Part 2

To conduct these negotiations to a happy issue was a task of immense difficulty. The Cardinal writes that while they were proceeding he had to bear what was almost intolerable, and what only his zeal for the interests of the Holy See could have made him brook. At length the decisive _yes_ was spoken, at first confidentially, because no formal invitation was to be delivered until such time as all arrangements were completed. The French government at once announced the Pope's intended visit, in order that the publicity thus given to his promise might make any change of purpose impossible or very difficult. Having thus made himself sure of the presence of the Roman Pontiff at his coronation, Napoleon all at once changed his tone, and made the Pope feel how little respect be really had for the Head of the Church. Indeed, it was Cardinal Consalvi's deliberate opinion--and after events show that he was correct in his judgment--that the French government was fully determined never to carry out the promises which the Pope's minister had extorted from it. The formal invitation was couched in language that fell far short of the ancient formula used on similar occasions, and which the government had promised to employ. Then, instead of deputing ecclesiastics or great dignitaries to present the Emperor's letter to Pius VII., Napoleon sent through Brigadier-General Caffarelli a note so mean in every respect that the Holy Father was inclined to refuse to accept it. But as he had undertaken the journey for the good of the Church, he resolved to bear with calmness and patience whatever slights might be put upon him. He soon found abundant occasions for the exercise of these virtues. In the first place, he was forced to set out on his journey with a precipitate speed that was equally unbecoming his dignity and injurious to his health. He left Rome on 2nd November, 1802, in order to arrive at Paris on the 27th or 28th; and during this long journey he was allowed to rest only twice--once at Florence for a day or two, and again a day at Turin--a few hours of repose being with difficulty permitted him at other places on the road. Besides, he was not even consulted about the day to be fixed for the ceremony, although common politeness should have suggested this mark of deference. "I will say nothing", says Consalvi, "of all the Pope had to suffer from the disrespect shown him in the capital; I will not speak of the manner in which Napoleon made his first appearance before his Holiness at Fontainebleau, in the midst of a pack of fifty hounds, as if going to or returning from the chase; I will not tell how the Pope was made to enter Paris by night and in silence, in order that no eye might see the Emperor at the Pontiff's left, for being in his own carriage he was forced to yield the right to his guest. I will be silent as to how and why, on the day of the consecration, Napoleon made his Holiness wait a full hour and a half seated on the throne near the altar, and how all the arrangements which had been agreed on for the ceremony were set aside; I will not tell how the Emperor himself placed the crown on his own head, having rudely snatched it from the altar before the Pope stretched out his hand to take it up; I will not tell how at the imperial banquet on that day the Pontiff was made to sit in the third place at the table where sat the Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince Elector of Ratisbon; nor will I say a word of the second coronation which, contrary to solemn pledges, took place in the Champ de Mars, nor of the way in which Napoleon, although as it were in his own house, took the right of his Holiness on all occasions when they made their appearance together in public, nor of the little respect he showed him. He never paid him those marks of veneration which so many great kings and emperors have been proud to pay to the Sovereign Pontiffs. Finally, I will be silent about the humiliations which Pius VII. was made to undergo during the whole period of his sojourn. I have but enumerated these sufferings, to the end that all may understand how much virtue, moderation, and goodness the Pope had need of to follow the magnificent examples of self-abasement which the God whose vicar he was here below, has bequeathed to the world. I have wished, likewise, to expose conduct on which I will not allow myself to pass judgment, for I could not do so with becoming coolness and self-respect".

These insults would have been more sweet to the Holy Father if he had been able to realise all the good he had promised himself to achieve for religion at the price of his condescension. But here, too, he was disappointed. After many memorials on the subject to the Emperor, and after many interviews, he was forced to surrender all hopes of seeing the organic laws abolished. Napoleon was simply false to his solemn promises. Nor would the government fulfil its engagement to force the constitutional bishops to a retractation. But what the power of the state would not do, the force of the Pope's gentle virtues happily effected. He called the bishops several times to an audience; and his affectionate manners, his kind language, and the charm of his goodness, made such an impression on their minds, that they avowed their schism, and made a solemn retractation in the form prescribed by the Holy See. Nor did any one of them ever afterwards, by word or deed, give sign of their ancient errors. The Pope thus had the unspeakable delight of having, by his journey, extinguished that dangerous schism, to effect the destruction of which he had before agreed to the Concordat.

