it easely sene vpon how good grownde this doctrine standeth whereby it is affirmed that the bishop of Rome his Primacie hath his force by gods lawe and not onely by mannes lawe much lesse by vniust vsurpation The scriptures by which as well these as all other holy and learned fathers were leadde to acknowledge and confesse the Primacie of Peter and his successours were partly such as Anacletus and Gregorie here alleageth and Cyprian meaneth as it appeareth by his third treatise De simplicitate praelatorum and sundry mo of the newe testament as to the learned is knowen of which to treate here largely and piththely as the weight of the matter requyreth at this tyme I haue no leisure neither if I had yet myght I conueniently performe it in this treatise which otherwise will amount to a sufficiēt bignes and that matter throughly handeled will fill a right great volume Wherfore referring the readers to the credite of these worthy fathers who so vnderstoode the scriptures as thereof thei were persuaded the Primacie to be attributed to Peters successour by God him selfe I will procede keping my prefixed order The 2. proufe coūcelles Whereas the preeminence of power and auctoritie which to the bishop of Rome by speciall and singular priuiledge God hath graunted is commended to the worlde by many and sundry councelles for auoiding of tediousnesse I will rehearse the testimonies of a fewe Amonge the canons made by the three hundred and eighten bishops at the Nicene Councell which were in number 70. and all burnt by heretikes in the East church saue xx and yet the whole number was kepte diligently in the church of Rome in the originall it selfe sent to Syluester the bishop there from the councell subscribed with the said 318. fathers handes Vide Frācisc Turrianū lib. 3. charact dogmat the 44. canon which is of the power of the patriarke ouer the Metropolitanes and bishops and of the Metropolitane ouer bishops in the ende hath this decree Vt autem cunctis ditionis suae nationibus etc. As the patriarke beareth rule ouer all nations of his iurisdiction and geueth lawes to them and as Peter Christes vicare at the beginning sette in auctoritie ouer religion ouer the churches and ouer all other thinges perteining to Christ was Maister and ruler of christen princes prouinces and of all nations So he whose principalitie or chieftie is at Rome like vnto Peter and equall in auctoritie obteineth the rule and souerainetie ouer all patriakes After a sewe wordes it foloweth there If any man repine against this statute or dare resist it by the decree of the whole councell he is accursed Iulius that worthy bishop of Rome not long after the councell of Nice in his epistle that he wrote to the 90. Ariane bishops assembled in councell at Antioche against Athanasius bishop of Alexandria reprouing them for theire vniust treating of him saith of the canons of the Nicene councell then freshe in their remembrance that thei commaunde Non debere praeter sententiā Romani pontificis vllo modo concilia celebrari nec episcopos damnari That without the auctoritie of the Bishop of Rome neither Councelles ought to be kepte nor bishops condemned Againe that nothing be decreed without the Bishop of Rome Cui haec maiora ecclesiarum negotia tam ab ipso domino quà m ab omnibus vniuersorum conciliorum fratribus speciali priuilegio contradita sunt To whom these and other the weighty matters of the churches be committed by speciall priuiledge as well by our lord him selfe as by all oure brethren of the whole vniuersall councelles Among other principalle pointes which he reciteth in that epistle out of the Nicene councelles canōs this is one Vt omnes episcopi etc. That all bishops who susteine wronge in weighty causes so often as nede shall require make their appeale freely to the See Apostolike and flie to it for succour as to their mother that frō thence they may be charitably susteined defended and deliuered To the disposition of which See the auncient auctoritie of th'Apostles and their successours and of the canons hath reserued all weighty or great ecclesiasticall causes and iudgementes of bishops Athanasius and the whole companie of bishops of Egypte Thebaida and Libya assembled together in councell at Alexandria complaining in their epistle to Felix the Pope of the great iniuries and griefes they susteined at the Arianes alleageth the determination of the Nicene councell touching the supreme auctoritie and power of that See Apostolike ouer all other bishops Similiter à supradictis patribus est definitum consonanter etc. Likewise saie they it hath ben determined by common assent of the foresaide fathers of Nice that if any of the bishops suspecte the Metropolitane or theire felowbishops of the same prouince or the iudges that then they make their appeale to your holy See of Rome to whom by our lord him selfe power to binde and louse Matt. 16. by speciall priuiledge aboue other hath ben graunted This much alleaged out os the canōs of the Nicene councell gathered partly out of Iulius epistle who wrote to them that were present at