he had chosen with the greatest attention and || enforcing his doctrines, both in his lectures and care, and who were profoundly versed in the in his writings; and principally by engaging knowledge of the languages, to translate into one of his learned colleagues to give, under Latin, from the Greek and Arabic, certain his inspection, a new translation of the works books of Aristotle, and of other ancient sages. of the Grecian sage, which far surpassed the This translation, which was recommended, in former version in exactness, perspicuity, and a particular manner, to the academy of Bo- elegance.* By these means the philosophy logna by the learned emperor, raised the credit of Aristotle, notwithstanding the hostile efforts of Aristotle to the greatest height, and gave of several divines, and even of the Roman him an irresistible and despotic authority in all pontiff's themselves, who beheld its progress the European schools. This authority was with an unfriendly eye, triumphed in all the still farther augmented by the translations Latin schools, and absorbed all the other systems which were made of some of the books of the that had flourished before this literary revoGrecian sage by several Latin interpreters, lution. such as Michael Scot, Philip of Tripoli, William Fleming, and others; though these men were quite unequal to the task they undertook, and had neither such knowledge of the languages, nor such an acquaintance with phiosophy, as were necessary to the successful execution of such a difficult enterprise.† VIII. The Aristotelian philosophy received the very last addition that could be made to its authority and lustre, when the Dominican and Franciscan friars adopted its tenets, taught it in their schools, and illustrated it in their writings. These two mendicant orders were looked upon as the chief depositories of all learning, both human and divine; and were followed, with the utmost eagerness and assiduity, by all such as were ambitious of being distinguished from the multitude by superior knowledge. Alexander Hales, an English Franciscan, who taught philosophy at Paris, and acquired, by the strength of his metaphysical genius, the title of the Irrefragable Doctor, and Albert the Great, a German of the Dominican order, and bishop of Ratisbon, a man of great abilities, and an universal dictator at this time, were the first eminent writers who illustrated, in their learned productions, the Aristotelian system. But it was the disciple of Albert, Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, and the great luminary of the scholastic world, that contributed most to the glory of the Stagirite,|| by inculcating, illustrating, and At IX. There were, however, at this time in Europe several persons of superior genius and penetration, who, notwithstanding their respect for Aristotle, considered the method of treating philosophy, which his writings had introduced, as dry, inelegant, and fit only to confine and damp the efforts of the mind in the pursuit of truth; and who, consequently, were desirous of enlarging the sphere of sci ence by new researches and discoveries. the head of these noble adventurers we may justly place Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar of the English nation, known by the appellation of the admirable doctor, who was renowned on account of his most important discoveries, and who, in natural philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, the mechanic arts, and the learned languages, soared far beyond the genius of the times. With him we may associate Arnold their opinion seems to be founded in truth. See Antoine Touron, Vie de St. Thomas, p. 99. The Frauciscans, however, maintain as obstinately, that Alexander Hales was the master of Thomas. See Wadding's Annales Minorum, tom. iii. p. 133. *It has been believed by many, that William de Moerbeka, a native of Flanders, of the Dominican order, and archbishop of Corinth, was the author of the new Latin translation of the works of Aristotle, which was carried on and finished under the auspicious inspection of Thomas Aquinas. See J. Echard, Scriptores Dominican. tom. i. p. 388, 469. Casim. Oudinus, Comm. de Scriptor. Eccles. tom. iii. p. 468. Jo. Franc. Foppens, Bibliotheca Belgica, tom. i. p. 416. Others, however, suppose, though indeed with less evidence, that this translation was composed by Henry Kosbein, who was also a Dominican. † Bacon's contempt of the learning that was in vogue in his time may be seen in the following passage, quoted by Jebb, in his preface to the Opus Majus of