who upon several Attaques maintained the Interest of Truth against Paschasius and his Followers it will be our Business to represent how far these Disputes were serviceable in hindring the Opinions of Paschasius from getting the upper-hand in the Diocesses of Aquitain and Narbon and how this prepar'd their Minds for a Separation from the Church of Rome Never was any Man so often condemned as Berengarius never was any Man more back'd than he nor ever did any Man give more trouble to those who endeavour'd to crush him than he did An Author of the 12 th Century hath writ a Book Concerning Berengarius 's manifold Condemnation and Mabillon hath taken care to collect the Names and the Times of all those Assemblies wherein he was condemned but withal we may assert that the Reasons and Authorities he produc'd gave his Enemies a terrible deal of Trouble His Adversaries have employ'd their utmost Efforts to abolish the Memory of his Works but a sufficient part of them have been preserv'd by their own care to enable us to judg of the Injustice of their Calumnies against him and of the Purity of his Faith in the Matter of the Eucharist And for as much as he was of considerable use to the Albigenses in their opposing of the Doctrine of the Carnal Presence which the Faction of Paschasius and his Followers endeavoured to introduce and establish under the shelter and favour of that gross Ignorance which reigned at this time I suppose I may affirm that his Works whereof Lanfrank hath given us an Extract were of no small Service to oblige those who undertook his Defence to separate themselves from the Communion of the Pope or rather to hinder him from subjecting them to his Yoak seeing it was at this very time that the Popes began to make them selves Masters of the Churches of the West It will be of great moment to prove that the Popes had not as yet made themselves absolute Masters of this Part of the Church which was always careful to maintain its Rights against their Encroachments and Usurpations My intent therefore is to employ the following Chapter upon this Subject before I proceed to enquire how the Faith was preserved in these Diocesses in the next Age when they refused to submit themselves to the Authority of the Popes of Rome CHAP. XII That these Diocesses continued independent of the Popes until the Beginning of the Twelfth Century I Acknowledg that were the business to be decided by the modern Pretensions of the Popes of Rome to the Empire of all the Churches of the World and in particular to a Patriarchate over all the Churches of the West we should be forced to own that they had been subject to them ever since the time that the Gospel was first preached in Gaul in both these respects They have made it their business to persuade Mankind that the whole World is but the Pope's Parish and that more particularly the Churches of the West which have been founded by their Ancestors who sent them the first Preachers of the Gospel do belong to their Patriarchate as if these Envoys of the antient Popes in their Endeavours to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the World had design'd to establish the Papal Empire over all the New Conquests that they acquired to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ But notwithstanding all these new-found Claims and Pretensions of the Popes we can prove that nothing can be imagin'd more vain or more destitute of any Ground or Foundation than they are For it is not true that those Churches which have received the Gospel from another are therefore subject to it as we can demonstratively evince by the Examples of the Churches of Vienna and Lions which were founded by Persons sent from the Churches of Asia upon which account it was that St. Irenaeus sent them a Relation of the Persecution they suffered Neither is it true that the antient Popes how careful soever otherwise they might be to promote their own Authority did ever pretend to be the Patriarchs of all the West or of Gaul in particular This is a Truth we can unanswerably prove by the Testimony of the first Council of Nice which assigns no other Jurisdiction to the Pope save that which he enjoyed in those which Rufinus calls the Suburbicarian Regions and which the Learned Men of the Church of Rome at present own to have been comprehended within the ten Provinces of Italy to which the Papal Ordination did belong as we see it was under Honorius and which were distinguish'd from the Diocess of Italy properly so called that is to say the seven Provinces which constituted the Diocess of Milan This Canon therefore looks upon it as a thing not to be questioned that Gaul was a Diocess distinct from that of the Popes having its Authority within it self governed by its own Synods without having the Ordination of its Clergy the Determination of its Affairs or the Authority of its Assemblies subjected to the Pope's Authority as their Superiour If we had not this Canon of the first Council of Nice which distinctly determines the Pope's Diocess yet would it be very easy to prove it by other Arguments such as these 1. We find that the Churches of Gaul convocated a Synod upon the contest about Easter towards the end of the 2 d Century without receiving any Orders from Pope Victor for so doing 2. We find that when the Donatists were condemned by the Pope they desired the Emperor that they might be judged by the Bishops of Gaul and accordingly we find that Marinus Bishop of Arles presided in the great Council of Arles in the year 314 at which were present 83 Bishops twenty One of Italy eleven of Spain eleven of Africa five of Britain and thirty five of Gaul Since the Council of Nice we find the Churches of Gaul governing themselves with the same Independency under the Conduct of their several Metropolitans We are to observe in general that these Churches had their peculiar Code of Canons made by themselves and that these Canons continued to have the force of a Law till the 8 th Century when their Discipline began to receive a great Alteration by the cares of Bonifacius Bishop of Mentz and his Successors This is amply proved by Justel in the Preface to his Collection of the antient Canons Now it is visible that a Church which had its particular Rules could not be dependent on the Pope whose Diocess had its own particular Rules and Canons We can truly affirm that the Bishops of Gaul were so far from acknowledging the Pope as their Patriarch that his Name was not so much as ever recited in the Churches of Gaul till the year 529 as may be clearly collected from the Council of Vaison where it was first determin'd that the Pope should be mention'd in their publick Prayers And indeed if we enquire into the constant Conduct of the Bishops of Gaul throughout
the several Centuries that are past since the Council of Nice we shall easily perceive that they never conceiv'd themselves to be subject to the Pope of Rome In the year 337 Maximinus Bishop of Triers defends St. Athanasius as Pope Julius also did and admits to his Communion Paul Bishop of Constantinople and writes in favour of him to the Council of Sardica In 356 Saturninus Bishop of Arles convened the Council of Beziers which condemned St. Hilary of Poictiers in consequence of which he was sent into Banishment In 358 The Bishops of Gaul condemned the Confession of Faith of Sirmium as we are informed by Sulpicius Severus In the year 360 St. Hilary vigorously defended the Faith against the Arian Party in favour of which Pope Liberius had declar'd himself and 't is well known what Anathemas were discharged in Gaul by St. Hilary and his Friends against that Apostate Pope Pope Leo was so fully convinc'd of their Authority as independent upon his that he sent to them in the year 450 that dogmatical Epistle which he was to send to the East as soon as the Synods of Gaul had approv'd of it And it was upon the same account that he sent them the Decrees of the Council of Chalcedon against the Eutychians In the 6 th Century we find Avitus Bishop of Vienna using his utmost Endeavours to appease the Differences between the Church of Rome and that of Constantinople We find likewise Pope Hormisda communicating to the Bishops of Gaul his Reconciliation with the Patriarchs of Constantinople We find in 529 the Fathers of the Council of Orange handling the Questions about Grace and sending their Decrees to Boniface II. who approved them the year following In 550 Pope Vigilius gives an account to the Churches of Gaul of what had pass'd in the East and the Prelates of Italy entreat the Bishops of Gaul to endeavour to appease Justinian in favour of Vigilius and Dacius Bishop of Milan In the 7 th Century we find that the Gallican Bishops confirmed the Lateran Council that was assembled under Martin I. We find Pope Agatho inviting the Bishops of Gaul to come to a Council that he intended to call whither also they sent their Deputies at his Request The 8 th Century being in a manner wholly spent in Wars affords us little or nothing considerable in this matter however we may easily discern that this Diocess did even then maintain its Authority in spite of all the Popes Endeavours to the contrary whereof we have two most evident Instances 1 st Pope Adrian I. was so little informed of what pass'd in France that he knew not whether the City of Bourges was subject to the Jurisdiction of another Archbishop or no as appears from the Codex Carolinus Epist 87. 2 dly Their Independency clearly appears from the several Councils assembled about the Controversy of Images contrary to the Designs of the Popes and particularly from the Council of Francfort We find the same Spirit also in the following Century And to speak truth what-ever Change the antient Discipline under-went by occasion of the new Decretals which the Pope's Emissaries had published in order to subjugate all the West and France in particular yet we find that the Bishops of France hindred the Popes from concerning themselves with their Affairs The Business of Hincmar of Laon alone evidently shews that they did not acknowledg that new Right invented to make them buckle to the Papal Yoak for we see that they maintain'd that the Determinations of their Synods were not to be alter'd by the Popes they having no power to concern themselves about their Ordination or any part of their Jurisdiction About the end of the 10 th Century in the year 991 we find the Bishops of France that were assembled at Rheims maintaining themselves by the Canons of the African Code in opposing the Pope's Encroachments who would in pursuance of those spurious Decretals of the antient Popes arrogate to himself a Right of reviewing and altering the Determinations that were made by the Synods of France I own that since the middle of the 5 th Century we find the Popes granted a kind of Vicarship to some of the Bishops of South Gaul but withal we know that this Power was so extreamly wavering that it stood in need of being confirmed at the Instance of Leo I. by the Emperor Valentinian III. 2 ly That these were in a manner of no Efficacy at all these Vicars having scarcely had the Power of convening Synods but in virtue of the Right they had as they were Metropolitans and little or no Authority as to the Ordination of Bishops in general and of Metropolitans in particular It cannot be denied also but that the Popes since the 8 th Century began to grant divers Priviledges to the violating of the antient Discipline though under the pretence of preserving it in the Monasteries against the Attempts of the Bishops because most of the Bishops being turn'd Souldiers thought of nothing else but Robbing them under colour of