5 all episcopal elections, and at last frequently even nominated the Bishops themselves, the oath was more generally taken by the 6 atque antiquitates Ecclesiae pertinentibus dissertt. latinae (tomi ii. Fulginiae 1781. 4) ii. 296. For the manner in which the Popes availed themselves sometimes of this oath of Innocent. III. registr. de negotio. Imperii epist. 68, in which he charges the Archbishop of Treves sub debito fidelitatis, quo Ecclesiae Romanae teneris astrictus, et vinculo juramenti, quod super hoc specialiter praestitisti, to acknowledge Otto IV. or else he would be excommunicated as a transgressor proprii juramenti. Likewise wrote Alexander IV. to the Archbishop of Mayence above § 57. note 6. Gregory IX. even demanded, by virtue of this oath from the Archbishop of Lyons auxiliary troops, see § 55. note 12. Innocent IV. made the same demand on the French bishops § 56 note 8. In 5 Even Concil. Rom. ann. 1080. c. 6 (Mansi xx. 533) establishes this: Clerus et populus-apostolicae sedis vel metropolitani sui consensu pastorem sibi secundum Deum eligat.-Electionis potestas omnis in deliberatione sedis apostolicae sive metropolitani sui consistat. order to secure their elections, which were very often disputed, the Bishops began frequently to apply to Rome for confirmation. Cf. chron. Ursperg. p. 235 on the times of Otto IV. and Philip the Hohenstaufen: vix remansit aliquis Episcopatus, sive dignitas ecclesiastica, vel etiam parochialis Ecclesia, quae non fierit litigiosa, et Romam deduceretur ipsa causa, sed non manu vacua. Gaude mater nostra Roma, quoniam aperiuntur cataractae thesaurorum in terra, ut ad te confluant rivi et aggeres nummorum in magna copia. Laetare super iniquitate filiorum hominum, quoniam in recompensationem tantorum malorum datur tibi pretium. Jocundare super adjutrice tua discordia, qui erupit de puteo infernalis abyssi, ut accumulentur tibi multa pecuniarum praemia. Habes, quod semper sitisti, decanta canticum, quia per malitiam hominum, non per tuam religionem, orbem vicisti. Ad te trahit homines non ipsorum devotio, aut pura conscientia, sed scelerum multiplicium perpetratio, et litium decisio pretio comparata. However at this time the confirmation of Bishops by their Metropolitan was legally sufficient: see Anton Pereira von Figueiredo, Demonstration of the right of Metropolitans over their Bishops, translated in Le Bret's Magazin für Staaten und Kirchengeschichte iii. 395, iv. 490. Only to England in the year 1257 came statutum Romae cruentissimum, quo oportet quemlibet electum personaliter transalpinare, et in suam laesionem, imo eversionem, Romanorum loculos impraegnare (Matth. Par. p. 956.) 6 See below note 13. Besides the more antient Form Dei gratia Episcopus, which is already found after the 5th century, and is common after the 11th (Hist. litér. de la France i. 233. 259), we discover also the other form Dei et apostolicae sedis gratia Episc. for the first time in the year 1093 (during the schism), in the will of Amatus, Bishop of Nusco, in Ughelli Italia sacra vii. 535. It begins to be more common in the 13th cent. Thomassin P. i. lib. i. cap. 60. other Bishops also, as well as by the exempted abbots. Thus the new Papal rights established by help of the Pseudo-Isidore, now first came forth complete into life, the exclusive right to summon and to ratify councils, to remove and depose Bishops;8 and in a form still more hazardous, more destructive of all order, the right in all cases to receive appeals from Episcopal decisions. But beside these the Popes were now engaged in § 9 and 19 is very inaccurate on this point. Compare especially Zaccaria de rebus ad hist. atque antiquitates Ecclesiae pertinentibus dissertt. lat ii. 232. 7 Muratorii antiquitt. Ital. v. 1059. 8 Cf. §. 61. note 5 and 8. Part 1. §. 20. note 8. Comp. Gratian. caus. ii. qu. 6. Decretal. Greg. lib. ii. tit. 28.