Body Corporate governed by Local Statutes granted and confirmed to them by His Majesties Royal Predecessor King Henry the 6th for him his Heirs and Successors under the Great Seal of England which are also since confirmed by several other Letters Patents of others His Majesties Royal Predecessors under the Great Seal of England That by the Statutes of the said College to the observation of which each Fellow is Sworn it is ordered that the person to be Elected President thereof shall be a Man of good Life and Reputation of approved Understanding and of good Manners and Temper and Discreet Provident and Circumspect both in Spiritual and Temporal Affairs And at the time of the Election of a President the said Fellows are bound by the said Statutes to take an Oath that they shall nominate none to that Office but such as are or have been Fellows of the said College or of New-College in Oxford and if they are not actually Fellows at the time of Election that they be such as have left their Fellowships in those respective Colleges upon creditable accounts And when two qualified persons shall be nominated at the time of Election by the greater number of all the Fellows to the said Office of President The thirteen Seniors also swear that they will Elect one of them whom in their Consciences they think most proper and sufficient most discreet most useful and best qualified for that place without any regard to love hatred favor or fear and every Fellow when he is first admitted to his Fellowship in the said College Swears that he will inviolably keep and observe all the Statutes and Ordinances of the College and all and every thing therein contained so far as does or may concern him according to the plain litteral and grammatical sense and meaning thereof and as much as in him lies will cause the same to be kept and observed by others And that he will not procure any Dispensation contrary to his aforesaid Oaths or any part thereof nor contrary to the Statutes and Ordinances to which they relate or any one of them nor will he endeavor that such Dispensation shall be procured by any other or others publickly or privately directly or indirectly and if it shall happen that any Dispensation of this sort shall be procured granted or obtained of what Authority soever it be whether in general or particular or under what Form of words whatsoever it shall be granted that he will neither make use of it nor in any sort consent thereunto all which several Oaths follow in express words at the End of this their Answer That upon notice of the Death of Dr. Clark late President of the said College the Vice-President called a Meeting of the said Fellows in order to appoint a day for Election of a new President and the 13th day of April last was the time prefixt with power to prorogue the same as they should see cause until the 15th day of the same Month beyond which time they could not Statutably defer their Election and in pursuance thereof a Citation or Praemonition was fixed upon the Chappel-door of the said College signifying the same and by which the absent Fellows are summoned to repair home to the said Election as the Statute in that case requires And the said Vice-President and other deputed Fellows further say that upon the 11th day of the said Month of April they received His Majesties Letters requiring them to Elect and Admit the said Mr. Anthony Farmer to be President of the said College But forasmuch as the said Vice-President and the other Fellows apprehended the Right of Election to be in themselves and did believe His Majesty never intended to dispossess them of their Rights And forasmuch as the said Mr. Farmer had never been Fellow either of Magdalen College or of New-College in Oxford and had not those qualifications which in and by the Statutes of the said College are required in the Character of a President as they in their Consciences did and do verily believe and in regard they could not comply with His Majesties Letters without the violation of their Oaths and hazard of that Legal Interest and property whereof they are by the said Statutes possest and which by their Oaths they are bound to maintain They represented the same by their Humble Petition to His Majesty and having deferred their Election of a President to the last day limited by their Statutes they then proceeded to Election And having first Received the Blessed Eucharist and taken the said Oaths as the Statutes require to choose a person so qualified as is before exprest they did Elect the Reverend Mr. John Hough Batchellor in Divinity and one of the Fellows of the said College a person every way qualified to be their President who has been since Confirmed by the Lord Bishop of Winchester their Visitor as the Statutes of the said College direct And that they might not lie under His Majesties displeasure by their proceedings on the 19th day of the said Month of April they made humble Representation thereof to His Majesty by his Grace the Duke of Ormond Chancellor of the University of Oxford setting forth their indispensable obligation to observe their Founders Statutes All which matters the said Vice-President and other deputed Fellows do humbly offer to your Lordships consideration and pray to be dismissed with your Lordships favor Charles Aldworth Vice-President John Smith D. D. Mainwaring Hammond B. D. Henry Dobson Dean of Artes. Ja. Fayrer A. M. §. 3. To this were subjoyned the following Statutes for regulating the Election of a President De numero Scholarium Electione Praesidentis IN primis siquidem ut Sacra Scriptura seu pagina scientiarum omnium aliarum Mater Domina sua liberius dilatet tentoria cum ea utraque militet Philosophia The College to consist of one President and 40 poor and indigent Scholars Clerks praefatum nostrum Collegium Oxoniae in de numero unius Praesidentis Quadraginta pauperum indigentuim Scholarium Clericorum in dictis scientiis studere debentium subsistere Statuimus etiam Ordinamus sic ipsum volumus Deo propitio perpetuò permanere Praeter quem numerum sint alii Triginta pauperes Scholares And 30 poor Schollars called Demys vulgariter vocati Demyes Grammaticalia Logicalia vel Sophisticalia diligenter addiscentes ut cultus Dei a quo bona cuncta procedunt amplius augeatur melius sustentetur Volumus quod praeter dictos numeros Scholarium sint etiam quatuor Presbyteri Capellani And 4 Presbyters Chaplains 8 Clerks and 16 Choristers octo Clerici Sexdecim Choristae Cappellae dicti Collegii in Divinis servitiis deservientes Proviso quod de dicto numero quadragenario ex speciali providentia Praesidentis Two or 3 of the 40 to be Students of the Canon and Civil Laws and as many in Physic Vice-Praesidentis Decanorum trium aliorum Seniorum duo
would have been Aggravations of the former Contempts which upon better thoughts you desired and we gave you leave to withdraw What other Men who are led by Populacy which is the Fools Paradise but the Wise Mans scorn say of us while we are doing our Duty to God and the King we value no no more than what they dream of us For we set a greater estimate upon our own Duty than other Mens thoughts and will discharge our Consciences faithfully whatsoever becomes of our Credit We can allow those who are dis-affected to the Crown and to the Church of England to talk of us at their own Rate we shall vindicate the Kings Authority and redeem it from Contempt by all Just and Lawful means But yet Gentlemen the great concern we have for you and our earnest design to rescue you out of danger if you are not sturdily resolved to cast away your selves obliges us to offer you once for all that if you will freely and presently make such submission to His Sacred Majesty as the Heinousness of your Offences do's in our Judgment require we will pass by your faults and recommend you heartily to Gods and the Kings Mercy and accordingly we require the Deputy Register to Read the Form of such a submission to you as the Court upon mature deliberation hath judged necessary for them to expect and require in Point of Justice as an expiation for all the former dis-obedience and contempts of which they have found you guilty which they that are willing and well resolved may immediately Sign and the rest of you are Commanded to withdraw excepting Dr. Thomas Smith and Mr. Charnock with whose good behaviour towards His Sacred Majesty in the concern before mentioned we declare our selves to be well satisfied and doubt not but that His Majesty will be so too when we shall have further occasion to represent it to him §. 