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Thus have we traced the progrefs of the Eaftern empire, 

 till it no longer exifled ; yet for fome ages, as we have feen, 

 it not only firmly but proudly lifted up its head, confcious 

 of its vaft fuperiority over the other exifting governments 

 of the world, particularly in the reign of Juftiman, who 

 overturned the Vandals in Africa, and the Goths in Italy ; 

 but in procefs of time, as has been fhewn, it declined in its 

 power, and was difmembered of its parts one after another. 

 As in almoft all other cafes, the mifconduft of the emperors 

 not only haftened the ruin of the empire, but was the pri- 

 mary and leading caufe of it. The Bulgarians claimed and 

 obtained a part of the empire; as did the Saracens, who 

 pofl'effed themfelves of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cilicia, 

 and all the adjacent regions ; and after that, overruning 

 the reft of the Roman world, laid fiege to Constantinople. 

 Thefe were the followers of the prophet Mohammed, who, 

 believing the whole world was deftined for them as an in- 

 heritance;, attacked the neighbouring nation? with a fury, 

 that, in many cafes, was abfolutely irreliftible. It was in 

 this ftate of things, when the empire could fcarcely defend 

 itfelf againft thefe Saracens, that Conftantinople, as we 

 have feen, was taken by Baldwin, earl of Flanders. It 

 was at this period that another emperor took his ftation 

 at Trebifond, that city and the regions round it being torn 

 from the reft of the Roman empire. At laft the Turks 

 totally deftroyed that empire. They firlt, in the reign of 

 Heraclius, palling through the Cafpiau ftraits, wandered 

 over divers countries in the Eaft, embraced the Moham- 

 medan religion, and were divided into feveral principalities. 

 But the other tribes becoming extinct, the pofterity of 

 Othoman alone took the lead, and ever fince the Turkifh 

 fovereigns have affumed the name and title of Othomans, or 

 Ottomans. Thefe, having fubdued the greateft part of the 

 provinces which had been pofleilcd by the Saracens, iwal- 

 lowed up the reft of the Roman empire. Conftantinople, 

 fince its capture in 1453, has been the feat of the Turkifh 

 emperors ; of courfe it claims no longer our notice in this 

 article. 



Affairs of Rome after the Ruin of the JVeftern Empire. — 

 We have already obferved, that Italy was fubdued by the 

 Heruli, vvhofe prince, Odoaccr, out of contempt to Rome, 

 fixed his feat at Ravenna. Thefe Heruli were, however, 

 foon driven out of Italy by the Oltrogoths, whofe king, 

 Theodoric, erefted a new kingdom in Italy, and chofe 

 Verona to be the royal feat for him and his pofterity. 

