PLATINA'S LIBER PONTIFICALIS

 

SYMMACHUS I. a.d. 498-514.

 

SYMMACHUS, a Sardinian, son of Fortunatus, succeeded Anastasius, though not without great controversy, and after a long bandying of two contrary factions. For, while one part of the clergy choose Symmachus in the Church of St John Lateran, another part of them in St Maria Maggiore make choice of one Laurence; whereupon the senate and people of Rome, being divided into two parties, the dissension rose to such a height that, to compromise the business, a council was by mutual consent called at Ravenna, where the whole matter being discussed in the presence of Theodoric, he at length determined on the side of Symmachus, and confirmed him in the pontificate, who by a singular act of grace made his very competitor, Laurence, Bishop of Nocera. Yet, about four years after, some busy and factious clergymen, being countenanced and assisted by Festus and Probinus, two of the senatorian order, set up for Laurence again; upon which King Theodoric was so highly displeased, that he sends Peter, Bishop of Altino, to Rome, to depose them both and possess himself of the chair. But Symmachus called a synod of a hundred and twenty bishops, wherein, with great presence of mind, he purged himself of all things laid to his charge, and by a general suffrage obtained the banishment of Laurence and Peter, who had occasioned all this mischief. Hereupon, so great a sedition arose in the city that multitudes both of the clergy and laity were slain in all parts, not so much as the monastic virgins escaping. In this tumult Gordianus, a presbyter, and a very good man, was killed in the Church of St Peter ad Vincula; nor had an end been put to slaughter here, had not Faustus, the consul, in compassion to the clergy, appeared in arm's against Probinus, the author of so great a calamity.

After this, the Christians having some small respite, Clodoveus, banishing the Arian heretics, restores the orthodox, and constitutes Paris the capital city of his kingdom.

Symmachus at this time expelled the Manichees out of the city, and caused their books to be burned before the gates of St John Lateran. Several churches he built from the ground, and several others he repaired and beautified. That of St Andrew the apostle, near St Peter's, he entirely built, enriching it with divers ornaments of silver and gold; and he adorned St Peter's itself and its portico, with chequered marble, making the steps of ascent into it more and larger than they were before. Moreover, he erected Episcopal palaces. He built also the church of St Agatha, the martyr, in the Via Aurelia, and that of St Pancrace. He repaired and adorned with painting the cupola of St Paul's, and built from the foundations the church of St Sylvester and St Martin, the altars of which he very richly adorned. He made also the steps that lead into the church of St John and St Paul, and enlarged St Michael's. He built from the ground the oratories of Cosmus and Damianus, being assisted in that work by Albinus and Glaphyras, two men of principal note. Besides this, near the churches of St Peter and St Paul, he built two hospitals, making provision of all things necessary for the poor who should dwell in them. For he was in all respects very charitable, and sent supplies of money and clothes to the bishops and other clergy in Africa and Sardinia, who had suffered banishment for the profession of the true religion. He repaired the church of St Felicitas, and the cupola of that of St Agnes, which was decayed and almost ready to fall. He also at his own charge redeemed multitudes of captives in several provinces. He ordained that on Sundays, and the birthdaysof the martyrs, the hymn, "Glory be to God on High," should be sung, and, indeed, left nothing undone which he thought might tend to the glory of Almighty God.

In his time Gennadius, Bishop of Marseilles, a great imitator of St Augustine, did good service to the Church. He wrote one book against heresies, wherein he shows what is necessary to every man in order to his salvation, and another de viris illustribus, in imitation of St Hierom. As for Symmachus, having at several ordinations made ninety presbyters, sixteen deacons, one hundred and twenty-two bishops, he died, and was buried in St Peter's Church, July the 19th. He sat in the chair fifteen years, six months, twenty-two days; and by his death the see was vacant seven days.

HORMISDA I. a.d. 514-523

 

HORMISDA, the son of Justus, born at Frusino, lived in the time of Theodoric and Anastasius, as far as to the consulship of Boethius and Symmachus.

These two, upon suspicion of designing against his government, were by Theodoric at first banished, and afterwards imprisoned. Boethius, during his confinement, wrote several things extant to this day, and translated and made commentaries upon the greatest part of Aristotle's works. He was thoroughly skilled in the mathematics, as his books of music and arithmetic clearly demonstrate. But at length both he and Symmachus were put to death by the order of Theodoric. Some tell us that the cause of Boethius's sufferings was the zeal he showed in opposing the Arians, who were favoured by Theodoric, but I think the former opinion to be more probable.

