could never gain much Ground after this and indeed many hoped that he should be quickly sent after Cromwell some complained of him in the House of Commons and Informations were brought the King that the chief Encouragement that the Hereticks had came from him The Ecclesiastical Committees imployed by the King A Book of Religion set out by Bishops were now at work and gave the last finishing to a Book formerly prepared but at this time corrected and explained in many Particulars They began with the Explanation of Faith which according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome was thought an implicit believing whatever the Church proposed But the Reformers made it the chief Subject of their Books and Sermons to perswade People to believe in Christ and not in the Church and made great use of those Places in which it was said That Christians are justified by Faith only tho some explained this in such a manner that it gave their Adversaries Advantages to charge them that they denied the necessity of Good Works but they all taught that tho they were not necessary to Justification yet they were necessary to Salvation They differed also in their Notion of Good Works The Church of Rome taught that the Honour done to God in his Images or to the Saints in their Shrines and Relicks or to the Priests were the best sort of Good Works Whereas the Reformers prest Justice and Mercy most and discovered the Superstition of the other The Opinion of the Merit of Good Works was also so highly raised that many thought they purchased Heaven by them This the Reformers did also correct and taught the People to depend meerly upon the Death and Intercession of Christ Others moved subtiller Questions As whether Obedience was an essential part of Faith or only a Consequent of it This was a Nicety scarce becoming Divines that built only on the Simplicity of the Scriptures and condemned the Subtilties of the Schools and it was said that Men of ill Lives abused this Doctrine and thought that if they could but assure themselves that Christ died for them they were safe enough So now when they settled the Notion of Faith The Explanation of Faith they divided it into two sorts The one was a Perswasion of the Truth of the Gospel but the other carried with it a Submission to the Will of God and both Hope Love and Obedience belonged to it which was the Faith professed in Baptism and so much extoll'd by St. Paul It was not to be so understood as if it were a Certainty of our being predestinated which may be only a Presumption since all God's Promises are made to us on Conditions but it was an entire receiving the whole Gospel according to our Baptismal Vows Cranmer took great Pains to state this matter right and made a large Collection of many places all written with his own Hand both out of Antient and Modern Authors concerning Faith Justification and the Merit of Good Works and concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merits of Christ and that those who are justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these was the meritorious Cause of Justification After this was stated they made next a large and full Explanation of the Apostles Creed with great Judgment and many excellent practical Inferences the Definition they gave of the Catholick Church runs thus It comprehended all Assemblies of Men in the whole World that received the Faith of Christ who ought to hold an Unity of Love and Brotherly Agreement together by which they became Members of the Catholick Church After this they explained the seven Sacraments In opening these there were great Debates for as was formerly mentioned the method used was to open the Point enquired into by proposing many Queries And of the Sacramenss and every one was to give in his Answer to these with the Reasons of it and then others were appointed to make an Abstract of those things in which they all either agreed or differed The Original Papers relating to these Points are yet preserved which shew with how great Consideration they proceeded in the Changes that were then made Cranmer had at this time some particular Opinions concerning Ecclesiastical Offices That they were delivered from the King as other Civil Offices were and that Ordination was not indispensibly necessary and was only a Ceremony that might be used or laid aside but that the Authority was conveyed to Church-men only by the King's Commission yet he delivered his Opinion in this matter with great Modesty and he not only subscribed the Book in which the contrary Doctrine was established but afterwards published it in a Book which he writ in King Edward's days from whence it appears that he changed his Mind in this Particular Baptism was explained as had been done formerly Penance was made to consist in the Absolution of the Priests which had been formerly declared only to be desirable where it could be had In the Communion both Transubstantiation Private Masses and Communion in one kind were asserted They asserted the Obligation of the Levitical Law about the Degrees of Marriage and the Indissolubleness of that Bond. They set out the Divine Institution of Priests and Deacons and that no Bishop had Authority over another they made a long Excursion against the Pope's Pretensions and for justifying the King's Supremacy They said Confirmation was instituted by the Apostles and was profitable but not necessary to Salvation and they asserted extream Unction to have been commanded by the Apostles for the Health both of Soul and Body Then were the Ten Commandments explained the second was added to the first but the Words For I am the Lord thy God c. were left out It was declared that no Godly Honour was to be done unto Images and that they ought only to be reverenced for their sakes whom they represented therefore the preferring of one Image to another and the making Pilgrimages and Offerings to them was condemned but the censing them or kneeling before them was permitted yet the People were to be taught that these things were done only to the Honour of God Invocation of Saints as Intercessors was allowed but immediate Addresses to them for the Blessings that were prayed for was condemned The strict rest from Labour on the seventh day was declared to be Ceremonial but it was necessary to rest from Sin and Carnal Pleasure and to follow Holy Duties The other Commandments were explained in a very plain and practical way Then was the Lord's Prayer explained and it was asserted that the People ought only to pray in their Vulgar Tongues for exciting their Devotion the more The Angels Salutation to the Virgin was also paraphrased They handled Free-will and defined it to be a Power by which the Will guided by Reason did without constraint discern and choose Good and Evil the former by the help of God's Spirit and
