For which Joseph Stevan ‖ Ioseph Stevan Epist ad Gregor XIII de osculo pedum Papae Iure meritoque in Religionis Ecclesiae infensissimum hostem Fredericum Barbarossam non ut in salem insatuatum quem jubet Christus pedibus proterere sed potius ut horrendam belluam calcibus insultavit who writ at Rome to Gregory the XIII of kissing the Popes feet checks Duarenus saying that Pope Alexander the III. trod the Emperour Frederick under foot not onely as salt which hath lost its savour but as an horrible wild beast And Otho Frisingensis both relates it and commends it * Otho Frising lib. 5. cap. 14. Quod sactum summis liberum est sacerdotibus cum Principum tyrannidem aut violatam fidem aut Ecclesiae imminutam dignitatem vident and saith That the Popes have the power to do so much when they see the tyranny of Princes or that faith is violated or the dignity of the Church imbezelled So though the History were not as it is most undoubtedly true the approving and exalting of the fact in the Court of Rome makes that Court as guilty as if it had been done But it was done and as bad was done by other Popes Pope Celestin the III. gave Constantia a Nunne in marriage to the Emperour Henry the VI. and gave him for her dowry the Kingdome of both the Sicilies upon Platina Uspergensis condition he should expell Tancred who was possess'd of the Kingdome Hence a bloody War between Henry the VI. and Tancred It is ordinary to the Pope to give that which is none of his When the Pope giveth a Kingdome from a Prince that enjoyeth it he commands together the people to resist him making a sport to spill their blood and damn their souls Baronius commends very much that Popes behaviour Annal. Roger. an 1191. Sedebat Dominus Papa in Cathedra Pontificali tenens coronam auream inter pedes suos Imperator inclinato capite recepit coronam imperator similiter de pedibus Domini Papae Dominus autem Papa statim percussit cum pede suo coronam Imperatoris dejecit eam in terram significans quod ipse potestatem ejiciendi eum ab Imperio habet si ille demeruerit in the Crowning of the Emperour Henry the VI. and his Wife thus related in the Annalls of Rogerius The Pope was sitting in his pontifical chair holding an Imperial golden Crown between his feet and the Emperour bowing his head received the Crown and the Empress likewise by the feet of the Pope And the Pope presently hit the Emperours Crown and kick'd it down to the ground thereby signifying that he had power to cast him down from the Empire if he deserved it Baronius having related this amplifieth it with this morality ‖ Baron Tom. 12. Anno 1191. sect 10. Ut fixum menti Caesaris haereret nempe dare custodire conservare auserre si causa exigeret imperium esse in voluntate Romani Pontificis ejusmodi voluit commenere eum exemplo That it might remain fixed in the Emperours mind that it lieth in the Popes pleasure to give keep preserve and take away the Empire if there be cause for it he would admonish him with such an example Could the Devil have set up pride to a higher pin to put the Emperours Crown at his feet as a foot-stool for him to tread upon put the Crown on the Emperours head with his feet as an office too low for his hands and then with his foot kick'd it down as having a quarrell against the Imperiall Crown and together a contempt for it This and the treading upon the Emperours neck were significant ceremonies with a witness And what more effectual course could have been taken to raise rebellion in all the States of Christendome then thus to blast the respect of Majesty For thereby all Nations were taught that their Princes were not Sovereigns but the Popes Vassalls and Liegemen That themselves were not their Kings Subjects but the Popes who could kick down their Crowns when he listed and that when that supreme Head shall command it the Feet that is the inferiour Members of the State must make Foot-balls of the Crowns of Emperours and Kings After Celestin the III. came Innocent the III. as proud but more active then he England hath reason to remember this Pope For he excommunicated King John deposed him absolved his Subjects from their allegiance to him and cast an Interdict upon England which lasted six years All which time no Divine Service was said in the Kingdome but in some priviledged places no Sacrament was administred and no corps buried in Consecrated Ground The Kingdome of England he gave to Philip August of France if he could take it and that by a formal order thus related by Matthew Paris The Pope by the counsell Matth. Paris in vita Reg. Johan Papa ex consilio Cardinalium Episcoporum aliorum vivorum prudentium sententialiter definivit ut Rex a solio deponeretur Ad hujus quoque sententiae executionem scripsit Dominus Papa potentissimo Regi Francorum Philippo quatenus in remissionem peccatorum suorum hunc laborem assumeret of the Cardinalls Bishops and