Hormisda, with the advice of Theodoric, held now a provincial synod at Rome, in which the Eutychians were again condemned by universal consent. He also sent letters and messengers to John, Bishop of Constantinople, admonishing him to renounce that heresy, and to believe there are two natures in Christ, the divine and human. But John continued refractory, trusting to the interest he had with the Emperor Anastasius, who not long after was struck dead by a thunderbolt, which was believed to be a just judgment upon him, both for his patronising so pernicious a heresy, and especially for his ill-usage of the legates sent to him by Hormisda, whom, contrary to the law of nations, he treated very contumeliously, and sent them home in a shattered leaky vessel, ordering them to return directly into Italy without touching at any shore in Greece. It is said that he bid them tell the bishop that he must know it to be the part of an emperor to command, not to obey the dictates of the Bishop of Rome or any other. These legates were Enodius, Bishop of Pavia; Fortunatus, Bishop of Catina; Venantius, a presbyter of Rome; and Vitalis, a deacon. Anastasius, dying in the twenty-seventh year of his reign, Justin, a patron of the Catholic faith, succeeds him, who forthwith sends ambassadors to the Bishop of Rome, to acknowledge the authority of the apostolic see, and to desire the bishop to interpose his ecclesiastical power for the settling the peace of the Church. Whereupon Hormisda, with the consent of Theodoric, sends Germanus, Bishop of Capua; John and Blandus, presbyters; and Felix and Dioscorus, deacons, his legates to Justin, by whom they were received with all imaginable expressions and testimonies of honour and respect—John, the Bishop of Constantinople, with multitudes of the orthodox clergy, and other persons of principal note, going forth, in compliment to meet them and congratulate their arrival. But the followers of Acacius, dreading their coming, had shut themselves up in a very strong church, and upon consultation what to do, sent messengers to the emperor, declaring that they would by no means subscribe to the determination of the apostolic see, unless an account were first given them why Acacius was excommunicated. But Justin soon forced them out of the church and city, too; and Hormisda dealt in the same manner with the Manichees, who began to spring up afresh in Rome, whose books he caused to be burned before the gates of St John Lateran.

About this time Thorismund, king of the Vandals, dying in Africa, his son Hilderic, whom he had by the captive daughter of Valentinian, succeeded him in the kingdom. He inherited none of his father's errors, but following the counsel of his religious mother, recalled all the Catholics whom Thorismund had banished, and permitted them the free exercise of their religion. At this time also several rich presents were sent to Rome for the ornament of the churches there by Clodoveus, king of France, and Justin, the emperor. King Theodoric also richly adorned the church of St Peter; nor was Hormisda himself behind these princes in bounty and munificence to the Church. Having settled things according to his mind, and ordained twenty-one presbyters, fifty-five bishops, he died, and was buried in St Peter's Church, August the 6th, in the consulship of Maximus. He sat in the chair nine years, eighteen days; and by his death the see was vacant six days,

 

 

JOHN I. a.d. 523-526.

JOHN, by birth a Tuscan, son of Constantius, was in the chair from the consulship of Maximus to that of Olybrius, in the time of King Theodoric and the Emperor Justin, who, out of his great zeal for the orthodox faith, and that he might utterly extinguish the name of heretics, banished the Arians, and gave their churches to the Catholics. This was so highly resented by Theodoric, that he sends John himself with Theodorus and the two Agapeti, his ambassadors to Justin, to advise him to restore the Arians, or upon his refusal to let him know that he would pull down all the Catholic churches in Italy. These ambassadors were at first very kindly and honourably received. But having given an account of their embassy, and finding Justin wholly averse to grant what they desired, they betook themselves to tears and prayers, humbly beseeching him to prevent the ruin of Italy and all the orthodox Christians in it; by which means the good prince was prevailed upon to recall the Arians, and to grant them a toleration. Some write that it was in this bishop's time that Symmachus and Boethius were brought back from exile, imprisoned, and slain by the cruelty and rage of Theodoric. However, certain it is that they were put to death by Theodoric's order; and it matters not much whether it were in the pontificate of Hormisda or John. Which John, returning from Constantinople, Theodoric was so highly incensed against him for his agreement with the Emperor Justin both in faith and manners, that it was a chance that he had not taken away his life immediately; but throw him into prison he did at Ravenna, where, through stench and nastiness and want of necessary provision, the good man at length died—a cruelty for which the Divine vengeance sorely punished Theodoric not long after, for he died suddenly of a fit of an apoplexy, and his soul (if you will take the word of a devout hermit who reported it) was cast into the flames of the Island Lipara.

Theodoric was succeeded in the kingdom by his daughter, Amalasuntha, with her son, Athalaric, whom she had by her husband, Eucherius; a woman who with a prudence above her sex, rectified her father's ill decrees, restored the confiscated estates of Boethius and Symmachus to their children, and caused her son to be instructed in all kinds of good literature, though she were herein opposed by the Goths, who cried out that their king was not to be bred a scholar but a soldier. Much about this time died Justin, being very aged, leaving the empire to his sister's son, Justinian; and Clodoveus, king of France, leaving four sons his successors in that kingdom. Persons of note and esteem at this time were Benedict of Nursia, who settled among the Italians the rules and canons of the monastic life; and Bridget, a devout virgin of Scotland, and John, presbyter of Antioch, who wrote much against those that held that Christ should be worshipped in one nature only. To these Isidore adds one Cyprignius, a Spanish bishop, who wrote elegantly upon the Apocalypse.

Our John, before he went to Constantinople, had repaired three cemeteries—namely, that of Nereus and Achilleus in the Via Ardeatina, that of the martyrs St Felix and St Adauctus, and that of Priscilla. He also adorned the altar of St Peter's with gold and jewels. He likewise brought with him from Constantinople, a paten of gold, and a chalice of gold set with precious stones, the presents of the Emperor Justin; but these I suppose to have been lost together with his life. At several ordinations he consecrated fifteen bishops. It is said that his body was brought from Ravenna to Rome, and buried in St Peter's Church, July the 27th, Olybrius being then consul. He sat in the chair two years, eight months; and by his death the see was vacant fifty-eight days.

 

FELIX IV. a.d. 526-530.

