Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John Part 3

_Rhaetia_ belonged to the _Western_ Emperors, so long as that Empire stood; and then it descended, with _Italy_ and the _Roman_ Senate, to _Odoacer_ King of the _Heruli_ in _Italy_, and after him to _Theoderic_ King of the _Ostrogoths_ and his successors, by the grant of the _Greek_ Emperors. Upon the death of _Valentinian_ the second, the _Alemans_ and _Suevians_ invaded _Rhaetia_ A.C. 455. But I do not find they erected any settled kingdom there: for in the year 457, while they were yet depopulating _Rhaetia_, they were attacked and beaten by _Burto_ Master of the horse to the Emperor _Majora.n.u.s_; and I hear nothing more of their invading _Rhaetia_.

_Clodovaeus_ King of _France_, in or about the year 496, conquered a kingdom of the _Alemans_, and slew their last King _Ermeric_. But this kingdom was seated in _Germany_, and only bordered upon _Rhaetia_: for its people fled from _Clodovaeus_ into the neighbouring kingdom of the _Ostrogoths_ under _Theoderic_, who received them as friends, and wrote a friendly letter to _Clodovaeus_ in their behalf: and by this means they became inhabitants of _Rhaetia_, as subjects under the dominion of the _Ostrogoths_.

When the _Greek_ Emperor conquered the _Ostrogoths_, he succeeded them in the kingdom of _Ravenna_, not only by right of conquest but also by right of inheritance, the _Roman_ Senate still going along with this kingdom.

Therefore we may reckon that this kingdom continued in the Exarchate of _Ravenna_ and Senate of _Rome_: for the remainder of the _Western Empire_ went along with the Senate of _Rome_, by reason of the right which this Senate still retained, and at length exerted, of chusing a new _Western_ Emperor.

I have now enumerated the ten kingdoms, into which the _Western Empire_ became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the time of _Rome_'s being besieged and taken by the _Goths_. Some of these kingdoms at length fell, and new ones arose: but whatever was their number afterwards, they are still called the _Ten Kings_ from their first number.

Notes to Chap. VI.

[1] Apud Bucherum, l. 14. c. 9. n. 8.

[2] Rolevinc's Antiqua Saxon. l. 1. c. 6.

CHAP. VII.

_Of the eleventh horn of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast._

[1]_Now Daniel, considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another horn, before whom there were three of the first horns pluckt up by the roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things,_--and [2] his _look was more stout than his fellows,--and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them_: and one who stood by, and made _Daniel_ know the interpretation of these things, told him, that [3] _the ten horns were ten kings that should arise, and another should arise after them, and be diverse from the first, and he should subdue three kings,_ [4] _and speak great words against the most High, and wear out the saints, and think to change times and laws: and that they should be given into his hands until a time and times and half a time_. Kings are put for kingdoms, as above; and therefore the little horn is a little kingdom. It was a horn of the fourth Beast, and rooted up three of his first horns; and therefore we are to look for it among the nations of the _Latin_ Empire, after the rise of the ten horns. But it was a kingdom of a different kind from the other ten kingdoms, having a life or soul peculiar to itself, with eyes and a mouth. By its eyes it was a Seer; and by its mouth speaking great things and changing times and laws, it was a Prophet as well as a King. And such a Seer, a Prophet and a King, is the Church of _Rome_.

A Seer, [Greek: Episkopos], is a Bishop in the literal sense of the word; and this Church claims the universal Bishop.r.i.c.k.

With his mouth he gives laws to kings and nations as an Oracle; and pretends to Infallibility, and that his dictates are binding to the whole world; which is to be a Prophet in the highest degree.

In the eighth century, by rooting up and subduing the Exarchate of _Ravenna_, the kingdom of the _Lombards_, and the Senate and Dukedom of _Rome_, he acquired _Peter_'s Patrimony out of their dominions; and thereby rose up as a temporal Prince or King, or horn of the fourth Beast.

