this class of men in internal devotion, and they treated with the utmost contempt the rules of monastic discipline, and all other exter nal rites and institutions, as infinitely beneath the attention of the perfect. Nor were their exhortations and examples without effect; for, about the middle of this century, they persuaded a considerable number of monks and devout persons, in Suabia, “to live without any rule, and to serve God in the liberty of the spirit, which was the most acceptable service that could be presented to the Deity."* The inquisitors, however, stopped these poor enthusiasts in the midst of their career, and committed several of them to the flames, in which they expired, not only with the most unclouded serenity, but even with the most triumphant feelings of cheerfulness and joy.

lowed by women, called Sisters, with whom XI. Among these fanatics there were seve they lived in the most intimate familiarity.*ral persons of eminent probity, who had enThey distributed, among the people, books tered into this sect with the most upright inwhich contained the substance of their doc- tentions, and who extended that liberty of the trines; held nocturnal assemblies in places re-spirit, which they looked upon as the privilege mote from public view; and seduced many of true believers, no farther than to an exfrom frequenting the ordinary institutions of emption from the duties of external worship, divine worship. and an immunity from the positive laws of the X. These brethren, who gloried in the free-church. The whole of religion was placed by dom which they pretended to have obtained, through the spirit, from the dominion and obligation of the law, adopted a certain rigid and fantastic system of mystic theology, built upon pretended philosophical principles, which bore a striking resemblance to the impious doctrines of the Pantheists. They held, "That all things flowed by emanation from God, and|| were finally to return to their divine source; that rational souls were so many portions of the Supreme Deity, and that the universe, considered as one great whole, was God: that every man, by the power of contemplation, and by calling off his mind from sensible and terrestrial objects, might be united to the Deity in an inexplicable manner, and become one with the Source and Parent of all things; and that they, who, by long and assiduous meditation, had plunged themselves, as it were, into the abyss of the Divinity, acquired || a most glorious and sublime liberty, and were not only delivered from the violence of sinful lusts, but even from the common instincts of nature." From these and the like doctrines, the brethren drew this impious and horrid conclusion, "That the person who had ascended to God in this manner, and was absorbed by contemplation in the abyss of Deity, became thus a part of the Godhead, commenced God, was the Son of God in the same sense and manner in which Christ was, and was thereby raised to a glorious independence, and freed from the obligation of all laws human and divine." It was in consequence of all this, that they treated with contempt the ordinances of the Gospel, and every external act of religious worship, looking upon prayer, fasting, baptism,|| and the sacrament of the Lord's supper, as the first elements of piety adapted to the state and capacity of children, and as of no sort of use to the perfect man, whom long meditation had raised above all external things, and carried into the bosom and essence of the Deity.t

*Hence they were styled, in Germany, Schwestriones, as appears by the decrees of several councils.

† It may not be improper to introduce a certain number of sentences, translated faithfully from several of the more secret books of these heretics. The following will be sufficient to give the curious reader a full idea of their impiety.

"Every pious and good man is the only begotten Son of God, whom God engendered from all eternity: (for these heretics maintained, that what the Scriptures taught concerning the distinction of three persons in the divine nature, is by no means to be understood literally, and therefore explained it according to the principles of their mystical and fantastic system.)

"AR created things are non-enities, or nothing: I do not say that they are small or minute, but that they are absolutely nothing..

"There is in the soul of man something that is neither created nor susceptible of creation, and that is, rationality, or the power of reasoning.

But we find among these Brethren of the free spirit another class of fanatics very differ ent from these now mentioned, and much more extravagant, whose system of religion was as dangerous as it was ridiculous and absurd, since it opened a door to the most licentious manners. These wretched enthusiasts maintained, that, by continual contemplation, it was possible to eradicate all the instincts of nature out of the heaven-born mind, and to introduce, into the soul a certain divine stupor, and holy apathy, which they looked upon as the great characteristics of Christian perfection. The persons who adopted these sentiments took strange liberties in consequence of their pretended sanctity, and showed, indeed, by their conduct, that they had little regard to external appearances; for they held their secret assemblies in a state of nudity, and lay in the same beds with their spiritual sisters, or, indiscriminately, with other women, without the smallest scruple or hesitation. This shocking violation

ishly as he who calls an object black which he

knows to be white.

"God still engenders his only begotten son, and begets still the same son, whom he had begotten from eternity: for every operation of the Deity is uniform and one; and therefore he engenders his son without any division.

