_SOME BISHOPS, KINGS, POPES, AND INQUISITORS._
THEORY OF THE UNITY OF THE CLERGY.
The clergy, including the monks and friars, were one throughout Latin
Christendom. Whatever antagonism, feud, hatred, and estrangement might
rise between rival prelates, rival priests, rival orders, whatever
irreconcilable jealousy there might be between the seculars and regulars,
yet the caste seldom betrayed the interest of the caste. The clergy in
general were first the subjects of the Pope, then the subjects of their
temporal sovereign. The Pope came to be acknowledged over the whole of
Christendom as the guardian, and in some respects the suzerain, of Church
property all over the world. He was at least a more impartial judge than
their rival or antagonist--the civil ruler. The universal fraternity of
the monastic orders and of the friars was even more intimate than the bond
between the clergy. The wandering friars found everywhere a home. Their
all-comprehending fraternisation had the power and some of the mystery,
without the suspicion and hatred, which attaches to secret societies. It
was a perpetual campaign, set in motion and still moving on with
simultaneous impulse from one or from several centres, but with a single
aim and object--the aggrandisement of the society, with all the results
for evil or for good.
THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Milman says: "The essential inherent supremacy of the spiritual over the
temporal power was in the time of Innocent III. (1198-1216) an integral
part of Christianity. Splendid indeed it was, as harmonising with man's
natural sentiment of order. The unity of the vast Christian republic was
an imposing conception, which, even now that history has shown its
hopeless impossibility, still infatuates lofty minds: its impossibility,
since it demands for its head not merely that infallibility in doctrine
so boldly claimed in later times, but absolute impeccability in every one
of its possessors; more than impeccability--an all-commanding,
indefeasible, unquestionable majesty of virtue, holiness, and wisdom.
Without this it is a baseless tyranny, a senseless usurpation. In those
days it struck in with the whole feudal system, which was of strict
gradation and subordination; to the hierarchy of Church and State was
equally wanting the crown, the sovereign Liege Lord. The Crusades had made
the Pope not merely the spiritual but in some sort the military suzerain
of Europe. He had the power of summoning all Christendom to his banner;
the raising of the cross, the standard of the Pope, was throughout Europe
a general and compulsory levy. The vast subventions raised for the Holy
Land were to a certain extent at the disposal of the Pope. An immense
financial system grew up. Papal collectors were in every land; Papal
bankers in every capital to transmit these subsidies. He claimed to be
supreme judge of all the ecclesiastical courts in every country, and to
approve and degrade bishops, to grant dispensations, and to found new
orders and direct canonisations. This claim of supremacy made lawless
kings tremble, and in this way did some good. Nothing could be more
sublime than the notion of a great supreme religious power, the
representative of God's eternal and immutable justice upon earth,
absolutely above all passion or interest, interposing with the commanding
voice of authority in the quarrels of kings and nations, persuading peace
by the unimpeachable impartiality of its judgments, and even invested with
power to enforce its unerring decrees. But the sublimity of the notion
depends on the arbiter's absolute exemption from the unextinguishable
weaknesses of human nature. If the tribunal commands not unquestioning
respect, if there be the slightest just suspicion of partiality, if it
goes beyond its lawful province, if it has no power of compelling
obedience, it adds but another element to the general confusion; it is a
partisan enlisted on one side or the other, not a mediator conciliating
conflicting interests or overawing the collision of factions. Yet such was
the Papal power in these times: often, no doubt, on the side of justice
and humanity--too often on the other; looking to the interests of the
Church alone, assumed, but assumed without ground, to be the same as those
of Christendom and mankind, the representative of fallible man rather than
of the infallible God. Ten years of strife and civil war in Germany were
traced, if not to the direct instigation, to the inflexible obstinacy of
Pope Innocent III."
THE ELECTION OF POPES.
Under the first Christian princes the chair of St. Peter, like the throne
of other bishops, was submitted to a popular election, and constant
tumults attended these, owing to the vague and unsettled views of the
voters. The voters were the clergy, the nobility, the heads of
monasteries, and the common people, who all voted indiscriminately by the
show of hands or counting of heads. In 1179 Pope Alexander III. abolished
the popular mode of election, and assigned the sole right of election to
the College of Cardinals, or two-thirds of their number. The number of
cardinals seldom exceeded twenty-five, till the reign of Leo X. (1513). By
this mode of election a double choice had only occurred once in six
hundred years after Alexander III. In 1274 Gregory X., by his bull, fixed
a short interval for filling up the vacancy. Nine days were allowed for
the obsequies of the deceased Pope and the arrival of the absent
cardinals. On the tenth day these are each sequestered with one domestic
in a common apartment, or conclave, without any separation of walls or
curtains. A small window is reserved for the introduction of necessaries;
but the door is locked on both sides and guarded by the magistrates of the
city, so as to exclude all correspondence with the world. If the election
is not accomplished in three days, the tables are restricted to a single
dish at dinner and supper. After the eighth day the food is reduced to a
scanty allowance of bread, water, and wine. During the vacancy the
cardinals are prohibited from touching the revenues or government of the
Church, and all agreements between the electors are null and void. It is
said that the cardinals have three modes of election: (1) by scrutiny; (2)
by compromise; (3) by inspiration. By the first mode three of a committee
take the vote of each elector in secret, and two-thirds carry the
election. By the second mode each on oath pledges himself to agree to
whatever candidate three others selected from the whole may select. By the
third method, when all agree without a dissentient on one name, this is
deemed to be by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Or if two-thirds
unanimously salute one candidate as Pope, this is called an election by
adoration.
ORIGIN AND DRESS OF CARDINALS.
The name of cardinal was merely a synonym for presbyter and deacon, and
came to be given specially to those rectors or presbyters whom the Pope
made use of in the government of the Churches in Rome. Till the end of the
tenth century these cardinals were of lower rank than the bishops who met
in Church councils. The rectors of the seven Churches which were situated
nearest to Rome and helped the Pope in celebrations of the liturgy began
at first to be called Roman bishops, and in the eleventh century cardinal
bishops of the Lateran Church, as being assistants in Divine service in
the Lateran Church. By degrees these began to obtain precedence over other
bishops. In 1059 they were allowed to have the chief voice in electing the
Pope, and their authority was continually increasing, and in the twelfth
century the election of a Pope was taken away from the people and clergy
of Rome and vested in the cardinals exclusively. After that the cardinals
used to be called the "Pope's holy senate," "princes of the world," and
"judges of the earth," taking precedence of all other bishops. In the
fourteenth century the number of cardinals was fixed by Urban VI. and
directed not to exceed twenty; in another century they became twenty-four;
in 1514 they reached thirty-nine, and in 1535 reached to forty, and then
to seventy. They began in the thirteenth century to wear a purple dress
and a red hat, which in shape was like a very small cap, with scarcely any
brim. A silk mitre of damascene work and a red hood followed.
PAUL OF SAMOSATA, THE DEGRADED BISHOP (A.D. 260).
When the severity of persecution relaxed in the first three centuries, the
effect was seen in the growing vice of unprincipled persons assuming the
Christian religion and using it as a cloak for licentiousness. One Paul of
Samosata was made Bishop of Antioch in 260, and contrived to make the
service of the Church a lucrative profession. He extorted frequent
contributions from the faithful, and appropriated to his own use much of
the public revenue. His pride and luxury soon made him odious. Crowds of
suppliants and petitioners frequented his house for evil ends. When he
harangued his people from the pulpit, he affected the figurative style and
theatrical gestures of an Asiatic sophist, whilst the cathedral resounded
with the loudest and most extravagant acclamations in the praise of his
Divine eloquence. He was arrogant, rigid, and inexorable to his enemies;
but he relaxed the discipline and lavished the treasure of the Church on
his dependent clergy, who were, like himself, given up to dissipation.
