The Poet means, that by the coming of Avitus the Hunns yielded more easily to the Goths. This was written by Sidonius in the beginning of the reign of Avitus: and his reign began in the end of the year 455, and lasted not one full year.

Jornandes tells us: Duodecimo anno regni Valiæ, quando & Hunni post pene quinquaginta annos invasa Pannonia, à Romanis & Gothis expulsi sunt. And Marcellinus: Hierio & Ardaburio Coss. Pannoniæ, quæ per quinquaginta annos ab Hunnis retinebantur, à Romanis receptæ sunt: whence it should seem that the Hunns invaded and held Pannonia from the year 378 or 379 to the year 427, and then were driven out of it. But this is a plain mistake: for it is certain that the Emperor Theodosius left the Empire entire; and we have shewed out of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet possession of Pannonia in the year 432. The Visigoths in those days had nothing to do with Pannonia, and the Ostrogoths continued subject to the Hunns till the death of Attila, A.C. 454; and Valia King of the Visigoths did not reign twelve years. He began his reign in the end of the year 415, reigned three years, and was slain A.C. 419, as Idacius, Isidorus, and the Spanish manuscript Chronicles seen by Grotius testify. And Olympiodorus, who carries his history only to the year 425, sets down therein the death of Valia King of the Visigoths, and conjoins it with that of Constantius which happened A.C. 420. Wherefore the Valia of Jornandes, who reigned at the least twelve years, is some other King. And I suspect that this name hath been put by mistake for Valamir King of the Ostrogoths: for the action recorded was of the Romans and Ostrogoths driving the Hunns out of Pannonia after the death of Attila; and it is not likely that the historian would refer the history of the Ostrogoths to the years of the Visigothic Kings. This action happened in the end of the year 455, which I take to be the twelfth year of Valamir in Pannonia, and which was almost fifty years after the year 406, in which the Hunns succeeded the Vandals and Alans in Pannonia. Upon the ceasing of the line of Hunnimund the son of Hermaneric, the Ostrogoths lived without Kings of their own nation about forty years together, being subject to the Hunns. And when Alaric began to make war upon the Romans, which was in the year 444, he made Valamir, with his brothers Theodomir and Videmir the grandsons of Vinethar, captains or kings of these Ostrogoths under him. In the twelfth year of Valamir's reign dated from thence, the Hunns were driven out of Pannonia.

Yet the Hunns were not so ejected, but that they had further contests with the Romans, till the head of Denfix the son of Attila, was carried to Constantinople, A.C. 469, in the Consulship of Zeno and Marcian, as Marcellinus relates. Nor were they yet totally ejected the Empire: for besides their reliques in Pannonia, Sigonius tells us, that when the Emperors Marcian and Valentinian granted Pannonia to the Goths, which was in the year 454, they granted part of Illyricum to some of the Hunns and Sarmatians. And in the year 526, when the Lombards removing into Pannonia made war there with the Gepides, the Avares, a part of the Hunns, who had taken the name of Avares from one of their Kings, assisted the Lombards in that war; and the Lombards afterwards, when they went into Italy, left their seats in Pannonia to the Avares in recompence of their friendship. From that time the Hunns grew again very powerful; their Kings, whom they called Chagan, troubling the Empire much in the reigns of the Emperors Mauritius, Phocas, and Heraclius: and this is the original of the present kingdom of Hungary, which from these Avares and other Hunns mixed together, took the name of Hun-Avaria, and by contraction Hungary.

9. The Lombards, before they came over the Danube, were commanded by two captains, Ibor and Ayon: after whose death they had Kings, Agilmund, Lamisso, Lechu, Hildehoc, Gudehoc, Classo, Tato, Wacho, Walter, Audoin, Alboin, Cleophis, &c. Agilmund was the son of Ayon, who became their King, according to Prosper, in the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius A.C. 389, reigned thirty three years, according to Paulus Warnefridus, and was slain in battle by the Bulgarians. Prosper places his death in the Consulship of Marinianus and Asclepiodorus, A.C. 413. Lamisso routed the Bulgarians, and reigned three years, and Lechu almost forty. Gudehoc was contemporary to Odoacer King of the Heruli in Italy, and led his people from Pannonia into Rugia, a country on the north side of Noricum next beyond the Danube; from whence Odoacer then carried his people into Italy. Tato overthrew the kingdom of the Heruli beyond the Danube. Wacho conquered the Suevians, a kingdom then bounded on the east by Bavaria, on the west by France, and on the south by the Burgundians. Audoin returned into Pannonia A.C. 526, and there overcame the Gepides. Alboin A.C. 551 overthrew the kingdom of the Gepides, and slew their King Chunnimund: A.C. 563 he assisted the Greek Emperor against Totila King of the Ostrogoths in Italy; and A.C. 568 led his people out of Pannonia into Lombardy, where they reigned till the year 774.

