A I. E 



T.MtVi, er.erteil his power on a variety of occafions, anil with 

 a I'crveritv which no circumftanci-s can jiiftify. Witli a 

 vjcrt- of rcftoring order and tranqnilllty in the church, he 

 convoked a folemn and numerons afTembly of the clergy in 

 1:64, in which tlie heentious rage of dlfinitiiig about re- 

 ligious matters was condemned ; and in tlie council of La- 

 tcran, of 1 179, a fpiritual war was dcchired againllheretics, 

 and more particularly againll the Albioensks. 



Having enjovcd tlie unconttlled and unJillurbed pofTef- 

 fion of the pontifical chair fcaroely four years, Alexander 

 III. died in the year I 181, with the charadcr of having 

 exhibited more proofs of ambition to obtain, than of mode- 

 ration in csercifing, the fupreme ccckfiallical authority. 

 Dupiil, liccl. Hift. vol. iv. p. 116. Bower's Popes, vol. vi. 

 p. II. Moflieim, vol. ii. p. 4P1. vol. iii. p. 53, &c. Hume's 

 Hilt. vol. i. p. 381, 396, &c. 



Alexander IV. pope, was RaynalJ or Roland, bifliop 

 of OlUa, andfuccecded Innocent IV. in 1254, at tlie time 

 of the contcll between the Guelphs and Gibellines. The 

 right of the Roman fee to the d ifpofal of the crown of 

 Sicily was fupportcd by a war, in the pontificate of Inno- 

 cent IV'. againft Mainfroy or Manfred, regent for Conradinc, 

 -the fon of the emperor Conrad ; and this pope, in order to 

 engage the aflillance of a powerful ally, had conferred the 

 ci-own on Edmund, the fccond fon of HeniT III. of Eng- 

 land. Alexander I V. purfucd the plan of his predeceffor, 

 and publilhed a ci ufade againft Sicily, and for defraying the 

 expcnces of it, induced Henry to levy a tenth on all eccle- 

 fiafticnl benefices in England for three years. Upon the de- 

 mand of farther fapplies, though it was enforced by a legate 

 and a till cat of excommunication, Heniy rtliiled ; and ilie 

 nominal polVeflion of the crown reverted to Alexander 4 

 .but Mainfroy hiving defeated the crufaders became the real 

 pofFefTor of it, A. D. 1258. This pontiff was equally un- 

 Aiccefsful in his attempts to oppoi'e the progrefs of Ezzelin 

 or Ectlin, who, at the head of the Gibellines, and on the 

 part of the heirs of Frederic II., had made himfelf maftcr of 

 Lombard. The pope's army was defeatc-d, and his legate 

 imprifoned. In defiance of the banner of the crofs, and 

 anathemas fulminated bythc npoilolic fee, Ezzelin purfued his 

 TJctories ; and Mainfroy kept polTelllon of the throne of the 

 tivo Sicilies, which he had ufurped. 



Alexander, in the exercife of his ecclefiaftlcal authority, 

 maintained the .caufe of the mendicant dominlcan Iriars, 

 againft the mcn\bers of the univerfity of Paris, who rt iufed 

 to admit them to a participation of the rights and privileges 

 tif their fociety ; and he condemned a book written by 

 William de Saint Amour, one of the dotlors of the Sor- 

 bonne, and entitled, " The Perils of the Lall Times," in 

 «\i'hich the charafter of the dominicans was defcribed, and 

 U.eirpride, hypocrifyandlicentioufnefs, indlreftly but cruelly 

 Ctnfured. In the council of Aries, held in 1260, he con- 

 demned another book, written by the abbot Joachim, under 

 the title of " The Everlafting Gofpcl ;" and at the fame 

 time profcribed thofe who, under the denomination of JoA- 

 CHiMiTES, had adopted the doftrine which this book pro- 

 Mulgated. Differences of another kind having arifen between 

 the ftates of Venice and Genoa, a council for fettling them 

 v.as fummoncd to meet at Viterbo ; but in the mean time 

 Alexander IV. opprelTed by the diffenfions of the church, 

 and by the vexation which his ineffectual attempts for com- 

 pofing them produced, clofed his life in the year iz6l. 

 " He appears to have been a narrow-minded bigot, more 

 concerned to preferve and enlarge the privileges of a mo- 

 naftic order, than to corretl abufes and encourage improve- 

 ipcnts." Dupin. Eccl. Hift. vol. v. p. ^o, u8, 138, See. 



