THE POWER OF THE POPES.
by Pierre Claude Francois Daunou.
CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES
WHOEVER has read the Gospel, knows that Jesus Christ founded no temporal power, no political sovereignty. He declares that his kingdom is not of this world; he charges his apostles not to confound the mission he gives them, with the power exercised by the princes of the earth. St.
Peter and his colleagues are sent not to govern but to instruct and the authority with which they are clothed, consists only in the knowledge and the benefits they are to bestow.
John xviii. 36.
Luke xxii. 25.
Matt, xxviii. 20.
Faithful to confining themselves within the bounds of so pure an apostolat, far from erecting themselves into rivals of the civil power, they, on the contrary, proclaimed its independence and the sacredness of its rights:4 obedience to sovereigns is one of the first precepts of their pious morality. To resist governments is, they say, to offend the Ruler of the world, and take up arms against G.o.d himself.5
The successors of the apostles for a long time held the same language: they acknowledged no power superior to that of sovereigns but Divine Providence itself.6 They subjected to kings all the ministers of the altar, levites, pontiffs, evangelists, and even prophets.7 G.o.d alone was, immediately and without mediator, the only judge of kings; to him alone belonged their condemnation: the Church addressed to them only supplications or respectful advice.8
4 Rom. xiii.
5 Qui resist.i.t potestati, Dei ordinationi resist.i.t; qui autem fesistunt, ipsi sibi d.a.m.nationem acquirunt.
6 Chrysostom. Comm, on Epistle to the Romans.
7 Deum esse solum in cujus solius, imperatores sunt potestate, a quo sunt secundi, post quem primi ante omnes.- Colimus imperatorem ut hominem a Deo secundum, solo Deo minorem.-Tertull.
8 Quod rex delinquit, soli Deo reus est.-Ca.s.siodoi"us, Si quis de n.o.bis, 0 rex, just.i.tiae tram item transcendere volu-erit, a te corrigi potest: si vero tu excesseris, quis te corripiet, quis te condemnabit, nisi is qui se p.r.o.nunciavit esse just.i.tiam? -Gregor, Turon. ad Chilperic.u.m. Reges non sunt a n.o.bis graviter exasperandi, divino judicio sunt reservandi.-Yvo. Carnot. See Bossuet"s reflections on these various texts of Scripture, and of the fathers. De(. Cler. Gail. par. 2. b. 6. ch. 13, 18, 26, 31, 32.
She exercised empire only through the medium of her virtues? and possessed no other inheritance than that of faith. These are the very expressions of the holy fathers, not only during the three first centuries, but subsequent to Constantine, and even after the time of Charlemagne.
Every one knows, that previous to Constantine, the Christian churches had been but individual a.s.sociations, too frequently proscribed, and at all times unconnected with the state. The popes, in these times of persecution and of ferment, most a.s.suredly were far from aspiring to the government of provinces: they were contented in being permitted to be virtuous with impunity; and they obtained no crown on earth save that of martyrdom.
From the year 321, Constantine allowed the churches to acquire landed property, and individuals to enrich them by legacies. Here we behold, in all probability, says the President Henault, what has given rise to the supposition of Constantine"s donation. This donation preserved its credit for such a lapse of time, that in 1478 some Christians were burned at Strasburgh for daring to question its authenticity.
? Pelag. 1 Concilior. vol. 5. p. 803. Greg. Mag. vol. 2. p. 675, 676, 677.
Nihil ecclesia sibi nisi fidem possidet.-Ambros. Op. tom. 2, p.
837.
Abr. Chron. History of France, years 753, 754, 755.
