§ 66.

PROPERTY OF THE CLERGY.

Not to any regard for their persons,' but to the superstition and circumstances of the age, were the clergy indebted for the remarkable increase of their property; it was brought about partly by vindication of tithe law,2 partly by wills, partly by

3

For money ye unjustly pronounce and recall sentence of excommunication; without money there is no redemption for us. Guillem Figueira also (about 1244) in Diez s. 567: Truly our shepherds are become ravening wolves, they rob wherever they can, and wear therewith the mien of peace. One of them will lie with a woman, and nevertheless on the next morning touch with unhallowed hands the body of our Lord. If you lift your voice against them they bring accusations against you, you are excommunicated, and if you do not pay, you have neither peace nor friendship more to hope from them. Holy Virgin Mary, our Lady, grant me but to live to the day when I shall neither have to shun nor fear them more.

1 On the scarcity of gifts, and the inclination to cut down ecclesiastical incomes in the thirteenth century, see Lacomblet's Urkundenbuch fr die Gesch. des Niederrheins. Bd. ii. Vorr. s. ix.

2 Compare Part i. § 9 note 1. Tithe was in the first place introduced as a Divine ordinance, where as yet it had found no entrance, and in spite of all opposition from the laity, gradually past into law. Thus in Portugal it was recognized at the end of the eleventh century, and in the twelfth prevailed universally, Schäfer's Gesch. v. Port. i. 167. In Castile and Leon Alphonso X., in his Partidas, gave it force of law, see § 62, note 22, and the Mémoires p. 854 there quoted. In Denmark St Knud, Canute the Saint introduced it in 1086; but it was always paid irregularly, and in the year 1171 the peasantry of Schoonen, rose in rebellion on this account Münter's K.G. v. Danem. u. Norw. II. i. 15. 343. In Norway it was demanded immediately after the conversion of the country, however, it had to be enforced by King Magnus in the year 1267, Münter II. i. 37. Further, in the second place, it was establisht as a ruling maxim, that all tithes were of ecclesiastical origin; and that, where they had past into the possession of laymen, they were withheld from the Church only by robbery or feudal grant (to bailiffs and administrators, decimae infeudatae) but that no layman could possess tithes without peril to his soul. Especially so after Conc. Lateran. iii. ann. 1179 c. 14, Mansi xxii. 226): Prohibemus etiam ne laici decimas cum animarum suarum periculo detinentes, in alios laicos possint aliquo modo transferre. Si quis vero receperit, et Ecclesiae non tradiderit,

advantageous purchases and mortgages, obtained mostly from

christiana sepultura privetur. Frederick I., indeed, in the diet at Gelnhausen 1180 declared that the lay impropriation of the decimae infeudatae was legal (Arnold. Lubec. lib. iii. c. 18. see above, § 53. note 6), and it was commonly understood that only the transfer of tithes from layman to layman was forbidden in that canon. However, conscientious scruples were awakened by it in the minds of many lay impropriators. Thus in many places tithes were restored to the Church, especially to religious Houses, or sold and exchanged at a low valuation. See Warnkönig's Flandrische Staats und Rechtsgeschichte (Tübingen 1835) i. 443.

