Saint but another Bishop of the Binn tom 1. in notis ad vitam Gregorij magni same place and name but in all the Catalogue of these Bishops no second Vdalricke is to be found others as Benefild against M. Leech say that he who wrote this letter was one Volusianus but who this Volusianus was there is no mention M. Hall sayth that Volusianus and Huldricke is all one which to me seems incredible there being so little affinity in the names and not one euer writing that S. Vdalricke was termed Volusianus only they of Basil who first printed this lye Populo vt placerent quas fecissent sabulas Terentius haue made the fiction very formaâ—l and lay that the place was Rome the present of 6000. heads more was made to S. Gregory the Great the authour of the letter S. Vdalricke and that he wrote it vpon the same occasion to Nicholas the first who would haue renewed S. Gregory his decree and haue forced continency vpon all Ecclesiasticall men 21. But the whole narration is so fabulous so ill patched togeather so false and forged The thing euidently demonstrated to be a lying fiction as it disclaimeth from all truth of tymes persons and things no one part agreeing with another or subsisting in it selfe so well had they tippled who deuised this drunken letter for els they would haue seene it impossible that euer S. Vdalricke should write vnto Nicholas the first seeing Nicholas dyed in the yeare 867. and the other was not borne till the yeare 890. so as betweene the death of Nicholas and birth of S. Vdalricke there are 23. years and as though that this were not ridiculous inough for one to writ Non sat commodè diuisa temporibus a letter to another who was dead 23. yeares before the writer was borne they add in the beginning of the letter that he wrote it when he was Bishop for thus he writeth Nicolao Domino Patri peruigili S. R. E. prouisori Huldericus solo nomine Episcopus amorem vt filius timorem vt seruus To Nicholas his Lord and Father the vigilant prouisor of the holy Church of Rome Huldericke only in name a Bishop sendeth loue as a sonne feare as a seruant and to omit this manner of greeting not in vse in these tymes you see that he wrot the letter when he was Bishop vnto which dignity he was preferred in the yeare 924. or as the Chronicles of his owne Church say 923. so as betweene the death of Nicholas his election there are more then fifty years and can any but laugh to heare of a letter written vnto one who was dead more then fifty yeares before M. Hall shall do well to tell vs who carryed this letter where it was deliuered what answere the dead man returned thereunto for that will serue as well as the other for old women to tell children at the fire side and to make fooles pastyme 22. Moreouer in the tyme of the first Nicholas The marriage of Clergy men neuer meÌ„tioned in the time of Pope Nicholas the first although diuers other tumults were raysed especially by the wicked Patriarke of Constantinople Photius Michael the Emperour Iohn Bishop of Rauenna Lotharius King of France Hinâ—marus Archbishop of Rhemes and others yet in the matter we now speake of there was neuer any Controuersy made no decree no mention at all in the life of this Pope exactly set downe by Baronius how then is it possible that any should write vnto him such a letter as heere is mentioned and no mention thereof to be made in his life or any record left that euer he dealt one way or other in that matter vnles it were in some particuler case which was resolued according to the custome then in vse without all tumult noyse or resistance when as this letter mentioneth not a priuate resolution but a publike decree either to haue beene made or intended to be made for all in general that with publique opposition of which there is no mention or memory in any Authour but in this letter and it is a lye worthy of the maker in Iohn Fox wheÌ„ speaking of this Nicholas a most famous and renowned Pastour by this Pope sayth he Priests began to be restrayned from marrying 23. Againe Antonius Monchiaâ—enus Democares a Sorbon Doctour recounting all the Bishops of Auspurg and the tyme when they liued of all others The fable is refuted by the Chronicle of the Church of Auspurg that I know most exactly he putteth in the yeare 858. when Nicholas was made Pope one VValterus who liuing but two years Adelgerus succeeded him who remayning Bishop sixten yeares dyed the yeare 866. one yeare before Nicholas whom S. Neodegarius following ouer liued the Pope and betweene him and S. Vdalrike were Lanto Vdelmanus S. VVidgarius the Apostle of the Switzers S. Adalbertus Hildinus so as this being taken out of the very Registers there can be no errour or not so great as can make so notorious difference in the tyme especially when as other Authours as Sebastianus Munsterus Gaspar Bruschius Henricus Pantaleon and Aubertus Myraeus and with them Martinus Crusius the Lutheran others agree in the same number of yeares and order of succession and our Aduersaryes are able to bring no Authour or authority to disproue it or to make so much as any seeming appearance for this conuiction of tyme betweene S. Vdalricke Pope Nicholas the first which maketh the whole tale more incredible and in the iudgement of any wise man impossible 24. And wonderfull it is to see how M. Fox in this matter playeth the goose and forgetteth M. Fox his contradiction in this matter himselfe graunting and denying now affirming one thing and then another and that as it were with one breath without any pause betweene for speaking of this Pope Nicholas the first thus he writeth by this Pope Priests began to be restrayned from marrying whereof Huldricke Bishop of Ausborough a learned and holy man sending a letter vnto the Pope grauely and learnedly refuteth and reclaimeth against his vndiscreet proceedings touching that matter the copy of which letter as I thought it vnworthy to be suppressed so I iudged it heere worthy and meet for the better instruction of the Reader to be inserted So he of Pope Nicholas the first whome he chargeth as you see with restrayning of marriage and of being reprehended by S. Vdalricke who because he fauoured as they suppose their marriages which is with them the lapis lydius to try all learning only square of holynes is intituled a most holy learned man Thus before the letter 25. But hauing set downe the letter at ful length according to his own translation which is none of the best forgetting what he had sayd in the beginning he giueth presently this caueat to the Reader that heere by the way sayth he the M. Fox was of a very short
stout Prelate without any touch of disgrace in all that he writeth of him which had not beene spared had he found any thing in him that had beene lyable thereunto and Iohn Fox who â—lthough he speake well of few yet he out of others commendeth S. Anselme when he treateth of his election albeit afterwards he do discommend him euen for that for which by all S. DunstaÌ„ S. oswald S Ethelwolde other Authours of former ages he hath beene iudged most commendable 105. Of S. Dunstan Oswald and Ethelwolde we haue before spoken and VVilliam of Malmesbury is proâ—use in the prayse of ech of them a part in their liues and no meruaile for all three were very holy men and not only admired in England but reuerenced abroad and by the whole Church acknowledged for Saints of the first to wit S. Dunstane inough for this matter hath beene sayd aheady and of S. Oswald M. Godwin giueth him this Encomium be was very learned and left some testimonyes therof in writing not yet perished for the integrity also of his life and conuersation he was much reuerenced the greatest fault that I find in him is that he was very earnest in setting forth that doctrine of Diuells that debarreth men of lawfull marriage c. many miracles are reported to haue been done at his tombe in regard whereof the posterity would needs make him a Saint So he Of the third Matthew VVestminster sayth writing of his death Eodem anno S. Ethelwaldus migrauit ad Dominum In this yeare S. Ethelwald went to our Lord or departed this life this title of Saint is giuen him by all our writers of these tymes and M. Halls friend Henry Huntington Hunting l 5. in â—â—gar Houeder ibideâ—s much prayseth him saying that he was â—gregius Praesul aedificator sepium auertens semitas imquitatis plantans radices charitatis A worthy Prelate a builder vp of the hedges of vertue turning men from the paths of iniquity planting in them the root of charity and in fine of them all three Malmesbury writeth that Miâ—uâ—runt per Malmâ—s l. 2. de gestis Pontij 〈…〉 Angliam vt lumina crederes è â—aelo arridere â—ydera They shined ouer England as â—ights in so much as you would haue thought the stars to send their coÌ„fort from heauen So he And so much of these 106. But now for such Priests as had their Trulls if you looke into the monuments of antiquity The incontinent Clergy as the summ of the world coÌ„mended by none what memory or mention is made of them you shall either find nothing at all or that they were the very scumme and refuse of the Clergy and M. Hall hauing raked this impure dunghill could find but one only man to speake for him to wit Henry Huntington who yet hath but these words Hoc Concilium prohibuit vxores Sacerdotibus Anglorum antea non prohibitas In Hunting in anno 1101. deliuering of which short sentence M. Hal maks vs three vntruths for thus he writeth Anselme sayth that Historian was the first that forbad marriage vnto the Clergy of England and this was about the yeare of our Lord 1080. til then euer free So M. Hall But by his leaue Huntington doth not say that S. Anselme was the first that forbad marriage to the Clergy for S. Dunstane had forbidden it more then a hundred years before againe this was not about the yeare of our Lord 1080. for Huntington himselfe expresly putteth it more then twenty yeares after and this yeare twice set down in the margent was more then twelue yeares before S. Anselme was Bishop or had any thing to do in England If he meane 1108. wherein as I confesse there was held a Councell so I deny that this can agree with Huntington who putteth it the next yeare after K. Henryes coronatioÌ„ which was in the year 1100. and lastly it is vntrue that marriage of Priestes till then was euer free for it is inough for the verifying of his words vnles M. Hall will haue him to contradict himselfe and all truth that in the trouble some tyme of VVilliam Conqueror and his sonne VVilliam Rufus who sold the Bishopricks of England for money the Priests had gotten this liberty which Commentary his words will well support for truly translated they are only these In this Councell S. Anselme prohibited wiues to English Priests before not prohibited for the word before may signify immediatly before in which tyme perhaps though they were not allowed yet the wickednes of that King weaknes of the Symoniacall Bishops wanting