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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	church_n	council_n	rome_n	6,864	5	7.0948	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13114	The epistle that Iohan Sturmius, a man of great lerninge and iugement, sent to the Cardynalles and prelates that were chosen and appointed by the Bysshop of Rome, to serche out the abuses of the churche. Translated into englysshe by Rychard Morysine.; Epistle that Johan Sturmius, a man of great lerninge and jugement, sent to the Cardynalles and prelates.	Sturm, Johannes, 1507-1589.; Morison, Richard, Sir, d. 1556.	1538 (1538)	STC 23407; ESTC S105095	25,896	98

THE EPISTLE THAT IOHAN STVRmius a man of great lerninge and iugement sent to the Cardynalles and prelates that were chosen and appointed by the Bysshop of Rome to serche out the abuses of the churche Translated into englysshe by Rychard Morysine IOHAN STVRMIVS TO THE Cardynalles and prelates appointed to serche oute the abusyons of the churche sendeth gretyng YOVR BOKE wrytten at the commaundement of the byshop of Rome cōteynyng suche thynges as ye thynke make moste to the restauryng of religion beinge brought vnto vs this laste moneth styred dyuers men to speake dyuersely of you And all be it I thinke you ought lytel to passe what euery man sayth of these your deuyses yet excepte men wyse and lerned do allowe them I canne not thynke that in any assemble of men mete to sytte in a councill ye canne obteyne that you go aboute that is to restore the churche vnto her olde state and pristine dignitie For al be it all thynges are to be redressed by good counsell whyche you beinge men of suche prudencie may yf ye lyste lyghtly inuent yet excepte the lerned sorte do approue your inuencions men woll not thynke that ye haue founde suche ways as ar most mete for that pourpose Wherfore for as moch as I am nowe in those places and amonge suche men as prudently iudge of your busynesse seing I wel perceyued what men iuge of you I thought it very conuenient brefely in writing to shewe you their sentences that ye thereby maye perceyue what they allowe what they myslyke and what they wolde haue handled after other sort than ye haue done Many hope wel bothe in your lernynge and iudgement whom also this new deuise of the byshop of Rome bryngeth into good opinion that one day a better agrement may be made betwixt vs. For as longe as the bysshop of Romes eares were shytte agaynste all trouthe and open to all flatterers there was no place for medycine to worke in But nowe sythe there is a byshop of Rome whiche sekethe men amonges whom some ar such as are not wont to flatter some suche as woll not lye many of greate lernynge Certes eyther nowe remedyes shall be founde to heale the great and longe disease of the sycke churche or els it being beaten thus on euery syde weakened decaied woll vndoubtedly shortly all togyther falle Those that were in your places before wold acknowlege no faute They styffely defended all to be wel done that bishops of Rome hadde ben authors of This errour is nowe taken awey by you whyche shewe not onely moche hurt and open ruine of the church but also cōfesse and acknowlege byshoppes of Rome to haue ben thautours of it whyche beleuing in the sayinges of flatterers thought them selfes lordes of lawes This youre sentence was very pleasant vnto al our men here bycause they hope euen as ye do se the calamities of religion the ruine of honestie and vtter distruction of the churche except remedye be found that so ye wol as moch as in you lieth staye these grefes that they go no furder It is a rare thing and moch more than menne coulde hope for that there shoulde come a bishop of Rome whiche shulde require his prelates vpon theyr othe to open trouthe to shewe abuses to seke remedies for thē so that if any thing be otherwise agreed vpon by you than right religion may beare the faute shall be yours the byshop of Rome hath lytell here to be charged withall Wherfore you that are chosen to so godly and necessarie a thyng ye ought with all mature diligence to study labour that this that ye haue begonne may come to a good ende AND seing you haue the byshops assent and commandement also ye ought in no case to let so godly a thynge to quayle at your handes If this bishop continue aliue and be styll of this mynde if it be trewe that you saye ye lacke nothinge but your owne good wyl to retourne many commodyties vnto all men of Christis relygion If he shall chaunge his mynde yet you se there is a waye opened for all men to enter into your dispraises if ye be founde thoccasion that suche hope as men are in be nowe quite taken from them For that that shulde be so cōmodious so holsome vnto the hole world ones power gyuē to you to brynge it to passe yf ye lyste can nat be neglected of you withoute your great shame Wherfore whyle it is his wyll whiche beareth greattest strooke amonge you ye muste whyle he lyueth take the tyme and let not suche occasyons slyppe By this your industrie fydelitie prudence and vertue relygion that is almost fallen may be set vp agayn If for age he be taken from you yet ye muste nowe make suche foundations that they whiche shal be created after hym may not let slyppe a mattier of suche weyght withoute their gret shame You must prouide that as sone as it may be good men and well lerned in dede may studye for the