In a small book printed at _Paris_ A.C. 1689, ent.i.tled, _An historical dissertation upon some coins of _Charles_ the great, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors stamped at _Rome__, it is recorded, that in the days of Pope _Leo_ X, there was remaining in the _Vatican_, and till those days exposed to public view, an inscription in honour of _Pipin_ the father of _Charles_ the great, in these words: _Pipinum pium, primum fuisse qui amplificandae Ecclesiae Romanae viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate, & plurimis aliis oblatis_; "That _Pipin_ the pious was the first who opened a way to the grandeur of the Church of _Rome_, conferring upon her the Exarchate of _Ravenna_ and many other oblations." In and before the reign of the Emperors _Gratian_ and _Theodosius_, the Bishop of _Rome_ lived splendidly; but this was by the oblations of the _Roman_ Ladies, as _Ammia.n.u.s_ describes. After those reigns _Italy_ was invaded by foreign nations, and did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the kingdom of _Lombardy_. It was certainly by the victory of the see of _Rome_ over the _Greek_ Emperor, the King of _Lombardy_, and the Senate of _Rome_, that she acquired _Peter_'s Patrimony, and rose up to her greatness. The donation of _Constantine_ the Great is a fiction, and so is the donation of the _Alpes Cottiae_ to the Pope by _Aripert_ King of the _Lombards_: for the _Alpes Cottiae_ were a part of the Exarchate, and in the days of _Aripert_ belonged to the _Greek_ Emperor.

The invocation of the dead, and veneration of their images, being gradually introduced in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the _Greek_ Emperor _Philippicus_ declared against the latter, A.C. 711 or 712. And [5] the Emperor _Leo Isaurus_, to put a stop to it, called a meeting of Counsellors and Bishops in his Palace, A.C. 726; and by their advice put out an Edict against that wors.h.i.+p, and wrote to Pope _Gregory_ II. that a general Council might be called. But the Pope thereupon called a Council at _Rome_, confirmed the wors.h.i.+p of Images, excommunicated the _Greek_ Emperor, absolved the people from their allegiance, and forbad them to pay tribute, or otherwise be obedient to him. Then the people of _Rome_, _Campania_, _Ravenna_ and _Pentapolis_, with the cities under them, revolted and laid violent hands upon their magistrates, killing the Exarch _Paul_ at _Ravenna_, and laying aside _Peter_ Duke of _Rome_ who was become blind: and when _Exhileratus_ Duke of _Campania_ incited the people against the Pope, the _Romans_ invaded _Campania_, and slew him with his son _Hadrian_.

Then a new Exarch, _Eutychius_, coming to _Naples_, sent some secretly to take away the lives of the Pope and the n.o.bles of _Rome_: but the plot being discovered, the _Romans_ revolted absolutely from the _Greek_ Emperor, and took an oath to preserve the life of the Pope, to defend his state, and be obedient to his authority in all things. Thus _Rome_ with its Duchy, including part of _Tuscany_ and part of _Campania_, revolted in the year 726, and became a free state under the government of the Senate of this city. The authority of the Senate in civil affairs was henceforward absolute, the authority of the Pope extending hitherto no farther than to the affairs of the Church only.

At that time [6] the _Lombards_ also being zealous for the wors.h.i.+p of images, and pretending to favour the cause of the Pope, invaded the cities of the Exarchate: and at length, viz. A.C. 752, took _Ravenna_, and put an end to the Exarchate. And this was the first of the three kingdoms which fell before the little horn.

In the year 751 [7] Pope _Zechary_ deposed _Childeric_, a slothful and useless King of _France_, and the last of the race of _Merovaeus_; and absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance, gave the kingdom to _Pipin_ the major of the Palace; and thereby made a new and potent friend.

His successor [8] Pope _Stephen_ III, knowing better how to deal with the _Greek_ Emperor than with the _Lombards_, went the next year to the King of the _Lombards_, to persuade him to return the Exarchate to the Emperor. But this not succeeding, he went into _France_, and persuaded _Pipin_ to take the Exarchate and _Pentapolis_ from the _Lombards_, and give it to St.

