drew out of England he found it to be equal to his own Revenue which is sixty thousand Marks The King proposed some of these Differences to the Council at Lions making Complaint of the abovesaid grievances whereto the Pope answered the Council was not Assembled for that purpose and that it was no time to harken to it In the said City of Lions during the time of the Council N. 154. the Pope would have given to his Kinsmen some Prebendaries of those Churches upon which there was a great Commotion in the City and the Pope had notice given him that they should be thrown into the Rhone wherefore the Pope sent them away privately Rhodano For all this the Court left not off its Designs but in the year 1253 the same Pope Commanded Robert Bishop of Lincoln a man in those times Famous in Doctrine and in Goodness that he should confer a certain Benefice upon the Genoése against the Canons which appearing inconvenient and unjust to the Bishop he answered the Pope that he Honour'd Apostolical Commands Conformable to Apostolical Doctrine wherefore that non obstantibus is a Deluge of inconstancy a Breach of Faith a disturbance of the quietness of Christendom that it is a grievous Sin to defraud the Sheep of their Pasture that the Apostolical See had all Power to Edification none to destroy N. 155. This Answer received the Pope grew wroth exceedingly But Cardinal Egidius a Spaniard being a Prudent man endeavour'd to Mitigate him representing to him that to proceed against a man of such Reputation for a cause so abhorr'd by the World could not bring forth a good Effect But whilst the Pope studyed to shew his Resentment Robert fell sick and to the end of his Life held the same Reasons and dyed with an Opinion of Holyness and 't was fam'd that he wrought Miracles The Pope hearing of his Death caused a Process to be formed for the King to dis-inter the dead mans Corps But the night following in a Vision or in a Dream he had Robert in Pontifical Robes who Rebuked him for persecuting his memory and smote him on the Flank with the But-end of his Crosier-Staff The Pope awoke with an excessive Pain in that Place which afflicted him unto his Death that happened within a short time after In the year 1258 Alexander the 4th Excommunicated the Arch-Bishop of York for the like Cause who persevering in his Deliberation N. 156. endured the Persecution with much Patience and drawing neer to his Death wrote a very Prudent Letter to the Pape exhorting him to imitate his Holy Predecessors and to take away the Dammageable Novelties from the Church and from his own Soul He dyed with the Opinion of a Saint and a Martyr In these times 't was likewise necessary in France to make a Provision which I shall relate after having given notice that for these and for other Impediments which the Princes and the Bishops opposed against the endeavours of the Court which never thought of giving over For Clement the 4th in the year 1266 resolved to lay the Foundations whereby he or his Successors might declare themselves to be absolute Patrons in all the Collations of Benefices throughout the World and remove the necessity of finding out Wayes and Arts to draw the Collations unto Rome and made a Bull which concluded nothing else but the Reservation of the Vacanti in Curia saying that the Collationing of them by an Antient Custom is reserved to the Pope and therefore he approved of this Custom and wil'd it to be observed N. 157. But to conclude this alone So much an Hyppothetical Premium can do in saying that although the plenary Disposal of all Benefices Premio Hippotetico belongs to the Pope of Rome so that he may not only confer them when they become Vacant but he may also before Vacancy grant a Right for the acquiring of them Nevertheless the Antient Custom hath more especially reserved the Vacanti in Curia Wherefore we approve of that Custom If the Pope had made a concluding Edict that the Disposal of all Benefices belonged to him the World would have stir'd in it and as well the Clergy-men as Princes and other Lay-Patrons would have declared their Reasons But this Proposition being put into a Conditional without a Conclusion went on easily without any notice taken of how much it might Import But two years after that is in the year 1268 without having any Respect unto this Bull N. 158. St. Lewis King of France seeing that the Provisions made by the Queen Regent his Mother during his Minority and during his Absence in the Holy Land were not sufficient to remove the Confusions introduced in the matter of Benefices Pragmatic Sanction made his famous Pragmatick wherein he Commanded that Cathedral Churches should have their Elections Free and the Monasteries likewise that all other Benefices should be given according to the Disposition of the Law and that no Imposition of the Court of Rome could be levied upon Benefices without his Consent and the Churches of his Kingdom This Holy Kings going into Africa against the Mores and his Death which happened in the year 1270 and the need the House of Anjou had of the Popes Favour to settle his Kingdom in Naples and to recover that of Sicily and the Power which the Pope granted to the King of imposing Tythes under Pretext of the War of the Holy Land were cause that the French easily permitted the Court of Rome to regain the same Authority N. 159. whereupon in the year 1398 Boniface the 8th placed the Constitution of Clement in the Decretals and made that That which was said Hyppothetically and Incidentally became the Principal and to give it the greater Authority he exposed under the name of Clement leaving it dubious whether it were the 4th or the 3d. Therefore now in some Copies it is Read the 3d in others the 4th For which cause this Proposition was given to be believed at first i. e. That the plenary Disposal of all Ecclesiastical Benefices belongs to the Pope which is pretended to be meant in a Sense not altogether perverted which is that the Pope should have full Power but yet Regulated by the Laws and by Reason A little after Clement the 5th made void all good understanding by saying that the Pope had not only full Power but also free over all Benefices which freedom is understood by the Canonists Exempt from all Laws and Reason so that he may do all that he pleaseth notwithstanding the Reason or the Interest of whatsoever Church or of Particular Person yea even of a Lay-Patron This Proposition is put into the Bulls upon every occasion N. 160. and there is no Canonist but passeth it for clear yea for an Article of Faith saying that the Pope in the Collation of any Benefice whatever may Concur with the Ordinary and also prevent it and if it so please him he may
