A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 47

Therefore there is one body of the one and only Church, and one head, not two heads, as if the Church were a monster. And this head is Christ, and his vicar, Peter and his successor; for the Lord himself said to Peter: "Feed my sheep" [John, xxi. 16]. And he said "my sheep," in general, not these or those sheep in particular; from which it is clear that all were committed to him. If, therefore, Greeks [i.e., the Greek Church] or any one else say that they are not subject to Peter and his successors, they thereby necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ. For the Lord says, in the Gospel of John, that there is one fold and only one shepherd [John, x. 16]. By the words of the gospel we are taught that the two swords, namely, the spiritual authority and the temporal, are in the power of the Church. For when the apostles said "Here are two swords" [Luke, xxii. 38]--that is, in the Church, since it was the apostles who were speaking--the Lord did not answer, "It is too much," but "It is enough." Whoever denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter does not properly understand the word of the Lord when He said: "Put up thy sword into the sheath" [John, xviii. 11]. Both swords, therefore, the spiritual and the temporal, are in the power of the Church. The former is to be used by the Church, the latter for the Church; the one by the hand of the priest, the other by the hand of kings and knights, but at the command and permission of the priest. Moreover, it is necessary for one sword to be under the other, and the temporal authority to be subjected to the spiritual; for the apostle says, "For there is no power but of G.o.d: and the powers that be are ordained of G.o.d" [Rom., xiii. 1]; but they would not be ordained unless one were subjected to the other, and, as it were, the lower made the higher by the other.

[Sidenote: The superiority of the spiritual]

For, according to St. Dionysius,[534] it is a law of divinity that the lowest is made the highest through the intermediate. According to the law of the universe all things are not equally and directly reduced to order, but the lowest are fitted into their order through the intermediate, and the lower through the higher. And we must necessarily admit that the spiritual power surpa.s.ses any earthly power in dignity and honor, because spiritual things surpa.s.s temporal things. We clearly see that this is true from the paying of t.i.thes, from the benediction, from the sanctification, from the receiving of the power, and from the governing of these things. For the truth itself declares that the spiritual power must establish the temporal power and pa.s.s judgment on it if it is not good. Thus the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power is fulfilled: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant"

[Jer., i. 10].

[Sidenote: The highest spiritual power (the papacy) responsible to G.o.d alone]

Therefore if the temporal power errs, it will be judged by the spiritual power, and if the lower spiritual power errs, it will be judged by its superior. But if the highest spiritual power errs, it cannot be judged by men, but by G.o.d alone. For the apostle says: "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" [1 Cor., ii. 15]. Now this authority, although it is given to man and exercised through man, is not human, but divine. For it was given by the word of the Lord to Peter, and the rock was made firm to him and his successors, in Christ himself, whom he had confessed. For the Lord said to Peter: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" [Matt., xvi. 19].

[Sidenote: Submission to the papacy essential to salvation]

Therefore, whosoever resisteth this power thus ordained of G.o.d resisteth the ordinance of G.o.d [Rom., xiii. 2], unless there are two principles [beginnings], as Manichaeus[535] pretends there are.

But this we judge to be false and heretical. For Moses says that, not in the beginnings, but in the beginning, G.o.d created the heaven and the earth [Gen., i. 1]. We therefore declare, say, and affirm that submission on the part of every man to the bishop of Rome is altogether necessary for his salvation.

68. The Great Schism and the Councils of Pisa and Constance

The "Babylonian Captivity"--begun in 1305, or perhaps more properly in 1309, when the French Pope, Clement V., took up his residence regularly at Avignon--lasted until 1377. During these sixty or seventy years the College of Cardinals consisted chiefly of Frenchmen, all of the seven popes were of French nationality, and for the most part the papal authority was little more than a tool in the hands of the aggressive French sovereigns. In 1377, at the solicitation of the Italian clergy and people, Pope Gregory XI. removed to Rome, where he died in 1378. In the election that followed the Roman populace, determined to bring the residence of the popes at Avignon to an end once for all, demanded a Roman, or at least an Italian, pope. The majority of the cardinals were French, but they could not agree upon a French candidate and, intimidated by the threats of the mob, they at last chose a Neapolitan who took the name Urban VI. A few months of Urban's obstinate administration convinced the cardinals that they had made a serious mistake, and, on the ground that their choice had been unduly influenced by popular clamor, they sought to nullify the election and to replace Urban by a Genevan who took the t.i.tle Clement VII. Urban utterly refused thus to be put aside, so that there were now two popes, each duly elected by the College of Cardinals and each claiming the undivided allegiance of Christendom. This was the beginning of the Great Schism, destined to work havoc in the Church for a full generation, or until finally ended in 1417. Clement VII.

fixed his abode at Avignon and French influence secured for him the support of Spain, Scotland, and Sicily. The rest of Europe, displeased with the subordination of the papacy to France and French interests, declared for Urban, who was pledged to maintain the papal capital at Rome.

