Fra Paolo was no stranger within the
University
of Padua, which was
regarded with peculiar favor by the Republic of Venice.
regarded with peculiar favor by the Republic of Venice.
Sarpi - 1868 - Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? N THE LIFE OF [A. n. 1576.
sound morality. Their great influence was gained by confession and elo-
quent sermons, for while the former overawed, the latter allured and
fascinated the weak minded and unwary, who were easily seduced by men
well trained in the art of bending the will to their purposes.
But it was not long before the services of Fra Paolo were required
in his Convent at Venice as Reader of Philosophy; and his audience
was composed, not only of the friars of his own Cloister, but of many
secular Clergy. His lectures were distinguished by " clearness of method,
lucid ideas, and pr-ofundity of thought. "
When Fra Paolo left Milan, the angel of death had not yet stricken that
devoted city, and the Cardinal Borromeo had not yet entered on his lau-
dable work of self devotion, in tending with skill and tenderness all who
were sinking beneath the noxious breath of the pestilence; but in the
early dawn of the following year the plague stalked like a mighty giant
through the fertile plains, the mountain heights, and the densely populated
cities of Italy, and desolated that beautiful land. In Venice, Titian, with
many other persons of note, fell beneath its power, and amid the general
mortality Isabella Sarpi, the mother of Fra Paolo, was numbered with the
dead.
It was in truth an era of long and deep anguish to Venetia, the land
was filled with wailing, yet every effort for the restoration of health was
as powerless as the voice of a pilot to still the rage of the storm. Seven
hundred was the frightful amount of death from sunrise till sunset, and
forty thousand was the total number of victims. But at length the course
of the plague was arrested. The Doge and the Senate proposed that the
mourning survivors should rear a church in honor of the Holy Redeemer.
Two hundred deaths had been notified to the Senate on the day previous,
but it is a well attested fact that on the day following that on which
this pious offering was made, only four persons died of the plague.
The foundation of the Church S. S. Il Bedentore was laid by the Doge
and Patriarch, and " a solemn procession of the whole Clergy of the
city, " 1 followed by the religious Orders; and if ever a human heart
was stirred to its depths, it must have been that of Fra Paolo, when
he and the prostrate and stricken assembly, amid stifled sobs, suppressed
groans, and bitter tears, knelt to crave one look, one tender look of sym-
pathy and regard from heaven.
On the following year this Church, the masterpiece of Palladio, rose
in all its fair beauty and perfect symmetry. It stands on the Island of the
Giudecca, and its fine dome is well seen from the opposite shore beyond the
Piazzetta of S. Marco. There is comparatively little change in this structure,
* Ssnsovino. Del Sistieri di. Dorsa Duro, lib. 6,, continued by Martinioni.
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? mr. 24. ] ' ma PAOLO saarr 111
its fine features have crested the waves of time. May every eye that /
rests on it rise, as did the eye of Fra Paolo, in profound adoration to the
most Holy Redeemer! It is impossible to tread its nave of vast but sim'
ple grandeur untouched by the memory of the succour lent by Heaven to
Venetia in the hour of her woe. How often on his way to the Ducal pa-
lace in after years did Fra Paolo view with emotion this votive fane! How
would his love of architecture admire its unrivalled proportions! and how
higher far would his thoughts ascend, when turned to sadness by the
scene before him, they would naturally flow towards the fond mother who
had taught him his first lessons of holy wisdom, gentleness, and humility,
now laid cold as the marbles which adorn the Church of the Redeemer!
About this time Fra Paolo heard with sorrow of the League against the
Reformed. The Pope Was about to send his troops against men who had
done nothing to provoke such treatment. Far other were the thoughts of
Fra Paolo, he bridged over all differences between them and the Church
of Rome, and discovered points of union where lesser spirits only found
cause of cavil or persecution, he judged the difference of both parties to
be exaggerated. He knew that several doctrines of the Church had been
utterly lost sight of, or not even discussed by the last Council, and he
never suffered any difference of opinion to dull the brightness of friendship.
He had many learned friends amongst the Reformed, and his expressions
of esteem for them were unfeigned. The affairs of Rome also occupied his
attention; Gregory XIII had conferred the title of Grand Duke on Cosmo
di Medici, which gave great umbrage to enlightened politicians; and
men of religion asked, " What right had an ecclesiastic to confer such a
dignity? "
But tidings from more distant climes were satisfactory, the Sultan was
on good terms with the Republic, the power of Spain decreased in the
Low Countries, and the Prince of Orange was well established in his king-
dom, and weary of the tyranny of Spain, Italy showed strong symptoms of
rebellion.
Venice, though she had suffered much by fire and famine, war and
pestilence, was now delivered from these ills; her beautiful port was crowded
with galleys, and her active commerce again flourished, it was lessened,
but still vigorous. Those who have trod her broad quays, seen the lustre' of
an evening sun light up the crafts that now enter her port, can picture to
themselves what the scene was when fleets of galleys and hundreds of
merchantmen rode at ease in that safe harbour, when the gondolas shone
in all the magnificence with which they were then adorned. No stronger
contrast can be conceived, than the noise and bustle of the harbour of
Venice and the stillness of the Convent of the Servi. Far from the place
of mart or festivity, it retains even now, in all its ruin, the stamp of deep
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? 32 ' THE LIFE or i . [A. D. i1'576-'
solemnity; its site however is not gloomy, nor in those days was one of
its inhabitants. It was not only the fame of Fra-Paolo's acquirements which
drew the learned to his cell, but also his cheerful conversation; and foreign
travellers openly said, that they " had no other object in visiting Venice
than to see Fra Paolo? Many of these carried Albums, and when requested
to write in these, he Wrote -either some wise precepts from an ancient
author or thus, from the Holy Scriptures. " 1 From intercourse with
well informed persons he had early tidings of passing events, a great boon
at a time When communication was neither rapid nor certain between any
countries. His interest in the Gallican Church was uniform, although he
did not think its liberties perfect by any means , still he thought
them very preferable to the liberty enjoyed by the Church of Rome in
Italy.
It was during this year that he made the acquaintance of M. de Fer-
rier ' who again came to Venice from Paris on an embassy from Hen-
ry II to obtain a loan of money, and to announce peace between the Pa-
pists and the Reformed. This bold assertion of the rights and liberties of
the Gallican Church gave umbrage to some of the Italian Clergy present
at the Council of Trent, where this liberal and high minded Frenchman
had not hesitated to ask the Fathers of the Council to follow the example
-of Josiah, by causing the Book of the Law to be read which he said
"had been concealed by the malice of men. " He had also demanded the resto-
ation of many ancient usages, that the cup in the Holy Sacrament should
be administered to the people, prayers and catechisms taught, and the
Psalms sung in the French language, he had also petitioned against plu-
ralities, and had demanded a proper definition of the doctrines of images,
relics, and indulgences, with all the eloquence that charmed the parlia-
ment. He had pressed these claims and maintained their justice by quota-
tions from the Holy Scriptures, and from the writings of Saint Augustine,
Saint Ambrose, and Saint Chrysostom, but all in vain. These sentiments,
however, with the mature experience and unblemished integrity of de
Ferrier, made him esteemed by Fra Paolo. Equally distinguished by his
diplomacy as by his knowledge of law, de Ferrier, although a lover of
antiquity, was still a lover of reform. He knew in what odour France held
the Inquisition, and how the far sighted Chancellors Segfier and l'Hopi-
tal had prevented its introduction into France, and was therefore well able
to dilate to him on the wrongs done to France at the Council 'of Trent.
He had looked for reformation, not for confirmation of dogmas which had
been the additions of Popes or of former, but not general, Councils; but
1 MS.
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? - E1'. FRA PAOLO SARPI 33
the French ambassador, like many others in Italy, had been disappointed.
It is no difficult matter to picture Sarpi and M. de Ferrier in close con-
verse in the Convent of the Servi on the affairs of the Council, when the
memory of Paolo eagerly stored up what de Ferrier related, in order to
incorporate in his history of the Council a relation of those facts to which
no one but M. de Ferrier, on the part of his royal Master, could be privy.
Among the other friends of Fra Paolo at this time, the noble du Ples-
sis Mornay may be mentioned, his piety and learning were valued by him,
as well as his wisdom in the Cabinet. '
But to proceed. The Pontiff, who had high views of the Papal power,
still gave annoyance to the Republic of Venice. Rome was gradually climb-
ing towards that height which she attempted to hold in the seven-
teenth century, when, counselled by Fra Paolo, Venice resisted her de-
mands. '
The death of Maximilian made no change in the aspect of public affairs,
as his son continued friendly to Venetia.
