The Accomplishment of the Prophecies, Chapter 2 · Part 25
The first point. That the Papacie is encreased by the ruine of the Roman Empire.
THe Apostle saith, That hee which doth obtaine shall obtaine, or that hee which boldeth must hold; By him which holdeth he vnderstandeth him, which possesseth, or holdeth rule; which cannot bee vnderstood but of the Roman Empire, which did as then beare rule over a great part of the world. For the worde foreign which he vseth, doth signify to possesse. as in the 1. to the Cor. chap. 7. v. 30. Hee foretelleth vsus therefore that the Empire which did beare rule must be abolished, and that out of the ruines of the Empire the sonne of perdition must exalt himselfe, & bee made manifest. The same word signifies also to withhold, or hinder; which also agreeth to our purpose. For the Roman Empire while it was in force did hinder the pope from rising, and kept him vnderunder, by punishing him, driuing him to corners, degrading him, if at any time he failed to do his duty. But this Empire being decayed in the West, & diminished in the East by the Sarasins, The popes found means to seize vpō the chiefe citie of the Empire, together with a great part of Italie, & to devoure the neighbouring Churches, and Realmes at his pleasure.
Now although the Fathers hauehave spokē nothing concerning these things, but only by guesse, & coniectures; because they were not as yet come to passe, nevertheles I knowe not how it hath come to passe to bee a generall receaued opinion amongst them, and a common prophecie, that this sonne of perdition whom they call Antichrist, should rise out of the destruction of the Empire, and be exalted vponupon the ruins thereof: And they apply this passage to that purpose, wherin they al hold that Antichrist is spoken of: Tertullian in his book of the resurrection of the flesh, chapter 24 OnelyOnly (saith he) hee which now holdeth, must hold till he be abolished; what is this but the Roman Empire, the scattered parts whereof being divided amongst tenne kings shall produce Antichrist, and then shall that wicked man be revealed, &c. Chrysostome in his 4. sermon vponupon the second to the Thessalonians, What is it therefore that withholdeth, that hee bee not made manifest, that is to say, what is it that hindreth him from being revealed: some say that it is the grace of the holy Ghost, others say that it is the Roman Empire, of whose opinion I am altogether. The Greeke scholiast gathered out of diverse interpreters, saith the same. By him which holdeth, hee vnderstandeth him which hindreth; And what is this? some say that it is the holy Ghost, others that it is the Roman Empire, and this opinion is the best; S. Austin in his 20. booke and 19. chap. of the cittie of God: Whereas the Apostle saith, that only he which now holdeth, must hold till hee be abolished, this is thought by some and that not absurdly to be spokē of the Roman Empire, as if it had beene said, Only hee which now beareth rule, must rule, till he be put from it. Primasius; The Roman Empire shall be destroyed before that Antichrist bee revealed; S. Ierome saith the same in the 11. quest. to Algasia where he doth expoūd this place, If the Roman Empire bee not first destroyed, and Antichrist goe before, Christ shall not come. And a litle after, hauing said that the name of blasphemy written in the forehead of the harlot clad in skarlet, is, Roma aeterna, hee addeth, that the Apostle durst not say in expresse tearms that the Roman Empire should bee abolished, for feare of drawing persecution vponupon the Church.
Since therefore that the destruction of the Roman Empire must goe before the manifestation of the sonne of perdition which is called Antichrist, we are to looke whether this Empire be destroyed. For if it be found that it was long since ruinated, there is no question but the sonne of perdition is made manifest.
