al should be ended in one and the selfe same Court which would be a great ease to the subiect who to his intollerable vexation and eycessiue charges is compelled to run from Court to Court and to gather vp as it were one lim of his cause here and another there and yet happily in the end cannot make a whole and perfect body of it Beside it is a mightie disorder in a common wealth thus to iumble one Iurisdiction with another the very confusion as well of the one law as the other for as kingdomes are preserued by knowing their bounds and kéeping their lymits so also Iurisdictions are maintained and vpheld by containing themselues within the lists or banks of their authoritie Further vnlesse they will graunt there is an Ecclesiastical custome as there is a Seculer Custome and that the one is as well to be tryed in the one Court as the other is in the other they will make their owne Doctrine in the before-rehearsed Prohibition void where they certaine vs there is a Seculer Custome and if there be a Seculer custome then doubtlesse there is also an Ecclesiasticall or spirituall custome for the word Seculer is not put in that place absolutely Glos in Clem. vnâ—â—a in verbo aterna â—teâ— de summa trinit f de catholica but relatiuely and the nature of Relatiues is one to put another one to remoue another but by the Seculer custom they but the Ciuilian therfore they grant him the spirituall for of contrarie things there are contrarie reasons and contrarie effects and what that which is proposed doth worke in that which is propounded the same againe that L. Fin. § pâ—us â—â—tem de legatis 3. ibi Angel which is opposed doth worke in that which is opponed by which Rule as Temporall Lawyers are to deale in Temporall Customes and spirituall men are not to intermedle therin so also Ecclesiasticall Lawyers are to deale in Ecclesiastical causes and that temporal Lawyers are not to busie themselues thereabout And that this was the intent of the king when he first receiued the Church into his protection with all the priuiledges therof may appeare hereby that hauing vnited both the Iurisdictions in his owne person hee did not iumble them both together as now they are but kept them distinct one from the other not only in authorising the Ecclesiasticall Courts that were before but also in vsing the verie words and phrases that the Iurisdictionaries Ecclesiasticall did vse euery where in their writings euen these words whereupon men now take hold to frame Prohibitions vpon viz. according to the laudable customs vsages of the parish and places where such Tythes growe which were the words of Innocent the third in the Decretals vpon the title of Tythe long before these statuts were made or any other statuts concerning the true payment of tyths and Linwod in the same title of tithes often vseth the very selfe same words and phrases that the other doth so that if these words made no Prohibition before the statute as I think it cannot well be shewed to the contrarie neither ought they to do it now since the statute for that they are taken still in the Church businesse and not in a temporall matter whose gouernment although it be vnder one and the selfe same Prince that the Temporall state is yet is it distinct from the same as euer it hath bin since there hath bin any setled forme of Church gouernment many common 1. Corinth 5. wealth as may appear both by the example of S. Paul which neuer goeth to any temporal power to punish the incestuous person although there were sundry lawes then both in Gréeke and Latine written of these matters but doth it by the spirituall sword alone and also by that that in matters of Iar for worldly causes betwéen brother and brother he forbids such as were new Christians to go to law before 1. Corinth 6. Infidels but aduiseth them rather to appoint Iudges among themselues to decide such controuersies which albeit in those daies was ment as wel of lay Christians as of the ministers of the Gospell for that the number of them then was small and the causes of suit they had one against another were not many and might easily be ended by one and the selfe same consistorie yet when the number of the Christians increased and the Church got some rest from persecution the Iurisdiction was againe diuided and as there were Seculer Courts appointed by Princes wherin Temporal mens causes and Lay businesses were heard so there were also by the same authoritie erected Ecclesiasticall Courts and Bishops C. de episcopall audienta tâ—rtis audiences wherin either Ecclesiasticall mens causes alone or such as they had against Lay men or Lay men against them were treated of and determined So that this was no new deuise of Henry the eight or Edward his sonne that when they tooke vpon them the supremacie ouer the Church as they had before ouer the common wealth they did not mishmash both the states together and made one confused heape of them both but left them seuered as they found them only affording either of them an equall proportion of protection for that by these two parts the kings