PART II. CENT. V. new dignity adding fuel to their ambition, they extended their views of authority and dominion, and encouraged, no doubt, by the consent of the emperor, reduced the provinces of Asia, Thrace, and Pontus under their ghostly jurisdiction. In this century they grasped at still further accessions of power; so that not only the whole eastern part of Illyricum was added to their former acquisitions, but they were also exalted to the highest summit of ecclesiastical authority. For by the twenty eighth canon of the council held at Chalcedon in the year 451, it was resolved, that the same rights and honours which had been conferred upon the bishop of Rome, were due to the bishop of Constantinople on account of the equal dignity and lustre of the two cities, in which these prelates exercised their authority. The same council confirmed also, by a solemn act, the bishop of Constantinople in the spiritual government of those provinces over which he had ambitiously usurped the jurisdiction. Leo the Great, bishop of Rome, opposed with vehemence the passing of these decrees, and his opposition was seconded by that of several other prelates. But their efforts were vain, as the emperors threw in their weight into the balance, and thus supported the decisions of the Grecian bishops. In consequence then of the decrees of this famous council, the bishop of Constantinople began to contend obstinately for the supremacy with the Roman pontiff, and to crush the bishops of Alexandria and Antioch, so as to make them feel the oppressive effects of his pretended superiority. And none distinguished himself more by his ambition and arrogance in this matter, than Acacius, one of the bishops of that imperial city. The ambition II. It was much about this time that Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem, or rather of Ælia, attempted of Juvenal. • Le Quien, Oriens Christ. tom. i. p. 36. P See Bayle's Dictionary in English, at the article Acacius. PART II. to withdraw himself and his church from the juris- CENT. V. diction of the bishop of Cæsarea, and aspired after a place among the first prelates of the christian world. The high degree of veneration and esteem, in which the church of Jerusalem was held among all other christian societies, on account of its rank among the apostolical churches, and its title to the appellation of mother church, as having succeeded the first christian assembly founded by the apostles, was extremely favourable to the ambition of Juvenal, and rendered his project much more practicable, than it would otherwise have been. Encouraged by this, and animated by the favour and protection of Theodosius the younger, the aspiring prelate not only assumed the dignity of patriarch of all Palestine, a rank that rendered him supreme and independent of all spiritual authority, but also invaded the rights of the bishop of Antioch, and usurped his jurisdiction over the provinces of Phenicia and Arabia. Hence there arose a warm contest between Juvenal and Maximus, bishop of Antioch, which the council of Chalcedon decided, by restoring to the latter the provinces of Phenicia and Arabia, and confirming the former in the spiritual possession of all Palestine, and in By all Palestine, the reader is desired to understand three distinct provinces, of which each bore the name of Palestine, and accordingly the original is thus expressed, Trium Palæstinarum Episcopum seu Patriarcham. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the face of Palestine was almost totally changed; and it was so parcelled out and wasted by a succession of wars and invasions, that it preserved scarcely any trace of its former condition. Under the christian emperors there were three Palestines formed out of the ancient country of that name, each of which was an episcopal see. And it was of these three dioceses, that Juvenal usurped and maintained the jurisdiction. Sec, for a further account of the three Palestines, Spanhemii Geographia Sacra, opp. tom. i. p. 79. See also, for an account of the three Palestines, Caroli a S. Paule Geographia Sacra, p. 307. 24 PART II. CENT. V. the high rank which he had assumed in the church. By this means, there were created, in this century, five superior rulers of the church, who were distinguished from the rest by the title of patriarchs. The oriental historians mention a sixth, viz. the bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, to whom, according to their account, the bishop of Antioch voluntarily ceded a part of his jurisdiction." But this addition to the number of the patriarchs is unworthy of credit, as the only proof of it is drawn from the Arabic laws of the council of Nice, which are notoriously destitute of all authority. and privileges archs. The rights III. The patriarchs were distinguished by considof the patri- crable and extensive rights and privileges, that were annexed to their high station. They alone consecrated the bishops, who lived in the provinces that belonged to their jurisdiction. They assembled yearly in council the clergy of their respective districts, in