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
forsaken For which Cause about the year 470 't was ordained in the Western Church Ao. 470. Division of Goods Ecclesiastical that four parts should be made one should be the Bishops the second for the other Ministers the third for building of the Church which Comprehended not only the Building of the Place where the People met together but also the Habitations of the Bishops and other Clergy-mens and of the sick and Widdows and the fourth for the Poor But these Poor amongst most of the Churches as St. Gregory relates were meant only the Poor of the place because all the Hospitality belonged to the Bishop page 26. who upon the Expence of his own Portion was Obliged to Lodge the Forraign Clergy and to feed the Poor which came from abroad Yet 't is not to be believed that this Division was in four Arithmetical and equal Parts but Proportionably because in some Churches the Number of the Clergy required that their Expences should be greater than for the Poor on the contrary the great Number of Poor and the small Number of Clergy-men required otherwise even as in the greatest Cities the Charges of Building was great but not so in the ordinary ones because every Church accepting the Decree of Dividing into four parts made the Divisions with different proportions according to their own different Necessities I know that some do attribute this Division to Pope Sylvester who was 150 years before grounded upon some feigned Scriptures after with little Honour to that Age which was not then much Polluted In the Theodosian Codicil Ao. 359. there is found a Law of Constantius and Julian page 27. in the year 359 Exempting the Marchant-Clergy from paying Custome or Tribute because what they gained was the Poors so far are we that the Church Goods should be Divided that they left their gains in Common Ao. 550. but in these years which were about 500 although the Rents were Divided into four parts yet the Estates were not Divided neither the real Estates nor the Oblations and Almes but all Governed together by the Deacons and Sub-Deacons and the Incomes Divided into four Parts which thing hath been necessary to be mentioned in this Place because in Succeeding times there will be declared such a change of Government which in and through all things proved Contrary to the Antient as also the Manner of Chusing Ministers was as is abovesaid Instituted by the Holy Apostles that Bishops Priests Election of Bishops 〈◊〉 and other Ministers of Gods Word and the Deacons Ministers of Temporal things should be Elected by the Vniversality or Generality of the Faithful and should be Ordained by the Bishops with laying of Hands on the Head a thing which lasted without alteration The Bishop was chosen by the People page 28. and Ordained by the Metropolitain in the Presence of all the Cumprovincial Bishops or else by their Consent granted by Letters from those who could not be present and if the Metropolitain was hindred the Ordination was made by three of the Neighbouring Bishops with the Consent of him and of those that were Absent And after that many Provinces for a better Form of Government were Subject to one Primate his Consent was also required for Ordaining Then the Priests Deacons and other Clergy-men were presented by the People and Ordained by the Bishop or else Nominated by the Bishop and with the Consent of the People Ordained by him An unknown man was never received neither did the Bishop ever Ordain one who was not approved of and Commended or rather presented by the People and the Consent or interveening of the People was Judged so necessary that Pope Leo the first treateth amply that the Ordination of a Bishop could not be valid nor Lawful which was not required or sought for by the People and by them approved of N. 29. which is said by all the Saints of those times and St. Gregory esteemed that Constance could not be Consecrated Bishop of Milan who had been Elected by the Clergy without the Consent of the Citizens who by reason of Persecutions were retired to Genoa and prevailed that they should be first sent unto to know their Will a thing worthy of being noted in our dayes ☜ when that Election is declared to be Illegitimate and Null where the People have any Share Thus things are changed and passed into a quite Contrary Custome calling that Lawful which then was accounted Wicked and that Unjust which then was reputed Holy Sometimes when the Bishop was grown Old he nominated his own Successor Thus St. Augustin nominated Eradius but that Nomination was of no value unless it were first approved of by the People all which things are necessary to be kept in mind to compare them with the Customs and Manners which were seen to be practised in subsequent times 'T is necessary now to make a little Digression for a new Cause N. 30. which hath brought a very great Encrease to Ecclesiastical Estates and sprang up in these very times about the year 500 and this was another sort of Religious Colleges called Monasteries Ao. 500. Monasteries Monkery Ao. 300. Monkery began in Aegypt about the year 300 those who fled from the Persecutions and from thence past into Greece where by St. Basil about the year 370 it was formed in the manner which yet continues in those Countries But in Italy about the year 350 it was brought to Rome by Athanasius Ao. 350. where he had but few followers and little Applause in that City and in the Neighbouring Places until that time of about the year 500 when St. Equitius and St. Benedictus gave it a setled Form and difused it though indeed the Institution of St. Equitius Extended it self but little and soon fail'd but that of St. Benedict spread it self all over Italy and went beyond the Mountains Monks nor Clerks but Seculars The Monks in those dayes and for a long time after were not Clerks but Seculars and in the Monasteries which they had without the Cities they lived upon their own Labours of Husbandry and other Arts together with some Oblations made them by the Faithful all which was Governed by the Abbot But in the Cities they lived by their work N. 31. and by that which was appointed for publick Expences by the Church These retained their Antient Discipline much longer The Clerks after the Stock of the Church was divided lost sufficiently of the Peoples Divotion whereupon there were few who either gave or left any more Goods to them so that the Acquisitions and Purchases of the Church would have been at an end But the Monks continuing the living in Common and in Pious Works were cause that the Liberality of the People was not extinguished but forsaking the Clerks turned towards them who were greatly Instrumental in Encreasing Ecclesiastical Wealth and in progress of time augmented greatly in Possessions and Incomes given to them and
drew out of England he found it to be equal to his own Revenue which is sixty thousand Marks The King proposed some of these Differences to the Council at Lions making Complaint of the abovesaid grievances whereto the Pope answered the Council was not Assembled for that purpose and that it was no time to harken to it In the said City of Lions during the time of the Council N. 154. the Pope would have given to his Kinsmen some Prebendaries of those Churches upon which there was a great Commotion in the City and the Pope had notice given him that they should be thrown into the Rhone wherefore the Pope sent them away privately Rhodano For all this the Court left not off its Designs but in the year 1253 the same Pope Commanded Robert Bishop of Lincoln a man in those times Famous in Doctrine and in Goodness that he should confer a certain Benefice upon the Genoése against the Canons which appearing inconvenient and unjust to the Bishop he answered the Pope that he Honour'd Apostolical Commands Conformable to Apostolical Doctrine wherefore that non obstantibus is a Deluge of inconstancy a Breach of Faith a disturbance of the quietness of Christendom that it is a grievous Sin to defraud the Sheep of their Pasture that the Apostolical See had all Power to Edification none to destroy N. 155. This Answer received the Pope grew wroth exceedingly But Cardinal Egidius a Spaniard being a Prudent man endeavour'd to Mitigate him representing to him that to proceed against a man of such Reputation for a cause so abhorr'd by the World could not bring forth a good Effect But whilst the Pope studyed to shew his Resentment Robert fell sick and to the end of his Life held the same Reasons and dyed with an Opinion of Holyness and 't was fam'd that he wrought Miracles The Pope hearing of his Death caused a Process to be formed for the King to dis-inter the dead mans Corps But the night following in a Vision or in a Dream he had Robert in Pontifical Robes who Rebuked him for persecuting his memory and smote him on the Flank with the But-end of his Crosier-Staff The Pope awoke with an excessive Pain in that Place which afflicted him unto his Death that happened within a short time after In the year 1258 Alexander the 4th Excommunicated the Arch-Bishop of York for the like Cause who persevering in his Deliberation N. 156. endured the Persecution with much Patience and drawing neer to his Death wrote a very Prudent Letter to the Pape exhorting him to imitate his Holy Predecessors and to take away the Dammageable Novelties from the Church and from his own Soul He dyed with the Opinion of a Saint and a Martyr In these times 't was likewise necessary in France