maner the same was giuen vnto him directly saith the one side indirectly saith the other 69 That hee verily supposeth that Cardinall Bellarmine being so worthy and eminent a man for iudgement and learning hath not been so peremptorie in the handling of the two said points whether the Pope hath the said surmised authoritie directly or indirectly but that hee hath left vnto himselfe some sufficient warrant and libertie to varie if there be occasion in the said third point viz. whether Christ gaue to S. Peter any such authoritie at all or no. For whereas hee the said Cardinall doeth plainely affirme that Papa vt Papa ordinariè Temporales Principes deponere Bellar. lib. 5. de Rom. Pont. cap. 6. etiam iustâ de causâ non potest tamen potest regna mutare vni auferre alteri conferre tanquam summus Princeps spiritualis si idnecessarium sit ad animarum salutem That is The Pope cannot as he is Pope though there be iust cause by his ordinarie power depose ciuill Princes yet as he is the supreme spiritual Prince he may translate Kingdomes and take them from one and conferre them vpon another if need so require for the sauing of soules he saith in effect nothing else though couertly but that the Pope hath no power at all to depose Kings For S. Peter neither did nor could transferre any authoritie vnto his Successor but ordinarie for which cause it is commonly held that the rest of the Apostles could not deriue the plenitude of their power to their successors as S. Peter did because the same in them was not ordinary as in S Peter but extraordinary Extraordinaria enim potestas non transit in successorem For an extraordinarie power doeth not descend vnto the successours And at this point this Examinate saith he did aime as farre as he durst presume in his letter to the Cardinall where hauing cited his words abouesaid Non potest Papa vt Papa c. hee writ after this sort Verba iuramenti sunt Papam non habere authoritatem deponendi Regem disponendi de regnis dominijs Maiestatis suae Et communis intellectus apud Magistratum ad nullum alium conceptum propendet quà m ad hunc viz. Papam vt Papa est Nam non potest pertingere ad illum conceptum viz. tanquam summum Principem spiritualem Et cùm proponitur iuramentum suscipiendum illius sensus cognitus à Magistratu restringitur ad ordinariam potestatem Nam qui proponunt iuramentum illi remotissimi sunt à cogitatione extra ordinariae aut indirectae potestatis in Papâ residentis That is The words of the oath are that the Pope hath not authoritie to depose the King and to dispose of his kingdomes and Dominions And the common vnderstanding thereof doth with the Magistrate incline to no other conceite but to this viz. the Pope as he is Pope For it cannot reach vnto that construction viz as he is the supreme spiritual Prince And when the oath is exhibited to be taken the sense thereof apprehended by the Magistrate is restrained vnto an ordinarie power For they that minister the oath are as farre as may bee from the thought of any extraordinarie or indirect power residing in the Pope Besides it is apparant that the Pope is not otherwise the highest spiritual Prince but as hee is Pope so as what he cannot doe as Pope he cannot do as the chiefe spiritual Prince And out of question Carerius hath gotten an aduantage Carer depot. Rom. Pont. lib. 2. cap. 8. of the Cardinall by reason of his said former assertion where he the said Carerius laboureth to prooue that Christi vicarius propriè dicitur Papa Christs vicar is properly called the Pope and doth presse it hardly to this effect that either the Pope is not Christs vicar or else that hee doeth iudge inferiores Potestates vt Papa as he is Pope 70 That the contents of the 39. 66. 68. and 69. Sections of this his Examination being well weighed and considered together with diuers other points by him set downe in the said Examination his answere this Examinat saith againe to the Cardinals letter touching the clause most excepted against doeth reach as farre as by the oath of Allegeance was intended For whereas saith this Examinate if the Pope should haue any authoritie to depose and eradicate Kings he hath it not by vertue of his power to Excommunicate but must haue it of necessitie either as he is supposed to be Dominus in temporalibus directè the Lord of temporalties directly or Dominus in temporalibus indirectè the Lord of temporalties indirectly and that Cardinall Bellarmine is peremptorie that the Pope cannot depose kings by any ordinarie iurisdiction that he hath as he is Pope and Carerius with all his vpholders on the other side are as confident resolute that if the Pope hath not ordinarie authoritie as he is Pope to depose kings he hath no such authoritie at all for as much as what hee this Examinate hath before affirmed how in his opinion as hee saith the Pope hath no authoritie to depose Kings either as he is Dominus in temporalibus directly or indirectly the same is nothing else then what he deposed vnto when he sware that in his conscience the Pope neither of himselfe nor by any authority of the Church or See of Rome or by any other meanes with any other hath any power or authoritie to depose the King c. And because also that whether he should haue had authoritie to depose Kings or not he must haue had it by some imperiall or ciuill authoritie either as hee is Dominus in Temporalibus directly or indirectly considering that to be Dominus in temporalibus in any of the said two respects is to haue an imperiall and ciuill authoritie hee this Examinate saith that these points well weighed it is plaine that when hee writ to the Cardinall Summum Pontificem non habere imperialem ciuilem potestatem deponendi Regem nostrum that the Pope hath not an imperiall or ciuill power to depose our King he told the Cardinall in effect as much as if he had said vnto him that the Pope hath no authoritie at all to depose his Maiestie 71 That for the further clearing of his this Examinates relying vpon his Maiesties speeches in Parliament when he tooke the oath of Alleageance and his mentioning of it likewise to the Cardinall he this Examinate saith that except it be thought a fault to answere truely to a matter propounded when he speaketh not all the truth that doeth thereunto appertaine which were a strange conceit the order neither of Schooles nor of any iudiciall Courts in the world binding any man to proceed further in his answere to any question or interrogatorie then the same doeth leade him hee this Examinate seeth not hee sayth what can be subiect to any iust reprehension in his answere to the Cardinals letter the substance thereof being
cannot ordinarily depose princes euen for a iust cause yet hee saith that the Pope may change kingdomes and take them from one and giue them to another not as he is princeps Ecclesia politicus but as hee is summus princeps spiritualis when they hinder religion taking that course which bringeth detriment to mens soules will not otherwise be reclaimed 111 Vpon this declaration made by this Examinate vpon such apparant grounds and collections as he could not denie it was demanded of him what his iudgement was as touching the contents of it Whereunto he answereth that he hath elswhere sufficiently opened his mind in that behalfe where he hath often said that in his iudgment the Pope iure diuino hath no authoritie inherent in him or not inherent directly or indirectly whether it be termed spirituall or temporall or a mixt authoritie or howsoeuer it is or may be called to depose kings either for heresie or Apostasie or for any other cause whatsoeuer or to release their subiects from their obedience or to authorize them to beare armes against them or to excommunicate the subiects of any such kings that refuse to enter into any such disobedient rebellious and traiterous courses but continue their faithfull and loyall subiects notwithstanding hee should tell them neuer so confidently that such their former kings being by him deposed were no longer their kings or any other allurements or perswasions whatsoeuer to the contrary Whereunto this Examinate now addeth that in his iudgement it is a vaine conceit and repugnant to the Scripture for any to affirme that the Pope hath any power authoritie or iurisdiction either potentially or actually ordinary or casuall to deale with kings or princes or with their subiects as is aboue mentioned or to holde and maintaine that kings and soueraigne princes haue their regall authoritie from the Pope or that they are to him as the rulers and Iudges amongst the Israelites were to Moses or that hee hath any authoritie at all as he is Christs vicar and S. Peters successour to deale with kings and princes for any cause or at any time further then concerneth the health of their soules and the maintenance of the Catholicke faith by admonitions perswasions and good counsell and if those will not serue then by the spirituall censures of the Church and by S. Peters keyes only and not so neither but when it is apparant that such spirituall censures may in deede and truely turne to edification and not to destruction and that they may be vsed without hurt or danger of Catholickes either in their bodies goods or liues All further proceedings of the Pope with kings and soueraigne princes as the chiefe pastour of their soules this Examinate saith hee doeth vtterly dislike and prayeth from the bottome of his heart that hereafter they may neuer be practised 112 But heere this Examinate being put in mind of his own words aboue specified wher he acknowledged the Pope to haue casualiter some authoritie in temporalibus without the limits of S. Peters patrimonie though the same were not inherent in him and thereupon required to declare his meaning therein he saith that he neither had nor hath any other meaning then this that when any questions or controuersies arise amongst Kings Princes and such other great persons as they cannot amongst themselues compound but yet are contented to referre the decision or compounding of them vnto the Pope vnto whome they are all subiect in Spirituall matters hee the said Pope may lawfully