whole voice of his church. Of the battle
now raised we say nothing. But let us
help towards the understanding of it; let
us tell how the like battle was fought very
many years ago. It is a story which
involves no question of theology, but is
simply the record of a lively argument
within the church itself. And as is the
case in most battles of opinion, there were
good men on both sides, who belonged
to the large catholic church of folks who
love God and their neighbour. Also there
were, as usual, on both sides, folks who
loved only themselves and traded in
religion.

Seventy years of the popes at Avignon,
begun in thirteen hundred and nine, were
followed by a schism in the church. The
years at Avignon and the succeeding
schism, had been quickening the stir of
independent thought against a pope's claim
to absolute and irresponsible authority.
The removal to Avignon had been provoked
by the absolutism of Boniface the Eighth.
He had written to Philip the Fair of
France: " We will you to know that you are
subject to us, in things spiritual and things
temporal." Philip had answered, "Be it
known to your supreme fatuity that in
things temporal we are subject to no one."
In his bull, '' Unam Sanctam," Boniface
had set forth obedience to the pope as
necessary to salvation. He had afterwards
put Philip under ban. Perhaps his energy
was tainted with the madness which
became declared in his last days. It
awakened reasoning as to the pope's
position in the church, and created a division
of church politics into French and Italian.
Then began seventy years of a French
papacy, which had a court more scandalous
than that of Rome, and set up claims to
absolute dominion as loud as those of
Boniface, though mainly urged, in servitude to
France, against the German emperor.

The intellect of France, then represented
by the University of Paris, laboured to re-
store peace to the church. In his
Defender of Peace, Manilius of Padua, who
had been rector of the Paris University,
argued that it was heresy in the pope to
claim against the German emperor a power
to absolve men from obedience to the laws
of God. He condemned as devilish, a pope's
absolution of subjects from oaths of
allegiance to their sovereign. After long
experience of a double papacy, many in
Europe were ready to say: If two popes,
why not twelve? And the most earnest
supporters of the principle which had
based safety of the church upon the
maintenance of one supreme visible head, saw
no way to peace but by submitting rival
claims of irresponsible authority to the
judgment of a General Council of men who
were individually less than popes. The
University of Paris urged that both popes
should resign, or else submit their claims
to arbitration; that, if they would do
neither of these things, a General Council
should be called; and that the pope who
rejected all the three paths towards peace
should be declared a heretic. Within the
University this doctrine was expressed by
one party with moderation, by another with
the uncompromising purpose of subjecting
papal absolutism to control of councils, and
producing other of the changes sought by
more advanced reformers. The University
of Toulouse represented those who
maintained faith in the pope's supreme authority,
and resisted changes in the church law of a
former time.

In fourteen hundred and six, the death
of the Italian Innocent the Seventh gave
the cardinals at Rome a hope of restored
unity for the Western Church. A quiet old
man of eighty was made pope for Italy as
Gregory the Twelfth. His appointment
was provisional. He was to hold the
office until he could arrange with Benedict
a simultaneous abdication. Gregory was
at first true to this understanding. Some
months after his election he refused to give
benefices, saying that he was not made
pope for that, but only to end the schism.
But his friends and kinsmen, who flocked
round him clamouring for loaves and
fishes, caused him to halt. He became
rich in occasions and excuses for inaction.
Benedict, on the other side, though equally
determined to do nothing, professed great
readiness to meet Gregory and fulfil the
desires of good churchmen. Europe was
little edified to see the dance accordingly
set up by the two aged popes, who poussetted
to each other about France and Italy, but
took care never to come near enough to
join hands. One professed fear of hostile
ships, and would not approach the coast;
the other professed fear of ambuscades, and
would not venture far inland. By this
trifling, each lost friends. The Italian pope had
Italy and the cardinals against him. The
French pope was opposed by the French
king and the University of Paris.
Forsaken by the Church of France, Benedict
went to his native Aragon, and then joined
Gregory in the convocation of a General
Council. This was to meet at Pisa in the