CHAPTER XVII.

From Gregory VII. to Innocent III.

THE death of Gregory did not restore either concord to the Church or repose to the Empire. The successor, whom at the solicitation of his cardinals, he nominated on his death-bed, testified a singular, but sincere, repugnance for a dignity, which being probably too feeble to sustain, he was too wise to desire. Desiderius *, Abbot of Mount Cassino, held for a short period, under the name of Victor III., a disputed rule; and on his early death in the year 1087, Urban II., a native of France, was proclaimed in his place. But Clement the Antipope was still in possession of the capital, where the imperial party was triumphant, and five years of dissension intervened before the authority of Urban was generally acknowledged. That Pope had been a monk of Clugni, and owed his preferment to the See of Ostia to the favour of Gregory; and he continued to the end of his life to exhibit his fidelity by following, as far as his talents permitted him, the schemes which had been traced by his patron. Of the numerous councils held during his pontificate two are entitled to particular attention-those of Placentia and Clermont‡:

in both of these he confirmed the laws and asserted the Urban II. principles of Gregory, and carried his favourite claims to

their full extent; for by the fifteenth canon of the latter he enacted, that no ecclesiastic shall receive any church dignity from the hand of a layman, or pay him liege homage for it; and that no prince shall give the investiture §.' But that council is recommended to general history And while at Placentia by other and more important recollections. the final sanction was given to the two strongest characteristics in the doctrine and in the discipline of the Roman Church-namely ||, tran

*His disinclination for the dangerous honour is said to have been so great, that he was actually dragged to the Church, and forcibly invested with the pontifical garments. Fleury, H. E., liv. lxiii., sect. 25 and 27. But this circumstance is not mentioned by Pagi; though, on the authority of Leo Ostiensis, he bears ample testimony to Victor's reluctance.

+ The only remarkable acts of personal hostility which these two rivals appear to have exchanged, was a satiric taunt couched on either side in a pair of very innocent hexameters. Clement, insolent in the possession of the city, wrote to his rusticating adversary as follows:

Diceris Urbanus, cum sis projectus ab Urbe ;
Vel muta nomen, vel regrediaris ad Urbem.

To this Urban replied,

Clemens nomen habes, sed Clemens non potes esse,
Tradita solvendi cum sit tibi nulla potestas.

Hist. Litt. de la France.

Both were held in 1095-the former on March 1, the latter on November 18. At the former were present two hundred bishops, nearly four thousand of the inferior clergy, and more than thirty thousand of the laity; so that the assemblies were held in the open air. The latter appears to have been still more numerously attended. See Fleury, H. E., liv. lxiv., sect. 22. Hist. Litt. de la France.

Ne episcopus vel sacerdos regi vel alicui laico in manibus ligiam fidelitatem faciat.' See Mosheim, Cent. xi. p. ii. c. ii. _Fleury, liv. lxiv., sect. 29.

Hist. Litt. de la France. Vie de Berenger. Fleury, loc. cit. The question regarding the ordination of the sons of presbyters, which was warmly debated about this

substantiation and the celibacy of the clergy, it was the Council of Clermont which first sounded that blast of fanaticism which shook the whole fabric of society, from the extremities of the west even to the heart of Asia, for above two centuries.

Origin of the
Crusades.

It may seem strange that the sanguinary project of launching the power of Christendom in one vast armament against the Mahometan conquerors of the Holy Land should first have been proposed by a Pope, who was celebrated for his studious cultivation of the noblest arts of peace. It was Sylvester II.* with whom the scheme of a general crusade originated; but to him it may have been suggested by personal observation of the sufferings of Spain and the humiliation of the Christian name. And to any one beholding and deploring the various disorders of Europe-the fierce contentions of kings with each other, their more fatal dissensions with their subjects, the military license which everywhere prevailed and forbade all security of person or property-it might have seemed an act of comparative mercy to unite those discordant spirits even by the rudest tie, and to divert against a common foe the turbulence which engaged them in mutual destruction. The same measure was not without some justification in prudence; since the slightest caprice of a Saracen conqueror might have directed his rage against Christendom, and especially against Italy, the most attractive, the most exposed, the least defensible province the centre of the Christian Church, and, as it were, the Palestine of the West. These and similar considerations may have recommended the same project to a much greater mind than that of Sylvester; for it was also (as has been mentioned) a favourite design of Gregory VII., who proposed personally to conduct against the infidel the universal army of Christ. It was realized by Urban II.; and his exhortations to

