precept and license it is lawful for subjects to accuse. 25. That without a Synodal assembly he is able to depose and restore bishops. 26. That he is not to be esteemed a Catholic , who does not agree with the Church of Rome. 27. That he has the power of absolving the subjects of wicked princes from their allegiance.
The genuineness of these dicta has been acknowledged by Panvinius, P. de Marc a, and Lupus ; to whom is added Ma- billon de re Diplom. f. 63. That they certainly give an accu- rate representation of the mind of Hildebrand, is demonstrated by Pfaffius Inst. H. E. p. 510 ; yea, Baronius calls them the Pre- rogatives [“ privilegia”] of the Apostolic See and of the Roman Pontiff : nor are the other demands of the Romish Church of a different character, a great collection of which is set forth in the public book, written in German, de recus. Concil. Trid. pp. 134-159, of Nicolaus , concerning the Kingdom of Christ, ch. vii. ; Calixti Digress, pp. 446-456 ; Carpzov. Isag. in libb. symb. pp. 813, 814, and others. As was his word, so his deed. The Acts, w7hich are everywhere extant, agree with his dictates. The sum of the whole is this : Up to this time the pontiffs had been subject to the empe- ror, although they often champed the bit ; but then the Pope sub- dued the emperor, and, under the pretext of spiritual authority, began in his own person to act as monarch of the whole Christian world. That was the crowning point, to subdue the majesty of the Caesars, which was the chief obstacle to his power. The alleged cause had reference to investitures , and this itself was part only of a business which was of greater moment than was supposed ; but the whole was of by far the greatest moment. For Panvinius shows, that the cause then at issue especially tended either to the entire overthrow of the imperial power , or to its establishment for ever. Let the Life of Gregory VII., by J. C. JDithmar, and the History of the Controversy respecting the Investiture of Bishops, until the agreement between Henry V. and Calixtus II., be looked into, espe- cially at the end. In the year 1076, in a Synod at Rome, in the presence of 110 bishops, Gregory VII. anathematized Henry IV. ; having first (as Platina says) altogether deprived him of the admi- nistration of his kingdom. But the form of a pontifical abrogation [ absolving of subjects from their allegiance ] was to this purport — (The speaker is the same ; for Sigonius expressed it in purer Latin) : u O blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, incline, I pray thee, thine ears, and listen to me thy servant, whom thou hast both brought up from infancy, and hast preserved unto this day from
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