feceris quod postulo ab hac te fidei sponsione absoluam I am in the apostles sea and yf thou wylt do that which I request I wyl absolue thee from this promise of thy fidelitie Well sayth the kyng I wyll entreate of this hereafter and shortly sent vnto hym his messengers to signifie that it is not for the kynges honour to consent to such absolutions agaynst a mans fayth And farther sayde that except Thurstone woulde make his profession to the sea of Canterburie he shoulde neuer sit in the Churche at Yorke whyles he was kyng of Englande by compulsion of any edict from the pope whatsoeuer this haue I promised and this sayth he wyll I obserue But it may be thought peraduenture vnlike to be true that the pope would come so farre as to Gisors aforesaid his owne person to speake with the kyng it may so be obiected by some Romanistes who labour so hye to aduaunce his deitie but to such as be indifferently read in storie it is not incredible For Matthewe Paris reporteth howe that pope Innocent vsed his craftie deuice by his Cardinals towardes kyng Henrie the third in the .xxix. yere of his raigne Which Cardinals only louers of money craftyly sent to the kyng vnder the colour of great frendshyp their counsell which they auouched to be both holsome honorable glorious to the Realme and very profitable that was that he shoulde sue by his messengers to the popes holynes to come personally into his Realme which say they shoulde be honor most excellent to Englande and immortall glorie that in your dayes the lorde pope whiche is knowen to be the father of all fathers shoulde appeare personallye within the coast of the Englyshe nation For say they we remember well that hym selfe hath sayde whereof we reioyce that he would very gladly see the daintie sightes of Westmonasterie and the riches of London When this was knowen to the kyng he was very glad and woulde easelye haue bowed to this subtyll councell except he hadde ben holden vp by the contrary counsayles of his subiectes learned to gaynesay it or dissent to satisfie this his desire Qui dicebant quòd satis imo nimiū iam suorum caursinorum vsuris Romanorum ac Italicorum rapinis simoniis Angliae puritas maculatur quamuis non presentialiter bona ecclesiae regni dissipet predetur Which sayde that the puritie of the Realme of Englande was alredy enough yea to much defyled by the vsuries of his cormorantes and by the extortions and simonies of the Romanistes and Italians though that he do not by his presence waste and robbe the goodes of the Churche and of the Realme And farther they sayde for that the sayde pope was denyed any entrie into the Realme of Fraunce though that he required the same by his solempne ambassadours so his entrie was denyed to enter into the realme of Aragon For saith the writer Infamia enim curiae papalis id promeruerat cuius fetor vsque ad nubes fumā teterrimā exhalabat The infamie of the papall court had deserued this repulse the stinche whereof dyd breathe out euen vp to the cloudes a most detestable fume Edm. lib. 6. And as concernyng any commyng of any legate into the Realme he woulde neuer admit one as long as he lyued And though that pope Calixt sent into the Realme afterwarde his moste solempne legate Petrus Romanus monachus Cluniacensis commyng in a more portly glorie then euer any dyd before the kyng so disposed the matter that after he was come into Englande wylled that he shoulde neither visite churche nor monasterie commaunded that he shoulde be brought to be at hoast with him for he sayde his Realme of Englande was free from the iurisdiction of any legate and so shoulde be duryng his lyfe for so had Calixtus promised hym Wherevpon after some liberalitie bestowed vpō him on the kynges behalfe the king sēt him ouer againe the way he came out of England though his cōmyng was to haue exercised his office of legatship thorough the hole Realme If the reader wyl know the cause why that Thurstone fell into the kinges displeasure was for that he askyng licence of the kyng to go to this councell of the bishop of Rome and coulde not possiblie obteyne the same before he made his promise vpon his allegiance that hè would do nothyng with the pope in preiudice of Canterb. churche nor woulde by any mans perswasion receaue his episcopall consecration at his handes which so faythfull a promise to the kyng he contemptuously brake notwithstandyng wherat both the kyng and the nobilitie dyd much maruell for such infidelitie But suche was the obedience in those dayes to their princes for the more fauour they bare to this forrayne vsurper that is in playner tearmes falsely forsworne to the kyng their liege lorde and enemie to the Realme so farre as it myght stande to the aduauncement of the popes iurisdiction whose creatures they were and so reioyced in common speache to call them selues and as it myght with the satisfiyng of their owne gaynes dignities and pleasures Thus farre out of the common written stories haue ben alleaged the rather by the occasion of entreatyng of byshop Anselmes tumultuous doynges who was the firste that euer in England toke vpon hym to diuorce lawfull matrimonies in all priestes so many hundred yeres vsed in quiet possession in the Realme and many of them stablyshed by Lanfranckes constitution and as he the first so the most extreme agaynst all ryght and conscience vntyll the raigne of Quene Marie in whose dayes Hildibrandes spirite was raysed vp agayne and Anselmes whot Munckyshe zeale in lyke sorte prosecuted as it was in his tyme. If any man be offended with so much in particularitie vttered let hym vnderstande these matters to be fetcht out of the bokes of such stories most written by munckes who both in wordes deede and wrytyng professed the state of perfection expressyng all charitie therfore can not be thought to rayle in the writing of their stories which saith both Matth. Paris and Henrie huntyngton muste be perfourmed in all trueth without any parcialitie eyther of personages for honour and holynes nor maye not be transgressed for loue of kyn or frendes whatsoeuer After Anselme archbyshop folowed Rodulph a seuere muncke in profession also Rodulph first an Abbot in Normandie after that byshop of Rochester and in conclusion archbyshop of Canterburie of whose dayes no great recorde is extant of makyng or forcyng any decrees or constitutions agaynst maryed priestes although it is reported of Edmer that he was very seuere agaynst the said Henrie the first Ioannes Hagustaldensis beyng a prince of such godlynes that one Cronicle writeth so much to his cōmendation that he saith Post quem princeps non surrexit alius qui sic iniustas regni exactiones interdiceret subditos in pacae modestia sapientius disponeret c. After whose death there folowed no
allowe his counsailes and doynges and make as it were of an olde Iudas a newe Christe Here had I a greate fielde to walke in describyng these dissemblers with princes and with suche realmes where thei beare rule but wee will ceasse to vtter their deseruynges and returne again to that matter whiche doeth more properly appertaine to the argumeÌ„t of our writyng and therefore will resume that was begonne in the .32 leafe B. continued vnto .35 B. before sm that the Apostles had their wiues as all writers aunciente confesse the same and all reasonable men will agree thereto Now if it can be borne of mennes eares to heare that the Apostles had wiues why should this aucthor by his tragical exaggerations make it so odious for Bushoppes and Priestes the apostles successors to haue their lawfull wiues I thincke he will not saie that the beste of his chaste Priestes be better then the Apostles Againe to consider what Paphnutius saied and counsailed for the priestes of his tyme not to be seperated and that it is chastitie to company with their wiues and that to seperate them might be an occasion of great inconueniencie in them bothe If in that holy tyme whan God was truely honored his worde and Sacramentes moste holyly ministred Priesthode was then in greate high estimation and that in maried priestes and bushops as by name shall be hereafter expressed why doeth this aucthour so stifly crie for seperation in Priestes married nowe sequestred by power and not by right from ministration wher thei of Nicene were suffered with them in ministratioÌ„ If like perill may bee feared in the parties now coupled together why should thei be seperated more then the other If their Sacramentes were none other nor holier then oures their worde none other then that we haue why maie not oure order stand with mariage as well as thers If lyke necessitie of Ministers in this realme be as great as hath been in other places where maried Priestes did minister and yet doeth in some places of the Occidentall Churche Why shoulde this wryter exclame so vnlearnedly againste Englishe Priestes mariage as though it were not decent nor tollerable but against Goddes lawe and mannes law liyng against them bothe and saiyng that order and Matrimonie that a wife and a benefice can not stand together And in the bolsteryng out of this matter is almoste all his booke emploied againste antiquitie against the practise of the primatiue Churche against the worde of God wrytten againste the practise of tolerations in the lyke case of diuerse counsailes and deâ—rees of the Busshops of Rome as shall be proued when it cometh to place I truste this Ciuilian is not yet so addicte to the Canonicall procedynges that the matter lieth onely in this poincte that if the Bushop of Rome allowed the matter all were well for me thinke so he can not meane For if his assertions be true he must proue the Bushoppes of Rome diuerse of them to be very Antechristes if thei haue dispensed against Goddes expresse woordes yea he must condempne a great many of Canonistes and of scholemen and a greate many of Catholike writers traueilyng in controuersies of this tyme whiche peraduenture hath read as muche in Diuinitie and Canon lawe as I thinke this Ciuilian hath doen in his Ciuill whiche bee of cleane contrary assertion to this singular man But yet I heare this writer obiecte againe suche an obiection as was once made by a Canonist in the expending of this verie poincte Distingue tempora saieth he personas concordabis leges Canones Weye the difference of tyme and of persones and so shall ye make the lawes and Canons agrée Then was then and now is now For the case saieth he is farre vnlike betwixte the priestes of the Greke Churche whiche were maried before thei were priestes and the priestes of our Churche time whiche he maried after their order And this he thinketh to be an high wittie inuention and insoluble and by this shifte he pronounceth the victorie of the cause before any stroke bee striken standyng stoutely in the difference of the tyme mariage to goe before order or to come after To answere if it be true as he can not deny but that it was not lawfull by their saiynges of the Counsaile of Nice to bee separated by Lawes and constrainte and that it was chastitie for the busshoppes and priestes to kepe company still with their wiues yea when thei were ministeryng busshoppes and priestes in an other maner attendaunce and holinesse then the best chast busshoppes and priestes of our tyme practise in their doynges so that by their iudgement the one state dishonored not thother nor was impediment to the other as hereafter shal be proued by the testimonie of their owne Canonistes and Doctors what difference is there in the substaunce of the order in them of the primitiue or Greke churche and in the priestes of this Latine churche and Occidentall churche but that order and matrimonie maie stand together in one figure in them bothe As for vowe or promise shall bee hereafter considered open protestation or no protestation chastitie