christians, Maximin for a while +pretended to give them the same kind of liberty in <i>his</i> dominions. But +he soon changed again, and required that all his subjects should +sacrifice—even that little babies should take some grains of incense +into their hands, and should burn it in honour of the heathen gods; and +when a season of great plenty followed after this, Maximin boasted that +it was a sign of the favour with which the gods received his law. But it +very soon appeared how false his boast was, for famine and plague began +to rage throughout his dominions. The Christians, of course, had their +share in the distress; but instead of triumphing over their persecutors, +they showed the true spirit of the Gospel by treating them with +kindness, by relieving the poor, by tending the sick, and by burying the +dead, who had been abandoned by their own nearest relations.</p> + +<p>Although there is no room to give any particular account of the martyrs +here, there is one of them who especially deserves to be remembered, +because he was the first who suffered in our own island. This good man, +Alban, while he was yet a heathen, fell in with a poor Christian priest, +who was trying to hide himself from the persecutors. Alban took him into +his own house, and sheltered him there; and he was so much struck with +observing how the priest prayed to God, and spent long hours of the +night in religious exercises, that he soon became a believer in Christ. +But the priest was hotly searched for, and information was given that he +was hidden in Alban's house. And when the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +soldiers came to look for him +there, Alban knew their errand, and put on the priest's dress, so that +the soldiers seized him and carried him before the judge. The judge +found that they had brought the wrong man, and, in his rage at the +disappointment, he told Alban that he must himself endure the punishment +which had been meant for the other. Alban heard this without any fear, +and on being questioned, he declared that he was a Christian, a +worshipper of the one true God, and that he would not sacrifice to idols +which could do no good. He was put to the torture, but bore it gladly +for his Saviour's sake, and then, as he was still firm in professing his +faith, the judge gave orders that he should be beheaded. And when he had +been led out to the place of execution, which was a little grassy knoll +that rose gently on one side of the town, the soldier, who was to have +put him to death, was so moved by the sight of Alban's behaviour, that +he threw away his sword, and desired to be put to death with him. They +were both beheaded, and the town of Verulam, where they suffered, has +since been called St. Alban's, from the name of the first British +martyr.</p> + +<p>This martyrdom took place early in the persecution; but, (as we have +seen,) Constantius afterwards protected the British Christians, and his +son Constantine, who succeeded to his share in the empire, treated them +with yet greater favour. In the year 312, Constantine marched against +Maxentius, who had usurped the government of Italy and Africa. +Constantine seems to have been brought up by his father to believe in +one God, although he did not at all know who this God was, nor how He +had revealed Himself in Holy Scripture. But as he was on his way to +fight Maxentius, he saw in the sky a wonderful appearance, which seemed +like the figure of a cross, with words around it—"By this conquer." He +then caused the cross to be put on the standards (or colours) of his +army; and when he had defeated Maxentius, he set up at Rome a statue of +himself, with a cross in its right hand, and with an inscription which +declared that he owed his victory to that saving +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> sign. About the same +time that Constantine overcame Maxentius, Licinius put down Maximin in +the East. The two conquerors now had possession of the whole empire; and +they joined in publishing laws by which Christians were allowed to +worship God freely according to their conscience (<small>A.D.</small> 313).</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class='center'>CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 313-337.</p> + +<p>It was a great thing for the Church that the emperor of Rome should give +it liberty; and Constantine, after sending forth the laws which put an +end to the persecution, went on to make other laws in favour of the +Christians. But he did not himself become a Christian all at once, +although he built many churches, and gave rich presents to others, and +although he was fond of keeping company with bishops, and of conversing +with them about religion. Licinius, the emperor of the East, who had +joined with Constantine in his first laws, afterwards quarrelled with +him, and persecuted the eastern Christians cruelly. But Constantine +defeated him in battle (<small>A.D.</small> 324), and the whole empire was once more +united under one head.</p> + +<p>After his victory over Licinius, Constantine declared himself a +Christian, which he had not done before; and he used to attend the +services of the Church very regularly, and to stand all the time that +the bishops were preaching, however long their sermons might be. He used +even himself to write a kind of discourses something like sermons, and +to read them aloud in the palace to all his court; but he really knew +very little of Christian doctrine, although he was very fond of taking +part in disputes about it. And, although he professed to be a Christian, +he had not yet been made a member of Christ by baptism; for, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> those +days, people had so high a notion of the grace of baptism, that many of +them put off their baptism until they supposed that they were on their +death-bed, for fear lest they should sin after being baptized, and so +should lose the benefit of the sacrament. This was of course wrong; for +it was a sad mistake to think that they might go on in sin so long as +they were not baptized. God, we know, might have cut them off at any +moment in the midst of all their sins; and even if they were spared, +there was a great danger that, when they came to beg for baptism at +last, they might not have that true spirit of repentance and faith +without which they could not be fit to receive the grace of the +sacrament. And therefore the teachers of the Church used to warn people +against putting off their baptism out of a love for sin; and when any +one had received <i>clinical</i> baptism, as it was called (that is to say, +<i>baptism on a sick-bed</i>), if he afterwards got well again, he was +thought but little of in the Church.</p> + +<p>But to come back to Constantine. He had many other faults besides his +unwillingness to take on himself the duties of a baptized Christian; +and, although we are bound to thank God for having turned his heart to +favour the Church, we must not be blind to the emperor's faults. Yet, +with all these faults, he really believed the Gospel, and meant to do +what he could for the truth.</p> + +<p>It took a long time to put down heathenism; for it would not have been +safe or wise to force people to become Christians before they had come +to see the falsehood of their old religion. Constantine, therefore, only +made laws against some of its worst practices, and forbade any +sacrifices to be offered in the name of the empire; but he did not +hinder the heathens from sacrificing on their own account if they liked.</p> + +<p>Soon after professing himself a Christian, the emperor began to build a +new capital in the East. There had been a town called Byzantium on the +spot before; but the new city was far grander, and he gave it the name +of <i>Constantinople</i>, which means the <i>City of Constantine</i>. It was +meant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +to be altogether Christian,—unlike Rome, which was full of +temples of heathen gods. And the emperors, from this time, usually lived +at Constantinople, or at some other place in the East.</p> + +<p>There will be more to say about Constantine in the next chapter. In the +mean time, let us look at the progress of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>It had, by this time, made its way into many countries beyond the bounds +of the empire. There were Christians in Scotland and in India; there had +long been great numbers of Christians in Persia and Arabia. Many of the +Goths, who then lived about the Danube, had been converted by captives +whom they carried off in their plundering expeditions, during the reigns +of Valerian and Gallienus (about <small>A.D.</small> 260); and other roving tribes had +been converted by the same means. About the end of the third century, +Gregory, who is called the <i>Enlightener</i>, had gone as a missionary +bishop into Armenia, where he persuaded the king, Tiridates, to receive +the Gospel, and to establish it as the religion of his country; so that +Armenia had the honour of being the first Christian kingdom. The +Georgians were converted in the reign of Constantine; and about the same +time, the Ethiopians or Abyssinians (who live to the south of Egypt) +were brought to the knowledge of the truth in a very remarkable way.</p> + +<p>There was a rich Christian of Tyre, named Meropius, who was a +philosopher, and wished to make discoveries in the countries towards +India, which were then but little known. So he set out in a ship of his +own, sailed down the Red Sea, and made a voyage to the East. On his way +back, he and his crew landed at a place on the coast of Ethiopia, in +search of fresh water, when the people of the country fell on them, and +killed all but two youths named Ĉdesius and Frumentius, who were +relations of Meropius. These lads were taken to the king's court, where, +as they were better educated than the Ethiopians, they soon got into +great favour and power. The king died after a time, leaving a little boy +to succeed him; and the two strangers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +were asked to carry on the +government of the country until the prince should be old enough to take +it into his own hands. They did this faithfully, and stayed many years +in Ethiopia; and they used to look out for any Christian sailors or +merchants who visited the country, and to hold meetings with such +strangers and others for worship, although they were distressed that +they had no clergy to minister to them. At length the young prince grew +up to manhood, and was able to govern his kingdom for himself; and then +Ĉdesius and Frumentius set out for their own country, which they had +been longing to see for so many years. Ĉdesius got back to Tyre, where +he became a deacon of the Church. But Frumentius stopped at Alexandria, +and told his tale to the bishop, the great St. Athanasius (of whom we +shall hear more by-and-by); and he begged that a bishop might be sent +into Ethiopia to settle and govern the Church there. Athanasius, +considering how faithful and wise Frumentius had shown himself in all +his business, how greatly he was respected and loved by the Ethiopians, +and how much he had done to spread the gospel in the land of his +captivity, said that no one was so fit as he to be bishop; and he +consecrated Frumentius accordingly. To this day the chief bishop of the +Abyssinian Church, instead of being chosen from among the clergy of the +country, is always a person sent by the Egyptian bishop of Alexandria; +and thus the Abyssinians still keep up the remembrance of the way in +which their Church was founded, although the bishopric of Alexandria is +now sadly fallen from the height at which it stood in the days of +Athanasius and Frumentius.</p> + +<p>Constantine used his influence with the king of Persia, whose name was +Sapor, to obtain good treatment for the Christians of that country; and +the Gospel continued to make progress there. But this naturally raised +the jealousy of the magi, who were the priests of the heathen religion +of Persia, and they looked out for some means of doing mischief to the +Christians. So a few years after the death of Constantine, when a war +broke out between Sapor and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +next emperor, Constantius, these magi +got about the king, and told him that his Christian subjects would be +ready to betray him to the Romans, from whom they had got their +religion. Sapor then issued orders that all Christians should pay an +enormous tax, unless they would worship the gods of the Persians. Their +chief bishop, whose name was Symeon, on receiving this order, answered +that the tax was more than they could pay, and that they worshipped the +true God alone, who had made the sun, which the Persians ignorantly +adored.</p> + +<p>Sapor then sent forth a second order, that the bishops, priests, and +deacons of the Christians should be put to death, that their churches +should be destroyed, and that the plate and ornaments of the churches +should be taken for profane uses; and he sent for Symeon, who was soon +brought before him. The bishop had been used to make obeisance to the +king, after the fashion of the country; but on coming into his presence +now, he refused to do so, lest it should be taken as a sign of that +reverence which he was resolved to give to God alone. Sapor then +required him to worship the sun, and told him that by doing so he might +deliver himself and his people. But the bishop answered, that if he had +refused to do reverence to the king, much more must he refuse such +honour to the sun, which was a thing without reason or life. On this, +the king ordered that he should be thrown into prison until next day.</p> + +<p>As he was on his way to prison, Symeon passed an old and faithful +servant of the king, named Uthazanes, who had brought up Sapor from a +child, and stood high in his favour. Uthazanes, seeing the bishop led +away in chains, fell on his knee and saluted him in the Persian fashion. +But Symeon turned away his head, and would not look at him; for +Uthazanes had been a Christian, and had lately denied the faith. The old +man's conscience was smitten by this, and he burst out into +lamentation—"If my old and familiar friend disowns me thus, what may I +expect from my God whom I have denied!" His words were heard, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> and he +was carried before the king, who tried to move him both by threats and +by kindness. But Uthazanes stood firm against everything, and, as he +could not be shaken in his faith, he was sentenced to be beheaded. He +then begged the king, for the sake of the love which had long been +between them, to grant him the favour that it might be proclaimed why he +died—that he was not guilty of any treason, but was put to death only +for being a Christian. Sapor was very willing to allow this, because he +thought that it would frighten others into worshipping his gods. But it +turned out as Uthazanes had hoped; for when it was seen how he loved his +faith better than life itself, other Christians were encouraged to +suffer, and even some heathens were brought over to the Gospel. Bishop +Symeon was put to death after having seen a hundred of his clergy suffer +before his eyes; and the persecution was renewed from time to time +throughout the remainder of Sapor's long reign.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE COUNCIL OF NICĈA.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 325.</p> + +<p>We might expect to find that, when the persecutions by the heathen were +at an end within the Roman empire, Christians lived together in peace +and love, according to their Lord's commandment; but it is a sad truth +that they now began to be very much divided by quarrels among +themselves. There had, indeed, been many false teachers in earlier +times; but now, when the emperor had become a Christian, the troubles +caused by such persons reached much further than before. The emperors +took part in them, and made laws about them, and the whole empire was +stirred by them. +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +Constantine was, as I have said,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +very fond of taking a part in Church +matters, without knowing much about them. Very soon after the first law +by which he gave liberty to the Christians, he was called in to settle a +quarrel which had been raised in Africa by the followers of one Donatus, +who separated from the Church and set up bishops of their own, because +they said that the bishops of Carthage and some others had not behaved +rightly when the persecutors required them to deliver up the Scriptures. +I will tell you more about these <i>Donatists</i> (as they are called) +by-and-by,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +and I mention them now only because it was they who first +invited the emperor to judge in a dispute about religion.</p> + +<p>When Constantine put down Licinius and got possession of the East (as +has been said), he found that a dispute of a different kind from the +quarrel of the Donatists was raging there. One Arius, a presbyter (or +priest) of Alexandria, had begun some years before this time to deny +that our blessed Lord was God from everlasting. Arius was a crafty man, +and did all that he could to make his opinion look as well as possible; +but, try as he might, he was obliged to own that he believed our Lord to +be a <i>creature</i>. And the difference between the highest of created +beings and God, the maker of all creatures, is infinite; so that it +mattered little how Arius might smooth over his shocking opinion, so +long as he did not allow our Lord to be truly God from all eternity.</p> + +<p>The bishop of Alexandria, whose name was Alexander, excommunicated Arius +for his impiety; that is to say, he solemnly turned him out of the +Church, so that no faithful Christian should have anything to do with +him in religious matters. Thus Arius was obliged to leave Egypt, and he +lived for a while at Nicomedia, with a bishop who was an old friend of +his. And while he was there, he made a set of songs to be sung at meals, +and others for travellers, sailors, and the like. He hoped that people +would learn +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +these songs, without considering what mischief was in them; +and that so his heresy would be spread.</p> + +<p>When Constantine first heard of these troubles, he tried to quiet them +by advising Alexander and Arius not to dispute about trifles. But he +soon found that this would not do, and that the question whether our +Lord and Saviour were God or a creature was so far from being a trifle, +that it was one of the most serious of all questions. In order, +therefore, to get this and some other matters settled, he gave orders +for a general council to meet. Councils of bishops within a certain +district had long been common. In many countries they were regularly +held once or twice a year; and, besides these regular meetings, others +were sometimes called together to consider any business which was +particularly pressing. Some of these councils were very great; for +instance, the bishop of Alexander could call together the bishops of all +Egypt, and the bishop of Antioch could call together all the bishops of +Syria and some neighbouring countries. But there was no bishop who could +call a council of the whole Church, because there was no one who had any +power over more than a part of it. But now, Constantine, as he had +become a Christian, thought that he might gather a council from all +quarters of his empire, and this was the first of what are called the +<i>general</i> councils.</p> + +<p>It met in the year 325, at Nicĉa (or Nice), in Bithynia, and 318 bishops +attended it. A number of clergy and other persons were also present; +even some heathen philosophers went, out of curiosity to see what the +Christians were to do. Many of the bishops were very homely and simple +men, who had not much learning; but their great business was only to say +plainly what their belief had always been, so that it might be known +whether the doctrines of Arius agreed with this or no; and thus the good +bishops might do their part very well, although they were not persons of +any great learning or cleverness. One of these simpler bishops was drawn +into talk by a philosopher, who tried to puzzle him about the truth of +the Gospel. The bishop was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +not used to argue or to dispute much, and +might have been no match for the philosopher in that way; but he +contented himself with saying his Creed; and the philosopher was so +struck with this, that he took to thinking more seriously of +Christianity than he had ever thought before, and he ended in becoming a +Christian himself.</p> + +<p>There was a great deal of arguing about Arius and his opinions, and the +chief person who spoke against him was Athanasius, a clergyman of +Alexandria, who had come with the bishop, Alexander. Athanasius could +not sit as a judge in the council, because he was not a bishop; but he +was allowed to speak in the presence of the bishops, and pointed out to +them the errors which Arius tried to hide. So at last Arius was +condemned, and the emperor banished him, with some of his chief +followers. And, in order to set forth the true Christian faith beyond +all doubt, the council made that creed which is read in the +Communion-service in our churches—all but some of the last part of it, +which was made at a later time, as we shall see. It is called the +<i>Nicene</i> Creed, from the name of the place where the council met; and +the great point in it is, that it declares our blessed Lord to be "Very +God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of <i>one substance</i> (that is +to say, <i>of the same nature</i>) with the Father." For this truth, that our +Lord has the <i>same nature</i> with the Almighty Father—this truth that He +is really <i>God</i> from everlasting—was what the Arians could not be +brought to own.</p> + +<p>The emperor attended the council during the latter part of its sittings; +and a story is told of him and a bishop named Acesius, who belonged to +the sect of Novatianists. You will remember that this sect broke off +from the Church in St. Cyprian's days, because Novatian and others +thought that St. Cyprian and the Church were too easy with those who +repented after having sacrificed in time of +persecution<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>; and, from +having begun thus, it came to be hard in its notions as to the treatment +of all sorts of penitents. But, as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +it had been only about the treatment +of persons who had behaved weakly in persecution that the Novatianists +at first differed from the Church, and as persecution by the heathens +was now at an end, Constantine hoped that, perhaps, they might be +persuaded to return to the Church; so he invited some bishops of the +sect to attend the council, and Acesius among them. When the creed had +been made, Acesius declared that it was all true, and that it was the +same faith which he had always believed; and he was quite satisfied with +the rules which the council made as to the time of keeping Easter, and +as to some other things. "Why, then," asked Constantine, "will you not +join the Church?" Acesius said, that he did not think the Church strict +enough in dealing with penitents. "Take a ladder, then," said the +emperor, "and go up to heaven by yourself!"</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"> +<span class="label">[2]</span></a><a href="#Page_40">Page 40.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"> +<span class="label">[3]</span></a>See Chapter XXI., Parts <a href="#P1_21_III">III.</a>, <a href="#P1_21_IV">IV.</a>, and <a href="#P1_21_V">V.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"> +<span class="label">[4]</span></a><a href="#Page_27">See page 27.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. ATHANASIUS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I. A.D.</small> 325-337.</p> + +<p>Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria by whom Arius had been +excommunicated, died soon after returning home from the Council of +Nicĉa; and Athanasius, who was then about thirty years of age, was +chosen in his stead, and governed the Alexandrian church for +six-and-forty years. Every one knows the name of St. Athanasius, from +the creed which is called after it. That creed, indeed, was not made by +St. Athanasius himself; but, as the Prayer-book says, it is "<i>commonly +called</i>" his, because it sets forth the true Christian faith, of which +he was the chief defender in his day. And we are bound to honour this +learned and holy bishop, as the man by whom especially God was pleased +that His truth should be upheld and established against all the craft of +Arius and his party, and even against all the power of the emperors of +Rome.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +For, although Arius had been sent into banishment, he soon managed to +get into favour at the emperor's court. One of his friends, a priest, +gained the ear of Constantine's sister; and this princess, when she was +dying, recommended the priest to the emperor. Neither Constantine nor +his sister understood enough of the matter to be on their guard against +the deceits of the Arian, who was able to persuade the emperor that +Arius had been ill-used, and that he did not really hold the opinions +for which the council had condemned him. Arius, then, was allowed to +return from banishment, and Constantine desired Athanasius to receive +him back into the Church, saying that he was not guilty of the errors +which had been laid to his charge. But Athanasius knew that this was +only a trick; and he answered that, as Arius had been condemned by a +council of the whole Church, he could not be restored by anything less +than another such council.</p> + +<p>The Arians, on finding that they could not win Athanasius over, resolved +to attack him. They contrived that all sorts of charges against him +should be carried to the emperor; and in the year 335, a council was +held at Tyre for his trial. One story was, that he had killed an +Egyptian bishop, named Arsenius, that he had cut off his hand, and had +used it for magical purposes (for among other things, Athanasius was +said by his enemies to be a sorcerer!); and the dried hand of a man was +shown, which was said to be that of Arsenius. But when the time came for +examining this charge, what was the confusion of the accusers at seeing +Arsenius himself brought into the council! He was dressed in a long +cloak, and Athanasius lifted it up, first on one side, and then on the +other, so as to show that the man was not only alive, but had both his +hands safe and sound. The leaders of the Arians had known that Arsenius +was not dead, but they had hoped that he would not appear. But, happily +for Athanasius, one of his friends had discovered Arsenius, and had kept +him hidden until the right moment came for producing him.</p> + +<p>Athanasius was able to answer the other charges against +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> him, as well as +that about Arsenius; and the Arians, seeing that they must contrive some +new accusation, sent some of his bitterest enemies into Egypt, to rake +up all the tales that they could find. Athanasius knew what he might +expect from people who could act so unfairly; he therefore resolved not +to wait for their return, but got on board a ship which was bound for +Constantinople. On arriving there, he posted himself in a spot outside +the city, where he expected the emperor to pass in returning from a +ride; and when Constantine came up, he threw himself in his way. The +emperor was startled; but Athanasius told him who he was, and entreated +him, by the thought of that judgment in which princes as well as +subjects must one day appear, to order that the case should be tried +before himself, instead of leaving it to judges from whom no justice was +to be looked for. The emperor agreed to this, and was very angry with +those who had behaved so unjustly in the council at Tyre. But after a +time some of the Arians got about him and told him another story—that +Athanasius had threatened to stop the sailing of the fleet which carried +corn from Alexandria to Constantinople. This was a charge which touched +Constantine very closely; because Constantinople depended very much on +the Egyptian corn for food, and he thought that the bishop, who had so +much power at Alexandria, might perhaps be able to stop the fleet, and +to starve the people of the capital, if he pleased. And, whether the +emperor believed the story, or whether he wished to shelter Athanasius +for a while from his persecutors by putting him out of the way—he sent +him into banishment at Treves, on the banks of the Moselle, in a part of +Gaul which is now reckoned to belong to Germany. Except for the +separation from his flock, this banishment would have been no great +hardship for Athanasius; for he was treated with great respect by the +bishop of Treves, and by the emperor's eldest son, who lived there, and +all good men honoured him for his stedfastness in upholding the true +faith.</p> + +<p>But, although Athanasius was removed, the Alexandrian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> Church would not +admit Arius. So, after a while, the emperor resolved to have him +admitted at Constantinople, and a council of bishops agreed that it +should be so. The bishop of Constantinople, whose name was Alexander, +and who was almost a hundred years old, was grievously distressed at +this; he desired his people to entreat God, with fasting and prayer, +that it might not come to pass, and he threw himself under the altar, +and prayed very earnestly that the evil which was threatened might be +somehow turned away, or that, at least, he himself might not live to see +it.</p> + +<p>At length, on the evening before the day which had been fixed for +receiving Arius into the Church, he was going through the streets of +Constantinople, in high spirits, and talking with some friends of what +was to take place on the morrow. But all at once he felt himself ill, +and went into a house which was near; and in a few minutes he was dead! +His death, taking place at such a time and in such a way, made a great +impression, and people were ready enough to look on it as a direct +judgment of God on his impiety. But Athanasius, although he felt the +awfulness of the unhappy man's sudden end, did not take it on himself to +speak in this way; and we too shall do well not to pronounce judgment in +such cases, remembering what our Lord said as to the Galileans who were +slain by Pilate, and as to the men who were killed by the falling of the +tower in Siloam (<i>St. Luke</i> xiii. 1-5). While we abhor the errors of +Arius, let us leave the judgment of him to God.</p> + +<p>Although Constantine in his last years was very much in the hands of the +Arians, we must not suppose that he meant to favour their heresy. For +these people (as I have said already, and shall have occasion to say +again) were very crafty, and took great pains to hide the worst of their +opinions. They used words which sounded quite right, except to the few +persons who, like Athanasius, were quick enough to understand what bad +meanings might be disguised under these fair words. And whenever they +wished to get one of the faithful bishops turned out, they took care +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +not to attack him about his faith, but about some other things, as we +have seen in the case of Athanasius. Thus they managed to blind the +emperor, who did not know much about the matter, so that, while they +were using him as a tool, and were persuading him to help them with all +his power, he all the while fancied that he was firmly maintaining the +Nicene faith.</p> + +<p>Constantine, after all that he had done in religious disputes, was still +unbaptized. Perhaps he was a <i>catechumen</i>, which (as has been explained +before),<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> +was the name given to persons who were supposed to be in a +course of training for baptism; but it is not certain that he was even +so much as a catechumen. At last, shortly after the death of Arius, the +emperor felt himself very sick, and believed that his end was near. He +sent for some bishops, and told them that he had put off his baptism +because he had wished to receive it in the river Jordan, like our Lord +Himself; but as God had not granted him this, he begged that they would +baptize him. He was baptized accordingly, and during the remaining days +of his life he refused to wear any other robes than the white dress +which used then to be put on at baptism, by way of signifying the +cleansing of the soul from sin. And thus the first Christian emperor +died, at a palace near Nicomedia, on Whitsunday in the year 337.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_12_II" id="P1_12_II"></a><small>PART II. A.D.</small> 337-361.</p> + +<p>At Constantine's death, the empire was divided between his three sons. +The eldest of them, whose name was the same with his father's, and the +youngest, Constans, were friendly to the true faith. But the second son, +Constantius, was won over by the Arians; and as, through the death of +his brothers, he got possession of the whole empire within a few years, +his connexion with that party led to great mischief. All through his +reign, there were unceasing disputes about religion. Councils were +almost continually sitting in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +one place or another, and bishops were +posting about to one of them after another at the emperor's expense. +Constantius did not mean ill; but he went even further than his father +in meddling with things which he did not understand.</p> + +<p>The Arians went on in the same cunning way as before. I may mention, by +way of example, the behaviour of Leontius, bishop of Antioch. The +Catholics<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +(that is to say, those who held the faith which the Church +throughout all the world held), used to sing in church, as we do—"Glory +be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;" but the Arians +sang, "Glory be to the Father, <i>by</i> the Son, <i>in</i> the Holy Ghost"—for +they did not allow the Second and Third Persons to be of the same nature +with the First. Leontius, then, who was an Arian, and yet did not wish +people to know exactly what he was, used to mumble his words, so that +nobody could make them out, until he came to the part in which all +parties agreed; and then he sang out loudly and clearly—"As it was in +the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." He +was an old man, and sometimes he would point to his white hair, and say, +"When this snow melts, there will be a great deal of mud," meaning that +after his death the two parties would come to open quarrels, which he +had tried to prevent during his lifetime by such crafty behaviour as +that which has just been mentioned.</p> + +<p>The three young emperors met shortly after their father's death. It was +agreed between them that Athanasius should be allowed to return to +Alexandria; and for this favour he was chiefly indebted to young +Constantine, who had known him during his banishment at Treves. The +bishop returned accordingly, and was received with great rejoicing by +his flock. But in about three years his enemies contrived that he should +be again turned out (<small>A.D.</small> 341), and he was in banishment eight years. He +was then restored again (<small>A.D.</small> 349); but his enemies watched their time, +and spared no +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +pains to get rid of him. One by one, they contrived to +thrust out all the chief bishops who would have been inclined to take +part with him; and at length, in the beginning of 356, Constantius sent +a general named Syrianus to Alexandria, with orders to drive out +Athanasius. The Alexandrians were so much attached to their great bishop +that there was a fear lest they might prevent any open attempt against +him. But Syrianus contrived to throw them off their guard; and one +night, while Athanasius was keeping watch, with many of his clergy and +people, in one of the churches (as the Christians of those days used to +do before their great festivals and at other times), Syrianus suddenly +beset the church with a great number of soldiers, and a multitude made +up of Arians, Jews, and the heathen rabble of the city. When Athanasius +heard the noise outside the church, he sat down calmly on his throne, +and desired the congregation to chant the hundred and thirty-sixth +psalm, in which God's deliverances of His people in old times are +celebrated; and the whole congregation joined in the last part of every +verse—"For His mercy endureth for ever." The doors were shut, but the +soldiers forced them open and rushed in; and it was a fearful sight to +see their drawn swords and their armour flashing by the lamplight in the +house of God. As they advanced up the church, many of the congregation +were trodden down or crushed to death, or pierced through with their +darts. Athanasius stood calm in the midst of all the terrible din. His +clergy, when they saw the soldiers pushing on towards the sanctuary (as +the part of the church was called which was railed off for the clergy), +entreated him to save himself by flight; but he declared that he would +not go until his people were safe, and waited until most of them had +made their escape through doors in the upper part of the church. At +last, when the soldiers were pressing very close to the sanctuary, the +clergy closed round their bishop, and hurried him away by a secret +passage. And when they had got him out of the church, they found that he +had fainted; for although his courage was high, his body was weak and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +delicate, and the dreadful scene had overcome him. But he escaped to the +deserts of Egypt, where he lived in peace among the monks for six years, +until the death of Constantius. His enemies thought that he might, +perhaps, seek a refuge in Ethiopia; and Constantius wrote to beg that +the princes of that country would not shelter him, and that the bishop, +Frumentius,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +might be sent to receive instruction in the faith from +the Arian bishop who was put into the see of Alexandria. But Athanasius +was safe elsewhere, and Frumentius wisely stayed at home.</p> + +<p>The new Arian bishop of Alexandria was a Cappadocian named George. He +was a coarse, ignorant, and violent man, and behaved with great cruelty +to Athanasius's friends—even putting many of them to death. But +Athanasius, from his quiet retreat, kept a watch over all that was done +as to the affairs of the Church, both at Alexandria and elsewhere; and +from time to time he wrote books, which reached places where he himself +could not venture to appear. So that, although he was not seen during +these years, he made himself felt, both to the confusion of the Arians, +and to the comfort and encouragement of the faithful.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_12_III" id="P1_12_III"></a><small>PART III. A.D.</small> 361-371.</p> + +<p>Constantius had no children, and after the death of Constans (<small>A.D.</small> 350), +his nearest male relation was a cousin named Julian. The emperor gave +his sister in marriage to this cousin, and also gave him the government +of a part of the empire; but he always treated him with distrust and +jealousy, so that Julian never loved him. And this was not the worst of +it; for Julian, who had lost his father when he was very young, and had +been brought up under the direction of Constantius, took a strong +dislike to his cousin's religion, which was forced on him in a way that +a lively boy could not well be expected to relish. He was obliged to +spend a great part of his time in attending the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +services of the Church, +and was even made a <i>reader</i>, (which was one of the lowest kinds of +ministers in the Church of those times;) and, unfortunately, the end of +all this was, that instead of being truly religious, he learnt to be a +hypocrite. When he grew older, and was left more to himself, he fell +into the hands of the heathen philosophers, who were very glad to get +hold of a prince who might one day be emperor. So Julian's mind was +poisoned with their opinions, and he gave up all belief in the Gospel, +although he continued to profess himself a Christian for nine years +longer. On account of his having thus forsaken the faith he is commonly +called the <i>Apostate</i>.</p> + +<p>At length, when Julian was at Paris, early in the year 361, Constantius +sent him some orders which neither he nor his soldiers were disposed to +obey. The soldiers lifted him up on a shield and proclaimed him emperor; +and Julian set out at their head to fight for the throne. He marched +boldly eastward, until he came to the Danube; then he embarked his +troops and descended the great river for many hundreds of miles into the +country which is now called Hungary. Constantius left Antioch, and was +marching to meet Julian's army, when he was taken ill, and died at a +little town in Cilicia. Like his father, he was baptized only a day or +two before his death.</p> + +<p>Julian now came into possession of the empire without further dispute; +and he did all that he could to set heathenism up again. But in many +parts of the empire, Christianity had taken such root that very few of +the people held to the old religion, or wished to see it restored. Thus, +we are told that once, when the emperor went to a famous temple near +Antioch, on a great heathen festival, in the hope of finding things +carried on as they had been before Constantine's time, only one old +priest was to be seen; and, instead of the costly sacrifices which had +been offered in the former days of heathenism, the poor old man had +nothing better than a single goose to offer.</p> + +<p>Julian knew that in past times Christians had always been ready to +suffer for their faith, and that the patience of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> martyrs had always +led to the increase of the Church. He did not think it wise, therefore, +to go to work in the same way as the earlier persecuting emperors; but +he contrived to annoy the Christians very much by other means, and +sometimes great cruelties were committed against them under his +authority. Yet, with all this, he pretended to allow them the exercise +of their religion, and he gave leave to those who had been banished by +Constantius to return, home,—not that he really meant to do them any +kindness, but because he hoped that they would all fall to quarrelling +among themselves, and that he should be able to take advantage of their +quarrels. But in this hope he was happily disappointed; for they had +learnt wisdom by suffering, and were disposed to make peace with each +other as much as possible, while they were all threatened by the enemies +of the Saviour's very name.</p> + +<p>The first thing that the heathens of Alexandria did when they heard of +the death of Constantius had been to kill the Arian bishop, George; for +he had behaved in such a way that the heathens hated him even more than +the Catholics did. Another Arian bishop was set up in his place; but +when Julian had given leave for the banished to return, Athanasius came +back, and the Arian was turned out.</p> + +<p>The Alexandrians received Athanasius with great joy, and he did all that +was in his power to reconcile the parties of Christians among +themselves. For, although no one could be more earnest than he in +maintaining every particle of the faith necessary for a true Christian, +he was careful not to insist on things which were not necessary. He +knew, too, that people who really meant alike were often divided from +each other by not understanding one another's words; and he was always +ready to make allowance for them as far as he could do so without giving +up the truth. But Julian was afraid to let him remain at Alexandria, and +was greatly provoked at hearing that he had converted and baptized some +heathen ladies of rank. So the emperor wrote to the Alexandrians, +telling them that, although they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +might choose another bishop for +themselves, they must not let Athanasius remain among them, and +banishing the bishop from all Egypt. Athanasius, when he heard of this, +said to his friends, "Let us withdraw; this is but a little cloud which +will soon pass over;" and he set off up the river Nile in a boat. After +a while, another boat was seen in pursuit of him; but Athanasius then +told his boatmen to turn round, and to sail down the river again; and +when they met the other boat, from which they had not been seen until +after turning, they answered the questions of its crew in such a way +that they were allowed to pass without being suspected of having the +bishop on board. Thus Athanasius got safe back to the city, and there he +lay hid securely while his enemies were searching for him elsewhere. But +after a little time he withdrew to the deserts, where he was welcomed +and sheltered by his old friends the monks.</p> + +<p>In his hatred of Christianity, Julian not only tried to restore +heathenism, but showed favour to the Jews. He sent for some of them, and +asked why they did not offer sacrifice as their law had ordered? They +answered that it was not lawful to sacrifice except in the temple of +Jerusalem, which was now in ruins, and did not belong to them, so that +they could no longer fulfil the duty of sacrificing. Julian then gave +them leave to build the temple up again, and the Jews came together in +vast numbers from the different countries into which they had been +scattered. Many of them had got great wealth in the lands of their +banishment, and it is said that even the women laboured at the work, +carrying earth in their rich silken dresses, and that tools of silver +were used in the building. The Jews were full of triumph at the thought +of being restored to their own land, and of reviving the greatness of +David and Solomon. But it had been declared that the temple was to be +overthrown, and that Jerusalem was to be "trodden down of the Gentiles," +on account of the sin of God's ancient people (<i>St. Luke</i> xxi. 6, 24, +&c.): so that this undertaking to rebuild the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +temple was nothing less +than a daring defiance of Him who had so spoken; and it pleased Him to +defeat it in a terrible manner. An earthquake scattered the foundations +which had been laid; balls of fire burst forth from the ground, +scorching and killing many of the workmen; their tools were melted by +lightning; and stories are told of other fearful sights, which put an +end to the attempt. Julian, indeed, meant to set about it once more, +after returning from a war which he had undertaken against the Persians. +But he never lived to do so. Athanasius was not mistaken when he said +that his heathen emperor's tyranny would be only as a passing cloud; for +Julian's reign lasted little more than a year and a half in all. He led +his army into Persia in the spring of 363, and in June of that year he +was killed in a skirmish by night.</p> + +<p>Julian left no child to succeed him in the empire, and the army chose as +his successor a Christian named Jovian, who soon undid all that Julian +had done in matters of religion. The new emperor invited Athanasius to +visit him at Antioch, and took his advice as to the restoration of the +true faith. But Jovian's reign lasted only eight months, and +Valentinian, who was then made emperor, gave the empire of the East to +his brother Valens, who was a furious Arian, and treated the Catholics +with great cruelty. We are told, for instance, that when eighty of their +bishops had carried a petition to him, he put them on board a ship, and +when it had got out to sea, the sailors, by his orders, set it on fire, +and made their escape in boats, leaving the poor bishops to be burned to +death.</p> + +<p>Valens turned many orthodox bishops (that is to say, bishops <i>of the +right faith</i>) out of their sees, and meant to turn out Athanasius, who +hid himself for a while in his father's tomb. But the people of +Alexandria begged earnestly that their bishop might be allowed to remain +with them, and the emperor did not think it safe to deny their request, +lest there should be some outbreak in the city. And thus, while the +faith of which Athanasius had so long been the chief defender, and for +the sake of which he had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +borne so much, was under persecution in all +other parts of the eastern empire, the great bishop of Alexandria was +allowed to spend his last years among his own flock without disturbance. +He died in the year 373, at the age of seventy-six.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"> +<span class="label">[5]</span></a><a href="#Page_18">Page 18.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"> +<span class="label">[6]</span></a>The word <i>Catholic</i>, which means <i>Universal</i>, is not to be +confounded with <i>Roman-Catholic</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"> +<span class="label">[7]</span></a><a href="#Page_41">See page 41.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE MONKS.</p> + +<p>In the story of St. Athanasius, <i>monks</i> have been more than once +mentioned, and it is now time to give some account of these people and +of their ways.</p> + +<p>The word <i>monk</i> properly means one who leads a <i>lonely</i> life; and the +name was given to persons who professed to withdraw from the world and +its business that they might give themselves up to serve God in +religious thoughts and exercises. Among the Jews there had been whole +classes of people who practised this sort of retirement: some, called +<i>Essenes</i>, lived near the Dead Sea; and others, called <i>Therapeutĉ</i>, in +Egypt, where a great number of Jews had settled. Among the heathens of +the East, too, a like manner of living had been common for ages, as it +still continues to be; and many of them carry it to an excessive +strictness, as we are told by travellers who have visited India, Thibet, +and other countries of Asia.</p> + +<p>Nothing of the kind, however, is commanded for Christians in the New +Testament; and when Scripture warrant for the monkish life was sought +for, the great patterns who were produced were Elijah and St. John the +Baptist—the one of them an Old Testament prophet; the other, a holy man +who lived, indeed, in the days when our Lord Himself was on the earth, +but who was not allowed to enter into His Church, or to see it fully +established by the coming of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost. But +still it was very natural that the notion of a life of strict poverty, +retirement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +from the world, and employment in spiritual things, should +find favour with Christians, as a means of fulfilling the duties of +their holy calling; and so it seems that some of them took to this way +of life very early. But the first who is named as a <i>hermit</i> (that is to +say, a <i>dweller in the wilderness</i>) was Paul, a young man of Alexandria, +who, in the year 251, fled from the persecution of Decius into the +Egyptian desert, where he is said to have lived ninety years. Paul, +although he afterwards became very famous, spent his days without being +known, until, just before his death, he was visited by another great +hermit, St. Antony. But Antony himself was a person of great note and +importance in his own lifetime.</p> + +<p>He was born in the district of Thebes, in Egypt, in the very same year +that Paul withdrew from the world. While a boy, he was thoughtful and +serious. His parents died before he had reached the age of twenty, and +left him considerable wealth. One day, when in church, he was struck by +hearing the story of the rich young man who was charged to sell all that +he had, give to the poor, and follow our Lord (<i>St. Luke</i> xviii. 18-22). +At another time he was moved by hearing the charge to "take no thought +for the morrow" (<i>St. Matt.</i> vi. 34). And in order to obey these +commands (as he thought), Antony parted with all that belonged to him, +bade farewell to his only sister, and left his home, with the intention +of living in loneliness and devotion. He carried on this life for many +years, and several times changed his abode, that he might seek out some +place still wilder and more remote than the last. But he grew so famous +that people flocked even into the depths of the wilderness to see him. A +number of disciples gathered around him, and hermits or monks began to +copy his way of life in other parts of Egypt. Antony's influence became +very great; he made peace between enemies, comforted mourners, and gave +advice to all who asked him as to spiritual concerns; and when he took +the part of any oppressed person who applied to him, his interference +was always successful. Affairs of this kind sometimes obliged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> him to +leave his <i>cell</i> (as the dwellings of the monks were called); but he +always returned as soon as possible, for he used to say that "a monk out +of his solitude is like a fish out of water." Even the emperors, +Constantine and his sons, wrote to him with great respect, and asked him +to visit their courts. He thanked them, but did not accept their +invitation; and he wrote more than once to them in favour of St. +Athanasius, whom he steadily supported in his troubles on account of the +faith. On two great occasions he visited Alexandria, for the purpose of +strengthening his brethren in their sufferings for the truth. The first +of these visits was while the last heathen persecution, under Maximin, +was raging.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +Antony stood by the martyrs at their trials and in their +death, and took all opportunities of declaring himself a Christian; but +the persecutors did not venture to touch him: and, after waiting till +the heat of the danger was past, he again withdrew to the wilderness. +The second visit was in the time of the Arian disturbances, when his +appearance had even a greater effect than before. The Catholics were +encouraged by his exhortations, and a great number of conversions took +place in consequence. Antony died, at the age of a hundred and five, in +the year 356, a few days before the great bishop of Alexandria was +driven to seek a refuge in the +desert.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>Antony, as we have seen, was a <i>hermit</i>, living in the wilderness by +himself. But by-and-by other kinds of monks were established, who lived +in companies together. Sometimes they were lodged in clusters of little +cells, each of them having his separate cell, or two or three living +together; sometimes the cells were all in one large building, called a +<i>monastery</i>. The head of each monastery, or of each cluster of cells, +was called <i>abbot</i>, which means <i>father</i>. And in some cases there were +many monasteries belonging to one <i>order</i>, so that they were all +considered as one society, and there was one chief abbot over all. Thus +the order<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +founded by Pachomius, on an island in the Nile, soon spread, +so that before his death it had eight monasteries, with three thousand +monks among them; and about fifty years later, it had no fewer than +fifty thousand monks.</p> + +<p>These monks of Pachomius lived in cells, each of which contained three. +Each cluster of cells had its abbot; the head of the order, who was +called the <i>archimandrite</i> (which means <i>chief of a sheep-fold</i>), went +round occasionally to visit all the societies which were under him; and +the whole order met every year at the chief monastery, for the festival +of Easter, and a second time in the month of August. The monks of St. +Pachomius prayed many times a-day. They fasted every Wednesday and +Friday, and communicated every Sunday and Saturday. They took their +meals together and sang psalms before each. They were not allowed to +talk at table, but sat with their hoods drawn over their faces, so that +no one could see his neighbours, or anything but the food before him. +Their dress was coarse and plain; the chief article of it was a rough +goat-skin, in imitation of the prophet Elijah. They slept with their +clothes on, not in beds, but in chairs, which were of such a shape as to +keep them almost standing. They spent their time not only in prayers and +other religious exercises, but in various kinds of simple work, such as +labouring in the fields, weaving baskets, ropes, and nets, or making +shoes. They had boats in which they sent the produce of their labour +down the Nile to Alexandria; and the money which they got by selling it +was not only enough to keep them, but enabled them to redeem captives, +and to do such other acts of charity.</p> + +<p>This account of the monks of St. Pachomius will give some notion of the +monkish life in general, although one order differed from another in +various ways. All that the monks had was considered to belong to them in +common, after the pattern of the first Christians, as was supposed +(<i>Acts</i> ii. 34; iv. 32); and no one was allowed to have anything of his +own. Thus we are told that when a monk was found at his death to have +left a hundred pieces of silver, which he had earned by weaving flax, +his brethren, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +who were about three thousand in number, met to consider +what should be done with the money. Some were for giving it to the +Church; some, to the poor. But the fathers of the society quoted St. +Peter's words to Simon the sorcerer, "Thy money perish with thee" +(<i>Acts</i> viii. 20); and on the strength of this text (which in truth had +not much to do with the matter), they ordered that it should be buried +with its late owner. St. Jerome, who tells the story, says that this was +not done out of any wish to condemn the dead monk, but in order that +others might be deterred from hoarding.</p> + +<p>These different kinds of monks were first established in various parts +of Egypt; but their way of life was soon taken up in other countries; +and societies of women, who were called <i>nuns</i> (that is to say +<i>mothers</i>), were formed under the same kind of rules.</p> + +<p>One thing which had much to do with making monkish life so common was, +that when persecution by the heathen was at an end, many Christians felt +the want of something which might assure them that they were separate +from the world, as Christ's true people ought to be. It was no longer +enough that they should call themselves Christians; for the world had +come to call itself Christian too. Perhaps we may think that it would +have been better if those who wished to live religiously had tried to go +on doing their duty in the world, and to improve it by the example and +the influence of holy and charitable lives, instead of running away from +it. And they were certainly much mistaken if they fancied that by hiding +themselves in the desert they were likely to escape temptation. For +temptations followed them into their retreats, and we have only too many +proofs, in the accounts of famous monks, that the effect of this mistake +was often very sad indeed. And we may be sure that if the good men who +in those days were active in recommending the life of monks had been +able to foresee how things would turn out, they would have been much +more cautious in what they said of it.</p> + +<p>It was not every one who was fit for such a life, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> many took it up +without rightly considering whether they <i>were</i> fit for it. The kind of +work which was provided for them was not enough to occupy them +thoroughly, and many of them suffered grievously from temptations to +which their idleness laid them open. It was supposed, indeed, that they +might find the thoughts of heavenly things enough to fill their minds; +and, when a philosopher asked Antony how he could live without books, he +answered that for him the whole creation was a book, always at hand, in +which he could read God's word whenever he pleased. But it was not every +one who could find such delight in that great book; and many of the +monks, for want of employment, were tormented by all sorts of evil +thoughts, nay, some of them were even driven into madness by their way +of life.</p> + +<p>The monks ran into very strange mistakes as to their duty towards their +kindred. Even Antony himself, although he was free from many of the +faults of spiritual pride and the like, which became too common among +his followers, thought himself bound to overcome his love for his young +sister. And, as another sample of the way in which monks were expected +to deaden their natural affections, I may tell you how his disciple Pior +behaved. Pior, when a youth, left his father's house, and vowed that he +would never again look on any of his relations—which was surely a very +rash and foolish and wrong vow. He went into the desert, and had lived +there fifty years, when his sister heard that he was still alive. She +was too infirm to go in search of him, but she contrived that the abbot, +under whose authority he was, should order him to pay her a visit. Pior +went accordingly, and, when he had reached her house, he stood in front +of it, and sent to tell her that he was there. The poor old woman made +all haste to get to him; her heart was full of love and delight at the +thoughts of seeing her brother again after so long a separation. But as +soon as Pior heard the door opening, he shut his eyes, and he kept them +shut all through the meeting. He refused to go into his sister's house, +and when he had let her see +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +him for a short time in this way, without +showing her any token of kindness, he hurried back to the desert.</p> + +<p>In later times monks were usually ordained as clergy of the Church. But +at first it was not intended that they should be so, and in each +monastery there were only so many clergy as were needed for the +performance of Divine service and other works of the ministry. And in +those early days, many monks had a great fear of being ordained +clergymen or bishops, because they thought that the active business in +which bishops and other clergy were obliged to engage, would hinder +their reaching to the higher degrees of holiness. Thus a famous monk, +named Ammonius, on being chosen for a bishopric, cut off one of his +ears, thinking that this blemish would prevent his being made a priest, +as it would have done under the law of Moses (<i>Lev.</i> xxi. 17-23); and +when he was told that it was not so in the Christian Church, he +threatened to cut out his tongue.</p> + +<p>It was not long before the sight of the great respect which was paid to +the monks led many worthless people to call themselves monks for the +sake of what they might get by doing so. These fellows used to go about, +wearing heavy chains, uncouthly dressed, and behaving roughly; and they +told outrageous stories of visions and of fights with devils which they +pretended to have had. By such tricks they got large sums of money from +people who were foolish enough to encourage them; and they spent it in +the most shameful ways.</p> + +<p>But besides these vile hypocrites, many monks who seem to have been +sincere enough ran into very strange extravagances. There was one kind +of them called <i>Grazers</i>, who used to live among mountains, without any +roof to shelter them, browsing, like beasts, on grass and herbs, and by +degrees growing much more like beasts than men. And in the beginning of +the fifth century, one Symeon founded a new sort of monks, who were +called <i>Stylites</i> (that is to say, <i>pillar saints</i>), from a Greek word, +which means a pillar. Symeon was a Syrian, and lived on the top of one +pillar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +after another for seven-and-thirty years. Each pillar was higher +than the one before it; the height of the last of them was forty cubits +(or seventy feet), and the top of it was only a yard across. There +Symeon was to be seen, with a heavy iron chain round his neck, and great +numbers of people flocked to visit him; some of them even went all the +way from our own country. And when he was dead, a monk, named Daniel, +got the old cowl which he had worn, and built himself a pillar near +Constantinople, where he lived three-and-thirty years. The high winds +sometimes almost blew him from his place, and sometimes he was covered +for days with snow and ice, until the emperor Leo made him submit to let +a shed be built round the top of his pillar. The fame and influence +which these monks gained were immense. They were supposed to have the +power of prophecy and of miracles; they were consulted even by emperors +and kings, in the most important matters; and sometimes, on great +occasions, when a stylite descended from his pillar, or some famous +hermit left his cell, and appeared among the crowds of a city, he was +able to make everything bend to his will.</p> + +<p>We must not be blind to the serious errors of monkery; but we are bound +also to own that God was pleased to make it the means of great good. The +monks did much for the conversion of the heathen, and when the ages of +darkness came on, after the overthrow of the Roman empire in the West, +they rendered inestimable service in preserving the knowledge of +learning and religion, which, but for them, might have utterly perished +from the earth. +</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"> +<span class="label">[8]</span></a><a href="#Page_36">See page 36.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"> +<span class="label">[9]</span></a><a href="#Page_54">See page 54.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. BASIL AND ST. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM. COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I. A.D.</small> 373-381.