Instances of the despotism of pope Innocent III. towards various sovereigns.

literally trampling under foot the crown of its contemptible sovereign John. Innocent ascended the papal throne in the year 1198, and continued to claim and to exercise universal sovereignty for the first sixteen years of the thirteenth century. The very day after his consecration, he compelled the prefect of the city of Rome and other magistrates to take that oath of allegiance to him as their lawful sovereign, which they had formerly taken to the Emperor. He soon after compelled several cities of Tuscany who threw themselves upon his protection, to swear that they would receive no one as emperor unless he was acknowledged as such by the Pope. This was in consequence of the different claims that were at that time set up to the empire by Otho, duke of Brunswick, and Philip, duke of Swabia. He compelled Philip, by threatening him with excommunication and interdict if he refused, to liberate the archbishop of Salerno, confined in prison on a charge of treason. In the same year he excommunicated Alphonsus, king of Galicia and Leon, for refusing to dismiss his wife Tarsia, daughter of Sanctius, king of Portugal, whom Innocent pronounced to be within the degrees of affinity forbidden by the church; and threatened her father, Sanctius himself, with the same spiritual thunders, unless he should promptly pay up the yearly tribute which his father, Alphonso, had promised to the successors of St. Peter, upon receiving the title of king from pope Alexander.*

$54.-Innocent soon after conferred the title of King upon Premislaus, duke of Bohemia, in consequence of his forsaking the party of Philip, who aspired to the empire, and joining that of Otho, who at this time was supported by the Pope. The next year, 1201, the lordly pontiff issued his anathemas against Philip II., king of France, and laid his kingdom under an interdict, till he compelled him to receive back Ingelburga, his wife, whom he had put away, and taken in her stead Mary, daughter of the duke of Bohemia. In this instance, doubtless, king Philip was compelled by the terrors of excommunication and interdict, to perform an act of justice; but our object in relating these instances of papal authority over the kings of the earth, is not so much to examine the guilt or innocence of those who were the subjects of them, as to illustrate the enormous and overgrown power of the popes during this period.

The following year, Calo-Johannes, a descendant of the ancient kings of Bulgaria, having expelled the Greeks from that country, wrote a submissive letter to pope Innocent, beseeching his Holiness to send him a crown. With this the Pope complied, and sent Leo, his legate, with a crown and other ensigns of royalty, into Bulgaria. After the king had taken an oath of "perpetual obedience to Innocent and his successors, lawfully elected," he was solemnly crowned by the Legate, who on this occasion, to show the entire vassalage of the kingdom of Bulgaria to the apostolic See, pretended to grant, in the Pope's name, the privilege of coining money, a right which

* Epist. Innoc. III., L. i. ep. 91, 92. Bower, vi., 187.

Peter, king of Arragon, and the emperor Otho take an oath of allegiance to pope Innocent.

had always been regarded as inherent in the crown of all kings and emperors.

$55.-In the year 1204, Peter II., king of Arragon, travelled expressly to Rome, to enjoy the honor of being crowned by the Pope himself. He was received with honors suitable to his rank, and, on the 11th November, solemnly crowned by the Pope, who, with his own hand, placed the crown upon his head, after extracting from him the following extraordinary oath: "I, Peter, king of Arragonians, profess and promise to be EVER FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT TO MY LORD, POPE INNOCENT, to his Catholic successors, and the Roman church, and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his obedience, defending the Catholic faith, and PERSECUTING HERETICAL PRAVITY. I shall maintain the liberty and immunity of the churches, and defend their rights. I shall strive to promote peace and justice throughout my dominions. So help me God, and these his holy gospels." The King, thus crowned, returned with the Pope to the church of St. Peter, and there laying his crown and his sceptre upon the altar of that saint, he received a sword from his Holiness, and in return made his kingdom tributary to the apostolic See, binding himself, his heirs, and successors for ever, to pay yearly to Innocent and his successors, two hundred and fifty pieces of gold. This grant was signed by the King, and is dated as we read it in the Acts of Innocent, at St. Peter's, the 11th of November, the eighth year of king Peter's reign, and of our Lord, 1204.*