3. After the Bishops Speech all were ordered to withdraw Register except the Fellows and the Form of a Submission was ordered to be Read to them in the words following To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition and Submission of the Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen College in the Vniversity of Oxford whose Names are Subscribed May it please your Majesty WE your Majesties most humble Petitioners having a deep sense of being justly fallen under your Majesties displeasure for our disobedience and contempt to your Majesty and to the Authority of your Majesties Commissioners and Visitors We do in all humility prostrate our selves at your Majesties Feet humbly begging your Pardon for our said Offences and promising that we will for the future behave our selves more Dutifully and for a Testimony thereof we do acknowledge the Authority of your Majesties said Visitors and the Justice of their Proceedings and we do declare our entire Submission to the Lord Bishop of Oxon as our President He then told them that their Subscribing the same was the only means that could recommend them to His Majesties favour But all the Fellows to whom the said submission was proposed * Dr. Thomas Smith had not the Question proposed to him having been absent from the College during the heat of the contest and wholly unconcerned in it by which it appears how false the Oxford Relation p. 37. 38. is being severally ask't the Question peremptorily refused to subscribe Mr. Thompson desired to be excused from subscribing for that he had given his Vote for Mr. Farmer and had not concurred with the Society in any thing they had done since in this business and declared that he never had been disobedient nor ever would be whereupon their Lordships excused him §. 4. Dr. Aldworth desired The Oxford Relation is thus p. 37. 38. in the Name of himself and the Fellows time to consider of the submission and give their Answer in Writing to whom the Bishop of Chester said they must every one Sign or Refuse as they were called And Baron Jenner said there was no Answer to be given but Yea or No They all moved again for time but it was denyed then Dr. Aldworth said My Lords this is my first appearance before your Lordships since your sitting here therefore I pray to be heard My Lords I am as ready to comply with the Kings Pleasure as any Man living neither do I know that we have ever in this place been disobedient to the King when ever 't was in our Power to obey his Commands Our Founder in the first Clause of the Oath we take at the Election hath provided that no one shall be President of this College but who was bred in this or in the College wherein he himself was bred now for us who have Elected Dr. Hough a Person Qualified according to our Statutes who hath been Installed Sworn Confirmed and Approved of in all the ways and manners prescribed in the Statutes For us my Lord to accept and admit of a Stranger and a Forreigner in his place is to the best of my understanding a giving up the Rights of the College to other uses than the Founder designed it Here Dr. Aldworth was Interrupted by the Bishop of Chester saying the Statutes were over-ruled by the Kings Authority or words to that effect To which the Dr. Answered your Lordships sit here as Visitors which Implies there are certain Laws and Statutes which we are bound to observe and by which we are to be Governed and if it shall appear to your Lordships that we have Acted conformable to those Statutes I hope we shall neither incur the Kings displeasure nor your Lordships The whole Tenor of our Statutes run that we should Inviolably maintain our Right and observe the Rules of our Founder He has laid his Curse upon us if we vary from them here he repeated the words Ordinamus sub poena Anathematis Indignationis Omnipotentis Dei ne quis c. Item sub Interminatione Divini Judicis Interdicimus To which the Bishop of Chester reply'd are you not to obey the King as well as your Founders Statutes To this the Vice-President Answered I ever did obey the King and ever will do our Statutes which we are Sworn to are Confirmed by several Kings and Queens before and since the Reformation and as we keep them are agreeable to the Kings Laws both Ecclesiastical and Civil Whilst we live up to them saith the Printed Relation and whilst we keep up to 'em we obey the King. The Bishop of Chester reply'd the Statutes were never Confirmed by his present Majesty to which Dr. John Smith said neither have they been Repealed by His Majesty The Mandate being an Inhibition repeals them for the present time by Dispensation and what is not Repealed is Confirmed After this their Lordships pressing either to Sign or Refuse Dr. Aldworth said My Lords I 'll deal plainly in regard to my Oath and the Statutes to the Right of all our Successors and of Dr. Hough whom I believe
by one Simon a Monk of Walden ☞ It is likewise to be noted that altho' as I have shewn before the first Race of our Kings did frequently oppose some Rights the Popes claimed by Canons yet within the compass of an Hundred Years after the Conquest The Popes Jurisdiction in four particulars by the Canons or little more the Court of Rome obtained four great points of Jurisdiction First of sending Legats into England Secondly drawing Appeals to Rome Thirdly the Donation of Bishoprics and other Dignities in the Church Fourthly the Exemption of the Clergy from Secular Power Notwithstanding all which several Kings reassumed their Rights and Jurisdiction as occasions offered until the Reign of King Henry the Eighth as the Statutes of Mortmain Provisoes c. do manifest §. 15. The Kings Supremacy asserted by King Henry the 8th But in King Henry the Eighth's time a Total Rout was given to them all In the Twenty fourth of his Reign all Appeals to Rome were taken away and Established in the King and all Sentences made or to be made with England declared to be Authentical notwithstanding any Act from Rome The grounds of which Act are set forth in the (b) Stat. 24. H. 8. c. 12. Parag. 1. Preamble That this Realm of England is an Empire Governed by one Supreme Head and King The Lawyers Judge this Statute not to be Introductory of any new power but declatory of the Ancient Rights of the Crown having Dignity and Royal Estate of the Imperial Crown of the same unto whom a Body Politic Compact of all sorts and Degrees of People divided in Terms by Names of Spirituality and Temporality been bounden and own to bear next to God a Natural and humble obedience Then follows the plenitude of the Kings power as before I have related after which follows That the Body Spiritual hath power when any cause of the Law Divine happens to come in question or of Spiritual Learning This Statute was made to exclude the Popes power which King Henry the 8th rejected that it was declared Interpreted and shewed by that part of the Body Politic called the Spirituality without the Intermedling of any exterior person or persons by which the See of Rome is intended to be utterly Excluded and all Canons of Council likewise not allowed of by the King and his Laws to declare and detemin all such doubts and to Administer all such Offices and Duties as to their Rooms Spiritual doth appertain and the Laws Temporal for Tryal of property of Lands and Goods and for the Conservation of the people of this Realm in Unity and Peace without Rapine and Spoil was and yet is Administred Adjudged and Executed by sundry Judges and Ministers of the other part of the Body Politic called the Temporality and both the Authorities and Jurisdictions do conjoyn together in the due Administration of Justice the one to help the other By which it is easie to infer that this Statute exterminates and abolisheth all Forreign power so that whatever before this was Transacted here by the Popes or their Legats is now to be declared and determined by the King or such as by Law are appointed to hear and determin such matters under him §. 16. The Kings power of Visiting c. In the Twenty-sixth of the same King it is enacted That the King his Heirs and Successors shall have full Power and Authority from time to time to (a) Stat. 26 H. 8 c. 1. The Kings power of Visiting Visit Repress Redress Reform Order Correct Restrain and Amend all such Errors Heresies Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities what soever they be which by any manner of Spiritual Authority or Jurisidiction ought or may lawfully be Reformed Repressed Ordered Redressed Corrected Restrained or Amended most to the pleasure of Almighty God the increase of Virtue in Christs Religion and for the Conservation of the Peace Unity and Tranquility of this Realm any Uses Customs Forreign Laws Forreign Authority Prescription or any thing or things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding It is known that the Title of Supreme Head of the Church given by that Act to the King his Heirs and Successors was Repealed by Queen Mary The Title of Supreme Head changed and was never restored but in the First of Queen Elizabeth all the powers given by the Act of 26 H. 8. are restored to the Crown under the Name of Supreme Governor For in the first of Queen Elizabeth such Ancient Jurisdictions over the Estate Ecclesiastical are restored to the Crown The restoring of Ancient Jurisdiction as by Queen Mary had been Repealed and all Foreign powers repugnant to the same are abolished I shall only insert what relates to the present matter Stat. 1. Eliz. Parag. 17. Parag. 17. It is thus Enacted That such Jurisdiction Privileges Superiorities and Prehemenences Spiritual and Ecclesiastical as by any Spiritual and Ecclesiastical power or Authority hath heretofore been or may lawfully be exercised or used for the Visitation of the Ecclesiastical State and persons and for Reformation Order and Correction of the same and all manner of Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities shall for ever by Authority of this present Parliament be Vnited and Annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm Parag. 