¶ A treatise concernynge the diuision betwene the spirytualtie and temporaltie ⧠This lyttell booke declareth dyuers causes wherby diuision hath rysen betwene the spiritualtie and temporaltie and partly sheweth howe they maye be brought to a vnite And if they that may do moost good towarde the sayd vnitie wyll take the artycles of this treatise as lyttel tytlinges to bring som weyghtier thynges to theyr mynde concernyng the same and thanne by theyr wysdomes wyll adde them here vnto and as they shall thynke necessarie to see them all put in due execucion I thynke veryly that in shorte tyme they shall brynge this matter to good effecte to the honoure of god to the comon welth and quietnes of all the kynges subiectes ¶ Dyuers articles ' whiche haue bene a speciall cause of the diuision that is betwyxt the spiritualtie and the temporaltie in this realme The fyrst Chapiter WHo may remembre the state of this realme nowe in these dayes without great heuynes and sorow of herte For there as in tymes past hath reygned charite mekenes concorde and peace reygneth nowe enuye pryde diuision and stryfe that nat only betwene lay men and lay men but also betwene religious and religious / and betwene preestes and relygyous and that is yet more to be lamented also betwene preestes and preestes Whiche diuision hath ben so vniuersal / that it hath ben a great vnquietnes and a great breache of charitie through all the realme and part of it hathe rysen by reason of a great singularite / that religious ê‘sons and prestes haue hadde to theyr estate of lyuynge whereby many of theym haue thoughte theyr estate most perfyte before al other And some of them haue thereby exalted them selfe in theyr owne syght so hyghe that they haue rysen into suche a goostly pryde that they haue in maner disdayned and dyspysed other that haue nat lyued in suche perfection as they thynke they doo And of this hathe folowed that some of theym haue hadde vnsyttyng wordes of the other callynge them flatterers dissimulers and hypocrites And they haue called the other agayne proude persons couetous vayne gloryous and louers of worldely delytes and suche other ¶ And an other parte of this dyuysyon hath rysen by dyuersities of opynyons that haue ben vpon the auctorities powers and iurisdiction of spirituall men amonge them selfe And vpon these dyuysions some lay men haue in tyme past fauored the one parte and some the other whereby the people haue greately ben inquyeted But I wote nat fully by what occasyon it is that nowe of late the great multytude of all the laye people haue founde defaute as well at prestes as relygyouse / so ferfurthe that it is nowe in maner noted through all the realme / that there is a greate dyuysyon bytwene the spyritualtie and the temporaltie And verylie it is great pitie that suche a noyse shulde sprynge and goo abrode And some alledge dyuers causes why it is so noysed Fyrste they saye that neyther prestes nor religious kepe nat the perfeccyon of theyr ordre to the honour of god and good example of the people as they shulde do but that som of them procure theyr owne honour and call it the honour of god and rather couet to haue rule ouer the people than to profyte the people And that some couet theyr bodyly ease and worldely welthe in meate and drynke and suche other / more than commenly any temporal man doeth And that some serue god for a worldly laude and to be magnified therfore more than for the pure loue of god And some laye men saye farther / that though religious men haue varied with religious / and that som prestes haue varyed also with religious in som pointes concernynge the preeminence of theyr perfection as is said before that yet in suche thynges as perteyne to the mayntenaunce of the worldely honour of the churche and of spirituall men whiche they call the honour of god and in such thynges as perteyn to the encrece of the riches of spiritual meÌ„ religious or seculer they say they agree all in one And therfore they say that all spiritual men as to the multitude / be more diligent to enduce the people to suche thynges as shall brynge riches to the churche as to gyue money to trentals and to founde chaunteries and obites and to obteyne pardons to go vpon pylgremages / and suche other than they be to enduce them to the payment of theyr dettes / to make restitutions for such wronges as they haue done / or to doo the werkes of mercye to theyr neyghboures that be poore and nedye / and that somtyme be also in right extreme necessite ¶ And for as moche as it is most commonly sene / that amonge a great multitude there be many that worke rather vpon wyll than vpon reason And that though they haue a good zele / yet many tymes they lacke good ordre and discretion whiche is the mother of al vertue Therfore some persons thynkynge that worldely honoure and ryches lettethe greatly deuocion so moche that as they thynke they canne not stande togyther haue holden opinion that it is not lawfull to the churche to