196 Cassiod. Hist. Tripart. Lib. I. c. 9.
197 See Lib. XVI. Cod. Theod. Tit. ii. ll. 9, 10, 11, 14, etc. This evil had become so great by the time of Valens that in 365 that emperor declares “Quidam ignaviæ sectatores desertis civitatum muneribus, captant solitudines ac secreta, et specie religionis cætibus monizonton congregantur.” The most vigorous measures were requisite, “erui e latebris consulta præceptione mandavimus,” and he orders the culprits to be subjected again to their municipal duties under pain of forfeiture of all their property (Lib. XII. Cod. Theod. Tit. i. l. 63). In 376 the same emperor endeavored to enforce the obligation of military service on the crowds of vigorous men who filled the monasteries, and on their resistance a persecution arose in which many were killed—Hieron. Euseb. Chron. ann. 378.
198 The lamentations of St. Cyprian have already been alluded to. In 305 the council of Elvira found it necessary to denounce perpetual excommunication against the “virgines sacratæ” who abandoned themselves to a life of licentiousness, while those guilty only of a single lapse were allowed restoration to communion on the deathbed, if earned by continual penitence (Concil. Eliberit. c. 13).
199 Piget dicere quot quotidie virgines ruant, quantas de suo gremio mater perdat ecclesia: super quæ sidera inimicus superbus ponat thronum suum; quot petras excavet et habitet coluber in foraminibus earum. Videas plerasque viduas antequam nuptas, infelicem conscientiam mutata tantum veste protegere. Quas nisi tumor uteri, et infantum prodiderit vagitus, sanctas et castas se esse gloriantur, et erecta cervice et ludentibus pedibus incedunt. Aliæ vero sterilitatem præbibunt, et necdum sati hominis homicidium faciunt. Nonnullæ cum se senserint concepisse de scelere, abortii venena meditantur, et frequenter etiam ipsæ commortuæ, trium criminum reæ, ad inferos producuntur, homicidæ suæ, Christi adulteræ, necdum nati filii parricidæ—Hieron. Epist. XXII. ad Eustoch. c. 5.
200 Concil. Carthag. I. c. 3.—Concil. Cæsaraugust. I. c. 8.
201 Lib. IX. Cod. Theod. Tit. XXV. l. 2.
202 Concil. Valent. I. ann. 374 can. ii.
203 Postea vero in abruptum conscientiæ desperatione producti, de illicitis complexibus libere filios procreaverint, quod et publicæ leges et ecclesiastica jura condemnant.—Siricii Epist. I. c. 6.
204 Regul. S. Pachom. c. 26, 79, 95.—The Rule which passes under the name of John, Bishop of Jerusalem, I believe is universally acknowledged to be spurious and therefore requires no special reference.
205 Ibid. c. 29. This is in particularly striking contrast with mediæval monachism, which, as we shall see hereafter, considered the sacred precincts polluted by the foot of woman.
206 Cassian. de Cænob. Instit. Lib. IV. c. 3, 4, 6, 6, 13.—Cassianus declares chastity to be the virtue by which men are rendered most like angels.
207 De Monach. Decret. can. x. (Harduin. Concil. I. 498.)
208 Nusquam missos, nusquam fixos, nusquam stantes, nusquam sedentes. Alii membra martyrum, si tamen martyrum, venditant; alii fimbrias et phylacteria sua magnificant ... et omnes petunt, omnes exigunt, aut sumptus lucrosæ egestatis, aut simulatæ pretium sanctitatis etc.—Augustin. de Opere Monachor. cap. 28.
209 Cassian. Lib. V. c. 27, 28. The extravagant lengths to which this implicit subjection was habitually carried are further illustrated by Cassianus in Lib. IV. c. 10.
The same spirit is shown in the story told of St. Francis of Assisi, who took with him into the garden two novices to assist him in planting cabbages. He commenced by setting out the vegetables with their heads in the earth and their roots in the air. One of the novices ventured to remonstrate—“Father, that is not the way to make cabbages grow”—“My son,” interrupted the Saint, “you are not fitted for our order,”—and he dismissed the incautious youth on the spot.