Monarchie is compleat and himselfe is the head and chiefe Gouernour of the whole and entire bodie of his Realme For this was exemplaried vnto them in all former ages since the Church and common wealth had any louing and kind cohabitation together as hath béene before remembred And therefore doe they wrong to the ashes of those kings deceased which by subtill sence and strained interpretations draw these Lawes which they intended for the benefit of the Church and Church gouernment to the ouerthrow of the same as though the Positiue Lawes of the kingdome could not stand if the Lawes of the Church continued and stood vp right Vpon the same words of the same Statute if perhaps at any time there grow any controuersie about the limits or hounds of Parishes they draw the same by like importunitie from the triall of the Ecclesiasticall Law vnto the Common Law auouching the same also to bee of the Temporall cognisance and yet Linwod who liued in the daies of Henry the fift making a Catalogue of the principall matters that in his daies belonged vnto the Ecclesiasticall Courts reckoneth the bounds of Parishes for one And very like it is it should so be for that Ecclesiasticall men first in this Kingdome made diuisions of Parishes as by our owne Cronicles it appeareth and the first practise thereof within this Realme came from Honorius the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury after Augustine who himselfe died in Registro Eccle. XpÌ„i Cant. Stow. the yere of our Lord God 693. although otherwise the thing it selfe be more auncient and discends from the councell of Saint Paul he gaue to Titus to appoint Elders in euerie Citie but that Cities and Countries againe are
the Councell that reformed it and was holden vnder Alexander the third was not celebrated before the yeare of the Incarnation 1189. neither was the reformation therof at that time totall nor suitable to the first institution of Tythe among Christians For neither could many wilfull and refractarious persons be then brought to obey the Canons of the Councell in restoring any part thereof againe vnto the Church although they were charged so to doe vnder paine of damnation Neither did all such as did then restore them restore them to the Churches from whence they were taken which had béene most agréeable to the ordinance of the Church set downe by Dionysius who first diuided Parishes and assigned vnto them Tythes as hath béene aforesaid and also to the Scripture it selfe from whence Dionysius tooke his light to diuide Parishes and dispose of Tythes as hee did by which it was not lawfull for him that paid his Tythes to pay them to what Priest or Leuite Deuteron 18. him liked but hee must pay them to the Priest or Leuite that dwelt in the place where himselfe made his aboad but yet this libertie that was giuen them by the Councell then gaue cause vnto the errour that the common Lawyers hold at this day not knowing the auncient procéedings of the Church in these cases that before the Lateran Councell it was lawfull for euery man to giue his Tythes to what Church he would which was so farre otherwise as that before this violence offered vnto the Church there was a flat Canon more auncient then the fact of Charles Martellus Leo. 4. 13. q. 1. c. Eccl. which did precisely forbid any man to pay or a Bishop to giue leaue to any man to pay his Tythes from the baptismall Church to another and that the contrary was yeelded to in the Lateran Councell was not that they held it lawfull to inrich one Church in this sort with the impouerishment of another but the cause was the hardnesse of mens hearts who scarcely could bee wun by this fauour to restore that little againe vnto the Church that their forefathers had in such abundance taken away from it and that the Fathers of the said Councell did yeeld thereunto although it were an inconuenience thus to doe was for that they did count although they did admit that for the present yet there might bee a better time found out after for the reformation thereof and so sustained the inconuenience for the present vpon this reason that the vniuersall Church of Christ is one bodie and euery particular Church a part of that bodie and so it lesse mattered to what particular Church they were restored so that they were restored at all for that by the restitution to one they hoped in time they might with more likelyhoode come vnto the other for in those things wherein there is an Identitie or like representation of Nature and condition as is betwéene Church and Church is easier passage the one from the other than is in those that are of different nature and disposition as is in a lay man and a Church Out of these ruines of these violent and presumptuous prescriptions which haue now obtained strength of a statute in the world haue issued out sundry petty prescriptions which also are confirmed by law and custom as the other were as the prescription wherein one Church prescribeth Tythes against another Church the Law punishing therein the negligence of the one and rewarding the vigilancie