of congruitie dependyng or included by the nature of order or for the Churche constitution shall be hereafter answered and expended Now I saie if the priestes of the Greke Churche liued godly in ministration with their wiues why maie not the priestes of the Occidentall churche be iudged to liue as godly in Matrimonie and as lawfully to in Englande hauyng the highest Lawe in the realme on their side But here this doctor will be offended to haue any thing brought in for declaration of this cause out of Grece and maketh a greate matter that men should so doe and repelleth al their doing thus what is that saith he to the matter are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction If I should answere you so master doctor with your owne obiectioÌ„ then might it bee a full sufficient answere by it self a lone to all your whole booke to saie when ye bryng Romishe Canons out of Spaine out of Fraunce out of Grece I might so answere you what bee all these to the matter are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction When ye alledge from Prouinciall coÌ„stitutions Sinodes nationall lawes of Emperours Ciuile and Panim lawes what are all these to the matter of our Imperiall lawes are not we of an other territorie and iurisdiction And thus your booke is fully answered and ye may now put vp your pipes with al your choristers of forren Lawes and Canons Moreouer in the seuen Chapiter ye also saie that it bewraieth the weakenesse of the cause for priestes to wander into Grece to bryng in their maner of liuyng of mariyng orderyng If that declareth the weakenesse of the cause I praie you then what is the strength of the cause ye haue taken in hande For ye be not content to raile and wander ouer all the Realmes and Churches of Europe but ye runne
of the sweetest wines As for scarlet furres golde syluer horse plate sent hym before he came into the Realme and after he was once come how he vsed himselfe let Matthew Paris be read and see the pompe and pryde of that prelate whom the king himselfe a gods name must meete on the waye Rex autem ei vsque ad confinium maris occurrit et inclinato ad genua eius capite vsque ad interiora regni deduxit officiose The kyng dyd meete hym at the borders of the sea and at his first syght bowed his head downe to the legates knees and brought hym very seruisablie into the inwarde partes of the Realme If ye aske who was lyke to be the cause he came into the Realme For he was sent for by the kynges commaundement where all the lordes sore complayned of it yea good Edmunde archbishop of Canterburie dyd much blame the kyng for his sendyng for he knowyng saith the storie that to the great preiudice of his dignitie dyd hange ouer his Realme much losse and daunger thereby In deede the bishoppes his brethren belyke not lykyng the colde and easy proceedyng of the sayde Edmunde in his constitution in the defence of the cleargies liberties and agaynst the priestes concubines agaynst which he proceeded no more sharply then he did his brethrē thought that it was to litle and therfore gaue councell to sende for a legate as is to be gathered by the gorgeous meetyng him at Paris and by sendyng hym suche great rewardes gyftes by the bishoppes and famous clarkes receauyng hym with such processions most honorable with belles ryngyng with all reuerence as was belongyng yea saith Matthew vt decuit plus quam decuit more then was meete and conuenient and therfore may be soone iudged who were lyke to be councellers to the kyng who in their dryftes then doubtyng nothyng but by the meanes of a legate sent from Rome by the pope hymselfe that what he woulde constitute should be terrible and set out for a good countenaunce to the worlde and kept notwithstandyng some of his constitutions at leysure For these zelous men concernyng this pretensed holynesse of the cleargie rather meant to make a shewe to the worlde of a perfect chastitie in refourmyng the state thereof as it was then thought decayed muche their estimation among the people then meant it in deede or that they euer thought these decrees and lawes shoulde be obserued For the practise declared howe after the great shewes of terrible decrees agaynst concubinaries the matter was handeled beyng lyke that by such restraynt seyng the inuinciblenes of conteynyng in their priestes to be seene that their tollerations and qualifications shoulde turne partlye to their owne better obedience hauyng the concubinarie priestes euer in their daunger and shoulde turne the more to the commoditie of their officers which dyd serue them And it is not vnlyke but they learned of their holy father the pope by tollerations to seke their gaynes For saith the lawyer vppon Othos constitution ca. licet ad profligandum that by some lawyers iudgementes as Iohn Andrew though Hostiensis and hym selfe holdeth the contrarie Quod crimen meretricii debet ecclesia sub dissimulatione transire nam marescallus pape de facto exigit tributum a meritricibus hoc forte ad maius malum euitandum 32. q. 1. non est culpandus That the churche onght to passe ouer by dissimulation the cryme of open harlottes because the popes marshall in deede at this present saith he exacteth tribute of harlottes and that peraduenture for auoydyng a greater mischiefe wryteth the glose If ye aske what shoulde sounde to suche a gesse that most of them meant to make many decrees from tyme to tyme but neuer meant or thought to haue them kept Consider good reader howe their expositors glosers the lawyers wipe away with their gloses the pith strength euen of this strayte lawe of Otho the legate nowe constituted so that they make it but a shypmans hose and so trauesable that it can neuer be executed meanyng in dede to shew rather outwardly a chastitie to bleare the eyes of the worlde then hopyng to haue it so in deede For euen in that very chapiter is recorded and well brought to remembraunce the watchword they had among them si non caste tamen caute for that was their principall care to go closely away to cary cleane and to lyue in secrete as they lust and then all very well With which banbery gloses they hadde at the laste brought the open cleargie to renounce open auouchyng of their wyues and lyued yet diuers of them secretelye with wyues of late dayes For euen of late in archbishop Pecchams dayes Pecham anno 1281. they after Othos decree of the same styll prouided agaynst priestes chyldren that they shoulde not nexte and immediatly succede their fathers in their benefices without the popes dispensation for feare as the glosers shewe the cause to make spirituall lyuynges temporall inheritaunce The reason of whiche their decrees do playnely declare that they toke priestes maryages for lawfull for els a bastarde in deede is not inheritable nor can clayme by inheritaunce his fathers possessions and lyuyng No more doth the cōmon lawe of the Realme count them bastardes borne in priestes matrimonie so long as the ordinarie doth not execute the canon of the churche against them whyle they liue whose mariages though they be voydable yet not voyded make their chyldren heritable Nowe this misterie si non caste tamen caute was secretelye delyuered from hande to hand to them which were the wyser and of more experience and so lyued secretelye with their frendes not openly vouched for wiues But in affectu sororio amore vxorio fide coniugali as they vse the tearmes In which kynde of lyfe there be no small argumentes that some bishoppes and the best of the cleargie lyuyng within the memorie of man dyd continue c. Where the poore simple priestes and ignoraunt idiotes hauyng litle skyll of such misteries and hauyng as feruent prouocation the most part of them in the fleshe as the better sort had knowe no other remedies but eyther to lyue in single fornication or secretly in adulteries with other men wyues euer hauyng before their eyes si non caste tamen caute But yf it chaunced that they were taken to manifestlye in the cryme that there coulde be no excuse for them then were they be ye sure extremely punyshed but yet seldome with open punyshement for it is agaynst the lawe Quia clerici solennem paenitentiam agere non debent And further for to comfort the concubinarie priestes Guilermus Lynwood vpon the title de constitutionibus ca. Distinct. 28. Presbiter Quod incontinencie moueth a question An contraueniens constitutioni peccet mortaliter he saith Qui voluntarie siue contemptabiliter sine rationabili causa transgrediuntur praeceptum legis siue constitutionis aut canonis peccant nam tales impediunt
into Asia and Affrica and bryng in Panim priestes to set out the matter There is nothyng in your booke written or vnwritten deuised by your owne braine or surmised by heare saie but ye make strong argumentes for your owne vaine and feble cause But briefly to answere this wittie deuise of the difference of the tyme till a â—uller debatemente of that poincte I shall answere as once sainct Hierom was answered in a matter of Priestes and Bisshoppes wiuyng and orderyng by a certaine disputer who defended the constitution of the churche as it was then and as it is at this daie where S. Hierome is on the contrary part holdyng that to haue one wife before Baptisme and a seconde wife after was not therefore an impedimente to be admitted to Priesthode Epistola ad Oceanum or to a Busshoppes office Nonne legisti ab Apostolo vnius vxoris virum assumi in sacerdotium rem noÌ„ tempora definiri that t s Doest thou not reade saieth he that by the Apostles aucthoritie the husbande of one wife is to bee chosen into Priesthode and that the cause and matter is thereby defined and not the tyme If this catholike disputer would haue the saiyng of S. Paule to bee weighed in the nature of the order and mariage rather then drawen to the circumstaunce of tyme and that he must bée the husbande but of one wife either before or after Baptisme at the tyme of his orderyng and therefore maie be eligible to be a priest or bushoppe And as sainct Hierom hym self writeth afterward that it is rather loked for in a priest or Busshop what he is for the tyme presente then what he hath been why not as well maie sainct Paules text and aucthoritie serue for a prieste and a busshoppe to be lawfully qualefied if he be the husbande but of one wife whether he had his wife in the tyme he was no prieste or he take a wife in the tyme after he bée in his priesthode So he be as it is said the husbande of one wife yea successiuely Wherewith ye maie quarell by aucthoritie of some expositours though not with the manifest woorde of God But to be the husbande onely of one wife before order and after order once for all as ye saie the Greeke Churche vseth to doe ye can not quarell rightly by Goddes worde nor yet by reasonable aucthoritie of mannes Lawe or Canon in suche necessitie as ye force and inferre of their saiynges As for the other peece of Nicene Canon where it is saied that accordyng to thauncient tradition of the Churche suche as were not as yet maried and were partakers of holy order should from thence for the contracte no mariage And as for the Canon of the Apostles whiche ye stande so strongly to or yet for the saiyng of sainct Augustine immediatly folowyng the place whiche is here before alledged leste ye should cauill as ye doe that I lefte out the pithe of the matter and would slide sleightly ouer the whole place of the aucthoritie and bryng theim in by patche meales with violent wrestyng as ye vse to doe I will heareafter bryng them put them all together to the iudgement of the reader to geue sentence betwixt vs how farre thei weye in this cause Yet in the meane tyme to make some insinuation to you of sainct Augustines question note ye well his woordes not as a subtile Lawier but like a Diuine and wreste not sainct Augustines licet Cap. 4. haÌ„ E. ii a. Vt notatur ca. â—i Christus de IureturaÌ„â—o and non licet out of their nature as ye doe Quaedam illicita sunt in sui natura quaedam ciuiliter .i. iure positiuo vel consuetudinario quaedam sunt simoniaca quia prohibita quaedam sunt prohibita quia simoniaca Quid autem liceat aut quid non liceat pleni sunt libri scripturarum August in Psa. 147 qui confirmat vectes portarum c. Some thynges are vnlawfull of their owne nature and some by Ciuile constitution that is by positiue lawe Some thynges are Simonicall because thei are forbiddeÌ„ and some are forbidden because thei are Simonical but what is lawfull and what not lawfull is fully set out in the bookes of scripture And then againe note if S. Augustine openeth not his mynde by the like licet and non licet Saiyng AntequaÌ„ Ecclesiasticus quis sit licet ei negotiari facto iam non licet That is Before one hath taken vpon hym the state of an Ecclesiasticall persone he maie geue hym self to worldly affaires but afterward he maie not In like maner Consilium Aurelianense saieth Episcopum presbyterum aut diaconum canes ad venandum aut accipitres NoÌ„ licet 〈◊〉 negotiari intâ—resse ludis c. Distinct. 