other prudent men gave a definitive sentence that the King should be put down from his Throne For the execution of that Sentence the Pope writ to the most potent King of the French Philip that for the remission of his sins he should take that labour upon him A new way for that King to get the remission of his sins to invade his neighbours estate As in the age of our Fathers Pope Sixtus the V. gave nine years of true indulgence to all the French that would bear Arms against their King Henry the III. Thus the remission of sins purchased by the blood of the Son of God and presented by his Gospell to all that repent and believe is by the Pope given as a reward of Invasion and Rebellion Matthew Paris writes that The Pope having gotten the Kingdome of England to himself to his thinking sent to Philip August to enjoyn him to be reconciled with King John else he would put France to Interdict Philip answered that he feared not his sentence and that it belonged not to the Church of Rome to pronounce a sentence against the King of France It is a long and a sad story how King John was persecuted by Pope Innocent the III. his Barons made to rise against him his Neighbours to fall upon him his Clergy to revile him and his people to despise him till that unlucky King was brought to such an extremity that to buy his peace he gave his Kingdome to the Pope and yet could not get his peace that way The Gold which he laid at the Legats feet in sign of subjection the Legat trod under his feet in scorn yet took it in his hand after so great was his clemency What a cruel tyranny did the
deponi eligi alius Et Recogn lib. de Laicis sect Addo experientiam laudat Navarrum qui non dubitat affirmare nunquam populum ita potestatem suam in Regem transferre quin illam sibi in habitu retineat ut in certis quibusdam casibus etiam actu recipere possit men the Kings power is from the people because the people makes the King And in temporal Common-wealths if the King degenerate into a Tyrant though he be the Head of the Kingdome he may be deposed by the people and another elected And doth he not praise Navarrus for saying that the people never so transferre their power to the King but they retain it in the habit so that in some cases they may resume it Is it for saying that the Common-wealth may take defensive armes against the King and expel him The Jesuite Suarez taught them that doctrine Suarez Defens Fid lib. 6. c. 19. sect 17. Resp ex sola rei natura spectatam prout fuit apud Gentiles nunc est inter Ethnicos habet potestatem se desendendi à Tyranno Rege sect 15. Si Rex legitimus tyrannice gubernat regno nullum aliud sit remedium nisi Regem expellere deponere poterit Resp tota publico communi consensu civitatem procerum Regem deponere The Common-wealth saith he considered in her meer nature and as it was among the Gentiles and as it is now among the Pagans hath the power to defend her self against a Tyrant If a lawful King governe tyrannically and that there be no other remedy for the Kingdome but to expel and depose the King the whole Common-wealth by the publick and common consent of the Cities and the Peers may depose the King Or do the Jesuites inveigh against them for making a formal and aggressive Warre against the King They have no reason for it seeing that the Jesuite Mariana hath set them down the whole course which they have followed The readiest Mariana lib. 6. de Rege cap. 6. pag. 59. 60. Expedita maximé tuta via est si publici conventus facultas detur communi consensu quid statuendum sit deliberare fixum ratumque habere quod communi sententia steterit Monendus in primis Princeps erit atque ad sanitatem revocandus c. Qui si medicinam respuat neque spes ulla sanitatis relinquatur sententia pronuntiata licebit Reip ejus imperium detrectare primum quoniam bellum necessario concitabitur ejus defendendi consilia explicare expedire arma pecunias in belli sumptus imperare populis si res feret neque aliter se Resp tueri possit eodem defensionis jure ac vero potiori authoritate propria Principem publice hostem declaratum ferro perimere and the safest way saith he if the people may meet in a publick Assembly is to deliberate by common consent what is to be done and then to keep inviolably that which is agreed on by common consent The Prince must first be admonish't and exhorted to mend But if he refuse the remedy and there be no hope of his mending the sentence being once pronounced against him it will be lawful for the Common-wealth to refuse to obey him And because a Warre must necessarily follow the counsels how to maintain it must be set down armes must be quickly provided and taxes laid upon the people to bear the expences of the Warre And if it be requisite and the Common-wealth cannot otherwise maintain it self it shall be lawful both by the right of defence and more by the Authority proper to the people to