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +Although St. Athanasius was now dead, God did not fail to raise up +champions for the true faith. Three of the most famous of these were +natives of Cappadocia—namely, Basil, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and +his friend Gregory of Nazianzum. But although Gregory of Nyssa was a +very good and learned man, and did great service to the truth by his +writings, there was nothing remarkable in the story of his life; so I +shall only tell you about the other two.</p> + +<p>Basil and Gregory of Nazianzum were both born about the year 329. Basil +was of a noble Christian family. Gregory's father had belonged to a +strange sect called Hypsistarians, whose religion was a mixture of +Jewish and heathen notions; but he had been converted from it by his +wife, Nonna, who was a very pious and excellent woman, and, before his +son's birth, he had risen to be bishop of Nazianzum.</p> + +<p>The two youths became acquainted at school in Cappadocia, and, when they +were afterwards sent to the famous schools of Athens, they grew into the +closest friendship. They lived and read and walked together: Gregory +says that they had all things common, and that it was as if they had +only one soul in two bodies. Athens was an excellent place for learning +all that the wise men of this world could teach, and therefore students +flocked to it from distant countries. But it was a dangerous place for +Christian young men; for the teachers were heathen philosophers, and +knew well how to entangle them in arguments, so that many of the pupils, +who did not rightly understand the grounds of their faith, were deceived +into giving it up. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +Thus, at the very time when Basil and Gregory were +at Athens, Julian was also there, sucking in the heathen notions which +led to so much evil when he afterwards became emperor. But the two +Cappadocians kept themselves clear from all the snares of "philosophy +and vain deceit" (<i>Coloss.</i> ii. 8); and although they were the foremost +of all the students in Athens for learning, and might have hoped to make +a great figure in the world by their talents, they resolved to give up +all worldly ambition, and to devote themselves to the ministry of the +Church.</p> + +<p>So they were both ordained to be clergymen, and their friendship +continued as warm as ever. Gregory did many kind offices to Basil, and +at length, when the archbishopric of Cĉsarea, the chief city of +Cappadocia, fell vacant, Gregory had a great share in getting his friend +chosen to it. Basil was now in a very high office, with many bishops +under him; and he had become noted as one of the chief defenders of the +Catholic faith. And when the emperor Valens set up Arianism in all other +parts of his dominions, Basil remained at his post, and kept the Church +of Cĉsarea free from the heresy. Valens came into Cappadocia, and was +angry that, while his wishes were obeyed everywhere else, Basil should +hold out against them: so he sent an officer named Modestus to Cĉsarea, +and ordered him to require the archbishop to submit, on pain of being +turned out. Modestus told Basil his errand, and threatened him with loss +of his property, torture, banishment, and even death, in case of his +refusal. But Basil was not at all daunted. "Think of some other threat," +he said, "for these have no influence on me. As for loss of property, I +run no risk, for I have nothing to lose except these mean garments and a +few books. Nor does a Christian care for banishment, since he has no +home upon earth, but makes every country his own; or rather, he looks on +the whole world as God's, and on himself as God's pilgrim upon earth. +Neither can tortures harm me, for my body is so weak that the first blow +would kill me; and death would be a gain, for it would but send me the +sooner to Him for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +whom I live and labour, and to whom I have long been +journeying."</p> + +<p>Modestus returned to his master with an account of what had been said, +and Valens himself soon after came to Cĉsarea. But when he went to the +cathedral on the festival of the Epiphany, and saw Basil at the head of +his clergy, and witnessed their solemn service, he was struck with awe. +He wished to make an offering, as the custom was, but none of the clergy +went to receive his gift, and he almost fainted at the thought of being +thus rejected from the Church, as if he had no part or lot in it. He +afterwards sent for Basil, and had some conversation with him; and the +end of the affair was, that he not only left Basil in possession of his +see, but bestowed a valuable estate on a hospital which the archbishop +had lately founded.</p> + +<p>While Basil had risen, by Gregory's help, to be an archbishop, Gregory +himself was still a presbyter. He would not have taken even this office +but that his father ordained him to it almost by force; and he had a +great dread of being raised to the high and difficult office of a +bishop. But Basil, for certain reasons, wished to establish a bishop in +a little town called Sasima, and he fixed on his old friend, without, +perhaps, thinking so much as he ought to have thought, whether the place +and the man were likely to suit each other. The old bishop of Nazianzum +did all that he could to overcome his son's unwillingness, and Gregory +was consecrated; but he thought himself unkindly used, and complained +much of Basil's behaviour in the matter.</p> + +<p>After a time, Basil and other leaders of the orthodox (that is, of those +who <i>held the right faith</i>) urged Gregory to undertake a mission to +Constantinople, and he agreed to go, in the hope of being able to do +some good (<small>A.D.</small> 378). The bishopric of that great city had been in the +hands of Arians for nearly forty years, and although there were many +people of other sects there, the orthodox were but a handful. Gregory, +when he began his labours, found that there was a strong feeling against +him and his doctrine. He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +could not get the use of any church, and was +obliged to hold his service in a friend's house. He was often attacked +by the Arian mob; he was stoned; he was carried before the magistrates +on charges of disturbing the peace; the house which he had turned into a +chapel was broken into by night, and shocking outrages were committed in +it. But the good Gregory held on notwithstanding all this, and, after a +while, his mild and grave character, his eloquent and instructive +preaching, and the piety of his life, wrought a great change, so that +his little place of worship became far too small to hold the crowds +which flocked to it. While Gregory was thus employed, Basil died, in the +year 380.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_14_II" id="P1_14_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Both parts of the empire were now again under orthodox princes. Valens +had lost his life in war, without leaving any children (<small>A.D.</small> 378), so +that Valentinian's sons, Gratian and Valentinian the Second, were heirs +to the whole. But Gratian felt the burden of government too much for +himself, a lad of nineteen, and for his little brother, who was but +seven years old; and he gave up the East to a brave Spaniard, named +Theodosius, in the hope that he would be able to defend it.</p> + +<p>Theodosius came to Constantinople in the year 380, and found things in +the state which has just been described. He turned the Arian bishop and +his clergy out of the churches, and gave Gregory possession of the +cathedral. Gregory knew that the emperor wished to help the cause of the +true faith, and he did as Theodosius wished; but he was very sad and +uneasy at being thus thrust on a flock of which the greater part as yet +refused to own him.</p> + +<p>Theodosius then called a council, which met at Constantinople in the +year 381, and is reckoned as the second General Council (the Council of +Nicĉa<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +having been the first). One act of this council was to add to +the Nicene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +Creed some words about the Holy Ghost, by way of guarding +against the errors of a party who were called Macedonians, after one +Macedonius, who had been bishop of Constantinople; for these people +denied the true doctrine as to the Holy Ghost, although they had given +up the errors of Arius as to the Godhead of our blessed Lord.</p> + +<p>But afterwards, some of the bishops who attended the council fell to +disputing about the choice of a bishop for Antioch; and Gregory, who +tried to persuade them to agree, found that, instead of heeding his +advice, they all fell on him; and they behaved so shamefully to him that +he gave up his bishopric, which, indeed, he had before wished to do. +Theodosius was very sorry to lose so good a man from that important +place; but Gregory was glad to get away from its troubles and anxieties +to the quiet life which he best loved. He took charge of the diocese of +Nazianzum (which had been vacant since his father's death, some year's +before), until a regular bishop was appointed to it; and he spent his +last days in retirement, soothing himself with religious poetry and +music. One of the holiest men of our own Church, Bishop Ken (the author +of the Morning and Evening Hymns), used often to compare himself with +St. Gregory of Nazianzum; for Bishop Ken, too, was driven from his +bishopric in troubled times, and, in the poverty, sickness, and sorrow +of his last years, he, too, used to find relief in playing on his lute, +and in writing hymns and other devout poems.</p> + +<p>Theodosius was resolved to establish the right faith, according as the +council had laid it down. But it seems that at one time some of the +bishops were afraid lest an Arian, named Eunomius, should get an +influence over his mind, and should persuade him to favour the Arians. +And there is a curious story of the way in which one of these bishops, +who was a homely old man, from some retired little town, tried to show +the emperor that he ought not to encourage heretics. On a day when a +number of bishops went to pay their respects at court, this old man, +after having saluted the emperor very respectfully, turned to his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +eldest son, the young emperor Arcadius, and stroked his head as if he +had been any common boy. Theodosius was very angry at this behaviour, +and ordered that the bishop should be turned out. But as the officers of +the palace were hurrying him towards the door, the old man addressed the +emperor, and told him that as <i>he</i> was angry on account of the slight +offered to the prince, even so would the Heavenly Father be offended +with those who should refuse to His Son the honours which they paid to +Himself. Theodosius was much struck by this speech; he begged the +bishop's forgiveness, and showed his regard for the admonition by +keeping Eunomius and the rest of the Arians at a distance.</p> + +<p>The emperor then made some severe laws, forbidding all sorts of sects to +hold their worship, and requiring them to join the Catholic Church. Now +this was, no doubt, a great mistake; for it is impossible to force +religious belief on people; and although Christian princes ought to +support the true faith by making laws in favour of it, it is wrong to +make men pretend a belief which they do not feel in their hearts. But +Theodosius had not had the same opportunities which we have since had of +seeing how useless such laws are, and what mischief they generally do; +so that, instead of blaming him, we must give him credit for acting in +the way which he believed most likely to promote the glory of God and +the good of his subjects. And, although some of his laws seem very +severe, there is reason to think that these were never acted on.</p> + +<p>But about the same time, in another part of the empire, which had been +usurped by one Maximus, an unhappy man, named Priscillian, and some of +his companions, were put to death on account of heresy. Such things +became sadly too common afterwards; but at the time the punishment of +Priscillian struck all good men with horror. St. Martin, bishop of +Tours, who was called "The Apostle of the Gauls," did all that he could +to prevent it. St. Ambrose (of whom you will hear more in the next +chapter) would not, on any account, have to do with the bishops who had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +been concerned in it; and the chief of these bishops was afterwards +turned out of his see, and died in banishment. We may do well to +remember that this first instance of punishing heresy with death, was +under the government of an usurper, who had made his way to power by +rebellion and murder.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"> +<span class="label">[10]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">See chapter XI.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. AMBROSE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 374-397.</p> + +<p>The greatest bishop of the West in these times was St. Ambrose, of +Milan. He was born about the year 340, and thus was ten or twelve years +younger than St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzum. His father had held +a very high office under the emperors; Ambrose himself was brought up as +a lawyer, and had risen to be governor of Liguria, a large country in +the north of Italy, of which Milan was the chief city.</p> + +<p>The bishop of Milan, who was an Arian, died in the year 374, and then a +great dispute arose between the orthodox and the Arians as to choosing a +new bishop, so that it seemed as if they might even come to blows about +it. When both parties were assembled in the cathedral for the election, +the governor, Ambrose, went and made them a speech, desiring them to +manage their business peaceably; and it is said that, as soon as he had +done, a little child's voice was heard crying out "Ambrose bishop!" All +at once, the whole assembly caught up the words, which seemed to have +something providential in them; and they insisted that the governor +should be the new bishop. Now although Ambrose had been brought up as a +Christian, he was still only a catechumen, and had never thought of +being a bishop, or a clergyman of any kind; and he was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> afraid to +undertake so high and holy an office. He therefore did all that he could +to get himself excused. He tried to make the people of Milan think that +his temper was too severe; but they saw through his attempts. He then +escaped from the town more than once, but he was brought back. +Valentinian, who was then emperor, approved the choice of a bishop; and +Ambrose was first baptized, and a few days afterwards he was +consecrated.</p> + +<p>He now studied very hard, in order to make up for his want of +preparation for his office. He was very active in all sorts of pious and +charitable works, and he soon became famous as a preacher. His steady +firmness in maintaining the orthodox faith was especially shown when +Valentinian's widow, Justina, who was an Arian, wished to take one of +the churches of Milan from the Catholics, and to give it to her own +sect; and after a hard struggle, Ambrose got the better of her. He +afterwards gained a very great influence both over Justina's son, +Valentinian II., and over his elder brother Gratian. And when Gratian +had been murdered by the friends of Maximus (the same Maximus who put +Priscillian to death), and Theodosius came into the West to avenge his +murder (<small>A.D.</small> 388), Ambrose had no less power with Theodosius than he had +had with the younger emperors.</p> + +<p>Theodosius took up his abode for a time at Milan after he had defeated +and slain the usurper Maximus. Soon after his arrival in the city, he +went to service at the cathedral, and was going to seat himself in the +part of it nearest to the altar, as at Constantinople the emperor's seat +was in that part of the church. But Ambrose stopped him, and told him +that none but the clergy were allowed to sit there; and he begged the +emperor to take a place at the head of the people outside the +altar-rails. Theodosius was so far from being angry at this, that he +thanked the bishop, and explained to him how it was that he had made the +mistake of going within the rails; and when he got back to +Constantinople, he astonished his courtiers by ordering that his seat +should be removed to a place +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +answering to that in which he had sat at +Milan; for that, he said, was much more seemly and proper.</p> + +<p>There are other stories about Ambrose's dealings with Theodosius; but I +shall mention only one, which is the most famous of all. One day when +there was to be a great chariot race at Thessalonica, it happened that a +famous charioteer, who was a favourite with the people of the town, had +been put in prison by the governor on account of a very serious crime. +On this a mob went to the governor, and demanded that the man should be +set at liberty. The governor refused; and thereupon the mob grew +furious, and murdered him, with a number of his soldiers and other +persons. The emperor might have been excused for showing heavy +displeasure at this outrage; but unhappily the great fault of his +character was a readiness to give way to violent fits of passion; and on +hearing what had been done, his anger knew no bounds. Ambrose, who was +afraid lest some serious mischief should follow, did all that he could +to soothe the emperor, and got a promise from him that the Thessalonians +should be spared. But some other advisers afterwards got about +Theodosius, and again inflamed his mind against the offenders, so that +he gave orders for a fearful act of cruel and treacherous vengeance. The +people of Thessalonica were invited in the emperor's name to some games +in the circus or amphitheatre, which was a building open to the sky, and +large enough to hold many thousands. And when they were all gathered +together in the place, instead of the amusement which had been promised +them, they were fallen on by soldiers, who for three hours carried on a +savage butchery; sparing neither old men, women, nor children, and +making no difference between innocent and guilty, Thessalonian or +stranger. Among those who had come to see the games there was a foreign +merchant, who had had no concern in the outrage of the mob, which was +punished in this frightful way. He had two sons with him, and he offered +his own life, with all that he had, if the soldiers would but spare one +of them. The soldiers were willing to agree to this, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> but the poor +father could not make up his mind which of the sons he should choose; +and the soldiers, who were too much enraged by their horrid work to make +any allowance for his feelings, stabbed both the youths before his eyes +at the same moment. The number of persons slain in the massacre is not +certain: there were at least as many as seven thousand, and some writers +say that there were fifteen thousand.</p> + +<p>When Ambrose heard of this shocking affair, he was filled with grief and +horror; for he had relied on the emperor's promise to spare the +Thessalonians, and great care had been taken that he should not know +anything of the orders which had been afterwards sent off. He wrote a +letter to Theodosius, exhorting him to repent, and telling him that, +unless he did so, he could not be admitted to the holy Communion. This +letter brought the emperor to feel that he had done very wrongly; but +Ambrose wished to make him feel it far more. As Theodosius was about to +enter the cathedral, the bishop met him in the porch, and, laying hold +on his robe, desired him to withdraw, because he was a man stained with +innocent blood. The emperor said that he was deeply grieved for his +offence; but Ambrose told him that this was not enough—that he must +show some more public proofs of his repentance for so great a sin. The +emperor withdrew accordingly to his palace, where he shut himself up for +eight months, refusing to wear his imperial robes, and spending his time +in sadness and penitence. At length, when Christmas was drawing near, he +went to the bishop, and humbly begged that he might be admitted into the +Church again. Ambrose desired him to give some substantial token of his +sorrow, and the emperor agreed to make a law by which no sentence of +death should be executed until thirty days after it had been passed. +This law was meant to prevent any more such sad effects of sudden +passion in princes as the massacre of Thessalonica. The emperor was then +allowed to enter the church, where he fell down on the pavement, with +every appearance of the deepest grief and humiliation; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and it is said +that from that time he never spent a day without remembering the crime +into which his passion had betrayed him.</p> + +<p>Theodosius was the last emperor who kept up the ancient glory of Rome. +He is called "the Great," and in many respects was well deserving of the +name. He died in 395, and St. Ambrose died within two years after, on +Easter eve, in the year 397.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 391.</p> + +<p>In the account of Constantine, it was mentioned that the emperors after +their conversion did not try to put down heathenism by force, or all at +once.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +For the wise teachers of the Church knew that this would not +be the right way of going to work, but that it would be more likely to +make the heathens obstinate, than to convert them. Thus St. Augustine +(of whom I shall have more to tell you by-and-by) says in one of his +sermons—"We must first endeavour to break the idols in their hearts. +When they themselves become Christians, they will either invite us to +the good work of destroying their idols, or they will be beforehand with +us in doing so. And in the mean while, we must pray for them, not be +angry with them."</p> + +<p>But in course of time, as the people were more and more brought off from +heathenism, and as the belief of the Gospel worked its way more +thoroughly among all classes of them, laws were sent forth against +offering sacrifices, burning incense, and the like, to the heathen gods. +These laws were by degrees made stricter and stricter, until, in the +reign of Theodosius, it was forbidden to do any act of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> heathen worship. +And I may now tell you what took place as to the idols of Egypt in this +reign.</p> + +<p>It was in the year 391 that an old heathen temple at Alexandria was +given up to the bishop of the city, who wished to build a church on the +spot. In digging out the foundation for the church, some strange and +disgusting things, which had been used in the heathen worship, were +found; and some of the Christians carried these about the streets by way +of mocking at the religion of the heathens. The heathen part of the +inhabitants were enraged; a number of them made an uproar, killed some +Christians, and then shut themselves up in the temple of one of their +gods called Serapis, whom they believed to be the protector of +Alexandria. This temple was surrounded by the houses of the priests and +other buildings; and the whole was so vast and so magnificent, that it +was counted as one of the wonders of the world.</p> + +<p>The rioters, who had shut themselves up in the temple, used to rush out +from it now and then, killing some of the Christians who fell in their +way, and carrying off others as prisoners. These prisoners were desired +to offer sacrifice: if they refused, they were cruelly tortured, and +some of them were even crucified. A report of these doings was sent to +Theodosius, and he ordered that all the temples of Alexandria should be +destroyed. The governor invited the defenders of the temple of Serapis +to attend in the market-place, where the emperor's sentence was to be +read; and, on hearing what it was, they fled in all directions, so that +the soldiers, who were sent to the temple, found nobody there to +withstand them.</p> + +<p>The idol of Serapis was of such vast size that it reached from one side +of the temple to the other. It was adorned with jewels, and was covered +with plates of gold and silver; and its worshippers believed that, if it +were hurt in any way, heaven and earth would go to wreck. So when a +soldier mounted a ladder, and raised his axe against it, the heathens +who stood by were in great terror, and even some of the Christians could +not help feeling a little uneasiness as to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +what might follow. But the +stout soldier first made a blow which struck off one of the idol's +cheeks, and then dashed his axe into one of his knees. Serapis, however, +bore all this quietly, and the bystanders began to draw their breath +more freely. The soldier worked away manfully, and, after a while, the +huge head of the idol came crashing down, when a swarm of rats, which +had long made their home in it, rushed forth, and scampered off in all +directions. Even the heathens who were in the crowd, on seeing this, +began to laugh at their god. The idol was demolished, and the pieces of +it were carried into the circus, where a bonfire was made of them; and, +in examining the temple, a number of tricks by which the priests had +deceived the people were found out, so that many heathens were converted +in consequence of having thus seen the vanity of their old religion, and +the falsehood of the means by which it was kept up.</p> + +<p>Egypt, as you perhaps know, does not depend on rain for its crops, but +on the rising of the river Nile, which floods the country at a certain +season; and the heathens had long said that the Christians were afraid +to destroy the idols of Egypt, lest the gods should punish them by not +allowing the water to rise. After the destruction of Serapis, the usual +time for the rising of the river came, but there were no signs of it; +and the heathens began to be in great delight, and to boast that their +gods were going to take vengeance. Some weak Christians, too, began to +think that there might be some truth in this, and sent to ask the +emperor what should be done. "Better," he said, "that the Nile should +not rise at all, than that we should buy the fruitfulness of Egypt by +idolatry!" After a while the Nile began to swell; it soon mounted above +the usual height of its flood, and the Pagans were now in hopes that +Serapis was about to avenge himself by such a deluge as would punish the +Christians for the destruction of the idol; but they were again +disappointed by seeing the waters sink down to their proper level.</p> + +<p>The emperor's orders were executed by the destruction of the Egyptian +temples and their idols. But we are told +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +that the bishop of Alexandria +saved one image as a curiosity, and lest people should afterwards deny +that their forefathers had ever been so foolish as to worship such +things. Some say that this image was a figure of Jupiter, the chief of +the heathen gods; others say that it was the figure of a monkey; for +even monkeys were worshipped by the Egyptians!</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"> +<span class="label">[11]</span></a><a href="#Page_39">Page 39.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>CHURCH GOVERNMENT.</p> + +<p>By this time the Gospel had not only been firmly settled as the religion +of the great Roman empire, but had made its way into most other +countries of the world then known. Here, then, we may stop to take a +view of some things connected with the Church; and it will be well, in +doing so, to remember what is wisely said by our own Church, in her +thirty-fourth article, which is about "the Traditions of the Church" +(that is to say, the practices <i>handed down</i> in the Church):—"It is not +necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one, and +utterly like; for at all times they have been divers" (that is, they +have differed in different parts of Christ's Church), "and they may be +changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men's +manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word."</p> + +<p>First, then, as to the ministers of the Church. The three orders which +had been from the beginning,—bishops, presbyters (or priests), and +deacons,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +were considered to stand by themselves, as the only orders +<i>necessary</i> to a church. But early in the third century a number of +other orders were introduced, all lower than that of deacons. These were +the <i>sub-deacons</i>, who helped the deacons in the care of the poor, and +of the property belonging to the church; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> the <i>acolyths</i>, who lighted +the lamps, and assisted in the celebration of the sacraments; the +<i>exorcists</i>, who took charge of persons suffering from afflictions +resembling the possession by devils which is spoken of in the New +Testament; the <i>readers</i>, whose business it was to read the Scriptures +in church; and the <i>doorkeepers</i>. All these were considered to belong to +the clergy; just as if among ourselves the organist, the clerk, the +sexton, the singers, and the bell-ringers of a church were to be +reckoned as clergy, and were to be appointed to their offices by a +religious ceremony or ordination. But these new orders were not used +everywhere, and, as has been said, the persons who were in these orders +were not considered to be clergy in the same way as those of the three +higher orders which had been ever since the days of the Apostles.</p> + +<p>There were also, in the earliest times, women called <i>deaconesses</i>, such +as Phœbe, who is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans (xvi. I). +These deaconesses (who were often pious widows) were employed among +Christians of their own sex, for such works of mercy and instruction as +were not fit for men to do (or, at least, were supposed not to be so +according to the manners of the Greeks, and of the other ancient +nations). But the order of deaconesses does not seem to have lasted +long.</p> + +<p>All bishops, as I have said already, are of one +order.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +But in course +of time, it was found convenient for the government of the Church, that +some of them should be placed higher than others; and the way in which +this was settled was very natural. The bishops of a country found it +desirable to meet sometimes, that they might consult with each other, as +we are told that the Apostles did at Jerusalem (<i>Acts</i> xv.); and in most +countries these meetings (which were called <i>synods</i> or <i>councils</i>) came +to be regularly held once or twice a year. The chief city of each +district was naturally the place of meeting; and the bishop of this city +was naturally the chairman or president of the assembly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>—just as we +read that, in the council of the Apostles, St. James, who was bishop of +Jerusalem, where it was held, spoke with the greatest authority, after +all the rest, and that his "sentence" was given as the judgment of the +assembly. These bishops, then, got the title of <i>metropolitans</i>, because +each was bishop of the <i>metropolis</i> (or <i>mother-city</i>) of the country in +which the council was held; and thus they came to be considered higher +than their brethren. And, of course, when any messages or letters were +to be sent to the churches of other countries, the metropolitan was the +person in whose name it was done.</p> + +<p>And, as all this was the natural course of things in every country, it +was also natural that the bishops of very great cities should be +considered as still higher than the ordinary metropolitans. Thus the +bishoprics of Rome, of Alexandria, and of Antioch, which were the three +greatest cities of the empire, were regarded as the chief bishoprics, +and as superior to all others. Those of Rome and Antioch were both +supposed to have been founded by St. Peter, and Alexandria was believed +to have been founded by St. Mark, under the direction of St. Peter. +Hence it afterwards came to be thought that this was the cause of their +greatness; and the bishops of Rome, especially, liked to have this +believed, because they could then pretend to claim some sort of especial +power, which they said that our Lord had given to St. Peter above the +other Apostles, and that St. Peter had left it to his successors. But +such claims were quite unfounded, and it is clear that the real reason +why these three churches stood higher than others was that they were in +the three greatest cities of the whole empire.</p> + +<p>But the Church of Rome had many advantages over Alexandria and Antioch, +as well as over every other. It was the greatest and the richest of all, +so that it could send help to distressed Christians in all countries. No +other church of the West had an Apostle to boast of, but Rome could +boast of the two great Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, who had +laboured in it, and had given their blood for the faith in the Gospel in +it. Most of the western nations +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +had received their knowledge of the +Gospel through the Roman Church, and on this account they looked up with +respect to it as a mother. And as people from all parts of the empire +were continually going to Rome and returning, the Church of the great +capital kept up a constant intercourse with other churches in all +quarters. Thus the bishops of Rome were naturally much respected +everywhere, and, so long as they did not take too much upon themselves, +great regard was paid to their opinion; but when they tried to interfere +with the rights of other bishops, or to lord it over other churches, +they were firmly withstood, and were desired to keep within their proper +bounds, as Stephen of Rome was by St. Cyprian of +Carthage.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Another thing must be mentioned as creditable to the Roman Church, and +as one which did much to raise the power of its bishops. The heresies +which we have read of, all began in the East, where the people were more +sharp-witted and restless in their thoughts than those of the West. The +Romans, on the other hand, had not the turn of mind which led to these +errors, but rather attended to practical things. Hence they were +disposed to hold to the faith which had come down to them from their +fathers, and to defend it against the new opinions which were brought +forward from time to time. This steadiness, then, gave them a great +advantage over the Christians of the East, who were frequently changing +from one thing to another. It gained for the Roman Church much credit +and authority; and when the great Arian controversy arose, the effects +of the difference between the eastern and the western character were +vastly increased. The Romans (except for a short time, when a bishop +named Liberius was won over by the Arians) kept to their old faith. The +eastern parties looked to the bishop of Rome as if he had the whole +western Church in his hands. They constantly carried their quarrels to +him, asking him to give his help, and he was the strongest friend that +they could find anywhere. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +And when the side which Rome had always +upheld got the victory at last, the importance of the Roman bishops rose +in consequence. But even after all this, if the bishop of Rome tried to +meddle with other churches, his right to do so was still denied. Many +canons (that is to say, <i>rules of the Church</i>) were made to forbid the +carrying of any quarrel for judgment beyond the country in which it +began; and, however glad the churches of Africa and of the East were to +have the bishop of Rome for a friend, they would never allow him to +assume the airs of a master.</p> + +<p>And from the time when Constantinople was built in the place of +Byzantium, a new great Church arose. Byzantium had been only a common +bishopric, and for a time Constantinople was not called anything more +than a common bishopric; but in real importance it was very much more, +so that even a bishop of Antioch, the third see in the whole Christian +world, thought himself advanced when he was made bishop of +Constantinople instead. But the second General Council (which as we have +seen<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +was held at Constantinople in the year 381) made a canon by +which Constantinople was placed next to Rome, "because," as the canon +said, "it is a new Rome." This raised the jealousy, not only of Antioch, +and still more of Alexandria, at having an upstart bishopric (as they +considered it) put over their heads; but it gave great offence to the +bishops of Rome, who could not bear such a rivalry as was now +threatened, and were besides very angry on account of the reason which +was given for placing Constantinople next after Rome. For the council, +when it said that Constantinople was to be second among all Churches, +because of its being "a new Rome," meant to say that the reason why Rome +itself stood first was nothing more than its being the old capital of +the empire, whereas the bishops of Rome wished it to be thought that +their power was founded on their being the successors of St. Peter.</p> + +<p>We shall by-and-by see something of the effects of these jealousies. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"> +<span class="label">[12]</span></a><a href="#Page_6">Page 6.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"> +<span class="label">[13]</span></a><a href="#Page_6">Page 6.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"> +<span class="label">[14]</span></a><a href="#Page_29">Page 29.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"> +<span class="label">[15]</span></a><a href="#Page_70">Page 70.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>In the early days of the Gospel, while the Christians were generally +poor, and when they were obliged to meet in fear of the heathen, their +worship was held in private houses, and sometimes in burial-places +under-ground. But after a time buildings were expressly set apart for +worship. It has been mentioned that in the years of quiet, between the +death of Valerian and the last persecution (<small>A.D.</small> 261-303), these +churches were built much more handsomely than before, and were furnished +with gold and silver plate and other rich +ornaments.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +And after the +conversion of Constantine, they became still finer and costlier. The +clergy then wore rich dresses at service, the music was less simple, and +the ceremonies were multiplied. Some of the old heathen temples were +turned into churches; but temples were not built in a shape very +suitable for Christian worship, and the pattern of the new churches was +rather taken from the halls of justice, called <i>Basilicas</i>, which were +to be found in every large town. These buildings were of an oblong +shape, with a broad middle part, and on each side of it an aisle, +separated from it by a row of pillars. This lower part of the basilica +was used by merchants who met to talk about their business, and by all +sorts of loungers who met to tell and hear the news. But at the upper +end of the oblong there was a half circle, with its floor raised above +the level of the rest; and in the middle of this part the judge of the +city sat. Now if you will compare this description with the plan of a +church, you will see that the broad middle part of the basilica answers +to what is called the <i>body</i> or <i>nave</i> of the church; that the side +<i>aisles</i> are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +alike in each; and that the further part of the basilica, +with its raised floor, answers to the <i>chancel</i> of a church; while the +<i>holy table</i>, or <i>altar</i>, stands in the place answering to the judge's +seat in the basilica. Some of these halls were given up by the emperors +to be turned into churches, and the plan of them was found convenient as +a pattern in the building of new churches.</p> + +<p>On entering a church, the first part was the <i>Porch</i>, in which there +were places for the catechumens (that is to say, those who were +preparing for baptism); for those who were supposed to be possessed with +devils, and who were under the care of the +<i>exorcists</i>;<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +and for the +lowest kinds of those who were undergoing penance. Beyond this porch +were the <i>Beautiful Gates</i>, which opened into the <i>Nave</i> of the church. +Just within these gates were those penitents whose time of penance was +nearly ended; and the rest of the nave was the place for the +<i>faithful</i>—that is to say, for those who were admitted to all the +privileges of Christians. At the upper end of the nave, a place called +the <i>Choir</i> was railed in for the singers; and then, last of all, came +the raised part or chancel, which has been spoken of. This was called +the <i>Sanctuary</i>, and was set apart for the clergy only. The women sat in +church apart from the men; sometimes they were in the aisles, and +sometimes in galleries. Churches generally had a court in front of them +or about them, in which were the lodgings of the clergy, and a building +for the administration of baptism, called the <i>Baptistery</i>.</p> + +<p>In the early times, churches were not adorned with pictures or statues; +for Christians were at first afraid to have any ornaments of the kind, +lest they should fall into idolatry like the heathen. No such things as +images or pictures of our Lord, or of His saints, were known among them; +and in their every-day life, instead of the figures of gods, with which +the heathens used to adorn their houses, their furniture, their cups, +and their seals, the Christians made use of emblems only. Thus, instead +of pretending to make a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +likeness of our Lord's human form, they made a +figure of a shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulders, to signify the +Good Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep (<i>St. John</i> x. 11). Other +ornaments of the same kind were—a <i>dove</i>, signifying the Holy Ghost; a +<i>ship</i>, signifying the Church, the ark of salvation, sailing towards +heaven; a <i>fish</i>, which was meant to remind them of their having been +born again in the water, at their baptism; a musical instrument called a +<i>lyre</i>, to signify Christian joy; and an <i>anchor</i>, the figure of +Christian hope. About the year 300, the Council of Elvira, in Spain, +made a canon forbidding pictures in church, which shows that the +practice had then begun, and was growing; and also that in Spain, at +least, it was thought to be dangerous (as indeed it too surely proved to +be). And a hundred years later, Epiphanius, a famous bishop of Salamis, +in the island of Cyprus, tore a curtain which he found hanging in a +church, with a figure of our Lord, or of some saint, painted on it. He +declared that such things were altogether unlawful, and desired that the +curtain might be used to bury some poor man in, promising to send the +church a plain one instead of it.</p> + +<p>Christians used to sign themselves with the sign of the cross on many +occasions, and figures of the cross were early set up in churches. But +crucifixes (which are figures of our Lord on the cross, although +ignorant people sometimes call the cross itself a crucifix) were not +known until hundreds of years after the time of which we are now +speaking.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_18_II" id="P1_18_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>The church-service of Christians was always the same as to its main +parts, although there were little differences as to order and the like. +Justin Martyr, who lived (as we have seen) about the middle of the +second century,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +describes the service as it was in his time. It +began, he says, with readings from the Scriptures; then followed a +discourse by the chief clergyman who was present; and there was much +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +singing, of which a part was from the Old Testament psalms, while a part +was made up of hymns on Christian subjects. The discourses of the clergy +were generally meant to explain the Scripture lessons which had been +read. At first these discourses were very plain, and as much as possible +like ordinary talk; and from this they got the name of <i>homilies</i>, which +properly meant nothing more than <i>conversations</i>. But by degrees they +grew to be more like speeches, and people used to flock to them, just as +many do now, from a wish to hear something fine, rather than with any +notion of taking the preacher's words to heart, and trying to be made +better by them. And in the fourth century, when a clergyman preached +eloquently, the people used to cheer him on by clapping their hands, +waving their handkerchiefs, and shouting out, "Orthodox!" "Thirteenth +apostle!" or other such cries. Good men, of course, did not like to be +treated in this way, as if they were actors at a theatre; and we often +find St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine (of both of whom you will hear +by-and-by) objecting to it in their sermons, and begging their hearers +not to show their admiration in such foolish and unseemly ways. But it +seems that the people went on with it nevertheless; and no doubt there +must have been some preachers who were vain enough and silly enough to +be pleased with it.</p> + +<p>In the time of the Apostles the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was +celebrated in the evening, as it had been by our blessed Lord Himself on +the night in which He was betrayed. Thus it was, for instance, when the +disciples at Troas "came together upon the first day of the week +(Sunday) to break bread" (that is, to celebrate the Lord's Supper), and +"Paul preached unto them, and continued his speech until midnight" +(<i>Acts</i> xx. 7). In the service for this sacrament there was a +thanksgiving to God for His bounty in bestowing the fruits of the earth. +The congregation offered gifts of bread and wine, and from these the +elements which were to be consecrated were taken. They also brought +gifts of money, which was used for the relief +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +of the poor, for the +support of the clergy, and for other good and religious purposes. Either +before or after the sacrament, there was a meal called the <i>Love-feast</i>, +for which all the members of the congregation brought provisions, +according as they could afford. All of them sat down to it as equals, in +token of their being alike in Christ's brotherhood; and it ended with +psalm-singing and prayer. But even in very early days (as St. Paul shows +us in his first epistle to the Corinthians, xi. 21, 22), there was sad +misbehaviour at these meals; and besides this, such religious feasts +gave the heathen an excuse for their stories that the Christians met to +feed on human flesh and to commit other abominations in +secret.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> For +these reasons, after a time, the love-feast was separated from the holy +Communion, and at length it was entirely given up.</p> + +<p>In the second century, the administration of the Lord's Supper, instead +of being in the evening as at first, was added on to the morning +service, and then a difference was made between the two parts of the +service. At the earlier part of it the catechumens and penitents might +be present, but when the Communion office was going to begin, a deacon +called out, "Let no one of the catechumens or of the hearers stay." +After this none were allowed to remain except those who were entitled to +communicate, which all baptized Christians did in those days, unless +they were shut out from the Church on account of their misdeeds. The +"breaking of bread" in the Lord's Supper was at first daily, as we know +from the early chapters of the Acts (ii. 46); but this practice does not +seem to have lasted beyond the time when the faith of the Christians was +in its first warmth, and it became usual to celebrate the holy Communion +on the Lord's day only. When Christianity became the religion of the +empire, and there was now no fear of persecution, the earlier part of +the service was open not only to catechumens and penitents, but to Jews +and heathens; and in the fifth century, when the Church was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> mostly made +up of persons who had been baptized and trained in Christianity from +their infancy, the distinction between the "service of the catechumens" +and the "service of the faithful" was no longer kept up.</p> + +<p>The length of time during which converts were obliged to be catechumens +before being admitted to baptism differed in different parts of the +Church. In some places it was two years, in some three years; but if +during this time they fell sick and appeared to be in danger of death, +they were baptized without waiting any longer.</p> + +<p>At baptism, those who received it professed their faith, or their +sponsors did so for them, and from this began the use of <i>creeds</i>, +containing, in few words, the chief articles of the Christian faith. The +sign of the cross was made over those who were baptized, "in token that +they should not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and +manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world, and the +devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants unto +their life's end." The kiss of peace was given to them in token of their +being taken into spiritual brotherhood; white robes were put on them, to +signify their cleansing from sin; and a mixture of milk and honey was +administered to them, as if to give them a foretaste of their heavenly +inheritance, of which the earthly Canaan, "flowing with milk and honey" +(<i>Exod.</i> iii. 8, &c.) had been a figure. Other ceremonies were added in +the fourth century, such as the use of salt and lights, and an anointing +with oil in token of their being "made kings and priests to God" (<i>Rev.</i> +i. 6; 1 <i>Pet.</i> ii. 5-9), besides the anointing with a mixture called +<i>chrism</i> at confirmation, which had been practised in earlier times.</p> + +<p>The usual time of baptism was the season from Easter-eve to Whitsuntide; +but in case of danger, persons might be baptized at any time.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_18_III" id="P1_18_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>During the fourth century there was a growth of superstitions and +corruptions in the Church. Great numbers of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +converts came into it, +bringing their old heathen notions with them, and not well knowing what +they might expect, but with an eager desire to find as much to interest +them in the worship and life of Christians as they had found in the +ceremonies and shows of their former religion. And in order that such +converts might not be altogether disappointed, the Christian teachers of +the age allowed a number of things which soon began to have very bad +effects; thus, as we are told in the preface to our own Prayer-book, St. +Augustine complained that in his time (which was about the year 400) +ceremonies "were grown to such a number that the estate of Christian +people was in worse case concerning that matter than were the Jews." +Among the corruptions which were now growing, although they did not come +to a head until afterwards, one was an excess of reverence for saints, +which led to the practices of making addresses to them, and of paying +superstitious honours to their dead bodies. Another corruption was the +improper use of paintings or images, which even in St. Augustine's time +had gone so far that, as he owns with sorrow, many of the ignorant were +"worshippers of pictures." Another was the fashion of going on +pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in which Constantine's mother, Helena, set +an example which was soon followed by thousands, who not only fancied +that the sight of the places hallowed by the great events of Scripture +would kindle or heighten their devotion, but that prayers would be +especially pleasing to God if they were offered up in such places. And +thus great numbers flocked to Palestine from all quarters, and even from +Britain, among other countries; and on their return they carried back +with them water from the Jordan, earth from the Redeemer's sepulchre, or +what they believed to be chips of the true cross, which was supposed to +have been found during Helena's visit to Jerusalem. The mischiefs of +this fashion soon showed themselves. St. Basil's brother, Gregory of +Nyssa, wrote a little book expressly for the purpose of persuading +people not to go on pilgrimage. He said that he himself had been neither +better nor worse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +for a visit which he had paid to the Holy Land; but +that such a pilgrimage might even be dangerous for others, because the +inhabitants of the country were so vicious that there was more +likelihood of getting harm from them than good from the sight of the +holy places. "We should rather try," he said, "to go out of the body +than to drag it about from place to place." Another very learned man of +the same time, St. Jerome, although he had taken up his own abode at +Bethlehem, saw so much of the evils which arose from pilgrimages that he +gave very earnest warnings against them. "It is no praise," he says, "to +have been at Jerusalem, but to have lived religiously at Jerusalem. The +sight of the places where our Lord died and rose again are profitable to +those who bear their own cross and daily rise again with Him. But for +those who say, 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord' +(<i>Jerem.</i> vii. 4), let them hear the Apostle's words, '<i>Ye</i> are the +temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you' (1 <i>Cor.</i> iii. +16). The court of heaven is open to approach from Jerusalem and from +Britain alike; 'for the kingdom of God is <i>within</i> you'" (<i>St. Luke</i> +xvii. 21).</p> + +<p>There were, indeed, some persons who rose up to oppose the errors of +which I have been speaking. But unhappily they mixed up the truths which +they wished to teach with so many errors of their own, and they carried +on their opposition so unwisely, that, instead of doing good, they did +harm, by setting people against such truth as they taught on account of +the error which was joined with it, and of the wrong way which they took +of teaching it. By such opposition the growth of superstition was not +checked, but advanced and strengthened. +</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"> +<span class="label">[16]</span></a><a href="#Page_32">Page 32.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"> +<span class="label">[17]</span></a><a href="#Page_81">Page 81.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"> +<span class="label">[18]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_III">See Chapter III.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"> +<span class="label">[19]</span></a><a href="#Page_7">See page 7.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ARCADIUS AND HONORIUS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 395-423.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +The great emperor Theodosius was succeeded in 395 by his two sons, +Arcadius, who was eighteen years of age, and Honorius, who was only +eleven. Arcadius had the east, and Honorius the west; and after this +division, the empire was never again united in anything like the full +extent of its old greatness. The reigns of these princes were full of +misfortunes, especially in the western empire, where swarms of +barbarians poured down from the north, and did a vast deal of mischief. +One of these barbarous nations, the Goths, whose king was named Alaric, +thrice besieged Rome itself. The first time, Alaric was bought off by a +large sum of money. After the second siege, he set up an emperor of his +own making; and after the third siege, the city was given up to his +soldiers for plunder. Rude as these Goths were, they had been brought +over to a kind of Christianity, although it was not the true faith of +the Church. There had, indeed, been Christians among the Goths nearly +150 years before this time; for many of them had been converted by +Christian captives, whom they carried off in the reigns of Valerian and +Gallienus, about the year 260; and a Gothic bishop, named Theophilus, +had sat at the council of Nicĉa. But great changes had since been +wrought among them by a remarkable man named Ulfilas, who was +consecrated as their bishop in the year 348. He found that they did not +know the use of letters; so he made an alphabet for them, and translated +the Scriptures into their language, and he taught them many useful arts. +Thus he got such an influence over them, that they received all his +words as law, and he was called "the Moses of the Goths." But, +unhappily, Ulfilas was drawn into Arianism, and this was the doctrine +which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +he taught to his people, instead of the sound faith which had +before been preached to them by Theophilus and others. But still, +although their Christianity was not of the right kind, it had good +effects on these rough people; and so it appeared when Rome was given +over by the conqueror Alaric to his soldiers. Although they destroyed +temples, they paid great respect to churches; and they did not commit +such terrible acts of cruelty and violence as had been usual when cities +were taken by heathen armies.</p> + +<p>I need not say more about these sad times; but I must not forget to tell +what was done by a monk, named Telemachus, in the reign of Honorius. In +the year 403, one of the emperor's generals defeated Alaric in the north +of Italy; and the Romans, who in those days were not much used to +victories, made the most of this one, and held great games in honour of +it. Now the public games of the Romans were generally of a cruel kind. +We have seen how, in former days, they used to let wild beasts loose +against the Christian martyrs in their +amphitheatres;<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +and another of +their favourite pastimes was to set men who were called gladiators (that +is, <i>swordsmen</i>) to fight and kill each other in those same places. The +love of these shows of gladiators was so strong in the people of Rome, +that Constantine had not ventured to do away with them there, although +he would not allow any such things in the new Christian capital which he +built. And the custom of setting men to slaughter one another for the +amusement of the lookers-on had lasted at Rome down to the time of +Honorius.</p> + +<p>Telemachus, then, who was an eastern monk, was greatly shocked that +Christians should take pleasure in these savage sports; and when he +heard of the great games which were preparing, he resolved to bear his +witness against them. For this purpose, therefore, he went all the way +to Rome, and got into the amphitheatre, close to the <i>arena</i> (as the +place where the gladiators fought was called); and when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> the fight had +begun, he leaped over the barrier which separated him from the arena, +rushed in between the gladiators, and tried to part them. The people who +crowded the vast building grew furious at being baulked of their +amusement; they shouted out with rage, and threw stones, or whatever +else they could lay their hands on, at Telemachus, so that he was soon +pelted to death. But when they saw him lying dead, their anger suddenly +cooled, and they were struck with horror at the crime of which they had +been guilty, although they had never thought of the wickedness of +feasting their eyes on the bloodshed of gladiators. The emperor said +that the death of Telemachus was really a martyrdom, and proposed to do +away with the shows of gladiators; and the people, who were now filled +with sorrow and shame, agreed to give up their cruel diversions. So the +life of the brave monk was not thrown away, since it was the means of +saving the lives of many, and of preserving multitudes from the sin of +sacrificing their fellow-men for their sport.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"> +<span class="label">[20]</span></a><a href="#Page_9">Page 9.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 347-407.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>At this time lived St. John Chrysostom, whose name is known to us all +from the prayer in our service which is called "A Prayer of St. +Chrysostom."</p> + +<p>He was born at Antioch about the year 347. While he was still a little +child, he lost his father; but his mother, Anthusa, who was left a widow +at the age of twenty, remained unmarried, and devoted herself to the +training of her son. During his early years, she brought him up with +religious care, and he was afterwards sent to finish his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> education +under a famous heathen philosopher. I have already had occasion to tell +you that Christian youths, while in the schools of such teachers, ran a +great risk of being turned from the Gospel, and that many of them fell +away;<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +but John was preserved from the danger by daily studying the +Scriptures, and thus his faith was kept fresh and warm. The philosopher +had such a high notion of his talents, that he long after spoke of John +as the best of all the pupils he had ever had, and said that he would +have been the worthiest to succeed him as a teacher, "if the Christians +had not stolen him."</p> + +<p>When he left this master, John studied law; but, after trying it for a +time, he found that there were things about the business of an Antioch +lawyer which went against his conscience; so he resolved to give up the +law, and to become a monk. But his mother thought that he might lead a +really Christian life without rushing away into the wilderness and +leaving his natural duties behind him. She took him by the hand, led him +into her chamber, and made him sit down beside her on the bed. Then she +burst into tears: she reminded him of all the kindness which she had +shown him, and of the cares and troubles which she had borne for his +sake. She told him that it had been her chief comfort to look on his +face, which put her in mind of the husband whom she had lost. "Make me +not once more a widow," she said: "wait only for my death, which may, +perhaps, not be far off. When you have laid me in the grave, then you +may go where you will—even beyond the sea, if such be your wish, but so +long as I live, bear to stay with me, and do not offend God by +afflicting your mother." The young man yielded to these entreaties, and +remained in his mother's house, although he gave up all worldly +business, and lived after the strict manner of the monks. But when the +good Anthusa was dead, he withdrew to the mountains, near Antioch, in +which a great number of monks dwelt. There he spent four years in a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +monastery, and two as a hermit in a cave. But at last his hard life made +him very weak and ill, so that he was obliged to return to Antioch; and +soon after this he was ordained to be one of the clergy, and was +appointed chief preacher of the city (<small>A.D.</small> 386).</p> + +<p>Of all the great men of the ancient Church, John was the most famous for +eloquence; and from this it was that he got the name of <i>Chrysostom</i>, +which means <i>golden-mouthed</i>. His sermons (of which hundreds still +remain) were not mere displays of fine words, but were always meant to +instruct and to improve those who heard them. And, while he was chief +preacher at Antioch, he had a very remarkable opportunity of using his +gifts of speech. An outbreak had taken place in the city, on account of +a new tax which Theodosius, who was then emperor, had laid on the people +(<small>A.D.</small> 387). The statues of the emperor and of his family, which stood in +public places, were thrown down, and were dragged about the streets with +all sorts of mockery and insult. But the riot was easily put down, and +then the inhabitants began to be in great anxiety and terror as to the +punishment which Theodosius might inflict on them. For although the +frightful massacre of +Thessalonica<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +had not at that time taken place, +they knew that the emperor was not to be trifled with, and that his fits +of anger were terrible. They expected that they might be given up to +slaughter, and their city to destruction. For a time, few of them +ventured out of their houses; and those few slunk along the streets as +if they were afraid of being seized. Many were imprisoned, and were +cruelly tortured or put to death; others ran away, leaving all that they +had behind them; and the public amusements, of which the people of +Antioch were excessively fond, were, for a time, quite given up.</p> + +<p>The bishop, Flavian, who was a very aged man, in bad health and infirm, +left the bedside of his sister (who was supposed to be dying) to set out +for Constantinople and implore the emperor's mercy. And while he was +absent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +Chrysostom took the lead among the clergy. He preached every day +in a solemn and awakening tone; he tried to turn the terrors of the +people to their lasting good, by directing their thoughts to the great +judgment, in which all men must hereafter appear, and urging them, +whatever their present fate might be, to strive after peace with God, +and a share in his mercy, through Christ, in that awful day. The effect +of this preaching was wonderful;—day after day, vast crowds flocked to +listen to it, forgetting every thing else: even many heathens were among +them.