THE CLERGY Vindicated OR THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES That belong to them ASSERTED According to the Laws of England MORE Particularly touching the Sitting of BISHOPS in PARLIAMENT and their making Proxies in Capital Cases LONDON Printed by E. T. and R. H. 1679. THE RIGHTS and PRIVILEGES OF THE CLERGY According to the Laws of England THe Clergy of England or the whole number of those that are De Clero Domini of the Lord's Lot or Share as the Tribe of Levi was in Judea is according to our Law twofold Clerus Major and Clerus Minor the Greater and Lesser Clergy The former doth comprehend the Barons Spiritual or Lords of Parliament that is to say the arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops The later contains Arch-Deacons Deans Prebends Parsons Vicars and Chaplains Of both these kinds I will treat severally and apart But before I do so I shall give the Reader an Account in general of the Ecclesiastical State of the Church of England as I find it described by Mr. Cambden and Sir Edward Coke Mr. Cambden tells us that England hath two Provinces and accordingly two arch-Arch-Bishops to wit the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Primate and Metropolitan of all England and the Arch-Bishop of York Under these are twenty five Bishops To the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury are subject twenty two To the Arch-bishop of York the other three Now what Bishopricks these be with the Shires and Diocesses that are at this day under their Jurisdiction follow thus In the Province of Canterbury The Bishoprick of Canterbury together with that of Rochester containeth under it Kent it self The Bishoprick of London hath under it Essex Middlesex and part of Hertfordshire The Bishoprick of Chichester hath belonging to it Sussex The Bishoprick of Winchester compriseth Southamptonshire Surrey and the Isle of Wight Gernsey and also Jersey Islands lying against Normandy The Bishoprick of Salisbury comprehendeth Wiltshire and Berk shire The Bishoprick of Exeter containeth Devonshire and Cornwal The Bishoprick of Bath and Wells joyned together hath under it Somersetshire The Bishoprick of Glocester hath belonging to it Glocestershire To the Bishoprick of Worcester is subject Worcestershire and part of Warwickshire To the Bishoprick of Hereford Hereford and part of Salop or Shropshire The Bishoprick of Coventry and Litchfield joyned together have under it Staffordshire Derbyshire and the other part of Warwickshire as also that part of Shropshire which lieth toward the River Râ—pil Thâ—n the Bishoprick of 〈◊〉 which of all others is the greatest is bounded 〈…〉 Hâ—ntingâ—â—â—shire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire and the 〈…〉 〈…〉 of Ely pertain Cambâ—â—â—â—â—shire and the Isle of Ely it self 〈…〉 of Norwich is Northâ—â—â—â— and Suâ—â—olk 〈…〉 of Oâ—â—â—â—ord hath under it Oxâ—â—fordshire 〈…〉 of Peterborough comprizeth Northamptonshire and Rutlandshire 〈…〉 the Bishoprick of Bristol is Doâ—setshire 〈…〉 Diocesses in England are to be added those of Wales which are 〈…〉 oâ— their own peculiar Arch-Bishoprick and made also fewer in number seâ—â—◠〈…〉 brought sâ—arce to â—our to wit The Bishoprick of Mâ—nâ—â—a havinâ— the Seat 〈…〉 the Bishoprick of 〈◊〉 the Bishoprick of Baâ—â—â—â— and the Bishoprick of 〈…〉 In the Province of York 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 comprehendeth Yorkshire it self and Nottinghamshire 〈…〉 containeth 〈◊〉 Richmondshire 〈◊〉 part of Cumberâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 and of â—â—â—â—â—â—shire The Bishoprick of Durham hath Durham it self under it and Northumberland The Bishoprick of Carlâ—sle containeth within it part oâ— Camberland and the County of 〈…〉 〈…〉 there are in England Deanriâ—â— twenty six whereof thirteen were ordained by 〈…〉 in the greatâ—â— Cathâ—â—â—al Churches after the Monks were thrust out Arch-Dâ—aâ—â—â—â—ies sixty Dignities and Probends five hundred forty four Numbred also there 〈◊〉 Parish Churches under Bishopricks nine thousand two hundred eighty four oâ— which three thousand eight hundred forty five be Appropriate Now Appropriate Churches those are called which by the Pope's Authority coming between with consent of the King and the Bishop of the Diocess were upon certain Conditions tyed or Instruments united annexed and incorporated for ever unto Monasteries Bishopricks Colledges and Hospitals endowed with small Lands either for that the said Churches were built within their Lordships and Lands or granted by the Lords of the said Lands Which Churches