Kings of Spaine Let all earthly Princes know that they shall giue account of the Church which Christ hath committed to their protection Yea whether the peace and discipline Ecclesiasticall be aduanced by faithfull Kings or dissolued by the vnfaithfull he will require a reckoning at their hands which hath left his Church in their power So farre Isidor Iohn Damascene pleadeth not onely for the exemption of wicked kings themselues but also of their Deputies Parallel lib. 1. c. 21. The gouernours saith he which Kings create though they be wicked though they be theeues though they be vniust or otherwise tainted with any crime must be regarded We may not contemne them for their impietie but must reuerence them because of their authoritie by whome they were appointed our gouernours So farre he Fulgentius saith that no kinde of sedition can stand with religion Cum pro nostra fide libere respondemus c. When we answer freely for our profession we ought not to be taxed with the least suspition of disobedience or contumely seeing we are not vnmindfull of the Regall dignitie and doe know that we must feare God and honour the King according to the doctrine of the Apostle â—ulgent ad Thrasim reg Giue to each one his due feare to whome feare honour to whome honour appertaineth Of the which feare and honour S. Peter hath deliuered vnto vs the manifest knowledge 1. Pet. 2.17 saying As the seruants of God honour all men loue brotherly fellowship feare God honour the King Thus farre Fulgent Our countrie man Beda for his great learning called Venerable is of the same minde Dauid saith he for two causes spared Saul lib. 4. exposit in Samuel who had persecuted him most malitiously First for that he was his Lord annointed with holy oile 1. Sam. 24. â— And secondly to instruct vs by morall precepts that we ought not to strike our gouernours though they vniustly oppresse vs with the sword of our lips nor presume slanderously to teare the hemme of their superfluous actions So farre he Leo the fourth about the yeare 846. agnised all subiection to Lotharius the Emperour I doe professe and promise saith Leo to obserue and keepe vnuiolably Cap. de capitulis dist 15. as much as lieth in me for the time present and to come your imperiall ordinances and commandements together with the decrees of your Bishops my predecessors If any man informe your Maiestie otherwise know certainely that he is a lier So farrre Leo. The Bishops of Spaine assembled in a nationall councell at Toledo made this decree against periurie and treason Quicunque amodo ex nobis Concill Tol. 5. Canon 2 circa annum Dom. 636. Whosoeuer among vs shall from this time forward violate the oath which he hath taken for the safegard of this countrie the state of the Gothish nation the preseruation of the Kings Maiestie whosoeuer shall attempt the Kings death or deposition whosoeuer shall by tyrannicall presumption aspire to the regall throne let him be accursed before the holy spirit before the blessed Saints let him be cast out of the catholique Church which he hath polluted by periurie let him haue no communion with Christian men nor portion with the iust but let him be condemned with the deuill and his angels eternally together with his complices that they may be tied in the bond of damnation which were ioyned in the societie of sedition Thus farre the fathers in that Synod I conclude therfore with these learned Fathers that it is not for the people otherwise then with humilitie and obedience to controll the actions of their gouernours but their dutie is onely to call vpon the God of heauen and so submit themselues to his mercie by whose ordinance the scepter is fallen into his hand and power that enioyeth the crowne whether he be good or bad A right of deposing must be either in him that hath an higher power which is onely God or in him that hath better right to the crowne which the Pope cannot haue because he is a straunger nor the Peeres or people because they are subiects Be the king for his religion impious for his gouernment vniust for his life licentious the subiect must endure him the Bishop must reprooue him the counsellor must aduise him all must praie for him and no mortall man hath authoritie to disturbe or displace him as may euidently be seene by the chapter following The fifth chapter confirmeth this Doctrine by the fathers of the fourth 300 yeares IN this age of the Church the Popes exalted themselues aboue all that is called god vpon priuate displeasures and quarrels did curse and ban Princes incensing their neighbour-nations and perswading their owne subiects to make warre against them as if Christ had ordeyned his Sacraments not to be seales of grace and helpes of our faith but hookes to catch kingdoms and rods to scourge such Potentates as would not or could not procure the Popes fauour How farre these Popish practises did displease the godly and learned I will shew by S. Bernard Walthramus Bishop of Nanumberg the epistle Apolegeticall of the Church of Leige against Paschalis the Pope and the author of