56.-A few years later, upon the death of Philip, the competitor of Otho in the empire, the latter was solemnly crowned anew at Rome, upon the invitation of pope Innocent. The legates whom Innocent sent to Germany to tender this invitation to Otho, were charged by their master with the form of an oath, to be taken by the Emperor, before setting out for Rome. This oath was accordingly taken at Spire, on the 22d of March, 1208. The form of the oath was as follows: "I promise to HONOR AND OBEY POPE INNOCENT as my predecessors have honored and obeyed him. The elections of bishops shall be free, and the vacant Sees shall be filled by such as have been elected by the whole chapter, or by a majority. Appeals to Rome shall be made freely, and freely pursued. I promise to suppress and abolish the abuse that has obtained of seizing the effects of deceased bishops, and the revenue of vacant Sees. I promise to EXTIRPATE ALL HERESIES, to restore to the Roman church all her possessions, whether granted to her by my predecessors, or by others, particularly the march of Ancona, the dukedom of Spoleti, and the territories of the countess Matilda, and inviolately maintain all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the apostolic See in the kingdom of Sicily."t

Upon Innocent receiving intelligence that Otho had taken the prescribed oath, he caused a copy of it to be lodged in the archives

*Acta Innocentii.-Bower, vi., 192, 193. † Acta Innocentii et Epist., 189.

The Waldenses.

Testimony of Evervinus, a zealous papist, to their character.

of the Roman church, as a pattern of the oath to be taken by all future emperors. He then wrote a letter to Otho, inviting him to receive the crown from his hands, and commending him for his filial submission and obedience to the holy See. Otho, after some delay, accepted the invitation, and was solemnly crowned by the Pope, in the church of St. Peter's, on the 17th of September, 1209. Thus we perceive that Popery maintained in the thirteenth century, as it had in the twelfth, its character of DESPOT Of the world.

CHAPTER VII.

THE WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES.

§ 57. THE spiritual tyrants who thus domineered over the sovereigns and governments of the earth, could not brook the idea that any should be found so daring as to refuse obedience to their mandates, or to question the right by which they claimed thus not only to "lord it over God's heritage, but also to reduce the whole world to their sovereign sway. Hence it is not difficult to account for the bitter and unrelenting hostility with which the popes of this period pursued and persecuted the harmless and interesting people, who, under the name of Cathari (i. e. puritans), Gazari, Paulicians or Publicans, Petrobrussians, poor men of Lyons, Lombards, Albigenses, Waldenses, Vaudois, &c., offered a noble resistance to the usurped tyranny of the self-styled successors of St. Peter, and pretended vicars of Christ upon earth. The testimony given by Evervinus, a zealous papist, in a letter he wrote to the celebrated Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, at the beginning of the twelfth century, relative to the doctrine and manners of these heretics is exceedingly valuable. The following is the substance of this letter: "There have lately been," says he," some heretics discovered among us, near Cologne, of whom some have, with satisfaction, returned again to the church. One that was a bishop among them, and his companions, openly opposed us, in the assembly of the clergy and laity, the lord archbishop himself being present, with many of the nobility, maintaining their heresy from the words of Christ and his apostles. But, finding that they made no impression, they desired that a day might be fixed, upon which they might bring along with them men skilful in their faith, promising to return to the church, provided their teachers were unable to answer their opponents; but that otherwise, they would rather die than depart from their judgment. Upon this declaration, having been admonished to repent, and three days allowed them for that purpose, they were seized by the people, in

'The morality and holiness of the Waldenses testified by their persecutors.

their excess of zeal, and committed to the flames! And, what is most astonishing, they came to the stake and endured the torment not only with patience, but even with joy. In this case, O holy father, were I present with you, I should be glad to ask you, how these members of Satan could persist in their heresy with such constancy and courage as is rarely to be found among the most religious in the faith of Christ ?" He then proceeds, "Their heresy is this they say that the church (of Christ) is only among themselves, because they alone follow the ways of Christ, and imitate the apostles, not seeking secular gains, possessing no property, following the example of Christ, who was himself poor, nor permitted his disciples to possess anything. Whereas, say they to us, ye join house to house, and field to field, seeking the things of this world,— yea, even your monks and regular canons possess all these things.' They represent themselves as the poor of Christ's flock, who have no certain abode, fleeing from one city to another, like sheep in the midst of wolves, enduring persecution with the apostles and martyrs: though strict in their manner of life-abstemious, laborious, devout, and holy, and seeking only what is needful for bodily subsistence, living as men who are not of the world. But you, they say, lovers of the world, have peace with the world, because ye are in it. False apostles, who adulterate the word of God, seeking their own things, have misled you and your ancestors. Whereas, we and our fathers, having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine, have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue so to the end. By their fruits ye shall know them,' saith Christ; and our fruits are, walking in the footsteps of Christ.' They affirm THAT

