left by Will which indeed was then spent by them in the Maintenance of a great Number of Monks and in Hospitality in Schooling and Education of youth and in other Pious Works The Abbot Tritemius makes account that the Monasteries of Benedict in Monks were to the Number of 15000 N. 32. besides the Prepositures and lesser Convents Prepositure The Monks themselves chose their own Abbot who Governed them Spiritually and Ruled also as well the Goods which came by the Charitable Offerings of the Faithful as of those which proceeded from the Labour and Art of the Monks and in progress of time those also which came from setled Revenues But the Bishops in these dayes which Succeeded the year 500 Ao. 500. being become absolute Dispensators of the fourth part of the Church Goods began also to mind more Temporal Things and to make themselves to be followed in the Cities whereupon Elections were no more used as the End of Divine Service but with Seditious Practices Proceeding oftentimes from Practices to Publick Violences for which cause Princes who until then took but little thought of whom should be Elected unto this Ministery began to bethink themselves of it N. 33. being advertised by the Holy men of those times that God had Committed the Protection of his Church unto them and therefore they ought by the Command of his Divine Ministery to take such care that Ecclesiastical Affairs should be Lawfully Managed The Princes also saw evidently how great Impediments were brought against the Quietness of the State and against the good Government of the Common-wealth by the Private Interests of the Ambitious Clergy and by the Seditious Practices which they used to acquire Ecclesiastical Dignities whereupon partly out of Divine Respect and partly for Human they began to prevent the Clergy and the Laity from providing themselves after their way according to their Affections as well because Affairs being altered and the Bishoprick no more shun'd but coveted they made Parties from whence proceeded Seditions and sometimes popular Slaughters by means of the Concurrents as also because sometimes Factious Persons were chosen for Bishops who held private Intelligence with the Princes Enemies which were never wanting in the Western Confusions N. 34. and sometimes Persons were chosen who having gained a Train of People Attempted some Design to Attribute the Jurisdiction of the Magistrate to themselves and would stir up the People to Defend their Enterprises whereupon the Princes Ordained that no Person Elected should be Consecrated without their Consent or the Magistrates the Prince Reserving to himself the Confirmation of the great Bishopricks as in Italy of Rome Ravenna and of Milan leaving the lesser Bishopricks to the Care of the Ministers But taking more heed to the Substance of the thing than to the Appearance when in a City there was an Eminent Subject known to the People to whom all were enclined ☞ and the Prince satisfied that he pleased the People Occurrenza when an Occurrence came he was Consecrated without more ado Sometimes also there happened through Accident of War or of Plague that one had been Ordained before he had the Confirmation of the Prince N. 35. as happen'd to Pelagius the 2d Predecessor to St. Gregory Rome being Besieged by the Lombards after the Siege was raised he sent Gregory who was then Deacon to make Excuse to the Emperor beseeching him to Confirm what Necessity had Constrained him to do In this manner Popes were Elected and Bishops in Italy until the year 750 Ao. 750. with the Imperial Confirmation but in France and in other places beyond the Alps the Regal or the Princes Authority was herein more absolute for the People totally desisted from the Election when the Prince took it in Hand good men forbore because believing themselves to be well provided with Kings esteemed their Interventions Superfluous evil men because they were not certain of being able to bring their Designs to pass whereupon the Kings gave the Bishopricks to them only throughout the Kingdom In all Gregory Turonensis ' History from Clodovius the first Christian King of France unto the year 590 no Bishop was known to be made but by the Command or by the Consent of the King N. 36. and St. Gregory who was made Pope that year writing to the Kings of France upon different occasions Complains to them that the Bishopricks were not bestowed on sufficient men and prayes them to make choice of good and understanding men He never reprehends the Provision made by the Kings when the Person provided was deserving As for Bishops who were chosen without the Authority of the People it was easie to exclude them also from the Election of Priests Deacons and other Ecclesiastical Ministers reducing the Power of nominating them to the Prince only without the Intervention of the People part of them having withdrawn themselves totally from meddling in Ecclesiastical Congregations to attend their Domestick Affairs others through the Inconveniencies which did arise amongst popular Factions and some others for seeing themselves disrespected by the Bishop grown Potent as well by the Riches he had to spend as by his Dependance on the Prince by whom he was Nominated to or Confirmed in the Bishoprick The Prince sometimes Nominated those that were to be Ordained N. 37. at other times he left the Care wholly to the Bishop chiefly when he was fully Consident which Considence was also Cause that the Prince oftentimes made use of the Bishop either to compose Difficalties amongst the People or to determine Difficult Causes the Respect of Religion being the Cause that they were more believed than the Magistrates whereupon they were more intent upon that than in teaching the Christian Doctrine which at first was given them in Charge Therefore when making of a Bishop was in Question it behooved rather to have Respect unto a wise Wordling than unto one understanding in