that great man: "Nunquam fuit tanta apparentia sapientiæ, nec tantum exercitium studii in tot facultatibus, in tot regionibus, sicut jam a quad * Petr. de Vineis, Epist. lib. iii. ep. lxvii. p. 503. This epistle is addressed ad magistros et scholares Bononienses;" i. e. "to the masters and scholars of the academy of Bologna:" but it is more than probable, that the emperor sent letters upon this occasion to the other European schools. It is a common opinion, that this learned prince had all the works of Aristotle, that were then extant, translated into Latin about the year 1220; but this cannot be de-raginta annis: ubique enim doctores sunt dispersi.... duced from the letter above mentioned, or from any other sufficient testimony that we know of. † See Wood's account of the interpreters of Aris'totle, in his Antiquitat. Oxon. tom. i. p. 119; as also Jebb's preface to the Opus Majus of the famous Roger Bacon, published at London in folio, in the year 1733. We shall give here the opinion which Bacon had of the translators of Aristotle, in the words of that great man, who expresses his contempt of these wretched interpreters in the following manner: "Si haberem potestatem supra libros Aristotelis, (Latine conversos,) ego faccrem omnes cremari, quia non est nisi temporis amissio studere in illis, et causa erroris et multiplicatio ignorantiæ, ultra id quod valet explicari." I See Wadding's Annales Minorum, tom. iii. p. 233. Du Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 200, 673. § Jo. Alb. Fabricii Biblioth. Latina medii Ævi, tom. i. p. 113. The Dominicans maintain, that this Angelic Doctor as the disciple of Albert the Great, and in omni civitate, et in omni castro, et in omni burgo, præcipue per duos ordines studentes (he means the Franciscans and Dominicans, who were almost the only religious orders that distinguished them. selves by an application to study) quod non accidit, nisi a quadraginta annis aut circiter, cum tamen nunquam fuit tanta ignorantia, tantus error... Vulgus studentium languet et asininat circa mala translata (by these wretched versions he understands the works of Aristotle, which were most miserably translated by ignorant bunglers) et tempus et studium amittit in omnibus et expensas. Apparentia quidem sola tenet eos, et non curant quid sciant, sed quid videantur scire coram multitudine insensata." Thus, according to Bacon, in the midst of the most specious appearance of science, the greatest igno rance and the grossest errors reigned almost univer sally. That Bacon deserves this high rank in the learned world appears evidently from his book enti tled Opus Majus, which was dedicated to pope C ment IV., and which Jebb published at London it of Villa Nova, whose place of nativity is fixed || tion of the Decretals in five books, which he undertook at the desire of Gregory IX., and which has been since honoured with the name of that pontiff, who ordered it to be added to the Decretals of Gratian, and to be read in all the European colleges.* Toward the conclu sion of this century, Boniface VIII. caused a new collection to be made, which was entitled, The Sixth Book of Decretals, because it was added to the five already mentioned. CHAPTER II. Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, and its Form of Government, during this Century. I. BOTH the Greek and Latin writers, provoked beyond measure by the flagitious lives of their spiritual rulers and instructors, complain loudly of their licentious manners, and load them with the severest reproaches; nor will these complaints and reproaches appear excessive to such as are acquainted with the history of this corrupt and superstitious age.† Several eminent men attempted to stem this torrent of licentiousness, which from the heads of the church had carried its pernicious streams through all the members; but their power and influence were unequal to such a difficult and arduous enterprise. The Grecian emperors were prevented from executing any project of this kind by the infelicity of the times, and the various calamities and tumults, which not only reigned in their dominions, but even shook their thrones, while the power and opulence of the Roman pontiffs, and the superstition of the age, prevented the Latins from accomplishing, or even attempting, a reformation in the church. X. The state of theology, and the method of teaching and representing the doctrines of Christianity that now prevailed, shall be mentioned in their place. The civil and canon laws held the first rank in the circle of the sciences, and were studied