treating and speaking follows not that which he is inwardly sensible of The Clerks or Clergy-men are become Administrators of these Goods by Laws which have granted unto Christian Colledges the Power of acquiring Estates N. 227. both by Wills and Donations of those who have bequeathed their Goods and by the Authority which the Church hath given unto the said Clergy in the Canons therefore they are Obliged to Govern and to Dispence these Estates according to the Laws Dispositions Donations and Testamentary Dispositions and according to the Canons and that which might be done Contrary to it cannot be called otherwise than Injustice Injury and Usurpation The Canonists say that the Pope hath most full Power over the Goods and Benefices Ecclesiastical so that he may conjoyn them diminish them erect new ones give them ad nutum Confer them before they become Vacant lay upon them Servitudes Burdens and Pensions and generally that in Beneficial matters the Popes Will is in the stead of Reason or Right This Sufficeth not but they add that the Pope may alter or transform into other Works the Legacies ad Pias Causas and may alter the Disposition of Testators applying that to another which they shall have appointed for a Pious Work and it cannot be denyed that this is the Practice which hath changed all the Government and all the Antient Institutions N. 228. but it remains still in Doubt who does amiss and errs the Antient or the Modern if so much as a Doubt may happen Martin Navarr with some of the more Moderate Canonists limits this Proposition that the Pope may alter the last Wills only restraining when there is a Lawful cause of doing it which otherwise would be to deprive a man of his own and of the Power granted him by the Natural and by the Divine Law coming down also to this Particular that the Pope cannot without Cause give that to one Church which is left unto another therefore how much less unto Persons not called Navarrus saith also that the saying of the Gloss approved by the Canonists That is in Beneficyal Matters the Popes Will is instead and takes the Place of Reason is to be understood only in things which are de Jure Positivo but not in that which cannot be done without disagreeing with Natural and Divine Law And those who give no unlimited Power unto the Pope N. 229. would also exclude the Canons of the Universal Church not to fall into the Absurdity that in a Matter of such Importance the Universal Church should have erred and done amiss and that the Court should do uprightly The said Navarrus adds further that it being said in the Clementines that the Free Disposal of Benefices belongs to the Pope The word Free is or ought to be understood without Licence Leave or Consent and notwithstanding the Contradiction of any man soever but yet without Prejudice of the Third if we should admit of this Exposition as it seems Convenient to be admitted there would be seen a great Opposition to Reservations because they are Prejudicial to the Bishops in the giving of Benefices unto Strangers because it is with Prejudice to those of the Country in whose Favour the Wills are made and it would not be very favourable to the Pretension to have Power or to be able to alter the last Will and Testament being Prejudicial to the Memory of the Deceased I know well that others answer to this that all is true N. 230. when there is no Legitimate Cause but the Point is who shall be Judge of the Lawfulness of the Cause for if it belongs to himself whose Authority is to be restrained 't is as good to give him the Absolute Authority as that which is limited with a Lawful Cause unless the Law be above it Navarrus adds very Notable things saying that in our Age the Opinion of the Jurisconsults which expatiate so much the Papal Power in Beneficyal matters is in much Credit to please those who are Ambitious of many Benefices which they accept as fitted for their Ambition and Covetousness who heard a Divine say Publickly and a Famous Canonist that they would willingly accept of all the Benefices of the Kingdom if the Pope would Bestow them upon them but on the Contrary Pius Quintus told them that the Jurisconsults are wont to attribute more Power than Convenient to the Pope whereto he answered that there are some also which do not Extol but that it behooveth to walk in the middle way having Respect unto Divine and Humane Laws together N. 231. not doing like the Modern Jurisconsults who Magnifie Humane Laws so much that they answer against the Divine However I intend not to Contradict the Opinion which gives so much Power for the Reverence due to the Pope of whom is treated although it Comprehends not how it agrees with Divinity and with Reason I shall only propose some Difficulties which are wont to be Promoted by Writers on such an Opinion which when they shall have resolved truth in this matter will be most clear And first If the Pope hath such an Ample Authority who hath given it him Not Christ because the Authority given by him is only is Spiritual things for loosing and for binding that is for remitting and for retaining of Sins And then the Ecclesiastical Estates are Possessed