Pope writes vehement Letters to the Prelates and Rectors of those Provinces and to Charles King of France to labor with the Inquisitors to root them out of those Provinces A. D. 1377. He writes to the King of England and to the Chancellor of Oxford to extirpate the Errors of Wickliff In the Fifteenth Century A. D. 1409. Alexander the Fifth commands the Wicklefists to be apprehended and condemned as Hereticks by requesting the Aid of the Civil Magistrate A. D. 1422. Branda a Cardinal was sent by Martin the Fifth to prosecute the Holy War against the Hussites A. D. 1427. Martin the Fifth gives to Henry of Winton ample Power to raise an Army of Crusado's against the Wicklefists and Hussites promising to them the same Privileges which were granted to them who went to the Holy Land In the Sixteenth Century When Luther came upon the Stage Leo the Tenth A. D. 1520. set forth a Bull against him declaring that since the Church of Rome N. B. had translated the Empire from the Greeks to the Germans she had ever found the Germans to be severe Oppugners of all Heresie witness the Decrees of the German Emperors for the exterminating Hereticks out of their Dominions the Condemnation of the Hussites Wicklefists and Jerom of Prague by the Council of Constance Witness the Bloud they have so often shed against the Bohemians Wherefore to shew the Care he bears for Christian Religion and the Orthodox Faith he with his Cardinals and many other Divines most skilfull in Theologie and the most Eminent Professors of both Laws after mature deliberation diligent examination and discussion of some Articles cited in this Bull of which this is one viz. That it is against the will of the Holy Spirit that Hereticks should be burnt declares that all those Articles were contrary to the Doctrine and Tradition of the Catholick Church against the Determinations of Holy Fathers and the express Ordinances and Canons of Popes and Councils which not to be obedient to is the Cause and Nourishment of all Heresies and Schisms He therefore with the Counsel and Assent of the aforesaid Brethren pronounceth all the aforesaid Articles to be respectively Heretical or Scandalous or False and contrary to Catholick Verity and as such reprobates and damns them decreeing that all Christians shall look upon them as such And he inhibits all Kings Emperors Electors Princes Dukes Marquesses c. under the Penalty of the greater Excommunication to be actually incurr'd without judicial proceeding to assert affirm defend preach or publickly or secretly tacitly or expresly to favor the aforesaid Errors or perverse Doctrin of Luther and under the same Penalties commands them personally to apprehend him his Accomplices Adherents Receivers and Favorers and to retain them till the Pope requires them and then to send them to him for which good Work he promiseth to reward them And lastly He doth excommunicate and anathematize all Persons of what state degree condition preeminence dignity or excellency soever who any ways do hinder the Publication of this Bull in their Dominions A. D. 1521. He pronounceth Luther a Heretick and declares that all Persons of what authority dignity or condition soever who did patronize or yield him any counsel help or favor had incurr'd the Penalties and Censures inflicted by the Canons upon Hereticks and all the other Punishments contained in his former Decree And he commands that they should every where be denounced excommunicate anathematized accursed interdicted deprived of all Honour Goods and Dignity and that they and their Posterity should be uncapable of them for the future and should by all men be avoided A. D. 1522. Hadrian the Sixth excites the Princes of Germany to extirpate the Heresie of Luther and writes Letters both to the Secular and Ecclesiastical Princes to this effect and particularly to Frederick Duke of Saxony in whose Dominions Luther dwelt admonishing him to consider how he could answer at the Tribunal of Christ for cherishing a Mad-man and a Subverter of the Doctrine of the Church And denouncing to him in the Name of the Omnipotent God and the Lord Jesus Christ that if he did not return to a sound Mind he should hereafter be condemned to Hell Fire and should not go unpunished in this present Word but suffer by the Sword of Caesar and the Apostles See And to that end this Pope writes Letters to the Electors and other Princes of Germany and sends an Instruction to Cheregata his Legate how to proceed in this Matter A. D. 1525. Clement the Seventh exhorts the Senate of Paris to punish the Lutheran Heresie sprung up amongst them professing that he himself will spare no Diligence or Industry in that Cause A. D. 1568. Maximilian grants to the Nobility of Austria the free Exercise of the Augustan Confession in their Towns Castles and Villages which when Pius the Fifth hears of he presently sends to him the Cardinal of Commendonum to hinder it or if he could not hinder it to declare by the Apostolical Authority that the Pope would inflict upon him if he did not suddenly rescind that Decree all the Ecclesiastical Penalties and Execrations and would