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cate philosophy led many to reject some of the most evident and important doctrines both of natural and revealed religion, such as the doctrine of a divine providence governing the universe, the immortality of the soul, the Scripture account of the origin of the world, and other points of less moment. These doctrines were not only rejected, but the most pernicious errors were industriously propagated in opposition to them, by a set of Aristotelians, who were extremely active in gaining proselytes to their impious jargon."

accused of im

piety.

II. If the accusations brought against Frederic II. by the Roman pontiff, Gregory IX. deserve any Frederic 1 credit, that prince may be ranked among the most inveterate and malignant enemies of the Christian religion, since he was charged by Gregory with having said, that the world had been deceived by three impostors, Moses, Christ, and Mahomet." This charge was answered by a solemn and public profession of his faith, which the emperor addressed to all the kings and princes of Europe, to whom also had been addressed the accusation brought against him by the pontiff. The accusation however was founded upon the testimony of Henry Raspon, landgrave of Thuringia, who declared that he had heard the emperor pronounce the abominable blas

a See Sti. Thomæ Summa contra gentes, and Bernhardi Monetæ Summa contra Catharos et Waldenses. This latter writer, in the work now mentioned, combats, with great spirit, the enemies of Christianity which appeared in his time. In the fourth chapter of the fifth book, p. 416, he disputes, in an ample and copious manner, against those who affirmed, that the soul perished with the body; refutes, in the eleventh chapter, p. 477, those Aristotelian philosophers, who held, that the world had existed from all eternity, and would never have an end; and in the fifteenth chapter, p. 554, he attacks those, who, despising the authority of the sacred writings, deny the existence of human liberty, and maintain that all things, and even the crimes of the wicked, are the effects of an absolute and irresistible necessity. Add to these authors, Stephani Tempierii, Episcopi Parisiensis, Indiculus errorum, qui a nonnullis Magistris Lutetiæ publice privetimque docebantur, Anno 1277, in Bibliotheca patrum Maxima, tom xxv. p. 233, as also Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 433, and Gerardi du Bois, Hist. Eccles. Paris. tom. ii. p. 501. The tenets of these doctors will, no doubt, appear of a surprising nature; for they taught, that there was only one intellect among all the human race; that all things were subject to absolute fate or necessity; that the universe was not governed by a divine providence; that the world was eternal, and the soul mortal:” and they maintained these and such like monstrous errors by arguments drawn from the philosophy of Aristotle. But at the same time, to avoid the just resentment of the people, they held up, as a buckler against their adversaries, that most dangerous and pernicious distinction between theological and philosophical truth, which has been since used, with the utmost cunning and bad faith, by the more recent Aristotelians of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. "These things," said they, as we learn from Stephen Tempier, "are true in philosophy, but not according to the Catholic faith. Vera sunt hæc secundum philosophum, non secundum fidem catholicam."

b Matth. Paris, Histor, Major, p. 408, 459. Petr. de Yineis, Epistolarum, lib. i.

phemy above mentioned. It is, after all, difficult to decide with sufficient evidence concerning the truth of this fact. Frederic, who was extremely passionate and imprudent, may perhaps, in a fit of rage, have let some such expression as this escape his reflection, and this is rendered probable enough by the company he frequented, and the number of learned Aristotelians that were always about his person, and might suggest matter enough for such impious expressions, as that now under consideration. It was this affair that gave occasion, in after times, to the invention of that fabulous account, which supposes the detestable book concerning the three impostors, to have been composed by the emperor himself, or by Peter de Vineis, a native of Capua, a man of great credit and authority, whom that prince had chosen for his prime minister, and in whom he placed the highest confidence.

d

c Herm. Gygantis Flores temporum, p. 126. Chr. Frid. Ayrmann, Syllage Anecdotor. tom. i. p. 639.

d See Casim. Oudini Comment. de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, tom. iii. p. 66. Alb. Henr. de Sallengre, Memoires d'Histoire et de Literalure, tom. i. part i. p. 386.

