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
¶ A treatise concernynge the diuision betwene the spirytualtie and temporaltie ⧠This lyttell booke declareth dyuers causes wherby diuision hath rysen betwene the spiritualtie and temporaltie and partly sheweth howe they maye be brought to a vnite And if they that may do moost good towarde the sayd vnitie wyll take the artycles of this treatise as lyttel tytlinges to bring som weyghtier thynges to theyr mynde concernyng the same and thanne by theyr wysdomes wyll adde them here vnto and as they shall thynke necessarie to see them all put in due execucion I thynke veryly that in shorte tyme they shall brynge this matter to good effecte to the honoure of god to the comon welth and quietnes of all the kynges subiectes ¶ Dyuers articles ' whiche haue bene a speciall cause of the diuision that is betwyxt the spiritualtie and the temporaltie in this realme The fyrst Chapiter WHo may remembre the state of this realme nowe in these dayes without great heuynes and sorow of herte For there as in tymes past hath reygned charite mekenes concorde and peace reygneth nowe enuye pryde diuision and stryfe that nat only betwene lay men and lay men but also betwene religious and religious / and betwene preestes and relygyous and that is yet more to be lamented also betwene preestes and preestes Whiche diuision hath ben so vniuersal / that it hath ben a great vnquietnes and a great breache of charitie through all the realme and part of it hathe rysen by reason of a great singularite / that religious ê‘sons and prestes haue hadde to theyr estate of lyuynge whereby many of theym haue thoughte theyr estate most perfyte before al other And some of them haue thereby exalted them selfe in theyr owne syght so hyghe that they haue rysen into suche a goostly pryde that they haue in maner disdayned and dyspysed other that haue nat lyued in suche perfection as they thynke they doo And of this hathe folowed that some of theym haue hadde vnsyttyng wordes of the other callynge them flatterers dissimulers and hypocrites And they haue called the other agayne proude persons couetous vayne gloryous and louers of worldely delytes and suche other ¶ And an other parte of this dyuysyon hath rysen by dyuersities of opynyons that haue ben vpon the auctorities powers and iurisdiction of spirituall men amonge them selfe And vpon these dyuysions some lay men haue in tyme past fauored the one parte and some the other whereby the people haue greately ben inquyeted But I wote nat fully by what occasyon it is that nowe of late the great multytude of all the laye people haue founde defaute as well at prestes as relygyouse / so ferfurthe that it is nowe in maner noted through all the realme / that there is a greate dyuysyon bytwene the spyritualtie and the temporaltie And verylie it is great pitie that suche a noyse shulde sprynge and goo abrode And some alledge dyuers causes why it is so noysed Fyrste they saye that neyther prestes nor religious kepe nat the perfeccyon of theyr ordre to the honour of god and good example of the people as they shulde do but that som of them procure theyr owne honour and call it the honour of god and rather couet to haue rule ouer the people than to profyte the people And that some couet theyr bodyly ease and worldely welthe in meate and drynke and suche other / more than commenly any temporal man doeth And that some serue god for a worldly laude and to be magnified therfore more than for the pure loue of god And some laye men saye farther / that though religious men haue varied with religious / and that som prestes haue varyed also with religious in som pointes concernynge the preeminence of theyr perfection as is said before that yet in suche thynges as perteyne to the mayntenaunce of the worldely honour of the churche and of spirituall men whiche they call the honour of god and in such thynges as perteyn to the encrece of the riches of spiritual meÌ„ religious or seculer they say they agree all in one And therfore they say that all spiritual men as to the multitude / be more diligent to enduce the people to suche thynges as shall brynge riches to the churche as to gyue money to trentals and to founde chaunteries and obites and to obteyne pardons to go vpon pylgremages / and suche other than they be to enduce them to the payment of theyr dettes / to make restitutions for such wronges as they haue done / or to doo the werkes of mercye to theyr neyghboures that be poore and nedye / and that somtyme be also in right extreme necessite ¶ And for as moche as it is most commonly sene / that amonge a great multitude there be many that worke rather vpon wyll than vpon reason And that though they haue a good zele / yet many tymes they lacke good ordre and discretion whiche is the mother of al vertue Therfore some persons thynkynge that worldely honoure and ryches lettethe greatly deuocion so moche that as they thynke they canne not stande togyther haue holden opinion that it is not lawfull