holding their Visitations But it is worth our while to consider the esteem that Hincmar of Rheims had of these sort of Priviledges in his Letter to Nicholas I. Now I did not saith he desire the Priviledges of the Apostolical See as supposing that the Holy Canons and Decrees which the Church of Rome grants to every Metropolitan were not sufficient neither did I nor do I desire any other or ampler Priviledges than what have been formerly granted to the Church of Rheims but because not only my Diocess but also my Province is divided between two Kingdoms belonging to two several Kings and because the Concerns of the Church committed to my Charge seem to lie under the Jurisdiction of several Princes from whom our Church can reap little or no Advantage because the antient Constitutions being already condemned by some carnal and brutal Men they might at least be frightned by these new Decretals into a more reverential Carriage towards the Church which is committed to the Care of me though unworthy From whence we may see what it was that Hincmar meant We may make the same Reflection upon those Vicarships afore-mentioned We have an illustrious Example to this purpose in the Case of Ansegisus Archbishop of Sens xi Kalend. July Indiction IX After the Bishops were met together and the Gospels were read before the Synod and in view of the Imperial Throne which were afterwards laid up at Pontyon the Emperor Charles came with the Legats of the Apostolical See and after the singing of several Hymns and a Prayer pronounced by John Bishop of Tusculanum the Emperor took his Seat in the Synod After which John the Bishop of Tusculanum read some Letters sent from the Pope and amongst them one recommending to them Ansegisus Archbishop of Sens for their Primate that as oft as the Interest of the Church should require it either in calling of Synods or in the managing of other Concerns
dead with the triumph of Merits but they are not to be ador'd with Divine Worship for that very reason because it is Divine Worship Seeing therefore saith he that God alone is to be worshipp'd the Martyrs and all other Saints are rather to be venerated than worshipped as we have said before in this Book And the same thing we meet with also cap. 28. towards the end 6. It appears clearly from what he saith concerning the means whereby we obtain Remission of Sins that he own'd no other Sacraments of the Church besides Baptism and the Eucharist for indeed he mentions only these two 7. He was so far from owning either the Infallibility of the Pope or of a Council which the Pope hath approved that he maintains it was a piece of Folly to look upon the 2 d Council of Nice as universal and calls it a Council of one Part of the Church only and he afterwards censures the Fathers of that Council for giving it the Title of Universal whereas it had been conven'd without the Participation and Consent of many Catholick Churches This Remark made such an Impression upon the Learned Jesuit Sirmondus that he seems not to own the second Council of Nice as a general Council 8. The Fathers of the second Nicene Council having made a Comparison between the Eucharist and Images and used these following Expressions which are not to be found at present in the Copies of that Council As the Body of our Saviour passeth from the Fruits of the Earth into an excellent Mystery so Images formed by the Industry of Artificers pass to the Veneration of those Persons according to whose Likeness they have been wrought Charlemain doth censure those who had made a Parallel between Images and the Eucharist in such a manner as shews that he knew nothing of Romish Transubstantiation He saith That the Eucharist is made by the Hand of the Priest and by calling upon the Name of God both Priest and People joining their Prayers in the Consecration thereof whereas Images stand in no need of Consecration but are made at the Discretion of the Painter He saith that Melchizedeck did not present an Image as a Type of the Body and Blood but Bread and Wine that Moses commanded a Lamb to be eaten as a Type of our Saviour wholly rejecting the Custom of worshipping Images That the Psalmist who sang that Men should eat the Bread of Angels that is Jesus Christ hath also declared that the Makers of Images are like unto the Images they have made That the Sacrament is of Divine Institution whereas the insolent Use of Images is not only without Scripture but also directly contrary to the Writings of the Old and New Testament That our Saviour never instituted the Memory of his Suffering to be kept up by the Works of Artificers and worldly Arts but by the Consecration of his Body and Blood that he was not willing that his Faith and his Confession should be express'd by Pictures but by the Mouth and the Heart We are carefully to take notice that the Authors of this Book who desired to exalt the Sacrament of the Eucharist with all their Might never give the least hint that Jesus Christ had instituted it to make it an Object of Adoration They say that the Eucharist according to the Judgment of St. Paul is preferable almost to every other Sacrament that it is made invisibly by the Spirit of God and consecrated by the Priest who calls upon God that it is carried by the Hands of Angels and laid upon the Altar of God in Heaven that it can neither increase nor be diminished that it is confirmed by the Old and New Testament that it is the Life and Nourishment of Souls that by its Manducation it leads to the Entrance of the Heavenly Kingdom that it can never be abolished no not in the time of Persecution and that no body can be saved without receiving of it Whereas Images are visibly made by the Hand of the Workman painted by the Art of the Painter placed on the Walls by the Hands of Men that by them if Men inconsiderately abuse them Sins are increased that they can increase and diminish in Beauty according to the Ability of the Workman that Age spoils them that they only feed the Eye that they only bring to remembrance things past by looking upon them that they may be spoiled by taking wet that they who keep to the true Faith are saved without having any Regard to Images And to exaggerate the Folly of their Anathema's pronounced against those that did not worship them they conclude that this Anathema strikes at the Saints of old of whom we never read that they adored them that the same was levell'd at the Martyrs who from the Baptismal Font passed immediately to the Kingdom of Heaven without any Adoration of Images and lastly that it is darted against little Infants who cannot worship them and of whom notwithstanding the Son of God saith Suffer little Children to come to me c. I own that Charlemain censureth Gregory Bishop of Neocaesaria for giving to the Eucharist the Name of the true Image of Jesus Christ For after having made out that no Artificer can form a true Image of Jesus Christ he adds when he speaks of the Eucharist That Jesus Christ did not offer up to God the Father for us in Sacrifice any Image or Prototype but himself and that he who of old had been foretold by visible Resemblances under the Shadow of the Law in the Immolation of the Lamb and in some other things as being the Sacrifice that was to be offered by truly accomplishing the things that had been prophesied of him in the Oracles of the Prophets did offer up himself to God the Father for a saving Sacrifice and bestowed upon us the Shadows of the Law being past away not some imaginary Sign but the Sacrament of his Body and of his Blood For the Mystery of the Blood and Body of our Lord must not now be called an Image but the Truth not the Shadow but the Body not a Type of things to come but that whith had been prefigured by the Types of old For now according to the Song of Songs the Day is risen and the Shadows are gone now Jesus Christ the End of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believes is come he hath now fully accomplished the Law Now upon those who sat in the Region of the Shadow of Death a great Light is risen Now the Vail is taken off from the Face of Moses and the Vail of the Temple being rent hath opened to us all Secrets and Things hid Now the true Melchizedeck Christ the King of Righteousness and King of Peace hath bestowed upon us not Sacrifices of Beasts but the Sacrament of his Body and of his Blood and hath not said This is the Image of my Body and of my Blood but This is my Body which shall
be given for you and this is my Blood which shall be shed for many for the Remission of Sins But it is plain that Charlemain understands by the Word Image a Prototype like the Shadows of the Law with respect to which it is true what many of the Fathers have said that the Sacraments of the New Testament are the Body and the Truth though otherwise considered as Sacraments they are sacred Signs which cannot be confounded with the things signified by them without renouncing the Light of common sense Moreover we are to observe that Charlemain never said that the Eucharist is properly the Body of Jesus Christ If he denies Jesus Christ to have said concerning the Eucharist this is the Image of my Body taking the Word as a Prototype and a Shadow of things to come yet he always holds that it is his Body in a Sacramental Sense for he never speaks of the Eucharist as the Body of our Lord without adding the Restriction of Sacrament or of Mystery If saith he he hears the Mystery of the Body and of the Blood once mentioned and twice together he hath bestowed upon us the Sacrament of his Body and of his Blood And lastly the Mystery of the Body and of the Blood cannot be called an Image Now the Word Mystery according to the constant Use of the Church properly signifies the Symbol the Figure the sacred Sign of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Lastly We ought to observe that though he says that the Sacrament is the Body of Jesus Christ yet he never saith that it ought to be adored Indeed he ought to have drawn up an Impeachment against these Worshippers of Images upon this Article and a very important one too because it is very evident that the Greek Worshippers of Images did not adore the Eucharist but gave only a simple Veneration to it like to that which they bestowed upon the Cross the Altar and the Gospel as one of their Authors tells us in a Book which they call An Invective of the Orthodox against the Opposers of Images printed at the Louvre in 1685. in the Collection of Authors who have writ since Theophanes CHAP. IX The Faith of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon in the Ninth Century CHarlemain that great Man who lived till the Year 814. maintained the Spirit of Opposition against the Errors and Superstitions of the Church of Rome that espoused the Interest of the Image-Worshippers by approving the second Council of Nice This Council having established the Authority of Tradition as being a necessary Principle to support the Worship of Images we find that the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon kept themselves firmly to the Authority of the Scriptures grounding their Faith thereon and regulating their Worship according to the same Of this we have an illustrious Example in the Council of Arles assembled in the Year 813 by the Order of Charlemain whereat the Arch-bishop of Narbon assisted with his Suffragans For the Fathers of this Council thought fit to begin it with a Profession of their Faith which is nothing but an Extract of that Creed which bears the Name of Athanasius and this is that which they ordain should be preached to the People for the Catholick Faith without so much as mentioning one Word of those Articles