Sources

Our Lord and Saviour . . . established the foundations of his church upon the Rock Peter. . . . Now upon this foundation the appointed builders have from time to time heaped many precious stones, till by this unwearied diligence the whole building has been perfected into indissoluble solidity. . . . Since this church of Peter is the head of all churches, it is imperative upon all to adopt her as their model in every matter of ecclesiastical expediency and institution. . . . From her all synods and all councils derive their power to bind and to loose.[343:3]

The pontificate of Nicholas I., who died in 867, marks the acme of papal power during this period. The history of the Western Church, controlled by Rome, during the latter part of the ninth and the tenth century, covers a period of unparalleled corruption and debility—"a death-sleep of moral and spiritual exhaustion." The Papacy as a constructive spiritual force almost disappears from view. The lofty ideas of Leo I., Gregory I., and Nicholas I.—their magnificent ambitions for the Church, their imperial rule, and their commanding, aggressive spirit—all disappeared. The causes may be found in weak, wicked, worldly Popes, in anarchy and political confusion in Italy, and in feudalism. The Church was reaping the reward of a close alliance with the state. All the gains made by the Church during this epoch were of a secular character. The moral and spiritual powers of Latin Christianity lay dormant beneath a mass of corruption, self-seeking, and worldly passions which covered them and nearly extinguished them. The marvellous vitality of the organisation of the Church alone saved her from disintegration in that period of decentralisation. The spirit of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, from this standpoint, had become the saviour of the Church. The next force that appeared in western Europe to rescue the Church from the low state of spiritual degeneration to which she had fallen was, strange to say, the Holy Roman Empire under the guidance of another mighty German ruler.

FOOTNOTES:

[326:1]A decretal, in the strict canonical sense, is an authoritative rescript of a Pope given in reply to some question propounded to him, just as a decree is an ordinance enacted by him, with the advice of his clergy, but not drawn from him by previous inquiry. SeeGieseler, pd. 2, ch 3;Cath. Encyc.

[326:2]Janus,The Pope and the Council; Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 46.

[328:1]Theiner.

[328:2]Moehler.

[328:3]Kunst,Wasserschleben,Döllinger,Moeller, Hatch.

[330:1]Other collections had been made in the East. See Smith and Cheetham, art. on "Canon Law."

[331:1]Henderson, 319.

[332:1]Inferno, bk. xix., 112-118.

[332:2]De Concordia Catholica, bk. iii., 2.

[332:3]De Reform. Eccl., c. 5.

[332:4]Defensor Pacis, ii., c. 28.

[332:5]Sum. Eccl., vol. ii., 101.

[333:1]Institutes, iv., 7, 11, 20.

[333:2]Febronius, Eichorn, Theiner,Röstell, Luden.

[333:3]Mansi, xv., 694.

[333:4]Kurtz, i., 82.

[334:1]Niedner, p. 397.

[334:2]Hardwick,Church History, 148, note.

[334:3]Mon. Ger., i., 452.

[334:4]Mansi, xv., 694.

[335:1]Blondel, Kunst, Walter, Densiger.

[335:2]Phillips,Gfrörer.

[335:3]Ballareni,Gieseler,Wasserschleben.

[335:4]Weizsäcker, Von Noorden, Hinschius, Richter, Boxman.

[335:5]Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 48.

[335:6]Döllinger.

[335:7]Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 49.

[336:1]Schaff, iv., 275.

[336:2]De Cormenin,Hist. of the Popes, 248.

[337:1]Alex.,Ep., i., ch. 5; Felix,Ep., ii., ch. 12.

[338:1]Anacletus,Ep., i., ch. 4; Marcellinus,Ep.ii., ch. 3.

[338:2]Kurtz § 86, ii., No. 2.

[338:3]Clement,Ep., 1.

[342:1]Baronius,Ann., 863.

[342:2]Greenwood,Cathedra Petri, bk. vii., ch. 2.

[343:1]Bouquet, vii., 391.

[343:2]Pertz, i., 462.

[343:3]Greenwood,Cathedra Petri, bk. vii., ch. 6.

Outline: I.—Organisation of the papal hierarchy. II.—Moral condition of the clergy and laity. III.—Great activity and wide influence of the Church. IV.—The ordeals and the Church. V.—Church discipline—excommunication and interdict—and penance. VI.—Worship—the mass—preaching—hymns. VII.—The sacraments. VIII.—Relics and saints. IX.—Sources.

The Roman Catholic Church, based on the Bible and tradition, satisfying the religious needs of the age, and moulded by the historical forces of the period, changed from the democratic, apostolic Church to the powerful monarchial hierarchy of the Middle Ages, by a natural, historical process. The Pope, the Bishop of Bishops, stood at the head of the well organised hierarchy as the source of faith, the supreme law-giver, the distributor of justice, the resort of last appeal, and the grantor of offices, honour, and favours. He came to hold the balance of power in the world-politics and claimed supremacy in secular affairs. To enforce his will he had an army of priests and monks, the sanctity and prestige of Peter's Chair, and the formidable weapons of excommunication and interdict. To assist him in his multitudinous duties, an extensive papal court had been gradually built up.

