The history of the rights of princes in the disposing of ecclesiastical benefices and church-lands relating chiefly to the pretentions of the Crown of France to the Regale and the late contests with the Court of Rome : to which is added a collection of letters written on that occasion : and some other remarkable papers put in an appendix / by Gilbert Burnet.

CHAP. III.

Of the Elections and Provisions of the Clergie in the Eastern Empire, till the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks.

THe Church began now to put on ano∣ther Face, I cannot say a better; for ever after this great Disorders brake into it. Wealth and Ambition corrupted the Minds of Church-men. The Emperors did con∣tribute liberally to the raising of their Power and Riches; but that being done, they took the nomination of them into their own Hands, and then gave them either to such illiterate Monks as were much esteemed of for the strictness of their Lives, but were Tools for any Designs on which they set them; or to such of their Courtiers or Souldiers, that had merited best at their hands. And by these means were the Greek Churches brought to that pass, for Igno∣rance and Corruption, that it is no wonder they were given up by God to such terrible Calamities as were brought upon them, first by the Saracens, and then by the Othoman Family, of which I shall give some few Ob∣servations, still restraining my self to the Subject of my present Enquiry.

Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria, having been deposed by the Council of Chalcedon, the Noble-men of the Citya] chose Prote∣rius to be their Bishop. It seems that the Emperors expected, that, at least in the Patriarchal Sees, their assent should be de∣sired. For when that Council wrote to the Clergy of Alexandria, giving them notice of Dioscorus's Deposition, they charged them to look to the Concerns of the Church, as became those who were to give account of them, to him that should be ordained their Bishop by the Emperors approbation. But some Years after that,b] the Eutychians raised a Tu∣mult against Proterius; and tho' he fled to a Church, they pursued him, and killed him in it, and dragged him about the Streets, with other barbarous Cruelties. Timothy, called Solofaciolus, was chosen in his room, both by the Clergy, the People, and all the Faithful there, as Leoc] writes. About that time the Eutychians raising likewise Tumults in Antioch, Zeno the Emperor, commanded, That the Election of the Bishop of that City should be made at Constantinople, about which he wrote to Pope Simplicius, excusing it, and promising it should not be brought into Precedent. The Pope answered,d] allowing it in those Circumstances; but it is like, fearing lest the Emperor might or∣der all the other Elections to the Patriar∣chal Sees, to be made in the same manner; he tells him, That he had laid up his Letter among the Records, as an assurance that it should not be done so any more. The Sedi∣tions

that were raised at Alexandria,e] made those of the City fear, that the Em∣peror might take the right of chusing from them: So one John was sent to Court a∣bout it; and it seems the Emperor appre∣hended that he intended to get himself to be chosen: of which he purged himself by Oath, and obtained a Law, That he should be the Bishop there, whom the Clergy and Com∣munity (i. e. the Magistracy, for that is the meaning of the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) should chuse. But he persidiously broke his Faith, and got himself to be chosen, and for that was turned out.

After this time, the different Opinions in Religion raised such Heats, especially in the great Towns, that the strength of the Empire was not a little broken by them; especially that being a time when the inroads of the Barbarians, and the desolations of the West, seemed to call upon them to moderate their Differences. Upon this the Emperors made some General Formuls for comprehending Men of all Perswasions. But both the Popes, and the other Bishops, opposed this much, and called it, A corrupting of the Faith, and the embasing it with Heretical Mixtures. Zeno, the Emperor, intending [ 491] to have a Bishop at Constantinople that should favour his Design; instead of suffering a free Election, he ordered the choice of the new Bishop to be made in this manner;f] He laid a Paper on the Altar, and prayed that God would cause an Angel to write on it, the Name of him that should

be their Bishop: and he shut up the Church, and ordered Fasting and Prayers to be for forty days: at the end of which he resol∣ved to visit the Paper. But one Flavitas corrupted the Eunuch, that had the keep∣ing of the Door, to that Altar trusted to him, and so his Name was writ on the Pa∣per. Yet this came to be discovered by means of the Bankers that lent the Mony, which was given for promoting this Cheat; of which the Emperor, or some about him, had a share. But after this, Zeno left the Elections to the Bishops. Anastasius, be∣ing resolved to take away the Authority of the Council of Chalcedon, did turn out the Bishops of some of the Patriarchal Sees, and put in new ones by his own Authori∣ty; and so things continued in great confu∣sion in the East.

