much upon the Clergy afterward though the King and Temporal Lords oftentimes prov'd sturdy Matt. Paris fo 361 362. For Pope Gregory the ninth An. D. 1229. demanded a Tenth of the moveables both of the Lay and of the Clergy to which the Lords would not consent Nolentes Baronias vel Laicas possessiones Rom. Ecclesiae obligare but the Clergy with some grumbling pay'd it And eleven years after he demanded a fifth part of the goods of the Clergy upon which great debate was taken Matt. Paris An. 1240. fo 536. the Clergy appealing to the King that they held their Baronies of the King and could not charge them without his consent that having before given a Tenth this again of a Fifth might create a custom with divers other weighty reasons But all would not do for the King was not against it and the Archbishop for his private ends beginning to deposite all were drawn in at last to pay which occasion'd that complaint the year following Id. fo 549. That there remain'd not so much treasure in the Kingdom as had in three years bin extorted from it the vessels and ornaments of the Church excepted But notwithstanding that reluctancy Matt. Paris fo 549. 666. 701. notwithstanding that notable Remonstrance preferred in the Council of Lions An. D. 1245. from the body of the Kingdom of the heavy burdens the Nation lay under by the exactions of Rome and likewise to the Pope himself the year following Pope Innocent the fourth invented a new way to charge every Religious House to find a number of Souldiers yearly for his service and to fight for the Church militant and about the same time attempted also ut si Clericus extunc decederet intestatus ejusdem bonas in usus D. Papae converterentur that is the Pope would make himself heir or Executor to every Clark that should dye intestate and not long after it was that he received from the Clergy eleven thousand Marks as an addition to six thousand he had receiv'd the year before And then and from that time the Pope made no spare to drain and exhaust the English Clergy at his pleasure to the shameful scandal of the Holy See at that time and to the notorious ignominy poverty and contempt of this Church and the Clergy thereof Matt. Westm Flor. Hist in An. 1301. And of these times it was that Matthew Westminster makes this complaint Porro illis diebus sal terrae caput vulgi in magnum Hydropem ceciderunt quanto enim plus pecuniam humorem hauriebant tanto amplius eam sitiebant Sedit ergo in tristitia fidelium Ecclesia deducta per vocales tutores suos miserabiliter sub tributo In those dayes the Head of the people was fallen into a dropsie which the more money it suck'd in the more it thirsted after more therefore the Church of the faithful sat disconsolate being by her Governours brought under a most miserable tribute and servitude An. D. 1302. Annal. of Ireâ— in Camb. Brit. fo 163. At this time also it was that these grievous exactions reached into Ireland recorded in the Annals thereof That the Tenths of all Ecclesiastical Benefices in England and Ireland were exacted by Pope Boniface the eight for three years as a Subsidy to the Church of Rome against the King of Arragon Neither did our Hyperborean neighbours escape Scot-free in this deluge of exaction Tho. Walsing Hist fo 48. Ypodig Neust fo 89. Flor. Hist in Ed. 1. fo 417. H. Knighton Coll. c. Pol. Vergil Fabian Speed c. Nay no less there would satisfie the Pope but the whole Kingdom for it was that Boniface the eight that then claimed the whole Realm of Scotland as part of St. Peters Patrimony against our K. Edward the first and sent his Bull of demand to the King for that purpose between whom there passed several Answers and Replies in the point and the conclusion was That the incroaching Pope was glad to sit down worsted in the cause the transactions of all which stand registred amongst the Tower Records exemplified at large to posterity by Walsingham Matthew Westminster Knighton and more briefly by others But all this while the poor Clergy languished being continually pill'd poll'd and squeezed by the unlimited avarice of this Pope and his successors emptying the Kingdom of its money and filling it with complaints the product of its poverty CHAP. IV. King John 's Pension THe troublesom raign of our King John is sufficiently related by all our Historians in whose straits the Pope appeared sometimes for him and sometimes against him but once taking him in a great exigence Jo. Serres Hist in Phil. August Matt. Paris in An 1213. fo 236. the King was wrought upon to surrender his Crown to Pandulfus the Pope's Legate and substitute laying the same with his Scepter Robe Sword and Ring the Royal Ensigns at his feet subscribing also as is said to a Charter whereby he surrendred his Kingdom to the Pope and professing that thence forward he would hold his Crown as a Feudatary to the Pope and paying an annual Pension or Tribute of 1000 marks for both his Kingdoms of England and Ireland the insolent behaviour of the Legate at this the Historians fully describe which I list not now to insist on but cannot but remember that Matt. Paris says that with this Charter and 10000 l. sterl in hand Id. fo 237. Pandulfus goes triumphing away to Rome But then when or how long after this yearly rent or tribute of 1000 marks was paid our Writers seem not to agree though all concur in the invalidity of the surrender Vid. Speed Chron. in vita Johan Rot. Parl. An. 40 Ed. 3. And at a Parliament held at Westm An. 40 Ed. 3. the Chancellour then Bishop of Ely declared to the Lords and Commons How the King understood that the Pope for the Homage that K. John did to the See of Rome for the Realms of England and Ireland and for the Tribute by him granted meant by Process to cite the King to Rome to Answer thereunto wherein the King required their advice The Bishops for themselves desired respite of Answer till the next day as also did the Peers and Commons at which time the whole Estate came together and by common consent Enacted and Declared That forasmuch as neither King John nor any other King could bring this Realm and Kingdom in such thraldom and subjection but by common assent of Parliament the which was not done And therefore that which he did was against his Oath at his Coronation besides many others causes If therefore the Pope should attempt any thing against the King by process or other matters in deed that the King with all his Subjects should with all their force and power resist the same Then for the Tribute or Pension of 1000 marks it appears to have been sometimes paid with intermissions for Pope Honorius having gratified K. Hen.
