kingdoms, would have been some more powerful weapon, some discovery in
the art of war, that would give them a decisive superiority over their
Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in their hands; such a discovery had
been made in the critical moment of their fate. The chemists of China or
Europe had found, by casual or elaborate experiments, that a mixture
of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a
tremendous explosion. It was soon observed, that if the expansive force
were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron might be
expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise Êra of
the invention and application of gunpowder [91] is involved in doubtful
traditions and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern, that it
was known before the middle of the fourteenth century; and that before
the end of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea
and land, was familiar to the states of Germany, Italy, Spain, France,
and England. [92] The priority of nations is of small account; none could
derive any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge;
and in the common improvement, they stood on the same level of relative
power and military science. Nor was it possible to circumscribe the
secret within the pale of the church; it was disclosed to the Turks by
the treachery of apostates and the selfish policy of rivals; and the
sultans had sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a
Christian engineer. The Genoese, who transported Amurath into Europe,
must be accused as his preceptors; and it was probably by their hands
that his cannon was cast and directed at the siege of Constantinople.
[93] The first attempt was indeed unsuccessful; but in the general
warfare of the age, the advantage was on _their_ side, who were most
commonly the assailants: for a while the proportion of the attack and
defence was suspended; and this thundering artillery was pointed against
the walls and towers which had been erected only to resist the less
potent engines of antiquity. By the Venetians, the use of gunpowder was
communicated without reproach to the sultans of Egypt and Persia, their
allies against the Ottoman power; the secret was soon propagated to the
extremities of Asia; and the advantage of the European was confined to
his easy victories over the savages of the new world. If we contrast the
rapid progress of this mischievous discovery with the slow and laborious
advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher,
according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind.
[Footnote 91: The first and second volumes of Dr. Watson's Chemical
Essays contain two valuable discourses on the discovery and composition
of gunpowder.]
[Footnote 92: On this subject modern testimonies cannot be trusted. The
original passages are collected by Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. i. p.
675, _Bombarda_.) But in the early doubtful twilight, the name, sound,
fire, and effect, that seem to express _our_ artillery, may be fairly
interpreted of the old engines and the Greek fire. For the English
cannon at Crecy, the authority of John Villani (Chron. l. xii. c.
65) must be weighed against the silence of Froissard. Yet Muratori
(Antiquit. ItaliÊ Medii ∆vi, tom. ii. Dissert. xxvi. p. 514, 515)
has produced a decisive passage from Petrarch, (De Remediis utriusque
FortunÊ Dialog.,) who, before the year 1344, execrates this terrestrial
thunder, _nuper_ rara, _nunc_ communis. * Note: Mr. Hallam makes
the following observation on the objection
thrown our by Gibbon: "The positive testimony of Villani, who
died within two years afterwards, and had manifestly obtained much
information as to the great events passing in France, cannot be
rejected. He ascribes a material effect to the cannon of Edward, Colpi
delle bombarde, which I suspect, from his strong expressions, had not
been employed before, except against stone walls. It seems, he says,
as if God thundered con grande uccisione di genti e efondamento di
cavalli." Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 510.--M.]
[Footnote 93: The Turkish cannon, which Ducas (c. 30) first introduces
before Belgrade, (A.D. 1436,) is mentioned by Chalcondyles (l. v. p.
123) in 1422, at the siege of Constantinople.]
Chapter LXVI: Union Of The Greek And Latin Churches.--Part I.
Applications Of The Eastern Emperors To The Popes.--Visits
To The West, Of John The First, Manuel, And John The Second,
PalÊologus.--Union Of The Greek And Latin Churches, Promoted
By The Council Of Basil, And Concluded At Ferrara And
Florence.--State Of Literature At Constantinople.--Its
Revival In Italy By The Greek Fugitives.--Curiosity And
Emulation Of The Latins.
