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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17084	The gratulation of the mooste famous clerke M. Martin Bucer a man of no lesse learninge and lyterature, then godlye studie and example of lyuing, vnto the churche of Englande for the restitucion of Christes religion. And hys answere vnto the two raylinge epistles of Steue[n], Bisshoppe of Winchester, concerninge the vnmaried state of preestes and cloysterars, wherein is euidently declared, that it is against the lawes of God, and of his churche to require of all suche as be and must be admitted to preesthood, to refrain from holye matrimonie. Translated out of Latin in to Englishe.; Gratulatio ad Ecclesiam Anglicanam. English	Bucer, Martin, 1491-1551.; Hoby, Thomas, Sir, 1530-1566.	1549 (1549)	STC 3963; ESTC S106007	62,277	167

The Gratulation of the mooste famous Clerke M. Martin Bucer a man of no lesse learninge and lyterature then Godlye studie and example of lyuing vnto the churche of Englande for the restitucion of Christes religion And Hys answere vnto the two raylinge epistles of Steuē Bisshoppe of Winchester concerninge the vnmaried state of preestes and cloysterars wherin is euidently declared that it is against the lawes of God and of his churche to require of all suche as be and must be admitted to preesthood to refrain from holye matrimonie Translated out of Latin in to Englishe Hebru xiij Wedlocke is to be had in price amonge al men is a chamber vndefyled As for hoore keapers adulterers God wyll iudge them To his right worshypfull Brother Syr Philyppe Hobye knight M. of y e Kinges maiesties ordinaunce Thomas Hobye wishethe grace and peace throught our lorde Iesus Christe EMonge the sundrye and manifolde benifittes whiche from my tender childhod I haue foūde in yow and receaued at your handes most especiall good brother thys is not the leaste that ye haue now af late dayes of the good zeale ye beare to Gods worde which at all tymes hath byn moste feruent in you caused me to be sent not only in to such a regiō where as florissheth Gods worde all good letters bothe holye and prophane all honestie puritie of lyfe men in all artes and sciences moste cunning and experte But also to such a man who is of no lesse wisdom knouledge godlines then of fame reporte renoune by all godly mens iudgementes one of the perfectest and greatest Clerkes nowe lyuinge namelye M. Martyne Bu●●● in whose daylye conuersation and companye and by whose wisdome learninge and documētes I shoulde receaue and learne that shoulde belonge not onlie to myne owne fu●●herance profyt but also to the consolation and comfort of you all my frendes whō hytherto I haue founde moste beneficyall towardes me Sythe therfore it hath thus chaunced by your most godly procurement prouision that I should for a season here remaine with this profounde and famous Clerke ye myght not vnworthelye in dede with iuste cause impute vnto me either the vyce of igname or els obliuion and forgetfulnes of your moste large and ample benefittes if I should let slippe suche a mete apt and necessarye epistle of his and especiallie beinge writtē and indited to the whole churche or congregation of Englande bothe learned vnlearned in the which he expresseth not only the assured and vnfained loue that he beareth at all tymes hathe borne towardes this realme and rulars and ministers of the same but also very euidentlye declareth and with moste manifeste testimonies of scripture setteth furthe at large suche thinges as maye be to the profitt and furtherance of many and wherin he hath confuted not al for it were in maner an infinite worke to stande aboute all but as many sophisticall wranglinge schoolishe reasons as are of any probabilitie or likehoode whiche my lorde of Uvynchester farre vnsemely for a sober Bisshoppe hath expressed set forthe in his two moste cōtumelious railing epistles agaīst him winkīg at ouerhippīg his wel most innumerable opprobrious wordes checkes tauntes rebukes quarellinges scoffinges reuilīges scoldinges railinges wherwith they are filled as full as they may be heaped to gether In the which are so fewe argumētes or reasons of any probabilitie that had not the vrgēt and instant requeste of his frendes certain of oure coūtray men bien he wold neuer once haue put penn to the paper nor yet haue made anye a do about them but wolde haue left them to the iudgemēt arbitrimēt of the reader notwithstanding now of late dayes it chaunced that he gate a litle vacant tyme to do the same seing he promised it to certaine from his manifolde impedimentes necessarie ecclesiastical busines wher with we knowe such men are no smale dele let to reconcile him selfe which the Bisshoppe scornfullye after his olde wōte casteth in his tethe to his brother before he ●●ay his offringe vpon the altare The whiche thoughe it be brefe and cōpencious not set forth to the largeste yet is it verye dilucidious pithie full of argumentes concluded not onlye vpon y e holy gostes vnfained decrees apoītmentes and ordinaunces but also the olde and holye doctores of the church and for the brefnes of tyme sufficient inough The which when he had finisshed I furthe with toke in hande acording to my childishe talent to translate into our vulgare