Sureties shall pay only a Fourth part of the First Fruits If he live out the year and dye or be outed within six moneths after the year then only half the First Fruits shall be paid If he live out the year and half and dye or be outed within two years then only three quarters thereof shall be paid But if he live out two whole years then the whole First Fruits are to be paid these Bonds being of like force as a Statute Staple And thus the First Fruits and Tenths stand at this day Concerning which it may be further noted that the Bishop of Norwich antiently had Fitzherbert Tit. Jurisdiction 22. 19 Ed 3. and enjoyed by Prescription the First Fruits within his Diocess of all Churches after every avoidance as also had the Archdeacon of Richmond within his Archdeaconry but these also were given to the Crown by the said Statute of 26 Hen. 8. cap. 3. What great summs were antiently paid to the Popes upon these accounts by the rule of proportion may be guessed at but no other certainty known but that they were very great as by the complaints about them and the impoverishing of the Realm by that means of which you shall hear more may be observed And what every Bishop paid to the See of Rome at his entrance for First Fruits I find thus particularized viz. Canterbury is rated in the Kings Books at the summ of 2816 l. 17 s. 9 d. and used to pay to the Pope Gâ—d wâ— de Praes Angâ— Note that every Floren contained 4 s. 6 d. of our money Dâ—â—a 8 s. for First Fruits 10000 Florens besides 5000. for his Pall. London is valued at 1119 l. 8 s. 4 d. and used to pay to the Pope for First Fruits 3000 Florens Winchester is valued at 2491 l. 9 s. 8 d. ob and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 12000 Ducats Ely is valued at 2134 l. 18 s. 5 d. ob q. and paid to the Pope 7000 Ducats Lincoln is valued in the Kings Books 894 l. 18 s. 1 d. ob and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 5000 Ducats Coventry and Lichfield rated in the Exchequer at 559 l. 17 s. 7 d. ob q. and paid to the Pope some say 1733 Ducats others but 300. Salisbury is valued at 1385 l. 5 s. ob and paid to the Pope upon every vacancy 4500 Ducats Bath and Wells is valued at 533 l. 15 d. and paid to the Pope at the ingress of every new Bishop only 430 Florens Quod miror saith Bishop Godwin in regard it was esteem'd one of the richest Sees in England Exeter by a late valuation set in the time of King Ed. 6. is valued at 500 l. and yet paid heretofore to the Pope for First Fruits 6000 Ducats Norwich valued at 899 l. 8 s. 7 d. q. and used to pay to the Pope upon every vacancy 5000 Ducats Worcester valued at 1049 l. 17 s. 3 d. ob q. and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 2000 Florens Hereford valued at 768 â— 10 s. 10 d. ob q. and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 1800 Florens Chichester valued at 677 l. 15 d. and used to pay to the Pope 333 Ducats as an Income Rochester valued at 385 l. 3 s. 6 d. and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 1300 Florens St. David's valued in the Kings Books at 426 l. 22 d. ob and paid to the Pope 1500 Florens Landaff valued at 154 l. 14 s. 1 d. and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 700 Florens Bangor valued in the Exchequer at 132 l. 16 s. 4 d. ob and paid to the Pope for First Fruits 126 Florens St. Asaph valued at 131 l. 16 s. 4. d. ob and paid for First Fruits to the Pope 126 Florens York Archbishoprick payes to the King for First Fruits 1609 l. 19 s. 7 d. and paid to the Pope 10000 Ducats besides 5000 for the Pall. Durham valued at 1821 l. 17 d. and used to pay to the Pope for First Fruits 9000 Florens Carlisle valued at 531 l. 4 s. 11 d. ob and used to pay to the Pope on every avoidance 1000 Florens What was paid to the Pope for Spiritual Livings other than Bishopricks we must conclude it uncertain though certainly very great part whereof as also from the Bishopricks was annual and certain as the Tenths and part casual and uncertain as the First Fruits depending on the uncertain deaths of Incumbents and such as did succeed them But besides these ordinary and known rates and summs payable as Fines or Incomes at first entrance and the annual summs proportioned from them as aforesaid it commonly and generally hapned that some other vast summs extraordinary went to Rome before any Bishop could be absolutely setled in his See and that upon Appeals and several other accounts of which we will here give a few instances By the death of Geffrey Plantagenet the Arch-bishoprick of York becoming void Godw. in vita Walteri Gray Eborac Simon Langton Brother of Stephen Langton was chosen Archbishop by Capitular Election but because Stephen was fallen into the Pope's displeasure and suspended the Pope refused to confirm Simon and sent order they should choose another whereupon Walter Gray was pitch'd upon and recommended to the Pope's approbation with this commendation that he had never known woman in all his