together by one of the barbarous prefects in the last persecution.' Valesius thinks Eusebius 83 speaks of the same city, who says, it was all Christian at that time, both magistrates and people, and therefore an army was sent against them, which burnt them all together, men, women, and children, as they were making their supplications to Christ their God.' From which it may be concluded, that there were some cities which were but what Eusebius calls this, Tоλíxvaι, so very small as to need no other church besides the bishop's cathedral, even when all the members of them were become universally Christian. And this may seem an argument to some that there were anciently many episcopal dioceses that never had any parish-churches. 4. But here it must be remembered what has been abund- Some lesser cities had times of tion. antly proved before, that generally the ancient cities had their countrysuburbs or country-region belonging to them; and some that parishes were very small cities, as Cyrus in Comagene where Theodoret even in was bishop, had upon this account very large territories under persecutheir jurisdiction. And we find a great many instances of such country-regions having country-parishes, and country-presbyters and deacons residing on them, even in the hottest times of persecution; as appears from the canons of the Council of Eliberis 84, and those of Neocæsarea 85, the former of which was held while the Diocletian persecution lasted, and the latter immediately after it was over, and yet both of them speak of country-presbyters and deacons, to whom the care of Christian assemblies was committed. Epiphanius 6 also speaks of villagepresbyters belonging to the city Caschara, in Mesopotamia, in the middle of the third century, and Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, about the same time, frequently mentions such exstiterunt, sicut unus in Phrygia, qui universum populum cum ipso pariter conventiculo concremavit. 83 L. 8. c. II. (v. 1. p. 390. 17.) Ηδη γοῦν ὅλην Χριστιανῶν πολίχνην αὔτανδρον ἀμφὶ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἐν κύκλῳ περιβαλόντες ὁπλῖται, πῦρ τε ὑφάψαντες, κατέφλεξαν αὐτοὺς ἅμα νηπίοις καὶ γυναιξὶ, τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸν Χριστὸν ἐπιβοωμένους· ὅτι δὴ πανδημεί πάντες, οἱ τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες, λογιστής τε αὐτὸς καὶ στρατηγὸς σὺν τοῖς ἐν τέλει πᾶσι καὶ ὅλῳ δήμῳ, Χριστιανοὺς σφᾶς ὁμολογοῦντες, οὐδ ̓ 84 C. 77. (t. 1. p. 978 e.) Si quis 85 C. 13. See before, ch. 6. s. 21. p. 386. n. 46. 86 Hær. 66. Manich. n. 11. (t. I. p. 627 d.) Αναχωρήσας δὲ, κ.τ.λ. See ch. 2. s. 15. p. 291. n. 96. in the regions of Arsinoe, Alexandria, and other cities of Egypt and Libya, in several fragments of his Epistles, recorded in Eusebius, which have already been alleged and need not here be repeated. From these and many other such instances it is evident, that as soon as the Christian religion began to spread itself from the cities into the country-regions in any considerable manner, village-churches were erected, and country-presbyters fixed on them; the necessities and convenience of the Church requiring it so to be for the greater benefit and edification of the whole community. Thus parishchurches had their original both in city and country, not all at one time, nor by any general decree, but as the exigencies of every diocese required, the bishop of which was always the properest judge, how many assistants he needed to help him to discharge the several offices belonging to him as chief superintendent of the city and territory under his jurisdiction. In France, the Council of Vaison speaks of country-parishes in the beginning of the fifth century, as I have noted before 85 in the first section of this chapter. But in England we have not so early an account of them, because the records we have remaining of the ancient British Church make no mention of parishes; and after the Saxon conversions were begun, it was some time before our dioceses were divided into parishes, and longer before they had appropriated revenues settled upon them. Some think Honorius, the fifth archbishop of Canterbury, divided so much of the nation as was converted into parishes about the year 640. So Bp. Godwin 86 and Dugdale. But others think, this division is rather to be understood of dioceses than parishes: for parochia in Bede commonly denotes a bishop's diocese, according to the ancient style and language of the Church; as is evident from that canon of the Council of Herudford mentioned in Bede 87, which was held 85 See note n. 65, preceding. 86 [De Præsulibus, &c. Cantabr. 1743. De Archiepisc. Cantuar. &c. n. 5. anno, 634. (p. 40.) Hoc vero de illo maxime memorabile, quod omnes provinciæ suæ regiones in parœcias distinxit primus, ut singulis ministris singulos greges, quos curarent, posset attribuere.