In the four last centuries of the Greek emperors, their friendly or
hostile aspect towards the pope and the Latins may be observed as the
thermometer of their prosperity or distress; as the scale of the rise
and fall of the Barbarian dynasties. When the Turks of the house of
Seljuk pervaded Asia, and threatened Constantinople, we have seen, at
the council of Placentia, the suppliant ambassadors of Alexius imploring
the protection of the common father of the Christians. No sooner had
the arms of the French pilgrims removed the sultan from Nice to Iconium,
than the Greek princes resumed, or avowed, their genuine hatred and
contempt for the schismatics of the West, which precipitated the first
downfall of their empire. The date of the Mogul invasion is marked in
the soft and charitable language of John Vataces. After the recovery of
Constantinople, the throne of the first PalÊologus was encompassed
by foreign and domestic enemies; as long as the sword of Charles was
suspended over his head, he basely courted the favor of the Roman
pontiff; and sacrificed to the present danger his faith, his virtue, and
the affection of his subjects. On the decease of Michael, the prince
and people asserted the independence of their church, and the purity of
their creed: the elder Andronicus neither feared nor loved the Latins;
in his last distress, pride was the safeguard of superstition; nor could
he decently retract in his age the firm and orthodox declarations of
his youth. His grandson, the younger Andronicus, was less a slave in
his temper and situation; and the conquest of Bithynia by the Turks
admonished him to seek a temporal and spiritual alliance with the
Western princes. After a separation and silence of fifty years, a secret
agent, the monk Barlaam, was despatched to Pope Benedict the Twelfth;
and his artful instructions appear to have been drawn by the master-hand
of the great domestic. [1] "Most holy father," was he commissioned to
say, "the emperor is not less desirous than yourself of a union between
the two churches: but in this delicate transaction, he is obliged to
respect his own dignity and the prejudices of his subjects. The ways of
union are twofold; force and persuasion. Of force, the inefficacy has
been already tried; since the Latins have subdued the empire, without
subduing the minds, of the Greeks. The method of persuasion, though
slow, is sure and permanent. A deputation of thirty or forty of our
doctors would probably agree with those of the Vatican, in the love of
truth and the unity of belief; but on their return, what would be the
use, the recompense, of such an agreement? the scorn of their brethren,
and the reproaches of a blind and obstinate nation. Yet that nation
is accustomed to reverence the general councils, which have fixed the
articles of our faith; and if they reprobate the decrees of Lyons, it is
because the Eastern churches were neither heard nor represented in that
arbitrary meeting. For this salutary end, it will be expedient, and
even necessary, that a well-chosen legate should be sent into Greece,
to convene the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and
Jerusalem; and, with their aid, to prepare a free and universal
synod. But at this moment," continued the subtle agent, "the empire is
assaulted and endangered by the Turks, who have occupied four of the
greatest cities of Anatolia. The Christian inhabitants have expressed a
wish of returning to their allegiance and religion; but the forces and
revenues of the emperor are insufficient for their deliverance: and the
Roman legate must be accompanied, or preceded, by an army of Franks,
to expel the infidels, and open a way to the holy sepulchre." If the
suspicious Latins should require some pledge, some previous effect of
the sincerity of the Greeks, the answers of Barlaam were perspicuous and
rational. "_1._ A general synod can alone consummate the union of
the churches; nor can such a synod be held till the three Oriental
patriarchs, and a great number of bishops, are enfranchised from the
Mahometan yoke. _2._ The Greeks are alienated by a long series of
oppression and injury: they must be reconciled by some act of brotherly
love, some effectual succor, which may fortify the authority and
arguments of the emperor, and the friends of the union. _3._ If some
difference of faith or ceremonies should be found incurable, the Greeks,
however, are the disciples of Christ; and the Turks are the common
enemies of the Christian name. The Armenians, Cyprians, and Rhodians,
are equally attacked; and it will become the piety of the French princes
to draw their swords in the general defence of religion. _4._ Should
the subjects of Andronicus be treated as the worst of schismatics, of
heretics, of pagans, a judicious policy may yet instruct the powers of
the West to embrace a useful ally, to uphold a sinking empire, to guard
the confines of Europe; and rather to join the Greeks against the
Turks, than to expect the union of the Turkish arms with the troops and
treasures of captive Greece." The reasons, the offers, and the demands,
of Andronicus were eluded with cold and stately indifference. The kings
of France and Naples declined the dangers and glory of a crusade; the
pope refused to call a new synod to determine old articles of faith;
and his regard for the obsolete claims of the Latin emperor and clergy
engaged him to use an offensive superscription,--"To the _moderator_ [2]
of the Greeks, and the persons who style themselves the patriarchs of
the Eastern churches." For such an embassy, a time and character less
propitious could not easily have been found. Benedict the Twelfth [3] was
a dull peasant, perplexed with scruples, and immersed in sloth and wine:
his pride might enrich with a third crown the papal tiara, but he was
alike unfit for the regal and the pastoral office.
[Footnote 1: This curious instruction was transcribed (I believe) from
the Vatican archives, by Odoricus Raynaldus, in his Continuation of the
Annals of Baronius, (RomÊ, 1646--1677, in x. volumes in folio.) I have
contented myself with the AbbÈ Fleury, (Hist. EcclÈsiastique. tom. xx.
p. 1--8,) whose abstracts I have always found to be clear, accurate, and
impartial.]