in this Examinates iudgement vpon this occasion and so casualiter intermedle and deale in the said questions and controuersies and order them for the establishing of vnitie friendship and concord betwixt the said parties although the particulars so questioned or controuerted be meerely and altogether of temporall conusance And also this Examinate further saith that the Pope may so deale as he thinketh when any King Prince or other great person will bee content for the strengthning of his owne purposes in some especiall matter to desire the Popes approbation of it For example the King of Fraunce hauing left his former wife and married another had by her a Decretal lib. 4. cap. 13 qui filij sunt legitimi sonne and a daughter and being as it seemed in doubt that his sonne after him might in that respect receiue some preiudice in his Title to succeede him he the said King entreated the Pope for the legitimation of his issue whereunto hee yeelded the deciding of any mans right or interest to a Kingdome no wayes properly belonging to the Pope but casually as here it hapned when the King was contented to referre it vnto him and might haue done it himselfe but that he thought when the Pope ioined with him that which they did together would bee of greater force 113 This will appeare more plainely by Innocentius his owne words in an other suite of the same nature made vnto him where a Gentleman of Montpeliar hauing likewise put away his wife and married another by whom he had children Ibidem in glossa was encouraged by the example of the King of France to labour to the Pope of the legitimating of his children in like sort quatenus eis natalium obiectio ceu exceptio non noceret quo minàs sibi succederent that the exception against their birth might not hurt them but that they should bee his heires But Innocentius denying his suite amongst some other reasons why hee so did vsed these that the King of Fraunce had no superiour in his Kingdome in Temporall causes but this Gentleman was a Subject that the King of Fraunce might without any mans hurt referre the said matter to the Pope which this Gentleman could not doe in his cause that the King did neede the consent of no man for the approouing of that which the Pope had done on his behalfe whereas if he the said Innotentius should legitimate this Gentlemans children it would not availe him without the assent of the King or Lord his superiour that the King had power in that point to submit himselfe to the Popes iurisdiction which this Gentleman had not and that the King might in some mens opinions of himselfe haue legitimated his said sonne and daughter without any assistance from the Pope So as this Gentlemans cause was farre vnlike the Kings Hereof Innocentius himselfe did write to the said Gentleman in this sort Insuper cùm Rex superiorem in temporalibus minimè Ibidem Per venerabilem citatur à Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. lib. 5. cap. 3. recognoscat sine iuris alterius loesione in eo se iurisdictioni nostrae subijcere potuit in quo videretur aliquibus quòdper seipsum non tanquam pater cum filijs sed tanquam Princeps cum subditis potuit dispensare tuautem nosceris alijs subiacere vnde sine-ipsorum forsan iniuriâ nisi praestarent nobis assensum in hoc subdere te non posses That is Moreouer inasmuch as
come together determine any matter or make any Lawes without the Kings Royall assent nor continue any longer together after the King doeth dismisse them it is apparant that they haue no authoritie either to iudge the king a tyrant or to remooue him and that much lesse any priuate persons his naturall borne subiects haue authority to rise vp against him whatsoeuer may bee pretended vnder any colour cause or glosse whatsoeuer That amongst the three orders which deposed the Pag. 213. late Queene of Scotland there were scarse any but three thecues three traitours to their countrey and three murtherers with their abettors resembling the three-formed monster with the lions head breathing out fire the belly of a goate and the taile of a dragon 104 Whereunto this Examinate addethout of the said M. Blackwood that which hee himselfe hath set downe before in effect in the beginning of his Examination and may wel serue for a Theologicall conclusion of this point Quotquot instituto Christi vixerunt c. As many as since Christs Pag. 241. time haue liued according to his institution did neuer decline the gouernement of Tyrants and much lesse did resist them by force they followed therein their Prince Christ himselfe who although hee could haue withstood the iniuries of the people of the high Priest and of Pilate the lieutenant with many legions of Angels yet hee yeelded himselfe to death that hee might thereby confirme that which he had taught in his life time viz that an iniurie is to be borne gently and mildely and not by force to be repelled And againe Pag. 242. Paulus simulatque c. As soone as Paul became a Christian souldier his seditious and bloody spirit being changed into the desire of peace and quietnes he honoured Agrippa Foelix and Lysias the Roman Proconsuls in respect of their offices vt doctrinam suam exemplo vitae sanciret that he might ratifie his doctrine by his example of life To this purpose this Examinate saith he could alledge much more in his desire to shew the freedome of his iudgement from such mens imaginations as are named in this obiection but the remembring onely of Catharinus vpon the 13. to the Romanes together with the premisses may as he hopeth giue sufficient contentment 105 Whereas this Examinate speaking of the Popes authority in temporalibus indirectly Sect. 63. did adde these other equiualent phrases to the word indirectly viz per accidens and by a certaine consequence but refused to insert there the word casualiter and vpon some other occasions did let fall from him that the Pope had no inherent authoritie in temporalibus either directly or indirectly in ordine adspiritualia or per accidens or by any consequence but that which he had he had it casually forasmuch as this word casually may so bee vnderstood as that it may quite dash and ouerthrowe all that formerly hath been said by this Examinate for the clearing of his Allegeance to his Maiestie he was straightly vrged to open this mystery sincerely and truely Theeues haue no ordinary power to spoile houses that are well guarded or rob men by the highway side who are strongly accompanied but they haue oftentimes casually power to doe both as when they finde either houses weakely prouided for or men in their iourneys not sufficiently furnished And it was told this Examinate that hee might haue the like causion in behalfe of the Pope that then hee hath authority to depose kings and deale with them as in the Oath of Allegeance is prouided for to be preuented when hee may haue power so to doe casually that is when he may either by his owne forces or by the forces of any other or by any practises of his agents secretly or by any hap or casualty when kings least suspect it or are altogether vnprouided to resist it that then he may work or procure their vtter ruine and destruction Which were to make the Pope the scholer of Machiauel taking vpon him at some times to play the lion and at other times to become a foxe alwayes practising mischieuously against those Kings that offend him as casually he might be able to effect his designements by praying vpon them or deuouring them 106 Whereunto this Examinate answering saith God forbid God forbid that euer he should haue such an imagination against his Maiestie or that euer he should haue intended by the word casualiter to haue sought for such an euasion as aboue is pretended and besides hopeth that the Pope will neuer giue occasion for any of his Maiesties subiects to resemble him either to a lion or to a foxe which this Examinate saith vpon the occasion giuen hee could not omit to obserue But being heere pressed to come to the point as touching this word casualiter after some long debatement of sundry particulars thereunto appertaining which will appeare by his answers he saith as followeth 107 That hee must indeed confesse the word casualiter to bee diuersly vsed by sundry writers and that some doe take it in that sense which might iustly beget the former obiection and collections They which hold that the Pope is the Lord of all temporalties throughout the world directly doe affirme that such his authoritie and iurisdiction is as really and actually inhering in his person being Christs Vicar as is his supremacie in causes Ecclesiasticall but yet the practise of it they hold is but casuall out of S. Peters patrimony And on the other side as they which maintaine that the Pope hath no authoritie in temporalibus directly but indirectly in ordine adspiritualia amongst other phrases which they haue to expresse their minds besides indirectly per accidens and by a certaine consequence they likewise say that he hath it incidently secundùm quid secundariò per consecutionem and accessoriè so when they speake of the practise of that authoritie out of the bounds of S. Peters patrimony they doe also vse the word casualiter For the better manifestation of which particulars this Examinate saith he doth acknowledge that Celsus Mancinus agreeing with the rest who pleade for the Popes inherent authoritie doth write thereof in this sort 108 The Popes Iurisdiction saith Mancinus may be taken either for that which hee hath potestate aut Cels Mancinus de iuribus principatuum pag. 94. actu potentially or actually and actually in two sorts either ordinarily or casually If the authoritie and Iurisdiction of the Pope be taken for that which hee hath potestate potentially it extendeth it selfe ouer all the world but if his actuall Iurisdiction be taken not ordinarily but casually forasmuch as it onely hath vse in the Christian world it is said to bee as great as the whole Christian world and ordinarily as great as is S. Peters Patrimonie Againe speaking of this Idem ibidem pag. 89. great and regall authoritie so inherent in the Pope hee saith it did lie hid in the first Bishops of Rome in the Primitiue Church vntill
