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488 
jacent provinces, threatening to advance a fecond time 
againft Rome. This threat they were enabled to carry 
into execution without delay, fince the exarch Longinus 
had not fufficient forces to meet them in the field. Un¬ 
der conftant apprehenfions, therefore, that they would 
fpeedily make their appearance at the gates of the city, 
Pelagius fent new legates to the emperor Tiberius, in the 
year 580, to lay before him an account of the defencelefs 
(late of Italy, and to folicit a fupply of men and money, 
that the city of Rome itfelf might not fall into the hands 
of the barbarians. But the emperor, though wifhing 
well to the caufe, had it not in his power to fend them 
any relief. Finding Italy thus abandoned by the empe¬ 
ror, in 581 the pope applied to Guntram, king of Bur¬ 
gundy, who was diftinguifhed for his attachment to the 
bifhops of Rome, and their fee, exhorting and entreating 
him to renounce the alliance which he had lately con¬ 
cluded with the Lombards, and, by turning his arms 
againft them, prevent the entire fubjugation of Italy. 
In this application, however, he appears to have met 
with no better fuccefs, than in his legation to Conftan- 
tinople. During the following year, upon receiving in¬ 
telligence of the death of the emperor Tiberius, and the 
fucceflion of Mauricius, Pelagius loft no time in charging 
his nuncio Gregory to renew his application for impe¬ 
rial aid j which Mauricius promifed to grant; and im¬ 
mediately iflued an order to difcharge the exarch Lon¬ 
ginus, who was not thought equal to fo great a truft, 
and to appoint Zamaragdus, a perfon well {killed in mi¬ 
litary affairs, to command in his room. 
In the year 583, the new exarch took with him into 
Italy a confiderable reinforcement of chofen troops, and 
a large fupply of money to defray the expenfes of the 
war. Mauricius, however, fenfible that with thofe troops 
alone he would not be in a condition to withftand the 
numerous forces of the enemy, entered into a treaty 
with Childibert king of the Franks, who engaged, for a 
confiderable fum, which was paid beforehand, to fall 
upon the Lombards on one fide, while the exarch at¬ 
tacked them on the other. But this faithlefs prince, 
upon receiving a fimilar fum from the Lombards, agreed 
to dilband his army, and obferve aftrift neutrality. He 
had even the bafenefs, when ambafladors from the em¬ 
peror urged him either to perform his promife, or to re¬ 
fund the money which he had received, to difmifs them 
■without any anfwer. This treacherous conduft proved 
a great difappointment to the exarch, who, finding him- 
felf unable to profecute hoftilities with his prefent forces, 
refolved to try whether he could not amufe the enemy 
with a pretence of negotiation, till further fupplies could 
be fent to him. Accordingly, he propofed a ceflation of 
arms, which was agreed to by the king of the Lombards, 
who was defirous of fettling the affairs of his kingdom, 
and of eftablifhing peace and good order in the conquered 
countries. 
From this time we meet with no particulars relating 
to Pelagius before the year 588, when a council was held 
at Conftantinople, for the trial of Gregory, patriarch of 
Antioch, who had been accufed of inceft, and feveral 
other crimes. After the trial had lafted nearly a whole 
day, and the patriarch had been honourably acquitted, 
the council confirmed to John of Conftantinople, fur- 
named the jF 'after, on his own application, the title of 
oecumenical or univerfal bifhop, to be enjoyed by him 
and his fucceflbrs in that fee. Though it does not ap¬ 
pear that this title was attended with any acceflion of 
power, much lefs with fuch pretenfions to univerfal ju- 
rifdi&ion over the church as were afterwards claimed by 
the bifhops of Rome, yet, when intelligence of what had 
paffed was brought to Pelagius, his jealoufy was alarmed 
left the dignity of his bifhopric fliould be eclipfed 5 and 
he endeavoured to alarm the whole Chriftian world 
againft John, as if he intended to engrofs all ecclefiafti- 
cal power to himfelf and his fee. As much difturbed 
a»d concerned as if the council had condemned fome 
PEL 
fundamental article of the Chriftian religion, he imme¬ 
diately, by the authority and in the name of St. Peter, 
declared all the aflrs of that affembly null and void, ex¬ 
cepting their acquittal of Gregory. He alfo difpatched, 
without delay, meflengers to Conftantinople, with letters 
to the patriarch, and to his nuncio at the imperial court. 
