History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution
by
Rev. James MacCaffrey
Part 5 out of 7
teachers. Colleges were opened in Venice, Naples, Bologna, Florence,
and in many other leading cities. St. Charles Borromeo became the
patron and defender of the society in Milan. Everywhere the labours of
the Jesuits led to a great religious revival, while by means of their
colleges they strengthened the faith of the rising generation. In
Spain, too, the home of St. Ignatius the Jesuits received a friendly
welcome. Their colleges were crowded with students, as were their
churches with the faithful. Difficulties, indeed, arose owing to the
tendency of some of the Spanish Jesuits to have none but Spanish
superiors, but with a little prudence these difficulties were overcome
in 1593. Most of the best known writers on ecclesiastical subjects,
Vasquez, Suarez, De Lugo, and Ripalda on Dogmatic Theology, Sanchez on
Moral Theology, and Maldonatus and Pereira on Scripture belonged to
the Spanish province.
In France the society met with serious difficulties at first. Hatred
of Spain and of everything that savoured of Spanish origin, dislike of
what was considered the excessive loyalty of the society to the Pope,
and jealousy on the part of the University of Paris were the principal
obstacles that were to be overcome. But notwithstanding these the
Jesuits found a home in Paris, where they opened the College de
Clermont (Louis-le-Grand), and they founded similar colleges in
several of the leading cities of France. In the struggle against the
Calvinists they were of great assistance to the Catholic body. The
progress of their numerous colleges and the influence which they
acquired over the young men roused the fierce opposition of the
University, but being befriended by the court, where they were
retained as royal confessors, the Jesuits were enabled to hold their
ground. During the wars of the League against Henry III. and Henry of
Navarre, though their position was one of extreme delicacy, the
prudent action of their general, Aquaviva, in recommending his
subjects to respect the consciences of both parties saved the
situation. They were, however, expelled from Paris in 1594, but Henry
IV. allowed them to return in 1603.
In the German States, Hungary, and Poland, where the fate of
Catholicity seemed trembling in the balance, the Jesuit Fathers stayed
what threatened to be a triumphal progress for Protestantism. St.
Ignatius soon despatched some of his disciples to the scene of
conflict under the leadership of the Blessed Peter Canisius.[18] By
his sermons, his lectures as professor, his prudent suggestions to
those in authority, as well as by his controversial writings, and more
particularly his celebrated Catechism, Canisius did more to stay the
advance of Protestantism in Germany than any single individual of his
age. Colleges were founded in Vienna, Ingoldstadt, Treves, Mainz, and
in most of the cities of Germany that were not subject to the
Protestant princes. From these colleges went forth young men who were
determined to resist the further encroachments of heresy. Maximilian
of Bavaria and the Emperor Ferdinand II., both of whom took such a
prominent part in the Catholic Counter-Reformation, were pupils of the
Jesuits, and were but types of the men who left their colleges. In
Hungary, too, and in Poland the tide was turned in favour of the
Catholic Church mainly by the exertions of the Jesuits. In Ireland,
England and Scotland, in the Netherlands, and Sweden, in a word
wherever Catholic interests were endangered, the Jesuits risked their
lives in defence of the Catholic religion. It is on account of the
defeats that they inflicted on heresy at this period that the hatred
of the Jesuits is so deep-rooted and so universal amongst Protestants
even to the present day.
The Ursulines, so called from their patron St. Ursula, began as a
religious association of pious ladies formed by Angela de' Merici[19]
(Angela of Brescia) in 1537. At first the aim of the association was
to reclaim fallen women, to visit the sick, and to educate the young.
The members lived in their own homes according to a scheme of life
drawn up for their guidance, meeting only for certain spiritual
exercises. In 1535 the foundress succeeded in bringing a few of them
together into a small community. After her death in 1540 the community
increased in numbers, and was approved by Paul III., who allowed the
Ursulines to change their rules according to circumstances. For a long
time the Ursulines did not spread outside Brescia, but as their work
became known, particularly their work as educationalists, they were
invited to other parts of Italy. In Milan they had a warm friend in
the person of its Cardinal Archbishop, St. Charles Borromeo. The first
community of the Ursulines was formed in France by Madame de Beuve. A
rule was drawn up by Father Gonterey, S.J., and others of his society,
and approved by Paul V. (1612). In a comparatively short time the
Ursulines spread over most of the Catholic countries of Europe, so
that nearly all the most modern and best equipped schools for Catholic
girls were in their hands. In 1639 they went to Canada where they
opened the convent known as the Hotel-Dieu at Quebec, and in 1727 they
settled in New Orleans.
St. Teresa[20] (1515-82) is the reformer rather than the foundress of
the Carmelite nuns. Being anxious from an early age to follow her
religious vocation, much against the wishes of her father she entered
the convent of the Carmelite nuns at Avila (1535). After her
profession she fell ill, and for years was subject to excruciating
torture. During this period she turned her mind completely to
spiritual subjects, and was visited by God with most extraordinary
marks of divine favour, an account of which is to be found in her life
written by herself, in her /Relations/, and in many other of her
works. She determined to return to the primitive austerity of the
Carmelite rule, and in 1562 she founded the first convent of Discalced
Carmelite nuns at Avila. Through her exertions other convents of the
order adopted the reform, and in 1580 the existence of the Discalced
Carmelites as a separate order was approved. She died in 1582, and
forty years later she was canonised by Gregory XV.
The Sisters of the Visitation were established by St. Francis de
Sales[21] and St. Frances de Chantal.[22] St. Francis de Sales (1567-
1622), so called from the castle of Sales in Savoy at which he was
born, made his rhetoric and philosophical studies at Paris under the
Jesuits. From Paris he went to Padua for law, and having received his
diploma he returned to his native country, where his father had
secured for him a place as senator and had arranged a very desirable
marriage. But St. Francis, feeling that he had been called by God to
another sphere of life, threw up his position at the bar, accepted the
office of provost of the chapter of Geneva, and received Holy Orders
(1593). A great part of the diocese of Geneva was at this time overrun
by the heretics. St. Francis threw himself with ardour into the work
of converting those who had fallen away especially in the district of
Le Chablais, where he won over thousands to the faith. He became
coadjutor-bishop of Geneva, and on the death of his friend Claude de
Granier he was appointed to the See (1602). In conjunction with Madam
de Chantal he established a community of women at Annecy in 1610. His
idea at first was that the little community should not be bound by the
enclosure, but should devote themselves to their own sanctification
and to the visitation of the sick and the poor. Objections, however,
having been raised against such an innovation, he drew up for the
community a rule based mainly on the rule of St. Augustine. In 1618
the society received recognition as a religious order under the title
of the Order of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin. The order
undertook the work of educating young girls as well as of visiting the
sick. It spread rapidly in Italy, France, Germany, Poland, and later
on in the United States.
The Sisters of Charity,[23] or the Grey Sisters as they were called,
were founded by St. Vincent de Paul. While St. Vincent was cure of
Chatillon-les-Dombes he established in the parish a confraternity of
charitable ladies for the care of the sick, the poor, and the orphans.
The experiment was so successful that he founded similar
confraternities in Paris, and wherever he gave missions throughout the
country. Having found, however, that in Paris the ladies of charity
were accustomed to entrust the work to their servants he brought a
number of young girls from the country, who could be relied upon to
carry out his wishes. These he looked after with a special solicitude,
and in 1633 Madam Le Gras took a house in Paris, where she brought
together a few of the most promising of them to form a little
community. In 1642 after the community had moved into a house opposite
St. Lazare, some of the sisters were allowed to take vows. The Sisters
of Charity have been at all times exceedingly popular in France. By
their schools, their orphanages, their hospitals, and by their
kindness to the poor and the suffering they won for themselves a place
in the hearts of the French people. For a while during the worst days
of the Revolution their work was suspended, and their communities were
disbanded; but their suppression was deplored so generally that in
1801 the Superioress was commanded to re-organise the society. Outside
France the Sisters of Charity had several houses in Poland,
Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.
Mary Ward[24] (1585-1645) was born of a good Catholic family in
England. She joined the Poor Clares at St. Omer in 1600, but,
preferring an active to a contemplative life, she gathered around her
a few companions, and formed a little community at St. Omer mainly for
the work of education. According to her plan, which was derived in
great measure from the constitution of the Society of Jesus (hence the
name Jesuitesses given to her followers by her opponents), her sisters
were not bound by the enclosure, were not to wear any distinctive
dress, and were to be subject directly only to Rome. Serious
objections were raised immediately against such an institute,
particularly as Pius V. had declared expressly that the enclosure and
solemn vows were essential conditions for the recognition of religious
communities of women. Branches were opened in the Netherlands,
Austria, and Italy under the patronage of the highest civil
authorities. As the opponents of the community continued their attacks
the foundress was summoned to Rome to make her defence (1629), but in
the following year the decree of suppression was issued. The house in
Munich was allowed to continue, and at the advice of the Pope she
opened a house in Rome. The principal change introduced was that the
houses should be subject to the bishops of the dioceses in which they
were situated. At last in 1703, on the petition of Maximilian Emanuel
of Bavaria and of Mary the wife of James II., the rule was approved
formally by Clement XI. The society continued to spread especially in
Bavaria. The followers of Mary Ward are designated variously, the
Institute of Mary, Englische Fraulein, and Loreto Nuns from the name
given to Rathfarnham, the mother-house of the Irish branch, founded by
Frances Ball in 1821.
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[1] /Histoire du Ven Didier de la Cour, reformateur des Benedictins/,
1772.
[2] De Lama, /Bibliotheque des ecrivains de la congregation de St.
Maur/, 1882.
[3] Da Forli, /Annali Cappuccini/, 1882.
[4] Dumortier, /Saint Gaetan di Thiene/, 1882.
[5] Dubois, /Le bienheureux A. M. Zaccaria fondateur des Barnabites/,
1896.
[6] Sylvain, /Histoire de St. Charles Borromee/, 3 vols., 1884.
[7] Perraud, /L'Oratoire de France au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siecle/.
[8] Perraud, /L'Oratoire de France au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siecle/,
1866.
[9] Girard, /La vie de St. Jean de Dieu/, 1691.
[10] Hubert, /Der hl. Joseph Calasanza, stifter der frommen Schulen/,
1886.
[11] Ravelet-O'Meara, /The Life of the Blessed John Baptist de la
Salle/, 1888. Lucard, /Annales de l'Institut des Freres des Ecoles
Chretiennes/, 1883.
[12] Paris became an archiepiscopal See in 1622.
[13] Lorti, /Saint Vincent de Paul et sa mission sociale/, 1880.
[14] Degert, /Histoire des seminaires francais/, 1912.
[15] Faillon, /Vie de M. Olier/, 3 vols., 1873. Thompson, /Life of
Jean Jacques Olier/.
[16] Thompson, /Life of St. Ignatius/, 1910. Clair, /La vie de S.
Ignace/, 1894.
[17] /Constitutiones Societatis Jesu Latine et Hispanice/, 1892.
[18] Duhr, /Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Landen Deutscher Zunge/,
Bd. i., 1907.
[19] O'Reilly, /Life of St. Angela/, 1880. Meer, /Die ersten
Schwestern des Ursulinenordens/, 1897.
[20] /Autobiography of St. Teresa/, tr. from the French by B.
Zimmerman, 1904.
[21] Hamon, /Vie de St. Francois de Sales/, 2 vols., 1875.
[22] Bougaud, /Histoire de Ste. J. F. Chantal et des origines de la
Visitation/, 1899.
[23] Marcel, /Les Soeurs de Charite/, 1888.
[24] Salome, /Mother Mary Ward, a Foundress of the 17th Century/,
1901.
(d) The Thirty Years' War.
See bibliography, chap. ii. (a). Klopp, /Der Dreissigjahrige Krieg
bis Zum Tode Gustav. Adolfs u.s.w./, 3 Bde, 1891-6. Bougeant,
/Histoire des guerres et des negociations qui precederent le
traite de Westphalie/, 3 vols., 1751. Ritter, /Deutsche Geschichte
im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation und des Dreissigjahrigen
Krieges/, 1889. Huber, /Geschichte Osterreichs/, Bd. v., 1896.
/Nunziaturberichte aus Deutschland/, 1892. De Meaux, /La reforme
et la politique Francaise en Europe jusqu' a la paix de
Westphalie/, 1889. /Cambridge Modern History/, vol. iii. (chap.
iii.).
The Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) did not put an end to the
struggle between the Catholics and Protestants in Germany. Feeling on
both sides was too intense to permit either party to be satisfied with
the arrangement or to accept it as a permanent definition of their
respective rights. The German Catholics were indignant that a party
that had sprung up so recently and that had done such injury to their
Church and country, should be rewarded for heresy and disloyalty to
the Emperor by such concessions. Nor was their indignation likely to
be appeased by the manner in which Lutheran and Calvinist preachers
caricatured and denounced the doctrines and practices of the Catholic
world. Possibly it was, however, the clause of the Augsburg Peace
known as the /Ecclesiasticum Reservatum/ that gave rise to the most
heated controversies, and played the greatest part in bringing about
civil war. By this clause it was provided that in case any of the
bishops and abbots passed over to the reformed religion they could not
bring with them the ecclesiastical property attached to their office.
The Lutherans, who had benefited so largely by such secessions from
the Church in the past, objected to this clause at the Diet, and
protested against the decision when their objections were overruled.
Having realised that the Emperor was unable or unwilling to prevent
them they continued to act in open defiance of the /Ecclesiasticam
Reservatum/. Where the territories of a Catholic bishop were situated
in close proximity to the states of Protestant princes recourse was
had to various devices to acquire the lands of the Church. Sometimes
the bishop was induced to surrender them in return for a fixed grant
or pension, sometimes the chapter was persuaded to elect as bishop
some scion of a princely family, who was well-known to have leanings
towards Protestantism, and in a few cases the bishops themselves
solved the problem by seceding from the Catholic Church while
continuing to administer the territories to which their episcopal
office was their only title. In this way two archbishoprics and
fourteen bishoprics, amongst them being such wealthy Sees as
Magdeburg, Bremen, Brandenburg, and Osnabruck had passed into the
hands of the Lutherans, and it required a very special effort to
prevent two such important centres as Cologne and Aachen from meeting
with a similar fate. Gebhard, Archbishop of Cologne, a man of
scandalously immoral life, completed his infamous career by taking as
his wife one who had been his concubine, announcing at the same time
that he had gone over to Calvinism. The chapter of Cologne Cathedral
backed by the people took steps to rid themselves of such a superior,
and the chapter was supported warmly by both Pope and Emperor. Gebhard
was obliged to escape to Strassburg in the cathedral of which he held
a canonry, and where he succeeded in creating confusion. Two
archbishops claimed the See of Strassburg, one loyal to the Catholic
Church and one favouring Protestantism. This disgraceful contention
went on for years, till at last the Protestant champion was induced to
surrender on the payment of a large composition. The See of Aachen was
seized by force in 1581, and was held for fifteen years, at the end of
which the Protestants were obliged to abandon their claims.
Unfortunately for the Catholics the Emperors who succeeded Charles V.
were not strong enough to deal with such a dangerous situation.
Ferdinand I., sincere Catholic though he was, mindful of the terrible
disasters brought upon his country by the religious wars, strove with
all his might against their renewal. His successor Maximilian II.
(1564-76) was so strongly inclined towards Protestantism that he made
many concessions to the Protestants even in his own hereditary
dominions. He invited distinguished Lutheran preachers to Vienna,
conferred on Protestants influential positions at court, and gave
permission for Protestant religious services at least to the nobles of
Bohemia, Silesia, and Hungary. Several of the prince-bishops anxious
to stand well with the Emperor attempted to introduce reforms in
Catholic liturgy and Catholic practices without any reference to the
Holy See. The alarming spread of Protestantism in Austria, Hungary,
Bohemia, and Silesia, fostered as it was by the general policy of the
Emperor, tended to make the position of the Catholic Church extremely
insecure.[1]
But fortunately at that time a strong Catholic reaction began to make
itself felt. The reforming decrees of the Council of Trent did not
fail to produce a decided improvement in the condition of the bishops
and clergy. The new religious orders, particularly the Jesuits, had
thrown themselves into the work of defending the Catholic position,
and the colleges established by the Jesuits were turning out the
younger generation of Catholics well-equipped for the struggle that
lay before them. The catechisms which the Jesuit preachers scattered
broadcast through the country, and the attention paid by them to the
proper religious instruction of the people helped to remove the bad
impressions produced by the misrepresentations of the Lutherans, and
tended to arouse a strong, healthy, educated Catholic opinion in
public life. Fortunately, too, at the time when the Emperors were a
danger rather than a protection to the Church, the rules of Bavaria
undertook boldly the defence of the old religion, and placed
themselves at the head of the Catholic forces.[2] Albert V. (1550-79)
insisted on the promulgation of the decrees of the Council of Trent,
and made an oath of loyalty to the Catholic Church an indispensable
condition for office in his kingdom. He favoured the Jesuits,
encouraged their schools, and did everything in his power to
strengthen Catholicism amongst his subjects. His policy was continued
by Maximilian I. (1598-1651), who became the recognised leader of the
advanced Catholic party in Germany.
This general unexpected revival, the success of which was shown by the
fervour of the people, the unwillingness of the authorities to make
any further concessions, and the determination of all parties to
insist on the strict observance of the /Ecclesiasticum Reservatum/
filled the Protestants with such alarm that their princes began to
insist on new guarantees. The Emperor, Rudolph II. (1576-1612),
though, unlike his predecessor, a good Catholic, was a most
incompetent ruler, devoting most of his time to alchemy and other such
studies rather than to the work of government. He endeavoured to solve
the religious difficulties in Silesia and Bohemia by yielding to the
Protestant demands (1609), but the interference of his brother
Matthias led to new complications, and finally to Rudolph's abdication
of the sovereignty of Bohemia (1611). Frederick IV. of the Palatinate
was a strong Protestant, and was closely connected with the reforming
party in England, Holland, and France. He thought he saw in the strife
between the members of the House of Habsburg an opportunity of
improving the position of Protestantism in the empire, of weakening
the claims of the House of Habsburg to the imperial dignity, and
possibly also of establishing himself as ruler of a united Germany.
An incident that took place at Donauworth,[3] a city near the Rhine,
helped him to realise his scheme of a great Protestant federation.
This city was almost exclusively Catholic in 1555, but in one way or
another the Protestants had succeeded in improving their position till
at last only the abbey church remained to the Catholics. Here on the
Feast of Corpus Christi in the year 1606 the customary procession of
the Blessed Sacrament was attacked and dispersed, and the Catholics
were treated with the greatest cruelty. When the matter was brought
before the Emperor the city was placed under the ban of the empire,
and Maximilian I. of Bavaria was entrusted with the task of carrying
out the decree. He advanced with a strong army and captured the city.
As the war indemnity could not be raised he retained possession of it,
restoring to the Catholics everything they had lost. Frederick IV.
made a strong appeal to the Protestant princes to show their
resentment at such an act of aggression, pointing out to them that the
fate of Donauworth would be the fate of all their territories unless
they took united action. As a consequence when both parties met at the
Diet of Regensburg (1608) the excitement was intense, and when the
Emperor appealed to his princes for support against the Turks, the
Protestants refused to lend their aid unless they received
satisfactory explanations. The Catholics, encouraged by Maximilian,
were equally unconciliatory, with the result that the Diet disbanded
without having been able to arrive at an agreement.
A short time after the Diet most of the Protestant princes met at
Ahausen and formed a confederation known as the /Union/ (1608) at the
head of which stood Frederick IV. of the Palatinate, while a little
later a large number of the Catholic princes bound themselves together
in the /League/ and accepted Maximilian of Bavaria as their leader
(1609). Thus Germany was divided once again into two hostile camps,
and only a very trifling incident was required to plunge the country
into another civil war. For a time it seemed as if the succession to
the Duchy of Cleves was to be the issue that would lead to the
catastrophe. Duke John William of Cleves had died without any direct
heir, and as the religious issue was still undecided in his territory,
the appointment of a successor was a matter of the greatest importance
to both parties. The Emperor with the approval of the /League/
nominated his brother Leopold as administrator, while the /Union/,
having strengthened itself by an alliance with France, was prepared to
take the field in favour of a Protestant. Henry IV. of France, anxious
to turn the disputes that had broken out between the different members
of the imperial family to the advantage of himself and his country,
was actually on his way to take part in the campaign when he was
assassinated. On his death both parties agreed to a temporary truce
(1610), and thus the outbreak of the war was delayed for some time.
This delay was very fortunate for the Catholics in Germany. With such
an Emperor as Rudolph pitted against a man like Henry IV. there could
have been very little doubt about the issue. Even in his own
territories Rudolph could not maintain his authority against his
brother Matthias, in whose interest he was obliged to abdicate the
throne of Bohemia (1611). On the death of Rudolph (1612) Matthias
succeeded though not without considerable difficulty. As Emperor he
showed himself much less favourable to the Protestants than he had
been during the years when he was disputing with his brother, but,
however well inclined, he was powerless to put an end to the division
that existed or to control the policy of the /League/ or the /Union/.
The Duchy of Cleves was still an object of dispute. While the German
Protestants invoked the aid of William of Orange and the Dutch
Calvinists, the Catholics called in the forces of Spain. The Emperor
could merely look on while his subjects allied themselves with
foreigners to settle their own domestic troubles.
Meanwhile far more serious trouble was brewing in Bohemia, where the
followers of Hus had blended with the disciples of Luther, and where
in many centres there was a strong feeling against the Catholic
Church. According to the concessions granted by Rudolph (1609),
knights and free cities were at liberty to build Protestant churches,
but a similar concession was not made to the subjects of Catholic
lords. Regardless of or misinterpreting the terms of the concession,
however, the Protestant tenants of the Archbishop of Prague and of the
Abbot of Braunau built churches for their own use. The archbishop and
abbot, considering themselves aggrieved, appealed to the imperial
court. According to the decision of this court the church built on the
lands of the archbishop was to be pulled down, and the other on the
lands of the abbot was to be closed (1618). A deputation representing
the Protestant party was appointed to interview the imperial
representatives at Prague, and the reply to their remonstrances being
regarded as unfavourable, the mob attacked the building, and hurled
the councillors who were supposed to be responsible for it through the
windows.
Under the direction of Count Thurn and some other Protestant nobles a
provisional government was established in Bohemia, arrangements were
made to organise an army, and as a beginning in the work of reform the
Jesuits were expelled. Owing to the strong anti-German feeling of the
populace the rebellion spread rapidly in Bohemia, and Count Mansfeld
hastened to the relief of the insurgents with an army placed at his
disposal by the /Union/. Most of the cities of Bohemia were captured
by the rebels, and the whole of northern Austria stood in the gravest
danger. At this critical moment the Emperor Matthias passed away, and
was succeeded by Ferdinand II. (1619-37). The latter was a devoted
Catholic, trained by the Jesuits, and had already done immense service
to the Church by wiping out almost every trace of heresy in his
hereditary dominions. That such a man should succeed to the imperial
dignity at such a time was highly distasteful to the Protestants of
Bohemia. It was not, therefore, to be wondered at that they refused to
acknowledge him as king, and elected in his stead Frederick V. of the
Palatinate (1619).
The situation looked exceedingly serious for Ferdinand II. On the one
side he was being pressed hard by the Turks, and on the other he was
beset so closely by the Bohemian rebels that even the very city of
Vienna was in danger of falling into their hands. His opponent
Frederick V. could rely upon the forces of the /Union/ in the
campaign, and besides, as the son-in-law of James I. of England and
the nephew of Maurice of Orange the successful leader of the Dutch and
the sworn ally of the French Huguenots, Frederick had little
difficulty in persuading himself that at last Europe was to be freed
from the domination of the House of Habsburg. He marched into Bohemia,
and was crowned solemnly at Prague in 1619. But if Frederick could
count upon support from many quarters so, too, could Ferdinand.
Maximilian II. of Bavaria was active on his side, as were indeed the
whole forces of the /League/. Saxony, too, which was devoted to
Lutheranism and detested the Calvinist tendencies of Frederick,
fearing that a victory for him might mean a victory for Calvinism,
ranged itself under the banner of the Emperor. The Pope sent generous
subsidies, as did also Spain. Finally, during the course of the
campaign Ferdinand was fortunate in having the service of two of the
ablest generals of their time, Tilly,[4] who commanded the forces of
the /League/, and Wallenstein[5] who had charge of the imperial
troops. Maximilian of Bavaria marched into Austria at the head of the
army of the /League/ and drove the rebels back into Bohemia, whither
he followed them, and inflicted upon them a severe defeat in the
battle of the White Mountain (1620). Frederick was obliged to save
himself by flight after a reign of a few months. The leaders of the
rebellion were arrested and put to death. In return for the services
he had rendered Maximilian of Bavaria became ruler of the Palatinate,
from which Frederick had been deposed. But though Frederick was
defeated the struggle was by no means finished. The Count of Mansfeld,
acting on behalf of the /Union/, espoused the cause of the Palgrave
and was supported by an army led by Christian IV. of Denmark,
Frederick's brother-in-law, who marched into Germany to the aid of his
friends. James I. of England, though unwilling to despatch an army,
helped by grants of money. The war was renewed with great vigour, but
the allies had little chance of success against two such experienced
generals as Tilly and Wallenstein. Christian IV. suffered a terrible
defeat at the Barenberg near Lutter (1626), and three years later he
was forced to agree to the Peace of Lubeck (1629), by which he
promised to withdraw from Germany and never again to mix himself up in
its domestic affairs.
