Under ordinary circumstances, he holds the place of chief executive. The Church, however, can temporarily dispense with his rule, and suffer no serious detriment. His right is not indefeasible. As being a fallible man, he can err both in faith and practice, and that to a degree which may threaten to subvert the interests of the Church. In such a case he may be deposed. The good of a single realm may justify the dethroning of an hereditary prince; much more then may the good of Christendom justify the deposing of a pontiff who holds his place in virtue of an election. An incorrigible Pope is to be dealt with according to the rule of conduct toward a sinning brother, as laid down in the Gospel. If, after suitable effort to bring him to a better mind, he does not show repentance and amendment, he is to be treated as a heathen man and a publican. The prerogatives of his office cannot be regarded as independent of character and conduct. "That a mortal man should claim the power of binding and loosing in heaven and on earth, while yet he is a son of perdition, given to simony, avarice, mendacity, unjust exaction, and fornication, proud, pompous, and worse than the devil, is ridiculous." The pastoral office, the prerogative to feed sheep, was given to Peter on condition of love to Christ. Love to Christ is made known by suitable works. He who does the works of the devil may well be regarded as forfeiting the pastoral office. The proper tribunal for dealing with an unworthy and intractable Pope is the general assembly of Christians, the ecumenical council. Such a council may be called without the consent of the Pope; and indeed, where his title is in question, he can

not properly be regarded as having the right either to dictate the place of meeting or to preside over the sessions. The council, notwithstanding the lack of the papal presidency, has plenary authority. Such constitutions, canons, or decrees as it may be pleased to enact are of binding force, so that in no wise does it lie within the option of the Pope to neutralize or impair them by his dispensations.

The leadership of Gerson ended with the Council of Constance. His spirits were not a little dashed by the poor success of the council in the matter of reform. Moreover, he found it unsafe to resume his position as Chancellor of the University of Paris, since his resolute opposition to the doctrine of tyranncide had earned him the hatred of the powerful Duke of Burgundy. He passed, therefore, from Constance into Bavaria. After the death of the Duke of Burgundy, in 1419, he took up his abode in the city of Lyons, where he died in 1429.

The Cardinal Peter d'Ailly, a disciple of Gerson, was a leading spirit in the Council of Constance. He coincided in general with Gerson's teaching respecting the prerogatives of the council, and pressed for a reform of abuses.1

In the time of the Council at Basle we meet with a type of literature little known to the middle ages, a genuine specimen of historical criticism. This came

1 On the writers thus far noticed in this chapter, Gieseler and Neander afford very full information. The text of the Defensor Pacis is found in Goldastus, Monarchia, Roman. Imp. Von der Hardt's collec tion of documents relating to the Council of Constance gives the writings of Clemangis, Gerson, and D'Ailly bearing on questions of reform and church constitution.

from the hand of Laurentius Valla, and consisted in a disproof of the famous donation of Constantine, that fable concocted in the eighth century. It was shown. by the critic, from the phrases of the document purporting to donate the Western Empire to the Pope, from the lack of reference to it in early history, and from the fact that no Pope had ever been in possession of the power alleged to have been conferred, that the document could not be genuine.1 Valla also declared for the spuriousness of the Epistle of Abgarus to Christ, and contended that the so called Apostles' Creed could not have been composed by the joint agency of the whole college of apostles.

Exploits of this kind in the field of criticism naturally aroused the guardians of the faith. Valla was brought before the Inquisition. The good offices of Alfonso, King of Naples, saved him from a capital infliction, and he made his escape at the expense of the humiliating ordeal of scourging. Subsequently, he chose to tread in less perilous ways. His literary talents commended him to Nicolas V., and under the favors of this pontiff the voice of the critic was effectually silenced.

1 Nicolas of Cusa had already expressed doubts about the genuineness of the donation of Constantine, and, independently of Valla, the English bishop, Reginald Pecock, near the middle of the fifteenth century, attempted a disproof on historical grounds. (Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste, i. 16.)

CHAPTER IV.

THE

THE WALDENSES.

HE origin of the Waldenses is traced back with sufficient certainty to the third quarter of the twelfth century. The founder was Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons. Being directed to serious thought by the sudden death of an acquaintance, he concluded to apply to himself the advice which Christ gave to the rich young man. Accordingly, he distributed his wealth to the poor. At the same time, the little knowledge of Scripture which he had gained from the services of the Church excited his desire for a more thorough introduction to the Bible. To gratify his ambition in this direction he employed the labors of two men, who made translations for him into the vernacular. What he learned in this way he felt impelled to impart to others, many of whom in their turn became teachers. So an association of Bible readers and expounders was formed, which through an ever widening circle endeavored to instruct the common people in the truths of Holy Writ.

In the above we have the substance of several mediæval accounts respecting the rise of the Waldenses. One of these is from Reinerus, or rather from the hand of a later writer, who added to the treatise which the

Dominican inquisitor had written near the middle of the thirteenth century. "Observe," says the writer, "that the sect of the Poor Men of Lyons, who are also called Leonists, arose in the following manner. Once, when the principal citizens were assembled in Lyons, it happened that one of them died suddenly in the presence of the company; whereby one of them was so much alarmed that he immediately distributed a large property to the poor. And from this cause a great multitude flocked to him, whom he instructed to be imitators of Christ and the apostles."1 Stephanus de Borbone, a Dominican of the thirteenth century, gives a similar account of the beginning of the sect, stating that they were called either Valdenses from the first author of their heresy, who was named Valdensis, or Poor Men of Lyons, because they first began in that city the profession of poverty. He says he had his information from many persons who had seen the earlier members of the sect, and more especially from the priests who served Peter Waldo in the work of translation. On this last point his narrative is as follows: "A certain rich man of the said city called Valdensis, hearing the Gospels, and not having much learning, yet being desirous to know what they contained, made an agreement with the said priests, that the one should translate into the vulgar tongue, and that the other should write what he dictated; and this they did. In

See

1 Contra Waldenses, cap. v., Max. Bib. Vet. Patrum, tom. xxv. also the same and other documents in R. S. Maitland's volume on the Albigenses and Waldenses. Only chapter vi. in the "Contra Waldenses" is legitimately attributed to Reinerus. (Döllinger, Sektengeschichte, i. 117.)