redresse of the churche In these your labours ye shal haue many that wol be gladde to helpe you many princis many their subiectis whiche may make a iuste conuocation many many woll be gladde to helpe suche as frankely shewe theyr iudgementes moche rather than those that bynde theym selfe to the seruitude of flatterie ¶ THE auctoritie of councils is decayed longe sythens bycause they haue ben rather callyd for the satisfyeng of the bysshop of Romes appetites auarice and ambition than for the setting forth of religion And also suche men haue come to it as wolde not plainly expresse such fautes as they knew but rather serued his turne vnto whom they aknowlege them selfis greatly to be boūd For howe can a byshoppe of Rome think to be corrected of them whose lybertie he hath taken away whose wylles and fauourable voyces he hath wonne with greatte rewardes and promyses Wherfore ye thinke as ye shulde where ye say that a bishop of Rome ought not to be lawles vnder no law neither that what him lusteth is lawfulle but rather that he shoulde luste those thynges that lawes allow Here ye haue goten great praise amonge oure men bicause ye are the fyrst of this your order that durste pronounce it mete for a byshoppe of Rome to kepe al suche lawes hym selfe as he wolde haue obeyed of the churche ¶ ALSO that that you sayde nexte vnto this was spoken of you very prudently that no lordshyp is committed to the bysshop of Rome but rather a certayne cure by the which he maye distrybute thynges in the churche accordynge to good order and so that he is rather a curate of suche thinges than a lorde of them and that men are committed to his faithfulnes and dilygence he hym selfe hauynge neither dition ne power aboue lawes no domynation ne reigne whereby he maye eyther chaunge or violate any lawe If ye admitte this to be trewe and wolle vtterly graunt vs this a great part of our controuersie is

taken away grantynge vs also this that we did not dissente from you without great and iuste causes For yf ye wylle graunte it to be onely a ministration that the Bisshoppe of Rome is chargid with must you not agree to this also that all other magistrates in the churche be none other thyng but minysters of dyuine cures soo that yf their ministration be good and for the welth of the church and accordyng to the lawes they shulde continue styll if it be vnprofitable hurtful if it be ful agaynst y e lawes such their honor shuld be takē away from them lyke as it is cōmanded in many places of holy scripture ¶ Wherfore ye added this vnto the other very wel that lawes ought to contynue euer and that they might not be takē away either by any byshop of Romes priuilege wresting or indulgence For if this were laufull what shulde be lefte vntouched in any place what shuld be safe and sure if whan wyll wolde luste may dyspense with lawe We see whyle bishops of Rome now of late haue take vpon them such dispensations what windowes they opened for tiranny to crepe in at for religion to crepe out at Nowe where lawes be kepte this also shall remayne that they be made bishops and teachers of the people of god which ar knowen to be lerned to be of great innocencie of life to be of faithe and diligence in doing their duetie For if we wol haue the world amended we must haue the people good well instructed and taught they must be as a felde well tilled Man is welle tilled whan he hathe a good preacher in whom is great knowledge study and pure mynd without whiche prechers neither the people can be well taught nor the church flourishe neither the teachers owne auctoritie be estemed ¶ Agayne what a goodly thing is it that ye write of suche as commit simonie which are so many that if your sentence may haue place and they remoued as the law wil which by force of frēdship or money haue gotten promotions ye shall scrape out many blottes that nowe defyle religion ye shal also with your ease come to that that you seke that is that mete ministers be made in the church ministers laufully created which shuld haue both lerning and honest life always presēt with their flocke there doinge that that saynt Paule and generall councils wold a sheparde shoulde do to his flocke These be the thynges that make many of vs hope well of you and thinke that ye intend wel It is very new strange a thing scase hard of that mē of your order shuld iuge freely In thassemble made at Nuremberge Adrian than bishoppe of Rome dyd aknowlege many suche thinges as ye do now and all be it they wolde his auctoritie shulde be highest yet there were verye many of other astates that coulde not abide that he shulde aknowlege suche thinges to be true I praye you is not this euen to graunt byshops of Rome impunitie of all that they lust and yet whan they haue doone worst to make thē thinke it a shame bishops of Rome to say they haue done euyl Wherfore I must speke vnto you Contarene and you Sadolete and you Federike Salernitane and you also whiche ar chosen to do this thing I muste call vpon you that you applie this mattier thinke that at this time it is put in your handis to restore to the church both her helth and dignitie agayne If you diligently and faithfully do as it becommeth to you to doo you shall see a flourysshynge common welthe of Christe If contrary wise you do it negligentlye and thynke rather vpon your owne gaynes thā vppon the amendement of thinges amisse men herafter wol