compelled to attack the city in form. After a siege of two years, it was taken by assault, and with difficulty saved from pillage, but Gregory retired into the castle of St. Angelo from whence he hurled defiance, and fulminated his thunder against the conqueror. The siege of St. Angelo was now prosecuted with vigour, but in the absence of Henry, Gregory found means to escape, and died soon after at Salerno, A. D. 1085. His last words were, "I have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile.” * But the troubles of Henry did not terminate with the life of Gregory. The pontiffs who succeeded, proved as inimical to his peace and tranquillity as their predecessor had been. Urban II. contrived, in conjunction with the countess Matilda, to seduce the emperor's son into a rebellion against his father. This young prince, whose name was Conrad, assumed the title of king of Italy, and succeeded so well in his usurpation, that the greater part of the cities of Italy and their nobles acknowledged him as their sovereign. The emperor, despairing of being able to reduce him to obedience by arms, assembled the German princes, who put the delinquent to the ban of the empire,† and declared his brother Henry king of the Romans. Two years afterwards, both Conrad and the pope died—the latter being succeeded in the papal chair by Pascal II. (another Gregory) and the former by his younger brother Henry as king of Italy. The new pope was scarcely invested with office, ere he contrived to excite young Henry also to rebel against his father. He called a council, to which he summoned the aged monarch, and as he did not obey the citation, he excommunicated him for the schisms which he had introduced into the church; stimulating his son to rebellion by alledging that he was bound to take upon himself the reins of government, as he could not acknowledge an excommunicated king or father. In vain did the emperor use every *Life of Gregory VII. by Dithmar. We + The word ban originally signified banner, afterwards edict, and lastly a declaration of outlawry, which was thus intimated. declare thy wife a widow, thy children orphans, and send thee, in the name of the devil, to the four corners of the earth." paternal remonstrance to dissuade his son from proceeding to extremities; the breach became wider and each prepared for the decision of the sword. But the son, dreading his father's military superiority, and confiding in his tenderness, had recourse to a stratagem as base as it was effectual. He threw himself unexpectedly at the emperor's feet, and implored pardon for his undutiful behaviour, which he attributed to the influence of evil counsellors. In consequence of this submission, he was taken into favour by his indulgent parent, who instantly dismissed his army. The ungrateful youth now revealed the perfidy that was in his heart; he ordered his father to be confined-assembled a diet of his own confederates, at which the pope's legate presided, and repeated the sentence of excommunication against the emperor, whose dignity was instantly transferred to his rebellious son. The archbishops of Mentz and Cologne were sent as deputies to the old emperor, to intimate his deposition and demand his regalia. Henry received this deputation with equal surprise and concern; and finding that the chief accusation against him was "the scandalous manner in which he had set bishopricks to sale," he thus addressed the audacious ecclesiastics: "If I have prostituted the benefices of the church for hire, you yourselves are the most proper persons to convict me of that simony. Say then, I conjure you in the name of the eternal God! what have I exacted, or what have I received, for having promoted you to the dignities that you now enjoy?" They acknowledged that he was innocent, so far as regarded their preferments. "And yet," continued he, " the archbishoprics of Mentz and Cologne, being two of the best in my gift, I might have filled my coffers by exposing them to sale. I bestowed them, however, upon you, out of free grace and favor, and a worthy return you make to my benevolence! Do not, I beseech you, become abettors of those who have lifted up their hands against their lord and master in defiance of faith, gratitude, and allegiance." As the unfeeling prelates, deaf to this pathetic address, insisted on his compliance with the object of their mission, Henry retired, and put on his regal ornaments; then returning to the apartment he had left, and seating himself on a chair of state, he renewed his remonstrance in these words: "Here are the marks of that royalty with which I was invested by God and the princes of the empire; if you disregard the wrath of heaven, and the eternal reproach of mankind, so much as to lay violent hands on your sovereign, you may strip me of them. I am not in a condition to defend myself." Regardless of these expostulations, the two archbishops snatched the crown from his head, and dragging him from his chair, pulled off his robes by force. While thus employed, Henry exclaimed, "Great God! (the tears flowing down his venerable cheeks) thou art the God of vengeance, and wilt repay this outrage. I have sinned, I own, and merited such shame by the follies of my youth; but thou wilt not fail to punish those traitors for their