May 11, 878. of Italy), whose rapacity or animosity paid no respect to sacred things, and treated the Pope like John VIII. an ordinary mortal, the whole kingdom of in France. France might seem to throw itself humbly at his feet. He was received at Arles by Boso, Duke of Lombardy, master, likewise shortly to become King, of Provence," and whose ambition aspired to the Empire. Boso, after having poisoned his first wife, had married, it was said by force, Ermengard," the daughter of the Emperor, Louis II. Wherever the Pontiff went he was received with the highest honours. He summoned a council to be held at Troyes. Louis the Stammerer, King of France; the three kings, the sons of Louis of Germany, were cited to appear. Louis alone obeyed the mandate. August. Council of Troyes. The No Pope was more prodigal of excommunication than John VIII. Of his letters, above 300, it is remarkable how large a proportion threaten, inflict, or at least allude to this last exercise of sacerdotal power. Council of Troyes opened with the recital and confirmation of the papal anathema against Adelbert of Tuscany and Lambert of Spoleto. The anathema was ratified with one voice by the assembled bishops, and commanded to be published in all their churches, and in those of their suffragans. Formosus, Bishop of Porto, the Apostle of the Bulgarians, afterwards Pope, the On the advancement of Boso to the throne of Provence, see Bouché, Hist. de Provence, pp. 738, 769; Palgrave, note 744. The Pope's first act was to erect Arles into a metropolitan see, and to grant the pallium to the Bishop, Rostagne; afterwards he appointed him Legate, with full powers. Epist. xc. et seqq. VOL. III. Ermengard was the last of the line of Lothair, the eldest son of Louis the Pious.-Epist. cxvii. i The wiser Nicolas had warned bishops against too frequent use of this precious weapon: "Non temere ad excommunicationes procedant . . ne auctoritas episcopalis vilescat."Labbe, viii. 562. Q head, it seems, of the German faction, was involved with all his accomplices in one sentence of excommunication, degraded, and anathematised. The obsequious episcopal senate echoed each anathema with perfect concord. Another broad and sweeping excommunication comprehended all persons who should in any way usurp the property of the Church; they were excluded from the communion of the faithful, and, if they persisted in not making restitution, deprived of Christian burial. The Pope did not scruple, of his own authority and that of the council, to make an addition to the fundamental laws of the Transalpine realm. He found the Teutonic code imperfect, as containing no statute against sacrilege; he caused to be inserted that in the Justinian code, mitigating the fine from five pounds of pure gold to thirty pounds of tried silver. In return for this humble resignation of his authority, John VIII. condescended to crown Louis the Stammerer King of France; his queen was excluded from that honour on account of some irregularity in her marriage. He rendered, moreover, to Louis the service of excommunicating some of his enemies, especially Bernhard, Marquis of Languedoc. The execution of this act was confided to another Bernhard, of Provence, who was to be rewarded out of the confiscation. No-. thing was too lofty to defy, nothing too mean to escape, the fulminations of John. He will soon appear anathematising the three great Archbishops of Italy — of Milan, Ravenna, and Naples: he launched an excommunication, addressed to all Christians, against some thieves who had stolen his horses, and a silver cup Sept. 7, 878. Epist. cxxviii. Milan, May 1, 879; cclxxviii., Ravenna; cclxx., Naples. belonging to St. Peter, when John was on his way to Troyes.m The indefatigable Pope returned over the Alps by the Mont Cenis, to Turin and Pavia; but of all whom he had so commandingly exhorted, and so earnestly implored to march for his protection against the Saracens, and no doubt against his Italian enemies, none obeyed but Duke Boso of Provence." For this extraordinary mark of fidelity, the Pope showed extraordinary gratitude; he declared Boso, as Duke of Lombardy, his adopted son. Since the son of Louis the Stammerer, Carloman, was married to the daughter of Duke Boso, the Pope was thus bound in closer alliance with the house of France. The ambition of Count Boso aspired, after the death of Carloman, King of Italy, to the Empire. The death of Louis the Stammerer, and the intrigues concerning the succession to the throne of France, thwarted in one way the policy of the pontiff; in another, seemed to encourage his ambition, at least to strengthen, rather than mitigate, his animosity to the German Carlovingians. He wrote to Charles the Fat, the King of Swabia, hereafter to be Emperor, to warn him, under peril of excommunication, against any invasion on the dominions of Boso, his adopted son." This was to close the gates of Italy against the Germans, to keep them beyond the Alps. If it had been the policy of John to erect a firm, hereditary kingdom in the north of Italy, in alliance with, Epist. xcvii. In the Council of Troyes, which closed Sept. 878, the episcopal dignity was asserted by a decree that all the public authorities should pay the bishop the respect due to his rank-not sit in his presence till leave was granted; and this asser A.D. 879. tion was likewise guarded by excom- 89. • Charles the Fat was the eldest of the three sons of Louis the Germanic. P Epist. ccxi. et seqq. Excommunication of Archbishop of Milan. and as a protector of the papacy against the Saracen and the lawless southern dukes, his object might, perhaps, justify this usurpation of authority. But his sole design was to obtain a kingdom for his adopted son. He attempted to summon a council at Pavia, as obsequious as that which had met at Troyes. In tone, partly of persuasion, partly of menace, he cited Anspert, Archbishop of Milan; Berengar, Duke of Friuli, and the Bishops of Parma, Placentia, Reggio, and Modena. Four times was Anspert summoned, twice at least excommunicated, and threatened with the utmost power of the Roman See. By this excommunication of Anspert he would establish his despotic authority over the Bishops of Lombardy. But Anspert and the Italian Prelates and Counts paid not the least respect to the papal summons or the papal excommunication: they neither appeared at Pavia, nor, in obedience to a later summons, at Rome. In Provence the adopted son of the Pope met with better success among the clergy. A synod of ecclesiastics met at a place called Montaille, in the territory of Vienne, and assumed the right of founding a new kingdom, of disregarding the rights of the sons of Louis the Stammerer, and of investing Boso Provence. with the title of King of Provence and of Arles. The influence of the Pope had no doubt great weight with the Bishops of this Council. Boso is said to have paved the way for his elevation by the promise Boso king of 4 Epist. cxxvi. cxxviii. The Pope afterwards invested the Bishop of Pavia, in legatine authority, with full power of excommunication; he interfered in the appointment of Anspert's successor, degraded a bishop consecrated by Anspert, and named of wealthy abbeys to be attached, by royal and papal authority, to the Episcopal Sees. The Council consisted of the Archbishops of Vienne and Lyons, of the Tarantaise, and of Aix, with seventeen suffragan Bishops. Of their sole authority, though with some tacit consent of the nobles, compelled by the necessity of providing for the security of their churches, and acting at least with the implied assertion of divine commission," they elect the King, but do not define the boundaries or extent of his kingdom. In their address they strongly impress on Boso his royal duties, espe cially regard for the honour of God, the protection of the Catholic faith, the exaltation of the Church. Boso received the gift with profound humility; he acknowledged that he received the crown from their good-will alone, and promised the fullest obedience to God's inspired priests. Thus Councils had become Diets or Parliaments, awarded and carved out kingdoms. The nobles of Provence make neither protest nor remon strance. Pope John in the mean time was compelled to crown the Emperor, Charles the Fat. Charles had marched with a preponderating force into Italy; John had met him at Ravenna, reluctant but obedient. Though Charles was of the German line, the Pope yielded, yet he yielded with haughty condescension. "We have called you by the authority of our letters, for the advantage and exaltation of the Church, to the Imperial Sovereignty." The Pope enjoins him before his arrival in Rome to send some of his chief officers to ratify, in |