of Faith that the Church of Rome now imposeth Charlemain had ordered a Collection of Homilies to be made out of the Works of Origen St. Ambrose St. Chrysostom St. Jerom St. Augustin St. Leo St. Maximus St. Gregory and Bede which he caused to be published in these Diocesses as well as the rest of his Empire now these Homilies do so strongly oppose the most part of those Novelties which were then endeavoured to be introduced that this Book for a long time served as a Bar to hinder People from leaning too much towards those things that incline Men to Superstition There is no Protestant in the least versed in the Matters of Controversy who seeing the Names of those ancient Doctors comprized in this Collection will not remember how much these Fathers have opposed themselves to a Multitude of Corruptions which prevailed at last by the factious Endeavours of some of the latter Popes wherefore I may excuse my self from making an Extract of this Collection choosing rather to produce other Witnesses which the same Diocess affords us concerning the Faith of these Diocesses in the ninth Century I can only produce three or four but to recompense the smallness of their Number they are Men against whose Authority the most contentious Adversaries will have nothing to oppose In the first place it is certain that as the Bishops of Aquitain and Narbon had set themselves against the Superstition and Idolatry of the Greeks and the Pope in the matter of Images at the Council of Francfort so their Successors imitated their Zeal and Vigor in the Synod at Paris in 824 upon the same Question where they determin'd that Pope Adrian who had writ an Answer to the Book of Charlemain and therein undertaken the Defence of the second Council of Nice had made use of in the said Reply superstitious Testimonies and not at all to the purpose answering what he thought fit and not what was agreeable And besides they drew up a new Collection of great Numbers of Arguments against this superstitious Worship to recal Pope Paschal and those of his Party from their doating on Images We can shew further that the same Zeal was continued in this Diocess Baluzius hath acknowledged and so has Massonus before him that the Book of Agobardus Arch-bishop of Lions concerning Pictures expresseth no more than the general Opinions of the Bishops of France and Germany concerning this Point But it may not be amiss to quote it in particular not only to shew what were the Opinions of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon because though he was born in Spain yet he had continued for a long time in Aquitain whither he was invited because of the general Esteem he had gained to be the Coadjutor to Leidradus Arch-bishop of Lions to whom he succeeded but also because it appears by his Works that the most illustrious Bishops of Gallia Narbonensis carefully consulted him in Matters of Difficulty as their Master being indeed a most famous Doctor able to instruct and inform them 1. He declares as St. Augustin did before him that we can never equalize the Authority of any Interpreter whatsoever to that of the Apostles Concerning Expositors also St. Austin hath delivered That we are to hold far otherwise than you do whom not only in his Book which he hath writ against Faustus the Manichee concerning those who have been blamed by the Doctors yea the best of them speaks thus which sort of Writings that is to say Expositions are not to be read with a Necessity of believing but with a Liberty of judging for those Books only that are of Divine Authority are to be read not with a Liberty of
judging but with a necessity of believing which form the Apostle himself delivered saying Quench not the Spirit despise not Prophecies try all things hold fast what is good abstain from every Appearance of Evil. Which is absolutely false if an infallible Principle has continued in the Church whether in the Person of the Pope or in Councils or that we must of Necessity explain Scripture according to the Sense of the Fathers as the Church of Rome has defined 2. We see with what force he maintains the Canons of the Gallican Church against the Contempt which some cast upon them because they had been made without the Pope's Concurrence 3. We do not find that in his time they applied to the Blessed Virgin the Words of the first Promise by reading Ipsa tuum conteret caput She shall bruise thy Head for he reads Ipse tuum He shall bruise c. when he disputes against Felix Bishop of Vrgel 4. He maintains in the same place that the Notion of a Peoples being without Sin who yet confess themselves to be Sinners out of Humility is pure Pelagianism That if this is the Property of humble Saints why then doth John the Apostle say If we say that we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us but if we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins Who if like you he had been inclined to have not mean but great Thoughts of himself he had whereof he might glory because he lay in the Bosom of his Lord and was beloved of him above the rest of his Disciples James the Apostle also saith In many things we offend all which if any shall imagine not to be spoke in Truth but by way of Humility let him know that therein he follows Pelagius 5. He plainly declares that our Communion in the Sacrament is the same with that of the Believers of old when he applies that Passage of the 1 st to the Corinthians chap. 10. ver 1 and 2. of the drinking of the Holy Ghost and maintains in these terms that there is no other Difference between the Believers of the Old and New Testament but this That the great Sacraments of Salvation which are wrought by the Mediator for us and for them save us as being already past but them as yet to come because we believe and hold what is past they believed and held what was to come they held them only in their Minds as Figures of future things but we in an open Profession Vows and Declaration of things past under the Signification of sensible Sacraments as those two who carried one Cluster of Grapes upon a Staff did indifferently do the same Work only that the one of them had it behind his Back and the other before his Face I should be obliged to transcribe his whole Book against Pictures and Images if I should go about to extract all that it contains in Opposition to the Opinions of the Church of Rome It will be sufficient for us to observe that the Romish Index Expurgatorius hath forbid this Book as well as the rest till its Errors be expunged and indeed it did deserve no less for it maintains according to the Doctrine of St. Augustin that we ought not to adore any Image of God but only that which is God himself even his eternal Son and that it is a piece of Folly and Sacriledg to vouchsafe any Worship to Images and to call them Holy as the second Council of Nice had done He refutes the Excuse of the Council of Trent which only considers those as Idolaters that attribute something of Divinity to the Image He maintains it to be mere Paganism to have Images for any other use than that of a Memorial and at the same time asserts that Images are of as little Use and Advantage as the Picture of a Mower or of some Hero in Armour can advantage a Mower or Souldier who looks upon those Pictures In a Word he speaks exactly like a true Iconoclast for after he had said that it was impossible any longer to bear with the Abuses against which he had taken Pen in hand he adds From whence we may plainly infer that if Hezekiah a Godly and Religious King brake the brazen Serpent made by God's express Command because the mistaken Multitude began to worship it as an Idol for which his Piety was very much commended much more religiously may and ought the Images of the Saints they themselves approving it be broken and ground to Pouder which were never set up by God's Command but are absolutely human Inventions But besides this there are four other Articles which are as disrelishing to the Church of Rome as these 1. He maintains that there is no other Mediator between God and Men save Jesus Christ God and Man which he proves by the Authority of St. Augustin de Civ Dei l. 9. c. 15. 2. He looks upon those as worthy to be anathematized and excommunicated from the Church of God who should undertake to dedicate a Church to the most excellent of Saints or Angels If any of us saith he should make a Temple of Wood or Stone to any though the most excellent of Saints we ought for doing that to be anathematized from the Truth of Christ and from the Church of God because by so doing we should give that Worship to the Creature which is only due to the Creator 3. Having given a Relation of the manner how the Faithful gathered up the Bones of St. Polycarp and interr'd them in a place where they intended to meet and celebrate his Memory to encourage Believers to imitate the constancy of that Martyr he declares that all manner of Worship or Honour done to them over and above this is unlawful religious Worship being due to God alone 4. He proves that his Judgment concerning these Points is founded upon the Example of the antient Doctors up-their Opinions and upon the Book of the Sacraments of the Church of Rome that it was the ground of the antient Doctors of the Church who rejected the Worship which the Arians gave to Jesus Christ as idolatrous tho they owned him to be no more than a Man The Reader needs not take much pains to apprehend why Rome thought fit to condemn these Books of Agobardus tho he may be at a loss how it comes to pass that notwithstanding all this he is at this day held for a Saint and publickly ador'd at Lions under the Name of St. Agobo This is a Riddle which has strangly perplexed the Learned Jesuit Theophilus Raynaldus as well as le Cointe in his Annals of the Church of France But he is not the only Person that has oppos'd the Belief and Worship of the Church of Rome and is publickly ador'd by her I have another Author to produce who gives us so clear an Idea of the belief of this Diocess wherein he was born