18. The Kings power in Ecclesiastical matters And in the 18th Paragraph The Queen her Heirs and Successors shall have full Power and Authority by Letters Patents under the Great Seal to Assign Name and Authorize c. such person or persons c. as the Queen her Heirs and Successors shall think meet to exercise use occupy and execute under them all manner of Jurisdictions Privileges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within their Dominions to Visit Reform Redress Order Correct and Amend all such Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever which by any manner of Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Power Authority or Jurisdiction can or may lawfully be Reformed Ordered Redressed Corrected Restrained or Amended c. Which seems to me 25 H. 8. c. 21. Parag. 20. The King Supreme Visitor notwithstanding Mr. Pryns exceptions clear by another Act of Parliament the words of which are Provided that the said Arch-Bishop of Canterbury or any other person or persons shall have no power or Authority by reason of this Act to Visit or Vex any Monasteries Abbys Priories Colleges Hospitals Houses or other places Religious which be or were Exempt before the making of this Act c. But that Redress Visitation and Confirmation shall be had by the Kings Highness his Heirs and Successors by Commission under the Great Seal to be directed to such persons as shall be appointed requisite for the same In fine whoever considers the Accumulated power of our Kings most own à fortiori that whatever Visitatorial Power was excercised before King H. 8ths time was by the Kings allowance and all since
deputed by him with power to determin the matters But these were received so sharply at Oxford that they could not exercise their Visitatorial Authority till the King sent his Breve or Writ (c) Chartophyl Civit. Oxon. to the Chancellor and Major to assist the Visitors in executing their Office by which at present things were quieted But it broke out again till by a second Visitation or Peculiar Mandate sent to the College Mr. Henry Whylefield the Provost Mr. William French Robert Lydeford and John Trevis Fellows were Expelled These by private consultation among themselves took away the Charters Books the Jewels Mony and other Goods of the College till the Chancellor and Proctors upon the Kings (a) Iussu Regio 13. R. 2. M. 40. Mandate caused them to be restored by Whitefield the Expelled to Thomas Carvel the new Provost But still all was not quiet those Expelled especially making disturbances therefore on the Seventh of February the King issued out his (b) Pat. 3 R. 2. par 2. M. 12. Letters Patents to Mr. Berton the Chancellor John Sherburn Thomas Swindon and Robert Bixy under the Great Seal to examin and determin the matters By this it appears What is to be Inferred from this that either by the Local Visitor or the Kings absolute Authority the Provost and several Fellows were Expelled That the King Commissionated some under the Broad Seal to hear and determin the matters which no doubt was by some one way and demonstrates the Kings absolute power in Expelling and by Commission determining matters in the University without other Visitations and we may note when ever the Visitations were performed by the Ordinary Visitors viz. The Arch-Bishop or Bishops it was about some things relating to their Function settled by the Canons and allowed by the Laws of the Land but still the last resort was made to the King besides his first giving leave as in many particulars is very clear §. 13. Arch-Bishop Courtneys Visitation Anno 1389. William Courtney Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Visited his Province and the Scholars were troubled (c) Walsingham Hist Angliaead Annu 1389. fol. 341. for that they had never seen nor heard such a Mandate of Visitation that both Exempted and not Exempted should be Visited Therefore the Black Monks urged their (d) These were the Black Monks of Gloucester College Exemptions and applyed themselves to the Abbots of Westminster and St. Albans who advissed them not to yield to the Arch-Bishops Visitation Wood Antiq. Oxon lib. 1. fol. 196 a. and Letters were sent from the Abbot of st Albans to the Arch-Bishop to desire him to desist to which the Arch Bishop replyed that saving the Right of his Church he would willingly do what he could for his special friend the Abbot but faid he could not any ways desist saving that Right from Visiting the Prior and Black Monks Studying in Oxford even tho' the (a) Etiamsi Rex Angliae pro praedictis Instaret King should intreat for them because they were a College and had a Prior and Chapter and lived in Common The Monk sent from St. Albans said they were not a College Non fuit ibi Collegium cum ibi morantes sigillum Commune non habent nec locus sit donatus Terr poralibus Spiritualibus c. for that they had not a Common Seal or were Endowed with Spiritualities or Temporalities and wanted many other things which were required to Constitute a College The Arch-Bishop Answered therefore he would Visit to enquire how it was with them Then the Monk reply'd if he came to Visit them he had no Jurisdiction to enquire of such things c By this appears what are of the Essence of a College and that in this Age Monks of several Orders had their Schools here â—nd yet were reckoned as Members of the Convent they were sent from rather than of any Incorporate Society of the University but only to Visit such as were not Exempt for those that were Exempt were Visitable in their proper Monasteries by the Arch-Bishop and so not to be Visited a second time To this Allegation the Arch-Bishop Answered that they were not Visited by him in their proper Monasteries for the Abbots excused them for that they were in the Schools therefore he would Visit them there And then a Monk and Lawyer who came with the Arch-Bishop willing to enlarge the Arch-Bishops Jurisdiction said that the Arch-Bishop might Visit even the Exempts (d) Exempti ibi ita sunt privilegiati quod ubicunque fuerint non sunt sub Jurisdistione alicujus Episcopi nisi Romani Pontificis vel Legati a Latere missi as long as they were in the Schools for that they were under the Jurisdiction of the Chancellor to this the Monk of St. Albans replyed that the Exempt are so privileged that wherever they were they might not be under the Jurisdiction of any Bishop unless of the Bishop of Rome or his Legate a Latere sent hither To which the Arch-Bishop said if it were so he neither could nor would molest them in any thing A while after Simon de Southerey presented himself to the Arch-Bishop in the Church of St. Fridiswyde whith all the Monks Exempt and not Exempt and the Arch-Bishop asked them if they submitted to his Visitation and it was answered that they came to obtain (a) Ad Captandam ejus Benevolentiam advenerunt his favor and the Arch Bishop told them that he excused them and never intended to burthen them so there was an end of this matter By all which it appears that the Dispute was about the privilege of Exemption But that the power of Metropolitical Visitation was allowed and that power was by the then Laws and is now derivative from the King. SECT III. Who Visited the Vniversity of Oxford after the 13th of King Richard the Seconds time to the beginning of King Henry the 8ths Reign §. 1. The King redresseth certain grievences complained of by both Universities HOw far the King Interested himself in Ordering the Affairs of the University appears in what King Richard the Second did Anno 1390. 14 Regni of which I shall give a short account The Fryers Preachers or Dominicans were complained of by both the Universities that several of them Students there declined the Examination of the University in order to the taking their Degrees and going beyond Sea obtained the Titles of Masters not without Infamy to the Brothers or Fryers and the great loss of the University Thereupon the King writes to the Prior Provincial and all the Priors in England ☞ That since the order (a) Ordo praedictus Institutus sit firmatus ad resistendum destruendum Haereses Errores contra legem divinam fidem Catholicam indies emergentes c. Claus 14. Ric. 2. M. 32. was Instituted to resist and destroy Heresies and Errors against the Divine Law and the Catholic Faith dayly springing up
