THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.

PART I.

EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED TO THE CHURCH DURING THIS CENTURY.

Christianity

I. IN the preceding century some faint notions of the Christian religion, some scattered rays of that divine light which it administers to mortals, had propagated. been received among the Hungarians, Danes, Poles, and Russians; but the rude and savage spirit of these nations, together with their deplorable ignorance and their violent attachment to the superstitions of their ancestors, rendered their total conversion to Christianity a work of great difficulty, and which could not be accomplished all of a sudden. The zeal, however, with which this important work was carried on, did much honour to the piety of the princes and governors of these unpolished countries, who united their influence with the labours of the learned men whom they had invited into their dominions, to open the eyes of their subjects upon the truth. In Tartary, and the adjacent countries, the zeal and diligence of the Nestorians gained over daily vast numbers to the profession of Christianity. It appears also evident, from a multitude of unexceptionable testimonies, that metropolitan prelates, with a great number of inferior bishops under their jurisdiction, were established at this time in the provinces of Casgar, Nuacheta, Turkestan, Genda, and Tangut; from

a For an account of the Poles, Russians, and Hungarians, see Romualdi Vita in Actis Sanctor. tom. ii. Februar. p. 113, 114, 117.

b Tartary is taken here in its most comprehensive sense; for between the inhabitants of Tartary, properly so called, and the Kalmucs, Moguls, and the inhabitants of Tangut, there is a manifest difference.

c Marcus Paul. Venetus De Regionibus Orientalibus, lib. i. cap. 38, 40, 45, 47, 48, 49, 32, 63, 64, lib. ii. cap. 39. Euseb. Renaudot Anciennes Relations des Indes, et de la

sion of cer

attempted in

vain.

which we may conclude, that in this and the following century, there was a prodigious number of Christians in those very countries which are at present overrun with Mahometanism and idolatry. All these Christians were undoubtedly Nestorians, and lived under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of that sect, who resided in Chaldæa. II. Among the European nations that lay yet grovelling in their native darkness and superstition, were the The conver- Sclavonians, the Obotriti," the Venedi, and the tain nations Prussians, whose conversion had been attempted, but with little or no success, by certain missionaries, from whose piety and zeal better fruits might have been expected. Towards the conclusion of the preceding century, Adalbert, bishop of Prague, had endeavoured to instil into the minds of the fierce and savage Prussians, the salutary doctrines of the gospel; but he perished in the fruitless attempt, and received, in the year 996, from the murdering lance of Siggo, a pagan priest, the crown of martyrdom. Boleslaus, king Boleslaus, king of Poland, revenged the death of this pious apostle by entering into a bloody war with the Prussians, and he obtained by the force of penal laws, and of a victorious army, what Adalbert could not effect by exhortation and argument. He dragooned this savage people into the Christian church; yet besides this violent method of conversion, others of a more gentle kind were certainly practised by the attendants of Boleslaus, who seconded the military arguments of their prince by the more persuasive influence of admonition and instruction. A certain ecclesiastic, of illustrious birth, whose name

Chine, p. 420. Jos. Simon. Assemanni Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 502, &c. This successful propagation of the gospel, by the ministry of the Nestorians in Tartary, China, and the neighbouring provinces, is a most important event, and every way worthy to employ the researches and the pen of some able writer, well acquainted with Oriental history. It must indeed be acknowledged, that if this subject be important, it is also difficult on many accounts. It was attempted, however, notwithstanding its difficulty, by the most learned Theoph. Sigifred. Bayer, who had collected a great quantity of materials relative to this interesting branch of the history of Christianity, both from the works that have been published upon this subject, and from manuscripts that lie yet concealed in the cabinets of the curious. But unhappily for the republic of letters, the death of that excellent man interrupted his labours, and prevented him from executing a design, which was worthy of his superior abilities, and his wellknown zeal for the interests of religion.

Id The Obotriti were a great and powerful branch of the Vandals, whose kings resided in the country of Mecklenburgh, and whose domination extended along the coasts of the Baltic from the river Pene in Pomerania to the dutchy of Holstein.

Pe The Venedi dwelt upon the banks of the Weissell or Vistula, in what is at

present called the Palatinate of Marienburg.

f See the Acta Sanctor. ad d. xxii. Aprilis, p. 174.

g Solignac Hist. de Pologne, tom. i. p. 133.

was Boniface, and who was one of the disciples of St. Romuald, undertook the conversion of the Prussians, and was succeeded in this pious enterprise by Bruno," who set out from Germany with a company of eighteen persons, who had entered with zeal into the same laudable design. These were however all barbarously massacred by the fierce and cruel Prussians, and neither the vigorous efforts of Boleslaus nor of the succeeding kings of Poland, could engage this rude and inflexible nation to abandon totally the idolatry of their ancestors.'

Sicily.

