Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
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A11297
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An answere to a letter cum priuilegio.
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Saint German, Christopher, 1460?-1540.
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1535
(1535)
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STC 21558.5; ESTC S100189
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35,044
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126
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emperours / kynges princes / with their people / aswell of the clergye as of the lay fee make the catholique church and the clergye but a parte of that church than may the emperoure / kynges priÌ„ces with their people expounde it But for as moche as the vnyuersall catholique / people can nat be gathered togyther to make suche exposycion / therfore it semeth that kynges princes whoÌ„ the people haue chosen agreed to be their rulers gouernours / and which haue the whole voyces of the people / maye with theire counsell spirytuall temporall make exposycyon of such scripture as is doutfull / so as they shall thynke to be the true vnderstandyng of it / and none but they / that theire subiectes be bounden euen by the lawe of god to folowe their exposycion for the goodnesse of oure lorde is suche that he wyll nat leue his people in suche doutes but that they maye haue some meanes whereby they maye come to the knowlege of the trouth so as shal be necessarye to their saluatyon if they wyll dyspose them to it / and that is by obedyence to their princes whom god hathe appoynted to haue rule ouer them / as is afore sayde And here it is to be noted / that there be two maner of powers that kynges and princes haue ouer theire subiectes The one is called / Ius regale / that is to saye a kyngely gouernaunce And he that hathe that power maye with his counsell make lawes to bynde his subiectes / and also make declaration of Scypture for the good order of his subiectes / as nede shall requyre / for appeasyng of varyance The other is called / Ius regale politicum / that is to saye a kynglye and a polytyke gouernaunce And that is the most noble power that any prince hath ouer his subiectes / and he that ruleth by that power / maye make no Lawe to bynde his subiectes without their assent / but by their assent he maye so that the lawes that he maketh be nat agaynste the lawe of God / nor the lawe of reason And this power hathe the kynges grace in this Realme where he by assente of his lordes spirytuall and temperall and of his commons gathered togyther by his commaundement in his parlyamente maye make lawes to bynde the people And of those lawê there nedeth no ê“clamation / bicause they be made by all the people / for the ê‘liament so gathered togyther / the people representeth the estate of al the people within this realme / that is to say of the whole catholyque churche therof And why shuld nat the parlyament than whiche representeth the whole catholyke churche of Englande expounde scrypture rather than the conuocacyon whiche representeth onely the state of the clergy ouer that me thiÌ„keth that no maÌ„ ought to pretende that at a generall counsell anye other shulde be iuges but kynges princes suche as they wyll appoynte vnder them to bere voyces therin seynge that they haue the power voyce of the whole people of christendom / which is the catholyque churche as is sayde before and I thynke verily that generall counsels shall do lytell good tyll christeÌ„ princes wyl knowe their owne power the auctorite that they haue receyued of god ouer his people / and that they set the clergy in such power as they ought to haue by the lawe of god without diminisshiÌ„g of it in any maner to se also that they haue no more but as shall be thoughte expedyent for the comenwelth / also for the helth of their owne soules of the people And surely it is greatly to be douted / that the power that bysshoppes of Rome haue claymed in tyme past ouer princes other bysshoppes / haue ben a great occasyon of the desolacyon of manye countreys that nowe be estemed amonge vs latyns as scismatykes desperate persones And therfore it is good that the Emperour and all christeÌ„ kynges princes the clergy also loke wel vpon the matter and to se whether the seyd countreyes were nat most priÌ„cypally estemed as heretykes scysmatykê bycause they weÌ„t fro the obedieÌ„ce of Rome / thaÌ„ for any other cause whether ther was such dilygence charitie mekenesse shewed to haue theÌ„ reformed as ought to haue ben shewed or that they were extremely or happely / maliciously haÌ„dled by excomunycatyons interdictions as men vnworthy the confort of christê passioÌ„ that so wold fall fro the obedieÌ„ce of the heed of Christes church And yet vndoutedly the saluatyon or dampnatioÌ„ of christeÌ„ men staÌ„deth nat in that poynte / whether Rome be the hed of christes church or nat And I meane all this that I haue said of the Grecyans / of the SuriaÌ„s of the Iacobytê / of the Nestorians wherof gret ê‘te be now in Percye which is heed enemy to the cursed turkê Of the armins The georgiaÌ„s that be gret archers and very apte meÌ„ to the warre Of the Abasynes otherwyse called Indyans of the Maronytê of these Maronytes Bernard deane of the church of magunce in his boke of his iorney to HierusaleÌ„ / writeth that the seyd Maronytê about v. C. yeres were heretykê seperated fro the coÌ„pany of faythfull people but at the last he sayth / that through the inspiracyoÌ„ of god / they turned to their owne hertes confessiÌ„g that they had erred were noÌ„bred agayne in the obediens of the church of Rome returned to the vnite of the catholyke fayth that thervpon though all the bysshops of the Est ê‘tes the chefe prelates of other nacions vse no ringê miters ne bishops staues yet saith he that these Maronites vse theÌ„ al as we do iÌ„ their diuyne seruyces ministration of the sacramentes And thus were they seyth he reformed but yet it may be douted whether they were natte reformed to more pride than they had before and I beseche oure lorde that all christen princes through the inspyration of god may encourage theÌ„ selfe to bringe all the seyde people and vs also to the verye true obedyence of Christ of his lawes / to a true vnderstandyng / and a deuoute folowynge of his scrypture all worldly pompe pride / desyre of worldly honoure / specyally in the clergy / whiche ought to be the lyghte leders of the laye people / vtterly dispysed and set a parte asmoch as in them is than I dout nat but that gret charytie grace shal shortly after appere amoÌ„g the people And than forthermore if a man be in doute vpon any thynge concernynge scrypture as is sayde before / and he hathe no counsell to instructe hym therin / or els if there be counsell / the counsell varyeth amonge them selfe as is said before And princes haue no tyme yet to determyne the mater ThaÌ„ it is good that he so beyng in dout lyfte vp his herte to god / and aske counsell of him and if he do so /
¶ An answere to a letter ⧠♣ Cum priuilegio ¶ Here begynneth the answer I Haue receyued youre letter wherby I perceiue that syth your returnyng iÌ„ to your contrey Ye haue herde that there is yet here in London moche coÌ„munycation great dyuersytie of opynions vpon suche articles as were spokeÌ„ of whaÌ„ ye were here And ye haue also written to me at a good leÌ„gth all the articles that be noysed ther in your countrey to go yet abrode here in the cytie And thervpon ye desyre me to write vnto you my coÌ„ceyt / what I thynke is to be holdeÌ„ in those articles surely that is a right great request for me to accoÌ„plishe For though I entende to speke the truthe therin / do so in dede yet paraduenture some men wyll be offeÌ„ded with it / nat take it playnly after my meanyng but neuertheles / trustyng that the most parte of the people be nowe iÌ„ these dayes enclyned to take all thiÌ„ges to the best I wyll nat for the opynyon of a fewe / fully deny your reqÌ„st theriÌ„ / but shall shewe you with good wyll my conceyt to all your articles / for I trust charitie hath moued you to that desyre And I wyll nat recyte here your artycles perticulerly togither / but wyll answere to them after the same order as they stande in your letter And so / euery man that shall happen to rede this answere shall knowe the order of the articles iÌ„ your letter And fyrst ye saye / that many in your couÌ„trey reporte that there shuld be a sayeng here about London / that the kyng hath many newe authorites gyuen hym / by that he is recognysed to be the supreme hed vpoÌ„ erth vnder god of the church of EnglaÌ„de / ye desyre me to shewe you my conceyt what I thiÌ„ke therin / I wyll fyrst with good will say soÌ„ what to it to satisfye your desyre ¶ Whether the kynge by that he is recognysed to be supreme heed vnder god vpon erth of the church of EnglaÌ„de / haue therby any new power giuen hiÌ„ ouer his subiectes that he had nat