According to Paulus Diaconus, the Lombards with many other Gothic nations came into the Empire from beyond the Danube in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, that is, between the years 395 and 408. But they might come in a little earlier: for we are told that the Lombards, under their captains Ibor and Ayon, beat the Vandals in battle; and Prosper placeth this victory in the Consulship of Ausonius and Olybrius, that is, A.C. 379. Before this war the Vandals had remained quiet forty years in the seats granted them in Pannonia by Constantine the great. And therefore if these were the same Vandals, this war must have been in Pannonia; and might be occasioned by the coming of the Lombards over the Danube into Pannonia, a year or two before the battle; and so have put an end to that quiet which had lasted forty years. After Gratian and Theodosius had quieted the Barbarians, they might either retire over the Danube, or continue quiet under the Romans till the death of Theodosius; and then either invade the Empire anew, or throw off all subjection to it. By their wars, first with the Vandals, and then with the Bulgarians, a Scythian nation so called from the river Volga whence they came; it appears that even in those days they were a kingdom not contemptible.

10. These nine kingdoms being rent away, we are next to consider the residue of the Western Empire. While this Empire continued entire, it was the Beast itself: but the residue thereof is only a part of it. Now if this part be considered as a horn, the reign of this horn may be dated from the translation of the imperial seat from Rome to Ravenna, which was in October A.C. 408. For then the Emperor Honorius, fearing that Alaric would besiege him in Rome, if he staid there, retired to Millain, and thence to Ravenna: and the ensuing siege and sacking of Rome confirmed his residence there, so that he and his successors ever after made it their home. Accordingly Macchiavel in his Florentine history writes, that Valentinian having left Rome, translated the seat of the Empire to Ravenna.

Rhætia belonged to the Western Emperors, so long as that Empire stood; and then it descended, with Italy and the Roman Senate, to Odoacer King of the Heruli in Italy, and after him to Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths and his successors, by the grant of the Greek Emperors. Upon the death of Valentinian the second, the Alemans and Suevians invaded Rhætia A.C. 455. But I do not find they erected any settled kingdom there: for in the year 457, while they were yet depopulating Rhætia, they were attacked and beaten by Burto Master of the horse to the Emperor Majoranus; and I hear nothing more of their invading Rhætia. Clodovæus King of France, in or about the year 496, conquered a kingdom of the Alemans, and slew their last King Ermeric. But this kingdom was seated in Germany, and only bordered upon Rhætia: for its people fled from Clodovæus into the neighbouring kingdom of the Ostrogoths under Theoderic, who received them as friends, and wrote a friendly letter to Clodovæus in their behalf: and by this means they became inhabitants of Rhætia, as subjects under the dominion of the Ostrogoths.

When the Greek Emperor conquered the Ostrogoths, he succeeded them in the kingdom of Ravenna, not only by right of conquest but also by right of inheritance, the Roman Senate still going along with this kingdom. Therefore we may reckon that this kingdom continued in the Exarchate of Ravenna and Senate of Rome: for the remainder of the Western Empire went along with the Senate of Rome, by reason of the right which this Senate still retained, and at length exerted, of chusing a new Western Emperor.

I have now enumerated the ten kingdoms, into which the Western Empire became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the time of Rome's being besieged and taken by the Goths. Some of these kingdoms at length fell, and new ones arose: but whatever was their number afterwards, they are still called the Ten Kings from their first number.

Notes to Chap. VI.

CHAP. VII.

Of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast.

^[1]Now Daniel, considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another horn, before whom there were three of the first horns pluckt up by the roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things,—and ^[2] his look was more stout than his fellows,—and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them: and one who stood by, and made Daniel know the interpretation of these things, told him, that ^[3] the ten horns were ten kings that should arise, and another should arise after them, and be diverse from the first, and he should subdue three kings, ^[4] and speak great words against the most High, and wear out the saints, and think to change times and laws: and that they should be given into his hands until a time and times and half a time. Kings are put for kingdoms, as above; and therefore the little horn is a little kingdom. It was a horn of the fourth Beast, and rooted up three of his first horns; and therefore we are to look for it among the nations of the Latin Empire, after the rise of the ten horns. But it was a kingdom of a different kind from the other ten kingdoms, having a life or soul peculiar to itself, with eyes and a mouth. By its eyes it was a Seer; and by its mouth speaking great things and changing times and laws, it was a Prophet as well as a King. And such a Seer, a Prophet and a King, is the Church of Rome.

A Seer, Επισκοπος, is a Bishop in the literal sense of the word; and this Church claims the universal Bishoprick.

With his mouth he gives laws to kings and nations as an Oracle; and pretends to Infallibility, and that his dictates are binding to the whole world; which is to be a Prophet in the highest degree.

In the eighth century, by rooting up and subduing the Exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the Senate and Dukedom of Rome, he acquired Peter's Patrimony out of their dominions; and thereby rose up as a temporal Prince or King, or horn of the fourth Beast.

In a small book printed at Paris A.C. 1689, entitled, An historical dissertation upon some coins of Charles the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors stamped at Rome, it is recorded, that in the days of Pope Leo X, there was remaining in the Vatican, and till those days exposed to public view, an inscription in honour of Pipin the father of Charles the great, in these words: Pipinum pium, primum fuisse qui amplificandæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate, & plurimis aliis oblatis; "That Pipin the pious was the first who opened a way to the grandeur of the Church of Rome, conferring upon her the Exarchate of Ravenna and many other oblations." In and before the reign of the Emperors Gratian and Theodosius, the Bishop of Rome lived splendidly; but this was by the oblations of the Roman Ladies, as Ammianus describes. After those reigns Italy was invaded by foreign nations, and did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the kingdom of Lombardy. It was certainly by the victory of the see of Rome over the Greek Emperor, the King of Lombardy, and the Senate of Rome, that she acquired Peter's Patrimony, and rose up to her greatness. The donation of Constantine the Great is a fiction, and so is the donation of the Alpes Cottiæ to the Pope by Aripert King of the Lombards: for the Alpes Cottiæ were a part of the Exarchate, and in the days of Aripert belonged to the Greek Emperor.