de Jure Hamano and not Divino and for such it hath been resolved above and therefore he hath not receive this Power from God much less from the Laws of Princes from Testamentary Dispositions N. 232. nor from the Canons of the Churches because all these have given the Administration to the Clergy-men of each Church over the Estates and Benefices thereof and prescribedly also with limited Conditions that they may not be altered therefore he hath it not from these There are no other Patrons in being nor none can have Authority unless granted by these therefore it remains to be Considered from whence and by what other way it hath been given him To this Doubt a second may be added if the Pope hath this Authority what is the Cause that his Predecessors for a Thousand years and more have never Exercized any nor any Antient Doctor nor Councel nor Historian nor Father nor Canon hath so much as made mention of it It cannot be Attributed that there is a necessity for that now which was not in those times because that in the Ages that past between the years 800 and 1100 for 300 years the Disorders were so great throughout all Europe that in Comparison of those N. 233. these at present are Tollerable and indeed no Pope did so much as intrude himself into the Estates of other Churches which had great need of being Governed And after the Popes had begun to interpose themselves in some places until the time of Clement the 4th no man ever pretended to such an Ample and Absolute Power but the said Clement hath not directly published
106. and a Tumult was appeased which had lasted 56 years under Six Popes by Excommunicating an infinite number of Persons both Ecclesiastical and Civil who adhered to the Emperor and by the Death of numberless Persons on both sides in threescore Battels fought by Henry the Father and in eighteen fought by Henry the Son tantae Molis erat to lay the Foundations of that Building which we have seen brought up to the Top of the Battlements whereof we are to speak In the Occurrence abovesaid happened between Pascal and Henry the Judgment of the World was various some saying that the Assent yielded unto by the Pope was Null as done out of fear finding himself and so many Cardinals in the Emperors hand and therefore with Reason Pascal opposed him and ceased from observing it But on the other side it was said that if the Popes Assent were invalid for being extorted with Fear N. 107. no less ought to be held for invalid the Assent yielded to by the Emperor for Fear of so many Excommunications and Anathema's of so many Rebellions and Machinations for which cause he is subject to restore that which is done for Fear of Imprisonment and not that which is done for Fear of Anathema's and for Fear of seeing all his Dominions and People in Confusion and in Civil Wars Some men in Counsel in the presence of Pascal made use of this Dilemma if the Decree and the Bull of his by which he granted Investiture unto the Emperor were Lawful they ought to be observed if they were unjust and as some say Heretical then was the Pope Author also Heretical and unjust 'T is true indeed that a thing just and due although done out of Fear is valid and that no man whatsoever is blameless if for any kind of Fear he acteth contrary to the Law of God The Contention of the Popes with the Emperors about this matter of giving Investiture of Bishopricks and Abbeys stopt not only in Italy and Germany Kingdoms of the Emperor but in the same times also in France some of the Bishops stirr'd up by Example and through Interest N. 108. opposed the King for the same cause but because all were not agreed to make a League with the Pope against the King the King for the most part overcame him and the Popes were content to gain that by little and little which was Impossible for them to do all at once together In England the King having alwayes conferr'd Bishopricks and Abbeys in the year 1102 Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury refused to Consecrate the Bishops provided by the King he adhering to the Decrees made by the Popes and the Contention lasted many years the King maintaining his Authority and the Arch-Bishop by the help of the Pope defending his Opposition the King believed himself able to perswade the Pope to that which he reputed Just therefore he sent an Ambassador who received such rough Answers and Threatnings from the Pope that to take off his Edge the Ambassador thought fit to tell him the King would not lose his Authority although he were to lose his Kingdom to which the Pope replyed with no less boldness that he would not permit it although he were to lose his Head The King remained Constant N. 109. and it behooved Anselm to depart the Kingdom incapable of returning without Consenting to the King 's Will. But the King dying without Heirs-Male and some Civil Wars happening 't was easie for the Clergy-men to prevail and to introduce That into England which had been introduced in the Empire where after the Cession of Henry of which hath been spoken the Pope obtained his intent true it is that in the year 1132 Lotharius the Saxon Successor of Henry the 5th Emperor being sought to by Innocent the 2d engaged in a Schism that he would acknowledge him for Pope and not his Adversary refused to do it unless the Investitures Renounced by Henry were restored to him and perhaps the Pope would have granted them but St. Bernard very intimate with Lotharius perswaded him to desist proposing to his Consideration that he having made War against Henry his Predecessor and Lord upon Pope Paschals Instance for that cause N. 110. afterwards to be willing to make himself a Defender of Henry's Pretention was to declare himself a Rebel and that he had made War against his Lord while he was defending a just Cause That which usually happens after great Victories namely when all the Forces of the Enemy are not Extinct the Fragments or the