Just below the Pope in the hierarchy came thearchbishops, or primates, or metropolitans.[348:1]After the third century, the term metropolitan in the East meant the bishop who lived in the capital of a province. The Council of Nicæa recognised the office and gave the metropolitan the right to ordain bishops.[348:2]The Council of Antioch clearly defined the jurisdiction of the metropolitan.[348:3]He ruled the suffragan bishops, conducted episcopal elections, confirmed and ordained bishops, called and presided over annual episcopal synods. Somewhat later he came to exercise the right of deciding appeals.[348:4]Gradually the name and prerogatives were extended to the West, where about the seventh century the metropolitans were very powerful,[348:5]but by degrees they lost their power when secular princes, like the Merovingian kings, usurped their functions. Even the bishops adopted the short-sighted policy of preferring to have their superior at Rome instead of in their own province. Under the Carolingians, especially Charles the Great, and the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, however, they regained something of their earlier prestige. But they were subjected to the direct control of the Pope and existed as useful intermediaries between Rome and the ordinary bishops. In that limited sphere of activity, however, there were still many important duties left to the metropolitan of the Middle Ages. As early as the sixth century the Pope at Rome, as patriarch, claimed the right to sanctionthe election of a metropolitan by the clergy of the province, and bestowed the "pallium" upon the candidate. The metropolitans, it must be remembered, were not generally separated from archbishops in the early history of the Church. When the differentiation did evolve, the archbishop became superior to the metropolitan.

The title archbishop was unknown in the Church before the fourth century. At first it was used as a sign of honour without implying superior jurisdiction over bishops. Perhaps Athanasius first used it in speaking of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria. Then Gregory Nazianzen applied it to Athanasius himself. Soon it came to be used in connection with the bishops of the most important sees in the East. Liberatus gave all the patriarchs the title of archbishops. The Council of Chalcedon even applied the name to the mighty patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople. When the Empire was divided into dioceses, which in turn were subdivided into provinces, an exarch or vicar was placed in the capital of each diocese. In conscious imitation, the Church established ecclesiastical exarchs or patriarchs in these local capitals. Archbishop was a common title for this office. The archbishop ordained the metropolitans, convened diocesan synods, received appeals from the metropolitan and his provincial synod, and enforced discipline in his diocese. In the West in the seventh century Isidore of Seville ranked the archbishop higher than the metropolitan. The precise distinction between the two offices, however, was not very clear and, finally, was lost entirely. These officers usually sided with the secular authorities against the Pope and tended to favour the organisation of national Churches with patriarchs at their head.They attempted likewise to subject the bishops and priests to their rule and thus curtail the power of the Pope. The Popes, however, saw the danger and sought to avert it by appointing several archbishops in each country, and bestowing upon one of them the title of "primate" with the delegated powers of the Holy See. Thus England had the archbishops of Canterbury, the oldest (seventh century) and most important,[350:1]and of York (eighth century). Germany was ruled by the archbishops of Mayence, who was "primus" and who served as imperial chancellor until the time of Otto the Great,[350:2]Trier (eighth century), Cologne (eighth century), Salzburg (eighth century), Hamburg-Bremen (ninth century), and Magdeburg (tenth century).[350:3]France possessed the archbishops of Rheims, who was recognised as primate,[350:4]Aix, Aux, Bordeaux, Bourges, and Rouen. In Italy the Pope had a continual struggle with the archbishops of Milan, who claimed as their founder the apostle Barnabas, Aquileia, and Ravenna. The use of the title primate does not come into ordinary use, it seems, until after the appearance of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals.

Next in the hierarchy came the bishops. They resented, as a general rule, the pretensions of both the metropolitans and the archbishops and recognised the Pope as their friend and superior. Since all western Europe was divided up into episcopal dioceses, with one bishop in each diocese, they were both verynumerous and very powerful, particularly in local affairs.

For the first five centuries of the Christian era the election of bishops in the Church followed one general pattern. The neighbouring bishops nominated while the local clergy and laity approved the election and gave the requisite testimony of character. But with the evolution in the organisation of the Church, and as a result of the close alliance with the state, a series of important changes occurred. (1) With the rise of the metropolitans there appeared a new factor in the selection of a bishop. The metropolitan usually conducted the election, and confirmed and ordained the candidate. This came to be regulated by Church canons. (2) With the ascendancy of the state over the Church the selection of bishops was practically transferred to the laity. At times Emperors alone nominated. After the sixth century, the right of royal assent was generally acknowledged. It was but a short step to convert that secular assumption into a right of nomination. Thus the ruling power had come to control the election of bishops quite generally throughout the mediæval Church. Among the chief qualifications for the office were, in addition to a good character, an age limit of fifty years, ordination as priest, or at least as deacon, and membership in the local clergy. But these requirements were often broken and waived.