 

FELIX the Fourth, a Sammite, the son of Castorius, lived in the time of the Emperor Justinian, whose General Belisarius was victorious over the Persians, and passing into Africa, by his singular courage and conduct subdued and almost quite rooted out the Vandals, whose King Gelimer he took prisoner, and brought him home with him in triumph. About this time Amalasuntha, having a long time lived very uneasily with her malcontented Goths, and having buried her wayward and unruly son, Athalaric, associates her kinsman Theodatus in the government. This Theodatus was so great d proficient in Greek and Latin learning, that he wrote an elegant history of his own times, and was thoroughly skilled in the Platonic philosophy. And though he were not naturally of an active martial temper, yet at the desire of Amalasuntha he undertook a war against the Burgundians and Alemanni, and managed it very successfully.

Felix, in the meanwhile being careful of the affairs of the Church, excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople for heresy, and built in the Via Sacra, near the Forum Romanum, the church of St Cosmus and Damianus, as appears from the verses yet remaining, wrought in mosaic work. He also rebuilt the church of St Saturninus in the Via Salaria, which had been consumed by fire. Some write that in this age lived Cassiodorus, who while he was a senator wrote several things in politics, and when he became a monk composed a comment upon the psalms. It is said also that Priscian of Cesarea, the famous grammarian, now wrote his book of grammar. Arator, likewise a sub-deacon of Rome, translated the gospels into hexameter verse; and Justinian, Bishop of Valence, was had in great esteem for what he preached and wrote concerning the Christian faith. As for Felix himself, having ordained fifty-five presbyters, four deacons, twenty-nine bishops, he died, and was buried in St Peter's Church, October the 12th. He was in the chair four years, two months, thirteen days; and by his death the see was vacant three days.

 

BONIFACE II. A. D. 530-532

 

BONIFACE the Second, a Roman, son of Sigismund, was also in the time of Justinian, a prince whose vast parts and learning qualified him for that great work which, for the public good, he undertook, of collecting and methodising the scattered Roman laws, and retrenching those which were useless and superfluous. Yet herein he made use of the advice and assistance of John, a patrician, Trebonianus, Theophilus, and Dorotheus, men of great learning and authority. With their help an immense number of near two thousand volumes of decrees, made from the building of the city to this time, confusedly heaped together, were digested under their respective titles into fifty books, which are sometimes called Digests, and sometimes Pandects, because they contain the whole civil law. He made also an epitome of the laws in four books, which go under the name of Institutes, or Justinian's Code. Moreover, some tell us that Justinian wrote certain books concerning the incarnation of our Lord, and that at his own charge he built the temple of St Sophia, than which there is not a more noble and magnificent pile of buildings in the world.

In his reign Boniface was made bishop ot Rome, though not without some opposition; for the clergy being divided, one party of them chose Dioscorus into the place of Felix deceased. The contention about this matter lasted twenty-eight days, but the death of Dioscorus put an end to the controversy. Things being quiet, Boniface applied himself to the settling of the Church, and decreed that no bishop should appoint his own successor, which was afterwards confirmed by several following bishops of Rome. He decreed also, that upon the decease of any bishop of Rome, another should be chosen to succeed him, if it might be, within three days, to prevent any bandying or dissension which might be occasioned by delay. He ordained likewise, that the clergy should be separated and placed distinct from the laity at the time of celebration. At the same time many of the Roman nobility were so wrought upon by the sanctity of Benedict, that they retired to Mount Cassino and became monks there; among whom the more eminent were Maurus and Placidius. Other men of note and esteem were Dionysius Exiguus, famous for the extraordinary skill and judgment which he showed in his Paschal Cycle; Facundus, whose writings against certain Eutychians then springing up, were very much commended; and Martin, who by his preaching and writings converted the people of Soissons from the Arian heresy to the truth. But Boniface having sat in the pontifical chair two years, two days, died, and was buried in St Peter's Church. The see was then vacant two months.

 

JOHN II. A.D. 532-535

 

JOHN the Second, a Roman, son of Projectus, lived in the time of Justinian, and soon after his entrance upon the pontificate condemned Anthemius, an Arian bishop; some say that he had been Bishop of Constantinople. Justinian, to show his respect to the Roman see, sent Hypatius and Demetrius, two bishops, to Rome, both to compliment John in his name, and to make to St Peter's Church several rich presents. During this embassy, Mundus, Justinian's general, took the strong city of Salona, and gained a victory over the Goths, though not without great loss on the conquering side. For Mundus himself, together with his son, a valiant and brave young gentleman, was slain in that engagement; the news of which misfortune was extremely laid to heart by Justinian, he having always had a great value for that leader's courage and fidelity. Our bishop John, of whom historians say very little, having at one ordination made fifteen presbyters, twenty-one bishops, died, and was buried in St Peter's Church, May 27th. He sat in the chair two years, four months; and by his death the see was vacant six days.

AGAPETUS I. A.D. 535-536.

