The Roman Church filled Europe. The Papacy ruled all.
The Roman Church was an ecclesiastical structure that embraced all the people of Europe: claiming dominion over every activity of human life--mental, moral, and spiritual; over every interest of mankind--temporal and eternal; and over all regions-- heaven, earth, and hell.
The Papacy was the Roman Church permeating and possessing all the power of State and Empire: bending all to her own use; and controlling all in her own interests; to the making of her claimed dominion over mankind and the world absolutely effective, and effectively absolute.
"The whole fabric of medieval Christianity rested upon the idea of the Visible Church"; and "The Holy Empire is but another name for the Visible Church." "Thus the Holy Roman Church and the Holy Roman Empire are one and the same thing, seen from different sides."--Bryce.
The ecclesiastical structure consisted of--
1. The gradation of priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the Pope.
2. The monks of every order, subject only to their respective superiors and to the Pope.
By ages of possession this church had succeeded in filling all the people with the superstition that the church had full control of eternal Salvation: that this Salvation rested peculiarly in the "sacraments," and that of her own will the church could bestow or withhold the "sacraments."
Whether, therefore, any person could be partaker of Salvation depended upon his attitude and degree of submission to the church. This submission was held under threat not only of the loss of eternal Salvation, but also the incurring of Perdition hereafter, and this accompanied by as large a measure as possible of perdition present, in unescapable and unappeasable persecution.
"Step by step the supremacy of the Roman see had been asserted and enforced, until it enjoyed the universal jurisdiction which enabled it to bend to its wishes every prelate, under the naked alternative of submission or expulsion. The Papal mandate, just or unjust, reasonable or unreasonable, was to be received and implicitly obeyed; for there was no appeal from the representative of St. Peter. [1]
"In a narrower sphere, and subject to the Pope, the bishop held an authority which, at least in theory, was equally absolute; while the humbler minister of the altar was the instrument by which the decrees of Pope and bishop were enforced among the people: for the destiny of all men lay in the hands which could administer or withhold the sacraments essential to salvation.
"It would be difficult to set bounds to the intrusion upon the concerns of every man, which was thus rendered possible, or to the influence thence derivable. Not only did the humblest priest wield a supernatural power which marked him as one elevated above the common level of humanity, but his person and possessions were alike inviolable. No matter what crimes he might commit, secular justice could not take cognizance of them and secular officials could not arrest him."
"Holy orders were become a full protection for all enormities."--Hume.
"The church militant was thus an army encamped on the soil of Christendom, with its outposts everywhere, subject to the most efficient discipline, animated with a common purpose, every soldier panoplied with inviolability and armed with the tremendous weapons which slew the soul. There was little that could not be dared or done by the commander of such a force, whose orders were listened to as oracles of God from Portugal to Palestine and from Sicily to Iceland."--Lea.
The church held in full possession an absolute monopoly. And as with every other monopoly, this one was held primarily and principally for power and profit.
As to Profit.
Carrying such dignities and such immunities--such powers-- all ecclesiastical offices were the objects of wholly selfish ambition: of every cardinal to be Pope, of every archbishop to be cardinal, of every bishop to be an archbishop, of every priest or monk to be a bishop.
And to attain the object of ambition each one was ready to employ the means most likely to win. And this was money. "Under these circumstances simony, with all its attendant evils, was almost universal." For not only were the principal dignities thus obtained, but likewise all the minor offices or positions of trust within the jurisdiction of these.
Naturally the thing was worked from both sides: by the one who would obtain the office, and by the one who had the office to bestow. The one who would get the office, must pay high for it. But if what this one would pay seemed, to the one who had the office to bestow, not to promise enough, then the office was given to the one who would most largely share with the superior the plunder of the office-- often even to boys of fourteen, ten, or even seven years, and to the most worthless characters.
Of course, at the final turn all of this money must come from the people. Thus money, money, money, money, was the one chief subject of thought and of administration.
Money and how to get it, was the one chief activity of the clergy from highest to lowest. Money was the one chief thing kept before the people and ever pressed upon them. Whoever could invent some new form of exaction, some new trick to turn money, some new device to wring out yet more money, was immediately distinguished.
To the local priest and his assistants fell the regular and perpetual presentation of the demand for money. Whenever the bishop made his visitation, it was a new occasion for money. When the archbishop made a progress, it meant more money. When a cardinal came, it meant still more money. When a Pope's nuncio came, it meant yet more money. And when the Pope himself came, it meant most money of all.