time, was set at rest by the Council of Clermont. It was conceded, that with dispensation from the Pope they might be admitted to Holy Orders. Pagi (Vit. Urban. II., sect. 43.) ascribes to this period the practice of administering the Eucharist to the laity under one species only, which, he adds, became more confirmed, after the establishment of the kingdom of Jerusalem by the crusaders; for in that Church (he maintains) it has existed from primitive times. We may also mention in this place, that the Office of the Holy Virgin,' though perhaps not composed by Urban, was brought into more general use during his pontificate.

It will be recollected that Sylvester, as well as Urban and his agent Peter the Hermit, was a Frenchman. So that the entire credit of the scheme, both of its invention and the bringing it into practice, belongs, such as it is, to that enthusiastic and inconsiderate people. It is a remark of Gibbon, that at the council of Placentia, in Italy, the people wept over the calamities of the Christians of the East-while at Clermont, in France, they took up arms to avenge them.

The Pope closed the session of the council by a sermon, which has been variously reported by different writers. Fleury gives the following sentences as a part of it, on the authority of William of Tyre, a grave and judicious author: '-'Do you then, my dear 'children, arm yourselves with the zeal of God; march to the succour of our brethren, and the Lord be with you. Turn against the enemy of the Christian name the 'arms which you employ in injuring each other. Redeem, by a service so agreeable 'to God your pillages, conflagrations, homicides, and other mortal crimes, so as to 'obtain his ready pardon. We exhort you and enjoin you, for the remission of your sins, to have pity on the affliction of our brethren in Jerusalem, and to repress the insolence of the infidels, who propose to subjugate kingdoms and empires, and to extinguish the name of Christ.' Hist. Eccl., Liv. Ixiv., sect. 32. As the populace devoutly believed the Pope's assurance, that the pilgrimage would atone for the most abominable crimes, the immediate effect of the crusade might be to rid Europe of the refuse of its population; just as the certain consequence would be the encouragement of crime, when the method of atonement was always at hand,

the Council of Clermont, being at the same time addressed to the superstitious and the military spirit, the two predominant motives of action in that age, were received with an enthusiastic acclamation of frenzy, which was mistaken for the approbation of God.

We do not propose to enter into any description of the military adventures of the crusaders, which have employed the eloquence of so many writers; but shall confine ourselves to the less attractive, but perhaps more useful, task of occasionally recurring to the domestic changes connected with them, and investigating the traces which they have left in the History of the Church.

Urban died in 1099, and was succeeded by Pascal II. Nearly contemporaneous with the decease of Urban was that of Clement

III., the Antipope, who had maintained with some interrup- Pascal II. tions the possession of the capital, though unacknowledged by the great body of the Church. The imperial party was at that moment too weak to appoint a successor, and therefore Pascal entered into undisputed occupation of the chair. Pascal, as well as Gregory and Urban, had been educated in the monastery of Clugni; like the former, he was a Tuscan; like the latter, he was indebted for his early advancement to Gregory; and thus the spirit of that extraordinary man, by animating the congenial bosoms of his two disciples, continued to haunt the pontifical chair, and to regulate the councils of the Vatican, for above thirty years after his departure*. And if Urban prosecuted the reforms undertaken by his master, and realized one of his fondest speculations, to Pascal remained the more difficult and odious office of resuming with fresh violence the interrupted contest with the empire. He engaged in it earnestly, if not eagerly; and as the emperor was still unprepared for submission, he prevented an attempt (perhaps an insidious attempt) at compromise, by renewing (in 1102) all former decrees against investitures, and then commenced the conflict by the usual sentence of excommunication.