Matters of Faith which remains still unto this time it being said that excepting the Places bordering on the Insidells it is better making a Bishop of a good Jurisconsult or Lawyer than of a good Divine and truly 't is a reasonable thing if the Principall Office of a Bishop were to judge Causes N. 38. Christ our Lord Ordaining his Apostles said as my Father hath sent me so send I you by which they understood to be sent to Teach If now all be sufficiently instructed and there be no more need of it he may attend somewhat else Heretofore the Principal Care of the Bishop was to Teach and the next to oversee the Government of the Poor so that in the second as well as in the first there was some Relaxation and therefore in making the Division into four parts abovementioned the Administration of the Goods being in the Hands of the Clergy and those were they who divided after their way so that where the Bishop and the Priests were Conscionable men the Division was Justly
cause though indeed they never want Pretexts to feign a cause and whosever Possesseth by a Title of his own and is content to acknowledge it for another mans Favour is like him who leaving his own ground goes to build on another mans But on the other side when some Prince having broken Patience N. 113. conferred some principal Benefice which the Kings of England and of Sicily oftentimes did the Popes not to engage in Contentions said nothing more to the Prince but not to let themselves be prejudiced they wrought by Practises through the Monks means that the Elected should renounce into the Popes hand promising him he should be invested by the Pope and so should have that quietly wherewith if he had not been contented the Pope would have opposed it and brought all into difficulty Of these Practises then used frequently by the Popes Florentius of Wingerin and Ivo Carnotensis who were Writers in those times make a long Relation as of a thing usually done in Germany and in France with this Form of Words that the Popes took with one hand and gave again with the other This agreement was easily accepted as that which freed one from Trouble and Molestation and the same King if he came to reflect afterwards N. 114. whether he past it as a thing which made no Alteration in effect without considering that it might import for the Future Which manner they now make use of against the Catholick Bishops in Germany who do not obey their Reservations as shall be spoken of in its place In Spain the quiet and prudent Disposition of the Nation together with the good Government of the Kings were cause that in so universal a change they passed it quietly perhaps forwarded hereunto by the Exercise the Saracens gave them which made them think of remaining united to their King and of living in Quietness The Kings never went about subjecting the Clergy more than convenient and they never made a League with Strangers to exempt themselves from the Kings more than their due As soon also as the Kings perceived that the Popes of Rome had by Power by Terror or by Practices obtained something in other Kingdoms they endeavour'd to accommodate themselves according to those things N. 115. in such a manner as might make the least alteration possible in their Government for as touching the Custom of times past the Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Ministers were ordained according to the Antient Custom the abovesaid Alteration being made in other Kingdoms and States they would not lay hold on a Contention with the Popes but by a prudent Complyance they were contented that no Bishop should be Ordained without their Consent and Alphonso the 6th the better to secure himself sought for Vrban the seconds Approbation who granted to the King the JVS PATRONATVS of all the Churches in his Kingdom Those Kings have proceeded quite otherwise than the Germans French and English They were content to acknowledge for anothers favour that which was their own so that it might serve to enjoy it more Peaceably These have striven that they might not acknowledge their own from another mans but all with Prudence These saw there was a way to lose all N. 116. and to become Subjects because the Popes Demand not the utmost scope of his Intention but a Degree of proceeding further his Subjects considered chiefly the Clergy-men inclinable unto Liberty not to say Licence and therefore ready to agree with the Stranger to diminish the Authority of their Prince whereupon they saw it necessary that there should be no Door open by which they might have Recourse But the Spaniards being confident of the quietness of their Subjects had no Reason to fear that suddenly they would move for a Recourse out of the Kingdom but considering the Anxiety of their Affairs in those times they had good cause to fear lest those who had been able to make Subjects Rebel against Princes so much greater than they should use the same Arts and therefore they resolved most Prudently to receive speedily that which greater than they were constrain'd to tolerate after much Wars Now for a Conclusion N. 117. In the time which past between 1122 that Henry made his Renuntiation unto 1145 it was established almost every where that the Bishop being dead the choice of the Successor should be made by the Chapter of Canons and should be Confirmed by the Metropolitan and if the Abbot were dead the Election should be made by the Monks and Confirmed by the Bishop if the Monastery were unexempted If it were exempted it should be Confirmed by the Pope Other Benefices which were de JVRE PATRONATVS were Confer'd by the Bishop on the Patron 's Presentation All others were at the free Episcopal disposing The Popedom of Rome remained for the Prince being Excluded it seemed that it ought to return to the free Election of the People but from the year 1145 Innocent the 2d having a Difference with the Romans and being driven from the City by them ☞ he