This writer relates that Gautier, or Vautier, lord of Yvetot, and grand chamberlain to King Clotaire I., having lost the favor of his master by calumny1, in which courtiers deal rather liberally, went into voluntary exile, and visited distant countries, where, for ten years, he fought against the enemies of the faith; that at the expiration2 of this term, flattering himself that the king’s anger would be appeased3, he went back to France; that he passed through Rome, where he saw Pope Agapetus, from whom he obtained a letter of recommendation to the king, who was then at Soissons, the capital of his dominions4. The lord of Yvetot repaired thither5 one Good Friday, and chose the time when Clotaire was at church, to fall at his feet, and implore6 his forgiveness through the merits of Him who, on that day, had shed His blood for the salvation7 of men; but Clotaire, ferocious8 and cruel, having recognized him, ran him through the body.
Gaguin adds that Pope Agapetus, being informed of this disgraceful act, threatened the king with the thunders of the Church, if he did not make reparation for his offence; and that Clotaire, justly intimidated9, and in satisfaction for the murder of his subject, erected10 the lordship of Yvetot into a kingdom, in favor of Gautier’s heirs and successors; that he despatched letters to that effect signed by himself, and sealed with his seal; that ever since then the lords of Yvetot have borne the title of kings; and — continues Gaguin — I find from established and indisputable authority, that this extraordinary event happened in the year of grace 539.
On this story of Gaguin’s we have the same remark to make that we have already made on what he says of the establishment of the Paris university — that not one of the contemporary historians makes any mention of the singular event, which, as he tells us, caused the lordship of Yvetot to be erected into a kingdom; and, as Claude Malingre and the abbé Vertot have well observed, Clotaire I., who is here supposed to have been sovereign of the town of Yvetot, did not reign11 over that part of the country; fiefs were not then hereditary12; acts were not, as Robert Gaguin relates, dated from the year of grace; and lastly, Pope Agapetus was then dead; to this it may be added that the right of erecting13 a fief into a kingdom belonged exclusively to the emperor.
It is not, however, to be said that the thunders of the Church were not already made use of, in the time of Agapetus. We know that St. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man of Corinth. We also find in the letters of St. Basil, some instances of general censure14 in the fourth century. One of these letters is against a ravisher. The holy prelate there orders the young woman to be restored to her parents, the ravisher to be excluded from prayers, and declared to be excommunicated, together with his accomplices15 and all his household, for three years; he also orders that all the people of the village where the ravished person was received, shall be excommunicated.
Auxilius, a young bishop16, excommunicated the whole family of Clacitien; although St. Augustine disapproved17 of this conduct, and Pope St. Leo laid down the same maxims18 as Augustine, in one of his letters to the bishop of the province of Vienne — yet, confining ourselves here to France — Pretextatus, bishop of Rouen, having been assassinated19 in the year 586 in his own church, Leudovalde, bishop of Bayeux, did not fail to lay all the churches in Rouen under an interdict20, forbidding divine service to be celebrated21 in them until the author of the crime should be discovered.
In 1141, Louis the Young having refused his consent to the election of Peter de la Chatre, whom the pope caused to be appointed in the room of Alberic, archbishop of Bourges, who had died the year preceding, Innocent II. laid all France under interdict.
In the year 1200, Peter of Capua, commissioned to compel Philip Augustus to put away Agnes, and take back Ingeburga, and not succeeding, published the sentence of interdict on the whole kingdom, which had been pronounced by Pope Innocent III. This interdict was observed with extreme rigor22. The English chronicle, quoted by the Benedictine Martenne, says that every Christian23 act, excepting the baptism of infants, was interdicted24 in France; the churches were closed, and Christians25 driven out of them like dogs; there was no more divine office, no more sacrifice of the mass, no ecclesiastical sepulture for the deceased; the dead bodies, left to chance, spread the most frightful26 infections, and filled the survivors27 with horror.