Remainder of the overcome Party oftentimes spring up again with old Pretensions which the prudent Vainquisher temporizeth dexterously rather than oppose himself openly by renewing a War so it fell out in these present occasions The Popes not being able to have the Victory of such a great Pretention so entirely but that in some Places some Benefices would remain in the Power of the Laity and that a Prince sometimes for some Necessity of his Government without Regard to the Pope would bestow some Bishoprick after the first manner There remained in France the Regalia N. 111. which is a Right of the King to Confer all single Benefices Vacant by the death of the Bishops until the Successor be Created There remained in Germany a Right of the Emperors of giving only one of the Canon-ships in many Churches and so divers particular Authorities were retained by some Princes The Popes that they might not by Contending for these particular uses renew the Contention with hazard of losing the whole or else by letting them run on they might do prejudice to the general Cause thought it requisite to make Provision both by Negotiation and Art They found a Temperament or Complyance by causing the Canonists and other Scribes depending on them to Write that these Princes enjoy'd that Authority through Priviledge granted by the Pope This served the Popes for a Reputation to make appear that Princes had no Right but by their grace and favour and assured them also that they might pretend further and 't was easily passed over by the Princes to whom it seemed that it was to secure them from the Molestations which the Popes might give them N. 112. and by adding an Ecclesiastical Title to their own Possession make it more secure But the Event shew'd that to be Poyson which was esteemed Physick For about 1300 Boniface the 8th exercised sharp Contentions with Philip the fair of France that he should yield up the Authority of the Regalia's abovesaid and they proceeded so far that this Kingdom was exposed to great Danger by Excommunications and Interdictions by depriving the King and by granting the Kingdom to Albert the Emperor At first when 't was assented to it was not well thought of to whose account it would turn by the Apostolical granting to preserve that which was the Princes Peculiar For the Popes since pretend they can revoke the Priviledges granted by their Predecessors even without a
his Annals with all opportunity and importunity is this that it was with an Impious and a Tyrannical Vsurpation of those Princes and People to intermeddle in the Election of Bishops and chiefly of the Pope not considering that the best Popes have been provided by Princes and that alwayes when Clergy-men only have made the Election infinite disorders have sprung up But that which imports more is that Popes of a most holy Life and Emperors of perpetual memory have commended that Practise and judged it necessary neither can it be now blamed without slandering two Dozen of holy Popes and particularly St. Gregory N. 127. and the Antient Doctrines of the Councils and of the holy Fathers If at first the Mistery had been discovered whereto would have tended this taking away the Investitures from Princes the Clergy would not have been perswaded unto Novelty but they believed their own Interest and liberty were concerned wherefore the Practice began of bestowing Benefices in manner abovesaid every one in his Diocess some by the Election of the Chapters some by Collation or setling of the Bishop and likewise the Pope bestowed those in the Diocess of Rome and medled not with giving Benefices out of his Diocess unless sometimes in one case only that is when any Prelate being gone to Rome either for Devotion or for Business dyed there and in his company there hapned to be some noted Person of the same Nation the Pope immediately Created him in the place of the Deceased and sent him back writing to the Diocess or to the Monastery Lamenting the death of the Deceased and consolating them with the substitution of the Person he had sent them This thing was easily consented unto as well because it hapned but rarely or seldom N. 128. as because it appeared to be the Popes favour also there being no cause of refusing a Person deserving and of the same Country but when the news of the death came to the Place if the Pope had made no Provision already in manner aforesaid they stay'd no longer but provided of themselves according to Custom In nothing else did the Pope meddle with Ecclesiastical Causes out of the Diocess of Rome The Pope of Rome nevertheless was very deserving from all the Clerical order seeing that so many Popes with so much Toyl and Labour together with so much Blood-shed had gained them that Power and Dominion over Benefices and excluded the Princes who from antient times and the People who from the beginning had Possession of that Right wherefore he was held in great esteem by the Bishops who sought to gratifie him all the wayes they could which put the Popes in mind of dealing with the Bishops after that manner as the Emperors were wont N. 129. which was to recommend one to them to be provided with a convenient Benefice At first these Requests seemed very strange to the Princes they opening a door by which Strangers or Outlandish men got an Inlet to be Beneficyed in their Kingdoms and yet they were favourably accepted and answered by the Bishops with gratification who only were intent on the Excluding of Princes never thought that another by depriving them could assume to himself the settlement of Benefices But shortly after through the Profitableness which the Court received from those who made Presents to obtain the Popes favour and for the Charges of Bulls they began to multiply the desires and the Recommendations of the Pope in such a manner that the Bishops became deprived of almost all Collations Whereupon they were sometimes forced to pass