France must be held responsible in the main for the evils of the Great Schism--a breach in the Church which she deliberately created and for many years maintained; but she herself suffered by it more than any other nation of Europe because of the annates,[536] the _decime_,[537]

and other taxes which were imposed upon the French clergy and people to support the luxurious and at times extravagant papal court at Avignon, or which were exacted by ambitious monarchs under the cover of papal license. In the course of time the impossible situation created by the Schism demanded a remedy and in fairness it should be observed that in the work of adjustment the leading part was taken by the French. After the death of Clement VII., in 1394, the French court sincerely desired to bring the Schism to an end on terms that would be fair to all. Already in 1393 King Charles VI. had laid the case before the University of Paris and asked for an opinion as to the best course to be pursued. The authorities of the university requested each member of the various faculties to submit his idea of a solution of the problem and from the ma.s.s of suggestions thus brought together a committee of fifty-four professors, masters, and doctors worked out the three lines of action set forth in selection (a) below. The first plan, i.e., that both popes should resign as a means of restoring harmony, was accepted as the proper one by an a.s.sembly of the French clergy convened in 1395. It was doomed to defeat, however, by the vacillation of both Benedict XIII. at Avignon and Boniface IX. at Rome, and in the end it was agreed to fall back upon the third plan which the University of Paris had proposed, i.e., the convening of a general council. There was no doubt that such a council could legally be summoned only by the pope, but finally the cardinals attached to both popes deserted them and united in issuing the call in their own name.

The council met at Pisa in 1409 and proceeded to clear up the question of its own legality and authority by issuing the unequivocal declaration comprised in (b) below. It furthermore declared both popes deposed and elected a new one, who took the name Alexander V. Neither of the previous popes, however, recognized the council's action, so now there were three rivals instead of two and the situation was only so much worse than before. In 1410 Alexander V. died and the cardinals chose as his successor John XXIII., a man whose life was notoriously wicked, but who was far from lacking in political sagacity. Three years later the capture of Rome by the king of Naples forced John to appeal for a.s.sistance to the Emperor Sigismund; and Sigismund demanded, before extending the desired aid, that a general church council be summoned to meet on German soil for the adjustment of the tangled papal situation. The result was the Council of Constance, whose sessions extended from November, 1414, to April, 1418, and which, because of its general European character, was able to succeed where the Council of Pisa had failed. In the decree _Sacrosancta_ given below (c), issued in April, 1415, we have the council's notable a.s.sertion of its supreme authority in ecclesiastical matters, even as against the pope himself. The Schism was healed with comparative facility. Gregory XII., who had been the pope at Rome, but who was now in exile, sent envoys to offer his abdication. Benedict XIII., likewise a fugitive, was deposed and found himself without supporters.

John XXIII. was deposed for his unworthy character and had no means of offering resistance. The cardinals, together with representatives of the five "nations" into which the council was divided, harmoniously selected for pope a Roman cardinal, who a.s.sumed the name of Martin V.

This was in 1417. The Schism was at an end, though the work of combating heresy and of propagating reform within the Church went on in successive councils, notably that of Basel (1431-1449).

Sources--(a) Lucae d'Achery, _Spicilegium, sive Collectio veterum aliquot Scriptorum qui in Galliae Bibliothecis Delituerant_ ["Gleanings, or a Collection of some Early Writings, which survive in Gallic Libraries"], Paris, 1723, Vol. I., p. 777. Translated in Thatcher and McNeal, _Source Book for Mediaeval History_ (New York, 1905), pp. 326-327.

(b) Raynaldus, _Annales, anno 1409_ ["Annals, year 1409"], --71.

(c) Von der Hardt, _Magnum Constantiense Concilium_ ["Great Council of Constance"], Vol. II., p. 98.