</p> + +<p>The news of the disturbances at Antioch had reached Constantinople long +before Flavian; and the bishop, as he was on his way, met two +commissioners, who had been sent by the emperor to declare his sentence +to the people. The buildings of the city were to be spared; but it was +to lose its rank among the cities of the empire. The baths, which in +those countries were reckoned almost as a necessary of life, were to be +shut up, and all public amusements were to be at an end. The officers, +after reaching Antioch, and publishing this sentence, set about +inquiring who had taken a part in the tumult. Judgment was to be +executed without mercy on all whose guilt could be proved; and the +anxiety of the people became extreme. A number of monks and hermits came +down from the mountains, and busied themselves in trying to comfort +those who were in distress. One of these monks, Macedonius, a man of +rough and simple appearance, but of great note for holiness, met the +emperor's commissioners as they were riding through the market-place; +whereupon he laid hold of one of them by the cloak, and desired them +both to dismount. At first they were angry; but, on being told who he +was, they alighted and fell on their knees before him; for, in those +days, monks famous for their holiness were looked on much as if they had +been prophets. And Macedonius spoke to them in the tone of a +prophet:—"Go," he said, "say to the emperor, You are a man; your +subjects too are men, made in the image of God. You are enraged on +account of images of brass; but a living and reasonable image is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> of far +higher worth than these. Destroy the brazen images, and it is easy to +make others; but you cannot restore a single hair of the heads of the +men whom you have put to death." The commissioners were much struck with +the way in which Macedonius uttered this, although they did not +understand what he said (as he spoke in the Syrian language); and when +his words were explained to them in Greek, they agreed that one of them +should go to the emperor, to tell him how things were at Antioch, and to +beg for further instructions.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Bishop Flavian had made his way to the emperor's +presence. Theodosius received him with kindness, and spoke calmly of the +favour which he had always shown to Antioch, and of the base return +which the citizens had made for it. The bishop wept bitterly when he +heard this. He owned that his flock had deserved the worst of +punishments; but, he said, no punishment could be so severe as +undeserved mercy. He told the emperor that, instead of the statues which +had been thrown down, he had now the opportunity of setting up far +better monuments in the hearts of his people, by showing them +forgiveness. He urged the duty of forgiveness in all the ways that he +could think of; he drew a moving picture of the misery of the +inhabitants of Antioch, which he could not bear to see again; and he +declared that, unless he gained the favour which he had come to beg for, +he would never return to his city.</p> + +<p>Theodosius was moved almost to tears by the old man's words. "What +wonder is it," he said, "if I, who am but a man, should pardon my +fellow-men, when the Maker of the world has come on earth, and has +submitted to death, for the forgiveness of mankind?" and he pressed +Flavian to return to Antioch with all speed, for the comfort of his +people. The bishop, on reaching home, found that his sister, whom he had +not hoped to see any more in this world, was recovered; and we may well +imagine that his flock were full of gratitude to him for what he had +done. But he refused all thanks or credit on account of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> success of +his mission. "It was not my doing," he said: "it was God who softened +the emperor's heart."</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_20_II" id="P1_20_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>When Chrysostom had been chief preacher of Antioch about twelve years, +the bishopric of Constantinople fell vacant (<small>A.D.</small> 397); and there was so +much strife for it, that at length the people, as the only way of +settling the matter quietly, begged the emperor Arcadius to name a +bishop for them. Now it happened that the emperor's favourite +counsellor, Eutropius, had been at Antioch a short time before, and had +been very much struck with Chrysostom's preaching; so he advised the +emperor to choose him. Chrysostom was appointed accordingly; and, as he +was so much beloved by the people of Antioch that they might perhaps +have made a disturbance rather than part with him, he was decoyed +outside the city, and was then secretly sent off to Constantinople. +Eutropius was so worthless a man that we can hardly suppose him to have +acted from quite pure motives in this affair. Perhaps he wished to get +credit with the people for making so good a choice. Perhaps, too, he may +have hoped that he might be able to do as he liked with a bishop of his +own choosing. But if he thought so, he was much disappointed; for +Chrysostom behaved as a faithful and true pastor, without any fear of +man.</p> + +<p>The new bishop's preaching was as much admired at Constantinople as it +had been at Antioch, and he soon gained great influence among his flock. +And besides attending diligently to his work at home, he set on foot +missions to some heathen nations, and also to the Goths, who, as we have +seen,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> +were Arians. But besides the Goths at a distance, there were +then a great number of the same people at Constantinople; for the Greeks +and Romans of those days were so much fallen away from the bravery of +their forefathers, that the emperors were obliged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> to hire Gothic +soldiers to defend their dominions. Chrysostom, therefore, took great +pains to bring over these Goths at Constantinople to the Church. He +ordained clergy of their own nation for them, and set apart a church for +them. And he often went himself to this church, and preached to them in +Greek, while an interpreter repeated his words to them in their own +language.</p> + +<p>But unhappily he soon made enemies at Constantinople. For he found the +church there in a very bad state, and, in trying to set things right, he +gave offence to many people of various kinds; and, although he was +indeed an excellent man, perhaps he did not always act with such wisdom +and such calmness of temper as might have been wished. The last bishop, +Nectarius, was a man of high rank, who had never dreamt of being a +bishop or any such thing, until at the council of Constantinople he was +suddenly chosen instead of the good +Gregory.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> +At that time Nectarius +was not even baptized; so that he had first to receive baptism, and then +within a week he was consecrated as bishop of the second church in the +whole Christian world. And it proved that he was too old to change his +ways very much. He continued to live in a costly style, as he had done +all his life before; and he let the clergy go on much as they pleased, +so that they generally fell into easy and luxurious habits, and some of +them were even quite scandalous in their conduct. Now Chrysostom's ways +and notions were quite opposite to all this. He sold the rich carpets +and other valuable furniture which he found in the bishop's palace; nay, +he even sold some of the church ornaments, that he might get money for +building hospitals and for other charitable purposes. He did not care +for company, and his health was delicate; and for these reasons he +always took his meals by himself, and did not ask bishops who came to +Constantinople to lodge in his palace or to dine with him, as Nectarius +had done. This does not seem to be quite according to St. Paul's saying, +that a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +bishop should be "given to hospitality" (1 <i>Tim.</i> iii. 2); but +Chrysostom thought that among the Christians of a great city like +Constantinople the strange bishops could be at no loss for +entertainment, and that his own time and money might be better spent +than in entertaining them. But many of them were very much offended, and +it is said that one, Acacius, of Berrhœa, in Syria, declared in +anger, "I will cook his pot for him!"</p> + +<p>Chrysostom's reforms also interfered much with the habits of his clergy. +He made them perform service at night in their churches for people who +were too busy to attend during the day; and many of them were very +unwilling to leave their homes at late hours and to do additional work. +Some of them, too, were envious of him because he was so famous as a +preacher, and they looked eagerly to find something in his sermons which +might be turned against him. And besides all these enemies among the +clergy, he provoked many among the courtiers and the rich people of +Constantinople, by plainly attacking their vices.</p> + +<p>Although Chrysostom had chiefly owed his bishopric to Eutropius, he was +afterwards drawn into many disputes with him. For in that age and in +that country things were very different from what they happily are among +ourselves, and a person in power like Eutropius might commit great acts +of tyranny and oppression, while the poor people who suffered had no +means of redress. But many of those whom Eutropius meant to plunder or +to imprison took refuge in churches, where debtors and others were then +considered to be safe, as it was not lawful to seize them in the holy +buildings. Eutropius persuaded the emperor to make a law by which this +right of shelter (or <i>asylum</i>, as it was called) was taken away from +churches. But soon after he himself fell into disgrace, and in his +terror he rushed to the cathedral, and laid hold of the altar for +protection. Some soldiers were sent to seize him; but Chrysostom would +not let them enter; and next day, when the church was crowded by a +multitude of people who had flocked to see what +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> would become of +Eutropius, the bishop preached on the uncertainty of all earthly +greatness. While Eutropius lay crouching under the holy table, +Chrysostom turned to him and reminded him how he had tried to take away +that very privilege of churches from which he was now seeking +protection; and he desired the people to beg both God and the emperor to +pardon the fallen favourite. By all this he did not mean to insult the +wretched Eutropius, but to turn the rage of the multitude into pity. It +was said, however, by some that he had triumphed over his enemy's +misfortunes; and he also got into trouble for giving Eutropius shelter, +and was carried before the emperor to answer for doing so. But the +bishop boldly upheld the right of the Church to protect the defenceless, +and Eutropius was, for the time, allowed to go free.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_20_III" id="P1_20_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>Thus there were many at Constantinople who were ready to take part +against Chrysostom, if an opportunity should offer; and it was not long +before they found one.</p> + +<p>The bishop of Alexandria at this time was a bold and bad man, named +Theophilus. He was jealous of the see of Constantinople, because the +second general council had lately placed it above his +own;<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> he +disliked the bishop because he had hoped to put one of his own clergy +into the place, and had seen enough of Chrysostom at his first meeting +to know that he could not make a tool of him; and although he had been +obliged by the emperor and Eutropius to consecrate Chrysostom as bishop, +it was with a very bad grace that he did so.</p> + +<p>There were then great quarrels as to the opinions of the famous Origen, +who had lived two hundred years +before.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> +Some of his opinions were +really wrong, and others were very strange, if they were not wrong too. +But besides these, a number of things had been laid to his charge of +which he seems to have been quite innocent. If Theophilus really +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> cared +at all about the matter, he was in his heart favourable to Origen. But +he found it convenient to take the opposite side; and he cruelly +persecuted such of the Egyptian monks as were said to be touched with +Origen's errors. The chief of these monks were four brothers, called the +<i>long</i> or <i>tall brothers</i>: one of them was that same Ammonius who cut +off his ear, and was ready to cut out his tongue, rather than be a +bishop.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> +Theophilus had made much of these brothers, and had employed +two of them in managing his accounts. But these two found out such +practices of his in money matters as quite shocked them, and as, after +this, they refused to stay with the bishop any longer, he charged them +and their brothers with Origenism (as the following of Origen's opinions +was called). They denied that they held any of the errors which +Theophilus laid to their charge; but he went with soldiers into the +desert, hunted out the brothers, destroyed their cells, burnt a number +of books, and even killed some persons. The tall brothers and some of +their friends fled into the Holy Land, but their enemy had power enough +to prevent their remaining there, and they then sought a refuge at +Constantinople.</p> + +<p>On hearing of their arrival in his city, Chrysostom inquired about them, +and, finding that they bore a good character, he treated them kindly; +but he would not admit them to communion until he knew what Theophilus +had to say against them. Theophilus, however, was told that Chrysostom +<i>had</i> admitted them, and he wrote a furious letter to him about it. The +brothers were very much alarmed lest they should be turned away at +Constantinople, as they had been in the Holy Land; and one day when the +empress Eudoxia was in a church, they went to her and entreated her to +get the emperor's leave that a council might be held to examine their +case.</p> + +<p>Theophilus was summoned to appear before this council, and give an +account of his behaviour to the brothers; but when he got to +Constantinople, he acted as if, instead of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +being under a charge of +misbehaviour himself, he had been called to judge the bishop of the +capital. He would have nothing to do with Chrysostom. He spent large +sums of money in bribing courtiers and others to favour his own side; +and, when he thought he had made all sure, he held a meeting of six and +thirty bishops, at a place called the Oak, which lay on the Asiatic +shore, opposite to Constantinople (<small>A.D.</small> 403). A number of trumpery +charges were brought against Chrysostom, and, as he refused to appear +before such a meeting, which was almost entirely made up of Egyptian +bishops, and had no right whatever to try him, they found him guilty of +various offences, and, among the rest, of high treason! The emperor and +empress had been drawn into taking part against him, and he was +condemned to banishment. But on the night after he had been sent across +the Bosphorus (the strait which divides Constantinople from the Asiatic +shore), the city was shaken by an earthquake. The empress in her terror +supposed this to be a judgment against the injustice which had been +committed, and hastily sent off a messenger to beg that the bishop would +return. And when it was known next day that he was on his way back, so +great was the joy of his flock that the Bosphorus was covered with +vessels, carrying vast multitudes of people, who eagerly crowded to +welcome him.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_20_IV" id="P1_20_IV"></a><small>PART IV</small>.</p> + +<p>Within a few months after his return, Chrysostom again got into trouble +for finding fault with some disorderly and almost heathenish rejoicings +which were held around a new statue of the empress, close to the door of +his cathedral. Theophilus had returned to Egypt, and did not again +appear at Constantinople, but directed the proceedings of Chrysostom's +other enemies who were on the spot. Another council was held, and, of +course, found the bishop guilty of whatever was laid to his charge. He +did not mean to desert his flock, unless he were forced to do so; he, +therefore, kept possession of the cathedral and of the episcopal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> house +for some months. During this time he was often disturbed by his enemies; +nay, more than once, attempts were even made to murder him. At last, on +receiving an order from the emperor to leave his house, he saw that the +time was come when he must yield to force. His flock guarded the +cathedral day and night, and would have resisted any attempt to seize +him; but he did not think it right to risk disorder and bloodshed. He, +therefore, took a solemn leave of his chief friends, giving good advice +and speaking words of comfort to each. He begged them not to despair for +the loss of him, but to submit to any bishop who should be chosen by +general consent to succeed him. And then, while, in order to take off +the people's attention, his mule was held at one door of the church, as +if he might be expected to come out there, he quietly left the building +by another door, and gave himself up as a prisoner, declaring that he +wished his case to be fairly tried by a council (<small>A.D.</small> 404).</p> + +<p>He was first carried to Nicĉa, where he remained nearly a month. During +this time he pressed for a fresh inquiry into his conduct, but in vain; +and neither he nor his friends could obtain leave for him to retire to +some place where he might live with comfort. He was sentenced to be +carried to Cucusus, among the mountains of Taurus—a name which seemed +to bode him no good, as an earlier bishop of Constantinople, Paul, had +been starved and afterwards strangled there, in the time of the Arian +troubles (<small>A.D.</small> 351).</p> + +<p>On his way to Cucusus, he was often in danger from robbers who infested +the road, and still more from monks of the opposite party, who were +furious against him. When he arrived at the place, he found it a +wretched little town, where he was frozen by cold in winter, and parched +by excessive heat in summer. Sometimes he could hardly get provisions; +and when he was ill (as often happened), he could not get proper +medicines. Sometimes, too, the robbers, from the neighbouring country of +Isauria, made plundering attacks, so that Chrysostom was obliged to +leave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +Cucusus in haste, and to take refuge in a castle called Arabissus.</p> + +<p>But, although there was much to distress him in his banishment, there +was also much to comfort him. His great name, his sufferings, and his +innocence were known throughout all Christian churches. Letters of +consolation and sympathy poured in on him from all quarters. The bishop +of Rome himself wrote to him as to an equal, and even the emperor of the +west, Honorius, interceded for him, although without success. The bishop +of Cucusus, and his other neighbours, treated him with all respect and +kindness, and many pilgrims made their way over the rough mountain roads +to see him, and to express their reverence for him. His friends at a +distance sent him such large sums of money that he was able to redeem +captives and to support missions to the Goths and to the Persians, and, +after all, had to desire that they would not send him so much, as their +gifts were more than he could use. In truth, no part of his life was so +full of honour and of influence as the three years which he spent in +exile.</p> + +<p>At length the court became jealous of the interest which was so +generally felt in Chrysostom, and he was suddenly hurried off from +Cucusus, with the intention of removing him to a still wilder and more +desolate place at the farthest border of the empire. He had to travel +rapidly in the height of summer, and the great heat renewed the ailments +from which he had often suffered. At length he became so ill that he +felt his end to be near, and desired the soldiers who had the charge of +him to stop at a town called Comana. There he exchanged his mean +travelling dress for the best which he possessed; he once more received +the sacrament of his Saviour's body and blood; and, after uttering the +words "Glory be to God for all things," with his last breath he added +"Amen!" (September 14th, 407).</p> + +<p>Thirty years after this, Chrysostom's body was removed to +Constantinople. When the vessel which conveyed it was seen leaving the +Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, a multitude, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +far greater than that +which had hailed his first return from banishment, poured forth from +Constantinople, in shipping and boats of all kinds, which covered the +narrow strait. And the emperor, Theodosius II., son of Arcadius and +Eudoxia, bent humbly over the coffin, and lamented with tears the guilt +of his parents in the persecution of the great and holy bishop.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"> +<span class="label">[21]</span></a><a href="#Page_67">Page 67.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"> +<span class="label">[22]</span></a><a href="#Page_75">Page 75.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"> +<span class="label">[23]</span></a><a href="#Page_93">Page 93.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"> +<span class="label">[24]</span></a><a href="#Page_71">See page 71.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"> +<span class="label">[25]</span></a><a href="#Page_84">See page 84.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"> +<span class="label">[26]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">See Chapter VII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"> +<span class="label">[27]</span></a><a href="#Page_65">See page 65.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. AUGUSTINE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 354-430.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>The church in the north of Africa has hardly been mentioned since the +time of St. Cyprian.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +But we must now look towards it again, since in +the days of St. Chrysostom it produced a man who was perhaps the +greatest of all the old Christian fathers—St. Augustine.</p> + +<p>Augustine was born at Thagaste, a city of Numidia, in the year 354. His +mother, Monica, was a pious Christian, but his father, Patricius, was a +heathen, and a man of no very good character. Monica was resolved to +bring up her son in the true faith: she entered him as a catechumen of +the Church when a little child, and carefully taught him as much of +religious things as a child could learn. But he was not then baptized, +because (as has been mentioned +already)<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> +people were accustomed in +those days to put off baptism, out of fear lest they should afterwards +fall into sin, and so should lose the blessing of the sacrament. This, +as we know, was a mistake, but it was a very common practice +nevertheless.</p> + +<p>When Augustine was a boy, he was one day suddenly taken ill, so that he +seemed likely to die. Remembering +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +what his mother had taught him, he +begged that he might be baptized, and preparations were made for the +purpose; but all at once he began to grow better, and the baptism was +put off for the same reason as before.</p> + +<p>As he grew up, he gave but little promise of what he was afterwards to +become. Much of his time was spent in idleness; and through idleness he +fell into bad company, and was drawn into sins of many kinds. When he +was about seventeen, his father died. The good Monica had been much +troubled by her husband's heathenism and misconduct, and had earnestly +tried to convert him from his errors. She went about this wisely, not +lecturing him or arguing with him in a way that might have set him more +against the Gospel, but trying rather to show him the beauty of +Christian faith by her own loving, gentle, and dutiful behaviour. And at +length her pains were rewarded by seeing him before his death profess +himself a believer, and receive Christian baptism.</p> + +<p>Monica was left rather badly off at her husband's death. But a rich +neighbour was kind enough to help her in the expense of finishing her +son's education, and the young man himself now began to show something +of the great talents which God had been pleased to bestow on him. +Unhappily, however, he sank deeper and deeper in vice, and poor Monica +was bitterly grieved by his ways. A book which he happened to read led +him to feel something of the shamefulness and wretchedness of his +courses; but, as it was a heathen book (although written by one of the +wisest of the heathens, Cicero), it could not show him by what means he +might be able to reach to a higher life. He looked into Scripture, in +the hope of finding instruction there; but he was now in that state of +mind to which, as St. Paul says (1 <i>Cor.</i> i. 23), the preaching of +Christ sounds like "foolishness;" so that he fancied himself to be above +learning anything from a book so plain and homely as the Bible then +seemed to him, and he set out in search of some other teaching. And a +very strange sort of teaching he met with.</p> + +<p>About a hundred years before this time, a man named +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> Manes appeared in +Persia (<small>A.D.</small> 270), and preached a religion which he pretended to have +received from Heaven, but which was really made up by himself, from a +mixture of Christian and heathen notions. It was something like the +doctrines which had been before taught by the +Gnostics,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> and was as +wild nonsense as can well be imagined. He taught that there were two +gods—a good god of light, and a bad god of darkness. And he divided his +followers into two classes, the lower of which were called <i>hearers</i>, +while the higher were called <i>elect</i>. These <i>elect</i> were supposed to be +very strict in their lives. They were not to eat flesh at all;—they +might not even gather the fruits of the earth, or pluck a herb with +their own hands. They were supported and were served by the hearers; and +they took a very odd way of showing their gratitude to these; for it is +said that when one of the elect ate a piece of bread, he made this +speech to it:—"It was not I who reaped or ground or baked thee; may +they who did so be reaped and ground and baked in their turn!" And it +was believed that the poor "hearers" would after death become corn, and +have to go through the mill and the oven, until they should have +suffered enough to clear away their offences and make them fit for the +blessedness of the elect.</p> + +<p>The Manichĉans (as the followers of Manes were called) soon found their +way into Africa, where they gained many converts; and, although laws +were often made against their heresy by the emperors, it continued to +spread secretly; for they used to hide their opinions, when there was +any danger, so that persons who were really Manichĉans pretended to be +Catholic Christians, and there was some of them even among the monks and +clergy of the Church.</p> + +<p>In the humour in which Augustine now was, this strange sect took his +fancy; for the Manichĉans pretended to be wiser than any one else, and +laughed at all submission to doctrines which had been settled by the +Church. So Augustine at twenty became a Manichĉan, and for nine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>years +was one of the hearers,—for he never got to be one of the elect, or to +know much about their secrets. But before he had been very long in the +sect, he began to notice some things which shocked him in the behaviour +of the elect, who professed the greatest strictness. In short, he could +not but see that their strictness was all a pretence, and that they were +really a very worthless set of men. And he found out, too, that, besides +bad conduct, there was a great deal very bad and disgusting in the +opinions of the Manichĉans, which he had not known of at first. After +learning all this, he did not know what to turn to, and he seems for a +time to have believed nothing at all,—which is a wretched state of mind +indeed, and so he found it.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_II" id="P1_21_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Augustine now set up as a teacher at Carthage, the chief city of Africa; +but among the students there he found a set of wild young men who called +themselves <i>Eversors</i>—a name which meant that they turned everything +topsy-turvy; and Augustine was so much troubled by the behaviour of +these unruly lads, that he resolved to leave Carthage and go to Rome. +Monica, as we may easily suppose, had been much distressed by his +wanderings, but she never ceased to pray that he might be brought round +again. One day she went to a learned bishop, who was much in the habit +of arguing with people who were in error, and begged that he would speak +to her son; but the good man understood Augustine's case, and saw that +to talk to him while he was in such a state of mind would only make him +more self-wise than he was already. "Let him alone awhile," he said: +"only pray God for him, and he will of himself find out by reading how +wrong the Manichĉans are, and how impious their doctrine is." And then +he told her that he had himself been brought up as a Manichĉan, but that +his studies had shown him the error of the sect, and he had left it. +Monica was not satisfied with this, and went on begging, even with +tears, that the bishop would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +talk with her son. But he said to her, "Go +thy ways, and may God bless thee; for it is not possible that the child +of so many tears should perish." And Monica took his words as if they +had been a voice from Heaven, and cherished the hope which they held out +to her.</p> + +<p>Monica was much against Augustine's plan of removing to Rome; but he +slipped away and went on shipboard while she was praying in a chapel by +the seaside, which was called after the name of St. Cyprian. Having got +to Rome, he opened a school there, as he had done at Carthage; but he +found that the Roman youth, although they were not so rough as those of +Carthage, had another very awkward habit—namely, that, after having +heard a number of his lectures, they disappeared without paying for +them. While he was in distress on this account, the office of a public +teacher at Milan was offered to him, and he was very glad to take it. +While at Rome, he had a bad illness; but he did not at that time wish or +ask for baptism as he had done when sick in his childhood.</p> + +<p>The great St. Ambrose was then Bishop of Milan. Augustine had heard so +much of his fame, that he went often to hear him, out of curiosity to +know whether the bishop were really as fine a preacher as he was said to +be; but by degrees, as he listened, he felt a greater and greater +interest. He found, from what Ambrose said, that the objections by which +the Manichĉans had set him against the Gospel were all mistaken; and, +when Monica joined him, after he had been some time at Milan, she had +the delight of finding that he had given up the Manichĉan sect, and was +once more a catechumen of the Church.</p> + +<p>Augustine had still to fight his way through many difficulties. He had +learnt that the best and highest wisdom of the heathens could not +satisfy his mind and heart; and he now turned again to St. Paul's +epistles, and found that Scripture was something very different from +what he had supposed it to be in the pride of his youth. He was filled +with grief and shame on account of the vileness of his past life; and +these feelings were made still stronger by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +accounts which a friend +gave him of the strict and self-denying ways of Antony and other monks. +One day, as he lay in the garden of his lodging, with his mind tossed to +and fro by anxious thoughts, so that he even wept in his distress, he +heard a voice, like that of a child, singing over and over "Take up and +read! take up and read!" At first he fancied that the voice came from +some child at play; but he could not think of any childish game in which +such words were used. And then he remembered how St. Antony had been +struck by the words of the Gospel which he heard in +church;<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and it +seemed to him that the voice, wherever it might come from, was a call of +the same kind to himself. So he eagerly seized the book of St. Paul's +Epistles, which was lying by him, and, as he opened it, the first words +on which his eyes fell were these,—"Let us walk honestly, as in the +day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, +not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make +not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (<i>Rom.</i> xiii. +13, 14). And, as he read, the words all at once sank deeply into his +heart, and from that moment he felt himself another man. As soon as he +could do so without being particularly noticed, he gave up his office of +professor and went into the country, where he spent some months in the +company of his mother and other friends; and at the following Easter +(<small>A.D.</small> 387), he was baptized by St. Ambrose. The good Monica had now seen +the desire of her heart fulfilled; and she soon after died in peace, as +she was on her way back to Africa, in company with her son.</p> + +<p>Augustine, after her death, spent some time at Rome, where he wrote a +book against the Manichĉans, and then, returning to his native place +Thagaste, he gave himself up for three years to devotion and study. In +those days, it was not uncommon that persons who were thought likely to +be useful to the Church should be seized on and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +ordained, whether they +liked it or not; and if they were expected to make very strong +objections, their mouths were even stopped by force. Now Augustine's +fame grew so great, that he was afraid lest something of this kind +should be done to him; and he did not venture to let himself be seen in +any town where the bishopric was vacant, lest he should be obliged to +become bishop against his will. He thought, however, that he was safe in +accepting an invitation to Hippo, because it was provided with a bishop +named Valerius. But, as he was one day listening to the bishop's sermon, +Valerius began to say that his church was in want of another presbyter; +whereupon the people laid hold of Augustine, and presented him to the +bishop, who ordained him without heeding his objections (<small>A.D.</small> 391). And +four years later (<small>A.D.</small> 395), he was consecrated a bishop, to assist +Valerius, who died soon after.</p> + +<p>Augustine was bishop of Hippo for five-and-thirty years, and, although +there were many other sees of greater importance in Africa, his uncommon +talents, and his high character, made him the foremost man of the +African church. He was a zealous and exemplary bishop, and he wrote a +great number of valuable books of many kinds. But the most interesting +of them all is one which may be read in English, and is of no great +length—namely, the "Confessions," in which he gives an account of the +wanderings through which he had been brought into the way of truth and +peace, and humbly gives thanks to God, whose gracious providence had +guarded and guided him.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_III" id="P1_21_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>Augustine had a great many disputes with heretics and others who +separated from the Church, or tried to corrupt its doctrine. But only +two of his controversies need be mentioned here. One of these was with +the Donatists, and the other was with the Pelagians.</p> + +<p>The sect of the Donatists had arisen soon after the end of the last +heathen persecution, and was now nearly a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +hundred years old. We have +seen that St. Cyprian had a great deal of trouble with people who +fancied that, if a man were put to death, or underwent any other +considerable suffering, for the name of Christ, he deserved to be held +in great honour, and his wishes were to be attended to by other +Christians, whatever his character and motives might have +been.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> The +same spirit which led to this mistake continued in Africa after St. +Cyprian's time; and thus, when the persecution began there under +Diocletian and +Maximian<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> +(<small>A.D.</small> 303), great numbers rushed into +danger, in the hope of being put to death, and of so obtaining at once +the blessedness and the glory of martyrdom. Many of these people were +weary of their lives, or in some other respect were not of such +characters that they could be reckoned as true Christian martyrs. The +wise fathers of the Church always disapproved of such foolhardy doings, +and would not allow people, who acted in a way so unlike our Lord and +His apostle St. Paul, to be considered as martyrs; and Mensurius, who +was the bishop of Carthage, stedfastly set his face against all such +things.</p> + +<p>One of the ways by which the persecutors hoped to put down the Gospel, +was to get hold of all the copies of the Scriptures, and to burn them; +and they required the clergy to deliver them up. But most of the +officers who had to execute the orders of the emperors did not know a +Bible from any other book; and it is said that, when some of them came +to Mensurius, and asked him to deliver up his books, he gave them a +quantity of books written by heretics, which he had collected (perhaps +with the intention of burning them himself), and that all the while he +had put the Scriptures safely out of the way, until the tyranny of the +heathens should be overpast. When the persecution was at an end, some of +the party whom he had offended by setting himself against their wrong +notions as to martyrdom, brought up this matter against the bishop. They +said that his account of it was false; that the books which he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> had +given up were not what he said, but that he had really given up the +Scriptures; and that, even if his story were true, he had done wrong in +using such deceit. They gave the name of +<i>traditors</i>,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +(or, as we should say, <i>traitors</i>,) to those who confessed that they had been +frightened into giving up the Scriptures; and they were for showing no +mercy to any traditor, however much he might repent of his weakness.</p> + +<p>This severe party, then, tried to get up an opposition to Mensurius. +They found, however, that they could make nothing of it. But when he +died, and when Cĉcilian, who had been his archdeacon and his righthand +man, was chosen bishop in his stead, these people made a great outcry, +and set up another bishop of their own against him. All sorts of people +who had taken offence at Cĉcilian or Mensurius thought this a fine +opportunity for having their revenge; and thus a strong party was +formed. It was greatly helped by the wealth of a lady named Lucilla, +whom Cĉcilian had reproved for the superstitious habit of kissing a +bone, which she supposed to have belonged to some martyr, before +communicating at the Lord's table. The first bishop of the party was one +Majorinus, who had been a servant of some sort to Lucilla; and, when +Majorinus was dead, they set up a second bishop, named Donatus, after +whom they were called Donatists. This Donatus was a clever and a learned +man, and lived very strictly; but he was exceedingly proud and +ill-tempered, and used very violent language against all who differed +from him; and his sect copied his pride and bitterness. Many of them, +however, while they professed to be extremely strict, neglected the +plainer and humbler duties of Christian life.</p> + +<p>The Donatists said that every member of their sect must be a saint: +whereas our Lord himself had declared that evil members would always be +mixed with the good in His Church on earth, like tares growing in a +field of wheat, or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +bad fishes mixed with good ones in a net; and that +the separation of the good from the bad would not take place until the +end of the world (<i>St. Matt.</i> xiii. 24-30, 36-43, 47-50). And they said +that their own sect was the only true Church of Christ, although they +had no congregations out of Africa, except one which was set up to +please a rich lady in Spain, and another at Rome. Whenever they made a +convert from the Church, they baptized him afresh, as if his former +baptism were good for nothing. They pretended to work miracles, and to +see visions; and they made a very great deal of Donatus himself, so as +even to pay him honours which ought not to have been given to any child +of man; for they sang hymns to him, and swore by his gray hairs.</p> + +<p>Shortly after Constantine got possession of Africa by his victory over +Maxentius, and declared liberty of religion to the Christians (<small>A.D.</small> +312-313),<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +the Donatists applied to him against the Catholics;<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> +and it was curious that they should have been the first to call in the +emperor as judge in such a matter, because they were afterwards very +violent against the notion of an earthly sovereign's having any right to +concern himself with the management of religious affairs. Constantine +tried to settle the question by desiring some bishops to judge between +the parties; and these bishops gave judgment in favour of the Catholics. +The Donatists were dissatisfied, and asked for a new trial; whereupon +Constantine gathered a council for the purpose at Arles, in France (<small>A.D.</small> +314). This was the greatest council that had at that time been seen: +there were about two hundred bishops at it, and among them were some +from Britain. Here again the decision was against the Donatists, and +they thereupon begged the emperor himself to examine their case; which +he did, and once more condemned them (<small>A.D.</small> 316). Some severe laws were +then made against them; their churches were taken away; many of them +were banished, and were deprived of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +all that they had; and they were +even threatened with death, although none of them suffered it during +Constantine's reign.</p> + +<p>The emperor, after a while, saw that they were growing wilder and +wilder, that punishment had no effect on them, except to make them more +unmanageable, and that they were not to be treated as reasonable people. +He then did away with the laws against them, and tried to keep them +quiet by kindness; and in the last years of his reign his hands were so +full of the Arian quarrels nearer home that he had little leisure to +attend to the affairs of the Donatists.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_IV" id="P1_21_IV"></a><small>PART IV</small>.</p> + +<p>After the death of Constantius, Africa fell to the share of his youngest +son, Constans, who sent some officers into the country with orders to +make presents to the Donatists, in the hope of thus bringing them to +join the Church. But Donatus flew out into a great fury when he heard of +this—"What has the emperor to do with the Church?" he asked; and he +forbade the members of his sect (which was what he meant by "the +church") to touch any of the money that was offered to them.</p> + +<p>By this time a stranger set of wild people called <i>Circumcellions</i> had +appeared among the Donatists. They got their name from two Latin words +which mean <i>around the cottages</i>; because, instead of maintaining +themselves by honest labour, they used to go about, like sturdy beggars, +to the cottages of the country people, and demand whatever they wanted. +They were of the poorest class, and very ignorant, but full of zeal for +their religion. But, instead of being "pure and peaceable" (<i>St. James</i> +iii. 17), this religion was fierce and savage, and allowed them to go +on, without any check, in drunkenness and all sorts of misconduct. Their +women, whom they called "sacred virgins," were as bad as the men, or +worse. Bands of both sexes used to rove about the country, and keep the +peaceable inhabitants in constant fear. As they went along, they sang or +shouted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +"Praises be to God!" and this song, says St. Augustine, was +heard with greater dread than the roaring of a lion. At first they +thought that they must not use swords, on account of what our Lord had +said to Peter (<i>St. Matt.</i> xxvi. 52); so they carried heavy clubs, which +they called <i>Israels</i>; and with these they used to beat people, and +often so severely as to kill them. But afterwards the Circumcellions got +over their scruples, and armed themselves not only with swords, but with +other weapons of steel, such as spears and hatchets. They attacked and +plundered the churches of the Catholics, and the houses of the clergy; +and they handled any clergyman whom they could get hold of very roughly. +Besides this, they were fond of interfering in all sorts of affairs. +People did not dare to ask for the payment of debts, or to reprove their +slaves for misbehaviour, lest the Circumcellions should be called in +upon them. And things got to such a pass, that the officers of the law +were afraid to do their duty.</p> + +<p>But the Circumcellions were as furious against themselves as against +others. They used to court death in all manner of ways. Sometimes they +stopped travellers on the roads, and desired to be killed, threatening +to kill the travellers if they refused. And if they met a judge going on +his rounds, they threatened him with death if he would not hand them +over to his officers for execution. One judge whom they assailed in this +way played them a pleasant trick. He seemed quite willing to humour +them, and told his officers to bind them as if for execution; and when +he had thus made them harmless and helpless, instead of ordering them to +be put to death, he turned them loose, leaving them to get themselves +unbound as they could. Many Circumcellions drowned themselves, rushed +into fire, or threw themselves from rocks and were dashed to pieces; but +they would not put an end to themselves by hanging, because that was the +death of the <i>traditor</i> (or traitor) Judas. The Donatists were not all +so mad as these people, and some of their councils condemned the +practice of self-murder. But it went on nevertheless, and those who +made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +away with themselves, or got others to kill them in such ways as +have been mentioned, were honoured as martyrs by the more violent part +of the sect.</p> + +<p>Constans made three attempts to win over the Donatists by presents, but +they held out against all; and when the third attempt was made, in the +year 347, by means of an officer named Macarius, the Circumcellions +broke out into rebellion, and fought a battle with the emperor's troops. +In this battle the Donatists were defeated, and two of their bishops, +who had been busy in stirring up the rebels, were among the slain. +Macarius then required the Donatists to join the Church, and threatened +them with banishment if they should refuse, but they were still +obstinate: and it would seem that they were treated hardly by the +government, although the Catholic bishops tried to prevent it. Donatus +himself and great numbers of his followers were sent into banishment; +and for a time the sect appeared to have been put down.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_V" id="P1_21_V"></a><small>PART V</small>.</p> + +<p>Thus they remained until the death of the emperor Constantius (<small>A.D.</small> +361), and Donatus had died in the mean time. Julian, on succeeding to +the empire, gave leave to all whom Constantius had banished on account +of religion to return to their +homes.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> +But the Donatists were not the +better for this, as they had not been banished by Constantius, but by +Constans, before Constantius got possession of Africa: so they +petitioned the emperor that they might be recalled from banishment; and +in their petition they spoke of Julian in a way which disagreed +strangely with their general defiance of governments, and which was +especially ill suited for one who had forsaken the Christian faith and +was persecuting it at that very time. Julian granted their request, and +forthwith they returned home in great triumph, and committed violent +outrages against the Catholics. They took possession of a number of +churches, and, professing to consider everything that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> had been used by +the Catholics unclean, they washed the pavement, scraped the walls, +burnt the communion-tables, melted the plate, and cast the holy +sacrament to the dogs. They soon became strong throughout the whole +north of Africa, and in one part of it, Numidia, they were stronger than +the Catholics. After the death of Julian, laws were made against them +from time to time, but do not seem to have been carried out. And +although the Donatists quarrelled much among themselves, and split up +into a number of parties, they were still very powerful in Augustine's +day. In his own city of Hippo he found that they were more in number +than the Catholics; and such was their bitter and pharisaical spirit +that the bishop of the sect at Hippo would not let any of his people so +much as bake for their Catholic neighbours.</p> + +<p>Augustine did all that he could to make something of the Donatists, but +it was mostly in vain. He could not get their bishops or clergy to argue +with him. They pretended to call themselves "the children of the +martyrs," on account of the troubles which their forefathers had gone +through in the reign of Constans: and they said that the children of the +martyrs could not stoop to argue with sinners and traditors. Although +they professed that their sect was made up of perfect saints, they took +in all sorts of worthless converts for the sake of swelling their +numbers; whereas Augustine would not let any Donatists join the Church +without inquiring into their characters, and, if he found that they had +done anything for which they had been condemned by their sect to do +penance, he insisted that they should go through a penance before being +admitted into the Church.</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding the difficulties which he found in dealing with +them, he and others succeeded in drawing over a great number of +Donatists to the Church. And this made the Circumcellions so furious +that they fell on the Catholic clergy whenever they could find them, and +tried to do them all possible mischief. They beat and mangled some of +them cruelly; they put out the eyes of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +some by throwing a mixture of +lime and vinegar into their faces; and, among other things, they laid a +plan for waylaying Augustine himself, which, however, he escaped, +through the providence of God. Many reports of these savage doings were +carried to the emperor, Honorius, and some of the sufferers appeared at +his court to tell their own tale; whereupon the old laws against the +sect were revived, and severe new laws were also made. In these even +death was threatened against Donatists who should molest the Catholics; +but Augustine begged that this penalty might be withdrawn, because the +Catholic clergy, who knew more about the sect than any one else, would +not give information against it, if the punishment of the Donatists were +to be so great. And he and his brethren requested that the emperor would +appoint a meeting to be held between the parties, in order that they +might talk over their differences, and, if possible, might come to some +agreement.</p> + +<p>The emperor consented to do so; and a meeting took place accordingly, at +Carthage, in 411, in the presence of a commissioner named Marcellinus. +Two hundred and eighty-six Catholic bishops found their way to the city +by degrees. But the Donatists, who were two hundred and seventy-nine in +number, entered it in a body, thinking to make all the effect that they +could by the show of a great procession. At the conference (or meeting), +which lasted three days, the Donatists behaved with their usual pride +and insolence. When Marcellinus begged them to sit down, they refused, +because our Lord had stood before Pilate. On being again asked to seat +themselves, they quoted a text from the Psalms, "I will not sit with the +wicked" (<i>Ps.</i> xxvi. 5); meaning that the Catholics were the wicked, and +that they themselves were too good to sit in such company. And when +Augustine called them "brethren," they cried out in anger that they did +not own any such brotherhood. They tried to throw difficulties in the +way of arguing the question fairly; but on the third day their shifts +would serve them no longer. Augustine then took the lead among the +Catholics, and showed at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +great length both how wrongly the Donatists +had behaved in the beginning of their separation from the Church, and +how contrary to Scripture their principles were.</p> + +<p>Marcellinus, who had been sent by the emperor to hear both parties, gave +judgment in favour of the Catholics. Such of the Donatist bishops and +clergy as would join the Church were allowed to keep possession of their +places; but the others were to be banished. Augustine had at first been +against the idea of trying to force people in matters of religion. But +he saw that many were brought by these laws to join the Church, and +after a time he came to think that such laws were good and useful; nay, +he even tried to find a Scripture warrant for them in the text "Compel +them to come in" (<i>St. Luke</i> xiv. 23). And thus, unhappily, this great +and good man, was led to lend his name to the grievous error of thinking +that force, or even persecution, may be used rightly, and with good +effect, in matters of religion. It was one of the mistakes to which +people are liable when they form their opinions without having the +opportunity of seeing how things work in the long run, and on a large +scale. We must regret that Augustine seemed in any way to countenance +such means; but even although he erred in some measure as to this, we +may be sure that he would have abhorred the cruelties which have since +been done under pretence of maintaining the true religion, and of +bringing people to embrace it.</p> + +<p>While some of the Donatists were thus brought over to the Church, others +became more outrageous than ever. Many of them grew desperate, and made +away with themselves. One of their bishops threatened that, if he were +required by force to join the Catholics, he would shut himself up in a +church with his people, and that they would then set the building on +fire and perish in the flames. There were many among the Donatists who +would have been mad enough to do a thing of this kind; but it would seem +that the bishop was not put to the trial which he expected.</p> + +<p>The Donatists dwindled away from this time, and were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> little heard of +after Augustine's days, although there were still some in Africa two +hundred years later, as we learn from the letters of St. Gregory the +Great.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_VI" id="P1_21_VI"></a><small>PART VI</small>.</p> + +<p>Of all the disputes in which Augustine was engaged, that with the +Pelagians was the most famous. The leader of these people, Pelagius, was +a Briton. His name would mean, either in Latin or in Greek, a <i>man of +the sea</i>; and it is said that his British name was Morgan—meaning the +same as the Greek or Latin name. Pelagius was the first native of our +own island who gained fame as a writer or as a divine; but his fame was +not of a desirable kind, as it arose from the errors which he ran into. +He was a man of learning, and of strict life; and at Rome, where he +spent many years, he was much respected, until in his old age he began +to set forth opinions which brought him into the repute of a heretic. At +Rome he became acquainted with a man named Celestius, who is said by +some to have been an Italian, while others suppose him an Irishman. It +is not known whether Celestius learnt his opinions from Pelagius, or +whether each of them had come to think in the same way before they knew +one another. But, however this may be, they became great friends, and +joined in teaching the same errors.</p> + +<p>Augustine, as we have seen, had passed through such trials of the spirit +that he thoroughly felt the need of God's gracious help in order to do, +or even to will, any good thing. Pelagius, on the contrary, seems to +have always gone on steadily in the way of his religion. Now this was +really a reason why he should have thanked that grace and mercy of God +which had spared him the dangers and the terrible sufferings which +others have to bear in the course of their spiritual life. But unhappily +Pelagius overlooked the help of grace. He owned, indeed, that all is +from God; but, instead of understanding that the power of doing any +good, or of avoiding any sin, is the especial gift +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> of the Holy Spirit, +he fancied that the power of living without sin was given to us by God +as a part of our <i>nature</i>. He saw that some people made a wrong use of +the doctrine of our natural corruption. He saw that, instead of throwing +the blame of their sins on their own neglect of the grace which is +offered to us through Christ, they spoke of the weakness and corruption +of their nature as if these were an excuse for their sins. This was, +indeed, a grievous error, and one which Pelagius would have done well to +warn people against. But, in condemning it, he went far wrong in an +opposite way: he said that man's nature is <i>not</i> corrupt; that it is +nothing the worse for the fall of our first parents; that man can be +good by his own natural power, without needing any higher help; that men +might live without sin, and that many <i>had</i> so lived. These notions of +his are mentioned and are condemned in the ninth Article of our own +Church, where it is said that "Original sin standeth not in the +following of Adam, as the Pelagians do vainly talk" [that is to say, +original sin is not merely the actual imitation of Adam's sin]; "but it +is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is +engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from +original righteousness" [that is, he is very far gone from that +righteousness which Adam had at the first]. And then it is said in the +next Article—"The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such +that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and +good works to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to +do good works, pleasing and acceptable to God, without the grace of God +by Christ preventing us [or <i>going before</i> us], that we may have a good +will, and working with us when we have that good will." Thus at every +step there is a need of grace from above to help us on the way of +salvation.</p> + +<p>After Rome had been taken by the Goths, in the year +410,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Pelagius +and Celestius passed over into Africa, from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> which Pelagius, after a +short stay, went into the Holy Land. Celestius tried to get himself +ordained by the African church; but objections were made to him, and a +council was held which condemned and excommunicated him. Augustine was +too busy with the Donatists to attend this council; but he was very much +alarmed by the errors of the new teachers, and soon took the lead in +writing against them, and in opposing them by other means.</p> + +<p>Pelagius was examined by some councils in the Holy Land, and contrived +to persuade them that there was nothing wrong in his doctrines. He and +Celestius even got a bishop of Rome, Zosimus, to own them as sound in +the faith, and to reprove the African bishops for condemning them. The +secret of this was, that Pelagius used words in a crafty way, which +neither the synods in the Holy Land nor the bishop of Rome suspected. +When he was charged with denying the need of grace, he said that he +owned it to be necessary; but, instead of using the word <i>grace</i> in its +right meaning, to signify the working of the Holy Spirit on the heart, +he used it as a name for other means by which God helps us; such as the +power which Pelagius supposed to be bestowed on us as a part of our +nature; the forgiveness of our sins in baptism; the offer of salvation; +the knowledge and instruction given to us through Holy Scripture, or in +other ways. By such tricks the Pelagians imposed on the bishop of Rome +and others; but the Africans, with Augustine at their head, stood firm. +They steadily maintained that Pelagius and Celestius were unsound in +their opinions; they told Zosimus that he had no right to meddle with +Africa, and that he had been altogether deceived by the heretics. So, +after a while, the bishop of Rome took quite the opposite line, and +condemned Pelagius with his followers; and they were also condemned in +several councils, of which the most famous was the General Council of +Ephesus, held in the year 431. Augustine did great service in opposing +these dangerous doctrines; but in doing so, he said some things as to +God's choosing of his elect, and predestinating them (or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +<i>marking them out beforehand</i>) to salvation, which are rather startling, and might +lead to serious error. But as to this deep and difficult subject, I +shall content myself with quoting a few words from our Church's +seventeenth Article—"We must receive God's promises in such wise as +they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture; and in our doings, +that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared to +us in the word of God."</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_21_VII" id="P1_21_VII"></a><small>PART VII</small>.</p> + +<p>Augustine was still busied in the Pelagian controversy when a fearful +calamity burst upon his country. The commander of the troops in Africa, +Boniface, had been an intimate friend of his, and had been much under +his influence. A rival of Boniface, Aëtius, persuaded the empress, +Placidia, who governed in the name of her young son, Valentinian the +Third, to recall the general from Africa; and at the same time he +persuaded Boniface to disobey the order, telling him that his ruin was +intended. Boniface, who was a man of open and generous mind, did not +suspect the villany of Aëtius; and, as the only means of saving himself, +he rebelled against the emperor, and invited the Vandals from Spain to +invade Africa. These Vandals were a savage nation, which had overrun +part of Spain about twenty years before. They now gladly accepted +Boniface's invitation, and passed in great numbers into Africa, where +the Moors joined them, and the Donatists eagerly seized the opportunity +of avenging themselves on the Catholics, by assisting the invaders. The +country was laid waste, and the Catholic clergy were treated with +especial cruelty, both by the Vandals (who were Arians) and by the +Donatists.</p> + +<p>Augustine had urged Boniface to return to his duty as a subject of the +empire. Boniface, who was disgusted by the savage doings of the Vandals, +and had discovered the tricks by which Aëtius had tempted him to revolt, +begged the Vandal leader Genseric to return to Spain; but he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> found that +he had rashly raised a power which he could not manage, and the +barbarians laughed at his entreaties. As he could not prevail with them +by words, he fought a battle with them; but he was defeated, and he then +shut himself up in Augustine's city, Hippo.</p> + +<p>During all these troubles Augustine was very active in writing letters +of exhortation to his brethren, and in endeavouring to support them +under their trials. And when Hippo was crowded by a multitude of all +kinds, who had fled to its walls for shelter, he laboured without +ceasing among them. In June, 430, the Vandals laid siege to the place, +and soon after, the bishop fell sick in consequence of his labours. He +felt that his end was near, and he wished, during his short remaining +time, to be free from interruption in preparing for death. He, +therefore, would not allow his friends to see him, except at the hours +when he took food or medicine. He desired that the penitential +psalms—(the seven psalms which are read in church on Ash-Wednesday, and +which especially express sorrow for sin)—should be hung up within his +sight; and he read them over and over, shedding floods of tears as he +read. On the 28th of August, 430, he was taken to his rest, and in the +following year Hippo fell into the hands of the Vandals, who thus became +masters of the whole of northern Africa.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"> +<span class="label">[28]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"> +<span class="label">[29]</span></a><a href="#Page_39">Page 39.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"> +<span class="label">[30]</span></a><a href="#Page_5">Page 5.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"> +<span class="label">[31]</span></a><a href="#Page_60">Page 60.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"> +<span class="label">[32]</span></a><a href="#Page_27">See page 27.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"> +<span class="label">[33]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">See Chapter IX.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"> +<span class="label">[34]</span></a>This means persons who <i>give up</i> or <i>betray</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"> +<span class="label">[35]</span></a><a href="#Page_37">Page 37.