§. 6. An account of the whole matter as in the Parliament Roll. I shall now give an account of the matter as it appears in the Parliament (d) Rot. Parl. 13 H. 4. N. 15. Roll. First there is the Arch-Bishops Petition to the King that with the Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons Assembled in the said Parliament the Schedule Annexed might be confirmed Which Schedule contains the Declaration of King Richard the Second as it is to be found in Mr. Pryn wherein it appears that the ground of the Contest and differences was about a Bull of Exemption pretending to exclude the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and his Successors and all other Ordinaries and Founders of the said University and Colleges from Visiting and all other Ordinary Jurisdiction which Bull by a venire facias was brought into the Chancery at Westminster and the Chancellor and Proctors shewed a sufficient Warrant under the Universities Seal to produce the Bull in Chancery and to answer there and to do and receive what should be ordered and determined by the late King Richard the Second and his Council as appears by the Records of the Chancery and after the Chancellor and Proctors for themselves and the University submitted themselves in the foresaid matters (a) Ordinationi definis ioni dicti nuper Regis to the Ordinance and Determination of the said King. ☞ The King after mature and fuller deliberation with his Council clearly considering that the Bull was procured in prejudice of his Crown and to the revoking or enervating of the Laws and Customs of his Realm and in favor and emboldning of Heretics and Lollards Murtherers and other Malefactors Ordained and by his Breve or (b) In fide Logeancia dilectione quibus sibi tencbantur Ac sub poena amissionis privilegiorum Universitatis praedictae sub forfeitura omnium aliorum quae sibi foris facere potuerunt ne dictam Bullam in aliqua sui parte exequi seu excercere seu Beneficium quoddam Exemptionis per Bullam illam aliqualiter reportare seu recipere presumerent Mandate Commanded and forbid the Chancellor Masters Doctors and Scholars of the said University on their Faith Allegiance and the love that they ought him and under the penalty of losing the privileges of the said University the forfeiture of all other things which they could forfeit that they presumed not to execute or exercise the said Bull in any part of it or any ways to presume to enjoy or receive any benefit of Exemption by the said Bull But to renounce all the Exemptions and Privileges contained in it before Richard Kendall the Kings Clerk and Notary and should transmit an Instrument for that purpose under the Seal of the said University by the said Clerk under the Penalties aforesaid After which follows the Kings Sentence as before In this part it may be observed how the King discovers his Authority and Prerogative over the University in injoyning them to renounce the Popes Bull and not to Execute c. The King may deprive the University of all privileges for disobedience it under the penalty there mentioned which demonstrates that for contempt and dis-obedience the King may not only Suspend and Deprive any Member of the University but take away all their Privileges c. which would be well considered by those who obstinately refuse to obey the Mandate of a King of England §. 7. The account of the latter Visitation Then follows the account of the later Visitation of the Arch-Bishop in the 12th 12. H. 4. of Henry the Fourth as before related where Richard Courtney the Chancellor and Benedict Brent and John Birch the Proctors opposed him and he and the University submited themselves to the Arbitrament Judgment Ordination and Decree of the King and the King Summoned them to appear before him at Lambeth upon the 17th of September where hearing all things and having consideration of the Submission made to King Richard and the Ordination Judgment and Determination of the same the King Confirmed and Ratified the same And further ordered if they obeyed not the Arch-Bishop c. all their Franchises Liberties and all the Privileges of the same University should be seized into the hands of the King and his Heirs till they performed it and the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor and Proctors of the University for the time being and their Successors and the University shall pay to the King and his Heirs 1000 l. Then follows that this Schedule being seen and examined and understood with mature and diligent deliberation Note here the Kings peculiar power in passing an Act of Parliament The King in full Parliament affirmed and declared that all and every thing contained in the same Schedule were done Arbitrated Ordered Considered Decreed and Adjudged by him And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in the said Parliament who had full deliberation likewise of the same approved ratified and confirmed it Upon the whole matter of this great contest about the Arch-Bishops Visitation I think the King and the Parliament were at that time the more Inclined to confirm the Arch-Bishops power because that kept the Visitatorial power within the Kings Dominions and Excluded Exemptions which the State of England was rarely inclined to favor as being mostly as prejudicial to the Crown as the Bishops And Wickliffs Doctrin spreading the King was more willing the Arch-Bishop should Visit the University because it was his proper Office to see to the preservation of the Establish'd Religion and if the University had been left to the Visitation of the Chancellor the opinion of Mr. Wickliff might have the more encreased since the temper of the Members might have been changed from the Doctrin professed since so many in the University were then said to have embraced it §. 8. The reasons why the Author hath given so large an account of this I have insisted the longer upon this particular for two Reasons first to shew that the Government ordering and reforming of Universities were then Judged to be of Ecclesiastical Cognizance especially in those matters which appertain to the Doctrins taught in them which even in their Philosophical Disputes in some measure effected Religion even the taking of Degrees except in the faculty of Physic was in Ordine ad Spiritualia as appears in those Constitutions which prohibit any from having Benefices but such as had taken Degrees in Universities a further Illustration of the former of these Inferences I shall clear when I speak of Bishop Rippingdons Visitation Secondly The misapplication of Mr. Pryn. To shew the mis-application of Mr. Pryn who finding by the Transactions of King Richard the Second and King Henry the Fourth and those of King Charles the First concerning Arch-Bishop Lauds Visitation that those Kings determined the matter in favor of the Arch-Bishops thereby would Infer that the Visitation of the University of Oxford appertained to the Black
Bishop Writes another Letter to the President Informing him of the Receipt of the Secretaries Letter and adds I continue in my former Opinion towards them to wit that I would be loth that they should be Expelled if by any means the Statutes may relieve them and therefore I require you Mr. President and the Fellows that you choose none now at the next Election into their Rooms Here Obedience is payed to the Secretaries Letter of advice but that their places may stand in the same Terms as they are till I may hear what by you and them may further be spoken and considered by the Statutes to the end the Statutes may be truly observed and in the mean season no Men be of that Calling wronged I have willed them to absent themselves from the next Election for good consideration and my hopes is that none of that Society will move any troubles in or about the Election for any matter now hanging in doubt and not decided for that will breed slander to the Calling and danger to themselves so he orders the President and others to attend him the First of August about the Controversie Dated at Losely the same day and Year with the former I have not found among these Papers what was the Issue of this great Controversie but from what doth appear make these following remarks §. 8. The first observable from these short Statutes Upon the whole matter we may observe First That these strict and Indispensable Statutes in former times as well as now and in all times to come have and will Create great troubles in this College unless there be in the Sovereign a Visitatorial as well as Dispensing Power to Terminate endless Quarrels when as in this Case both Parties shall insist upon Grammatical and Literal sense of the Statutes and tho' the Bishop of Winchestr hath a power of Interpretation yet he is so tyed up to the Literal and Grammatical sense that he must unavoidably be put some times to great streights to determin matters ☞ Secondly However Rigidly the Statutes seem to be worded yet none can Judge that the Kings Dispensing Power can be restrained since neither the Founder could so bind either his Sovereign or the Pope nor could any of those bind their Successors by any Charter or Grant from such inhaerent Prerogatives annexed to their very Offices as I shall make clear when I come to consider the Arguments used concerning the force of these Statutes ☞ Therefore Thirdly I rather Judge that the Founder as Entaylers of Estates upon their Posterity to preserve nodosam Aeternitatem often do had a great desire that his Statutes should be perpetually observed but he could not be supposed to have such an over weening Opinion of his own prudence but that some Cases might happen whereby the Kings of England might Judge it convenient to alter them so that I Reasonably think the utmost of his design and hopes might be that the Society it self should not have the power of altering them but to Exclude the Sovereign by their Prerogative or Acts of Parliament to Suspend alter or Abrogate them was as much beyond his power to enjoyn as it was vanity in him to presume would thereby be effected Fourthly In the Secretaries Letter we may observe that he threatens the Queens Authority if the Bishop of Winchester their Visitor would not do the Fellows Justice and in the Bishops Letter to the President he Suspends all those on both parties from giving their Voices in the next Election which must be a force upon the Statutes for Election if the Bishop could not Interpret their Statutes but in the Literal and Grammatical sense for it is very probable it might be known by a Literal and Grammatical sense whether they were Fellows or not and if they were Fellows the President was as much bound by Oath to Admit their Voices as they obliged to give them and if the persons excepted against were no Fellows then the Five were unlawfully Expelled and so ought to have had Voices so that whether way soever the matter were determined I cannot conceive the Statutes or Interpretation was Literally and Grammatically observed which is the great plea of the Magdalen Fellows §. 