[ 535] There was some settlement made in Ju∣stinian's Time: For Agapetus coming to Constantinople, a Council was held there, in which Anthimus the former Patriarch was deposed, and Menas was chosen, both by the Emperor, and the whole Clergy and People; of which that Pope says vainly in his Letter, That he believes it was a great ad∣dition to his Dignity, that he was ordained by his Hands, he being the first Bishop whom that See had ordained in the East from the days of St. Peter.

And now having arrived at the Age of Justinian, I shall bring the Laws which re∣late to my Subject, that were made by him and the former Eastern Emperors, under

the Readers view. Martiang] confirmed [ 454] all the Privileges that had been granted to the Churches, and annulled all Laws or Pragmaticks made against them, and ap∣pointed all the Salaries that were paied to them out of the Publick, to be paid with∣out diminution. And the next Year he made a Law,h] by which he left it free [ 455] to all Persons, both Men and Women, by their last Will, or any other way, to give what they thought fit to the Church, or to any other pious use; and this might be done, either by a written or a nuncupative Will. This Law must be imputed to Pul∣chera's Interest, that was even to Supersti∣tion set on raising the Authority and Great∣ness of the Church. And it may be easily supposed it was so managed, that it very much raised the Churches Patrimony. But fifteen Years after this, the Emperor Leo made a Lawi] against the Clergies selling [ 470] or lessening the Lands that belonged to the Church, by it he annulled all the Bargains they had made, unless they tended to the im∣proving the value of their Lands: and gave many Rules concerning the Mortga∣ges or Leases of Church Lands. After this followed many Laws to the same purpose, which are of so intricate a nature, that without going far into the Grounds of the Roman Law, it will not be easy to make the Reader comprehend the meaning of them. But the chief design of them all is obvious; which is, that the present Incumbents should not either alienate or let them to their

Friends, or enrich themselves by them, but should live on the Revenue, and improve it all they could, for the good of their Succes∣sors. And it is plain, that the Custom of taking Fines at the renewing of Leases, when the Mony so taken is not applyed to the use of the Church, is directly contrary to the meaning of those Laws, In which the Fra∣mers of Justinian's Code and Novels, seem to have used as much application, as in any one thing whatsoever. And indeed since new Improvements, as well as the old Rents, belong to the Church, I do not see how the practice of levying Fines, and convert∣ing [ 469] them to secular Uses, can be defended. The Emperor Leo made another Lawk] against the giving or taking of Mony, in the Elections or Ordinations of Bishops, and appointed all that were found guilty of it, to be not only degraded, but to be de∣clared infamous; In which are these re∣markable words; So far ought a Bishop to be from any aspirings, that he must be sought out and forced; and being invited, or desired, he is to refuse and withdraw himself: for which he needs give no other reason, but that he ought to excuse himself, for he is unworthy of the Priesthood that is not unwillingly ordained. He [ 528] made also another Law, l] That Bishops should not force any to come and make Obla∣tions, or vex, or excommunicate them, or deny them the Sacraments for it. Who so trans∣gressed this Law, was to be degraded and fined.

Justinian made a long Law, m] soon af∣ter [ 528] his coming to the Empire, concerning the Election of Bishops, that upon a Va∣cancy, the Inhabitants of the City should make a Decree for three Persons, that so the most deserving of these might be or∣dained. But he does not in this Law de∣clare who shall chuse the Person out of the three. By the same Law, he appoints, that a Bishop may not, by his last Will, dispose of what he has acquired during his being a Bishop, either by the Gifts of o∣thers, or by any other way, excepting on∣ly what was left to him by his Father, his Uncles, or his Brothers. For it is suppo∣sed, that what others gave him, was in regard to his being a Bishop, and that what he acquired, was out of the Estate of the Church: and therefore the Stewards are charged to take a strict account of all that is left by them when they die, that so it may be appropriated to the Church; and they are required to take care, that whatever was over and above in the Rents of the Church, or of any pious Endowments, be∣yond the necessary Expence, should be ap∣plyed to some new Purchase, that so the Goods of the Church might be improved: And the giving of Mony in Ordinations, or for making Stewards or Defensors, is for∣bid: those that do otherwise, both Takers and Givers, are to be degraded.

