the Colossians and finally with the histories which openly beare record that euen the laymen receiued handled the bread and cup of the Lord with their bare handes certein hundred yeares after this Sixtus Besides this in the same Epistles there is open manifest mention made of Clementes iourney which booke neuerthelesse euē the very Decrées of Gratian do reiect among the authenticall writynges Yea and Thelesphorus commendeth the seuen wéekes fast before Easter forbidding also the eating of flesh Which thing againe how well it agréeth with the doctrine of the Apostles and with the doinges it is to be knowen by the thinges which S. Paul hath written in the 2. chapter to the Colossians and in the 4. chapter of the first Epistle to Timothie and which Socrates hath left written in his Ecclesiasticall historie in the 5. booke and xxii chap. but most of all which are taken out of Irenaeus by Eusebius in the 5. booke and xxvi chapter of his Ecclesiasticall historie Moreouer in those Epistles Calixtus is reported to haue ordeined the imber fast at foure seasons of the yeare Which thing others referre to other authors or founders And among this stuffe this is a thing that can not be read without laughter that Eusebius the predecessour of Melciades doth with so great statelinesse commaund the feast of the finding of the holy crosse to be solemnized the vi day of May. For some declare that the crosse was not yet found at this time but a xx yeares after by Helene the mother of the Emperour Constantine Agayne how superstitious péeuishe and fond géere are commaunded in the same Epistles namely that Nonnes should not touche the holy vessels As who should say there had ben any Nunnes as yet in those dayes the first comming vp of whom is referred to farre later times Many other thinges of this sort do I passe ouer willingly least I might make my readers to cast vp their stomakes For in these Epistles there be very many thinges so foolish so farre agaynst reason so full of superstition and so full of ambition that all men which haue eyes may gather therby that they be counterfettes and specially for asmuch as there is very seldome or no mention at all made in all the booke through out of vncorrupted fayth in Christ yea or of Christ himselfe our redemer of the treasures which the father hath giuen vs in him which thinges are the naturall markes of Apostolicall writinges Now although there be many thinges in them not vnprofitable to be read yet are the same thinges to be found in other men set forth more purely and without any paringes cankerfretted with the filthinesse of mans traditiōs Furthermore it is very well knowen that those first most pure tymes of the Church were not acquaynted with so many ceremonies so many decrées and so many constitutions as are found vrged vpon Gods Church in those Epistles For the holy and deuout folke of old time had not yet forgotten the Apostolicke Counsell that was held at Hierusalem wherin not onely Peter playnly would not there should be any yoke layd vppon the frée neckes of the faythfull but also moreouer it séemed good to the holy Ghost and to the whole primitiue Church of the Apostles that there should not any burthen be layd hereafter vppon the faithfull This story is knowen to be writtē in the xv chapter of the Actes of the Apostles But if our aduersaries will nedes procede to mainteine that these are the very Epistles of those men vppon whom they be fathered we haue aunswered a little afore how they be of no authoritie against the doctrine of the Gospell and the Apostles and therfore we admit them not in disputation Notwithstanding by the way we haue better opinion thā so of so great learned men and of so holy Martyrs of Christ neither will we in any wise stayne and deface their honorable names and blessed memoriall with such maner of gewgawes wherof out of all doubt there neuer came any in their mindes no not euen in their dreames ¶ Also that the latter Byshops of Rome vntill Gregorie the first vaunted not of any fulnesse of power nor of their supremacie ouer beyng aduaunced aboue kinges and kingdomes NEuerthelesse we must néedes graunt that from the tyme of Constantine the great who did set the Churches in peace not onely the Bishops of Rome but also the Bishops of other Churches through the worlde began to step aside from the playne footesteppes of their predecessors and claue not so carefully to the simple doctrine of the Apostles and therfore admitted mo ceremonies into the Church then beséemed and furthermore intermeddled them selues in worldly affaires and applyed them selues to much vnto them yea inuēted new names and offices of dignitie and brought such other thinges of the same sort into the Church which made way for worser thinges This saw that famous Poet Baptista Mātuanus who intreatyng of the times of Constantine the great among other thinges wrate thus Most noysom poyson sprang of honny sweete A right faire word is Rest a pleasaunt name is peace But yet from peace shall flowe more losse Dishonour shame reproche