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as an impartial state of the case; at least, it || the precise period when the Paulicians began appears from many circumstances, that, if the to take refuge in Europe; it is, however, certain, Manichæans were exasperated against the from the most authentic testimonies, that a Greeks, their resentment was in some mea- considerable number of that sect were, about sure justified by the violent and injurious treat- the middle of this century, settled in Lombardy, ment which they had received from them. Insubria, and principally at Milan, and that The Grecian pontiffs and clergy were far from many of them led a wandering life in France, being destitute of the odious spirit of persecu- Germany, and other countries, where they tion; and it is certain that the emperors, insti- captivated the esteem and admiration of the gated by them, had exhausted the patience of multitude, by their sanctimonious looks, and the Paulicians by repeated vexations and cru- the uncommon air of piety, which they put on elties, and alienated their affections by inflict-with much affectation. In Italy they were ing upon them, without interruption, a variety of punishments, such as banishment, confiscation of goods, and other marks of severity and violence.

called Paterini and Cathari, or rather Gazari, which latter appellation the Germans have preserved, with a small alteration only, which was proper to adapt it to the genius of their language. In France they were called Albigenses from the town of Albi, and Bulgarians because they came from Bulgaria, and because the head of their sect resided in that country; as also Publicans, which was probably a corrupt pronunciation of Paulicians, and boni homines or 'good men,' with several other titles and epithets.

Alexius Comnenus, who, by his learning, was an ornament to the imperial sceptre, perceiving that the Manichæans were not to be vanquished, without the greatest difficulty, by the force of arms, and observing also that their numbers increased from day to day both in Thrace and in the adjacent provinces, had recourse to the power of reason and argument to conquer their obstinacy, and spent whole declares it as his opinion, that the Paulicians joined days at Philippopolis, in disputing with the themselves to the Gallic armies that returned from principal doctors of that pernicious sect. Many the holy war by the province of Bulgaria, and were of them yielded to the victorious arguments thus conducted into France. But that learned auof this royal disputant, and his learned associ-thor alleges no proof to support this opinion: it ap ates; nor is this to be wondered at, since their demonstrations were accompanied and enforced by rewards and punishments. Such of the Manichæans as retracted their errors, and returned to the bosom of the Greek church, were loaded with gifts, honours, and privileges, according to their respective stations, while such as stood firm against the reasoning of the emperor, were inhumanly condemned to perpetual imprisonment.*

pears on the contrary, from the records of the Inquisition of Toulouse, published by Limborch, and from other authentic pieces, that the Paulicians settled first in Sicily, Lombardy, Liguria, and the Milanese, and thence sent many doctors and missionaries into France. See the Codex Tolosanus, passim. We learn also from the Code of Toulouse, that the French Paulicians, who were called Albigenses, had no bishop to consecrate their Anciani (such was the them as were desirous of being placed in the order of presbyters, were obliged to repair to Italy, in order to their being regularly installed.

title they gave to their presbyters,) so that such of

*The title of Paterini, which was given to this II. Many of the Paulicians, either from a sect in Italy, has been already explained in the principle of zeal for the propagation of their second chapter of the second part of this century, opinions, or from a desire of relieving them-sect. 13, note [f]. As to the term Catharus, it was unselves from the persecution and oppression doubtedly, when applied to the Paulicians, the same with Gazarus, as I have elsewhere demonstrated. they suffered under the Grecian yoke, retired See Histor. Ord. Apostol. p. 367. The country which from Bulgaria and Thrace, and formed settle-bore, in this century, the name of Gazaria, was what ments in other countries. Their first migra- we now call the Minor Tartary. tion was into Italy; whence, in process of time, they sent colonies into almost all the other provinces of Europe, and formed gradually a considerable number of religious assemblies, who adhered to their doctrine, and were afterwards persecuted with the utmost vehemence by the Roman pontiffs. It is difficult to fix

That the Paulicians were called Albigenses in

in a council which met in 1176. See Chatel's Me

France, and were a sect entirely distinct from the Waldenses and other heretics, appears evidently from the Codex Inquisitionis Tolosanæ. They received this name from a town in Aquitaine, called Albigia, or Albi, where their errors were condemned moires de l'Histoire de Languedoc, p. 305. It is, therefore, a mistake to consider the Albigenses as a sect so called from Albi's being the place of their * There is an ample and circumstantial account of birth, their residence, or the seat of their principal asthis controversy between the emperor and the Mani-sembly, since that name was given them for no chæans in the work mentioned in the preceding note, lib. xiv. p. 357.