before The first cha THe kyng / by that he is recognysed by the parliamente to be the supreme heed vnder god vpon erth / of the church of Englande / hath as I take it no newe power gyuen hiÌ„ in any thiÌ„ge but that lyke as before that recognisyon made / he had all such power ouer his subiectes spirytuall and temporall / as to a kyng beloÌ„geth by the lawe of god so after the seyde recognisyon / he had the same power without alteration / none other but that And therfore he maye nat as I suppose by reasoÌ„ of that recognisyon / take vpon hiÌ„ any auctority that our lorde gaue only to his apostels or discyples / iÌ„ spirytuall ministratyon to the people And though he may nat / yet the recognisyon was nat to al inteÌ„tes voyde / for by reason therof the power of the kyng is more euydeÌ„tly knowen than it was before that recognisyon made for before that recognisyon / the clergye had gretly defaced the power of kingê in this realme And for a more playne declaration of this mater / it is to be consydered / that there are some thynges that are called mere spirytuall / and that be so in dede And ther be some that haue beÌ„ called mere spirituall / whiche neuerthelesse perteygne to the power of kynges and princes The thynges mere spirituall be these The consecration of the sacrament of the auter / the makynge of absolucyons / the gyuyng of orders / the ministratyon that saynt Paul speke of ad Corin. iiii Whan he sayd of hiÌ„self of other Apostels discyples of Christ thus / Let euery man esteme vs as ministers of Christ / as dispeÌ„satours of the misteryes of god / wherby he vnderstode princypally the ministratyoÌ„ of the sacramentes And suche ministration the kynge may nat take vpon him / ne he intendeth it nat I knowe well that a kynge maye be a prest yea / a bysshop also / thaÌ„ might he lawfully minister al such spuÌ„all thiÌ„ges if he lyst but I wolde nat thynke that it were an incresynge of his honour to do so for the honoure of a kynge staÌ„deth specyally iÌ„ doyng iustyce vnto his people / as it appereth Ps xcviii where it is sayd The honour of a kyng loueth iustyce And one poiÌ„t of iustyce is / to se the ministers vnder hiÌ„ do their duty And therfore if bysshoppes were neglygente in doynge their ministration to the people / the kyng might coÌ„mauÌ„de them to do it that were more honour to him than do it hiÌ„ selfe And though as it appeareth ii Par. xix Kyng Iosaphat ordeyned iugê in all the cyties of Iuda and that in Ierusalem he ordeyned Leuytes prestes / princes of famelyes that they shuld iuge the iugement and cause of our lorde c. Yet it appereth nat that he made them prestes no more than he made Amaryas a preest for thoughe he appoynted Amaryas to be cheife preest / yet it appereth that he was a prest before And also though kyng Dauid appoynted the prestes and leuytes to their offyces / as appereth .i. Par. xxiii xxiiii Yet it appereth nat that he made any of them preestes Also trouth it is / that euery kyng is bounden to minister iustyce vnto his people / accordyng to the lawes of his realme And may therfore to that intent be called a minister but yet that ministration is all in a nother maner / than is the ministration of the successours of the apostels for the ministration of a kynge / is the ministration of power / iustyce souerayntie and to it ar necessary great possessyoÌ„s / honour and ryches / to maynteyne his estate And the ministratyon of the other standeth in spirytuall seruyce to the people / in mekenes / ghostly counsell / preachynge and teachynge in all charyte in somoche that none shulde be mery in god / but they shulde be mery with him none shulde be in heuynesse / but they shulde sorowe with him and to these ministers is necessary suffysaunce without abundaunce and honest pouerty is nat directly agaynst that ministration they ought alway to haue a contynuall desyre that the people shulde lyue in such brotherly loue quyetnes that there shulde nede no ministration of iustice by the high powers to be vsed amongest them And if any suche happened to come / they shuld feare gretly that it might happen to come through some defaute in them And surely whaÌ„ any gret variaunce trouble ryse among the people / it is nat vnlyke but that some parte of the occasyon therof rose fyrste through the defautes neglygence of some of the clergye Than syth it is right highly expedyeÌ„t for the ministration of a price to haue habundaÌ„ce of possessyons as is sayde before / howe maye he take any other ministration vpon him