and cōmune speache and haue sent it vnto yow to then●ent some well disposed and better learned which purchaunce wyll not bestowe so moch tym as the translation therof requireth maye yet at the least wyse peruse it acording as he thinketh beste so that at lengthe it may be worthy to come abroade for the profit and instruction of the ignoraunt whiche haue not receaued the knowledge of the Latin tonge because it is written to them as wel as to the other Wherin I will desyre yow to accept my good wyll as thought it colde extende farther and do moch better which yf ye do it shalbe a great incourage and vrgent cause vnto me to employ and bestowe the reste of my studie dilygence and laboure herafter in other affayres which I truste shalbe no lesse acceptable vnto yowe then great furtherance to myne onne profyt vtilitie The spirite of treuthe be with yow who guide yow in all your pathes acording to his will and lead yow into all go●tlye knowlege Amen At Argentyne Kalendis Februarij To the holye churche of God the churche of England ministers of the same oure lorde Iesus Christe geue increace of this grace and spirite WE geue thankes and that not without cause to God and the father our lord Iesus Christe throughe this his sonne and our sauiour moste worthye louinge brethren for that maruelous cōsolation which of his infinite bountie he bringeth at this present time vnto vs because that emonge you he repaireth renueth y e foundatio●s of his kingdome so excellentlye so perfecctly so luckylye For it chaūced now of late dayes that youre sermons or Homelies came vnto oure hādes wher with ye godlye effectiouslye exhorte youre people to the reading of holye scripture and therin expounde to thesame the faithe wherby we holde our christianitie iustificatiō wherevpon al oure healthe consisteth and other most holye principles of our religion with a most godly zeale For these foundations truely layde what may then longe after wante in youre churches to the ful perfection of Christ hys doctryne and discipline ▪ For when suche as wil be of Christe shal reade the holye scriptures as you most godly instruct and suade prefarre them so much before all the decrees of mans wisdome as God is greater hygher then man Oure especial and moste boūteful heauēly mayster Iesus Christe wil so largely powre hys

the meate of euerlastyng lyfe U●herfore we wil continually praye God our father through his Sonne our sauiour y t he wil vouchesafe as sone as may be to make perfect the good worke grounded in you to restore hys sonnes kyngdome so to kepe it perfecte vnto the daye of hys sonne Of the whiche worke of the Lorde so luck●ly begonne amonge you I thoughte beste in thys place to make some mention for two causes the one is ●hat I may some what cal to memorye that wonderous beneficence of God worthye great renoune amōg all Christians which he hath shewed vnto you for the comforte and consolation of many of Gods children The other is that I may speake vnto you familierly of youre countrey man Steuen my Lord of Winchester and so take my beginning of a more acceptable place not far frō the purpose Uvithowt fa●le many of yow hawe read the two epistles whiche this man writ a pretie while a go agaynste me as full of reproches as they may be thruste And not a fewe of yow haue wondred as I haue byn oft certified why hitherto I diferred to make hī answer the cause of the which differring or prolonging of tyme I thowght mete here to declare esspeciallye seing in the reueylinge and dis●losinge of oure disputation begone at Ratisbona about the nature disposition of faithe which iustifieth that is to say which attacheth so perfectly the mercy of god that iustifyeth vs in Christe our Lord that it maketh vs assuraunt of euerlastynge helth I disclosed and confuted certayne of hys deceytfull argumentes wherwith he wēt about to disproue oure right confessiō verie apostolike doctrine Trew it is I tooke in hande oft tymes to answere him as towehinge the vnmaried state other places whiche he laide so spitefullye againste me and to paint his sophistrie and quarellinges in their coloures but euer some busines was in the waye whiche I knewe par●eyned more to my ministerye then to confute his sophistical and captions reasons no lesse vaine trifling then vngodly and ful of reproche how so euer he stande in his owne conceipt For I thought thus with my selfe They that shal reade thes so great reproches which procede of such an impotent hatred suche sophistical cauillations will know the cause whiche is in cotrouersye betwixt vs or will not ▪ yf they will not they shal styl remaine in their plesant ●ies and reproches is not fet that they sholde be anye more offended with the defense of the truth But yf they wyll and are fauorers of the tre●the and rightousnes they may sone perceaue by Uvynchesters verie writinges such places as he bringeth out of my booke that he hathe ons decreede to peruerte withe his scholishe reasons and to debilitate withe his euel reportes what so euer I haue spoken thowgh it be Godlie and a right Uvherfor they will i● no case permit them selues to be lead in to anie preiudice or foreiudgemēt against me by any of Uvynchesters raylīges before thei haue in lyke case read my booke agaīst the which he is in suche