Ordinaires lour office devoirs per cause qe les pluralites q' ont este grantees devant ces heures sont ount este la greindre cause de l' absence des tiels curats y plest au Roy nostre Seigr. de l' advis assent des Seig rs en Parlement esâ—rire par ses honourables lettres a nostre seint pier le Pape de revoker repeller toutes les pluralites generalement qe d' es ore en avant nulle pluralite soit graunte a ascuny en temps a venir But the Pope it seems giving no satisfaction in the particular the 11. Hen. 4. the Commons again petition That the riches of the kingdome being in the hands of Church-men those livings upon which the incumbent of common right ought to reside half of the true value should remain to himself but the other to the King To which the answer is Geste matiere appertient a seinte Esglise quant a la residence remede ent fust purveuz en la darrain Convocation Yet this matter of non-residence still molesting the Commonwealth 3. Hen. 6. the King tells them by th' advise of the Lords of Parliament He had delivered their bill to my Lord of Canterbury charging him to pourvey of remedy for his Province and semblably shall write to the Church of York for that Province By which we may see the King Archbishop and Convocation did conceive themselves to have a power of redressing things in this Church which yet in civility they thought â—it first to acquaint the Pope with as a spirituall Doctor or Patriarch however of great esteem yet not endued with a power of commanding in this Church otherwise then the lawes of the Kingdome the contracts with the Papacy did bear 21. Now it cannot be doubted that all these petitions of the Commons and sundry more which may be produced had been by them vainly prefer'd had they not taken the King to have been vested with a power of redressing things blameable in the government of the Church But when we say the Prince as the principall without whom nothing is done may be rightly termed Head in the act of reformation our meaning is not that he will deal in points of Ecclesiastick cognizance without the advise of his Bishops and other learned of the Clergy we know in things proper Iosuah is to take counsell of Eleazer and the Kings of this nation have ever done so 22. When Edgar intended the advancing Christi gloriam he chose him three Bishops to be his patres spirituales and consiliarios But to speak of later times when the Commons endeavoured a reformation of some things in the Church Hen. the 8 th would not answer their desires till he had first acquainted the Spirituality When he intended to publish a book of the principall articles and points of our faith with the declaration of other expedient points and also for the lawfull rites and ceremonies to be observed within this realme he ordained it to be by th' Archbishops and sundry Bishops of both Provinces and also a great number of the best learned honestest and most vertuous sort of Doctors of Divinity men of discretion judgement and good disposition c. And Edward the sixth minding a farther reformation of some usages in the administration of the Eucharist he caused it to be made by the most grave and learned of his realm for that purpose by his directions assembled at Windfor who afterwards for taking away divers and sundry differing forms and fashions had formerly been used in sundry Churches of England and Wales appoynted th' Archbishop of Canterbury and certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops and other learned men of the realm to consider of the premises who by the ayd of the Holy Ghost with one uniform agreement concluded on and set forth the book of Common prayer c. Upon which the two houses of Parliament considering as well the most godly travell of the Kings highnesse in gathering and collecting the said Archbishops Bishops and learned men together as c. do give to his Highnesse most hearty and lowly thanks c. So that it is apparent the King in composing this book did not assume to himself or the Parliament attribute unto him any other then assembling of the Bishops and other learned men together to take their consultations 23. And they observing the great diversity in saying and singing in severall Churches the difficulty of finding what was proper for each day apt to breed confusion reduced the publick service of the Church to one form more facile and of better edification following therein the examples of divers holy Bishops and others for if Guarinus Abbot of St Albans in the Office used in his Church about 1190 might superflua resecare to reduce the prayers there to one form if Agobardus in France might amputare superflua vel levia c. if Osmund Bishop of Salisbury in England quoniam singulae fere Dioeceses in statis precariis horis dicendis variabant ad hanc varietatem tollendam ut quasi absolutum quoddam precandi quo omnes uti possent exemplar exstaret eas in eum fere ordinem commodam rationem quam hodie omnes prope Angliae Cambriae Hiberniae viz. the Course of Salisbury Ecclesiae sequuntur magno prudenti rerum ex sacris scripturis probatis Ecclesiae historiis delectu distribuit digessit if these I say might do it on their own motion there is no question such of the Clergy as were appointed by the King might on his desire take it into consideration and remove matters offensive or lesse to edification 24. Neither did Queen Elizabeth at the beginning of her reign alter some passages in it but by the opinions of Divines eruditis moderatis to whom was added a learned Knight Sr Thomas Smith to whose care the supervising of it had by the house of Commons been committed the second of Edward the sixth and therefore knew better then any other to give an account of that book Nor did her self or the house of Lords use differing wayes when the Commons at other times have sought some change in the Ecclesiastick government as the 23. and 27. of her reign where though the Lord Treasurer made a short beginning yet he left the satisfactory answers to be given them by th' Archbishop of York Insomuch as we may safely conclude when the Clergy in Convocation styled Henry the 8th Ecclesiae Anglicanae protectorem unicum supremum dominum quantum per Christi leges licet supremum caput they added nothing new unto him but a title for he and his successors after it did never exercise any auctority in causes Ecclesiastick not warranted by the practise of former Kings of the nation By all which the second question remains sufficiently proved that our Kings were originally endued with