life At which the Pope swore by St. Peter Virginity was in those dayes a great vertue and he should be the man But the private agreement was that Walter should give the Pope ten thousand pound Sterling for payment whereof he became bound in the Court of Rome which cast him into such a debt that he was necessitated to be continually scraping to discharge his bond and for that reason as my Author sayes the Bishop is by all Historians charactered to have bin a most niggardly and penurious man At another time Matt. Paris in An 1243. Hâ—n 3. the Bishoprick of Winchester being void the Monks made choice of one William de Raley alià s Radley but altogether against the mind of the King who intended another and therefore the King sent his Messengers Theobald a Monk of Westminster and Mr. Alexander a Lawyer with a great summ of money to Rome to get the election vacated and commanded the Magistrates to shut the Gates of Winchester against him whereby Raley finding himself repulsed he curses and interdicts the whole City of Winchester and posts away to Rome where in despite of the King he gets his election confirmed upon the tender of eight hundred marks of which the Pope as the Historian sayes would not abate him one penny whereby he was constrained also to live a miser and in debt all his dayes The Bishoprick of Durham being once vacant Acts and Mâ—n Tâ—m 1. fo 259. and several putting in for the place King Henry the third laboured what he could that Mr. Lucas his Chaplain should be elected but the Monks slighting the King made choice of one William
Silver gilt A Silver gilt Cross with the Crucifix St. Mary and St. John having on the top some part of the wood of the Holy Cross Many other curious Crosses and Crucifixes Many other Coffers Chests Boxes and Vessels all stuffed with precious Reliques Agnus Dei's Beads c. The Rochet of St. Edmund Archbishop of Cant. The Reliques of St. Apollonia and a multitude more On the top of the spire was a great Cross Contin Matt. Westm in An. 1314. wherein were many Reliques of divers Saints put there by Gilbert de Segrave Bishop of London to the intent that by the glorious merits of those Saints the Steeple might be preserved from Tempests King Canutus Speed Chron. in Canut as our Historians generally say in his return from Rome bought at Pavia the Arme of St. Augustin the great Doctor of the Church and gave it unto Coventre for which he paid one hundred Talents of Silver and one of Gold though others say it was Egelnotus Hen d'Knighton cod fo 2318. Godwin in vita Egelnoti Archbishop of Canterbury that bought it and as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his respect to Earl Leofric gave it to his City of Coventre But were it the one or the other I find not any abatement in the price which being so large it gave it the greater reputation to draw multitudes with great expences to visite it But the bounty of this K. Canutus appear'd most excessive to the Abby of Hide near Winchester to which he gave a Cross Cambd. Britt in Hanshire fo 266. Speed in vita Canuti so costly for the materials and curious for the making that he bestowed as much thereon as his own years revenue of all England amounted to But the fate of this Costly Cross was that about the raign of K. Henry the sixth it was burn'd with the whole Monastery by the malice and practice of Honry de Blois Bishop of Winchester To all these Reliques and hallowed wares and infinite more ejusdem farinae wherewith our Abbies monasteries and Cathedrals were furnished according to the blind and extravagant devotion of those times a strange veneration and esteem was had by the People until the Reformation made many notable discoveries of the cheats and delusions wrought in and by them as Our Lady's Girdle shewed in eleven several places and her milk in eight Lo. Herb. Hist Hen. 8. fo 431. The Bell of St. Guthlac and the Felt of St. Thomas of Lancaster both remedies for the Head-ach The Penknife and Boots of St. Thomas of Canterbury and a piece of his shirt much reverenced and confided in by great-bellyed women The Coals that roasted St. Laurence Two or Three Heads of St. Vrsula Malchus his Ear. And the parings of St. Edmund's nails The Image of an Angel with one wing which brought hither the spears head that pierced Christ's side An Image of our Lady with a Taper in her hand as burned nine years without wasting till one forswearing himself thereon it went out and was then found to be but a piece of wood Our Lady of Worcester from which certain veils and dressings being taken away there appear'd the Statue of a Bishop ten foot high Our Lady of Walsingham Cambd. Brit. in Norfolk Stow in An. 1538. the termina of many a costly but fruitless Pilgrimage The Rood of Grace at Boxley in Kent made with divers vices and wiers to turn the eyes and move the lips was shewed publickly at Paul's Cross by John Bishop of Rochester and there broken and pull'd in pieces the people laughing at that which they ador'd but an hour before And here it will not be amiss a little further to give you the Legend of this famous H. Rood which I find this Lambert Peramb of Kent in Boxley An English Artist being taken Prisoner in the warrs between us and France and wanting money for his ransome set his wits on work to make some famous piece and having got some materials he made a curious Rood the like had never bin seen The Rood of Grace at Boxly for it's gestures and moving all it's Joints as bowing the head lifting up it's self rolling the eyes shaking the hands knitting the brows c. which being finished he got leave upon his parol to bring it into England to sell and make money of it for a ransome and layd it on the back of a Jade which he drove before him coming to Rochester and staying there to drink the Jade went