in his Notes upon Agobardus and is lately reprinted by the same Author The words of Odo Aripertus who relates the matter translated run thus The Peace therefore being severally ratified and sealed by the King and Earl with the Blood of the Eucharist Bernard Count of Tholouse came from Barcelona to Tholouse and did Homage to King Charles in the Abby of St. Saturninus near Tholouse Mabillon acknowledges that this was not a Fact without Example Now let any Man imagine if he can whether People that believe Transubstantiation would ever have been capable of such a Profanation of the Blood of Jesus Christ or whether the Monks in whose Abby the thing was done would ever have suffer'd it had the thing appear'd as horrible unto them as it must of necessity appear to those who defend the Opinion of the Church of Rome I shall conclude this Chapter with giving an account of that courageous Opposition which the Bishops of Aquitain and Narbon made in the year 876 in the Council of Pontyon against the Enterprizes of Pope John VIII who being back'd by the Emperor Charles the Bald had a mind to subject all the Bishops of France and Germany to Ansegisus Archbishop of Sens as their Primate but at the same time as to his Vicar that he might execute his Decrees and inform him of the most important Affairs of those Churches which he pretended ought to be decided and ended at Rome which if so would have abolished the Power of Synods and Metropolitans This was in a manner the last considerable Effort they ever made to preserve their antient Discipline for soon after the Popes knew to manage the Kings that stood in need of them in Italy so well that by little and little they at last gained the Point and so made themselves absolute the Synods and Metropolitans retaining only an empty Name without almost any Authority at all CHAP. X. The State of these Diocesses in the Tenth Century WE are now come to the Tenth Century in which Ignorance and Barbarism overwhelm'd well nigh all the West and the Church of Rome fell at the same time into such monstrous Corruptions that those who have wrote the History thereof do not mention it without Horror I don't intend to make any stop here in alledging Proofs for what I say from the concurrent Testimonies of Genebrard Baronius and other Doctors of the Church of Rome 'T is a thing not deny'd by any one that hath ever heard speak of the History of the Church and hath been particularly set forth by Gerbertus Archbishop of Rheims who was afterwards advanced to the Papacy But yet in the mean time whatever the Corruption may have been which was scatter'd elsewhere we have good ground to believe that it had not quite stifled the antient Doctrine and Religion of these Diocesses which may be easily made out by the following Observations 1. I own that we find in the Writings of Odo the first Abbot of Clugny who was born in Aquitain some Expressions which import that he inclin'd to the Opinions of Paschasius as appears in his Collations which might make one judg that this Notion began then already to be propagated in Aquitain whose Duke William was the Founder of Clugny But we must here take notice of two things The first is That the antient Customs of this Monastry do plainly show that when this Congregation was founded those who were the Authors of these Customs were not of Paschasius's Opinion This is evident from chap. 30. of the second Book and from chap. 28. of the third The second is That though Odo might have entertained this Opinion of Paschasius concerning the carnal Presence of Jesus Christ yet we may easily observe that he never owned the Consequences of it For we find in the Relation of the Death of this Odo who died at Rome in the year 942 that he received the Eucharist but there is no mention made of any Adoration that he paid at his receiving it 2. We are to observe that in this Description of Odo's Departure which was made by one of his Disciples we meet with neither Confession before the receiving of the Eucharist nor the receiving of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction which are sufficient Proofs that he knew nothing of these Sacraments 3. It appears by the Writings of Gerbertus who was educated in the Monastery of Aurillac what was the Faith of this Diocess He had been the Tutor of Robert Son to Hugh Capet who raised him to the Archbishoprick of Rheims in the year 991 in the room of Arnulphus who was deposed He hath writ an Apology for the Council which deposed Arnulphus wherein he gives full evidence what esteem he had for the Pope and how little he believ'd the Papacy necessary to the Church not only because of the Vices of the Popes of his time but also for several political Reasons which engage every Church not to subject themselves to a foreign Power Suppose saith he that by the warlike Incursions of barbarous Nations there be no way open for us to go to Rome or that Rome it self being become subject to some barbarous Prince be at his Pleasure made part of his Kingdom shall we in this case be reduc'd to the necessity of having no Councils at all or shall the Bishops of the World to the loss and ruin of their own Kings expect the Advice and Counsels of their Enemies for the Management of the Affairs of Church and State We may see another Assertion of his in a Letter to Seguinus Archbishop of Sens I do resolvedly affirm That if the Pope of Rome himself should sin against his Brother and being often admonished should not hear the Church that this same Pope of Rome ought to be look'd upon as a Heathen and Publican Whereupon Baronius exclaims Here is a Sentence indeed worthy only to proceed from the Mouth of some great Heretick or of some most impudent Schismatick which abrogates all sacred Councils at once cuts the Throat of Canons strangles Traditions and treads under foot all the Rights of the Church that it seems impossible that a Catholick should ever dream of such things much less so saucily utter and assert them We may also gather from the subsequent Words whether or no he conceiv'd Communion with the Church of Rome to be of absolute necessity If he the Pope of Rome do therefore judg us unworthy of his Communion because none of us will comply with him in his Anti-evangelical Sentiments yet he cannot separate us from the Communion of Christ seeing a Priest ought not to be removed from his Function except he have confest or be convict of the Crime laid to his charge especially when the Apostle faith Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ And again I am certain that neither Death nor Life c. And what greater Separation can there be than to debar any Believer from the Body and Blood of the Son
of God which is daily offer'd up for our Salvation And if he be a Murtherer that takes away the Bodily Life from himself or his Neighbour he that robs himself or another of Eternal Life by what Name shall we call him We find in another Letter which he wrote to Wilderodâ—â— Bishop of Strasburg what work he makes with those false Decretals which were foisted in on purpose to make the whole Church submit to the Papal Yoak as if before Syricius all the East and West had belonged to the Papal Jurisdiction wherein he exactly follows the Foot-steps of Hincmar who confuted them with all his Might If we enquire into the rest of his Opinions we shall find that he did not believe that the Popes had received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven in any other manner than all other Bishops See how he explains himself in a Discourse to Bishops when he was Bishop either of Rheims or Ravenna And as wo is me if I do not preach the Gospel or if I hide long in my Heart the Treasure that I have received burying it in the Ground or if I keep the Candle of the Divine Word cover'd under a Bushel and do not expose it on a Candlestick to the Eyes of all so likewise if I do not open the Locks of human Ignorance with those Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which all of us who are Priests have received in the Person of St. Peter so that upon this account I may deserve according to my small measure to hear that Well done good and faithful Servant because thou hast been faithful over a few things I will set thee over many And again For so the Lord said to St. Peter Simon Peter lovest thou me and he Thou knowest Lord that I love thee And when he had ask'd this a third time and had been as often answered the Lord repeated a third time Feed my Sheep Which Sheep and which Flock St. Peter not only received at that time but also hath received them with us and all of us have received them with him He shews that he did not believe the necessity of the Priests Intention in the Sacraments when he saith in the same piece speaking to those that were guilty of Simony I do once more enquire of my Brother Bishop lest we should seem to have omitted any thing that belongs to a true Proof and Trial Who is it Brother Bishop that confers Episcopal Grace is it God or Man God without doubt but yet by Man Man lays on his Hand and God confers Grace the Priest serves God with his suppliant Hand and God blesseth with his powerful Right-hand The Bishop admits thee into the Order but God makes thee worthy of it O Justice O Equity If Money be given to a Man who in Ordination does no more but discharge a piece of Service laid upon him why is the whole denied to God who bestows the Order it self upon thee Doth it seem just to thee to honour the Servant whilst thou dost affront the Lord And whilst the Priest unrighteously takes Money shall God be injured by Man And seeing God expects nothing from thee for the Order bestowed upon thee why doth the Priest impudently look for Money God is willing to bestow it upon Man for nothing but the ravenous Bishop demands Money God of his Kindness and Love vouchsafes it for nought but the malicious Priest captivates him and ties him to Terms For what hast thou that thou hast not receiv'd And if thou have received it why dost thou boast as if thou hadst not received it Lastly We see in his 26 th Epistle the Confession of Faith that he makes which contains nothing besides the Symbol or the Apostles Creed to which he adds only what follows I do not forbid Marriage .... I do not condemn second Marriages I do not blame the eating of Flesh I own that reconciled Penitents ought to be admitted to the Communion I believe that in Baptism all Sins whether original or actual are forgiven and do profess that out of the Catholick Church no Body can be saved and I confirm and ratify the four holy Universal Synods which the mother-Mother-Church confirms and approves of 'T is worth observing that he doth not speak one word concerning the Romish Traditions so far was he from authorizing the Definitions of the second Council of Nice which the Church of Rome hath been pleased to authorize in the Council of Trent Lastly We may take notice that Leuthericus Archbishop of Sens who died in the year 1032 had been the Disciple of this Gerbertus which is attested by the Continuator of Aimoinus and Clarius Monk of St. Peter le Vif at Sens has accused Leuthericus of having laid the Beginning and cast the Seeds of Berengarius's Heresy I don't believe any one will think strange that I have quoted Gerbertus amongst the Writers of Aquitain under pretence that probably he might have chang'd his Opinions after that he was elevated to the Papacy under the Name of Sylvester II. It is but too well known to be customary for those who us'd to speak according to their own Judgment and the Opinions of the Place where they were educated as soon as they have been elevated to the Papal Dignity to change their Notes Of this we have an illustrious Example in Aeneas Sylvius whom we find quite transform'd into another Man as soon as he had taken upon him the Name of Pius II. the Papal Diadem having chang'd him from White to Black And I am much mistaken if the 11 th Century doth not furnish us an Example every whit as remarkable in the Person of Gregory the 7 th who having been before Prior of the Monastry of Clugny the Customs whereof as I have hinted did not suit well with the Doctrine of Paschasius seems thence to have deriv'd his Opinions concerning the Eucharist for Vrspergensis takes notice that the Council of Bresse where he was deposed by 30 Bishops laid to his charge That he was of Berengarius's Opinion as being his antient Disciple and we shall find this Accusation not to be without ground if we cast our Eyes on his Commentary on St. Matthew of which I have elsewhere given an Extract Yet for all this we see that this Pope complying with his own Interest became afterwards one of the most furious Persecutors of Berengarius I suppose these few Remarks will be sufficient for my purpose tho I might add that St. Fulbert as well as Leutherick having been the Disciple of Gerbert had deriv'd the same Doctrine concerning the Eucharist from him this is so certain that a Doctor of the Sorbonne named Villiers found no other means about the beginning of this Century to make him speak to his mind in publishing of his Works than by inserting some Words in the Text which might make it to be look'd upon as the Objection of Hereticks whereas indeed it is an Answer of his own wherein he