We must pass over the other indignities which the Pope had to endure before he could effect his departure from Paris. It was while the Pope was his guest that the Emperor changed the Italian republic into the kingdom of Italy, taking formal possession of the three Legations, and adding the pontifical keys to his coat of arms. He was also disrespectful enough to neglect his duties as host, by setting out for Italy before the Pope left his palace. He even compelled his Holiness to follow him, and wait at every post for the use of the horses which had been employed to draw the imperial carriages. He was too jealous to allow the Pope to officiate in public at any religious ceremony, even on Christmas Day, on which festival the Sovereign Pontiff had to go to the parish church to say a low Mass. Even the presents which he gave in return for the magnificent gifts which Pius VII. had brought from Rome, where Canova had selected them, were disgracefully mean, with the exception of a costly tiara, of which, however, the most precious jewel was a diamond taken from the pontifical tiaras under Pius VI., to pay the exactions of Tolentino. The newspapers were filled with the description of a wonderful altar, two rich carriages, and other splendid presents; but these objects never found their way to the Pope.

On his way home Pius VII. had the consolation of receiving back into the Church the famous Mgr. Ricci, whose name is so well known in connection with the Synod of Pistoia. This prelate made before the Pope a full and sincere retractation of all his errors. At length the Holy Father arrived at Rome amidst the enthusiasm of his subjects, who so soon were to be torn from him by the very man to do honour to whom he had undertaken and suffered so much.

THE UNITED DIOCESES OF CORK AND CLOYNE.

As early as the year 1326, Pope John XXII. gave his sanction to the contemplated union of the Dioceses of Cork and Cloyne. The Pontifical letter conveying this sanction bears date the 2nd of August, tenth year of his pontificate. The motive alleged by King Edward III. when soliciting this union, was the poverty of both sees. Cork is described as having a revenue of only sixty pounds per annum, and it is added that both sees "adeo in facultatibus et redditibus suis tenues et exiles sunt, quod earum praesules singulariter singuli ex eis nequeunt juxta episcopalis status decentiam commode sustentari". Nevertheless, this contemplated union was not carried into effect, and for more than one hundred years we find a distinct and regular succession of bishops in each see. It was only in 1430, when both sees happened to be vacant at the same time, that Jordan, chancellor of Limerick, was appointed by Pope Martin V., first bishop of the united dioceses of Cork and Cloyne.

Thirty years later intelligence was conveyed to Pope Pius II. that this bishop, weighed down by the burden of eighty years, was no longer able to exercise his episcopal functions, the more so as he was subject to frequent infirmities, and suffered from an excessive weakness of sight. Hence, on 27th of May, 1461, we find William Roche (_alias De Rupe_) appointed auxiliary bishop of Dr. Jordan, with right of succession to the united sees. In the brief of appointment he is styled "Archdeacon of Cloyne, of noble lineage, distinguished by his zeal, prudence, and learning": "aliarumque virtutum donis quibus eum Altissimus insignivit" (_Monument. Vatic._, pag. 430). This prelate, however, was not pleasing to the aged bishop, whilst he was specially distasteful to the English monarch: and to restore peace to our southern see, Rome found it necessary, in the following year, to relieve Dr. Roche of the duties of auxiliary bishop.