forwrds a way not intended by the Master and stayed not till he came to Boxly and running to the Abby Church dore he made such a knocking and bouncing against the dore with his heels that at the noise the Abbot and Monks came and open'd the dore which no sooner done but the beast rush'd in and ran to a certain piller and there stood whilst the monks were busie in taking off the load in comes the owner puffing and sweating and satisfying them that the Jade with his load was his property endeavours to lead him out of the Church but notwithstanding all his beating and pulling the resty beast would not stir one inch from the piller then he takes off the Image thinking to carry it away himself but that would not stir neither and therefore after much heaving and lifting to no purpose they all thought that God had sent and destin'd it to that House like another Palladium and so the Abbot and Monks giving the Master his price for it they set it up just at that piller where it stood for many years doing rare feats to the inriching of the House till it was easily removed to Paul's Cross and there uncased as you have heard before In the same Church there was also the Image of St. S. Rumwald Rumwald which was a very small one the representation of a Boy-Saint and the use of this Image was this If you were minded to have any Benefit by the Rood of Grace you must be shriven by one of the Monks first and then by lifting at this St. Rumwald proof was made whether you were in clean life as they said or no and if you proved to be clean then was your way made for your offering to be accepted before the holy Rood If you were not clean which was known by your not being able to lift that little Image then you must be confess'd again on presumption you had conceal'd some foul sins But then here was the trick on 't the Image being small hollow and light that a Child of seven years old might easily lift it there was a divice to fasten it to a post with a pin of wood which a Knave standing behind could put in and out as he list which pin being put in the strongest man could not stir it and then when any person offered bountifully the pin was pulled out that he might easily lift it but to one that prov'd stingy the Image would not stir at all and
Priests the lewdest are made Cardinals and of the Cardinals the worst are chosen Popes But the most famous that sprung up there of the English growth of both sorts take as follows Pope Joan shall lead the dance Pope Joan. Plaâ—ina in vita J. han 8. Jo. Bale in vita ejus Et Godw. Alex. Cook of Pope Jour of whom much might be said but let it suffice here to be known That all writers agree her to be English by Parentage though some say she was born at Mentz in Germany others that she was born in England When she came to ripe age she ran away in man's apparel with a Monk of Fulda and studied in many famous Academies both of the Greeks and Latins especially Athens where her Paramour dyed and then she came to Rome where in Disputations and Scholastick exercises An. Dom. 855. she got such a fame that after the death of Leo the fourth she was elected Pope which office she exercised two years Contulit sacros ordines promovit Episcopos ministravit sacramenta caeteraque Rom. Pont. exercuit munera Cor. Agrip. de Van. scient cap. 62. de fact monast O Lucina fer opem five months and three days celebrating Mass giving Orders and acting in all things her part as a compleat Pope only wanting the Masculine Gender But so it proved that in the time of her Papacy she was gotten with Child and going to the Lateran between Colosses and St. Clements she fell in â—â—bour but wanting a Mid-wife and other accommodations requisite in that case she there dyed and for the scandal thereof her successors in all their Processional pomps have ever since avoided that way and to prevent the like to come the Porphyry Chair was devised Sabellic lib. 1. Aenead 9. thus described by Sabellicus Spectatur adhuc in Pontificia domo marmorea sella circa medium inanis qua novus Pontifex residat ut sedentis genitalia ab ultimo Diacono attrectentur A marble Chair with a hole in the seat wherein the new Pope fitting the junior Deacon may handle his Genitals This story of Pope Joan the modern Pontificians do not like though related by all these Writers and who were all Romanists Marianus Scotus Sigebertus Gemblacencis Martinus Polonus Sabellicus Mantuanus Johan Parisiensis Antoninus Nauclerus Fascic Temp. Author Fulgosus Theodoric à Nyem Ravisius Textor Laonicas Chalcondylas Fran. Petrarcha Johannes Boccacius Ranulph Cestrensis Johan Lunidus Alph. de Cartagena Jo. Tritemius Palmerius Valatteranus Canstantin Phrygio Christ Masseus Anselm Rid. Supplem Chron. Author Chronic. Chronicorum Gotefridus Viterbiensis And for them all Platina the famous writer of the Popeâ—s lives who tells all the story at large concluding thus Platina in vita Johan 8. Quae ideo ponere breviter nude institui ne obstinate nimium pertinaciter videar omisisse quod fere omnes affirmant that is He would not omit the relation because almost all men then believ'd it to be true Nicholas Breakspear Adrian 4. An. D. 1154. born at Langley near to St. Alban's in the County of Hartford acquir'd the Popedom by the name of Adrian the fourth This man suffered Frederick the Emperour to hold his stirrop as he alighted from his Horse and then checkt him for not shewing himself an expert Groom and after excommunicates him for standing upon his right and writing his name before the Popes but not therewithal sufficiently revenged and with his Cardinals conspiring to ruine the Emperour sending a Counterfeit to stab him and an Arabian to poyson him he was choak'd with a Fly that got into his Throat verifying what he used often to say That none can be more