The bishop occupied an office of arduous duties and grave responsibilities. It might be said that he was the powerful ruler of his province. He administered all the Christian sacraments. He enforced discipline. He received all income and offerings, and managed all the ecclesiastical business of his diocese. He exercised the power of ordination and confirmation, and thusperpetuated the Christian ministry. He did all the formal preaching and by visitation kept an oversight of the whole Church under his care. He was the natural medium of communication to and from his people and clergy. He was also an important factor in the local synod and served as the ecclesiastical judge of his district. All such matters as liturgy, worship, alms, dedication of churches, patronage, and protection of minors, widows, and the unfortunate came under his jurisdiction. Nor did his cares end here. Through the synod he helped to rule the province and through the general council he participated in the government of the Church at large.

The bishops controlled the priests, who were found in every section of Christendom in the sixth century, and who came into vital touch with the masses of the laity. As early as the third century, indeed, all churches began to conform to a single type. The independence of the presbyter of the early Church disappeared with the rise of the episcopal system. The subordination of the priest became, by the sixth century, complete. This result was inevitable because of the rise of the synodal system, the assimilation of the organisation of the Empire, and the development of the parochial system, which subdivided the diocese into smaller sections in the hands of priests.[352:1]The priests administered the sacraments to the people to whom they were the very bread of life and the means of salvation, heard them in their confessions, inflicted penances and gave them counsel, baptised their children, confirmed them, watched over all their deeds on earth, closed their eyes in death,and prepared them for the world to come, and even through prayers and masses interceded for their forgiveness in purgatory. Working side by side with the priests were the countless monks and nuns fairly swarming over western Europe, who also came into intimate touch with the masses. They were the teachers and preachers of the common people. In the hands of these priests and monks rested almost entirely the humane and charitable institutions of the Middle Ages. The true religion of Jesus was likewise in their hands rather than in the hands of the higher clergy.

At the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid were the laity, who by the twelfth century included all the people of western Europe, except a portion of Spain. Both canon law and imperial law forbade their performing any sacerdotal functions and ordered them "to be obedient to the order handed down by the Lord."

From the standpoint of morality,[353:1]this period was one of pronounced contrasts. Christian virtues and heathen vices, the strictest asceticism and the grossest sensuality, tyranny and crude democracy, all existed side by side with apparently no serious conflicts. It was an age of anarchy, confusion, lawlessness, immorality, and highway robbery on land and sea, accompanied by boldness, chivalry, and heroism. In the East, the Church had to contend with "the vices of an effete civilisation and a corrupt court." In the West, many of the old Roman vices were continued and even invigorated by fresh barbaric blood. It would be difficult to imagine anything more corrupt than the Merovingian court.[353:2]Of the whole period Gibbondeclares that it would be impossible "to find anywhere more vice or less virtue."

The people at this time might be called more religious than moral. A little piety would cover a multitude of sins in the eyes of even the best. A whole life of wickedness and evil-doing was all wiped out and a home in heaven assured by the building of a church, monastery, shrine, or hospital, or by deeding property to the Church, or by doing some pious deed. An exaggerated belief in the supernatural and miraculous was universal. A physical hell, heaven, devil, and angels were just as real to the people as the earth, day and night, the sun and moon, and the seasons. The worship of saints and relics was very common, and particularly in favour with the most wicked. The seventh century had more saints than any preceding, except possibly the fourth. Under these circumstances, it was not uncommon to find good used as a cloak for evil and the greatest apparent sanctity united with the worst licentiousness.[354:1]

The clergy led society and set moral standards which the masses followed without question. They embraced all social ranks from the sons of kings to the sons of slaves. Politically they shared with the kings and nobles the rule of the people. The upper clergy had huge estates like the landed nobles, and were, in fact, recruited largely from the younger sons of noblemen. The clergy were everywhere immune from taxation and military service. Charles the Great and his successors gave them all the privileges granted by the Eastern Emperors from Constantine on. They could not be tried or sued before civil courts, but had theirown tribunals. They were supported by the income from landed estates, gifts from the pious, and legally established tithes. Morally, they were as a rule superior to their flocks, although there are many disgraceful exceptions. Europe was cursed at this time with tramp priests without churches who swarmed over Europe demanding a livelihood because of the sanctity of their office. Contrary to law, bishops wore swords and lost their lives on battle-fields—even Popes engaged in warfare.[355:1]Drunkenness was not infrequent among the clergy and licentiousness was a common complaint against them.[355:2]The minutes of Church synods are full of censures and punishments for clerical sins and vices like fornication, intemperance, avarice, hunting and hawking, gambling, betting, attending horse races, going to theatres, keeping houses of prostitution, and others.[355:3]Celibacy was the prescribed rule of the West, but many of the clergy were either married or lived with mistresses. Hadrian II. was married before he became Pope and his son-in-law murdered both the Pope's wife and daughter (868).[355:4]But there were of course many noteworthy examples of purity in all ranks of the clergy. Married laymen upon entering the priesthood or a convent gave up their wives. The lowest depths, perhaps, were reached in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when even the Popes themselves, who should have stood for all that was best, set the example for the greatest evil. Reform did not appear until the coming of the monastic order of Clugny, the German Emperors, and the Hildebrandine Popes.