with peculiar zeal and application by almost all who were ambitious of literary glory. But these sciences, notwithstanding the assiduity with which they were cultivated, were far from being then brought to any tolerable degree of perfection. They were disfigured by the jargon that reigned II. In the history of the popes, we meet with in the schools, and were corrupted and render- a lively and horrible picture of the complicd intricate by a multitude of trivial commen- cated crimes that dishonoured the ministers taries that were intended to illustrate and ex- of the church, who were peculiarly required, plain them. Some employed their labours in by their sacred office, to exhibit to the world collecting the letters of the Roman pontiffs, distinguished models of piety and virtue. Such which are commonly known under the title members of the sacerdotal order as were adof Decretals,§ and which were deemed a very vanced to places of authority in the church, important branch of ecclesiastical law. Rai-behaved rather like tyrants than rulers, and mond of Pennafort, a native of Barcelona, was showed manifestly, in all their conduct, that the most famous of all these compilers, and ac- they aimed at an absolute and unlimited dequired a considerable reputation by his collec-minion. The popes, more especially, inculcated this pernicious maxim, "That the bishop of Rome is the supreme lord of the universe, and that neither princes nor bishops, civil governors nor ecclesiastical rulers, have any lawful power in church or state, but what they derive from him." This extravagant maxim, which was considered as the sum and substance of papal jurisprudence, the pontiff's obstinately maintained, and left no means unemployed, that perfidy or violence could suggest to give the force of an universal law. It was in 733, from a manuscript that still exists in the university of Dub'in, enriching it with a learned preface and a considerable number of judicious observations. The other works of Bacon, which are very numerous, lie for the most part concealed in the libraries of the curious. For a farther account of this eminent man, see Wood's Antiq. Oxon. tom. i. p. 136.Wadding, Annal. Minor. t. iv. p. 161, t. v. p. 51.— Thom. Gale, ad Jamblichum de Mysteriis Ægyptior. p. 255.-General Hist. and Crit. Dictionary. *See Nic. Antonii Biblioth. vetus Hispan. tom. ii. ib. ix. c. i.-Pierre Joseph, d'Arnaud Vie de Ville-it neuve, Aix, 1719.-Niceron, Memoires des Hommes illustres, tom. xxxiv.-Nicol. Eymerici Directorium Inquisitorum, pag. 282. where, among other things, we have an account of his errors. This book was entitled, Conciliator Differentiarum Philosophorum et Medicorum. There is a very accurate account of this philosopher given by Joh. Maria Mazzuchelli, Notizie Sto riche e Critiche intorno alla Vita di Pietro d'Abano, in Angeli Calogera Opus. Scientifici e Philologici, t. xiii. § See Boulay, His. Acad. Paris. tom. it Ger. a Maestrict, Historia juris Eccle-astici. sect. 353.-Jo. Chifflet, de Juris utriusque Architec tis, cap. vi.-Echard et Quetif, Scriptor. Dominican t. i. Acta Sanctor. Antwerp. t. i. Januarii ad d. vii. See the remarkable letter of pope Gregory IX. to the archbishop of Bourges, which was written in 1227, with a design to reprove and reform the vices which had infected all the various orders of the clergy, and which is published by Dion. Sammartha nus, in his Gallia Christiana, tom. ii. in Append.See also Da Fresne, Annotat. in Vitam Ludovici Sti consequence of this arrogant pretension, that they not only claimed the right of disposing of ecclesiastical benefices, as they are commonly called, but also of conferring civil dominion, and of dethroning kings and emperors, according to their good pleasure. It is true, this maxim was far from being universally adopted; many placed the authority of councils above that of the pontiffs, and such of the European kings and princes as were not ingloriously blinded and enslaved by the superstition of the times, asserted their rights with dignity and success, excluded the pontiffs from all concern in their civil transactions, and even reserved to themselves the supremacy over the churches that were established in their dominIn thus opposing the haughty pretensions of the lordly pontiffs, it was, indeed, necessary to proceed with mildness, caution, and prudence, on account of the influence which those spiritual tyrants had usurped over the minds of the people, and the power they had of alarming princes, by exciting their subjects to rebellion. ions.