unlawful in it self The Sorbon declares against the Marriage At Paris the Sorbon made their Determination with great Solemnity after a Mass of the Holy Ghost all the Doctors took an Oath to study the Question and to give their Judgment according to their Consciences and after three Weeks study the greater part agreed in this That the King's Marriage was unlawful and that the Pope could not dispense with it At Orleans Angiers and Tholouse they determined to the same purpose Erasmus had a mind to live in quiet and so he would not give his Opinion nor offend either party Grineus was implored to try what Bucer Zuinglius and Oecolampadius thought of the Marriage Bucer's Opinion was The Opinion of the Reformed Divines about it that the Laws in Leviticus did not bind and were not moral Because God not only dispensed but commanded them to marry their Brother's Wife when he died without Issue Zuinglius and Oecolampadius were of another mind and thought these Laws were moral But were of Opinion that the Issue by a Marriage de facto grounded upon a received Mistake ought not to be Illegitimated Calvin thought the Marriage was null and they all agreed that the Pope's Dispensation was of no force Osiander was imploied to engage the Lutheran Divines but they were affraid of giving the Emperour new grounds of displeasure Melanctthon thought the Law in Leviticus was dispensable and that the Marriage might be lawful and that in those matters States and Princes might make what Laws they pleased And though the Divines of Leipsick after much disputing about it did agree that these Laws were moral yet they could never be brought to justify the Divorce with the subsequent Marriage that followed upon it even after it was done and that the King appeared very inclinable to receive their Doctrine So steadily did they follow their Consciences even against their Interests But the Pope was more compliant for he offered to Cassali to grant the King a Dispensation for having another Wife with which the Imperialists seemed not disatisfied The King's Cause being thus fortified Many of the Nobility write to the Pope by so many Resolutions in his Favours he made many members of Parliament in a Prorogation time sign a Letter to the Pope complaining that notwithstanding the great merits of the King the Justice of his Cause and the Importance of it to the safety of the Kingdom yet the Pope made still new Delayes they therefore pressed him to dispatch it speedily otherwise they would be forced to see for other Remedies tho they were not willing to drive things to Extremities till it was unavoidable The Letter was signed by the Cardinal the Archbishop of Canterbury four other Bishops 22 Abbots 42 Peers and 11 Commoners To this the Pope wrote an answer The Pope's Answer He took notice of the Vehemence of their Stile He freed himself from the Imputations of Ingratitude and Injustice He acknowledged the King's great Merits and said he had done all he could in his Favour He had granted a Commission but could not refuse to receive the Queen's Appeal all the Cardinals with one consent judged that an Avocation was necessary Since that time the delays lay not at his door but at the Kings that he was ready to proceed and would bring it to as speedy an Issue as the Importance of it would admit of and for their Threatnings they were neither agreeable to their Wisdom nor their Religion Things being now in such a Posture November the King set out a Proclamation against any that should purchase bring over or publish any Bull from Rome contrary to his Authority and after that he made an Abstract of all the Reasons and Authorities of Fathers or modern Writers against his Marriage to be published both in Latin and English The main stress was laid on the Laws in Leviticus The Arguments for the Divorce of the forbidden Degrees of Marriage among which this was one not to marry the Brother's Wife These Marriages are called Abominations that defile the Land and for which the Canaanites were cast out of it The Exposition of Scripture was to be taken from the Tradition of the Church and by the Universal Consent of all Doctors those Laws had been still looked on as Moral and ever binding to Christians as well as Jews Therefore Gregory the Great advised Austin the Monk upon the Conversion of the English among whom the Marriages of the Brother's Wife were usual to dissolve them looking on them as grievous Sins Many other Popes as Calixtus Zacharias and Innocent the Third had given their Judgments for the perpetual Obligation of those Laws They had been also condemned by the Councils of Neocesarea Agde and the second of Toledo Among Wickliff's condemned Opinions this was one that the Prohibitions of marrying in such degrees were not founded on the Law of God For which he was condemned in some English Councils and these were confirmed by the General Council at Constance Among the Greek Fathers both Origen Basil Chrysostom and Hesychius and among the Latins Tertullian Ambrose Jerome and St. Austine do formerly deliver this as the belief of the Church in their time that those Laws were Moral and still in force Anselm Hugo de sancto Victore Hildebert and Ivo argue very fully to the same purpose the last particularly writing concerning the King of France who had married his Brothers Wife says it was inconsistent with the Law of God with which none can dispence and that he could not be admitted to the Communion of the Church till he put her away Aquinas and all the School-men follow these Authorities and in their way of reasoning they argue fully for this Opinion and all that writ against Wickliff did also assert the Authority of those Prohibitions in particular Waldensis whose Books were approved by Pope Martin the Fifth All the Canonists did also agree with them as Johannes Andreas Panormitan and Ostiensis so that Tradition being the only sure Expounder of the Scripture the Case seemed clear They also proved that a Consent without Consummation made the Marriage compleat which being a Sacrament that which followed after in the Right of Marriage was not necessary to make it compleat as a Priest saying Mass consummates his Orders which yet were compleat without it Many Testimonies were brought to confirm this from which it was inferred that the Queen's being married to Prince Arthur tho nothing had followed upon it made her incapable of a lawful Marriage with the King And yet they shewed what violent Presumptions there were of Consummation which was all that in such Cases was sought for and this was expressed both in the Bull and Breve tho but dubiously in the one yet very positively in the other After that they examined the Validity of the Pope's Dispensation It was a received Maxime that tho the Pope had Authority to dispense with the Laws of the Church yet he could not
dispense with the Laws of God which were not subject to him And it had been judged in the Rota at Rome when a Dispensation was asked for a King to marry his Wives Sister that it could not be granted and when Precedents were alledged for it it was answered that the Church was to be governed by Laws and not by Examples and if any Pope had granted such Dispensation it was either out of Ignorance or Corruption This was not only the Opinion of the School-men but of the Canonists tho they are much set on raising the Pope's Power as high as is possible And therefore Alexander the third refused to grant a Dispensation in a like case tho the Parent had sworn to make his Son marry his Brother's Widow others went further and said The Pope could not dispense with the Laws of the Church which several ancient Popes had declared against and it was said that the fulness of Power with which the Pope was vested did only extend to the pastoral Care and was not for Destruction but for Edification and that as St. Paul opposed St. Peter to his Face so had mnay Bishops withstood Popes when they proceeded against the Canons of the Church So both Laurence and Dunstan in England had proceeded to Censures notwithstanding the Pope's Authority interposed to the contrary and no Authority being able to make what was a Sin in it self become lawful every Man that found himself engaged in a sinful course of Life ought to forsake it and therefore the King ought to withdraw from