eye. His religion was the only obstacle that lay in his way to the accomplishment of his views. Hedwige, the youngest daughter of the deceased monarch, who, by a decree of the senate, was declared heiress of the kingdom, was as little disposed to espouse, as the Poles were to obey a pagan, and hence Jagello was obliged to make superstition yield to royalty. On the other hand, the Teutonic knights and crusaders extirpated by fire and sword any remains of paganism that were yet to be found in Prussia and Livonia, and effected by force what suasion alone ought to have produced.

Many of the

Christians

per

We find also in the annals of this century a great many instances of Jews converted to the Christian faith. Jews become The cruel persecutions they suffered in several through com- parts of Europe, particularly in France and Gerpulsion. many, vanquished their obstinacy, and bent their untractable spirits under the yoke of the gospel. The reports, whether true or false, we shall not determine, that had been industriously spread abroad of their poisoning the public fountains, of their killing infants and drinking their blood, of their profaning in the most impious and blasphemous manner the consecrated wafers that were used in the celebration of the eucharist, with other accusations equally enormous, excited every where the resentment of the magistrates and the fury of the people, and brought the most terrible sufferings, that unrelenting vengeance could invent, upon that wretched and devoted

nation.

A scheme la'd

sion of the Sa

Spain.

IV. The Saracens maintained as yet a considerable footing in Spain. The kingdoms of Granada and for the expul Murcia, with the province of Andalusia, were racens out of subject to their dominion; and they carried on a a perpetual war with the kings of Castile, Arragon, and Navarre, in which however they were not always victorious. The African princes, and particularly the emperors of Morocco, became their auxiliaries against the Christians. On the other hand, the Roman pontiffs left no means unemployed to excite the Christians to unite their forces against the Mahometans, and to drive them out of the Spanish territories; presents, exhortations, promises,

i Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. Eccles. ad A. 1386, § iv. Waddingi Annal. Minor. tom. ix. p. 71. Solignac, Histoire de Pologne, tom. iii. p. 241.

in short, every allurement that religion, superstition, or avarice could render powerful, were made use of in order to the execution of this arduous project. The Christians accordingly united their counsels and efforts for this end; and though for some time the difficulty of the enterprise rendered their progress but inconsiderable, yet even in this century their affairs carried a promising aspect, and gave them reason to hope that they should one day triumph over their enemies, and become sole possessors of the Spanish dominions.*

CHAPTER II.

CONCERNING THE CALAMITOUS EVENTS THAT HAPPENED TO THE CHURCH DURING THIS CENTURY.

The Christian

I. THE Turks and Tartars who extended their dominions in Asia, with an amazing rapidity, and directed their arms against the Greeks as well as against religion loses the Saracens, destroyed wherever they went, the ground in Asia. fruits that had sprung up in such a rich abundance from the labours of the Christian missionaries, extirpated the religion of Jesus in several provinces and cities where it flourished, and substituted the impostures of Mahomet in its place. Many of the Tartars had formerly professed the gospel, and still more had tolerated the exercise of that divine religion; but from the beginning of this century, things put on a new face; and that fierce nation renounced every other religious doctrine, except that of the alcoran. Timur Beg, commonly called Tamerlane, their mighty emperor, embraced himself the doctrine of Mahomet, though under a form different from that which was adopted by the Tartars in general.' This formidable warrior, after having subdued the greatest part of Asia, having triumphed over Bajazet, the emperor of the Turks,

k See Jo. de Ferreras, Histoire de l'Espagne, tom. iv. v. vii. Fragmenta Histor. Romana, in Muratorii Antiq. Ital. medii ævi, tom. iii. p. 319, in which, however, there is a considerable mixture of truth and falsehood. Baluzii Miscellan. tom. ii. p. 267.

1 This great Tamerlane, whose name seemed to strike terror, even when he was no more adhered to the sect of the Somnites, and professed the greatest enmity against their adversaries the Schiites. See Petit Croix, Histoire de Timur Bec, tom. ii. p. 151, tom. iii. p. 228. It is, however, extremely doubtful, what was in reality the religion of Tamerlane, though he professed the Mahometan faith. See Mosheim, Hist. Eccles. Tartaror. p. 124.

1

and even filled Europe with terror at the approach of his victorious arms, made use of his authority to force multitudes of Christians to apostatize from their holy faith. To the dictates of authority he added the compulsive power of violence and persecution, and treated the disciples of Christ with the utmost barbarity. Persuaded, as we learn from the most credible writers of his life and actions, that it was incumbent upon the true followers of Mahomet, to persecute the Christians, and that the most ample and glorious rewards were reserved for such as were most instrumental in converting them to the Mahometan faith;" he employed the most inhuman acts of severity to vanquish the magnanimous constancy of those that persevered in their attachment to the Christian religion, of whom some suffered death in the most barbarous forms, while others were condemned to perpetual slavery."

