the purity of blood had been contaminated through a thou- CHAP. sand channels; but the venerable aspect of her ruins, and LXIX. the memory of past greatness, rekindled a spark of the national character. The darkness of the middle ages exhibits some scenes not unworthy of our notice. Nor shall I dismiss the present work till I have reviewed the state and revolutions of the ROMAN CITY, which acquiesced under the absolute dominion of the popes about the same time that Constantinople was enslaved by the Turkish arms. French and of Rome, A. D. 1000 In the beginning of the twelfth century, the era of the The first crusade, Rome was revered by the Latins, as the me- German tropolis of the world, as the throne of the pope and the em- emperors peror, who, from the eternal city, derived their title, their honours, and the right or exercise of temporal dominion. 1100. After so long an interruption, it may not be useless to repeat that the successors of Charlemagne and the Othos were chosen beyond the Rhine in a national diet; but that these princes were content with the humble names of kings of Germany and Italy, till they had passed the Alps and the Apennine, to seek their Imperial crown on the banks of the Tyber. At some distance from the city, their approach was saluted by a long procession of the clergy and people with palms and crosses; and the terrific emblems of wolves and lions, of dragons and eagles, that floated in the military banners, represented the departed legions and cohorts of the republic. The royal oath to maintain the liberties of Rome was thrice reiterated, at the bridge, the gate, and on the stairs of the Vatican; and the distribution of a customary donative feebly imitated the magnificence of the first Cæsars. In the church of St Peter, the coronation was performed by his successor: the voice of God was confounded with that of the people; and the public consent was declared replies, 1. That the change is less real than apparent, and that the modern Romans prudently conceal in themselves the virtues of their ancestors. 2. That the air, the soil, and the climate of Rome have suffered a great and visible alteration (Reflexions sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture, part. ii. sect. 16). 2 The reader has been so long absent from Rome, that I would advise him to recollect or review the xlixth chapter, in the sixth volume of this History. 3 The coronation of the German emperors at Rome, more especially in the xith century, is best represented from the original monuments by Muratori (Antiquitat. Italiæ medii Ævi, tom. i. dissertat. ii. p. 99. &c.) and Cenni (Mo. nument. Domin. Pontif. tom. ii. diss. vi. p. 261.), the latter of whom I only know from the copious extract of Schmidt (Hist. des Allemands, tom. iii. p. 255...266). LXIX. CHAP. in the acclamations of, "Long life and victory to our lord "the pope! Long life and victory to our lord the emperor! "Long life and victory to the Roman and Teutonic ar"mies!" The names of Cæsar and Augustus, the laws of Constantine and Justinian, the example of Charlemagne and Otho, established the supreme dominion of the emperors; their title and image was engraved on the papal coins ;" and their jurisdiction was marked by the sword of justice, which they delivered to the præfect of the city. But every Roman prejudice was awakened by the name, the language, and the manners of a Barbarian lord. The Cæsars of Saxony or Franconia were the chiefs of a feudal aristocracy; nor could they exercise the discipline of civil and military power, which alone secures the obedience of a distant people, impatient of servitude, though perhaps incapable of freedom. Once, and once only, in his life, each emperor, with an army of Teutonic vassals, descended from the Alps. I have described the peaceful order of his entry and coronation; but that order was commonly disturbed by the clamour and sedition of the Romans, who encountered their sovereign as a foreign invader: his departure was always speedy, and often shameful; and, in the absence of a long reign, his authority was insulted and his name was forgotten. The progress of independence in Germany and Italy undermined the foundations of the Imperial sovereignty, and the triumph of the popes was the deliverance of Rome. Authority of the popes in Rome. Of her two sovereigns, the emperor had precariously reigned by the right of conquest; but the authority of the popes was founded on the soft, though more solid, basis of opinion and habit. The removal of a foreign influence restored and endeared the shepherd to his flock. Instead of the arbitrary or venal nomination of a German court, the vicar of Christ was freely chosen by the college of cardinals, most of whom were either natives or inhabitants of the city. 4 Exercitui Romano et Teutonico! The latter was both seen and feit; but the former was no more than magni nominis umbra. 5 Muratori has given the series of the papal coins )Antiquitat. tom. ii. diss. xxvii. p. 548...554). He finds only two more early than the year 800; fifty are still extant from Leo III. to Leo IX. with addition of the reigning emperor; none remain of Gregory VII. or Urban II. but in those of Paschal II. he seems to have renounced this badge of dependence. LXIX. from af The applause of the magistrates and people confirmed his CHAP. election; and the ecclesiastical power that was obeyed in Sweden and Britain, had been ultimately derived from the suffrage of the Romans. The same suffrage gave a prince, fection; as well as a pontiff, to the capital. It was universally believed, that Constantine had invested the popes with the temporal dominion of Rome; and the boldest civilians, the most profane sceptics, were satisfied with disputing the right of the emperor and the validity of his gift. The truth of the fact, the authenticity of his donation, was deeply rooted in the ignorance and tradition of four centuries: and the fabulous origin was lost in the real and permanent effects. The name of Dominus or Lord was inscribed on the coin right; of the bishops: their title was acknowledged by acclamations and oaths of allegiance, and with the free, or reluctant, consent of the German Cæsars, they had long exercised a supreme or subordinate jurisdiction over the city and patrimony of St. Peter. The reign of the popes, which gratified the prejudices, was not incompatible with the liberties of Rome; and a more critical inquiry