declare publikely the King to be the common enemy and then kill him with the sword Do the Jesuites look with horrour upon that Court of Justice erected to try the King Let them remember that they had Mariana's warrant for it That the Common-wealth from which the Royal Power hath its original may when the case requires Mariana Ibid. Certe à Rep. unde ortum habet regia potestas rebus exigentibus Regem in jus vocari posse si sanitatem respuat Principatu spoliari Neque ita in Principem jura potestatis transtulit ut non sibi majorem reservarit potestatem it bring the King to judgement and if he refuse to mend deprive him of his Sovereignty For the Common-wealth hath not so transferred the right of power unto the Prince but it hath reserved a greater power to it self And why doth our Adversary an earnest defender of the Jesuites exclaim so much against the abominable parricide acted upon our Sacred Sovereigne seeing that the people which made Warre against him held him to be a Tyrant and Lessius lib. 2. de Iustitia Iure cap. 9. dubio 4. scribit Verum Principem qui tyrannus est ratione administrationis non posse à privatis interimi quamdiu manet Princeps primum à Repub. vel comitiis Regni vel alio habente authoritatem esse deponendum hostem declarandum ut in ipsius personam liceat quicquam attentare it is the currant opinion of the Jesuites that a tyrant may be killed by any private man A true Prince saith Lessius who is a tyrant by reason of his administration cannot be killed by a private person as long as he remaineth a Prince but he must first be deposed and declared enemy by the Common-wealth or the Parliament of the Kingdome or some other having Authority that it may be lawful to attempt any Suarez contra Regem Mag. Brit. lib. 6. cap. 4. sect 14. Post sententiam lutam domnino privatur regno ita ut non possit justo titulo illud possidere ergo ex tunc poterit tanquam tyrannus tractari consequenter à quocunquè privato poterit intersici thing against his person And Suarez saith to the same purpose that after the Sentence given against a King he is altogether deprived of his Kingdome so that he can no more possesse it with a just title Wherefore from thenceforth he may be used like a tyrant and killed by any private person Neither ought the Jesuites to find fault with the publick thanksgiving for murthering the King and making of the thirtieth of Ianuary a Thanksgiving Day seeing that the Jesuites of Paris shewed the way for that to the Rebels in England for in the time of the French League they made Solemne Thanksgivings for the murthering of their King as Pope Sixtus the V. did since at Rome with a vehement oration in which he applieth a Prophesie of the Incarnation of the Sonne of God unto that Kings Murther So much the late Rebels of England have learned of you Fathers Jesuites and no reason have you to chide your Scholars for following your doctrine and example how far you are yet before them I will shew before I have done with you For they do not make the crown of their Kings obnoxious to be kickt down by the
have made the Right of Kings known which was opprest before Such a judgement is of great weight coming from a wise King who was truly informed of the businesses of his neighbours Certainly si perito in arte sua credendum est If a skilful Artist must be believed when he speaketh within the compasse of his Art none can decide better what rebellion is and what is not then a great Monarch jealous of the Royal Authority skilled in the duty of Subjects and one that had a long struggling with rebellious spirits This Sentence was pronounced by his Majesty in the year 1615 when France had peace at home and abroad Two years after they had the like testimony of their fidelity from their own King by a Letter of his Majesty written to their Deputies assembled in a Synod at Vitre in these terms Nous avons receu bien volontiers les nouuelles assurances protestations que vous nous auez faites de vostre fidelite obeissance En laquelle persistans comme vous devez que vous auez sait par le passè vous pouuez aussi estre assurez que nous aurons toussours soin de vous maintenir conserver en tous les avantages qui vous ont esté accordez These Letters were printed and published with other Declarations We have received with good satisfaction the new assurances and protestations which you have made unto us of your fidelity and obedience In the which if you persist as you ought and as you have done before you may also be assured that we shall alwayes have a care to maintain and preserve you in all the advantages which have been granted unto you These Letrers bear the Date of May 29. 