vacancy of a Bishoprick the Dean and Chapter by virtue of his Majesties License under the Great Seal of England hath proceeded to the Election of a new Bishop in pursuance of and according to his Majesties Letters Missive on that behalf and Certificate thereof made unto the Kings Majesty under their Common Seal then follows the Confirmation Consecration and Investiture by the Archbishop or Metropolitan of that Province wherein such Bishoprick was void the said Election having upon such elected Bishops Oath of Fealty to the Kings Majesty been first signified to the Archbishop by the King under his Great Seal whereby the said Archbishop is required to Confirm the said Election and to Consecrate and Invest the person Elected And now he is compleat Bishop as well unto Temporalties as Spiritualties yet after his Confirmation and before his Consecration the King may if he please ex gratia grant him the Temporalties But after his Consecration Investiture and Instalment he is qualified to sue for his Temporalties out of the Kings hands by the Writ de Restitutione Temporalium And yet it seems the Temporalties are not de jure to be delivered to him until the Metropolitan hath certified the time of his Consecration although the Freehold thereof be in him by his very Consecration But if during the Vacation of Archbishopricks or Bishopricks and while their Temporalties are in the Kings hands the Freehold-Tenants of Archbishops or Bishops happen to be attainted of Felony the King by his Prerogative hath the Escheats of such Freeholders-Lands to dispose thereof at his pleasure saving to such Prelates the Service that is thereto due and accustomed Before the Conquest the Principality of Wales was held of the King of England and by the Rebellion and forfeiture of the Prince the Principality came to the King of England whereby the Bishopricks were annexed to the Crown and the King grants them their Temporalties 10 H. 4. 6. 7. The manner of making a Bishop is fully described in Evans and Kiffin's Case against Askwith wherein it was agreed That when a Bishop dies or is Translated the Dean and Chapter certifie the King thereof in Chancery and pray leave of the King to make Election Then the King gives his Congé d'Esâ—ire whereupon they make their Election and first certifie the same to the party Elect and have his consent Then they certifie it to the King in Chanceâ—y also they certifie it to the Archbishop and then the King by his Letters Patents gives his Royal Assent and commands the Archbishop to Confirm and Consecrate him and to do all other things necessary thereunto whereupon the Archbishop examines the Election and the Ability of the party and thereupon confirms the Election and after Consecrates him according to the usage upon a New Creation And upon a Translation all the said Ceremonies are observed saving the Consecration which is not in that case requisite for that he was Consecrated before 8. Bishopricks were Donatives by the King till the time of W. Rufus and so until the time of King John Read for that the History of Eadmerus Vid. Case Evans vers Ascouth in â—in Caâ— Noy 's Rep. It hath been generally held That before the Conquest and after till the time of King John Bishops were Invested by the King per Baculum Annulum but King John by his Charter granted That there should be a Canonical Election with Three Restrictions 1. That leave be first asked of the King 2. His Assent afterwards 3. That he shall have the Temporalties during the Vacation of the Bishoprick whereof mention is made in the Stat. of 25 Ed. 3. de Provisoribus and which is confirmed by the Stat. of 13 R. 2. c. 2. Also the Law in general is positive therein That in the making of all Bishops it shall be by Election and the Kings Assent and by the 25 H. 8. the Statute for Consecration of Bishops makes it more certain And if the Pope after the said Charter did use to make any Translation upon a Postulation without Election and Assent of the King it was but an Usurpation and contrary to the Law and restrained by 16 R. 2. and 9 H. 4. 8. And after the 25 H. 8. it was never used to have a Bishop by Postulation or any Translation of him but by Election as the said Statute prescribes And the form of making a Bishop at this day is after the same manner as aforesaid and according to the said Statute 9. The Interest and Authority which a Bishop Elect hath is That he is Episcopus Nominis non Ordinis neque Jurisdictionis But by his Confirmation he hath Potestatem Jurisdictionis as to Excommunicate and Certifie the same 8 Rep. 89. And then the power of the Guardian of the Spiritualties doth cease But after Election and Confirmation he hath Potestatem Ordinationis for then he may Consecrate confer Orders c. For a Bishop hath Three Powers 1. Ordinis which he hath by Consecration whereby he may take the Resignation of a Church confer Orders consecrate Churches And this doth not appertain to him quatenus Bishop of this or that place but is universal over the whole World So the Archbishop of Spalato when he was here conferr'd Orders 2. Jurisdictionis which is not Universal but limited to a place and confin'd to his See This power he hath upon his Confirmation 3. Administratio rei familiaris as the Government of his Revenue and this also he hath upon his Confirmation The Bishop acts either by his Episcopal Order or by his Episcopal Jurisdiction By the former he Ordains Deacons and Priests Dedicates or Consecrates Churches Chappels and Churchyards administers Confirmation c. By the latter he acts as an Ecclesiastical Judge in matters Spiritual by his Power either Ordinary or Delegated 10. An. 1430. Temp. Reg. H. 6. Hen. Chicheley Archiepisc Cant. in Synodo Constitutum est Ne quis Jurisdictionem Ecclesiasticam exerceret nisi Juris Civilis aut Canonici gradum aliquem ab Oxoniâ—nsi vel Cantabrigiensi Academia accepisset Ant. Brit. fo 284. nu 40. The power of the Bishop and Archbishop is derived from the Crown as was held in Walkers Case against Lamb where it was also held That the Grant of a Commissary or Official to one was good notwithstanding he were a Lay man and not a Doctor of Law but only a Batchelour of Law for the Court then said That the Jurisdiction of the Bishop and Archdeacon is derived from the Crown by usage and prescription and that in it self as it is coercive to punish Crimes or to determine Matrimonial Causes and Probate of Testaments and granting of Administrations being Civil Causes are derived from the Crown and not incident de mero jure to the Bishop which appears by Henslows Case par 9. Cawdry's Case par 5. 1 Ed. 6. c. 2. the Stat. of 37 H. 8. and divers other Authorities and the Statute of 37 H. 8. c.
next in precedency hath been a Count Palatine about six or seven hundred years and hath at this day the Earldom of Sadberg long since annexed to this Bishoprick by the King Note a President hath been shewed at Common Law That the Bishop of Durham imprisoned one for a Lay-Cause and the Archbishop of York as his Sovereign cited him to appear before him to answer for that Imprisonment and the Archbishop was fined four thousand Marks Cro. par 1. The Bishop of Winchester was anciently reputed Earl of Southampton All the other Bishops take place according to the Seniority of their Consecration unless any Bishop happen to be made Lord Chancellor Treasurer Privy Seal or Secretary of State which anciently was very usual All the Bishops of England are Barons and Peers of the Realm have place in the Upper house of Parliament as also in the Upper house of Convocation The Bishopricks were erected into Baronies by William the Conqueror at his coming into England And as a special remark of Honour Three Kings viz. of England Scotland and South-Wales in the year 1200. did contribute their Royal shoulders for the conveyance of the deceased Corps of Hugh Bishop of Lincoln to his Grave And no wonder when Princes themselves and such as were of the Blood Royal were anciently Bishops in this Kingdom they have been not only of the best Nobility but divers of the Sons and Brothers of several English Kings since the Conquest and before have entred into Holy Orders and became Ecclesiasticks as at this day is practicable in the most of all other Monarchies throughout the whole Christian World Ethelwolph Son and Successor to Egbert first Sole King of England was in Holy Orders and Bishop of Winchester at his Fathers death Odo Brother to William the Conqueror was Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy Henry de Blois Brother to King Stephen was Bishop of Winchester Geofry Plantagenet Son to King Henry the Second was Bishop of Lincoln And Henry de Beauford Brother to King Henry the Fourth was Bishop also of Winchester 20. The Statute of 17 Car. 1. cap. 27. for disinabling persons in Holy Orders to exercise Temporal Jurisdiction or Authority being Repealed as aforesaid by the Statute of 13 Car. 2. cap. 2. they are thereby restored to the exercise of Temporal Jurisdiction as formerly which indeed is no more than what they ever Anciently exercised in this Kingdom For Ex Clero Rex semper sibi eligebat Primos à Consiliis Primos ad Officia Regni obeunda Primi igitur sedebant in omnibus Regni Comitiis Tribunalibus Episcopi in Regali quidem Palatio cum Regni Magnatibus in Comitatu una cum Comite in Turno cum Vice-comite in Hundredo cum Domino Hundredi sic ut in promovenda Justitia usquequaque gladii gladium adjuvaret nihil inconsulto Sacerdote vel Episcopo ageretur This Union of Persons Authority and Courts of Judicature Ecclesiastical and Civil as Mr. Selden proves continued above Four thousand years till Pope Nicholas the First about the Eighth Century to exclude the Emperour from medling in the Ecclesiastical Government began to exclude the Clergy from medling with the Civil And for the space of four or five hundred years during the Reign of the Saxon Kings in England the Ecclesiastical and Secular Magistrates sate joyntly together determining Ecclesiastical Affairs in the Morning and Secular or Civil Affairs in the Afternoon so that in those days as there was no clashing of Jurisdictions so no complaint touching Prohibitions but an unanimous harmony in a kind of Joynt-Jurisdiction in reference to all Ecclesiastical and Civil Affairs until William the Conqueror did put a distinction between Church and State in a more divided way than formerly had been practiced Also the excellent Laws made by King Ina King Athelstan King Edmund and St. Edward the Confessor from whom we have our Common Laws and our Priviledges mentioned in Magna Charta were all made by the perswasions and advice of Archbishops and Bishops named in our Histories 21. That which during the Reign of King Edw. 6. made the greatest alteration and threatned most danger to the State Ecclesiastical was the Act entituled An Act for Election and what Seals and Styles shall be used by Spiritual persons c. In which it was ordained That Bishops should be made by the Kings Letters Patents and not by the Election of the Deans and Chapters That all their Processes and Writings should be made in the Kings Name only with the Bishop's Teste added to it and sealed with no other Seal than the Kings or such as should be Authorized and Appointed by him In the compounding of which Act there was more danger as Dr. Heylin observes couched than at first appeared For by the last Branch thereof it was plain and evident says he that the intent of the Contrivers was by degrees to weaken the Authority of the Episcopal Order by forcing them from their strong hold of Divine Institution and making them no other than the Kings Ministers only or as it were his Ecclesiastical Sheriffs to execute his Will and disperse his Mandates And of this Act such use was made though possibly beyond the true intention of it that as the said Dr. Heylin observes the Bishops of those Times were not in a Capacity of conferring Orders but as they were thereunto impowred by special License The Tenour whereof if Sanders be to be believed was in these words following viz. The King to such a Bishop Greeting Whereas all and all manner of Jurisdiction as well Ecclesiastical as Civil flows from the King as from the Supream Head of all the Body c. We therefore give and grant to thee full power and License to continue during our good pleasure for holding Ordination within thy Diocess of N. and for promoting fit persons unto Holy Orders even to that of the Priesthood Which being looked on by Queen Mary not only as a dangerous diminution of the Episcopal Power but as an odious Innovation in the Church of Christ she caused this Act to be Repealed in the first year of her Reign leaving the Bishops to depend on their former claim and to act all things which belonged to their Jurisdiction in their own Names and under their own Seals as in former times In which estate they have continued without any Legal Interruption from that time to this But says the same Author in the First Branch there was somewhat more than what appeared at the first sight For though it seemed to aim at nothing but that the Bishops should depend wholly on the King for their preferment to those great and eminent places yet the true drift of the Design was to make Deans and Chapters useless for the time to come and thereby to prepare them for a Dissolution For had nothing else been intended in it but that the King should have the sole Nomination of all the Bishops in his Kingdoms it had
Nominatione non facta intra Sex menses devolvitur Nominatio plena Dispositio Episcopatus ad Papam As also appears in that remarkable Case controverted touching the Confirmation of the Election Ad Episcopatum Appamiarum For upon the death of Cardinal de Albret An. 1520. 10. Dec. that Bishoprick became void whereupon the Canons of that Church convened and proceeded to the Election of a new Bishop and chose D. Bernard de Lordat who being elected applied himself Archiepiscopo Tholosano tanquam suo Metropolitano saltem Vicariis suis for the Confirmation of his Election which was done accordingly to which Confirmation the Procurator Regius was not called who appealed from the said Election and Confirmation alledging that the Nomination to the Bishoprick belonged to the King who Nominated D. John de Puis to the Pope whereupon the Pope granted the said Bishoprick to the said John de Puis who by the Bulls and Proxies of the Pope took possession thereof From all which Appeal was again afterwards in Supremam Curiam between De 〈◊〉 and Lordat but De Puis obtaining another Bishoprick the Process on the Appeal was Extinct and Lordat by a Definitive had the Possession of the said Bishoprick Confirmed to him CHAP. VI. Of Consecration 1. What Consecration signifies the Ancient Rites and Ceremonies thereof under the Law who they were to whom it belonged 2. Consecration as specially Applicable to Bishops 3. An Ancient Canon touching the Consecration of Churches 4. The Form of Consecration of Churches by the Justinian Law the Rites and Ceremonies therein used by the Greek and Latin Churches 5. Consecration of Bishops how necessary by the Imperial Law Consonant to the practice of the Greek and Latin Churches 6. Consecration of Bishops is Character Indelebilis at the Common Law 7. Who first Consecrated Churches who first took the style of Pope The Original of Godfathers and Godmothers in Baptism 8. In case of Translations of Bishops no need of new Consecrations Requisites to Creation and Translation of Bishops according to the Common Law of England 1. CONSECRATION here chiefly refers either to Bishops or Churches The Civil as well as Canon Law takes notice of both It signifies a Dedication to God Justinian in his Novel's makes use of the word thereby signifying an Imposition of hands For in this manner says that Book of great Antiquity entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 began Bishops to be Consecrated It is a kind of Separation of persons Ecâ—csiastical from the Laity and of things Sacred from Prophane for the especial use and service of God The word in the Hebrew signifies a Filling of the hand thereby intimating that under the Law in the Consecration of any there was a giving them or Putting into their hands things to offer whereby they were admitted to their Priestly Office In this Consecration the holy Unction was used or the holy Oyl or holy Ointment which was not to be applied to any Prophane or Civil use but to be appropiated to the Sons of Aaron only whereas Kings were and are to be Anointed that is to be understood as by especial command from God as an Exception to the Sacerdotal practice and as a Consecrating them to the Government in relation whereto a King is a Mixt person under a double capacity Ecclesiastical and Civil as next under God the Supream in Church and State within his own Dominions And although under the Levitical Law there was an Anointing Oyl common to the High Priest with the Inferiour Priests yet the High Priest had a Consecration peculiar to himself which was by the pouring out the precious Oyntment upon his head In imitation whereof are Kings at this day anointed to the Regal Authority 2. The import of this word Consecration as practicable in all Ages specially refers to Archbishops and Bishops and with us consists in certain Benedictions and Ceremonies peculiarly requisite thereunto And when after Election and Confirmation the person is Consecrated and Invested he is then compleat Bishop as well to Temporalties as Spiritualties and then the power of the Guardian of the Spiritualties doth cease Being Consecrated he may confer Holy Orders upon others and may Consecrate Churches and Chappels which before he could not Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury deprived divers Prelates for receiving Investure of King H. 1. but after they were restored ex gratia Speed 436. The Roman Synod made a Cannon that Investure belongs to the Pope yet H. 1. used to give Investure as he did to Ralph Archbishop of Canterbury Sp. 440. b. 3. Touching the Consecration of Churches the Learned Sir H. Spelman makes mention of a very Ancient Canon made by the Synod held at Celichyth in the year 816. under Wulfred Archbishop of Canterbury and President of the said Synod Kenulph King of Morcia being threat also personally present The Canon is to this purpose viz. Wherever a Church is built or erected let it be Sanctified by the Bishop of the proper Diocess Let it have a Benediction from himself and be sprinkled with Holy Water and so be made a compleat Church in such manner as is prescribed in the Ministerial Book Afterwards let the Eucharist which is Consecrated by the same Bishop be together with other Reliques reposited and laid up in a Chest and kept and preserved in the same Church And we Ordain and Command that every Bishop take care that the Saints to whom their Churches are dedicated respectively be painted on the Church-walls or in Tables or on the Altars 4. The Emperour Justinian in his care of the Church hath prescirbed a Form of Consecration thereof in this manner viz. his Law is That none shall presume to erect a Church until the Bishop of the Diocess hath been first acquainted therewith and shall come the lift up his hands to Heaven and Consecrate the place to God by Prayer and erect the Symbole of our Salvation viz. the venerable and truly precioas Rood Likewise among other Ceremonies of Consecrating Churches the laying of the first Stone was of Ancient use in the Greek Church as may be observed out of their Euchologue where it is said That the Bishop after some other Rites performed standing in the place where the Holy Altar shall be set saith certain Prayers which being ended he giveth tho Ite Missa est and then taketh up one of the Stones and having cut a Cross upon it himself with his own hands layeth it upon the Groundwork as the first Foundation-stone then be pronounceth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and so the Workmen begin the Building The like Ceremonies are used in the Latin Church at this day at the Consecration of Churches as appears by their Pontificale There is this further touching the Consecration of Churches in the Euchologue of the Greek Church That the Bishop having on his Formilities fumeth the Ground-work or Foundation with his Iacense Circular-wise then the Singing-men say