Henrie the fourth his life S. Bernard in one of his sermons vpon the words of Christ I am the vine commendeth the answer of a certaine King Bene quidam rex cum percussus humana sagitta c. It was well said of a King when he was shot into the bodie with an arrowe and they that were about him desired him to be bound vntill the arrowes head weare cut out for that the least motion of his bodie would endanger his life no quoth he it doth not beseeme a King to be bound let the kings power be euer safe and at libertie And the same father in an epistle to Ludovicus Crassus the king of France teacheth subiects how to rebell and fight against their Princes Quicquid vobis de regno vestro de anima corona vestra facere placuerit Been epist 221. Whatsoeuer you please to doe with your kingdome your soule or your crowne we that are the children of the Church cannot endure or dissemble the iniuries contempt and conculcation of our mother Questionlesse we will stand and fight euen vnto death in our mothers behalfe and vse such weapons as we may lawfully I mean not swords and speares but praiers and teares to God When Gregorie the 7. had deposed Henrie the 4. he gaue away the Empire to one Rodolphus duke of Saxonie that was a sworne subiect to that distressed Emperour which Rodolph in a battaile against his soueraigne Lord lost his right-hand and gained a deadly wound After his death the Pope made one Hermanus king of Germanie who enioyed his kingdome but a little time for he was slaine with a stone which a woman threwe vpon him from a turret as he made an assault in sport against his owne castle to trie the valour of his
practises and the Germaines tumults against their said soueraigne Lord. Magnum mundo documentum datum est A great instruction was giuen to the world that no man should rise against his master For the hand of Rodolph beeing cut off shewed a most iust punishment of periurie he feared not to violate his fidelitie sworne to the King and his right hand was punished as if other woundes had not beene sufficient to bring him to his death that by the plague of the rebellious the fault of rebellion might be perceiued thus farre he The sixth Chapter prooveth the same by the testimonie of the Writers from the 12. hundred yeares downeward I Will for conclusion produce Otho Frisingensis Thomas Aquinas Gratianus Philip the faire king of France the Parliament of England in the time of Edward the 1. Vincentius and Aeneas Sylvius that afterward was Pope by the name of Pius Secundus Otho Frising in his epistle dedicatorie before his Chronicle Otho Frisingensis hath an excellent saying in his epistle dedicatorie to Frederick Barbarossa Cum nulla persona mundialis inveniatur quae mundi legibus non subiaceat c. Although no earthly man can be found that is not subiect to the lawes of the world and in respect of subiection liable to correction Kings as it were placed ouer lawes are not restrained by them but reserued to the examination of God according to the words of the King and Prophet Against thee onely haue I sinned Psal 51.5 It becommeth therefore a king both in respect of the noble disposition of his minde and the spirituall illumination of his soule to haue God the king of kings and Lord of lords euer in his minde and by all meanes possible to take heede that he fall not into the hands of God seeing it is as the Apostle saith a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God It is more fearefull for kings then for any other because kings haue none but God himselfe aboue them whome they neede feare It shall be so much more horrible for them by how much they may offend more freely then other men So farre Otho Thomas Aquinas Aquin. de regimine prin lib. 1. c. 6. if the tractare de regimene principum be his maketh three sorts of kings Kings by election Kings by subordination and Kings by succession For the first he saith that they which did establish may abolish for the second we must haue our recourse to him that did surrogate the subordinate King as the Iewes did to Caesar against Herod for the last his resolution is Recurrendum esse ad omnium regem deum that we must flie to God the King of all kings in whose onely power it is to mollifie the cruell heart of a tyrant And that men may obtaine this at the hands of God they must cease from sinne for wicked Princes by diuine permission are exalted to punish the sinnes of the people tollenda est igitur ouâ—pa vt cesset tyrannorum plagâ— we must therefore remooue our sinnes that God may take away his punishment Thus farre Thomas Gratianus which compiled the decrees is verie peremptorie that the Bishop of Rome ought not to medle with the temporall sword the state of common wealthes or the change of Princes He saith nothing indeede de Regni ordinibus which in his time and a 100. yeares after him neuer dreamed of any such authoritie Cum Petrus qui primus apostolorum à domino fuerat electus materialem gladium exerceret When Peter whom the Lord had first chosen of all the Apostles drewe the materiall sword to defend his Master from the iniuries of the Iewes he was commanded to sheath his sword for all that take the sword Matth. 