VII.

[Vid. ed.

prim.

CHAP. to that which we have already recited out of S. Augustine and the council of Carthage. But who knows whether this be any genuine and true epistle of Pope Innocent, or no? For there is great reason to doubt it: (1.) First, because there is no ecclesiastical writer that took any notice of it (as many did of some other(s) his epistles e) in all that age wherein he lived, nor till he had been near upon three hundred years dead. It is now got into the body of the councils, being placed there among the decretal epistles of the popes; but it was first taken out and brought in thither from the Roman code1, which of (a) long time had no such epistle in it. The Church of old was wont to be regulated by the canons of the universal code, that consisted of nine councils, that is to say,

errat.]

sect. Primum, [tom. i. col. 39.] Primum, igitur, hos libros una cum cæteris in canone ponunt concilia Carthag. III. can. 47, Trid. Sess. iv. (et) Pontifex Innocentius I. in Ep. ad Exuperium. Similiter Perron, [Repliq., p. 440. Il appert en cinquième lien, par le catalogue des livres canoniques que le Pape Innocent premier, contemporain de Saint Augustin, envoyé à Exuperius Evêque de Tholose, où les deux livres des Maccabées sont expressément contenus.] Canus, [Vid. Loc. Theol., lib. ii. cap. 11. § Ad Test. p. 69.Cum concilium Carthaginense, Florentinum, Tridentinum, Innocentius, Gelasius, ac fere Sancti, hos libros tanquam sacros Ecclesiæ tradiderunt, profecto si ii non essent, perniciosissime falleremur.] Becanus, [Vid. Martini Becani Manual. Controv., lib. i. cap. 1. q. 1. p. 2.-Denique Patres hujus concilii (Carthag.) ab Innocentio I. Epist. iii. ad Exuperium, cap. 7. (canonem acceperunt.) Vixit autem Innocentius ann. Christi 402. Igitur ab illo tempore primitivæ Ecclesiæ ad nos usque, per continuam traditionem, perseverat idem ille Scripturæ canon, quem Catholici nunc tenemus et amplectimur.] Et alii plurimi.

e Inter Epist. S. Aug. [Vid. S. Aug., Op., tom. ii. col. 635, Epist. 181. Innocentius Carthag. Conc. Patribus, &c. -Item, col. 638. Ep. 182; col. 641. Ep. 183; et seq.] Vide etiam S. Aug. contr. Pelag., lib. ii. cap. 9. [De peccat. Orig., tom. x. col. 257.-Videtis certe in his verbis, quemadmodum Papa beatissimus Innocentius non tanquam de incognito loqui videatur. Vid. etiam,

lib. i. cap. 30. ibid. col. 244.]

f Codex Canon. et Decretorum. Ecclesiæ Romanæ; edit. Moguntiæ, anno 1525. [vid. p. 352.-Cap. xxvii. Qui libri in canone recipiantur.-Qui vero libri recipiantur in canone, brevis adnexus ostendit. Hæc sunt ergo quæ desiderata moneri voce voluisti: Moysi libri quinque, id est, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, Deuteronomium, necnon et Jesu Nave, et Judicum, et Regnorum libri iv., simul et Ruth, Prophetarum libri xvi., Salomonis libri v., Psalterium: item, historiarum, Job liber unus, Tobiæ unus, Esther unus, Judith unus, Maccabæorum duo, Esdræ duo, Paralipomenon duo. Item, Novi Test, &c.-Vid. etiam ed. Par. 1609. p. 327, et seq.]

Leschasserius in Consultatione sup. Controvers. inter Papam Paul. V., et Remp. Venet. [ap. Goldasti Monarch., tom. iii. p. 440.-A Justiniano autem, post omnes qui eum antecesserunt Christiani Imperatores, probatus est et confirmatus codex canonum Ecclesiæ Catholicæ, qui omnium manibus tenebatur, et secundum quem Synodi universales ipsæ de controversiis ecclesiasticis sententias ferebant.... Cum hæc ita sint, innovanda mihi est et instauranda codicis canonum Ecclesiæ primitivæ memoria ; &c.]-Ac in tractatu de libertatibus Eccl. Gallic. [vid. Jacob. Leschasserii Tractat. de libertate antiqua et canonica Eccl. Gallicanæ, ad supremas Franciæ curias; Melch. Goldasti Monarch, tom. iii. p. 278.-Ecclesia Gallicana duobus Codicibus simul usa est. Prior est Codex is, secundum quem Ecclesia Universa con

ap.