the making of them which taketh awaye all suspicion of vntruth and partly out of Athanasius and others that were a great parte of the same councell For further declaration of this matter it were easy here to alleage the councell of Sardica the councell of Chalcedon Ca. 4. ca. 9 certaine councelles of Aphrica yea some councelles also holden by heretikes and sundry other but such store of auctorities commonly knowen these may suffise The Christen princes that ratified and confirmed with their proclamations and edictes The 3. proufe Edictes of Emperours the decrees of the canons concerning the Popes Primacie and gaue not to him first that auctoritie as the aduersaries doo vntruly reporte were Iustinian and Phocas the Emperours The wordes of Iustinianes edicte be these In authēt de Eccles tit Sancimus secundum canonum definitiones sanctissimum senioris Romae Papam primum esse omnium sacerdotum We ordeine according to the determinations of the canons that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome be formest and chiefe of all priestes About three score and ten yeres after Iustinian Phocas the Emperour in the tyme of Bonifacius to represse the arrogancie of the bishop of Constantinople Lib. 4. historiae lōgobardicae cap. 36. as Paulus Diaconus writeth who vainely and as Gregorie sayeth contrary to our lordes teachinges and the decrees of the canons and for that wickedly tooke vpon him the name of the vniuersall or oecumenicall bishop and wrote him selfe chiefe of all bishops made the like decree and ordinance that the holy See of the Romaine and Apostolike church shuld be holden for the head of all churches The 4. proufe doctoures Of the doctours what shall I say verely this matter is so often and so commonly reported of them that their sainges laide together would scantly be
all this so much might easely be sayde as shuld serue to a whole volume But In this treatise seeking to auoide prolixitie hauing purposed to saye somewhat to this number of the other Articles and knowing this matter of the Primacie to be allready largely and learnedly handeled of others will but trippe as it were lightly ouer at this tyme and not sette my fast footing in the deepe debating and treating of it The Popes Primacie not of Man but of gods ordināce The first proufe of the Popes primacie scripture expoūded Matth. 16. First as concerning the right of the Popes primacie by gods lawe by these auncient autorities it hath ben auouched Anacletus that holy bishop and martyr S. Peters scholer and of him cōsecrated priest in his epistle to the bishops of Italie writeth thus In nouo testamento post Christum etc. In the newe testament the order of priestes beganne after our lord Christ of Peter because to him bishoprike was first geuen in the churche of Christ where as our lord saide vnto him Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will buylde my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it and vnto thee I will geue the keies of the kingdome of heauen Wherfore this Peter receiued of our lord first of all power to binde and to lowse and first of all he brought people to the faith by vertue of his preaching As for the other Apostles they receiued honour and power in like felowship with him and willed him to be their prince or chiefe gouernour In an other epistle to all bishoppes alleaging the same texte for the Primacie of the See of Rome speaking of the disposition of churches committed to Patriarkes and Primates saith thus most plainely This holy ad Apostolike church of Rome hath obteined the Primacie not of the Apostles but of our lord Sauiour him selfe and hath gotten the preeminence of power ouer all churches and ouer the whole flocke of Christen people euen so as he saide to blessed Peter th'Apostle Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke etc. S. Gregorie writing to Mauritius the Emperoure against Iohn the bishop of Constantinople ambitiously claiming and vsurping the name of an vniuersall bishop proueth the bishop of Rome succeding in Peters chaier to be Primate and to haue charge ouer all the church of Christ by scriptures thus Cunctis euangelium scientibus liquet etc. Epist 32. It is euident to all that knowe the gospell that the cure and charge of the whole church hath ben committed by the worde of our lord to the holy Apostle Peter prince of all the Apostles for to him it is sayde Peter Ioan. 21. Luc. 22. louest thou me feede my sheepe to him it is sayd Beholde Sathan hath desyred to syfte you as it were wheate and I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not And thou being once conuerted strengthen thy brethren To him it is saide Thou art Peter Matth. 