_Peter_. Accordingly _Pipin_ A.C. 754 came with an army into _Italy_, and made _Aistulphus_ King of the _Lombards_ promise the surrender: but the next year _Aistulphus_, on the contrary, to revenge himself on the Pope, besieged the city of _Rome_. Whereupon the Pope sent letters to _Pipin_, wherein he told him that if he came not speedily against the _Lombards_, _pro data sibi potentia, alienandum fore a regno Dei & vita aeterna_, he should be excommunicated. _Pipin_ therefore, fearing a revolt of his subjects, and being indebted to the Church of _Rome_, came speedily with an army into _Italy_, raised the siege, besieged the _Lombards_ in _Pavia_, and forced them to surrender the Exarchate and region of _Pentapolis_ to the Pope for a perpetual possession. Thus the Pope became Lord of _Ravenna_, and the Exarchate, some few cities excepted; and the keys were sent to _Rome_, and laid upon the confession of St. _Peter_, that is, upon his tomb at the high Altar, _in signum veri perpetuique dominii, sed pietate Regis gratuita_, as the inscription of a coin of _Pipin_ hath it.

This was in the year of Christ 755. And henceforward the Popes being temporal Princes, left off in their Epistles and Bulls to note the years of the _Greek_ Emperors, as they had hitherto done.

After this [9] the _Lombards_ invading the Pope's countries, Pope _Adrian_ sent to _Charles_ the great, the son and successor of _Pipin_, to come to his a.s.sistance. Accordingly _Charles_ entered _Italy_ with an army, invaded the _Lombards_, overthrew their kingdom, became master of their countries, and restored to the Pope, not only what they had taken from him, but also the rest of the Exarchate which they had promised _Pipin_ to surrender to him, but had hitherto detained; and also gave him some cities of the _Lombards_, and was in return himself made _Patricius_ by the _Romans_, and had the authority of confirming the elections of the Popes conferred upon him. These things were done in the years 773 and 774. This kingdom of the _Lombards_ was the second kingdom which fell before the little horn. But _Rome_, which was to be the seat of his kingdom, was not yet his own.

In the year 796, [10] _Leo_ III being made Pope, notified his election to _Charles_ the great by his Legates, sending to him for a present, the golden keys of the Confession of _Peter_, and the Banner of the city of _Rome_: the first as an acknowledgment of the Pope's holding the cities of the Exarchate and _Lombardy_ by the grant of _Charles_; the other as a signification that _Charles_ should come and subdue the Senate and people of _Rome_, as he had done the Exarchate and the kingdom of the _Lombards_.

For the Pope at the same time desired _Charles_ to send some of his Princes to _Rome_, who might subject the _Roman_ people to him, and bind them by oath _in fide & subjectione_, in fealty and subjection, as his words are recited by _Sigonius_. An anonymous Poet, publish'd by _Boeclerus_ at _Strasburg_, expresseth it thus:

_Admonuitque piis precibus, qui mittere vellet_ _Ex propriis aliquos primoribus, ac sibi plebem_ _Subdere Romanam, servandaque foedera cogens_ _Hanc fidei sacramentis promittere magnis_.

Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope and the city: and the _Romans_ about two or three years after, by a.s.sistance of some of the Clergy, raised such tumults against him, as gave occasion to a new state of things in all the _West_. For two of the Clergy accused him of crimes, and the _Romans_ with an armed force, seized him, stript him of his sacerdotal habit, and imprisoned him in a monastery. But by a.s.sistance of his friends he made his escape, and fled into _Germany_ to _Charles_ the great, to whom he complained of the _Romans_ for acting against him out of a design to throw off all authority of the Church, and to recover their antient freedom. In his absence his accusers with their forces ravaged the possessions of the Church, and sent the accusations to _Charles_; who before the end of the year sent the Pope back to _Rome_ with a large retinue. The n.o.bles and Bishops of _France_ who accompanied him, examined the chief of his accusers at _Rome_, and sent them into _France_ in custody. This was in the year 799. The next year _Charles_ himself went to _Rome_, and upon a day appointed presided in a Council of _Italian_ and _French_ Bishops to hear both parties. But when the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared [11] that he who was the supreme judge of all men, was above being judged by any other than himself: whereupon he made a solemn declaration of his innocence before all the people, and by doing so was looked upon as acquitted.

Soon after, upon _Christmas_-day, the people of _Rome_, who had hitherto elected their Bishop, and reckoned that they and their Senate inherited the rights of the antient Senate and people of _Rome_, voted _Charles_ their Emperor, and subjected themselves to him in such manner as the old _Roman_ Empire and their Senate were subjected to the old _Roman_ Emperors. The Pope crowned him, and anointed him with holy oil, and wors.h.i.+pped him on his knees after the manner of adoring the old _Roman_ Emperors; as the aforesaid Poet thus relates:

_Post laudes igitur dictas & summus eundem_ _Praesul adoravit, sicut mos debitus olim_ _Principibus fuit antiquis_.

