Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
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A11297
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An answere to a letter cum priuilegio.
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Saint German, Christopher, 1460?-1540.
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1535
(1535)
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STC 21558.5; ESTC S100189
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35,044
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126
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¶ An answere to a letter ⧠♣ Cum priuilegio ¶ Here begynneth the answer I Haue receyued youre letter wherby I perceiue that syth your returnyng iÌ„ to your contrey Ye haue herde that there is yet here in London moche coÌ„munycation great dyuersytie of opynions vpon suche articles as were spokeÌ„ of whaÌ„ ye were here And ye haue also written to me at a good leÌ„gth all the articles that be noysed ther in your countrey to go yet abrode here in the cytie And thervpon ye desyre me to write vnto you my coÌ„ceyt / what I thynke is to be holdeÌ„ in those articles surely that is a right great request for me to accoÌ„plishe For though I entende to speke the truthe therin / do so in dede yet paraduenture some men wyll be offeÌ„ded with it / nat take it playnly after my meanyng but neuertheles / trustyng that the most parte of the people be nowe iÌ„ these dayes enclyned to take all thiÌ„ges to the best I wyll nat for the opynyon of a fewe / fully deny your reqÌ„st theriÌ„ / but shall shewe you with good wyll my conceyt to all your articles / for I trust charitie hath moued you to that desyre And I wyll nat recyte here your artycles perticulerly togither / but wyll answere to them after the same order as they stande in your letter And so / euery man that shall happen to rede this answere shall knowe the order of the articles iÌ„ your letter And fyrst ye saye / that many in your couÌ„trey reporte that there shuld be a sayeng here about London / that the kyng hath many newe authorites gyuen hym / by that he is recognysed to be the supreme hed vpoÌ„ erth vnder god of the church of EnglaÌ„de / ye desyre me to shewe you my conceyt what I thiÌ„ke therin / I wyll fyrst with good will say soÌ„ what to it to satisfye your desyre ¶ Whether the kynge by that he is recognysed to be supreme heed vnder god vpon erth of the church of EnglaÌ„de / haue therby any new power giuen hiÌ„ ouer his subiectes that he had nat before The first cha THe kyng / by that he is recognysed by the parliamente to be the supreme heed vnder god vpon erth / of the church of Englande / hath as I take it no newe power gyuen hiÌ„ in any thiÌ„ge but that lyke as before that recognisyon made / he had all such power ouer his subiectes spirytuall and temporall / as to a kyng beloÌ„geth by the lawe of god so after the seyde recognisyon / he had the same power without alteration / none other but that And therfore he maye nat as I suppose by reasoÌ„ of that recognisyon / take vpon hiÌ„ any auctority that our lorde gaue only to his apostels or discyples / iÌ„ spirytuall ministratyon to the people And though he may nat / yet the recognisyon was nat to al inteÌ„tes voyde / for by reason therof the power of the kyng is more euydeÌ„tly knowen than it was before that recognisyon made for before that recognisyon / the clergye had gretly defaced the power of kingê in this realme And for a more playne declaration of this mater / it is to be consydered / that there are some thynges that are called mere spirytuall / and that be so in dede And ther be some that haue beÌ„ called mere spirituall / whiche neuerthelesse perteygne to the power of kynges and princes The thynges mere spirituall be these The consecration of the sacrament of the auter / the makynge of absolucyons / the gyuyng of orders / the ministratyon that saynt Paul speke of ad Corin. iiii Whan he sayd of hiÌ„self of other Apostels discyples of Christ thus / Let euery man esteme vs as ministers of Christ / as dispeÌ„satours of the misteryes of god / wherby he vnderstode princypally the ministratyoÌ„ of the sacramentes And suche ministration the kynge may nat take vpon him / ne he intendeth it nat I knowe well that a kynge maye be a prest yea / a bysshop also / thaÌ„ might he lawfully minister al such spuÌ„all thiÌ„ges if he lyst but I wolde nat thynke that it were an incresynge of