210 Synod. Roman, ann. 384 c. 1, 2.
211 Siricii Epist. 1, c. 6.—A rather curious episode in monastic discipline is a law promulgated in 390 by Theodosius the Great prohibiting nuns from shaving their heads under severe penalties. “Feminæ quæ crinem suum contra divinas humanasque leges instinctu persuasæ professionis absciderint ab ecclesiæ foribus arceantur,” and any bishop permitting them to enter a church is threatened with deposition—Lib. XVI. Cod. Theod. Tit. ii. l. 27.
212 De Bono Viduit. c. 10, 11.—It will be seen hereafter that in the twelfth century the church adopted as a rule of discipline the practices condemned by St. Augustin, and that in the sixteenth century the council of Trent elevated it into a point of faith.
213 Innocent. Epist. ad Victricium. c. 12, 13.—The difficulty of the questions which arose in establishing the monastic system is shown in an epistle of Leo I. to the Mauritanian Bishops concerning some virgins professed who had suffered violence from the Barbarians. He decides that they had committed no sin, and could be admitted to communion if they persevered in a life of chastity and religious observance, but that they could not continue to be numbered with the holy maidens, while yet they were not to be degraded to the order of widows; and he further requires that they shall exhibit their sense of shame and humiliation. The problem evidently was one which transcended the acuteness even of Leo to solve—Leonis I. Epist. Episcop. per Cæsarien. Mauritan. cap. ii. V. (Harduin. I. 1775-6).
214 Concil. Toletan. I. c. 16.
215 Leo. Epist. ad Rusticum c. 12, 13, 14. So the second council of Arles, in 441 (can. 52), excommunicates the nun who marries until due penance shall have been performed, but does not indicate separation.
216 Novell. Majorian. Tit. VI. This law continued in force for but five years, being abrogated in 463 by Severus.—Novell. Severi. Tit. I.
217 For the ascetic extravagances which accompanied the development of monachism the reader is referred to the vigorous summary by Mr. Lecky in his History of European Morals.
218 Socrat. Hist. Eccles. Lib. VII. c. 13, 14, 15.—Even before this, in the province of Africa, the political utility of such enthusiastic disciples had been recognized and acted on. At the council of Carthage, in 411 where the Donatists were condemned, the Imperial Commissioner, in pronouncing sentence, warned the Donatist bishops that they must restrain the turbulent monks within their dioceses—“Ii autem qui in præsidiis suis circumcellionum turbas se habere cognoscunt, sciant nisi eorum insolentiam omnimodis comprimere et refrenare gestierint, maxime ea loca fisco mox occupanda.”—Concil. Carthag. ana. 411 Cognit. III. cap. ult. (Harduin. I. 1190.)
219 Concil. Chalced. c. 4, 7, 16. The most important of these, the fourth canon, was laid before the council by the Emperor in person.
220 Lib. XVI. Cod. Theod. iii. 1.
221 Lib. XVI. Cod. Theod. iii. 2.
222 Const. 29 Cod. I. 3.
223 Const. 53 § 1 Cod. I. 3.
224 Novell. V. c. 4, 6.
225 Novell. V. c. 8.
226 Novell. CXXIII. c. 42.
227 S. Theod. Studit. Testament. v. (Max. Bib. Pat. IX. I. 276).
228 St. Benedict of Nursia, the real founder of Latin monachism, who quitted the world in 494 thus describes the wandering monks of his time: “Tertium vero monachorum teterrimum genus est Sarabaitarum ... qui bini aut terni, aut certe singuli sine pastore, non Dominicis sed suis inclusi ovilibus, pro lege eis est desideriorum voluptas; cum quidquid putaverint vel elegerint, hoc dicunt sanctum, et quod noluerint putant non licere. Quartum vero genus est monachorum quod nominatur gyrovagum, qui tota vita sua per diversas provincias ternis aut quaternis diebus per diversorum cellas hospitantur, semper vagi et nunquam stabiles, et propriis voluptatibus et gulæ illecebris servientes, et per omnia deteriores Sarabaitis: de quorum omnium miserrima conversatione melius est silere quam loqui.”—Regul. S. Benedicti c. 1.