of the other Prescriptions wherein one Ecclesiasticall body corporate or politique prescribeth Tythes or other Ecclesiasticall duties against the Parson or Vicar of the Parish and the Parson and Vicar againe against them A prescription whereby a Lay man hauing no right to prescribe Regul sine posssessionâ—d regulâ—â— iâ—ris in 6. Tythes because he can in no right possesse Tythes and prescription cannot procéed without possession doth notwithstanding by pernancie or giuing some part of his ground or pension in money in licu thereof prescribe a discharge therof A prescription wherein a lay man doth prescribe the manner of Tything which albeit by the coÌ„mon Law is counted to be good by paying a thing neuer so small in lieu thereof yet neither by the Canon Law neither by the Law of God it selfe it could euer be lesse than the iust tenth it selfe so that the manner of Tything with them is not vnderstood in that sence as the Common Lawyers doe take it by paying any thing whatsoeuer in place of the iust tenth but their intendment hereby is that no country can be bound to an vniformitie Liâ—wod Prouin quâ—â—am verbo vnâ—formâ—â— in Glo. de decim of payment of Tythes to be vsed euerywhere but euery man is to pay Tythes according to the manner of the Country where he dwels that is that one paies his Tythe corne and binds vp the same in sheaues another leaues it scattered in the furrowes another Tythes it in Cocks or Pookes and this is that that they meane that there cannot be an vniformitie of Tything prescribed to euery man after which he is of necessitie to set out his Tyths but that he may prescribe some other manner of Tything against the Parson or Vicar but against that vniformitie that the whole tythe â—â—d verbo consâ—â—tudines should not be paid was neuer any prescription allowed among them for they euermore haue beene of this minde contrary to that that the Schoolemen hold that Tythes are part of the Morall Law and not of the Iudieiall or Ceremoniall Law and that in the Precept of Tythes there is a double Ca. a nobis de decimis in Glos. consideration one of the honour of God whereby be retained tythes vnto himselfe in signe of his vniuersall Lordship ouer the whole world which is irremissable the other of the profit or vtilitie of man in that it concerns the prouision of the Minister in all ages which is vndispensable And yet notwithstanding all this the Ecclesiasticall Iudge admitteth all kinds of prescription beforenamed and according to the proofes thercon brought giueth sentence either to absolution or condemnation albeit the reuerent Iudges of the Land vpon an erronious report made in the eight yeare of Edward the fourth haue a conceipt to the contrarie viz. That no Ecclesiasticall Iudge will admit any Plea in discharge of Tythe or the manner of Tything as it is in their sence taken and therfore they hold whatsoeuer the defendant doth alledge in his suit for a consultation and namely that the Ecclesiasticall Iudge did allow of the Plaintifes Plea and allegation and did admit him to the proofes thereon without deniall are idle speeches and rather words of course than of effect and substance And therefore notwithstanding whatsoeuer is alledged by the Defendant as concerning the Ecclesiasticall Iudges well acceptance thereof it is counted nothing materiall by the Temporall Iudges for that they haue a preiudicate opinion of the Ecclesiasticall Iudge in these cases and therefore
daies after Sentence giuen or within ten daies after the Notice is come to the partie against whom the Sentence did passe vnlesse there attend thereon a continuall griefe in which case a man may appeale so long as the griefe indures the time to aske Dunissorie Letters is thirtie daies from the Sentence giuen the time to present the same to the Iudge is at the discretion of the Iudge from whom the time of prosecuting the same is a yeare or vpon iust cause two yeares in which time if the sute bee not ended the cause is deserted and to be sent back vnto the Iudge from whom the Appeale was first made while the Appeale hangeth nothing is to be innouated because by the Appeale the Iudges hands are as it were bound but if the former Sentence were void by law as in sundry cases they are then there néedeth no Appeale for such Sentences neuer passe into a case Iudged Appeales in criminall cases cannot be iustified by a Proctor but it is otherwise in Ciuile causes An Appeale in one cause doth not exempt the partie appellant from his own Iudge in other causes If the appellant die during the time of the Appeale and leaue no heire behind him the Appeale ceaseth but if he leaue an heir behind him the matter of the Appeale concernes none but himselfe he is not to be compelled to follow it for euerie one may renounce his owne suite but if it concerne the Exchequer or any other bodie then may hee be compelled to follow it The Exchequer is the Princes Treasurie and the patrimonie of the common wealth and hath many singuler prerogatiues which priuat men haue not Such as are taken captiue by the enemy