Bellarmine · De Potestate Summi Pontificis in Temporalibus · On the Power of the Supreme Pontiff in Temporal Matters, against William Barclay
Chapter 40: The Fourth Example Is Defended
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. XII, De Potestate Summi Pontificis in Temporalibus adversus Gulielmum Barclaium, a treatise of 1610. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The fourth example was taken from the privilege of Saint Gregory granted to the monastery of Saint Medard, which is found at the end of book 12 of the Epistles, in which these words are read: If any of kings, prelates, judges, or any secular persons whatever, shall violate the decrees of this Apostolic and our command, of whatever dignity or eminence he be, let him be deprived of his honour, and so on. And like things are found in another privilege of the same Saint Gregory, book 2, epistle 10, to the abbot Senator. Of this example Barclay speaks thus: “If blessed Gregory were living today, and understood the foregoing words to be taken in the sense that he himself had had the power of depriving kings of their honour and dignity, he would surely cry out that the interpretation is calumnious, and that he had never thought of any such thing even in a dream; and the things which are written by him elsewhere take away credit from this exposition; those, then, are the words not of one commanding but of one imprecating, by which he warns and adjures every kind of men not to violate the privilege set forth; and if they violate it, God will be the avenger, to deprive them of their honour; which kind of warning and imprecation is now always wont to be added at the end of Bulls and pontifical constitutions, in this way: Let it be lawful, therefore, for no man to infringe this page, and so on; but if anyone presume to attempt this, let him incur the indignation of almighty God and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, or, what is the same, let him know that he will incur it.”
I answer: the interpretation of the words of Saint Gregory is not mine, but that of another Saint Gregory, equal in dignity and not much inferior in holiness. Saint Gregory VII, I say, the Pope, in the epistle to the bishop of Metz, which is the twenty-first of the eighth book, brings forward this passage of Saint Gregory to prove that the emperor Henry was by right deposed by him: “Blessed Pope Gregory,” he says, “decreed that kings should fall from their dignity who presumed to violate the decrees of the Apostolic See, writing to a certain abbot Senator in these words: But if any of kings, and so on. And if blessed Gregory, a most gentle doctor indeed, decreed that kings who violated his statutes should not only be deposed, but also excommunicated, and condemned in the eternal examination, who will censure us for having deposed and excommunicated Henry, not only a despiser of Apostolic judgments, but also a trampler, as far as in him lies, of Mother Church herself, and a most wicked plunderer and most atrocious destroyer of the whole kingdom and of the Churches, unless perhaps one like him?” So he, to whom if Barclay will not yield in the interpretation of the words of Saint Gregory, he will be too rash; but if he yields, he will have to confess that Saint Gregory I was not ignorant that the power divinely given him extended even to the deposition of kings and princes. But let us add also another interpreter of the words of Saint Gregory, that in the mouth of two witnesses every word may stand. Thomas of Walden, a most learned man, in book 2 of the Doctrinal of the ancient faith, article 3, chapter 75: “Assuredly,” he says, “neither did blessed Gregory prejudice in anything the eminence of his state over the imperial state, when he set the king before himself in words only, the business which was then being handled being attended to; which we shall fitly see if we seek his later deeds and writings. See whether he did not think himself the master both of emperors and of kings, when, after certain privileges directed to the priest Senator and the abbot of the hospice of the Franks, he closed with a threat of dignity and honour against every violator of it: If any of kings, and so on.” See how well that doctor confuted Barclay not yet born. Barclay says it is gathered from other writings of Saint Gregory that Saint Gregory did not think he had power over the kings of the world, although his words seem to signify it; Thomas of Walden contradicts, that from other writings of Saint Gregory it is gathered that Saint Gregory subjected himself to the emperor in words only, but in truth was not ignorant of the eminence of his state over the imperial state. Barclay says the words of Saint Gregory sound an imprecation, which even any private man can add to his letters; Thomas of Walden says on the contrary that the words of Saint Gregory sound a threat of honour and dignity, which none but a supreme prince can add to his letters. But whether greater faith is to be given to the one Barclay than to two men of such eminence and learning, it is foolish to ask.
