Title affum'd by James and Joan, of Sovereigns of Hungary, Croatia or Dalmatia. On the other hand, the Cardinal of St. Mark protested, in the Name of Lewis of Anjou, against the Title of King of Sicily and Jerufalem, which was alfo affum'd by James and Joan, and declar'd that he did not know of any other King of Sicily and Jerusalem but Lewis of Anjou, for whom he pleaded. The Neapolitan Ambaffadors demanded a Certificate of it, after having declar'd that they were come to the Council not to enter into any Controverfy about Titles, but to fubmit themselves to the Council and to act for the Union of the Church; and that they hop'd that the Proteftations now made would not be prejudicial to the Rights and Pretenfions of their Mafters. This was what made the Council renew a former Decree, whereby they had declar'd that all Ranks, Titles and Seats, which might be taken in the Council, fhould not be to the Prejudice of any Person, nor be drawn into Consequence, either for or against any one whatsoever. 1416. AFTER this, three Letters were read, which were fent to the Council; one from Ladislaus King of Poland, and from Duke Withold, another from Michael Cochmeifter, Grand Mafter of the Teutonic Order, and the third from the University of Cracow. Ladislaus tells the Council how religiously he has obferv'd the Truce concluded by the Mediation of Sigifmond and Charles VI. King of France, between Poland and the Teutonic Order, till the obtaining of a folid and lafting Peace, which he expects from the good Offices of the Council. He applauds the Zeal of the Council for the Extirpation of Herefy, and for the Union of the Church, under one only lawful Head, whofe Election, he fays, he waits for with Impatience. Laftly, he thanks the Affembly for the Measures they have taken for the entire Converfion of the Samogitians, as well as for the Reconciliation of the Greeks; and he promises to join with the Grand Duke of Lithuania, in order to finish this great Work, which had only been retarded by the Wars wherein they had been engag'd. This Letter is dated the 2d of August, 1416. That from the Grand Mafter is an Answer to the Council, the Fathers of which he calls his most dread Lords. He promifes to obferve the Truce religioufly, and earneftly prays the Council to procure a good Peace between Poland and the Teutonic Order, to the End that the faid Order may turn their Arms against the Enemies of the Church. The Letter is dated the 10th of July. It appears by a Letter from the Deputies of the University of Cologn, dated the 15th of May in the fame Year, that the Archbishops of Gnefna and Strigonia had declar'd to the Council, in the Emperor's Name, that the Truce between the King of Poland and the Knights of the Teutonic Order had been prolong'd for a Year (a). The Letter from the Univerfity (a) Marten of Cracow is of the fame Tendency as the foregoing ones, but has Anecdot, T. II. this p. 1663. Rrrr2 1416. ( V. d. Hardt, this remarkable in it, viz. that (a) it gives the fame Authority to the Doctors of the Council as to the four Gofpels and the Decalogue. a) 'Tis da- The Univerfity expreffes a great Zeal for the Reformation of the ed the 12th Church in its Head and Members, and gives as horrid a Picture of of Auguft. the Manners of the Clergy, as the Character they give of a true Pope, T.IV.p.873. is beautiful and difficult to answer. As to Hereticks, they promise to do as much Justice upon them as the Council, if they offer to creep into Poland. Si fines inclyti Regni Poloniæ tanquam vulpecule-fubintrare fatagerent, non fegnius apud nos ac apud vos facibus flammeis vefliti, pro fuis dogmatibus ignitas exciperent aureolas. In fine, they ftrenuously folicite the Council to re-establish the Sciences by the Foundation of Universities. This of Cracow was founded in 140c. John Petit's p. 650. CIII. THE Affair of John Petit was ftill warmly debated, both at Paris and Conflance. The Ambalfadors of Burgundy ftrenuoutly prefs'd the Commiffioners to execute the Refolution which they had taken on the 11th of April to publifh the Sentiments of the Doctors upon this Affair, becaufe out of fourfcore and feven Doctors, who had given their Opinion, there were fixty one who had voted that it was not a Caufe of Faith, or an Affair of Religion, according to the Pretention of the Burgundians. With this View they had fent the Emperor a long Petition in the Name of the Duke of Burgundy, wherein they made great Gerf. ubi fupr. Complaints of the Ambaffadors of France, and particularly of Gerfon, as of a Man who obftructed the Courfe of Juftice. But, on the other hand, the Ambaffadors of France, who had excepted against the Commiffioners, demanded with the fame Earneftness that the Affair might be decided by the Council itfelf, without any of the Forms of Law. This was the Tenor of a Letter from the University of Paris to the Council, dated September 14, and of an Arret of