A General Martyrology, Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX. The Persecution of the Church under the Arrian Hereticks, which began, An. Christi, 339.
COnstantine the Great, dying, divided his Empire amongst his three sons, Constantius, Constans and Constantine. Constantius that governed the East, was seduced by an Arrian Presbyter, who had been in his fathers Court, with his Aunt Constantia; So pernicious a thing it is to have deceitfull Hereticks lurking in Princes Courts, Note.and Ladies Chambers.
This Presbyter complained to Constantius that the Return of Athanasius from banishment was very dangerous to the peace of the Common-wealth: Yea, he so far incensed the Emperour against him,Athanas…us accused of sedition. that he sent a Captain with five thousand armed men to slay him; but the Lord delivered him miraculously out of their hands, for the armed souldiers being placed round about the Church where he was, he went safely through the midst of them undiscerned,His miraculous deliverance. though many Arrians were present on purpose to point him out to the souldiers, as a sheep ordained for the slaughter.
But neither in banishment could he enjoy peace and safety, for this Arrian Emperour sent to all the officers in his Army to search him out, wheresoever he was,His banishment and danger. proposing a great Reward to those that could bring Athanasius to him, either alive or dead; whereupon he was forced to hide himself in a deep pit, where he lay six years never so much as seeing the light of the Sun, till at last a Maid that used to carry him his food, was corrupted by those which sought for him, to betray him to them;His miraculous deliverance. but it pleased God by his Spirit to reveal to him his danger, whereby he escaped a little before they came to apprehend him.
Afterwards Constans forced his brother Constantius, though much against his will, to restore Athanasius to his Church at Alexandria:He is restored for a time, and again banished. But after the death of that good Emperour Constans, Constantius drave him into banishment again; yet the Lord stirred up a godly woman to hide him in her house, till the death of Constantius.
In Alexandria in the room of Athanasius, was George an Arrian Bishop placed, who also was furnished with armed souldiers to assist him in his devillish devices. Thereupon he caused a great fire to be made, took many Christian Virgins, caused them to be stripped naked, requiring them to renounce their faith, or else they should be burned: but when the sight of the fire could not terrifie them,Christian virgins shamefully abused. he caused their faces to be so dashed with strokes, that their countenances were disfigured; yet like patient souldiers of Christ they endured all kind of rebuke for his names sake.
Thirty Bishops, of Egypt and Lybia, were slain in the fury of this Arrian Persecution. Fourteen Bishops were banished,The Arrians cruelty. whereof some of them died in the way, the rest in exile. Forty Orthodox Christians in Alexandria were scourged with rods, because they would not communicate with the Arrian Bishop George, and so pitiously handled, that some pieces of the rods were so deeply fixed in their flesh, that they could not be drawn out, and many through excessive pain of their wounded bodies, died.
The like cruelty did the Arrians exercise in Constantinople. Paul the good Bishop was banished to Cucusus, B. Paul banished.where he was strangled by the Arrians. Macedonius a notable heretick was placed in his room, who used no less cruelty in forcing men to communicate with him, then was used formerly to force them to sacrifice to Idols.
These Hereticks used also great diligence in procuring Councels toSubtilty. establish their Errors. But not long after the Emperor died, sorrowing much that he had changed the form of the Nicene faith.
After the death of Jovian, Valentinian succeeded in the Empire, who associated to himself his brother Valens, An. Christi 364and made him Emperor of the East. This Valens was an Arrian, and raised up a cruel Persecution against the Orthodox:Persecution raised by Valens. Concerning which Greg. Nazianzen in his Oration of the praise of Basil, thus writeth, Insurrexit repente nebula grandine plena, & perniciose stridens, quae omnes Ecclesias in quas incidit, cont…ivit, & postravit, Christi Cultor, pariter & os…r, qui post persecutorem persecutor fuit, He succeeded Julian.& post Apostatam, non quidem Apostata, sed nihilo tamen meliorem se Christianis praebens: Christi nomen prae se ferens, Christum mentiebatur. Miletius Bishop of Antioch he banished to Armenia. Miletius. Eusebius. Pelagius.Eusebius Bishop of Samosata, to Thrace. Pelagius Bishop of Laodicea, to Arabia.
He was exceedingly filled with wrath against the Bishops assembled in the Counsel of Lampsacum, because they adhered to the Nicene faith. In Constantinople he banished all the Orthodox. In Edissa, he commanded them all to be slain as they were assembled together in the Church. The Lieutenant that had received this charge from him, being more mercifull then his Master, gave private notice to the Christians,An admirable story. that they should not assemble at that time; but they, neither regarding his advice, nor fearing his threats, flocked to the Church in great companies: and whilst the Lieutenant, with many armed souldiers, hasted thitherward to fulfill the Emperors command, a woman leading a child in her hand, all in haste, brake the ranks, and thrust into the armed troops; the Lieutenant being moved therewith, called the woman before him, saying, Thou fond and unfortunate woman, whither runnest thou so rashly? Thither (said she) whither others hasten; Hast thou not heard (said he) that the Lieutenant will slay as many as he finds there? I heard it (said she) and therefore I make the more haste to the place. Courage.But whether (said he) leadest thou this child? That he also (said she) may be accounted in the number of Martyrs. Hereupon the Lieutenant returned back to the Emperor, and told him that all the Christians from the highest to the lowest prepared themselves to die in the defence of their faith,Gods Providence. and withal he shewed him what a rash thing it was to murder so great a multitude, &c. and so with his reasons perswaded the Emperour, that he appeased his wrath, and prevented the mischief at that time.