to make a Provision which I shall relate after having given notice that for these and for other Impediments which the Princes and the Bishops opposed against the endeavours of the Court which never thought of giving over For Clement the 4th in the year 1266 resolved to lay the Foundations whereby he or his Successors might declare themselves to be absolute Patrons in all the Collations of Benefices throughout the World and remove the necessity of finding out Wayes and Arts to draw the Collations unto Rome and made a Bull which concluded nothing else but the Reservation of the Vacanti in Curia saying that the Collationing of them by an Antient Custom is reserved to the Pope and therefore he approved of this Custom and wil'd it to be observed N. 157. But to conclude this alone So much an Hyppothetical Premium can do in saying that although the plenary Disposal of all Benefices Premio Hippotetico belongs to the Pope of Rome so that he may not only confer them when they become Vacant but he may also before Vacancy grant a Right for the acquiring of them Nevertheless the Antient Custom hath more especially reserved the Vacanti in Curia Wherefore we approve of that Custom If the Pope had made a concluding Edict that the Disposal of all Benefices belonged to him the World would have stir'd in it and as well the Clergy-men as Princes and other Lay-Patrons would have declared their Reasons But this Proposition being put into a Conditional without a Conclusion went on easily without any notice taken of how much it might Import But two years after that is in the year 1268 without having any Respect unto this Bull N. 158. St. Lewis King of France seeing that the Provisions made by the Queen Regent his Mother during his Minority and during his Absence in the Holy Land were not sufficient to remove the Confusions introduced in the matter of Benefices Pragmatic Sanction made his famous Pragmatick wherein he Commanded that Cathedral Churches should have their Elections Free and the Monasteries likewise that all other Benefices should be given according to the Disposition of the Law and that no Imposition of the Court of Rome could be levied upon Benefices without his Consent and the Churches of his Kingdom This Holy Kings going into Africa against the Mores and his Death which happened in the year 1270 and the need the House of Anjou had of the Popes Favour to settle his Kingdom in Naples and to recover that of Sicily and the Power which the Pope granted to the King of imposing Tythes under Pretext of the War of the Holy Land were cause that the French easily permitted the Court of Rome to regain the same Authority N. 159. whereupon in the year 1398 Boniface the 8th placed the Constitution of Clement in the Decretals and made that That which was said Hyppothetically and Incidentally became the Principal and to give it the greater Authority he exposed under the name of Clement leaving it dubious whether it were the 4th or the 3d. Therefore now in some Copies it is Read the 3d in others the 4th For which cause this Proposition was given to be believed at first i. e. That the plenary Disposal of all Ecclesiastical Benefices belongs to the Pope which is pretended to be meant in a Sense not altogether perverted which is that the Pope should have full Power but yet Regulated by the Laws and by Reason A little after Clement the 5th made void all good understanding by saying that the Pope had not only full Power but also free over all Benefices which freedom is understood by the Canonists Exempt from all Laws and Reason so that he may do all that he pleaseth notwithstanding the Reason or the Interest of whatsoever Church or of Particular Person yea even of a Lay-Patron This Proposition is put into the Bulls upon every occasion N. 160. and there is no Canonist but passeth it for clear yea for an Article of Faith saying that the Pope in the Collation of any Benefice whatever may Concur with the Ordinary and also prevent it and if it so please him he may
the Ministery of Christ and the Authority of loosing and binding was a different thing from the Possession of Temporal things annexed to a Benefice and that by reason of this Temporality it was not disagreeing that the Prince should receive some share for the necessities of the Common Wealth N. 174. and of this a Solemn Dispute was also made But this Answer satisfied not Pious and learned men for although the Revenue of Benefices be a Temporal thing yet the Right and Title by which they are Possessed is a Spiritual thing It appeared to all men and still it doth appear that with good Reasons these Methods of the Popes were reproved and called Simony This Defect was made use of for the first Pretext for taking away the Collation of Benefices from Princes But the Pope of Rome having by the Progresses above written gained great part of the Power whereof the Emperors were spoyled John the 22d Anno. 1316. Ordained that for three years every man who Obtained a Benefice of a greater Income than 24 Ducats ought at the Expedition of his Bull pay a years Revenue The three years being expired N. 175. the same was continued as well by him as by his Successors although some Resistance was made in divers places and in some others they were received to pay half a years Rent only and in other places a certain sort of Benefices was only obliged to pay the others remaining excepted The bringing in of this was accounted very Burdensome to private Families the years Revenue being paid by the Beneficyed or Incumbent out of the Houshold Stock there being a Hazard that he may dye before he makes good that money to the Family and Princes found it a great grievance to their Government such a notable share of the Cash being drawn out of their Dominion without receiving any Profit for it and so much the more grievous as this Work is accompanyed with the Expence of Bulls Dispensations and Presents or Gifts beforehand all which carry away the Money which is the sinew of Potency and it never returns as it doth by way of other Commerce When this Novelty was introduced by the Pope N. 176. the ordinary Persons could not perceive what difference there was betwixt this Payment and that which was so much blamed in those dayes when Princes bestowed Benefices but learned men in those primitive times Condemned it universally as savouring too much of Simony In Progress of time some men studied wayes to justify it so that they were divided one sort rebuking it as a thing unlawful Simoniacal and forbidden by Divine and by Humane Laws others Commending it as a thing Lawful yea necessary and due to the Pope of Rome these proceeding so far as to defend that the Pope may not only demand a years Fruits but more also as he that is absolute Patron yea of all the Fruits not of one part only who they also say cannot commit Simony for any Contract he shall make in the Collation of Benefices And certainly if he were Patron as they say the Consequence would be clear because every man may Contract for his own in what manner seems best to him without doing wrong to any one N. 177. but neither God nor the World seem to consent to it This Pope was so intent in drawing mony from every thing that it twenty years Popedom he heaped up an incredible Treasure Certain it is that in his Expences and Gifts he was no more straightned than his Predecessors and yet he left 25 Millions at his Death John Villano relates that to one of his Brethren of the Colledge of Cardinals after the Popes Death Charge was given to make an Inventory of the Mony which he found to be 18 Millions in Coyned Mony and seven Millions in Vessels and in Ingots weighed by him The First year Fruits in his Institution from Pope John the 22d L'Annata Extended but unto Benefices which were Conferr'd and which were paid for in the Expedition of Bulls a thing which Continued unto that time but afterwards there was also laid an Obligation upon all Benefices to pay the first year Fruits or Revenue every 15 years because that being united unto Monasteries Hospitals or to Pious places N. 178. they never become Vacant which Imposition was therefore called Quindennium Quindennium which Paul the 2d about the year 1470 Constituted only concerning Benefices united after the year 1417 by the Pope of Rome but Paul the 4th extended or enlarged it likewise to all the Benefices united before and Sixtus the 5th Comprehended not only those united by the Apostolical See but also those which had been united by Legates Nuncio's Bishops and by others But returning to the first Original of these year Incoms or Fruits those who opposed against the Invention of John the 22d with zeal of hindring that the year-Fruits might pass no further they have not only brought about his Design but have been the Cause of defending and extending it also even as some who then opposed the Reservation brought forth a contrary Effect the Popes never failing to get any Abuse whatever to be Justifyed by Doctrines Wherefore after this Benedictus the 12th Anno 1335 under pretence of being willing to provide or furnish Livings with fitting Persons he reserved to his own Disposal and Providing for his Life time only all the Benefices Vacant in Curia as had been done formerly N. 179. and also all those which became Vacant by Privation of those who were Beneficiated or else by Translation unto another Benefice and also all those which were renounced in the Court and all the Benefices of Cardinals of the Court Officers of Legates Nuncio's and of other Rectors and Treasurers of the Roman Church-Lands likewise the Benefices of those who went to Court upon Business if in going or coming they happened to die within 40 miles Distance of the Court and likewise all those which became Vacant because the Possessors of them had received another Benefice These Reservations Comprehended a multitude of Benefices restraining much the Power of the Ordinaries and they caused many Benefices to be setled upon Forrainers this was received however because the Reservation was only for during his Life Yet 't is never to be believed that a thing useful to him that Governs instituted for some short space of time N. 180. should remain Circumscribed thereby For Benedictus the 12th being dead Clement the 6th his Successor made the same Reserve wherefore the King of England Edward the 3d perceiving that for this Cause and by reason of Reversions all the Benefices of the Kingdom fell unto Forrainers He Commanded upon pain of Death that the Popes Beneficyal Provisions should not be received within his Kingdom The Pope wrote to the King shewing sorrow for it desiring he would forbear The King answered beseeching the Pope to Reform the things which were a shame to the Church and a scandal to the People adding further
