P E L A G I U S. 
Hift. Chrift. Church, Per. xii. The hiftory of the Pela¬ 
gian controverfy, and of the Pelagians, has been written 
by Archbilhop Uflier, in his Antiq. Ecclef. Britan, by 
Gerard Voflius ; Le Clerc ; Cardinal Noris ; Father Gar- 
nier, in his Supplem. Oper. Theodoreti; Janfenius, in 
his Augtiftino; and by Longueval, a French Jefuit, in 
the preface to the 9th vol. of his Hift. Eccl. Gallic, and 
others. Gen. Bing. 
PEL'AGIUS I. (Pope), was a native of Rome. He 
became a deacon of the Roman church, and was employed 
in the capacity of nuncio at the court of Conftantinople 
by feveral of the popes in fucceftion. About the year 
539 he was commiftioned, together with Ephraim pa¬ 
triarch of Antioch, and Peter patriarch of Jerufalem, to 
decide on the cafe of Paul, who had been banifhed to 
Gaza, on account of a deacon’s death, to which he was 
faid to have been privy. Having repaired to Gaza after 
the trial of the African prelate, fentence of depofition 
was pronounced upon him. WhilePelagius was return¬ 
ing to Conftantinople, he met with fome Paleftine monks 
on their journey to that city, in order to prefer com¬ 
plaints to the emperor againft the followers of Origen ; 
and, having promifed them his intereft at court, he luc- 
ceeded in obtaining an edidt from Juftinian in 541, by 
which fentence of condemnation was parted upon the 
Origenifts. In the mean time, he had betrayed the in- 
terefts of pope Silverius at Conftantinople ; and, to in¬ 
gratiate himfelf with the emprefs, became privy to the 
meafures for fecuring the popedom to Vigilius, the 
ufurper of the fee. About the year 545 he returned to 
Rome, being either recalled by Vigilius, or, according to 
others, fent by Juftinian with a large fum of money for 
the relief of that city, which was reduced to great d i it refs 
by the incurftons of the Goths. In 547 he was deputed 
by the citizens of Rome on an embafly to Totila, king of 
the Goths, for the purpofe of diffuading that prince from 
befieging that city, when, though he failed in the objedt 
Of his million, by his interceftion he was the means of 
preferving the lives and liberties of numbers of the 
conquered Romans. In the fame year Totila fent him 
in the character of ambafl’ador to Conftantinople, to ne¬ 
gotiate a peace between the Goths and Romans. He ad¬ 
hered to Vigilius in all his difputes; in all his changes, 
condemning or approving thofe articles which the pope 
condemned or approved. With him he was banifhed for 
rejecting the fifth council; but, recanting when that pope 
recanted, he was with him re lea fed from his exile and re¬ 
called to Conftantinople. He attended Vigilius on his 
return from the eaft; and, upon the death of the pope in 
the iflantl of Sicily, in the year 555, lie haftened to Rome, 
the emperor having promifed to raife him to that lee if 
he furvived Vigilius, upon his engaging to caufe the fifth 
council to be univerfally received in the weft. When 
Pelagius arrived at Rome, he found the people and clergy 
fo highly enraged againft him, that, in Head of electing 
him their bifliop, they all with one confent feparated 
themfelves from his communion. What induced many 
to concur in this meafure, was a ftrong report, that, in 
order to fecure the objedt of his ambition, he had been 
accelfory to the death of his predeceffor. But Pelagius, 
relying on the fupport of the emperor, refolved to have 
himfelf ordained in defiance of the canons, as well as the 
electors. No fooner was he fettled in the quiet poflelfion 
of his fee, than he endeavoured to perform his engage¬ 
ment to the emperor, by perfuading the weftern bilhops 
to receive the fifth council. With this view headdrefled 
letters to them, in which he attempted to prove, that the 
conftitution of Vigilius was in no refpedt derogatory to 
the decrees of Chalcedon, and confequently that fuch as 
did not receive it ought to be deemed fchifmatics. So 
far, however, were his letters from producing the deli red 
effedt, that the bilhops of Tufcany, Liguria, Venetia, Illy- 
ricum, Gaul, Spain, and Ireland, declared loudly againft 
that conftitution ; and the fifth council, and the Italian 
bilhops, as well as the Iriflt, befides cenluring the pope in 
VoL.XIX. No. 1319. 