deprive him of his Dominions and take care that another should be chosen Emperor A. D. 1585. Sixtus the Fifth exhorts the King of France that being mindfull of his Oath which he had taken at his Coronation De omnibus Haeresum atque Sectarum Seminibus extirpandis to extirpate all the Seeds of Heresie and Schism he would effectually perform it THE END Books lately Printed for Thomas Basset at the George in Fleetstreet THE History of Romish Treasons and Vsurpations together with a particular Account of many gross Corruptions and Impostures in the Church of Rome highly dishonourable and injurious to Christian Religion to which is prefix'd a large Preface to the Romanists carefully collected out of a great number of their own approved Authors By Henry Foulis B. D. late Fellow of Lincoln-Colledge in Oxford A Catalogue An Institution of General History or The History of the World being a compleat Body thereof In Two Parts the First from the Beginning of the World till the Monarchy of Constantine the Great wherein are described the several Empires and the Contemporaries with them all distinctly and by themselves and yet linked together by Synchronisms As also the Forms and Models of Governments with the Power and Nature of their respective Magistrates Customs Laws and Antiquities The Second Part containing that of the Roman Empire its flourishing Condition its middle or neutral State and its Ruin and Downfall in the West from the Monarchy of Constantine the Great to the Taking of Rome by Odoacer King of the Heruli and the erecting of a Kingdom of Barbarians in Italy with an Account of the Polity of the Empire and of the several Laws of moment made during the Reigns of the Emperors both in East and West to this Period By William
the all-ruling Providence of God shall set over me and patiently to suffer where I cannot conscientiously obey And I conjure all reformed Christians if ever they lye under these unhappy Circumstances not to blaspheme their Holy Calling or cast a Scandal on the Reformation by any Mutinies or Insurrections against God's Vicegenent which will assuredly incense the Wrath of God still more against them prolong their Miseries and make their temporal Calamities be a sad Prologue to eternal but that they would resolve to suffer as becometh Christians and to commit their Cause to him that judgeth righteously § XII 4. This Treatise may be instrumental to prevent being gull'd and deluded by fair words and specious promises and by vain hopes of Freedom from these dreadfull Miseries if this Religion should prevail there being nothing in the World more inconsistent with the avowed Principles of Popery nothing more contrary to the continual Practice of the Church and to the Oaths and Obligations of the Members of it than to permit the Heretick to scape these sad and direfull Effects of their inhumane Cruelty And whatsoever Prince neglects to execute these Punishments on any other score but those of Policy must solemnly condemn the Constitutions of those General Councils which are the sole Foundations of his Faith he must believe the Church of Rome not onely Fallible but False in her Determinations and guilty of more Murther and Barbarity than all the Heathen Emperors were guilty of in the Ten Persecutions He must continue in and own that Church to be the onely Church of Christ which yet he doth believe to be the vilest Church on Earth and guilty of the greatest Crime imaginable Mr. L'Estrange takes care to tell us that Henry the Fourth of France did not exercise one act of Tyranny over his Protestant Subjects But he forgot to tell us that he was first deposed and then stab'd for his remisness in that matter He was twice deposed by Gregory the Fourteenth A. D. 1591. by Clement the Eighth A. D. 1592. as being a Favorer of Hereticks and by the continual Rebellions and Defections of his R. Catholick Subjects he was forced for Quietness sake to turn Papist A. D. 1594. And yet because he was indulgent towards Hereticks his Life was attempted the same year by John Castel belonging to the Jesuits by a Monk A. D. 1600. and he was at last stab'd by Ravilliac And because others frequently object the like Example of the Indulgence of the French King towards the Hugonots to what I have already answered Section the Ninteenth of this Treatise I add 1. That from the beginning of the Thirteenth till the middle of the Sixteenth Century all Europe hath scarce equall'd the Severity of France for Persecutions of this kind or frequency of Councils making Laws for the Destruction of the Heretick as in this Treatise you will find 2. The Author of The Policy of the Clergy of France informs us that their Princes have not lost the Design of destroying Hereticks though Prudence hath obliged them for the present to suspend it because it could not be done by them without great Danger And Bellarmin himself will grant Non esse Haereticos Bello petendos quando sunt fortiores nobis That Hereticks may be spared when they are stronger than the R. Catholicks and it is to be feared that more of them might perish than of us And this is all the Lenity that