Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John · Isaac Newton
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 cum 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 illustribus viris Præfectis Prætorio Galliæ atque Italiæ, authoritate adhibitâ, ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive à Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit, sine delatione contendat.----Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur_. This Edict wanting the name of both _Valens_ and _Theodosius_ in the Title, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or the beginning of 379. It was directed to the _Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ_, and therefore was general. For the _Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ_ governed _Italy_, _Illyricum occidentale_ and _Africa_; and the _Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ_ governed _Gallia_, _Spain_, and _Britain_.
The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws to the _Western_ Churches by such Epistles. _Himerius_ Bishop of _Tarraco_, the head city of a province in _Spain_, writing to Pope _Damasus_ for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, and the Letter not arriving at _Rome_ till after the death of _Damasus_, A.C. 384; his successor _Siricius_ answered the same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: _Cum hoc fieri--missa ad Provincias à venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant_. Of another: _Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritate, dejectos_. Of another: _Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antistites, quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam_. And the Epistle he concludes thus: _Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quæ digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus.
Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia constituta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua sunt dioecesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Boeticos, Lusitanos atque [2] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur; quatenus & quæ à nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus_, A.C. 385. Pope _Liberius_ in the reign of _Jovian_ or _Valentinian_ I. sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the _Arians_ should not be rebaptized: and this he did in favour of the Council of _Alexandria_, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions.
Pope _Damasus_ is said to have decreed in a _Roman_ Council, that _Tithes_ and _Tenths_ should be paid upon pain of an _Anathema_; and that _Glory be to the Father_, &c. should be said or sung at the end of the _Psalms_. But the first decretal Epistle now extant is this of _Siricius_ to _Himerius_; by which the Pope made _Himerius_ his Vicar over all _Spain_ for promulging his Decrees, and seeing them observed. The Bishop of _Sevill_ was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for _Simplicius_ wrote thus to _Zeno_ Bishop of that place: _Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas_. And Pope _Hormisda_ [3] made the Bishop of _Sevill_ his Vicar over _Boetica_ and _Lusitania_, and the Bishop of _Tarraco_ his Vicar over all the rest of _Spain_, as appears by his Epistles to them.
Pope _Innocent_ the first, in his decretal Epistle to _Victricius_ Bishop of _Rouen_ in _France_, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of _Gratian_, made this Decree: _Si quæ autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat, [4] Romanæ Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit; & ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad Sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referantur_. By these Letters it seems to me that _Gallia_ was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time, and that the Bishop of _Rouen_ was then his Vicar or one of them: for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of _Rome_, according to custom. But the Bishop of _Arles_ soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all _Gallia_: for Pope _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon _Patroclus_ the Bishop of _Arles_ this authority over all _Gallia_, by the following Decree.
_Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem Provincias constitutis_. _Placuit Apostolicæ Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel aliò terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat per quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissà supradicti Formatâ sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus_. And that the Bishop of _Arles_ was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all _France_, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocess of _Arles_ in their Letter to Pope _Leo_ I. _Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est_, say they, _ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret_. And Pope _Pelagius_ I. A.C. 556, in his Epistle to _Sapaudus_ Bishop of _Arles_: _Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per universam Galliam, sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus, vices injungimus_.
By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only _Spain_ and _Gallia_, but also _Illyricum_ became subject to the Pope. _Damasus_ made _Ascholius_, or _Acholius_, Bishop of _Thessalonica_ the Metropolis of _Oriental Illyricum_, his Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, _Acholius_ being summoned by Pope _Damasus_, came to a Council at _Rome_. Pope _Siricius_ the successor of _Damasus_, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in _Illyricum_ without the consent of _Anysius_ the successor of _Acholius_. And the following Popes gave _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_, a power of calling Provincial Councils: for in the Collections of _Holstenius_ there is an account of a Council of _Rome_ convened under Pope _Boniface_ II. in which were produced Letters of _Damasus_, _Syricius_, _Innocent_ I. _Boniface_ I. and _Cælestine_ Bishops of _Rome_, to _Ascholius_, _Anysius_ and _Rufus_, Bishops of _Thessalonica_: in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in _Illyricum_, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro'out that Province. And Pope _Siricius_ saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui.
Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit_. And a little after: _Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ & moribus probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare_. And Pope _Innocent_ I. saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Cui_ [Anysio] _etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quæ in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ, quæ plena justitiæ est, traderent cognoscenda_. And in his Epistle to _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_: _Ita longis intervallis disterminatis à me ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris, Epiri novæ, & Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Moesiæ, Dardaniæ, & Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ & virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc statuentes, sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt_.
And _Boniface_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Rufus_ and the rest of the Bishops in _Illyricum_: _Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus_ [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] _conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ cuncta committimus_. And Pope _Cælestine_, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops thro'out _Illyricum_, saith: _Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis_ [Rufo] _esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam illi Provinciam; colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non præsumat_. And in the cause of _Perigenes_, in the title of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: _Rufo & cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, & Daciam constitutis_. And Pope _Xistus_ in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: _Illyricanæ omnes Ecclesiæ, ut à decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid à singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit_. And Pope _Leo_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_: _Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committitur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos Metropolitanos à te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto judicio_.
_Occidental Illyricum_ comprehended _Pannonia prima_ and _secunda_, _Savia_, _Dalmatia_, _Noricum mediterraneum_, and _Noricum ripense_; and its Metropolis was _Sirmium_, till _Attila_ destroyed this city. Afterwards _Laureacum_ became the Metropolis of _Noricum_ and both _Pannonias_, and _Salona_ the Metropolis of _Dalmatia_. Now [5] the Bishops of _Laureacum_ and _Salona_ received the _Pallium_ from the Pope: and _Zosimus_, in his decretal Epistle to _Hesychius_ Bishop of _Salona_, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own, as to those of the neighbouring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of _Rome_ seems to have begun in _Anemius_, who was ordained Bishop of _Sirmium_ by _Ambrose_ Bishop of _Millain_, and who in the Council of _Aquileia_ under Pope _Damasus_, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: _Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei æternum, & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico_. The next year _Anemius_ and _Ambrose_, with _Valerian_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, _Acholias_ Bishop of _Thessalonica,_ and many others, went to the Council of _Rome_, which met for overruling the _Greek_ Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic See, as was attempted before in the Council of _Sardica_.
_Aquileia_ was the second city of the _Western Empire_, and by some called the second _Rome_. It was the Metropolis of _Istria_, _Forum Julium_, and _Venetia_; and its subjection to the See of _Rome_ is manifest by the decretal Epistle of _Leo_ I. directed to _Nicetas_ Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: _Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his à nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ Sedis acciperes, quæ quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre_. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by _Nicetas_, and concludes thus: _Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1-2 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos._ A.C. 458. _Gregory_ the great A.C. 591, [6] cited _Severus_ Bishop of _Aquileia_ to appear before him in judgment in a Council at _Rome_. The Bishops of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ created one another, and therefore were of equal authority, and alike subject to the See of _Rome_. Pope _Pelagius_ about the year 557, testified this in the following words: [7] _Mos antiquus fuit_, saith he, _ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi se invicem Mediolanensis & Aquileiensis ordinare Episcopos debuissent_. These words imply that the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the See of _Rome_. When _Laurentius_ Bishop of _Millain_ had excommunicated _Magnus_, one of his Presbyters, and was dead, [8] _Gregory_ the great absolved _Magnus_, and sent the _Pallium_ to the new elected Bishop _Constantius_; whom the next year [9] he reprehended of partiality in judging _Fortunatus_, and commanded him to send _Fortunatus_ to _Rome_ to be judged there: four years after [10] he appointed the Bishops of _Millain_ and _Ravenna_ to hear the cause of one _Maximus_; and two years after, viz. A.C.