88 per totum aut huiusmodi res habere non licet It is not lawfull for a Busshop Priest or Deacon to haue houndes haukes or suche like Now call to your remembraunce how your Lawe qualifieth this licet and non licet till we tell you more in this matter In your expendyng if ye take not quid pro quo ye shall doe the better But because the reader maie further heare what saith S. Hierome in the defence of his opinion as is spread in the processe of his saied Epistle and that the prudent reader maie expeÌ„de whether his Rhetorike might not bee applied againste the aduersaries of this cause as well as he vsed it in the like cause I will reporte his woordes what he writeth further there and leste ye should mistake the Epistle I will shewe you how it beginneth Thus therfore he writeth Nunquam fili Oceane fore putabam vt indulgentia principis calumniam sustinerer reorum de car ceribus exeuntes post sordes ac vestigia cathenarum dolereÌ„t alios relaxatos In EuaÌ„gelio audit inuidus salutis alienae Amice si ego bonus quare oculus tuus nequam est Conclusit deus omnia sub peccato vt omnibus misereatur vt vbi abundauit peccatum superabundet gratia Caesa sunt Aegypti primogenita ne iumentum quidem Israeliticum iÌ„ Aegypto derelictum est consurgit mihi Caina haeresis atque olim emortua vipera contritum caput leuat Quae non ex parte vt ante consueuerat sed totum Christi subruit Sacramentum c. Dicit enim esse aliqua peccata quae Christus non possit purgare sanguine suo tam profundas scelerum pristinoruÌ„ inherere corporibus atque animis cicatrices vt medicina illius attenuari noÌ„ queant quid aliud agit nisi vt Christus frustrà mortuus sit c. A paraphrasis of the same By swéete sainct Mary and good sainct Martine to I would neuer haue thought gentle master Martine that it would euer haue come to passe that the graunte and concession of that moste Christian Prince kyng Edward in his high Courte of Parliamente grounded vpon Goddes almightie woorde should euer haue been
to expende and to expound the lawes of the realme in suche preiudiciall maner as he doth I would faine knowe how he can glose that Acte of Parliamente made in the .xxxij. yere of that noble Kyng Henry the eighte whiche is not as yet repealed but confirmed a newe for some parte thereof concernyng the prohibitions of the Leuiticall Lawe and standeth in sure force at this very daie wherein is plainly expressed that no reseruation or prohibition Goddes Lawe except shall trouble or empeche any mariage without the saied Leuiticall degrees And that all suche bee lawfull persones to contracte whiche bee not prohibited by Gods lawe to marrie I thinke this man can not saye that priestes mariages bee within suche degrees Ergo thei ought not to be troubled or impeched as this Lawe commaundeth And where this doctor writeth in th ende of his .ix. Chapiter full learnedly bee ye suer R. ij specially for a greate maister of the Chauncerie that the two actes in Kyng Edwardes daies aucthorisyng priestes mariages doeth not take a waie the penalties of the Canon lawe whiche assertion for the like how far it may be extended let wise menne iudge But if thei did he saieth yet could not the priestes take any aduauntage by them longer then thei did continue And he addeth his reason because saith he the auncient lawes of the churche as sone as the saied two statutes were taken awaie came straight in force againe Further saieth he for that thei were neuer extinguished but only for a time shadowed and brought a slepe And this he saieth is the opinion of the chief Doctors of the Ciuill lawe Now Master Ciuilian if ye had alledged this opinion as of suche as be learned and beareth good hartes to their owne naturall lawe of the realme your saiyng had been better proued in my conceite And I doubt muche whether it bee true that ye saie that the beste Ciuilians agréeth with you I thinke if it were searched there might be found as good Ciuilians comparable with those whom ye note to bee the chief Doctors of the Ciuill that bee not in your iudgemente in this your gaye booke And whether ye haue any manne learned in the temporall lawe that will ioyne in this opinion with your chief doctors in the Ciuill Lawe I would yet wishe euâ—n those though ye haue craftly trained them into suche opinion by the odiousnes of this cause of the poore priestes yet to aduise theÌ„ well for suche causes might arise to them selues in compasse of seuen yeares in the like cases that peraduenture thei would wishe not to haue it so vniuersally concluded as ye conclude it But sir yet let me aske you a question by the occasion offred of that Lawe of Kyng Henrie Anno. xxcij where it is determined in lawe wherof I thinke ye cannot shewe the like in this realme since Brute came first into England and ye knowe that it is a great wonder to your wit for thinges to come in law that fewe menne hath seen the like example before tymes I meane I saie for the nature of precontractes whiche by that statute bee vtterly voide if a second contract followeth and bee consummated with bodely knowledge Ye knowe that this acte for precontractes is repealed againe Anno secundo Edwardi sexti and restored to that force as once it was and so long before continued many hundreth yeres What do ye entend with such mariages as at this daie be a great meiny in Englande which began and were aduailable by force of that act seyng this act is now repealed Whether maie ye dissolue suche marriages and pronounce them nought seyng ye saie the â—orce of the olde Canons yea the force of a statute lawe too is in strength againe and debarryng euery man to vse that kinde of second contractyng for hereafter When ye haue well answered this one question I thinke suche as bée learned in the law could deuise more of suche kinde to set your gaie witte on worke And if ye list ye maie read that suche equitie was prouided for in the first yere of Kyng Edwarde the sixte in the .xj. Chapiter concernyng the peaceable enioiyng of mennes interestes geuen by acte before though afterward followeth a repeale by the Kynges letters patentes of the saied actes the parties might pleade the said actes repealed for there grauntes so enioyed by lawe I praie you coÌ„sider whether these rules of the lawes folowing might not haue place in this cause where it is saied Factum legitimum retractari non debet licét casus postea eueniat quo noÌ„ potuit inchoari A facte that was once lawfull ought not to bee called into question againe although afterwardes there happen somethyng that myght hinder the beginnyng of it Et multa prohibentur fieri que facta tamen tenent Many thynges are prohibited to be doen whiche when thei once bée doone must yet stand Indultum a iure beneficium non est alicui auferendum A benefite graunted by law must be taken from no man If any cause might be reduced to the equitie of these lawes I thinke the cause of Matrimonie beyng Gods ordinaunce ought to bée indissoluble and not to be retracted Moreouer if these mariages aforesaied ought not to bee dissolued but muste enioye the benefite of that statute when it so stode though it be repealed for hereafterward why should that act of repeale made in the first yere of our soueraigne Ladie the Quéenes maiestie Quéene Marie takyng a waye only but the libertie for Priestes to marrie for hereafter impeache or hinder those lawfull mariages of priestes before aucthorised by as good lawe and as often tymes before these daies seen more then king Edwardes repeale caÌ„ or ought molest these mariages for their maner of contractyng Furthermore if vpon repeale of actes as ye do saie your slepyng Canons should therby be straight waie in force watching and wakyng to shewe their face to byte and barke as the ordinaries in some places would haue them I doubt whether al the Quéenes highnes subiectes should haue so quiet reste in their beddes as thei would wishe and as their forefathers before tyme prouided for them selues by kepyng this slepyng tye dogge in his kenell not to come to farre a broode for bityng And because this Ciuilian deliteth to skoure his wit in lawest I desire his resolution in one doubt rising by occasion of his forsaied determination whiche is that all Ecclesiasticall persons lieth open to the old Canons of the Churche by reason of this acte of repeale Kyng Edwarde in his first yere made a statute repealyng all maner actes before his tyme made for punishement of Heresies as well the acte of King Richarde the seconde made in his first yere the act of Henrie the .v. made in his second yere the actes of Kyng Henrie the eight made in his xxv yere the act of .vj. articles made in the .xxxj. yere one other act made in the .xxxv. yere concernyng qualification of the
kyng of the lande our owne Chronicles will tell you as for Constantia and Ramirus I doe auouche the aucthour aforesaied de ritu nuptiarum where ye maie moste redily see it testified And here master Martin I wonder that where I thinke ye haue seen that booke for it is printed with you of late in Englande ye consider not the tracte of that writyng wherby ye might learne many necessary pointes of learnyng As in his seconde booke of the vtilitée and necessitée of dispensation to tempre the rigour of lawes and in the beginnyng of readyng that seconde booke to tell you plainly my contemplation therein ye came by and by into my remembrance by the occasion of a sentence written therein in the beginnyng reported out of Plato wheÌ„ce peraduenture Terence fetched out his saiyng Homine imperito nihil quicquam iniustius qui nisi ê™ ipse facit nihil rectum esse putat that is There caÌ„ be nothyng worse then an vnskilfull man who thinketh nothyng well doen but that whiche he doeth hym self But the saiyng is this Legem Plato simileÌ„ esse ait homini pertinaci imperito praeterque suuÌ„ praescriptuÌ„ nihil fieri permitteÌ„ti qui ne interpellari quideÌ„ se patitur etiam si qua incidat extra ordineÌ„ causa in qua coÌ„modissimuÌ„ sit aliter fieri quam pro ratione quam ipse semeliÌ„stituerit Plato saith that lawe is like vnto a froward ignoraunt man that will suffer nothyng to be doen but as he appoincteth it and will not let his deuise to be altered although some bycause should happen in respect wherof it were berter to be doen otherwise then as he in his reason had once determined it Iâ— this sentence had béen wel pondered of you master Martin before ye beganne your booke either would you haue holden your hande froÌ„ the booke to haue auoided the checke of this notable senteÌ„ce or els if that notwithstandyng ye would haue yet written as ye haue doen you must needes shewe your self to bee of suche