auctority then the Kings onely who by his edict of the 12. of Iuly commanded the Cardinalls and others of his Clergy to observe it without making any mention of the Pope So that in that Kingdome this Catholick Prince doth not take on him much less over Ecclesiastick Courts and causes then the King of England however he do not style himself Head of the Church And therefore Simanca speaking of this Inquisition plainly sayes Ferdinand and Isabella judicii ordinem quo etiam hodie utimur magna ex parte instituerunt Insomuch as if we meet it at any time termed the Popes Court there it is no question but a nominall appellation of that is neither subject to his rules nor to follow his commands but as another will 13. But this Court in Spain and other places conforming themselves much to the papall interest is become very infamous things being carried in it as we read in Monst de Thous excellent history praepostera judictorum forma contra naturalem aequitatem omnem legitimum ordinem tum etiam immanitas tormentorum quibus plerumque contra veritatem quicquid delegatis judicibus libebat à miseris innocentibus reis ut se cruciatibus eximerent torquebatur And indeed the directions Popes have set them do not agree I think with the practise of any standing Court of Justice the world ever saw as that of Innocentius 4 us and Pius 4 us that no man shall know the names either of his accuser or that testifies against him which Camillus Campegius will not have communicated to those learned men th' Inquisitors shall call to their assistance in judgement Another of Pius 5 tus that no declaratory or definitive sentence in favour of the accused though after a canonicall purgation posse facere transitum in rem judicatam but that they may again proceed tam de antiquis quam noviter super eisdem articulis which in effect is no other but that a man once accused before them can never be freed Of a third of the same Pope that whosoever should strike or terrify any belonging to the said Office even a Notary or servant should assiâ—t any to escape imbezzle any writings of that Court besides the being by that Bull declared Anathema should be guilty of treason and suffer according as men found culpable in primo capite dictaelegis their children subject to the paternall infamy to be not onely incapable of succeeding in the fathers inheritance but of receiving any legacy from friend or stranger or attaining any place of dignity whatsoever and others of the like nature too long to be insisted on 14. Certain it will not be easy at least to my understanding to prove these proceedings of a Court Christian to agree with those rules and examples Christ himself hath left us in holy Scripture but the pursuing these Maximes and the like hath brought a great obloquy upon this Court so as it is held an undoubted truth the Inquisition under the Spaniard hath an eye rather to empty the purse and is upholden more for temporall ends then to cure the conscience And to this purpose it may not be here unfitly remembred that a Spanish Inquisitor employed by Philip the 2. into Sicily writes it is found amongst the records of that Kingdome quod quando in anno 1535. fuit limitata seu suspensa jurisdictio temporalis hujus sancti officii in aliquibus casibus per invictissimum Carolum 5 tum faelicis memoriae jurisdictio spiritualis causarum fidei fuit in suspenso quasi mortua which I take no other then a confession the Church which it maintains without the temporall power would fail and come to nought as indeed Cardinall Bellarmine somewhere in effect confesseth that to restrain ecclesiastick jurisdiction to spiritualls that pertain to the soul is to reduce it to nothing 15. But because I am here entred upon this fining or confiscation of the goods of a Lay person by a spirituall judge on the conviction or rather imputation of Heresy it will not be amiss to see how the Ecclesiasticks have gained that addition to the power left them by Christ which is so necessary as without it that onely was committed to them from him which the ancient Fathers practis't would be as it were dead It cannot be denyed Princes did in former times by their edicts impose pecuniary penalties on some actions concerned religion so did Theodosius 392. on such as did ordain or were ordained in Haereticis erroribus which law a Councell held in Africk about 404. provoked by the inhumanity of the Donatists did petition th' Emperour Honorius might be of force against them but never any holy Bishop of those times took upon him to confiscate any mans estate for his opinions much lesse to damnify the son for the fathers tenets and the lawyers do expresly resolve si poena alicui trrogatur ne ad haeredes transeat and give this reason Poena constituitur in emendationem hominum quae mortuo eo in quem constitui videtur desinit again no man is alieni criminis successor and accordingly many imperiall constitutions do expresly provide the Catholick children of hereticall parents though the father were deprived of them should succeed in their paternall goods and thus it stood for ought I know for above a 1000 yeares the Christian world thinking it hard the son should suffer for an erroneous perswasion of the father neither did ever any holy Bishop for that space unlesse as Deputy to some Prince take upon him that way of punishing and if any did it was not approved in him 16. In the year 1148. th' Archbishop of Canterbury called by Eugenius 3 us to a Councell at Reims the King denied him passage yet he stole thither for which on his return he was expell'd England into which notwithstanding he got shrouding himself as it seems in those tempestuous times and to make himself the more formidable interdicted divine service through the Kingdome which is the first experience the nation ever had of that censure To this the Prior of S. Augustines refused to yield obedience and th' Archbishop having now made his peace with Stephen got the sentence confirmed from Rome upon which omnes seculares in hoc monasterio servientes praeter censuram ecclesiasticam ad gravem pecuniae redemptionem contra juris aequitatem sanctorum patrum decreta cocgit On this complaint being made to the Pope he writ unto him Sicut nobis significatum est homines ejusdem monasterâ—i pro participatione excommunicatorum praeter ecclesiasticam poenam fuerunt ad redemptionem coacti and thereupon commands him quatenus omnia quae hac occasione sunt eis ablata sine vexatione restitui facias nolumus enim ut nova in vestra ecclesia inducantur c. so that certainly it did but then begin to bud after 1160 Alexander the 3. condemns