the councils of Nice, Ancyra, Neocæsarea, Gangres, Antioch, Laodicea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; whereof the first and the three last were general; the other five, though particular, yet generally approved". And the whole entire code contained only two hundred and seven canons, following one another in an exact order, to the end that the number of them might neither be augmented nor diminished. And thus it continued till Dionysius Exiguus his time', who, being an abbot of Rome, translated that code out of Greek into Latin after another manner than it had been in use before, and made many alterations in it. For he retrenched divers of the ancient canonsk, which seemed to be most disadvantageous to the popes, and added divers others1 that the universal Church did not acknowledge: yet in all his collection was there never any decretal epistle added. In the Abridgment of Ferrandus m, who lived at the same time,

troversias in Conciliis œcumenicis judicabat; &c....Codex alter, quo Ecclesia Gallicana vetus utebatur, codex est Gallicanorum canonum; &c. ... hoc utebatur Ecclesia Gallicana in quæstionibus codice universalis Ecclesiæ non decisis. (Et, ibid. :) Conflatus erat, et compositus, hic codex (universalis Ecclesiæ) ex conciliis Niceno, Ancyrano, Neocæsariensi, Gangrensi, Antiocheno, Laodicensi, Constantinopolitano, Ephesino, et Chalcedonensi; quæ concilia integra habentur, nec mutilata, apud Balsamonem, et in codice Græco qui inscriptus est "Canones Apostolorum et Synodorum, quem Johannes Tillius (qui postea Episcopus Meldensis factus est) edi curavit Parisiis, anno 1540.] Item, Hincmarus Archiep. Remensis, in opusculo contra Hincmarum Laudunens., cap. 21. [Hincmari Op., tom. ii. pp. 462-464. cap. xxi. Quod non nisi viginti capitula in concilio Niceno fuerint constituta.'--Vid. locum.]

6

Vide Conc. Chalcedon., Act. iv., xi., xiii. [Concil., Labbe, tom. iv. coll. 527, 691, 711.-Vid. Act. iv. p. 527. Αέτιος ἀρχιδιάκονος τῆς κατὰ Κωνσταν τινούπολιν ἁγίας καὶ καθολικῆς ἐκκλη σίας εἶπε· κανών ἐστιν οὗτος, ὃς μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τέθειται παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων· οὓς φυλάττοντες, οἱ ἅγιοι παρ τέρες οἱ ἐπίσκοποι ἐκδιδάσκουσι κληρι κοὺς καὶ πάντας τοὺς χριστιανίζοντας, εἰ εὕροιεν ἢ ἀφηνιῶντας, ἢ μὴ βουλομέ νους πείθεσθαι, κεχρῆσθαι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ, καὶ ἀπὸ βιβλίου ἀνέγνω ταῦτα·

εἴτις πρεσβύτερος, κ.τ.λ. (Can. v. Conc. Antioch.)...πάντες οἱ εὐλαβέστατοι ἐπίσ σκοποι ἐβόησαν· οὗτος δίκαιος κανὼν, οὗτος ὁ κανὼν τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων.-For Actt. xi., xiii., vid. p. 79, not. ad lit. r.] Et Anton. Aug., lib. de E. [Vid. Anton. Augustin. Archiepisc. Torraconens., Dialog. de emendatione Gratiani, lib. ii. Dial. 6. p. 287.-Fuere ante hanc generales septem, quæ vel a locis nomen habent, ut Nicæna, Constantinopolitana, Ephesina, Chalcedonensis; &c.-Vid. etiam Dial. 10. pp. 111, 114; et Dial. 11. pp. 122, 124; ubi concil. Ancyr., Neocæsar., Gangrens., Antiochens., Laodicens., nuncupantur.]