9. The Case of Mr. Wilson I shall now shew that in the Controversie about the matter of the Head of a single College the Queen appointed Commissioners in a summary way to determin it Anno 1577. 19 Regni The Case was this A Controversie arising betwixt William Wilson Bachellor of Divinity In the Paper Office Bundel Anno 1577. 19 Eliz. and Thomas Bishop of Lincoln for that the Bishop refused to Admit him as chosen Rector of Lincoln College in Oxford the said Wilson Appealed to Edmund Grindal Arch-Bishop of Canterbury whose Official Dr. Bartholomew Clerk Admonished and Commanded the Bishop to Admit him and that the Bishops Commissioners should not under the pain of contempt do any thing to the prejudice of the said Wilson and the Arch-Bishop committed the determining the matter to certain Commissioners And Thomas Underhil Proctor of the University protested against the Commissioners of the Arch Bishop as not competent Judges and that the Examination of the matter belonged to the Chancellor of the University Upon all which The Queen takes the Cause out of all their hands and Grants a Commission to the Bishop of London and Rochester Sir Christopher Wray Knight Chief Baron of the Exchequer Sir William Cordel Knight Master of the Rolls Thomas Wilson John Gibson and John Griffith Doctors of Law upon the Petition of Robert Earl of Leycester Chancellor the Doctors Masters and Scholars of the University of her certain knowledge and sole motion and of the plenitude of her power Commanding them Eight Seven Six Four Three or Two of them calling the Reverend Bishop of Lincoln and William Wilson in person and all others by Law to be called in General Summarily and in plain Form without noise and Form of Tryals only seeing to the truth of the thing and the Fact Summarie in plano sinc strepitu forma Judicii and attending solely the aequity by all Manners and Forms by which they can better and more efficaciously proceed in and upon the Truth of the Premisses according to the Privileges and Exemptions of the said University and in the Cause or Causes aforesaid with their Incidents Emerging Depending Annexed or Connexed whatsoever and to determin it with a due end removing all Appeals and Complaints Nullity and Petition whatsoever and notwithstanding any Statutes Canons and Customs on the contrary published or the Law Suit depending causing all that in the premisses they shall Ordain to be firmly observed by Lawful remedies of the Law. Dated the 23d of April the 19th of her Reign 1557. By this it is apparent that the Kings of England may Suspend the power of the Arch Bishop and of the Chancellor and Local Visitor and by Commission appoint others in a Summary way not according
thereunto but also be so far Lord over them that when he seeth cause he may abate or totally remit the Penalty Incurred by the breach of them and dispense with others for not observing of them at all yea generally Suspend the Execution of them c. §. 2. Why the Author Treats not largely on this subject But I foresee it will be alleged that what is urged thus in General and in Theory is to be applyed to the Constitution of the Government of England otherwise it reacheth not the point in Question concerning the Kings power of dispensing with College Statutes To which I Answer first That the Kings power in dispensing with Penal Laws in General having by Solemn Judgment in the Kings Bench been determined and several Treatises published to clear the point of Law and there being so lately a * Jus Coronae Treatise Writ by a Judicious person wherein the Kings power in that matter is Learnedly discussed I may be excused from treating more particularly of that § 3. Observations on the 25 H. 8. C. 21. I shall therefore only note a few observables from the Statute of the 25 of King H. 8. Chapter the 21. Entituled in Kebles Edition 1684. An Act concerning Peter-pence and Dispensations but Originally Entituled otherwise as may be seen in the * 1 2 Phil. M. c. 8. sect 10. Act of Repeal in Queen Maries time and the * 1 Eliz. c. 1. sect 8. Act of restoring it in Queen Elizabeths time to which I shall add the explication of another Act 8 Eliz. Cap. 1. and some few other remarks upon that Head. The Foundation of this Act is grounded upon an Hypothesis The Statute 25 H. 8. c. 21. is founded upon the usage of a dispensing power that a dispensing power is needful in Government and altho' it be the constant Opinion and Judgment of the Courts of Law and all Lawyers that the principal intendment of that Act was to Abolish the Popes power and Authority in England in granting Licences Dispensations Faculties c. Yet from this Act many particulars may be observed I must refer the Reader to the Act it self which will shew not only the allowed usage of a dispensing power by the Popes and Prelates in matters of Ecclesiastical Cognizance by sufferance as the Act Styles it of our Kings but that the Original Right of such dispensations was in the King and so continues It is then First to be noted from the Act The Pope excercised a dispensing power that the Pope claimed by Usurpation as it is there Styled and persuaded the Subjects that he had a power to dispense with all Human Laws yea and Customs of all Realms in all Causes which he called Spiritual But the same Act saith that such claim of the Pope was in Derogation of the Kings Imperial Crown and Authority Royal contrary to Right and Reason The power excercised by the sufferance of the King and in derogation of the Royal Authority Therefore in the close of this Section it is added that because it is now in these days present seen that the State Dignity Superiority Reputation and Authority of the said Imperial Crown of this Realm by the long sufferance of the said unreasonable and un-charitable usurpations and exactions practised in the times of the Kings most Noble Progenitors is much and sore decayed and diminished c. Therefore remedy is provided c. From hence I think with submission Nota. it must be owned that if the Pope usurped this power in derogation of the Authority Royal then that power must be owned to be originally in the King otherwise in the Construction of the Act it could be no Usurpation §. 4. The Ecclesiastical power originally in the King according to this Act. ☞ Besides it 's the general Opinion of the greatest Lawyers of England that according to the Constitution of our Laws all Ecclesiastical power and Authority in England is Originally in the King so derived from him or if otherwise it is adjudged Usurpation and encroachment It being an undeniable Maxim That no person hath power or Jurisdiction in England but the King or what is derived from him and this power of the King cannot be disposed away nor abolished but by express words in an Act of Parliament Yea so Sacred are the Prerogatives of the Crown that tho' in some Cases the Kings of England have by Act of Parliament departed with their Prerogatives So the Statutes of the 23 H. 6. about Sheriffs and 31 H. 6. about Justices of Assize are frequently dispensed with Coke 12 Rep. 14. Hoberts Reports Colt and Glovers Case p. 146. and yielded not to dispense with the contrary by a non-obstante yet such Acts have been judged void So my Lord Hobert upon this very Statute saith that he holds it clear that tho' this Statute says that all Dispensations c. shall be granted in manner and form following and not otherwise yet the King is not thereby restrained The Kings prerogative not restrained by Acts of Parliament on several Cases but his power remains full and perfect as before and he may still grant them as King for all Acts of Justice and Grace flow from him as 4 Eliz. Dyer 211. The Commission of Tryal of Pyracy upon the Statute of 28 H. 8. cap. 53. is good tho' the Chancellor do not nominate the Commissioners as that Statute appoints yet it is a new Law and Mich. 5. and 6 Eliz. Dyer 225. the Queen made Sheriffs without the Judges notwithstanding the Statute of 9 E. 2. and Mich. 13. and 14 Eliz. Dyer 303. The Office of Aulnage granted by the Queen without the Bill of the Treasurer is good with a non-obstante against the Statute 31 H. 6. cap. 5. For these Statutes and the like saith the Reverend Judge were made to put things in Ordinary Form and to ease that Sovereign of Labor but not to deprive him of Power He further adds that notwithstanding the excercise of the Popes Authority yet the Crown always kept a Possession of it's Natural power of Dispensations in Spiratualibus as 11 H. 4. so to retain Benefices with Bishoprics and 11 H. 7. to have double Benefices I might add to these to Reservation in the Statute 2 R. 1 Hen. 4. cap. 6. 2. c. 4. saving to the King his Regality to be found in the Parliament Roll in the Kings Confirmation of Liberties which Sir Ed. Coke 4. Instit 51. complain of for being un-printed as also of King Henry the 4th that he will by the Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal aforesaid and at the request of the said Commons be Counselled by the Wise Men of his Council in things touching the Estate of him and of his Realm saving always his liberty that is his Prerogative for that is properly the King Liberty §. 5. Where to find Arguments for the dispensing power I shall not trouble the Reader with