so long their Metropolitan and licentiousnes of the Clergy forced the better sort of Pastours to tolerate that which although they did condemne yet could not redresse 207. And this being the only witnes and he if he meane as M. Hall will haue him being Henry Huntingtons ill demeanour in his history taken tardy in his euidence and that both in respect of the tyme and matter for the first he putteth a yeare to soone and altogeather misreporteth the later his wordes in this matter cannot preiudice our cause vnles they were seconded by some better authority of more vpright and indifferent iudgment for this Henry was so far set on this marriage matter and to impugne the aduersaryes thereof as he seemeth quite to haue forgotten the law of a History which requireth all truth and integrity in the things related in both which this man was deficient for in all S. Dunstans life he neuer speaketh of this matter which yet was the chiefest matter of moment then debated and on the other side he commendeth him who opened the fluse to let out all this puddle of impurity amongst the Clergy I meane Edwyn elder Brother vnto King Edgar of whome our best Historiographers report much villany for which halfe his When by what occasion this licentious liberty entred into England Matth. VVestin anu 956. Kingdome was taken from him by the insurâ—ection of his subiects and giuen to his brother and as well for that as other misfortunes soone after dyed hauing raigned but foure yeares of whome as Stow well noteth is lest no honest memory vnles that which Matthew VVestminster writeth of him Cum annis quatuor libidinosè simul tyraÌ„nicè regnum depresâ—sset Anglorum iusto Dei iudicio desunctus c. After he had foure yeares lewdly and tyrannicall abused the Kingdome of England by Gods iust iudgment he dyed And consequently he was the fitter instrument to further theâ— filthines of this sacrilegious marriage of the Priests and Clergy For in his tyme besides the vsuall incursions of for rayne enemyes from abroad and ciuill warâ—s of subiects at home where one halfe of the Realme was in armes against the other and both out of order as it still happeneth in such occasions Frequentes lites sayth Osbert sediditiones nonnullae varij confliclus hominum Osbert in vita Dunstani suborti totam terram
memory Reader is to be admonished that this epistle which by error of the writer is referred to Pope Nicholas the first in my mind is rather to be attributed to the name and tyme of Nicholas the second or Nicholas the third And is it so indeed Syr Iohn then why do you put it out of the due place vnder a wronge Pope why did you tel vs that the first Nicholas restrayned marriage and for that was reprehended by S. Vdalricke Did the Saint grauely and learnedly refute and disclaime against the vndiscreet proceeding of Pope Nicholas the first before the letter and after was proued not to haue sayd one word vnto him at all but to haue spoken to another who was Pope more then a hundred yeares after his death which of these Foxes will you beleeue these are such riddles as I cannot vnderstand them and no more as I suppose did he himselfe when he wrote them and so I leaue them to M. Hall to answere who for this matter in his margent remitteth his Reader to M. Fox and yet he in his last admonition contradicteth M. Hall who is resolute that it was written to the first and not to the second or third Nicholas 26. And M. Fox like a bad tinker whiles he would mend a little hole by knocking he The correction of M. Fox refuted beates out the bottome of the kettle or at least makes the hole much larger then it was before for whereas most Authours agree that S. Vdalricke dyed in the yeare 974. as Herm annus Contractus Vrspergensis Baronius and others or 973. as Crusius how could he write to Nicholas the second who was made Pope more theÌ„ fourescore years after S. Vdalricks death For as Platina Baronius others affirme Nicholas the second was not made Pope vntill the yeare 1059. such a foole or prophet do these men make this Saint to be for if he wrote to the first Nicholas he wrote to one buryed more then twenty yeares before he was borne if to the second to one not made Pope till more then fourescore years after he was buryed and as for the 3. Nicholas he is so far off that I thinke his great grand-father was not begotten when S. Vdalricke dyed for he was made Pope in the yeare 1278. and the other departed this life the year 973. so as there are almost three hundred yeares betweene the death of the one and creation of other so exact are these men in historyes and such regard they haue to deliuer the truth or rather are so impudent and shameles as they care not what they write or what they auouch 27. For whereunto now are all M. Halls boasts come of the force warrant of this testimony M. Hall cast in his cause that it is able to answere all cauills satisfy all readers and conuince all not willfull Aduersaryes or els that he would be cast in so iust a cause For who seeth him not only to be cast but crushed also in this matter who seeth nor on what sliding sands he placeth the chiefest foundations of his surest proofs for now all his fayre words and resolute assurance of his so potent Aduocate is proued to be nothing els but light smoke false coyne a meere cogging collusion which bewrayeth in the writer to too much vanity conioyned with affected ignorance or intollerable stupidity in so much as I may conclude this first argument against M. Hall with the words of the Authour who some yeares past set out S. Huldericks life and in this matter thus writeth in the Preface Scio ad haec impuram nescio cuius nebulonis eptstolam Vdalrici aliquando nomine venditam sed cùm â—a ad Nicolaum Pontificem scripta sit Nicolaus autem primus plusquam viginti annis ante Vdalricum natum suerit mortuus secundus Pontificatum octogesimo quod excurrit anno post eum mortuum inierit ferrei sit oris oportet qui tantum mendacium ausit asserere plumbei cordis cui possit imponere So he Which wordes for courtesy I leaue vnenglished least M. Hall should thinke that I applyed these discourteous tearmes vnto him in particuler which I will not and that authour speaketh to the first framer of this fancy alone or to all in general that will be deceaued by such fooleryes 28. Besides this argument of tyme an euiction vnauoydable other presumptions there are which seeme to me to be very effectuall and No such epistle to be found amongst the Epistls of S. Vdalricus not answerable wherof that is one which Staphilus relateth of the epistles of that Saint all registred and reserued in Auspurg amongst which there is not the least signe or shew of any such letter neither doth Martinus Crusius the Lutheran in his Sueuicall History of which Auspurg is the chiefest Citty so much as once infinuate any such thing which yet should not haue beene omitted if it could haue beene found that authour taking all occasions where he can to calumniate Catholikes and gather vp all scraps of any antiquity which may seem to make against them which yieldeth to this argument more perswasiue validity no Author of those tymes when it was written or any other after vntill our age euer mentioned the same or so much as heard thereof till our late Sectaryes set it forth and many reasons there were to haue vrged the authority thereof in case such a thing had byn extaÌ„t written by a man of that fame for sanctity as S. Vdalricke to such a Pope as Nicholas the first in such a matter so often so earnestly debated with such circumstance of more then six thousand childrens heads a lye fit for Lucian and the like which yet none euer did and their silence is to me a sure signe that no such thing was extant in their dayes Two or 3. yeares before the death of S. Vdalrickâ— was the contentioÌ„ of the incontinent Priests begun in England and yet none euer mentioned this letter 29. And to make this more plaine whereas with S. Vdalricke in Germany at the same time liued S. Dunstane in England who also out liued him for some yeares and there that contention was then hoatly pursued by that Saint others against the licentiousnes of Priests it seemeth to me very strange that such an epistle should haue beene written whils that conflict was on foot which lasted for diuers yeares and no acknowledge thereof to haue beene had in England where it might most auayle and with the authority of the Authour haue giuen more credit to the cause then the others should haue beene able to infringe but no such thing was then euer alleadged not one syllable therof in Malmesbury Houeden Huntingdon Matthew VVestminister VVilliam Nubrigensis Florentius or any other and thereof I inferre that there was no such letter euer written which vpon so vrgent an occasion ar so opportune a tyme and so directly for the purpose of the lewd Clergy could not haue The
in Asia Europe and Africke is demonstrated and the contrary by M. Hall is without all proofe or probability affirmed though he streyne far and forge a text of the third Gregory to this purpose and fouly mistake S. Isidore and then vpon no other ground but his owne errour and ouersight most pitifully exclaime against vs with I know not what outragious crime committed to our perpetuall shame whome he calleth his iuggling Aduersaryes and will haue vs deale worse then the Diuell but this shame I haue shaken off â—rom vs it must rest on himselfe and all the iuggling is resolued to this that M. Hall cannot see that which lyeth open before his eyes and therefore as he is suspitious thinketh it by some iuggling deuise to be taken away Alas poore M. Hall I pitty your ignorance but condemne your malice fayne you would byte but wanting teeth you can but only barke you esteeme your selfe a gallant man when you rayle at our doing or doctrine but your wit is so weake and will so wicked as the later which is blind and should be guyded by the former only directeth your pen and sheweth your iudgement and learning to be alike little I meane in respect of the desire you haue to do vs hurt in case you were able God forgiue you and send you a better mynd 14. There followeth another fundamental proofe which is so potent that M. Hall will be cast The fable of S. Huldericks Epistle in his cause if it do not answere all cauills satisfy all Readers and conuince all not willfull aduersaries and this forsooth is a learned and vehement epistle of S. Vdalricus vnto Pope Nicholas the first in which we see saâ—th this blind man how iust how expedient how ancient this liberty is and not only that but there-withall also the feeble and iniurious grounds of forced continency read it sayth he and see whether you can desire a betâ—er Aduocate I haue done his friend M. VVhiting that fauour as to read it for him and I see this Aduocate in writing to the first Nicolas to haue beene as blind as M. Hall for in caâ—e S. Vdalricus had written it as it is euinced that he