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C A P. e?. whereby their perfonal Succeffion is Shaken. 145gnifhec!, and the Corps condemn'd, he had him difrobed of his Veftments, and * coyueus,commanded his (a) three or (b) two fingers, wherewith he ufed to blefs thepeo­- t o m ­- *• P a &pie, to be cut off, and thrown into the River Tiber ; and the reft of his body, as *y 7 pi Mina(ABaronius and Platina faith, was buried amongftthe fimple and vileft Lay­-men. 4 \\ ' r^' 0 fc\Nor was this all, buthcalfo degraded whom Formcfus hadOrdain'd, and himfelf corpo fece ie­II r­ I r. , ­ fimplici &Oath. And this he confirmed by a Council or Synod.villi.d Tom.I.p.477, publice in Concilio Epifcoparu.­rt decernit Formofum nunquam tuifli legitimura Pontificem. Bellarm. de Pont.R«m. 1.4. c. 12.[/] Onuphrius, at the inhumanity of this action, feemeth fo much troubled, /Addir, adthache willnot take it for any tiung, but to be a nicer fable and lye : but in this p l a t i n ­-cafe one Swallow makes no Summer, efpecially when Platina, Coqmus, Bellarmine,Baronius, and the whole body of their Hiftorians, both before and after Onuphriusand Platina, tells us, that in his time Pius the Second being dead, by the Con-davewas elected for Pope (g) Pietro Barbo, ^Venetian, who being a comely and g An. 1454.proper perfon, intended to cake upon him the name of Formofus; but fbme Car­dinalswell ver fed in Hi ftory, perfwaded him from it, by fetting this Fcrwo/Jw, asa bad man, before him^ upon which he callM himfelf iWthe Second. Norneed we trouble our felvcs any farther, for the proof of this facrilegious ftory a­gainltOnuphrius; their French Champion, (h) Nicholaj Coefeteau, of his ownac­- HI n'eftcord quitting of us from this labour.done pointbefoin d* amafferIcs Tefmoignages des Authenrs, pour exaggere 1' enormitede cette action, puifque nous avouons ingenuementquec'acfte un horrible Sac rilege, digned'eftrebrufledu feu du Ciel. Et encor qu' Onufhre remitte en doubtecetteHiftoìre, elle eft neantmoins rcceiie par la Commune voix de tous les Efcrivains. Coeffet. Refponfe au Montay }pag.iy6.As for Pope Stephanus, they fay he was atlaft imprifonedby hisEnemies,and there Barm, cuffet.ftrangled ; yet fome onely fay, in the common phrafe, he dyed­- To him fucceed­- * A n ­- 8? 7­ti(i) Romanus , being chofen by a prevailing Faction of the Romans (as (U Co-­ ' 4 7 7 'p a gaunt faith) againft Albert, Marquifs of Tujcany: this obliged Romanus, as anEnemy to Sergius and his party, to favour Formofus, whom in a Synod he vindica­ted,condemning al! that Stephanus had done againft hirh:, fo did his Succeffor(l)Theodorus tiie Second. Alter him there was great ftrivings to have the former l An. 89S.Sirgius fetled in the Popedom h but the contrary party carryed it, who elected Johnthe u Tenth for Ninth :) his intereft alfo lay for Formofus, whofe actions he pre­- putim. 'faitly began to vindicate ; but in this a great number of Romans oppofing him, theSeditions and Tumults role to fuch an height, that both parties had like to havegone together by the Ears, and fought it out: but to carry his bufinefs more clear­ly.John leaveth Rome, goeth to Ravenna, where he gets LXX1V Bifhops together, sigmius, an.with whom he condemns the proceedings of Stephanus againft Formofus, and de­- 8j>8.clar'd as facrilegious thofe who had taken his body out of its Grave, and cut off c " e f?-­ 577­his Fingers ^ andyet at the fame time calPd Stephanus a ?opc of (m) holy and bleffed *>U. 581.memory. And fomething he alfo did here in Temporals, according as his intereft St Vhajium pia»ledhim; for though he loved one, and hated the other Pope never fo much, yet B^f"^"""felfends perfwaded him to reject and approve at his ownliking *,for here he nulPd ka"^9^'the Coronation of Arnulph for Èmperour as illegal, though 'twas done by hisFriend Formofus ; and on the contrary, received and declared as authentick thatof Lamberts, though Crown'd by his Foe Stephanus : the truth is, he loved not theGfOTJ» greatnefs to have too much countenance near him, for which caufehede­-iired Lambert to be prefentat this Synod, for a farther confirmation of his honour.And having now a King or Emperour according to his hearts wiftt, the better toconfirm the Popedom to his own aflbciates or party, he eftablifh'd by Decree, ortenewM the ancient Laws, viz.. ( n) That from that time forward, the Popes fhoidd » Coef. pag­,№ btConfecrated, but in the prefence of the Ambaffadours, or Deputies of the Emperour : ?77­Thus was Adrian the Third his Conftitution (contrary to this) null'd. And foRiuchfor this John, who is branded by Platina, as a Renewer or Reviver of thefpr­itetbroybj and feditions, which were almoft neglected or forgot.After