Zosimusquarrels withsome Bishops ofGaul.

But to return toZosimus: As his Partiality toPelagiusandCælestiusoccasioned a Quarrel between him and theAfricanBishops; his Partiality toPatroclus, who had usurped the See ofArles, as I have related above[1561], occasioned, in like manner, a Quarrel between him and some Bishops ofGaul; and from the latter he reaped no more Credit or Honour, than he had done from the former.|The Occasion of thisQuarrel.|It arose on the following Occasion: The Bishops ofArlesandViennehad been long contending for the Metropolitan Dignity, and the Jurisdictionattending it, over the Provinces ofNarbonneandVienne: and the Decision of the Controversy having been referred, some Years before, to a Council that was held inTurin, it had been there decreed, that the Bishop who should prove his City to be the Metropolis of those Provinces, according to the Civil Division of the Empire, should enjoy the Metropolitan Dignity, and the Privileges annexed to it; but, in the mean time, to avoid any Breach of Charity, that both should exercise the Jurisdiction of a Metropolitan over the Churches that were nearest to their respective Cities[1562]. Thus Matters continued, tillPatroclusrepairing toRome, and there imposing uponZosimus, who was quite unacquainted with the Merits of the Cause, prevailed upon him, by flattering his Vanity and Ambition, to decide, in his Favour, the Controversy, which had been so long depending.Zosimuscensured very severely, as I have observed above, theAfricanBishops, for acting, as he pretended, with too much Haste and Precipitation, in the Case ofCælestius. But, surely, no Man ever deserved to be more justly censured, on that score, than himself: for, not to mention the Case ofHerosandLazarus, whom he excommunicated and deposed in their Absence, and without hearing what they had to plead in their Defence, he took upon him to decide the present Controversy, which a Council had left undetermined, upon the Information given him by one of the Parties concerned, without hearing the other: for, giving an intire Credit to allPatroclussaid, or could say, in Behalf of himself and his Church, he writ a Letter, addressed to all the Bishops ofGaul, declaring, that, for the future, he would receive no Bishops or Ecclesiastics coming toRomefrom those Provinces, unless they brought with them Letters of Communion, calledFormatæ, from the Metropolitan ofArles, and excommunicating those who should transgress this Order[1563][N63]. The Privilege of granting theFormatæwas only personal; forZosimusdid not grant it to the See ofArles, but toPatroclus, whom he styles hisholy Brother, in Consideration of his extraordinary Merit. To such a Degree had he suffered himself to be imposed upon, by a Man, who was the Disgrace of his Order[1564]. In the same Letter he vests him, as Bishop ofArles, with a Metropolitan Jurisdiction over the Province ofVienneand the Two Provinces ofNarbonne, adjudges to his See all the Parishes and Territories that had ever been subject to the City ofArles, and grants him a full Power to decide and finally determine all Controversies that should arise in the Three above-mentioned Provinces, provided they were not of such Consequence as required them to be examined atRome[1565]. The only ReasonZosimusalleges for thus exalting the See ofArlesto the Prejudice of the See ofVienne, is, becauseTrophimus, the First Bishop ofArles, had converted those Provinces to the Christian Religion. A Reason both false and impertinent: false, becauseTrophimusflourished in the Year 250[1566]. and the Church ofArleswas famous as early as the Year 177. when they writ, with their Brethren ofLions, to the Faithful inAsia[1567]: impertinent, because it was to the Dignity of each City, and to nothing else, that the Dignity of the Sees was owing. Hence the Council ofTurinwisely adjudged the Metropolitan Dignity to him who should prove his City to be the civil Metropolis, with respect to the contested Provinces, as I have observed above.Zosimus, however, writ a Second Letter, which he addressed to all the Bishops ofGaul,Spain, andAfrica, confirming to the See ofArlesall the Rights and Privileges which he had granted in his First, and rejecting, with Scorn, the Decree of the Council ofTurin[1568].

N63. These Letters were given, in the primitive Times, to traveling Ecclesiastics, that their Brethren, in the Places through which they passed, knowing who they were, and whence they came, might admit them to their Communion.