afterwards when the Abbies and Monasteries were suppressed became Lay Fees to the great dammage of the Church Thus much Mr. Cambden As for Sir Edward Coke he informeth us That the Ecclesiastical State of England is divided into two Provinces or Arch-Bishopâ—icks viz. Of Canterbury and of York The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury is styled Metropolitanus Primas Totius Angliae and the Arch-Bishop of York Primas Angliae Each Arch-Bishop hath within his Province Suffragan Bishops of several Diocesses The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury hath under him within his Province of ancient Foundations viz. Rochester his Principal Chaplain London his Dean Winchester his Chancellor Norwich Lincoln Ely Chichester Salisbury Exeter Bath and Wells Worcester Coventry and Litchfield Hereford Landâ—ff St. Davids Bangor and St. Asaph and four founded by King Henry the Eighth erected out of the Ruins of dissolved Monasteries that is to say Glocester Bristol Peterborough and Oxford The Arch-Bishop of York hath under him four viz. Ths Bishop of the County Palatine of Chester newly erected by Henry the Eighth and annexed by him to the Arch-Bishop of York the County Palatine of Durham Carlisle and the Isle of Man annexed to the Province of York by Henry the Eighth But a greater number this Arch-Bishop had which time hath taken from him Every Diocess is divided into Arch-Deaconries whereof there be sixty And every Arch-Deaconry is divided into Deanries and Deanries again into Parishes Towns and Hamlets Having thus given my Reader an Account how the Ecclesiastical State of England standeth at this day I come to speak of the Clergy according to the division thereof by me before given viz. Into the Greater and Lesser Clergy First Of the Greater or Superior Clergy comprehending the Prelates the arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops THat the Law of England may be the better understood concerning our Superior Clergy I shall reduce it to these Particularities following which are not unworthy of the Reader 's Observation 1. Who the Founder and Patron of all Bishopricks 2. To whom the Spiritualties and Temporalties of Bishops appertain Sede Vacante 3. How Bishops were anciently made 4. Their Jurisdiction what and whence derived 5. Their Courts 6. By whom only commanded to certifie 7. Bishops Proceedings in Ecclesiastical Courts under the Name Style Seal of the Bishops how warrantable 8. With what Council they are assisted 9. Their Dominion and Property relating to Temporalities 10. What the King hath after every Bishop's death 11. Bishopricks whether Saleable 12. Their Right of Sitting in Parliament 13. Their Right of making Proxies in Cases of Life and Death 14. Statutes where made without them 15. Their Privileges as they are Lords of Parliament 16. Their Precedency 17. Their Excommunications 1. The Founder and Patron of all Bishopricks IT appeareth by our Books Co. Litt.
f. 97. a 134. a. 344. a. Co. 2. Inst. f. 3. Stat. 25. E. 1. Carlisle that all arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops of England have been founded by the Kings of England and therefore it hath been declared in Parliament that the Holy Church of England was founded in the State of Prelacy within this Realm by the King and his Progenitors But here then may be queried who were the first Founders of the Bishopricks in Wales It is answered 10. H 4.6 b. Co. Litt. 97. â—â—o 2. Inst. f. 195. On the Stat. of West 1. c. 17. That the Bishopricks in Wales were founded by the Princes of Wales and the Principality of Wales was holden of the King of England as of his Crown and when the Prince of Wales committed Treason Rebellion c. the Principality was forfeited and the Patronages of the Bishops annexed to the Crown of England So as the King is to have Pensions for his Chaplains and Corodies for his Vadelers of them as of Bishops founded by himself 2. To whom the Custody of the Spiritualties and Temporalties of Bishops do appertain Sede Vacante Co. 2. Inst 15. West 1. c 21. Magna Charta 5. Prerog Regis c. 14. Rolls Abr. 2. p. f. 223. THe Custody of the Temporalties of every Arch-Bishop and Bishop says Coke within the Realm and of such Abbies and Priories as were of the King's Foundation after the same became void belonged to the King during the Vacation thereof by his Prerogative For as the Spiritualties belonged during that time to the Dean and Chapter de Communi Jure or to some other Ecclesiastical Person by Prescription or Composition so the Temporalties came to the King as Founder And this doth belong