The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

VII. Robert Grosseteste-Repeatedly Identifies Papacy as Antichrist

ROBERT GROSSETESTE, or Greathead (c. 1175-1253), most famous of English medieval ecclesiastics, and able bishop of Lincoln (1235-1253), was a native of Suffolk. Of humble origin, he studied at Oxford and also in Paris, and early identified him self with the Franciscans. He was regarded as the most learned man of his time in all Europe. ¹¹¹ He was versatile, excelling in law, medicine, theology, literature, music, and natural philosophy, as well as being a master of languages—Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French. ¹¹² Grosseteste exercised a profound influence upon English thought and life for centuries after his death. Roger Bacon lauded his knowledge of science, and Matthew Paris paid him high tribute, citing him as a confuter of the pope. He was a great reformer in a corrupt period of the dominant church, a thirteenth-century “Protestant” of highest principle. ¹¹³ He believed in the Bible as the foundation of theological instruction, and replied to questioners as follows: PFF1 621.2

“He answered that, just as skilful builders in laying foundations made careful choice of such stones as were capable of supporting the structure above, the Masters Regent in Divinity ought to take the Old and New Testaments as the only sure foundations of their teaching, and make them the subject of all their morning lectures, according to the practice prevailing at Paris.” ¹¹⁴ PFF1 621.3

Grosseteste became rector scholarum, or first chancellor of the Franciscans who played an important part in European affairs because of their training under Grosseteste and the reputation he gave them. Between 1214 and 1231 he held successively the archdeaconries of Chester, Northampton, and Leicester. In 1224 he was given a doctorate in divinity. But in 1232 he resigned all benefices and preferments except Lincoln. He planned to spend the remainder of his life in contemplative study. However, in 1235 he was made bishop of the large diocese of Lincoln. ¹¹⁵ This gave him wider scope; yet he continued to have a close relationship to the university. PFF1 622.1

Grosseteste had an intense faith in the divine mission of the church. His zeal for holiness was the constraining influence of his life. Upon his appointment as bishop he set about reforming the abuses throughout his diocese, and purged the monasteries of incompetents. He formulated rules of conduct, forbidding certain wrong practices. ¹¹⁶ This brought him into inevitable conflict with privileged groups. There was even an unsuccessful attempt to poison him, but he was undeterred by this opposition. He witnessed the confirmation of the Magna Charta in 1231, ¹¹⁷ and took part in the London Council of 1237. In 1239 the quarrel began between the bishop and the Lincoln chapter, the long struggle ending only with the personal intervention of the pope. ¹¹⁸ With Grosseteste conflict was constant. PFF1 622.2

1. THE CHAMPION OF TRUE LIBERTY

Grosseteste was a sturdy champion of all true liberty. When the liberties of the national church came into conflict with the assumptions of Rome, he stood by his own countrymen. In 1247 two papal emissaries came to England to secure money for the pope. These intrusions resulted in riots, and on May 13, 1248, he delivered his celebrated sermon against the abuses of the papal court and the scandals prevalent in the clergy. ¹¹⁹ In 1252 he prevented the collection of a tithe, or tenth, imposed upon the clergy by Henry III. When the pope tried to force his nephew into the rich cathedral benefice, declaring he would excommunicate Grosseteste if he failed to accede, the bishop nevertheless refused. ¹²⁰ In his rage Innocent IV excommunicated him. Grosseteste then “appealed from the court of Innocent IV to the tribunal of Christ,” and paid no further attention to the decree. ¹²¹ PFF1 622.3

In his letter of refusal Bishop Grosseteste said, “I ... refuse to obey, and oppose and resist the orders contained in the aforesaid letters.” ¹²² Preceding this appears the clear statement: PFF1 623.1

“Moreover, since the sin of Lucifer, which same sin will at the end of time be that of the son of perdition, Antichrist, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth, there is not and cannot be any other kind of sin so adverse and contrary to the doctrine of the apostles and of the Gospel, and at the same time so hateful, detestable, and abominable to our Lord Jesus Christ, as to mortify and destroy souls by defrauding them of the offices and ministry of their pastors.” ¹²³ PFF1 623.2

The pope was furious, and demanded: PFF1 623.3

“Who is this raving old man, this deaf and foolish dotard, who in his audacity and temerity judges of my actions? By Peter and Paul! were it not that my innate generosity restrained me, I would precipitate him into such an abyss of confusion and shame, that he should be a subject of talk, and an object of amazement and horror to the whole world. Is not the king of England our vassal, or I should rather say our slave? and he can at his will imprison and consign to ignominy this same old prelate.” ¹²⁴ PFF1 623.4

Therefore he stood against corruption in the clergy, the injustice of the king, and even against the pope’s selling of benefits for gold. In fact, for twenty years, as bishop, he was seldom free from struggle with the king or the pope. ¹²⁵ PFF1 623.5

2. DESIGNATED PAPAL SYSTEM AS ANTICHRISTIAN

The conviction was forced upon Grosseteste that the papal system was Antichristian. The pope’s evil use of his pre-eminence revolted him, and stirred his soul in protest. In a famous memorial to Innocent IV, Propositio Roberti Grosthead de Visitatione Diocesis Suae (Proposition of Robert Grosthead About the Visitation of His Diocese), Grosseteste denounced the papal court. And in his epochal sermon on May 13, 1250, before the pope and the cardinals at the Council of Lyons, ¹²⁶ he charged the clergy with being “full of lust, fornicators, adulterers, incestuous, gluttonous” and, in a word, stained with every sort of crime and abomination. Also he charged them with being “teachers of error.” Then he solemnly charged that the source of all this was the court of Rome. ¹²⁷ Grosseteste is said to have been the author of some two hundred writings, most of which are unpublished. The printed list extends over many pages. ¹²⁸ PFF1 624.1

3. APPLIES EPITHET “ANTICHRIST” TO POPE

At last, in 1253, lying seriously ill at Buckdon, the bishop of Lincoln said to Master John of St. Giles that he “knew, as if by inspiration that the tribulation was coming upon the church in a short time, which we were not provided against.” Then he asked for a definition of “heresy,” which John was hesitant to give. So the bishop himself supplied it. “Heresy is an opinion selected by human feelings, contrary to the holy scripture, openly taught, and pertinaciously defended.” And on this principle he rebuked the Roman prelates, and went so far as to declare that the pope himself ought to be called to account for heresy. ¹²⁹ As his illness increased he sent for his associates and gave a remarkable address, in which these impressive words occur: PFF1 624.2

“Christ came into the world to gain souls, therefore, if any one has no fear of destroying souls; does he not deserve the title of Antichrist? The Lord made the entire world in six days, but to repair the faults of man, he laboured for more than thirty years; ought not, therefore, a destroyer of souls to be considered an enemy to God and an Antichrist? By means of that clause ‘Notwithstanding,’ &c., the pope unblushingly annuls the privileges of the holy Roman pontiffs his predecessors, which is not done without prejudice and injury to them; for by so acting, he sets at nought and destroys what it has taken such a number of great saints to build up: lo, he is despised of the saints.” ¹³⁰ PFF1 625.1