In the twelfth century, Gratian and Theodore Balsamon copied it into their canonical compilations; and St. Bernard did not consider if apocryphal. It had its origin before the tenth century, notwithstanding what many critics say: for in 776 Pope Adrian avails himself of it in an exhortation to Charlemagne. But, in 755, Stephen II.
had also an open to make use of it, as we shall shortly see; but as he neither mentions it, nor refers to it in any way, it follows that it was unknown to him as it had been to all his predecessors. It was therefore after the middle, and before the end of the eighth century, that it must have been fabricated. For the rest, the falsity of this piece is according to Fleury more universally recognized than that of the decretals of Isidore: and if the donation of Constantine could still preserve any credit, to strip it of such credit, it would be sufficient to transcribe it: here follow some lines:
"We attribute to the see of St. Peter all the dig- "nity, all the glory, all the authority of the imperial "power. Furthermore we give to Sylvester and to "his successors our palace of the Latran, which is "incontestibly the finest palace on earth; we give "him our crown, our mitre, our diadem, and all "our imperial vestments: we transfer to him the "imperial dignity. We bestow on the Holy Pontiff "in free gift the city of Rome and all the western "cities of Italy; also the western cities of every "other country. To cede precedence to him, we "divest ourselves of our authority over all those "provinces, and we withdraw from Rome, trans- "ferring the seat of our empire to Byzantium; "inasmuch as it is not proper, that an earthly "emperor should preserve the least authority, where "G.o.d has established the head of his religion."
De Consider, ad Eugen. book 4. ch. 4.-Dante de Monarchia, book 3, proves that this donation could not bind the successors of Constantine; he declares it null, but without disputing its authenticity.
The respect which we owe to our readers, forbids all observation on such palpable absurdities: but we have believed it not altogether useless to relate them here, as they may give an idea of the means resorted to in the eighth century to establish the temporal power of the popes. They also furnish a standard of the public ignorance during the succeeding centuries, in which this strange concession, revered by the people, and even by their kings, effectually contributed to the developement of the power of the Holy See. But we must also state, that at the restoration of literature the first rays of light sufficed to dissipate so contemptible an imposture.
A copy of this donation will be found in the 2d volume.
Laurence Valle having demonstrated, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, the falsity of this donation, the best writers of the sixteenth, even those of Italy, treated it with the contempt it deserved. Ariosto energetically expresses the contemptinto which it had fallen4 and places it among the various chimeras which Astolphus meets with in the moon.
Four hundred and sixty-three years had pa.s.sed from the death of Constantine in 337, to the coronation of Charlemagne in 800. Now during all this period, no epoch, no year, can be specified, in which the popes exercised sovereign authority. The immediate successors of Constantine reigned, as he did, over Italy: and when on the death of Theodoras two empires arose out of one, Rome, the metropolis of the west, continued to be governed still by an emperor. Then, as all historians attest, the popes a.s.sumed apostolic functions alone; they were not reckoned in the number of the civil magistrates; although their election, the work of the people and of the clergy, was obliged to be confirmed by the prince.
When they sought from their creed and the exercise of their spiritual ministry, an independence which they did not always obtain, they rendered homage to that of the civil power, and did not claim any of its properties.
In 476 the Western Empire fell: Augustulus was dethroned; the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and other barbarians, invaded and laid waste Italy. Rome was governed by Odoacre down to 493, by Theodoric to 526, and, during the twenty-seven succeeding years, by Theodat, Vitiges, Totila, or the generals of the Eastern Emperors.
4 Or puzza forte: Questo era il dono, se pero dir lece, Che Costantino al buon Silvestro fece. Or I. Fur. 14th chap. 8th stanza: This was the gift, with reverence be it said, Which Constantine to good Sylvester made.
It is necessary to observe here, that the sovereignty of these emperors over Italy, and especially over the city of Rome, had been acknowledged by Odoacre and by Theodoric, and sometimes even by their successors5 But in 553, the victory of Na.r.s.es over Theia restored to the Greek emperors an immediate sovereignty over the Roman territory and the neighbouring countries. Thus terminated seventy-seven years of wars and revolutions, during which the popes neither obtained nor aspired to the exercise of any temporal authority. Theodoric, in 498, confirmed the election of Pope Symmachus;6 and when, in the year 500, this pope was accused by his enemies, the decision of the matter was referred to Theodoric.7
From 553 to 567, Na.r.s.es governed Italy in the name of the emperors of Constantinople. Shortly after his death, the Lombards, led by Alboin, made themselves masters of the northern parts of Italy, and there founded a kingdom, which lasted about two hundred years. The other regions of Italy remained more or less under the authority of the emperors of the East, which was administered by the Exarchs of Ravenna.