On the fourth of June A. D. 1577 the Doge Morenigo died, and was
buried with great pomp in the Church of S. Giovanni and S. Paolo, where also
are the remains of Brfigandino, who, being betrayed by the Turks after the 61/
siege of Famagosta, suffered the terrible death of being flayed alive rather
than deny the name of Christ, his Redeemer. As a trophy, his skin was
preserved by his brutal enemies, but subsequently obtained at great cost
after the battle of Lepanto and taken to this place of rest. Little had the
Turks reflected, when they suspended this trophy to the bow-sprit of one
of their galleys, that they were only extending the fame of him they had
murdered, and proclaiming the power of a deathless principle, the religion
of Christ in the soul of the noble Brigandino, that same principle which
enabled Fra Paolo so often to face death without terror. These sentiments
were shared by Sebastiano Veniero, the veteran victor of Lepanto, ,
who was now elected to the dignity of Doge with great unanimity. His election supplied Pope Gregory with an occasion to propitiate the
Republic, and he therefore sent a gold rose to the Dogeressa. But as it was
the custom of the Popes to send the rose to such courts only as gave
strict allegiance to the Papacy, the Republic of Venice resented this dis-
tinction respecting the gift as a reflection on her independence, and M
although the Dogeressa retained the emblem of silence, the displeasure M1'
the Venetians slowly mouldered, like the fire which shortly after consumed
the Doge's palace, only to burst forth in greater volume. This is no figure
of speech, the olden palace, which occupied the same site as that which
now claims the attention of the curious, was a building of which the Ve-
netians were justly proud; it was nearly all burned to the ground. " The
Hall of the Grand Council, that of the Senate and that of the Scrutiny suf-
3
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? 34 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
fered, " 1 and it was not till the flames reached the celebrated picture, Il Pa-
radiso, the largest oil painting in the world, that the fire yielded to human
efforts for its extinction. And great were these efforts, for which 1,500 ducats
were voted to the workmen of the arsenal, who had perilled their lives to
extinguish the flames; but they were true Venetians, men whose services
were always prompt at the call of their country, were neither selfish
nor venal, and they refused to touch the proffered gift. The palace could
be, and was rebuilt, that palace in which Fra Paolo was so often to give
counsel, but who could repaint the pictures of Bellini, of Paul Veronese,
Tintoretto, or of Pardenone? 1 Many of the portraits of the Doges painted
by Titian perished, and the catalogue of upwards of one hundred pictures
burned in that fatal fire, forms a dark page in the " Venetia Descritta " of
Sansovino. Amongst them were the portraits of personages familiar to
every reader of Venetian history; many of them are mentioned by Sarpi,
who saw the palace rise like a phoenix from its ashes more beautiful than
ever; but a year had not elapsed when its occupant the Doge died, leaving
a name that will go down to the latest posterity.
This Doge, Sebastiano Veniero, was succeeded by Nicolo da Ponte, and
Fra Paolo had the satisfaction to see a man of learning and science hold
the chief office in the State. During the first year of his government, Pa-
ruta was named Historiographer, but each succeeding historian, had he
chronicled the bare facts of the case, could only have told " that the in-
fluence of the King of Spain throughout Italy was on the increase. " To
this may be traced the decay both of Venice and of all Italy. ' So
said Sarpi: some have condemned his dislike to the influence of Spain, but
if such persons would consider that her monarchs curbed the liberty of
Italy, that they fostered bigotry and superstition, and upheld the power of
the Inquisition in spiritual matters, not only by encouragement of the
papal prohibitions on books, but by many other taxes, restrictions, and
vexations/7 would they not rather pity than blame the man who could not,
even in thought, bow beneath impending tyranny? Two strove for the
mastery, Philip of Spain and the Pope, as to who should "be absolute
sovereign of all Italy; " Fra Paolo Sarpi was afraid of both, Was he wrong?
The writer must new claim the indulgent attention of the reader to
some account of Fra Paolo's studies, prefaced as it necessarily is with the
reasons for not citing from the Friars manuscripts in this instance. Many
of the MSS. of Sarpi remained at the Convent of the Servi, and they
were all collected and arranged in the year 1740, by Fra Josepho
Bergantino, who to the gifts of genius and a critical knowledge of Vene-
1 Calendar. Rawdon Brown.
2 Sismondi.
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? am. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 35
tian antiquity added urbanity of manners, and his veneration for the
memory of Sarpi, which was also shown by his work " F. Paolo Giusti-
ficato, " made him well fitted for his task. Besides a large volume entitled
the " Schedaa Sarpianae, " there were five small volumes bearing this
title, " Pauli Sarpi collectanea quot quot domi forisque inveniri potuerunt
ab H. Josepho Berganteno H. C. A. in unum congesta 1740. "
All these perished in the fire which consumed the Library of the Servi
in the year 1769. ' But as Foscarini and Griselini had personally exa-
mined these MSS. the reader is not left without their observations on
these curious writings; both were of opinion that Paolo Sarpi had entered
on his wide field of research in the years in which he taught philosophy
in his Convent. This opinion was founded on their perusal of the " Pen-
sieri, " a MS. of two hundred pages much worn and damaged, which '
consisted of seven hundred thoughts on natural philosophy, metaphysics,
and mathematics, nearly all of which bore the date of 1578; and both
Foscarini and Griselini bear witness to their being " the marrow of scho-
lastic doctrine, " and " the type of more modern systems. "
After noticing the high aim which Fra Paolo took in known science,
how he had extracted as well as analysed the essence of natural philo-
sophy, and shewed that he had embraced all that men of the greatest
genius of the past and present century knew of the elements and nature
of bodies both terrestrial and celestial, their generation, properties and
qualities, how he had successfully unfolded all that relates to the nu-
trition of life, and of vegetable and animal matter, Griselini observes,
" What may be said of his thoughts on philosophy, may be equally affir-
' med of those on mathematics, which not only belong to pure geometry,
but to synthesis, analysis, the conic sections, mechanics, statistics, hydros-
tatics, hydraulics, hydrogaphy, aeromatria, pneuniatics, optics, dioptrics,
catoptrics, geocatoptrics, catodioptrics, the sphere, astronomy, acoustics,
and civil and military architecture," and Griselini adds," that these
Pensieri not only showed that Fra Paolo was versant in the Works of
Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius of Perga, but in those of Vitellio,
Alhazen the Arabian Mathematician and Optician of the 12th century,
and with the works of his contemporaries Ubaldo, Marquis del Monte, a
renowned writer on mechanics of the 16th century, and other philosophers
and mathematicians of note, precursors of the great Galileo. "
There was a translation of the work of this Oriental in the La-
tin language in the library of the Servi, Venice, prior to its destruction.
" Opticae Thesavrvs Alhazeni Arabis, libri' scptem nunc primum Editi
Eivsdem liber de Crepvscvlis et Nubium ascencionibus. Item Vitellonis
1 Appendix.
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? 36 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
Thuringopoloni Libri X, omnes instaurati, figuris illustrati et aucti,
adiectis etiam in Alhazenum commentarijs a Federigo Resnero. " On
the margin of this volume, especially in the second book, there were
many notes in the handwriting of Fra Paolo.
Fra Paolo shewed that a solid immersed and saturated in water cannot
acquire more gravity than it has by nature, because water in water, not
' having gravity cannot give to the solid either more or less gravity. '
Such is nearly the doctrine of Galileo. Again, touching the velocity which
accelerates the fall of a heavy body attached to a cord or pendfnt thread,
his reasoning is similar-to that adopted by the Florentine philosopher
in his Dialogues. ' Sarpi shows that " an igneous vapor arising from the
water does not ascend quicker because the vapor is lighter than the air,
but because it is forced upwards by the water which compresses it, " and
he further remarks that " a body which weighs in the air double that of the
water, will descend in it in the same degree as the air ascends. " So Galileo
asserts that " the gravity of a solid, greater or less than that of the water,
is the true and proper sense of its sinking or not. " On comparison of
the ideas of the author of a method of Indivisibility with that of the
" Pensieri, " the same argument occurs as to the effect of mirrors whose
concavity is generated by a parabolical line; there is also similarity between
the " Pensieri " and the Lunar Astronomy of Kepler, as also Gregory in his
Comparative Astronomy. On dioptrics, Fra Paolo observes, " I have made
many experiments in this particular with looking glasses, spherical and
concave, convex and plane and having observed the effects produced by the
rays of the sun, and by the brightness of the moon and stars reflected on
the water, the reflection of the same will determine their place and dis-
tance. At different times the experiments were according to my method
of reasoning, but at other times, I found I was quite contradicted, which
is one argument for the belief that in many cases the broken and diver-
gent rays which meet our eyes converge, or are as if convergent. "-
The " Pensieri " also contained thoughts on Anatomy, although there
is presumptive proof that these threw considerable light on that science, it
is more probable that Fra'Paolo's discoveries of the valves in the veins,
and the dilitation of the uvea of the eye were made during 1582-5 when
for three years he made Anatomy a principal study.
The nomination of a friend of Sarpi to the Readership of the Ducal Chan-
cery must not be omitted. Aldus Manutius was one of a family held in vene-
ration by every lover of classical literature. The Aldine, or Italic character
perpetuates the name of Aldus the elder, as well as his edition of the Clas-
1 Pensieri MS. Sarpi. N" 13, 538.
2 Opera di Galileo. Tom. 1. 216.
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? air. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 37
sies, but the studies of Aldus, the younger, of the libraries of Venice as
well as its stones, marbles and antiquities, and his arduous comparisons
of their inscriptions with upwards of 1,500 Roman inscriptions in order
to establish a correct orthography of the ancient Latin, were more than
sufficient to arrest the attention of Sarpi, and to make him seek the so-
ciety of Aldus Manutius, who was at a later period librarian of the Vati-
can, nor could he forget to whom he owed his knowledge of the ancient
Roman Calendar.