The invocation of the dead, and veneration of their images, being gradually introduced in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the Greek Emperor Philippicus declared against the latter, A.C. 711 or 712. And ^[5] the Emperor Leo Isaurus, to put a stop to it, called a meeting of Counsellors and Bishops in his Palace, A.C. 726; and by their advice put out an Edict against that worship, and wrote to Pope Gregory II. that a general Council might be called. But the Pope thereupon called a Council at Rome, confirmed the worship of Images, excommunicated the Greek Emperor, absolved the people from their allegiance, and forbad them to pay tribute, or otherwise be obedient to him. Then the people of Rome, Campania, Ravenna and Pentapolis, with the cities under them, revolted and laid violent hands upon their magistrates, killing the Exarch Paul at Ravenna, and laying aside Peter Duke of Rome who was become blind: and when Exhileratus Duke of Campania incited the people against the Pope, the Romans invaded Campania, and slew him with his son Hadrian. Then a new Exarch, Eutychius, coming to Naples, sent some secretly to take away the lives of the Pope and the Nobles of Rome: but the plot being discovered, the Romans revolted absolutely from the Greek Emperor, and took an oath to preserve the life of the Pope, to defend his state, and be obedient to his authority in all things. Thus Rome with its Duchy, including part of Tuscany and part of Campania, revolted in the year 726, and became a free state under the government of the Senate of this city. The authority of the Senate in civil affairs was henceforward absolute, the authority of the Pope extending hitherto no farther than to the affairs of the Church only.

At that time ^[6] the Lombards also being zealous for the worship of images, and pretending to favour the cause of the Pope, invaded the cities of the Exarchate: and at length, viz. A.C. 752, took Ravenna, and put an end to the Exarchate. And this was the first of the three kingdoms which fell before the little horn.

In the year 751 ^[7] Pope Zechary deposed Childeric, a slothful and useless King of France, and the last of the race of Merovæus; and absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance, gave the kingdom to Pipin the major of the Palace; and thereby made a new and potent friend. His successor ^[8] Pope Stephen III, knowing better how to deal with the Greek Emperor than with the Lombards, went the next year to the King of the Lombards, to persuade him to return the Exarchate to the Emperor. But this not succeeding, he went into France, and persuaded Pipin to take the Exarchate and Pentapolis from the Lombards, and give it to St. Peter. Accordingly Pipin A.C. 754 came with an army into Italy, and made Aistulphus King of the Lombards promise the surrender: but the next year Aistulphus, on the contrary, to revenge himself on the Pope, besieged the city of Rome. Whereupon the Pope sent letters to Pipin, wherein he told him that if he came not speedily against the Lombards, pro data sibi potentia, alienandum fore à regno Dei & vita æterna, he should be excommunicated. Pipin therefore, fearing a revolt of his subjects, and being indebted to the Church of Rome, came speedily with an army into Italy, raised the siege, besieged the Lombards in Pavia, and forced them to surrender the Exarchate and region of Pentapolis to the Pope for a perpetual possession. Thus the Pope became Lord of Ravenna, and the Exarchate, some few cities excepted; and the keys were sent to Rome, and laid upon the confession of St. Peter, that is, upon his tomb at the high Altar, in signum veri perpetuique dominii, sed pietate Regis gratuita, as the inscription of a coin of Pipin hath it. This was in the year of Christ 755. And henceforward the Popes being temporal Princes, left off in their Epistles and Bulls to note the years of the Greek Emperors, as they had hitherto done.

After this ^[9] the Lombards invading the Pope's countries, Pope Adrian sent to Charles the great, the son and successor of Pipin, to come to his assistance. Accordingly Charles entered Italy with an army, invaded the Lombards, overthrew their kingdom, became master of their countries, and restored to the Pope, not only what they had taken from him, but also the rest of the Exarchate which they had promised Pipin to surrender to him, but had hitherto detained; and also gave him some cities of the Lombards, and was in return himself made Patricius by the Romans, and had the authority of confirming the elections of the Popes conferred upon him. These things were done in the years 773 and 774. This kingdom of the Lombards was the second kingdom which fell before the little horn. But Rome, which was to be the seat of his kingdom, was not yet his own.