229 Cassiani de Cœnob. Instit. Lib. II. c. 8; Lib. V. c. 1, 15.
230 Gelasii PP. I. Epist. IX. cap. xx., xxi.
231 Symmachi PP. Epist. vi.
232 Greg. Mag. Vit. S. Benedicti c. 2.—Juan Cirita, a Spanish saint of the twelfth century, was exposed to the same temptation as St. Benedict, the devil visiting him in the shape of a lovely woman who sought refuge from her pursuers in his cell. During a sleepless night, feeling his resolution giving way, he roused his fire and with a glowing brand burned his arm to the bone, whereupon the devil vanished, loading him with reproaches (Henriquez Vit. Joannis Cirita cap. ii.). Legends of this nature are not uncommon, nor are there wanting those of another class in which the immediate and visible agency of the Evil Spirit is not called into play. Thus the holy Godric, a Welsh saint of the twelfth century, endeavored to subdue his rebellious flesh in the manner which St. Benedict found so effectual, but without success. He then buried a cask in the earthen floor of his cell, filled it with water and fitted it with a cover, and in this receptacle he shut himself up whenever he felt the titillations of desire. In this manner, varied by occasionally passing the night up to his chin in a river of which he had broken the ice, he finally succeeded in mastering his fiery nature.—Girald. Cambrens. Gemm. Eccles. Dist. II. c. x.
233 Regul. S. Benedicti c. 28, 29, 58.
234 Tetrad. Regul. c. 1.
235 Capit. Car. Mag. I. ann. 811 cap. xi. He also asks whether there were any monks in Gaul before the rule of St. Benedict was brought there, and is naturally not a little puzzled when told that St. Martin of Tours was a monk long anterior to the time of Benedict.—Capit. II. ann. 811 cap. xii. (Baluz. I. 331-2, Ed. Venet.).
Bishop Trithemius is more moderate, his estimate amounting to only 15,559. (Miræi Orig. Benedict.)
237 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. I. Epist. 42. Six years later he had to repeat his commands in stronger terms. (Cf. Lib. VII. Epist. 35. Lib. II. Epist. 28. Lib. IV. Epist. 27. Lib. X. Epist. 8.) Yet when the offender was a man of rank and power, as in the case of Venantius, Patrician of Syracuse, Gregory could lay aside the tone of lofty command and condescend to tender entreaty and earnest exhortation (Lib. I. Epist. 34), without even a threat of excommunication, and remain for years on the friendliest terms with him (Lib. XI. Epistt. 30, 35, 36), showing that the rule was as yet by no means firmly established. In another case, however, nothing can be more indignant and peremptory than his commands (Lib. VIII. Epistt. 8, 9).
238 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. IV. Epist. 42.
239 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. X. Epistt. 22, 23.—He states “ut etiam monachis ibidem degentibus mulieribus se jungere sine metu sit licitum” which he characterizes as “res ... omnino detestabilis et nefanda.”
240 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. XI. Epist. 50.
241 Concil. Parisiens. V. ann. 615 c. xiii.—In the decree of Clotair II., confirming the acts of this council, we find—“Puellas et viduas religiosas, aut sanctimoniales, quæ se Deo voverunt, tam quæ in propriis domibus resident, quam quæ in monasteriis positæ sunt, nullus nec per præceptum nostrum competat, nec trahere nec sibi in conjugio sociare penitus præsumat etc.”—Edict. Chlot. II. ann. 615 c. xviii. (Baluze).
242 S. Fructuosi Bracarens. Regul. Commun. cap. 1.
243 De Ecclesiast. Offic. Lib. II. cap. xvi. § 7.
244 Solutos atque oberrantes, sola turpis vita complectitur et vaga, ... quique dum, nullum metuentes, explendæ voluptatis suæ licentiam consectantur, quasi animalia bruta, libertate ac desiderio suo feruntur, habentes signum religionis, non religionis officium, hippocentauris similes, neque equi neque homines, ... quorum quidem sordida atque infami numerositate satis superque nostra pars occidua pollet.—Ibid. Lib. II. c. iii.