but not as to his Judicial Office as to Confirm Leases and the like By the Canon Law he that is the Archipresbyter is also called Dean scil Presbyterorum vel Ecclesiae Cap. ad haec De Offic. Archidiac Cano. innovamus 60. Distinct And because the Dean of a Church understand it of the Roman Church in locum Archipresbyteri subrogatus est Rotae Decis 451. in novis rursum in Decis 443. The Archipresbyter was so called because he was in some certain matters and causes set or appointed over the Priests or Presbyters and such as were of the Sacerdotal Office specially in the absence of the Bishop Cap. 1. 2. De Offic Archipresb The Dean is such a Dignity that the Canon Law styles him honorabiliorem partem Capituli Cap. post Electionem c. 7. de Concess Praebend c. cum inter ca. 18. ibi Panor gloss de Elect. And in a large sense a Dean may be said to be the chief of any that are of the same state and order Gloss in rubr de Decanis lib. 12. C. ibi Alceat and so the Canons of the Church of Constantinople tanquam Digniores were by Honorius and Theodosius called Decani L. non plures 4. de Sacros Eccles lib. 1. C. tit 5. and the more honourable inter Rotae Auditores is the Dean of the Pope's Chappel propter Ministerium quod vocatur Mithrae Lud. Gomes in proaem ad Reg. Cancell de Prothonotariis The truth is the Canon Law in express terms says that Deconatus or a Deanary est Nomen speciale Dignitatis Cap. cum illis vero § illis de Praebend in 6. that is when it refers to praeeminency in any Church Cathedral or Collegiate Gemin Cons 131. nu 5. ver expressit de Deconatu For as to Deans Rural it is otherwise Cap. licet Canon de Elect. in 6. the Dignity qua talis belonging properly to the other viz. Decano Capituli who is Caput principale ipsius yet under the notion or appellation of a Chapter the Dean thereof is not comprehended unless he be specially mentioned or nominated Rebuff in Tract nominat q. 8. nu 33. Barbos in 3 Decret c. post Electionem de Concess Praebend nu 3. 8. Chapter Capitulum so termed by the Canonists not properly but metaphoricaily quasi a Little head or a kind of Head not only to rule and govern the Diocess in the Vacation of the Bishoprick but also when the See is full to assist the Bishop as a Council by way of Advice in matters pertaining to the Diocess Vid. Panor in cap. Capitulum extra de Rescript The Chapter consisting of a Dean Canons and Prebends is Clericorum Congregatio sub uno Decano in Ecclesia Cathedrali or it signifies Congregationem Clericorum in Ecclesia Cathedrali Conventuali Regulari vel Collegiata Of these Chapters some are Ancient some New the New are those which were founded or translated by King Henry the Eighth in the places of Abbots and Covents or Priors and Covents Or those which are annexed unto new Bishopricks founded by H. 8. as were Bristol Chester and Oxford This word Capitulum or Chapter hath in addition to the Premisses other significations in Lindwoods Provincials where he speaks de Capitulis Ruralibus of Chapters Rural Lindw tit de Constit cap. quia incontinentiae gloss verb. Capitulis Ruralibus and there acquaints us with no less than six significations of this word Sometimes says he it is taken for the place in quo fiunt Communes tractatus Collegiatorum Sometimes it is taken for the place In quo fiunt Disciplinae delinquentium Cap. Reprehensibilis in fi Extr. de Appell Sometimes it is taken pro Decretali vel abia certa distinctione Sacrae Scripturae Cap. cum supr Extr. de Sepult Sometimes it is taken pro Capitulis Ruralibus as aforesaid that is when in Lecis minus insignibus viz. in Rure Constitutis known by the name of Conventus in Otho's Constitutions Cap. Sacramenta ad finem ver Conventib Sometimes it is taken for a Collection of persons adinvicem de his quae eis incumbunt in Locis ad hoc assignatis tractantium and being taken in this sense it may be understood sometimes for persons Congregated in a Metropolitan or Cathedral Church and sometimes for persons congregated in a Church Conventual Regular or Collegiate and each of these last may in a large sense be said to be a Collegiate Church according to the description thereof viz. That Ecclesia Collegiata est Collectio hominum simul viventium but to speak properly that is Capitulum which is respectis Ecclesiae Cathedralis That Conventus which is respectu Ecclesiae Regularis and that Collegium which is respectu Ecclesiae Inferioris ubi est Collectio viventium in Communi And sometimes Capitulum is taken for a Collection of many persons not living in Common sed ob tracatus Communes inter se habendos ad aliquem locum Constuentium according to which a convening together of many Rectors Vicars and other Ecclesiastical persons ob tractatus communes inter se habendos etiam dicitur Capitulum Panormitan understands it pro Collectione seu pro Collegio ipsorum Canonicorum but withal says it hath divers significations all which he comprizes in this one Verse Distinguit minuit Locat Collectio fertur Distinguit when one Subject is distinguished from another in any Tract or Treatise Minuit when it stands diminutively Capitulum quasi parvum Caput as aforesaid understand it secundum modum Locat when it is taken for the Place it self where the Canons are met or conven'd Collectio and so it is taken pro ipso Collegio as aforesaid Panorm de Rescript Extr. c. Capitum Whereof there are three inseparable signs as one Common Seal one Common Stock or Treasure and one Common Head or Rector 9. By the Canon Law the words Capitulum Conventus Coetus and Concilium are as it were Synonymous but the terms Capitulum and Conventus are frequently used Promiscuously But to speak properly according to that Law Conventus is said to be Congregatio Ecclesiae Regularis and Capitulum or a Chapter is said to be Congregatio Ecclesiae Secularis The word Chapter taken as here in a proper Canon-sense is a name Collective having a Plural signification yet in reference to different things may be accommodated as well to the Singular as the Plural 10. A Chapter Ecclesiae Cathedralis consists of persons Ecclesiastical Canons and Prebendaries whereof the Dean is chief all subordinate to the Bishop to whom they are as Assistants in matters relating to the Church for the better ordering and disposing the things thereof and for Confirmation of such Leases of the Temporalties and Offices relating to the Bishoprick as the Bishop from time to time shall happen to make It seems that at the Common Law by the Gift or Grant of Lands to a Dean and Chapter being a Corporation Aggregate the Inheritance or
sole Prince conferred the Tithes of all the Kingdom upon the Church by his Royal Charter Of which Ingulph Abbot of Crowland An. 855. saith That King Ethelwolph with the consent gratuito consensu of his Prelates and Princes did first enrich the Church of England with the Tithes of all his Lands and Goods Many other Laws of the Saxon Kings for the payment of Tithes are recited by Mr. Selden as entirely the Gift of Kings And so saith King Elred Nemo auferat à Deo quod ad Deum pertinet Praecessores nostri concesserunt The whole Bishoprick Anciently was in a large sense a Paroecia and the income of it by Contributions first and by Tithes also afterwards was the Common stock of all the Clergy of the Diocess and Mr. Selden asserts it to be the general Opinion of all the Common Lawyers That before the Lateran Council under Innocent 3. every man might have given his Tithes to what Church he would probably within the Diocess because they were not the Propriety as yet of any one Presbyter but the Common Patrimony of all the Diocesan Clergy So that Tithes are a Tenth part of all increase Tithable due to God and consequently to his Ministers that wait on the Altar These are divided into Three sorts 1. Praedial Tithes arising only either of the Fruits of the Ground as Corn Hay Hemp and the like or of the Fruits of Trees and Orchards as Apples Pears and the like 2. Personal Tithes arising of the profits that come by the labour and industry of Man either by Handicrafts as Carpenters Masons and the like or by Buying Selling or Merchandizing 3. Mixt Tithes arising partly of the Ground and partly of the Industry of Man as of Calves Lambs Piggs Milk Cheese and the like No Tithes shall be paid for such things as do not increase and renew year by year by the Act of God Of Praedial Tithes some are called Majores vulgarly termed the Great Tithes others Minores vel Minutae vulgarly the Small Tithes The Great such as Wheat Rye Hay c. The Small such as Min◠Annis Cumin c. And commonly with us here in England we compute Flax in the number of Small Tithes which is a Praedial Tithe as also Wool Milk Cheese Eggs Chicken of all kinds Lambs Honey Bees-wax and the like Vid. Lindw cap. de Decimis In Ancient times the Laity were so far from subtracting their Tithes as is the common practice of these daies that oft-times they would give more than was due or demanded and were so Conscientious in the payment thereof as at their death they usually bequeathed a Soule-Sceat to their Parochial Priest in lieu of any Tithes forgotten and at their Funerals caused their best Ox or Horse to be led with the Corps and as a Mortuary or Oblation given to the Priest in recompence of any Tithes which possibly in their life-time might have been omitted to be paid But in these latter Ages not regarding what S. Hierom says That Fraudare Eccelsiam est Sacrilegium all Artifices imaginable are put in practice to subduct the Tithes and therefore to enforce the due payment thereof were the Statutes of H. 8. and Ed. 6. made and enacted 2. Covarruvias with other Canonists and Schoolmen holds That by the Moral Law the rate or proportion of Tithes is not necessarily to be the Tenth part of the Fruits which the more received Opinion holds to be both Erroneous and Mischievous and that by the Law of God and Nature no Custome deviating from the exact rate and proportion of the Tenth of the Fruits ought to prevail any longer than by the free and mutual consent of Parson and Parishioner For which reason it is supposed That the paying of a Halfpeny for a Lamb or a Peny for a Calf by such as have under Seven in one year is now become an unreasonable Custome in regard the value of such Lambs and Calves is now raised four times higher than in Ancient times This seems far remote from Tithes the very Quotity whereof seems to be Moral rather than Ceremonial or Judicial and not only allowed or approved but even commanded by our Saviour himself Yea by the very Law of Nature which is the ground of the Moral Law and long before the Levitical Tithes appear to be due in that Abraham paid it to Melchisedec And God himself who is the best Interpreter of his own Law calls the detention of Tithes Sacriledge And that Command of Christ affirming that Tithes ought to be paid of all even to the very Herbs spoken by him at the period of the Levitical Law ought not to be restrained only to the Priesthood of Aaron for it doth now remain in force as to Priests under the Gospel as that other part of the Moral Law Thou shalt not steal the withholding of Tithes being expresly interpreted Theft and Robbery by the Prophet And lest it should be thought a meer Human Interest or in the power of Man to alienate God himself hath vouchsafed to take Tithes upon his own account in his Ministers behalf These Tithes could not be meerly Ceremonial as some would have it for they prefigure nothing nor are they repealed by any one Text in the Gospel but reinforced as aforesaid so that whatever was commanded in the Old Testament and grounded on the Law of Nature and being not Repealed in the New must yet stand in force as a Duty of the Moral Law And if it be Objected That Tithes were not paid in the Primitive times of the Christian Church the Reason is not because they were not then due but because there was not then any such settled Order for things of this or the like nature in the Church 3. Wherefore all the Common Objections made against the payment of Tithes in the Christian Church may be reduced to one of these Four 1. That our Saviour gave no Command to his Apostles to take Tithes but rather on the contrary said Freely ye have received freely give Answ Yet our Saviour says These things speaking of Tithes ought you to have done And says The workman is worthy of his meat And St. Paul says The Labourer is worthy of his Reward Where hath Christ in totidem verbis forbidden Sacriledge wilt thou therefore commit it because he hath not in terminis terminantibus forbidden it Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledge 2 Tithes were not paid till about three hundred years after Christ as Tertullian Origen and S. Cyprian do testifie Answ These Fathers do withal acknowledge that during that time the Churches Maintenance was the Peoples free Contribution which probably might have continued to this day had not that Contribution in process of time turned into a Sacrilegious Century by Covetousness instead of a Commanded Decuma as a Duty Morally enjoyn'd 3. That Tithes came first into this Kingdom by the power of the Pope as by Pope
the best Analogy with the truth comparing one Antiquary with another touching that Subject This Radulphus de Diceto was Dean of London a very Ancient Historian he wrote the History of England from A. 1147. to 1193. in a Book Entituled Imagines Historiarum and in the Prologue to his Chronicle Abbreviations says That Augustine who by Pope Gregory was sent into England An. 600. after he had Converted Ethelbert King of Kent to the Christian Faith went in the year 602. to Arles where he was Consecrated Episcopus Anglorum by Etherius Archbishop of that place and being returned into Britain sent Laurentius the Presbyter and Petrus the Monk to Pope Gregory giving him an account of Britains being converted to the Faith and himself made Bishop thereof Whereupon the said Gregory sent them back into England and with them several Divines to preach the Gospel in this Isle among which the Chief were Mellitus Justus Paulinus and Ruffinianus by whom he also sent the Pall to Augustine and at the same time wrote him in what manner he should Constitute Bishops in England and that in haec verba viz. Per locos singulos 12 Episcopos ordines qui tuae subjaceant ditioni◠quatenus Lundoniensis Civitatis Episcopus semper in posterum à Synodo propria debeat Consecrari c. Ad Eboricum vero Civitatem te volumus Episcopum mittere quem ipse judicaveris Ordinare Ita duntaxat ut si eadem Civitas cum finitimis locis Verhum Dei receperit ipse quoque 12. Episcopos ordinet Metropolitani honore fruatur Quem tamen tuae Fraternitatis volumus dispositioni subjacere Post obitum vero tuum ita Episcopus quos ordinaverit praesit ut Lundoniensis Episcopi nullo modo ditioni subjaceat Sit vero inter Lundoni Eboricae Civitatis Episcopos in posterum honoris ista Distinctio ut ipse prior habeatur qui prius fuerit Ordinatus Tua vero Fraternitas Episcopos quos ordinaveris qui vel per Episcopum Eboracae fuerint Ordinati Sacerdotes etiam totius Britanniae Subjectos habeat After the receipt of these Orders from Pope Gregory the Bishops of Britain were conven'd to a Conference by Augustine he having first Ordained the said Laurentius as his Suffragan the said Mellitus Bishop of London and the said Justus Bishop of Rochester About which time King Ethelbert built St. Pauls Church London or re-edified the same About this time also it was viz. An. 608. that Pope Boniface obtain'd of the Emperour Phocas That the Church of Rome should be the Head of all other Churches That of Constantinople having till then assumed that Title the which was after Decreed sub Anathemate in a Council of 62 Bishops Afterwards the the said Laurentius Mellitus and Justus became Archbishops of Canterbury successively viz. Laurentius in An. 615. Mellitus in An. 622. and Justus in An. 626. according to the computation of the said Radulphus by the last of which Paulinus was Ordained Archbishop of York and to which Justus Pope Boniface wrote in haec verba viz. Authoritati beati Petri praecipientes firmamus ut in Dorobernia Civitate semper in posterum Metropolitanus totius Britanniae locus habeatur omnesque Provinciae Regni Anglorum praefati loci Metropolitanae Ecclesiae subjiciantur Again the precedency of the See of Canterbury is recorded by the said Rodolphus in these words viz. Sicut Cantia subjicitur Romae quod ex ea fidem accepit ita Eboricum subjicitur Cantuariae quae eo Praedicatores misit Sicut igitur sedes Cantuariae prima fuit in fide prima sit in honore After Justus Honorius was made Archbishop of Canterbury whom Paulinus consecrated at Lincoln to whom Honorius Pope wrote in haec verba viz. Cum Dorobernensis Antistes vel Eboracensis de hac vita transierit is qui superest habeat potestatem alterum ordinandi Bed lib. 2. cap. 16. Si de Consecrationibus Archiepiscoporum Cantuar. contrarium aliquid inveneris in Authentico Libro quam in hoc volumine reperiatur adquiescam in omnibus And in the year 632. Pope Honorius wrote unto Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury in these words viz. Tuae Jurisdictioni subjici praecipimus omnes Angliae Ecclesias Regiones ut in Civitate Dorobernia Metropolitanus Locus honor Archiepiscopatus Caput omnium Ecclesiarum Anglorum semper in posterum servetur That the Archiepiscopal Seat at York is likewise of very great Antiquity is evident by what is forementioned touching Paulinus Archbishop thereof above one Thousand years since Our Learned Antiquary tells us Ex Patriis Scriptoribus That York was adorned with an Episcopal Seat by Constantius But if so or if that be the truth which is recorded of Paulinus aforesaid how then could Faganus sent hither by Pope Eleut herius to King Lucius to plant the Christian Religion be as reported the first Archbishop thereof or how could King Lucius place there one Theodosius which yet is also affirmed Or how could Sampson under the same King be Bishop of York as appears by Godwin who yet suspects it in regard that at the first entertainment of Christianity among us nor Hebrew nor Greek Names of the New Testament were so rise among the Britains and indeed this Sampson is more generally reserved to some Ages after till King Arthurs time Thus the Original of things as aforesaid seems full of obscurity and uncertainty yet it is most probable that the first Bishop of York was not till Constantines days and we shall find this Bishop at Arles in the Council there held about the year 314. whither as himself writes in his Epistle to Chrestus Bishop of Syracuse he summoned to hear the Cause of the Donatists many Bishops from divers places In the last Edition of this Council published by Jacobus Sirmondus at Paris among other Subscriptions thereunto you have out of Britain these following viz. Eborius Episcopus de Civitate Eboracensi Provincia Britannia Restitutus Episcopus de Civitate Londinensi Provincia superscripta Adelphus Episcopus de Civitate Colonia Londinensium exinde Sacerdos Presbyter Arminius Diaconus From which Council at Arles it may be observed 1 That York was no Archbishoprick at that time as neithet indeed was Rome it self 2 That Eborius Bishop of York at this Council takes place of Restitutus Bishop of London where as some suppose the Primacy alwaies remained till translated to Canterbury Whether Constantine the Great who is supposed to have adorned York with an Episcopal Seat as aforesaid were Born there and not elsewhere as some conceive is not easily at least not expresly proved out of the Ancients says a Learned Antiquary of Late times yet says he That Authority seems to be drawn from them which the Embassadours of England made use of and that in the hearing of the Learned World then both at the Council of Constance An. 1414. as also at that of Basil An. 1431. At the Council of
external Priesthood in which Power is given by Divine Institution to Consecrate the Eucharist c. In which Decree the Synod doth also condemn those who say all Christians are Priests or have equal Spiritual power which is nothing but to confound the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy which is in an Order as an Army of Souldiers To which Hierarchical Order do belong especially Bishops who are Superiour to Priests Therefore one of the said Anathematisms did reach those who say that there is not an Hierarchy instituted in the Catholick Church by Divine Ordination consisting of Bishops Priests and Ministers The Historian of the aforesaid Council of Trent tells us That the Sixth of the said Eight Anathematisms was much noted in Germany in which an Article of Faith was made of Hierarchy which word and signification thereof says he is Alien not to say contrary to the Holy Scriptures and though it was somewhat Anciently invented yet the Author is not known and in case he were yet says he he is an Hyperbolical Writer not imitated in the use of that word by any of the Ancients and following the style of the Primitive Church it ought says he to be named not Hierarchy but Hierodiaconia or Hierodoulia But Thomas Passius a Canon of Valentia said in that Council That all doubt made of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy did proceed from gross ignorance of Antiquity it being a thing Notorious that in the Church the People have alway been governed by the Clergy and in the Clergy the Inferiours by the Superiours until all be reduced unto one Universal Rector which is the Pope of Rome and that it was plain that the Hierarchy consisteth in the Ecclesiastical Orders which is nothing but an holy Order of Superiours and Inferiours But Francis Forrier a Dominican of Portugal at the same time said That Hierarchy consisteth in Jurisdiction and the Council of Nice placeth it in that when it speaketh of the Bishop of Rome Alexandria and Antioch and therefore the handling of Hierarchy not to be joyned with that of Order Others were of a Third opinion viz. That Hierarchy was a mixture of both viz. of Order and Jurisdiction also Thus was that Learned Council divided in this high point of Hierarchy that though they all agreed the thing yet they could not agree wherein to fix it whether in Order or in Jurisdiction or in both Notwithstanding it is generally agreed That the Hierarchy of the Catholick Church is proved by the Testimony of all Antiquity and by the continual use of the Church and that it consisteth of Prelates and Ministers who are Ordained by Bishops in whom resides the power of Consecration which may be a sufficient warrant for this digression Which Consecration as it refers to Persons is done per impositionem manuum except as to Virgins for they also by the Pontifical Law are Consecrable Creatures though they be Foolish Virgins yea though they be Polluted Virgins provided it be not per spontaneam voluntariam pollutionem and there be but putativa Virginitas in the case and shall have not only Laureolam Virginitatis but also Velum Consecrationis as they call it Cajetan in Sum. V. Virgin consecrat Less de Just. Jur. lib. 4. c. 2. Dub. 16. alii DD. But where the Consecration refers to Things as Churches Chappels Bells and other things of the like sound there it is done per preces together with other Consecration-ceremonies the Episcopal Order therein concurring so likewise the Consecration of Virgins is per preces together with other Ceremonies used in the Consecration of Virgins Cujus Signum est quod in Pontificali Romano ubi de hac Consecratione agitur non dicatur roganda de aliqua contaminatione sed de vita conscientia carnis integritate ut notat Cajetanus Less ubi sup That which is next in view is some prospect of Deans and Chapters there were it seems in former times certain Deans who usurped an Authority beyond their Dignity or Function and took upon them to exercise Episcopal Jurisdiction These were condemn'd in a Council at Lateran under Pope Alexander by the fifth Canon of that Council in these words viz. Quoniam quidam in quibusdam partibus sub pretio statuuntur qui Decani vocantur pro certa pecuniae quantitate Episcopalem Jurisdictionem exercent praesenti Decreto statuimus ut qui de caetero id praesumpserit Officio suo privetur Episcopus conferendi hoc officium potestatem amittat Chron. Gervas de Temp. H. 2. Anciently likewise there were certain Deans which were called Decani Christianitatis one of which kind appears in an Ancient Record nigh Four hundred years since relating to the Priviledges of the Priory of St. Austins wherein the words to this present purpose sic se habent viz. Super Privilegiis Innocentii Papae 4. hic superius ad mandatum conservatorum ut praetactum est publicatis Thomas Prior Ecclesiae Christi Cant. Guydo Prior S. Gregorii Thomas Decanus Christianitatis ejusdem Civitatis eadem Privilegia inspexisse ad certitudinem futurorum testati sunt Chron W. Thorn de Temp. Ed. 1. An. 1293. Heretofore also Priors have been called Deans so we find Ceolnothus or Chelnothus in the time of King Ethelred and his Brother Alured Dean of Canterbury to have been called Postea Ceolnothus Cantuariensis Ecclesiae Decanus c. ubi cum Decanus esset quem nos Priorem vocamus non modicum videre solebat Conventum And again Egelnothum alias Ceolnothum ejusdem Ecclesiae Christi Decanum vel Praepositum suum Decanum vocabant quem nos post adventum Lanfranci Priorem appellamus Gervas Act. Pontif. Cant. And where we meet with the word Decania as in the History of Ranulphus Bishop of Durham in the Conquerors time written by Simeon the Monk Deconatus is thereby intended it being the Ecclesiastical Dignity of him qui in Majori Ecclesia denis ad minus Canonicis sive Praebendariis ut vocant sub Episcopo praeest but the DECANVS CHRISTIANITATIS aforesaid so called per Antiquiores Anglos is secundum recentiores DECANVS RVRALIS quem Exteri ARCHIPRESBYTERVM VICANVM vocant De quo de Vrbano vid. Duaren de Sacr. Eccl. minist benef lib. 1. cap. 8. A probable conjecture why anciently he might be called Decanus Christianitatis we may ut mihi videtur have from Mr. Selden in Notis ad EADMERUM pag. 208. Christianitas says he ea quae ad Christianitatem pertinent passim apud Eadmerum atque alios illius aevi Scriptores functionem Episcopalem atque Fori sacri actionem administrationem seu Officium Episcopale ut usitatius appellatur denotant Hinc apud nos Fora sacra quibus jure nempe communi subnixis aut Episcopi praesunt aut ii qui eo nomine Episcopos utpote quos provocare licet suscipiunt Curiae Christianitatis etiamnum vocitantur Glossar Hist Angl. Antiq. ver Christianitas vid. plura in
