CHAP. V.
On the death of Martin V., Gabriello de’ Condolmieri, a Venetian, of an ancient, though not of a noble family, was elevated to the pontifical dignity. During his residence in his native country, Gabriello had not obtained any high ecclesiastical honours: but being persuaded to repair to Rome under the protection of a nephew of his countryman Gregory XII., he so skilfully insinuated himself into the good graces of that pontiff, that by his favour he was promoted to the lucrative office of treasurer of the holy see; and successively advanced to the episcopal throne of Siena, and to the dignity of Cardinal of St. Clement. Having conducted himself with singular spirit and steadiness in the execution of various important commissions with which he was entrusted by Gregory XII. and his successors, he daily increased his reputation; and on the vacancy of the pontifical chair, occasioned by the demise of Martin V., he was raised, by the vote of the conclave, to the summit of ecclesiastical preferment. [March 3rd. A. D. 1431.] On this occasion, in compliance with the established custom, he changed his name, and assumed the appellation of Eugenius IV.[168]
During the course of the fifteenth century, the peace of most of the cities of Italy was continually disturbed by the intrigues of rival families, who disputed with each other the distribution of municipal honours, and the possession of civic power. On the accession of Eugenius, the contentions of the Colonnas and the Orsini, who had long presided at the head of opposite factions, still gave rise to disorder and tumult in Rome. The new pontiff had no sooner ascended the chair of St. Peter, than the chiefs of the latter family directed his attention to the great wealth which their competitors had amassed, in consequence of the partiality which his predecessor had shewn towards his kinsmen, in the distribution of the honours and emoluments which were at the disposal of the head of the church. On an inquiry being made into the conduct of the Colonnas, it was found that, not contented with the sum which they had gained from the munificence of their uncle, they had taken possession of the public treasure, which he had appropriated to the liquidation of the expenses of an expedition against the Turks, and had also conveyed away several jewels, and much furniture belonging to the pontifical palace. Being therefore determined to take legal proceedings against the principal offenders, Eugenius ordered Stefano Colonna, the general of the church, to arrest Oddo Piccio, Vice-chamberlain of his predecessor, but to treat him with civility. These orders were ill obeyed. The guards sent on this duty sacked the house of Oddo, and ignominiously dragged him through the streets as a common criminal. The pontiff having threatened to call Stefano to account for this harsh conduct, the latter fled from Rome, and joined therest of his family in a rebellion against Eugenius. Provoked by this contumacy, the pontiff proceeded with such unsparing severity against those who had been elevated to places of honour and profit, by the favour of his predecessor, that more than two hundred persons employed by Martin V. in various offices, were, upon being convicted of various offences, put to death by the hand of the executioner. The sagacity of Poggio, who was a witness of these cruel transactions, clearly foresaw the evil consequences which were likely to result from them.[169]The distractions of civil tumult soon demonstrated the justice of his apprehensions. The Colonnas, flying from Rome, solicited the assistance of their powerful relatives and friends, who resided in various parts of Italy. Having collected a sufficient body of troops, they marched to Rome; and being admitted into the city through the Appian gate by some of their partizans, they directed their course to the Piazza Colonna, where they were met by the soldiers of the pope. After a fierce encounter, the assailants were compelled to retire. Being thus frustrated in their attempt to make themselves masters of the city by open force, they endeavoured to accomplish their purpose by treachery. The vigilance of Eugenius however rendered their designs abortive. Having received intelligence that the archbishop of Benevento, the son of Antonio Colonna, and Masio his brother, were meditating some desperate enterprise, he caused them to be apprehended. Masio being put to the torture, confessed that they had laid a plan to seize the castle of St. Angelo,and to banish the pope and the Orsini from Rome. This treasonable project the unfortunate youth expiated by his death. He was beheaded in the Campo di Fiore, and his quarters were suspended to public view in four of the most frequented streets of the city. Soon after this event, the heart of Eugenius being mollified by a dangerous sickness, he became weary of the violence and hazard of civil strife; and by the medium of Angelotto Fosco, a citizen of Rome, he intimated to the Colonnas, that he was disposed to agree to a pacification. The terms of this pacification being settled, and solemnly proclaimed on the twenty-second of September, [A. D. 1471.] Rome once more enjoyed the blessing of domestic tranquillity.[170]
Thus did the merciless harshness of Eugenius, on his accession to the chair of St. Peter, expose his capital to the miseries of civil discord. At the same time he rashly ran the hazard of involving himself in a war with Filippo Maria, the duke of Milan. After the conclusion of the peace of Ferrara, that crafty prince, with a view of inducing his most formidable antagonists to exhaust their strength, had encouraged the Florentines to attack the territories of the republic of Lucca, which had incurred the hatred of the Tuscans by the strenuous assistance which it had afforded to the duke in the late war. But while he professed to desert his former allies, Filippo secretly ordered the Genoese, over whom he exercised an almost absoluteauthority, to march to the relief of the city of Lucca, which the Florentines had reduced to extremity. In obedience to his injunctions, the Genoese sent into the Lucchese territories a considerable body of troops under the command of Piccinino, who compelled the Tuscan general to raise the siege of the capital, and entirely routed his army. When the Florentines were apprized of the secret machinations of the duke of Milan, they renewed their alliance with the Venetians: and on the other hand, the duke openly declaring himself in favour of the republic of Lucca, strengthened himself by the assistance of the Sienese. Such was the state of affairs in the western districts of Italy, when Eugenius was called to ascend the pontifical throne. This event was a subject of great joy to the Florentines, who hoped that the partiality of the new pontiff to his countrymen, their allies, would induce him to take decisive measures in their favour. Nor were they disappointed. Soon after his accession, Eugenius sent a legate to Siena, with instructions to endeavour to prevail upon the administrators of that republic to desert from the cause of the duke of Milan. At the same time he sent to the Tuscan army a reinforcement of one thousand horse, which seasonable accession of strength enabled the Florentines once more to commence the siege of Lucca.[171]
The duke of Milan did not deem it expedient instantly to resent the proceedings of the pontiff: but the edgeof his anger was not blunted by time, and when a convenient opportunity presented itself, he convinced Eugenius to his cost, that it is the height of folly gratuitously to interfere in the disputes of belligerent states.