did not he had written it more then 50. yeares after the partyes death whome he did write it vnto and more then twenty yeares before himselfe who wrote it was borne and therefore I desire in M. VVhitings name a better Aduocate that may plead after the vsuall manner of other men and not write letters before he haue either body or soule eyes to see tongue to speake or hands to write and then â—end them not to the liuing but to the dead and in the coÌ„tents to speake the truth and not tell vs tales of six thousand heads found in one mote with other the like impertinencyes before refuted and finally I must tell M. Hall that the cause is very weakly defended that relyeth on such rotten grounds of forged fictions and if he had esteemed it to be of any worth he would neuer haue made hazard thereof vpon such fooleryes if he be as prodigal of his wealth as he is of his wife cause credit and fidelity his children shall not be ouercharged with any rich inheritance which he is like to leaue them for he will be sure to liue and dye a beggar 15. In this counterfeit epistle there is no antiquity set downe for M. Halls carnall liberty neither can we espy therein the feel lenes of the ground of forced continency because we force none thereunto but compell such as without all inforcement out of their owne free and deliberate election haue vowed it to the obseruance of their vowes which this letter as lawful doth allow though we may not allow this liberty to M. Hall to change the name of Vdalricus into Volusianus nor to authorize it from them that haue mention thereof as Aeneas Siluius nor yet from such as in case they haue some mention are themselus of no credit as Gaspar Hedio Iohn Fox or such like fablers nor finally to vaunt of a happy plea and triumphant conquest where neuer word was spoken or stroke giuen or thing done more theÌ„ in the idle fancy of some new fangled Ghospellers how soeuer this wise man tel vs that heerupon this liberty blessed the world for 200. yeares after but I haue at one dash bated one hundred and fifty more at another and that from the warrant of his owne words and proued this Plea if euer there had been any such as there was not to haue beene very vnlucky as wel for the discredit of the maker as ouerthrow of the matter and that in so short space as hath beene before set downe 16. And because this modest man rayles at the seauenth Gregory for vtterly ruining the marriages of Priests and makes him the most Of Gregory the 7. Nicholas the 2 and Leo the 9. mortall enemy that euer the vow-breakers had which I impute to his great honour as it is also to be reuiled by heretiks I haue at large defended him and his whole contention with Henry the Emperour and shewed how constantly he behaued himselfe in this sluttish busines and although M. Hall would fayne haue him to be amongst the first parents of such as suppressed the marriages of Clergy men yet the truth is that before his tyme these marriages were neuer thought vpon in Germany but then the Clergy brake forth first into that intollerable beastlines and the like is proued by Nicholas the second for the first had neuer any thing to do in that controuersy and Leo the ninth whose decrees are only against concubines and harlots of incontinent Priests without any mention of wiues which in their tims were not any where allowed or perhaps so much as thought vpon and it may seem a woÌ„der to anâ— who knoweth not the custome of Heretiks to see one to claime prescriptioÌ„ of tyme for the marriage of Clergy men that cannot bring one Canon one Nationall decree one direct authority of any ancient Father for seauen hundred years togeather and after that tyme to alledge a meere patched proofe of a schismatical Conuenticle which more hurteth then helpeth his cause and yet to brag that for all that tyme there was nothing but marriage nothing but liberty no vows no chastity but these are the vsuall pangs of hereticall insolency 17. Diuers other points vpon this occasion are discussed as the deposition of Gregory the seauenth feigned to be made in the Councell of VVormes and that for separating man and wife but there was no deposition made no separation mentioned Then whether Gods will which this man still supposeth to stand for the incontinent vow-breakers â—or the Popes willfullnes was sought therein and lastly whether the broyles betweene Henry and Gregory were about this matter and what flocke it was thâ—t was so afflicted by the Popes censures as Auentine reporteth which was not indeed any flock of Christ for such still adhered vnto their
he In eolloquijs German c. de vita coniugali writeth of himselfe Ego priusquam matrimonium inieram omnino mecum statueram c. I before I was maryed had fully determined with myselfe that in case I should dye sooner then I expected that euen in the agony or pang of death I would betroth my selfe to some young mayd So sharp set was this wanton companion on marriage as he thought it necessary and that also necessitate medi to saluation and he who will consider the quicke dispatch he made in marying shall fynd that his hast was somewhat more then his good Epist ad Patremsuum Ioannem tom 2. latin VVittemberg Epist ad VVmâ—eslaum Linchium Luther ep ad Ioan. Ruell IoaÌ„ Durr Gasp Miller toÌ„ 9. German speed for hauing cast of the yoke of all regular discipline and bragged in a letter to his father that now he was vnder none but Christ ipse meâ—â— est immediatus quod vocant Episcopus Abbas Prior Dominus Pater Magister alium non noui ampliùs Christ is my immediate Bishop as they call it he is my Abbot Prior Lord Father and Maister now I know no more but him the next yeare after he marryed to vse his owne words cum honesta virgine Catherina Bore quae aliquando monialis fuit with an honest virgin Catherin Bore which once had bene a Nunne and to make sure worke ne quod impedimentum obijceretur mox etiam festinatum adieci concubitum and least any impediment should occur c. 27. And he did well to mention his hasty copulation or else the effect had appeared before the cause and his Kate had shewed herselfe a mother before she had bene knowne to be his Erasm ad Danielem Mauchium VlmeÌ„sem wife for Erasmus writing to his freind Daniell Mauchius of Vlmes thus reporteth the matter MoÌ„tini lepidissimis literis nescio an vacet nunc respondere c. I know not whether I shall be at leasure now to answere the pleasant letter of Montinus you shall The vnluckines of Luthers ouer hasty marriage tell him a prety iest Luther laying aside his Philosophicall cloke hath marryed a wife of the noble family of the Bores a very faire mayd of six and twenty yeares of age but he hath no dowry with her and she had bene a Nunne that you may know this mariage to haue bene very lucky a few dayes after the marriage was celebrated the new wife was brought to bed so Erasmus and more compendiously Iustus Baronius Iustus Baronius opere de praescriptionibus Lutherus heri Monachus hodie sponsus cras maritus perendie Pater Luther was yesterday a monke to day a bridegrome to morrow a husband the next day after a father So he Which as you se was somewhat to hasty indeed and yet notwithstanding which is more strange after he had knowne his harlot and she was knowne to be great with child he wrote a letter to one Spalatinus Epist ad Spalatin and calleth his wife a virgin Spero saith he me os obtur asse ijs qui me vnâ cum mea desponsata mihi virgine Catharina de Bore traducunt dissamaÌ„t I hope now that I haue stopped their mouthes who staunder and defame me togeather with my espowsed virgin Catherine Bore And the like he writeth to Nicolas Amsdorsius calling her after this againe virtuosam virginem a vertuous virgin but such vertue such virgin a fit matron she was for so mad a fryer 28. Besides this precept and practise of mariage in these men to add further that the vow of perpetuall chastity is impossible to be kept may well seeme a thing impossible to be affirmed by a Christian man but Africke was neuer so full of different monsters as these men are of prodigious opinions for now nothing is so improbable but may fynd an Author and this of chastity howsoeuer it be a brutish paradox is affirmed by Luther and that in such blunt and beastly manner as I am ashamed to put downe all his words as vnwilling to let any thing passe my pen that may defile your cares or by reading offend any chast mynd Wherefore to omit other his base speaches to shew a vow of chastity for tearme of life to be impossible thus he writeth Ponamus quòd aliquis Tom. 6. de votis Monasticis pag. 221. Epist ad VVolfgangum Reissâ—nbus voueat condere nouas stellas montesque transferre aâ— non iure vocares amentiam sed enim voâ—um castitatis à tali voto nihil differt Let vs suppose that one should vow to make new starres and to remoue mountaynes would you not worthily call this vow a meer madnes but there is no difference betwene the vow of chastity and this vow So Luther and againe to the same effect Castè integrè viuere tam non est in manu nostra quà m omnia reliqua Tom. 7. pag. 505. Dei miracula to liue chastly and continently is as little in our power as are all the other miracles of almighty God and so whereas it lyeth not in our power to worke all the miracles of God to make new starres to remoue mountaynes the like no more is it in our power to liue chast which sayeth this Epicure homini à Deo nullo modo conceditur Greg. Thaumaturgus vt referunt Basil Grego Nissen Beda alij is not graunted by God to any man and indeed though I haue heard of one who remoued a mountayn yet did I neuer read of any that made new starrs though some by the reuolution of their Epicycles haue newly appeared but they were made by the same hand which made the rest and at the same tyme and therefore by good illation it will follow that as no man is able to make a new star so by Luthers doctrine no man is able to liue chast 29. And this might suffice to shew his opinion of this impossibility and it is to monstrous as yowsee but yet as though this were not more then inough he further putteth downe for surplusage this position Quà m parùm in mea potestate situm est vt vir non sim tam parùm etiam in mea potestate Luther lib. de vita coniugali Tom. 6. VVitemberg Germ. pag. 171. situm est vt absque muliere sim ac rursum quà m parùm in tua potestate est vt mulier non sis tam parùm etiam in tua potestate est vt absque viro sis quia hac res non est arbitaria seu consilij sed res necessaria ac naturalis vt omnis vir multerem habeat omnis mulier virum c. estque hoc plusquam praeceptum magis necessâ—rium quà m comedere bibere purgare exspuere domire vigilare As little as it lieth in my power not to be man so litle is it in my power to be without a woman and againe as little as it is in thy