if not of the highest Antiquity Some will have it in Ancient times to have been the Temple of Diana but the Ingenious Commentator on Antoninus's Itinerary though he will admit that Diana was indeed worshipped here in the Roman times and had Temples here also yet he will not agree it other than a Tradition to assert That St. Pauls Church was formerly a Temple of Diana and is free to conjecture that Mr. Selden did but sport his Wit and was not in good earnest when he imagined that London might be called first Lhan Dien that is the Temple of Diana The same may be said concerning the Temple of Apollo on the Ruines of which the report is St. Peters in Westminster was founded The Antiquary will also have it That at York was Bellona's Temple and Minerva's Temple at Bath and that from her the Town was called Caer Palladour that is the City of Palladian waters They that will have the Church of Rome to be Caput Ecclesiarum do ascribe it to Pope Boniface that he obtain'd it of the Emperour Focas because the Church of Constantinople writ her self Primam omnium Ecclesiarum This was so Decreed in the year 608. by a Council of 62 Bishops sub Anathemata At a Synod held at Westminster under Pope Innocent 2. in the Third year of King Stephen An. D. 1138. it was Decreed That no Church should be built without Leave first obtained from the Bishop of the Diocess Apostolica authoritate prohibemus ne quis absque Licentia Episcopi sui Ecclesiam vel Oratorium constituat By the Fifth Law of Ina King of the West Saxons the Church is made a Sanctuary Si quis sit mortis Reus ad Ecclesiam fugiat vitam habeat emendet sicut rectum consulet At a Synod held at Westminster in the Reign of H. 2. An. 1175. it was ordained then no Judgments touching Blood or Corporal punishment should be given in a Church or Churchyard by the Sixth Canon made at that Synod Seculares Causas in quibus de sanguinis effusione vel de poena Corporali agitur in Ecclesiis vel in Coemiteriis agitari sub interminatione anathematis prohibemus By the Fifth Canon made at a Synod held in London during the Reign of Edmond Father of Edwin and Edgar who succeeded Aethelstan at which Synod were present Odo and Wulstan Archbishops provision was for the Repairing of Churches viz. Vt omnis Episcopus reficiat Dei domos in suo proprio Regem ammoneat ut omnes Ecclesiae Dei sint bene paratae The like you have in the 92 Law of King Kanute Ad refectionem Ecclesiae debet omnis populus secundum Legem subvenire At a General Council held at Rhemes under Pope Calixtus An. 1119. during the Reign of H. 1. it was Ordained That whoever invaded the possessions of the Church should be Anathematiz'd Vniversas Ecclesiarum possessiones quae Liberalitate Regum vel Largitione Principum concessae sunt inconcussas in perpetuum inviolatas esse decernimus Quod si quis eas abstulerit aut invaserit Anathemate perpetuo feriatur And by the Sixth Law of Ina aforesaid if any man fought in the Church he should forfeit Six pounds si quis in Ecclesia pugnet 120 solid emendet And although it be now looked upon as Exaction for a Parson to demand his Funeral dues of Burial where the deceased is carried out of his Parish to be buried in another so it was long since Ordained by the Laws of King Kanute leg 16. Si Corpus aliquod à sua Parochia deferatur in aliam pecunia tamen Sepulturae ejus jure in eam Ecclesiam pertinebit Among other Officers relating to the Church those of Churchwardens Questmen and Sidemen are not to be omitted for although they may be some of the Lower Form yet they are of necessary use and such as without whose care many disorders in the Church may pass unpunished as well as the Concerns thereof much prejudiced for which end and reason the Law will have them to be a Corporation qualifies them to Sue subjects them to Suits and understands them in the nature of Ecclesiastical Trustees as Guardians of the Moveable Possessions of the Church Therefore the Canons have determined as to the qualification of the persons Eligible the manner of their Choice by whom and the time when their Oath Office Duration and Account when and before whom it shall be made and how they shall be finally discharged By reason of the great desolation and ruine of many Churches and Parishes in the late Unnatural War in this Kingdom and otherwise it hath been judged necessary to pass an Act of Parliament for the Uniting of certain Churches in Cities and Towns Corporate Notwithstanding which the Parishes to remain distinct as to all Rates Taxes Parochial Rights Charges and Duties and all other Priviledges Liberties and Respects whatsoever wherein it is also Enacted That the Patrons of such Churches and Chappels so united shall Present by Turns only to that Church which shall remain and be Presentative from time to time c. Provided That Parishes having 100 l. maintenance per An. may not be Vnited Also the Incumbents of such united Parishes must be Graduates in some Vniversity And the Owners of Impropriations may bestow and annex Maintenance to the Churches where they lie and settle it in Trust for the benefit of the said Parsonage or Vicarage without any License of Mortmain It is there also further Enacted That if the settled Maintenance of such Parsonage Vicarage Churches and Chappels so united c. shall not amount to the full sum of 100 l. per An. clear and above all charges and reprizes that then it shall be lawful for the Parson Vicar and Incumbent of the same and his Successors to take receive and purchase to him and his Successors Lands Tenements Rents Tithes and other Hereditaments without any License of Mortmain any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding The Churches and Parishes in London which by that Act since the Dreadful Fire are United are these viz. The Parishes of Alhallowes Breadstreet and St. John Evangelist are united into one Parish and the Church of the former to be the Parish-Church of the Parishes so united The Parishes of St. Albans Woodstreet and St. Olaves Silverstreet are united into one Parish and the Church of the former to be the Parish Church of the said Parishes so united The Parishes of St. Austins and St. Faiths are united into one Parish and the Church of the former to be the Parish Church of the said Parishes so united The like order to be observed in all the rest of the Parish Churches that are by that Act united Touching Dilapidations of Ecclesiastical Edifices and Possessions it may well be presumed That the most of that kind that ever was in the Christian World was in the time of Dioclesian's
and thereon the Ordinaries Approbation the way is open for Admission if no other Legal impediment appears to the Ordinary yet the Canon requires that notwithstanding the Bishops Approbation upon the party's Examination he may not Ordain him unless he hath in esse or posse a promise or a prospect of some Ecclesiastical Living whereof to assume the Cure and whereon to receive subsistance unless the Ordinary will maintain him until he be so provided in case he hath not of his own wherewith to subsist without such provision for our Law and Practice both requires that they should be Incumbents and not Mendicants By the Fifth Canon or Constitution made by that great Convention of no less than One hundred and Eighty Bishops at Rome under Pope Alexander the Third it was Ordained That if any Bishop should Admit any man to be a Presbyter or a Deacon without the Title of a Place that may afford unto him things necessary for the maintenance of his life Let the Bishop himself sustain him until he provide a Living for him except he be able of his own patrimony to sustain himself In the Council of Carthage it was Ordained Quod nullus ordinetur Clericus nisi probatus aut examine Episcoporum aut populari testimonio cap. Nullus 24. dist And by the Council of Pope Martinus it was Decreed That all such as were Ordained Presbyters or Deacons without Examination were to be expell'd the Clergy c. si 24. Dist The Subject-matter whereon they are to be Examined differs with us from that used in the Church of Rome chiefly in these Three particulars viz. Quoad Genus quoad Patriam quoad Fidem vid. c. quando 24. Dist There are several ancient Canons which give this Jus Examinationis to Archdeacons c. adhaec c. ut nostrum De Offic. Arch. c. si quis 94. Dist yet Rebuffus tells us that at this day in France they have lost that part of their Office by a kind of desuetude or disuse thereof it now wholly belonging to the Episcopal Order in that Kingdom as in this and most other Churches of Christendom c. Si servus 54. Dist c. accepimus de aetate qualitate Vacatio Beneficii or the Avoidance of an Ecclesiastical Benefice which you meet with also in the ensuing Abridgment as it is opposed to Plenarty is the want of a lawful Incumbent during which vacancy the Law looks on the Church quasi viduata without her Spiritual husband and our Common Law on the Possessions thereof as in abeiance An Avoidance in the causes thereof as practicable with us differs much from that at the Canon Law where there are thrice as many as are in use with us Rebuffus enumerates above Thirty Causes of such Avoidances but of such relation to the Pontifical Constitutions that not above a Third part of them takes place in this Realm It is Quaestio Juris whether a Benefice be void before Sentence Judicially pronounced albeit in the Law it be said Quod ipso facto sit privatus Admitting the Crime to be committed for which the Law says he shall be deprived ipso facto yet the Question is held in the Negative unless it plainly appears that the mind of the Legislators were otherwise as if those words were added viz. Beneficium eo ipso vacare ita ut alteri Libere possit conferri c. Dudum 2. de Elect. As when one takes a second Benefice Incompatible Aquin. 2. 2. q. 62. art 3. Cajetan ib. Sotus lib. 1. de Just q. 6. art 7. Covar de Matrim p. 2. cap. 6. § 8. nu 9 13. and generally the Modern DD. But the Question is put a little further As whether the Benefice be void when it is said in the Law Sit privatus ipso facto absque alia declaratione Covarruvios Sotus and Henriquez de Excom c. 56. and many other of the later Writers are of Opinion that it is not void but that a declaratory Sentence of the Crime is requisite and that Clause absque alia declaratione is to be understood of a declaration of the penalty incurred not of the Crime committed which exposition of the words though it may seem somewhat strained is notwithstanding by the frequent use and practice thereof among the Canonists sufficiently confirmed And those Laws which say that the Benefice shall be void ipso jurc as in Extrav Ambitiosae De reb Eccl. do not seem to be taken in that strict and rigorous sense Vt sponte teneatur se Reus spoliare Less de Just Jur. lib. 2. cap. 29. de Judice Dub. 8. nu 68. If it shall hence be demanded of what force energy or operation then are such Laws whereby a man is ipso jure deprived of his Benefice by reason either of some Crime committed or another Benefice Incompatible accepted the Answer which the Canonists make to it is That by the words ipso jure privatus Beneficio the Offender doth immediately lose the very Title he had to the Benefice insomuch as that he is no longer Dominus Beneficii yet doth retain the possession thereof of which he cannot be Deprived nisi causa cognita without a fair Trial at Law Gloss in c. Licet Episcopus 28. de Praebendis in 6. DD. ibi Note This is not said by way of interpretation of these words ipso jure in any Statute Law of this Realm but by way of Exposition thereof among the Canonists Although the Clergy have ever been had in the highest repute both with Prince and People where the Gospel hath been received and have been honoured with divers Priviledges and Immunities above the Laity yet the Law hath ever held it as prejudicial to the Church That Plures honores Ecclesiastici uni personae sint tribuendi At a Council conven'd at Westminster in the Five and twentieth year of the Reign of H. 1. being above Five hundred years since Honorius 2. then Pope in this Synod it was Ordained in these words Praecipimus ne uni personae in Ecclesia Archidiaconatus aut diversi tribuantur honores To this purpose is the Third Canon of the Lateran Council under Pope Alex under Quia nonnulli diversas Ecclesiasticas Dignitates plures Ecclesias Parochiales contra Sacrorum Canonum instituta nituntur adquirere ita ut cum unum Officium vix implere sufficiant stipendia sibi vendicent plurimorum ne id de caetero fiat districtius inhibemus Et quia tantum quorundam processit ambitio ut non duas vel tres sed Sex vel plures Ecclesias perhibeantur habere nec duabus possunt debitam provisionem impendere per Fratres Coepiscopos nostros hoc emendari praecipimus Likewise Gregory the Tenth who succeeded Clement at a Council at Lyons Pluralitatem Beneficiorum Curatorum damnavit Hen. de Knyghton de Event Angl. lib. 2. In like manner it appears by the Fourteenth Canon of the Council at Rome under Pope Alexander 3. An. 1180. That
of new improvements in their own occupation by culture Pasture and Garden-Fruits only the said Three Orders were exempted from the general payment of all Tithes whatever The Templers and Hospitallers were meer Lay-men yet they were exempted as well as the other Yet the Lateran Council in An. 1215. Ordered That this Priviledge should not extend to Covents erected since that Lateran Council nor to Lands since bestowed on the said Orders though their Covents were erected before that Council Insomuch that when the said Cistercians contrary to the Canons of that Council purchased Bulls from the Pope to discharge their Lands from Tithes King H. 4. Null'd such Bulls by the Stat. of 2 H. 4. cap. 4. and reduced their Lands to a Statu quo These Exemptions from payment of Tithes in this or that particular Religious Order was not known in the World when Aethelwolph Son of Egbert whom he succeeded as King of the West-Saxons gave as aforesaid Tithes of all his Kingdom and that freed of all Tributes Taxes and Impositions as appears by his Charter to that purpose having at a Solemn Council held at Winchester subjected the whole Kingdom of England to the payment of Tithes True it is that long before his time many Acts for Tithes may be produced such as the Imperial Edicts Canons of some Councils and Popes beside such Laws as were made by King Ina and Offa yet the said Edicts and Canons were never received in their full power into England by the consent of Prince and People nor were King Ina and Offa though Monarchs of England as it were in their turns such Kings as conveyed their Crowns to the Issue of their Bodies but the said Aethelwolph was Monarcha Natus non factus and although before his time there were Monarchs of the Saxon Heptarchy yet not successive and fixed in a Family but the said King Egbert being the first that so obtained this Monarchy as to leave it by descent unto his Son the said Aethelwolph he thereby had the more indisputable power to oblige all the Kingdom unto an observance of the said Act. In the said Chapter of Tithes there is also mention made of Mortuaries as having some relation of Tithes wherein is shewed what it is when by and to whom and wherefore to be paid By the Stat. of 21 H. 8. they are reduced to another Regulation than what was in the time of King Henry the Sixth A Mortuary was then the Second best Beast whereof the party died possessed but in case he had but two in all then none due It was called a Corse-Present because ever paid by the Executors though not alwaies bequeathed by the dying party All persons possessed of an Estate Children under Tuition and Femes Covert but not Widows excepted were liable to the payment thereof to the Priest of that Parish where the dying party received the Sacrament not where he repaired to Prayers but in case his House at his death stood in two Parishes it was then divided betwixt them both And it was given in lieu of Personal Tithes which the party in his life time had through ignorance or negligence not fully paid Lindw Cons de Consuetud Such of the ancient Lawyers as were unacquainted with this word Mortuarium in the aforesaid sense as we now use it took Mortuarium only pro derelicto in morte say of it That it is Vocabulum novum harbarum but we understand it better where of Custome it is due and payable These Mortuaries where by the Custome they are to be paid were ever in consideration of the omission of Personal Tithes in the parties Life-time which Personal Tithes were by the Canon Law to be paid only of such as did receive the Sacraments and only to that Church where they did receive them as may be inferr'd plainly from cap. Ad Apostolicae de Decimis But observe says Lessius that in many places these Personal Tithes have been quite taken away and in some places they are paid only at the end of a mans Life as among the Venetians which manner of payment seems to have a great resemblance to these Mortuaries and in some places they are paid only ot the end of the year And in like manner many Predial and Mixt Tithes in divers places are also abolish'd which says he is for the most part done by the permission of the Church where men have been observed to pay them with regret and much against their minds nor hath the Church in such cases thought fit to compel them to it on purpose to avoid scandal Lessius de Just jur lib. 2. cap. 39. Dub. 5. nu 27. And in such places where the Custome is to pay a Personal Tithe when any persons shall Hunt Fish or Fowl to make gain or merchandize thereby and it be neglected to be paid whether Restitution or Compensation by way of a Mortuary where Mortuaries are Customable be in that case due by Law is a Question which by Covarruvies may be well held in the Affirmative Although the face of the Church as well as State began to look with a purer though less Sanguine complexion when Queen Elizabeth adorn'd the Crown than when her Sister wore it yet even in Queen Elizabeths time there crept such abuses into the Church that Archbishop Parker found it necessary to have recourse unto the Power given him by the Queens Commission and by a Clause of the Act of Parliament For the uniformity of Common Prayer and Service in the Church c. whereupon by the Queens consent and the Advice of some of the Bishops he sets forth a certain Book of Orders to be diligently observed and executed by all persons whom it might concern wherein it was Provided That no Parson Vicar or Curate of any Church Exempt should from thenceforth attempt to conjoyn by solemnization of Matrimony any not being of his or their Parish-Church without good Testimony of the Banns being ask'd in the several Churches where they dwell or otherwise were sufficiently Licensed Heyl. Hist of Q. Eliz. An. Reg. 3. Banns or Banna that word Bannum is sometimes taken pro Mandato scil Edicto it is a word of divers significations as appears almost by all the Glossographists and Feudists it sounds sometimes like Edictum sometimes like Mandatum or Decretum and sometimes as here like Proclamatio Saxonibus gebann whence there is their gebannian pro Proclamare edicere mandare ut nostratium Bannes pro Nuptiarum foedere Publicato This Publication of Banns was cautiously ordain'd for the prevention of Clandestine Marriages which were prohibited in this Kingdom above 500 years since as a thing contrary in all Ages to the practice of all Nations and Churches where the Gospel was received and therefore at a Council conven'd at Westminster in the year 1175. by Richard Archbishop of Canterbury under the Reign of King H. 2. it was Ordain'd That no person whatsoever should solemnize Marriage in