The Church, however, during this trying, formative period was the moral ark of safety for Europe. It fought vice and encouraged virtue. It was the only promoter of education and culture. It taught the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and along with them were learned lessons of faith and duty. It emphasised both the need and importance of prayer, fasts, charity, pity, hospitality, and other virtues. Its ideals were always high—far above the masses of the Church members—though in practice the clergy did not always conform to the ideals. The Church was the one great light that pointed the people of this epoch to a brighter day and a better civilisation. The sanctity of the home life for the laity and of celibacy for the priests was asserted. Divorce was seldom permitted.[356:1]Woman's position and property rights were advanced. The Virgin Mary was constantly extolled as the incarnation of womanly purity, love, and devotion. Much wise and ennobling legislation on the subject of marriage was enacted. There are many instances, too, where the head of the Church, or one of his officers, bravely protected injured innocence, even against kings. Polygamy, concubinage, secret marriage, the marriage of relatives, and marriage with Jews, heathen, or heretics were forbidden.[356:2]

The Church inherited the patristic conception of Rome in regard to slavery. Jesus had made no direct reference to the social organisation. St. Paul, however, spoke of the relations of slave and master.[356:3]"The world into which Christianity was born recognised slavery everywhere."[357:1]The early Church tolerated slavery, but emancipation was held to be an act of Christian charity[357:2]; hence converted Christians often freed their slaves on baptism.[357:3]The Church Fathers recognised the institution of slavery as a moral wrong established on a legal basis, but called Christian slaves brothers. Lactantius told Constantine that slaves were brothers in Jesus.[357:4]Ambrose suggested that the slave might be even superior to his master.[357:5]Augustine held that slavery was a sin which originated in the Noachian curse, but that Christ's sacrifice freed slaves, consequently the curse would disappear.[357:6]

The mediæval Church, inheriting the patristic view, sought not to abolish slavery, but to ameliorate it. Masters were requested, therefore, to provide spouses for their slaves.[357:7]Prayers were offered up constantly for the removal of their hardships.[357:8]They were granted all the Church feast and fast days.[357:9]Among the Christians there were many acts of manumission.[357:10]Constantine and his successors enacted many laws favourable to slaves.[357:11]The barbarian invasion, however, postponed for a thousand years the general emancipation of slaves. The Church itself was a slave-owner and slaves were found on the lands of convents,bishops, and Popes.[358:1]Even one of the Popes, Calistus, had been a slave.[358:2]But at the same time the Church was always an asylum for slaves and sought to protect them from cruel masters. Gregory the Great declared that all slaves held by Jews were free[358:3]and also emancipated heathen slaves upon turning Christian.[358:4]Thus both by precept and example the Church was the one great force paving the way for the gradual abolition of slavery.[358:5]

The Church, as the great advocate of peace and order, strove to abolish family feuds, blood-revenge, and private wars by substituting legal action and legal penalty against the author of crime.[358:6]The synod of Toledo in 693 forbade duels and private feuds.[358:7]The synod of Charroux in 989 and the Bishop of Puy in 990 proclaimed the "Peace of God."[358:8]The synod of Poitiers in 1004, in proclaiming the "Peace of God," decided that law should replace force in determining questions of justice. The synod of Limoges in 1031 issued an interdict against bloody feuds. The Church everywhere sought to have disputes settled by fines rather than fighting, by arbitration rather than litigation, by witnesses rather than by duels. The efforts of the Church in this era of lawlessness, of wantonbloodshed, and of insecurity of property, to maintain peace and to secure justice form one of the most glorious chapters in her remarkable career. The Popes wrote letters and published encyclicals to recommend vows and habits of concord to all Christian nations. Great councils were called to spread abroad ideas of amity and brotherly love. The clergy preached it and enthusiastic monks went from village to village to proclaim it in the name of the "Prince of Peace." A veritable crusade of peace swept over Europe, and denounced war as anti-Christian. Brotherhoods of the Peace of God were formed to curb the militant feudal barons and to protect commerce, agriculture, women, children, travellers, strangers, and holy clerks. When the whole ecclesiastical machinery of the Church, with its power to withhold salvation gained through the holy sacraments and with its mighty weapons of excommunication and interdict, was wielded in behalf of peace, it was a force that could not easily be resisted.[359:1]To the Church, therefore, must be given the credit of making the first determined effort to limit, if not to abolish, the ravages of private war.