 This kingdom laited from the year 493 to 553 ; but in 541 

 Totila fucceeded to the throne of the Goths, who in the 

 courfe of his reign captured the city of Rome, and aban- 

 doned it to his ioldiers, intending in the end to have razed 

 it to the ground, but was prevented from executing his 

 plan by Belifarius. Teia, the fucceffor of Totila, and the 

 laft king of the Oftrogoths, was defeated and flain by 

 Narfes, who fucceedsd Belifarius as general of the armies 

 of Juftinian. By this general the kingdom of the Goths 

 in Italy was totally deitroyed. Soon after the Longobards 

 erefted another kingdom in Italy, and claimed, under their 

 king Alboin, that part of Italy which is (till called Lom- 

 bardy. Their royal feat was Ticinum or Pavia, and their 

 kingdom flourifhed from 56S to 774, when Charlemagne 

 having taken their capital, carried their laft prince, Deiide- 

 riue, with his family, into France. While the Lombards 

 ruled in Italy, the other parts of that country were in fub- 

 jeftion to exarchs or prefects, who were ufually fent by the 

 emperor to Conftantinople. Thefe, in fome meafure, refill- 

 ing the Lombards, defended the remains of the empire there, 

 and fixed their feat at Ravenna. This exarchate laited 185 

 years, viz. from 568 to 752, in which year Aiftulphus, 



king of the Lombards, took Ravenna by force. The 

 kingdom of the Lombards being extindi, all Italy, which 

 had been comprehended under the exarchate and kingdom 

 of the Lombards, fell to the kings of France. Charle- 

 magne was firft proclaimed patrician, and foon after em- 

 peror, of the Roman people. As the people were prompted 

 to this aft by the biihop of Rome, Charles gave a large 

 part of the exarchate and other lands to the bifhops of 

 Rome, who became the temporal as well as the fpiritual 

 fathers of the people. They contrived at this period a pecu- 

 liar kind of dominion, which received great ftrength and ad- 

 vantage from the general ignorance that then prevailed in 

 the Weft. The bifhops of Rome claimed to be the vicars 

 of Chrift, and fucceftors to Peter, chief of the apoftles, 

 and had therefore a right to prefcribe laws to all the Chrii- 

 tian world. Formerly, on account of the pre-eminence of 

 the city of Rome, only the bifhops of that city claimed a 

 fuperiority in matters of religion. But when they faw that 

 the bifhops of Conftantinople afTumed to themfelves, be- 

 caufe the feat of empire had been transferred to that city, 

 tli.. titleof oecumenical oruniverfal patriarchs, then the bifhops 

 of Rome pretended they had a right to the primacy as fuc- 

 ceftors to the apoitle Peter ; and at length th^y were not 

 fatisfied with their fupremacy in matters of religion, but 

 arrogated to themfelves the power of dilpoftelling princes 

 of their kingdoms. Gregory VII. laid the foundation of 

 this claim, a man, v. hole ambition, it has been well faid, 

 was fcarcely to be fatisfied by the poffeffion of a world. 

 The Other bifhops were not all equal in power, but he who 

 dwelt in the metropolis took the lead of the other bifhops 

 in that province. At firft he was called metropolitan, and 

 in the eighth century he took the name of archbifhop. The 

 molt eminent of thefe metropolitans were thofe of Rome, 

 Conftantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, becaufe thefe 

 were the principal cities of the Roman empire. And next 

 to thefe, on account of the fuppofed fanctity of his city, 

 was the bifhop of Jerufalem. The others vigoroufly de- 

 fended their privileges againft the bifhop of Rome, and the 

 controverlies that arofe thereupon, gave occafion at length 

 to the fchifm between the Greek and Roman churches, 

 to which we have had occafion to refer. 



The fee of Rome maintained its authority without 

 much interruption till the 14th century, when it began to 

 totter, on account of the fchifms that arofe among the 

 Roman pontiffs, which laited nearly half a century, there 

 being two popes at a time, the one at Rome, the other at 

 Avignon. But this fchifm being terminated the popes re- 

 covered their former ftrength. It was about this fame 

 period that Nicholas Gabrini di Rienzi, (fee Gabiuni,) 

 without runk, without money, without friends, alliances or 

 military force, led on by ambition, and fupported by his 

 eloquence alone, obtained for a fhort time the fovereignty 

 of Rome ; and though he could not, as he propofed, make 

 her the miftrefs of the world, he, however, protected fome, 

 and awed other fovereigns, and was admitted an arbiter of 

 kingdoms. 



In the fifteenth century the pontiff's authority was again 

 fhaken, as well by difputes between the emperor and 

 the popes, three of whom were depofed by the council of 

 Conllans, two others by the council of Pifa, and one 

 by the council of Bafil, as by the intrepidity of a fecond 

 Gabrini, in the character of Stephen Porcaro, of whom, 

 his name having efcaped us in the alphabetical order, we 

 (hall fav a few words. He was of noble birth ; his reputa- 

 tion was fpotlefs ; his tongue was armed with eloquence ; his 

 mind was enlightened with learning ; and he afpired to free 

 his country and immortalize his name by the glory of I. 



deeds. 



