saie Qui nocet noceat adhuc qui in sordibus est sordescat adhuc qui iustus est iustificetur adhuc saÌ„ctus sanctisicetur adhuc vsque dum dominus venerit cito merces illius cum eo vt reddat vnicuique vt opus illorum erit He that doeth euill let hym doe euill still and he whiche is filthie let hym be filthie still and he that is rightuous let hym be more rightuous and he that is holie let hym bee more holie vntill the Lorde come shortlie and his rewarde is with hym to render vnto euery man accordyng as their deedes shal be Concludyng with the laste wordes in all scripture Amen etiam veni domine Iesu So be it euen so come Lorde Iesu. Gratia domini nostri Iesu Christi cum omnibus vobis Amen The grace of our Lorde Iesu Christ bée with you all AMEN Generall considerations AS it standeth all men in hande to looke well about theim leste thei bee deceiued with the subtile clokes of hypocrisie So it were moste agreable for theim that beare the names of learned men and be in the roumes of Iudges and Commissioners specially in Ecclesiasticall executions to haue good groundes both of Goddes Lawes and mennes lawes to aunswere bothe God and man at all tymes to kepe them selues within learnyng and discretion to the conseruation of the lawes of their owne naturall countrey accordyng to the charge that is committed to their truste and not to hange the suertie of their doynges vpon other mennes sleaues as is at these daies commonly perceiued in diuers Chauncellours and Comisaries whiche partely by their hastie runnyng before lawes without Commission and executyng their offices so extremely in depriuyng and diuorsyng the late maried Priestes alottyng theim no maner of liuyng out of their benefites whom thei admitte again to ministration as the Quéenes maiestie commaundeth them Articl 8. in the articles of Commission I saie it maie appeare that many of them haue neither eye to that whiche God in his lawe requireth of theim neither yet what their owne Ecclesiasticall lawes bindeth them to neither regardyng what the dignitie of the lawes of the Realme might aduise them nor yet what the Quéenes aucthoritie commaundeth them but in abusyng all take aduauntage of all to sette forthe their owne priuate stomackes or els belike takyng comforte and counsaile at this late set forthe booke thinke all is Gospell that thei read there and to be executed to the vttermost Whiche if thei doe peraduenture Christes woordes maie take place of theim Math. 15. b. Luke vi Si caecus caeco dux fuerit c. If the blinde leade the blinde bothe shall fall into the diche For if his aucthoritie be no greater for their warraunte then the substaunce of his truth and doctrine as he handleth hymself I feare me that he will bée to rotten a poste for them soundly to leane vnto when thei shall see hym once throughly examined by learnyng whiche thyng might be sone perceiued of them selues that be ledde by the perswasion of his booke and therefore doe as thei doe if thei were learned in the matters whiche he reporteth or yet indifferent to expende his reasons whiche vniuersally be so vntruly alledged and so violently contorted that I wounder that either hymself was not ashamed so openly in this learned worlde to abuse mennes eares that be ignoraunt or that thei that bee trained in learnyng should esteeme the cause the worse for his handelyng the matters as he vttereth them To expende but halfe of his vntruthes aswell in learnyng as his slaunders in deprauyng would require as greate a booke as his whole is for the worthie settyng out of them Now to geue you some taste of his sinceritie till wee shall expende howe he handleth hym selfe in the bodie of his booke note his clearkelie dealyng in his charitable preface or Epistle written to the Queenes highnesse wherein because ye might iudge of what heere he is of it pleaseth hym to treade in Albertus Pighius steppes right vp and downe as in moste of his wrytinges reasons and allegations and in corruptyng of the same he followeth hym at the harde heales Controuersia 15. Pighius in his booke of controuersies complaineth of the common contempte of Priestes as it is nowe a daies to bee seen and attributeth the same first to the greate swarme and multitude of Priestes As Masse Priestes Dirige Hriestes Chaunâ—tâ—rie Priestes Sacrificyng Priestes to the greate iniurie of Christes blessed sacrifice once for all made by his bloud for the renussion of synn ouer manie secondly too the greate vnworthines of theim for lacke of learnyng and knowledge and thirdlie to the vile sclaunderous incontinent lieâ— thei openly liued in as this Ciuilian also in like forme of wordes dooth vtter the selfe same groundes out of the which spring this open contempt of Priestes héere in England sauyng that it pleaseth this Ciuilian not to laie the whole burden of this matter in thadmission and choice of the Ordinaries as Pighius doeth but chargeth the patrons from whose corruption and coueteousnesse this vnworthinesse proceaded who as he saieth for frendship more then for learnyng for goodes more then of goodnes elected many into their holie orders neither of age neither of learnyng nor of discretioÌ„ worthie to take so high a function vpon them Expende here good reader the sleight of this Ciuilion in that he would insinuate to the reader that the patrones of Benefices for coueteousnesse sake are in this matter moste culpable who vseth to electe suche vile persones in to the Clergie by whiche meanes he would seme to laie the burden in their neckes and remoue it from suche as had by their office charge to admitte none but suche as by diligent examination should be founde able and worthie For who is in the fault the Patrone who presenteth his clarke to the iudgemente of the Ordinarie to be examined worthie or vnworthie and so by hym to be admitted or repelled or the Ordinarie who would against the lawes admit suche blinde Asses suche corrupte men of life to suche high functions How be it by the waie the greate high dignitie of suche Massyng Priestes as thei vsed to elect and admit wer fitte enough for suche as thei were coÌ„monlie whose offices were but to syng Masses for money mumble vp their Mattens to make a preteÌ„ce of praiyng to be at tables and in the ale house all the daie folowyng where thei should haue been at their bookes but what needed thei to be geuen to learnyng where Massyng might as well be performed of an vnlearned beast as of a learned man and what needed thei to studie to preache to their flockes hauyng suche number as many of them had neuer regarded nor once seen in all their liues either with teachyng in their owne persones either releuyng theim in hospitalitie or leadyng theim to vertue by good example of life And for that commonly thei supposed preachyng to be but
fault to other mennes charges stoutly and lowdlie then ye thinke no man will beleue that you be fawtie therwith But here maie ye note good readers how sincerely this man can write of this controuersie ye maie haue greate trust to his gloses vpon the text when belike he neuer sawe the text it selfe but with other mennes eyes I could saie some thing here euen that same that he obiecteth to other seyng he misconstrueth his aucthours misreporteth his allegations misnameth the persons feignyng a woman to bee a man a man a woman an Heritike a Catholike and a Catholike an Heritike and all to this onely ende that he might frame a probable argumeÌ„t in an vnprobable matter I trust good reader thou canste iudge howe to credite his honestie I would desire this Ciuilian whom I hate not before God to be better aduised in the next booke he shall make of matters of deuinitie and for conscience sake not to abuse the eares of the realme with vntruthes in Gods causes Det Dominus nobis omnibus intellectum illuminet nos vt cognoscamus in terra viam eius sciamus qùia omnis caro faenum omnis gloria eius tanquam flos agri Vbi verbum Domini manebit inaeternum The Lorde graunt vnto vs all vnderstandyng and geue vs suche light that we maie know his waie heere vpon yearth and haue in minde continuallie that all fleshe is grasse and all the glorie therof as the flowre of the fielde whereas the worde of the Lorde endureth for euer But ye will saie it is a small matter to misname one aucthor or booke for an other In deede the weight of the cause standeth not therin But how then can ye excuse this by any glose When ye alledge an aucthors testimonie and then glose him and make hym to saie that was neuer meante or spoken in the place If ye long to heare it Qui nititur mendatijs hic passit ventos prouerbio 10. LraÌ„ â— i. a. LraÌ„ k. i. â— LraÌ„â— a. a. whereby ye maie beware of light credence hereafter thus it is Ye report in youre booke no lesse then thrise in the seconde sixt and eighte Chapiters thereof one place of Origine on the Numbers By the whiche wordes ye note substantiallie diuerse worthie matters First that Origen writeth that Priestes ought to make vowes how from the beginnyng Priestes could not be maried How the Pristes standeth at the aâ—â—er therfore must be girded with chastitie How Orignes place is a plaine place for the oblatioÌ„ and sacrifice of the Masse whiche ye note to be the endlesse sacrifice so ment by Origen Now you desire in the true report of this place and such like to haue all youre credence hange in this cause Now good master D. Martin for al your loude bold vnshamfaste notyng and glosyng your reporte is nothyng true for the mind and purpose that Origen vttereth ther. For neither is your Masse sacrifice once ment nor priest staÌ„ding at th aulter rehersed neither priest vowyng nor priestes mariages once dreamed on If we should now verefie your owne law vpon your self whiche ye charge vpon others in your booke Cap. â—â—4 saiyng Semel malus semper praesumitur malus in eodem genere mali A man that is once euill is euer to be presumed to be euill in the same kinde of euill And then saie to youre self in your owne woordes where ye haue so vnshamefastlie vttered youre owne vntrueth thrise stumblyng at one stone Can ye of reason require vs to beleue you any more vpon youre owne bare report that men saie so that stories tell vs so others did inuent these matters and so forthe Now if ye yet liste to heare one or twoo more till wee hereafter detecte vnto your owne face a great heape so many that if thei were all taken out of your booke with textes wrasted and craftely curtalde I durste take in hande to reade ouer the reste of your booke deliberatly in an howres tyme and renne not out of breathe neither In the .xiij. Chapiter of his booke littera kk ij pag. ij he raileth on Ponet as ignoraunte in Lawe Canon and saieth he reporteth and falsifieth the aucthour of his texte ascribyng it to be of the Bushoppe of Romes saiyng where it is he saieth saincte Augustines owne woordes in a booke written vpon the .xxx. Psalme If it be so greate a faulte for a deuine to father a texte vpon a wronge aucthour whiche thyng is yet ofte committed by Gratian in the Decrees How muche more shame is it for a professed Lawier to laye it vpon sainct Augustine that is not found there in his place of the .xxx. Psalme alledged and yet maie bee clearly perceiued by the text it self where it is written that it is not sainct Augustines saiyng but Gratians verie woordes as euery blind bussarde maie sone espie that will see the text it self And after a triumph made vpon Ponetes ignoraunce and falsifiyng of the aucthoure to bryng in a shamelesse glose to saie that sainct Augustine in that same place saieth that priestes be bouÌ„d by the Lawe of the Churche neuer to marrie after Priesthoode whiche wordes or sense is not meante of sainct Augustine of the Psalm .xxx. For he speaketh onely but of lottes how thei bée not euill c. and no more is vouched in the decrees to bee sainct Augustines wordes nor yet did Gratian speaking these wordes Copula sacerdotalis c. inferre any suche matter as doctor Martin would make the reader beleue he doeth And againe he belieth S Augustine to referre to hym these wordes Antequam EuangeliuÌ„ claresceret c. whiche be Gratians woordes and he also belieth the woordes framyng a glose that is not borne of the woordes there Lo here ye see his common sinceritée to finde fault where none is and to fall in that ouersight whiche he hymself blameth Because I will go forward for that I haue promised to tel you of some more of his lies you shall haue a couple shortely couched vp together in the coÌ„passe of v. or vj. lines at once so vnlearnedly and so vntruely vttered that I would wonder more at it if he were not a professour of Lawe onely and not of Diuinitée LraÌ„ â— 3. Looke in his eighte Chapiter where he sweateth painfully to shewe that seculare Englishe priestes bee votaries and to bryng in strong argumentes inuincible reasons of the beste and finest sorte that it maie appeare to to manifeste to suche as bee halfe blinde whiche no man can gainsaie He putteth the reader in mynde not to looke in the glasse windowes I warrant you but on the priestes verie crounes in Englande whiche is an infallible euidence saieth he that priestes be votaries For thus he writeth Euery priest beareth in his croune the signe of his vowe like as the Nazarees assone as euer thei had vowed the shore of straight waie their heere Now if ye will not beleue hym except he aduouche
¶ A DEFENCE of priestes mariages stablysshed by the imperiall lawes of the Realme of Englande agaynst a Ciuilian namyng hym selfe Thomas Martin doctour of the Ciuile lawes goyng about to disproue the saide mariages lawfull by the eternall worde of God by the hygh court of parliament only forbydden by forayne lawes and canons of the Pope coloured with the visour of the Churche Whiche lawes canons were extynguyshed by the sayde parliament and so abrogated by the conuocation in their Sinode by their subscriptions Herewith is expressed what moderations and dispensations haue ben vsed heretofore in the same cause other like the canons of the Churche standyng in full force Whereby is proued these constitutions to be but positiue lawes of man temporall Let Matrimonie be honorable in all persons But fornicatours and adulterers God shall iudge Hebre. xiij ¶ The contentes of this booke noted in the pagies of the same as in these titles folowyng 1 A moste humble supplication to the hygh and most myghtie princes the Kyng and Queenes excellent maiesties Fol. 1. 2 An humble suite to the ryght prudent and most honorable of their councell Fol. 2. facie 2. 3 A lowly request and obsecration to the reuerent fathers of the Churche Fol. 3. facie 2. 4 A tractation to the discrete iudgement of the worshipfull of the lower house of parliament and to the professours of the lawe Fol. 7. facie 2. c. 5 An admonition to the naturall subiectes of the Realme and certayne notes for their aduertisementes Fol. 8. facie 2. c. Fol. 9. facie 2. d. 6 An expostulation with certayne of the Clergie for lacke of charitable indifferencie Fol. 11. facie 2. 7 Generall considerations in the booke folowyng 8 That Saint Paules sentences for auoydyng of fornication let euery man haue his wyfe â–ª c. and yf they can not conteyne let them marry be generally spokeÌ„ to al persons pag. 133. 136. c. 9 To seculer priestes and to votaries 140. b. 159. a. 10 And that continencie from mariage is a rare gyft 201. c. 204. a. 247. c. 251. 11 And that it is not lyke that the Apostles dyd enioyne the same to the Clergie seing they them selues and diuers other Bushoppes and priestes had wyues 32. b. 42. 156. d. 12 That it is only of mans constitutions for continencie to be annexed to orders 71. 72. 153. c. 13 And that seculer priestes votaries haue ben dispensed with to marrie 230. 14 And that our elders and the fathers of thâ— Churche haue thought it meete alwayes for lawes and canons to be restrayned remitted 41.85.175.179 c. 196. a. 197. b. 209. a. 210. d. 15 And that the same haue ben dispensed with in matters of greater importauÌ„ce then priestes mariages 204. a. 205. 267 a 16 And haue ben dispensed to kepe their wiues 222. a. 274. a. 17 That seculer priestes ordered in England be no votaries pag. 181. d. 181. c 184. a. 18 And myght marry after order as before 60.61.76.103.155 d. 253. d. 257.272 a 19 And that they haue ben before tyme maryed in the Realme Fol. 15. b i 20 And that it is no dishonour to the order nor burthen to the Realme for priestes to marry pag. 69. 70. 59. 21 That maryages of the Clergie made by force of the lawe of the Realme be good mariages â—69 238. b. 22 And that they lye not vpon the daunger of the canons to be impeached or dissolued 67.65.58.167.171 b. 200. d. 23 No more then the maryages of the laitie which were made in kyng Henry the .viii. his tyme by the act concernyng precontractes 170. d. 24 And that forayne positiue lawes with their paynes concernyng the same be abrogated not reuiued by the act of repeale 170. c. 25 That scripture ought to be iudge and is most certayne to be sticken vnto 73.74.98 b. 100. c. 245. b. 26 That D. Martin hath rigorously without all moderation expended the cause of these sayde parties iustly maryed by lawe 83.201 27 That D. Martin hath wrested misreported scriptures in the deprauyng of the sayde lawfull maryages 135. b. 147. a. 150 d 28 That D. Martin hath peruerted and falsified the scriptures stories councels aleaged by hym 53.54.105 b. 111. b 136. b. 144 a. 146 b. 148.155 a. 156 b 164.182 b. 221. b 238. d. 29 And doctours of the Church as Origen Ambrose 145. b. Austen 101. c. 104. a. 107. a. 150. b. Ierome 108. b Isodore 109. c Eusebius 144. Ignatius 118. c. Nicephorus 156. 106. a. 30 That D. Martin sclaundereth with euyll names aswel the matrimonie of the lay men as of priestes 66.82.163 a. 31 That D. Martin hath vsed to many lyes yf his cause were good insparsed in his booke part wherof be touched 43.44.45.50.51 52.53.54.55.56.107.115.136.145.151.157 c. 182. b. 216. c. ¶ A preface to the reader WHere by chaunce came into my handes of late a booke sent from beyonde the sea wherein was highly magnified a treatise written by one Thomas Martin doctour of the Ciuile lawe and there muche labour bestowed to disproue the lawfull matrimonies of Ecclesiasticall Ministers There came to my remembraunce a certayne wrytyng beyng in my custodie gathered together and written in the raigne of Kyng Philip Queene Marie wherin much of the treatise of this Ciuilian is reproued Which said booke was written by a learned man of that tyme who shortly after dyed meanyng yf God had lent hym longer lyfe to haue confuted more of the sandye groundes principles of the sayde Ciuilian And thynkyng it at these dayes not vnprofitable to be read for this controuersie I committed it to the Printer praying thee good reader to beare with the maner of the wrytyng in some partes therof beyng more meryly penned then some graue wryter would peradueÌ„ture alowe of In which fourme of wrytyng somewhat he foloweth as he sayth hym selfe thexample of Sir Thomas Moore knyght in his booke of Dialogues for purgatorie This wryter abstaynyng yet from vnchaste tales such as be in his 〈◊〉 booke ouermuch insparsed and partly being in aduersitie gaue himself to some solace to refreshe his minde with yet vsyng fewer insultations reprofes then the vnworthinesse of the said Ciuilian by his vnreasonable chalenge myght haue moued him to Now because I wold nether adde to another mans writing neither diminishe the same I haue preseÌ„ted vnto thee good reader the whole booke as it is affirmyng this that thou shalt finde all his allegations truely aduouched by the writers that he doth name assuring thee also persuaded by the nature of the man whom I haue hearde wel reported that no malice or corrupt indignation moued hym to write as he doth but pure zeale to the trueth of Gods most holy worde to their instruction who woulde be taught in this trueth to the amendement of his aduersarie in his manifest vntruethes to the comfort of theÌ„ who loue God and his veritie and to admonishe all such as be eyther wylfully ignoraunt or malicious well to expende