The forces of the Emperor and of the /League/ were so victorious all
along the line that the former felt himself strong enough to deal with
the burning question of the ecclesiastical property that had been
seized. In a short time he issued what is known as the /Edict of
Restitution/ (1629), by which he ordered that all property acquired by
the Protestants contrary to the /Ecclesiasticum Reservatum/ clause of
the Peace of Augsburg (1555) should be restored. He commanded,
besides, that the terms of the Peace of Passau-Augsburg should be
strictly observed, allowed Catholic and Protestant princes the right
of establishing their own religion in their own territories (/Cuius
regio illius religio/), and permitted Protestant subjects of Catholic
princes who felt their consciences aggrieved to emigrate if they
wished to do so. About the justice of this decree there could be very
little dispute, for it dealt only with the return of what had been
acquired by open or veiled spoliation, but it may well be doubted
whether it was prudent considering the circumstances of the case. In
the first place, it meant the loss of enormous territories for some of
the Protestant princes who had enriched themselves from the lands of
the bishops and abbots. During the earlier stages of the war many of
those men had stood loyally by the Emperor in his struggle against
rebels and foreign invaders, but now, mindful of their own temporal
interests and the future of their religion, they were prepared to
range themselves on the side of their co-religionists in what had
become purely a religious war. France, too, alarmed by the victory of
Ferdinand II., and fearing that a victory for the House of Habsburg
might lead to the establishment of a united empire and the indefinite
postponement of the project of securing for France the provinces along
the Rhine, was only too glad to pledge its support to the Protestant
princes in the war against the Emperor. The young and valiant king of
Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus,[6] was a keen spectator of the trend of
affairs in Germany, and was anxious to secure for his country the
German provinces along the shores of the Baltic. He was not without
hopes also that, by putting himself forward as the champion of
Protestantism and by helping the Protestant princes to overthrow the
House of Habsburg, he might set up for himself on the ruins of the
Holy Roman Empire a great Protestant confederacy embracing most of
Northern Europe. Finally, even though Saxony had been induced by
special concessions to accept the Edict of Restitution, it might have
been anticipated that in a purely religious struggle between Catholics
and Protestants hatred of the Roman Church would prove stronger than
the prejudices against Geneva, and its ruler would be forced to join
the enemies of the Emperor.
Gustavus Adolphus, having strengthened himself by a formal agreement
with France, marched into Germany at the head of a body of picked
troops (1630). He issued a proclamation announcing that he had come to
free the Germans from slavery, and he opened negotiations with the
Protestant princes, some of whom to do them justice showed themselves
very reluctant to become allies of a foreign invader. Ferdinand II.
was but poorly prepared to meet such an attack. The imperial troops
had been disbanded, and what was much worse, Wallenstein had retired
into private life. Many of the Catholic princes, notably Maximilian of
Bavaria, resented his rapid promotion and the grant that had been made
to him of the Duchy of Mecklenburg. They prejudiced the mind of
Ferdinand against him just at the time his services were most urgently
required. Nor, when the first fit of zeal had passed away, were all
the Catholic princes anxious to hasten to the support of the Emperor.
Tilly with the forces of the /League/ advanced to bar the progress of
the Swedes. He was defeated at Breitenfeld (1631) and his army was
nearly destroyed. Gustavus Adolphus pushed rapidly forward towards
Bavaria, captured the cities of Wurzburg, Mainz, and Augsburg, and for
a time it seemed as if his advance to Vienna was going to be a
triumphal march. Over-joyed with the success of his campaign he began
to act as if he were really emperor of Germany, thereby giving great
offence to many of his German followers. His dreams of power were,
however, brought to an abrupt termination. In April 1632 he fought an
indecisive battle at Rain on the Lech, where Tilly was wounded
mortally, but in November he was slain at Lutzen though his army was
victorious.
Ferdinand found himself in great danger. He appealed for aid to Urban
VIII. and to Spain but at first the former, believing that the
struggle was more political than religious, refused to assist him,
though later on, when he realised that the very existence of the
Catholic Church in the empire was endangered, he changed his mind and
forwarded generous subsidies. Maximilian of Bavaria, who had held
aloof for a time, espoused warmly the cause of the Emperor, and
Wallenstein, who had been recalled in the hour of danger, raised an
immense army in an incredibly short space of time. Oxenstierna, the
chancellor of Sweden, took up the work of his master Adolphus and
succeeded in bringing about an alliance with the Protestant princes
(1633). So low had the national feeling sunk in the empire that the
Protestant princes consented to appoint this upstart as director of
the campaign and to fight under his command. France supplied the funds
to enable the Swedes to carry on the war. For some time very little
was done on either side. Negotiations were carried on by Wallenstein
with the Swedes, with Saxony, and with France. It was represented to
the Emperor that his chosen general was guilty of gross disloyalty.
Though the charge of absolute disloyalty has not been proved, still
certain actions of Wallenstein coupled with his inactivity gave good
colour to the accusation. The Emperor dismissed him from his command,
and a little later he was murdered by some of his own soldiers.
The war and the negotiations were renewed alternately, but without any
result as peace was not desired by either Sweden or France. At last
the forces of the Emperor gained a signal victory at Nordlingen
(1634). This success had at least one good result in that it detached
the Elector of Saxony from the side of Sweden. He had never thrown
himself whole-heartedly into the struggle, as he disliked the idea of
supporting a foreign invader against his own Emperor, and was not
sorry to escape from a very awkward position. The Peace of Prague was
concluded between the Emperor and Saxony (1635), according to which
the Edict of Restitution was abandoned in great measure, and religious
freedom was guaranteed to the Protestants of Silesia.
But to promote their own interests the Swedes and the French insisted
on complete equality between the Protestants and Catholics as an
indispensable condition for peace. From this time onward it was a
purely political struggle, inspired solely by the desire of these two
countries to weaken Germany and to break the power of the House of
Habsburg. On the death of Ferdinand II. in 1637 it was thought that
the war might have been ended, but these hopes were disappointed.
Ferdinand III. (1637-57) who succeeded offered a general amnesty at
the Diet of Regensburg (1641) without avail. French soldiers crossed
the frontiers to support the Swedes and the Protestants. Finally after
long negotiations the Peace of Westphalia (1648) put an end to a
struggle, in which Germany had suffered enormously, and from which
foreigners were to derive the greatest benefits.
The Peace of Westphalia was dictated to Germany by France and Sweden.
As a reward for the injury they had inflicted on the country both
received large slices of German territory. France insisted on getting
possession of Alsace, while Sweden received large grants of territory
along the Baltic together with a war indemnity of five million
thalers. In order to provide compensation for the secular princes,
portion of whose territories had been ceded to these two powers, and
also to reward others who had suffered for their alliance with Sweden,
the secularisation of a considerable amount of the ecclesiastical
states was arranged. Saxony, Brandenburg, Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, and
Mecklenburg were enriched by the acquisition of lands formerly ruled
over by the bishops and abbots. This step meant that the Protestant
states of Germany were strengthened at the expense of the Catholic
Church, and that the people of these districts being now transferred
to Protestant rulers were in great danger of being drawn over to the
religion of their new masters. The jurisdiction of the bishops was
abolished in these territories, and even in some of the new chapters,
as for example at Osnabruck, Protestant canons were installed side by
side with Catholics.
Furthermore, it was arranged that the terms of the Peace of Augsburg
should be observed, with this important change, that the rights
guaranteed in it to the Lutherans should be extended even to those who
did not accept the Augsburg Confession. This concession was intended
to meet the demands of the Calvinists. Again, complete equality was
established between Catholics and Protestants in the empire. To give
effect to this clause it was arranged that in all imperial committees
and courts both parties should be represented in equal numbers. In
case religious issues were discussed at the Diet, where the Catholics
still had the majority, it was agreed that the matter should not be
decided by voting but by friendly compromise. The princes were
permitted to determine the religion of their subjects, the principal
restriction being that those subjects who were in the enjoyment of a
certain form of public or private religious worship in 1624 should not
be forced to change their religion. For the others nothing remained
but to seek a home where their conscientious convictions might be
respected. In regard to ecclesiastical property the year 1624 was
taken as the normal year, the property that the Protestants held in
that year being allowed to remain in their hands. The /Ecclesiasticum
Reservatum/ clause was retained, and made obligatory on both parties.
These terms, it was provided, should not extend to the Protestants in
the hereditary dominions of the Emperor.
The Peace of Westphalia by its practical recognition of state
neutrality in religious matters put an end to the constitution of the
Holy Roman Empire, and reduced the Emperor to the position of a mere
figurehead, depending for strength entirely on his own hereditary
states. Instead of preventing disunion it made national unity almost
impossible, and exposed Germany to attack from any hostile neighbour
who might wish to strengthen himself by encouraging strife amongst its
various states. Besides, it inflicted a severe injury on the Church
not merely by its recognition of the Protestant religion, but by the
seizure of ecclesiastical property, the abolition of bishoprics, the
interference with cathedral chapters, and the recognition of the right
of the temporal sovereign to determine the religion of his subjects.
It was no wonder then that the papal legate Fabio Chigi lodged a
strong protest against the Peace, and that the protest was renewed in
the most solemn form by Innocent X. (1648).[7] This action was not
inspired by the Pope's opposition to peace. On the contrary, again and
again during the civil war the Holy See had sought to bring about a
friendly understanding, but no Pope, unless he was disloyal to the
trust confided in him, could permit such interference in purely
religious matters without making it clear that he was not a consenting
party. Innocent X. foresaw that this was but the herald of new claims
on the part of the civil rulers, and that in a short time even the
Catholic sovereigns would endeavour to regulate the ecclesiastical
affairs of their subjects without reference to the authority of the
Church. Nor was it long until events showed that his suspicions were
not without good foundation.
----------
[1] Losche, /Geschichte des Protestantismus in Osterreich/, 1902.
[2] Hartmann, /Der Prozess gegen die Protestantischen Landstande in
Bayern unter Albrecht V./, 1904.
[3] Stieve, /Der Kampf um Donauworth/, 1875.
[4] Villermont, /Tilly ou la guerre de trente ans/, 1860.
[5] Halwich, /Geschichte Wallensteins/, 1910.
[6] Gfrofer, /Gustav. Adolf./, 1863.
[7] Bull, /Zelo domus Dei/.
CHAPTER V
CATHOLIC MISSIONS
Henrion, /Histoire generale des missions catholiques depuis le
XIIIe siecle/, 2 vols., 1841. Marshall, /The Christian Missions/,
2 vols., 2nd edition, 1863. Hahn, /Geschichte der Katholischen
Missionen/, 5 Bde, 1857-65. Da Civezza, /Storia universale delle
missioni francescane/, 9 vols., 1883-96. Meyer, /Die Propaganda/,
2 Bde, 1853. /Lettres edifantes ... des missions ... par quelques
missionaires de la Compagnie de Jesus/, 1617. Werner,
/Missionsatlas/, 1885.
