_Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum Historiam Illustrantia; quae
ex Vaticanis, Neapolis, ac Florentiae Tabulis deprompsit et ordine
chronologico disposuit_ Augustinus Theiner, etc. Ab Honorio Pp. III.
usque ad Paulum Pp. III. 1216-1547. Romae, Typis Vaticanis, 1864.
When first we introduced to the notice of our readers Mgr. Theiner's
_Vetera Monumenta_, we promised to make early return to the subject,
and to furnish some account of the treasures of ecclesiastical history
contained therein. That promise we now set ourselves to fulfil. The
chief difficulty in the way of our present undertaking is created by
the rich superabundance of the varied materials which Mgr. Theiner's
industry has reunited and given to the world. A collection of one
thousand and sixty-four documents, in which are registered the shifting
phases of most of the important events in Church and State in Ireland
and Scotland which occupied the attention of thirty-seven Roman
Pontiffs, from 1216 to 1547, offers to research so vast a field, and
so boundless, that we may well be pardoned if we feel puzzled where to
begin. Our attention is, however, arrested on the very threshold of
the work by a question than which few others are more interesting to
Irishmen; namely, what position did the Roman Pontiffs take up in the
questions between Ireland and England at the beginning of the thirteenth
century? Did they, as has often been alleged, leave unreproved the
iniquities perpetrated in this country by the English, and, forgetful of
their own proper duties as Fathers of Christendom, did they shut their
heart against the cries wrung by oppression from a persecuted race? or
did they, on the contrary, stand forth in defence of the weak against
the strong, and here, as everywhere else, with apostolic justice, judge
the poor of the people, and save the children of the poor, and humble
the oppressor? The documents published in the first pages of the work
under notice supply us with materials to answer this question in the
sense most favourable to the Apostolic See. An examination of these
documents shall form the subject of our present notice.
Before we enter upon the question we have selected, the dedication of
the book claims from us some notice, and much gratitude towards the
author. The work is dedicated to Archbishop Cullen, to whose frequent
conversations on Ireland, during pleasant summer walks with the author
in the neighbourhood of Tivoli, and to whose requests, oft repeated in
after days, Mgr. Theiner declares his collection of Irish ecclesiastical
documents to be due. He tells us, moreover, that the Archbishop's words
found him a willing labourer for the sake of Ireland; deep feelings of
admiration and compassion had long since touched his heart, and won his
pen to the cause of that stricken nation. "Who can sufficiently admire",
asks he, "that almost incredible piety and unflinching hereditary
constancy in the profession of the Catholic faith, in which, from the
earliest times, the Irish have been so firmly rooted that no assaults
could ever weaken or shake them, even though they had to struggle
against tyrannical laws, or the violence and cunning of perverse men?
How glorious a thing this is, all history is the witness; witnesses are
our ancestors and ourselves; witnesses are all the nations of Europe,
who with one accord proclaim the Irish nation a spectacle of fortitude,
so that among all Christian peoples it is deservedly styled a nation of
martyrs".
The troubles that clouded the early years of the reign of the youthful
King Henry III. were watched with anxiety by Honorius III. In a letter
to the Archbishop of Dublin (_Theiner_, n. 4, p. 2), that Pontiff
enumerates the reasons why he felt so much solicitude for the welfare of
the English monarch. The king was a vassal of the Roman Church, and a
ward of the same; he had taken the Cross, and the Pope was apprehensive
of aught that could impede the Crusade; besides, both his kingdom and
his person had been solemnly confided to the protection of the Pope by
his father, King John, when on his death-bed in the castle at Newark.
The dangers that threatened the boy-king (he was but nine years of
age when he succeeded) were of such a nature as to demand from his
well-wishers strenuous exertions on his behalf. With the crown he had
inherited a war with Louis, afterwards Louis VIII. of France, who on
English soil had received the homage of the English barons at London,
June 2, 1216; and to this was added the bitter hostility of the barons
themselves, whom King John's perfidy had disgusted. These perils were
increased by disturbances in Scotland, where Louis had allies, and in
Ireland, where there existed a formidable party hostile to the king. On
the same day, January 17, 1217, Honorius III. wrote to Scotland and to
Ireland in the hope of calming these commotions by his authority, and of
bringing into submission those who were in arms against Henry. In his
letter to the Archbishop of Dublin he appointed that prelate delegate of
the Apostolic See, with a command to use the powers which that position
gave him to bring back harmony between the king and his subjects in
Ireland. These legatine faculties were withdrawn by another letter (n.