On the 31st of January, 1462-3, Gerald Fitzgerald was appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff bishop of the united sees, vacant by the resignation of the aged Bishop Jordan. Many efforts were subsequently made to set aside this appointment; however, it was irrevocably recognized by Rome. The chief difficulty arose from the former coadjutor, Dr. Roche, who, finding the see now vacant by the resignation of Bishop Jordan, claimed it as belonging to him by that "right of succession" which had originally been accorded to him. It was only in December, 1471, that this controversy was finally closed, when a letter was addressed by Pope Paul II. to the Archbishop of Cashel, commanding him to put Gerald Fitzgerald in full possession of all the temporalities of the united sees. Peace being thus restored, Dr. Fitzgerald remained in undisturbed possession till his death in 1479. William Roche, by his submission to the former decisions of the Holy See, merited to be appointed his successor; thus all rival claims were happily adjusted, and Dr. Roche for eleven years continued to administer this see. When at length he resigned the arduous charge, Thady Mechar or Maher was appointed the next bishop in 1490. Most of the temporalities of the see, however, were seized on by the Fitzmaurices and other southern chieftains; so much so that Pope Innocent VIII. was obliged to issue a brief on the 18th of July, 1492, commanding these parties under the usual penalties to desist from their iniquitous usurpation. The Pontiff's letter thus begins:--

"Dudum Corkagensi et Clonensi Ecclesiis invicem canonice unitis, tunc certis modis vacantibus, nos illis de persona Ven. fratris nostri Thadei Episcopi Corkagensis et Clonensis, nobis et fratribus nostris, ob suorum exigentiam meritorum, accepta, de fratrum eorumdem consilio apostolica duximus auctoritate providendum.... Cum autem, sicut non absque gravi animi displicentia accepimus, nonnulli iniquitatis filii videlicet Mauritius comes de Simonie, ac Willelmus Barri, ac Edmundus Mauritii de Gerardinis et communitas civitatis Corkagiae necnon universitas civitatis Yoghilliae Clonensis Dioecesis ipsorumque comitis et Willelmi ac Edmundi fratres eorumque ac civitatis et universitatis praedictorum subditi, necnon Philippus O'Ronayn, clericus Corkagensis Dioecesis, nescitur quo spiritu ducti, ipsum Thadeum Episcopum, quominus possessionem regiminis et administrationis ac bonorum dictarum Ecclesiarum assequi potuerit atque possit, multipliciter molestare et perturbare, Dei timore postposito non cessaverint", etc. (_Mon. Vatic._, pag. 506).

The temporalities of Cork and Cloyne were in great part gifts and grants from the various branches of the Geraldine family, and hence it was that these southern chieftains were now unwilling to see them pass into the hands of a stranger. The death of Bishop Thady put an end to the controversy. He himself had been in Rome when the decree of Pope Innocent was made: and on his journey homeward he was seized with a mortal distemper, which, in a few days, hurried him to his grave in the month of October, 1492, in the town of Eporedia, now Ivrea, in Piedmont, where his mortal remains were deposited in the chapel of St. Eusebius. As great miracles were performed by his intercession, he is venerated at Ivrea as Blessed.

His successor's name was Gerald, but we only know of him that he was implicated in the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck, for which he received a pardon from the crown in 1496. He resigned his bishopric in 1499, and John FitzEdmund was next appointed to these sees, by brief of 26th June the same year. During twenty-one eventful years he continued to administer the united dioceses, and on his death we find the following letter addressed from Dublin by the Earl of Surrey, lord deputy, to Cardinal Wolsey, who was at this time at the zenith of his power in the court of King Henry:--

"Pleaseth your Grace to understand that the Bishop of Cork is dead; and great suit is made to me to write for men of this country. Some say it is worth two hundred marks per annum, some say more. My poor advice would be that it should be bestowed on some Englishman. The Bishop of Leighlin, your servant, having both, methinks he might do good service here. I beseech your Grace let none of this country have it, nor none other but such as will dwell thereon, and such as are able and willing to speak and ruffle when need shall be". (_State Papers_, vol. ii. page 43).

