try, and the armies of the powerful and valiant Matilda, maintained successfully the cause of Gregory against the Lombards, who espoused the interests of Henry; while this unfortunate prince, with all the forces he could assemble, carried on the war in Germany against Rodolph and the confederate princes. Gregory, considering the events of war as extremely doubtful, was at first afraid to declare for either side, and therefore observed, during a certain time, an appearance of neutrality; but, encou raged by the battle of Fladenheim, in which Henry was defeated by the Saxons, in 1080, he excommunicated anew that vanquished prince, and, sending a crown to the victor Rodolph, declared him lawful king of the Germans. The injured emperor did not suffer this new insult to pass unpunished. Seconded by the suffrages of several of the Italian and German bishops, he deposed Gregory a second time in a council which met at Mentz, and, in a synod that was soon after assembled at Brixen, in the province of Tirol, he raised to the pontificate Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, who assumed the title of Clement III. when he was consecrated at Rome in 1084, four years after his election. that purpose to a congress at Augsburg in the || were masters of the lower parts of that counfollowing year, and that, in the mean time, Henry should be suspended from his royal dignity, and live in the obscurity of a private station; to which rigorous conditions they also added, that he was to forfeit his kingdom, if, within the space of a year, he should not be restored to the bosom of the church, and delivered from the anathema that lay upon his head. When things were come to this desperate extremity, and the faction, which was formed against this unfortunate prince, grew more formidable from day to day, his friends advised him to go into Italy, and implore in person the clemency of the pontiff. The emperor yielded to this ignominious counsel, without, however, obtaining from his voyage the advantages he expected. He passed the Alps, amidst the rigour of a severe winter, and arrived, in February, 1077, at the fortress of Canusium, where the sanctimonious pontiff resided at that time with the young Matilda, countess of Tuscany, the most powerful patroness of the church, and the most tender and affectionate of all the spiritual daughters of Gregory. Here the suppliant prince, unmindful of his dignity, stood, during three days, in the open air at the entrance of this fortress, with his feet bare, his head uncovered, and with no other raiment than a wretched piece of coarse woollen cloth thrown over his body to cover his nakedness. On the fourth day, he was admitted to the presence of the lordly pontiff, who with difficulty granted him the absolution he demanded; but, as to his political restoration, he refused to determine that point before the approaching congress, at which he made Henry promise to appear, forbidding him, at the same time, to assume, during this interval, the title of king, or to wear the ornaments or exercise the functions of royalty. This opprobrious convention justly excited the indignation of the princes and bishops of Italy, who threatened Henry with all sorts of evils, on account of his base and pusillanimous conduct, and would undoubtedly have deposed him, had not he allayed their resentment by violating the convention into which he had been forced to enter with the imperious pontiff, and resuming the title and other marks of royalty which he had been obliged to relinquish. On the other hand, the confederate princes of Suabia and Saxony were no sooner informed of this unexpected change in the conduct of Henry, than they assembled at Forcheim in March, 1077, and unanimously elected Rodolph, duke of Suabia, emperor in his place.* XVII This rash step kindled a terrible flame in Germany and Italy, and involved, for a long time, those unhappy lands in the calamities of war. In Italy, the Normans, who *The ancient and modern writers of Italian and German history have given ample relations of all these events, though not all with the same fidelity and accuracy. In the brief account I have given of these events, I have followed the genuine sources, and those writers whose testimonies are the most respectable and sure, such as Sigonius, Pagi, Muratori, Mascovius, Norris, &c. who, though they differ in some minute circumstances, yet agree in those matters which are of the most importance. XVIII. This election was soon followed by an occurrence which gave an advantageous turn to the affairs of Henry: this event was 2 bloody battle fought upon the banks of the river Elster, where Rodolph received a mortal wound, of which he died at Mersburg. The emperor, freed from this formidable enemy, marched into Italy, in the following year (1081,) with a design to