(a)

_The first way._ Now the first way to end the Schism is that both parties should entirely renounce and resign all rights which they may have, or claim to have, to the papal office.

[Sidenote: Three possible solutions of the Schism offered by the University of Paris]

_The second way._ But if both cling tenaciously to their rights and refuse to resign, as they have thus far done, we would propose a resort to arbitration. That is, that they should together choose worthy and suitable men, or permit such to be chosen in a regular and canonical way, and these should have full power and authority to discuss the case and decide it, and if necessary and expedient and approved by those who, according to the canon law, have the authority [i.e., the cardinals], they might also have the right to proceed to the election of a pope.

_The third way._ If the rival popes, after being urged in a brotherly and friendly manner, will not accept either of the above ways, there is a third way which we propose as an excellent remedy for this sacrilegious schism. We mean that the matter should be left to a general council. This general council might be composed, according to canon law, only of prelates; or, since many of them are very illiterate, and many of them are bitter partisans of one or the other pope, there might be joined with the prelates an equal number of masters and doctors of theology and law from the faculties of approved universities. Or, if this does not seem sufficient to any one, there might be added, besides, one or more representatives from cathedral chapters and the chief monastic orders, to the end that all decisions might be rendered only after most careful examination and mature deliberation.

[Sidenote: Declarations of the Council of Pisa (1409)]

(b)

This holy and general council, representing the universal Church, decrees and declares that the united college of cardinals was empowered to call the council, and that the power to call such a council belongs of right to the aforesaid holy college of cardinals, especially now when there is a detestable schism. The council further declares that this holy council, representing the universal Church, caused both claimants of the papal throne to be cited in the gates and doors of the churches of Pisa to come and hear the final decision [in the matter of the Schism] p.r.o.nounced, or to give a good and sufficient reason why such sentence should not be rendered.

[Sidenote: The Council of Constance a.s.serts its superiority to even the papacy]

(c)

This holy synod of Constance, being a general council, and legally a.s.sembled in the Holy Spirit for the praise of G.o.d and for ending the present schism, and for the union and reformation of the Church of G.o.d in its head and in its members, in order more easily, more securely, more completely, and more fully to bring about the union and reformation of the Church of G.o.d, ordains, declares, and decrees as follows: First it declares that this synod, legally a.s.sembled, is a general council, and represents the Catholic church militant and has its authority directly from Christ; and everybody, of whatever rank or dignity, including also the pope, is bound to obey this council in those things which pertain to the faith, to the ending of this schism, and to a general reformation of the Church in its head and members. Likewise it declares that if any one, of whatever rank, condition, or dignity, including also the pope, shall refuse to obey the commands, statutes, ordinances, or orders of this holy council, or of any other holy council properly a.s.sembled, in regard to the ending of the Schism and to the reformation of the Church, he shall be subject to the proper punishment, and, unless he repents, he shall be duly punished, and, if necessary, recourse shall be had to other aids of justice.

69. The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438)

The Council of Basel, convened in 1431, had for its object a thoroughgoing reformation of the Church, "in its head and its members," from papacy to parish priest. Like all of the councils of the period, its spirit was distinctly anti-papal and for this reason Pope Eugene IV. sought to bring it under his control by transferring it to Bologna and, failing in this, to turn its deliberations into channels other than criticism of the papacy. While the negotiations of Eugene and the council were in progress a step fraught with great significance was taken in France in the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.[538] France was the only country in which the principles laid down by the councils--Pisa, Constance, Basel, and the rest--had taken firm hold. In 1438 Charles VII. convened at Bourges an a.s.sembly composed of leading prelates, councillors, and princes of the royal blood, to which the Pope and the Council of Basel both sent delegates. This a.s.sembly proceeded to adapt the decrees of the council to the conditions and needs of France, on the evident a.s.sumption that the will of the French magnates in such matters was superior to that of both pope and council, so far as France was concerned. The action at Bourges well ill.u.s.trates the growing spirit of French nationality which had sprung up since the recent achievements of Joan of Arc.

The Pragmatic Sanction dealt in the main with four subjects--the authority of church councils, the diminis.h.i.+ng of papal patronage, the restriction of papal taxation, and the limitation of appeals to Rome.

Together these matters are commonly spoken of as the "Gallican liberties," i.e., the liberties of the Gallic or French church, and they implied the right of the national church to administer its own affairs with only the slightest interference from the pope or other outside powers; in other words, they were essentially anti-papal.