26 and vpon this rocke I will buylde my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it And vnto the I will geue the keies of the kingdom of heauen And what so euer thou byndest vpon earth shal be bounde also in heauen and what so euer thou lowsest on earth shable lovvsed also in heauen Beholde he receiueth the keies of the heauenly kingdome Cura ei totius Ecclesiae principatus committitur the power of bynding and lowsing is geuen to him the charge of the whole church and principalitie is committed to him Thus farre Gregorie But because our aduersaries though without iuste cause refuse the witnes of the Bishops of Rome in this article as vnlawfull witnesses in their owne cause were thei neuer so holy martyrs or learned confessours they may vnderstand we are able to alleage sundry other authorities to the confirmation hereof that be aboue all exception S. Cyprian declaring the contempte of the high Priest Christes Vicarie in earth to be cause of schismes and heresies writeth thus to Cornelius Pope and Martyr Neque enim aliunde haereses obortae sunt etc. Neither haue heresies or schismes rysen of any other occasiō then of that the Priest of God is not obeied and that one Priest for the tyme in the church and one iudge for the tyme in stede of Christ is not thoughte vpon To whom if the whole brotherhed that is the whole number of Christē people which be brethren together and were so called in the primatiue church would be obedient according to gods teachinges Secūdum magisteria diuina then no man would make adoo against the colledge of priestes no mā woulde make him selfe iudge not of the bishop nowe but of God after gods iudgement after the fauour of the people declared by theire voices at the Election after the consent of his felowbishops no man through breach of vnitie and strife would diuide the church of Christ no man standing in his owne conceite and swelling with pride would sette vp by him selfe abroade without the church a newe heresie Of all other authorities that of Athanasius and of the bishops of Egypte and Libya gathered together in a Synode at Alexandria is to be regarded Who making humble sute to Felix then bishop of Rome for aide and succour against the Arianes through the whole epistle confessing the supreme auctoritie of that Apostolike See vtter these very wordes Vestrae apostolicae sedis imploramus auxilium etc. In primo tomo Cōciliorum We humbly besech you of the helpe of your Apostolike See Because as verely we beleue God hath not despised the praiers of his seruantes offered vp to him with teares but hath constituted and placed you your predecessours who were Apostolike Prelates in the highest tower or supreme state In summitatis arce constituit and commaunded them to haue cure and charge of all churches to th' intent you helpe and succour vs and that defending vs as to whom iudgemēt of bishops is committed you forslowe not through negligence to delyuer vs from our enemies Now if the Apostolike church of Rome hath obteined the Primacie and preeminence of power ouer all churches and ouer the whole flocke of Christen people of our lord Sauiour him selfe as Anacletus saith If it be euident to all that knowe the gospell that the cure and charge of the whole church hath ben committed to the holy Apostle Peter Prince of all the Apostles by the worde of our lord as Gregorie witnesseth If the whole brotherhed that is to say all christen folke ought to obeye the one hygh Priest or bishop of God and the one Iudge that is Christes Vicare or in the steede of Christ for the tyme according to the preceptes and teachinges of God as Cyprian writeth If it be God that hath placed and ordeined the bishop of Rome in the highest state of the church as Athanasius with all the fathers of that Alexandrine councell recordeth If this I say be true then is
desyre eueÌ„ so to be tried But vvhy throvv you avvaye these balance and being so earnestly requyred vvhy be ye so loth to shevv forth but one olde doctour of your syde ye make me beleue ye vvould not haue the matter comme to tryall etc. 26 VVhat thinke ye is there novv iudged of you that being so long tyme requyred yet can not be vvonne to bring one sentence in your ovvn defence Fol. 26. I protest before God bring me but one sufficient authoritie in the matters I haue requyred and aftervvard I vvil gentilly and quietly conferre vvith you farther at your pleasure VVherefore for as much as it is goddes cause if ye meane simply deale simply betraie not your right if ye maye saue it by the speaking of one vvorde The people must nedes muse some vvhat at your silence and mistrust your doctrine if it shall appeare to haue no grovvnde neither of the olde councelles nor of the doctours nor of the scripture nor any alovved example of the primitiue churche to stand vpon and so fiften hundred yeres and the consent of antiquitie and generalitie that ye haue so loÌ„g and so much talkte of shall comme to nothing For thinke not that any vvise man vvill be so much your frend that in so vveighty matters vvill be satisfied vvith your silence Here I leaue putting you In the ende of the 2. ansvver to D. C. fol. 27. eftsones gently in remembraunce that being so osteÌ„ and so openly desyred to shevv forth one doctour or Councell etc. in the matters a fore mencioned yet hitherto ye haue brought nothing and that if ye stand so still it must needes be thought ye doo it conscientia imbecillitatis for that there vvas nothing to be brought You saye vve lacke