1 Dionys. Exigui codex canonum Ecclesiast., anno 525. [Vid. Concil. Labbe, tom. i. col. 1515.]

k Omnes viii. canones concilii Ephesini magnam partem ultimi canonis (can. lix.) concilii Laodiceni: tres ultimos canones (v., vi., vii.) concil. Constantinopolitani: duos postremos canones (xxviii., xxix.) concil. Chalcedonensis. [Vid. Labbe, ubi supr. not. ad lit. i. Et Conf. num. Ixiii. p. 76, not. ad lit. f.]

1 Canones qui dicuntur Apostolorum, 1; canones Conc. Sardicensis, [omnes xxi.] canones Conc. Africani, [omnes cxxxviii.]

m Ferrandi Diaconi Breviatio canonum, anno 530. [vid. Cod. Rom. Eccl. p. 619. Lectori.'-Pontificum Roinanorum adjectas epistolas a Syricio ad Gregorium juniorem Latinus codex ha

TEST.

CENT. V.

And yet it

epistle which is

now put

into the Roman code.

CHAP. there is no mention made but of one epistle only, which VII. Siricius sent from a council in Rome to the Churches of is not that Africa; and for the reading of the canonical Scriptures he quoteth no other decree" than what was made in the councils of Laodicea and Carthage. So that, for more than a hundred years together, this epistle of Pope Innocent was not heard of at all, nor any other of his that is now entered into the Roman Code. But about two hundred years after, (when the popes had in the mean while begun to set up and enlarge their pretended power so far, as that they might make decrees by themselves alone, and give laws to other Churches abroad, wherein notwithstanding they had much opposition,) there was another breviary of the canons made by Cresconius; who added the decretal epistles of six popes to the code that Dionysius Exiguus and Ferrandus had collected Celestini, before him. Among these epistles this of Innocent's was et Gelasii. one, or at least given to this new collector for one, though, when it came to his hands, there was nothing in it that concerned the catalogue or canon of the Scriptures. For, having undertaken to make a concordater between the decrees of councils and popes together, and to alleges all that

Siricii,
Innoc.,

Zosimi,

Leonis,

bet.-Tituli iv. et vi. are taken 'ex
Epistola papæ Sirici.']

Ibid., tit. 228. [Fulgentii Ferrandi
Breviat., ubi supr. not. m.]—Ut præter
Scripturas canonicas nihil in Ecclesia
legatur. Concil. Laodic., tit. lvii. ;
Concil. Carthag., tit. xlv. [These
canons may be found, also, ap. Justelli
Biblioth., tom. i.]

• Cresconii Breviarium Canonum, ann. 698. [ap. Cod. Eccl. Rom., p. 643.]

Titulus ejusdem Breviarii. [Cod. Canonum vetus Eccl. Rom., p. 643, ubi supr. not. ad lit. 0.- Cresconii Breviarium canonicum.] Hic habetur concordia canonum, conciliorum, [infra scriptorum,] et præsulum Romanorum, [id est, canonum Apostolorum, Nicenorum, Ancyranorum, Novæcæ. sariensium, (sic) Gangrensium, Antiochensium, Laodicensium, Chalcedonensium, Sardicensium, Carthaginensium; item, Præsulum Syricii, Innocentii, Zosimi, Celestini, Leonis, et Gelasii. In this code, the capitula only of the canons are given: but conf. Cresconii Liber Canonum, ap. Justelli Biblioth., where the passages are pro

duced in full, under a similar but verbally different title.]

4 Ibid., in Præf. [ubi supr. Cod. Eccl. Rom., p. 645.-Epist. Cresconii ad Liberium. Nulli siquidem dubium est, quam molestissime perferat lector, dum avidius cujusque rei cognitionem expectat, et ad librum præmittitur, quem aut forte non legit, aut ubi reperiat non novit. Quamobrem antefati viri laude prælata, necessarium duxi, profectui subserviens parvulorum,] juxta vestrum imperium, cuncta ecclesiastica [ut dictum est] constituta, quæ ad vestram notitiam pervenerunt, in hoc opere sub titulorum serie prænotare, [et, ea condiscere valentibus et volentibus, dubitationis ambagem auferre, ut eorum plena instructio, non ex difficultate scriptoris, sed ex desidia jam dependeat lectoris. Quod opus hæc etiam, Deo præstante, utilitas consequitur, ut, dum unum quodque canonicum decreti, de quo quæstio fuerit pro tempore agitata, æquissimus judex coram perspexerit multimode esse digestum, probabili examinatione condiscat, utrum ex severitate, an ex lenitate, suum animum debeat moderari.]