He is opposed bythe Bishops ofGaul;

The Bishops ofGaul,viz.SimpliciusofVienne,HilariusofNarbonne, andProculusofMarseilles, amazed and astonished at the Temerity of the Bishop ofRome, openly refused to acknowlege his Authority, or submit to his Sentence.Zosimus, highly provoked at the Opposition he met with, writ several threatening Letters toHilariusandProculus, as if he were determined to cut them off from his Communion, if they did not yield, and acknowlegePatroclusfor their Metropolitan. As forSimplicius, he seems to have acted with less Vigour on this Occasion than the other Two; and it was perhaps on that Account that he has been sainted.Hilariustoo yielded at last, not to the Menaces ofZosimus, which he made no Account of, but to those of CountConstantius, the avowed Patron ofPatroclus[1569], whom he allowed, on that Consideration, to ordain a Bishop atLodeve, within the Limits of his Province, which was owning him forhis Metropolitan. But nothing could shake the Firmness and Constancy ofProculus.Zosimus, thinking he could frighten him into a Compliance, began with reproachful Language; from Reproaches he proceeded to Menaces; and from Menaces, to summon him toRome, to answer there for his presuming to ordain Bishops in a Province (theSecond Narbonnese) that had been adjudged by the Apostolic See to the Metropolitan ofArles.|especially byPro-culusBishop ofMarseilles.|ButProculusmade so little Account of his Reproaches, Menaces, and Summons, that I do not even find he returned them an Answer. It is at least certain, that he did not obey the Summons, and that he continued to exercise the same Jurisdiction, which he had exercised before, opposing to the repeated and peremptory Orders ofZosimusa Canon of the Council ofTurin, appointing him Metropolitan of theNarbonnensis Secunda[1570].Zosimus, transported with Rage in seeing his Authority thus slighted, writ Three Letters, all dated the 29th ofSeptember417.viz.one to the People and Clergy of the Province ofVienne, another to those of theSecond Narbonnese, and the third toPatroclus. In the Two former he inveighs bitterly againstProculus, and confirms anew toPatroclusthe Metropolitan Dignity and Jurisdiction, which have been so unalterably intailed, says he, on the See ofArles, by the Decrees of the Fathers and Councils, that it exceeds even the Power and Authority of theRomanChurch to transfer them to, or intail them upon, any other[1571]. This was disclaiming, in the plainest Terms, the Power of dispensing with the Canons, which has since proved so beneficial to the Apostolic See. And yetZosimuswas acting the whole Time in direct Opposition to the Fourth Canon of the Council ofNice, vesting, as it was understood by the subsequent Councils, the Bishop of each Metropolis with the Metropolitan Dignity and Jurisdiction over the whole Province.Zosimus, in his Letter toPatroclus, encourages him to resume and exercise, in spite ofProculus, the Metropolitan Jurisdiction over theSecond Narbonnese, whichProculushad so unjustly invaded and usurped.|Proculusexcommunicated and deposed byZosimus.|ThisPatroclusdurst not attempt, tho’ seconded by the whole Power of the Apostolic See; which wrought the Pride, Ambition,and Resentment ofZosimusto such a Pitch, that, giving the Reins to his Passion, he thundered the Sentence of Excommunication againstProculus, declared him unworthy of, and degraded from, the Episcopal Dignity, and committing the Church ofMarseillesto the Care ofPatroclus, commanded him to exercise there the Jurisdiction with which he was vetted. The Power of the ApostolicSee was now exhausted, and, what droveZosimusalmost to Despair, exhausted to no Effect: forProculus, to shew how little Regard he paid to the Sentence pronounced against him atRome, ordained a Bishop soon after he was acquainted with it.|But continues to discharge the Functions of his Office.|Zosimus, sensible that the Authority of his See was here at stake, would not abandon the Attempt. He writ Two Letters more on the same Subject, one toPatroclus, exhorting him to exert, with Vigour and Severity, the Power with which he was vested; and at the same time commanding him to declare, in his Name, that he should never be prevailed upon to acknowlege those whomProculushad ordained. The other Letter was to the People, Clergy, and Magistrates ofMarseilles; stirring them up againstProculus, and encouraging them to drive him out, and receive another in his room at the Hands ofPatroclus. These Letters occasioned great Disturbances in the Church ofMarseilles, which was now rent into Two opposite Parties, some refusing to acknowlegeProculus, and others declaring that they would acknowlege no other[1572]. But, in spite of the utmost Efforts ofZosimus, ofPatroclus, and their Partisans,Proculusstill kept his Ground, still continued to exercise all Episcopal as well as Metropolitan Functions, as he had formerly done. He thought even the Evils attending a Schism of a less dangerous Tendency than those which he apprehended from the Encroachments of the Bishops ofRome.|His Steadiness in opposing the Encroachments ofRome.|Had all the Prelates thus stood up in Defence of their just Rights and Privileges against the Papal Usurpations, the Church had never been reduced to that deplorable Thraldom, which she groaned under for so many Ages. But, alas! there have been in all Times but too manySimplicius’s, who, out of a mistaken Principle, have chosen rather to yield to an encroaching Power, than to raise Disturbances, and forego their own Ease, by withstanding it; but too manyPatroclus’s, who, to gratify their own Ambition, have prostituted their sacred Dignity to the ambitious Views of the Pope, and raised him, at the Expence of their own Order, that they might be raised by him in their Turn.Proculus, though deposed, excommunicated, calumniated, persecuted byZosimusand his Tools, kept to the last Possession of his See; nay, and was acknowleged for lawful Bishop ofMarseilles, for Metropolitan of theSecond Narbonnese, not only by the Bishops ofGaul, but likewise by those ofAfrica[1573]. He was still alive in 427. when he condemned the MonkLeporiusfor maintaining Christ to have been born Man only, but tohave deserved, by his good Works, to become God[1574]. The Encomiums bestowed on him by the Council ofTurin, by St.Jerom, andTiro Prosper, as I have observed above, are a sufficient Confutation of all the Calumnies uttered against him byZosimus, and the rest of his Enemies.