The famous "Truce of God," which originated in Aquitania in 1033, marks a new era.[359:2]Private war was the curse of the Middle Ages and the Church made an effort to check the evil. According to its provisions, bishops and abbots were to see to it that all feuds should cease from Wednesday evening till Monday morning. The penalty for violating the truce was at first excommunication, but later expulsion from a bishopric, loss of a benefice or property, severance ofthe right hand, decapitation, scalping, and other punishments were added. Archbishop Raimbald of Arles with other bishops and abbots asked the Church in Italy in 1041 to adopt the "Truce of God."[360:1]Pope Nicholas II. (1059) and Alexander II. (1068) made public proclamation of the peace, and, as a result of all these endeavours, it soon spread over France,[360:2]Italy,[360:3]Burgundy, Spain, and Germany.[360:4]Rulers were not slow to sanction and to enforce these peace measures. Emperor Henry IV. issued an edict in 1085 to enforce the "Truce of God" under frightfully severe penalties.[360:5]Pope Urban II. in the Council of Clermont, held a decade later, made it the general law of the Church.[360:6]The time was extended to the periods between Advent and Epiphany, Ash Wednesday and Easter, Ascension Day and Pentecost.[360:7]Various festivals and vigils were also included. If strictly enforced the "Truce of God" would have given Christendom peace for about 240 days out of the year. Its operation was preceded by the ringing of bells. The first Lateran Councils (1121, 1139, 1179) confirmed it and made it a part of theCorpus Juris Canonici. The "Truce of God" later helped to produce the "land peace" in various parts of the Empire.[360:8]

The Church sanctioned and used the "judgment ofGod" or the ordeal as a better means of obtaining justice than by war.[361:1]This process of justice was not new, but had prevailed in the Orient and among the Celts and Teutons. It rested on this fundamental principle that the accused is guilty until he proves himself innocent and that God, as the source of justice, will protect the innocent. "Let doubtful cases," ran a Carolingian capitulary, "be determined by the judgment of God. The judges may decide that which they clearly know, but that which they cannot know shall be reserved for divine judgment. He whom God has reserved for His own judgment may not be condemned by human means."

There were four different kinds of ordeals: by water, by fire, by battle, and by some sacred emblem.[361:2]The ordeal by hot water was the oldest form in Europe.[361:3]It typified the deluge and hell. Hincmar of Rheims appears to have recommended it first. The accused was compelled, with naked arm, to find a stone or ring in a kettle of boiling water, or merely to thrust his arm into it. If his arm was scalded he was guilty, if not, innocent.[361:4]The ordeal by cold water was probably introduced by Pope Eugenius II. (824-827). The theory was that pure water will not receive a criminal, hence it was believed that the guilty would float and the innocent sink. The accused, therefore, was bound and thrown into the water, but held by a rope with which to pull him out.[361:5]

The ordeal by fire was performed either by hot iron or stones, or by a pure flame of fire. The accused was compelled to walk barefooted over six or twelve red-hot ploughshares, or to carry a piece of red-hot iron in his bare hand nine feet or more. The unburned, of course, were innocent.[362:1]Or the accused was asked to stick his hand into a flame, or walk with bare feet and legs through the fire.[362:2]

The battle ordeals were very old and widespread in Europe although not introduced into England until the Norman Conquest. They were used for both personal and international disputes. The right to contest was usually restricted to free men, but the young, sick, old, female, and clergy could furnish substitutes. Here again God, the Judge in all these cases, gave victory to the innocent.[362:3]The Church regarded this form of ordeal with disfavour. Both councils and Popes declared boldly against it. Innocent II., Alexander III., Clement III., Celestine III., and Innocent III. were outspoken in their opposition. It was expressly forbidden the clergy to engage in these combats without special license. Christian burial was even refused to those who fell in such combats. Civil law enforced the ecclesiastical opposition and thus gradually secured the elimination of the evil. This ordeal did not die out until the sixteenth century.

The sacred ordeals had to do with religious emblems. In the ordeal of the cross both the accused and the defendant stood before a cross with uplifted arms while special divine service was performed, or the arms wereextended in the form of a cross. The arms of the guilty person dropped first. Pepin first used it for divorce cases (752). Charles the Great extended it to territorial disputes (806). Louis the Pious abolished it in 816 because it brought the holy symbol into disrepute. The eucharist was likewise employed to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. The synod of Worms in 868 enjoined it upon bishops and priests accused of murder, adultery, theft, and sorcery. In the trial the eucharist was swallowed with this adjuration from the priest: "May this body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be a judgment to thee this day." In the famous encounter of Hildebrand and Henry IV. at Canossa, the Pope challenged the Emperor to undergo this ordeal, but the wily German refused.[363:1]A use was also made of relics for similar purposes—a test that was probably of ecclesiastical origin. The accused placed his hands on the sacred relics and made an oath of his innocence.

