210 
J o 
nefs. After the council had deliberated on the bufinefs, 
the pope united with them in decreeing that Dominic 
Ihould be ordained by the patriarch; by which determi¬ 
nation the pontiff confented to gratify a powerful lord, 
in contradiction to the exprefs and received canons of the 
church. In the following year, the emperor Louis hav¬ 
ing died without leaving any male ilfue, his uncles, 
Louis of Germany and Charles of France furnamed the 
Eald, became competitors for the empire, and the king¬ 
dom of Italy. But Charles, entering Italy at the head of 
a powerful army, and proceeding to Rome, whither he 
was invited by the pope, was crowned there by the pon¬ 
tiff with great folemnity in St. Peter’s church. Of this 
circumftance the pope afterwards fpoke, as if it had given 
to Charles an undoubted right to the imperial crown; 
and from that time his fucceffors pretended to have a 
right to elett, or at lead to confirm the election of, the 
emperors. 
After Charles had returned to France, a council was 
held at Pontion, in which the papal legates prefuted. In 
this council a letter was read which the emperor had pro¬ 
cured from the pope, appointing Angefifus, archbifhop of 
Sens, primate of all France and Germany on the French 
fide of the Rhine. Againft this innovation the Galilean 
bifhops loudly protefted, as repugnant to the canons of. 
the council of Nice, and inconfiftent with the privileges 
granted by preceding popes to the fee of Rheims. But 
the pope, defirous of obliging the emperor, difregarded 
their reraonftrances, and fupported the prelate in that 
dignity, in contempt of the canons of the church and the 
decrees of his predecefi'ors. This council confirmed the 
pope’s fentence of anathema pronounced againft Formofus 
bifhop of Porto, accufed of confpiring againft the empe¬ 
ror as well as his holinefs. In the mean time the Sara¬ 
cens were fpreading devaluation and daughter over the 
fouthern provinces of Italy, and threatened to advance 
againft Rome, in conjunttion with the forces of feveral of 
the princes, who had been reduced to the neceflity of re¬ 
deeming their territories from ruin by entering into an 
alliance with them. The pope fpared neither promifes 
nor threatenings to induce thole princes to withdraw 
from that alliance ; and, when Athanalius bifhop of Na¬ 
ples treacheroufiy feized his own brother Sergius duke of 
Naples, who atted in concert with the Saracens, and, after 
putting out his eyes, lent him in this mutilated ftate to 
Rome, John applauded the barbarous action as an accep¬ 
table fervice to the church. That prelate, however, who 
was encouraged by the pope to alTume the government of 
the dukedom, no Sooner found himfelf firmly eftablifh.ed 
in it, than he joined the Saracens, and, by making fre¬ 
quent inroads into the territory of Rome, threw the city 
itfelf into the utmoft confufion. Thus circumftanced, 
the pope found himfelf reduced to the neceftity of enter¬ 
ing into a treaty with the Saracens, and of purchafing 
peace from them by the payment of a large annual tri¬ 
bute. The Saracens faithfully obferved the conditions to 
which they had agreed ; but no fooner was the pope de¬ 
livered from their hoftilities, than he was afiailed from 
another quarter. Lambert duke of Spoleto, and Adalbert 
marquis of Tufcany, who'had both been excommunicated 
by the pope for ufurping fome lands belonging to the 
patrimony of St. Peter, fuddenly entered Rome with their 
forces; feized on the pope, and placed him in confine¬ 
ment; plundered the city, and obliged the Romans to 
take an oath of allegiance to Carloman as king of Italy. 
Upon their retreat from Rome they let the pope at liberty, 
■who, after fulminating his anathemas ag;.inft them, left 
the city, and embarking at Otlia failed for France; not 
doubting of a welcome reception from Louis the Stam¬ 
merer, fon and fucceffor in that kingdom of the late em¬ 
peror Charles. Having arrived in France, he held a coun¬ 
cil at Troyes, in the year 878, in which the duke of 
Spoleto and his accomplices, and Formofus bifnop of 
Porto, were folemn-ly excommunicated and anathema¬ 
tized. At the clofe of the council, the pope exhorted 
H N. 
the king and the bifnops to take up arms, and to accom-- 
pany him into Italy, to protect the holy Roman church- 
againft the Saracens, and thofe wicked Chriftians who had 
entered into an alliance with them. It does not appear 
from hiftory, however, that his exhortations were attend¬ 
ed with much fuccels, firvee he was attended to Italy only 
by duke Bol’o, and his wife Hermengarda. With the 
fuccours which Bofo brought him, he was rendered more 
fecure in his capital, but not enabled to deliver the Ro¬ 
man territory from the exactions of the Saracens. 