a nature as I would praie to GOD none the like should euer come to bee a counsailour in the Chauncerie so long as I should haue ought to doe there Well master Martin looke to the same sentence yet once againe Et dic te stultuÌ„ intus dic sapiens eris Ye might haue furthermore there learned that it is affirmed ê™ condere leges munus sit regiae facultatis So to dispence with them in necessitée of tyme and place is so belongyng to the prudeÌ„ce of a kyng that els his subiectes should by extreme right bee oppressed with extreme wrong And this is an other sentence whiche would doe well to be expended in the defence of the cause that ye haue takeÌ„ in hande where ye saie that this matter of mariages perteined not to the kyng And if that forein ruler at Rome hath so ample aucthorite as to dispence not with one man onely to haue .ij. wiues for a nede but with al the lawes that euer God or maÌ„ made exceptyng no more but tharticles of the faithe yet some Canonistes write that he maie interprete them also why then can ye not be contente that your late naturall leige Lorde and maister with the assent of his Parliament should doe so little a thyng in despensation that is one of the leaste crummes that fall from the Popes table I dare saie so small that the worste tourne broche in his ketchin could gette it of his holinesse by an easie entreatée for all his kinsfolkes if thei were all Priestes and Uotaries to Master Martin I will not here vrge a contemplation that is now in my mynde vpon you but praie you once againe looke if you can sée your face in Platos glasse before spoken and aduise you in tyme or els all the worlde will wonder master Martin stones will speake and blockes will write yea God will be angrie and that is worste of all Happie is he that hath a trustie friende to tell hym good counsaile yet happier is he that hath it of hym self if he should want hym happie is he that hath a good nature but yet more happie is he whose nature grace hath reformed to haue GOD alone alwaies in his eye Also ye might further haue learned of hym in his thirde booke that it is but Popes lawe that orders should withstand matrimonie And that the Greke Priestes at this daie liue in Matrimonie And moreouer that he writeth that in his Spanishe priestes whiche be ordered by the Popes very pontificall nothyng doeth so muche let them from mariage as their vowe whiche is vowed vtcunque after a certain maner saieth he of them in their orderyng I dare saie so indifferent a manne as he semeth to be if he had knowen the maner of our priestes orderyng by the Englishe pontificall speaking in suche maner timidè vtcuÌ„que of the priestes of Spain he would haue saied that our priestes maketh no maner of vowe in no maner of maner But to go forwarde and discharge my promise of that other two priestes maried after thei were priestes if ye loke in the storie Tripartite Lib. 5. Ca. 44. consider whether Socrates reporteth not of one there named Apollinaris a Prieste that maried after his priesthode and begatte a child called by his owne name Apollinaris Consider the place indifferently the rather for that S. Hierome doeth affirme that he was a Priestes sonne in Catalogo script Ecclesiastic If that will not serue you yet I will be suer to make vp my .iiij. promised by one that is written of in the saied booke Eupsichius a Busshop Lib. 6. cap. 14. Who alitle before his martirdome maried his wife wher he was reputed tyll that tyme but haÌ„dfasted As I was writyng this in came Genius quidam and sittyng at myne elbow tolde me plainly that these placis were like to bee bulted and sifted to the branne And that now the greke bookes should be sent for to vnderstand some startyng hole to crepe out at For that can not be borne that in suche autentike stories specially of the Churche we should find any suche one and then againe no mention made that thei did it by dispensation of the father at Rome For rather then that should appeare in storie openly thei would haue plaied the partes that is like thei haue doen in the Apostles Canons in Clementes workes of recognitioÌ„ of the recordes of the Counsails yea in al antiquities to chop in and out at their pleasure for their purposes Blessed bee God that he yet preserued his holy Testamentes cleane from their sophistications for the text self whiche shal be able euermore in al ages to purge it self what drosse soeuer thei haue cast vpon it to blemishe the cleare light therof Well it will be meruaill if Magdalen College in Oxford be not brought forthe or some other text other where searched out And here I am sure their heads must be set a worke that caÌ„ saie
the remedies of the inconuenience As for Eckius Cocleus Murnerus and suche other filthie draffe sackes I make noe tale of them whose liues were knowen well inough to bee to beastly Yea Pighius hymself the God of this Ciuilian vseth yet a moderation suche as it is where this man for curste hart will vse none at al. Alfonsus a catholike busshop doeth so learnedly christianly handle the matter that although he wissheth Philippica 19. as it is to bee wished that all the Clergie could liue in perpetuall continencie yet he wisheth for them that can not so liue that mariage were graunted and that to priestes after their orders and merueileth at suche mennes conscienses that will so pinche vpon the aucthoritee that is in the Churche that thei should haue power onely but to curse and to excoÌ„municate and not to saue and deliuer Whiche thing he prosecuteth in a great spirite and saieth by those wordes of sainct Paule vnusquisque propter fornicationem vitandam suam vxorem habeat c. That is to auoide fornication let euery man haue his wife maie euery man clayme his interest and right to marye if he can not otherwise liue And affirmeth further that he can not see how any man can depriue hymself oâ— that his interest of that concession of mariage gaunted by sainct Paule except he will euen so depriue hymself of eternall life And moreouer saieth plainly that euery man cannot conteine and that therfore no man can be so holden by lawes or vowes but that he ought to prouide for his saluation And that howsoeuer a Prieste hath by his owne voluntarie consent depriued hymself of his libertée to marie after that yet in this case when he hath proued all remedies and none will serue then yet to hym is reserued still whole and found his right and interest of that same concession of sainct Paule propter fornicationem vitandam vnusquisque vxorem suam habeat vnaqueque suum virum Whiche generall proposition this Ciuilian would needes straine to a particuler contrarie to the circumstaunce of the context it self yea contrarie to the vsyng of diuerse Doctors of the church as we haue proued before And further we there brought in S. Hieromes manifest woordes to proue it against his owne manifest wordes wherein he denieth it And here I require this CiuiliaÌ„ with his gloses to proue those two contradictories or .ij. contraries if he can Or to make S. Hierom agre with others to see what it is to brabble with mennes woordes and not to sticke to the woordes of the holy ghost euident in them selues to them that of mere frowardnes listed not to wrangle and to be contentious to make vprores in comon wealthes to nosell the vnlearned still in palpable blindnes to recouer their olde honour of the churche to do as thei lusted in al matters bothe of God and man and then we should haue a merie world again and all should be plentious neither warres nor commotions but suche as thei themselues would stirre for their owne turnes And because I named vnto you a diuine of these daies Michael vehe whom the rather among many of that sort I do alledge for that I se in him a quiet spirite soberlye and Godly with learnyng debatyng his controuersies of conscience vtteryng his iudgement not as Pighius Eckius and this Ciuilian doeth of a set purpose onely and of a froward and proud nature that will in no respect giue ouer or will condition indifferently of that which is once beaten and setteled in his stubborne head but muste winne all or lose all come of it whatsoeuer will I will shewe you what moderation he vseth in this cause of priestes matrimonies wherin he declareth his conteÌ„tation that it could stand with his iudgement and conscience for priestes yea after order once consecrated to mary so that thei were not suffered still in their ministration And moreouer against them that might be of that opinion to thinke that for a greate cause in respect of a realme or of a comon peace dispensation might be had as it was so dispensed with he saieth with the kyng of Arragon But peraduenture not alludyng to this storie in this matter he saieth these wordes At omniaÌ„ pregnantissima causa est animarum periculuÌ„ cui nec vna totius mundi precio estimari possit c. What cause soeuer maie appeare to dispence in positiue Lawes for the weale of a whole Realme surely saieth he there can be no greater or more pregnant cause then the perill of mennes soules wherein the losse but of one is not estimable by the price and value of all the world This man was in coÌ„science moued to saie his learnyng he would not dally in so weightie a cause He knewe he muste come once before the tribunal seate of Christ and his Apostles to make answere of his wordes and writynges And therfore as in the sight of God not as pleasyng man or keping the world in a comon traded errour for glory or lucre thought it very meete for suche Canons and Lawes to be dispensed with for the saluation of mennes soules for the whiche as for his owne he knewe Christ spent his precious blood he was not ignorant as I thinke this Ciuilian is not or els ought not to bee of the trade and practise of the holy Fathers of the Churche in their daies It is not vnknowen to hym how soeuer Epiphanius was affected to the continencie of the Clergie and for the defence thereof vnaduisedly did write that it was the institution of the Apostles for them to conteine that yet hym self was compelled for necessitée of ministers to permit theim in mariage as otherwhere he telleth that thei did so although not altogether agreable to the prescripte of the Canons Yea Epiphaniuis Lib. 2. To. 1. Hero 61. he confesseth plainly of those and also of votaries to that it were better for them fallen from their race of their runnyng in virginitée openly to marrie a wife by the Lawe rather then to be daiely wounded with the secrete dartes of Cupido by the importune temptation of the Deuill And better for them to runne into iudgemente of penaunce sufferable for a tyme then by couÌ„terfettyng chastitée to fall into condempnation to bee excluded from the kyngdome of heauen For he condempneth euen there suche of the Clergie because thei would not abide the shame of the worlde belike for mariage yet secretly committed whoredome and that vnder the pretence of solitary liuyng and continencie practised vncleannesse with them selues to aduoyde whiche inconuenience he is faine to remitte of his Canons how Apostolike so euer thei were Tract 7. in mas This diuine afore saied I saie Michael Vehe was not ignoraunte how that in Origens tyme the Busshoppes in those dayes for the releuyng of a woman in her frailtée were contenâ—ed to despence with her to marrie againe though her husband was a liue Peraduenture saieth he thei did suffer it for