The Church played a very conspicuous part in all these ordeals. Church councils sanctioned them[363:2]and the clergy favoured them.[363:3]Not infrequently they were used to further the interests of the Church and to punish heretics. Priests usually prepared the contestants by fasts, prayer, and special service, presided over the trial, and pronounced judgment in God's name. This method of securing justice, however, provoked considerable opposition within the Church. As early as the sixth century Bishop Avitus of Vienne opposed the battle ordeal in the Burgundian Code. St.

Agobard of Lyons (d. 840) wrote two enlightened treatises against the duel and the whole system of the ordeal.[364:1]Occupants of St. Peter's Chair like Leo IV., Nicholas I., Stephen VI., Sylvester II., Alexander II., Alexander III., Celestine III., Honorius III., all condemned the institution.[364:2]The famous fourth Lateran Council held under Innocent III. in 1215 forbade the use of religious ceremonies in these trials and thus practically abolished the institution. Secular rulers also sought to end the practice. Unfortunately, the Inquisition, which employed methods somewhat similar to the ordeal, followed too closely in its wake.

Perhaps the most important service of the Church to the civilisation of the Middle Ages was the extensive cultivation of charity, "the queen of the Christian graces."[364:3]Both the example and teachings of Jesus served as a model and were supplemented by the words and work of the Apostles, particularly Paul. In the early Church charity was a cardinal principle.[364:4]At first the remnants of the eucharistic feasts were employed as sources of relief to the poor and needy; later free-will offerings given to the bishop and collections taken in the churches were employed to the same end. Usually seven deacons distributed these contributions to the poor, sick, and needy in each congregation.[364:5]

In Rome the organisation of charity was begun comparatively early. The parish was introduced inthe third century and in the fourth century Pope Anastasius divided Rome into fourteen "regions" and in them founded and endowed deaconries. Gregory the Great in the sixth century created seven districts in Rome ruled over by seven deacons and an archdeacon, built a hospital in each district, controlled by a deacon and a steward for the poor, sick, and orphans; and formed thirty parishes with thirty-six priests. He sold his extensive possessions and gave the proceeds to charity. Many of the great Fathers of the Church made similar sacrifices and never wearied of enjoining the duty of charity on Christians. The churches of Rome had large estates, especially in Sicily. One third of their income was given quarterly to charities.[365:1]Pope Gregory the Great also made monthly distributions of food to the poor, and each day sent part of his meals to feed the needy at his door. This model arrangement for charitable purposes in the capital of Christendom was copied quite extensively elsewhere and enlisted the services of thousands of priests, monks, and nuns in all sections of western Europe.

After Constantine legalised Christianity, charity became institutional and endowed, first in the East, then to the westward.[365:2]Perhaps the first public hospital was founded in Rome by Fabiola, a Roman lady, in the fourth century. St. Pammachus established another in the Eternal City. Paulinus built one in Nola. Still others were planted in Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Poorhouses, orphanages, and homes for the aged were likewise begun in this early period.As Christianity was spread over Europe by the missionary monks these charitable institutions were planted by it to help and comfort thousands in this period of war, famine, and pestilence, and to remain as the choicest heritage to the modern from the mediæval Church. In theory, mediæval charity was made one of the chief acts of piety, the most certain means of salvation, and perhaps emphasised too much the benefits to the donor and to his dead relatives, rather than to the worthy recipient.

Church discipline originated in the "power of the keys" and in the control of the sacraments. In the early Church it was a "purely spiritual jurisdiction."[366:1]After Constantine, however, it touched the civil and social status of the delinquents. During the entire Middle Ages it was a tremendous power because it was believed that the Church, ruled by the divinely appointed Pope and his army of ecclesiastics, was the "dispenser of eternal salvation" and that exclusion from her communion without repentance incurred eternal damnation. Discipline was administered either directly by the Pope or by the bishops and their representatives, the archdeacons, or in each congregation by the priest. Civil authorities aided the Church in enforcing discipline. Charles the Great ordered the bishops to hold annual public synodical courts to try cases of incest, murder, adultery, robbery, theft, and other vices contrary to God's laws.[366:2]The clergy and laity alike were investigated. Seven irreproachable synodal judges from each congregation reported to the synod on the state of morals and religion.[366:3]Similar synods were heldin Spain and England and soon came to be common throughout Europe. The ordinary penalties inflicted were fines, fasting, pilgrimages, scourging, imprisonment, and deeds of charity. Obstinate cases incurred excommunication. The penalties inflicted on the clergy were more severe than those on the laity.[367:1]About the same time developed the practice by which the priest heard the confessions[367:2]of his flock and doled out the punishment for their private offences. But by the ninth century confession to a priest had not yet become compulsory.