take Effect the Person Beneficyed might return to the first without more ado and this was called the Regress Regress In like manner to this there was invented the granting a Faculty to the Resignant that when-ever the Resignatory should dye or Renounce the Title he might without more ado return to the Resigned Benefice and by his own Authority take Possession anew and make it his own as if he had never renounced it and if he should not have taken to himself the first Possession of the Renouncement in which case the Regress cannot take place he may by Access N. 201. and by Ingress take Possession likewise by his own Authority without any other Ministry of the Judge and this is called a Regress Therefore the receiving and the admitting the Renouncements upon these Conditions and therewith to give Title to the Resignatory hath never been permitted by the Pope of Rome to others but hath reserved it to himself only This Method was Condemned by all the Writers chiefly by the Vniversity of France and Prohibited by the Parliament neither could it be covered with any fair Pretext of Antiquity wherefore there were some who made a Conscience and were ashamed to use it for whose satisfaction there was found out another of an Antient Original but according to Custom fitted for the present Occasions Coadjutors This was the Coadjutory a most Antient and a most Commendable Custom there was in the Churches that when any Minister or Prelate or other became unable or less fit to perform his Charge through old Age or by Infirmity of Mind or of Body or for other Cause he took to himself N. 202. or the Superior gave him an Assistant who together with him might bear the Burden but he had nothing to do with the Office or Benefice but whilst he lived whose Coadjutor he was who being Dead a new Titular one was made This Provision was alwayes Commended and never was any Opposition made against it Afterwards 't was Considered that if it were Ordered that the Coadjutor might Succeed a greater Benefit would arise First he would be more diligent in managing a thing which was to be his own others would love him and would repute him more as their own than another upon which the Coadjutor was made with a Succession to come a thing which had Defenders and Opposers 'T was Opposed by saying that every Succession in Ecclesiastical Benefices is Condemnable it offers Occasion of procuring or desiring another mans Death 'T was defended with the Famous Example of St. Augustin who by Valerius his Predecessor was made Coadjutor with future Succession N. 203. which Example serves not very well because St. Augustin himself blames it afterwards and would not follow it and was not ashamed to say that it was done by him and by his Predecessor out of Ignorance But in the times we speak of they not only gave Coadjutors with future Succession unto Prelates and to others which have Administration but also in single Benefices where is no need of being Assisted so that the Coadjutor retains only the Name there being nothing Real but the future Succession which is a thing so abhorred by the Canons 'T was practized or used in these times that whatsoever Beneficyary who would make himself a Successor indifferently according to his different pleasure or make a Coadjutor with a future Succession or resign in his favour reserving to himself the Fruits and with Regress but yet this was Reserved to the Pope only and in no wise granted to other Collators The Councel of Basile was received in Germany by some and by others not and therefore Beneficyal Causes were differently understood N. 204. To provide against the Diversities and Dissentions 't was agreed in the year 1448 between Nicolas the 5th and Frederick the Emperor in this manner that Benefices Vacant in Curia should be reserved to the Pope and for the Remainder of the Elective Benefices they should proceed by Election As for others those Vacant in six Months should be the Popes in the other six they should be distributed by the Ordinary Collators adding also that if the Pope had not in the term of three Months Conferr'd those which belonged to him the Collation should devolve to the Ordinaries The Agreement was received throughout all Germany and until the year 1518 some Diocesses observed the Councel of Basile which annull'd all Reservations But in Progress of time those also who received the Agreement at the beginning forbore to observe it afterwards and excused themselves saying that the Agreement was not generally received and hath lost its force through disuse so that we treat not of those Cities where the Bishops and Chapters are departed from the Roman Church but also in the Churches which remain under Obedience little or nothing was observed Clement the 7th in the year 1534 made a severe Bull N. 205. but it took but little Effect In the year 1576 Gregory the 8th made another without better Success In the Diet at Ratisbone Anno. 1594 1576. Cardinal Mudrutius a Legate of Pope Clement the 8th made a great Querimony about this in the name of the Pope no Fruit appeared At present there remains the same variety and Confusion The Romon Court hath but two Remedies only one by the means of the Confessions of Jesuits which work by terms of Conscience that Beneficyaries provided by Ordinaries are Content to take the Bulls from Rome and some do it the other Remedy used by the Court but in Benefices of Importance and with Persons partly depending on them is that an Election or a Collation being made contrary to the Agreement the Court annull's it but afterwards Confer's it on the same Person N. 206. a Remedy much used heretofore upon other occasions also not because it helps at that very time but because keeping those Writings they make use of them in Succeeding times to shew that they had Obedience as so many other Decretals which took no Effect are nevertheless in the Decretal Books for the same design In France the Pragmatica was rigidly contested by Pius the 2d which the French Clergy and the Vniversity of Paris opposed Constantly wherefore the Pope turned himself unto Lewis the 11th shewing him how it was unseemly to him that in his Kingdom they should observe the Decrees of the Councel of Basel against which he being the Royal first born departed from the Father out of distast went with Arms received Moneys from Pope Eugenius the 4th to disturb the Councel for which Reasons King Lewis Anno. 1461 Pragmatick Sanction revoked Revoked the Pragmatica and made it to cease but there following a Reclamation of the Vniversity and Remonstrances from the Parliament which are yet to be found N. 207. wherein they represented to the King the grievances of the Kingdom and of the Ecclesiastical Order with an Account made up distinctly And restored that in three years four Millions
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