Fra Paolo was no stranger within the University of Padua, which was
regarded with peculiar favor by the Republic of Venice. Let the reader
view the modest Friar as he passes beneath the winged lion which adorns
its gates, and enters the College where he had so often listened to its
learned professors, now to receive a degree at their hands. The place where
Livy once dwelt, reflected honor on itself by giving honor to Sarpi, and
centuries after the Servite had received his degree, his countrymen could
point to the Matricular of that great University, and tell that there was
inscribed a name of which even Padua is proud. On his return from Pa-
dua, public affairs could not fail to interest Fra Paolo, because the inde-
pendence of his country was' dear to him, and the rich vein of liberty runs
through his works. What then must he have thought of the King of Spain
making a hasty peace with the Netherlands that he might possess the
Kingdom of Portugal? A like usurpation might await Venetia, and Paolo
gave good reasons for this supposition long before the plot of Ossuna.
'The occupation by the Pope of parts of the lands of the Romagna was
a cause of great discontent and bloodshed, nevertheless Venice was still
secure. _
Fra Paolo Sarpi took priest's orders when he was twenty seven years of
age, and afterwards passed much of his time in strict retirement, and in
acts of piety and meditation.
For some years subsequently he did not take wine, animal food did
not accord with his constitution, and his principal nourishment was bread
and fruit, his beverage water. The Servi partook of both animal food and
wine, but Fra Paolo's abstemiousness was only on account of his health. He
was very thin in body, having grave disorders of the liver, which caused
great weakness and pain, but he was not accustomed to relax either his
habits of devotion or study, and thought it a mistake, except in cases of
extremity, when an invalid deviated from his usual rule of life. When he
was about thirty years of age he was obliged to take wine /and he was
often heard to say that nothing had ever cost him so much as in this to
follow the advice of his physicians. " He always preserved the strictest disci-
pline over himself, and he could so command his affections, that if his
judgment was contrary to them, they could not move him. No dainty
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? 38 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
could excite his appetite if hurtful, and he took medicine as if it was
good food when he believed it to be beneficial. Such were his infirmities of
body that he never could be persuaded that his life would be prolonged
for a year, he thought each day might be his last, and said he never
remembered to have felt so as if he could live a year. To this may be at-
tributed the great progress which he made in his studies, in which he
was so engrossed that few days passed in which they did not occupy him
eight hours, but he had no intention of publishing any work till obliged
to do so for the public good. He was not resolute in action, but rather
appeared cold and reserved, for he who has little hope of long life seldom
applies himself to actions offgreat consequence. " 1
Since the institution of the Order of the Servi, Fra Paolo was the only
member who had been appointed Provincial at the early age of twenty
seven, but with the unanimous applause of the Chapter held at Verona,
he was now chosen to fill that office, which was one of trust, and required
not only temper and discretion, but ability to govern. The Provincial had
supervision of all the Convents of his Order within his province, he had
a voice in the provincial Chapters with power to elect ad interim the
officials of the Convent: he had the power if ' he pleased to transfer any
friar from one Convent to another, to reprove, correct, or even imprison
him, but the sentence was to be remitted for approval to the General. He
might inhabit any Convent he chose, travel at the common expense and
receive some emolument from all. Except in the case of insult or personal
provocation he was exempt from all reproof, took precedence of all friars
of inferior grade, appointed a lay brother to be his servant, and was free
of all public duty. _
Such Was the office to which Fra Paolo was elected in the city of Ve-
rona, justly termed " il Nobile. " It was of interest to a classical scholar,
such as Sarpi, from being the birth place of the magnanimous conqueror
Emilius, of Cornelius Nepos, of the poets Emilius/Macer and Catlllus, of
Pliny the Elder, the great Titus Vespasian, and of the cruel Domitian.
Some Latin authors pronounce Verona to have been a city of the
Cenomani, but Pliny places its site in Rhoetia. It was one of the twelve
cities of Etruria, and is said to have' taken its name from the illustrious
family of the Vera. Its ancient amphitheatre, its fortifications, its remains
of an ancient Naumachia, all would occupy the attention of Fra Paolo,
and to this student of architecture Verona afforded many objects on
which his eye would linger with just appreciation. From his Convent there,
his abode of peace, he could look down on the plains where Caius Mar-
cius met and defeated the Cimbri, and where Odoacer met the same fate
1 MS.
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? E1'. 27. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 39
at the hands of Theodoric King of the Goths, but could Fra Paolo
imagine as he trode the Cathedral where the Lords of the Scala lie en-
tombed, that his fame would be spread by the learned Scaliger, who boast-
ed descent from these ancient governors of Verona?
Great reform had been effected in the discipline of the churches
there by Bishop Giberti, and Fra Paolo valued such. The portrait of
this exemplary Prelate must have been'familiar to him during his
intercourse with Cardinal Borromeo at Milan, as it was the pen-
dent, silent, but chosen monitor of the Cardinal, who endeavored to
imitate the example of one, who was a successful and venerated leader
in the cause of reform within the Church of Rome. .
On} his return from Verona, Fra Paolo taught Theology at Venice,
and discharged his duties as Provincial with piety and integrity. He
was proof against bribes, refused the smallest gift if offered as such,
and in no instance were his judgments revoked even by the Cardinal
San Severina. " Partiality and division were banished from the Order
during his government, and none complained but those who presum-
ed more on his friendship than upon their merit, thus in this, his
first essay in government, the germ of his future excellence in admini-
stration was apparent as well as his great prudence in negotiation,
so that in all the innumerable affairs which passed through his hands,
none were so involved but that he could unravel them, or else they
were wholly inextricable. - Persons of all conditions placed such confi-
dence in his judgment that they believed he, if any one, could extri-
cate them from difficulty. Though apparently inclined to severity and
rigorous measures he was not so; he was naturally so kind and ten-
der that in mature age he was not only compassionate to man but to
animals, he could not bear to see them ill treated, and if it had been
necessary for him to kill an animal for his own food, he would rather
have suffered abstinence. " ' Such are the minute particulars given
to us, of the Friar whom those of the Court of Rome call "Terrible. "
Great differences still existed amongst the Servi, but Fra Paolo endea-
vored to quell dissension; he loved justice but blamed too great lenity
in punishment, especially as administered at Venice, and deemed it a
cause of excess; yet he leaned to mercy rather than to severity in the
administration of his government as Provincial.
In a general Chapter of the Order, convoked at Parma by the Prior
General Tavanti, according to custom the learned Servi held disputations
on Theology and Philosophy, Fra Paolo taking part in the discussion and
sermons; his auditors were unbounded in their applause, amongst whom
1 MS.
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? 40 _ THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
was Ottavio, the Ducal member of the house of Farnese. "In consequence
of many statutes enacted by the Pontiffs with regard to the Regulars,
especially at the Council of Trent, as to the reform of all the religious
Orders, it was now judged necessary by the Chapter to send a deputation
to Rome, and it was determined to make choice of three of the wisest and
most prudent who understood the art of government. " One of these was
Padre Paolo, ' a youth in comparison of the hoary hairs of his col-
leagues. He had a greater knowledge than his companions of canonical and
civil jurisprudence and the decrees of Councils; therefore the care of
these devolved upon him, and his decisions were made with such brevity,
clearness, and depth of reasoning, that many of the greatest jurists averred
that they were made by one who had spent all his life in the study of
the law. This affords strong proof against those who affirm that the
profoundly scientific are unfit to govern, an error as gross as pernicious,
and utterly confuted by the after life of Sarpi. " '
In the month of June 1579, Fra Paolo Sarpi, Alessandro di Scandia-
vo, and Socius, accompanied by Antonio di Borgo Procurator of the Servi,
entered the ancient city of the Caesars; there, they were to await the man-
date of the Pope, of the Protector the Cardinal Farnese, of the Vice Pro-
tector the Cardinal San Severina, and the General Tavanti, whose name
is enrolled amongst the celebrated Servites of the University of Florence.
" Dirige gressus meos, " Was Tavanti's motto and also his rule. His whole
energies were given to the reformation of his Order, and though forty
protested, the General assisted by Paolo carried his measures, and by
him Fra Paolo Was introduced for the first time at the Court of Rome, and
had full opportunity of judging of its merits and demerits, as well as of
its Pontiff, who although by no means on the best terms with Venice, ap-
preciated the talents of the Venetian friar, and there is no record of the
denial of any request which Fra Paolo made to him.