his honour to do so for the honoure of a kynge staÌ„deth specyally iÌ„ doyng iustyce vnto his people / as it appereth Ps xcviii where it is sayd The honour of a kyng loueth iustyce And one poiÌ„t of iustyce is / to se the ministers vnder hiÌ„ do their duty And therfore if bysshoppes were neglygente in doynge their ministration to the people / the kyng might coÌ„mauÌ„de them to do it that were more honour to him than do it hiÌ„ selfe And though as it appeareth ii Par. xix Kyng Iosaphat ordeyned iugê in all the cyties of Iuda and that in Ierusalem he ordeyned Leuytes prestes / princes of famelyes that they shuld iuge the iugement and cause of our lorde c. Yet it appereth nat that he made them prestes no more than he made Amaryas a preest for thoughe he appoynted Amaryas to be cheife preest / yet it appereth that he was a prest before And also though kyng Dauid appoynted the prestes and leuytes to their offyces / as appereth .i. Par. xxiii xxiiii Yet it appereth nat that he made any of them preestes Also trouth it is / that euery kyng is bounden to minister iustyce vnto his people / accordyng to the lawes of his realme And may therfore to that intent be called a minister but yet that ministration is all in a nother maner / than is the ministration of the successours of the apostels for the ministration of a kynge / is the ministration of power / iustyce souerayntie and to it ar necessary great possessyoÌ„s / honour and ryches / to maynteyne his estate And the ministratyon of the other standeth in spirytuall seruyce to the people / in mekenes / ghostly counsell / preachynge and teachynge in all charyte in somoche that none shulde be mery in god / but they shulde be mery with him none shulde be in heuynesse / but they shulde sorowe with him and to these ministers is necessary suffysaunce without abundaunce and honest pouerty is nat directly agaynst that ministration they ought alway to haue a contynuall desyre that the people shulde lyue in such brotherly loue quyetnes that there shulde nede no ministration of iustice by the high powers to be vsed amongest them And if any suche happened to come / they shuld feare gretly that it might happen to come through some defaute in them And surely whaÌ„ any gret variaunce trouble ryse among the people / it is nat vnlyke but that some parte of the occasyon therof rose fyrste through the defautes neglygence of some of the clergye Than syth it is right highly expedyeÌ„t for the ministration of a price to haue habundaÌ„ce of possessyons as is sayde before / howe maye he take any other ministration vpon him
of place and power of prechyng / if they lyst before any there bysshops yet neuerthelesse they made emperours kynges their people beleue that they had suche power / and brought theym in belefe also / that they were bounden to gyue credence to the clergye in all spirytuall maters / and that to doute at the popes power was heresy so through pusyllanimitie and wylful ignoraunce of princes and their people / and throughe a confederacy of Bysshoppes / they were therin right gretly deceyued but whan the parliament in the said xxvi yere c. recognysed the kyng to be the supreme heed in erth vnder god of the churche of EnglaÌ„de they vnderstode by the terme churche / the hole coÌ„gregation of all the people within this realme / aswell of the clergy as of the lay people that the kynge is the heed of them all / as he is in dede for it had ben a recognisyon of small effecte / to haue recognysed hiÌ„ hed of the clergye only / that was before heed ouer his subiectes spuÌ„all temporall And so by that recognisyoÌ„ the kynge hath none other auctoritye ouer his subiectê but as he had before so that he maye nat vse any power mere spuÌ„all / that our lorde gaue onely to his apostels discyples as to consecrate or make absolucions / ne any other lyke / as is sayde before And if percase the parlyamente conuocacyon also had expressely graunted to the kiÌ„g with the seyd name of the supreme heed such spuÌ„al auctorityes / it is no dout / but that the graunt had beÌ„ voyde for they haue no auctorite to chaunge the lawe of god And if this be trewe / it wyll be very harde to tell what auctorite or power is taken by the seyde recognisyon fro the bysshop of Rome that he had before the seyd recognision made for the extorte powers that he toke vpon him by occasyon of that name in this realmeê were taken fro him before by the statutes made in the sessone holden in the seyd .xxv. yere c. But that name of heed of all bysshops remayneth yet vnto hiÌ„ nat taken away bi any statute / that maye appere in this maner The seid statute of .xxvi. is only that the kyng shall be supreme hed vnder god vpoÌ„ erth / of the churche of EnglaÌ„de / wherby is vnderstaÌ„de that he ought to haue suche power iÌ„ this realme ouer his subiectes spuÌ„al temporal / as to a kyng belongeth by the lawe of god / as is sayd before with that it may well staÌ„de / that one may be hed bisshop minister in thynges mere spuÌ„all ouer the same people but than admyt that he be so / yet what power he ought to haue therbi ouer other bisshops is to be sene / and to gyue other occasyon to treate more thorowly of that mater I shall somwhat shewe my coÌ„ceite theriÌ„ And that is / that it shulde seme that he shulde thereby haue this preemynence / to haue the hyghest seate aboue all other bysshoppes And if he wolde preache / that he ought to haue the place before all other / as is sayd before / these preemynences other lyke remayneth yet vnto hiÌ„ / if he cam into this realme for ought that the ê‘liament hath don if any maÌ„ wyll say that he ought therby to haue vse also the power of a bisshop in mere spuÌ„all thingê as in gyuyng ordres / makynge of prestê / makyng of excoiÌ„cacioÌ„s absolutioÌ„s / such other in all places wher he shuld come / aswell wtout his owne dyocyse as within to that it may be answered / that if the generall counsell whereby Rome was made hed of al other churches / had enteÌ„ded that the bisshop of rome shuld haue had the power of a bisshop vniuersally in all other bysshops diocyses through cristeÌ„dome / that than the seyd general couÌ„sel wold haue expressed openly that power / and wold also haue reuoked the counsell on Nycene / which appoynted the bisshop of Rome to his diocise and that in all other prouynces / the honoure shulde be kepte to euery church But forasmuch as the seid generall counsell dyd nat so / it semeth that it inteÌ„ded that the counsell of Nycene shulde stande in effecte that the bysshop of Rome shuld styll kepe him to his diocise as he dyd before / hauynge only by that name such preemynence at the generall metynge of bysshops / as before appereth in whose diocyse soeuer they mette neuer the lesse I wyll nothynge speke determynatly in this mater but remytte it to them that haue auctoritye And than if it be thought by the kynge and his parlyament that no hurte can come hereafter to the comenwelth / though the bisshop of Rome be suffred to kepe styll his name of the heed bysshop of crystendome / bycause the kynge natwithstandynge that name maye enioye the name of supreme heed vnder god vpoÌ„ erth of the church of EnglaÌ„d they may suffre it contynue but if they se lykelyhodê / that if the name be suffred to coÌ„tynewe / that than by colour of that name / he wyll pretende hereafter to haue power aboue kynges princes / as his predecessours haue done in time past than maye the parlyamente repell that name as to this realme for euer it wyll be a very good dede to do it for the mayntenance of the whole comen welthe But as yet it is nat auoyded / bycause bothe names may stande togyther to seueral intentes as before appereth How may any man than resyst the seyd statutes but he resyst god or how may any man say that if he agreed to the statute / that he shulde fal therby fro the vnyte of christes church / syth the vnyte therof standeth nat in that poynte / whether Rome be heed churche of all other churches or nat But thaÌ„ some meÌ„ say in this mater / that the parlyament dyd nat wel to recognyse the kynge to be supreme heed in erthe vnder god of the churche of Englande where saynt Paule sayth ad Ephe. v. Man is the hed of the woman / as Christ of the church also he sayth ad Colos i. He is the heed of the body of the churche that is to say Christ and thaÌ„ it is said i. Corin. xi The heed of Christ is god so say they / the parlyament shulde haue holden lyke ordre / as s Paul dyd haue recognysed that the kyng was supreme heed vpon erth vnder Christe / to whom god was heed / that the parlyamente erred in that they kept nat the ordre that s Paule did And truly this is a daungerouse sayeng for if the ê‘lyament erred therin / than were no man bounden to obey the ê‘lyameÌ„t in that behalfe for the ê‘liament may nothiÌ„ge do against the lawe of god neuerthelesse it is apparant that the ê‘lemÌ„t dyd well varyed no thinge fro s Paule for it sayth that the kyng