26.52 shall perish by the sword As if Christ should haue said Hitherto it was lawfull for thee and thine auncestors to persecute Gods enemies with the temporall sword hereafter thou must put vp that sword into his place Caus 23. quest 8. parag 1. and drawe the sword of the spirit which is the word of God to slay the old man whosoeuer beside the Prince and without his authoritie that hath lawfull power and as the Apostle teacheth beareth not the sword in vaine Rom. 13.4 to whom euerie soule must be subiect whosoeuer I say without or beside the Princes authoritie beareth the sword shall perish by the sword Thus farre Gratian. About the yeare a 1300. began a quarrell betweene Boniface 8. and Philippus Pulcher the French king about the collation of benefices prebends and other ecclesiasticall promotions Whereupon the Pope wrote vnto the said king as followeth Boniface Bishop the seruant of Gods seruants to his wel-beloued sonne Philip by Gods grace king of France Greeting and blessing Apostolicall Feare God and keepe his lawe We giue thee to vnderstand that thou art subiect to vs both in spirituall things and temporall and that no gift of benefices or prebends belongeth to thee If thou haue in thy hand any vacant keepe the profits of them to the successors and if thou hast bestowed any we decree the collation voide and recall it how farre soeuer it hath proceeded Whosoeuer beleeueth otherwise we account him a foole Dated at Lateran the fourth of the Calends of December and in the 6. yeare of our Papacie King Philip returned his haughtinesse a correspondent answear viz. Philip by the grace of God King of Fraunce to Boniface bearing himselfe for Pope Philip. Pulcher Salutem modicam siue nullaÌ„ Sciat tua maxima fatuitas Little health or none at all Let thy great fooleship know that in temporall things we are subiect to no man And that the gifts of prebends and ecclesiasticall promotions made and to be made by vs were and shall be lawfull both in time past and in time to come For such collations belong to vs in the right of our crowne wherefore we will manfully defend the possessours of the said dignities and doe iudge them that thinke otherwise fooles and madmen Giuen at Paris the wednesday after Candlemasse 1301. Questionlesse this King that did so scornefully reiect the Popes chalenge pretended from Christ would little regard the claime of the Nobles deriued but from the people The same busie Boniface of whom some write that he came in like a fox craftely raigned like a lyon cruelly and died like a dogge miserably would take vpon him the decision of a controversie between the Kings of England Scotland and commanded King Edward of England either to cease his claime or to send his procurators to the apostolike sea to shewe his right and to receiue such order from the Pope as iustice and equitie would require The Lords and commons then assembled in Parliament at Lincolne sent Boniface this answear in the kings behalfe Whereas our most dread Lord Edward by the grace of God the Noble King of England caused your letters to be read openly before vs touching certaine occurrents of state betweene him and
profitably and peaceably but by the great power of God c. So farre Harding De Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 17. Cardinall Bellarmine the grand-master of Controuersies cannot indure to heare that this deposition was done by any other then the papall authoritie The Pope saith he Iudicauit licere Frauncis regnum Childerici in Pipinum transferre The Pope gaue iudgement that the Frenchmen might lawfully transfer Childericks kingdome to Pipin and did absolue them from the oath which they had sworne vnto him No man that hath his right wit can denie this to be lawfull For the very euent hath prooued that change to be most fortunate seeing the kingdome of Fraunce was neuer more potent nor religion more flourishing then vnder Pipin and Charles his sonne Thus farre Bellarm. This Cardinals reason from the successe to the approbation of the fact will conclude well for the Turke who hath longer continued more flourished and inlarged his state then the house of Pipin Heare in a word the true succes of Pipins posteritie out of Benuentus Imolensis and Paulus Aemilius Benventus Imolensis The first of that line was Charles the great in whose time the Empire was diuided The second was Ludouicus Pius against whome Lotharius an vnnaturall sonne did conspire who thrust his father to a cloister and placed himselfe in the throne where he sate like a tyrant till he was also deposed The fourth was Ludovicus 2. a man vnfortunate in all his doings The fifth was Ludovicus 3. whome they call Ludovicus nihili or Lewes no-bodie The 6. Paulus Aemilius was Charles the bald a very coward The 7. was Charolus Crassus as very foole Arnulphus the eight of that progenie was eaten with lice The 9. was Ludovicus 4. in whome that race ended Alexander Carerius inferreth the absolute