without complying with them the Popes found a Remedy for this by adding Commands unto his Requests which were obeyed at first N. 130. but for being too frequent it constrained the Bishops to transgress the Command and without Respect thereunto or to the Censures therein Contained they made Collations in regard to themselves and to their Churches and it behoov'd the Pope afterwards to be content for a thing done and to pardon them seeing there was no other Remedy The course whereby Benefices were obtained in Rome would have been easily stopt but there was a Remedy invented for it at Court for besides the desires and commands they added an Executor who if the Bishop would not confer the Benefice he was to confer it and to punish the Bishop besides for Disobedience However they used that Method but sparingly and when the Bishop had been stubborn But at last for a quicker dispatch they came to yield to Prayers to the Mandate and to Execution altogether Wherefore the Churches and the Bishops felt themselves much aggrieved N. 131. and the Princes and the Nations complained not only for being deprived of their Faculties but also because by that means the Benefices which by a most antient custom were bestowed on the Natives fell all unto strangers who were at the Court of Rome whereupon oftentimes those were made Bishops and Curates who understood not the Peoples Language which they were not apt to learn by reason of the great Difference as many Italians who were Beneficed in England and the disorder grew so great that he chiefly the Curate who understood not the Language of the People was forbidden by the Pope of Rome from having any Benefice reserving to himself the Power of Dispensing Power of Dispensing which did not remove the disorder but only encreased the Charges of the Solliciters or Entreaters and the Profits of the Court they not sticking to give the Reversions unto strangers granting them afterwards a Brief of Dispensation But although such ample Authority which the Court of Rome had assumed to it self was displeasing to men of good zeal yet it was most grateful to a great number of Clergy-men and other Persons desirous of Benefices N. 132. who were subject to Canonical Impediments which rendred them uncapable This sort of Persons no Bishop durst to promote as retaining the due Reverence to the Canons Nevertheless that which no man would do the Pope did easily dispensing against Canons and Ecclesiastical constitutions introducing the saying de Plenitudine Potestatis and the little clause non obstantibus a thing unknown and not heard of in so many Ages which is now put into every Beneficial Bull yea the Popes themselves in the distribution of the Benefices of the Roman Church in good time or times of Prosperity made Profession of being greater observers of the Canons than any other Bishops and one of the glories of the holy Popes as may be seen in St. Leo and his Successors was the punctual observance of the Canons first by themselves then by others neither ought it to be said that these were of less authority N. 133. but certain it is they were of greater goodness and knowledge and they durst not do otherwise than what was permitted unto others whereas afterwards every thing was done at Rome which others durst not do elsewhere St. Barnard who lived in the first times of
given to the Portions of Ecclesiastical Estates or to the Right of Possessing them because they were given by the Prince as Bishopricks or by the Bishop of whose Consent and Concession other Livings are bestow'd and also because Clergy-men are Spiritual Souldiers keeping Guard and exercising a Sacred Warfare The Abbeys beyond the Alps were at last made more ample and more Rich Abbeys by reason the Masters of the Pallace assumed to themselves the Authority of making the Abbot Maestri di Palazzo and that with a reason apparent enough because the Monks then as hath been said were Laymen without any Ecclesiastical Ordination N. 46. It is true they did not alwayes give him to them but sometimes out of favour he granted the Monks leave to choose themselves one But in Italy the Monasteries being not very considerable in wealth Ao. 750. untill the year 750. the Kings of the Goths then the Emperors and the Kings of the Lombards made no great Accompt of them whereupon the Election was left to the Monks with the sole superintendency of the Bishop But the Bishops sometimes being intent to grow great they molested the Monasteries too much wherefore the Abbots and Monks desirous of freeing themselves from that subjection Exemption found a way by having Recourse to the Bishop of Rome that he might take them into his immediate Protection and exempt them from the Authority of the Bishop This was easily consented unto by the Popes making use of them as well to have other persons in Cities immediately depending on them as to amplifie their Power over the Bishops it being very important that a Corporation so Notable as were the Monks who in those times almost wholly attended on Learning N. 47. should depend totally on the See of Rome A Beginning being made of these Exemptions all the Monasteries in a very short time remained united to the See of Rome and separate from their Bishops In France the Bishops made by the King and much more those who were made by the Masters of the Pallace the Kings Authority being lessened betook themselves all to Temporal things which the Abbots did likewise who furnished the King with Souldiers and went to the Wars in Person not as Religious men to perform the Offices of Christs Ministers but Armed and fighting also with their own hands for which cause they were not content with the fourth part of the Goods but drew all to themselves Whereupon the poor Priests who Administred the Word of God and the Sacraments to the People in Churches remained without a livelyhood wherefore the People out of their Devotion Contributed unto them