of holye oyle and creame refusing to receaue at their last departure the lordes supper and dyd abhorre to receaue the vsed obsequies of the churche in their sepulture of maryed priestes the tythes appoynted to the priestes they consumed with fire and to gesse the rest by this one saith he the laye people dyd take the bodye of the Lorde consecrated of the maried priestes and often trode it vnder their feete and of wylfulnes dyd shed abrode the blood of our Lorde and many other thynges agaynste ryght and lawe were done in the Churche and of this occasion many false prophetes dyd ryse in the Churche and by their prophane nouelties dyd withdraw them selues from ecclesiasticall discipline Thus farre wryteth the sayde Sigebertus and Radulphus Loe the tragidie of that tyme. This holy father Hildibrand litle belyke considered the canon of the councell at Gangrense the whiche inuolued hym in the sentence of excommunication for his doyng Si quis discernit presbiterū coniugatum tanquam occasione nuptiarum Celeb. an 324. sup pag. 259. quod offerre non debeat ab eius oblatione ideo se abstinet anathema sit If any man maketh such difference that he thynketh a maryed priest by reason of his mariage ought not to say masse and therfore doth abstayne from his oblation accursed be he This vehement spirite of pope Hildibrand speakyng lyes in hypocrysie so vniuersally flowed ouer not onlye other christian Realmes to their great disquiet but also began somewhat sharply to be executed shortly after the conquest time by Archbyshop Lanfranc at whose first commyng for good lucke he founde the Church of Canterburie most miserably brent Whiche Lanfranc laboured to bryng into thraldome the libertie of priestes maryage where in his councell holden at Winchester An. 1076. indictione 14. though he forbad Prebendaries in their cathedrall Churches to haue wyues yet dyd constitute freely that priestes dwellyng in vyllages and townes hauyng wyues shoulde not be compelled to forsake them and they which had none shoulde be forbydden to haue And further constituted thus Let Byshops hereafter foresee that they presume not to geue orders to priestes or deacons except they first make a profession to haue no wyues Thus farre the canon of the synode Here began this prohibition in some part of wyues to priestes before that tyme neuer forbidden But yet he moderated so the matter that he made a decree that such priestes as dwelt in townes and vyllages beyng maryed shoulde not be seperated but continue with their wyues in their ministration ecclesiasticall that is to bury and to christen to shryue to housell to say masse and mattens with all such offices belonging to that state So that he did not thinke but that maryage massyng might stande together wel enough though pope Hildibrande woulde none of it And surely Lanfranc was more modest in this matter howe rudely soeuer fryer Dominik Stubbes in his Catologe of Yorke Archbushops calleth hym the minister of the deuyll in contryuyng the subiection of the Archbyshop of Yorke to the Archbyshop of Canterburie so to make deuision betwixt those two sees For peraduenture Lanfranc esteemed other by his owne infirmitie who whether he had a wyfe or no is not reported in common storie Yet in storie it is tolde that many men iudged Paulus whom he so glad made Abbot of S. Albons to be very nye hym in kynrede as Matthew Paris writeth Paulus monachus Cadomensis Archiepiscopi Lanfranci nepos De anno 1077. imo aliquorum relationibus consanguinitate propinquior Paule a muncke and nephewe of Archbyshop Lanfranc howebeit by the report of some others he was more nye to hym in blood And no maruell of suche a matter in Lanfranc sometyme beyng a muncke For it is playnelye aleaged in that solempe treatise written by Anselme against the lawfulnesse of priestes maryages in an olde hande to be shewed intituled Contra offendiculum sacerdotum that munckes professed vnderstanding those reasons which were made agaynst the maryage of church men to be so slender were maried and forsoke their professed votarie state a great many of them to lyue in honest matrimonie as it is declared in their London councell against whom they had a constitution to bryng them in agayne anno 1102. whiche cause Anselme doth labour by reasons much to condemne Whervpon beyng blowen with Hildibrandes spirite he dyd in an open Synode decree the abrogation of maryage from all priestes deacons and subdeacons and wylled them also vnder great paynes to be separated which were conioyned in matrimonie before anno 1102. 3. Henr. 1. and decreed yet by Lanfranc not to be compelled to leaue their wyues He was the more bolde saith the storie of Rochester and confident to gouerne the Church so rigorously for the fauour and loue he thought he hadde both of kyng Henry and of Malcolyne kyng of Scotlande for the maryage of his daughter Mawde to the sayde kyng And therevpon bare hym so bolde not only agaynst the kyng for inuestitures to force the popes determination therin but also to depose diuers from their dignities In whiche pastyme where the kyng commaunded Wyllyam Gifforde Archbyshop of Yorke to consecrate certaine Byshoppes whiche were by hym inuested He fearyng the rigour of the sayde Anselme saith the storie refused to do the kinges commaundement though he alleaged it to appertayne to his crowne But howesoeuer Anselme laboured the matter in his bronded conscience yet contrarye to all his extreme thundryng the priestes regarded not that his constitution nor kept it for the priestes kept styll their wyues 200. yeres after And though in certaine of his successours dayes there was constitution vpon constitution lawe vpon lawe and decree vppon decree yet were they no more holden and kepte then Calixtus canon long before that was kept whiche as Polidore wryteth De rerum inuent was by a common consent abrogated as was also saith he Gregories decree and as Hugo wryteth that the Apostles 29. canon was of no force vntyll Siritius dayes who dyd renue it Dist. 84. Quod olim and were by non vse abrogated and defeated And although that both Lanfranc first began Anselme more seuerely folowed for he seperated priestes which were alredy maryed and included subdeacons also and made constitution that no prieste deacon or subdeacon should be receaued to order without profession yet could that synode nor any other decree euer after obtayne their purpose but was alwayes gaynesayde for the priestes denied to make such profession which also was yet neuer vnto these dayes receaued or vsed nor in the Pontificals both of Saxons and late of Englyshe since the conquest such professions were expressed Although in the Romishe Pontificall there is mention made of suche profession for the priestes of Italy and Spayne c. But the priestes of Englande dyd euer resiste that seruitude to kepe their libertie from vowyng profession and promysyng And although many Byshops dyd attempt to exacte suche
hotte iron of Antichristes stampe Dani. xi whose notes be Quod erit in concupiscentiis feminarum O blyndnes of hypocrisie which would leade vs out of the ryght way walkyng in the holynes of angels Coloss. ii counterfaytyng thynges which he neuer sawe him selfe causelesse puft vp in the iudgement of his fleshe Mercifull God what meant this rigorous Anselme as at this tyme to vrge so importunely this doctrine of Satan when he knewe and confessed in his epistle written to Wylliam his Archdeacon thus Considerandum etiam est quia hactenus ita fuit publicum hoc peccatum sodomiticum Epistol 78. cent 2. vt vix aliquis pro eo erubesceret et ideo multi magnitudinem eius nescientes in illud se praecipitabant It is to be considered that hytherto this sinne hath ben so publique that scant any man was ashamed therof and therefore many ignorant of the greatnes therof fell headlong thereto Wherevpon the sayde Anselme on a tyme when kyng Wylliam was going ouer sea to Normandie Edmer he made earnest suite to hym that he woulde geue commaundement yf it so pleased hym that the olde auncient synodes myght be renued agayne to refourme that which is amysse that christianitie whiche in this realme is in many almost wholly lost saith he may be restored to his olde state for the most horrible outrage of the Sodomiticall vice saith he is to much spread abrode besides the vnlawfull copulations of consanguinitie and other such detestable crymes that they haue defyled very many by their excesse ▪ c. If Anselme knewe this vice so foully to raigne in the realme Edmer li. i yea among the laitie who had libertie of maryage what myght he gather shoulde folowe where this libertie should be by his decree restrayned euen frō them who had presently their wyues in house with them and in possession What other thyng was lyke to folowe of this prohibition then such fylthynes as before rehearsed For as saint Barnarde doth inuey agaynst such Sup. Cant. serm 66. Tolle de ecclesia honorabile connubium thorum immaculatum nonne reples eam concubinariis incestuosis seminisluis mollibus masculorum concubitoribus omni denique genere immundorum Take away from the Churche honorable maryage and the bed vndefiled shalt thou not replenish it with concubinaries with incestuous copulations with sodomiticall vices and finally with all kynde of beastly persons This good religious man belyke perceauyng about that tyme the extremitie of these rigorous hypocrites inueyed sharpely agaynst them in the selfe same sermon with these wordes here and there They be sheepe saith he in outwarde habite but foxes in lyfe and woolfes in subtiltie and crueltie these be they that woulde be seene good but not so to be they woulde not be seene euyll but yet wyll so be these be they whiche to the cloke of their fylthynesse haue adournde them selues with the vowe of continencie and do iudge fylthynes to be reputed in wyues only where that only cause of hauing a wyfe is it which doth excuse al vncleanenes in companie these be they of whom saint Paul dyd speake Men attendyng to spirites of error and doctrines of deuyls not by the reuelation of Iesu Christe but rather and that without doubt as the holy ghost dyd prophesie before by illusion and fraude of deuyls peakyng lyes in hypocrisie forbyddyng to marrye Plainely they speake this saith he in hypocrisie and in foxes subtiltie pretendyng that they speake so for the loue of chastitie which they haue inuented rather to noryshe and multiplie the cause of fylthynes Yet saith he the matter is most euident that I do maruayle howe euer it coulde be perswaded at any tyme to any christian man Note this contemplatiue Barnardes spirite in these so sharpe wordes except that they be eyther so beastly that they do not perceaue how they geue ouer the brydle to all vncleanenes in condempnyng maryages or els be so full of wickednes and swallowed vp in deuyllyshe malice that though they do consider it yet they wyll not see it and so delyght in the dampnation of men For saith he take away mariage out of the Churche and by and by foloweth all fylthynesse as it is sayde afore Surely saith he continencie is very rare vpon the earth and thervppon the same Barnarde doth insult agaynst such Quid manum dei abbreuias quid largam benedictionem nuptiarū restringis c. Why doest thou abridge the hande of God why doest thou restraine the large and liberal benediction of mariages why doest thou chalenge that to be only appertayning to the virgin that is graunted to the whole kynde Ueryly Paul woulde not permit this except it were lawfull and yet I say not enough that he doth graunt it but he wylleth it also c. What is more manifest Ergo he graunteth it because it is lawfull and he wylleth it also because it is expedient And doth the heretique saith he forbyd that which is both lawfull and expedient He shall proue nothyng by this his prohibition but that he is an heretique And thus farre Barnarde agaynst these hypocrites and condempners of maryagies in diuers persons wrytyng euen about the very same tim when these prohibitions and seperations were a doing So hat Epiphanius as is afore rehearsed wryteth of such Pag. 81. a. Serpens alatus hic est scorpius alas habens secundum multos modos volans imitans quidem ecclesiae virginitatē non habens autem puram conscientiam This serpent fleeth abrode this scorpion hath wynges after diuers fashyons fleyng here and there and counterfaytyng virginitie of the Churche but yet without a pure and sincere conscience Iudge reader whether of these two mens spirites were most lyke to be of God or of Satan Anselmes who diuorced in this wretched and slyppery tyme them which were maryed agaynst the spirite of Pathnutius and other of the fathers in the Nicene councell and Lanfranckes spirite in his prohibityng maryed priestes to be seperated Or the spirite of Gregorie the great Sup pag. 201 who dyd write agaynst a lyke decree of Pelagius his predecessour and dissolued it saying Quod mihi durum atque incompetens videtur Dist. 31. ca. ante trien vt qui vsum continenciae non inuenit neque castitatē promisit compellatur a sua vxore separari atque per hoc quod absit in deterius cadat That is thought to me to be very harde and also importable that they which haue not the vse of continence nor haue promised chastitie shoulde be compelled to be separated from their wyues whervpon they may as God forbyd fall into worse It is not without good cause that the Byshoppes in kyng Henries tyme the first after the departure of Radulph archbyshop of Canterbury next successour to Anselme of a further experience agayne made suite to the kyng that they might chose a seculer clarke to be their primate and no more of the
