Raymond VI., count of Toulouse, whose forefathers5 had been the principal heroes in the crusades, was stripped of his states by a crusade which the pope stirred up against him. The cause of the crusade was the desire of having his spoils; the pretext6 was that in several of his towns the citizens thought nearly as has been thought for upwards7 of two hundred years in England, Sweden, Denmark, three-fourths of Switzerland, Holland, and half of Germany.
This was hardly a sufficient reason for giving, in the name of God, the states of the count of Toulouse to the first occupant, and for devoting to slaughter8 and fire his subjects, crucifix in hand, and white cross on shoulder. All that is related of the most savage9 people falls far short of the barbarities committed in this war, called holy. The ridiculous atrocity10 of some religious ceremonies always accompanied these horrid11 excesses. It is known that Raymond VI. was dragged to a church of St. Giles’s, before a legate, naked to the waist, without hose or sandals, with a rope about his neck, which was held by a deacon, while another deacon flogged him, and a third sung miserere with some monks12 — and all the while the legate was at dinner. Such was the origin of the right of the popes over Avignon.
Count Raymond, who had submitted to the flagellation in order to preserve his states, underwent this ignominy to no purpose whatever. He had to defend by arms what he had thought to preserve by suffering a few stripes; he saw his towns laid in ashes, and died in 1213 amid the vicissitudes of the most sanguinary war.
His son, Raymond VII., was not, like his father, suspected of heresy13; but he was the son of a heretic, and was to be stripped of all his possessions, by virtue14 of the Decretals; such was the law. The crusade, therefore, was continued against him; he was excommunicated in the churches, on Sundays and holidays, to the sound of bells and with tapers15 extinguished.
A legate who was in France during the minority of St. Louis raised tenths there to maintain this war in Languedoc and Provence. Raymond defended himself with courage; but the heads of the hydra16 of fanaticism were incessantly17 reappearing to devour18 him.
The pope at last made peace because all his money had been expended19 in war. Raymond VII. came and signed the treaty before the portal of the cathedral of Paris. He was forced to pay ten thousand marks of silver to the legate, two thousand to the abbey of Citeaux, five hundred to the abbey of Clairvaux, a thousand to that of Grand-Selve, and three hundred to that of Belleperche — all for the salvation20 of his soul, as is specified21 in the treaty So it was that the Church always negotiated.
It is very remarkable22 that in this document the count of Toulouse constantly puts the legate before the king: “I swear and promise to the legate and to the king faithfully to observe all these things, and to cause them to be observed by my vassals23 and subjects,” etc.
This was not all. He ceded24 to Pope Gregory IX. the country of Venaissin beyond the Rhone, and the sovereignty of seventy-three castles on this side the same river. The pope adjudged this fine to himself by a particular act, desirous that, in a public instrument, the acknowledgment of having exterminated25 so many Christians26 for the purpose of seizing upon his neighbor’s goods, should not appear in so glaring a light. Besides, he demanded what Raymond could not grant, without the consent of the Emperor Frederick II. The count’s lands, on the left bank of the Rhone, were an imperial fief, and Frederick II. never sanctioned this exaction27.
Alphonso, brother of St. Louis, having married this unfortunate prince’s daughter, by whom he had no children, all the states of Raymond VII. in Languedoc, devolved to the crown of France, as had been stipulated28 in the marriage contract.
The country of Venaissin, which is in Provence, had been magnanimously given up by the Emperor Frederick II. to the count of Toulouse. His daughter Joan, before her death, had disposed of them by will in favor of Charles of Anjou, count of Provence, and king of Naples.
Philip the Bold, son of St. Louis, being pressed by Pope Gregory IX., gave the country of Venaissin to the Roman church in 1274. It must be confessed that Philip the Bold gave what in no way belonged to him; that this cession29 was absolutely null and void, and that no act ever was more contrary to all law.
It is the same with the town of Avignon. Joan of France, queen of Naples, descended from the brother of St. Louis, having been, with but too great an appearance of justice, accused of causing her husband to be strangled, desired the protection of Pope Clement30 VI., whose see was then the town of Avignon, in Joan’s domains31. She was countess of Provence. In 1347 the Proven?als made her swear, on the gospel, that she would sell none of her sovereignties. She had scarcely taken this oath before she went and sold Avignon to the pope. The authentic32 act was not signed until June 14, 1348; the sum stipulated for was eighty thousand florins of gold. The pope declared her innocent of her husband’s murder, but never paid her. Joan’s receipt has never been produced. She protested juridically four several times against this deceitful purchase.
So that Avignon and its country were never considered to have been dismembered from Provence, otherwise than by a rapine, which was the more manifest, as it had been sought to cover it with the cloak of religion.
When Louis XI. acquired Provence he acquired it with all the rights appertaining thereto; and, as appears by a letter from John of Foix to that monarch33, had in 1464 resolved to enforce them. But the intrigues34 of the court of Rome were always so powerful that the kings of France condescended35 to allow it the enjoyment36 of this small province. They never acknowledged in the popes a lawful37 possession, but only a simple enjoyment.
In the treaty of Pisa, made by Louis XIV. with Alexander VII., in 1664, it is said that, “every obstacle shall be removed, in order that the pope may enjoy Avignon as before.” The pope, then, had this province only as cardinals38 have pensions from the king, which pensions are discretional.
Avignon and its country were a constant source of embarrassment39 to the French government; they afforded a refuge to all the bankrupts and smugglers, though very little profit thence accrued40 to the pope.
Louis XIV. twice resumed his rights; but it was rather to chastise41 the pope than to reunite Avignon and its country with his crown. At length Louis XV. did justice to his dignity and to his subjects. The gross and indecent conduct of Pope Rezzonico (Clement XIII.) forced him in 1768 to revive the rights of his crown. This pope had acted as if he belonged to the fourteenth century. He was, however, with the applause of all Europe, convinced that he lived in the eighteenth.
When the officer bearing the king’s orders entered Avignon, he went straight to the legate’s apartment, without being announced, and said to him, “Sir, the king takes possession of his town.”
There is some difference between this proceeding42 and a count of Toulouse being flogged by a deacon, while a legate is at dinner. Things, we see, change with times.
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1
knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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2
fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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6
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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7
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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8
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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9
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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12
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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13
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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14
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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15
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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16
hydra
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| n.水螅；难于根除的祸患 | |
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17
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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18
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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19
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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21
specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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23
vassals
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| n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 )；（封建时代）诸侯；从属者；下属 | |
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24
ceded
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| v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 ) | |
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exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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27
exaction
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| n.强求，强征；杂税 | |
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28
stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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cession
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| n.割让，转让 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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31
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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32
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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35
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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38
cardinals
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| 红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数 | |
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39
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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40
accrued
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| adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
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41
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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42
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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