and miserie Then could from cruell warre For out of kynde the auncient vertue shall degenerate c. But howsoeuer the Bishops as well of Rome as of other Churches began to grow worse and worse yet were they still ignorant of that Romish Monarchie or rather tyrannie which is defended at this day For that I may alledge nothing hether out of the aunciēter writers of Gods Church doth not S. Hierome in his Epistle to Euagrius and in his Commentaries vpon S. Paules Epistle to Titus most manisfestly make the Bishop of Rome and the very Church of Rome it selfe equall with all other Byshops and Chuches in the world Doth he not openly say that the Churches in old time were gouerned by the common aduise of the elders Doth he not most piththely shew out of the Scriptures that elders and bishops be all one thing and that the one is not the name of age and the other of office Doth he not playnly say that Bishops were preferred before elders elders made subiect to Bishops by custome of the Church and not by appointment of God Wherfore it were truly a wonder why Epiphanius agaynst the Arrians should recken vp this thing for an heresie which Ierome vrgeth with so many and so piththy wordes but that others giue me warnyng that Epiphanius was to gentle in charging other folkes with heresie Truly in this case to speake with reuerence of so great a learned mā he wrongfully misreported the giltlesse contrarie without authoritie of the holy Scripture But if any man list to heare Ieromes owne wordes behold I will briefly rehearse the thinges that make to this purpose We must not sayth he to Euagrius esteme the Church of Rome to be one the Church of the whole world to be another Both Fraunce and Britaine and Affrike and
of sinne releasing them their sinnes that is to say witnessing by the Gospell that their sinnes are released by fayth through christ For the Apostles release not sinne otherwise then by the warrant of the Gospell which auoucheth vnto them that onely Christ by his owne merite forgeueth sinnes For like as the Apostles are not sent to offer them selues in sacrifice for the clensing of the whole world as Christ was the sacrifice of whom alone clenseth away the sinnes of the whole world euē so doutlesse the Apostles were not sent to forgeue sinnes by their owne authoritie as Christ did but to witnesse vnto men that they be forgeuē by faith through christ For we must in these cases aduisedly and with a conscience obserue the matching of the superior with the inferior so as we may yéeld to ech partie that which is his owne and not wickedly attribute that glory vnto seruauntes which is due to the onely sonne of god Certesse Austine behauing him selfe reuerently in these matters sayth peremptorily that Christ worketh these thinges by power and that the disciples do the thinges which they do by seruice or seruauntly Wherof more shall follow anon Also Marke and Luke handling the same story which Iohn hath touched in his xx chapt do witnesse that in the talke which Christ hath in the day of his resurrection there is nothing els betaken to the Disciples but the office of preaching the Gospell For in Marke the Lord sayth Goe into the whole world and preach the Gospell And in Luke he sayth So behoued it Christ to suffer to rise againe from the dead the third day and repentaunce and forgeuenesse of sinnes to be preached to all nations in his name And therefore by laying all these places of Scripture together it is made most manifest and vndouted that the keyes which were geuen to Peter and the other Apostles is nothing els but the ministration of preaching the Gospel wherby the way is opened for the world into heauen wherby to be short is declared most assured release and forgeuenesse of sinnes through fayth in Christ to such as beleue Wherunto also séemeth to perteine this most elegant and fit sentence of the Lord speaking with Paule I will make thee a witnesse and messenger marke how he sayth a witnesse and messenger and will send thee vnto nations and realmes to open their eyes that they may be turned from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan vnto God so as they may receaue forgeuenesse of sinnes and lot among those that be sanctified by the fayth which is to meward You haue in these wordes a most exacte description of the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Wherunto to adde any more I thinke it but superfluous Now if vnto all these thinges ye will adde the practise of the Apostles as they terme it and diligently search out how they haue vsed the keyes that were deliuered to them and after what sort they haue opened or shut the kingdome of heauen vnto men and also in what wise they haue either bound them or loosed them ye shal no where in all the new Testament finde them to haue exercised the Popishe practise that is to wit that the Apostles haue set thē selues downe in the places where they came to preach the kingdome of God and saluation and commaunded mē to come vnto them and there to crouch or to knéele after the maner of worshippers