Superstition and Force Author:Henry Charles Lea Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: and in that august presence the Pontiff, whom no witnesses dared to accuse, cleared himself of the crimes imputed to him by solemnly taking the oath of denial in... more » company with twelve priests as compurgators.1 Three years afterwards, the Emperor decreed that, in all doubtful cases, priests should defend themselves with three, five, or seven ecclesiastical compurgators, and he announced that this decision had been reached by the common consent of Pope, patriarchs, bishops, and all the faithful.3 It is true that a few months later, on being shown a decretal of Gregory II.3 1 Eginhart. Annal. ann. 800.—The monkish chroniclers have endeavored to conceal the fact that Leo underwent the form of trial like a common criminal, but the evidence is indubitable. Charlemagne alludes to it in the Capitulum Aquisgranense ann. 803, in a manner which admits of no dispute. - Consultu domini et patris nostri Leonis Apostolici ceterorumque Romanic ecclesice episcoporum et reliquorum sacerdotum sive Orientalium et Grse- corum patriarcharum et multorum sanctorum episcoporum et sacerdotum, necnon et nostrorum episcoporum omnium ceterorumque sacerdotum ac levitarum auctoritate et consensu, atque reliquorum fidelium et cunctorum cnnsiliariorum nostrorum consultu.—Capit. Aquisgran. ann. 803, cap. vii. 3 De presbytero vero vel quolibet sacerdote a populo accusato, si certe non fuerint testes, qui crimini illato approbent veritatem, jurejurando erit in medio, et ilium testem proferat de innocentisc suas veritate, cui nuda et aperta sunt omnia. sicque maneat in proprio gradu.—Bonifacii Epist. exxvi. The subject of the oaths of priests was one of considerable perplexity during the dark ages. Among the numerous privileges claimed by the sacerdotal body was exemption from the necessity of swearing, and...« less