ever was allowed by the Church of Rome towards the Protestant If any man can shew me 1. That any of the Laws here mentioned have been condemned abrogated or relaxed by the Church of Rome or the French Church 2. That any Princes have been blamed for or in the least deterred by any of her Prelates from executing of those Laws or even exempted from that Oath which saith the Pope doth bind them to extirpate Hereticks or that by any Council of the R. Church they ever were permitted to neglect the Execution of them or that from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century any Prince escaped the Censures of the Church who did neglect to execute them 3. That any Country or City hath been rejected from Communion with that Church for Massacring Protestants and Killing many Myriads of them in cold Bloud if 4. It can be made appear that the same Principles which do oblige them to receive other Articles of Faith determined by those Councils do not oblige them to the Execution of the Decrees established by the same Councils or others equally obliging if lastly There be no Design on foot for the Destruction and Extirpation of a pestilent Heresie which hath long reigned in the North of Europe If these things can be evinced then may we have some little hopes of being kindly delt with by a Popish Prince though he were zealous to a miracle for Propagation of the R. Faith and had it in his Power thus to purge his Territories from Heretical Pravity THE CONTENTS OF THE DISCOURSE § I. THE Heads to which the Laws made against Hereticks may be reduced page 2. § II. The Endeavors which are or have been used by the Church of Rome to preserve her Members from that which she is pleased to call Heresie are 1. Binding all her Males at Fourteen and Females at Twelve to abjure all Heresie 2. And also Governors to doe the same 3. Forbidding Lay-men to dispute publickly or privately touching the Catholick Faith and 4. Withholding from them the Books of the Old and of the New Testament That hence we have great reason to suspect the Truth of that Religion p. 3 4. § III. The Care they take for discovering and apprehending Hereticks pag. 5. § IV. The Persons authorized for this Work viz. Inquisitors Archbishops Bishops Abbots and the Assistence they must have from Civil Governors They have Power to require the Magistrates Assistence in enquiring after taking and spoiling Hereticks to compell all the Neighborhood to swear to enquire after and if they know of any Hereticks to endeavor to give notice of them and secure them All Earls Barons Rectors and Consuls c. must also swear efficaciously to assist the Church according to their power in this Work p. 6 7. § V. These Laws are made or being made by others are confirmed by their approved General Councils who also give power to these Inquisitors Archbishops c. to require a Corporal Oath upon the Reliques of the Saints or a Crucifix from all whom they suspect of Heresie to answer to Questions containing all the Romish Superstition and if they will not undergo this Canonical Purgation to condemn them as Hereticks they give this Power to them in all Places and over all Persons of what Dignity soever p. 8 9 10 11. § VI. When they are discovered and apprehended they and their Favorers must be excommunicated their Goods confiscated the Houses in which they are found must be destroyed their Persons must be imprisoned When they have them in
of their Kingdoms Provinces Cities Towns Castles Villages Territories and other Places according to the Canon of the Lateram Council which begins with the words Sicut ait that is according to the Twenty seventh Canon of the Third general Council of Lateran which under Anathema forbids any one to let the Hereticks there mentioned tarry within their Houses or Territories 5. The Fourth Council of Lateran adds that if the Temporal Lord being required and admonished by the Church shall neglect to purge his Territories from Heretical Filth he shall be excommunicated by the Metropolitan and his Suffragans and if he neglect to give satisfaction within a year this shall be signified to the Pope that he from hence forth may pronounce his Subjects discharged from their obedience and expose his Territories to be enjoyed by Catholicks who having exterminated the Hereticks shall possess it without all contradiction and keep it in the purity of Faith so that no injury be done to the Principal Lord who doth not oppose his procedure provided notwithstanding that the same Law take place against them who have no Temporal Lords Now let it be observed that both the Councils of Constance and of Basil do reckon this of Lateran among those Councils which all their Popes must swear to maintain to the least tittle and to defend even to Bloud and that the Council of Trent not onely hath declared it to be a general Council but also doth affirm one of its Definitions to be the voice of the whole Church and therefore these three general Councils must be supposed to approve all that is cited from this Council The general Council of Constance decrees that all Hereticks all Followers and Defenders of