more plausibly In the first place it is urged that no Commission can be granted under the Broad Seal to Visitors to place and dis-place Members of Colleges but so as they must proceed according to Legal discretion viz. by the Laws and Statutes of the Land and Local Statutes of the Colleges By this Allegation they would Insinuate that the Lords Visitors did not proceed according to such Laws and Statutes nor could proceed summarily as in the latter part of the Objection they Insinuate To this I reply The Kings Prerogative a part of the Law of the land See chap. 4. §. 1. 2. here that the Kings Prerogative in such Cases is to be taken and accepted as a Fundamental of the Laws of the Land and I hope I have sufficiently cleared the continued use of the Kings of Englands exercising this power in granting Commissions to Visit the Universities and particular Colleges c. Amongst the Patents 26 E. 3. There is a Commission directed to several Commissioners to Visit St. Mary Magdalen College in Rippon which by the Foundation of that College was under the Visitation of the Arch-Bishop of York and to enquire of the several mis-carriages of the respective Members and whether they consumed or wasted any of the Lands or Goods of that College and to return the same to the King who would take care therein So in the Parliament Rolls (a) Rot. Parl. 40 E. 3. n. 12. the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge complained in Parliament of the Fryers Mendicants of both the said Universities how Injurious they were to the Ancient Immunities of the Universities and how faulty and offensive they were to them and it was declared and resolved in Parliament that the King had sole power to redress those Controversies at his Will and Pleasure In the Plea (a) Placit 15 E. 2. n. 10. Rolls 15 Ed. 2. It is declared that the King hath an absolute power to punish contempts and the offences against him as Supreme Ordinary without proceeding in the Common and usual Course of Judicial proceedings ☞ Conformable to this King Henry the 8th granted his Commission for the Visitation of Monasteries and dis-placing several Monks and other Regulars for their mis-carriages as the Inquisitive Reader may find in Dr. Burnets History of the Reformation and that by his Sovereign and Supreme Authority without Act of Parliament So King Edward (b) Rot. Pat. 3 E. 6. 1 part the 6th Commissioned Cranmer Ridley and others to proceed de plano in a summary way against Bonner by the Examination of Witnesses against him and so to Imprison Suspend or Deprive him as they saw cause in pursuance of which Commission they Deprived him of his Bishopric So Queen Mary (c) Rot. Pat. 1 Mariae part 7. granted Commission to the then Bishop of Winchester and others to Impower them to proceed in a summary way to the Deprivation of the then Arch-Bishop of York and other Bishops So Queen Elizabeth (d) Pat. 24 June 1 Regni granted Commission to the Earls of Derby and Northumberland and others to Visit all the Clergy in the North to place and displace them as they saw cause §. 11. Inferences from the foregoing Records By all which Authorities See chap. 4.5 6 and 7. here the Opinion of Parliaments the Antiquities of Presidents and frequent Instances in later days which I have abundantly produced in the foregoing Chapters I hope I have convincingly cleared that the King in all Ages by his Prerogative hath Regulated and Reformed Universities and Colleges punished their offences placed and dis-placed their Members without anything of the Ceremony of Westminster Hall and have been advised by their Judges and Learned Council that it was their Prerogative to proceed by their Commissioners Delegated by them in a summary way to the Suspension and Deprivation of the Bishops and Clergy nor can it be denyed but the Bishops of England have great Free-holds Temporalities and Honorable Baronages to lose by such Deprivations and such were more considerable in the Eye and esteem of the Law than the Exhibitions Headships or Fellowships of any College ☞ Hence it may be noted The Kings of England exercising the power of supension and deprivation by Commissioners upon Bishops Abbots Priors c. may well do it on Members of Colleges that since our Kings have exercised such a power over Monasteries Colleges purely Religious Arch-Bishops and Bishops they may much more exercise the like over Universities and Colleges since whatever power they or their Founders had or have it was never given them by any Statute or any part of the Common Law it being the Kings sole Prerogative to Constitute Coporations or Bodies Politic sole or Aggregate Ecclesiastical or Civil under several and distinct qualifications conditions and trusts and the Universities and Colleges derive their Existence from the Royal bounty of the Prince who made them Corporations Constituted them by the direction of their respective Founders Bodies with Heads and Members to be Governed by such Rules and Statutes as the Founder by the Kings Licence should appoint But it was never certainly Intended that the King by such Grant or Licence should Delegate such Authority to Founders Visitors or the Members of Colleges See chap. 4. sect 1. here whereby to injure his Prerogative or determin the Supremacy which the Law of the Land had Annexed to his Imperial Crown as at large I have cleared before That the King is Supreme Head and Visitor in all Ecclesiastical and Civil causes See cap. 4. here hath been fully proved and that from the King all Judges Ecclesiastical and Temporal derive their Authority And sure a Delegation of power from the King can be no Bar or Estople to the King to exert his Prerogative that he thereby can be concluded from Delegating power to others to correct and reform misdemeanors and offences in Communities created by him or his Ancestors or to supervise the Actions and Management of his Judges Ecclesiastical Local Visitors or persons Commissioned by him As to Dr. Thomas Coveneys Case I shall consider it when I come to Treat of Appeals §. 12. Whether Colleges be of Temporal or Spiritual nature ☞ Concerning the Temporal Estates of the Fellows and the profits of the Fellowships being Free-holds that alters not the Case of the Kings power of Visiting for altho' it is disputed by Learned Authors whether Colleges be of a Lay or Spiritual nature yet it is most clear that they have undergone Visitations the reason of which is because they are the Nurseries of Learning and Piety Qualifications of great Moment to the well-being of Government and consequently require the Princes special care since upon the purity or impurity of these Fountains much good or bad must be derived to the Sovereign and Subject And altho' in the Universities some Studies relate not at all to Divinity as Civil Law Physic c. yet the Body of the Students