In order to the understanding of this, it is to be considered, That the Council of Chalcedon having condemned all Ordina∣tions

for Mony, an Evasion was soon found out; for the Mony was given after the Or∣dination, and it was pretended, that this was not contrary to that Decree. But Gennadius, Bishop of Constantinople, oppo∣sed this earnestly, and denounced an Ana∣theman] [ 459] on all that were guilty of it; and says, that whether the Mony were given be∣fore or after Ordination, both were con∣trary to the Mind of the Council. And in a Council of 73 Bishops he condemned it; as appears by the Letter which he writ con∣cerning it, that is in the Tomes of the Councilso]. But in Justinian's Time, the use of Inthronisticks had crept in; of which we shall afterwards see what regulation he made. By another Law,p] he restrained the Peoples Bounty to the Church, that had been encouraged by Marcian, and Enacted, That none might give above 50 Solid. to any pious use, without putting it in wri∣ting and on Record.

The Clergy continued still subjected to the common Obligation of being Tutors (i. e. Guardians) to Children, as appears in the third Canon of Chalcedon. But Ju∣stinian exempted them from thisq]. He also, by many Laws, provided, that those Officers that belonged to the Court should not be ordained, unless they had lived fif∣teen Years in a Monastery. They were also to pay the fourth part of their Estate to the Fisk. He likewise restrained the number of the Clergy of the great Church of Constantinople: But it may be easily

judged how great the Revenue of it was, by the numbers which he allowed,r] who were 60 Presbyters, 100 Deacons, 40 Dea∣connesses, 90 Subdeacons, 100 Readers, 25 Singers, 200 Ostiarii; tho' there was then a far greater number of them. But he commanded that none should be ordain∣ed in the room of any then in Office that died, till they fell down to this proportion. And it appears, that many other Chur∣ches were maintained out of the Revenues of that Churchs].

After this came another Lawt] con∣cerning the Ordination of Bishops, of their Qualifications, the Testimony that was to be given them, their Residence in their Dio∣cesses, and their not coming to Court; to∣gether with many excellent Rules for the In∣ferior Clergy. The Law that comes after it contains many Provisions concerning the Leases of Church Lands. By another Law, we see the vastness of the great Church of Constantinople,u] that there were 1100 Bearers for Funerals belonging to it that were free from Taxes.

By another Law,x] he provides, That if any built a Church, and endowed it, the Patriarch was not to be obliged to ordain any that the Patron pleased to name, but was only to do it, in case he judged them fit for it, that so the Holy Things of God might not be profaned. This proved an effe∣ctual Provision, as long as Ordinations were not given, but with a determination to a particular place. But after that these

were given more loosly, a great servitude has been brought upon the Church, by the Laws that require Bishops to give Institution up∣on the Patrons Presentations, by which so important a piece of their Pastoral Care is taken out of their hands, and can never be recovered, but by great exactness, in their conferring that holy Character.

[ 541] In another Novely] he explains these things that were not determined in the first Laws which he made about Ordinations. The Clergy, and the chief Men of the Ci∣ty, were to make a Decree for three Per∣sons, having first made Oath, that they did it neither for Mony, nor the promise of it, nor for favour, nor upon any other ac∣count, but that they knew those whom they named to be Orthodox, of good Life, and Learned; to which several other Qualifi∣cations are added. If they knew not three that had those Qualifications, they might put two, or but one in their Decree; and out of these, the Metropolitan was to name the Person; and if within six months the City did not make a Decree, their right devolved to the Metropolitan. Butz] if any objected ought to the Person so chosen, his Ordination was to be delayed till that was discussed. And the Person to be ordain∣ed, might either before or after it, give his E∣state, or a part of it, to the Church. Then he taxesa] the Sum to be payed for an Inthro∣nistick, that it should not be above twen∣ty pounds of Gold for a Patriarch, or as much less as the Custom was. Other Bi∣shops