The pontificate of Eugenius did not commence with happier omens in the distant provinces of Christendom. He had confirmed the commission of his predecessor, which authorised Julian, cardinal of St. Angelo, to exercise in Germany the office of legate of the holy see; and in pursuance of this commission, the cardinal had laboured with unremitting activity for the extinction of heresy. The Bohemian reformers, however, ridiculed his pastoral admonitions, and despised his menaces. During his residence in Constance, Poggio had witnessed in the case of two individuals, the intrepidity with which the human mind is inspired by the operation of religious zeal; and he seems to have wisely calculated the efforts which this powerful stimulus was likely to produce, by diffusing its increasing energy through the breasts of an enthusiastic multitude. On this account, when he was informed of the important enterprise which had been undertaken by his friend the cardinal, though he applauded the alacrity which he manifested in the discharge of his duty to his spiritual sovereign, he advised him maturely to consider, not the degree of courage with which he was endowed, but the number of troops which he could bring into the field; and bade him beware, lest in attempting to subdue the heretics, he should take a wolf by the ears.[172]The event justifiedthe fears of Poggio. A vigorous invasion of Bohemia was meditated by Frederic, marquis of Brandenburg, who had been appointed to the chief command of the ecclesiastical forces;[173]but as the success of his plan in a great measure depended on the co-operation of several independent powers, it experienced the usual fate of enterprizes conducted on that most hazardous principle. It had been concerted, that whilst the marquis of Brandenburg made an irruption into the Bohemian territory by the route of Thopa, Albert duke of Austria should make a diversion on the side of Moravia. But as some of the confederates had not prepared their forces in due time, the commander in chief was obliged to defer the opening of the campaign beyond the appointed period. In the mean time Albert advanced into Bohemia; but finding himself unsupported by his allies, he thought it prudent to retire. The duke of Austria had no sooner withdrawn his forces, than the cardinal, who had at length raised an army, consisting of forty thousand cavalry, and nearly an equal number of infantry,[174]appeared on the frontiers of Bohemia, wherehe took and destroyed several towns which had been garrisoned by the reformers. The Bohemians were not, however, discouraged by the number of their foes, but boldly advanced with a determination to give them battle. The papal forces did not await the encounter of these formidable antagonists. When they were apprized of the approach of the enemy, they were seized with a sudden panic, and in spite of the remonstrances of their general, they fled in the utmost disorder.[175]Mortified by this defeat, and despairing of being able to subdue the heretics by means of the forces at present under his command, the legate determined to apply for assistance in the task of the extirpation of the impugners of the true faith to the general council, which, in pursuance of the summons of the late pontiff Martin V., was soon to be held in the city of Basil.[176]
When Poggio received the intelligence of the discomfitureof the papal army, he thus addressed the Cardinal legate, in a consolatory epistle.—“I am truly sorry, my good father, for the ridiculous and disgraceful issue of this German expedition, which you have planned and prepared with so much pains and labour. It is astonishing that your troops should have been so completely destitute of courage, as to fly like hares, terrified by an empty breeze of wind, even before the enemy was in sight. My grief is however alleviated by the following consideration, that I not only foresaw this event, but foretold it when I last had the pleasure of conversing with you. On that occasion I remember you treated my opinion lightly, and said, that as prophets of evil were generally justified by the common course of human things, I prophesied on the safe side when I foreboded disasters. I did not however hazard a random guess at the issue of the proposed expedition; but formed a rational conjecture on the subject, by comparing past with present circumstances, and by reflecting upon the necessary relation of cause and effect. Impressed by these ideas, I thought I clearly foresaw an approaching tempest: and the occurrences of every succeeding day tend to confirm me in my opinion. There formerly existed Christian kings and princes, by whose assistance the church defended herself against her enemies; and tempest-tossed as she has frequently been, she has hitherto always found some haven in which she could shelter herself from the fury of the storm. But whither can she now flee without incurring the danger of suffering shipwreck? A common insanity has persuaded almost all men to rejoice in our calamities, and to pray forour destruction. Let us however hope for the best, and patiently bear the worst. For my own part I make it my study, in all circumstances to be resigned to the will of Providence, and to become so independent of externals, as not to be distressed by the capriciousness of fortune. In my present situation, indeed, I am not very obnoxious to the malice of that goddess, whose wrath, like the thunderbolt, is directed against the high and the lofty. But whatever may be her pleasure, it is certainly the truest wisdom not to suffer our minds to be shaken by her impulse, and not to be too deeply affected in our private capacity by the distresses of the public. Let us however entreat the Deity not to put our wisdom to these serious proofs; for we know not whether we should be able to practise the piety and philosophy which we recommend. I hear that you have convoked a council, which is already well attended. I commend your prudence—you did well, on the ill success of your arms, to have recourse to an assembly of priests, on whom we cannot but have great reliance, on account of the uprightness of their lives, and their zeal to extinguish the pest of heresy.