in Counter-change deprived them of the Power of choosing the Pope In the Troubles which happened for the causes abovesaid many Cities were in an Uproar by the Bishops Confederate with the Pope which revolting from the Emperor N. 118. and were headed by the Bishops whereby they obtained the Publick Incoms and the Regal Rights or Duties and when the Differences were Composed they had taken so firm Possession that the Prince was Necessitated to grant them in Feudo or Fealty that which de Facto they had usurped to themselves by which they acquired also the Titles of Dukes Marquisses and Earls as many of them are in Germany who remain still such both in Name and in Fact but in Italy in Name only which made Clergy-men a great quantity of Secular Goods and the Augmentation was very notable not only during the Troubles of which we have spoken but also in those which followed under the Swevian Emperors The Monks in this time had intermeddled greatly in favouring the undertaking of the Popes against the Princes for which they lost somewhat of their Reputation of Holiness and indeed there was also lost much of the Discipline N. 119. and Regular observance in Monasteries because they intermeddled or crept into the Negotiations of State and of War wherefore their acquiring or purchasing ceased also unless in some little Congregations newly instituted in Tuscany who intermedled not in these Commotions but preserved their Discipline and therefore the Devotion of the People continuing towards them they were instruments of acquiring New Estates but yet not many they being but few But another Occasion happened which caused great Acquisitions in the times whereof hath been spoken which was the Warfar of the Holy Land and the heat of zeal was then so earnest The holy War Contributed great Wealth to the Roman-Church for going and for contributing to the gaining of it that men making no account
to our Lord he spending the same and buying things necessary for them or else distributing to the Poor according to what our Lord commanded for the day St. Augustin considers that Christ having the Attendance of Angels who Ministred unto him was in no necessity of keeping or preserving of Money nevertheless he would have a Purse to give an example to the Church of what she ought to do and therefore the Church alwayes understood that from his Divine Holyness by his own Example the Form of the Ecclesiastical Money might be instituted N. 5. instructing from whence it should be taken and wherein it should be laid out And if in our dayes we see not this holy institution observed we ought to consider that for our instruction and for our consolation the Divine Scripture relates that then Judas also was a Thief and usurped to himself the goods common to the Apostolical Colledge and came to such a Height of Covetousness that what he stole seeming not sufficient for him he proceeded so far in wickedness that he sold to the Jews the very person of Christ our Lord to make his summ of Money greater And if we either in reading Histories or else in observing things occurrent in our Times we shall believe that Ecclesiastical Goods are in a great Part spent in other uses than Pious and that some of the Ministers not content of usurping to themselves that which ought to be in common to the Church and to the Poor have gone so far as to sell Sacred things and Spiritual Graces to make Money N. 6. we ought not to refer this to a Particular Misery of our or of any other times but to ascribe it to the Divine Permission for the Exercise of the Good considering that the Beginning of the Infant Church was subject to the same Imperfections Indeed we ought every one according to his Degree and Vocation to procure a Remedy and he that cannot do otherwise by his Prayers and he that can hinder the Evil by preventing and opposing the Abuses considering that although Judas had no humane Punishment because those who ought to have punished him were Complices in his Offence nevertheless divine Providence shewed what Penalty he deserved and appointed that he should be his own Executioner for a Document of what those ought to do who are given for Tutors and Defenders of the Church in following Ages After Christ our Lord had ascended into Heaven the holy Apostles followed in the Church of Hierusalem the same Institution of having the Church money for the two Effects abovesaid N. 7. that is for the Need of the Ministers of the Gospel and for Almes to the Poor and the Stock of this money was likewise the Oblations of the Faithful who also making all their Goods common sold their Possessions to make money for this use So that the Community of the Church was not distinct from the Particular of each faithful Man as is practized still in some Religions which observe those first Institutions The Christians in those primitive Times were very ready to strip themselves of their Temporal Goods to bestow them in Almes because they looked for the end of the World to be at hand Christ our Lord having left it to them uncertain and although it was to last as long as he pleased they considered it no otherwise but as being to end then holding for certain that the Figure of this World that is the State of this present Life passeth away wherefore the Oblations encreased alwayes the more yet the Custom of not having any thing of ones own but all things in Common N. 8. so that there was neither poor nor rich but all lived equally went not out of Hierusalem For in the other Churches which the Holy Apostles planted it was not instituted neither did it last long in Hierusalem Whereupon 26 years after the Death of Christ it is read that the publick was distinct from the private every one knowing his own but the money being common in that Church as in others founded in Oblations which placed in Common served for the Ministers only and for the Poor and it was not Lawful for him who had wherewithal of