 

AGAPETUS, a Roman, son of Gordianus, a presbyter of the church of St John and St Paul, being created bishop by Theodatus, was by him forthwith sent to the Emperor Justinian, who was highly incensed against that king for his having first banished Amalasuntha, the mother of Athalaric, into the island of the Lake of Bolsena, and afterwards caused her to be put to death there. For she was a woman so well acquainted with Greek and Latin learning, that she durst engage in disputation with any professed scholar. Moreover, she was so thoroughly skilled in the languages of all the barbarous invaders of the Roman empire, that she could discourse any of them without an interpreter. Her death Justinian so highly resented, that he threatened to make war upon Theodatus for that reason. Hereupon Agapetus was sent to him, who being received with great honour and affection, and having obtained the peace he was sent to sue for, he was then practised with to confirm the Eutychian opinions. But Justinian finding that the good man utterly detested any such proposal, from desiring and requesting he fell to threats and menaces. Upon which Agapetus told him, that he should have been glad to be sent to Justinian, a Christian prince, but that he found a Diocletian, an enemy and persecutor of Christians. By this boldness of speech, and God's appointment, Justinian was so wrought upon that he embraced the Catholic faith, and having deposed Anthemius, Bishop of Constantinople, who patronised the Eutychian heresy, put into his place Menas, one of the orthodox, who was consecrated by Agapetus himself.

But not long after Agapetus died at Constantinople, and his body being wrapped up in lead was conveyed to Rome, and buried in St Peter's Church. He sat in the chair eleven months, twenty-one days; and by his death the see was vacant one month, twenty-nine days.

 

 

SYLVERIUS. A.D. 536-537.

 

SYLVERIUS, a Campanian, son of Bishop Hormisda, was chosen Bishop of Rome at the command of Theodatus, though till this time the emperors only, not the kings, had interposed their authority in that matter. But the menaces of Theodatus prevailed, who had threatened to put to death every man of the clergy who would not subscribe his name to the choice of Sylverius.

For this reason, and that he might also revenge the death of Amalasuntha, Justinian sends Belisarius, a patrician, with an army into Italy. In his passage thither he first put in at Sicily, and brought that island to the emperor's devotion. In the meantime Theodatus dying, and the Goths having chosen themselves a king against the will of Justinian, Belisarius quits Sicily that he might deliver Italy from the tyranny of the Goths. Coming into Campania, and the city of Naples refusing to obey the emperor's summons, he took it by storm and plundered it, putting to the sword all the Goths that were in garrison there, and a great part of the citizens, carrying away their children and what other spoil they could lay their hands on. The soldiers pillaged the very churches, violated the chastity of cloistered virgins, and committed all the outrages which are wont to be acted by an enraged victorious enemy. Marching hastily from thence with his army to Rome, and entering the city by night, he struck such a terror into the Goths who defended it, that they all left the gates and the walls and fled to Ravenna. But Belisarius apprehending that Vitiges might surprise him with a mighty force, which he should not be able to fight in open field, with all possible despatch fortified the city with trenches and bulwarks where occasion was for them. Soon after Vitiges, according to his expectation, coming towards him with a mighty army, for it consisted of a hundred thousand men, Belisarius, who had not above five thousand, thought it best to keep within the city. Vitiges encamped between two aqueducts, the one of which ran towards the Via Latina, the other towards the Via Prsenestina, and both met five miles from the city. And that the city might not be supplied with water, he cut off all the conduits and conveyances, which were fourteen. Moreover, he sent part of his army who possessed themselves of the port, and thereby reduced the Romans to the double calamity of war and famine.

In the meantime, at the motion of Vigilius, a deacon and surrogate of Rome, the Empress Theodora laid her commands, joined with threatenings, upon Sylverius, to banish Menas from Constantinople, and to restore Anthemius, who, as we have said, had been deposed for patronising the Eutychian heresy. Which, when he refused to do, she writes to Belisarius, ordering him to depose Sylverius, and to put Vigilius into his place. But Belisarius being wholly taken up with the defence of the city, left that affair to the management of his wife, Antonina, who, upon the depositions of certain witnesses suborned by Vigilius, attesting that Sylverius had a design to betray the city into the hands of the Goths, not only compelled him to quit the pontificate and to enter into a monastic life, but also banished him to the Island Pandataria, where he died, not without the reputation of having been a very holy man. It is said that at this time the Gauls despatched messengers to Benedict, desiring him to send to them any one of his disciples to instruct them in the rules of the monastic life. Upon which Benedict sent Maurus, who, by his own example, instructed them in a good and happy course of living, and also set up several monasteries among them. Vigilius, at the desire of the Roman clergy, in pursuance of Antonina's determination, was created Bishop of Rome. Sylverius, after his possession of the chair one year, five months, and twelve days, died, as we have already said, in Pandataria, and was buried June the 20th. Upon his death the see was vacant six days.

 

 

VIGILIUS I. A.D. 537-555

 

VIGILIUS, a Roman, his father a man of consular dignity, was likewise in Justinian's reign created Bishop of Rome, in whose time a fifth synod was held at Constantinople against Theodorus and other heretics, who held that the Blessed Virgin brought forth man only, not God-man; in this synod therefore it was decreed that the Blessed Virgin should be styled Theotokos, i.e., the mother of God.

Belisarius had now defended the city one whole year and nine days, and having in this time received fresh supplies of men, he resolved to march out and to engage the enemy in a pitched battle. But Vitiges, distrusting his own force, sets fire to his tents, and hastens by great marches to Ravenna. Belisarius with all possible speed follows him, and entering the city, takes Vitiges himself prisoner with all his family and a great part of his nobles; and having recovered almost all Italy, in the fifth year from his arrival there, he carries them with him to Constantinople. The same Belisarius, with incredible expedition, quelled the Moors, who were harassing Africa, and out of the spoils of that victory he made two very rich presents to St Peter's Church in Rome. He built also two hospitals for strangers at his own charge, one in the Via Lata, the other in the Via Flaminia; and founded the monas­tery of St Juvenalis at a town called Orta, endowing it with an estate in land for the maintenance of the monks in it.

