In a small book printed at _Paris_ A.C. 1689, entitled, _An historical
dissertation upon some coins of _Charles_ the great, _Ludovicus Pius_,
_Lotharius_, and their successors stamped at _Rome__, it is recorded, that
in the days of Pope _Leo_ X, there was remaining in the _Vatican_, and till
those days exposed to public view, an inscription in honour of _Pipin_ the
father of _Charles_ the great, in these words: _Pipinum pium, primum fuisse
qui amplificandæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate, &
plurimis aliis oblatis_; "That _Pipin_ the pious was the first who opened a
way to the grandeur of the Church of _Rome_, conferring upon her the
Exarchate of _Ravenna_ and many other oblations." In and before the reign
of the Emperors _Gratian_ and _Theodosius_, the Bishop of _Rome_ lived
splendidly; but this was by the oblations of the _Roman_ Ladies, as
_Ammianus_ describes. After those reigns _Italy_ was invaded by foreign
nations, and did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the kingdom
of _Lombardy_. It was certainly by the victory of the see of _Rome_ over
the _Greek_ Emperor, the King of _Lombardy_, and the Senate of _Rome_, that
she acquired _Peter_'s Patrimony, and rose up to her greatness. The
donation of _Constantine_ the Great is a fiction, and so is the donation of
the _Alpes Cottiæ_ to the Pope by _Aripert_ King of the _Lombards_: for the
_Alpes Cottiæ_ were a part of the Exarchate, and in the days of _Aripert_
belonged to the _Greek_ Emperor.

The invocation of the dead, and veneration of their images, being gradually
introduced in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the _Greek_ Emperor
_Philippicus_ declared against the latter, A.C. 711 or 712. And [5] the
Emperor _Leo Isaurus_, to put a stop to it, called a meeting of Counsellors
and Bishops in his Palace, A.C. 726; and by their advice put out an Edict
against that worship, and wrote to Pope _Gregory_ II. that a general
Council might be called. But the Pope thereupon called a Council at _Rome_,