SECT. III. an opinion began to be propagated, "That as the function of ecclefiafticks was purely fpiritual, they ought to poffefs no property, and to claim no temporal jurifdiction; but, according to the laudable example of their predeceffors in the primitive church, should fubfift wholly upon their tithes, or upon the voluntary oblations of the people ." This doctrine being addreffed to men, who had beheld the fcandalous manner in which the avarice and ambition of the clergy had prompted them to contend for wealth, and to exercife power, they liftened to it with fond attention. The Roman barons, who had felt moft fenfibly the rigour of ecclefiaftical oppreffion, adopted these fentiments with fuch ardour, that they set A. D. 1143. themselves inftantly to shake off the yoke. They endeavoured to restore some image of their ancient liberty, by reviving the institution of the Roman fenate, in which they vefted fupreme authority; committing the executive power fometimes to one chief fenator, fometimes to two, and sometimes to a magiftrate dignified with the name of The Patrician. The Popes exerted themselves with vigour, in order to check this fatal encroachment on their jurifdiction. One of them, finding all his endeavours ineffectual, was so much mortified, that extreme grief cut fhort his days. Another, having ventured to attack the fenators at the head of fome armed men, was mortally wounded in the fray B. During a confiderable period, the power of the Popes, before which the greatest monarchs in Europe trembled, was circumfcribed within fuch narrow limits in their own capital, that they durft hardly exert any act of authority without the permiffion and concurrence of the fenate. ENCROACH A Otto Frifingenfis de Geftis Frider. Imp. lib. ii. cap. 10. man people, 1308, to ENCROACHMENTS were made upon the Pa- SECT. III. pal authority, not only by the ufurpations of and by the the Roman nobility, but by the mutinous fpirit turbulence of the people. During feventy years of the of the Rofourteenth century, the Popes fixed their refi- from A. D. dence in Avignon. The inhabitants of Rome, 3D. 1377. accustomed to confider themselves as the defcendants of the people who had conquered the world, and had given laws to it, were too high-spirited to fubmit with patience to the delegated authority of those perfons, to whom the Popes committed the government of the city. On many occafions, they oppofed the execution of the Papal mandates; and on the flightest appearance of innovation or oppreffion, they were ready to take arms in defence of their own immunities, Towards the middle of the fourteenth century, being inftigated by Nicolas Rienzo, a man of low birth and a feditious fpirit, but of popular eloquence and an enterprizing ambition, they drove all the nobility out of the city, established a democratical form of government, elected Rienzo Tribune of the people, and invested him. with extenfive authority. But though the frantick proceedings of the Tribune foon over-turned this new fyftem; though the government of Rome was reinftated in its ancient form; yet every fresh attack contributed to weaken the papal jurisdiction; and the turbulence of the people concurred with the fpirit of independence among the nobility, to circumfcribe it within very narrow bounds. Gregory VII. and other domineering pontiffs, accomplished thofe great things which rendered them fo formidable to the Emperors with whom they contended, not VOL. I: K by C Hiftorie Fiorentine de Giov. Villani, lib. xii. c. 89. 104. ap. Murat. Script. Rerum. Ital. vol. xiii. Vita de Cola di Rienzo, ap. Murat. Antiq. Ital. vol. iii. p. 399, &c. Hift. de Nic. Rienzy, par M. de Boifpreaux, p. 91, &c. SECT. III. by the force of their arms, or by the extent of their power, but by the dread of their fpiritual cenfures, and by the effect of their intrigues, which excited rivals, and called forth enemies against every Prince, whom they wished to deprefs or to destroy. Alexander der the Popes confiderable Princes. MANY attempts were made by the Popes, dius II. ren- not only to humble thofe ufurpers, who lorded it over the cities in the ecclefiaftical ftate, but to break the turbulent spirit of the Roman people. These were long unfuccefsful. At laft Alexander VI with a policy no lefs artful than flagitious, fubdued and extirpated moft of the great Roman barons, and rendered the Popes masters of their own dominions. The enterprising ambition of Julius II. added conquefts of no inconfiderable value to the patrimony of St. Peter. Thus the Popes, by degrees, became powerful temporal Princes. Their territories, in the age of Charles V. were of greater extent than at prefent; their country feems to have been better cultivated, and more populous; and as they drew large contributions from every part of Europe, their revenues far exceeded those of the neighbouring powers, and rendered them capable of more fudden and vigorous efforts. Defects in the nature minion. THE genius of the papal government, howof ecclefi- ever, was better adapted to the exercise of spiaftical do ritual dominion, than of temporal power. With refpect to the former, all its maxims were steady and invariable. Every new Pontiff adopted the plan of his predeceffor. By education and habit, Ecclefiafticks were fo formed, that the character of the individual was funk in that of the profeffion; and the paffions of the man were facrificed to the intereft and honour of the order. The hands which held the reins of administration might change; but the fpirit which conducted SECT. III. them was always the fame. While the measures of other governments fluctuated, and the objects at which they aimed varied, the church kept one end in view; and to this unrelaxing conftancy of purfuit, it was indebted for its fuccefs in the boldest attempts ever made by human ambition. BUT in their civil adminiftration, the Popes followed no fuch uniform or confiftent plan. There, as in other governments, the character, the paffions, and the interefts of the person who had the fupreme direction of affairs, occafioned a variation both in objects and measures. As few Prelates reached the fummit of ecclefiaftical dignity, until they were far advanced in life, a change of mafters was more frequent in the Papal dominions than in other ftates, and the political fyftem was, of course, less stable and permanent. Every Pope was eager to make the moft of the fhort period, during which he had the profpect of enjoying power, in order to aggrandize his own family, and to attain his private ends; and it was often the firft bufinefs of his fucceffor to undo all that he had done, and to overturn what he had established. As Ecclefiafticks were trained to pacifick arts, and early initiated in the mysteries of that policy, by which the court of Rome extended or fupported its fpiritual dominion, the Popes were apt to conduct their temporal affairs with the fame fpirit; and in all their measures were more ready to employ the refinements of intrigue, than the force of arms. It was in the Papal court that addrefs and fubtlety in negociation first became a science; and during the fixteenth century, K 2 SECT III. tury, Rome was confidered as the school in which it might be beft acquired. As the decorum of their ecclefiaftical character prevented the Popes from placing themselves at the head of their armies, or taking the command in perfon, of the military force in their dominions, they were afraid to arm their fubjects; and in all their operations, whether offenfive or defenfive, they trufted entirely to troops. mercenary As their power and dominions could not defcend to their pofterity, the Popes were less folicitous than other Princes to form or to encourage schemes of publick utility and improvement. Their tenure was only for a short life; present advantage was what they chiefly ftudied; to fqueeze and to amafs, not to meliorate, was their object. They erected, perhaps, fome work of oftentation, to remain as a monument of their Pontificate; they found it neceffary, at fome times, to establish ufeful inftitutions, in order to footh and filence the turbulent populace of Rome; but plans of general benefit to their subjects, and framed with a view to futurity, were rarely objects of attention in the Papal policy. The patrimony of St. Peter was worse governed than any part of Europe; and though a generous Pontiff might fufpend for a little, or counter-act the effects of thofe vices which are peculiar to the adminiftration of ecclefiafticks; the difeafe not only remained incurable, but has gone on increasing from age to age; and the decline of the state has kept pace with its progrefs. ONE |