which is yet more then I need that he hath by this example euinced his cause and will neuer any more mention his diuorce 11. But if in this passage he cog notoriously if he affirme the quite contrary to that which is in his author if as before out of Origen he cut off three wordes with an c. so heer he do add one word which quite altereth the sense then I hope his friends will bethinke them well how they trust such iugglers who with the Aegyptians looke them in the face whiles their fingers be in their purse and I wish that with his falsehood he did but picke their purses and not seduce their soules bought ransomed with the deere price of the precious bloud of the sonne of God And that there be no mistaking betweene What M. Hall doth affirme out of S. Cyprian and I do deny vs remember I pray what M. Hall doth affirme to wit that Numidicus was a marryed Priest and that S. Cyprian auoucheth so much I on the other side deny both the one and the other and say that he was neuer a marryed Priest and that S. Cyprian neuer sayd any such thing but the quite contrary that he was made priest after his wiues death Let S. Cyprian decide the doubt betweene vs. 12. This Numidicus then being a marryed man was by the persecutours carryed togeather with his wife and others to be martyred the rest When Numidicus was made Priest were put to death before him with them he cheerefully saw his wife burned making no other account but to drinke of the same cup and to follow her into the flames he dyd so was left for dead Ipse sayth S. Cyprian semiustulatus Epist 35. iuxta Pamelum alias l. 4. ep vltim lapidibus obrutus pro mortuo derelictus c. He halfe burned couered with stones and left for dead whiles his daughter out of filiall duety sought his body he was found not to be fully departed and being taken out and by carefull attendance somewhat refreshed he remayned against his will after his companions whome he had sent before him to heauen Sed remanendi vt videmus haec fuit causa vt eum Clero nostro Dominus adiungeret But this as we see was the cause why he remayned behind that God might make him of our Clergy and adorne the number of our priesthood made small by the fall of some with glorious Priests Thus far S. Cyprian whose wordes are so plaine as they need not explication for he plainely testifyeth that he was made Priest after his wiues death and for that cause to haue beene preserued aliue and he sayth not as you see Numidicus presbyter vxorem suam concrematam c. Numidicus the Priest saw his wife burned but only Numidicus saw his wife burned A foule corruption the word Priest is added both in the English text and Latin margent by M. Hall and that as you see for his aduantage cleane contrary to the mind of his authour 13. For without that word what doth this testimony auaile him what doth it proue will he reason thus Numidicus after his wife was burned was made Priest therfore he was a marryed Pbesbyter and his example proueth the marriage of all Priests to be lawfull these extremes are too far asunder to meet in one syllogisme and he shall neuer be able to find a medius terminus that can knit them togeather I wish that I were neere M. Hall when some or other would shew him this imposture to see what face he would make thereon whether he would confesse his errour or persist in his folly for I see not but turne him which way he list he must be condemned Protestāt◠neuer write against Catholikes but they corrupt Authors for a falsifyer I know not what fatall destiny followes these men that whatsoeuer they treat of in any controuersy betweene vs them they cannot but shew legier-du-mayne fraud and collusion and yet notwithstanding pretend all candour and simplicity for heer on the word Priest standeth all the force of M. Halls argument and that is foysted in by himselfe not to be found conioyned with the wordes he cyteth in S. Cyprian 14. If M. Hall say which is all he can say that in the beginning of the epistle S. Cyprian hath these wordes Numidicus presbyter ascribatur presbyterorum Carthaginensium numero nobiscum sedeat in Clero c. Let Numidicus the Priest be numbred amongst the Priests of Carthage and let him sit with vs in the Clergy then goeth on with the description of his merits of the courage he shewed in seeing his wife dye c. this plaister cannot salue the soare for this epistle S. Cyprian wrote after he had ordered him Priest and his ordination as there he declareth and you haue now heard was after his wiues death Numidicus himselfe giuing by his rare constancy his so resolutely offering himselfe to dy for Christ occasion of his promotion yea of further preferment for in the end of the same letter S. Cyprian sayth that at his returne to Carthage he meant to make him Bishop as Pamelius doth rightly interpret him So as there is no euasion left for M. Hall to escape 15. I haue purposely transposed the fact of Paphnutius in the Councell of Neece the authority The fact of Paphnutius in the Nicen Councell is discussed whereof although it be more ancient then S. Athanasius who therein albeit present was not Bishop but Deacon yet are the Authors who recount the same much more moderne and all the credit lying on their relation no writer more ancient so much as mentioning any such matter the Councell if selfe disclayming from it these Authors in other things being found vnsincere fabulous I thought it not worth the answering but seeing that M. Hall notwithstanding he saw it fully answered in Bellarmine and others will needs bring it in againe as though nothing had euer beene sayd thereunto Answered by Bellarmine l. ◠de Clericis cap. 20. §. argumentum 5. vltimum and out of his wonted folly and vanity insert heere and there his Greeke words which haue no more force and emphasis then the English with this conclusion in the end His arguments wone assent he spake and preuailed so this liberty was still continued and confirmed I will briefly deliuer what hath beene answered thereunto if first I shew what legier-du-maine is vsed by this Epistler in setting it down with aduantage to make it serue his purpose the better 16. For whereas Socrates recounteth the fact Socrates l. 1. cap. 8. S zom l. 1. cap. 22. of Paphnutius in a particuler matter touching the wiues of such Priests only as were ordered whē they were marryed men whether such should be debarred from their wiues bound to continency as the rest this man from the particuler draweth it vnto the generall from only marryed Priests to
were Bishops which is our controuersy and we both say and proue that for euer they were diuorced from them and liued in perpetuall continency apart this M. Hall should infringe and not produce some few marryed Bishops of the Primitiue Church few in number and ordered for the most part after the death of their wiues or if before yet were these Bishops dead to them because touching al coniugal dutyes they ceased to be their husbands 29. And this was so knowne so confessed so vncontrolled a truth that the first enemy and impugner of Clericall continency could not deny it and therefore S. Hierome boldly sayd vnto him Iouinian I meane Certè confiter is non posse Hier. l. 1. in Iouin esse Episcopum qui in Episcopatu filios faciat alioquin si deprehensus fuerit non quasi vir tenebitur sed quasi adulter damnabitur Doubtles thou dost confesse that he cannot be a Bishop who begets children in that state for if he be taken in the manner he shall not be reputed as a husband but condemned for an adulterer So S. Hierome and so plainly Baro. tom 1. ann 58. Basil ep 17 in addit as you see he pleadeth for vs that his wordes refuse all commentary and refute M. Halls contradiction and practise S. Basil writing to one Peragorius an old Priest rebuketh him sharply for taking his Presbiteram she-priest or wife into his house vpon perswasion that his great age would take away all suspition of incontinency and threatens excommunication vnles forthwith he dismissed her vrging the obseruance of the Nicen Canon and if this were not permitted vnto a Priest much lesse vnto a Bishop 30. But what need we stand vpon threats where exampls are not waÌ„ting of sharp punishments inflicted on Bishops either by themselues The pennance which Vrbicus Bishop of ClaramoÌ„t did for knowing his wife after that he was made Bishop or others for transgressed continency and that euen with their wiues of either kind I will alleadge one for the former of a Bishop who liued with S. Basil or soone after called Vrbicus The story is related by Gregorius Turonensis who writeth how this man of a Senatour before was made of the Cleargy and after the death of Stremonius whome he succeeded Bishop of Claramont his wife all this while being aliue but after the Canonicall custome separated from him Vxorem habens sayth the Author quae iuxta consuetudinem Ecclesiasticam remota à consortio sacerdotis religiose Greg. Turonen l. 1. Histor Fran. cap. 44. viuebat Hauing a wife which according to the Ecclesiasticall custome religiously liued apart from the company of the Priest whome as the weaker vessel the Diuel tempting to returne to her husband againe so far preuailed as she also tempted the Bishop but not without a Text of Scripture of the Diuels prompting reuertimini ad alterutrum ne tentet vos Satanas returne to ech other least Sathan tempt you and with often importunate recourse made him releÌ„t from that Ecclesiasticall vigour which should haue beene in one of his ranke and calling and yield to her desire But what did he thinke it lawful did he plead M. Halls impossible necessity or the posse nosse of the old Germans No such matter But ad se reuersus de perpetrato scelere condoâ—ens acturus poenitentiam Diecaesis suae Monasterium expetit ibique cum gemitu lachrimis quae commiserat diluens ad vrbem propriam est reuersus Entring into himselfe and repenting for the wicked fact he had done went to a Monastry of his diocesse to do pennance and there with sighs and teares blotting out the offences he had committed returned to his owne towne So this Author 31. And in this one example two thinges are very remarkable and cleerly conclude for vs Ecclesiasticall men liued apart from their wius vowed chastity in this behalfe first that the Ecclesiasticall custome was that when any was made Bishop if he were a marryed man his wife was to liue apart from him and secondly that both were bound to keep perpetuall chastity and neuer to claime any more matrimoniall dutyes one of the other and this later is gathered by necessary and ineuitable deduction for els why doth he cal it a wicked fact why did he do pennance for it if no prohibition entred no sinne was committed they remayning lawfull wife and husband as before which example alone is so hard a bone for M. Hall to gnaw vpon as he shall neuer be able to rid himselfe handsomely thereof being so ancient sheweth what wiues the Bishops had and what liberty in vsing them was allowed in those dayes if our Superintendents and Ministers of England had no more this controuersy had neuer byn raised but then were other tims