of the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical matters without professing yet a stature to reach the top of this sublime or the bottom of this profound concern In the first place then we are to know that the King 's just and lawful Authority in Ecclesiastical matters is in part declared by a statute made in the first year of Queen Elizabeth Stat. 1 Eliz. Ca. 1. Non novam introduxit sed antiquam declaravit Coke 5. Rep. Cawdrys Case fo 8. And it was one of the Resolutions of the Judges in Cawdry's Case That the said Act of the First year of the Queen concerning Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was not a Statute introductory of a new Law but Declaratory of the Old But for our purpose it will be sufficient to transcribe the Preamble of the Act which runs thus Most humbly beseech your most excellent Majesty your faithful and obedient Subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this your present Parliament assembled that where in time of the raign of your most dear Father of worthy memory King Henry 8. divers good Laws and Statutes were made as well for the better extinguishment and putting away of all usurped and forrain powers and authorities out of this your Realm and other your Highness Dominions and Countrys as also for the * Nota. restoring and uniting to the Imperial Crown of this Realm the ancient Jurisdictions authorities Superiorities and preheminences to the same of right belonging by reason whereof we your most humble and obedient Subjects from the 25. year of the raign of your said dear Father were continually kept in good order and were disburdened of divers great and intolerable charges before that time unlawfully taken and exacted by such forrain power and authoritie as before that was usurped until such time as all the said good laws and Statutes by one Act of Parliament made in the first and second years of the raigns of the late King Philip and Queen Mary your Highness Sister Intituled An Act repealing all Statutes Articles and Provisions made against the See Apostolick of Rome since the 20th year of King Henry 8. and also for the establishment of all Spiritual and Ecclesiastical possessions and hereditaments conveyed to the Laity were all clearly repealed and made void as by the same Act of repeal more at large appears By reason of which Act of repeal your said humble Subjects were est-soons brought again under an usurped forrain power and authority and yet do remain in that bondage to the intolerable charges of your loving Subjects if some redress by the Authority of this your High Court of Parliament with the assent of your Highness be not had and provided May it therefore please your Highness for the repressing of the said usurped forrain power and the restoring of the Rights Jurisdictions and preheminences appertaining to the Imperial Crown of this your Realm that it may be Enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament c. And then it proceeds to Repeal the said Act of Philip and Mary and revives the former Statutes of King Hen. 8. and King Edw. 6. abolisheth all usurped forrain powers and authorities and restoreth and uniteth all Jurisdictions Priviledges Superiorites and Preheminences Spiritual and Ecclesiastical to the Imperial Crown of this Realm This Statute doing Right to the Queen and her Successors ever since as in Temporal Causes the Kings of England by the mouths of their Judges in the Courts of Justice have judged and determined the same by the Temporal Laws of England So in all Ecclesiastical and spiritual Causes as Blasphemy Ecclesiastical Causes Stat. de circumsuecte agatis 13 Edw. 1. Articuli Cleri 9 Edw. 2. Fitzh Nat. Bre. 41 42 43 c. Apostasie from Christianity Heresie Schisme Ordering Admissions and Institution of Clarks Celebration of Divine service Rites of Matrimony Divorces Bastardy Substraction and Right of Tiths Oblations Obventions Dilapidations Reparation of Churches Probate of Wills and Testaments Administrations and Accounts upon the same Simony Fornication Incest Adulteries Sollicitation of Chastity Appeals in Ecclesiastical causes Commutation of Penance Pensions Procurations c. the Conusans of all which belongs not to the Common Law but the determination and decision of the same hath been by Ecclesiastical Judges according to the King 's Ecclesiastical Laws of this his Realm And although the said Stat. 1 Eliz. declares how and by whom the King may appoint the same to be done yet as is intimated before the King by Law may do the same although that Statute had not bin made And hence it was that Stephen Gardiner the noted Bishop of Winchester Significantiori vocabulo competentem Principi jure Divino poâ—estâ—tem exprâ—mi clarius voluâ—runt in his Oration De vera Obedientia once said That by the Parliaments stiling of King Hen. 8. Head of the Church it was no new invented matter wrought only their mind was to have the power pertaining to a Prince by God's law to be more clearly expressed by this Emphatical compellation And certainly this was the ground of that answer which King James gave