cōpte our selues in any perill Can our nexte neighbours house be on fire that parteth vs paraduenture but the breadth of one thinne wall and we without care of our owne Will we lie still quiet in our beddes And yet this I speake not as vpbreindyngly to your worshipfull wisedomes but as out of a free naturall harte in loue towarde our common countrey puttyng to your consideration that common perrill that maie ensue by humble sute requestyng your wisedomes to peruse this simple worke whiche maie geue you further occasion to consult with your selues what ye shal thinke méete as it maie be to God his glory honourable to the realme worshipfull to your selues and profitable to all our assuraūces ¶ An admonition to the naturall and louyng Subiectes of the realme Emong the earnest warnynges that our sauiour Christ left behinde him to admonishe his electes to the worldes ende good Christian reader I reade none in my iudgemente to bee had in more deepe remembraunce then suche as when he biddeth vs beware of false Prophetes Math. vii whiche come vnto vs in Shepes clothyng beyng inwardlie rauishyng Wolues Marke iiii Luke viii Take hede saieth he and beware what and how ye heare Take heede and beware of the Leauen of the Phariseis whiche is hypocrisie For there shall arise false Christes Math. xiii and false Prophetes and shall shewe miracles and wonders to deceiue if it were possible euen the very elect But take ye hede behold I haue shewed you all thinges before Of which graue and weightie admonitiōs of our sauior the holie Apostle S. Paule was not forgetfull to put vs still in remembraunce Collos. ii as in his Epistle to the Collossians saiyng Beware leste any manne come and spoile you through Philosophie and deceiptfull vanitie through the traditions of men and ordinaunces of the worlde and not after Christ. Let no man make you shoote at a wrōg marke whiche after his owne imagination walketh in the humblenesse and holines of Angels in thynges whiche he neuer sawe without cause puffed vp with his fleshly minde ii Peter i◠Iude. and holdeth not the head c. Thother Apostles in their writynges put vs likewise ofte in remembraunce of the like and prophecied infalliblie that suche should come to trie the faithe and constancie of christian people And as thei tolde vs before of their arisyng so thei prophecied certainly of their destruction The more subtillie the perswasion is cloked vnder coloure of aucthoritie of high names ii Timo. iii. Fathers Counsailes and Canōs wonder of witte miracle of learnyng pretence of Angelicall holinesse the more hede ought to be taken lest suche as haue not their senses exercised in Goddes woorde and grounded vpon the stable rocke of the same by suche worldlie tentations beginne to be offended and so their buildynges fall flatte downe The more daungerous the hurte is that ensueth to vs of this deceipte the more studiously should we looke about vs leste vnwarely we be caught therewith Yea the more aduisedly we bee before warned by no lesse monitour then the redeemer of our soules the sonne of God the wisedome of his father and the ofter we be putte in mynde by his Apostles who in spirite knewe what would folowe the more without excuse muste wée needes be if we will bee wilfullie ledde blinde and deluded To the entent therefore that either the writer of the late set forthe booke againste the lawfull mariages of Priestes namyng hym self Thomas Marten Doctor of the Ciuile Lawe maie bée admonished how he hath againste all Ciuilitie handeled hym self in the greate outward shewe of his writyng wherby he maie in some other suche like labour hereafter bee better aduised how to publishe his sodaine verdite in matters of learnyng in controuersie to write more aduisedlie then he shal be proued to haue doen in this gaie glorious prankyng booke either to amēde his fault or to stande to the defence of that whiche he hath written or at the leste waie if he haue determined in hym self that he will not for curste harte as GOD forbid redresse his ouersight or in a worldlie respecte were lothe to lose the gaine and praise that he supposeth to haue deserued by this his greate trauell at the handes of a greate many in these daies addicte already for sunderie vncomely respectes to his saied sentence and opinion Yet at the leaste waie that the indifferent learned reader maie haue some notes and aduertisementes to expende the substance of his reasons and that the weaker reader be not slaundered and betraied with the subtilitie of his Philosophie I haue thought it requisite to sette out a little taste of his saied booke till some other hereafter maie take in hande more ripely and groundly to examine his processe particularly to the full debatement of the truth which as he pretendeth to wishe to haue the better hande So I praie God we maie all in one accord and Christian agreement wishe it without hypocrisie in sinceritie and veritie to the glory of God his maiestie to the honourable and Godly contentation of the Kyng and Queenes highnes to the comfort of their graces Nobles and Commons and to the aduauncement of pure and perfecte chastitie in Cleargie to the suppression of superstitious and carnall carelesse life in filthinesse and vncleanesse of the same And that thou maiest haue gentle reader some introduction to leade thee into his boke I shall premitte a fewe notes to summe the substaunce of his writyng ¶ Summarie notes and obseruations to admonishe the Reader of D. M. booke as after in particularitie shal be shewed ¶ The first note M. Doctor in the allegation of his aucthours vseth violence in the translation of them to hurte the sense and misreporteth them leauyng out that might open the trueth and puttyng into the texte that is not in the aucthour Or els draweth and wresteth them to other senses then the aucthours did intende in so writing whiche is the common practise of the moste part of suche doctours who foloweth one an other in false reportyng and aduouchyng the aucthours As this doctour foloweth blindely the reporte and iudgement of Pighius and one or twoo suche more who were blinded them selues and be leaders of the blinde The seconde As he ascribeth to the procedyng preachers for soe he calleth them suche saiynges assertiōs as himself pleaseth to slaunder them with so he maketh them to speake in suche sort that it may be the easier for hym to confute them or els if the reason be good and strong he passeth a waie with silence and setteth a good countenaunce on it and stealeth so a way priuille The thirde Thirdlie he putteth no difference betwixt mariage in a priest and notoriouse adulterie or incest And what so euer any aucthor writeth against horedome he applieth the same against mariage and maketh the aucthors so to speake vntruely and so applieth all his lawes and canons to priestes mariages where in déede a
in saincte Hillaries daies it was lawfull for a Bushop in Fraunce to haue a wife For otherwise the holy man Hillarie would not haue vsed it And the age of him self and the youth of his doughter seme to proue that she was begotten after he was made Bushop But Martine like hym self triuÌ„pheth saiyng No Bushoppes had wiues but heretiques wherein his railyng tongue Martin condemneth S. Hillarie for an heretique condemneth Hillarie for an heretique if any maÌ„ would beleue hym But his tongue is no slaunder to all suche as knowe hym God be praised Also for the further profe of his purpose Martin belieth Saincte Hierome he alledgeth out of saincte Hierome against Heluidius that the firste maried prieste in Italie yea in the whole worlde was an heretique Marke now good reader and thou shalt heare a glorious lye of Martins I call it glorious because he hath set it forthe with suche a glory not here onely but hereafter in the 118. leafe also Martines wordes in his firste place are these Fol. 3. Martines owne woordes In Italie the firste Prieste that maried was he any better Meanyng than an heretique Sainct Hierome saieth it was Heluidius the heretique whiche denied our blessed Ladie to haue continued a virgine These bee the woordes of the greate Clarke Master doctor Martine the Lawier as of hym self he saieth but I might better haue saied of doctor Martine the lyer for doubtlesse he is a thousande folde better seen in liyng then in lawyng Whiche appeareth not onely by the moste parte of the notes in the margent in his firste chapiter poinctyng to the texte of like trouthe that bée moste commonly lies but also by this place and an infinite number of other where he belieth falsly the old writers not onely in falsly tourning them writhyng their saiynges against their meanynges but also in moste falsly aduouchyng them to saie that thei saie not as in this place he maketh a moste shamefull lye vpon S. Hierome For I assure thee good reader that S. Hierom saith not in all his boke against Heluidius that he was as Martine reporteth the firste maried prieste in Italie No S. Hierome saieth not that Heluidius was maried And how maie it then be true that sainct Hierome saieth he was the firste maried prieste in Italie So now ye see that Martine is not contented to make one lye vpon sainct Hierome but he muste also laie one in an others necke reportyng sainct Hierome to saie that Heluidius was the firste prieste that maried in Italie because it is a lye that he was maried at all and yet saieth Martine sainct Hierome reporteth that he was not onely maried but also the firste maried prieste in Italie And in this poincte also Martine is not a litle to be blamed that he doeth not onely belie S. Hierom Martine ascribeth a lye to S. HieroÌ„ but also the thing it self is a lye whiche he faineth S. Hierom to saie But you will aske me howe I can proue that sainct Hierom saieth not so Forsoth twoo waies Firste I am contented to be iudged by the whoole booke whiche sainct Hierom hath written againste Heluidius Secondarilie Martines woordes I am contented to let Marten hymself be iudge for these bee his wordes whiche immediatly followe this lye before written And saieth Marten he saieth no. meanyng by sainct Hierome that he was the firste Maried Prieste in Italie Loe good reader what néede I any further condempnation for Martine in this poinct then his owne penne Well doeth S. Hierom saie so No verely saieth Martin why then for shame suffereth he those lines before in the texte and that note in the Margent to stande in his booke without adding vnto it some suche note as this is Beleue not Martine in this place A note to bee put in that mergent of Martines booke Note that Martin turneth the word Sacerdos by the Englishe woorde spirituall for here he lyeth egregiosly Why but I praie you is it not enough for Martine to saie that S. Hierom saieth not so Yes forsoth enough to proue the other saiyng a lie But to proceade if sainct Hierom saie not so I praie you what saieth he Marrie saieth Martin he saieth not that he was the firste maried Prieste in Italy But the firste prieste that became both spirituall and temporall in the whole worlde Now belike Martin hath looked so narrowely to his matters that he will not bee taken with his accustomed fashion of liyng But what will you saie Martine defeÌ„deth one lye with another if this also bee alie Thinke ye not then he were a meete man to lie for the whetstone Uerelie good reader this is no lesse lie then the other for this is not in all S. Hierom neither Wherby ye maie sée his tongue so accustomed to liyng that he can not when he would saie the truthe But I praie you what saith S. Hierom of Heluidius forsoth that which foloweth in Latine in Martins owne booke these be his wordes Solus in vniuerso mundo laicus simul sacerdos Thenglishe whereof is this he onely in the whole world was both at once a prieste and a laie man In the which wordes thou maiest se good reader that there is no mention neither that he was the firste maried prieste in Italy neither that he was the firste maried prieste in the whole world neither that he was maried vnlesse ye will saie that all laie men be maried Yea if it were true that al laie men were maried men yet is there neuer a worde in sainct Hierome neither of Italie neither of firste nor of laste nor of mariage Martins manifest vntrueth in alledgyng old aucthours Nowe maie you see what credit is to be geuen to Martin when he alledgeth old authours But it maie be peraduenture he will saie the Printer deceaued hym and put it in of his owne hedde But Martin caÌ„ not escape so For in .118 lefe .1 G. pag. 2. he maketh the self same lie againe and saieth also there that the Heritique Heluidius was the firste maried prieste that we reade of in al Christendom It is the property of some liars when thei haue told a lie once or twise or oftner that by often telling of their lies to other at last thei thincke them true themselues And so it may â—ee that Martin by often tellyng this vaine fable doeth nowe thincke it is a moste true story But seyng it is plainly shewed that Martin faileth in the profe of his groundes where he intendeth to proue by induction the firste maried prieste in Italy and in Fraunce and so forth were Heretiques though he were able to make some profe of other maried priestes in other countries yet can not his reason holde as I haue at large before declared because some partes of the inductioÌ„ beyng improued the reason runneth but froÌ„ an indefinite to an vniuersal Whiche kinde of reasonyng young Sophisters in Cambridge be shent when thei vse
father the Pope hym self For Gregorie Busshop of Rome writyng to the busshop of Rauenna saith on this wise Vir mulier siâ—se coniunxerint dixerit postea mulier de viro quòd coire noÌ„ possit cuÌ„ ea si possit probare quod verum sit per iustum iudicium accipiat alium If a man and a woman be maried together saieth the Pope and the woman afterwarde saie that the man can haue no carnall knowledge of her can bring forthe lawfull profe thereof let her take an other Moreouer before in the same question and afterward in the chapiter Si quis these wordes bee plaine and in maner the verie same that Luther hath spoken Impossibilitas reddendi debitum soluit vinculum coÌ„iugij The impossibilitie of doyng the matrimonicall dueâ—ie breaketh the bonde of matrimonie Understandyng the same defecte to be naturall as Luther by the plaine wordes there declareth that he doeth And the self same doctrine is largelie sette forthe and allowed by the master of the Sentence Lib. 4. d. 34. Wherefore like as for this saiyng Luther can not be charged with any newe doctrine for that the same is taught by the Pope hymself and the master of the sentence Magilier seâ—â—one lib. 4. D. â—4 read the place and iudge and Gratianus c So can not the same discharge Martine of his former euidente and moste manifest slaunderouse lie If the Papistes haue none of more credit then Martine the lewde Lawiar is to defende their quarrell their doctrine muste needes lie in the dust for lacke of men of honestie and credite to defende it If Martine were not shameles I would not but maruaile why he should so report of Luther concernyng his doctrine of Matrimonie in that boke for he is there so ware of his wordes and so circumspect with his pen in that poynt that he will define nothyng as by the verie last wordes there entreatyng vpon matrimonie it is moste euident whiche for breuitie I will omit Many tymes it chaunceth that self will breadeth muche ill and neuer more then when it lighteth vpon a greate Personage Whiche saiyng were proued very trewe by Martins story of Michael Paleologus if it were truelie reported But his mouthe is so full of lyes that a man canne not tell when he maye beleue hym He saieth he hath read that historie of Michael Paleologus in a gréeke aucthor And that may bee true but it is verie vnlikely because the histories do declare that there were diuerse Emperours of the easâ—e whose names were Michael but no more named as I remember Michael Paleologus sauyng Michael the seuenth and laste of that name Michael who was .1260 yeres after Christe as Chronicles doe witnes that is to say about 300 yeares ago But the history that Martine ascribed to the Emperoure Michael Paleologus was as he hymself saieth when Pope Nicholas about the yeare of our Lorde .860 sent out an excommunication against Photius Patriarche of Constantinople And so it foloweth that Michael Paleologus the Emperour was if Martins tale could be trewe foure hundred yeares before he was borne Whereby it should seme that Martines talke in this place is a notable faigned lyâ— and so muche the more like to be alye because he is in all the rest of his booke so geuen to liyng An other lye of Martins But let it bee true that Michael the sixt betwene whom and Pope Nicholas the first the contention was for Ignatius and Photius were named Michael Paleologus whiche I saie Martine cannot proue yet the history that Martine ioyneth to his matter that is that he hath redde the cause of the contention betwene Pope Nicholas the firste and hym was for a pleasure that the saied Emperoure should shewe to his vnckle for the puttyng awaie of his lawfull wife and mariyng his daughter in lawe I thincke bee not altogether true but that sumwhat in this history is added of Martines owne forging desiring to haue colour for his quarrell wheÌ„ he entendeth to sclaunder Kyng Henry the eight the Quéenes father Kyng henry the viii whiche entent of his appereth wheÌ„ he wisheth that the like had not béen practised elswhere And somwhat this my suspitioÌ„ is encreased by that Martine refuseth to name the Greeke aucthour whom he alledgeth And againe whereas in the bookes of generall Counsailes the earnest Epistles written from Nicholas the Pope to the Emperor Michaell the sixte for in those daies there were none named Paleologus as Martine saieth spake of the puttyng out of Ignatius and the puttyng in of Photius into the office of the Patriarche no mention is made of any suche matter whiche is not like the Pope would haue left out beyng as Martine alledgeth the chief cause of their fallyng out and speakyng so stoutely to the Emperor and touchyng hym so vilie as his Antechristian boldnesse doeth But how muche soeuer of the historie is true this chief poincte that Martine alledgeth the historie for that is that the heresie against the holy ghost and the contention thereof sprang vpon this occasion this I saie is manifestly false An other lye of Martins as by sundrie substanciall reasons I will proue plaine to suche as haue any knowledge of the doing in generall Counsailes Martin falsifieth histories and bee not as Martine is arrogantly wise wise I saie in their owne conceipt and not in déede For profe whereof firste and formoste it appeareth in the first booke and tenth chapiter in the historie of Theodoret Theodoâ—â—â— li. 1. ca. 10. an old Greeke aucthour by the confession of Pope Damasus 500. yeres before the tyme of that Emperour whom Martine falsly nameth Michael Paleologus whiche confession he sente to Paulinus Bushop of Thessalonica in Macedonia that anon after the Nicene Counsaile sprang coÌ„tention for doctrine against the holy ghost and that suche a businesse ensued thereof that the Fathers were faine to punishe the offendours therein by excommunication Wherevpon it followed that bothe in Toletano consilio ToletuÌ„ coÌ„câ—â— â–ª 1. 1. aboute .400 yeres after Christ and also in the seconde Counsaile whiche some name the seuenth Counsaile of Nice the Busshoppes did putte into the Crede the procedyng of the holy Ghost from the Father and the Sonne as ye maie reade in those Counsailes The Latine vij Nicen concl 7. Nicen Counsaile was holden in the tyme of Pope Hadrian the first Hadrian was Anno D. 772. and the Emperour Michael Anno D. 25â— 100. yere before Michael had the contention with Pope Nicholas the firste in whose tyme Martin saith this error firste began and .500 yere before Michel Paleologus was borne of whom Martine falsly fathered this storie Which saiyng of his if it were true how could Theodoretus wrâ—â—e of it beyng dead in the tyme of Leo the first Emperor as Gennadius witnesseth many hundred yeres before Will Martine make men beleue that the first Counsaile at Tolet in Spaine and the 7. Counsaile of Nice amended