and to shriue them selues that is to say to poure out all their thoughtes wordes and déedes with all the circumstances of them into the eare or lap of the confessor as he sits and to craue of him the absolution of their sinnes with enioynance of satisfaction and that he on the other side laying his handes vpon the head of the shriftman whispered an absolution of sinnes ouer him in an ordinary forme of wordes and enioyned him a certaine satisfaction by the workes of penance Much lesse shall ye finde that the Apostles installed them selues in thrones and thrust downe sinners into hell by sentence of excommunication c. What then Looke vpon the Actes of the Apostles or rather goe through that booke wherein Luke hath most diligently written the notable sayinges and doinges of the Apostles and specially of Paule without ouerslipping of any thing which tended to soule health or was necessary to be knowen and therwithall hath in xxviii chapters set forth as many yeares that is to wit the things that the Apostles did by the space of xxviii yeares together in the matter of saluation and thou shalt not finde in all that great worke that all and euery of the Apostles did any thing els then agreably and constantly in all places and in euery place preach the Gospell and promise remission of sinnes and euerlasting life to such as beleued in Christ and on the contrary part threaten endlesse and most assured damnation to them that beleued not Thus I say did the Apostles vse the keyes which they receaued of the lord Thus did they binde and loose If they would haue had any other thing or any thing more to haue bene done in the Church by their successors they would not haue dissembled it by the space of xxviii yeares preaching in all their doinges which Luke hath most faythfully written And among other places of the Actes of the Apostles let the godly read the second x. xiii.xvi and xviii chapters and they will beare witnesse that the thinges which I haue spoken héere are most true yea and also thinke them selues satisfied in this case I speake of such as are not contentious for such no man can well satisfie And at this present I say to them also as Paule sayd If any man seeme to be full of contention we haue no such custome neyther the Churches of God. And whereas the aduersaries vrge this singular spéech I wyll geue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen vnto thee I say vnto thee Peter vnto thee singularly and not vnto you plurally and in their vrging do cry out that I haue openly corrupted this place of the Gospell by communicating vnto the rest of the Apostles and to all their successors being ministers of the word the keyes that were geuen to Peter onely they bewray their owne grosse foolishnesse together with their inuincible malice considering how they can not deny but that such synecdoches or figures of putting one for a number and specially in such cases are very vsuall in the Scriptures Againe seing it is sufficiently knowen what the keyes be and that the rest of the Apostles receaued them as well as Peter I pray you what will they proue by their singular number But let them aske their owne fathers why the Lord wheras he gaue equall or one maner of power to them all did neuerthelesse say seuerally vnto Peter I will geue thee and they shall perceaue that therby is betokened and expressed the vnitie of the Church Surely Austine in his 118. treatise
libertie of the Church as an occasion to plucke the soueraintie to themselues and to oppresse Christian libertie Beleue me I speake of experience they will not cease till they haue gotten all into their owne handes The Pope imagineth new deuises in his brest to the intent he may stablish his owne Empyre he altereth lawes he stablisheth his owne he defileth he filtheth he spoyleth he defraudeth he killeth That lost man whom men are wont to call Antichrist in whose forehead is written a name of blasphemy that is to wit I am God and I cannot erre euen that lost soule I say sitteth in Gods temple and raigneth far and wide These and many other thinges like these did that holy byshop discourse with great boldnesse and constancie Neither was this Prelate altogether a vayne Prophet considering that within thréescore yeares after Boniface the eight of that name a most filthy and vngracious wight is reported to haue bene puffed vp into so diuelish and brasenfaste pride that openly in the Iubilie which he himselfe first inuented and ordayned contrary to the Christian fayth he durst vaunt himselfe as highest byshop and chiefe Emperour before a great assembly and prease of people of all nacions vnder heauen For the first day he came forth in hys byshoplike apparell and gaue the foolishe people his Apostolike blissing as they terme it And the next day wearing an imperiall crowne and being clothed in robes of estate he commaunded a naked sword to be borne before hym and sittyng downe in a throne cryed out Behold here be the two swordes And being not satisfied with this Luciferlike gaze he durst yet further at the same