part of their own Estates which being done in some places more liberally N. 48. and in others more sparingly Querimonies or Complaints arose about it sometimes because when 't was often treated how much that should be which was to be given to the Vicars or Curates it went for a Common Opinion to be convenient after the Example of Gods Law in the old Testament to give the Tenth Tythes which being Commanded that people by God it was an easie thing to represent it under the Gospel of Christ as due also though indeed nothing else be said of it by our Lord and by St. Paul but that necessary maintenance is due from the People to the Minister and that the Minister or the Labourer is worthy of his hire and he that serves at the Altar ought to live by the Altar without prescribing any determinate quantity because that in some Cases the Tythe would be but little and in other Cases the hundreth part would suffice But because this is a clear thing and that hereafter we have need of handling it more diffusedly I 'le say no more now but that in those dayes and for an Age afterwards N. 49. the Sermons which were made in Churches excepting the Matters of Faith tended to nothing else but to Proofs and Exhortations to pay Tythes a thing which the Curates were forc'd to do both for need and for utility or profit and in the Amplifying as it behooved like an Orator they went often so far that they seemed to place all Christian Perfection in paying of Tythes of which not well Content and the Praedials not seeming sufficient for them they began to hold the Personals also for necessary that is what a man gains by his Labour and Industry of Hunting of all Arts and Handicrafts and also of the Military pay Of these Sermons many being found without the Authors Name some through Error or on purpose were attributed to St. Augustin and to other Antient writers But besides that the Stile shews they were made about the year 800. Histories are clear that neither in Africa nor in the East they never paid Tythes and that their Beginning N. 50. sprung up in France as hath been said I 'le pass unto Italy No man ordained without a Title where for several hundreds of years no man was ever Ordained to whom there was not appointed both his proper and special Office and Charge unless that some man famous in Doctrine or in Holyness who to attend on his Sacred Studies refused to be applyed to any particular Cure the Priest was Ordeined without giving him any proper Parish on which he might attend St. Hierolamo was Ordained Priest of Antioch and St. Paulinus at Barcelona and this occasion eccepted Olim no distinction between Ordination and Benefice Antiquity knew of no Distinction between Ordination and Benefice and Ordaining was then the same thing as to give an Office and the Right of having ones Livelyhood from the Common Goods of the Church But afterwards that in the Confusions which Wars had caused in States many worthy and good Clergy-men were driven from their Ministry they recover'd or had Recourse to some other Church where they were received and maintained as their own Clerks at the Common Charges N. 51. and sometimes some Minister of that Church happening to fail by Death or otherwise his Office was appointed him to be Minister therein and that Clerk was then said to be Incardinated whereas he who had first been exalted to an Office Cardinals Incardinato Cardinato was said to be Ordinated or Ordain'd thereunto but who being dispossessed of his own and provided with another was called Incardinated This manner began in Italy before the 600th year of Christs Birth when through the Incursions of the Lumbards many Bishops and other Clergy-men were driven from their Charges for which cause when such like Offices were vacant in other Churches they were Incardinated therein and the Bishops were call'd Episcopi Cardinales and the Priests Presbiteri Cardinales Those who were driven out from their own places having Recourse to the Churches of Rome and Ravenua which were the Chiefest and Richest in Offices and Ministeries N. 52. those Churches I say as most Rich and most abounding received most of those Strangers and therefore they had more Cardinals
also give Authority to whom he thinks fit enabling him in like manner to Concur with the Ordinary or to prevent it as they have since given this Faculty unto Legates with a general Constitution There is nothing more Wonder-worthy in the Consideration of Benefices Election of Ministers belonged to the Faithful than it being as clear as the light at noon day that the Election of Ministers was at first by the Faithful People then it passed unto the Princes after the Christian Faith being received they minded the Affairs of the Church and finally it was reduced unto the Ecclesiastical Order only N. 161. the Seculars being excluded by the Management of Gregory the 7th and his Successors yet there still remained in each Diocess the Election and the Collation of Benefices and of their Offices which since by little and little the Popes of Rome have assumed to themselves by the wayes abovesaid and to be said hereafter Nevertheless the Canonists either out of Animosity or because it is not their Profession to know any thing besides the Decretals have said and do say in our dayes without Respect unto the Notorious Truth which is against it that heretofore the Pope provided all Bishopricks and other Benefices and that he afterwards out of Favour granted the Election to the Chapters and the Collation unto the Bishops it is not to be doubted but one day it ought to be answered in the Articles of our Faith for making a Doctrine to pass into the Church which is so directly contrary to what they caused to be Preached in Former times when Anselmus Bishop of Lucca who wrote three Books against Gilbert the Anti-Pope in favour of the said Gregory the 7th which are still to be found throughout all the second of which by the