violence, ingratitude and perjury." To such a degree of wretchedness was this prince reduced by the barbarity of his son, that, destitute of the common necessaries of life, he entreated the bishop of Spire, whom he had promoted to that see, to grant him a canonry for his subsistence, representing that he was capable of performing the office of "chanter or reader." Disappointed in that humble request, he shed a flood of tears, and turning to those who were present, said, with a deep sigh, "My dear friends, at least have pity upon my condition, for I am touched by the hand of the Lord." Yet in the midst of these distresses, when every one thought his courage was utterly extinguished, and his soul overwhelmed by despondence, Henry found means to escape from custody, and reached Cologne, where he was recognized as lawful emperor. Repairing next to the Netherlands, he found friends who raised a considerable body of men to assert his claims, and facilitate his restoration; he also issued circular letters, calling npon the princes of Christendom to interest themselves in his cause. He even wrote to the pope, intimating that he was inclined to an accomodation, provided it could be settled without prejudice to his cause. But before any thing material could be executed in his favour, Henry died at Liege (Aug. 7. 1106) in the fiftysixth year of his age and the forty-ninth of his reign. He was a prince of great courage and excellent endowments both of body and mind. In his appearance there was an air of dignity which spoke the greatness of his soul. He possessed a natural fund of eloquence and vivacity, his temper was placid and merciful, his kindness and benevolence extensive, and his life exhibited an admirable pattern of forti tude and resignation.* SECTION III. Sketch of the state of the Christian profession from the death of DURING the dark ages which succeeded the invasion of Europe by the barbarous nations, when feudal anarchy distracted the civil governments, and a flood of superstition had deluged the church, Christianity, banished from the seats of empire, and loathing the monkish abodes of indolence and vice, meekly retired into the sequestered vallies of Piedmont. Finding there a race of men unarrayed in hostile armour, uncontaminated by the doctrines and commandments of an apostate church, unambitious in their temper, and simple in their manners, she preferred their society, and among them took up her abode. The turbulence of the times, which drave many from the more fertile plains of France and Italy in search of freedom and tranquillity, greatly augmented the population of this remote district; and, in the ninth century, the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven had been held forth among them with considerable clearness and ability by Claude, bishop of Turin.t * Russel's Modern Europe, vol. 1. part 1. letter 23. and the authors there quoted on this subject. + See chap iv. sect. i. p. 288–297. and L'Hist. Generale des Eglises Vaud, par. Giles Leger, ch. 20, 21, 22, 28. Rankin's Hist. France, vol. 3. 1 Remote from the influence of noisy parties, and little conversant with literature, we can scarcely expect any notice of them, until their increase and prosperity excited the attention of ambition and avarice, and occasioned it to be rumored in the neighbouring ecclesiastical states, that a numerous people occupied the southern vallies of the Alps, whose faith and practice differed from those of the Romish church; who paid no tythes, offered no mass, worshipped no saints, nor had recourse to any of the prescribed means for redeeming their souls from purgatory. The archbishops of Turin, Milan, and other cities heard this report with anxiety, and the necessary measures were accordingly adopted for ascertaining its truth or falsehood. The former turning out to be the result, and finding that these people were not to be controlled by the authority and denunciations of the church of Rome, the aid of the civil power was demanded. The princes and nobles of the adjacent countries at first refused to disturb them; they had beheld with pleasure their simple manners, their uprightness and integrity, their readiness to oblige, and their fidelity in the discharge of all the duties of civil and social life. The clamour of the Romish clergy, however, ultimately prevailed, and the civil power was armed against the peaceable and inoffensive inhabitants of the vallies. Scaffolds were erected and fires kindled at Turin and other cities around them. The fortitude and confidence of the martyrs, however, increased as their faith and constancy were tried. "Favor me," said Catalan Girard, who was one of their number, as he sat upon the funeral pile at Reuel-" favor me with those two flint stones," which he saw near him. Being handed to him, he added as he threw them to the ground, "Sooner shall I eat these stones, than you shall be able by persecution to destroy the religion for which I die."* Multitudes, however, fled like innocent and defenceless sheep from these devouring wolves. They crossed the alps and travelled in every direction as providence and the prospect of safety conducted them, into Germany, England, France, Italy, and other countries. There they trimmed * Perrin's History of the Vaudois, part ii. b. ii ch. 4. |