the Queen and the Bishops of England in case of refusal ought to proceed to Censures Upon the whole matter Tradition was that upon which all the Writers of Controversy particularly now in the Contests with the Lutherans founded the Doctrine of the Church as being the only infallible Exposition of the doubtful parts of Scripture and that being so clear in this matter there seemed to be no room for any further Debate On the other hand Arguments against it Cajetan was the first Writer that against the stream of former Ages thought that the Laws of Leviticus were only Judiciary Precepts binding the Jews and were not moral his Reasons were that Adam's Children must have married in the Degrees there forbidden Jacob married two Sisters and Judah according to custom gave his two Sons and promised a third to the same Woman Moses also appointed the Brother to marry the Brother's Wife when he died without Issue But a Moral Law is for ever and in all Cases binding and it was also said that the Pope's power reached even to the Laws of God for he dispensed with Oaths and Vows and as he had the Power of determining Controversies so he only could declare what Laws were moral and indispensable and what were not nor could any Bishops pretend to judg concerning the extent of his Power or the validity of his Bulls To all this those that writ for the King answered That it was strange to see Men who pretended such Zeal against Hereticks follow their Method which was to set up private reasonings from some Texts of Scripture in opposition to the received Tradition of the Church which was the bottom in which all good Catholicks thought themselves safe and if Cajetan wrote in this manner against the received Doctrin of the Church in one Particular why might not Luther take the same liberty in other Points They also made distinction in moral Laws between those that were so from the nature of the thing which was indispensable and could in no Case be lawful and to this sort no Degrees but those of Parents and Children could be reduced other Moral Laws were only grounded upon publick Inconveniencies and Dishonesty such as the other Degrees were for the Familiarities that Persons so nearly related live in are such that unless a Terrour were struck in them by a perpetual Law against such mixtures Families would be much defiled But in such Laws tho God may grant a Dispensation in some particular Cases yet an Inferiour Authority cannot pretend to it and some Dispensations granted in the latter Ages ought not to be set up to ballance the Decisions of so many Popes and Councils against them and the Doctrine taught by so many Fathers and Doctors in former times Both sides having thus brought forth the strength of their Cause it did evidently appear That according to the Authority given to Tradition in the Church of Rome the King had clearly the Right on his side and that the Pope's Party did write with little sincerity in this matter being guilty of that manner of arguing from Texts of Scriptures for which they had so loudly charged the Lutherans The Queen continued firm to her Resolution of leaving the matter in the Pope's Hands and therefore would hearken to no Propositions that were made to her for referring the matter to the Arbitration of some chosen on both sides A Session of Parliament followed in January in which the King made the Decisions of the Universities and the Books that were written for the Divorce A Session of Parliament be first read in the House of Lords and then they were carried down by Sir Thomas More and 12 Lords both of the Spirituality and Temporality to the Commons There were twelve Seals of Universities shewed and their Decisions were read first in Latin and then Translated into English There were also an hundred Books shewed written on the same Argument Upon the shewing these the Chancellor desired them to report in their Countries that they now clearly saw that the King had not attempted this matter of his meer will and pleasure but for the discharge of his Conscience and the security of the Succession of the Crown This was also brought into the Convocation who declared themselves satisfied concerning the unlawfulness of the Marriage but the Circumstances they were then in made that their Declaration was not much considered for they were then under the lash All the Clergy of England were sued as in the case of a Premunire for having acknowledged a Forreign Jurisdiction and taken out Bulls and had Suits in the Legatine Court The Kings of England did claim such a Power in Ecclesiastical matters The Laws of England against Bulls from Rome as the Roman Emperours had exercised before the fall of that Empire Anciently they had by their Authority divided Bishopricks granted the Investitures and made Laws both relating to Ecclesiastical Causes Persons When the Popes began to extend their Power beyond the Limits assigned them by the Canons they met with great opposition in England both in the matter of Investitures Appeals Legates and the other Branches of their Usurpations but they managed all the Advantages they found either from the Weakness or ill Circumstances of Princes so steadily that in Conclusion they subdued the World And if they had not by their cruel Exactions so oppressed the Clergy that they were driven to seek Shelter under the Covert
second him in his Suit He encouraged him to proceed to a second Marriage without more adoe and assured him he would stand by him in it And told him he intended to restrain the payment of Annats to Rome and would ask of the Pope a Redress of that and other Grievances and if it was denied he would seek other Remedies in a Provincial Council An Enterview was proposed between the Pope and Him to which he desired the King go with him and King the was not unwilling to it if he could have assurance that his Business would be finally determined The Pope offered to the King to send a Legate to any indifferent place out of England to form the Process reserving only the giving Sentence to himself And proposed to him and all Princes a General Truce that so he might call a General Council The King answered that such was the present State of the Affairs of Europe that it was not seasonable to call a General Council that it was contrary to his Prerogative to send a Proxy to appear at Rome That by the Decrees of General Councils all Causes ought to be judged on the place and by a Provincial Council and that it was fitter to judge it in Engiand than any where else And that by his Coronation Oath he was bound to maintain the Dignities of his Crown and the Rights of his Subjects and not to appear before any forraign Court So Sir Thomas Elliot was sent over with Instructions to move that the cause might be judged in England Yet if the Pope had real Intentions of giving the King full Satisfaction he was not to insist on that And to make the Cardinal of Ravenna sure he sent him the offer of the Bishoprick of Coventry and Litchfield Nov. 14. The King marries Ann Bolleyn then vacant Soon after this the King married Ann Bolleyn Rowland Lee afterwards Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield did officiate none being present but the Duke of Norfolk and her Father her Mother and her Brother and Cranmer It was thought that the former Marriage being null of it self the King might proceed to another And perhaps they hoped that as the Pope had formerly proposed this Method so he would now approve of it But tho the Pope had joyned himself to France yet he was still so much in fear of the Emperour that