In addition to all these, there were many agents traversing the countries bearing papal letters "empowering them to exercise judicial functions and enforce them with the last dread sentence of excommunication. Europe was thus traversed by multitudes of men armed with these weapons, which they used without remorse for extortion and oppression. These letters thus afforded a carte blanche through which injustice could be perpetrated and malignity gratified to the fullest extent.
"An additional complication which not unnaturally followed was the fabrication and falsification of these letters. It was not easy to refer to distant Rome to ascertain the genuineness of a papal brief confidently produced by its bearer; and the impunity with which powers so tremendous could be assumed, was irresistibly attractive. To the people, however, it mattered little whether they were genuine or fictitious: the suffering was the same whether the papal chancery had received its fee or not."
Another addition was in the crowds of monks, "bearded and tonsured, and wearing the religious habit, who traversed every corner of Christendom, living by begging and imposture, peddling false relics and false miracles."
Yet another was an equally widely distributed and industrious horde of pardoners, bearing "papal or episcopal letters by which they were authorized to issue pardons for sins in return for contributions. Though these letters were cautiously framed, yet they were ambiguous enough to enable the pardoners to promise, not only the salvation of the living, but the liberation of the damned from hell--for a few small coins.
"Needy bishops and popes were constantly issuing such letters; and the business of the pardoner became a regular profession, in which the most impudent and shameless were the most successful." This invention and enlistment of travelling pardoners to carry to the most remote and the poorest, indulgences for cash, was for the purpose of getting the money of those who could not make the pilgrimages nor attend the jubilees that had been invented for the same purpose.
Births were taxed, marriages were taxed, deaths were taxed, burials were taxed, purgatory was taxed, and hell was taxed.
By a trick even excommunication was made a source of revenue. For if a demand or a command, however unjust, were resisted, excommunication was inflicted. Then to obtain "reconciliation" with "the church" the victim must render the original demand, and pay an additional levy besides.
From this it is easy to see how readily every failing as well as every offense of every person was made a means of revenue. Pope John XXII actually reduced to specific formulae the rates to be levied on the sins of all. The list is sufficient to cover almost every sin that mankind might commit. Yet all these are levied upon at set rates of so many "livres," "francs," and "sous." Thus it is literally and undeniably true that no small portion of the vast revenues of the papacy was derived from a direct and specific tax upon sinning.
Nor was it a tax for prohibition, or to induce cessation, of the sinning. It was expressly for "absolution," "free dispensation," "assurance against all pursuit," "guaranteed from all pursuit and all infamy." Such are the words that are used throughout: with no word or implication of prohibition or cessation.
The condition of society revealed in this awful list, is fearful in its blackness. But when it is seen that the whole purpose of the scheme was to secure revenue, and this for "absolution," "free dispensation," "assurance," and "guarantee" of immunity from all pursuit or penalty, the evil was palliated and encouraged rather than checked or forbidden, and the blackness is intensified rather than relieved, by any agency or ministration of Pope or church.
In strict consonance is the fact that litigation of differences and quarrels of the people was cultivated: this also for the revenue that it would bring through the church-courts by the costs of the case, and the fines exacted. "When a priest was inducted into a benefice, it was customary to exact of him an oath that he would not overlook any offenses committed by his parishioners, but would report them to the Ordinary, that the offenders might be prosecuted and fined; and that he would not allow any quarrels to be settled amicably."
Of course it was necessary for the church to have something with which to satisfy impertinent inquiry from the victims, as to what caused the need of all this money, and what was done with it.
One of the principal things so employed, was the building of grand cathedrals and great churches and abbeys that were kept always under construction--any one of them continuing unfinished from a hundred to five hundred years. It is well known that "the building of St. Peter's" was the ostensible basis of the indulgence market that aroused Luther.
Peter Cantor affirms that these magnificent structures with their wonderful works of art in stained glass, paintings, and sculpture, "were built out of exactions on the poor, out of the unhallowed gains of usury, and out of the lies and deceits of the pardoners."
Another successful blind was the crusades for the confirmation of "the faith" against the invasions of "the devil" by means of heresy. Then a source of immense revenue was found in the confiscation of all the possessions of heretics.
The inquisitors were gliding everywhere. The universal oppressions and exactions of the church caused universal discontent among the people. There were many genuine heretics. The teachings of these with the widespread discontent excited double diligence and activity to detect and prosecute heretics.