Papali cap. 13. France except that which Zacharie did in the deposition of Hildericus may bee expounded deposuit id est deponentibus consensit sicut exponit glossa Zacharie deposed the King that is hee gaue his consent to those that did depose him as the glosse doth expound it that from such singular facts of deuotion to the Church or to the person or of fauour or for some other cause and not in right of law arguments may not bee made that whereas it is read in histories that Boniface obtained of Phocas the Emperour that the Church of Rome should be the head of all Churches because the Church of Constantinople did write herselfe so it might bee collected by such a like argument that it appertained to the Emperour to transferre the primacie of one Church to another as likewise whereas Isidore saith that Constantine the Emperour did decree that the See of Rome should hold the principalitie ouer the foure chiefe Sees Antioch Alexandria Constantinople and Hierusalem God forbid that thereupon we should say that the Church of Rome hath her Primacy ouer Churches and the disposition of them from Emperours So as this Examinate saith that which was done as touching the deposition of Hildericke the king of France doth no way alter his opinion before shewed touching the Popes authoritie in temporalibus casualiter when they are lawfully referred vnto him as in the Sect. 113. he hath specified 120 Here this Examinate was put in minde of certaine wordes of his in the said 113. Section where saying that the Pope as hee is Christs vicar could not otherwise deale in temporalibus casualiter then as here he hath said he seemeth to insinuate that in some other respect hee might deale in temporall causes with Kings for the deposing of them and proceeding with their subiects as hath bene before diuers times mentioned And the rather it so seemeth in that he hauing before cited out of Mancinus how the Pope hath authoritie to proclaime warre and so become a man at armes did let that point passe him without answere vnto it 121 For satisfaction whereof this Examinate saith that in his iudgement it is as lawfull for the Pope to make warre within his own Territories which he holdeth as a Temporall Prince when he is driuen thereunto through the disobedience of his subiects or in their defence against other Princes as it is for any King or ciuill State so to doe vpon such or the like occasions and that Iacobus Gretzerus saith well if this Examinate doth rightly vnderstand him to this purpose and to the iustification of all in effect which this Examinate hath set downe throughout the whole course of this his Examination touching his deniall of the Popes authoritie either directly as he is Pope or indirectly in ordine ad spiritualia as he is Summus Princeps spiritualis the Supreme spirituall Prince to depose Kings and release their subiects from the oathes of their allegeance c. where he writeth in this sort Cogit Pontifex Romanus poenis externis spiritualibus vt Excommunicatione Gretzerus defens controuers Bellar. colum 1404. item poenis externis temporalibus corporalibus quà ipse est Princeps politicus quà Principum politicorum opem implorare potest vt haereticorum petulantiam licentiam poenis temporalibus compescant that is That the Bishop of Rome hath authoritie to compell men by outward spirituall punishments as by Excommunication and also by outward temporal and corporal punishments as he is himselfe a ciuill Prince and as he may implore the assistance of other ciuill Princes that they may represse by temporall punishments the wantonnesse and liberty of heretikes 122 And this Examinate also further saieth that for ought he can Iudge whereas some exceptions were taken to the Popes sending of certaine small forces into Ireland about the yeere 1580. to assist the Earle of Desmond Cardinall Allen in answere of them doth politically iustifie that his fact where hee writeth in this manner The chiefe Bishops of Christs Church our supreme Pastors in earth by Gods prouidence and by the graunts of Card. Allens answere to the English Iustice pag. 144. our first most Christian Emperours and Kings and by the humble and zealous deuotion of the faithfull Princes and people afterwards haue their temporall states dominions and patrimonies whereby they most iustly holde and possesse the same and are thereby lawfull Princes temporall and may most rightfully by their Soueraigntie make warres in their owne and other mens iust quarrell as occasion shall vrge them there vnto 123 By reason of diuers particulars deliuered by this Examinate in this his answere to the last doubt propounded vnto him it was first demanded of him whether in his iudgement the Pope hath authority to command any king being held for a Catholicke to take armes against any his neighbour kings deemed by him for heretickes for the suppressing of them by temporall coertions when the Pope shall iudge it fit because it might seeme very strange for any man to conceiue that Christ euer gaue to S. Peter any iurisdiction authoritie or power in fauour of religion to set kings together by the eares It might haue some probabilitie that if a king who disalloweth of the Popes supremacie and of many other corrupt points of popish doctrine should send his forces into any other temporall princes dominions to make warres of purpose to abolish the Popes authoritie and plant there the reformed religion by him professed then in this case the Pope might sollicite some other kings adioyning to oppose them selues make warres against him But to imagine that when a King proceedeth no further then to order matters in his owne kingdome by the aduise of the States thereof both Ecclesiasticall and Temporall as it shal be iudged by him and them most expedient any Bishop or Spirituall person whosoeuer may take vpon him to proclaime or excite warre and thrust other kings to assaile him by force in his owne kingdome and countrey euery such conceit wanteth authoritie in the new Testament and hath no example for many yeeres in the purest and best times of the Church and besides it is repugnant to that which this Examinate hath before deliuered For kingdomes being neither founded vpon faith nor grace how can they be shaken vnder pretence that either of them is impugned Christianitie may well be thought to binde a king who reckoneth himselfe subiect to the Bishop of Rome in spirituall causes in them to submit him selfe vnto him but to command him to make warre and thereby hazard peraduenture his owne kingdome or spend the blood either of his owne Subiects or of the subiects of any other Christian King when the Pope thinketh good is a very bloodie and an vnchristian opinion 124 Vnto this question and the parts thereof this Examinate saith that he beleeueth that all Christian Kings and Princes are bound to doe what they can for the maintenance of the Catholicke faith
whether the Pope doeth require them so to doe or not against any that doe endeauour to suppresse it But he holdeth that such their duetie bindeth them no further then so to maintaine religion within their owne kingdoms if need be and not to make warre in that respect against any who doe containe themselues and their proceedings aforesaid within their owne bounds and doe not seeke by force to suppresse in any other Countries that are adiacent vnto them the Religion there established otherwise then in his owne But withall he addeth that he holdeth it to be the duetie of all such Catholike kings to do what they can with any King auerse from the Pope for the winning of him vnto his Holinesse by perswasion and by euery other good meanes but in no wise by the sword or by solliciting his Subiects to rebellion or to make a part of his owne Kingdome against him or otherwise to endanger his Person Crowne or State Besides for as much as this Examinate saith he beleeueth that the Pope hath no inherent authoritie in himselfe in temporalibus out of S. Peters patrimonie and that the regall authoritie is not deriued from the Pope or held immediatly of him hee doeth not find how the Pope as he is either a Spirituall or a ciuill Prince hath authoritie to command the sword of any Kings otherwise then by entreatie and in the cases by him this Examinate aboue specified or that they are bound by force of their Baptisme to obey him if so he doe command them 125 Secondly were it granted to this Examinate that the Pope as a Ciuill Prince might lawfully haue sent his forces into Ireland as is aforesaid and denounce warre when he thinketh it expedient against any King as Cardinall Allen hath written yet it is fit that this Examinate should open himselfe in his dutie to his Maiestie whether in his iudgement when the Pope will needes take vpon him to play the temporall Prince and become a warriour hee holdeth it to bee at such times more lawfull and agreeable to the Scriptures either for the Pope or for any of his instruments to perswade the Subiects of any King with whom hee contendeth that because hee is a Protestant as that generall name is growen in vse and denieth the Popes supremacie and embraceth the Religion reformed and purged of sundry grosse errours and points of superstition and is thereupon either by name or in generall termes by vertue of some other Buls Excommunicated or because he seeketh to alter the ancient Religion which formerly they or their forefathers did professe therefore it is lawfull for them nay that they are bound in conscience to renounce their obedience vnto him and to assist the Popes forces then it is lawfull for the Emperour or some other Kings whose predecessours had made the Pope a Ciuil prince by bestowing vpon him so large possessions when they haue resolued of a warlike course against him to perswade his Subiects and authorize them to ioyne with them and to beare armes against him vpon these or any other such like suggestions viz that the Pope abused his place and behaued himselfe otherwise then of ancient times his predecessours had done that it was neuer the meaning either of their former renowmed Emperours or of any other Kings or of the most famous Romanes and Italians their Noble progenitors who once gouerned the chiefest part of the world that thereby he should take courage and boldnesse to encounter as hee did with them their successours or to tyrannize as his custome was ouer them his pretended Subiects and ouer their sometimes so glorious a Citie and that therefore if they would ioyne their forces with theirs they would restore them vnto their ancient honours and libertie 126 To this question this Examinate saith that it is a point of State how and when Princes may make warres but he is sure that they ought not so to doe except the cause be iust Againe he cōfesseth that as some hold the Pope may depose no secular Prince though he abuse his authoritie in perniciem Christianitatis fidei to the destruction Iacob Almain de potest Ecclesiasticâ Laicâ Quaest. 