[Footnote 2: The ambiguity of this title is happy or ingenious; and
_moderator_, as synonymous to _rector_, _gubernator_, is a word of
classical, and even Ciceronian, Latinity, which may be found, not in the
Glossary of Ducange, but in the Thesaurus of Robert Stephens.]
[Footnote 3: The first epistle (sine titulo) of Petrarch exposes the
danger of the _bark_, and the incapacity of the _pilot_. HÊc inter,
vino madidus, Êvo gravis, ac soporifero rore perfusus, jamjam nutitat,
dormitat, jam somno prÊceps, atque (utinam solus) ruit..... Heu quanto
felicius patrio terram sulcasset aratro, quam scalmum piscatorium
ascendisset! This satire engages his biographer to weigh the virtues and
vices of Benedict XII. which have been exaggerated by Guelphs and
Ghibe lines, by Papists and Protestants, (see MÈmoires sur la Vie de
PÈtrarque, tom. i. p. 259, ii. not. xv. p. 13--16.) He gave occasion to
the saying, Bibamus papaliter.]
After the decease of Andronicus, while the Greeks were distracted by
intestine war, they could not presume to agitate a general union of
the Christians. But as soon as Cantacuzene had subdued and pardoned
his enemies, he was anxious to justify, or at least to extenuate, the
introduction of the Turks into Europe, and the nuptials of his
daughter with a Mussulman prince. Two officers of state, with a Latin
interpreter, were sent in his name to the Roman court, which was
transplanted to Avignon, on the banks of the RhÙne, during a period of
seventy years: they represented the hard necessity which had urged him
to embrace the alliance of the miscreants, and pronounced by his command
the specious and edifying sounds of union and crusade. Pope Clement the
Sixth, [4] the successor of Benedict, received them with hospitality
and honor, acknowledged the innocence of their sovereign, excused his
distress, applauded his magnanimity, and displayed a clear knowledge of
the state and revolutions of the Greek empire, which he had imbibed
from the honest accounts of a Savoyard lady, an attendant of the empress
Anne. [5] If Clement was ill endowed with the virtues of a priest, he
possessed, however, the spirit and magnificence of a prince, whose
liberal hand distributed benefices and kingdoms with equal facility.
Under his reign Avignon was the seat of pomp and pleasure: in his youth
he had surpassed the licentiousness of a baron; and the palace, nay, the
bed-chamber of the pope, was adorned, or polluted, by the visits of his
female favorites. The wars of France and England were adverse to the
holy enterprise; but his vanity was amused by the splendid idea; and the
Greek ambassadors returned with two Latin bishops, the ministers of the
pontiff. On their arrival at Constantinople, the emperor and the nuncios
admired each other's piety and eloquence; and their frequent conferences
were filled with mutual praises and promises, by which both parties were
amused, and neither could be deceived. "I am delighted," said the devout
Cantacuzene, "with the project of our holy war, which must redound to
my personal glory, as well as to the public benefit of Christendom. My
dominions will give a free passage to the armies of France: my troops,
my galleys, my treasures, shall be consecrated to the common cause;
and happy would be my fate, could I deserve and obtain the crown of
martyrdom. Words are insufficient to express the ardor with which I sigh
for the reunion of the scattered members of Christ. If my death could
avail, I would gladly present my sword and my neck: if the spiritual
phnix could arise from my ashes, I would erect the pile, and kindle the
flame with my own hands." Yet the Greek emperor presumed to observe,
that the articles of faith which divided the two churches had been
introduced by the pride and precipitation of the Latins: he disclaimed
the servile and arbitrary steps of the first PalÊologus; and firmly
declared, that he would never submit his conscience unless to the
decrees of a free and universal synod. "The situation of the times,"
continued he, "will not allow the pope and myself to meet either at Rome
or Constantinople; but some maritime city may be chosen on the verge of
the two empires, to unite the bishops, and to instruct the faithful, of
the East and West." The nuncios seemed content with the proposition; and
Cantacuzene affects to deplore the failure of his hopes, which were
soon overthrown by the death of Clement, and the different temper of
his successor. His own life was prolonged, but it was prolonged in a
cloister; and, except by his prayers, the humble monk was incapable of
directing the counsels of his pupil or the state. [6]
[Footnote 4: See the original Lives of Clement VI. in Muratori, (Script.
Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 550--589;) Matteo Villani, (Chron.
l. iii. c. 43, in Muratori, tom. xiv. p. 186,) who styles him, molto
cavallaresco, poco religioso; Fleury, (Hist. EcclÈs. tom. xx. p. 126;)
and the Vie de PÈtrarque, (tom. ii. p. 42--45.) The abbÈ de Sade treats
him with the most indulgence; but _he_ is a gentleman as well as a
priest.]