487 
the ftrongeft terms, feparated themfelves from his com¬ 
munion. 
Thus abandoned by almoft all the bilhops in the weft, 
and finding his endeavours to fatisfy them of his ortho¬ 
doxy were ineffectual, he wrote to the emperor’s chief 
general Narfes, exhorting him to reftrain, by his authority 
and power, thofe whom a reverence for St. Peter and his 
fee could not reftrain, or bring to a fenfe of duty. Nar¬ 
fes, being of a mild and humane difpofition, inltead of 
adting as the pope defined, endeavoured by entreaties and 
perfuafion to gain over thofe Italian bilhops wdio were the 
fubjedts of the empire; and, though he was at firlt not 
fuccefsful, by fteadfly adhering to the fyftem of pacifica¬ 
tion, he in the end prevailed upon fome of the bilhops of 
Tufcany and Liguria to renew their communion with 
the fee of Rome. 
About the year 557, a report was fpread in Gaul, that 
the pope had departed from the genuine Catholic doc¬ 
trine. Childebert, king of the Franks, fent an ambafla- 
dor to Rome, for the purpofe of examining into its 
truth, and of demanding of Pelagius a confeffion of his 
faith. In compliance with the king’s demand, the pope 
tranfmitted to the monarch his confeftion, accompanied 
with folemn declarations, that he not only received, but 
was ready to defend, at the expenfe of his life, the holy 
faith of Chalcedon ; yet maintaining, that nothing had 
been defined in the fifth council, but what was entirely 
agreeable to that faith and dodtrine. Pelagius died in 
560, after a pontificate of nearly five years, during which 
he had the mortification to fee his authority almoft uni¬ 
verfally difregarded by the weftern bilhops,who perfevered 
in condemning and rejecting a council which he had ap¬ 
proved and received, and even fufpedted the orthodoxy of 
his creed becaufe he received it. Sixteen Letters, which 
have been attributed to him, may be found in the fifth 
vol. of the Colledl. Concil. of which, however, the firft is 
admitted by the editors of that work to be fpurious. 
PELA'GIUS II. (Pope), was of Gothic extra&ion, but 
a native of Rome. Upon the death of pope Benedict in 
578, the fee continued vacant four months, at the expira¬ 
tion of which Pelagius was chofen to fill that dignity. 
His eledtion having taken place at a time when the Lom¬ 
bards were matters of the greateft part of Italy, and kept 
Rome itfelf clofely befieged, it was judged expedient that 
he Ihould be ordained before the emperor’s confirmation 
could be received ; but, as foon as the liege was raifed, 
he fent Gregory, then deacon in the Roman church, and 
afterwards his fuccelfor in the popedom, to excufe the in¬ 
formality, and to entreat the emperor's acquiefcence in 
a proceeding which had been rendered necefiary by the 
calamitous circumftances of the times. The Lombards, 
by their ravages, had now fpread fuch devaftation and 
terror in every part of Italy, that perfons who had the 
charadter of holy men regarded them as the inftruments 
of the divine vengeance to depopulate the country 5 and 
fome of them fancied that they had revelations, which 
foretold them that “ the Lombards were the forerunners 
of the laft day, and that the end of the world was at hand." 
By the report of their vifions, the credulous multitude 
was terrified to fuch a degree, that, in Head of uniting 
againft the common enemy, they abandoned themfelves 
to defpair, and fullered the barbarians to plunder and de- 
ftroy without oppofition. In this ftate of the empire in 
the weft, the church continued to be divided by the 
fchifm which had been occafioned by the conftitution of 
pope Vigilius, and not terminated by his fuccefiors. The 
talk of healing that fchifm, Pelagius confidered to be one 
of the firft objedts that merited his attention, and he de¬ 
termined to apply to it with the utmoft zeal. The Lom¬ 
bards, however, occafioned the molt ferious alarms to the 
church, and obliged his holinefs to pay more attention 
to the fecular concerns of the ftate than to its fpirituali- 
ties. They had conquered the important city of Pavia; 
and, having made it the metropolis of their new king¬ 
dom, extended their con quells from thence over the ad- 
6 I jacent 