Stick she put out the Eye of Stephen who had been her Confessor The second is an Action much resembling the course that is taken now adays to surprize Hereticks and to discover them for according to the Practice of the Inquisition we cannot find fault with the Method made use of by this Arefastus who feigned himself willing to become a Manichee that he might the better discover their Opinions It seems this Casuist of Chartres had not much studied St. Paul who tells us We ought not to do Evil that Good may come of it The third is The manner of their taking up the dead Body of Theodatus the Canon out of his Grave who died three years before and examining it by the trial of Water that they might be certain whether he was an Heretick when he was alive This is an Action well becoming this barbarous Age very like the Inquisitors and accordingly this was the compendious Method which St. Peter of Luxemburg put in practice for the trial and discerning of Hereticks I don't remember ever to have read any thing that might authorize this barbarous and extravagant Custom save only the second Canon of the 2 d Council of Sarragossa held in the year 592 where it is ordained That the Relicks which should be found in the Churches that had been possessed by the Arians should be carried to the Bishop that he might try them by Fire The Bishop of Meaux might have been as sensible of most of these things as we in perusing these Acts and then it would have been easy for him to judg whether the Authority of Vignier who simply relates what he met with in Historians did deserve to be pressed against us But it seems it was enough for him to delude his Reader and the Name of Vignier though otherwise he does not accuse these Persons of Manicheism seem'd to make for his purpose But whatsoever Judgment a Prudent Reader may pass on this Accusation of Manicheism upon which these Canons of Orleans were burnt in the year 1017 it will be easy for us to show that the Diocesses of Narbon and Aquitain where some of those Eastern Manichees took refuge did never quit the Faith or Worship of their Ancestors This is what we shall easily make out in the sequel of this Discourse Ademarus a Monk of St. Eparque at Limoges hath writ a Chronicle from the beginning of the French Monarchy until the year 1030 wherein he informs us what was the Faith of the Churches of Aquitain at the Beginning of the Eleventh Century 1. He relates without passing any Censure upon it the Synod held at Gentilly under Pepin about Images that are set up in Churches and shews that the Bishops of Aquitain assisted at the same and that they oppos'd themselves to the Church of Rome and to the Greeks 2. Though he grosly mistakes in his Chronology about the Age of Bede yet he makes it plain enough who they were whom he look'd upon as the Preservers of the true Theology He makes this Encomium of Rabanus A most Learned Monk the Master of Alcuinus for Bede taught Simplicius and Simplicius Rabanus whom the Emperor Charles sent for from beyond Sea and made a Bishop in France who instructed Alcuinus and Alcuinus informed Smaragdus Smaragdus again taught Theodulphus of Orleans and Theodulphus Elias a Scotchman Bishop of Angoulesm this Elias instructed Heiricus and Heiricus left two Monks Remigius and Vebaldus surnamed the Bald his Heirs in Philosophy This is a most convincing Proof of the Judgment of the Churches of Aquitain concerning the Controversies that Puschasius had kindled 1. We find here that they followed the Opinions of Bede whose Homilies Paulus Diaconus had inserted in his Collection for the use of the Pastors of Gaul together with those of St. Ambrose St. Chrysostom St. Augustin St. Maximus and several others Now the Opinions of Bede are diametrically opposite to those of the Church of Rome This has been formerly proved by a vast number of Passages I shall content my self with setting down one or two of them The first is upon the third Psalm where he extols the Patience of our Saviour to Judas because he did not exclude him from his most Holy Supper wherein saith he He delivered the Figure of his most sacred Body and Blood to his Disciples The second is upon the Evangelists in that part of them which speaks of the Institution of that Sacrament where he declares that because Bread strengthens the Body and Wine produceth Blood in the Flesh the Bread is mystically referr'd to the Body of Jesus Christ and the Wine to his Blood 2. They followed Alcuinus's Notions who had a great hand in all the Writings of Charlemain and especially in that concerning Images where we find also his Judgment concerning the Eucharist opposite to that of Paschasius 3. We find they followed the Opinions of Theodulphus Bishop of Orleans in whom we see a hundred things that are contrary to the Opinions of the present Church of Rome 4. They followed the Opinions of Rabanus Maurus whom Abbot Herigerus has cry'd down for maintaining that the Eucharistical Body of Jesus Christ goes to the Draught together with our other Food and whom one Waldensis in his Epistle to Martin placeth with Heribaldus amongst the number of those Hereticks who have dishonour'd Germany 5. Ademarus proves beyond contest that they did not adore the Eucharist in their Communion when on the one hand speaking of those of Narbon he saith That to prepare themselves to oppose the Mores of Corduba who had invaded their Coasts they received the Eucharist at the hands of their Priests without mentioning any Adoration paid to the Sacrament in so extream and threatning a Danger and on the other speaking of the Death of Earl William Whereupon saith he the Earl accepting of the Penance laid upon him by the Bishops and Abbots and disposing of all his Goods and particularly bequeathing his Estate and Honour amongst his Sons and his Wife he was reconciled and absolved and the whole time of Lent frequented Mass and Divine Worship till the Week before Easter when after he had received the holy Oil and Viaticum and ador'd and kiss'd the Cross he yielded up the Ghost in the Hands of the Bishop of Roan and his Priests after a very laudable Manner It is a thing singular and observable that this Earl pays his Adoration to the Cross though at the same time he forgets to worship the Sacrament which yet is the chief Object of Adoration Moreover We are to observe that the Latin word Adorare when spoken of the Cross imports only a Reverence which we own was practis'd on these Occasions long before this time because the Cross being no Image there was no fear of incurring the Sin of Idolatry in saluting of it This Count died in the year 1028. But since this Eleventh Century was in a manner wholly taken up by the Papists in opposing Berengarius
again subdivided into two parts the first and second as may be seen since the fourth Century It was needful at the entrance of this Discourse to give the Reader this short Draught of the Countries that went under the Name of Gallia to give him an Idea of that part of them where we intend to shew him the Continuation of that Church which gave birth to the Albigenses and furnished the West with Witnesses of so great weight against the Corruptions of the Romish Party and indeed though the Visi-Gothes who cut off these Provinces from the Roman Empire and afterwards the French who destroyed the Visi-Gothes in the time of Clovis made very great Changes in this Division of Gallia Narbonensis and Aquitain yet we may exactly observe that the Church of these Provinces hath well nigh always made a distinct Body by her Synods and Canons It is a matter of Difficulty precisely to fix the first Rise of these Churches I own that some Greek Fathers have believ'd that St. Luke and Crescens Disciples of St. Paul did preach the Gospel in Gallia but that which engaged them in this Opinion seems of little or no solidity And the Galatia mention'd by St. Paul in the second of Timothy doth not signify Gallia but a Province of the lesser Asia as the learned Petavius acknowledgeth Others have believed that St. Paul himself preached the Gospel in these Provinces as he passed through them in his way to Spain where the fourth Century took it for granted that he preached the Gospel but neither doth this seem grounded upon sufficient Authority and we do not find that the antient Authors of these Countries did ever maintain any such thing Should we indeed as to this Point give credit to the most part of the Romish Legends to which Baronius in his Annals pays too great a Deference it would be an easy matter to give to the most part of these Churches a most august Original We might suppose that St. Peter and St. Paul were the Founders of them by the Ministry of their Disciples or that Clement Bishop of Rome sent them thither almost immediately after the Martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul They tell us that Paul was the first Bishop of Narbon Saturninus of Tholouse Martialis of Limoges Frontinus of Perigueux Vincentius of Daeqs Georgius of Puy Eutropius of Xaintes Much like as for some Ages since in most of the other Churches of France they suppose that the first Bishops were sent them by the same Apostles or by their first Successors But we meet with nothing but Falsities in these pretended Traditions and it is impossible to reconcile them with what Sulpicius Severus and Gregorius Turonensis tell us concerning the Rise of Christian Religion among the Gauls The former of these distinctly assures us that Gaule never had any Martyrs before the Empire of Aurelius Son of Antoninus Hist lib. 2. Sub Aurelio Antonini filio Persecutio quinta agitata ac tunc primum inter Gallias Martyria visa serius trans Alpes Dei Religione suscepta The fifth Persecution was carried on under Antonine's Son and then first were Martyrdoms seen among the Gauls the Divine Religion having been later entertained beyond the Alps. This single Period of Severus gives Sentence against all those pretended Martyrs wherewith the Churches of France have fill'd their Breviaries The latter tells us plainly that it was not till the Empire of Decius about the year 250 that the City of Tholouse had for her first Bishop Saturninus who was sent from Rome in company of six others into the Country of the Gauls to preach the Gospel to wit Gatian at Tours Trophimus at Arles Paul at Narbon Dionysius at Paris Austremoine at Clermont and Martialis at Limoges This is that which is clearly proved from the Acts of the Martyrdom of St. Saturninus cited by Gregory Bishop of Tours These Testimonies of two antient Authors the one of the 5 th Century and the other more antient viz. the same who wrote the Martyrdom of St. Saturninus have made such an Impression upon some of the Learnedest Men of the Roman Communion viz. upon Bosquet Bishop of Montpellier Sirmond and Launoy the famous Doctor of the Faculty of Paris as to make them with Scorn reject those Legends which ascribe more antient Founders to these Churches notwithstanding that they are the greatest Ornament of the Breviaries of the Gallican Church and that they cannot lose their Credit without shaking the belief of abundance of Miracles and the Authority of a great number of Devotions And indeed what reason is there to own a Tradition for authentick which we scarcely find back'd with any Witness for the space of above 700 years Besides don't we know that it was the Dispute about Precedency between the Churches in the 8 th and 9 th Century and which we find lasted till the 12 th that engaged the several Parties to devise this great Antiquity and boldly change that which before had been the current Belief of their Churches because it did not answer their Pretensions nor comport with their Vanity to substitute instead thereof fabulous Originals