"What the Scriptures say concerning Christ is true of every good, of every divine man: and every quality of the divine nature belongs equally to every person whose piety is genuine and sincere"

To these horrid passages we may add the following sentences, in which John bishop of Strasbourg (in an edict he published against the Brethren of the free spirit, in 1317) discovers farther the blasphemous doctrine of this impious sect. Deus (says these heretics) est formaliter omne quod est. Quilibet homo perfectus est Christus per naturam. Homo perfectus est liber in totum, nec tenetur ad servan. dum præcepta ecclesiæ data a Deo. Multa sunt po. etica in Evangelio, quæ non sunt vera; et homines credere magis debent conceptibus ex anima sua Deo juncta profectis, quam Evangelio,' &c.

*See Mart. Crusius, Annal. Suevicorum, part ini lib. ii. cap. xiv. ad annum 1261.-This author has taken his materials from Felix Faber, an impartia

"God is neither good, nor better, nor best: whoso ever therefore calls the Deity good, speaks as fool-writer VOL. I-48

of decency was a consequence of their perni- || cious system. They looked upon decency and modesty as marks of inward corruption, as the characters of a soul that was still under the dominion of the sensual, animal, and lascivious spirit, and that was not, as yet, re-united || to the divine nature, its centre and source. And they considered, as at a fatal distance from the Deity, all such as either felt the carnal suggestions of nature, or were penetrated with warm emotions at the view or approach of persons of a different sex, or were incapable of vanquishing and suppressing the rising fervour of lust and intemperance.*

leave this subject, that flagitious and impious impostors mingled themselves sometimes with this sect, and took the name of Beghards, that by a feigned piety they might impose upon the multitude, and deceive the simple into their snares.*

XII. The famous Amalric, professor of logic and theology at Paris, whose bones were dug up and publicly burned in 1209, (although he

and the earth. He is also the father of the eternal word. Neither could God produce any thing without this divine man, who is therefore obliged to ren der his will conformable to the will of God, that whatever may be agreeable to the Deity, may be agreeable to him also. If therefore it be the will of God that I should commit sin, my will must be the same, and I must not even desire to abstain from sin. This is true contrition. And although a man, who is well and truly united to God, may have com mitted a thousand mortal sins, he ought not to wish that he had not committed them: he should even be

of these mortal sins." Hence arose the accusation

There were, moreover, in this fanatical troop, certain enthusiasts, who far surpassed in impiety the two classes we have been now mentioning, who abused the system and doctrines of the sect, so as to draw from them an apology for all kinds of wickedness, and who audacious-ready to die a thousand deaths rather than omit one ly maintained, that the divine man, or the believer, who was intimately united to God, could not sin, let his conduct be ever so horrible and atrocious. This execrable doctrine was not, indeed, explained in the same manner by all the Brethren of the free spirit who were so outrageous to adopt it. Some held that the motions and actions of the body had no relation at all to the soul, which, by its union with God, was blended with the divine nature: others fell into a notion infinitely injurious to the Supreme Being, and maintained that the propensities and passions that arose in the soul of the divine man after his union with the Deity, were the propensities and affections of God himself, and were therefore, notwithstanding their apparent deformity and opposition to the law, holy and good, since the Supreme Being is infinitely exalted above all law and all obligation. It is necessary to observe, before we

* Certain writers, whose principal zeal is employed in the defence of these heretics, and who have accustomed themselves to entertain a high idea of the sanctity of all those who, in the middle ages, separated themselves from the communion of the church of Rome, suspect the inquisitors of having attributed falsely these impious doctrines to the Brethren of the free spirit, with a view to blacken these pious men, and to render them odious. But this suspicion is entirely groundless; and the account of this matter, which we have given in the text, is conformable to the strictest truth. The inquisitors have been less fabulous in their accusations of these heretics, than many are apt to imagine. They acknowledge that the Beghards, though destitute of shame, were not in general chargeable with a breach of the duties of chastity and abstinence. They were indeed of opinion, that the firmness of mind, and insensibility of heart, which rendered them proof against female charms, and deaf to the voice of nature, were privileges granted to them by the devil; for they adopted the opinion of honest Nieder, (Formicar. lib. iii. cap. v.) and affirmed that it was in the power of that evil spirit to render men cold, and to extinguish the warm and lascivious solicitations of nature; and that Satan wrought this miracle upon his friends and adherents, in order to procure them a high reputation for sanctity, and make them appear superior in virtue to the rest of mankind. “Credo (saith Nieder, who was both a Dominican and an inquisitor) quosdam ex eis dæmonis opera affectos fu isse, ne moverentur ad naturales actus incontinentiæ