to the churche to haue any possessions And some takynge a more meane waye therin haue sayde / that as they thynke it is lawfull and also expedient that the churche haue possessions but they thynke / that the great haboundance that is in the churche / doth great hurt / induceth in many of them a loue to worldely thynges and letteth and in maner strangleth the loue of god And therfore they thynke that it were good to take awaye that is to moche / and to leue that is sufficient And some also as of a policie to pulle ryches fro the churche haue inueyed ayenste all suche thynges as brynge ryches to the churche And because great ryches haue comme to the churche for prayenge for soules in purgatorie haue by wordes affyrmed that there is no purgatorie And that grauntynge of pardons riseth of couetyse of the churche and profyteth nat the people / and that pylgremages be of no effecte / and that the churche may make no lawes / and suche other thynges / as foundynge of chaunteries making of brotherhedes and many mo Wherein they shewe outwardly to ryse agaynst all the thynges before rehersed and to dispyse them and yet they knowe and beleue in theyr hertes that all these thynges be of them selfe ryght good and profytable as they be in dede yf they were ordered as they shulde be And somme persones there be that throughe grace fynde defaute onely at the abusion and mysse order of suche thynges and speke nothyng against the thinges selfe neither of purgatory / pylgremages / settynge vppe of ymages / or suche oher For they knowe well they be ordeyned of god and that the mysorder rysethe only of man for couetyse singularitie or some other suche lyke defaute throughe perswasyon and dysceyte of the goostly enemye And thoughe some men haue
true as is reported that there shulde be so great a desyre in some spyrytuall men to haue men abiured or haue the extreme punysshement for heresie / as it is sayde there is For as some haue reported yf any woll wytnes that a man hath spoken any thynge that is heresie though he speke it onely of an ignoraunce or of a passyon or if he canne by interrogatoryes and questions be dryuen to confesse any thynge / that is prohybyted by the churche anone they wyll dryue hym to abiure or holde hym atteynted without examining the intent or cause of his sayenge or whether he had a mynde to be refourmed or nat and that is a verye soore way our lorde be more mercyfull to our soules than so greuously to punysshe vs for euery lyght defaut And here some saye that bycause there is so greate a desyre in spyrytuall men to haue menne abiure / and to be noted with heresye / and that some as it were of a polycye do noyse it that the royaulme is full of heretyckes more than it is in dede that it is very peryllous that spyrytuall men shulde haue auctorytie to arrest a man for euery lyght suspection or complaynte of heresye tyll that desyre of punysshement in spyrytuall men be ceassed and goone but that they shulde make processe agaynst them to brynge theym in vppon payne of cursynge and thanne yf they tary fourty dayes the kynges lawes to brynge them in by a wrytte De excommunicato capiendo and so to be broughte fourthe oute of the kynges Gaole to aunswere But surely as it is somewhat touched before in the .vii. chap. it semeth that the church in tyme past hath don what they coulde to brynge about that they might punysshe heresie of them selfe / without callynge for any helpe therin of the seculer power ¶ And therefore they haue made lawes that heretykes myghte be arrested and put in pryson / and stockes yf nede were / as appereth Clementinis de hereticis Ca. multorum querela And after at the speciall callyng on of the spiritualtie / it was enacted by parlyament that ordynaries myght arrest men for heresie for summe men thynke that the sayde Clementyne was nat of effect in the kynges lawe to arrest any man for heresie But if a man were openly and notably suspected of heresie / and that there were sufficient recorde and wytnes agaynst hym / there were also a doubte that he wolde flee and nat appere wherby he myghte enfecte other it semeth conuenient that he be arested by the body but nat vpon euery lyght complaynt that full lightly may be vntrewe And it wyll be ryghte expedient that the kynges highnes and his counsaylle loke specyally vpon this matter and nat to ceasse / tylle hit be brought to more quietnes than it is yet and to se with great diligēce that pride couetise nor worldly loue be no iudges nor innocentes be punysshed ne yet that wylfull offenders go nat without dewe correction ¶ An other cause of this diuision ¶ The .ix. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath risen by the extremities that haue ben shewed in sutes taken in the spyrytuall courtes by spyrytuall men for there hath therby risen an opiniō among moche people / that a man were as good or better to let a spyrytuall man haue at the begynnyng all that he demaūdeth as to stryue with hym in the spyrytuall lawe for it In so moche / that as it is sayde suche extremities haue bene vsed in the spirituall lawe for tythes that no prescription / custome cōposition nor other plee shall be admytted in the spyrytuall lawe agaynst them And surely yf that be trewe it is a great parcyalyte and a great denyeng of Iustyce And therfore it wolde be refourmed And as for mortuaries they be adnulled all redy by statute But yet begynnethe to ryse oone thynge to maynteyne the fyrst dyuysion concernynge suche mortuaryes yf it be suffered to contynue and that is / that many curates / nat regardynge the kynges statute in that behalfe perswade theyr parysshens whan they be sycke to beleue that they can nat be saued but they restore them as moche as the olde mortuarie wolde haue amounted to And surelye the Curates that by that meanes get any recompence by gyfte or by quest are bounde in conscience to restytucyon For he is deceyued in his gyfte or bequest For it procedeth nat of a free libertie / but vppon that vntrue infourmacyon And lyke as a contracte wherby a man is deceiued in that thyng that is solde holdeth nat in conscience as yf a manne selle copper for golde or wyne myxte with water for pure wyne and so it is whan a man maketh a gyfte or a bequeste vpon an vntrue surmyse And that no man is bounden in conscyence to restore for his mortuarye nowe sythe the statute of Mortuaryes was made / it maye appere thus It is holden by them that be lerned in the lawe of this realme that the parlyamente hathe an absolute power as to the possessyon of all temporall thynges within thys realme in whose handes so euer they be / spyrytualle or temporalle / to take theym from one manne and gyue theym to an other / wythoute any cause or consyderacyon For yf they doo it it byndeth in the lawe And yf there be a consideracion / that hit byndethe in lawe and conscience And certayne it is that all suche Mortuaryes were temporalle goodes / thoughe they were claymed by spyrytualle menne And the cause why they were taken awaye was for as moche as there were fewe thynges within this realme that caused more varyaunce among the people than they dyd / whan they were suffered for they were taken so farre agaynst the order of the kynges lawes and against Iustyce and ryght as shall hereafter appere Fyrste they were taken nat onely after the dethe of the husbande but also after the dethe of the wyfe whiche after the lawes of the realme had no goodes but that it was taken of the husbandes goodes / and they were taken also of seruauntes and chyldren as well infantes as other And if a man died by the waye and had an housholde in an other place he shulde paye mortuaries in bothe places And some tyme whan the parson / and vicar of a church appropried / varied for the mortuaries the people as it hath ben reported haue ben enforced er they coulde sytte in reste / to pay in some places mortuaries to them bothe And somtyme the curates wolde prohybyte pore men to sell theyr goodes in tyme of theyr sicknes if they were suche goodes as were lyke to be theyr mortuaries for they wolde say it was done in defraude of the churche And yf the quyck goodes were better than the deed goodes they wolde in some places take the quycke And yf the deade goodes were better than the quycke they wolde take the dead And the mortuaryes muste be delyuered furthewith or elles the bodye shulde nat be buryed
And they prescrybed to haue ryghte to mortuaries onely by the prescription of the spirituall law And vnder that maner mortuaries encreassed dayly in manye places / where they hadde nat bene vsed before / and of lykelyhode wolde haue gone farther yf they had nat ben stopped in tyme. And they were in many places taken in suche maner / that it made the people to thynk that the curates loued theyr mortuaries better than theyr lyues And thereupon rose in many places great diuision and grudge betwyxte theym whiche broke the peace loue charitie that shuld be betwene the curate and his parysshens to the greate vnquietnes of many of the kynges subiectes as well spirituall as temporall / and to the great daunger and perylle of theyr soules For these causes the said mortuaries be adnulled by parlyament / as well in conscience as in the lawe And yet it is sayde that some curates vse great extremities concernyng the sayde mortuaries a nother waye and that is this If the executours at the fyrste request pay nat the money that is appoynted by the statute / they wyl anon haue a citacion agaynst hym And there he shal be so handeled that as it is sayde it hadde ben mooste commenly moche better too hym too haue payde his olde mortuarie than the costes and expenses that he shall paye there And yf it be so it wolde be refourmed And surely this matter wolde be groundly loked vpon for some men saye that the sute in that case oughte to be taken in the kynges courte / and nat in the spyrytuall courte ¶ Other occasions of this diuision The tenthe Chapyter THe extreme and couetouse demeanour of some curates with theyr parisshens / wherof mencion is partely