Some errors of his as to the Trinity excited the indignation of the other
bishops. They often met and obtained promises and treaties; but eighty of
them of their own authority took on themselves at last to excommunicate
him; and as they did so somewhat irregularly, it took four years to turn
him out of possession. The Emperor Aurelian was appealed to; and after
hearing both sides, he resolved to execute the sentence of the other
bishops, and to expel Paul from the possession of his see.
THE DIGNITY OF EMPEROR AND THE FIRST ABDICATION (A.D. 305).
The Emperor Diocletian, who joined in 303 in a persecution of the
Christians, and who died in 313, was the first who made the throne of
dazzling splendour in the eyes of the people. Up to his time the emperors
assumed no airs and talked familiarly to the citizens. But Diocletian
introduced the Persian habits, which approached adoration towards the
king. Not content with the robe of purple, like his predecessors, he
assumed the diadem, a broad white fillet set with pearls. His robes were
silk and gold, his shoes studded with the most precious gems. The avenues
of the palace were guarded by schools of officials and the interior
apartments by eunuchs. When an audience was allowed, the subject was
obliged to fall prostrate on the ground, as if adoring the great lord and
master. The whole ceremony resembled a theatrical performance. All this
naturally led to a great increase of taxation. After enjoying supreme
power twenty-one years, this emperor had the glory of giving to the world
the first example of a voluntary resignation, though he did not, like his
successor Charles V., enter a monastery and live like a monk. When
Diocletian abdicated, he was of the age of fifty-five, and Charles was
fifty-nine. Diocletian had, soon after the ceremony of his triumph, caught
a chill during the cold and rainy winter of 304, which brought his body
down to a state of emaciation and caused him to seek repose, and it was
said that he was averse to enforce his edict against the Christians. The
ceremony of his abdication was performed in a spacious plain, three miles
from Nicomedia. He ascended a lofty throne, and in a speech full of reason
and dignity declared his intention. As soon as he divested himself of the
purple, he withdrew from the public gaze and in a covered chariot to his
favourite retirement of Salona, in Dalmatia, his native country. He spent
his leisure hours in building, planting, and gardening. He prided himself
on his cabbages; but he covered ten acres of ground with his new palace,
and it was said that the stately rooms had neither windows nor chimneys,
but were heated with pipes. It was said to be doubtful how he died in 313,
some surmising that it was by suicide.
AN EARLY BISHOP BUILDING A WORKHOUSE (A.D. 373).
Though the care of the poor was long viewed as properly falling under the
province of the Church, and after the time of Elizabeth it was transferred
by English law to the occupiers of lands in each parish, a great outcry
was made against St. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea, about 373, for establishing
a large workhouse or hospital. The Phocotropheion, or hospital, for the
reception and relief of the poor, was erected by Basil in the suburbs of
Cæsarea. His enemies denounced this project to the governor of the
province as a dangerous innovation. It was called sometimes "the new
town," and at a later date the Basilead, after its founder. It was a
gigantic structure, and included a church, a palace for the bishop,
residences for the clergy; hospices for the poor, sick, and wayfarers;
workshops for the artisans and labourers connected with the building, and
their apprentices. There was also a special department for lepers, with
arrangements for their proper medical treatment, and great care was taken
of these loathsome patients. By this enormous establishment Basil's
enemies said he was aiming at an invasion of the civil power. But he
adroitly parried the accusation by pointing out that there were also
apartments in his establishment provided for the governor of the province,
and that, after all, the chief glory of the structure would redound to the
latter. This view pacified the angry critics.
TWO BISHOPS STRIVING FOR A CHURCH SITE (A.D. 420).
About 420 two bishops in Libya had set their hearts on securing, as a site
for a new church, a place which had been formerly kept as a strong refuge,
well fortified against the incursions of the barbarians. Each intended to
convert it into a magnificent temple according to a plan of his own. In
order to secure the spot one of them resorted to the following stratagem:
He pressed his way in by force, caused an altar to be instantly set up,
and then and there consecrated upon it the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
According to the superstition or settled faith of the time, this was
deemed equivalent to consecration, after which the place could not be used
for any secular purpose of social life. When this incident was reported by
Bishop Synesius to Theophilus, Patriarch of Constantinople, he condemned
it as sharp practice and a debasing of holy things to unworthy purposes,
most unbecoming to any genuine Christian.
HOW BISHOPS WERE MADE IN THE FIFTH CENTURY (A.D. 448).
Germanus of Auxerre was born in 380, of high family and rich. He was
educated as a lawyer, soon became an advocate, next married a wealthy
lady, and was appointed to a high office as Governor-General. His great
delight was then in hunting, and he used to hang up all the heads of the
beasts he killed on a pear tree. The bishop, St. Amator, used to reprove
him for this weakness; and one day, in the absence of Germanus, the bishop
cut down the pear tree as a remnant of superstition. Germanus, on his
return, was furious with rage, and threatened the bishop with death. But
the bishop knew by revelation that his own end was near, and that Germanus
was destined to be his successor. St. Amator went away to the Prefect, and
asked leave to perform the tonsure on Germanus. Leave being given, St.
Amator assembled his people, told them of his end, and bade them choose a
successor and repair to the church. When they were there, he ordered the
doors to be locked; and collecting a crowd of clergy and nobles, they
seized Germanus by force, cut off his hair, and stripped him of his
secular garments, clothed him as a deacon, and told him he was to be next
bishop after St. Amator. St. Amator died a few days afterwards, and the
clergy and people elected Germanus, and he was obliged to act, though very
reluctant. When elected, however, he became another man. He embraced a
life of poverty; sold off all his goods; gave up wine, oil, vinegar, salt,
and even wheaten bread, living entirely on barley meal, which he made by
his own labour. He ate his frugal meal only once a day, and sometimes only
once a week. He lay on a box bed filled with ashes with his clothes on and
in his hair shirt. He carried always a little box suspended on his breast,
having in it relics of saints. He distributed all his property among the
poor, founded several monasteries, discovered the sepulchres of several
martyrs, and worked many miracles. He died in 448.
A FIFTH-CENTURY BISHOP VISITING HIS FRIENDS (A.D. 471).
Sidonius Apollinaris, elected bishop of Auvergne in 471, and the
son-in-law of the Emperor Avitus, thus wrote to Donidius: "In visiting
this delightful country I have passed a time of the greatest enjoyment
with my kind and polite friends Ferreolus and Apollinaris, who are near
neighbours. On the morning of each day there was an agreeable contention
between our hosts whose kitchen should first begin to smoke with the good
things to be prepared for us. Thus we hurried from one entertainment to
another. Hardly had we passed the threshold when, behold, regular matches
of tennis-players within the circular enclosures, and the frequent noise
and rattling of dice, with the clamours of the players. In another part
were placed such an abundance of books ready for use, that you might
suppose yourself in the libraries of the grammarians, or among the benches
of the Roman Athenæum. After these studies a messenger from the chief cook
reminded us punctually at the third hour that dinner was on the table.
This copious repast was served up in few dishes, although there were both
roast and boiled. Little stories were told while we were taking our wine,
which conveyed delight and instruction as they happened to be dictated by
experience or gaiety. We were decorously, eloquently, and abundantly
entertained. Having shaken off our after-dinner nap, we amused ourselves
with a short ride to get an appetite for our supper. We then repaired to
the hot baths, and passed an hour or two in the midst of much wit and
merriment, during which we were all thrown into a most salubrious
perspiration, being enveloped in the steam as it came hissing from the
water. When we had been suffused with this long enough, we were plunged
into the hot water; and being well cleansed and refreshed, we were
afterwards braced by an abundance of cold water from the river Viardus, a
transparent and gentle stream abounding in delicate fish. I might go on
and give you a description of our sumptuous suppers did not my paper put a
stop to my loquacity."