e The book entitled, Liber de и Impostoribus, sive Tractatus de Vanitate Religionum, is really a book which had no existence at the time that the most noise was made about it, and was spoken of by multitudes before it had been seen by any one person. Its supposed existence was probably owing to an impious saying of Simon of Tournay, doctor of divinity in the university of Paris in the thirteenth century, which amounts to this; that the Jews were seduced out of their senses by Moses, the Christians by Jesus, and the Gentiles by Mahomet." This, or some expressions of a similar kind, were imputed to the emperor Frederic, and other persons, and that perhaps without any real foundation; and the imaginary book, to which they have given rise, has been attributed, by different authors, to Frederic, to his chancellor Peter de Vineis, to Alphonso, king of Castile, to Boccace, Pogge, the Aretins, Pomponace, Machiavel, Erasmus, Ochinus, Servetus, Rabelais, Giordano Bruno, Campanella, and many others. In a word, the book was long spoken of before any such work existed; but the rumour that was spread abroad encouraged some profligate traders in licentiousness to compose, or rather compile, a bundle of miserable rhapsodies, under the famous title of the Three Impostors, in order to impose upon such as are fond of these pretended rarities. Accordingly, the Spaccio della Bestia Triomphante of Giordano Bruno, and a wretched piece of impiety, called the Spirit of Spinoza, were the groundwork or materials from whence these hireling compilers, by modifying some passages, and adding others, drew the book which now passes under the name of the Three Impostors, of which I have seen two copies in manuscript, but no printed edition. See La Monnoye's Dissertation sur le Livre de 1 Imposteurs, published at Amsterdam, in 1715, at the end of the fourth volume of the Menagiana. See also an answer to this dissertation, which was impudently exposed to the public eye, in 1716, from the press of Scheurleer in the Hague, and which contains a fabulous story of the origin of the book in question. Whoever is desirous of a more ample and a very curious account of this matter, will find it in the late Prosper Marchand's Dictionaire Historique, vol. ii. at the article Impostoribus.

PART II.

INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING THE STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY DURING THIS

the

CENTURY.

I. THE Greeks, amidst the dreadful calamities, discords, The state of and revolutions, that distracted and perplexed learning among their unhappy country, had neither that spirit, nor that leisure, that are necessary to the culture of the arts and sciences. Yet, under all these disadvantages, they still retained a certain portion of their former spirit, and did not entirely abandon the cause of learning and philosophy, as appears by the writers that arose among them during this century. Their best historians were Nicetas, Choniates, Georgius Acropolita, Gregorius Pachymeres, and Joel, whose Chronology is yet extant. We learn from the writings of Gregory Pachymeres, and Nicephorus Blemmida, that the peripatetic philosophy was not without its admirers among the Greeks; though the Platonic was most in vogue. The greatest part of the Grecian philosophers, following the example of the later Platonists, whose works were the subject of their constant meditation, inclined to reduce the wisdom of Plato, and the subtilties of the Stagirite into one system, and to reconcile, as well as they could, their jarring principles. It is not necessary to exhibit a list of those authors, who wrote the lives and discourses of the saints, or distinguished themselves in the controversy with the Latin church, or of those who employed their learned labours in illustrating the canon law of the Greeks. The principal Syrian writer, which this century produced, was Gregory Abul Farai, primate of the Jacobites, a man of true genius and universal learning, who was a judicious divine, an eminent historian, and a good philosopher." George Elma

a See Bayle's Dictionary, at the article Abulpharage; as also Jos. Sim. Assemanni Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. ii. cap. xlii. p. 244.

cin, who composed the history of the Saracens, was also a writer of no mean reputation.