yet I owe that thyng most chiefely to my mother Churche of Canterbury and therevpon I iudge that he ought to make his canonicall profession to the Church of Canterburie for I was present when that my brother Thomas the elder his vncle xxxvij yeres past Archbishop of Yorke was dryuen by inuincible argumentes to make his profession to Lanfranc then archbyshop of Canterburie and his successours Whiche sentence yet of his father though the kyng and the byshoppes dyd well alowe and with expendyng the recordes of the same yet the sayd Thomas the younger elect woulde not so submit hym selfe Thomas stobues in catologo Ebor. ca. 52. Wherevpon the kyng beyng moued pronounced that eyther he shoulde do it or els he woulde discharge him of the Byshopricke and not only lose his fauour but also he woulde expell all his kinrede out of the Realme Wherevpon Sampson byshop of Worcester his naturall father and Richarde Baiocense his brother so nye of kinrede were instaunt vppon hym And though that Ranulph byshop of Durham promysed the kyng a thousand marke in money and to the Queene a hundred yet it auayled nothyng saith the storie for the kyng would not be corrupted with money and so at the laste the sayde Thomas made his profession and lyued but v. yeres in his dignitie and dyed a young man as the storie saith beyng a very corpulent man If the reader wyll nowe vnderstande what successe this foresayde decree of Anselme had after his death thus wryteth the storie That though the decree was somewhat calde on after hym by the kynges commaundement yet he relented and so it folowed saith he that the priestes toke their wyues agayne which they had or els renouncyng their former toke others and freely maried harlottes so saith the muncke In which discourse he maketh insinuation that standing the tyme of the prohibition thers were both fornicatours and adulterers and such as committed incest with their nygh kynsefolke not onlye with their sisters but also with their owne daughters so that saith he though this good father after the example of the feast maker called many to the feast yet in no respect was there any effectuous obedience geuen vnto his wordes For saith he let hym reade that wyll the text of this councell at London and well consider the statutes therof and let hym then iudge who it is that obeyeth them who it is that fulfylleth them or what he is that accompteth them not vayne So that the priestes and the prebendaries obteyned so muche with their Byshops and Archdeacons that suche priestes as dyd relinquishe dyd returne againe to their wyues as is sayde before Whiche sayde matter is here brought in not as alowyng any thyng that was committed agaynst the precepte of God but to shewe what speede hadde this his decree in his lyfe tyme and what successe this vnreasonable tradition hadde after his lyfe If you woulde knowe the cause or grounde that might moue this father Anselme otherwise learned and of austere conuersation although in this to be feared rather to be of the number of them of whom Saint Paul saith In hypocrisi loquencium mendatium cauteriatam habentium suam conscientiam prohibentium nubere c. Forsooth his redy good wyll and accesse to the holy father of Rome the supportation that he founde there the spiced conscience he had in his wrong obedience vnto that sea esteemyng hym so hyghly supra id quod colitur made hym to esteeme his prince the lesse ii Thess. ii and from tyme to tyme troubled and endaungered his Realme in his office to the disquiet of the people enducyng in his bronded conscience fedities and enormities innumerable Whiche his blynde zeale not accordyng to knowledge Henrie Beuclarke well vnderstandyng dyd not only staye his importunitie but also resisted the popes auctoritie to his owne face doing in his princely estate as appertayned to his kyngly ryght Though that Anselme the popes proctor dyd aunswere that he would not for the price of his head consent to the kyng agaynst the popes prohibitions except it were dispensed withal agayne by the sayde pope vpon the kynges wordes Quid mihi de meis cum papa quae antecessores mei hoc in regno possiderunt mea sunt hec si quis auferre mihi voluerit quod inimicus meus sit omnis qui me diligit certissime nouerit What haue I to do with the pope concernyng myne owne That which myne auncestours haue possessed in this Realme be myne whosoeuer woulde take these from me let all that loue me certaynely knowe that he is myne enemie Which stout wordes of his so spoken might declare what he knewe Surely he was like for his knowledge to haue done as much in expellyng his vsurped aucthoritie yf oportunitie of tyme had serued hym as his successour long after hym kyng Henrie the eyght brought about and finished Whiche thyng is well signified by the wordes of his owne letters written to kyng Henrie Edmer wherein Pascall the pope complayneth that he dyd in his Realme all as pleased hym and that he restrayned the messengers and letters of the sea apostolyke that they coulde haue no passage or be permitted to enter into the Realme without his suffraunce and further Pascall chargeth hym that without the knowledge of the popes holynes he doth kepe synodall councels where he insinuate that all the wayghtie causes of the Churches throughout his whole prouince should be determined by the vicars and the deputies of his holy sea And further he chargeth hym that besyde his auctoritie he presumed to make translation of Bishoprickes at his pleasure which sayth he can not be done without the licence of the sacred holy sea of Rome And farther to set out howe the knowledge of this kyng made him well to vnderstannde his vsurped auctoritie in his Realme and well perceauyng howe the Realme was wont to be abused by shamefull exactions and expilations which his legates vsed to do within the same was weery of the sayde abused aucthoritie Wherevpon pope Calixtus after his councell holden at Remis anno dn̄i 1119. came vnto Gisortiū Edmer to speake with the king had conference with him When the kyng had obteyned of that pope to haue all such customes which his father had in England in Normandie and especially of all other that he should not suffer any man to vse the office of a legate at any tyme in Englande except him selfe did require the same for such matters which coulde not be ended by the byshop of Canterburie and the other byshoppes of the Realme All which thynges sayth the storie beyng thus determined the pope doth make request to the kyng for his loue to be frendly vnto Thurstone Archbyshop of Yorke to restore hym to his Byshopricke Wherevnto the kyng aunswered that he woulde neuer do it whyle he lyued for he saith he hadde so promised vppon his fayth Whervpon Calixtus dyd aunswere Ego apostolicus sum si
prince lyke hym in repressyng the wronge exactions vsed in the Realme and that gouerned his subiectes more wyselye in peace and quietnes none that dyd more reuerence ecclesiasticall persons and that better maynteyned the poore or the religious by his expences and that after his death he saith by and by sprong vp all wicked men disturbers of peace murderers and robbers with al kynd of mischiefes Which princely qualities saith Wylliam of Malmesburie he gote by his education brought vp and instructed in all the seuen liberall sciences Which education was in the vniuersitie of Cambridge saith Thomas Rudborne so that his learnyng was a great cause of the wyse gouernyng of the Realme He hadde worthyly the name of Beuclarke whom his father Wylliam the conquerour purposed to haue preferred to a Byshopricke Scala chron and therefore caused hym to be instructed in learnyng whiche turned as muche to the commendation of the father for that he iudged a Byshop ought to be learned and that not only blood and other corporall ornamentes commended so muche the partie a man to be of that vocation as prudence gotten by learnyng and knoweledge In whiche his knowledge the sayde Henrie toke so much delectation VVil. Mal. and founde the fruite therof so necessarie in gouernement that he was wont to saye Rex illiteratus Asinus coronatus a Kyng vnlearned is an Asse crowned This man so wel vsyng his gouernement to Gods pleasure that Henrie Huntyngton who lyued in his dayes testified that God caused his fame to be spread through the whole worlde and that he gaue hym three special gyftes wisdome ryches and victorie in such aboundaunce that he excelled saith he all his predecessours Edm. lib. 6. Some proofe of his graces good qualities may be considered partly occasioned to be remembred by this foresayde archbishop Rodulph who at a certaine coronation of the kynges newe wyfe Atheleida daughter to Godefride duke of Lorayne in the xxi yere of his rayne the sayde Rodulphus beyng thexecutor of the solempnitie at masse and at the alter in his pontificalibus castyng his eyes behynde hym and seyng the sayde kyng syttyng on an hye throne with the crowne on his head he went in a great haste from the alter vp to the kyng whom he knewe was not crowned by hym or his predecessour At whiche sodayne commyng the kyng reuerentlye rose vp to hym and the byshop asked who had put on that crowne on his head The kyng with a sad countenaunce aunswered that he had no great care therof and therfore he sayde with a modest voyce that it was out of his remembraunce Ueryly saith the byshop whosoeuer put it on dyd it not by any ryght and as long as it standeth vpon thyne head I wyll not go any farther in ministration To whom the kyng did aunswere If not ryghtly as you saye it be put on do you that which you knowe most to be done with iustice ye shall haue me no gaynesayer in any thyng Wherevpon the byshop lyfted vp his handes to take of the crowne frō his head the kyng as redy to vnlose the lase vnder his chynne wherewith his crowne was stayed on his head the lordes perceauyng that attempt they all with a loude voyce cryed vppon the byshop to spare the kyng and to suffer the kyng styll to weare it on his head in that solempnitie Which thyng the byshop at length permitted and standyng there neare the kyng crowned he began the Gloria in excelsis the quyer folowyng he afterwardes retyryng to the aulter agayne Further to amplifie the quiet spirite wisedome and modestie of this kyng in this fact I shall not neede but leaue it to the reader to iudge what benefite this king had by his learnyng To note the vntimely importunitie of this Rodulphus what his