either the one or the other had written for the authority and confirmation of those canons which he had collected into his breviary, and having there also, accordingly, cited this epistle of Pope Innocent six several times', as it related to so many heads, and agreed with so many councils and papal constitutions, that had written any thing of them,-yet, when he came to the titles or canon of reading no other books in the Church, but such as belonged to the canonical Scriptures, (where, if Innocent's epistle had then contained that catalogue of Scripture-books which was afterwards annexed to it, and is now printed with it, the collector would certainly, upon his former undertaking and promise, have quoted it,) he produceth only the canon of the council of Carthage, and maketh no mention of Pope Innocent's epistle at all; which is a sign that there was nothing in it to that purpose, but that the seventh and last head of it (as it is now published for the better advantage and plea of the Roman Church) hath, since the time of Cresconius, been added to it by the sleight of some other hand. At which Isidore Mercator (and as cunning a merchant as he, Benet the Petit) was so skilful, that, within a hundred years after, there was a collection made of more decretal epistles than any honest man knew what to do withal"; till Pope Leo the Fourth, and Nicholas

... Eorumque [constitutorum] concordiam facientes, collegimus in unum. [Which words occur, in substance, in an earlier part of the preface: Præcipis, ut cuncta canonica constituta, quæ, ab ipsis exordiis militiæ Christianæ, tam sancti Apostoli quam Apostolici viri per successiones temporum protulere, vobis colligamus in unum, eorumque concordiam facientes, ac titulorum prænotationem interponentes, ea lucidius declaremus.]

Ibid.-Canon xxvii., ccxx., cexxi., cexxii., cexxiii., ccxxiv.; ex decretis papæ Innocentii et aliorum. [P. Innocent's decrees are cited in other parts of this Breviarium.-Vid. Capitulum ii. tit. 32; xix., 11, 12, 13; xx., 30, 51. (al. 21;) xxvii., 21, 33; liii., 47; lviii., 15; lix., 49, 50; lx., 53, 54, 55, 56, 57; ci., 19, 20; cix. 16; cc., 46; cexiv., 34; ccxvi., 6; cexvii., 8; cexviii., 9; ccxix., 18; cexx., 22; cexxi., 23; cexxii., 24; ccxxiii., 25; eexxiv., 26; ccxxv., 28; ccxxvi., 37; ccxxvii., 52. Vid. Cresconii Breviar.,

ubi supr.]

s Ibid., canon ccxcix., ex Concil. Carthag., tit. 24.-Ut præter Scripturas canonicas nihil in Ecclesia legatur. [Cresconii Brev. ubi supr.-The catalogue from the council of Carthage is given at length ap. Justell.; but still no catalogue is given from P. Innocent's Epist.]

t Qui vero libri accipiuntur in canone S. Scripturarum, &c., apud Binium, [tom. i. p. 756.] et alios. [Vid. Labbe, tom. ii. col. 1256.]-Sect. sive tit. vii. et ultimo: [q. v. p. 153, not. ad lit. d.]

Isidori Mercatoris Collectio Conc. et Epist. Decretalium, anno 800. [Vid. Labbe, tom. i. col. 3, et seq.; where Mercator's preface is given.- Vid. etiam col. 78. Observat. Phil. Labbe, in Epist. Decretal. Rom. Pontificum.Mirum est viris doctissimis, Turriano, Binio, et quibusdam aliis, in tanta eruditionis Ecclesiastica luce, probari potuisse decretales illas epistolas a quocunque, seu Mercatore seu Pecca

TEST

CENT. V.

CHAP. the First', saw that there was great use to be made of them for their own turns, and sent them abroad into the world for

VII.