other lawes other Bishops other beliefe 32. And least M. Hall obiect that this pennance was voluntary and proceeded of the too much scrupulosity of this Prelate let vs see another A notable example of the pennance Canonically imposed on Genebaldus for knowing his wife after that he was made Bishop of Laudun wherein by Canonical sentence and iudiciall seuerity it was inioyned Genebaldus Bishop of Laudune as Hinckmarus Archbishop of Rhemes in the life of S. Remigius reporteth being marryed vnto the Neece of the sayd Saint betaking himselfe to a religious life left her to whome he was marryed and not long after was made Bishop of Laudune and consecrated by S. Remigius himselfe but by the frequent recourse of his wife to him was tempted in the end yielded and knew her carnally againe whome for the attaining of spirituall perfection he had forsaken but Gods cals were not wanting to reclaime him nor he to Gods calls to returne backe from his errour wherefore sending for S. Remigius casting himselfe at his feet with many tears deplored his offence and that with such vehemency as he was checked for his so deep distrust which seemed to draw to despaire or to diminish that confidence which all sinners though neuer so great ought to haue in the abundant mercy of our most louing Redeemer if they be truely repentant 33. Notwithstanding this his griefe so excessiue yet did this his Metropolitan put him to S. Remigius dyed anno 545. seue repennance made him a little lodg to lye in with a bed in manner of a sepulcher with very narrow winddowes a little Oratory or praying place and therein shut him vp sealing fast the dore for seauen years togeather in which obscure den he did lead a most strict penitentiall life in so much as the same Author who is both graue and ancient relateth that at the end of the seauenth yeare when on the Wednesday in the holy week before Easter he had watched all the night in Prayer and with tears bewailed his offence he was comforted by an Angell and aduertised that his prayers were heard his pennance was accepted and the sinne forgiuen so was deliuered from
that prison and restored againe to his Bishopricke liuing al the residew of his life as the Author sayth insanctitate iustitia in holynes and vertue alwayes preaching the mercyes of God which to himselfe in such abundant measure had beene shewed 34. What thinke you of this M. Hall Was Sanderus l. 1. de Scis mat Aug. it free in these tymes for Bishops to vse their wiues as you pretend If in these dayes had byn foūd a lasciuious Crāmer with his Dutch Fraw whome when he had vsed for his harlot a while in his old age after for his comfort poore man he must needs marry being then Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England or els not to rake further into the infamous ashes of our first parents as Thorneborough of Bristow with two wiues at once what think you would they haue sayd what pēnance would they haue enioyned with what vigour and rigour also would they haue chastized such Ministers or rather monsters of the Clergy And truly these two examples being so directly against the vse of wiues and M. Hall being not able to bring one to the contrary wherein it was allowed as lawfull for any Bishop or Priest after holy Orders taken to haue any let the Reader iudge which doctrine and practise best agreeth or disagreeth most with the former tymes and purer ages as our Aduersaries sometymes will cal them of the first six hundred yeares ours or theirs for heer you haue nothing brought for them but that some Bishops had beene marryed men others made Bishops in that state which is not denyed but that then they might vse their wiues M. Hall proueth not and these examples do euince that they did not which point out of diuers Councells we shall a little after further declare 35. And for the catalogue he heere maketh of marryed Bishops it hath no more truth and Many grosse mistakings sincerity in it then the rest for besides that he citeth Authors at randome as Euseb lib. 7. cap. 29. when as there be there but 26. chapters and for things which are not to be found in him which I passe ouer as petty faults besides this I say to increase the number of his Bishops he maketh S. Basils Father a Bishop who was neuer such and further sayth the same of Gabinius brother of Eutichianus Bishop sayth he of Rome whereas Gabinius was neither brother of Eutichianus nor Bishop of Rome or of any place els but hauing beene once marryed and by his wife hauing had one daughter to wit S. Susanna the virgin and Martyr after the death of his sayd wife was made Priest and in the persecution of Diocletian the same yeare with Caius the Pope his brother but not the same day was also martyred So as heere is nothing but mistaking and whether I will or not I see M. Hall must haue a sentence of Diuorce giuen against him out of the Court of Arches for pleading no better for the marriage of Clergy men which he promised in the beginning either to free or els to vndergoe the law there is no remedy I say if iustice preuaile but that he must part from his wife or which I sooner thinke he will do must breake his promse with M. VVhiting for hither to besides vntruths abusing of Authours mistaking the question other impertinēcies nothing hath byn brought to free this matter 36. Now if as I haue shewed the practise of the Primitiue Church so I would also set Bellar. l. 1 de Cler cap. 19. Coccius tom 2. Thesaur l. 8. art 6. downe particuler testimonyes of al the Fathers both Greeke and Latin I should ouerwhelme him with multitude I will remit him only to the places cyted in the margent where he shall find store and that so great as M. Iewell confesseth in this cause our aduantage notorious saying Heere I graunt M. Harding is like to find some good aduantage as hauing vndoubtedly a great number of Iewel defence pag. 164. Fathers on his side So he But my intention is to disproue only what M. Hall doth bring and not to vrge against him to answere I meane not to dispute wherefore he hauing spent all the small store of his authorityes as little boyes who M. Hall playeth small game when they haue in play lost their money will stake their points and when all his gone fall to play at picke straw euen so this man after the Fathers words after the examples of their practise in which both as you see he is foyled and hath lost all he commeth now to play at pick-straw indeed to vrge the palea or chasse which is in Gratian as though it were good corne and out of that will proue that as one man begets another so Popes to haue begotten other Popes who succeeded them in the Episcopall Sea and albeit this fond fiction haue been long since refuted for a fable by D. Harding as it might haue Harding in his detection fol. 237. ashamed any man euer to haue mentioned it any more yet seeing it is againe brought on the stage let vs see a little what it is Thus M. Hall deliuers it 37. To omit others sayth he what should I speake of many Bishops of Rome whose sonnes not spurious as now a dayes but as Gratian himselfe Many vntruths in one passage witnesses lawfully begot in wedlocke followed their Fathers in the Pontificall Chayre the reason whereof that Author himselfe ingenuously rendreth for that marriage was euery where lawfull to the Clergy before the prohibition which must needs be late and in the Easterne Church to this day is allowed What need we more testimonyes or more examples So M. Hall In which wordes that is the first vntruth that Gratian himself witnesseth these to haue byn lawfully begotten in wedlocke for he witnesseth no such matter the witnes for this thing is the Palea or Chasse the Author whereof is different from Gratian and a more moderne writer Baronius in anno 1152. in fine as Baronius truely auoucheth and so his credit the lesse and in this particuler fancy nothing at all as now we shall see 38. The second that the sonnes of Popes now adayes are spurious which with the lye conteynes an iniurious slander for what sonnes doth this man know of Popes of our dayes I feare me in An iniurious calumniation our dayes these men will change our old Grammer and make mentiri of a Deponent to become a verbe Common for no man can passe the impure tonges and lying lips of these men without misreporting or villany We know what Nicetas Nietas in vitalgnat Constant writeth Nihil ita capit animos inuidia odieque imbutos quà m sinistra de eo quem oderis narratio Nothing so much draweth the minds of such as are possessed with enuy and hatred as a false report of him whome you hate and so knowing M. Hall your hatred we wonder lesse at this slanderous and shameles
do dwel with men in holy orders but such as haue beene often mentioned in other Councells so of a ToletaÌ„ 2. c. 3. Toledo the second the first of b Hispal 2. cap. 3. Seuill that they vow chastity so the 4. of c ToletaÌ„ 4. cap. 26. Toledo and the eight d Tolet. 8. cap. 5. of the same place where the Canon sayth Quosdam Sacerdotes Ministrâ—s obliuiscentes maiâ—rum ac veterum constitutorum aut vxorum aut quarumcumque feminarum immunda societate execrabili contagionâ— turpari c. They had vnderstood certaine Priests and other Clergy men forgetting their ancestours and old decrees to be defiled with the impure company and execrable Where was M. Hals open freedome when this Canon was made contagion of their owne wiues and other women So there And this sauours little of open freedome for all Ecclesiasticall persons to marry or enioy their wiues as you see these Fathers were so far from thinking any impossible necessity to be in the vowes of Priests as our impure Ministers do teach as they held the returne to their former wiues to be a defiling impurity and execrable contagion 123. Furthermore in the 9. Councell of Toledo there is a Canon which if it were in practise Toletan â— cap. 10. in England would much coole this feruent lust of our wanton Ministers for it is determined that from the Bishop to the Subdeacon if any by detestable wedlock being in that degree should beget children that the Fathers of these children should be put vnder Canonicall Censures A cooling Canon of the ninth Councell of Toledo and the children borne of that polluted copulation should inherit nothing of their Fathers goods but for terme of life be seruants of that Church or Churches wherof their Fathers were Priests and neuer to enioy more freedome So as the Father was deposed the child was a slaue such was the liberty which euen within the seauen hundred years possessed these parts 126. I may not pretermit the Councell of Eliberis the first that was euer held in Spaine in The decree of the Councell of Eliberis the yeare 313. in which ancient Synod is this decree which may seeme rather to be made in the Councell of Trent such vnity and vniformity there is in doctrine manner of speach and practise of the primitiue Church with this of our tyme of that Councell with ours and