245 Ludov. Pii de Reform. Eccles. cap. 100. (Goldast. Const. Imp. III. 199.)
246 Smaragd. Comment. in Regul. Benedict. c. 1.
247 De Mor. German. c. 18, 19. It is a little singular that Salvianus names the Alamanni as the only exception to the character for chastity which he bestows on the Barbarians in general.
248 From such chance allusions as are made by Gregory of Tours, this would almost seem to be the general rule, and not the exception. Thus he mentions that Apollinaris obtained the see of Rhodez at the solicitation of his wife and sister (Hist. Franc. Lib. III. c. 2), and shortly afterwards the same episcopate is filled by the appointment of “Innocentius Gabalitanorum comes” (Ibid. Lib. VI. c. 38). Sulpitius, when nominated to that of Bourges, “ad clericatum deductus, episcopatum ... suscepit” (Ibid. Lib. VI. c. 39). Badegisilus, Clotair’s mayor of the palace, received the bishopric of Le Mans “qui tonsuratus, gradus quos clerici sortiuntur ascensus,” was duly installed (Ibid. Lib. VI. c. 9). Indeed, in his catalogue of the Bishops of Tours, Gregory specifies of Euphronius, the eighteenth bishop, that he was “ab ineunte ætate clericus,” showing how unusual it was to be regularly bred to the church.
249 Hincmari Vit. S. Remigii c. 42, 43.
250 Greg. Turon. de Glor. Confess. c. 78.
251 Concil. Matiscon. I. c. 3.
252 Greg. Turon. Hist. Franc. Lib. IV. c. 4. At this period the church of Britanny was rather British than Frankish. See Haddan & Stubbs, II. 72 sqq.
253 Concil. Turon. II. c. 19, 20.—A remark of Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. Lib. VIII. cap 19) has been assumed to indicate that priests could legitimately have commerce with their wives. By comparing it with the canons cited above, however, it evidently can at the most have reference to the lower orders of the clergy.
254 Concil. Toletan. III. c. 5.
255 L. Wisigoth. Lib. III. Tit. iv. l. 18. This law is preserved in the Fuero Juzgo, or mediæval Romance version of the code (Lib. III. Tit. iv. ley 18).
256 L. Wisigoth. Lib. III. Tit. v. l. 2.
257 Concil. Toletan VIII. ann. 653 can iv. v. vi.—These measures were as fruitless as the preceding. Cf. Concil. Toletan. IX. ann. 655 can. x.
258 Rex Witiza se effrenate præcipitans per omne genus flagitii, legem nequissimam tulit; ut more sara(ce)norum cuilibet laico et clerico liceret, quotquot posset alere, uxores et concubinas impune domi suæ retinere.—Liutprandi Chron. No. 174 ann. 706.
259 Liutprandi Chron. No. 181 ann. 709; No. 188 ann. 711. Without entering into the question of the correctness with which this chronicle has been attributed to Liutprand of Cremona, I may say that it has every appearance of being an authentic remnant of antiquity (Cf. Antonii Biblioth. Hispan. I. 585).
260 Concil. Roman, sub Silvest. can. xix. (Migne’s Patrol. VIII. 840).
261 Pelagii PP. II. Epist. xiv.
262 Superstes uxor aut filii, per quos ecclesiastica solet periclitari substantia.—Pelagii PP. I. Cethego Patricio.
263 L. Wisigoth. Lib. v. Tit. i. l. 2.
264 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. XIII. Epist. 6.—This rule had come to be very generally neglected. The importance attached to it, however, by strict disciplinarians is well illustrated in the firmness displayed by John, Patriarch of Alexandria, a contemporary of Gregory, whose bountiful charity had earned for him the title of Eleemosynarius. In a time of extreme famine, a wealthy aspirant offered him 200,000 bushels of corn and 100 pounds of gold for the grade of deacon. He had unluckily been twice married, and John refused the dazzling bribe, although the episcopal treasury had been exhausted in relieving the necessities of the suffering people (Thomassin, Discip. de l’Église, Pt. II. Liv. 3, c. 15.)
265 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. XIII. Epistt. 35, 36.