he resolved not to provoke him and so was not wrought on by any of the Expedients which Bennet proposed which were either to judge the Cause in England according to the Council of Nice or to refer it to the Arbitration of some to be named by the King and the King of France and the Pope for all these he said tended to the Diminution of the Papal Power A new Citation was issued out for the King to answer to the Queen's Complaints but the King's Agents protested that he was a Soveraign Prince that England was a free Church over which the Pope had no just Authority and that the King could expect no Justice at Rome where the Empeperours Power was so great At this time the Parliament met again and past an Act The Parliament condemns Appeals to Rome condemning all Appeals to Rome In it they set forth That the Crown was Imperial and that the Nation was a compleat Body having full Power to do Justice in all Cases both Spiritual and Temporal And that as former Kings had maintained the Liberties of the Kingdom against the Usurpations of the See of Rome so they found the great Inconveniencies of allowing Appeals in Matrimonial Causes That they put them to great Charges and accasioned many Delayes Therefore they enacted That thereafter those should be all judged within the Kingdom and no regard should be had to any Appeals to Rome or Censures from it But Sentences given in England were to have their full Effect and all that executed any Censures from Rome were to incur the pains of Premunire Appeals were to be from the Arch-deacon to the Bishop and from him to the Archbishop And in the Causes that concerned the King the Appeal was to be to the upper House or Convocation There was now a new Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer made Archbishop of Canterbury Warham died the former Year He was a great Patron of Learning a good Canonist and wise States-man but was a cruel Persecutor of Hereticks and inclined to believe Fanatical Stories Cranmer was then in Germany disputing in the King's Cause with some of the Emperour 's Divines The King resolved to advance him to that Dignity and sent him word of it that so he might make haste over But a Promotion so far above his Thoughts had not its common Effects on him He had a true and primitive Sense of so great a Charge and instead of aspiring to it he was afraid of it he both returned very slowly to England and used all his Endeavours to be excused from that Advancement But this declining of Preferment being a thing of which the Clergy of that Age were so little guilty discovered That he had Maximes very far different from most Church-men Bulls were sent for to Rome in order to his Consecration which the Pope granted tho it could not be very grateful to him to send them to one who had so publickly disputed against his Power of dispensing all the Composition that was payed for them was but 900 Ducats which was perhaps according to the Regulation made in the Act against Annats There were 9 several Bulls sent over one confirming the King's Nomination a Second requiring him to accept it a Third absolving him from Censures a Fourth to the Suffragan Bishops a Fifth to the Dean and Chapter a Sixth to the Clergy a Seventh to the Laity an Eighth to the Tenants of the See requiring all these to receive him to be their Archbishop a Ninth requiring some Bishops to consecrate him the Tenth gave him the Pall and by the Eleventh the Archbishop of York was required to put it on him The putting all this in so many different Bulls was a good Contrivance for raising the Rents of the Apostolick Chamber On the 30 of March Cranmer was consecrated by the Bishops of Lincoln Exeter and St. Asaph The Oath to the Pope was of hard Digestion So he made a Protestation before he took it that he conceived himself not bound up by it in any thing that was contrary to his Duty to God to his King or Country and he repeated this when he took it so that if this seemed too artificial for a Man of his sincerity yet he acted in it fairly The Convocation condemns the King's Marriage and above Board The Convocation had then two Questions before them the first was Concerning the Lawfulness of the King's Marriage and the Validity of the Pope's Dispensation the other was of Matter of Fact Whether P. Arthur had consummated the Marriage or not For the first the Judgments of 19 Universities were read and after a
Evidence as appears by Spelman's Account of it that was then a Judg was only the Declaration of a dead Woman but whether that was forged or real can never be known till the great Day discovers it The Judgment in case of Treason for a Woman is Burning but it was given either for that or beheading at the King's Pleasure The Judges complained of this as contrary to Law but there was a secret Reason for it into which they did not penetrate The Earl of Northumberland was one of the Judges he had been once in love with the Queen and either some return of that or some other Accident made that he fell suddenly so ill that he could not stay out the Trial for after the Queen was judged he went out of the Gourt before her Brother was tried who was condemned upon the same Evidence Yet all this did not satisfy the enraged King he resolved to illegitimate his Daughter and in order to that to annul his Marriage with the Queen It was remembred that the Earl of Northumberland had said to Cardinal Wolsey that he had engaged himself so far with her that he could not go back which was perhaps done by some Promise conceived in Words of the Future Tense but no Promise unless in the Words of the Present Tense could annul the Subsequent Marriage Perhaps the Queen did not understand that Difference or probably the fear of so terrible a Death as Burning wrought so much on her that she confessed a Contract but the Earl denied it positively and took the Sacrament upon it wishing that it might turn to his Damnation if there was ever either Contract or Promise of Marriage between them She was secretly carried to Lambeth and confessed a Precontract upon which her Marriage with the King was judged null from the beginning yet this was so little known at that time that Spelman writes of it as a thing only talked of but it was published in the next Parliament These two Sentences contradicted one another for if she was never the King's Wife she could not be guilty of Adultery for there could be no breach of the Faith of Wedlock if they were never truly married But the King was resolved both to be rid of her and to declare his Daughter by her a Bastard When she had Intimations given her to prepare for Death Her Execution among other things she reflected on her Carriage to Lady Mary to whom she had been too severe a Stepmother So she made one of her Women sit down and she fell on her Knees before her and charged her to go to Lady Mary and in that Posture and in her Name to ask her Forgiveness for all she had done against her This Tenderness of Conscience seemed to give much Credit to the continual Protestations of her Innocence which she made to the last The day before her Death she sent her last Message to the King asserting her Innocence recommending her Daughter to his Care and thanking him for his advancing her first to be a Marchioness then to be a Queen and now when he could raise her no higher on Earth for sending her to be a Saint in Heaven The day she died the Lieutenant of the Tower writ to Cromwell that it was not fit to publish the time of her Execution for the fewer that were present it would be the better since he believed she would