at this time, in order to
captivate, with more facility, the minds of a rude and barbarous people,
who were scarcely susceptible of a rational conviction" (pp. 117, 118).
The supremacy of the see of Rome advanced with rapid strides during this
century. The people depending, in their superstitious ignorance, on the
clergy, and the clergy on the bishops, it became the interest of the
savage kings to be on friendly terms with the latter, and to increase
their influence; and as the bishops, in their turn, leant upon the
central authority of Rome, the power of the pontiff rapidly increased.
This power was still further augmented by the struggles for supremacy
among the Eastern bishops, for by favouring sometimes one and sometimes
another, he fostered the habit of looking to Rome for aid. In the East,
five "patriarchs" were raised over the rest of the bishops, the
Patriarch of Constantinople standing at their head. Thus, East and West
drifted ever more apart. Mosheim speaks of "the ambitious quarrels and
the bitter animosities that rose among the patriarchs themselves, and
which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid
crimes. The Patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself in these
odious contests. Elated with the favour and proximity of the Imperial
Court, he cast a haughty eye on all sides, where any objects were to be
found on which he might exercise his lordly ambition. On the one hand,
he reduced under his jurisdiction the Patriarchs of Alexandria and
Antioch, as prelates only of the second order; and on the other, he
invaded the diocese of the Roman Pontiff, and spoiled him of several
provinces. The two former prelates, though they struggled with vehemence
and raised considerable tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled
ineffectually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a
variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the Roman Pontiff, far
superior to them in wealth and power, contended also with more vigour
and obstinacy; and, in his turn, gave a deadly wound to the usurped
supremacy of the Byzantine Patriarch. The attentive inquirer into the
affairs of the Church, from this period, will find, in the events now
mentioned, the principal source of those most scandalous and deplorable
dissensions which divided first the Eastern Church into various sects,
and afterwards separated it entirely from that of the West. He will find
that these ignominious schisms flowed chiefl