† See Muratori, Antiquitat. Ital. medii Ævi, tom. v. p. 83.-Limborch, Historia Inquisitionis, p. 31.Riccinii Dissertatio de Catharis, prefixed to the Summa B. Moneta contra Catharos. We might also refer, upon this occasion, to Glab. Rodulph. Histor. lib. iii. cap. viii. to Matth. Paris, and other ancient writers. Certain Italian authors, and among others Riccini, seemed unwilling to acknowledge that the Paulicians arrived first in Italy, and proceeded thence into the other provinces of Europe; and maintain, on the contrary, that their first settle ment was in France, whence they repaired to Italy. These writers look upon it as ignominious to their country, to be considered as the first European nation which fostered such a pernicious and impious sect in its bosom. Be that as it may, their hypothesis is favoured by Peter de Marca himself, a Frenchman, who, in his Histoire de Bearn, livr. viii. cap. xiv.

other reason than their having been condemned in a council holden in that town. There were, indeed, several Paulicians among the various sects of dissenters from the church of Rome, that inhabited the country about Albi; and it is also true, that the title of Albigenses is usually extended to all the heretics, of whatever sect or denomination they were, who dwelt in those parts.

The learned Du Fresne, in his Glossarium Latin, medii Evi, tom. i. p. 1338, has proved, in an ample manner, that the Paulicians were called in France Bulgares, and (by a corrupt pronunciation of that word) Bougres. The same author, in his Observationes ad Villeharduini Historiam Constantinopolit., has fully demonstrated, that the names Popolicani and Publicani, that were imposed upon these Manichæans, were no more than a corruption of the term Pauliciani, ill pronounced. The appellation of Boni Homines, or Los bos Homos, as the southern French spoke at that time, was a title which the Paulicians

III. The first religious assembly which the Paulicians formed in Europe, is said to have been discovered at Orleans, in 1017, under the reign of Robert. A certain Italian lady is said to have been at the head of this sect; its principal members were twelve canons of the cathedral of Orleans, men eminently distinguished by their piety and learning, among whom Lisoius and Stephen held the first rank; and it was composed, in general, of a considerable number of citizens, who were far from being of the meanest condition. The impious doctrines, professed by these canons, were discovered by a certain priest named Heribert, and by Arifastus, a Norman nobleman; upon which Robert assembled a council at Orleans, and employed the most effectual methods that he could devise to bring these heretics to a better mind. But all his endeavours were to no purpose; this pernicious sect adhered obstinately to its principles; and its members were at length condemned to be burned alive.*

It is difficult to come to a fixed determination with respect to the character and doctrine of these sectaries; for, when we examine matters attentively, we find that even their enemies acknowledged the sincerity of their piety, that they were blackened by accusations which were evidently false, and that the opinions for which they were punished differ widely from the Manichæan system.t As far as we can see into the case, it appears to us, that these pretended Manichæans of Orleans were a set of Mystics, who looked with contempt upon all external worship, rejected all rites and ceremonies, and even the Christian sacrainents, as destitute of any, even the least spiritual efficacy or virtue; placed the whole of religion in the internal contemplation of God, and the elevation of the soul to divine and celestial things; and, in their philosophical speculations concerning God, the Trinity, and the human soul, soared above the comprehension of the age in which they lived. A like set of men proceeded in vast numbers out of Italy in the following ages, spread like an inundation through all the European provinces, and were known in Germany under the name of the Brethren of the free Spirit, while they were distinguished in other countries by the appellation of Beghards.‡

attributed to themselves. See the Codex Inquisit.

Tolosanæ.

