make lawes that shal brynge in mekenes among spirytuall men and that may enduce them charytablye to suffre some tyme them that offende them as they haue bene in tyme past to make lawes to set spyrytuall men in suche case that they may correcte all them and kepe them vnder that wyll any thynge resyste them And lyke as many spirituall men haue mysordred them selfe agaynste laye men not onely in suche thynges as be partely touched before but also in wordes / affermynge somtyme that lay men loue not prestes so in likewise some lay mē misordre thē selfe in wordes agaynst prestes and wil say that there is no good preste or that all prestes be nought and some as it is sayde / wyll call them somtyme horeson prestes And if all these wordes were prohybyte on bothe sydes vpon greate paines / I thynke it wold do great good in this behalfe ¶ An other cause of this dyuysion The fourth Chapyter THe harde extreme lawes that are made for layenge violent handes vpon clerkes and suche other spyrytuall persones / hath ben an other cause of this diuision For they be very parcyalle / as to the reders wylle appere and they be also so generalle that nether kynge nor lorde be not excepted in them but that they shulde goo to the pope to be assoyled And the sayde lawes be .xvii. q. iiii si quis suadente diabolo et ex de sētenc excōmunicac ca. Non dubiū et Ca. mulieris et Ca. peruenit et ca. ea noscitur in many other chapiters there / et ex de sentenc excommunicac li. vi ca. religioso And these lawes be suche / that if a manne in violence lay his hande only vpon a clerke / that he is accoursed but thoughe a clerke beate a laye manne wrongfully / and with violence he is not accoursed And this parcialyte hathe done greatte hurte ¶ An other occasion of this dyuysion The fyft Chapiter THoughe there be dyuers good and reasonable articles ordeyned by the church to be redde openlye to the people at certain dayes by the churche therto assygned / which commenly is called the general sentence yet manye curates and theyr parysh prestes sometyme rede onely parte of the artycles / and omytte parte therof / eyther for shortnes of tyme / or els to take such artycles as serue moste to theyr purpose And somtyme as it is sayd / they adde other excōmunicaciōs after their mynde that be not putte in to the sayde general sentence And whan the artycles be so chosen out / they sounde to so great parcialite and fauour for spiritual men eyther for payemēt of tythes offerynges mortuaries / and suche other duetyes to the churche or for the mayntenaunce of that they calle the liberties of the churche as that no preeste nor clerke c. shal not be put to answere before lay mē specyallye where theyr bodyes shuld be arrested or that no imposicions shulde be layde vpon the churche by temporall power or agaynst them that with violence lay handes vpon preest or clerk / or suche other that the people be greatly offended therby and thynke great parcialite in them and iuge them rather to be made of a pryde and couetyse of the churche than of any charite to the people wherby many doo rather dyspyse them than obeye them And I suppose veryly that this diuisyon wyl neuer be perfitely and charitably refourmed and brought to good accorde tyll the people come to this poynt / that they shall greatlye feare and drede to ronne in to the leeste censure of the churche And that wyll neuer be tyll the heedes spyrytuall wyll refourme them selfe and shewe a fatherlye loue vnto the people and not extende the sentences of the churche vppon so lyghte causes and vppon suche parcialytie as they haue doone in tyme paste And if they wyll refourme these poyntes before rehersed and somme other hereafter folowynge I suppose verylye the people wylle gladdely here them and folowe them For than as the gospelle saythe they be theyr verye shepardes Wherfore yf it were ordeyned as well by auctorytie of parlyamente as of conuocation / that suche artycles shulde be deuysed and putte in to the generalle sentence that shulde styrre as well spyrytualle menne as temporalle menne to loue vertue / and flee vyces / to loue trouth and plainnes and to flee falshod and doublenes / and that none vpon a payne shulde adde or dyminysshe any thynge concernynge the sayde articles I thynke it wolde helpe moche to make a good agremēt of this diuision and to contynue the same with loue and drede betwexte the reulers spirituall and the people as there oughte to be And yf lyke artycles were deuised to refrayne spyrytuall men fro gyuynge hereafter any ferther occasion to this diuision or any other lyke and they to be redde at visitations / Seenes suche other lyke places / wher prestes assēble by cōmandement of theyr ordinaries / with certayne paynes to be appoynted by parlyamēt conuocacion I thynke it wolde bryng many thynges in to good order / and helpe moche to a good reformation of this diuision ¶ An other occasion of this diuision The syxt Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuysion hathe partely rysen by temporal men that haue desyred moche to haue the famyliaritie of preestes in theyr games and disportes and haue vsed to make moche more of them that were compenable thanne of them that were not so and haue called them good felowes and good companyons And many also wolde haue chapleyns whiche they wolde not onlye suffre / but also cōmaunde to go on huntyng haukyng / and suche other vayne disportes And some wolde lette them lye among other laye seruauntes where they coulde neyther vse prayer nor contemplation ¶ And some of them wolde suffre them to go in lyueries not conuenyent in colour for a preste to were and wolde also many tymes set them to worldely offyces as to be bayliffes receiuours / or stewardes and than whan they haue by suche occasyon bene moche beten / and greatly exercysed in suche worldely busynes / so that the inwarde deuocyon of the harte hath ben in them as colde and as weke in maner as in laye men yet yf any benefyce haue fallen voyde of theyr gyft they wolde preferre them to it / eyther as in recompens of theyr busynes and labours or for that they were good companyons rather thā another good deuoute man / that percase is lerned and kepeth hym selfe fro suche worldely vanyties and ydle company or that is dysposed somtyme to admonysshe charytably suche as he is in company with of suche defautes as he seeth or hereth of them / and that few men do loue to here And therfore wyll they preferre them / that wyl let them alone And yet whan they haue so done they wyl anone speke euyl of prestes / and reporte great lyghtnes in them and lyghtly noote one prest with an nother prestes defaute and that whan they
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
¶ 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
counsaylle / besechynge his grace of helpe in that behalfe to saue and defende the accusoures and witnes fro the extort power of them that be accused And yf they wold do so it is nat to suppose but that the kynge wold sufficiently prouide for theyr saufegarde But for as moche as it shulde seme that spyrytuall men somwhat pretende to punysshe heresyes only of theyr owne power without calling for any assistance of the temporal power / therfore they make suche lawes / as may helpe forthe theyr purpose as they thynke but surely that is nat the charitable way to put the knowlege of the names of the accusors and witnes fro hym that is accused for yf he knew them he might percase allege and proue so great and so vehemente cause of rancoure and malice in theÌ„ that accuse hym that theyr sayenges by no lawe ought nat to stand agaynst hym And that spyrytuall men pretende that they onely shuld haue the hole inquerie and punisshmeÌ„t of heresy it apereth extra de hereticis .li. vi ca. vt inquisitionis ê‘ag prohibemê° where all powers / and al lordes temporall and reulers be prohibite / that they shall nat in any maner take knowlege or Iudge vpon heresie sithe it is mere spirituall and he that inquereth of heresie taketh knowlege of heresie And so the summe called summa rosella taketh it titulo ex communicac perag iiii And yf that be true it semeth than that all iustyces of peace in this realm be excomunicate for they by auctoritie of the kinges coÌ„missions and also by statute inquere of heresies And I thynk it is nat in the church to prohibite that for though it were so that the temporall men maye nat iudge / what is heresie and what nat yet they may as it semeth by theyr owne auctoritie inquere of it / and enforme the ordinarie what they haue founde And also yf a metropolytane with all his clergye and people of his dioces fel into herisie it wolde be harde to redresse it withoute temporal power And therfore temporal men be redye and are bounde to be redy to oppresse heresies / whan they ryse as spirituall men be And therfore spiritual men may nat take all the thanke to them selfe / whan heresyes be punysshed as thoughe theyr charitie and power onely dyd it for they haue the fauor and helpe of temporall men to do it or elles many tymes it wolde nat be brought about Neuertheles my entente is nat to proue the said lawes all holly to be cruell vnresonable for I know well that it is right expedient that strayt lawes be made for punisshment of heresies that be heresies in dede more rather than any other offence and that the discretion of the iudges spyrytuall may ryght well aswage the rygour of the sayde lawes and vse them more fauorably agaynst them that be innocent than agaynste them that be wylfull offendours yf they wyll charytably serche for the truthe But surely yf the sayde lawes shulde be put in to the handelynge of cruell iudges it myghte happen that they shulde many tymes punyssh innocentes as wel as offendours / but I trust in god it is nat so Neuertheles whether it be soo or nat / certayne it is that there is a great rumour amonge the peple that it is so / that spiritual meÌ„ punysshe nat heresye onely for zele of the fayth and