to the Non-conforming Divines at the conference at Hampton Court upon the seven and thirtieth Article of the Church of England the said Divines urging that these words in the Article viz. Confer at Hamp Court fo 37. The Bishop of Rome hath no Authority in this land were not sufficient unless it was added nor ought to have To which the King being somewhat moved roundly replyed What speak you of the Pope's authority here Habemus jure quod habemus and therefore in as much as it is said He hath not it is plain and certain enough that he ought not to have Nor is this Authority united to the Crown of England only but of right also to all other Christian Crowns and accordingly avowed by all other Christian Princes And to this purpose I could multiply the Suffrages of many antient Fathers and Doctors of the Church but my aim being rather at matter of fact I will forbear the particularizing the explicite Judgements and Declarations of those Devout and just men who were as careful in its degree and proportion to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's as to God the things that are God's But for the matter of practice And in the first place here I cannot but take notice That in the first Ages of Christianity Religion did not only subsist but spread by immediate influence from Heaven only but when by vertue of the same influence it had once prevailed and triumphed over all oppositions of Pagan superstition and persecution and subdued the Emperours themselves and became the Imperial Religion then Ecclesiastical Authority assumed and fixed it self in its natural and proper place and the excercise of its Jurisdiction and what that was I shall shew also was restored to the Imperial Diadem and Constantine was no sooner setled in his Imperial Throne but he took the settlement of all Ecclesiastical
matters into his care and cognisans He call'd Synods and Councils and ratified their Canons into Laws He routed the Conventicles of the Donatists made Edicts concerning Festivals the Rites of Sepulture the immunities of Churches the Authority of Bishops the Priviledges of the Clergy with divers other things relating to the outward Politie of the Church In which affair he was carefully followed by his Successors as evidently may appear to all conversant in the Civil Law And the aforesaid Stephen Gardiner in that his notable Oration of true Obedience makes instance in the Roman Emperour Justinian who with the approbation of all the world at that time set forth those Laws of the most Blessed Trinity the Catholique Faith Justiniani factum qui leges edidit de Trinitate de fide Catholica c. Steph. Wint. Orat. fo 19. of Bishops and Clergy-men and the like The like also appears by the most famous Partidas set forth by Ferdinando the Saint and his Son Alphonso for the antient Kingdoms of Castile Toledo Leon and others of Spain celebrated in the Spanish Histories Correspondent to which also hath bin the practice of the Kingdom of France Lew. Turquet Hist of Spain whose Kings have ever been esteemed in some sence the Heads of their Church and this is the reason that the opening their most ancient Councils under the first and second the Merovingian and Caroline line was ever by the power and authority and sometimes the presidency of their Kings and Princes It being a noted saying in one of their Councils Câ—ncil Parisienâ— 6. lib. 2. cap. 2. Cognoscant Principes Seculi se Deo debere rationem propter Ecclesiam quam à Deo tuendam accipiunt And according to this Doctrine C d. Lâ—g Antiq Gall. fâ— 827. Lâ—ndenbrog for matters of Church or State of Charls the Great Ludovicus Pius Lewis le Gros Pepin and others collected by the French Antiquaries And at this day generally amongst the Lawyers and most learned of the French Nation it is held and declared Vid. le Reâ—â—w de le Council de Trent Boreâ— lib. 4. de Decret Eccl. Gall. That the Bishop of Rome was anciently the First and chiefest Bishop according to the dignity of of Precedency and order not by any Divine institution but because Rome was the chief City of the Empire That he obtained this Primacy over the Western Church by the grace and gift of Pepin Charls the Great and other Kings of France And that he hath no power to dispose of temporal things That it belongs to Christian Kings and Princes to call Ecclesiastical Synods to establish their Decrees to make wholesome Laws for the government of the Church and to punish and reform abuses therein That the Laws whereby their Church is to be governed are only the Canons of the more ancient Councils and their own National Constitutions and not the Extravagants and Decretals of the Bishop or Court of Rome That the Council of Constance assembled by Sigismund the Emperour with a concurrent consent of other Christian Princes Decreeing a General Synod or Council to be Superior to the Pope and correcting many abuses in the Roman Church which yet remain in practice was a true Oecumenical Council as also was the Council of Basil That the Assembly of Trent was no lawful Council and the Canons thereof rather to be esteemed the