were to pay to the Metropolitan, a 100 Solidi, and 300 to the Notaries and Clerks, if their Revenue was between ten and thirty pound of Gold; and if it was betwen ten and five, they were to pay 50 Solidi for Inthronisticks, and 200 for other Dues; and so proportionably the rate is set for poorer Bishopricks. Only those whose Revenue was short of two pound of Gold, were to pay nothing. A pound of Gold, is about thirty six pound English Mony. So by this it appears, that the Re∣venue of some Sees was not seventy two pound, and the highest rank of Bishopricks here taxed, is of those that were between 320 and 1080 pound Revenue; and yet out of that the Bishop had only his share, for both the rest of the Clergy, and the Poor, were to be maintained by it, besides the expence of the Fabrick. But in such Poor and ill-endowed Sees, the Oblations were no doubt larger; which we may reaso∣nably suppose still abated much, as the Sees grew to be well endowed. By that same Law,b] he declares the Ordination of a Bishop, to be a Manumission from the Au∣thority his Father had over him. He also forbids any Clergy-men to exercise any Se∣cular Employmentc]; and forbids any Mony to be paid at Ordinationsd], ex∣cept what was according to the Custom, gi∣ven to the Servants of the Ordainer, which should not exceed a Years Rent of the In∣come, with severe pains both on the Givers and Takers, and those that should go be∣tween

them. Another Provisoe] is, That those who built & endowed Churches, might name those who were to serve in them. But if they named unworthy Persons, then the Bishop might ordain whom he pleased, and judged well of.

By another Lawf] he makes all Church-Lands liable to the mending of Ways, and the making and mending of Bridges, but exempts them from all sordid Services. In the same Law,g] he also provides that a Bishop shall not dispose, by his last Will, of any thing that he acquired after his Ordi∣nation to any of his Kindred, except an Inheritance fell to him from some of his Kindred, in the nearest degrees. In ano∣ther Law,h] he renewed what he had for∣merly commanded, concerning the Electi∣ons and Ordinations of Bishops; in which there is a great deal cited out of Nazian∣zen, of that purity of Soul that ought to be in the Clergy; and of the preparation that must go before their being raised to that Station. To the former Provisions he adds this, That the Person to be ordained, should subscribe to the Faith, and swear, that he had neither, by himself nor others, given or promised any thing, or was to give any thing, either to him that ordained him, or to those that gave their Voices for him.

And thus I have extracted the most re∣markable Laws that are in Justinian's Code or Novells, relating to this Matter. Yet tho' by those Laws, the Clergy and Town

Councils had the right to name three, the same Emperor, if the Historians say true, both turned out and made Bishops by his own Authority. Procopius puts it worse, and says,i] Theodora the Empress disposed of Bishopricks as well as of Governments, that so there should be no good Man advanced to either of them, who might at any time refuse to obey her Orders.

The Greek Emperors, after this, did generally promote Bishops to the greater Sees by recommendations, which they di∣rected at least to the Ordainer; so that the choice of one out of three, in all the emi∣nent Sees, came to depend wholly on the secret notice that the Emperor gave to the Metropolitan; which made some later Greeks think, it was the Emperor that na∣med the Person; but in that they mistook what was done, by a secret intimation for a publick Act of the Emperors. But the establish'd form of Elections was for the most part kept up.

In the sixth General Council, k] the [ 680] Bishop and Clergy of Antioch petitioned the Judges, that sat there in the Emperor's Name, that they would interpose with the Emperor to give them a Bishop, and ac∣cordingly, within two Sessions after that we find they had one. And among the Ca∣nons of the Council in Trullol], one is, That if any Bishop, or Clergy-man, were or∣dained for Mony, and not by tryal, and a re∣gard had to the course of his Life, both the Or∣dainer and the Ordained were to be deposed.

The Greek Writers do grow after this Age so partial, that little Credit is due to them; For where they like a Bishop, they praise him so unreasonably, and reproach others as incredibly, that it is hard to tell what we ought to believe. One thing is clear, that where they intend to magnify a Bishop, they generally set out his Election as made by the People and Clergy; and where they reproach him, they ascribe his promotion meerly to the Emperor's Favour. So that the one was still held in estimation, and the other was ill thought of. They make Germanusm] to be chosen by the Clergy and People, but turned out by Leo Isaurus, because he would not break down Images; in whose room he put Anastasius by his own Authority. So they tell us,n] that Constantine, called Copronimus, both elected and declared a Patriarch by his own Authority, whom he afterwards degraded and killed, but put another in his room. Then Irene proposed Tarasiuso], to which all the People assented. In his Time met the second Nicene Council, that established the Worship of Images. In it a Decree was madep], annulling all Elections by Princes, and they cite for it both the 38 Canon (cal∣led Apostolical) and the Canon of the first Council of Nice: And add, that a Bishop ought to be chosen by the Bishops of the Pro∣vince. Upon the Death of Tarasius, they tell us,q] that Nicephorus was chosen by the Suffrage of the whole People, by the Em∣peror and the Clergy.