-The passage in Dugdale I do not readily find from the indistinctness of the reference. But see Spelman's Concilia, anno 673. (Lond. 1639. p. 152.) where we read; Perhibent etiam Antiquitates Ecclesiæ Christi Cantuariæ, Theodorum Cantuarensem provinciam per parochias primum distribuisse, &c. ED.] 87 Hist. 1. 4. c. 5. (p. 148. 16.) Secundum, ut nullus episcoporum above thirty years after this supposed division of Honorius, in the time of archbishop Theodore, anno 673, where it is decreed, 'that no bishop shall invade another's parochia, or diocese, but be content with the government of the people committed to him.' Bp. Andrews 58 indeed brings this very canon for a proof of parishes being now settled all over the nation: but I conceive the other sense of the word parochia to be more proper to that place. Though I will not deny but that toward the latter end of this archbishop's time, who lived to the year 690, the division of parishes might be made for Bede $9 observes, that religion and the affairs of the Church made a greater progress in his time than ever they had done before;' and Mr. Wheelock 90, in his observations upon the place, cites an ancient MS., which speaks of the division of parishes as made under him. Now Christianity had spread itself into the country, and churches were built and presbyters fixed upon them, and first-fruits, and other revenues were settled by King Ina 91 among the West Saxons, and by Withred, parochiam alterius invadat, sed contentus sit gubernatione creditæ sibi plebis. 88 De Decimis, inter Opuscula, (p. 152.)... Quæ duo evincunt satis utrasque tum decimarum pensiones tum paræciarum divisiones apud nos antiquitus exstitisse, nec tam esse recentes, quam nonnulli hallucinati sunt. 89 Ibid. 1. 5. c. 8. (p. 189. 13.)... Tantum profectus spiritalis tempore præsulatus illius Anglorum ecclesiæ, quantum nunquam antea potuere, cœperunt. 90 In loc. (Cantab. 1643. p. 399, ad calc.) Nam hujus [Theodori] et Adriani abbatis excultissima eruditione et industria, congregata discipulorum caterva, scientiæ salutaris quotidie flumina in rigandis Anglorum cordibus emanabant. Neque illa apud gentem nostram ætate, theologiam Deique notitiam in abditis monasteriorum paucorum penetralibus reconditam latere passus est Theodorus; sed et in villas quasque, per omnes gentis hujus angulos disseminatas, circumferri, et ibidem ex illo usque tempore singulari Dei beneficio commorari providissime curavit. Nam, (ut MS. Codex Cantuariensis Aulæ Trin. p. 46,) excitabat Theodorus archiepiscopus fidelium devotionem et voluntatem in quarumlibet provinciarum civitatibus, nec non villis, ecclesias fabricandi, parœcias distinguendi, assensus regios procurando: ut si qui sufficientes essent, et ad Dei honorem pro voto haberent super proprium fundum ecclesias construere, earumdem perpetuo patronatu gauderent. 91 Leg. Eccles. c. 4. (ap. Spelman. t. I. p. 183. ad calc.) Primitiæ seminum ad celebre divi Martini festum redduntor: qui tum non solverit, quadraginta solidis mulctator, et ipsas præterea primitias duodecies persolvito.-C. Becanceld. c. 1. (ib. p. 191.) Ego Withredus rex terrenus, a Rege regum compunctus, zelo rectitudinis accensus, ex antiqua traditione sanctorum patrum didici, non licitum esse alicui homini, in laico habitu constituto, usurpare sibi quasi propriam possessionem, quæ ante fuerat Domino concessa, et Christi cruce firmata, &c. The cityparishes not always as King of Kent, in the Council of Beconceld, anno 694; and patrons, when they founded churches, endowed them with lands for proper maintenance. All which seems to imply that the original of country-parishes was about the latter end of the seventh century in this nation, and in the next age they were fully settled. 5. But to return to the former times. It is further to be noted concerning the ancient manner of serving the citysigned to parish-churches, that they were not usually committed to any particular presbyters; particular presbyters, as those in the country-regions were, but served but were served in common by the clergy of the bishop's church. Learned men conclude this from a passage in Epiphanius 91, who seems to note it as a particular custom at Alexandria, that all the churches there had their own parThis other- ticular presbyters assigned them, who dwelt near their own in common by the clergy of the bishop's church. wise in countryparishes. churches, every one in their own streets or divisions, which the Alexandrians in their own language called laura. Petavius 92 indeed thinks Epiphanius was mistaken, and that it was not the peculiar custom of Alexandria, but common to all great cities, to have presbyters fixed upon all their churches. But Valesius 93 and other learned men defend Epiphanius against 91 Hær. 69. Arian. n. 1. (t. I. p. 727 c.) "Oσai yàp ékкλŋσiaι Tηs Kadoλικῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐν ̓Αλεξανδρείᾳ ὑπὸ ἕνα ἀρχιεπίσκοπον οὖσαι, καὶ κατ ̓ ἰδίαν ταύταις ἐπιτεταγμένοι εἰσὶ πρεσβύτεροι, διὰ τὰς ἐκκλησιαστικὰς χρείας τῶν οἰκητόρων, πλησίων ἑκάστης ἐκκλησίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀμφόδων, ἤτοι Maßov [forte, λavpov. Petav. in marg.] ἐπιχωρίως καλουμένων, ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν ̓Αλεξανδρέων κατοικούντων Tóλ. [Vid. Du Fresn. Glossar. Græcitat. voce, Aaupa. (Lugdun. 