of a loue a zele to the people with a fatherly pietie to them that so offende / as they oughte to do / how greate offenders so euer they be but that they do it rather to oppresse theÌ„ that speketh any thynge agaynste the worldly power or ryches of spyrytuall men or agaynste the greate confederacie that as many men say is in them to maynteygne it And though many spyrytuall men may be founde that haue ryght many greate vertues and great gyftes of god as chastytye lyberalytie pacyence sobrenes temperaunce cunnyng and suche other / yet it wyll be harde to fynde any one spyrytuall man that is nat enfecte with the sayd desyre and affection to haue the worldely honoure of prestes exalted and preferred / therfore if any lay maÌ„ report any euyll of a preest / though it be openly knowen / that it is as he sayeth yet they wyll be more diligente to cause the laye man to cesse of that sayenge than to do that in theym is to refourme that is amysse in the preest / that is spoken of takynge as hit were an occasion to doo the lesse in suche reformacions bycause laye men speke so moche agaynst them But surely that wyll be none excuse to spyrytuall rulers afore god / whaÌ„ he shal aske accompte of his people / that were commytted vnto theyr kepynge ¶ And if this diuision be suffred to continue it is nat vnlyke but that greate bendynge shall folow on bothe parties whereby great hurte and inconuenience may growe vnto moche people And I see none that may set a meane waye betwene these extremities ne that mindeth any thynge to do good in it but the kynges grace and his parliamente And I thynke verelye that they are bounde in conscyence to folowe it with effecte tyll the diuision be clerely cessed Our lorde of his mercy sende them grace to do it Amen ¶ An other occasyon of this dyuysyon The eyght Chapyter IT is a commen opinyon among doctours that none is an heretike for that onely that he erreth / but for that he defendeth opynatyfelye his errour And therefore he that erreth of simplicite may in no wyse be sayd an heretyke And summa rosella in the tytle hereticus in principio sayeth that a man may erre and meryte therby and he putteth this example If a symple vnlerned man here the preachynge of his bysshop / that preacheth happly agaynst the faithe / and he beleueth it with a redy mynde to obey this man meriteth and yet he erreth but that is to be vnderstonde where ignorance excuseth Than it semeth that it is nat ynough to proue that a maÌ„ is an heretike / for that he hath holden opinions ayenste that the church teacheth / ne that he oughte nat to make any purgation nor abiuration for it for that that he hielde in suche case was nat his faythe / but the faythe of the churche was his faythe though happly he were nat than fully auysed of it And therfore saynt Aidan whan he helde the wronge parte of kepynge of Eester was no heretyke / and some saye that saynt Chadde was of the same opynyon as saynte Aydan was whiche in lykewyse was no heretike for theyr desyre was to knowe the truthe and therefore it is nat redde that they made eyther purgacyon or abiuracion ne yet the abbot Ioachym whiche neuertheles erred / for he was redy to submytte hym to the determynacyon of the chyrche / and therfore he was neyther holden as an heretyke / ne compelled to abiure Than yf this be sothe it were greate pitie / yf it shulde be
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
we shulde se ryght great diuersity bytwene them I trowe as for many of them as greate diuersitie as is bytwene heuen hell And here as it semeth I myght conuenyently reherse the wordes that be spoken in the fyrst boke of the folowyng of Chryste / the .xviii. chapiter where it speaketh of the holy fathers that haue bene in religion in tyme past / and sayth thus They serued our lorde in hunger and in thurste in hete and in colde in nakednes / in labour and in werynes / in vigiles fastinges in prayers and in holye meditations in persecucions and in many reproffes They refused honours here in this lyfe that they myght alway haue them in the euerlastyng lyfe O how strayt and howe abiect a lyfe led the holy fathers in wyldernes howe greuous temptacions they suffered howe fyersly they were with theyr goostly ennemyes assayled howe feruent prayer they dayly offered to god what rygorous abstinence they vsed howe great zele feruour they had to spiritual profyte how stronge batayle agaynst all synne And howe pure and holle entent they hadde to god in al theyr dedes on the day they laboured and on the nyght they prayed And though they laboured on the daye bodily yet they prayed in mynde and so they spent theyr tyme alway frutefully and thought euery houre shorte for the seruyce of god / and for the great swetenes that they hadde in heuenly contemplation they forgette ofte tymes theyr bodily refection All ryches / honour / dignities / kinnesmen and frendes they renounced for the loue of god They coueted to haue nothynge of the worlde so that skarcely