Decrees of the Popes who call'd and continued it than the Decrees of the Council it self and that in regard the number of Bishops there met was but small bearing no proportion to the import of a General Council as also the greatest part of those present were Italian and Vassals to the Pope and nothing there resolved on but what was before determined at Rome which then occasion'd this infamous by-word That the Holy Ghost was carryed in Cloak-bags every Post from Rome to Trent That the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ought to be administred under both kinds and that at the least a great part of Divine Service ought to be performed in the vulgar Tongue Thus far the French and Many the like instances might here be added to the same purpose but yet under favour all Crowns Imperial must give place in regard of this one Flower or Jewel of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to the Crown of England For as the first Christian King that ever the world saw is recorded to have been of this Island the renowned Lucius so is he intimated to be the first that ever exercised Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction being directed thereunto by Pope Eleutherius Vâ—d Eleuth Epist to fetch his Laws by the advice of his Council out of the Old and New Testament and by the same to Govern his Kingdom wherein he was God's Vicar According to which advice the Brittish Saxon Danish and first Kings of the Normans have governed their Churches and Church-men as may appear by the Laws by them for that purpose made Archaionem Analect Angl. Brit. li. 1 2. Hist Cambr. fo 59. Jo. Brompton c. and lately exhibited to the publick by Mr. Lambard Mr. Selden Dr. Powell and others Neither can any Ecclesiastical Canons for Government of the English Church be produced till long after the conquest which were not either originally promulged or afterwards allowed either by the Monarch or some King of the Heptarchy sitting or directing in the National or Provincial Synod Nay in the after usurping times there is to be seen the Transcript of a Record An. Manus Chronic Abb. de Bello Vide the like Charter of exemption to the Abbot of Abbindon by Kâ—nulphus in Stanf. pl. Cor. l. 2. fo 111. b. 1 Hen. 7. fo 23 25. 3 Hen. 2. wherein when the Bishop of Chichester opposed some Canons against the Kings exemption of the Abby of Battel from Episcopal Jurisdiction the King in anger replyed Tu pro Papae authoritate ab hominibus concessa contra dignitatum Regalium authoritates mihi à Deo concessas calliditate arguta niti praecogitas Dost thou go about by subtilty of Wit to oppose the Pope's authority granted by the connivence of men against the authority of my Regal Dignity given by God himself And thereupon requires reason and justice against the Bishop for his insolence And thus it is most easily demonstrable that the Kings of England have had these Flowers of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction planted in the Imperial Crown of this Realm even from the very beginning of the Christian Monarchy in this Island where we hope they have now taken such root that neither any Fanatick whispers at home nor the roaring of any Romish Bulls from abroad will ever be able to shake or blast the same And from hence was the Resolution of our Judges mentioned before in the Case of Cawary Cook 5. Rep. De Jure Reg. Eccl. that the said Statute made in the first year of the Queen concerning Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was not introductory of a new Law but Declaratory of the old which appears
Sero recusat ferre quod subiit jugum But notwithstanding the infinite subtle arts and mighty efforts for that purpose the Papacy found it at any time a most difficult thing to carry any thing here by a high hand and to bring the Ecclesiastical State of this Nation to depend on Rome For our Princes never did doubt but they had the same Authority within their own Dominions as Constantine had in the Empire and our Bishops the same as St. Peter's Successors in the Church Ego Constantini Ailred Rival Coll. 361.16 Vos Petri gladium habetis in manibus said King Edgar in an eminent Speech unto his Clergy And what Power in the Church our Kings took themselves anciently to have appears by their Laws and Edicts published by themselves Leg. Edv. confess cap. 17. fo 142. Leg. Canut Inae apud Jornal Mart. Paris w. 2. and acknowledged by their subjects All speaking thus That the ordering and disposition of all Ecclesiastical Affairs within their own Dominions was their sole and undoubted Right the Foundation thereof being that Power which the Divine wisdom hath invested the Secular Magistrate withal for the defence and preservation of his Church and People against all attempts whatsoever And all our Laws and Lawyers concurring in this Rex sub nullo nisi tantum sub Deo Bracton Leg. Sanct. Edw. cap. 19.17 That the King of England is subject to no Power on Earth but to God only and in King Edwards Laws he is called Vicarius summi Regis as also in Bracton that being the Cognomen as it were given by Pope Eleutherius