for it proved not dammageble to the Publick nor burdensom to the Commonalty for two Reasons one because Ecclesiastical Goods were finally the Poors of the People and exempting those who had not and leaving the Contributions to those who had wherewithal was alwayes accounted just the other because Exempting a man when he hath little and less than what sufficeth is no Burden unto others Nevertheless no man should infer that the same liberality of Princes towards the Church would be just and Convenient in these times also when it is grown so Rich that it possesseth a quarter and without doubt more than what the remainder of the Persons and this is not laid out any longer for the Poor so that to Exempt them would be contrary to what good Princes have done in Exempting the Rich and in laying their due burdens on the Poor Wherefore the Princes at present are no less pious than those then but the Subject is different For these would also grant Exemptions to the Church if it were poor and those would not have granted it if it had been Rich. The great Devotion of Princes and of the People as it caused the Wealth of the Clergy to encrease abundantly so it excited a great Thirst in the Ecclesiastical Ministers to Multiply it or heap it up from which excess not so much as the wel-minded men were free for seeing how the Distribution of Ecclesiastical Goods fell to the Glory of God N. 20. and to the Common Good they concluded that the more the Church had to Distribute the better it was whereupon they made use of all Wayes and of all Arts to gain Wealth not considering whether the Means they used were Lawful and suitable unto Equity so that if the Effect did but ensue viz. that the Church might gain by any means whatsoever She seemed to have made a Sacrifice unto God And certainly immense and innumerable Evils proceed from this sort of Zealous Persons who do not use Discretion with their Zeal because it seeming to them that every thing sent for A Religious End by what way soever to be Good they oftentimes Act against Piety and against Humanity putting the World into a confusion thus it happened in the Primitive times that the Church obtained Power to acquire real Estates it was believed by some Religious Men to be a Service of God to deprive their own Children and Kindred to give to the Churches for which cause also they Omitted no Art to induce Widdows Damsels N. 21. and other easie Persons to deprive their own Families to leave to the Church The Disorder passed so speedily the Bounds of being overcome that the Prince was necessitated to provide against it and in the year 370 Statute of Mortmain Ao. 370. a Law was made which although it did not deprive the Churches from Acquiring or Purchasing absolutely yet it Prohibited the Clergy from going unto Widdows Houses and Orphans and from receiving by Gift or by Will any thing from Women not only directly but also by means of any third Person Which Law St. Hierome confesseth to have been a Remedy against the Corruptions entred amongst the Clergy and gone too forward in the Desire of getting Temporal Estates neither did that suffice For within few years after that is in 390 Ao. 390. another Law was made that a Widdow who devoted her self to the service of the Church could not give or leave to it by will any real Estate or precious Housholdstuff which is discoursed of at large elsewhere This Excess of getting was not very pleasing to St. Augustin N. 22. who lived in those dayes for he openly declared that it pleased him better that Inheritances should be left to the next of Kin than to the Church and indeed he refused some Inheritances left unto his Church saying openly the Ecclesiastical Ministry consisted not in Distributing much but in Distributing well Likewise he reproved a new way the Church had of purchasing found out in those dayes which was buying real Estates with the Advance made upon the Incomes or Rent which way that Holy man alwaies abhorred neither would he ever permit it in his Church for he declared in his publick Sermons that he had rather live upon the Oblations and Collections which were wont to be made in the Primitive times of the Church than to have a Care of Possessions which were burdensome to him and hindered him from attending intirely upon the Principal Charge of a Bishop that is of Spiritual things adding further that he was prepared to renounce all Possessions N. 23. if a livelihood were provided for the Servants of God and Ministers as in the old Testament by way of Tythes or of other Oblations without being subject to the Distraction which the Care of Earthly things brought along with it But for all the Checks of the Holy Fathers through their good Exhortations and of the Princes by their good Laws the Ecclesiastical Goods could not be hindered from encreasing above what they ought only the ancient manner of Governing and of bestowing them remained and lasted till the year 420 without any notable Alteration Besides all the Oblations and other Ecclesiastical Incomes proceeding from Real Estates were in Common and governed by the Deacons by the Sub-Deacons and by other Steward 's their Assistants and Distributed for the Maintenance of the Ecclesiastical Ministers and of the Poor the Colledge of Priests and the Bishop were principally the Intendants and in short an Account of all Receits and Disbursments was kept so that the Bishop Disposed of every thing the Deacons Executed it N. 24. and all the Clergy lived upon what the Church had although all did not administer St. John Chrisostome makes mention that in those dayes the Church of Antioch fed above 3000 Persons at the Publick Expence 'T is also a thing certain that the Church of Hierusalem bore the Expences of an infinite Multitude of Persons which happened there from all parts of the World It is Recorded in Histories that Atticus Bishop of Constantinople Assisted the Church of Nicea in Bithynia by reason of a great Concourse of poor People in that City which were Numbred to 10000 in one day But after France Spain and Africa were divided from the Empire and erected into distinct Kingdoms and the Succession of Theodosius Extinct Italy after the Inundation of divers Barbarous People being fall'n into the hands of the Kings of the Goths Division of the East from the West and the East divided from the West the Churches were also differently Governed the Eastern Church followed the Common Government already instituted N. 25. In the Western the Bishops by Administrators and Superintendents began to make themselves Masters and to Govern the Goods of the Church in an Arbitrary manner from whence proceeded a great Confusion in the Distribution of the said Goods and chiefly to the Dammage of Buildings which fell to Ruin and of the Poor who were
given to the Portions of Ecclesiastical Estates or to the Right of Possessing them because they were given by the Prince as Bishopricks or by the Bishop of whose Consent and Concession other Livings are bestow'd and also because Clergy-men are Spiritual Souldiers keeping Guard and exercising a Sacred Warfare The Abbeys beyond the Alps were at last made more ample and more Rich Abbeys by reason the Masters of the Pallace assumed to themselves the Authority of making the Abbot Maestri di Palazzo and that with a reason apparent enough because the Monks then as hath been said were Laymen without any Ecclesiastical Ordination N. 46. It is true they did not alwayes give him to them but sometimes out of favour he granted the Monks leave to choose themselves one But in Italy the Monasteries being not very considerable in wealth Ao. 750. untill the year 750. the Kings of the Goths then the Emperors and the Kings of the Lombards made no great Accompt of them whereupon the Election was left to the Monks with the sole superintendency of the Bishop But the Bishops sometimes being intent to grow great they molested the Monasteries too much wherefore the Abbots and Monks desirous of freeing themselves from that subjection Exemption found a way by having Recourse to the Bishop of Rome that he might take them into his immediate Protection and exempt them from the Authority of the Bishop This was easily consented unto by the Popes making use of them as well to have other persons in Cities immediately depending on them as to amplifie their Power over the Bishops it being very important that a Corporation so Notable as were the Monks who in those times almost wholly attended on Learning N. 47. should depend totally on the See of Rome A Beginning being made of these Exemptions all the Monasteries in a very short time remained united to the See of Rome and separate from their Bishops In France the Bishops made by the King and much more those who were made by the Masters of the Pallace the Kings Authority being lessened betook themselves all to Temporal things which the Abbots did likewise who furnished the King with Souldiers and went to the Wars in Person not as Religious men to perform the Offices of Christs Ministers but Armed and fighting also with their own hands for which cause they were not content with the fourth part of the Goods but drew all to themselves Whereupon the poor Priests who Administred the Word of God and the Sacraments to the People in Churches remained without a livelyhood wherefore the People out of their Devotion Contributed unto them part of their own Estates which being done in some places more liberally N. 48. and in others more sparingly Querimonies or Complaints arose about it sometimes because when 't was often treated how much that should be which was to be given to the Vicars or Curates it went for a Common Opinion to be convenient after the Example of Gods Law in the old Testament to give the Tenth Tythes which being Commanded that people by God it was an easie thing to represent it under the Gospel of Christ as due also though indeed nothing else be said of it by our Lord and by St. Paul but that necessary maintenance is due from the People to the Minister and that the Minister or the Labourer is worthy of his hire and he that serves at the Altar ought to live by the Altar without prescribing any determinate quantity because that in some Cases the Tythe would be but little and in other Cases the hundreth part would suffice But because this is a clear thing and that hereafter we have need of handling it more diffusedly I 'le say no more now but that in those dayes and for an Age afterwards N. 49. the Sermons which were made in Churches excepting the Matters of Faith tended to nothing else but to Proofs and Exhortations to pay Tythes a thing which the Curates were forc'd to do both for need and for utility or profit and in the Amplifying as it behooved like an Orator they went often so far that they seemed to place all Christian Perfection in paying of Tythes of which not well Content and the Praedials