Louis XI., the successor of Charles VII., for diplomatic reasons, sought to revoke the Pragmatic Sanction, but the Parlement of Paris refused to register the ordinance and for all practical purposes the Pragmatic was maintained until 1516. In that year Francis I.

established the relations of the papacy and the French clergy on the basis of a new "concordat," which, however, was not very unlike the Pragmatic. The Pragmatic is of interest to the student of French history mainly because of the degree in which it enhanced the power of the crown, particularly in respect to the ecclesiastical affairs of the realm, and because of the testimony it bears to the declining influence of the papacy in the stronger nations like France and England. The text printed below represents only an abstract of the doc.u.ment, which in all included thirty-three chapters.

Source.--Text in Vilevault et Brequigny, _Ordonnances des Rois de France de la Troisieme Race_ (Paris, 1772), Vol. XIII., pp.

267-291.

[Sidenote: Charles VII. recognizes the obligations of the king to the Church]

[Sidenote: Abuses prevalent in the French church]

The king declares that, according to the oath taken at their coronation, kings are bound to defend and protect the holy Church, its ministers and its sacred offices, and zealously to guard in their kingdoms the decrees of the holy fathers. The general council a.s.sembled at Basel to continue the work begun by the councils of Constance and Siena,[539] and to labor for the reform of the Church, in both its head and members, having had presented to it numerous decrees and regulations, with the request that it accept them and cause them to be observed in the kingdom, the king has convened an a.s.sembly composed of prelates and other ecclesiastics representing the clergy of France and of the Dauphine.[540] He has presided in person over its deliberations, surrounded by his son, the princes of the blood, and the princ.i.p.al lords of the realm. He has listened to the amba.s.sadors of the Pope and the council. From the examination of prelates and the most renowned doctors, and from the thoroughgoing discussions of the a.s.sembly, it appears that, from the falling into decay of the early discipline, the churches of the kingdom have been made to suffer from all sorts of insatiable greed; that the _reserve_ and the _grace_ _expectative_[541] have given rise to grievous abuses and unbearable burdens; that the most notable and best endowed benefices have fallen into the hands of unknown men, who do not conform at all to the requirement of residence and who do not understand the speech of the people committed to their care, and consequently are neglectful of the needs of their souls, like mercenaries who dream of nothing whatever but temporal gain; that thus the wors.h.i.+p of Christ is declining, piety is enfeebled, the laws of the Church are violated, and buildings for religious uses are falling in ruin. The clergy abandon their theological studies, because there is no hope of advancement. Conflicts without number rage over the possession of benefices, plurality of which is coveted by an execrable ambition. Simony is everywhere glaring; the prelates and other collators[542] are pillaged of their rights and their ministry; the rights of patrons are impaired; and the wealth of the kingdom goes into the hands of foreigners, to the detriment of the clergy.

[Sidenote: The decrees of Basel accepted with some modifications]

Since, in the judgment of the prelates and other ecclesiastics, the decrees of the holy council of Basel seemed to afford a suitable remedy for all these evils, after mature deliberation, we have decided to accept them--some without change, others with certain modifications--without wis.h.i.+ng to cast doubt upon the power and authority of the council, but at the same time taking account of the necessities of the occasion and of the customs of the nation.

=1.= General councils shall be held every ten years, in places to be designated by the pope.

=2.= The authority of the general council is superior to that of the pope in all that pertains to the faith, the extirpation of schism, and the reform of the Church in both head and members.[543]

=3.= Election is reestablished for ecclesiastical offices; but the king, or the princes of his kingdom, without violating the canonical rules, may make recommendations when elections are to occur in the chapters or the monasteries.[544]

=4.= The popes shall not have the right to reserve the collation of benefices, or to bestow any benefice before it becomes vacant.

=5.= All grants of benefices made by the pope in virtue of the _droit d'expectative_ are hereby declared null. Those who shall have received such benefices shall be punished by the secular power. The popes shall not have the right to interfere by the creation of canons.h.i.+ps.[545]

=6.= Appeals to Rome are prohibited until every other grade of jurisdiction shall have been exhausted.

=7.= Annates are prohibited.[546]

FOOTNOTES:

[530] The consecrated wafer, believed to be the body of Christ, which in the Ma.s.s is offered as a sacrifice; also the bread before consecration.