the Parliament of Paris, dated the 19th of the fame Month, forbidding any Perfon whatfoever, in the King's Royalty, to declare, publish, affirm or teach, that 'tis lawful for any Vaffal, Subject, or other Perfon, to kill any one by Ambufcade, Flattery or Deceit, without ftaying for the Sentence or Command of the proper Judge. "Twas this that oblig'd the Duke of Burgundy to write to the Council, and to fend a new Embaffy thither to complain of the University of Paris, and of the Violences committed in France against those who were in that Duke's Intereft. The Inftructions he gave to thofe Ambaffadors may be feen in the new Edition Gerf. ub. fupr. of Gerfon's Works, wherein the Duke of Burgundy is call'd plain MonGeneral Con-fieur. On the 1th of September there allo came new Proteftations from the Duke of Burgundy of the fame Tendency. 658. gregation about the U nion of the Spaniards, and about Gregory's O. bedience CIV. ON the 19th of September there was a general Congregation, chiefly to give Audience to the Ambafladors, whom the Council had fent to the Kings of Navarre and Caftille, and to the Counts de Foix and d'Armagnac. They then made a Report of their Negociations, and and read the Acts by which thofe Kings and Noblemen withdrew their 1416. Obedience, together with the Confirmation of the Treaty of Narbonne, and their Credentials. IN this Congregation another Affair was debated, which relates alfo . d. Harde, to the Extirpation of the Schifm. It chiefly concern'd the Princes of T.IV. p.897. Germany, who had been in the Obedience of Gregory XII. as were the Palatine Princes, the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburg, and the Landgraves of Heffe, whom John XXIII. had treated as Schitmaticks. When Gregory had refign'd, and the two Obediences, viz. thofe of John XXIII. and Gregory XII. were reconcil'd, as happen'd on the th of July, 1415. the Council ratify'd every thing that Gregory XII. had made, decreed, granted, &c. canonically in His REAL OBEDIENCE, and forbad all Perfons to infringe any of that Pope's Decrees, under the Colour of Schifm, or any other pretended Difability. But this Term of Real Obedience gave Occafion for LawSuits and Cavils, fome explaining it after one Fafhion, and others after another, according to their different Paffions and Interefts. In thofe Places where Gregory XII. was recogniz'd by the greater Number, 'tis probable there might have been feveral Perfons who did not own him, and who by Confequence difputed with the others what he had done for their fakes, looking upon it as null and unwarrantable. For Inftance, the Elector of Mentz, who had always been a great Stick'er for John XXIII. and who was fo ftill underhand, pretended that whatever Gregory had done in thofe Parts of the Diocese and Province of Mentz, which recognized the faid Pope, ought to be deem'd void, and that they ought in this Refpect to be govern'd by the Opinion and Intereft of the Metropolitan: Confèquently he pretended that the Obedience which had been paid in thofe Places to Gregory, was not real, but falfe and illegal. It was therefore abfolutely neceffary that the Fathers fhould explain what they meant by the real Obedience of Gregory XII. in order to remove all double Meaning, and to the End that there might be no more Colour for contradi&ting or eluding the Ratification of the Council. I find a very long Memorial upon this, tho' without a Name, which endeavours to clear up what is meant by a Pope's real Obedience. I will give the Subftance of it. The Author fays, that real Obedience is the effectual and univerfal Obedience to a Pope, in any Country, Diftri&t, Town, Caftle, Parish, even tho' one or more particular Perfons in fuch Places fhould not acknowledge him; and that confequently Gregory XII. had a real Obedience wherever he was own'd Pope, wherever his Orders were obey'd, his Legates, his Nuncios, Commiffioners, &c. receiv'd, and wherever thofe of his Competitors were rejected. That, fays the Author, is a Thing which cannot be ambiguous, becaufe 'tis publick, not only by Fame, but by the Difpenfations, the Reverfions which are 1416. are there admitted or oppos'd, by the Cenfures fulminated by Apoftolical Authority, by the Sermons or Lectures made every Day from the Pulpits, at fuch times when the People are exhorted to pray for the Pope by Name. Afterwards the Author, when he proceeds to a clearer Explanation, adds, that the Real Obedience may be great, greater, and very great; small, leffer, and very small; but that in all thefe Cafes it ought to have the fame Effect in Proportion. 'Tis great in a City and in a Diocese, 'tis greater in a whole Province, 'tis very great over all Christendom. 'Tis fmall in a fingle City, 'tis leffer in a Caftle, a Township, and a Village, and 'tis very fmall in a fingle Parish. The Author of the Memorial afferts, that this was the Intention of the Council when they ratified every Thing that Gregory had done in his real Obedience, and he fupports his Opinion by feveral Arguments from Fact and Law, in which there are fome Things that deserve to be taken Notice of. I. 