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"> +<span class="label">[36]</span></a><a href="#Page_44">Page 44.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"> +<span class="label">[37]</span></a><a href="#Page_56">Page 56.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"> +<span class="label">[38]</span></a><a href="#Page_93">Page 93.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>COUNCILS OF EPHESUS AND CHALCEDON.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 431-451.</p> + +<p>Augustine died just as a great council was about to be held in the East. +In preparing for this council, a compliment was paid to him which was +not paid to any other person; for, whereas it was usual to invite the +chief bishop only of each province to such meetings, and to leave him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +to choose which of his brethren should accompany him, a special +invitation was sent to Augustine, although he was not even a +metropolitan,<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> +but only bishop of a small town. This shows what fame +he had gained, and in what respect his name was held, even in the +Eastern church.</p> + +<p>The object of calling the council was to inquire into the opinions of +Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. It would have been well for it if +it had enjoyed the benefit of the great and good Augustine's presence; +for its proceedings were carried on in such a way that it is not +pleasant to read of them. But, whatever may have been the faults of +those who were active in the council, it laid down clearly the truth +which Nestorius was charged with denying—that (as is said in the +Athanasian creed) our blessed Lord, "although He be God and man, yet is +He not two, but one Christ;" and this council, which was held at Ephesus +in the year 431, is reckoned as the third general council.</p> + +<p>Some years after it, a disturbance arose about a monk of Constantinople, +named Eutyches, who had been very zealous against Nestorius, and now ran +into errors of an opposite kind. Another council was held at Ephesus in +449; but Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, and a number of disorderly +monks who were favourable to Eutyches, behaved in such a furious manner +at this assembly, that, instead of being considered as a general +council, it is known by a name which means a <i>meeting of robbers</i>. But +two years later, when a new emperor had succeeded to the government of +the east, another general council was held at Chalcedon (<small>A.D.</small> 451); and +there the doctrines of Eutyches were condemned, and Dioscorus was +deprived of his bishopric. This council, which was the fourth of the +general councils, was attended by six hundred and thirty bishops. It +laid down the doctrine that our Lord is "One, not by conversion [or +<i>turning</i>] of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into +God: One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of +person; for,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and +man is one Christ."</p> + +<p>According, then, to these two councils, which were held against +Nestorius and Eutyches, we are to believe that our blessed Lord is +really God and really man. The Godhead and the manhood are not <i>mixed</i> +together in Him, so as to make something which would be neither the one +nor the other (which is what the creed means by "confusion of +substance"); but they are in Him distinct from each other, just as the +soul and the body are distinct in man; and yet they are not two +<i>Persons</i>, but are joined together in one Person, just as the soul and +the body are joined in one man. All this may perhaps be rather hard for +young readers to understand, but the third and fourth general councils +are too important to be passed over, even in a little book like this; +and, even if what has been said here should not be quite understood, it +will at least show that all those distinctions in the Athanasian creed +mean <i>something</i>, and that they were not set forth without some reason, +but in order to meet errors which had actually been taught.</p> + +<p>I may mention here two other things which were settled by the Council of +Chalcedon—that it gave the bishops of Constantinople authority over +Thrace, Asia, and Pontus; and that it raised Jerusalem, which until then +had been only an ordinary bishopric, to have authority of the same kind +over the Holy Land. These chief bishops are now called <i>patriarchs</i>, and +there were thus five patriarchs—namely, the bishops of Rome, +Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The map will show +you how these patriarchates were +divided;<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> +but there were still some +Christian countries which did not belong to any of them.</p> + +<p>Having thus mentioned the title of patriarchs, I may explain here the +use of another title which we hear much oftener,—I mean the title of +<i>pope</i>. The proper meaning of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +it is <i>father</i>; in short, it is nothing +else than the word <i>papa</i>, which children among ourselves use in +speaking to their fathers. This title of pope (or father), then, was at +first given to all bishops; but, by degrees, it came to be confined in +its use; so that, in the east, only the bishops of Rome and Alexandria +were called by it, while in the west it was given to the bishop or +patriarch of Rome alone.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"> +<span class="label">[39]</span></a><a href="#Page_82">See page 82.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"> +<span class="label">[40]</span></a>Read here the Explanation of the Map, at the end of the +volume.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 451-476.</p> + +<p>The empire of the west was now fast sinking. One weak prince was at the +head of it after another, and the spirit of the old Romans, who had +conquered the world, had quite died out. Immense hosts of barbarous +nations poured in from the north. The Goths, under Alaric, who took Rome +by siege, in the reign of Honorius, have been already +mentioned.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> +Forty years later, Attila, King of the Huns, who was called "The scourge +of God," kept both the east and the west in terror. In the year 451, he +advanced as far as Orleans, and, after having for some time besieged it, +he made a breach in the wall of the city. The soldiers of the garrison, +and such of the citizens as could fight, had done their best in the +defence of the walls; those who could not bear arms betook themselves to +the churches, and were occupied in anxious prayer. The bishop, Anianus, +had before earnestly begged that troops might be sent to the relief of +the place; and he had posted a man on a tower, with orders to look out +in the direction from which succour might be hoped for. The watchman +twice returned to the bishop without any tidings of comfort; but the +third time he said that he had noticed a little cloud of dust as far off +as he could see.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +"It is the aid of God!" said the bishop; and the +people who heard him took up the words, and shouted, "It is the aid of +God!" The little cloud, from being "like a man's hand" (1 <i>Kings</i> xviii. +44), grew larger and drew nearer; the dust was cleared away by the wind, +and the glitter of spears and armour was seen; and just as the Huns had +broken through the wall, and were rushing into the city, greedy of +plunder and bloodshed, an army of Romans and allies arrived and forced +them to retreat. After having been thus driven from Orleans, Attila was +defeated in a great battle near Châlons, on the river Marne, and +withdrew into Germany.</p> + +<p>In the following year (452), Attila invaded Italy, where he caused great +consternation. But when the bishop of Rome, Leo the Great, went to his +camp near Mantua, and entreated him to spare the country, Attila was so +much struck by the bishop's venerable appearance and his powerful words, +that he agreed to withdraw on receiving a large sum of money. A few +months later he suddenly died, and his kingdom soon fell to pieces.</p> + +<p>By degrees, the Romans lost Britain, Gaul, Spain, and Africa; and Italy +was all that was left of the western empire.</p> + +<p>Genseric, who, as has been +mentioned,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> +had led the Vandals into +Africa, long kept the Mediterranean in constant dread of his fleets. +Three years after the invasion of Italy by Attila, he appeared at the +mouth of the Tiber (<small>A.D.</small> 455), having been invited by the empress +Eudoxia, who wished to be revenged on her husband, in consequence of his +having told her that he had been the cause of her former husband's +death. As the Vandals approached the walls of Rome, the bishop, Leo, +went forth at the head of his clergy. He pleaded with Genseric as he had +before pleaded with Attila, and he brought him to promise that the city +should not be burnt, and that the lives of the inhabitants should be +spared; but Genseric gave up the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +place for fourteen days to plunder, +and the sufferings of the people were frightful. The Vandal king +returned to Africa with a vast quantity of booty, and with a great +number of captives, among whom were the unfortunate empress and her two +daughters. On this occasion the bishop of Carthage, Deogratias, behaved +with noble charity;—he sold the gold and silver plate of the church, +and with the price he redeemed some of the captives, and relieved the +sufferings of others. Two of the churches were turned into hospitals. +The sick were comfortably lodged, and were plentifully supplied with +food and medicines; and the good bishop, old and infirm as he was, +visited them often, by night as well as by day, and spoke words of +kindness and of Christian consolation to them.</p> + +<p>This behaviour of Deogratias was the more to his honour, because his own +flock was suffering severely from the oppression of the Vandals, who, as +we have already +seen,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> +were Arians. Genseric treated the Catholics of +Africa very tyrannically; his son and successor, Hunneric, was still +more cruel to them; and, as long as the Vandals held possession of +Africa, the persecution, in one shape or another, was carried on almost +without ceasing.</p> + +<p>The last emperor of the west, Augustulus, was put down in the year 476, +and a barbarian prince named Odoacer became king of Italy.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"> +<span class="label">[41]</span></a><a href="#Page_93">Page 93.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"> +<span class="label">[42]</span></a><a href="#Page_127">Page 127.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"> +<span class="label">[43]</span></a><a href="#Page_127">Page 127.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>CONVERSION OF THE BARBARIANS—CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN.</p> + +<p>As the old empire of Rome disappears, the modern kingdoms of Europe +begin to come to view; and we may now look at the progress of the Gospel +among the nations of the west.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +The barbarians who got possession of France, Spain, South Germany, and +other parts of the empire, were soon converted to a sort of +Christianity; but, unfortunately, it was not the true Catholic faith. I +have told you<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> +that Ulfilas, "the Moses of the Goths," led his people +into the errors of Arianism. As it was from the Goths that the +missionaries generally went forth to convert the other northern nations, +these nations, too, for the most part, became Arians; while some of +them, after having been converted by Catholics, afterwards fell into +Arianism. It is curious to observe how opposite the course of conversion +was among these nations to what it had been in earlier times. In the +Roman empire, the Gospel worked its way up from the poor and simple +people who were the first to believe it, until the emperor himself +became at length a convert. But among the nations which now overran the +western empire, the missionaries usually began by making a convert of +the prince; when the prince was converted, his subjects followed him to +the font; and if he changed from Catholicism to Arianism, or from +Arianism to Catholicism, the people did the same. In the course of time, +all the nations which had professed Arianism, were brought over to the +true faith. The last who held out were the Goths in Spain, who gave up +their errors at a great council which was held at Toledo in 589; and the +Lombards, in the north of Italy, who were converted in the early part of +the following century.</p> + +<p>Our own island was little troubled by Arianism, and St. Athanasius bears +witness to the firmness of the British bishops in the right faith. But +Pelagius, as we have +seen,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> +was himself a Briton; and, although he +did not himself try to spread his errors here, one of his followers, +named Agricola, brought them into Britain, and did a great deal of +mischief (<small>A.D.</small> 429). The Britons had been long under the power of the +Romans; but, as the empire grew weaker, the Romans found that they could +not afford to keep up an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +army here; and they had given up Britain in +the year 409. But after this, when the Picts and Scots of the north +invaded the southern part of the island (or what we now call England), +the Britons in their alarm used to beg the assistance of the Romans +against them. And it would seem as if the British clergy had come to +depend on the help of others in much the same way; for when they found +what havoc the Pelagian Agricola was making among their people, they +sent over into Gaul, and begged that the bishops of that country would +send them aid against him.</p> + +<p>Two bishops, German of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, were sent +accordingly by a council to which the petition of the Britons had been +made. These two could speak a language which was near enough to the +British to be understood by the Britons; it was something like the +Welsh, or the Irish, or like the Gaelic, which is spoken in the +highlands of Scotland (for all these languages are much alike). Their +preaching had a great effect on the people, and their holy lives +preached still better than their sermons; they disputed with the +Pelagian teachers at Verulam, the town where St. Alban was +martyred,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> +and which now takes its name from him; and they succeeded for the time +in putting down the heresy.</p> + +<p>It is said that while German and Lupus were in this country, the Picts +and Saxons joined in invading it; and that the Britons, finding their +army unfit to fight the enemy, sent to beg the assistance of the two +Gaulish bishops. So German and Lupus went to the British army, and +joined it just before Easter. A great number of the soldiers were +baptized at Easter, and German put himself at their head. The enemy came +on, expecting an easy victory, but the bishops thrice shouted +<i>Hallelujah!</i> and all the army took up the shout, which was echoed from +the mountains again and again, so that the pagans were struck with +terror, and expected the mountains to fall on them. They threw down +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +their arms, and ran away, leaving a great quantity of spoil behind them, +and many of them rushed into a river, where they were drowned. The place +where this victory is said to have been gained is still pointed out in +Flintshire, and is known by a Welsh name, which means, "German's Field." +Pelagianism began to revive in Britain some years later, but St. German +came over a second time, and once more put it down.</p> + +<p>But soon after this, the Saxons came into Britain. It is supposed that +Hengist and Horsa landed in Kent in the year 449; and other chiefs +followed, with their fierce heathen warriors. There was a struggle +between these and the Britons, which lasted a hundred years, until at +length the invaders got the better, and the land was once more +overspread by heathenism, except where the Britons kept up their +Christianity in the mountainous districts of the west,—Cumberland, +Wales, and Cornwall. You shall hear by-and-by how the Gospel was +introduced among the Saxons.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"> +<span class="label">[44]</span></a><a href="#Page_93">Page 93.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"> +<span class="label">[45]</span></a><a href="#Page_124">Page 124.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"> +<span class="label">[46]</span></a><a href="#Page_37">Page 37.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.</p> + +<p>The only thing which seems to be settled as to the religious history of +Scotland in these times, is, that a bishop named Ninian preached among +the Southern Picts between the years 412 and 432, and established a see +at Whithorn, in Galloway. But in the year of St. Ninian's death, a far +more famous missionary, St. Patrick, who is called "the Apostle of +Ireland," began his labours in that island.</p> + +<p>It is a question whether Patrick was born in Scotland, at a place called +Kirkpatrick, near the river Clyde, or in France, near Boulogne. But +wherever it may have been, his birth took place about the year 387. His +father was a deacon of the church, his grandfather was a presbyter, and +thus Patrick had the opportunities of a religious training from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> his +infancy. He did not, however, use these opportunities so well as he +might have done; but it pleased God to bring him to a better mind by the +way of affliction.</p> + +<p>When Patrick was about sixteen years old, he was carried off by some +pirates (or <i>sea-robbers</i>), and was sold to a heathen prince in Ireland, +where he was set to keep cattle, and had to bear great hardships. But +"there," says he, "it was that the Lord brought me to a sense of the +unbelief of my heart, that I might call my sins to remembrance, and turn +with all my heart to the Lord, who regarded my low estate, and, taking +pity on my youth and ignorance, watched over me before I knew Him or had +sense to discern between good and evil, and counselled me and comforted +me as a father doth a son. I was employed every day in feeding cattle, +and often in the day I used to betake myself to prayer; and the love of +God thus grew stronger and stronger, and His faith and fear increased in +me, so that in a single day I could utter as many as a hundred prayers, +and in the night almost as many, and I used to remain in the woods and +on the mountains, and would rise for prayer before daylight, in the +midst of snow and ice and rain; and I felt no harm from it, nor was I +ever unwilling, because my heart was hot within me. I was not from my +childhood a believer in the only God, but continued in death and in +unbelief until I was severely chastened; and in truth I have been +humbled by hunger and nakedness, and it was my lot to go about in +Ireland every day sore against my will, until I was almost worn out. But +this proved rather a blessing to me, because by means of it I have been +corrected of the Lord, and He has fitted me for being what it once +seemed unlikely that I should be, so that I should concern myself about +the salvation of others, whereas I used to have no such thoughts even +for myself."<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p>After six years of captivity, Patrick was restored to his own country. +It is said that he then travelled a great deal; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> and he became a +presbyter of the Church. He was carried off captive a second time, but +this captivity did not last long, and he afterwards lived with his +parents, who begged him never to leave them again. But he thought that +in a vision or dream he saw a man inviting him to Ireland, as St. Paul +saw in the night a man of Macedonia, saying to him, "Come over into +Macedonia and help us" (<i>Acts</i> xvi. 9). And Patrick was resolved to +preach the Gospel in the land where he had been a captive in his youth. +His friends got about him, and entreated him not to cast himself among +the savage and heathen Irish. One of them, who was most familiar with +him, when there seemed no hope of shaking his purpose, went so far as to +tell of some sin which Patrick had committed in his boyhood, thirty +years before. It was hoped that when this sin of his early days was +known (whatever it may have been) it would prevent his being consecrated +as a bishop. But Patrick broke through all difficulties, and was +consecrated bishop of the Irish in the year 432.</p> + +<p>There had already been some Christians in that country, and a missionary +named Palladius had lately attempted to labour there, but had allowed +himself to be soon discouraged, and had withdrawn. But Patrick had more +zeal and patience than Palladius, and gave up all the remainder of his +life to the Irish, so that he would not even allow himself the pleasure +of paying a visit to his native country. He was often in great danger, +both from the priests of the old Irish heathenism, and from the +barbarous princes who were under their influences. But he carried on his +work faithfully, and had the comfort of seeing it crowned with abundant +success. His death took place on the 17th of March, 493.</p> + +<p>The greater number of the Irish are now Romanists, and fancy that St. +Patrick was so too, and that he was sent by the Pope to Ireland. But he +has left writings which clearly prove that this is quite untrue. And +moreover, although the bishops of Rome had been advancing in power, and +although corruptions were growing on the Church in his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> time, yet +neither the claims of these bishops, nor the other corruptions of the +Roman Church, had then reached anything like their present height. Let +us hope and pray that God may be pleased to deliver our Irish brethren +of the Romish communion from the bondage of ignorance and error in which +they are now unhappily held!</p> + +<p>The Church continued to flourish in Ireland after St. Patrick's death, +and learning found a home there, while wars and conquests banished it +from most other countries of the west. In the year 565, the Irish Church +sent forth a famous missionary named Columba, who, with twelve +companions, went into Scotland. He preached among the Northern Picts, +and founded a monastery in one of the western islands, which from him +got the name of Icolumbkill (that is to say, the <i>Island of Columba of +the Churches</i>). From that little island the light of the Gospel +afterwards spread, not only over Scotland, but far towards the south of +England, and many monasteries, both in Scotland and in Ireland, were +under the rule of its abbot.</p> + +<p>For hundreds of years the schools of Ireland continued to be in great +repute. Young men flocked to them from England, and even from foreign +lands, and many Irish missionaries laboured in various countries abroad. +The chief of those who fall within the time to which this little book +reaches, was Columban (a different person from Columba, although their +names are so like). He left Ireland with twelve companions, in the year +589, preached in the east of France for many years, and afterwards in +Switzerland and in Italy, and died in 615, at the monastery of Bobbio, +which he had founded among the Apennine mountains. One of his disciples, +Gall, is styled "The Apostle of Switzerland," and founded a great +monastery, which from him is called St. Gall.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"> +<span class="label">[47]</span></a>See King's "History of the Church in Ireland," i. 19-21.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>CLOVIS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 496.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +The most famous and the most important of all the conversions which took +place about this time was that of Clovis, king of the Franks. From being +the chief of a small, though brave people, on the borders of France and +Belgium, he grew by degrees to be the founder of the great French +monarchy. His queen, Clotilda, was a Christian, and long tried in vain +to bring him over to her faith. "The gods whom you worship," she said, +"are nothing, and can profit neither themselves nor others; for they are +graven out of stone, or wood, or metal, and the names which you give +them were not the names of gods but of men. But He ought rather to be +worshipped who by His word made out of nothing the heavens and the +earth, the sea and all that in them is." Clovis does not seem to have +cared very much about the truth, one way or the other; but he had the +fancy (which was common among the heathens, and which is often mentioned +in the Old Testament), that if people did not prosper in this world, the +god whom they served could not have the power to protect them and give +them success. And, as he lived in the time when the Roman empire of the +west came to an end, the fall of the empire, which had now been +Christian for more than a hundred and fifty years, seemed to him to +prove that the Christian religion could not be true.</p> + +<p>Clotilda persuaded her husband to let their eldest son be baptized. But +the child died within a few days after, and Clovis said that his baptism +was the cause of his death. When another prince was born, however, he +allowed him too to be baptized. Clotilda continued to press her husband +with all the reason that she could think of in order to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> bring him over +to the Gospel. Some of her reasons were true and good; some of them were +drawn from the superstitious opinions of these times, such as stories +about miracles wrought at the tomb of St. Martin at Tours. Perhaps the +bad reasons were more likely than the good ones to have an effect on a +rough barbarian prince such as Clovis; but Clotilda could make nothing +of him in any way.</p> + +<p>At length, in the year 496, he was engaged in battle with a German +tribe, at a place called Tolbiac, near Cologne, and found himself in +great danger of being defeated. He called on his own gods, but without +success, and at last he bethought himself of the God to whose worship +Clotilda had so long been trying to convert him. So, in his anxiety, he +stretched out his arms towards the sky, and called on the name of +Christ, promising that, if the God of Clotilda would help him in his +strait, he would become a Christian. A victory followed, which Clovis +ascribed to the effect of his prayer. He then put himself under the +instruction of St. Remigius, bishop of Rheims, that he might get a +knowledge of Christian doctrine, and at the following Christmas he was +baptized in Rheims cathedral, where the kings of France were afterwards +crowned for centuries, down to the unfortunate Charles X., in 1824. +Remigius caused it to be decked for the occasion with beautiful carpets +and hangings. A vast number of tapers shed their bright light over the +building, while all without was covered by the darkness of a December +evening; and we are told that the sweet perfume of incense seemed to +those who were there like the air of paradise. As Clovis entered the +church, and heard the solemn chant of psalms, he was overcome with awe. +Turning to Remigius, who led him by the hand, he asked, "Is this the +kingdom of heaven which you have promised me?" "No," answered the +bishop; "but it is the beginning of the way to it." When they had +reached the font, Remigius addressed the king by a name on which the +noblest among the Franks prided themselves,—"Sicambrian, gently bow thy +neck; worship that which thou hast burnt, and burn that which thou hast +worshipped." Three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +thousand of the Frankish warriors were forthwith +baptized, in imitation of their leader.</p> + +<p>Remigius had much influence over Clovis as to religious things, and +instructed him as he found opportunity. One day, as he was reading to +the king the story of our Lord's sufferings, Clovis was so much moved by +it that he started up in anger and cried out—"If I had been there with +my Franks, I would have avenged His wrongs!"</p> + +<p>From what has been said, it will be understood that the religion of +Clovis was not of an enlightened kind; and there was much in his +character and actions which did not become his Christian profession. Yet +his conversion, such as it was, appears to have been sincere. As his +conquests spread, he put down Arianism wherever he found it, and planted +the Catholic faith instead of it. And from the circumstance that Clovis +was converted to Catholic Christianity at a time when all the other +princes of the west were Arians, and when the emperor of the east +favoured the heresy of +Eutyches,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> +the kings of France got the title +of "Eldest Son of the Church."</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"> +<span class="label">[48]</span></a><a href="#Page_129">See page 129.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>JUSTINIAN.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 527-565.</p> + +<p>It would be wearisome to follow very particularly the history of the +Church in the East for the next century and a half after the Council of +Chalcedon (<small>A.D.</small> 451).</p> + +<p>The most important reign during this time was that of the Emperor +Justinian, which lasted eight-and-thirty years, from 527 to 565. Under +him the Vandals were conquered in Africa, and the Goths in Italy. Both +these countries became once more parts of the empire, and Arianism was +put down in both.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +Justinian also, in the year 529, put an end to the old heathen +philosophy, by ordering that the schools of Athens, in which St. Basil, +St. Gregory of Nazianzum, and the emperor Julian had studied together +two hundred years +before,<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> +should be shut up. The philosophers, who +had continued to teach their heathen notions there (although they had +been obliged to treat the religion of the empire with outward respect), +were in great distress at finding their trade taken away from them. They +thought it unsafe to remain in Justinian's dominions, and made their way +into Persia, where the king was a heathen, and was said to be a friend +of learned men. The king received them kindly; but the Persian +heathenism was very different from their own, and the ways of the +country were altogether strange to them; so that they felt themselves +very uncomfortable in Persia, and became so home-sick as to be willing +to risk even their lives for the sake of getting back to their own +country. Happily for them, the Persian king was able to intercede for +them in making a peace with Justinian; and it was agreed that they might +live within the empire as they liked, without being troubled by the +laws, if they would only remain quiet, and not try to draw Christian +youths away from the faith. The philosophers were too glad to return on +such terms. I wish I could tell that they became Christians themselves: +but all that is said of them is, that when they died, there were no more +of the kind, and that heathen philosophy no longer stood in the way of +the Gospel.</p> + +<p>Justinian spent vast sums of money on buildings, especially on churches; +but it is said that much of what he spent in this way had been got by +oppressive taxes and by other bad means, so that we cannot think much +the better of him for it. The grandest of all his buildings was the +cathedral of Constantinople. The church had been founded by Constantine +the Great, but was once burnt down after the banishment of St. +Chrysostom, and a second +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +time in this reign. Justinian rebuilt it at a +vast expense, and, as he cast his eyes around it on the day of the +consecration, after expressing his thankfulness to God for having been +allowed to accomplish so great a work, he gave vent to the pride of his +heart in the words: "I have beaten thee, O Solomon!" The cathedral was +afterwards partly destroyed by an earthquake, but Justinian again +restored it, and caused it to be once more consecrated, about two years +before his death. We learn from one of his laws that this church had +sixty priests, a hundred deacons, forty deaconesses, ninety subdeacons, +a hundred and ten readers, five-and-twenty singers, and a hundred +doorkeepers. And (which we should perhaps not have expected to hear) the +law was made for the purpose of preventing the number of clergy +connected with the cathedral from increasing beyond this, lest it should +not have wealth enough to maintain a greater number! This great building +is still standing (although it is now in the hands of the Mahometan +Turks); and it is regarded as one of the wonders of the world. It was +dedicated to the Eternal Wisdom, and is now commonly known by the name +of St. Sophia (<i>sophia</i> being the Greek word for <i>wisdom</i>).</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"> +<span class="label">[49]</span></a><a href="#Page_68">See page 68.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>NESTORIANS AND MONOPHYSITES.</p> + +<p>From the time of the Council of Chalcedon (<small>A.D.</small> 451), to the end of +Justinian's reign, the Eastern Church was vexed by controversies which +arose out of the opinions of +Eutyches.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> +On account of these quarrels, +the Churches of Rome and Constantinople would have no intercourse with +each other for five-and-thirty years (<small>A.D.</small> 484-519). The party which had +at first been called Eutychians (after +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +Eutyches) afterwards got the +name of Monophysites, (that is to say, <i>Maintainers of one nature +only</i>,)—because they said that after our blessed Lord had taken on Him +the nature of man, His Godhead and His manhood made up but <i>one</i> nature; +whereas the Catholics held that His two natures remain perfect and +distinct in Him. The party split up into a number of divisions, the very +names of which it is difficult to remember. And other quarrels arose out +of the great controversy with the Eutychians. The most noted of these +was the dispute as to what were called the "Three Articles." It was not +properly a question respecting the faith, but whether certain writings, +then a hundred years old, were or were not favourable to Nestorianism. +But it was thought so important, that a council, which is reckoned as +the fifth general council, was held on account of it at Constantinople +in the year 553.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all their quarrels among themselves, the Monophysites +grew very strong in various countries. In Egypt they were more in number +than the Catholics. The Abyssinian Church (which, as we saw in a former +chapter,<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +was considered as a daughter of the Egyptian Church) took +up these opinions. The Nubians were converted from heathenism by +Monophysite missionaries; and in Armenia the church exchanged the +Catholic doctrine for the Monophysite in the sixth century.</p> + +<p>But the most remarkable man of this sect was a Syrian named Jacob. He +found his party suffering and greatly weakened, in consequence of the +laws which the emperors had made against it; and most of the bishops and +clergy had been removed by banishment, imprisonment, or other means. +Being resolved to preserve the sect, if possible, from dying out, Jacob +went to Constantinople, made his way into the prison where some of the +Monophysite bishops were confined, and was secretly consecrated by them +as a bishop, with authority to watch over all the congregations of their +communion throughout Syria and the East. For +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +nearly forty years (<small>A.D.</small> +541-578) he laboured in carrying out the work which he had undertaken, +with a zeal and a stedfastness which we cannot but admire, although we +must regret that they were employed in the cause of heresy. In order +that he might not be known, as there were severe laws against spreading +his opinions, he dressed himself as a beggar, and thence got the name of +<i>The Ragged</i>. In this disguise, he travelled, without ceasing, over +Syria and Mesopotamia. His secret was faithfully kept by the members of +his party. He stirred up their spirit, ordained bishops and clergy to +minister among them in private, and at his death, in 578, he left the +sect large and flourishing. From this Jacob, the Monophysites of other +countries, as well as of his own, got the name of +Jacobites;<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> in +return for which they called the Catholics <i>Melchites</i>—that is to say, +<i>followers of the emperor's religion</i>. And by these names of Melchites +and Jacobites, the remnants of the old Christian parties in the East are +known to this day.</p> + +<p>The Nestorians also continued to be a strong body. Both they and the +Monophysites were very active in missions—more active, indeed, than the +eastern Catholics. The Nestorians, in particular, made great numbers of +converts in Persia (where the heathen kings would allow no other kind of +Christianity than Nestorianism), in India, and in other parts of Asia. +And in the seventh century (which is somewhat beyond the bounds of this +little book) their missionaries made their way even to China, where they +preached with great success.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"> +<span class="label">[50]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">See Chap. XXII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"> +<span class="label">[51]</span></a><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chap. X.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"> +<span class="label">[52]</span></a>These Jacobites of the East must not be confounded with +the Jacobites of English history, who were the friends of James II., and +of his family, after the Revolution of 1688.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. BENEDICT.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I. A.D.</small> 480-529.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +Let us now look again at the monks. Their way of life was at first +devised as a means of either practising repentance for sin, or rising to +such a height of holiness as was supposed to be beyond the reach of +persons busied in the affairs of this world. But in course of time a +change took place. As the life of monks grew more common, it grew less +strict; indeed, it would seem that whenever any way of life which +professes to be very strict becomes common, its strictness will pretty +surely be lessened, or given up altogether. People at first turned monks +because they felt that such means of holy living as they had been used +to did not make them so good as they ought to be, and because they hoped +to do better in this new kind of life. But when the monkish life was no +longer new, monks neglected its rules, just as those before them had +neglected the rules which holy Scripture and the Church had laid down +for all Christians.</p> + +<p>In the unhappy days which had now come on, the monasteries of the west +had in great measure escaped the evils of war and conquest which laid +waste everything around them. The barbarians, who overwhelmed the +empire, generally respected them; and now the life of monks, instead of +being chosen for its hardships, as it had been at first, came to be +regarded as the easiest and the safest life of all. It was sought after +as one which would free people from the dangers to which they would be +liable if they remained in the world, and took the common share in the +world's risks and troubles.</p> + +<p>Another important matter was this—that monkery had taken its rise in +Egypt and in Syria, where the climate and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +the habits of the people were +very different from those of the western countries. And a great part of +the monkish rules were fitted only for the particular circumstances and +character of the eastern nations;—for instance, they could do with less +food than the people of the west, so that a writer of the fifth century +said, "A large appetite is gluttony in the Greeks, but in the Gauls it +is nature." Again, the Egyptians and the Syrians, in their hot climate, +did not need active employment in the same way as the western nations +do, in order to keep their minds and their bodies healthful. They could +spend their hours and their days in calmly thinking of spiritual things, +or of nothing at all, in a way which the more active mind of Europeans +cannot bear. And again, many rules as to dress, which are suitable for +one sort of climate, are quite unfit for a different sort.</p> + +<p>Now the earlier rules for monks had been drawn up either in the east or +after eastern patterns. And although, when they were brought into the +west, people for a time obeyed them as well as they could, it was found +that they would not obey them any longer when the first heat of zeal for +monkery had passed away. Hence it followed, that, throughout the +monasteries of the west, there was a general neglect of the rules by +which they professed to be governed; and it was high time that there +should be some reformation.</p> + +<p>A reformer arose in the sixth century. This was Benedict, who was born +near Nursia, in Italy, in the year 480. At the age of twelve he was sent +to school at Rome, under the care of a nurse, as seems to have been +usual in those days. He worked hard at his studies, but the bad +behaviour of the other boys and young men at Rome so shocked him, that, +when he had been there two years, he resolved to bear it no longer. He +therefore suddenly ran away from the city, and, after his nurse had gone +a considerable distance with him, he left her, and made his way into a +rough and lonely country near Subiaco, where he took up his abode in a +cave. Here he was found out by a monk of a neighbouring house, named +Romanus, who used +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +daily to save part of his own allowance of food, and +to carry it to his young friend. The cave opened from the face of a +lofty rock, and the way that Romanus took of conveying the food to +Benedict was by letting it down at the end of a string from the top of +the rock.</p> + +<p>Benedict had lived in this manner for three years when he was discovered +by some shepherds, who at first took him for some wild animal; but they +soon found that he was something very different. He taught them and +others to whom they made his abode known, and his character came to be +so much respected in the neighbourhood that he was chosen abbot of a +monastery. He warned the monks that they would probably not like him, +but they were resolved to have him nevertheless. Their habits, however, +were so bad, that Benedict felt himself obliged to check them rather +sharply; and the monks then attempted to get rid of him by mixing poison +in his drink. But he found out their wicked design, and the only reproof +which he gave them was by reminding them how he had warned them not to +make him their abbot. With this he left them to themselves, and went +quietly back to his cave.</p> + +<p>His name now grew more and more famous. Great multitudes of people +flocked to see him, and even persons of high rank sent their sons to be +trained under him. He built twelve monasteries, each for an abbot and +twelve monks. But there was a spiteful monk, named Florentius, who would +not allow him any peace so long as they were near each other; so +Benedict thought it best to give way, and in 528 he left Subiaco, with +some companions, and, after some wanderings, arrived at Mount Cassino. +There he found that the country people still worshipped some of the old +heathen gods, and that there was a grove which was held sacred to these +gods. But he set boldly to work, and, notwithstanding all that could be +done to oppose him, he cut down the grove, destroyed the idols, and +built a little chapel, from which in time grew up a great and famous +monastery, which still exists. And at Mount Cassino he drew up his Rule +in the year 529; so that the beginning of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +the monks of St. Benedict was +in the very same year in which heathen philosophy came to its end by the +closing of the schools of +Athens.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_29_II" id="P1_29_II"></a><small>PART II. A.D.</small> 529-543.</p> + +<p>Benedict had seen the mischief which arose from too great strictness of +rules. He saw how it led to open disobedience and carelessness in some, +and to hypocritical pretence in others; and therefore he meant to guard +against these faults by making his rule milder than those of the East. +It was to be such that Europeans might keep it without danger to their +health, and he allowed it to be varied according to the circumstances of +the different countries in which it might be established.</p> + +<p>Every Benedictine monastery was to be under an abbot, who was to be +chosen by the monks. The brethren were to obey the abbot in everything, +while the abbot was charged not to be haughty or tyrannical in using his +authority. Next to the abbot there might either be a <i>provost</i>, or +(which Benedict liked better) there might be a number of <i>elders</i> or +<i>deans</i>, who were to help and advise the abbot in the government of his +monastery. Any one who wished to join the order was to undergo trial for +a year before admission. Those who were admitted into it were required +to give in a written vow that they would continue in it, that they would +amend their lives, and that they would obey those who were set over +them. Every monk was obliged to give up all his property to the order; +nobody was allowed to have anything of his own, but all things were +common to the brethren. The monks might not receive any presents or +letters, even from their nearest relations, without the abbot's +knowledge and leave, and if a present were sent for one of them, the +abbot had the power to keep it from him, and to give it to any other +monk.</p> + +<p>It was one important part of the rule that the monks +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> should have +sufficient employment provided, for them. They were to get up at two +o'clock in the morning; they were to attend eight services a day, or, if +they happened to be at a distance from their monastery, they were to +observe the hours of the services by prayer; and they were to work seven +hours. Portions of time were allowed for learning psalms by heart, and +for reading the Scriptures, lives of holy men, and other edifying books. +At meals the monks were not to talk, but some book was to be read aloud +to them. Their food was to be plain and simple; no flesh was allowed, +except to the sick. But all such matters were to be settled by the +abbot, according to the climate and the season, to the age, the health, +and the employment of the monks. Their dress was to be coarse, but was +to be varied according to circumstances. They were to sleep by ten or +twenty in a room, each in a separate bed, and without taking off their +clothes. A dean was to have the care of each room, and a light was to be +kept burning in each. No talking was to be allowed after the last +service of the day.</p> + +<p>The monks were never to go beyond the monastery without leave, and, in +order that there might be little occasion for their going out, it was to +contain within its walls the garden, the well, the mill, the bakehouse, +and other such necessary things. The abbot was to set every monk his +work; if it were found that any one was inclined to pride himself on his +skill in any art or trade, he was not to be allowed to practise it, but +was obliged to take up some other employment.</p> + +<p>Benedict died in 543, and by that time his order had made its way into +France, Spain, and Sicily. It soon drew into itself all the monks of the +west, and was divided into a number of branches, which all looked up to +Benedict as their founder; and, although it would be a sad mistake to +wish for any revival of monkery in our own days, we ought, in justice, +to see and to acknowledge that through God's providence these monks +became the means of great benefits to mankind. Not only were their +services important for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +the maintenance of the Gospel where it was +already planted, and for the spreading of it among the heathen, but they +cleared forests, brought waste lands into tillage, and did much to +civilize the rude nations among whom they laboured. After a time, +learning began to be cultivated among them, and during the troubled ages +which followed, it found a refuge in the monasteries. The monks taught +the young; they copied the Scriptures and other ancient books (for +printing was as yet unknown); they wrote histories of their times, and +other books of their own. To them, indeed, it is that we are mainly +indebted for preserving the knowledge of the past through many +centuries.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"> +<span class="label">[53]</span></a><a href="#Page_143">See page 143.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>END OF THE SIXTH CENTURY.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>We must not suppose that the conversion of the western barbarians was of +any very perfect kind. They mixed up a great deal of their own barbarism +with their Christianity, and, besides this, they took up many of the +vices of the old and worn-out nations, whose countries they had +conquered and occupied. Much heathen superstition lingered among them: +it was even a common saying in Spain, that "if a man has to pass between +heathen altars and God's Church, it is no harm if he pay his respects to +both." The clergy were very wealthy and prosperous, but did not venture +to interfere with the vices of the great and powerful; or, if they did, +it was at their peril. For instance, when a bishop of Rouen had offended +the Frankish queen Fredegund, she caused him to be murdered in his own +cathedral, at the most solemn service of Easter-day.</p> + +<p>Religion became a protection to crime; murderers were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> allowed to take +refuge in churches, and might not be dragged out until after an oath had +been made that their lives should be safe. It had been the ancient +custom of the Germans to let all crimes be atoned for by the payment of +money: if, for example, a person had killed another, he had no more to +do than to pay a certain sum to the dead man's relations. And this way +of making up for misdeeds was now brought into the Church; it was +thought that men might make satisfaction for their sins by paying money, +and that the effect would be the same if others paid for them after +their death. We may understand how this worked, from another story of +queen Fredegund, who seems to have been a perfect monster of wickedness. +She set two of her pages to murder a king, named Sigebert; and, by way +of encouraging them, she said that she would honour them highly, if they +came off with their lives; but that, if they were slain, she would lay +out a great deal of money in alms for the good of their souls!</p> + +<p>As might naturally have been expected among such people, it came to be +very commonly thought that the observance of outward worship and +ceremonies was all that religion required. Pretended miracles were +wrought in great numbers, for the purpose of imposing on the ignorant; +and all, from the king downwards, were then ignorant enough to be +deceived by them. The superstitions which had begun in the fourth +century<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> +continued to grow on the Church; such as the reverence paid +to saints, and especially to the Blessed Virgin, so that people allowed +them a part of the honour which ought to have been kept for God alone. +Among other such corruptions were the reverence for the <i>relics</i> of +saints (that is, for parts of their bodies, or for things which had +belonged to them), and the religious honour paid to images and pictures. +These and other evils increased more and more, until, at length, they +could be borne no longer, and, in many countries, they caused the great +religious change which is called the <i>Reformation</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +But nearly a thousand years had to pass before the time of the +Reformation; and, in the meanwhile, although much was amiss in the +Christianity which prevailed, it yet was the means of blessing and of +salvation. And there were never wanting good men who, although there +were many defects and errors in their opinions, firmly held and clearly +taught the necessity of a real living faith in Christ, and of a +thoroughly earnest endeavour to obey God's holy will.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_30_II" id="P1_30_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>The state of Italy towards the end of the sixth century was very +wretched. Vast numbers of its people had perished in the course of the +wars by which Justinian's generals had wrested the country from the +Goths, and had again united it to the +empire;<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> +multitudes of others +had been destroyed by famine and pestilence. The Lombards, who had +crossed the Alps in the year 568, had obliged the emperors to yield the +north, and part of the middle of Italy, to them; and they continually +threatened the portions which still remained to the empire. No help +against them was to be got from Constantinople; and the governors whom +the emperors sent to manage their Italian dominions, instead of +directing and leading the people to resist the Lombards, only hindered +them from taking their defence into their own hands.</p> + +<p>The land was left uncultivated, partly through the loss of inhabitants, +and partly because those who remained were disheartened by the miseries +of the time. They had not the spirit to bestow their labour on it, when +there was almost a certainty that their crops would be destroyed or +carried off by the Lombard invaders; and the soil, when left to itself, +had in many places become so unwholesome, that it was not fit to live +on. Italy had in former times been so thickly peopled, that it had been +necessary to get supplies of corn from Sicily and from Africa. But now +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +such foreign supplies were wanted for a very different reason—that the +inhabitants of Italy could not, or did not, grow corn for themselves. +The city of Rome had suffered from storms, and from repeated floods of +the river Tiber, which did a great deal of damage to its buildings, and +sometimes washed away or spoiled the stores of corn which were laid up +in the granaries. The people were kept in terror by the Lombards, who +often advanced to their very walls, so that it was unsafe to venture +beyond the gates.</p> + +<p>The condition of the Church too was very deplorable. The troubles of the +times had produced a general decay of morals and order both among the +clergy and among the people. The Lombards were Arians, and religious +enmity was added to the other causes of dislike between them and the +Romans. In Istria, there was a division which had begun after the fifth +general council,<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> +and which kept the Church of that country separate +from the communion of Rome for a hundred and fifty years. The sunken +condition of Christianity in Gaul (or France) has been described in the +beginning of this chapter. Spain was just recovered from +Arianism,<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> +but there was much to be done before the Catholic faith could be +considered as firmly established there. In Africa, the old sect of the +Donatists began again to lift up its head, and took courage from the +confusions of the time to vex the Church. The Churches of the east were +torn by quarrels as to Eutychianism and Nestorianism. And the patriarchs +of Constantinople seemed likely, with the help of the emperor's favour, +to be dangerous rivals to the popes of Rome.</p> + +<p>Such was the state of things when Gregory the Great became pope or +bishop of Rome, in the year 590.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"> +<span class="label">[54]</span></a><a href="#Page_90">See page 90.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"> +<span class="label">[55]</span></a><a href="#Page_142">Page 142.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"> +<span class="label">[56]</span></a><a href="#Page_145">Page 145.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"> +<span class="label">[57]</span></a><a href="#Page_134">Page 134.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. GREGORY THE GREAT.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 540-604.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +Gregory was born at Rome, of a noble and wealthy family, in the year +540. In his youth he engaged in public business, and he rose to be +prĉtor of Rome, which was one of the chief offices under the government. +In this office he was much beloved and respected by the people. But +about the age of thirty-five, a great change took place in his life. He +resolved to forsake the pursuit of worldly honours, and spent all his +wealth in founding seven monasteries. He gave up his family house at +Rome to begin a monastery, in which he became at first a simple monk, +and was afterwards chosen abbot. A pope, named Pelagius, showed him +great favour, by making him his secretary, and employing him for some +years as a sort of ambassador at the emperor's court at Constantinople. +And when Pelagius was carried off by a plague, in the year 589, the +nobles, the clergy, and the people of Rome all agreed in choosing +Gregory to succeed him.</p> + +<p>Gregory was afraid to undertake the office. It was necessary that the +emperor should consent to his appointment; and he wrote to beg that the +emperor would refuse his consent. But the governor of Rome stopped the +letter, and all the other attempts which Gregory made to escape the +honour intended for him were baffled; so that in the end he was obliged +to submit, and was consecrated as bishop of Rome in September, 590.</p> + +<p>Gregory felt all the difficulties of his new place. He compares his +Church to an old ship, shattered by winds and waves, decayed in its +timbers, full of leaks, and in continual danger of going to wreck. The +vast quantity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +and variety of business which he went through appears to +us from the collection of his letters, of which about eight hundred and +fifty still remain. We see from these how he strove to strengthen his +Church in all quarters, and what steps he took for the government of it. +Some of the letters are addressed to emperors and kings, and treat about +the greatest affairs of Church or State. And then all at once we find +him passing from such high matters to direct that some poor tenant on +one of his estates should be excused from paying a part of his rent, or +that relief should be given to some widow or orphan who had written from +a distance to ask his help.</p> + +<p>The bishops of Rome had by degrees become very rich. They had estates, +not only in Italy and Sicily, but in Africa, in France, and even in +Asia. And the people who managed these estates were employed by Gregory +to carry on his other business in the same countries, and to report the +state of the Church to him from all quarters. Very little of his large +income was spent on himself. We may have some notion of the plain way in +which the great bishop lived from one of his letters to the steward of +his estates in Sicily. "You have sent me," says Gregory, "one wretched +horse, and five good asses. I cannot ride the horse because he is +wretched; nor the good beasts, because they are but asses." He lived +chiefly in the company of monks and clergy, employing himself in study +with them. And, in the midst of all the business which took up his time, +he wrote a number of books, of which some are very valuable. He was also +famous as a preacher. Among his sermons are a set of twenty-two on the +prophet Ezekiel, which he had meant to carry further. But he was obliged +to break off by the attacks of the Lombards, as he told his people in +the end of the last sermon—"Let no one blame me," he says, "if after +this discourse I stop, since, as you all see, our troubles are +multiplied on us. On every side we are surrounded with swords; on every +side we dread the danger of death which is close at hand. Some come back +to us with their hands cut off; we hear of some as being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> taken +prisoners, and of others as slain. I am forced to with-hold my tongue +from expounding, since my soul is weary of my life (<i>Job</i> x. 1). How can +I, who am forced daily to drink bitter things, draw forth sweet things +to you? What remains for us, but that in the chastisement which we are +suffering because of our misdeeds, we should give thanks with weeping to +Him who made us, and who hath bestowed on us the spirit of adoption +(<i>Rom.</i> viii. 15)—to Him who sometimes nourisheth His children with +bread, and sometimes correcteth them with a scourge—who, by benefits +and by sufferings alike, is training us for an eternal inheritance?"</p> + +<p>Gregory laboured zealously in improving the education of the clergy, and +in reforming such disorders as he found in his Church. He founded a +school for singing, and established a new way of chanting, which from +him has the name of the <i>Gregorian Chant</i>, and is used to this day. We +are told that the whip with which he used to correct his choristers was +kept at Rome as a relic for hundreds of years.</p> + +<p>His charities were very great. On the first day of every month he gave +out large quantities of provisions to the people of Rome. The old +nobility had suffered so much by the wars, and by the loss of their +estates in countries which had been torn from them by the barbarians, +that many of them were glad to come in for a share of the good pope's +bounty. Every day he sent relief to a number of poor persons in all +parts of the city; and he used to send dishes from his own table to +those whom he knew to be in distress, but ashamed to ask for assistance. +Once when a poor man was found dead in the streets, Gregory denied +himself the holy communion for some days, because it seemed to him that +he must be in some measure to blame. He used to receive strangers and +wanderers at his own table, out of regard for our Lord's +words—"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my +brethren, ye have done it unto me" (<i>St. Matt.</i> xxv. 40).</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_31_II" id="P1_31_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +Having thus seen something of Gregory's life at home, we must now look +at his proceedings in other quarters.</p> + +<p>He had a sharp dispute with a bishop of Constantinople, on account of +the title of <i>Universal Bishop</i>, which the patriarchs of the eastern +capital had for some time taken to themselves. When we hear such a +title, we may naturally fancy that it signified a claim to authority +over the whole Church on earth. But, as it was then used, it really had +no such meaning. The Greeks were fond of lofty and sounding titles, +which seemed to mean much more than they were really understood to mean. +This fondness appears in the titles of the emperors and of the officers +of their empire, and it was by it that the patriarchs were led to style +themselves "Universal Bishop." If the title had been intended as a claim +to authority over all Churches, it could only have been given to one +person at a time; but we find that the emperor Justinian gave it to the +bishops both of Constantinople and of Rome, and that he styled each of +them "Head of all the Churches;" and, whatever the patriarchs of +Constantinople may have meant by it, they certainly did not make any +claim to authority over Rome or the western Church.</p> + +<p>But there was an old jealousy between the sees of Rome and +Constantinople, ever since the time when the second general council in +381 gave the bishop of Constantinople the second place of honour in the +whole Church.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> +This jealousy had grown greater in late times, when +there was no very kindly feeling between the emperors and their Italian +subjects, and when it seemed not impossible that the bishop of the new +capital, backed by the emperor, might even try to dispute the first +place with the bishop of Rome. And Gregory, who did not understand the +Greek language, or how little the Greeks meant by their fine titles, was +ready to take offence at the name of "Universal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +Bishop." So, when a +bishop of Constantinople, John the Faster, styled himself so on an +important occasion, Gregory objected strongly;—he wrote to John, to the +emperor, and to the bishops of Alexandria and of Antioch, declaring that +the title was proud and foolish, that it came from the devil, and was a +token of Antichrist's approach, and that it was unfit for any Christian +bishop to use. The emperor, however, would not help him against the +patriarch. John would not yield, and the other eastern patriarchs +(partly from a wish to be at peace, and partly because the words did not +seem offensive to them, as they did to Gregory), were little disposed to +take up his quarrel. After a time, another emperor, who had special +reasons for wishing to stand well with Gregory, forbade the successor of +John to call himself "Universal;" but the title was soon restored by the +emperors to the bishops of Constantinople, although not until after the +death of Gregory. The most curious part of the story, however, is +this—that Gregory's successors in the popedom have taken up the very +title which he condemned so strongly; and that, instead of using it in +the harmless meaning which it had in the east, they have intended it as +a claim to power over the whole Church,—that claim of which the very +notion filled Gregory with such horror and indignation, and which he +declared to be unfit for any bishop whatever to make.