allowe his counsailes and doynges and make as it were of an olde Iudas a newe Christe Here had I a greate fielde to walke in describyng these dissemblers with princes and with suche realmes where thei beare rule but wee will ceasse to vtter their deseruynges and returne again to that matter whiche doeth more properly appertaine to the argumeÌ„t of our writyng and therefore will resume that was begonne in the .32 leafe B. continued vnto .35 B. before sm that the Apostles had their wiues as all writers aunciente confesse the same and all reasonable men will agree thereto Now if it can be borne of mennes eares to heare that the Apostles had wiues why should this aucthor by his tragical exaggerations make it so odious for Bushoppes and Priestes the apostles successors to haue their lawfull wiues I thincke he will not saie that the beste of his chaste Priestes be better then the Apostles Againe to consider what Paphnutius saied and counsailed for the priestes of his tyme not to be seperated and that it is chastitie to company with their wiues and that to seperate them might be an occasion of great inconueniencie in them bothe If in that holy tyme whan God was truely honored his worde and Sacramentes moste holyly ministred Priesthode was then in greate high estimation and that in maried priestes and bushops as by name shall be hereafter expressed why doeth this aucthour so stifly crie for seperation in Priestes married nowe sequestred by power and not by right from ministration wher thei of Nicene were suffered with them in ministratioÌ„ If like perill may bee feared in the parties now coupled together why should thei be seperated more then the other If their Sacramentes were none other nor holier then oures their worde none other then that we haue why maie not oure order stand with mariage as well as thers If lyke necessitie of Ministers in this realme be as great as hath been in other places where maried Priestes did minister and yet doeth in some places of the Occidentall Churche Why shoulde this wryter exclame so vnlearnedly againste Englishe Priestes mariage as though it were not decent nor tollerable but against Goddes lawe and mannes law liyng against them bothe and saiyng that order and Matrimonie that a wife and a benefice can not stand together And in the bolsteryng out of this matter is almoste all his booke emploied againste antiquitie against the practise of the primatiue Churche against the worde of God wrytten againste the practise of tolerations in the lyke case of diuerse counsailes and deâ—rees of the Busshops of Rome as shall be proued when it cometh to place I truste this Ciuilian is not yet so addicte to the Canonicall procedynges that the matter lieth onely in this poincte that if the Bushop of Rome allowed the matter all were well for me thinke so he can not meane For if his assertions be true he must proue the Bushoppes of Rome diuerse of them to be very Antechristes if thei haue dispensed against Goddes expresse woordes yea he must condempne a great many of Canonistes and of scholemen and a greate many of Catholike writers traueilyng in controuersies of this tyme whiche peraduenture hath read as muche in Diuinitie and Canon lawe as I thinke this Ciuilian hath doen in his Ciuill whiche bee of cleane contrary assertion to this singular man But yet I heare this writer obiecte againe suche an obiection as was once made by a Canonist in the expending of this verie poincte Distingue tempora saieth he personas concordabis leges Canones Weye the difference of tyme and of persones and so shall ye make the lawes and Canons agrée Then was then and now is now For the case saieth he is farre vnlike betwixte the priestes of the Greke Churche whiche were maried before thei were priestes and the priestes of our Churche time whiche he maried after their order And this he thinketh to be an high wittie inuention and insoluble and by this shifte he pronounceth the victorie of the cause before any stroke bee striken standyng stoutely in the difference of the tyme mariage to goe before order or to come after To answere if it be true as he can not deny but that it was not lawfull by their saiynges of the Counsaile of Nice to bee separated by Lawes and constrainte and that it was chastitie for the busshoppes and priestes to kepe company still with their wiues yea when thei were ministeryng busshoppes and priestes in an other maner attendaunce and holinesse then the best chast busshoppes and priestes of our tyme practise in their doynges so that by their iudgement the one state dishonored not thother nor was impediment to the other as hereafter shal be proued by the testimonie of their owne Canonistes and Doctors what difference is there in the substaunce of the order in them of the primitiue or Greke churche and in the priestes of this Latine churche and Occidentall churche but that order and matrimonie maie stand together in one figure in them bothe As for vowe or promise shall bee hereafter considered open protestation or no protestation chastitie of congruitie dependyng or included by the nature of order or for the Churche constitution shall be hereafter answered and expended Now I saie if the priestes of the Greke Churche liued godly in ministration with their wiues why maie not the priestes of the Occidentall churche be iudged to liue as godly in Matrimonie and as lawfully to in Englande hauyng the highest Lawe in the realme on their side But here this doctor will be offended to haue any thing brought in for declaration of this cause out of Grece and maketh a greate matter that men should so doe and repelleth al their doing thus what is that saith he to the matter are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction If I should answere you so master doctor with your owne obiectioÌ„ then might it bee a full sufficient answere by it self a lone to all your whole booke to saie when ye bryng Romishe Canons out of Spaine out of Fraunce out of Grece I might so answere you what bee all these to the matter are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction When ye alledge from Prouinciall coÌ„stitutions Sinodes nationall lawes of Emperours Ciuile and Panim lawes what are all these to the matter of our Imperiall lawes are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction And thus your booke is fully answered and ye may now put vp your pipes with al your choristers of forren Lawes and Canons Moreouer in the seuen Chapiter ye also saie that it bewraieth the weakenesse of the cause for priestes to wander into Grece to bryng in their maner of liuyng of mariyng orderyng If that declareth the weakenesse of the cause I praie you then what is the strength of the cause ye haue taken in hande For ye be not content to raile and wander ouer all the Realmes and Churches of Europe but ye runne
into Asia and Affrica and bryng in Panim priestes to set out the matter There is nothyng in your booke written or vnwritten deuised by your owne braine or surmised by heare saie but ye make strong argumentes for your owne vaine and feble cause But briefly to answere this wittie deuise of the difference of the tyme till a â—uller debatemente of that poincte I shall answere as once sainct Hierom was answered in a matter of Priestes and Bisshoppes wiuyng and orderyng by a certaine disputer who defended the constitution of the churche as it was then and as it is at this daie where S. Hierome is on the contrary part holdyng that to haue one wife before Baptisme and a seconde wife after was not therefore an impedimente to be admitted to Priesthode Epistola ad Oceanum or to a Busshoppes office Nonne legisti ab Apostolo vnius vxoris virum assumi in sacerdotium rem noÌ„ tempora definiri that t s Doest thou not reade saieth he that by the Apostles aucthoritie the husbande of one wife is to bee chosen into Priesthode and that the cause and matter is thereby defined and not the tyme If this catholike disputer would haue the saiyng of S. Paule to bee weighed in the nature of the order and mariage rather then drawen to the circumstaunce of tyme and that he must bée the husbande but of one wife either before or after Baptisme at the tyme of his orderyng and therefore maie be eligible to be a priest or bushoppe And as sainct Hierom hym self writeth afterward that it is rather loked for in a priest or Busshop what he is for the tyme presente then what he hath been why not as well maie sainct Paules text and aucthoritie serue for a prieste and a busshoppe to be lawfully qualefied if he be the husbande but of one wife whether he had his wife in the tyme he was no prieste or he take a wife in the tyme after he bée in his priesthode So he be as it is said the husbande of one wife yea successiuely Wherewith ye maie quarell by aucthoritie of some expositours though not with the manifest woorde of God But to be the husbande onely of one wife before order and after order once for all as ye saie the Greeke Churche vseth to doe ye can not quarell rightly by Goddes worde nor yet by reasonable aucthoritie of mannes Lawe or Canon in suche necessitie as ye force and inferre of their saiynges As for the other peece of Nicene Canon where it is saied that accordyng to thauncient tradition of the Churche suche as were not as yet maried and were partakers of holy order should from thence for the contracte no mariage And as for the Canon of the Apostles whiche ye stande so strongly to or yet for the saiyng of sainct Augustine immediatly folowyng the place whiche is here before alledged leste ye should cauill as ye doe that I lefte out the pithe of the matter and would slide sleightly ouer the whole place of the aucthoritie and bryng theim in by patche meales with violent wrestyng as ye vse to doe I will heareafter bryng them put them all together to the iudgement of the reader to geue sentence betwixt vs how farre thei weye in this cause Yet in the meane tyme to make some insinuation to you of sainct Augustines question note ye well his woordes not as a subtile Lawier but like a Diuine and wreste not sainct Augustines licet Cap. 4. haÌ„ E. ii a. Vt notatur ca. â—i Christus de IureturaÌ„â—o and non licet out of their nature as ye doe Quaedam illicita sunt in sui natura quaedam ciuiliter .i. iure positiuo vel consuetudinario quaedam sunt simoniaca quia prohibita quaedam sunt prohibita quia simoniaca Quid autem liceat aut quid non liceat pleni sunt libri scripturarum August in Psa. 147 qui confirmat vectes portarum c. Some thynges are vnlawfull of their owne nature and some by Ciuile constitution that is by positiue lawe Some thynges are Simonicall because thei are forbiddeÌ„ and some are forbidden because thei are Simonical but what is lawfull and what not lawfull is fully set out in the bookes of scripture And then againe note if S. Augustine openeth not his mynde by the like licet and non licet Saiyng AntequaÌ„ Ecclesiasticus quis sit licet ei negotiari facto iam non licet That is Before one hath taken vpon hym the state of an Ecclesiasticall persone he maie geue hym self to worldly affaires but afterward he maie not In like maner Consilium Aurelianense saieth Episcopum presbyterum aut diaconum canes ad venandum aut accipitres NoÌ„ licet 〈◊〉 negotiari intâ—resse ludis c. Distinct. 88 per totum aut huiusmodi res habere non licet It is not lawfull for a Busshop Priest or Deacon to haue houndes haukes or suche like Now call to your remembraunce how your Lawe qualifieth this licet and non licet till we tell you more in this matter In your expendyng if ye take not quid pro quo ye shall doe the better But because the reader maie further heare what saith S. Hierome in the defence of his opinion as is spread in the processe of his saied Epistle and that the prudent reader maie expeÌ„de whether his Rhetorike might not bee applied againste the aduersaries of this cause as well as he vsed it in the like cause I will reporte his woordes what he writeth further there and leste ye should mistake the Epistle I will shewe you how it beginneth Thus therfore he writeth Nunquam fili Oceane fore putabam vt indulgentia principis calumniam sustinerer reorum de car ceribus exeuntes post sordes ac vestigia cathenarum dolereÌ„t alios relaxatos In EuaÌ„gelio audit inuidus salutis alienae Amice si ego bonus quare oculus tuus nequam est Conclusit deus omnia sub peccato vt omnibus misereatur vt vbi abundauit peccatum superabundet gratia Caesa sunt Aegypti primogenita ne iumentum quidem Israeliticum iÌ„ Aegypto derelictum est consurgit mihi Caina haeresis atque olim emortua vipera contritum caput leuat Quae non ex parte vt ante consueuerat sed totum Christi subruit Sacramentum c. Dicit enim esse aliqua peccata quae Christus non possit purgare sanguine suo tam profundas scelerum pristinoruÌ„ inherere corporibus atque animis cicatrices vt medicina illius attenuari noÌ„ queant quid aliud agit nisi vt Christus frustrà mortuus sit c. A paraphrasis of the same By swéete sainct Mary and good sainct Martine to I would neuer haue thought gentle master Martine that it would euer haue come to passe that the graunte and concession of that moste Christian Prince kyng Edward in his high Courte of Parliamente grounded vpon Goddes almightie woorde should euer haue been
a fornicator with many then to be twise maried Montanus and suche as folowe the scisme of Nouatus say that thei haue takeÌ„ presumptuously vpon them the name of chastitie whiche thinketh that seconde mariages oughte to bee forbidden from the Churches Communion Wher the Apostle charged this thing of Bushops and Priestes and released it to other not that he moueth to seconde mariage but geueth pardon to the necessitie of the fleashe And surely to be a Bushop of Priest without blame and to haue one wife is in our power thus far S. Hierome And here againe maie wee learne what it is to fight in controuersies with mans reasons humaine aucthoritie yea though thei bee not craftely couched together contorted as the bragge of this mans booke standeth wholy vpon that poincte and to exclude the scripture or els to bring in the sciâ—iptures for a countenaunce but yet with violent gloses to drawe them against the heere to applie them to that sentence that is satteled in his head alreadie before he coÌ„meth to theim as it is this mannes greate grace in his whole booke And againe here wee maie expende howe circumspectly the Canonistes of Rome affirme that the writynges of the doctors and holie menne of the Churche muste bee holden to the vttermoste ynche Yea thei bee nowe commaunded to bee holden saie thei in all that thei write to the vttermost title Distinct. 9. Nolâ— For so thei speake in the booke of the decrées If this bee true then let Hierome be holden in this pointe or els let them rather force no further mans saiynges and aucthority then of right the authors themselues would be taken and red and as thei themselues vsed to take other mennes writings of what antiquitie aucthoritie soeuer thei were There is a great difference saith S. Augustine betwixt thaucthoritie of the Canonicall scriptures and the writynges of Bushops whether it be of our owne or of Hyllarius or Ciprian or any other And therfore saith he to Vincentius the Donatiste Epistola 41. stirre vp no quarel of their writynges for thei be not so to be redde that in suche wise their testimonies be brought in as though it weere not lawfull to iudge and thinke contrarie if perhappes thei thought otherwise then the truthe required These are his wordes Noli ergò frater colligere velle calumnias ex episcoporum scriptis siue nostrorum siue Hillarij siue Cipriani quiá hoc genus literarum ab authoritate Canonis distinguendum est Non enim sic leguntur tà nquam ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contrà sentire non liceat si fortè alitèr sapuerint quam veritas postulat And in an other book of his de peccatorum meritis Libro primo Caâ—itulo 22. he saieth cedamus consentiamus authoritati scripturae sanctae quae nescit falli néc fallere hominum est labi hallucinari falli fallere decipi decipere Paulo dicente Videte nèquis vos decipiat c. diuinae auÌ„t scripturae robur nullum eiusmodi defectum admittit Lette vs geue place and geue our assente to the aucthoritie of holy Scripture whiche can not bee deceaued nor deceiue It is naturall to menne to slide to bee blynded Collossians 2. to be deceaued and to deceiue to erre and to induce to erroure as sainct Paule saieth take heede leste any man deceiue you by philosophie and wittie reason and by vaine subtilitie accordyng to mennes traditions accordyng to the elementes and ordinaunces of the worlde and not after Christ. As for the stabilitie of the scripture is not subiect to suche defaute And therefore saieth Cyrill Ad Reginas de recta fide Necessarium nobis est diuinas sequi literas in nullo ab earum praescripto discedere It is necessarie for vs to folowe the holy scriptures and in no point to shrincke from that thei do prescribe Yea let vs reade sainct Hierom and all other with that same rule as hymself redde other For in his Epistle to Mynerius and Alexander he saieth Non praeiudicata doctoris opinio sed doctrinae ratio ponderanda est sciat me illud apostoli libentèr audire omnia probate quod bonum est tenete c. Meum propositum est antiquos legere probare singula retinere quae bona sunt a fide Ecclesiae catholicae non recedere It is not the opinion of a writer in his iudgement so before declared that must be weighed so muche as the reason of his doctrine For I am glad saieth he to followe sainct Paules precept proue all thinges and holde that is good And also to giue heade to the wordes of our sauioure saiyng be ye wise and approued triars that if any Coyne be fourged and haue not the figure of Caesar nor is not striken lyke the currant Mony let it be reproued and that whiche clearly beareth the face and Image of Christe lette that bee laied vp in the purse of oure harte for further saieth S. Hierom I professe this as well in my youth as in my age that Origen and Eusebius weere very great learned menne but yet did erre in the trueth of doctrine In the ende he saieth it is my constant vse and purpose to reade the olde wryters to examine euery thyng to holde fast that is good and not to recede from the saieth of the catholike Churche But heâ—re leste this wryter shoulde take aduauntage by these wordes from the faieth of the catholike Curche it is not his minde to enclude the faieth of the Catholike Churche in suche notes persons and places as now men forceth on vs the faieth of the Catholike Churche For the aucthorities writinges of the Clergie in his tyme was not taken of hym to be the catholike churche for his saied opinion was clearly against the constitutions of the Bushoppes in his tyme. And as he saieth in a certen place ad Heliodorum â— q 7. Non omnes Episcopi sunt Episcopi attende Petrum sed Iudam considera c. Non est facile stare in loco Petri Pauli scilicêt tenere locum iam cum Christo regnantium c. Al be not Bushops that haue the name of Busshoppes marke Peter consider Iudas it is no easie thyng to stande in the place of Peter and Paule that is to holde the cheare of them that reigneth with Christe Thei be not the childreÌ„ of the sainctes whiche occupieth the place of the saintes but thei whiche perfourme their woorkes Infatuatum sal ad nihilum prodest nisi vt proijciatur forà s a porcis conculcetur The salt that is vnsauery is good for nothyng but to bee cast forth out of the doores and to be troden vnder foote And sainct Augustine saieth Non omnis qui dicit pax vobis quasi columba audiendus est Corui de morte pascuntur Hoc Columba non habet c. Not euerie one that saieth pax vobis must be hard as a Doue for Rauens féede of carreine the
of our bretherne in office with vs. The Lorde Iesus hymself after he was risen from the deade and after he had offered his bodie to his Disciples both to their seing and to their fealyng yet leste thei might fansie that thei were holden with some Fallax or deceipt he thought it more conuenient to haue them confirmed by the testimonies of the lawe and of the prophetes and Psalmes Yet notwithstandyng this assertion of sainct Augustine and oâ— many other suche in their writynges this Lawier maketh it hâ—s cheife ground to stand on and setteh it for one of his first principles that the churche can not erre and that the determination thereof is a moste sufferaigne remedie against heresies Now ye knowe out of what church he draweth his testimonies of lawes and Canons Cap. 4. â—raÌ„ D. iij. .i. Really present The Counsails saieth he must nedes haue the holy Ghost and that Christ is reallie present there and therefore it is the readie meane to abolishe Heresies And that as the Churche so must we of necessitie be driuen to demaunde and stonde to the sentence of generall Counsails and that the woorde of God can not be iudge but is to beare witnes onely of the matter Now if ye will graunt hym suche groundes in the beginnyng of his tale and to sticke to suche argumentes as he deduceth out of the scriptures full substancially bee ye sure he may thâ—n â—roue what hym listeth Mary if he happened of one that had aunswered hym as frowardly as the boy answered one Cayus a Poet once at Cambridge reader of Terence then might he seeke for other groundes or els those better chosen and applied to buylde vp his stroÌ„g gaâ—e buylding as it is gorgeously erected Yf ye list to heare the tale thus it was Cayus for his pleasure plaiyng with a boye of his beyng a yong sophister saied that he woulde proue the boye an Asse Whiche when the boye denied well ê™ Caius thou wilt graunt me this first that euery thyng that hath two eares is an Asse Naie mary maister will I not ê™ the boye No wilt thou not ê™ Caius Ah wily boye there thou wenst beyonde me for if thou wouldest haue graunted me that I would haue proued thee an Asse anone Mary maister ê™ the boye ye might well and so might euery foole doe Well ê™ Caius I will go an other waie to woorke with thee Thou wilt graunt me that euerie Asse hath twoo eares Nay marie will I not maister ê™ the boye Why so boye ê™ he Marie maister ê™ the boye for some Asse may hap to haue neuer one for thei may bee cut of bothe Naie ê™ Caius I giue thee ouer for thou art to frowarde a boye for me And so if all be graunted that ye would ye might soone then proue the parciall reader of your boke that liketh all that ye say as wise a beast as Caius would haue proued his boye But yet I must beare with this Ciuilian For he had it not of his owne inuention but folowed a craftie Romaniste who firste deuised this porphiricall assertion euen pestilente Pighius for so saiyng that great diuine the father of all the Sermons bokes that bée now a daies written of Papistes in matters of religion For he pronounceth That the scripture is of noe certen determination to define any thing But is like a nose of waxe whiche ye maye wreste to and fro flexibly to what side ye will to what sense soeuer ye will haue it agree to and there to set it What though Athanasius coÌ„fesseth the contrarie saiyng thus Fateor ego quod ex scripturis exactior est quam ex caeteris veritatis probatio I dooe confesse that there is more exacte proufe and triall of the trueth by the scriptures In decretis Nicem sinodi contra Eusebium then of any other thinges whatsoeuer but neither Pighius nor all his faction care one halfpenie for Athanasius or any of them all for all their loude criyng to haue them credited infallibly in al their writinges but for their owne purposes Is not this forsaied saiyng of Pighius an high commendation thinke ye to the scripture thus to trifle a waie the weight and aucthoritie thereof And yet if ye should aske hym whether scriptures bée commendable he could not for shame saie naye If ye asked whether it were an vnsufficiente booke to teache all truthe and to reuince all errour He would without all shame saie yea Euen so aske hym whether Mariage be honourable and coÌ„mendable He will not saie naye because he would be seen to escape the name of a Tatian But aske whether Mariage in an vnaduised votarie or in a priest no votarie bee Mariage He could not in his conscience saie yea because he pretendeth to bee in so saiyng a Catholike But yet in so saiyng he shall bee a Tatian and a ranker heretike then Tatian to prohibite it to theim that haue not the gifte but by violence of Lawe If he saie that he hath sainct Augustine for hym De bono viduitatis to whom he appealeth and so dooeth this counterfeicte Pighius moste vntruely and contortly in so muche that firste I wonder that Pighius pretendyng to be a deuine for shame would so falsely corrupte the very text of sainct Augustine as he doeth in his booke of controuersies And secondely that this Ciuilian would craftily laye awaie the first part of S. Augustines text vnanswered and trainyng the reader to the latter parte falsely expoundyng it contrary to the plaine wordes of sainct Augustine there and otherwhere ofte repeated saiyng That mariages of the verie votaries be Mariages and not adulteries And then blow vp the trumpette of an highe chalenge Cap. 10. lraÌ„ t.r.a. whith saiyng I demaunde of all the priestes in Englande and aswell all vnmaried heretiques as maried Priestes whether thei will stande throughly vnto sainct Augustines place there cited c. Sir seyng ye vse in your boke so ofte demaundyng therein and prouoke so stoutely all maner of men to answere your booke whereby if ye be detected ye must blame your self Ye shall heare a shorte answere of a man neither heretique prieste maried nor vnmaried but yet was like to haue been a prieste maried if the worlde had not altered that if thei bee wise thei will not shrinke from that place of sainct Augustine for the mistie glose whiche ye caste vpon that place For I praie you take on your spectacles euen againe And yet looke more narrowly vpon that place and examine whether suche matrimonies eueÌ„ in them that he votaries bee worse then adulteries Or rather that he saith the slidynges and fallinges from the holier chastitie be worse then adulteries Sainct Augustine saieth these wordes there Proinde qui dicunt talium nuptias non esse nuptias sed potius adulteria non mihi videntur satis acutè considerare quid dicant fallit enim eos similitudo veritatis c. Thei that doe saie the mariages of suche to be