Authority of the Popes N. 162. of the Holy Fathers of general Councels by the Custom observed from the Apostles time unto his who wrote in the year 1080 Proves that the Election of Bishops by him called Popes belonged to the Clergy and to the People of the same Diocess and that the most Pious Emperors Constantine Constant Valentinianus Theodosius Honorius Carolus Ludovicus and other excellent men for Faith and in Religion never violated such a Custom observed in the Holy Church from the Apostles time and a Constitution of Carolus and Ludovicus Pius being born or Contained in the Chapitolar that Bishops should be elected by the Clergy and by the People of their own Diocess according to the Canons saith that this Constitution is most agreeable to that of the Holy Fathers and no less than if by the Nicene Councel or by any other General Synod it had been Promulgated by the Holy-Ghost through the Mouth of those Emperors where 't is seen that to take the Election out of the Hands of Princes they held for a Tradition that the Contrary of which they are willing now adayes should be Written by the Canonists N. 163. and Believed by us so that of necessity the Canonists must Err or else the Allegations of the Bishop of Lucca have erred And if the Ordination of Bishops in their Diocesses after the manner aforesaid was the Liberty of each one of the Churches as the Fathers and the Councels taught and granted them by our Lord Jesus Christ Let not those talk so disorderly who say the Court hath put all the Churches in Bondage under pretext of defending them their Liberty Seek this time that having spoken in divers Occasions of different wayes of gaining Estates to the Churches I toucht the manner of preserving them which is by Prohibiting all manner of Alienations Alienations a thing Diametrically contrary to that which the Primitive Church observed Wherefore if when 't was Lawful by the Laws of the Prince for the Churches to purchase Estates in Land N. 164. they might retain those which were given or bequeathed 't was therefore in the Bishops Liberty not only to make use of the Incomes but also to sell the very Estates to discharge the necessary Expences in Maintaining the Ministers and the Poor as also to give or bestow according to Exigencies And the Authority of Dispensator granted to the Bishop did not extend to the Fruits only as at present but also unto the Estate it self and to other Chapters which at first was Administred with Sincerity so that there arose no inconveniency thereby and lasted a long time in Poor Churches where the Estates being but small and the Bishops of no great Authority there was no matter or cause of Transgression But in Rich Churches and great ones where the Reputation Emboldened the Bishops to attempt that which would not have been permitted unto all and Abundance gave matter of being able to make use of some part Arbitrarily the Bishops began to exceed the Bounds of Modesty from Dispensing they came to Dissipating against which it was requisite to provide neither the Provision proceeded not from the Clergy-men but from Secular men to whose prejudice it was N. 165. For the Publick Estate of the Church being lessened the Clergy were not suffered to take their Living who were the first but the Poor who remained to the last In the most Principal Churches which were Rome and Constantinople the Provision was also first necessary wherefore Leo the Emperor by a Law of his Anno. 470 Prohibited the Church of Constantinople from every Alienation and in the year 483 Basilius Cecina Praefect us Praetorius of King Odoacre in Rome the See of Simplicius being Vacant by a Decree made in the Church Ordained that the Estate of the Roman Church should not be Alienated which was not found strange by three Succeeding Popes but in the year 502 Odoacre being extinct and all his Power Simmacus the Pope Assembled a Councel of all Italy wherein he proposed as a great Absurdity that a Lay-man should have made Constitutions in the Church N. 166. and by Consent of the Councel declared them Null But lest it should appear that this would tend to disorder a Decree was made in the Councel that the Pope of Rome and the other Ministers of that Church should not be able to Alienate specifying that the Decree should not oblige other Churches but the Roman only The following times shewed there was need of the same Law in all the Churches wherefore Anastasius extended Leo's Law to all the Churches subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople to all which he Prohibited the Power of Alienating But Justinian the Emperor in the year 535 made a Constitution General for all the Eastern Western and African Churches and also for all Pious Places Prohibiting the Power of Alienating excepting only to Feed the Poor in case of extraordinary Famine and to release Prisoners in which Cases Alienation was granted Conformable to the Antient Custom N. 167. of which St. Ambrose makes mention that not only Possessions but also the Vessels were sold for such Causes Justinian's Law in the West