neuer seke redresse of matters at your handes But for as moche as I haue shewed you wherin your boke pleseth many nowe I woll alsoo telle you what many thynke wanteth in it And here I woll let certain thinges passe whiche seme very nedefull to be decyded yet seinge they are by noughty custome longe sythens receiued I wol not now moche touch them I can not see by what reason you can call the bishop of Rome vniuersall bysshop for as moche as saynt Gregorie a man vehement and very desyrous to amplifie that dignytie refused this name as a voyce of Antichriste Lyke reason moued thother .xx. bishops whiche were before Gregorie to refuse that name all be it the councill of Calcedonie gaue it them But let vs passe ouer this disputation and gyue for a season hym that nowe is so to be callyd we recke not so moche what he be callyd as that he do such thinges as become him that is that his power and all his studyes maye be conuerted to the setting forth of the glorie of Christ. Tyranny is moche ageynst the setlyng of thinges this title vniuersal bishop bringeth violēce with it violēce bringeth distruction of honesti Wherfore they that be of great wytte and honestie and can foresee thynges wolde this vsurped title thoccasion of all these hurtis were taken away as a thing verye pestilent This cause moued Pelagius and Gregorie to refuse this name all be it many good men beinge deceiued frankely offered it to them ¶ Many men are sorie that in this your deuise no mencion is made De doctrina religionis whiche moste specially ought to haue bene intreated of For to speake somewhat of this what people what citie what multitude of men in especiall throughe your dominions canne you fynde that is welle instructed in poyntes of religion God semeth neuer to be more alienate from vs than whan we be ignoraunte in his gospelle whyche ignoraunce hathe bene soo great that not only the rude people haue not knowen what is conteined in holye scripture but also this ignorance hath bene founde in bysshops and cardinals of your order In soo moche that we in oure tyme haue sene bysshoppes of Rome vtterly ignoraunt of holye scripture and all togither vntaughte in relygion For to let passe Innocentius octauus and manye other lyke I pray you Sadolete what lernynge or studie in holye Scripture was in Clement the .vii. whome you wonderfully prayse Can you make any man beleue that knewe hym that he had any knowledge in holye scripture naye that he euer thoughte theron to the ende he wolde eyther rede those thynges whervpon oure religion is grounded or here them declared to hym by anye other I thynke that neyther you nor any other of those whyche knewe the facion of his lyfe can remember that euer Clemente for his knowledge caused at any tyme a boke of scripture to be caried about with hym Thus whyle we cloke ignoraunce while we say menne haue that they haue not while we studye to please oft tymes we assente to their vyces gyue very euyll example by praisynge theym that deserue disprayse and oft times cause those that folow their vices to think that their fautes maye be borne bycause that by our lies

the difference that we put herein ye accuse vs and beare men in hande that we wolde haue no man better than other that we wolde no resorte of people shulde be to churches no knelynge no syngynge no sensyng shuld be in the tēples that we wold the vniuersall church were subuerted so that if your authoritie were ones taken away we myght do euery thynge at our pleasure withoute any reproche We be contente with all ceremonies that in any wyse be conformable and agreinge to oure religion Yea this also we permytte that what soo euer dothe not defyle our religion shoulde be lefte to the determination of a generall councill They be noo trifles that make vs to refuse your authoritie vsurped power and naughty censures Sadolete I wold haue you shewe what councils toke vppon theym to talke of this popish and priestly apparayle that you write of ¶ For holy days Sabbatiꝰ a Iew did his part he caused strife trouble and for the same matter there was variance betwene Policrates and Uictor But you knowe that Irineus greatly mysliked their discorde bycause that diuersitie either in holy dayes or fastyng days breaketh not the bonde of relygion ne of Christis feithe What dothe saynte Augustine in his letters to Ianuarie Doth he not euen the same that we require He requireth a meane in ceremonies Doth he not also lament that the burdeyn of ceremonies be more heuye vnto vs than euer were any to the Iewes What wolde he do nowe whan all thynge is done for the seruynge of mennes appetite for ambition and for desire of lucre ¶ Agaynste suche foolysshe trifles what I pray you saith Esaias what Ieremias what Amos the prophetes Esaias forsawe these ceremonyes and these yuell customes he sawe that vayne vanitie shulde folowe the destruction of the Iewes whiche he sheweth expresselye and yet we make as though we redde of no suche thynge ¶ Herein I se not what you canne laye agaynste vs more than the authoritie of the canons the church whose auctoritie we wold were safe and in ful strength But this muste alwais be one special point in the lawes of the church that prestes lyue wel and teache wel that they be presente abyde vpon theyr benefices that all they be deposed whiche haue goten any thynge in the churche by moneye Neyther he shoulde haue any benefice with