ALE 



■Bower'j Popes, vol. vi. p. 225. Cave H. L. torn. ii. p. 

 303. Hnmc'i Hift. vol. ii. p. 1 73, &c. 



Alexander V. pope, was born in the ifle of Candia, about 

 the year i ^39. His original name was Ph.ihrgo, and his pa- 

 rents were fo poor, that in his childhood he was under a re- 

 ceditv of begging his bread. An Italian monk took him 

 under his protection and inftruftion, and procured his admif- 

 fion into his order of friars minors. By his rtcommendatioa 

 he became a ftudent at Oxford, and afterwards took his de- 

 gree of doftor in divinity at Paris. Having paffed through 

 feveral gradations of preferment, being firft bilhop of Vi- 

 cenza, then of Novara, and at length archbilhop of Milan, 

 cardinal, and legate of pope Im.oceiit VII. in Lombardy, 

 he was unanimoufly eleiited pope by the cardinals, at a coun- 

 cil in Pifa, in the year 1409. This pontiff was good-hu- 

 moured and liberal ; and having no needy relations and 

 dependants, for whom he w-as under an obligation of pro- 

 viding, he had the means of extending his gencrofity to 

 thofe that were connefted with the church, particularly to 

 the mendicant orders of monks, who were diftinguilhed by 

 his patronage and favour. Such was his munificence during 

 his pontificate, that he ufcd to fay, " When I became a 

 bifliop, I w'as rich ; when a cardinal, poor; and when pope, 

 a beggar." He feems, however, to have counteratltd the 

 mildnefs and liberality cf his natural difpofition by the orders 

 tranfmitted to the archbifnop of Prague, enjoining him to 

 proceed with rigour againll Kufs and his follo\vei-s. This 

 zealous reformer, confiding in the known candour of the 

 pontiff, inftead of perfonally appearing at Rome, in compli- 

 ance with the fummons that had been lent him, commiffioned 

 two friends to plead his caufe, faying, on his own part, " I 

 appeal from Alexander iU-iiifonned, to Alexander well-in- 

 formed." When Alexander propofed to vifit Rome, where 

 he was expcited, he was perfuaded by Balthafar Coffa to ac- 

 company hlin 10 Bologna. Whilft he was at this city he 

 died, as fome fay, by the contrivance of Coffa, in the year 

 1410, having poffcffed the papal fee little more than ten 

 months ; and Coffa, by his iafluci;cc with the cardinals, and 

 a recommendation from Louis of Anjou, king of Sicily, was 

 chofen to fucceed him. Dupin, Eccl. Hid. vol. v. p. 8, &.C. 

 Bower's Popes, vol. vil. p. 123. 



Alexander VI. pope, was born in 1431, at Valencia in 

 Spain, and by the intereft of his uncle, pope Cahxtus III. 

 was appointed cardinal in 1455 ; and afterwards archbiffiop 

 ot Valencia, and vice-chancellor of Rome. The emoluments 

 of this laft office enabled him to maintain the ttate of a 

 prince, and fuppHed him with the means of liccntioufnefs and 

 extravagance, to which he wasadditfted from his youth. Un- 

 der pope Sixtus IV. he was legate in Spain ; and at laft by 

 affuming a fanclity, which his conduft did notjuftify, and 

 by bribing the cardinals, he was elcfted, at the age of 61, to 

 fucceed pope Innocent VIII. in 1492. He then changed 

 his original name of Roderic Borgia fortbat of Alexander VL 

 By Vanozza, a Roman lady, with whom he had continued 

 an illicit connection for many years, he had five children. 

 His fecond fon was Cxfar Borgia, who was amonfter of de- 

 bauchery and cruelty, and who is faid to have quarrelled with 

 his elder brother for the favour of his fiftcr Lucretia, and to 

 have killed him, and thrown his body into the Tiber. Not- 

 withftanding his infamous charaft'er he was the favourite of 

 his father, who trampled with contempt on every obftacle 

 which the demands of juftice, the diftates of reafon, and the 

 remonftrances of religion laid in his way, in order to aggran- 

 dize his children, and enrich himfelf. In his poUtical con- 

 nections he was fahhlefs and treacherous ; and formed al- 

 liances with the purpofe of violating them. Having ens^asfed 



Chark* 



