A History of the Great Schism

Mandell Creighton

• Editore: Ozymandias Press
• Anno: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781531289508
• Argomento: Historia
• Categoria: Historia del Renacimiento europeo

The ideas of the Middle Ages had to make way for the ideas of the Renaissance before it was possible for men to grasp the meaning of Scripture as a whole, and found their political as well as their social life upon a wide conception of its spirit. But this was the second part of the process, for which the first part was necessary. Before men advanced to the criticism of Scripture they undertook the criticism of history. Against the Papal view of the political facts and principles of the past, the men of the fourteenth century advanced new principles and interpreted the facts afresh...

URBAN VI, CLEMENT VII AND THE AFFAIRS OF NAPLES.

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1378—1389.

WHEN GREGORY XI LAY UPON his death-bed all men in Rome felt that a great crisis was at hand. Among the citizens the ideas of the days of Rienzi and the aspirations of Catharine of Siena passed from mouth to mouth, and the Cardinals were busy consulting on the steps which they could possibly take. The government of Rome was at that time vested in a Senator and thirteen Banderisi, or Bannerets, who commanded the thirteen levies of the thirteen regions into which the city was divided. Already, before Gregory XI’s eyes were closed in death, the Romans urged upon the Cardinals the election of a Roman Pope who might introduce order into the States of the Church; and during the funeral rites of Gregory their representations were renewed with increasing persistency. The Banderisi watched the Cardinals to prevent them fleeing from the city, and at the same time took measures to show that they were able and willing to maintain order within the walls. The gates were strictly guarded; the Roman barons were ordered to withdraw; and bands of armed militia were summoned from the country to protect the city against the danger of surprise by the soldier hordes who were prowling in the neighborhood. A marble column was erected in the middle of the Piazza of S. Peter’s, bearing an axe and a block; and three times a day proclamation was made that anyone who injured the Cardinals or their attendants would instantly be beheaded. The Cardinals could find no pretext for refusing to proceed to an election at Rome; but they took such precautions as they could on their own account. They sent their valuables and all the Papal jewels for safe keeping into the Castle of S. Angelo, where the Papal Chamberlain, the Archbishop of Arles, went to secure the governor and the garrison. They accepted the Banderisi as guardians of the Conclave, but added to them two Frenchmen, and the Bishops of Marseilles, Todi, and Tivoli.

Of the twenty-three Cardinals who at that time represented the Church, six had remained in Avignon, and one was absent as legate in Tuscany. Of the sixteen who were in Rome, one was a Spaniard, four were Italians, and eleven were French. The great question to be decided at the coming election was, whether by choosing an Italian the Cardinals would assure the return of the Papacy to Rome; or by choosing a French-man they would strive to perpetuate its residence at Avignon. The French Cardinals looked upon Rome with disgust as squalid and barbarous; they sighed to return to the luxurious ease of Avignon. If they had been united, they would have secured the majority of two-thirds which was necessary for the election of a Pope. But the French were divided amongst themselves on grounds which awakened amongst them feelings as intense as could inspire the Italians. Clement VI and his nephew Gregory XI were both Limousins, and had shown marked preference for their fellow-countrymen. Of the eleven French Cardinals, six belonged to a Limousin party, four were pitted against them as a Gallican party, and one seems to have been doubtful. Rather than submit to the election of another Limousin, the Gallican Cardinals were ready to join with the Italians.