Henry IV., after surviving so many Popes, was still in possession of the throne; but his latter years had been afflicted by the

rebellion, and, what might be less bitter to him, by the Misfortunes and

Death of Henry IV.

death of his eldest son. The affections of his subjects he never possessed nor deserved; but we do not learn that by any domestic delinquency he had forfeited the less dissoluble allegiance of his children. And yet, scarcely had Conrad terminated his unnatural impiety by death, when-as if the anathemas of Gregory were still suspended over him—as if to accomplish the temporal retribution which that pontiff had denounced against the foes of St. Petert-Henry, his other son, on learning the excommunication of his father, rose in arms against him. A scene revolting to nature and humanity was the consequence; and even the death of the Emperor, which speedily followed, does not close the story of his persecutions. His body, which was still lying under the anathema, having been inconsiderately consigned to consecrated ground, was imme

* Pascal died on January 18th, 1118, after an unusually long pontificate of eighteen years, five months, and five days.

+ It will be recollected that, in his second excommunication of Henry, Gregory supplicated St. Peter to take away from that prince prosperity in war and victory over his enemies, that all the world may know' (says he) 'that thou hast power both in heaven and on earth.'

diately dug up, ejected from the holy precincts, and condemned to an unhallowed sepulchre *; and there it rested for the space of five years, a revolting monument of papal power and papal malignity: at length the sentence was withdrawn †, and Henry V. was permitted to make a tardy atonement to offended nature and piety.

There is no proof that Pascal positively excited this monstrous rebellion, but it is well known that he countenanced and promoted it, and that too, not as a reluctant concession of virtue to interest, but with ardent and uncompromising zeal. Indeed, his interest was not engaged in this matter, but his passions merely, and the vindictive hatred for Henry IV. which he had contracted in the school of Gregory. The Holy See had nothing to gain by the death or deposition of an unpopular monarch, but everything to fear from the union which would probably ensue among his subjects. For, as to any prospect of gratitude from his successor any hope that the Emperor would be mindful of services conferred upon the rebel,-a Tuscan and a Pope could scarcely indulge so simple an expectation. If Pascal did so, he very speedily discovered his error; for scarcely was Henry IV. dead, when his son asserted with equal vehemence the disputed rights. The Pope resisted, and both parties prepared for a second struggle.

Henry V. nothing deterred by the portentous appearance of a comet, which inspired general dismay, descended into Italy during the summer of 1110, carefully prepared for a twofold contest with the Holy See; for he was not only attended by a powerful army, but also by a suite of literary protectors, so that the pen might be at hand to justify the deeds of the sword. His advance was preceded by a declaration of his intention, which was to maintain a right acquired by privilege and the custom of his predecessors from the time of Charlemagne, and preserved during three hundred years under sixty-three popes that of presenting to bishoprics and abbeys by the ring and crosier.' In reality, his object, when more fully explained, was to prevent the election of bishops. without his consent, to invest the bishop-elect with the regalia, to receive from him homage and the oath of allegiance. At the same time, he ́ proposed to undergo the solemn ceremony of coronation at the hands of the Pope.

Dispute between
Henry V. and
Pascal,

By the regalia above mentioned were understood various grants conferred on the bishops by Charlemagne, which partook of the privileges of royalty, such as the power of raising tribute, coining money, and also the possession of certain independent lands, directly derived from the crown, with some other immunities. And it seemed natural that the successors of Charlemagne should retain the right of confirming

Comprobantibus his qui aderant Archiepiscopis et Episcopis ; quia quibus vivis ecclesia non communicat, illis etiam nec mortuis communicare possit.'-Urspergensis Abbas, ap. Pagi, Vit. Pascalis II. Some ascribe this act of barbarity to the German Bishops, and exculpate the Pope, except in as far as he had set them the example, by exhumating the bones of Guibert the Antipope, who had been buried at Ravenna, and casting them into the neighbouring river.