to the King being Patronus Protector Ecclesiae in so high a Prerogative incident to his Crown as no Subject can claim the Temporalties of an Arch-Bishop or Bishop when they fall by Grant or Prescription 3. How Bishops were and how now made IT is apparented by our Books of Law and History Co. Lit. f. 134. a. 344. a. Co. Lib. 3 Dean and Chapt. of Norwich 's case Rolls Rep. 2. part f. 102. Davy's Rep. f. 46. a. de Capitulariter congregatis that at the first all the Bishopricks in England were Donative per Traditionem Baculi i. e. the Crosier which was the Pastoral Staff and Annuli the Ring whereby he was married to the Church King Henry the first being requested by the Bishop of Rome to make them elective refused it But King John by his Charter bearing Date Quinto Junti Anno Decimo Septimo granted that the Bishopricks should be Eligible which afterwards was confirmed by divers Acts of Parliament And afterward the manner and order as well of Election of Arch-Bishops and Bishops as for the Confirmation of the Election and Consecration is enacted and expressed in the Statute of the Twenty fifth of Henry the Eighth But by the Statute of the thirty first of Henry the Eighth and the first of Edward the Sixth they were made Donative by the King's Letters Patents Both which Statutes are repealed and the Statute of the twenty fifth of Henry the Eighth doth yet remain in full force and effect 4. Their Jurisdiction what and whence derived AS to the Jurisdiction and Authority that appertains to Bishops are considerable two Particulars 1. Whence this Jurisdiction is derived 2. The Extent and Subject Matters of this Jurisdiction 1. Whence derived The King of England is and of Right always was the Fountain of all Justice and Jurisdiction in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil within his Dominions And this is evident our by Books The Right Reverend Prelate Matthew Parker Arch-Bishop of Canterbury a man very expert in matters of Antiquity affirms in his Book set forth in Latin Anno Domini Co. lib. 9. Hensloes Case 1573. Quod Rex Angliae olim erat Conciliorum Ecclesiasticorum praeses vindex temeritatis Romanae Propugnator Religionis nec ullam babebant Episcopi Authoritatem praeter eam quam a Rege acceptam referebant Jus testamenti probandi non habebant Administrationis potestatem cuique delegare non poterant It was resolved in the Tryal touching Legitimation Davy's Reports f. 51. b. 52. a. and Bastardy that although all Matrimonial Causes have been a long time determinable in the Ecclesiastical Courts and are now properly within the Jurisdiction and Cognisance of the Clergy Vide Davy's Reports Le Case de Premunire 97. b. 98. a. Yet Ab Initio non fuit sic For as well Causes of Matrimony as Causes Testamentary were Civil Causes and apertained to the Jurisdiction of the Civil Magistrate as it is well known to all Civilians until the Christian Emperors and Kings for the honouring of Prelates of the Clergy have granted or allowed to them the Cognizance and Jurisdiction in those Cases And therefore the Kings of England although they have allowed the Prelates of the Church to exercise their several Jurisdictions in those Causes which properly appertained to their Cognizance yet by the Rules of the Common Law he hath a Superintendency upon their proceeding with power of Direction when and how they shall proceed and of Restraint and Correction if they proceed not duely and orderly in many Cases as it is manifested by the Writs of several natures directed to the Bishops whereby the King commands them to certifie Bastardy Excommunication Profession Accouplement in Loyal Matrimony Of Admitting Clerks De Cautione Admittenda c. And also by Writs of Prohibition Consultation and Attachments for Prohibition 2. What is their Jurisdiction For the deciding of Controversies says Sir Edward Coke and distribution of Justice there be two distinct Jurisdictions The one Secular and General for that it is guided by the common and general Law of the Realm Co. Lit. f. 96. a. The other Ecclesiastical limited to certain spiritual and particular Cases and the Court wherein the Causes are handled is called Forum Ecclesiasticum in which the Bishops are Judges and immediate Officers to the King's Courts of Justice in Causes Ecclesiastical Now the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Causes accarding to the usage and custom of England are Blasphemy Apostacy from Christianity Heresies Schisms Holy Orders Admissions Institution of Clerks Celebration of Divine Service Rights of Matrimony Divorces General Bastardy Subtraction and Right of Tithes Oblations Obventions Dilapidations Excommunication Reparation of Churches Probate of Testaments Administrations and Accounts upon the same Symony Incest Fornications Adulteries Sollicitation of Chastity Pensions Procurations Appeals in Ecclesiastical Cases Commutation of Penance All which are determined by Ecclesiastical Judges That the Reader may the better know the Extent and Latitude of the Episcopal Jurisdiction and Authority let him take with him these Rules that I have met withal in our Books 1. Rule That where the Right is Spiritual Co. Lit. 96 a. and the Remedy therefore only by the Ecclesiastical Law the Cognisance thereof doth appertain to the