under whose shelter they might maintain a Dispute with more advantage against those that were on even ground with them But however it be difficult to fix the certain Original of these Churches for the Gothick Liturgy which was used in these Provinces assures us that St. Saturninus came from Smyrna from whence it should seem that the first Founders of the Churches of Lions and Vienna came likewise yet thus much we may assert that the Gospel soon took deep root there My Design is not to refute here what the Authors of the Legends have inserted in their fabulous Relations concerning the Establishment of the Christian Religion in these Provinces and the Character of the Piety of those first Founders of Christianity of their Precepts and of their Miracles Indeed there is reason to deplore either the boundless Impudence of the Pastors of the Roman Communion in obtruding such palpable Falsities or the prodigious Stupidity of the People of that Church who feed themselves with Stories more fabulous than those of Amadis of Gaul and make them the Subject of their Devotion We read in the Life of St. Martialis that after the Saint had converted Limoges he there consecrated Churches to the Honour of Jesus Christ of the H. Virgin and St. Stephen whose Cousin he was We read that he raised to Life the Priests of the Idol whom God had struck dead with a Clap of Thunder for their poisoning St. Martialis and that after their Resurrection he converted them We find that he admitted to the Vow of Virginity a Person called Valeria who some time after having had her Head cut off by order of the Duke of Guienne whose Courtship she had slighted immediately took up her Head and carried it to St. Martialis as he was saying Mass We find him there going to Rome to give an account to
Power into Spain to examine those that were Hereticks and being found such to take away their Lives and Estates Neither was it to be doubted but that this Storm would have reach'd the greatest part of Believers because of the small Distinction made between them and the other for then they judged Persons only by the Eye esteeming them Hereticks from their pale Looks or Habit rather than by their Faith He afterwards shews the Horror that St. Martin had conceived against these kind of Proceedings There was nothing he was more concerned about Illa praecipua cura ne Tribuni cum jure gladiorum ad Hispanias mitterentur Than to prevent the Tribunes being sent into Spain with the Power of the Sword He renounced Communion with these sanguinary Bishops but not long after to avoid a greater Mischief he was obliged to give up that Point though he still refused to subscribe to the Condemnation of the Priscillianists Hujus diei communionem Martinus iniit satius aestimans ad horam cedere quam his non consulere quorum cervicibus gladius imminebat veruntamen summâ vi Episcopis nitentibus ut communionem illam subscriptione firmaret extorqueri non potuit Martin communicated with them at that time thinking it better for a while to give way to them than not to provide for their Safety who had the Sword hanging over them But yet though the Bishops used their utmost Endeavours to make him ratify his communicating with them by his Subscription they could never bring him to it If we consult Vincentius Lirinensis and Cassian they will afford us much Light as to the State of these Diocesses Vincentius a Priest of the Monastery of Lerins is one of those who can best inform us what was esteemed Orthodox in these Churches Indeed we find all the peculiar Doctrines of the Church of Rome are condemned in the Maxims that he solidly asserts in the 28 th Chapter of his Commonitorium where he maintains that the Church may every day make a further Progress in the Knowledg of Truth and all this without making any Innovation Crescat igitur oportet multum vehementerque proficiat tam singulorum quam omnium tam unius hominis quam totius Ecclesiae aetatum ac saeculorum gradibus intelligentia scientia sapientia sed in suo duntaxat genere in eodem se dogmate eodem sensu eademque sententia The Understanding Knowledg and Wisdom as well of every singular Person as of the whole Church ought to grow and greatly increase according to the several Degrees of Times and Ages but every one in his own way that is to say in the same Doctrine in the same Sense and the same Judgment 2. He in the same place exclaims against all new Doctrines and new Names and yet owns that the Church acquires daily more Light in matters of Religion Sed ita tamen ut vere profectus sit ille fidei non permutatio But yet so that this is really an Advancement not a Change of Faith 3. He reduces all that we ought to believe to the Rule of Faith and declares what is the true use and the true Authority of the Doctors of the Church Quae tamen antiqua sanctorum Patrum consensio non in omnibus divinae legis quaestiunculis sed solum certè praecipuè in fidei regula magno nobis studio investiganda est sequenda Quibus tamen Patribus hâc lege credendum est ut quicquid vel omnes vel plures uno eodemque sensu manifestè frequenter perseveranter velut quodam consentiente sibi magistrorum consilio accipiendo tenendo tradendo firmaverint id pro indubitato certo ratoque habeatur But yet this primitive Consent of the Holy Fathers is not to be inquired after and followed as to the lesser Questions of Divine Law alike but especially if not only in the Rule of Faith Which Fathers we may give full Credit to on this Condition that whatsoever all or the most of them do in the same sense manifestly frequently and constantly maintain as in a Council of Masters agreeing together by their receiving holding and delivering the same that ought to be esteemed unquestionable certain and firm 4. He lays down a Method how we may dispute with the Church of Rome about the Errors she has drawn from Antiquity by reducing the whole Dispute to the Scripture Atque ideo quascunque illas antiquiores vel Schismatum vel Haereseωn profanitates nullo modo nos oportet nisi aut sola si opus est Scripturarum authoritate convincere aut certe jam antiquitus universalibus Sacerdotum Catholicorum Conciliis convictas damnatasque vitare Wherefore we are no other way to convict all ancient Errors of Schism or Heresy but either if need be by the sole Authority of Scripture or else to avoid them as already condemned by the universal Councils of Catholick Priests 5. He excellently explains the Use of Tradition without derogating any thing from the Sufficiency of Scripture Diximus in superioribus hanc fuisse semper esse hodieque Catholicorum consuetudinem ut fidem veram duobus istis mediis adprobent primum Divini Canonis authoritate deinde Ecclesiae traditione non quia Canon solus non sibi ad universa sufficiat sed quia verba Divina pro suo plerique arbitratis interpretantes varias opiniones erroresque concipiant atque ideo necesse sit ut ad unam Ecclesiastici sensus regulam scripturae coelestis intelligentia dirigatur in iis duntaxat praecipuè quaestionibus quibus totius Catholici dogmatis fundamenta nituntur We have said before that this hath been and still is the Custom of Catholicks to prove the true Faith two ways 1 st by the Authority of the Divine Canon And 2 dly by the Churches Tradition not as if the Canon were not of it self sufficient but because most Men interpret Scripture according to their own private Fancy which has given occasion to various Opinions and Errors Wherefore it is needful that the Understanding of Holy Scripture be regulated by one single Determination of the Church and particularly in those Questions on which the Foundations of all Catholick Doctrine rest Lastly He desires that universal Consent may be taken only from such a Tradition as he authorizeth Item diximus in ipsa rursus Ecclesia universitatis pariter ac antiquitatis consensionem spectari oportere ne aut ab unitatis integritate in partem schismatis abrumpamur aut à vetustatis religione in Haereseωn novitates praecipitemur We have said also that in the Church we are to have an Eye to the Consent of Universality and Antiquity that wee be not rent from the entire Union into a Schism or be cast headlong from the Religion of the Ancients into the Novelties of Heresy There needs little more than these Maxims to secure a Church where they are taught from those Corruptions into which the Church of
sets down his Opinion and he doth it in the self-same Terms us'd by St. Augustin But I keep my self within the Bounds of what concerns those Diocesses whose History I am upon I shall only take leave to add one thing which is that tho Gerbertus seems in his 26 th Letter which contains his Confession of Faith to make an Allusion to some of the Opinions of the Manichees yet we may be sure that he did not express himself in this manner to show that he held nothing of their Tenets no he had other Reasons for it which it is not necessary to unfold here Besides it is notorious that the Manichees did not spread themselves in Aquitain till he was a very old Man at least it is true that Ademarus doth not make them to appear in Aquitain till the year 1011 and that the first Synod held against them did not meet at Tholouse till the year 1019 that is to say 16 years after his Death which hapned in 1003. CHAP. XI The beginning of the Manichees in Aquitain and the State of those Churches as to Religion in that Age. THere appeared in Lombardy and in France some Manichees chased from the East by the Emperors of Constantinople Ademarus Cabannensis Monk of St. Eparque at Limoges says that they first were taken notice of in Aquitain a little after the Year 1010. and he afterwards speaks of a Council assembled at Charoux against them The Bishop of Meaux makes no Question but that this gave rise of the Albigenses and to evidence the Solidity of his Conjecture he accuseth besides some Writers of the 11 th Century the Canons whom Robert caused to be burnt at Orleans to have been the first Disciples of these Manichees supposing all this while that the Albigenses derive themselves from the same source and that they defended the same Opinions Now because it is a matter of small Importance to the History of the Albigenses whether the Canons of Orleans were Manichees or not I might very well excuse my self from entring upon that Enquiry They may have been Manichees and yet the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon not the least concerned in the matter Neither do I think my self obliged to repeat here what I have already delivered concerning the differing Opinions of the ancient and modern Manichees in the 15 th 16 th and 17 th Chapters of my Remarks upon the History of the Churches of the Vallies of Piedmont supposing that my Reader may easily have Recourse to them Our Business is to see what was the Faith of these Diocesses and question not but we shall make it appear in the Sequel that those whom the Bishop pretends to convict of Manicheism are falsly charged therewith the Romish Party having bestowed that Name upon them only to make them the more execrable to those of their Communion Nevertheless because Ademarus Cabannensis testifies that these Canons of Orleans had been instructed not by a Woman come from Italy as their History records the Story but by a Country-fellow as some MS. Copies of Ademarus tell us of Perigueux I am not unwilling to enquire a little into the Authority of this History Glaber relates it Lib. 3. cap. 8. pag. 308. but besides his Relation D' Achery hath given us though not the very Acts of the Synod that condemned them but the account of a private Man of Chartres who professeth that he set down in Writing what pass'd in that Synod which seems