A BISHOP PUTTING DOWN SOOTHSAYERS (A.D. 500).
Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles, was born in 470, and in course of his career
sought to suppress the then growing superstition of seeking for oracles in
passages of Scripture. The first trace of the abuse was found by St.
Augustine, who said: "Although it is to be wished that those who seek
their fortunes out of the Gospels would rather do this than run to ask
their idols, yet this custom displeases me--the wishing to use the Word of
God, which speaks in reference to another life, for worldly concerns and
the vain objects of the present life." The clergy joined in this idle
superstition. In doubtful earthly concerns persons would lay down a Bible
in a church upon the altar, or especially upon the grave of a saint, would
fast and pray, and invoke the saint that he would indicate the future by a
passage of Scripture, and sought for the answer in the first passage which
met the eye on opening the Bible. Cæsarius promoted a decree against this
practice at the Council of Agde in 508, which excluded from Church
communion all persons, both of the clergy and laity, who practised
divination under the semblance of religion, or promised a disclosure of
the future by looking into the Scriptures.
A BISHOP ZEALOUS IN RELEASING PRISONERS (A.D. 500).
In the turbulent age when Bishop Cæsarius lived, about A.D. 500, a great
number of prisoners were brought into the city of Arles, and the bishop
used all his power in providing clothing, food, and money to purchase
their freedom. It is related that, after exhausting the church chest and
selling the gold and silver vessels, he stripped the walls and pillars of
the church in order to raise money. One day the steward suggested that all
the funds were gone, and nothing was left except to send out the prisoners
into the streets to beg. Before taking this extreme step the bishop went
into his cell, and prayed that the Lord would grant supplies for the poor.
He then returned with a cheerful face, and reproved the steward for his
want of faith, telling him to bake the last grain of corn into bread, that
they might all have one meal together, so that they might be able to fast
the following day. This was done, and the next day was looked forward to
by all with great anxiety; but in the early morning three vessels hove in
sight, laden with corn, which the Burgundian kings Gundobad and Sigismund
had sent to Cæsarius in aid of his good work, and so all were relieved
from a critical situation. Another time a poor man asked the bishop for
money to ransom a captive, and the bishop went to fetch his sacerdotal
dress, and gave it to be sold for a price to set the captive free.
THE KING OF THE GAULS PERSUADED TO BE CHRISTIAN (A.D. 500).
Clovis I., King of the Gauls, who died in 511, and who by successful
battles made a kingdom for himself, had been brought up a Pagan till his
thirteenth year. He married Clotilda, niece of the Arian King of Burgundy,
and she felt bound to convert her husband. Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, was
induced to explain the advantages of the Christian faith, whereupon Clovis
and three thousand of his subjects were at once baptised with great
solemnity. When he was told of the sufferings and death of Christ, he
broke out into a passion, and exclaimed, "Had I been present at the head
of my valiant Franks, I would have revenged His injuries." The King,
however, had many battles still to fight, and lived a turbulent life, but
was disposed to confide in future in the protection of the Lord of Hosts.
The sepulchre of St. Martin of Tours was then the centre of pious interest
from the multitude of miracles, and the King made rich offerings to the
saint, whom he sometimes described as a rather expensive friend. For he
had made a present of his war-horse after a great victory, and on wishing
to redeem it by the gift of a hundred pieces of gold, the enchanted horse
refused to leave its stable till he had doubled the sum offered. In his
pursuit of the expedition against the Goths, and during his march from
Paris through Tours, he directed his messengers to remark the words of the
psalm which should happen to be chanted at the precise moment when they
entered the church. It happened that the words were about Joshua who went
forth to battle against the enemies of the Lord. This greatly encouraged
the army. A white hart of great size and beauty was also noticed to guide
the troops in the right direction, and a flaming meteor appeared in the
air above the cathedral of Poitiers. With these good omens Clovis went on
conquering till he established on a sure foundation the kingdom of France.
A diadem was placed on his head, and he was invested in the church of St.
Martin of Tours with a purple tunic and mantle.
HOW THE POPE GOT RID OF A PESTILENCE (A.D. 590).
St. Michael being the archangel, captain of the heavenly host who chained
the revolted angels, and the patron saint of the Church militant, had a
church dedicated to him in Rome before 500. It is also related that when
Rome was depopulated by a pestilence in the sixth century, St. Gregory,
afterwards Pope, advised that a procession should be made through the
streets of the city, singing the service since called the Great Litanies.
He placed himself at the head of the faithful, and during three days they
perambulated the city; and on the third day, when they had arrived
opposite to the mole of Hadrian, Gregory beheld the Archangel Michael
alight on the summit of that monument, and sheathe his sword bedropped
with blood. Then Gregory knew that the plague was stayed, and a church was
dedicated to the honour of the archangel; and the tomb of Hadrian has
since been called the Castle of St. Angelo to this day.
CHOOSING A SIXTH-CENTURY ARCHBISHOP.
The See of Constantinople once became vacant in the sixth century; and to
prevent troubles and secure a perfect appointment, the Emperor caused a
blank paper, sealed with his own seal, to be laid on the altar of one of
the churches, accompanied by a written instrument, by which he and the
clergy of Constantinople bound themselves to choose the person whose name
should be found written on the blank paper under the seal. The access to
these papers was guarded night and day by soldiers under the command of
the great chamberlain. A fast was enjoined for forty days, during which
time prayers were unceasingly offered up for the choice to be divinely
directed. At the end of the forty days, the paper was opened in the
presence of the Emperor and the whole body of the clergy, and Fravitas
being found to be the name written on the blank paper, he was forthwith
proclaimed Archbishop of Constantinople amidst loud acclamations. It so
happened that Fravitas died within a year after his ordination, leaving
debts due from his estate for large sums borrowed at exorbitant interest
from money-lenders. An inquiry into these unlooked-for circumstances being
set on foot, it transpired that the money had been borrowed by Fravitas to
bribe the great chamberlain, who was thereby induced to open the paper,
and having written upon it the name of Fravitas, to reseal it with the
imperial seal, of which he was the official keeper. On the discovery of
the cheat, the great chamberlain was put to death and his estate
confiscated. The exposure was probably of some use in guarding even in
those days against the easy access of pious imposture, and reflects light
on many supposed miracles then so frequently occurring.
POPE GREGORY THE GREAT POINTS OUT A HARD CASE TO THE EMPEROR (A.D. 590).
Gregory the Great, before being elected Pope in 590, had been on a mission
to Constantinople, and then gained great favour at Court. He afterwards
thus wrote to the Empress Constantina: "Having heard that there are many
Gentiles in the island of Sardinia, and that according to their depraved
custom they still sacrifice to idols, and that the priests of the island
have become lax in preaching our Redeemer, I sent one of the Italian
bishops there, who with the help of God converted many of these Gentiles
to the faith. But he has informed me of a sacrilegious custom--namely,
that those who sacrifice to idols pay a tax to the judge for a licence to
do so, of whom some now, being baptised, have given up sacrificing to
idols; yet still this tax for the licence is exacted from them by the same
judge even after baptism. And when he was found fault with by the bishop
for this, he answered that he had bought his office and could not afford
to keep it up unless the tax were paid. And the island of Corsica is
oppressed by the tax-gatherers to such an extent that the inhabitants can
hardly satisfy these demands even by selling their own children. All which
things I am quite sure have never reached your pious ears; for if they
had, they would not have lasted till now. Make them known on fitting
occasions to your devout lord, that he may remove such a heavy load of sin
from his own soul, from the Empire, and from his children. Whoever have
children of their own should know well how to feel for the children of
others. Let it therefore be enough for me to have suggested these things,
in order that your piety may not lie ignorant of what is happening in
those parts, and I might not be arraigned by the severe Judge for my
silence."