no mariages but rather adulteries thei appeare to me not to consider wisely enough what thei saie for thei bee deceiued with a similitude and apparaunce of truthe Chrysostomus ad Theodorum epistola Angelorum enim societati semel iunctum illud relinquere vxoris laqueis implicari adulterij crimen incurrere est â—uis frequenter hoc ipsum nuptias voces ego tamen illud adulterio tanto peiâ—s affirmo quanto maior ac melior est angelus To forsake that state whiche is so nearely knitte to the societie and felowship of Angels and to bee wrapped in the snares of a wife is to incurre the faulte of adulterie although you neauer so ofte call it Mariage yet doe I aduouche that it is so muche worse then adulterie by howe muche an Angell is greater and better Ergo by this aucthorie thei bee adulterers respondeo The Bushoppe of Winchester in his third booke against Bucer noteth vpon this place brought in by Bucer that he in these woordes consenteth with sainct Augustine de bono viduitatis and so the manifeste forme of the woordes importeth Then bee thei not by this aucthoritie affirmed adulterours and no Mariage what soeuer blame thei be worthie Also the forme of suche wordes must be interpreted as Pope Euaristus teacheth Aliter legitimum non sit coniugium nisi petatur a parentibus sponsetur legibus dotetur cum precibus benedicatur solemniter accipiatur biduo triduo orationibus vacetur c. Aliter presumpta non coniugia sed adulteria non continentia sed vel stupra aut fornicationes potius quam legitima coniugia esse non dubitatur Let it not otherwise be compted lawfull matrimonie vnlesse it haue the parentes consent and the parties be trouthed and accordyng to the lawes endowed and blessed with praiers and solemnely receiued and geue them selues â—o praier twoo or three daies for if thei come otherwise together it is not to bee doubted that suche are not mariages but adulteries not continencie but either whoredome or fornication rather then lawefull wedlocke Astexanus lib. viii tit viii sic interpretatur Non sic intelligendum quod non sint legitima sed quod non habent decorem honestatem debitam fiunt coÌ„tra prohibitionem sic habent culpam hic locum habet quod scribitur 22. q. 4. Innocen parag vnde datur intelligi c. It is not so to bee vnderstande that thei are not lawfull Mariages but that thei lack the comelinesse and honestie due vnto theim and are made against the prohibition and so are fautie And here now doe I demaunde once for your sixe tymes demaundyng in your booke of all the Finers and Goldsmithes in sainct Martines lane in London and all the counterfettes in Englande to with all their gaye giltyng and fine polishyng of a plain peece of Coper Let me heare what glose thei can set vpoÌ„ these foresaied wordes that can so shine and glister to bewitche their eyes that haue halfe their sighte yea thoughe thei bee brought but to your halfe lightes and can not spie what the mettall is How faire a peece of glasse soeuer ye sette out gorgiouslie with subtile foyles beneath to make it appere a faire Diamond aboue whereby ye deceiue sometyme a good ieweller Lette me heare how ye can make these places before alledged to teache your wicked malicious and slaunderous opinion Sir there ye maie reade expended so by Erasmus as well séen in sainct Augustine and Chrysostome and others Cap. 11. as ye be Solutio voti mala Cap. 10. coniugium tamen bonuÌ„ the breach of the vowe is euill neuerthelesse the Wedlocke is good And againe Quae voto soluto nubunt dirimi noÌ„ debent suche as marrie after the breache of their vowe ought not to bee separated And againe Quae post votum nubunt verum contrahunt matrimonium suche as Marrie after their vowe contracte true Matrimonie Nowe maister doctor is ther any man in his right wittes that will saie S. Augustine here defineth Priestes Mariages yea regulars to bee adulteries As ye vnlearnedly force sainct Augustine to speake What daunger and blame soeuer it be that votaries bee worthie for the breache of an holy vowe yet their mariages bee mariages and good Maie not I now saie in your owne words that ye declare your self farre destitute of the grace of God Not onely vtterly banished from trueth but also neither to haue conscience at the hart nor shame in the forhed whiche so shamefullie do interprete an authour and to lye so impudentlie as ye do in your tenth Chapiter T. ij that sainct Augustine was demaunded whether suche virgins as came to Nunries with a full purpose to liue in perpetual chastitie betwixt God and them made a vowe if suche married whether their mariages might stand c. Where haue ye learned that this question was so propounded But to this shift ye be driuen to peruert S. Augustine But wee shall hereafter put this and suche other places to the iudgement of the reader And will discusse your BaÌ„berie glose and vaine distinction of Votum simplex and Votum solenne Whiche though it maie haue his place sometyme yet in this saiyng of sainct Augustine simplie it can haue no place howe solempnely soeuer ye sette a face on it And then he shall iudge whether I refraine not iustly my stomacke to contorte againe some suche pretie names as ye in youre hoote zeale sprinkle vpon poore menne But it is not the name that chaungeth the nature of persones for we bee as we bee howsoeuer we list one to name an other But sirre as ye folowe Pighius or some Sorbonicall deuines iudgemente and reporte his saiyng blindly in the expendyng of sainct Augustine So belike ye stale awaie with you when you came last out of Paris some of their spectacles and neuer sawe the places your self So trulie doe ye report the bokes name of sainct Augustine in this place For where ye alledge in youre x. Chapiter Litera T. i. a. this place to bée in sainct Augustine de bono coniugali ad Iulianam a woman Maister Martine ye bee foulie deceiued For this booke whiche is written de bono coniugali is in the 6 Tome written contra Iulianum an obscure man and an heritike and this place whiche ye report to bee de bono coÌ„iugali is in the .4 Tome de bono viduitatis written as some thinke by one Iulian a catholike man ad IulianaÌ„ a noble catholike woman and not as ye say de bono coniugali But this is a Comon grace in you vntruely to reporte authors bookes and names and then boldlie to glose them Or els youre vse is to sende vs to bokes that be no where but in your owne studie or els to some boke that is of a dosen long leaues to reade ouer and yet after our narrowe searche to trie your trueth not to be founde there neither But now if ye can laie that
the reading and looking ouer all sainct Hieroms woorkes and Isodore beside and many other old writers also yea the Spanish Libraries too if we should seke whither he may seme to send vs. But here peraduenture this graue Ciuilian will be offended with suche my woordes and interprete my saiynges to bee scoffes and not weightie argumentes and that he will quarell that it is talke suche as menne spende for pastime rather then deliberate debatement of so weightie a cause In deede to coÌ„fesse a trueth When I had considered the odious and impudent countenaunce of his preface the swingyng taile of his lamentable conclusion the moÌ„strous bodie betwixt bothe and then againe meruelyng where and how he had gotten so muche matter and pregnauncie of witte farre aboue that which I loked would haue been in hym by this daie by the gesse of the talke that I had last with him consideryng that he doeth somwhat more then scoffe or boorde in diuerse partes of his boke as if I should so beastly scoffe with the serious reuereÌ„t articles of our faith drawyng them to such an obscéen and filthie sense as he doth raile in his .ix. Chapiter of Carnis resurrectionem vitam eternam Uerely if he called me Pighius or Pogius or Porphyrius or Iulianus he might well doe it And then consideryng hym to bee a yonge man and a Ciuilian I could not refraine my penne but thus sportyngly to bee a Comentar of his booke And yet sir to alledge a Poetes aucthoritie to a Ciuilian whose worde hath yet no greate aucthoritie Ridentèm dicere verum quis vetat hae nugae seria ducunt A wiser man then we bothe be maie some tyme ride on a long réede yet keepe grauitée of countenaunce when he cometh where grauitée should bee shewed as some haue doen here in Englande before now in as serious matters as these bee by open writinges wherewith I dare sweare not all of the Clergie hath been muche offended hetherto And if ye will learne how tollerable it is in writyng ye maie resort to sir Thomas Moores first Chapiter of his Dialogue of ê™ I and ê™ he and he will proue it vnto you I am sure your selfe as hye as ye now caste vp your head will come lower some tyme when ye be pleased and that ye repent ye not of your own merie scoffyng in many partes of your booke whiche bee sometyme not merie bourdes but sharpe checkes and daungerous tauntes to Uerely M. Martin the discoloured insolencie of your booke put me in remembraunce of some Poetrie Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim Semper ego auditor tantum nunquam ne reponam c Whiche drewe my penne whether I would or no as before this daie it neuer was occupied for any printed ware to bungle with you But yet for the truthe of all that I saie if ye finde any thyng misreported and not truly aduouchyng myne aucthorities I desire you to tell it in your nexte booke as sharpely as ye can And if ye will beare with me for my mirthe nowe as I beare with yours whiche I do interprete that ye vsed it to solace your self to holde the reader of your booke from wearinesse to medle some softer musike emong the dint and dinne of your terrible greate Canons shotyng nothyng but haile shotte all the tyme of your stoute debellation of this your wonne fortresse where in no man was to resiste you and that is a valiaunt conquest who can saie nay I will so rule my penne in my next booke if almightie God will so haue it that ye shall I truste perceiue your self grauely answered And not so muche you but all others graue writers and deuines in déede by profession of whoÌ„ in parte you stole your booke that this matter shall not so obscurely be strangeled vp but that it shall shewe bothe life and light And yet good reader I desire thee impute not this to any arrogancie as though I would aduaunce my self so high of myne owne poore readyng and vnderstandyng but the graue and verie Catholike writers in the first beginnyng of the churche shall be my warrant not as aucthours and iudgers of the scriptures but as good faithfull witnesses in their confessions of the same So that I trust the harmony shall not mislike indifferent men though I hit not all my purpose But now againe further to shewe your dexteritee master Martin in aduouching your allegations ye tel vs very pretely how in the Librarie of Magdalen College at Oxforde there is an olde booke written of Ignatius wherein is not expressed that Paule is named for a maried maÌ„ to haue had a wife although the Heretikes of Germanie haue corrupted hym in the printed copies ê™ you If ye be asked who tolde you so we maie knowe that master doctor Smithe in his wise booke written against Priestes Mariages hath reported so and many good studentes and worshipfull menne that hath been felowes in that College can tell saie ye that thei haue had a written copie of Ignatius Sin this maie be true â–ª and yet you may lye to say that Paules name is not there â–ª But now good reader leste yet thou shouldest take vpon thee to iourney so far thether to seeke and finde hym how true he is in his tale he discourageth thee of goyng thether for he telleth thee euen there that parhaps some brother of late yeres hath stolen the booke awaie out of the Librarie and loe thus thou mightest lose thy labour And therefore searche no further neither spende any labour to trye hym but simply trust all that he telleth thee Is not this a proper allegation thinke ye and well handled But yet ye must beleue that ye see not with your eyes for Beati qui non viderunt crediderunt blessed are thei that haue beleued though thei neuer sawe it Yea ye must thinke that he reporteth all thinges vprightly in all his allegations specially in Lawe Ciuile and Canon wherein he is moste skilled in stories wherein he is so depely traueled and in expoundyng of scriptures wherein he is wonderfull as he handeleth sainct Paules place to Timothe te ipsum castum custodi kepe thy self chast so purely with suche integritee that Lyranus Hugo Cardinalis as greate bunglers as thei be thought to be of some but yet be worthie the praise be ashamed so to expouÌ„de the places there But yet he setteth suche an earnest glose of his owne head that ye would thinke he must needes bée of hym self an incomparable deuine and exactly seen in the Greke tongue in the Greke commentaries and schoolies as ye know by the exposition of Nazareus He is throughly well seen in the Hebrue tongue vnderstandyng all the Rabines rites and customes to the vttermoste In Rhetorike he is incomparable throughout all his booke As if ye liste to haue the sight but of one proofe looke in the beginnyng where he confuteth doctor Ponettes boke Cap. xi littera â—iâ— b. whiche
and an auncient writer in the Churche whiche if he be then be you a yong fonde and a newe starte vp wrangeler But because ye be a Lawier I shall reporte you a Counsaile and a Lawe to that vseth this propositioÌ„ vniuersally and not within suche narrowe limittes as ye driue it vp euen a counsaile of Spaine holden at Tollet the seconde Counsaile the firste Chapiter in the v. yere of their kyng Amalrike and aboute the tyme of Pope Ihon the seconde whiche is a reasonable Canon in respecte bothe for the age of him that is receiued to order also for the libertie that is geueÌ„ either to abide or to recede froÌ„ his purpose of subdeacoÌ„ship or deaconship Hijs auÌ„t quibus voluntas propria interrogationis tempore desiderium nubeÌ„di persuaserit coÌ„cessam ab Apostolo licentiam i. Cor. vii auferre non possumus But as from those who by their owne proper will are perswaded and haue a desire to marrie at the tyme of their examination we caÌ„ not take awaie from theim that libertée that is graunted theim by the Apostle I praie you what other sentence or license is concluded in the seuenth Chapiter in the section a but this propter fornicationem autem vnusquisque vxorem suam habeat c. For the aduoydyng of fornication let euery man haue his wife And in the Lawe ye shal finde the self same againe reported Dist. 28. de hijs where the gloser saieth thus vpon the verie place Quod ergò de iure coÌ„muni competit negandum non est The benefite of the common lawe maie be taken awaie from no man Moreouer Chrysostome vpoÌ„ that place Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere it were good for a manne not to touche a woman Where as he saieth some would haue it applied perticularly vpon Priestes he saith vpon the consideration of the circumstaunce of the place that it is not so particularly to bee taken but vniuersally and concludeth non ergo sacerdoti dum taxat hoc dicitur this is not spokeÌ„ to the priestes onely Which discourse foloweth immediatly vpoÌ„ that place brought in by the saied maister Martin vpon whiche wordes Theophilact writeth thus Bonum eximia res est cuiuis mortalium nec soli sacerdoti promde ac nonnulli malè intelligunt mulierem non attingere sed virginem permanere Tutior autem nostramque plurimum imbecillitateÌ„ adiuuans est matrimoninij res Et postea quia si se non continent nubant vides sapientiam Pauli quomodo meliorem moÌ„stret esse continentiaÌ„ nec interim tamen cogat si quis non possit vt ne peius flagitium committatur Si enim multam inquit vim sustinet vstionem magna enim concupiscentiae tyrannis est discede a laboribus istis ne quando subuertaris It is a good and an excellent thyng to euery man in the worlde not to touche a woman but to continue a virgine and that not onely to the Prieste as many men doe euill vnderstande it Notwithstandyng the matter of Matrimonie is more sure for it helpeth verie muche our weakenes And vpon that place if thei conteine not lette them marrie the said Theophilact noteth thou seest the wisedome of Paule how he sheweth that continencie is better and yet notwithstanding he compelleth not thereto if any manne can not and that leaste worse inconuenience should bee committed For if he suffereth muche violence saiethe he and brennyng for surely the tyranny of concupiscence is greate recede from those labours least thou beest ouerthrowen at any time Then maister Martin vpoÌ„ these two old writers saiynges I argue If Paule did write this matter aswell to priestes as to Laie men then either must ye grauÌ„t that sainct Paule would priestes then maried for feare of fornication should retaine still their wiues whiche thei had married already or els that priestes vnmaried muste for auoidyng fornication get them wiues Whiche whether soeuer ye graunte is the subuersion of the moste parte of all your whole booke In chroni abb vrspergensis But will ye heare what Huldaricus Bushoppe of Augusta writeth to Nicholas the firste of whom ye maie here your name He reciteth the text Propter fornicationem dixit Vnusquisque suam vxorem habeat ê™ specialiter ad laicos pertinere mentiuntur hypocritae qui licet in quouis sanctissimo ordine constituti alienis reuerav xoribus non dubitant abuti ê™ flentes cernimus omnes in supradictis saeuiunt sceleribus Hi nimirum noÌ„ rectè scripturam intellexerunt cuius maxillam quia durius pressere sanguinem pro lacte biberunt For fornication he said let euery man haue his wife Which saiyng and confession to perteine specialy and onely to the laye folke is a plaine lye of the Hypocrites which in what holy order soeuer thei be set yet without boubt thei force not to abuse other mennes wiues And these be thei whiche doe rage in the forsaied crimes sc of abusing their fathers wiues to vse the filthie occupiyng of mankinde and of brute bestes which filthines we can not beholde saieth he but with weeping teares These bee thei whiche doe not vnderstand the scriptures aright whose breastes whiles thei presse so harde thei sucke out cruell blood in the stede of sweete milke And further in the ende of his Epistle chargeth theim with the crime of heresie that inioyne suche constrained Chastitée where ye affirme Chap. ix.q.x. that thei were all heretikes that did continue with their wiues whiche thei had maried before their orders And here to preuente your cauilation where ye might saie that I should haue gone a litle further with this bushops writyng for sooth I answere I would all the whole were written in Englishe that laye menne might see how it maketh for you that would haue Priestes diuorsed For the whole Epistle is an vtter confutation of youre booke But sir till hereafter stande vpon that whiche followeth as strongly as ye can and yet shal ye neuer be able to extende that saiyng vpon seculer priestes ordered in England who haue made no profession or vow of perpetuall chastitie But ye will replie vpon occasion of Chrysostome Theoqhilact saiynges before rehearsed that this former text Bonum est mulierem non tangere it is good for a man not to touche a woman to belong aswell to the laye man as to the priest But this saiyng for avoidyng fornication let euery man haue his wife to pertaine to laie menne onely whiche yet Huldarichus sheweth the contrarie Sir if ye bee so harde for nigardshippe to holde the priestes to the straite of the first sentence and not to giue them the libertie of the sentence followyng I weene ye will be answered of the priestes maried and vnmaried as seruanntes in the countrie will answere their nigard maisters that will ioygne them to fast on the vigils in haye seile and haruest That is if we be compelled to fast in the vigill precedyng we will suerly make