his own to live upon the Churches Stock whereupon St. Paul ordained that Widdows who had Kindred should be relieved by their Relations that the Church Goods might be sufficient for those who are widdows indeed that is Widdows and poor The first day of the week which for that cause was called the Lords day the Faithful met together N. 9. and each one offered that which he had set apart of the foregoing week for the Necessities of the Common The care of these Goods which our Lord whilst he was in this Mortal Life gave unto Judas was administred by the Apostles themselves for a short Time after the Ascension but afterwards perceiving that Murmurings and Seditions did arise amongst the Faithful about the Distributions that were made it appearing to some that they were not so great Sharers of the Common as they willingly would have been and believing that others had more than they ought so as the Common Evil in all Times in dispensing the Goods of the Church the Apostles knew they could not attend this perfectly together with preaching of the Word of God they determined to retain to themselves the Ministry of Preaching and teaching appointing for this Office of having care of Temporal things another sort of Ministers quite different from that which we see done in our Times wherein the chief Prelates of the Church attend the Government of Temporal things N. 10. and the Office of Preaching and teaching the Word of God and the Doctrine of the Gospel is left unto the Fryars or Brethren or to some inferior Priests in the Church But these new Ministers which the holy Apostles instituted for governing Temporal things were called Deacons Deacons for which purpose Election was made of six from all the Body of the Faithful which the Apostles appointed for that Ministry and wheresoever they founded a Church they also appointed Deacons in the same Manner as also they ordained Bishops and Priests and other Ecclesiastical Ministers Fasting and Prayer preceeding and the Common Election of the Faithful following after Observing inviolably this order of never deputing any man to any Ecclesiastical Charge who was not first elected by the universality of the Church which is of all the Faithful together This Custome continued in the Church in such a Manner for about 200 years N. 11. maintaining the Ecclesiastical Ministers and the Poor also with the publick Goods there being no other Stock but the Oblations which were made by the Faithful in the Church which Oblations were in great Abundance because out of Fervency of Charity every one offered all that he could according to what he had so that when the means of the Faithful in one City were abundant for the supplying the wants of their own Church they
106. and a Tumult was appeased which had lasted 56 years under Six Popes by Excommunicating an infinite number of Persons both Ecclesiastical and Civil who adhered to the Emperor and by the Death of numberless Persons on both sides in threescore Battels fought by Henry the Father and in eighteen fought by Henry the Son tantae Molis erat to lay the Foundations of that Building which we have seen brought up to the Top of the Battlements whereof we are to speak In the Occurrence abovesaid happened between Pascal and Henry the Judgment of the World was various some saying that the Assent yielded unto by the Pope was Null as done out of fear finding himself and so many Cardinals in the Emperors hand and therefore with Reason Pascal opposed him and ceased from observing it But on the other side it was said that if the Popes Assent were invalid for being extorted with Fear N. 107. no less ought to be held for invalid the Assent yielded to by the Emperor for Fear of so many Excommunications and Anathema's of so many Rebellions and Machinations for which cause he is subject to restore that which is done for Fear of Imprisonment and not that which is done for Fear of Anathema's and for Fear of seeing all his Dominions and People in Confusion and in Civil Wars Some men in Counsel in the presence of Pascal made use of this Dilemma if the Decree and the Bull of his by which he granted Investiture unto the Emperor were Lawful they ought to be observed if they were unjust and as some say Heretical then was the Pope Author also Heretical and unjust 'T is true indeed that a thing just and due although done out of Fear is valid and that no man whatsoever is blameless if for any kind of Fear he acteth contrary to the Law of God The Contention of the Popes with the Emperors about this matter of giving Investiture of Bishopricks and Abbeys stopt not only in Italy and Germany Kingdoms of the Emperor but in the same times also in France some of the Bishops stirr'd up by Example and through Interest N. 108. opposed the King for the same cause but because all were not agreed to make a League with the Pope against the King the King for the most part overcame him and the Popes were content to gain that by little and little which was Impossible for them to do all at once together In England the King having alwayes conferr'd Bishopricks and Abbeys in the year 1102 Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury refused to Consecrate the Bishops provided by the King he adhering to the Decrees made by the Popes and the Contention lasted many years the King maintaining his Authority and the Arch-Bishop by the help of the Pope defending his Opposition the King believed himself able to perswade the Pope to that which he reputed Just therefore he sent an Ambassador who received such rough Answers and Threatnings from the Pope that to take off his Edge the Ambassador thought fit to tell him the King would not lose his Authority although he were to lose his Kingdom to which the Pope replyed with no less boldness that he would not permit it although he were to lose his Head The King remained Constant N. 109. and it behooved Anselm to depart the Kingdom incapable