tradehant The Seventh was at Nice under Constantine and his Mother Irene where 367 Bishops were assembled against the Adversaries of Images whom they subjected to their Anathema 2 Of Particular Synods one was held in the Temple of the Apostles in Constantinople under the Patriarch Photius which was called the First and Second Another under Leo and Constantine in the most Famous Temple Sanctae Dei Sapientiae or Sanctae Sophiae which confirmed the Seventh Synod Another at Ancyra more ancient than the first Universal Synod Another at Caesarea more ancient than that at Ancyra Another at Gangra after the Nicene against Eustachius who despised Marriage and taught things not consonant to Ecclesiastical Tradition Another at Antioch a City in Syria where in truth were two Synods the one under Aurelianus against Paulus Samosatenus who said that Christ was meer Man the other under Constantius Son to Constantine the Great Another at Laodicea scituate in Phrygia Pacatiana Another at Sardica that when Constantius embraced the foresaid Sect his Brother Constans Emperour of Old Rome by his Letters threatning him with a War if he would not desist from perverting the Church his Answer was That he sought no other Doctrine than what was most agreeable to the Catholick Faith whereupon by their and the Bishop of Romes appointment 341 Bishops were Conven'd in a Synod which having established the power and authority of the Nicene Synod did constitute divers Canons for the Church Another at Carthage under Theodosius where 217 Bishops were assembled and with them the Popes Vicegerents this Carthage was part of Charchedon and that a Province of Africa 3 The Canons of the Fathers are taken according to the Roman computation out of the Epistles partly of Dionysius Alexandrinus partly of Petrus Alexandrinus partly of the Wonder-working Gregorius partly also out of the Epistles of Bazil or Basilius the Great partly out of the Epistle of Gregory or Gregorius Nyssenus to the B. of Melita partly out of the Responses of Timotheus Alexandrinus partly out of the Responses of the Constantinopolitan Synod to certain Monks Nicholaus the Patriarch being President partly out of the Epistles of Cyril or Cyrillus and partly out of the Epistles of Nicephorus the Patriach 4 The Canons of the Holy Apostles a book falsly ascribed to the Apostles are in number Eighty Five according to a modest Computation if you have any Faith to spare at least enough to believe the Church of Rome in that as in other Points infallible But the Canons indeed of the Apostles which are of Order and External Government do oblige as Dr. Taylor says the Conscience by being accepted in several Churches not by their first Institution and were fitted only to Times and Places and present Necessities For says he the Apostolical Decree of Abstaining from Blood was observed by more Churches than those of Syria and Cilicia to which the Canon was directed and the Colledge of Widows or Deaconesses derived it self into the manners of the Western Churches And the Apostles in their first Preaching and Conversation in Jerusalem instituted a coenobitick life and had all things in Common with Believers indeed no man was obliged to it Of the same nature were their Canons Counsels and Advices The Canon concerning Widows Let not a Widow be chosen under 60 years and yet Justinian suffered one of 40 years old to be chosen Novel 123. c. 12 13. And the Canon of the Apostles forbidding to eat things strangled is no where observed in the Western Churches of Christendom In the beginning of the Fourth Century above 1300 years since we find our Bishops British Bishops at the Councils of Arles Nice Sardis and Ariminum a clear Evidence of the flourishing state of Christianity so long since in this Island At Arles in France conven'd touching the Donatists appeared for the Britains Eborius Bishop of York Restitutus Bishop of London Adelfius Bishop of the City called the Colony of London which some suppose to be Colchester others Maldon in Essex Sacerdos a Priest both by Name and Office Arminius a Deacon An. 313. At the Synod of Nice in Bithynia An. 325. to suppress Arrianism were British Bishops present as Athanasius and Hilary Bishop of Poictiers affirm At the Council of Sardis in Thracia conven'd by Constanitus and Constans Sons to Constantine the Great the British Bishops were likewise present when the Arrians were condemn'd and Athanasius acquitted And at the Council of Ariminum in Italy the British Bishops were also present who according to Athanasius were about An. 360. summoned to divers Forein Councils in remote parts As also here at home in and after the Seventh Century were divers particular Councils and Synods the first whereof according to Stapleton out of Bede called The first of the English Nation was conven'd at Hertford by Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury who succeeded Deusdedit in that See in this Council the Observation of Easter was settled according to the Romish Rite yet whosoever will have this Council to be as aforesaid The first of the English Nation must understand it the First whose Canons are compleatly extant Bede lib. 4. c. 5. About the year 740 Ethelbald King of Mercia with Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury called a Council at Cliffe in Kent the acts of which Synod were 31 Canons among which is was inter alia Ordain'd That Prayers should publickly be made for Kings and Princes But some few years before this the said Theodorus held a Synod or Council of Bishops at Hatfield by authority whereof he divided the Province of Mercia which Sexwolphus then governed alone into five Bishopricks viz. to Chester Worcester Lichfield Cedema in Lindsey and to Dorchester In the year 692 a great Council was held at Becanceld by Withred King of Kent and Bertuald Archbishop of Britain wherein many things were concluded in favour of the Church About the same time a Council was held at Berghamsteed by the said Withred King of Kent at which Council Bishop Wilfrid was restored to York whence he departed for Rome upon the endeavours which Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury had used to have that Diocess of York divided In the year 801 Ethelard the Archbishop called a Synod at Clivesho in Kent where by power from the Pope he rivited that 's the word the Archbishoprick into the City of Canterbury There was likewise at Celichyth an eminent Council under Wolphred who succeeded Ethelard Archbishop of Canterbury But nigh one hundred years before this viz. about the year 709 a Synod was assembled at Alncester in Worcestershire to promote the building of Evesham-Abbey And not long after another Synod was called at London to introduce the Doctrine of Image-Worship into England now first beginning to appear in the publick practice thereof Also above one hundred years before that viz. about the year 601. Augustine by the aid of Ethelbert King of Kent called a Council of Saxon and British Bishops to meet in the Confines of the Mercians and
a kind of Collect for the Saint to whose Name the Church is Dedicated and some other Services as the Chaunter shall appoint So that although the Patron might chuse the Ground yet the Prelate was to come and Consecrate it the Patron might bring the Stones but the Bishop laid the Foundation the Workmen might with the Materials make a House but the Bishop by Consecration made it a Church It was but the dead body of a Temple till it received the being of a Church by the influence of the Diocesan Thence it was that the priviledge of a new Church followed not the Building but the Consecration thereof as was well observed by that Devout and Learned King Alured in the fifth Canon of his Ecclesiastical Laws where he saith That if a man pursued by his Enemy flie to the Temple no man shall thence take him away for the space of seven days which Law was yet made under a Caution That this freedom shall not be granted to any Church but such as shall be Consecrated by the Bishop 5. Consecration relating to the person office and dignity of a Bishop as in the former part of this Chapter was by the Imperial Law so necessary to the making him a Bishop compleat as that without it his Election and Confirmation would not have entituled him to any Church that should be new erected within his Diocess whereunto he being Consecrated had a right and Title as is evident not only by the Emperours Novel but also more peculiarly acknowledged by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the setting up of the Cross behind the Altar when he made the Consecration Thus the Eucholgue for the Greek Church The like also is observed in the Latin where the Ceremonies are more tedious and elaborate By the setting up of the said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Right of the new Church was conveyed to the Patriarch or Bishop as by an especial Title and that not only by the Euchologue in the Greek but also by the Emperour 's Novel in the Latin Church Concerning which Right and the Conveyance thereof by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Observable to this purpose is that Synodical Sentence given by Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople against John Archbishop of Lepanto touching certain Episcopal Monasteries whereon he had illegally fixed his Cross under pretence of a Right to the same 6. This Consecration specially as it refers to Bishops is Character indelebilis insomuch that although it should so happen that for some just cause he should be deposed or removed from the See or suspended ab Officio Beneficio both from his Spiritual Jurisdiction as to the exercise and execution thereof as also from the Temporalties and profits of the Bishoprick yet he still retains the Title of a Bishop for that it is supposed the Order it self cannot absolutely be taken from him King H. 1. banished Thurstan Archbishop of York for five years for receiving Consecration from the Pope Speed 440. b. 458. b. 7. It appears by good Chronology that the first that ever Consecrated Churches was Euginus who was a Greek and Priest of Rome and was the first that ever styled himself Pope An. 154. who wrote de Trinitate Vnitate Dei. He was the first that Decreed that Churches should be Consecrated with the consent of the Metropolitan or Bishop and that there should be one God-father and one Godmother at Baptism 8. In a Case of Translation the Bishop need not to be Consecrated de Novo as in case of Creation Anciently and according to the Canon Law and where the Pope's Spiritual power and authority was in force Bishops were not so much by Election as by Postulation and then the saying was Electus Postulando Postulatus obligando and in that case the Elected was a Bishop presently without either Confirmation or Consecration only by the Assent of the Superiour Before Consecration the Bishop hath not actual possession although he hath a Freehold in Law after Consecration But in case of Translation there is not any new Election nor may the Dean and Chapter pray a Congé d'Estire but they signifie to the King how their Bishoprick is void ideo humilime Postulamus Humbricensem Episcopum fore Episcopum nostrum and that is called Postulation and then if the King grant it he is the Bishop Trin. 21 Jac. B. R. Sir Jo. Vaughan's Case vers Ascough Roll. Rep. Postulatio est alicujus personae ad dignitatem vel Societatem Fraternam Canonica facta vocatio vel est personae quae eligi non potest ad eligendum petitio Cap. innotuit § habito de Elect. The Bishop of St. P. was chosen Bishop of Trevers and had the assent of the Pope and when he came there he found another in possession whereupon he would have returned to his former Bishoprick but could not because it was void before by the consent of the Superiour And in the Case of Evans and Ascough it was said That a Bishop hath been Summoned to Parliament before by Confirmation but as Jones there said That was after his Possessions or Temporalties were restored to him And Caltheep there said That in the Case of Translation of a Bishop there are five things to be performed 1. The Chapters Intimation of the death of their Bishop praying Congé d'Estire 2. Congé al eux d'Estire 3. A Certificate of the Election 4. The Assent of the Bishop and the King 5. The Writ to the Archbishop to Confirm and Install him because in such case of Translation he shall not be Consecrated de Novo as aforesaid But Consecration is necessary to the making of him a Bishop who was none before and is the fourth Act in order to a Bishop according to the enumeration of these steps and degrees thereunto which in the said case of Evans and Ascough is mentioned by Whitlock where he faith That in the making of a Bishop when a Bishoprick is void the course is 1. To obtain a Congé d'Estire 2. The Kings Letters Missive whom they shall abuse 3. Vpon the Election three Instruments thereof one whereof to the party Elected another to the Archbishop a third to the King certifying him of the Election and then there is an act of Assent to the Election which cannot be without his Assent 4. The Kings Writ to the Archbishop to Consecrate and Install the person Elected 5. Then the Archbishop issues forth a general Citation and therein doth prefix a certain day for the Confirmation which is done accordingly and then be is Consecrated Then the new Bishop swears Fealty to the King which being done the King orders him his Temporalties so that there are three principal Acts required to the making of a Bishop The Election is as the Sollicitation the Confirmation is the Contract the Consecration is the Consummation of the Marriage Answerable whereunto said Doderidge in the Case aforesaid are the Acts of making a Parson As 1. Presentation whereto
he was employed abroad in Foreign Embassies whereby both these Names or styles became at last in common understanding as it were Synonymâ—us For the Official of this Court and the Dean of the Arches by such Substitution had both the same Juridical Authority though with distinct styles in several persons as appears by that which comes next to the Preface to the Ancient Statutes of that Court ordained by Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury in that Stat. touching the Form of the Judges Oath where the words are tam Officalis dictae Curiae quam Decanus de Arcubus suus Commissarius Generalis c. For he that was the Archbishops Official in this Court was heretofore obliged to Constitute the Dean of the Arches as his Commissary General in his absence as also appears by another of those Statutes or Constitutions of that Court Ordained by John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury the Title of which Statute is De Decano Ecclesiae Beatae Mariae de Arcubus Lond. wherein we find viz. Statuimus quod Officialis dictae Curiae teneatur Decanum Ecclesiae suum Constituere in ipsius absentia Commissarium Also by the Statutes and Constitutions of this Court made by Matthew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury it is expresly Ordained That neither the Dean or Official of the Court of Arches nor the Auditor of matters and Causes in the Court of Audience of Cant. nor the Judge of the Prerogative Court shall exercise the Function or Profession of an Advocate in any Court belonging to the Jurisdiction of the said Archbishop on pain of Excommunication and Suspension In this Court of the Arches the Proctors thereof do wear such Hoods as Bachelors of Arts use to wear in the Vniversities which Habit or Formality was first enjoyned by Henry Chichley Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1435. The style of this Court is Alma Curia Cant. de Arcubus Lond. And the Appeal from it doth lie to the King in Chancery 5. This Court of the Arches anciently holden in Bow-Church of London is of very great Antiquity the Lord Coke in the forecited place lets us to understand that he meets with it in a very Ancient Record of a Prohibition In Curia Christianitatis cotam Decano de Arcubus London The Statutes and Ordinances of which Court are very Ancient and to which Those ordained by Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury above 380 years since do referr Robertus Winchelse Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis descripsit Judicibus Advocatis Procuratoribus aliisque ministris Almae suae Curiae de Arcubus jura quaedam Statuta quae ipse in Templo Arcuato sedens pro Tribunali legit atque obligavit Quinto Idus Novemb. Anno 1295. William de Sardinia being then his Official and Henry de Nassington Dean of the Arches the said Officials Commissary General By which Statutes it was Ordained That the Advocates belonging to the said Consistory should not exceed the number of Sixteen nor the Proctors above the number of Ten nor should any of them without the special License of the President of that Consistory absent themselves thence by any attendance on any other Consistory at such times wherein Causes were to be heard in the Arches And for the dispatch of the Causes of poor and indigent persons the Judge may by the said Statutes assign them Advocates and Proctors to prosecute for them Gratis Charitative and that nothing be paid for the Process Acts of Court Examinations Sentence or other Court-Fees in such Cases In which Court the Senior Advocates by the same Statutes are to take their places opposite to the Judge the others on each side of him nigher to or remoter from him according to their Seniority the like Order in Court to be observed also by the Proctors And such was the devotion of those days in that Consistory That in order to an imploring of the Divine assistance on their proceedings in Judgment it was further Ordained That Divine Service should be celebrated in bow-Bow-Church immediately before the first and after the last Cession of every Term the Judge Advocates Proctors and other Officers of the Court to be present thereat 6. The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury is that Court wherein all Testaments are proved and Administrations granted of the Goods and Chattels of such persons as dying within his Province had at the time of their death Bona Notabilia in some other Diocess than that wherein they dyed which Bona Notabilia regularly must amount to the value of Five pounds save in the Diocess of London where it is Ten pounds by Composition The Probat of every Bishops Testament and the granting of the Administration of his Goods and Chattels albeit he hath not Goods but within his own Jurisdiction doth belong to the Archbishop The like Court hath the Archbishop of York From this Court lies the Appeal to the King in Chancery If one make two Executors one of seventeen years of Age and the other under Administration during the Minority is void because he of seventeen years old may execute the Will if Administration during the Minority in such case be granted And if the Administrator brings his Action the Executor may well release the Debt One was cited to appear in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury which lived out of the Diocess of Canterbury and upon that he prayed Prohibition upon the Statute of 23 H. 8. c. 9. which willeth that none shall be cited to appear out of his Diocess without assent of the Bishop and Prohibition was granted And yet it was said that in the time of H. 8. and Q. Ma. that the Archbishop of Canterbury had used to cite any man dwelling out of his Diocess and within any Diocess within his Province to appear before him in the Prerogative-Court and this without the assent of the Ordinary of the Diocess But it was Resolved by the Court that this was by force of the power Legatine of the Archbishop that as Lindwood saith ought to be expressed in the Prohibition for the Archbishop of Canterbury York Pisa and Reymes were Legati nati and others but Legati à latere The Lord Coke in his Institutes par 3. cap. 69. gives us the Resolutions upon the Statute of 21 H. 8. cap. 5. That if a man makes his Testament in paper and dieth possessed of Goods and Chattels above the value of 40 l. and the Executor causeth the Testament to be transcribed in parchment and bringeth both to the Ordinary c. to be proved It is at the Election of the Ordinary whether he will put the Seal and Probat to the Original in paper or the Transcript in parchment but whether he put them to the one or to the other there can be taken of the Executor c. in the whole but 5 s. and not above viz. 2 s. 6 d. to the Ordinary c. and his Ministers and 2