declare her Innocence at the hour of her Death for that morning she had made great Protestations of it when she received the Sacrament and seemed to long for Death and had great Joy and Pleasure in it she was glad to hear the Executioner was good for she said she had a very short Neck at which she laughed heartily A little before Noon she was brought to the place of Execution there were present some of the Chief Officers and Great Men of the Court she was it seems prevailed on out of regard to her Daughter to make no Reflections on the hard measure she met with nor to say any thing touching the Grounds on which Sentence past against her only she desired that all would judg the best she commended the King highly and so took her leave of the World She was for some time in her private Devotions and concluded To Christ I commend my Soul upon which the Executioner who was brought from Calis on that occasion cut off her Head and so little regard was had to her Body that it was put in a Chest of Elm-tree made to send Arrows into Ireland and was buried in the Chappel in the Tower Norris was much dealt with to accuse her and his Life was promised him if he would do it but he said he knew she was Innocent and would die a thousand times rather than defame her so he and the other three were beheaded and all of them continued to the last to vindicate her Smeton was hanged and it was said that he retracted all before he died but of that there is no certainty When this was done it was very variously censured The Popish Party observed that she who had supplanted Queen Katherine Censures past upon it did now meet with harder measure her faint way of speaking concerning her Innocence at last was judged too high a Complement to the King in a dying Woman and shewed more regard to her Daughter than to her own Honour yet she writ a Letter to the King in so high a strain both of Wit and Natural Eloquence in her own Justification that it may be reckoned one of the best composed pieces of that time In her Carriage it seems there were some Freedoms that became not her Quality and had encouraged those infortunate Persons to make some Addresses to her which is never done when there is such difference of Conditions without some Encouragement is first given It was said on the other hand that the King of all Men had the least reason to suspect her since after six Years Courtship he gained nothing from her before he married her but the Particulars she confessed gave much matter for Jealousy especially in so violent a Man to work upon and so it was no wonder if it transported him out of measure Others condemned Cranmer as too obsequious for passing the Sentence annulling the Marriage yet when she came and confessed a Precontract in Court he could not avoid the giving Sentence upon it All that hated the Reformation infulted and said it now appeared how bad that Cause was which was supported by such a Patron But it was answered that her Faults could not reflect on those who being ignorant of them had desired her Protection Gregory the Great had courted and magnified Phocas and Brunichild after he knew their Villanies and Irene after her barbarous Cruelties was rot a little extolled for her Zeal in the matter of Images It has seemed strange to some that during her Daughter's long and glorious Reign none writ in Vindication of her Mother which
having a great Party in the Town which was a place of no strength fell in upon him next day and drove him out of it 100. of his Men were killed and thirty taken Prisoners Upon this they were much lifted up but the Earl of Warwick coming thither with 6000. Men that were prepared to be sent to Scotland they after some skirmishes with him were forced to retire for they had wasted all the Countrey about so that their Provisions failed them but Warwick followed them close and killed great numbers and dispersed them Ket and some of their Leaders were taken and hanged in Chains The news of this going to Yorkshire the Rebels there that had not exceeded 3000. accepted the offer of pardon that was sent them and some of the more factious that were animating them to make new commotions were taken and hanged On the 21. of August the Protector published a General Pardon in the Kings name of all that had been done before that day Many of the Council opposed this and judged it better to keep the Commons under the lash but the Protector thought that as long as such Members continued in such fears it would be easie to raise new disorders so he resolved though without the Majority of the Council to go through with it This disgusted the Council extreamly who thought he took too much upon him A Visitation of Cambridge followed soon after this A Visitation of Cambridge Ridley was the chief of the Visitors When he found that a design was laid to suppress some Colledges under pretence of uniting them to others and to convert some Fellowships that were provided for Divines to the study of the Civil Law he refused to go along in that with the other Visitors and particularly opposed the suppression of Clare Hall which they began with He said the Church was already too much robbed and yet some Mens ravenousness was not satisfied It seemed the design was laid to drive both Religion and Learning out of the Land therefore he desired leave to be gone The Visitors complained of him to the Protector and imputed his concern for Clare-Hall to his partiality for the North where he was born that being a House for the Northern Counties Upon that the Protector wrote him a chiding Letter but he answered it with the freedom that became a Bishop who was resolved to suffer all things rather than sin against his Conscience and the Protector was so well satisfied with him that the Colledge was preserved There was at this time an end put to a very foolish Controversie that had occasioned some heat concerning the pronunciation of the Greek Tongue which many used more suitably to an English than a Greek accent Cheek being the Professor of Greek had taught the truer Rules of Pronunciation but Gardiner was an Enemy to every thing that was new and so he opposed it much in King Henry's time and Cheek was made leave the Chair but both he and Sir Tho. Smith wrote in Vindication of his Rules with so much Learning that all People wondred to see so much brought out upon so slight an occasion but Gardiner was not a Man to be wrought on by reason Now the matter was setled and the new way of pronunciation took place and that the rather because the Patrons of it were in such power the one being the King's Tutor and the other made Secretary of State and that Gardiner who opposed it was now in the Tower So great an Influence has Greatness in supporting the most speculative and indifferent things Bonner was now brought in trouble Bonners Process It was not easie to know how to deal with him for he obeyed every Order that was sent him and yet it was known that he secretly hated and condemned all that was done and as often as he could declare that safely he was not wanting by such ways to preserve his interest with the Papists And though he obeyed the Orders of Council yet he did it in so remiss a manner that it was visible that it went against the grain August So he was called before the Council and charged with several particulars That whereas he used to officiate himself on the great Festivals he had not done it since the New Service was set out that he took no care to repress Adultery and that he never Preached So they ordered him to officiate every Festival to Preach once a