they wolde take that was necessarye for the bodily kynde They were poore in worldly goodes / but they were ryche in grace and vertues They were nedy outwardely but inwardely they were replenysshed with grace and goostly comfortes To the worlde they were alyens and straungers but to god they were ryghte deere and familyar frendes In the syght of the worlde and in theyr owne sighte they were vile and abiecte but in the syght of god and of his saynctes they were precious and singularly electe In them shone al perfection of vertue / trewe mekenes symple obedience charitie and pacience / with other like vertues gracious gyftes of god Wherfore they profited dayly in spirite and opteyned great grace of god They be lefte as an exaumple to all religious persones and more oughte theyr examples to stere them to deuocion and to profite more more in vertue grace / than the great multitude of dissolute and ydle persones shulde any thynge drawe them abacke O what feruoure was in religious persons at the begynnyng of theyr religion What deuocion in prayers / what zele to vertue what loue to goostly discipline and what reuerence and meke obedience flourysshed in them vnder the rule of theyr superiour truely theyr dedes yet bere witnes / that they were holy and perfyte that so myghtly subdued the worlde / and thrust it vnder fote Thus farre gothe the sayde chapiter But the more pitie is / most men say that nowe a dayes many religious men wyl rather folow theyr owne wyl than the wylle of theyr superiour and that they wylle neyther haue hunger nother thyrst heate nor colde nakednes werynes / nor labour but riches honor / dignities frēdes worldly acqueintāce attēdance of seruantes at their cōmandementes pleasures / disportes that more lyberally than temporal mē haue Thus are they fallen say they fro the true religiō wherby the deuocion of the people is in maner fallē fro thē Neuertheles I dout not / but there be many right good vertuous religious persons god forbede it shulde be otherwyse but hit is sayde that there be many euyll and that in suche multitude / that they that be good canne not or wyll not see them refourmed And one great cause that lettethe reformation in this behalfe is this If the moste dissolute persone in all the cōminaltie / and that lyueth most openly ayenst the rules of the religion can vse this policye to extolle his relygion aboue other / and disprayse other relygions for that they be not of suche perfection as theyr relygion is anone he shall be called a good seruente brother / and one that beareth vppe the relygion and shall be therfore the more lyghtely forborne in his offences Where the throuthe is that the religion maynteyneth hym and bearethe vppe hym / and not he the religion For hit hathe lyttell nede of hym And thoughe many be good and lyue a ryghte good and laudable lyfe after the statutes and order there vsed yet in that poynt / to extolle theyr religyon aboue other and to take parte with them that doo so thoughe they knowe that they that so extol it / kepe not the religion them selfe fewe be without offence and truly that is a great defaute for it gyueth a great boldnes to offenders / and discourageth theym that be good / whanne they see them that moste lyue ayenste theyr relygion be so maynteygned and commended ¶ An other thyng that hath caused many people to mislike religion hath bene the great extremyte that hath ben many tymes sene at elections of abbotes priours and suche other soueraygnes spirituall And this is a generall grounde that whan religious men perceyue / that the people myslike them / they in theyr hartes withdrawe theyr fauour and deuocion agayne fro them And so hathe charitie waxed colde bytwene them And veryly I suppose / that hit were better that there shulde no abbotte or pryoure hereafter contynue ouer certayne yeres that shuld be appoynted by auctoritie of the rulers than to haue suche extremites at elections as hath bene vsed in tyme paste in many places ¶ And veryly as me semeth one thyng wolde do great good concernynge religions and all religious persones and that is this that the reules and constitucions of religion were sene and wel considered / whether the rygour and straytnes of them may be borne nowe in these dayes as they were at the begynnyg of the religions For the people be nowe more weyke as to the multitude / than they were than And yf it be tought / that they maye not be nowe kepte that than such relaxacions and interpretations of theyr rules be made as shall be thought by the reulers expedient For bettre it is to haue an esye rule wel kept than a strayte rule broken without correction For therof foloweth a boldenes to offende / a quyet herte in a euyl cōscyence a custome in synne with many euyll examples vnto the people wherby many haue found defaut at al religion where they shulde rather haue founde defaute at dyuers abusions agaynst the true religion for certayne it is that religions were first made by holy fathers by the instincte of the holy ghoste kepe them who so may ¶ The conclusyon of this lyttell treatise The .xvi. Chapiter SYthe there is no sacrifyce that more pleaseth almyghty god /