soueraigntie of the Pope ouer all Kings euen to depose them and to transpose the Realmes from the insufficiencie of the Nobles and people Esto quod verùm sit Papam de potestate Pontif. l. 2. cap. 3. num 6. non deposuisse regem Francia Be it true that the Pope did not depose the king of France but gaue consent to the Peeres and people to depose him this is a most manifest proofe of our intent that kings haue one if not many superiours viz. the Barons and people of their kingdome and ouerthroweth their position and conclusion That Kings haue in temporall things no superiour no not the Bishop of Rome But seeing the Barons people could neither iudge nor depriue him because they wanted coactiue power which Vassalls or subiects haue not ouer their soueraigne it followeth necessarily that the Pope by his princely power as superior to the King in temporalties might lawfully depose him Thus farre Carerius D. Marta is as peremptorie for the Pope against the pretended claime of the Peeres or the people Childericus priuatus est regno Franciae obstupiditatem ineptitudinem in administrando Childerick was depriued of the kingdome of France for his stupiditie and vnfitnesse to gouerne They that say he was not depriued by the Pope alone but by them that desired another king doe not answer the reasons alleadged for the Popes soueraigne power in temporalties nay they confirme the Popes power Baldus asketh this question when the Emperour is vnprofitable or madde or a drunkard may the people depose him or assigne him a coadiutor No saith he de temp spir Pontif. potest part 1. cap. 23. nu 15 16 17. the Pope must doe it for the Pope is the crowne and braine of the people And we haue prooued before that God did giue no iurisdiction to the people but to Moses and his successors Wherefore the vassals or Peeres which represent the people haue no power common with the Pope in the deposing of Princes And in that they say that the Frenchmen desired another king it is a great confirmation that the Pope hath right to dispose of kingdomes He vseth to desire who hath not of his owne or cannot of himselfe effect that which he would haue done Thus farre Marta They that plead for the state of the Laitie are as confident against the Pope and clergie Vt paucis dicam saith Iunius hoc fecit Zacharias vt dominus aut vt mandatarius authoritate instructus à domino that I may vse sewe words the Pope deposed Childericke either as his Lord or as a mandatarie hauing authoritie from the Lord but he did it neither way Not as Lord how could he be Lord in France that in those dayes had no Lordship in Rome he did it not as mandatarie for then he ought to haue shewed his authoritie which he neither did nor could shewe Christ would not diuide a priuate inheritance shall Zacharie then presume to depose kings or transpose kingdomes Thus farre Iunius Caeterum quod monachus iste saith Lambertus Danaeus whereas this monke Bellarmine contendeth that Childericke was lawfully deposed by Pope Zacharias a stranger a Priest no Magistrate but in this respect a priuate person though he were Bishop of Rome Resp Danaâ— ad Bellar. l. 2. c. 17. p. â—16 Will he euer be able to prooue or defend his assertion Can Zacharie haue authorie in France being a stranger can he depose the publike Magistrate beeing but a priuate person or transferre that principality to Pipin that he hath no right vnto and commit so many sacriledges and impieties stealing from Childericke and giuing to Pipin another mans right authorising subiects to violate their oaths which they had sworne to their king transposing kingdomes from one man to another whereas it doth onely belong to God to depose kings and dispose of kingdomes thou maist see Bellarmine how many outrages this thy Zacharie hath committed beside that he did thrust his sickle into an other mans haruest and medled with the cobler beyond his last in that beeing but a Priest he tooke vpon him the decision of the right of kingdomes Thus farre Danaeus who is not so violent against the Pope as he is virulent for the deposing power of Peeres or states of the kingdome Danaeus pol. Christian l. 6. c. 3. pag. 414. The kings saith he of Lacedemonia had the Ephori to controll them The states-men of the Romane common-wealth deposed the Emperours which were tyrants and abused their authoritie The French-state hath often dethroned their kings The Nobles of Spaine may doe it by their law And the historie of the Scottish affaires excellently well written by * mulus mulum scabit Buchanan doth report that the states-men of that countrie haue many times depriued the kings of Scotland Finally naturall reason and the practise of all nations doth confirme that the states-men in euery kingdome may depose kings that are peccant So farre he cap. 3. Hottoman in his Franco Gallia hath a long chapter to prooue that this might be done lawfully by the Peeres or the people but in no case by the Pope or the clergie Men cannot saie