time most spitefully reiect the Ambassadours of the Princes Electors which gaue him to vnderstand that they had chosen Albert Prince of Habspurge and Austrich the sonne of king Rodolphus to be king of Romanes yea and also to make a lawe in all respectes tyrannicall and Antichristian which is extant in the extrauagantes in the booke of maioritie obedience beginning with vnam Sanctam c. In that lawe after he hath attributed all power both spirituall temporall to the Pope in the end he concludeth the same and saith moreouer we declare auouch determine and geue sentence that it is vtterly of necessitie of saluation that all men be subiect to the byshop of Rome Whereas there is commonly blazed abroad of the same byshop this commendation of his that he entred as a Fox raigned as a woolfe others haue as a Lion and dyed as a dogge And whereas Phillip the fayre king of Fraunce appeached him of heresie murther simonie and all maner of most heynous crimes yet are not the Papistes ashamed to alledge still the sayd stinking lawe of this rancke varlet for the maintenaunce of their monarchy Hereunto perteineth it that the Bull of Iohn the xxij published agaynst Lewes the 4. Emperour of that name which Bull Auentine rehearseth whole in his vii booke of Chronicles sayth among other thinges When the chief Empire happeneth to be without a head the souerein power of it is in the handes of the highest Bishop whole benefite the same is c. This durst he write the yeare of our Lord. 323. So greatly were their corages increased since Boniface dyed in prison which was within xxiij yeares space But the Emperour Lewes aunswereth the Bull at large by a proclamation which is to be read copyed whole by the same Auentine into his booke of histories In the same proclamation among other thinges The Byshop sayth he meaning Iohn the xxij thristeth after Christian bloud and soweth euery where the mischief of discord and seditions among Christians Neither can the Christians kéepe the peace giuen them of God by reason of this Antichrist So great is the madnesse of that man or rather of that féend that he preacheth his owne wicked doynges as if they were good déedes in open audience When Christian Princes sayth he are at variance one with an other then is the Romish Priest the hyghest Byshop in déede then reigneth he then is he in his ruffe And so the debate and discord of the Germanes is meate and drinke to the Byshops of Rome Therfore it standes the high prelate in hand to weaken the Empire of the Almaines And a little after the Emperour sayth Looke who soeuer kéepe their allegeance to the Emperour and to Christ our Sauiour which commaundeth them to obey Them for so doyng and for none other cause doth he brond with the marke of heresie What soeuer he listeth he déemeth it lawfull How shall I therfore deale with him He mindeth not to execute or to know any right any equitie any good He séeth nothyng he doth nothyng but what he listeth himselfe He taketh to him the spirit of Sathan and maketh himselfe like the highest He suffereth himselfe to be worshipped which thing a certaine aungell forbade Iohn to do vnto him and his féete to bée kissed after the maner of the most cruel tyrantes Diocletian and Alexander whereas Christ our Lord and kyng washed the féete of his Disciples beyng but fishermen to the intent that his messengers should do the same agayne to those that they were sent to so forth I haue rehearsed these things to the end that the manifest record and iudgement not onely of a famous Byshop but also of a most glorious kyng or Emperour concernyng this latter vnhappy and vngracious Bishops might remaine in record In the same tyme of Lewes the iiij about the yeare of our Lord .1330 that is to say two hundred and forty yeares ago florished the renowmed and sage Lawyer Marsilius of Padua who wrate a singular booke for the Emperour Lewes the 4. agaynst the Byshops of Rome and intitled it the defence of peace In the same booke Dict. 2. Chap. 4. he sheweth by many and those most euident reasons that neither the Byshop of Rome no nor any other Byshop or Priest hath any souereintie ouer any man either clerks or layman and that by the example of Christ if any such be offered them they ought to refuse it and that all Byshops and Churchmen ought to be subiect to the souerein that ruleth them Agayne the same man in Dict. 2. Cap. 25 sayth thus They haue taken to them the title which they make their boast of namely The fulnesse of power which they say that Christ gaue peculiarly vnto them in the person of S. Peter as to the successors of the same Apostle they indeuer to make it the instrument of this naughtinesse By which cursed title by sophisticall spéech they labour to bring all Princes people and persons politike and seuerall in bondage to them And agayne Although the Euangelist sayd trew in auouchyng Christ to be kyng of kynges and Lord of Lordes yet notwithstandyng he that hath auouched any power of souereintie at all much lesse any full power to be graūted to the Bishop of Rome or to any other Bishop in the persō of S.