be found amongst you and not otherwise 'T is a great grief to all sober Men to see any who would be thought True Sons of the Church of England act like Men frighted out of their wits and Religion as you have certainly done Never any True Son of the Church of England was or will be disobedient to his Prince the Loyalty which she hath taught us is absolute and unconditional Tho' our Prince should not please or humor us we are neither to open our Mouths or lift up our hands against him Yours like all other Corporations is the Creature of the Crown and how then durst you make your Statutes spurn against their Maker Is this your way to recommend and adorn our Religion and not rather to make it odious by practising that in such a froward manner which our Church Professes to abhor Do we not pray for the King as the Head of it under Christ Do we not acknowledge him for the Fountain of Honor And does not Solomon Command his Sons to fear God and the King the one with a Religious the other with a Civil fear Is he not the Lord 's Annointed and not to be toucht but with Reverence either in his Crown or Person And why should we not render then to all their dues Fear to whom Fear and Honor to whom Honor Is not this an Eternal tye both of Justice and Gratitude For where the Word of a King is there is Power And who may say unto him what dost Thou Are we not next to God and his Good Angels most beholden to him for our safety whose Honor and Lawful Authority We are now come to Vindicate Is he not the Father of our Country and ought he not to be more dear to Us than our Natural Parents especially considering how Indulgent he has been to Us and what care he dayly takes to keep us from biting and devouring one another we know not why Is not he the Center of the Kingdom and do not the concurrence of all Lines meet in him and his fortunes and how can we then understand the limits of self love if a tender Sense of his Honor and happiness be not deeply rooted and imprinted in our Souls 'T was neither dutifully nor wisely done of you to drive the King to a necessity of bringing this Visitation upon you And as it must needs grieve every Loyal and Religious Man in the Kingdom to the heart to find Men of your Liberal Education and Parts so Untractable and Refractory to so Gracious a Prince so it will be very mischievous to you at the Great Day of Gods Visitation Who will then be the greatest loosers by your Contumacy For God will Revenge this among your other Crimes that you have behav'd your selves so ungratefully towards his Vicegerent as to oppress his Royal Heart with grief for your Stubbornness to whom by your chearful Obedience you ought to have administred much cause of rejoycing They who Sow the Seeds of Disobedience have never any great reason to boast of their Harvest for whatsoever they vainly promise themselves in the beginning they are in the end ashamed and afraid of the Income of their evil Practices and indeed every sort of disobedience hath so ill a report in the World that even they who are guilty of it themselves do yet speak ill of it in others Let therefore the disreputation and Obloquy which it will inevitably bring upon you make you out of Love with it or if that will not do let the Stings of your guilty Consciences and the fear of Divine Vengeance restrain you or if you are still Insensible of all these yet at least let the present fear of those Temporal Punishments which the Laws of the Kingdom have superadded to the Contemners of Gods and the Kings Authority oblige every Soul that hears me this day to be Subject to the Higher Powers If neither a most Merciful God nor a most Gracious King can please you your wages will he recompence upon your own Heads Were it not for this Serpent of discontent and jealousies which are now so busie in it this Kingdom would be like the Garden of Eden before the Curse a Mirrour of prosperity and happiness to all the World besides but this Serpentine humor of Stinging and Biting one another and of Tempting Men to Rebel against God and the King because others who differ from us in Judgment are as happy as our selves will as certainly turn us as it did our first Parents out of Paradise Our Nation is in greater danger of being destroyed by Prophanness then Popery by Sin then by Superstition by other Iniquities then by Idolatry and I pray God we may not see Sacrilege once more committed under the pretence of abhorring Idols as I my self have seen in this place If there be any among you who have sinn'd with so high a hand against our Gracious Sovereign as the obdurate Jews did against our Saviour saying we will not have this Man to Rule over us such your petulant humor such your shameful Injustice and Ingratitude will deserve the just Animadversions of this Court. What distempers this College is sick of which we are now come to visit by the Kings Commission your selves are best able to tell us We are informed of too many already and yet we suspect there may be more and therefore be but Ingenuous and make a Conscience of giving us sincere Answers and you shall find that we will abate nothing of the just measures of our Duty for fear or favor to satisfie the Importunities of any Man being well assured that God and the King will bear us out I am sorry that you should any of you run so far upon the score of the Kings Royal Patience and Pardon as some of you have already done And that you should be in such vast Arrears of Duty and Respect to him as you are But they go far who never turn The Influence you may have upon other parts of the Kingdom makes me Charitably hope that your future Fidelity and Allegiance will for ever Answer your Duty and the Kings just Expectation And therefore I hope it will not be in vain for me to exhort you in the Bowels of Christ to a more entire submission and obedience because if such Men as you bred in so Famous an University are not thoroughly convinced of the necessity of it the more Popular you become the more pernicious will you be in encouraging your deluded Admirers who have their Eyes upon you from all parts of the Kingdom to be as Disobedient and Contumacious as your selves by which the Honor and Authority of the King may be diminished and the peace both of Church and State come to be endanger'd Obey them who have the Rule over you either in Church or State and submit your selves before it be too late for your contumacious behaviour towards them will yeild you no profit at all but your Obedience much every way the former will
quod totum Archiepiscopatum in Dominium meum Redigam nec illum pro Archiepiscapo ultra recipiam Idem fol. 38.10 from the King that if he went he should for certain know that he would seize his whole Arch-Bishopric into his hands nor would he receive him for Arch-Bishop any more like as now the Writ no exeat Regno is used with a Penalty specified After this the Bishops of Winchester Lincoln Salisbury and Bathe with several Barons sent to him by the King tell him that he had troubled the King with many complaints How that at the Parliament held at Rockingham he had (d) Pollicitus es per te usus ac leges suas usque quaque deinceps servaturum cas sibi contra emnes homines fideliter defensurum Idem fol. 39.27 In this whole Relation of matter of Fact it is to be owned that it was the personal repair of a Peer or great Man to Rome to Appeal that was forbid without the Kings leave but Appeals by Proctors were Anciently used in several Cases promised for the future The promise of an Arch-Bishop in all respects to keep and observe the Customs and the Kings Laws and to defend them faithfully against all Men which was an Oath of Fidelity used in that Age and bound him in Allegiance by reason of his Temporalities but no ways like the present Oath of Supremacy upon which they tell him the King believed he would have been quiet for the future But that he had openly contravened his promise and Faith by threatning to go to Rome without the Kings leave Which was a thing altogether unheard of before and against the usages of the Kingdom that any of the Great Men and especially himself should presume any such thing and lest the King should either be wearied or importun'd with him any more or with any other who being aggrieved might follow his Example The King (a) Jubet ut quatenus jure jurando promittas quod nunquam amplius sedem St. Petri vel ejus Vicarsum pro quavis quae tibi queat ingeri causa Appellas aut si sub omni celeritate de terra suâ recedat Idem 39.36 Commands that by Oath he should promise that he would never Appeal to the See of St. Peter or his Vicar for any cause that might befall him or if he did that he should speedily depart out of the Kings Territories But the Arch-Bishop persisting in his resolution to go had not only his Arch-Bishopric seized but the Pope being shewed how his Carriage here was resented did not afford him either (b) Idem fol. 52.17 53 28. Consilium or Auxilium yet the Writers of that Age censure that as an exorbitance of the Kings power however it may be a Document to some not obstinately to oppose their Prince ☞ By this Relation of matter of Fact it is evident The Inference from this History These are to be understood of matters Political and of Government not in matters of Doctrin and Faith. that in the time of these two Kings whatever was directed from Rome hither or was done by the Arch-Bishop was to have the Kings Approbation otherwise it was not suffered to be executed so that the Kings allowance before made public as now used in France was requisite to give them a practicableness here §. 3. Of the Investitures of Bishops It is allowed by our Historians (c) Ingulphus fol. 500. vid. literas Paschaâ—lis 2 Henrico 2. apud Eadmerum fol. 113. 