The next remarkable contest concerning an Election, was between Ignatius and Pho∣tius, under Bardas the Emperor. He had turned out Ignatius, and had put that most learned Greek in his room. So a Synod being called to judg about it, they objected to Ignatius, r] that he was never lawfully [ 858] chosen. Ignatius answers, that he was cho∣sen Canonically, both by the Bishops and the Church; but that Photius came in by the Secular Authority against the Canons. The issue was, Ignatius signed a Confession, ac∣knowledging that he came in without an Election; tho' his Party said, that he was forced to it by Torture and other Cruelties. But by this Proceeding it appears, that they still looked on Elections as a thing necessa∣ry; and that the want of it, even after a long possession, (for this was sixteen Years after Ignatius's Ordination) was sufficient for degrading a Bishop. And it appears that Photius was Canonically chosen; for when the Synod met afterwards that condemned him, all that was objected to him was, That he being a Lay-man, was on a sudden carried through the Ecclesiastical Degrees, and made Patriarch. Upon which they made a Decree, s] That none that was a Lay∣man, [ 869] and of the Senatorian Order, and became a Monk or a Clergy-man, with de∣sign to be made Patriarch, should be ad∣vanced to it, even tho' he had staid some considerable time in every one of the pre∣vious degrees. The time they appoint is ten Years, dividing them thus; he was to

be a Reader one, and a Sub-Deacon two, a Deacon three, and a Presbyter four Years; unless he had been formerly a Monk for some considerable time. Any Person may see the unreasonableness of this, and that it was done meerly to serve that turn, since it was never observed in any Age. And yet upon this they not only degraded Photius, but against all sense or equity, they annul∣led all the Ordinations made by him.

[ 944] Afterwards many Instances occur, of Emperors putting in or out Patriarchs at pleasure; but none is so gross as that of the Emperor Romanus, who made one Tryphon Patriarch; but upon a promise that he should resign it when his Son Theophilact grew of Age. So when his Son was 25 Years old, he required the Patriarch to perform what he had promised; which he refused to do. Upon this a Synod was cal∣led, in which he was accused as an illiterate Person; and one came to him under colour of Friendship, and told him, it was re∣presented to the Emperor that he could not write: So he desired him to write his Name, with his Title, on a piece of clean Paper; which he did, mistrusting nothing: But a Resignation was written over his Subscrip∣tion, and he was turned out upon it, and the Emperor's Son was put in his room.

After him came Poleiuctus by an Election. In his Timet] there arose a Debate be∣tween him and the Bishops concerning the Elections. He said, The Common Electi∣ons

were carried by private Affection, and without a true Judgment, and therefore proposed that the Bishops and he might meet and consult who should be chosen, but the other Bishops were against it. This the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas observing, took occasion from thence to make a Law, by which he assumed to himself the power of naming Bishops, and commanded that none should be admitted into any Church but by his Order. And not only so, but he made a Law,u] that Churches might have no Lands nor real Estates belonging to them; pretending this for a Reason, That the Bishops did not distribute faithfully the proportion that was due to the Poor. And when Bishopricks fell vacant, he used to send one of his Courtiers to examine the true state of the Revenue, and ordered so much as he thought fit to be allowed to the next Bishop, but reserved the rest to himself. Zimisces conspiring against him, and kil∣ling him, repealed this Law,x] that so he might have the Patriarchs favour. But the Emperors continued still to make the Patriarchs; yet that was held an irregu∣lar thing; For Basilius having made Alexius Patriarch, his Brother Michael had a mind to the Chair; so a Synod was called to de∣pose Alexius. The Pretence used by the Bishops was, that he was not chosen by the Bishops, but put in by the Emperor, con∣trary to the Canons. To whom he an∣swered stoutly, That if his Ordination was null, then all the Metropolitans whom

he bad ordained, during the eleven Years of his Administration, ought to be likewise degraded; and many of the Bishops being concerned in this, were willing to let it fall. After this, sometimes, tho' very sel∣dom, we hear of an Election by the Clergy and the Peoples Suffrages. So in Isaac Com∣nenus's [ 1058] Time Constantin Lichudes was cho∣sony]. And tho' the Emperor opposed it a little, yet in conclusion he gave way to it. After him came John Xiphilinus the Epi∣tomizer of Dion's Historyz], who was also elected; but it is not expressed by whom, whether only by the Bishops, which was the more common way, after the Time of the second Council of Nice, or if it was by the Clergy and People.