Herod and Pilate reconciled OR THE CONCORD OF PAPIST AND PVRITAN Against Scripture Fathers Councels and other Orthodoxall Writers for the Coercion Deposition and Killing of KINGS Discouered by David Owen Batchelour of Diuinitie and Chaplaine to the right Honourable Lord Vicount HADINGTON Tunc inter se concordant cum in perniciem iusti conspirant non quia se amant sed quia eum qui amandus erat simul oderunt August in Psal 36. concion 2. PRINTED BY CANTRELL LEGGE Printer to the Vniversitie of Cambridge 1610. ⧠TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR IOHN RAMSEY Knight Lord Vicount Hadington one of the most Honourable Gentlemen of the Kings Maiesties bed-chamber my singular good Lord and Master I Did suppose my very good Lord that the sembable opposition of Papist and Puritane against the Protestant concerning the supremacie Ecclesiasticall and Deposition of Kings might haue beene constriued into a fewe sheetes of paper which I finde both tedious and intricate because the opponents though they agree against Kings as Herod and Pilate did against Christ are at diuers irreconciliable iarres among themselues And no maruell quia mendacij multiplex diuortium Liers neuer agree in one tale There are among the Papists three different opinions concerning the Popes power ouer Kings The first opinion which a Alexand. Car. de potest Rom. Pontif. lib. 2. c. 9. Alexander Carerius holdeth is that the Pope hath absolute power ouer all the world both in Ecclesiasticall and Politicall things The second opinion is Bellarmines b Bellar. de Pontif. lib. 5. c. 6. who affirmeth that though the Pope haue not meere temporall power ouer Kings and kingdomes directly yet hath he supreame authoritie to dispose of the Temporalities of all Christians as well Kings as others by an indirect prerogatiue tending to the aduancement of the spirituall good The third is the opinion of c Guliel Barclay cont monarchomacos l. 5. cap. 8. Barclayus who auerreth that the Pope hath spirituall power to excommunicate Kings but no temporall authoritie directly or indirectly to afflict the persons of Kings to transpose their kingdomes to perswade forrainers to make warres or subiects to rebell against them And with him agreeth M. Blackwell d In the letter annexed to his large examination at Lambeth p. 157. in his letter to the Romish Catholiques of England wherein he saith that the keyes Ecclesiasticall doe no way extend themselues by Gods law vnto kingdomes terrene to open or shut to tosse or turmoile any of them they haue no wardes in them to turne or ouerturne Kingdomes or to open any lawfull entrance into such disobedient and doubtfull courses Wheresoeuer most noble Lord any Papist hath laid a stepping-stone in this water of strife any man may plainely trace the Puritanes treading Although they denie an vniuersall absolute power ouer all Kings which the Pope claymeth they contend for a nationall soueraigntie in euery kingdome ouer Kings to dispose of them and their kingdomes Although the Popes saith Christopher Goodman e Treatise of obedience pag. 52. 53. for sundrie enormities haue deposed Kings by vnlawfull authoritie the reason that mooued them so to doe was honest and iust and meete to be receiued and executed by the bodie of euery common-wealth haec ille The Statesmen of the kingdome saith f Polit. Christ l 6. c. 3. p. 156. Lambertus Danaeus may punish their King when he transgresseth the fundamentall lawes of the kingdome yea if he be obstinate they may depriue him of his royall dignitie M. Beza g Theses Genevenses p. 249. in a scholasticall disputation one Iohn Iobert beeing Respondent did determine that the officers of State such as are the 7. Electors in the Empire of the Romanes and the Three States in euery Monarchie haue authoritie to represse tyrannous Princes which if they doe not they shall answer before God for their treacherie against the people Dudley Fenner an English Sectarie iumpeth with them He is a Tyrant by practise saith h Sacra Theologia lib. 5 c. 13. Fenner that dissolueth all or the chiefest compacts of the Common-wealth let them that haue that authoritie as the Peeres of the kingdome or the publike assemblie of all Estates make him away vel pacificè vel cum bello either by peaceable practise or open hostilitie Cardinall Bellarmine giueth this reason for the Popes indirect power ouer Kings * De Pontif l. 5. cap. 7. The Ecclesiasticall Commonwealth must be saith he perfect and of it selfe sufficient to attaine vnto the ende whereunto it was ordained for such are all CommoÌ„wealths that are well instituted Therfore it ought to haue all necessarie power to attaine to the spirituall end but power to dispose of all temporalties is necessarie to the spirituall end for otherwise euill Kings will foster heretikes and ouerthrow religion wherfore the Church hath this power Haec ille Banosus a Puritane in a tractate of Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Politie hath the very same reason for the power of the Presbiterie i lib. 2. pag 51. If the Church saith he haue not power by forcible meanes to compell all sorts of men to liue in order this