The accounts that the ancient writers have given of these heretics are collected by Boulay, in his Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 364.-D'Argentre, Collectio Judicior. de novis Erroribus, tom. i. p. 5.-Jo. Launoy, de Scholis celebrioribus Caroli Magni, cap. xxiv. p. 90.-The history of the synod of Orleans, in which this sect was condemned, is given by D'Acheri, in his Spicileg. Veter. Scriptor. tom. i. p. 604.

Basnage, in his Histoire des Eglises Reformees, tom. i. period iv. p. 97, and in his Hist. de l'Eglise, tom. ii. p. 1388, pleads the cause of the canons of Orleans; but this learned and worthy man seems to have been carried too far by his zeal for augmenting the number of those who have been martyrs to the truth. ↑ We shall have occasion to give a more copious account of these fanatics in the history of the thirteenth century, in which they were first drawn from their obscurity, and condemned by many councils, especially in Germany. It is, however, certain, that they had a clandestine existence long before that period, and that they propagated their tenets secretly in several places. Their doctrine resembles, in some particulars, that of the Manichæans; and

IV. We find in history another branch of this numerous sect, whose errors were not accompanied with the crimes that were laid to the charge of their brethren, and who were converted by a pathetic discourse that was addressed to them by Gerard, bishop of Cambray and Arras, in an assembly of the clergy, holden in the latter city, in 1030. These honest Mystics, who were equally remarkable for their docility and their ignorance, had received the doctrine they professed from the Italians, and particularly from a certain eccentric doctor, whose name was Gundulf. They maintained, in general, according to their own confession, that the whole of religion consisted in the study of practical piety, and in a course of action conformable to the divine laws; and they; treated all external modes of worship with the utmost contempt. Their particular tenets may be reduced to the following heads: 1. They rejected baptism, and, in a more especial manner, the baptism of infants, as a ceremony that was in no respect essential to salvation: 2. They rejected, for the same reason, the sacrament of the Lord's supper: 3. They denied, that the churches were endowed with a greater degree of sanctity than private houses, or that they were more adapted to the worship of God than any other place: 4. They affirmed, that the altars were to be considered in no other light than as heaps of stones, and were therefore unworthy of any marks of veneration or regard: 5. They disapproved the use of incense and consecrated oil in services of a religious nature: 6. They looked upon the use of bells in the churches, as an intolerable superstition: 7. They denied, that the establishment of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and other ecclesiastical dignities, was of divine institution, and went so far as to maintain that the appointment of stated ministers in the church was entirely unnecessary: S. They affirmed, that the institution of funeral rites was an ef fect of sacerdotal avarice, and that it was a matter of indifference whether the dead were buried in the churches, or in the fields: 9. They looked upon the voluntary punishment, called penance, so generally practised in this century, as unprofitable and absurd: 10. They denied that the sins of departed spirits could be, in any measure, atoned for by the celebration of masses, the distribution of alms to the poor, or a vicarious penance; and they consequently treated the doctrine of purgatory as a ridiculous fable: 11. They considered marriage as a pernicious institution, and absurdly condemned, without distinction, all connubial bonds:† 12. They looked upon a certain sort of veneration and worship as due to the apos tles and martyrs, from which, however, they excluded such as were only confessors, in hence it was natural for the ignorant divines of the age in which they lived, to consider them as a branch of that pernicious sect.

By a vicarious penance is understood the course of mortification and voluntary suffering, that one person undergoes in order to procure absolution for another.

†This eleventh article is scarcely credible, at least as it is here expressed. It is more reasonable to suppose, that these Mystics did not absolutely condeinn marriage, but only held celibacy in higher esteem, as a mark of superior sanctity and virtue.