In the year 796, ^[10] Leo III being made Pope, notified his election to Charles the great by his Legates, sending to him for a present, the golden keys of the Confession of Peter, and the Banner of the city of Rome: the first as an acknowledgment of the Pope's holding the cities of the Exarchate and Lombardy by the grant of Charles; the other as a signification that Charles should come and subdue the Senate and people of Rome, as he had done the Exarchate and the kingdom of the Lombards. For the Pope at the same time desired Charles to send some of his Princes to Rome, who might subject the Roman people to him, and bind them by oath in fide & subjectione, in fealty and subjection, as his words are recited by Sigonius. An anonymous Poet, publish'd by Boeclerus at Strasburg, expresseth it thus:

Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope and the city: and the Romans about two or three years after, by assistance of some of the Clergy, raised such tumults against him, as gave occasion to a new state of things in all the West. For two of the Clergy accused him of crimes, and the Romans with an armed force, seized him, stript him of his sacerdotal habit, and imprisoned him in a monastery. But by assistance of his friends he made his escape, and fled into Germany to Charles the great, to whom he complained of the Romans for acting against him out of a design to throw off all authority of the Church, and to recover their antient freedom. In his absence his accusers with their forces ravaged the possessions of the Church, and sent the accusations to Charles; who before the end of the year sent the Pope back to Rome with a large retinue. The Nobles and Bishops of France who accompanied him, examined the chief of his accusers at Rome, and sent them into France in custody. This was in the year 799. The next year Charles himself went to Rome, and upon a day appointed presided in a Council of Italian and French Bishops to hear both parties. But when the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared ^[11] that he who was the supreme judge of all men, was above being judged by any other than himself: whereupon he made a solemn declaration of his innocence before all the people, and by doing so was looked upon as acquitted.

Soon after, upon Christmas-day, the people of Rome, who had hitherto elected their Bishop, and reckoned that they and their Senate inherited the rights of the antient Senate and people of Rome, voted Charles their Emperor, and subjected themselves to him in such manner as the old Roman Empire and their Senate were subjected to the old Roman Emperors. The Pope crowned him, and anointed him with holy oil, and worshipped him on his knees after the manner of adoring the old Roman Emperors; as the aforesaid Poet thus relates:

The Emperor, on the other hand, took the following oath to the Pope: In nomine Christi spondeo atque polliceor, Ego Carolus Imperator coram Deo & beato Petro Apostolo, me protectorem ac defensorem fore hujus sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ in omnibus utilitatibus, quatenùs divino fultus fuero adjutorio, prout sciero poteroque. The Emperor was also made Consul of Rome, and his son Pipin crowned King of Italy: and henceforward the Emperor stiled himself: Carolus serenissimus, Augustus, à Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus, Romæ gubernans imperium, or Imperator Romanorum; and was prayed for in the Churches of Rome. His image was henceforward put upon the coins of Rome: while the enemies of the Pope, to the number of three hundred Romans and two or three of the Clergy, were sentenced to death. The three hundred Romans were beheaded in one day in the Lateran fields: but the Clergymen at the intercession of the Pope were pardoned, and banished into France. And thus the title of Roman Emperor, which had hitherto been in the Greek Emperors, was by this act transferred in the West to the Kings of France.

After these things ^[12] Charles gave the City and Duchy of Rome to the Pope, subordinately to himself as Emperor of the Romans; spent the winter in ordering the affairs of Rome, and those of the Apostolic see, and of all Italy, both civil and ecclesiastical, and in making new laws for them; and returned the next summer into France: leaving the city under its Senate, and both under the Pope and himself. But hearing that his new laws were not observed by the judges in dictating the law, nor by the people in hearing it; and that the great men took servants from free men, and from the Churches and Monasteries, to labour in their vineyards, fields, pastures and houses, and continued to exact cattle and wine of them, and to oppress those that served the Churches: he wrote to his son Pipin to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, and see his laws executed.

Now the Senate and people and principality of Rome I take to be the third King the little horn overcame, and even the chief of the three. For this people elected the Pope and the Emperor; and now, by electing the Emperor and making him Consul, was acknowledged to retain the authority of the old Roman Senate and people. This city was the Metropolis of the old Roman Empire, represented in Daniel by the fourth Beast; and by subduing the Senate and people and Duchy, it became the Metropolis of the little horn of that Beast, and completed Peter's Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. Besides, this victory was attended with greater consequences than those over the other two Kings. For it set up the Western Empire, which continues to this day. It set up the Pope above the judicature of the Roman Senate, and above that of a Council of Italian and French Bishops, and even above all human judicature; and gave him the supremacy over the Western Churches and their Councils in a high degree. It gave him a look more stout than his fellows; so that when this new religion began to be established in the minds of men, he grappled not only with Kings, but even with the Western Emperor himself. It is observable also, that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honour superior to that of Kings and Emperors, began about this time. There are some instances of it in the ninth century: Platina tells us, that the feet of Pope Leo IV were kissed, according to antient custom, by all who came to him: and some say that Leo III began this custom, pretending that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. The Popes began also about this time to canonize saints, and to grant indulgences and pardons: and some represent that Leo III was the first author of all these things. It is further observable, that Charles the great, between the years 775 and 796, conquered all Germany from the Rhine and Danube northward to the Baltic sea, and eastward to the river Teis; extending his conquests also into Spain as far as the river Ebro: and by these conquests he laid the foundation of the new Empire; and at the same time propagated the Roman Catholic religion into all his conquests, obliging the Saxons and Hunns who were heathens, to receive the Roman faith, and distributing his northern conquests into Bishopricks, granting tithes to the Clergy and Peter-pence to the Pope: by all which the Church of Rome was highly enlarged, enriched, exalted, and established.