not seeming sufficient for them they began to hold the Personals also for necessary that is what a man gains by his Labour and Industry of Hunting of all Arts and Handicrafts and also of the Military pay Of these Sermons many being found without the Authors Name some through Error or on purpose were attributed to St. Augustin and to other Antient writers But besides that the Stile shews they were made about the year 800. Histories are clear that neither in Africa nor in the East they never paid Tythes and that their Beginning N. 50. sprung up in France as hath been said I 'le pass unto Italy No man ordained without a Title where for several hundreds of years no man was ever Ordained to whom there was not appointed both his proper and special Office and Charge unless that some man famous in Doctrine or in Holyness who to attend on his Sacred Studies refused to be applyed to any particular Cure the Priest was Ordeined without giving him any proper Parish on which he might attend St. Hierolamo was Ordained Priest of Antioch and St. Paulinus at Barcelona and this occasion eccepted Olim no distinction between Ordination and Benefice Antiquity knew of no Distinction between Ordination and Benefice and Ordaining was then the same thing as to give an Office and the Right of having ones Livelyhood from the Common Goods of the Church But afterwards that in the Confusions which Wars had caused in States many worthy and good Clergy-men were driven from their Ministry they recover'd or had Recourse to some other Church where they were received and maintained as their own Clerks at the Common Charges N. 51. and sometimes some Minister of that Church happening to fail by Death or otherwise his Office was appointed him to be Minister therein and that Clerk was then said to be Incardinated whereas he who had first been exalted to an Office Cardinals Incardinato Cardinato was said to be Ordinated or Ordain'd thereunto but who being dispossessed of his own and provided with another was called Incardinated This manner began in Italy before the 600th year of Christs Birth when through the Incursions of the Lumbards many Bishops and other Clergy-men were driven from their Charges for which cause when such like Offices were vacant in other Churches they were Incardinated therein and the Bishops were call'd Episcopi Cardinales and the Priests Presbiteri Cardinales Those who were driven out from their own places having Recourse to the Churches of Rome and Ravenua which were the Chiefest and Richest in Offices and Ministeries N. 52. those Churches I say as most Rich and most abounding received most of those Strangers and therefore they had more Cardinals
to the People and in the fourth place the Emperors Consent should be sought for in which manner Alexander 2d his Successor being Elected the Emperor would not Confirm him nor accept of the Excuse which the Cardinals sent by one of them to make by Embassy saying it was done to avoid a sharp Civil Dissention but all with great Respect to the Emperor the Elected being his Friend yet the Emperor chose the Bishop of Parma for Pope upon the Instance of Gerard of Parma his Chancellor But three years after the Affairs of the Imperial Court being altered and Gerard the Chancellor Deposed the Bishop of Parma was also Deposed from the Popedome and Alexander accepted who in the year 1072 there being made in Germany a Conspiracy of the Bavarians and Saxonians against the Emperor he joyned with them and entred into the League and the year following cited the Emperor unto Rome as imputed of Simony for having conferr'd Bishopricks for Money The Pontifical Action was much admired N. 100. never any Pope having come so far but it soon passed under silence by the death of the Pope after whom Gregory 7th a Monk of Sienna attained the Popedome who was Hildebrand above Nominated by the Emperor but in the year 1076 having been three years in the Popedome finding the Emperor yet young and Germany full of Commotions he deliberated to exclude him totally from the Election of Bishops and Abbots and made him a Monitory that for the Future he ought not to intrude therein the Emperor made a great Resistance whereupon the Pope Excommunicated him absolved his Subjects from the Oath of Fidelity and suspended him from the Administration of the Kingdom of Italy and of Germany He Excommunicated also the Bishops his Ministers Colleagu'd himself with his Rebels provoked the Emperors own Mother against her Son and during the time which lasted until the year 1085 when the Pope dyed in Banishment at Salerno N. 101. he Excommunicated the Emperor four times and made a general Decree that if any Clergy-man should receive a Bishoprick or an Abbey from a Lay-mans hand he should be accounted no Clergy-man by any one and should be deprived from entring into the Church and the like for him who shall receive other Benefices unto which Penalty he Subjected also the Emperor the King the Duke the Marquess and the Earl and every Power or Person Secular that should dare to invest with Benefices The Emperor maintained his Cause by his Arms against the Pope and his Colleagues and was followed by most part of the Bishops Whereupon the Pope was in a grievous Danger but he who had formerly Excommunicated the Normans as Usurpers of the Kingdoms of Sicily and Puglia had Recourse to their Assistance granted them all that for which he had Persecuted them and absolved them from the Excommunication and if for this Cause Robert King of Naples and of Sicily N. 102. who heretofore was a Persecutor of the Popes had not turned to his Defence to make a Counterballance to the Emperor he had maintained his Cause with a total Victory but by the help of Robert the Pope was supported although in Exile and he being dead in his Assistance and three Rogers of the same Family the same Contention continued likewise with the two Successors of Gregory both Monks of the same order the last of which was Vrban 2d who in Reward of the Services done by the Normans gave one of them a Bull for the Monarchy of Sicily really granting them a greater management in the Affairs of the Church than that he would take from the Emperor Which to do besides the Excommunications he often repeated against the Emperor and the Rebellions he stirr'd up against him making his Eldest Son to Rebel against him also and by his means excluded the Emperor almost out of Italy But he being dead the Pope who Succeeded repeated the Excommunications against the Emperor and raised many Rebellions making his other Son to Rebel also with whom the Father engaged in War N. 103. one time overcome and another time Victorious came finally to conditions of Agreement wherein he was cheated and reduced to a Private Life left the Empire to his Son who was called Henry Henry 4th being dead Paschal for so was called the 4th Pope amongst them for beginning from Gregory 7th they fought with Excommunications and spiritual Weapons for the taking away of the Investiture of Bishops and Abbies from the Emperor he assembled a Council at Gnastalla and then at Troyes in France and renewed in them both the Decrees of Gregory 7th and of Vrban 2d that no Lay-man should hinder the Conferring of Benefices In France the Decree was not accepted by the King but he continued according to Custom and also the Emperor Henry 2d the Son opposed it who in the year 1110 came Armed into Italy for the Crown of the Empire to which the Pope having opposed himself by Controversies depending between them they agreed that Henry should go to Rome for the Crown N. 104. put the Controversie of Investitures to silence neither party being to speak of them Henry went to Rome where Pope Paschal appearing to him to be Superior in strength not remaining firm in the Conditions he would have him to renounce the Investitures and Henry confiding in his bold Forces proposed on the contrary that the Pope should revoke the Decrees saying he would not be inferior to Charlemain Ludovicus Pius and other Emperors who had given the Investitures Peaceably and quietly whereupon the Contentions encreasing the Emperor took the Pope Prisoner and the most part of the Cardinals carrying them from the City an Accommodation was treated on and finally the Pope agreed to Crown him and to let him have the Conferring of Benefices without Excommunicating him for it and he Swore to the observation of the Agreement and the Mass being Celebrated the Pope divided the Wafer N. 105. and with one half he Communicated himself and the Emperor with the other half making Cursed and dreadful Imprecations for which of them should be a Violater of the Agreement The Pope gone back to Rome said he would observe the Agreement but yet his Legates Excommunicated the Emperor and he two years after in 1112. Call'd a Council Confirmed the Decrees of Gregory and Vrban that no man should receive Investitures from Lay-men and caused the Council to annull the Agreement made with the Emperor and finally in 1116 Excommunicated him besides Pascal dyed and Gelasius the 2d Succeeded him at first then Calisto the 2d with whom the Contention lasted and by whom and by all of them the Emperor was Successively Excommunicated These three Popes did not only make use of Excommunicating but also stirr'd up many Seditions against the Emperor The chief of one was Lotharius a Saxon who took up Arms and had many Victories finally in the year 1122. Henry perceiving himself in so many difficulties renounced the Investiture N.