The Emperor, on the other hand, took the following oath to the Pope: _In nomine Christi spondeo atque polliceor, Ego Carolus Imperator coram Deo & beato Petro Apostolo, me protectorem ac defensorem fore hujus sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae in omnibus utilitatibus, quatenus divino fultus fuero adjutorio, prout sciero poteroque_. The Emperor was also made Consul of _Rome_, and his son _Pipin_ crowned King of _Italy_: and henceforward the Emperor stiled himself: _Carolus serenissimus, Augustus, a Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus, Romae gubernans imperium_, or _Imperator Romanorum_; and was prayed for in the Churches of _Rome_. His image was henceforward put upon the coins of _Rome_: while the enemies of the Pope, to the number of three hundred _Romans_ and two or three of the Clergy, were sentenced to death.

The three hundred _Romans_ were beheaded in one day in the _Lateran_ fields: but the Clergymen at the intercession of the Pope were pardoned, and banished into _France_. And thus the t.i.tle of _Roman_ Emperor, which had hitherto been in the _Greek_ Emperors, was by this act transferred in the _West_ to the Kings of _France_.

After these things [12] _Charles_ gave the City and Duchy of _Rome_ to the Pope, subordinately to himself as Emperor of the _Romans_; spent the winter in ordering the affairs of _Rome_, and those of the Apostolic see, and of all _Italy_, both civil and ecclesiastical, and in making new laws for them; and returned the next summer into _France_: leaving the city under its Senate, and both under the Pope and himself. But hearing that his new laws were not observed by the judges in dictating the law, nor by the people in hearing it; and that the great men took servants from free men, and from the Churches and Monasteries, to labour in their vineyards, fields, pastures and houses, and continued to exact cattle and wine of them, and to oppress those that served the Churches: he wrote to his son _Pipin_ to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, and see his laws executed.

Now the Senate and people and princ.i.p.ality of _Rome_ I take to be the third King the little horn overcame, and even the chief of the three. For this people elected the Pope and the Emperor; and now, by electing the Emperor and making him Consul, was acknowledged to retain the authority of the old _Roman_ Senate and people. This city was the Metropolis of the old _Roman_ Empire, represented in _Daniel_ by the fourth Beast; and by subduing the Senate and people and Duchy, it became the Metropolis of the little horn of that Beast, and completed _Peter_'s Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. Besides, this victory was attended with greater consequences than those over the other two Kings. For it set up the _Western Empire_, which continues to this day. It set up the Pope above the judicature of the _Roman_ Senate, and above that of a Council of _Italian_ and _French_ Bishops, and even above all human judicature; and gave him the supremacy over the _Western_ Churches and their Councils in a high degree. It gave him _a look more stout than his fellows_; so that when this new religion began to be established in the minds of men, he grappled not only with Kings, but even with the _Western_ Emperor himself. It is observable also, that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honour superior to that of Kings and Emperors, began about this time. There are some instances of it in the ninth century: _Platina_ tells us, that the feet of Pope _Leo_ IV were kissed, according to antient custom, by all who came to him: and some say that _Leo_ III began this custom, pretending that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. The Popes began also about this time to canonize saints, and to grant indulgences and pardons: and some represent that _Leo_ III was the first author of all these things. It is further observable, that _Charles_ the great, between the years 775 and 796, conquered all _Germany_ from the _Rhine_ and _Danube_ northward to the _Baltic_ sea, and eastward to the river _Teis_; extending his conquests also into _Spain_ as far as the river _Ebro_: and by these conquests he laid the foundation of the new Empire; and at the same time propagated the _Roman_ Catholic religion into all his conquests, obliging the _Saxons_ and _Hunns_ who were heathens, to receive the _Roman_ faith, and distributing his northern conquests into Bishop.r.i.c.ks, granting t.i.thes to the Clergy and _Peter-pence_ to the Pope: by all which the Church of _Rome_ was highly enlarged, enriched, exalted, and established.

