The second object which Gregory VII. had in view, was the preservation of Christian civilisation from the Mussulman yoke, by carrying the war into the East; and the Crusades realised this great design. We may now sketch in a few lines the part played by the popes during the last centuries of the Middle Ages.
Fig. 213.—Gregory IX. (1227–1241) handing the Decretals, which he had embodied in one work, to an advocate of the Consistory.—Fresco by Raphael (1515), in the Stanzas at the Vatican.
The great Roman families, anxious to obtain power, elected an anti-pope. By means of these agitations, Arnold of Brescia, under the pretext of creating a Roman republic, established a kind of dictatorship in the city. The emperor overthrew this usurper, who was burnt alive; but he set up anti-popes, and Alexander III., when besieged in Rome, declared himself the ally of the Lombard cities, the chief of the Guelfs against the Ghibelins, and the champion of Italian liberty. Under his pontificate, it was ordained (at the third Council of the Lateran, in 1179, that for the future, the cardinals alone should take part in the election for the pontiff, without the intervention of the clergy or the people. The Crusades occupied men’s minds during the last twenty years of the twelfth century. The thirteenth began with one of the most celebrated of the popes, Innocent III., who, following in the footsteps of Gregory VII., made emperors and kings to tremble by his threats of excommunication, and preached the crusade against the infidels and the Albigenses. His two successors, Honorius III. and Gregory IX., imitated his zeal and resolution. Gregory IX., amidst the multifarious cares of his holy office, found time to draw up a new collection of his own letters and constitutions, and those of his predecessors. He confided this heavy task, which was carried out with remarkable skill and order, to Raymundus de Pennaforti, his chaplain. This collection, which was received with respectful gratitude, has since been called the Decretals (Fig. 213).
After these three eminent popes, sedition broke out afresh inside Rome. The Holy See was vacant for a long period more than once during the latter part of this century, as the cardinals could not agree in their choice; and in consequence it was decided that the election should take place in conclave. After a numerous series of popes, who occupied the chair for only a short time, Boniface VIII. (Fig. 218) endeavoured to march in the footsteps of Gregory VII. and Innocent III. Philippe le Bel, anxious to destroy all traces of the feudal régime in order to obtain absolute power, would not submit to the reprimands and menaces of the pope, and it is well known how he caused the pontiff to be seized at Anagni by Nogaret. The aged pontiff, whom nothing could move, was set free by the people, who expelled Nogaret and his soldiers; but the rough treatment he had received hastened his death.
Philippe le Bel, who saw how seriously he had compromised himself, profited by the dissensions which arose between the Guelfs and the Ghibelins at the conclave to ensure the election of a Frenchman, Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, who took the title of Clement V., and immediately came to reside in France. The prestige of the papacy was diminished by this selection of Avignon as a place of residence, for the Italians came to look upon themselves as being enfeoffed to the French kingdom. Rome and the Pontifical States fell into a condition of complete anarchy, and a man of enterprise, Rienzi, endeavoured to re-establish the ancient republic. The cardinals, nearly all of whom were Frenchmen, always nominated popes of their own nationality. One of them—Gregory XI.—who had come to Rome for a short visit, died there in 1377. The people then induced the cardinals by threats to select a pope of Italian birth, and their choice fell upon the Archbishop of Bari, who took the title of Urban VI. The cardinals who were at Avignon when the election took place, at first recognised it as valid, but when he manifested his intention of remaining at Rome, they declared it to be irregular, and chose Cardinal Robert of Geneva, formerly bishop of Cambrai, who took the title of Clement VII., and the Christian world was divided between the two popes. Each had several successors, and this long schism proved the termination of the Christian republic which had been the work of the Middle Ages. At last, the General Council of Constance, convoked by one of the anti-popes, but confirmed by Gregory XII., received that pontiff’s resignation, and Cardinal Otho Colonna, a man of great piety and zeal, elected by a unanimous vote, assumed the government of the Church under the name of Martin V. He shortly afterwards repaired to Rome, where he was received with enthusiasm; and his presence brought back the prosperity and prestige of the Holy City. Notwithstanding, one of the anti-popes, with a following of two cardinals, still had a successor who was recognised by the kingdoms of Aragon, Valentia, and Sicily; but he finally complied with the wishes of Christendom, and his abdication in 1429 put an end to the schism which had lasted for half a century.
Fig. 214.—Solemn entry of the Emperor Charles V. and Pope Clement VII. into Bologna, November 5th, 1529. The persons at the head of the cortége are the great dignitaries of the Church, the first bearing the pastoral staff, the second the pontifical tiara, and the two others golden candelabra. The taper-bearers precede the Holy Sacrament. (See next engraving.)
Remainder of Fig. 214.)—The Holy Sacrament, borne upon the back of a white horse, is escorted by the patricians and doctors of Bologna. The Pope’s sacristan marches alone in the rear of the dais, and this part of the cortége is brought up by a group of princes, dukes, and counts.—Drawn and engraved on brass by John Hogenberg: in the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.