wisdome or wylfulnes was I also leaue it to the readers iudgement but I woulde the reader speciallye to beare in remembraunce whether as it is sayde before after Anselmes death the byshoppes after Rodulphes death were not iustly moued to be suiters to the kyng to haue their Archbyshop otherwyse chosen then out of the munckes coate whose wordes be these as the Saxon chronicle doth report them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anno. 1123. Then spake the byshoppes betweene them selues and sayd that they neuer more would haue any man of munkes order to be Archbyshop ouer them for they neuer alowed nor loued munckes rulyng and the kyng graunted that to them Nowe to ende the storie of this tyme to set out before your eyes the marueylous wisedome that this kyng gathered by his learnyng in his youth It is written in common historie that the kyng came from Normandie into Englande which was a great cause of mirth and ioy that the people made for his prosperous returne But the next day after certayne of his sonnes daughter and neece with other very many of the nobilitie men women and chyldren and some of the cleargie folowing hym in the seas by misfortune were all drowned as before is sayde except one poore base man which escaped to tell the misfortune Which heauy casualtie many men dyd much maruayle at and were very sorowfull But yet were they sooner pacified vpon the kynges example when they sawe hym whom it dyd moste respecte to beare it with so manly a mynde referryng it with a quiet gesture and voyce to the equitie of gods iudgementes which no man can resist For as comfortyng hym selfe sayth the storie he sayde with a lowly spirite As the Lorde pleased so was it done be the name of the Lorde therefore blessed for euermore Amen Thus farre haue we enlarged the matter vpon reheasyng the tyme of Rodulph when this kyng dyd raigne whose godly qualities ought to be had in memorie for the notabilitie thereof for euer to the settyng out of Gods glorie to the commendation of learnyng the fruite whereof this prince shewed so maruelously VVilliam Chro. Ceno Mart. an 1132 After this Rodulph folowed William aforesayde in whose dayes almost all London was brent by the fire of Gilbert Becket This William renewed the same lyke constitution of Anselme in his tyme Pag. 217. by the helpe of the popes legate Ioannes Cremensis a priest Cardinall who after he had ben very costly and chargeably enterteyned with gyftes and rewardes and after that brought honorably to Canterburie and there on Easter day sang the hye masse at Christes aulter and after his great progresse goyng from byshop to byshop Chro. Saxo. Pet Burgēs from abbey to abbey and commyng after that about the natiuitie of our Ladye to London kept his councell there in which the legate dyd commaunde that Anselmes decree should be obserued better then it was but all preuayled not sayth the Saxonicall storie and he afterwarde departed home to Rome with shame enough In this mans dayes Chro. Ioren in anno 1135. Robert Bloet muncke of Euesham byshop of Lincolne had a sonne named Simon whom he made deane
of Lincolne a young striplyng deyntyly brought vp he begat him saith Huntington when he was Chauncellour to William the great kyng Hen. Hunt li. 8 ca. 2. Nowe though the sayde William Archbishop attempted the matter agayne at Michaelmas tyde and woulde geue the priestes no longer respite to put their wyues a daye but to saint Andre â—es daye Yet sayth the storie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chr Saxon. anno 1129. This dyd byd the archbyshop of Canterburie and the byshoppes which were in Englande And yet all these decrees and byddynges stoode not al held their wyues by the kinges leaue euen so as they before dyd In whiche tyme the stirre was so great and the cause so harde to be wonne that William the archbyshop gaue ouer and referred the controuersie wholly to kyng Henrie aâ—â—â— 25. Henrie Wherevpon he decreed that the priestes shoulde continue with their wyues styll Of whom for that the kynges officers toke pencions the byshoppes began to repent them of their committyng so the cause wherof they woulde haue had the orderyng them selues to some other purpose For which pentionarie matter Anselme had certaine yeres before by his epistle well chydden the kyng wherof yet belyke the kyng as beyng well learned in the lawes as Matthewe Paris testifieth made not so great â— conscience as certaine of the votarie bishoppes dyd as oâ—fended that fayth shoulde be inuiolablie preserued betwixt such as were in matrimonie seyng hym selfe had such conscience of breakyng his fayth that he made and as he iudged it not dispensable by the popes auctoritie as he not long before had declared to pope Calixtus hym selfe For yf he had thought it to haue ben agaynst the precept of God he woulde neuer haue suffâ—ed so many yeres the continuaunce of the same by his auctoritie anno 11â—8 〈…〉 Chro. Aug. Chro. 〈◊〉 After William folowed Theobaldus in whose dayes the house of saint Gregories in Canterburie was brent anno 1145. the churche and almost the whole citie of Rochester was first brent the chathedrall church of Yorke was brent and without that citie the church of saint Marie where was an Abbey with the goodly Hospitall founded by the archbyshop Thurstone brent for good rule ye maye be sure their chastitie deserued no lesse That Thurstone archbyshop was he that builded the monasterie of Fountaynes and repented hym therof by open worde and sayde he neuer repented hym more of any thyng and when certaine laye men present hearde him so say and were offended at his saying he sayde ye be laye men and knowe not the pith of my wordes and therfore he afterwarde alwayes sayde that he woulde rather geue to lecherous men then to munckes But as concernyng the plague of God in the burnyng of so many Abbeys professing such holynes as is to be marueyled what may be read in storie Chro. Peter 1070. annal eiusd 1113.1114 VValterus weekes 1116.1121.1112 Houenden 1184. Houenden 1188. Gualter Couent 1212. Fabian 1261.1370 besydes these that are alredy spoken of and those that do folowe in other mens dayes As Howe the abbey of Peterborowe was once brent Howe the monasterie of Worceter was brent Howe the abbey of Chichester was brent Howe the abbey of Peterborowe was brent once agayne Howe the churche of Powles with many other cathedrall churches were brent Howe the abbey of Glocester was brent Howe the abbey of Glastenburie was brent Howe the churche of Beuerlay was brent Howe saint Maries churche of the Chanons in Southwark was brent Howe the steeple of Euesham was set on fire by lyghtnyng Howe the Abbacie of saint Edmundes was brent with diuers more as hereafter partly doth folow The rather may these examples thus so generally vniuersally and so thicke executed vppon these munckes houses be a more proofe of gods plague agaynst their munckyshe lyfe and order as nothyng pleased with the most of them then the aduersaries can iustly charge the vniuersall religion of the Gospel receaued by the particuler burnyng of one steeple in the Realme so seldome seene in these dayes To note what intemperate weather what immoderate wyndes what lightning what thunder what earthquakes fell vpon these houses besydes to note howe vniuersally before the conquest all these monasteries howe much soeuer they were multiplied and increased God dyd euer bryng them downe agayne and complaned them euen with the grounde that fewe or none remayned vnbrent or vndestroyed by the inuasion of infidels and other nations from tyme to tyme commyng vppon them shall not be nedefull to cumber the reader at this tyme with tediousnes Neuber lib. 3. cap. 5. Well these houses were not brent for other mens faultes Where the cronicle of Peterborow ascribeth this plague of God in burnyng their churche and all that was therein to their retchlesse lyfe and wretchednes and dronkennes they vsed And William Thorne muncke of S. Augustines anno 1168. ascribeth the burnyng of their churche abbey to the foule abuse of takyng infantes scant weaned from their nurses to be munckes professed among them A pretie age for a perpetuall vowe and a worthy cause to make such subiect to the austeritie of archbyshop Pecchams constitution Apud Lamhith anno 1281. ca. Item moniales where he ordereth that yf the Nunne tarry one yere in the habite before she haue taken the bishoppes benediction must yet be reputed for professed and may not returne to the world again for if she do she must be accompted vsed as an apostata Although saith he the religious haue not receaued the byshops benediction with the solempnitie of a vowe they may not yet iudge themselues to be free if they be once come to the yeres of discretion and reason and be able to perceaue fraude and deceyte Where there be many examples lefte in writers what wretchednes hath folowed of these young professions I wyll report but one the tragidie wherof is suche that it shoulde hurt chaste eares to heare the fylthynes that therin is tolde of a certaine young chylde of foure yeres of age brought into the Nunrie of Wattune in Yorkeshire in the dayes of Henrie Murdack an ambitious munke of Cistercense as Polidore writeth who gate his Bishopricke of pope Eugenius by suite and craft by the disprouyng of William elected thervnto Which Abbey was founded or rather restored by Gilbert a priest of Semplingam Whiche storie is expressed at large by Ethelrede a Cister muncke in Rhieuall in the dioces of Yorke abbote a man eloquent in his tyme. Which young girle when she came to age he wryteth howe maruelouslye she was delyuered her chylde conueyed awaye by the sayde Henrie Murdack then dead who brought her first into the Abbey Whiche byshop in a Palmers weede appeared in a vision hauyng with hym also in the vision two auncient celestial women they three only at the birth and no man knewe where the chylde became no not the mother who was so sodenly restored to her health againe that there was
where he a freshe renewed the old prohibitions and decrees agaynst priestes concubines Roger Houenden Geruasius anno 1174. Chro. Ierouallensis who yet of his fatherly pitie dyd consecrate one Galfride Ridel archdeacon of Canterburie to be bishop of Elye who was the thirde in order of the first erection as the catologes of the bishoppes of Elye doth recorde Which sayde Galfride shoulde haue gone to Rome with the sayde Richard elect of Canterburie and with Reginald elect of Bathe for the confirmation of their elections Whereas Alexander then pope dyd much blame the absence of the others elect bishops of Englande vidz elect of Winchester Herforde Chichester and of Elye Whiche pope dyd more earnestly aske why the elect of Elye came not with them The bishop of Orleans aunswered Forsooth sayde he Habet excusationem Euangelicam He hath the excuse of the Gospell What is that saith the pope Sir saith he he hath maryed a wyfe and therfore can not come And though there was then much altercation brought before the pope and cardinalles yet the pope dyd foorthwith consecrate the elect of Canterburie And he after he was returned home to Englande dyd consecrate the said Richarde anno 1174. pridie nonas Octob. anno regni Hen. 2 xxi who lyued bishop there vntyll he dyed though he ended his lyfe at Winchester intestate anno 1189. the firste yere of kyng Richarde In which sayde catologe is also recorded that the sayde Richarde before his election dyd openly purge his innocentie by oth that he procured not the death of Thomas Becket neither by worde nor deede nor wrytyng which was also required of Roger archbishop of Yorke and of Gilbert bishop of London and so in the Assention day in his owne churche he was intronizate whereto he gaue very great giftes saith the storie Thus hytherto this holsome decree of