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
was observed in following times until that Rome remained under the Eastern Empire and there are many Epistles of St. Gregories which make mention of Estates Alienated for the Redemption of Slaves But from the times of Pelagius the 2d unto Adrian the 1st for 200 years the Expence was incredible which the Roman Church made for to recompence it self on the Lumbards as well to cause them to raise the Sieges as that they should not molest the Country and St. Gregory gives good Testimony of it in his time The Doctrine which runs at present was not then in Credit that Ecclesiastical Estates are exempt from Common necessities but quite Contrary those were the first that were to be expended before they came to lay Contributions upon private Houses Much less did it ever come into thought of putting into Controversie the Authority of Princes about making Laws because besides the perpetual observance N. 168. there was the solid Foundation that these were the Churches Goods that is belonging to the Common and to the Congregation of the Faithful so that it concerned the proper Office of the Prince to procure the Conservation of them Afterwards when the Empire was Established on Charlemain the Roman Laws remaining without Authority the abuse returned whereupon divers Prohibitions were made by divers Councels Prohibitions chiefly in France where the Dissipation was greater But after that the Roman Popes had assumed the greatest share of the Government of other Churches seeing that a General Prohibition wrought but little Effect the Prelates wanting no Pretexts to except every particular case from the Common Law they made divers Ordinances from the year 1000 unto the year 1250 prescribing certain little Forms of Solemnity which served for a Bridle and for an Impediment But in this time whereof we speak Innocent the 4th began to declare Null the Alienations made without those Conditions N. 169. and Gregory the 10th in the Councel at Lions Anno. 1274 Ordained they should not be able to Alienate without leave from the Pope besides the Solemnities abovesaid also which hath been observed and is still observed unto our dayes never granting any Alienation but upon evident Utility which hath not wanted for those who have noted it for an express Iniquity seeing that in Contracts never any man seeks for other than for Equality and more cannot be but with detriment to another specially the Canonists to specify what thing this Utility ought to be which the Church ought to receive in Alienation some say it ought to be the Fourth part others the Third part of the Value So that they quite left off selling to feed the Poor in time of extraordinary Famine or to redeem Captives it being Interpreted to be a dammage and not an Utility to the Church Thus things are turned about that which heretofore was a work of a high Perfection in Christians as selling and giving to the Poor N. 170. would now be subject to grievous Censures but Perfection is in retaining Ecclesiastical Estates which much less cannot be exchanged without Evident Utility Abuse of Prohibitions and the Prohibitions for Alienating which were made against the Clergy-men in favour of the Laity are turned about against the Laity in favour of the Clergy But returning to the Declaration of Clement the 4th and 5th and to the Common Doctrine that the Pope may Concur and prevent every Collator of Benefices this was of no great Profit saving in the Vacant Benefices of the Neighbouring places to the Court so that the Vacancy might be speedily known there for as touching those at a Distance his being able to Concur or to prevent was of little use because before it could be known at Court the Provision was made by the Ordinary and had issued the Effect or cast Lots Wherefore 't was invented that which became a total Mutation in the matter of Benefices and destroys totally the Antient Institution of all the Catholick Church Reservations this is the Reservation which is a Decree whereby the Pope declares before a Benefice becomes Vacant that when it shall be Vacant no man shall confer it N. 171. and the Collation which any one shall make is to be of none Effect And because this is an odious matter as the Gloss saith well to make it be received by the World and swallowed down sweetly 't was in its beginning used sparingly by reason the absolute Reservation seemed too hard which Clement the 4th had made of the Vacanti in Curia whereupon Gregory the 10th restrained it to a month only permitting the ordinary Provisions might be made after that Clement the 5th added thereunto the Reservation of the Cathedral Church and of St. Cros's Monastery in Bordeaux for once Pope John the 22d his Successor stretcht the Step a little further and made a Constitution to Reform the Plurality of Benefices Prohibiting the keeping of more than one Curate and another without a Cure with Dispensation excepting the Cardinals Commanding that he who had more should resign them N. 172. and for the future that he who had one Cured Benefice and should receive another was to resign up the First and those which were resigned should be reserved to his Disposal The Bull for the apparent end of taking away the Plurality of Benefices was a specious Reservation though it had no other end than the Profit of the Court passed away as a thing accessory and which seemed at first sight without Burthen because as yet the end whereto it tended was not discovered Here 't is necessary to make a little Halt because this Pope gave many Examples unto his Successors for the Collationing of Benefices which served to heap up Treasures He divided many Bishopricks and when a Rich Benefice became Vacant he was wont to give it to a man who already had another somewhat inferior to it giving that which was Vacant to another prevailing so far in this manner that sometimes for one Vacant he made six Provisions or Promotions by transferring alwayes from one less Rich N. 173. to another more Rich and by providing the least or Poorest with a new Beneficiated so that all were Contented and all paid Annatae He invented also the Annatae or first Fruits a burthen upon Benefices never heard of before him and which for sometimes Created very great Scandals When Emperors or Kings Conferr'd any Benefices if those who aspired to them made any Donative or else Contracted with the Prince or with his Ministers to give any share of the Fruits and Incomes of the Benefices for to Obtain them this was then most sharply rebuked by the Popes who called it an unlawful thing alledging the Gospel Gratis accepistis gratis date and calling the Receit of gifts or of a part of the Fruits a sale of Spiritual things and a Contract by Symonie some proceeding to call it Heresie though some were not wanting in those times to give their Opinion and say that
that his Predecessors had Enriched the Churches which by the Provisions and Impositions of Rome are Possessed by Strangers and unworthy men contrary to the mind and intention of the Testators whereby the Kingdom also became weakened That the Pope ought to feed and not shear the Sheep that heretofore the Kings gave the Benefices that they have granted the Election unto the Clergy upon the Popes Petition and now the Popes will take away the Election introduced by them N. 181. and usurp it to themselves Wherefore 't will be convenient to return to the first Institution that Benefices are to be conferr'd by Princes This Contention which lasted while the Pope was living was occasion that Innocent the 6th Successor to Clement revoked all his Reservations by a Constitution of his which begins PASTORALIS The same at present is not to be found but many famous Canonists make mention of it the like hath happened to many others whereby the Abuses and the Usurpations would be made manifest as in like manner all things were taken out of the Glosses which favour'd not the Court but the expurgatory Index's made with the Doctors shew worse besides the fitting them for his Interests or purposes before they were exposed to the Press But few years after they were restored again wherefore Edward An. 1373 sent an Ambassador to Gregory the 11th at Avignon making Instance that the Reservations should be quite annull'd The Business was taken in hand N. 182. which lasted two years at last in the year 1375 the Pope Annull'd them totally But he being dead the beginning of the great Schism happened in the year 1378 by which there being two Popes there were also two Roman Courts and the Expences or Charges were Duplicated and those also were much greater than Ordinary through the necessities of spending which the Popes had for the Persecuting of one another and for the defending themselves against one another whereby each of them set on foot all the wayes imaginable for the raising of Money and Simony was most manifest in each of the Courts Benefices being freely sold and they took all they could out of the Hands of the Ordinaries The Roman Court had not openly discovered it self until this time