quarter and to begin within three weeks and Preach at S. Pauls and to be present at every Sermon when he was in health and to proceed severely against those who withdrew from the new Service and against Adulterers They required him to set forth the heinousness of Rebellion and the nature of true Religion and the indifference of outward Ceremonies and particularly to declare that the Kings Authority was the same and as much to be obeyed before he was of age as after On the first of September he Preacht he said nothing of the power of Kings under Age and spoke but little to the other points but enlarged much on the Corporal Presence in the Sacrament Hooper and W. Latimer two of his hearers informed against him So a Commission was granted to Cranmer Ridley the two Secretaries of State and May Dean of S. Pauls to examine that matter and to imprison or deprive him as they should see cause for it They were also authorized to proceed in the summary way of the Spiritual Courts He was summoned to Lambeth where he carried himself with great disrespect and disingenuity towards the Delegates and gave the Insormers very soul language and in his whole discourse he behaved himself like one that was disturbed in his Brain When the Commission was read he made a Protestation against it reserving to himself power to except to diverse things in it He said the Informers were Hereticks and only prosecuted him because he had taught the presence of Christ in the Sacrament At the next meeting Secretary Smith was there who was not present at the first So upon that account Bonner protested against him he also charged Heresie on his Accusers who were thereby under Excommunication and so not capable to appear in any Court He denied that any Injunctions had been given him under the Kings hand or Signet he said he had preached against the late Rebels which implied that the Kings power was compleat though he was under age It was answered to this that the Court might proceed ex Officio without Informers And that the Injunctions concerning the heads of which he was required to treat in his Sermon were read to him by one of the Secretaries and were given him by the Protector and they were afterwards called for and that Article about the Kings power under age was by Order of Council added and the Paper was delivered to him by Secretary Smith At a third appearance the Informers offered to vindicate themselves of the charge of Heresie but after some scurrilous language given
guilty were to be punished in the same manner The Innocent Party might marry again after a Divorce Desertion or Mortal Enmity or the constant perversness of a Husband might induce a Divorce but little quarrels nor a perpetual Disease might not do it and the separation from Bed and Board except during a Trial was never to be allowed 11. Patrons were charged to give presentations without making bargains to choose the fittest persons and not to make promises till the Livings were vacant The Bishops were required to use great strictness in the Trial of those whom they ordained all Pluralities and Non-residence were condemned and all that were presented were to purge themselves of Simony by Oath The twelfth and thirteenth were concerning the changing of Benefices The fourteenth was concerning the manner of purgation upon common fame all superstitious Purgations were condemned Others followed about Dilapidations Elections and Collations The nineteenth was concerning Divine Offices The Communion was ordered to be every Sunday in Cathedrals and a Sermon was to be in them in the afternoon such as received the Sacrament were to give notice to the Minister the day before that he might examine their Consciences The Catechism was appointed to be explained for an Hour in the afternoon on Holy-days After the Evening Prayer the Poor were to be taken care of Penances were to be enjoyned to scandalous Persons and the Minister was to confer with some of the Ancients of the People concerning the state of the Parish That admonitions and censures might be applied as there was occasion given The twentieth was concerning other Church-Officers A Rural Dean was to be in every Precinct to watch over the Clergy according to the Bishops directions Archdeacons were to be over them and the Bishop over all who was to have yearly Synods and visit every third Year His Family was to consist of Clergymen in imitation of St. Austin and other ancient Bishops these he was to train up for the service of the Church When Bishops became infirm they were to have Co-adjutors Arch-bishops were to do the Episcopal duties in their Diocess and to visit their Province Every Synod was to begin with a Communion and after that the Ministers were to give an account of their Parishes and follow such directions as the Bishop should give them Other heads followed concerning Church-Wardens Tithes Universities Visitations and several sorts of Censures In the thirtieth a large Scheme was drawn of Excommunication which was intrusted to Church-men for keeping the Church pure and was not to be inflicted but for obstinacy in some gross fault all causes upon which it was pronounced were to be examined before the Minister of the Parish a Justice of Peace and some other Church-men It was to be pronounced and intimated with great seriousness and all were to be warned not to keep company with the person censured under the like pains except those of his own Family Upon his continuing forty days obstinate under it a Writ was to be issued out for Commitment till the Sentence should be taken off Such as had the King's Pardon for Capital offences were yet liable to Church censures Then followed the Office of absolving Penitents They were to come to the Church-door and crave admittance and the Minister having brought them in was to read a long discourse concerning Sin Repentance and the Mercies of God Then the Party was to confess his sin and to ask God and the Congregation pardon upon which the Minister was to lay his hands on his Head and to pronounce the Absolution Then a thanksgiving was to be offered to God at the Communion Table for the reclaiming that sinner The other Heads of this work relate to the other parts of the Law of those Courts It is certain that the abounding of Vice and Impiety flows in a great measure from the want of that strictness of censure which was the glory of the Christian Church in the Primitive times and it is a publick connivance at sin that there have not been more effectual ways taken for making sinners ashamed and denying them the Priviledges of Christians till they have changed their ill course of life There were at this time also remedies under consideration The Poverty of the Clergy for the great misery and poverty the Clergy were generally in but the Laity were so much concerned to oppose all these that there was no hope of bringing them to any good effect till the King should come to be of Age himself and endeavour to recover again a competent maintenance for the Clergy out of their hands who had devoured their Revenues Both Heath and Day the Bishops of Worcester and Chichester were this Year deprived of their Bishopricks by a Court of Delegates that were all Lay-men But it does not appear for what offences they were so censured The Bishopricks of Gloucester and Worcester were both united and put under Hooper's care but soon after the former was made an exempted Archdeaconry and he was declared Bishop only of Worcester In every See as it fell vacant the best Mannors were laid hold on by such hungry Courtiers as had the