evidently the temporal lord of the emperor; for the
latter needs to be confirmed and crowned by the pope,
whereas no such authorisation is required in France.
Undoubtedly this freedom from traditionary, even though
disputable, restraints upon the title of their sovereign,
helped to give a broader and bolder scope to the speculations of French writers ; and the head and front of the
literary opposition to the papacy during the early part of
the fourteenth century, was found in the university of
Paris. Besides, as we have said, the idea of nationality,
an idea fatal to the empire, was becoming well under
stood ; and John Quidort, better known as John of Paris,
a contemporary of du Bois, i dwells upon this as the proper
basis of political organisation just as strongly as Thomas
Aquinas from an opposite point of view had done before
him.
Thus while the imperialists were more or less obliged to answer any given pretension of the papacy by another theory, possibly no less distorted, of their own, the French writers were able to discuss matters in a more philosophical spirit. Nothing for instance can be more admirable than the criticism of John of Paris with reference to the worldly possessions of the clergy. The Waldenses, he says, maintain that these possessions, originating in the Donation of Constantino, are the root of the demoralisation of the church; while others hold that they are intrinsically involved in the prerogative of the pope as the vicar of Jesus Christ. The former alternative was no doubt tempting to the opponents of papal claims, but John s sound sense was not deceived by the convenience of the argument. The truth, he decided, lay in the middle between the two extremes : the church might unquestionably have worldly property; but as a matter of fact she did not hold it by virtue of any vicarship or apostolical succession, but simply by way of grant from princes or other persons, or by similar titles of possession. With equally clear judgement du Bois disposed of the common use of Biblical phrases to prove anything that