In this state of things it was clearly necessary to try and arrange a compromise, and conferences were held before entering into the Conclave. At first the Limousins tried to take advantage of their numerical majority over any other party, and boldly put forward Jean du Cros, Cardinal of Limoges; when told that he was impossible, they proposed Pierre de Bernier, Cardinal of Viviers, who was a native of Cahors, and therefore slightly removed from the dreaded neighborhood of Limoges. The four Gallican Cardinals, joined by the Spaniard Peter de Luna, declared that they would never agree to this. The Italians meanwhile held by themselves, and demanded the election of an Italian. The Gallican party affirmed that they would make common cause with the Italians rather than give way to the Limousins; and the Limousins, before they entered the Conclave, were prepared to propose a compromise if they found it impossible to carry the Cardinal of Viviers. For this purpose they thought of an Italian outside the College, whose election would not be a decisive triumph to any party, and would leave open all the questions which were involved in their struggle. They fixed on Bartolommeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, a man of humble origin, who had risen to eminence through the patronage of Pierre de Monterac, Cardinal of Pampeluna, a Limousin, who had remained at Avignon. Prignano had come to Rome as his deputy and exercised in his stead the office of Vice-Chancellor in the Curia. He seems to have acquired considerable influence in Rome, was in the confidence of the Banderisi, and had shown much skill in arranging with them the measures for the security of the Conclave. Thus he was likely to be acceptable as an escape from the jealousies within the College, while he would satisfy the demands of the Roman people. The Limousins determined that, if a compromise were necessary, it had better proceed from their side. They fixed on a man already connected with their own party, and trusted that gratitude for their good offices would bind him still more securely to their interests. Under ordinary circumstances the idea of a compromise would not so soon have taken shape, and a long vacancy would have been the most probable consequence of the divided condition of the College. But under the novel circumstances of an election in Rome, especially in the ferment of popular excitement, long delay was impossible, and a compromise to be effective must be put forward at once.

When the time came for the Cardinals to enter the Conclave an excited crowd accompanied them to the chamber in the Vatican. It might well be that, after so many years of disuse, the Romans had forgotten the general decorum which was supposed to attend the solemn ceremony. The crowd pressed into the room with the Cardinals, and peered into every corner to convince themselves that the Cardinals were really to be left alone. It was with difficulty that the room was cleared by the Banderisi, who before withdrawing addressed another exhortation to the Cardinals to elect a Roman Pope. It was late in the evening of April 7 when the Conclave was closed, and the repose of the Cardinals was troubled all night by the shouts of the mob, who stood around the palace exclaiming, “A Roman, a Roman, we want a Roman for Pope, or at least an Italian”. As the morning drew near the tumult outside increased; the campanile of S. Peter’s was broken open, and its bells clanged out a summons to a greater crowd. The Cardinals saw that it would be well to lose no time, and the compromise projected by the Limousins began to assume a very definite shape.

On the morning of April 8, after mass had been said, the Cardinals proceeded to vote. The Cardinal of Florence, as the senior, voted first, and expressing his real desire, gave his voice in favor of Tebaldeschi, Cardinal of S. Peter’s, a Roman. Next followed the Cardinal of Limoges, who expressed the general opinion of the French party when he said that there were two objections to the Cardinal of S. Peter’s : first, that he was a Roman, and it was undesirable to elect a Roman, lest they should seem to have done so through fear; secondly, that he was too infirm for the labors of the Papacy. “The Cardinal of Florence”, he proceeded, “belongs to a people who are enemies to the Church; the Cardinal of Milan comes from a land of tyrants who oppose the Church; Cardinal Orsini is a Roman, and also is too young and inexperienced. I give my voice for the Archbishop of Bari”. It was found that there was a general consent; two demurred on the ground that the election was being hurried through fear, and Cardinal Orsini is even said to have proposed that the College should pretend to elect some obscure friar, invest him with the Papal robes to deceive the people, and in the confusion make their escape and proceed to a real election. This proposal was at once rejected. It would seem that there was some sense of popular pressure, but not enough to influence the conduct of the Cardinals.

The election of the Archbishop of Bari had been determined, but before proceeding to the formal act the Cardinals retired to breakfast. The tumult outside was raging furiously; the mob had broken into the Pope’s cellars, and the Papal wine had increased their patriotism. The Cardinals hesitated to face them with the news that they had not elected a Roman Pope; the man whom they had chosen was not a member of the Sacred College; he was not there, and they had no one to present for the reverence of the crowd. They sent a messenger to summon the Archbishop of Bari and some other ecclesiastics; they also used this opportunity of sending to the Castle of S. Angelo the plate and jewels which they had with them, as they feared that the Conclave chamber would be sacked according to old custom. When the mob saw the prelates arrive, they suspected that an election had been made, and clamored to be informed. When they found that the vessels of the Cardinals were being carried away, they grew still more suspicious and indignant. No longer able to endure suspense, they rushed to the door which had been already broken down to admit the prelates, and the Cardinals were now genuinely terrified at the prospect of facing the mob with the tidings that they had not elected a Roman. Already steps were heard along the passages, and as the crowd burst in, terror inspired one of the Cardinals to deceive them. “The Cardinal of S. Peter’s is Pope”, was exclaimed by someone; and as the eager throng rushed to do reverence to the old Tebaldeschi, the Cardinals hastened to make their escape. As the rude artisans seized Tebaldeschi’s gouty hands to kiss them, it was in vain that the agonized old man screamed out, “I am not the Pope, but a better man than me”. Few heard him, and those who heard thought it was his humility that spoke. The Cardinals succeeded in getting away before the cries of Tebaldeschi at length convinced his persecutors of the truth. Then a wild search was made for Prignano throughout the palace. If the disappointed mob could have found him, they would have torn him in pieces; but he hid himself in the Pope’s most private chamber till the search was abandoned as useless.