While heresy was spreading with such alarming rapidity that it
threatened to deprive the Church of her fairest provinces in Europe,
new continents were being opened up in the East and the West, and
Christian missionaries were being sent forth to bear an invitation to
strange races and peoples to take the place of the millions who had
strayed from the fold. The restless energy and activity so
characteristic of the fifteenth century manifested itself strikingly
in the numerous naval expeditions, planned and carried out in face of
enormous difficulties, and which led to such important geographical
discoveries. The Portuguese pushed forward their discoveries along the
west coast of Africa till at last Bartholomew Diaz succeeded in
doubling the Cape of Good Hope (1487), thereby opening the way for
Vasco de Gama's voyage to the Malabar coast in 1498. Spain, jealous of
the new south sea route to the East Indies discovered by her rival,
availed herself of the offer of Christopher Columbus to provide a
western route, and it was while engaged in this attempt that he
discovered the great continent of America. The importance of these
discoveries in both East and West both from the spiritual and temporal
point of view was understood clearly enough by both Spain and
Portugal. The rulers of these countries, while anxious for the spread
of Christianity among the pagan races of Asia and America, were not
unmindful also of the important service that might be rendered by
religion to their work of colonisation. Fortunately these new fields
for the Christian missionaries were opened up, at a time when the
religious spirit of Western Europe was beginning to recover from the
state of lethargy to which it had been reduced by abuses, and the cry
went forth for volunteers in an age when the older religious orders
had begun to feel the influence of reform, and when the new religious
orders, particularly the Jesuits, were at hand to render invaluable
assistance. The foundation of the Congregation /De Propaganda Fide/
(1622), the establishment of the /Collegium Urbanum/ (1627) for the
education and training of missionary priests, and the organisation of
the /Societe des Missions Etrangeres/[1] (1663) in Paris helped to
unify the work and to put it upon a solid and permanent basis.
The first place in this remarkable missionary development must be
assigned to St. Francis Xavier[2] (1506-52), the friend and disciple
of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the most successful Christian
missionary since the days of St. Paul. On the invitation of John III.
of Portugal, who had heard something about the contemplated new
Society of Jesus, St. Francis sailed from Lisbon, and landed at Goa,
the capital of the Portuguese Indian colony (1542). Franciscans and
Dominicans had preceded him thither, but the scandalous example of
irreligion and immorality set by the colonists had made it nearly
impossible for these devoted men to win converts amongst the pagan
races. St. Francis threw himself generously into the work of
re-awakening the faith of the Portuguese before attempting the
conversion of the natives. When the condition of affairs in Goa had
undergone a complete change for the better, he set out for West India,
where he preached with wonderful effect, and succeeded in extending
his efforts as far as the Island of Ceylon. He next visited Malacca,
the Molucca Islands and Sumatra. Everywhere he went he won thousands
to the faith. His extraordinary kindness and charity, his untiring
zeal, his simple straightforward exposition of Catholic doctrine, and
the numerous miracles by which God confirmed the truth of his
preaching, were the principal causes of his success. In the meantime
several other members of the Society of Jesus had arrived. These he
despatched to different parts of India to tend the flock whom he had
won for Christ, while at the same time he established a novitiate and
a house of studies to prepare a native clergy for carrying on the
work.
Not content with what had been accomplished in India he set out for
Japan (1549) in company with a Japanese convert, who assisted him to
acquire a knowledge of the language. He landed at Kagoshima, where he
remained nearly a year learning the language and preparing a short
treatise in Japanese on the principal articles of faith. When he had
overcome these preliminary difficulties he began the work of
evangelisation, and notwithstanding the energetic opposition of the
bonzes or native priests he formed a flourishing community. Through
central Japan he made his way preaching with success in the principal
towns, but the political troubles then raging in the capital proved a
serious obstacle to the success of his work. For two years and a half
St. Francis continued his apostolic labours in Japan, and then
returned to Goa, not indeed to rest but only to prepare for a still
more hazardous mission. In Japan he discovered that one of the
principal arguments used against the acceptance of the Christian faith
was the fact that the Chinese, to whom the people of Japan looked with
reverence, still preferred Confucius to Christ. Inspired by the hope
of securing the Celestial Empire for the Church, and of ensuring
thereby the conversion of the entire Eastern races, he had himself
appointed ambassador to China and set off to reach the capital. On the
voyage, however, he became to seriously ill that it was necessary to
land him on the little island of Sancian, where in a rude hut
constructed to shelter him he breathed his last. During the ten years
of his mission he had won close on a million people to the faith, and
he had given Christianity a hold on the people of India and Japan
which no political revolutions or religious persecution could ever
loosen. He was canonised in 1622.
After the death of the Apostle of India the work that he had begun was
carried on by his brethren of the Society of Jesus in face of very
serious difficulties. They were opposed by the Brahmins, who tried to
stir up persecutions, and their progress was impeded by political
disturbances. The arrival of the Jesuit, Robert de' Nobili (1577-
1656), in 1605 marked a new stage in the history of the conversion of
India. After a visit paid to the city of Madura,[3] where one of his
brethren had been labouring for years without any visible fruit, de'
Nobili came to the conclusion that the comparative failure of the
Christian missionaries was due to the contempt of the Brahmins for
them as Portuguese or friends of the Portuguese and as associates of
the pariahs, who were regarded by the Brahmins as being little better
than beasts. He determined to adopt new methods, to come to them not
as a Portuguese but as a Roman, to avoid all contact with the pariahs
or outcasts, to respect the national customs and caste divisions of
the country, and to secure a sympathetic hearing from the Brahmins by
his learning and specially by his intimate knowledge of the Indian
literature.
His method was crowned with instant success. In a short time he had
made hundreds of converts in the very city where his colleague had
laboured in vain for years; and he had secured his converts, not by
minimising or corrupting Catholic truth, but by a prudent regard for
the caste system and for certain rites and customs connected with it,
which he tolerated as partaking of a national rather than of an
essentially religious character. Objections were raised against his
methods by his fellow Jesuit in Madura. He was charged with
countenancing superstition by allowing the use of pagan rites, and
with encouraging schism and dissension by permitting no intermingling
between the Brahmins and the pariahs even in the churches. In justice
to Father de' Nobili and to those who favoured his methods, it ought
to be said that they did not like the system of castes. They hoped
that under the influence of Christian charity such divisions might
disappear, and that just as the Church undermined rather than
condemned slavery in the first centuries, so too the missionaries in
India might respect the prejudices of the Brahmins till these
prejudices should have been extinguished by a closer acquaintance with
the doctrines and spirit of Christianity. The highly coloured reports
sent in against him produced an unfavourable impression on his
superiors, but when his defence was received at Rome Gregory XV.
refused to issue any condemnation (1623).
During the lifetime of Father de' Nobili he pursued his own method
with success, though at the same time he never neglected an
opportunity of providing secretly for the spiritual welfare of the
poorer classes. After his death in 1656 many of the Jesuits continued
his policy, notwithstanding the fact that grave objections were raised
by some of the other religious orders. A crisis came, however, in
Pondicherry which belonged to the French. The Capuchins were in charge
of the mission, and attended both to the colonists and the natives.
The bishop decided to share the work between the Capuchins who were
left in charge of the colonists, and the Jesuits who were entrusted
with preaching to the natives (1699). The Capuchins appealed to Rome,
and brought forward against the Jesuits the old charges that had been
levelled against Father de' Nobili, and that had given rise to such
bitter controversies. The question of the Malabar Rites was carried
once more to Rome, and de Tournon, Patriarch of Antioch, was sent as
legate to investigate the case (1703). After remaining eight months in
the country, and before he had an opportunity of considering both
sides of the question, he decided against the Jesuits (1704). This
decision was confirmed by the Pope in 1706. The controversy continued,
however, till 1744, when Benedict XIV. in the Bull, /Omnium
sollicitudinem/, issued a final condemnation of the Malabar Rites
(1744).
In deference to the prejudices of the Brahmins a scheme was then
formulated with the approval of the Pope for organising two classes of
missionaries, one for the Brahmins and another for the outcasts, but
the suppression of the Jesuits in the Portuguese dominions (1756) put
an end to this system. The Carmelites did good service by their
efforts to reconcile the Nestorian Christians with the Church. The
further progress of the Catholic Church in India was impeded by the
suppression of the Jesuits, the invasion of India by the Dutch, the
insistence of Portugal upon its rights of patronage over all the
churches of India, the downfall of the religious spirit in Europe
during the eighteenth century, and finally by the destruction during
the French Revolution of the colleges and religious houses that
supplied workers for the mission.
St. Francis Xavier had planned to introduce the Christian faith into
the Celestial Empire, but he died almost in sight of the coast. The
first missionary who made any progress in that country was another
Jesuit, Father Matteo Ricci[4] (1552-1610) who arrived in China in
1582. He was a man of great ability, well versed in mathematics and in
the natural sciences, and well qualified to make an excellent
impression on the educated classes. He was protected by the mandarins,
and respected by the Emperor, who invited him to the imperial palace
at Pekin (1600). Although it was his scholarly attainments that
attracted the Chinese rather than his religion, Father Ricci never
failed to seize every opportunity of directing the thoughts of his
pupils and admirers towards Christianity. At his death in 1610 many of
the mandarins had been converted, and most of the old prejudices
against the new religion had disappeared. Other Jesuits equally
learned and equally prudent were ready to take his place. His
successor, Father Schall, was summoned by the Emperor to Pekin, and
was appointed president of the mathematical society. By his influence
at court he obtained permission for his fellow-workers to open
Christian churches in China, and secured the publication of various
Christian books in the Chinese language. The revolution that preceded
the establishment of the Manchu dynasty (1644) led to some
persecution, but the trouble was only of a temporary character. On the
death of Father Schall in 1666, he was succeeded by Father Verbiest
who was also patronised by the court on account of his scholarly
attainments. Finally in 1692 an imperial rescript was issued giving
the Christian missionaries full permission to preach the gospel
throughout the empire. At that period the number of converts was about
twenty thousand. Two bishoprics were erected, one at Pekin and one at
Nankin.
In the beginning, as the Jesuits were practically speaking the only
missionaries in China, it was reserved for them as their special
mission-field by Gregory XIII. (1585). But later on Clement VIII.
allowed the Franciscans to go to China, and finally the country was
opened to all Christian missionaries by Urban VIII. The presence of
the new labourers in the vineyard was not productive of so good
results as might have been expected. A fierce controversy that broke
out regarding the Chinese Rites[5] principally between the Dominicans
and Jesuits, did much to retard the progress of the Catholic Church in
the Celestial Empire for a long period. To understand the meaning of
this controversy it should be remembered that the Chinese people,
deeply attached to the memory of their ancestors and to their
veneration for Confucius, were accustomed to perform certain rites and
ceremonies at fixed periods in memory of their departed relatives and
in honour of Confucius. To prohibit these was to put an end to all
hope of conversion, and to tolerate them looked like tolerating
Paganism. Father Ricci decided to tolerate them, mainly on the ground
that they partook more of a civil than of a religious character, that
in themselves they were harmless, that the Church has been always very
prudent in regard to the national and civil customs of its converts,
and that with the acceptance of Christianity all danger of
misunderstanding would soon disappear. Furthermore, for want of better
names for the Deity Father Ricci allowed the use of Tien-tschu (Lord
of Heaven), Tien and Shangti (supreme emperor), words that had been
used hitherto in an idolatrous sense, but which in themselves and as
explained by the Jesuit missionaries were orthodox enough. Both
parties in the controversy meant well, and each could adduce very
convincing arguments in favour of its own views. The Dominicans
commissioned one of their number to denounce these customs to Rome as
idolatrous. He submitted seventeen articles dealing with the Chinese
Rites to the Inquisition, and after a long discussion a provisional
condemnation was issued by Innocent X. (1645). Father Martini went to
Rome to defend the Chinese Rites, and to point out the serious
consequences which such a sweeping condemnation might have upon the
whole future of Christianity in China. In 1656 a decision more or less
favourable to the Jesuits was given by Alexander VII. The decision
helped to prolong rather than to settle the controversy. A crisis was
reached, however, when Maigrot, vicar-apostolic of Fu-Kien, one of the
priests belonging to the Society for Foreign Missions, denounced the
Chinese Rites as pure paganism, and interdicted their observance to
all converts within his jurisdiction. The case was carried once more
to Rome, and de Tournon was despatched as papal legate to decide the
case. In 1707 he issued a decree prohibiting the Chinese Rites,
incurring thereby the enmity of the Emperor, who had him thrown into
prison where he died (1710). All missionaries who obeyed his orders
were banished. The decision of the legate was supported by several
decrees from Rome, and at last in 1742 Benedict XIV. condemned the
Chinese Rites, and ordered that all missionaries to China should take
an oath against further discussion of the question.
The controversy was carried on with considerable earnestness on both
sides on account of the importance of the issues at stake, and was
embittered considerably by political and religious disputes in Europe
that had no concern either with China or the Chinese Rites. The
condemnation had a disastrous effect on the missions. Nearly all the
missionaries were banished from the country, and the Christians were
obliged to choose between apostasy and death.
