The Pageant of Popes, Book 5 · Part 39 – Part 41
119. Gregorie the ninth.
GRegorie the ninth borne in Campania, was nephew to Innocentius the thirde. He maintayned the quarell of his predecessour Honorius, against the Emperour. This Gregorie (as Marius wryteth) was more maliciouslye disposed toward ye sayd Frederick: for he accused him because he woulde not fulfill that vaine promise, to the needelesse sheddinge of Christian bloud, which he made to Honorius for the vnprofitable recoueringe of Hierusalem. And therefore this Gregorie did excommunicate him, before the Emperour coulde be hearde to speake, or were conuicted by reason: neither woulde hee suffer the Emperours Embassadours to come to his presence, nor heare them in the councell which came to alleadge good and reasonable excuses in ye Emperours behalfe, as his owne sickenes at his settinge forward caused him to staye, besides the death of the Lautgraue. Therfore (sayth Vspergensis) this Pope like a proude man, began in his first yeare to excōmunicat and curse the Emperour for certaine foolish and false causes, neglectinge all order of iudgement, as the Emperour sheweth in excusinge himselfe in his epistle to the Princes of Almanye: openinge to them (because the Pope refused to heare it) his innocencye and vpright dealing. And therfore certaine noblemen in Rome, namely of the house called Frangentes panem, when the Pope did the second time excommunicate Frederick, they caused the Pope to be driuen oute of the Citye with foule shame, so that he ranne awaye byding at Peruse al that yeare, & the yeare folowing. Yet no meanes could asswage his furye: but he prouoked Iohn kinge of Hierusalem, & the foresaid Earles of Thuscia rebels to the Emperour, and manye other Princes to trouble him. The Emperour appointed a day of assembly for diuers Christian Princes at Rauenna, and the Princes were making speede thether to obeye him, but by the Popes commaūdement they went backe againe: and certaine souldiours wearing ye Crosse by the Emperours appointment for the voyage to Hierusalem, were robbed and spoiled of all their prouisiō. The Emperour seing this sought to appease the Popes furye, and to get his goodwil prepared his iourney according to his promise to Hierusalem: he tooke shippe and sayled into Cyprus, and afterward to Acon, and striued much against the Soldan for the Christian fayth, with great paine and trauell. In the meane time ye Pope (seing the Emperours absence seruinge his turne) gat Apulia to be vnderunder his obeisance: and forbad that the souldiours wearing crosses shoulde passe ouer to assist the Emperour, but he draue them oute of Apulia, & Lombardye, shewinge himselfe a wicked and mischieuous man by many other meanes, in slaying those Germaynes that returned from the Emperour, moste cruellye. Thus while the good Emperour defended the flocke of Christe with ye sworde abroade, the Pope deuoured and spoyled them at home. After the Emperour had wonne from the Soldā, Hierusalem, Nazereth, & Ioppa, hee toke a truce with him for tenne yeares, whereof he certifyed the Pope by his letters, looking that the Pope woulde hauehave shewed himselfe ioyfull therof, and all Christians likewyse: But the Pope despysing and reiecting the letters, commaunded the messengers that broughte them to be put to death, leaste they should make report of the Emperours noble successe. Also he spreade this rumour that the Emperour was dead, to this ende, to make such Cityes in Apulia to shrincke for feare, as had with stode to submit themselues to him. And both to stop the Emperours returne, and to obtaine Apulia at his pleasure, he wrote to the Soldan desyring him not to yeld the Holy lande to the Emperour, as he was about to do. But the Emperour finishing his matters with the Soldan, returned into Italye, whereupon the slaughter of his men done by the Pope as they returned stayed: and within a while he draue the Popes power oute of Apulia, and by the helpe of God recouered all his owne from him. Hereupon the Pope did excōmunicate him, and curse him a newe, and conspired with the Lombards and Thuscans to rebell against him, because he had made a league with the Soldan. But in the ende many Princes seekinge to set them at vnitye,The price of absolution at the Popes hā des. the Emperour had absolution of the Pope, paying to him for it, ere (as Platina saith) he could obtaine it, an hundred thousande ounces of gould. For (sayth Vspergensis) notwithstanding all these iniuries, yet so often as the Pope did excommunicate him, he craued and sued for the benefite of absolution humblye, with all obedience, deuocion & yelding of iustice. Soone after the Emperour prepared to go into Germanye, to redresse certaine disorders doone by his eldest sonne Henry: the Pope hearinge thereof wrote to the estates of Germanye, commaundinge that they should make none of the Emperours family king of the Romaynes, because the kinge of the Romaines is heyre apparent to the Empyre. Frederick vnderstanding this treachery, and that the Pope had conspired a freshe wt manye Princes of Italy against him, did forthwith inuade Italy, suppressed the rebellious Lombards, wanne diuers townes in Vmbria and Hetruria, subdued to the Empyre Lomberdie, Viterbie, Peruse, Fauentia, Cremona, Vicentia & Patauy, all which had conspired with the Pope. The Pope seinge this, cursed him againe. The Emperour hearinge of it, because the Popes couetousnesse, ambition, tyrannye and pride grewe so great, that it was no longer to be suffered, thought good to reueale the same to all Christians, to reclayme them from their errour and false Religion: and therfore he lying in Patauy, commaunded a certaine learned mā wel studyed in the Scriptures to preach before him, concerninge the Popes curse, & of the Church of Rome. After the preacher had disclosed all the abuses of the Pope and his Church, the Emperour moued thereby wrote these 2. Uerses to the Pope.