-Especially Decr. Greg. 1. c. c. 11 (Alexander III): De appellationibus pro causis minimis interpositis volumus te tenere, quod eis, pro quacunque levi causa fiant, non minus est, quam si pro majoribus fierent, deferendum. c. 12 (Idem): sacri canones et ante et post litis contestationem, et in prolatione sententiae, et post sententiam singulis facultatem tribuunt appellandi: leges autem saeculares appellationem, nisi in casibus, ante sententiam non admittunt. The same Alexander III. says, however (1. c. c. 7), that an appeal from the civil judge to the Pope, etsi de consuetudine Ecclesiae teneat, secundum tamen juris rigorem credimus non tenere: nevertheless as the Episcopal courts had drawn to themselves almost all kinds of civil suits (see below §. 63. note 24 and 25), secular actions were commenced also at Rome in great numbers. Cf. (Horix) tract. de appellationibus et evocationibus ad curiam Rom. in Concordata nationis German. integra variis additamentis illustrata (Tomi iii. Francof. 1771-73. 8.) ii. 171. -Complaints of the age on this head: Hildebertus Archiep. Turonensis epist. 82. ad Honorium P. ii. about 1125 (Bibl. PP. Lugd. xxi. 159) Quaslibet appellationes in Romana vigere et suscipi Ecclesia, cis Alpes auditum non est, nec in sacris traditum institutis. Quodsi forte hujusmodi emersit novitas, ut placeat omnem indifferenter admittere appellationem; pontificalis censura peribit, et omnino conteretur ecclesiasticae robur disciplinae. Quis enim raptor ad solam anathematis comminationem non statim appellabit?- quis Episcopus habebit in promptu, non omnem dico, at aliquam ulcisci inobedientiam ? Ejus virgam quaevis appellatio quassabit, solvet constantiam, severitatem emolliet, adducens et illi silentium, et reis impunitatem delictorum: sic fiet, ut sacrilegia ac rapinae, fornicationes ac adulteria pernicioso inundent incremento. Soon enough were these apprehensions fulfilled, Bernard. Claraevallensis epist. 178. ad Innocentium II. about 1135: Vox una omnium, qui fideli apud nos cura populis praesunt, justitiam in Ecclesia deperire, annullari Ecclesiae claves, episcopalem omnino vilescere auctoritatem, dum nemo Episcoporum in promptu habeat, ulcisci injurias Dei, nulli liceat illicita quaevis, ne in propria quidem parochia, castigare. Causam referunt in vos curiamque : asserting their claim to further rights; these were an universal right to grant absolution1o and dispensation,11 an exclusive right Romanam. Recte gesta ab ipsis, ut ajunt, destruitis, juste destructa statuitis. Quique flagitiosi et contentiosi de populo, sive de Clero, aut etiam ex monasteriis pulsati currunt ad vos: redeuntes jactant et gestiunt, se obtinuisse tutores, quos magis ultores sensisse debuerant. Especially ejusd. de considerat. ad Eugenium P. lib. iii. cap. 2. ann. 1152. &c. Quousque murmur universae terrae aut dissimulas, aut non advertis? Quousque dormitas ? Quousque non evigilat consideratio tua ad tantam appellationum confusionem atque abusionem? Praeter jus et fas, praeter modum et ordinem fiunt. Non locus, non modus, non tempus, non causa discernitur, aut persona. Praesumuntur leviter passim, plerumque et nequiter. Volentes malignari, nonne his potissimum terreri solebant? Nunc terrori ipsi ex his magis fiunt, atque id bonis. Antidotum versum in venenum, non mutatio dexterae Excelsi haec. Appellantur boni a malis, ut non faciant bona, et supersedent a voce tonitrui tui formidantes.-Videas,-prorumpere ad appellandum non tam gravatos, quam gravare volentes.-Cur, inquis, male appellati non veniunt ostensuri suam innocentiam, malitiam convicturi? Dico, quod diccre ad haec solent : "Nolumus vexari frustra. In curia esse, qui proclivius faveant appellantibus, foveant appellationes: cessuris Romae, domi cedere satius." Fateor me non omnino decre-dere his. Quem das mihi in tam crebris appellationibus, quae hodie fiunt, qui pro expensis itineris vel nummum restituerit illi, quem forte appellarit? Mirum vero, si ita omnes et appellantes justi, et appellati rei vestro examine inventi sint! etc. 10 Gregor. vii. lib. vi. epist. 