a rage The which yf they do they shall knowe for a certaynitie that thys man of an obstinate and stubborne mynde resisteth Christes doctryne and the syncere restitutiō of the churches And that whē he colde bryng no probabylitie against it he went about pretermitting therin oure perfecte demonstratio●s whiche were concluded vpon the authoritie of God and all the Apostolike churche here there in my bookes to scrape together certaine wordes to take some doubtful places of an vncertayn sēse wherin he myght manifeste his witt ● profoundnes in peruerting the treuth and conuitiating them that haue not deserued For in that booke vnto Latomus wherin I noted certayn prouisions of the Apostle which U●ynchester went about to destroy to cōfute so wooddilie I declared by Gods manifeste wordes cōsente of the trewe apostolike churche that the same whiche Latomus tooke vpon him to defende as the lawe of the churche wherbye prestes are forbid to mary is not the lawe of Gods churche but rather the pestilence and plage of the lawes whiche after an horrible fassiō bringeth to decaye al the holines bothe of the Cleargye of the people of God as manye as folow the chastitie of their shepherdes bycause this lawe reiectethe setteth a side many apt to redresse godes churches and hath oppressed the churches wythe suche mē that turne vp set downe and vtterlie bringe to confusiō the doctrine and discipline of Christ. I shewed that mariage of it selfe is a holye kynde of lyfe and that therin is som thinge contayned which colde helpe no smale dele the ofice ministerye of a preest and y t for the self same cause the holy ghoost set in the fyrst chiefe place amonge the gyftes and veriues of a Bisshop that he be an honest maryed man and a godly and profytable housholder I taught furthermore that the matter it selfe geueth euydent iudgement how so many ministers of religion are not found that make them selues chast for the kyngedom of heauens sake as there shoulde be whiche abstinence is onely meate for preesthode Afterwarde I made playne that y e holy ghooste willeth them ●●at burne and are in ieopardye of vnpure chastite to marye withoute any lette other of vowes or mans lawes Finallye I layde againste him with the scripture of God both the decrees and aucthorities of holy fathers of suche fathers as sought by all meanes to haue preestes vnmaryed whose decrees and sentences yf they be had in any estimatiō as they ought to be for they hange vpon Gods verie worde lawe proue that of a thousande preestes at this daye scarse on can be founde whiche may remaine in this holye ministerye that not allonlie for their vitious and filthie castitie but also because they be entangled in the busines of the worlde are nother learned nor diligent to feade the lordes flocke so that they take not their v●maried state vpon them for the kingdom of heauēs sake but for fatte benefices ecclesiasticall dignities Aud so by thes vndoubted principles of holie doctrine concluded by gods very decrees I declared that for so moche as it is ernestlie sought for in them at this daye whiche muste be admitted to take cure of the churches to vowe chastitie els muste be cōstraynid to forsake this ministerye in case that they maye the better lyue they take wiues acordinge to the lordes cōmaundemēt in their preesthood or after they haue vowed their solitary lyfe it can be attributed to no churche but muste be worthilie coūted the doctrine of dyuels wherbye they bring to ●ecay and throwe vnder foote after a moste miserable fassion the lawes of Christe and the churche by the which the whole order of the Cleargie hath made exile and banished all holmes and godlines of the lyfe But what I besech yow doth Uvinchester

many tymes vngodly vowes are made of diuers preestes and monastical parsons whiche emonge a thousande truelye scarse one hath in mynde to kepe especyally godlye to saye to serue God therebye and to execute the ministerye of the church so moche the more holye and fru●tfully Uvhiche they all declare to grosselye who are by no externall compultyon restraynt and had rather take vpon them any labours or paynes then those that properlye pertayne to the monasticall and priestlye order To be short Uvynchester knoweth thys also with what clemencye God hym selfe and the holye fathers remitted them the vowe of chastitie that obserued it euell The holy ghooste planelye commaunded the yonger wemē to marye which had broken theyr first promyse after they were in ieopardy of vncleannes and euell reporte These seynge they are Gods wordes bothe belonge vnto all that fynde themselues in that ieopardye that is here expressed and also are greater then all the exception of mans vowe or decre Saynte Cyprian perceauynge thys writte concernynge the vyrgynes which professed chastitye and that not of hys owne opinyon onlye but also of certayn that were of the same order yea and of the whole churche to Yf they wyll not continewe or can not it is better for them to mary then to falle into the fyre by theyr deliciousnes Truely they shoulde offende nother bretherne nor systerne So Saynt Epiphanius declareth also that it is better for hym that leaueth the iournaye and vowe of chastitie to marie a wyfe openly agreable with the lawe and so to