crush Gregory and his adherents, whose defeat he imagined would contribute effectually to put an end to the troubles in Germany. Accordingly he made several campaigns, with various success, against the valiant troops of Matilda; and, after having raised twice the siege of Rome, he resumed with alacrity that bold enterprise, and became, in 1084, master of the greatest part of that city. His first step after this success was to place Guibert in the papal chair: he then received the imperial crown from the hands of the new pontiff, was saluted emperor by the Roman people, and laid close siege to the castle of St. Angelo, whither his determined enemy, Gregory, had fled for safety. He was, however, forced to raise the siege by the valour of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria, who brought Gregory in triumph to Rome; but, not thinking him safe there, conducted him afterwards to Salernum. Here the famous pontiff ended his days in the succeeding year, and left Europe involved in those calamities which were the fatal effects of his boundless ambition. He was certainly a man of extensive abilities, endowed with a most enterprising genius, and an invincible firmness of mind; but it must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that he was the most arrogant and audacious pontiff that had hitherto filled the papal chair. The Roman church worships him as a saint, though it is certain that he was never placed in that order by a regular canonization. Paul V., about the beginning of the seventeenth century, appointed the twertv fifth day of May, as a festival sacred to the|| heads of the papal faction. The abominable memory of this pretended saint;* but the empe- treachery of his son Conrad, who, yielding to rors of Germany, the kings of France, and the seduction of his father's enemies, revolted other European princes, have always opposed against him, and, by the advice and assistance the celebration of this festival, and have thus of Urban and Matilda, usurped the kingdom effectually prevented its becoming universal. of Italy, revived the drooping spirits of that In our times, the zeal of Benedict XIII. to se- faction, who hoped to see the laurels of the cure to Gregory the saintly honours, occasion- emperor blasted by this odious and unnatural ed a contest, the result of which was by no rebellion. The consequences, however, of this means favourable to his superstitious views.† event, were less mischievous to Henry, than his enemies expected. In the mean time the troubles of Italy still continued; nor could Urban, with all his efforts, reduce Rome under his lordly yoke. Finding all his ambitious measures disconcerted, he assembled a council at Placentia, in 1095, where he confirmed the laws and the anathemas of Gregory; and afterwards undertook a journey into France, where he held the famous council of Clermont, and had the pleasure of kindling a new war against the infidel possessors of the holy land. In this council, instead of endeavouring to terminate the tumults and desolations that the dispute concerning investitures had already produced, this unworthy pontiff added fuel to the flame, and so exasperated matters by his imprudent and arrogant proceedings, as to render an accommodation between the contending parties more difficult than ever. Gregory, notwithstanding his insolence and ambition, had never carried matters so far as to forbid the bishops and the rest of the clergy to take the oath of allegiance to their respective sovereigns. This rebellious prohibition was reserved for the audacious arrogance of Urban, who published it as a law in the council of Clermont.* After this noble expedition, the restless pontiff returned into Italy, where he made himself master of the castle of St. Angelo, and soon after ended his days, in 1099; he was not long survived by his antagonist, Clement III. who died in the following year, and thus left Raynier (a Benedictine monk, who was chosen successor to Urban, and assumed the name of Pascal II.) sole possessor of the papal chair at the conclusion of this century. XIX. The death of Gregory neither restored peace to the church, nor tranquillity to the state; the tumults and divisions which he had excited still continued, and they were augmented from day to day by the same passions to which they owed their origin. Clement III. who was the emperor's pontiff, was master of the city of Rome, and was acknowledged as pope by a great part of Italy. Henry carried on the war in Germany against the confederate princes. The faction of Gregory, supported by the Normans, chose for his successor, in 1086, Dideric, abbot of Mount Cassin, who adopted the title of Victor III. and was consecrated in the church of St. Peter, in 1087, when that part of the city was recovered by the Normans from the dominion of