stuffe to proue our purpose In the reply to D. Coles last letter fol. 43. O vvould to God your stuffe and oures might be layed together then shuld it sone appeare hovv true it is that ye saye and hovv faithfully ye haue vsed the people of God Me thinketh bothe reason and humanitie vvould Fol. 44. ye shuld haue ansvvered me sumvvhat specially being so ofteÌ„ and so openly required at the least you shuld haue alleaged Augustine Ambrose Chrysostome Hierome etc. VVhereas a man hath nothing to saye it is good reason he kepe silence as you doo You knovv that the matters that lie in question betvveÌ„ vs haue ben taught as vve novv teache them Fol. 53. bothe by Christ him self and by his Apostles and by the olde doctours and by the auncient generall Councelles and that you hauing none of these or like authorities haue set vp a religion of your ovvne and built it only vpon your selfe Therefor I may iustly and truly â—â—â—nclude that you novv teache and of long tyme haue taught the people touching the Masse the Supremacie the commen prayers etc. is naught For neither Christ nor his Apostles nor the olde Doctours Tertulliane Cypriane S. Hierome S. Augustine S. Ambrose S. Chrisostom etc. euer taught the people so as you haue taught them Not vvithstanding your great vavvntes that ye haue made ye see novv ye are discomfyted Fol. 62. ye see the field is almost lost vvhere ar novv your crakes of doctours and councelles VVhy stampe ye not your bookes vvhy comme ye not forth vvith your euidence Novv ye stand in nede of it novv it vvill serue and take place if ye haue any Fol. 65. As I haue offred you oftentymes bring ye but tvvo lines of your syde and the field is yours Fol. 110. Hilarius sayeth vnto the Arians cedo aliud Euangelium shevv me some other gospell for this that ye bring helpeth you not Euen so vvill I saye to you Cedo alios doctores shevv me some other doctours for these that ye bring are not vvorthy the hearing I hoped ye vvould haue comme in vvith some fressher bande It must nedes be some miserable cause that can fynde no better patrones to cleaue vnto I knovv it vvas not for lacke of good vvill of your part ye vvould haue brought other doctours if ye could haue fovvnd them Fol. 112. O Master Doctour deale simply in Gods causes and saye ye haue doctours vvhen ye haue them in dede and vvhen ye haue them not neuer laye the fault of not alleaging them to the defence of your doctrine in your recognisaunce Fol. 114. But alas small rhetorike vvould suffise to shevv hovv litle ye haue of your syde to alleage for your selfe In the conclusion of the replyes to D. Cole fol. 129. Here once againe I conclude as before putting you in remembrance that this long I haue desyred you to bring forth some suâ—â—â—â—ent authoritie for prouf of your partie and yet hitherto can obteine nothing VVhich thing I must nedes novv pronounce simply and plainely because it is true vvith out if or and ye doo conscientia imbecillitatis because as ye knovv there is nothing to be brought THE PREFACE TO Maister Iuell THIS heape of Articles which you haue layde to gether Maister Iuell the greater it ryseth the lesse is your aduantage For whereas you require but one sentence for the auouching of any one of them all the more groweth your number the more enlarged is the libertie of the answerer It semeth you haue conceiued a great confidence in the cause and that your aduersaries so it liketh you to terme vs whom God hath so stayde with his grace as we can not beare you coÌ„panie in departing from his catholike churche haue litle or nothing to saye in their defence Els what shuld moue you both in your printed Sermon and also in your answeres and Replyes to Doctour Cole to shew such courage to vse such amplification of wordes so often and with such vehemencie to prouoke vs to encounter and as it were at the blast of a trumpet to make your chalenge What feared you reproche of dastardnes if you had called forth no more but one learned maÌ„ of all your aduersaries and therefore to shew your hardynesse added more weight of wordes to your proclamatioÌ„ and chalenged all the learned men that be a lyue In the sermoÌ„ fol. 46 Among cowardes perhappes it serueth the tourne some tymes to looke fiercely to speake terribly to shake the weapon furiously to threaten bloudily no lesse then cutting hewing and killing but amoÌ„g such we see many tymes sore frayes foughten and neuer a blowe geuen With such bragges of him self and reproche of all others Homer the wisest of all poetes setteth forth Thersites for the fondest man of all the Grecians that came to Troye Goliath the giaunt so stoute as he was made offer to fight but with one Israelite 1. Reg. 17. Eligite ex vobis vituÌ„ descendat ad singulare certamen Choose out a man amongst you quoth he and let him come and fight with me man for man But you Maister Iuell in this quarell aske not the combate of one catholike man
