Part I, Chapter 7, 2

Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope and the city; and about two or three years later the Romans, with the help of some of the clergy, raised such tumults against him as gave occasion for 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, stripped him of his priestly robes, and imprisoned him in a monastery. But with the help 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 with a design to throw off all authority of the Church and recover their ancient 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, on an appointed day, presided over a Council of Italian and French bishops to hear both parties. But when the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared¹¹ that he who was the supreme judge of all men was above being judged by any other than himself; at which point he made a solemn declaration of his innocence before all the people, and by doing so was looked upon as acquitted.

Soon after, on Christmas Day, the people of Rome, who had until then elected their Bishop and reckoned that they and their Senate inherited the rights of the ancient 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 worshiped him on his knees after the manner of adoring the old Roman Emperors; as the poet mentioned above relates:

Therefore, after the praises had been spoken, the same supreme prelate worshiped him, as was the custom owed long ago to ancient princes.

The Emperor, on the other hand, took the following oath to the Pope: In the name of Christ I promise and pledge, I, Charles Emperor, before God and blessed Peter the Apostle, to be the protector and defender of this holy Roman Church in all its welfare, so far as I shall be sustained by divine help, according to what I shall know and be able to do. The Emperor was also made Consul of Rome, and his son Pipin crowned King of Italy; and from then on the Emperor styled himself Charles, most serene, Augustus, crowned by God, great, peaceful, governing the empire at Rome, or Emperor of the Romans; and he was prayed for in the churches of Rome. His image was from then on 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 until then been in the Greek Emperors, was by this act transferred in the West to the Kings of France.

After these things¹² Charles gave the City and Duchy of Rome to the Pope, subordinate to himself as Emperor of the Romans; he spent the winter ordering the affairs of Rome and those of the Apostolic see, and of all Italy, both civil and ecclesiastical, and 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 labor in their vineyards, fields, pastures and houses, and continued to exact cattle and wine from them, and to oppress those who served the churches: he wrote to his son Pipin to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, and to see his laws executed.

Now the Senate and people and principality of Rome I take to be the third King whom the little horn overcame, and indeed the chief of the three. For this people elected the Pope and the Emperor; and now, by electing the Emperor and making him Consul, it 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 honor 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 ancient 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 bishoprics, granting tithes to the clergy and Peter-pence to the Pope; by all of which the Church of Rome was greatly 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 drawing of a piece of mosaic work which Pope Leo III had 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: Our Most Holy Lord Leo, Pope; by the King this: To Our Lord Charles, King; and under the feet of Peter this: Blessed Peter, give life to Pope Leo, and give victory to King Charles. 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 — Our Most Holy Lord Leo, Pope, to Our Lord Charles, King — relate to the message; and the words below — Blessed Peter, give life to Pope Leo, and give victory to King Charles — 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 Peter's lap 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 of 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, it 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 entirely, without the Emperor meddling in them, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope there, unless called upon 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 effigy 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 from then on 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.

1 Chap. vii. 8.

2 Ver. 20, 21.

3 Ver. 24.

4 Ver. 25.

5 Sigonius de Regno Italiæ, ad Ann. 726.

6 Sigonius ib. ad Ann. 726, 752.

7 Sigon. ib. Ann. 750.

8 Sigon. ib. Ann. 753, 754, 755.

9 Sigon. ib. Ann. 773.

10 Sigon. de Regno Ital. ad Ann. 796.

11 Vide Anastasium.

12 Sigon. de Regno Ital.

13 Confirmationem recitat Sigonius, lib. 4. de Regno Italiæ, ad An. 817.

Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope and the city. About two or three years later, the Romans, with help from some of the clergy, raised such tumults against him that a new state of things arose throughout the West. For two of the clergy accused him of crimes, and the Romans seized him with an armed force, stripped him of his priestly robes, and imprisoned him in a monastery. With the help of his friends he escaped and fled into Germany, to Charles the great. He complained to Charles that the Romans had acted against him out of a design to throw off all authority of the Church and recover their old freedom. While he was away, his accusers and their forces ravaged the lands of the Church, and they sent their charges to Charles. Before the end of the year, Charles sent the Pope back to Rome with a large retinue. The nobles and bishops of France who came with him examined the chief of his accusers in Rome and sent them to France under guard. This was in the year 799. The next year Charles himself went to Rome, and on a day he had appointed presided at a Council of Italian and French bishops to hear both sides. But when the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared¹¹ that he who was the supreme judge of all men could not be judged by anyone but himself. The Pope then made a solemn declaration of his innocence before all the people, and by doing so was considered acquitted.

Soon after, on Christmas Day, the people of Rome—who had until then elected their Bishop, and believed that they and their Senate inherited the rights of the old Senate and people of Rome—voted Charles their Emperor, and put themselves under him in the same way the old Roman Empire and its Senate were put under the old Roman Emperors. The Pope crowned him, anointed him with holy oil, and worshiped him on his knees, following the manner of honoring the old Roman Emperors; as the Poet mentioned above relates:

Post laudes igitur dictas & summus eundem Præsul adoravit, sicut mos debitus olim Principibus fuit antiquis.