6

6

THE APOSTOLIC DIGNITY IS CORRUPTED BY ENGAGING ITSELF IN SECULAR

AFFAIRS, WHILE IT SITS IN ST. PETER'S CHAIR. They do not hold with the baptism of infants, alleging that passage of the gospel'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' They place no confidence in the intercession of saints; and all things observed in the church, which have not been established by Christ himself, or his apostles, they pronounce to be superstitious. They do not admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending, that the souls of men, as soon as they depart out of the bodies, do enter into rest or punishment; proving it from the words of Solomon, Which way soever the tree falls, whether to the South or to the North, there it lies; by which means they make void all the prayers and oblations of the faithful for the deceased.

"We, therefore, beseech you, holy father, to employ your care and watchfulness against these manifold mischiefs; and that you would be pleased to direct your pen against those wild beasts of the roads; not thinking it sufficient to answer us, that the tower of David, to which we may betake ourselves for refuge, is sufficiently fortified with bulwarks-that a thousand bucklers hang on the walls of it, all shields of mighty men. For we desire, father, for the sake of us simple ones, and who are slow of understanding, that you would be pleased, by your study, to gather all these arms into one

Testimony of Bernard, Claudius, and Thuanus, relative to the doctrines of the Waldenses.

place, that they might be the more readily found, and more powerful to resist these monsters. I must inform you also, that those of them who have returned to our church, tell us that they had great numbers of their persuasion, scattered almost everywhere; and that amongst them were many of our clergy and monks. And, as for those who were burnt, they, in the defence they made of themselves told us that this heresy had been concealed from the time of the martyrs; and that it had existed in Greece and other countries." (Quoted by Jones, lect. xl.)

§ 58.-Bernard, though he immediately commenced a strenuous opposition to these rebels against the Pope, is yet compelled by truth to give the following testimony to their irreproachable life and manners. "If," says he," you ask them of their faith, nothing can be more Christian-like; if you observe their conversation, nothing can be more blameless, and what they speak they make good by their actions. You may see a man for the testimony of his faith frequent the church, honor the elders, offer his gift, make his confession, receive the sacrament. What more like a Christian? As to life and manners, he circumvents no man, over-reaches no man, does violence to no man. He fasts much and eats not the bread of idleness; but works with his hands for his support."* Other Roman Catholic writers give the same testimony to the irreproachable lives and morals of the Waldenses. Thus Claudius, archbishop of Turin, writes, "their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians." And again, "in their lives they are perfect, irreproachable, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves, with all their might, to the service of God." This testimony is the more valuable from the fact that the prelate who wrote it, notwithstanding the acknowledged excellent characters of these heretics, joined in hunting and persecuting them to death, because they would neither submit to the absurdities and impieties of Rome, nor acknowledge the usurped authority of the popes. The sum and ⚫ substance of their offence is mentioned by Cassini, a Franciscan friar, where he says" that ALL THE ERRORS of these Waldenses consisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome to be the HOLY MOTHER CHURCH, AND WOULD NOT OBEY HER TRADITIONS."

§ 59. Thuanus, a celebrated Roman Catholic historian, enumerates their heresy more at length; he says they were charged with these tenets, viz.: "that the church of Rome, because it renounced the true faith of Christ, wAS THE WHORE OF BABYLON, and the barren tree which Christ himself cursed, and commanded to be plucked up; that consequently NO OBEDIENCE WAS TO BE PAID TO THE POPE, or to the bishops who maintain her errors; that a monastic life was the sink and dungeon of the church, the vows of which [relating to celibacy] were vain, and served only to promote the vile love of boys [or uncleanness]; that the orders of the priesthood were marks of the great beast mentioned in the Apocalypse;

* Bernard on the Canticles, Sermo lxv. "Si fidem interroges," &c. Perrin, vi.