become their seruants who haue taken them vnlesse eyther they escape home againe themselues or be ransomed by their friendes in both which cases they recouer all right and priuiledges they had in their owne common wealth before By the Law all Subiects whatsoeuer are bound to serue the common wealth in warre insomuch that if any being prest withdraw himselfe or his child from it he is to be counted as a rebell and for his punishment is to be banished and mulcted or fined in the greatest part of his goods As the priuiledges and rewards of Souldiors were many to incorage them to vertue and manhood so their shames and punishments were great to feare them from cowardice and vice But among the rest of the priuiledges of Souldiors the old Souldiors were the greatest Of Subiects some dwelt in Shires and liued after their owne Lawes and yet neuerthelesse were made partakers of the honors of the Citie some other were inhabitants onely in the common wealth and had onely a house in the same place to dwell in and had no right to beare office some other were straungers brought in which were ruled by the Law of them among whom they dwelt Amongst those that dwelt in Shires the chiefest Magistrate was he whom they called Decurio who was not sent by the people of Rome thither for he was a Magistrate of Magistrates but elected by the people there and his office was to kéepe the treasurie of the Countrey to prouide victuall exact tribute and gouerne the state there in maner as our Shirifes doe here His office was onely annuall least by libertie and lust of gouernment and continuance thereof it might grow into a tyrannie Such as are Subiects are to serue the common wealth in such offices places and seruices as their abilitie is fit for and the necessitie of the common wealth requires The seruices of the Common wealth were of thrée sorts Patrimoniall such as belong to euery mans patrimony to performe which stood chiefly vpon payments and charges which were to go out of euery mans inheritance towards the performance of such burthen as lay vpon him by law custome or commaund of him that had power thereto Personall which were to be performed by the care and industrie of the partie and his corporall labour without expence of his purse Mixt which required both care of the mind and labour of the bodie and expence of the purse and are imposed aswell in consideration of the thing as the person which euery subiect is to vndergo vnlesse by the Law or by the indulgence of the Prince they are excused as some are excused by reason of olde age some by yong age some for their dignitie some for their calling some for their state of bodie some for that they serue in the necessarie seruices of the Common wealth at home or abrode as Imbassadors doe some for that they are necessary places of seruices for Gods Religion as cathedrall Churches other Churches are some for that they are good and necessarie places for Seminaries for the Common wealth for learning and such other imployments as Colledges Societies and Schooles of learnings and nurture are Legates and Imbassadors had immunitie from all publike seruices not only the time of their embassage but also two yeare after their returne They were called Legates in that they were chosen as fit men out of many their person was sacred both at home and abrode so that no man might lay violent hands on them without breach of the Law of Nations Such as are Magistrats of cities ought so to gouerne that no negligence may be iustly imputed vnto them otherwise they are to answere it and that when their office is expyred they giue vp a iust accompt both of what they haue receiued what they haue laied out pay in the residue if there be any Gouernors of Cities together with the consent of the Burgesses therof may set downe such orders and decrées as are for the benefit well ordering thereof which are to be obserued of all those which are Inhabitants therof and being once wel and duely set downe are not to be reuersed but to the good of the Citie or Comminalty New publike works such as are good for the Common weale euery one may make without the leaue of the Prince vnlesse it be done for emulation or cause of discord but for old works in which stands the securitie of the Common wealth as Castles towers gates and wals of Cities nothing is to be done or innouated in them without the Princes warrant neyther is it lawfull for any man to graue his name in any publike work vnles it be his at whose cost the work is done Faires are authorized by Princes only are inuented for trade of marchandize vttering of wares which Countrymen haue cause to buy or sell and haue their priuileges that no man in any Faire can be arrested for any priuat debt they are called Nundinae therupon that euery ninth day they were holden either in one place or other He that for x. yeares space intermitteth to vse his Fayre loseth the priuiledge therof If any make any promise to a Citie or Common wealth to do any thing vpon certain cause as that he might be made Consul or that