Facillimum enim est dæmonibus infrigidare." This account will be confirmed by the following passage, which is faithfully translated from the famous book of the Nine Rocks, written originally in German: "Moreover the divine man operates and engenders whatever the Deity operates and engenCars: for in Gou he produced and formed the heavens

brought by the inquisitors against this impious sect, whom they reproach with maintaining that the "sin of a man united to God, is not sin, since God works in him and with him whatever he does." Henry Suso, a Dominican monk, and one of the most celebrated Mystic writers, composed, in the following century, another book concerning the Nine Rocks, which is to be found in the edition of his works pubdifferent from that which was in such high esteem lished by Laurence Surius. But this book is entirely among the Beghards, though it bears the same title. The latter is of much older date, and was in vogue in Germany, among the Brethren of the free spirit, long before Suso was born. There fell some time ago into my hands an ancient manuscript, composed in Alsace during the fifteenth century, containing an account of various revelations and visions of that age. In this manuscript I found a piece enti tled, Declaratio Religiosi cujusdam super Revelatione Carthusiano cuidam de Ecclesiæ per gladiun reformatione, Leodii in anno 1453 facta; and, almost in the beginning of this declaration, I met with the Rocks: "Homo quidam devotissimus, licet laicus, li following passage relating to the book of the Nine brum de novem Rupibus conscripsit a Deo compul sus, ubi multa ad præsens pertinentia continentu de Ecclesiæ renovatione et prævia gravi persecu tione." These Nine Rocks signified, according to the fanatical doctrine of this wrong-headed sect, the dif ferent steps by which the divine man ascended to the Deity.

The founder of this famous sect, the place of its origin, and the time of its first appearance, are not known with certainty. I have in my possessior eighty-nine Sentences of the Beghards, vulgarly call. ed Schwestriones, but who style themselves Brethren of the sect of the free spirit and of voluntary pover ty, with a refutation of the said sentences, written at Worms toward the conclusion of this century by one of the inquisitors. The 79th sentence runs thus "To say that the truth is in Rhetia, is to fall into the heresy of Donatus, who said that God was in Africa, and not elsewhere." From these words it appears evident, that Rhetia was the country where the church of the Brethren of the free spirit was fix. ed and established, and that from this province they passed into Germany. I am not, however, of opinion, that this sect had its origin in that province; but am rather inclined to think, that Italy was its country, and that, being driven thence, it took re fuge in Rhetia. Nor is at all improbable, that Italy which saw so many religious factions arise in its bo som, was also the nursing mother of this blasphemous sect. We shall be almost fully confirmed in this opinion, when we consider that, in a long letter from Clement V. to Rainier bishop of Cremona, (pub lished by Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. tom. xv. an 1311,) the zealous pontiff exhorts that prelate to sup press and extirpate, with all his power, the sect of the Brethren of the free spirit, who were settled in several parts of Italy, and particularly in the province of Spoleto and the countries adjacent. Such are the terms of the pontiff's letter: "In nonnullis Italiæ partibus, tam Spoletanæ provinciæ, quam cir cumjacentium regionum."

wretched faction, among whom were persons || according to the custom of his sect. of both sexes.*