for they aimed at nothing else but at Money of all their undertakings the Cause was rendred with some appearance or shew of providing better for the Churches than the Ordinaries did or else of providing some deserving Person with a Benefice But Vrban the 6th declared himself why 't was introduced into Benefices with Ordaining N. 183. that the Impetration should be Invalid if mention were not made of the value of the Benefice Heretofore the Benefice was chiefly given for Spiritual things the Temporals became Accessories then of the Spirituals there was no mention made the Charge or Office was not Considered but the Emolument The same Institution lasted also unto our dayes and Authority being given to Nuncio's to Confer some of the lesser Benefices by the value of the Incomes it is determined which are the great and which are the little ones And in the Reservation of Monasteries there is no care of the Spiritual those are Reserved which exceed the value of 200 Crowns and the inferior ones left free This serves to the end the Chamber may receive the Annata or Fruits more exactly for if two men impetrate one Benefice and one of them expresses the value to be greater than the other the Bulls or Papal Breives of him that exprest the less will be in vain and those of the greater will be attained Some say this is an exposing it to a sale or out-cry and giving to whom bids most others say it is to the end the Chamber may not be defrauded of its Right N. 184. but this Consideration belongs to the Chapter of First-Fruits Coming back to the time of the Schism no man denyes but the Disorders in the Roman Courts were great which encreased also the more because some Kingdoms and Provinces Scandalized at such various and different Methods they reduced themselves to acknowledge neither of the two Popes whereupon it behooved them to raise and receive from those which remained as much as from all Germany refused to remain Subject to the Reservations and Expectancies or Reversions and the Ordinaries Conferr'd Benefices without any Regard to the Ordinances of Rome On the Contrary Innocent the 7th for this Cause in the year 1359 sent a Legate into Germany to give new Bulls or Papal Letters to those who were gotten in by the Episcopal Collation paying them for them and to cause them to make Composition for the Fruits received leaving some part unto the Chamber N. 185. but by this means much Money being like to go out of Germany the Emperor Charles the 4th opposed it and Prohibited the Extraction saying 't was requisite to Reform the Customs of the Clergy not the Purses All these Confusions encreased more and more when there came on the third Pope in the year 1409 to whom although the French did adhere and yielded Obedience nevertheless they stuck close to one of the Kings Edicts made 3 years before by which they Prohibited the Reservations the first-Fruits and other exactions of the Court until that by a Lawful general Councel might be provided for The King was not very Capable of the Government but Lewis Duke of Orleans who Governed him was Author of all the Edicts wherefore he being Kill'd 't was easie for Pope John the 23d to regain Authority for Conferring Benefices in France giving to the King to the Queen to the Dolphin and to the House of Burgundy the nomination of most of their Servants and then prevailing with the Remainder preserv'd it until the Death of that King wherefore Charles the 7th his Son who Succeeded him N. 186. renew'd the Edicts In Italy also there were made several Provisions by divers States in different manners all which tended to take away the Abuses Baldus testifies that as much as the Bologneses made Beneficyal Provisions and Particularly Ordained that they should not be Conferr'd saving only upon the Natives of that City and of the Country belonging to it neither were the Popes much esteemed by them for John the 23d being in Florence with his Court a certain disorder arose about the Collation of a Benefice for which that Common-wealth deprived him of the Power of Conferring Benefices in their State for five years In these times were invented inextricable Clauses to be put into Bulls as making a difference between Petitions Signed by Concessum and those which are Signed by Fiat between the dispatches with the Clause Motu Proprio with others New tricks and devices sound out and the Clause Anteferri which makes the better Conditions from which Invention several Bulls were Obtained upon the said Benefice N. 187. and besides the more Fruits paid there arose Law-suits also which were to be handled at Rome with the Benefit of the
were gone to Rome for Beneficyal Causes Three years after the Pragmatica was restored by the same King Sixtus the 4th then opposed him and made an Agreement to destroy it which is still to be found but they would not receive it and the Pragmatica remained Innocent the 8th Alexander the 6th and Julius the 2d used all means to Abolish it but could never Obtain it Finally Leo the 10th made an Agreement with King Francis the First And taken away again by which the Pragmatica was taken away and 't was Ordered that the Power of Choosing Bishops and Abbots should be quite taken away from the Chapters of Cathedral Churches and from the Conventuals but Bishopricks and Abbeys becoming Vacant the King might name a fit Person on whom the Pope was to Confer the Benefice That the Pope of Rome could not give Reversions nor make general or special Reservations but that Benefices becoming Vacant in four Months of the year should be Conferr'd by the Ordinaries on the Graduates of the Vniversities N. 208. and the Vacants in the other eight Months might be freely Conferr'd by the said Ordinaries only that every Pope in his life time may Charge any Collator of Benefices to Confer one according to the disposal of his Holyness in case there are to be Conferr'd between Ten and Fifty and if there be above Fifty or more he may Confer two and although there were many Difficulties in Accepting the Agreement and the University appealed to the next Lawful Councel nevertheless the Authority and the Vtility of King Francis overcame and the Agreement was Proclaimed in France and put in Execution In such manner that after so many Popes from the year 1076 unto 1150 strove by the Excommunicating an infinite number of Persons and by the Death of Innumerable more to take from Princes the Conferring of Bishopricks and giving the Election to the Chapters contrary-wise Pius the 2d with five of his Successors have striven to take the Election from the Chapters of France and give it to the King and Leo the 10th did obtain it at last N. 209. Thus the Alteration of Interests bear along with it the Change and Contrariety of Doctrine Some Speculative men have accounted the Reason of this to be because the Example that the Bishop and the Clergy might Confer may keep alive the Practice and the most general Doctrine of the Church Contrary to the Modern others because it is still more easie to take it out of the hands of a King who may be of a weak Spirit or may stand in need of the Pope than from the Bishops and Clergy King Francis made many Laws besides to regulate the Possessory of Benefices and the Agreement was observed by him but the Execution was interrupted for some years by his Son Henry the 2d when he was in War with Pope Julius the 3d because of Parma wherefore in the year 1550 the King Prohibited that any Provision of the Popes Benefices should be received and Commanded that all should be conferr'd by the Ordinaries but Peace being made all was Composed and the Observance of the Agreement returned But in the year 1560 the States were held at Orleans in Charles the 9th's Minority where the Collations of Benefices were regulated N. 210. and many things abolished which were Contained in the Agreement Great Confusions and Wars happened in the Kingdom and the Cardinal of Ferrara was sent Legate into France who Obtained that the Ordinances of Orleans should be superseded with a Promise that the Pope within a short time should provide against the Abuses for which the Ordinances were made of which nothing was done afterwards so that now the Concordate remains Thus went the Affairs in Germany and in France But the State of Italy which we have lately described was greatly altered by the Celebration of the Councel of Trent which made several Decrees on this Matter to provide against the Abuses abovesaid then reigning and although from its beginning which was in the year 1547 it began to attend these Corrections and made many Decrees which were not put in Execution until after the end of it which was Anno. 1563 wherefore it may be said that all the Provisions are to be referr'd unto this time N. 211. 