Iustices of Peace or other officers to that purpose appointed speedily dispatch the businesse of those which are of their Iurisdiction that such as come as strangers and forrainers out of other contries hauing no iust cause of their comming they send backe againe with their substance to such places as they came fro but if they be idle vagabonds and Rogues or other like valiant beggers they either driue them out of the place or compell them to labour yet euermore hauing regard to prouide for such as are honest poore old sick or impotent That Clerkes bee first conuented before their Ordinarie and that the Ordinarie do speedily end the matter that they may not be long absent from their benefices and that they be not drawne before temporall Iudges vnlesse the nature of the cause doe so require it as that it be a méere Ciuile cause or a criminal cause belonging wholy to the Temporal court wherein if a Clerke shall bee found guiltie he shall first bee depriued from his ministerie and then shall bee deliuered ouer into the Seculer hands but if the crime bee solely Ecclesiasticall the Bishop alone shall take knowledge thereof and punish it according as the Canons doe require That where one dieth without issue leauing behind him brethren of the whole bloud and brethren of the halfe bloud the brethren of the whole bloud haue the preheminence in the lands and goods of the deceased before the brethren of the halfe bloud whether they be of the fathers side or the mothers side That no man make Armour or sell it without the princes leaue vnlesse they bee kniues or other such like small weapons That proofe by witnesses was deuised to that end that the truth should not be concealed and yet all are not fit to be witnesses but such alone as are of honest name and fame and are without all supition of loue hatred or corruption and that their dispositions bee put in writing that after the witnesses bee published and their depositions bee knowne there bee no more production of witnesses vnlesse the partie sweare those proofes came a new vnto his knowledge If Parents giue profusely to one of their children the other notwithstanding shall haue their lawfull porcions vnlesse they be proued to be vnkinde towards their parents That women albeit they be debtors or creditors may be Tutors or Curators to their children and that there is not an oath to be exacted of them that they wil not marrie again so that they renounce their priuiledge graunted vnto them per Senatus consultū Velleian̄ and performe al other things as other Tutors doe That Gouernours of Prouinces are not to leaue their charges before they are called from thence by the Prince otherwise they incurre the danger of Treason That womens Dowries haue a priuiledge before all other kinds of debt that what Dowrie a woman had in her first marriage she shall haue the same in her second marriage neither shall it be lawfull for her father to diminish it if it return againe vnto his hand That a man shal not haue the propertie of his wiues dowrie neither a woman the propertie of that which is giuen her before marriage but the propertie of either of them shal come vnto their children yea though they marrie not againe Wils or Testaments made in the behoofe of children stand good howsoeuer imperfect otherwise they are but they are not auaileable for strāgers but strangers are they which are not children neither mattereth it whether the Will or Testament be writ by the fathers hand only or by some other body by his appointment as the father deuideth the goods among the children so they are to haue their parts Of Hereticks and that such are Hereticks which do refuse to receiue the holy Communion at the ministers hand in the Catholick Church that Hereticks are not to be admitted to roomes and places of Honor and that women Hereticks may not haue such priuiledge as other women haue in their Dowries That is called Mariners vsury that is wont to be lent to Mariners or Marchant men specially such as trade by sea which kind of lending the law calleth passage money in which kind of vsury a man cannot go beyond the 100. part That Churches inioy a 100. yards prescription That such things as are litigious during the controuersie are not to be sold away A Litigious thing is that whih is in suite betwéene the plaintife and defendant That while the suite dependeth there bee no Letters or Edict procured from the Prince concerning the cause in question but that the cause be decided according to the generall Lawes in vse That in Diuorces the children be brought vp with the innocent partie but at the charges of the nocent and that Diuorces bee not admitted but vpon causes in Law expressed That no woman whose husband is in warfare or otherwise absent shall marry againe before she haue certaine intelligence of the death of her former husband either from the Captaine vnder whom he serued or from the gouernour of the place where he died and if any woman marrie againe without such certain intelligence how long soeuer otherwise her husband be absent from her both she and he who married her shall