The Emperor, in turn, took this 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 was crowned King of Italy. From then on the Emperor styled himself: Carolus serenissimus, Augustus, à Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus, Romæ gubernans imperium, or Imperator Romanorum; and prayers were offered for him in the Churches of Rome. His image was put on the coins of Rome from then on, while the Pope's enemies—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 were pardoned at the Pope's intercession and banished to France. In this way the title of Roman Emperor, which had until then belonged to the Greek Emperors, was transferred in the West to the Kings of France.

After this¹² Charles gave the City and Duchy of Rome to the Pope, subject to himself as Emperor of the Romans. He spent the winter setting in order the affairs of Rome, those of the Apostolic see, and those of all Italy, both civil and ecclesiastical, and making new laws for them; then he returned to France the next summer, leaving the city under its Senate, and both the city and the Senate under the Pope and himself. But he heard that his new laws were not followed: the judges did not follow them when they stated the law, and the people did not follow them when they heard it. He also heard that powerful men took servants from free people, and from the Churches and Monasteries, to labor in their vineyards, fields, pastures, and houses; and that they kept demanding cattle and wine from them, and oppressed those who served the Churches. So he wrote to his son Pipin to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, and to see that his laws were carried out.

Now I take the Senate, people, and principality of Rome to be the third King that 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, it was acknowledged to still hold the authority of the old Roman Senate and people. This city was the chief city of the old Roman Empire, represented in Daniel by the fourth Beast; and by subduing the Senate and people and the Duchy, it became the chief city of the little horn of that Beast, and it completed Peter's Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. Besides, this victory had greater consequences than those over the other two Kings. It set up the Western Empire, which continues to this day. It set up the Pope above the judgment of the Roman Senate, above that of a Council of Italian and French Bishops, and even above all human judgment; and it gave him the supremacy over the Western Churches and their Councils in a high degree. It gave him a look bolder than his fellows, so that when this new religion began to be established in people's minds, he grappled not only with Kings but even with the Western Emperor himself. It is also worth noting that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honor above that of Kings and Emperors, began around this time. There are examples of it in the ninth century: Platina tells us that all who came to Pope Leo IV kissed his feet, according to old custom; and some say that Leo III began this custom, claiming that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. Around this time the Popes also began to canonize saints, and to grant indulgences and pardons; and some say that Leo III was the first author of all these things. It is further worth noting 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; and he extended his conquests into Spain as far as the river Ebro. By these conquests he laid the foundation of the new Empire; and at the same time he spread the Roman Catholic religion into all his conquests, forcing the Saxons and Hunns, who were heathens, to receive the Roman faith. He divided his northern conquests into Bishoprics, granting tithes to the clergy and Peter-pence to the Pope. By all this the Church of Rome was greatly enlarged, enriched, exalted, and established.

In the dissertation mentioned above, upon some coins of Charles the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors, stamped at Rome, there is a drawing of a piece of Mosaic work that Pope Leo III had made in his Palace near the Church of John Lateran. It was made in memory of his sending the standard or banner of the city of Rome, richly worked, to Charles the great; and it was still there when the book mentioned above was published. In the Mosaic work there appeared Peter with three keys in his lap, handing 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 Peter's feet this, BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET BICTORIAM CARVLO REGI DONA. This monument gives Charles the title of King, and so it was set up before he was Emperor. It was set up when Peter was handing the Pallium to the Pope and the Pope was sending the banner of the city to Charles; that is, in A.C. 796. The words above, Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi, refer 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 the King victory over the Romans. The three keys in Peter's lap stand for the keys of the three parts of his Patrimony: Rome with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed and was conquering; Ravenna with the Exarchate; and the territories taken from the Lombards, both of 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 conquering which he became the little horn of the fourth Beast. From Peter's handing the Pallium to the Pope with his right hand and the banner of the city to the King with his left, and from the inscription naming the Pope before the King, it may be understood that the Pope was then considered superior in dignity to the Kings of the earth.

After the death of Charles the great, his son and successor Ludovicus Pius, at the Pope's request,¹³ confirmed the donations of his grandfather and father to the see of Rome. In the confirmation he first names 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 meddling in them, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope there, unless he was called to act in certain cases. The Emperor Ludovicus made this ratification under an oath; and as the King of the Ostrogoths, to acknowledge that he held his kingdom of Italy from the Greek Emperor, stamped the image of the Emperor on one side of his coins and his own on the reverse, so the Pope made the same acknowledgment to the Western Emperor. For the Pope now began to coin money, and for many years the coins of Rome are found with the heads of the Emperors—Charles, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors—on one side, and the Pope's inscription on the reverse.

Notes to Chap. VII.

1 Chap. vii. 8.

2 Ver. 20, 21.

3 Ver. 24.

4 Ver. 25.

5 Sigonius de Regno Italiæ, ad Ann. 726.

6 Sigonius ib. ad Ann. 726, 752.

7 Sigon. ib. Ann. 750.

8 Sigon. ib. Ann. 753, 754, 755.

9 Sigon. ib. Ann. 773.

10 Sigon. de Regno Ital. ad Ann. 796.

11 Vide Anastasium.

12 Sigon. de Regno Ital.

13 Confirmationem recitat Sigonius, lib. 4. de Regno Italiæ, ad An. 817.