duchess, Margaret, the daughter of Ernest, Elector of Saxony, three sons, Otho, Ernest, and Francis, who succeeded him. BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. We have now arrived at that eventful period, General reflections. when the light of the Reformation began to dawn upon Europe, and when a knowledge of the contents of the holy scriptures first dispelled some of those dark clouds of ignorance and superstition, which had so long enveloped the minds of men and of princes. The art of printing had made the sources of knowledge comparatively easy of access, and though John Huss had been burnt at the stake, and the strong arm of power had dispersed his followers, the spirit of inquiry had gone abroad, and the dogmas of the schools were no longer received as the infallible oracles of truth. It was in 1517, that Martin Luther, a native of Eisleben in the county of Mansfeldt, and Electorate of Saxony, first called the attention of his countrymen to the abuses of the catholic church, and began to preach those doctrines which at the commencement agitated the whole of Euand in the end severed from the dominion of Rome a great portion of the civilized world. rope, The rise and progress of the temporal domi BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. nion of the spiritual head of the catholic church, and the causes which led to his downfall, involve a subject of inquiry of great interest; and though these annals aspire to no higher aim than a dry and often tedious detail of historical facts, it may not be improper, before we proceed to consider that war of religion, in which the princes of Brunswick became so deeply engaged, to give a short view of the history of the church, from the first establishment of a Roman bishop, to the commencement of the Reformation in the sixteenth century; more particularly, as the princes of the Guelphic family make a conspicuous figure in upholding the supremacy of that church, and were more concerned than any others in the maintenance of the Popes in their temporal authority; though when the progress of knowledge began to open the eyes of mankind to the abuses of that authority, they also were amongst the first to join in supporting the necessary reforms. When the northern invaders took possession of the Roman empire, we are informed that they found the clergy amply endowed, for even previous to the conversion of Constantine they had got the management of many immoveable estates, and under the colourable pretext of pro- The liberality of Constantine, and his successors, set an example, which was almost universally imitated, and the clergy, passing rapidly from a state of poverty and persecution, to one of great wealth, soon degenerated from their original purity and holiness. Covetousness is said to have become a vice almost characteristic of their body, and there was a law of Valentinian I., as early as 370, which prohibited them from receiving the bequests of women. The conquerors of Gaul and Italy were less enlightened than the subjects of the empire, BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. and more distinguished for their superstitious reverence of the priesthood. Though they abandoned the worship of their national idols, and acceded to the rites of Christianity, they still retained that credulity, which seemed to invite imposture, and laid the foundation of that veneration for relics, the worship of images, the idolatry of saints and martyrs, with the religious inviolability of sanctuaries, the consecration of cemeteries, and above all, the doctrine of purgatory and masses for the dead, which, in the first instance, were introduced into the church with the best intentions, but afterwards promoted for purposes of fraud, and have since become an essential part of the catholic creed. "A creed thus contrived," says Hallam*, "operating upon the minds of barbarians, lavish, though rapacious, and devout, though dissolute, naturally caused a torrent of opulence to flow in upon the church. Donations of land were continually made to the bishops, and in a still more ample proportion to the monastic foundations.” To die, without allotting a certain portion of worldly wealth to pious uses, came to be almost • History of the Middle Ages. accounted like suicide; and there are many and striking instances in the early history of the Guelphic princes, of their liberality and unbounded munificence, in founding monasteries, and endowing bishopricks, within the limits of their ancient kingdom of Bavaria. In a short time, the clergy were possessed of almost all the wealth of every Christian country. In England, they had acquired the property of more than one half of the soil, and in many of the states of the western empire a still greater proportion. The payment of tithes was recommended, and enjoined upon the authority of the Jewish law. But as parochial divisions, as they now exist, did not take place till many centuries after the establishment of Christianity in Europe, the bishop received the tithes where they could be collected, and apportioned them as he thought fit. A capitulary of Charlemagne, which established the legality of demanding tithes, regulated their division into three parts; one was allotted for the support of the bishop and his clergy, another for the maintenance. of the poor, and the third portion was for building and supporting the fabric of the churches. VOL. II. Р BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. |