5 St Marc. Abridged History of Italy, vol. 1. p, 1 to 129.
6 Anastas. Bibliotb. of the Lives of the Roman Pontiffs, p. 84.
7 Fleury. Eccles. Hist b. x.x.x. n. 1.
The exarch was a governor general, to whom the dukes, prefects or patricians, and also the governors of particular territories or cities, were subordinate. From the exarch or the emperor they sought the ratification of the election of each bishop of Rome: this is a fact of which the proof exists in an ancient collection of the formulas of the Romish Church8 Once only, at the election of Pelagius II. in 577, they dispensed with the consent of the emperor, because the Lombards besieged Rome, and cut off the communication with Constantinople. Paul Diacre, in speaking of Gregory the Great, who in 590 succeeded Pelagius II. says expressly, that it was not permitted to instal a pope without the order of the Greek emperor.?
8 Liber decimus Romanorum Pontific.u.m. Pere Gamier, & Jesuit, published an edition of it at Paris, in 1680. This collection had been published before by Holstenius, and was suppressed by the Court of Rome.-Sec. on the Dependence of tho Popes, 3d and 4th heads.
? Non enim licebat tunc temporis quemlibet in Romana civitate ad pontificatum promovere absque jussWeimperatoris. -Paul Diac. b. 3, c. 4.
A letter of Martin I. to Gregory I. called "the Great" has rendered frequent homage to the civil authority; but letters have been fabricated, under his name, in which he declares, that every king, every prelate, every judge, who shall neglect to ascertain the privileges of the three monasteries of Autun, and those of the Abbey of St. Medard de Soissons, shall be deprived of his dignity, and condemned, like Judas, to the pit of h.e.l.l, unless he do penance, and become reconciled with the monks.-See Maimbourg. Historical Treatise on the Church of Rome, chap.
99, the emperor thus commences: "Martin, bishop, to "the emperor our most serene lord," and ends with these words: "May the grace from above preserve "the very pious empire of our lord, and bow the "neck of all nations unto him." Thus a pope expresses himself who, imprisoned, exiled, and deposed by Constantius, never disputed the rights of the sovereign who treated him with so much rigour and even injustice. When this emperor, Constantius, came to Rome in 662, the pope, Vitalien, paid him the homage of a faithful subject.
Two apostolic nuncios, stationed, the one at Constantinople, the other at Ravenna, offered to the emperor and to the exarch the respect, devotion, and tribute of the Roman pontiff. Pope Leo II. towards the year 683, writing to Constantine Pogonat, calls him his king and lord.
In 686 and 687, the elections of the popes Conon and Sergius were confirmed, the one by the Exarch Theodoric, the other by the Exarch Platys, who exacted from Sergius a large sum, although this description of tribute had been abolished by the Emperor under the pontificate of Agathon.
Morin. History of the Origin and Progress of the Power of the Popes, p. 664,
Fleury. Ecclesiastical Hist. b. 39, n. 33.
Morin. History of the Origin and Progress of the Power of the Popes, p. 664.
Anast. Hist de vit. Bom. Pont, pages 147, 149.
In 710 Pope Constantine, ordered to Constantinople by Justinian the Second, hastened to obey this superior order.4 We shall only cite a letter written by the Pontiff to the Duke of Venice in 727:5
"The city of Ravenna having been taken, because "of our sins, by the wicked nation of the Lombards, "and our excellent master, the Exarch, being, as "we are informed, retired to Venice, we conjure "your Highness to unite with him, in order to re- "store the city of Ravenna to the imperial domi- "nion; to the end that we may, by the Lord"s as- "sistance, remain inviolably attached to Leo and "Constantine, our august emperors."
The Pope who thus expresses himself, is Gregory the Second, one of those who may be suspected of having been amongst the first, who sought to extend, beyond the bounds of the apostolat, the pontifical authority.
His letter at least proves that the imperial sovereignty was then a right universally acknowledged; a public and undeniable fact.