time of King H. 3. Ed. 3. and Ed. 4. they in the Ecclesiastical Court have not any power to intermeddle with the Precinct of Parish-Churches neither are they there to Judge what shall be said to be a mans Parish-Church And so was the Opinion of the whole Court and therefore by the Rule of the Court a Prohibition was granted 41. Touching the Reparations of a Church and who were liable thereunto this being a question coming in debate before the Judges It was Resolved by the whole Court That for and towards the Reparation of a Church the Land of all as well of Foreigners there not inhabiting as of all others is liable thereunto and this is so by the general custome of the place and this is to be raised by a Rate imposed according to the value of the Land and that in the nature of a Fifteen and this is not meerly in the Realty Williams and Yelverton Justices and Flemming Chief Justice Not the Land but the person of him who occupieth the Land is to be charged Yelverton Justice A man is chargeable for Reparations of a Church by reason of the Land and for the Ornaments in the Church by reason of his coming to Church Williams Justice and Flemming Chief Justice If the person have Land there he is chargeable for both whether he come to Church or not for that he may come to Church if he please 42. In a Prohibition the Case was this The Defendant did Libel before the Bishop of London in the Consistory Court for a Seat in the Church Sentence there passed against the Defendant whereupon he Appealed to the Arches The Court was moved for a Prohibition in regard the Title to the Seat or Pew was grounded upon a Prescription The Court answered c. As for the Title we are not here to meddle with it this being for a Seat in the Church Haughton Justice This Disposition of Pews in the Church belongs of right to the order and discretion of the Ordinary and to this purpose is the case of 8 H. 7. fo 12 and Sir William Hall's case against Ellis Doderidge Justice I moved this case in the Court of C. B. and it was for a Seat in the Church An Action there brought for Disturbance and I there cited Hall's case and 9 E. 4. fo 14. The Case of the Grave-Stone and Coat-Armor for the taking of which an Action of Trespass lies at the Common Law and therefore by the same reason an Action of Trespass should lie for such a Disturbance in a Seat of a Church but there the Judges did all of them say That they would not meddle with the deciding of such Controversies for Seats in the Church but would leave the same to them to whom more properly it belonged Croke Justice Hall's case was this where a man did build an entire Isle in the Church and was at continual charge to repair it if he be disturbed in the use of this he shall for this Disturbance have his remedy at the Common Law and so it hath been adjudged But the Judges all said We are not here to meddle with Seats in the Church Doderidge Justice This Appeal here is like unto a Writ of Error at the Common Law but it doth differ in this By the Appeal the first Judgment or Sentence is suspended but after a Writ of Error brought the first Judgment still remains until it be reversed Coke Chief Justice It was Pym's Case in the Common Bench and 8 H. 7. fo 12. that the Ecclesiastical Court hath Jurisdiction and power to dispose of Pews and Seats in the Church But if there be an Isle built by a Gentleman or by a Nobleman and he hath used to Bury there and there hath his Ensigns of Honour as a Grave-stone Coat-Armor or the like which belongs not unto the Parson if he take them the Heir may well have an Action of Trespass Otherwise it is where the same is repaired at the Common charge of the Parish there they have the disposing of them Ellis and Hall's Case remembred a Kentish Case there the Seat was repaired by him and was belonging to his Capital Messuage by Prescription and so triable at the Common Law And so where the Case is Special that the party doth wholly and solely repair the same in such a case if a Suit be there concerning such a Seat a Prohibition well lieth but not otherwise But if a Nobleman comes to dwell in the Countrey he is now within the sole order and dispose of the Ordinary for his Pew and Seat in the Church and upon the former difference was Pym's case adjudged in the C. B. in this principal Case a Prohibition was denied by the whole Court CHAP. XIII Of Churchwardens Questmen and Sidemen 1. What such are in construction of Law how the choice of them is to be made and wherein the Office doth consist 2. What Actions at Law may lie for or against them 3. Whether Actions lie for the New Churchwardens in Trespas done in time of their Predecessors 4. Certain things appertaining to the Church within the charge and office of Churchwardens to provide and preserve 5. Cases in Law touching the Election of Churchwardens 6. What Sidemen or Questmen are and their duty 7. Action at Law against Churchwardens touching Distress taken by them for money for relief of the Poor 8. A Churchwarden refusing to take the Oath of Enquiry on the 39 Articles Action thereon 9. What remedy in case the Archdeacon refuses to Swear the Church-wardens Elect. 10. The Injunctions of King Ed. 6. touching all Marriages Baptisms and Burials to be Registred in the presence of the Churchwardens 11. Whether the Release of one Churchwarden shall be a Bar to his Companion in an Ecclesiastical Suit commenced by them both 12. Prohibition where Churchwardens have pretended a Custome to chuse the Parish-Clerk 13. The like upon a Presentment by Churchwardens against one in matter more proper for a Leet than the Ecclesiastical Court to take cognizance of 14. The prevalency of Custome against a Canon in choice of a Churchwarden in reference to a Vicar and the Parishioners 15. If question be whether Lands next adjoyning unto a Church-yard shall be charged with the repairs of the Fences thereof and Custome pleaded for it in what Court cognizable 16. In Action of Account by Parishioners against Churchwardens by whom a Release of Câ—sts is pleaded but disallowed in the Ecclesiastical Court whether Prohibition lies in that case 17. Whether Churchwardens are a Corporation qualified for Lands as well as Goods to the use of the Church 18. The Churchwardens disposal of Goods belonging to the Church without the assent of the Sidemen or Vestry void 19. Churchwardens not Ecclesiastical Officers but Temporal employed in Ecclesiastical Affairs Before whom are they to Account 20. Whether Churchwardens may have Action for Trespass done to the Church in their Predecessors time 21. Whether the Parishioners by force of a
28. 2 He is an Ecclesiastical Officer and therefore proper to the Ecclesiastical Judge to have Jurisdiction of his Account And a Clerk of a Parish may sue in the Ecclesiastical Court for his Fees which are called Largitiones Charitativae vid. Register fo 52. for he is quodammodo an Officer Spiritual 21 E. 4. 47. But notwithstanding this a Prohibition was granted And Mountague Chief Justice said That a Churchwarden is not an Ecclesiastical Officer but Temporal employed in Ecclesiastical business Quaere Whether in that case the Minister may require him to render an Account and if he refuse Whether the Ecclesiastical Judge may compel him to Account 20. In Trespass by Churchwardens for taking a Bell out of the Church in the time of their Predecessors it was Adjudg'd That the Action did lie whereas it was declared ad damnum ipsorum which shall be supposed ad damnum Parochianorum 21. The Parishioners of the Parish of Al-Hallowes in London did prescribe to chuse their Churchwardens every year and they chose W. their Churchwarden The Parson by virtue of a late Canon that he should have the Election chose C. to be Churchwarden and procured him to be Sworn in the Ecclesiastical Court and a Prohibition was prayed for that it being a Special custome the Canons cannot alter it and if every Parson might have Election of the Churchwardens without the assent of the Parishioners they might be much prejudiced And so it was said That it had been Adjudg'd Pasch 5 Jac. in the case of the Parishioners of Walbrook in London 22. Although as aforesaid the Law doth make Church-wardens a kind of Corporation and enables them by that Name to take moveable Goods and Chattels and to sue and be sued at Law concerning such Goods for the use and benefit of their Parish yet they cannot take an Estate of Lands to them by name of Church-wardens nor can Churchwardens prescribe to have Lands to them and their Successors for they are no Corporation to have Lands but for Goods of the Church only CHAP. XIV Of Consolidation or Vnion of Churches 1. Consolidation what whence so called by whom and in what cases it may be made 2. The several kinds of Consolidation 3. The reasons and grounds thereof in the Law 4. The Requisites of Law in order to a Consolidation 5. How Consolidation is practised here with us and how in France 6. The division or distinction which the Canon Law makes of Consolidation 1. COnsolidation is the uniting combining or consolidating of two Churches or Benefices in one This cannot be done without the consent of the Bishop the Patron and the Incumbent This word thus used in an Ecclesiastical sense takes its denomination from what the Civil Law intends by consolidating the Interest of Possession and Property together which in that Law is called Consolidatio ususfructus proprietatis As when a man having the Usufruct of certain Lands by way of Rent Devise or otherwise doth then and at the same time purchase the Fee or Inheritance thereof hoc casu Consolidatio fieri dicitur Instit de Vsufruct § 3. So that in such Secular concerns according to that Law it properly signifies an Uniting of the possession occupation or profit with the Property of the thing so prepossessed which is sometimes called an Vnity of possession being a Joynt-possession of two Rights in the same person by distinct and several Titles By the Statute of 37 H. 8. cap. 21. it was lawful to make an Union or Consolidation of two Churches in one whereof the value of the one was not above six pounds in the King's Books of the First-Fruits and not above one mile distant from the other And by a late Statute of 17 Car. 2. cap. 3. it may be lawful for the Bishop of the Diocess Mayor Bayliffs c. of any City or Town Corporate and the Patron or Patrons to unite two Churches or Chappels in any such City Town or the Liberties thereof provided the Churches so united exceed not the annual value of an hundred pounds unless the Parishioners esire otherwise See the Statute at large 2. By this Consolidation or Union of Churches one of the Benefices becomes void yea extinct in Law Illud enim quod alteri unitur extinguitur neque amplius per se vacare dicitur DD. in c. cum accessâ—ssent de Constit Iudo Gomez in Regul Cancell Gall. de Trien possess q. 8. Jo. Andr. ad Clem. 1. de Supplen Neglig Praelat Again the Law in express terms says That intereunt Beneficia Vnione quando duo vel plura Beneficia in unum in perpetuum conjunguntur c. Sicut unire de Excess Praelat Of this Consolidation or Union the Law makes a threefold distinction or it may be done three several ways in construction of Law 1 When one and the same person is set or appointed over two Churches Can. temporis qualitas 16. q. 1. c. 1. Ne Sede vacante This with us amounts to a Plurality but not unto a Consolidation or Union 2 When one Church is so united to another that that which is United amittit jus suum eo utitur cui fit unio c. Recolentes § sin de Stat. Monac Lindw de Locat Conduct c. licet glo verb. Appropriationum 3 When Two or more Churches or Benefices are so united together as that the one is not subject to the other in which case Quod melius est retinetur arg c. Medicamentum de poenit dist 1. gl in regu 11. Cancell Innoc. 8. 3. There are several Causes or Reasons in the Law for this Consolidation Incorporation Annexation or Union of Churches and they are chiefly these five 1 An unlawful dividing of those Churches or Ecclesiastical Benefices precedent to their reintegration or intended reconsolidation as when such as had been formerly united were illegally divided Otho Constit Ne Ecclesia una c. cum sit ars gl ib. in ver Reintegrentur 2 For the better Hospitality and that the Rector might thereby be the better enabled to relieve the Poor 25. q. 2. posteaquam § his ita dict gl Otho Const 3 The overnighness of the Churches each to other in point of Scituation insomuch that one Rector may commodiously discharge the Cure of both by reason of the vicinity of the places Arg. extr de Praebend c. Majoribus 4. For or by reason of a want or defect of Parishioners as when one of the Churches is deprived of her people by some incursion of an Enemy or by some mortal Disease or Sickness or the like 11. q. 1. Vnio gloss ubi supra 5. For and by reason of the extream Poverty of one of the Parishes Extr. de eta qua eam te Extr. de Praebend vacant in fin vid. Tholos Syntagm jur lib. 17. cap. 5. nu 7. All which Causes or Reasons of Consolidation are enumerated out of the Canon Law by John dè Aton in his Gloss upon Cardinal
the Trees there growing and whether he hath any in the Bells or Ornaments of the Church 4. How he must be qualified that will be a Parson and who is rendred incapable of being such 5. Whether the Parson may demand any thing by Custome upon the Burial of one who dying in his Parish was Buried elsewhere 6. The words Parsonage Church Rectory frequently used Synonymously Pensions of Ecclesiastical cognizance 7. A Case in Law touching a Parsons Obligation for Resignation 8. Whether a Parsons acceptance of Rent makes his Predecessor's Lease good 9. Prohibition to the High Commissioners of York touching Articles exhibited before them against a Parson 10. A Case in Law touching the Confirmation of a Lease made by a Parson 11. Other Cases at the Common Law relating to Parsons 12. The Patron nothing to do in the Church during Plenarty 13. By what words a Resignation of a Parsonage may be or not 14. Whether the Resignation of a Donative may be to the Donor or how it may be departed with 15. Whether the Parson may appoint the Parish Clerk 16. A Bishop Archdeacon and Parson are Spiritual Corporations and have a double Capacity 17. All differences between Parsons and Vicars concerning the endowment of the Church are cognizable in the Ecclesiastical Court 18. Priviledges of the Clergy 1. THere is Parson Persona and Parson imparsonee Persona impersonata Parson properly signifies the Rector of a Parochial Church because during the time of his Incumbency he represents the Church and in the eye of the Law sustains the person thereof as well in Suing as in being sued in any Action touching the same Originally the Parson was he that had the charge of a Parochial Church and was called the Rector of that Church but it seems he is most properly so called that hath a Parsonage where there is a Vicarage Endowed And yet it is supposed that Persona is the Patron or in whom the Right of Patronage is for that before the Lateran Council he had Right to the Tithes in regard of his having erected and endowed the Church which he had Founded The Pastors of Parishes are called Rectors unless the Praedial Tithes be Impropriated and then they are called Vicars Quasi vice fungentes Rectorum and Curates are they who for certain Stipends assist such Rectors and Vicars that have the care of more Churches than one 2. Parson Imparsonee is he that as lawful Incumbent is in actual possession of a Church Parochial and with whom the Church is full be it Presentative or Impropriate and seems also to be that person to whom the Benefice is given in the Patrons Right for in some Books Persona impersonata is taken for the Rector of a Benefice Presentative and not Appropriated Yet Dyer saith That a Dean and Chapter are persons Imparsonees of a Benefice Appropriated to them and in another place plainly sheweth That Persona impersonata is he that is Inducted and in possession of a Benefice So that persona seems to be termed impersonata only in respect of the possession which he hath of the Benefice or Rectory be it Appropriate or otherwise by the Act of another 3. The Parson hath a Right unto the possession of the Church and Glebe having the Freehold in himself and may receive the profits Tithes Oblations Obventions and Offerings to his own use without the Patrons or Ordinaries consent who without his consent and agreement can do nothing during his incumbency to charge the Church or his Successors And not only is the Freehold of the Church in the Parson but he hath also the Right of the Church-yard and Glebe in him whereof if he be put out of possession or disseised he may have an Assize Or if he be Ejected he may have Trespass and so may the Vicar have against a Stranger if he be disseised of the Church-yard but not against the Parson himself For the Parson shall have an Assize or an Action of Trespass of such things as are annexed unto the Church or Glebe or for cutting down of the Trees or doing of Trespass in the Church-yard or Glebe the Right and interest thereof being in the Parson But if the Bells in the Steeple the Ornaments of the Church or the like be taken away in that case the Action doth not belong to the Parson but to the Churchwardens Notwithstanding the Parsons Right and interest as aforesaid yet he cannot cut down the Trees growing in the Church-yard of his Parish save for the Repair of the Church Or if a meer Stranger cut them down no Suit can be thereon in the Spiritual Court for Dammages for if Suit be there commenced in that Case for Dammages no Consultation shall be Nor can the Parson have Action for Seats in the Church taken away by a Stranger because they are not fixed to the Freehold but the Churchwarden may have Action in that case 4. No man can be a Parson until he be a Priest in Orders which he cannot be until he hath attained the Age of 24 years Consequently therefore he must be of that Age ere he can be a Parson and is commonly called when Inducted into a Church the Rector thereof and shall be accounted Proprietor of the Tithe of the Parish whereto the Church belongs if the contrary be not shewed A man that is guilty of some Crime that is malum in se as Murther Perjury Forgery or the like though not convict thereof yet if the Truth thereof be certainly known to the Ordinary may be rejected by him from being Pâ—rson of a Church if thereunto presented by the Patron Otherwise it is in case he be guilty only of malum prohibitum and not malum in se as to play at unlawful Games to frequent Taverns and Alehouses or the like Also the Son is by the Canons rendred incapable of succeeding his Father in his Parsonage And if a man presented to a Living be not in Orders the Bishop may refuse him but not for want of a Testimonial for if any person shall be Admitted Instituted and Inducted into any Living before he is in Holy Orders his Admission Institution and Induction are void by the late Act of Uniformity whereby his Subscription and thereof the Bishops Certificate also his Reading the 39 Articles of Religion in the same parish-Parish-Church on some Sunday or the Lord's-day tempore Divinorum within two months next after his Induction the declaration of his unfeigned Assent and Consent thereunto his Reading the Book of Common Prayer or Service appointed for the Church that day within two months next after his Induction with the declaration also of his Assent and Consent to all things therein contained are required otherwise the Church becomes void and the Parson will be put to the proof of all the Premisses in case â—e Sue the Parishioner refusing to pay his Tithe if he shall insist thereon