long ago to King Lucius here as not being under the power of any other And this in effect acknowledged by the whole Body of the English Clergy Reg. Hoveden in Hen. 2. pa. post fo 510. in a Letter of the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury to Tho. Becket An. D. 1167. as it stands recorded at large by Roger Hoveden To this it will be but seasonable and pertinent to add the Historical Instances and evidences some of them as occurr demonstrating as the continual claim and when they could the exercise of this Right by the Kings of this Island so the worthy resistances as from time to time have been made against all forraign usurpations and incroachments upon the same sufficient to shew that our Princes did not command the Ecclesiasticks here who made up so great a part of their subjects according to the will and pleasure of any forrain Potentate nor that they were only lookers on whilest others governed the English Church Therefore we may observe All Councils and Convocations Eadmer fo 25.5.11 Florent Wigorn An. 1070. fo 434. Stat. 25 H. 8.19 assembled at the King's appointment and by the King 's Writt Jubente praesente Rege as one says and that upon the same Authority as the Emperour Constantine had long before assembled the Council of Nice Some appointed by the King to sit in those Councils and supervise their actions Matt. Paris ad An. 1237. fo 447. ne ibi contra regiam coronam dignitatem aliquid statuere attentarent And Mat. Paris gives us the names of the Commissioners for that purpose in one of the Councils held in the time of King Hen. 3. And when any did otherwise he was forced to retract such Constitutions as did Peckham or they were but in paucis servatae Lyâ—dw de soro competent cap. 1. as were those of Boniface as Lyndwood ingenuously doth acknowledge No Synodical Decree suffered to be of force but by the King's allowance Eadmer fo 6.29 and confirmation In hoc concilio ad emendationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae assensu Domini Regis Gervas Dorobern An. 1175. fo 1429. Mat. Paris Hen. Huntingd Eadm passim Pat. 8 9 Johan R. m. 5.8 primorum omnium regni haec subscripta promulgata sunt capitula as Gervasius Dorobern informs us No Legate suffered to enter into England but by the King's leave and swearing to do nothing prejudicial to the King and his Crown All matters of Episcopacy determined by the King himself Eadmer 115.23 inconsulto Romano Pontifice No Appeals to Rome permitted None to receive Letters from the Pope Thorn Coll. 2152. Coke 3. Instit cap. 54.10.127 Hoveden Hen. 2. fo 496. without shewing them to the King who caused all words prejudicial to him or his Crown to be renounced and dis-avowed by the bringers or receivers of such Letters Permitted no Bishops to Excommunicate Eadmer fo 6.31 or inflict any Ecclesiastical censure on any Peer nisi ejus praecepto Caused the Bishops to appear in their Courts Addit Mat. Paris fo 200 to give account why they excommunicated a subject Bestowed Bishopricks on such as they approved Forent Wigorn An. 1070. fo 536. and translated Bishops from one See to another Erected new Bishopricks Godwin de Praef. Angl. So did King Hen. 1. An. 1109. Ely taking it out of Lincoln Carlile 1133. out of York or rather Durham Commanded by Writ Coke 2. Instit 625. Addit Mat. Paris fo 200. nu 6. the Bishops to Residency Placed by a Lay hand Clerks in Prebendary or Parochial Churches Ordinariis penitus irrequisitis as it is phrased in Matt. Paris By these and many other instances of the like nature exercised by our Kings it appears that the English ever took the outward Policy of this Church or Government of it in foro exteriori to depend on the King And therefore the writs of Summoning all Parliaments express the calling of them to be Pro quibusdam arduis urgentibus negotiis nos statum defensionem Regni nostri Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernentibus c. In the Reign of King Edward the first Broâ—k Tit. Praemunire pl. 10. A subject brought in a Bull of Excommunication against another subject of this Realm and published it to the Lord Treasurer of England and this was by the ancient Common Law of England adjudged Treason against the King his Crown and Dignity for which the Offendor should have bin drawn and hang'd but at the great instance of the Chancellor and Treasurer he only abjur'd the Realm King Edw. Trin. 19 Ed. 3. Fitzh Quare non admisit pl. 7. presented his Clark to a Benefice within the Province of York who was refused by the Arch-bishop for that the Pope by way of Provision had conferred it on another The King thereupon brought a Quare non admisit the Archbishop to it Pleaded that the Bishop of Rome had long time before Provided to the said Church as one having Supream Authority in that case and that he durst not nor had power to put him out who was possessed by the Pope's Bull. But for this high contempt against the King his Crown and Dignity in refusing to execute his Soveraign's commands against the Pope's Provision by Judgement of the Common Law the Lands of his whole Bishoprick were seized