they serue and worship God and Baal together The Popish fastynges are not wynges and helpes of prayer nor an humbling of our selues wherby our amendement is declared but meritorious workes and playne hipocrisie And if they be compared with the fastyngs of the auncient Church they shal be found to be nothyng lesse than fastings But it wéerieth me to rehearse the fondnesse of these men in this behalfe This onely do I say or rather repete at this presēt which I haue said already That the vertuous princesse Quéene Elizabeth Kyng Edward haue abolished the abuses and superstitions of prayer and fastyng and not the true praying and true fastyng it selfe And it is straunge that the Bull alledgeth also the choise of meates If he know not how diuersly yea and also with how great libertie they were vsed in old tyme without any blame at all Let him read Socrates in the fifth booke and xxij chapter of his Ecclesiasticall history or the ix booke and xxxviij chap. of the Tripartite historie Among other things these are left in writyng And for asmuch as noman is able to shew any commaundement written concernyng this thyng it is apparant that the Apostles left it frée to euery mans will and choyse to the intent that no man should do the thyng that is good for feare or by compulsion Thus much is there We simply folow the thinges which we know to be deliuered to the faythfull by the Lord and hys holy Apostle The Lord sayth what soeuer entereth in at the mouth goeth down into the belly is cast out into the priuie But the things that come out of the mouth procede out of the hart be those thyngs that defile a man c. Math. 15. And the Apostle sayth Let noman iudge you in meate or drinke c. Also all thynges are cleane to the cleane but vnto the vncleane and the faithlesse all thynges are vncleane Moreouer as for the choyse of meates the Apiciusses or masters of gluttonie which are appointed and interteyned for the nonce haue a greater regard or speciall care at this day to come by the finest meates in the Court of Rome in Byshops palaces and in the dennes or Cloysters of Monkes than is had any where els in the vniuersal world And therfore we leaue them this fattie discourse vntouched Let belly Gods intreate of belly matters But I maruell more with what face these men beyng most vncleane and stinkyng of filthynesse the bondslaues of lustes and vnreasonable lecheries can make any mention of single lyfe What maner of single lyfe was in the religious houses of England and why the noble Prince Kyng Henry the viij emptyed them and ouerthrew them euery chone truly I had leuer it should be knowen by the Centuries of the reuerend Byshop of Ossoria in Ireland then by my declaration For I willingly spare chast eares Finally I say with the Apostle Honorable among all men is wedlocke and the vndefiled bed And agayne It is better to mary then to burne and for auoyding of fornication let euery man haue his wife Also if thou mary a wife thou sinnest not and if a mayden mary she sinneth not For it was lawfull euen for the Apostles who were busied in the ministerie to leade their Christian wiues about with them And all antiquitie auoucheth that many of the Lordes Apostles and specially Peter were maryed men And Paule more then once expresly sayth Let a Bishop be the husband of one wife hauyng faythfull children Yea and he calleth their doctrine a doctrine of deuils which forbid mariage like as also which forbid meates I know that our aduersaries wrest this place from themselues to the old heretickes Tatian Montane and others But the Prophet speakyng most effectually sayth Forbiddyng not Condemnyng The old heretickes condēned meates mariage vniuersally But our aduersaries condēne not meates mariage but restreine the frée vse of thē bynding men from them by wicked lawes Properly therfore the Apostle spake of them And what speake they of Catholicke ceremonies wheras if they did terme them aright they should call them superstitious and Idolatrous ceremonies These men bewray their owne shamelesnesse matched with wickednesse chiefly in this point that they foully deceiue the simpler sort by pretendyng the terme Catholike vnto all their errours They sticke to the terme and imagine I wote not what a singular holynesse and truth in themselues when in very déede they be not Catholikes but Cacolykes that is to say mischieuous wolues or shéepebyters settyng forth thinges particular and not vniuersall that is to wit burdenyng silly soules with the Decrées and deuises of certeine men both few in nomber and which were conspired to do mischief The Church is called Catholike that is to say Uniuersall bycause it is not onely found in some one place but also is spread abroad both through the whole vniuersall world and through all ages and also bycause there be no mo Churches without this For there is but one true Church which is the Catholike Church There is but onely one body vnder the one Christ in whom onely is saluation Wherupon it foloweth that there is no saluation but