Gregory XIII was a learned Canonist and also well versed in civil law,
of strict life, but under the rule of the Theatines and Jesuits to whom he
gave large sums of money; he was indefatigable in establishing the latter
Order throughout Europe. To all he deemed " heretics " he was uncom-
promising, and he permitted the Cardinal San Severina to exercise the
office of Inquisitor with great rigor. It was an ordeal of no common kind
for Fra Paolo to transact business with San Severina, who, though a man
of ability, was of harsh and austere temper and strong Will, but the judg-
ments of Fra Paolo were never reversed at Rome, and when redress was
1 After this period Fulgenzio designates Sarpi, Padre or Father, but he dis-
liked to be called by any other name than Fra Paolo.
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? 5r. 27. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 41
asked of the Cardinal, he answered, " I will do as much as I can from
favor, but nothing as matter of justice, because the judgments of your
Provincial do not admit of a question. " And When Fra Paolo was re-
quested by San Severina to show indulgence to those whom he favored,
he candidly replied " he could not, because justice -had no respect of
persons. "
The reconstruction of the old constitutions and-amendment of the new
was a difficult task, but Fra Paolo accomplished it in four months. During
his stay at Rome he attracted the attention of the Cardinal Farnese, who
was of very different bearing to San Severina, and whose suavity of man-
ners and learning, ample board and open purse obtained for him many
companions amongst men of letters; the poor, the wretched, the widow and
the orphan, even the outcasts of Palestine, found a friend in Farnese. He
had been disappointed in them, but at one time he 'had supported the
Jesuits. In A. D. 1568 he laid the foundation of their Church at Rome, and
when Fra Paolo visited that cityh A. D. 1579, they held a position which but
for Paul III and the favor of Farnese they would not so easily have at-
tained. During his stay at Rome at_this time, Fra Paolo conducted himself
with great prudence, not only in the discharge of his duties, but in his
social intercourse, indeed he seems to have had no difficulty in that respect
being always of a serious rather than a jovial turn of mind, and yet it
must have been sometimes irksome to him, for he had a keen sense of
the ridiculous, was fond of pleasant and witty remarks, and when occasion
required, like his countrymen, eloquent. " I have seen many Venetians "
said Clement XIV, " but I never knew one who was not eloquent. "
And here it is worthy of notice, that after the framing of the new consti-
tutions which were confirmed by the Pope, the Salve Regina was no long-
er recited by the Order of the Servi at Venice, a fact which shews that
Fra Paolo did not recognize this undue worship of the Virgin as command-
ed, A. D. 1233. 1 The Jesuits were specially distinguished for their devo-
tion to the Virgin, and gained by the continued exercise of this innovation
many votaries chiefly amongst the softer sex, and there is no greater proof
of his piety, talents and love of ancient usage, than that Fra Paolo and
his colleagues were able to carry out a measure so strongly opposed to
the Jesuits and other innovators as the non-recital of the Salve Regina.
He knew well from what quarter change and innovation had come, and
gentle as he appeared, he was not one to bend to either without remon-
strance. His Whole works testify the strong resistance he made against
both, and it was and is a subject worthy the contemplation of his country-
men that he availed himself of the first opportunity afforded him, to
1 Anna]. Scrvorvm. lib. I, cap. I, II, and XIV.
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? 42 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579_
%"'
obtain leave of the Pope to omit the recital of the Salve Regina, after the
Mass, by his Order at Venice. '
" Salve Regina, mater misericordiae vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra salve.
Ad te clamamus exules filii Hevee. Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
in hac lacrymarum valle. Eja ergo advoceita nostra, illos tuos misericordes
oculos ad nos converte. Et J esum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis
post hoe exilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulois Virgo Maria " '
Fra Paolo knew that the Salve Regina was first said or sung A. D. 1238,'
and he was neither afraid to omit its recitation, or to leave in Writing va-
luable instruction as to the time of the introduction and progress of the
worship of the Virgin.
For sixty years the Salve Regina was not recited by the Servi at Ve-
nice. This is specially noticed by Griselini, 8 and further information con-
cerning this will be found in the Annals and Constitutions of the Order.
The Writer made a strict investigation into the matter, and has not
found any trace of worship as if she were " divine or immaculate " given
by Fra Paolo to the Virgin Mary. He expressed " that we Venetians have
great veneration for the Blessed Virgin Mary, " but there is no passage
in his writings which authorizes the worship now paid to her. It is one
thing to venerate, it is another to worship, and Fra Paolo knew that
Deity alone claims that Worship, and that undue veneration leads, at
least amongst the unlearned and uneducated, to Worship.
His account of the origin of this worship is of great importance from
the pen of one so learned as Fra Paolo, we pass over the Cardinal Palla-
vicini's remarks on Paolo's opinions on this subject, ' die was a Jesuit,
and therefore he believed himself obliged to uphold the worship of the
Virgin to the extent which he did; but that worship is an innovation
which many in the Church of Rome would be glad to forego, and to give,
as did Fra Paolo, all honor to the Deity, did they know as did he its
origin. '
" After that the impietie of Nestorius had diyided Christ making two
sonnes, and denying him to be God who was born of the blessed Virgin,
the Church, to inculcate the Catholike truth in the mindes of the faithfulll
made often mention of her in the Churches, as well of the East, as of the
West, with this shorte forme of wordes, in G-reeke Maria Georoxog, in La-
tin, Maria mater Dei. This 'Ei_n_g instituted only for the honour of
Christ, was by little and little communicated also to the Mother, and ,,. . ,
finally applyed to her alone, and therefore, when images began to multi-
1 " Officium B. M. V. "
2 Annal. Baronius and Raynaldus.
3 Griselini, lib. 1, p. 70. Foscarini, lib. m, p. 307.
" Pallavicini Con. di Trcnto, and the Latin Ediz. Marciana.
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? A51'. 27. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 43
plie, Christ was painted as a babe in his Mother's armes, to put us in
mind of the worship due unto him even in that age. But in progresse of
time, it was turned into the worship of the Mother, without the Sonne,
he remayning as an dppendirb in the picture. The writers and preachers,
especially those that were contemplatiue, carried with the torrent of
the vulgar, which is able to doe much in these matters, leaving to
mention Christ inuented with one accord new prayses, Epithetes, and
religious services, in so much, that about the year A. D. 1050 a dayly
Olfice was instituted to the blessed Virgin, distinguished by seven
canonical houres, in a forme which anciently was ever, used to the7\Di-
vine maiestie, and in the next hundred yeares, the worship so increased,
that it came to Tfiheight even to attribute that unto her which the
Scriptures speak of the Divine wisdome. And amongst these invented
nouities, ' this was one, her totall exemption from originall sinne.
Yet this remayned onely in the breasts of some few private men,
having no place in Eccleseasticall ceremonies, or amongst the learned.
About the yeare A. D. 1136, the Canons of Lions dared to being it
into the ? cclesiasticall Qiices. Saint Bernard who lived in these times,
esteemed the most learned and pious of that age, who was most fre-
quent in the prayses of the Flessed Virgin, so as to call her the
necke of the Church, by which every grace and influence passeth from
the Head, inueighed severely against the Canons, and wrote unto
them, reprehending them for introducing a dangerous nouitie without
reason, or example of antiquitie; that there want not places to praise
the Virgin, who cannot be pleased with a presumptuous nouitie,
mother of rashuess, sister of superstition, daughter of lightuesse. The
next age had Schoole Doctors of both the Orders, Franciscan and
Dominican, who in their writings refuted this opinion, until about
the yeare AD. 1300, when John Scot, a Franciscan, putting the mat-
ter into disputation, and examining the reasons, did fiie to the Onni-
potencie, saying that God had power to free her from sinne, or to
cause sinne to remaine in her onely for an instant, or for a certaine
time; that God only knoweth which of these three is true, yet it is
probable to attribute the first to Mary, in case it bee not repugnant
to the authoritie of the Church and of the- Scripture.
" The doctrine of this famous divine was followed by the Franciscan
Order. But in the particular of the conception, seeing the way yd
open, they affirmed absolutely for true/ that which he had proposed as
possible and probable /under this doubtful condition, if it bee not re-
pugnant to the orthodome faith.
1 Novelties.
e/{We
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? 44 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
"The Dominicans did constantly resist, and followed Saint Thomas
one of their Order, famous for his learning and for the approbation of
Pope John the two and twentieth, who to depresse the Franciscans,
who did for the most part adhere to the Emperor Lewis of Bavaria,
excommunicated by him, did canonize that Doctour and his doctrine.
The shew of pietie and devotion made the Franciscan opinion gene-
rally more accepted, and more tenaciously received by the Universitie
of Paris, which was in credite for eminent learning, and after long
ventilation and discussion; was afterwards approoved by the Councell
of Basill, which forbade to teach and preach the contrarie. This
tooke place in those Countreys which received the Councell. Finally
Pope Siactus M a Franciscan, made two Bulles in this matter, one,
in the yeare/one thousand foure hundred seventie sixe, approving a
new ofiice, composed by Leonard Nogarola, Protonotarie with indul-
gences to him that did celebrate it, or assist; the other, in the yeare
one thousand foure hundred eightie three, condemning the assertion
as false and erronious, that it is heresie to hold the conception, or a
sinne to celebrate it, excommunicating the preachers and others who
noted that opinion of heresie or the contrarie, because, it was not as
yet decided by the Church of Rome and the Apostolike see. . .