In the forementioned _dissertation upon some coins of _Charles_ the great, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors, stamped at _Rome__, there is a draught of a piece of _Mosaic_ work which Pope _Leo_ III. caused to be made in his Palace near the Church of _John Lateran_, in memory of his sending the standard or banner of the city of _Rome_ curiously wrought, to _Charles_ the great; and which still remained there at the publis.h.i.+ng of the said book. In the _Mosaic_ work there appeared _Peter_ with three keys in his lap, reaching the _Pallium_ to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to _Charles_ the great with his left. By the Pope was this inscription, SCISSIMUS D.N. LEO PP; by the King this, D.N. CARVLO REGI; and under the feet of _Peter_ this, BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET BICTORIAM CARVLO REGI DONA. This Monument gives the t.i.tle of King to _Charles_, and therefore was erected before he was Emperor. It was erected when _Peter_ was reaching the _Pallium_ to the Pope, and the Pope was sending the banner of the city to _Charles_, that is, A.C. 796. The words above, _Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi_, relate to the message; and the words below, _Beate Petre, dona vitam Leoni Papae & victoriam Carolo regi dona_, are a prayer that in this undertaking G.o.d would preserve the life of the Pope, and give victory to the King over the _Romans_. The three keys in the lap of _Peter_ signify the keys of the three parts of his Patrimony, that of _Rome_ with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed and was conquering, those of _Ravenna_ with the Exarchate, and of the territories taken from the _Lombards_; both which he had newly conquered. These were the three dominions, whose keys were in the lap of St. _Peter_, and whose Crowns are now worn by the Pope, and by the conquest of which he became the little horn of the fourth Beast. By _Peter_'s giving the _Pallium_ to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to the King with his left, and by naming the Pope before the King in the inscription, may be understood that the Pope was then reckoned superior in dignity to the Kings of the earth.

After the death of _Charles_ the great, his son and successor _Ludovicus Pius_, at the request of the Pope, [13] confirmed the donations of his grandfather and father to the see of _Rome_. And in the confirmation he names first _Rome_ with its Duchy extending into _Tuscany_ and _Campania_; then the Exarchate of _Ravenna_, with _Pentapolis_; and in the third place, the territories taken from the _Lombards_. These are his three conquests, and he was to hold them of the Emperor for the use of the Church _sub integritate_, entirely, without the Emperor's medling therewith, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope therein, unless called thereto in certain cases. This ratification the Emperor _Ludovicus_ made under an oath: and as the King of the _Ostrogoths_, for acknowledging that he held his kingdom of _Italy_ of the _Greek_ Emperor, stamped the effigies of the Emperor on one side of his coins and his own on the reverse; so the Pope made the like acknowledgment to the _Western_ Emperor. For the Pope began now to coin money, and the coins of _Rome_ are henceforward found with the heads of the Emperors, _Charles_, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors, on the one side, and the Pope's inscription on the reverse, for many years.

Notes to Chap. VII.

[1] Chap. vii. 8.

[2] Ver. 20, 21.

[3] Ver. 24.

[4] Ver. 25.

[5] Sigonius de Regno Italiae, ad Ann. 726.

[6] Sigonius ib. ad Ann. 726, 752.

[7] Sigon. ib. Ann. 750.

[8] Sigon. ib. Ann. 753, 754, 755.

[9] Sigon. ib. Ann. 773.

[10] Sigon. de Regno Ital. ad Ann. 796.

[11] Vide Anastasium.

[12] Sigon. de Regno Ital.

[13] Confirmationem recitat Sigonius, lib. 4. de Regno Italiae, ad An. 817.

CHAP. VIII.

_Of the power of the eleventh horn of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, to change times and laws_.

In the reign of the _Greek_ Emperor _Justinian_, and again in the reign of _Phocas_, the Bishop of _Rome_ obtained some dominion over the _Greek_ Churches, but of no long continuance. His standing dominion was only over the nations of the _Western Empire_, represented by _Daniel_'s fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors _Gratian_ and _Valentinian.--[1] Volumus ut quicunque judicio Damasi, quod ille c.u.m Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum, vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab ill.u.s.tribus viris Praefectis Praetorio Galliae atque Italiae, authoritate adhibita, ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive a Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat.