V. PART II.

which the council of Chalcedon decided, by restor- CENT. ing to the latter the provinces of Phoenicia and Arabia, and confirming the former in the spiritual possession of all Palestine [r], and in the high rank which he had assumed in the church [s]. By this means, there were created, in this century, five superior rulers of the church, who were distinguished from the rest, by the title of Patriarchs [t]. The oriental historians mention a sixth, viz. The bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, to whom, according to their account, the bishop of Antioch voluntarily ceded a part of his jurisdiction [u]. But this addition to the number of the patriarchs is unworthy of credit, as the only proof of it is drawn from the Arabic laws of the council of Nice, which are notoriously destitute of all authority.

leges of the

III. The patriarchs were distinguished by con- The rights siderable and extensive rights and privileges, that and privi were annexed to their high station. They alone patriarchs. consecrated the bishops, who lived in the provinces that belonged to their jurisdiction. They assembled yearly in council the clergy of their respective districts, in order to regulate the affairs of the church. The cognizance of all important causes, and the determination of the more weighty controversies, were referred to the patriarch of the province where they arose. They also pronounced a decisive judgment in those cases, where accusations were brought against bishops. And, lastly,

[r] See also for an account of the Three Palestines, Caroli à S. Paulo Geographia Sacra, p. 307.

[$] See Mich. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. iii. p.

110.

[See the authors who have written concerning the Patriarchs, which are mentioned and recommended by the learned Fabricius, in his Bibliograph. Antiquar. cap. xiii. p.

453.

&c.

[u] Assemanni Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. i. p. 9, 13,

PART II.

CENT. lastly, they appointed vicars [w], or deputies, V. clothed with their authority, for the preservation of order and tranquillity in the remoter provinces. Such were the great and distinguishing privileges of the patriarchs; and they were accompanied with others of less moment, which it is needless to mention.

The inconveniences

It must, however, be carefully observed, that the authority of the patriarchs was not acknowledged through all the provinces without exception. Several districts, both in the eastern and western empires, were exempted from their jurisdiction [x]. The emperors, who reserved to themselves the supreme power in the Christian hierarchy, and received with great facility and readiness the complaints of those who considered themselves as injured by the patriarchs; the councils also, in which the majesty and legislative power of the church immediately resided; all these were so many obstacles to the arbitrary proceeding of the patriarchal order.

IV. This constitution of ecclesiastical governthat accom- ment was so far from contributing to the peace panied the and prosperity of the Christian church, that it authority proved, on the contrary, a perpetual source of and govern- dissensions and animosities, and was productive

patriarchal

ment.

of various inconveniences and grievances. The patriarchs, who, by their exalted rank and extensive authority, were equally able to do much good and much mischief, began to encroach upon the rights, and to trample upon the prerogatives of their bishops, and thus introduced, gradually, a

sort

[w] Dav. Blondel. De la Primauté de l'Eglise, chap. xxv. p. 332. Theod. Ruinart. De pallio Archi-Episcopali, p. 445. tom. ii. of the posthumous works of Mabillon.

[x] Edward Brerewodius, Dissert. de veteris Ecclesiæ gubernatione Patriarchali; which is printed at the end of archbishop Usher's book, intitled, Opusculum de origine Episcoporum et Metropolitan.

V.

PART II.

sort of spiritual bondage into the church. And CENT. that they might invade, without opposition, the rights of the bishops, they permitted the bishops, in their turn, to trample with impunity upon the ancient rights and privileges of the people. For, in proportion as the bishops multiplied their privileges, and extended their usurpations, the patriarchs gained new accessions of power, by the despotism which they exercised over the episcopal order. They fomented also divisions among the bishops, and excited animosities between the bishops and the other ministers of the church; nay, they went still further, and sowed the seeds of discord between the clergy and the people, that all these combustions might furnish them with perpetual matter for the exercise of their authority, and procure them a multitude of clients and dependants. They left no artifice unemployed to strengthen their own authority, and to raise opposition against the bishops from every quarter. For this purpose it was, that they engaged in their cause by the most alluring promises, and attached to their interests by the most magnificent acts of liberality, whole swarms of monks, who served as intestine enemies to the bishops, and as a dead weight on the side of patriarchal tyranny. These monastic hirelings contributed more than any thing else, to ruin the ancient ecclesiastical discipline, to diminish the authority of the bishops, and raise, to an enormous and excessive height, the power and prerogatives of their insolent and ambitious patrons.

the patri

V. To these lamentable evils, were added the The conambitious quarrels, and the bitter animosities, tentions of that rose among the patriarchs, themselves, and archs. which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid crimes. The patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself in these odious contests. Elated with the favour and

prox

CENT. imity of the imperial court, he cast a haughty V. eye on all sides, where any objects were to be PART II. found on which he might exercise his lordly am

The power of the bishop of Rome.

bition. On the one hand, he reduced, under his jurisdiction the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, as prelates only of the second order; and on the other, he invaded the diocese of the Roman pontiff, and spoiled him of several provinces. The two former prelates, though they struggled with vehemence, and raised considerable tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled ineffectually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the Roman pontiff, far superior to them in wealth and power, contended also with more vigour and obstinacy, and, in his turn, gave a deadly wound to the usurped supremacy of the Byzantine patriarch.

The attentive inquirer into the affairs of the church, from this period, will find, in the events now mentioned, the principal source of those most scandalous and deplorable dissensions, which divided first the eastern church into various sects, and afterwards separated it entirely from that of the west. He will find, that these ignominious schisms flowed chiefly from the unchristian contentions for dominion and supremacy, which reigned among those who set themselves up for the fathers and defenders of the church.

VI. None of the contending bishops found the occurrences of the times so favourable to his ambition, as the Roman pontiff. Notwithstanding the redoubled efforts of the bishop of Constantinople, a variety of circumstances united in augmenting his power and authority, though he had not, as yet, assumed the dignity of supreme lawgiver and judge of the whole Christian church. The bishops of Alexandria and Antioch, unable to make head against the lordly prelate of Constantinople,

V.

Constantinople, fled often to the Roman pontiff CENT. for succour against his violence; and the inferior order of bishops used the same method, when PART II. their rights were invaded by the prelates of Alexandria and Antioch. So that the bishop of Rome, by taking all these prelates alternately under his protection, daily added new degrees of influence and authority to the Roman see, rendered it every where respected, and was thus imperceptibly establishing its supremacy. Such were the means by which the Roman pontiff extended his dominion in the east. In the west its increase was owing to other causes. The declining power and the supine indolence of the emperors, left the authority of the bishop who presided in their imperial city almost without controul. The incursions, moreover, and triumphs of the Barbarians were so far from being prejudicial to his rising dominion, that they rather contributed to its advancement. For the kings, who penetrated into the empire, were only solicitous about the methods of giving a sufficient degree of stability to their respective governments. And when they perceived the subjection of the multitude to the bishops, and the dependance of the bishops upon the Roman pontiff, they immediately resolved to reconcile this ghostly ruler to their interests, by loading him with benefits and honours of various kinds.

Among all the prelates who ruled the church of Rome during this century, there was none who asserted, with such vigour and success, the authority and pretensions of the Roman pontiff as Leo, commonly surnamed the Great. It must be, however, observed, that neither he, nor the other promoters of that cause, were able to overcome all the obstacles that were laid in their way, nor the various checks which were given to their ambition. Many examples might be alleged in

proof