which class they comprehended the saints, who || were not the expression harsh and contrary to had not suffered death for the cause of Christ, the phraseology generally received. He was, and whose bodies, in their esteem, had nothing however, obliged to retract this error in a more sacred than any other human carcase: council assembled at Soissons, in 1092; but he 13. They declared the use of instrumental resumed it when the council was dismissed, and music in the churches, and other religious as- the danger over. Persecuted anew on account semblies, superstitious and unlawful: 14. They of his doctrine, he took refuge in England, and denied, that the cross on which Christ suffered excited there divisions and contests of another was in any respect more sacred than other kind, by maintaining, among other things, that kinds of wood, and, in consequence, refused to persons born out of lawful wedlock ought to pay to it the smallest degree of religious wor- be deemed incapable of admission to holy ship: 15. They not only refused all acts of orders. This doctrine, which was by no means adoration to the images of Christ, and of the suited to the times, procured Roscellinus many saints, but were also for having them removed enemies, and was in a great measure the occaout of the churches: 16. They were shocked at sion of his involuntary removal from England. the subordination and distinctions that were Banished thence, he returned to France, and, established among the clergy, and at the differ- taking up his residence at Paris, fomented ent degrees of authority conferred upon the again the old dispute concerning the Trinity. different members of that sacred body.* This, however, succeeded not according to his hopes, but exposed him to much trouble and vexation from the redoubled attacks of his adversaries, who fiercely assailed him from all quarters. Fatigued with their persecutions, he retired at last into Aquitaine, where he acquired universal esteem by his eminent piety, and passed the rest of his days in tranquillity and repose.*

When we consider the corrupt state of religion in this century, and particularly the superstitious notions that were generally adopted|| in relation to outward ceremonies, the efficacy of penance and the sanctity of churches, relics, and images, it will not appear surprising, that many persons of good sense and solid piety, running from one extreme to another, fell into the opinions of these Mystics, in which,|| among several absurdities, there were many things plausible and specious, and some highly rational.

V. A controversy, of a much more subtile and difficult nature, arose in France, about the year 1089. It had for its principal author Roscellinus, a canon of Compcigne, a profound dialectician, and the most eminent doctor of the sect called Nominalists. He deemed it inconceivable and impossible that the Son of God should assume the human nature alone, i. e. without the Father and the Holy Ghost becoming incarnate also, unless by the three persons in the godhead were meant three distinct objects, or natures existing separately (such as three angels, or three distinct spirits,) though endowed with one will, and acting by one power. When it was insinuated to Roscellinus, that this manner of reasoning led directly to Tritheism, or the doctrine of three gods, he answered boldly, that the existence of three gods might be asserted with truth,

*See an account of the synod of Arras in the Spicilegium Scriptor. Veter. tom. i. p. 607-624; also Car. Plessis D'Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum de Novis Erroribus, tom. i.

Such is the account given by John, the accuser of this metaphysical ecclesiastic, in a letter to Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, published by Baluzius, in his Miscellanea, tom. iv. The same account is confirmed by Anselm himself, in the book de fide Trinitatis, which he wrote against Roscellinus: see Oper. tom. i. p. 41, 43, and lib. ii. Epistolar. ep. xxxv. p. 335, tom. ii. op.-and also by Fulco, bishop of Beauvais, as may be seen in the second book of the Epistles of Anselm, ep. xli. lib. ii. tom. ii. op. p. 357. It must, however, be considered, that the learned men now mentioned were the inveterate enemies of Roscellinus, and that they perhaps comprehended his meaning imperfectly, or perverted it wilfully. Several circumstances prove, that some of his adversaries were in one or the other of these two cases. Anselm himself furnishes sufficient grounds for this suspicion, since, notwithstanding his aversion to the

Nominalists, of whom Roscellinus was the chief, he grants, in his book de Fide Trinitatis, cap. iii. that the opinion of his antagonist may be admitted, or at

them.

least tolerated, in a certain sense; and even frequently intimates, that he is not perfectly assured of his understanding fully the meaning of Roscellinus, and that he believes the sentiments of that ecclesiastic less pernicious than his accusers have represented nus) non dicit, sicut sunt tres animæ aut tres Ange"Sed forsitan (says Anselm) ipse (Roscellili: sed ille, qui mihi ejus mandavit quæstionem, banc ex suo posuit similitudinem: sed solum modo tres personas affirmat esse tres Res, sine additamento lar. lib. ii. ep. xli. p. 357,) declares, that the account alicujus similitudinis." The same Anselm (Epistowhich he had received of the opinions of Roscellinus appears to him extremely dubious, "Quod tamen From all this it is evident, that Anselm was far (says he) absque dubietate credere non possum." from having an entire confidence in the equity and impartiality of the accusers of Roscellinus, or from looking upon that ecclesiastic as so black, as his

enemies had endeavoured to make him.