be punished as adulterers and if her former husband after such marriage retorne back againe she shall returne againe to her former husband if hee will receiue her otherwise she shall liue apart from them both If any man beat his wife for any other cause than for which he may be iustly seuered or diuorced from her hee shall for such iniurie be punished If any man conceiue a iealousie against his wife as that she vseth any other man more familiarly then is méete shee should let him thrée seuerall times admonish him thereof before thrée honest and substanciall men and if after such admonition he be found to commune with her let him be accused of adultery before such Iudge who hath authoritie to correct such offences The ninth and last Collation containeth matter of succession in goods that as long as there be any descendent either Male or Female so long neither any ascendent or any collaterall can succeed and that if there be no discendent then the ascendent be preferred before the collaterall vnlesse they be brethren or sisters of the whole blood who are to succéed together with the ascendent but in ascendents those are first called which are in the next degrée to the deceased then after those which are in a more remote degrée that in collaterals all be equally admitted which are in the same degrée and of the same Parents whether they be male or female That the lands of any Church Hospitall or other like Religious place be not sold aliened or changed vnlesse it be to the Princes house or to or with an other like Religious place and that in equall goodnesse quantitie or that it be for the redemption of Prysoners and that they be not let out to any priuat
the ministring of the Sacraments in Baptisme and the vse of imposition of hands all which is set out vnder fiue distinctions The Decretals are Canonicall Epistles written either by the Pope alone or by the Pope and Cardinals at the instance or suite of some one or more for the ordering and determining of some matter in controuersie and haue the authoritie of a law in themselues Of the Decretals there bee thrée volumes according to the number of the authors which did deuise and publish them The first volume of the Decretals was gathered together by Ramundus Barcinius Chaplein to Gregory the ninth at his the said Gregories commaundement about the yeare 1231. and published by him to be read in scholes and vsed for Law in all Ecclesiasticall Courts The sext is the worke of Boniface the eight methoded by him about the yeare 1298. by which as hee added something to the ordinance of his predecessors so hee tooke away many things that were superfluous and contrarie to themselues and retained the rest The third volume of the Decretals are called the Clementines because they were made by Pope Clement the fift of that name and published by him in the Councell of Vienna about the yeare of grace 1308. To these may be added the Extrauagants of Iohn the xxij and some other Bishops of Rome whose authors are not knowne and are as Nouell constitutions vnto the rest Euery of these former volumes are diuided into fiue Bookes and containe in a manner one and the same titles whereof the first in euery of them is the title of the blessed Trinitie and of the Catholicke faith wherein is set downe by euery of them a particuler beliefe diuers in words but all one in substance with the auncient Symbols or beliefe of the old Orthodox or Catholicke Church Secondly there commeth in place the treatie of Rescripts Constitutions and Customes and the authoritie of them and when they are to be taken for Law after followeth the meanes whereby the greater gouernours of the Church as namely Archbishops Bishops and such like come vnto their roome which was in two sorts according as the parties place or degrée was when he was called vnto the roome as if he were vnder the degrée of a Bishop and was called to bee Bishop or being a Bishop was called to be an Archbishop or to be the Pope himselfe he was thereto to bee elected by the Deane and Chapiter of the Church where he was to bee Bishop or by the Colledge of the Cardinals in the Popedome but if he were alreadie a Bishop or an Archbishop and were to be preferred vnto any other Bishopricke or Archbishoprick then was he to be required by the church he was desired â—nto and not elected which in the Law was called Postulation after Postulation followed translation by the superior to the Sea to the which he was postulated or required after Election followed Corfirmation and Consecration of him that was elected which both were to be done in a time limited by the Canons otherwise the partie elected lost his right therein Bishops and other beneficed men sundry times vpon sundry occasions resigne their benefices and therefore is set downe what a renunciation or resignation is who is to renounce and into whose hands and vpon what causes a man may renounce his benefice or bishopricke and because vnder-Ministers are oftentimes negligent in their Cure that the people in the meane time may not bee defrauded of Diuine