beleue one holy catholike and Apostolike churche therefore I saye it hath nede of one prince and ruler to be kepte and holden in If it be other wise vnitie must nedes forthwith be sparkled and brokē a sunder And therefore it behoued that the rule and gouernement of the churche shuld be committed to one And whereas these Gospellers saye that Christ is the gouernour of the churche and that he being one kepeth the churche in vnitie we answere that although the churche be first and principally gouerned by Christ as all other thinges are yet gods high goodnes hath so ordeined as eche thing may be prouided for according to his owne condition and nature Therefore whereas mankynde dependeth most of sense and receiueth all learnīg and institutiō of sensible thinges therefor it hath nede of a man to be a gouernour and ruler whom it maye perceiue by outward sense And euen so the Sacramentes by which the grace of God is geuen vnto vs in consideration of mannes nature being so made of God as it is are ordeined in thinges sensible Therefor it was behoofull this gouernement of the churche to be committed to one man which at the first was Peter and afterward eche successour of Peter for his tyme as is afore declared Neither can this one man haue this power of any consent or companie of men but it is necessary he haue it of God For to ordeine and appointe the vicare of Christ it perteineth to none other then to Christ For where as the churche and all that is of the chuch is Christes as well for other causes as specially for that we are bought with a great price euen with his bloude as S. Paul sayeth 1. Cor. 3. how can it perteine to any other then to him to institute and appoint to him selfe a vicare that is one to doe his steede Wherefore to cōclude excepte we would wickedly graunt that gods prouidence hath lacked or doth lacke to his churche for loue of which he hath geuen his onely begotten sonne and which he hath promised neuer to forgete so as the woman can not forgete the chylde she bare in her wombe Reason may sone enduce vs to beleue that to one man one bishop the chiefe and highest of all bishops the successour of Peter the rule and gouernement of the church by God hath ben deferred For elles if God had ordeyned that in in the church shuld be sundry heades and rulers and none constituted to be ouer other but all of equall power ech one among their people then he shuld seme to haue set vp so many churches as he hath appointed gouernours And so he shall appeare to haue brought in among his faithfull people that vnruly confusion the destruction of all common weales so much abhorred of princes which the grekes call Anarchian which is a state for lacke of order in gouernours without any gouernement at all Which thing sith that the wise and politike men of this worlde doo shunne and detest in the gouernemēt of these earthly kingdomes as most perniciouse and hurtfull to attribute to the high wisdome of God and to our lord Christ who is the auctor of the most ordinate disposition of all thinges in earth and in heauen it were heynous and prophane impietie Wherefore if the state of a kingdome can not continew safe onlesse one haue power to rule how shall not the church spredde so farre abroade be in danger of great disorders corruption and vtter destruction if as occasion shal be geuen among so great strifes and debates of men among so many fyerbrandes of discord tossed to and fro by the deuils enemies of vnitie there be not one head and ruler of all to be consulted of all to be hearde of all to be folowed and obeied If strife and contentiō be stirred about matters of faith if controuersie happen to rise about the sense of the scriptures shall it not be necessary there be one supreme iudge to whose sentence the parties may stande If nede require as it hath ben often sene that generall councelles be kepte how can the bishops to whom that matter belongeth be brought together but by commaundement of one head gouernour whom they owe their obediēce vnto For elles being summoned perhappes they will not come Finally how shall the contumacie and pertinacie of mischeuous persones be repressed specially if the bishops be at discension with in them selues if there be not a supreme power who towardes some may vse the rodde towardes other some the spirite of lenitie with such discrete temperament as malice be vanquished right defended and concorde procured least if the small sparkes of strife be not quenched by auctoritie at the beginning at length a great flame of schismes and heresies flashe abrode to the great dāger of a multitude Therefore as there is one body of Christ one flocke one church euen so is there one head of that his mysticall body one shepeherd and one chiefe seruant made steward ouerseer and ruler ouer Christes householde in his absence vntill his comming againe The 6. proufe practise of the churche syxfolde But here perhappes some will saie it can not appeare by the euente of thinges and practise of the church that the Pope had this supreme power and auctoritie ouer all bishops and ouer all Christes flocke in matters touching faith and in causes ecclesiasticall Verely who so euer peruseth the ecclesiasticall stories and vieweth the state of the church of all tymes