Vbi periculū Dist 63. c. Obeuntibus Pope Innocent did appoynt in a Councell holden at Rome that Byshops shoulde be chosen not only by the Chanons of the mother church but also by other religious Clearkes but nowe contrary to the same the Popes reserue the prouision of y e dignities as of Byshops Archbyshops Patriarches Abbots and such like to himselfe The age of persons that receyue orders now a dayes in the Popes Church althoughe it be done according to the will of the title De aetate qualitate ordinandorum in Clement yet is contrary to the .77 .78 Dist Let this as touching the Chanons suffise for briefenesse sake whiche I in this behalfe busily endeuour Is this the boke that we must beleue as the Gospel Be these the mates to Canonicall Scriptures Is not this to be repugned that repugneth it selfe Or is it to be estéemed or credited as if it were spoken of Peters owne mouth As they for their selues craue credite Vndoubtedly if Peters sermons or epistles had bene as various and contrary as Hereticall and hypocritical as lewde and licentious as the contentes of these Decrées manifestly are the fathers would neuer haue receyued the same as Canonicall but reconed them among the Apocrypha And yet dare the Popistes presume to count them Canonicall and of as greate force as the wordes of Peter And these doe they thrust into heartes and consciences of men vnder the glorious names of Church Fathers Councels Peter Paule and spirite of God onely to the intente that they may throng in after and wring in with their errors supersticions and myssegouernement To this end hath Gratian bene occupied in their Church To this ende hath before him the Heretiques deuisers of the elder Apocrypha writings ben of their father the Diuell vsed Wherefore he is their Ape or sonne that can so handsomely imitate and folow them Therefore I pray thée gentle Reader let him attayne to equall honour with the rest of that preasse And as for Peter his brother authour of the foure bokes of the sentences and therfore commonly called by the name of Master of Sentences he hath many faultes as they themselues confesse and haue condemned at Paris To wéete in his firste boke 4. In the second as many and .3 in the third but in the fourth .15 Which in all make .26 What they are I ouerpasse bycause there is none that is studious but knoweth the same And surely howe bad so euer Peter Lombarde his Diuinitie is as it is bad inough in many places more yet it is much beter than the fruite of Gratians trauayle for that it preacheth Iustification in Iesus Christ by faith and obedience to the Gospel So that it is no maruell that in iudgements and opinions of the Popistes among themselues in Councels general in writings volumes scholes they are so deuided and at square for those braunches must brawle that borne are vpon such a brawling body If M. Stapleton hath reason or authoritie to saye that a Calfe signifieth Luther I do better say that this monster in the scutchion of this trée doth signifie Gratian and Lombardes works persons and Hell hound harmonte Of whiche monster before I doe speake In these foure lines I aunswere Staphilus that hys Calfe signified their Calues of Rome The Calfe borne in cowle it caried to his graue Then Luther is no Calfe that cast the cowle away For the Calfe in the cowle must signifie euer Such Calfe and such cowle as goe both together Peter Lombarde came to the pride of his estimation 20. yeares after his brother Gratian who as before I sayd was in his ruffe Anno. 1120. The which two twēties put together make .1140 In the meane seasō that these two men thus flourished with their works there happened to be borne in the Countrey of Albania Anno 1126. of a base woman thys monster the which is a man childe and a dogs whelpe wholly furnished with all their members growing togither by their backes whose faces stande cleane contrary wayes The application whereof I will not stand now on lest I should séeme enuious agaynst thē or vayne in preaching that to thée which thou gentle Reader being a childe and scholler brought vp in Natures schole long since hast learned canst confirme by experience of the like by the case present apply Therfore I passe frō this that thou art more perfect in to the braunches which thine expectation and attentiuenesse do iustly call for Wherein regarde two things Heresies of their auncestors the elder Heretiques of their owne proper deuising Sacramentarie Donatistes THe Heresie of the Donatistes hath had two speciall maintayners and nourishers of the same called by the name of Donatus The latter had to syrname A casis nigris he was the moste contentious and sternest in this cause For the first was a Numidian as the same authour declareth who at the beginning moued this contention and scisme in the Church at Carthage agaynst Caecilianus chosen maugre his will Byshop But at the laste this enuious and ambitious quarrell turned to an Heresie for commonly such broyles are not without part takings and to diuers perillous sectes