Seruice the Sacraments and the food of the word of God it is prouided that the Bishop shal supply the negligence of such Ministers as are vnderneath him in his Iurisdiction besides because holy orders are not to be giuen but by imposition of hands with prayer and fasting foure fit times in the yeare are for the same lymitted where also is set downe how they are to bee qualified which are to be ordered what triall or examination is to bee had of them what age they are to bee of and what gifts of body or mind they are to be indowed withall what Sacraments may be reiterated what not that Ministers sons are not to succéed their fathers in those benefices wherein their fathers immediatly before were Pastors or gouernours lest happily thereby there might be claimed a succession or inheritance in the same that no bondmen or accomptants men distorted or deformed in body bigamists or twice married men be admitted to holy orders Of wandering Clarkes and how that they are not to be admitted to minister in another Diocesse then where they are ordered without the Dimissarie Letters of the bishop vnder whom they were ordered Of Archdeacons Archpriests Sacrists vicars what they are and wherin their particular offices do consist Of the office of Iudges in generall and their power whether they bee Delegats Legats a latere or Iudges ordinarie Of difference in Iurisdiction betwéene Ministers Ministers and what obedience the inferior Ministers are to yéeld vnto their superiors Of Truce and Peace which Ecclesiastical Iudges are to procure that truces be kept from Saturday in the euening vntill Monday in the morning and that there be no fighting from the first day of the Aduent vntill the eight day after Twelfe tide and that warre likewise doe cease from the beginning of Lent vntill the eight day after Easter vnder paine of Excommunication against him that presumeth to doe the contrarie and that in time of war neither Priests Clarkes Marchant men country men either going to the field or comming from the field or being in the field or the cattell with which they plough or the seed with which they sow be hurt or violated Iudges before men enter into the dangerous euents of Law are to persuad the parties litigant by priuat couenants and agréement to compound the controuersie betwéen them wherein if they preuaile not then the parties are to prouide themselues of Aduocats Proctors or Sindects according as they are priuat men or bodies politicke to furnish their cause and direct them in procéeding If any Church hath bin hurt in any contract of bargaine or sale or in demising of any Lease or by the Proctors negligence it is to be restored againe into her former state to alledge and plead that for it selfe which is agréeable to Law and conscience The like grace is to be graunted to all other Litigants whatsoeuer who haue by feare or violence or any other like vniust cause béene hindered from the prosecution of their right If any séeing a suite like to be commenced against him do either appeale before he be serued with Processe or alienat away the thing whereupon the suite was like to grow he is to bee compeld to hold plee of the same cause before the Iudge from whom he did appeale and to answere his aduersarie as though still he were owner of the thing he did in policie sell or alienat away Many times things which otherwise can haue no spéedy end by Law are compounded by arbiterment Arbitrators
Nephew And thus much of succession of kings wherein the eldest among Males hath the prerogatiue and the like in Females if there be no Male for that a Kingdom is a dignitie vndiuisible and can come but to one bee hee Male or Female for that otherwise great gouernments would soone come to small Rules and Territories And the like that is said of Kingdoms is to be held of all Dignities vnder Kingdomes where the eldest son is to bee preferred before all his other brethren and they successiuely one before another if there be no issue left of them that goe before and the Male line is to be preferred before the Feminine and the Feminine before all the rest of the kindred so it be not a Masculine Feud and the same intailed vpon the heire Male. And thus far as concerning the matters wherein the Ciuile Law dealeth directly or incidently within this Realme Now it followeth to shew how much of all those titles of the Canon Law which haue bin before set downe are here in practise among vs. Of those Titles of the Canon Law which before haue béene recited some are out of vse here with vs in the singular or Indiuiduum by reason of the grosse Idolatry they did containe in them as the Title of the authoritie and vse of the Pal the title of the Masse the title of Reliques the worship of Saints the title of Monks and Regular Canons the title of the kéeping of the Eucharist and Creame such other of like qualitie but yet are retained in the generall for in stead of them there are substituted in their places holy worships tending to the like end of godlinesse those other did pretend but void of those superstitious meanes the