In the forementioned dissertation upon some coins of Charles the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors, stamped at Rome, there is a draught of a piece of Mosaic work which Pope Leo III. caused to be made in his Palace near the Church of John Lateran, in memory of his sending the standard or banner of the city of Rome curiously wrought, to Charles the great; and which still remained there at the publishing of the said book. In the Mosaic work there appeared Peter with three keys in his lap, reaching the Pallium to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to Charles the great with his left. By the Pope was this inscription, SCISSIMUS D.N. LEO PP; by the King this, D.N. CARVLO REGI; and under the feet of Peter this, BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET BICTORIAM CARVLO REGI DONA. This Monument gives the title of King to Charles, and therefore was erected before he was Emperor. It was erected when Peter was reaching the Pallium to the Pope, and the Pope was sending the banner of the city to Charles, that is, A.C. 796. The words above, Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi, relate to the message; and the words below, Beate Petre, dona vitam Leoni Papæ & victoriam Carolo regi dona, are a prayer that in this undertaking God would preserve the life of the Pope, and give victory to the King over the Romans. The three keys in the lap of Peter signify the keys of the three parts of his Patrimony, that of Rome with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed and was conquering, those of Ravenna with the Exarchate, and of the territories taken from the Lombards; both which he had newly conquered. These were the three dominions, whose keys were in the lap of St. Peter, and whose Crowns are now worn by the Pope, and by the conquest of which he became the little horn of the fourth Beast. By Peter's giving the Pallium to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to the King with his left, and by naming the Pope before the King in the inscription, may be understood that the Pope was then reckoned superior in dignity to the Kings of the earth.

After the death of Charles the great, his son and successor Ludovicus Pius, at the request of the Pope, ^[13] confirmed the donations of his grandfather and father to the see of Rome. And in the confirmation he names first Rome with its Duchy extending into Tuscany and Campania; then the Exarchate of Ravenna, with Pentapolis; and in the third place, the territories taken from the Lombards. These are his three conquests, and he was to hold them of the Emperor for the use of the Church sub integritate, entirely, without the Emperor's medling therewith, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope therein, unless called thereto in certain cases. This ratification the Emperor Ludovicus made under an oath: and as the King of the Ostrogoths, for acknowledging that he held his kingdom of Italy of the Greek Emperor, stamped the effigies of the Emperor on one side of his coins and his own on the reverse; so the Pope made the like acknowledgment to the Western Emperor. For the Pope began now to coin money, and the coins of Rome are henceforward found with the heads of the Emperors, Charles, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors, on the one side, and the Pope's inscription on the reverse, for many years.

Notes to Chap. VII.

CHAP. VIII.

Of the power of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times and laws.

In the reign of the Greek Emperor Justinian, and again in the reign of Phocas, the Bishop of Rome obtained some dominion over the Greek Churches, but of no long continuance. His standing dominion was only over the nations of the Western Empire, represented by Daniel's fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian and Valentinian.—^[1] Volumus ut quicunque judicio Damasi, quod ille cum Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum, vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab illustribus viris Præfectis Prætorio Galliæ atque Italiæ, authoritate adhibitâ, ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive à Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit, sine delatione contendat.——Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur. This Edict wanting the name of both Valens and Theodosius in the Title, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or the beginning of 379. It was directed to the Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ, and therefore was general. For the Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ governed Italy, Illyricum occidentale and Africa; and the Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ governed Gallia, Spain, and Britain.

The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws to the Western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius Bishop of Tarraco, the head city of a province in Spain, writing to Pope Damasus for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, and the Letter not arriving at Rome till after the death of Damasus, A.C. 384; his successor Siricius answered the same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: Cum hoc fieri—missa ad Provincias à venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant. Of another: Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritate, dejectos. Of another: Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antistites, quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam. And the Epistle he concludes thus: Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quæ digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia constituta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua sunt diœcesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Bœticos, Lusitanos atque ^[2] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur; quatenus & quæ à nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius in the reign of Jovian or Valentinian I. sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be rebaptized: and this he did in favour of the Council of Alexandria, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a Roman Council, that Tithes and Tenths should be paid upon pain of an Anathema; and that Glory be to the Father, &c. should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms. But the first decretal Epistle now extant is this of Siricius to Himerius; by which the Pope made Himerius his Vicar over all Spain for promulging his Decrees, and seeing them observed. The Bishop of Sevill was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for Simplicius wrote thus to Zeno Bishop of that place: Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas. And Pope Hormisda ^[3] made the Bishop of Sevill his Vicar over Bœtica and Lusitania, and the Bishop of Tarraco his Vicar over all the rest of Spain, as appears by his Epistles to them.

Pope Innocent the first, in his decretal Epistle to Victricius Bishop of Rouen in France, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of Gratian, made this Decree: Si quæ autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat, ^[4] Romanæ Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit; & ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad Sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referantur. By these Letters it seems to me that Gallia was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time, and that the Bishop of Rouen was then his Vicar or one of them: for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of Rome, according to custom. But the Bishop of Arles soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all Gallia: for Pope Zosimus, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon Patroclus the Bishop of Arles this authority over all Gallia, by the following Decree.

Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem Provincias constitutis.

Placuit Apostolicæ Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel aliò terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat per quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissà supradicti Formatâ sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus. And that the Bishop of Arles was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all France, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocess of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo I. Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est, say they, ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret. And Pope Pelagius I. A.C. 556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus Bishop of Arles: Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per universam Galliam, sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus, vices injungimus.