266 Ibid. Lib. IV. Epist. 26; Lib. V. Epist. 3; Lib. VIII. Epist. 24.—Similar attempts had previously been made by sundry provincial councils. In the case of Andrew, Bishop of Tarentum, who was accused of maintaining relations with a former concubine, Gregory recognizing the impossibility of obtaining proof, leaves it to his own conscience. If he has had any commerce with her since his ordination, he is commanded at once to resign his position as the only mode of insuring his salvation (Ibid. Lib. III. Epistt. 45, 46).
267 Ibid. Lib. I. Epist. 44; Lib. IV. Epistt. 5, 36.
268 Ibid. Lib. XI. Epist. 69.
269 Ibid. Lib. IX. Epist. 106.
270 Udalric. Bamberg. Cod. Lib. II. Epist. 10.
271 Gregor. PP. I. Lib. I. Epist. 52; Lib. IX. Epist. 60.
272 Gregor. PP. I. Dial. Lib. IV. cap. xi.
273 In 649 we find Amandus, Bishop of Maestricht, resigning his office on account of the impossibility of enforcing the canons among his priests and deacons. Martin I. endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose, and urged his proceeding with the utmost rigor against all transgressors (Hartzheim Concil. German. I. 28).
274 Concil. Roman. ann. 721.
275 Chron. Gradensis Supplement.
276 Capitul. Arechis Benevent. cap. XII. (Canciani I. 262).
277 Muratori Antiq. Med. Ævi Dissert. LXXIV.
278 Gregor. PP. II. Epist. 14 cap. 12.
279 Modo autem maxima ex parte episcopales sedes traditæ sunt laicis cupidis ad possidendum, vel adulteratis clericis, scortatoribus et publicanis sæculariter ad perfruendum.... Si invenero inter illos diaconos quos nominant, qui a pueritia sua semper in stupris, semper in adulteriis et in omnibus semper spurcitiis vitam ducentes, sub tali testimonio venerunt ad diaconatum, et modo in diaconatu concubinas quatuor vel quinque vel plures noctu in lecto habentes, evangelium tamen legere et diaconos se nominare non erubescunt, nec metuunt: et sic in talibus incestis ad ordinem presbyteratus venientes, in iisdem peccatis perdurantes, et peccata peccatis adjicientes, presbyteratus officio fungentes, dicunt se pro populo posse intercedere, et sacras oblationes offerre. Novissime, quod pejus est, sub talibus testimoniis per gradus singulos ascendentes, ordinantur et nominantur episcopi. Si usquam tales invenero inter illos, rogo ut habeam præceptum et conscriptum auctoritatis vestræ, quid de talibus diffiniatis, ut per responsum Apostolicum convincantur et arguantur peccatores.—Bonifacii Epist. 132.
280 Milo quidam, tonsura clericus, moribus, habitu, et actu irreligiosus laicus, episcopia Remorum ac Trevirorum usurpans insimul, per multos annos pessumdederit.—Hincmar. Epist. xxx. c. 20.—Sola tonsura clerico, qui secum processerat ad bellum.—Flodoard. Hist. Remens. Lib. II. c. 12.—Nihilque in eo de clericali honore vel vita nisi sola tonsura enituit.—Hist. Trevirens. (D’Achery Spicileg. II. 212).
281 Hist. Trevirens. (D’Achery Spicileg. II. 212).
282 Bonifacii Epist. 142.
283 Hist. Trevirens. loc. cit.
284 Bonifacii loc. cit.
285 Othlon. Vit. S. Bonifac. Lib. I. c. 44.
286 Bonifacii Epist. 85.
287 Flodoard. Hist. Remens. Lib. II. cap. 12.—Capit. Caroli Calvi Tit. XXVII. cap. 7 (Baluze).
288 Et tam laicorum injusta concubinarum copula partim exhortante sancto viro separata est, quam etiam clericorum nefanda cum uxoribus conjunctio sejuncta ac separata.—Willibald. Vit. S. Bonifac. c. 9.