But even if it be sought from the words of Saint Gregory himself, the whole question will be dissolved without any trouble. For Saint Gregory joins three things together, namely: let him be deprived of his honour, let him be separated from the communion of the faithful, let him be condemned in the divine examination to eternal punishments. But the two latter do not contain an imprecation, but a decree or declaration; for a prelate who says, whoever does this, let him be excommunicated, does not imprecate excommunication, but orders him to be excommunicated; and he who says, whoever does this, let him be condemned in the divine judgment to eternal punishments, does not imprecate eternal damnation (for who is found so cruel as to imprecate this?), but declares that whoever does this will sin most gravely, and will deserve eternal punishments in the divine examination. Therefore in the same way that, Let him be deprived of his honour, is not an imprecation, but a decree that he fall from his honour, and a declaration that it is lawful for the people not to obey such a king as one deprived of his honour and dignity. As also the closing words of Apostolic constitutions do not signify an imprecation, as Barclay wrongly expounds (for the supreme Shepherd, and Vicar of that good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, would not imprecate on the sheep the indignation of almighty God), but contain a declaration and denunciation of the most grave punishment which without doubt will follow the despisers of Apostolic precepts. For this those words manifestly signify: Let him know that he will incur the indignation of almighty God and of blessed Peter and Paul. Wherefore if Saint Gregory were now living on earth, he would without doubt cry out that Barclay's interpretation is calumnious, and that he had never thought of any such thing even in a dream.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT XL. Defenditur exemplum quartum . Quartum exemplum desumptum fuit ex privilegio sancti Gregorii monasterio sancti Medardi concesso, quod habetur lib. xii. Epistolarum extremo , in quo leguntur haec verba : Si quis regum, antistitum, judicum, vel quarumcumque saecularium personarum hujus Apostolicae, et nostrae praeceptionis decreta violaverit, cujuscumque dignitatis, vel sublimitatis sit, honore suo privetur, etc. Et similia habentur in alio privilegio ejus¬ dem sancti Gregorii lib. ii. epistol. 10. ad Senatorem abbatem. De hoc exemplo sic loquitur Barclaius. « Si viveret hodie B. Gregorius, et superiora verba eo sensu accipi intelligeret, quasi ipse potestatem habuisset privandi reges suo ho¬ nore, et dignitate : exclamaret profecto ca¬ lumniosam esse interpretationem , et se numquam tale quid, vel per somnium cogi¬ tasse : ea vero quee alibi scripta ab eo sunt, fidem abrogant huic expositioni, sunt igitur ista, non imperantis, sed imprecantis verba, quibus admonet et adjurat omne genus ho¬ minum, ne privilegium a sedatum violent : quod si violaverint, Deum vindicem fore, qui eos suo honore privet, quod genus admo¬ nitionis et imprecationis nunc semper addi solet extremis Bullarum , et Constitutionum Pontificiarum, hoc modo,, Nulli ergo horni- IN REBUS TEMPORALIBUS 109 num liceat hanc paginam, etc., si quis autem hoc attentare praesumpserit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei, ac beatorum Petri, et Pauli Apostolorum ejus incurrat, sive quod idem est, se noverit incursurum. » Respondeo : Interpretatio verborum san¬ cti Gregorii, non mea est, sed alterius sancti Gregorii dignitate paris, et sanctitate non multum inferioris. Sanctus, inquam, Grego- rius VII Papa in Epistola ad Episcopum Metensem,quse est vicesima prima libri octa¬ vi, hunc locum sancti Gregorii adducit ad probandum jure a se fuisse depositum Hen- ricum imperatorem : «B. Gregorius, inquit, Papa reges a sua dignitate cadere statuit, qui Apostolicse Sedis decreta violare pree- sumpserint, scribens ad quemdam senatorem abbatem, his verbis : Si quis vero regum, etc. Quod si