Note 083
From Chapter 56 of the Decline & Fall

The lives of Gregory VII. are either legends or invectives (St. Marc, Abrege, tom. iii. p. 235, etc.); and his miraculous or magical performances are alike incredible to a modern reader. He will, as usual, find some instruction in Le Clerc (Vie de Hildebrand, Bibliot, ancienne et moderne, tom. viii.), and much amusement in Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique, Gregoire VII). That pope was undoubtedly a great man, a second Athanasius, in a more fortunate age of the church. May I presume to add, that the portrait of Athanasius is one of the passages of my history (vol. ii. p. 332, etc.) with which I am the least dissatisfied?

« LAST » Note « NEXT »