In Japan[6] St. Francis Xavier had begun the work of conversion. He
left behind him two of his brethren who were joined soon by other
members of the Society of Jesus, with the result that about the year
1582 there were between one hundred and two hundred thousand Catholics
in the country. An embassy consisting of three of the native princes
visited Rome in 1585. In many districts the local chiefs granted full
liberty to the missionaries, and in a short time the number of
Christians rose to three hundred thousand. Some of the authorities,
alarmed by the rapid growth of foreign power in the country, began to
whisper among the people that the Christian missionaries were only
spies working in the interest of Spain and Portugal. A violent
persecution broke out against the Christians in 1587, and lasted for
several years. Notwithstanding the savagery of the Pagans and the
punishments decreed against the missionaries the Jesuits weathered the
storm, and fresh labourers arrived to support them in the persons of
the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Augustinians.
But national jealousy of the foreigners, more especially of the
Spanish and Portuguese, fomented as it was by the Dutch and English,
led to new troubles for the Christian communities. In 1614 a royal
decree was issued against the Christians, and a determined attempt was
made to destroy the work of the missionaries.
Punishments of the most awful kind were inflicted on those who would
not abjure the Christian faith, and many, both priests and people,
were put to death. From 1614 till 1640 the persecution was carried on
in a systematic and determined manner, so that by that time all the
missionaries were either dead or banished, and the whole of the young
communities they had formed were scattered. For years Japan remained
closed against the missionaries who made various attempts to escape
the vigilance of the authorities.
Whatever may be the explanation, whether it was due to the severity of
the climate or to the savage character of the inhabitants, the
Christian missions in Africa were not productive of much fruit. St.
Vincent de Paul sent some of his community to work in the district
around Tunis and in the island of Madagascar. Missionaries from
Portugal made various attempts to found Christian communities along
the whole western coast of Africa. In the Congo the results at first
were decidedly promising. Here the work was begun by the Dominicans,
who were assisted at a later period by the Capuchins, the
Augustinians, and the Jesuits. Many of the inhabitants were won over
to the faith, but as years passed, and as the supply of missionaries
failed, much of what had been accomplished was undone, though the
Capuchins still continued their efforts. In Angola the Jesuits led the
way, in Upper and Lower Guinea the Jesuits and the Carmelites, in
Morocco and in Egypt the Franciscans, while various religious bodies
undertook the work of evangelising the Portuguese colonies in Eastern
Africa.
By far the greatest triumph of the Church during this age of
missionary effort was that which was achieved by the conversion of the
native races in the territories occupied by Spain and Portugal in the
western continent. The hope of extending the boundaries of the Church
was one of the motives that induced Columbus and his supporters to
undertake their voyage of discovery, as it was also one of the motives
urging the rulers of Spain to increase the sphere of their
jurisdiction. Hence from the very beginning great care was taken to
provide for the conversion of all the natives. Priests were despatched
from Spain with all the expeditions. Dominicans, Franciscans,
Carmelites, Augustinians, Fathers of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy,
and after the establishment of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits vied with
each other in their eagerness to risk their lives in the work.
Generous provision was made by the rulers of Spain for the support of
the clergy and the maintenance of religion. Churches were erected,
episcopal and archiepiscopal Sees were founded and endowed, colleges
and monasteries were established by the various religious orders, and
in the course of less than a century the Church had gained in the new
world almost as much as she had lost in the old.
The Spanish rulers were not inclined to destroy or to maltreat the
native races, but they were unable to supervise the greedy officials,
many of whom acted savagely towards the Indians, killing hundreds of
them and forcing the others to work as slaves. The hatred of the
Indian races for the Spaniards made the work of the missionaries more
difficult, but from the beginning the Church espoused the cause of the
Indians, sought to secure protection for them against the officials,
and to restrain if not to extinguish entirely the practice of
enslaving the natives. Bartholomew de Las Casas[7] (1474-1566) at
first a secular priest, then a Dominican, and afterwards a bishop,
took a prominent part in the struggle on behalf of the natives, and
though his methods were not always of the most prudent character he
helped to put down some of the most glaring abuses. Charles V. was
most sympathetic towards the Indians, laid down very strict rules for
his subordinates, and invited the bishops to become protectors of the
Indians, while Paul III. insisted strongly on the freedom of the
natives and their rights as men (1537).
Some of the West Indian Islands which Columbus discovered were thickly
populated. The Franciscans and Dominicans set to work at once to
convert the native people of Hayti, many of whom were destroyed by the
Spaniards despite the efforts of the missionaries. Cuba was taken
possession of by the Spaniards in 1511, and Mexico[8] or New Spain was
conquered by Hernando Cortes in 1519. The people that inhabited this
country were much more intelligent and cultured than the other native
races. They had flourishing towns, beautiful temples and public
buildings, and a fairly well organised form of government. Cortes
invited the Franciscans to undertake the work of conversion. They were
followed by the Dominicans, by the Order of Our Lady of Mercy and by
the Jesuits. Bishop Zumarraga, the first bishop in Mexican territory,
opened schools for the education of the Indians, as did also the
Franciscans and the other religious orders. The Jesuits established
the great college of San Ildefonso, and in 1553 the royal and
pontifical University of Mexico was opened for the reception of
students. By the Bull, /Universalis Ecclesiae regimini/, full rights
of patronage over all the churches of New Spain were conferred on the
rulers of Spain, and religious affairs were placed under the control
of the Council of the Indies.
From the West Indies Christianity made its way into Central America
which was acquired by Spain in 1513. The Dominicans, Capuchins, and
Jesuits preached the faith in Guiana. Venezuela was evangelised at
first by the Franciscans (1508) and by the Dominicans (1520). Later on
Capuchins, Jesuits, and Augustinians took part in the work. By the
year 1600 fully two-thirds of the natives were converted. Peru was
conquered for Spain by Francis Pizarro in 1532. The inhabitants of
this country were highly civilised, with a regular government, and
with a form of religious worship much superior to any of the Pagan
systems with which the Spaniard had come into contact. For a while the
conversion of the country was delayed owing to the cruelties inflicted
on the natives and the conflicts between the Spanish leaders, but in a
short time the Franciscans and Dominicans undertook missions to the
natives with great success. In 1546 Lima was created an archbishopric,
and in a few years a university was opened. St. Rose of Lima (1586-
1617) was the first saint of American birth to be canonised officially
(1671). By the beginning of the seventeenth century the majority of
the natives were converted.
Brazil[9] was discovered by the Portuguese, Alvares de Cabral (1500),
who named it Vera Cruz because his ship came to anchor there on Good
Friday. The Franciscans were early in the field to tend to the
spiritual wants of the natives, who stood in need of some defenders to
protect them from the greed of the Portuguese officials. At the
request of King John III. St. Ignatius despatched some of his
followers to Brazil (1549). A great college was opened by the Jesuits
for the education of young men. The wars with the French, the invasion
of Brazil by the Dutch, and the opposition of officials who were
annoyed at the protection afforded the natives by the missionaries,
rendered the work of conversion exceedingly difficult. But
"reductions" or settlements of Indians were formed by the Jesuits,
Capuchins, Carmelites, and others, and episcopal Sees were established
throughout the country. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1759 was a
severe blow to the missions in Brazil.
Paraguay[10] was taken possession of by Spain in 1536. The Franciscan
Fathers who accompanied the expedition addressed themselves at once to
the conversion of the natives; but the difficulty of making themselves
understood, the cruelty of the first conquerors towards the natives,
and the bad example of the early colonists, made their work much more
difficult than it might have been.
The Dominicans, the Augustinians and the Order of Mercy came to the
assistance of the first missionaries, and three episcopal sees were
established. One of the bishops, a Dominican, invited the Jesuits to
come to Paraguay (1586). They established colleges in several of the
leading centres, and sent out their members in all directions to
preach to the Indians, over whom they acquired in a short time a very
salutary influence. But the harshness of the Spanish officials, and
the bad example they gave to the native converts, made it necessary
for the Jesuits to form "Reductions" or special settlements, where the
Indians might live apart from the Spaniards, and where they might be
free from oppression and the corrupting influence of their Spanish
masters. Philip III. of Spain approved this plan, and ordained that
the Reductions should be subject directly to the Crown. In these
settlements the Jesuits trained the natives in agriculture and in
trades, but the peace of the communities was disturbed frequently by
the slave-hunters against whom the Spanish officials refused to take
action. As a last resource the Jesuits organised an Indian force, and
provided them with arms for self-protection. Close on a million
converted natives were attached to the thirty-one Reductions that
formed a kingdom of independent principality subject only to Spain.
This happy condition of affairs was not destined to last forever. By a
treaty made in 1750 Spain, in return for some territory ceded by
Portugal, handed over to Portugal seven of the Reductions. The Jesuits
pleaded for delay in carrying out the eviction of the Indians who were
settled in this territory, and when their appeal was refused they
advised the Indians to submit. Some of them followed this advice while
others of them flew to arms only to be defeated (1756). The blame for
the rebellion was attributed to the Jesuits by Pombal and the other
enemies of the Society in Portugal. By a royal decree issued in 1767
the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay, and in a few years the
flourishing communities which they had established were completely
dissolved.[11]
Christianity reached the territory now known as the United States from
three distinct sources, namely, the Spanish colonies in the south, the
French settlements in the north, and from the English Catholic colony
of Maryland in the east. The sphere of influence of the Spanish
missionaries was Florida, California, New Mexico, and Texas. In 1526
an expedition under the command of de Narvaez and accompanied by
several Franciscan Fathers was sent to explore Florida, but the
expedition ended in complete failure. Several other attempts of a
similar kind were made with no better results till at last, aroused by
the danger of a French occupation, Menendez established a permanent
settlement at Fort St. Augustine and prepared the way for Spanish
occupation (1565). Menendez, zealous for the conversion of the
natives, invited the Jesuits to come to Florida, as did also the
Franciscans. At first the work of conversion was attended with great
difficulties and proceeded very slowly, but by the year 1700 many
Christian villages had been established. The attacks of the English on
Florida injured the missions, and the cession of Florida to England
(1763) completed the work of destruction.[12]
Lower California was discovered by Cortez in 1533, and Upper
California by Cabrillo eleven years later. In the beginning the
missionaries encountered great opposition, but after 1697 the Jesuit
Fathers were very successful. They formed the natives into permanent
settlements or reductions, and so rapidly did the work of
evangelisation proceed that in 1767, the year in which the Jesuits
were expelled by Spain, nearly all the Indians were converted. The
Franciscan Fathers succeeded the Jesuits, continuing their reductions
in Lower California, and introducing missions of a similar kind among
the Indians of Upper California. The Dominicans, also, rendered
valuable assistance. In 1822 California was ceded to the United
States, and the missions were broken up owing to the hostility of the
civil authorities.[13]
The Franciscans were the first to undertake missions in New Mexico
(1539). Several of the missionaries suffered martyrdom in their
attempts to convert the natives, but it was only after 1597 that any
considerable progress was made. In Texas the earliest real effort at
introducing Christianity among the natives was made in the last
quarter of the seventeenth century. The work of the Franciscans was
disturbed by rebellions among the Indians and by war, but
notwithstanding these obstacles several flourishing Indian settlements
were established. In 1813 the Spanish Cortes issued a decree that the
missions in Texas should be secularised.[14]
Although others had preceded him, yet the honour of discovering
Canada[15] is assigned generally to Jacques Cartier who made three
voyages to the country (1534-42). Early in the seventeenth century the
two Jesuits Biard and Masse arrived and began the conversion of the
Indian tribes settled in Acadia, which embraced Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain, "the Father of New France"
arrived and laid the foundation of Quebec. He invited the Franciscan
Recollects to preach to the Indian tribes, namely, the Algonquins and
the Hurons (1615). The Franciscans went to work with a will, preaching
to the people and opening schools for the young, but finding their
numbers too few for the mighty task, they invited the Jesuits to come
to their assistance (1625). Several Jesuits including Fathers Brebeuf
and Lallemant hastened to Canada and undertook missions to the Hurons.
The invasion and capture of Quebec in 1629 by the English interrupted
the work for a time, but on the restoration of the territory to France
in 1632 the Jesuits continued their labours with renewed vigour. The
fierce tribe of the Iroquois were the strongest opponents of the
Christian missionaries, many of whom they put to death. Father Jogues
was put to death in 1646, and a little later Fathers Daniel, Brebeuf,
and Lallement together with several of their companions met a similar
fate.