other thought to please God by and so in stead of the Masse hath come in the holy Communion and in place of worshipping of Saints hath succeeded a godly remembrance and glorifying of God in his Saints and so of the rest whereof there is any right vse within the Church Some other are out of vse as well among the Ciuile as Criminall titles because the matter that is therein treated of is knowne notoriously to belong to the conusance of the Common Law at this day as the titles of Buying and Selling of Leasing Letting and taking to Farme of Morgaging and pledging of Giuing by déed of gift of Detecting of Collusion and Cosenage of Murder of Theft and receiuing of Théeues and such like And yet I doubt not but euen these matters as well Ciuile as Criminall or most of them were aunciently in practise and allowed in Bishops Courts in this Land among Clerkes to the which I am induced by three reasons First that I find not only the forraine Authors of the Decretals but also the domesticall Authors of the Legantines being all most excellent wise men as the Stories of their seuerall ages do report to haue inacted these seuerall constitutions and to haue inserted them not onely in the bodie of the Canon Law but also in the bodie of the Ecclesiasticall Lawes of this Land and that some wise men sundry years after their ages did write and comment vpon the same as things expedient and profitable for the vse of the Church and the gouernment of the Clergie in those daies neither of which I doe presume they would haue done if in those ages there had not béene good vse and frée practise of them Secondly that I find in the Code of Iustinian by sundry Laws some of his own making some other of other Emperors before his time euen from the daies of Constantine the great bishops in their Episcopall audience had the practise of these matters as wel Criminal as Ciuile and to that end had they their Officials or Chauncellors whom the Law calleth Ecclesiecdici or Episcoporum Ecdici that is Church Lawyers or Bishops Lawyers men trained vp in the Ciuile and Canon Law of those ages to direct them in matters of Iudgement as well in Ecclesiasticall Criminall matters as Ecclesiasticall Ciuile matters And that these which now are Bishops Chauncellers are the verie selfe same persons in Office that aunciently exercised Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction vnder Bishops and were called Ecclesiecdici it may appeare by that which Papias an old auncient Historiographer cited by Gothofred in his Annotations vpon the foresaid Law Omnem in the Code and title de Episcopis and Clericis and vpon the § Praeterea writeth of them who saith thus that Ecclesiecdici or Ecdici were those that were ayders and assisters to the Bishops in their Iurisdictions not astrict or bound to one place but euery where through the whole Diocesse supplying the absence of the Bishop which is the very right description of the Bishops Chauncellers that now are who for that they carrie the Bishops authoritie with them euery where for matters of Iurisdiction and that the Bishop and they make but one Consistorie are called the Bishops Vicars generall both in respect their authoritie stretcheth it selfe throughout the whole Diocesse also to distinguish them from the Commissaries of Bishoppes whose authoritie is onely in some certaine place of the Diocesse and some certaine causes of the Iurisdiction limitted vnto them by the bishops and therefore are called by the Law Iudices or Officiales foranei as if you would Clem 2. ca. foraneos de rescript say Officiales astricti cuidam foro diocesis tantum So that it is a very méere conceit that a certaine gentleman very learned and eloquent of late hath written that Chauncellers are men but of late vpstart in the world and that the sloth of bishops hath brought in Chauncelors wheras in very déed Chauncellers are equall or néere equall in time to Bishops themselues as both the Law it selfe and Stories do shew yea Chauncellers are so necessarie Baldus l. aliquando ff de officio Proconsulis officers to Bishops that euery Bishop must of necessitie haue a Chaunceller and if any Bishop would séeme to be compleat within himselfe that he néeded not a Chaunceller yet may the Archbishop of the Prouince wherein he is compell Couar lib. 3. variarum resolut c. 20. num 4. S. Brâ—zâ— lâ—b 1. de vicaâ—â—o 〈◊〉 q. 46 nâ—m 1. 4. 12. 13. him to take a Chaunceller or if he refuse so to doe put a Chaunceller on him for that the Law doth presume it is a matter of more weight than one man is able to susteine to gouerne a whole Diocesse by himselfe alone and therefore howsoeuer the nomination of the Chaunceller be in the Bishop yet his aucthoritie comes from the Law and Hostiensis in sum made officio Vicarij numoro 2. in sine nomirationem ab 〈◊〉 potestatem vero a iure recipiuntur therefore he is no lesse accompted an Ordinary by the Law than the Bishop is But trueth it is not the sloth of the Bishops but the multitude and varietie of Ecclesiasticall causes brought them in which could not be defined by