This letter is dated Dublin, 27th August, 1520, and whatever may have been the cause, another recommendation was transmitted in the following month by the same lord deputy in favour of Walter Wellesley. Both these recommendations, however, were without success, and we meet with a Bishop _Patrick_, whose name sufficiently indicates the land of his birth, holding these sees in the year 1521. His episcopate was short: as Cotton remarks, "he probably sat only for a year or two". In the State Papers Cork is again described as vacant on the 25th of April, 1522: and before the close of that year John Bennett was appointed by the Holy See, successor of Saint Finbarr. He chose for his place of residence the collegiate establishment of Youghal, which had originally been founded by his family, and at his death he too endowed it with a great part of his own paternal property. Brady in his _Records_ has registered several interesting memorials connected with this ancient Collegiate Church of Youghal. The catalogue of its books, drawn up in the year 1490, especially deserves attention, as it reveals to us what was the literary store treasured up in an humble religious house in a country town of our island at a supposed period of ignorance and barbarism. Besides several books of devotion and tracts on the decretals and canon law, there were eight Missals, five of which are described as "missalia pulchra pergameni". There was also the Life of Christ, by Ludolf of Saxony, now so rare, the Letters of St. Jerome, the Works of St. Gregory the Great, the Summa of St. Thomas, and a number of treatises by St. Bonaventure, the Master of Sentences, St. Antoninus, and others. The Sacred Scriptures had a specially prominent place; there were five psalters for the use of the choir, and twelve other copies of the Bible. One of these is entitled "Una Biblia Tripartita, et alia parvae quantitatis": another was the Old and New Testament, with the gloss of Nicholas de Lyra, "in five volumes"; and then there are "quatuor Evangelistae, glossati, in quatuor voluminibus", and "unum volumen in quo continentur parabolae Salomonis, libri Sapientiae, Canticorum, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus", etc. Some of the works of this little library, if now preserved, would be invaluable for illustrating the antiquities of our island. There was one "antiquum martirologium"; also a volume called "Petrus de Aurora, artis versificatoriae", is described as "mire exauratum": again, "Apparatus Magistri Johannis de Anthon super constitutiones Ottoboni": whilst another small volume was enriched, amongst other things, "cum quibusdam historiis provinciae Hiberniae". An addition was made to this library in 1523, consisting, probably, of the Books of Dr. Bennett. It will suffice to mention two of these works, viz., "Liber meditationum sancti Bonaventurae cum aliis meditationibus et chronicis Geraldinorum", and "Biblia de impressione, in rotunda forma, in manu Joannis Cornelii" (_Records_, etc., London, 1864, vol. 3, pag. 319, seqq.).

Dr. Bennett died in the year 1535/6, and at his death enriched the chantry of St. Mary's with some ancestral lands in Youghal and its neighbourhood (_Ulster Journal of Arch._, April, 1854). Henry VIII. appointed Dominick Tirrey to the vacant see, but the reigning Pontiff refused to recognize this nomination, and chose a Franciscan named Lewis MacNamara as successor to Dr. Bennett. The brief of his appointment to Cork and Cloyne is dated 24th September, 1540. This prelate, however, soon after his consecration was summoned to a better world, and on the 5th of November, the same year, another brief was expedited appointing John Hoyeden, (which name is probably a corruption for _O'h-Eidhin, i.e. O'Heyne_; see O'Donovan, _Book of Rights_, pag. 109), a canon of Elphin, bishop of the united dioceses. From the consistorial acts we learn that he was impeded by the crown nominee from taking possession of the temporalities of his see, and hence on the 25th February, 1545, he received the administration of his native diocese. The following is the consistorial record:

Die 20^o Feb., 1545. "S. Sanctitas providit Ecclesiae Elphinensi de persona Joannis Episcopi Corcagiensis et Clunensis (sic) qui regiminis et administrationis Corcagensis et Clunensis Ecclesiarum invicem unitarum possessionem eo quod a schismaticis et iis qui a Catholica fide defecerunt occupatae detinentur assequi non potuit, nec de proximo assequi speret: ita quod, propter hoc, eisdem Corcagensi et Clunensi Ecclesiis praesse non desinat sed tam Elphinensi quam Corcagensi et Clunensi Ecclesiis hujusmodi ad sex menses a die habitae per eum pacificae possessionis seu quasi regiminis", etc. (sic).