“The Germans were formerly a warlike people.—They are now strenuous only in their eating and drinking, and they are mighty in proportion to the wine which they can swallow. When their casks are empty, their courage must needs be exhausted. On this account I am inclined to think, that they so shamefully deserted their posts, not through fear of the enemy, whom it seems they never saw, but because provisions were scarcein those quarters. You were of opinion, that sobriety constituted a part of the soldier’s duty. But if this expedition is to be again attempted, I trust you will change your system, and allow that wine constitutes the sinews of war. The ancients inform us, that Ennius never undertook to celebrate warlike achievements till he was mellow; and it must be acknowledged that, inasmuch as it is a more serious task to fight a battle than to describe it, flowing cups are absolutely requisite to enable a man to handle arms, and encounter the dangers of the field. I am afraid you have fallen into the error of judging of others by your own dispositions. Beware of repeating this error in the matter of the council, and remember what I said to you before your departure from Italy—take care to feed them well—But enough of this levity. We enjoy the blessing of peace; but the pontifical court is poor, and shorn of its splendour. This is occasioned by the war in Germany, and by the sickness of his holiness, which has lasted much longer, and has been much more severe, than could have been wished. I have written to Angelotto, cardinal of St. Mark, a letter which I wish you also to read. I therefore send you a copy of it, not because I flatter myself that there is any excellence in its style, but because I trust its perusal may divert your thoughts from the anxious affair of the council.”[177]
A mind irritated by disappointment and disgrace isbut ill prepared to bear with patience the lashes of satiric wit. The cardinal of St. Angelo was by no means pleased with the jocular style of Poggio’s letter; and though he affected to answer it in a similar strain of levity, he appears to have written with the ill grace which generally betrays the attempt to conceal resentment under the veil of good humour; and in the course of his epistle, his vexation burst forth in an angry reproof of the irregular life of his correspondent. Unfortunately the morals of Poggio were not entirely free from reproach.—Whilst the uncertainty of his future destination had prevented him from entering into the married state, his passions had gained the mastery over his principles, and he had become the father of a spurious offspring. Reminding him of this circumstance, “you have children,” said the cardinal, “which is inconsistent with the obligations of an ecclesiastic; and by a mistress, which is discreditable to the character of a layman.” To these reproaches Poggio replied in a letter replete with the keenest sarcasm. He pleaded guilty to the charge which had been exhibited against him, and candidly confessed, that he had deviated from the paths of virtue. “I might answer to your accusation,” said he, “that I have children, which is expedient for the laity; and by a mistress, in conformity to the custom of the clergy from the foundation of the world. But I will not defend my errors—you know that I have violated the laws of morality, and I acknowledge that I have done amiss.” Endeavouring however to palliate his offence—“do we not,” says he, “every day, and in all countries, meet with priests, monks, abbots, bishops, and dignitariesof a still higher order, who have families of children by married women, widows, and even by virgins consecrated to the service of God? These despisers of worldly things, as they style themselves, who travel from place to place, clothed in coarse and vile raiment, with downcast looks, calling on the name of Jesus, follow the precept of the apostle, and seek after that which is not their own, to use it as their own, and scorn to hide their talent in a napkin. I have often laughed at the bold, or rather impudent profession of a certain Italian abbot, who waited on Martin V., accompanied by his son, who was grown up to man’s estate. This audacious ecclesiastic, being interrogated on the subject, freely and openly declared, to the great amusement of the pope, and the whole pontifical court, that he had four other sons able to bear arms, who were all at his holiness’s service.” After noticing other scandalous enormities, which brought disgrace upon the character of some ecclesiastics of those times, Poggio thus concluded—“As to your advice on the subject of my future plans of life, I am determined not to assume the sacerdotal office; for I have seen many men whom I have regarded as persons of good character and liberal dispositions, degenerate into avarice, sloth, and dissipation, in consequence of their introduction into the priesthood.—Fearing lest this should be the case with myself, I have resolved to spend the remaining term of my pilgrimage as a layman; for I have too frequently observed, that your brethren, at the time of their tonsure, not onlypart with their hair, but also with their conscience and their virtue.”[178]
