§ 54. POPE ALEXANDER VI — BORGIA. 1492-1503. 463
issued May 4th and 5tli, 1403, he divided the Western world. ^ between Portugal and Spain by a line 100 leagues west of th^ Azores, running north and south. ^ These documents mention Christopher Columbus as a worthy man, much to be praised, who, apt as a sailor, and after great perils, labors and expenditures, had discovered islands and continents — terras firmas — never before known. The possession of the lands in the West, discovered and yet to jsa discovered, was assigned to Spain ^d Portugal to be held and governed^ in perpetuity, — in perpetuum^ — and the pope solemnly declared that he made the gift out of pure liberality, and by the authority of the omnipotent God, conceded to him in St. Peter, and by reason of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which he administered on earth. ^ Nothing could be more distinctly stated. As Peter's successor, Alexander claimed the right to give away the Western Continent, and his gift involved an unending right of tenure. This prerogative of disposing of the lands in the West was in accordance with Constantine's invented gift to Sylvester, recorded in the spurious Isidorian decretals. ^ <^ If any papal bull might be expected to have the quality of inerrancy, it is the bull bearing so closely on the destinies of the great American continent, and through it on the world's history. But the terms of tlie bulj^ofJVIay 4th were set_aside, fLy^ar after its issne by the political treaty of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494, which shifted the line to a distance 370 leagues_wesj^ oTtHe Cape Verde Islands. And the centuries have rudely overturned the supreme pontiff's solemn bequest until not a foot of land on this Western continent remains in the pos-
1 De nostra mera liberalitate . . . auctoritate omnip. Dei, nobis in beato Petro coucessa, ac vicariatus J. Christi, qua fungimur in terris. For the bull, see Mirbt, pp. 174-176. Also Fiske, Disc, of Am., I. 454-458 ; II. 581-593.
■^ Pastor, III. 520, seeks to break the force of the charge that Alexander's gift was a short-sighted piece of work by putting the unnatural interpretation upon donamus et assignamus, that it referred only to what Portugal and Spain had already acquired. But the very wording of the bull makes this impossible, for it is distinctly said that all islands and continents were given to Spain and Portugal which were to be discovered in the future, as well as those which were already discovered — omnes insulas et terras firmas inventus et inventendas, detectas et detegendas. For the bull of Sept. 26, 1493, giving India to Spain, see Davenport in Am. Hist. Bev., 1909, p. 764 sqq.
464 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
session of the kingdoms to which it was given. Putting aside the distinctions between doctrinal and disciplinary decisions, wliich are made by many Catholic exponents of the dogma of papal infallibility, Alexander's bull conferring the Americas, as Innocent II I. 's bull pronouncing the stipulations of the Magna Charta forever null, should afford a sufficient refutation of the dogma.
The character and career of Alexander VI. afford an argument against the theory of the divine institution and vicarial prerogatives of the papacy which the doubtful exegesis of our Lord's words to Peter ought not to be allowed to counteract. If we leave out all the wicked popes of the 9th and 10th centuries, forget for a moment the cases of Honorius and other pojies charged with heresy, and put aside the offending popes of the Renaissance period and all the bulls which sin against common reason, such as Innocent VIII. 's bull against witchcraft, Alexander is enough to forbid that theory. Could God commit his Church for 12 years to such a monster? It is fair to recognize that Catholic historians feel the difficulty, although they find a way to explain it away. Cardinal Hergenrother says that "Christendom was delivered from a great offence by Alexander's death, but even in his case, unworthy as this pope was, his teachings are to be obeyed, and in him the promise made to the chair of St. Pete"r was fulfilled (Matt. 23 : 2, 3). In no instance did Alexander VI. prescribe to the Church anything contrary to morals or the faith, and never did he lead her astray in disciplinary decrees which, for the most part, were excellent." ^
In like strain, Pastor writes:^ "In spite of Alexander, the purity of the Church's teaching continued unharmed. It was as if Providence wanted to show tliat men may injure the Church, but that it is not in their power to destroy it. As a bad setting does not diminish the value of the precious stone, so the sinfulness of a priest cannot do any essential detriment either to his dispensation of her sacraments or to the doctrines committed to her. Gold remains gold, whether dispensed by clean hands or unclean. The papal office is exalted far above
1 Hergenrother-Kirsch, II. 087. 2 m. 603.