The ter

rible end of Dulcinus was not immediately XIV. It was upon predictions similar to followed by the extinction of his sect, which those mentioned in the preceding section, that still subsisted in France, Germany, and other the sect of the Apostles founded its discipline. countries, and stood firm against the most ve The members of this sect made little or no al- hement efforts of its enemies, until the begin teration in the doctrinal part of the public re-ning of the 15th century, when, under the ligion; what they principally aimed at, was, to pontificate of Boniface IX., it was totally ex introduce among Christians the simplicity of tirpated.* the primitive times, and more especially the XV. This famous Joachim, abbot of Flora, manner of life that was observed by the apos-whose fanatical predictions turned the heads tles. Gerard Sagarelli, the founder of this of so many well-meaning people, and excited sect, obliged his followers to go from place to them to attempt reforming the church by the place as the apostles did, to wander about sword, and to declare open war against the clothed in white, with long beards, dishevelled Roman pontiffs, did not fall under the suspihair, and bare heads, accompanied with women cion of heresy on account of these predictions, whom they called their Sisters. They were but in consequence of a new explication he had also obliged to renounce all kinds of property given of the doctrine of a Trinity of persons in and possessions, and to preach in public the the Godhead. He had in an elaborate work necessity of repentance, while in their more attacked very warmly Peter Lombard, the private assemblies they declared the approach- master of the sentences, on account of the dising destruction of the corrupt church of Rome, tinction which this writer had made between and the establishment of a purer service, and a the divine essence and the three persons in the more glorious church, which, according to the Godhead; for Joachim looked upon this docprophecies of the abbot Joachim, would cer- trine as introducing a fourth object, even an tainly arise from its ruins. No sooner was the essence, into the Trinity. But the good man ill-fated leader of this faction committed to the was too little versed in metaphysical matters, to flames,† than he was succeeded in that charac- carry on a controversy of such a subtle nature; ter by a bold and enterprising fanatic, named and he was betrayed by his ignorance so far Dulcinus, a native of Novara, who published as to advance inconsiderately the most rash his predictions with more courage, and main- and most exceptionable tenets. For he denied tained them with more zeal, than his prede- that there was any thing, or any essence, that cessor had done, and who did not hesitate to belonged in common to the three persons in declare that, in a short time, pope Boniface the Trinity, or was jointly possessed by them; VIII., the corrupt priests, and the licentious by which doctrine the substantial union, among monks, were to perish by the hand of the em- the three persons, was taken away, and the peror Frederic III., son of Peter, king of Ar- union of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ragon, and that a new and most holy pontiff was reduced from a natural, simple, and numeriwas to be raised to the head of the church.cal These visionary predictions were, no doubt, drawn from the dreams of Joachim, who is said to have declared, among other things, that an emperor called Frederic III., was to bring to perfection what Frederic_II. had left unfinished. Be that as it may, Dulcinus appeared with intrepid assurance at the head of the upostles; and acting, not only in the character of a prophet, but also in that of a general, he assembled an army to maintain his cause, and perhaps to accomplish, at least in part, his predictions. He was opposed by Raynerius, bishop of Vercelli, who defended the interests of the Roman pontiff, and carried on, above two years, a most sanguinary and dreadful war against this chief of the apostles. The issue of this contest was fatal to the latter, who, after several battles fought with obstinate courage, was at length taken prisoner, and put to death at Vercelli in a most barbarous manner, in 1307, together with Margaret, whom he had chosen for his spiritual sister,

The Milanese historians, such as Bernardinus Corius, and others, have related the adventures of this odd woman; but their accounts are very different from those given by the learned Muratori, in his Antiq. Italicæ medii Ævi, tom. v., and which he has drawn from the judicial proceedings of the court, where the extraordinary case of this female fanatic was examined. We are informed by the same excellent author, that a learned writer, named Puricelli, composed a history of Wilhelmina, and of her sect. †This unhappy man was burned alive at Parma, un 1300.

unity, to a moral one only; that is, to such an unity as reigns in the counsels and opinions of different persons, who embrace the same notions, and think and act with one accord. This explication of the Trinity was looked upon by many as very little different from the Arian system; and therefore pope Innocent III. pronounced, in 1215, in the Lateran council, a damnatory sentence against the doctrine of Joachim; not extending, however, to the person or fame of the abbot himself. Notwithstanding this papal sentence, Joachim has at this day a considerable number of adherents and defenders, more especially among those Franciscans who are called Observants. Some of these maintain that the book of this abbot was corrupted and interpolated by his enemies, while the rest are of opinion that his doctrine

*I composed in the German language an accurate history of this famous sect, which is very little known in our times; and I have in my hands materials, that will furnish an interesting addition to that history. That this sect subsisted in Germany, and in some other countries, until the pontificate of Boniface IX., is evident from the Chronicle of Her man Cornerus, published by Jo. George Echard, in his Corpus Historicum medii Ævi, tom. ii., and may be sufficiently demonstrated by other authentic testi monies. In 1402, a certain member of this apostolic sect, whose name was William, or Wilhelmus, was burned alive at Lubec. The Germans, who were accustomed to distinguish by the name of Beghards all those who pretended to extraordinary piety, and sought, by poverty and begging, an eminent reputa tion for sanctity and virtue, gave this title also to the sect of the Apostles.

was not thoroughly understood by those who || Actis Sanctorum, Maii, tom. vi. p. 486, which contains the life of Joachim, written by Syllanæus, and opposed it.* several other pieces of consequence. See also Natal. Alexander, Hist. Eccles. sæc. xiii. dis. ii. D. 331.Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iv

See Dan. Papebrochius, Disquis. Histor. de Florensi Ordine, Prophetiis, Doctrina, B. Joachimi, in

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

PART I.

THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

Concerning the prosperous Events that happened

to the Church during this Century.

with a view, as was said, to attempt the deli verance of the Christians in Palestine; but,

when he was ready to embark his troops, the apprehension of an invasion from England I. SEVERAL attempts were made by the obliged him to lay aside this weighty enterprinces of the west, at the instigation of the || prise. In 1345, Clement VI., at the request Roman pontiffs, to renew the war in Palestine of the Venetians, engaged, by the persuasive against the Turks and Saracens, and to deli- power of indulgences, a prodigious number of ver the whole province of Syria from the op- adventurers to embark for Smyrna, where pressive yoke of those despotic infidels. The they composed a numerous army under the succession of pontiffs that resided in Avignon, command of Guido, or Guy, dauphin of evinced the greatest zeal for the renovation of Vienne; but the want of provisions soon obliged this religious war, and left no artifice, no me- this army to return with the general into Euthods of persuasion unemployed, that could rope. This disappointment did not, however, have the least tendency to engage the kings damp the spirits of the restless pontiffs; for of England and France in an expedition to the another formidable army was assembled in Holy Land. But their success was not an- 1363, in consequence of the zealous exhortaswerable to their zeal; and, notwithstanding tions of Urban V., and was to be employed in the powerful influence of their exhortations a new expedition against the infidels, with and remonstrances, something still happened John, king of France, at its head; but the unto prevent their producing the desired effect. | expected death of that prince blasted the hopes Clement V. urged the renewal of this holy war that many had entertained from this grand with the greatest ardour in the years 1307 and project, and occasioned the dispersion of that 1308, and set apart a very large sum of money numerous body which had repaired to his for prosecuting it with alacrity and vigour.* standard.‡ John XXII. ordered ten ships to be fitted out in 1319, to transport an army of pious adventurers into Palestine,† and had recourse to the power of superstition, that is, to the influence of indulgences, for raising the funds necessary to the support of this great enterprise. These indulgences he offered to such as contributed generously to the war, and appointed legates to administer them in all the European countries that were subject to his spiritual jurisdiction. But, under this fair show of piety and zeal, John is supposed to have covered the most selfish and grovelling views; and we find Louis of Bavaria, who was at that time emperor, and several other princes, complaining loudly that this pontiff made use of the holy war as a pretext to disguise his avarice and ambition; and indeed the character of this pope was of such a stamp as tended to accredit such complaints. Under the pontificate of Benedict XII., a formidable army was raised, in 1330, by Philip de Valois, king of France, * Baluzii Vita Patif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 15, 594; tom. ii. p. 55, 374, &c. Ant. Matthæi Analecta veteris Ævi, tom. ii. p. 577.

† Baluzii Vitæ Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 125; tom. ii. p. 515.

Baluzius, tom. i. p. 175, 786. Matthæi Analecta vet. Evi, tom. ii. p. 595.

II. The missionaries who had been sent by the Roman pontiffs into China, Tartary, and the adjacent countries, in the preceding century, found their labours crowned with the desired success, and established a great number of Christian churches among those unenlightened nations. In 1307, Clement V. erected Cambalu (which at that time was the celebrated metropolis of Cathay, and is, undoubtedly, the same with Pekin, the capital city at present of the Chinese empire,) into an archbi shopric, which he conferred upon John de Monte Corvino, an Italian friar who had been employed in propagating the Gospel in that country for many years. The same pontiff sent soon after, to assist this prelate in his pious labours, seven other prelates of the Franciscan order.§ John XXII. exerted in this

* Baluzius, tom. i. p. 200. Ital. medii Ævi, tom. iii. p. 368. Fragmenta Histor. Romanæ. in Murator. Antiq

Baluzii Vitæ Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 366, 368. 371, 401.

SWadding, Anual. Ordin. Minor. tom. vi. ad an. 1305, sect. xii. p. 69. ad an. 1307, p. 91, 368; tom. vii p. 53, 221; tom. viii. p. 235.-J. S. Asseman. Biblioth Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. sect. ii. p. 521.-J. Echard, Scriptor. Prædicator. tom. i. p. 537.-Acta Sanctor. tom. i. Januarii, p. 984 -Mosheim, Historia Eccles Tartar.