Roma diu titubans, longis erroribus acta,
Corruet, & mundi desinet esse caput.
Rome that hath rulde long, and hath
in errour farre beene ledde.
Shal come to nought, and cease to be
on earth the supreame hedde.
¶ The Popes aunsvveare to the Emperour.
Niteris incassum nauem submergere Petri,
Fluctuat, at nunquam mergitur illa ratis.
To drowne S. Peters shippe ye spende
your labour all in vaine,
It tottreth oft, but sinks not so
but it may floate againe.
¶ The Emperours replye.
Fata volunt, stellae que docent, auium que volatus,
Quod Fredericus ego maleus orbis ero▪
Tis destinye, the starres of heauen,
and flight of foules do showe,
I Frederick shalbe the club,
to strike the deadlye blowe.
¶ The Popes aunsvveare.
Fata volunt, Scriptura docet, peccata loquuntur,
Quod tibi vita breuis paena perennis erit.
Tis destenye the Scripture shewes
and thy offences tell:
Thy life is short, thy paine shall last
for euermore in hell.
Thus was the Emperour nowe the thirde time excommunicated by the Pope, and pronounced not Emperour: but at this time there were manye Cardinals yt disalowed the Popes doing, so that the Emperour had many frends in Italy, because he still sued and sought for the Popes fauour, and could not hauehave it, and now therefore he set all at defiance in maner afore shewed. Of this Gregorie (Mattheus Parisius sayth further) callinge him bloud sucker & couetous Pope, that he held a councell at Rome to depose the Emperour, who had maryed Isabel doughter to king Iohn of England: and ere the councell began, he caused ye Apostles heades to be borne aboute the Citye in a solemne procession, that the sighte thereof mighte astonishe mens mindes, and drawe their hartes from the Emperour. Also he gaue free pardon to eueryevery one that would fight against him. The Emperour vnderstanding it, stopped all passages both by Sea and lande, and taking many Cardinals & other prelates as they were sayling awaye, he put them in prison: hee drowned ii. Cardinals in the Sea, & of the rest some bishops, abbots and chaplins, and amonge them the Popes brother for their notorious and haynous treasons were hanged. The first excommunication yt was sent out against this Emperour arose of this groūd: because themperour would not at the Popes commaundement daunger himselfe and many Christians with him, to go out to fight for the holy land. For ye Pope as it appeared by his actes, coueted to encroch the kingdome of both Sicils, Apulia, & other landes, so that he sought meanes how to destroy the Emperour being inheritour thereof, which he mighte see come to passe by the chaunce of the warre: or els while the Emperour should there hauehave beene busye against the infidels, he in the meane time as chiefe prelate (hauing Christendome committed to his credite) mighte the more easely disposses ye Emperour. Furthermore this Gregorie was the cause of sedicion in Rome for banishing one Hannibal oute of ye Senate, because he sued to recouer the aunciente Romaine libertyes. Also he prouoked the Poloniās to destroy the Prutenians being his foes. He made that cursed deuision in Italy, which to the great confusion of Christiā bloud, lasteth to this daye betweene the Guelphes and Gibelines: for these being two of the most noble and famous houses in Italye, whereof the one name whollye (that is the Gibelines) toke part with the Emperour, & the Guelphe wt the Pope, and this quarrel hath & doth last to this day, betwene all of the one name against all of the other wt continuall reuenge, as oportunitye serueth from time to time. Amonge diuers other his superstitious deedes these were some, he canonized S. Dominick, S, Fraūcis, S. Anthony of Padua and others, thereby to aduaunce the credite of the begging fryers, & of their holinesse. He decreed that the white fryers should possesse nothing but male Asses, and such foode as coms of certaine birdes and beastes as egges & milke, and all other thinges they should begge from doore to doore, as Paleonydorus sayth. He