made hereafter hathe ben an other cause of this diuision And though many spyrytuall men be nat felowes with them in the extremities yet non of them that haue ben best and moost indifferent haue nat done any thynge to refourme theym that vse suche extremities / ne to make them thynke that any defaut is in theym in that doynge but rather as it were with a deafe eare haue dissimuled it and suffred it passe ouer / and haue endeuoured them selfe more to oppresse all the lay people that wolde speke against it than to refourme them that do it And some of the sayde extremytyes be those Some say that in takynge of tythes curates in some places wyll haue the .x. parte of euery thynge within the parysshe that is tythable though theyr predecessours withoute tyme of mynde haue bene contented withoute hit and though there be sufficient besyde for the curate to lyue on or though he hath nat knowen but that percase some other thynge in olde tyme hath bene assigned in recompens for it And in som place is asked as it is sayde tythe bothe of chekyns and egges and in some place of mylke and chese and in some place the x. parte of the grounde and also of that that falleth on the grouÌ„de And in some places is claimed tithe of seruantes wages without deduction And it is but in few places that any seruaunte shall goo quite without som tithe payeng / though he haue spent al in syckenes or vpon his father and mother / or suche other necessarie expences And in som places if a parissheÌ„ haue nat x. calues that yere the curate wyll put the tythynge of tyll another yere / and than to take a tythe calfe accomptynge bothe yeres togyther / rather than he wold the fyrst yere take the money that is in that case assigned by the lawe And they doo lykewyse of lambes pygges and suche other thynges Also in many places the curates take more at maryages buryals and obites than they were wont to do and wyll nat bury a straunger that dyeth within the parysshe but he haue some what for it Also some curates / whan there is any varyaunce betwene hym and any of his parisshens or that any of his parysshens be in his det hathe prohybyte them fro howsell tylle he be payde And it hathe bene somtyme sene that whan a poore man hathe ben sette to be houseled the curate hathe before all the parysshe vpon some suche displeasure caused hym to ryse and goo awaye without housell to his rebuke And though these abusyons be nat vsed vnyuersallye god forbyd they shulde for there be many good curates and other spyrytuall men that wolde nat vse them for the wynnynge or lesynge of noerthly thynges yet whan people of dyuers contrees mete to gyther / and one of them telleth an other of some suche extremities in some curates in his contreye and the other lykewyse to hym anone they esteme suche couetyse and extreme delynge to be in al curates And though they do nat well in that doynge / for the offence of one prieste is no offence to an other yf they so wyll take it Yet spirituall men do nothynge therin to brynge the people oute of that iudgement but suffre suche abusions to be vsed by some of them continually without correction / and as I haue sayd before wyl rather laboure to stoppe the mouthes of them that wyll fynde defaulte at suche demeanoure than to helpe to refourme them that do it And surely as longe as they do so hit wyll be very harde to haue a good vnitie and peace in this behalfe ¶ Other causes of the sayd diuision The .xi. Chapiter AN other thynge that hath caused the people to grudge agaynste the pope other spirituall rulers hath ben the grauntynge of pardons for money For whaÌ„ it hathe benne noysed that the money shulde be bestowed to somme charitable vse as vppon the buyldynge of sayncte Peters churche in Rome or to suche other charitable vse it hathe appered afterwarde euidently that it hath nat ben disposed to that vse And that hath caused many to thynke that the sayde pardons were graunted rather of couetice than of charitie or for the helthe of the soules of the people And therupon some haue fallen in maner in to dyspysynge of pardons as though pardons graunted vpon suche couetise shulde nat auaile And because the people be greately deceyued in that iudgemente / for as to the taker the pardone is good though the grauntor offend in his grauntyng of the pardon Therefore it is right necessary / that the rulers take hede that pardons be herafter graunted in suche charitable maner that the people shall haue no occasion ne coloure to thynke that they be grauÌ„ted of couetice And than the grauÌ„toures shall profytte them selfe in theyr graunte / and the people also in theyr takynge and elles it maye lyghtely hurte them bothe And verely it were greate pitie that any myslykynge of pardons shulde growe in the hertes of the people for any misdemeanor in the grauntours or otherwyse / for they be ryghte necessarie And I suppose that if certein ê‘dons were grauÌ„ted frely without money for sayeng of certein prayers therin to be appointed that all mislikynge of pardons wolde