'T was the Intent of this Councel to remedy three things First the Plurality of Benefices Secondly 1 Pluralities 2 Hereditary Succession 3 Absence Hereditary Succession Thirdly the Absence of Beneficiated men and to Prohibit all kind of Plurality 't was Ordained that one although he were a Cardinal could not have more than one Benefice but if that were so small that it might not serve or be sufficient for the Expences of the Beneficyed he might have one more which was therefore to be without Cure of Souls It Prohibited the Commendum's of Benefices Curati ad Vitam which was a Pretence to make a man Obtain two it Ordained also that Monasteries for the future should not be Commended and those that were so till then when they became Vacant should be reduced into a Title It Prohibited also the Vnions ad Vitam which was another pretext of giving divers Benefices under the name of one It Prohibited totally the Regresses and the Accesses to take away Succession It Prohibited also the Coadjutorships with future Succession absolutely excepting in Cathedrals and Monasteries wherein was Admonished N. 212. that they should not be granted by the Pope but for just Causes but the Prohibition is without Effect In the 14 last moneths Residency was treated with some Contention Residency because there was sprung up a Question among the Doctors a little before whether the Residency of Bishops and of other Curates in their Churches were de Jure Divino or Canonick for which cause the Councel was divided in such a manner that in April Anno 1562. a Scrutiny being made of the number of both Parties there 67 found whose Opinion 't was de Jure Divino 33 who opinion'd it to be de Jure Positivo and 30 who were of Opinion that this Point ought not to be decided without first treating with the Pope Of the first number were the Northern men and other cast-off Bishops on the Second and the third the Dependents on the Court. If Residency should have been made de Jure Divino it would follow that the Pope could not have been able to dispence it but that the Authority of the Bishop also would have been de Jure Divino and no man was able to restrain it N. 213. these were things which Squinted at the Depression of the Courts Greatness wherefore the Opinion was Maintained by both Parties with much boldness The Business came to Practices so that after fourteen months Residency was Commanded yet not declared quo Jure the Curate should be Obliged only Penalties were enjoyned upon non-Residents as to other things they were left in their first Estate or Condition but those who were at
also give Authority to whom he thinks fit enabling him in like manner to Concur with the Ordinary or to prevent it as they have since given this Faculty unto Legates with a general Constitution There is nothing more Wonder-worthy in the Consideration of Benefices Election of Ministers belonged to the Faithful than it being as clear as the light at noon day that the Election of Ministers was at first by the Faithful People then it passed unto the Princes after the Christian Faith being received they minded the Affairs of the Church and finally it was reduced unto the Ecclesiastical Order only N. 161. the Seculars being excluded by the Management of Gregory the 7th and his Successors yet there still remained in each Diocess the Election and the Collation of Benefices and of their Offices which since by little and little the Popes of Rome have assumed to themselves by the wayes abovesaid and to be said hereafter Nevertheless the Canonists either out of Animosity or because it is not their Profession to know any thing besides the Decretals have said and do say in our dayes without Respect unto the Notorious Truth which is against it that heretofore the Pope provided all Bishopricks and other Benefices and that he afterwards out of Favour granted the Election to the Chapters and the Collation unto the Bishops it is not to be doubted but one day it ought to be answered in the Articles of our Faith for making a Doctrine to pass into the Church which is so directly contrary to what they caused to be Preached in Former times when Anselmus Bishop of Lucca who wrote three Books against Gilbert the Anti-Pope in favour of the said Gregory the 7th which are still to be found throughout all the second of which by the Authority of the Popes N. 162. of the Holy Fathers of general Councels by the Custom observed from the Apostles time unto his who wrote in the year 1080 Proves that the Election of Bishops by him called Popes belonged to the Clergy and to the People of the same Diocess and that the most Pious Emperors Constantine Constant Valentinianus Theodosius Honorius Carolus Ludovicus and other excellent men for Faith and in Religion never violated such a Custom observed in the Holy Church from the Apostles time and a Constitution of Carolus and Ludovicus Pius being born or Contained in the Chapitolar that Bishops should be elected by the Clergy and by the People of their own Diocess according to the Canons saith that this Constitution is most agreeable to that of the Holy Fathers and no less than if by the Nicene Councel or by any other General Synod it had been Promulgated by the Holy-Ghost through the Mouth of those Emperors where 't is seen that to take the Election out of the Hands of Princes they held for a Tradition that the Contrary of which they are willing now adayes should be Written by the Canonists N. 163. and Believed by us so that of necessity the Canonists must Err or else the Allegations of the Bishop of Lucca have erred And if the Ordination of Bishops in their Diocesses after the manner aforesaid was the Liberty of each one of the Churches as the Fathers and the Councels taught and granted them by our Lord Jesus Christ Let not those talk so disorderly who say the Court hath put all the Churches in Bondage under pretext of defending them their Liberty Seek this time that having spoken in divers Occasions of different wayes of gaining Estates to the Churches I toucht the manner of preserving them which is by Prohibiting all manner of Alienations Alienations a thing Diametrically contrary to that which the Primitive Church observed Wherefore if when 't was Lawful by the Laws of the Prince for the Churches to purchase Estates in Land N. 164. they might retain those which were given or bequeathed 't was therefore in the Bishops Liberty not only to make use of the Incomes but also to sell the very Estates to discharge the necessary Expences in Maintaining the Ministers and the Poor as also to give or bestow according to Exigencies And the Authority of Dispensator granted to the Bishop did not extend to the Fruits only as at present but also unto the Estate it self and to other Chapters which at first was Administred with Sincerity so that there arose no inconveniency thereby and lasted a long time in Poor Churches where the Estates being but small and the Bishops of no great Authority there was no matter or cause of Transgression But in Rich Churches and great ones where the Reputation Emboldened the Bishops to attempt that which would not have been permitted unto all and Abundance gave matter of being able to make use of some part Arbitrarily the Bishops began to exceed the Bounds of Modesty from Dispensing they came to Dissipating against which it was requisite to provide neither the Provision proceeded not from the Clergy-men but from Secular men to whose prejudice it was N. 165. For the Publick Estate of the Church being lessened the Clergy were not suffered to take their Living who were the first but the Poor who remained to the last In the most Principal Churches which were Rome and Constantinople the Provision was also first necessary wherefore Leo the Emperor by a Law of his Anno. 470 Prohibited the Church of Constantinople from every Alienation and in the year 483 Basilius Cecina Praefect us Praetorius of King Odoacre in Rome the See of Simplicius being Vacant by a Decree made in the Church Ordained that the Estate of the Roman Church should not be Alienated which was not found strange by three Succeeding Popes but in the year 502 Odoacre being extinct and all his Power Simmacus the Pope Assembled a Councel of all Italy wherein he proposed as a great Absurdity that a Lay-man should have made Constitutions in the Church N. 166. and by Consent of the Councel declared them Null But lest it should appear that this would tend to disorder a Decree was made in the Councel that the Pope of Rome and the other Ministers of that Church should not be able to Alienate specifying that the Decree should not oblige other Churches but the Roman only The following times shewed there was need of the same Law in all the Churches wherefore Anastasius extended Leo's Law to all the Churches subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople to all which he Prohibited the Power of Alienating But Justinian the Emperor in the year 535 made a Constitution General for all the Eastern Western and African Churches and also for all Pious Places Prohibiting the Power of Alienating excepting only to Feed the Poor in case of extraordinary Famine and to release Prisoners in which Cases Alienation was granted Conformable to the Antient Custom N. 167. of which St. Ambrose makes mention that not only Possessions but also the Vessels were sold for such Causes Justinian's Law in the West