B. Gregorius, doctor utique mitissimus, reges, qui statuta violarent, non modo deponi, sed etiam excommunicari, atque in aeterno examine damnari decrevit : quis nos Henricum non solum Apostolico- rum judiciorum contemptorem, verum etiam ipsius Matris Ecclesiae, quantum in ipso est conculcatorem, totiusque regni, et Ecclesia¬ rum improbissimum praedonem, et atrocis- simum destructorem deposuisse, et excom- municasse reprehendat, nisi forte similis ejus? » Haec ille, cui Barclaius si cedere no¬ luerit in interpretatione verborum sancti Gregorii, nimis temerarius erit : si autem cesserit, fateri debebit, sanctum Gregorium primum non ignorasse potestatem sibi di¬ vinitus datam extendi usque ad regum, et principum depositionem. Sed addamus et alium interpretem verborum sancti Gregorii, ut in ore duorum testium stet omne verbum. Thomas Valdensis, vir doctissimus in lib. ii. doctrinalis fidei antiquae artic. 3 cap. 75. « Profecto, inquit, nec B. Gregorius eminen¬ tiae sui status super statum imperialem prae¬ judicavit in aliquo, cum regem sibi verbo tenus praeposuit, negotio quod tunc tracta¬ batur attento, quod tunc apte videbimus, si posteriora ejus facta, et scripta quaeramus. Vide an se magistrum et imperatorum et re¬ gum non arbitrabatur, cum post privilegia quaedam Senatori presbytero , et Abbati Xenodochii Francorum directa sub intermi¬ natione dignitatis, et honoris omni ejus vio¬ latori conclusit: Si quis regum etc. » En quam bene doctor iste Barclaium nondum natum confutavit. Barclaius dicit ex aliis scriptis sancti Gregorii colligi, sanctum Gre¬ gorium non existimasse habere se potesta¬ tem super reges saeculi, quamvis ejus verba id significare videantur : Thomas Valdensis contradicit, ex aliis sancti Gregorii scriptis colligi, sanctum Gregorium verbo tenus se imperatori subjecisse, re autem vera non ignorasse eminentiam sui status super sta¬ tum imperialem. Barclaius dicit : Verba san¬ cti Gregorii sonare imprecationem, quam etiam quilibet privatus adjungere potest lit¬ teris suis ; Thomas Valdensis contra dicit : Verba sancti Gregorii sonare interminatio¬ nem honoris, et dignitatis, quam litteris suis adjungere non potest, nisi princeps supre¬ mus. Utrum autem major fides habenda sit uni Barclaio, quam duobus viris tantae emi¬ nentiae, atque doctrinae, stultum est quaerere. Sed etiam si id quaeratur ex verbis ipsius sancti Gregorii tota quaestio nullo negotio dissolvetur. Siquidem S. Gregorius tria si¬ mul conjungit, videlicet, honore suo prive¬ tur, a communione fidelium segregetur, in divino examine ad poenas aeternas damnetur. At duo posteriora non continent imprecatio¬ nem, sed decretum, sive declarationem: non enim Praelatus, qui dicit, qui hoc fece¬ rit, excommunicetur, imprecatur excommu¬ nicationem, sed jubet excommunicari : et qui dicit, qui hoc fecerit, in divino judicio ad poenas aeternas damnetur, non impreca¬ tur damnationem aeternam (quis enim tam crudelis invenitur, qui hoc imprecetur?) sed declarat, qui hoc fecerit, eum gravissime peccaturum, et poenas aeternas in divino examine promeriturum. Igitur eodem modo illud : Honore suo privetur, non estimpreca- tio, sed decretum, ut ab honore suo deci¬ dat, et declaratio, ut liceat populo non obe- dire ejusmodi regi tamquam honore suo ac dignitate privato. Quemadmodum etiarn verba extrema Constitutionum Apostolica- rum non significant imprecationem, ut per¬ peram Barclaius exponit (neque enim sum¬ mus Pastor, et Vicarius boni illius Pasto¬ ris, qui animam suam pro ovibus suis po¬ suit , imprecaretur ovibus indignationem omnipotentis Dei), sed declarationem , et denuntiationem continent gravissimae poe¬ nae, quae contemptores Apostolicorum prae¬ ceptorum sine dubio consequetur. Hoc enim manifeste significant illa verba : Indignatio¬ nem omnipotentis Dei, et beatorum Petri, et Pauli se noverit incursurum. Quare si sanctus Gregorius nunc in terris viveret, haud dubio exclamaret, calumniosam esse 110 DE POTESTATE PAP^E interpretationem Barclaii, et se nihil tale unquam vel per somnium cogitasse.