JOHN THE ALMSGIVER (A.D. 613).
Matthew of Westminster says that there flourished in 613 John, Archbishop
of Alexandria, who, on account of his eminent liberality to the poor of
Christ, deserved to obtain the surname of the Almsgiver. And it happened
that a certain foreigner, beholding his excessive compassion for the poor,
wishing to tempt him, came to him whilst he was visiting the sick
according to his custom, and said to him, "Pity me, because I am poor and
a prisoner." And the patriarch said to his steward, "Give him six pieces
of gold." And when the beggar had received them, he changed his dress, and
coming again from another quarter he fell at his feet, saying, "Have mercy
upon me, because I am tormented with hunger." Again the patriarch said to
his steward, "Give him six pieces of gold." And when he had done so, his
steward whispered in the ear of the patriarch, "Master, he has now
received twice to-day." He came again a third time and asked alms; and the
servant told his master that it was the same man. And that merciful bishop
said, "Give him twelve pieces of gold, lest perchance he be Christ
Himself, who is come to tempt me."
ST. JOHN THE ALMONER'S SENTIMENTS (A.D. 609).
This John the Almoner became the last Patriarch of Alexandria, his
reputation for piety prevailing with the Emperor as well as the people who
joined in the appointment. His zeal in redeeming captives, establishing
hospitals, and rebuilding churches was soon displayed. He would not allow
applicants for charity to be denied because they wore golden ornaments,
saying that the riches of God were infinite. During a famine a rich man
offered to supply a vast store of grain for public use provided he was
made a deacon. John spurned the offer, saying, "God, who supported the
poor before either of us was born, can find the means of supporting them
now. He who blessed the five loaves and multiplied them can bless and
multiply the two measures of corn which remain in my granary." Scarcely
had the tempting bait been refused, when tidings came that two large
cargoes of grain had arrived in the ships belonging to the Church. Though
John had vast stores intrusted to him for dispensing to the public, his
own fare was poor and simple, and the couch on which he slept was no
better than an artisan's. One day a rich friend purchased and presented to
him a magnificent bed; and John, being unwilling to hurt the donor's
feelings, accepted it; but after using it one night he said it hindered
his sleep by reminding him of his slothfulness and luxury, while so many
poor were lying in cold and misery. He therefore sold the bed and gave
away the proceeds in charity. The original donor, however, repurchased it,
and presented it again, with the same result; and this took place a third
time. When he saw that the Persians were advancing and that Alexandria
must fall into their hands he retired to Cyprus, but on his way was
strongly urged to pay a visit to the Emperor Heraclius at Constantinople.
He was about to comply, but was forewarned in a dream that his own end was
approaching, whereupon he said to the royal messenger, "You invite me to
the Emperor of the earth, but the King of kings summons me elsewhere." He
died at his native place at Amathus, in Cyprus, aged sixty-four, in 620,
and his tomb was long visited by pilgrims.
A KING GIVING THE BISHOP A HORSE (A.D. 650).
King Oswin of Northumbria, says Bede, was comely to behold, tall in
stature, and courteous and bountiful to all. One day he gave an excellent
horse to Bishop Aidan, so that the latter might cross rivers and perform
journeys in his diocese. Soon after, a poor man meeting the bishop and
asking alms, the bishop dismounted and gave the horse, richly caparisoned,
to the beggar. The King heard of this, and next day at dinner said, "How
was it, lord bishop, that you gave away that fine horse to a beggar man?
Have we not many horses less valuable that would have suited the man just
as well?" The bishop's answer was, "Surely, King, the foal of a mare
cannot be dearer to you than that son of God?" This sunk into the heart of
the King, who, reflecting upon it, ungirded his sword, and threw himself
at the bishop's feet, desiring that the bishop would forgive his hasty
remark, for he would never again attempt to judge what or how much he
might give to the sons of God. The bishop in turn begged the King to rise
and be cheerful, but it was noticed that the bishop was in tears, as he
knew that the King would not live long, for the nation was not worthy to
have such a ruler. Not long after the King was killed, as the bishop
foresaw, and the bishop himself lived only twelve days afterwards.
A KING IMPRESSED BY A CHRISTIAN'S SCRUPLES (A.D. 640).
Bishop Eligius of Noyon, who was born in 588, was anxious to found a
monastery, and requested the French King to grant him a piece of land as a
site. The King consented, but Eligius afterwards discovered that he had
misrepresented the extent of the ground to be a foot less than it actually
measured. This vexed the bishop exceedingly, and he could not rest till he
had gone to the King to inform him of the mistake. The King said to the
bystanders, "See, what a noble thing is Christian integrity! My nobles and
treasurers amass great wealth for themselves, and this servant of Christ,
on account of his fidelity to his Lord, could not be easy till he had
accounted for this extra handful of earth." On another occasion the King
had required Eligius to take an oath in reference to some matter of
business; and according to the custom of the times, this required to be
done by laying the witness's hand on certain relics. The bishop's
conscience was troubled at this requirement, which was contrary to his
settled convictions. At last the King was touched with this mark of tender
religious feeling, and graciously expressed his consent to waive the
formality, and declared that he would be quite content to believe his word
in preference to any number of oaths.
A MODEL CHURCHMAN OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY (A.D. 740).
The Venerable Bede in his history thus describes St. Acca, Bishop of
Hexham, who lived about 740: "He was a most active man, and great in the
sight of God and man; he much adorned and added to the structure of his
church dedicated to St. Andrew. For he made it his business, and does so
still, to procure relics of the blessed Apostles and martyrs of Christ
from all parts to place them on altars, dividing the same by arches in the
walls of the church. Besides which he diligently gathered the histories of
their sufferings, together with other ecclesiastical writings, and created
there a very large and noble library. He likewise provided industriously
the holy vessels, lights, and such things as pertain to the adornment of
the house of God. He also invited to come to him a famous singer named
Maban, who had been taught to sing by the successors of the disciples of
the blessed Gregory in Kent, so that the clergy should be well instructed
in music, and kept him twelve years, to teach such sacred songs as were
not known and to restore those which had been corrupted or too long
neglected. Bishop Acca was a most accomplished singer himself, and most
learned in the Holy Scriptures, most pure in the confession of the
Catholic faith, and most observant of the laws of the Church; nor did he
ever cease to be so till he received the reward of his pious devotion." It
is related of Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne about 710, that he could find
no better mode of commanding the attention of his townsmen than by
standing on a bridge and singing a ballad which he had composed.
WHY THE POPE'S FOOT IS KISSED (A.D. 795).
Matthew of Westminster relates that Pope Leo III., when a young man, was
doing penance for some misconduct before the altar of the Virgin, that he
suddenly became changed into another man, and afterwards came to be Pope.
When he was celebrating Mass for the first time, about 795, offerings of
great value were made to him. And among those who brought offerings, a
woman whom he had known in early days pressed his hand so warmly that she
made him almost forget his sacred duties. He felt so ashamed that he cut
off this hand, and afterwards the Blessed Virgin restored a new hand to
the arm. He showed long afterwards the old hand, which still remained
undecayed, to his brethren, and narrated to them all that had happened in
respect to it. From that time a rule was made, that henceforth those who
brought offerings should not kiss the hand of the Pope, but his foot. In
memory of this miracle the hand which was cut off was still preserved
(till 1300, the date of Matthew's history) in the Lateran treasury, and it
was kept free from decay by the Lord in honour of His mother.
AGOBARD OF LYONS CENSURES THE CLERGY (A.D. 850).
Though previously some attempts had been made to check simony, and check
the evils of the vagrant friars, these abuses reached a high pitch in the
ninth century, as Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, attested. He was zealous
for the dignity of the spiritual order and calling, but lamented over its
degradation. He said that many of the nobles procured the most unsuitable
men, sometimes their own slaves, to be ordained as priests, and employed
these mechanically to perform the rites of worship in the chapels of their
castles, and at the same time to do menial offices, such as waiting at
table and feeding the hounds. The bishops assembled at Pavia in 853 to
deliberate, and complained that the multiplication of chapels in castles
contributed greatly to the decline of parochial worship, and to the
neglect of preaching, the nobles being satisfied with the mechanical
performance of Mass by their priests, and taking no further concern in the
public worship; whence it happened that the parish churches were
frequented only by the poor, while the rich and noble had no opportunity
of hearing sermons which might recall their thoughts from their debasing
worldly pursuits. The council of Pavia again in 850 made a canon
disapproving of the laity having the Mass celebrated continually in their
houses, and encouraging those ecclesiastics and monks who roved from one
district to another, disseminating their own crude errors without let or
hindrance.
BISHOP ST. SWITHIN (A.D. 867).
Matthew of Westminster says that St. Swithin, Bishop of Winchester, died
in 867, a pattern of clemency and humility. Once he was sitting on
Winchester bridge encouraging his workmen, when a woman came along
bringing her eggs to market and the men most wantonly sprang at her and
broke her eggs. At this the woman's lamentations were so piercing that, on
learning of the loss, the good bishop, moved with pity, made the sign of
the cross, and repaired the fractures. The great humility of the bishop
was shown in his conduct when consecrating a new church. However great the
distance, he would walk all the way on foot, refusing the use of horse or
carriage; and lest this singularity should excite ridicule, he took care
to travel by night. When he was near his end, he enjoined his domestics to
bury his corpse outside his church, where it might be exposed to the feet
of the passers-by and to the raindrops that fell from the roof.
KING ALFRED ENTERTAINING JOHN SCOTUS (A.D. 884).
Simeon of Durham says that, in 884, when Alfred was king, there came to
England John Scotus, a Scot by birth, a man of clear intellect and much
eloquence, who, leaving his country some time before, had gone over to
France to Charles the Bald. Alfred received him with great respect, and
John soon became an inseparable companion, both at table and in the King's
retirement, owing to his ready wit and pleasantry. One day at dinner John
was sitting at table opposite King Charles, who, while the cups were going
round, with a gay face had chid John for some want of politeness, and
ended by asking what difference there was between a Scot and a sot. John
at once cleverly replied, "Only this table." On another occasion, when a
servant had handed to the King at table a dish which contained two very
large fishes and one very small, the King gave it to John to divide with
two clerics seated beside him. The clerics were both of gigantic stature,
while John was very little. John very gravely kept the two large fishes to
himself, and gave the little fish to the two giants. The King at once
challenged this as a most unfair division; but John had this ready excuse:
"Nay, I have done well and fairly. Here is one small one," pointing to
himself, "and there are two large ones," pointing to the fishes. And then
looking at the two clerics, "There also are two large ones, and," pointing
to the fish, "there is a little one." John had translated some Greek
authors at the request of King Charles, and therein made observations
concerning the ranks or orders of celestial beings which the Pope urged on
Charles as flat heresy, whereon John grew disgusted with France, and went
to England, allured by the munificence of King Alfred, and settled at
Malmesbury; but his pupils there greatly worried him and made his life a
burden. He was highly esteemed, however, after his death.
KING ALFRED INVENTS A LANTERN FOR PIOUS USES (A.D. 890).
Asser, the biographer, after stating that King Alfred was anxious to give
up to God the half of his service, bodily and mental, by night and by day,
and was at a loss how to count the hours, continues thus: "After long
reflection on these things, Alfred at length, by a useful and shrewd
invention, commanded his chaplains to provide wax in a sufficient
quantity, and he caused it to be weighed in such a manner that, when there
was so much of it in the scale as would equal the weight of seventy-two
pence, he caused his chaplains to make six candles out of it of equal
length, so that each candle might have twelve divisions marked
longitudinally upon it. By this plan, therefore, those six candles burned
for twenty-four hours, a night and a day exactly, before the sacred relics
of God's elect, which always accompanied the King wherever he went. But
sometimes when they would not continue burning a whole day and night till
the same hour that they were lighted the preceding evening, owing to the
violence of the wind which blew day and night without intermission through
the doors and windows of the churches, the fissures of the partitions, the
plankings of the wall, and the thin canvas of the tents, they then
unavoidably burnt out, and finished their course before the appointed
time. The King therefore considered by what means he could shut out the
wind, and so by a useful and cunning invention he ordered a lantern to be
beautifully constructed of wood and white ox-horn, which, when skilfully
planed till it is thin, is no less transparent than a vessel of glass.
This lantern, therefore, was wonderfully made of wood and horn, as we
before said, and by night a candle was put into it, which shone as
brightly without as within, and was not extinguished by the wind. By this
contrivance six candles lighted in succession lasted twenty-four hours,
neither more nor less; and the King gave up to God the half of his daily
service as he had vowed."
KING ALFRED'S LOVE OF READING (A.D. 890).
Asser, the monk, biographer, and friend of King Alfred, was born in Wales,
and says: "The King had sent for me to visit and take up my residence with
him. I was honourably received by him, and remained that time at court
eight months, during which I read to him whatever books he liked and such
as he had at hand, for this was his most usual custom night and day in the
midst of his many other occupations of mind and body, either himself to
read books or to listen whilst others read them. And when I frequently
asked his leave to depart, and could in no way obtain it, at length, when
I had made up my mind by all means to demand it, he called me to him at
twilight on Christmas Eve, and gave me two letters, in which was a long
list of all the things which were in two monasteries, called in the Saxon
tongue Ambresbury and Banwell, and on that same day he delivered to me
those two monasteries, with all the things that were in them, and a silken
pall of great value, and a load for a strong man of incense, adding these
words: that he did not give me these trifling presents because he was
unwilling hereafter to give me greater; for in the course of time he
unexpectedly gave me Exeter, with all the diocese that belonged to him in
Saxony and in Cornwall, besides gifts every day without number in every
kind of worldly wealth, which it would be too long to enumerate here, lest
they should make my reader tired. But let no one suppose that I have
mentioned these presents in this place for the sake of glory or flattery,
or that I may obtain greater honour. I merely certify to those who are
ignorant of it how liberal the King was in giving."
BISHOPS AT THE HEAD OF TROOPS (A.D. 955).
Bishops in the ninth century occupied so influential a position that they
were expected to take the field, as Bishop Fulbert took the command of
the besieged troops when the Hungarians attacked the city of Cambray. In
955, when the Hungarians threatened the fortified town of Augsburg, the
bishop mounted on horseback in his priestly robes, without shield or
buckler, sat unmoved amid flights of javelins and stones, and directed the
mode of defence and the erection of fortifications until nightfall, after
which he spent the night mostly in prayer. After matins he distributed the
Holy Supper to the combatants before they returned to continue the fight,
and exhorted them to put their trust in the Lord, who would be with them,
so that they had nothing to fear even in the shadow of death. So, in 1200,
Bernard, Bishop of Hildesheim, led the defence of his people against the
incursions of the Normans. It is true that Damiani protested against this
double function, saying, "With what face can the priest, as his duty
requires, undertake to reconcile contending parties with each other, when
he himself strives to return evil for evil? Our Saviour taught people only
to excel in love and patience: why should priests grasp the sword for the
temporal and perishable things of earth?" A band of unarmed monks dressed
in monkish habits had once struck knights and their followers with such
awe, that they dismounted and fled panic-stricken.