289 Capit. Caroloman. ann. 742 c. 1, 3, 6.
290 Bonifacii Epist. 137.
291 Ibid. Epist. 132, 142.
292 Capit. Caroloman. ann. 743 c. 1.
293 Zachar. PP. Epist. 8, c. 11, 18.
294 Pippini Capit. ann. 744 c. 4, 8, 9.
295 Bonifac. Epistt. 135, 139 (Zachar. PP. Epist. 9).
296 Othlon. Vit. S. Bonif. Lib. II. c. 11.
297 Bonifacii Epist. 135.—S. Ludgeri Vit. S. Bonifacii.
298 Bonifacii Epist. 140.
299 Capit. Pippini ann. 755.
300 Regul. S. Chrodegangi cap. 29, 56, 68, 70.
301 Cod. Carolini Epist. lxiv. (Patrolog. T. 98 p. 319). Yet even in 772 we find that a council in Bavaria found it necessary to prohibit the marriage of nuns.—Concil. Dingolving. can. 2 (Hartzheim Concil. German. I. 129).
302 Capit. Car. Mag. II. ann. 811 cap. iv. (Baluz. I. 329—Ed. Venet.).
303 Ghaerbaldi Judicia Sacerdotalia de Criminibus c. 13 (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 31).
304 Ludov. Pii. Capit. Ingelenheim. c. 5.
305 Capit. Aquisgran. ann. 817. Cf. Miræi Cod. Donat. Piar. c. 13.—This Capitulary regulating monastic life was generally adopted as a supplement to the rule of Benedict (Leo. Ostiens. Chron. Cassinens. Lib. I. c. 16).
306 See ante, p. 123. Cf. Pseudo-Hormisdæ Epist. Encyc. (Migne’s Patrol. T. LXIII. p. 527).
307 Quid enim est gravius carnale delictum admittere sine quo in multis pauci inveniuntur, an Dei filium timendo negare? in quo uno ipsum beatum Petrum apostolorum principem, ad cujus nunc corpus indigni sedemus, lapsum esse cognoscimus, sed post negationem pœnitentia secuta, et post pœnitentiam misericordia data.—Pseudo-Gregor. Epist. ad Secundinum.
Isidor Mercator also includes two canons from the sixth century forgery of the Roman Council said to have been held under Silvester I. (see p. 122). Of these, one prohibits bishops from celebrating the marriage of nuns under seventy years of age; the other forbids priests from marrying, under a penalty of ten year’s suspension, with a threat of perpetual deprivation for contumacy. (Constit. Pseudo-Silvestri cap. x. xix.) The adoption of these in the False Decretals would seem at least to be superfluous.
308 Capit. Carol. Mag. I. ann. 802 c. 17.
309 Concil. Aquisgran. ann. 836, de vit. et doc. infer. ordin. can. xii., xiv.—De monasteriis puellarum quæ in quibusdam locis lupanaria potius videntur esse quam monasteria.
310 Capitul. add. IV. cap. clx. (Baluze, I. 1227).
311 Bonifacii Epist. 19.
312 Capit. Aquisgran. ann. 817, c. xi.—Chavard, Célibat des Prêtres, Genève, 1874, p. 35.
313 Quia, instigante diabolo, etiam in illis scelus frequenter perpetratum invenitur, aut etiam in pedissequis earum. Nec igitur matrem, neque amitam, neque sororem permittimus ultra habitare in domo una cum sacerdote.—Theodulf. Aurelian. Capit. Secund. (Baluz. et Mansi II. 99.)
He had previously (Epist. c. 12) promulgated the prohibition, assigning for it the more decent reason, in imitation of St. Augustin, of the danger arising from female attendants. In this he was imitated, about 850, by Rodolf of Bourges (Capit. Rodulf. Bituricens. c. 16), and about 871 by Walter of Orleans (Capit. Walteri Aurelian. c. 3).
In 889, however, Riculfus of Soissons declares the lamentable truth without reserve: “Nos vero etiam a matribus, amitis, sororibus vel propinquis cavendum dicimus, ne forte illud eveniat quod in sancta scriptura legitur de Thamar sorore Absalon ... de Loth etiam ... Quod si aliquis vestrum matrem, sororem vel amitam ad convescendum vocaverit, expleto convivio ad domos suas vel ad hospitia a domo presbyteri remota, cum luce diei eas faciat remeare; periculosum quippe est ut vobiscum habitent.”—Riculfi Suess. Const. c. 14.