Meanwhile the Cardinals who had escaped, when they saw the excitement of the people whom they had deceived, dreaded the consequences to themselves when the truth was known. Some fled from Rome in fright; some took refuge in the Castle of S. Angelo; five only dared to remain in their own palaces; the Cardinal of S. Peter’s alone remained with Prignano in the Vatican. Next day the tumult had ceased. The Roman people magnanimously forgave their disappointment, and the Banderisi loyally accepted the election of the Archbishop of Bari. The new Pope summoned the Cardinals to his side, and the five who were in the city ventured to return to the Vatican; it needed, however, repeated messages, even the entreaties of the Banderisi, before those who were in the castle dared to come forth. At last they assembled, went through the customary formalities, and on Easter Sunday, April 18, crowned the new Pope, who took the name of Urban VI. Next day they wrote to the Cardinals at Avignon announcing their election, and saying that their votes had been given “freely and unanimously”.

URBAN VI AND THE CARDINALS.

The Cardinals had elected Prignano as a respectable figure-head, who would prove amenable to their wishes. He had a reputation for theological and legal learning; he was well versed in the business of the Curia; he knew the charms of Avignon, and was likely to find a good excuse for returning there and carrying on the traditions of the Avignonese Papacy. Great was their disappointment when they found that one whom they regarded as insignificant was resolved to make himself their master. Urban VI had never been a Cardinal, and so was untouched by the traditions of the order. Like many men whose presumed insignificance has raised them unexpectedly to high position, he longed to assert his authority roundly over his former superiors. He had long held his tongue and allowed others to lord it over him; now that his turn was come he was resolved to use his opportunity to the full. He was a short, stout man, with a swarthy face, full of Neapolitan fire and savagery. His monkish piety burned to distinguish itself by some striking measures of reform; but he was without knowledge of himself or of the world, and knew nothing of the many steps to be taken between good intentions and their practical execution. He thought that he could enforce his will by self-assertion, and that the Cardinals could be reduced to absolute obedience by mere rudeness. Already on Easter Monday he began to inveigh against the conduct of the bishops, and said that they were perjured because they deserted their sees and followed the Curia. He tried to enforce sumptuary regulations upon the Cardinals, and ordered that they should make their meals of one dish only. He had no tact, no sense of dignity or decorum. He sat in the consistory and interrupted speakers with remarks of “Rubbish”, “Hold your tongue, you have said enough”. His anger found vent in unmeasured language. One day he called Cardinal Orsini a fool. Seeing the Cardinal of Limoges turn away his head and make a face at something that he said, he bade him hold up his head and look him in the face. Another day he grew so angry with the same Cardinal that he rushed at him to strike him, but Robert of Geneva pulled him back to his seat, exclaiming, “Holy Father, Holy Father, what are you doing?”