But notwithstanding these reverses the work of Christianising the
native races of Canada proceeded apace. In 1642 the city of Montreal
was founded, and in 1657 the superior of the Sulpicians despatched
several of his community to labour in the new colony. Two years later
Francois de Montmorency-Laval arrived as first bishop and vicar-
apostolic of New France. West and east the missionaries continued to
win new conquests for the Church. The English, however, gave great
trouble to the missionaries by stirring up the Indian tribes to make
war on the Christian settlements. Nor was the French colony,
practically deserted as it had been by the mother country, able to
hold its own against the English colonists. In 1713 France ceded to
England Acadia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay territory. In Acadia
the Catholic missions had been very successful, but in 1755 the
unfortunate Catholics, who refused to take the oath that was tendered
to them, were seized and deported. In 1759 Quebec was taken, and by
the Treaty of Paris (1763) Canada passed under the dominion of the
English.
Many French missionaries from Canada worked in the district stretching
from the St. Lawrence to Lake Superior, and missions were established
by the Jesuits in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. In
1673 Father Marquette (1636-75) undertook a journey southward to visit
the great river about which he had heard from the Indians, and to open
up new fields of work for himself and his associates. He succeeded in
reaching the Mississippi, and sailed down the river as far as the
mouth of Arkansas. As a result of the information acquired from those
who returned from this voyage of exploration, expeditions were sent
out by the French to take possession of the new territories and to
erect fortifications against the further advance westward of the
English colonists. The city of New Orleans was founded in 1717.
Missionaries--Capuchins, Jesuits, and priests of the Society for
Foreign Missions--preached the gospel with great success to the
natives in Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa, Arkansas, and Ohio.
The Jesuits, under the leadership of Father White, who settled in the
colony founded in Maryland (1534), devoted themselves to the
conversion of the Indians, but the expulsion of Lord Baltimore in 1644
and the victory of the Puritans led to the almost complete destruction
of these Indian missions.
----------
[1] Launay, /Histoire generale de la Societe des Missions-Etrangeres/,
1894.
[2] Coleridge, /Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier/, 1902.
[3] Bertrand, /La Mission du Madure/, 1847.
[4] Brucker, /Le Pere Mattieu Ricci/ (/Etudes/, 1910).
[5] Daniel, /Histoire apologetique de la conduite des Jesuites de la
Chine/, 1724. Pray, /Historia Controvers. de ritibus Sinicis/,
1724.
[6] Pages, /Histoire de la religion chretienne au Japan, 1598-1651/,
1869.
[7] Dutto, /The Life of Bartolome de las Casas and the First Leaves of
American Ecclesiastical History/, 1902.
[8] De Berbourg, /Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique et de
l'Amerique centrale/, 1851.
[9] Beauchamp, /Histoire du Bresil/, 3 vols., 1815.
[10] Demersay, /Histoire ... du Paraquay et des Etablissements des
Jesuites/, 1860-4.
[11] De Moussy, /Memoire historique sur la decadence et la ruine des
Missions de Jesuites/ 1865. Weld, /The Suppression of the Society
of Jesus in the Portuguese Dominions/, 1877.
[12] Shea, /Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes/, 1857. Hughes,
/The History of the Society of Jesus in North America/, vol. i.
(Text), 1907.
[13] Engelhardt, /The Missions and Missionaries of California/, 1908.
[14] Shea, op. cit., pp. 76-88.
[15] /The Jesuit Relations/, 1896-1901. Leclerc, /Etablissement de la
foi dans la nouvelle France/, 1680. Campbell, /Pioneer Priests of
North America/, 1908.
CHAPTER VI
THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES AND STUDIES
(a) Baianism.
Schwane, /Dogmengeschichte der neuren zeit/, 1890. Turmel,
/Histoire de la theologie positive du concile de Trente au concile
du Vatican/, 1906. Denzinger-Bannwart, /Enchiridion Symbolorum/,
11th edition, 1911. Duchesne, /Histoire du Baianisme/, 1731.
Linsenmann, /Michael Baius/, 1863.
The Catholic doctrine on Grace, round which such fierce controversies
had been waged in the fifth and sixth centuries, loomed again into
special prominence during the days of the Reformation. The views of
Luther and Calvin on Grace and Justification were in a sense the very
foundation of their systems, and hence it was of vital importance that
these questions should be submitted to a searching examination, and
that the doctrine of the Catholic Church should be formulated in such
a way as to make cavilling and misunderstanding impossible. This work
was done with admirable lucidity and directness in the fifth and sixth
sessions of the Council of Trent, but nevertheless these decrees of
the Council did not prevent the theories of Luther and Calvin being
propagated vigorously, and from exercising a certain amount of
influence even on some Catholic theologians who had no sympathy with
the religious revolt.
Amongst these might be reckoned Michael Baius (De Bay, 1513-89) a
professor at the University of Louvain and John Hessels, one of his
supporters in the theological controversies of the day. They believed
that Catholic apologists were handicapped seriously by their slavish
regard for the authority and methods of the Scholastics, and that if
instead of appealing to the writings of St. Thomas as the ultimate
criterion of truth they were to insist more on the authority of the
Bible and of the works of the Early Fathers, such as St. Cyprian, St.
Jerome, and St. Augustine, they would find themselves on much safer
ground, and their arguments would be more likely to command the
respect of their opponents. Hence at Louvain, in their own lectures,
in their pamphlets, and in private discussions, they insisted strongly
that Scholasticism should make way for positive theology, and that the
Scriptures and patristic literature should take the place of the
/Summa/. Not content, however, with a mere change of method they began
to show their contempt for traditional opinions, and in a short time
alarming rumours were in circulation both inside and outside the
university that their teaching on Original Sin, Grace, and Free-will,
was not in harmony with the doctrine of the Church. The Franciscans
submitted to the judgment of the Sorbonne a number of propositions
(18) selected from the writings or lectures of Baius and his friends,
and the opinion of the Sorbonne was distinctly unfavourable. As the
dispute grew more heated and threatened to have serious consequences
for the university and the country, Cardinal Granvelle, believing that
the absence of the two professors might lead to peace, induced both to
proceed to the Council of Trent as the theologians of the King of
Spain (1563). Though the opinions of Baius found little sympathy with
the Fathers of Trent, yet since the subjects of Original Sin and Grace
had been discussed and defined already, nothing was done. On his
return (1564) from the Council of Trent Baius published several
pamphlets in explanation and defence of his views, all of which were
attacked by his opponents, so that in a short time the university was
split into two opposing camps.
To put an end to the trouble the rector determined to seek the
intervention of Rome. In October 1567 Pius V. issued the Bull, /Ex
omnibus afflictionibus/, in which he condemned seventy-nine
propositions selected from the writings or lectures of Baius without
mentioning the author's name.[1] The friends of Baius raised many
difficulties regarding the reception and the interpretation of the
papal document, and though Baius himself professed his entire
submission to the decision, the tone of his letter to the Pope was
little short of offensive. The Pope replied that the case having been
examined fully and adjudged acceptance of the decision was imperative.
Once more Baius announced his intention of submitting (1569), and so
confident were his colleagues of his orthodoxy that he was appointed
dean of the theological faculty, and later on chancellor of the
university. But his actions did not correspond with his professions.
Various arguments were put forward to weaken the force of the papal
condemnation until at last Gregory XIII. was forced to issue a new
Bull, /Provisionis nostrae/ (1579), and to send the learned Jesuit,
Francisco Toledo, to demand that Baius should abjure his errors, and
that the teaching of Pius V. should be accepted at Louvain. The papal
letter was read in a formal meeting of the university, whereupon Baius
signed a form of abjuration, by which he acknowledged that the
condemnation of the propositions was just and reasonable, and that he
would never again advocate such views. This submission relieved the
tension of the situation, but it was a long time before the evil
influence of Baianism disappeared, and before peace was restored
finally to Louvain.
The system propounded by Baius had much in common with the teaching of
Pelagius, Luther, and Calvin. His failure to recognise the clear
distinction between the natural and the supernatural was the source of
most of his errors. According to him the state of innocence in which
our first parents were created, their destination to the enjoyment of
the Beatific Vision, and all the gifts bestowed upon them for the
attainment of this end were due to them, so that had they persevered
during life they should have merited eternal happiness as a reward for
their good works. When, however, man sinned by disobedience he not
merely lost gratuitous or supernatural endowments, but his whole
nature was weakened and corrupted by Original Sin which, in the system
of Baius, was to be identified with concupiscence, and which was
transmitted from father to son according to the ordinary laws of
heredity. This concupiscence, he contended, was in itself sinful, as
was also every work which proceeds from it. This was true even in case
of children, because that an act be meritorious or demeritorious Free-
will was not required. So long as the act was done voluntarily even
though necessarily, it was to be deemed worthy of reward or
punishment, since freedom from external compulsion was alone required
for moral responsibility.
From the miserable condition into which man had fallen he was rescued
by the Redemption of Christ, on account of which much that had been
forfeited was restored. These graces procured for man by Christ may be
called supernatural, not because they were not due to human nature,
but because human nature had been rendered positively unworthy of them
by Original Sin. The justice, however, by which a man is justified,
consisted not in any supernatural quality infused into the soul, by
which the individual was made a participator of the divine nature, but
implied merely a condition in which the moral law was observed
strictly. Hence justification, according to Baius, could be separated
from the forgiveness of guilt, so that though the guilt of the sinner
may not have been remitted still he may be justified. In sin two
things were to be distinguished, the act and the liability to
punishment. The act could never be effaced, but the temporal
punishment was remitted by the actual reception of the sacraments,
which were introduced by Christ solely for that purpose. The Mass
possessed, he held, any efficacy that it had only because it was a
good moral act and helped to draw us more closely to God.
----------
[1] Denzinger, op. cit., nos. 1001-1080.
(b) The Molonist Controversy.
See bibliography VI. (a). Molina, /Liberi arbitrii cum gratiae
donis ... concordia/, 1588. Augustin Le Blanc, /Historia
congregationis de auxiliis/, etc., 1699, 1709. Elutherius,
/Historia controversiarum de auxiliis/, etc., 1705-15. Schneeman,
/Enstehung und Entwicklung der thomistich-molinistischen
Kontroverse/, 1880. Gayraud, /Thomisme et Molinisme/, 1890.
Dummermuth, /S. Thomas et doctrina praemotionis physicae/, 1886.
Frins (S.J.), /S. Thomas Aquin, doctrina de cooperatione Dei/,
etc., 1892. Dummermuth, /Defensio doctrinae S. Thomae/, etc.,
/Responsio ad P. Frins/, 1895.
The teaching of St. Thomas on Grace was the teaching followed
generally, not merely by the Dominicans, but by most of the
theologians belonging to the secular clergy and to the other religious
orders. When, however, the systems of Calvin and Luther began to take
root some of those who were brought into close contact with the new
doctrines arrived at the conclusion that the arguments of their
opponents could be overcome more effectually by introducing some
modifications of the theories of St. Thomas concerning the operation
of Grace and Free-will. The Jesuits particularly were of this opinion,
and in 1584 the general, Aquaviva, allowed his subjects to depart in
some measure from the teaching of the /Summa/. This step was regarded
with disfavour in many influential quarters, and induced scholars to
be much more critical about Jesuit theology than otherwise they might
have been. In their College at Louvain there were two Jesuit
theologians Lessius (1584-1623) and Hamel, who both in their lectures
and theses advanced certain theories on man's co-operation with Grace
and on Predestination, that were deemed by many to be dangerously akin
to the doctrine of the Semi-Pelagians (1587). The fact that the
Jesuits had been the consistent opponents of Baianism induced Baius
and his friends to cast the whole weight of their influence against
Lessius. A sharp controversy broke out once more in the Netherlands.
The Universities of Louvain and Douay censured thirty-four
propositions of Lessius as Semi-Pelagian, while the Universities of
Ingolstadt and Mainz declared in favour of their orthodoxy. The matter
having been referred to Rome, Sixtus V. imposed silence on both
parties, without pronouncing any formal condemnation or approval of
the propositions that had been denounced (1588).
The controversy in the Spanish Netherlands was only the prelude to a
much more serious conflict in Spain itself. In 1588 the well-known
Jesuit, Luis de Molina (1535-1600) published at Lisbon his celebrated
work, /Concordia liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis etc./ with the
approbation of the Dominican, Bartholomew Ferreira, and the permission
of the Inquisition. Hardly had the work left the printing press than
it was attacked warmly by Domingo Banez (1528-1604), the friend and
spiritual director of St. Teresa, and one of the ablest Dominicans of
his time. He had been engaged already in a controversy with the
Jesuit, Montemaior, on the same subject of Grace, but the publication
of Molina's book added new fuel to the flame, and in a short time the
dispute assumed such serious proportions that bishops, theologians,
universities, students, and even the leading officials of the state,
were obliged to take sides. The Dominicans supported Banez, while the
Jesuits with some few exceptions rallied to the side of Molina. The
latter's book was denounced to the Inquisition, but as a counterblast
to this Banez also was accused of very serious errors. If Molina was
blamed for being a Semi-Pelagian, Banez was charged with having
steered too closely to Calvinism. In the hope of restoring peace to
the Church in Spain Clement VIII. reserved the decision of the case to
his own tribunal (1596).