3 Á considerable influence over these was consigned to the clergy, by the decree of Alexander III., 1170 (Decr. Greg. lib. iii. tit. 26. c. 10): testamenta, quae Parochiani coram presbytero suo et tribus vel duabus aliis personis idoneis in extrema fecerint voluntate, firma decernimus permanere: which was yet more enhanced by the determination that the parish priest must be a witness (Constit. Ricardi Ep. Sarum ann. 1217. c. 70, in Mansi xxii. 1127: Praecipimus quod laicis inhibeatur frequenter, ne testamenta sua faciant sine praesentia sacerdotis.-Inter alia etiam singuli sacerdotes infirmos suos moneant, et efficaciter inducant, quod fabricae Sarum Ecclesiae sua memores, prout Deus inspiraverit illis, in testamento suo, de bonis suis relinquant. Conc. Avenion. 1281 can. 10: Ne aliquis auderet sine suo parochiali Presbytero condere testamentum. Thomassin. P. iii. lib. i. c. 24, § 5, 6, 8.) People were reminded at their last confession to make their wills; to die intestate or unconfest, was held to be the same (see du Fresne glossarium s. v. intestatio), refusal of burial in consecrated ground was the consequence of either (Brewer's Gesch. d. französischen Gerichtsverfassung, Düsseldorf 1837, ii. 704.) All suits about wills, even the execution of the wills, belonged to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. They even demanded in England and Normandy (Ecelesiasticae libertatis in Normannia leges ann. 1090, Mansi xxii. 592): Si quis subitanea morte-praeoccupatus fuerit, ut de rebus suis disponere non possit, distributio bonorum ejus ecclesiastica auctoritate fiat, and with regard to this the Papal Legate Othobonus in Conc. Londin. ann. 1268 c. 24 (Mansi xxii. 1238); more closely determined that such possessions should not be held back by the Prelates, but be distributed for pious purposes. In such a case in France a will made by the relative instead of the deceased, is admitted, see Brewer ii. 705.-In Germany, on the other hand, wills made on a deathbed met with a long resistance from the maxim of law, that he alone could make a valid will, who could yet walk free and unsupported along the highway. (J. Grimm's deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, Göttingen 1828 s. 96.) In vain did the German Bishops vie in opposition to this custom, quae dicenda potius est corruptela, cum sit contraria rationi, et contra jura canonica et civilia, videlicet, quod judices et scabini et consiliarii quorundam oppidorum judicant, quod nullum testamentum, donatio vel legatum teneat super immobilibus, quod vel quae a decumbentibus in lecto in pios usus

nobles who took the Cross, partly by compact with the opprest free commonalty, who received their own property in copyhold from them." From time to time, however, this immoderate increase of ecclesiastical wealth began already to attract attention, and receive some restrictions from secular law.

The Prelates had now to suffer more than ever from their administrators. They sought help against their encroachments

vel alias personas fuerit factum vel facta (so the Conc. Colon. ann. 1300): The German magistrates for a long time paid them no regard : comp. Bodmann's Rheingauische Alterthümer, Mainz 1819. 4. S. 648. The clergy on the other hand endeavoured partly by a form of execration which they appended to the will, partly by ecclesiastical penalties against the uncomplying heirs of the intestate, to create respect for it: see J. A. Kopp de testamentis Germanorum ungehabt und ungestabt Francof. ad M. 1736. 4.

See § 51, note 14. Planck IV. ii. 345. Raumer vi. 312. So says Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, in a document of the year 1159, (Monumenta boica iii. 540): Tempore, quo expeditio Jerosolymitana fervore quodam miro et inaudito a saeculis totum commovit fere occidentem, coeperunt singuli, tanquam ultra non redituri, vendere possessiones suas, quas Ecclesiae secundum facultates suas suis prospicientes utilitatibus emerunt.

5 Montag's Gesch d. deutschen Staatsbürgl. Freiheit ii. 655.

6 In several cities it was forbidden by law that landed property should be left in mortmain. This was the case in Montpellier (1113. Hist. gen. de Languedoc ii. Preuves p. 388), Erfurt (Guden Hist. Erfurt. p. 61), Lubeck (Jus Lubec. in de Westphalen monum. inedita iii. 625, 669, 687.) In Lubeck also oblations were restricted by law with the same view, the increase of masses for the dead forbidden, with other measures of the same kind, see Theol. Studien u. Krit. I. i. 116. Alphonso II., King of Portugal, in the year 1211, forbid churches and monasteries to acquire any other landed property, except what was in use for anniversaries and other duties for the dead; but this law remained without effect, see Schäfer's Gesch. v. Portugal i. 146, 330. 7 So says a Bishop of Munster in 1185 in Falke codex traditt. Corbejensium p. 229: universitas Eeclesiarum advocatorum insolentia laborat et fere succumbit. The oppression was often made more severe by this circumstance that the bailiwicks became hereditary fiefs, and were often broken up into small offices, and granted in mesne tenure. See Hüllmann's Gesch. des Ursprungs der Stände in Deutschland 2te Ausg. (Berlin 1830) S. 257 ff. Montag ii. 450, 508. Raumer vi. 383. Hurter iv. 61. Honorius III. says in the year 1221 (in Lacomblet's Urkundenbuch ii. 51): nonnulli-in bonis ecclesiasticis, in quibus advocationis jus obtinent, non solum prodigaliter debacchantur, verum etiam ea diripiunt ut praedones. Compare the letter of remonstrance sent by Tulcard, Abbot of Lobbes, to the Emperor Henry IV. in d'Achery spicileg. ii. 747. There are other examples in Zirngibl's

partly from the Lords of the soil;8 but partly following the example of the Cistercian order, which from its first foundation had allowed no administrators of finance, they endeavoured to shake them off by all possible means.10