1. cap. 9. of Christianitie or of the faith but may onely declare him worthy to be deposed and therefore forbid his subiects vnder paine of Excommunicatiō to performe any dutie vnto him wherby in effect hee looseth his kingdome when no man doth regard him so they doe thinke that in the same sort if the Pope doe abuse his authoritie Idem ibidem Quaest 2. cap. 8. in detrimentum Reipublicae to the detriment of the Common wealth the Emperour may depose him vnder paine of confiscation of all his temporall goods which hee holdeth of the Emperour and of the king as a vassall and that by vertue of such a Sentence giuen by the Emperour they to whom it appertaineth shall in the end bee compelled to remoue him from his authoritie of the high Bishopricke But of these and such like points this Examinate saith he wil not take vpon him to iudge onely hee acknowledgeth that so farre as his reading and learning stretcheth hee doth in his conscience verily beleeue touching the said question to him propounded as here ensueth 127 That neither the Pope hath any authoritie to depose the Emperour nor the Emperour to depose the Pope they may deale one with another for reforming of abuses but they ought not to proceede to such extremities that as hee hath before oftentimes said that the Pope hath no authority at all by any waies or meanes whatsoeuer giuen vnto him Iure diuino to depose any Protestant king or Soueraigne Prince nor to absolue his subiects from their Allegeance nor to authorize them or command them to beare armes against him so neither may hee lawfully when he commeth or sendeth as a Ciuill Prince his forces and men of warre to assaile any such king in his owne Countrey though he take that course in defence of Religion seeke to perswade the subiects of such a King to rebell against him by ioyning their forces with the Popes or if hee or any of his instruments so doe suggesting that otherwise they shall incurre the Popes curse yet they the said subiects ought not to regard it but remaine still as firmely bound to obey their King and take part with him as if the Pope had neuer conceiued any displeasure against him 128 That therefore hee must needs confesse the positions following to be very vnsound and repugnant vnto the Scriptures and the ancient Catholicke doctrine which is alwaies to be preferred before mens new deuises be they for their learning and places neuer so eminent in the Church 129 It is godly and honourable to fight in such order Card. Allen. a True defence pag. 103. and time as we are warranted in conscience and law by our Supreme Pastours and Priests 130 In warres that may at any times happen for religion Card. Allen. letter to Stanley pag.
whatsoeuer either to the hurt or dishonour of his Maiesties person or the empeachment of his kingdome and Royall authoritie These conceires likewise I doe assure you from my soule are in themselues very detestable repugnant to the Scriptures and ought by all true and sound Catholickes to be for euer abandoned Bee not dismayed therefore I befeech you with any letters or Briefes which doe after a sort insinuate that the taking of the Oath of Allegeance is either repugnāt to any point of Faith as yet concluded vpon by the Church or vnto the Popes Supremacie being bounded as it ought within the limits and reach of the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Those keyes doe no way extend themselues iure diuino vnto kingdomes terrene to open or shut or to tosse or turmoile any of them they haue no wardes in them either so to turne or ouerturne them nor to open vnto you any lawfull entrances into such disobedient and vndutifull courses That the Pope is the head of the Catholicke Church therein I am resolute as also that Emperours Kings and all other Princes that professe Christianitie are subiect in some cases vnto his spirituall censures properly so termed as interdiction and Excommunication but to eradicate them or to depose them by any authoritie he can challenge iure diuino in temporalibus either directly or indirectly in ordine ad spiritualia that is vtterly against my iudgement and yet I hope I continue still as good a Catholicke as any that holdeth the contrarie notwithstanding that Cardinall Bellarmine seemeth to affirme in his Letter to me that no man can concurre with me in opinion herein and so yeeld to take the Oath of Allegeance which only excludeth the Popes authoritie in temporalibus as well that which is ascribed vnto him directly as indirectly but that hee must needes perfidiously denie the primacie of the See Apostolicke At which his words were they not grounded I thinke vpon some misinformation I should greatly meruaile considering that thereby hee doeth insinuate the Popes supremacie which ought to bee maintained without any hesitation to depend a great part of it vpon a wonderfull vncertaintie For no man knoweth better then himselfe that it hath not beene hitherto determined by the Church or iudicially by his Holinesse tanquam ex Cathedrâ whether the Pope hath any authoritie at all in temporalibus further then in those things that doe appertaine to S. Peters patrimonie and other temporalties giuen to the See of Rome And besides if it shall fall out hereafter that the Pope shall be found to haue any such authoritie it must haue beene giuen him by Christ either indirectly as hee the said Cardinall with many others his partakers doe resolutely affirme or directly as the opposite part against him doe take vpon them with as great confidence to mainteine each of them peremptorily denying the others assertion and because likewise vntill the point be ouerruled against one of the said parts which will not be done in haste for many respects it cannot possibly be determined whether the Pope hath any such authoritie as either of them holde or not it had beene fit in my iudgement for Cardinall Bellarmine not to haue entangled the Popes supremacie which is cleare and manifest with these vncertaineties and perplexities for to haue blamed me either for auoiding them my selfe or admonishing of others to take heed lest they might be entrapped or snared with them But his Amplitude writ vnto me and censured mee as it pleased him which I could the more easily haue borne as my duetie required had he not therby published to as many as shall see his Letter the Copie whereof is as I am informed spread farre and neere that by taking of the said oath of Allegeance one of the chiefe heads of our faith and foundations of Catholicke religion in discrimen adducitur is brought into question and endangered there beeing indeede no such head or foundation hitherto agreed vpon or concluded So as there is no cause for ought I know or can iudge why I should not still perseuere in the approbation of the lawfulnesse of the said othe and continue my former admonitions vnto you for the submitting of your selues vnto it when it shal be exacted of you lest otherwise you wilfully cast your selues into those miseries which are likely to fall vpon you not as so many arguments of happines and that blessednesse which is promised to those that suffer for the truths sake but of those iudgements which are inflicted vpon men by Kings and superiour gouernours for their euill behauiour and disobedience Deceiue not therefore your selues brethren such sufferings are not the way to Martyrdome nor approued of God neuer might treacherie or rebellion or the bearing of armes by subiects against their Soueraignes or their secret designements against them or the execution of the same to the endangering or hurt of their royall persons be graced or honored with that most glorious title by whomsoeuer they were either authorized vndertaken or practised Take heede I do most humbly beseech you of this kind of leauen be your lumpe of dough otherwise neuer so pure sweet and sincere this mixture will make it sowre and corrupt it Stand fast in the Catholicke faith and in the true profession thereof as hitherto you haue done Bee not led away with various and strange doctrines of deposing of Kings of absoluing their subiects from their Allegeance of authorizing them to rebell to beare armes against them to plot and lay snares secretly how to entrap them or to offer hurt or violence to their persons These things I thanke God my heart doeth abhorre and my spirit within me doeth loath and detest them The voice that bade Peter Kill and eate neuer meant that hee should deale so with Princes cast them out of their seates and bestow their kingdomes vpon others or procure them to be killed that Christians and Catholicke religion might flourish and bee comforted Meats and drinks may establish our strength but such proceedings with kings ought to be no foode for our soules Iames and Iohn because they would haue had the Samaritanes to haue beene destroyed with fire from heauen for that they would not receiue their master Christ were sharpely rebuked and told by him that they knew not of what spirit they were S. Peter drewe his sword and smote off Malchus eare in as iust a cause to the eyes of humane wisedome as was possible but Christ disliked that his fact and gaue it for a generall rule or caueat in my iudgement to all Catholicke priests and people saying that all that strike with the sword shall perish with the sword These and such like things my deare brethren are written out of question to our correption and Catholicke information Beware therefore of them in whose mouthes and actions sanguis nihil est bloud is nothing Ecclus. 8. 19. tread not in the steps of ruine stumble not against rockes commit not your selues to such laborious