same house they abode yet they salute them with the honourable titles of their dearest lords and brethren A certain signe of a wide distance between the opinions of Rome then and now when men are taught not so much as bid them farewell do not submitunto it sure our first Bishops know no such rule who placed in their Calendar for Saints and holy men as well Hilda Aydon and Colman the opposers of Rome as Wilfred Agilbertus and others who stood for it CHAP. III. Of the increase of the Papall power in England under the Saxons and Normans and what oppositions it met with AFter the planting of Christian religion amongst the Saxons th' Archbishop of Canterbury became a person so eminent all England was reputed his Diocese in the colledge of Bishops London his Dean whose office it was to summon Councels Winchester his Chancellour Salisbury or as some Winchester his Precâ—tor or that begun the service by singing Worcester or rather Rochester his Chaplain and the other the carrier of his Crosse expected no lesse obedience from York then himself yielded to Rome voluntate beneficio it being th' opinion of the Church of England it was but equall ut ab eo loco mutuentur vivendi disciplinam à cujus fomite rapuerunt credendi slammam The dependence therefore of the Clergy in England being thus wholly upon th' Archbishop it will not be amisse to take a little view both of what esteem he was in the Church and how it came to be taken off and by degrees transferr'd to a forreign power 2. Upon the conversion of the Saxons here by the preaching of Augustine and his companions and a quiet peace settled under Theodore to whom all the English submitted Parochiall Churches by his encouragement began to be erected and the Bishop of Rome greatly reverenced in this nation as being the successour of Saint Peter the first bishop of the world Patriark of the West that resided in a town held to nourish the best Clerks in Christendome and the seat of the Empire insomuch as the devout Britan who seemes as I said to have received his first conversion from Asia did go to Iudea as a place of greatest sanctity so amongst the Saxons Romam adire magnae virtutis aestimabatur But as this was of their part no other then as to a great Doctour or Prelate by whose solicitude they understood the way to heaven and to a place in which religion and piety did most flourish so th' instructions thence were not as coming from one had dominion over their faith the one side not at all giving nor the other assuming other then that respect is fit to be rendred from a puisne or lesse skilfull to more ancient and learned Teachers As of late times when certain divines at Frankford 1554. differed about the Common-prayer used in England Knox and Whittingham appealed to Calvin for his opinion and receiving his 200. Epistle it so wrought in the hearts of many that they were not so stout to maintain all the parts of the Book as they were then against it And Doctor Cox and some other who stood for the use of the said Book wrote unto him excusing themselves that they put order in their Church without his counsell asked Which honour they shew'd him not as esteeming him to have any auctority of Office over them but in respect of his learning and merits 3. As these therefore carried much honour and yielded great obedience to Calvin and the Church of Geneva by them then held the purest reformed Church in Christendom so it cannot be denyed but our Auncestors the Saxons attributed no lesse to the Pope and Church of Rome who yet never invaded the rights of this as contrary to the councel of Ephesus and the Canons of the Church of England but left the Government of it to the English Prelats yet giving his best advice and assistance for increasing devotion and maintenance of the Laws Ecclesiasticall amongst them in which each side placed the superiority From whence it proceeded that however the Pope was sought to from hence he rarely sent hither any Legat. In the Councell of Calcuith held about 180. years after Augustine it is observed a tempore Sancti Augustini Pontificis sacerdos Romanus nullus in Britanniam mâ—ssus est nisi nos And Eadmerus that it was inauditum in Britannia quemlibes hominum super se vices Apostolicas gerere nisi solum Archiepiscopum Cantuariae 4. But after the Pope instead of being subject began to be esteemed above th' Ecclesiastick Canons and to pretend a power of altering and dispensing with them and what past by his advise and counsell onely was said to be by his authority he did question divers particulars had been formerly undoubtedly practic 't in this Kingdom he seeing them and not shewing any dislike at it as The receiving Investitures of Churches from Princes The calling Synods The determining causes Ecclesiasticall without Appeals to Rome The transferring Bishops c. but the removing these from England unto a forraign judicature being as well in diminution of the rights of the Crown as of this Church past not with out opposition 5. For Anselm an Italian the first great promoter of the Papal authority with us pretending he ought not be barr'd of visiting the Vicar of St. Peter causa regiminis Ecclesiae was told as well by the Bishops as lay Lords That it was a thing unheard and altogether against the use of the realme for any of the great men especially himself to presume any such thing without the Kings licence who affirmed nequaquam fidem quam sibi debebat simul Apostolicae sedis obedientiam contra suam voluntatem posse servare And the Archbishop persisting in his journy thither had not onely his Bishoprick seized into the Kings hand but the Pope being shew'd how his carriage was resented here did not afford him either Consilium or Auxilium but suffered him to live an exile all that Princes time without any considerable support or adjudging the cause in his favour Which makes it the more strange that having found by experience what he had heard before that it was the King not the Pope could help or hurt him this visit being so little to his advantage at his first presenting himself to Henry the first he should oppose that Prince in doing him homage and being invested by him a right continued unto that time from his Auncestors and by which himself had received the Archbishoprick from his brother and this on a suggestion that it was prohibited in a councell held at Rome in which he went so far as to tell the King quod nec pro redemptione capitis mei consentiam ei de iis quae praesens audivi in Romano Concilio prohiberi nisi ab eadem sede