cure whom the courte carieth from it or he that leaueth his flocke and foloweth an hauke prickynge to the partrige in stede of preachynge to his parysshe For as longe as these thynges are suffered vnpunished howe is it possible relygion to be kepte and ceremonies vnabused For let the leste parte be ones mysvsed and the reste can not long continue safe But you woll not touche the diseases that ye were set to seke fore nother ye woll suffre the partis soore greued to be healed Ye esteme more the smooke of the sensars bowynges and crouchynges more the apparaylle that men go in than ye do the knowlege of right religion or the feare of god or his honour where as in deede these thynges are of necessitie and the other for the soule helth nothing at all Neuer the lesse they maye in some case be suffered and are tollerable but these that I shal now reherse can nother be wynked at nother defended as not to aknowlege the abuse of the sacrament of the altare and the abuse of ceremonyes as that monkes and pristes haue libertye to lyue vnchaste and vnclenly and those that endeuour theym selfes to amende it to be troubled ye and iuged of you vnworthy to be in the company of good menne We ar careful and sory for this peruerse iugement we go not about to breke the ceremonies specially those that may stande with Christis relygion we promyse you to kepe them styll onely do you this for your parte see that those thniges be restored without the whiche neyther the dignitie of the churche nother the auctoritie of Christis name can continue ¶ Nowe here I wol come vnto an other poynte that moche letteth our agrement Ye complayne greately that we be ouer stubborne and rude and that we intende to destroy al iurisdiction and to take awaye all riches frome the churche This you say may not be suffred For it is an aunciente custome that noble men that come of great stockes be honorably promoted from whom so gret cōmodities can not be taken away without high displesure and great daunger If this be the worste we shall lyghtly be deliuered from gret grefe and trouble shortely be ioyned with you For seynge there be thre sortis of men in the church that rule one of them mete to teache an other mete to mainteyne the power and ryches of the churche the third whiche sometymes hathe bothe the thynges aforesayde and yet is mete for ner nother If you wyl be content to reiecte the laste sorte and suffer the other two to be seuered and diuided distinctly the one frome the other I trust all stryfe and grudge betwene vs shal be by those meanes quite abolyshed and cleane forgotten For you requyre in the minysters of the churche good lyfe and lernynge Let vs haue suche as be able bothe for theyr lernynge and for their liuing to gouerne the people put a difference betwene them and the other that haue in their gouernance the goodes of the worlde and of the cōmon weale do this we trust sone to haue an ende of all matters that we can nat now agree vpon or at the least wise a greatter moderation of our grudges stryfes There be som mē of gret blode whiche woll be ashamed of the gospel and there be some that faithfully woll kepe the goodes of the churche No man can make tyrantes beleue that it is more honour to be loued and honored of theyr subiectes than to be feared of theym But it were a shame for any christen mā to think that it were a higher dignite to haue great power and might thā to professe the gospell in suche wise as may stād best with godly liuing We ar moued by authorite of many great wise men to sette an order betwene these two sortes To let passe saint Augustin saint Ambrose and other perfect bishops did not Chrisostom before a multitude of an hūdred M. mē in a sermon greuously lament that bishops were taken frō the cure of their church and ocupied in money matters Thapostels also put a difference betwene the office of bishops and decons These two sortes had neuer bē sondred but y t they inspired by god did se before that at one time or other some wolde refuse to kepe these orders taken by them ¶ But peraduenture some mē wol say noble mē haue giuē gret riches to the church it is conueniēt y t theyr posteritie be sonest p̄ferred vnto the same First noble men ar not forbid neither to professe the gospel nother to haue the gouernance of money cites If there be

of them that be vnmete to haue y e one or the other there be lawes that wol such to be regarded as come of those auncestours that fyrst enriched this or that churche Fynally al riches wold be so disposed that none lack and an order taken after euery persons degree sorte whiche order must so longe be kept as religion take no hurt by it an equal and a conuenient distribution shulde be made to men of euery degre We may lacke riches in Christis churche but if we be spoyled of true doctryne than of necessytie we are destitute of all relygyon Therfore we woll not stryue with you for riches we require to haue Chrystis doctrine we desyre to haue true ministers we wyshe ernestly to haue a free councille in a safe place where mē may speke boldly whither good men and wel lerned maye be called where the naughty ignorant persons shal not be admytted as iuges and chiefe doers If you graunt vs these thinges and wol also helpe vs in them we woll not meddell with great men And yet as we woll not willingely gyue them the ryches of the churche that be of great power so if they woll