XV. CHAP. the works of other writers; but it must not be supposed that the animadversions, or the ridicule, of all the learned men of the time, could have brought the priesthood into contempt, if its members had not by their own misconduct afforded substantial grounds for such imputations. That a very general relaxation, not only of ecclesiastical discipline, but of the morals and manners of the clergy had taken place, is a fact, for the proof of which it is not necessary to search beyond the records of the church itself. Even in the council of the Lateran, Giovanni Francesco Pico, the nephew of the celebrated Pico of Mirandula, delivered an oration under the sanction of that assembly, in which he inveighed with great bitterness against the avarice, the luxury, the ambition, and the misconduct, of those ecclesiastics, who ought to have supported the dignity of the church, not only by their intrinsic merit and virtue, but by the regularity and decency of their deportment. (a) Yet more remarkable are the acknowledgments contained in the decree of the eleventh session of the same council, by which it appears, that the ministers of religion were accustomed, A. D. 1517. A. Æt. 42. ías (a) This piece is given in the Appendix, No. CXLVI. XV. customed, not only to live in a state of public CHAP. A. D. 1517. Attempts strain the The dangerous consequences that would inevitably result from so full an exposure of made to rethe misconduct and crimes of the clergy were freedom of early perceived. But instead of applying the publication. only radical and effectual remedy to the evil, by introducing a reformation in their morals and their lives, the pontiffs and cardinals of the church thought it more expedient to endeavour to silence reproach by severe denunciations and exemplary punishment. During the pontificate of Sixtus IV. regulations were established for preventing the printing of any work, except such as was previously licensed by an officer appointed for that purpose; and in the tenth session of the council of Lateran, it (a) Quia vero in quibusdam regionibus nonnulli ju❝risdictionem ecclesiasticam habentes, pecuniarios quæstus "a concubinariis percipere non erubescunt, patientes eos in "tali fœditate sordescere, sub pœna maledictionis æternæ "præcipimus, ne deinceps sub pacto, compositione, aut spę "alterius quæstus, talia quovis modo tolerent, aut dissimu"lent." S. S. Concil. tom. xiv. þ. 302. XV. CHAP. it was decreed, that no one, under the penalty of excommunication, should dare to publish any new work without the approbation either of the ordinary jurisdiction of the place, or of the holy inquisition; injunctions which clearly demonstrate, that the promulgation of such works was supposed to have a powerful tendency towards alienating the minds of the people from the Roman see; although it may well be doubted, whether the coercive measures adopted to prevent their dispersion did not increase the evil which they were intended to correct. A. D. 1517. A. At. 42. 1. Effects of ture on the religion. The important schism which occurred at the revival this period was also preceded, and perhaps in of litera- some degree promoted, by another circumestablished stance not hitherto explicitly noticed. With the restoration of ancient learning, the doctrines of the ancient philosophers and the mythology of the pagan world were again revived. In almost all the universities and public schools of Italy, the studies of divinity and ecclesiastical jurisprudence were rivalled by, or intermixed with, the acquirements of poetry and classical literature. In proportion as the beauties of style displayed by the authors of antiquity began to be perceived, the Italian scholars rejected as barbarous the lati nity of the middle ages, and in all their compositions attempted to emulate those elegances which they had learnt to admire. The abstruse mysteries and peculiar dogmas of the Christian faith were elucidated, or enveloped, in the language of Cicero or of Virgil; and even the divine persons of the Trinity and the Holy Virgin were identified with the divinities of ancient Greece and Rome. The Father was denominated Jove, or Jupiter Optimus Maximus; the Son, Apollo or Æsculapius; and the Virgin, Diana. Of the great extent to which this extraordinary practice was carried, a competent idea may be formed, from the specimen given by Erasmus of a sermon at which he was himself present, and which was preached before Julius II. and the cardinals and prelates of his court. (a) The subject of the discourse was the sufferings and death of Christ. The orator commenced with an eulogium on the pope, whom he designated as Jove, and represented as vibrating in his omnipotent right hand the inevitable lightning and regulating the concerns of the universe by his nod. In adverting to the death of Christ, he reminded his audience of the ex amples (a) Erasmi Ciceronianus, p. 43. Ed. Tolosa, 1620. CHAP. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. A. Pont. V. 204 THE LIFE OF XV. A. D. 1517. CHAP. amples of the Decii, and of Curtius, who for the safety of their country devoted themselves to the infernal gods; nor did he omit to menA. Pont. V. tion with due honour Cecrops, Menæcius, Iphigenia, and others, who preferred the welfare of their country to their own existence. In moving his audience to compassionate the fate of the great author of their religion, he reminded them that the ancients had immortalized their heroes and benefactors by erecting statues to their memory, or decreeing to them divine honours; whilst the ingratitude of the Jews had treated with every degree of ignominy the Saviour of mankind, and finally doomed him to the cross. The death of Christ was then compared with that of other excellent and innocent men who had suffered for the public benefit, and reminded the orator of Socrates and of Phocion, who without being guilty of any crime were compelled to perish by the fatal draught; of Epaminondas, who after all his glorious deeds was reduced to the necessity of defending himself as a criminal; of Scipio, who was rewarded for his incalculable services by exile; and of Aristides, who was compelled to relinquish his country because he had been dignified with the title of the Just. (a) When such was the conduct (a) Erasmi Ciceronianus, p. 38, 39, 40. |