As to the merits of the cause, it appears manifest to me, that this subtle dispute was a consequence of the warm controversy that subsisted in this century, former attacked the latter by the dangerous conclusions that seemed deducible from their principles, and reasoned thus: "If, as your doctrine supposes, "universal substances are no more than mere "sounds or denominations, and the whole science of "logic is only conversant about words, it must of "necessity follow, that the three persons in the "Godhead are only three names, and not three reali"ties or things.""We deny the conclusion," replied Roscellinus; "the Father, Son, and Holy "Ghost, are not placed by us in the rank of denomi"nations, but in the class of realities, or things." The subtile doctor here, as all must more or less do after him, by avoiding Scylla fell into Charybdis, and was charged by his adversaries with the introduction of tritheism, by holding an opinion that sup posed the existence of three divine substances. Were any of the writings of Roscellinus now extant, they would help us to form a more just notion of this controversy than we can have at present.

between the Realists and the Nominalists. The

* Boulay, tom. i. p. 485.-Mabillon, Annal. tom. v. p. 262.-Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. ix. p. 358.-Anton. Pagi, Critica in Baronium ad Annum 1094, tom. iv. p. 317.-Longueval, Hist. de l'Eglise Gallicane, tom. viii. p. 59.

THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

PART I.

THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

Concerning the Prosperous Events that happened

to the Church during this Century.

work was brought to perfection by Absalom, archbishop of Lunden, a man of superior genius, and of a most excellent character in every respect, whose eminent merit raised him to the summit of power, and engaged Waldemar to place him at the head of affairs.*

dals, and others, who, either by their incur of his victorious arm. sions or by revolt, drew upon them the weight He unsheathed his sword, not only for the defence and happiness A CONSIDERABLE part of Europe lay yet in- of his people, but also for the propagation and volved in pagan darkness, which reigned more advancement of Christianity; and wherever especially in the northern provinces. It was, his arms were successful, he pulled down the therefore, in these regions of gloomy supersti- temples and images of the gods, destroyed their tion, that the zeal of the missionaries was prin- altars, laid waste their sacred groves, and subcipally exerted in this century; though their stituted in their place the Christian worship, efforts were not all equally successful, nor the which deserved to be propagated by better methods they employed for the propagation of means than the sword, by the authority of reathe Gospel equally prudent. Boleslaus, duke son, rather than by the despotic voice of of Poland, having conquered the Pomeranians, power. The island of Rugen, which lies in offered them peace, upon condition that they the neighbourhood of Pomerania, submitted to would receive the Christian teachers, and per- the victorious arms of Waldemar, A. D. 1168; mit them to exercise their ministry in that van- and its fierce and savage inhabitants, who quished province. This condition was accept- were, in reality, no more than a band of robed; and Otho, bishop of Bamberg, a man of bers and pirates, were obliged, by that prince, eminent piety and zeal, was sent, in the year to hear the instructions of the pious and learn1124, to inculcate and explain the doctrines of ed doctors that followed his army, and to reChristianity, among that superstitious and bar-ceive the Christian worship. This salutary barous people. Many were converted to the faith by his ministry, while great numbers stood firm against his most vigorous efforts, and persisted, with an invincible obstinacy, in the religion of their idolatrous ancestors. Nor was this the only mortification which that illustrious prelate received, in the execution of III. The Finlanders received the Gospe in his pious enterprise; for, upon his return into the same manner in which it had been propaGermany, many of those whom he had engag- || gated among the inhabitants of the isle of Rued in the profession of Christianity, apostatised gen. They were also a fierce and savage peoin his absence, and relapsed into their ancient ple, who lived by plunder, and infested Sweprejudices: this obliged Otho to undertake a den in a terrible manner by their perpetual second voyage into Pomerania, A. D. 1126, incursions, until, after many bloody battles, in which, after much opposition and difficulty, they were totally defeated by Eric IX. styled his labours were crowned with a happier issue, after his death the Saint, and reduced under and contributed much to enlarge the bounds of the Swedish yoke. Historians differ about the the rising church, and to establish it upon so- precise time when this conquest was completlid foundations. From this period, the Chris-ed; tian religion seemed daily to acquire new degrees of stability among the Pomeranians, who had hitherto refused to permit the settlement of a bishop among them. They now received Adalbert, or Albert, in that character, who was accordingly the first bishop of Pomerania. II. Of all the northern princes of this century, none appeared with a more distinguished Mosheim, we refer the curious reader to an excellent lustre than Waldemar I. king of Denmark, history of Denmark, written in French, by M. Mal who acquired an immortal name by the glori- let, professor at Copenhagen. In the first volume of this history, the ingenius and learned author has gi ous battles he fought against the pagan naven a very interesting account of the progress of tions, such as the Sclavonians, Venedi, Van-Christianity in the northern parts of Europe, and a particular relation of the exploits of Absalom, who was, at the same time, archbishop, general, admiral, and prime minister, and who led the victorious Danes to battle, by sea and land, without neglecting the cure of souls, or in the least diminishing his pious labours in the propagation of the Gospel abroad, and its maintenance and support at home.