and ages cā not but cōfesse this to be most euident And here I might alleage first certaine places of the newe testament declaring that Peter practised this preeminence among the disciples at the beginning and that they yelded the same as of right apperteining vnto him Act. 1. As when he first and onely moued them to choose one in the stede of Iudas and demeaned him selfe as the chiefe autctor of all that was done therein when he made answere for all Act. 2. at what time they were gased and wondered at and of some mockte as being dronken with newe wine for that in the fistith day thei spake with tonges of so many nations when he vsed that dredfull seueritie in punishing the falshed Act. 5. and hypocrisie of Ananias and Saphira his wife Act. 15. when variāce being risen about the obseruation of certaine pointes of Moyses lawe he as chiefe and head of the rest saide his mynde before all others Among many other places lefte out for breuitie that is not of least weight that Paul being retourned to Damasco out of Arabia Galat. 1. after three yeres went to Ierusalem to see Peter and abode with him fiften dayes But because our aduersaries doo wreath and wreste the scriptures be they neuer so plaine by there priuate and straunge constructions to an vnderstanding quite contrary to the sense of the catholike church I will referre the reader for further proufe of this matter to the stories bearing faithfull witnes of the
whole state and condition of the church in all ages In which stories the practise of the church is plainely reported to haue ben such as thereby the Primacie of Peters successour may seeme to all men sufficiētly declared For perusing the ecclesiasticall stories with writinges of the fathers besyde many other thinges perteining hereto we finde these practises for declaration of this speciall auctoritie and power First that bishops of euery nation haue made their appeale in their weighty affaires to the Pope and allwayes haue sued to the See Apostolike as well for succour and helpe against violence iniuries oppressions as for redresse of other disorders Also that the malice of wicked persons hath ben repressed and chastised of that auctoritie by excommunication eiection and expulsion out of their dignities and romes and by other censures of the church Furthermore that the ordinations and elections of bishops of all prouinces haue ben confirmed by the Pope Beside this that the approuing and disalowing of councelles haue perteined to him Item that bishops wrongfully cōdemned and depriued by councelles by him haue ben assoiled and restored to their churches againe Lastly that bishops and patriarkes after longe strifes and contentions haue at length vpon better aduise ben reconcilied vnto him againe First Appellations the Pope for the appellation of bishops to the See Apostolike beside many oher we haue the knowen examples of Athanasius that worthy bishop of Alexandria and lighte of the worlde who hauing susteined great and fundry wronges at the Arianes appealed first to Iulius the Pope and after his death to Felix of Chrisostome who appealed to Innocentius against the violence of Theophilus of Theodoritus who appealed to Leo. Neither made bishops onely their appeale to the Pope by their delegates but also in certaine cases being cited appeared before him in their owne persons Which is plainely gathered of Theodoritus his ecclesiasticall storye who writeth thus Eusebius bishop of Nicomedia who was the chiefe pillour of the Arianes and they that ioyned with him in that factiō falsly accused Athanasius to Iulius the B. of Rome Iulius folowing the ecclesiasticall rule commaunded them to come to Rome and caused the reuerent Athanasius to be cited to iudgement regulariter after the order of the canōs He came The false accusers went not to Rome knowing righte well that theire forged lye might easely be deprehended In the cause and defence of Ihon Chrysostome these bishops came from Constantinople to Innocentius the Pope Pansophus B. of Pisidia Pappus of Syria Demetrius of the seconde Galatia and Eugenius of Phrygia These were suters for Chrysostome He him selfe treated his matter with Innocentius by writing In his epistle among other thinges he writeth thus Least this outragious confusion runne ouer all and beare rule euery where write I pray you and determine by your auctoritie such wicked actes done in our absence and when we withdrewe not our selues from iudgement to be of no force as by theire owne nature truly they be voied and vtterly none Furthermore who haue committed these euilles put you them vnder the censure of the church And as for vs sith that we are innocent neither conuicte neither fownde in any defaulte nor proued gyltie of any crime geue commaundement that we be restored to our churches agayne that we may enioye the accustomed charitie and peace with our brethren Innocentius after that he vnderstoode the whole matter pronounced and decreed the iudgement of Theophilus that was against Chrysostome to be voyed and of no force This whole tragedie is at large set forth by Palladius