34, pag. 15), dated July 6, 1220, in which the Pontiff states that as
peace had been fully restored in the kingdoms of England and Ireland,
it was no longer necessary that the Archbishop should continue to act
as legate. But on the 31st of the same month letters were issued to the
Irish prelates, announcing to them the appointment of a new legate for
Ireland and Scotland, in the person of James, the Pope's chaplain and
penitentiary. On the same day, and to the same effect, letters were
issued to the King of Scotland, as well as to the Irish princes, who are
addressed thus: _Regibus Ultonie_, _Corcaie_, _Limrith_, _Connatie_,
_Insularum_. In one week after his appointment, the new legate was
commanded to exercise his authority against the English king, on behalf
of the Irish, in a matter of the greatest importance, the documents in
connection with which we will now place before our readers.
We said before that on the 17th January, 1216, Pope Honorius III. had
written to the Archbishop of Dublin appointing him legate during the
then existing troubles. On the 14th January, 1217, just three days
before the papal letter was written, Henry III., or his adviser, the
Earl of Pembroke, wrote the following letter[14] to the justiciary of
Ireland (_Rot. Pat._ i. _Hen._ III, _m._ 14):
"Rex, justiciario suo Hiberniae, salutem. Mandamus vobis quod, in
fide quâ nobis tenemini non permittatis quod aliquis Hiberniensis
eligatur vel praeficiatur in aliquâ ecclesiâ cathedrali in terra
nostra Hiberniae, quoniam ex hoc posset terra nostra, quod absit,
perturbari. Et quoniam, etc.... Teste ipso comite apud Oxoniam
xivº die Januarii".
This most iniquitous design of excluding Irish ecclesiastics, no matter
how fit they might otherwise be, from the government of the Irish sees,
and from the spiritual care of their own people, provoked the indignation
of the Pope, notwithstanding the deep interest he took in Henry's
fortunes. As soon as he was informed of the plan, he at once wrote
to the legate the letter alluded to above, commanding him to declare
publicly that this law of the king was unjust, null, and void, and that,
as heretofore, deserving Irish ecclesiastics should be proposed for
vacant sees. The following is the text of the letter (_n._ 36, _p._ 16):
"Honorius Episcopus etc. Dilecto filio Magistro Jacobo Capellano,
et penitentiario nostro, Apostolicae Sedis legato salutem etc.
Pervenit ad audientiam nostram, quosdam Anglicos inauditae
temeritatis audacia statuisse, ut nullus clericus de Ibernia,
quantumcunque litteratus et honestus existat, ad aliquam dignitatem
ecclesiasticam assumatur. Nolentes igitur tantae temeritatis et
iniquitatis abusum surdis auribus pertransire, presentium tibi
auctoritate mandamus, quatinus statutum hujusmodi publice denuntians
irritum et inane, ac inhibens ipsis Anglicis, ne vel inherere illi,
vel simile decetero attemptare presumant. Ibernienses clericos,
quibus vitae ac scientiae merita suffragantur, denunties ad
ecclesiasticas dignitates, si electi canonice fuerint, libere
admittendos. Datum apud Urbemveterem, viii. Idus Augusti, Pontificatus
nostri anno quinto".
What the result of the legate's condemnation may have been we do not
know; what is certain is, that four years later Honorius III. found it
necessary to condemn, by his own authority, the same abuse. His letter
to the Irish clergy runs as follows (_Theiner_, _n._ 55, _p._ 23):
"Honorius Episcopus etc. Dilectis filiis Clero Ybernensi, salutem
etc. Sicut ea, que rite ac laudabiliter fiunt, decet per Sedem
Apostolicam roborari, ut solidius in sui roboris firmitate consistant,
sic ea, que temere ac illicite presumuntur, infirmari convenit per
eandem, ne processu temporis robur indignae firmitatis assumant.
Sane nostris est jam frequenter auribus intimatum, quosdam Anglicos
inauditae temeritatis audacia statuisse, ut nullus clericus de
Ybernia, quantumcunque honestus et litteratus existat, ad aliquam
dignitatem ecclesiasticam assumatur: Nolentes igitur tantae
presumptionis et iniquitatis abusum sub dissimulatione transire,
statutum hujusmodi, omni juris et honestatis auxilio destitutum,
presentium auctoritate decernimus irritum et inane, districtius
inhibentes, ne quis vel inherere illi, vel decetero simile attemptare
presumat. Nulli etc. nostrae constitutionis et inhibitionis etc.
Si quis etc. Datum Laterani vi. Kalendas Maii P. n. an. octavo".
Thus did the Roman Pontiffs resist this attempt to enslave the Irish
Church.
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