By this time that Church was fallen into so much Disorder, and the Emperors were so wicked, that the Conspiracies and Re∣volutions in the State, and the Changes that were made in the Church, were such, that it is rather a wonder that Empire stood so long, than that it fell at last. And it was not strange, if so good a Man as Cos∣mus, the Patriarch under Alexius Comnenus, [ 1081] seeing such Corruptions among them, and no hope of any effectual Reformation, bad his Reader one day carry after him his Psalter out of the Church: upon which he retired, and would never return to the Church any more; And so an ignorant Eu∣nuch was put in his room. In this Empe∣ror's Reign, as there were great aspirings to the Patriarchal Dignity, so they could

hardly find Men to go and be Bishops in Asia, that was then impoverished by the Saracens, so that the Churches there had no Revenues. To redress this, he made a Lawa] for Pluralities; but the most excu∣sable that ever was, That such Bishops as had any Place in the Cathedral at Constantinople, or were set over a Monastery, should still enjoy it, as long as that Church to which they were sent, remained in so miserable a condition.

This Emperor's Grand-Child, John [ 1130] Comnenusb], began first to condemn the use of the Regale, the seizures of Bishops Goods after their Death, under very severe pains. And his Brother, Manuel Comnenusc], [ 1150] made a memorable Law about it. He sets forth, that he heard of a wicked Custom of the Officers of the Treasury, who used upon the death of a Bishop, to seize on the Revenues of the See. So he condemns this practice, and appoints the Goods of the deceased Bishop to be disposed of ac∣cording to his last Will; or if he made none, according to the Laws and Canons; and that the Revenues of the Church should be left entirely in the hands of the Clergy, till a new Bishop should be ordained. And he appoints severe punishments for such as broke this Law. They were to restore all they had taken from the Church, and to pay a Fine to the double of the Value of it, besides cor∣poral Punishment, & perpetual Banishment. So here the Regale is most severely condem∣ned. And yet by another Law of his it

appears,d] that the Churches of the East had then Towns and Customs, Taxes and Courts, with all those other Rights, which were comprehended under the Name of the Regalia in the West.

In the 12th Century, the Holy Wars were set on foot; and the Princes of the West possessed themselves of several Towns in the East; and in those the Bishops were chosen by the Clergy and People, the Kings giving their Royal Assent. So William, Bi∣shop [ 1177] of Tyree] tells, that himself was made Bishop of that City in that manner, and gives many other Instances of such Elections. But now the Greek Emperors did directly assume to themselves that which Ju∣stinian had left to the Metropolitan. For Alexander Comnenus got a Law, which he madef) to be confirmed in a Synod, by which it was left free to him to order all things relating to Elections as he pleased; yet his Grand-Son, Manuel, upon a Va∣cancy, called the Senators and Clergy of Constantinople together, where there was a free Election made. For tho' the Emperor named him who was afterwards ordained: Yet many others were also named; and in conclusion, they did almost all of them agree to the Emperor's nomination. So Michael was ordained,g] who is said to have been, both a Good and a Learned Man. But three Years after that, he was ashamed of himself, for his having changed the po∣verty of a Monastical Life with the dignity of that Chair. So he left it, and returned

to his Cell, and fell down among the Monks, desiring every one of them to tread on him for leaving them. Af∣ter this the Emperors continued to make and depose the Patriarchs at their pleasure.

In the beginning of the 12th Century, the Latins took Constantinople, but the Greeks, who seated themselves at Adrianople, conti∣nued to have their Patriarchs: And Theo∣dorus Lascarus, perhaps to gain the favour of the Clergy, restored again the Form of Elections; which of late had bin made in this manner, All that had Dignities and Offices in the great Church, did chuse the Patriarch, of which the Emperor approved: Yet that Liberty did not continue long, for the Emperors returned to their old Practices. And now the Customs which the Popes had put down in the West, came to be used in the East; that the Emperors, by the deli∣very of the Pastoral Staff, did confer Bi∣shopricks.