Then appeared another unquestionable proof of the church's essential hatred of righteousness and love of iniquity. The genuine heretics preached and practiced the righteousness of the faith of Jesus and the keeping of the commandments of God: producing a truly pure and correct manner of life. These were bitterly and uncompromisingly persecuted. Any one therefore who held really a correct life was subject to suspicion of heresy, and was in danger of prosecution by the inquisition.
For instance: A certain Catholic cleric of Spire by his sincere preaching "led certain women to lay aside their vanities of apparel, and behave with humility." He escaped being burnt as a heretic only by the special intercession of a churchman who could be trusted.
A genuine Catholic was by mistake brought before the tribunal of the Inquisition. The proof, in his own words, that effectually purged him of even suspicion of heresy, was, "I eat flesh, and lie, and swear, and am a faithful Christian."
Another fruitful source of revenue was divorce. For kings, princes, and nobles, who could pay enormous sums and swing political influence, the divorce market was always open. And through god-fathers, god-mothers, etc., the degrees of "spiritual relationship" were almost boundlessly extended; and all of these degrees were of equal force with those of the flesh and blood.
For a sufficient price, therefore, it was easy to find that a marriage was within the forbidden degrees of relationship; and, therefore, void. Peter Cantor was a Catholic churchman of such standing as to have influence even with Innocent III. And he asserts that "the most holy sacrament of matrimony, owing to the remote consanguinity coming within the prohibited degrees, was made a subject of derision to the laity by the venality with which marriages were made and unmade to fill the pouches of the episcopal officials."
Of course all this was held not to be divorce; but only the finding of the fact that the marriage was within the forbidden degrees: and, so, that it never was a valid marriage. And if never a marriage, then the severance of it couldn't be divorce!
But this was only another phase of the infinite casuistry by which any truth or principle of righteousness could be avoided. For the forbidden degree was never discovered till after the marriage: and the marriage according to all the many rules, formulae, and forms, of the church. And even then it was never discovered except for a price.
The church rigidly forbade marriage of the clergy, and forbade divorce to all who were married. Under these prohibitions, those who were married could do everything but be divorced--except for a sufficient price; and the clergy could do everything but be married.
To the clergy marriage was the one unpardonable offense. For this there was no "absolution," nor "free dispensation," nor "assurance against pursuit," nor "guarantee from all pursuit and from all infamy."
"The records of the Middle Ages are accordingly full of the evidences that indiscriminate license of the worst kind prevailed throughout every rank of the hierarchy." No small portion of the tax-list of John XXII was devoted to the many phases of activity in this field of iniquity. "The personal evil wrought by a dissolute priesthood was a widespreading contagion."
"The abuse of the lawful authority given by the alter and the confessional was a subject of sorrowful and indignant denunciation in too many synods for a reasonable doubt to be entertained of its frequency, or of the corruption which is spread through innumerable parishes and nunneries.
"The almost entire practical immunity with which these and similar scandals were perpetrated, led to an undisguised and cynical profligacy; which the severer churchmen acknowledged to exercise a most deleterious influence on the morals of the laity, who thus saw the exemplars of evil in those who should have been their patterns of virtue."
"There is no injustice in holding the church responsible for the lax morality of the laity. It had assumed the right to regulate the consciences of men, and to make them account for every action and even for every thought.
"When it promptly caused the burning of those who ventured on any dissidence in doctrinal opinion or in matters of pure speculation, it could not plead lack of authority to control them in practical virtue. Its machinery was allpervading, and its power was autocratic.
"It had taught that the priest was to be venerated as the representative of God, and that his commands were to be implicitly obeyed. It had armed him with the tearful weapon of the confessional; and by authorizing him to grant absolution and to pronounce excommunication, it had delegated to him the keys of heaven and hell. By removing him from the jurisdiction of the secular courts, it had proclaimed him as superior to all temporal authority.
"Through ages of faith the populations had humbly received these teachings, and bowed to these assumptions, until they entered into the texture of the daily life of every man.
"While thus grasping supremacy, and using it to the utmost possibility of worldly advantage, the church could not absolve itself from the responsibilities inseparably connected with power. And chief among these responsibilities is to be numbered the moral training of the nations thus subjected to its will."
As to Power.
The office, the dignity, the authority, and the wealth, of the Pope, had been raised higher than all else in the world. This pinnacle of papal absolutism was attained in Pope Boniface VIII, and was proclaimed by him in the two notable sentences:--
1. "There is no other Caesar, nor king, nor emperor, than I, the sovereign pontiff and successor of the apostles."