gloriosè erigas quam contristaueras laetamfacias Ecclesiam nec iam solùm veniam merearis à Domino sed coronam Vale viriliter age confortetur cor tuum Romae die 28. Septembris 1607. Reuerendae admodum D. V. frater seruus in Christo Robertus Cardinalis Bellarminus The same in English ¶ To the very Reuerend M. George Blakwell Arch-priest of the English Robert of the holy Church of Rome Cardinall Bellarmine sendeth greeting REuerend Sir and Brother in Christ It is almost fortie yeeres since we did see one the other But yet I haue neuer beene vnmindfull of our ancient acquaintance neither haue I ceased seeing I could doe you no other good to commend you labouring most painefully in the Lords vineyard in my prayers to God and I doubt not but that I haue liued all this while in your memorie and haue had some place in your prayers at the Lords Altar So therefore euen vnto this time we haue abidden as S. Iohn speaketh in the mutuall loue one of the other not in worde or letter but in deede and trueth But a late message which was brought vnto vs within a few dayes of your bonds and imprisonment hath inforced mee to breake off this silence which message although it seemed heauie in regard of the losse of your pastorall function which you haue exercised in that Church yet withall it seemed ioyous because you drew neere vnto the glory of Martyrdome then the which thing there is no gift of God more happy that you who haue fed your Flocke so many yeeres with the word and doctrine should now feede it more gloriously by the example of your patience But another heauy tidings did not a litle disquiet and almost take away this ioy which immediatly followed of the aduersaries assault and peraduenture of the slip and fall of your Constancie in refusing an vnlawfull Oath Neither truely most deare brother could that oath therefore be lawfull because it was offered in sort tempered and modified for you know that those kind of modifications are nothing els but sleights and subtilties of Satan that the Catholique faith touching the Primacie of the See Apostolike might either secretly or openly bee shot at for the which faith so many worthy Martyrs euen in that very England it selfe haue resisted vnto blood For most certaine it is that in whatsoeuer words the Oath is conceiued by the aduersaries of the faith in that Kingdome it tends to this end that the Authoritie of the head of the Church in England may bee transferred from the successour of S. Peter to the Successour of K. Henry the eight For that which is pretended of the danger of the Kings life if the supreme Bishop should haue the same power in England which he hath in all other Christian Kingdomes it is altogether idle as all that haue any vnderstanding may easily perceiue For it was neuer heard of from the Churches infancie vntill this day that euer any Pope did commaund that any Prince though an Heretike though an Ethnike though a Persecuter should be murdered or did approue of the fact when it was done by any other And why I pray you doth onely the King of England feare that which none of all the other Princes in Christendome either doeth feare or euer did feare But as I said these vaine pretexts are but the Trappes and Stratagemes of Sathan of which kinde I could produce not a few out of ancient Stories if I went about to write a booke and not an Epistle One onely for example sake I will call to your memory S. Gregorie Nazianzene in his first Oration against Iulian the Emperour reporteth that hee the more easily to beguile the simple Christians did insert the Images of the false gods into the pictures of the Emperour which the Romanes did vse to bow downe vnto with a ciuill kind of reuerence so that no man could doe reuerence to the Emperours picture but withall he must adore the Images of the false gods Whereupon it came to passe that many were deceiued and if there were any that found out the Emperours craft and refused to worship his picture those were most grieuously punished as men that had contemned the Emperour in his Image Some such like thing me thinkes I see in the Oath that is offered to you which is so craftily composed that no man can detest Treason against the King and make profession of his Ciuil subiection but he must be constrained perfidiously to denie the Primacy of the Apostolicke See But the seruants of Christ and especially the chiefe Priests of the Lord ought to be so farre from taking an vnlawfull Oath where they may indamage their Faith that they ought to beware that they giue not the least suspicion of dissimulation that they haue taken it Which thing that worthy Eleazar did most notably performe who would neither eate Swines flesh nor so much as faine to haue eaten it although hee saw the great torments that did hang ouer his head lest as himselfe speaketh in the second booke of the Maccabees many yong men might be brought through that Simulation to preuaricate with the Law Neither did Basill the great by his example which is more fit for our purpose carrie himselfe lesse worthily towards Valens the Emperour For as Theodoret writeth in his History when the Deputie of that hereticall Emperour did perswade Saint Basill that he should not resist the Emperour for a little Subtiltie of a few points of Doctrine that most holy and prudent man made answere That it was not to be endured that the least syllable of Gods word should be corrupted but rather all kinde of torment was to be embraced for the maintenance of the Trueth thereof Now I suppose that there want not amongst you who say that they are but Subtilties of Opinions that are conteined in the Oath that is offered to the Catholicks and that you are not to striue against the Kings Authoritie for such a litle matter But there are not wanting also amongst you holy men like vnto Basill the Great which will openly auow that the very least syllable of Gods Diuine Trueth is not to bee corrupted though many Torments were to be endured and death it selfe set before you Amongst whom it is meet that you should be one or rather the Standerd-bearer and Generall to the rest And whatsoeuer hath bene the cause that your Constancie hath quailed whether it be the suddennes of your apprehension or the bitternesse of your persecution or the imbecillitie of your old age yet we trust in the goodnesse of God and in your owne long continued vertue that it will come to passe that as you seeme in some part to haue imitated the fall of Peter and Marcellinus so you shall happily imitate their valour in recouering your strength and maintaining the trueth For if you wil diligently weigh the whole matter with your selfe truely you shall see it is no small matter that is called in
question by this Oath but one of the principall heads of our faith and foundations of Catholicke Religion For heare what your Apostle S. Gregorie the Great hath written in his 42. Epistle of his 11. booke Let not the Reuerence due to the Apostolique See bee troubled by any mans presumption for then the state of the members doeth remaine entire when the head of the faith is not bruisedby any iniurie Therefore by S. Gregories testimonie when they are busie about disturbing or diminishing or taking away of the Primacie of the Apostolicke See then are they busie about cutting off the very head of the faith and dissoluing of the state of the whole body and of all the members Which selfe same thing S. Leo doeth confirme in his third Sermon of his Assumption to the Pope-dome when he saith Our Lord had a speciall care of Peter and praied properly for Peters faith as though the state of others were more stable when their Princes minde was not to bee ouercome Whereupon himselfe in his Epistle to the Bishops of Vienna doeth not doubt to affirme that he is not partaker of the diuine Mysterie that dare depart from the soliditie of Peter Who also saith that hee who thinketh the Primacie is to be denied to that See he can in no sort lessen the Authoritie of it but by being puft vp with the spirit of pride doeth cast himselfe headlong into hell These and many other of this kind I am very sure are most familiar to you who besides many other bookes haue diligently read ouer the Visible Monarchie of your owne Saunders a most diligent writer and one who hath worthily deserued of the Church of England Neither can you be ignorant that those most holy learned men Iohn B. of Rochester and Thomas More within our memorie for this one most weightie head of doctrine led the way to Martyrdome to many others to the exceeding glory of the English Nation But I would put you in remembrance that you should take heart and considering the weightinesse of the cause not to trust too much to your owne iudgement neither be wise aboue that is meete to bee wise And if peraduenture your fall haue proceeded not vpon want of consideration but through humane infirmitie and for feare of punishment and imprisonment yet do not preferre a temporal libertie before the libertie of the glory of the Sonnes of God neither for escaping a light and momentarie tribulation loose an eternall weight of glory which tribulation it selfe doeth worke in you You haue fought a good fight a long time you haue wel-neere finished your course So many yeeres you haue kept the faith doe not therefore loose the reward of such labours do not depriue your selfe of that Crowne of righteousnesse which so long agone is prepared for you Doe not make the faces of so many your both brethren and children ashamed Vpon you at this time are fixed the eyes of all the Church yea also you are made a spectacle to the world to Angels to men Doe not so carie your selfe in this your last Act that you leaue nothing but laments to your friends and ioy to your enemies but rather the