Zosimusdies.

The last Letters ofZosimus, that is, his Letters toPatroclus, and the People ofMarseilles, are dated the 5th ofMarch418. and he died in the Latter-end of the same Year, on the 26th ofDecember, saysBaronius[1575], upon the Authority, we may suppose, of some antient Pontifical[N64].

N64. He is said to have been buried near the Body of St.Laurence, on theTiburtineWay, on the 25th or 26th ofDecember, according toAnastasiustheBibliothecarian[1]; but on the 27th, according to an antient Pontifical, which agrees better with the Letters ofSymmachusconcerning the Election of his SuccessorBoniface: so that he may have governed One Year Nine Months and Eight or Nine Days, which is the Time thatProsperallows him[2].1. Anast. c. 42.2. Vide Pontaci not. in chron. Prosp. p. 777.

1. Anast. c. 42.

2. Vide Pontaci not. in chron. Prosp. p. 777.

The Distemper which he died of lasted a long time, and was attended with such violent Fits, that he was often thought to be dead before he died. It was during his Illness that he writ his last Letters; and yet they are no less remarkable than the rest for that Fire and Vivacity, that Strength of Expression, and even that Elegance and Purity of Diction, that were peculiar to him.|His Character.|He was a Man of great Address in the Management of Affairs; well knew how to turn every thing to his Advantage; and in the several Disputes which he engaged in, he forgot nothing that could any ways distress those who opposed him. He was apt to engage too rashly, giving an intire Credit to those who, by a servile Submission, flattered his Ambition; and when he had once engaged in a Cause, as he was of a haughty and imperious Temper, impatient of Controul, passionate, headstrong, full of, and elated with, the Dignity of theApostolic See, it required the greatest Art and Address in his Brethren to bring him into their Measures, and with-hold him from raising fatal Divisions in the Church. His whole Conduct and Behaviour towards them, the haughty and peremptory Style, which he assumed in writing to them, sufficiently shew that he looked upon them as infinitely below him, as bound to yield a blind Obedience to all his Commands, and submit, without Reply, to all his Decisions: and it is not to be doubted but, had he livedlonger, and not met with the vigorous Opposition which he did from the Bishop ofMarseilles, he would have made great Progress towards reducing hisFellow-MinistersandFellow-Labourers, as they are styled by St.Cyprian, to that State of Dependence, not to say Slavery, which in the End they have been reduced to by his Successors. He was the first who made use of the Expression,For so it has pleased the Apostolic See[1576], an Expression which his Successors have all adopted, as the Language of the highest Authority, and such as exempted them from giving any Account either of their Actions, or of the Motives, that prompted them so to act. But, to paintZosimusto the Life, we want no other Colours than those, which theAfricanBishops, who were but too well acquainted with him, have furnished us with in the Letter which they writ to his SuccessorBoniface.We hope, say they,that since it has pleased the Almighty to raise you to the Throne of theRomanChurch, we shall no longer feel the Effects of that worldly Pride and Arrogance, which ought never to have found room in the Church of Christ[1577]. In the same Letter they complain of their having been made to endure such things as it was almost impossible for them to endure, which however they were willing to forget. Hard indeed and tyrannical must the Treatment have been, which they met with at the Hands ofZosimus, since it could extort from so many venerable Prelates a Complaint of this Nature, and that in a Letter to his immediate Successor.|Zosimussainted by a Mistake ofBaronius.