In Constantinople the Arrians, favoured by the Emperor, crowed insolently over the Christians, they scourged, reviled, imprisoned, amerced, and laid upon them all the intollerable burthens they could devise. Hereupon eighty godly Ministers, in the name of all the rest, addressed themselves to the Emperour, complaning of the out-rages that were done to them,Eighty godly Ministers burned. craving some relief: But this cruel Tyrant commanded Modestus the General of his Army, to embark them all in a ship, as if he would have sent them into banishment, but secretly he gave direction to the Marriners, to set the ship on fire, and to retire themselves into a boat, and so these holy Martyrs glorified the Name of Christ, by patient suffering of a double death, burning and drowning.
In all the Eastern parts he tormented many with sundry sorts of grievous torments, put many to death, drowned many in the sea,Cruelty of hereticks. and in rivers.
About this time he consulted with Necromancers, to know who should succeed him in the Empire: The devil answered ambiguously, that his name should begin with Th. Whereupon he put to death as many as were called Theodorus, Theodotus, Theadosius or Theodulus.
Athanasius being dead at Alexandria, there succeeded him a godly and holy man, named Peter, Peter.but the Emperour presently sent souldiers, which clapt him in prison, and the rest of the Ministers were banished, some to one place, some to another.
After this he sent forth an Edict for the persecuting of all the Orthodox in Egypt: Whereupon many were stript of their raiment,Cruelty. scourged, fettered in prisons, crushed in pieces with stones, beheaded, driven into deserts, where they wandred in sheeps-skins and goats-skins, destitute of aid and succour; Many hid themselves in mountains, in dens, caves and hollow rocks.
Terentins and Trajan, two worthy Captains, used some liberty in admonishing the Emperour to abstain from persecuting of the innocent; but the Lord was minded to destroy him,The Emperour refused admonition. and therefore he could receive no wholesome admonition; For many of the Goths, whom he entertained as souldiers to assist him against his enemies, turned against himself, so that he fled, and was overtaken in a village, which the Goths set on fire, whereby he died miserably,Gods judgement …n persecutors. leaving none to succeed him, and his name a curse and execration to all ages.
Collected out of Magd. Hist. Socrates and Theod.
The Persecution by the Donatists.
ABout the year of our Lord 410. there sprang up in Africk the Donatists and Circumcellions, who first made a great Schism in the Church, and afterwards raised up a great persecution against the Orthodox: concerning which, St Austine complains in sundry places; And in his 50. Epistle to Earl Boniface, he thus writes of it, In hoc labore multi Catholici, & maxime Episcopi, & Clerici horrenda & dura perpessi sunt, quae commemorare longum e…t, &c. In this disturbance,Bloody schismaticks. the Orthodox, especially the Bishops and Ministers, suffered hard and horrible things, the particulars whereof are long to recite; for some of them had their eies put out: Some Bishops had their hands and tongues cut off, and some were slain out-right. To speak nothing of the cruel slaughter of others that were sound and sincere: of the plundering of their houses, of the out-ragious burning, not only of their private habitations, but of their Churches also; yea, so vile and violent were they, that they sticked not to burn the sacred Scriptures.
Profane Schismaticks.Optatus in his second book tells us, that when Julian the Apostate came to the Empire, the Donatists preferred a petition to him, wherein they desired leave to return to their places in Africk, from whence formerly they had been banished. Julian knowing what furious and turbulent spirits they were of, and how prejudicial their Return would be to the Catholick Church, easily assented to their petition, and so they returned full fraught with malice and revenge, and presently imployed all their abilities, partly by subtilty to seduce the common people, partly by violence to oppress the Orthodox Bishops and Ministers,Turbulent Schismaticks. of whom, some they thrust out of their Churches, others they slew.
Some of their chief Bishops, taking armed souldiers with them, went to the Castle of Lemella, where finding the Church shut against them, they commanded their attendance to get upon it, to uncover the roof, and so having broken into it, they set upon some Deacons, whom they found there, wounded some, and slew two of them outright. In all places where they came, they profaned all holy things; The Sacramentall bread they threw to their dogs; but behold the just judgement of God against these profane schismaticks; those very dogs shortly after running mad,Profane Schismaticks. Gods Judgement on them. Impure schismaticks. fell upon their own Masters, and tore them in pieces.
Virgins they defloured, and wives they defiled. So usual a thing it is for those which adulterate the holy truths of God, to be given over to corporal uncleanness.
These furious persons dispersed themselves all over Africk, and would not suffer the Orthodox to preach the truth against their Errors: By their violent assaults, thieveries, rapines, burnings and murthers, they destroyed many, and afrighted all, &c.