The first Instance I find of it, is under Andronicus Paleologus, in the 14th Century; tho' it appears, by the account given of it, that it was no new Custom, but had been long in use among them, tho' we find no traces of it in any particular Instances before his time. He gave the Pastoral Staff to George of Cyprush), and so declared him Patri∣arch; and it is added, according to the An∣cient Custom; it does not appear when this Custom began. It is probable it was taken up in hatred to the Latins; and the Empe∣rors

finding the Popes had so strugled to wrest the Investitures out of the hands of the Princes of the West, did the rather, in contradiction to that, take it up: For it was not ordinary, according to the Cu∣stoms of the East, to give either Lands or Dignities by the delivery of a Symbole. Yet hereafter this Custom was kept up; and Codinusi) gives us this account of the manner of it, as it was practised till the taking of Constantinopl:.

There were twelve Bishops at least called to meet for chusing the three; and out of these the Emperor named the Person, and then gave him the Staff, with a Prayer, al∣most in the same words that were used in the Ordination; The Holy Trinity, by the Royal Power that is given to us, advances thee to be Arch-Bishop of Constantinople, which is New Rome; and Ʋniversal Patriarch. And then the Patriarch was sent to Sancta So∣phia, where the Bishop of Heraclea, with the other Bishops present, were to ordain him. And whereas in other Ordinati∣ons they used to pray twice over the Person, and cross him twice, they did that but once in the Ordination of a Patriarch; for it was thought, that what the Emperor said, supplied one of these. But for the other Bishops, they were first confirmed and ordained by the Patriarch, and then they came and did homage to the Emperor, which this Author calls a worshipping of him; and upon that they received their Pastoral Staff; all which was certainly borrowed

from the West. And tho' the nomination of the Patriarchs was taken by the Empe∣rors into their own hands, yet the other Bishops were still Elected. For in the Di∣rectionk) that was given to the Metro∣politans, one is, That in the Ordination of Bishops, they should avoid all Simony, and promote those Bishops that had a good Testi∣mony given them, both of their Lives, their Doctrine, and Spiritual Exercises, and were canonically Elected.

In Andronicus's long Reign, many were put in and out, to the great scandal of the Church: Of which the Historian makes this remarkl); Princes choose such Men to that Charge who may be their Slaves, and in all things obsequious to what they shall prescribe, and may lie at their feet, and not so much as have a thought contrary to their Commands. No wonder he broke out into so severe a Censure, when many were raised to that Dignity that could neither Read nor Write. Not long after this came John Cantacuzenus to the Empire; and he, as he relates himself, left the Election of the Patriarch free in one or two Elections; and afterwards when the Bishops met to chuse a Patriach in Calistus's room, who had retired to a Monastery, and refused to return, tho' much pressed to it by the Em∣peror, the Emperor made a Speechm) to them to this purpose: He said, They ought to follow the steps of the Apostles and Fathers; who being met together, invocated the Holy

Ghost, and implored the Grace of God to di∣rect them in the choice of one that should go∣vern the Church according to his Will. But he acknowledged, that in Elections great Errors had been committed, which Men were apt to excuse, as they did all their other Sins that were dear to them: For it was certainly a mocking of God, first to resolve who shall be Patriarch, and then to meet, and hypocritically to pray for the Divine Direction or Assistance. This he confessed had been done by himself, and he did not doubt but his Predecessors had been guilty of it likewise. Wherefore he ingenuously confessed his Sin, and declared, he would be guilty of it no more. Therefore he left them to their ancient liberty of chusing three, and out of that list he named the Person.

And thus it continued till the fatal fall of that Empire, which is in a great measure to be ascribed to the cruelty of the Popes, who seeing the Empire brought almost to no∣thing, chose rather to let it fall under the Turkish Tyranny, than to support a Church that did not submit to the Papal Authority: And on the other hand, it is no less surprising to see the obstinacy of the Greeks, who resolved rather to hazard all, than to come under the Jurisdiction of the See of Rome. For tho' other Points were controverted, yet the Point of the Juris∣diction was the main one; in which, if they had been tractable, the Popes would have been more easily induced to have yielded in other particulars. But all the

Attempts the Emperors made, for recon∣ciling the two Churches, failing, or being soon after brought to nothing; and the Sins of that Church and State growing to a great height, God thought it fit to give them up as a prey to the Othoman Cruelty.