* now the tutelar saint of that nation, distin guished himself by his noble opposition to these papal encroachments. In 1268, before he set out for the Holy Land, he secured the rights of the Gallican church against the insidious attempts of the popes, by that famous edict, known in France by the name of the pragmatic sanction.* This resolute and prudent measure rendered the pontiff's more cautious and slow in their proceedings, but did not deter them from the prosecution of their purpose. For Boniface VIII. maintained, in the most express and impudent terms, that the universal church was under the dominion of the pontiffs, and that princes and lay patrons, councils and chapters, had no more power in spiritual things, than what they derived from Christ's vicar upon earth. IV. The legates, whom the pontiffs sent into the provinces, to represent their persons, and execute their orders, imitated perfectly the avarice and insolence of their masters. They violated the privileges of the chapters; disposed of the smaller, and sometimes of the more important ecclesiastical benefices, in favour of such as had gained them by bribes, or the like considerations; extorted money from the people, by the vilest and most iniquitous means; seduced the unwary by forged letters and other stratagems of that nature; excited tumults among the multitude, and were, themselves, the ringleaders of the most furious and rebellious factions; carried on, in the most scandalous manner, the impious traffic of relics and indulgences, and distinguished themselves by several acts of profligacy still more heinous than the practices now mentioned. Hence we find the writers of this age complaining unanimously of the flagitious conduct and the encrmous crimes of the pope's legates. We even see pope Alexander IV. enacting, in 1256, a severe law against the avarice and frauds of these corrupt ministers,§ which, however, they easily evaded, by their friends and their credit at the court of Rome. III. In order to establish their authority, both in civil and ecclesiastical matters, upon the firmest foundations, the Roman pontiff's assumed to themselves the power of disposing of the various offices of the church, whether of a higher or more subordinate nature, and of creating bishops, abbots, and canons, according to their fancy. Thus we see the heads of the church, who formerly disputed with such ardour against the emperors in favour of the free election of bishops and abbots, overturning now all the laws that related to the election of these spiritual rulers, reserving for themselves the revenues of the richest benefices, conferring vacant places upon their clients and their creatures, and often deposing bishops who had been duly and lawfully elected, and substituting others for them with a high hand.f The hypocritical pretexts for all these arbitrary proceedings were an ardent zeal for the welfare of the church, and an anxious concern, 'lest devouring heretics should get a footing V. From the ninth century to this period, among the flock of Christ. The first pontiff the wealth and revenues of the pontiffs had who usurped such an extravagant extent of not received any considerable augmentation; authority, was Innocent III., whose example but at this time they were vastly increased was followed by Honorius III., Gregory IX.,|| under Innocent III., and Nicolas III., partly and several of their successors. But it was by the events of war, and partly by the munikeenly opposed by the bishops, who had hith-ficence of kings and emperors. Innocent, as erto enjoyed the privilege of nominating to the smaller benefices, and still more effectually by the kings of England and France, who employed the force of warm remonstrances and vigorous edicts to stop the progress of this new jurisprudence.§ Louis IX. king of France, *As a specimen of this, the reader may peruse the etters of Innocent III. and the emperor Otho IV., which have been collected by the learned George Christ. Gebauer, in his history of the emperor Richard, written in German. Other princes, and more especially the kings of England and France, displayed, in the defence of their rights and privileges, the same zeal that animated Otho. soon as he was seated in the papal chair, reduced under his jurisdiction the præfect of Rome, who had hitherto been considered as subject to the emperor, to whom he had taken an oath of allegiance in entering upon his office. He also seized the territories of Ancona, Spoleto, and Assisi, the town of Montebello, and various cities and fortresses which had, according to him, been unjustly alienated from *Boulay, tom. iii. † See Baluzii Miscellanea, tom. vii. See that judicious and excellent writer Matth. † Many examples of this may be taken from the Paris, in his Historia Major, p. 313, 316, 549, and history of this century. See Steph. Baluzii Miscellan. particularly p. 637, where we find the following retom. vii.