III. Sicily had been groaning under the dominion of the Saracens since the ninth century; nor had the repeated attempts of the Greeks and Latins to The Saracens dispossess them of that rich and fertile country, been hitherto crowned with the desired success. But in this century the face of affairs changed entirely in that island; for in the year 1059, Robert Guiscard, who had formed a settlement in Italy, at the head of a Norman colony, and was afterward created duke of Apulia, encouraged by the exhortations of the Roman pontiff, Nicolas II. and seconded by the assistance of his brother Roger, attacked with the greatest vigour and intrepidity the Saracens in Sicily; nor did this latter sheath the victorious sword before he had rendered himself master of that island, and cleared it absolutely of its former tyrants. As soon as this great work was accomplished, which was not before the year 1090, count Roger, not only restored to its former glory and lustre the Christian religion, which had been almost totally extinguished under the Saracen yoke, but also established bishoprics, founded monasteries, erected magnificent churches throughout that province, and bestowed upon the clergy those immense revenues and those distinguished honours which they still enjoy. It is in the privileges conferred upon this valiant chief, that we find the origin of that supreme authority in matters of religion which is still vested in the kings of Sicily, within the limits

h Fleury differs from Dr. Mosheim in his account of Bruno, in two points. First, he maintains that Boniface and Bruno were one and the same person, and here he is manifestly in the right; but be maintains farther, that he suffered martyrdom in Russia, in which he is evidently mistaken. It is proper farther to admonish the reader to dis tinguish carefully the Bruno here mentioned from a monk of the same name, who founded the order of the Carthusians.

i Ant. Pagi Critica in Baronium, tom. iv. ad Annum 1008, p. 97. Christ, Hartknoch's Ecclesiastical History of Prussia, book i. ch. i. p. 12.

k See Burigni Histoire Generale de la Sicile, tom. i. p. 386,

ir own territories, and which is known by the name Sicilian monarchy; for the Roman pontiff, Urban II. is said to have granted, A. D. 1097, by a special diploma, to Roger and his successors, the title, authority, and prerogatives of hereditary legates of the apostolic see. The court of Rome affirms that this diploma is not authentic; and hence those warm contentions about the spiritual supremacy, that have arisen even in our times between the bishops of Rome and the kings of Sicily. The successors of Roger governed that island, under the title of dukes, until the twelfth century, when it was erected into a kingdom.'

Expeditions

the Saracens

IV. The Roman pontiffs, from the time of Silvester II. had been forming plans for extending the limits formed against of the church in Asia, and especially for driving in Palestine. the Mahometans out of Palestine; but the troubles in which Europe was so long involved, prevented the execution of these arduous designs. Gregory VII. the most enterprising and audacious pontiff that ever sat in the apostolic chair, animated and inflamed by the repeated complaints which the Asiatic Christians made of the cruelty of the Saracens, resolved to undertake in person a holy war for the deliverance of the church, and upward of fifty thousand men were already mustered to follow him in this bold expedition." But his quarrel with the emperor Henry IV. of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, and other unforeseen occurrences, obliged him to lay aside his intended invasion of the holy land. The project however was renewed, toward the conclusion of this century, by the enthusiastic zeal of an inhabitant of Amiens, who was known by the name of Peter the Hermit, and who suggested to the Roman pontiff, Urban II. the means of accomplishing what had been unluckily suspended. This famous hermit, in a voyage which he had made through Palestine, A. D. 1093, had observed, with inexpressible anguish, the vexations and persecutions which the Christians, who visited the holy places, suffered from the barbarous and tyrannic Saracens. Inflamed therefore with a holy indignation and a furious zeal, which he looked upon as the effects of a divine impulse, he implored the succours of

1

1 See Baronii Liber de Monarchia Siciliæ, tom. ix. Annal. as also Du Pin, Traite de la Monarchie Sicilienne.

m Gregorii VII. Epist. lib. ii. p. 3, in Harduini Conciliis, tom. vi. pars i. p. 1285.

of the holy

war.

Symeon, patriarch of Constantinople, and Urban II. but without effect. Far from being discouraged by this, he renewed his efforts with the utmost vigour, went through all the countries of Europe sounding the alarm of a holy war against the infidel nations, and exhorting all Christian princes to draw the sword against the tyrants of Palestine ; nor did he stop here; but with a view to engage the superstitious and ignorant multitude in his cause, he carried about with him a letter, which he said was written in heaven, and addressed from thence to all true Christians, to animate their zeal for the deliverance of their brethren, who groaned under the oppressive burden of a Mahometan yoke." v. When Urban II. saw the way prepared by the exhortations of the hermit, who had put the spirits of the people every where in a ferment, and had The progress kindled in their breasts a vehement zeal for that holy carnage which the church had been meditating so long, he assembled a grand and numerous council at Placentia, A. D. 1095, and recommended warmly, for the first time, the sacred expedition against the infidel Saracens." This arduous enterprise was far from being approved of by the greatest part of this numerous assembly, notwithstanding the presence of the emperor's legates, who, in their master's name, represented most pathetically how necessary it was to set limits to the power of the victorious Turks, whose authority and dominion increased from day to day. The pontiff's proposal was however renewed with the same zeal, and with the desired success, some time after this, in the council assembled at Clermont, where Urban was present. The pompous and pathetic speech which he delivered upon this occasion, made a deep and powerful impression upon the minds of the French, whose natural character renders them much superior to the Italians in encountering difficulties, facing danger, and attempting the execution of the most perilous designs. So that an innumerable multitude, composed of all ranks and orders in the nation, offered themselves as volunteers in this sacred ex

n This circumstance is mentioned by the abbot Dodechinus, in his Continuat. Chronici Mariani Scoti Scriptor, Germanicor. Jo. Pistororii tom. i. p. 462. For an account of Peter, see Du Fresne Notæ ad Annæ Commena Alexiodem, p. 79, edit. Venet.

Po This council was the most numerous of any that had been hitherto assembled, and was, on that account, held in the open fields. There were present at it two hundred bishops, four thousand ecclesiastics, and three hundred thousand laymen.