Interest to procure the Grant of them It was thought that the Bishops Sees were so out of Measure enriched that they could never be made poor enough but such hast was made in spoiling them that they were reduced to so low a condition that it was hardly possible for a Bishop to subsist in them If what had been thus taken from them had been converted to good uses such as the supplying the Inferiour Clergy it had been some mitigation of so heinous a robbery But their Lands were snatched up by Laymen who thought of making no Compensation to the Church for the spoils thus made by them This Year the Reformation had some more footing in Ireland than formerly Affairs in Ireland Henry the VIII had assumed to himself by consent of the Parliament of that Kingdom the Title of King of Ireland the former Kings of England having only been called Lords of it The Popes and Emperours have pretended that such Titles could be given only by them The former said all power in Heaven and Earth was given to Christ and by consequence to his Vicar The latter as carrying the Title of Roman Emperour pretended that as they Anciently bestowed those Titles so that devolved on them who retained only the name and shadow of that Great Authority But Princes and States have thought that they may bring themselves under what Titles they please In Ireland though the Kings of England were well obeyed within the English Pale yet the Irish continued barbarous and uncivilised and depended on the heads of their Names or Tribes and were obedient or did rebel as they directed them In Vlster they had a great dependance on Scotland and there were some risings there during the War with Scotland which were quieted by giving the Leading-men Pensions and getting them to come and live within
shew no favour All the distinction was that the Lord Stourton was hanged in a silken Rope This was much extolled as an Instance of the Queens Impartial Justice and it was said that since she left her Friends to the Law her Enemies had no cause to complain if it was executed on them The War breaking out between Spain and France The Queen joyns in the War against France King Philip had a great mind to engage England in it The Queen complained often of the kind reception that was given to the fugitives that fled from England to France and it was believed that the French secretly supplied and encouraged them to imbroil her affairs One Stafford had this Year gathered many of them together and landing in Yorkshire he surprised the Castle of Scarborough and published a Manifesto against the Queen that by bringing in strangers to govern the Nation she had forfeited her right to the Crown but few came in to him so he and his Complices were forced to render and four of them were hanged The English Ambassadour in France Dr. Wotton discovered that the Constable had a design to take Calais for he sent his own Nephew whom he had brought over and instructed secretly to him he pretended he was sent from a great Party in that Town who were resolved to deliver it up at which the Constable seemed not a little glad and entred into a long discourse with him of the Methods of taking it yet all this made no great Impression on the Queen All her Council chiefly the Clergy were against engaging for they saw that would oblige them to slacken their severities at home so the King found it necessary to come over himself and perswade her to it He prevailed with her and after a denunciation of War she sent over 80000. Men to his assistance who joyned the Spanish Army consisting of 50000. that was set down before St. Quintin The Constable of France came with a great force to raise the Siege The Battel of S. Quintin but when the two Armies were in view of one another the French by a mistake in the word of command fell in disorder upon which the Spaniards charged them with such success that the whole Army was defeated Many were killed on the place and many were taken Prisoners among whom was the Constable himself and the Spaniards lost only fifty Men. Had Philip followed this blow and marched straight to Paris he had found all France in a great consternation but he sat still before S. Quintin which held out till the terror of this defeat was much over The Constable lost his reputation in it and all looked on it as a curse upon that King for the breach of his Faith The French Troops were called out of Italy upon which the Pope being now exposed to the Spaniards fell in strange fits of rage The Pope recalls Pool particularly he inveighed much against Pool for suffering the Queen to joyn with the Enemies of the Apostolick See and having made a General Decree recalling all his Legates and Nuntio's in the Spanish Dominions he recalled Pool's Legatine power among the rest and neither the Intercessions of the Queen's Ambassadours nor the other Cardinals could prevail with him to alter it only as an extraordinary Grace he consented not to intimate it to him But after this he went further He made Friar Peyto a Cardinal he liked him for his railing against King Henry to his Face and thought that since the Queen had made him her Confessor he would be very acceptable to her He recalled Pool's powers and required him to come to Rome and answer to some Complaints made of him for the favour he shewed to Hereticks He also declared Peyto his Legate for England and writ to the Queen to receive him but the Queen ordered the Bulls and Briefs that were sent over to be laid up without opening them which had been the method formerly practised when unacceptable Bulls were sent over She sent word to Peyto not to come into England otherwise she would sue him and all that owned him in a Praemunire He died soon after Cardinal Pool laid aside the Ensigns of a Legate and sent over Ormaneto with so submissive a Message that the Pope was much mollified by it and a Treaty of Peace being set on foot this storm went over The Duke of Alva marched near Rome which was in no condition to resist him so the Pope in great fury called the Cardinals together and told them he was resolved to suffer Martyrdom without being daunted which they who knew that he had drawn all this on himself by his Ambition and Rage could scarce hear without laughter Yet the Duke of Alva was willing to treat The haughty Pope though he was forced to yield in the chief points yet in the punctilio's of Ceremonies he stood so high upon his honour which he said was Christ's honour that he declared he would see the whole World ruined rather than yield in a Title In that the Duke of Alva was willing enough to comply with him so he came to Rome and in his Master's name asked pardon for Invading the Patrimony of S. Peter and the Pope gave him Absolution in as Insolent a manner as if he had been the Conqueror The news of this Reconciliation were received in England with all the publickest expressions of joy In Scotland the Queen Regent studied to engage that Nation in the War all that favoured the Reformation were for it but the Clergy opposed it The Queen thought to draw them into it whether they would or not and sent in D'oisell to besiege a Castle in England But the Scotch Lords complained much of that and required him to give over his attempt otherwise they would declare him an Enemy to the Nation So after some slight skirmishes on the Borders the matter was put up on both sides This made the Queen Regent write to France pressing them to conclude the Marriage between the Dolphin and the Queen upon which a Message was sent from that Court desiring the Scots to send over Commissioners to treat about the Articles of the Marriage and some of every State were dispatched for setling that matter There was this Year great want of Money in the Exchequer of England and the backwardness of the last Parliament made the Council unwilling to call a new one It was tried what Sums could be raised by Loan upon Privy Seals but so little came in that way that at last one was Summoned to meet in January yet in the mean while advertisements were given them of the ill condition in which the Garrisons of Calais and the neighbouring places were and that the French had a design on them but either they thought there was no danger during the Winter or they wanted Money so much that no care was taken to secure them In Germany Affairs in Germany the Papists did this Year blow up the differences between the Lutherans and