Anselme belyke howesoeuer saith the storie it had fauour of some at the first and what earnestie soeuer he shewed therin was not kept nor yet receaued vniuersally seyng that this Richarde wyttyngly dyd consecrate the sayde Galfride hauyng a wyfe and so aduouched before the popes holynes and the whole consistorie of cardinalles In this Richarde his dayes was a synode holden by hym and some of his brethren at Wodstocke anno 1175. Hen. 2.21 to chose a bishop for the bishopricke of Norwich and for chosyng of abbottes whiche were many vacant Amongst which their election they dyd elect Galfride the kynges sonne to the bishopricke of Lyncolne after that it was voyde xvij yeres almost by reason of the morgagyng therof into the kynges handes But king Henrie his father would not haue hym then consecrated for that he was within yeres and knewe not whether he was necessarie to the gouernement of suche a dignitie VVil. Neu. lib. 2. cap. 22. and therfore the kyng sent hym to Towres to haue some exercise in the scholes there vntyll he was thought worthy that he might take the dignitie of such honor Though yet his sonne aunswered not his expectation and thervpon for his vnworthynesse compelled hym to resigne it agayne Nubrigen lib. 4. cap. 2. whom notwithstandyng kyng Stephen his brother next succeedyng hym preferred to the archbishopricke of Yorke See here this good kynges zeale whiche he had in the election of a bishop Belyke it may appeare that the kyng had more regard then all the bishoppes had besides Which acte is worthy to be had in remembraunce to shewe to all princes to cleargie men and noble men specially patrones of benefices to haue a conscience with them in preferring men to such heauenly chargeable and worthy office of the cure of mans soule And in the dayes of this bishop the kyng was counsayled to build an Abbey to the honor of God and S. Thomas of Canterburie Rog. Houeden anno 1177. Rex Hen. 2 23. for the remission of his sinnes as the storie saith And so was the churche of seculer prebendaries in Waltham turned out they expulsed for their wyues belyke and reguler chanons brought in That is vi chanons from the abbey of Circester and vi of Osney and iiij of S. Oses and of some of them made officers and replenyshed the house with chanons about the number of an hundred or fourscore at the least besydes their externe officers of the house Thus was religion the decaye of seculer learned men a cause of their expulsions so much had they blynded the eyes of princes at that tyme to multiplie dumbe munckes and to hynder preachyng prebendaries VValter Couentriensis Neuerthelesse the kyng gaue to the Deane in recompence a manour of his duryng his lyfe and gaue the prebendaries accordyng to the value of their prebendes and suche prebendaries as woulde not receaue such recompence that they shoulde holde their prebendes duryng their lyues at the discretion and estimation yet of archbishop Richard who was present with other bishops as were also the deane and the prebendaries when the kyng in his owne person put the reguler chanons in possession In deede the Romishe sleyght wrought in this kynges facte Fabian ann Henr. 2.28 for such alteryng the house of Waltham abbey is to be considered the grounde wherof was as it is tolde by storie that the kyng had vowed and sworne before two cardinalles to go in his owne proper person to warre agaynst Christes enemies in the holy lande they so deuising to bereue the realme of their prince and to ieoperde his person to the reuenge of Thomas Beckets death whiche was layde to his charge But the wyle was perceaued and he promised for dispensation of his oth to buylde three Abbeys in Englande Which sleyghtie iniunction of the cardinalles the kyng was councelled as prudently to fulfyll For he turned as is sayde the seculer chanons of Waltham into reguler chanons for one foundation and for buyldyng of the seconde Abbey he turned the Munkes out of the Abbey of Almesbury and set in their steede Nunnes and for the thirde foundation he renewed sparyngly the charterhouse of Witham besides Salisburie and thus perfourmed the condition of his dispensation of buyldyng of three Abbeys But thus was not the Romyshe quarrell quieted towardes the kyng For the pope Lucius the thirde was well contented when one Heracleus patriarch of Ierusalem came into the Realme to moue hym to trauayle agaynst the Sarasens and was very instant vppon hym to take that iorney puttyng hym in mynde of the oth that he once made before the two cardinalles aforesayde But the kyng perceauyng the craftie dryft aunswered that he would liberally bestowe of his owne to the charge of such vyage but he myght not depart from his owne lande and leaue it as a pray to the aduersarie This aunswere the Patriarch toke very displeasauntly and angerly The kyng yet somewhat to pacifie hym accompanyed hym vnto the sea syde but the more the kyng laboured to satisfie hym the more was the Patriarch offended speaking spytefull wordes agaynst the kyng
chargyng hym that he was vntrue to the Frenche kyng but the more true to his owne lande that he slewe Thomas Becket and lastlye that he had forsaken the protection of Christes fayth and in his rage charged the kyng that he was worse then a Sarasen and sayde of his chyldren that they came of the deuyll and to the deuyll they shoulde But the kyng saith the storie kept his pacience and sayde that he woulde not in any wise depart out of his owne lande Wherevpon the Patriarche departed from the kyng in great ire for that his Foxie deuice toke no better place Lo here was a worthy Patriarch a creature of the pope thus to deale with so noble a prince Maye it not here be timely brought in Psal. 2. Et nunc reges intelligite erudimini qui iudicatis terram c. If kynges and princes wyll suffer them selues quietlye to be thus shamefully abused in their owne realmes to their owne faces by suche externe commers whose vocation ought of moste congruence to haue dryuen them to the reuerence of kynges and princes who maye haue pitie of them yf they be deluded Although this noble prince for his most notable pacience ought to haue immortal commendation so is he more worthy to be aduaunced for his wisedome and prudence for that he coulde not be moued to leaue his Realme for a pray then his seconde sonne Richarde the first folowyng hym who was so soone induced by Romishe perswasion to seke aduentures abrode first impoueryshyng his Realme and by sellyng of the castles of Barwicke and Rothisborowe for a great summe of money for some part of the exployte of his viage and made other such sales neither princely to his honour nor profitable to his Realme And so he passyng on more valiauntlye then prudently was at the last dryuen by force and taken of the armie of the duke of Ostriche and thereof suffred harde imprisonment for the terme of a yere and fyue monethes but at the last was raunsomed for suche a huge summe of money as pinched the whole state of his crowne collectyng both of the laitie and cleargie aswell churche as chappell within the whole Realme Which extremitie he myght haue well escaped yf he had folowed the example of his father Henrie Let this suffise for this tyme for one example of Romishe practises to learne princes to be wyse After this Richarde folowed Baldwinus archbishop Baldwine of whom we reade of no constitution that he made nor of his next successours tyll the yere of our Lorde 1222. when Stephen Langton kepte his councell at Oxforde whiche Stephen was the cause of all the broyle betwene the pope and kyng Iohn for his admission to the Archbishopricke agaynst the kynges wyl and pleasure to the intollerable iniurie of the crowne and sclaunder of the Realme besydes the innumerable hurtes that came therof He made in his constitutions a decree against priestes concubines of whom the world swarmed full after the open forced restraynt from maryage yet then many of the cleargie as they myght kept in secrete wise their wyues for conscience sake and hadde belyke suche successe as other of his predecessors decrees had Edmund For his seconde successour from hym Edmunde in his constitutions tempered the matter more easely Who dyd decree that yf these concubines would not turne them selues into religion after monitions geuen vnto them they shoulde lose the priuilege to kysse the paxe at masse and also be put from the holy bread and yf they woulde stubbernlye persist they shoulde be excommunicate when it pleased the Ordinarie so long tyme as the concubinaries shoulde deteyne them in their owne houses Mat. Par. anno 1226. or publiquely out of their houses and then should afterward be deliuered to the seculer power After whiche Edmundes departure Boniface came into the sea Bonifacius of Sauoye vncle to Queene Alienour wyfe to kyng Henrie the thirde The same archbishop who was wont to say that his three nexte predecessours Stephen Langton Richarde and Edmunde in whiche three mens dayes was made the great haule at Canterburie with other the buyldynges there had let hym a haule to hire to buylde vp For they left the bishopricke indetted Mat. Par. 1245. partly for that buyldyng more then xv thousande markes though some recordes speake of a more summe which he was fayne to pay to redeeme the bishopricke cleare although some wryters referre a greater part of that debt to the great prodigalitie of the sayde Stephen Langton anno 1120. in the translation of Thomas Becket from vnder the shrowdes to a more glorious shrine aboue At which translation he procured the presence of the kyng and of the most part of the nobles of the Realme with an infinite concourse of people to be present and gaue to all that woulde aske it both hay and prouender all the way from London to Canterburie At which tyme he made such cheare that the storie saith he made the wine to runne plenteouslye out of diuers places in the citie in conduites all the whole day to glad the people withall Wherevpon saith Ranulphus he spent so much that his fourth successour Bonifacius was scant able to pay the expences It may be that they were very mery that day for the wryter of that translation almoste spent his whole matter in setting forth the ioy that was made amōgst them and how the people were inebriated wonderfully and muche he speaketh of inebriations but leste the posteritie should grosly take these inebriations he turneth it vp and downe in his storie and translateth it to the inebriation of the holy ghost with whose grace saith he they were deepely inebriated and as it were spiritually dronken with ghostlye aboundaunce of ioye In deede some men otherwhere were ouermuch inebriated for the kepers of Westminsters notable palace suffred it to be brent about that yere very negligentlye But as concernyng this archbishop Bonifacius though he made certaine constitutions yet he suffred that matter of priestes maryages alone Yea Othobone kepyng a synode in his time decreed nothing against priestes wiues though against concubines he renewed Othos constitution but not so his constitution de clericis coniugatis and yet had priestes after wyues For Iohn Peccham in his constitutions folowyng the next successour of Bonifacius made his lawe De filiis sacerdotum And this sparyng of lawes makyng agaynst maryages in Bonifacius tyme not vnlyke to be done of fauour he bare to the state For in the yere of our Lorde .1250 he purposyng to make his visitation in diuers places of his prouince Mat. Paris in hist. maioai as by his legantine ryght he well myght do beyng at London came to the cathedrall church of Powles for that matter but was there repelled and after that commyng to Saint Barthelmewe though there he was solemly receaued of the couent in procession the chanons being in their copes yet would they not that he should make any inquirie