|Zosimushowever has been sainted, and is now worshiped by the Church ofRomeas a great Saint, not so much in regard of his own Merits, as by a Blunder ofBaroniusin revising and correcting theRomanMartyrology. The Case is pretty singular, and may not be thought quite unworthy of a Place here, by reason of the Consequences, which every Protestant Reader may draw from it. In the Martyrology ofBedewas marked,St.ZosimusMartyr, who suffered for the Confession of the Faith. This Martyr an ignorant Transcriber mistook for the Pope of the same Name, and, concerned to find so little said of so great a Saint, set down all he knew of him. This CopyBaroniusperused, and, reading there what the Transcriber had added of his own, concluded the Saint mentioned in that Place to be PopeZosimus, and accordingly, upon the supposed Authority ofBede, allotted him a Place among the other Saints in theRomanMartyrology. As for his being said to have suffered Martyrdom for the Confession of the Faith,Baroniusascribed that to the Ignorance ofthe Transcriber, making but one Saint out of two, though they lived at so great a Distance of Time from each other; for the Martyr lived in the earliest Times, and is mentioned by St.Polycarp, who flourished Two hundred Years and upwards before the Pontificate ofZosimus. To this double Blunder of the Transcriber andBaroniusisZosimusindebted for the Worship and Honours that are publicly paid him in the Church ofRome. Indeed that Church is not more grosly deluded in paying an idolatrous Worship to Saints, upon the Authority of herInfallible Guide, than in the Objects to whom that Worship is paid[N65].

N65.Bollandus, to saintZosimusin a more honourable Way, supposes him to have once had a Place in the Martyrology of St.Jerom; and complains of those who have taken the Liberty to strike out his Name. One would think he had found his Name in some Copy of that Martyrology, or at least heard of it; but he ingenuously owns, that he never found it there himself, nor heard of any who did; adding, that nevertheless he is fully persuaded it was once there, and that he cannot think otherwise; and it is upon hisnot being able to think otherwisethat he founds his Supposition, his Complaints, and the Saintship ofZosimus[1]; which is allowing them to have no Foundation at all.

Year of Christ 419.bracketSchism in the ChurchofRome.

Zosimusbeing dead, great Disturbances arose about the Election of his Successor.Eulalius, whom Authors distinguish with the Title of Archdeacon, shutting himself up in theLateranwith Part of the People, and some Presbyters and Deacons, was there chosen by them in the room ofZosimus. At the same time a great Number of the People, many Presbyters, and some Bishops, assembling in the Church of St.Theodora, named the PresbyterBonifaceto the vacant See.|BonifaceandEulaliusboth chosen.|Both were ordained the same Day they were chosen;Boniface, by Nine Bishops, and in the Presence of Seventy Presbyters;Eulalius, by Three Bishops only, and in the Presence of a very small Number of Presbyters; but the Bishop ofOstiawas one of the Three; and he claimed, from a Custom which had long obtained, the Right of ordaining the Bishop ofRome.|The Governor ofRomeand the Emperor favourEulalius,|Symmachus, Governor of the City, did allthat lay in his Power to prevent this double Election; but, not succeeding therein, he immediately dispatched an Express to the EmperorHonorius, then atRavenna, with a Letter dated the 29th ofDecember418. acquainting him with what had passed. But his Account was not impartial: he representedEulaliusas lawfully chosen, and his Competitor as an Usurper.Honoriustherefore, by a Rescript dated the 2d ofJanuary419. ordered him to persuadeBonifaceto retire fromRome, to use Force, if Persuasions did not prevail, and to apprehend and punish the Ringleaders of the Sedition, if any should be raised on that Occasion. With this Rescript the Emperor dispatchedAphrodisiusa Tribune and Notary; andSymmachus, having received it on the 6th ofJanuary, sent early next Morning his Primiscrinius, or first Secretary, with an Order forBonifaceto attend him, and hear what he had to impart to him in the Emperor’s Name, letting him know, in the mean time, that he must not take upon him to exercise any Episcopal Functions; for such was the Will and Pleasure of the Emperor. This OrderBonifacereceived while he was holding an Assembly in the Church of St.Paulwithout the Walls; but paid no Regard to it; nay, those who attended him, falling on the Secretary, who brought it, treated him very roughly; whichSymmachusno sooner knew than he caused the Gates of the City to be shut, and keptBonifaceout.|who takes Possession of the Church of St.Peter.|In the mean timeEulalius, improving to his Advantage the Absence of his Competitor, repaired to the Church of St.Peter, took Possession of it amidst the loud Acclamations of his Partisans, and exercised there all Episcopal Functions.