holy daie and plaie all the daie followyng But sir for the vniuersalitie of S. Paules sentence if ye list after these olde aucthors to heare a new writer or .ij. till here after we shall bring you more store of the olde Looke vpon Bushop Alfonsus tractation where he holdeth plainly that the prieste hath yet that indulgence and sentence of S. Paule to remedie his infirmitie yea after his order and promise past the reguler also after his vowe And again resort ye to Ioannes Genesius in his first leafe and there shall ye learne that he defineth that God did twise institute Matrimonie whiche yet euery deuine will not graunt hym And that the second institution was by these woordes of sainct Paule it is good for a manne not to touche a woman but yet for fornication let euery man haue his wife and euery woman haue her husbande And that this institution was purposely made of God for the remedie of mannes infirmitie Well these notwithstandyng bee it in case that he could winne that the saied sentence of sainct Paule were so perticularly applied restrained either from all menne vnmaried or from priestes to bee maried What exception can he make in this sentence of sainct Paule in the same Chapiter spoken to widowes to them that be vnmaried Quod si se non coÌ„tinent contrahant matrimoniuÌ„ If thei do not conteine let them mary for it is better to marrie then to burne But ye will saie it is better for the lay maÌ„ but not for hym that is a priest or a Regular Whie maie mans institution and vowe defeate this second institution of God of matrimonie for incontinentie that any of his creatures may be debarred from his remedy Is it better for the priest to burne then to marie Is it better for the regular to burne then to enioie Gods gentle liberalitee in his second institution of mariage Shall the priest rather chose to go to the deuill for the wante of the remedie of his infirmitie then for the shame of the world for his mutabilitie acknowledging his frailtie go to god were it not better to cast froÌ„ him his right eye as déere as it wer for his estimation promotion of the worlde if it be a let to hym to heaueÌ„ rather then with his deere eye of weltering promotioÌ„s to haue all his bodie cast into hell fier I speake it not to geue the bridle of dissolute liuing to euery light head but yet I would not haue man lay snares to ieoperd mennes soules But ye wil saie euery man can if he will Christ saieth thei onely can take it to whoÌ„ it is giuen Paule saieth that euery man hath his gift some thus and some thus Christ denieth it not to be some mans gift but not euery mannes gift Some men and many men may by praier obtain it as of his gift and with gods further assistaunce by praier fasting other suche helpes kepe it but it is not geueÌ„ to euery man For to some he will aunswere Sufficit tibi gratia mea my grace sufficeth thée And as Primasius writeth .i. Cor. 7. non oeÌ„s capiunt verbuÌ„ hoc sed quibus datuÌ„ est Al doe not comprehende this worde but thei to whoÌ„ it is geuen Nam si generale esset quòd potest vnus oeÌ„s possunt If it were generall the one might al might And where ye M. Martin pronounce in diuerse places of your boke that virginitie is in our election in our frée will If ye were vnderstanded as ye vnderstande D. Ponette ye should be rather like to be angrie with sainct Augustine for writyng against the PelagiaÌ„s which did hold that God had coÌ„mitted the gift of continencie to our election as ye may reade it Contra Iulianum Lib. â— Cap. 7. then englishe preachers whom ye call Heretikes that thei should be angrie with sainct Augustine for writyng against Pelagian against whose opinion no menne be more leanyng to S. Augustine then thei be Yea some be thought to be to muche inclined etiam cum imuria liberi arbitrij in hijs quos spiritus liberauerit But yet wee will take your meanyng by other places of your booke if perhaps ye be of any other meanyng in deede which courtesie yet ye shewe not to doctor Ponet For where he saied a Bushop must be the husband of one wife and because in that verie place he did not circumscribe his saiyng as he doeth after in his booke writyng that if the Bushop be in perill of fornication or if he can not liue sole and yet ye straine hym at these wordes and slaunder the late Bushoppe of Lincolne too with youre contorted violence of woordes D. Taylior bothe vntruely and dishonestlie as though thei should meane that no Bushop could be a good Bushop without a wife And when ye sawe his qualefication before youre face as ye reporte it your self yet ye saie that it is but a craft of hym so to circumstaunce his saiyng Is it a craft Master Martine for a man to declare his owne meanyng against captious readers But for this and for so muche as ye laie to his charge aetatem habet respondeat pro seipso he is olde enough let hym aunswere for hym self Peraduenture ye will saie whie doeth sainct Augustine and other doctors saie and affirme plainly in diuerse places ê™ non licet nubere ijs qui vouerunt continentiam c. that it is not lawfull for them to marrie who haue vowed continencie It is true that by the Lawe and Canon of mannes constitution so long as that standeth and by reason of the vowe it is not lawfull for by penall Lawes it is forbidden as ye saie your self But yet to auoide perill of daÌ„nation by Goddes Lawe it is bothe lawfull and expediente For to commit fornication or to burne is alwaie bothe vnlawfull and vnexpedient But to marrie or not to marrie is some tyme lawfull and some tyme vnlawfull For els sainct Augustine sainct Hierome and other mo would not saie and affirme in manifeste wordes that to the votaries after their profession if thei brenne it were better euen for them to marrie Sainct Hierom writeth Non expedit homini 33. q. 5. qui 〈◊〉 ad coelorum regnuÌ„ tendenti accipere vxorem sed difficilis res est non omnes capiunt verbum illud vbi Glosa Non expedit Verum est propter onera matrimonij sed expedit propter fornicationem vitandam It is not expedient for hym that trauaileth towardes the kyngdome of heauen to take a wife but that is an harde matter and all can not comprehende that saiyng where the Glose saieth it is not expediente that is true in respecte of the troubles of Mariage but it is expedient to aduoide fornication and vncleanely life Againe saieth Hierom Matrimonium 32. q. 1. quomo propter se noÌ„ est appetendum Verum est inquit glosa quia non ducit ad vitam
of the Apostles should bee deposed from their liuynges and that suche Deacons and Priestes as for holinesse or religion sake will expell their wiues from them ought to be excommunicated And if thei persiste to be deposed whiche said Counsaile yet ye wreste to make it sound that Priestes should bee bounde to promise a conuersion and a forsakyng of their wiues in your seuenth Chapiter when ye alledge the seconde Nationall Counsaile Cap. 7. M. iij. holden at Carthage wherein ye saie was decreed that Deacons Priestes and Busshops should be continent with these woordes vt quod Apostoli docuerunt ipsa seruauit antiquitas c. Where ye admonish the reader to ponder those wordes quod Apostoli docueruÌ„t c. that is whiche thyng the Apostles taught and the Elders haue obserued In whiche glosyng and notyng maister Martin ye make shamefull worke as to hym that will compare these CouÌ„sailes together will appeare For firste ye belye the Apostles to saie on their heades that thei taught suche coÌ„uersion from their wiues as ye maie see euidently here in the sixte Counsaile at Constantinople the contrary Also this seconde Counsaile at Carthage did nothyng els but ratifie that decree whiche was made in the firste Counsaile there And that was no other but that deacons priestes and bushoppes beyng single at their admission should not marrie wiues a newe after their orders and not to forsake those whiche thei had married before hande And where ye would haue these wordes pondered quod Apostoli docuerunt c. I praie you maister Martin where did the Apostles teache suche doctrine in all their Epistles If ye alledge the .xxv. Canon ascribed to the Apostles then is that a pleasaunt Canon for your purpose to haue so many senses conteined therin sometyme to importe that Priestes maie not marrie after order and now that Priestes married maie not vse their wiues maried before I perceiue ye maie drawe what sense it pleaseth you of that Canon Dist. cum inpraeterito But when ye haue all doen M. Martin ye must come to the glose that is commonly made vpon those woordes Apostoli docueruÌ„t id est docuerunt exemplo by exaÌ„ple as the text in the decree saieth opere admonitione non institutione vel constitutione that is by deede doctrine not by institution decrée as the glose saith And this is the glosers minde on the Decretalles whom also I doe aduouche for this your confutation and detertion of your craftie peruertyng the said CouÌ„sailes But yet how sounde this glose is that the Apostles taught by their example that after Apostleship thei forsoke their wiues the storie wil impugne it But thus I set an olde tried and aucthorised Canonist against a newe starte vp Ciuilian or a self willed Lawier Also ye affirme that Clement the seconde Pope as ye contende after Peter made a decree that Priestes and Deacons should not lye with their wiues And vpon this aucthoritée ye make a great a doe and aske how can this be auoyded with any face or colour c. and ye saie that it was sainct Peters doctrine and that sainct Peter commaunded hym to write his bookes to Iames. Cap. 〈…〉 c. How truely ye saie it let the Counsaile before spoken be iudge and let Paphnutius also bee iudge whom for shame ye can not but aduouche in your booke who resisted that any suche Lawe should bee brought in who was a good while after sainct Clement was dead and rotten And he called suche companiyng of priestes with their wiues chastitée where ye call the self same mariages that Paphnutius ment of licensious liuyng and libertie And further ye call suche Priestes as continued with their wiues Cap 9. Q. â— that thei had married before their Priesthode flat heretikes Also ye deny plainly Ca. 13. GG â— that Philippe the Apostle was married or that he had any daughters where Eusebius affirmeth it plainely that bothe Philippe the Apostle had three daughters and Philippe the Deacon and Euangeliste had foure Also ye doe aduouche it by Nicephorus storie that Philippe the Apostle liued euer a virgines life Cap. 13. GG i and was neuer married Where the self same Nicephorus euideÌ„tly writeth thus Lib. 2. ca. 44 How stoÌ„oâ—th it with this that the Apostles forsoke their wiues and caried other womeÌ„ about with them An isti tamen Apostolos quoque reijcient Petrus sequidem Philippus liberis creandis operam dederunt Et ê™ idem Philippus Apostolus tres filias habuit That is to saie will these a Goddes name reiect the Apostles also For truely Peter and Philip did geue theim selues to begette children and that the saied Philip the Apostle had three daughters and where ye saie that Philip caried about with hym his sister Mariamna and ye reporte these woordes vpon the saied Nicephorus Cum ipse caelibem vitam duceret when he on his parte liued a single life and was vnmaried and neuer maried The truthe of the story euen by the same Nicephorus saieth Cum ipsa vitam per virginitatem sibi exigeÌ„dam statuisset when she on her partée had purposed with her self to liue out her life in virginitée whiche could not bee spoken of Philip if he had three daughters and gaue himself to get more Also ye laboure to proofe that all the Apostles except Peter were without wiues Cap. 13. 〈◊〉 Ca. 13. 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 11. where sainct Ambrose as ye alledge your self affirmeth plainly that all the Apostles had wiues except Ihon and Paule And Orygen saieth that some of the Apostles were in wedlocke And Ignatius testifieth in a booke printed before Luther was borne whom 〈◊〉 Epistola ad philadelphienâ—â— and the other Germanies ye defame to haue corrupted the bookes suche is youre foule shift writyng thus Sicut Petrus Paulus caeteri Apostoli qui nuptijs fuerunt sociati As Peter and Paule and other the Apostles whiche were conioyned in matrimonie Ca. S.P. ij And where ye number S. Luke the Euangelist among them that weere neuer maried Platina saieth that he liued in Pope Cletus daies and liued fower score yere and thrée and had a wife at Bithinia And Platina his reporte maie bée true though sainct Hierome saie that he liued fower score yere and fower then hauing no wife For though he died without a wife yet it foloweth not that he neuer had one And again sainct Hierome was not verie indifferent to mariage as appeareth in appliyng SalomoÌ„s text to maried folkes stultorum infinitus est numerus and furthermore in the ouermuche praise of virginitie he would saie more then inough As in his booke of Ecclesiasticall writers rehearsyng Lucius Seneca among them he writeth that he was vitae continentissimae that is of a moste continent liuyng Yet stories make mention what an excellent woman he had to wife whiche would nedes die with hym in the like death that he was iudged vnto by Nero. Let Nauclerus
maner of fastynges but mere hypocrisie yea worse then hypocrisie in such circumstaunces as ye haue many a daie vsed them dare pronoūce with Chrisostome inueiyng against the iewes fastyng that your fastinges be worse then very dronkennesse Thei call your filthie fained chastitie a bandie Sodomiticall carelesse liuing As the practise declareth to manifest to stande in to proue Thei call al suche as haue not the gifte by their yerely experience séeth the impossibilitée not frō chastitée but from filthines of brutishe buggery and boyly bestlynesse to mariage chastitée Ye neuer red or hard of any suche writers suche as ye would slaunder to the worlde I saie of the knowen and comonly approued writers out of Germanie But that dothe excite the readers in their bookes to Godly and oft prayour to pure abstinence from all excesses and to a christian mortification of all their vices and affections to continencie and soole liuyng if God will so haue them to serue hym in that state And if God by the experience of them selues vnfainedly calleth them to wedlocke as to a remedie of their infirmitie or a domesticall comfort in their hospitalitée thei counsel with all the doctours of the Churche to take the surest waie to saue their soules Although the saied old authors were the most part of them very vntreatable to remitte that discipline but when very necessitee moued conscience to remitte the rigour of their saied Canons In dede the old fathers and their Clergie had a greate oportunitie by the maner of their liuyng to bée further from daunger of temptatiōs to haue the more professors and kepers of their chastitée then the state of this world wil suffer Yea suche a Clergie as ye will frame here in the realme and for all their diligent discipline and calling on yet how oft do thei complaine of the nombers of them whiche liued to the slaunder of the rest In deede it can not be denied that thei had great zeale to liue in virginitee and soole life when the fathers in Nicene Counsaill and some other councels after that decreed that all suche as should geld naturally themselues should not be receiued into the Clergie Belike Paphnutius was moued in conscience vpon the knowledge he had of them that came single to the state of order whom the old traditions of the Churche charged so to liue not to agree to suche lawe where thei would haue constituted that married priestes should absteine from their wiues and so to ieopard a greater nomber in this fier of temptation he was contēt to saue yet some parte of the house from daunger of the fier though he could not saue the whoole Affirmyng that it was inough that thei whiche receiued orders before thei maried accordyng to the old traditions of the Churche should from thenceforth abstaine from mariage I doe not saie that his mynde was to moue the whole Clergie to mariage but counsailyng then all and singularly to soole life as more free to serue God in that vocation But yet not of suche straite mynde to prescribe Lawes of necessitie to force them to tarrie euen still will thei nill thei But left them to the rule of their owne conscience For what other thing was ment master Martine in the first decree either of Lucius if it be his or Siricius or vrban the second but to leaue that liberty yet to suche as was of the Clergie if thei would not or could not conteine to suffer them to liue in their Matrimony afterwarde taken if thei would not relinquishe their Ecclesiastical degrées And what ment the third Canon of the thirde Councell at Carthage the .v. Canon of the Councell at Tollet or the sixt Counsaile holden there when sainct Augustine was presente Or the thrée and thirtée Canon of the Councell called Elibertinū about Pope Siluesters daies Or the Councell holden in Grece before Siluesters daies called cōcilium Ancyranum with many other more where thei decreed that such as beyng subdeacons deacōs or Priestes that would chose to marry should not enioye their Ecclesiasticall liuynges But I doe not as yet reade that in all of those Counsailles thei were compelled from Matrimonie whether thei would or no or that thei were seperated from their wiues after thei were so depriued or their Matrimony called adulteries As of that Councell wherat sainct Augustine was present I thinke I dare boldly saie thei were not seing his iudgement is in his woorkes to the contrarie As for the sixt Councell holden at Constantinople permitted bothe wiues and liuinges too And in other Councelles their wiues and liuynges so thei would but in tyme of their ministration abstaine from their wiues But to contend with hym in suche causes of Councels Canons and Stories whiche he contorteth by all shift of wit to make them to plie to his gostly purpose were a long businesse But maruaile not gentle reader though he take so muche vpon hym in suche infinite and intricate Churche Lawes wherein he thinketh to leade thee in a mase as not readie for euery man to see and expend for thou maiest see his impudent boldnesse otherwhere For if ye note hym well ye maie finde hym hackyng at the Lawes of the Realme clippyng the Queenes coyne the best that her grace hath nexte to the worde of God for defence of her Princely estate the Actes of Parliamente I meane because he would be ready in seruice to her highnesse to the beste of his wit and power Note howe he trauerseth and wreasteth with his gloses an Acte of the very firste Parliament that her grace hath here caused to bee had since her raigne and coronation not so long since that it can so sone bee out of remembraunce nor the Actes so harde to come by but that all the worlde maie expende them I meane how he forceth and draweth the Acte of repeale in the cause of Priestes mariages not onely to importe to take awaie the libertee that was therein graunted for suche Priestes as vsed not the benefite thereof as at that tyme of whiche nūber though there wer a great sort more hasting a good pase thervnto and were half agréed as thei saie by wordes of the present time and present sute to yet be now many of them as hot against the state in open pretense as can be but also to inferre a plaine dissolution and reuocation of suche Mariages as were aucthorised by the saied Actes before Wherin the very originall of the Acte is plainly expressed in open wordes that the said Kyng Edwardes actes be repealed but for hereafter as other more in the said acte Is not he thinke you a trustie gloser to be so bolde in gloses not onely in his owne Lawes but thus to glose the Lawes of the Realme so lately made cleane otherwise then as wise men as he in the Realme doe construe them and by the practise of diuerse other thynges of like nature and condition in the like case appeareth Seyng this writer aduaunceth hym self so highly