These were personal matters, intensely galling to the Cardinals, who, under the last Popes, had been richly endowed with ecclesiastical revenues, had lived in luxury, accustomed to treat kings as their equals, and to meet with nothing but consideration and respect. Still Urban VI’s personal conduct gave them no ground for action, till they found to their dismay that the Pope had no intention of returning to Avignon; he openly told the Banderisi that he purposed to remain at Rome and make a new creation of Roman and Italian Cardinals. The College felt itself seriously menaced; the Frenchmen saw that they would be reduced to a minority, and then would be entirely neglected. Before this common danger all differences disappeared. Galileans and Limousins were reconciled and prepared to resist the Pope, whom their dissensions had set over them. One day after the Pope had furiously attacked the Cardinal of Amiens, Robert of Geneva said to him openly, “You have not treated us Cardinals with the honor due to us, as your predecessors used to do, and you are lessening our dignity. I tell you truly that the Cardinals on their side will try to lessen your dignity also”. Urban VI found that this was no empty menace, and that the hostility of his Cardinals had power even in Rome. The French governor of the Castle of S. Angelo refused to surrender it to the Pope, who, consequently, could not make himself master of the city. The Cardinals knew that they could rely on the support of the King of France against a Pope who avowed his intention of rescuing the Papacy from French influence. Urban’s conduct gave them an unexpected ally in Queen Giovanna I of Naples, who had at first hailed with delight the election of one of her subjects to the Papacy. Counting on the pliancy of the new Pope, her fourth husband, Otto, Duke of Brunswick, hastened to Rome to receive at the Pope’s hands his coronation as King of Naples. But Giovanna I was childless, and Urban VI did not choose that at her death Naples should pass into the hands of Germans; he refused Otto’s request, and even treated him with haughty insolence. One day Otto acted as the Pope’s cup-bearer at a banquet, and, as the custom was, presented the cup on bended knee. Urban for some time pretended not to see him, till one of the Cardinals called out, “Holy Father, it is time to drink”. Giovanna’s ambassadors, who were sent to congratulate Urban on his election, were treated to a scolding on the evil state of Naples, which the Pope threatened to amend. After this it was but natural that Giovanna I, who had been a firm ally of the Avignonese Popes, should be willing to join a party which aimed at the restoration of the old state of things.

The shouldering discontent was not long in breaking out. At the end of May the Cardinals obtained leave from the Pope to retire before the heats of Rome to Anagni, which had been the summer residence of Gregory XI, where they had houses and stores of provisions. At Anagni the Cardinals found a new ally, whom the Pope’s conduct had estranged. Onorato, Count of Fondi, who was Lord of Anagni, had been appointed by Gregory XI Governor of Campania, and had lent the Pope 20,000 florins. The headstrong Urban refused to pay his predecessor’s debts, and after offending Onorato by his refusal, judged it safer to deprive him of his office and confer it upon his enemy, Tommaso of San Severino. After this he grew suspicious of the intercourse of the Cardinals with Onorato; he determined to go to Tivoli for the summer, and ordered the Cardinals to join him there. The Cardinals raised difficulties about leaving their houses, which they had provisioned for the season. The Archbishop of Arles, Gregory XI’s chamberlain, joined them at Anagni, bringing with him the Papal jewels; the Pope ordered his arrest, and the Cardinals feigned to comply with the Pope’s order. The Cardinals at Anagni and the Pope at Tivoli each professed to invite the other, and feigned to wonder at the delay to accept the invitation.

At last the Cardinals let their intentions be seen. They summoned to their aid a band of Bretons and Gascons which had been taken into the service of the Church by Gregory XI, and had served under Robert of Geneva in the year before. These adventurers advanced, plundering the Roman territory, and defeated by Ponte Salaro the Romans who went out against them. The Breton company pursued its way to Anagni, and Urban, at Tivoli, begged for help from the Queen of Naples, who had not yet declared herself against him, and sent Duke Otto, with 200 lances and 100 foot, to guard his person. Otto, who was a shrewd observer, gave it as his opinion that the Pope’s name should be “Turbanus” instead of “Urbanus”, as he seemed likely to upset everything, and bring himself into many difficulties.