The Friends ofBonifacewrite tothe Emperor,

The avowed Partiality ofSymmachusforEulaliusleft no room to doubt but he had misinformed the Emperor. The Bishops therefore, with the Presbyters and People, who had chosenBoniface, thought it their Duty to transmit to him a candid and impartial Account of the late Transactions: and this they did accordingly, intreating the Emperor at the same time to revoke his former Order, and to summon bothEulaliusandBonifaceto Court, in order to try their Cause there.|who summons a Council to decide the Controversy.|Their Request appeared just; andHonorius, in Compliance with it, sent an Order toSymmachus, dated the 13th ofJanuary419. commanding him to suspend the Execution of his former Order, and to notify to the Two Competitors, that they, and those who ordained them, must repair toRavenna, on Pain to him who should fail to appear there on the 8th of the ensuingFebruary, of having his Election declared null. Several Bishops were summoned to attend at the sametime,Honoriusthinking it proper, that a Dispute of that Nature should be decided by none but Bishops. However, to remove all Suspicion of Partiality on his Side, he would not allow those to sit as Judges, who had been any-ways concerned in the Election or Ordination of either of the Competitors.|A more full Council summoned.|The Bishops met; but not being able to agree among themselves,Honoriusthought the Affair of such Importance, that he put it off to the 13th ofJune, with a Design to have it decided then in a full Council. He writ accordingly not only to the Bishops ofItaly, but to those too ofGaulandAfrica, inviting them to the Council, and acquainting them with the Time and Place of its meeting. In the mean while he strictly injoined bothBonifaceandEulaliusto keep at a Distance from the City, lest their Presence should occasion Disturbances there. But asEasterapproached, he appointedAchilleusBishop ofSpoleti, who was of neither Party, to perform the Episcopal Functions atRomeduring that Solemnity.|Eulaliusdisobeys the Emperor, and is driven fromRome.|ThisEulaliuscould not brook; and therefore returning toRome, in open Defiance of the Emperor’s Orders, he assembled the People, seized on theLateran, and shutting the Doors againstAchilleus, performed in that Basilic the Episcopal Functions usual atEaster. The Emperor, being acquainted bySymmachuswith what had passed, was so provoked at his Disobedience and Temerity, that, by a Rescript dated fromRavennathe 3d ofApril, and received atRomeon the 8th of the same Month, he commandedSymmachusto driveEulaliusfrom the City, and to putBonifacein Possession of the disputed See; which was accordingly done[N66].

N66. The original Copies of the Letters fromSymmachusto the Emperor, and of the Emperor’s Rescripts toSymmachus, giving a full and distinct Account of the present Schism, are lodged in theVaticanLibrary, and have been thence copied byBaronius.[1].1. Bar. ad ann. 419. n. 1-42.

1. Bar. ad ann. 419. n. 1-42.

Bonifaceindebtedto the Emperor forhis Dignity.