I11 the mean time, Carloman king of Bavaria, and his? 
younger brother Charles, furnamed the Grefs, were con¬ 
tending for the kingdom of Lombardy, and Charles had. 
fucceeded in driving his brother out of Italy. Carlomanu 
died foon afterwards ; and, upon his death, the ftates of 
Bavaria, chofe his fecond brother Louis for their king,, 
who, to prevent Charles from difturbing him in the pof- 
feffion of that kingdom, renounced in his fivour all claim- 
to the kingdom of Lombardy, and. the title of emperor.. 
When the pope heard of this agreement, he wrote to. 
Charles, offering him the imperial crown, and prefling, 
him to come to Rome to receive it. As foon as the ftate 
of his affairs would permit him, Charles proceeded to that! 
city, and was crowned by the pope in St. Peter’s church*, 
towards the clofe of the year S80. The pope, however,, 
could not prevail with the new emperor to lend him any 
afiiftance againft the Saracens; he, therefore, endeavoured- 
by promifes, as well as threatenings, to gain over fuch of 
the Italian princes as had entered into an alliance with 
them. He even went in perfon to Naples, to try whether 
he could not perfuade Athanafius to turn his arms again It. 
them. That prelate promifed to lupport the pope, and 
was fupplied by him with a large fum of money, to en¬ 
able him to levy the requifite forces; but with the rnoft 
fhamelefs treachery he employed the forces which he raffed 
in afiifting the Saracens, and obliging the neighbouring 
princes to join them. On account of this conduct the 
pope folemnly excommunicated him in a council at Rome 
and, when the bifhop afterwards profeffed repentance and 
applied for abfolution, the pontiff was fo fanguinary as to- 
order an intimation to be conveyed to him, that he could 
by no other means afford a convincing proof of his fince- 
rity, than by apprehending and fending to Rome fome of 
the chief men among the Saracens, and putting the reft: 
to death in the prefence of his legates John died in the 
year 882, when upon the point of paying a fecond vifit 
to France, for the purpofe of offering his mediation to 
the French princes, who were at war with each.other ; af¬ 
ter having prefided over the Roman church ten years and 
fome days. Catholic writers complain, that he was fo 
prodigal of his excommunications, that they began to be- 
confidered as mere matters of form 5 and, that he made 
an irreparable breach in the ancient discipline of the 
church by permitting pilgrimages to be fubftituted in the 
room of penance. He allowed the Moravians to fay the 
canonical hours and to celebrate mafs in their native lan¬ 
guage. In the ninth volume of the Collett. Concil. are 
inferted three hundred and twenty-fix of his Letters, and 
fragments of others, which throw light on the ecclefiafti- 
cal and civil affairs of his time; and alfo a Sermon, pro-- 
nounced in council on the confirmation of the elettion of 
Charles the Bald. Platina. Cave's Hijl. Lit. 
JOHN IX. pope, was a native of Tivoli, of which he 
became deacon ; and the fon of one Rampoald. Upon, 
the death of Theodore II. in 898, Sergius, prefbyter of 
the Roman church, and John, were candidates to lucceed 
him ; but, the party of John prevailing, and driving his 
rival out of Rome, he was raifed to the papal dignity. 
At the beginning of his pontificate, feeing Italy divided 
by the fattions of different pretenders to the empire, he 
behaved with great caution, not elpoufing the interelts of 
either of them, till the violence of Berenger king of Lom¬ 
bardy induced him to take a decided part. That prince 
appeared unexpectedly before Rome at the head of a nu¬ 
merous army, and obliged the new pope to Grown him 
3 emperor. 