Samuell the holynes of Dauyd such other examples of blessed men and he hym selfe be vnmeke vnpacient vnmercyfull and not holy it is to fere that al those examples shal lytel profyte And therfore prelates that in tyme passed haue bene the verye trewe shepeherdes though they hadde theyr bodyes here of the erthe yet neuer the lesse they fed the flockes of our lorde to them commytted with heuenly fode and vsed not to preache to them theyr owne wyll but the wylle of god And one man saythe of prelates this Whan I saythe he beholde the heyght of the honour of prelacy forthe with I drede the peryll and daunger of it And whan I considre the degree I drede the ruine I considre the heyghte of the dignitie / and I beholde forthwith the mouthe of Helle open euen at hande For there is no doubt but that theyr administracion is more perillous than is the ministracion of any other But yet neuerthelesse yf they administre wel they shal get thē selfe therby an hyghe degree in heuen / they shal receyue the gretter abundance more ful measure of peace for their good trauaylle for euer And I beseche almyghty god to sende these .iiii. thynges habundantly in to the worlde and that moste specially amonge prelates and spirituell reulers that is to saye / zele of soules pitie / good doctrine and deuout prayour And than vndoubtedly a new lyghte of grace and of Tractabilitye shall shortely shewe and shyne amonge the people ¶ Thus endeth this Treatyse concernynge the diuision betwene the spiritualtie the temporaltie TABVLA FYrste that the dyuysyon amonge spyrituall men them selfe hath bene one cause of the diuysyon / that is nowe bytwene the spyrytualtye temporalty in this realme The firste Chapiter ¶ That the omyttynge of dyuers good lawes / with certaine defautes and disorder in men of the church / whiche among other be recited and declared by Iohn Gerson haue bene an other occasion of this diuision The seconde Chapiter ¶ That certayne lawes made by the churche wherin it is recited quod laici sunt clericis infesti that is to saye that laye men be cruell to clerkes hath bene an other cause of this dyuysion The thyrde Chapiter ¶ That the extreme lawes made by the church for leyenge violent handes vpon clerkes / haue bene an other cause of this dyuysyon The fourth Chapiter ¶ That the disorderynge of the generall sentence / hath bene an other occasyon of the sayde diuision The fyfte Chapiter ¶ That an other occasion of this diuision hath partly rysen by temporal men through disordrynge of theyr chapleyns and chauntrye preestes The syxte Chapiter ¶ That sutes taken in the spiritual courtes ex officio haue ben an nother occasion of this diuision The seuenth Chapiter ¶ That though after the determination of doctours / a man is not an heretyke for that only that he erreth but for that he opinatyfely defendeth his errour and that neuer the lesse the spiritualtie as a commen voyce gothe amonge the people haue in tyme paste punysshed many for heresie vpon lyght causes and offences wherupon many people haue grudged / and that grudge hath ben an other occasyon of this diuysion The eyght Chapiter ¶ That the parcialite that hath benne shewed vpon sutes taken in the spirituall courte by spirituall men hathe bene an other cause of this diuision The nynthe Chapiter ¶ That the extreme and couetous demeanour of some curates with theyr parysshens hath ben an other cause of this diuision The tenthe Chapiter ¶ That the grauntyng of pardons for money as it were to some charitable vse that hath not after folowed hathe raysed an other grudge amonge the people whiche hath ben an other occasion of this diuision The leuenth Chapiter ¶ That the makynge of lawes by the churche whiche they hadde none auctoritie to make / hathe bene an other occasion of this diuision The twelthe Chapiter ¶ That lacke of good visitacions hath bene an other occasion of this diuision The thyrtene Chapiter ¶ That the great multitude of lycences and dispensacions made by spiritual rulers for money vpon lyght suggestions hath ben an other cause of this diuision The fourtene Chapiter ¶ That the great laxnes and worldely pleasures of religious persons / wherby the people hath benne greatly offended / hath bene an other occasion of this diuision The fyftetene Chapiter ¶ Than for a cōclusion of this treatise it is som what touched howe good it is to haue a zele of soules and howe perillous it is to do any thynge / wherby they myght be hurted And that if zele of soules pitie good doctrine deuoute pray our / were abundauntly in this worlde moost specially in prelates spirituall rulers that than a newe lyght of grace and tractabilite wolde shortely shewe and shyne amonge the people The .xvi. Chapiter  ¶ Imprynted at London in Fletestrete next vnto sayncte Dunstones churche by Robert Redman