will not for length cumber your eares with conuenient contemplatioÌ„s Well I leaue them to this Ciuilian to muse on for I knowe he hath suche a wit that no lawe or statute can be laied before hym but he can set his comment vpon it if ye will accepte his gloses If a manne obiecte that the states of the Realme hath made Lawe and taken order in this cause or any other suche like and therefore muste stande againste all the Lawes and Canons of the Churche then straightwaie he will beate you backe with the aucthoritée of the Churche and saie as the moste parte of all his disciples and adherentes allege that a particular Churche a little member of the whole can not derogate the vniuersall law of the churche Whiche saiyng how sounde it is let that old lawe testifie whiche was made in a Parliament holden at Northampton in the daies of kyng Henry the seconde almoste CCCC yeres ago whereat was presente a Legate called Hue sent from Rome by Alexander Pope then and notwithstandyng his presence and though Thomas Becket sporned at it before yet was it enacted cleane derogatory to the Lawes and Canons of the Churche that Priestes if the hunted in the Kynges Parkes or committed felonie murther or treason thei should be iudged before temporall Iudges accordyng to the Lawes of the Realme whiche Lawe and others is practised to this daie And furthermore let this foresaied article of the Queenes maiestie testifie whiche doeth plainly determine this question wherin her grace commaundeth that her Lawes the Lawes of her Croune shall stande in strengthe against all the vniuersall Lawes of our mother holy churche And I thinke all her graces progenitours froÌ„ tyme to tyme hath foreseen that Romishe Canons shall be but rules and Canons taken and refused vpon consent and as shall bee meete for the policie of the Realme Whiche poincte of learnyng is in suche absolute wise debated learnedly in a Booke written here in Englande intituled De potestate Regia Ecclesiastica that neither this Ciuilian nor all the Canonistes in Englande shall euer be able to answere it For it hath hetherto laine vnanswered these twentie yeres of all the Romanistes in Christendome And if this Ciuilian will reade it and expende it ouer and doubteth further of any poincte conteined therein let hym consulte with certaine of the Bushoppes that bee in moste aucthoritee at this daie by whose learnyng and collection the booke was written and thei can further resolue him And if that booke will not satisfie hym let hym resorte to an other intituled the Institution of a Christian man presented to kyng Henry the eight by all the Bushoppes of the Realme for stable doctrine to be vniuersally preached and so assured by the subscriptions of all their names as ye maie there reade their names Looke ouer the exposition of the .ix. and .x. article of the Crede and their doctrine written in the Sacramente of Order and consider their iudgementes If it be further obiected that the king could doe no more in dispensation then the Pope was able whiche as some saie caÌ„ dispense with the singular case of one or twoo in a Realme but not with a whole Realme or with the whole state thereof as kyng Edwarde hath doen with the whole Clergie if their opinion bee true how could the Busshoppe of Rome Innocent the viij as Volateran writeth dispense with the whole countree of Noruegia to coÌ„secrate the Cuppe without wine in Ale or Bere contrary to the vsage of Christe and his Churche How could he dispense with whole Bohemie for receiuyng the Communion in bothe kindes And how could Paule the thirde offer the same dispensation to all Germanie as appeareth in his Bulle for the reduction of the same nation to Rome Churche againe Howe could Gregorie the firste dispense with all the Realme of Englande for their mariage within the degrees prohibited Or yet how could he dispense and geue licence to Augustine our apostle not to folowe Rome Churche so precisely in forme of Spirituall gouernaunce but hadde hym deuise a forme hym self of the vsages of other countrées and to take the best and so instill it and other suche thinges as he could other where learne into the tender myndes of the Englishe nation as many of suche nature might be alledged If it bee obiected that the Pope can not dispense with the generall Counsaile that will not serue For it is commonly holden of the Canonistes that the Pope is aboue the Counsaile and maie dispense with the Counsaile as thei alledge Extra de consang affi non debet of Innocent the third which released the prohibitions of consanguinitée affinitee in Counsailes before restrained yea in suche degrees as Gregorie saith who that dissolue them beleueth not that Goddes woorde will endure for euer Can. 35. q. 10. Fraternitatis Now if this Ciuilian would haue this poinct yet further debated by the learnyng of the Iudges of the realme scilicet how farre Ecclesiasticall Lawes are to be admitted let hym go to the statute of the .xxvij. yere of kyng Henry the eighte and see what thei reserue from the makers of Ecclesiasticall Lawes Prouided alwaie saie thei that no Canons constitutions or ordinaunces shall bee made and putte in execution within this realme by aucthoritée of the Conuocation of the Clergie which shal be contrary or repugnaunt to the kynges prerogatiue royall or the customes lawes or statutes of this realme And in the xxv yere in the like statute fearyng belike the dint of these double strong CanoÌ„s that might be made thei speake more precisely in the like prouiso and saie not onely contrary or repugnant but derogatorie to the Lawes of the realme And if the Iudges and Sergeauntes of the realme will now for to doe this man pleasure geue vp their holde in these and suche poinctes whiche their forefathers hath with tothe and naile alwaies maintained before tymes I wene it would come to passe before twentie yeres should come to an ende that men would rather retaine one poore Canonist for counsaile in their causes then fixe of the best Iudges and Sergeauntes of theim all whereby Westminster hal might chaunce to be colder bothe in Winter and Sommer to for their gaine I warraÌ„t you these whom he calleth the chief doctours of the Ciuil Lawe whom he aduoucheth to bee of this â—aithe and belief would loose nothyng by that bargaine If his chief doctors could but obtaine that thold acte of prouiso made in king Edward the third his daies in the .xlviij. yere of his raigne wonderful derogatorie to the lawes of our mother holy churche might in suche a good season as this is be throwen vnder foote although yet it were better it were at a more certaintie ye shall sone espie that these CiuiliaÌ„s would not long tracte the tyme to be then the chief doctors of bothe the common Canon lawe to Whiche lawe of Prouiso although Pope Gregorie the leuenth did muche repine at
to the honorable nobilitée to all the learned and wise men in the realme and is not a shamed in his owne conceipte or at the least waye stande not in doubt in hymself that he can not so scape with his vntruthes so clearly but that some men will tell them at length to the nobilitie other graue personages of the realme whiche hath not the leasure to peruse and compare his writynges with the originalls them selues But it is to true in hym that is saied comonly Malè examinat verum omnis corruptus iudex Full euill is a true cause examined and expended by the iudge that is corrupt In his eight Chapiter where he laboureth to proue that all priestes be votaries whiche he shall neuer be able to proue of seculers Priestes ordered in this realme of England do the best he can he hath diuerse fetches Some tyme by argument of taciternitie out of scripture ther he glorieth highly that he hath scripture for the purpose to the wonder of all men to se how suche FreÌ„che Ciuilians wittes can contorte sciripture In deede it may be called an argument of Taâ—iturnitie for there is so muche scilence of any vowe makyng that neither the Bushop speaketh any suche matter whiche the prieste might for his scilence bynde hymself nor the Prieste professeth any suche vowe whiche the Busshops scilence should ratifie And then ye see how proper an argument it is out of the scripture whiche he bringeth an example of ye maie se how good a Logitian he is how quicke and wittie Then he cometh to the woordes that the Bushop speaketh to the Subdeacons as he saieth and first putteth in the Latin then Englisheth them and after glose them and biddeth the readed of good felowship to expende the Bushops wordes whiche he reciteth when he geueth orders Examine here with me good reader Cap. 8. lraÌ„ O. ij saieth he this the Bushops proposition and thou shalt anone see whether our priestes be not votaries and thou shalt espie also what trueth is in oure newe preachers that haue slauÌ„dered the church c. Who would thinke that vpon suche protestation he would euen straight waie for all this preamble bléere the readers eye with a manifest lye Now good reader as he desireth thee to examine this poynt euen so do I beseche thee And then espie by thy self what truthe is in this new Ciuilian And for the triall of his truthe and honestie aske hym if euer he heard any Bushoppe or suffragane in Englande speake that proposition to the Subdeacons And if he haue thei haue dreamed it of their owne heades for their haue it not in their owne pontificals by the whiche thei geue all their orders Therfore it is a most shamefull boldnes to beare the reader in hand that it is so saied by the Busshoppe when it is not by hym spoken And therefore in this poincte he is to impudent to make his strong argumentes vpon suche groundes as bee not aduoucheable But yet good reader leste he should blynde thine eye with a sleightie craft as is all his doynges in his boke peraduenture he maie for the aduouchyng of his report bryng thee to a pontificall booke shewe thee his wordes in deede But yet before thou geuest firme credence desier his good maistership of his worship to tell thee whether it be a very Englishe pontificall booke in deede by the which Englishe seculer priestes be coÌ„secrated in their orders And if he can proue that then vpon this poincte I am content that my whole boke be taken for false and vntrue If he can not proue his â—aiyng true where he saieth that our priestes bée votaries by force of those wordes beleue hym not in this lye though ye haue some cause to mistrust him in his other probatioÌ„s Mary sir if he bryng you to a pontificall booke of his holye father the Pope wherby at Rome and in Italie he geueth orders to his Subdeacons and priestes there what doeth that boke bind priestes in England beyng of an other territorie iurisdiction hauyng an other seueral maner in their orderyng and hath so vsed before this mannes great grandfather was borne or christened wherin the Busshop speaketh these onely woordes to the prieste wheÌ„ he laieth the stoale aboute his necke Accipe iugum domini Iugum enim eius suaue est onus eius leue stolam innocentiae induat te dominus Take the yoke of the Lorde for his yoke is swete and his burthen light And the lorde put vpon thee the stole of innocency In déede where in th ende of his xiij Chapiter this Doctor bryngeth in like wordes as be in the Englishe pontificall for Bushoppes Lâ—raÌ„ LL. â— but yet euen there he vseth a violent contorted argument against doctor Ponet alledgyng these wordes Vis castitatem ac sobrietateÌ„ cum dei auxilio seruare Wilt thou through the helpe of GOD keepe chastitée and sobrietée Yet in the Englishe pontificall it is thus Vis castitatem sobrietateÌ„ cum dei auxilio custodire docere Wilte thou by the helpe of God keepe and teache chastitee and sobrietee I will not contende with hym in this saiyng for the bushops but in his former wordes of his allegation for Subdeacons of Englishe makyng he shall neuer make it good to his liues end that those wordes be in the Englishe pontificall Notwithstandyng he thinketh that he hath made moste strong proofe of his purpose where ye see by that that is hitherto perceiued in his booke he hath made foure principall groundes that Englishe Priestes be votaries Firste by Origens aucthoritee writyng vpon the Numbers Secondly by the maner of their Orderyng Thirdly by the Priestes crounes Fourthly by an argument of Taciturnitie And that once dooen he spendeth his eighth Chapiter in prouyng that vowes muste be kepte whiche belike must be his fifte argumente And thus these argumentes holde The first the Priestes where Origen was borne or where he did write were votaries Ergo Englishe Priestes be votaries And yet Origen did not write so But in that Homilie speakyng aswell to Laye menne as to Priestes saieth that thei bee moste meete to offer vp the continuall Sacrifice of Mornyng and Euenyng praier that will kepe continuall chastitie And then his argument holdeth thus Thei which can continually praie kepe continuall chastitee Ergo Englishe Priestes bee votaries But thus I argue Priestes maried maie offer to God that continuall Sacrifice of Mornyng and Euenyng praier Ergo thei neede not to vowe that chastitee whiche ye speake of Or thus Origen writeth not there any woorde of Priestes vowes Ergo in that place he doeth not proue them votaries The seconde for the maner of the Busshoppes proposition The Busshop speaketh suche a proposition to Priestes in Spain or Italie Ergo Englishe priestes be votaries Now the truth is no suche proposition is spoken to the Englishe Subdeacon at all Further this Ciuilian writeth manifestly euen there thus that the vowe of
commendation he went about to haue spoiled them for his sake but the nobilitee restrained his hastie and vnruly violence and attemptes Of whose doynges in diuerse countrees what hurte came vnto them by his hotte spirite how many thousandes were destroyed in seditions for his sake and what furie he shewed euen to some simple folkes that erred of simplicitee in a mattter of no greate importaunce for the precise daie of keepyng the Easter whiche menne were called quarto decimani it were to long to write of But in the ende this Nestorius for his vnworthie behauiour in pride and insolent extremitee woorkyng altogether contrary to the custome of the Churche saieth the historie againste suche heretikes God forsooke hym with his grace so that hym self was entangled with a certaine heresie whereof his Chaplen Anastasius who was in greate estimation with hym was the first deuiser Whiche he held strongly because he sawe his glory and estimation hange thereon But yet afterward at an other tyme perceiuyng daunger to bee at hande if he had not tourned Catte in the panne euen in an hower space as earnestly with it and as earnestly againste it in pretense and in woorde onely reuolted whereupon God I saie for so daliyng and foltryng in his conscience did reuenge it at the laste moste worthely in hym But first it was the occasion of a greate scisme that could not be pacified but by the Ephesine Counsaile whiche was specially for the condempnation of his erroure gathered together vnder Celestine And finally after his tongue was eaten with wormes died most miserably by Goddes hande as Nicephorus telleth Where he began in the catholike faithe but subtelly and not simplye weiyng the principles of the faithe proceadyng not fatherly but tirannically in his doyng died in heresie and is now regestred for an Arche heretike shal be so taken to the worldes ende Whiche storie yet I dooe not rehearse as though I would insinuate an immunitée to heretikes that troubleth the quiet of the common wealthe or as I were in that opinion wherein once yet S. Augustine was but by experience recanted his opinion that heretikes should bee suffered to doe and saie what thei lusted 48. Epistola ad vincentuo◠and so by a little and little kendle the fire of intestine sedition to perill the whole body But I reporte it partly to note that extremitées of proceadynges doeth hurt and that sodaine alterations in Realmes maketh perturbations And yet my opinion is as the opinion of diuerse olde and newe learned menne be that it maie be borne with suche a manne whiche quietly liuyng in his state and in his owne conscience tariyng vpon Goddes workyng in his harte by hearyng and expendyng Goddes woorde to holde that whiche maie be to his soules saluation if he doe no outward déede and example to disturbe the Ciuile societée of the common wealthe where he dwelleth And this storie maie also serue for al kyndes of men to be a very fearfull example if we will in Gods causes daily at our pleasure for such I saie as out of one mouth breathe out bothe hotte and cold allowe and condempne the self same thyng with the tourne of their hande praiseth and dispraiseth as the daie tourneth very successours of Lybanius that inconstant Sophist or rather Sophister whiche with his eloquēce praised the Emperour Constantius by his life tyme and when he was once dead dispraised hym againe as faste Inconstaunte flatterers tournyng like Weathercockes not of conscience from the worse to the better but as the windes blowe so set vp the saile Whiche maner of menne muste néedes stande in feare that the vengeaunce of God hangeth nigh ouer their heades if thei repent not of their saiyng and vnsaiyng He can not but be spued out of Goddes mouthe that is neither hotte nor colde but will haite on bothe legges for the gaine of his peny Noughtee and deceiptfull menne saieth sainct Paule that will not be contente to erre theim selues but muste induce other into the same with them Menne that haue delight to be aucthours of sectes to haue the traine in pompe to followe theim whither soeuer thei goe vtterly tourned vpsidoune bearyng in them selues the iudgemente of their owne damnation Yea in conclusion pronouncyng the sentence of iust condempnation vpon them selues with their owne mouthes reproued and conuinced by their owne cōscience For as the wise man saieth Sapi. 17. Formidolosa res est malitia proprio teste conuicta in conscientia delitescens mala semper praesagit It is an heauy thyng when a mannes owne consciēce beareth recorde of his owne wickednesse and condemneth hym For a vexed and a wounded conscience taketh euer cruell thynges in hande and driueth hymself to an ende As we reade in the Ecclesiasticall storie Tripert Lib. Cap. 38. reported by Socrates who telleth of a certain Sophister called Hecebolus emong diuerse others whiche he saieth bearyng in pretence onely the Christian name of a corrupte mynde for that thei preferre their treasure and presente wealthe and honour before the dignitée of true faithe and therevpon fall to the wickednesse of Sacrifices The same Hecebolus saieth he folowyng and attemperyng hym self to the maners of the Emperours fained hym self in the daies of Constantius to be a most feruent Christian. But when Iulian the Apostata was ruler by and by he was a Panime and by his orations made Iulian a God And when Iulian was dead in Iouinians tyme he would haue béen a Christian againe Whereupon for the mutabilitée and lightnesse of his religion his conscience draue hym to the Churche gates and there caste hym self flatte doune and cried out with a loude voice Conculcate me sal infatuatū come saieth he and treade me vnder your feete vnsauery Salt that I am From whiche tournsicke spirite God preserue vs all Now to finishe that was promised to declare what moderations and tollerations hath been vsed before tyme and be at this daie to be séen in some other dominiōs of Christendome to shew the opinions of certen learned menne that bee knowen to haue had some iudgement in suche causes as well old as new that be of a farre other determination then this singuler Ciuilian is of I shall beginne with that noble Prince Charles the .v. Emperour that now is a Prince of some experience I thinke this aucthour will not deny me He vpon debatement of matters in religion wherewith his realmes and dominions were sore disquieted and disordred set out his booke of Interim written and published I thinke with the allowaunce of more heades then one expresseth a toleration in the Clergie for their wiues which were then maried And permitteth them in the Ministerie and yet not maried by any Lawe that was passed by his aucthoritée whiche he would neuer haue deferred to a generall Coūsaill but would haue flatly condēpned thē therin if it had béen of such nature as this writer would make this realme beleue And where as he wisheth as all wise
and let hym reforme his iudgemēt And furthermore seyng he is an Englishe Doctor tell hym that he is to scrupulose and to sore an exacter in that his owne countrey Lette hym reade what I saied in my Epistle to Augustine their Apostle that it was a nation where rather temperate moderation should be better to be vsed Inter decreta euisdem then sharpnesse of Ecclesiasticall Censures And let hym further read in that same Epistle how I tempered the matter in causes of matrimony and degrées of consanguinitée how muche I thought it by Apostolicall prudence to graunte vnto them to contracte mariage at the fourthe degrée if thei listed euen so remittyng the rigour of the Churche Lawes then in strengthe And moreouer shewe hym what was my resolution vpon that question Inter decret Gregorij primi Gregorij Iumoris whiche Augustine propounded vnto me sc when the wife is striken with some infirmitee and can not render due beneuolence to her husbande He asked me what shall her mate doe in this case Let hym heare my answere which I made for the consideration of that tyme. But first tell hym by the waie a poinct of his hypocrisie For where in his iiij Chapiter he would seme to aduaunce my estimation emong the Englishe nation for that I sent them certaine learned men to retourne them to the faithe and pretendeth in his sixt Chapiter to be displeased with the proceadyng Preachers as thoughe thei condemned me for a Papiste and all my writynges to be superstitiō and Idolatrie yet belike for all his enuious flatterie he sheweth but bread in the one hand and hath in the other a stone ready to caste at me to beate doune my estimation For he in his seuenth Chapiter impertinently bryngyng in this fact without any witte taketh vpon him to condempne this myne indulgencie for sinfull humanitee as contrary to the Canons and repugnaunt to the Euangelistes and Apostles But shewe hym he is to malaparte so to iudge and is to muche without humanitée towarde his owne people to repine at my fauour towardes them And tel hym that he shall finde this my moderation in the bookes of the Counsailes emong my Decrees written to Augustine the Englishe Apostle althoughe he referreth it to an other Gregorie writyng to Busshoppe Boniface a countrey man of ours who was sent by Gregorie the seconde Anno domini .720 into Germanie to winne them to the faithe and was their Apostle Who followyng my example of dispensation to the nation of Englande graunted the like to the nation of Germanie so that in deprauyng this moderatiō he condemneth vs bothe and therefore he taketh to muche vpon hym though Gratian bee on his side so to saie although he mighte haue learned that Leo the 4 Disti xx Cap. i. alloweth the decrees of the said Gregorie without exception where the gloser yet vsyng more reuerence to the See Apostolike maketh it good by his interpretation and not to be against either Canon or scripture But maketh it a meer case Papall belongyng onely to his holinesse as ye maie reade in Summa Antonim parte .iii. titulo primo Cap. xii parag prima and there good reader if thy chaste eares can beare that catholike doctrine expende what it is But what subteltée was in his head so to condempne this dispensation where he had condempned Luther before for the like doctrine ascribing to him to saie Si vxor nolit aut nō possit ancilla venito Which pretée storie he learned of his master Pighius let his owne head iudge But this was his resolution Bonum esset si sic permaneret vt abstinentiae vacaret Sed quia hoc magnorum est ille qui se non poterit continere nubat magis non tamen subsidij opem subtrahat ab illa cui infirmitas prepedit nō detestabilis culpa excludit That is Good it were if he would remaine so to geue hym self to abstainyng But because this is for theim that bee greate and strong in deede he that can not kepe hymself in continencie lette hym rather marrie yet let hym not withdrawe his helpe of relief from her beyng rather excluded from hym for her impedimente of infirmitée then for any detestable crime And if this Ciuilian will more diligently searche he shall finde that the saied Gregorie the thirde named the younger gaue dispensation to a manne to marrie his vncles widowe so farre within the degrees of consanguinitée whiche woman was once also professed in religion and had made bothe vowe and also receiued the vaile of her profession And that also he gaue license to certaine Busshops and Priestes to minister notwithstandyng the retainyng still of their wiues or womē in their company and though Pope Zacharias who next succeded him did not muche allowe the said former dispēsation as it is cōmonly vsed in the Papacie for one to annull and repell the decrees and pardons of the other yet he did not dissolue the saied mariage but wrote to Bonifacius to perswade the partie to relinquishe his mariage as he did hym self write a commonitorie onely to the said partie dispensed with by Gregorie aforsaid But what O father Gregorie if this Englishe Doctor alledgeth in the same place where you counsaile suche as be molested with the stormes of temptation to resort to the port of mariage that you declare your minde further there saie Sine culpa quippe ad coniugium venitur si tamen nec dum meliora vouerūt ▪ that without blame doe suche come to mariage at the least wise if thei haue not afore made a vowe of some better thyng If he straineth these my woordes saieth Gregorie whiche were for the tyme spoken or if he will bee still displeased with my former indulgentie tell hym againe that I saie Quòd regulae sanctorum patrum pro tempore loco persona negotio instante necessitate traditae sunt That the rules of the holy fathers bee made for the consideration of the tyme place persone and matter and for the necessitee present Yea let hym well expende Pope Innocent the third his saiyng Non debet reprehensibile iudicari si secundum veritatem temporum statuta quādoque varientur humana c. in concilio Lateranensi Capi. 50. It ought not to bee iudged blame worthie if accordyng to the diuersitee of the tymes mannes decrees be diuerse specially whē vrgent necessitée or euident vtilitée require the same for GOD hym self hath chaunged many thynges in the newe Testament whiche he decreed in the olde c. And what equitée is it to force these tymes when votaries be so young made to beare the rigor of the Canons whiche were made for theim whiche were not professed before thirtée yere of age and not without greate deliberation and examination And tell hym againe that my meanyng is as he might haue gathered of the maner of my speaking in my saied pastoralles that if the votarie hath vowed that thing that is better to