B. of Helenopolis in vita Ioannis Chrysostomi who lyued at that tyme. By this appeale of Chrysostome and by the whole handeling of the matter and specially by the purporte of his epistle to Innocētius the superioritie of the Pope is euidently acknowleged And so is it plainely confessed by Athanasius and the bishops of Egipte Thebais and Libya assembled in councell at Alexandria by these wordes of their epistle to Felix Vestrū est enim nobis manum porrigere etc. It is your parte saie they to stretche forth your helping hāde vnto vs because we are committed vnto you It is your parte to defende vs and deliuer vs it is our parte to seeke helpe of you and to obey your commaundementes And a litle after For we knowe that you beare the cure and charge of the vniuersall church and specially of bishops who in respecte of their cōtemplation and speculation are called the eyes of our lord as alwaies the prelates of your See first the Apostles then theire successours haue done Theodoritus that learned B. of Cyrus besyde the epistle he wrote to Leo for succour and helpe in his troubles in an other that he wrote to Renatus a priest neare about Leo sayeth thus Spoliarunt me sacerdotio etc. They haue violently robbed me of my bishoprike they haue caste me foorth of the cities neither hauing reuerenced myne age spente in religiō nor my hoare heares Wherefore I beseche thee that thou persuade the most holy Archebishop he meaneth Leo to vse his apostolike auctoritie and to commaunde vs to come vnto your councell or consistorie For this holy See holdeth the rudther and hath the gouernement of the churches of the whole worlde partly for other respectes but specially for that it hath euermore cōtinewed cleare frō stintche of heresie and that none euer sate in it who was of contrary opiniō but rather hath euer kepte the apostolike grace vndefyled In which wordes of Theodoritus this is chiefly to be marked that the holy See of Rome as he sayeth hath the gouernement of the churches of all the worlde most for this cause that it was neuer infected with heresie as all other churches fownded by the Apostles were For which cause that See hath euer hitherto of all christen nations and now also ought to be hearde and obeyed in all pointes of faith For that See though it hath failed sometymes in charitie and hath ben in case as it might truly saye the wordes of the gospell spoken by the foolishe virgins Matth. 25. our lampes be without lighte yet it neuer failed in faith as Theodoritus witnesseth and S. Augustine affirmeth the same Which speciall grace and singulare priuiledge is to be imputed vnto the prayer of Christ by which he obteined of God for Peter and his successours Euill lyfe of the B. of Rome ought not to seuer vs frō the faith of the churche of Rome that their faith shuld not fayle Therfore the euill lyfe of the bishops of Rome ought not to withdrawe vs from beleuing and folowing the doctrine preached and taughte in the holy churche of Rome For better credite hereof that is earnestly to be considered which S. Augustine writeth epistola 165. where after that he hath rehearsed in order all the Popes that succeded Peter euen to him that was Pope in his tyme he sayeth thus In illum ordinem episcoporum etc. In to that rewe of
bishops that reacheth from Peter him selfe to Anastasius which now sitteth in the same chaier if any traitour had crepte in it shuld nothing hurte the church and the innocent christen folke ouer whom our lord hauing prouidence sayeth of euill rulers what they saye vnto you Matth. 23. doo ye but what they doo doo ye not for they saye and doo not to the intent the hope of a faithfull person may be certaine and such as being set not in man but in our lord be neuer scattered abroade with tempest of wicked schisme And in his 166. epistle he sayeth our heaueÌ„ly Maister hath so farre forewarned vs to be ware of all euill of dissension that he assured the people also of euill rulers that for their sakes the Seate of holesom doctrine shuld not be forsaken in which Seate euen the very euill men be compelled to saye good thinges For the thinges which they saye be not theires but gods who in the Seate of vnitie hath put the doctrine of veritie By this we are plainely taught that albe it the successours of Peter Christes vicares in earth be fownde blameworthy for euill lyfe yet we oughte not to dissente from them in doctrine nor seuer our selues from them in faith For as much as notwithstanding they be euill by gods prouidence for the suertie of his people they be compelled to saie the thinges that be good and to teache the truth the thinges they speake not being theirs but gods who hath put the doctrine of veritie in the Seate or chaier of vnitie which singulare grace cometh specially to the See of Peter either of the force of Christes prayer as is sayde before or in respecte of place and dignitie which the bishops of that See holde for Christ as Balaam could be broughte by no meanes to curse that people whom God would to be blessed And Caiphas also prophecied because he was high bishop of that