contrarie which we assuredly hope and for which wee continually powre forth prayers to God Display gloriously the banner of Faith and make to reioyce the Church which you haue made heauie So shall you not onely merit pardon at Gods hands but a Crowne Farewell quite you like a man and let your heart bee strengthened From Rome the 28. day of September 1607. Your very Reuerend Masterships brother and seruant in Christ Robert Cardinall Bellarmine Endorsed To the very Reuerend Master George Blakwell Arch-priest of England M. BLAKWELS answere to Card. Bellarmines Letter ¶ Reuerendissime in Christo Pater Illustrissime Cardinalis Bellarmine DOleo plurimùm quòd Illustrissima Amplitudo vestra de me propter Catholicam fidem incarcerato tam duram conceperit mihi terribileÌ„ opinionem Hactenus per Dei gratiam ne in minimo quidem articulo fluctuâsse me memini qui certò definitè ad sublimem maiestatem summam authoritatem Sedis Apostolicae pertineret Quod ad iuramentum spectat fateor me illud suscepisse sed in eo sensu qui in Catholicorum scriptis probatus apparet nullâ labe temeritatis aspersus Sensus enim meus ter repetitus acceptus à Magistratu iam etiam publicè typis propagatus hic est Summum Pontificem non habere imperialem ciuilem potestatem ad libitum ex suo appetitu deponendi nostrum Regem Talem potestatem Catholici Theologi nunquam tribuerunt Sanctissimo Diui Petri successori vt Illustrissimus bonae memoriae Cardinalis Alanus alij non contemnendi Card. Alanus in Respons ad Iustatiam Anglicanam Sixtus Senens in Bibliotheca Sancta S. R. cont Tho. Bell. R. P. contra Morton pa. 69. scriptores in monumentis suis ad posteritatis memoriam notauerunt Neque est cur quisquam vel minimam suspicionem habeat illum sensum admissum esse à Magistratu deformandae causâ aut imminuendae aut spoliandae dignitatis Apostolicae Certè tales ex suspicione nati conceptus sunt plerunque fallacissimi magistri faciunt timorem vbi nullus est timor Sed vt pergam quam institui tenere viam Illud etiam ad defensionem meam accedit quod positum est ab Illustrissimo Cardinale Caietano Caietan tom 1. tract 1. Apologiae part 2. cap. 13. in responsione suâ ad Parisienses quòd vtrumque verè determinari possit de Papâ quòd habet supremam potestatem in temporalibus quòd non habet supremam potestatem in Temporalibus quoniam vtrumque verum est ad sanum intellectum Affirmatio namque est veâ—â— in ordine ad spiritualia negatio verò est vera directè seu secundùm seipsa temporalia Vnde nihil ex vtraque decisione erroris accidit Haec ille Illam etiam sententiam in libros suos praestantissimi Alphons Mendoza in relectione de regno dominio Christi num 15. Catholici scriptores coniecerunt videlicet ad summum Pontificem cùm finitae limitatae sit capacitatis multoties ipsum lateat ordo proportio rerum temporalium Petrus de Arragon quaest 67. art 1. in finem spiritualem ideo ad ipsum nequaquam spectare omnibus modis rerum dominari sed solùm iuxta taxatum praefinitum Canonem quo secundùm humanum intelligentiae modum ipse Papa dispicere valet quâ viâ temporalia spiritualibus deseruiant Atque eandem sententiam lego ab alio scriptore valdè Catholico hisce verbis expressam In temporalibus Pontificis potestatem esse limitatam Ioan. Pedrezzanus in resp ad Venet. de illis posse disponere vsque ad certam quandam mensuram videlicet quatenus finis spiritualis exigat Cùm ergo ad hunc modum arcta astricta sit
and other commendable authors haue Card. Alanus in respon ad Iustitiam Anglicanam Sixtus Senens in bihliotheca Sancta S. R. cont Tho. Bell. R. P. cont Morton pag. 69. to the memorie of posteritie recorded in their writings Neither is there cause why any man should haue so much as the least suspicion that the sense aforesaid was admitted by the Magistrate to the intent to deface or impaire or despoile the dignitie Apostolicke Surely such apprehensions bred out of iealousie are for the most part deceitful Masters and beget feare where there is no feare But to pursue my intended course that also which is deliuered by the most Illustrious Cardinall Caietane in his answere to the Parisiens Caietan tom 1. tract 1. Apologiae parte 2. cap. 13. doeth concurre vnto my defence that either of these points may truely be determined concerning the Pope both that he hath a supreme power in matters temporall and that he hath not a supreme power in matters temporall because they are both of them true in a right understanding The affirmatiue is true in order to things spirituall the negatiue is true directly or as things temporall are considered in themselues So as there can no errour growe by either of the two decisions Thus saith he And this opinion likewise the best Catholicke writers haue inserted into their bookes viz. that the Pope forasmuch as hee is but of a finite and Alphons Mendoza in relectione de Regno Dominio Christi num 15. Petrus de Arragon quaest 67. art 1. bounded capacitie and is many times ignorant of the order and proportion of temporall things how they may make vnto a spirituall end is not therefore in an absolute manner to haue dominion ouer temporals but only after a limited and prescribed rule as he is able according to the measure of humane intelligence to discerne how temporals may be auaileable to things spirituall The same opinion doe I finde deliuered by another sound Catholicke author in these words That the Popes power in Temporals is limited and that he Ioan. Pedrezzanus in respons ad Veneros may not dispose of them but to a certaine proportion that is so farre as is necessarie for a spirituall end Seeing therefore the Popes power in temporals is in this sort tied and restrained why should we incurre so heauie a reproofe for affirming that the Pope hath not power to depose our King in as much as the perturbation of the Church and the ouerthrow of the Catholickes with vs in their goods and possessions and the indamaging of many soules were thereby like to ensue Let your Amplitude heare not mee but the defender of your owne assertion against the Venetians whose words are these The power of the highest Ioan. Pedrezzanus in Respons ad Venetos Bishop is limited that it may not dispose of temporals beyond the necessity of a supernaturall end To these also may be adioyned your most excellent Amplitudes own opinion In regard of the persons the Pope cannot as he is Pope Ioan. 5. de Rom. Pontif. cap. 6. by his ordinarie power though there be iust cause depose temporall princes in that manner as hee deposeth Bishops that is as their ordinarie Iudge but he may as the supreme spirituall prince alter kingdomes take them from one and giue them to another if neede so require for the sauing of soules Which wordes doe plainely strengthen our admittance of the Oath For the words of the oath are that the Pope hath not authoritie to depose the King or to dispose any of his Maiesties kingdomes or dominions And the common vnderstanding doeth with the Magistrate encline to no other conceit then to this The Pope as he is Pope for it cannot reach vnto that construction as he is the chiefe spirituall prince And when the oath is propounded to be taken the sense thereof apprehended by the Magistrate is restrained to an ordinary power For they who exhibite the oath are as farre as may be from any thought of an extraordinary or indirect power residing in the Pope Besides if your Amplitudes most mild disposition could but in the least part conceiue the ruines of Catholicke families which the refusall of this othe would bring vpon vs assuredly you would not dissent from vs who by most wofull examples doe finde that from thence were like to proceede not onely the losse and hazard of soules but the lamentable extirpation of the whole Catholicke state amongst vs. Sith therefore wee doe sensibly finde that the authoritie of the supreme Bishop touching the deposition of our King cannot tende to the promoting of Spirituall matters but to the ouerthrow of them why should wee be thus shaken vp as hauing reuolted from the Faith and denied the Primacie Apostolicke who mainteine nothing but what is generally concluded on amongst Diuines Suarez saith In summe all these temporals Suarez disput 16. de Excommun maior sect 1. Salmeron tom 4. 416. doe fall but indirectly vnder the power spirituall that is in order vnto a spirituall end And Salmeron Peters power is giuen onely to edification which in other words is vsually said The key not erring And speaking of the Popes power he saith If it tend to destruction it is not abilitie Idem ibidem pag. 420. or power but impotencie and defect wee can doe that which we can iustly doe Martinue Nauar. Relect. cap. Nouit de Iudic. notab 3. pag. 106. Aspilcueta treating of Ecclesiasticall power hath these words It shall therefore extend it selfe so farre vnto things temporall as the order of things supernaturall doth require and no further With these let Couarruuias bee ranged Couar tom 2. pag. 506. num 7. The resolution of this question is plaine that wee conclude the definition of the Catholicke Church euer reserued that the Bishop of Rome hath not either actually or habitually a temporall iurisdiction ouer the whole world no not ouer Christians themselues further then may be necessary for the more commodious and easie vse of the spirituall iurisdiction and power I might longer flote in this currant of learned men which doth plenteously flow out to my defence concerning the Oath For who so shall with an indifferent eye beholde the dangers we are in would easily find that the power of the supreme Bishop in the deposition of our King cannot as the case standeth tall within the compasse of any order to releiue things spirituall but breaketh forth to the suppressing of all which hath beene hitherto well setled in the same Whence it may appeare into how miserable a condition those ouer-heauie sharpe animaduersions doe cast me that through the subtilties of Sathan I did consent that the Primacie of the See Apostolicke should bee either openly or couertly shot at that the oath doth in this Realme tend to that end that the authoritie of the head of the Church might be transferred in England from the Successour of S. Peter vnto the Successour of Henry 8
