Dt.Ht.rf H-^ysH;*^ ^, . CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Nixon n-i ^fis The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924029389222 The International Catholic Library Edited by REV. J. WILHELM, D.D., Ph.D. Vol. XI. 0t|)il oftstat JOSEPH WILHELM, S.T.D., Censor deputatus. Jmprimi potest. >ii GULIELMUS, Episcopus Arindelensis, Vicarius Generalis. Westmonasterii, die 30 Aprilis 1907. THE BEGmNINGS OF THE TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY OF THE POPES A.D. 754-1073 Mgk. L. DUCHESNE, D.D. (DIRECTOR OF THE ^COLE FRANgAISE AT ROME) AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH BY ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW (De Juee Eael of Landaff, of Thomastown, Co. Tippekabt) LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. L™. DRYDBN HOUSE, GERHARD STREET, W. 1907 All rights reserved Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson 6^ Co. At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh TRANSLATOR'S NOTE IMoNSiGNOR Duchesne's volume on the beginnings of the temporal power of the Popes appeared to me to be the most accm'ate and concise of any of the treatises on this important question which have hitherto appeared. I accordingly sought his per- mission to translate the work into English, feeling assured that it would prove interesting to a very wide circle of readers. For the kindness and readiness with which the learned author acceded to my request, I desire to record here my sense of gratitude. I have endeavoured to express the meaning of the original, rather than the actual words or idioms of the author, in order to avoid the awkwardness and clumsiness of diction, which a literal rendering would have involved. ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW. Chelsfield, Kent. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE The learned author of this volume is well known, and deservedly esteemed, by a very wide circle of appreciative students of ecclesiastical history. His honesty and trustworthiness in publishing the results of his laborious investigations earned for him the praise and encouragement of Pope Leo XIII. In the hope that this short treatise may be of service in an English version, I have ventured to translate it, and for his permission to me to under- take this work I must express my thanks to Monsignor Duchesne. ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW. Chelsfield, Kent. vll AUTHOR'S PREFACE This book is the outcome of a course of lectures given at Paris some twelve years ago. They made their first public appearance, collected and printed, in a Review, and, afterwards, a fairly large selection of them was placed at the disposition of the public. As the first edition of the lectures is now exhausted, I am, in accordance with request, bringing out another. This, however, is rather out of deference to the advice of my pubhsher, than to any deep sense of the book's importance. So many people have written on the subject, and with so much erudition ! At least, I suppose so ; but not being a person of unlimited leisure, I have, as a rule, confined myself to the study of original documents, without unduly troubling myself about the lucubra- tions to which they have given rise. Few foot-notes will be found in these pages, for I have been chary of references, even with regard to my own first- hand investigations. Many details are explained in my notes on the Liber Pontificalis, to which the learned and conscientious reader is respectfully re- ferred. Small works of this kind are intended for the average reader. For the benefit of the latter, then, I have tried to explain the formation of the little pontifical state X AUTHOR'S PREFACE in the eighth century, and how the conditions under which it worked during the first three centuries of its existence are connected with the great religious conflicts in the time of Gregory VII. It is true that the subject may appear remote, but as long as it is a question of the Church and of Italy, its interest can never pall. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. The Situation in the time op King Liutprand . 1 II. The Dttoht of Rome 13 III. The Soveebignty of the Pope and the Frankish Intervention .... 21 IV. Stephen II. 32 V. Paul ..... 49 VI. Roman Institutions in the Eighth Century 60 VII. Christopher the Primicerius 70 VIII. Hadrian and Desiderius . 87 IX. The Pontifical State in the time of Charlemagne 97 X. Restoration or the Empire 112 XI. The Constitution of Lothaire 122 XII. The Saracens at Rome 136 XIII. The Emperor Louis II. 144 XIV. The Troubles of John VIII. 167 XV. The Empire of Spoleto 190 XVI. The House of Theophylact 204 XVII. Alberic and John XII. 217 XVIII. The Popes of the Empire . 