New-York tribune., 1898-10-15
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
PAPAL SUPREMACY IN EUROPEAN HIS
TORY,


THE EMPIRE ANp THE PAPACY sISrl215 BY BY
owens COLLEGE. Vlctoria Unv,rslty octave
II. vii. 52G The Macmillan Company.
At the present moment when the Papacy is
In the midst of a revolution more remarkable
than any which It has ever undergone. the
study OF a time in which it disputed the control
Of Europe with the civil powers ought to be Of
renewed interest The Catholic Church always
illustrates anew the point which Dante vainly
strove to make against the trlfiing Italian
princes who in his day held the keys Of st.
Peter. The Church powerful. he intimated,
only when IL least hampered by temporali-
ties. Professor Tout takes up the history or
Europe at time when the Church. considered
n spiritual unity, was worse than Invisible.
but as a collection Of profitable bishoprics was
very much In evidence. The German prelates.
whenever they were able to agree could resist
both Pope and Emperor. There was only one
thing then, as now, to which Pope. Emperor
and bishop had to bow. and that was public
opinion. Blu. public opinion was slowly formed
and timidly expressed in those days. The masses
OF the priesthood, the humble monk and the
still humber aborer. only learned by degrees
when things were going wrong. and could only
bring about reform by the patient support OF
what seemed best at the moment. 1t was these
obscure classes that gave efficacy 10 interdcts.
that quietly stood by the man who courageously
rebukcd simony in the Church and oppression in
the state.
There Is no lesson OF history more definite
than that the Papacy was always strongest
when 1t was in touch with these nameless masses
OF men, the speechess democracy underlying all
the feuda and hierarchc mechanism OF society.
1t was the common people. the immense body
cfc Oh ov,d1 bn mr. Ia
sible the humiliation of Philip Augustus and
Henry VI. 1t was they who forced onward the
crusading movement. and 1t was their universal
mutterng against wickedness in high places
that created and gave victory to the Cluniac
Reformation: and these events mark the rise
of the Papacy to the highest limit of its politi-
cal power. Wherever there was movement
characterized by self-abnegation rather than
self-seekng, It's popularity was obvious The
people that side, and as long as the
Papacy the same side its course was
Of victory. even TO the point OF crushing the
empire altogether. The movements Of those
days do not appear rational to the modern mind.
Palrners and monks no longer seem ideal char
acters. But these were In those days giving
UP their individual comfort for the good Of the
whole. They were the educating forces Of
Europe. In the long struggle for freedom it
Is so easy TO discern the limits OF their
work But there were some brilliant immediate
results OF their activity. The Latin literature
OF the twelfth century really admirable,
and in 1t the learning Of the monks moved
and directed by the wide observation and
perience which the pilgrims acquired by their
painful travels. Schools became better than
they had ever been in Europe. Eloquent lect-
urers and disputants were followed by admiring
thousands and before long the university sys-
tenn Of the world began 10 take shape. gradually
preparing itself 10 meet the popular demand for
education in sciences which had long been un-
known.
The Papacy foremost in the improvements
OF the times. This was not due TO individual
excellence. Though Gregory VII and Innocent
III were certainly great men. they were not
greater than Frederick Barbarossa or Frederick
II. the last being unquestionably one OF the
most thoroughly equipped statesmen that ever
lived. II was only question to which Of
these rulers doing best for Europe. and
the verdict was in favor Of the Popes. The sub
sequent failure Of the Papacy belongs TO
period which Professor Tout leaves for another
volume In the series TO which his book belongs.