to be of sufficient Authority Be it as it will they suppose from these Proofs that these Canons were Manichees and I own they are very like them in the Relation that is given of this Synod as well as in Ademarus But yet after all there are several things which seem to give us ground to doubt of the Truth of this whole Relation 1 st It scarcely seems probable that a Woman who was a Stranger or a Peasant should have been able in so short a time to make so many Proselytes amongst the Canons and Citizens of Orleans as to be able to form secret Conventicles amongst them and to propagate such monstrous Doctrines as those of the Manichees were Neither can we with any appearance of reason suppose that one of these Canons who formerly had been Confessor to the Queen was so stupid a Fellow as all on a sudden to fall into the Enthusiasm of the Manichees 2 dly It is evident that in perusing these pretended Acts we find that all the Witnesses which are produc'd against them are reducible to one only and he too of no credit because himself had been engag'd once of their Communion I say all their Proceedings were founded upon the Depositions of one single Man and then afterwards they make the Men once executed speak what they please It will be objected perhaps that the Interrogatories were made in publick in the Presence of the People but then let us consider that all this was writ after the Death of Robert to justify so bloody an Execution 3 dly We do not find in these Acts the same Accusations one accuseth them of one thing and another of another though it be evident that the Design of all these Authors is equally to defame them and make them execrable 4 thly We find in those Acts that these pretended Manichees justify themselves against the capital Accusations of Manicheism chiefly upon the Article of the Creation 5 thly We find that they exprest at their Martyrdom a Hope directly opposite to the Principles of Manicheism 6 thly Their very Enemies themselves are oblig'd to give them a most illustrious Testimony as to the Sanctity of their Lives and Manners It is certain that the accusing them of denying Transubstantiation and rejecting Baptism cannot justly be look'd upon as a Badg of Manicheism if we consider on the one hand that the Question Whether the Bread be changed into the Body of Jesus Christ hath no relation to the Doctrine of the Manichees but respects only those novel Doctrines which Paschasius had introduc'd and on the other hand that the Church of Rome accuseth all those for being Enemies to Baptism who in that Point do not espouse all the Opinions she teacheth in holding as she did at that time the absolute necessity of that Sacrament And as for their being charged with celebrating horrible Festivals full of Incest and Abominations we know that the same hath been imputed to some Hereticks of old but falsly It was laid to the charge also of the Waldenses but was never prov'd to be other than a meer Calumny Our first Reformers have been accused of the same but with an Impudence for which the Church of Rome ought still to blush if that were a possible thing In a word I find nothing in all this Relation that makes it look probable but only two or three Characters which agree with the barbarous Maxims of the Church of Rome The first is That it attributes to Queen Constance an unusual Action that with a
Modern Writers neither whether Papists or Protestants have been able to make must have had it from the Revelation of some Angel albus an ater nescio since he speaks so very positively of this new Character of the Manichees But saith he the case is plain the Albigenses were Manichees and they called the Pope the Antichrist and with an invincible Obstinacy have maintain'd that this Title belongs to him wherefore it must follow that this Accusation of the Pope must be a Character of Manicheism If the Bishop had reflected never so little upon what he here asserts this single Character of the Albigenses who accused the Pope of being the Antichrist would have made him draw a quite contrary Consequence that is to say that the Albigenses could not be Manichees For it is most certain that the Manichees never taught any such thing this Heresy which sprung up in the East never attack'd the Bishop of Rome in particular but the whole Body of Christians who received the Books of the Old Testament and who owned the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to be the Creator of the World But whence comes it then may some say that the Albigenses have peculiarly affected to call the Pope Antichrist which certainly must be look'd upon a Character of the Albigenses unless we should find it to be a Character of the Manichees as the Bishop of Meaux pretends The question would not have been so difficult to resolve had not the Bishop affected to appear ignorant in a Question which he ought to have enquired into since he hath undertaken to handle it in a Commentary on purpose In a word France which first bestowed upon the Popes the temporal Dominions they now enjoy long since owned the Pope to be the Antichrist For Gregory I having declared in twelve several Letters written against the Patriarch of Constantinople who assumed the Title of Universal Bishop that whoever claimed that Title for himself was either the Antichrist or the Forerunner of him It was not long after that Pope Boniface III persuaded Phocas to give him the Title of Universal which all his Successors took up afterwards with joy and affected to use it For which reason the French fearing lest they should fail of the respect which they had for St. Gregory if they should accuse themselves of having so often made use of a false Way of reasoning at last called the Pope Antichrist They were not therefore Manichees that were come from the East in the 11 th Century to settle themselves in the West who first set on foot this Accusation but they were the French who in a full Council at Rheims after the 10 th Century called the Pope Antichrist Seguinus Archbishop of Sens having maintained that Arnulphus Bishop of Rheims could not be deposed without the consent of the Pope Arnulphus Bishop of Orleans who had the greatest Reputation of any Man of his Time solidly maintained from the Canons and Customs of the Church that the Pope's Sentence was not to be waited for in that Case Ab eo responsa petere marmora consulere est To desire an Answer from him is to consult the Stones speaking to the Assembly of the Council He further saith Who do you think that Man is who sits in his high Chair he is answers he the Antichrist who sits in the Temple of God and shews himself as God And the rest of his Discourse is a sufficient Evidence that he took the Pope to be the Antichrist and that he acknowledged that the Mystery of Iniquity was then coming in upon the Church It was Gerbertus afterwards Pope that digested the Acts of that Council and who in an Epistle to Seguinus Archbishop of Sens makes it appear that in his time they were not much concerned for the Pope's Excommunications and that it was not pretended that he was the Center of Christian Communion Non est ergo says he danda occasio nostris aemulis ne Sacerdotium quod ubique unum est sicut Ecclesia una est ita uni subjici videatur ut eo pecuniâ gratiâ metu vel ignorantiâ corrupto nemo sacerdos esse possit nisi quem hae virtutes commendaverint We ought not therefore to give an Opportunity to our Rivals lest the Priesthood which is every-where one and the same as the Church is one should come to be so subjected to one as that he being corrupted with Money Favour Fear or Ignorance no Man should be able to obtain that Order except he had these Vertues to recommend him Here we see the true Stile of the Albigenses before ever any Manichee was come from the East into France Now after this was once set on foot it was maintained from Century to Century by those who were brought up and that died in the Communion of the Church of Rome It would be an easy matter to give a Catalogue of those who have spoke at this rate to show what heed there is to be given to the most positive Assertions of the Bishop of Meaux If the Bishop of Meaux in the least desired to undeceive himself he need only read what Aventinus says in his Annals of Bavaria of Pope Gregory VII who there is termed Antichrist by Persons who were very far from being Manichees he need only read in the Acts of the Life of Paschal II what the Bishop of Florence openly preached concerning this Matter or to read in the Life of Richard I written by Roger Hoveden what Abbot Joachim maintained before Richard I without being ever accused of Manicheism or he may take notice in Matthew Paris upon the year 1253 what Notions Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincoln one of the greatest Bishops of his time maintained or he may peruse the Revelations of St. Brigit and the 16 th Epistle of Petrarch in his second Tome And yet never were any of these Persons accus'd of Manicheism But this has been treated of at large already by Wolfius in his Various Lections and besides this would lead us too far from the Subject we are upon at present I shall content my self therefore with observing three things concerning this matter The 1 st is That nothing was more common with the Popes and Anti-Popes than mutually to brand each other with the Title of Antichrist And the Writers of both Parties kept always close to this Stile and yet all of them lived and died in the Bosom of the Church of Rome and never were thought to be the Disciples of the Manichees 2 dly That there are many Authors and even several of those that have been canonized who have made use of the same Notions in speaking and writing of the Church of Rome and yet none have ever condemned them of Manicheism The 3 d is That ever since the Reformation though the Bishop pretends that the Prophecy concerning the Beast hath been already fulfilled there is scarcely if you except the Bishop any one Popish Author who doth not own that Rome