-Gallia Christiana tom. i. Append.-Wad-markable words: "Semper solent legati, et omnes ding, Annal. Minor. in Diplomat.-Wood, Antiquit. Oxon. tom. i. See the Epistle of Innocent IV. in Baluz. Mis cellan. tom. vii. Boulay, Histor Acad. Paris. tom. iii. iv. nuncii papales, regna quæ ingrediuntur depauperare vel aliquo modo perturbare." See also Boulay, Hist Acad. Paris. tom. iii p. 659. § This edict is published by Lami, in his Delicia Eruditorum, tom. ii. page 300. butary to the church, and saluted him publicly at Rome, with the title of king.* We omit many other examples of this phrenetic preten sion to universal empire, which might be pro duced from the letters of this arrogant pontiff, and many other acts of despotism, which Europe beheld with astonishment, but also, to its eternal reproach, with the ignominious silence of a passive obedience. the patrimony of St. Peter.* On the other || had rendered his dominions subject and tri hand, Frederic II., who was extremely desirous that the pope should espouse his quarrel with Otho IV., loaded the Roman see with the richest marks of his munificence and liberality, and not only made a noble present in valuable lands to the pope's brother, but also permitted Richard, count of Fundi, to bequeath all his possessions to the Roman see, and confirmed the immense donation that had formerly been made to it by the opulent Matilda. Such was the progress that Innocent III. made, during his pontificate, in augmenting the splendour and wealth of the church. Nicolas III. followed his example with the warmest emulation, and, in 1278, gave a remarkable proof of his arrogance and obstinacy, in refusing to crown the emperor Rodolphus I. before he had acknowledged and confirmed, by a solemn treaty, all the pretensions of the Roman see, of which, if some were plausible, many were altogether groundless, or, at least,|| extremely dubious. This agreement, to which all the Italian princes subject to the emperor were obliged to accede, was no sooner concluded, than Nicolas reduced under his temporal dominion several territories in Italy, that had formerly been annexed to the imperial crown, particularly Romania and Bologna. It was therefore under these two pontiffs that the see of Rome arrived, partly by force, and partly by artifice, at that high degree of grandeur and opulence, which it yet maintains in our times. § .VII. The ambition of this pope was not sa tisfied with the distribution and government of these petty kingdoms. He extended his views farther, and resolved to render the power and majesty of the Roman see formidable to the greatest European kings, and even to the haughty emperors themselves. When the empire of Germany was disputed, about the commencement of this century, between Fhilip, duke of Suabia, and Otho IV. third son of Henry the Lion, he espoused at first the cause of Otho, thundered out his excommunications against Philip, and on the death of the latter (which happened in 1209,) placed the imperial diadem upon the head of his adversary. But, as Otho was by no means disposed to submit to this pontiff's nod, or to satisfy to the full his ambitious desires, he incurred his lordly indignation; and Innocent, declaring him, by a solemn excommunication, unworthy of the empire, raised in his place Frederic II. his pupil, the son of Henry VI. and king of the two Si cilies, to the imperial throne, in 1212. The same pontiff excommunicated Philip Augustus, VI. Innocent III., who remained at the king of France, for having dissolved his marri head of the church until the year 1216, fol-age with Ingelburga, a princess of Denmark, lowed the steps of Gregory VII., and not only usurped the despotic government of the church, but also claimed the empire of the world, and entertained the extravagant idea of subjecting all the kings and princes of the earth to his lordly sceptre. He was a man of learning and VIII. But of all the European princes, none application; but his cruelty, avarice, and arro- felt, in so dishonourable and severe a manner, gance, clouded the lustre of any good quali- the despotic fury of this insolent pontiff, as ties which his panegyrists have thought pro- John, surnamed Sans-Terre, or Lackland, king