601, when _Constantius_ was dead, and the people of _Millain_ had elected _Deusdedit_ his successor, and the _Lombards_ had elected another, [11] _Gregory_ wrote to the Notary, Clergy, and People of _Millain_, that by the authority of his Letters _Deusdedit_ should be ordained, and that he whom the _Lombards_ had ordained was an unworthy successor of _Ambrose_: whence I gather, that the Church of _Millain_ had continued in this state of subordination to the See of _Rome_ ever since the days of _Ambrose_; for _Ambrose_ himself acknowledged the authority of that See. _Ecclesia Romana_, [12] saith he, _hanc consuetudinem non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & formam_. And a little after: _In omnibus cupio sequi Ecclesiam Romanam_. And in his Commentary upon 1 _Tim_. iii. _Cum totus mundus Dei sit, tamen domus ejus Ecclesia dicitur, cujus hodie rector est Damasus_. In his Oration on the death of his brother _Satyrus_, he relates how his brother coming to a certain city of _Sardinia_, _advocavit Episcopum loci, percontatusque est ex eo utrum cum Episcopis Catholicis hoc est cum Romana Ecclesia conveniret?_ And in conjunction with the Synod of _Aquileia_ A.C.
381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor _Gratian_, he saith: _Totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandæ communionis jura dimanant_. The Churches therefore of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ were subject to the See of _Rome_ from the days of the Emperor _Gratian_. _Auxentius_ the predecessor of _Ambrose_ was not subject to the see of _Rome_, and consequently the subjection of the Church of _Millain_ began in _Ambrose_. This Diocese of _Millain_ contained _Liguria_ with _Insubria_, the _Alpes Cottiæ_ and _Rhætia_; and was divided from the Diocese of _Aquileia_ by the river _Addua_. In the year 844, the Bishop of _Millain_ broke off from the See of _Rome_, and continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus related by [13] _Sigonius_: _Eodem anno Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanæ obedientiam auctoritatemque redierit_.
The Bishop of _Ravenna_, the Metropolis of _Flaminia_ and _Æmilia_, was also subject to the Pope: for _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that Church, and wrote a commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch of the _Roman_ Church: _In sua_, saith he, _hoc est, in Ecclesia nostra Romana_. When those of _Ravenna_, having elected a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope _Sixtus_, the Pope set him aside, and [14] ordained _Peter Chrysologus_ in his room. _Chrysologus_ in his Epistle to _Eutyches_, extant in the Acts of the Council of _Chalcedon_, wrote thus: _Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanæ civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus_. Pope _Leo_ I. being consulted by _Leo_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about some questions, answered him by a decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope _Gregory_ the great, [15] reprehending _John_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about the use of the _Pallium_, tells him of a Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope _John_, commanding that all the Privileges formerly granted to the Bishop and Church of _Ravenna_ should be kept: to this _John_ returned a submissive answer; and after his death Pope _Gregory_ ordered a visitation of the Church of _Ravenna_, confirmed the privileges heretofore granted them, and sent his _Pallium_, as of antient custom, to their new Bishop _Marinian_. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the Church of _Rome_, but returned again to its obedience.
The rest of _Italy_, with the Islands adjacent, containing the _suburbicarian_ regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar of _Rome, viz._ 1_Campania_, 2_Tuscia_ and _Umbria_, 3_Picenum suburbicarium_, 4_Sicily_, 5_Apulia_ and _Calabria_, 6_Brutii_ and _Lucania_, 7_Samnium_, 8_Sardinia_, 9_Corsica_, and 10_Valeria_, constituted the proper Province of the Bishop of _Rome_. For the Council of _Nice_ in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held every spring and autumn in every Province; and according to this Canon, the Bishops of this Province met at _Rome_ every half year. In this sense Pope _Leo_ I. applied this Canon to _Rome_, in a decretal Epistle to the Bishops of _Sicily_, written _Alippio & Ardabure Coss_. A.C. 447. _Quia saluberrime_, saith he, _à sanctis patribus constitutum est, binos in annis singulis Episcoporum debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum Octobrium Romam æterno concilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter à vobis hæc consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratiâ, faciliùs poterit provideri, ut in Ecclesiis Christi nulla scandala, nulli nascantur errores; cum coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione tractatum fuerit, ut omnia Canonum Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes inviolata permaneant_. The Province of _Rome_ therefore comprehended _Sicily_, with so much of _Italy_ and the neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of _Rome_; but extended not into the Provinces of _Ravenna_, _Aquileia_, _Millain_, _Arles_, &c. those Provinces having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the _Roman_ Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or Bishop of the head city of the Province, and this Bishop presided in that Council: but the Bishop of _Rome_ did not only preside in his own Council of the Bishops of the _suburbicarian_ regions, but also gave Orders to the Metropolitans of all the other Provinces in the _Western Empire_, as their universal governor; as may be further perceived by the following instances.