why not in the same maner of the Kingdome that there should bee one and the same head both of the Kingdome and Priesthood lest in like sort there should be dissension betwixt them that therfore it is the rather to be held that Peter doeth supply Christs place not onely in the Priesthood but in the Kingdome that he might bee a King and likewise a Priest according to the order of Melchisedech who was both a King and a Priest 22 That if Christ be King of kings and Lord of Tho. Bozius de iure status praefat ad Aldehrard lords in like sort the Church must be Queene and Lady and if he be the Lord of all temporalities shee likewise must be the Lady That all temporall regall power doeth reside first in the soule of Christ and then in the Idem ibidem Church his spouse the Queene of the world and from her is deriued to others faithfull or infidels as out of a fountaine That the Church the spouse of Christ and Idem lib. 1. cap. 6 sol 36. Queene of the world may as oft as the order of the whole doeth require c. transferre the proper rights of one vnto another as a secular Prince may cast downe priuate mens houses for the beautifying of the Citie or impose tribute for the weale publike that he may thus iustly doe although he hath not erred from whom such rights are transferred vnto another so the Pope gaue the Spaniards the Indians That the Pontificall and Isidor Moscon de maiest milit Eccle. pag. 91. Idem pag. 656. Regall power and all other powers are most plentifull in the Pope and doe reside in the Pontificall dignitie that all Dominions whatsoeuer doe depend vpon the Church and vpon the Pope as the head of the Church and that in the Pope authoritie is considered in Emperours Idem pag. 670. and Kings power and thence it is that power doeth depend vpon authoritie 23 That true iust ordeined by God and meere Carer de potest Rom. Ponti pag. 9. dominion aswell in spirituall things as in temporall was brought foorth by Christ and the same was committed to S. Peter and his successours That Christ Idem pag. 111. was Lord ouer all inferiours not onely as God but likewise as man hauing euen then dominion in the earth and that therefore as the dominion of the world was in Christ both diuine and humane so it must be confessed that it was in the Pope his Vicar That as God in a secondarie maner may bee called a temporall ruler and Idem pag. 112. Monarch of the world although in himselfe hee is not principally worldly or temporall so the Pope may be called a temporall Lord and Monarch although his power be a certaine spirituall thing That the mysterie of Idem pag. 120. redemption being accomplished Christ as a king gaue vnto Peter the administration of his kingdome and S. Peter did execute that his power against Ananias and Saphira That Christ as hee is man is directly Idem pag. 124. the Lord ouer all the world in temporalties and that therefore the Pope is so likewise in that he is his Vicar That the supreme power of iudging all and the top of Idem pag. 126. dignities and the height of both powers are found in Christs vicar 24 That there is one principalitie and one supreme Rodericus Sancius apud Carer pa. 132. Prince ouer all the world who is Christs vicar according to that of Daniel chap. 8. He hath giuen him power and honour and rule and all people and tongues shall serue him and that in him therefore is the fountaine and spring of all principalitie and from him all other powers doe flow That the Bishop of Idem ibidem pag. 131. 132. Rome in place of Christ is set as a Prince ouer the whole world in spiritualties and temporalties and that it is naturally morally and by the law of God to be held with a right faith that the principalitie of the Bishop of Rome is the true and onely immediate principalitie of the whole world not onely as touching things spirituall but likewise temporall and that the Imperiall principalitie is depending vpon it as being mediate ministeriall and instrumentall ministring and seruing it and that it is ordeined and instituted by it and at the commandement of the Papall principalitie is mooueable reuocable corrigible and punishable 25 That as the diuine and humane dominion were Carerius de potest Rom. Pont. pag. 150. in Christ so in Christs stead the dominion of the world in the Pope is both spirituall and temporall diuine and humane That the vnremooueable trueth doeth designe Idem pag. 151. by Peters onely comming vpon the water to Christ that the whole dominion which is signified by the Sea is committed to S. Peter and his successors And that as the Pope cannot say that he is not Christs vicar vpon Idem pag. 155. earth so he cannot deny but that he is Lord ouer all things because the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof whereby all things heauenly earthly and infernall are subiect vnto Christ the Lord and thence it is that he did commit vnto the Pope who doeth supply his place vpon earth the right of the heauenly and terrene Empire That the Pope by the Law of God hath Iael Zecchan tract Theolog. pag. 81. power and temporall dominion ouer the whole world that the same is prooued by the words of Luc. 22. Behold here are two swords which signifie the power temporall and spirituall and because Christ whose vicar the Pope is hath both powers according to the words Matth. vlt. All power is giuen vnto me in heauen and in earth That thence it may be deduced that the Pope is absolutely the Lord of all the Christian world and Kings and Christian princes are to acknowledge that they holde of him their Empires and kingdomes and all that are faithfull ought to be subiect vnto him And that as oft as such princes doe any great hurt in the Church the Pope may depriue them of their kingdomes and transferre their right to others 26 It is here to be obserued of what great reputation in Rome and Italy the authors are whose opinions this Examinate doeth dislike For to omit Baronius the late Cardinall Francis Bozius his booke was approued in Rome very authentically to be printed as conteining nothing in it aduerse to the Catholicke faith and with the like approbation the booke of Thomas Bozius was printed in Rome and so was that of Celsus Mancinus Mosconius his booke was printed at Venice before the stirres betwixt them and the Pope and the tractate of Laelius Zecchus was printed at Brixia Carerius a Doctor of Padua had his booke approoued at Padua though it was afterwards printed at Colein Whereupon it was thought meete by the Examiner for whom it was thought as lawfull to obiect what he thought fit as sor Master
subiects haue thereby receiued great detriment especially subiects who haue spent their liues as supposing the cause was iust which they vndertooke this in the meane while being indeed their case that as what they did therein was in truth wicked and rebellious so when either that which they took in hand had not good successe or when afterwards the Pope and such Princes grew to an agreement they were euer for the most part reputed according to their deserts for Rebels and Traitours vnder pretence of some thing or other that was amisse in their proceedings and that therefore he hopeth that in time all Catholickes will hereafter by other mens harmes learne to beware and not bee drawen to any disobedience against their Soueraignes vnder any pretence whatsoeuer 77 The authours of the late most wicked and barbarous treason commonly termed the Gun-powder treason had as this Examinate verily thinketh some intendment to haue aduanced thereby the Catholicke cause for that his Maiestie did still persist in the same course which was held by the late Queene his predecessor or by what other inducements this Examinate knoweth not Howbeit as this was their iust reward here that they were condemned and executed for traitours so doe they worthily reape amongst all discreete Catholikes and wise men abroad in other Countries nothing but shame and infamy to the memorie of their owne names and posteritie which this Examinate wisheth from the bottome of his heart may euer be the successe of all manner of persons whatsoeuer that shall imagine or seeke to contriue any hurt to his Maiestie the Prince or any other of his Highnesse posteritie or to the present state of this kingdome vnder any colour or pretence of conscience religion fauour towards the Bishops of Rome or any thing els whatsoeuer Only this Examinat here addeth that as he doth very well approue that Catesby with his fellowes should bee chronicled for traitours by any or wheresoeuer so he disliketh that the said Cristanouic also who is aboue named should endeuour after a sort to qualifie their offence by casting an vntrue and shamefull scandall vpon this whole nation where after a long discourse to prooue that English men haue from time to time conspited against their kings not for religion but in respect of their owne rebellious nature he concludeth thus with relation to the said Gun-powder traitors Causam tenes lector coniurationum Anglicanarum quarum furorem falsò religioni Stanista Cristanouic exam Cath. fol. 18. Catholicae legislatores tribuunt that is Thus Reader you haue the true cause of the English conspiracies the furie whereof their Law-makers doe falsly impute to the Catholique religion And againe Non ergo Catholicum sed Anglicanum ingenium Reges Ibidem Angliae non sinit securos esse that is It is not therefore the Catholique but the English humor which will not suffer the Kings of England to liue secure For as this Examinate saith what this fellow affirmeth of English men may bee as well iustified of any nation in Christendome if such a rash iudgement might be grounded vpon such like arguments as he hath vsed But here this Examinate remembring his drift wisheth in his heart that it might be neuer forgotten by any Catholiques or other English men whosoeuer what guerdon commendation and infamous renowme they may iustly expect that for any cause whatsoeuer as is aforesaid shall attempt any thing against their Soueraigne 78 Thus farre this Examinate hauing opened his iudgement vpon such