any maÌ„ of meane learning or reading But ye put me in mynde by your owne woordes wherewith you charge other menne that ye bee like to be blowen vp spiritu impostoris with a spirite of error that ye can within so few lines write two so notable lies and errors It is to true that the wise man saieth of suche men Quod frequentur prae occupent pessima Sap. 17. redarguente conscientia Thei oft take vpon them matters of the worste to the condemnation of their owne conscience For where wickednesse is alwaies doubtfull in it self it geueth testimonie to his owne shame For euer doth a spiced coÌ„science take vpoÌ„ hym to attempte matters of crueltée Wherevppon I may conclude with your owne wordes in the self same place that he maye well be called a poore soule that will put you and suche as you bee in truste with the information of his soule that is so little trustie or true in his wordes Shall a man credite such a doctor or teacher that within not twoo leaues as ye write but within twelue lines compace wil vtter suche slaunderous lies vpon other men And deface the creditte of open stories beyng in many mennes handes Uerily if we should consider how vniuersallie this man sheweth hymself vniforme constant in wrestyng contortyng and false reportyng of Scriptures of doctors of Busshoppes decrées of Counsailes Canons and of stories throughout all his booke in suche fashion so impudently that I can not imagine that Lucian hym self when he wrote his booke De veris narrationibus had halfe so good a bouget to the vtteraunce of his veritees as this manne hath broughte awaie belike out of Paris from emong the Sorbonistes So that I maie sair Totus quantus quantus est a vertice ad vltimum vsque calcaneum ex mendacijs meris dolis confictus est conflatus In like maner to note a poincte or twoo how he handeleth hym self in his Counsailes alledgyng and wreastyng in the x. Chapiter of his booke prouyng that Priestes maried in Englande â—oraÌ„ R. iiij are not onely to be depriued but also to bee separated he alledgeth a fragmente of a Canon Gan. 30. out of Concilium Epaunense Incestis coniunctionibus nihil prorsus venie reseruamus nisi cum adulterium separatione sanauerint Incaestus vero nec vllo coÌ„iugij nomine pallietur We doe reserue no pardon at all saieth the holy Counsaile for Incestuous copulations excepte thei amende their aduoutrie and filthy life by separatyng them selues a sunder Neither let Incests be coloured or couered with the cloked pretense of Matrimonie Here maister doctor ye doe moste impudently bothe curtall the Canon and also as vntruely wreste it For that it might be knowen what be these incestuous mariages against Nature which ye saie can not be otherwise healed but by separation The Canon further reciteth them by name orderly Emong whiche Incestuous mariages Priestes mariages bee not numbred and thoughe thei were yet there is expressed a greate moderation whiche ye will not make mention of For after the Canon had named fower of suche vnlawfull copulations it saieth thus of them Quos vt a presenti tempore prohibemus ita ea quae sunt anterius instituta noÌ„ soluimus Which mariages as for hereafter we doe forbidde so those which be already made we will not disseuer After whiche woordes the Canon rehearseth the reste and defineth of them thus Sanc quibus coniunctio illicita interdicitur habebunt ineundi melioris coniugij libertatem That is To whom suche vnlawfull copulations bee forbidden shall bee graunted libertee to get theim better mariages Whiche latter parte of the Canon in the Print of Peter Quintell Anno. 1538. though it hath Non habebunt yet the texte is purged in the seconde Counsaile at Towers in the twoo and twentie Chapiter where it is at large set out Furthermore the selfe same degrees of blood whereof these incestuous mariages be made are also recited in the Counsaile Agatensi holden vnder Pope Celestine the first Anno domini 428. and there the Counsaile after dissolution geueth them libertee to marrie a newe Here maister Martin ye maie see that in none of these three Counsailes Priestes copulations be either spoken of or meante as ye vntruely inferre of a peece of the Canon Secondly if thei were yet if ye folow this Counsaile either ye should suffer them still to remaine or els after ye haue disseuered them ye should graunt them to marrie a newe But here maie be considered how muche moderation these Counsailes vsed to beare with an inconuenience once passed to tollerate suche vnnaturall mariages as thei were and were contented onely for necessitee to forbidde them for afterward Lette wise menne iudge of this moderation as thei see cause where wise menne maie sone espie how Doctor Martin abuseth the Counsaile In the same page also it is wonder to note howe he vntruely reporteth the second Counsaile of Macon and as he writeth in the fourtene Canon as forbiddyng Priestes Deacons and Subdeacons former wiues euer to marrie againe after their husbandes decease where in deede no suche matter is in the fouretene Canon In the sixtene Canon there is mention made that the wife of a Subdeacon Exorciste or Acolite should no more marrie But not a woorde of Prieste or Deacon as he vntruely reporteth in that Counsaile Seekyng for this your Counsaile and Canon and none suche to be found I reade in that same seconde Counsaile Canon 4. where it is decreed Vt omnibus dominicis diebus altaris oblatio ab omnibus viris mulieribus offeratur tam panis quam vini vt per has immolationes peccatorum suorum fastibus careant c. Whiche Canon M. Martin may English at his leasure And because he forceth so muche separation he maie reade that in the firste Counsaile of Macon Canon .xj. Bushoppes and Priestes and all the better of the Clergie are bounde aswell to renounce all the secular actes as the companie of their former wiues not vnder paine of separation as you would make menne to beleue you but vnder paine of losse of their dignitees Whiche Canon is woorde for woorde none otherwise recited in Concilio Aruermesi Cap. xii In like maner he doeth violently wrest in the self same leafe a decree of Calixtus if it be his as there bee greate reasons and aucthoritees to proue that it is but feined vpon hym But so muche the more apte for Doctour Martin to aduouche it emong his other suche stuffe the woordes bee these Presbiteris Diaconis Subdiaconis Monachis concubinas habere seu matrimonium contrahere penitus interdicimus contractaque matrimonia ab huiusmodi personis disiungi Upon whiche woordes beside that he vntruely auoucheth in slaunderyng the Apostles primatiue Churche that it was their doctrine that thei should bee separated He noteth three notable poinctes Firste that he putteth no difference betwixt them that bee bounde by their consecration and them that bee bounde
kyng of the lande our owne Chronicles will tell you as for Constantia and Ramirus I doe auouche the aucthour aforesaied de ritu nuptiarum where ye maie moste redily see it testified And here master Martin I wonder that where I thinke ye haue seen that booke for it is printed with you of late in Englande ye consider not the tracte of that writyng wherby ye might learne many necessary pointes of learnyng As in his seconde booke of the vtilitée and necessitée of dispensation to tempre the rigour of lawes and in the beginnyng of readyng that seconde booke to tell you plainly my contemplation therein ye came by and by into my remembrance by the occasion of a sentence written therein in the beginnyng reported out of Plato wheÌ„ce peraduenture Terence fetched out his saiyng Homine imperito nihil quicquam iniustius qui nisi ê™ ipse facit nihil rectum esse putat that is There caÌ„ be nothyng worse then an vnskilfull man who thinketh nothyng well doen but that whiche he doeth hym self But the saiyng is this Legem Plato simileÌ„ esse ait homini pertinaci imperito praeterque suuÌ„ praescriptuÌ„ nihil fieri permitteÌ„ti qui ne interpellari quideÌ„ se patitur etiam si qua incidat extra ordineÌ„ causa in qua coÌ„modissimuÌ„ sit aliter fieri quam pro ratione quam ipse semeliÌ„stituerit Plato saith that lawe is like vnto a froward ignoraunt man that will suffer nothyng to be doen but as he appoincteth it and will not let his deuise to be altered although some bycause should happen in respect wherof it were berter to be doen otherwise then as he in his reason had once determined it Iâ— this sentence had béen wel pondered of you master Martin before ye beganne your booke either would you haue holden your hande froÌ„ the booke to haue auoided the checke of this notable senteÌ„ce or els if that notwithstandyng ye would haue yet written as ye haue doen you must needes shewe your self to bee of suche a nature as I would praie to GOD none the like should euer come to bee a counsailour in the Chauncerie so long as I should haue ought to doe there Well master Martin looke to the same sentence yet once againe Et dic te stultuÌ„ intus dic sapiens eris Ye might haue furthermore there learned that it is affirmed ê™ condere leges munus sit regiae facultatis So to dispence with them in necessitée of tyme and place is so belongyng to the prudeÌ„ce of a kyng that els his subiectes should by extreme right bee oppressed with extreme wrong And this is an other sentence whiche would doe well to be expended in the defence of the cause that ye haue takeÌ„ in hande where ye saie that this matter of mariages perteined not to the kyng And if that forein ruler at Rome hath so ample aucthorite as to dispence not with one man onely to haue .ij. wiues for a nede but with al the lawes that euer God or maÌ„ made exceptyng no more but tharticles of the faithe yet some Canonistes write that he maie interprete them also why then can ye not be contente that your late naturall leige Lorde and maister with the assent of his Parliament should doe so little a thyng in despensation that is one of the leaste crummes that fall from the Popes table I dare saie so small that the worste tourne broche in his ketchin could gette it of his holinesse by an easie entreatée for all his kinsfolkes if thei were all Priestes and Uotaries to Master Martin I will not here vrge a contemplation that is now in my mynde vpon you but praie you once againe looke if you can sée your face in Platos glasse before spoken and aduise you in tyme or els all the worlde will wonder master Martin stones will speake and blockes will write yea God will be angrie and that is worste of all Happie is he that hath a trustie friende to tell hym good counsaile yet happier is he that hath it of hym self if he should want hym happie is he that hath a good nature but yet more happie is he whose nature grace hath reformed to haue GOD alone alwaies in his eye Also ye might further haue learned of hym in his thirde booke that it is but Popes lawe that orders should withstand matrimonie And that the Greke Priestes at this daie liue in Matrimonie And moreouer that he writeth that in his Spanishe priestes whiche be ordered by the Popes very pontificall nothyng doeth so muche let them from mariage as their vowe whiche is vowed vtcunque after a certain maner saieth he of them in their orderyng I dare saie so indifferent a manne as he semeth to be if he had knowen the maner of our priestes orderyng by the Englishe pontificall speaking in suche maner timidè vtcuÌ„que of the priestes of Spain he would haue saied that our priestes maketh no maner of vowe in no maner of maner But to go forwarde and discharge my promise of that other two priestes maried after thei were priestes if ye loke in the storie Tripartite Lib. 5. Ca. 44. consider whether Socrates reporteth not of one there named Apollinaris a Prieste that maried after his priesthode and begatte a child called by his owne name Apollinaris Consider the place indifferently the rather for that S. Hierome doeth affirme that he was a Priestes sonne in Catalogo script Ecclesiastic If that will not serue you yet I will be suer to make vp my .iiij. promised by one that is written of in the saied booke Eupsichius a Busshop Lib. 6. cap. 14. Who alitle before his martirdome maried his wife wher he was reputed tyll that tyme but haÌ„dfasted As I was writyng this in came Genius quidam and sittyng at myne elbow tolde me plainly that these placis were like to bee bulted and sifted to the branne And that now the greke bookes should be sent for to vnderstand some startyng hole to crepe out at For that can not be borne that in suche autentike stories specially of the Churche we should find any suche one and then againe no mention made that thei did it by dispensation of the father at Rome For rather then that should appeare in storie openly thei would haue plaied the partes that is like thei haue doen in the Apostles Canons in Clementes workes of recognitioÌ„ of the recordes of the Counsails yea in al antiquities to chop in and out at their pleasure for their purposes Blessed bee God that he yet preserued his holy Testamentes cleane from their sophistications for the text self whiche shal be able euermore in al ages to purge it self what drosse soeuer thei haue cast vpon it to blemishe the cleare light therof Well it will be meruaill if Magdalen College in Oxford be not brought forthe or some other text other where searched out And here I am sure their heads must be set a worke that caÌ„ saie
feceris quod postulo ab hac te fidei sponsione absoluam I am in the apostles sea and yf thou wylt do that which I request I wyl absolue thee from this promise of thy fidelitie Well sayth the kyng I wyll entreate of this hereafter and shortly sent vnto hym his messengers to signifie that it is not for the kynges honour to consent to such absolutions agaynst a mans fayth And farther sayde that except Thurstone woulde make his profession to the sea of Canterburie he shoulde neuer sit in the Churche at Yorke whyles he was kyng of Englande by compulsion of any edict from the pope whatsoeuer this haue I promised and this sayth he wyll I obserue But it may be thought peraduenture vnlike to be true that the pope would come so farre as to Gisors aforesaid his owne person to speake with the kyng it may so be obiected by some Romanistes who labour so hye to aduaunce his deitie but to such as be indifferently read in storie it is not incredible For Matthewe Paris reporteth howe that pope Innocent vsed his craftie deuice by his Cardinals towardes kyng Henrie the third in the .xxix. yere of his raigne Which Cardinals only louers of money craftyly sent to the kyng vnder the colour of great frendshyp their counsell which they auouched to be both holsome honorable glorious to the Realme and very profitable that was that he shoulde sue by his messengers to the popes holynes to come personally into his Realme which say they shoulde be honor most excellent to Englande and immortall glorie that in your dayes the lorde pope whiche is knowen to be the father of all fathers shoulde appeare personallye within the coast of the Englyshe nation For say they we remember well that hym selfe hath sayde whereof we reioyce that he would very gladly see the daintie sightes of Westmonasterie and the riches of London When this was knowen to the kyng he was very glad and woulde easelye haue bowed to this subtyll councell except he hadde ben holden vp by the contrary counsayles of his subiectes learned to gaynesay it or dissent to satisfie this his desire Qui dicebant quòd satis imo nimiū iam suorum caursinorum vsuris Romanorum ac Italicorum rapinis simoniis Angliae puritas maculatur quamuis non presentialiter bona ecclesiae regni dissipet predetur Which sayde that the puritie of the Realme of Englande was alredy enough yea to much defyled by the vsuries of his cormorantes and by the extortions and simonies of the Romanistes and Italians though that he do not by his presence waste and robbe the goodes of the Churche and of the Realme And farther they sayde for that the sayde pope was denyed any entrie into the Realme of Fraunce though that he required the same by his solempne ambassadours so his entrie was denyed to enter into the realme of Aragon For saith the writer Infamia enim curiae papalis id promeruerat cuius fetor vsque ad nubes fumā teterrimā exhalabat The infamie of the papall court had deserued this repulse the stinche whereof dyd breathe out euen vp to the cloudes a most detestable fume Edm. lib. 6. And as concernyng any commyng of any legate into the Realme he woulde neuer admit one as long as he lyued And though that pope Calixt sent into the Realme afterwarde his moste solempne legate Petrus Romanus monachus Cluniacensis commyng in a more portly glorie then euer any dyd before the kyng so disposed the matter that after he was come into Englande wylled that he shoulde neither visite churche nor monasterie commaunded that he shoulde be brought to be at hoast with him for he sayde his Realme of Englande was free from the iurisdiction of any legate and so shoulde be duryng his lyfe for so had Calixtus promised hym Wherevpon after some liberalitie bestowed vpō him on the kynges behalfe the king sēt him ouer againe the way he came out of England though his cōmyng was to haue exercised his office of legatship thorough the hole Realme If the reader wyl know the cause why that Thurstone fell into the kinges displeasure was for that he askyng licence of the kyng to go to this councell of the bishop of Rome and coulde not possiblie obteyne the same before he made his promise vpon his allegiance that hè would do nothyng with the pope in preiudice of Canterb. churche nor woulde by any mans perswasion receaue his episcopall consecration at his handes which so faythfull a promise to the kyng he contemptuously brake notwithstandyng wherat both the kyng and the nobilitie dyd much maruell for such infidelitie But suche was the obedience in those dayes to their princes for the more fauour they bare to this forrayne vsurper that is in playner tearmes falsely forsworne to the kyng their liege lorde and enemie to the Realme so farre as it myght stande to the aduauncement of the popes iurisdiction whose creatures they were and so reioyced in common speache to call them selues and as it myght with the satisfiyng of their owne gaynes dignities and pleasures Thus farre out of the common written stories haue ben alleaged the rather by the occasion of entreatyng of byshop Anselmes tumultuous doynges who was the firste that euer in England toke vpon hym to diuorce lawfull matrimonies in all priestes so many hundred yeres vsed in quiet possession in the Realme and many of them stablyshed by Lanfranckes constitution and as he the first so the most extreme agaynst all ryght and conscience vntyll the raigne of Quene Marie in whose dayes Hildibrandes spirite was raysed vp agayne and Anselmes whot Munckyshe zeale in lyke sorte prosecuted as it was in his tyme. If any man be offended with so much in particularitie vttered let hym vnderstande these matters to be fetcht out of the bokes of such stories most written by munckes who both in wordes deede and wrytyng professed the state of perfection expressyng all charitie therfore can not be thought to rayle in the writing of their stories which saith both Matth. Paris and Henrie huntyngton muste be perfourmed in all trueth without any parcialitie eyther of personages for honour and holynes nor maye not be transgressed for loue of kyn or frendes whatsoeuer After Anselme archbyshop folowed Rodulph a seuere muncke in profession also Rodulph first an Abbot in Normandie after that byshop of Rochester and in conclusion archbyshop of Canterburie of whose dayes no great recorde is extant of makyng or forcyng any decrees or constitutions agaynst maryed priestes although it is reported of Edmer that he was very seuere agaynst the said Henrie the first Ioannes Hagustaldensis beyng a prince of such godlynes that one Cronicle writeth so much to his cōmendation that he saith Post quem princeps non surrexit alius qui sic iniustas regni exactiones interdiceret subditos in pacae modestia sapientius disponeret c. After whose death there folowed no