than the Bishop himself or other Ordinary which also must be given to the Patron personally if he live in the same County and if in another County then Publication thereof in the Parish-Church and affixed on the Church-Door will serve turn if such Notice doth express in certain as it ought to do the cause of the Deprivation c. As upon Deprivation of an Incumbent for not Reading the 39 Articles of Religion the Ordinary is to give the Patron Notice thereof which Notice ought to be certain and particular Before Lapse can incurr against a Patron Notice of his Clerks being refused by the Ordinary for Insufficiency must be given to the person of the Patron if he may be found and it is not in that Case sufficient to fix an Intimation thereof on the Door of that Church to which he was Presented D. 16 El. 327. 7. b. Adjudged 5. It is said That a Lapse is not an Interest naturally as is the Patronage but a meer Trust in Law And if the Six months be incurred yet the Patrons Clerk shall be received if he be Presented before the Church be Filled by the Lapse Observe 7 Eliz Dyer 241. for it seems by that case that the Patron should Present against the Kings Lapse for he hath dammage but for half a year And Hob. Chief Justice says That a Lapse is an act and office of Trust reposed by Law in the Ordinary Metropolitan and lastly in the King the end of which Trust is to provide the Church of a Rector in default of the Patron and yet as for him and to his behoof And therefore as he cannot transfer his Trust to another so cannot he divert the thing wherewith he is entrusted to any other purpose Nor can a Lapse be granted over as a Grant of the next Lapse of such a Church neither before it fall nor after If the Lapse incurr and then the Ordinary die the King shall Present and not the Executors of the Ordinary For it is rather an Administration than an Interest and the King cannot have a Lapse but where the Ordinary might have had it before If an Infant-Patron Present not within Six months the Lapse incurrs The Law is the same as against a Feme-Covert that hath right to Present 33 E. 3. Qua. Impedit 46. 6. In the first Paragraph of this Chapter it is said That Tempus Semestre authoritate Concilii non incipit versus Patronos nisi à tempore Scientiae mortis personae that is of the last Incumbent And so Adjuged upon a Writ in the time of E. 2. and said to be per Legem Consuetudinem Regni hactenus usitatas As if the Incumbent die beyond Sea the Six months are not computed from the time of his death but from the time of the Patrons knowledge thereof and so it was Adjudged in a Quare non admisit between the Abbot of St. Mary Eborum and the Bishop of Norwich as aforesaid For the Six months are not reckoned from the death of the Last Incumbent but from the time the Patron might according to a reasonable Computation having regard to the distance of the place where he was at the time of the Incumbents death if he were within the Realm at that time have come to the knowledge thereof for he ought afterwards to take notice thereof at his peril and not before for that he was in some other County than that wherein the Church is and wherein the Incumbent died And if the Ordinary refuse a Clerk for that he is Criminous in that case the Patron shall not have Six months to Present after Notice thereof given him but of the Avoidance The Law is the same in case of Refusal by reason of Illiterature But if the Church be void by Resignation or Deprivation the Six months shall be computed from the time of Notice thereof given to the Patron and not from the time of the Avoidance Yet if the Ordinary refuse a Clerk because he is Criminous he is to give notice thereof to the Patron otherwise the Lapse doth not incurr So likewise if he be refused for Common Usury Simony Adultery or other Notorious Crime Notice thereof ought to be given to the Patron otherwise the Lapse doth not incurr A Lay Patron ought to have Notice ere the Lapse shall incurr in case his Clerk be refused for Illiterature otherwise as to a Spiritual Patron because the Law presumes he might well know of his insufficiency before he presented him And if the Bishop who took a Resignation dies the Lapse doth not incurr to his Successor without Notice to the Patron 7. In a Quare Impedit the Defendant pleaded That he demanded of J. S. the Presentee of the Plaintiff to see his Letters of Orders and he would not shew them and also demanded of him his Letters Missive or Testimonial testifying his ability and because he had not his Letters of Orders nor Letters Missive nor made any proof of them to the Bishop he desired leave of the Bishop to bring them who gave him a week and he went away and came not again and the Six months passed and the Bishop Collated by Lapse It was Adjudged in this Case That these were no Causes to stay the Admittance of the Clerk for the Clerk is not bound understand it only at Common Law to shew his Letters of Orders and Letters Missive to the Bishop but the Bishop must try him upon Examination 8. A Parson of the Church of S. of the value of Ten pound took a Second Benefice without a Dispensation and was Instituted and Inducted and continued so for twelve years The Patron presented J. S. who was Instituted and Inducted and so continued divers years and died The Queen presented the Defendant C. ratione Lapsus in the time of A. who was Instituted and Deducted B. the Patron brought a Quare Impedit against the Ordinary and C. It was held by the Justices That the Writ did well lie and that Tempus occurrit Reginae in this Case and that last Clerk should be removed And it was held by the Justices That upon a Recovery in a Quare Impedit any Incumbent that comes in pendente Lite should be removed 9. In the Case between Cumber and the Bishop of Chichester it was Resolved 1 If Title of Lapse accrues to the King and the Patron Presents yet the King may Present at any time as long as the Presentee is Parson but if he dies or Resigns before the King Presents he hath lost his Presentment 2. If the King hath Title by Lapse because a Parson hath taken a Second Benefice if the Parson dies or Resigns his First Benefice and the Patron Presents whose Presentee Resigns upon Covin and dies the King hath lost that Presentment CHAP. XXIII Of Collation Presentation and Nomination 1. What Collation is and how it differs from Presentation 2. Collation
Form thereof according to the Canon Law what required of the Clerk in order thereto and his Remedy in case the Ordinary denies him such Institution as he may claim by Law 9. Matters of Institution properly cognizable in the Ecclesiastical Courts yet in certain Cases not exclusively to the Common Law or Temporal Jurisdiction 10. Institution gives the Parson jus ad rem not jus in re 11. Whether Institution without Induction works a Plenaâ—ty also whether it be good being Sealed with another Seal and done out of the proper Diocess The difference between the Common Law and the Canon Law as to a Coveat entered before Institution 12. Whether Suit may be in the Ecclesiastical Court to remove an Incumbent after Induction 13. Whether the First-Fruits be due upon the Institution before Induction 14. A Case at Common Law touching Resignation and whether it may be made Conditionally 15. A Case touching the Rightful Patron 's Presentation after the Induction of another by Vsurpation 16. What Induction is and the Bishop's Order therein 17. Induction is a Temporal not Spiritual Act In what manner it is to be executed 18. A Caveat entered in the Life-time of an Incumbent is void 19. In what Case an Induction made by a Minister not resident within the Archdeaconry may be good 20. Institution to a Minor and Vnder-age is meerly void 21. Whether after Induction the Institution may be questioned in the Ecclesiastical Court 22. Whether Incumbency be triable only at Common Law 23. In what Court the validity of Induction is determinable 1. EXamination is that Trial or Probation which the Bishop or Ordinary makes before his Admission of any person to holy Order or to a Benefice touching the qualification of such persons for the same respectively So that there are Two certain times or seasons especially wherein this Examination is required the one before an Admission to Holy Orders the other before an Admission to a Benefice The former of these is expresly enjoyned by the 35th Canon Ecclesiastical whereby it is required That the Bishop before he Admit any person to Holy Orders shall diligently Examine him in the presence of those Ministers that shall assist him at the Imposition of hands or in case of any lawful Impediment of the Bishop then the said Examination shall be carefully performed by the said Ministers provided they be of the Bishops Cathedral Church if conveniently it may otherwise by at least Three sufficient Preachers of the same Diocess And in case any Bishop or Suffragan shall Admit any to Sacred Orders who is not Examined as is before ordained then shall the Archbishop of the Province having notice thereof and being assisted with one Bishop suspend the said Bishop or Suffragan from making either Deacons or Priests for the space of Two years So also when the Clerk is Presented by the Patron of the Advowson before he be Admitted as Clerk to serve the Cure the Ordinary is to Examine him of his Ability For if upon his Examination he be found unable to serve the same or be Criminous the Ordinary may refuse to Admit and Institute him into the Benefice By the Ancient Cannons the Bishop hath Two months time to enquire and inform himself of the sufficiency and quality of every Clerk Presented to him as appears by the Canon in 1 Jac. cap. 95. But by the said Canon it is Ordained That the said Two months shall be abridged to 28 days only Upon sufficient enquiry and Examination the Ordinary may accept or refuse the Clerk Presented and regularly all such matters as are causes of Deprivation are also causes of Refusal but for a Presentce to have another Benefice is no cause of Refusal for that is at his own peril and possibly the Second Benefice is more worth than the former which only is void in such case 2. If the Bishop doth demand of the Clerk his Letters of Orders and Letters Testimonial of his good behaviour and the Clerk requires time to shew them as the space of a week or the like because he hath them not there with him and the Bishop doth thereupon Refuse him to the Church and Presents another the Bishop in such case hath been adjudged to be a Disturber for the Statute of 13 Eliz. doth not compel the Clerk to shew his Orders nor Letters Testimonial of his good Behaviour And so it was Adjudged Yet by the 39th Canon it is by way of Caution expresly Ordained That no Bishop shall Institute any of a Benefice who hath been Ordained by any other Bishop except he first shew unto him his Letters of Orders and bring him a sufficient Testimony of his former good life and behaviour if the Bishop shall require it 3. Examination of the Clerk is to be done at a convenient time within the Six months for the Ordinary cannot refuse to Examine the Clerk during all the Six months and so suffer a Lapse to incurr to himself for by so doing the Patron should lose his Presentation and the Ordinary take advantage of his own wrong But if the Ordinary when the Clerk comes to be examined Sedet circa curam Pastoralem he is not then obliged to leave the business in hand and presently Examine the Clerk but he may appoint a convenient time and place for the Examining of him This Examination by the Diocesan touching the Conversation and Ability of such as were ordained to Peach the Word of God or Presented to a Benefice is enjoyned by the Provincial Constitutions Lindw de Haereticis cap. 1. 4. A Quare Impedit was brought by B. against the Bishop of Rochester who pleads that he claims nothing but as Ordinary and yet pleads further That the Clerk which the Plaintiff Presented had before contracted with the Plaintiff Simmiacally and therefore because he was Simoniacus he refused and that the Church was then void and so remained void whereupon the Plaintiff had a Writ to the Archbishop of Canterbury who returned that before the coming of this Writ viz. 4. July the Church was Full of one Dr. Grant ex Collatione of the said Bishop of Rochester who had Collated by Lapse and this Return was adjudged Insufficient First it is clear That though the Six months pass yet if the Patron Present the Bishop ought to Admit although it be after the Title devolved unto the Metropolitan And it seems also Reason that he ought to Admit though that the Title by Lapse be accrued to the King for he claims it as Supream Ordinary Vid. Dyer 277. quaere But in this Case the Bishop who is the Defendant is bound by the Judgment and the Writ is notwithstanding the claim of the Bishop that he Admit the Clerk for the Bishop ought to execute the Process of the Court It was urged by Serjeant Henden that there is a Canon in Lindwood That if the Church be vacant when the Writ comes to the Bishop that he is bound to execute
the Writ but if it be Full then he certifies the Justices And the Archbishop is Sworn to the Canons and he vouched 22 H. 6. 45. Coke lib. 6. 49 and 52. Dyer 260. F. N. B. 47. Dyer 364. 14 H. 7. 22. 34 H. 6. 41. 9 E. 3. Quare non admisit 18. E. 4. 7. 5. In Rud's Case against the Bishop of Lincoln it was among other things Resolved by the Court in a Quare Impedit That when one usurps upon a Lease for years that this Usurpation gains the Fee and puts the very Patron out of possession and though by the Statute of Westm 2. cap. 5. he in reversion after the Lease may have a Quare Impedit when the Church is void or may Present and if he Present and his Clerk be Admitted and Inducted that then he is Remitted yet until it be recovered or his Clerk be in the Usurper hath the Fee and against him lies the Writ of Right c. Also that the Patron which hath recovered in a Quare Impedit may Present and that being accepted and Institution and Induction ensuing thereupon it is good 6. Admission is when the Bishop upon Examination of the Clerk Admits him to be able and sufficient saying Admitto te habilem The Lord Coke in the Fourth Part of his Institutes says That upon consideration had of the several Statutes whereof mention is there made If an Alien or Stranger born be Presented to a Benefice the Bishop ought not to Admit him but may lawfully refuse him There are several things which the Statute-Law of this Realm doth require in him which shall be Admitted to a Benefice for no person may be Admitted to any Benefice with Cure except he then be of the Age of 23 years at least and a Deacon and shall first have subscribed the 39 Articles in the presence of the Ordinary and publickly read the same in the Parish-Church of that Benefice with Declaration of his unfeigned Assent thereunto and except he be Admitted to Minister the Sacraments within one year next after his Induction if he were not so Admitted before he shall upon every such default be ipso facto deprived And none shall be made a Minister or Admitted to Preach or Administer the Sacraments under the Age of 24 years and unless he bring with him to the Bishop a sufficient Testimonial and be able to render an Account of his Faith in Latin All which appears by the Statute of the 13th of Eliz. whereby it is likewise Provided That none shall be Admitted to any Benefice with Cure of or above the yearly value of Thirty pounds in the King's Books unless he shall then be a Batchelor of Divinity or a Preacher lawfully allowed by some Bishop within this Realm or by one of the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge and that all Admissions to Benefices Institutions Inductions Tolerations Dispensations Qualifications and Licenses whatsoever made contrary to the Premisses shall be utterly void in Law And by the Three and thirtieth Canon of the Ecclesiastical Constitutions Ratified and Confirmed by King James under his Letters Patents An. 1603. it is in Conformity to many Decrees of the Ancient Fathers further Ordained That no person shall be Admitted into Sacred Orders except he shall at the same time Exhibit to the Bishop a Presentation of himself to some Ecclesiastical Preferment then void in that Diocess or bring to the said Bishop a True and undoubted Certificate that either he is provided with some Church within the Diocess where he may attend the Cure of Souls or of some Ministers place vacant either in the Cathedral of that Diocess or in some other Collegiate Church therein also scituate where he may exercise his Ministry Or that he is a Fellow or in right as a Fellow or to be a Chaplain in some Colledge in Oxford or Cambridge except he be a Master of Arts of Five years standing that liveth of his own charge in either of the Universities or except by the Bishop himself that doth Ordain him Minister to be shortly after to be Admitted either to some Benefice or Curateship then void And in case any Bishop shall Admit any person into the Ministry not qualified as aforesaid he is to keep and maintain him till he prefers him to some Ecclesiastical Living on pain of Suspension for one year from giving or Orders by the Archbishop assisted with another Bishop 7. If a Bishop shall refuse to Admit the Clerk the Writ of Quare non Admisit may lie in the Case yet the Ordinary before he Admits the Clerk Presented may take a reasonable time to examine him and if upon Examination there be just cause of Exception in respect of the Clerk Presented or otherwise in respect of the Patron Presenting he may justifie the non Admission of him for this Admission is no other than the Ordinary's Allowance of a Clerk Presented to a Church that is void But if the Bishop refuse to Admit the Clerk Presented to him by the Patron as scrupling the said Patron 's Right of Presentation and the said Patron after recover his Right of Presentation against the Bishop in the Common Bench he shall then have the Writ of Admittendo Clerico Hobart Chief Justice in the case of Colt and Glover against the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield compares this Admission and such Acts of the Ordinary to the Admittance of a Copy-holder upon Surrender specially where the Admission of one be upon the Resignation of another Incumbent And he is there of opinion That if a Parson Appropriate which is Patron Present and his Clerk be not Admitted but refused for just cause and Notice given the Lapse shall incurr The usual Form or Tenor of an Admission into a Rectory or Parsonage runs in this manner viz. 〈◊〉 A. B. by virtue of this Instrument from John Lord Bishop of L. in his Triennial Visitation To all Clerks Rectors Vicars Ministers Chaplains and Curates whatsoever within this Diocess directed do Admit F. G. into real actual and corporal possession of this Church of R. together with all the profits dues members and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging In the presence of those whose Names are under-written 8. Institution according to the Canon Law is no other than a Verbal Collation to a Benefice or some other Ecclesiastical Living De Instit lib. 4. Decretal Sexti and is by that Law taken for an Investure c. ad haec de Offic. Archid. c. cum venisset dic tit de Inst For when among the Romans a Clerk was Instituted the Custome was that by a Verbal Collation the Clerk was invested in the Benefice by the delivery to him of a Ring Staff Cap Pen or the like in the nature of Livery and Seisin in token of his possession of the thing to which he was so Instituted c. cum olim de re Judic cap. ex ore de iis quae si à Praelat cap.
as in case of Single Corporations Bishops Deans and Parsons which must die and leave a Vacuum of the Freehold And this Next Avoidance is a Chattel locally where the Advowson is not where the Deed is for it was Resolved in the Case of Holland vers Shelley That the Advowson had such a Locality in the Rape where the Church was that it accrued to the Plaintiff wheresoever the Deed of Grant or the Grantee himself was 4. C. brought a Quare Impedit against the Archbishop of Canterbury and others and Declared upon a Grant of the Next Avoidance and the Defendant demanded Oyer of the Deed and the Plaintiff shewed a Letter which was written by his Father to the true Patron by which he had Writ to his Father that he had given to his Son that was the Plaintiff the next Avoidance and upon this there was a Demurr And the whole Court for the Demurr For that such Letter was a Mockery for the Grant was not good without Deed and Judgment was given accordingly But by Deed it is Grantable whereby Advowsons are also Grantable as other Inheritances are and the delivery of the Deed of Grant of it shall be instead of Livery made of the Church it self according to Sir Edward Coke in the first Part of his Institutes 5. If a Tenant in tail and his Son joyn in a Grant of the Next Avoidance it is void against the Son and no Confirmation for in the case of a Quare Impedit brought by Sir Marmaduke Wivel the Point was this Tenant in tail of an Advowson and his Son and Heir joyned in a Grant of the Next Avoidance The Tenant in tail died and it was Adjudged that the Grant was utterly void against the Son and heir that joyned in the Grant because he had nothing in the Advowson neither in possession or right nor in Actual possibility at the time of the Grant 6. The Acceptance of an Archdeaconry by one who hath a Benefice with Cure of Souls may work an Avoidance at the Canon Law as to such Archdeaconry yet an Archdeaconry and the Promotion thereof as being not any Cure of Souls though an Ecclesiastical Preferment seems not to be within the Statute of 21 H. 8. 13. And the Opinion of Wray Chief Justice in Vnderhill's Case upon that Statute was that he conceived the Law there to be qualified in that case by reason of a Proviso in the said Statute viz. Provided that no Deanary Archdeaconry c. be taken or comprehended under the name of a Benefice having Cure of Souls in any Article above specified 7. In a Quare Impedit the Case was The Plaintiff counted that R. B. was seized of an Advowson and granted the Next Avoidance to the Plaintiff and H. B. and that afterwards the Church became void and after during the Avoidance H. B. released to the Plaintiff and so that it belongs to him to Present Upon this Count the Defendant did demurr in Law for it appeareth upon the Plaintiffs own shewing that H. B. ought to have joyned with the Plaintiff in the Action for the Release being made after the Church became void is not of any effect but utterly void So is the Grant of the Presentment to the Church where the Church is void for it is a thing in Action Vid. the Lord Dyer 28 H. 6. 26. 3 M. Dyer 129. 11 Eliz. Dyer 283. And afterwards Judgment was given that the Release was void 8. Touching Avoidances there is a wide difference between the Judgment of the Common Law and that of the Canon for if a meer Lay-man not having holy Orders be Presented to a Benefice the Church remains void according to the Canon Law notwithstanding such Presentation but at the Common Law albeit this be a meer nullity there also and void yet it doth adjudge the Church to be Full according to the publick Admission Institution and Induction and not according to the capacity of the person which is a thing secret until such an one be deprived for it by Sentence in the Spiritual Court and so the Church in construction of Law understand it of the Common Law is held void but from the time of Deprivation of which notice ought to be given to the Patron So that according to the Canon Law there cannot be a Plenarty by the Presentation Admission Institution and Induction of a meer Lay-man to a Church it is otherwise at the Common Law which doth not so much consider the Capacity or Incapacity of the person Instituted and Inducted as the Institution and Induction it self until such time as there is a Sentence of Deprivation in the Ecclesiastical Court 9. Cession is when an Ecclesiastical person Beneficed is Created a Bishop or when the Parson of a Parsonage taketh another Benefice without Dispensation not being otherwise qualified for Plurality In both which cases their first Benefices become void and are said to be so void by Cession insomuch that the King shall Present pro hac vice whoever be Patron to that Benefice which he had who was Created Bishop and in the other Case the Patron may Present So that if a Parson or Dean in England take and accept of a Bishoprick in Ireland it will cause that the First Church shall become void by Cession Resolved in Holland's Case and in Digby's Case 4. Rep. That the Patron may Present as soon as the Incumbent is Instituted in a Second Living without Deprivation 10. By the Council of Lateran it was Ordained That whoever having a Benefice with Cure of Souls should accept of another cum Cura should ipso jure be deprived of the former the Patron whereof might Present as to a Benefice void and this without any Sentence Declaratory of the First Church being void if there were no License or Dispensation to the contrary in the case to prevent a Cession of the former Benefice For it hath been Resolved That the Acceptance of a Second Benefice voids the former by Cession without any Sentence Declaratory by the Statute of 21 H. 8. 13. but if having a Benefice cum Cura he Accept of an Archdeaconry the same is not such a Benefice with Cure of Souls within the said Statute as to make the former void as was then also Resolved 11. In case of Cession in this kind it is requisite that Notice thereof be given by the Ordinary to the Patron otherwise the Lapse will not incurr against him in case he Present not within the Six months Nor do the Courts at Common Law take notice of such Cession until the same be certified unto them by the Ordinary And wherever an Ecclesiastical Dignity and a Benefice with Cure are Incompatible there the Acceptance of the one will be a Cession of the other For which reason if the Incumbent of a Parsonage or Vicarage with Cure be made Dean of a Cathedral his Parsonage or Vicarage becomes void by Cession