2. "We assert, define, and pronounce, that it is necessary to salvation to believe that every human being is subject to the pontiff of Rome."
The Pope asserted claim to equality with God. He exercised powers far beyond God. To be Pope, then, became the supreme object of iniquitous ambition.
This development had been greatly aided by the almost constant wars between the popes and the emperors. The emperor, the more to further his cause against the Pope, would resort to the expedient of bringing about the election of a rival Pope: and sometimes the rival Pope became fully the Pope.
Many times had this occurred. But when a plurality of Popes became a fixture for fifty years, no emperor nor king had any part in it. It was wholly of the church, and was strictly ecclesiastical procedure.
April 8, 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI. Becoming displeased with him, September 20 the same year the same cardinals elected Pope Clement VII.
This threw all Europe into confusion that not only continued but increased for fifty years. Not only were the nations divided, but "even private families: some adhering to one of the competitors, and some to the other.
Urban was received as lawful Pope in Italy and almost all over Germany, in England, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Norway, Bohemia, Tuscany, Lombardy, and the duchy of Milan.
Clement was acknowledged in France, Spain, Lorraine, Savoy, Scotland, Sicily, and in the islands of Rhodes and Cyprus.
"As nothing could be certainly determined in favor of either of the pretenders, some sided at one time with one, and at another time with another: as their interests directed them. Indeed both had amongst their partisans some of the most eminent men of the age for their integrity as well as their knowledge in the civil and canon law; and by those of one party, new pieces were daily published, and answered by those of the other."--Bower.
The division and confusion was not confined to the field of opinion and literary discussion. "Anathemas, interdicts, depositions, and maledictions, were the prelude to the bloody strife which was soon to overwhelm the Western nations.
"Urban launched a bull against his competitor, and cited him to appear before the court of Rome to be judged and condemned as antipope.
"Clement, on his side, fulminated a terrible decree against his enemy, and cited him to appear before the consistory of Avignon to be judged for the usurpation of the apostolic chair.
"Finally, both having refused to appear, they anathematized each other by the ringing of bells and the light of torches, declaring each other apostates, schismatics, and heretics.
"They preached crusades against each other, and called to their aid all the banditti and malefactors of Italy and France; and let them loose like wild beasts on the unfortunate inhabitants who recognized Clement or preferred Urban.
"In the States of the church the Clementists made horrible havoc: ruined castles, burned villages, and even several cities. They penetrated as far as Rome, under the lead of Budes, a Breton captain, seized on the fortress of St. Angelo and committed atrocities in all parts of the city.
"In Naples and Romagna the Urbanists, commanded by an Englishman named Hawkwood, took their revenge and committed reprisal.
"Everywhere pillage, rape, incendiarism, and murder, were committed in the name of Clement, or in the honor of Urban. The unhappy cultivators fled with their wives and children, to escape the satellites of the Roman pontiff, and were massacred by the soldiery of the Pope of Avignon."--De Cormemin.
"Everywhere might be found divisions, spoliations, even bloodshed; ejected and usurping clergy, dispossessed and intrusive abbots and bishops; feuds, battles for churches and monasteries.
"Among all other causes of discord, arose this the most discordant: to the demoralizing and unchristianizing tendencies of the times was added a question on which the best might differ, which to the bad would be an excuse for every act of violence, fraud, or rapacity."--Milman.
The anarchy continued under the successors of the original two Popes. In 1398 the king of France took the lead and was joined by the kings of Hungary, Bohemia, England, Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and some of Germany, in an effort to relieve their dominions of the anarchy. They demanded that both Popes resign.
The Pope in Rome replied:--
"Pope I am, and Pope will I remain: despite all entreaty of the kings of France and Germany."
The Pope in Avignon made answer:--
"I have been invested by God in the papacy. I will not renounce it for count, nor duke, nor king. Let the king of France issue what ordinances he will, I will hold my office and popedom till I die."
Next, both colleges of cardinals united against both Popes. This, with the influence of the kings, secured the assembling of a General Council at Pisa in 1409. This Council declared both Popes deposed, all their acts null and void, and the cardinals at full liberty to proceed to an entirely new election. The cardinals elected Pope Alexander V, June 26, 1409.
"All this procedure of Council and cardinals was intended to restore the papacy to only one Pope. But it did not work that way. Instead of the afflicted world having now only one Pope, the discovery was soon made that it had three. And Europe, instead of being divided between only two Popes, was divided among the same two and another one.