Angelotto, cardinal of St. Mark, whom Poggio mentions at the conclusion of his consolatory epistle to the cardinal of St. Angelo, was by birth a Roman, and was promoted by Eugenius, from the bishopric of Cavi, to a seat in the sacred college, on the nineteenth of September, 1431.[179]On this addition to his honours, Poggio addressed to him a letter, in which he exercised the privilege of friendship, in administering to him much wholesome and seasonable advice. He introduced his admonitions by observing, that it was customary for the friends of those who had been exalted to any new dignity, to express their congratulations by the transmission of magnificent presents; but that being prevented by his poverty from giving such indications of the satisfaction with which he had received the intelligence of Angelotto’s promotion, he was determined to bestow upon him a gift, which he was assured he would value at its just rate—the gift of friendly council. By a variety of instances, recorded in the pages of history, he shewed, that he who in compliance with the dictates of duty gives good advice to the great and powerful, runs considerable risk of drawing down upon himself the indignation of those whose welfare he wishes to promote by the free communication of his opinions. In candidly imparting his sentiments to Angelotto, however, a man of considerable learning, whohad himself been accustomed to indulge in the most unlimited freedom of speech, he declared that he did not apprehend that he incurred the least danger of giving offence. He then proceeded to exhort the newly created cardinal to continue to cultivate, in his present high station, those virtues which he had exhibited in the inferior degrees of ecclesiastical preferment; and to act up to the professions which he had been accustomed to make before the period of his exaltation. He reminded him of the dangerous temptations which surround eminence of rank, and assured him, that so far from withdrawing any restraints to which he had formerly been obliged to submit, his present promotion imposed upon him additional obligations to be prudent and circumspect in his conduct; since the splendour of eminence makes the failings and vices of the great the more conspicuous. Warning his correspondent against the debasing influence of flattery, he thus apologized for the boldness with which he offered his advice. “Those who are not acquainted with me, will perhaps condemn the freedom with which I inculcate these heads of admonition on one who is more fully instructed than myself on such topics. But I am induced by my affection for you to recall to your memory these points of duty, in the discharge of which, even the well informed have been sometimes known to fail.”
If credit may be given to the opinion of Angelotto’s contemporaries, Poggio’s attempt to inculcate upon him the lessons of wisdom, was by no means a superfluous task. In such small estimation was his understandingheld, that on the day of his election to the dignity of cardinal, a Roman priest of the name of Lorenzo went through the streets of the city, shewing indications of the most extravagant joy; and being asked by his neighbours what was the cause of his exultation, he replied, “I am truly fortunate—Angelotto is created cardinal; and since I find fools and madmen are promoted to that dignity, I have great hopes of wearing the red hat myself.”[180]On the same occasion, as the officers of the pontifical household were conversing about the transactions of the day, one Niccolo of Anagni, a man of great literary accomplishments, but of an irregular life, and of a very satirical disposition, complained of his own ill fortune.—“No person living,” said he, “is more unlucky than myself; for though this is the reign of folly, and every madman, nay even Angelotto, gains considerable promotion, I alone am passed over without notice.”[181]The friendship which Poggio professed to entertain for the newly created dignitary did not prevent him from indulging at his expense, his propensity to sarcastic wit. A new cardinal is not permitted to take any part in the debates of the consistory till he has obtained the pontiff’s permission to speak, which is granted by the performance of a short ceremony, entitled the opening of his mouth. Poggio one day meeting the cardinal of St. Marcellus in the pontifical palace, asked him what had been done that morning in the sacred college. “We have opened Angelotto’smouth,” said the cardinal. “Indeed,” replied Poggio, “you would have acted more wisely if you had fixed a padlock upon it.”[182]These anecdotes, which are selected from Poggio’sFacetiæ, sufficiently prove, that the unfortunate cardinal of St. Mark was a fruitful subject of ridicule to the officers of the Roman court. From the same source of information it appears, that his churlish moroseness on the following occasion subjected him to the shame of being put to confusion by the petulant wit of a child. Some of his friends having introduced to him a boy of ten years of age, who was remarkable for the brilliancy of his talents, he asked him a variety of questions, in his answers to which the boy displayed astonishing knowledge and sagacity. On which Angelotto, turning to the by-standers, said, “They who manifest such quickness of parts at this early age, generally decrease in intellect as they increase in years, and become fools when they have attained to maturity.” Hurt by the unfeeling rudeness of this remark, the stripling immediately replied, “If this be the case, most reverend father, you must have been a very forward youth.”[183]
In congratulating a man of Angelotto’s character on his accession to high ecclesiastical honours, Poggio may be suspected of practising the duplicity of a courtier. But it may be alleged in his defence, that his letter breathesthe spirit of freedom; and that though he takes occasion in general terms to commend the talents and virtues of the new cardinal, his commendations are so sparingly interspersed in the midst of a variety of salutary hints of advice, that they are evidently introduced for no other purpose than to render his admonitions more palatable, and consequently more useful. We have too much reason to believe that these admonitions were like good seed sown in an unproductive soil; and that the conduct of Angelotto, subsequent to his elevation to a seat in the consistory, reflected disgrace on himself, and on the authors of his promotion.[184]