recourse to Rome without the Kings leave to be inauditum usibus ejus omnino contrarium and therefore required of him an Oath quod nunquam amplius sedem Sancti Petri vel ejus vicarium pro quavis quae tibi ingeri queat causa appelles I know Anselm an Italian where the opinion of the Papall absolutenesse had now begun to root did maintain this was Petrum abjurare and that Christum abjurare and is the first of our Bishops spake any thing in that sort with whose sense the Kingdome did not concur in it For it is manifest in those dayes and after Appeals to Rome were not common In the year 1115. Paschalis the 2. expostulates with Henry the 1. that Nullus inde clamor nullum judicium ad sedem Apostolicam destinatur and again vos oppressis Apostolicae sedis appellationem subtrahitis And Anselme himself speaking of the proceeding of the King in a case by him esteemed onely of Ecclesiastick cognizance lays down the manner to be that it should be onely ad singulos Episcopos per suas parochias aut si ipsi Episcopi in hoc negligentes fuerint ad Archiepiscopum primatem adding nothing of carrying it to Rome of which I know no other reason but that it was not then usuall to remove causes from the Primate thither Yet after this either the importunity of the Pope prevailed with the King or the passage was inserted after his dayes into the Lawes carry his name as some other in the same chapter may seem to have been but certain in them though he give for a rule that of Pope Fabian or Sixtus 3. ibi semper causa agatur ubi crimen admittitur yet a Bishop erring in faith and on admonition appearing incorrigible ad summos Pontifices the Archbishops vel sedem Apostolicam accusetur This is the onely case wherein I find any English Law approve a forreign judicature 31. But whether from the countenance of this Law or the great oppressions used by the Legat King Stephens Brother or the frequency of them it is certain 1151. Appeals were held a cruell intrusion on the Churches Liberty so as in the Assize at Clarendoun 1164. collected by the body of the Realm the 8. Chapter is solely spent in shewing the right of the Kingdome in that particular which Iohannes Sarisburiensis interprets quod non appellaretur pro causâ aliquâ ad sedem Apostolicam nisi Regis Officialium suorum venia impetraâ—a Upon which the Bishop of London moved Alexander the third Beckets cause might be determined appellatione remota at which the Pope seems to be moved and told him haec est gloria mea quam alteri non dabo And though it seems by a Letter of the same Prelat the King would have restrained his power onely to such as had first made tryall of receiving justice at home claiming ex antiqua regni institutione ob civilem causam nullus clericorum regni sui fines exeat c. and that too if amiss would have corrected by th' advise of the English Church yet while th' Archbishop lived that would not be hearkened to but after his death at the peace which 1172. ensued between him and the Church of Rome it was onely concluded the King not to hinder Appeals thither in Ecclesiastick causes yet so as a party suspected before his going was to give security not to endeavour malum suum nec regni But the Kingdom meeting in Parliament at Northampton 1176. not fully four years after would not quit their interest but did again renew th' Assize of Clarendoun using in this particular somewhat a more close expression Iusticiae faciant quaerere per consuetudinem terrae illos qui à regno recesserunt nisi redire voluerint infra terminum nominatum stare in curia Domini Regis utlagentur c. in effect the same as Gervasius Dorobernensis well understood who tells us Rex Angliae Henricus convocatis regni primoribus apud Northamptoniam renovavit assisam de Clarendonia eamque praecepit observari pro cujus execrandis institutis beatus martyr Thomas Cantuariensis usque in septennium exulavit tandem glorioso martyrio coronatus est 32. After which the going to Rome remained during this Kings and his Son Richard's time onely according to their pleasures the Clergy lying under the penalty of this Law if they did attempt farther then the Princes liking of which we have a very pregnant example in the case of Geffrey Archbishop of York K. Richards Brother who accused to Coelestinus 3 us that he did not onely refuse Appeals to Rome but imprisoned those who made them upon it the Pope commits the cause to be heard by the Bishop of Lincoln and others who thereupon transfer themselves to York where hearing the Testimonies of those appeared before them assigned him a time to make his defence to the Pope But the Archbishop being then well with his Brother pretended he could not present himself in Rome for the Kings prohibition and the indisposition of the aire Not long after the King and he fell so at odds quod praecepit illum dissaisiri de Archiepiscopatu suo c. Coelestinus upon this takes an opportunity to declare a suspension to be notifyed through all the Churches of his Diocese injoyning what the King had before the Lay as well as the Clergy ne ipsi Archiepiscopo vel officialibus ejus in tempor alibus respondere praesumant donec de ipso Archiepiscopo aliud duxerimus statuendum The offence with his Brother still remaining the Bishop expecting now no help at home goes upon this to Rome makes his peace with the Pope and returns but the King committed the â—are even of the Spiritualls of his Archbishoprick to others without permitting him or his Agents to meddle with ought till about two years after he reconciled himself to the Crown after which he gave Innocentius 3 us occasion to write Non excusare te potes ut debes quod illud privilegium ignoraris per quod omnibus injuste gravatis facultas patet ad sedem Apostolicam appellandi cum iu ipse aliquando ad nostram audientiam appellaris and a little after Nec auctoritatem nostram attendis nec factam tibi gratiam recognoscis nec appellationibus defers quae interponuntur ad sedem Apostolicam c. And about the same time Robert Abbot of Thorney deposed by Hubert th' Archbishop was laid in prison a year and half without any regard had of the Appeal by him made to the Pope and this to have been the practice during King Richards time the continued quarrells of Popes for not admitting men to appeal unto them doth fully assure as 33. But Innocentius 3 us having prevailed against King Iohn and the Clergy great instruments in obtaining Magna Charta from that Prince either in favour of