Fleury, H. E., lib. lxv. s. 44, and lib. lxvi. s. 5.

One of them was a Scotsman named David, who had presided over the schools at 'Wurtemberg, and whom the King had appointed his chaplain, à cause de sa vertu. He wrote a relation of this expedition, but rather as a panegyrist than a historian.'-Fleury, lib. lxvi. s. 1, on authority of Will. Malmes., lib. v. p. 166.

the privileges which he had bestowed. This circumstance involved the Pope in great perplexity; and though it was easy to publish edicts, and advance vague and exorbitant pretensions, when the Emperor was distant or embarrassed, he could scarcely hope by such expedients to withstand his near and armed approach. In this difficulty, Pascal proved at least the sincerity of his professions, and his attachment to the best and purest interests of the Church. He had the virtue to prefer its spiritual independence to its worldly splendour, and the courage to proclaim his preference. This better part being chosen, he concluded a treaty with Henry, by which it was agreed that the bishops, on the one hand, should make to Henry a positive cession of all that belonged to the crown in the time of Louis, Henry, and his other predecessors, on pain of excommunication if they attempted to usurp such regalia; and that the Emperor, on the other, should resign the right of investiture. On this arrangement, the Pope consented to perform the ceremony of coronation*, and Henry proceeded to Rome for that purpose.

The circumstances which followed are told with some trifling variations, but were probably thus. The bishops interested in the treaty, and especially those of Germany, who would have been the greatest sufferers, felt the deepest repugnance to resign so large a portion of their splendid temporalities for a remote and invisible object, which, however it might be accessory to the honour of the Church, did not benefit their own immediate interests. Consequently they protested with so much violence against the compromise, which seemed to them to exchange a substance for a shadow, that the Pope despaired of his power to execute that condition of the treaty. In the mean time, Henry arrived at Rome: he was conducted with acclamations to the Basilica of St. Peter, where the Pope, with his Bishops and Cardinals, was waiting to receive him. The King, according to the accustomed ceremony, prostrated himself before the Pope, and kissed his feet; he then read the usual oath, and they advanced together into the churcht. But here, before they proceeded to the office of consecration, a dispute broke out respecting the fulfilment of the treaty, and it was presently inflamed into an angry quarrel. Henry availed himself of the presence of his soldiers to arrest the Pope and several Cardinals; the Roman populace took arms and endeavoured to rescue him; a fierce and tumultuous conflict ensued, and the courts of the Vatican, and even the hallowed pavement of St. Peter, were polluted with blood; but the Germans succeeded in preserving their prisoners, and carried them away to their neighbouring encampment at Viterbo. After a rigorous confinement of two months, Pascal yielded to such persuasion as a king may exercise over his captive; and then he not only performed the required ceremony, but, by a new convention, ceded unconditionally the right of investiture.

*For this compact we have the authority of Petrus Diaconus (who cites a contemporary account of the transaction) confirmed by that of Urspergeus. Abbas, as follows. 'Ibi Legati Apostolici cum missis Regis advenientes, promptum esse Papam ad consecrationem...si tamen ipse sibimet annueret libertatem Ecclesiarum, laicam ab illis prohibens investituram-recipiendo nihilominus ab Ecclesiis Ducatus, Marchias, Comitatus, Advocatias, Moneta, Telonia, cæterorumque Regalium quæ possident summam.'-See Pagi, Vit. Pasch. II.-Fleury, lib. lxvi. s. ii.

This took place on Feb. 11, 1111, Ter se invicem complexi, ter se invicem osculati sunt; et, sicut mos, Rex dexteram Pontificis tenens cum magno populi gaudio et clamore ad Portam venit Argenteam. Ibi ex libro professionem imperatoriam faciens a Pontifice designatus est Imperator, &c.'-Acta Vaticana ap. Baronium,