The progress

II. The sciences carried a fairer aspect in the western world, where every branch of erudition was cultivated with assiduity and zeal, and of conse- of learning in quence, flourished with increasing vigour, from the west. day to day. The European kings and princes had learned, by a happy experience, how much the advancement of learning and arts contribute to the grandeur and happiness of a nation; and therefore they invited into their dominions learned men from all parts of the world, nourished the arts in their bosom, excited the youth to the love of letters, by crowning their progress with the most noble rewards, and encouraged every effort of genius, by conferring upon such as excelled, the most honourable distinctions. Among these patrons and protectors of learning, the emperor Frederic II. and Alphonsus X. king of Leon and Castile, two princes as much distinguished by their own learning, as by the encouragement they granted to men of genius, acquired the highest renown, and rendered their names immortal. The former founded the academy of Naples, had the works of Aristotle translated into Latin, assembled about his person all the learned men whom he could engage by his munificence to repair to his court, and gave many other undoubted proofs of his zeal for the advancement of the arts and sciences." The latter obtained an illustrious and permanent renown by several learned productions, but more especially by his famous

Abulpharagius, or Abul Farai, was a native of Malatia, a city in Armenia, near the source of the river Euphrates, and acquired a vast reputation in the east on account of his extensive erudition. He composed An Abridgement of Universal History, from the beginning of the world to his own times, which he divided into ten parts, or dynasties. The 1st comprehends the history of the ancient patriarchs, from Adam to Moses. The 2d that of Joshua and the other judges of Israel. The 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th, contain the history of the kings of Israel, of the Chaldean princes, of the Persian magi, and of the Grecian monarchs. The 7th relates to the Roman history; the 8th to that of the Greek emperors of Constantinople. In the 9th he treats concerning the Arabian commanders; and in the 10th concerning the Moguls. He is more to be depended upon in his history of the Saracens and Tartars, than in his accounts of other nations. The learned Dr. Edward Pocock translated this work into Latin, and published his translation in 1663, together with a supplement, which carries on the history of the Oriental princes, where Abul Farai left it. The same learned translator had obliged the public, in 1650 with an abridgment of the ninth dynasty under the following title; "Specimen Historia Arabum; sive Georgii Abulfaragii Malatiensis de origine et moribus Arabum succincta narratio."

b Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 115. Giannone, Hist. de Naples, tom. ii. p. 479. Add to these the observations of Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin,medii ævi, tom. ii. p. 618.

VOL. II.

43

Astronomical Tables. In consequence then of the protection that was given to the sciences in this century, academies were erected almost in every city, peculiar privileges of various kinds were also granted to the youth that frequented them, and these learned societies acquired, at length, the form of political bodies; that is to say, they were invested with a certain jurisdiction, and were governed by their own laws and statutes.

the European

academies.

III. In the public schools or academies that were founded at Padua, Modena, Naples, Capua, Toulouse, The state of Salamancha, Lyons, and Cologn, the whole circle of the sciences was not taught, as in our times. The application of the youth, and the labours of their instructers, were limited to certain branches of learning, and thus the course of academical education remained imperfect. The academy of Paris, which surpassed all the rest both with respect to the number and abilities of its professors, and the multitude of students by whom it was frequented, was the first learned society which extended the sphere of education, received all the sciences into its bosom, and appointed masters for every branch of erudition. Hence it was distinguished, before any other academy, with the title of a university, to denote its embracing the whole circle of science; and in process of time, other schools of learning were ambitious of forming themselves upon the same model, and of being honoured with the same title. In this famous university, the doctors were divided into four colleges or classes, according to the branches of learning they professed; and these classes were called, in after times, faculties. In each of these faculties, a doctor was chosen by the suffrages of his colleagues, to preside during a fixed period in the society; and the title of dean was given to those who successively filled that eminent office." The head of the university, whose inspection and jurisdiction extended to all branches of that learned body, was dignified with the name of chancellor, and that high and honourable place was filled by the bishop of Paris, to whom an assistant was afterward joined, who shared the administration with him, and

c Nic. Antonii Bibliotheca vetus Hispan. lib. viii. c. v. p. 217. Jo. de Ferreras, Histoire d'Espagne, tom. iv: p. 347.

d This arrangement was executed about the year 1260. See Du Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 557, 564.

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