of returning without Consenting to the King 's Will. But the King dying without Heirs-Male and some Civil Wars happening 't was easie for the Clergy-men to prevail and to introduce That into England which had been introduced in the Empire where after the Cession of Henry of which hath been spoken the Pope obtained his intent true it is that in the year 1132 Lotharius the Saxon Successor of Henry the 5th Emperor being sought to by Innocent the 2d engaged in a Schism that he would acknowledge him for Pope and not his Adversary refused to do it unless the Investitures Renounced by Henry were restored to him and perhaps the Pope would have granted them but St. Bernard very intimate with Lotharius perswaded him to desist proposing to his Consideration that he having made War against Henry his Predecessor and Lord upon Pope Paschals Instance for that cause N. 110. afterwards to be willing to make himself a Defender of Henry's Pretention was to declare himself a Rebel and that he had made War against his Lord while he was defending a just Cause That which usually happens after great Victories namely when all the Forces of the Enemy are not Extinct the Fragments or the Remainder of the overcome Party oftentimes spring up again with old Pretensions which the prudent Vainquisher temporizeth dexterously rather than oppose himself openly by renewing a War so it fell out in these present occasions The Popes not being able to have the Victory of such a great Pretention so entirely but that in some Places some Benefices would remain in the Power of the Laity and that a Prince sometimes for some Necessity of his Government without Regard to the Pope would bestow some Bishoprick after the first manner There remained in France the Regalia N. 111. which is a Right of the King to Confer all single Benefices Vacant by the death of the Bishops until the Successor be Created There remained in Germany a Right of the Emperors of giving only one of the Canon-ships in many Churches and so divers particular Authorities were retained by some Princes The Popes that they might not by Contending for these particular uses renew the Contention with hazard of losing the whole or else by letting them run on they might do prejudice to the general Cause thought it requisite to make Provision both by Negotiation and Art They found a Temperament or Complyance by causing the Canonists and other Scribes depending on them to Write that these Princes enjoy'd that Authority through Priviledge granted by the Pope This served the Popes for a Reputation to make appear that Princes had no Right but by their grace and favour and assured them also that they might pretend further and 't was easily passed over by the Princes to whom it seemed that it was to secure them from the Molestations which the Popes might give them N. 112. and by adding an Ecclesiastical Title to their own Possession make it more secure But the Event shew'd that to be Poyson which was esteemed Physick For about 1300 Boniface the 8th exercised sharp Contentions with Philip the fair of France that he should yield up the Authority of the Regalia's abovesaid and they proceeded so far that this Kingdom was exposed to great Danger by Excommunications and Interdictions by depriving the King and by granting the Kingdom to Albert the Emperor At first when 't was assented to it was not well thought of to whose account it would turn by the Apostolical granting to preserve that which was the Princes Peculiar For the Popes since pretend they can revoke the Priviledges granted by their Predecessors even without a
Court. There was added the Constituting of another Antagonist at Law if he dyed that the end of him might not be the end of the Law-suit but by his Death there was taken or received another years Revenue and the Continuation of the Law-suit which Multiplying also the Clauses were invented Si alteri Si neutri Si nulli Whereby the Benefice was given to a third man also but only during the Law-suit or Contest of the two first which Constrained Princes for the Removing of Confusions Disorders and Contentions amongst their Subjects to bring back to the Secular Bar or Court the Cognizance of the Possessorio of the Benefices a thing which although Legitimate had been by the Connivance of Princes taken away from the Secular Magistrates and Assumed by the Ecclesiastical Court From the Provisions which were made by some Princes to stop the new Introductions into matters Beneficial within their Dominions N. 188. the Court took occasion to invent others as well to work the same Effects under other Pretexts as to Multiply methods whereby they might do and therewith supply what they could not do where Provision was made In these times Resignations were found out not good and Commendable ones Resignations for they are very Antient but certain others which the World at present Commends not It was never Lawful for him who was put into an Ecclesiastical Charge to leave it of his own Authority and it was very agreeable that he who had dedicated himself to a Ministery and had received the Reward for it which was the Benefice should persevere Administring nevertheless for some Lawful Causes it might happen to be necessary or at least for the Publick or for the Private good that some one might devest himself of it 't was introduced for a Custom that it might be and with the Authority of the Superior for some Lawful Cause he may renounce and the Causes wherein 't was practized were if through Infirmity of mind or of Body or became incapable by old Age N. 189. or if by enmity of Potent Persons on the place he could not make his Residency without Danger When the Renunciation was received by the Bishop the Benefice was esteemed as Vacant and he to whom the Collation belonge'd Conferr'd it in the same manner as if it had been Vacant by Death The Renunciat was introduced in these times not for any urgent Cause