haue any possessions And some takynge a more meane waye therin haue sayde / that as they thynke it is lawfull and also expedient that the churche haue possessions but they thynke / that the great haboundance that is in the churche / doth great hurt / induceth in many of them a loue to worldely thynges and letteth and in maner strangleth the loue of god And therfore they thynke that it were good to take awaye that is to moche / and to leue that is sufficient And some also as of a policie to pulle ryches fro the churche haue inueyed ayenste all suche thynges as brynge ryches to the churche And because great ryches haue comme to the churche for prayenge for soules in purgatorie haue by wordes affyrmed that there is no purgatorie And that grauntynge of pardons riseth of couetyse of the churche and profyteth nat the people / and that pylgremages be of no effecte / and that the churche may make no lawes / and suche other thynges / as foundynge of chaunteries making of brotherhedes and many mo Wherein they shewe outwardly to ryse agaynst all the thynges before rehersed and to dispyse them and yet they knowe and beleue in theyr hertes that all these thynges be of them selfe ryght good and profytable as they be in dede yf they were ordered as they shulde be And somme persones there be that throughe grace fynde defaute onely at the abusion and mysse order of suche thynges and speke nothyng against the thinges selfe neither of purgatory / pylgremages / settynge vppe of ymages / or suche oher For they knowe well they be ordeyned of god and that the mysorder rysethe only of man for couetyse singularitie or some other suche lyke defaute throughe perswasyon and dysceyte of the goostly enemye And thoughe some men haue
true as is reported that there shulde be so great a desyre in some spyrytuall men to haue men abiured or haue the extreme punysshement for heresie / as it is sayde there is For as some haue reported yf any woll wytnes that a man hath spoken any thynge that is heresie though he speke it onely of an ignoraunce or of a passyon or if he canne by interrogatoryes and questions be dryuen to confesse any thynge / that is prohybyted by the churche anone they wyll dryue hym to abiure or holde hym atteynted without examining the intent or cause of his sayenge or whether he had a mynde to be refourmed or nat and that is a verye soore way our lorde be more mercyfull to our soules than so greuously to punysshe vs for euery lyght defaut And here some saye that bycause there is so greate a desyre in spyrytuall men to haue menne abiure / and to be noted with heresye / and that some as it were of a polycye do noyse it that the royaulme is full of heretyckes more than it is in dede that it is very peryllous that spyrytuall men shulde haue auctorytie to arrest a man for euery lyght suspection or complaynte of heresye tyll that desyre of punysshement in spyrytuall men be ceassed and goone but that they shulde make processe agaynst them to brynge theym in vppon payne of cursynge and thanne yf they tary fourty dayes the kynges lawes to brynge them in by a wrytte De excommunicato capiendo and so to be broughte fourthe oute of the kynges Gaole to aunswere But surely as it is somewhat touched before in the .vii. chap. it semeth that the church in tyme past hath don what they coulde to brynge about that they might punysshe heresie of them selfe / without callynge for any helpe therin of the seculer power ¶ And therefore they haue made lawes that heretykes myghte be arrested and put in pryson / and stockes yf nede were / as appereth Clementinis de hereticis Ca. multorum querela And after at the speciall callyng on of the spiritualtie / it was enacted by parlyament that ordynaries myght arrest men for heresie for summe men thynke that the sayde Clementyne was nat of effect in the kynges lawe to arrest any man for heresie But if a man were openly and notably suspected of heresie / and that there were sufficient recorde and wytnes agaynst hym / there were also a doubte that he wolde flee and nat appere wherby he myghte enfecte other it semeth conuenient that he be arested by the body but nat vpon euery lyght complaynt that full lightly may be vntrewe And it wyll be ryghte expedient that the kynges highnes and his counsaylle loke specyally vpon this matter and nat to ceasse / tylle hit be brought to more quietnes than it is yet and to se with great diligēce that pride couetise nor worldly loue be no iudges nor innocentes be punysshed ne yet that wylfull offenders go nat without dewe correction ¶ An other cause of this diuision ¶ The .ix. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath risen by the extremities that haue ben shewed in sutes taken in the spyrytuall courtes by spyrytuall men for there hath therby risen an opiniō among moche people / that a man were as good or better to let a spyrytuall man haue at the begynnyng all that he demaūdeth as to stryue with hym in the spyrytuall lawe for it In so moche / that as it is sayde suche extremities haue bene vsed in the spirituall lawe for tythes that no prescription / custome cōposition nor other plee shall be admytted in the spyrytuall lawe agaynst them And surely yf that be trewe it is a great parcyalyte and a great denyeng of Iustyce And therfore it wolde be refourmed And as for mortuaries they be adnulled all redy by statute But yet begynnethe to ryse oone thynge to maynteyne the fyrst dyuysion concernynge suche mortuaryes yf it be suffered to contynue and that is / that many curates / nat regardynge the kynges statute in that behalfe perswade theyr parysshens whan they be sycke to beleue that they can nat be saued but they restore them as moche as the olde mortuarie wolde haue amounted to And surelye the Curates that by that meanes get any recompence by gyfte or by quest are bounde in conscience to restytucyon For he is deceyued in his gyfte or bequest For it procedeth nat of a free libertie / but vppon that vntrue infourmacyon And lyke as a contracte wherby a man is deceiued in that thyng that is solde holdeth nat in conscience as yf a manne selle copper for golde or wyne myxte with water for pure wyne and so it is whan a man maketh a gyfte or a bequeste vpon an vntrue surmyse And that no man is bounden in conscyence to restore for his mortuarye nowe sythe the statute of Mortuaryes was made / it maye appere thus It is holden by them that be lerned in the lawe of this realme that the parlyamente hathe an absolute power as to the possessyon of all temporall thynges within thys realme in whose handes so euer they be / spyrytualle or temporalle / to take theym from one manne and gyue theym to an other / wythoute any cause or consyderacyon For yf they doo it it byndeth in the lawe And yf there be a consideracion / that hit byndethe in lawe and conscience And certayne it is that all suche Mortuaryes were temporalle goodes / thoughe they were claymed by spyrytualle menne And the cause why they were taken awaye was for as moche as there were fewe thynges within this realme that caused more varyaunce among the people than they dyd / whan they were suffered for they were taken so farre agaynst the order of the kynges lawes and against Iustyce and ryght as shall hereafter appere Fyrste they were taken nat onely after the dethe of the husbande but also after the dethe of the wyfe whiche after the lawes of the realme had no goodes but that it was taken of the husbandes goodes / and they were taken also of seruauntes and chyldren as well infantes as other And if a man died by the waye and had an housholde in an other place he shulde paye mortuaries in bothe places And some tyme whan the parson / and vicar of a church appropried / varied for the mortuaries the people as it hath ben reported haue ben enforced er they coulde sytte in reste / to pay in some places mortuaries to them bothe And somtyme the curates wolde prohybyte pore men to sell theyr goodes in tyme of theyr sicknes if they were suche goodes as were lyke to be theyr mortuaries for they wolde say it was done in defraude of the churche And yf the quyck goodes were better than the deed goodes they wolde in some places take the quycke And yf the deade goodes were better than the quycke they wolde take the dead And the mortuaryes muste be delyuered furthewith or elles the bodye shulde nat be buryed
effecte shulde folowe of it as before appereth Wherfore it semeth that he shuld than haue auctorytie in his parlyamente to breake that custome as a thynge agaynst the peace and quyetenes of his people And he that hath auctoritie to aduoyde suche thynges as breake his peace hath also auctoryte to preuent and deuoyde suche thynges as maye gyue occasion to the breking of his peace as that custome shulde do yf the sayde effecte shulde folowe of it And certayne hit is that it hurtethe no more a good preste that an euyl preeste is punisshed than it hurteth a lay man that he is punysshed ne no more than it hurtethe a good lay man or woman that an nother is euyll and is punysshed for it And I suppose verily that this diuision wil neuer be perfytely appeased tylle preestes and religious wyl be as lothe to here of any defaute in a lay man or lay woman / as in a preste or in a relygious person And that wyll neuer be as longe as the great confederacies and singularite cōtinueth amonge prestes and amonge religious persons as it dothe now The good lay men and women must paciently beare the euyll reporte of other laye men and women that be of the same condycyon as they be / and so they shall be taught by spiritual mē / that they ought to do but they wyl not do so them selfe In so moche that I suppose veryly that many a preest religious wold grudge more ayenste an euyll reporte made of a prest or religious / that in dede were giltie in pryde / couetyse angre / malice glotony lecherye or suche other than they wolde be ayenst a lyke euyl report made of a laye manne or a laye woman that were not gyltie ¶ Dyuers other lawes there be / that be made by the churche that many menne thynke the churche hadde no power to make As it is / that no benefice shal be let to a lay man / but a spiritual man be ioyned with hym Or that it shall not be let aboue .iii. yeres And also the constitucion of a dimission noble suche other that were to longe to reherse nowe For these suffise to shew that by such lawes made by the churche / that they hadde no power to make any lawe of / hath rysen one speciall cause of this diuision ¶ An other occasion of this diuision The .xiii. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath rysen by reason of feyned visitacions vsed in tymes paste by ordinaries and other that haue hadde power to visyte howses of religion and churches in the countrey For there is a cōmen opinion in maner vniuersally rysen amonge the people that suche visitacions / after the maner as they be vsed / do litel good and rather encrece vice than vertue And verilie the more pytie is it semeth to be true as they sey For it is vsed / that at suche visitacions visitours take of the houses of religyon that they vysite / somme certeyne pencyon And for visitacion of churches they haue of some certayne churche / mete and drynke where they visite / and than they gather somme certayne duetie of all the churches within a certeyn circute ī that contrey And neuer the les / as the comen opynyon gothe / comenlye they reforme nothynge / but as they fynde it so they leue it / and neyther cōforte they vertue / ne punysshe vice / but many tymes the contrarie by some worldlie demeanour or euyll example that the people see in them And thus when the people haue sene that offenders as well spiritual as temporall / contynue after the visitacion as they dydde before they haue coniectured / that the ordinaries and visitours do visite more rather for theyr pencions / than for any good order or reformacion And this / through a longe cōtinuaunce hath brought the people to iudge great couetice in such visitours / whiche commenly be of the greattest reulers of the spiritualtie wherby the peole by lyttell and lytell haue fallen into a dispraysyng of such visitations / and into a mislykynge of theyr rulers spiritual and of suche pompe and worldly behauour as is shewed by them at suche visitations And than whan such visitours and spirituall rulers haue perceyued that the people haue misliked theyr visitations they haue disdayned it and haue contynued styl as they dyd before and so hath the grudge betwene them contynued secretely of long tyme. And surely it is to be moche meruayled that visitours wil attempte to take at theyr visitatiōs any pension or imposition of them that they visite contrarye to the good lawes that be made in the .vi. boke ti de censibus ca. romana et exigit Wherin great penalties be set vppon them that take any pension at theyr visitations / contrary to the sayd lawes / as in the same doth appere And but there be any secret dispensation in that behalfe many be suspended / that dayly ministre And if there be any suche secrete dispensation hit is to doute that the graunte therof proceded not of charite but of some couetyse and singularite yf the very grounde therof were throughly serched Wherfore hit were ryght expedient / that suche visitations were set in suche order as well by spirituall auctoritie / as by temporal auctoritie that good men hereafter myght therby be comforted / and euyll men corrected reformed to the good example of all other that shulde here of it ¶ An other cause of this dyuysion The .xiiii. Chapiter AN nother cause of the sayd diuision hathe rysen by occasion of the greate multitude of lycences and dispensations that haue benne made for money by popes and busshops in tyme paste / contrary to dyuers good lawes made by the churche as of pluralites ayenst the law that no man shulde haue but one benefice / and of lycence to curates to be non resident of capacities to men of religyon and that none shall take orders ne be promoted afore a certayne age and suche other whiche lycences dispensacions haue bene so accustomably graunted for money without cause reasonable that great inconuenyences haue folowed vppon it to the great grudge and murmour and euyll example of all the people ¶ An other cause of the sayde dyuysion The .xv. Chapiter AN other occasyon of the sayde diuisyon hathe rysen by a greate larnes and lybertye of lyuynge / that the people haue sene in many religious mē For they say that though religious men professe obedience pouerty / yet many of them haue wil haue theyr owne wil with pleynty delicate fedynge in such abundance that no obedience nor pouertie appereth in them And therfore many haue sayde and yet say to this day that religious men haue the most plesant delicate lyfe that any men haue And truly if we behold the holynes blessed exāples of holy fathers of many religious persons that haue bene ī tyme past / and of many religious persons that be now in these dayes