808 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
forget the example and mistresses of the first and only Scotch cardinal, Archbishop Beaton, who condemned Patrick Hamilton and Wishart to death! Were not the Swiss Re formers Bullinger and Leo Jud sons of priests, and was not Zwingli, in spite of his offence against the law of continence, in good standing so long as he remained in the papal com munion!
The violation of the ecclesiastical law of celibacy was, how ever, by no means in all cases a violation of the moral law. Without the ceremony of marriage, many a priest lived honorably with the woman he had chosen, and cared for and protected his family. The Roman pontiff's ordinance, setting aside an appointment of the Almighty, was one of the most offensive pieces of papal legislation and did unspeakable injury to the Church.
§ 127. The Councils.
The legislation of the oecumenical and local synods of this age gives the most impressive evidence of the moral ideals of the Church and its effort to introduce moral re forms. The large number of councils, as compared with the period just before 1050, was a healthy sign.1 Their time was largely taken up with disciplinary and moral sub jects. They legislated upon the relation of the Church to the empire, and the election of the pope, against simony and clerical marriage, upon heresy and measures for its repres sion, upon the crusades and the truce of God, on the details of clerical conduct and dress, and upon the rites of worship. The doctrine of transubstantiation, defined at the Fourth Lateran, was the only doctrine which was added by recumenical authority to the list of the great dogmas handed down from the early Church.
At one period one subject, and at another, another sub ject, was prominent. The character of the legislation also differed with the locality. The synods in Rome, during the
1 Hergenrother, KathoL Kirchenrecht, p. 342, speaks of the rarity of synods from 900-1050 as a sign of the laxity of Catholic discipline.
§ 127. THE COUNCILS. 809
latter half of the eleventh century, discussed clerical celibacy, simony, and investiture by laymen. The synods of Southern France and Spain, from the year 1200, abound in decrees upon the subject of heresy. The synods of England and Germany were more concerned about customs of worship and clerical conduct.
A notable feature is the attendance of popes on synods held outside of Rome. Leo IX. attended synods in France and Germany, as well as in Italy. Urban II. presided at the great synod of Clermont, 1095. Innocent II. attended a number of synods outside of Rome. Alexander III. was present at the important synod of Tours, where Thomas a Becket sat at his right. Lucius III. presided at the council of Verona, 1184. Innocent IV. and Gregory X. were pres ent at the first and second councils of Lyons. Such synods had double weight from the presence of the supreme head of Christendom. The synods may be divided into three classes: -
I. Local Synods, 1050-1122. — The synods held in this, the Hildebrandian period, were a symptom of a new era in Church history. The chief synods were held in Rome and, beginning with 1049, they carried through the reform atory legislation, enforcing clerical celibacy and forbidding simony. The legislation against lay-investiture culminated in the Lenten synods at Rome, 1074 and 1075, presided over by Gregory VII. Local synods, especially in France and England, repeated this legislation. The method of elect ing a pope was settled by the Roman synod held by Nicolas, and confirmed by the Third Lateran, 1179. The doctrine of the Lord's Supper, as advocated by Berengar, d. 1088, called forth action at Rome and Vercelli, 1050, and again at Rome, 1059 and 1079. The legislation bearing on the con quest of the Holy Places was inaugurated at Piacenza and more seriously at the synod of Clermont, both held in 1095.
II. The (Ecumenical Councils. — Six general councils were held within a period of one hundred and fifty years, 1123- 1274, as against eight held between 325-869, or a period of five hundred years. The first four go by the name of the