no lesse repugnance and contradiction with that of our aduersaryes for thus they decree Placuit in totum prohibere Episcopis Presbyteris Diaconis Concil Elibert cap. 33. Subdiaconis positis in ministerio abstinere se à coniugibus suis non generare filios quod quicumque fecerit ab honore Clericatus exterminetur It seemed good to the Councel altogeather to forbid Bishops Priests Deacons Subdeacons appointed for the mynistery of the Church to abstayne from their wiues and not to beget children which whosoeuer begets let him be deposed from the honour of the Clergy So these Fathers And this testimony in the iudgment of any that hath any iudgment left him is able to ouerweigh ten thousand Trullan Conuenticles being for tyme far before it not made in schisme neuer controled neuer condemned in this point nor shal M. Hall euer be able to shew me that euer in Spaine his imaginary freedome was tolerated much lesse permitted in that Clergy 127. In Germany within the prescript of this tyme were no Councels kept that people being not wholy reclaymed to the Christian fayth vntill some yeares after by the worthy endeauours of S. Boniface a most renowned Martyr by birth an English man after whos death which hapned in the yeare 754. there was a Councell kept in that Citty whereof he had beene Archbishop and to shew that new Church to agree Concil Mogunt Can. 10. with the old they defyned that Priests should study to preserue perpetuall chastity and in the same forbid them to haue any women in their houses but such as were allowed by the CanoÌ„s So this new Church lately conuerted to Christ togeaiher with her Christianity imbraced this purity and in alleadging the licence graunted by the Canons confirmed what we haue produced of all the former Councells 128. To conclude with Italy where this practise euen by the confession of our Aduersaryes Single life of Clergy men alwayes in vse in Italy hath euer inuiolably beene obserued and none can shew at what tyme in what part vnder what Pope or Emperour the contrary custome was euer in vse much lesse allowed in the Roman Councell called soone after the first appearance of peace in the Christian Church to wit the same yeare with the Nicen in Greece it is defined that no Subdeacon do marry or presume to violate that decree and if in this of all sacred orders the lowest and least perpetuall chastity be required much more in the other which being of themselues higher require more eminent purity chastity and if it were Chrys l. 3. de Sacerdâ—â—â—â— iâ—it possible as S. Chrysostome well obserueth more cleanes then is in Cherubim or Seraphim or any other Angelicall nature and the same for Deacons and Priests as Baronius noteth was expresly confirmed in another Councell of Rome held in the thirtenth yeare of the Emperour Mauritius and ninth of S. Gregory the Great in which is this Canon Si quis Presbyter aut Diaconus vxorem duxerit anathemasit If any Priest or Deacon marry a wife let him be accursed So as still curses and not blessings haue followed the marriage of Clergy men euen in this tyme of M. Halls prescription 129. Wherefore now to end this matter hauing against the CoÌ„uenticle of TrulluÌ„ brought A collection vpon the premito one and thirty Councells all more sacred all more approued all without any contradiction of these tymes and ensuing ages more accepted then the Councell of Trullum it will need no great deliberation to resolue or discourse to iudge or learning to decide this Controuersy in hand whether for the space of seauen hundred yeares there is nothing to be found but open freedome for all Clergy men to marry or whether this freedome were debarred when as all these Councels were held within the compasse of that tyme which condemne it this Trullan false Synod not vntill some yeares after for all is resolued to this that for seauen hundred years M. Hâ—ll finds not one Councell or ancient Father vnles perhaps some lying Heretike to make for him we haue all the Fathers with one and thirty Councells against him so as this poore soule like a naked child without any thing in his hand commeth forth to fight with a whole army well appointed and although he be not able to strike a strocke but must needs be beaten to the ground and crushed in peeces yet doth he crake that the victory is his and that al the mayne army hath defended him and his cause what
incōtinent Clergy men of Germany though liuing in the same age yet neuer mentioned S. Vdalricks epistle beene concealed but againe and againe beene produced insisted on and vrged to the vttermost 30. Or in case there had then been so smal intercourse betweene England and Germany as in more then ten or twelue yeares a matter of this brute and fame should be written in one Countrey and nothing thereof heard of or known in the other our Kings at that tyme being of the Saxon race yet how came it to passe that in the tyme of Henry the fourth Emperour when this practise was by him permitted and the Priests no lesse insolent then against the impugners of their incontinency then our Ministers are eager now for their wiues in two Synods one at Erphorde 1074. and the other the next yeare after at Mentz to omit other combats against Gregory the seauenth all which happened within the compasse of one age after S. Vdalricke how came it I say to passe that none of these Germā Priests could find this letter or so much as giue any notice therof especially Auspurg it self being taken by that wicked Emperour rifeled by the souldiers and razed to the ground No man there is which seeth not what aduantage they had gotten thereby and the thing hapning in their owne Countrey could not but haue beene knowne to some or other if not to all of that incontinent company and so many fauourers of theirs writing for them against the Pope some one or other had registred it in their behalfe which yet hitherto was neuer done and the Emperour would haue been most glad to haue had such a record to haue vexed the Pope withall and checked his decree in case any such had beene knowne or heard of in his dayes In the tyme of S. Vdalricke there was no controuersy in Germany about the marriage of Priests 31. Againe in all the tyme that S. Vdalricke was Bishop no Pope euer had any occasion to deale or treat of this point in Germany and nothing was euer done therin by any vnder whom he liued which were diuers for he was Bishop fifty yeares and many Popes in that time liued but two or three some not so much but one yeare only so as there was no cause why any such decree should be made or thought vpon or that such a letter should be written for all the variance that was in his tyme about the marriage of Priests was in England only where three yeares before the Saints death a Councell was held and the decrees which were made against the incontinent by all the Bishops of the whol land assembled about the same were after sent vnto Pope Iohn the 13. who confirmed them wherof the chiefest was that either they should put their women from them or themselues be put from their Ecclesiasticall possessions which nothing concerned S. Vdalricke and by all likely hood he neuer so much as heard thereof and if on this occasion he had written this letter to Nicholas the first it had byn of a very stale date to wit of more then a hundred years after that Pope his death 32. And as these things demonstrate S. Huldericke not to haue beene the writer so if we a little examine what is written the contents I S. Huldericks letter against the Protestants meane of this letter we shall find how far it is from all learning wit and truth as no man would offer to be cast in his cause therein vnles it be some out-cast indeed that careth for neither cause credit or conscience at all for to omit Supemacy that this letter acknowledgeth the Popes Supremacy against all Protestants and band of obseruing the vows of such as haue vowed continency against M. Hall for of the first the Authour sayth I doubted what the members of the body should do their head being so greatly out of frame for what can be more grieuous or more to be lamented touching the state of the Church then for you being the Bishop of the principall Sea to whome appertayneth the regiment of the whole Church to swarue neuer so little out of the right way So he And yet this now in England is treason by Parlament to say I meane that the Bishop of Rome is head Vowes of chastity to be obserued supreme Gouernour of the whole Church which heere as you see by this graue and learned authour as M. Fox calleth him is so plainly confessed of the other also thus truth it selfe speaking of continency not of one only but of all togeather the number only excepted of them which haue professed continency sayth he that can take let him take Which exception ouer throweth M. Hals impossible necessity togeather with the doctrin of their Church where the practical exposition of the former words is the Fryer or Priest that can take a Nunne to his wife let him take her and that without any exception at all 33. To omit this I say what a grosse and palpable vntruth is that which the Authour auerreth against such as vrged the testimony of A notorious lye in the counterfeit epistle of S. Huldrick S. Gregory for the continency of Clergy men when he sayth whose temerity I laugh at and ignorance I lament for they know not being ignorantly deceaued how dangerously the decree of this heresy was being made of S. Gregory who afterwards well reuoked the same with condigne fruit of repentance But this reuocatory decree this repentance or that the continency of Priests was an heresy in S. Gregoryes opinion are no lesse monstrous then malicious assertions neuer knowne or heard of til this letter came forth or recorded by any for the space of more then nyne hundred yeares after S. Gregoryes death that euer we can read of and so much being written of his life by Ioannes Diaconus by S. Bede Ado Freculphus and others that this by them al should be forgotten which hapned vpon so remarkable an occasion as neuer the like before or since hath euer hapned is a thing that exceeds my capacity to conceaue or any man els of iudgment to imagine and if such rotten rags may be once admitted for solid arguments there is no ground so sure but will soone be shaken and all proofs from authority will be quite taken away for any light head may soone frame more of these fictions then there are heads feigned to haue beene found in S. Gregoryes pond 34. And wheras the Councell of Rome before S. Gregory still vrged the continency of the Clergy cyted was held not long before his death in which it is decreed that if any Priest or Deacon marry a wise he be accursed And of Subdeacons he so often had determined that they should not marry nor be marryed when they were made and that no women should dwell with Priests but such as the Canons allow it well sheweth Greg. l. 1. ep 42. l. 3. ep 5. 34. l. 7. ep 112.
