Ethelred Luke Taunton

“ A man of deep learning and originality, proud and a victim to the odium theologicum, he could brook no rivalry. The only one who at that time could compare with him was the gentle Bartolomeo de Caranza, also a Dominican and afterwards archbishop of Toledo. At the university the schools were divided between the partisans of the two professors; but Cano pursued his rival with relentless virulence, and took part in the condemnation for heresy of his brother-friar. The new society of the Jesuits, as being the forerunners of Antichrist, also met with his violent opposition ”

“ Recognizing that the true aim of the scheme of church reform brought forward in parliament in 1529 was to put down the only moral force that could withstand the royal will, he energetically opposed the reformation of abuses, which doubtless under other circumstances he would have been the first to accept. ”

“ During the eighteen years that he was inquisitor-general it is said that he burnt 10,220 persons, condemned 6860 others to be burnt in effigy, and reconciled 97,321, thus making an average of some 6000 convictions a year. These figures are given by Llorente, who was secretary of the Holy Office from 1790 to 1792 and had access to the archives; but modern research reduces the list of those burnt by Torque- mada to 2000, in itself an awful holocaust to the principle of intolerance. The constant stream of petitions to Rome opened the eyes of the pope to the effects of Torquemada's severity. ”

“ Here he was captured by a spy and taken to London, bearing on his hat a paper with the inscription, “Campion, the Seditious Jesuit.” Committed to the Tower, he was examined in the presence of Elizabeth, who asked him if he acknowledged her to be really queen of England, and on his replying straightly in the affirmative, she made him offers, not only of life but of wealth and dignities, on conditions which his conscience could not allow. He was kept a long time in prison, twice racked by order of the council, and every effort was made to shake his constancy. ”

“ The constancy of Fisher, while driving Henry to a fury that knew no bounds, won the admiration of the whole Christian world, where he had been long known as one of the most learned and pious bishops of the time. Paul III., who had begun his pontificate with the intention of purifying the curia, was unaware of the grave danger in which Fisher lay; and in the hope of reconciling the king with the bishop, created him (20th of May 1535) cardinal priest of St Vitalis. ”

“ As Pole had escaped Henry's power the royal vengeance now fell on his mother, who was executed as a traitor on the 27th of May 1 541. When the news came to the cardinal he said to his secretary Beccatelli that he had received good tidings: “ Hitherto I have thought myself indebted to the divine goodness for having received my birth from one of the most noble and virtuous women in England, but henceforth my obligation will be much greater, as I understand I am now the son of a martyr. We have one patron more added to those we already have in heaven ” ”

“ There are certain instances in his life which, taken by themselves, show a hardness in treating individuals who would not obey; but as a rule, he tempered his authority to the capacity of those with whom he had to deal. When he had to choose between the welfare of the Society and the feelings of an individual it was clear to which side the balance would fall. ”

“ The Book of the Spiritual Exercises has been one of the world-moving books. In its strict conception it is only an application of the Gospel precepts to the individual soul. Its object is to convince a man of sin, of justice and of judgment. The idea of the book is not original to Ignatius At Montserrato he had found in use a popular translation of the Exercitatorio de la vida spiritual (1500) , written in Latin by Abbot Garcias de Cisneros (d. 1510) , and divided into three ways or periods during which purity of soul, enlightenment and union are to be worked for ”

“ The dead even were not free from the Holy Office; but processes could be instituted against them and their remains subjected to punishment. But along with these cruel and unjust measures there must be put down to Torquemada's credit some advanced ideas as to prison life. The cells of the Inquisition were, as a rule, large, airy, clean and with good windows admitting the sun. They were, in those respects, far superior to the civil prisons of that day. The use of irons was in Torquemada's time not allowed in the Holy Office ”

“ Arriving at Whitehall, where he was received with joy by Mary and Philip on the 30th of November, he proceeded to parliament and there absolved the kingdom and accepted in the pope's name the demands respecting ecclesiastical property. He entered wisely on his work of reformation, for which he was well prepared. One of the most important matters he had to deal with was to rectify the canonical position of those who had been ordained or consecrated since the breach with Rome. ”