234 XIX. The German Popes , 253 Conclusion . 270 Index 277 THE TEMPORAL SOYEREIGNTY OF THE POPES CHAPTER I THE SITUATION IN THE TIME OF KING LIUTPRAND Lombard and Byzantine Italy—Progress of the Lombards—Leo the Isaurian, Liutprand, and Pope Gregory II. —Roman politics under Gregory III. —Zachary, the peace-loving Pope. The unity of Italy was first established by the Romans, who, in the second century before our era, conquered Cisalpine Gaul, and reached the barrier of the Alps. This unity really consisted in unfailing submission to the Romans and to the masters who were appointed by them. Next to the senate and the magistrates of the Republic came the Italian and provincial emperors, and then the Gothic kings of Ravenna. These were replaced, in the middle of the sixth century, by are-establishment of the imperial rule, under the auspices of the Emperor of Constanti- nople. All these revolutions had taken place without any parcelKng out of the land, for although there had been frequent change of authority, it had always been of the same nature. The last change resembled the close of a long and disastrous war. Now, however, people were beginning to forget not only the prosperous reigns of Theodoric and Amalasontus, but even the miseries of the Gothic war, and con- A 2 THE SITUATION IN THE gratulated themselves on living peacefully under the distant though unmistakable rule of the Emperor Justinian ; Erat enim tota Italia gaudeus} This happy state of affairs was interrupted in 569 by the Lombard invasion. At the same time the unity of Italy received a mortal blow, from which it took many centuries to recover. Not that Alboin wished to harm it, for he would willingly have sup- ported it could he have done so to his own advantage. But his people had neither military power, nor unity of purpose enough, to set themselves against the whole of Italy, nor could they hold the same position of authority as the Goths had done. Be- sides, the Byzantine empire, suffering from the in- roads of the Avaris in the north, and the Persians and Arabs in the east, were no longer in a condition to live up to the high ideals of Justinian. The dilapidated state of its military and financial power enabled it to offer but a desultory opposition to the attacks of the German barbarians. Towards the close of the sixth century the Roman defence was represented by two efforts not tending in the same direction. One—that of a boundless, unconquer- able, but impotent hopefulness—was embodied in the person of the Exarch Romanus—a lieutenant of the Emperor Maurice. The other, that of local interests and practical claims, was led by the diplo- matic Pope Gregory. This last effort was the only one which, under the circumstances, had any chance of success. It resulted in peace, but at the same time, in the loss of Italian unity, for the imperial rule was divided with the Lombards. Henceforward there were two Italics — the Lombard and the Byzantine. The former was ' Liber Pontijicalis, Life of John III. TIME OF KING LIUTPRAND 3 subject to the barbarian masters of Northern Tuscany and the Valley of the Po, and the latter to the Roman Emperor of the East. The Byzantine power in Italy was steadily declining, and, being driven from the interior, was with difficulty sustained on the coast of Genoa, the Venetian lagoons, and the southern peninsulas. The two parties were never at peace for long together, and the Lombards did not at all agree with the Byzantines, who considered that they had yielded enough. The Lombard power became more and more firmly established in the conquered territory, and they finally found them- selves in a position to accomplish issues for which the strength of Alboin and his followers had been inadequate. On all sides their plans of conquest were renewed, and they were rapidly gaining control of the coast. As early as the seventh century Rotharis had annexed the Ligurian sea-coast as well as the remaining imperial territory at the end of the Adriatic. The duchy of Beneventum was rapidly increasing its power ; it took possession of Salerno, the Lucanian coast and maritime Apulia, and, follow- ing in the wake of the retreating Byzantines, extended its sway as far as Otranto and Calabria. In the time of St. Gregory it was still possible to journey from the Venetian islands right down to the Straits of Messina without leaving imperial ground. But now things were changed. The Lombard power was making itself felt all along the line of Byzantine possession, attacking any undefended positions, and breaking up the imperial domain. The possessions that remained in the far south—Otranto, Gallipoli, and Reggio—looked to Sicily for help, and, thanks to the friendly sea, the promontories of Sorrento, Naples, and Gaeta held out with fair success.