them or for some other reason there was inserted Liceat unicuique de caetero exire de regno nostro redire salvò securè per terram per aquam salva fide nostra nisi in tempore guerrae per aliquod breve tempus which clause seems likewise to have been in that of Henry the 3. to his Fathers in nullo dissimilis after which it is scarce imaginable how every petty cause was by Appeals removed to Rome and th' Archbshop forced to appear before any had the least auctority from thence The Popes themselves wise men saw th' inconvenience that these carriages must end either in rendring th' Archbishop contemptible by taking all power out of his hands or the Realm resume its ancient right and prohibit the carrying ought beyond seas or admitting any Legat into the Kingdom thought of the way of granting severall priviledges to the Archbishoprick which first began about the time of Innocentius the 2. whom others followed 34. Gregory the ninth therefore moved by one of them which seems to be St. Edmund writes thus unto him Vt cum appellationis remedium non ad defensionem malignantium sed ad oppressorum subsidium sit inventum yet th' Archbishop attempting sometimes excessus corrigere subditorum quidam eorum ut correctionem effugiant appellationes frustratorias interponunt quibus si cite pro reverentia sedis Apostolicae humiliter deferatur illi ex impunitate deteriores effecti pejora praesumunt alii eorum exemplo redduntur ad vitia proniores unde humiliter postulastis c. ut providere super haec solita diligentia deberemus ut igitur auctoritati tuae in rectis dispositionibus nihil tali praetextu deesse contingat fraternitati tuae praesentium auctoritate concedimus ut non obstante frivolae appellationis objectu libere valeas in corrigendis subditorum tuorum excessibus officii tui debitum exercere 35. And for that his Agents here in their citations of th' Archbishop did not use that respect unto him which was fit but as Gervasius Dorobernensis observes of one of them Legati privilegium plusquam deceret extenderet in immensum suumque Archiepiscopum Episcopos Angliae ut sibi occurrerent quolibet evocaret the same Pope did therefore declare that cum nimis indecens videatur ut per literas Apostolicas tacito tuo nomine dignitatis inter privatas personas stare judicio compellaris nos fraternitatis tuae precibus inclinati auctoritate tibi praesentium indulgemus ut per literas à sede Apostolicâ impetratas quaede dignitate tua non fecerint mentionem respondere minime teneris c. Dat. Viterbii 4. Non. Martii Pontif. nono 36. And because th' Archbishop had on many slight occasions been drawn beyond seas to the great impoverishing th' Episcopacy the same Pope two months after writes Ea propter venerabilis in Christo frater tuis supplicationibus inclinati fraternitati tuae auctoritate praesentium indulgemus ut per literas Apostolicas extra Angliam invitus non valeas conveniri nisi de indulgentia hujusmodi fecerint eaeliterae mentionem aut per te aliquod factum fuerit per quod sit indulgentiae huic derogatum Dat. Perusii 4. Non. Maii Pontificat nono Innocentius 4. ut nullus sine speciali Apostolicae sedis licentia praeter Legatos ipsius ab ejus latere destinatos in personam tuam praesumat excommunicationis sententiam promulgare Lugduni 13. Kalend. Octob. Pontif. 4. 37. It would be tedious to repeat all the bulls found in the said old MS. and other books since 1130. for before it seems there was none in this kind to conserve some power in th' Archbishoprick yet so as it might ever depend on Rome and how much the Papacy gained by these every man sees I. The right of th' Archbishoprick was none by appeal might remove any Ecclesiastick cause from his judicatory the Pope grants he shall proceed notwithstanding a frivolous Appeal II. The right was he was not at all under any Legat the grant is he should not be tyed to answer if they did not mention his dignity in their citations III. The right was he should not be drawn beyond the seas of which in the next the grant is he should not be compell'd to go unlesse mention were made of that Bull. IIII. The question was whether the Pope might excommunicate any within the Diocese of Canterbury the grant is None but a Legate de latere should th' Archbishop Yet certainly Popes did what they well could retaining to themselves that vast power they then pretended to conserve in the Archbishoprick some auctority 38. But the frequent citing him and others out of the Realm and the carrying their causes to Rome did not at all satisfy the subject whereupon the body of the Kingdome in their querulous letter devised and sent by them to Innocentius 4 tus 1245 or rather to the Councell at Lions claim as an especiall priviledge That no Legat ought to come here but on the Kings desire ne quis extra regnum trahatur in causam and at the revising of Magna Charta by Edward the first the former clause was left out since when none of the Clergy might go beyond seas but with the Kings leave as the writs in the Register and the Acts of Parliament assure us and what is more if any were in the Court of Rome the King called them home not permitting any to go or abide there longer then his pleasure Yet I do not say these times do not furnish examples of Appeals or recourse thither or receiving commands from thence I know the contrary but it was onely between those and in such cases as the King holding good correspondency with the Pope and State did either tacitely connive at as in matters of small moment or expressely give allowance unto for if otherwise no person was so great but he was forced to gain his pardon for the offence To which purpose th' example of the rich Bishop of Winchester may not be unfitly remembred who being a Cardinall of the Kings blood was employed by Martyn the 5. as generall against the Bohemians and to that end erected the Crosse 1429. 8. Hen. 6. but two years after caused a petition to be exhibited in Parliament That he the said Cardinall nor none other should be poursued vexed impleded or grieved by the King his heyres or successors nor by any other person for cause of any Provision or offence or misprision done by the said Cardinall against any statute of Provisions or per cause of any exemption receipt acceptation admission or execution of any Bulls Papall to him in any manner made Which was granted and shews that without it he had been lyable to punishment for his accepting and receiving of them And here it is not unworthy the remembring that this was the first Cardinall