115. generally that the Receiving Investitures of Churches from our Princes their calling of Synods determining Causes Ecclesiastical without Appeal to Rome their Translating of Bishops c. have been practised here in Ancient times the Canons and Popes reclaiming sometimes quitted and resumed by our Kings as State Interest required It is clear in History This was no conferring holy Orders but in relation to their Baronies that Bishops received Investitures from the King by delivery of a Staff as an acknowledgment of a subjection to the King at least for their Baronies which was after yielded not to be done by Lay Hands yet King Henry the First at one time Writ to the Pope that he would (a) Nec pro Amissione Regni sui passurum se perdere Investituras Ecclesiarum Idem fol. 73.13 not for the loss of his Kingdom lose the Investiture of Churches and another time he threatned that without doubt he would resume his Investitures because he held them in Peace However I do not find that this went any further then Swearing Fealty to the King Oath of Fidelity which seems to have long continued and which was a sufficient badge of subjection So we find a Writ (b) Gervac Dorob 4.1187 Col. 1503.36 from R. de Glanvil to the Abbot of Batle c. wherein he Commands him on the part of the King by the Faith which he owes him and by the Oath which he made to him to do what he then enjoyned ☞ As to the Legatine Power Concerning the power of Legats it is apparent by several Instances that none Exercised any here without the Kings leave whether by the Grant of Pope Nicholas to Edward the Confessor I dispute not I shall only note some few King Henry the First had an Interview at Gisors with Pope Calixtus and obtained of him that he should Grant him all the Customs which his Father King William the First had in England and Normandy and especially (c) Maxime ut neminemaliquando Legati Officio in Anglia fungi permitteret si non ipsa aliquâ praecipuâ quaerelâ exigentur quae ab Archiepiscopo Cantuariorum Caeterisque Episcopis Regni terminari non possint hoc fieri a Papa postularet Kidm fol. 125.53 that he would permit none at any time to exercise the Office of Legat in England unless the King upon any special Plea should require it and the thing could not be determined by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Rest of the Bishops of the Kingdom and that the King should desire it of the Pope How the Popes Legats were received may be best known by some Instances Instances how the Popes Legats were received The Wars betwixt France Scotland England might make this caution When Guido Arch-Bishop of Vienna Anno 1100. In the beginning of King Henry the First 's Reign by the Popes Authority was appointed Legat as he gave it out Eadmerus saith that it was an admiration to all in England for all knew that it was (a) Inauditum scilicet in Brittannia cuncti Scientes quemlibet hominum super se vices Apostolicas Gerere nisi solum Archiepiscopum Cantuarierum Idem fol. 58.40 unheard of in Brittain that any Man except the Bishop of Canterbury had the Popes power Therefore as he came so he returned being received by none as Legat neither did he perform the Office of a Legat while here The words of my Author are a nemine pro
in Queen Maries time for Religion and Abolished most of the Statutes made by Cardinal Pool and restored those of King Edward the Sixth To omit other things in the Visitation Earl of Arundel Chancellor quits his Office. besides that the Earl of Arundel did quit the Chancellorship these following Heads of Colleges or principal Members were removed and some of them Imprisoned §. 3. The Heads of Colleges and others Expelled of Christ-Church As Dr. Richard Marshal Dean of Christ-Church for denying to own the Authority of the Visitors was not only Expelled but sent Prisoner to London Also Dr. William Tresham Canon of the same for denying the Oath of Supremacy was Expelled as also Dr. Richard Smith Canon there Of Merton College Dr. Thomas Raynolds Warden of Merton College was by the Queen then at Hampton Court deprived of his Wardenship 4 o. September and three Days after the Sentence was declared by three of the Commissioners and after a short time he Died in Prison Thomas Coveney President of Magdalen College was Expelled Of St. Mary Magdalen College for that he was not entred into Orders and Dr. William Cheadsey President of Corpus Christi College was Expelled from that and his Canonship of Christ Church and Robert Banks who had been Ejected in Queen Maries Reign because he was Married was substituted in his place Also Dr. William Wright Of Baliol College Master or President of Baliol College was Expelled and Dr. Babington substituted in his place Mr. John Smith Provost of Oriel College was Ejected Of Oriel College tho' he had liberty to live in the House after but in the next Year he lost the Lady Margarets Lectureship Of Queens College and Mr. Hugh Hodgson Provost of Queens College two Years after either relinquished the place Of Trinity College or was Expelled Mr. Thomas Slythurst President of Trinity College was Expelled and Mr. Yeldard placed in his room Mr. Alexander Belsyre Master of St. Johns College and Canon of Christ-Church was also Expelled Fol. 283. a. St. Johns College and Mr. William Ely lately put in his place a little while after was Expelled so a few Years after Mr. William Marshal Principal of St. Albans Hall was forced to surrender and so Mr. William Alan Principal of St. Mary Hall as also George Ethridge Regius Greek Professor and James Dugdale Master of University College two Years after was Expelled by the Visitors and Thomas Key put in his place Besides these Heads of Colleges in New College Fol. 283. b. two Doctors and three Bachellors of Civil Law one Doctor of Physic one Bachellor of Divinity and fourteen Fellows were Expelled some removing to Religious Houses beyond the Sea and Mr. John Munden returning being discovered to Secretary Walsingham was Executed at Tyburn In St. Johns College seven Fellows were Expelled besides several others Imprisoned at Wisbich and many others not named Those that have a mind to see the Names of Great numbers of the rest Expelled from other Colleges Reg. G. G. fol. .26 Reg. I. fol. 198. 199. Reg. Coll. Magd. fol. 29. and suffering Death for returning into England may consult the Register I shall now give a short account of what Dr. Parker advised from Cambridge concerning the Visitation there §. 4. Paper Office Ecclesiastica 1550. to 1559. I find Two Letters from Dr. Mathew Parker afterwards Arch-Bishop to Sir William Cecyl then Secretary and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge Dated 1 o. March and Endorsed on the back Dr. Parker 1 o. Martii 1559. Among other Expressions he hath these words The Colleges needed a Visitation that Queen Mary immediately upon her quyet gave out Authority to the Chancellor Bishop Gardiner he forthwith sent his Chaplain Watson with Instruction to every College and as then I could gather to report to him in what State every College stood and further peradventure upon cause to have the Masters and others assured de coram sistendo Interim bene gerendo till further Order By this and some other Letters I find to and from Sir William Cecyl who was the great Minister of State in Queen Elizabeths time I observe that what was done in Oxford by the Visitors was likewise pursued in Cambridge and that the Masters Governors and Fellows had a very hard time in the Reigns of King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth Conformableness to the Religion of the Prince being the Touch-stone and the prime Capacitating Qualification that secured Honors and Places in the Universities The other Letter is Dated March the 30th and Ticketed 30 Martii 1559. Dr. Parker to Mr. Secretary Which I shall Transcribe at length that the Reader may take notice of his way of Writing and the Dialect of that Age. Pleaseth yt your Honorables goodnes upon th' occasion of sending up to your Honor for the matter which Mr. Vice-Chancellor Wryteth of I thought it good to signifie to you that the matter which ye have Delegated to us is in hand with as good Expedition as we can make by reason of th' absence of some who were meet to be Commoned with Though some dout is made whether your Authority of Chancellorship extendeth to College Statutes for any beyond Lymitation conteyned in them so may they dout of your Delegatum Though Bishop Gardyner wold not so be restreyned in his doyings whether upon warrant of the Quenys Letters of Commission the Copy * * This I cannot find tho' I have searched diligently whereof I sent to you or by Authorytie of his Office I leave that to your Prudence to Expond Our Statutes and Charters Prescribe here to Officers that they must in Plees proceed summariè de plano since strepitu Judiciali that Scholars may be soner restored to their Bokes Yet here be Wytts which being thereto admitted w'd entangle matters extremis Juris apicibus that Controversies might be Infynyte and perpetual never to have an end but according to our old Ancyent Customys we shall procede to hearyng with cutting of all such superfluous and perplex Solemnyties of their Cavillations and so refer the matter to your understanding to be resolutely determyned as the last Clause of your Letter pretendeth to wil us And yff I shall perceyve any like Incydent to be signified to your Honorable wisdom I shall be bold in secretys to Wright it Less things borne bi parcyalyties might prevayle under your Authorytie not rightly instructed and to avoid som Stomake that ellys might be taken Without dout Sir th' Universitie is wonderfully decayed and if your Visitation entendyd be too stoutly Executed in some like sorts as hath been practised that wil I fear so much rustle the State thereof that it will be hardly recovered in Years and yet Authorytie must bridel willfull and stubborn Natures and hie time it is here I trust the prudence of the Visitors for good wil toward you wil diligently note how ye receyved the Universities after others