TWELFTH CENTURY.

CHAPTER I.

The Roman Church-The Crusades-Prester JohnBernard-Becket-Increase of Monkery.

By the zealous exertions of the popish missionaries, together with the power of the sword, the Christian name gradually obtained in Europe. For the space of eight hundred years a great plenitude of means had been employed to extend and establish an outward religion. To convert a few souls and to plant a church, in the days of Cyprian, was to awaken the fury of civil power, and to secure to the laborious missionary or bishop, the stake, or the sword, or the amphitheatre. But in these ages things are widely different; Christianity (so called) is incorporated with the political systems of the most powerful princes on the face of the earth: hence all their conquests are marked with the sign of the cross; bishops follow in the rear of their armies, and baptism is generally the concluding part of their treaties. By these means the Roman church obtained footing, during this century, among the Sclavonians, Finlanders, Pomeranians, and their near neighbours. To give a particular detail of these conversions would be contrary to the plan hitherto pursued.

The power of antichristian Rome seems now to have attained its maturity: the kings of the earth are pros

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Bernard.

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trate before the enthroned pontiff'; to him they yield obedience as to their supreme lord. The papal chair is the grand source and centre of all power and operation, and here every successful enterprise finds a receptacle for its spoils. The crusade in the former century, though exceedingly fraught with damage to those powers which had prosecuted the expedition, nevertheless, contributed greatly to the advancement and wealth of the Roman see; it was therefore necessary that this sacred war should be maintained, and every exertion applied, in order to deliver the Holy Land from all that polution, with which it had been so long defiled by its infidel inhabitants.

Jerusalem, Antioch, and Edessa, were the hard-earned wages of the first crusade; but the bold spirit and warlike measures of the Saracens rendered the possession of these conquests very precarious: the divisions and animosities of the Christian heroes contributed also to inspire the infidels with the hopes of regaining their territory, so suddenly and uvexpectedly taken from them. Accordingly, the Mahometans were ever on the watch, and no sooner did the Christian forces relax their vigilance than their enemies immediately advanced to the charge, and exceedingly distressed the soldiers of the cross. Edessa fell back into the hands of its former masters, and Jerusalem and Antioch were threatened with the same fate. The Christian cause thus becoming desperate, application was necessarily made to the powerful Roman pontiff. But to bring together a force equal to such an enterprise was no easy matter, especially as the princes and their people had not quite forgotten their ill success in a former campaign. The pope exhorted, admonished, and called to the war, but the subject of a second crusade was long debated in the

Chap. 1.

Crusades.

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several cabinets of Europe, before the royal Christian warriors could be prevailed on to assemble under the saered banner, and the whole scheme had doubtless failed, had not the bold enterprising spirit of the famous BERNARD, abbot of Clairval, roused to action. This eloquent and zealous ecclesiastic, like his predecessor, Peter the Hermit, left his convent, and became the indefatigable minister of the Cross. France and Germany were presently inflamed with the enthusiastic spirit, and not only the common people were prevailed on to listen, but in a grand assembly at Vezelai, consisting of the king, queen, and nobility, Bernard succeeded so far as to engage all these in the glorious cause. Conrad, emperor of Germany, for a while demurred; but the justness of the measure, and the certainty of success, being so clearly pointed out by the abbot, he was at length prevailed upon to join the French monarch in the expedition. These two power. ful princes, each at the head of a numerous army, set off for Palestine, and in order to render their march as easy and expeditious as possible, they chose different routes; but alas! the solemn assurances of Bernard, with which these soldiers were inspired, proved no barriers against those difficulties which rolled in upon them from every quarter. Betrayed by the pretended friendship of the Greeks, wasted by the sword, by famine, and by shipwreck, few of these mighty men reached the Holy Land; and so weakened and reduced was this grand army, that it was deemed politie by the leaders to collect the scattered remnants together, and return to Europe and truly a pitiable story they had to tellfor not above a tenth part of their vast body saw their several native countries again. Thus ended the second crusade, which was undertaken in the years 1147-8-9.

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Nestorian Church.

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This disastrous adventure only contributed to the infidel cause. Saladin, famous in the history of the Mahometan achievements, availing himself of the distressed state of the crusaders, brought his army against Jerusalem, and after a hard-fought battle, reduced it to subjection, and made the king prisoner. Dreadful was the effects of this conquest; Judea was drenched with blood, thousands of unhappy Christians were sold for slaves, and the cross levelled with the dust.

The cause of the church in the East becoming thus desperate, a third crusade was resolved upon, a. d. 1189. The parties of which it was formed were Philip of France, Frederic of Germany, and Richard of England. The powerful exertions of these several monarchs only prolonged the war without obtaining the wished-for object. Saladin continued master of Judea, and the only result of this expedition, favourable to the Christian cause, was a truce for three years, three months, and three days, into which Richard entered with the conqueror of Jerusalem. These crusades gave rise to those three orders of knighthood which in after ages became so famous; Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Templars, and Teutonic Knights. The establishment of these orders at first was designed for the purpose of succouring and defending the holy pilgrims in their visit to the sacred sepulehre at Jerusalem, together with forwarding the great object of the Holy

war.

If we turn our attention a little from Romish affairs, and direct it towards the Nestorian church, we shall be struck with vicissitudes in that department of Christian territory, somewhat similar to those which have just passed in review. The Nestorians, as we have seen, had carried their doctrines with considerable success in

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Prester John.

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to the Eastern provinces of Asia. Among their converts was a Tartar chieftain, who had not only submitted to baptism, but had taken the order of presbyter, and united the character of the priest with that of the soldier: an association not very likely to serve, ultimately, the Christian cause, and so it proved. Upon the death of a powerful prince in these regions, this clerical warrior had a mind to succeed in the government. Aecordingly, by a careful and bold arrangement of means, the way was opened to the throne, and he was acknowledged by the people as their monarch. The religion of the prince became of course the religion of the subjects, and so Nestorianism was favoured with an establishment, and began to think of vying with Rome and Constantinople, to which sees this Asiatic patriarch had directed his boasting epistles. But the glory of this newerected hierarchy lasted not long: upon the death of this fortunate princely presbyter, his successor was unable to maintain his claim, and the kingdom passed into hands not so favourable to the Nestorian faith, and thus this Christian sect was reduced to a state far more pitiable and adverse than it was in before its short-lived promotion. This extraordinary character is known in history by the denomination of PRESTER JOHN, a name by which he was known before his elevation to the throne, and by which he was distinguished till his death, though in the annals of his court he is called UNGCAN.

The internal state of the Roman church appears to be one grand mass of corruption. It is possible that in the more secret and remote corners of that communion, some few individuals might walk with God, and maintain the life of religion; but among the visible and active members, no character can be produced that de