4. ad Henric. Leodiensem Episc. Lectis fraternitatis tuae literis non parum mirati sumus,-te-nos de absolutione illius parochiani tui, qui olim ad nos venit, mordaci invectione reprehendisse, tamquam apostolicae sedis non esset auctoritas, quoscumque et ubicumque vult ligare et absolvere. The Bishop's voluntary custom of referring great criminals to Rome, led by degrees to the establishment of certain definite casus Papae reservati (for example Ivo Carnot. ep. 98. 160. Hildebert. Turon. writes (epist 60) to a Bishop about a Priest who had committed murder: Si simile aliquid in commissa mihi parochia contigisset, reum ad apostolicam misissem audientiam.) Innocent II. in concil. Rhemens. ann. 1131 can. 13 first reserved the case of murder of an ecclesiastic. How the number of these cases increased is shown in the Vita Laurentii Archiep Dublinensis († 1181) c. 24 in Surius ad d. 14. Nov. In tantum autem ministrorum Ecclesiae execrabatur immunditiam,-ut omnes,-si incontinentiae convicti essent, licet tamquam Archiepiscopus posset, tamen nollet absolvere, sed ad Romanam Ecclesiam a summo Pontifice absolvendos destinaret. Conc. Rotomag. ann. 1179 c. 26: Those qui falsum praestiterint juramentum in sacrosanctae Ecclesiae laesionem, vel cujuslibet personae exhaeredationem, were to be excommunicated; and if they wished to obtain absolution, ad eorum majorem confusionem ad sedem apostolicam transmittantur. For an enumeration of the reserved cases consult Synod. Baiocensis ann. 1300 c. 87: of canonization,12 and at last also, in spite of all resistance, the right to dispose of all benefices,13 and to tax the churches.14 But Incestum faciens, corrumpens, aut homicida, Sacrilegus, patrum percussor cum sodomita, The Synod of Arles ann. 1275 c. 12. mentions yet more reservations of the same kind, cf. Thomassin. P. i. lib. ii. c. 13. 11 See above § 61. note 10. Even here there grew up dispensationes Papae reservatae. Compare throughout Thomassin P. ii. lib. iii. c. 27. 28. 12 Down to 1170 the Archbishops had exercised this right in their own provinces. So late as 1153 the Archbishop of Rouen canonised a monk. Then Alexander III. wrote to a monastery Decr. Greg. lib. iii. tit 45. c. 1: Audivimus, quod quidam inter vos-hominem quendam in potatione et ebrietate occisum, quasi sanctum,-venerantur. Illum ergo non praesumatis de caetero colere: cum, etiamsi per eum miracula plurima fierent, non liceret vobis ipsum pro Sancto absque auctoritate Romanae Ecclesiae publice venerari. How plentifully the Pope began forthwith to exercise this new reserved right, see in Schröckh xxviii. ; 173. Innocent III. extended the right even over relics, Conc. Later. IV. gen. ann. 1215 c. 62: Reliquias inventas de novo nemo publice venerari praesumat, nisi prius auctoritate Romani Pontificis fuerint approbatae. Cf. Benedicti XIV. de servorum Dei beatificatione et beatorum canonisatione libb. iv. in Benedicti XIV. opp. (Rom. 1747. voll. xii.) vol. i—iv. 13 Thomassin. P. ii. lib. i. c. 43. Planck iv. ii. 713. Raumer vi. 92. Hadrian IV. began with letters of recommendation to the Bishops (first in epist. 13. ad Episc. Paris in the year 1154, in behalf of Hugh, Chancellor of France: Inde est, quod illum fraternitati tuae duximus plurimum commendandum, rogantes attentius, quatenusprimum personatum vel honorem, qui in tua vacabit Ecclesia, ei concedas, ut et ipse nostras sibi preces sentiat fructuosas, et nos de nostrarum precum admissione gratiarum tibi exsolvere debeamus actiones.) These letters, however, under Alexander III., began to assume a tone of command (Ipsum commendamus, rogantes et rogando mandantes etc.), and were enforced in spite of all opposition under Innocent III. by officers appointed for the purpose (Innoc. III. lib. i. ep. 116. 127. 