vacantium which not occurring of any Pope before I cannot ascribe other to have begun them then he who though in a bull dated the 5. Ianuary 4. Pontificatus he mention Fructus redditus proventus primi anni beneficiorum yet by the doubts he there resolves shews the practice of them then newly brought into the Church But whereas the writers before-named agree the English of all Nations never received in this the full extent of the Papall commands I conceive it to arise from the good Laws they made against them of which before and after 17. It is hardly credible how great a masse of treasure was by these wayes sent hence into Italy The revenues th' Italians were possest of in England 1245. are accounted not lesse then 60. thousand Marks 1252. it was thought they did amount to 70. thousand all which for the most drained thither and in the Parliament held about an hundred years after the Commons shew what went hence to the Court of Rome tourne a plus grand destruction du Royalme qe toute la guerre nostre Seigr. le Roy yet notwithstanding so many statutes as were made by that Prince for moderating the excesses in this kind the 50 th they complain I shall give it contractedly the Popes collectâ—r here held a receipt equall to a Prince or Duke sent annually to Rome from the Clergy for Procuration of Albeys Priories First-fruits c. xx thousand Marks some years more others lesse and to Cardinalls and other Clerks beneficed in England as much besides what was conveyed to English Clerks remaining there to sollicite the affairs of the Nation upon which they desire his Ma â—y no collector of the Pope may reside in England 18. But the King as it seems not greatly complying with their desires the year following they again instance that certain Cardinalls notorious enemies had procured a clause d'anteferri to certain benefices within the Provinces of Canterbury and York that the Popes Collector was as very an enemy to this State as the French themselves that his house-keeping here at the Clergies cost was not lesse then 300l. by the year that he sent annually from hence beyond Seas at one time 20 thousand marks sometimes 20. thousand pounds and what was worse espyed the secrets of the Kingdome vacations of benefices and so dayly made the certainty known to the said Court did now raise for the Pope the first-fruits of all dignities and other smaller promotions causing by oath to pay the true value of them surmounting the rate they were formerly taxed at which now in the very beginning ought to be crusht c. Vpon which considerations they desire all strangâ—rs Clerks and others excepting Knights Esquires Merchants Artificers might sodainly avoid the Kingdom no subjects without the Kings expresse licence to be Proctors Aturneys Fâ—rmors to any such Alyen under the pain after Proclamation made of life member losse of lands and goods and to be dealt with as theeves and robbers no mony during the wars to be transported out of the Kingdom by exchange or otherwise on the forfeiture of it But to this the answer onely was Setiegnent les estatutz ordonances ent faites Whereupon the next Parliament the Commons prefer'd again three Petitions touching I. The paiment of First-fruits taken come due a la chambre nostre seint Pere yet not used in the Realme before these times was contrary to former treaties with the Pope c. II. Reservations of benefiâ—es III. By that way bestowing them on Alyens who sundry times employed the profits of them towards the raunsoming or araying their friends enemies to the King Of all which they desire his Ma ty to provide remedy as also that the Petitions the two last Parliaments of which before might be consider'd and convenient remedy ordained To which the answer is Les Seig rs du grand conseil ordeigneront due remedie sur les matires comprises enâ—estes trois billes precedentes And here I take the grand Councell to be the Privy Councell not the Lords in or out of Parliament called the grand Councell for the greatnesse of the affairs fell within their cognizance and named the 5. of Hen. the 4. to consist onely of six Bishops one Duke two Earls and other in all to the number of 22. 19. What order they establisht I have not met with it is manifest not to have been such as gave the satisfaction hoped for by the Commons renewing in effect both 3 o. and 5 to Ric. 2. the same suites and the inconveniences still continuing in the year 1386 7. 10. Ric. 2. William Weld was chosen Abbot of S. Augustins in the place of Michael newly dead who troubled with a quartan ague the French and Dutch on the seas the King inhibited his going to Rome for confirmation c. He thereupon employs William Thorn from whose pen we have the relation hoping to be excused himself of the journey who shewing the sufferings of the house the miserable state he must leave it in that he would expose it irrecuperabili casui ruinae that the King had commanded his stay was in the end told by the Pope after all means he could use Rex tuus praecipit quod non veniat electus ille Ego volo quod compareat examini se subjiciat and again after yet more earnest sollicitation quia audivimus turbationem inter Regem Barones suos the fittest time to contest with a prince multa sinistra de persona electi quod cederet Romanae ecclesiae in praejudicium absque personali comparitione non intendimus ipsum confirmare ne daretur posteris in exemplum The cause hanging three years in suspense the Abbot in fine was forced to appear in Rome for his benediction and returned with it not to his house till about the end of March 1389. the 12. Ric. 2. After which the next Parliament obtained the statute of Premunire against the Popes conferring any Benefice within the said Kingdome from the 29 of Ianuary then ensuing and no person to send or bring any summons or sentence of excommunication against any for the execution of the same law on the pain of being arrested put in prison forfeiture of his lands tenements c. and incurring the pain of life member c. The intent of which law Polidor Virgil rightly interprets to have been a confining the Papall auctority within the Ocean and for the frequent exactions of Rome ut nulli mortalium deinceps liceret pro quavis causa agere apud Romanum Pontificem ut quispiam in Anglia ejus autoritate impius religionisque hostis publice declararetur neve exequi tale mandatum si quod ab illo haberet c. To which law three years after some other additions were made and none of these were ever repealed by Queen Mary who though she did admit a union with the