do Which later Branch doth extend to all Process and Proceedings in Ecclesiastical Courts and that the same shall be in such sort as the same were before the Act of 25. H. 8. and before that Act the Name Style and Seal of their Process c. were as now they be And the said Act of 1. Eliz. reviving the Act of 25. H. 8. doth impliedly repeal the Act of 1. E. 6. which had repealed the 25. H. 8. in both the said points For as by repealing of a Repeal the first Act is revived so by reviving of an Act repealed the Act of Repeal is made of no force 8. The Bishops with what Council assisted Every Bishop is assisted with a Council For Co. Lib. 3. Le cafe del Dean Chapiter f. 75. a. seeing it was impossible that the Church of God should continue without Sects and Heresies it was in Christian Policy thought necessary that every Bishop should be assisted with a Council and with a Chapter and that for two Reasons 1. To consult with them in matters of difficulty and to assist the Bishop in deciding of Controversies in point of Religion And to this purpose every Bishop hath a Chair 2. To consent to every grant the Bishop shall make to bind his Successors for the Law did not judge it reasonable to repose such Confidence in him alone At first all the Possessions were to the Bishop after a certain Portion was assigned to the Chapter therefore the Chapter was before they had any Possessions And of Common Right the Bishop is Patron of all the Prebends because their Possessions were derived from him So that so long as the Bishoprick continues the Dean and Chapter being his Counsel remains though they have no Possessions as at first they were when the Bishoprick consisted all of Spiritualty Of their Dominion and Property HEretofore Bishops with the Confirmation of the Dean and Chapter Co. Litt. 44. a. might have made Leases for Lives or Years without Limitation or Stint And so might they have made Gifts in Tall and Estates in Fee at their Will and Pleasure Whereupon not only great decay of Divine Service but Dilapidations and other Inconveniences ensued and they were disabled and restrained by several Acts of Parliament to make any Estate or Conveyance to the King at all or to the Subject but there is excepted out of the Restraint or Disability Leases for three Lives or twenty one Years with Reservation of Rent and with other Provisions and Limitations To be short as the Bishops cannot utterly divest themselves of their Lands and Revenues so ought not their Rights to be liable to the Sacrilegious Rapine of others for Quod datum est Ecclesiae Deo datum est Which sacred Maxim the Roal Martyr very well understood when he used these very words viz. There are ways enough to repair the Breaches of the State without the Ruines of the Church as I would be a Restorer of one so I would not be an Oppressor of the other under the pretence of Publick Debts The Occasions contracting them were bad enough but such a discharging of them would be much worse I pray God neither I nor mine may be accessary to either And indeed well might this most Religious Prince thus pray for without doubt the Sin of Sacrilege is a very horrid Crime Proximum Sacrilegio Crimen est quod Majestatis dicitur Treason is a petty Sin in respect of Sacrilege St. Austin seems to give the Reason Tanto gravius est peccatum quanto committi non potest nisi in Deum Thou that abhorrest Idols committest thou Sacrilege Which words of the Apostle St. Paul are specially to be noted by them that pretend mainly against Superstition and Idolatry yet are hotly set for Sacrilege Further As this Sin of Sacrilege in its own Nature is very abominable so it is dangerous more ways than one 1. To private Men that commit it Make them like a Wheel as Stubble before the Wind fill their faces with shame who said Let us take the Houses of God to our selves in possession Psal 83. 