To get a grasp of the meaning of the controversy, it should be borne
in mind that in all theories concerning the operation of Grace three
points must be safeguarded by all Catholic theologians, namely, man's
dependence upon God as the First Cause of all his actions natural as
well as supernatural, human liberty, and God's omniscience or
foreknowledge of man's conduct. Following in the footsteps of St.
Thomas, the Dominicans maintained that when God wishes man to perform
a good act He not only gives assistance, but He actually moves or
predetermines the will so that it must infallibly act. In this way the
entire act comes from God as the First Cause, and at the same time it
is the free act of the creature, because the human will though moved
and predetermined by God acts according to its own nature, that is to
say, it acts freely. In His eternal decrees by which God ordained to
give this premotion or predetermination He sees infallibly the actions
and conduct of men, and acting on this knowledge He predestines the
just to glory /ante praevisa merita/. According to this system,
therefore, the efficaciousness of Grace comes from the Grace itself,
and is not dependent upon the co-operation of the human will.
Against this Molina maintained that the human faculties having been
elevated by what might be called prevenient Grace, so as to make them
capable of producing a supernatural act, the act itself is performed
by the will co-operating with the impulse given by God. Man is,
therefore, free, and at the same time dependent upon God in the
performance of every good act. He is free, because the human will may
or may not co-operate with the divine assistance, and he is dependent
upon God, because it is only by being elevated by prevenient Grace
freely given by God that the human will is capable of co-operating in
the production of a supernatural act. It follows, too, that the
efficaciousness of Grace arises not from the Grace itself but from the
free co-operation of the will, and that a Grace in itself truly
sufficient might not be efficacious through the failure of the will to
co-operate with it. The omniscience of God is safeguarded, because,
according to Molina, God sees infallibly man's conduct by means of the
/scientia media/ or knowledge of future conditional events (so called
because it stands midway between the knowledge of possibles and the
knowledge of actuals). That is to say He sees infallibly what man
would do freely in all possible circumstances were he given this or
that particular Grace, and acting upon this knowledge He predestines
the just to glory /post praevisa merita/. The main difficulty urged
against Molina was, that by conceding too much to human liberty he was
but renewing in another form the errors of Pelagius; while the
principal objection brought forward against the Dominicans was, that
by conceding too much to Grace they were destroying human liberty, and
approaching too closely to Calvin's teaching on Predestination.
Needless to say, however much they differed on the points, both the
followers of St. Thomas and the friends of Molina were at one in
repudiating the doctrines of Calvin and Pelagius.
A special commission (/Congregatio de Auxiliis/), presided over by
Cardinals Madrucci and Arrigone, was appointed to examine the
questions at issue. The first session was held in January 1598, and in
February of the same year the majority of the members reported in
favour of condemning Molina's book. Clement VIII. requested the
commission to consider the evidence more fully, but in a comparatively
short time the majority presented a second report unfavourable to
Molina. Representatives of the Dominicans and Jesuits were invited to
attend in the hope that by means of friendly discussion an agreement
satisfactory to both parties might be secured. In 1601 the majority
were in favour of condemning twenty propositions taken from Molina's
work, but the Pope refused to confirm the decision. From 1602 till
1605 the sessions were held in the presence of the Pope and of many of
the cardinals. Among the consultors was Peter Lombard, Archbishop of
Armagh. The death of Clement VIII. in March 1605 led to an
adjournment. In September 1605 the sessions were resumed and continued
till March 1606, when the votes of the consultors were handed in. In
July 1607 these were placed before the cardinals for their opinions,
but a little later it was announced that the decision of the Holy See
would be made public at the proper time, and that meanwhile both
parties were at liberty to teach their opinions. Neither side was,
however, to accuse the other of heresy. Since that time no definite
decision has been given, and, so far as the dogmas of faith are
concerned, theologians are at full liberty to accept Thomism or
Molinism.
(c) Jansenism.
Rapin, /Histoire du Jansenisme depuis son origine jusqu' en 1644/,
1861. Paquier, /Le Jansenisme, etude doctrinale d'apres les
sources/, 1909. Dechamps, /De haeresi jansemiana ab Apostolica
Sede proscripta/, 1654. Du Mas, /Histoire des cinque propositions
de Jansenius/, 1699. Saint-Beuve, /Port Royal/, 3rd edition, 1867-
71. Seche, /Les derniers Jansenistes/, 1891. Van den Peereboom,
/Cornelius Jansensius septieme eveque d'Ypres/, 1882. Schill, /Die
Constitution, Unigenitus/, 1876. Fuzet, /Les Jansenistes du XVIIe
siecle/, 1876.
The influence exercised by Baius, and the ideas that he implanted in
the minds of his students had a very disturbing effect on the
University of Louvain. Amongst those who fell under the sway of
Baianism at this period the best known if not the ablest was Cornelius
Jansen (1585-1638). He studied at Utrecht, Paris, and Louvain. While
in this latter place he formed a resolve to join the Society of Jesus,
but for some reason or another he was refused admission, a slight
which accounts in some measure for the continued antipathy he
displayed during his life towards the Jesuits. At Louvain, too, he was
associated very closely with a brilliant young French student, John du
Verger de Hauranne (1581-1643), better known as the Abbot of St.
Cyran, whom he accompanied to Paris and afterwards to Bayonne, where
both lived for almost twelve years. During these years of intimate
friendship they had many opportunities of discussing the condition and
prospects of the Catholic Church, the prevalence of what they
considered Pelagian views amongst theologians, the neglect of the
study of the Fathers, above all of St. Augustine, the laxity of
confessors in imparting absolution and allowing their penitents to
receive Holy Communion, and the absolute necessity of returning to the
strict discipline of the early Church. In 1617 the two friends
separated, Jansen returning to Louvain, where he was appointed to a
chair of scriptural exegesis, and du Verger to Paris, where he took up
his residence though he held at the same time the commendatory abbacy
of St. Cyran. As professor of Scripture Jansen showed himself both
industrious and orthodox, so that in 1636 on the nomination of Philip
IV. of Spain he was appointed Bishop of Ypres. From that time till
1639, when he passed away, he administered the affairs of his diocese
with commendable prudence and zeal.
During the greater portion of his life he had devoted all his spare
moments to the study of the works of St. Augustine, especially those
directed against the Pelagians, and he had prepared a treatise on
Grace, in which treatise he claimed to have reproduced exactly the
teaching of St. Augustine. This work was finished but not published
when he took seriously ill, and the manuscript was handed over by him
to some friends for publication. Before his death, however, he
declared in presence of witnesses that "if the Holy See wishes any
change I am an obedient son and I submit to that Church in which I
have lived to my dying hour."[1] Notwithstanding various efforts that
were made to prevent publication Jansen's book /Augustinus/ was given
to the world in 1640.
Like Baius Jansen refused to recognise that in the condition of
innocence, in which man was constituted before the Fall, he was
endowed with numerous gifts and graces, that were pure gifts of God in
no way due to human nature. Hence he maintained that by the sin of our
First Parents human nature was essentially corrupted, and man fell
helplessly under the control of concupiscence, so that, do what he
would, he must of necessity sin. There was therefore in man an
irresistible inclination impelling him towards evil, to counteract
which Grace was given as a force impelling him towards good, with the
result that he was drawn necessarily towards good or evil according to
the relative strength of these two conflicting delectations. It
followed from this that merely sufficient grace was never given. If
the Grace was stronger than the tendency towards evil it was
efficacious; if it was weaker it was not sufficient. Yet, whether he
acted under the impulse of Grace or of concupiscence, man acted
freely, because, according to Jansen, absence of all external pressure
was all that was required to make an act free and worthy of praise or
blame.
The book /Augustinus/ created a profound sensation among theologians.
It was hailed as a marvel of learning and ability by those who were
still attached secretly to the school of Baius as well as by the
enemies of the Jesuits. A new edition appeared in Paris only to be
condemned by the Holy Office (1641) and by Urban VIII. in the Bull,
/In Eminenti/ (1642). Various difficulties were raised against the
acceptance of the papal decision in Louvain and in the Netherlands,
and it was only after a long delay and by threats of extreme measures
that the Archbishop of Mechlin and those who followed him were obliged
to submit (1653).
The real struggle regarding /Augustinus/ was to be waged, however, in
Paris and France. There, the Abbot of St. Cyran had been busily at
work preparing the way for Jansen's doctrine, by attacking the modern
laxity of the Church, and advocating the necessity of a complete
return to the rigorous discipline of the early centuries. He had made
the acquaintance of the family of the celebrated lawyer, Antoine
Arnauld, six of whose family had entered the convent of Port Royal, of
which one of them, Angelique,[2] was then superioress, while his
youngest son, Antoine, a pupil of St. Cyran, was destined to be the
leader of the French Jansenists. St. Cyran insisted on such rigorous
conditions for the worthy reception of the Eucharist, that people
feared to receive Holy Communion lest they should be guilty of
sacrilege, and for a similar reason many priests abstained from the
celebration of Mass. He attacked the Jesuits for their laxity of
doctrine and practice in regard to the Sacrament of Penance. He
himself insisted on the absolute necessity of perfect contrition and
complete satisfaction as an essential condition for absolution. These
views were accepted by the nuns at Port Royal and by many clergy in
Paris. On account of certain writings likely to lead to religious
trouble St. Cyran was arrested by order of Cardinal Richelieu (1638)
and died in 1643. His place was taken by his brilliant pupil, Antoine
Arnauld, who had been ordained priest in 1641, and who like his master
was the determined opponent of the Jesuits. In 1643 he published a
book entitled /De la frequente Communion/, in which he put forward
such strict theories about the conditions required for the worthy
reception of the Eucharist that many people were frightened into
abstaining even from fulfilling their Easter Communion. Despite the
efforts of St. Vincent de Paul and others the book was read freely and
produced widespread and alarming results.
The condemnation pronounced by Urban VIII. (1642) against
/Augustinus/, though accepted by the king, the Archbishop of Paris,
and the Sorbonne, found many staunch opponents. It was contended that
the condemnation was the work of the Jesuits rather than of the Pope,
that it was based on the groundless supposition that the system of
Jansen was identical with that of Baius, and that as no individual
proposition in /Augustinus/ had been condemned people were perfectly
free to discuss the views it contained. To put an end to all
possibility of misunderstanding Cornet, syndic of Paris University,
selected from /Augustinus/ five propositions, which he believed
contained the whole essence of Jansen's system, and submitted them to
the Sorbonne for examination (1649). Owing to the intervention of the
Parliament of Paris in favour of the Jansenists the propositions were
referred to the Assembly of the Clergy (1650), but the vast body of
the bishops considered that it was a question on which a decision
should be sought from Rome. Accordingly eighty-five of the bishops
addressed a petition to Innocent X. (1651) requesting him to pronounce
a definitive sentence on the orthodoxy or unorthodoxy of the five
propositions, while a minority of their body objected to such an
appeal as an infringement of the liberties of the Gallican Church. A
commission, some of the members of which were recognised supporters of
the Jansenists, was appointed by the Pope to examine the question, and
after prolonged discussions extending over two years Innocent X.
issued the Bull, /Cum occasione/ (1653), by which the five
propositions were condemned. The Bull was received so favourably by
the king, the bishops, and the Sorbonne that it was hoped the end of
the controversy was in sight.
The Jansenists, however, soon discovered a new method of evading the
condemnation and of rendering the papal letters null and void. They
admitted that the five propositions were justly censured, but they
denied that these propositions were to be found in /Augustinus/, or,
if they were in /Augustinus/, they contended they were there in a
sense quite different from that which had been condemned by the Pope.