Clement. But this new pontiff was of a character quite opposite to that of Gregory; he was modest and timorous, and also of a mild and gentle disposition; and finding the papal chair beset with factions, and the city of Rome under the dominion of his competitor, he retired to his monastery, where he soon after ended his days in peace. But, before his abdication, he held a council at Benevento, where he confirmed and renewed the laws that Gregory had enacted for the abolition of investitures. XX. Otho, monk of Clugni, and bishop of Ostia, was, by Victor's recommendation, chosen to succeed him. This new pontiff was elected at Terracini, in 1088, and assumed the name of Urban II. Inferior to Gregory in fortitude and resolution, he was, however, his equal in arrogance and pride, and surpassed him greatly in temerity and imprudence.§ The commencement of his pontificate had a fair aspect, and success seemed to smile upon his undertakings; but on the emperor's return into Italy, in 1090, the face of affairs was totally changed; victory crowned the arms of that prince, who, by redoubled efforts of valour, at length defeated Guelph, duke of Bavaria, and the famous Matilda, who were the formidable * See the Acta Sanctor. Antwerp. ad d. xxv. Maii, and Mabillon, Acta Sanct. Ord. Benedict. Sec. vi. part II. †The reader will find an ample and curious account of this matter in a French book published in Holland in 1743, under the following title: L'Avocat du Diable, ou Memoires Historiques et Critiques sur la Vie et sur la Legende du Pape Gregoire VII. This pontiff died in 1100, as appears evidently from the Chronicon Beneventanum, published by Muratori, in his Antiq. Ital. tom. i. p. 262. See also Rubei Historia Ravennat. lib. v. p. 307. § We find in the Posthumous Works of Mabillon, tom. iii. the Life of Urban II. composed by Theod. Ruinart, with much learning and industry, but with too little impartiality and fidelity, as we may naturally suppose even from the name of its author, since it is well known that no monkish writer durst attempt to paint the pontiffs in their true colours.See also, for an account of Urban, the Hist. Lit. de la France tom. viii. p. 514. XXI. Among the eastern monks in this century, there happened nothing worthy of being consigned to the records of history, while those of the west were concerned immediately in transactions of great consequence, and which deserve the attention of the curious reader. The western monks were remarkable for their attachment to the Roman pontiffs. This connexion had been long formed, and it was originally occasioned by the avarice and violence of both bishops and princes, who, under various pretexts, were constantly encroaching upon the possessions of the monks, and thus obliged them to seek for security against these invasions of their property in the protection of the popes. This protection was readily granted *To the fifteenth canon of this council the following words were added: "Ne episcopus vel sacerdos “regi vel alicui laico in manibus ligiam fidelitatem "faciat," i. e. "It is enacted, that no bishop or priest "shall promise upon oath, liege obedience to any king "or any layman." They are entirely in an error, who affirm that Gregory prohibited the bishops from taking oaths of allegiance to their respective sovereigns, as cardinal Norris has sufficiently demonstrated in his Istoria delle Investiture, chap. x. p. 279. pervert the taste and judgment even of those who are not void of natural sagacity, and often prevent their being shocked at the greatest inconsistencies. Amidst this general depravation of sentiment and conduct, amidst the flagitious crimes that were daily perpetrated, not only by the laity, but also by the various orders of the clergy, both secular and regular, all such as respected the common rules of decency, or preserved in their external demeanor the least appearance of piety and virtue, were looked upon as saints of the highest rank, and considered as the peculiar favourites of Heaven. This circumstance was, no doubt, favourable to many of the monks who were less profligate than the rest of their order, and might by the pontiffs, who seized, with avidity, every || occasion of enlarging their authority; and the monks, in return, engaged themselves to pay an annual tribute to their ghostly patrons. But in this century things were carried still farther; and the pontiff's (more especially Gregory VII. who was eagerly bent upon humbling the bishops, and transferring their privileges to the Roman see) enlarged their jurisdiction over the monks at the expense of the episcopal order. They advised and exhorted the monks to withdraw themselves and their possessions from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and to place both under the inspection and dominion of St. Peter.