unfortunate than to be made Pope William Grisant Urban 5. An. D. 1362. Tho. Walsingh Hist fo 172. an Englishman obtain'd the Papacy by the name of Vrban the fifth Of this man Thomas Walsingham tells this story That he waiting long in the Court of Rome for preferment and none coming he complain'd to his friend that he verily thought in his heart if all the Churches in the world should fall yet none would fall upon his head but when he was Crowned Pope his friend remembred him of what he had said and told him he had now gotten on his Head all the Churches in the world But the vertue of them all could not preserve him from poyson Balaeus in vita ejus of which he dyed at Marseils in his return as is said into Italy Geffry of Monmouth Geffry of Monmouth Pontic Virun Ciacon Magdeburgens the famous Historian is affirmed by some to have been a Cardinal But the very learned Bishop Godwin in the Lives of the Bishops of St. Asaph of which this Geffry was one much doubts it I think it not worth the while now to examine the business or seasonable to animadvert upon the fabulosity of his History only there comes to mind a story that Roger Hoveden tells of him Rog. Hovedâ—n pars posterior Hen. 2. fo 544. how once he was slurr'd both of his Bishoprick of St. Asaph and the Abbacy of Abingdon when he cunningly designed to have held both The story is thus In a Council then held the Clergy of St. Asaph beseeched the Archbishop of Canterbury that out of the plenitude of his power he would command Geffry their Bishop to return to his Cure and charge or send them another in his stead for that he had withdrawn himself from them and being come into England King Henry had given him the Abbacy of Abingdon then voidâ—â— whereupon the Archb. convented Geffry before the Council and injoined him either presently to return to his charge or to resign it and stand to favour in hope whereof he resigns into the hands of the Archbishop by delivering up his Ring and Pastoral staff But the consequence was that thereby he became strip'd of both for the King presently gave the Bishoprick to one Adam a Welchman and the Abbacy to a certain Monk Boso Boso An. D. 1155. Balaeus an Englishman was made a Cardinal of whom nothing is left memorable but that by his vehement stickling he prov'd mainly instrumental in the Election of Alexander the third to the Popedom against the strong factions of Victor Innocentius Paschalis and Calixtus who all stood for the place and thereupon came to participate of the alternate fortunes of his Master in his bickerings with the Emperour at that time Stephen Langton was created Cardinal of St. Steph. Largton An. D. 1206. Matr. Paris Antiquit Britt in Steph. Langt Godw. in vita Chrysogon and the Archbishoprick of Canterbury falling void by the death of Hubert the Monks chose Reginald the Sub-Prior with great secrecy and injoined him silence till he could get his confirmation at Rome But he being big of his Honour could not forbear tattling insomuch as King John then raigning dealt with the Monks to elect John Gray Bishop of Norwich upon which the two Elects appeal to
would not touch one of such a Character made him a Cardinal but the policy fail'd and it rather hastned his death for by that time his Hat was come to Callis his Head was struck off at Tower-Hill Reginald Pool Regin Pool An. D. 1536. Sleidan Câ—m Charls 5. Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal being beyond the Seas about the beginning of the Reformation wrote a Book for the Pope's Supremacy against the King and therein incited the Emperour preparing against the Turk to bend his forces against his natural Soveraign and native Country-men as being worse than Turks This Book writ by a natural born subject of the King of England was then adjudged a sufficient overt act within the Stat. 25. Edward the third De proditionibus and therefore High Treason Cook Pl. Coron fo 14. Brook Treason Tit. 24. Antiq. Brit. in vita Poli. and Pool attainted thereupon But he keeping out of the reach of Justice after the death of P. Paul the third was just upon point of being elected Pope but his own stupidity Act. Mon. fo 1774. with the imputation of incontinency slurr'd him of the dignity In the raign of Queen Mary over he comes and what he did both to the Living and Dead our Historians abundantly testifie and that the next day after the Queen dyed Cardinal Pool Et sic exit Papismus in Anglia Peter Petow Peter Petow Cambd. Britt in Warw. made Cardinal and Legaâ— Ã Latere by P. Paul the third in time of Queen Mary was coming over in pursuance of his Legatine power But the wary Queen suspecting he might act something derogatory to her regality forbad his entrance which the Cardinal took so to heart that he dyed presently after Allen Will. Allen. the last Cardinal Englishman in the raign of Queen Elizabeth appears a Herald before the Spanish Armado in 88. and by a Book dispersed over England stirs up the Nobles Sp. fo 1177. B. Carlton Remembr 141. and People to joyn with the Spaniard in execution of the Pope's sentence of deposition of the Queen But all coming to nothing our Cardinal dyed an exile at Rome An. D. 1594. Godw. in vita Bishop Godwin takes farewel of him with this character He was last of our England Cardinals in time and worst in wickedness deserving not to be reckon'd amongst Englishmen as like another Herostratus to get himself a name endeavoring to fire the English Church without envy be it spoke the noblest in the world so that his memory deserves oblivion Et sic exit Cardinalismus Several others are reckon'd in the Cataeogues of England Cardinals but because it is doubtful whether some of them were English and others whether ever Cardinals and little memorable left of most of them these already mentioned shall suffice