absurditie will follow euen vnder a faithfull magistrate that the Church can not defend her selfe with her owne forces What I pray you will become of the Church when the Magistrate is either an Infidel or so negligent as to suffer euill to be done without punishment and those things which are hallowed to be profaned or remooued Should not the Church be vtterly ouerthrowne in these eases if it had not peculiar right to make powerfull resistance Haec ille I appeale my good Lord to the consciences of all good men whether this reason of Bellarmine and Banosus be not a wicked ouerthwarting of the counsell of God and his gratious prouidence towards the Church yea an open bewraying of their vnquiet hearts and seditious disposition Our Sauiour Christ foreseeing and foreshewing that his Disciples the chiefe pillars of the Church should be brought before Kings hated of the world yea and put to death k Matth 10.18 c 24 â— for his names sake teacheth not to resist or rebell but to abide and l Matth. 24.13 endure not with violence to withstand authoritie but m Luk. 21.19 with patience to possesse their soules This is a remedie against Tyrants and there is no other meanes reuealed in the word of God against persecution then n Matth. 10.23 Desertion if they persecute you in one citie flie to an other or o Psal â—0 15 Praier and Patience Happie p Mâ— 5.11.12 are you when men shall doe all manner of euill vnto you for my names sake reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen Let not man therfore resist their power which God ordained but with all meeknes endure persecution in earth that they may be crowned in heauen Lambertus Danaeus a Puritane of the best note doth freely graunt Bellarmines Thesis viz.
souldiers Then did Egbertus Ex vita Hen. quarti quae habetur in fasciculo rerum sciendarum Coloniae impresso by the Popes encouragement ascend the Imperiall throne whereon he sat but a while for as he stepped aside from his armie into a mill to rest himselfe in the heat of the day he was discouered by the miller to the Emperours friends and lost his life for his labour During this hurly-burly in that state Walthramus a godly Bishop wrote to one Ludovicus an Earle of the Empire diswading him from partaking with the seditious against that good Emperour whom the Pope had deposed Walthram by the grace of God that he is to Lewes the noble Prince with instance of prayer offreth himselfe in all things seruiceable Concord is profitable to euery realme and iustice much to be desired these vertues are the mother of devotion and the consecration of all honestie But whosoeuer seeketh after ciuill dissention and incenseth other to the effusion of blood he is a murtherer partaketh with him who gaping for blood goeth about seeking whoÌ„ he may deuoure The worthie vessel of election that was taken vp to the third heauen protesteth saying Let euerie soule submit himselfe to the higher power there is no power but from God He that resisteth power resisteth the ordinance of God If that be true which some men prate among women and the vulgar sorte that we ought not to be subdued to the kingly power Then it is false which the Apostle teacheth that euery soule must submit himselfe vnder power and superioritie Epistol Wal. quae habetur in appendice Marian Scot. Can the truth lie did not Christ the Lord speake by the Apostle Why doe we prouoke the Lord are we stronger then he Doth not he thinke himselfe stronger then the Lord that resisteth the ordinance of God seeing there is no power but of God what saith the Prophet Confounded be they that striue against the Lord and they that resist him shall perish Rodolphus Hermanus Egbertus with many other Princes resisted the ordinance of God in Henrie the Emperour but loe they are confounded as though they had neuer beene for as their end was ill their beginning could not be good c. Haec ille Pope Paschalis seeing the bad successe of those seditious subiects which his predecessors Gregorie and Vrbanus had armed against Henrie that worthie Emperour did perswade the Emperours owne sonne against all law of God nature and nations to rebell against his Father The Bishop of Leige tooke the Emperours part against this young Prince for the which he was excommunicate his Church interdicted and Robert Earle of Flaunders commanded by the Pope as he hoped to haue the forgiuenes of his sinnes and the fauour of the Church of Rome to destroie that Bishop and his false preists The Churchmen of Leige terrified with the Popes excommunication and fearing the Earles oppression wrote an apologie for themselues about the yeare 1106. We are excommunicate say they because we obey our Bishop who hath taken part with his Lord the Emperour Epistol Leodiensium apud Simonem Scard These are the beginnings of sorrowe for Sathan beeing loosed compasseth the earth and hath made a diuision betweene the Prince and the Priest who can iustly blame the Bishop that taketh his Lords part to whom he hath sworne allegiance periurie is a great sinne whereof they cannot be ignorant that