In summoning the general council, cardinal Julian had acted in conformity to the powers which had been conferred on him by the late, and confirmed by the present pontiff;[185]but Eugenius, though he did not think it advisable openly to oppose this measure, looked forward to the convening of this assembly with no smalldegree of apprehension. The popes had always regarded general councils with the jealousy which monarchs of arbitrary principles uniformly entertain of those constitutional bodies, which, under various denominations, have occasionally attempted to curb the pride of despotic authority. In the deposition of John XXII. the council of Constance had established a most dangerous precedent; and when Eugenius reflected upon the power and activity of his enemies, he dreaded the consequences which might result from the assembling of a deliberative body, which claimed a superiority over the head of the church. The cardinal of St. Angelo, however, either was not acquainted with the views of the pontiff, or thought it his duty not to sacrifice the interests of the Christian community to the timidity or ambition of its spiritual sovereign. In compliance with his injunctions, John de Polmar, auditor of the sacred palace, and John de Ragusio, doctor in theology of the university of Paris, repaired to Basil on the nineteenth of July, 1431, and opened the council in the chapter house of the cathedral church.[186]On the fourteenth of December the first session was held, at which the cardinal of St. Angelo presided in person, and delivered to the assembled ecclesiastics an exhortation to labour diligently, and to watch with vigilance for the welfare of the Christian religion. Then were read the decree of the council of Constance, touching the summoning of general councils; the instrument by which the city of Basil was appointed as a proper place for theholding of such an assembly, and various other documents, which establish the legitimacy of the present synod. It was then publicly declared, that the attention of the council would be directed to three points—the extirpation of heresy—the prevention of wars amongst Christians—and the reformation of the church.[187]
After the publication of a bull, which thundered an anathema against all those who should impede any one in his passage to or from the city of Basil, on the business of the council, and the recital and adoption of several rules for the regulation of the proceedings of that assembly, the first session was closed.[188]
When Eugenius found that he could not prevent the convocation of the dreaded synod, he began to deliberate upon the best method of preventing those encroachmentsupon the pontifical prerogatives, which he had so much reason to apprehend from its decrees. Upon mature consideration, he did not think it prudent to risk so bold a step as the dissolution of the council: but he flattered himself, that by removing it to some city under his own dominion, he would be enabled to control its proceedings, and to avert the threatened danger. He therefore issued a bull, whereby he commanded the cardinal of St. Angelo to transfer the council from Basil to Bologna.[189]On the receipt of this bull, the cardinal wrote to Eugenius a long and elaborate letter, in which he endeavoured to persuade him by every argument which was likely to influence his judgment, and by every appeal to the principles of virtue which was calculated to make an impression on his heart, to withdraw his opposition to the proceedings of the council, and to assist with zeal in its efforts to promote the welfare of the Christian community.[190]The members of that assembly, also, sent deputies to his holiness, with instructions to implore and require him to retract the aforesaid bull, and by his assistance and advice to support the council in the good work which it had begun. The assembled fathers did not, however, entirely rely upon the persuasive eloquence of their embassadors. Confiding in the protection of the emperor Sigismund, in the second session, which was held on the fifteenth of April, 1432,they took very decisive measures for the establishment of their authority. With this view they recited and confirmed a decree of the council of Constance, wherein it was asserted, that every Synod, lawfully assembled in the Holy Spirit, constituting a general council, and representing the church militant, derives its authority immediately from Christ, to which authority all persons, of what state or dignity soever, not excepting the pope, are bound to pay obedience in matters pertaining to the faith, the extirpation of schism, and the general reformation of the church in its head and members. They also issued a declaration, that the council then assembled could not legally be dissolved, prorogued, or transferred to any other place, by any power, no not even by the pontifical authority, without the consent of its members.
The deputies who had been sent to Eugenius returning without having effected the object of their mission, the council, by a public decree, dated April the twenty-ninth, 1432, supplicated, required, and admonished the pontiff to revoke the bull of dissolution with the same formality with which it had been published. By the same decree, Eugenius was summoned to appear in the council in the space of three months, either in person or by deputies furnished with full powers to act in his name. He was also duly forewarned, that should he refuse to comply with these requisitions, the council would, according to the dictates of justice, and the Holy Spirit, provide for the necessities of the church, and proceed according to the preceptsof divine and human laws.[191]After these acts of open hostility, prudence dictated to the members of the council the necessity of abridging the influence and authority of their adversary as much as possible; and for this purpose, in their fourth session, which was held on the twentieth of June, [A. D. 1432.] they decreed, that in case of a vacancy of the holy see, the successor to Eugenius should be elected in the place where the council should happen to be sitting; and that during the existence of that assembly, the pope should be prohibited from creating new cardinals.