to testifie that the Italian promotions were generally more fatal than fortunate to our Countrymen and that the pains and cost was not recompensed by the acquist And so we pass from these highest dignities on Earth to such coelestial Honour as was and is to be purchased in the Church of Rome CHAP. XX. Canonizations c. CAnonization and Sainting of Men Women and Boyes was another way whereby great summs were often brought unto the Popes And that was when any person lived more austerely or devoutly than ordinary or being fam'd for any miracles pretended to have been done by him in his life time or by his Reliques or at his Tomb after his death or that he dyed for or in defence of the truth or the Church's cause Then if his Surviving friends or relations made application to the Pope upon payment of good summs according to the abilities and qualities of the persons solliciting for sentences fees Orders references and others things requisite in such case the party by a kind of Apotheosis was made a Saint and a place assign'd him in the Calender Of this extraction were the famous St. Cuthbert St. Guthlac St. Dunstan St. William St. Swithun St. Tibba St. Thomas of Canterbury St. Thomas of Lancaster St. Winisniâ—d St. Hugh and infinite more who for money had their names put into the rolls of Glory and their fames and merit celebrated and supplicated here on Earth I find that great endeavours were used to have Robert Grosthead the renowned Bishop of Lincoln sainted and particularly King Edward the first laboured it by an express unto the Pope for that purpose Rot. Rom. An. 34 Ed. 1. but nothing could prevail in regard he had so signalized himself against the corruptions of the Church and times then when as Becket Anselme Hugh of Lincoln and multitudes more were Canonized for money or something they had done signally and meritorious for the Papacy But this King had better success in his sollicitation to the Pope for the Cononization of Thomas de Cantelupe Bishop of Hereford then deceased famed for a multitude of miracles as was suggested Tho. Walsing in Ed. 1. fo 11. Thomas Walsingham abounds in the celebration of him and his miracles Mart. Westm in Ed. 1. but more modestly than the Monk of Westminster who ascribes to him no less then 163 miracles and others many more too many in all conscience to be believed or here remembred in particular But of such esteem it seems he was Godw. in vita ejus that this King Edward the first to obtain the benefit of his Prayers and intercession in Heaven for himself and his Realm according to the perswasion prevailing in those ignorant times sent his Letter of request to Pope John 22. to have him a Canonized Saint to which the Pope after some dealing withal for that purpose was at last wrought But for the King's Letter being still preserv'd amongst our Records and which we conceive may be acceptable to some to peruse we will take the liberty to transcribe Sanctissimo in Christo Patri Domino Divina Providentia Sacrosanctae Romanae ac universalis Ecclesâ—ae Summo Pontifici Claus 33 Ed. 1. m. 3. dorso De translatione S. Thomae de Hereford Edwardus eadem gratia Rex Angliae c. devota pedum oscula beatorum Pium justum esse censetur ut sicut gloriosus Deus in Sanctis suis in Majestate mirabilis Ministros fideles suos magnificat altis decorat honoribus coelestis efficit beatitudinis possessores in coelis Sic Sacrosancta Romana Ecelesia vestigia ipsius prosequens eos ad quorum memorias ipse Deus suae virtutis potentiam manifestat signa ac prodigia faciens pro eisdem digno venerationis offlcio laudari glorificari studiis sollicitis honorari efficiat in terris ut per hot fides catholica roboretur idem altissimus qui laudabilis est in saecula glorificetuâ— amplius laudetur ac ex hoc salutis nostre causam miserecordius miseribilius operari dignetur Cum itaque Thomas dictus de Cantilupo Ecclesiae Herefordensis Antistes qui nobili
matters into his care and cognisans He call'd Synods and Councils and ratified their Canons into Laws He routed the Conventicles of the Donatists made Edicts concerning Festivals the Rites of Sepulture the immunities of Churches the Authority of Bishops the Priviledges of the Clergy with divers other things relating to the outward Politie of the Church In which affair he was carefully followed by his Successors as evidently may appear to all conversant in the Civil Law And the aforesaid Stephen Gardiner in that his notable Oration of true Obedience makes instance in the Roman Emperour Justinian who with the approbation of all the world at that time set forth those Laws of the most Blessed Trinity the Catholique Faith Justiniani factum qui leges edidit de Trinitate de fide Catholica c. Steph. Wint. Orat. fo 19. of Bishops and Clergy-men and the like The like also appears by the most famous Partidas set forth by Ferdinando the Saint and his Son Alphonso for the antient Kingdoms of Castile Toledo Leon and others of Spain celebrated in the Spanish Histories Correspondent to which also hath bin the practice of the Kingdom of France Lew. Turquet Hist of Spain whose Kings have ever been esteemed in some sence the Heads of their Church and this is the reason that the opening their most ancient Councils under the first and second the Merovingian and Caroline line was ever by the power and authority and sometimes the presidency of their Kings and Princes It being a noted saying in one of their Councils Câ—ncil Parisienâ— 6. lib. 2. cap. 2. Cognoscant Principes Seculi se Deo debere rationem propter Ecclesiam quam à Deo tuendam accipiunt And according to this Doctrine C d. Lâ—g Antiq Gall. fâ— 827. Lâ—ndenbrog for matters of Church or State of Charls the Great Ludovicus Pius Lewis le Gros Pepin and others collected by the French Antiquaries And at this day generally amongst the Lawyers and most learned of the French Nation it is held and declared Vid. le Reâ—â—w de le Council de Trent Boreâ— lib. 4. de Decret Eccl. Gall. That the Bishop of Rome was anciently the First and chiefest Bishop according to the dignity of of Precedency and order not by any Divine institution but because Rome was the chief City of the Empire That he obtained this Primacy over the Western Church by the grace and gift of Pepin Charls the Great and other Kings of France And that he hath no power to dispose of temporal things That it belongs to Christian Kings and Princes to call Ecclesiastical Synods to establish their Decrees to make wholesome Laws for the government of the Church and to punish and reform abuses therein That the Laws whereby their Church is to be governed are only the Canons of the more ancient Councils and their own National Constitutions and not the Extravagants and Decretals of the Bishop or Court of Rome That the Council of Constance assembled by Sigismund the Emperour with a concurrent consent of other Christian Princes Decreeing a General Synod or Council to be Superior to the Pope and correcting many abuses in the Roman Church which yet remain in practice was a true Oecumenical Council as also was the Council of Basil That the Assembly of Trent was no lawful Council and the Canons thereof rather to be esteemed the Decrees of the Popes who call'd and continued it than the Decrees of the Council it self and that in regard the number of Bishops there met was but small bearing no proportion to the import of a General Council as also the greatest part of those present were Italian and Vassals to the Pope and nothing there resolved on but what was before determined at Rome which then occasion'd this infamous by-word That the Holy Ghost was carryed in Cloak-bags every Post from Rome to Trent That the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ought to be administred under both kinds and that at the least a great part of Divine Service ought to be performed in the vulgar Tongue Thus far the French and Many the like instances might here be added to the same purpose but yet under favour all Crowns Imperial must give place in regard of this one Flower or Jewel of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to the Crown of England For as the first Christian King that ever the world saw is recorded to have been of this Island the renowned Lucius so is he intimated to be the first that ever exercised Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction being directed thereunto by Pope Eleutherius Vâ—d Eleuth Epist to fetch his Laws by the advice of his Council out of the Old and New Testament and by the same to Govern his Kingdom wherein he was God's Vicar According to which advice the Brittish Saxon Danish and first Kings of the Normans have governed their Churches and Church-men as may appear by the Laws by them for that purpose made Archaionem Analect Angl. Brit. li. 1 2. Hist Cambr. fo 59. Jo. Brompton c. and lately exhibited to the publick by Mr. Lambard Mr. Selden Dr. Powell and others Neither can any Ecclesiastical Canons for Government of the English Church be produced till long after the conquest which were not either originally promulged or afterwards allowed either by the Monarch or some King of the Heptarchy sitting or directing in the National or Provincial Synod Nay in the after usurping times there is to be seen the Transcript of a Record An. Manus Chronic Abb. de Bello Vide the like Charter of exemption to the Abbot of Abbindon by Kâ—nulphus in Stanf. pl. Cor. l. 2. fo 111. b. 1 Hen. 7. fo 23 25. 3 Hen. 2. wherein when the Bishop of Chichester opposed some Canons against the Kings exemption of the Abby of Battel from Episcopal Jurisdiction the King in anger replyed Tu pro Papae authoritate ab hominibus concessa contra dignitatum Regalium authoritates mihi à Deo concessas calliditate arguta niti praecogitas Dost thou go about by subtilty of Wit to oppose the Pope's authority granted by the connivence of men against the authority of my Regal Dignity given by God himself And thereupon requires reason and justice against the Bishop for his insolence And thus it is most easily demonstrable that the Kings of England have had these Flowers of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction planted in the Imperial Crown of this Realm even from the very beginning of the Christian Monarchy in this Island where we hope they have now taken such root that neither any Fanatick whispers at home nor the roaring of any Romish Bulls from abroad will ever be able to shake or blast the same And from hence was the Resolution of our Judges mentioned before in the Case of Cawary Cook 5. Rep. De Jure Reg. Eccl. that the said Statute made in the first year of the Queen concerning Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was not introductory of a new Law but Declaratory of the old which appears