occasions as were ministred vnto him he vsed sundry speeches how much it troubled him that either his Maiestie or the State should doubt of his sinceritie and Allegeance and therefore for a conclusion and as it were to adde his seale to all that before he hath said he further affirmeth viz That he doeth truely and sincerely from the bottome of his heart acknowledge professe testifie and declare in his conscience before God and the world that King Iames his Soueraigne lord is iure diuino and by the positiue lawes of this realme lawfull and rightfull King of this realme and of all other his Maiesties Dominions and Countries both de facto and de iure and that it was not lawfull either for his Maiesties Subiects to haue withstood him by force from being their king nor euer can be lawful for them now that he is their king to rise vp against him or seeke by any wayes or meanes to hurt him either in his health or in his regall estate although he denieth the Popes supremacie in causes Ecclesiasticall and seeketh as he may to suppresse all those that dissent from him in those points of Religion which hee imbraceth and though likewise they his said subiects being either Catholikes or Protestants had sufficient numbers forces and ability so to doe without any scandall to the Catholike cause and without any danger to themselues either in their goods or liues 79 That the Pope iure diuino by the lawe of God neither of himselfe nor by any authority of the Church or See of Rome or by any other meanes with any other hath any power or authority either directly or indirectly in ordine ad spiritualia whether the said authoritie bee termed spiritual or temporall or mixt or howsoeuer it is or may be termed to depose the King or to dispose any of his Maiesties kingdomes or dominions or to authorize any forreine Prince to inuade or annoy him or his countreys or to discharge any of his subiects of their Allegeance and obedience to his Maiestie or to giue license or leaue to any of them to beare armes raise tumult or to offer any violence or hurt to his Maiesties Roial person State or gouernment or to any of his Maiesties subiects within his Maiesties dominions 80 That he doeth also affirme from his heart that notwithstanding any declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or depriuation made or graunted or to bee made or graunted by the Pope or his successours or by any authoritie deriued or pretended to be deriued from him or his See against the said King his heires or successours or any absolution of the said subiects from their obedience hee will beare faith and true alleageance to his Maiestie his Heires and Successours and him and them will defend to the vttermost of his power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoeuer which shall bee made against his or their persons their crowne and dignitie by reason or colour of any such sentence or declaration or otherwise by reason or colour of any authoritie or power ascribed to the Pope in temporalibus directly or indirectly in ordine ad spiritualia whether the said authoritie be termed spirituall or temporall or mixt or howsoeuer it is or may be termed and will do his best endeauour to disclose and make knowen vnto his Maiestie his Heires and Successours all treasons and traiterous conspiracies which hee shall know or heare of to bee against him or any of them 81 That furthermore he
that Reges non possunt esse serui Soueraignes cannot bee vassals so it doth no way derogate from the high dignitie and calling of the Bishop of Rome but rather doth greatly aduaunce it to say that because hee cannot erre there are therefore many things which hee cannot doe For example euen in the point questioned as the Pope cannot determine it to be lawfull vnder any pretence whatsoeuer for a man to commit adultery with his neighbours wife no more can he determine it to bee lawfull vnder any pretence whatsoeuer for any of his Maiesties subiects to beare armes against him both of them being against the morall law of God which the Gospel doeth in no one point preiudice Nor as he cannot by any determination or resolution vpon any pretence whatsoeuer make a sonne to bee no sonne during the life of his father no more can he make the borne subiect of any king not to be his subiect so long as the king liueth 90 That he is also altogether of this opinion that whereas the defining of the Popes said vndetermined authoritie to depose kings c. standing vpon this issue that either he hath indeede no such authoritie at all or else that he hath it as being dominus temporalium directè the lorde of temporall things directly or as dominus temporalium in ordine ad spiritualia indirectè the lord of temporall things in an order vnto spirituall things indirectly forasmuch as such a determination must of necessity include the condemnation of the opinion either of Cardinall Bellarmine and of that strong side that taketh his part which may breede some further trouble or of Cardinall Baronius and those that ioine with him being many and increasing dayly more and more with great confidency that they haue the trueth which no doubt will bee found inconuenient considering that their positions doe much more tend to the honour of the Church of Rome then those that are mainteined as peremptorily by the other side he this Examinate is of this opinion as he saith that there will neuer be any such determination as hath bene obiected or at least that it will not bee for many yeeres yet to come whilest there is so strong opposition concerning the manner how and in what sort Christ gaue Saint Peter that authority if he gaue it him at all viz whether directly or indirectly immediatly or by a certaine consequence except it may bee held to be sufficient leauing both the sides mentioned contending amongst themselues without any certaine grounds firme reasons impregnable testimonies either of Scriptures or Ancient Fathers first agreed vpon by the Church and concluded so to define as is imagined which this Examinate is fully assured the Pope and Cardinals being men of such excellencie and wisedome will neuer attempt 91 That although it may peraduenture bee confidently giuen out as it hath bene vntruely by many already that the Pope to haue authoritie to depose kings c. is defined at Rome to be held as a point of faith thereby still to keepe on foote the ancient opinion since Gregorie the seuenths time of the Popes authoritie in that behalfe for the good of Christian kings and Princes that they might be the rather induced to continue in some awe and feare if they did not their dueties belonging to Christianitie yet hee this Examinate thinketh it very necessary that no Catholicke should giue any faith to that report except he may see the same authentically so confirmed and euident as the Canon lawes in a case of such importance doe require which this Examinate is fully perswaded they shall neuer see or that if any such thing should happen to fall out this Examinate is verily perswaded it will not bee a generall resolution touching the Popes authoritie to depose kings c but onely to the point in question nowe amongst Catholickes here in England that it is not lawfull to take the said oath of Allegeance and then this Examinate further saith that the same will bee built vpon this false ground that the oath of Allegeance doeth include the oath against the Popes supremacie in causes Ecclesiasticall as he foreseeth already by the Cardinals letter vnto him and by the said Cristanouic who hauing set down the said oth at large writeth thus Quod iuramentum De Primatu Regis in spiritualibus And what oath Of the kings Supremacy in causes spiritual that therfore if any such resolution come authentically as is aforesaid the same as all Catholickes are to iudge of the Popes sinceritie being procured by surreption and false suggestions ad destructionem to destruction no Catholicke is bound to be ouer-ruled by it but the same notwithstanding euery Catholicke may safely and lawfully take the saide oath of Allegeance if according to the Statute in that behalfe made hee be required so to doe 92 That also whatsoeuer may fall out at Rome either touching the said oath of Allegeance or the Popes authoritie in temporalibus without any mention of it therin whether he hath it directly or indirectly the same will not be more amply set out and declared then it was before by Boniface Bonifac. de maior obedientia vnam sanctam the 8. where he writeth in this sort In hac eiusdem potestate duos esse gladios spiritualem viz temporalem Euangelicis dictis instruimur Nam dicentibus Apostolis Ecce duo gladij hîc in Ecclesiâ scil cùm Apostoli loquerentur non respondit Dominus nimis est sed satis Certè qui in potestate Petri temporalem gladium esse negat malè verbum attendit Domini proferentis Conuerte gladium tuum in vaginam Vterque ergo est in potestate Ecclesiae spiritualis scil materialis That is We are warranted by the wòrds of the Gospel that in his power were two swords the one spirituall the other temporall For when the Apostles saide Beholde here are two swords meaning in the Church sith the Apostles spake it Christ replied not it is too much but it is enough Assuredly whosoeuer denieth that the temporall sword is in S. Peters power he doth not wel marke the speech of Christ saying Put vp thy sword into the sheath Therefore both swords are in the power of the Church as well the temporall as the spirituall And a little after Veritate testante spiritualis potestas terrena instituere habet iudicare That is Trueth it selfe testifying that the spirituall power is to order and to iudge earthly affaires according to the prophet Ieremies words Ego constituite hodie super gentes regna caetera quae sequuntur I haue set thee this day ouer nations and kingdomes c All which particulars notwithstanding for the setting out of that Constitution purposely made against the king of France Clemens the fift shortly after made another constitution to the empeachment of the former wherein he writeth thus Nos Regi regno per definitionem declarationem bonae memoriae Bonifacij Papae 8