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_31_III" id="P1_31_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>Gregory did much to bring over the Lombards from their Arianism, and he +succeeded in part, although the work was not completed until after his +time. He also laboured earnestly to revive the Church in France and in +other countries. But instead of dwelling on these things, I shall +content myself with telling of the chief work which he did in spreading +the Gospel; and it is one which very much concerns ourselves.</p> + +<p>In those days slavery was common throughout all the known world, and, +although the Gospel had wrought a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +great improvement in the treatment of +slaves, by making the masters feel that they and their slaves were +brethren in Christ, it yet had not forbidden slavery. But there was a +feeling of pity for those who fell into this sad condition by the +chances of war or otherwise. It was a common act of charity for good +Christians to redeem captives and to set them at liberty. This, indeed, +was thought so holy a work, and so agreeable to the words of +Scripture—"I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (<i>Hos.</i> vi. 6; <i>St. +Matt.</i> ix. 13), that bishops often broke up and sold even the +consecrated plate of their churches in order that they might get the +means of ransoming captives whom they heard of. And, although slavery +was still allowed by the laws of Christian kingdoms, those laws took +care that Christian slaves should not be under Jews, or masters of any +other than their own religion.</p> + +<p>Gregory, then, while he was yet a monk, went one day into the market at +Rome, just after the arrival of some merchants with a large cargo of +slaves for sale. Some of these poor creatures, perhaps, had been taken +in war; others had probably been sold by their own parents for the sake +of the price which they fetched; for we are told that this shocking +practice was not uncommon among some of the ruder nations. As Gregory +looked at them, his eyes fell on some boys with whose appearance he was +greatly struck. Their skin was fair, unlike the dark complexions of the +Italians and other southern nations whom he had been used to see. Their +features were beautiful, and they had long light flowing hair. He asked +the merchants from what land these boys had been brought. "From +Britain," they said; and they told him that the bright complexion which +he admired so much was common among the people of that island. Perhaps +Gregory had never thought of Britain before. It was nearly two hundred +years since the Roman troops had been withdrawn from it, and its +inhabitants had been left to themselves. And since that time the pagan +Saxons had overrun it; the Romans had lost the countries which lay +between them and it; and Britain +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +had quite disappeared from their +knowledge. Gregory, therefore, was obliged to ask whether the people +were Christians or heathens, and he was told that they were still +heathens. The good monk sighed deeply. "Alas, and woe!" said he, "that +people with such faces of light should belong to the author of darkness, +and that so goodly an outward favour should be void of inward grace." He +asked what was the name of their nation, and was told that they were +<i>Angles</i>. "It is well," he said, "for they have <i>angels'</i> faces, and +such as they ought to be joint-heirs with the angels in heaven.—What is +the name of the province from which they come?" He was told that it was +Deira (a Saxon kingdom, which stretched along the eastern side of +Britain, from the Humber to the Tyne). The name of Deira sounded to +Gregory's ears like two Latin words, which mean "from wrath." "Well, +again," he said, "they are delivered <i>from the wrath</i> of God, and are +called to the mercy of Christ.—What is the name of the king of that +country?" "Aella," was the answer. "Alleluiah!" (<i>Praise to God!</i>) +exclaimed Gregory; "the praises of God their maker ought to be sung in +that kingdom."</p> + +<p>He went at once to the pope, and asked leave to go as a missionary to +the heathens of Britain. But, although the pope consented, the people of +Rome were so much attached to Gregory that they would not allow him to +set out, and he was obliged to give up the plan. Yet he did not forget +the heathens of Britain; and when he became pope, although he could not +himself go to them, he was able to send others for the work of their +conversion.</p> + +<p>An opening had been made by the marriage of Ethelbert, king of Kent, the +Saxon kingdom which lay nearest to the continent, with Bertha, daughter +of Charibert, a Frankish king, whose capital was Paris (<small>A.D.</small> 570). As +Charibert and his family were Christians, it had been agreed that the +young queen should be allowed freely to practise her religion, and a +French bishop, named Luidhard, came to England with her, and acted as +her chaplain. Ethelbert by degrees became much more powerful than he was +at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +time of his marriage, and in 593 he was chosen Bretwalda, which +was the title given to the chief of the Saxon kings. This office gave +him much influence over most of the other kingdoms; so that, if his +favour could be gained, it was likely to be of very great advantage for +recommending the Gospel to others. But Ethelbert was still a heathen, +after having been married to Bertha about five-and-twenty years, +although we may well suppose that she had sometimes spoken to him of her +religion, and had tried to bring him over to it. And perhaps Bertha may +have had a share in sending Gregory the reports which he mentions, that +the Saxons in England were ready to receive the Gospel, and in begging +him to take pity on them.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P1_31_IV" id="P1_31_IV"></a><small>PART IV</small>.</p> + +<p>In the year 596 Gregory sent off a party of monks as missionaries to the +English Saxons. The head of them was Augustine, who had been provost +(that is, the highest person after the +abbot)<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> +of the monastery to +which the pope himself had formerly belonged. And, at the same time, +Gregory directed the manager of his estates in France to buy up a number +of captive Saxon youths, and to place them in monasteries, that they +might learn the Christian faith, and might afterwards become +missionaries to their own countrymen.</p> + +<p>When Augustine and his brethren had got as for as the south of France, +they heard many terrible stories of the English, so they took fright at +the thought of going among such savages, whose very language was unknown +to them; and Augustine went back to Rome to beg that they might be +allowed to give up their undertaking. But Gregory would not consent to +this. He encouraged them to go on, and he gave Augustine letters to some +French kings and bishops, desiring them to assist the missionaries, and +to supply them with interpreters who understood the language +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> of the +Saxons. Augustine, therefore, returned to the place where he had left +his companions. They made their way across France, and in 597 he landed, +with about forty monks, in the Isle of Thanet.</p> + +<p>Ethelbert lived at Canterbury, the capital of the Kentish kingdom, at no +great distance from the place where the missionaries had landed. On +receiving notice of their arrival, he sent to desire that they would +remain where they were until he should visit them; and within a few days +he went to them. The meeting was held in the open air; for Ethelbert had +a superstitious fear that they might do him some mischief by magical +arts, if he were to trust himself under a roof with them. The +missionaries advanced in procession, with a silver cross borne before +them, and displaying a picture of the crucified Saviour; and, as they +slowly moved onwards, they chanted a prayer for their own salvation and +that of the people to whom they had been sent. Ethelbert received them +courteously, and desired them to sit down; and then Augustine made a +speech, telling the king that they were come to preach the word of life +to him and to his subjects. "These are indeed fair words and promises +which you bring with you," said Ethelbert; "but, because they are new +and uncertain, I cannot at once take up with them, and leave the faith +which I and all my people have so long observed. But as you have come +from far, and as I think you wish to give us a share in things which you +believe to be true and most profitable, we will not show you unkindness, +but rather will receive you hospitably, and not hinder you from +converting as many as you can to your religion."</p> + +<p>He then granted them a lodging in his capital, and ordered that they +should be supplied with all that they might need. As they drew near to +Canterbury, they again displayed the silver cross, and the banner on +which the Saviour was painted; and they entered the city in procession, +chanting a litany which Gregory had made for the people of Rome, during +the great plague which carried off pope Pelagius.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +A little way outside the city they found a small church, which had been +built in the days of the old British Christianity, and in which Luidhard +had since held his service for Queen Bertha and the Christians of her +court. It was called by the name of St. Martin; for even before the +Saxon invasion his name had become so famous that many churches were +called after it; and we may well believe that Queen Bertha, on arriving +from France, was glad to find that the church in which she was to +worship had long ago been named in honour of the great saint of her own +land. There Augustine and his brethren now held their service; and the +sight of their holy, gentle, and self-denying lives soon drew many to +receive their instructions. Ethelbert himself was baptized on +Whitsunday, 597, and, although he would not force his people to profess +the Gospel, he declared himself desirous of their conversion.</p> + +<p>Gregory had desired Augustine, if he met with success in the beginning +of his mission, to return from Britain into France and be consecrated as +a bishop. He now obeyed this direction, and was consecrated at Arles; +and without any delay he again crossed the sea, and renewed his labours +among the Saxons. Such was his progress in the work of conversion, that +at Christmas of the year in which he first landed in Britain ten +thousand persons were baptized in one day. Four years later, Gregory +made him an archbishop; and he sent him a fresh body of clergy to help +him, with a large supply of books, vestments, and other things for the +service of the Church. He also gave him instructions how to proceed, so +as to advance the true faith without giving needless offence to the +prejudices of the heathen.</p> + +<p>Augustine's chief difficulties, indeed, were not with the Saxons, but +with the clergy of the ancient British Church, whom he could not succeed +in bringing to an agreement. We must not lay the blame wholly on either +side; if the Britons were somewhat jealous and obstinate, Augustine +seems to have taken too much upon himself in his way of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> dealing with +them. But, whatever his faults may have been, we are bound to hold his +memory in honour for the zealous and successful labours by which the +Gospel was a second time introduced into the southern part of this +island. Before his death, in 604, he had established a second bishop for +Kent, in the city of Rochester, and one at London, which was then the +capital of the kingdom of Essex. And by degrees, partly by the followers +of St. Augustine, and partly by the Scotch monks of +Icolumbkill,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> all +the Saxon kingdoms of England were converted to the Christian faith.</p> + +<p>In the same year with Augustine, Gregory also died, after long and +severe illness, which obliged him for years to keep his bed, but could +not check his activity in watching over the interests of religion.</p> + +<p>Gregory had intended that Augustine should be archbishop of London, +because in the old Roman days London had been the chief city of Britain; +and it might seem natural that the chief bishop of our Church should now +take his title from the capital of all England. But when Gregory sent +forth his missionaries he did not know that England had been divided by +the Saxons into several kingdoms. In consequence of this division of the +country, Augustine, instead of becoming archbishop of London, fixed +himself in the capital of Kent, the first kingdom which he converted, +and then the most powerful of all. Hence it is that his successors, the +primates of all England, to this day, are not archbishops of London but +of Canterbury.</p> + +<p>And, although Canterbury be not now a very large town, it is a very +interesting place, and is full of memorials of its first archbishop. The +noble cathedral, called Christ Church, stands in the same place with an +ancient Roman-British church which Augustine recovered from heathen uses +and consecrated in honour of the Saviour. Close to it are the remains of +the archbishop's palace, built on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +same ground with the palace of +Ethelbert, which he gave up to the missionaries. A little church of St. +Martin still stands on a rising ground outside the city, on the spot +where Bertha and Luidhard had worshipped before the arrival of +Augustine, and where he and his brethren celebrated their earliest +services. And, although it has been rebuilt since then, we may still see +in its walls a number of bricks which by their appearance are known to +be Roman,—the very same materials of which the little church was built +at first, while the Romans were yet in Britain, fourteen centuries and a +half ago; nay, it is even supposed that some part of the masonry is +Roman too. Between St. Martin's and the cathedral lay the great +monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul, which Augustine began to build. He +died before it was finished; but, as soon as it was ready, his body was +removed to it, and in it Queen Bertha and her husband were afterwards +buried. After a time the name of the monastery was changed to St. +Augustine's, and for hundreds of years it was the chief monastery of all +England. The Reformation in the sixteenth century put an end to +monasteries; and the buildings of St. Augustine's went through many +changes, until in the year 1844 the place was turned to a purpose +similar to that which Augustine and Gregory had at heart when they +undertook the conversion of England; for it is now a college for +training missionaries. And, as Gregory wished that Saxon boys should be +brought up with a view to converting their countrymen, so there are now +at St. Augustine's College young men from distant heathen nations, +receiving an education which may fit them hereafter to become +missionaries of the Church of England to their +brethren.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> Nor is the +good Gregory forgotten in the city which owes so much to him; for within +the last few years a beautiful +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +little church called by his name has +been built, close to the college of St. Augustine.</p> + +<p>Here this little book must close. It ends with the replanting of the +Gospel in our own land. And, if hereafter the story should be carried +further, some of its brightest pages will be filled by the labours of +the missionaries who went forth from England to preach the faith of +Christ in Germany and the adjoining countries.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"> +<span class="label">[58]</span></a><a href="#Page_84">See page 84.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"> +<span class="label">[59]</span></a><a href="#Page_150">See page 150.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"> +<span class="label">[60]</span></a><a href="#Page_139">See page 139.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"> +<span class="label">[61]</span></a>Among those who were at the College when this volume was +first printed was Kalli, the Esquimaux, of whom an account has since +been written by the Rev. T. B. Murray, and published by the Society for +Promoting Christian Knowledge. He afterwards went to the diocese of +Newfoundland, where he died of consumption.</p></div> + +<hr class='small' /> + +<h2>PART II.</h2> + +<hr class='small' /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_I" id="CHAPTER_II_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class='center'>MAHOMETANISM—IMAGE-WORSHIP.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 612-794.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +Within a few years after the death of Gregory the Great, a new religion +was set up by an Arabian named Mahomet, who seems to have been honest, +although mistaken, at first, but grew less honest as he went on, and as +he became more successful and powerful. His religion was made up partly +from the Jewish, partly from the Christian, and partly from other +religions which he found around him; but he gave out that it had been +taught him by visions and revelations from heaven, and these pretended +revelations were gathered into a book called the Koran, which serves +Mahomet's followers for their Bible. This new religion was called +<i>Islam</i>, which means submission to the will of God; and the sum of it +was declared to be that "there is but one God, and Mahomet is his +prophet."</p> + +<p>One point in the new religion was, that every faithful Mahometan (or +Mussulman, as they were called) was required once in his life to go on +pilgrimage to Mecca, a city which was Mahomet's birthplace, and was +considered to be especially holy; and to this day it is visited every +year by great companies of pilgrims. Another remarkable thing was, that +he commanded his followers to spread their religion by force; and this +was done with such success, that within about sixty years after +Mahomet's death they had conquered Syria and the Holy Land, Egypt, +Persia, parts of Asia Minor, and all the north of Africa. A little +later,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and got possession of +Spain, where their kingdom of Granada lasted until 1492, nearly eight +hundred years. In the countries which the Mussulmans subdued, Christians +were allowed to live and to keep up their religion; but they had to pay +a heavy tribute, and to bear great hardships and disgraces at the hands +of the conquerors.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned that before Gregory the Great's time almost all Europe +had been overrun by the rude nations of the +north.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> +Learning nearly +died out, and what remained of it was kept up by the monks and clergy +only. There is but little to tell of the history of those times; for, +although in the Greek empire there were great disputes about some +doctrines and practices, these matters were such as you would not care +to know about, nor would you be much the wiser if you did know.</p> + +<p>I may, however, mention that one of these disputes was about images, to +which the Christians of those ages, and especially the Greeks, had come +by degrees to pay a sort of reverence which St. Augustine and other +fathers of older days would have looked on with horror. It had become +usual to fall down before images, to pray to them, to kiss them, to burn +lights and incense in their honour, to adorn them with gold, silver, and +precious stones, to lay the hand on them in taking oaths, and even to +use them as godfathers or godmothers for children in baptism. Those who +defend the use of images would tell us that the honour is not given to +them, but to Almighty God, to the Saviour, and to the saints, through +the images. But when we find, for instance, that people paid more honour +to one image of the blessed Virgin than to another, and that they +supposed their prayers to have a greater hope of being heard when they +were said before one image than when they were said before another, we +cannot help thinking that they believed the images themselves to have +some particular virtue in them.</p> + +<p>There were, then, some of the Greek emperors who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +tried to put down the +superstitious regard for images; and they were the more set on this +because the Mahometans, who abhorred images, reproached the Christians +for using them. These emperors, wishing to do away with the grounds for +such reproaches, caused the figures of stone or metal to be broken, and +the sacred pictures to be smeared over; and they persecuted very cruelly +those who were foremost in defending them. Then came other emperors who +were in favour of images; or widowed empresses, who governed during the +boyhood of their sons, and took up the cause of images with great zeal; +and thus the friends and the enemies of images succeeded each other by +turns on the throne, so that the battle was fought, backwards and +forwards, for a long time, until at length an agreement was come to +which has ever since continued in the Greek Church. By this agreement, +it was settled that the figures made by carving in stone or wood, or by +casting metal into a mould, should be forbidden, but that the use of +religious pictures (which were also called by the name of images) should +be allowed. Hence it is said that the Greeks may not worship anything of +which one can take the tip of the nose between his finger and his thumb. +But in the Latin Church the carved or molten images are still allowed; +and among the poorer and less educated people there is a great deal of +superstition connected with them.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"> +<span class="label">[62]</span></a>See Part I., <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">chap XXIII.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_II" id="CHAPTER_II_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 604-734.</p> + +<p>While the light of the Gospel was darkened by the Mahometan conquests in +some parts of the world where it had once shone brightly, it was +spreading widely among the nations which had got possession of western +Europe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +In England, the successors of St. Augustine converted a large +part of the Anglo-Saxons by their preaching, and much was also done by +missionaries from the island of Iona, on the west of Scotland. There, as +we have seen,<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> +an Irish abbot, named Columba, had settled with some +companions about the year 565, and from Iona their teaching had been +carried all over the northern part of Britain. These missionaries from +Iona to England found a home in the island of Lindisfarne, on the +Northumbrian coast, which was given up to them by Oswald, king of +Northumbria, and from them got the name of Holy Island. Oswald himself +had been converted while an exile in Scotland; and, as he had learnt the +language of the country there, he often helped the missionaries in their +labours by interpreting what they said into the language of his own +subjects who listened to them. The Scottish missionaries carried their +labours even as far south as the river Thames; and their modest and +humble ways gained the respect and love of the people so much that, as +we are told by the Venerable Bede, wherever one of them appeared, he was +joyfully received as the servant of God. Even those who met them on the +road used eagerly to ask their blessing, and, whenever one of them came +to any village, the inhabitants flocked to hear from him the message of +the Gospel.</p> + +<p>But these Scottish missionaries differed in some respects from the +clergy who were connected with St. Augustine; and after a time a great +meeting was held at Whitby, in Yorkshire, to settle the questions +between them and the Roman Church. We must not suppose that these +differences were of any real importance; for they were only about such +small matters as the reckoning of the day on which Easter should be +kept, and the way in which the hair of the clergy should be clipped or +shaven. But, although these were mere trifles, the two parties were each +so set on their own ways that no agreement could be come to; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> the +end was, that the Scottish missionaries went back to their own country, +and did no more work for spreading the Gospel in England, although after +a while the Scottish clergy, and those of Ireland too, were persuaded to +shave their hair and to reckon their Easter in the same way as the other +clergy of the West.</p> + +<p>In those dark times some of the most learned and famous men were English +monks. Among them I shall mention only Bede, who is commonly called the +Venerable, and to whose care we owe almost all our knowledge of the +early history of the Church in this land. Bede was born about the year +673, near Jarrow, in Northumberland, and at the age of seven he entered +the monastery of Jarrow, where the rest of his life was spent. He tells +us of himself that he made it his pleasure every day "either to learn or +to teach or to write something;" and, after having written many precious +books during his quiet life in his cell at Jarrow, he died on the eve of +Ascension-day in the year 734, just as he had finished a translation of +St. John's Gospel.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"> +<span class="label">[63]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_139">p. 139.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_III" id="CHAPTER_II_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. BONIFACE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 680-755.</p> + +<p>Although the Church of Ireland was in a somewhat rough state at home, +many of its clergy undertook missionary work on the Continent; and by +them and others much was done for the conversion of various tribes in +Germany and in the Netherlands. But the most famous missionary of those +times was an Englishman named Winfrid, who is styled the Apostle of +Germany.</p> + +<p>Winfrid was born near Crediton, in Devonshire, about the year 680. He +became a monk at an early age, and perhaps it was then that he took the +name of Boniface,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +by which he is best known. He might probably have +risen to a high place in the church of his own country if he had wished +to do so; but he was filled with a glowing desire to preach the Gospel +to the heathen. He therefore refused all the tempting offers which were +made to him at home, crossed the sea, and began to labour in Friesland +and about the lower part of the Rhine. For three years he assisted +another famous English missionary, Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, who +wished to make Boniface his successor; but Boniface thought that he was +bound rather to labour in some country where his work was more needed; +so, leaving Willibrord, he went into Hessia, where he made and baptized +many thousands of converts. The pope, Gregory the Second, on hearing of +this success, invited him to Rome, consecrated him as a bishop, and sent +him back with letters recommending him to the princes and people of the +countries in which his work was to lie. (<small>A.D.</small> 723.)</p> + +<p>The government of the Franks was then in a very odd state. There were +kings over them; but these kings, instead of carrying on the government +for themselves, and leading their nation in war, were shut up in their +palaces, except that once in the year they were brought out in a cart +drawn by bullocks to appear at the national assemblies. These poor +"do-nothings" (as the kings of the old French race are called) were +without any strength or spirit. From their way of life, they allowed +their hair to grow without being shorn; and the Greeks, who lived far +away from them, and knew of them only by hearsay, believed, not only +that their hair was long, but that it grew down their backs like the +bristles of a hog. And, while the kings had sunk into this pitiable +state, the real work of the kingly office was done, and the kingly power +was really enjoyed, by great officers who were called mayors of the +palace.</p> + +<p>At the time which I am speaking of, the mayor of the palace was Charles, +who was afterwards known by the name of Martel, or <i>The Hammer</i>. Charles +had done a great service to Christendom by defeating a vast army of +Mahometans, who had forced their way from Spain into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> the heart of +France, and driving the remains of them back across the Pyrenees. It is +said that they lost 375,000 men in the battle which they fought with +Charles near Poitiers (<small>A.D.</small> 732); and, although this number is no doubt +beyond the truth, it is certain that the infidels were so much weakened +that they never ventured to attempt any more conquests in western +Europe. But, although Charles had thus done very great things for the +Christian world, it would seem that he himself did not care much for +religion; and, although he gave Boniface a letter of protection, he did +not help or encourage him greatly in his missionary labours. But +Boniface was resolved to carry on bravely what he believed to be God's +work. He preached in Hessia and Thuringia, and made many thousands of +converts. He built churches and monasteries, and brought over from +England large numbers of clergy to help him in preaching and in the +Christian training of his converts, for which purpose he also obtained +supplies of books from his own country. He founded bishoprics, and held +councils of clergy and laymen for the settlement of the Church's +affairs. Finding that the Hessians paid reverence to an old oak-tree, +which was sacred to one of their gods, he resolved to cut it down. The +heathens stood around, looking fiercely at him, cursing and threatening +him, and expecting to see him and his companions struck dead by the +vengeance of their gods. But when he had only just begun to attack the +oak we are told that a great wind suddenly arose, and struck it so that +it fell to the ground in four pieces. The people, seeing this, took it +for a sign from heaven, and consented to give up their old idolatry; and +Boniface turned the wood of the huge old oak to use by building a chapel +with it.</p> + +<p>In some places Boniface found a strange mixture of heathen superstitions +with Christianity, and he did all that he could to root them out. He had +also much trouble with missionaries from Ireland, whose notions of +Christian doctrine and practice differed in some things from his; and +perhaps he did not always treat them with so much of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> wisdom and +gentleness as might have been wished. But after all he was right in +thinking that the sight of more than one kind of Christian religion, +different from each other and opposed to each other, must puzzle the +heathen and hinder their conversion; so that we can understand his +jealousy of those Irish missionaries, even if we cannot wholly approve +of it.</p> + +<p>In reward of his labours and success, Boniface was made an archbishop by +Pope Gregory III. in 732; and, although at first he was not fixed in any +one place, he soon brought the German Church into such a state of order +that it seemed to be time for choosing some city as the seat of its +chief bishop, just as the chief bishop of England was settled at +Canterbury. Boniface himself wished to fix himself at Cologne; but at +that very time the bishop of Mentz got into trouble by killing a Saxon, +who, in a former war, had killed the bishop's father. Although it had +been quite a common thing in those rough days for bishops to take a part +in fighting, Boniface and his councils had made rules forbidding such +things, as unbecoming the ministers of peace; and the case of the bishop +of Mentz, coming just after those rules had been made, could not well be +passed over. The bishop, therefore, was obliged to give up his see; and +Mentz was chosen to be the place where Boniface should be fixed as +archbishop and primate of Germany, having under him five bishops, and +all the nations which had received the Gospel through his preaching.</p> + +<p>When Boniface had grown old, he felt himself again drawn to Frisia, +where, as we have seen,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> +he had laboured in his early life; and at +the age of seventy-five he left his archbishopric, with all that invited +him to spend his last days there in quiet and honour, that he might once +more go forth as a missionary to the barbarous Frieslanders. Among them +he preached with much success; but on Whitsun eve, 755, while he was +expecting a great number of his converts to meet, that they might +receive confirmation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +from him, he and his companions were attacked by +an armed party of heathens, and the whole of the missionaries, fifty-two +in number, were martyred. But although Boniface thus ended his active +and useful life by martyrdom at the hands of those whom he wished to +bring into the way of salvation, his work was carried on by other +missionaries, and the conversion of the Frisians was completed within no +long time. Boniface's body was carried up the Rhine, and was buried at +Fulda, a monastery which he had founded amidst the loneliness of a vast +forest; and there the tomb of the "Apostle of the Germans" was visited +with reverence for centuries.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"> +<span class="label">[64]</span></a><a href="#Page_174">Page 174.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_IV" id="CHAPTER_II_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>PIPIN AND CHARLES THE GREAT.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 741-814.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of St. Boniface's life, a great change took place in the +government of the Franks. Pipin, who had succeeded his father, Charles +Martel, as mayor of the palace, grew tired of being called a servant +while he was really the master; and the French sent to ask the pope, +whose name was Zacharias, whether the man who really had the kingly +power ought not also to have the title of king. Zacharias, who had been +greatly obliged to the Franks for helping him against his enemies the +Lombards, answered them in the way that they seemed to wish and to +expect; and accordingly they chose Pipin as their king. And while, +according to the custom in such cases, Pipin was lifted up on a shield +and displayed to the people, while he was anointed and crowned, the last +of the poor old race of "do-nothing" kings was forced to let his long +hair be shorn until he looked like a monk, and was then shut up in a +monastery for the rest of his days.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +Pipin afterwards went into Italy for the help of the pope, and bestowed +on the Roman Church a large tract of country which he had taken from the +Lombards. And this <i>donation</i> (as it was called) or gift, was the first +land which the popes possessed in such a way that they were counted as +the sovereigns of it.</p> + +<p>Pipin died in 768, and was succeeded by his son Charles, who is commonly +called Charlemagne (or Charles the Great). Under Charles the connexion +between the Franks and the Popes became still closer than before; and +when Charles put down the Lombard kingdom in Italy (<small>A.D.</small> 774), the popes +came in for part of the spoil.</p> + +<p>But the most remarkable effect of this connexion was at a later time, +when Pope Leo III. had been attacked in a Roman street by some +conspirators, who tried to blind him and to cut out his tongue. But they +were not able to do their work thoroughly, and Leo recovered the use +both of his tongue and of his eyes. He then went into Germany to ask +Charles to help him against his enemies; and on his return to Rome he +was followed by Charles. There, on Christmas Day, <small>A.D.</small> 800, when a vast +congregation was assembled in the great church of St. Peter, the pope +suddenly placed a golden crown on the king's head, while the people +shouted, "Long life and victory to our emperor, Charles!" So now, after +a long time, an emperor was set up again in the West; and, although +these new emperors were German, they all styled themselves emperors of +the Romans. The popes afterwards pretended that they had a right to +bestow the empire as they liked, and that Leo had taken it from the +Greeks, and given it to the Germans. But this was quite untrue. Charles +seems to have made up his mind to be emperor, but he was very angry with +the pope for giving him the crown by surprise, instead of letting him +take his own way about it; and, if he had been left to himself, he would +have taken care to manage the matter so that the pope should not appear +to do anything more than to crown him in form after he had been chosen +by the Roman people.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_4_II" id="P2_4_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +Charles was really a great man, although he had very serious faults, and +did many blameable things. He carried his conquests so far that the +Greeks had a proverb, "Have the Frank for thy friend, but not for thy +neighbour,"—meaning that the Franks were likely to try to make their +neighbours' lands their own. He thought it his duty to spread the +Christian faith by force, if it could not be done in a gentler way; and +thus, when he had conquered the Saxons in Germany, he made them be +baptized and pay tithes to the Church. But I need hardly say that +people's belief is not to be forced in this way; and many of those who +submitted to be baptized at the conqueror's command had no belief in the +Gospel, and no understanding of it. There is a story told of some who +came to be baptized over and over again for the sake of the white +dresses which were given to them at their baptism; and when one of these +had once got a dress which was coarser than usual, he declared that such +a sack was fitter for a swineherd than for a warrior, and that he would +have nothing to do with it or with the Christian religion. The Saxons +gave Charles a great deal of trouble, for his war with them lasted no +less than thirty-three years; and at one time he was so much provoked by +their frequent revolts that he had the cruelty to put 4,500 Saxon +prisoners to death.</p> + +<p>But there are better things to be told of Charles. He took very great +pains to restore learning, which had long been in a state of decay. He +invited learned men from Italy and from England to settle in his +kingdom; and of all these, the most famous was a Northumbrian named +Alcuin. Alcuin gave him wise and good advice as to the best way of +treating the Saxons in order to bring them to the faith; and when +Charles was on his way to Rome, just before he was crowned as emperor, +Alcuin presented him with a large Latin Bible, written expressly for his +use; for we must remember that printing was not invented until more than +six hundred years later, so that all books in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +Charles's days were +<i>manuscript</i> (or written by hand). Some people have believed that an +ancient manuscript Bible which is now to be seen in the great library at +Paris is the very one which Alcuin gave to Charles.</p> + +<p>We are told that when Charles found himself at a loss for help in +educating his people, he said to Alcuin that he wished he might have +twelve such learned clerks as Jerome and Augustine; and that Alcuin +answered, "The Maker of heaven and earth has had only two such; and are +you so unreasonable as to wish for twelve?"</p> + +<p>Alcuin was made master of the palace school, which moved about wherever +the court was, and in which the pupils were Charles's own children and +the sons of his chief nobles; and besides this, care was taken for the +education of the clergy and of the people in general. Charles himself +tried very hard to learn reading and writing when he was already in +middle age; but although he became able to read, and used to keep little +tablets under his pillow, in order that he might practise writing while +lying awake in bed, he never was able to write easily. Many curious +stories are told of the way in which he overlooked the service in his +chapel, where he desired that everything should be done as well as +possible. He would point with his finger or with his staff at any person +whom he wished to read in chapel, and when he wished any one to stop he +coughed; and it was expected that at these signals each person would +begin or stop at once, although it might be in the middle of a sentence.</p> + +<p>During this time the question of images, which I have already +mentioned,<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> +came up again in the Greek Church. A council was held in +787 at Nicĉa, where the first general council had met in the time of +Constantine, more than four centuries and a half +before;<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> and in this +second Nicene council images were approved of. In the West, the popes +were also for them; but they were condemned in a council at Frankfort, +and a book was written against +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +them in the name of Charles. It is +supposed that this book was mostly the work of Alcuin, but that Charles, +besides allowing it to go forth with his name and authority, had really +himself had a share in making it.</p> + +<p>Charles the Great died in the year 814. A short time before his death, +he sent for his son Lewis, and in the great church at Aix-la-Chapelle, +which was Charles's favourite place of abode, he took from the altar a +golden crown, and with his own hands placed it on the head of Lewis. By +this he meant to show that he did not believe the empire to depend on +the pope's will, but considered it to be given to himself and his +successors by God alone.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"> +<span class="label">[65]</span></a><a href="#Page_170">Page 170.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"> +<span class="label">[66]</span></a>See Part I., <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">chap. XI.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_V" id="CHAPTER_II_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class='center'>DECAY OF CHARLES THE GREAT'S EMPIRE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 814-887.</p> + +<p>Lewis, the son of Charles the Great, was a prince who had very much of +good in him, so that he is commonly called the Pious. But he was of weak +character, and his reign was full of troubles, mostly caused by the +ambition of his own sons, who were helped by a strong party among the +clergy, and even by Pope Gregory the Fourth. At one time he was obliged +to undergo public penance, and some years later he was deprived of his +kingdom and empire, although these acts caused such a shock to the +feelings of men that he found friends who helped him to recover his +power. And after his death (<small>A.D.</small> 840) his children and grandchildren +continued to quarrel among themselves as long as any of them lived.</p> + +<p>Besides these quarrels among their princes, the Franks were troubled at +this time by enemies of many kinds.</p> + +<p>First of all I may mention the Northmen, who poured down by sea on the +coasts of the more civilized nations. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +These were the same who in our +English history are called Danes, with whom the great Alfred had a long +struggle, and who afterwards, under Canute, got possession of our +country for a time. They had light vessels,—<i>serpents</i>, as they were +called,—which could sail up rivers; and so they carried fire and sword +up every river whose opening invited them, making their way to places so +far off the sea as Mentz, on the Rhine; Treves, on the Moselle; Paris, +on the Seine; and even Auxerre, on the Yonne. They often sacked the +wealthy trading cities which lay open to their attacks; they sailed on +to Spain, plundered Lisbon, passed the Straits of Gibraltar, and laid +waste the coasts of Italy.</p> + +<p>After a time they grew bolder, and would leave their vessels on the +rivers, while they struck across the country to plunder places which +were known to be wealthy. They made fortified camps, often on the +islands of the great rivers, and did all the mischief they could within +a large circle around them. These Northmen were bitter enemies of +Christianity, and many of them had lost their homes because they or +their fathers would not be converted at Charlemagne's bidding; so that +they had a special pleasure in turning their fury against churches and +monasteries. Wherever they came, the monks ran off and tried to save +themselves, leaving their wealth as a prey to the strangers. People were +afraid to till the land, lest these enemies should destroy the fruits of +their labours. Famines became common; wolves were allowed to multiply +and to prey without check; and such were the distress and fear caused by +the invaders, that a prayer for the deliverance "from the fury of the +Northmen" was added to the service-books of the Frankish church.</p> + +<p>Another set of enemies were the Mahometan Saracens, who got possession +of the great islands of the Mediterranean and laid waste its coasts. It +is said that some of them sailed up the Tiber and carried off the altar +which covered the body of St. Peter. One party of Saracens settled on +the banks of a river about halfway between Rome and Naples; others in +the neighbourhood of Nice, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +and on that part of the Alps which is now +called the Great St. Bernard; and they robbed pilgrims and merchants, +whom they made to pay dearly for being let off with their lives.</p> + +<p>Europe also suffered much from the Hungarians, a very rude, heathen +people, who about the year 900 poured into it from Asia. We are told +that they hardly looked human, that they lived like beasts, that they +ate men's flesh and drank their blood. They rode on small active horses, +so that the heavy-armed cavalry of the Franks could not overtake them; +and if they ran away before their enemies, they used to stop from time +to time, and let fly their arrows backwards. From the Elbe to the very +south of Italy these barbarians filled Europe with bloodshed and with +terror.</p> + +<p>The Northmen at length made themselves so much feared in France, that +King Charles III., who was called the Simple, gave up to them, in 911, a +part of his kingdom, which from them got the name of Normandy. There +they settled down to a very different sort of life from their old habits +of piracy and plunder, so that before long the Normans were ahead of all +the other inhabitants of France; and from Normandy, as I need hardly +say, it was that William the Conqueror and his warriors came to gain +possession of England.</p> + +<p>The princes of Charles the Great's family, by their quarrels, broke up +his empire altogether; and nobody had anything like the power of an +emperor until Otho I., who became king of Germany in 936, and was +crowned emperor at Rome in 962.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_VI" id="CHAPTER_II_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>STATE OF THE PAPACY.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 891-1046.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +All this time the papacy was in a very sad condition. Popes were set up +and put down continually, and some of them were put to death by their +enemies. The body of one pope named Formosus, after it had been some +years in the grave, was taken up by order of one of his successors +(Stephen VI.), was dressed out in the full robes of office, and placed +in the papal chair; and then the dead pope was tried and condemned for +some offence against the laws of the Church. It was declared that the +clergy whom he had ordained were not to be reckoned as clergy; his +corpse was stripped of the papal robes; the fingers which he had been +accustomed to raise in blessing were cut off; and the body, after having +been dragged about the city, was thrown into the Tiber (<small>A.D.</small> 896).</p> + +<p>Otho the Great, who has been mentioned as emperor, turned out a young +pope, John XII., who was charged with all sorts of bad conduct (<small>A.D.</small> +963); and that emperor's grandson, Otho III., put in two popes, one +after another (<small>A.D.</small> 996, 999). The second of these popes was a very +learned and clever Frenchman, named Gerbert, who as pope took the name +of Sylvester II. He had studied under the Arabs in Spain (for in some +kinds of learning the Arabs were then far beyond the Christians); and it +was he who first taught Christians to use the Arabic figures (such as 1, +2, and 3) instead of the Roman letters or figures (such as I., II., and +III.). He also made a famous clock; and on account of his skill in such +things people supposed him to be a sorcerer, and told strange stories +about him. Thus it is said that he made a brazen head, which answered +"Yes" and "No" to questions. Gerbert asked his head +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> where he should +die, and supposed from the answer that it was to be in the city of +Jerusalem. But one day as he was at service in one of the Roman churches +which is called "Holy Cross in Jerusalem," he was taken very ill; and +then he understood that that church was the Jerusalem in which he was to +die. We need not believe such stories; but yet it is well to know about +them, because they show what people were disposed to believe in the time +when the stories were made.</p> + +<p>The troubles of the papacy continued, and at one time there were no +fewer than three popes, each of whom had one of the three chief churches +of Rome, and gave himself out for the only true pope. But this state of +things was such a scandal that the emperor, Henry III., was invited from +Germany to put an end to it, and for this purpose he held a council at +Sutri, not far from Rome, in 1046. Two of the popes were set aside, and +the third, Gregory VI., who was the best of the three, was drawn to +confess that he had given money to get his office, because he wished to +use the power of the papacy to bring about some kind of reform. But on +this he was told that he had been guilty of simony—a sin which takes +its name from Simon the sorcerer, in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. +viii.), and which means the buying of spiritual things with money. This +had never struck Gregory before; but when told of it by the council he +had no choice but to lay aside his papal robes, and the emperor put one +of his own German bishops into the papacy.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_VII" id="CHAPTER_II_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>MISSIONS OF THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES.</p> + +<p>It will be pleasanter to tell you something about the missions of those +times; for a great deal of missionary work was then carried on.</p> + +<p>(1.) The Bulgarians, who had come from Asia in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> end of the seventh +century, and had settled in the country which still takes its name from +them, were converted by missionaries of the Greek Church. It is said +that, when some beginning of the work had been made, and the king +himself had been baptized by the patriarch of Constantinople (<small>A.D.</small> 861), +the king asked the Greek emperor to send him a painter to adorn the +walls of his palace; and that a monk named Methodius was sent +accordingly, for in those times monks were the only persons who +practised such arts as painting. The king desired him to paint a hall in +the palace with subjects of a terrible kind, by which he meant that the +pictures should be taken from the perils of hunting. But, instead of +such subjects, Methodius painted the last judgment, as being the most +terrible of all things; and the king, on seeing the picture of hell with +its torments, and being told that such would be the future place of the +heathen, was so terrified that he gave up the idols which he had kept +until then, and that many of his subjects were also moved to seek +admission into the Church.</p> + +<p>Although the conversion of Bulgaria had been the work of Greek +missionaries, the popes afterwards sent some of their clergy into the +country, and claimed it as belonging to them; and this was one of the +chief causes why the Greek and the Latin churches separated from each +other, so that they have never since been really reconciled.</p> + +<p>(2.) It is not certain whether the painter Methodius was the same with a +monk of that name, who, with his brother, named Cyril, brought about the +conversion of Moravia (<small>A.D.</small> 863). These missionaries went about their +work in a different way from what was common; for it had been usual for +the Greek clergy to use the Greek language, and for the Western clergy +to use the Latin, in their church-service and in other things relating +to religion; but instead of this, Cyril and Methodius learnt the +language of the country, and translated the church-services, with parts +of the holy Scriptures, into it, so that all might be understood by the +natives. In Moravia, too, there was a quarrel +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> between the Greek and the +Latin clergy; but, although the popes usually insisted that the services +of the Church should be either in Latin or in Greek (because these were +two of the languages which were written over the Saviour's cross), they +were so much pleased with the success of Cyril and Methodius, that they +allowed the service of the Moravian Church to be still in the language +of the country.</p> + +<p>(3.) Soon after the conversion of the Moravians, the duke of Bohemia +paid a visit to their king, Swatopluk, who received him with great +honour, but at dinner set him and his followers to sit on the floor, as +being heathens. Methodius, who was at the king's table, spoke to the +duke, and said that he was sorry to see so great a prince obliged to +feed as if he were a swineherd. "What should I gain by becoming a +Christian?" he replied; and when Methodius told him that the change +would raise him above all kings and princes, he and his thirty followers +were baptized.</p> + +<p>A story of the same kind is told as to the conversion of the +Carinthians, which was brought about in the end of the eighth century by +a missionary named Ingo, who asked Christian slaves to eat at his own +table, while he caused food to be set outside the door for their heathen +masters, as if they had been dogs. This led the Carinthian nobles to ask +questions; and in consequence of what they heard they were baptized, and +their example was followed by their people generally.</p> + +<p>The second bishop of Prague, the chief city of Bohemia, Adalbert, is +famous as having gone on a mission to the heathens of Prussia, by whom +he was martyred on the shore of the Frische Haff in 997.</p> + +<p>(4.) In the north of Germany, in Denmark, and in Sweden, Anskar, who had +been a monk at Corbey, on the Weser, laboured for thirty-nine years with +earnest devotion and with great success (<small>A.D.</small> 826-865). In addition to +preaching the Gospel of salvation, he did much in such charitable works +as the building of hospitals and the redemption of captives; and he +persuaded the chief men of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> the country north of the Elbe to give up +their trade in slaves, which had been a source of great profit to them, +but which Anskar taught them to regard as contrary to the Christian +religion. Anskar was made archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, and is +styled "The Apostle of the North." But he had to suffer many dangers and +reverses in his endeavours to do good. At one time, when Hamburg was +burnt by the Northmen, he lost his church, his monastery, his library, +and other property; but he only said, with the patriarch Job, "The Lord +gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" +Then he set to work again, without being discouraged by what had +befallen him, and he even made a friend of the heathen king who had led +the attack on Hamburg. Anskar died in the year 865. It is told that when +some of his friends were talking of miracles which he was supposed to +have done, he said, "If I were worthy in my Lord's sight, I would ask of +Him to grant me one miracle—that He would make me a good man!"</p> + +<p>(5.) The Russians were visited by missionaries from Greece, from Rome, +and from Germany, so that for a time they wavered between the different +forms of the Christian religion which were offered to them; but at +length they decided for the Greek Church. When their great prince (who, +at his baptism, took the name of Basil) had been converted (<small>A.D.</small> 988) he +ordered that the idol of the chief god who had been worshipped by the +Russians should be dragged at a horse's tail through the streets of the +capital, Kieff, and should be thrown into the river Dnieper. Many of the +people burst into tears at the sight; but when they were told that the +prince wished them to be baptized, they said that a change of religion +must be good if their prince recommended it; and they were baptized in +great numbers. "Some," we are told, "stood in the water up to their +necks, others up to their breasts, holding their young children in their +arms; and the priests read the prayers from the bank of the river, +naming at once whole companies by the same name."</p> + +<p>(6.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +I might give an account of the spreading of the Gospel in Poland, +Hungary, and other countries; but let us keep ourselves to the north of +Europe. Although Anskar had given up his whole life to missionary work +among the nations near the Baltic Sea, there was still much to be done, +and sometimes conversion was carried on in ways which to us seem very +strange. As an instance of this, I may give some account of a Norwegian +king named Olave, the son of Tryggve.</p> + +<p>Olave was at first a heathen, and had long been a famous sea-rover, when +he was converted and baptized in one of the Scilly islands (<small>A.D.</small> 994). +He took up his new religion with a great desire to spread it among his +people, and he went about from one part of Norway to another, everywhere +destroying temples and idols, and requiring the people to be baptized +whether they were willing or not. At one place he found eighty heathens, +who were supposed to be wizards. He first tried to convert them in the +morning when they were sober, and again in the evening when they were +enjoying themselves over their horns of ale; and as he could not +persuade them, whether they were sober or drunk, he burnt their temple +over their heads. All the eighty perished except one, who made his +escape; and this man afterwards fell into the king's hands, and was +thrown into the sea.</p> + +<p>At another time, Olave fell in with a young man named Endrid, who agreed +to become a Christian if any one whom the king might appoint should beat +him in diving, in archery, and in sword-play. Olave himself undertook +the match, and got the better of Endrid in all the trials; and then +Endrid gave in, and allowed himself to be converted and baptized. These +were strange ways of spreading the Gospel; but they seem to have had +their effect on the rough men of the North.</p> + +<p>At last, Olave was attacked by some of his heathen neighbours, and was +beaten in a great sea-fight (<small>A.D.</small> 1000). It was generally believed that +he had perished in the sea; but there is a story of a Norwegian pilgrim +who, nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +fifty years later, lost his way among the sands of Egypt, +and lighted on a lonely monastery, with an old man of his own country as +its abbot. The abbot put many questions to him, and asked him to carry +home a girdle and a sword, and to give them with a message to a warrior +who had fought bravely beside King Olave in his last battle; and on +receiving them the old warrior was assured that the Egyptian abbot could +be no other than his royal master, who had been so long supposed to be +dead.</p> + +<p>Somewhat later than Olave the son of Tryggve (<small>A.D.</small> 1015) Norway had +another king Olave, who was very zealous for the spreading of the Gospel +among his people, and, like the elder Olave, was willing to do so by +force if he could not manage the matter otherwise. On his visiting a +place called Dalen, a bishop named Grimkil, who accompanied him, set +forth the Christian doctrine; but the heathens answered that their own +god was better than the God of the Christians, because he could be seen. +The king spent the greater part of the night in prayer, and next morning +at daybreak the idol of the northern god Thor was brought forward by his +worshippers. Olave pointed to the rising sun, as being a witness to the +glory of its Maker; and, while the heathens were gazing on its +brightness, a tall soldier, to whom the king had given his orders +beforehand, lifted up his club and dashed the idol to pieces. A swarm of +loathsome creatures, which had lived within the idol's huge body, and +had fattened on the food and drink which were offered to it, rushed +forth, as in the case of the image of Serapis, hundreds of years +before;<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> +whereupon the men of Dalen were convinced of the falsehood +of their old religion, and consented to be baptized. King Olave was at +length killed in battle against his heathen subjects (<small>A.D.</small> 1030), and +his memory is regarded as that of a saint.</p> + +<p>(7.) From Norway the Gospel made its way to the Norwegian settlements in +Iceland, and even in Greenland, where it long flourished, until, in the +middle of the fifteenth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +century, ice gathered on the shores so as to +make it impossible to land on them. About the same time a great plague, +which was called the Black Death, carried off a large part of the +settlers, and the rest were so few and so weak that they were easily +killed by the natives.</p> + +<p>It seems to be certain that some of the Norwegians from Greenland +discovered a part of the American continent, although no traces of them +remained there when the country was again discovered by Europeans, +hundreds of years later.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"> +<span class="label">[67]</span></a>See Part I., <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">chap. XVI.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_VIII" id="CHAPTER_II_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>POPE GREGORY THE SEVENTH.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>In the times of which I have been lately speaking, the power of the +popes had grown far beyond what it was in the days of Gregory the Great.</p> + +<p>I have told you Gregory was very much displeased because a patriarch of +Constantinople had styled himself <i>Universal +Bishop</i>.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> +But since that +time the popes had taken to calling themselves by this very title, and +they meant a great deal more by it than the patriarchs of Constantinople +had meant; for people in the East are fond of big words, so that, when a +patriarch called himself <i>Universal Bishop</i>, he did not mean anything in +particular, but merely to give himself a title which would sound +grandly. And thus, although he claimed to be universal, he would have +allowed the bishops of Rome to be universal too. But when the popes +called themselves <i>Universal Bishops</i>, they meant that they were bishops +of the whole church, and that all other bishops were under them.</p> + +<p>They had friends, too, who were ready to say anything +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> to raise their +power and greatness. Thus, about the year 800, when the popes had begun +to get some land of their own, through the gifts of Pipin and +Charlemagne,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> +a story was got up that the first Christian emperor, +Constantine, when he built his city of Constantinople, and went to live +in the East, made over Rome to the pope, and gave him also all Italy, +with other countries of the West, and the right of wearing a golden +crown. And this story of Constantine's gift (or <i>donation</i>, as it was +called), although it was quite false, was commonly believed in those +days of ignorance.</p> + +<p>About fifty years later another monstrous falsehood was put forth, which +helped the popes greatly. Somebody, who took the name of Isidore, a +famous Spanish bishop who had been dead more than two hundred years, +made a collection of Church law and of popes' letters; and he mixed up +with the true letters a quantity which he had himself forged, but which +pretended to have been written by bishops of Rome from the very time of +the Apostles. And in these letters it was made to appear that the pope +had been appointed by our Lord Himself to be head of the whole Church, +and to govern it as he liked; and that the popes had always used this +power from the beginning. This collection of laws is known by the name +of the <i>False Decretals</i>; but nobody in those times had any notion that +they were false, and so they were believed by every one, and the pope +got all that they claimed for him.