onely in the Church Therfore the Church of Rome lyke as also the Church of Antioche or of Alexandria or of any other place is not the Catholike Church For they be but members of that vniuersall body if so be that they be by one faith and one doctrine knit into this vniuersalitie as in the body vnder the head Christ. The Catholike Church then comprehendeth the Church of the fathers before Christes comming and our Church after his comming and consequently all the Saintes or faithful folkes of all places tymes and to conclude in one word of tymes past tyme present and tymes to come all which are one Catholike or vniuersall body vnder one Catholike or vniuersall head Christ. And so the Catholike faith doctrine is that which is preached and heard in this Catholike Church attributyng all thinges to Christ the onely head of saluation and depending wholly vpon the word of God and directing and gouerning all her matters by the same Therefore those be Catholikes in déede which in what place soeuer or in what tyme soeuer they be are in the felowshyp of this one body vnder the onely head Christ beyng all of one fayth and doctrine attributing their whole saluation vnto Christ alone dependyng wholly vpon his holy and most soothfast word These also are called Orthodoxi or Rightbeleuing that is to say of right opinion or iudgemēt and of sound doctrine accordyng to Gods word But as for them that are not in the compasse of this body vnder the fore sayd onely head Christ that they may draw life out of him and therfore are of a diuerse or rather of a contrarie doctrine and fayth deuising to themselues a new fayth a new doctrine a new
the Pope And if he obey not he commaundeth all his Lordes temporall and spirituall to forsake their Prince and to compell him to obey the Pope This Bull was published the xv day of October the yeare of our Lord God. 1323. But Lewes asked the aduise of all the Clerkes that were best séene in the lawes as well of God as man through Germanie Italie and Fraunce at Paris Bononie Padua and other Uniuersities who gaue an agreable aunswere That the Popes doinges against the Emperour are contrarie to Christian doctrine that the Pope was out of his wittes and made hauocke of Christes people for desire of dominion and that the Emperour was not subiect to the Pope but the Pope to the Emperour For the seruaunt of seruauntes ought not to beare rule but rather to do seruice to such as sit at the table But the Bishop cryes out that all these which gaue the Emperour this aunswere are heretickes and he excommunicateth them all with the Emperour and burneth their bookes The Emperour for all this called a Parlament about the matter and sommoning a Counceil deposed the Pope For he was openly proclaymed for an heretike a tyraunt of the Church and a troubler of the common peace and thereunto his image was burned in the Marketsted Neuerthelesse when Iohn the xxij was dead Clement the sixth continewed the displeasure still agaynst Lewes commaunding him likewise to depose himselfe from the Empyre Yea he proceded yet further and reuiuyng all Iohn the xxij processes denounced the Emperour to be an heretike and a schismatike moreouer commaundyng the Electors to chuse another king by a tyme appointed except they had leuer that the Bishop himself should giue them a king They therfore obeying his manaces chose Charles Marques of Morania But for asmuch as the better part of the Empyre was displeased both with the Pope with Charles and sticked still to Lewes their true souerein Lord and Emperour it came agayne to swordes drawyng on both sides and there was burning wasting and sleayng the accustomed frutes of the Byshops of Rome which neuer brought tydinges of peace but alwayes blew vp the trumpet to battell And least Italie and Naples might take breath any while from their slaughters and wastinges Vrbane the sixth of that name made sute to Lewes the puissant king of Hungarie that he should send Charles Duke of Durace into Italie with an host of Hungarians for he would bestow the kingdome of Sicilie vpon him Therfore when he came to Rome he crowned him king of Sicilie howbeit in such wise as he departed with certeine of the best Earledomes in the Realme to the Bishops neuew Againe least Clement the Antipope might séeme of lesse authoritie then Pope Turbane he crowned Lewes Duke of Angeow a sideman of his kyng of Sicilie who immediatly enters into Italie with threescorethousand mē Then folowed spoilyng burning and sleaing againe and all maner of crueltie was exercised on either side verely by the instigation of these good and peaceable Apostles the souerein Shepeherdes of the Church of Rome I wittingly passe ouer here many outrageous doynges of the Bishops which the storywriter Theodoriche of Nyem prosecuteth very largely and truly in his thrée bookes of the Schisme Now come I to Martine the fifth that was created Bishop at the Councell of Constance who being nothing vnlike his predecessors gaue Sicilie in Fee to one Aloyse of Sicilie against Alphons king of Spayne Wherupon