them or Partakers with them though they shine in the Dignity of Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops Kings Queens Dukes or any other Ecclesiastical or Mundane Title shall be pronounced excommunicate in the presence of the People every Sunday and Holy-day And that the Archbishops Bishops and Inquisitors shall diligently enquire concerning them who hold approve defend dogmatize or receive such Heresies or Errors as they before had mentioned of what Dignity State Preeminence Degree Order or Condition soever they are and if they be found guilty or infamed by their Authority shall proceed against them by the Punishments of excommunication suspension interdict as also of deprivation of their Dignities Offices and Benefices Ecclesiastical and also of their Secular Dignities and Honours and by any other Penalties Sentences Ecclesiastical Censures ways or manners which they shall judge expedient even by taking and imprisoning their persons and executing upon them any corporal Punishments with which Hereticks use to be punished according to the Canonical Sanctions The general Council of Siena confirming this Bull of Martin the Fifth made with the approbation and concurrence of the Council of Constance and so upon the matter renews all the forementioned Decrees § X. And whereas our dear Lord declares he came not to destroy mens lives but to save them they have set up under the Banner of the Cross an Host of men on purpose to exterminate destroy and butcher those whom they are pleased to call Hereticks and to encourage them in this inhumane service do promise them the greatest privileges The Council of Bourges approved by the general Council of Basil declares that War may justly be waged against condemned Hereticks and that Princes and Christian People may be animated to fight against them The Fourth general Council of Lateran decrees that they who under the badge of the Cross will set themselves to exterminate Hereticks shall enjoy that Indulgence and that holy Privilege which is granted to them who go in defence of the Holy-land and that is full remission of all their sins which they confess and for which they have been contrite and a greater degree of everlasting Happiness than others may expect Can. 3. The Third general Council of Lateran decrees they shall be taken under the defence of the Church and shall be secure from any manner of molestation in their Goods and Persons and shall have two years release of the Penance enjoyned them and receive greater Indulgence at the discretion of the Bishops Cap. 27. The general Council of Siena decrees that all who prosecute and procure the extirpation of the Wicklefists and Hussites shall enjoy all the Rights Privileges and Indulgences concerning the Pardon of their Sins which have been granted to them that rise up against Hereticks And to all that will prosecute those Hereticks apprehend or bring them to the Inquisitors or if they cannot apprehend will expell them from their Territories and if they be required fight against them they promise all the Privileges granted to those who went to the assistance of the Holy-land So also doth the Canon Law Eugenius the Fourth in his Bull of Revocation of the general Council of Basil objects this to them That against the Decrees of the Holy Fathers and the Edicts of Emperors which deny the admitting Hereticks to audience and in prejudice to the Authority Apostolick and the Authority of the H. Councils they had invited the Bohemians to dispute at Basil about certain Articles condemned by the Decrees of Popes and Councils it being saith he notorious to the whole World that the Bohemian Hereticks were maturely and solemnly condemned in the Council of Constance and in the Council of Siena were by divers Processes of the Apostles See and his Legates aggravated once and again and that War was proclaimed and the Secular Arm invoked against them He shall obtain of God the Kingdom of Heaven who dies for the defence of Christians saith a Lemma of the Canon Law the words of the Chapter are said to be directed by Leo the Fourth to the French Army and they speak thus viz. laying aside all fear and terrour act boldly against the Enemies of H. Faith and the Adversaries of all Religion for the Omnipotent knows that if any of you dies he dies for the true Faith the Preservation of his Countrie and the Defence of Christians and therefore he shall obtain of God a Heavenly Reward § XI The last Punishment which these poor Creatures must undergo is Death They shall not be suffered to live say the Constitutions of Frederick the Second The Natareni and all other Hereticks shall be duly punished by the Secular Judge they shall take them away by a damnable Death say the same Constitutions p. 619. For their Extirpation we decree saith Ludovicus the Seventh King of France that being condemned they shall be punished with the Animadversion due unto them So also doth the Canon Law Decretal l. 5. tit 7. cap. 13. By the Statute of our King Henry the Fourth against the Llollards after the Sentence pronounced against these Hereticks the Maior the Sheriff or their Officers who must be present at the Execution must take them into their Custody and burn