In his letter to the patriarch, Pelagius reproached him, 
in very fevere terms, with pride and ambition ; pro¬ 
nouncing his wifh for fuch a diftinftion above his bre¬ 
thren, as the name of oecumenical bifhop imported, to be 
wicked, deteftable, and diabolical; and threatening to 
feparate himfelf from his communion- if he did not im¬ 
mediately relinquifh the antichriftian title which he had 
afi’umed. In his letter to his nuncio, he ftriflly enjoined 
him not to communicate, or to affift in divine fervice on 
any occafion, with the bifhop of Conftantinople, till he 
had renounced that diftinftion. However, as the pa¬ 
triarch Syriacus, who fucceeded John, affumed the fame 
title, it is probable that John continued the ufe of it as 
long as he lived, though Pelagius was prevented by 
death from proceeding further in this affair. 
In the year 589, the Catholic caufe received an accef- 
fion of ftrength by the converfion of the Goths in Spain, 
who, after having profeffed the doftrine of Arius dur¬ 
ing more than tw'o centuries, were perfuaded by their 
king Recaredus to renounce it, and to embrace the Ca¬ 
tholic faith. This event gave great fatisfaftion to the 
Catholic party, though Pelagius furvived but a fhort 
time to enjoy it. In confequence of an inundation of 
the Tiber, which laid under water a confiderable part of 
the city of Rome^and the adjacent country, a very mor¬ 
tal peftilentia! diftetnper broke out, which proved fatal 
to Pelagius in February 590, after he had prefided over 
the Roman fee eleven years and between two and three 
months. Ten Letters and fix Decrees, under his name, 
are inferted in the fifth vol. of the Collefl. Concil. though 
the editors of that work acknowledge the firft, fecond, 
eighth, and ninth, letters, to be fuppofitious. Cave's 
Hijl. Lit. vol. i. 
PELAGNI'SI, an ifland in the Grecian Archipelago, 
about eight miles in circumference. Lat. 39. 30. N. Ion. 
24. 8. E. 
PELAGO'NIA, in ancient geography, a country of 
Macedonia, called alfo Tripolitis, on account of its three 
cities, according to Strabo.—Alfo, a town of the fame 
country.—Alfo, a town of the ifland of Sicily. 
PELAGO'SA, an ifland in the Adriatic, near the coaft 
of Dalmatia. This ifland, together with feveral rocks 
that appear above water near it, are the remains of an 
ancient volcano. The lava which forms the fubftance 
of this ifland appears like the ordinary lava of Vefuvius. 
The Liflan fifhermen fay, that Pelagofa is fubjefl to fre¬ 
quent and violent earthquakes ; and the afpe£t of the 
ifland proves at firft fight that it has fuftered many revo¬ 
lutions ; for it is rugged, ruinous, and fubverted : fix- 
teen miles fouth-weft of Agofta. Lat. 41. 45. N. Ion. 
16. 10. E. 
PELAI'AH, a Levite; (Nehem. viii. 7. x. 10.) He 
was one of the principal Levites that returned from cap¬ 
tivity, and was one of thofe that figned the covenant that 
Nehemiah renewed with the Lord. 
PELALI'AH, fon of Amazi and father of Jeroham, of 
the family of rafhur fon of Malchiah : he was of the race 
of the priefts. Nehem. xi. 12. 
PELANG', a town of Birmah: eight miles north-eaft 
of Pegongmew. 
PELARGO'NIUM, f. [fo called frorn a 
ftork, in allufion to the beak of the fruit, which refembles 
the bill of that bird ; as well as to preferve an analogy 
with the Geranium, or crane’s-bill, and Erodium, which 
might properly be called heron’s-bill.] Stork’s-bill, or 
African Geranium ; in botany, a genus of the clafs 
monadelphia, order heptandria, natural order of grui- 
nales, (gerania, JuJJ.) Generic chara&ers—Calyx : pe- 
rianthium one-leafed, five-parted j fegments ovate, acute, 
concave, 