The council proceeded to still more daring extremities. On Sunday, September 6th, after the solemnization of the mass, two procurators of that assembly presented a petition, which set forth, that whereas Eugenius, having been regularly summoned to revoke the bull which he had issued, ordaining the dissolution of the council, and also to appear in person in the said council, within the space of three months, had neglected to obey the said summons, and had on the contrary persisted in his endeavours to put a stop to the proceedings of the legal representatives of the Christian church, they demanded that the said Eugenius should be declared contumacious; and that further proceedings should be had according to law. This petition having been read, the bishop of Constance, who on that day presided in the assembly, commanded the bishops of Perigord and Ratisbon, to make inquisition whether the pope, or any one duly authorised on his behalf were presentin the council. These prelates accordingly made the requisite proclamation thrice from the steps of the altar, and as many times at the gates of the church. No one appearing to answer to this summons, a representation of this fact was made to the president; after which the archbishops of Tarento and Colossi, and the bishop of Magdalon, and Antonio di Santo Vito, auditor of the sacred palace, entered the assembly in quality of deputies of the pope. On inquiry, however, it was found, that they were not provided with the plenary powers demanded by the decrees of the council, in consequence of which a protestation was made against their acts. Being, however, permitted to speak, they exhorted the assembled dignitaries, as they wished for the good of the church, to drop these harsh proceedings against the common father of the faithful. After some deliberation, the president replied in the name of the council, that the members of that august body would deliberate upon the matters which had on that day been proposed to their consideration; and that they would endeavour to act in such a manner as to obtain the concurrence of the whole Christian world. After thanking the president for this gracious answer, the deputies of Eugenius withdrew.[192]On the eighteenth of December the council was pleased to enlarge the term prescribed for the submission of Eugenius for the space of sixty days; and at the same time prohibited all ecclesiastics or others from attempting to establish at Bologna, or elsewhere, any synod inopposition to the council then sitting at Basil.[193]At the expiration of the above-mentioned term of sixty days, the procurators of the council, on the nineteenth of February, 1433, again demanded sentence against the contumacious pontiff, and were again informed by the president, that this important affair would be the subject of the future deliberations of the assembly.[194]The result of these deliberations was, that the council, out of its great clemency, indulged Eugenius with the still further space of sixty days, at the same time declaring, that should he not within that time fully and unreservedly acknowledge and submit to its authority, he should stand convicted of notorious contumacy, and should be suspended from the administration of all pontifical functions, both in spirituals and in temporals.[195]
It may easily be imagined, that these violent proceedings of the council excited no small degree of uneasiness in the mind of Eugenius. The pride of the pontiff was wounded by the decree, which pronounced the subordination of the papal dignity to the mandate of a collective body, the individual members of which were accustomed to prostrate themselves before the chair of St. Peter, with the homage of unreserved submission. His resentment was roused by the denunciation of the punishment which awaited his refusal to concur in his own humiliation; and when he considered the popularity which the council hadacquired, in consequence of the general persuasion of the Christian world, that its deliberations would tend to the benefit of the church, his breast was agitated by a sense of the danger which he incurred in counteracting its operations. Poggio entered with dutiful zeal into the feelings of his patron, and resolved to attempt, by friendly admonition and remonstrance, to persuade the cardinal of St. Angelo to withdraw his countenance and support from the rebellious ecclesiastics of Basil. With this view he addressed to him an elaborate letter, in which he entreated him to consider, that though in summoning the council he was actuated by the most upright intentions, and by a sincere desire to promote the good of the church, yet he was in duty bound to believe, that the pope was influenced by the same motives in the formation of his opinion, that such an assembly was inexpedient and dangerous. He reminded him, that he was by no means authorized to set up his private sentiments in opposition to the decision of the head of the church. He further observed, that they who began the reformation so loudly demanded, by manifesting their contempt of the pontifical dignity, were the most dangerous partizans and promoters of heresy. He then proceeded solemnly to forewarn his friend, that if he persisted in his determination, he would forfeit his peace of mind for ever; for he would have the mortification of seeing the plans which he had meditated for the benefit of the church converted into the means of her destruction. After assuring him that the council was likely to become subservient to the ambition of one sovereign prince, and to the hatredwhich another had conceived against Eugenius, who was already doomed to deposition—he thus proceeded—“You will perhaps say, I know nothing of the intentions of others; but as to myself, I am conscious that I am prompted by zeal for the promotion of the general good; and whatever may be the consequences of the measures which I adopt, the rectitude of my intentions will secure me from blame. But take care, my good friend, lest you be led astray. I know that your intentions are excellent: but I also know that you cannot answer for the integrity of your associates. Affairs may issue in a manner directly contrary to your expectations. It is a most difficult task to curb resentment, hatred, and avarice; and it is very certain that men are corrupted by being freed from salutary restraints. When you take into consideration the different views by which mankind are actuated, the hopes of the public benefit which you expect to derive from this council should not render you insensible of the danger with which it is attended. You ought therefore to dread incurring a weight of responsibility by obstinately persevering in your own opinion. In explaining to the pontiff the reasons which convince you of the expediency of summoning a council, you have acted as becomes a virtuous and prudent man. His holiness is, however, of opinion, that the present is not a proper time for the holding of such an assembly.