By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only Spain and Gallia, but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope. Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica the Metropolis of Oriental Illyricum, his Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, Acholius being summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome. Pope Siricius the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius the successor of Acholius. And the following Popes gave Rufus the successor of Anysius, a power of calling Provincial Councils: for in the Collections of Holstenius there is an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope Boniface II. in which were produced Letters of Damasus, Syricius, Innocent I. Boniface I. and Cælestine Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius, Anysius and Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica: in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in Illyricum, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro'out that Province. And Pope Siricius saith in his Epistle to Anysius: Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit. And a little after: Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ & moribus probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare. And Pope Innocent I. saith in his Epistle to Anysius: Cui [Anysio] etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quæ in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ, quæ plena justitiæ est, traderent cognoscenda. And in his Epistle to Rufus the successor of Anysius: Ita longis intervallis disterminatis à me ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris, Epiri novæ, & Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Mœsiæ, Dardaniæ, & Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ & virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc statuentes, sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt. And Boniface I. in his decretal Epistle to Rufus and the rest of the Bishops in Illyricum: Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ cuncta committimus. And Pope Cælestine, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops thro'out Illyricum, saith: Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis [Rufo] esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam illi Provinciam; colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non præsumat. And in the cause of Perigenes, in the title of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: Rufo & cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, & Daciam constitutis. And Pope Xistus in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: Illyricanæ omnes Ecclesiæ, ut à decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid à singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit. And Pope Leo I. in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica: Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committitur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos Metropolitanos à te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto judicio.

Occidental Illyricum comprehended Pannonia prima and secunda, Savia, Dalmatia, Noricum mediterraneum, and Noricum ripense; and its Metropolis was Sirmium, till Attila destroyed this city. Afterwards Laureacum became the Metropolis of Noricum and both Pannonias, and Salona the Metropolis of Dalmatia. Now ^[5] the Bishops of Laureacum and Salona received the Pallium from the Pope: and Zosimus, in his decretal Epistle to Hesychius Bishop of Salona, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own, as to those of the neighbouring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of Rome seems to have begun in Anemius, who was ordained Bishop of Sirmium by Ambrose Bishop of Millain, and who in the Council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei æternum, & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico. The next year Anemius and Ambrose, with Valerian Bishop of Aquileia, Acholias Bishop of Thessalonica, and many others, went to the Council of Rome, which met for overruling the Greek Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic See, as was attempted before in the Council of Sardica.

Aquileia was the second city of the Western Empire, and by some called the second Rome. It was the Metropolis of Istria, Forum Julium, and Venetia; and its subjection to the See of Rome is manifest by the decretal Epistle of Leo I. directed to Nicetas Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his à nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ Sedis acciperes, quæ quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by Nicetas, and concludes thus: Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1-2 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos. A.C. 458. Gregory the great A.C. 591, ^[6] cited Severus Bishop of Aquileia to appear before him in judgment in a Council at Rome.

The Bishops of Aquileia and Millain created one another, and therefore were of equal authority, and alike subject to the See of Rome. Pope Pelagius about the year 557, testified this in the following words: ^[7] Mos antiquus fuit, saith he, ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi se invicem Mediolanensis & Aquileiensis ordinare Episcopos debuissent. These words imply that the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the See of Rome. When Laurentius Bishop of Millain had excommunicated Magnus, one of his Presbyters, and was dead, ^[8] Gregory the great absolved Magnus, and sent the Pallium to the new elected Bishop Constantius; whom the next year ^[9] he reprehended of partiality in judging Fortunatus, and commanded him to send Fortunatus to Rome to be judged there: four years after ^[10] he appointed the Bishops of Millain and Ravenna to hear the cause of one Maximus; and two years after, viz. A.C. 601, when Constantius was dead, and the people of Millain had elected Deusdedit his successor, and the Lombards had elected another, ^[11] Gregory wrote to the Notary, Clergy, and People of Millain, that by the authority of his Letters Deusdedit should be ordained, and that he whom the Lombards had ordained was an unworthy successor of Ambrose: whence I gather, that the Church of Millain had continued in this state of subordination to the See of Rome ever since the days of Ambrose; for Ambrose himself acknowledged the authority of that See. Ecclesia Romana, ^[12] saith he, hanc consuetudinem non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & formam. And a little after: In omnibus cupio sequi Ecclesiam Romanam. And in his Commentary upon 1 Tim. iii. Cum totus mundus Dei sit, tamen domus ejus Ecclesia dicitur, cujus hodie rector est Damasus. In his Oration on the death of his brother Satyrus, he relates how his brother coming to a certain city of Sardinia, advocavit Episcopum loci, percontatusque est ex eo utrum cum Episcopis Catholicis hoc est cum Romana Ecclesia conveniret? And in conjunction with the Synod of Aquileia A.C. 381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor Gratian, he saith: Totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandæ communionis jura dimanant. The Churches therefore of Aquileia and Millain were subject to the See of Rome from the days of the Emperor Gratian. Auxentius the predecessor of Ambrose was not subject to the see of Rome, and consequently the subjection of the Church of Millain began in Ambrose. This Diocese of Millain contained Liguria with Insubria, the Alpes Cottiæ and Rhætia; and was divided from the Diocese of Aquileia by the river Addua. In the year 844, the Bishop of Millain broke off from the See of Rome, and continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus related by ^[13] Sigonius: Eodem anno Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanæ obedientiam auctoritatemque redierit.

