DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63447#0154
138 THE HISTORICAL PAST OF ITALY.
Piacenza, came forward in the midst of the assembled
hierarchy of Rome. Instead of the penitent Emperor, a
herald had been despatched to announce “the deposition
of the Pontiff,” and the message was given with curt dis-
tinctness.
“ The King, and the united Bishops of Germany and
Italy, transmit to thee, Gregory, this command: Descend
without delay from the throne of Saint Peter; abandon
thy usurped government of the Roman Church. To such
honours none must aspire without the general choice and
the sanction of the Emperor.”
Then addressing the assembled conclave : “To you,
brethren,” he said, “it is commanded that, at the Feast
of Pentecost, ye present yourselves before the King, my
master, to receive a Pope and Father from his hands.
This pretended pastor is a ravenous wolf.”1
A pause of unutterable astonishment gave wray to
shouts of fury. An indescribable scene ensued, and the
bold herald was about to expiate his temerity with his
blood, when Gregory, the insulted Pontiff, himself de-
scended with lofty dignity from his throne, received from
the hands of Roland the letters of the synod, and read
them aloud from his seat, which he had resumed, in a
clear and deliberate voice. The same scene of fury was
now again renewed, and Roland a second time was in
danger of being cut to pieces, but the tumult was at
length composed by the voice of the Pontiff. He spoke
of the prophecies fulfilled in the “contumacy of kings
he alluded to the troubles of the Church, and to the
avenger’s sword, which, whether victory or defeat should
be their doom, must be drawn to smite the “arch enemy
of God ” and his Church. At the side of the Pope sat
Agnes, the empress-mother, present there to hear the
judgment to be pronounced on her only child. The
offended Pontiff, turning to the desolate parent, next
raised his eyes to Heaven, as though appealing to it to
witness that he performed an imperative duty with a
grieving heart. He then invoked the names of Peter and
1 Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography. By Sir J. Stephens.
Piacenza, came forward in the midst of the assembled
hierarchy of Rome. Instead of the penitent Emperor, a
herald had been despatched to announce “the deposition
of the Pontiff,” and the message was given with curt dis-
tinctness.
“ The King, and the united Bishops of Germany and
Italy, transmit to thee, Gregory, this command: Descend
without delay from the throne of Saint Peter; abandon
thy usurped government of the Roman Church. To such
honours none must aspire without the general choice and
the sanction of the Emperor.”
Then addressing the assembled conclave : “To you,
brethren,” he said, “it is commanded that, at the Feast
of Pentecost, ye present yourselves before the King, my
master, to receive a Pope and Father from his hands.
This pretended pastor is a ravenous wolf.”1
A pause of unutterable astonishment gave wray to
shouts of fury. An indescribable scene ensued, and the
bold herald was about to expiate his temerity with his
blood, when Gregory, the insulted Pontiff, himself de-
scended with lofty dignity from his throne, received from
the hands of Roland the letters of the synod, and read
them aloud from his seat, which he had resumed, in a
clear and deliberate voice. The same scene of fury was
now again renewed, and Roland a second time was in
danger of being cut to pieces, but the tumult was at
length composed by the voice of the Pontiff. He spoke
of the prophecies fulfilled in the “contumacy of kings
he alluded to the troubles of the Church, and to the
avenger’s sword, which, whether victory or defeat should
be their doom, must be drawn to smite the “arch enemy
of God ” and his Church. At the side of the Pope sat
Agnes, the empress-mother, present there to hear the
judgment to be pronounced on her only child. The
offended Pontiff, turning to the desolate parent, next
raised his eyes to Heaven, as though appealing to it to
witness that he performed an imperative duty with a
grieving heart. He then invoked the names of Peter and
1 Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography. By Sir J. Stephens.