135. The Constitutions of 408 gave bishops civil jurisdiction in their dioceses (C. M. H. i. 396). Several passages of Letters in Book VI illustrate episcopal influence. As Baret remarks, Sidonius always seems to assume that the pondus of the bishop will settle the matter when it is placed in the scale.
136. Cf. Hist. franc. IV. xii; V. xxi. Sidonius does not conceal his sentiments when he finds ground for disapproval of the clergy, as in the case of the dissentient priests at Bourges (VII. ix. 3). In IV. viii. 9 he implies that many who wore clerical garb 'imposed upon the world', and that he personally inclined to prefer the man 'who is priestly in morals to one who merely bears the priestly title'.
137. It was the same in the case of men distinguished in the professions: Germain of Auxerre was once a soldier; Lupus of Troyes an advocate.
138. Cf. IV. iii; and Chaix, i. 438.
139. Cf. the effect produced by the address of Faustus at the consecration of Patiens' new church at Lyons (IX. iii. 5).
140. For Church schools, see G. Kaufmann, Rhetorenschulen und Klosterschulen , &c ., in Raumer's Historisches Taschenbuch, Ser. IV, vol. x, 1869, pp. 54 ff.
141. For the growth of the influence of the Church as a body, cf. C. H. Turner in C. M. H., as above, pp. 145, 152, 155.
142. If the bishops of the province could not attend, the canon provided that those of neighbouring provinces should be summoned. Thus at Bourges, Sidonius invites the cooperation of Agroecius of Sens. Cf. Chaix, ii. 2 2.
143. Bourges had been in Gothic hands since about 470. Of the bishops present at the election, two came from territory which was still Roman, one from a diocese in Burgundian territory. The fact illustrates both the universal character of the Church, and the tolerance of the barbaric governments.
144. For the gradual elimination of the popular element see C. H. Turner, as above, p. 152.
145. Though the authority of Rome was unquestioned, throughout the Letters there is no mention of appeal to, or intervention by, the Pope.
146. In the sixth century, though the Frankish kings exerted an influence over the elections, scandals continued to occur, if not quite in the same way as at Bourges and Châlon (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. IV. xxxv; VI. vii, xxxviii).
147. Erant quidem prius, quod salva fidei face sit dictum, vagae, tepentes, infrequentesque, utque sic dixerim, oscitabundae supplicationes, quae saepe interpellantum prandiorum obicibus hebetabantur.
148. Sometimes festivals were protracted for many days. That which celebrated the consecration of Patiens' church lasted a whole week (IX. iii. 5, festis hebdomadalibus). Cf. the long festival at Gaza: G. F. Hill, The Life of Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, by Mark the Deacon, 1913, ch. 92.
149. Thus Lupus of Troyes transferred to his diocese prayers in use at Lerins (IX. iii). The austerities of Faustus have been already mentioned. For the development of monastic life in the West in the early Christian centuries, see Dom Butler in C. M. H. i. 531 ff. There was no ordered code or written rule, except the short rule of Caesarius of Arles, until the seventh century. Before that time the eremitical type of monachism practised in Egypt and Syria prevailed, sometimes with the extreme austerities habitual in the latter country. It is even doubtful whether Honoratus wrote a rule for Lerins.
150. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxi, and Vit. Patr. iii. In Bk. VI, ch. vi, of the former work, Gregory alludes to the miracles of the saintly recluse Hospicius of Nice, who in the second half of the sixth century made his usual diet of bread and dates, and in Lent subsisted on roots brought in merchant-ships from Egypt. In Gregory's time Auvergne still contained hermits practising extreme asceticism.
151. IV. ii, iii. Tertullian, Jerome, and Cassian had given support to the doctrine thus proclaimed by Faustus, and Augustine had taken a prominent part on the other side. A chief argument used by Faustus was that to call the soul of man immaterial is to claim for it a quality belonging only to God (cf. Dill, p. 184). For the treatise of Faustus, see Gennadius, De Script. Eccles. 85. In Engelbrecht, Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat., the treatise and Claudianus Mamertus' reply are printed together.
152. Among them Fonteius, Auspicius, Agroecius, Principius, and Aprunculus, the successor of Sidonius at Clermont.
153. It has been already noticed that previous to their election to the sees of Troyes and Riez, Lupus and Faustus had both occupied the position of Abbot of Lerins. Hilary of Arles and Eucherius of Lyons had been members of the same community. A brief description of a visit paid by Sidonius to Lerins is given in Carm. xvi. 105 ff., and the visit is alluded to in IX. iii. For Lerins, cf. note, 80. 1, on p. 239. Cf. also VI. i; VII. xvii. 3; VIII. xiv. 2; IX. iii. 4. For the Jura monasteries, see note, 47- 2, p. 235.
154. Chaix, ii. 224.
155. V. vi, vii.
156. But in their family relations both the Visigothic and Burgundian royal houses were guilty of murderous brutality. It has been noted that Theodoric II assassinated his brother Thorismond, and was in turn assassinated by Euric. Gundobad the Burgundian in like manner murdered two of his brothers, destroying at the same time the wife and children of Chilperic under circumstances of such cruelty that public opinion became indignant, and Sidonius' friend Secundinus, the poet of Lyons, wrote a satire against the king (V. viii).
157. The hostility of the clergy was always a danger to Alaric II before the final conflict with Clovis (cf. L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, p. 302).
158. Dill, Bk. IV, chs. i and ii.
159. The Visigoths had been granted Aquitanica Secunda and Toulouse by Honorius. The Burgundians were established south of Lake Leman by Aëtius.