[71]. Statuta synodali ecclesiæ Bitteris, 1332. Thæforus Anecd.
[72]. Alioquin, canonicum privatum distributionibus illius diei esse volumus, & Beneficiatum puniri pæna duodecimorum denariorum pro tali usu temerario statuimus & mandamus Fabricæ illius ecclesiæ applicandorum. Thæsorus Anecdotorum.
The beards of the laity, it seems, were spared in this general proscription. The time, no doubt, when the priests could take the liberty of cutting off the beards of both people and kings with impunity, began to decline.
The monks had, a long time before, settled rules for the government of their chins: in 807, at the assembly of Aix-la-chapelle, it was ordered, that the monks should not shave themselves at all during lent, and that the rest of the year, they should do it once a fortnight. We see in the statutes and customs of different monasteries, that the monks were shaved, except the lay-brothers, who were called Fratres barbati, bearded brothers.[[73]] We find in old manuscripts the very prayers that were recited when a monk in full orders had his beard shorn. Humility was the motive of this custom, which was practised with much ceremony. At the taking of the habit, the beard of the candidate was blessed with great ceremony; and when he was made a monk, he dedicated his beard to God. This ceremony was practised likewise by the Heathens. See page 16 of this work.
[73]. Marbillon’s Annales Benedictines, lib. 71.
This new storm was succeeded by another calm, and long beards seemed likely to have a fine time; and truly they appeared again in all their ancient majesty. Julius II. gave the signal, and was followed by all Europe. This pope, by his venerable look, recalled the image of the patriarchs of old. The cardinals, and all the Church, were eager to follow an example so commendable. The age was more enlightened: the ancient disputes were either forgotten, or only thought of to lament the injustice of their cause. The orthodoxy of beards was acknowledged, and truth shined in all its brightness; but gloomy envy at length came to obscure its splendour: some exclaimed that it was a piece of pride, others a scandal; and quarrels that should have been buried for ever in oblivion were again renewed. Jealousy, under a holy pretext, raised itself with more daringness than ever, and occasioned violent animosities. What writings appeared! what outrages and phrenzy!... Bella horrida, bella ... cerno.... But let us not entrench upon such precious matters: let us rather endeavour, with the same impartiality, to discover the origin of so many disturbances.
Bessarion, the famous Greek, first, archbishop of Nice, afterwards, cardinal, and, at length, patriarch of Constantinople, came into Italy with the archbishop of Russia, to endeavour to bring about an union between the Greek and Latin churches. Bessarion made no difficulty of subscribing to the orthodoxy of the latter; and this was what got him a cardinal’s hat: his long beard, and that of his companion, accustomed the court of Rome to this mode. Bessarion was one of the stoutest men of his time; every one longed to look like this illustrious man, were it only in the fleece on his chin; and his fine Grecian beard soon produced a number of Latin ones.[[74]]
[74]. This cardinal’s beard was not so well received in France. This great man being sent thither as legate, visited, through policy, the duke of Burgundy before he saw king Lewis XI. This monarch was so offended at the preference given his enemy, that, at the first audience he gave this legate, he roughly seized him by his long beard, and gave him a great deal of abuse. The patriarch took this affront so near to heart, that he did not survive it above a year.
Some years after, Julius II. was elected pope; his youth, which suited but badly with the majesty of the papacy, determined him to let his beard grow out, in order to inspire more respect: he was the first pope of his time who gave the Church such a holy and rational example. Clement VII. one of his successors, did not imitate him at first; but having been detained five months in prison by the troops of Charles of Bourbon, the general of the emperor’s army, he came out as if regenerated and triumphant, with his face enobled with a large, bushy beard, which he would never part with. This custom was eagerly adopted by those clergy, who, by their revenues or exploits, held a distinguished rank in the Church or State. It was then that the inferior clergy, and especially the chapters, strongly opposed this pretended indecorum. We read, that, in the reign of Lewis XII. one Anthony de Langheac, canon of the church of Paris, abbot and canon of that of Clermont, counsellor-clerk to the parliament, and ambassador to the republic of Venice, could not enter the choir of the church of Our Lady at Paris with his long beard. On account of the commission with which the king had honoured him, he at length obtained permission to hear matins, which were then said at midnight.[[75]] In a little time, they were not so scrupulous, as all the clergy let out their beards, even the lowest among them, in order to give themselves a pontifical appearance;[[76]] when, in France, Francis I. (who might justly boast of having worn the first beard of his kingdom,) for œconomical reasons, armed the enemies of clerical beards with destructive weapons, and was the occasion of the war which we are going to speak of.
[75]. These particulars are inserted in the register of the capitular resolutions of the year 1505, which may be seen in the archives of the metropolitical church of Paris.