outward policy of this Church or government of it in foro exteriori to have much depended on the King and therefore the writs for summoning Parliaments expresse the cause of his calling them to be pro quibusdam arduis urgentibus negotiis nos statum defensionem regni nostri Angliae ecclesiae Anglicanae concernentibus or as our Bishops have sometimes exprest it in the Rolls of Parliament à l' onour reverence de Dieu de seinte esglise al salvation amendement de son roialme c. Likewise the Commons that their gift of the 9th sheaf c. to Edw. the 3. to have been for his defence of the Kingdome de seinte esglise d' Engleterre Rot. Parliament 15. Ed. 3. n. 25. According to which our Kings joyned both together professing their care for amending the Church to be equall with that of the Commonwealth Item fait assavoir que nostre tressoveraigne seign r le Roy eiantz grande volunte desir de l'estate de son esglise de son Royalme en les choses ou mesteir est d' amendement al honor de Dieu pur la pees la commune profit de seinte esglise d' Engleterre come de tout son Royalme d' el ' advis assent des seig rs esperituells c. ad fait c. In pursuance of which interest residing in the Crown the Lords and Commons under Rich. the 2. fearing the opinions called Lollardy might prevail petierunt à Rege de istis remedium apponi ne forte archa totius fidei ecclesiae talibus impulsionibus in illius temporibus pro defectu gubernaculi irremediabiliter quateretur Upon whose desires he commanded th' Archbishop of Cant. and his other Bishops ut officium suum singuli iâ— suis dioe cesibus secundum jura canonica acrius ferventius exercerent delinquentes castigarent librosque eorum Anglicos plenius examinarent errata exterminarent populumque in unitatem fidei orthodoxae reducere studerent ecclesiamque urticis vepribus destoratam liliis rosis ornarent c. After which the said authour records a Commission by which his Majesty as Defender of the Catholick Faith did impower certain to seize upon hereticall books and bring them before his councell and such as after proclamation shall be found to hold such opinions being called and examined before two Commissioners who were of the Clergy and lawfully convicted thereof to be by his Majesties ministers committed to the next prison Fourteen years after which the Commons shew Hen. the 4th the Parliament might be compared to a Masse in which th' Archbishop of Cant. began th' office reading th' Epistle and expounding the Gospel which it seems they took to be the part of the Ecclesiastick as did the Saxons before à la mesne qe feust la sacrifice d' estre offeriz à Dieux pur touz Christiens le Roy mesmes à cest Parlement pour accomplir cellemesne plusieurs foitz avoit declarez pleinement a toutz ses lieges coment sa volunte feust qe la foy de seint esglise feust governez en maniere come il ' ad este en temps de ses nobles progenitors come il est affirme par seint esglise par les seints Doctours par seint Escriture c. and a little after shewing they the Commons were onely to say Deo gratias which they were obliged to do for three reasons the second of which is pur câ—o qe la ou la Foy de seint esglise par malvaise doctrine feust en point d' avoir este anientz en grand subversion du Roy du Royalme mesme nostre Seig r le Roy ent ad fait ordeignez bon joust remede en destruction de tiel doctrine de la sect d' ycel peront ilz sont ensement tenuz de dire cel parole Deo gratias By all these it must be granted they did hold the chief care of the English Church to have depended in the outward policy of it on the prince or else that they did speak and do very unadyisedly in attributing so much unto his care of it and providing that he might be supplyed to defend it without at all mentioning any other to whose care it belonged 19. Neither did these expressions and petitions passe the Commons onely or the Clergy over-ruled by the numbers of the temporality but the Bishops by themselves acknowledged how much it stood in his M tios care to provide against any novelties creeping into the English Church and that it might enjoy the rights and liberties belonging to it and therefore when the said doctrine of Lollardy continued encreasing they in the names Praelatorum cleri regni Angliae petition Henry the 4 th Quatenus inclitissimorum progenitorum antecessorum vestrorum laudabilia vestigia graciose considerantes dignetur vestra regia celsitudo pro conservatione dictae Ecclesiae Anglicanae ad Dei laudem vestrique meritum totius regni praedicti prosperitatem honorem pro hujusmodi dissentionibus divisionibus dampnis periculis evit indis super novitatibus excessibus praedictis in praesenti Parliamento providere de remedio opportuno c. Did not these then hold it the office of the King as that his progenitors had ever done to provide no dissensions scandalls divisions might arise in the Church the Catholick faith might be truely conserved and susteined and what other did any of our Princes ever challenge or assume 20. When the Clergy likewise went at any time beyond their bounds or were negligent performers of their duties the subject upon all occasions had recourse unto his M ty as to whose care the seeing what was amiss redrest did especially belong as when th' Ecclesiastick Courts were grievous for the fees or their pecuniary pennances too heavy when they were opprest by Papall provisions of which before when through the absence of their Curat they were not so well taught c. when the frequency of the writ de excommunicato capiendo made it burthensome when men were cited by them on causes neither Matrimoniall nor Testamentary and appearing were not allowed a copy of the libell against them In which case the Kings answer is not unworthy the repeating shewing clearly he directed how they should proceed le Roy voet que a quel heure la copie de le libel est grantable par la ley q'â—l soit grauntè liverè a la partie sanz dâ—fficulee It is true Kings would refer matters of that nature to their Bishops unto whose care under them it did especially belong so Richard the 2. being petitioned in point of Residency answered Il appartient aux offices des Evesques le Roy voet qu' ils facent lour office devoirs c. His successor being again prest in the same kind gives his command thus Facent les