“ While there is frequent mention of the acolyte’s office in the Ordines Romani, it is only in the Ordo VIII. (which is not earlier than the 7th century) that we find the very simple form for admitting an acolyte to his office. At the end of the mass the cleric, clad in chasuble and stole and bearing a linen bag on one arm, comes before the pope or bishop and receives a blessing. There is no collation of power or order but a simple admission to an office. ”

“ A great friend of Erasmus, whom he invited to Cambridge, whilst earnestly working for a reformation of abuses, he had no sympathy with those who attacked doctrine; and he preached at Paul’s Cross (12th of May 1521) at the burning of Luther’s books. Although he was not the author of Henry’s book against Luther, he joined with his friend, Sir Thomas More, in writing a reply to the scurrilous rejoinder made by the reformer. He retained the esteem of the king until the divorce proceedings began in 1527; and then he set himself sternly in favour of the validity of the marriage. ”

“ Pole's own attitude to the question of justihcation by faith is given by Vittoria Colonna, to whom he said that she ought to set herself to believe as though she must be saved by iaith alone and to act as though she must be saved by works alone In the excited temper of the times any defender of justification by faith was looked upon by the old school as heretical; and Pole, with the circle at Viterbo, was denounced to the Inquisition, with all sorts of crimes imputed to him. ”

“ Unable to bear up against the Dominican’s fiery denunciations, the sovereigns, three months after the fall of Granada, issued a decree ordering every Jew either to embrace Christianity or to leave the country, four months being given to make up their minds; and those who refused to become Christians to order had leave to sell their property and carry off their effects. ”

“ During his stay of a year and a half in this university, besides his classes, he found occasion to give to some companions his Spiritual Exercises in the form they had then taken and certain instructions in Christian doctrine. On account of these discourses Ignatius came into conflict with the Inquisition. He and his companions were denounced as belonging to the sects of Sagati and Illuminati. Their mode of life and dress was peculiar and hinted at innovation. But, always ready to obey authority, Ignatius was able to disarm any charges that, now and at other times, were brought against him. ”

“ In 1567 he went to Rome for the first time, and there began his plan for establishing a college where English students could live together and finish their theological course. The idea subsequently developed into the establishing of a missionary college, or seminary, to keep up a supply of priests for England as long as the country remained separated from the Holy See. With the help of friends, and notably of the Benedictine abbots of the neighbouring monasteries, a college was established at Douai (September 29, 1568) ; and here Allen was joined by many of the English exiles. ”

“ While taking the title, the idea of division by periods and the subjects of most of the meditations from the older work, Ignatius skilfully adapted it to his own requirements. Above all the methods of the two are essentially different. The Benedictine work follows the old monastic tradition of the direct intercourse of the soul with God. Ignatius, with his military instinct and views of obedience, intervenes with a director who gives the exercises to the person who in turn receives them. ”

“ In order not to confound the innocent with the guilty, Torquemada published a declaration offering grace and pardon to all who presented themselves before the tribunal and avowed their fault. Some fled the country, but many (Mariana says 17,000) offered themselves for reconciliation. The first seat of the Holy Office was in the convent of San Pablo, where the friars, however, resented the orders, on the pretext that they were not delegates of the inquisitor-general. Soon the gloomy fortress of Triana, on the opposite bank of the Guadalquivir, was prepared as the palace of the Holy Office ”

“ The duties of the acolyte, as given in the Roman Pontifical, are identical with those mentioned in the Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua of Arles: “It is the duty of acolytes to carry the candlesticks, to light the lamps of the church, to administer wine and water for the Eucharist.” It might seem, from the number forty-two mentioned by Pope Cornelius, that at Rome the acolytes were divided among the seven ecclesiastical regions of the city ”