[Footnote 5: Her name (most probably corrupted) was Zampea. She had
accompanied, and alone remained with her mistress at Constantinople,
where her prudence, erudition, and politeness deserved the praises of
the Greeks themselves, (Cantacuzen. l. i. c. 42.)]
[Footnote 6: See this whole negotiation in Cantacuzene, (l. iv. c. 9,)
who, amidst the praises and virtues which he bestows on himself, reveals
the uneasiness of a guilty conscience.]
Yet of all the Byzantine princes, that pupil, John PalÊologus, was the
best disposed to embrace, to believe, and to obey, the shepherd of the
West. His mother, Anne of Savoy, was baptized in the bosom of the
Latin church: her marriage with Andronicus imposed a change of name, of
apparel, and of worship, but her heart was still faithful to her country
and religion: she had formed the infancy of her son, and she governed
the emperor, after his mind, or at least his stature, was enlarged to
the size of man. In the first year of his deliverance and restoration,
the Turks were still masters of the Hellespont; the son of Cantacuzene
was in arms at Adrianople; and PalÊologus could depend neither on
himself nor on his people. By his mother's advice, and in the hope of
foreign aid, he abjured the rights both of the church and state; and
the act of slavery, [7] subscribed in purple ink, and sealed with the
_golden_ bull, was privately intrusted to an Italian agent. The first
article of the treaty is an oath of fidelity and obedience to Innocent
the Sixth and his successors, the supreme pontiffs of the Roman and
Catholic church. The emperor promises to entertain with due reverence
their legates and nuncios; to assign a palace for their residence, and
a temple for their worship; and to deliver his second son Manuel as
the hostage of his faith. For these condescensions he requires a prompt
succor of fifteen galleys, with five hundred men at arms, and a
thousand archers, to serve against his Christian and Mussulman enemies.
PalÊologus engages to impose on his clergy and people the same spiritual
yoke; but as the resistance of the Greeks might be justly foreseen, he
adopts the two effectual methods of corruption and education. The legate
was empowered to distribute the vacant benefices among the ecclesiastics
who should subscribe the creed of the Vatican: three schools were
instituted to instruct the youth of Constantinople in the language and
doctrine of the Latins; and the name of Andronicus, the heir of the
empire, was enrolled as the first student. Should he fail in the
measures of persuasion or force, PalÊologus declares himself unworthy
to reign; transferred to the pope all regal and paternal authority; and
invests Innocent with full power to regulate the family, the government,
and the marriage, of his son and successor. But this treaty was neither
executed nor published: the Roman galleys were as vain and imaginary as
the submission of the Greeks; and it was only by the secrecy that their
sovereign escaped the dishonor of this fruitless humiliation.
[Footnote 7: See this ignominious treaty in Fleury, (Hist. EcclÈs. p.
151--154,) from Raynaldus, who drew it from the Vatican archives. It was
not worth the trouble of a pious forgery.]
The tempest of the Turkish arms soon burst on his head; and after the
loss of Adrianople and Romania, he was enclosed in his capital, the
vassal of the haughty Amurath, with the miserable hope of being the last
devoured by the savage. In this abject state, PalÊologus embraced the
resolution of embarking for Venice, and casting himself at the feet of
the pope: he was the first of the Byzantine princes who had ever
visited the unknown regions of the West, yet in them alone he could seek
consolation or relief; and with less violation of his dignity he might
appear in the sacred college than at the Ottoman _Porte_. After a long
absence, the Roman pontiffs were returning from Avignon to the banks
of the Tyber: Urban the Fifth, [8] of a mild and virtuous character,
encouraged or allowed the pilgrimage of the Greek prince; and, within
the same year, enjoyed the glory of receiving in the Vatican the
two Imperial shadows who represented the majesty of Constantine and
Charlemagne. In this suppliant visit, the emperor of Constantinople,
whose vanity was lost in his distress, gave more than could be expected
of empty sounds and formal submissions. A previous trial was imposed;
and, in the presence of four cardinals, he acknowledged, as a true
Catholic, the supremacy of the pope, and the double procession of the
Holy Ghost. After this purification, he was introduced to a public
audience in the church of St. Peter: Urban, in the midst of the
cardinals, was seated on his throne; the Greek monarch, after three
genuflections, devoutly kissed the feet, the hands, and at length the
mouth, of the holy father, who celebrated high mass in his presence,
allowed him to lead the bridle of his mule, and treated him with a