them they more who by concealing of them maliciously endeavor to hinder their Examination Incarceration or Punishment they most of all who release them without the consent of the Church when they are taken or imprisoned or by whose Counsel Aid or Command such things are done Nor are they free from this Crime who having opportunity of place and time and power to apprehend Hereticks or help others so to doe wickedly let it slip especially when they are required to assist by others that are willing to apprehend them 2. If any Believer Receiver Defender or Favorer of Hereticks being excommunicated do not satisfie the Church within a year he from hence forward shall be infamous and shall not be admitted to give Testimony or to publick Offices or to Councils or to the Election of those that belong to them he shall have no power of making any Will or succeeding to any Inheritance No man shall be obliged to answer him in any Cause but he shall be compelled to answer others if he be a Judge his Sentence shall be void and null nor shall any Causes come before him if an Advocate he shall not be admitted to plead If a Clerk or Notary the Instruments drawn by him shall be of no moment So the Const. Freder 2. the Constitutions of Clement the Fourth Const. 27. And lastly All this is confirmed by the Fourth general Council of Lateran in express words Cap. 3. de Haereticis and by the Canon Law Decretal l. 5. tit 7. cap. 13. § XVI Moreover for the Security and the Encouragement of such as shall accuse them Whereas according to the Laws of heathen Rome no man could be condemned till he had his Accusers brought before his Face they have decreed that the Names of the Accusers of Hereticks shall not be made publick either by Word or Sign because this is the pleasure of the Apostolick See So Concil Narbon A. D. 1235. Can. 22. Concil Bitter An. Do. 1246. cap. 10. And whereas in other Cases by the Laws of all Nations notorious Criminals infamous and perjur'd Persons were not to be admitted to give Testimony against others especially in matters of Life and Death All Criminals and infamous Persons though Partakers with them in their Crimes may be admitted to accuse and testifie against the Hereticks Concil Narbon An. Dom. 1235. Can. 24. Concil Bitter An. D. 1246. cap. 12. § XVII Now sutably to these Decrees and Principles the Pope hath frequently proceeded depriving Civil Governors of their Dominions as being Favorers of Hereticks or as neglecting to extirpate Hereticks out of their Territories For Raimund Count of Tolose was excommunicated by Innocent the Third because he was a Favorer of Hereticks and his Dominions by the Pope were given to any person who would seise upon them In the year 1210. the Citizens of Tolose were by the Council of Avignion excommunicated because they neglected to perform what they had promised concerning the Expulsion of Hereticks In a Council held at Vaur A. D. 1213. Arnaldus the Pope's Legate by the Apostolick Authority doth admonish and command the King of Arragon to abstain from the Protection Defence or Communion of Hereticks threatning that otherwise he would pronounce against him the same Censures and Ecclesiastical Punishments which are denounced against them Yea the Pope himself informs him that if he proceeded to be a Favorer of Hereticks he could not spare him nor delay his Punishment and that he might by the Example of others who of late had opposed themselves to God and the Church perceive what great danger hanged over his head The occasion of all this was as followeth Peter King of Arragon solicits for Raimund Count of Tolose that he might be received into the Church and for the Counts of Cominges and Fux That they might be restored to their own again To this the Council answer That Count Cominges had made a League with Hereticks and their Favorers and that the Count of Fux was a Receiver of them and therefore his Majesty ought not to intercede for them till they have satisfied the Church Whereupon the King sides with them endeavoring to obtain by Force what by Petition he could not obtain In the year 1214. a Council met at Montpellier of five Archbishops and 28 Bishops who chuse the Count of Montfort Prince and Monarch of the Dominions of the Count of Tolose the forementioned Favorer of the Albigenses desiring the Pope's Legate to confirm their choice He having no Instructions touching this matter acquaints the Pope with their Request who doth immediately commit to him the Custody and allow him the Benefit of those Dominions referring the matter of the Title to the Decision of the Fourth general Council of Lateran then called and the next year assembled which resolves the Case thus That the Pope shall absolve the Subjects of such Favorers of Hereticks from their Allegiance and expose their Territories to be enjoyed by Catholicks who having destroyed the Hereticks shall possess it without any Contradiction so that no Injury be done to the Principal Lord who in this Case was the French King In a Council held in the