and phanatical factions which among other lores for they had not one onely as Augustine noteth taught That a good Minister consecrateth and maketh a good and profitable Sacrament and an euill Minister a naughty vnholy Sacrament and vnprofitable to the receyuer All which happened about the raignes as Hierom noteth of Constant and Constantine the Emperours to wéete Anno Domini 331. or there about some say after I meane not that it so then began as that nowe it should be ended For that deuotion which hath alwayes receyued the erroures of euery age with other filthinesse also dronke the same or else howe coulde Babylon be a cage of foule spirites And doth expressely teache it to those that will viewe and marke their doctrine if but lightly For Gratian testifieth in the Decrées that Pope Gregorie hath written to all Churches in the kingdome of Italie and Dutche lande on this wise Si qui Presbyteri sunt Diaconi vel Subdiaconi qui in crimine fornicationis iaceant Interdicimus eis ex parte Dei omnipotentis sancti Petri authoritate Ecclesiae introitū vsque dum peniteant emendent Si verò in peccato suo perseuerare maluerint nullus vestrum eorum praesumat audire officiū quia benedictio eorum vertetur in maledictionem oratio in peccatum c. The which to interprete meaneth thus If any Priest Deacon or Subdeacon doth rest in fornication we on the behalfe of almighty God by the authoritie of Sainct Peter forbid such the entrance into the Church vntill they repent and amende But if cōtrarywise they had rather abide in this their sinne then loke that none of you presume to heare any suche mans seruice for their blessing wil turne to a cursse their prayer
the steppes of Simon of Iudas and al other Heretiques forsoke the paynes of the Crosse for pleasure of the world and honor of the same and hath thenceforth begon for after pride followeth Leacherie to make hirself common to the deuice of all men The which chiefly she accōplished when the charters thereof were drawen out by the same Gratian a Monke of Bononie Anno. 1120. or thereabout who collected the decrées of men before his dayes little or nothing estéemed and Peter Lombarde his brother who deuised the schole Diuinitie about .xx. yeares after For when as y e youth beganne whollye to studye the decréed lawes of Rome Peter Lombard moued with themulation therof deuised the schole Diuinitie lest his brother shuld in honor of that trauayle ouer runne him whome in honour of birth he had ouertaken Whose base progenie I willingly ouerpasse But surely it séemeth that Peter Lombards trauayle was nothing so estéemed as Gratians was which doth most of all establish y e Pope defende him make for his purpose As a thing wherin they are iudged by themselues And little Diuinitie would serue them yea although it were very homely For surely if it were not for mayntenaunce of Purgatorie Auricular confession and suche like other geare gaynfull to them they would not onely haue vtterly condemned Lombarde as in some poyntes here after mencioned they already haue but also haue vtterlye forgotten the name of Diuinitie If the successours of Lombarde had as seuerely followed him as Gratians ympes did their captayne their schole would haue bene cleaner from error than it is euen as now the Popes consistories abound with wickednesse In the naming of Lombarde and Gratian I hope gentle Reader thou art not so grosse as to thinke that I meane their persones but volumes and doctrines And when I speake of the Decrées which otherwise are called Cannons I meane a Law of so soueraigne price to the Popistes as that that they count hym an Heretique that knoweth not the same And the breaker therof dicitur blasphemare Spiritum sanctum is sayd to blaspheme the holy Ghost And vnder the name of the Cannons I comprise Decretall Epistles Sextes Clementines Extrauagantes c. and suche like The whiche Decretall Epistles are estéemed Canonicall Scripture although Christ his Apostles neuer spake the same But euen as the stock or Trunck of the trée continueth and coupleth the vpper parte and Roote togither likewise heresies of the olde Heretiques are cōtinued taught in the Church of Rome by those two doctrines and glosses on the same as in passage thorowe this boke thou shalt in parte apperceyue If once it please God to hewe this stocke away the whole trée beside would decay and perish If in their Consistories they rule any case ouer be it for life or death for truth or iudgement it must be as they cry the law the law which is onely in déede the Cannone lawe If they persuade any man to come to their Churche they deale as Cardinall Iulian did with Procopius and the other Embassadours of Bohemia persuading to giue no lesse credit to the Councels Decrees than to the Gospell If they determine any thing in their Coūcels it must be fyrst concluded on by the Canonistes and Sententiaries althoughe this latter name is almoste worne away and eaten out with the Thomistes Occamistes and such like Wherefore sith it is euident that their Councels