is to be the Seat of Antichrist What I say now deserves to be considered because in the Year 1516 December the 19 th in the 11 th Session of the Lateran Council under Leo X in whose time Luther began to preach we find that there was a Prohibition against handling the Question of Antichrist in the Pulpit though under the Pretence of advancing some new Revelation concerning it without having obtained leave from the Holy See or from the Bishop The Words of the Canon which oblige all those who should ever undertake to preach on this Subject are these And we command all who bear this Charge or who shall bear it for the future that they preach and explain the Evangelical Truth and the Holy Scripture according to the Exposition and Interpretation of those Doctors whom the Church or long Tradition has approved and has hitherto allowed to be read or which shall be so for time to come without adding any thing that is contrary to or disagreeing from the proper sense of them but that they always insist upon such Matters as do not disagree with the Words of the Scripture nor with the Interpretations of the foresaid Doctors Neither let them presume to fix in their Sermons any certain time of the Evils to come of the coming of Antichrist or of the Day of Judgment forasmuch as Truth assures us that it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons Moreover if the Lord should be pleased to reveal to any of them in the Church of God future things by some Inspiration as he hath promised by the Prophet Amos and seeing the Apostle Paul saith Despise not Prophecying c. we will not have such as these reckoned amongst Impostors and Liars or that they shall be any ways hindred But because it is a matter of great Moment and that we are not upon light Grounds to believe every Spirit but are to try them whether they be of God we command that by a constant Law any such asserted Inspirations before they be published or preached to the People be henceforward understood to be reserved to the Examination of the Apostolical See but in Case this cannot be done without the Danger of too long a Delay or that urgent Necessity should otherwise perswade then observing the same Order it may be signified to the Ordinary of the place who taking along with him three or four learned and grave Men and diligently examining the matter with them if they see it expedient which we charge upon their Consciences they may grant them Liberty but whosoever presumes to commit any thing contrary to the Premises shall incur Excommunication from the which he shall not be absolved but by the Pope himself that so by their Example others may be deterred from presuming to do any such thing for which Reason we decree that they be for ever made incapable of the Office of Preaching any Priviledges whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding c. 'T is not our Business to examine the Question whether the Bishop of Meaux hath exactly followed the Rules that this Canon prescribes in his Explication of the Scripture and especially about the matter of Antichrist though they be Rules by which Bishops are no less bound than the meanest Divines It may be the Church of Rome finds the Bishop's new System so much for her Interest that it inclines her to suspend the Severity of her Canons in Favour of a Person who has so dexterously pluck'd a Thorn out of her Foot which hath troubled her so long and which hath always caused new Pains to her as oft as any of her Doctors have indeavoured to pluck it out But I fear I have insisted too long upon so vain a Conjecture and which scarce deserved to be confuted There are able Men of the Church of Rome who have taken the Pains to refute the Conjecture of some Papists who would needs have Mahomet to be the Antichrist This was the Chimaera of Annius of Viterbo a Monk famous for his Impostures this likewise was the Whimsy of Fevardentius and some others whom Pererius the Jesuit hath refuted so solidly as that he has put the Bishop of Meaux to the trouble of inventing a new System to oppose the Protestants I hope his System will meet with the same Destiny amongst his own Party that so the Protestants may not be put to the trouble of giving it a formal Confutation For indeed though the Politicks of the Church of Rome do bear with several Opinions that differ from the common Hypotheses of their Society yet the Divines of that Party are not patient enough to dissemble the Dislike they have to see their old Opinions which have been maintained for several Ages trod under-foot The Bishop himself has an Example hereof which he cannot well have forgot in the Person of Cardinal Capizucchi who having given his Approbation to the Exposition of the Romish Faith made by the Bishop of Meaux in which he sweetens the Worship of Images so very much for Fear of incensing the Protestants whom he designed to bring over to his own Side was not wanting some Years after to publish a Treatise wherein he shews that he gave that Approbation only upon the Account of Reason of State and not because he sincerely approved the way which the Bishop had taken to make the Worship of Images appear more tolerable to the Protestant Party CHAP. XX. Of the Morals of the Albigenses and of their Ecclesiastical Government HAving thus justified the Albigenses as to their Doctrine and Worship it is time now to proceed to shew the Regularity of their Discipline by representing the Nature of their Church-Government and Conduct of those Churches in matters that related to their Manners This will not be a matter of any Difficulty for it is easily conceived that these Diocesses being stored with People who maintained the Doctrine of Berengarius as the Abbot of Tron tells us they had a great Party of the Clergy at the Head of them I do not say this without good Grounds for 1 st We see that in the Councils held against Berengarius there were very great Contests about this Matter and that the opposite Party carried their Point only by down-right Violence 2 dly That according to the Testimony of Sigebert if many Persons wrote against Berengarius many also wrote in favour of him and who can doubt of their being Church-men 3 dly That his own Bishop Bruno Bishop of Anger 's where he was Archdeacon declared himself for him 4 thly That in Aquitain in the Year 1075 Giraldus Legat of Pope Gregory VII was obliged to call a Council at Poictiers where Berengarius narrowly escaped being murthered as we are assured by the Chronicle of St. Maixant the Circumstances whereof there set down they that published it took care to leave out 5 thly That five Years after they were obliged to convocate another Council at Bourdeaux where Berengarius gave an Account of his Faith
and Pharisais not profyting the Christen People but disseyvyng them Item I have hold affermed taught and beleved that in the Sacramente of the Auter is not the very Body of Criste Farthermore shewing and seying that Pristis may bie xxx suche Goddis for one Peny and will not selle one of them but for two Penys Item I have misbeleved and to dyvers manyfestly shewed that Ymages of Seynts be not to be worshipped aftir the Doctrine of a Boke of Commandments which I have had in my keping wherein is wreten that no Man shall worship eny thing made or graven with mannys Hand attending the Words of the same litterally and not inclynyng to the sense of the same Item I have spoken and diverse tymes shewed that Pristis be the Enemies of Christe Item I have belevyd said and taught that St. Petir was never Priste but a little before his Deth Ferthermore shewing that Simeon Magos geve hym his Tonsure of Prysthode and in Spyte of hym Goddis Vicar contempnyng hys Power called hym a Panyer Maker Fyrst That I Herry Benett have hold and kepte this Opinion that Pilgremaggis be not to be made moeved for this Cause for only God is to be warsshyped and so not themmagis of Sayntis insomoch that I wold never goo a Pilgremage but onys and I have oftyn tymes reproved such as wold spend their Money in Pilgremage doyng seing thei myght better spend hit at home Item I have not belevyd stedfastly in the Sacrament of Thauter seying of hit this wise that if there were thre Hostys in one Pikkis one of theim consecrate and the odir not consecrate a Mowse woll as well ete that Hoste consecrate as the odir twayn unconsecrate the which he myght not if there were the very Body of Criste for if there were the Fadir Son and Holy Goste he myght not ete theym Fyrste That I William Brigger have erred and mysbeleved in the Sacramente of the Auter seyng and holdyng that there shuld not be the very Body of Criste so taught and enformed in this same grete Errour and Heresie by one Richard Sawyer late of Newbery Item I have spoke and hold ayenste the Sacramente of Pennance seing in this wise If I have take a Manis Goode or stole his Cowe and be sory in Harte I may as well be saved as though I were shreven thereof for it is inowe to be shryve to God Item I have held and seyde ayenste the Doctrine of Prystys affermyng of them that all Prystes techeth a false and a blynd way to bryng us all in to the Myer Ferthermore addyng herto and seyng howe may it be that blynde William Harper may lede anodir blynde Man to Newbery but both fall yn to the Dyche so dothe all thes Pristis to bryng us alle to Dampnacion Fyrste That I Richard Hignel have hold and mysbeleved of long tyme in the Sacramente of the Auter seyng that Christe offer'd to Simeon is the very Sacramente of Thauter so meanyng and belevyng in myn Opinion that the Sacramente in form of Brede shuld not be very Godde but only Criste hymselffe in Hevyn is the Sacramente and none odir and so I have mysbelevyd and continewed in this Errour and Heresie unto this tyme of Examnacion Item I have be adherente and associat with Hereticks abjured by whos Doctrine I have erred as I have afore spoken Fyrste That I William Priour have said and hold ayenst the Auctorite and Power of Pristis callyng theim Scribis Pharisies and thenmyes of Criste not teching but disseyving the Cristen People Item I have belevyd and divers tymes shewid that Ymagis of Seynts be not to be wurshyped nether Oblacions to be made unto theim seyng and holding no such thing to be wurshipped that is graven or made with manys Hande I Richard Goddard in long tyme here before have had grete dought howe God myght be in forme of Brede in Thauter amoste syn the Yeres of Discrecion and nowe in fewe Yeres thought and utterly beleved that inasmoch as God is in Hevyn he shuld not be in the Sacramente of Thauter and so in this Errour have continewed unto the tyme of this my present Abjuracion Thes Articules and every of them afore rehersed and to us Austyn Stere Herry Benet William Brigger Richard Hignell William Priour and Richard Goddard and to every of us severelly by you judicially objected we and every of us singulerly openly knowlege our selffe and confesse of our fre Wille to have hold lerned and belevyd and so have taught and affermyd to odir which Articules and every of theim as us concerneth severelly we and every of us understand and beleve Heresies and contrary to the commen Doctrine and Determination of the universalle Church of Criste and confesse us and every of us here to have be Heretikes Lerners and Techers of Heresies Errours Opinions and false Doctrines contrarie to the Cristen Feith And forasmoch as it is so that the Lawes of the Churche of Criste and Holy Canons of Saynts be grounded in Mercy and God wol not the Deth of a Synner but that he be converted and seve And also the Church closeth not her Lappe to him that woll retorne We therefor and every of us willing to be Partiners of this forseid Mercy forsake and renounce all thes Articules afore rehersed as us concerneth particularly and confesse theim to be Heresies Errours and prohibite Doctrine And nowe contrite and fully repentyng theim all and every of theim judicially and solemply theim forsake abjuxe and wilfully renownce for evermor and not only theim but all odir Heresies Errours and dampnable Doctrines contrary to the Determination of the universall Church of Criste Also that we and every of us shall never herafter be to eny such Persons or Persons Favorers Counselers Mainteners or of eny such prively or openly but if we or eny of us knowe eny such herafter we and every of us shall denownce and disclose theim to you Reverend Fadir in God your Successors or Officers of the same or els to such Persons of the Church as hath Jurisdiction on the Persons so fawty so help us God and all Holy Evangelis submyttyng us and every of us openly not coacte but of our fre Wille to the Payn Rigour and Sharpness of the Lawe that a Man relapsed owght to suffre in suche case if we or eny of us ever do or hold contrarie to this our presente Abjuracion in parte or the hole therof In witnesse whereof we all and every of us severally subscribe with our Hands makyng a Cross and requir all Cristen Men in generall her presente to record and witnes ayenst us and every of us and this our presente Confession and Abjuracion if we or eny of us from this Day forwards offende or do contrarie to the same and ye Masters her presente ....................... Lecta facta fuit ista Abjuracio coram Reverendo in Christo Patre Domino Thoma permissione divina Sarum Episcopo in Ecclesia parochiali Sancti