Province of Narbon An. Dom. 1227. Raimund the Son of Raimund Count of Tolose the Count of Fux the Hereticks of Tolose and the Receivers Believers Favorers Defenders of them are denounced excommunicate by Bell Book and Candle and are exposed as to their goods and persons to every one that can seise on them A. D. 1281. Martin the Fourth doth pass the Sentence of Excommunication actually incurr'd against Michael Paleologus as being a Favorer of those Schismaticks the Greeks and therefore a Maintainer of Hereticks and of their Heresies and Schisms and he moreover doth command all Kings Princes Dukes c. and all other Persons of what Dignity Condition or Estate soever under the Penalty of the same Excommunication to make no Leagues or Confederacies with him pronouncing all such Confederacies null and void though they have been confirmed with an Oath or any other firmness whatsoever A. D. 1307. Clement the Fifth by the Advice of his Brethren doth pass the very same Sentence upon Andronieus Paleologus the Emperor of the Greeks for the same Crime A. D. 1326. Castrutius Governor of Luca is condemned by the Pope's Legate as a Persecutor of the Church and a Favorer of Hereticks and Schismaticks and is deprived of all his Dignities and exposed to every one that would fall upon him A. D. 1425. Martin the Fifth pronounceth a most heavy and severe Sentence against the Person and Kingdoms of Alphonsus King of Arragon as being a Favorer of Schism A. D. 1512. Julius the Second having notice that the King of Navar favored the Enemies of the Church he recurr'd to that last Remedy which is wont to be used against Rebellious Princes execrating the King and Queen of Navar depriving them of their Dominions
and exciting all Princes to seise upon the common Prey Henry the Third of France spared the Bloud of Protestants and refused to declare his Successor uncapable of the Succession though he was a Protestant wherefore Sixtus the Fifth A. D. 1585 excommunicates him as a manifest Favorer of Hereticks and grants Nine years of true Indulgence to any of his Subjects who would bear Arms against him and doth absolve them all from their Allegiance to him Upon this his Subjects rebell against him and Frier Clement murthers him A. D. 1592. Clement the Eighth declares that Henry the Fourth of France was unworthy of the Kingdom as being a Destroyer of the Orthodox Faith and a Favorer of Hereticks and therefore he commands the Election of another A. D. 1570. Pius the Fifth declares Q. Elizabeth a Heretick and a Favorer of Hereticks and for that Cause deprived of all Dominion Dignity and Privilege whatsoever and her Subjects absolved from their Oaths and from all Duty Allegiance and Obedience by that Oath due unto her § XVIII Let it be then considered that though Councils join with Popes in the making of Canons yet by the Constitutions of that Church the Pope alone is he to whom belongs the Execution and the Authentical expounding of those Canons as they must be reduced to practice And that the Pope is authorized by their Councils both to interpret and to execute their Canons during the Interval of their Sessions And then this being well considered you will find reason to conclude that their whole Church is very much concerned in what the Popes do practise by virtue of those Canons or in pursuance of them And unless that Practice of the Popes in Execution of the Canons which is allowed by Councils themselves during the Intervals of their sitting may be reputed the Practice of their Church I cannot imagine how they can impute any thing to their Church which is not done in Councils And if that onely which is done in Councils must be reputed as done by the Church the Church must wholly be unactive in the Intervals and unable to exercise any Authority by virtue of such Canons as have no Authentical Expositor and no man authorized to execute them § XIX Moreover though any Prince who hath embraced the Romish Faith should promise not to prosecute his Protestant Subjects according to the tenor of these severe and sanguinary Laws yet cannot his most solemn Promises give to them any just Security of Freedom and Exemption from these Punishments This will sufficiently appear if we consider 1. That the same impulse of Conscience that makes a man a R. Catholick will also make him act like one when he hath opportunity to doe it it therefore must engage him to believe that the Decrees of general Councils concerning the Punishment of Hereticks must in themselves be just and equitable and fit to be observed by him and that the practice of the whole Roman Church pursuant to them for the space of three whole Centuries must be a cogent Demonstration of the Reception and Approbation of those Laws throughout all Catholick Kingdoms that he who doth not punish Hereticks according as these Laws require must be guilty of the Crimes with which these Laws do charge him and well deserves the Punishments they have decreed against him and that whosoever doth exterminate and punish Hereticks as they encourage him to doe shall certainly obtain the Blessings which they promise to him for that