yere and prophecied truly being a maÌ„ otherwise most wicked And therfore the euill doinges of bishops of Rome make no argument of discrediting their doctrine To this purpose the example of Gregorie Nazianzene may very fittely be applied of the golden syluerne and leadden seale As touching the valewe of metalles golde and syluer are better but for the goodnes of the seale as well doth leadde imprint a figure in waxe as syluer or golde For this cause that the See of Rome hath neuer ben defyled with stinking heresies as Theodoritus sayeth and god hath alwaies kepte in that chaier of vnitie the doctrine of veritie as Augustine writeth for this cause I saye it sitteth at the sterne and gouerneth the churches of the whole worlde for this cause bishops haue made their appellations thither iudgement in doubtes of doctrine and determination in all controuersies and strifes hath ben from thence alwayes demaunded Now that the B. of Rome had alwayes cure and rule ouer all other bishops specially of them of the East for touching them of the West church it is generally coÌ„fessed besyde a hundred other euideÌ„t argumentes this is one very sufficient that he had in the East to doo his stede three delegates or vicares now commonly they be named legates And this for the commoditie of the bishops there whose churches were farre distaÌ„t froÌ„ Rome The one was the bishop of Constantinople as we finde it mencioned in epistola Simplicij ad Achatium Constantinopolitanum The seconde was the bishop of Alexandria as the epistle of Bonifacius the seconde to Eulalius recordeth The third was the bishop of Thessalonica as it is at large declared in the 82. epistle of Leo ad Anastasium Thessalonicensem By perusing these epistles euery man may see that all the bishops of Grece Asia Syria Egite and to be shorte of all the Orient rendred and exhibited their humble obedieÌ„ce to the B. of Rome and to his arbitremeÌ„t referred their doubtes coÌ„plaintes and causes and to him onely made theire appellations Of the B. of Rome his punishing of offenders by censures of the church and otherwyse CorrectioÌ„s from the Pope as by excommunications eiection deposition and enioyning penance for transgressions we haue more exaÌ„ples then I thinke good to recite here They that haue knowledge of the ecclesiasticall stories may remeÌ„ber how Timotheus B. of Alexandria was excommunicated with Peter his deacon by Simplicius the Pope Nestorius B. of Constantinople by Celestinus Theophilus B. of Alexandria with Arcadius the Emperour and Eudoxia the Empreresse by Innocentius for their wicked demeanour toward Chrysostome How Dioscorus B. of AlexaÌ„dria was deposed though the whole secoÌ„de Ephesine councell stoode in his defence how Peter B. of Antioche was not onely put out of his bishoprike but also of all priestly honour How Photius was put out of the Patriarkeship of Constantiple into which he was intruded by fauour of Michael the Emperour at the sute of his wicked vnkle by Nicolaus the first Lib 3. epist 13. For proufe of this auctoritie the epistle of Cyprian which he wrote to Stephanus Pope in his tyme against Martianus the B. of Arelate in Gallia maketh an euident argument For that this Martianus became a maineteyner of the heresie of Nouatianus and therewith seduced the faithfull people Cyprian hauing intelligence of it by Faustinus from Lions aduertised Stephanus of it and moued him earnestly to directe his letters to the people of Arle by auctoritie of which Martianus shuld be deposed and an other put in his rome to th' intent sayeth he there the flocke of Christ which hytherto by him scattered abroade and woonded is contemned may be gathered together Which S. Cyprian would not haue written had the B. of Rome had no suche auctoritie CoÌ„firmations by the Pope For the Popes auctoritie concerning confirmation of the ordinations and elections of all bishops many examples might easely be alleaged as the request made to Iulius by the 90. Ariane bishops assembled in councell as Antioche against Athanasius that he would wouchesafe to ratifie and confirme those that they had chosen in place of Athanasius Paulus Marcellus and others whom they had condemned and depriued Also the earnest sute which Theodosius the Emperour made to Leo for coÌ„firmation of Anatolius and likewise that Martianus the Emperour made to him for confirmation of Proterius bothe bishops of Alexandria as it appeareth by their letters written to Leo in theire fauour And as for Anatoliê° Leo would not in any wise order and coÌ„firme him onlesse he would first professe that he beleued and helde the doctrine Vide Leonis epis 1â— which was conteined in Leo his epistle to Flauianus and would further by writing witnesse that he agreed with Cyrillus and the other catholihe fathers against Nestorius For this if nothing elles could be alleaged the testimonie of holy Gregorie were sufficient to make good credite Who vnderstanding that Maximus was ordered bisshop of Salonae a citie in Illyrico without the auctoritie and confirmation of the See Apostolike standing in doubte least