—Do you think it right to maintain your sentiments by arms and violence? Plato says that we ought not bear arms against our native country or our parents—And who is moretruly our parent than the earthly representative of our Father in Heaven; and what country is more dear to us than the church in which we are saved? You and the pontiff are aiming at the same end, but by different means—Which of you ought to give way to the other? Consider, I entreat you, the dispositions and views of those who countenance this assembly, and you will be convinced that they entertain the most pernicious designs. If you do not recede, you will inflict upon the church a wound, which, however you may wish, you will be unable to heal.”[196]
The doctrine of passive obedience may be seriously maintained by those who bask in the sunshine of princely favour, and by those who are pleased or satisfied with the conduct of the powers that be; for men feel no disposition to resist measures which operate to their own advantage, or which they themselves approve. But when they are required to do that which is subversive of their interests, or repugnant to their feelings, they generally find reasons, to themselves at least satisfactory, for opposing the dictates even of long established authority. So it was with the cardinal of St. Angelo. Dazzled by the splendours which beamed around the presidential throne, he could not see the cogency of the reasons which urged him to forego his newly acquired honours; and the arguments of Poggio had no influence upon his conduct. On the contrary, he deemed it strictlycompatible with his duty to the common father of the faithful still to preside in the rebellious synod, which on the eleventh day of September again met in solemn assembly. [A. D. 1433.] In this session, the procurators of the council, after representing, that notwithstanding the lenity which had been exercised towards Eugenius, in deferring the process which his obstinacy justly merited, the pontiff still refused to submit to the ordinances of the august representatives of the Christian church, demanded, that without any delay, he should be put upon his trial, as being impeached of contumacious opposition to the exercise of legitimate authority. To this demand the archbishop of Spoleto and the bishop of Cervi, in the name of Eugenius, made certain frivolous objections, which were immediately over-ruled. The pontifical deputies were then informed by the president, that if they were prepared to announce the determination of their master to comply with the requisitions of the assembly in whose presence they stood, this welcome intelligence would be received with the utmost joy—but that if they were not authorised so to do, they might rest assured, that the members of the council would prefer death to the adoption of any measures which were likely to endanger the church of Christ. The envoys of Eugenius not being authorised to make the required concessions, withdrew from the assembly, and it was expected that a legal process would have been instantly commenced against their refractory constituent.
In this crisis Eugenius was sheltered from the threatened storm by the friendship of the emperor Sigismund.Towards the latter end of the year 1431, that monarch had come into Italy with the intention of receiving the imperial crown from the hands of the pope.[197]Eugenius, however, taking umbrage at his intimate connexion with the duke of Milan, whom he regarded as a secret enemy to himself, and the avowed foe of his country, refused to permit him to visit Rome.[198]The emperor being thus frustrated in the attainment of the object of his journey across the Alps, quitted Milan, and after visiting Piacenza, Parma, and Lucca, at length went to Siena, where he fixed his abode for the space of several months. During his residence in this city he carried on a negociation with the pontiff, in the course of which he found means to calm the jealous apprehensions of Eugenius, who at length consented to admit the imperial petitioner into his capital. Sigismund accordingly made his triumphant entry into Rome, where he was received on the twenty-first of May, 1433, by the acclamations of the populace; and on the thirty-first of the same month he was crowned with all due solemnity in the church of the Vatican.[199]The festivity which occurred on this occasion was increased by the joy diffused throughout Italy, on account of the termination of the war between the duke of Milan and the Florentines, who had been induced, by the mediation of the marquis of Este, to sign a treaty of peace at Ferrara about three weeks before Sigismund’s arrival in Rome.[200]During theemperor’s residence in that city, he experienced from Eugenius the respectful hospitality which was due to his exalted rank and the excellence of his character.[201]In return for the kindness of the pontiff, he determined to promote his interests by moderating the violence of the council. He accordingly sent by his ambassadors a letter to that assembly, in which, after recounting the good services which he had rendered to the council of Constance, which, he observed, bore sufficient testimony of the zeal which he felt for the good of the church, he requested that the term appointed for the probation of Eugenius might be further prolonged for the space of thirty days. With this request the council immediately complied, and issued a decree accordingly.[202]Soon after the promulgation of this decree, the emperor arrived in Basil, and his influence was speedily visible, in the additional lenity shewn to the pontiff, by the prorogation of further proceedings against him for the space of ninety days, from the sixth of November, 1433, on which day Sigismund assisted in person at the sitting of the council, adorned with all the insignia of imperial authority.