Act. How can a Popish Prince abstain from thus reflecting with himself Either the R. Councils provincial and general and the great Monarch of the Church doe well in animating and exciting all R. Catholicks to fight against all Hereticks expell them out of their Dominions and execute these Laws upon them and in proposing the Rewards forementioned as Blessing certainly to be obtain'd by all who do engage under the Banner of the Cross for their Destruction And all the Roman Catholicks did well who in Obedience to their Commands and Expectation of these Blessings hazarded and lost their Lives by their Endeavors to extirpate Hereticks or who did murther and massacre so many millions of Hereticks And consequently I also shall do well and may expect these Blessings by acting as they did or else these Popes and Councils and all those R. Catholicks who fought or acted or did encourage others to act thus against all Hereticks were truly guilty of all the Christian Bloud which in those Wars between the Heretick and Catholick was spilt and all the barbarous Massacres and horrid Murthers which have been committed upon Hereticks And if so Why do I own that Church that Pope those Councils who have been guilty of these horrid Crimes and these notorious Marks of Antichrist and which hath often sainted but never in the least discountenanced but kept communion and good correspendence with the Authors of them 2. This further will appear if we consider that the same Principles which do oblige a Popish Prince to own that Faith oblige him also to execute these sanguinary Laws upon the Heretick whatsoever Promises or Obligations he hath made unto the contrary That he is subject to a Power which can absolve him from all Obligations of this nature which he at any time shall make and which already he hath declared that it is not in his power to make them or to observe them when they have been made That they are prejudicial to that superior Tribunal of the Church to which he must be subject and made concerning Heresie of which as being a Spiritual Concern he must not judge nor of the Punishments belonging to it or of the Lawfulness of the Suspension of those Punishments All this 't is easie to demonstrate And 1. According to plain Reason When two Princes that have distinct Tribunals make Laws or Constitutions thwarting one the other the Constitutions of the inferior Tribunal must give place to those of the superior but by the Principles of the Communion of the Roman Church the Ecclesiastical Tribunal is superior to that of Princes since then it is decreed by that Tribunal as we have seen already that all Catholick Princes shall faithfully endeavour to extirpate Hereticks from their Dominions and that all Constitutions made to the contrary are ipso facto void no Constitutions made by Princes in favor of Heretical Subjects can be observed by them or be of any moment in prejudice to the Determinations of the superior Tribunal of the Church Now that according to the Principles of R. Catholicks the Ecclesiastical Tribunal is superior to that of Princes is evident 1. From express Declarations of the Church in her most general and approved Councils Aegidius Viterbiensis saith with the great applause and approbation of the Fifth Lateran Council under Julius the Second that no Kings or Princes can neglect the Commands or refuse the Authority of their general Councils The Council of Constance declares that being a general
Indulgence granted to the Bohemians by the general Council of Basil and confirmed by Eugenius the Fourth concerning the Receiving the Communion in both kinds The Pope answers by minding him of his Coronation Oath in which he had promised Obedience to the See of Rome and commands him therefore to comply with that Church The King replies that indeed he had sworn haereticam pravitatem è Regno abjicere to expell Heresie out of his Kingdom but that he never esteemed the Receiving the Sacrament in both kinds to be Heresie and that he would live and die in the practice of it Then the King enquires of the Hussites whether if War should be waged against him upon this account they would stand by him who answer like good Subjects that they would doe it with their Lives and Fortunes But putting the same Question to the Catholicks they answer fraudulently that when the Honor of God and Justice was not violated they would not be wanting to assist the King and Kingdom For this the Pope prepares to execute his Censures on the King nulls the Contract of Agreement made betwixt him and his rebellious Subjects of Breslaw in which they promised submission to him he absolves them from their Promise commands the King and all other persons under the Penalty of Excommunication not to hurt them or to compell them to obey him and exhorts all Princes to be assistent to these Rebels and Truce-breakers against all Invaders A. D. 1466. Hynco one of the King 's Nobles being besieged by the King in a Town called Zaraste escapes privily in the night and flys to Paul the Second who presently in favor of this Criminal pronounces an Anathema against all who did not presently