</p> + +<p>But in course of time the popes would not be contented even with this. +In former ages nobody could be made pope without the emperor's consent, +and we have seen how Otho the Great, his grandson, Otho III., and +afterwards Henry III., had thought that they might call popes to account +for their conduct; how these emperors brought some popes before councils +for trial, and turned them out of their office when they +misbehaved.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> +But just after Henry III., as we have read, had got rid of three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> popes +at once, a great change began, which was meant to set the popes above +the emperors. The chief mover in this change was Hildebrand, who is said +to have been the son of a carpenter in a little Tuscan town, and was +born between the years 1010 and 1020.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_8_II" id="P2_8_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Hildebrand became a monk of the strictest kind, and soon showed a +wonderful power of swaying the minds of other men. Thus, when a German +named Bruno, bishop of Toul, had been chosen as pope by Henry III., to +whom he was related, and as he was on his way to Rome that he might take +possession of his office, his thoughts were entirely changed by some +talk with Hildebrand, whom he happened to meet. Hildebrand told him that +popes, instead of being appointed by emperors, ought to be freely chosen +by the Roman clergy and people; and thereupon Bruno, putting off his +fine robes, went on to Rome in company with Hildebrand, whose lessons he +listened to all the way, so that he took up the monk's notions as to all +matters which concerned the Church. On arriving at Rome, he told the +Romans that he did not consider himself to be pope on account of the +emperor's favour, but that if they should think fit to choose him he was +willing to be pope. On this he was elected by them with great joy, and +took the name of Leo IX. (<small>A.D.</small> 1048). But, although Leo was called pope, +it was Hildebrand who really took the management of everything.</p> + +<p>When Leo died (<small>A.D.</small> 1054), the Romans wished to put Hildebrand into his +place; but he did not yet feel himself ready to take the papacy, and +instead of this he contrived to get one after another of his party +elected, until at length, after having really directed everything for no +less than five-and-twenty years, and under the names of five popes in +succession, he allowed himself to be chosen in 1073, and styled himself +Gregory VII.</p> + +<p>The empire was then in a very sad state. Henry III. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> had died in 1056, +leaving a boy less than six years old to succeed him; and this poor boy, +who became Henry IV., was very badly used by those who were about him. +One day, as he was on an island in the river Rhine, Hanno, archbishop of +Cologne, gave him such an account of a beautiful new boat which had been +built for the archbishop, that the young prince naturally wished to see +it; and as soon as he was safe on board, Hanno carried him off to +Cologne, away from his mother, the empress Agnes. Thus the poor young +Henry was in the hands of people who meant no good by him; and, although +he was naturally a bright, clever, amiable lad, they did what they could +to spoil him, and to make him unfit for his office, by educating him +badly, and by throwing in his way temptations to which he was only too +ready to yield. And when they had done this, and he had made himself +hated by many of his people on account of his misbehaviour, the very +persons who had done the most to cause his faults took advantage of +them, and tried to get rid of him as king of Germany and emperor. In the +meantime Hildebrand (or Gregory, as we must now call him) and his +friends had been well pleased to look on the troubles of Germany; for +they hoped to turn the discontent of the Germans to their own purpose.</p> + +<p>Gregory had higher notions as to the papacy than any one who had gone +before him. He thought that all power of every kind belonged to the +pope; that kings had their authority from him; that all kingdoms were +held under him as the chief lord; that popes were as much greater than +kings or emperors as the sun is greater than the moon; that popes could +make or unmake kings just as they pleased; and although he had asked the +emperor to confirm his election, as had been usual, he was resolved that +such a thing should never again be asked of an emperor by any pope in +the time to come.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_8_III" id="P2_8_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>One way in which Gregory tried to increase his power was by forcing the +clergy to live unmarried, or, if they were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> married already, to put away +their wives. This was a thing which had not been required either in the +New Testament or by the Church in early times. But by degrees a notion +had grown up that single life was holier than married life; and many +canons (or laws of the Church) had been made against the marriage of the +clergy. But Gregory carried this further than any one before him, +because he saw that to make the clergy different from other men, and to +cut them off from wife and children and the usual connexions of family, +was a way to unite them more closely into a body by themselves. He saw +that it would bind them more firmly to Rome; that it would teach them to +look to the pope, rather than to their national sovereign, as their +chief; and that he might count on such clergy as sure tools, ready to be +at the pope's service in any quarrel with princes. He therefore sent out +his orders, forbidding the marriage of the clergy, and he set the people +against their spiritual pastors by telling them to have nothing to do +with the married clergy, and not to receive the sacraments of the Church +from them. The effects of these commands were terrible: the married +clergy were insulted in all possible ways, many of them were driven by +violence from their parishes, and their unfortunate wives were made +objects of scorn for all mankind. So great and scandalous were the +disorders which arose, that many persons, in disgust at the evils which +distracted the Church, and at the fury with which parties fought within +it, forsook it and joined some of the sects which were always on the +outlook for converts from it.</p> + +<p>Another thing on which Gregory set his heart, as a means of increasing +the power of the popes, was to do away with what was called +<i>Investiture</i>. This was the name of the form by which princes gave +bishops possession of the estates and other property belonging to their +sees. The custom had been that princes should put the pastoral staff +into the hands of a new bishop, and should place a ring on one of his +fingers; but now fault was found with these acts, because the staff +meant that the bishop had the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> charge of his people as a shepherd has of +his flock, and the ring meant that he was joined to his Church as a +husband is joined to his wife in marriage. For now it was said to be +wrong to use things which are signs of spiritual power, when that which +the prince gives is not spiritual power, but only a right to the earthly +possessions of the see. Gregory, therefore, ordered that no bishop +should take investiture from any sovereign, and that no sovereign should +give investiture; and out of this grew a quarrel which lasted fifty +years, and was the cause of grievous troubles in the Church.</p> + +<p>Gregory had also quarrels with enemies at home. One of these, a rough +and lawless man named Cencius, went so far as to seize him when he was +at a service about midnight on Christmas Eve, and carried him off to a +tower, where the pope was exposed all night to the insults of a gang of +ruffians, and of Cencius himself, who even held a sword to his naked +throat, in the hope of frightening him into the payment of a large sum +as ransom. But Gregory was not a man to be terrified by any violence, +and held out firmly. A woman who took pity on him bathed his wounds, and +a man gave him some furs to protect him against the cold; and in the +morning he was delivered by a party of his friends, by whom Cencius and +his ruffians were overpowered, and frightened into giving up their +prisoner.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_8_IV" id="P2_8_IV"></a><small>PART IV</small>.</p> + +<p>In Germany many of the princes and people threw off their obedience to +Henry. They destroyed his castles and reduced him to great distress; +they held meetings against him, and were strong enough to make him give +up his power of government for a time, and leave all questions between +him and his subjects to be settled by the pope. Henry was so much afraid +of losing his kingdom altogether, that, in order to beg the pope's +mercy, he crossed the Alps, with his queen and a few others, in the +midst of a very hard winter, running great risks among the snow and ice +which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +covered the lofty mountains over which his road lay. In the hope +of getting the pope's forgiveness, he hastened to Canossa, a castle +among the Apennines, at which Gregory then was; but Gregory kept the +emperor standing three days outside the gate, dressed as a penitent, and +pierced through and through by the bitter cold of that terrible winter, +before he would allow himself to be seen. When at last Henry was +admitted, the pope treated him very hardly; some say that he even tried +to make him take the holy sacrament of our Lord's body, by way of +proving whether he were innocent or guilty of the charges which his +enemies brought against him. And, after all that Henry had gone through, +no peace was made between him and his enemies. The troubles of Germany +continued: the other party set up against Henry a king of their own +choosing, named Rudolf; and Henry, in return for this, set up another +pope in opposition to Gregory.</p> + +<p>After a time, Henry was able to put down his enemies in Germany, and he +led a large army into Italy, where he got almost all Rome into his +hands; and on Easter Day, 1084, he was crowned as emperor, in St. +Peter's Church, by Clement III., the pope of his party. Gregory +entreated the help of Robert Guiscard, the chief of some Normans who had +got possession of the south of Italy; and Guiscard, who was glad to have +such an opportunity for interfering, speedily came to his relief and +delivered him. But in fighting with the Romans in the streets, these +Normans set the city on fire, and a great part of it was destroyed, so +that within the walls of Rome there are even in our own day large spaces +which were once covered with buildings, but are now given up to +cornfields or vineyards. Gregory felt himself unable to bear the sight +of his ruined city, and, when the Normans withdrew, he went with them to +Salerno, where he died on the 25th of May, 1085. It is said that his +last words were, "I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; +therefore I die in exile;" and the meaning seems to be, that by these +words he wished to claim the benefit of our Lord's saying, "Blessed are +they which are persecuted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the +kingdom of heaven."</p> + +<p>Of all the popes, Gregory VII. was the one who did most to increase the +power of the papacy. No doubt he was honest in his intentions, and +thought that to carry them out would be the best thing for the whole +Church, as well as for the bishops of Rome. But he did not care whether +the means which he used were fair or foul; and if his plans had +succeeded, they would have brought all mankind into slavery to Rome.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"> +<span class="label">[68]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_159">p. 159.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"> +<span class="label">[69]</span></a><a href="#Page_178">See p. 178.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"> +<span class="label">[70]</span></a>Pp. <a href="#Page_184">184,</a> <a href="#Page_185">185.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_IX" id="CHAPTER_II_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE FIRST CRUSADE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1095-1099.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>The popes who came next after Gregory VII. carried things with a high +hand, following the example which he had set them. They got the better +of Henry IV., but in a way which did them no credit. For when Henry had +returned from Italy to his own country, and had done his best, by many +years of good government, to heal the effects of the long troubles of +Germany, the popes encouraged his son Conrad, and after Conrad's death, +his younger son Henry, to rebel against him. The younger Henry behaved +very treacherously to his father, whom he forced to give up his crown; +and, at last, Henry IV. died broken-hearted in 1106. When Henry was thus +out of the way, his son, Henry V., who, until then, had seemed to be a +tool of the pope and the clergy, showed what sort of man he really was +by imprisoning Pope Paschal II. and his cardinals for nine weeks, until +he made the pope grant all that he wanted. But at length this emperor +was able to settle for a time the great quarrel of investitures, by an +agreement made at the city of Worms, on the Rhine, in 1123.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +But before this time, and while Henry IV. was still emperor, the popes +had got a great addition to their power and importance by the +<i>Crusades</i>,—a word which means wars undertaken for the sake of the +Cross. I have told you already, how, from the fourth century, it became +the fashion for Christians to flock from all countries into the Holy +Land, that they might warm their faith (as they thought) by the sight of +the places where our Blessed Lord had been born, and lived, and died, +and where most of the other things written in the Scripture history had +taken place.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> +Very often, indeed, this pilgrimage was found to do +more harm than good to those who went on it; for many of them had their +minds taken up with anything rather than the pious thoughts which they +professed: but the fashion of pilgrimage grew more and more, whether the +pilgrims were the better or the worse for it.</p> + +<p>When the Holy Land had fallen into the hands of the Mahometans, as I +have mentioned,<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> +these often treated the Christian pilgrims very +badly, behaving cruelly to them, insulting them, and making them pay +enormously for leave to visit the holy places. And when Palestine was +conquered by the Turks, who had taken up the Mahometan religion lately, +and were full of their new zeal for it (<small>A.D.</small> 1076), the condition of the +Christians there became worse than ever. There had often been thoughts +among the Christians of the West as to making an attempt to get back the +Holy Land from the unbelievers; but now the matter was to be taken up +with a zeal which had never before been felt.</p> + +<p>A pilgrim from the north of France, called Peter the Hermit, on +returning from Jerusalem, carried to Pope Urban II. a fearful tale of +the tyranny with which the Mahometans there treated both the Christian +inhabitants and the pilgrims; and the pope gave him leave to try what he +could do to stir up the Christians of the West for the deliverance of +their brethren. Peter was a small, lean, dark man, but with an eye of +fire, and with a power of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +fiery speech; and wherever he went, he found +that people of all classes eagerly thronged to hear him; they even +gathered up the hairs which fell from the mule on which he rode, and +treasured them up as precious relics. On his bringing back to the pope a +report of the success which he had thus far met, Urban himself resolved +to proclaim the crusade, and went into France, as being the country +where it was most likely to be welcomed. There, in a great meeting at +Clermont, <small>A.D.</small> 1095, where such vast numbers attended that most of them +were forced to lodge in tents, because the town itself could not hold +them, the pope, in stirring words, set forth the reasons of the holy +war, and invited his hearers to take part in it. While he was speaking, +the people broke in on him with shouts of "God wills it!"—words which +from that time became the cry of the Crusaders; and when he had done, +thousands enlisted for the crusade by fixing little crosses on their +dress.</p> + +<p>All over Europe everything was set into motion; almost every one, +whether old or young, strong or feeble, was eager to join; women urged +their husbands or their sons to take the cross, and any one who refused +was despised by all. Many of those who enlisted would not wait for the +time which had been fixed for starting. A large body set out under Peter +the Hermit and two knights, of whom one was called Walter the Pennyless. +Other crowds followed, which were made up, not of fighting men only, but +of poor, broken-down old men, of women and children who had no notion +how very far off Jerusalem was, or what dangers lay in the way to it. +There were many simple country folks, who set out with their families in +carts drawn by oxen; and whenever they came to any town, their children +asked, "Is this Jerusalem?" And besides these poor creatures, there were +many bad people, who plundered as they went on, so as to make the +crusade hated even by the Christian inhabitants of the countries through +which they passed.</p> + +<p>These first swarms took the way through Hungary to Constantinople, and +then across the Bosphorus into Asia +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +Minor. Walter the Pennyless, who, +although his pockets were empty, seems to have been a brave and good +soldier, was killed in battle near Nicĉa, the place where the first +general council had been +held,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> +but which had now become the capital +of the Turks; and the bones of his followers who fell with him were +gathered into a great heap, which stood as a monument of their rashness. +It is said that more than a hundred thousand human beings had already +perished in these ill-managed attempts before the main forces of the +Crusaders began to move.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_9_II" id="P2_9_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>When the regular armies started at length, <small>A.D.</small> 1096, part of them +marched through Hungary, while others went through Italy, and there took +ship for Constantinople. The chief of their leaders was Godfrey of +Bouillon, a brave and pious knight; and among the other commanders was +Robert, duke of Normandy, whom we read of in English history as the +eldest son of William the Conqueror, and brother of William Rufus. When +they reached Constantinople, they found that the Greek emperor, Alexius, +looked on them with distrust and dislike rather than with kindness; and +he was glad to get rid of them by helping them across the strait to +Asia.</p> + +<p>In passing through Asia Minor, the Crusaders had to fight often, and to +struggle with many other difficulties. The sight of the hill of bones +near Nicĉa roused them to fury; and, in order to avenge Walter the +Pennyless and his companions, they laid siege to the city, which they +took at the end of six weeks. After resting there for a time, they went +on again and reached Antioch, which they besieged for eight months +(Oct., 1097-June, 1098). During this siege they suffered terribly. Their +tents were blown to shreds by the winds, or were rotted by the heavy +rains which turned the ground into a swamp; and, as they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> had wasted +their provisions in the beginning of the siege (not expecting that it +would last so long), they found themselves in great distress for food, +so that they were obliged to eat the flesh of horses and camels, of dogs +and mice, with grass and thistles, leather, and the bark of trees. Their +horses had almost all sunk under the hardships of the siege, and the men +were thinned by disease and by the assaults of their enemies.</p> + +<p>At length Antioch was betrayed to them; but they made a bad use of their +success. They slew all of the inhabitants who refused to become +Christians. They wasted the provisions which they found in the city, or +which were brought to them from other quarters; and when a fresh +Mahometan force appeared, which was vastly greater than their own, they +found themselves shut in between it and the garrison of the castle, +which they had not been able to take when they took the city.</p> + +<p>Their distress was now greater than before, and their case seemed to be +almost hopeless, when their spirits were revived by the discovery of +something which was supposed to be the lance by which our blessed Lord's +side was pierced on the cross. They rushed, with full confidence, to +attack the enemy on the outside; and the victory which they gained over +these was soon followed by the surrender of the castle. But a plague +which broke out among them obliged them to remain nearly nine months +longer at Antioch.</p> + +<p>Having recruited their health, they moved on towards Jerusalem, although +their numbers were now much less than when they had reached Antioch. +When at length they came in sight of the holy city, a cry of "Jerusalem! +Jerusalem! God wills it!" ran through the army, although many were so +moved that they were unable to speak, and could only find vent for their +feelings in tears and sighs. All threw themselves on their knees and +kissed the sacred ground (June, 1099). The siege of Jerusalem lasted +forty days, during which the Crusaders suffered much from hunger, and +still more from thirst: for it was the height of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> summer, when all the +brooks of that hot country are dried up; the wells, about which we read +so much in holy Scripture, were purposely choked with rubbish, and the +cisterns were destroyed or poisoned. Water had to be fetched from a +distance of six miles, and was sold very dear; but it was so filthy that +many died after drinking it. The besiegers found much difficulty in +getting wood to make the engines which were then used in attacking the +walls of cities; and when they had at length been able to build such +machines as they wanted, the defenders tried to upset them, and threw at +them showers of burning pitch or oil, and what was called the Greek +fire, in the hope that they might set the engines themselves in flames, +or at least might scald or wound the people in them. We are even told +that two old women, who were supposed to be witches, were set to utter +spells and curses from the walls; but a stone from an engine crushed the +poor old wretches, and their bodies tumbled down into the ditch which +surrounded the city. The Crusaders were driven back in one assault, and +were all but giving way in the second; but Godfrey of Bouillon thought +that he saw in the sky a bright figure of a warrior beckoning him +onwards; and the Crusaders pressed forward with renewed courage until +they found themselves masters of the holy city (July 15, 1099). It was +noted that this was at three o'clock on a Friday afternoon,—the same +day of the week, and the same hour of the day, when our Blessed Lord was +crucified.</p> + +<p>I shall not tell you of the butchery and of the other shocking things +which the Crusaders were guilty of when they got possession of +Jerusalem. They were, indeed, wrought up to such a state that they were +not masters of themselves. At one moment they were throwing themselves +on their knees with tears of repentance and joy; and then again they +would start up and break lose into some frightful acts of cruelty and +plunder against the conquered enemy, sparing neither old man, nor woman, +nor child.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_9_III" id="P2_9_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +Eight days after the taking of Jerusalem, the Crusaders met to choose a +king. Robert of Normandy was one of those who were proposed; but the +choice fell on Godfrey of Bouillon. But the pious Godfrey said that he +would not wear a crown of gold when the King of kings had been crowned +with thorns; and he refused to take any higher title than that of +Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre.</p> + +<p>Godfrey did not live long to enjoy his honours, and his brother, +Baldwin, was chosen in his room. The kingdom of Jerusalem was +established, and pilgrims soon began to stream afresh towards the sacred +places. But, although we might have expected to find that this recovery +of the Holy Land from the Mahometans by the Christians of the West would +have led to union of the Greek and Latin Churches, it unhappily turned +out quite otherwise. The popes set up a Latin patriarch, with Latin +bishops and clergy, against the Greeks, and the two Churches were on +worse terms than ever.</p> + +<p>This crusade was followed by others, as we shall see by and by; but +meanwhile, I may say that, although the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was +never strong, and soon showed signs of decay, these crusades brought the +nations of the West, which fought side by side in them, to know more of +each other; that they served to increase trade with the East, and so to +bring the produce of the Eastern countries within the reach of +Europeans; and, as I have said +already,<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> +they greatly helped to +increase the power of the popes, who had seen their way to take the +direction of them, and thus get a stronger hold than before on the +princes and people of Western Christendom.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"> +<span class="label">[71]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_91">p. 91.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"> +<span class="label">[72]</span></a><a href="#Page_169">Page 169.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"> +<span class="label">[73]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_45">p. 45.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"> +<span class="label">[74]</span></a><a href="#Page_199">Page 199.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_X" id="CHAPTER_II_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class='center'>NEW ORDERS OF MONKS.—MILITARY ORDERS.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +In the times of which I have lately been speaking, the monks did much +valuable service to the Church and to the world in general. It was +mostly through their labours that heathen nations were converted to the +Gospel, that their barbarous roughness was tamed, and that learning, +although it had greatly decayed, was not altogether lost. Often, where +monks had built their houses in lonely places, little clusters of huts +grew up round them, and in time these clusters of huts became large and +important towns. Monks were very highly thought of, and sometimes it was +seen that kings and queens would leave all their worldly grandeur, and +would withdraw to spend their last years under the quiet roof of a +monastery. But it was found, at the same time, that monks were apt to +fall away from the strict rules by which they were bound, so that +reforms were continually needed among them.</p> + +<p>As the popes became more powerful, they found the monks valuable friends +and allies, and they gave <i>exemptions</i> to many monasteries; that is to +say, they took it on themselves to set those monasteries free from the +control which the bishops had held over them, so that the monks of these +exempt places did not own any bishop at all, and would not allow that +any one but the pope was over them.</p> + +<p>I have already told you of the rule which was drawn up for monks by St. +Benedict of Nursia.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> +Some other rules were afterwards made, such as +that of Columban, an Irish abbot, who for many years (<small>A.D.</small> 589-615) +laboured in France, Switzerland, and the north of Italy. Columban went +more into little matters than Benedict had done, and laid down exact +directions in cases where Benedict had left the abbots of monasteries to +settle things as they should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +think fit. Thus Columban's rule laid down +that any monk who should call anything his own should receive six +strokes, and appointed the same punishment for every one who should omit +to say <i>Amen</i> after the abbot's blessing, or to make the sign of the +cross over his spoon or his candle; for every one who should talk at +meals, or should cough at the beginning of a psalm. There were ten +strokes for striking the table with a knife, or for spilling beer on it; +and for heavier offences the punishment sometimes rose as high as two +hundred: besides that, other punishments were used, such as fasting on +bread and water, psalm-singing, humble postures, and long times of +silence.</p> + +<p>Still, however, Benedict's rule was that by which the greater part of +the Western monks were governed. But, although they were under the same +rule, they had no other connexion with each other; each company of monks +stood by itself, having no tie outside its own walls. There was not as +yet, in the West, anything like the society which St. Pachomius had long +before established in +Egypt,<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> +where all the monasteries were supposed +to be as so many sisters, and all owned the mother-monastery as their +head. It was not until the tenth century that anything of this kind was +set on foot in the Western Church.</p> + +<p>(1.) In the year 912, an abbot named Berno founded a new society at +Cluny, in Burgundy. He began with only twelve monks; but by degrees the +fame of Cluny spread, and the pattern which had been set there was +copied far and wide, until at length more than two thousand monasteries +were reckoned as belonging to the "Congregation" (as it was called), or +Order of Cluny; and all these looked up to the great abbot of the +mother-monastery as their chief. The early abbots of Cluny were very +remarkable men, and took a great part in the affairs both of the Church +and of kingdoms: some of them even refused the popedom; and bishops +placed themselves under them, as simple monks of Cluny, for the sake of +their advice and teaching.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +The founders of the Cluniac order added many precepts to the rule of St. +Benedict. Thus the monks were required to swallow all the crumbs of +their bread at the end of every meal; and when some of them showed a +wish to escape this duty, they were frightened into obedience by an +awful tale that a monk, when dying, saw at the end of his bed a great +sack of the crumbs which he had left on the table rising up as a witness +against him. The monks were bound to keep silence at times; and we are +told that, rather than break this rule, one of them allowed his horse to +be stolen, and another let himself be carried off as a prisoner by the +Northmen. During these times of silence they made use of a set of signs, +by which they were able to let each other know what they wanted.</p> + +<p>This congregation of Cluny, then, was the first great monkish order in +the West, and others soon followed it. They were mostly very strict at +first—some of them so strict that they not only forbade all luxury in +the monks, but would not allow any fine buildings, or any handsome +furniture in their churches. But in general the monks soon got over this +by saying that, as their buildings and their services were not for +themselves, but for God, their duty was to honour Him by giving Him of +the best that they could.</p> + +<p>These orders were known from each other by the difference of their +dress: thus the Benedictines were called Black Monks, the Cistercians +were called White Monks, and at a later time we find mention of Black +Friars, White Friars, Grey Friars, and so forth.</p> + +<p>(2.) About the time of Gregory VII., several new orders were founded; +and of these the most famous were the Carthusians and the Cistercians.</p> + +<p>As to the beginning of the Carthusian order, a strange story is told. +The founder, Bruno, is said to have been studying at Paris, when a +famous teacher, who had been greatly respected for his piety, died. As +his funeral was on its way to the grave, the corpse suddenly raised +itself from the bier, and uttered the words, "By God's righteous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +judgment I am accused!" All who were around were struck with horror, and +the burial was put off until the next day. But then, as the mourners +were again moving towards the grave, the dead man rose up a second time, +and groaned out, "By God's righteous judgment I am judged!" Again the +service was put off; but on the third day, the general awe was raised to +a height by his lifting up his head and saying, "By God's righteous +judgment I am condemned!" And it is said that on this discovery as to +the real state of a man who had been so highly honoured for his supposed +goodness, Bruno was so struck by a feeling of the hollowness of all +earthly judgment that he resolved to hide himself in a desert.</p> + +<p>I have given this story as a sample of the strange tales which have been +told and believed; but not a word of it is really true, and Bruno's +reasons for withdrawing from the world were of quite a different kind. +It is, however, true that he did withdraw into a wild and lonely place, +which is now known as the Great Chartreuse, among rough and awful rocks, +near Grenoble; and there an extremely severe rule was laid down for the +monks of his order (<small>A.D.</small> 1084). They were to wear goatskins next to the +flesh, and their dress was altogether to be of the coarsest and roughest +sort. On three days of each week their food was bread and water; on the +other days they were allowed some vegetables; but even their highest +fare on holidays was cheese and fish, and they never tasted meat at all. +Once a week they submitted to be flogged, after confessing their sins. +They spoke on Sundays and festivals only, and were not allowed to use +signs like the Cluniacs. It is to be said, to the credit of the +Carthusians, that, although their order grew rich and built splendid +monasteries and churches, they always kept to their hard way of living, +more faithfully, perhaps, than any other order.</p> + +<p>(3.) The Cistercian order, which I have mentioned, was founded by Robert +of Molême (<small>A.D.</small> 1098), and took its name from its chief monastery, +Citeaux, or, in Latin, <i>Cistercium</i>. The rule was very strict. From the +middle of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +September to Easter they were to eat but one meal daily. +Their monasteries were not to be built in towns, but in lonely places. +They were to shun pomp and pride in all things. Their services were to +be plain and simple, without any fine music. Their vestments and all the +furniture of their churches were to be coarse and without ornament. No +paintings, nor sculptures, nor stained glass were allowed. The ordinary +dress of the monks was to be white.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed as if the hardness of the Cistercian rule prevented +people from joining. But the third abbot of Citeaux, an Englishman, +named Stephen Harding, when he was distressed at the slow progress of +the order, was comforted by a vision in which he saw a multitude washing +their white robes in a fountain; and very soon the vision seemed to be +fulfilled. In 1113 Bernard (of whom we shall hear more presently) +entered the monastery of Citeaux, and by and by the order spread so +wonderfully that it equalled the Cluniac congregation in the number of +houses belonging to it. These were not only connected together like the +Cluniac monasteries, but had a new kind of tie in the general chapters, +which were held every year. For these general chapters every abbot of +the order was required to appear at Citeaux, to which they all looked up +as their mother. Those who were in the nearer countries were bound to +attend every year; those who were further off, once in three, or five, +or seven years, according to distance. Thus the smaller houses were +allowed to have a share in the management of the whole; and the plan was +afterwards imitated by Carthusians and other orders.</p> + +<p>(4.) I need not mention any more of the societies of monks which began +about the same time; but I must not omit to say that the Crusades gave +rise to what are called <i>military orders</i>, of which the first and most +famous were the Templars and the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John. +These orders were governed by rules which were much like those of the +monks; but the members of them were knights, who undertook to defend the +Holy Land against the unbelievers. The Hospitallers were at first +connected with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +a hospital which had been founded at Jerusalem for the +benefit of pilgrims by some Italian merchants, and took its name from +St. John, an archbishop of Alexandria, who was called the Almsgiver. +They had a black dress, with a white cross on the breast, and, from +having been at first employed in nursing the sick and relieving the +poor, they became warriors who fought against the Mussulmans.</p> + +<p>The Templars, who wore a white dress, with a red cross on the breast, +were even more famous as soldiers than the Hospitallers. The knights of +both these orders were bound by their rules to remain unmarried, to be +regular and frequent in their religious exercises, to live plainly, to +devote themselves to the defence of the Christian faith and of the Holy +Land; and for the sake of this work emperors, kings, and other wealthy +persons bestowed lands and other gifts on them, so that they had large +estates in all the countries of Europe. But as they grew rich, they +forgot their vows of poverty and humility, and, although they kept up +their character for bravery, they were generally disliked for their +pride and insolence.</p> + +<p>We shall see by and by how it was that the order of the Temple came to +ruin. But the Hospitallers lasted longer. When the Christians were +driven out of the Holy Land, the knights of this order removed first to +Cyprus, then to Rhodes, and, last of all, to Malta, where they continued +even until quite late times.</p> + +<p>Other military orders were founded after the pattern of the Templars and +the Hospitallers. The most famous of them were the Teutonic (or German) +knights, who fought the heathens on the shores of the Baltic Sea, and +got possession of a large country, which afterwards became the kingdom +of Prussia; and the order of St. James, which belonged to Spain, and +there carried on a continual war with the Mahometan Moors, whose +settlement in that country has already been +mentioned.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> +</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"> +<span class="label">[75]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_150">p. 150.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"> +<span class="label">[76]</span></a>See Part I., <a href="#Page_62">p. 62.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"> +<span class="label">[77]</span></a><a href="#Page_170">Page 170.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XI" id="CHAPTER_II_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ST. BERNARD.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1091-1153.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +St. Bernard was mentioned a little way +back,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> +when we were speaking +of the Cistercian order. But I must now tell you something more +specially about him; for Bernard was not only famous for his piety and +for his eloquent speech, but by means of these he gained such power and +influence that he was able to direct the course of things in the Church +in such a way as no other man ever did.</p> + +<p>Bernard, then, was born near Dijon, in Burgundy, in the year 1091. His +father was a knight; his mother, Aletha, was a very religious woman, who +watched carefully over his childhood, and prayed earnestly and often +that he might be kept from the dangers of an evil world. As Bernard was +passing from boyhood to youth, the good Aletha died. We are told that +even to her last breath she joined in the prayers and psalm-singing of +the clergy who stood round her bed; and he afterwards fancied that she +appeared to him in visions, warning him lest he should run off in +pursuit of worldly learning so as to forget the importance of religion +above all things.</p> + +<p>After a time, Bernard was led to resolve on becoming a monk. But before +doing so he contrived to bring his father, his uncle, his five brothers, +and his sister to the same mind; and when he asked leave to enter the +Cistercian order, it was at the head of a party of more than thirty. It +is said that, as they were setting out, the eldest brother saw the +youngest at play, and told him that all the family property would now +fall to him. "Is it heaven for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +you, and earth for me?" said the boy; +"that is not a fair division;" and he followed Bernard with the rest.</p> + +<p>We have seen that, although the Cistercian order had been founded some +years, people were afraid to join it because the rule was so +strict.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> +But the example of Bernard and his companions had a great effect, and so +many others were thus led to enter the order, that the mother-monastery +was far too small to hold them. Bernard was chosen to be head of one of +the swarms which went forth from Citeaux. The name of his new monastery +was Clairvaux, which means <i>The Bright Valley</i>. When he and his party +first settled there, they had to bear terrible hardships. They suffered +from cold and from want of clothing. For a time they had to feed on +porridge made of beech-leaves; and even when the worst distress was +over, the plainness and poverty of their way of living astonished all +who saw it.</p> + +<p>Bernard himself went so far in mortification that he made himself very +ill, and would most likely have died, if a bishop, who was his friend, +had not stepped in and taken care of him for a time. Bernard afterwards +understood that he had been wrong in carrying things so far; but the +people who saw how he had worn himself down by fasting and frequent +prayer, were willing to let themselves be led to anything that so +saintly a man might recommend to them. It was even believed that he had +the gift of doing miracles; and this added much to the admiration which +he raised wherever he went.</p> + +<p>Perhaps there never was a man who had greater influence than Bernard; +for, although he did not rise to be anything more than Abbot of +Clairvaux, and refused all higher offices, he was able, by the power of +his speech, and by the fame of his saintliness, to turn kings and +princes, popes and emperors, and even whole assemblies of men, in any +way that he pleased. When two popes had been chosen in opposition to +each other, Bernard was able to draw all the chief princes of +Christendom into siding with that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +pope whose cause he had taken up; and +when the other pope's successor had been brought so low that he could +carry on his claims no longer, he went to Bernard, entreating him to +plead for him with the successful pope, Innocent II., and was led by the +abbot to throw himself humbly as a penitent at Innocent's feet.</p> + +<p>Some years after this, one of Bernard's old pupils was chosen as pope, +and took the name of Eugenius III. Eugenius was much under the direction +of his old master, and Bernard, like a true friend, wrote a book "On +Consideration," which he sent to Eugenius, showing him the chief faults +which were in the Roman Church, and earnestly exhorting the pope to +reform them.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_11_II" id="P2_11_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Bernard was even the chief means of getting up a new crusade. When +tidings came from the East that the Christians in those parts had +suffered heavy losses (<small>A.D.</small> 1145), he travelled over great part of +France and along the river Rhine in order to enlist people for the holy +war. He gathered meetings, at which he spoke in such a way as to move +all hearts, and stirred up his hearers to such an eagerness for +crusading that they even tore the clothes off his back in order to +divide them into little bits, which might serve as crusaders' badges. +And he drew in the emperor Conrad and king Lewis VII. of France, besides +a number of smaller princes, to join the expedition, although it was so +hard to persuade Conrad, that, when at last he was brought over, it was +regarded as a miracle.</p> + +<p>It had been found, at the time of the first crusade, that many people +were disposed to fall on the Jews of their own neighbourhood, as being +enemies of Christ no less than the Mahometans of the Holy Land, and the +same was repeated now. But Bernard strongly set his face against this +kind of cruelty, and was not only the means of saving the lives of many +Jews, but brought the chief preacher of the persecution to own with +sorrow and shame that he had been utterly wrong.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +Although, however, a vast army was raised for the recovery of the Holy +Land, and although both the emperor and the French king went at the head +of it, nothing came of the crusade except that vast numbers of lives +were sacrificed without any gain; and even Bernard's great fame as a +saint was not enough to protect him from blame on account of the part +which he had taken in getting up this unfortunate attempt.</p> + +<p>These were some of the most remarkable things in which Bernard's command +over men's minds was shown; and he was able also to get the better of +some persons who taught wrong or doubtful opinions, even although they +may have been men of sharper wits and of greater learning than himself.</p> + +<p>In short, Bernard was the leading man of his age. No doubt he believed +many things which we should think superstitious or altogether wrong; and +in his conduct we cannot help noticing some tokens of human +frailty—especially a jealous love of the power and influence which he +had gained. But, although he was not without his defects, we cannot fail +to see in him an honest, hearty, and laborious servant of God, and we +shall not wish to grudge him the title of <i>saint</i>, which was granted to +him by a pope in 1173, and has ever since been commonly attached to his +name. Bernard died in 1153.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"> +<span class="label">[78]</span></a><a href="#Page_209">Page 209.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"> +<span class="label">[79]</span></a><a href="#Page_209">Page 209.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XII" id="CHAPTER_II_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>ADRIAN IV.—ALEXANDER III.—BECKET.—THE THIRD CRUSADE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1153-1192.</p> + +<p>In the year of Bernard's death Adrian IV. was chosen pope; and he is +especially to be noted by us because he was the only Englishman who ever +held the papacy. His name at first was Nicolas Breakspeare; and he was +born<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +near St. Albans, where, in his youth, he asked to be received into +the famous abbey as a monk. But the monks of St. Albans refused him; and +he then went to seek his fortune abroad, where he rose step by step, +until at length the poor Hertfordshire lad, who would have had no chance +of any great place in his own country (for he was of Saxon family, and +the Normans, after the Conquest, kept all the good places for +themselves), was chosen to be the head of Christendom (<small>A.D.</small> 1154).</p> + +<p>Adrian had a high notion of the greatness and dignity of his office. +When the emperor Frederick I. (who is called <i>Barbarossa</i>, or +<i>Redbeard</i>) went from Germany into Italy, and was visited in his camp by +the pope, Adrian required that the emperor should hold his stirrup as he +mounted his horse, and said that such had been the custom from the time +of the great Constantine. Frederick had never heard of such a thing +before, and was not willing to submit; but on inquiry he found that a +late emperor, Lothair III., had held a pope's stirrup, and then he +agreed to do the like. But he took care to do it so awkwardly that every +one who saw it began to laugh; and thus he made his submission appear +like a joke.</p> + +<p>Frederick Redbeard carried on a long struggle with the popes. When, at +Adrian's death, two rival popes had been chosen (<small>A.D.</small> 1159), the emperor +required them to let him judge between their claims; and, as one of +them, Alexander III., refused to admit any earthly judge, Frederick took +part with the other, who called himself Victor IV. And when Victor was +dead, Frederick set up three more anti-popes, one after another, to +oppose Alexander.</p> + +<p>But Alexander had the kings of France and England on his side, and at +last he not only got himself firmly settled, but brought Frederick to +entreat for peace with him, and with some cities of North Italy, which +had formed themselves into what was called the Lombard League (<small>A.D.</small> +1177). But we must not believe a story that, when this treaty was +concluded in the great church of St. Mark at Venice, the pope put his +foot on the emperor's neck, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> the choir chanted the words of the 91st +Psalm, "Thou shalt go upon the lion and the adder:" for this story was +not made up until long after, and has no truth at all in it.</p> + +<p>It was in Alexander III.'s time that the great quarrel between Henry II. +of England and Archbishop Thomas Becket took place. Becket had been +raised by the king's favour to be his chancellor, and afterwards to be +archbishop of Canterbury and head of all the English clergy (<small>A.D.</small> 1162). +But, although until then he had done everything just as the king wished, +no sooner had he become archbishop than he turned round on Henry. He +claimed that any clergyman who might be guilty of crimes should not be +tried by the king's judges, but only in the Church's courts. He was +willing to allow that, if a clergyman were found guilty of a great crime +in these courts, he might be degraded,—that is to say, that he should +be turned out of the ranks of the clergy,—and that, when he had thus +become like other men, he might be tried like any other man for any +fresh offences which he might commit. But for the first crime Becket +would allow no other punishment than degradation at the utmost. The king +said that in such matters clergy and laity ought to be alike; and about +this chiefly the two quarrelled, although there were also other matters +which helped to stir up the strife.</p> + +<p>In order to get out of the king's way, the archbishop secretly left +England (<small>A.D.</small> 1164), and for six years he lived in France, where king +Lewis treated him with much kindness, partly because this seemed a good +way to annoy the king of England. But at length peace was made, and +Becket had returned to England, when some new acts of his provoked the +king to utter some hasty words against him; whereupon four knights, who +thought to do Henry a service, took occasion to try to seize the +archbishop, and, as he refused to go with them, murdered him in his own +cathedral (<small>A.D.</small> 1170). But as you must have read the story of Becket in +the history of England, I need not spend much time in repeating it.</p> + +<p>In 1185, when Urban III. was pope, tidings reached +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> Europe that +Jerusalem had been taken by the great Mussulman hero and conqueror, +Saladin; and at once all Western Christendom was stirred up to make a +grand attempt for the recovery of the Holy City. The lion-hearted +Richard of England, Philip Augustus of France, and the emperor Frederick +Redbeard, who had lately made his peace with the pope, were all to take +part; but very little came of it. Frederick, after having successfully +made his way by Constantinople into Asia Minor, was drowned in the river +Cydnus, in Cilicia. Richard, Philip, and other leaders, after reaching +the Holy Land, quarrelled among themselves; and the Crusaders, after a +vast sacrifice of life, returned home without having effected the +deliverance of Jerusalem. You will remember how Richard, in taking his +way through Austria, fell into the hands of the emperor Henry VI., the +son of Frederick Redbeard, and was imprisoned in Germany until his +subjects were able to raise the large sum which was demanded for his +ransom.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XIII" id="CHAPTER_II_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>INNOCENT THE THIRD.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1198-1216.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>The popes were continually increasing their power in many ways, although +they were often unable to hold their ground in their own city, but were +driven out by the Romans, so that they were obliged to seek a refuge in +France, or to fix their court for a time in some little Italian town. +They claimed the right of setting up and plucking down emperors and +kings. Instead of asking the emperor to confirm their own election to +the papacy, as in former times, they declared that no one could be +emperor without their consent. They said that they were the chief lords +over kingdoms;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +they required the emperors to hold their stirrup as they +mounted on horseback, and the rein of their bridle as they rode. And +while such was their treatment of earthly princes, they also steadily +tried to get into their own hands the powers which properly belonged to +bishops, so that the bishops should seem to have no rights of their own, +but to hold their office and to do whatever they did only through the +pope's leave and as his servants. They contrived that, whenever any +difference arose in the Church of any country, instead of being settled +on the spot, it should be carried by an appeal to Rome, that the pope +might judge it. They declared themselves to be above any councils of +bishops, and claimed the power of assembling general councils, although +in earlier times this power had belonged to the emperors, as was seen in +the case of the first great council of Nicĉa. They interfered with the +election of bishops, and with the appointment of clergy to offices, in +every country; and they sent into every country their ambassadors, or +<i>legates</i> (as they were called), whom they charged people to respect and +obey as they would respect and obey the pope himself. These legates +usually made themselves hated by their pride and greediness; for they +set themselves up far above the archbishops and bishops of any country +that they might be sent into, and they squeezed out from the clergy of +each country which they visited the means of keeping up their pomp and +splendour.</p> + +<p>The popes who followed Gregory VII. all endeavoured to act in his +spirit, and to push the claims of their see further and further. And of +these popes, by far the strongest and most successful was Innocent III., +who was only thirty-seven years old when he was elected in 1198. I have +told you how Gregory said that the papacy was as much greater than any +earthly power as the sun is than the moon. And now Innocent carried out +this further by saying that, as the lesser light (the moon) borrows of +the greater light (the sun), so the royal power is borrowed from the +priestly power.</p> + +<p>Innocent pretended to a right of judging between the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> princes who +claimed the empire and the kingdom of Germany, and of making an emperor +by his own choice. He forced the king of France, Philip Augustus, to do +justice to a virtuous Danish princess, whom he had married and had +afterwards put away. And he forced John of England to accept Stephen +Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, although Langton was appointed by +the pope without any regard to the rights of the clergy or of the +sovereign of England. Both in France and in England Innocent made use of +what was called an <i>interdict</i> to make people submit to his will. By +this sentence (which had first come into use about three hundred years +before), a whole country was punished at once, the bad and the good +alike; all the churches were closed, all the bells were silenced, all +the outward signs of religion were taken away. There was no blessing for +marriage, there were no prayers at the burial of the dead; the baptism +of children and the office for the dying were the only services of the +Church which were allowed while the interdict lasted. And it was +commonly found, that, although a king might not himself care for any +spiritual threats or sentences which the pope might utter, he was unable +to hold out against the general feeling of his people, who could not +bear to be without the rites of religion, and cried out that the +innocent thousands were punished for the sake of one guilty person.</p> + +<p>John was completely subdued to the papacy, and agreed to give up his +crown to the pope's commissioner, Pandulf; after which he received it +again from Pandulf's hands, and promised to hold the kingdoms of England +and Ireland under the condition of paying a yearly tribute as an +acknowledgment that the pope was his lord.</p> + +<p>Archbishop Langton, although he had been forced on the English Church by +the pope, yet afterwards took a different line from what might have been +expected. For when John, by his tyranny, provoked his barons to rise +against him, the archbishop was at the head of those who wrung from the +king the Great Charter as a security for English liberty; and, although +the pope was violently angry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +and threatened to punish the archbishop +and the barons severely, Langton stood firmly by the cause which he had +taken up.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_13_II" id="P2_13_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>While Innocent was thus carrying things with a high hand among the +Christians of the West, he could not but feel distress about the state +of affairs in the East. There, countries which had once been Christian, +and among them the Holy Land, where the Saviour had lived and died, had +fallen into the hands of unbelievers, and all the efforts which had been +made to recover them had hitherto been vain. The pope's mind was set on +a new crusade, and in order to raise money for it he gave much out of +his own purse, stinted himself as to his manner of living, obliged the +cardinals and others around him to do the like, and caused collections +to be gathered throughout Western Christendom. Eloquent preachers were +sent about to stir people up to the great work, and the chief beginning +was made at a place called Ecry, in the north of France. It so happened +that the most famous of the preachers, whose name was Fulk, arrived +there just as a number of nobles and knights were met for a tournament +(which was the name given to the fights of knights on horseback, which +were regarded as sport, but very often ended in sad earnest). Fulk, by +the power of his speech, persuaded most of these gallant knights at Ecry +to take the cross; and, as the number of Crusaders grew, some of them +were sent to Venice, to provide means for their being carried by sea to +Egypt, which was the country in which it was thought that the Mahometans +might be attacked with the best hope of success.</p> + +<p>When these envoys reached Venice, which was then the chief trading city +of Europe, they found the Venetians very willing to supply what they +wanted. It was agreed that for a certain sum of money the Venetians +should prepare ships and provisions for the number of Crusaders which +was expected; and they did so accordingly. But when the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> Crusaders came, +it was found that their numbers fell short of what had been reckoned on; +for many had chosen other ways of going to the East; and, as the +Venetians would take nothing less than the sum which they had bargained +for, the Crusaders, with their lessened numbers, found themselves unable +to pay. In this difficulty, the Venetians proposed that, instead of the +money which could not be raised, the Crusaders should give them their +help against the city of Zara, in Dalmatia, with which Venice had a +quarrel. The Crusaders were very unwilling to do this; because the pope, +in giving his consent to their enterprise, had forbidden them to turn +their arms against any Christians. But they contrived to persuade +themselves that the pope's words were not to be understood too exactly; +and at a meeting in the great church of St. Mark, Henry Dandolo, the +doge or duke of Venice, took the cross, and declared to the vast +multitude of citizens and Crusaders who crowded the church that, +although he was ninety-four years of age, and almost or altogether +blind, he himself would be the leader.</p> + +<p>A fleet of nearly five hundred vessels sailed from Venice accordingly +(Oct., 1202), and Zara was taken after a siege of six days, although the +inhabitants tried to soften the feelings of the besiegers by displaying +crosses and sacred pictures from the walls, as tokens of their +brotherhood in Christ. After this success, the Crusaders were bound by +their engagement to go on to Egypt or the Holy Land; but a young Greek +prince, named Alexius, entreated them to restore his father, who had +been dethroned by a usurper, to the empire of the East; and, although +the French were unwilling to undertake any work that might interfere +with the recovery of the Holy Land, the Venetians, who cared little for +anything but their own gain, persuaded them to turn aside to +Constantinople.</p> + +<p>When the Crusaders came in sight of the city, they were so astonished at +the beauty of its lofty walls and towers, of its palaces and its many +churches, that (as we are told) the hearts of the boldest among them +beat with a feeling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +which could not be kept down, and many of them even +burst into tears. They found the harbour protected by a great chain +which was drawn across the mouth of it; but this chain was broken by the +force of a ship which was driven against it with the sails swollen by a +strong wind. The blind old doge, Henry Dandolo, stood in the prow of the +foremost ship, and was the first to land in the face of the Greeks who +stood ready to defend the ground. Constantinople was soon won, and the +emperor, who had been deposed and blinded by the usurper, was brought +from his dungeon, and was enthroned in the great church of St. Sophia, +while his son Alexius was anointed and crowned as a partner in the +empire.</p> + +<p>But quarrels soon arose between the Greeks and the Latins. Alexius was +murdered by a new usurper; his father died of grief: and the Crusaders +found themselves drawn on to conquer the city afresh for themselves. +This conquest was disgraced by much cruelty and unchecked plunder; and +the religion of the Greeks was outraged by the Latin victors as much as +it could have been by heathen barbarians.</p> + +<p>The Crusaders set up an emperor and a patriarch of their own, and the +Greek clergy were forced to give way to Latins. The pope, although he +was much disappointed at finding that his plan for the recovery of the +Holy Land had come to nothing, was yet persuaded by the greatness of the +conquest to give a kind of approval to it. But the Latin empire of the +East was never strong; and after about seventy years it was overthrown +by the Greeks, who drove out the Latins and restored their own form of +Christian religion.</p> + +<p>Innocent did not give up the notion of a crusade, and at a later time he +sent about preachers to stir up the people of the West afresh; but +nothing had come of this when the pope died. I must, however, mention a +strange thing which arose out of this attempt at a crusade.</p> + +<p>A shepherd boy, named Stephen, who lived near Vendome, in the province +of Orleans, gave out that he had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +seen a vision of the Saviour, and had +been charged by Him to preach the cross. By this tale Stephen gathered +some children about him, and they set off for the crusade, displaying +crosses and banners, and chanting in every town or village through which +they passed, "O Lord, help us to recover Thy true and holy cross!" When +they reached Paris, there were no less than 15,000 of them, and as they +went along their numbers became greater and greater. If any parents +tried to keep back their children from joining them, it was of no use; +even if they shut them up, it was believed that the children were able +to break through bars and locks in order to follow Stephen and his +companions. Ignorant people fancied that Stephen could work miracles, +and treasured up threads of his dress as precious relics. At length the +company, whose numbers had reached 30,000, arrived at Marseilles, where +Stephen entered the city in a triumphal car, surrounded on all sides by +guards. Some shipowners undertook to convey the child-crusaders to Egypt +and Africa for nothing; but these were wretches who meant to sell them +as slaves to the Mahometans; and this was the fate of such of the +children as reached the African coast, after many of them had been lost +by shipwreck on the way.