* Hence, from the time of Gregory, the number of monasteries that had received immunities, both from the temporal authority of the sove-contribute more or less to support the credit of eign and the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishops, increased beyond measure throughout Europe; and the rights of princes, together with the interests and privileges of the episcopal order, were violated and trampled upon, or rather engrossed, to swell the growing despotism of the all-grasping pontiffs.† XXII. All the writers of this age complain of the ignorance, licentiousness, frauds, debaucheries, dissensions, and enormities, that dishonoured the greatest part of the monastic orders, not to mention the numerous marks of their profligacy and impiety that have been handed down to our times. However astonished we may be at such gross irregularities among a set of men whose destination was so sacred, and whose profession was so austere, we shall still be more surprised to learn that this degenerate order, far from losing aught of their influence and credit on account of their licentiousness, were promoted, on the contrary, to the highest ecclesiastical dignities, and beheld their opulence and authority increasing from day to day. Our surprise, indeed, will be diminished, when we consider the gross ignorance and superstition, and the unbounded licentiousness and corruption of manners, that reigned in this century among all ranks and orders of men.§ Ignorance and corruption *A specimen of this may be seen in the seventh Epistle of Gregory, in which he reduces the monks of Redon under the jurisdiction of the Roman see, by a mandate conceived in terms that had never been used before his time: see Martenne's Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. i. p. 204. We may add, to this, seveal similar mandates of Urban II. and the succeedng pontiffs, which are to be found in the collection low cited, and in others of that kind. †There is not, perhaps, in Germany, a single in ance of this pernicious immunity before the time of Gregory VII. See Jo. Launoi, Assert. in Privileg. S. Medardi, ap. xxvi. sect. vi. op. tom. iii. part II. p. 499; and Simon, Biblioth. Critique, tom. iii. cap. xxxii. p. 331. For an account of the astonishing corruption of this age, see Blondel, de Formula, regnante Christo, p. 14.-Boulainvilliers, de l'Origine et des Droits de la Noblesse, in Molet's Memoires de Literature et d'Histoire, tom. ix. part i. p. 63. The corruption and violence that reigned with impunity in this horrid age gave occasion to the institutions of chivalry or knighthood, in consequence of which, a certain set of equestrian heroes undertook the defence of the poor and feeble, and particularly of the fair sex, against the insults of powerful oppressors and ravishers. This order of knights errant certainly became very useful in these miserable times, when the majesty of laws and government had fallen into contempt, and when they who bore the titles of sovereigns and magistrates, had neither resolution nor the whole body. Besides, it often happened, that princes, dukes, knights, and generals, whose days had been consumed in debauchery and crimes, and distinguished by nothing but the violent exploits of unbridled lust, cruelty, and avarice, felt, at the approach of old age, or death, the inexpressible anguish of a wounded conscience, and the gloomy apprehensions and terrors it excites. In this dreadful condition, what was their resource? What were the means by which they hoped to disarm the uplifted hand of divine justice, and render the governor of the world propitious? They purchased, at an enormous price, the prayers of the monks to screen them from judgment, and devoted to God and to the saints a large portion of the fruits of their rapine, or entered into the monastic order, and bequeathed their possessions to their new brethren. And thus it was that monkery perpetually received new accessions of opulence and credit. XXIII. The monks of Clugni in France surpassed all the other religious orders in the renown they had acquired, from a prevailing opinion of their eminent sanctity and virtue. Hence their discipline was universally respected, and hence also their rules were adopted by the founders of new monasteries, and the reformers of those that were in a state of de cline. These famous monks arose, by degrees, to the highest summit of worldly prosperity, by the presents which they received from all quarters; and their power and credit grew, with their opulence, to such a height, that, toward the conclusion of this century, they were formed into a separate society, which still subtion of Clugni.