? N THE LIFE OF [A. n. 1576.
sound morality. Their great influence was gained by confession and elo-
quent sermons, for while the former overawed, the latter allured and
fascinated the weak minded and unwary, who were easily seduced by men
well trained in the art of bending the will to their purposes.
But it was not long before the services of Fra Paolo were required
in his Convent at Venice as Reader of Philosophy; and his audience
was composed, not only of the friars of his own Cloister, but of many
secular Clergy. His lectures were distinguished by " clearness of method,
lucid ideas, and pr-ofundity of thought. "
When Fra Paolo left Milan, the angel of death had not yet stricken that
devoted city, and the Cardinal Borromeo had not yet entered on his lau-
dable work of self devotion, in tending with skill and tenderness all who
were sinking beneath the noxious breath of the pestilence; but in the
early dawn of the following year the plague stalked like a mighty giant
through the fertile plains, the mountain heights, and the densely populated
cities of Italy, and desolated that beautiful land. In Venice, Titian, with
many other persons of note, fell beneath its power, and amid the general
mortality Isabella Sarpi, the mother of Fra Paolo, was numbered with the
dead.
It was in truth an era of long and deep anguish to Venetia, the land
was filled with wailing, yet every effort for the restoration of health was
as powerless as the voice of a pilot to still the rage of the storm. Seven
hundred was the frightful amount of death from sunrise till sunset, and
forty thousand was the total number of victims. But at length the course
of the plague was arrested. The Doge and the Senate proposed that the
mourning survivors should rear a church in honor of the Holy Redeemer.
Two hundred deaths had been notified to the Senate on the day previous,
but it is a well attested fact that on the day following that on which
this pious offering was made, only four persons died of the plague.
The foundation of the Church S. S. Il Bedentore was laid by the Doge
and Patriarch, and " a solemn procession of the whole Clergy of the
city, " 1 followed by the religious Orders; and if ever a human heart
was stirred to its depths, it must have been that of Fra Paolo, when
he and the prostrate and stricken assembly, amid stifled sobs, suppressed
groans, and bitter tears, knelt to crave one look, one tender look of sym-
pathy and regard from heaven.
On the following year this Church, the masterpiece of Palladio, rose
in all its fair beauty and perfect symmetry. It stands on the Island of the
Giudecca, and its fine dome is well seen from the opposite shore beyond the
Piazzetta of S. Marco. There is comparatively little change in this structure,
* Ssnsovino. Del Sistieri di. Dorsa Duro, lib. 6,, continued by Martinioni.
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? mr. 24. ] ' ma PAOLO saarr 111
its fine features have crested the waves of time. May every eye that /
rests on it rise, as did the eye of Fra Paolo, in profound adoration to the
most Holy Redeemer! It is impossible to tread its nave of vast but sim'
ple grandeur untouched by the memory of the succour lent by Heaven to
Venetia in the hour of her woe. How often on his way to the Ducal pa-
lace in after years did Fra Paolo view with emotion this votive fane! How
would his love of architecture admire its unrivalled proportions! and how
higher far would his thoughts ascend, when turned to sadness by the
scene before him, they would naturally flow towards the fond mother who
had taught him his first lessons of holy wisdom, gentleness, and humility,
now laid cold as the marbles which adorn the Church of the Redeemer!
About this time Fra Paolo heard with sorrow of the League against the
Reformed. The Pope Was about to send his troops against men who had
done nothing to provoke such treatment. Far other were the thoughts of
Fra Paolo, he bridged over all differences between them and the Church
of Rome, and discovered points of union where lesser spirits only found
cause of cavil or persecution, he judged the difference of both parties to
be exaggerated. He knew that several doctrines of the Church had been
utterly lost sight of, or not even discussed by the last Council, and he
never suffered any difference of opinion to dull the brightness of friendship.
He had many learned friends amongst the Reformed, and his expressions
of esteem for them were unfeigned. The affairs of Rome also occupied his
attention; Gregory XIII had conferred the title of Grand Duke on Cosmo
di Medici, which gave great umbrage to enlightened politicians; and
men of religion asked, " What right had an ecclesiastic to confer such a
dignity? "
But tidings from more distant climes were satisfactory, the Sultan was
on good terms with the Republic, the power of Spain decreased in the
Low Countries, and the Prince of Orange was well established in his king-
dom, and weary of the tyranny of Spain, Italy showed strong symptoms of
rebellion.
Venice, though she had suffered much by fire and famine, war and
pestilence, was now delivered from these ills; her beautiful port was crowded
with galleys, and her active commerce again flourished, it was lessened,
but still vigorous. Those who have trod her broad quays, seen the lustre' of
an evening sun light up the crafts that now enter her port, can picture to
themselves what the scene was when fleets of galleys and hundreds of
merchantmen rode at ease in that safe harbour, when the gondolas shone
in all the magnificence with which they were then adorned. No stronger
contrast can be conceived, than the noise and bustle of the harbour of
Venice and the stillness of the Convent of the Servi. Far from the place
of mart or festivity, it retains even now, in all its ruin, the stamp of deep
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? 32 ' THE LIFE or i . [A. D. i1'576-'
solemnity; its site however is not gloomy, nor in those days was one of
its inhabitants. It was not only the fame of Fra-Paolo's acquirements which
drew the learned to his cell, but also his cheerful conversation; and foreign
travellers openly said, that they " had no other object in visiting Venice
than to see Fra Paolo? Many of these carried Albums, and when requested
to write in these, he Wrote -either some wise precepts from an ancient
author or thus, from the Holy Scriptures. " 1 From intercourse with
well informed persons he had early tidings of passing events, a great boon
at a time When communication was neither rapid nor certain between any
countries. His interest in the Gallican Church was uniform, although he
did not think its liberties perfect by any means , still he thought
them very preferable to the liberty enjoyed by the Church of Rome in
Italy.
It was during this year that he made the acquaintance of M. de Fer-
rier ' who again came to Venice from Paris on an embassy from Hen-
ry II to obtain a loan of money, and to announce peace between the Pa-
pists and the Reformed. This bold assertion of the rights and liberties of
the Gallican Church gave umbrage to some of the Italian Clergy present
at the Council of Trent, where this liberal and high minded Frenchman
had not hesitated to ask the Fathers of the Council to follow the example
-of Josiah, by causing the Book of the Law to be read which he said
"had been concealed by the malice of men. " He had also demanded the resto-
ation of many ancient usages, that the cup in the Holy Sacrament should
be administered to the people, prayers and catechisms taught, and the
Psalms sung in the French language, he had also petitioned against plu-
ralities, and had demanded a proper definition of the doctrines of images,
relics, and indulgences, with all the eloquence that charmed the parlia-
ment. He had pressed these claims and maintained their justice by quota-
tions from the Holy Scriptures, and from the writings of Saint Augustine,
Saint Ambrose, and Saint Chrysostom, but all in vain. These sentiments,
however, with the mature experience and unblemished integrity of de
Ferrier, made him esteemed by Fra Paolo. Equally distinguished by his
diplomacy as by his knowledge of law, de Ferrier, although a lover of
antiquity, was still a lover of reform. He knew in what odour France held
the Inquisition, and how the far sighted Chancellors Segfier and l'Hopi-
tal had prevented its introduction into France, and was therefore well able
to dilate to him on the wrongs done to France at the Council 'of Trent.
He had looked for reformation, not for confirmation of dogmas which had
been the additions of Popes or of former, but not general, Councils; but
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? - E1'. FRA PAOLO SARPI 33
the French ambassador, like many others in Italy, had been disappointed.
It is no difficult matter to picture Sarpi and M. de Ferrier in close con-
verse in the Convent of the Servi on the affairs of the Council, when the
memory of Paolo eagerly stored up what de Ferrier related, in order to
incorporate in his history of the Council a relation of those facts to which
no one but M. de Ferrier, on the part of his royal Master, could be privy.
Among the other friends of Fra Paolo at this time, the noble du Ples-
sis Mornay may be mentioned, his piety and learning were valued by him,
as well as his wisdom in the Cabinet. '
But to proceed. The Pontiff, who had high views of the Papal power,
still gave annoyance to the Republic of Venice. Rome was gradually climb-
ing towards that height which she attempted to hold in the seven-
teenth century, when, counselled by Fra Paolo, Venice resisted her de-
mands. '
The death of Maximilian made no change in the aspect of public affairs,
as his son continued friendly to Venetia.
