THE KING OF FRANCE SENDS A SOLEMN EMBASSY TO THE POPE.—THE ANSWER THEY RECEIVE.—THE POPE EXCOMMUNICATES THE KING AND HIS ADHERENTS.
About this period, some persons came to the king and the lords then at Paris, to inform them, that the pope and his rival would neither of them resign the popedom, as they had promised in the city of Savona,—but by various deceitful means kept up the schism that had so long hurt the true interests of the church. The king, in consequence, wrote letters to the pope, and sent them by Jean de Château-morant and Jean de Coursen, knights, his ambassadors, to declare, that if peace were not firmly established throughout the Christian church by Ascension day next ensuing, he himself and the clergy, nobles and people of his realm and of Dauphiny, would no longer obey him or his adversary.
Pope Benedict was not well pleased with the contents of these letters, nor with the embassy, although he dissembled with the ambassadors. He made them a short answer, saying he would speedily reply to the letters they had brought, after which they took leave of him and returned to Paris, to make the king and council acquainted with all that had passed. It was not long before a messenger from the pope arrived at Paris, who went to the hôtel de St Pol, and, understanding the king was in his oratory at the commencement of the mass, proceeded thither, and presenting the king with an apostolical letter instantly departed.
When mass was over, the king caused the letter to be opened, and deliberately read, by which he learnt that he himself and all his subjects were excommunicated.
Search was instantly made in Paris after the person who had brought this excommunication, but in vain, for he had quitted the city as secretly and suddenly as he could. The king and his council, noticing the manner and form of this act, in compliance with the exhortations of the university of Paris, the greater part of his council, and the princes of the blood, who were all much angered with the pope, he withdrew himself from his obedience to the holy see.
THE APOSTOLICAL LETTER RECEIVED BY THE KING.
‘Benedict, bishop and servant to the servants of God, to his very dear son in JESUS CHRIST, Charles king of France, sends health and apostolical benediction.
‘Would to God, very dear son, that thou knewest the love and affection we bear to thy noble and potent person, and didst understand the purity of our mind, thou wouldest then be sensible of the great joy we feel in thy prosperity, and of our grief at any tribulations that befal thee. If of this thou hadst knowledge, thou wouldest not listen to those detractors, who by false tales endeavour to set thy heart against us, but love us, as a son should love a father, and then the disturbances in thy kingdom, raised up by thy persecutions against our holy church, would cease.
‘Thou knowest well, glorious prince, and hast also heard from public report, how constantly and diligently we have laboured to restore union to the church; and the advances we have made, in order to obtain peace, toward those who have foolishly encouraged the unfortunate schism, by claiming the right of enjoying the holy see, and more particularly toward Angelo Corrario, who calls himself Gregory, and is at present the adversary to the church. He, however, refuses to perform the promises he had made in various places to resign his pretensions, and prolongs the division in the holy church under frivolous and false pretences. It is, however, notorious, and cannot be denied, that it has not been owing to any fault in us that peace has not been given to the church, and all cause for schism annihilated.
‘Notwithstanding this, there are some, we hear, who are very busy in their endeavours to defame us to thee, and to lessen, in as much as they can, the purity of our good fame. Others, we learn, are weakening thy devotion, and that of the princes of thy blood, by unjustly blaming us, and charging us most falsely with want of diligence in re-establishing the union of the holy church.
‘In truth, such persons should be answered by stating the real facts, which would destroy their fictions and falsehoods; and we believe that they have been the cause why we have not received any thing in our treasury from thy kingdom for the space of two years, an edict having been issued from thy court, which has deprived us of our rights, and we are no longer obeyed in thy realm. We look, however, for consolation and assistance from thee; for thy predecessors, in times past, have laboured to destroy the schisms and errors in the church, and to preserve peace and union. But some in thy kingdom have lately rebelled against the holy see, by appealing from us, against the constitutions of the canon,—and they have been permitted to spread abroad divers errors, contrary to the purity of true religion.