any that could might seize on their Dominions The Bishops had also this to say for their Severities that by the Oath which they took at their Consecrations they were bound to persecute Hereticks with all their might so that the Principles of that Religion working on sowre and revengeful tempers it was no wonder that Cruel Councils were more acceptable than moderate ones BOOK IV. Book IV 1558. OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE REFORMATION In the beginning of Qu. ELIZABETH's Reign THE Morning after Queen Mary died Qu. Elizabeth Proclaimed the Lord Chancellor went to the House of Lords and communicated to them the News of Her death and then sent for the Commons and declared it to them and added that the Crown was now devolved on their present Queen Elizabeth whose Title they were resolved to proclaim This was Echoed with repeated Acclamations which were so full of Joy that it appeared how weary the Nation was of the Cruel and weak administration of affairs under the former Reign and that they hoped for better times under the next And indeed the Proclaiming the new Queen both at Westminster and in the City of London was received with such unusual transports of Joy as gave the Melancholy Priests just cause to fear a new Revolution in matters of Religion and though the Queen's Death affected them with a very sensible sorrow yet the Joy in this change was so great and so Universal that a sad look was thought Criminal and the Priests were glad to vent their griefs at their forsaken Altars which were now like to be converted again to Communion Tables The Queen came from Hatfield The Queen came to London where she had lived private to London The Bishops met Her at Highgate she received them all kindly only she lookt on Bonner as defiled with so much blood that it seemed indecent to treat him with the sweetness that always attends the beginnings of Reigns for common Civility to a Person so polluted might seem some countenance to his Crimes She past through London in the midst of all the Joys that People delivered from the Terror of Fires and Slavery could express She quickly shewed that she was resolved to retain no Impressions of the hardships she had met with in her Sister's time and treated those that had used her worst with great gentleness Bennefield himself not excepted only with a sharpness of raillery she used to call him her Jaylor She gave notice of her coming to the Crown to all foreign Princes and writ particular acknowledgments to King Philip for the good offices he had done her Among the rest she writ to Sir Edward Karn that was her Sisters Ambassadour at Rome But the Pope in his usual stile told him that England was a Fee of the Papacy and that it was a high Presumption in her to take the Crown without his consent especially she being illegitimate but he said if she would renounce her Pretensions and refer her self wholly to him she might expect from him all the favour that could consist with the dignity of the Apostolick See The Queen hearing this recalled Karn's power but he being a zealous Papist continued still at Rome Philip proposed Marriage to the Queen Philip proposes marriage to the Queen but in vain and undertook to procure a Dispensation for it from Rome But the Queen as she continued all her life averse to that state of life so she knew how unacceptable a stranger and particularly a Spaniard would be to her People She did not much value the Pope's Dispensation and if two Sisters might marry the same Person then two Brothers might likewise marry the same Woman which would have overthrown all the Arguments for her Father's Divorce with Queen Catherine upon which the Validity of her Mothers Marriage and her legitimation did depend Yet though she firmly resolved not to marry King Philip she thought that during the Treaty at Cambray it was not fit to put him quite out of hopes so he sent to Rome for a Dispensation but the French sent to oppose it and set up a Pretension for the young Queen of Scotland as the righteous Heir to the Crown of England The Queen continued to imploy most of her Sisters Privy-Councellours The Counsels about changing Religion and they had turned so often before in matters of Religion that it was not likely they would be Intractable in that point but to these she added divers others the most Eminent of whom were Sir Will. Cecyl and Sir Nicolas Bacon She ordered all that were Imprisoned on the account of Religion to be set at liberty upon which one that used to talk pleasantly told her the four Evangelists continued still Prisoners and that the People longed much to see them at liberty She answered she would talk with themselves and know their own mind Some proposed the annulling all Queen Mary's Parliaments because force was used in the first and the Writs for another were not lawful since the Title of Supream Head was left out in the Summons before it was taken away by Law but it was thought a Precedent of dangerous Consequence to annul Parliaments upon Errors in Writs or particular disorders The Queen desired that all the changes that should be made might be so managed as to breed as little division among her People as was possible She did not like the Title of Supream Head as importing too great an Authority She loved Magnificence in Religion as she affected it in all other things this made her incline to keep Images still in Churches and that the Popish party might be offended as little as was possible she intended to have the manner of Christ's Presence in the Sacrament defined in general terms that might comprehend all sides A Scheme was formed of the Method in which it was most advisable for the Queen to proceed and put in Cecyl's hands It was thought necessary to do nothing till a Parliament were called A Scheme proposed The Queen had reason to look for all the mischief that the Pope could do her who would set on the French and by their means the Scots and perhaps the Irish against her The Clergy and those that were imployed in Queen Mary's time would oppose it and do what they could to inflame the Nation and the greater part of the People loved the Pomp of the old Ceremonies It was therefore proposed that the Queen should on any terms make Peace with France and encourage the Party in Scotland that desired a Reformation The Clergy were generally hated for their Cruelty and it would be easie to bring them within the Statute of Praemunire Care was also to be taken to expose the former Councellours for the ill conduct of affairs in Qu. Mary's time and so to lessen their credit It was also proposed to look well to the Commissions both for the Peace and the Militia and to the Universities Some Learned Men were to be ordered to consider what alterations