On the fourth of June A. D. 1577 the Doge Morenigo died, and was
buried with great pomp in the Church of S. Giovanni and S. Paolo, where also
are the remains of Brfigandino, who, being betrayed by the Turks after the 61/
siege of Famagosta, suffered the terrible death of being flayed alive rather
than deny the name of Christ, his Redeemer. As a trophy, his skin was
preserved by his brutal enemies, but subsequently obtained at great cost
after the battle of Lepanto and taken to this place of rest. Little had the
Turks reflected, when they suspended this trophy to the bow-sprit of one
of their galleys, that they were only extending the fame of him they had
murdered, and proclaiming the power of a deathless principle, the religion
of Christ in the soul of the noble Brigandino, that same principle which
enabled Fra Paolo so often to face death without terror. These sentiments
were shared by Sebastiano Veniero, the veteran victor of Lepanto, ,
who was now elected to the dignity of Doge with great unanimity. His election supplied Pope Gregory with an occasion to propitiate the
Republic, and he therefore sent a gold rose to the Dogeressa. But as it was
the custom of the Popes to send the rose to such courts only as gave
strict allegiance to the Papacy, the Republic of Venice resented this dis-
tinction respecting the gift as a reflection on her independence, and M
although the Dogeressa retained the emblem of silence, the displeasure M1'
the Venetians slowly mouldered, like the fire which shortly after consumed
the Doge's palace, only to burst forth in greater volume. This is no figure
of speech, the olden palace, which occupied the same site as that which
now claims the attention of the curious, was a building of which the Ve-
netians were justly proud; it was nearly all burned to the ground. " The
Hall of the Grand Council, that of the Senate and that of the Scrutiny suf-
3
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? 34 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
fered, " 1 and it was not till the flames reached the celebrated picture, Il Pa-
radiso, the largest oil painting in the world, that the fire yielded to human
efforts for its extinction. And great were these efforts, for which 1,500 ducats
were voted to the workmen of the arsenal, who had perilled their lives to
extinguish the flames; but they were true Venetians, men whose services
were always prompt at the call of their country, were neither selfish
nor venal, and they refused to touch the proffered gift. The palace could
be, and was rebuilt, that palace in which Fra Paolo was so often to give
counsel, but who could repaint the pictures of Bellini, of Paul Veronese,
Tintoretto, or of Pardenone? 1 Many of the portraits of the Doges painted
by Titian perished, and the catalogue of upwards of one hundred pictures
burned in that fatal fire, forms a dark page in the " Venetia Descritta " of
Sansovino. Amongst them were the portraits of personages familiar to
every reader of Venetian history; many of them are mentioned by Sarpi,
who saw the palace rise like a phoenix from its ashes more beautiful than
ever; but a year had not elapsed when its occupant the Doge died, leaving
a name that will go down to the latest posterity.
This Doge, Sebastiano Veniero, was succeeded by Nicolo da Ponte, and
Fra Paolo had the satisfaction to see a man of learning and science hold
the chief office in the State. During the first year of his government, Pa-
ruta was named Historiographer, but each succeeding historian, had he
chronicled the bare facts of the case, could only have told " that the in-
fluence of the King of Spain throughout Italy was on the increase. " To
this may be traced the decay both of Venice and of all Italy. ' So
said Sarpi: some have condemned his dislike to the influence of Spain, but
if such persons would consider that her monarchs curbed the liberty of
Italy, that they fostered bigotry and superstition, and upheld the power of
the Inquisition in spiritual matters, not only by encouragement of the
papal prohibitions on books, but by many other taxes, restrictions, and
vexations/7 would they not rather pity than blame the man who could not,
even in thought, bow beneath impending tyranny? Two strove for the
mastery, Philip of Spain and the Pope, as to who should "be absolute
sovereign of all Italy; " Fra Paolo Sarpi was afraid of both, Was he wrong?
The writer must new claim the indulgent attention of the reader to
some account of Fra Paolo's studies, prefaced as it necessarily is with the
reasons for not citing from the Friars manuscripts in this instance. Many
of the MSS. of Sarpi remained at the Convent of the Servi, and they
were all collected and arranged in the year 1740, by Fra Josepho
Bergantino, who to the gifts of genius and a critical knowledge of Vene-
1 Calendar. Rawdon Brown.
2 Sismondi.
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? am. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 35
tian antiquity added urbanity of manners, and his veneration for the
memory of Sarpi, which was also shown by his work " F. Paolo Giusti-
ficato, " made him well fitted for his task. Besides a large volume entitled
the " Schedaa Sarpianae, " there were five small volumes bearing this
title, " Pauli Sarpi collectanea quot quot domi forisque inveniri potuerunt
ab H. Josepho Berganteno H. C. A. in unum congesta 1740. "
All these perished in the fire which consumed the Library of the Servi
in the year 1769. ' But as Foscarini and Griselini had personally exa-
mined these MSS. the reader is not left without their observations on
these curious writings; both were of opinion that Paolo Sarpi had entered
on his wide field of research in the years in which he taught philosophy
in his Convent. This opinion was founded on their perusal of the " Pen-
sieri, " a MS. of two hundred pages much worn and damaged, which '
consisted of seven hundred thoughts on natural philosophy, metaphysics,
and mathematics, nearly all of which bore the date of 1578; and both
Foscarini and Griselini bear witness to their being " the marrow of scho-
lastic doctrine, " and " the type of more modern systems. "
After noticing the high aim which Fra Paolo took in known science,
how he had extracted as well as analysed the essence of natural philo-
sophy, and shewed that he had embraced all that men of the greatest
genius of the past and present century knew of the elements and nature
of bodies both terrestrial and celestial, their generation, properties and
qualities, how he had successfully unfolded all that relates to the nu-
trition of life, and of vegetable and animal matter, Griselini observes,
" What may be said of his thoughts on philosophy, may be equally affir-
' med of those on mathematics, which not only belong to pure geometry,
but to synthesis, analysis, the conic sections, mechanics, statistics, hydros-
tatics, hydraulics, hydrogaphy, aeromatria, pneuniatics, optics, dioptrics,
catoptrics, geocatoptrics, catodioptrics, the sphere, astronomy, acoustics,
and civil and military architecture," and Griselini adds," that these
Pensieri not only showed that Fra Paolo was versant in the Works of
Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius of Perga, but in those of Vitellio,
Alhazen the Arabian Mathematician and Optician of the 12th century,
and with the works of his contemporaries Ubaldo, Marquis del Monte, a
renowned writer on mechanics of the 16th century, and other philosophers
and mathematicians of note, precursors of the great Galileo. "
There was a translation of the work of this Oriental in the La-
tin language in the library of the Servi, Venice, prior to its destruction.
" Opticae Thesavrvs Alhazeni Arabis, libri' scptem nunc primum Editi
Eivsdem liber de Crepvscvlis et Nubium ascencionibus. Item Vitellonis
1 Appendix.
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? 36 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
Thuringopoloni Libri X, omnes instaurati, figuris illustrati et aucti,
adiectis etiam in Alhazenum commentarijs a Federigo Resnero. " On
the margin of this volume, especially in the second book, there were
many notes in the handwriting of Fra Paolo.
Fra Paolo shewed that a solid immersed and saturated in water cannot
acquire more gravity than it has by nature, because water in water, not
' having gravity cannot give to the solid either more or less gravity. '
Such is nearly the doctrine of Galileo. Again, touching the velocity which
accelerates the fall of a heavy body attached to a cord or pendfnt thread,
his reasoning is similar-to that adopted by the Florentine philosopher
in his Dialogues. ' Sarpi shows that " an igneous vapor arising from the
water does not ascend quicker because the vapor is lighter than the air,
but because it is forced upwards by the water which compresses it, " and
he further remarks that " a body which weighs in the air double that of the
water, will descend in it in the same degree as the air ascends. " So Galileo
asserts that " the gravity of a solid, greater or less than that of the water,
is the true and proper sense of its sinking or not. " On comparison of
the ideas of the author of a method of Indivisibility with that of the
" Pensieri, " the same argument occurs as to the effect of mirrors whose
concavity is generated by a parabolical line; there is also similarity between
the " Pensieri " and the Lunar Astronomy of Kepler, as also Gregory in his
Comparative Astronomy. On dioptrics, Fra Paolo observes, " I have made
many experiments in this particular with looking glasses, spherical and
concave, convex and plane and having observed the effects produced by the
rays of the sun, and by the brightness of the moon and stars reflected on
the water, the reflection of the same will determine their place and dis-
tance. At different times the experiments were according to my method
of reasoning, but at other times, I found I was quite contradicted, which
is one argument for the belief that in many cases the broken and diver-
gent rays which meet our eyes converge, or are as if convergent. "-
The " Pensieri " also contained thoughts on Anatomy, although there
is presumptive proof that these threw considerable light on that science, it
is more probable that Fra'Paolo's discoveries of the valves in the veins,
and the dilitation of the uvea of the eye were made during 1582-5 when
for three years he made Anatomy a principal study.
The nomination of a friend of Sarpi to the Readership of the Ducal Chan-
cery must not be omitted. Aldus Manutius was one of a family held in vene-
ration by every lover of classical literature. The Aldine, or Italic character
perpetuates the name of Aldus the elder, as well as his edition of the Clas-
1 Pensieri MS. Sarpi. N" 13, 538.
2 Opera di Galileo. Tom. 1. 216.
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? air. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 37
sies, but the studies of Aldus, the younger, of the libraries of Venice as
well as its stones, marbles and antiquities, and his arduous comparisons
of their inscriptions with upwards of 1,500 Roman inscriptions in order
to establish a correct orthography of the ancient Latin, were more than
sufficient to arrest the attention of Sarpi, and to make him seek the so-
ciety of Aldus Manutius, who was at a later period librarian of the Vati-
can, nor could he forget to whom he owed his knowledge of the ancient
Roman Calendar.