TWO SCAPEGRACE POPES (A.D. 956).
In 956 Pope John XII. was elected at the age of eighteen, and was a
monster of iniquity. He was accused and convicted in a council of simony,
perjury, fornication, adultery, sacrilege, murder, incest, blasphemy,
atheism, and was deposed for these exploits. But he recovered his see and
deposed the Pope who had been appointed in his room. His real name was
Octavianus, but he took that of John XII., and was the first Pope who
introduced the custom of assuming a new name. His end was suitable to his
behaviour; for being one night caught in a scandalous act, he received a
blow on the head from an unknown hand which killed him. About the same
time Theophilus had, at the age of sixteen, been made Patriarch of
Constantinople, and was such another as John XII. He openly sold
bishoprics and all ecclesiastical offices. He loved hunting and horses
even to madness. He kept two thousand, and fed them with all sorts of
dainties. On a Holy Thursday as he was at Mass word was brought to him in
church that his favourite mare had foaled. He instantly left in the middle
of the church service to pay her a visit, and then came back to make an
end of the service. He introduced the custom of dancing in the church on
holy days, with indecent gestures and accompanied with comic ballads.
THE UGLIEST OF MEN MADE AN ARCHBISHOP (A.D. 1012).
It is reported by Matthew of Westminster that, in 1012, the Emperor Henry
II. went out one Sunday to hunt, and his companions being all dispersed,
he lost himself near the edge of a wood where there was a church, into
which he went, and stating falsely that he was a soldier, asked the priest
in a simple manner to give him the Mass. The priest, named Hubert, was a
man eminent for his piety, but so ugly in his person that he seemed rather
a monster than a man. And when the Emperor had carefully looked at him, he
began greatly to marvel why God, from whom all beautiful things proceed,
allowed so unsightly a man to celebrate His Sacraments. But presently the
Mass was commenced, and they came to that part of the service in which a
boy chanted, "Be ye sure that the Lord He is God." And the priest,
reproving the boy for his negligence in singing, said with a loud voice,
"It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves," at which words the
Emperor was much struck, and thinking the priest a prophet, raised him, in
spite of great opposition, to the Archbishopric of Cologne. And when he
had received the archbishopric, he adorned that see by his religion and
worthy course of life. It happened that out of a monastery of nuns in that
city a beautiful damsel was captured by a wealthy young noble and made his
wife. The archbishop reclaimed her; but a second time she was carried off,
and he excommunicated both. When the archbishop was on his deathbed, the
young man sent a messenger to ask absolution, which the archbishop
refused, unless the young man agreed to leave the woman. This being
refused, the archbishop foretold his own death, and also that the young
man would be called to his account on the same day and hour in the
following year. And, strange to say, both of them were struck with
lightning and died at that very time.
A BISHOP'S AND EMPEROR'S JOKES (A.D. 1020).
Meinwerc, appointed Bishop of Paderborn in 1009, had occasionally his joke
with the Emperor Henry II. On one occasion Henry sent the bishop after
vespers his own golden cup of exquisite workmanship full of good liquor,
charging the messenger not to come away without the cup. The bishop
received the present with many thanks, and after a long chat the
messenger left the cup behind him. The bishop, noticing the cup,
immediately sent for his goldsmiths, and had the cup converted into a
chalice, and used it next day, which was Christmas. One of the Emperor's
chaplains, who officiated at Mass that day, recognised the cup and took it
to the Emperor, who charged the bishop with theft, telling him that God
abhorred robbery for burnt offering. The bishop replied that all he had
done was only to rob the vanity and avarice of Henry by consecrating the
cup to the service of God, and dared Henry to take it away. "I will not,"
said the Emperor, "take away that which has been devoted to the service of
God, but I will myself humbly offer to Him that which is my own property;
and do you honour the Lord, who vouchsafed us on this night to be born for
the salvation of all men, by the performance of your own duties."
KING CANUTE REBUKING THE SEA (A.D. 1030).
According to Matthew of Westminster, as King Canute, who died in 1035, was
flourishing and magnificent in the kingdom of England which he had
acquired by his bravery, he one day ordered his royal chair to be placed
on the seashore, and then mounting, he sat down in it, and said in a
threatening voice, "You are under my dominion, O sea, and the land on
which I sit is mine, nor is there any one in it who can dare with impunity
to resist my authority. I now command you not to come upon my land, nor to
presume to wet my royal vestments." But as wave after wave rose up and
disregarded his injunctions, and without any respect wetted the feet and
legs of the King, he waited till it was almost too late to leap from his
chair, and said, "Let all the inhabitants of the world know that the power
of kings is vain and frivolous, and that no one is worthy of the name of
king except Him in obedience to whose nod the heaven and earth and sea and
all that is in them are subject to eternal laws." And from that time forth
the King never wore his crown, but he always placed it on the head of the
image of his crucified Master, and so gave a great example of humility to
all future kings. He was buried at Winchester in the old monastery with
all royal honour. Other historians relate that Canute sat on the shore of
the river Thames at Westminster on the occasion referred to.
A KING DESCRIBING HIS VISIT TO THE POPE (A.D. 1031).
Canute, King of England and Denmark, in 1031 paid a visit to Rome, and
wrote a long letter to the English archbishop and bishops, describing
the honours paid to him. He said: "I have lately been to Rome to pray for
the redemption of my sins and the salvation of my people. I had long since
made a vow to do this. At Easter a great assembly of princes was present
with Pope John and the Emperor Conrad, and all received me with honour and
presented me with magnificent gifts. But more especially was I honoured by
the Emperor with various gifts and offerings in gold and silver vessels,
with palls and exceedingly costly garments. I spoke with the Emperor
himself, and with our lord the Pope, and with the princes who were there,
respecting the necessities of my people and their better security on their
journeys to Rome, and their claim to freedom from harassing barriers and
exactions. All the princes declared and assured me this should be attended
to. I also complained to our lord the Pope that my archbishops were
oppressed by the immense sums demanded from them on receiving the pall,
and it was decreed that this should never again occur. All the princes
willingly granted and confirmed their concessions by oaths, and with the
attestation of four archbishops and twenty bishops and a numberless crowd
of dukes and noblemen who were then present. I have humbly vowed to the
Almighty God to reform my life in all things, justly and piously to govern
my kingdom and the people who are subject to me. I call to witness and
command my councillors to allow no injustice to be practised in any
portion of my kingdom."
A PEASANT REBUKING A POMPOUS BISHOP (A.D. 1035).
Fulgosius gives a story how a peasant in the electorate of Cologne puzzled
his bishop. The peasant was at work in his field, when he saw his bishop
pass by, attended by a train more becoming a prince than a successor of
the Apostles. He could not forbear laughing loud and long, which caused
the bishop to ask the reason. The peasant answered, "I laugh when I think
of St. Peter and St. Paul, and see you in your equipage. Sure, they were
ill advised to trudge on foot when they were heads of the Christian
Church, the lieutenants of Jesus Christ, the King of kings; and here is
yourself, only a bishop, yet so well mounted and with such warlike
attendance that thou resemblest a prince rather than a pastor of the
Church." To this his reverence replied, "Nay, my friend, thou dost not
consider that I am both a count and a baron as well as your bishop." The
rustic laughed still louder at this, and added, "Yea, but when the count
and the baron, which you say you are, shall be in hell, where will the
bishop be?" This rather confounded the bishop, who rode off without
answering a word.
ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND LEARNED IN THE SCRIPTURES (A.D. 1080).
St. Margaret, a great-niece of Edward the Confessor and granddaughter of
Edmund Ironsides, married Malcolm, King of Scotland, in 1069. She was of a
saintly mind, and showed a genius for self-mortification and fasting, and
also for charity to the poor. The King was accustomed to offer coins of
gold in the church at High Mass, but the Queen devoutly pillaged them and
bestowed them on the beggars who besought her help. The Queen and the
ladies of her Court were constantly employed in making vestments and other
ornaments for Divine service, and her attendants were taught frequently to
exercise themselves in works of piety and charity. She was not only a
model mother of a family, but she had a wonderful gift of eloquence, and
could teach the most learned doctors of her time out of the Holy
Scriptures things that they never knew or had forgotten. Her views about
the right way of observing the forty days' fast of Lent carried conviction
to all the wise men, for before her time fewer Sundays used to be computed
in the forty days, so that she added four days, and thereby made the
Scotch conform to the rest of the world. She also taught her subjects to
be more sound and rigid in observing Sunday, so that no one should on that
day carry any burdens himself or compel others to do so. She was a great
friend of the monasteries, and also of the hermits who lived in cells, and
whom she often visited and begged to remember her in their prayers. As
they would not on principle accept any gift from her, she begged them to
bid her perform some alms deed or work of mercy, and she would do it
forthwith. She erected some convenient dwellings to entertain the many
pilgrims who visited the church of St. Andrews, and even chartered ships
to bring the pilgrims from afar. She also rebuilt the monastery at Iona.
She died in 1093, aged forty-seven, and in 1250 she was declared a saint
and her body placed in a silver shrine in the abbey of Dunfermline.
ALAS FOR THE VANITY OF GREAT CONQUERORS! (A.D. 1087).
When William the Conqueror had reigned seventeen years, his Queen,
Matilda, died in 1083, after a long sickness. She was buried in her own
church at Caen, where her eldest daughter was already a professed nun, and
William erected a tomb over her resting-place, rich with gold and gems.
After this blow he never recovered his spirits. In 1087 he was resting at
Rouen, under medical treatment for his corpulency, and King Philip made a
jest of it by saying that William was only lying in! William, stung by
this levity, swore that he would rise up again and have his revenge. He
did rise, and set about harrying and devastating the vineyards and
harvests of France, gladdening his sight with burning and demolishing
castles, churches, and monasteries in his enemy's country. But one day his
horse stumbled, and his heavy body fell among some burning cinders. He was
carried a dying man to Rouen, and for quietness was tended for some weeks
in the priory of St. Gervase. His physician gave him up. He made his will
and spoke his last wishes, and many a crime of his earlier days rose up
against him. One morning he heard a great minster bell sounding for prime;
and after inquiring what it was, he commended his soul to the Holy Mother
of God and passed away, aged sixty-three. No sooner was the breath out of
his body than his trusty chiefs took to their horses and scampered home,
foreseeing that anarchy was at hand and self-preservation their first
duty. The weeping attendants took care to pillage the weapons, clothes,
and furniture in his room, leaving his body to lie a day on the bare
floor. An archbishop at last took on him to order the body to be borne to
Caen, but all the household had vanished, each carrying off as much booty
as he could stow away, and not a vassal was to be found ready to help. A
strange Norman knight, moved by natural piety, at last volunteered to
wash, anoint, and embalm the royal corpse, and to find a carriage to
convey it. But as the bier approached the abbey of St. Stephen, where
monks and clergy stood ready to receive it, and were singing the office of
the dead, a fire broke out near hand, and the members of the procession
had to leave and assist in that emergency. At last the Mass of the dead
was sung, and a bishop mounted the pulpit to harangue the audience on the
mighty deeds of the great King. No sooner had this concluded when a knight
stood forth and claimed the ground in which the King's body was about to
be laid, saying it was his property, of which he had been robbed by the
King, and he challenged all and sundry to interfere with it, and swore
that no robber's body should ever be covered with his mould. The company
were staggered, and yet feared it was too true, so that the bishops and
nobles deemed it prudent to make a bargain on the spot and to pay a
suitable purchase money. But this was not all. Some unskilful workmen had
made the coffin too small to hold the great mass of flesh which William
left behind. The body burst in the process of handling, and a fearful
stench filled the church. The rest of the holy office was therefore
hurried over, and this was the end of all. It was afterwards left to
William Rufus to erect a fitting monument and shrine to the mighty dead,
with some verses from the archbishop, reciting how small a house was now
enough for the great King William. The monk Orderic, a contemporary, thus
moralises on this career: "O secular pomp, how despicable art thou,
because how vain and transient! Thou art justly compared to the bubbles
made by rain; for like them thou swellest for a moment to vanish into
nothing. Survey this most potent hero, whom lately a hundred thousand
knights were eager to serve, and whom many nations dreaded, now lying for
hours on the naked ground, spoiled and abandoned by every one! The
citizens of Rouen were in consternation at the tidings. Every one fled
from his home and hid his property or tried to turn it into money, that it
might not be identified."
AN ENGLISH KING MARRYING A NUN (A.D. 1100).
When Henry I. of England at the age of thirty-one suddenly succeeded to
the crown on the death of William Rufus, he demanded in marriage Matilda
of Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm and of his saintly Queen Margaret.
It was rumoured that she was a nun, and Henry persuaded Anselm, Archbishop
of Canterbury, to question her, and see if this scandal could be avoided.
On inquiry she explained that the rumour had no foundation, and all that
happened was that, when she was a girl of eight, her aunt one day put a
piece of black cloth over her head, and she sometimes kept it on as an
excuse for unsuitable marriages, and as a protection against the rudeness
of the Norman nobles. This being deemed a satisfactory explanation, the
chronicler William of Malmesbury thus described the wedding that took
place in 1100 as follows: "At the wedding of Matilda and Henry I. there
was a most prodigious concourse of nobility and people assembled in and
about the church at Westminster, when, to prevent all calumny and ill
report that the King was about to marry a nun, the Archbishop Anselm
mounted into a pulpit and gave the multitude a history of the events
proved before the synod and its judgment, that the Lady Matilda of
Scotland was free from any religious vow, and might dispose of herself in
marriage as she thought fit. The archbishop finished by asking the people
in a loud voice whether any one there objected to this decision, upon
which they answered unanimously with a loud shout that the matter was
rightly settled. Accordingly the lady was immediately married to the King
and crowned before that vast assembly." It was said that this virtuous
Queen took a leading part in persuading Henry to grant Magna Charta. She
died in 1118, aged forty-one.
AWAKING A BISHOP FOR EARLY MASS (A.D. 1100).
An old chronicler, Helmandus of Froidmont, about 1100, relates that
"Philip, Bishop of Beauvais, once tarried with us--not, we suppose, for
enjoying our hospitality, but for devotion. 'Now,' said the bishop, 'call
me to hear early Mass.' On going to him on the morrow when primes had
begun, I found him still sleeping, and none of his household dared to
disturb him. But I drew near him, saying in joke, 'The sparrows have long
risen to praise the Lord, and our bishops still snore in bed; listen,
father, to the Psalmist: "Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I
meditate on Thy word." Upon that the gloss of Ambrose says, "It is
indecent for a Christian to be found by the sun's rays lying slothful in
bed."' The bishop, waking up, was confused and wroth for my reproving him
so freely, and said angrily, 'Be off, you wretch, and kill your lice.' But
I turned his anger into a joke, and forthwith rejoined, 'Beware, father,
lest your worms kill you. It is the worms of the rich that kill the rich,
but the poor kill theirs. Read the history of the Maccabees and Josephus,
and the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find that the most powerful
kings Antiochus and Herod Agrippa were eaten by worms.' Crushed by this
reason and the authorities, the bishop straightway held his peace."