fall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is as he him selfe interpreteth it into the iudgemente of repentaunce done for a season whiche fynysshed he maye be brought into the churche agayne then vnder the dissimulation of chastitie to be dayelye wounded with priuye dartes and so for fornication to falle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is into condemnation wherebye suche are cleane expelled out of Christes kyngedome For thys cause also were not the maryages in Saynt Austines tyme whiche were made after the vowe of chastitye dissolued nor yet counted damnable And the great assemble at Calcedonia licensed expressedly Bysshoppes to remit the vowe of chastitie Also Galatyus the Pope left the wemen that maryed after they professed and vowed chastitie to God to theyr owne conscience ¶ Here therfore let Wynchester answere fro whens he and hys fellowes haue so moche the more seueritie and cruelnesse graunted them to make inquisition for vowes then those holye fathers had But what saye I to make inquisition for vowes To seeke I shoulde haue saide that no man after he ha●he vowed chastitie be lefullye maried For that the vowes of holye Chastitie shoulde excell that is to say that they who so haue made suche vowes shoulde cleaue so moch the more without seperation vnto God and serue the churche more fruetefullye who maketh inquisition Nother may that fayned matter concernynge the symple and solemne vowe make anye thynge agaynste thys For the religyon of all vowes made vnto GOD is equalle so that the godly shoulde obserue it yf it agre with the lawe of God and forsake it yf it disagre to the worde of God It is also euydente ynough that no greater thyng can be in suche vowes as the authoures of that fayned matter make solemne then is in the other whiche the holye fathers whose opinions I haue alledged thought best to be remitted and broken For with these vowes men haue consecrated themselues vnto God as it is the chiefest thynge requyred in euerye godly vowe Thes thinges let Uvynchesters waye and depelie consyder and yf he cā shew that it is not here made plain that the same lawe whose defense he hathe taken vpon him whiche forbiddethe al that are ons receaued or must be receaued in to the order of prestes or salitarie lyfe to marye cā not onlie be defended by no authoritie o● Christes churche or holye fathers but also is cleane cōtrarye both to Gods very lawe and also to the trewe and catholike Canons of Gods holye churche and to the wholl consent of all the holye and right opinionid fathers Herin therfor let Uvynchester do the office of a bisshop shewe yf he cā by trewe argumentes that we are in an erroure and cease to depraue by suche triflinge and vngodlie tawntes the dyuine and holie fathers sentenses and to peruerte and mistake with his rayling sophistrie owre confessiō settforthe plainelie and holilie to scrape to gether withe moche a do wynking at oure perfecte sounde argumētes here and there a worde by his scoffinges to boaste an derake hym selfe in doubtfull places wherin the cause cōsisteth not leapinge ouer to fauorablie gently the trewe foundations of oure confessyon and the moste clere testimonies of the holy scriptures For thes thinges are farr vnsemelye not onlye for a Bisshope but for an other man with that currishe and doggishe eloquence wherof he coulde in thes his writinges against me make nother measure nor ende And this I suppose be suffycyentlye spoken concerninge the seconde place of oure defense Uvherin I tooke vpō me to teache that the aucthoritie of the holye fathers is cleane contrarye both to the lawe of God and also of his church for so moche as they require and compell all that are or must be admitted to preesthod or monasticall lyfe to forsweare and to abstain from holye matrimonie Now let vs make answere to the lye whiche Uvinchester falselye and wrongefullye laythe to my charge wherof I entended to speake in some certain place Uvinchester denieth that y e same fained matter concerning the necessite wherbye y e father shold be constrained to geue his doughter in mariage by y e reason of his smale substāce came into his braine which I affirmed vnto Latomus I harde of him in oure communication together I in faith call to recorde Christe oure lord the iu●ge of the quicke and the dead and the keaper in memorie of all our dedes wordes and wishe his anger to extēde vpon me if euer I minded to faine one word against him haue not plainelie declared without anie thought of deceipt what so euer I remember I harde of him Certainlie it seme to me a verie absurde interpretation wheter he speake it in erneste or to proue or mocke be with all yet as farr as I colde gather ●e seemed to me to speake it in earneste notwithstanding he soake manie thinges with great arrogācie in thesame communication whiche were no lesse made For what maner a thing iuge ye this that he durste defende thos princes and rulars to do well whiche punishe more straitlie a sharplie their owne lawes then gods and which make it death if anie prest marie a wife but adulterie and horei●unting they leaue vnpunisshed This dare I be bolde before God the searcher of hartes to boaste of his gift that I euer tooke care for this and was verie circunspect in all strife of religon emonge my