2. To more publick Persons even to the Heads and Principal Members of the Commonwealth the Kings and Princes thereof see Daniel c. 5. concerning Belshazzar Our own Annals tell us of King William Rufus and his Nephew the Son of Robert Duke of Normandy both slain in Hunting in the same Forest that the Conqueror his Father and Grandfather to his Nephew had made and himself had augmented with the utter Ruin of many Chappels Churches and Religious Houses 3. To the Commonwealth it self This Sin in Achan became not a Snare to himself in which he was taken but all Israel was troubled by the sin of that one Achan Joshua c. 7. But after all this it may be demanded of me whether this will take away the nature of sin from the Alienation of Church-Lands that it is done by a National Assembly of the States in Parliament I answer that this will not take from Sacrilege the nature of sin that it is done by a National Assembly giving their Sanction thereunto for the Proceedings and Sanctions of a National Council must be by Rule from God otherwise they become more out of measure sinful than Actions of like Quality in private Men. The Laws of State are not therefore just because enacted by the State but when they agree with the common Rules of Justice that God has bestowed upon the Sons of Men. To conclude To do that by a Law which should be enacted for prevention of Sin and not for Commission is to make it the more sinful Shall the Throne of Iniquity have Fellowship with thee that frameth mischief by a Law 10. What the King hath after the Death of every Bishop IT appeareth by many Records in the Reign of Henry the Third Co. 2. Inst. 491. 1. Co. 4. Inst f. 388. and Edward the Second that by the Law and Custom of England no Bishop could make his Will of his Goods or Chattels coming of his Bishoprick c. without the King's License The Bishops that they might freely make their Wills yielded to give to the King after their Deceases respectively for ever six things 1. Their best Horse or Palfrey with Bridle and Saddle 2. A Cloak with a Cape 3. One Cup with a Cover 4. One Bason and Ewer 5. One Ring of Gold 6. His Kennel of Hounds For these a Writ issueth out of the Exchequer after the Decease of Every Bishop 11. Bishopricks whether Saleable AS In omni re nascitur res quae ipsam rem exterminat Co. 2. Just f. 15. as the Worm in the Wood or the Moth in the Cloth and the like so often times no Profession receives a greater blow than by one of their own Coat For Ranulph an Ecclesiastical Person and King William Rufus his Chaplain was a Factor for the King in making Merchandize of Church-Livings in as much as when any Arch-Bishoprick Bishoprick or Monastery became
void First He perswaded the King to keep void a long time and converted the Profits thereof sometime by Letting and sometime by Sale of the same whereby the Temporalties were exceedingly wasted and destroyed Secondly after a long time no man was preferred to them per Traditionem Annuli Baculi by Livery of Seizan as the old fashion was but by Bargain and Sale from the King to him that would give most by means whereof the Church was stuffed with unworthy and insufficient Men and many Men of lively Wits and towardliness in Learning despairing of Preferment turned their Studies to other Professions This Ranulph for serving the King's Turns was advanced first To be the King's Chancellor and after to be Bishop of Durham Who after his Advancement to so high Dignities made them Servants to his Sacrilegious and Symoniacal Designs King Henry the First seeing this mischief and foreseeing the great inconvenience that would follow thereupon was contented for his own time to bind his own hands to the end the Church now naked and bare might receive some comfort and have means to provide things necessary for their Profession and Calling He thereupon at his Coronation made a Charter to this effect Vide Magna Charta c. 1. Quia Regnum oppressum erat injustis exactionibus ego in Respectu Dei amore quem erga vos omnes habeo Sanctam Dei Ecclesiam imprimis liberam facio Ita quod nec vendam nec ad firmam ponam nec Mortuo Archiepiscopo sive Episcopo vel Abbate aliquid accipiam de Domino Ecclesiae vel hominibus ejus donec Successor eam ingrediatur omnes malas Consuetudines quibus Regnum Angliae opprimebatur inde aufero He committed the said Ranulph then Bishop of Durham to Prison for his intolerable Misdeeds and Injuries to the Church where he lived without love and died without pity saving of those that thought it pity he lived so long I will close this Section with a Sentiment of the Imperial Law touching buying and selling Non pretio C. 1.3.31 sed