At this time Theodora was earnest with Vigilius to come to Constantinople, and according to his promise, to restore Anthemius. But Vigilius denies the doing it, for that unjust promises are not to be performed, and he was of opinion that the proceedings of Agapetus and Sylverius against that heretic were legal, and that therefore their acts were by no means to be made void by him. Theodora being hereat enraged, with the assistance of some of her creatures at Rome, causes Vigilius to be impleaded upon two accusations : one, that he had fraudulently procured the banishment of Sylverius; the other, that by his order a certain youth had been beaten to death by his nephew Vigilius, son of Asterius, the consul. And that he might not escape with impunity she sends one Anthemius to Rome, with instructions to bring Vigilius by force to her, if he refused to make his appearance. He, coming to Rome, in pursuance of his commission, seized the bishop in the church of St Cecilia, as he was, according to custom, distributing gifts to the people upon his birthday; and being assisted by some Romans, conveys him to Constantinople. It is said that at Vigilius's passage down the River Tiber, the people followed him with curses, pelting him with sticks and stones, and particularly using this exprobration, "Mischievous hast thou been to the city of Rome, and may mischief go along with thee." Being arrived at Sicily, by the permission of those who had him in custody, he ordained several persons, and among them Ampliatus a priest, and Valentinus a bishop, who were to have the inspection of the clergy and Church of Rome in his absence. Coming near Constantinople, Justinian with a great retinue went out to meet him, and they both entered the city together, the clergy going before them, as far as the temple of St Sophia. Theodora had now opportunity to tamper with Vigilius, and persuade him to the performance of his promise. But he told her that he had rather suffer the greatest punishment in the world than change his resolution in the case. She, therefore, and her attendants, beginning to menace him, and he saying that he was come to a Diocletian, not as he thought to Justinian, was thereupon so roughly handled and beaten that it almost cost him his life. And flying from their rage to the church of St Euphemia, not far distant, he was from thence dragged by certain rude people, who put a halter about his neck, and led him like a common rogue publicly through the city till the evening. After this he was imprisoned, and forced for some time to live upon nothing but bread and water, which yet he bore with so much patience and temper, that he would often say that he had deserved worse than all this, and was not yet punished according to his demerits. Those of the clergy who had accompanied him from Rome were some of them banished, others condemned to dig in the mines. But at the request of the Romans, who had now a better opinion of him, and upon the importunity of Narses, whom Justinian had sent to Rome to oppose the Goths, Vigilius, and all the others who were confined, had liberty granted them to return into Italy. But in their passage thither, being come as far as Syracuse in Sicily, Vigilius, who had outlived so many calamities and troubles, died there of the stone, and his body was carried to Rome, and buried in the church of St Marcellus, in the ViaSalaria. He lived in the pontificate at Rome and elsewhere seventeen years, six months, twenty-six days; and by his death the see was vacant three months, five days.

 

PELAGIUS I. A.D. 555-560.

 

PELAGIUS, a Roman, lived in the time when Totilas, King of the Goths, advancing with a great army from Treviso, overran and spoiled Italy in such a manner, that from his sa vage cruelty he was called God's Scourge. Coming as far as Mount Cassino, in his way to Campania, though he were in the habit of a common soldier, yet he was discovered by St Benedict, who spared not by threatening of Divine vengeance to terrify him from raging so furiously against the Christians. Moving thence towards Abruzzo he dismantled Beneventum, besieged Naples, took Cumse, where yet he exercised an extraordinary respect and civility towards the Roman women whom he found in it, permitting them to go to Rome to their friends without any violence or rudeness offered to them. After this having taken Naples, and made himself master of all that part of Italy which lies towards Sicily, he marches to Rome; and having first seized the port, by which supplies should come to the city, he reduced them to such extremity for want of provisions, that some were forced to feed upon man's flesh. At length, forcing his entrance at the gate which leads to Ostia, he possessed himself of the city, which, having plundered, he set on fire. Some tell us that Totilas designed to save the buildings of the city, and sent messengers about by night to publish his pleasure in that particular, but his orders therein were not obeyed. Justinian having intelligence of these proceedings, speedily despatches Narses, the eunuch, with a great army into Italy. It is said that this Narses was at first a bookseller, but being advanced to an office near the Emperor's person, Justinian, finding him to be a man of great merit, raised him to the dignity of a patrician. And, indeed, in all the accomplishments of religion, and virtue, and clemency, and generosity, and sweetness of temper, he was a most exemplary and extraordinary person. Narses, with the addition of some auxiliary forces from Alboinus, King of the Lombards, advances against the Goths, routes them, and makes a great slaughter in the pursuit of them. Totilas lost his life ingloriously at Brissillo, and Theias, who was chosen king in his stead, though he behaved himself bravely, yet was slain by Narses not far from Nocera. And thus both the name and power of the Goths were extinct together, in the seventy-second year after that their King Theodoric first entered Italy. Not long after died Justinian, in the fortieth year of his reign; a prince worthy to have his memory perpetuated to all posterity, and who, according to the custom of preceding emperors, deserves the additional titles of Alemanicus, Gotthicus, Vandalicus, Persicus, Africanus, though he only advised, but did not act, in the successful expeditions made against those nations.