The most severe punishment on the individual was excommunication.[367:3]It could be pronounced by the Pope against a layman, either king or common man, or against a bishop or priest; or by a bishop against a layman or a priest. Its operation was direct and its effects severe. It cut the excommunicate off from the sacraments which alone could insure his salvation and subjected him to temporal punishments. As long as he was under the ban, he was a social outcast, like an outlawed criminal or a dangerous wild beast, debarred from all social greetings, food, shelter, and all intercourse. To kill him was not murder and he was left to die in lonely starvation. By the secular law, too, he lost all civil rights, could be seized and thrown into prison, and forfeited to the state all his property.[367:4]His whole family, likewise, were subject to the same disabilities.[367:5]If a king, his subjects were all released from allegiance to him. He was consigned toeverlasting punishment, often with the most terrific curses, which were frequently written down with sacred wine and ink. This terrible fate dangled over the head of every member of the Church, dead as well as alive, but, of course, it followed only after the proof of guilt had been established in a careful, formal trial and after earnest entreaties to repent had been made. The theory, however, was too often abused.[368:1]With sincere repentance the punishment ceased and absolution followed.[368:2]

There are examples almost without number of the employment of excommunication, but a few conspicuous examples will suffice to show its operation. Ambrose in 383 excommunicated Maximus for murdering Gratian, the Emperor.[368:3]Gregory the Great excommunicated Archbishop Maximus of Salona and forced him to repentance (600).[368:4]The Archbishop of Sens (seventh century) launched the curse against unknown robbers of his church.[368:5]Pope Benedict VIII. excommunicated the despoiler of the monastery of St. Giles.[368:6]There were very many cases against kings, criminals, heretics, etc., and the punishment was even applied to animals. Thus in 975 the Archbishop of Treves excommunicated the annoying sparrows. Caterpillars which were ravishing the diocese of Laon were put under the ban in 1120 by the bishop. Even St. Bernard, on an occasion which may have been justifiable, pronounced an anathema in 1121 on a swarm offlies which bothered him while he was making a pious speech.[369:1]Not only was this ecclesiastical cudgel used with the most telling effects in enforcing the law of the Church upon the disobedient and unbelieving, but it was not infrequently abused for personal revenge and spite or for other low motives.[369:2]

The interdict was another form of punishment, issued by a Pope or a bishop, against a city, diocese, district, or country, and involved the innocent along with the guilty. It had a counterpart among the barbarian tribes which made the family responsible for the crimes of individual members. This may have been its origin, for the Church adopted the same idea in applying excommunication to the barbarians. It began in a mild form as early as the fifth century, but ere long was a common punishment. The city of Rouen was put under the interdict in 586 for the murder of its bishop.[369:3]The Bishop of Laon in 869 pronounced the interdict on his diocese, but Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims removed it. The synod of Limoges enforced the "Truce of God" in 1031 by this means.[369:4]Gregory VII. applied it to the province of Gnesen to punish King Boleslaw II. for the crime of murder, and Alexander II. in 1180 thus afflicted all Scotland because the ruler expelled a papal bishop. Innocent III. in 1200 suspended it over France, because of the marital faithlessness of Philip Augustus, and for six years enforced it in England (1208) to humble King John. Its operation was very severe. All religious worship was suspended, the churches were closed, priests refused toperform marriage and burial ceremonies, the people were ordered to fast as in Lent and were forbidden to shave or cut their hair.[370:1]Only the sacraments, of baptism and extreme unction could be administered and then always behind closed doors. Penance and the eucharist could be extended alone to the mortally sick. All inhabitants of the afflicted region were ordered to dress in mourning, fast, and act in humility. Church bells were tolled at certain hours in the day, when all people were to fall upon their knees in prayer for the removal of the causes of the interdict. With such thunderbolts as the excommunication and interdict in the hands of the great High Priest of the Church, which could be hurled at will against any individual or people, and when the people blindly and unquestionably submitted to them, it can be seen how the power of the Papacy was augmented and the subjection of the clergy and laity alike increased.

The mass was the very centre of all Church worship. Pope Gregory I. established its mediæval form. The celebration of the mass was the bloodless sacrifice of Christ to God for the world's sins, a reconciliation of heaven and earth, of benefit to the living and to the pious dead. It is no wonder then that the mass was celebrated several times daily with the greatest ritualistic pomp and display. Masses for the dead, too, became popular as the doctrine of purgatory developed[370:2]and were usually celebrated as solitary masses. Lullus even ordered masses and fasts in order to obtain good weather.[370:3]The dogma of transubstantiation while generally held had not yet become Church law. Churchworship throughout western Europe was conducted in Latin, and consequently was little understood by the masses of the laity.

Although preaching was not a necessary part of the regular Church service, still it was not an unusual feature. Pope Gregory I. frequently preached with great earnestness, although his successors did not follow his example. Bishops were required to preach, but their negligence was proverbial.[371:1]The priests were commanded to explain to their people the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the nature of the sacraments. The models recommended were the homilies,[371:2]and the sermons of Gregory I.[371:3]The vernacular was used of course in all preaching and cathedral instruction.