Whilst Sigismund was thus exerting his influence to avert from Eugenius the evil consequences of his sternrefusal to concur in any act derogatory to the prerogatives of the sovereign pontificate, the proceedings of the council afforded the enemies of the pontiff a pretext to gratify their ambition and revenge, by the invasion of his territories. It has been before observed, that in the course of the late war which the duke of Milan had waged with various success against the Florentines, that prince had been greatly irritated by the support given to his adversaries by the pontiff, on whom he determined to signalize his vengeance whenever a convenient opportunity should present itself. When, therefore, the council of Basil had decreed, that the refusal of the pontiff to concur in its measures should render him liable to the penalty of suspension from all pontifical functions whatsoever, the duke aided and abetted Francesco Sforza, who, under pretence of enforcing the decrees of the council, made an irruption into the states of the church, and took possession of Jesi, Monte d’Olmo, Osimo, Ascoli, and Ancona. At the same time, the very centre of the ecclesiastical territories was invested by three noted Condottieri, Taliano, Furlano, Antonello da Siena, and Jacopo da Lunato, who, also professing to act on behalf of the council, invaded the duchy of Spoleto. Nor did the difficulties of Eugenius end here; for he now found by sad experience, that he who in the hour of prosperity injures a benefactor, may in the season of adversity find that benefactor in the number of his most implacable enemies. His territories were harrassed by the able warrior Niccolò Fortebraccio, who had formerly commanded the pontifical troops with great courage and fidelity, and had reduced under the ecclesiastical dominion the towns ofVetralla and Civita Vecchia; but when he demanded the recompense to which he justly imagined himself entitled, had indignantly received for answer, that the booty which he had taken in the expedition in which he had been engaged was an ample remuneration for his services. Poggio, who regarded his native country with that proud partiality which has always been a striking feature in the character of the Italians, was greatly chagrined when he saw the dominions of the pontiff laid waste by a war, the flames of which were kindled by a convention of Germans. His attachment to his master also filled him with the deepest concern, when he beheld the difficulties and dangers to which Eugenius was exposed by the incursions of his enemies. His sense of the pontiff’s misfortunes was the more acute, as he was well aware, that the comforts and emoluments of the officers of the pontifical household were liable to be materially diminished by the interruption of business, and the defalcation of the papal revenues, which must be the inevitable consequence of the present disturbances. Recollecting the disagreeable situation in which he had been formerly placed by the deposition of John XXII., he was fearful lest the council of Basil should dethrone his present lord, by which circumstance he would be reduced to the disgraceful alternative of either quitting the line of preferment, in which he had fixed all his hopes of future subsistence, or of adhering to the fortunes of a master, whose embarrassments would deprive him of the means of giving his servants a remuneration at all adequate either to their merits, or to their necessities. Full of these gloomy presages, he determined once more to address himself to thecardinal of St. Angelo, whom he regarded as at least the innocent author of the calamities which affected every considerate mind with sorrow. He accordingly transmitted to him the following letter, in which, wisely forbearing to reproach his friend for his past conduct, or to enforce with importunate energy the necessity of adopting new measures, he gave him such an account of the state of Italy, and of his own feelings, as was well calculated to make an impression upon his heart.
“Being some time ago alarmed by the prospect of impending calamity, and clearly foreseeing the tempests which have now begun to rage with the utmost violence, I detailed my apprehensions in a letter which I intended, most reverend father, to have addressed to you. That letter, which the nature of its subject caused to be extended to an extraordinary length, I did not send to you, according to my original design—not through fear of exciting your displeasure (for I know you too well to entertain any apprehensions on that subject) but through dread of giving offence to others. For though I am conscious that I was prompted to write merely by a wish to promote the public good, I was apprehensive lest my motives should be misconstrued, and lest it should be thought that my letter was dictated by flattery. You, however, and many other respectable characters, can bear witness, that flattery is not by any means among the number of my failings, and that neither a love of reputation, nor a regard for my own interest, ever induces me to prostitute my opinions, orto approve in words, what I disapprove in my heart. On some occasions indeed I have been materially injured by the freedom with which I am accustomed to speak my sentiments. But sensible as I was, that the dissensions of the powerful are always dangerous, and that the dissensions of ecclesiastics are attended with peculiar peril, inasmuch as they involve the hazard of immortal souls; having also frequently read and heard, that trifling disagreements have been inflamed into the greatest animosity and strife, to the utter ruin of states and empires, I was afraid lest this new contention amongst the chiefs of the sacerdotal order, should involve the Christian world in difficulties, which neither you nor your associates, whatever might be your inclination, would be able to obviate. When we are called to the task of deliberation, we may forbear to act if we please. But when we have begun to act, fortune, the arbitress of human affairs, directs the event; and directs it rather according to the dictates of her caprice, as Sallust observes, than according to the principles of reason. When you have once put yourself in motion, you cannot stop when you please. In perilous seasons it is the duty of the wise to try to preserve the ship by retaining it in the harbour. When you have committed yourself to the winds, you are compelled to obey their impulse. In these circumstances the most skilful pilot may suffer shipwreck, or at least, despairing of making any effectual resistance against the fury of the gale, he may be carried into regions far distant from those to which it was his wish to steer his course. When Ireflected on these topics, I was in a manner irresistibly impelled, by my affection for our common country, to acquaint you with my sentiments. After having resided for so many years in the Roman court, I was grieved to see our affairs reduced to such a state, that we had every thing to fear, and but little to hope. In these circumstances I had no consolation for my sorrow: for I have not, like others, been so intent upon amassing riches, as to be able to lose my sense of the public calamity in the contemplation of my private prosperity. I could wish to be numbered amongst those