1617. from Paris Cardinal d'Ossat speaking to Cardinal Aldobrandin Nephew to Clement the VIII about the execrable murther attempted by Iohn Chastel against Henry the IV. of France told him that if Sil y avoit lieu a de tels assassinats ce seroit aux Heretiques a les purchasser executer qu'il a quittez abandonnez qui avoyent a se craindre de luy toutesois ils n'ont rien attenté contre luy ni contre aucun de cinq de nos Roys ses predecesseurs quelque boucherie que leurs Majestez ayent fait desdits Huguenots Card. d'Ossat Epist 8. a Mr. de Velleroy Ian. 25. 1595. pag. 77. such attempts were allowable they were more proper to execute for the Hereticks so he is pleased to call the Protestants whom the King hath left and forsaken and who have reason to stand in fear of him and yet they never attempted any such thing neither against him nor against any of the Kings his predecessors what slaughter soever they have made of the said Hugenots But the greatest testimony of their fidelity is that famous Edict of Nantes which was expressely made to reward them with priviledges for their constant adhering to their King in the long calamities of France Seeing then that the French Protestants were acknowledged good Subjects by their Sovereigne and have deserved by their signal loyalty and long services to the Crowne those few priviledges which they hardly enjoy it is evident how unjust the extraordinary expostulation is That the Roman Catholicks have not the publick allowed exercise of Religion in England as the Protestants have in France There is great reason for that differing dealing The French Protestants have deserved that liberty and more by their constant fidelity and valour having maintained their King with their purses and defended him with their swords so many years against the Jesuitical party who had made a League with strangers to keep him from the Crown and take away his life It is known that the Grandfather of the King now reigning was set upon the Throne by the swords of his Protestant Subjects Let the Jesuitical party of England shew the like service to their Sovereigne whereby they deserve the like recompence What care did they take of the preservation of their Sovereigns lives Queen Elizabeth and King Iames How did they defend their Crowns against the claim and invasion of strangers Did they further or hinder the return of our gracious King now reigning If some few Roman Catholicks have fought for our glorious King and Martyr Charles the I. their whole party fares the better by it now and finds the King a grateful Prince remembring good deeds and forgetting injuries Then the difference of their doctrine in point of Government ought to make a great difference in the allowance of the publick exercise of their Religion The Jesuited Catholicks acknowledge another Sovereigne over their King both for the Spiritual and the Temporal a forreigne power which can dispense them of their Allegiance to him The Protestants acknowledge no Sovereigne above their King and give no jealousie by their doctrine to the Roman Catholick Princes and States under which they live as the Jesuites have done even to Roman Catholicks by whom they have been expelled out of their Dominions as Teachers of a doctrine tending to rebellion Of the troubles that followed who so will give an impartial judgement must look upon the condition of the French Protestants since King Henry IV. bought his peace with the party of the League by the change of his Religion That King seeing himself obliged to provide for the safety of his Protestant subjects by whose armes and long service he had been preserved in his adversities and finally placed upon the Royal Seat gave them some places of strength in several Provinces of the Kingdome for certain years and by an Edict called the Edict of Nantes the free enjoying of their estates and the open exercise of their Religion with some limitation of places Of the priviledges granted them by that Edict there were many infractions especially since the death of Henry the IV. who both by his authority and together by his ancient interest in the Protestant party kept all quiet and preserved them from those wrongs to which the weakest are alwaies obnoxious The term being expired of the grant of those places King Lewis the XIII renewed it for four or five years after which he would have them out of their hands That they were to be restored upon the Kings demand was the opinion of grave Protestants the severest exactors of the obedience of subjects to the Sovereign of my Reverend Father especially who being eminent and respected in the party was a principal means to keep the Protestant Churches on this side Loire in peace and in duty to their King for which his Majesty sent him a considerable summe of money which he refused to take saying that he could be loyal to his King without being bought But the necessity of their keeping those places seemed to be justified by the reason of the first grant which was to preserve them from the violence of their bitter enemies for said they if so many places of safety could not keep us