nedes haue them we wol not gretly sticke therin If they desyre to haue golde and riches and the gouernance of common weales we wol not stryue with them for we seke not for suche thynges noo no whan al this that ye seke is taken a waye the churche remaineth styl so that Christis lernynge do remayne and the gospell florishe Sacrilege is a shameful dede and worthy gret punishement and agaynst this many lawes be made certainely it is a kynde of Sacrilege not to dispense the goodes of the church to thē that be nedy And they that do not distribute them in this wyse doo veraye naughtily Trewe it is that at this houre the goodes of the churche be meruaylous great and aboundant we wolde haue them well dysposed but we wold in especial haue the disposition distribution of them committed to the prechers of the gospel ministers of the churche If they that be rulers rule the churche well we ought to reioice at the cōmon ꝓfite of christen men but if they rule not wel and can not be amended by power we ought to be sorie Neuer the lesse we may not take the matter so greuously that men think we wold rather haue our part of the riches than se the gospel go forward Therfore let vs be at a point for the teaching of the gospel for the sacramentes and for the ceremonies and we wol neuer striue with you for the riches which we were better to lack than that for theym Christis glorie shuld be hindred I se there lacketh nothynge to brynge vs to a perfect peace if ye wol put a part al displesure and hatred Ye not redyng our bokes haue withdrawen your hartes from vs ruled by the reporte of them that loue vs not And so you beleue that we intende to distroy al good ordinances And on the other syde bicause we are put in feare by many examples we can not yet but suspect and thinke that you intende not a true and an ernest reformatiō of the church If that that we mean and go about could synke into your heedes if we had some certayn assurance good token of your diligēce vnfeined faith we shuld be bothe out of moche trouble and with one mynde we with you wold endeuour our selues to do those thinges that were best for the common welthe of Christendome ¶ I suppose ye be none of them y e trust by force of armes to maintein your power and by violence to kepe vnder your aduersaries I remembre whan poore Luther was alone and at warre with all the worlde no man being more hatid than he was all his enemies coulde not take his life from him These studies ar now so encreased within fewe yeres soo many folowing him that now they feare lytle your thretnynges They haue many and great tokens that god fauorith them so that if you intende any thing against them they surely truste that no battayle shall preuaylle nor haue any successe ageinst them beinge in daunger only for the loue they beare to Christis religion Wherfore while you haue tyme thynke vppon this mattier loke well about you If you wolle be ruled by reason we shall easilye defende our parte so that our iuges be indifferent and iuste If the matter muste be tried by force of armes Fyrste this were a cruel waye to put so many common weales of Cristendome in hasarde Secondarylye There is gret danger in this thing by reson your aduersaries strength is waxen puissant and mighty And it maye chaunce that when menne shall se that ye intende to vse crueltye many moo woll take our parte thanne yet are knowen to be of our syde Fynally admyt that ye might haue the vpper hande and opteyne your pourpose eyther by vniuste iudgemente or elles by force and vyolence yet where crueltye vnrightous dealynge and grudge of conscience is there can ye not leade your lyfe in honour moche lesse in pleasure Ye can neuer soo destroye vs but the fundations and rootes woll remayne wherof alwaye some shall sprynge that woll be able to iuge truely of our matters Againe althoughe you shulde destroy vs all to gether yet there is a GOD that seeth all thynges and is hable to reuenge oure quarell there is a CHRISTE in whose tuition and defence we are all whyche as he was cause of helthe in the worlde soo is he able to restore agayne his religion thoughe it were vtterlye distroyed ¶ I speake not this Contarene by cause I iudge you by these your deuises to intende myschiefe but bycause there be many amonges you which if they might haue their mindes wold cause more mischiefes in Christis churche than euer we sawe hitherto But I iudge this of you that god maye rule your hartes I knowe that ye lacke neither lerning nor wysedom it may be that ye wol loue his honour and beare a zele to his trouthe ye may forsee that whiche shall bothe please god and be moche to your honour You amonges all men ar chosen for great causes your honour is to restore Christis doctrine and to appoynt suche as woll and shall be able to teache the gospelle to amende the ceremonies and to put a differēce betwene the mynysters of the churche By these meanes you may bring in vse ageyne the olde maner of lerninge the olde disciplyne of the churche without the which neyther your dignitie can be cōmendable nor your authoritie continue any longer nor religion flourishe at any time For there is no honour where as is noo good gouernāce where gouernors liue not wel they can haue but smal commendation Men can neither be obedient nother loue you that do not your dutie men wold be taught holpen out of ignorance for many mens hartis be wonne this way and