Fra Paolo was no stranger within the University of Padua, which was
regarded with peculiar favor by the Republic of Venice. Let the reader
view the modest Friar as he passes beneath the winged lion which adorns
its gates, and enters the College where he had so often listened to its
learned professors, now to receive a degree at their hands. The place where
Livy once dwelt, reflected honor on itself by giving honor to Sarpi, and
centuries after the Servite had received his degree, his countrymen could
point to the Matricular of that great University, and tell that there was
inscribed a name of which even Padua is proud. On his return from Pa-
dua, public affairs could not fail to interest Fra Paolo, because the inde-
pendence of his country was' dear to him, and the rich vein of liberty runs
through his works. What then must he have thought of the King of Spain
making a hasty peace with the Netherlands that he might possess the
Kingdom of Portugal? A like usurpation might await Venetia, and Paolo
gave good reasons for this supposition long before the plot of Ossuna.
'The occupation by the Pope of parts of the lands of the Romagna was
a cause of great discontent and bloodshed, nevertheless Venice was still
secure. _
Fra Paolo Sarpi took priest's orders when he was twenty seven years of
age, and afterwards passed much of his time in strict retirement, and in
acts of piety and meditation.
For some years subsequently he did not take wine, animal food did
not accord with his constitution, and his principal nourishment was bread
and fruit, his beverage water. The Servi partook of both animal food and
wine, but Fra Paolo's abstemiousness was only on account of his health. He
was very thin in body, having grave disorders of the liver, which caused
great weakness and pain, but he was not accustomed to relax either his
habits of devotion or study, and thought it a mistake, except in cases of
extremity, when an invalid deviated from his usual rule of life. When he
was about thirty years of age he was obliged to take wine /and he was
often heard to say that nothing had ever cost him so much as in this to
follow the advice of his physicians. " He always preserved the strictest disci-
pline over himself, and he could so command his affections, that if his
judgment was contrary to them, they could not move him. No dainty
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? 38 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
could excite his appetite if hurtful, and he took medicine as if it was
good food when he believed it to be beneficial. Such were his infirmities of
body that he never could be persuaded that his life would be prolonged
for a year, he thought each day might be his last, and said he never
remembered to have felt so as if he could live a year. To this may be at-
tributed the great progress which he made in his studies, in which he
was so engrossed that few days passed in which they did not occupy him
eight hours, but he had no intention of publishing any work till obliged
to do so for the public good. He was not resolute in action, but rather
appeared cold and reserved, for he who has little hope of long life seldom
applies himself to actions offgreat consequence. " 1
Since the institution of the Order of the Servi, Fra Paolo was the only
member who had been appointed Provincial at the early age of twenty
seven, but with the unanimous applause of the Chapter held at Verona,
he was now chosen to fill that office, which was one of trust, and required
not only temper and discretion, but ability to govern. The Provincial had
supervision of all the Convents of his Order within his province, he had
a voice in the provincial Chapters with power to elect ad interim the
officials of the Convent: he had the power if ' he pleased to transfer any
friar from one Convent to another, to reprove, correct, or even imprison
him, but the sentence was to be remitted for approval to the General. He
might inhabit any Convent he chose, travel at the common expense and
receive some emolument from all. Except in the case of insult or personal
provocation he was exempt from all reproof, took precedence of all friars
of inferior grade, appointed a lay brother to be his servant, and was free
of all public duty. _
Such Was the office to which Fra Paolo was elected in the city of Ve-
rona, justly termed " il Nobile. " It was of interest to a classical scholar,
such as Sarpi, from being the birth place of the magnanimous conqueror
Emilius, of Cornelius Nepos, of the poets Emilius/Macer and Catlllus, of
Pliny the Elder, the great Titus Vespasian, and of the cruel Domitian.
Some Latin authors pronounce Verona to have been a city of the
Cenomani, but Pliny places its site in Rhoetia. It was one of the twelve
cities of Etruria, and is said to have' taken its name from the illustrious
family of the Vera. Its ancient amphitheatre, its fortifications, its remains
of an ancient Naumachia, all would occupy the attention of Fra Paolo,
and to this student of architecture Verona afforded many objects on
which his eye would linger with just appreciation. From his Convent there,
his abode of peace, he could look down on the plains where Caius Mar-
cius met and defeated the Cimbri, and where Odoacer met the same fate
1 MS.
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? E1'. 27. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 39
at the hands of Theodoric King of the Goths, but could Fra Paolo
imagine as he trode the Cathedral where the Lords of the Scala lie en-
tombed, that his fame would be spread by the learned Scaliger, who boast-
ed descent from these ancient governors of Verona?
Great reform had been effected in the discipline of the churches
there by Bishop Giberti, and Fra Paolo valued such. The portrait of
this exemplary Prelate must have been'familiar to him during his
intercourse with Cardinal Borromeo at Milan, as it was the pen-
dent, silent, but chosen monitor of the Cardinal, who endeavored to
imitate the example of one, who was a successful and venerated leader
in the cause of reform within the Church of Rome. .
On} his return from Verona, Fra Paolo taught Theology at Venice,
and discharged his duties as Provincial with piety and integrity. He
was proof against bribes, refused the smallest gift if offered as such,
and in no instance were his judgments revoked even by the Cardinal
San Severina. " Partiality and division were banished from the Order
during his government, and none complained but those who presum-
ed more on his friendship than upon their merit, thus in this, his
first essay in government, the germ of his future excellence in admini-
stration was apparent as well as his great prudence in negotiation,
so that in all the innumerable affairs which passed through his hands,
none were so involved but that he could unravel them, or else they
were wholly inextricable. - Persons of all conditions placed such confi-
dence in his judgment that they believed he, if any one, could extri-
cate them from difficulty. Though apparently inclined to severity and
rigorous measures he was not so; he was naturally so kind and ten-
der that in mature age he was not only compassionate to man but to
animals, he could not bear to see them ill treated, and if it had been
necessary for him to kill an animal for his own food, he would rather
have suffered abstinence. " ' Such are the minute particulars given
to us, of the Friar whom those of the Court of Rome call "Terrible. "
Great differences still existed amongst the Servi, but Fra Paolo endea-
vored to quell dissension; he loved justice but blamed too great lenity
in punishment, especially as administered at Venice, and deemed it a
cause of excess; yet he leaned to mercy rather than to severity in the
administration of his government as Provincial.
In a general Chapter of the Order, convoked at Parma by the Prior
General Tavanti, according to custom the learned Servi held disputations
on Theology and Philosophy, Fra Paolo taking part in the discussion and
sermons; his auditors were unbounded in their applause, amongst whom
1 MS.
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? 40 _ THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
was Ottavio, the Ducal member of the house of Farnese. "In consequence
of many statutes enacted by the Pontiffs with regard to the Regulars,
especially at the Council of Trent, as to the reform of all the religious
Orders, it was now judged necessary by the Chapter to send a deputation
to Rome, and it was determined to make choice of three of the wisest and
most prudent who understood the art of government. " One of these was
Padre Paolo, ' a youth in comparison of the hoary hairs of his col-
leagues. He had a greater knowledge than his companions of canonical and
civil jurisprudence and the decrees of Councils; therefore the care of
these devolved upon him, and his decisions were made with such brevity,
clearness, and depth of reasoning, that many of the greatest jurists averred
that they were made by one who had spent all his life in the study of
the law. This affords strong proof against those who affirm that the
profoundly scientific are unfit to govern, an error as gross as pernicious,
and utterly confuted by the after life of Sarpi. " '
In the month of June 1579, Fra Paolo Sarpi, Alessandro di Scandia-
vo, and Socius, accompanied by Antonio di Borgo Procurator of the Servi,
entered the ancient city of the Caesars; there, they were to await the man-
date of the Pope, of the Protector the Cardinal Farnese, of the Vice Pro-
tector the Cardinal San Severina, and the General Tavanti, whose name
is enrolled amongst the celebrated Servites of the University of Florence.
" Dirige gressus meos, " Was Tavanti's motto and also his rule. His whole
energies were given to the reformation of his Order, and though forty
protested, the General assisted by Paolo carried his measures, and by
him Fra Paolo Was introduced for the first time at the Court of Rome, and
had full opportunity of judging of its merits and demerits, as well as of
its Pontiff, who although by no means on the best terms with Venice, ap-
preciated the talents of the Venetian friar, and there is no record of the
denial of any request which Fra Paolo made to him.
Gregory XIII was a learned Canonist and also well versed in civil law,
of strict life, but under the rule of the Theatines and Jesuits to whom he
gave large sums of money; he was indefatigable in establishing the latter
Order throughout Europe. To all he deemed " heretics " he was uncom-
promising, and he permitted the Cardinal San Severina to exercise the
office of Inquisitor with great rigor. It was an ordeal of no common kind
for Fra Paolo to transact business with San Severina, who, though a man
of ability, was of harsh and austere temper and strong Will, but the judg-
ments of Fra Paolo were never reversed at Rome, and when redress was
1 After this period Fulgenzio designates Sarpi, Padre or Father, but he dis-
liked to be called by any other name than Fra Paolo.