rose againe not a few nor small calamities The same Byshop was the cause of the Ciuill warre in Beame and that the Germanes that went into Beame with a great power brought nothing thence but dishonour very great losse I will not pursue the slaughters burninges wastringes miseries of that warre They be described at large by Aenaeas Syluius in his Historie of Beame The same author setteth out the horrible and blouddy practises that Eugenie the fourth and his successor Martine the fifth vsed to ouerthrow the Councel of Basill And it hath ben shewed already how great mischief the same Eugenie the fourth brought vpon Christendome when he inforced kyng Ladislaus vnto vnhappie warre contrarie to his othe made vnto Amurathes Prince of Turkye Pius the second and Sixtus the fourth were forewarder to feates of armes then to peace and preaching of the Gospell They neuer yelded an inche to any Prince but indeuered most scoutly not onely to maynteine but also by hooke and by crooke to increase the maiestie of their sea The histories beare witnesse hereof abundantly I will not any further report what the Byshops of Rome haue committed in our age and within the remembraunce of man least I trouble the gentle reader to much for they be better knowen then that they néede to be rehearsed For who knoweth not how great lawlesnesse they haue abused in transposing kingdomes in dischargyng subiectes from their dew faithfulnesse and obedience in putting downe and settyng vp of kynges and in hatching of most blouddy and mortall warres The horrible trecherie of Alexander the sixth agaynst Charles kyng of Fraunce is well inough knowen in that he made him take armes vppon him and called him into the kyngdome of Naples agaynst the kyng of Spayne and yet for all that did byanby after most trayterously take part with the Spanyardes agaynst him Iulius the second a Lombard practised the Uenetian warre which being the greatest and sorest of all others continewed eight yeares with excedyng great bloushed before it could be ended and stirred vp Lewes kyng of Fraunce agaynst the Uenetians and byanby after led not onely the Uenetians but also all the puissantest Princes and people of Europe agaynst Lewes Also he behaued himselfe after such a sort in the matter of calling a Councell that euen the Papistes themselues do greatly blame him and finde fault with him in that behalfe Yea and euen Onuphrius Panuinius hath blamed this dealing in Iulius the second Leo the tenth not onely appeased not the troubles styrred vp by Iulius but also continewed them doubblyng mischief vppon mischief armyng nation agaynst nation and kéepyng promise neither with Germanes nor with Frenchmen Clement the seuenth passed Leo and some of his predocessours For first he tooke part with the Emperour and afterward slipt away to Fraunces the French king to whom he was the occasion of a very great losse For in the kyngdome of Naples whether Lawtreche had brought his army very well appointed by the instigation of the Pope he lost the greater part of his armye by reason of an vnmercyfull plague that fell vpon them The storie of Frijndsperg Captein of the Almaine souldyers auoucheth in the eighth booke and the hundred and thréescor the leafe that of fourescore thousand there remained alyue scarcely one thousand and seuen hundred What troubles Paule the third the Romish Byshop wrought vnto Germanie the warre that
was made in the bowels of Germanie commonly called the Protestauntes warre witnesseth For he sent an armye of Italians priuily into Germanie and set the Germanes together by the eares among themselues Which thyng the storywriters setforth at large As for the outrages of Paule the fourth they be better knowen by reason of his horrible actes yet fresh in remembrauÌ„ce then that they néede to be set forth in many wordes But all this whole declaration tendeth chiefly to this end partly that such as haue not yet learned to know the Romish Bishops and therefore do reuerence and honour them still may learne to know them euen by their abhominable sayinges and doynges bearing in minde this faithfull forewarnyng of the Lordes Ye shall know them by their frutes and therfore should also so iudge of them as their sayinges and doynges teach folke to iudge of them wherwithall be interlaced by the way here and there some iudgements of certein godly and wise men in former ages concernyng the Bishops of Rome and partly that all Realmes and all common weales which will not wittingly and willingly perishe and specially thou noble Realme of England should hereafter not onely make no account of the Popes Bulles tyrannously deposing kinges wrongfully transposing kingdomes and wickedly assoyling subiectes of their dew faithfulnesse and obedience but also cast them away and tread them vnder foote as they be worthy Ye haue heard how great calamities the Popes haue oftentymes wrought to kyngdomes and nations by such maner of Bulles And he is a wise man that can learne to beware by other mens harmes Therfore if ye be wise and loue to liue at ease