you a dispensation so that you may be able lawfully and freely to hold ecclesiastical benefices with and without care of souls, whatsoever, as many as, and of whatever kind they may be, even though they are two parochial churches or their perpetual vicarages, chantries, free chapels, hospices, or the annual offering for anniversary masses which is wont to be assigned to the secular clergy for a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice, dignities, positions in monasteries, administrations or cathedral offices, even though they be metropolitan or collegiate churches, or shall be major and principal, and shall have the care of souls and be elective; if they otherwise be conferred on you canonically, or you are elected to them, or you are presented to them, or otherwise promoted to them, and are inducted therein; also at the same time to hold incompatibles and to retain them as long as you live, and together or in succession to give them up absolutely or by way of exchange as often as it pleases you, and in place of that or those things which you have parted with similarly to receive and hold freely and lawfully, as long as you like, another or other things similar or dissimilar, whatsoever, as many, and of whatsoever nature they may be, up to the amount of one thousand gold ducats in pontifical money, provided that they are not among the incompatibles, except the two parochial churches or their perpetual vicarages; and this notwithstanding the general and special constitutions and ordinances of the general council or any other Apostolic councils whatsoever; as also of those of Otto and Ottoboni the legates of the Apostolic See, of good memory, and what is published in provincial and synodal councils, as also the statutes and customs of churches in which perhaps there may be incompatible offices of this sort, no matter if confirmed by oath, Apostolic decree, or any other sanction, and everything to the contrary notwithstanding; provided that such incompatible benefices shall not by this instrument be divested of their obligations, and that the care of souls therein shall by no means be neglected, if such be imminent. Given at St. Peter's in Rome, under the seal of the Fisherman's ring, January 26, 1517, and of our pontificate the fourth. Ia. Sadoletus. To our beloved son Erasmus Rogerii, of Rotterdam, priest of the diocese of Utrecht.18 Tedious as the perusal of these documents may have been to our readers, we feel that they are important as showing Erasmus' relations to the Church authorities at this time, and especially to Pope Leo X. Moreover, they may have a value of their own in bringing to our notice the method of presenting petitions and how they are acted upon by the Roman Curia, as well as the circumspection used in passing them through so many hands, which certainly indicates attention and consideration. That it cost Erasmus money to obtain these great favors need cause no surprise, since that was the custom in all courts at that time.1o 18 Ibid., 518. 1° We believe it is still customary in many European courts to exact fees for the necessary clerical work in the giving of titles, not to mention that many baronetages in England are bestowed on large contributors to party funds. After Ammonius, the person most instrumental in obtaining the petition was undoubtedly Gigli, Bishop of Worcester; and we have a letter from him to Erasmus felicitating him on the success of the affair, and proffering his further services in any way that Erasmus might desire to use them. Venerable and respected friend. It was very pleasing to me to have the occasion offered of gratifying you by my efforts, for I have always had a high regard for your singular learning and your eminent virtues; nor did I desire anything better than to show myself most devoted to your interests. So, having found this opportunity, I most willingly undertook your affair, many details of which I prosecuted before his Holiness our lord the Pope. Whereupon he has freely granted your petition, both out of his goodness and out of the singular and remarkable kindness with which he especially regards your eminent talents. Now you know that this has been brought about by the efforts of many persons; and, in truth, there were not lacking one or two who delayed it; but his Holiness the Pope having favored it at every stage, we have accomplished the entire affair according to your desires. It is not from any lack of diligence on my part that it was not finished sooner; but infirm health and the disturbances in the duchy of Urbino caused his Holiness the Pope considerable trouble, and were the cause that this matter was adjusted later than we wished. And now I give you my lasting thanks for the good estimation which I perceive from your most kind and agreeable letter you have entertained of me, which I ascribe wholly to your kindness and not to my merits. However, such as I am, believe me that I am most heartily at your service; and in whatsoever thing you think that I may be able to assist you or your friends, you may promise it to yourself just as if I were your own brother. Farewell and think kindly of me. Rome, January 31, 1517. Sylvester Gigli, Bishop of Worcester. Now let us see the letter of thanks which Erasmus sent to the Pope: 20 Most Holy Father. How