‘In addition to what we have stated, we have been much hurt and affected by the conduct of thy ambassadors in this town, and in our presence. Our very dear sons Jean de Château-Morant and Jean de Coursen, noble men and thy ambassadors, have come to us from thee, and brought us letters sealed with thy seal, by which thou makest known to us, that if by the feast of Ascension next coming, union be not established throughout our holy church, and one pope or pastor of that church be elected, thyself, the clergy, nobles and people of thy realm, and of the duchy of Guienne, will observe a strict neutrality, and will not pay obedience to either of the popes, nor wilt thou suffer thy subjects to pay any attention to our mandates.
‘Thou mayest consider, very dear son, if we had not cause for grief at heart, on reading these harsh expressions. They are little proofs of that love a child owes a father, and have been followed by serious consequences; for when thou and the princes of thy blood make use of such expressions, others may carry their meaning to a farther extent, and may include thee in the perdition that may befal them.
‘Thy good renown has been also wounded by the sin thou hast committed in wishing to set bounds to divine mercy. The union thou thinkest to obtain is sinful, and a perseverance in schism; for our adversary and his followers, swollen up with pride, will not bend nor incline to peace, but will acquire greater obstinacy from the hopes thy conduct will have given them, that we shall be deprived of any power over thy subjects and kingdom. Thus those who were dejected and in despair will, from our oppressions, regain strength and courage.
‘Truly, most dear son, we to whom God has intrusted the care of his people, cannot longer suffer such things as may be injurious to the divine Majesty, and may cause the peril of souls, and tend to keep alive the schism in the holy church, and to invalidate my election and reputation.
‘We grieve much at thy deception, and at the wicked counsels thou hast received,—and we exhort and entreat of thee, in the name of our blessed Saviour, that thou wouldst not listen to such wicked men, who seek their own profit from the losses of the church, and from the quarrels they may excite in thy family.
‘With regard to our proceedings, thou hast had full knowledge of them, from what we have written to thee on the subject. Consider, therefore, coolly with thy council, the purity of our intentions: have the goodness to revoke and annul all edicts that may be injurious to us and to the church, and use thy endeavours to bring thine and all other kingdoms to that obedience originally due to us. We also must tell thee, that we will not act as thou hast written to us, for it does no honour to thy excellent understanding.
‘If thou wilt obey the mandates and exhortations of thy father, thou wilt gain great merit with God, and, by inclining thyself to the holy apostolical see, much praise from man. Beloved son, be on thy guard against deceivers. We will also, that thou shouldst know, and by these presents do make known to thee, that beside the pains and punishments pronounced by the law, we have lately made other constitutions, which we send thee with our bull, by which thyself and all other such delinquents and disobedient children (which God avert!) will be punished. We have done this to preserve thee and other princes from the heinous offence of high treason, so great is our paternal love toward thee and them, in order that at the day of judgment we may be blameless, by endeavouring to prevent, as much as in us lies, any soul from perishing.
‘Given at Porto Venere, in the diocese of Genoa, the 23d day of March, in the 14th year of our papacy.’
THE BULL OF THE POPE DELLA LUNA, BY WHICH HE EXCOMMUNICATES THE KING OF FRANCE AND OTHERS.
‘Benedict, bishop and servant of the servants of God, in perpetual memory of the increase of wickedness among mankind,—We behold the world daily becoming worse, and the thoughts of mankind so bent on evil that they add crime to crime,—That the good who may be intermixed with the bad may not be corrupted through malice and error, and that the boldness and presumption of vice may be somewhat restrained by fear of punishment.
‘It has come to our knowledge by public report, that certain children of perdition, as well churchmen as seculars, who, ambitious of rising higher than becomes them, may thence dangerously fall, having been deceived by him who changes himself into the form of an angel of light that he may afterward deceive others, have given great scandal to the simple and weak, and much offence to those of firmer minds, from their attempts to destroy and divide the catholic church by schism, and to prevent the re-union of it, which was taking place when we were elected sovereign and apostolical bishop.
‘Two years before this period, when we were of mature age[122], we laboured hard to put an end to this schism, which has divided the church of God for nearly thirty years, to the great grief of all sincere Christians, and it still continues through the perverseness of man.