The triple-headed monstrosity of the papacy now stood:--
Pope Gregory XII in Gaeta: acknowledged by the king of Sicily, the Emperor Rupert, and some of the cities of Italy.
Pope Benedict XIII in Avignon: acknowledged by the kings of Aragon, Castile, and Scotland, and the earl of Armagnac.
Pope Alexander V first at Pisa and then at Bologna: acknowledged by the remaining kings and princes of Europe.
Alexander V died in less than eleven months after his election. He was succeeded by John XXIII--the last and worst of the Johns, and one of the worst even of the Popes.
In former times this John, as Balthasar Cossa, had been a pirate on the Mediterranean Sea. Now he was chief pirate of the Papal See, and of the deepened sea of papal anarchy that flooded Europe.
Pope John and the king of Sicily were at deadly enmity, and their warring desolated vast regions of Italy. To strengthen himself against the king of Sicily, John sought an alliance with the Emperor Sigismund. To secure this he had to agree to the assembling of a General Council, and this in the imperial city of Constance: to quench the schisms of the Popes and heal the miseries of Christendom.
Accordingly, an imperial letter and a papal bull were sent throughout Christendom summoning "the General Council of Christendom to meet at Constance" Nov. 1, 1414. The Council met on that date, and continued till April 22, 1418.
At the opening of the Council, John XXIII was present in person, and presided. Both the other Popes sent deputies: not to be of the Council, nor to recognize the Council; but to be watchful of the interests of those Popes respectively. Pope Gregory's deputies lodged with the emperor a petition that John should not be permitted to preside in the Council.
Gregory's deputies announced to the Council on his behalf, that he was ready to resign the popedom provided both the other Popes would resign at the same time.
To consider this subject, there was appointed, apart from the Council as such, an assembly of the heads of the nations who were present. This assembly unanimously agreed and recommended that all three of the Popes resign.
John made a show of accepting the recommendation. He himself wrote a form of his own, promising to resign, provided the other two would resign at the same time.
This was not satisfactory to the assembly, and they wrote one for him to accept. Yet this was so written that it was not of itself actually a resignation; and John made a most impressive show of accepting it. In the presence of the whole Council, on his knees at the "altar" with his hand on his breast, he declared, vowed, promised, and swore to God that he would accept it.
All this he did with such an air of sincerity, that the emperor was so carried away with it as to take off his imperial crown, prostrate himself before John, kiss his feet, and in the name of the whole Council thank him for his "good resolution."
But lo! as soon as John saw that the Council was really going to put the recommendation into immediate effect, he with his cardinals ran away in the night.
This he did for the purpose of breaking up the Council. For the Popes held, and he supposed that the Council would consent, that without the Pope the Council would be powerless and would of necessity dissolve.
But his calculation missed entirely. The Emperor Sigismund, attended by the marshal of the empire, and with trumpets sounding before him, personally rode through the city proclaiming that the Council was not dissolved by the flight of the Pope; and that he would defend the Council with the last drop of his blood.
Before the emperor and the assembly of the heads of the nations, the chancellor of the University of Paris presented an argument proving to their satisfaction that a General Council is superior to the Pope; and that its deliverances hold good, with or without the Pope or his approval. Accordingly the Council met in regular session and adopted these articles:--
"I. That the Council had been lawfully assembled in the city of Constance.
"II. That it was not dissolved by the withdrawal of the Pope and the cardinals.
"III. That it should not be dissolved till the schism was removed and the church reformed in its head and members.
"IV. That the bishops should not depart, without a just cause approved by the deputies of the nations, till the Council was ended; and if they obtained leave of the Council to depart, they should appoint others to vote for them as their deputies or proxies."
From his retreat, John sent to the Council a notification that his pledges, oaths, and agreements, in the presence of the Council, had been made under duress and because of fear; therefore he was not obliged to be bound by them.
Then the Council in regular session made the following declaration:--
"The present Council, lawfully assembled in the city of Constance, and representing the whole church militant, holds its power immediately of Jesus Christ, and all persons of whatever state or dignity (the papal not excepted) are bound to obey it in what concerns the faith, the extirpation of the schism, and the reformation of the church in its head and members."
Then the Council unanimously deposed John XXIII because of his "scandalous conduct," his "highest degree of maladministration in both temporals and spirituals," his "detestable behavior," his having "shown himself incorrigible," and "other crimes."
Gregory XII did really resign: but only by being allowed to convene the Council anew, as a Council of his jurisdiction.