II. In those parts of Asia, that are inhabited by the The decline of Chinese, Tartars, Moguls, and other nations as Christianity in yet less known, the Christian religion not only Tartary. fost ground, but seemed to be totally extirpated. It is at least certain, that we have no account of any members of the Latin church residing in those countries, later than the year 1370, nor could we ever learn the fate of the Franciscan missionaries that had been sent thither from Rome. We have indeed some records, from which it would appear that there were Nestorians residing in China so far down as the sixteenth century; but these records are not so clear in relation to this matter, as to remove all uncertainty and doubting. However that may be, it is evident beyond all contradiction, that the abolition of Christianity, in those remote parts of the world, was owing to the wars that were carried on by the Tartars against the Chinese and other Asiatic nations; for in the year 1369, the last emperor of the race of Genghizkan was driven out of China, and his throne filled by the Mim family, who, by a solemn law, refused to all foreigners the privilege of entering into China.

m Petit Croix, Histoire de Timur Bec, tom. ii. p. 329, tom. iii. p. 137, 243, &c. In Many instances of this we find in a History of Timur Bec, wrote by a Persian, who was named Scherfedinus, tom. ii. p. 376, 384, 386, tom. iii. p. 243, tom. iv. p. 111, 115, 117, and published at Delft, in four volumes, 8vo. in the year 1723. See also Herbelot, Biblioth. Oriental. at the article Timur, p. 877.

o Nicol. Trigautius, De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas, lib. i. cap. xi. p. 116. Jas. Sim. Assemanni Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. parti. p. 592, and part ii. p. 445, 536. Halde, Descriptione de la China, tom. i. p. 175.

PART II.

INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING THE STATE OF LETTERS AND PHILOSOPHY DURING THIS CENTURY.

The state of

1. THE Greeks, though dejected by the foreign and intestine calamities in which they were involved, were far from, withdrawing their attention and letters among zeal from the cause of literature, as is evident from the Greeks. the great number of learned men who flourished among them during this period. In this honourable class was Nicephorus Gregoras, Manuel Chrysoloras, Maximus Planudes, and many others, who, by their indefatigable application to the study of humanity and antiquities, criticism and grammar, acquired considerable reputation. To omit writers of inferior note, Theodorus Metochila, John Cantacuzenus, and Nicephorus Gregoras, applied themselves to the composition of history, though with different success. Nor ought we to pass over in silence Nicephorus Callistus, who compiled an Ecclesiastical History, which, notwithstanding its being debased with idle stories and evident marks of superstition, is highly useful on account of the light it casts on many important facts.

The state of

among

Greeks.

II. As none of the sages of this century was adventurous enough to set up for a leader in philosophy, such of the Greeks as had a taste for philosophi- philosophe cal researches, adhered to Aristotle as their conductor and guide; but we may learn from the tracts of Theodorus Metochita in what manner they explained the principles and tenets of the stagirite. Plato also had his followers, especially among those who were fond of mysticism, which had for many ages been held in the highest veneration by the Greeks. In the sublime sciences of mathematics and astronomy, Nicolas Cabasilas surpassed all his contemporaries. Barlaam adopted the sentiments and precepts of the stoics with respect to the obligations of

morality and the duties of life, and digested them into a work of his, which is known by the title of Ethica ex Stoicis."

among the

III. In all the Latin provinces, schemes were laid and The state of carried into execution with considerable success, learning for promoting the study of letters, improving Latins. taste, and dispelling the pedantic spirit of the times. This laudable disposition gave rise to the erection of many schools and academies, at Cologne, Orleans, Cahors, Perusia, Florence, and Pisa, in which all the liberal arts and sciences, distributed into the same classes that still subsist in those places, were taught with assiduity and zeal. Opulent persons founded and amply endowed particular colleges in the public universities, in which, beside the monks, young men of narrow circumstances were educated in all the branches of literature. Libraries were also collected, and men of learning animated to aspire to fame and glory, by the prospect of honourable rewards. It must be confessed indeed, that the advantages arising to the church and state, from so many professors and learned men, did not wholly answer the expense and care bestowed on this undertaking, by men of rank and fortune; yet we are by no means to conclude, as many have rashly done, that all the doctors of this age who rose gradually from the lower to the higher and more honourable stations, were only distinguished by their stupidity and igno

rance.

The state of

IV. Clement V. who was now raised to the pontificate, ordered the Hebrew, and other oriental languages languages. to be taught in the public schools, that the church might never want a sufficient number of missionaries properly qualified to dispute with the Jews and Mahometans, and to diffuse the divine light of the gospel throughout the east; in consequence of which appointment, some eminent proficients in these tongues, and especially in the Hebrew, flourished during this age. The Greek language, which hitherto had been much neglected, was now revived, and taught with general applause, first of all by Leontius Pilatus, a Calabrian, who wrote a commentary upon Homer, and a few others, but afterward,

q Henrici Canisii, Lectiones Antiquæ, tom. iv. p. 405.

r See Ant. Wood. Antiq. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 156, 159.

S

s See Humph. Hody, De Græcis illustribus Lingua Græca Literarumque humaniorum instauratoribus, lib. i. p. 5, Londini, 1742, in 8vo. Calogera, Opusculi Scientifici, tom. xxv. p. 258.