Pelagius, in the midst of these disturbances not neglecting the affairs of the Church, ordained that heretics and schismatics might be suppressed by the secular power, when they would not be reclaimed by reason and argument. Being accused that he was the occasion of the calamities that befell Vigilius, as having a greater interest with Justinian than Vigilius had, in the sight of the clergy and people, he laid his hand upon the Cross and the Gospel, and by a solemn oath purged himself from that charge. Narses, coming to Rome, made a procession from the church of St Pancras to St Peter's, with thanksgiving for his late success; and set himself with all possible application to repair the damage which the city had received by the Goths. In conjunction with Pelagius, he ordained that no person should be admitted to any holy orders or ecclesiastical dignity by the way of canvassing or bribery. Pelagius, making his notary, Valentinus, a very religious person, treasurer of the Church, begins the building of the church of St Philip and St James. Some tell us that the learned monk, Cassiodorus, who had been first consul, then a senator, and afterwards renouncing all human greatness, embraced a monastic life, lived to this time; and that Victor, Bishop of Capua, now wrote a book concerning Easter, in which he particularly discovered the mistakes of Dionysius, the Roman abbot, who had, with little care and skill, composed a Paschal Cycle. Moreover, Sabinus, Bishop of Canosa, and Gregory, Bishop of Langres, and Vedastus, a scholar oi St Remigius, and Bishop of Arras, were ornaments to the Pontificate of Pelagius; and Herculanus, Bishop of Perugia, who had been put to death by Totilas, was canonised. Pelagius, having at two Decembrian ordinations made twenty-six presbyters, eleven deacons, thirty-nine bishops, died, and was buried in St Peter's. He was in the chair five years, ten months, twenty-eight days. The see was then vacant twenty-six days.

 

JOHN III. a.d. 560-573.

 

JOHN the Third, the son of Anastasius, descended of a noble family, lived in the time of Justin, who succeeded Justinian, but was in nothing like him. For he was covetous, lewd, rapacious, a contemner of God and men to such a degree, that his vices made him frantic; so that his wife Sophia managed all affairs till the time of Tiberius the Second. This woman, being prompted thereto by some envious persons who hated Narses, recalls him out of Italy in these reproachful words, "That she would have the eunuch come home and spin." This he very highly resenting, as well he might, returns answer, " That he would spin such a web, as none of his enemies should ever be able to unweave." And he was as good as his word; for he presently sends and invites Alboinus, King of the Lombards, with all his people, then possessed of Pannonia, to come and seat themselves in the more plentiful country of Italy. Alboinus, complying with the proposal of Narses, and entering Italy with a vast number of men with their wives and children, first possesses himself of Friuli and Marca Trivigiana; thence passing into Insubria, he takes and sacks Milan, and at length makes himself master of Pavia, after it had held out a siege of three years. Being thus flushed with victory, he goes to Verona, which he constitutes the capital city of his kingdom, where, being once at an entertainment overheated with wine, he compelled his wife, Rosamund, to drink out of a cup which he had made out of her own father's skull, whom he himself had slain. Now, there was in Alboinus's army one Helmechild, a very handsome young gentleman, and an excellent soldier; and who was Rosamund's particular favourite. Him she discourses privately, and by proposing to him the hopes of succeeding in the kingdom, prevailed with him to murder Alboinus. But they were both so hated for the fact by the Lombards, that they not only failed of their hopes, but were glad to fly for protection to Longinus, the Exarch of Ravenna, where, not long after, they poisoned each other, and died together. At this time Italy, by reason of the incursions which the barbarous nations made into it, was in a very calamitous state, which had been portended by prodigies and apparitions of flaming armies in the air, and also by an extraordinary inundation of the river Tiber, which had very much damaged the city of Rome.

In the meantime our John repaired the cemeteries of the saints, and finished the church of St Philip and St James which had been begun by Vigilius, and drew Narses, who had been an avowed enemy to the Romans for their ill opinion of him and their misrepresenting him to the Empress Sophia, from Naples to Rome, where he not long after died, and his body was conveyed in a coffin of lead to Constantinople. In such a confusion of things, the State of Italy must needs certainly have been utterly ruined, if some eminently holy men had not supported and propped up the tottering nation. Among others, Paul, Patriarch of Aquileia, and Felix, Bishop of Treviso, interceded successfully with Alboinus, when he first entered Italy, in the behalf of the inhabitants. Moreover, Fortunatus, a person of extraordinary learning and eloquence, very much civilised and polished the Gauls by his books and example, compiling a treatise of government, inscribed to their king, Childebert, and writing in an elegant style the "Life of St Martin." Some write that at this time lived Germanus, Bishop of Paris, a person of wonderful piety, who kept the kings of France within the bounds of their duty to such a degree, that each strove to excel the other in religion and piety, in goodness and clemency. So prevalent is the example of a good pastor, such an one as Germanus was, in whom they saw nothing but what was worthy of their imitation. After this one further remark,—that in our John's time, the Armenians were converted to Christianity,—I shall say no more of him, but that having been in the chair twelve years, eleven months, twenty-six days, he died, and was buried in St Peter's. Upon his death the see was vacant ten months and three days.

 

BENEDICT I. A.D. 574-578.