the King Confirms and afterwards he is Inducted to the Church of D. In this Case it was Adjudged That the Dispensation came too late because it came after the Institution for by the Institution the Church is full against all persons except the King and as to the Spititualties he is full Parson by the Institution 2. Resolved That admit the Church was not full by the Institution until Induction yet the Dispensation came too late for that the words of the Statute of 21 H. 8 of Pluralities are may purchase Licence to receive and keep two Benefices with Cure of Souls and the words of Dispensation in this case were recipere retinere and because by the Institution the Church was full he could not purchase Licence to receive that which he had before and he cannot retain that which he cannot receive 26. In the case of a Prohibition it was Resolved That by the Common Law before the Statute of 21 H. 8. the first Benefice was void without a Sentence Declarative so as the Patron might present without notice 2. That the Statute of 21 H. 8. of Pluralities is a general Law of which the Judges are to take notice without pleading of it 3. That the Queen might grant Dispensations as the Pope might in case where the Archbishop had not Authority by the Statute of 25 H. 8. to grant Dispensations because all the Authority of the Pope was given to the Crown by the Statute But yet the Statute as to those Dispensations which the Archbishop is to grant hath Negative words and the Bishop shall make the Instrument under his Seal CHAP. XXVII Of Deprivation 1. What Deprivation is and in what Court to be pronounced 2. The Causes in Law of Deprivation 3. In what Cases Deprivation ipso facto without any Declaratory Sentence thereof may be 4. A Cardinal 's Case of Deprivation by reason of Miscreancy 5. The Papal Deprivation by reason of Marriage 6. What the Law is in point of Notice to the Patron in case of Deprivation by reason of meer Laity or Nonage 7. The difference of operation in Law between Malum prohibitum and Malum in se and in what Cases of Deprivation Notice ought to be given to the Patron 8. Deprivation by reason of Degradation which Degradation at the Canon Law may be two ways 9. Cawdry's Case of Deprivation for Scandalous words against the Book of Common Prayer sentenced by the High Commissioners 10. Deprivation for Non-conformity to the Ecclesiastical Canons by the High Commissioners agreed to be good 11. Deprivation for not Reading the Articles of Religion according to the Statute of 13 Eliz. 12. Deprivation by the High Commissioners for Drunkenness 13. The Church is not void by the Incumbents being Deprivable without Deprivation 14. For an Incumbent to declare his Assent to the Articles of Religion so far as they agree with the Word of God is not that unfeigned Assent which the Statute requires 15. A Church becomes void presently upon not Reading the Articles and there needs not any Deprivation in that Case 16. A Case wherein a Sentence declaratorie for Restitution makes a Nullity in the Deprivation 17. An Appeal from a Sentence of Deprivation prevents the Church's being void pro tempore 18. Vpon Deprivation for meer Laity or Incapacity the Lay-Patron must have Notice ere the Lapse incurrs against him 19. An Incumbent Excommunicated and so obstinately persisting 40 daies is Deprivable 1. DEprivation is a discharge of the Incumbent of his Dignity or Ministery upon sufficient cause against him conceived and proved for by this he loseth the Name of his First Dignity and that either by a particular Sentence in the Ecclesiastical Court or by a general Sentence by some positive or Statute-Law of this Realm So that Deprivation is an Ecclesiastical Sentence Declaratory pronounced upon due proof in the Spiritual Court whereby an Incumbent being legally discharged from Officiating in his Benefice with Cure the Church pro tempore becomes void So that it is in effect the Judicial incapacitating an Ecclesiastical person of holding or enjoying his Parsonage Vicarage or other Spiritual promotion or dignity by an Act of the Ecclesiastical Law only in the Spiritual Court grounded upon sufficient proof there of some Act or Defect of the Ecclesiastical person Deprived This is one of the means whereby there comes an Avoidance of the Church if such Sentence be not upon an Appeal repealed The causes of this Deprivation by the Canon Law are many whereof some only are practicable with us in the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm and they only such as are consonant to the Statutes and Common Law of this Kingdom 2. All the Causes of Deprivation may be reduced to these Three Heads 1 Want of Capacity 2 Contempt 3 Crime But more particularly It is evident that the more usual and more practicable Causes of this Deprivation are such as these viz. a meer Laity or want of Holy Orders according to the Church of England Illiterature or inability for discharge of that Sacred Function Irreligion gross Scandal some heinous Crime as Murther Manslaughter Perjury Forgery c. Villany Bastardy Schism Heresie Miscreancy Misbelief Atheism Simony Illegal Plurality Incorrigibleness and obstinate Disobedience to the approved Canons of the Church as also to the Ordinary Non-conformity Refusal to use the Book of Common Prayer or Administer the Sacraments in the order there prescribed the use of other Rites or Ceremonies order form oâ— celebrating the same or of other open and publick Prayers the preaching or publishing any thing in derogation thereof or depraving the same having formerly been convicted for the like offence the not Reading the Articles of Religion within Two months next after Induction according to the Statute of 13 Eliz cap. 12. The not Reading publickly and solemnly the Morning and Evening Prayers appointed for the same day according to the Book of Common Prayer within Two month next after Induction on the Lord's Day the not openly and publickly declaring before the Congregation there Assembled his unfeigned assent and consent after such Reading to the use of all things therein contained or in case of a lawful Impediment then the not doing thereof within one month next after the removal of such Impediment a Conviction before the Ordinary of a wilful maintaining or affirming any Doctrine contrary to the 39 Articles of Religion a persistance therein without revocation of his Error or re-affirmance thereof after such Revocation likewise Incontinency Drunkenness and 40 daies Excommunication To all which might also be added Dilapidation for it seems anciently to have been a Dilapidator was a just cause of Deprivation whether it were by destroying the Timber-trees or committing waste on the Woods of the Church-Lands or by putting down or suffering to go to decay the Houses or Edifices belonging to the same as appears by Lyford's Case as also in the Bishop of Salisbury's Case
party a Sentence there given and Costs pro expensis litis the Husband did release these Costs which they would not there allow of upon a suggestion here that the Husband was divorced causa Adulterii a Prohibition was prayed and for which it was urged that the Release by the Husband was good the Suit being there for Defamation Sentence there given the Wife divorced à Mensa Thoro which doth not dissolve Vinculum Matrimonii but that this notwithstanding they may come together again when they will and such a Divorce is no Barr of Dower Doderidge They are only to restore the Party to her good Name in Case of Defamation The point here only is the Husband and Wife are divorced Causa Adulterii the Wife sues in the Ecclesiastical Court for Defamation and there recovers and Costs are given the which the Husband did release whether this Release thus made by the Husband shall barr the Wife of her Costs And if they will not allow of this Release there whether a Prohibition shall be granted or not The Whole Court clear of opinion that no Prohibition in this Case is to be granted And so by the whole Court the Prohibition was denied CHAP. XXXVIII Of Sacriledge 1. Whence the word Sacriledge is derived what it imports and the several kinds thereof 2. It is taken properly and strictly or improperly in sensu largo and is of a mixt Cognizance 3. The several ways whereby Sacriledge may be committed 4. Who are intended by Persons Sacred against whom Sacriledge may be committed the division thereof 5. Bartol's Definition of Sacriledge several severe punishments thereof Recorded by Historians 6. The several punishments inflicted on Sacrilegious persons according to the Civil and Canon Law The Civil Law more severe therein than the Canon how punish'd anciently in this Realm according to the Ecclesiastical Constitutions thereof 7. The dreadful Curse anciently and solemnly pronounced in Parliament against Sacrilegious persons 8. A remarkable Judgement that happened to a Bishop of Bangor for Sacriledge 1. SACRILEDGE from Sacro Lego or à Sacris Legendis that is suffurandis for that word Lego sometimes signifies furari or rapere Isidor lib. 1. Origin lit s Sacrilegus qui sacra legit h. e. furatur In the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importing as much as to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is praedari vel violari Sacra for Sacriledge is the violation or usurpation of some thing that is Sacred Gloss in cap. omnes Ecclesiae 17 q. 4. and may be committed three several ways As 1. either in respect of the Person as when a man doth wound or strike an Ecclesiastical Person in Holy Orders or 2. in respect of the Place as when one violates the Priviledges or immunities of the Church or Church-yard or 3. in respect of the Thing as when a thing Sacred or Consecrated or deputed or dedicated to some Sacred use is usurped upon and taken away and this holds true whether auferatur Sacrum de Loco sacro vel non sacro vel non sacrum de sacro Lindw de Offic. Archipres c. 1. glos in verb. Sacrilegium 2. Sacriledge is taken either strictly and properly as when a thing sacred is stolen out of a sacred place so it is held according to the Law generally but either will amount to Sacriledge according to the Canons or in a large sense and improperly and so it extends to other Crimes l. si quis c. de Epis cle c. de sacrileg per totum As infringing the Church's Liberties invading Ecclesiastical goods and the like whereof more hereafter Lindw de immun Eccl. c. 2. glos in ver Sacrilegi The Emperors held their Constitutions so sacred that they called the violation thereof Sacriledge l. un c. de Crimi Sacril This Crime is of a mixt cognizance partly Ecclesiastical partly Secular whereof each Jurisdiction may jure proprio take cognizance c. cum sit generale De foro compet So that this Crime of Sacriledge is not meerly Ecclesiastical because the cognizance â—â—â—reof in some Cases may appertain to the Secular Judge at least quoad poenam si quis in hoc c. de Epis Cler. And Hostiensis himself doth confess as much quoad poenam Corporalem otherwise it is as to the censures of the Church contra talem fulminadas 3. There are many ways whereby Sacriledge may be committed as by invading the rights and goods of the Church by unjust and illegal vexing and molesting the Church by wasting and destroying the Church by violating Ecclesiasticks by a Clerks consulting with Soothsayers and Diviners by violating Church-priviledges and Immunities by striking a Clerk Lindw de immun Eccl. c. seculi glo in verb. ausu Sacrilego Church-burners Church-breakers Church-robbers by stealing the Church-bible the Calice or other thing out of the Church by violating the Church-porch or breaking the Doors thereof by striking in the Church or apprehending and taking any one there by obstructing the Jurisdiction of the Church or hindering any of that free access which he ought to have to the Church by usurping the Guardianship or custody of a Church that is void and under that pretence posess themselves of the Goods and Revenues thereof by usurping and occupying the Oblations and Offerings of the Church but to explicate this Crime of Sacriledge to its full latitude it is requisite in order thereto to distinguish aright of things Sacred which are violated thereby for as Habits are distinguish'd ex objectis so Vices by the matters about which they are conversant now the matter of Sacriledge is ever something Sacred and therefore Sacriledges are distinguish'd according to the diversity of Sacred things whence Aquinas inferr's that as there are Three kinds of things Sacred viz. Persons Places and some other Things So there is a Threefold kind of Sacriledge viz. against Persons against Places and against other Things consecrated and dedicated to Divine Worship Which distinction the Canonists do generally hold in each Member thereof As Sacriledge 1. Against Ecclesiastical Persons cap. sicut c. quisquis 17. q. 4. in c. si quis deinceps usque ad cap. si quis suadente ead Caus q. 2. Sacriledge against sacred places cap. Miror c. Frater 3. Against the Goods and Revenues of the Church cap. Sacrilegium cap. Omnes Ecclesiae cap. Attendendum It being expresly said that Qui pecunias vel res Ecclesiae abstulerit Sacrilegium facit in cap. qui rapit There is no Sacriledge but may be reduced to one of these three heads although under them there may be divers other kinds of Sacriledges more particularly subdistinguish'd 4. By Persons Sacred is here understood such as in a peculiar manner are set apart and dedicated to Divine publick Worship according to Sacred Ordination and the principal kind of Sacriledge commissable against such is the laying of violent hands on them which is a violation of their Immunities or Priviledges cap. si quis
Church This double value shall be accounted according to the very or true value as the same may be let and shall be tried by a Jury and not according to the extent or taxation of the Church Co. par 3. Inst cap. 71. And albeit the Clerk be not privy to the Simoniack Contract yet it seems the Patron shall pro hac vice lose his Presentation But the Title of the rightful and uncorrupt Patron shall not be sorscited or prejudiced by the Simoniacal Contract of an Usurper albeit the Clerk be by his presentation admitted instituted and inducted nor entitle the King to present 4. The Church notwithstanding the Admission Institution and Induction becomes void whether the Clerk presented were a party or privy to the corrupt and Simoniacal Contract or not But Sir Simon Degee in his Parson's Counsellor puts the material Question viz. Whether the Clerk that is presented upon a Simoniacal Contract to which he is neither party nor privy be disabled for that turn to be presented by the King to that viz. the same Church In order to the resolution whereof he acquaints us with a Case reported wherein it was adjudged that if a Clerk were presented upon a Simoniacal Contract to which he was neither party nor privy that yet notwithstanding it was a perpetual disability upon that Clerk as to that Church or Living The like in another Case where B. the Church being void agreed with the Patron to give him a certain Sum of Money for the Presentation B. presented C. who knew nothing of the Simoniacal Contract till after his Induction In this Case it seem'd by Warburton Justice that C. was disabled quoad hanc Ecclesiam In which Case it was clear that the grant of the Presentation during the vacancy was meerly void that B. presented as an Usurper that C. was in by the corrupt Contract and that were it not for the same the Patron would not have suffered the Usurpation In further confirmation hereof it is also reported to us that Sir Edward Coke affirmed it hath been adjudged that if a Church be void and a Stranger contracts for a Sum of Money to present one who is not privy to the Agreement that notwithstanding the Incumbent coming in by the Simoniacal Contract is a person disabled to enjoy that Benefice although he obtain a new presentation from the King for that the Statute as to that Living hath disabled him during Life Notwithstanding all which Premises Sir Edward Coke in his Comment upon the said Statute of 31 Eliz. asserts it to have been adjudged in the forecited Case of Baker and Rogers that where the Presentee is not privy nor consenting to any such corrupt Contract there because it is no Simony in him he shall not be adjudged a disabled person within the said Act for the words of the Statute are And the person so corruptly giving c. And so says he it was resolved Mich. 13. Jac. Where the Presentee is not privy nor consenting to any corrupt Contract he shall not be adjudged a disabled person within the Act because it is no Simony in him Coke Inst par 3. cap. 71. Also it was so resolved in Doctor Hutchinsons Case by the whole Court viz. That if a Clerk be presented upon a corrupt Contract within the said Statute although he be not privy thereunto yet his presentation admission and induction are all void within the Letter of that Statute but not within the clause of disability within the same Statute 5. The Contracts which are commonly held corrupt and Simoniacal may be diversified almost into as many kinds as transferences and proprietary negotiations are capable of but those which have been most in practice as appears by the Cases reported in the Law have been by way of unlawful purchasing the next Advowson by Exchanges by Resignation Bonds by Matrimonial compacts by contracts remote and conceal'd from the Presentee by Obligations of an indirect nature and the like To the purposes aforesaid it hath been held Simony for a Parson to promise his Patron a Lease of his Tithes at such a Rent in case he would present another Parson into his Benefice with whom he was to exchange albeit that other was not privy to the Contract he making the Lease after It was likewise held Simony for a Father to present his Son by vertue of a purchase of the next Advowson which he made in the presence of his Son a Clerk when the Incumbent was not like to live by reason of a Sickness whereof he soon after died Otherwise in case the purchase had been made in the absence of the Son as is hereafter mentioned But per Hutt it was held Simony to purchase the next Advowson the Incumbent being sick The like in Winchcombes Case against the Bishop of Winchester and Puleston a Case hereafter often Margined on several accounts where it was held Simony in one Say who was presented upon a Contract which he made with the Patron the Incumbent being then sick for Ninety pound to present him when the Church should be void And as to Resignationbonds Sir Simon Degge affirms That in the case of Jones and Lawrence the sense of the Court was that if a Man be preparing his Son for the Clergy and have a Living in his disposal which falls void before his Son is capable thereof he may Lawfully take a Bond of such person as he shall present to resign when his Son becomes capable of the the Living otherwise in case the Patron take a Bond absolutely to resign upon request without any such or the like cause as for avoidance of Pluralities Non-residence or other such reasonable design The like you have in Babbington and Wood's Case hereafter mentioned So that it seems Bonds and Obligations given and taken upon just and honest grounds to resign are not in themselves Simoniacal Otherwise where ther 's is corruption in the case accompanied with some subsequent Act in pursuance thereof And although presentations made upon Simoniacal Bonds and Obligations are void in Law yet such Bonds themselves though corrupt and Simoniacal are not made void by the Statute of 31 Eliz. 6. B. brought Action against C. upon an Obligation The condition whereof was that whereas the Plaintiff did intend and was about to present the Defendant to the Benefice of Stow if the Defendant at the request of the Plaintiff should resign the same to the hands of the Bishop of London then the Obligation to he void The Defendant demanded Oyer and demurr'd and adjudg'd for the Plaintiff for the resignation might be upon a good intention to prevent pluralities or some other cause and it shall not be intended Simony if it be not specially pleaded and averr'd and Mich. 37. and 38. Eliz. Between Jones and Lawrence it was adjudg'd accordingly and affirmed an Error which the Court viewd and thereupon Judgement was given for the Plaintiff 7.