To justify this position they introduced the celebrated distinction
between law and fact; that is to say, while admitting the authority of
the Church to issue definite and binding decisions on doctrinal
matters, they denied that she was infallible in regard to questions of
fact, as for example, whether a certain proposition was contained in a
certain book or what might be the meaning which the author intended to
convey. On matters of fact such as these the Church might err, and the
most that could be demanded of the faithful in case of such decisions
was respectful silence. At the same time by means of sermons,
pamphlets, and letters, by advice given to priests, and by the
influence of several religious houses, notably Port Royal, the sect
was gaining ground rapidly in Paris, and feeling began to run high
against the Jesuits. The antipathy to the Jesuits was increased and
became much more general after the appearance of the /Lettres
Provinciales/ (1656-57) written by Pascal (1623-62). The writer was an
exceedingly able controversialist, and in many respects a deeply
religious man. From the point of view of literature the /Provincial
Letters/ were in a sense a masterpiece, but they were grossly unfair
to those whom they attacked.[3]
The Sorbonne offered a strong opposition to the Jansenists, as did
also the bishops (1656). In the same year Alexander VII. issued the
Bull, /Ad Sanctam Petri Sedem/, by which he condemned the distinction
drawn between law and fact, and declared that the five propositions
were to be found in /Augustinus/ and were condemned in the sense in
which they were understood by the Jansenists. The Assembly of the
Clergy having accepted this Bull drew up a formulary of faith based on
the teaching it contained. The greater part of the Jansenists either
refused entirely to subscribe to this formulary, or else subscribed
only with certain reservations and restrictions. The nuns at Port
Royal were most obstinate in their refusal. As they persisted in their
attitude notwithstanding the prayers and entreaties of the Archbishop
of Paris he was obliged reluctantly to exclude them from the
sacraments. One of the principal objections urged against the
acceptance of the formulary being that the Assembly of the Clergy had
no authority to prescribe any such profession of faith, Alexander VII.
at the request of many of the bishops issued a new constitution,
/Regiminus Apostolici/ (1664), in which he insisted that all priests
secular and regular and all members of religious communities should
subscribe to the anti-Jansenist formulary that he forwarded.
Most of the Jansenists refused to yield obedience even to the commands
of the Pope. They were strengthened in their refusal by the fact that
four of the French bishops set them a bad example by approving
publicly in their pastorals the Jansenist distinction between law and
fact. The Council of State promptly suppressed these pastorals (1665),
and at the request of Louis XIV. Alexander VII. appointed a commission
for the trial of the disobedient bishops. In the meantime, before the
commission could proceed with the trial, Alexander VII. died, and was
succeeded by Clement IX. (1667). Several of the French bishops
addressed a joint letter to the new Pope, in which by a rather unfair
use of extracts from the works of theologians they sought to excuse
the attitude of their brother bishops, and at the same time they
hinted to the king that the controversy was taking a course likely to
be fraught with great danger to the liberties of the Gallican Church.
Louis XIV., who had been hitherto most determined in his efforts
against the Jansenists, began to grow lukewarm, and the whole
situation in France was fast becoming decidedly critical. Some of the
French bishops offered their services as mediators. Through their
intervention it was agreed that without expressly retracting their
pastorals the bishops should consent to sign the formulary drawn up by
the Pope, and induce the clergy to do likewise. The bishops signed the
formulary, and held synods in which they secured the signatures of
their clergy, but at the same time in their conversations and in their
addresses they made it perfectly clear that they had done so only with
the Jansenist restrictions and reservations. The announcement of their
submission pure and simple was forwarded to the Pope without any
reference to any conditions or qualifications, and the Pope informed
the king that he was about to issue letters of reconciliation to the
four bishops. Before the letters were forwarded, however, rumours
began to reach Rome that all was not well, and a new investigation was
ordered. Finally, in view of the very critical state of affairs it was
decided that the Pope might proceed safely on the documents received
from the nuncio and the mediators without reference to the information
acquired from other sources. In January 1669 the letters of
reconciliation were issued. The Jansenists hailed the /Clementine
Peace/ as a great triumph for their party, and boasted publicly that
Clement IX. had receded from the position taken up by his predecessor,
by accepting the Jansenist distinction between law and fact. That
their boasting was without foundation is sufficiently clear from a
mere cursory examination of the papal letters. The Pope makes it
perfectly evident that the letters were issued on the assumption that
the bishops had subscribed without any reservation or restriction. He
states expressly that he was firmly resolved to uphold the
constitutions of his predecessors, and that he would never admit any
restriction or reservation.
----------
[1] Calleawert, /Cornelius Jansenius d'Ypres, ses derniers moments, sa
soumission/, 1893.
[2] Montlaur, /Angelique Arnauld/, 1902.
[3] Giraud, /Pascal, l'homme, l'ouevre, l'influence/, 1905.
(d) The Immaculate Conception.
Passaglia, /De Immaculat. Concept. B.V.M./, 3 vols., 1855.
Strozzi, /Controversia dell' Immacolata Concezione/, 1700.
Roskovany, /De Beata Virgine in suo conceptu immaculata/, 1873-92.
Le Bachelet, /L'Immac. Conc./, 1903. Bishop, /The Origins of the
Feast of the Conception of B.V.M./, 1904. Ullathorne, /The
Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God/, 1904.
From the days of Dons Scotus the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
was received very generally by the universities and theologians. The
Dominicans, feeling themselves called upon to support the views of St.
Thomas, who argued against the Immaculate Conception as understood in
his own time, opposed the common teaching. The question was brought
before the schismatical assembly at Basle (1439), where it was defined
that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin was in harmony
with reason and Scripture, and should be approved and accepted by all
Christians. This teaching was confirmed by several provincial synods
in France and Germany, as well as by many of the universities. Paris
and Cologne, for example, obliged all their members to swear to defend
the doctrine. Sixtus IV. bestowed indulgences on those who would
observe the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (1476), but although
favouring the doctrine he forbade the defenders or opponents to charge
each other with heresy (1483). When in the discussions on Original Sin
at the Council of Trent the subject was raised, no formal decision was
given because the Fathers were determined to direct all their
attention to the doctrines that had been rejected by the Reformers. At
the same time the opinion of the Fathers was expressed clearly enough,
since they declared that in their decrees regarding the universality
of Original Sin they did not mean to include the Immaculate Virgin
Mary (V. Sess. 1546). Pius V. condemned a proposition of Baius, in
which it was laid down that Christ alone escaped the guilt of Original
Sin, and that the Blessed Virgin suffered death on account of the
guilt she contracted by her descent from Adam (1567). A Spanish
Franciscan, Francis of Santiago, having claimed that he had a vision
in support of the doctrine, a sharp controversy broke out in Spain, to
end which Philip III. besought the Pope to give a definitive decision.
Paul V. contented himself, however, with renewing the decrees of his
predecessors Sixtus IV. and Pius V. forbidding charges of heresy to be
bandied about by the disputants (1616), but in the following year he
forbade any public defence of the theses directed against the doctrine
of the Immaculate Conception. Gregory XV. though unwilling to yield to
the request of the Spanish Court for a formal definition, prohibited
either public or private opposition to the doctrine unless in case of
those who had received special authorisation from the Holy See.
Finally in 1661 Alexander VII. in the constitution, /Sollicitudo
omnium Ecclesiarum/, explained the true meaning of the doctrine, and
forbade any further opposition to what he declared to be the common
and pious belief of the Church.
(e) Tyrannicide.
Hergenrother, /Katholische Kirche u. Christl. Staat/, 1872.
Parkinson, /Catholic Writers on Tyrannicide/ (/Month/, March-
April, 1873). Duhr. /Jesuiten-Fabeln/, 3 auf., pp. 659 sqq.
Whether Tyrannicide is lawful or unlawful was a question on which
different views were held by theologians. The murder of the Duke of
Orleans by orders of the Duke of Burgundy (1407) helped to stir up the
controversy. Amongst the dependants of the Duke of Burgundy was a
priest, John Parvus (Petit or Le Petit), who accompanied the Duke to
Paris, and in a public assembly defended the Duke of Burgundy on the
ground that it was lawful to murder a tyrant (1408). Nine propositions
selected from this speech were condemned by the Bishop of Paris, by
the Inquisition, and by the university (1414). The Duke of Burgundy
appealed to Pope John XXIII., while the representatives of France at
the Council of Constance were instructed to seek the opinion of the
assembly. The discussion of the subject was complicated by political
issues. As the Council of Constance was anxious to avoid all quarrels
with the King of France, the Duke of Burgundy, or the Emperor, it
contented itself with issuing a very general condemnation of
Tyrannicide. Before the council closed, however, the question was
raised once more in connexion with a book published by the Dominican,
John of Falkenberg, who was a strong partisan of the Teutonic Knights
in their struggle against the King of Poland, and who maintained that
it was lawful to kill the King of Poland. He undertook the defence of
Petit's work, and wrote strongly against the representatives of the
University of Paris. The Poles demanded his condemnation, but though
he was arrested and detained in prison his book was not condemned by
the council. A Dominican chapter held in 1417 repudiated Falkenberg's
teaching.
For a long time the subject was not discussed by Catholic theologians
though Tyrannicide was defended by the leading Reformers, including
Luther and Melanchthon, but during the religious wars in France and in
Scotland it was advocated in theory by some of the French Calvinists
such as Languet and Boucher as well as by the Scotch leader, John
Knox, and put into practice by their followers against the Duke of
Guise and Cardinal Beaton.[1] The Jesuits in France were accused of
sympathising with this doctrine during the reign of Henry IV., but
there was not sufficient evidence to support such a charge. Some of
their theologians may have defended the legality of rebellion in
certain circumstances, but this was a doctrine in no way peculiar to
the Jesuits. The only serious argument brought forward by the
opponents of the Jesuits was drawn from a work published by a Spanish
Jesuit, Mariana (1536-1624). It was written for the instruction of
some of the princes of Spain, and was dedicated to Philip III. In many
respects it was an exceedingly praiseworthy work, but the author's
reference to the murder of Henry III. of France and his defence of
Tyrannicide, hedged round though it was by many restrictions and
reservations, gave great offence in France, and provided the enemies
of the Society with a splendid weapon for a general attack upon the
entire body. As a matter of fact Mariana's book did not represent the
views of the Jesuits. In 1610 the general, Aquaviva, forbade any of
his subjects to defend the teaching on Tyrannicide it contained.
----------
[1] Lecky, /The History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in
Europe/, 1913, p. 164.
(f) The Copernican System. Galileo Galilei.
Muller, /Nicolaus Copernicus/ (/Stimmen aus M.-Laach/, 1898,
/Supp./ 72). Hipler, /Nicolaus Copernicus u. Martin Luther/, 1868.
Muller, /Galileo Galilei/, 1908. Von Gebler, /Galileo Galilei und
die Romische Curie/ (Eng. Trans., 1879). L'Epinois, /La question
de Galilee/, 1878, /The Month/ (Sept., 1867; March-April, 1868).
Nicolaus Copernicus (Koppernick or Koppernigk, 1473-1543) was born at
Thorn, and was educated principally at Cracow, Bologna, Padua, and
Ferrara. He was a canon of the chapter of Frauenberg, and most
probably a priest. During his stay in Italy he was brought into
contact with the new views put forward by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
and others regarding the position of the earth in the system of the
universe. His own studies let him to the conclusion that the sun was
the centre round which the earth and all the heavenly bodies moved in
their course. He communicated his conclusions to some of his special
friends in 1531, but he hesitated to publish them on account of the
ridicule that such a novel opinion was sure to excite. One of his
pupils lectured at Rome on the subject, and explained the theories of
Copernicus to Clement VII. (1533).
Yielding at last to the entreaties of Cardinal Schonberg, Archbishop
of Capua, and Bishop Giese of Culm he entrusted his work for
publication to one of his pupils, Rheticus, professor at Wittenberg,
but the opposition of the Lutheran professors made it impossible to
bring out the book in that city. It was finally published under the
editorship of Osiander at Nurnberg in 1543. In the preface to the work
Osiander made considerable changes out of deference to the views of
Luther and Melanchthon, the most important of which was that he
referred to the system of Copernicus as an hypothesis that might or
might not be true. The work, /De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium/ was
dedicated to Pope Paul III. The principal opposition to the novel
views of Copernicus came from the side of the Lutheran theologians,
and it was only years later, when feeling was aroused by the
controversy regarding Galileo, that any suspicion of unorthodoxy was
directed against Copernicus by Catholic writers. Needless to say
Copernicus died as he had lived, a devoted Catholic, fully convinced
that he had done good service for religion as well as for science.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was remarkable from a very early age for
his abilities as a student of mathematics and mechanics. Indeed it was
in these subjects and not in astronomy that he achieved his most
brilliant and most lasting successes. He taught at Pisa and Padua, and
was afterwards employed at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In
1609 he perfected the telescope by means of which he was enabled to
make observations of the heavenly bodies, and from these observations
and discoveries he was led to the conclusion that the heliocentric
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