and Consistories are onely thus gouerned al men persuaded to credite mans lawe and order and not onely Gods worde and truth sith in their doings they fashion themselues to the conformity of mans decrées syth they obtrude and thrust into the conscience of all men reuerence and religion of mans authority and not of Iesus Christ our onely Prophete that they followe the steppes of the olde Heretiques and pollicie of the Diuell in them thereby to sequester the soules of men from God as is beforesayde vnder the title of Councels and Fathers Vndoubtedly gentle Reader it differeth not whether we haue any of the Apocrypha writings aforesayde or in steade of them the Canons and Sentences of Lombarde For as the common saying is In neyther barrell is the better Herring The Apocrypha writings teach errors the Canons Sentences doe so as before this boke ende thou shalte confesse The Apocrypha serue to entice men from the onely worde of God the Canons and Sentences do so For who hath not in times past bene counted an Heretique for reading of Scripture The Apocrypha are contrary to their selues variable foolishe and not to edification the Canons and Sentences are also such And least I should séeme a defamer beholde I yelde thée here certayne errors and contrarieties out of the Decrees or Canons Error DIst 13. Parag. 1. Gratian sayth that if a man be set in the brakes of .ij. euyls he may choose do the lesser By which doctrine Origene his fall is allowed who being commaunded eyther to offer his body to the lust of a Verlet or else to burne incense before an Idoll did commit the latter for auoyding of the fyrste which were a doctrine more licentious than any of the Cynicks Error QVest 16. Paragr 3. Potest etiam alter Post c. Dilectio Gratian there talking of prescription sayth to this sense That when a man doth purchas a chattell reall or any other goods moueable or vnmoueable and at the time of purchasing thereof suppose y e same by lawfull title conueyed to him the which notwithstanding afterwards he vnderstandeth beleueth to be otherwise may for all that iuste information of his conscience procede forth on in his possession and title vnto time prescriptible which is a doctrine contrary to all reason and conscience Error and Follie. 2. QVest Sepe contingit Where he sayth that if theft be committed or done in a monasterie the doer wherof is vnknowen the purgation must be done in this sorte that at Masse all must communicate vnder this obtestation the body of our Lorde be this day in triall agaynst thee Oh abuse and tempting of God I could recite false allegation of Scripture and horrible exposition of the same False fathering on the fathers Which thinges I omit vntill my next labours c. bycause my purpose is to be only summarie and briefe at this time Contrarieties DIst 4. C. Statuimus cum duobus sequent There Gratian entreating of Fast in Lent doth say that the cleargy ought to beginne the same straight vpon Sexagesima according to the ordinaunce of the Elders Contrary thereto is the Custome And yet the Cleargy is not sayd to sinne as appeareth in the same Dist Paragr vlt. Distinct 23. c. In nomine Nicholas the Pope ordayned by that Decrée that the Popes holinesse should be chosen not onely by the Cardinalles but also by other religious Clearkes But contrary to it the same election is onely done by the Cardinals as appeareth Tit. de elect per totum c.
nerui et alia huiusmodi That is not only Christs flesh but also all his whole body to wéete bones sinewes and such like And D. Gardener sayeth in his booke against the reuerend father M. Cranmer Christ giueth truly in the sacrament to be eaten the flesh he spake of before taken of the virgin Mary c. For the scripture speaketh of Christs body vvhich vvas betrayed for vs to be giuen vs to be eaten c. The practise of their Church agréeth with that doctrine For by the Cautele of their Masse the priest must haue his thought whollye bente to doe that in the person of Christe which Christ in his institution did And al the pith of that pageant lieth vpon this worde Meum Which of force must be to consecrate that body which he at his institution had Newe Sacramentaries AGainst the which Doctor Harding in his late worke is As also Gardener is though he spake the same in another place against the same in these wordes We receyue not in the Sacrament Christes flesh that vvas crucified being so a visible mortal flesh but Christs flesh glorified incorruptible impassible a godly and spirituall flesh Wherout it appeareth that whilest D. Gardener Harding would haue an other flesh than that which was crucified to be in the sacrament that they varie from the first opinion and practise of their church And in that that M. Gardener will not haue that fleshe vvhich vvas crucified being so a visible flesh in the sacrament yet would haue very flesh therein it is euident y t besides that he falleth froÌ„ the elder Popists he is an hererique in y e nature of Christs body in heauen bicause he maketh it an