</p> + +<p>Innocent, although he had nothing to do with this crusade, or with one +of the same kind which was got up in Germany, declared that the zeal of +the children put to shame the coldness of their elders, whom he was +still labouring, with little success, to enlist in the cause of the Holy +Land.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_13_III" id="P2_13_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>A war of a different kind, but which was also styled a crusade, was +carried on in the south of France while Innocent was pope. In that +country there were great numbers of persons who did not agree with the +Roman Church, and who are known by the names of Waldenses and +Albigenses. The opinions of these two parties differed greatly from each +other. The Waldenses, whose name +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +was given to them from Peter Waldo, of +Lyons, who founded the party about the year 1170, were a quiet set of +people, something like the Quakers of our own time. They dressed and +lived plainly, they were mild in their manners, and used some rather +affected ways of speech; they thought all war and all oaths wrong, they +did not acknowledge the claims of the clergy, and, although they +attended the services of the Church, it is said that they secretly +mocked at them. They were fond of reading the Holy Scripture in their +own language, while the Roman Church would only allow it to be read in +Latin, which was understood by few except the clergy, and not by all of +<i>them</i>. And so eager were the Waldenses to bring people to their own way +of thinking, that we are told of one of them, a poor man, who, after his +day's work, used to swim across a river in wintry nights, that he might +reach a person whom he wished to convert.</p> + +<p>The Albigenses, on whom the persecution chiefly fell, held something +like the doctrines of Manes, whom I mentioned a long way +back,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> so +that they could not properly be considered as Christians at all. But, +although we cannot think well of their doctrines, the treatment of these +people was so cruel and so treacherous as to raise the strongest +feelings of anger and horror in all who read the accounts of it. Tens of +thousands were slain, and their rich and beautiful country was turned +into a desert.</p> + +<p>The chief leader of the crusade in the south of France was Simon de +Montfort, father of that Earl Simon who is famous in the history of +England. Innocent, although he seems to have been much deceived by those +who reported matters to him, was grievously to blame for having given +too much countenance to the cruelties and injustice which were practised +against the unhappy Albigenses.</p> + +<p>Among the clergy who accompanied the Crusaders into southern France and +tried to bring over the Albigenses and Waldenses to the Roman Church was +a Spaniard named<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +Dominic, who afterwards became famous as the founder +of an order of mendicant friars (that is to say, <i>begging brothers</i>). He +also founded the Inquisition, which was a body intended to search out +and to put down all opinions differing from the doctrines of the Roman +Church. But the cruelty, darkness, and treachery of its proceedings were +so shocking, that, although Dominic was certainly its founder, we need +not suppose that he would have approved of all its doings.</p> + +<p>The Waldenses and Albigenses had been used to reproach the clergy of the +Church for their habits of pomp and luxury; and Dominic had done what he +could to meet these charges by the plainness and hardness of the life +which he and his companions led while labouring in the south of France. +And when he resolved to found a new order of monks, he carried the +notion of poverty to an extreme. His followers were to be not only poor, +but beggars. They were to live on alms, and from day to day, refusing +any gifts of money so large as to give the notion of a settled provision +for their needs.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_13_IV" id="P2_13_IV"></a><small>PART IV</small>.</p> + +<p>About the same time another great begging order was founded by Francis, +who was born in 1182 at Assisi, a town in the Italian duchy of Spoleto. +The stories as to his early days are very strange; indeed, it would seem +that, when he was struck with a religious idea, he could not carry it +out without such oddities of behaviour as in most people would look like +signs of a mind not altogether right. When Francis heard in church our +Lord's charge to His apostles, that they should go forth without money +in their purses, or a staff, or scrip, or shoes, or changes of raiment +(<i>St. Matt.</i> x. 9, 10), he went before the bishop of Assisi, and, +stripping off all his other clothes, he set forth to preach repentance +without having anything on him but a rough gray woollen frock, with a +rope tied round his waist. He fancied that he was called by a vision to +repair a certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +church; and he set about gathering the money for this +purpose by singing and begging in the streets. He felt an especial +charity for lepers, who, on account of their loathsome disease, were +shut out from the company of men, and were subject to miseries of many +kinds; and, although many hospitals had already been founded in various +countries for these unfortunate people, the kindness which Francis +showed to them had a great effect in lightening their lot, so far as +human fellow-feeling could do so.</p> + +<p>Francis wished his followers to study humility in all ways. They were to +seek to be despised, and were told to be uneasy if they met with usage +of any other kind. They were not to let themselves be called <i>brethren</i> +but <i>little brethren</i>; they must try to be reckoned as less than any +other persons. They were especially to be on their guard against the +pride of learning; and, in order to preserve them from the danger of +this, Francis would hardly allow them even a book of the Psalms. But, in +truth, all these things might really be turned the opposite way, and in +making such studied shows of humility it was quite possible that the +Franciscans might fall under the temptations of pride.</p> + +<p>Francis was very fond of animals, which he treated as reasonable +creatures, speaking to them by the names of brothers and sisters. He +used to call his own body <i>brother ass</i>, on account of the heavy burdens +and the hard usage which it had to bear. He kept a sheep in church, and +it is said that the creature, without any training, used to take part in +the services by kneeling and bleating at proper times. He preached to +flocks of birds on the duty of thanking their Maker for His goodness to +them; nay, he preached to fishes, to worms, and even to flowers.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the oddest story of this kind is one about his dealing with a +wolf which infested the neighbourhood of Gubbio. Finding that every one +in the place was overcome by fear of this fierce beast, Francis went out +boldly to the forest where the wolf lived, and, meeting him, began to +talk to him about the wickedness of killing, not only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> brute animals, +but men; and he promised that, if the wolf would give up such evil ways, +the citizens of Gubbio would maintain him. He then held out his right +hand; whereupon the wolf put his paw into it as a sign of agreement, and +allowed the saint to lead him into the town. The people of Gubbio were +only too glad to fulfil the promise which Francis had made for them; and +they kept the wolf handsomely, giving him his meals by turns, until he +died of old age, and in such general respect that he was lamented by all +Gubbio.</p> + +<p>There is a strange story that Francis, towards the end of his life, +received in his body what are called the <i>stigmata</i> (that is to say, the +marks of the wounds which were made in our Lord's body at the +crucifixion). And a great number of other superstitious tales became +connected with his name; but with such things we need not here trouble +ourselves.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>When Dominic and Francis each applied to Pope Innocent for his approval +of their designs to found new orders, he was not forward to give it; +but, on thinking the matter over, he granted them what they asked. Each +of them soon gathered followers, who spread into all lands. The +Franciscans, especially, made converts from heathenism by missions; and +these orders, by their rough and plain habits of life, made their way to +the hearts of the poorest classes in a degree which had never been known +before. And the influence which they thus gained was all used for the +papacy, which found them the most active and useful of all its servants.</p> + +<p>In the year 1215, Innocent held a great council at Rome, what is known +as the fourth Lateran Council, and is to be remembered for two of its +canons; by one of which the false doctrine of the Roman Church as to the +sacrament of the Lord's Supper was, for the first time, established; and +by the other, it was made the duty of every one in the Roman Church to +confess to the priest of his parish at least once a year.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"> +<span class="label">[80]</span></a>Part I., <a href="#Page_110">p. 110.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XIV" id="CHAPTER_II_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>FREDERICK II.—ST. LEWIS OF FRANCE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1220-1270.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +The popes still tried to stir up the Christians of the West for the +recovery of the Holy Land; and there were crusading attempts from time +to time, although without much effect. One of these crusades was +undertaken in 1228 by Frederick II., an emperor who was all his life +engaged in struggles against one pope after another. Frederick had taken +the cross when he was very young; but when once any one had done so, the +popes thought that they were entitled to call on him to fulfil his +promise at any time they pleased, no matter what other business he might +have on his hands. He was expected to set off on a crusade whenever the +pope might bid him, although it might be ruinous to him to be called +away from his own affairs at that time.</p> + +<p>In this way, then, the popes had got a hold on Frederick, and when he +answered their summons by saying that his affairs at home would not just +then allow him to go on a crusade, they treated this excuse as if he had +refused altogether to go; they held him up to the world as a faithless +man, and threatened to put his lands under an +interdict,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> +and to take +away his crown. And when at last Frederick found himself able to go to +the Holy Land, the pope and his friends set themselves against him with +all their might, saying that he was not hearty in the cause, and even +that he was not a Christian at all. So that, although Frederick made a +treaty with the Mahometans by which a great deal was gained for the +Christians, it came to little or nothing, because the popes would not +confirm it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +I need not say much more about Frederick II. There was very much in him +that we cannot approve of or excuse; but he met with hard usage from the +popes, and after his death (<small>A.D.</small> 1250) they pursued his family with +constant hatred, until the last heir, a spirited young prince named +Conradin, who boldly attempted to recover the dominions of his family in +Southern Italy, was made prisoner and executed at Naples in 1268.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_14_II" id="P2_14_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>At the same time with Frederick lived a sovereign of a very different +kind, Lewis IX. of France, who is commonly called St. Lewis, and +deserves the name of <i>saint</i> better than very many persons to whom it is +given. There was a great deal in the religion of Lewis that we should +call superstition; but he laboured very earnestly to live up to the +notions of Christian religion which were commonly held in his time. He +attended several services in church every day, and when he was told that +his nobles found fault with this, he answered, that no one would have +blamed him if he had spent twice as much time in hunting or in playing +at dice. He was diligent in all other religious exercises, he refrained +from all worldly sports and pastimes, and, as far as could be, he +shunned the pomp of royalty. He was very careful never to use any words +but such as were fit for a Christian. He paid great respect to clergy +and monks, and said that if he could divide himself into two, he would +give one half to the Dominicans and the other half to the Franciscans. +It is even said that at one time he would himself have turned friar, if +his queen had not persuaded him that he would do better by remaining a +king and studying to govern well and to benefit the Church.</p> + +<p>But with all this, Lewis took care that the popes should not get more +power over the French Church than he thought due to them. And if any +bishop had tried to play the same part in France which Becket played in +English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +history, we may be sure that St. Lewis would have set himself steadily against him.</p> + +<p>In 1244 Jerusalem was taken by the Mongols, a barbarous heathen people, +who had none of that respect which the Mahometans had shown for the holy +places of the Jewish and Christian religions; thus these holy places +were now profaned in a way which had not been known before, and stories +of outrages done by the new conquerors, with cries for help from the +Christians of the Holy Land, reached the West.</p> + +<p>Soon after this King Lewis had a dangerous illness, in which his life +was given over. He had been for some time speechless, and was even +supposed to be dead, when he asked that the cross might be given to him; +and as soon as he had thus engaged himself to the crusade he began to +recover. His wife, his mother, and others tried to persuade him that he +was not bound by his promise, because it had been made at a time when he +was not master of himself; but Lewis would not listen to such excuses, +and resolved to carry it out faithfully. The way which he took to enlist +companions was very curious. On the morning of Christmas day, when a +very solemn service was to be held in the chapel of his palace (a chapel +which is still to be seen, and is among the most beautiful buildings in +Paris), he caused dresses to be given to the nobles as they were going +in; for this was then a common practice with kings at the great +festivals of the Church. But when the French lords, after having +received their new robes in a place which was nearly dark, went on into +the chapel, which was bright with hundreds of lights, each of them found +that his dress was marked with a cross, so that, according to the +notions of the time, he was bound to go to the holy war.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_14_III" id="P2_14_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>The king did what he could to raise troops, and appointed his mother, +Queen Blanche, to govern the kingdom during his absence; and, after +having passed a winter in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +the island of Cyprus, he reached Damietta, in +Egypt, on the 5th of June, 1249. For a time all went well with the +Crusaders; but soon a change took place, and everything seemed to turn +against them. They lost some of their best leaders; a plague broke out +and carried off many of them; they suffered from famine, so that they +were even obliged to eat their horses; and the enemy, by opening the +sluices of the Nile, let loose on them the waters of the river, which +carried away a multitude. Lewis himself was very ill, and at length he +was obliged to surrender to the enemy, and to make peace on terms far +worse than those which he had before refused.</p> + +<p>But even although he was a prisoner, his saintly life made the +Mahometans look on him with reverence; so that when the Sultan to whom +he had become prisoner was murdered by his own people, they thought of +choosing the captive Christian king for their chief. Lewis refused to +make any treaty for his deliverance unless all his companions might have +a share in it; and, although he might have been earlier set free, he +refused to leave his captivity until all the money was made up for the +ransom of himself and his followers. On being at length free to leave +Egypt, he went into the Holy Land, where he visited Nazareth with deep +devotion. But, although he eagerly desired to see Jerusalem, he denied +himself this pleasure, from a fear that the crusading spirit might die +out if the first of Christian kings should consent to visit the holy +city without delivering it from the unbelievers.</p> + +<p>After an absence of six years, Lewis was called back to France by +tidings that his mother, whom he had left as regent of the kingdom, was +dead (<small>A.D.</small> 1254). But he did not think that his crusading vow was yet +fulfilled; and sixteen years later he set out on a second attempt, which +was still more unfortunate than the former. On landing at Tunis, he +found that the Arabs, instead of joining him, as he had expected, +attacked his force; but these were not his worst enemies. At setting +out, the king had been too weak to bear armour or to sit on horseback; +and after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +landing he found that the bad climate, with the want of water +and of wholesome food, spread death among his troops. One of his own +sons, Tristan, who had been born during the king's captivity in Egypt, +fell sick and died. Lewis himself, whose weak state made him an easy +victim to disease, died on the 25th of August, 1270, after having shown +in his last hours the piety which had throughout marked his life. And, +although his eldest son, Philip, recovered from an attack which had +seemed likely to be fatal, the Crusaders were obliged to leave that +deadly coast with their number fearfully lessened, and without having +gained any success. Philip, on his return to France, had to carry with +him the remains of his father, of his brother, of one of his own +children, and of his brother-in-law, the king of Navarre. Such was the +sad end of an expedition undertaken by a saintly king for a noble +purpose, but without heeding those rules of prudence which, if they +could not have secured success, might at least have taught him to +provide against some of the dangers which were fatal to him.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"> +<span class="label">[81]</span></a><a href="#Page_219">See page 219.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XV" id="CHAPTER_II_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>PETER OF MURRONE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1294.</p> + +<p>In that age the papacy was sometimes long vacant, because the cardinals, +who were the highest in rank of the Roman clergy, and to whom the choice +of a pope belonged, could not agree. In order to get over this +difficulty, rules were made for the purpose of forcing the cardinals to +make a speedy choice. Thus, at a council which was held by Pope Gregory +X. at Lyons, in 1274 (chiefly for the sake of restoring peace and +fellowship between the Greek and Latin Churches), a canon was made for +the election of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +popes. This canon directed that the cardinals should +meet for the choice of a new pope within ten days after the last pope's +death; that they should all be shut up in a large room, which, from +their being locked in together, was called the +<i>conclave</i>;<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> +that they +should have no means of speaking or writing to any person outside, or of +receiving any letters; that their food should be supplied through a +window; that, if they did not make their choice within three days, their +provisions should be stinted, and if they delayed five days more, +nothing should be given them but bread and water. By such means it was +thought that the cardinals might be brought to settle the election of a +pope as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>We can well believe that the cardinals did not like to be put under such +rules. They contrived that later popes should make some changes in them, +and tried to go on as before, putting off the election so long as seemed +desirable for the sake of their own selfish objects. At one time, when +there had been no pope for six months, the people of Viterbo confined +the cardinals in the public hall of their city until an election should +be made. At another time, the cardinals were shut up in a Roman +monastery, where six of them died of the bad air. But one cardinal, who +was more knowing than the rest, drove off the effect of the air by +keeping up fires in all his rooms, even through the hottest weather; and +at length he was chosen pope.</p> + +<p>On the death of this pope, Nicolas IV. (<small>A.D.</small> 1292), his office was +vacant for two years and a quarter; and when the cardinals then met, it +seemed as if they could not fix on any successor. But one day one of +them told the rest that a holy man had had a vision, threatening heavy +judgments unless a pope were chosen within a certain time; and he gave +such an account of this holy man that all the cardinals were struck at +once with the idea of choosing <i>him</i> for pope. His name was Peter of +Murrone. He lived as a hermit in a narrow cell on a mountain; and there +he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +found by certain bishops who were sent by the cardinals to tell +him of his election. He was seventy-two years of age; roughly dressed, +with a long white beard, and thin from fasting and hard living. He could +speak no other tongue than the common language of the country-folks +around, and he was quite unused to business of any kind, so that he +allowed himself to be led by any one who would take the trouble. The +fame of Peter's holiness had been widely spread, and he was even +supposed to do miracles; so that his election was welcomed by +multitudes. Two hundred thousand persons flocked to see his coronation, +where the old man appeared in the procession riding on an ass, with his +reins held by the king of Naples on one side and by the king's son on +the other (<small>A.D.</small> 1294).</p> + +<p>This king of Naples, Charles II., got the poor old pope completely into +his power. He made him take up his abode at Naples, where Celestine V. +(as he was now called) tried to carry on his old way of life by getting +a cell built in his palace, just like his old dwelling on the rock of +Fumone; and into this little place he would withdraw for days, leaving +all the work of his office to be done by some cardinals whom he trusted.</p> + +<p>Other stories are told which show that Celestine was quite unfit for his +office. The cardinals soon came to think that they had made a great +mistake in choosing him; and at length the poor old man came to think so +too. One of the cardinals, Benedict Gaetani, who had gained a great +influence over his mind, persuaded him that the best thing he could do +was to resign; and, after having been pope about five months, Celestine +called the cardinals together, and read to them a paper, in which he +said that he was too old and too weak to bear the burden of his office; +that he wished to return to his former life of quiet and contemplation. +He then put off his robes, took once more the rough dress which he had +worn as a hermit, and withdrew to his old abode. But the jealousy of his +successor did not allow him to remain there in peace. It was feared that +the reverence in which the old hermit was held by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> common people +might lead to some disturbance; and to prevent this he was shut up in +close confinement, where he lived only about ten months. The poorer +people had all manner of strange notions about his holiness and his +supposed miracles; and about twenty years after his death, he was +admitted into the Roman list of saints.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"> +<span class="label">[82]</span></a> <i>Con</i> meaning <i>together</i>, and <i>clavis</i> meaning <i>a key</i>.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XVI" id="CHAPTER_II_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>BONIFACE VIII.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1294-1303.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>In Celestine's place was chosen Benedict Gaetani, who, although even +older than the worn-out and doting late pope, was still full of +strength, both in body and in mind. Benedict (who took the name of +Boniface VIII.) is said to have been very learned, especially in matters +of law; but his pride and ambition led him into attempts which ended in +his own ruin, and did serious harm to the papacy.</p> + +<p>In the year 1300 Boniface set on foot what was called the Jubilee. You +will remember the Jubilee which God in the Law of Moses commanded the +Israelites to keep (Leviticus xxv.). But this new Jubilee had nothing to +do with the law of Moses, and was more like some games which were +celebrated every hundredth year by the ancient Romans. Nothing of the +sort had ever before been known among Christians; but when the end of +the thirteenth century was at hand, it was found that people's minds +were full of a fancy that the year 1300 ought to be a time of some great +celebration. Nay, they were even made to believe that such a way of +keeping every hundredth year had been usual from the beginning of the +Church, although (as I have said) there was no ground whatever for this +notion; and one or two lying old men were brought forward +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> to pretend +that when children they had attended a former jubilee a hundred years +before!</p> + +<p>How the expectation of the jubilee was got up we do not know. Most +likely Boniface had something to do with it; at all events, he took it +up and reaped the profits of it. He sent forth letters offering +extraordinary spiritual benefits to all who should visit Rome and the +tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul during the coming year; and immense +numbers of people flocked together from all parts of Europe. It is said +that all through the year there were two hundred thousand strangers in +Rome; for as some went away, others came to fill up their places. The +crowd is described to us as if, in the streets and on the bridge leading +to the great church of St. Peter's, an army were marching each way.</p> + +<p>It is said that Boniface appeared one day in the robes of a pope, and +next day in those of an emperor, with a sword in his hand, and that he +declared to some ambassadors that he was both pope and emperor. And +after all this display of his pride and grandeur, he found himself much +enriched by the offerings which the pilgrims had made; for these were so +large, that in one church alone (as we are told) two of the clergy were +employed day and night in gathering them in with long rakes. If this be +anything like the truth, the whole amount collected from the pilgrims at +the jubilee must have been very large indeed.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_16_II" id="P2_16_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Boniface got into serious quarrels with princes and others; but the most +serious of them all was a quarrel with Philip IV. of France, who is +called <i>The Fair</i> on account of his good looks—not that there was any +fairness in his character, for it would not be easy to name any one more +utterly <i>un</i>fair. If Boniface wished to exalt himself above princes, +Philip, who was a thoroughly hard, cold, selfish man, was no less +desirous to get the mastery over the clergy; and it was natural that +between two such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +persons unpleasant differences should arise. I need +not mention the particulars, except that Boniface wrote letters which +seemed to forbid the clergy of any kingdom to pay taxes and such-like +dues to their sovereign, and to claim for the pope a right to dispose of +the kingdoms of the earth. Philip, provoked by this, held meetings of +what were called the <i>estates</i> of France,—clergy, nobles, and +commons,—and charged the pope with all sorts of vices and crimes, even +with disbelief of the Christian faith. The estates declared against the +pope's claims; and when Boniface summoned a council of bishops from all +countries to meet at Rome, Philip forbade the French bishops to obey, +and all but a few stayed away. One of the pope's letters to the king was +cut in pieces and thrown into the fire, and the burning was proclaimed +through the streets of Paris with the sound of the trumpet.</p> + +<p>The pope was greatly enraged by Philip's conduct. He prepared a bull by +which the king was declared to be excommunicated and to be deprived of +his crown; and it was intended to publish this bull on the 8th of +September, 1303, at Anagni, Boniface's native place, where he was +spending the summer months. But on the day before something took place +which hindered the carrying out of the pope's design.</p> + +<p>Early in his reign Boniface had been engaged in a quarrel with the +Colonnas, one of the most powerful among the great princely families of +Rome. He had persecuted them bitterly, had deprived them of their +estates and honours, and, after having got possession of a fortress +belonging to them by treachery, he had caused it to be utterly +destroyed, and the ground on which it stood to be ploughed up and sown +with salt. The Colonnas were scattered in all quarters, and it is said +that one of them, named James, who was a very rough and violent man, had +been for a time in captivity among pirates, and was delivered from this +condition by the money of the French king, who wished to make use of +him.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of September, 1303, this James Colonna, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> with other persons +in King Philip's service, appeared at Anagni with an armed force, and +made their way to the pope's palace. Boniface sent to ask what they +wanted; and in answer they required that he should give up his office, +should restore the Colonnas to all that they had lost, and should put +himself into the hands of James Colonna. On his refusal, they set fire +to the doors of a church which adjoined the palace, and rushed in +through the flames. Boniface heard the forcing of the doors which were +between them and the room in which he was; and as one door after another +gave way with a crash, he declared himself resolved to die as became a +pope. He put on the mantle of his office, with the imperial crown which +bore the name of Constantine; he grasped his pastoral staff in one hand +and the keys of St. Peter in the other, and, taking his seat on his +throne, he awaited the approach of his enemies. On entering the room, +even these rude and furious men were awed for a moment by his venerable +and dauntless look; but James Colonna, quickly overcoming this feeling, +required him to resign the papacy. "Behold my neck and my head," +answered Boniface: "if I have been betrayed like Christ, I am ready to +die like Christ's vicar." Colonna savagely dragged him from the throne, +and is said to have struck him on the face with his mailed hand, so as +to draw blood. Others of the party poured forth torrents of reproaches. +The pope was hurried into the streets, was paraded about the town on a +vicious horse, with his face toward the tail, and was then thrown into +prison, while the ruffians plundered the palaces and churches of Anagni.</p> + +<p>The citizens, in their surprise and alarm, had allowed these things to +pass without any check. But two days later they took heart, and with the +help of some neighbours got the better of the pope's enemies and +delivered him from prison. He was brought out on a balcony in the +market-place, where his appearance raised the pity of all, for he had +tasted nothing since his arrest. The old man begged that some good woman +would save him from dying by hunger. On this the crowd burst out into +cries of,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +"Life to you, holy father!" and immediately people hurried +away in all directions, and came back with abundance of food and drink +for his relief. The pope spoke kindly to all who were near him, and +pronounced forgiveness of all but those who had plundered the Church.</p> + +<p>Boniface was soon afterwards removed to Rome. But the sufferings which +he had gone through had been too much for a man almost ninety years old +to bear. His mind seems to have given way; and there are terrible +stories (although we cannot be sure that they are true) about the manner +of his death, which took place within a few days after he reached the +city (Nov. 22, 1303). It was said of him, "He entered like a fox, he +reigned like a lion, he went out like a dog;" and although this saying +was, no doubt, made up after his end, it was commonly believed to have +been a prophecy uttered by old Pope Celestine, to whom he had behaved so +treacherously and so harshly.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XVII" id="CHAPTER_II_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE POPES AT AVIGNON.—THE RUIN OF THE TEMPLARS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1303-1312.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>The next pope, Benedict XI., wished to do away with the effects of +Boniface's pride and ambition, and especially to soothe the king of +France, whom Boniface had so greatly provoked. But Benedict died within +about seven months (June 27, 1304) after his election, and it was not +easy to fill up his place. At last, about a year after Benedict's death +(June 5, 1305), Bertrand du Got, archbishop of Bordeaux, was chosen. It +was said that he had held a secret meeting with King Philip in the +depths of a forest, and that, in order to get the king's help towards +his election,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +he bound himself to do five things which Philip named, +and also a sixth thing, which was not to be spoken of until the time +should come for performing it. But this story seems to have been made up +because the pope was seen to follow Philip's wishes in a way that people +could not understand, except by supposing that he had bound himself by +some special bargain.</p> + +<p>For some years Clement V. (as he was called) lived at the cost of French +cathedrals and monasteries, which he visited one after another; and then +(<small>A.D.</small> 1310) he settled at Avignon, a city on the Rhone, where he and his +successors lived for seventy years—about the same length of time that +the Jews spent as captives in Babylon. Hence this stay of the popes at +Avignon has sometimes been spoken of as the "Babylonian Captivity" of +the Church. Although there were some good popes in the course of those +seventy years, the court of Avignon was usually full of luxury and vice, +and the government of the Church grew more and more corrupt.</p> + +<p>Philip the Fair was not content with having brought Boniface to his end, +but wished to persecute and disgrace his memory. He caused all sorts of +shocking charges to be brought against the dead pope, and demanded that +he should be condemned as a heretic, and that his body should be taken +up and burnt. By these demands Pope Clement was thrown into great +distress. He was afraid to offend Philip, and at the same time he wished +to save the memory of Boniface; for if a pope were to be condemned in +the way in which Philip wished, it must tell against the papacy +altogether. And besides this, if Boniface had not been a lawful pope (as +Philip and his party said), the cardinals whom he had appointed were not +lawful cardinals, and Clement, who had been partly chosen by their +votes, could have no right to the popedom. He was therefore willing to +do much in order to clear Boniface's memory; and Philip craftily managed +to get the pope's help in another matter on condition that the charges +against Boniface should not be pressed. This is supposed to have been +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +secret article which we have heard of in the story of the meeting in the forest.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_17_II" id="P2_17_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>I have already mentioned the order of Knights Templars, which was formed +in the Holy Land soon after the first +crusade.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> +These soldiers of the +cross showed at all times a courage worthy of their profession; but they +also showed faults which were beyond all question. As they grew rich, +they grew proud, and, from having at first been very strict in their way +of living, it was believed that they had fallen into habits of luxury. +They despised all men outside of their own order; they showed no respect +for the kings of Jerusalem, or for the patriarchs, and were, indeed, +continually quarrelling with them.</p> + +<p>At this time the number of the Templar Knights was about fifteen +thousand—the finest soldiers in the world; and the whole number of +persons attached to the order was not less than a hundred thousand. +About half of these were Frenchmen, and all the masters or heads of the +order had been French.</p> + +<p>But, although the charges which I have mentioned were enough to make the +Templars generally disliked, they were not the worst charges against +them. It was said that during the latter part of their time in the Holy +Land they had grown friendly with the unbelievers, whom they were bound +to oppose in arms to the uttermost; that from such company they had +taken up opinions contrary to the Christian faith, and vices which were +altogether against their duty as soldiers of the Cross, or as Christians +at all; that they practised magic and unholy rites; that when any one +was admitted into the order, he was required to deny Christ, to spit on +the cross and trample on it, and to worship an idol called Baphomet (a +name which seems to have meant the false prophet Mahomet).</p> + +<p>Philip the Fair was always in need of money for carrying +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> on his +schemes, and at one time, when some tricks which, he had played on the +coin of his kingdom had provoked the people of Paris to rise against +him, he took refuge in the house of the Templars there. This house +covered a vast space of ground with its buildings, and was finer and +stronger than the royal palace; and it was perhaps the sight which +Philip then got of the wealth and power of the Templars that led him to +attack them, in the hope of getting their property into his own hands.</p> + +<p>Philip set about this design very craftily. He invited the masters of +the Templars and of the Hospitallers (whom you will remember as the +other great military +order)<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> +into France, as if he wished to consult +them about a crusade. The master of the Hospital was unable to obey the +summons; but the master of the Temple, James de Molay, who had been in +the order more than forty years, appeared with a train so splendid that +Philip's greed was still more whetted by the sight of it. The master was +received with great honour; but, in the meantime, orders were secretly +sent to the king's officers all over the kingdom, who were forbidden to +open them before a certain day; and when these orders were opened, they +were found to require that the Templars should everywhere be seized and +imprisoned without delay. Accordingly, at the dawn of the following day, +the Templars all over France, who had had no warning and felt no +suspicion, were suddenly made prisoners, without being able to resist.</p> + +<p>Next day, which was Sunday, Philip set friars and others to preach +against the Templars in all the churches of Paris; and inquiries were +afterwards carried on by bishops and other judges as to the truth of the +charges against them. While the trials were going on, the Templars were +very hardly used. All that they had was taken away from them, so that +they were in grievous distress. They were kept in dungeons, were loaded +with chains, ill fed and ill cared for in all ways. They were examined +by tortures,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +which were so severe that many of them were brought, by +the very pain, to confess everything that they were charged with, +although they afterwards said that they had been driven by their +sufferings to own things of which they were not at all guilty. Many were +burnt in companies from time to time; at one time no fewer than +fifty-four were burnt together at Paris; and such cruelties struck +terror into the rest.</p> + +<p>Some of the Templars on their trials told strange stories. They said, +for instance, that some men on being admitted to the order were suddenly +changed, as if they had been made to share in some fearful secrets; +that, from having been jovial and full of life, delighting in horses and +hounds and hawks, they seemed to be weighed down by a deep sadness, +under which they pined away. It is not easy to say what is to be made of +all these stories. As to the ceremonies used at admitting members, it +seems likely enough that the Templars may have used some things which +looked strange and shocking, but which really meant no harm, and were +properly to be understood as figures or acted parables.</p> + +<p>The pope seems, too, not to have known what to make of the case; but, as +we have seen, he had bound himself to serve King Philip in the matter of +the Templars, in order that Pope Boniface's memory might be spared. At a +great council held under Clement, at Vienne, in 1312, it was decreed +that the order of the Temple should be dissolved; yet it was not said +that the Templars had been found guilty of the charges against them, and +the question of their guilt or innocence remains to puzzle us as it +puzzled the Council of Vienne.</p> + +<p>The master of the Temple, James de Molay, was kept in prison six years +and a half, and was often examined. At last, he and three other great +officers of the order were condemned to imprisonment for life, and were +brought forward on a platform set up in front of the cathedral of Paris +that their sentence might be published. A cardinal began to read out +their confessions; but Molay broke in, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> denying and disavowing what he +had formerly said, and declaring himself worthy to die for having made +false confessions through fear of death and in order to please the king. +One of his companions took part with him in this; but the other two, +broken down in body and in spirit by their long confinement, had not the +courage to join them. Philip, on hearing what had taken place, gave +orders that James de Molay and the other who took part with him should +be burnt without delay; and on the same day they were led forth to death +on a little island in the river Seine (which runs through Paris), while +Philip from the bank watched their sufferings. Molay begged that his +hands might be unbound; and, as the flames rose around him and his +companion, they firmly declared the soundness of their faith, and the +innocence of the order.</p> + +<p>Within nine months after this, Philip died at the age of forty-six (<small>A.D.</small> +1314); and within a few years his three sons, of whom each had in turn +been king of France, were all dead. Philip's family was at an end, and +the crown passed to one of his nephews. And while the clergy supposed +those misfortunes to be the punishment of Philip's doings against Pope +Boniface, the people in general regarded them as brought on by his +persecution of the Templars. It is not for us to pass such judgments at +all; but I mention these things in order to show the feelings with which +Philip's actions and his calamities were viewed by the people of his own +time.</p> + +<p>In other countries, such as England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and +Spain, the Templars were arrested and brought to trial; and, rightly or +wrongly, the order was dissolved. Its members were left to find some +other kind of life; and its property was made over to the order of the +Hospital, or to some other military order. In France, however, Philip +contrived to lay his hands on so much that the Hospitallers for a time +were rather made poorer than richer by this addition to their +possessions.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"> +<span class="label">[83]</span></a><a href="#Page_210">Page 210.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"> +<span class="label">[84]</span></a><a href="#Page_209">See page 209.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_II_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE POPES AT AVIGNON (<i>continued</i>).</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1314-1352.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +Pope Clement V. died a few months before Philip (April, 1314), and was +succeeded by John XXII., a Frenchman, who was seventy years old at the +time of his election, and lived to ninety. The most remarkable thing in +John's papacy was his quarrel with Lewis of Bavaria, who had been chosen +emperor by some of the electors, while others voted for Frederick of +Austria. For the choice of an emperor (or rather of a king of the +Romans) had by this time fallen into the hands of seven German princes, +of whom four were laymen and three were the archbishops of Mentz, +Cologne, and Treves. And hence it is that at a later time we find that +some German princes had <i>elector</i> for their title, as the electors of +Hanover and the electors of Brandenburg; and even that the three +clerical electors were more commonly called electors than archbishops. +It is not exactly known when this way of choosing the kings of the +Romans came in; but, as I have said, it was quite settled before the +time of which we are now speaking.</p> + +<p>There was, then, a disputed election between Lewis of Bavaria and +Frederick of Austria; and Pope John was well pleased to stand by and +watch their quarrel, so long as they only weakened each other without +coming to any settlement of the question. But when Lewis had got the +better of Frederick, then John stepped in and told him that it was for +the pope to judge in such a case which of the two ought to be king of +the Romans. And he forbade all people to obey Lewis as king, and +declared that whatever he might have done as king should be of no +effect. But people had become used to such sentences, so that they would +not mind them unless they thought them just; and thus Pope John's +thunder was very little heeded. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +Although he excommunicated Lewis, the +sentence had no effect; and by this and other things (especially a +quarrel which John had with a part of the Franciscan order) people were +set on inquiring into the rights of the papacy in a way which was quite +new, so that their thoughts took a direction which was very dangerous to +the power of the popes.</p> + +<p>Lewis answered the pope by setting up an antipope against him. But this +was a thing which had never succeeded; and so it was that John's rival +was obliged to submit, and, in token of the humblest repentance, +appeared with a rope round his neck at Avignon, where the rest of his +life was spent in confinement.</p> + +<p>The pope on his part set up a rival emperor, Charles of Moravia, son of +that blind King John of Bohemia whose death at the battle of Cressy is +known to us from the history of England. But Charles found little +support in Germany so long as Lewis was alive.</p> + +<p>The next pope, Benedict XII. (<small>A.D.</small> 1334-1342), although of himself he +would have wished to make peace with Lewis, found himself prevented from +doing so by the king of France; and his successor, Clement VI. (<small>A.D.</small> +1342-1352), who had once been tutor to Charles of Moravia, strongly +supported his old pupil. Lewis died excommunicate in 1347, and was the +last emperor who had to bear that sentence. But, although he suffered +much on account of it, he had yet kept his title of emperor as long as +he lived; and he left a strong party of supporters, who were able to +make good terms for themselves before Charles was allowed to take +peaceable possession of the empire.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XIX" id="CHAPTER_II_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>RELIGIOUS SECTS AND PARTIES.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +While the popes were thus trying to lord it over all men, from the +emperor downwards, there were many who hated their doctrines and would +not allow their authority. The Albigenses and Waldenses, although +persecuted as we have seen, still remained in great numbers, and held +the opinions which had drawn so much suffering on them. The Albigenses, +indeed, were but a part of a greater body, the <i>Cathari</i>, who were +spread through many countries, and had an understanding and fellowship +with each other which were kept up by secret means. And there were other +sects, of which it need only be said here that in general their opinions +were very wild and strange, and very unlike, not only to the papal +doctrines, but to the Christianity of the Bible and of the early Church. +Whenever any of the clergy, from the pope downwards, gave an occasion by +pride or ambition, or worldly living, or neglect of duty, or any other +fault, these sects took care to speak of the whole Church as having +fallen from the faith, and to gain converts for themselves by pointing +out the blemishes which were allowed in it.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, as I have +mentioned,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> +the Inquisition was set on +foot for the discovery and punishment of such doctrines as the Roman +Church condemned; and it was worked with a secrecy, an injustice, and a +cruelty which made men quake with fear wherever it was established. It +is a comfort to know that in the British islands this hateful kind of +tyranny never found a footing.</p> + +<p>There were large numbers of persons called Mystics, who thought to draw +near to God, and to give up their own will to His will, in a way beyond +what ordinary believers could understand. Among these was a society +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +which called itself the <i>Friends of God</i>; and these friends belonged to +the Church at the same time that they had this closer and more secret +tie of union among themselves. There is a very curious story how John +Tauler, a Dominican friar of Strasburg, was converted by the chief of +this party, Nicolas of Basel. Tauler had gained great fame as a +preacher, and had reached the age of fifty-two, when Nicolas, who had +been one of his hearers, visited him, and convinced him that he was +nothing better than a Pharisee. In obedience to the direction of +Nicolas, Tauler shut himself up for two years, without preaching or +doing any other work as a clergyman, and even without studying. When, at +the end of that time, he came forth again to the world, and first tried +to preach, he burst into tears and quite broke down; but on a second +trial, it was found that he preached in a new style, and with vastly +more of warmth and of effect than he had ever done before. Tauler was +born in 1294, and died in 1361.</p> + +<p>In these times many were very fond of trying to make out things to come +from the prophecies of the Old Testament and of the Revelation, and some +people of both sexes supposed themselves to have the gift of prophecy. +And in seasons of great public distress, multitudes would break out into +some wild sort of religious display, which for a time carried everything +before it, and seemed to do a great deal of good, although the wiser +people looked on it with distrust; but after a while it passed away, +leaving those who had taken part in it rather worse than better than +before. Among the outbreaks of this kind was that of the <i>Flagellants</i>, +which showed itself several times in various places. The first +appearance of it was in 1260, when it began at Perugia, in the middle of +Italy, and spread both southwards to Rome and northwards to France, +Hungary, and Poland. In every city, large companies of men, women, and +children moved about the streets, with their faces covered, but their +bodies naked down to the waist. They tossed their limbs wildly, they +dashed themselves down on the ground in mud or snow, and cruelly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +<i>flagellated</i> (or flogged) themselves with whips, while they shouted out +shrieks and prayers for mercy and pardon.</p> + +<p>Again, after a terrible plague called the Black Death, which raged from +Sicily to Greenland about +1349,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> +parties of flagellants went about +half-naked, singing and scourging themselves. Whenever the Saviour's +sufferings were mentioned in their hymns, they threw themselves on the +ground like logs of wood, with their arms stretched out in the shape of +a cross, and remained prostrate in prayer until a signal was given them +to rise.</p> + +<p>These movements seemed to do good at first by reconciling enemies and by +forcing the thoughts of death and judgment on ungodly or careless +people. But after a time they commonly took the line of throwing +contempt on the clergy and on the sacraments and other usual means of +grace. And when the stir caused by them was over, the good which they +had appeared to do proved not to be lasting.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"> +<span class="label">[85]</span></a><a href="#Page_225">Page 225.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"> +<span class="label">[86]</span></a><a href="#Page_191">See page 191.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XX" id="CHAPTER_II_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>JOHN WYCLIF.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>(BORN ABOUT 1324. DIED 1384.)</small></p> + +<p>At this time arose a reformer of a different kind from any of those who +had gone before him. He was a Yorkshireman, named John Wyclif, who had +been educated at Oxford, and had become famous there as a teacher of +philosophy before he began to show any difference of opinions from those +which were common in the Church. Ever since the time when King John +disgusted his people by his shameful submission to the +pope,<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> there +had been a strong feeling against the papacy in England; and it had been +provoked more and more, partly because the popes were always drawing +money from this country, and thrusting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +foreigners into the richer +places of the English Church. These foreigners squeezed all that they +could out of their parishes or offices in England; but they never went +near them, and would have been unable to do much good if they had gone, +because they did not understand the English language. And another +complaint was, that, while the popes lived at Avignon, they were so much +in the hands of their neighbours, the kings of France, that the English +had no chance of fair play if any question arose between the two +nations, and the pope could make himself the judge. And thus the English +had been made ready enough to give a hearing to any one who might teach +them that the popes had no right to the power which they claimed.</p> + +<p>There had always been a great unwillingness to pay the tribute which +King John had promised to the Roman see. If the king was weak, he paid +it; if he was strong, he was more likely to refuse it. And thus it was +that the money had been refused by Edward I., paid by Edward II., and +again refused by Edward III., whom Pope Urban V., in 1366, asked to pay +up for thirty-three years at once. In this case, Wyclif took the side of +his king, and maintained that the tribute was not rightly due to the +pope. And from this he went on to attack the corruptions of the Church +in general. He set himself against the begging friars, who had come to +great power, worming themselves in everywhere, so that they had brought +most of the poorer people to look only to them as spiritual guides, and +to think nothing of the parish clergy. In order to oppose the friars, +Wyclif sent about the country a set of men whom he called <i>poor +priests</i>. These were very like the friars in their rough dress and +simple manner of living, but taught more according to a plain +understanding of the Scriptures than to the doctrines of the Roman +Church. It is said that once, when Wyclif was very ill, and was supposed +to be dying, some friars went to him in the hope of getting him to +confess that he repented of what he had spoken and written and done +against them. But Wyclif, gathering all +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +his strength, rose up in his +bed, and said, in words which were partly taken from the 118th Psalm, "I +shall not die but live, and declare the evil deeds of the friars." He +was several times brought before assemblies of bishops and clergy, to +answer for his opinions; but he found powerful friends to protect him, +and always came off without hurt.</p> + +<p>It was in Wyclif's time that the rebellion of Wat Tyler and Jack Straw +broke out, as we read in the history of England (<small>A.D.</small> 1381); but, +although Wyclif's enemies would have been very glad to lay some of the +blame of it at his door, it is quite certain that he had nothing to do +with it in any way.</p> + +<p>In those days almost all books were written in Latin, so that none but +learned people could read them. But Wyclif, although he wrote some books +in Latin for the learned, took to writing other books in good, plain +English, such as every one could understand; and thus his opinions +became known to people of all classes. But the greatest thing that he +did was the translation of the Bible into English. The Roman Church +would not allow the Scriptures to be turned into the language of the +country, but wished to keep the knowledge of it for those who could read +Latin, and expected the common people to content themselves with what +the Church taught. But Wyclif, with others who worked under him, +translated the whole Bible into English, so that all might understand +it. We must remember, however, that there was no such thing as printing +in his days, so that every single book had to be written with the pen, +and of course books were still very dear, and could not be at all +common.</p> + +<p>It is said that Pope Urban V. summoned Wyclif to appear before him at +Rome; but Wyclif, who was old, and had been very ill, excused himself +from going; and soon after this he died, on the last day of the year +1384.</p> + +<p>Wyclif had many notions which we cannot agree with; and we have reason +to thank God's good providence that the reform of the Church was not +carried out by him, but at a later time and in a more moderate and +sounder way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +than he would have chosen. But we must honour him as one +who saw the crying evils of the Roman Church and honestly tried to cure +them.</p> + +<p>Wyclif's followers were called <i>Lollards</i>, I believe from their habit of +<i>lulling</i> or chanting to themselves. After his death they went much +farther than he had done, and some of them grew very wild in their +opinions, so that they would not only have made strange changes in +religious doctrine, but would have upset the government of kingdoms. +Against them a law was made by which persons who differed from the +doctrines of the Roman Church were sentenced to be burnt, under the name +of heretics, and many Lollards suffered in consequence. The most famous +of these was Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, a brave but rather +hot-headed and violent soldier, who was suspected of meaning to get up a +rebellion. For this and his religious opinions together he was burnt in +Smithfield, which was then just outside London (<small>A.D.</small> 1417); the same +place where, at a later time, many suffered for their religion in the +reigns of Henry VIII. and Mary.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"> +<span class="label">[87]</span></a><a href="#Page_219">Page 219.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXI" id="CHAPTER_II_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE POPES RETURN TO ROME.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1367-1377.</p> + +<p>While the popes lived at Avignon, Rome suffered very much from their +absence. There was nothing like a regular government. The great Roman +families (such as the Colonnas, whom I have mentioned in speaking of +Boniface VIII.) carried on their quarrels with each other, and no one +attempted or was strong enough to check them. Murders, robberies, and +violences of all sorts were common. The vast and noble buildings which +had remained from ancient times were neglected; the churches and +palaces<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +fell to decay; even the manners of the Romans became rough and +rude, from the want of anybody to teach them better and to show them an +example.</p> + +<p>And not only Rome, but all Italy missed the pope's presence. The princes +carried on their wars by means of hired bands of soldiers, who were +mostly strangers from beyond the Alps. These bands hired out their +services to any one who would pay enough, and, although they were +faithful to each employer for the time that was agreed on, they were +ready at the end of that time to engage themselves for money to one who +might be their late master's enemy. The most famous captain of such +hireling soldiers was Sir John Hawkwood, an Englishman, who is commonly +said to have been a tailor in London before he took to arms; but this I +believe to be a mistake. He fought for many years in Italy, and a +picture of him on horseback, which serves for his monument, is still to +be seen in Florence Cathedral.</p> + +<p>The Romans again and again entreated the popes to come back to their +city. The chief poet and writer of the age, Petrarch, urged them both in +verse and in prose to return. But the cardinals, who at this time were +mostly Frenchmen, had grown so used to the pleasures of Avignon that +they did all they could to keep the popes there. At length, in 1367, +Urban V. made his way back to Rome, where the emperors both of the East +and of the West met to do him honour; but after a short stay in Italy he +returned to Avignon, where he soon after died (<small>A.D.</small> 1370). His +successor, Gregory XI., however, was more resolute, and removed the +papacy to Rome in 1377; and this was the end of what was styled the +seventy years' captivity in +Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> +</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"> +<span class="label">[88]</span></a><a href="#Page_240">See page 240.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXII" id="CHAPTER_II_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE GREAT SCHISM.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1378-1410.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +Gregory XI. died in 1378, and the choice of a successor to him was no +easy matter. The Romans were bent on having a countryman of their own, +that they might be sure of his continuing to live among them. They +guarded the gates, they brought into the city a number of rough and +half-savage people from the hills around, to terrify the cardinals; and, +when these were shut up for the election, the mob surrounded the palace +in which they were, with cries of "We will have a Roman, or at least an +Italian!" Day and night their shouts were kept up, with a frightful din +of other kinds. They broke into the pope's cellars, got drunk on the +wine, and were thus made more furious than before. At length, the +cardinals, driven to extreme terror, made choice of Bartholomew +Prignano, archbishop of Bari, in south Italy, who was not one of their +own number. It is certain that he was not chosen freely, but under fear +of the noise and threats of the Roman mob; but all the forms which +follow after the election of a pope, such as that of coronation, were +regularly gone through, and the cardinals seem to have given their +approval of the choice in such a way that they could not well draw back +afterwards.</p> + +<p>But Urban VI. (as the new pope called himself), although he had until +then been much esteemed as a pious and modest man, seems to have lost +his head on being raised to his new office. He held himself vastly above +the cardinals, wishing to reform them violently, and to lord it over +them in a style which they had not been used to. By such conduct he +provoked them to oppose him. They objected that he had not been freely +chosen, and also that he was not in his right mind; and a party of them +met at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +Fondi, and chose another pope, Clement VII., a Frenchman, who +settled at Avignon.</p> + +<p>Thus began what is called the Great Schism of the West. There were now +two rival popes—one of them having his court at Rome, and the other at +Avignon; and the kingdoms of Europe were divided between the two. The +cost of keeping up two courts weighed heavily on the Christians of the +West; and all sorts of tricks were used to squeeze out fees and money on +all possible occasions. As an instance of this, I may mention that +Boniface IX., one of the Roman line of popes, celebrated two jubilees, +with only ten years between them, although in Boniface VIII.'s time it +had been supposed that the jubilee was to come only once in a hundred +years.</p> + +<p>The princes of Europe were scandalized by this division, and often tried +to heal it, but in vain; for the popes, although they professed to +desire such a thing, were generally far from hearty in saying so. At +length it seemed as if the breach were to be healed by a council held at +Pisa in 1409, which set aside both the rivals, and elected a new pope, +Alexander V. But it was found that the two old claimants would not give +way; and thus the council of Pisa, in trying to cure the evil of having +two popes, had saddled the Church with a third.