but only to bring to pass that the Benefice might be Conferr'd upon one nominated by the Renunciator and as unto a new thing it behooved also to give it a new Name calling it Resignatio ad favorem because it was only made to favour the Resignation that he might have the Benefice 't is indeed at the Superiors Liberty to receive the Renunciation or not but he cannot receive it but by giving the Benefice to the Person Nominated Although this was a way for introducing Hereditary Succession unto Benefices and therefore Dammageable unto the Ecclesiastical Order N. 190. it proved more profitable to the Court by how much the more frequently the Benefice was Conferr'd and by it the first-Fruits Receiv'd Covetousness and other Worldly Affections taught many to crave for and to receive Benefices not with a mind to continue in them but with thoughts of enjoying them until they could obtain better or else until some design of Marriage or other kind of Life were brought about or else until some Youth might come of Age at which he might afterwards renounce a thing which by Pious men was never excused and 't is held for a Common Opinion that whosoever receives a Benefice with a design of Renouncing it cannot with a good Conscience receive the Fruits which some of a larger Conscience they do not mean so generally of all but of those only who do it with an intent to forsake the Clerical Order As for Renouncings ad Favorem which became Emoluments to the Receiver the Court that the Fruit might be all its own Prohibited the Bishops from receiving such Renouncings and reserved that the Pope of Rome only was able to do it N. 191. And because many Beneficed men when they felt themselves near unto Death made themselves a Successor by such a way 't was Ordained by a Rule of Chancery that the Renouncing made in favour of another by a sick Beneficed man should not be of value unless the Renouncer Survived twenty dayes after Consent granted In these times the Fountain of the Oblations of the Faithful seemed to be drained or lessened already while the War of the Holy Land lasted and afterwards for some years whilst there was hopes that it might be renew'd through which means much Gold came unto the Ecclesiastical Order but all hopes being lost the Oblations were stopt Nevertheless Example was taken by this work and the giving Indulgences Remissions and Concessions introduced for those who would lay hold on and Contribute thereunto by some good and Pious work for daily there were new works Instituted for each City N. 192. for which Indulgence was granted from Rome this brought forth much Fruit to the Clerical Order and to the Court which did partake of it and this went so far that in the year 1517 there sprang up in Germany the Novelty which every one knows Helping hand Pope Pius the 5th Provided for our Age by a Constitution whereby he Annull'd all the Indulgences granted by the Clause of Helping-hands that is with Obligation to offer Money a thing which hath not yet stopt the Course of this Harvest For although Indulgences are now given without that Condition nevertheless in Churches are set forth Chests and Trunks and the People believe no Pardon to be Obtained unless they Offer But returning to these years of the Schism for what Concerns the gaining or acquiring of new Incomes and setled Estates for the Churches the hope seem'd to be quite lost The Monks already had no more Credit of Holyness the Fervency of the Sacred Militia not only Luke-warm but Extinct The Fryars Mendicants for all were instituted after the year 1200 had therefore Credit N. 193. because they had totally devested themselves of the Power of Purchasing Estates and made a vow to live upon Oblations only and Alms whereby it appeared that the Augmentation of setled Estates would Cease but a good way was found out which was the granting to the Mendicant Fryars by a Priviledge from the Apostolick See to be able to purchase Estates which by Vow and by Institution was Forbidden them many of their devout Persons were most ready to Enrich them there wanted nothing but the manner how this found out immediately the Convents of Mendicants in Italy Spain and other Kingdoms were become very Commodious in Estates within a short time France only Opposed this Novelty saying that as they were come into the Kingdom with those Institutions of Poverty it behooved they should persevere in the same neither would they suffer them hitherto to
the Councel and have left any works especially of Divinity have Maintained Residency to be de Jure Divino proceeding so far that to affirm the Contrary they esteemed it a deluding of the Holy Scripture and natural Reason it self and all Antiquity but not to provoke the Court against its self they have found out Exceptions by which the Pope may make us Dispensations The Councel spake not of Reservations chiefly Reservations which were encreased above measure because they Concerned the Popes own Person N. 214. wherefore they still remained yea they were Encreased afterwards It seemed that in taking away the Vnions and the Commendums ad Vitam the Regresses and the Coadjutorships were in a great share proceeded if not totally yet the greatest part however a speedy Remedy was found out which not only did the same but much more yea greater than the four above named Pension and that was the Pension 'T is an observation of Godly men that in those times the Court would never be induced that a gainful Abuse should be Abolished or Corrected until it had prepared a greater and a more profitable one but in this 't is very certain to be so and therefore 't is to be observed that it is not a thing of these our times only the laying a Pension upon Benefices only the manner is new and the frequency is peculiar to our times When the Church Goods were in Common the name was unheard of after the Rule or Canon practiz'd by all was made that Benefices should be Conferr'd