quit the Seige and the Town notwithstanding being taken he sends Rudolph his Legate to try the Princes of Germany whether they would not hinder the Pope's proceedings against King George their Answer is that the Pope knew what was his Duty and they would doe what became Catholicks but that they could not break their League with him till the Church had declared him a Heretick In the mean time all the Catholick Nobility of Bohemia rebell against him and desire the Pope to absolve them from their Oath of Obedience to him which when they had joyned with the Inhabitants of Breslaw and other Rebels is granted to them the King himself is cited to Rome Rudolph is commanded to procure Aid against him and to gather an Army of Crusado's for that purpose which presently he doth and forceth the King from a Town that he besieged And because the King appear'd not at Rome and desisted not from persecuting the Catholicks by the Advice of the Cardinals and all the Doctors of Divinity and of the Canon Law he is pronounced a perjured sacrilegious Heretick then the Pope deprives him as being a Heretick of all Honor and Dignity absolves his Subjects from their Obedience to him and declares him and his Posterity uncapable of any Dignity and lastly offers his Kingdom to Casimirus King of Poland In the Sixteenth Century Paul the Third An. Do. 1538. with the consent of his Cardinals declares that Henry the Eighth of England under severe Penalties required his Subjects to hold some Schismatical and Heretical Articles amongst which this was one That he himself and not the Pope was the Supreme Head of the Church of England These Errors he requires him to desist from and to abrogate the Laws made against the Pope's Supremacy declaring that if he did not yield to this Injunction he should incur the Sentence of the greater Excommunication under which Sentence if he continued Ninety days and did not within that time appear at Rome he in the space of three days after should incur the Penalty of Deprivation of his Kingdoms and Dominions passed upon him Moreover he absolves his Subjects from their Oaths of Fealty of Subjection to him commanding them under the Penalty of Excommunication not to obey him or acknowledge him as their Superior A. D. 1570. Pius the Fifth declares Queen Elizabeth a Heretick whereupon he deprives her of her pretended N. B. Royal Right and all Dominion Dignity and Privilege whatsoever and declares all her Subjects and all others who had sworn to her absolved from their Oaths and from any Obligation of Allegiance or Obedience to her An. Dom. 1585. Sixtus the Fifth pronounceth Henry of Navar and the Prince of Conde to be Sectaries relapsed into Error manifest Favorers and publick Defenders of Sectaries that is Hereticks Rebels to the Divine Majesty and Enemies to the Catholick Faith having done this he deprives them and their Posterity for ever of their Dominions and Kingdoms absolving their Subjects from their Allegiance to them in these words By the Authority of these Presents we do absolve and set-free all persons as well joyntly as severally from any such Oath and from all Duty whatsoever in regard of Dominion Fealty and Obedience and do charge and forbid all and every of them that they do not dare to obey them or any of their Admonitions Laws and Commands After the Death of Henry the Third by the barbarous Murther of Fryer Clement the Parisians send to the Sorbon Doctors to know if it were lawfull to submit to Henry of Borbon to whom the Crown of right belong'd their Answer is at large recorded in Thuanus and briefly is to this effect that Catholicks by the Divine Law were forbidden to admit to the Kingdom a Sectary or a Favorer of a Sectary and a manifest Enemy of the Church much more one that had relapsed and was by name excluded from the Catholick Vnion by the Apostolick See that all who favor or assist him were guilty of damnable Sin and would infallibly be damned and all that did resist him unto bloud would dye Martyrs and enjoy an everlasting Reward in Heaven But it is needless to multiply Examples of this nature in a case defined by two general Councils First that of Lateran under Alexander the Third A. D. 1179. which cap. 27. speaking of certain Hereticks there mentioned let all men say they know who any way stand bound to them that as long as these Hereticks persist in their Iniquity they are relaxed from all Fealty Homage and Obedience due to them The Second is the Fourth Council of Lateran under Innocent the Third which as you have already heard declares that if the Temporal Lord neglect to purge his Territories from Heretical Pravity notice must be given of his Remisness to the Pope that he from henceforth may pronounce his Subjects discharged from their Obedience and give his Dominions to Catholicks Moreover in compliance with these Popish Principles we find that Popish Princes who had made these Promises did notwithstanding prosecute their Protestant Subjects with the greatest rigor and act clear contrary to the Engagements made unto them Our own Dominions will afford a sad and lamentable Instance of this thing For