Benedict XIII was deposed: but he persisted till his last breath--about seven years--that he was the only true and lawful Pope, and that "the only holy catholic and apostolic church was to be found at Peniscola" where he was. Dying, he charged his cardinals to elect another Pope to succeed him. This they did; but he immediately abdicated in favor of the Pope, Martin V, who had been elected by the Council of Constance, Nov. 8, 1417.
Thus by the efforts, the authority, and the power, of the emperor and the heads of the nations, the open anarchy of the Roman Church was ended and she was saved from herself.
It is particularly to be remarked and remembered that it was not by the papacy, nor by the church as such, that this was accomplished.
From beginning to end the initiative was in the heads of the nations.
It was the emperor, through Pope John's necessity who secured the calling of the Council of Constance.
It was the emperor's determination and public proclamation, that held the Council together after the flight of the Pope with the direct purpose of dissolving it.
It was the "assembly of the heads of the nations," apart from the Council as such, that took the initiative and held the helm throughout the term of what was the Council of Constance in fact.
Thus it was by the heads of the nations--the "secular estate"--and by these alone, that the Council of Constance was made a fact, when by all that was the church--the "spiritual estate"--it would have been made only a fizzle.
And under the determination of and guidance of these the Council was made a fact without the presence of any Pope, or Pope's legate, or Pope's representative in any way whatever.
And under the determination and guidance of the emperor and the heads of the nations--"the secular state" the Council was made a fact expressly for the one chief purpose of "the reformation of the church in its head and members."
Now all those who did this were only of the "laity." In the theory and practice of the Roman Church, these were the worldly or "secular estate," while the "clergy" and the monastic orders were the church proper or "spiritual estate."
The sum of the situation, therefore, is that the laity must reform the clergy: the secular must save the spiritual--the world must save the church!
But The Church is in the world to save the world.
The Roman Church professed that she was in the world to save the world, and that Salvation was only of her. But lo! this church had sunk herself so low, and was so certainly dragging the world with her to perdition, that by an effort of very desperation the world must first save itself from the church, and then save the church from herself.
The Church of right being in the world to save the world; the Roman Church professing to be the only and true Church and the only way of Salvation for the world; and that church so reversing the order that she herself must be saved by the world and from herself--in this she demonstrated in perfection that she is not in any sense the true Church, and that she is not only the worst thing in the world but that she is worse than the very world itself.
This is evident from the plain facts. And it is abundantly confirmed by unquestionable authority.
Cardinal Baronius is the standard annalist of the Roman Church. He lived 1538-1607. Of the papacy in the ninth century, he says:--
"Never had divisions, civil wars, the persecutions of pagans, heretics and schismatics caused it to suffer so much as the monsters who installed themselves on the throne of Christ by simony and murders. The Roman Church was transformed into a shameless courtezan, covered with silks and precious stones, which publicly prostituted itself for gold.
"The palace of the Lateran was become a disgraceful tavern, in which ecclesiastics of all nations disputed with harlots the price of infamy. Never did priests, and especially Popes, commit so many adulteries, rapes, incests, robberies, and murders; and never was the ignorance of the clergy so great, as during this deplorable period. . . .
"Thus the tempest of abomination fastened itself on the church, and offered to the inspection of men the most horrid spectacle. The canons of councils, the creed of the apostles, the faith of Nice, the old traditions, the sacred rites, were buried in the abyss of oblivion; and the most unbridled dissoluteness, ferocious despotism, and insatiable ambition, usurped their place.
"Who could call legitimate pontiffs the intruders who seated themselves on the chair of the apostles? and what must have been the cardinals selected by such monsters?"
Of the papacy in the tenth century the same writer says:--
"In this century the abomination of desolation was seen in the temple of the Lord; and in the See of St. Peter, reverenced by angels, were placed the most wicked of men: not pontiffs, but monsters.
"And how hideous was the face of the Roman church, when filthy harlots governed all at Rome, changed Sees at their pleasure, disposed of bishoprics, and intruded their gallants and their bullies into the See of St. Peter!"
Of the twelfth century Baronius avows that "it appeared as if Antichrist then governed Christendom." He wrote as a historian; but Bernard, of Morlaix, a monk of Cluny, lived at the time, and he wrote of it thus:--
"The golden ages are past. Pure souls exist no longer. We live in the last times. Fraud, impurity, rapine, schisms, quarrels, wars, treasons, incests, and murders, desolate the church. Rome is the impure city of the hunter Nimrod. Piety and religion have deserted its walls. Alas! the pontiff, or rather king, of this odious Babylon, tramples under foot the Gospels and Christ, and causes himself to be adored as a god."