'Tis notorious, fays he, that at the Beginning of the Schifm the Obediences of Urban VI. and Clement VII. were not fhar'd into Diocefes and Provinces, because frequently there were Cities, Caftles, Villages and Parishes of a different Party, in one and the fame Diocefe, and fometimes too the Parishes of one and the fame Town were divided into two Obediences. This he proves from a great Number of Instances in Germany; and he affirms, that at Paris, where Clement VII. was obey'd, there were Thousands of Souls, and even of Perfons of all Orders, and of very great Diftinction, who held out for Urban VI. 2. WHEN there was a Ratification at the Council of Pifa of what had been done by the two Competitors at that Time, they made use of these express Terms, at the Times and Places where they enjoy d a real and free Obedience. 'Tis not probable, fays he, that by thofe Places the Council of Pifa meant entire Provinces detach'd from one another, otherwise there would have been feveral Places in the Obedience of John XXIII. for which the Council had made no Provifion, because feveral Places that had been in the Obedience of Gregory XII. lay within the Bounds of that of John XXIII. The Council's Intention therefore was, that all the Diftri&ts, Towns, Caftles, Villages, Parishes, in whatsoever Diocefe or Province they were, which fhould pafs fucceffively from one Obedience to the other, fhould enjoy the Benefices and other Advantages which they should acquire canonically, notwithstanding all Oppofition from Places and Perfons which might be of a contrary Obedience. 3. WHEN the Council of Conftance was refolv'd to ratify what had been done by Gregory XII. in his real Obedience, they remark'd exprefsly, that in the Cities of Mentz and Cologn there had been feveral private Men who were of Gregory's Obedience, and fuch fort of Obe dience was only confider'd as perfonal, because the Magiflrates and People of thofe Towns were in another Obedience, to which the perfonal Obedience could not be prejudicial. Therefore when they were inclin'd to make Provifion for the Interefts of the Palatine Princes, the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburg, and the Landgraves of Heffe, whofe Dominions were of Gregory's Obedience, they were told in plain Terms, that as there were feveral Towns, Caftles and Territorics, in feveral Provinces, which were of John XXIII.'s Obedience; as particularly in that of Mentz, they ought to leave Things in ftatu quo, and not to extend the Privileges that had been granted them by Gregory XII. beyond their Dominions. 4. HE fays, that Inferiors ought to obey their ordinary Judges no farther than as the latter are in a State of Obedience to their fuperior Judge. Tis furprizing, fays he, to hear People pretend, that before a Man obeys the Pope, he muft wait till the Archbishop obeys him, and that the Obedience is no farther real than the Archbishop has a mind to render it. If the real Obedience to a Pope depended on any Perfon inferior to a Pope, it would be on the Bishop, or the next immediate Prelate in his Diocese, and not on the Archbishop in his Province, because the Archbishops have Jurifdiction over the Bishops only in certain Cafes, whereas the Bishops have it always over their Dio 'cefans.' . BECAUSE the Council of Pifa may be quoted, which had depofed Gregory XII. and thereby made void what he had done; the Author returns this folid Anfwer: That for the fake of Peace, that Council was not willing to enter into any Difcuffion, either of Law or Fact, and that there would have been many others neceffary to be made lince that Time; that without Regard to what pass'd at the Council of Pifa, that of Conftance had thought fit to have Recourse to the Method of Refignation; that John XXIII. for refufing it was depofed, and thereby deprived of all Right whatsoever, which could not be faid of Gregory, who had refign'd voluntarily, and that finally this was ripping up of old Breaches, because they who made this Objection preferr'd the one Obedience to the other, tho' they had. been reconcil'd and declar'd equal by the Council. THE Memorial concludes with a very sharp Reflection upon the Archbishops, which properly could only be aim d at the Archbishops of Meatz, Cologn and Triers, who cavill'd at fome Princes and Bishops of Germany that had been of Gregory XII.'s Obedience. Is it not furpri ng, fays he, that the Bifhops, the inferior Prelates, the Prinecs, and the other Temporal Powers, who have both Zeal and Piety, 'fhould be regardless of what Party their Archbishops efpoufe, while 'tis vifible that thofe very Archbishops only mind their own Intereft, and without caring what becomes of their Charges, or of the Peace 1416. |