The Bishop of Ravenna, the Metropolis of Flaminia and Æmilia, was also subject to the Pope: for Zosimus, A.C. 417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that Church, and wrote a commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch of the Roman Church: In sua, saith he, hoc est, in Ecclesia nostra Romana. When those of Ravenna, having elected a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope Sixtus, the Pope set him aside, and ^[14] ordained Peter Chrysologus in his room. Chrysologus in his Epistle to Eutyches, extant in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, wrote thus: Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanæ civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus. Pope Leo I. being consulted by Leo Bishop of Ravenna about some questions, answered him by a decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope Gregory the great, ^[15] reprehending John Bishop of Ravenna about the use of the Pallium, tells him of a Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope John, commanding that all the Privileges formerly granted to the Bishop and Church of Ravenna should be kept: to this John returned a submissive answer; and after his death Pope Gregory ordered a visitation of the Church of Ravenna, confirmed the privileges heretofore granted them, and sent his Pallium, as of antient custom, to their new Bishop Marinian. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the Church of Rome, but returned again to its obedience.

The rest of Italy, with the Islands adjacent, containing the suburbicarian regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar of Rome, viz. ¹Campania, ²Tuscia and Umbria, ³Picenum suburbicarium, ⁴Sicily, ⁵Apulia and Calabria, ⁶Brutii and Lucania, ⁷Samnium, ⁸Sardinia, ⁹Corsica, and ¹⁰Valeria, constituted the proper Province of the Bishop of Rome. For the Council of Nice in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held every spring and autumn in every Province; and according to this Canon, the Bishops of this Province met at Rome every half year. In this sense Pope Leo I. applied this Canon to Rome, in a decretal Epistle to the Bishops of Sicily, written Alippio & Ardabure Coss. A.C. 447. Quia saluberrime, saith he, à sanctis patribus constitutum est, binos in annis singulis Episcoporum debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum Octobrium Romam æterno concilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter à vobis hæc consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratiâ, faciliùs poterit provideri, ut in Ecclesiis Christi nulla scandala, nulli nascantur errores; cum coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione tractatum fuerit, ut omnia Canonum Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes inviolata permaneant. The Province of Rome therefore comprehended Sicily, with so much of Italy and the neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of Rome; but extended not into the Provinces of Ravenna, Aquileia, Millain, Arles, &c. those Provinces having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the Roman Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or Bishop of the head city of the Province, and this Bishop presided in that Council: but the Bishop of Rome did not only preside in his own Council of the Bishops of the suburbicarian regions, but also gave Orders to the Metropolitans of all the other Provinces in the Western Empire, as their universal governor; as may be further perceived by the following instances.

Pope Zosimus A.C. 417, cited Proculus Bishop of Marseilles to appear before a Council at Rome for illegitimate Ordinations; and condemned him, as he mentions in several of his Epistles. Pope Boniface I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the Clergy of Valentia against Maximus a Bishop, summoned the Bishops of all Gallia and the seven Provinces to convene in a Council against him; and saith in his Epistle, that his Predecessors had done the like. Pope Leo I. called a general Council of all the Provinces of Spain to meet in Gallæcia against the Manichees and Priscillianists, as he says in his decretal Epistle to Turribius a Spanish Bishop. And in one of his decretal Epistles to Nicetas Bishop of Aquileia, he commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against the Pelagians, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which had been already ratified by the See of Rome against this heresy. And in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica, he ordained that Bishop should hold two Provincial Councils every year, and refer the harder causes to the See of Rome: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops under him, but content himself with two Bishops out of every Province, and not detain them above fifteen days. In the same Epistle he describes the form of Church-Government then set up, to consist in a subordination of all the Churches to the See of Rome: De qua forma, saith he, Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis Provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, & rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem sumerent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri Sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura conflueret, & nihil usque à suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se quibusdam esse præpositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse præpositum; sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat; et sicut non vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat aliis importabile pondus imponere. These words sufficiently shew the monarchical form of government then set up in the Churches of the Western Empire under the Bishop of Rome, by means of the imperial Decree of Gratian, and the appeals and decretal Epistles grounded thereupon.

The same Pope Leo, having in a Council at Rome passed sentence upon Hilary Bishop of Arles, for what he had done by a Provincial Council in Gallia, took occasion from thence to procure the following Edict from the Western Emperor Valentinian III. for the more absolute establishing the authority of his See over all the Churches of the Western Empire.

Impp. Theodosius & Valentinianus AA. Aetio Viro illustri, Comiti & Magistro utriusque militiæ & Patricio.