sumptuous banquet in the Vatican. The entertainment of PalÊologus was
friendly and honorable; yet some difference was observed between the
emperors of the East and West; [9] nor could the former be entitled to
the rare privilege of chanting the gospel in the rank of a deacon. [10]
In favor of his proselyte, Urban strove to rekindle the zeal of the
French king and the other powers of the West; but he found them cold in
the general cause, and active only in their domestic quarrels. The last
hope of the emperor was in an English mercenary, John Hawkwood, [11]
or Acuto, who, with a band of adventurers, the white brotherhood,
had ravaged Italy from the Alps to Calabria; sold his services to the
hostile states; and incurred a just excommunication by shooting his
arrows against the papal residence. A special license was granted to
negotiate with the outlaw, but the forces, or the spirit, of Hawkwood,
were unequal to the enterprise: and it was for the advantage, perhaps,
of PalÊologus to be disappointed of succor, that must have been costly,
that could not be effectual, and which might have been dangerous. [12]
The disconsolate Greek [13] prepared for his return, but even his return
was impeded by a most ignominious obstacle. On his arrival at Venice, he
had borrowed large sums at exorbitant usury; but his coffers were empty,
his creditors were impatient, and his person was detained as the best
security for the payment. His eldest son, Andronicus, the regent of
Constantinople, was repeatedly urged to exhaust every resource; and even
by stripping the churches, to extricate his father from captivity and
disgrace. But the unnatural youth was insensible of the disgrace, and
secretly pleased with the captivity of the emperor: the state was poor,
the clergy were obstinate; nor could some religious scruple be wanting
to excuse the guilt of his indifference and delay. Such undutiful
neglect was severely reproved by the piety of his brother Manuel, who
instantly sold or mortgaged all that he possessed, embarked for Venice,
relieved his father, and pledged his own freedom to be responsible
for the debt. On his return to Constantinople, the parent and king
distinguished his two sons with suitable rewards; but the faith and
manners of the slothful PalÊologus had not been improved by his Roman
pilgrimage; and his apostasy or conversion, devoid of any spiritual or
temporal effects, was speedily forgotten by the Greeks and Latins. [14]
[Footnote 8: See the two first original Lives of Urban V., (in Muratori,
Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 623, 635,) and the
Ecclesiastical Annals of Spondanus, (tom. i. p. 573, A.D. 1369, No. 7,)
and Raynaldus, (Fleury, Hist. EcclÈs. tom. xx. p. 223, 224.) Yet, from
some variations, I suspect the papal writers of slightly magnifying the
genuflections of PalÊologus.]
[Footnote 9: Paullo minus quam si fuisset Imperator Romanorum. Yet his
title of Imperator GrÊcorum was no longer disputed, (Vit. Urban V. p.
623.)]
[Footnote 10: It was confined to the successors of Charlemagne, and
to them only on Christmas-day. On all other festivals these Imperial
deacons were content to serve the pope, as he said mass, with the book
and the _corporale_. Yet the abbÈ de Sade generously thinks that the
merits of Charles IV. might have entitled him, though not on the proper
day, (A.D. 1368, November 1,) to the whole privilege. He seems to affix
a just value on the privilege and the man, (Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii.
p. 735.)]
[Footnote 11: Through some Italian corruptions, the etymology of
_Falcone in bosco_, (Matteo Villani, l. xi. c. 79, in Muratori, tom.
xv. p. 746,) suggests the English word _Hawkwood_, the true name of
our adventurous countryman, (Thomas Walsingham, Hist. Anglican. inter
Scriptores Camdeni, p. 184.) After two-and-twenty victories, and one
defeat, he died, in 1394, general of the Florentines, and was buried
with such honors as the republic has not paid to Dante or Petrarch,
(Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xii. p. 212--371.)]
[Footnote 12: This torrent of English (by birth or service) overflowed
from France into Italy after the peace of Bretigny in 1630. Yet the
exclamation of Muratori (Annali, tom. xii. p. 197) is rather true than
civil. "Ci mancava ancor questo, che dopo essere calpestrata l'Italia
da tanti masnadieri Tedeschi ed Ungheri, venissero fin dall' Inghliterra
nuovi _cani_ a finire di divorarla."]
[Footnote 13: Chalcondyles, l. i. p. 25, 26. The Greek supposes his
journey to the king of France, which is sufficiently refuted by the
silence of the national historians. Nor am I much more inclined to
believe, that PalÊologus departed from Italy, valde bene consolatus et
contentus, (Vit. Urban V. p. 623.)]
[Footnote 14: His return in 1370, and the coronation of Manuel, Sept.
25, 1373, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 241,) leaves some intermediate Êra
for the conspiracy and punishment of Andronicus.]