3 MS.
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? 5r. 27. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 41
asked of the Cardinal, he answered, " I will do as much as I can from
favor, but nothing as matter of justice, because the judgments of your
Provincial do not admit of a question. " And When Fra Paolo was re-
quested by San Severina to show indulgence to those whom he favored,
he candidly replied " he could not, because justice -had no respect of
persons. "
The reconstruction of the old constitutions and-amendment of the new
was a difficult task, but Fra Paolo accomplished it in four months. During
his stay at Rome he attracted the attention of the Cardinal Farnese, who
was of very different bearing to San Severina, and whose suavity of man-
ners and learning, ample board and open purse obtained for him many
companions amongst men of letters; the poor, the wretched, the widow and
the orphan, even the outcasts of Palestine, found a friend in Farnese. He
had been disappointed in them, but at one time he 'had supported the
Jesuits. In A. D. 1568 he laid the foundation of their Church at Rome, and
when Fra Paolo visited that cityh A. D. 1579, they held a position which but
for Paul III and the favor of Farnese they would not so easily have at-
tained. During his stay at Rome at_this time, Fra Paolo conducted himself
with great prudence, not only in the discharge of his duties, but in his
social intercourse, indeed he seems to have had no difficulty in that respect
being always of a serious rather than a jovial turn of mind, and yet it
must have been sometimes irksome to him, for he had a keen sense of
the ridiculous, was fond of pleasant and witty remarks, and when occasion
required, like his countrymen, eloquent. " I have seen many Venetians "
said Clement XIV, " but I never knew one who was not eloquent. "
And here it is worthy of notice, that after the framing of the new consti-
tutions which were confirmed by the Pope, the Salve Regina was no long-
er recited by the Order of the Servi at Venice, a fact which shews that
Fra Paolo did not recognize this undue worship of the Virgin as command-
ed, A. D. 1233. 1 The Jesuits were specially distinguished for their devo-
tion to the Virgin, and gained by the continued exercise of this innovation
many votaries chiefly amongst the softer sex, and there is no greater proof
of his piety, talents and love of ancient usage, than that Fra Paolo and
his colleagues were able to carry out a measure so strongly opposed to
the Jesuits and other innovators as the non-recital of the Salve Regina.
He knew well from what quarter change and innovation had come, and
gentle as he appeared, he was not one to bend to either without remon-
strance. His Whole works testify the strong resistance he made against
both, and it was and is a subject worthy the contemplation of his country-
men that he availed himself of the first opportunity afforded him, to
1 Anna]. Scrvorvm. lib. I, cap. I, II, and XIV.
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? 42 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579_
%"'
obtain leave of the Pope to omit the recital of the Salve Regina, after the
Mass, by his Order at Venice. '
" Salve Regina, mater misericordiae vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra salve.
Ad te clamamus exules filii Hevee. Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
in hac lacrymarum valle. Eja ergo advoceita nostra, illos tuos misericordes
oculos ad nos converte. Et J esum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis
post hoe exilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulois Virgo Maria " '
Fra Paolo knew that the Salve Regina was first said or sung A. D. 1238,'
and he was neither afraid to omit its recitation, or to leave in Writing va-
luable instruction as to the time of the introduction and progress of the
worship of the Virgin.
For sixty years the Salve Regina was not recited by the Servi at Ve-
nice. This is specially noticed by Griselini, 8 and further information con-
cerning this will be found in the Annals and Constitutions of the Order.
The Writer made a strict investigation into the matter, and has not
found any trace of worship as if she were " divine or immaculate " given
by Fra Paolo to the Virgin Mary. He expressed " that we Venetians have
great veneration for the Blessed Virgin Mary, " but there is no passage
in his writings which authorizes the worship now paid to her. It is one
thing to venerate, it is another to worship, and Fra Paolo knew that
Deity alone claims that Worship, and that undue veneration leads, at
least amongst the unlearned and uneducated, to Worship.
His account of the origin of this worship is of great importance from
the pen of one so learned as Fra Paolo, we pass over the Cardinal Palla-
vicini's remarks on Paolo's opinions on this subject, ' die was a Jesuit,
and therefore he believed himself obliged to uphold the worship of the
Virgin to the extent which he did; but that worship is an innovation
which many in the Church of Rome would be glad to forego, and to give,
as did Fra Paolo, all honor to the Deity, did they know as did he its
origin. '
" After that the impietie of Nestorius had diyided Christ making two
sonnes, and denying him to be God who was born of the blessed Virgin,
the Church, to inculcate the Catholike truth in the mindes of the faithfulll
made often mention of her in the Churches, as well of the East, as of the
West, with this shorte forme of wordes, in G-reeke Maria Georoxog, in La-
tin, Maria mater Dei. This 'Ei_n_g instituted only for the honour of
Christ, was by little and little communicated also to the Mother, and ,,. . ,
finally applyed to her alone, and therefore, when images began to multi-
1 " Officium B. M. V. "
2 Annal. Baronius and Raynaldus.
3 Griselini, lib. 1, p. 70. Foscarini, lib. m, p. 307.
" Pallavicini Con. di Trcnto, and the Latin Ediz. Marciana.
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? A51'. 27. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 43
plie, Christ was painted as a babe in his Mother's armes, to put us in
mind of the worship due unto him even in that age. But in progresse of
time, it was turned into the worship of the Mother, without the Sonne,
he remayning as an dppendirb in the picture. The writers and preachers,
especially those that were contemplatiue, carried with the torrent of
the vulgar, which is able to doe much in these matters, leaving to
mention Christ inuented with one accord new prayses, Epithetes, and
religious services, in so much, that about the year A. D. 1050 a dayly
Olfice was instituted to the blessed Virgin, distinguished by seven
canonical houres, in a forme which anciently was ever, used to the7\Di-
vine maiestie, and in the next hundred yeares, the worship so increased,
that it came to Tfiheight even to attribute that unto her which the
Scriptures speak of the Divine wisdome. And amongst these invented
nouities, ' this was one, her totall exemption from originall sinne.
Yet this remayned onely in the breasts of some few private men,
having no place in Eccleseasticall ceremonies, or amongst the learned.
About the yeare A. D. 1136, the Canons of Lions dared to being it
into the ? cclesiasticall Qiices. Saint Bernard who lived in these times,
esteemed the most learned and pious of that age, who was most fre-
quent in the prayses of the Flessed Virgin, so as to call her the
necke of the Church, by which every grace and influence passeth from
the Head, inueighed severely against the Canons, and wrote unto
them, reprehending them for introducing a dangerous nouitie without
reason, or example of antiquitie; that there want not places to praise
the Virgin, who cannot be pleased with a presumptuous nouitie,
mother of rashuess, sister of superstition, daughter of lightuesse. The
next age had Schoole Doctors of both the Orders, Franciscan and
Dominican, who in their writings refuted this opinion, until about
the yeare AD. 1300, when John Scot, a Franciscan, putting the mat-
ter into disputation, and examining the reasons, did fiie to the Onni-
potencie, saying that God had power to free her from sinne, or to
cause sinne to remaine in her onely for an instant, or for a certaine
time; that God only knoweth which of these three is true, yet it is
probable to attribute the first to Mary, in case it bee not repugnant
to the authoritie of the Church and of the- Scripture.
" The doctrine of this famous divine was followed by the Franciscan
Order. But in the particular of the conception, seeing the way yd
open, they affirmed absolutely for true/ that which he had proposed as
possible and probable /under this doubtful condition, if it bee not re-
pugnant to the orthodome faith.
1 Novelties.
e/{We
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? 44 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
"The Dominicans did constantly resist, and followed Saint Thomas
one of their Order, famous for his learning and for the approbation of
Pope John the two and twentieth, who to depresse the Franciscans,
who did for the most part adhere to the Emperor Lewis of Bavaria,
excommunicated by him, did canonize that Doctour and his doctrine.
The shew of pietie and devotion made the Franciscan opinion gene-
rally more accepted, and more tenaciously received by the Universitie
of Paris, which was in credite for eminent learning, and after long
ventilation and discussion; was afterwards approoved by the Councell
of Basill, which forbade to teach and preach the contrarie. This
tooke place in those Countreys which received the Councell. Finally
Pope Siactus M a Franciscan, made two Bulles in this matter, one,
in the yeare/one thousand foure hundred seventie sixe, approving a
new ofiice, composed by Leonard Nogarola, Protonotarie with indul-
gences to him that did celebrate it, or assist; the other, in the yeare
one thousand foure hundred eightie three, condemning the assertion
as false and erronious, that it is heresie to hold the conception, or a
sinne to celebrate it, excommunicating the preachers and others who
noted that opinion of heresie or the contrarie, because, it was not as
yet decided by the Church of Rome and the Apostolike see. . .