Honorius of Antron, a priest, also lived at the time; and he declared:--
"Behold these bishops and cardinals of Rome! These worthy ministers who surround the throne of the Beast! They are constantly occupied with new iniquities, and never cease committing crimes. . . .
"Thus, in all the churches, the priests neglect divine service; soil the priesthood by their impurities; deceive the people by their hypocrisy; deny God by their works; render themselves the scandal of nations; and forge a chain of iniquities to bind men....
"The reign of God has finished, and that of Antichrist has commenced. A new law has displaced the old. Scholastic theology has sallied from the depths of hell to strangle religion. Finally there are no longer morality, tenets, nor worships--and lo! the last times announced in the Apocalypse have come."
Hadrian IV was Pope from Dec. 4, 1154, till Sept. 1, 1159. He was an Englishman. His countryman John of Salisbury visited him, and was received on terms of intimacy. One day, in an exchange of confidences, the Pope asked John to tell him freely and honestly what opinion the world entertained of him and the Roman Church.
John did so: telling him with all the freedom of a friend what he had heard expressed in the countries through which he had travelled. And this is what he said:--
"They say, holy father, that the Roman church, the mother of all churches, behaves toward other churches more like a step-mother than a true mother:
"that scribes and Pharisees sit in her, laying heavy weights upon men's shoulders, which they themselves touch not with a finger:
"that they domineer over the clergy, but are not an example to the flock nor do they lead the right way to life:
"that they covet rich furniture, load their tables with silver and gold, and yet, out of avarice, live sparingly:
"that they seldom admit or relieve the poor, and when they relieve them it is only out of vanity that they do it:
"that they plunder the churches, sow dissensions, set the clergy and people at variance, are not affected with the miseries and sufferings of the afflicted, and look upon gain as godliness and piety:
"that they do justice, not for justice' sake, but for lucre:
"that all things are venal--that for money you may obtain today what you please, but the next day you will get nothing without it.
"I have heard them compared to the devil, who is thought to do good--when he ceases from doing mischief:
"I except some few, who answer the name of pastors and fulfill the duty.
"The Roman pontiff himself is, say they, a burden to all almost insupportable.
"All complain that, while the churches that the piety of our ancestors erected are ready to fall, or already lie in ruins while the altars are neglected, he builds palaces and appears gorgeously attired in purple and gold.
"The palaces of the priests are kept clean, but the Church of Christ is covered with filth.
"They plunder whole provinces, as if they aimed at nothing less than the wealth of Croesus.
"But the Almighty treats them according to their deserts, often leaving them a prey to the very refuse of mankind; and while they thus wander out of the way, the punishment they deserve must and will overtake them; the Lord saying, 'With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged,' and 'With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.'
"This, holy father, is what people say: since you want to know it."
When honest John had finished, the Pope asked him to give his own opinion. John did, thus--
"We must obey your commands, but must not imitate you in all your actions.
"Why do you inquire into the lives of others, and not into your own?
"All applaud you and flatter you, all call you lord and father: if father, why do you expect presents from your children?
"If lord, why not keep your Romans in awe and subjection?
"You are not a father in the right way.
"Give freely what you have received freely.
"If you oppose others, you will be more grievously opposed yourself."
In the thirteenth century Robert Greathead, bishop of Lincoln in England made earnest Christian effort to reform the clergy of his diocese. He found himself baffled at every turn by appeals to Rome. Robert himself went to Rome to make a personal appeal to Pope Innocent IV for a check on this practice. But he found every attempt utterly to fail, because every channel was blocked before him with bribes. And in the very presence of Pope Innocent, Robert indignantly exclaimed,--
"Oh, money, money, how much thou canst effect! especially in the court of Rome."
In an address before Pope Innocent and his cardinals Robert told them plainly that--
"The clergy were a source of pollution to the whole earth: they were antichrists and devils masquerading as angels of light, who made the house of prayer a den of robbers: and the Roman curia was the source of all the vileness which rendered the priesthood a hissing and a reproach to Christianity."
Gregory X was Pope 1268-1276. In his speech of dismissal of the Council of Lyons in 1274, he told the assembled clergy that they were "the ruin of the world."
In the fourteenth century we come to the times of John XXII with his systematic tax on sins, for "absolution," "free dispensation," "assurance," and "guarantee against all pursuit and all infamy"; and the times of the doubleand triple-headed papacy.