The Cardinals at Anagni now found themselves strong enough to proceed to open measures against Urban. On July 20 they wrote to the four Italian Cardinals, who were still with Urban, setting forth that his election had been forced upon them by the Roman mob, and so had not been made freely; they required them to appear at Anagni within five days, to deliberate upon the steps to be taken to obviate this scandal. They wrote also to the University of Paris and to the King of France demanding their assistance. Urban on his part showed himself alive to the importance of the crisis. He sent the three Italian Cardinals who were with him (the Cardinal of S. Peter was ill, and died in August, declaring the validity of Urban’s election), to negotiate at Palestrina with those at Anagni; he empowered them to offer to submit the question to the decision of a General Council. The Ultramontanes refused this offer, and urged the Italian Cardinals to join them at Anagni; the Italians wavered, and retired to Genazzano to await the turn of affairs. The King of France, Louis of Anjou, and Giovanna of Naples, openly declared themselves in behalf of the rebels, who on August 9 issued an encyclical letter to the whole of Christendom. They declared that the election had been made under violence; through fear of death they had elected the Archbishop of Bari, in the expectation that his conscience would not allow him to accept an election made in such a way; he had been ensnared by ambition to the destruction of his soul; he was an intruder and deceiver; they called upon him to give up his delusive dignity, and they summoned all Christians to reject his authority.

DIVISION OF EUROPE BETWEEN THE TWO POPES

War was now declared; but it was at first a war of pamphlets. Learned legists gave their opinions, and Legal universities examined the question. There were two nice points to be determined, and arguments could readily be obtained on either side, (1) Did the tumult of the Romans amount to actual violence sufficient to do away with the freedom of the electors? (2) If so, did not the subsequent recognition of Urban by the Cardinals, a recognition which lasted for three months, supply any defect which might have been in the original election? It is clear that these questions might be settled according as prejudice or interest directed. There had been enough irregularity in the election to give the Cardinals a fair plea for their proceedings; but the formal plea was a mere cloak to political motives. The significance of Urban’s election lay in the fact that it restored the Papacy to Rome, and freed it from the influence of France. It was not to be expected that the traditions of the seventy years’ captivity could be set aside at once; it was not natural that France should let go her hold without a desperate effort. The rebellion of the irritated Cardinals against a Pope who paid no heed to their privileges combined with deep-seated motives of political interest and produced a schism.

The Cardinals at Anagni found that their soldiers consumed all the provisions, so that they were driven to change their abode. They therefore transferred themselves to Fondi, where they were safer under the protection of Count Onorato. The Italian Cardinals went from Palestrina to Sessa, that they might continue their negotiations; soon, however, they were persuaded to join the other rebels at Fondi. It is said that they were won over by a promise that one of them should be elected Pope in Urban’s stead. The Cardinals could now point to Urban’s helplessness; the whole body of his electors was united in opposition to him. In truth, Urban found himself almost entirely deserted, and when it was too late he repented bitterly of his first rashness. For a time his spirit was crushed, and his secretary, Dietrich of Niem, tells us that he often found him in tears. But he soon plucked up courage, and on September 18 created twenty-eight new Cardinals. This resolute step of Urban’s hastened the proceedings of the rebels at Fondi, who, on September 20, elected as their Pope, Robert of Geneva, who took the name of Clement VII. The Italian Cardinals took no part in this election, nor did they repudiate it. They returned to Sessa, and thence retired to a castle of the Orsini at Tagliacozzo. There Cardinal Orsini died in 1380, and the two others, feeling that it was too late for reconciliation with Urban, joined the party of Clement.

In their election of Robert of Geneva, the Cardinals had Previous chosen the man whom they thought best fitted to fight a hard battle. Robert was brother to the Count of Geneva, and so was allied with many noble houses. He was in the vigor of manhood, at the age of thirty-six, and had already shown great force of character, and practical skill in business. His fierce determination had been seen in his conduct as Legate in North Italy in 1377, where a rising of Cesena against his soldiers was avenged by a pitiless...

Indice dei contenuti

• THE RISE OF THE PAPAL POWER.
• THE POPES AT AVIGNON.
• URBAN VI, CLEMENT VII AND THE AFFAIRS OF NAPLES.: 1378—1389.
• CLEMENT VII. BONIFACE IX. RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN OXFORD AND PARIS.: 1389—1394
• BONIFACE IX. BENEDICT XIII. ATTEMPTS OF FRANCE TO HEAL THE SCHISM.: 1394— 1404.
• INNOCENT VII.—BENEDICT XIII. TROUBLES IN ITALY AND FRANCE.: 1404—1406.
• GREGORY XII. — BENEDICT XIII. NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE RIVAL POPES.: 1406 — 1409.
• THE COUNCIL OF PISA.: 1409.
• ALEXANDER V.: 1409-1410.
• JOHN XXIII.: 1410-1414