The Church hymns of this period reflect the Christian life and worship. In the Latin Church the hymns are divided into three periods: the patristic epoch to Gregory I. (d. 604); the mediæval epoch to Damiani (d. 1073); and the classical epoch to 1300. These Latin hymns possess much fervour and some genius, and have a very pronounced character. Most of them were inspired by the Blessed Virgin and next in favour came the saints. There were many beautiful products likeTe Deum Laudamus.[371:4]In the early churches no organ was used.[371:5]Pope Vitalian (657-672) probablyfirst employed one, while Pepin and Charles the Great both received presents of this instrument from the East. After the eighth century it was generally used during the Middle Ages.[372:1]Church bells gradually came into use after the time of Constantine and were very numerous during this period.[372:2]

The origin of the term sacrament is not very clear. The Latinsacramentummeant the military oath of allegiance and the early Fathers apparently used it in that sense.[372:3]It was also spoken of asmysteriumin the New Testament.[372:4]Sacramentumwas thus early united withmysteriumto denote the solemn, instructive, semi-secret, external religious rites of worship. Augustine's definition, "the visible form of invisible grace," or "a sign of a sacred thing," has become classic and was accepted for centuries. The number of sacraments was an evolution. Tertullian mentions but two, the eucharist and baptism. Cyprian spoke of a third, confirmation. The Vulgate apparently added a fourth, marriage.[372:5]Augustine mentioned the Lord's Supper and baptism particularly as sacraments but used the word in many other applications. The old "sacramentaries" of the eighth century and later extend the word sacrament to a great variety of rites such as blessing of the holy water, dedicating churches, etc., and have prayers and benedictions for the same. Robanus Maurus (d. 856) advocated four and Paschasius Rodbertus (d. 865) two sacraments, while DionysiusAreopagite believed in six and Peter Damiani (d. 1072) enumerated twelve. Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141) asserted that there were thirty, but Peter Lombard (d. 1164) and Thomas Aquinas (1274) fixed on seven as the number, though they were not officially adopted by the Church until 1439.

The sacraments were the means of grace and spiritual food for the soul. They met the child at birth in baptism, accompanied him in life, and closed his eyes with extreme unction in death.

The most important of the sacraments was the eucharist. This solemn festival seems to have been at first a regular meal, probably the principal meal of the day in each family, at which the commemorative breaking of bread and partaking of the cup was a part. Subsequently, however, the local congregation met on this common basis. Certain abuses which resulted[373:1]led to the early separation of the agape, or love-feast, from the ministration of the eucharist of the bread and wine. Henceforth the eucharist became a distinct institution celebrated soon with solemn pomp by the priesthood alone. It was regarded as the symbol of unity among believers and of communion with the Deity. It became the test of Christian fellowship and membership. In the hands of the mediæval priesthood, it was a most effectual power, since the Church could withhold it and thus make those deprived of it outcasts certain of eternal damnation. Because of its grave importance, the Church made participation frequent and obligatory—and even administered it to infants and to the dead. In the early Church the eucharist was celebrated everyLord's Day and on the anniversaries of the martyrs. Later it was offered every day and after the time of Leo the Great several times a day as a daily sacrifice for daily sins. The celebration of the eucharist was called the mass—the culmination of all Christian worship—to which, however, only those fully initiated into Church membership were admitted.[374:1]

Baptism was likewise a very important sacrament. Although there is no evidence that Jesus ever performed the rite, still the New Testament shows that the Apostles and evangelists did.[374:2]Immersion and sprinkling were both early employed. The priest of course performed the rite, though in cases of urgency any person using the proper formula could do so. The effects produced by baptism were: regeneration; the infusion of sanctifying grace; the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; the remission of all sin, both original and actual, and also of all penalty due to sin, both temporal and eternal. Because of the great efficacy and the indelible character imparted by this sacrament, also its absolute necessity to salvation, it was common for catechumens to postpone the rite until the end of life drew near—as did Constantine the Great—for then it would wipe away all past records. Elaborate ceremonies in connection with baptism early developed. Candidates for the rite, called catechumens, were forced to undergo a long course of instruction. They could not witness the mysteries of the eucharist, but were dismissed after the response and genuflections. After baptism, which wasadministered usually on great Church festivals, especially Whitsunday, the catechumens were received, given Christian name, turned to the west to renounce the "devil and his works," exorcised by the priest, anointed with holy oil, and instructed in the fundamentals of Christian doctrine. Often an entire day was consumed in these ceremonies. The act of baptism with consecrated water was performed at the entrance to the church and usually the baptised received a white garment in token of his purity.[375:1]Beautiful baptisteries were early built either within the church or very near to the entrance.

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