per to attribute to him. In Asia and Europe, of England. This prince vigorously opposed he disposed of crowns and sceptres with the the measures of Innocent, who had ordered most wanton ambition. In Asia, he gave a the monks of Canterbury to choose Stephen king to the Armenians: in Europe, he usurped Langton (a Roman cardinal of English dethe same exorbitant privilege in 1204, and con- scent) archbishop of that see, notwithstanding ferred the regal dignity upon Primislaus, duke the election of John de Grey to that high digof Bohemia. The same year, he sent to Jo-nity, which had been regularly made by the hannicius, duke of Bulgaria and Wallachia an extraordinary legate, who, in the name of the pontiff, invested that prince with the ensigns and honours of royalty, while, with his own hand, he crowned Peter II., of Arragon, who and espoused another in her place; nor did he cease to pursue this monarch with his anathemas, until he engaged him to receive the divorced queen, and to restore her to her lost dignity. convent, and had been confirmed by royal authority.§ The pope after having consecrated Langton at Viterbo, wrote a soothing letter in his favour to the king, accompanied w th four *Murat, Ant. Ital. medii Ævi, t. vi. J. de Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, t. iv. All this is amply illustrated in the Orig. Guel *See Franc. Pagi, Breviar. Romanor. Pontif. tom. iii. p. 161.-Muratori, Antiq. Ital. tom. i. p. 328. This brother of the pontiff was called Richard.phicæ, tom. iii. lib. vii. See, for an account of this transaction, Muratori's fifth volume, p. 652. Odor. Raynaldus, Continuat. Annal. Baronii, ad annum 1212. § Raynaldus ad annum 1278. The papal grandeur and opulence, however, were seriously impaired by the fury of the French revolution, and, although the success of the allied powers replaced the pontiff on bis throne, his power is now at a low ebb.-EDIT. See Matth. Paris. Hist. Maj. Other historians affirm, that the emperor Philip was the potentate who conferred the royal dignity upon Primislaus,n order to strengthen his party against Otho. VOL. I.-44 Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii.-Daniel, Histoire de la France, tom. iii.-Gerard du Bois, His tor. Eccles. Paris. tom. ii. Dr. Mosheim passes lightly over this rupture between king John and Innocent III. mentioning in a few lines the interdict under which England was laid by that pontiff, the excommunication of the king's person, and the impious act by which the En glish were declared to be absolved from their allegiance. The translator, however, thought this event of too great importance to be treated with such bre vity, and has, therefore, taken the liberty to enlarge considerably this eighth section, which contains only twelve lines in the original. rings, and a mystica comment upon the precious stones with which they were enriched. But thus present was not sufficient to avert the just indignation of the offended monarch, and he sent troops to drive out of the kingdom the monks of Canterbury, who had been engaged by the pope's menaces to receive Langton as their archbishop. He also declared to the pontiff, that, if he persisted in imposing a prelate upon the see of Canterbury, in opposition to a regular election already made, the conse-ing himself in such a perplexing situation, and quences of such presumptuous obstinacy would, in the issue, prove fatal to the papal authority in England. Junocent was so far from being terrified by this menacing remonstrance, that, in 1208, he sent orders to the bishops of London, Worcester, and Ely, to lay the kingdom under an interdict, in case of the monarch's refusal to yield, and to receive Langton. John, alarmed at this terrible menace, and unwilling to break entirely with the pope, declared his readiness to confirm the election made at Rome; but in the act that was drawn up for this purpose, he wisely inserted a clause to prevent any interpretation of this compliance, that might be prejudicial to his rights, dignity, and prerogative. This exception was rejected, and the interdict was proclaimed. A stop was immediately put to divine service; the churches were shut in every parish; all the sacraments were suspended except that of baptism; the dead were buried in the highways without the usual rites or any funeral solemnity. But, notwithstanding this interdict, the Cistertian order continued to perform divine service; and several learned and respectable divines, among whom were the bishops of Winchester and Norwich, protested against the injustice