kéepe your promise that ye haue made and obey the Princes whom God hath set ouer you maynteyne peace and eschew warres as well inward or Ciuill as outward or foreine And that God may voutsafe to performe these thyngs vnto you pray ye faithfully and diligeÌ„tly vnto him perseuer ye stedfast in true godlynesse and in the Gospell of the sonne of God and cast ye away all the Popish toyes superstitions and Idols all together The Prince of peace voutsafe to graunt you these thynges who at hys commyng into this worlde brought tydinges of peace to the world and at his goyng out of the world left his peace to those that be his euen our Lord Iesus Christ graunt you them to whom be glorie for euermore world without end Amen ¶ FINIS What the Popes beare men in hand concerning their infinite power An obiection The answere To feede Shepeheards Pastors or Feeders Foode Sheepe 1. Pet. 5. Harken to this ye Romish Monarkes Act. 20. What the sheepe or flocke be Teachers Doctrine The maner of the Bishop of Romes feeding Zach. 11. Luk. 22. 1. Iohn 5. The fayth of the Church of Rome neuer fayled Comparison betwene Peters fayth and the Romish fayth Christes bidding of his disciples buy theÌ„ swordes Matth. 26. 1. Cor. 11. Iohn 6. 1. Pet. 2. Esay 28. 1. Cor. 10. 1. Cor. 3. Ephes. 2. 1. Petr. 2. Iohn 12. Iohn 16. 1. Iohn 5. Luke 11. Math. 23. Esay 22. Luke 4. Ioan. 20. Marke 16. Luke 24. 1. Cor. 11. 2. Cor. 5. Math. 28. Exod. 4. Luke 12. Iohn 6. Matth. 22. Math. 17 Luke 22. Rom. 13. Gal. 2. 1. Pet. 5. Act. 8. 2. Cor. 11. 1. Cor. 4. Exod. 23. Queene Mary Queene Elizabeth The giuyng of interteinement and refuge to banished foliâ—s â–ª The barbarousenesse and crueltie of the Romish Byshops Esay 16. The striuyng of the bishops of Rome for the supremacie What monstruousenesse is Apoc. 17. That Quenes although they be women doe reigne lawfully Rom. 13. That the care of Religion belongeth to the ciuill Magistrate Moses Iosue Dauid Salomon The kynges of Iuda Iosaphat Ezechias Ioas. Iosias God made difference of functions and will not haue them confounded Kynges of the new TestameÌ„t haue no lesse authoritie then had the kynges of the old Testament ChristiaÌ„ Princes and defenders of the Church Constantine the great Iustinian Charles the great The Queene of England hath not done amisse in taking vpon her the care of religion in deposing the popish bishops Math. 6. 2. Tim. 1. 1. Tim. 2. Rom. 13. True Christians entitle not theÌ„selues after any men 1. Cor. 1. 1. Cor. 3. The maiestie of Gods worde What order K. Edward the vi folowed in reforming the church of England â–ª What our souereigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth hath setfoorth to her whole Realme to be folowed The Queenes Maiestie hath setfoorth no bookes of heresy to hir realme The abolishing of the sacrifice of the masse Heb. 9.10 Rom. 3. 1. Iohn 2. The masse corrupteth the Lordes supper Read Austen against the epistle of Parmenian lib. 2. cap. 8. Act. 14. 1. Cor. 11. Lib. Epist. 2. Epist. 3. Not prayer but the abuse of prayer is abolished Fastyng Choyse of meates Coloss. 2. 〈◊〉 1. Single lyfe Cunturia 8. folio 665. Heb. 13. 1. Cor. 7. 1. Cor. 9. 1. Tim. 3. Titus 1. 1. Tim. 4. Catholikes rites and Ceremonies The Catholik Church The Catholik fayth and doctrine Catholikes Orthodoxi Cacodoxi Whether the Romish sorte be Catholikes or no. The Queene doth iustly forbyd her subiectes to acknowledge the Church of Rome Iere. 23. Act. 2. 1. Cor. 10. 1. Iohn 5. Apoc. 18. The Queene hath lawfully compelled her subiectes to for sweare the Pope and the Papacie 2. Reg. 11. 1. Esd. 10. 2. Chron. 15. Heretikes sayd that no man is to be compelled vnto fayth Psal. 119. Iere. 31. Augustine him selfe also was sometyme of opinion that no man was to be compelled Prouerb 9. Prouerb 27. The Lord him selfe compelled men to the faith Why the Apostles called not for the Magistrates helpe for the stablishyng of ReligioÌ„ Psal. â— How kynges serue God in feare How in what sence AusteÌ„ giueth a man free choyse or will read in hys booke of chastisemeÌ„t grace chap. 1. In hys boke of the spirit the letter to Marcellus chap. 30. in hys booke of Merites remissioÌ„ of sinnes Lib. 2 cap 8. against the second Epistle of Pelagius Lib. 4. Cap. 6. Euery man must not be suffered to folow what seemeth best to hymself in Religion 1. Samuel 15. God commauÌ„deth false Prophetes to be put to death 1. Tim. 1. Leuit. 24. Num. 19. Exod. 32. 3. Kynges 18 4. Kynges 9. 4. Kynges 11 4. Kinges 23 S. Austens opinion concerning this matter Dan. 3. Act. 5. Act. 13. Rom. 12.13 Why the sword is geuen to the Magistrate Lawes of christen princes concerning religioÌ„ * of Idolatry Measure to be vsed in punishing Here is concluded the answer to the articles of accusation The generall conclusion 2. Petr. 2. Who is an hereticke The curse of the Tarpeian Iupiter is not to be feared Iohn 16. The Queene is not cut of from the vnitie of Christes body Dan. 2. Iob. 12. 1. Samuel 9.10.12.15 1. Sam. 16. 1. Kynges 11 1. Kynges 14 1. Kynges 15 16. 2. Kinges 9.10 God vsed the