Thus was an End put to the Schism; thus wasBonifaceplaced on theRomanSee, and vested with the Papal Dignity by theClemency of the Emperor, asLargusProconsul ofAfricaexpresses it in his Letter to the Bishops of that Province[1578]; and not by the Authority of a Council consisting of Two hundred and Fifty-two Bishops, which some have brought down from the Clouds, without even letting us know where or when they assembled[1579].

All we know ofBonifacebefore his Election is, that he was the Son of oneJucundusa Presbyter[1580], was stricken in Years, well versed in the Ecclesiastical Laws, of an unblemished Character; and, whatenhances his Merit, chosen against his Will.|Bonifaceapplies to the Emperor for a Law to restrain the Ambition of the Candidates to the Papacy.|Thus say his Friends, in the Letter which they writ in his Behalf to the EmperorHonorius[1581]. His first Care, after he found himself in the quiet Possession of his See, was to prevent for the future, so far as in him lay, the Cabals and Intrigues that might be formed at other Elections, as they had been at his, to the great Disturbance of the City, and Scandal of the Christian Religion. With this View he writ to the Emperor, intreating him to restrain, by some severe Law, the Ambition of those who, trusting more to their Intrigues than their Merit, aspired to a Dignity that was due to Merit alone[N67].

N67. This Letter bears Date the First ofJuly419.

His Law for thatPurpose.

The Emperor, in Compliance with so just a Demand, enacted a Law, well calculated to prevent effectually the Evil complained of, and keep the Ambition of the Candidates to the Papacy within due Bounds. For by this Law, when Two Persons were chosen, neither was to hold the Dignity, but the People and Clergy were to proceed to a new Election. This is the first Instance, that occurs in History, of Princes intermeddling in the Election of the Pope; an Evil, says F.Pagi, which, from small Beginnings, grew to such a Height as to reflect great Shame and Disgrace on theRomanChurch.[1582]But it must be observed, that the original Evil was the Corruption, the Violence, and the many Disorders which the Clergy and People were guilty of in those Elections. It was this which, at the Request of the Pope himself, called on the Emperors to interpose their Authority, as the only adequate Remedy to such Abuses. The succeeding Emperors followed the Example ofHonorius, and theGothicas well as theLombardKings, the Example of the Emperors, as we shall see in the Sequel of the present History.

Bonifacefree fromAmbition.

