2 175. HINCMAR OF RIIEIMS. 755
He asserted the liberty of the Gallican Church at a time when the State on the one hand endeavored to absorb her revenues and utilize her clergy in its struggles and wars, and the Pope on the other hand strove to make his authority in ecclesiastical matters supreme. That Ilincmar was arrogant, relentless, selfseeking, is true. But withal he was a pure man, a stern moral ist, and the very depth and vigor of his belief in his own opinions rendered him the more intolerant of the opinions of opponents, as of those of the unfortunate Gottschalk. The cause he defended was a just and noble one, and his failure to stem the tide setting toward anarchy in Church and State was fraught with far-reach ing consequences.
HIS WRITINGS.
His writings reveal his essentially practical character. They are very numerous, but usually very short. In contents they are designed for the most part to answer a temporary purpose. This makes them all the more interesting to the historian, but in the same degree of less permanent importance. The patris tic learning they exhibit is considerable, and the ability great ; but the circumstances of his life as prelate precluded him from study and quiet thought, so he was content to rely upon the labors of others and reproduce and adapt their arguments and information to his own design. Only the more important can be here mentioned. Some twenty-three writings are known to be lost.1
I. Writings in the Gottschalk Controversy.2
1. The first was in 855, fiirine Predestination and the Free dom of the TT7#. It was in three books. All has perished, except the prefatory epistle to Charles the Bald.3
1 See Hist. lit. d? la France, I r. The philosophical treatise De diversa et multipliti anirwr ratione (Migne, CXXV. col. 929-952) is probably falsely attributed to him. Cf. Ebert, I c. p. 250.
8 See pp. 528 sqq. 3 Migne, CXXV. col. 49-56.
756 FOURTH PEKIOD. A. D. 590-1049.^
2. At the request of this king he wrote a second treatise upon the same subject.1
3. In 857 he refuted the charge made against him by Gottschalk and Ratramnus that in altering a line of a hymn from " Te, trina Deitas," to " Te, sancta Deitas," he showed a Sabellian leaning.2
II. Writings in the Hincmar of Laon Controversy.3 They consist of letters from each disputant to the other, formal charges against Hiucmar of Laon, the sentence of his deposition, the synodical letter to Pope Hadrian II. and the letter of Hinc mar of Laon to the same.
III. Writings relative to political and social aifairs.
1. The divorce of king Lothair and queen Theutberga* This treatise dates from 863 and is the reply to thirty questions upon the general subject asked Hincmar by different bishops. It reveals his firm belief in witches, sorcery and trial by ordeal, and abounds in interesting and valuable allusions to contemporary life and manners.5
2. Addresses and prayers at the coronation of Charles the Bald, his son Louis II. the Stammerer, his daughter Judith, and his wife Hermintrude.6
3. The personal character of the Mng and the royal adminis tration.7 It is dedicated to Charles the Bald, and is avowedly a compilation. The Scriptures and the Fathers, chiefly Ambrose, Augustin, and Gregory the Great are its sources. Its twenty-three chapters are distributed by Hincmar himself8 under three heads : (a) the royal person and office in general [chaps. 1-15] ; (b) the
1 De Prsedestinatione, ibid. col. 55-474.
2 Collectio de una et non trina Deitate, ibid. col. 473-618.
8 Opuscula et epistolce in causa Hincmari Laudunensis, Migne, CXXVI. col. 279-648.
* De div&rtio Lotharii regis et Tetbergcs regince, Migne, CXX V. col. 619-772.
5 See especially Inter, vi., xvii., xviii., ibid. col. 659-673, 726-730.
6 Coronationes regies, ibid. col. 803-818.
T De regis persona et regio ministerio, ibid. col. 833-856. 8 See preface, col. 833, 834.