by newe schisme and nouell tradition doe promise to absolue subiects from the guilt of periurie that forsweare themselues to their Lord the King c. In the progresse of their apologie they determine three great questions first whether the Pope hath power to excommunicate Kings Secondly to whom it belongeth to inflict temporall punishment when Church-men offend against faith vnitie or good manners And thirdly what remedie subiects haue against their kings that are impious or tyrannous Si quis respectu sancti spiritus c. If any man hauing respect to the spirit of God shall turne ouer the old new TestameÌ„t he shall plainly find that kings ought not at all or very hardly be excommunicate whether we consider the etimologie of their names or the nature of their excoÌ„munication Euen till this day hath this point been questioned and neuer determined Kings may be admonished and reprooued by such as be discreete and sober men for Christ the King of Kings in earth who hath placed them in his owne stead hath reserued them to his owne iudgement c. Their answer to the second question is grounded on the testimonie of S. Augustine the practise of Princes and the authoritie of Paul Kings say they and Emperours by their publike lawes haue forbidden heretiques to enioye any worldly possession Wherefore seeing we are no heretiques and that it belongeth not to the Pope but to kings and Emperours to punish heresies why doth our Lord Paschalis send Robert his armourbearer to destroie the possessions and to ouerthrow the villages of the Churches which in case they deserued destruction ought to be destroied by the edict of Kings and Emperours which carie the sword not without good cause c. For answer to the third question they shew by sundrie places of Scripture that there is no other helpe against euill Princes then prayer and patience Nihil modo pro Imperatore nostro dicimus c. We will for the present say nothing in defence of our Emperour but this we say though he were as bad as you report him to be we would endure his gouernment because our sinnes haue deserued such a gouernor Be it we must needs graunt against our will that the Emperour is an Arch-heretike an invader of the kingdome a worshipper of the Simonaicall Idol and accursed by the Apostles and Apostolike men as you say of him euen such a Prince ought not to be resisted by violence but endured by patience and praier Moses brought many plagues vpon Pharaoh whose heart God had hardened but it was by praier and the lifting vp his hands to heauen And S. Paul requireth praiers to be made for all men for Kings and such as are in authoritie which kings were neither Catholikes nor Christians Baruch also from the mouth of the Prophet Ieremie wrote vnto the Iewes which were captiues vnto the king of Babylon that they must pray for the life of Nabuchodonoser the king of Babylon and Balthazar his sonne that their daies in earth may be as the daies of heauen c. Epist 1. eod S. Paul teacheth why we ought to pray for euill kings namely that vnder them we may lead a quiet life It would become an Apostolike man to follow the Apostles doctrine it were propheticall to follow the Prophet c. Thus farre they in their Epistle Apologeticall Viâ—â— Hen. 4. 〈…〉 He that wrote the life of this Emperour Henrie the fourth aniauncient a modest and an impartiall relator of such occurrents as happened in his time declareth his dislike of the Popes
not to die we entreat your clemencie Oh it was seemely for Christian souldiers to desire the tranquilitie of peace and faith and to be constant in truth euen vnto death Thus farre Ambrose S. Augustine relateth the same of the Christian souldiers vnder Iulian the Apostata-Emperour Iulianus extitit imperator infidelis Iulian was an vnbeleeuing Emperour was he not an Apostata an oppressor and an Idolater Christian souldiers serued that vnbeleeuing Emperour When they came to the cause of Christ they would acknowledge no Lord but him that was in heauen when they were commanded to adore Idoles and to offer sacrifice they preferred God before their Prince But when he called vpon them to warre bad them inuade any nation they presently obeyed They did distinguish their eternall Lord from the temporall king yet they submitted themselues to their temporal Lord for his sake that was their eternall king August in Psal 124. So farre he Optatus Milevitanus is another pregnant witnesse Cum super Imperatorem nemo sit nisi solus Deus Seeing there is no man aboue the Emperour beside God alone which made the Emperour Donatus by advancing himselfe aboue the Emperour De schism Donatist l. 3. doth exceede the bounds of humanitie and maketh himselfe a God rather then man in that he feareth and reuerenceth him not whom all men should honour next after God So farre Optat. Com. in evang Ioh. l. 12. c. 36. Saint Cyril is of the same iudgement Cui legis preuaericatores liberare licet nisi legis ipsius authori Who can acquit them that breake the law from transgression beside the law-giuer as we see by experience in all humane states