possession of can no way be said to have departed from the Church but the Pope to have injuriously proceeded against him who maintained onely the just rights and liberties of his kingdome according to his coronation oath 10. And this is the case and fully answers so far as it appears to me whatsoever can be objected against the reformation begun by him or made more perfect by Edward the 6. for the manner of doing it viz. that they as supreme Princes of this Kingdome had a right to call together their own Clergy and with their advise to see the Church reformed by them And if otherwise I should desire to know how the Masse without any intermission was restored by Queen Mary for it is manifest she returned the use of it immediately after her brothers death yet Cardinall Pool reconciled not this Kingdome to Rome till the 30th of November above a year after and then too on such conditions onely as the Parliament approved during which space she as Queen gave directions to the Ordinaries how they should carry themselves in severall particulars which as it is probable she did by th' advice of her Bishops so there is no reason to condemn the like proceedings in Edward the 6. 11. I have before shewed how far the royal power went in compiling the book of Common prayer for a Catechism published by the same Prince it being composed by a learned person presented to his Maty and by him committed to the scrutiny of certain Bishops and other learned men quorum judicium sayes his Maty magnam apud nos authoritatem habet after their allowance it was by him recommended to be publickly taught in Schools Likewise the Articles for taking away diversity of opinions in points of religion were agreed upon in a Synod at London by the Bishops and other learned men Regia authoritate in lucem editi The King in framing them taking no farther on himself then he had in the book of Common prayer And Queen Mary though she quitted the title of head of the Church which yet she did not so suddenly as Saunders intimates did in effect as much So that hitherto there is no way of fixing any schism on the English Church for neglect of obedience it having been eversubject to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others its lawfull superiors restoring to him the ancient right belonged to his chair of being their spirituall pastor next and immediately under Christ Iesus But the Kingdome being re-united to the See of Rome by Queen Mary though what I have said doth in a good part free it of schism yet in respect the reformation I onely took upon me to defend was made by Queen Elizabeth and continued since it will be necessary to make some more particular mention how it did passe CHAP. VII How the reformation was made under Queen Elizabeth 1. ELizabeth the daughter of Henry the 8th by Queen Anne Bolen being received by all the estates of the Kingdome assembled in Parliament and proclaimed Queen caused her sisters Ambassador Sr Edward Kerne then residing at Rome to give an account of this her being called to the Crown to Paulus 4 tus the Pope who being in union with France and out with the house of Austria then strictly joyned with England and both at odds with the French told him either perswaded by them or upon his own heady disposition England was a Fee of the Church of Rome That she could not succeed as illegitimate That he could not go against the declarations of Clement the 7. and Paulus 3 ius That her assuming the name and government without him was so great an audacity she deserved not to be hearkned to But he being willing to proceed paternally if she would renounce her pretensions and freely remit her self to his arbitrement he would do what lay in his power with the dignity of the Apostolick See A strange reply to a civil message were it not derived to us by an unquestionable hand and that it came from Paulus 4 ius to whom it was not an unusuall saying that hee would have no Prince his compagnion but all subjects under hys foot Upon this unwillingnesse to acknowledge her Queen at Rome th' Archbishop of York who had before affirmed no man could doubt of the justnesse of her title and the rest of the Bishops refused to Crown her As for that some write it was because they had evident probabilities she intended eyther not to take or not to keep the oath was then to be administred unto her especially in the particular of not maintaining holy Churches lawes in respect she had shewed an aversenesse to some ceremonies as commanding the Bish of Carlile not to elevate the consecrated Host. who stoutly refused her and out of fear she would refuse in the time of her sacre the solemn divine ceremony of Vnction these are certainly without any colour and framed since For as for the last the ceremony of anointing she had it performed as had King Iames who succeeded her who would not have his Queen crowned in Scotland without it For the other it is altogether improbable that he to whom the command was by her given would of all the rest have assented to crown her had he conceived that a cause why it might have been denied neither indeed did she alter any thing materiall in the service of the Church till after the conference at Westminister 1559. the 31. March and the Parliament ended 2. To passe therefore by these as excuses found out after the deed done the true reason being no question something came from the Pope in pursuance of that answer he had given her Agent the Queen seeing she could expect nothing from the Papacy laboured to make all safe at home or to use her own phrase to take care of her own house and therefore as she had reason desired to be assured of her subjects fidelity by propounding an oath to certain of them which is seldome a tie to other then honest minds But the way mens minds distracted in points of religion the law of Henry the 8. extinguishing the auctority of the Bishop of Rome being very severe for securing himself in bringing such as did but extoll the said auctority for the first offence within the compass of a praemunire and that refused to take it of treason was not easy to be pitcht upon besides styling the King head of the Church which many made a scruple at to which effect a bill being presented to the house of Commons the 9. of February after many arguments had upon it the 13. of February upon the second reading it was absolutely dasht and upon great consideration taken the 14. Febr. a Committee appointed to draw a new Bill in which an especiall care was taken for restoring onely the ancient jurisdiction of the Crown and the Queen neither styled supreme Head nor the penalty of refusing the Oath other