Bonifacewas naturally a Lover of Peace, and an Enemy to all Strife and Contention. He did not claim, nor attempt to usurp, any new Power over his Collegues; but yet he would not part with any his Predecessors enjoyed, by what means soever they had acquired it; and those who attempted to curtail the usurped Jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, met with as vigorous an Opposition from him as they could have done either fromInnocentorZosimus. In short, he had not Ambition enough to inlarge his Authority, but thought himself in Conscience obligedto maintain the just Rights, as he styled andbelieved them,of the See in which it had pleased Divine Providence to place him, though unworthy of so great an Honour.|Dispute between him and the Bishops ofIllyricum.|His Steadiness in asserting these Claims appeared chiefly in the Dispute that arose between him and the Bishops ofIllyricum, over whomDamasushad usurped, as I have related elsewhere[1583], and his Successors maintained a particular Power and Jurisdiction. The Transaction is thus related by the Writers of those Times. The See ofPatræinAchaia, one of the Provinces ofIllyricum, being vacant, the Bishop ofCorinth, Metropolitan of that Province, did all that lay in his Power to getPerigenes, a Presbyter of an unexceptionable Character, chosen in the room of their deceased Bishop. But his Endeavours proving unsuccessful, he returned toCorinth, and died soon after. Upon his Death the People and Clergy ofCorinth, to honour his Memory, and shew the Regard they had for one whom he had favoured, unanimously namedPerigenesto succeed him. But as they apprehended some Opposition from the Bishops of the same Province, they writ toBoniface, begging him to confirm their Election with his Authority.Bonifacereferred them toRufus, then Bishop ofThessalonica, and his Vicar in those Parts, declaring that, as for himself, he had nothing to object either against their Election, or the Person elected.Rufusnotified to the Bishops of the Province, and the Metropolitans of the Diocese, the Approbation ofBoniface, and his own; but it was not received by all in the same manner.|Law ofTheodosiusconcerning Disputes that should arise inIllyricum.|The greater Part indeed agreed to the Ordination of the new Bishop; but some opposed it with great Warmth, prompted, most probably, by the Jealousy they entertained of the growing Power of the See ofRome: for, at their Request, a Law was published by the EmperorTheodosius, dated the 14th ofJuly421. commanding all Disputes, that should arise in the Diocese ofIllyricum, to be finally determined by the Bishops of that Diocese, after they had consulted the Bishop ofConstantinople[1584]. This was taking those Provinces from the Bishop ofRome, and, in some Degree, subjecting them to the Bishop ofConstantinople, or at least opening a Door for such a Subjection. The Power of the Bishops ofConstantinoplewas already grown very considerable, and their Ambition keeping Pace with that of the Bishops ofRome, neither let any Opportunity slip of extending the Jurisdiction of their own See at the Expence of the other. In the presentCase the Bishop ofConstantinople, availing himself of the Favour of the Emperor, and the Disagreement that reigned among theIllyricanBishops, summoned, without Loss of Time, a Council to meet atCorinth, and there to examine the Ordination ofPerigenes, though he had been ordained, and his Ordination approved of both byRufusandBoniface.|Three Letters ofBoniface.|This Step, quite unexpected, alarmedBoniface; he divested himself at once of his pacific Disposition, and, assuming the Air and Style of Authority, he writ Three Letters, all dated the same Day,viz.11th ofMarch422. encouraging the Friends of the Apostolic See to maintain its Rights, and threatening those who dared to invade them.|He maintains, with Authority, his pretended Rights.|The first was toRufusofThessalonica, whom he animates not to suffer any Innovations, but vigorously to withstand those, who assumed an Authority that did not become them, and to which they had no kind of Title or Claim, meaning, no doubt, the Bishop ofConstantinople. The Second Letter he writ to the Bishops ofThessaly, exhorting them to acknowlege the Authority ofRufus, and no other. The Third was addressed to the Bishops ofMacedon,Achaia,Thessaly,Epirus, andDacia, who had been summoned by the Bishop ofConstantinopleto assemble atCorinth, and there deliver their Opinion concerning the Ordination ofPerigenes. In this Letter he complains, in the strongest Terms, of so bold and daring an Attempt, asking, in the Style of a Sovereign,What Bishop shall presume to question an Ordination approved by us? What Bishop could take upon him to assemble a Council with that View and Intent? Read, he adds,read the Canons, and there you will find, that the See ofRomeis the First, the See ofAlexandriathe Second, and that ofAntiochthe Third. These are the Three great Sees; these the Sees which the Fathers have distinguished above the rest, with ample Privileges, and extensive Jurisdiction.Since he refers them to the Canons to shew, that these Three Sees are superior to the See ofConstantinople, both in Dignity and Jurisdiction, it were to be wished he had, at the same time, acquainted them by what Canons his Predecessors had exercised over the Provinces ofIllyricumthe Jurisdiction which he now so zealously asserts. But that is more than it was in his Power to do. However, in the present Letter, he threatens with Excommunication such of theIllyricanBishops as shall, in Defiance of his Orders, comply with the Summons which they have received, or presume to question the Ordination ofPerigenes. What was the Issue of this Dispute is not recorded by any of the Antients;but a modern Historian[1585]informs us, that the EmperorHonoriusinterposing, at the Request ofBoniface, in Behalf of the See ofRome, prevailed uponTheodosiusto revoke his former Law, and enact another in its room, confirming to the Apostolic See all its antient Privileges, and injoining thePræfectus Prætorioto see the latter Law put in Execution. The Historian quotes this Law from the Archives of theRomanChurch. But as it is not to be found either in theTheodosianor theJustinianCode, its Authenticity may be justly suspected.

He revokes the Priv-ileges granted byZosimusto theChurch ofArles.