Constantinople being taken upon the first [ 1453] Vacancy,n) Ameras, (as the Greeks call him) or Amurath the Bashaw, commanded the Bishops to chuse a new Patriarch; they pitched on one George a Lay-man, whose Name was changed into Gennadius; and Ameras gave him the Pastoral Staff, which was a very rich one set with Pretious Stones and Pearls, and conveyed him out to the Palace Gate, where a Horse richly trapped was made ready for him; and so he went in a Cavalcade, as was wont to be done, to the Church of the Apostles, which was now appointed to be the Cathedral. But Gretzero) tells this Story differently: For, he says, it was the Emperor Maho∣met himself that gave Gennadius the Staff, and declared him Patriarch. But alas! this was soon at an end; for instead of confirm∣ing the Elections, the Turks have not on∣ly taken this Matter wholly into their own hands, but have so expos'd it to sale, and have found so many base-minded and ambitious Church-men, that are as ready to buy as they are to sell; that those Churches which were once the Glory of the Christi∣an World, are now become Dens of

Thieves and Robbers. But as those Miseries are to be lamented in them, so we who hear of them, ought to remember the words of our Saviour; If these things are done in the green Tree, what shall be done in the dry?

And thus far have I carried down my Observations in this Epocha; in which I have at the same time given an account both of their Goods and Wealth, and of such Laws as I found made about them. I now return again to the West, and shall proceed to the next Interval.

Notes

• a]

  Liberal. Tom. 2. Con. c. 14.
• b]

  Evagr. l. 2. c. 8.
• c]

  P. Leo Ep. 139.
• d]

  Simpl. Ep. 14.
• e]

  Evagr. l. 3. c. 12.
• f]

  Nicep. l. 16. c. 18.
• g]

  Cod. Li. T. 2. l. 12.
• h]

  Ib. l. 13.
• i]

  Ib. l. 14.
• k]

  Ced. Li. T. 3 l. 31.
• l]

  Ib. l. 39.
• m]

  Ib. l. 42.
• n]

  Jus Graeco Rom. l. 3.
• o]

  Tom 4. Conc. p. 1025.
• p]

  Cod. Li. T. 1. l. 19.
• q]

  Cod. Li. T. 3. l. 5.
• r]

  Coll. 1. T. 3. Nov. 3
• s]

  Cap. 2.
• t]

  Col. 1. T. 6. Nov. 6
• u]

  Nov. 43
• x]

  Nov. 57 c. 2.
• y]

  Nob. 123.
• z]

  Ib. c. 2.
• a]

  C. 3.
• b]

  C. 4.
• c]

  C. 6.
• d]

  C. 16.
• e]

  Cap 18.
• f]

  Nob. 131. c. 5.
• g]

  C. 13.
• h]

  Nob. 137.
• i]

  Pr. Ar∣cana Hist.
• k]

  Con. 6. Act. 12.
• l]

  Can. 20.
• m]

  Cedr.
• n]

  Theoph
• o]

  Cedr. 781.
• p]

  Can. 3.
• q]

  Cedr. Zonar.
• r]

  Nicet. in vita. Ignat.
• s]

  Con. 8. Gen. Act. 10. c. 5.
• t]

  Zorar.
• u]

  Cedren.
• x]

  Curo∣pal.
• y]

  Zon.
• z]

  Curo∣pol.
• a]

  Lex. 7. Alex. Com
• b]

  Lib. 2. Jur. Gr-Rom.
• c]

  L. 7-M. Com.
• d]

  Lib. 3. Jur. Gr-Rom.
• e]

  Gul. Tyr. l. 21. c. 9.
• f)

  Jus Gr-Rom. l. 2. c. 4.
• g]

  Nicetas
• h)

  Niceph. Greg. l. 6.
• i)

  De Offic. Constant. c. 20.
• k)

  Jus Graeco-Rom. l 6.
• l)

  Ni••e ••. Greg. l. 7.
• m)

  Can∣tac. Hist. l. 4 c. 37.
• n)

  Phran∣zes Proto∣vest. lib. 3. c. 19.
• o)

  Observ. in Codin▪