in every respect your incredible goodness and kindness have surpassed not only my deserts but even my desires! What my modesty prompted me to ask for so constrainedly and charily, your benignity has generously and abundantly indulged me in. Nor did your Holiness wish to conceal from me to whom I owed this favor, although I myself earnestly desired to owe it entirely to yourself. I was aware that his Catholic Majesty had commended me to you by letter, but concerning another suit, the thing taking place in my absence and even without my knowledge. Although I was indebted to the king of England on many other accounts, this one was entirely unknown to me up to the present. I know, yes, I know, your Holiness, what a grave and manifold burden of obligations I am carrying on my shoulders. Firstly, I must strive with might and main to so use this benefaction which your kindness has granted me, that it may be worthy of both the 20 Eras. Ep. 521. giver and the receiver. Then, I must endeavor in some measure to respond to the commendations of such illustrious princes, since you have wished to share my gratitude for your bounty with them. Lastly, I must see to it that I may make, I will not say a return (for who can make a return either to Christ or to the Pope who is nearest to Him?), but I must show by some manifestation of a grateful heart the magnitude of the gift which I have received. And at once I perceive how very difficult this is, since as much as the rank of the Roman Pontiff excels that of the rest of mortals, just so much does Leo excel the rest of the Roman Pontiffs; so that it is extremely difficult to add to the greatness of Leo who is in every way the greatest of them all. I know not if I shall be able to accomplish this; but I shall certainly so strive that all men may see nothing has been wanting in the effort except ability, providing my life is spared; and I desire no longer lease of life than will be necessary to consecrate to posterity the divine virtues and merits of Leo the Supreme Pontiff. He is more successfully wont to attempt arduous undertakings who attempts them willingly, and is fully aware of the difficulty of the task. For if powers equal to the task are lacking to me, I will entreat the additional assistance of learned men, of whom there is not one anywhere who does not confess himself deeply indebted to your kindness as the defender of the public peace, which was ever the fosterer of honorable learning. Meanwhile, it will delight me to felicitate myself personally, who have had the good fortune to be approved not only by the Sovereign Pontiff, but also by Leo, who by his own talents is the greatest among the great, and also publicly to congratulate this our age which we hope to be the golden age, if there ever was a golden age, in which, under your most happy auspices and most holy counsel, I behold three especial benefits are about to be restored to the human race, that truly Christian piety which has in many ways declined, the best learning, hitherto partly neglected and partly corrupted, and the public and perpetual peace of the world, the fountain and parent of piety and erudition. These will be the imperishable trophies of Leo X, which, consecrated to your eternal memory by the writings of learned men, will evermore illustrate your pontificate and your family. I pray the great God to perpetuate your designs, that having composed human affairs according to your wishes, and having remained with us as long as possible, you may at last enter Heaven. Brussels, c. April 4, 1517." If we may measure the satisfaction he felt at the favors received by the fulsome tone of his letter to the Pope, we may assume that he was at last perfectly content. Whether he was grateful or not we cannot say; but judging from the vindictiveness with which he pursued Pope Julius II, who had also granted him a dispensation at the solicitation of friends, we cannot be too sure of his gratitude. In order to see wherein the dispensation granted him by Pope Julius differed from that given him by Pope Leo X, we deem it useful to insert the Julian dispensation here for the purpose of comparison, prefacing its insertion with the remark that it was so unsatisfactory to Erasmus that he never used it: Julius, by the grace of God Supreme Pontiff, to his beloved son Desiderius Erasmus, canon of the monastery of Steyn in Holland, of the Order of St. Augustine, in the diocese of Utrecht, health and the Apostolic benediction. Your zeal for religion, your uprightness of life and habits, and other laudable qualities of probity and virtue by which you are commended to us by trustworthy testimony, induce us to grant you special favors and graces. Hence it is our wish that you who, as you allege, are suffering from a defect of birth, being the son of a single man and a widow, shall in consideration of your aforesaid merits enjoy our gracious favor; and we do hereby absolve you respectively from all and every excommunication, suspension, and interdict, as also all other ecclesiastical judgments, censures, and penalties inflicted on you by the law or by man from any occasion or cause, if you are involved in such, but only up to the accomplishment of these presents, and we hereby pronounce you absolved; and moved by your supplications in