 

BENEDICT, a Roman, the son of Boniface, lived in the time of Tiberius the Second, whom Justin had adopted, and appointed his heir to the empire—an honour which he well deserved, as being a person adorned with all the princely accomplishments of clemency, justice, piety, religion, wisdom, resolution, and unshaken fortitude. Among his other virtues he was eminent for his bounty and liberality towards all, especially the poor, and God supplied him in an extraordinary manner for it. For walking once hastily in his palace, and spying the figure of the cross upon one of the marble stones in the pavement, that it might not be trampled under foot, he devoutly caused it to be removed from thence, and laid up in a more decent and honourable place. At its taking up there was found under it another stone with the same figure on it, and then a third, under which he discovered such a vast heap of gold and silver as was requisite to furnish and maintain his large bounty, a great part of which treasure he distributed to the poor. It is said also that he had brought to him out of Italy a great estate which Narses had got there, which in like manner he employed in liberality and munificence. To Childebert, the French king, who had sent ambassadors to him, besides the other presents that he made, which were very considerable, he sent certain medals of gold, of very great weight, on the one side of which were the effigies of the Emperor, with this inscription, "Tiberii Constantini perpetuo Augusti;" on the other side was a chariot with its driver, and this inscription, "Romanorum Gloria." And to complete his successes, the army which he had sent against the Persians, returning victoriously, brought away with twenty elephants so vast a booty as no army had ever done in any expedition before. Thus signally was he rewarded for his good services to mankind in general, for his religion towards God our Saviour, and for his beneficence, particularly to the people of Rome, whom he not only protected and defended from their enemies as much as could be by his arms, but also at the prayers and intercession of our bishop, Benedict, whom he had a wonderful love and esteem for, he delivered them from dearth and famine by sending a supply of corn out of Egypt. For the Lombards, by a long and tedious war, had so harassed Italy far and wide that from their devastations there arose a great want and scarcity of all things. While things went thus in Italy, John, Bishop of Constantinople, by reading, disputing, writing, admonishing, and teaching, kept the Oriental Church as much as might be right in the faith, though he met with many opposers therein. The same did also the equally learned and eloquent Leander, Bishop of Toledo, or as others think, of Seville, who wrote several treatises both to confirm the orthodox doctrine and to confute the Arian heresy, which, like a contagious pestilence, the Vandals, driven out of Africa by Belisarius, had brought with them into Spain. As for Benedict, some write that he, laying sadly to heart the calamities which now befel Rome and all Italy, died of grief, after he had been in the chair four years, one month, twenty-eight days. The see was then vacant two months, ten days.

 

PELAGIUS II. A.D. 578-590

 

PELAGIUS, a Roman, son of Vinigildus, was from the time of Tiberius to that of his son-in-law, the Emperor Mauritius, to whom, though he were a Cappadocian, yet the empire was committed, upon the account of his great courage and ability in the management of affairs. At this time the Lombards having, after the death of Alboinus, for twenty years been governed by dukes, make Autharis their king, whom they also called Flavius, a name which was afterwards used by all the kings of Lombardy. But Mauritius, endeavouring to drive the Lombards out of Italy, hires Childebert, the French king, to engage in a war against them; who forthwith raising a great army of Gauls and Germans, fights Autharis, but with great loss is discomfited. The Lombards being flushed and heightened by this victory, marched on as far as to the Straits of Sicily, possessing themselves all along of the cities of Italy, and at length besieging for a long time Rome itself, of which certainly they had made themselves masters, had they not been driven from its walls by the great rains which fell so violently and incessantly, and made such an inundation, that men looked upon it as a second Noah's flood.

This was the only cause why Pelagius was made Bishop of Rome without the consent of the Emperor, the city being so closely besieged that none could pass to know his pleasure therein. For at this time the Roman clergy's election of a bishop was not valid unless they had the Emperor's approbation. Hereupon Gregory, a deacon, a man of great piety and learning, was sent to Constantinople to appease the Emperor; where, having effected what he came for, he neglected not to employ his time and parts, but both wrote books of morals upon Job, and also at a disputation in the presence of the Emperor himself, he so baffled Eutychius, Bishop of Con­stantinople, that he was forced to retract what he had written in a book of his concerning the Resurrection, in which he asserted that our bodies in that glory of the Resurrection should become more thin and subtle than the wind or air, and so not tangible. Which is contrary to that of our Saviour, "Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me have" (Luke xxiv.). As for Pelagius, having, at the request of the citizens of Rome, recalled Gregory, turned his father's house into an hospital for poor old men, and entirely built the cemetery of Hermes the martyr, and the church of Laurence the martyr, he died of the pestilence, which at that time was very epidemical throughout Europe, after he had been in the chair twelve years, two months, ten days, and was buried in St Peters in the Vatican. The see was then vacant six months, twenty-eight days.

GREGORY I. THE GREAT. a.d. 590-604.

 