may be discerned Whether the Pope may be Simoniacal Q. Whether it be Simony to give money for the Sacrament upon a Death-Bed Whether it be Simony in the Ordinaries or their Officials to take money for Letters of Ordination under Seal Whether it be Simony in Ecclesiasticks to take money for Sermons or Theological Doctrines Whether it be Simony to resign a Benefice reserving a Pension out of it Whether it be Simony to resign or bestow a benefices upon Trust or Confidence With diverse other such Questions in the Canon Law relating to this Subject the Solutions whereof are not of any moment to us who are out of the Pope's Diocess CHAP. XL. Of Blasphemy and Heresie 1. What Blasphemy is and whence so called 2. The several punishments inflicted on Blasphemers 3. How may ways Blasphemy may be 4. What Heresie is a Conjectural derivation of that word Heresie it is Threefold 5. What shall he accounted Heresie what the Lollards of old were and why so called 6. In whom the Jurisdiction of Heresie properly resides 7. A Heretick convicted and so persisting whether according to Law combustable The reason of that severe Law Heresie is Lepra animae 8. An Alphabetical black Catalogue of Hereticks their Errors Heresies and Blasphemies and the times wherein they pester'd the World 9. A Catalogue of Jewish Hereticks but not in any Alphabetical manner as the former 1. BLASPHEMIA 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod laedat famam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hurt anothers same or reputation Suidas interpreteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who injureth God with contumelious words which is when men detract from God the honour due unto him or attribute any evil to him Blasphemare est tacite vel expresse verbo vel scripto contra deum aliquid contumeliosum dicere Navar. cap. 12. nu 81. Blasphemia est injuriosa in deum locutio vel contumelia in deum verbo irrogata Less lib. 2. de Blasph This is cognizable in the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and by the 109. Canon of the Ecclesiastical Constitutions of the Church of England is among other notorious Crimes to be certified into Ecclesiastical Courts by way of presentment in order to punishment according to Law 2. This Crime of Blasphemy was so odious to the Emperor Justinian that he ordained that the Blasphemer should undergo ultimum supplicium be punished by death for he made it capital Auth. ut non Luxur Coll. 7. By the Ecclesiastical Laws of Keneth King of Scots An. 840. It is provided that he that Blasphemeth shall have his Tongue cut out Blasphemy is speaking Treason against the Heavenly Majesty the belching out of exercrable words against God whereby the Deity is reproached Baldus says that Blasphemy is a kind of Heresie Bald. in L. Qui accusationem C. Qui Accus non posse for which a Lay-man is Anathematized by the Church of God and a Clerk deposed from all Ecclesiastical Orders Can. si quis per capillum 22. q. 1. The Canon Law seems not severe enough in the punishment of this Crime probably for that they of the Roman Church do hold that there is a Blasphemy against Saints and Blasphemia Dei vel sanctorum hath but one and the same punishment with them and that is a solemn and publick penance if the Blasphemy were publickly committed Extra de Maledict c. statuimus And that the World may know how they abominate this sin of Blasphemy they put the Question and demand whether any Priest inferiour to a Bishop can absolve a man from this sin for answer they distinguish and say that if the Blasphemy be publick and notorious it cannot be absolved but by a Bishop but if it were only private and occult non in platea nec in camera multis audientibus then every Priest may absolve it Ant. de pae re si Episcopus lib. 6. Steph. de Gaeta Repet in c. ad Limina 30. q. 1. nu 139. Aquinas reckons it among the Mortal sins 3. Lindwood in his Provincials says that that is Blasphemy quae dicitur irreligiosa reprehensio detractio vel vituperatio but says he to speak properly and strictly Blasphemare est Deo injuriam irrogare which may be done three several ways 1 Aliquid attribuendo quod deo non convenit 2. Ab ea removendo quod deo convenit 3. Creaturae attribuendo illud quod est proprium deo Lindw de Offic. Archipr c. 1. verb. Blasphemia In the Primitive times this sin was punished by a delivering the Offender over unto Satan which was an Ecclesiastical censure by the Greater Excommunication whereby the Offender became unto others as an Heathen and a Publican Mat. 18. 17. and whereby he is dissiranchised of all the Priviledges of the Church 4. Touching Heresie there are various conceptions as to the derivation of that word some are of opinion that the word comes from Error and rectus and that from thence comes Haereticus that is Errans à Recto sive Rectitudine Fidei Catholicae l. 2. in sin C. de Haeretic Others will have the word Heresis to be from heriscor that is divido and thence Heresie to be Divisio ab unitate Fidei Azo Sum. C. eod tit Others will have it to be from haereo Error thence Haeresis quasi adhaesio Erroris and Haereticus quasi adhaerens Errori for Error of it self doth not make an Heretick but adhering to an Error doth Lindw de Haeret. c. 1. And others there are who do conceive that the word Haeresis dicitur ab Electione because an Heretick doth chuse to himself that Opinion which he thinks is best for himself And he that inclines to this Opinion seems to be least in an Error for Haeresis is from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Optio vel electio secta ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eligo Heresie is an Opinion repugnant to the orthodox Doctrine of the Christian Faith obstinately maintain'd and persisted in by such as profess the Name of Christ that Heresie which is commonly called Haeresis univorsa or Heresie in sensu largo is threefold and doth consist either in a mans heart or in his mouth or in his works Under the first of these are comprized all such as are Christians only by Name but not so in truth and in deed under the second are comprehended all vain Swearers Covenant-breakers and indevout approachers to God in his Worship under the third are contained all Hypocrites whose counterfeit devotion without any sincerity in the heart consists only in the simulation of an external work all these are by Lindwood understood in a large sense as Hereticks Lindw de Offic. Archipr c. 1 glos in ver Haeresis But these are not the Hereticks here meant or intended nor indeed are they Hereticks in any proper sense whereby we commonly understand such as Hereticks who maintain and persist in any Opinion contrary to the True Orthodox
Immunitatibus gaudeant quibus Milites Burgenses Parliamenti Ant. Brit. fo 284. nu 30. 6. The Jurisdiction of the Convocation in this Realm though relating to matters meerly Spiritual and Ecclesiastical yet is subordinate to the establish'd Laws of the Land it being Provided by the Statute of 25 H. 8. c. 19. That no Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocation of the Clergy repugnant to the Prerogative Royal or to the Customes Laws or Statutes of this Realm To the same effect was that of 9 Ed. 1. Rot. Parl. Memb. 6. Inhibitio Archiepiscopo omnibus Episcopis aliis Praelatis apud Lambeth Conventuris ne aliquid statuant in praejudicium Regis Coronam vel dignitatem For although the Archbishop and the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy of his Province Assembled in a Synod have power to make Constitutions in Spiritual things yet they ought to be Assembled by Authority of the King and to have as aforesaid his Royal Assent to their Constitutions which being had and obtained the Canons of the Church made by the Convocation and the King without Parliament shall bind in all matters Ecclesiastical as well as an Act of Parliament as was Resolved in Bird and Smiths Case Although the Saxons who founded and endowed most of our Churches and made many good Laws in reference to the Jurisdiction power and priviledges thereof yet the Royal Prerogative with the Laws and Customes of the Realm were ever so preserved as not to be invaded thereby King AEthelbert the first Saxon King King Ina AEthelstane Edmund Edgar and King Kanute all these made Laws in favour of the Church but none of them ever entrenched on the Prerogative of the Crown or on the Laws or Customes of the Realm nor any of those ancient Church-Laws ever made without the Supream Authority to ratifie and confirm the same 7. The Laws and Constitutions whereby the Ecclesiastical Government is supported and the Church of England governed are the General Canons made by General Councils also the Arbitria Sanctorum Patrum the Decrees of several Archbishops and Bishops the Ancient Constitutions made in our several Provincial Synods either by the Legates Otho and Othobon or by several Archbishops of Canterbury All which by the 25 H. 8. are in force in England so far as they are not repugnant to the Kings Prerogative the Laws and Customes of England Also the Canons made in Convocations of Later times as Primo Jacobi Regis and confirmed by his Regal Authority Also in some Statutes Enacted by Parliament touching Ecclesiastical affairs together with divers Customes not written but in use beyond the memory of Man and where these fail the Civil Law takes place Among the Britain Councils according to Bishop Prideaux his Synopsis of Councils Edit 5. those amongst the rest are of most remark viz. At Winchester in King Edgars time under Dunstane at Oxford by Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury at Claringdon under King Henry the Second The Council under King Edward the 6 th in which the 39 Articles of the English Confession was concluded and confirmed The Synod under the same King from which we receive the English Liturgy which now we have composed by Seven Bishops and Four Doctors and confirmed by the publick consent of the Church which as also the said 39 Articles the succeeding Princes Queen Eliz. King James and King Charles ratified and commended to Posterity At London a Synod in which 141 Canons or Constitutions relating to the pious and peaceable Government of the Church presented to King James by the Synod and confirmed by his Regal Authority and at Perth in Scotland where were Articles concerning Administring the Sacrament to the Sick Private Baptism where Necessity requires Confirmation admitting Festivals Kneeling at the Receiving the Sacrament and an allowance of Venerable Customes But de Concil Britan. vid. D. Spelman The Ancient Canons of the Church and Provincial Constitutions of this Realm of England were according to Lindwood the Canonist who being Dean of the Arches compiled and explained the same in the time of King H. 6. made in this order or method and under these Archbishops of Canterbury viz. The Canons or Constitutions 1. Of Stephen Langton Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury in the Council at Oxford in the year of our Lord 1222 who distinguish'd the Bible into Chapters 2. Of Otho Cardinal the Popes Legate in Anno 1236. on whose Constitutions John de Athon Dr. of Laws and one of the Canons of Lincoln did comment or gloss 3. Of Boniface Archbishop of Cant. 1260. 4. Of Othobon Cardinal of St. Adrian and Legate of the Apostolical Chair on whose Constitutions the said John de Athon did likewise Glossematize His Canons were made at London in Anno 1268. 5. Of John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury at a Synod held at Reding An. 1279. 6. Of the same Peckham at a Synod held at Lambeth An. 1281. 7. Of Robert Winchelse Archbishop of Canterbury An. 1305. 8. Of Walter Reynold Archbishop of Canterbury at a Synod held at Oxford An. 1322. These Constitutions in some Books are ascribed to Simon Mepham but erroneously for the date of these Constitutions being An. 1322. the said Walter Reynold according to the Chronicle died in An. 1327. and was succeeded by Simon Mepham 9. Of Simon Mepham Archbishop of Cant. An. 1328. 10. Of John Stradford Archbishop An. 13 ... 11. Of Simon Islepe Archbishop An. 1362. 12. Of Simon Sudbury Archbishop An. 1378. 13. Of Tho. Arundel Archbishop at a Synod or Council held at Oxford An. 1408. 14. Of Henry Chichley Archbishop An. 1415. 15. Of Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury 16. Of Richard Archbishop of Canterbury The Dates of the Canons or Constitutions of these Two last Lindwood makes no mention by reason of the uncertainty thereof but withal says it is clear That Richard did immediately succeed the foresaid Stephen Langton and the said Edmond succeeded Richard Lindw de Poen c. ad haec infra in verb. Mimime admittatur If so then it was most probably Richard Wethershed who was Archbishop of Canterbury An. 1229. And St. Edmond Chancellor of Oxford who was Archbishop of Canterbury An. 1234. 8. Councils were either General or Oecumenical from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereunto Commissioners by the Emperours Authority were sent from all quarters of the World where Christ hath been preached Or National or Provincial or Particular by Bullenger called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such were the Councils of Gangra Neo-caesarea and many others commonly Assembled by Patriarchs and Bishops in some particular place of a Countrey The ends of these Councils chiefly were either for the suppression of Heresies the decision of Controversies the appeasing of Schisms or the Ordaining of Canons and Constitutions for decency of Order in the Church Vid. AElfrici Canones ad Wulfinum Episcopum Can. 33. where it is said That there were Four Synods
Clergy At Braga or Bracara in Portugal An. 610. under the Reign of Gundemarus King of Gethes assembled some Bishops of Gallicia Lusitania and of the Province of Lucensis whereby it was Ordained That every Bishop should visit the Churches of his Diocess That they should receive no Rewards for Ordination of the Clergy And that a Church builded for Gain and Contribution of the People redounding to the advantage of the Builder should not be Consecrated At Auxerre in France An. 613. assembled a number of Abbots and Presbyters with one Bishop and three Deacons In this Synod they damned Sorcery made many Superstitious Constitutions as touching Masses Burials Marriages Prohibition of Meats c. At Hispalis commonly called Civil La grand in Spain in the year 634. and in the 24 th year of the Emperour Heraclius a Council was assembled by Isidorus Bishop of Hispalis at the Command of King Sisebutus for suppression of the Heresie of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Branch of the Eutychian heresie and for the decision of some Questions touching the Bounds of their Dioceses At Toledo in Spain An. 639. under the Reign of Sisenandus King of Spain by the Kings Command were more than 70 Bishops and Presbyters Conven'd upon occasion of diversity of Ceremonies and Discipline in that Kingdom This was the Fourth Council at Toledo At Toledo in the First year of Chintilla King of the Gothes about the time of the Emperour Heraclions Reign a Fifth Council was held conven'd by Eugenius Bishop of Toledo In this Council nothing considerable was done but in reference to Annual Letanies and the appointment of Supplications for the King At Rome in the year 652. was a Council convened by Martinus Pope consisting of more than 100 Bishops occasioned by the Error of the Monothelites obstinately maintained by Paulus of Constantinople and countenanced by the impious Edict of the Emperour Constans The Constitutions and Decrees made in this Council tended to condemn those that denied the Trinity the Divine Unity in the Divine Nature the Manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity and his Sufferings in the Flesh At Toledo in the year 653. a Sixth Council was held consisting of Fifty two Bishops whereof Eugenius Bishop of Toledo was President The occasion whereof was the Renovation of Old Heresies and Contradiction to precedent Councils The Fourth Canon of this Council is against Simony and the Eighteenth is against Rebellion At Toledo in the year 662. a Seventh Council is held of 4 Archbishops 50 Bishops and many Presbyters The First Canon of this Council is against Sedition and Treason By the Fourth Canon it is forbidden That Bishops in their Visitations should extort or oppress their Churches At Quinisext so termed by Balsemon the same year viz. 662. was held a Council which by Bede and many others is accounted an Erroneous Synod it was convened under Justinian the Second and Pope Sergius wherein the Fathers thought fit to supply the defect of the Fifth aud Sixth precedent Synods in reference to manners and Ecclesiastical Discipline for which reason they ratified 102 Canons in the Trullo of the Imperial Palace whence they are called Trullans These are rejected by such Latins whose consent went not to the stablishment thereof specially not empowr'd and authoriz'd thereto by the Pope In the 36 th Canon thereof the Patriarch of Constantinople is equalled to the Roman and in the 13 th Canon Matrimony is granted to the Clergy At Chalon in Burgandy by the Command of Clodoveus K. of France a Council of 44 Bishops assembled wherein the Canons of the Nicene Council had great approbation And it was Forbidden That Two Bishops should be Ordained in one City and Decreed That no Secular work should be done on the Lords Day At Rome in the time of Constantinus Pogonatus Emperour under the Popedom of Agatho was held a Council wherein it was Declared by the Suffrages of 125 Bishops That Two wills and Two operations were to be acknowledged in Christ and the Defenders of the Heresie of the Monothelites were condemned At Toledo in the year 671. an Eighth Council of 52 Bishops was assembled wherein were high Debates concerning Perjury At last it was Resolved That no Necessity obligeth a man to perform an unlawful Oath In this Council Marriage was utterly forbidden to Bishops and eating of Flesh in Lent At Toledo in the year 673. and in the Seventh year of Recesuvindus King of Gothes and by his Command were convened 16 Bishops which was the Ninth Council at that place and in which several Canons were made touching the Discipline of the Church At Toledo in the Eighth year of the said Kings Reign was the Tenth Council consisting of 21 Bishops who made some Decrees touching certain Festivals and others relating to the Clergy and removed Protamius Bishop of Bracara from his Office being convict of Adultery At Toledo in the Seventh year of Bamba King of Gothes 19 Bishops and Seven Abbots were assembled by the Kings Command wherein several Canons were made concerning Ecclesiastical Discipline At Bracara a Second Council was held the first according to Caranza wherein many old Opinions of the Priscilianists and Manichaeans concerning Prohibition of Marriage and Meats are condemned together with the Heresies of Samosatenus Photinus Cerdon and Marcion And in the 30 th Canon of this Council it was Ordained That no Poesie should be Sung in the Church except the Psalter of the Old Testament At Bracara in Spain in the time of Bombas King of Gothes another Synod of Eight Bishops was assembled wherein the Nicene Faith is again rehearsed In the Fifth Canon of this Synod it is Ordained That upon Festival days Reliques enclosed in an Ark shall be born on the Shoulders of the Levites as the Ark of God in the Old Testament was accustomed to be born At Constantinople in the year 680. in the Twelfth year of the Reign of Constantine Pogonatus a General Council was held Pope Agatho procuring it by his Legates In this Council were convened 150 Bishops they who reckon 270 or 286 do compute the Absent Romans and others consenting thereto the Emperour himself was President In this Council was discussed the Question touching the Wills and Actions of Christ Here were condemned the Monothelites Sergius Cyrus Pyrrhus Peter Paul Theodorus together with Pope Honorius who in the defence of Eutychianism pleaded that there was one only Will in Christ This Council confirmed the Canons not only of General but also of Particular foregoing Synods as of Antioch Laodicea and others It also added what was to be approved in the Orthodox Writings of the Fathers as appears by the Second Canon of this Council Vid. Paul Diacon in vit Constant At Toledo the Twelfth Council consisting of 33 Bishops with some Abbots and 13 of the Nobility assembled the first year of the Reign of Euringius to whom Bombas King of
which he hath such right of presentation he may at his own Suit have this Writ of Ne admittas directed to the Bishop forbidding him to collate or admit any to that Church during the time aforesaid 5. Vi Laica Removenda is a Writ which upon the Bishops Certificate into Chancery of a force and resistance touching a Church lieth where a Debate or Controversie is between two Parsons for a Church the one whereof doth enter into the Church with a strong hand and great power of the Laity holding the other out and keeping possession thereof vi armis whereupon he that is so held out of possession may have the said Writ directed to the Sheriff of the County to remove the force within that Church and if need be to raise the Posse Comitatus to his assistance and to Arrest and Imprison the persons that make resistance so as to have their Bodies before the King at a certain day to answer the contempt which Writ is ever made returnable and is sometimes grantable without the Bishops Certificate as aforesaid for it may it seems be had upon a surmise made thereof by the Incumbent himself without such Certificate there being a distinct and several form thereof in each of the said Cases So that this Writ properly lieth for the removal of any forcible possession of a Church kept by Lay-men 6. Indicavit is a Writ in the nature of a Prohibition issuing out of the Kings Temporal to his Ecclesiastical Courts and lieth for the Patron of a Church whose Clerk is Defendant in some Spiritual Court in an Action of Tithes commenced against him by another Clerk and extending to the value of the fourth part of the Church or of the Tithes belonging thereunto for in this Case the cognizance thereof belongs to the Kings Temporal Courts by the Stat. of Westm 2. c. 5. wherefore the Defendants Patron being like to be prejudiced thereby in his Church and Advowson in case the Plaintiff should prevail and obtain in the Spiritual Court So that this Writ lieth properly where there is a contest or Controversie between two Clerks in an Ecclesiastical Court of a Church or part thereof for Dismes or Tithes amounting at the least to the value of the fourth part of the Church In which regard the Patron of the Clerk Defendant losing his Advowson in case the Plaintiff should recover in the Spiritual Court shall have this Writ directed to the Clerk Plaintiff or to the Officers of the Ecclesiastical Court commanding them to cease their proceedings until it be discust and decided in the Temporal Court to whom the cognizance of the Advowson belongs This Writ shall be between four persons whereof two are Patrons and two are Clerks and is not returnable as other Writs but if they cease not their Suit and proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Court an Attachment issues 7. Advocatione Decimarum is a Writ that lieth for the claim of the fourth part or upwards of the Tithes that do belong to any Church 8. Admittendo Clerico is a Writ granted to him who hath recovered his right of presentation against the Bishop in the Common Pleas 9. Beneficio Primo Ecclesiastico habendo is a Writ directed from the King to the Lord Chancellor to bestow the Benefice that shall first fall in the Kings gift above or under such a value upon this or that person 10. Cautione admittenda is a Writ that doth lie against a Bishop who holdeth and detaineth an Excommunicate Person in Prison notwithwanding he offers sufficient Caution or Assurance to observe and obey the Orders and Commandments of Holy Church from thenceforth The form and further effect of which Writ vid. Reg. 11. Clerico infra sacros ordines constituto non eligendo in officium is a Writ directed to the Bayliffs c. that have imposed a Bailywick or Beadleship upon one in Holy Orders charging him to release him thereof 12. Clerico capto per Statutum Mercatorum c. is the delivery of a Clerk out of Prison who is imprisoned upon the Breach of the Statute Merchant 13. Clerico convicto commisso Goalae in defectu Ordinarii deliberando is a Writ for the delivery of a Clerk to his Ordinary that was formerly convict of Felony by reason his Ordinary did not challenge him according to the Priviledges of Clerks 14. Annua Pensione is a Writ now grown obsolete and out of use For whereas anciently there were certain Abbies and Priories that in respect of their Foundation or Creation were obliged unto an Annual Pension due unto the King for such his Chaplains unprovided of a sufficient Living as he should nominate and appoint This Writ in pursuance thereof was wont to issue to such Abbot or Prior in favour of such whose name was comprised in the said Writ until c. requiring the said Abbot or Prior that for his said Chaplains better assurance he give his Letters Patents for the same 15 Vicario deliberando occasione cujusdam Recognitionis c. is a Writ that lieth for a Spiritual person imprisoned upon forfeiture of a Recognizance without the Kings Writ For as there is one Form of the Writ Statuto Mercatorio for the imprisoning of him who hath forfeited his Bond called the Statute Merchant until the Debt satisfied as to Lay persons So there is another Form of the said Writ as against Ecclesiastical Persons 16. Touching the three Writs viz. De Excommunicato capiendo Excommunicato deliberando Excommunicato recipiendo vid. sup in cap. de Excommunicatione 16. The Village of St. Andrews brought a Quare Impedit against the Archbishop of York and Countess of Strewsbury and after brought an Assize of Darrein Presentment for the same Church The Quare Impedit is returned It was said by the Court that the Assize of Darrein c. shall abate vid. by Hobard But if he had brought another Quare Impedit it had been well And so it was resolved in the Earl of Bedfords Case and by Hutton that the Statute of W. 2. cap. 5. proves it viz. Quod habeant Ass c. vel Quare Imp. but not both vid. 8 E. 3. 17. 18. In a Quare Impedit the Incumbent pleads that before the Action brought he had been in by the space of six months c. of the presentment of S. S. in the Church This difference was taken by Serjeant Henden and agreed by the Court when the Incumbent pleads the presentment of a Stranger there he ought to shew That the Stranger had a Title and that he was seised of the Advowson c. or that he was seised of a Mannor to which c. But where he pleads that he was in for Six months of the Presentment of the Plaintiff himself or by collation by lapse by the Ordinary there he need not make any Title 10. E. 11. 19. If a man recovers in a Quare Impedit against an