that respect, we grant you a dispensation lawfully to hold and keep any ecclesiastical benefice whatsoever, whether with the care of souls or without, such as are wont to be held by the secular clergy, even though it be a parochial church or its perpetual vicarages or chantries, a free chapel, a monastic hospice, or the annual offering for anniversary masses which is wont to be assigned to the same clergy for a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice, as also the increment, revenue, or profit lawfully derived from lay patrons or any one else whatsoever in the order of their annual value; provided, such are conferred on you canonically, or you are elected to them, or you are presented to them, or are otherwise promoted to them and are inducted therein; and we dispense you so that you may give them up simply or by way of exchange as often as you please, and further, that you may be able to receive and lawfully hold, in place of what you have given up, some similar or dissimilar church benefice, with care of souls or without, as aforesaid; notwithstanding the aforesaid defect, also the general or special constitutions and ordinances of the Council of Poitiers, and any other Apostolic Councils whatsoever, also those promulgated in the provincial or synodal councils of Otto and Ottoboni of good memory who were formerly legates of the Apostolic See resident in England, also the statutes and customs of the monastery of Steyn in Holland, of the Order of St. Augustine, in the diocese of Utrecht, of which Order you are a canon and, as you assert, are publicly professed in said Order, also your oath to said Order, validated by Apostolic confirmation or any other binding circumstance to the contrary, we, of our Apostolic authority, and by tenor of these presents, do grant you this dispensation as a special mark of favor. Let no one, therefore, infringe this absolution, etc. If anyone shall, etc. Given at Rome at St. Peter's in the year of our Lord's incarnation the one There are two important differences between the dispensation of Julius and that of Leo. First, it is evident that Erasmus did not tell the entire facts about his birth, namely, that he was the son of a priest or, at least, of a man in the major orders of subdeaconship or deaconship, and of a widow. He prevaricated by saying that he was the son of a single man and a widow." The obvious reason for this was his supersensitive nature which, though forced to the acknowledgment of illegitimacy, could not and would not permit him to admit the added stigma of being a priest's son. His principal reason for applying at all to the Pope for a dispensation was to be enabled to licitly hold benefices, as we have before explained. No sooner, however, had he obtained for that purpose the dispensation from Julius than he realized his mistake, knowing full well that there were still living at Gouda people who knew the real circumstances of his birth, and that in some inauspicious moment the truth might reach the Roman court; and that if in the meantime he had obtained benefices under these false presentations of the facts, he would not only be immediately stripped of them but would incur severe ecclesiastical censures for the deception practiced. The somewhat strained relations, moreover, existing between himself and his superiors at Steyn must also have made him hesitate before using a document whose terms they could easily ascertain by securing a copy from Rome. So, although he never gave up the quest for benefices, he was always careful to exchange them for cash annuities when obtained, as notably in the case of the Aldington benefice granted him by Archbishop Warham in 1512, and also the benefice of Courtrai given him by LeSauvage, the Imperial Chancellor, in 1516. The holding of such benefices could not be concealed from prying and envious eyes, while the receiving of an annual pension from the new incumbent need only be known to two or three people privately." 25 That he was the son of a man in Holy Orders he finally admitted in 23 This would be properly 1506 according to present reckoning. 23 Ibid., 1874. (This epistle, being discovered during the publication of Doctor Allen's work, will be found out of place, as an addendum, on p. xxix of volume three.) 24 "de soluto genitus et vidua." (1.5.) 25 Allen, Vol. III, p. xxix, suggests that the differing accounts of the circumstances of Erasmus' birth in the two papal briefs might spring from fresh sources of information that had possibly been opened to him; but, while we admit the possibility, when we consider that Erasmus was already forty years old at the time he received the Julian dispensation, it is hardly probable that the entire story of his birth was not known to him at that late day. Moreover, it is more than probable that he knowingly concealed from Julius the fact that his father was a priest, or, to put it mildly, that he glossed that fact over by saying that his father was a single man and his mother a widow, which statement was more true than explanatory. Pope Leo, in granting his indulgence, alludes to this deception on the part of Erasmus in the following words: etiam si alias dispensationem aliquam ex aliqua causa super praemissis ob illius surreptionem nulliter impetrasset. (Eras. Ep. 517, 1. 53.) |