Pope _Zosimus_ A.C. 417, cited _Proculus_ Bishop of _Marseilles_ to appear before a Council at _Rome_ for illegitimate Ordinations; and condemned him, as he mentions in several of his Epistles. Pope _Boniface_ I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the Clergy of _Valentia_ against _Maximus_ a Bishop, summoned the Bishops of all _Gallia_ and the seven Provinces to convene in a Council against him; and saith in his Epistle, that his Predecessors had done the like. Pope _Leo_ I. called a general Council of all the Provinces of _Spain_ to meet in _Gallæcia_ against the _Manichees_ and _Priscillianists_, as he says in his decretal Epistle to _Turribius_ a _Spanish_ Bishop. And in one of his decretal Epistles to _Nicetas_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, he commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against the _Pelagians_, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which had been already ratified by the See of _Rome_ against this heresy.
And in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_, he ordained that Bishop should hold two Provincial Councils every year, and refer the harder causes to the See of _Rome_: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops under him, but content himself with two Bishops out of every Province, and not detain them above fifteen days. In the same Epistle he describes the form of Church-Government then set up, to consist in a subordination of all the Churches to the See of _Rome_: _De qua forma_, saith he, _Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis Provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, & rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem sumerent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri Sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura conflueret, & nihil usque à suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se quibusdam esse præpositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse præpositum; sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat; et sicut non vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat aliis importabile pondus imponere_. These words sufficiently shew the monarchical form of government then set up in the Churches of the _Western Empire_ under the Bishop of _Rome_, by means of the imperial Decree of _Gratian_, and the appeals and decretal Epistles grounded thereupon.
The same Pope _Leo_, having in a Council at _Rome_ passed sentence upon _Hilary_ Bishop of _Arles_, for what he had done by a Provincial Council in _Gallia_, took occasion from thence to procure the following Edict from the _Western_ Emperor _Valentinian_ III. for the more absolute establishing the authority of his See over all the Churches of the _Western Empire_. _Impp. Theodosius & Valentinianus AA. Aetio Viro illustri, Comiti & Magistro utriusque militiæ & Patricio._ _Certum est & nobis & imperio nostro unicum esse præsidium in supernæ Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum præcipue Christiana fides & veneranda nobis religio suffragatur. Cum igitur Sedis Apostolicæ Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis coronæ & Romanæ dignitas civitatis, sacræ etiam Synodi firmavit auctoritas: ne quid præter auctoritatem Sedis istius illicitum præsumptio attemperare nitatur: tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur, si Rectorem suum agnoscat Universitas. Hæc cum hactenus inviolabiliter suerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis, sicut venerabilis viri Leonis Romani Papæ fideli relatione comperimus, contumaci ausu illicita quædam præsumenda tentavit, & ideo Transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis tumultus invasit, quod recens maximè testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiæ Romanæ urbis inconsulto Pontifice indebitas sibi ordinationes Episcoporum solâ temeritate usurpans invasit. Nam alios incompetenter removit; indecenter alios, invitis & repugnantibus civibus, ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, & claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel aggressione reserabat, & ad sedem quietis pacem prædicaturus per bella ducebat: His talibus contra Imperii majestatem, & contra reverentiam Apostolicæ Sedis admissis, per ordinem religiosi viri Urbis Papæ cognitione discussis, certa in eum, ex his quos malè ordinaverat, lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine Imperiali Sanctione valitura: quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non liceret?
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.