order to regulate the affairs of the church. The cognisance of all important causes, and the determination of the more weighty controversies, were referred to the patriarch of the province where they arose. They also pronounced a decisive judgment in those cases, where accusations were brought against bishops. And lastly, they appointed vicars," or deputies, clothed with their authority, for the preservation of order and tranquillity in the remoter provinces. Such were the great and distinguishing privileges of the patriarchs; and they were accompanied with others of less moment, which it is needless to mention. See Mich, Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. iii. p. 110. See the authors who have written concerning the patriarchs, which are mentioned and recommended by the learned Fabricius, in his Bibliograph. Antiquar. cap. xiii. p. 453. a Assemanni Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. i. p. 9, 13, &c. w Dav. Blondel. De la Primaute de l'Eglise, chap. xxv. p. 332. Theod. Ruinart. De pallio Archi Episcopali, p. 445, tom. ii. of the posthumous works of Mabillon. PART II. It must however be carefully observed, that the CENT. V. authority of the patriarchs was not acknowledged through all the provinces without exception. Several districts, both in the eastern and western empires, were exempted from their jurisdiction. The emperors who reserved to themselves the supreme power in the christian hierarchy, and received, with great facility and readiness, the complaints of those who considered themselves as injured by the patriarchs; the councils also, in which the majesty and legislative power of the church immediately resided; all these were so many obstacles to the arbitrary proceedings of the patriarchal order. veniences that the patriarch and govern IV. This constitution of ecclesiastical government The inconwas so far from contributing to the peace and pros- accompanied perity of the christian church, that it proved, on al authority the contrary, a perpetual source of dissensions and ment. animosities, and was productive of various inconveniences and grievances. The patriarchs, who, by their exalted rank and extensive authority, were equally able to do much good and much mischief, began to encroach upon the rights, and to trample upon the prerogatives of their bishops, and thus introduced, gradually, a sort of spiritual bondage into the church. And that they might invade, without opposition, the rights of the bishops, they permitted the bishops, in their turn, to trample with impunity upon the ancient rights and privileges of the people. For, in proportion as the bishops multiplied their privileges and extended their usurpations, the patriarchs gained new accessions of power by the despotism which they exercised over the episcopal order. They fomented also divisions among the bishops, and excited animosities between the bishops and the other ministers of the church; nay, they went still further, and * Edward Brerewodius, Dissert. de veteris Ecclesiæ gubernatione Patriarchali; which is printed at the end of archbishop Usher's book, entitled, Opusculum de origine Episcoporum et Metropolitan. PART II. CENT. V. sowed the seeds of discord between the clergy and the people, that all these combustions might furnish them with perpetual matter for the exercise of their authority, and procure them a multitude of clients and dependents. They left no artifice unemployed to strengthen their own authority, and to raise opposition against the bishops from every quarter. For this purpose it was, that they engaged in their cause by the most alluring promises, and attached to their interests by the most magnificent acts of liberality, whole swarms of monks, who served as intestine enemies to the bishops, and as a dead weight on the side of patriarchal tyranThese monastic hirelings contributed more than any thing else, to ruin the ancient ecclesiastical discipline, to diminish the authority of the bishops, and raise, to an enormous and excessive height, the power and prerogatives of their insolent and ambitious patrons. The conten triarchs. ny. v. To these lamentable evils were added the tions of the pa- ambitious quarrels, and the bitter animosities that rose among the patriarchs themselves, and which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid crimes. The patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself in these odious contests. Elated with the favour and proximity of the imperial court, he cast a haughty eye on all sides, where any objects were to be found, on which he might exercise his lordly ambition. On the one hand, he reduced, under his jurisdiction, the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, as prelates only of the second order; and on the other, he invaded the diocese of the Roman pontiff, and spoiled him of several provinces. The two former prelates, though they struggled with vehemence, and raised considerable tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled ineffectually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the Roman pon |