3. Cap. 1 2. Stat. 38 Ed. 3. Cap. 3. Stat. Statutes of Pâ—ovâ—sors and Preminire 16 Ric. 2. Cap. 5. Stat. 2 Hen. 4. Cap. 3. Stat. 6 Hen. 4. Cap. 1. Stat. 7 Hen. 7. Cap. 6. Stat. 3 Hen. 5. Cap. 4. Stat. 1 Hen. 7. Cap. 4. Stat. 24 Hen. 8. Cap. 12. Stat. 25 Hen. 8. Cap. 21. Stat. 1 Eliz. Cap. 1. c. By all which with the foregoing Resolutions and Presidents to which a multitude more to the same purpose might be added it doth appear clearly that long before the time of King Hen. 8. divers Statutes and Laws were made and declared against forrain incroachments upon the Rights of the Crown in this matter and those as sharp and severe as any Statutes for that purpose have been made in later times though then both King Lords and Commons that made those Laws and the Judges that did interpret them did for the most part follow the same Opinions in Religion which were held and taught in the Church of Rome And therefore those that will lay upon this Nation the imputation of Schism for denying the Pope's Supremacy here Vid. Case de Premunire in St. John Davys Rep. must charge it many Ages before the time of King Henry the eighth For the Kings Lords and Commons of this Realm have ever been most eminent for asserting their just Rights and Liberties disdaining to become a Tributary Province as it were to the See of Rome or part of St. Peter's earthly Patrimony in Demesn And the Faith and Loyalty of the English race hath bin generally such though true it is that every Age hath brought forth some singular monsters of disloyalty as no pretence of zeal or Religion could ever draw the greater part of the Subjects for to submit themselves to a forrain Yoke no not when Popery was in greatest height and exaltation of all which the aforesaid Statutes are manifest Evidences being generally made at the Prayer of the Commons as by their Preambles may appear most worthy to be read Particularly in the Preamble to the Statute of 16 Ric. 2. They complain Sta. 16 Ric. 2. cap. 5. That by Bulls and Processes from Rome the King is deprived of that Jurisdiction which belongs of right to his Imperial Crown That the King doth lose the service and Counsel of his Prelates and learned men by translations made by the Bishop of Rome That the King's Laws are defeated at his will the Treasure of the Realm is exhausted and exported to inrich his Court And that by those means the Crown of England which hath ever bin free and subject unto none but immediately unto God should be submitted unto the Bishop of Rome to the utter destruction of the King and the whole Realm which God defend say they and thereupon out of their zeal and loyalty they offer to live and dye with the King in defence of the liberties of the Crown And then they pray the King to examine all the Lords in Parliament what they thought of these wrongs and usurpations and whether they would stand with the King in defence of his Royal liberties which being done the Lords Spiritual and Temporal did all answer that these usurpations of the Bishop of Rome were against the liberties of the Crown and that they were all bound by their Allegiance to stand with the King and to maintain his Honour and Prerogative Upon producing and averrement of all this it is requisite some satisfaction be given about the conclusion that hapned so different to these premises For if the Kings and People of England have in all times been so sensible of and zealous for their just Rights how could the Roman Power in derogation of those Rights arrive to such a consistence and height as here it was for many years To this as to the means and manner of that acquist to keep within our Historical compass First let it be premised as undoubtedly true That before the time of the Norman Conquest the Bishops of Rome had very little or nothing to do here as well in matter of Fact as of Right For before that time the Pope's Writ did not run in England His Bulls of Excommunication and Provision came not hither no Citations or Appeals were made from hence to the Court of Rome Our Archbishops did not purchase their Palls there Neither had the Pope the Investiture of any of our Bishopricks And Ingulphus who lived in the Conquerours time a Favourite and one preferred by him thus informs Ingulph Hist fo 901. A multis namque annis retroactis nulla Electio Praelatorum erat libera mere Canonica sed omnes dignitates tam Episcoporum quam Abbatum per annulum baculum regis curia pro sua Complacentia conferebat For as it is observable that under the Temporal Empire of Rome Brittain was one of the last Provinces that was won and one of the first that was lost again So under the Spiritual Empire of the Pope England was one of the last Countrys of Christendom that received the Yoke and one of the first that cast it off But for our purpose that the Bishops of Rome had any Jurisdiction or Hierarchical Authority in the times of the Brittains Saxons or Danes there is an altum silentium in all our Histories and Records For the times of the Brittains Eleuth Epist Eleutherius Pope about 180 years after Christ writes to Lucius the Brittish King and stiles him God's Vicar within his own Kingdom and sure he would not have given that Title to the King if himself under pretence of being God's Vicar-General on Earth had claimed Jurisdiction over all Christian Kingdoms After that Beda Eccl. Hist Matt. Westm Polychron Fab. Huntingd. c. about the year 600. Austin the Monk was sent by Pope Gregory into England to convert the Saxons to the Christian Faith But the Brittish Bishops then residing in Wales gave no regard either to his Commission or his Doctrines as not owing any duty to or dependence upon Rome but still retained their Ceremonies and Traditions which they received from the East Church upon the first plantation of Christianity being both divers and contrary to those of the Church of Rome which Austin did indeavour to impose upon them Usser de Prim. Eccl. Brit. Then about the year 660 there is a famous disputation celebrated between one Colman and one Wilfrid touching the Observation of Easter wherein the Brittains differed from the practice of the Roman Church from which is plainly inferrable that the Authority of the Bishop of Rome was at that time of no estimation in this Island And that the Primitive Churches of Brittain were instituted according to the form of the East and not of the West Church Nay upon the first coming of Austin and his retinue into Brittain there was such a strangness and averseness to him that one Daganus a British Beda Eccl. Hist lib. 2. cap. 4 Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. fo 129.