* See Henr. Canisii Lectiones Antiquæ, tom. iii. part ii. p. 34, where we find the life of Otho, who, A. D. 1189, was canonised by Clement III. See the Acta Sanctor. Mensis Julii, tom. i. p. 349. Dan. Crameri Chronicon Eccles. Pomeraniæ, lib. i. as also a learned Dissertation concerning the conversion of the Pomeranians by the ministry of Otho, written in the German language, by Christopher Schotgen, and published at Stargard, in the year 1724. Add to these Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 123, 146, 323. VOL. I.-38

but they are all unanimous in their accounts of its effects. The Finlanders were commanded to embrace the religion of the conqueror, which the greatest part of them did,

*Saxo-Grammaticus, Histor. Danic. lib. xiv. p. 239.-Helmoldus, Chron. Sclavorum, lib. ii. cap. xii. p. 234, and Henr. Bangertus, ad h. 1.—Pontoppidant Annales Ecclesiæ Danica, tom. i. p. 404.

Beside the historians here mentioned by Dr.

Most writers, with Baronius, place this event in the year 1151. Different, however, from this is the chronology of Vastovius and Oernhielmius, the forlmmer placing it in 1150, and the latter in 1157.

Theed, and tormented this wretched people, that exhausted at length, and unable longer to stand firm against the arm of persecution, strengthened still by new accessions of power, they abandoned the statues of their pagan deities, and substituted in their places the images of the saints. But, while they received the blessings of the Gospel, they were deprived of all earthly comforts; for their lands and possessions were taken from them, with the most odious circumstances of cruelty and violence, and the knights and bishops divided the spoil.*

though with the utmost reluctance.*
founder (and ruler) of this new church was
Henry, archbishop of Upsal, who accompani-
ed the victorious monarch in that bloody cam-
paign. This prelate, whose zeal was not suf-
ficiently tempered with the mild and gentle
spirit of the religion he taught, treated the
new converts with great severity, and was as-
sassinated at last, in a cruel manner, on ac-
count of the heavy penance he imposed upon
a person of great authority, who had been
guilty of homicide. This melancholy event
procured Henry the honours of saintship and
martyrdom, which were solemnly conferred
upon him by pope Adrian IV.t

V. None of the northern nations had a more rooted aversion to the Christians, or a more obstinate antipathy to their religion, than the Sclavonians, a rough and barbarous people. who inhabited the coast of the Baltic sea. This excited the zeal of several neighbouring princes, and of a multitude of pious missionaries, who united their efforts, in order to conquer the prejudices of this people, and to open their eyes upon the light of the Gospel. Henry, duke of Saxony, surnamed the Lion, distinguished himself in a particular manner, by the ardour which he discovered in the execution of this pious design, as well as by the wise methods he employed to render it successful. Among other measures that were