145. lib. xvi. ep. 177. Alioquin ven. fratri Episcopo NN. damus nostris literis in mandatis, ut vos ad id per censuram ecclesiasticam appellatione remota compellat. Hurter's Innocent III. iii. 109.) Thus in the 13th century Papal nominees were thrust in everywhere, especially in England. For this reason a conspiracy was made here in the year 1231 (Matth. Paris, p. 313) against the Roman Legates, who arbitrarily disposed of the beneficia regni suis, secundum quod eis placet, conferendo, and compelled the collators to obey their will suspensionis sententias fulminando. In the following year (Matth. Paris, ann. 1232, p. 316) distracta sunt horrea Romanorum per totam fere the full bitterness of all these encroachments upon the rights of Angliam,-delituerunt clerici Romani in Abbatiis. No better reception did the Papal messengers meet with, who brought over new Bulls of collation, and so Gregory accuses the English Bishops (Raynald. 1232, no. 28) de conculcatione numismatis Petri et Pauli Apostolorum imaginem, et nomen Jesu Christi Vicarii profitentis; de laceratione literarum nostrarum; de captione, obsessione, redemptione, spoliatione clericorum; de illata cursoribus nostris injuria, uno in frusta conciso, et altero semivivo relicto. Hence it appears that the Bishops also, as well as the secular powers, had at least an indirect interest in these events. Nevertheless Gregory IX. 1240 again charged three English Bishops (Matth. Paris, p. 532, ut trecentis Romanis in primis beneficiis vacantibus providerent. There was a report in England that the Pope had promised the Romans, in order to secure them to his party against the Emperor, ut, quotquot essent in Anglia beneficia conferenda,Romanorum filiis vel consanguineis ad nutum eorum forent distribuenda. Compare the grievances of the English Legates at the Council of Lyons 1245 (Matth. Paris, p. 667): jam ditantur in Anglia Italici, quorum est jam numerus infinitus, Ecclesiis, qui rectores Ecclesiarum dicuntur, -nullam curam animarum gerentes etc. Italici percipientes in Anglia sexaginta millia marcarum, et eo amplius annuatim :-plus emolumenti meri reditus de regno reportant, quam ipse Rex etc. Compare St Lewis' Gravamina Eccl. Gallicanae about 1246 (see below, note 26): Dominus Innocentius III. primus assumpsit sibi jus istud, in tempore suo revera dedit multas praebendas, et similiter post ipsum dominus Honorius et dominus Gregorius simili modo fecerunt: sed omnes praedecessores vestri, ut publice dicitur, non dederunt tot beneficia, quot vos solus (namely, Innocent IV.) dedistis isto modico tempore, quo rexistis Ecclesiam vestram. Et si successor vester intantum excederet vos in hoc, sicut excessistis praedecessores vestros, certe ipse conferret communia beneficia; et sic non restabit aliud consilium indigenis nostris nisi fugere aut fugare. Clement IV. actually declared that the plenaria dispositio of all benefices belonged to the Pope (see below.) The right of appointment to vacant Bishoprics were not so universally claimed by the Popes, but only in certain cases, especially 1, jure devolutionis according to the maxim of Gregor. VII. in Conc. Rom. ann. 1080, c. 6 is, qui ad pravam electionem declinaverit, eligendi potestate privatur, and Innocentius III. in Conc. Lateran. 1215, can. 23: ut ultra tres menses cathedralis vel regularis Ecclesia Praelato non vacet, infra quos eligendi potestas ad eum, qui proxime praeese dignoscitur, devolvetur. Thomassin. P. ii. lib. i. c. 51, 2.) In reference to benefices in curia vacantia, first vindicated by Clement IV. 1266 Sexti Decretal. lib. iii. tit. iv. c. 2: Licet Ecclesiarum, personatuum, dignitatum, aliorumque beneficiorum ecclesiasticorum plenaria dispositio ad Romanum noscatur Pontificem pertinere, ita, quod non solum ipsa, cum vacant, potest de jure conferre, verum etiam jus in ipsis tribuere vacaturis : collationem tamen Ecclesiarum, personatuum, dignitatum et beneficio. rum apud sedem apostolicam vacantium specialius caeteris antiqua consuetudo Romanis Pontificibus reservavit. Cf. Thomassin. 1. c. cap. 48. |