‘We have declared to Angelo Corrario, (who has thrust himself into the apostolical chair, and is called by those under his obedience by the name of Gregory,) the mode of renunciation frankly and sincerely offered by us, and which in our apostolical letters, given at Marseilles the 2d day of February of the aforesaid year of our papacy, is more fully explained. We have again offered to Angelo Corrario to appear in person at a proper and convenient place, that measures may be the more speedily adopted for the success of so desirable an event as the re-union of the holy church.
‘Notwithstanding this, the sons of iniquity exert all their powers, by means of fraud and hypocrisy, to prevent us and our brother cardinals from executing so salutary an object, despising the bonds of the holy church, and pretending an ardent desire for its union, while they wickedly withdraw themselves from its obedience, and in their defence appealing from us, which, however, they have not the right to do.
‘We have patiently suffered all this, in the hope it may excite in them repentance and a desire to return to their duty: nevertheless, they persevere with greater boldness and presumption.
‘In order, therefore, to check this, we, having duly considered the weightiness of the matter, do, according to the powers vested in us, pronounce sentence of excommunication against all who knowingly shall obstruct the union of the holy church, or shall impede ourself and our venerable brethren the cardinals in the execution of the aforesaid things offered by us, and agreed to by Angelo Corrario or his ambassadors, or all who may appeal against us or our successors, bishops of Rome, legally elected to that dignity, or whoever may countenance and support such appeals, substractions or perturbations, under any pretence or colour.
‘We likewise include in this our sentence those who may perversely affirm they are not bound to obey our mandates, whatever may be their rank, whether cardinal, patriarch, archbishop, bishop, or of imperial or kingly dignity, and of whatever rank in church or state. From this sentence none can be absolved but by the pope, excepting when in ‘articulo mortis.’ And should it happen that any may thus have received absolution, and recover their health, we will and command, that instantly on their recovery, they present themselves before the holy see to receive absolution again, and to make such satisfaction as may appear reasonable and conformable to justice.
‘Should this sentence be endured through obstinacy and hardness of heart for the space of twenty days, by any one of any estate or degree above mentioned, be the same a prince or other secular of any description whatsoever, we subject him to the interdict of the church, with all the lands, towns, cities and castles, and every sort of inheritance that may belong to him. Universities continuing in the same perverseness shall be also subject to this interdict of the holy church.
‘And as it has been found necessary, through the ingratitude of men, sometimes to revoke benefices, all such and each of them, as well churchmen as seculars, who shall give aid or counsel against this sentence, and suffer it to remain for the space of twenty days, shall be deprived of the benefit of all indulgences, privileges, and other graces granted to them by the holy apostolic see. Such clerks will likewise be deprived of all benefices and dignities in the church, whether with or without cure; and should their rank be that of cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops or bishops, or other dignities, we declare them, by full authority and power vested in us, deprived of the same; and their vassals or other dependants, who have been bound on oath to serve them, we declare absolved from such oaths, and their fiefs, honours and dependencies on the church, whether moveable or immoveable, shall revert to the governors thereof, for them to dispose of according to their will and pleasure.
‘No judicial hearing will be granted to the sinners and transgressors above mentioned, and their suits, if proceeded on by public notaries, will be null and void.
‘All persons who may aid and abet, openly or secretly, those who, through perverseness of mind, shall resist this sentence, be they single individuals, cities, castles or places, shall undergo the same punishment of excommunication; and we will and command that the penalties ordained by our predecessors for similar crimes shall have their full effect and force, notwithstanding any constitutions, ordinances, liberties, graces, or apostolical indulgences that may have been formerly granted to these transgressors by us, or by our predecessors the bishops of Rome,—all which we revoke, as being contrary to the tenor of this present bull. It is unlawful, therefore, for any person to oppose or infringe this our declaration, by any way or means whatever; and should any dare attempt it, they shall know that they will incur the indignation of an all-powerful God, and of his blessed apostles St Peter and St Paul.
‘Given at St Victor de Marseilles, the 23d of March, in the 13th year of our papacy.’