The chronicle of Tours gives the same description, adding only one remarkable28 particular, confirmed by the abbé Fleury and the abbé de Vertot — that the holy viaticum was excepted, like the baptism of infants, from the privation of holy things. The kingdom was in this situation for nine months; it was some time before Innocent III. permitted the preaching of sermons and the sacrament of confirmation29. The king was so much enraged30 that he drove the bishops31 and all the other ecclesiastics32 from their abodes33, and confiscated34 their property.
But it is singular that the bishops were sometimes solicited35 by sovereigns themselves to pronounce an interdict upon lands of their vassals36. By letters dated February, 1356, confirming those of Guy, count of Nevers, and his wife Matilda, in favor of the citizens of Nevers, Charles V., regent of the kingdom, prays the archbishops of Lyons, Bourges, and Sens, and the bishops of Autun, Langres, Auxerre, and Nevers, to pronounce an excommunication against the count of Nevers, and an interdict upon his lands, if he does not fulfil the agreement he has made with the inhabitants. We also find in the collection of the ordinances37 of the third line of kings, many letters like that of King John, authorizing38 the bishops to put under interdict those places whose privileges their lords would seek to infringe39.
And to conclude, though it appears incredible, the Jesuit Daniel relates that, in the year 998, King Robert was excommunicated by Gregory V., for having married his kinswoman in the fourth degree. All the bishops who had assisted at this marriage were interdicted from the communion, until they had been to Rome, and rendered satisfaction to the holy see. The people, and even the court, separated from the king; he had only two domestics left, who purified by fire whatever he had touched. Cardinal40 Damien and Romualde also add, that Robert being gone one morning, as was his custom, to say his prayers at the door of St. Bartholomew’s church, for he dared not enter it, Abbon, abbot of Fleury, followed by two women of the palace, carrying a large gilt41 dish covered with a napkin, accosted42 him, announced that Bertha was just brought to bed; and uncovering the dish, said: “Behold the effects of your disobedience to the decrees of the Church, and the seal of anathema44 on the fruit of your love!” Robert looked, and saw a monster with the head and neck of a duck! Bertha was repudiated45; and the excommunication was at last taken off.
Urban II., on the contrary, excommunicated Robert’s grandson, Philip I., for having put away his kinswoman. This pope pronounced the sentence of excommunication in the king’s own dominions, at Clermont, in Auvergne, where his holiness was come to seek an asylum46, in the same council in which the crusade was preached, and in which, for the first time, the name of pope (papa) was given to the bishop of Rome, to the exclusion47 of the other bishops, who had formerly48 taken it.
It will be seen that these canonical49 pains were medicinal rather than mortal; but Gregory VII. and some of his successors ventured to assert, that an excommunicated sovereign was deprived of his dominions, and that his subjects were not obliged to obey him. However, supposing that a king can be excommunicated in certain serious cases, excommunication, being a penalty purely50 spiritual, cannot dispense51 with the obedience43 which his subjects owe to him, as holding his authority from God Himself. This was constantly acknowledged by the parliaments, and also by the clergy52 of France, in the excommunications pronounced by Boniface VII., against Philip the Fair; by Julius II., against Louis XII.; by Sixtus V., against Henry III.; by Gregory XIII., against Henry IV.; and it is likewise the doctrine53 of the celebrated assembly of the clergy in 1682.
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1
calumny
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| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
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expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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3
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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4
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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5
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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7
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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10
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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12
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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13
erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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14
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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15
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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disapproved
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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19
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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interdict
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| v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令 | |
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21
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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rigor
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| n.严酷，严格，严厉 | |
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23
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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24
interdicted
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| v.禁止（行动）( interdict的过去式和过去分词 )；禁用；限制 | |
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25
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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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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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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30
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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31
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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32
ecclesiastics
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| n.神职者，教会，牧师( ecclesiastic的名词复数 ) | |
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33
abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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34
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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36
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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37
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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38
authorizing
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| 授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 ) | |
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39
infringe
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| v.违反，触犯，侵害 | |
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40
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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41
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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42
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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43
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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44
anathema
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| n.诅咒；被诅咒的人(物)，十分讨厌的人(物) | |
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45
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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46
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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47
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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48
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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49
canonical
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| n.权威的；典型的 | |
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50
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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51
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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52
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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53
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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