Court. There was added the Constituting of another Antagonist at Law if he dyed that the end of him might not be the end of the Law-suit but by his Death there was taken or received another years Revenue and the Continuation of the Law-suit which Multiplying also the Clauses were invented Si alteri Si neutri Si nulli Whereby the Benefice was given to a third man also but only during the Law-suit or Contest of the two first which Constrained Princes for the Removing of Confusions Disorders and Contentions amongst their Subjects to bring back to the Secular Bar or Court the Cognizance of the Possessorio of the Benefices a thing which although Legitimate had been by the Connivance of Princes taken away from the Secular Magistrates and Assumed by the Ecclesiastical Court From the Provisions which were made by some Princes to stop the new Introductions into matters Beneficial within their Dominions N. 188. the Court took occasion to invent others as well to work the same Effects under other Pretexts as to Multiply methods whereby they might do and therewith supply what they could not do where Provision was made In these times Resignations were found out not good and Commendable ones Resignations for they are very Antient but certain others which the World at present Commends not It was never Lawful for him who was put into an Ecclesiastical Charge to leave it of his own Authority and it was very agreeable that he who had dedicated himself to a Ministery and had received the Reward for it which was the Benefice should persevere Administring nevertheless for some Lawful Causes it might happen to be necessary or at least for the Publick or for the Private good that some one might devest himself of it 't was introduced for a Custom that it might be and with the Authority of the Superior for some Lawful Cause he may renounce and the Causes wherein 't was practized were if through Infirmity of mind or of Body or became incapable by old Age N. 189. or if by enmity of Potent Persons on the place he could not make his Residency without Danger When the Renunciation was received by the Bishop the Benefice was esteemed as Vacant and he to whom the Collation belonge'd Conferr'd it in the same manner as if it had been Vacant by Death The Renunciat was introduced in these times not for any urgent Cause but only to bring to pass that the Benefice might be Conferr'd upon one nominated by the Renunciator and as unto a new thing it behooved also to give it a new Name calling it Resignatio ad favorem because it was only made to favour the Resignation that he might have the Benefice 't is indeed at the Superiors Liberty to receive the Renunciation or not but he cannot receive it but by giving the Benefice to the Person Nominated Although this was a way for introducing Hereditary Succession unto Benefices and therefore Dammageable unto the Ecclesiastical Order N. 190. it proved more profitable to the Court by how much the more frequently the Benefice was Conferr'd and by it the first-Fruits Receiv'd Covetousness and other Worldly Affections taught many to crave for and to receive Benefices not with a mind to continue in them but with thoughts of enjoying them until they could obtain better or else until some design of Marriage or other kind of Life were brought about or else until some Youth might come of Age at which he might afterwards renounce a thing which by Pious men was never excused and 't is held for a Common Opinion that whosoever receives a Benefice with a design of Renouncing it cannot with a good Conscience receive the Fruits which some of a larger Conscience they do not mean so generally of all but of those only who do it with an intent to forsake the Clerical Order As for Renouncings ad Favorem which became Emoluments to the Receiver the Court that the Fruit might be all its own Prohibited the Bishops from receiving such Renouncings and reserved that the Pope of Rome only was able to do it N. 191. And because many Beneficed men when they felt themselves near unto Death made themselves a Successor by such a way 't was Ordained by a Rule of Chancery that the Renouncing made in favour of another by a sick Beneficed man should not be of value unless the Renouncer Survived twenty dayes after Consent granted In these times the Fountain of the Oblations of the Faithful seemed to be drained or lessened already while the War of the Holy Land lasted and afterwards for some years whilst there was hopes that it might be renew'd through which means much Gold came unto the Ecclesiastical Order but all hopes being lost the Oblations were stopt Nevertheless Example was taken by this work and the giving Indulgences Remissions and Concessions introduced for those who would lay hold on and Contribute thereunto by some good and Pious work for daily there were new works Instituted for each City N. 192. for which Indulgence was granted from Rome this brought forth much Fruit to the Clerical Order and to the Court which did partake of it and this went so far that in the year 1517 there sprang up in Germany the Novelty which every one knows Helping hand Pope Pius the 5th Provided for our Age by a Constitution whereby he Annull'd all the Indulgences granted by the Clause of Helping-hands that is with Obligation to offer Money a thing which hath not yet stopt the Course of this Harvest For although Indulgences are now given without that Condition nevertheless in Churches are set forth Chests and Trunks and the People believe no Pardon to be Obtained unless they Offer But returning to these years of the Schism for what Concerns the gaining or acquiring of new Incomes and setled Estates for the Churches the hope seem'd to be quite lost The Monks already had no more Credit of Holyness the Fervency of the Sacred Militia not only Luke-warm but Extinct The Fryars Mendicants for all were instituted after the year 1200 had therefore Credit N. 193. because they had totally devested themselves of the Power of Purchasing Estates and made a vow to live upon Oblations only and Alms whereby it appeared that the Augmentation of setled Estates would Cease but a good way was found out which was the granting to the Mendicant Fryars by a Priviledge from the Apostolick See to be able to purchase Estates which by Vow and by Institution was Forbidden them many of their devout Persons were most ready to Enrich them there wanted nothing but the manner how this found out immediately the Convents of Mendicants in Italy Spain and other Kingdoms were become very Commodious in Estates within a short time France only Opposed this Novelty saying that as they were come into the Kingdom with those Institutions of Poverty it behooved they should persevere in the same neither would they suffer them hitherto to