Of that John's scheme of making capital of sinning, the abbot of Upsberg exclaimed:--
"Rejoice now, O Vatican! all treasures are open to thee. Thou canst draw in with full hands. Rejoice in the crimes of the children of men, since thy wealth depends on their abandonment and iniquity! . . . Now the human race are subject to thy laws! Now thou reignest--through depravity of morals and the inundation of ignoble thoughts. The children of men can now commit with impunity every crime, since they know that thou wilt absolve them for a little gold. Provided he brings thee gold, let him be soiled with blood and lust. Thou wilt open the kingdom of heaven to debauchees, Sodomites, assassins, parricides--what do I say? Thou wilt sell God himself for gold!"
In the time of the double popedom of Boniface IX and Clement VII the doctors of the University of Paris addressed a letter to the king of France, in which they said:--
"Two Popes elevate to prelacies only unworthy and corrupt ministers, who have no sentiments of equity or shame, and who think only of satiating their passion.
"They rob the property of the widow and the orphan, at the same time that they are despoiling churches and monasteries.
"Sacred or profane, nothing comes amiss to them, provided they can extract money from it.
"Religion is for them a mine of gold, which they work to the last vein.
"They sell everything from baptism to burial. "They traffic in pyxes, crosses, chalices, sacred vases, and the shrines of saints.
"One can obtain no grace, no favor, without paying for it.
"It is not the worthiest, but the richest, who obtain ecclesiastical dignities.
"He who gives money to the Pope can sleep in safety though he may have murdered his own father; for he is assured of the protection of the church.
"Simony is publicly exercised, and they sell with effrontery to the highest and last bidder, dioceses, prebends, or benefices.
"Thus do the princes of the church. What shall we say of the lower clergy, who no longer administer the sacraments but for gold?
"What shall we say of the monks, whose morals are more corrupt than those of the inhabitants of ancient Sodom?
"It is time, illustrious prince, that you should put an end to this deplorable schism, proclaim the freedom of the Gallican church, and limit the power of the pontiffs."
And when the popedom became triple-headed, all forms and phases of the incubus were proportionately intensified. Then came the Council of Constance, with the effort of the heads of the nations for deliverance.
In complete and horrible measure it had been demonstrated to all the world that the essence of the papacy and the ultimate of the power and rule of the Roman church is only anarchy--the complete undoing of men and nations.
At the height of her power the Roman church had everything her own way. All the nations were absolutely subject to her will. Nobles, princes, kings, and emperor, all moved at her bidding. Her dominion over mankind was complete and absolute. The power and legitimacy of her empire there was none to dispute.
In that position of absolute supremacy, with simply nothing to restrain her from doing exactly as she pleased and what she would, then whatsoever she did, that is only what was in her to do.
And what did she do?--There is the record: the blackest in all the history of the world. She compelled mankind to sin; she filled her world to the sinking point with iniquity and woe; she so afflicted the nations with her anarchy that they must rise up against her to save themselves from her, and to save her from herself.
And the climax of all that is of her, of herself, is that when all had been subdued unto her then she could only tear her own vitals by first a double and then a triple rending of herself.
She must rule all the world, only to prove that she could not rule herself. And when there remained nothing but to rule herself, she could only destroy herself.
And than that there could be no more certain evidence that the power and rule of the Roman church is essentially anarchistic--the very mystery of iniquity.
And that--that church itself, what that church showed itself essentially to be, that is what caused The Reformation.
All the world was calling for a reformation, and God sent The Reformation.
When the Council of Constance declared the necessity of a "reformation of the church in its head and members," The Reformation had already begun.
Indeed that Council itself met The Reformation--and unmercifully, that is papistically, condemned it.
The Council of Constance burnt at the stake both John Huss and Jerome of Prague--the then two chief sounding voices of The Reformation.
And the absolute necessity that a complete revolution should be wrought in the minds of men, no less than in their manners, is sufficiently indicated in the awful fact that the same Council--the same identical men--that in order to accomplish "a reformation," deposed the three Popes because of palpable, notorious, and specified, enormities, consumed out of the world the two saints of God whom He sent to it with His message of The Reformation which essentially consists only in Regeneration.
Note
1. The sources of the quotations, facts, and dates, in this chapter are, Lea's "History of the Inquisition," Vol. I, chap. i; De Cormenin's "History of the Popes"; Bower's "History of the Popes"; Milman's "History of Latin Christianity," Book XIII.