Here vponupon there is a question moved whether the Empire of Germanie bee the true Roman Empire, and the same Empire which was in the Apostles time. There be some that affirme this, building vponupon this ground, that the Emperour of Germanie is called King of the Romans. Others say that we are not to stand on wordes, but things: And that the Romā Empire, wherof S. Paul speaketh, is no more, as Machiavell saith in his 1. booke of the Florentine historie: that, L' Imperio é tutto in terrâ. the Empire is all fallē flat vpō the ground. That the Empire of Germanie came not by succession from the auncient Romane Emperours; but that Charles the Great, King of France was the first founder of it. That the Emperour of Germanie holdeth nothing neither in Rome nor in Italie. That Germanie for the most part is out of the ancient Roman Empire. That it is vnlikely that hee should be the Roman Emperour, which is not onelyonly not Emperour of Rome, but sendeth to Rome to tender his submission, and to take an oath of allegiance and obedience to him that beares sway there, to wit, to the Pope of Rome. And indeed Lypsius whoe hath spent his whole study in an exact knowledge of the Roman Empire, and which in this point yeelds to no man living, affirmes boldly that the Pope holdeth the remainder of this Empire; wherefore hee saith that this Pope and Roman Dictatour doth sustaine the parts of this ruined edifice. That hee hath his Senate clad in purple, whom wee may compare to Kings; That hee hath imposts, and Embassadours from farre countries. That Kings themselues, and Princes doe bend before him, and bow down their heads in token of subiection. Wherevpon also he saith that this sacred Empire at Rome, hath beene, and is, insteed of an ankor to floating Europe: And in my opinion the Pope and his Parasites do but plainly scof at the Emperor, in calling him king of the Romans, since that they hauehave taken away all Rome and Italy from him. But we need not here go about to decide this differēce; for it is is sufficient that all confesse the Roman Empire long since to hauehave beene so decayed, that one may say truly that it is ruinated, and destroyed; as say that our Kings should bee thrust out of al France, except it were a little Corner in Brittany, one might say that their kingdome were destroyed, & abolished. Besids, Bellarmine doth not see how he doth contradict himselfe, in affirming that the Roman Empire whereof S. Paule speakes is not yet abolished: For hee saith by a consequent that the Empire of Germanie doth hinder the comming of Antichrist: which being granted, there is no likelyhood that Antichrist must be a Iew which shall take vp his seat in the kingdome of Ierusalem, for the Emperour of Germanie hath no meanes to hinder this.
This then being out of question, to wit, that the Roman Empire, whereof S. Paule speakes, is already ruinated, it must needs also be that the sonne of perditiō is already made manifest; since that hee is to rise out of the ruines of the Empire, and bee made manifest by the abolishment therof. We are therefore to finde out some state that did raise it selfe by the fall of the Roman Empire: the head whereof must call himselfe God, and take vponupon him to rule in the house of God, which is his Church, and boast of signes and miracles: Doubtlesse the Turke never tooke such titles: & there shall no man but the Pope be found to whom all these things will agree: who hath also made the seate of his Pontificall Empire in the same towne, which in the Apostle S. Pauls time was the seate of the Roman Empire, and which for many ages together was the chiefe cittie of the Empire: so that it cannot bee denied but that he holdeth the same place which the Roman Emperours did of old: And this is so knowne a thing that our adversaries thē selues are forced to confesse it, some of whose testimonies wee will cite. Nicholas Machiavell dedicateth his Florentine historie to Pope Clement the 7: And yet for al that, in the 1. booke there of hee is not afraid to speake in this manner: The Emperour therefore becomming a Christian, and withdrawing himselfe to Constantinople, it followed therevpon that the Roman Empire came to decay, and the church of Rome to encrease the more: neverthelesse till the comming of the Lombards (all Italie being vnderunder the rule of Emperors or Kings) the Popes never tooke any other authoritie vponupon them at that time, but to looke into mens manners, and their doctrine: In other matters they obayed the Emperours or Kings, which sometimes did put them to death, and imploy them as their servants in what businesse they pleased: but that which woone them the more honour, and made them to be the more respected in Italie, was King Theodoricks laying siege to Ravenna: because Rome remaining without a Prince, the Romans to hauehave the more refuge, were compelled to yeeld the Pope the more obedience. Yet they did not gaine much authoritie by this, only the Church of Rome got to be preferred before that of Ravenna. But the comming of the Lumbards, & the division of Italie into so many parts, were the occasions of the Popes rising. Because he (being as it were the head at Rome) the Emperor of Constantinople, and the Lumbards did so far forth respect him, that the Romans by the Popes meanes did enter a league of friendship with the Lombards, and with Longinus, not as subiects but as friends. And so the Popes continuing to be friends both with the Lombards, and with the Graecians, did encrease their dignitie; but a little after ensued the downefall of the East Empire, which hapned about that time vnderunder the Emperor Heraclius, by the Sclavonians, Persians, Sarasins, &c. He addeth farther that the Pope being not able to obtaine succor from the Emperour against the Lombards, sought to the kings of Fraunce for aide, and that all the wars which were in Italie after that time were raised by the Popes, which made Barbarians come to succour them, vnderunder which word of Barbarians hee doth also comprehend the French, who were the only men that did vphold the Papacie as it was falling, and which gaue the Pope whatsoever he doth possesse in Italie. Finally hee concludeth this whole narration with these words. Wherfore to describe that which followed after this time, wee neede no more to tell of the ruine of the Empire which is vtterly decayed, but how the Pope came to encrease.