finem quem legislator intendit Vbi tamen non voluntarie non contemptibiliter fed ex causa rationabili aliquis transgreditur canonem non peccat mortaliter secuÌ„dum Thomam recitatur per Arch. 76. dist vtinam c. And to helpe foorth the matter De habitu clericorum const Otho ca. QuoniaÌ„ de habitu Iohn Aton the gloser of Othos constitutions mouyng the question whether a constitution or councell whiche the subiectes neuer accepted or obeyed do constrayne or bynde to the obseruation thereof After many constitutions and alegations of lawes and contrarie determinations of lawyers and glosers of the popes lawes in tanta Papalardia as he doth vse the tearme he byddeth the reader to holde that whiche he doth determine Which tearme of a Papalard Gaulfride Chauser doth vse for a dissemblyng hypocrite pretendyng one thyng meanyng another Fol. 154. Howebeit in the discusment of this question he saith that yf of the behalfe of the lawe there myght folowe eyther sclaunder or more harme then shoulde the common custome obserued preuayle concernyng the excusation from temporall punyshment Yet saith he in facte this is very seldome obserued when by the obseruyng of the constitution the purses of the prelates shoulde be made emptie thereby But saith he all other constitutions which be Bursales prelatis auaylable to the prelates purses such be well commended to memorie and be also executed to the vttermost inche And lest the lawe of Otho shoulde be to sharpe for the concubinarie priestes or they to soone condempned the gloser thus handeleth the matter vpon those terrible wordes of Otho Statuimus et statuendo precipimus vt clerici et maxime in sacris ordinibus constituti De concub clericoruÌ„ ca. licz at pro qui in domibus suis vel alienis DETINENT PVBLICE CONCVBINAS eas prorsus a se remoueant infra mensem et ipsas vel ahas de cetero nullatenus detenturi alioqui ab officio beneficio sint suspensi c. vsque digne satis fecerint de beneficiis se nullatenus intromittant alioqui ipso iure ipsos decernimus fore priuatos volumus districte precipimus vt archiepiscopi et episcopi diligenter faciant inquisitionem c. We decree and by decreeing do commaunde that clarkes specially such as be in holy orders which in their owne houses or other mens do deteyne openly concubines that they remoue those froÌ„ them vtterly within a moneth and that they in no wyse deteyne them or other from hencefoorth or els be they suspended froÌ„ the office and benefice c. vntyll they shal make condigne satisfaction that they intermedle in no wise with their benefices or els we decree them to be depriued ipso iure And we wyll straytely commaunde that the archbishops bishops make diligent search hereof c. Nowe commeth in this fauourable gloser to temper all the matter more gently in fauour of the concubinarie priestes and saith that these three wordes detinent publice concubinas that do deteyne openly concubines muste concurre ioyntly together so that this tearme openly must aswell determine this detention as this tearme concubine that is to say that this detention be pulique and this concubine kepyng be publique for els it taketh no place As for example when a woman is commonly beleued to be the persons sister though this deteynyng be publique yet she is not knowen to be a concubine But what saith he yf he be founde to lye with a woman I aunswere A fauourable glose vpon an harde texte yet it is to be taken secrete and for this maye not he be compelled to voyde publiquely excepte it can be proued otherwise Againe this worde deteynyng is to be taken when these concubines be deteyned by the priestes proper costes for els yf the woman lyue of her owne though the priest haue to her publique accesse it maketh no matter for the entent of this constitution is to restrayne vnhonest dilapidation of the priestes And agayne saith he this constitution was made more easie by pope Alexander the seconde whiche nowe may not be preiudiced by a legate only therfore in that poynt doubtfull whether it byndeth And where it is sayde openly or publiquely vnderstande that saith he when the priest is not afearde to appeare so before the whole multitude for els it forceth not as yf he deteyne her secretelye within his owne house or any of his frendes for then he shall not incurre into the penaltie of this statute seyng that an house declareth a thyng secrete and not puâ—lique And further he saith it is not enough to be taken for publique because it is knowen only of some certaine therefore holde thou saith he these wordes publiquely to signifie coÌ„monly and before many and yet is not the prieste to be charged to deteyne a concubine though openly and commonly once or twyse he be seene to resort to her which maketh not this fact of his notorious as is here decreed And hereto agreeth VVilhelmus Lynwood that though these thynges ought not to be done publiquely yet belyke they maye do them secretely as the doctors say Yet saith he this is true to theffect of escapyng the payne which though it be inflicted to them that do these forbydden thynges publiquely yet it is not extended to them that do them secretely and so be they excused concernyng the payne but not concernyng the fact Lo here is a fauourable glose of their watchworde si non caste tamen caute And againe to note the deuotion of these good men to worke an immunitie to their concubinarie priestes De habitati clericorum li. 3. ca. vt clericalis where as Stephen in his constitution in the auncient written copies and bookes forbyddeth them to kepe their concubines both publice occulte and that they haue no accesse vnto them either publicum or occultum They haue put out these two wordes occulte and occultum out of their bookes of constitutions prouinciall as also in their common printed bookes of councelles generall late printed at Paris 1555 per Franciscum Iouerium wherein the same councell holden at Oxforde by Steuen is inserted Agayne to minse this matter to make the pillowe more softe to put vnder the elbowes of these concubinarie priestes he wryteth the it must be considered what perseueraunce he vseth in this crime for it must be taken for a continuall perseueraunce proued yf it shoulde charge hym And furthermore it must be a full moneth and this moneth must stande of no fewer dayes then xxxi saith he And where it is decreed that within a moneth she must be put away that is saith he though some rigorously do expounde these wordes within a moneth from the publication of this decree or from a month after warnyng geuen yet holde thou councelleth he from a moneth of suche publique detention begun and proued And yf all these wyll not help the matter then he saith vpon the word deteynyng that
matters of their soules the honorable groundes of our fayth the maiestie of Christe of God hym selfe Is it lyke that God wyll powre there his spirite of trueth of puritie where suche lyes such fyltynes is kept in store where mere malice wryteth and slaunder so doth aduaunce her selfe Surely the longer suche men write in this sort the farther of they dryue indifferent conscionable men from them and the more earnestlye prouoke the weake men to reuenge their spyte in them selfe and in their frendes the more prouoke they some men to vse some bitternesse againe and to put abrode in syght that whiche otherwyse myght haue ben kept in scilence Which for that stories be coÌ„mon though some yet in fewe mens handes so farre as the reuelation may make to extoll gods glorie his trueth and veritie to make the blynde worlde to see somewhat except they be altogether blynde is some mens intendement rather peraduenture prouoked then sought of purpose so to weare out the vaine tyme of this pilgrimage tyll the sonne of man shal come Vt auferat omnia scandala omnes iniquitates qui reddet vnicuâ—que secundum opera sua iustus iudex But a gods name why shoulde they make this their doctrine of transubstantiation and grosse presence to be so newe that Berengarius must be the first auctour most vntruely so faced out Where auncient recordes proue so farre the contrarie and setteth out suche the true doctrine so to be vrged and appoynted both for priestes in their synodes for religious in their collations for the common people in their orderlye exhortations expressed in Homylees of a great number extant in Saxon speache for all the festiuall dayes in the yere which written were so vsed many a yere before Beringarius was borne or hearde of So that the bishoppes of olde may aswell be charged to be Caluanistes yf the assertion be so considered aswell as the bishoppe of Sarum or any bishoppe at these dayes And aswell maye that learned archbishop Rabanus Maurus be charged to be a Caluanist beyng in the yere of our Lorde 808. because his opinion was agaynst the scolasticall transubstantiation affirmyng that the materiall parte of the sacrament is turned to the noryshment of our bodies and therfore saith he is the bread called the body of Christe because as the bread doth noryshe the body so Christes body norysheth the soule and because the wine worketh blood in the fleshe therfore it is to be referred to the blood of Christ. This to be Rabanus iudgement is so aduouched by the auctour who dyd abridge Amalarius booke wrytyng de ordine Romanae ecclesiae Whiche Amalarius in the begynnyng of his seconde booke doth shewe the cause why of olde tyme emonges the Romanes the lessons were read in Greke and also in Latine as it is at this day vsed saith he at Constantinople for two causes One for that there were present Grecians to whom was vnknowen the Latine tongue and also for that the Romanes were present to whom was vnknowen the Greke tongue an other cause to expresse the vnitie of both nations So that the sayde Amalarius may be witnesse that in the olde tyme the lessons of the scriptures were so read in the Churche as by the readyng the people myght vnderstande to their edification But as concernyng the sayde Rabanus it is not vnlyke that he had receaued his iudgement from his maister Alcquine an olde Englyshe wryter whose auditor he was and Alcquine agayne sometyme auditor of Bede as Tritemius testifieth Wherevpon to consider the iust computation of yeres it is not vncredible but that such faith towardes the sacrament which we nowe professe was in the Realme before the conquest and so continued tyl Lanfranckes dayes And for all the examinations and executions which were done in the Englyshe Churche afterwarde by diuers Ordinaries in the Realme yet from age to age it was reteyned and men founde for holdyng that auncient fayth by their inquisitions though cruelly brente in such mercie as of late was shewed to poore christian men women and chyldren wherein the order of their doyng ouer that article was alwayes vrged and charged vpon them whiche they woulde condempne for heretiques though their greatest greefe was to heare of those contemned persons other practises of their lyues and religion so dispised and reproued but thinking by laying that cause of the sacrament to their charge it would compel al other men to beleue them to be heretiques and worthyly brent But God doth open men eyes better to iudge then before was knowen God graunt for such knowledge men may be thankfull to God in their lyues and conuersations But to returne agayne to the matter purposed and to walke in the wyde discourse of testimonies and examples whiche myght be brought in to proue both bishoppes and priestes as haue ben in matrimonie in this Realme before the conquest the recordes whereof howe enuiously so euer haue ben suppressed rased defaced yet remaine enough of that sort to proue the fact though the scriptures fayled to be brought forth for triall of this trueth And to aleage the stories of other countreys what bishoppes and priestes of great fame and learning haue ben of this state openly aduouched and commended were a matter of greate largenesse the numbers be so many and therfore the matter to be but needelesse to such as haue any meane syght in stories So that to rude and vnlearned persons who esteeme al thinges newe which they haue no remembraunce of or haue not ben of late dayes in vre were not worthy any more to be written And yet to the learned or suche as make moste bragge of learnyng all this to muche especiallye yf they be suche as haue eyes to see and wyll not see and eares wyll not heare heartes and wyll not vnderstande and therefore let it suffise them whose consciences be fearefull and woulde gladly be enfourmed of the trueth at the least waye to serue their turne whose cause it is to serue God in a pure conscience in the lawfull vsage of his institution not vnlawfull for them and geue their humble thankes to God and let enuious men barke what they can against it For whyle the Gospell shall haue any credite or estimation they shal neuer preuayle after so much lyght of gods worde shewed to beate downe this institution of God free for all maner of persons by the libertie of the Gospell as all other creatures of tyme and place be made for mans necessitie and comfort And yf men crye out agaynst the vnhonest or vnlawfull abuse of Gods institution in any person I wyshe with them that the abuse were by lawe and decree refourmed But good men wyshe the libertie therof no more worthy to be taken awaye in it selfe then they thynke reasonable to be plucked from them any other such benefite of God erected and instituted by his diuine ordinaunce to the represse of fylthynes other abhomination not to be commonly rehearsed though to commonly
forgeuen hym and that heauen was open vnto hym the trueth wherof the angell proued to hym then by a miracle And so Remigius by the commaundement of the sayde angell restored hym to his bishopricke agayne and there he continued tyll he dyed And yf we shoulde credite stories that be written Some doth write saith Antonine that because S. Iohn was called from his maryage that same that was in Cana Galileae In summa part 3. tit 1. cap. 21. whereat Christe and his mother were present by some mens opinion vnto the Apostleship against his wyues wyll Marie Magdalen yf it be true that some affirme she vpon indignation hereof fell to her incontinent lyfe and was a publique euyl lyuer in the citie But this holy father Genebaldus with his wife lyuyng in forced professed chastitie by stealth dyd as their kynde dyd leade them but yet kepte all thynges close from the eyes of the world and then all was well Had it not haue ben more honorable for this bishoppe to haue folowed the example of RESTITVTVS sometyme bishoppe of London Restitutus who to the eyes of the world manifestlye lyued with his wyfe or to haue folowed that notable learned martir Phileas bishop of Thmuis whom Eusebius so hyghly doth commende for his eloquence testifiyng that he dyd write a notable martiriloge a booke of martirs of the number of such christian folke whiche suffred at Alexandria whō Ensebius also prayseth much for his constancie who hauyng a wyfe and chyldren to the knowledge of all the worlde Eccle. hist. Euseb. lib. 8. cap. 8. woulde not forsake his fayth when he was ledde before the president and towarde his martirdome for his fayth to Christe though his kynsfolkes moued hym to saue hym selfe Hillarius floruit anno Dom 350 and to haue respect of his wife and chyldren yet vertue preuayled in hym agaynst such perswasions and would not so redeeme hym selfe Or had it not haue ben more commendable to haue folowed the example of HYLARIVS bishop of Poyters who in his bishopricke auouched both wyfe and chyldren openly whiche the sayde archbishop of Florens affirmeth was not agaynst his order Quia saith he episcopatus ex sui natura non habet opponi ad matrimonium Lib. 3 tit 1. cap. 21. in summa A bishopricke of his owne nature hath no contradiction to wedlocke This Hylarie in his dayes dyd sore lament the order of discipline of the churche to be then much decayed To which complaynt agreeth that religious father Baptist Mantuan who wrytyng of the sayde byshop Hylarius testifieth thus and there improueth the lawe of forced chastitie more at large Lib. 1 fast Non nocuit tibi progenies non obstitit vxor Legitimo coniuncta thoro Non horruit illa Tempestate deus thalamos cunabula taedas Sola erat in precio quae nunc incognita virtus Sordet et attrito viuit cum plebe cucullo c. Thy progenie was no shame to thee thy wyfe coupled in lawfull matrimonie was no impediment to thee God at that tyme dyd not abborre eyther the maryage chamber or the cradle or the publique lyghtes vsed to be caryed afore maryed persons Vertue only was then in price which now is not knowen and therfore is vylely esteemed and lyueth only with the common people where the cowle is therein worne and slytten But as concernyng S. Paules canon for a bishop to be the husband of one wyfe he had great cause so to order it for that saith S. Ambrose he shoulde shewe a more perfection then was commonly vsed of others For but xvij yere before Christe euen emongst our nigh neighbours in Scotlande it was lawful to haue as many wyues as they listed Polidorus Lanquet anno 17. ante Christ. Insomuch that their king Ewinus hauing an hundred concubines at once made it lawfull by lawe that a man myght haue a pluralitie of wyues and further prouided by lawe that the wyues of the poore commoners shoulde be common to the nobilitie and that the Lorde of the soyle might clayme the virginitie of all his tenauntes daughters except they woulde redeeme them selues by some pension The first two saith Polidore dyd Christes religion abolyshe Lib. 10. hist. the last was long continued amongst them tyll kyng Malcolyne at the request of that vertuous Queene Margarete mother to Mawde the first wyfe of kyng Henrie the firste dyd abrogate that foule pencion Which kyng then dyd decree that the virgin after her maryage shoulde paye to the lorde of the fee but one peece of golde for her redemption Which statute saith Polidore is at this day kept In deede S. Hierom writeth thus Aduersus Iouin lib 2. Quod Scotorum natio vxores proprias non habet that the nation of the Scottes had no wiues peculiar De prepa euangelica lib 6 cap. 8. Ab vrsper De antiqui Iudaica lib. 17. ca. 2. lib 4. cad 6. De bello iud lib 1. cap. 18. Aduer iud Tripartit lib. 8. cap. 11. Of some suche disorder wryteth Eusebius Multi apud Britannos c. In Britanie many men haue one woman to wyfe Among the Parthians and in Thrasia contrarie many women haue but one husband and lyue all chaste in obeying the lawes Iosephus recordeth that it was an auncient vsage among them to haue many wyues at once For Herode saith he had nine wyues As the Iewes had by permission two wyues at once as he testifieth where Iustinus martir inueyeth against the Iewes that their insolence grewe so great that their teachers dyd permit euery one of them to haue foure or fyue wyues accordyng to their desires though Valentinian brought it by lawe to onlye a couple a good emperour yf he had had good counsayle and nothyng saith the storie he wanted to the perfection of all honour but godly counsayle of his faythfull seruauntes This was it not without good grounde in so much corruption of the worlde In catalogo Cesareum 6 when all nations dyd what they lysted If Paul required of a bishop in his perfection to be content with one wyfe Which prudence saith Hierom Paule dyd iustly vse for that he knewe it graunted by lawe and so practised by the examples of the patriarches and of Moyses Ad Ocean lib 2. to this effect that the people might haue large issue by their many wiues And for that the electiō of this libertie was open to priestes also he gaue commaundement that priestes should not chalenge such licence in the churche to haue two or three matrimonies at once but that they myght haue euery one of them one only wyfe at one time And there in that discourse S. Hierom doth much blame the harde and contorted exposition of vnius vxoris virum to be the husbande of one wyfe that is of one churche only and there he doth reiecte that exposition for to much violent In conclusion these matters aforesayde with many others well and aduisedly pondered by that noble