GREGORY, a Roman, son of Gordianus, one of the senatorian order, was against his will unanimously chosen Bishop of Rome, A.D. 590. Now because, as I have already said, the consent of the Emperor was required herein, he despatches messengers with letters, beseeching Mauritius that he would not suffer this election of the clergy and people of Rome to stand good. These letters were intercepted and torn by the city prefect, and others written, by which the Emperor was requested to confirm him who was by universal suffrage thus chosen. There could nothing be more pleasing and acceptable to the Emperor than the news of this choice, for the conversation of Gregory, while he was at Constantinople, had been very grateful to him, and moreover he had christened his son. Mauritius therefore speedily sends word back to Rome, that he did confirm the election of Gregory, and that in such a fluctuating state of things they should compel that holy man to undertake the government of the Church. He therefore, not consulting his own inclination, but the benefit of mankind, and the honour of God, which, as he was a most devout and religious man, he had ever preferred before all other things, without any regard to riches, or pleasures, or ambition, or power, takes the burden of the pontificate upon him. And he behaved himself so well in it, that no one of his successors down to our times has been his equal, much less his superior, either for sanctity of life or for diligence in managing affairs, or for his learning and writings. He composed a book of the sacraments; wrote commentaries upon Ezekiel, and, as I have already said, upon Job, and homilies upon the gospels; four books in dialogue, and that which he called the "Pastoral," to John, Bishop of Ravenna, concerning the way of governing the Church. Moreover, he introduced several rites, and made several additions to the offices of the Roman Church; and particularly he first in­stituted the greater Litanies or Processions, and appointed a great part of the Stations. And that the good man might not in anything be wanting to the Church, he held in St Peter's a synod of twenty-four bishops, wherein he took away many things which might prove pernicious, and added many which might be beneficial to religion. He also sent into England, Augustine, Melitus, and John, and with these divers other monks, all persons of approved lives, by whose preaching the English were then first entirely converted to Christianity. By his means likewise the Goths returned to the union of the Catholic Church. We are told by some writers, that Gregory sent his dialogues concerning morals to Theudelinda, Queen of the Lombards, by the reading of which she might smooth and polish the rugged temper of her husband, Autharis, and bring him to a better sense of religion and morality. She was an excellent lady, and a zealous Christian, and not only built the church of St John Baptist at Monza, a town ten miles distant from Milan, but also furnished it with vessels of gold, and liberally endowed it.

It is said that at the time when Hermenigild was put to death by his father, Leovigild, King of the Goths, because he professed the Catholic faith, the seamless coat of Christ, which fell by lot to one of the soldiers, was found in the city Zaphat, laid up in a marble chest there; Thomas being then Bishop of Jerusalem, John Bishop of Constantinople, and Gregory Bishop of Antioch. In the meantime Mauritius, having in Tuscany and Terra di Lavoro, by his General, Romanus the Exarch, gained the better of the Lombards, who from a confidence grounded upon their former successes were now degenerated into all manner of vice, makes a law, that no person who had. listed himself in the Roman army should be at liberty to withdraw and take upon him a religious life till either the war were ended or the man himself maimed or disabled. Gregory being moved hereat, admonishes him not to oppose the religion of that God by whose bounty he had been raised from a very mean condition to the highest degree of dignity. Moreover, John, Bishop of Constantinople, having in a synod which he held, procured himself to be styled the Ecumenical, i.e., universal bishop, and Mauritius hereupon requiring Gregory to yield obedience to John; he, being a person of great Courage and constancy, returns answer, that the power of binding and loosing was committed to Peter and his successors, not to the bishops of Constantinople, and therefore warns him to desist from provoking the wrath of God against himself, by being too busy in sowing dissension in the Church. But Mauritius, not content with the mischief he had done already, recalls his soldiers who were in Italy, and encourages the Lombards to assault the Romans, without any regard to the league they had entered into with them. Hereupon Agilulphus, moving from Lombardy, and laying waste all Tuscany through which he passed, infests and very much annoys the city of Rome one whole year; in which time Severus, Bishop of Aquileia, becoming heretical, was the occasion of many evils. For, after his death, the patriarchate of Aquileia was divided into two: Agilulphus, King of the Lombards, constituting John of Aquileia, and our Gregory, Candianus of Grado, bishops to the people of Friuli. But Agilulphus, quitting all hopes of gaining the city, raises the siege, and returns to Milan. Mauritius now began to treat Gregory more respectfully, but it proceeded not from a voluntary but forced repentance; he having heard that a certain person in the habit of a monk, with a drawn sword in his hand, had proclaimed aloud in the market-place of Constantinople, that the Emperor should in a short time die by the sword. The same was confirmed to him by a dream of his own, in which he saw himself, his empress, and their children murdered. And accordingly, not long after, the soldiers, being discontented for want of pay, create Phocas, who was a centurion in the army, emperor, and assassinate Mauritius, in the nineteenth year of his reign. But Gregory, having added what ornaments he could to the churches in Rome, and dedicated by the name of St Agatha the martyr, the church of the Goths in Suburra, built by Fl. Ricimerius, a man of consular dignity, converted his father's house into a monastery, wherein he received and entertained strangers, and supplied with meat and drink the poor which from all parts flocked to it. He was certainly a person every way praiseworthy, whether we regard his life and con­versation, or his learning, or his abilities in things both divine and human. Nor ought we to suffer him to be censured by a few ignorant men, as if the ancient stately buildings were demolished by his order, upon this pretence which they make for him, lest strangers coming out of devotion to Rome should less regard the consecrated places, and spend all their gaze upon triumphal arches and monuments of antiquity. No such reproach can justly be fastened upon this great bishop, especially considering that he was a native of the city, and one to whom, next after God, his country was most dear, even above his life. It is certain that many of those ruined structures were devoured by time, and many might, as we daily see, be pulled down to build new houses; and for the rest, it is probable that for the sake of the brass used in the concavity of the arches, and the conjunctures of the marble or other square stones, they might be battered and defaced not only by the barbarous nations, but by the Romans too, if Epirotes, Dalmatians,

Pannonians, and other sorry people, who from all parts of the world resorted hither, may be called Romans. Now, Gregory having used all means to establish the Church of God, died in the second year of the Emperor Phocas, having been in the chair thirteen years, six months, ten days; and, the loss of . him being lamented by all men, was buried in St Peter's, March 12. By his death the see was vacant five months, nineteen days.