Hee that woulde see more particularly how the bishop of Rome hath made his cō modity by the ruine of the Empire, let him read Sigonius his historie of the kingdome of Italie. In the beginning of his 3. booke he relateth how (the Emperour Philippicus Bardanes, opposing himselfe against the receiving of images into churches) Pope Gregory the 2. did for bid the Italians to receiue any letters frō the Emperour, to pay him any tribute out of their mony, to place his statue in their temples, or so much as once to name him in their publike service. This was the first time that the Popes did rebell against the Emperours, being much enfeebled by the Sarasins in the East, and spoiled of the Empire of the West. Before then they tooke heed not to raise any mutinies. Now this first attempt of the Popes fell out in the yeare of our Lord, 712. yet this stroke drew no bloud, for no man did for all this withdraw himselfe from beeing subiect to the Emperour. And Sigonius tels vsus plainly that eleven yeares after, the Emperour Leo gaue Marin, an Esquire of his body, the governmēt of the city of Rome, which place they that helde were called Dukes of Rome, to whom he gaue in commission to put Pope Gregorie to death: which he being not able to effect (the authority of Emperours as then decreasing from day to day, he commanded his Lieutenant in Italie who was called the Exarch, to spoile him of his Popedome, & to degrade him; But Gregorie sued to the vsurpers of Lombardie for aid, against the Emperour his naturall Prince: And his dispute concerning the service of images served him for this purpose, wherein vnderunder the colour of devotion he did oppose himselfe against the Emperors, which did beat downe images in all places; and having perswaded the Italians that to overthrow images was to overturne Christian religion, hee made the Emperours odious to the people of Italie. Till at last in the yeare 725. hee wrought them of Rome, of Campania, of Ravenna and Pentapolis to revolt from the Emperour, with a thousand cruelties practised vponupon those that tooke the Emperours part; Wherevpon Sigonius concludeth thus; By these meanes Rome and the Dukedome of Rome came to be in the Popes power, being taken from the Grecians by reason of their wicked heresie; that is to say, that the Popes did take away the chiefest part of the Empire from vnderunder the Emperours government, because they would not yeeld to worship images. This was the pretext; but the true cause was, because the Emperour was poore & weak so that one might offend him without much danger. This notwithstanding was nothing in respect of the greatnesse to which Pepin king of France did exalt the Pope in the yeare 755. which is the time wherein the Pope did first begin to bee an earthly Prince vnderunder any title. Now even as when a great tree doth fall, every man runs with his hatchet to get some branch or other: Even so in the ruine of the Roman Empire, diverse Princes, and people …an to the wracke thereof, and every one snatched a part of it. But the Bishop of Rome over and aboue the possession of the head citty of the Empire, and of the country round about, did by little & little take the markes and dignitie of the Empire vponupon him, to wit, his habit, & shooes of skarlet; his senate clad in skarlet, the power of enrolling some for Gods, and Canonizing them for Saints: the obeisance, & submission of all the Princes which doe agnize him▪ the Canon law in imitation of the civill: Embassadours called Legats, as those of Emperours. Papall iniunctions in imitation of the imperiall. Imposts, and tributs vnderunder the title of Annates and contributions. The imperiall crowne; but triple. So that becomming of a Bishop to be a King, hee did labour tooth and naile to make a monarchie of the church, & a Temporall Empire of a mysticall and spirituall body: For which purpose hee made vse of our ancient kings (especially after Lewes surnamed the Debonnayre) which being plaine meaning men, not seene in pointes of religion, thinking that to study was a disgrace for a King, suffered themselues to be led by an idle respect, vnderunder colour of the keyes, and S. Peters chaire, till a last they did cease to bee their owne masters, seeing that their crowne is at the popes disposall, who takes it and giues it to whō he thinkes good▪ These things hauehave beene noted by Guicciardine that famous Historian in the fourth booke of his historie, where after a long discourse of the rising and advancements of the popes, hee shuts vp all with these wordes. The Popes vponupon these foundations, and by these meanes being exalted to an earthly dominion, having by little and little neglected the salvation of soules, and cast aside the remembrance of divine instructions, bending their studies howe to attaine to worldly greatnesse, & vsing spirituall authoritie no farther, but as it was an instrument, and help for the temporall, did begin to shew more like secular Princes then Bishops; A *Out of the Venice edition printed in the yeare 1514. in pag. 125. after these wordes Il Ba glidi Digiuno.passage, which together with others the Expurgators hauehave razed cleane out of the last editions of Guicciardine. To be briefe he must bee very little read in history, that can bee ignorant of the accomplishmēt of the Apostles prophecy, which saith that when he which bore rule should be abolished, then the sonne of perdition should be exalted and made manifest.