no man can without danger breake the law but kings themselues in whom the crime of preuarication hath no place For it was wisely said of one that it is a wicked presumption to say to a king Thou doest amisse So farre he In 1. epist ad Timoth c. 2. ◠1. And also Saint Chrisostome What meaneth the Apostle saith he to require prayers and supplications inintercessions and thanksgiuing to be made for all men he requireth this to be done in the daily seruice of the Church and the perpetuall rite of diuine religion For all the faithfull do knowe in what manner prayers are powred out before the Lord morning and euening for all the world euen for kings and euery man in authoritie Some man will peradventure say that for all must be vnderstood of all the faithfull Which cannot be the Apostles meaning as may appeare by the words following viz. for Kings seeing that kings neither did then nor in many ages after serue the liuing God but continued obstinately in infidelitie which by course of succession they had receiued Thus farre Chrysost Our Moderne reformers teach vs that which Paul and Chrysostome neither knewe nor beleeued See the preface before Basilic Dor. that wicked Princes are not to be prayed for but to be resisted c. When the faction of Eutiches had preuailed against the Catholikes Leo the first had no other remedie then prayers to God sighes teares and petitions to the Emperour Omnes partium nostrarum ecclesiae c. Epistol 24. ad Theodos Imperat. All the Churches of these parts all we Priests euen with sighs and teares beseech your Maiestie to command a generall Synode to be held in Italie that all offences beeing remooued there may remaine neither error in faith nor diuision in loue Fauour the catholiques grant libertie to protect the faith against heretiques defend the state of the Church from ruine that Christ his right-hand may support your Empire Thus farre Leo. When Gregorie the great was accused for the murther of a Bishop in prison he wrote to one Sabinianus to cleare him to the Emperour and Empresse Breuiter suggeras serenissimis dominis meis Epist l. 7. epist 1. You may briefly enforme my soueraigne Lord and Ladie that if I their seruant would haue busied my selfe with the death of the Lombards that nation would by this time haue had neither Kings nor Dukes nor Earles should haue bin in great confusion and diuision but because I stood in awe of God I was euer afraid to meddle with the shedding of any mans blood so farre Gregorie These Lombards were Pagans invaders of the countrey ransackers of the citie persecutors of the Saints robbers of the Church oppressors of the poore whom Gregorie the first might and would not destroy quia deum timuit because he feared God It is verie like that his successor Gregorie the seauenth feared neither God nor man when he erected the papall croisier against the regall scepter and read the sentence of depriuation against the Emperour Henrie Ego authoritate apostolica c. I by my power apostolicall doe bereaue Henrie of the Germaine kingdom and do depriue him of all subiection of Christian men absoluing all men from the allegiance which they haue sworne vnto him And that Rodolph whom the Peeres of the Empire haue elected may gouerne the kingdome I grant all men that shall serue him against the Emperor forgiuenesse of their sinnes in this life and in the life to come Carol. Sigon de Regno Ital lib. 9. in vita Hen. 3. As I haue for his pride deiected Henrie from the royall dignitie so I doe exalt Rodolph for his humilitie to that place of authoritie Thus farre Gregor 7. Benno Card in vit Greg. 7 It is no wonder that Gregorie his chaire claue a sunder as some writers affirme at the giuing of this sentence because the proud Pope and his wicked sentence were too heauie a burthen for Peters stoole of humilitie to beare The fourth Chapter prooveth the Immunitie of Kings by the Fathers of the third 300. yeares AFter the death of Gregorie the great which was about the yeare of our Lord 604. Sabinianus did succeede him who liued but one yeare after whome came Boniface the 3. which obtained of Phocas to be called Vniversall Bishop since that time perijt virtus Imperatorum pietas Pontificum the Emperours waxed weake and the Bishops wicked What the iudgemēt of those Fathers then was concerning subiection to wicked Kings I will make euident by the testimonie of Gregorius Turonensis Isidorus Damascenus Beda Fulgentius Leo 4. and the Fathers assembled in a Councell at Toledo in Spaine Gregorie Turonensis acknowledgeth such an absolute power in Childericke a most wicked king of France as was free from all controll of man 〈…〉 lib 5. cap. 1. Si quis de nobis Rex iustitiae limites transcendere voluerit c. If any one of vs O King doe passe the bounds of iustice you haue power to correct him but if you exceede your limit who shall chastice you We may speake vnto you if you list not to harken who can condemne you but that Great God who hath pronounced himselfe to be righteousnes hactenus ille Isidorus saith no lesse for the immunitie of the