graunted the Iewes to be enfranchised for money in spite of all Christian Princes. He forbad any man to hauehave aboue one benefice. He commaunded out of Englande the fift part, & out of lowe Germany the twenteth part of all Church reuenewes. He appointed that to Aue Maria should be songe Salue regina, and the sacringe bell to be ronge then and at eleuation time. He decreed that no lay man should preach, and that no custome should take place, which leadeth to …inne. And finallye he dyed for thought because the Emperours power preuayled so mightely against him An. 1241. In his time Tiber in Rome braste out so hye, that manye were destroyed by it, after which ensued such a pestilence, that (sayth Platina) the tenth parson was scant left aliue: In his time also a certaine hill in Burgundy cleaued in twaine, and swallowed vp an houge multitude of people, and a litle before the Pope dyed, was such an Eclipse of the Sunne as hath not beene seene before.
Of the Oracle of Cyrill at Masse.
IN the time of this Gregorie Anno 1234. Cyrillꝰ a Grecian the thirde president general of ye white fryers dyed by report. They say that this man (accordinge as Moses & Iohn the Euāgelist did) receyued Anno domini 1192. a reuelation from heauen written in Tables of syluer with Gods owne finger in Greeke, concerninge the estate of the Church to come: and with this new delusion certaine caytifes went about to put awaye and whollye to destroye the Reuelation of S Iohn in that time of deepe darkenes. Because at yt time in Italy, Germanye, England & Fraunce, many (through the doctrine of the VValdēses and ye preachers of Frederick themperour, prouinge it out of the Reuelatiō of Iohn) beleeued that Rome was Babilon yt great strompet, and yt the Pope was Antichrist himselfe: which opinion the vncle of Petrus Veronensis held, as his Legēd and Fasciculus temporū testifye. To such shiftes was ye totteringe estate of ye Pope then driuen as to abrogate the olde Scripture and to forge new: for then Princes began to plucke from ye Church their temporalities, which maintayned theyr excessiue pride and pompe: Also they began to defye their transubstantiacion in the masse, and to worke diuers thinges that pinched the bellyes of the clergy, and made them keepe leaner kitchins. In moste thinges this reuelation of Cyrill, is cleane contrarye to the Reuelation of Iohn: many monkes and fryers hauehave written great cō mentaryes and fantasticall interpretacions vppon it, as Ioachimus Abbas, Guilihelmus Cisterciensis, & Iohn de rupe scissa. But who so euer preacheth anye other Gospell &c, let him be accursed. Gallathians. 1.
120. Celestine the fourth.
CElestine the fourth borne of the house of Castilians, being a learned, aged and crasyed mā succeded Gregorie: who likewyse purposed to pursue the quarell against Frederick, but that he was disappointed by a cuppe of poyson, whereof it is reported he dyed the xviii. daye of his raigne. One Thomas Egleston in his booke of the entraunce of ye Minorits into England, wryteth of an Englishmā called Robert Somerton Cardinall of Rome, who likewyse was poysoned hard before the election of this Celestine least he should hauehave succeded Gregorie: of the same Robert Somerton and his death, wryteth Mattheus Parisius cōmending him as a man who for the louelove he had of all was worthy to be Pope. The same Mattheus wryteth of the behauiour of Legates at the same time saying, two of the Popes messē gers remayned in Englād to gather vp his money, whose extorsion was so odious & shamefull, that it is better (saith he) to let it passe not to offende mens eares, then to defyle the ayre wyth the filthye reporte thereof. This Celestine vsed this sayinge commonlye: It is harder to keepe moderation in prosperity, then in aduersitye. After his death the Popedome was voyde xxi. weekes, till the Emperour at the request of Baldwine Emperour of Constantinople, and Raimond Erle of Tholos, deliuered those Cardinals which he had in captiuitye.
FINIS.