precibus ordinetur Antistes Tantum ab ambitu debet esse sepositus ut quaeratur cogendus rogatus recedat invitatus effugiat sola illa suffragetur necessitas excusandi Profecto enim indignus est Sacerdotio nisi fuerit ordinatus invitus Nemo gradum Sacerdotii pretii venalitate mercetur quantum quisque mereatur non quantum dare sufficiat aestimetur Episcopus non pretio sed precibus ordinandus est Gothofredus 12. Their Right of Sitting in Parliament THe Spiritual Lords do sit in the King 's great Council in Parliament by the same Right that the Temporal Lords do and that is by reason of their Ancient Baronies For although originally all the Possessions of Bishops Abbots and Priors were given and holden in Frankalmoigne yet shortly after the Norman Conquest their Tenures were altered viz. Per Baroniam as appeareth by Mathew Paris Anno 1070. 66. and of that Tenure have continued ever since as shall be apparented by the Consultations of Clarendon in the Reign of Henry the Second by Glanvil and other Authorities In the Constitution held at Clarendon Co. 2. Inst f. 6. tempore H. 2. Ann. 1164. Certain Recapitulations of the Prerogative of the King and his People then sought to be infringed by the Pope and his Clergy it is thus expressed in the eleventh Article Archiepiscopi Episcopi universa persona Regni qui de Rege tenent in Capite 〈…〉 possessiones suas de Rege sicut Baroniam inde respondeant Justatiarii◠〈…〉 Regis sicut Caeteri Baroâ—â—â— debeam interesse Curiae Regis cum Baronibus qâ—â—usquâ— perveniatur ad diminutionem Membrorum vel mortem 2. Glanvil the most ancient Writer of the Laws of this Realm now extant 〈…〉 hath these words Notandum autem quod nec Episcopus nec Abbas quia eorum Baroniae sunt de Elcemesyna Regis Antecessoris ejus non possunt de Dominicis suts aliquam partem dare ad Remanentiam sine assensu Confirmatione Domini Regis 3. My third Authority shall be a notable Record in the Reign of Henry the Third and it is this Mandatum est omnibus Episcopis qui Conventuri sunt apud Glocestriam die Sabba thi in Crastino Sanctae Katharinae firmiter inhibendo quod sicut Baronias suas Rot Pat. 〈◊〉 3.2 part 〈◊〉 de Proâ—â—â—â—â—â—e fact Epiâ—â— quas de Rege tenent diligunt nullo modo praesumant Consilium tenere de aliquibus quae ad Coronam Regis pertinent vel quae personam Regis vel Statum suum vel Statum Concilii sui contingunt Scituri pro certo quod si fecerint Rex inde se capiet ad Baronias suas 4. Mr. Cambden in his Britannia tells us that the two arch-Arch-Bishops and all the Bishops of England be Barons of the Kingdom and Parliament unto whom by Right and Custom it appertains as to Peers of the Kingdom to be with the rest of the Peers personally present at all Parliaments whatsoever there to consult to handle to ordain decree and determine in regard of the Baronies which they hold of the King For William the first a thing the Church-men of that time complained of but those in the Age ensuing accounted it their greatest Honour ordained Bishopricks and Abbies which hold Baronies in pure and perpetual Alms and until that time were free from all Secular Service to be under Military or Knight-Service enrolling every Bishoprick and Abbey at Will and Pleasure and appointing how many Soldiers he would have every one of them to find for him and his Successors in the time of Hostility and War From that time ever since says he those Ecclesiastical Persons enjoyed all the Immunities that Barons of the Kingdom did saving only they were not to be judged by their Peers 5. Sir Edward Coke in several places of his Works asserts Co. 2. Inst f. 3 79 585. Co. Lit. 97. a. 94. a. Câ— 4 Inst f. 361. that the Bishops of England have been founded by the Kings of England and do hold of the King by Barony and have been all called by Writ to the Court of Parliament and are Lords of Parliament To what has been said in the proof of the Bishops Right of sitting in Parliament this may be added Judge Dâ—dâ—idg in his Treatise of Nobility concerning Barons by Tenâ—re That it appeareth by all ancient Writers of our Laws and Histories that the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of the Realm in the antient Saxons days as well during the time that this Realm was divided into divers Kingdoms as also after the uniting of them into one Monarchy were called to the Parliament or Assembly of States or Wise Men not so much in respect of their Tenure for in those days all their Tenures were as is said before by Frankalmoigne but especially for that Laws and Counsels of Men are then most currant and commendable and have a more blessed