</p> + +<p>Alexander did not hold the papacy quite eleven months (June, 1409, to +May, 1410). He had fallen wholly under the power of a cardinal named +Balthasar Cossa; and this cardinal was chosen to succeed him, under the +name of John XXIII. John was one of the worst men who ever held the +papacy. It is said that he had been a pirate, and that from this he had +got the habit of waking all night and sleeping by day. He had been +governor of Bologna, where he had indulged himself to the full in +cruelty, greed, and other vices. He was even suspected of having +poisoned Alexander; and, although he must no doubt have been a very +clever man, it is not easy to understand how the other cardinals can +have chosen one who was so notoriously wicked to the papacy.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_II_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>JOHN HUSS.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1369-1414.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +It would seem that after a time Wyclif's opinions almost died out in +England. But meanwhile they, or opinions very like them, were eagerly +taken up in Bohemia. If we look at the map of Europe, we might think +that no country was less likely than Bohemia to have anything to do with +England; for it lies in the midst of other countries, far away from all +seas, and with no harbours to which English ships could make their way. +And besides this, the people are of a different race from any that have +ever settled in this country, or have helped to make the English nation, +and their language has no likeness to ours. But it so happened that +Richard II. of England married the Princess Anne, granddaughter of the +blind king who fell at Cressy, and daughter of the emperor Charles IV., +who usually lived in Bohemia. And when Queen Anne of England died, and +the Bohemian ladies and servants of her court went back to their own +country, they took with them some of Wyclif's writings, which were +readily welcomed there; for some of the Bohemian clergy had already +begun a reform in the Church, and Wyclif's name was well known on +account of his writings of another kind.</p> + +<p>Among those who thus became acquainted with Wyclif's opinions was a +young man named John Huss. He had been an admirer of Wyclif's +philosophical works; but when he first met with his reforming books, he +was so little taken with them that he wished they were thrown into the +Moldau, the river which runs through Prague, the chief city of Bohemia. +But Huss soon came to think differently, and heartily took up almost all +Wyclif's doctrines.</p> + +<p>Huss made many enemies among the clergy by attacking their faults from +the pulpit of a chapel called Bethlehem, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +where he was preacher. He was, +however, still so far in favour with the archbishop of Prague, that he +was employed by him, together with some others, to inquire into a +pretended miracle, which drew crowds of pilgrims to seek for cures at a +place called Wilsnack, in the north of Germany. But he afterwards fell +out of favour with the archbishop who had appointed him to this work, +and he was still less liked by later archbishops.</p> + +<p>From time to time some doctrines which were said to be Wyclif's were +condemned at Prague. Huss usually declared that Wyclif had been wrongly +understood, and that his real meaning was true and innocent. But at +length a decree was passed that all Wyclif's books should be burnt (<small>A.D.</small> +1410), and thereupon a grand bonfire was made in the courtyard of the +archbishop's palace, while all the church bells of the city were tolled +as at a funeral. But as some copies of the books escaped the flames, it +was easy to make new copies from these.</p> + +<p>Huss was excommunicated, but he still went on teaching. In 1412, Pope +John XXIII. proclaimed a crusade against Ladislaus, king of Naples, with +whom he had quarrelled, and ordered that it should be preached, and that +money should be collected for it all through Latin Christendom. Huss and +his chief friend, whose name was Jerome, set themselves against this +with all their might. They declared it to be unchristian that a crusade +should be proclaimed against a Christian prince, and that the favours of +the Church should be held out as a reward for paying money or for +shedding of blood. One day, as a preacher was inviting people to buy his +indulgences (as they were called) for the forgiveness of sins, he was +interrupted by three young men, who told him that what he said was +untrue, and that Master Huss had taught them better. The three were +seized, and were condemned to die; and, although it would seem that a +promise was afterwards given that their lives should be spared, the +sentence of death was carried into effect. The people were greatly +provoked by this, and when the executioner, after having cut off the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +heads of the three, proclaimed (as was usual), "Whosoever shall do the +like, let him look for the like!" a cry burst forth from the multitude +around, "We are ready to do and to suffer the like." Women dipped their +handkerchiefs in the blood of the victims, and treasured it up as a +precious relic. Some of the crowd even licked the blood. The bodies were +carried off by the people, and were buried in Bethlehem chapel; and Huss +and others spoke of the three as martyrs.</p> + +<p>By this affair his enemies were greatly provoked. Fresh orders were sent +from Rome for the destruction of Wyclif's books, and for uttering all +the heaviest sentences of the Church against Huss himself. He therefore +left Prague for a time, and lived chiefly in the castles of Bohemian +noblemen who were friendly to him, writing busily as well as preaching +against what he supposed to be the errors of the Roman Church.</p> + +<p>We shall hear more of Huss by-and-by.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_II_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1414-1418.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p>The division of the Church between three popes cried aloud for +settlement in some way; and besides this there were general complaints +as to the need of reform in the Church. The emperor Sigismund urged Pope +John to call a general council for the consideration of these subjects; +and, although John hated the notion of such a meeting, he could not help +consenting. He wished that the council should be held in Italy, as he +might hope to manage it more easily there than in any country north of +the Alps; and he was very angry when Constance, a town on a large lake +in Switzerland, was chosen as the place. It seemed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +like a token of bad +luck when, as he was passing over a mountain on his way to the council, +his carriage was upset, and he lay for a while in the snow, using bad +words as to his folly in undertaking the journey; and when he came in +sight of Constance at the foot of the hill, he said that it looked like +a trap for foxes. In that trap Pope John was caught.</p> + +<p>The other popes, Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII., did not attend, +although both had been invited; but some time after the opening of the +council (which was on the 5th of November, 1414), the emperor Sigismund +arrived. He reached Constance in a boat which had brought him across the +lake very early on Christmas morning, and at the first service of the +festival, which was held before daybreak, he read the Gospel which tells +of the decree of Cĉsar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. For +it was considered that the emperor was entitled to take this part in the +Christmas service of the Church.</p> + +<p>It was proposed that all the three popes should resign, and that a new +pope should be chosen. In answer to this, John said that he was ready to +resign if the others would do the same; but it soon became clear that he +did not mean to keep his promise honestly. He tried by all manner of +tricks to ward off the dangers which surrounded him; and, after he had +more than once tried in vain to get away from Constance, he was able to +escape one day when the members of the council were amusing themselves +at a tournament given by a prince whom John had persuaded to take off +their attention in this way. The council, however, in his absence went +on to examine the charges against him, many of which were so shocking +that they were kept secret, out of regard for his office. John, by +letters and messengers, asked for delay, and did all that he could for +that purpose; but, notwithstanding all his arts, he was sentenced to be +deposed from the papacy for simony (that is, for trafficking in holy +things),<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> +and for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +other offences. On being informed of this, he at +once put off his papal robes, saying, that since he had put them on he +had never enjoyed a quiet day (May 31, 1415).</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_24_II" id="P2_24_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>John Huss, the Bohemian reformer, had been summoned to Constance, that +he might give an account of himself, and had been furnished with a +safe-conduct (as it was called), in which the emperor assured him of +protection on his way to the council and back. But, although at first he +was treated as if he were free, it was pretended, soon after his +arrival, that he wished to run away; and under this pretence he was shut +up in a dark and filthy prison. Huss had no friends in the council; for +the reforming part of the members would have nothing to do with him, +lest it should be thought that they agreed with him in all his notions. +And when he was at length brought out from prison, where his health had +suffered much, and when he was required to answer for himself, without +having been allowed the use of books to prepare himself, all the parties +in the council turned on him at once. His trial lasted three days. The +charges against him were mostly about Wyclif's doctrines, which had been +often condemned by councils at Rome and elsewhere, but which Huss was +supposed to hold; and when he tried to explain that in some things he +did not agree with Wyclif, nobody would believe him. Some of his +bitterest persecutors were men who had once been his friends, and had +gone with him in his reforming opinions.</p> + +<p>After his trial, Huss was sent back to prison for a month, and all kinds +of ways were tried to persuade him to give up the opinions which were +blamed in him; but he stood firm in what he believed to be the truth. At +length he was brought out to hear his sentence. He claimed the +protection of the emperor, whose safe-conduct he had received (as we +have seen). But Sigismund had been hard pressed by Huss's enemies, who +told him that a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +promise made to one who is wrong in the faith is not to +be kept; and the emperor had weakly and treacherously yielded, so that +he could only blush for shame when Huss reminded him of the +safe-conduct.</p> + +<p>Huss was condemned to death, and was <i>degraded</i> from his orders, as the +custom was; that is to say, they first put into his hands the vessels +used at the consecration of the Lord's Supper, which were the signs of +his being a priest; and by taking away these from him, they reduced him +from a priest to a deacon. Then they took away the tokens of his being a +deacon, and so they stripped him of his other orders, one after another; +and when at last they had turned him back into a layman, they led him +away to be burnt. It is said that, as he saw an old woman carrying a +faggot to the pile which was to burn him, he smiled and said, "O holy +simplicity!" meaning that her intention was good, although the poor old +creature was ignorant and misled. He bore his death with great patience +and courage; and then his ashes and such scorched bits of his dress as +remained were thrown into the Rhine, lest his followers should treasure +them up as relics (July 6, 1415).</p> + +<p>About ten months after the death of Huss, his old friend and companion, +Jerome of Prague, was condemned by the council to be burnt, and suffered +with a firmness which even those who were most strongly against him +could not but admire (May 30, 1416).</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_24_III" id="P2_24_III"></a><small>PART III</small>.</p> + +<p>When Pope John had been got rid of, Gregory XII., the most respectable +of the three rival popes, agreed to resign his claims. But the third +pope, Benedict XIII., would hear of no proposals for his resignation, +and shut himself up in a castle on the coast of Spain, where he not only +continued to call himself pope, but after his death two popes of his +line were set up in succession. The council of Constance, however, +finding Benedict obstinate, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +did not trouble itself further about him, +and went on to treat the papacy as vacant.</p> + +<p>There was a great dispute whether the reform of the Church (which people +had long asked for), or the choice of a new pope, should be first taken +in hand; and at length it was resolved to elect a pope without further +delay. The choice was to be made by the cardinals and some others who +were joined with them; and these electors were all shut up in the +Exchange of Constance—a building which is still to be seen there. While +the election was going on, multitudes of all ranks, and even the emperor +himself among them, went from time to time in slow procession round the +Exchange, chanting in a low tone litanies, in which they prayed that the +choice of the electors might be guided for the good of the Church. And +when at last an opening was made in the wall from within, and through it +a voice proclaimed, "We have a pope: Lord Otho of Colonna!" the news +spread at once through all Constance. The people seemed to be wild with +joy that the division of the Church, which had lasted so long, was now +healed. All the bells of the town pealed forth joyfully, and it is said +that a crowd of not less than 80,000 people hurried at once to the +Exchange. The emperor in his delight threw himself at the new pope's +feet; and for hours together vast numbers thronged the cathedral, where +the pope was placed on the high altar, and gave them his blessing. It +was on St. Martin's day, the 11th of November, 1417, that this election +took place; and from this the pope styled himself Martin V. But the joy +which had been shown at his election was more than the effect warranted. +The council had chosen a pope before taking up the reform of the Church; +and the new pope was no friend to reform. During the rest of the time +that the council was assembled, he did all that he could to thwart +attempts at reform; and when, at the end of it, he rode away from +Constance, with the emperor holding his bridle on one side and one of +the chief German princes on the other, while a crowd of princes, nobles, +clergy, and others, as many as 40,000, accompanied +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> him, it seemed as if +the pope had got above all the sovereigns of the world.</p> + +<p>The great thing done by the council of Constance was, that it declared a +general council to be above the pope, and entitled to depose popes if +the good of the Church should require it.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"> +<span class="label">[89]</span></a><a href="#Page_185">See page 185.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXV" id="CHAPTER_II_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE HUSSITES.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1418-1431.</p> + +<p>The news of Huss's death naturally raised a general feeling of anger in +Bohemia, where his followers treated his memory as that of a saint, and +kept a festival in his honour. And when the emperor Sigismund, in 1419, +succeeded his brother Wenceslaus in the kingdom of Bohemia, he found +that he was hated by his new subjects on account of his share in the +death of Huss.</p> + +<p>But, although most of the Bohemians might now be called Hussites, there +were great divisions among the Hussites themselves. Some had lately +begun to insist that in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper both the +bread and the wine should be given to all the people, according to our +Lord's own example, instead of allowing no one but the priest to receive +the wine, according to the Roman practice. These people who insisted on +the sacramental cup were called <i>Calixtines</i>, from the Latin <i>calix</i>, +which means a <i>cup</i> or <i>chalice</i>. But among those who agreed in this +opinion there were serious differences as to some other points.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1419, the first public communion was celebrated at a +place where the town of Tabor was afterwards built. It was a very +different kind of ceremony from what had been usual. There were three +hundred altars, but they were without any covering; the chalices +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> were +of wood, the clergy wore only their every-day dress; and a love-feast +followed, at which the rich shared with their poorer brethren. The +wilder party among the Hussites were called <i>Taborites</i>, from Tabor, +which became the chief abode of this party. They now took to putting +their opinions into practice. They declared churches and their +ornaments, pictures, images, organs, and the like, to be abominable; and +they went about in bands, destroying everything that they thought +superstitious. And thus Bohemia, which had been famous for the size and +beauty of its churches, was so desolated that hardly a church was left +in it; and those which are now standing have almost all been built since +the time when the Hussites destroyed the older churches.</p> + +<p>The chief leader of the Taborites was John Ziska, whose name is said by +some to mean <i>one-eyed</i>; and at least he had lost an eye in early life. +Ziska had such a talent for war, that, although his men were only rough +peasants, armed with nothing better than clubs, flails, and such like +tools, which they had been accustomed to use in husbandry, he trained +them to encounter regular armies, and always came off with victory. He +taught his soldiers to make their flails very dangerous weapons by +tipping them with iron; and to place their waggons together in such a +way that each block of waggons made a sort of little fortress, against +which the force of the enemy dashed in vain. But Ziska's bravery and +skill were disgraced by his savage fierceness. He never spared an enemy; +he took delight in putting clergy and monks to the sword, or in burning +them in pitch, and in burning and pulling down churches and monasteries. +In the course of the war he lost his remaining eye; but he still +continued to act as general with the same skill and success as before. +His cruelty became greater continually, and the last year of his life +was the bloodiest.</p> + +<p>Ziska died in October, 1424. It is said that he directed that his skin +should be taken off his body, and made into the covering of a drum, at +the sound of which he expected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +all enemies to flee in terror; but the +story is probably not true. At his death, a part of his old companions +called themselves <i>orphans</i>, as if they had lost their father, and could +never find another. But other generals arose to carry on the same kind +of war, while their wild followers were wrought up to a sort of fury +which nothing could withstand.</p> + +<p>On the side of the Church a holy war was proclaimed, and vast armies, +made up from all nations of Europe, were gathered for the invasion of +Bohemia. One of these crusades was led by Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of +Winchester, and great-uncle of King Henry VI. of England; another, by a +famous Italian cardinal, Julian Cesarini. But the courage and fury of +the Bohemians, with their savage appearance and their strange manner of +fighting, drove back all assaults, with immense loss, in one campaign +after another; until Cesarini, the leader in the last crusade, was +convinced that there was no hope of putting the Bohemians down by force, +and that some other means must be tried.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_II_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p class='center'>COUNCILS OF BASEL AND FLORENCE.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1431-9.</p> + +<p>It had been settled at the council of Constance that regularly from time +to time there should be held a general council, by which name was then +meant a council gathered from the whole of the Western Church, but +without any representatives of the Eastern Churches; and according to +this decree a council was to meet at Basel, on the Rhine, in the year +1431. It was just before the time of its opening that Cardinal Cesarini +was defeated by the Hussites of Bohemia, as we have seen. Being +convinced that some gentler means ought to be tried with them, he begged +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +pope to allow them a hearing; and he invited them to send deputies +to the council of Basel, of which he was president.</p> + +<p>The Bohemians did as they were asked to do, and thirty of them appeared +before the council,—rough, wild-looking men for the most part, headed +by Procopius, who was at once a priest and a warrior, and was called the +great, in order to distinguish him from another of the same name. A +dispute, which lasted many weeks, was carried on between the leaders of +these Bohemians and some members of the council; and, at length, four +points were agreed on. The chief of these was, that the chalice at the +Holy Communion should not be confined to the priest alone, but might be +given to such grown-up persons as should desire it. This was one of the +things which had been most desired by the Bohemian reformers. We need +not go further into the history of the Hussites and of the parties into +which they were divided; but it is worth while to remember that the use +of the sacramental cup was allowed in Bohemia for two hundred years, +while in all other churches under the Roman authority it was forbidden.</p> + +<p>Soon after the meeting of the council of Basel, the pope, whose name was +Eugenius IV., grew jealous lest it should get too much power, and sent +orders that it should break up. But the members were not disposed to +bear this. They declared that the council was the highest authority in +the Church, and superior to the pope; and they asked Eugenius to join +them at Basel, and threatened him in case of his refusal. Just at that +time Eugenius was driven from Rome by his people, and therefore he found +it convenient to try to smooth over differences, and to keep good terms +with the council; but after a while the disagreement broke out again. +The pope had called a council to meet at Ferrara, in Italy, in order to +consult with some Greeks (at the head of whom were the emperor and the +patriarch of Constantinople) as to the union of the Greek and Latin +Churches; and he desired the members of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +Basel council to remove to +Ferrara, that they might take part in the new assembly. But only a few +obeyed; and those who remained at Basel were resolved to carry on their +quarrel to the uttermost. First, they allowed Eugenius a certain time, +within which they required him either to appear at Basel or to send some +one in his stead; then, they lengthened out this time somewhat; and as +he still did not appear, they first suspended him from his office, then +declared him to be deposed, and at length went on to choose another pope +in his stead (Nov. 17, 1439).</p> + +<p>The person thus chosen was Amadeus, who for nearly thirty years had been +duke of Savoy, but had lately given over his dukedom to his son, and had +put himself at the head of twelve old knights, who had formed themselves +into an order of hermits at Ripaille, near the lake of Geneva. The new +pope bargained that he should not be required to part with the long +white beard which he had worn as a hermit; but after a while, finding +that it looked strange among the smooth chins of those around him, he, +of his own accord, allowed it to be shaved off. But this attempt to set +up an antipope came to very little. Felix V. (as the old duke called +himself on being elected) was obliged to submit to Eugenius; and the +council of Basel, after dwindling away by degrees, and being removed +from one place to another, died out so obscurely that its end was +unnoticed by any one.</p> + +<p>Eugenius held his council at Ferrara, and afterwards removed it to +Florence (<small>A.D.</small> 1438-9); and it seemed as if by his management the +Greeks, who were very poor, and were greatly in need of help against the +Turks, were brought to an agreement with the Latins as to the questions +which had been so long disputed between the Churches. The union of the +Churches was celebrated by a grand service in the cathedral of Florence. +But, as in former +times,<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> +the Greeks found, on their return home, +that their countrymen would not agree to what had been done; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> thus +the breach between the two Churches continued, until a few years later +Constantinople was taken by the Turks, and so the Greek Empire came to +an end.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"> +<span class="label">[90]</span></a><a href="#Page_232">See page 232.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_II_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>NICOLAS V. AND PIUS II.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1447-1464.</p> + +<p>The next pope, Nicolas V., was a man who had raised himself from a +humble station by his learning, ability, and good character. He was +chiefly remarkable for his love of learning, and for the bounty which he +spent on learned men. For learning had come to be regarded with very +high honour, and those who were famous for it found themselves persons +of great importance, who were welcome at the courts of princes, from the +Emperor of the West down to the little dukes and lords of Italy. But we +must not fancy that these learned men were all that they ought to have +been. They were too commonly selfish and jealous, vain, greedy, +quarrelsome, unthrifty; they flattered the great, however unworthy these +might be; and in religion many of them were more like the old heathen +Greeks than Christians.</p> + +<p>In the time of Nicolas, a terrible calamity fell on Christendom by the +loss of Constantinople. The Turks, a barbarous and Mahometan people, had +long been pressing on the Eastern empire, and swallowing up more and +more of it. It was the fear of these advancing enemies that led the +Greeks repeatedly to seek for union with the Latin Church, in the hope +that they might thus get help from the West for the defence of what +remained of their empire. But these reconciliations never lasted long, +more especially as the Greeks did not gain that aid from their Western +brethren for the sake of which they had yielded in matters of religion. +One more attempt of this kind was made after +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +the council of Florence; +but it was vain, and in 1453 the Turks, under Sultan Mahomet II., became +masters of Constantinople.</p> + +<p>A great number of learned Greeks, who were scattered by this conquest, +found their way into the West, bringing with them their knowledge and +many Greek manuscripts; and such scholars were gladly welcomed by Pope +Nicolas and others. Not only were their books bought up, but the pope +sent persons to search for manuscripts all over Greece, in order to +rescue as much as possible from destruction by the barbarians. Nicolas +founded the famous Vatican library in the papal palace at Rome, and +presented a vast number of manuscripts to it. For it was not until this +very time that printing was invented, and formerly all books were +written by hand, which is a slow and costly kind of work, as compared +with printing. For in writing out books, the whole labour has to be done +for every single copy; but when a printer has once set up his types, he +can print any number of copies without any other trouble than that of +inking the types and pressing them on the paper, by means of a machine, +for each copy that is wanted. The art of printing was brought from +Germany to Rome under Nicolas V., and he encouraged it, like everything +else which was connected with learning.</p> + +<p>Nicolas also had a plan for rebuilding Rome in a very grand style, and +began with the Church of St. Peter; which he intended to surround with +palaces, gardens, terraces, libraries, and smaller churches. But he did +not live to carry this work far.</p> + +<p>One effect of the new encouragement of learning was, that scholars began +to inquire into the truth of some things which had long been allowed to +pass without question. And thus in no long time the story of +Constantine's donation and the false +Decretals<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> were shown to be +forged and worthless.</p> + +<p>The shock of the loss of Constantinople was felt all +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> through +Christendom, and Nicholas attempted to get up a crusade, but died before +much came of it. When, however, the Turks, in the pride of victory, +advanced further into Europe, and laid siege to Belgrade on the Danube, +they were driven back with great loss by the skill of John Huniades, a +general, and by the courage which John of Capistrano, a Franciscan +friar, was able by his exhortations and his prayers to rouse in the +hearts of the besieged.</p> + +<p>Nicolas died in 1455, and his successor, Calixtus III., in 1458. The +next pope, Ĉneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who took the name of Pius II., was +a very remarkable man. He had taken a strong part against Pope Eugenius +at Basel, and had even been secretary to the old duke-antipope Felix. +But he afterwards made his peace by doing great services to Eugenius, +and then he rose step by step, until at the death of Calixtus he was +elected pope. Pius was a man of very great ability in many ways; but his +health was so much shaken before he became pope, that he was not able to +do all that he might have done if he had been in the fulness of his +strength. He took up the crusade with great zeal, but found no hearty +support from others. A meeting which he held at Mantua for the purpose +had little effect. At last, although suffering from gout and fever, the +pope made his way from Rome to Ancona, on the Adriatic, where he +expected to find both land and sea forces ready for the crusade. But on +the way he fell in with some of the troops which had been collected for +the purpose, and they turned out to be such wretched creatures, and so +utterly unfit for the hardships of war, that he could only give them his +blessing and tell them to go back to their homes. And, although, after +reaching Ancona, he had the pleasure of seeing twenty-four Venetian +ships enter the harbour for his service, he was so worn out by sickness +that he died on the next day but one (Aug. 14, 1464). And after his +death the crusade, on which he had so much set his heart, came to +nothing.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"> +<span class="label">[91]</span></a><a href="#Page_192">See page 192.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_II_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p class='center'>JEROME SAVONAROLA.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1452-1498.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>PART I</small>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +There is not much to tell about the popes after Pius II. until we come +to Alexander VI., who was a Spaniard named Roderick Borgia, and was pope +from 1492 to 1503. And the story of Alexander is too shocking to be told +here; for there is hardly anything in all history so bad as the accounts +which we have of him and of his family. He is supposed to have died of +drinking, by mistake, some poison which he had prepared for a rich +cardinal whose wealth he wished to get into his hands.</p> + +<p>Instead, therefore, of telling you about the popes of this time, I shall +give some account of a man who became very famous as a preacher—Jerome +Savonarola.</p> + +<p>Savonarola was born in 1452 at Ferrara, where his grandfather had been +physician to the duke; and his family wished him to follow the same +profession. But Jerome was set on becoming a monk, and from this nothing +could move him. He therefore joined the Dominican friars, and after a +while he was removed to St. Mark's, at Florence, a famous convent of his +order. He found things in a bad state there; but he was chosen prior (or +head) of the convent, and reformed it, so that it rose in character, and +the number of the monks was much increased. He also became a great +preacher, so that even the vast cathedral of Florence could not hold the +crowds which flocked to hear him. He was especially fond of preaching on +the dark prophecies of the Revelation, and of declaring that the +judgments of God were about to come on Florence and on all Italy because +of sin; and he sometimes fancied that he not only gathered such things +from Scripture, but that they were revealed to him by visions from +heaven.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +At this time a family named Medici had got the chief power in Florence +into their hands; and Savonarola always opposed them, because he thought +that they had no right to such power in a city which ought to be free. +But when Lorenzo, the head of the family, was dying (<small>A.D.</small> 1492), he sent +for Savonarola, because he thought him the only one of the clergy who +would be likely to speak honestly to him of his sins, and to show him +the way of seeking forgiveness. Savonarola did his part firmly, and +pointed out some of Lorenzo's acts as being those of which he was +especially bound to repent. But when he desired him to restore the +liberties of Florence, it was more than the dying man could make up his +mind to; and Savonarola, thinking that his repentance could not be +sincere if he refused this, left him without giving him the Church's +absolution.</p> + +<p>But, although Savonarola was a very sincere and pious man, he did not +always show good judgment. For instance, when he wished to get rid of +the disorderly way in which the young people of Florence used to behave +at the beginning of Lent, he sent a number of boys about the city (<small>A.D.</small> +1497), where they entered into houses, and asked the inhabitants to give +up to them any <i>vanities</i> which they might have. Then these vanities (as +they were called) were all gathered together, and were built up into a +pile fifteen stories high. There were among them cards and dice, +fineries of women's dress, looking-glasses, bad books, musical +instruments, pictures, and statues. The whole heap was of great value, +and a merchant from Venice offered a large sum for it. But the money was +refused, and he was forced to throw in his own picture as an addition to +the other vanities. When night came, a long procession under +Savonarola's orders passed through the streets, and then the pile was +set on fire, amidst the sound of bells, drums, and trumpets, and the +shouts of the multitude, who had been worked up to a share of +Savonarola's zeal.</p> + +<p>But the wiser people were distressed by the mistakes of judgment which +he had shown in setting children to search +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +out the faults of their +elders, and in mixing up harmless things in the same destruction with +those which were connected with deep sinfulness and vice. And this want +of judgment was still more shown a year later, when, after having +repeated the bonfire of vanities, Savonarola's followers danced wildly +in three circles around a cross set up in front of St. Mark's, as if +they had been so many crazy dervishes of the East.</p> + +<p class='center'><br /><a name="P2_28_II" id="P2_28_II"></a><small>PART II</small>.</p> + +<p>Savonarola had raised up a host of enemies, and some of them were +eagerly looking for an opportunity of doing him some mischief. At length +one Francis of Apulia, a Franciscan friar, challenged him to what was +called the <i>ordeal</i> (or judgment) of fire, as a trial of the truth of +his doctrine; and after much trouble it was settled that a friend of +each should pass through this trial, which was supposed to be a way of +finding out God's judgment as to the truth of the matter in dispute. Two +great heaps of fuel were piled up in a public place at Florence. They +were each forty yards long and two yards and a half high, with an +opening of a yard's width between them; and it was intended that these +heaps should be set on fire, and that the champions should try to pass +between the two, as a famous monk had done at Florence in Hildebrand's +time, hundreds of years before. But when a vast crowd had been brought +to see the ordeal, they were much disappointed at finding that it was +delayed, because Savonarola's enemies fancied that he might perhaps make +use of some magical charms against the flames. There was a long dispute +about this, and, while the parties were still wrangling, a heavy shower +came down on the crowd. The magistrates then forbade the trial; the +people, tired and hungry from waiting, drenched by the rain, provoked by +the wearisome squabble which had caused the delay, and after all balked +of the expected sight, broke out against Savonarola; and he had great +difficulty in reaching St. Mark's under the protection of some friends, +who closed around him and kept off the angry multitude. Two days +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> later, +the convent was besieged; and when the defenders were obliged to +surrender it, Savonarola and the friar who was to have undergone the +ordeal on his side were sent to prison.</p> + +<p>Savonarola had a long trial, during which he was often tortured; but +whatever might be wrung from him in this way, he afterwards declared +that it was not to be believed, because the weakness of his body could +not bear the pain of torture, and he confessed whatever might be asked +of him. This trial was carried on under the authority of the wicked Pope +Alexander VI.</p> + +<p>Although no charge of error as to the faith could be made out against +Savonarola, his enemies were bent on his death; and he and two of his +companions were sentenced to be hanged and burnt. Like Huss, they had to +go through the form of being degraded from their orders; and at the end +of this it was a bishop's part to say to each, "I separate thee from the +Church militant" (that is, from the Church which is carrying on its +warfare here on earth). But the bishop, who had once been one of +Savonarola's friars at St. Mark's, was very uneasy, and said in his +confusion, "I separate thee from the Church triumphant" (that is, from +the Church when its warfare has ended in victory and triumph). +Savonarola saw the mistake, and corrected it by saying, "from the +militant, not from the triumphant; for <i>that</i> is not thine to do."</p> + +<p>Savonarola's party did not die out with him, but long continued to +cherish his memory. Among those who were most earnest in this was the +great artist, Michael Angelo Buonarotti, who had been one of his hearers +in youth, and even to his latest days used to read his works with +interest, and to speak of him with reverence.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_II_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>JULIUS II. AND LEO X.</p> + +<p class='center'><small>A.D.</small> 1503-1521.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +Alexander VI. was succeeded by a pope who took the title of Pius III., +and lived only six and twenty days after his election. And after Pius +came Julius II., who was pope from 1503 to 1513, and Leo X., who lived +to the year 1521.</p> + +<p>Julius, who owed his rise in life to the favour of his uncle Sixtus IV. +(one of the popes who had come between Pius II. and Alexander VI.), was +desirous to gain for the Roman see all that it had lost or had ever +claimed. He was not a man of religious character, but plunged deeply +into politics, and even acted as a soldier in war. Thus, at the siege of +Mirandola, in the winter of 1511, he lived for weeks in a little hut, +regardless of the frost and snow, of the roughness and scantiness of his +food; and when most of those around him were frightened away by the +cannon-balls which came from the walls of the fortress, the stout old +pope kept his place, and directed the pointing of his own cannon against +the town.</p> + +<p>His successor, Leo, who was of the Florentine family of +Medici,<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> was +fond of elegant pleasures and of hunting. His tastes were costly, and +continually brought him into difficulties as to money. The manner of +life in Leo's court was gay, luxurious, and far from strict. He had +comedies acted before him, which were hardly fit for the amusement of +the chief bishop of Christendom. He is famous for his encouragement of +the arts; and it was in his time that the art of painting reached its +highest perfection through the genius of Michael Angelo Buonarotti (who +has been already mentioned as a disciple of +Savonarola)<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> and of +Raphael<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +Sanzio. In the art of architecture a great change took place +about this time. For some hundreds of years it had been usual to build +in what is called the <i>Gothic</i> style, of which the chief mark is the use +of pointed arches. Not that there was no change during all that time; +for there are great differences between the earlier and the later kinds +of Gothic, and these have since been so carefully studied that skilful +people can tell from the look of a building the time at which every part +of it was erected. But a little before the year 1500, the Gothic gave +way to another style, and one of the greatest works ever done in this +new style was the vast church of St. Peter, at Rome. I have mentioned +that Nicolas V. thought of rebuilding the ancient church, which had +stood since the time of Constantine the Great, and that he had even +begun the work.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> +But now both the old +basilica<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> +and the beginning +of a new church which Nicolas had made were swept away, and something +far grander was designed. There were several architects who carried on +the building of this great church, one after another; but the grand dome +of St. Peter's, which rises into the air over the whole city, was the +work of Michael Angelo, who was not only a painter, but an architect and +a sculptor. It was by offering indulgences (or spiritual favours, +forgiveness of sins, and the like) as a reward for gifts towards the new +St. Peter's, that Julius raised the anger and disgust of the German +reformer, Martin Luther. And thus it was the building of the most +magnificent of Roman churches that led to the revolt which took away +from the popes a great part of their spiritual dominion.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"> +<span class="label">[92]</span></a><a href="#Page_272">See page 272.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"> +<span class="label">[93]</span></a><a href="#Page_274">Page 274.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"> +<span class="label">[94]</span></a><a href="#Page_269">See p. 269.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"> +<span class="label">[95]</span></a>See Part I., <a href="#Page_85">p. 85.</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_XXX" id="CHAPTER_II_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<p class='center'>MISSIONS.—THE INQUISITION.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +All through the times of which I had been speaking, missions to the +heathen were actively carried on. Much of this kind was done in Asia, +and, indeed, the heart of Asia seems to have been more open and better +known to Europeans during some part of the middle ages than it has ever +been since. But as those parts were so far off, and so hard to get at, +it often happened that dishonest people, for their own purposes, brought +to Europe wonderful tales of the conversion of Eastern nations, or of +their readiness to be converted, which had no real ground. And sometimes +the crafty Asiatic princes themselves made a pretence of willingness to +receive the Gospel when all that they really wanted was to get some +advantages of other kinds from the pope and the Christians of the West.</p> + +<p>A great deal was heard in Europe of a person who was called Prester +(that is to say, <i>presbyter</i> or <i>priest</i>) John. He was believed to live +in the far East, and to be both a king and a Christian priest. And there +really was at one time a line of Christian princes in Asia, between lake +Baikal and the northern border of China, whose capital was Karakorum; +but in 1202 their kingdom was overthrown by the Tartar conqueror, +Genghis-khan; although the belief in Prester John, which had always been +mixed with a good deal of fable, continued long after to float in the +minds of the Western Christians.</p> + +<p>The mendicant orders, which (as we have seen) were founded in the time +of Innocent III.,<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> +took up the work of missions with great zeal; and +some of the Franciscan missionaries especially, by undergoing martyrdom, +gained great credit for their order in its early days. There were also +travellers who made their way into the East from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +curiosity or some +other such reason, and brought home accounts of what they had seen. The +most famous of these travellers was Marco Polo, a Venetian of a trading +family, who lived many years in China, and found his way back to Europe +by India and Ceylon. Some of these travellers report that they found the +Nestorian<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> +clergy enjoying great influence at the courts of Asiatic +sovereigns; for the Nestorians had been very active in missions at an +earlier time, and had made many converts in Asia; but the travellers, +who saw them only after they had been long settled there, describe them +very unfavourably in all ways. John of Monte Corvino, an Italian, was +established by Pope Clement V. as Archbishop of Cambalu (or Pekin), with +seven bishops under him; and Christianity seemed thus far to be +flourishing in that region (<small>A.D.</small> 1307).</p> + +<p>In the meantime the people of countries bordering on the Baltic Sea were +converted, although not without much trouble. Sometimes they would +profess to welcome the Gospel; but as soon as the preachers had left +them they disowned it, and washed themselves, as if by doing so they +might get rid of their Christian baptism. And the missionaries often +found themselves at a loss how to deal with the ignorant superstition of +these people. Thus a missionary in Livonia, named Dietrich, was +threatened with death because an eclipse had taken place during his +visit to their country, and they fancied that he had swallowed the sun! +At another time his life was in danger because the natives saw that his +fields were in better condition than theirs, and, instead of +understanding that this was the effect of his greater skill and care, +they charged him with having brought it about by magical arts. They +therefore resolved to settle his fate by bringing forward a horse who +was regarded as sacred to their gods, and observing how the beast +behaved. At first the horse put forward his right foot, which would have +saved the missionary's life; but the heathen diviners said that the God +of Christians was sitting on the horse's back, and directing him; and +they insisted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +that the back should be rubbed, in order to get rid of +such influence. But after this had been done, the horse again put +forward the same foot, and, much against the will of the Livonians, +Dietrich was allowed to go free.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the missionaries tried other things to help the effect of +their preaching. Thus, a later missionary in Livonia, Albert of +Apeldern, in order to give the people some knowledge of Scripture +history, got up what was called a prophetical play, in which Gideon, +David, and Herod were to appear. But when Gideon and his men began to +fight the Midianites on the stage, the heathens took alarm lest some +treacherous trick should be practised on them, and they all ran away in +affright.</p> + +<p>Albert of Apeldern founded a military order, somewhat on the plan of the +Templars, for the conversion of the heathen on the Baltic; and it was +afterwards joined with another order. The Teutonic (or German) order, +which was thus formed, became very famous. By subduing the nations of +the Baltic coasts, it forced them to receive Christianity, got +possession of their lands, and laid the foundation of a power which has +grown by degrees into the great Prussian (or German) empire.</p> + +<p>The work of missions was carried on also in Russia, Lithuania, and other +northern countries, so that by the time which we have now reached it +might be said that all Europe was in some way or other converted to +profess the Gospel.</p> + +<p>About the end of the fifteenth century the discoveries of the Portuguese +in Africa and the East, and those of the Spaniards in the great Western +continent, opened new fields for missionary labour; but of this we need +not now speak more particularly.</p> + +<p>Unhappily the Church was not content with trying to convince people of +the truth of its doctrine by gentle means, but disgraced itself by +persecution. We have already noticed the horrible wars against the +Albigenses in the south of +France;<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> +and cruel persecutions were +carried on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +in Spain against Jews, Mahometans, and persons suspected of +heresy, or such like offences. The conduct of these persecutions was in +the hands of the Inquisition, which did its work without any regard to +the rules of Justice, and was made more terrible by the darkness and +mystery of its proceedings. It kept spies to pry into all men's concerns +and to give secret information against them; even the nearest relatives +were not safe from each other under this dreadful system. Multitudes +were put to death, and others were glad to escape with such punishments +as entire loss of their property, or imprisonment, which was in many +cases for life.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>In the course of all these hundreds of years, Christian religion had +been much corrupted from its first purity. The power of the clergy over +the ignorant people had become far greater than it ought to have been; +and too commonly it was kept up by the encouragement of superstitions +and abuses. The popes claimed supreme power on earth. They claimed the +right of setting up and plucking down emperors and kings. They meddled +with appointments to sees, parishes, and all manner of offices in the +Church, throughout all Western Europe. They wished to make it appear as +if bishops had no authority except what they held through the grant of +the pope. There were general complaints against the faults of the +clergy, and among the mass of men religion had become in great part +little better than an affair of forms. From all quarters cries for +reform were raised, and a reform was speedily to come, by which, among +other things, our own country was set free from the power of the popes, +and the doctrine of our Church was brought back to an agreement with +Holy Scripture and with the Christianity of early times.</p> + +<p class='notes'>NOTES</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"> +<span class="label">[96]</span></a><a href="#Page_225">Pages 225-227.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"> +<span class="label">[97]</span></a>Part I, <a href="#Page_146">p. 146.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"> +<span class="label">[98]</span></a><a href="#Page_223">See p. 223.</a></p></div> + +<p class='center'><small>WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.</small></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><br /><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="ad_1" id="ad_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h2>SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.</h2> + +<p class='center'><br />PUBLICATIONS ON</p> + +<p class='center'><span class='big'><span class="smcap">The</span> CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE.</span></p> + +<hr class='tiny' /> + +<h2>BOOKS.</h2> + +<div class='centered table'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" width="65%" cellspacing="0" summary="ADS"> +<tr> + <td class='rn' colspan='2'><i>s.  d.</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Christianity Judged by its Fruits.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">C. Croslegh</span>, D.D.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Great Passion-Prophecy Vindicated.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Brownlow Maitland</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Limp cloth</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0 10</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Natural Theology of Natural Beauty (The).</b><br /> + By the Rev. R. <span class="smcap">St. John Tyrwhitt</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Steps to Faith.</b><br /> + Addresses on some points in the Controversy with Unbelief. + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Brownlow Maitland</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Scepticism and Faith.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Brownlow Maitland</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  4</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Theism or Agnosticism.</b><br /> + An Essay on the grounds of Belief in God. By the Rev. + <span class="smcap">Brownlow Maitland</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Argument from Prophecy (The).</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Brownlow Maitland</span>, M.A., Author of + "Scepticism and Faith," &c.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Some Modern Religious Difficulties.</b><br /> + Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian + Evidence Society, at St. James's, Piccadilly, in 1876; + with a Preface by his Grace the late Archbishop of + Canterbury.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Some Witnesses for the Faith.</b><br /> + Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian + Evidence Society, at St. Stephen's Church, South Kensington, + in 1877.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  4</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Theism and Christianity.</b><br /> + Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian + Evidence Society, at St. James's, Piccadilly, in 1878.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><span class='ind10'>[1-5-88.</span><span class='ind30'>[Small Post 8vo.]</span></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Being of God, Six Addresses on the</b><span class="pagenum"><a name="ad_2" id="ad_2">[Pg 2]</a></span><br /> + By <span class="smcap">C. J. Ellicott</span>, D.D., Bishop of Gloucester + and Bristol.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Small Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Modern Unbelief: its Principles and Characteristics.</b><br /> + By the Right Rev. the <span class="smcap">Lord Bishop of Gloucester + And Bristol</span>.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>When was the Pentateuch Written?</b><br /> + By <span class="smcap">George Warington</span>, B.A., Author of "Can we + Believe in Miracles?" &c.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Analogy of Religion.</b><br /> + Dialogues founded upon Butler's "Analogy of Religion." + By the late Rev. <span class="smcap">H. R. Huckin</span>, D.D., Head Master + of Repton School.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>3  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>"Miracles."</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">E. A. Litton</span>, M.A., Examining Chaplain + of the Bishop of Durham.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Crown 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible.</b><br /> + Being the Boyle Lectures for 1871. By the Ven. Archdeacon + <span class="smcap">Hessey</span>, D.C.L., Preacher to the Hon. Society of Gray's + Inn, &c. <span class="smcap">First Series</span>.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible.</b><br /> + Being the Boyle Lectures for 1872. By the Ven. Archdeacon + <span class="smcap">Hessey</span>, D.C.L. <span class="smcap">Second Series</span>.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>2  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Prayer and Recent Difficulties about it.</b><br /> + The Boyle Lectures for 1873, being the <span class="smcap">Third Series</span> + of "Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible," By the + Ven. Archdeacon <span class="smcap">Hessey</span>, D.C.L.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>2  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><span class='ind10'>The above Three Series in a volume</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>6  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">G. Rawlinson</span>, M.A., Camden Professor + of Ancient History, Oxford.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Can we believe in Miracles?</b><br /> + By <span class="smcap">G. Warington</span>, B.A., of Caius College, Cambridge.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Moral Teaching of the New Testament viewed</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">as Evidential to its Historical Truth.</span> By the Rev. + <span class="smcap">C. A. Row</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Scripture Doctrine of Creation.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">T. R. Birks</span>, M.A., Professor of Moral + Philosophy at Cambridge.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Witness of the Heart to Christ.</b> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="ad_3" id="ad_3">[Pg 3]</a></span><br /> + Being the Hulsean Lectures for 1878. By the Right Rev. + <span class="smcap">W. Boyd Carpenter</span>, Bishop of Ripon.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Thoughts on the First Principles of the Positive</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">Philosophy, Considered in Relation to the Human + Mind.</span> By the late <span class="smcap">Benjamin Shaw</span>, M.A., + late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Limp Cloth</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  8</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Thoughts on the Bible.</b><br /> + By the late Rev. <span class="smcap">W. Gresley</span>, M.A., Prebendary of + Lichfield.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Reasonableness of Prayer.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">P. Onslow</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper Cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  8</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Paley's Evidences of Christianity.</b><br /> + A New Edition, with Notes, Appendix, and Preface. By + the Rev. <span class="smcap">E. A. Litton</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>4  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Paley's Natural Theology.</b><br /> + Revised to harmonize with Modern Science. By Mr. <span class="smcap">F. le + Gros Clark</span>, F.R.S., President of the Royal College of + Surgeons of England, &c.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>4  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Paley's Horĉ Paulinĉ.</b><br /> + With Notes, Appendix, and Preface, by <span class="smcap">J. S. Howson</span>, + D.D., Dean of Chester.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>3  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Religion and Morality.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Richard T. Smith</span>, B.D., Canon of St. + Patrick's, Dublin.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Story of Creation as told by Theology and</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">Science.</span> By the Rev. <span class="smcap">T. S. Ackland</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth Boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Man's Accountableness for his Religions Belief.</b><br /> + A Lecture delivered at the Hall of Science. By the Rev. + <span class="smcap">Daniel Moore</span>, M.A., Holy Trinity, Paddington.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper Cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Theory of Prayer; with Special Reference to</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">Modern Thought.</span> By the Rev. + <span class="smcap">W. H. Karslake</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Limp Cloth</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  0</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Credibility of Mysteries.</b><br /> + A Lecture delivered at St. George's Hall, Langham Place. + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Daniel Moore</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper Cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Gospels of the New Testament: their Genuineness</b> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="ad_4" id="ad_4">[Pg 4]</a></span><br /> + <span class="smcap">and Authority.</span> By the Rev. + <span class="smcap">R. J. Crosthwaite</span>, M.A.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">Constitution and Course of Nature</span>: to which are + added, Two Brief Dissertations. By <span class="smcap">Bishop Butler</span>. + <span class="smcap">New Edition.</span><br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>2  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Christian Evidences.</b><br /> + Intended chiefly for the young. By the Most Reverend + <span class="smcap">Richard Whately</span>, D.D.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>12mo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  4</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Efficacy of Prayer.</b><br /> + By the Rev. <span class="smcap">W. H. Karslake</span>, M.A., Assistant Preacher + at Lincoln's Inn, &c., &c.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Limp cloth</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>Science and the Bible.</b><br /> + a Lecture by the Right Rev. <span class="smcap">Bishop Perry</span>, D.D.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>18mo. <i>Paper cover</i>  4d.,  or</span><span class='ind30'><i>Limp cloth</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>A Lecture on the Bible.</b><br /> + By the Very Rev. <span class="smcap">E. M. Goulburn</span>, D.D., Dean of + Norwich.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>18mo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  2</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Bible: its Evidences, Characteristics, and</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">Effects.</span> A Lecture by the Right Rev. + <span class="smcap">Bishop Perry</span>, D.D.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>18mo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  4</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>The Origin of the World according to Revelation</b><br /> + <span class="smcap">and Science.</span> A Lecture by + <span class="smcap">Harvey Goodwin</span>, + Bishop of Carlisle.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  4</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>How I passed through Scepticism into Faith.</b><br /> + A Story told in an Almshouse.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Paper cover</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>0  3</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>On the Origin of the Laws of Nature.</b><br /> + By Sir <span class="smcap">Edmund Beckett</span>, Bart.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>1  6</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td><p class='ind'><b>What is Natural Theology?</b><br /> + Being the Boyle Lectures for 1876. By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Alfred + Barry</span>, D.D., Bishop of Sydney.<br /> + <span class='ind10'>Post 8vo.</span><span class='ind30'><i>Cloth boards</i></span></p></td> + <td class='rnad'>2  6</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<hr class='tiny' /> + +<p class="astertop">* <span class="asterlow">*</span> * <i>For List of TRACTS on the Christian Evidences, see the Society's +Catalogue B.</i></p> + +<hr class='tiny' /> + +<p class='center'><br /> +LONDON:<br /> +SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,<br /> +NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.;<br /> +<small>43, <span class="smcap">Queen Victoria Street</span></small>, E.C.<br /> +BRIGHTON: <small>135, <span class="smcap">North Street</span></small>. +</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sketches of Church History, by +James Craigie Robertson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCHES OF CHURCH HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 32483-h.htm or 32483-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/8/32483/ + +Produced by Paul Dring, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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