IV. The propagation of the Gospel among the Livonians was attended with much difficulty, and also with horrible scenes of cruelty and bloodshed. The first missionary, who attempted the conversion of that savage people, was Mainhard, a regular canon of St. Augustin, in the monastery of Segeberg, who, toward the conclusion of this century, travelled to Livonia, with a company of merchants of Bremen, and improved this opportunity of spreading the light of the Gospel in that barbarous region of superstition and darkness. The instructions and exhortations of this zealous apostle were little attended to, and produced little or no effect upon that uncivilized nation; where-proper for this purpose, he restored from their upon he addressed himself to the Roman pontiff, Urban III. who consecrated him bishop of the Livonians, and, at the same time, declared a holy war against that obstinate people. This war, which was at first carried on against the inhabitants of the province of Estlionia, was continued with still greater vigour, and rendered more general, by Berthold, abbot of Lucca, who left his monastery to share the labours and laurels of Mainhard, whom he accordingly succeeded in the see of Livonia. The new bishop marched into that province at the head of a powerful army which he had raised in Saxony, preached the Gospel sword in hand, and proved its truth by blows instead of arguments. Albert, canon of Bremen, became the third bishop of Livonia, and followed, with a barbarous enthusiasm, the same military methods of conversion that had been practised by his predecessor. He entered Livonia, A. D. 1198, with a fresh body of troops drawn out of Saxony, and, encamping at Riga, instituted there, by the direction of pope Innocent III., the military order of the knights sword-bearers,§ who were commissioned to dragoon the Livonians into the profession of Christianity, and oblige them by force of arms to receive the benefits of baptism. New legions were sent from Germany to second the efforts, and he had done this without addressing himself to Henadd efficacy to the mission of these booted, the duke seized the tithes of Vicelinus, until a apostles; and they, in concert with the knights the offended prince and the worthy bishop. See Fleusword-bearers, so cruelly oppressed, slaughter-ry, Hist. Eccles. liv. Ixix. p. 665, 668, edit. Bruxelles.

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ruins, and endowed richly, three bishopricst that had been ravaged and destroyed by these barbarians, namely, the bishoprics of Ratzeburg and Schwerin, and that of Oldenburg, which was afterwards transplanted to Lubeck. The most eminent of the Christian doctors, who attempted the conversion of the Sclavonians, was Vicelinus, a native of Hamelen, a man of extraordinary merit, who surpassed almost all his contemporaries in genuine piety and solid learning, and who, after having presided many years in the society of the regular canons of St. Augustin at Falderen, was at length consecrated bishop of Oldenburg.— This excellent man employed the last thirty years of his life, amidst numberless vexations, dangers and difficulties, in instructing the Sclavonians, and exhorting them to com

* See the Origines Livoniæ, seu Chronicon vetus Livonicum, published in folio, at Francfort, in the year 1740, by Jo. Daniel Gruberus, and enriched with ample and learned observations and notes, in which the laborious author enumerates all the writers of the Livonian history, and corrects their mistakes. Dr. Mosheim's account of this matter is very asserts, that it was Hartwick, archbishop of Bredifferent from that which is given by Fleury, who men, who restored the three ruined sees, and consecrated Vicelinus bishop of Oldenburg; and that, as

reconciliation was afterwards brought about between

Fleury, in this and other parts of his history, shows, that he is but indifferently acquainted with the history of Germany, and has not drawn from the best sources. The authorities which Dr. Mosheim produces for his account of the affair, are the Origines Guelphicæ, tom. iii. p. 16, 19, 34, 55, 61, 63, 72, 82, with the celebrated Preface of Scheidius, sect. xiv. p. 41. Ludewig's Reliquiæ Manuscriptorum, tom. vi. p. 230. Jo. Ern, de Westphalen, Monumenta inedita Rerum Cimbricaruin et Megapolens. tom. ii. p. 1998.

That is, from the year 1124 to the year 1154, in which he died.

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