inuisible body which can not be accident to our substaunce though it shall be as in him it already is glorified But thus muche briefely remitting thee for the rest to the plée of the reuerende father the B. Sarum and D. Harding Quantitiners GArdener sayeth vvhen vve speake of Christes body in the sacrament vve must vnderstande a true bodye vvhich hath both forme and quantitie And therfore such as coÌ„fesse the true Catholique faith they affirme of Christes body al truth of a natural body c. And afterwarde he sayeth So as if Christ be present in the sacrament vvithout al forme and quaÌ„titie then is he there neyther as God nor man Against which doctrine of quantitie forme of Christes body in the sacrament al their doctors are Among other Biel writing thus alleageth Et dico notanter corpus tale non tantum quia non est in sacramento quantum cuÌ„ ibi non sit extensum nec circuÌ„scriptiuè vt priori dist tactum c. And I speake notingly or effectually in this saying A body of suche qualitie and not micheltie bicause that in the sacrament there is no micheltie or quantitie When as therin is not any largenesse of bodye or compasse for the limmes Also D. Smith who in that field fought as he thought for M. Gardener in that quarrel of the sacrameÌ„t is against him in this point of quantitie and forme Fashioners THe elder Popistes say that Christ is not in the Sacrament according to dimension that is laying out of hys limmes or placing and ordering of the same as Aquinas testifieth thus Dictum est autem quod corpê° Christi comparatur ad hoc sacramentum non ratione quantitatis dimensiuae sed ratione suae substantiae It is sayd before that the body of Christ is compared to this sacrament not according to the measure or parting out of the parts of the same but according to the reason of the substance And therfore Smith sayeth that the bodye of Christ is thus in the Sacrament in substaunce sacramentallie So that the hande is in the substaunce the head is in the substance and so likewise of the rest of the members And that they be not distinct and in déede locallie placed the one from the other but be so confounded in the Sacrament that wheresoeuer the one is there is the other The contrarie therto Maister D. Gardener teacheth in the .3 booke thus The partes of the vvhich talking of the bodye be in themselues distinct one from another And bicause it else shoulde be as he gesseth a monstrous body He therfore concludeth that it is measured out according to the quantitie and placing of his members and limmes Bread Spoylers BE those that say that the words of consecratioÌ„ spoken there remayneth no part of bread nor of wyne but that which is eaten is flesh and bloud Impossibile est saith Aquinas post consecrationeÌ„ remanere in sacramento cum Christi corpore substantiam panis et vini It is impossible there should rest in the sacrament after the consecration therof the substance of bread wine with the body of Christ Against the which Caietanus the Cardinall finding himself agréeued with the diuines sayth thus Hoc caput falsissimum est quod Theologi dicunt corpus Christi corporaliter praeceptibiliter sumi quoniam spiritualiter et non praecipiendo siue sensu siue intellectu sed credeÌ„do corpus Christi sumitur in Eucharistia sacramentales autem species corporaliter et perceptibiliter sumuntur That is a moste false doctrine which the diuines teach namely that the body of Christ is corporallie and sensible receyued in the sacrament for that that spirituallie and not sensibly eyther to sense or vnderstanding the bodye of Christ is in the sacrament receiued by only beléeuing but it is the sacramentall kindes of bread and wyne that are receyued both sensiblie and corporallie Accident rotters VErie variable and contrary is the doctrine of the Popistes vpon this question whereof the moulding rotting wormes ashes of their burned hostes come Aquinas confuteth .iij. opinions The firste is of those that say that the wormes come onely of the ayre rounde about The .ij. of those that say that the olde substaunce of bread and wyne before by the wordes of consecration affrighted and frayed away retourne and corrupt The .iij. which he counteth somwhat probable that it commeth of a new matter and substance of bread and wyne created by God for the purpose Of this laste iudgemeÌ„t is D. Smith saying thus I say that the consecrated vvyne turneth not into vinegar nor the consecrated bread mouldeth not engeÌ„dreth vvormes nor is burned nor receyueth into it any poyson as long as Christs body and bloud are vnder the formes of them vvhich do abide there so long as the naturall qualities and properties of bread and vvine tarry there in their naturall disposition and condicion that the bread and vvine might be naturally there if they had not bene chaunged into Christes body and bloud And also as long as the hoste and consecrated vvyne are apte to be receyued of man and no longer but goe and departe thence by Gods povver as it pleaseth him And then a nevv substaunce is