of the pope's proceedings. The interdict not producing the effects that were expected from it, the pontiff proceeded to a still farther degree of severity and presumption, and denounced a sentence of excommunication against the person of the English monarch. This sentence, which was issued in 1209, was followed about two years after by a bull, absolving all his subjects from their oath of allegiance, and ordering all persons to avoid him, on pain of excommunication. But it was in 1212, that Innocent carried his impious tyranny to the most enormous length, when, assembling a council of cardinals and prelates, he deposed John, declared the throne of England vacant, and authorized Philip Augustus, king of France, to execute this sentence, undertake the conquest of England, and unite that kingdom to his dominions for ever. He, at the same time, published another bull, exnorting all Christian princes to contribute whatever was in their power to the success of this expedition, and promising, to such as would assist Philip in this grand enterprise, the same indulgences that were granted to those who carried arms against the infidels in Palestine. The French monarch entered into the views of the pontiff, and made immense preparations for the invasion of England. John, on the other hand, assembled his forces, and was putting himself in a posture of defence, when Pandulf, the pope's legate, arrived at Dover, and proposed a conference in order to prevent the approaching rupture, and to avert the storm. This artful legate terrified the king, who met him at that town, with an exaggerated account of the armament of Philip on the one hand, and of the disaffection of the English on the other; and persuaded him that there was no possible way left of saving his dominions from the formidable arms of the French king, but that of putting them under the protection of the Roman see. John, findfull of diffidence both in the nobles of his court and in the officers of his army, complied with this dishonourable proposal, did homage to Innocent, resigned his crown to the legate, and then received it as a present from the see of Rome, to which he rendered his kingdoms tributary, and swore fealty as a vassal and feudatory." In the act by which he resigned, thus scandalously, his kingdoms to the papal jurisdiction, he declared that he had neither been compelled to this measure by fear nor by force; but that it was his own voluntary deed, performed by the advice, and with the consent. of the barons of his kingdom. He obliged himself and his heirs to pay an annual sum of seven hundred marks for England, and three hundred for Ireland, in acknowledgment of the pope's supremacy and jurisdiction; and consented that he or such of his successors as should refuse to pay the submission now st pulated, to the see of Rome, should forfeit all right to the British crown.f "This shameful ceremony was performed (says a modern his toriant) on Ascension-day, in the house of the Templars at Dover, in the midst of a great concourse of people, who beheld it with confusion and indignation. John, in doing homage to the pope, presented a sum of money to his representative, which the proud legate trampled under his feet, as a mark of the king's dependance. Every spectator glowed with re sentment, and the archbishop of Dublin' ex claimed aloud against such intolerable insolence. Pandulf, not satisfied with this mortifying act of superiority, kept the crown and sceptre five whole days, and then restored them as a special favour of the Roman see. John was despised before this extraordinary resignation; but now he was looked upon as a contemptible wretch, unworthy to sit upon a throne, while he himself seemed altogether insensible of his disgrace." IX. Innocent III. was succeeded in the pontificate by Cencio Savelli, who, assuming the title of Honorius III., ruled the church above ten years, and whose government, though not signalized by such audacious exploits as those of his predecessor, disclosed an ardent zeal for maintaining the pretensions, and supporting the despotism, of the Roman see. It was in consequence of this zeal that the new pontiff opposed the measures, and drew upon himself the indignation of Frederic II. that magnani *For a full account of this shameful ceremony, see Matthew Paris, Historia Major; Boulay's Hist. Acad. Paris, tom. iii. and Rapin's Histoire d'Angleterre, tom. ii. the Charter of resignation, which may be seen at length in the Historia Major of Matthew Paris. Cadet a jure regni, is the expression used in Dr. Smollet. |