It was probably impossible for Dr. O'Heyne to obtain possession of the temporalities of his see till the accession of Queen Mary. Even then he must have held them only for a little while, as the royal letter granting these temporalities to Roger Skiddy is dated 18th of September, 1557. A curious record of the period gives us an accurate idea of the possessions of the religious houses in the vicinity of Cork: it is a pardon granted to William Bourman for alienating the property of the house of the Friars Preachers, situated in the suburbs of Cork, and the property thus alienated is described as "the site, circuit, and precinct of the monastery, the church, belfry, closes (perhaps this is for _clausura_), halls and dormitories, castles, messuages, lands, buildings, gardens, mills, and other hereditaments thereunto belonging, an orchard, three gardens, a water-mill, a parcel of meadows containing half a stang, a fishing pool, a salmon weir, three acres called the half _scaghbeg_, ten acres in Rathminy, and twenty acres in Galliveyston" (_Morrin_, i. 374).

The next Bishop appointed to the united sees of Cork and Cloyne was Roger Skiddy, who for some time had held the dignity of Dean of Limerick. Queen Mary's letter ordering the restitution of the temporalities to him, is dated the 18th of September, 1557, and it adds that her Majesty "had addressed letters commendatory to his Holiness the Pope a good while since in his favour, and it was hoped he should shortly receive his Bull and expedition from his Holiness" (_Ib._, i. 377). Letters patent granting the temporalities to him were issued on 2nd November the same year (_Ib._, i. 373, and _Brady_, _Records_, iii. 46), and it is probable that the Bulls from the Holy See were expedited during the interval; for, in an original memorandum preserved in the State Paper Office, London, the remark is made that "the Queen's letters were sent to the Bishop of Rome, and the Bulls were returned thence for the bishoprick of Cork" (_Shirley_, pag. 115). Nevertheless, this Bishop was not consecrated, neither did he receive possession of the temporalities during the life-time of Queen Mary, although her death did not take place till the 17th of November, 1558. For some time after the accession of Queen Elizabeth, no mention was made of the See of Cork and Cloyne, till on 31st of July, 1562, her Majesty wrote to the Earl of Sussex and the Lord Chancellor, "directing the admission of Roger Skiddy to the bishopricks of Cork and Cloyne, to which he had been previously elected" (_Ibid._, 472); accordingly, on the 29th of October, 1562, this dignitary was admitted to possession of the temporalities, and a mandate was issued for his consecration, bearing the same date. In his writ of restitution to the temporalities was inserted a retrospective clause, that he should have possession of them from the time of his first advancement by Queen Mary. Whether Dr. Skiddy was actually consecrated or not, no record has been preserved to us, and his consecration in virtue of such a royal mandate would be wholly uncanonical and schismatical. No doubt, however, seems to be entertained of his orthodoxy and devotedness to the Catholic faith: and in 1567, unwilling to lend his name to the religious novelties which the government of the day wished to propagate in the kingdom, he resigned the bishoprick and retired to Youghal, where for several years he devoted his undivided attention to prepare for a happy eternity.

Nicholas Landes was appointed bishop of this see in consistory of 27th of February, 1568/9. The consistorial entry is curious, as it omits all mention of Dr. Skiddy, and describes the see as vacant by the death of Dr. John O'Heyne.

"Die 27^o Februarii, 1568: referente Revmo. Cardinali Alciato S. Sanctitas providit Ecclesiae Corcagiensi et Cloinensi invicem unitis, per obitum bonae memoriae Joannis Jadican, ultimi Episcopi vacanti, de persona Rev. D. Nicolai Landes, Hiberni et litteris Episcoporum Catholicorum ejusdem Provinciae atque etiam testimonio Reverendi Patris Wolf S. I. commendati cum retentione rectoriae cum cura donec possessionem Episcopatus adeptus fuerit".

A suggestion has been made that the name _Landes_ is a corruption for some other original name. Such errors in names are certainly very frequent in the consistorial entries of our Irish Bishops: still, two distinct copies of the consistorial acts (viz., the _Corsinian_ and the _Vallicellian_) retain the present name without variation; and what is still more important, the Brief appointing his successor, Dr. Tanner, in 1574, describes the see as then vacant _per obitum Nicolai Landes_. Moreover, the name _Landey_ was no novelty in the ecclesiastical records of Ireland in the sixteenth century, an Abbot _Landey_ having held the monastery of St. Mary's, Dublin, during Henry VIII.'s reign, as we learn from the first volume of Morrin's _Records_.