intirely and without Diminution N. 215. After that the Clergy among themselves gave a beginning of going to Law with them when the Cause was doubtful one side yielding up his Rights if a part of the Incomes was granted him with the name of a Pension Likewise if two Beneficyaries for some good Respect with Authority of the Superior should interchange Benefices if the Incomes were not equal they patch'd up that with a Pension which the Richest left Afterwards also when any one Resigned with Licence of the Prelate Pensions a Pension was left him on which he might live There are Popes Decretals of these three sorts of Pensions which were about the year 1200. And these sorts the French admit of also by Jurisdictions refusing to admit of the others which are those that are given only to afford a livelyhood to one to another because he is well-deserving from the Apostolick See to another because he is Learned or because he is of a gentile Behaviour or because he hath served the Church or the Prelate also because he hath the Popes favour only N. 216. Also to a Youth because his Genius presages a good event or Success All these are just Causes say the Canonists why Pensions may be given and they have no Regard to add that without any Cause the Pope may give a Pension upon any Benefice to any Person he shall think fit and he that receives likewise without any Cause but out of the Popes good Will only with a safe Conscience Now therefore instead that two Cured Benefices were held one in Title the other in Commendum were Vnited ad Vitam and the Party Beneficyed was forced to allow a stipend to him that served in one of them at present 't is given to him in Title and to himself for a Pension the same which he takes and it turns to the same yea to his greater Advantage because he was Subject to give Account of the Errors which his Substitute had Committed and there was some necessity for his taking care of it but thus nothing lyes upon him and the Profit is the same In the like manner he that made a Coadjutor N. 217. or renounced with a Regress ought to take some Care of the Benefice of which he had a share and the which might become all his own but renouncing with reserving a Pension to himself he remains free from all Care and thoughts and if the Resignatory dyes or yields up it concerns him not he hath his Pension free and without Molestation Moreover 't is more Profitable to have a Pension than a Benefice first many Benefices require Holy Orders and the Age of being able to receive them as for the Pension the first shaving is sufficient and sometimes the Age of seven years Besides Pensions are given to Lay-men also as Commonly to the Knights of St. Peter Instituted by Leo the 10th and to those of St. Paul Instituted by Paul the 3d and to the Pious Knights Instituted by Pius the 4th and to those of Loreto Instituted by Sixtus the 5th which may have some 150 some 200 Crowns Pension and to whomsoever the Pope pleaseth Again of Benefices in the times when he that held more than one there was alwayes some fault found with him or they had a saying to him and a Dispensation was necessary which caused some Expences notwithstanding this the Doctors put it in doubt whether a man Secured himself in Conscience N. 218. or no. Pensions may be had to any number without Scruple and there is no Pension Incompatible A Pension may be given with Authority to transfer it to another according to ones own Will and Pleasure a thing which cannot be in Benefices without passing through the Bounds and through the Ceremonies of Renouncing and Renouncings were invalid unless the Resignatory survived twenty dayes but the Pension might be transferr'd also at the Point of Death That which chiefly Imports is that the Pension may be Extinguished which in Italian signifies to make a Sum of Money of it for every Contract made about a Benefice is accounted as Simony To extinguish a Pension signifies nothing else but to receive a quantity of Money to free the Beneficyary from paying the Pension which quantity is Taxed by Agreement according to the greater or to the lesser Age of the Pensionary Formerly before our Age N. 219. there was no way to make ready Money of a Benefice that would have been with an Infinite Offence before God and before men now 't is done Lawfully I have a Benefice of 200 Crowns I renounce it unto Antony reserving to my self a Pension of 100 which I extinguish as soon as 700 are received that is I renounce it and so have made of my Benefice 700 Crowns ready Money without sin Some are so little Penetrating that this circling about seems to them to be the same as if I should sell my Benefice for 700 Crowns but they shew a gross Judgment There are many other things wherein the Pension is much more Commodious as is used at present in Vnions in Commendums in Coadjutorships and in Regresses Some Magnifying the Commodiousness of making Money which the Pope hath for the necessities of the Apostolick See do say that if he should open the Regresses he might raise as much as he would and they shew they understand not matter of Benefices there would not be a Farthing gotten by