“ He also said: “We must of necessity proceed with caution; and we must not make the acquaintance of women unless they be of very high rank.” They arrived in Rome in October 1537; and lived at first in a little cottage in a vineyard and near the Trinità dei Monti. The pope appointed Faber to teach Holy Scripture, and Laynez scholastic theology, in the university of the Sapienza. Ignatius was left free to carry on his spiritual work, which became so large that he was obliged to call his other companions to Rome. ”

“ During the absence of the pope, a certain hermit began to spread heresy and was opposed by Ignatius and his companions. In revenge the hermit brought up the former accusations concerning the relations to the Inquisition, and proclaimed Ignatius and his friends to be false, designing men and no better than concealed heretics. ”

“ During the absence of Ignatius, Faber gained three more adherents. But before leaving Paris Ignatius heard once more that complaints had been lodged against him at the Inquisition; but these like the others were found to be without any foundation. When he arrived near Loyola he would not go to the castle, but lived at the public hospice at Azpeitia, and began his usual life of teaching Christian doctrine and reforming morals. Falling ill again he went to other parts of Spain to transact business for his companions. ”

“ On the 20th of November he was brought in guilty before Lord Chief Justice Wray; and in reply to him said: “If our religion do make traitors we are worthy to be condemned; but otherwise are and have been true subjects as ever the queen had.” He received the sentence of the traitor’s death with the Te Deum laudamus, and, after spending his last days in pious exercises, was led with two companions to Tyburn (1st of December 1581) and suffered the barbarous penalty. Of all the Jesuit missionaries who suffered for their allegiance to the ancient religion, Campion stands the highest. ”

“ The sovereigns saw that wealth was beginning to flow in to the new tribunals by means of fines and confiscations; and they obliged Torquemada to take as assessors five persons who would represent them in all matters affecting the royal prerogatives. These assessors were allowed a definite vote in temporal matters but not in spiritual, and the final decision was reserved to Torquemada himself, who in 1483 was appointed the sole inquisitor-general over all the Spanish possessions. ”

“ His personal enemy Carafia had become pope under the name of Paul IV. and was hiding his time. When Rome quarrelled with Spain, and France, on behalf of the pope, took up arms, England could no longer observe neutrality. To injure Spain and hcedless of England's need, Paul IV. deprived Pole of his power both as legate a latere and Zegatus natus as archbishop of Canterbury (June 14, 1557) ; he also reconstituted the process of the Inquisition against the cardinal and summoned him to Rome to answer to the crime and heresies imputed to him. ”

“ Leo X., needing a subsidy from the English clergy, sent Campeggio to England on the ostensible business of arranging a crusade against the Turks. Wolsey, then engaged in beginning his reform of the English church, procured that he himself should be joined to the legation as senior legate; thus the Italian, who arrived in England on the 23rd of July 1518, held a subordinate position and his special legatine faculties were suspended. Campeggio’s mission failed in its immediate object ”

“ Ribadeneira, who as a youth had been associated with the founder, wrote his Vida del S. Ignacio de Loyola (Madrid, 1594) , based on an early Latin work (Naples, 1572) . Bartole, the official biographer, wrote his Della vita e dell’ instituto di S. Ignatio (Rome, 1650, 1659) ; Genelli wrote Das Leben des heiligen Ignatius von Loyola (Innsbruck, 1848) ; Nicolas Orlandinus gives a life in the first volume of the Historiae Societatis Jesu (Rome, 1615) . It would be impossible to give a list even of the other lives, most of which are without value as histories, being written mainly for edification. ”

“ FISHER, JOHN (c. 1469–1535) , English cardinal and bishop of Rochester, born at Beverly, received his first education at the collegiate church there. In 1484 he went to Michael House, Cambridge, where he took his degrees in arts in 1487 and 1491, and, after filling several offices in the university, became master of his college in 1499. He took orders; and his reputation for learning and piety attracted the notice of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII., who made him her confessor and chaplain. ”