1688. t. I. col. 792.) Vox Ionica. Phavorinus : Λαύρα Ἰώνες λέγουσι τὰς στενὰς ῥύμας, τὰς ἀμφόδους..... Eustathio dicitur σTevη TIS TEριox, οἷον ἦν Ιλαρίωνος τοῦ θεσπεσίου δωμáτiov. Ap. Sozom. 1. 3. c. 14. Et certe hæc vox passim usurpatur pro locis ad vitam solitariam accommodatis, &c.-The reading Aaßov in the foregoing citation of Epiphanius, for which Petavius suggests λaupov, is probably a typographical error for λaßpwv, which is Du Fresne's reading of the same place. See as above, (col. 793.) where he says, Λάβρα, idem quod λαύρα, υία, platea; citing a passage from the Synopsis Sanctorum Anni of Nicephorus Xanthopulus or Callistus, where λάβρα is so used. ED.] 92 In loc. (t. 2. animadvers. p. 276. n. 1.) Non dubito majoribus duntaxat in urbibus plures intra pomaria titulos fuisse; cum intra eadem septa contineri, unaque convenire non possent: adeoque presbyteros singulis ecclesiis impositos. In minoribus autem, ac minus frequentibus oppidis unam duntaxat ecclesiam exstitisse, in quam universi confuerent. Cujusmodi Cypri urbes erant. Unde quod Alexandriæ receptum erat, velut popularibus suis peregrinum et inusitatum, annotavit Epiphanius. 93 In Sozom. 1. s. c. 15. (v. 2. p. 33. n. 1.) Alexandrinæ ecclesiæ peculiarem hunc morem fuisse, ut singulis ecclesiis seu titulis in ea his censure, and show this to have been so singular a custom at Alexandria, that perhaps no other city in the world in that age, no not Rome itself, which had above forty churches, had any one church appropriated to any particular presbyter, but they were all served in common by the clergy of the bishop's church. Valesius observes, that it was so at Rome to the time of Innocent I., who speaks 94 of his sending the bread of the consecrated eucharist to the presbyters ministering in the parish-churches on the Lord's-day, that they might not on that day think themselves separated from his communion.' So that they seem to have been the clergy of the great church, sent forth by turns only, to minister in the several tituli on the Lord's-day; and then their having a title, or the care of a church, must mean no more but their being deputed in common to the service of the tituli, or parishchurches, in contradistinction to the cathedral church. Something of this custom continued at Constantinople to the time of Justinian for in one of his Novels 95 he takes notice of three churches, St. Mary's, St. Theodore's, and St. Irene's, which had : urbe constitutis suus esset assignatus presbyter, docet etiam Epiphanius in Hææresi Arianorum: ubi Arium Baucalensis tituli presbyterum hoc modo fuisse observat : Οσαι γὰρ ÉKKλnoiai, K. T. λ. Ad quem locum Dionysius Petavius observat, idem etiam Romæ usitatum fuisse: qua in urbe presbyteri, per varios titulos distributi, suam quisque plebem separatim regebat. Ad cujus rei probationem adducit locum ex Epistola Innocentii papæ ad Decentium, c. 5. qui sic habet: De fermento vero, &c. [See the next note.] Verum hic locus contrarium potius mihi videtur probare. Ait enim Innocentius, presbyteros reliquis diebus hebdomadis ipsi adhæsisse, et cum ipso convenisse, et communicasse: diebus autem dominicis, plebem collegisse, et fermentum ab episcopo accepisse, ne a communione sui episcopi separati esse eo die viderentur. Non igitur affixi erant titulis suis Romani presbyteri ætate Innocentii, sed ad eos regendos die dominico mittebantur. Nec necesse erat, ut unus idemque ad eandem semper ecclesiam mitteretur, sed eligebat BINGHAM, VOL. III. episcopus pro arbitrio quem vellet. -See Maurice's Vindication of the Primitive Church, &c. (p. 65.) The division of Alexandria, &c. 94 Ep. 1. ad Decent. c. 5. See before, ch. 5. s. 1. p. 335 n. 15. 95 Novel. 3. c. 1. (t. 5. p. 32, ad calc.).... Postea vero et venerabilis domus sanctæ, gloriosæque Virginis et Dei genetricis Mariæ, juxta sanctissimæ majoris ecclesiæ vicinitatem posita, ædificata est a piæ memoriæ Verina, et veneranda domus sancti martyris Theodori a Porcatio [juxt. Edit. Græc. Epopakiov] gloriosæ memoriæ dedicata est: erat autem etiam venerabilis domus sanctæ Helena [leg. Irenes], quæ sanctissimæ majori ecclesiæ copulata est: propterea redigere numerum ad antiquam figuram impossibile est. Non enim sufficient tantis ecclesiis pauci consistentes: quoniam quando non proprios clericos, neque matres habent basilicas; sed communes sunt et sanctissimæ majoris ecclesiæ, et earum, omnes circumeuntes secundum quendam ordinem, et circum ministeria in eis celebrant: &c. Ee |