Abh. über das Mundiburdium, in d. Neuen hist. Abhandl. d. baier. Akad. d. Wissensch. Bd, 5 (München 1798. 4) S. 286, 318. Riedel's diplom. Beiträge zur Gesch. d. Mark Brandenburg Th. 1 (Berlin 1833) Urk. xvi. xxxi. xxxii. The most remarkable instance of this kind is furnished by the Vicedominus Ludovicus against Godfrey, Archbishop of Treves (from 1124-1128), as the contemporary Baldricus relates in his vita Alberonis (in Honthemii hist. Trevir. i. 468): D. Godefridum Archiepiscopum suis artibus in tantum sibi subegerat, quod dicebat, se in beneficio tenere palatium atque omnes reditus episcopales in illud deferendos, et quod ipse pascere deberet Episcopum cum suis Capellanis, et caetera omnia ad Episcopatum pertinentia de suo esse beneficio. Ad Episcopum autem dicebat pertinere Missas, et ordinationes clericorum, et consecrationes Ecclesiarum celebrare: sui vero juris dicebat esse terram regere, omniaque in Episcopatu disponere, et militiam tenere. Unde per singulos dies ad prandium Episcopi sextarium vini et duos sextarios cerevisiae administrabat, ipse vero cum multitudine hominum in mensa sua quasi magnus Princeps quotidie epulabatur splendide, stipatus caterva militum ubique incedebat, et omnibus modis toti terrae principabatur.

8 The efforts of the Popes with this view may be found in Hurter iv. 75, comp. above § 53 note 6, § 54 note 16. The oft-repeated orders of the Emperors on the condition of the administrators (for instance in Ratisbon 1104 in Pertz iv. 62, in Gelnhausen 1180, p. 164) are to be found in Hüllmann s. 251. Montag ii. 488. Raumer vi. 384. 9 Montag ii. 514 ff.

10

Zirngibl. S. 320 ss.

Hüllmann S. 268 ss. Eichorn's deutsche

Staats- u. Rechtsgeschichte ii. 528. Raumer vi. 125. Hurter iv. 67, 80.

THIRD CHAPTER.

HISTORY OF MONACHISM.

Allgem. Literatur s. Bd. 1. Abth. 2. vor. § 95 u. 2 119. Ueber den Zustand sammt licher Orden in dieser Zeit Jac. a Vitriaco (Bisch. v. Acco, dann Cardinal +1244: von ihm Hist. orientalis et occidentalis ed. Fr. Moschus. Duaci 1597, 8) hist. occidentalis c. 12-c. 33.

§ 67.

MONASTIC ORDERS DOWN TO THE TIME OF INNOCENT III.

Martene et Durandi vett. scriptt. collectio amplissima. T. vi. praef. p. 2. Hurter's Innocenz III. iv. 85.

The cycle of advance from the institution of fresh orders to fresh decay, and the reverse, a cycle in which monastic history incessantly travels, has never repeated itself more often than in this period. Especially in France there rose many founders of orders, who desired no less than the Popes to restore a stricter discipline in the Church, and endeavoured with this in view to bring back monastic rules to their first severity. Stephen of Tigerno founded (1073-1083) the order of Grammont (ordo Grandimontensis);1 Bruno of Cologne (1084) the Carthusian order (La Grande Chartreuse in Grenoble, ordo Cartusianus);2

1 Vita s. Stephani by Gerhard, seventh prior of Grammont, in Martene et Durand ampliss. collectio vi. 1050.-Mabillon annal. Ord. s. Ben. v. 65, 99. Ejusd. act. SS. Ord. Ben. saec. VI. ii. praef. p. xxxiv. Hurter iv. 137.

2 Mabillon annales v. 202. Ejus acta SS. Ord. Ben, saec. VI. ii. praef. p. xxxvii. Acta SS. Oct. iii. 491, ad d. 6, Oct. The true origin of the order is recorded by Bruno's later contemporary Guibert, Abb. b. Mariae de Novigento, de vita sua lib. i. c. 11 (Opp. ed. d'Achery p. 467): The tale of the miraculous inducement which led S. Bruno to renounce the world, is first found at the end of the 13th