would have revealed a still nobler source of their power; the gratitude of a nation, whom they had rescued from the heresy and oppression of the Greek tyrant. In an age of superstition, it should seem that the union of the royal and sacerdotal characters would mutually fortify each other; and that the keys of paradise would be the surest pledge of earthly obedience. The sanctity of the office might indeed be degraded by the personal vices of the man. But the scandals of the tenth century were oblite. virtue; rated by the austere and more dangerous virtues of Gregory the seventh and his successors; and in the ambitious contests which they maintained for the rights of the church, their sufferings or their success must equally tend to increase the popular veneration. They sometimes wandered in poverty and exile, the victims of persecution; and the apostolic zeal with which they offered themselves to martyrdom, must engage the favour and sympathy of every Catholic breast. And sometimes, thundering from the Vatican, they created, judged, and deposed, the kings of the world: nor could the proudest Roman be disgraced by submitting to a priest, whose feet were kissed, and whose stirrup was held, LXIX. CHAP. by the successors of Charlemagne. Even the temporal interest of the city should have protected in peace and honour the residence of the popes; from whence a vain and lazy people derived the greatest part of their subsistence and benefits. riches. The fixed revenue of the popes was probably impaired: many of the old patrimonial estates, both in Italy and the provinces, had been ivaded by sacrilegious hands; ror could the loss be compensated by the claim, rather than the possession, of the more ample gifts of Pepin and his descendants. But the Vatican and Capitol were nourished by the incessant and encreasing swarms of pilgrims and suppliants: the pale of Christianity was enlarged, and the pope and cardinals were overwhelmed by the judgment of ecclesiastical and secular causes. A new jurisprudence had established in the Latin church the right and practice of appeals;" and, from the north and west, the bishops and abbots were invited or summoned to solicit, to complain, to accuse, or to justify, before the threshold of the apostles. A rare prodigy is once recorded, that two horses, belonging to the archbishops of Mentz and Cologne, repassed the Alps, yet laden with gold and silver: but it was soon understood, that the success, both of the pilgrims and clients, depended much less on the justice of their cause than on the value of their offering. The wealth and piety of these strangers were ostentatiously displayed; and their expenses, sacred or profane, circulated in various channels for the emolument of the Romans. Inconstancy of superstition. Such powerful motives should have firmly attached the voluntary and pious obedience of the Roman people to their 6 See Ducange, Gloss. media et infiinæ Latinitat. tom. vi. p. 364, 365. STAFFA. This homage was paid by kings to archbishops, and by vassals to their lords (Schmidt, tom. iii. p. 202); and it was the nicest policy of Rome, to confound the marks of filial and of feudal subjection. 7 The appeals from all the churches to the Ronian pontiff, are deplored by the zeal of St. Bernard (de Consideratione, 1. iii. toni. ii. p. 431...442. edit. Mabilion, Venet. 1750) and the judgment of Fleury (Discours sur l'Hist. Ecclesiastique, iv. and vii). But the saint, who believed in the false decretals, condemns only the abuse of these appeals; the more enlightened historian investigates the origin, and rejects the principles, of this new jurisprudence. 8 Germanici . . . . summarii non levatis sarcinis onusti nihilominus reparriant inviti. Nova res! quando hactenus aurum Roma refudit? Et nunc Romanorum consilio id usurpatum non credimus (Bernard de Consideratione, 1. iii. c. 3. p. 437). The first words of the passage are obscure, and probably corrupt. LXIX. spiritual and temporal father. But the operation of prejudice CHAP. and interest is often disturbed by the sallies of ungovernable passion. The Indian who fells the tree, that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce, are actuated by the same impulse of savage nature, which overlooks the future in the present, and relinquishes for momentary rapine the long and secure possession of the most important blessings. And it was thus, that the shrine of St. Peter was profaned by the thoughtless Romans; who pillaged the offerings, and wounded the pilgrims, without computing the number and value of similar visits, which they prevented by their inhospitable sacrilege. Even the influence of superstition is fluctuating and precarious : and the slave whose reason is subdued, will often be delivered by his avarice or pride. A credulous devotion for the fables and oracles of the priesthood, most powerfully acts on the mind of a Barbarian: yet such a mind is the least capable of preferring imagination to sense, of sacrificing to a distant motive, to an invisible, perhaps an ideal, object, the appetites and interests of the present world. In the vigour of health and youth, his practice will perpetually contradict his belief; till the pressure of age, or sickness, or calamity, awakens his terrors, and compels him to satisfy the double debt of piety and remorse. I have already observed, that the modern times of religious indifference, are the most favourable to the peace and security of the clergy. Under the reign of superstition, they had much to hope from the ignorance, and much to fear from the violence, of mankind. The wealth, whose constant encrease must have rendered them the sole proprietors of the earth, was alternately bestowed by the repentant father and plundered by the rapacious son: their persons were adored or violated; and the same idol, by the hands of the same votaries, was placed on the altar or trampled in the dust. In the feudal system of Europe, Seditions arms were the title of distinction and the measure of allegiance; and amidst their tumult, the still voice of law and popes. reason was seldom heard or obeyed. The turbulent Romans disdained the yoke, and insulted the impotence, of their 9 Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir du fruit, ils coupent l'arbre au pied et cueillent le fruit. Voila le gouvernement despotique (Esprit des Loix, l. v. c. 13); and passion and ignorance are always despotic. of Rome against the |