question and alone necdeth no proofe which if we apply to the present matter we shall find in a different subiect the same argument We deny that euer S. Huldericke wrote any such epistle how doth M. Hall proue it thus whether you call him S. Huldericus or Volusianus the matter admits no doubt but that he wrote it to which put this Minor but he who wrote the letter is Authour thereof Ergo S. Huldericke is the Author An argument more fit for some Grillus Corebus Alogus some Patch Ioll or VVill Sommer then M. Hall 46. There resteth one more vntruth in the A foule Chronographicall errour touching the tyme when S. Hulderick liued margent which is Chronographical about the tyme when S. Huldricke liued that you may perceaue how this man in all things is rash and negligent if he dispute his arguments be loose if he cyte Authours their authorytyes are either mistaken or corrupted if he inferre one thing out of another it is by wrong illation takes quid for quo the contrary to that which doth follow of his premises if for more exactnes he go about to reduce things to their proper tyme 20. or thirty years difference is not to be regarded for to be exact is against his reputation he will not be taken for such a precision and therefore heere he telleth vs Huldericus Episcopus Argustae anno 860. which is iust thirty yeares before he was borne and yet after his birth he liued either thirty three or thirty foure before he was made Bishop so as he is heer made to be Bishop of Auspurg more then three score years before his tyme are not these men exact writers trow you on whose fidelity so many men with such assurance may rely their saluation 47. And to end all this matter as though An vntruth ioyned with a contradiction he had not hitherto giuen vs vntruths inough he addeth for the finall vpshot one more that also combyned with a contradiction when he sayth after Vdalricus so strong did he plead and so happily for two hundred yeares more this freedome still blessed these parts yet not without extreme opposition historyes are witnesse of the busy and not vnlearned combats of those tymes in this argument So he And I cannot but tell him out of the Comicke Non sat commodè diuisa sunt temporibus tibi Daue haec These tymes agree no better then did the other of S. Vdalricks letter to the first Nicholas and vntrue it is that euer he pleaded so happily so strongly who neuer opened his mouth in this controuersy vntrue it is that this carnal freedome blessed these parts for two hundred yeares more after his death for vnder Pope Gregory the seauenth he confesseth presently after that this cause was vtterly ruined and betweene the death of these two I meane S. Vdalricke Gregory the seauenth there is but one hundred and twelue years and whereas that Pope dealt in that matter some yeares before his death it will follow euen by the graunt of M. Hall himselfe that this cause so strongly so happily pleaded for in the compasse of one age was quite ouerborne and vtterly ruined so as by this account M. Hall in setting downe two hundred years reckoneth only but one hundred too much which is not much in him so subiect euery where to errour and so careles in his assertions as almost nothing cometh from him out of any learning or truth that is in Controuersy betweene vs. The imaginary pleading of S. Vdalricu◠neither strong not happy 48. Againe there is a manifest contradiction in these words for if vpon this strong and happy pleading this freedome blessed the parts of the Latin Church how had it such extreme opposition for before this tyme there was nothing els in M. Halls iudgment but full possession of this freedome and the contrary not to haue preuayled till more then a thousand yeares after Christ so as all the blessing was before S. Vdalricks pleading and all the opposition after and how is not that pleading to beheld rather weak and vnlucky then strong and happy which had no other effect then extreme opposition and quite ouerthrow of the cause defended by that plea For what successe could be more vnfortunate then to be cast in a cause so vehemētly vrged debated with such heate and that betweene the supreme Pastour for authority and a most eminent Bishop for sanctity of those tims which contradiction is made more palpable by the next ensuing words in his letter for thus he writeth 49. But now when the body of Antichristianisme A heap of vntruths began to be complet so it pleaseth this light Companion to prattle and to stand vp in his absolute shape after a thousand yeares from Christ this liberty which before wauered vnder Nicholas the first now by the handes of Leo the ninth Nicholas the second and that brand of hell Gregory the seauenth was vtterly ruined wiues debarred single life vrged So M. Hall And truely if Leo the 9. and Nicholas the second ruined this matter this plea had so short a blessing and so quicke a crosse as it remayned on foote little more then fifty yeares and that still in continuall contradiction vntill it was extinguished and so as before out of two hundred we rebated one so out of that one we must take another halfe leaue him but fifty if his owne words be true that this was ruined by Leo the ninth as heere he pretendeth and the blessing he talketh of is resolued to this that presently this marriage matter was contradicted and the contradiction so followed as it preuailed and this supposing what he sayth to be true of these men and matter which yet are so false as they conteyne in them to speake the least more lyes then lines which I will briefly touch in order 50. The first is that vnder these Popes the body of Antichristianisme began to be complete for all The first vntruth the Popes he nameth to wit Nicolas the first Leo the ninth Nicolas the second and Gregory the 7. were all very holy men all learned al excellent Gouernours of Christs Church and the second Nicolas excepted all registred in the Catalogue of Saints and our Protestants of the primitiue Church in England were wont to tell vs that this body was complete in the tyme of Bonisace the third whome idly they would haue to be that singular Antichrist descrybed in Daniels prophesy and the Apocalyps of S. Iohn some haue much laboured to draw the number of his name to agree vnto the tyme whē he was made Pope with other impertinencyes and if M. Hall make the denyall of Priests marriage the complementall perfection of this body for all the heauen and happynes which these men haue is in their wiues and whatsoeuer sauours or fauours not that is Antichristian then was it complete for some hundreds of years before any of them were borne or thought on as the authorityes of
in a few lines for first it is an vntruth to say that such as misliked or rather condemned the decreee of Pope Gregory were the better sort for then the best of them I meane VVilliam Bishop of Mastrick in Flanders had neuer come to that disastrous end as the historyes do mention that he did for none was more earnest for the Emperour none more eager against the Pope none a greater enemy to al order The wickednes of William Bishop of Mastrick none dealt more none so much in that Councell of VVormes as he for he forced Adalbert Bishop of Herbipolis or VVirtzburg and Herimanus Bishop of Mets to subscribe against the Pope was as Baronius out of Lambertus and others hold him the only Authour of that schisme the Emperour doing nothing without his counsaile direction and when by the Pope afterwards as well he as the Emperour were both excommunicated for the same he being at Mastricke when the newes therof was brought him the Emperour being also there at the tyme of Masse according to his wont he preached vnto the people taught them to contemne the Popes excommunication laughed and made sport at the sentence and being eloquent in speach vsed all the art he could to make light all Ecclesiastical censures to extenuate the Popes authority to complaine of the wrong done him and to canuase part by part the iudiciall sentence made against him which to that wicked Emperour and his light Courtiers made good pastime 68. But these mery sermons ended not so merily for after the holy dayes of Easter ended the Emperour departed this Bishop still Bruno in histor belli Saxonici Lambertus in Chron. aâ—j continuing on his wonted veyne of iesting rayling and contemning all authority euen in the pulpit within lesse then two moneths after the Councell of VVormes he fell sicke went home and the disease increasing there stood by him one of the Emperours family who ready to depart after the Emperour asked what he would command him to his Maister mary quoth the Bishop I send him this message Quod ipse ego omnes cius iniquitati sauentes damnati sumus in A heauy message perpetuum That he and I and all such as fauour his wickednes are damned for euer this was the last message he sent his ghostly child Henry the Desperation fourth and being rebuked by some of his Clergy who were about him for his desperate speach he answered them I can say no otherwise then I see and find for the Diuels enuiron my bed round about that they may take my soule as soone as it is separated from the body therefore when I shall be dead I request you all faithfull people that you trouble not your selues in praying for my soule So this most miserable man the authour and inciter of this tragedy departed this life Who whether he were of the better sort needs no declaration for God giuing the sentence who neuer in such matters forsaketh his friends the matter is out of all doubt or controuersy 69. And the Authour I follow hauing set downe this narration with some more particulers Bruno in hist belli Saxonici which I let passe thus further discourseth Et cur eum solum dico miserabiliter obijsse cum manifestum sit omnes ferè Henrici familiares fideles aequè miseras mortes incurrisse cos miseriores qui fuerant illi fideliores quòd fides illa verè erat perfidia And why do The followers of