treating and speaking follows not that which he is inwardly sensible of The Clerks or Clergy-men are become Administrators of these Goods by Laws which have granted unto Christian Colledges the Power of acquiring Estates N. 227. both by Wills and Donations of those who have bequeathed their Goods and by the Authority which the Church hath given unto the said Clergy in the Canons therefore they are Obliged to Govern and to Dispence these Estates according to the Laws Dispositions Donations and Testamentary Dispositions and according to the Canons and that which might be done Contrary to it cannot be called otherwise than Injustice Injury and Usurpation The Canonists say that the Pope hath most full Power over the Goods and Benefices Ecclesiastical so that he may conjoyn them diminish them erect new ones give them ad nutum Confer them before they become Vacant lay upon them Servitudes Burdens and Pensions and generally that in Beneficial matters the Popes Will is in the stead of Reason or Right This Sufficeth not but they add that the Pope may alter or transform into other Works the Legacies ad Pias Causas and may alter the Disposition of Testators applying that to another which they shall have appointed for a Pious Work and it cannot be denyed that this is the Practice which hath changed all the Government and all the Antient Institutions N. 228. but it remains still in Doubt who does amiss and errs the Antient or the Modern if so much as a Doubt may happen Martin Navarr with some of the more Moderate Canonists limits this Proposition that the Pope may alter the last Wills only restraining when there is a Lawful cause of doing it which otherwise would be to deprive a man of his own and of the Power granted him by the Natural and by the Divine Law coming down also to this Particular that the Pope cannot without Cause give that to one Church which is left unto another therefore how much less unto Persons not called Navarrus saith also that the saying of the Gloss approved by the Canonists That is in Beneficyal Matters the Popes Will is instead and takes the Place of Reason is to be understood only in things which are de Jure Positivo but not in that which cannot be done without disagreeing with Natural and Divine Law And those who give no unlimited Power unto the Pope N. 229. would also exclude the Canons of the Universal Church not to fall into the Absurdity that in a Matter of such Importance the Universal Church should have erred and done amiss and that the Court should do uprightly The said Navarrus adds further that it being said in the Clementines that the Free Disposal of Benefices belongs to the Pope The word Free is or ought to be understood without Licence Leave or Consent and notwithstanding the Contradiction of any man soever but yet without Prejudice of the Third if we should admit of this Exposition as it seems Convenient to be admitted there would be seen a great Opposition to Reservations because they are Prejudicial to the Bishops in the giving of Benefices unto Strangers because it is with Prejudice to those of the Country in whose Favour the Wills are made and it would not be very favourable to the Pretension to have Power or to be able to alter the last Will and Testament being Prejudicial to the Memory of the Deceased I know well that others answer to this that all is true N. 230. when there is no Legitimate Cause but the Point is who shall be Judge of the Lawfulness of the Cause for if it belongs to himself whose Authority is to be restrained 't is as good to give him the Absolute Authority as that which is limited with a Lawful Cause unless the Law be above it Navarrus adds very Notable things saying that in our Age the Opinion of the Jurisconsults which expatiate so much the Papal Power in Beneficyal matters is in much Credit to please those who are Ambitious of many Benefices which they accept as fitted for their Ambition and Covetousness who heard a Divine say Publickly and a Famous Canonist that they would willingly accept of all the Benefices of the Kingdom if the Pope would Bestow them upon them but on the Contrary Pius Quintus told them that the Jurisconsults are wont to attribute more Power than Convenient to the Pope whereto he answered that there are some also which do not Extol but that it behooveth to walk in the middle way having Respect unto Divine and Humane Laws together N. 231. not doing like the Modern Jurisconsults who Magnifie Humane Laws so much that they answer against the Divine However I intend not to Contradict the Opinion which gives so much Power for the Reverence due to the Pope of whom is treated although it Comprehends not how it agrees with Divinity and with Reason I shall only propose some Difficulties which are wont to be Promoted by Writers on such an Opinion which when they shall have resolved truth in this matter will be most clear And first If the Pope hath such an Ample Authority who hath given it him Not Christ because the Authority given by him is only is Spiritual things for loosing and for binding that is for remitting and for retaining of Sins And then the Ecclesiastical Estates are Possessed de Jure Hamano and not Divino and for such it hath been resolved above and therefore he hath not receive this Power from God much less from the Laws of Princes from Testamentary Dispositions N. 232. nor from the Canons of the Churches because all these have given the Administration to the Clergy-men of each Church over the Estates and Benefices thereof and prescribedly also with limited Conditions that they may not be altered therefore he hath it not from these There are no other Patrons in being nor none can have Authority unless granted by these therefore it remains to be Considered from whence and by what other way it hath been given him To this Doubt a second may be added if the Pope hath this Authority what is the Cause that his Predecessors for a Thousand years and more have never Exercized any nor any Antient Doctor nor Councel nor Historian nor Father nor Canon hath so much as made mention of it It cannot be Attributed that there is a necessity for that now which was not in those times because that in the Ages that past between the years 800 and 1100 for 300 years the Disorders were so great throughout all Europe that in Comparison of those N. 233. these at present are Tollerable and indeed no Pope did so much as intrude himself into the Estates of other Churches which had great need of being Governed And after the Popes had begun to interpose themselves in some places until the time of Clement the 4th no man ever pretended to such an Ample and Absolute Power but the said Clement hath not directly published