Certum est & nobis & imperio nostro unicum esse præsidium in supernæ Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum præcipue Christiana fides & veneranda nobis religio suffragatur. Cum igitur Sedis Apostolicæ Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis coronæ & Romanæ dignitas civitatis, sacræ etiam Synodi firmavit auctoritas: ne quid præter auctoritatem Sedis istius illicitum præsumptio attemperare nitatur: tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur, si Rectorem suum agnoscat Universitas. Hæc cum hactenus inviolabiliter suerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis, sicut venerabilis viri Leonis Romani Papæ fideli relatione comperimus, contumaci ausu illicita quædam præsumenda tentavit, & ideo Transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis tumultus invasit, quod recens maximè testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiæ Romanæ urbis inconsulto Pontifice indebitas sibi ordinationes Episcoporum solâ temeritate usurpans invasit. Nam alios incompetenter removit; indecenter alios, invitis & repugnantibus civibus, ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, & claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel aggressione reserabat, & ad sedem quietis pacem prædicaturus per bella ducebat: His talibus contra Imperii majestatem, & contra reverentiam Apostolicæ Sedis admissis, per ordinem religiosi viri Urbis Papæ cognitione discussis, certa in eum, ex his quos malè ordinaverat, lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine Imperiali Sanctione valitura: quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non liceret? Sed nostram quoque præceptionem hæc ratio provocavit. Nec ulterius vel Hilario, quem adhuc Episcopum nuncupare sola mansueta Præsulis permittit humanitas, nec cuiquam alteri ecclesiasticis rebus arma miscere, aut præceptis Romani Antistitis liceat obviare: ausibus enim talibus fides & reverentia nostri violatur Imperii. Nec hoc solum, quod est maximi criminis, submovemus: verum ne levis saltem inter Ecclesias turba nascatur, vel in aliquo minui religionis disciplina videatur, hoc perenni sanctione discernimus; nequid tam Episcopis Gallicanis quam aliarum Provinciarum contra consuetudinem veterem liceat, sine viri venerabilis Papæ Urbis æternæ auctoritate, tentare. Sed illis omnibusque pro lege sit, quicquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritas: ita ut quisquis Episcoporum ad judicium Romani Antistitis evocatus venire neglexerit, per Moderatorem ejusdem Provinciæ adesse cogatur, per omnia servatis quæ Divi parentes nostri Romanæ Ecclesiæ detulerunt, Aetî pater carissime Augusti. Unde illustris & præclara magnificentia tua præsentis Edictalis Legis auctoritate faciet quæ sunt superius statuta servari, decem librarum auri multa protinus exigenda ab unoquoque Judice qui passus fuerit præcepta nostra violari. Divinitas te servet per multos annos, parens carissime. Dat. viii. Id. Jun. Romæ, Valentiniano A. vi. Consule, A.C. 445. By this Edict the Emperor Valentinian enjoined an absolute obedience to the will of the Bishop of Rome thro'out all the Churches of his Empire; and declares, that for the Bishops to attempt any thing without the Pope's authority is contrary to antient custom, and that the Bishops summoned to appear before his judicature must be carried thither by the Governor of the Province; and he ascribes these privileges of the See of Rome to the concessions of his dead Ancestors, that is, to the Edict of Gratian and Valentinian II. as above: by which reckoning this dominion of the Church of Rome was now of 66 years standing: and if in all this time it had not been sufficiently established, this new Edict was enough to settle it beyond all question thro'out the Western Empire.

Hence all the Bishops of the Province of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo, A.C. 450, petitioning for a restitution of the privileges of their Metropolitan, say: Per beatum Petrum Apostolorum principem, sacrosancta Ecclesia Romana tenebat supra omnes totius mundi Ecclesias principatum. And Ceratius, Salonius and Veranus, three Bishops of Gallia, say, in their Epistle to the same Pope: Magna præterea & ineffabili quadam nos peculiares tui gratulatione succrescimus, quod illa specialis doctrinæ vestræ pagina ita per omnium Ecclesiarum conventicula celebratur, ut vere consona omnium sententia declaretur; merito illic principatum Sedis Apostolicæ constitutum, unde adhuc Apostolici spiritus oracula reserentur. And Leo himself, in ^[16] his Epistle to the metropolitan Bishops thro'out Illyricum: Quia per omnes Ecclesias cura nostra distenditur, exigente hoc à nobis Domino, qui Apostolicæ dignitatis beatissimo Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei sui remuneratione commisit, universalem Ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate constituens.

While this Ecclesiastical Dominion was rising up, the northern barbarous nations invaded the Western Empire, and founded several kingdoms therein, of different religions from the Church of Rome. But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the Roman faith, and at the same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The Franks in Gaul submitted in the end of the fifth Century, the Goths in Spain in the end of the sixth; and the Lombards in Italy were conquered by Charles the great A.C. 774. Between the years 775 and 794, the same Charles extended the Pope's authority over all Germany and Hungary as far as the river Theysse and the Baltic sea; he then set him above all human judicature, and at the same time assisted him in subduing the City and Duchy of Rome. By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the Roman religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, but did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast. It was his temporal dominion which made him one of the horns: and this dominion he acquired in the latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns as above. And now being arrived at a temporal dominion, and a power above all human judicature, he reigned ^[17] with a look more stout than his fellows, and ^[18] times and laws were henceforward given into his hands, for a time times and half a time, or three times and an half; that is, for 1260 solar years, reckoning a time for a Calendar year of 360 days, and a day for a solar year. After which ^[19] the judgment is to sit, and they shall take away his dominion, not at once, but by degrees, to consume, and to destroy it unto the end. ^[20] And the kingdom and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall, by degrees, be given unto the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.