The same Year 422.Bonifacegave a signal Instance of his Equity and Love of Justice, which redounds greatly to his Honour, and therefore ought not to be omitted. He was sensible, that his PredecessorZosimus, abusing his Authority, had acted in the Affair of theGallicanBishops, in a most partial and arbitrary manner; that the See ofArleshad no just Title to the many Privileges, which he had been induced, by his Partiality forPatroclus, to heap on it, at the Expence of Two other Sees; and, consequently, that it was incumbent upon himself, now that he had the Power in his Hands, to rectify by a better Use of it, what his Predecessor had done amiss. The Love of Justice therefore prevailing in him over all other Considerations, he annulled, by a Letter addressed toHilariusofNarbonne, whatever had been done byZosimusin favour of the See ofArles, restored and confirmed to the Sees ofNarbonneandVienneall the Rights and Privileges, which they had been so unjustly divested of, and declaring all the Grants and Concessions made to the See ofArlesrepugnant to the Canons, strictly injoined the Bishop ofNarbonnenot to suffer his Brother ofArlesto exercise, in virtue of them, any kind of Authority within the Limits of his Jurisdiction[N68]. The Conduct ofBonifacewas afterwards approved, and that ofZosimusjustly condemned, by PopeLeo the Great, declaring in a Letter which he writ to the Bishops of the Province ofVienne, that the Privileges, which the Apostolic See had granted toPatroclus, were afterwards revokedby a more equitable Sentence.

N68. This Letter is dated the 2d ofFebruary422.

A remarkable Instanceof his Moderation.

One of the many Artifices, employed by the Popes to aggrandize their See, was to raise Divisions among their Collegues, or to foment underhand those that others had raised. For in such Divisions theynever stood neuter, but, taking Part in the Quarrel, nay, and making themselves Principals, they warmly declared in favour of one Party against the other, that, by supporting them, they might be in their Turn supported by them in all their Pretensions. To this worldly Wisdom, this wicked Policy,Bonifacewas an utter Stranger: for he did not lay hold of a very favourable Opportunity, which the Division, that reigned at this time among the Bishops ofGaul, offered him, to improve his Authority, and extend his Jurisdiction. The Metropolitan Dignity was disputed there by the Bishops ofVienne, ofNarbonne, and ofArles, as I have observed above. During that Contest the Clergy ofValence, quarreling with their BishopMaximus, charged him with several Crimes; but not caring to accuse him at the Tribunal of any of the Three Competitors (for that had been acknowleging, in one of the Three, the Metropolitan Jurisdiction then in Dispute), they arraigned him atRome, and summoned him to plead his Cause there beforeBoniface. Most other Popes would have eagerly embraced such an Opportunity of inlarging their Power; nay, and founded upon this particular Case the general Right of judging, and finally determining, all Causes of the like Nature. ButBonifacedeclared, in his Letter toPatroclus, and the other Bishops of the Seven Provinces ofGaul, that thoughMaximushad been accused at his Tribunal, though he had not appeared to clear himself from the Crimes laid to his Charge, and might thereupon be thought guilty, and be justly condemned; yet he would not take upon him to pronounce such a Sentence, because that Bishopought, according to the Canons, to be judged and condemned, or absolved, in his own Province. An Instance of Moderation that reflects no small Honour on the Memory ofBoniface; the rather as he had before his Eyes the recent Examples ofInnocentandZosimus, the Two most ambitious and arrogant Popes the Church had yet seen. He closes his Letter with exhorting the Bishops of the Seven Provinces to assemble against the First ofNovember, thatMaximusmay be cleared, if innocent, or condemned, if guilty.

His Death.

Bonifacedied on the 4th ofNovember422. having held the Chair 3 Years, 9 Months, and some Days. He was buried in the Cœmetery of the Martyr St.Felicitas, on theSalarianWay; where he is said to have built an Oratory. He is worshiped by the Church ofRomeamong her Saints, an Honour which few of his Predecessors better deserved. But it is a Wonder that the last Instance I have given ofhis Moderation, and Regard to the Canons against the Claims of his See, did not exclude him out of the Calendar. His Festival is kept on the 25th ofOctober; andBedequotes a Book of Miracles wrought by PopeBoniface[1586]; but whether by the First Pope of that Name, or the Second, he does not inform us, though he seems to give an intire Credit to every idle Tale that Legend contained. And here I cannot help observing, by the way, that the less necessary Miracles became, the more they were multiplied. InBede’s Time, and the Three preceding Centuries, Men were rather inclined to believe too much than too little; and yet in no other Time was there a greater Profusion of Miracles. From an antient Epitaph quoted byBaronius[1587], it appears thatBonifacedied very old; that he had served the Church from his tender Years; that by his engaging Behaviour he put an End to the Schism, and that he relievedRomein the time of a Famine.

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