ANSELM, THE MONK ARCHBISHOP (A.D. 1093).
In the twelfth century the greatest theologian was said to be Anselm, bred
a monk in the monastery of Bec, in Normandy. He soon became prior and
afterwards abbot, and was the life and soul of all the best monkish work.
He objected to the rigorous discipline to which monks were subjected. He
also had an insight into the mode of educating children by kindly methods
instead of brutalising them by tyrannical punishments. To show his mastery
of this new method, he reclaimed one of the most stubborn and intractable
boys, so that this youth, named Osbern, became greatly attached to his
master, who in turn, when the youth contracted a fatal disease, nursed him
night and day. In 1093 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, but he became
entangled in the contests of the time, as he thought the Church should be
independent of kings; and incurring too much risk, he took refuge with the
Pope, and travelled about France and Italy, always distinguishing himself
by works of piety till he died in 1109. He retained through life his
austere and self-mortifying habits as to food, so that Queen Matilda wrote
to him a letter strongly pressing upon him the necessity of avoiding
excessive abstinence as destructive to his powers of doing good. He was
noted for his placidity of mind, and his constant attempts to meditate on
the deeper problems of the Christian life. It is said that, on meditating
about the gift of prophecy when he was prior of Bec, he awoke early, and
he became so absorbed in this mystery that he at last himself actually saw
through the wall all the preparations going on for Mass in the next
building, and hence he said it was easy for God to reveal the future in
the same way to chosen servants. On another occasion he fell into a
trance, and during the celebration of vigils solved to his own
satisfaction some mysteries that had long baffled his researches, he being
for a time in a grand ecstasy of supernatural intuition. He also
distinguished himself in his controversies with the schoolmen as the most
expert and orthodox theologian of his age.
DEATHBED OF ARCHBISHOP ANSELM (A.D. 1109).
Before Archbishop Anselm died in 1109, at the age of seventy-six, he lay
down in his last illness, and one of the priests who stood around his bed
said to him, it being then Palm Sunday, "Lord father, it appears to us
that, leaving this world, you are about to keep the passover in the palace
of your Lord." The ambitious theologian replied, "If indeed this be His
will, I gainsay it not. But if He should choose that I should yet remain
among you at least long enough to settle the question which I am revolving
in my mind concerning the origin of the soul, I should take it gratefully,
because I do not know whether any one will be able to determine it after I
am dead. If I could but eat I might hope to recover, for I feel no pain in
any part, except that, as my stomach sinks for lack of food which it is
unable to take, I am failing all over."
A SARACEN KING BY DIVINE RIGHT (A.D. 1130).
When El Mehedi, one of the Arab kings in Spain, died in 1130, his vizier,
Abdelmumen Aben Ali, contrived to be named his successor, and vindicated
his Divine right by the following artifice. The premier kept the King's
death concealed for three years, and meanwhile taught a parrot to utter
various little speeches. He also brought up a young lion to fawn upon him
and caress him. He prepared a proper cage for the bird, and a proper
hiding-place for the lion in a large hall, when he invited the chief
nobles to meet and consult about the royal demise. He announced the death
of the King, which gave rise to great lamentations, and then harangued
them with great propriety and due acknowledgments of the Divine mercy in
teaching the value of harmony and union against their enemies. He then
remained silent, and the nobles being greatly perplexed and undecided,
suddenly, as if by some Divine intuition, the bird spoke these words:
"Honour, victory, and power to our lord the Caliph Abdelmumen, Prince of
the Faithful; he is the defence and support of the Empire." At the same
moment a fierce lion bounded out of a hole into the middle of the hall,
lashing its tail and glaring at the company, to the terror of all, when
the vizier, calmly advancing, faced the monster, which at once succumbed,
and caressed him and licked his hands. The nobles were at once confounded;
and treating these demonstrations as the voice of the Divine will, took
the oath of allegiance. This king became one of the most illustrious in
Spain, who brought nearly the whole country under his rule, as well as the
dependencies in Africa, and he carried on the Holy War against the
Infidels, as the Christian rebel princes were then called. He reigned
thirty-three years, and died in 1164.
DEATHBED OF ARCHBISHOP TURSTIN (A.D. 1140).
Archbishop Turstin of York, in 1138, though so old and feeble that he had
to be carried in a litter, had energy enough to rouse and summon the
nobles of Yorkshire to resist an irruption of Scots under King David.
After a fast of three days they all swore a solemn oath to fight, and they
easily defeated the Scots. John of Hexham says that the archbishop adhered
to monastic usages; he was frequent in prayers, and had from God the grace
of tears in the celebration of Masses. He wore a shirt of haircloth, and
amid frequent confessions did not spare himself from corporal castigation.
He was the founder of the monastery of Fountains, and watched over the
monks, and was bountiful in offerings to the church of York. Feeling at
last in 1140 that the vigour of life was growing weak in him, he wisely
set his house in order, paying his servants' wages, restoring what had
been taken away, and taking thought about each separate matter. Having
assembled in his chapel the priests of the church of York, and solemnly
made confession before them, he stretched himself naked on the ground
before the altar of St. Andrew, and received from them the discipline of
corporal chastisement with tears flowing from a contrite heart; and
mindful of the vow which as a young man he had made at Clugny, he went to
the monks of the Clugniac order at Pontefract, the elders of the church of
York and many of the laity accompanying him; and there he solemnly
received the habit and benediction of a monk, and during the remaining
days of his life he was intent on the salvation of his soul. At last,
surrounded by religious men, as the hour of his summons drew near he
himself celebrated nine vigils for the departed, and himself read the
lesson, gave the verse of the response, _Dies illa, dies iræ_, laying a
mournful and significant emphasis on each word; and at the end of lauds,
the monks being all assembled, he yielded up his spirit. He was buried
with becoming honour before the high altar. Many years after, the monks in
carrying out repairs required to remove the stone over his tomb, and
neither his corpse nor his vestments showed any appearance of corruption.
KING JOHN SHOCKING THE BISHOP IN CHURCH (A.D. 1199).
When King John succeeded to the English crown in 1199, he at once sent for
Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, and made much of him, promising to be guided by
his directions. For two or three days John's conduct in public was very
decorous; but the biographer of Hugh relates that the very next (Easter)
Sunday John attended church, when the chamberlain, according to custom,
put twelve pieces of gold in John's hand to be presented to the bishop.
John, instead of giving it, held the coins in his hand, rattling them
about, to the astonishment of the attendant nobles. Hugh indignantly asked
why this noise was made, when John replied, "In truth, I am looking at
these pieces of gold, and thinking that if I had got them a few days
since, I should not have given them to you at all, but put them in my own
purse." Hugh drew back, refusing to touch the gold, nor suffering his hand
to be kissed by John, bidding him put the money in the offertory dish, and
withdrew. After this, Hugh preached a long sermon containing much
specially intended for John's benefit about good and bad princes. While
all others acclaimed, John was exceedingly wearied. Three times he sent
messages to Hugh, insisting on his coming to an end and allowing him to
get away and break his long fast. He at last hurried away without
partaking of the Sacrament, and it was said he had not received it since
he had attained the years of discretion. John did the same thing at his
coronation on Ascension Day.
MURDER OF ST. THOMAS À BECKET (A.D. 1170).