* And no sooner were they sists, under the title of the Order or Congrega thus established, than they extended their spiritual dominion on all sides, reducing, under their jurisdiction, all the monasteries which they had reformed by their counsels. The famous Hugo, sixth abbot of Clugni, who was in high credit at the court of Rome, and had acquired the peculiar protection and esteem of several princes, laboured with such success, in extending the power and jurisdiction of his order, that, before the end of this century, he power to maintain their authority, or to perform the duties of their stations. * For a particular account of the rapid and monstrous strides which the order of Clugni made to opu lence and dominion, see Steph. Baluze, Miscellan tom. v. p. 343, and tom. vi. p. 436, as also Mabillon Annal. Benedict. tom. v. passin. saw himself at the head of five-and-thirty of || of several new establishments. It is, however the principal monasteries in France, beside a to be observed, that this monastery was rathe considerable number of smaller convents that a branch of the congregation of Clugni, whose acknowledged him as their chief. Many other laws and manner of living it had adopted, than religious societies, though they refused to en- a new fraternity. ter into this new order, and continued to choose XXV. Toward the conclusion of this centu their respective governors, yet showed such ry,* Robert, abbot of Molesme in Burgundy, respect for the abbot of Clugni, or the Arch- having in vain employed his most zealous ef Abbot, as he styled himself, that they regarded forts to revive the decaying piety and discip-. him as their spiritual chief.* This enormous line of his convent, and to oblige his monks to augmentation of opulence and authority was, observe, with greater exactness, the rule of St. however, fruitful of many evils; it increased Benedict, retired, with about twenty monks, the arrogance of these aspiring monks, and who had not been infected with the dissolute contributed much to the propagation of the turn of their brethren, to Citeaux, in the dioseveral vices that dishonoured the religious cese of Chalons. In this retreat, which was societies of this licentious and superstitious at that time a miserable desert, covered on all age. The monks of Clugni soon degenerated sides with brambles and thorns, but which from their primitive sanctity, and were distin- bears, at present, a quite different aspect, Roguished by nothing but the peculiarities of their || bert laid the foundations of the famous order, discipline, from the rest of the monastic orders. or Congregation of Cistertians, which, like XXIV. The example of these monks excited that of Clugni, made a most rapid and astonseveral pious men to erect particular monastic ishing progress, was propagated through the fraternities, or congregations, like that of greatest part of Europe in the following centuClugni, the consequence of which was, that ry, and was not only enriched with the most the Benedictine order, which had been hither- liberal and splendid donations, but also acto one great and compact body, was now di- quired the form and privileges of a spiritual vided into separate societies, which, though republic, and exercised a sort of dominion over they were subject to one general rule, differed all the monastic orders. The great and funfrom each other in various circumstances, both damental law of this new fraternity, was the of their discipline and manner of living, and rule of St. Benedict, which was to be solemnly rendered their division still more conspicuous and rigorously observed; to this were added by reciprocal exertions of animosity and hatred. several other institutions and injunctions, In 1023, Romuald, an Italian fanatic, retired which were designed to maintain the authority to Camaldoli, on the mount Apennine, and, of this rule, to ensure its observance, and to in that solitary retreat, founded the order, or defend it against the dangerous effects of opuCongregation of the Camaldolites, which still lence, and those restless efforts of human corremains in a flourishing state, particularly in ruption which render the best establishments Italy. His followers were distinguished into imperfect. These injunctions were excessively two classes, the Cœnobites and the Eremites. austere, and grievous to nature, but pious and Both observed a severe discipline; but the Co- laudable in the esteem of a superstitious age. nobites gradually degenerated from their pri- They did not, however, secure the sanctity of mitive austerity. Some time after this, Gual- this holy congregation; for the seductive charms bert, a native of Florence, founded at Val- of opulence, that corrupted the monks of ClugOmbroso, amidst the Apennines, a congrega- ni much sooner than was expected, produced tion of Benedictine monks, who quickly pro- the same effect among the Cistertians, whose pagated their discipline in several parts of Ita- zeal in the rigorous observance of their rule ly. To these two Italian monasteries we may began gradually to diminish, and who, in proadd that of Hirsauge in Germany,|| erected by cess of time, became as negligent and dissolute William, an eminent abbot, who had reformed as the rest of the Benedictines. many ancient convents, and was the founder *Mabillon, Præf. Act. SS. Ord. Bened. Sæc. v. Hist. Generale de Bourgogne par les Moines Benedictins, tom. i. p. 151, published at Paris, in 1739.Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. ix. p. 470. Otherwise called Campo-Malduli. The writers, who have given any satisfactory accounts of the order of the Camaldolites, are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius in his Bibliotheca Lat. medii Ævi, tom. i. p. 895.—Add to these Romualdi|| Vita, in Actis Sanctor. Februar. tom. ii. p. 101, and in Mabillon's Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened. Sæc. vi. part i. p. 247.-Helyot, Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. p. 236.-Mabillon, Annal. Ord. Bened. tom. v. p. 261.Magnoaldi Zeigelbauer, Centifolium Camaldulense, sive Notitia Scriptor. Camaldulensium, published at Venice in 1750. § See the life of Gualbert in Mabillon's Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened. Sæc. vi. part ii. p. 273. See also Helyot's Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. p. 298. Many interesting circumstances relating to the history of this order have been published by the learned Lami, in the Delicia Eruditorum, tom. ii. where the ancient laws of the order are enumerated. See Mabillon, part ii. p. 716,-Helyot, tom. v p. $332. XXVI. Beside these convents, that were founded upon the principles, and might be considered as branches of the Benedictine order, several other monastic societies were formed, which were distinguished by peculiar laws, and by rules of discipline and obedience, which * In the year 1098. In about a hundred years after its first establishment, this order boasted of 1800 abbeys, and had become so powerful, that it governed almost all Europe, both in spirituals and temporals. The principal historian of the Cistertian order, is Ang. Manriques, whose Annales Cistertienses (an ample and learned work) were published in four volumes folio, at Lyons, in the year 1642. After him we may place Pierre le Nain, whose Essai de l'His toire de l'Ordre des Citeaux, was printed in the year 1696, at Paris, in nine volumes in 8vo. The other historians, who have given accounts of this famous order, are enumerated by Fabricius, in his Biblioth Latina medii ævi, tom. i. p. 1066. Add to these Helyot's Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. p. 341, and Mabil lon, who, in the fifth and sixth volumes of his An nales Benedictini, has given a learned and accurate account of the origin and progress of the Cistertians XXVII. In the year 1084,* was instituted the famous order of Carthusians, so called from Chartreux, a dismal and wild spot of ground near Grenoble, surrounded with barren mountains and craggy rocks. The founder of this monastic society, which surpassed all the rest in the extravagant austerity of its manners and discipline, was Bruno, a native of Cologne, and canon of the cathedral of Rheims. This zealous ecclesiastic, who had neither power to reform, nor patience to bear, the dissolute manners of his archbishop Manasse, retired from his church with six of his companions, and, having obtained the permission of Hugh, bishop of Grenoble, fixed his residence in the miserable desert already mentioned. He at first adopted the rule of St. Benedict, to which he added a considerable number of severe and rigorous precepts; his successors, however, went still farther, and imposed upon the Carthusians new laws, much more intolerable than those of their founder,laws which inculcated the highest degrees of austerity that the most gloomy imagination could invent. Yet it may be affirmed (and the fact is remarkable,) that no monastic society degenerated so little from the severity of its primitive institution and discipline as this of the Carthusians. The progress of the order was indeed less rapid, and its influence less extensive in the different countries of Europe, than the progress and influence of those monastic establishments, whose laws were less rigorous, and whose manners were less aus they had drawn up for themselves. To many The origin of this order is related by Bernard Guidon, whose treatise on that subject is published . medii Evi, tom. ii. p. 784, several writers who have miracle. Such of them, at least, as affirm it, do it with a good deal of modesty and diffidence. The arguments on both sides are candidly and accurately enumerated by Cæs. Egasse du Boulay, in his Histor Academ. Paris. tom. i. p. 467. See Mabillon, Præf. ad Sæc. vi. part ii. Actor SS. Ord. Bened. |