Henry the 4. M. Halls better sort of men dyed miserably I recouÌ„t this man alone to haue dyed miserably when as it is euident almost all the faythfull friends of Henry to haue had the like miserable ends and those more miserable who were more faythfull vnto him because that fidelity was nothing els but plaine perfidiousnes So he And then setteth down many particulers of the ends of the chiefest Authours instigatours and followers of the Emperour in all his bad courses which were very strange disastrous and lamentable The Patriark who sent from the Pope by seduction adhered after vnto Henry togeather with fifty other of his retinew dyed sodainly the same hapned to Vdo Bishop of Treuirs Eppo another Bishop riding ouer a riuer so shallow as one might wade it ouer on foot without danger was therein no lesse miserably then miraculously drowned and not to insist on other particulers there related the end of the Emperour himselfe was such as well shewed how pleasing vnto God how gratefull vnto men or rather to friendes and enemyes yea euen to his owne children how base and abominable his actions were 70. For after a long rebellion against the chiefe Pastour his spirituall Father and Superiour as he was a disobedient child to his mother The vnfortunate end of Henry the fourth the Church so were his children no lesse rebellious vnto him it falling out with him as it did with our second Henry vpon the like occasion with his Primate S. Thomas after whose death his owne children Henry Richard and Iohn were in continuall reuolt and conspiracy against him euen till his dying day so likewise the Emperour hauing two sonnes Conrade and Henry the first being made King of Germany and thereby declared heir apparent of the Empire because he would not obey his Father in a most filthy action as Dodechinus and Helmoldus relate and out of them Sigonius left his Father tooke Lombardy from him and what els he had in Italy for which the crowne of Germany was taken from him by his Father though otherwise he were a worthy Prince of goodly personage and excellent gifts of mind which made him beloued and admired of all and bestowed it on his yonger brother Henry who more like his Father then Conrade neuer left to prosecute his sayd Father by armes till he had put him from the Empyre ouerthrowne him in the field got him as Sigonius sayth after the discomfiture susteyned in the wars into his hands wher he forced or as some wil haue it famished him to death and then left his body for fiue yeares vnburyed at the towne of Spira in Germany and this Henry prouing no better an Emperour then the Father whome he had deposed God not permitting that wicked race to run on further ended the same in this Henry his person translated the Empire vnto the Saxons of all other most hated by the two former Emperours as he did the like in our King Henry the eight his children who all dyed without issue 71. Another vntruth it is that the Churches did ech where ring of him for Antichrist which is as false as any thing can be imagined for although in Germany such as followed the Emperour might vse many insolent termes yet they neuer that Pope Gregory the 7. neuer by his enemies branded with the name of Antichrist I haue read vsed this so far were all Churchs from vsing the like liberty of
as after appeared in the Chalcedon Councell so heere in VVormes the Emperor being present his chiefe Agent VVilliam of Mastricke of whome we haue before spoken insteed of al arguments vrged by the other for the Pope brought one dilemmaticall demonstration to conclude the whole busines to the contrary it is the same which now our Protestants do vse to wit eyther you must condemne the Pope or you are all traytours vnto the Emperour Whereupon all the Imperiall Bishops there gathered subscribed but the Saxons refused and these who did subscribe were presently so moued with compunction as they sent their letters to the Pope deploring their fault craning pardon for what was past for the tyme to come promised continuall and inuiolable obedience which more particulerly is set down by Bruno in his history of the Saxon wars saying See Baron ann 1076. Quod quidem pauci secerunt ex animo qui auctores ipsi fuere consilij pluresverò literas quidem c. Which few of them did do from their hart and those who did it were the Authours that suggested this plot to the Emperour but the far greater part wrote their letters of renouncing the Pope for feare of death but that they did it against their wills they well shewed by this that by the first oportunity offered they sent their submissiue letters vnto the Pope acknowledged themselues guilty but pretended for excuse the necessity they were put vnto So he 77. And this Authour liuing as it should seeme either in or neer that tyme and being exact in his reports all may see how little M. Halls cause is furthered by this Conuenticle where as there were no French Bishops at all so neither did all the Germans yield therunto and such as subscribed very soon after as I haue sayd with griefe and shame repented them of their errour and excused it with the feare of present death in case they had then refused to performe what the tyrant exacted and it is another vntruth to say that these Bishops deposed the Pope Gregory not deposed in the Councell of Wormes Pope for all that the Emperour made was to make the Bishops renounce their obedience and not to acknowledge him for Pope so it is expressed in the very forme of their renounciation which is put downe in these wordes in the forsayd Authour to wit Ego N. Ciuitatis N. Episcopus Hildebrando subiectionem obedientiam ex hac hora ac deinceps interdico eum posihac Apostolicum nec habebo nec vocabo I N. Bishop of the Citty N. do from this houre forward deny subiection and obedience vnto Hildebrand and from henceforth will neither esteeme him nor call him Pope So these Bishops 78. By which wordes albeit they exempt themselues from his power and deny him to be Pope yet touching his deposition they did not intermeddle and the Messenger called Roland sent from the assembly to Pope Gregory with menacing letters from the Emperour which were read openly by the Pope in the Lateran Councell then held in Rome where they were condemned by the whole Synod Henry himselfe for writing them was excommunicated conteyned in them no sentence of deposition but a childish threat that he should leaue the place or they would leaue him But the Pope was not so weak a reed as to bend with so light a blast and the most part of these Bishops who are heere made to threaten deposition wrot to the Pope to persist and not to yield to so open iniquity and the combat was worthy of the knowne courage and vertue of this most constant and learned Pope and therfore after when the Emperour saw his wast wordes to haue no effect he went indeed about to depose him put another in his place to wit Guibertus of Rauenna vnder the name of Clement the second as fit a man to be Pope as Henry was to be the Emperour and none acknowledged him but Henryes followers and flatterers but this happened more then three yeares after the meeting at VVormes as Baronius out of others doth well obserue 79. Another vntruth it is that this deposition was made in this name a fine phrase amongst other quarrells for separating man and wise For neither in the Councell of VVormes was this euer mentioned nor afterwards when the false Pope was Separating of Priests from their Harlots not vrged against Gregory in the Councell of Wormes nor yet in the iniurious sentence of his deposition chosen did the Emperour in his patheticall letters to the Clergy of Rome or Pope himselfe in which he setteth downe his agricuances and causes of depositiō euer specify any such thing which letters are in Baronius and Bruno set forth at large and none could better tell the true cause then he who was the chiefe actour in all that tragedy and yet not only he in those epistles wherein he purposely yieldeth a reason if any thing might be tearmed a reason for so vnreasonable and outragious dealing why he proceeded so far as deposition doth so much as once touch this point but only his owne personall iniuryes and the excommunication of his Bishops as Symoniacall with the ill election as he would haue it and other crimes imputed to the Pope himselfe but moreouer no other Authors of these tyme do write any such thing as Lambertus Marianus Scotus Sigebertus Mutius Bruno or any els of credit and therfore M. Hall must tell vs from whence he fetcheth the Latin wordes of his margent that in this name among other quarrels he was deposed maritos ab vxoribus separat he separats the husbands from their wiues which Gregory neuer did but only the lewd Priests from their concubines and the Emperour as we see neuer obiected it so as still there is forging or taking vp of Authorityes at the first hand out of late hereticall writers without any choic at all or further discussion what truth or probability their words do beare 80. Lastly he sayth that violence did this not reason neither was Gods will heere questioned but the Popes wilfulnes but all is false and it seemeth the man to haue made a vow if it may be so termed neuer to speake truly which is a filthy vow to that he may well apply the whole rule he mentioned in the beginning of his letter in turpi voto muta decretum in a filthy vow change the decree and the sooner he changeth it the more men will commend his honesty for heere neither violence nor willfullnes entred Not violence for he neuer waged warre neuer incyted others thereunto for this matter but only renewed his decrees and those for the most part No violence vsed in Gregoryes decrees made in Councells commaunding the ancient custome of single life to be kept in vre and the abuse of marriage crept into some parts of Europ to be suppressed other violence as tymes and things then went he could shew none neither indeed by that means could he