Peter or of any other Apostle hath spoken and written a false and an open lye agaynst the manifest opinion of Christ and of his Apostles Peter Paule Iames. But such power is was and shal be forbidden by Christ vnto the Byshop of Rome and all others in the person of any of the Apostles accordyng as we haue vndoubtedly certified you by the Scripture and the authorities of holy men in the 4.5 9. Dist. hereof This farre Marsilius ¶ This discourse is concluded and here is shewed that the sentence of Pope Pius the fifth published against the most vertuous Queene of England and all her whole noble Realme is vtterly fond and of none effect BUt to what purpose serueth so déepe repetyng of these thinges will some man say Surely all these thinges serue to this purpose that it may appeare manifestly by them yea be perceiued euē of the most simplest sort of all that this fulnesse of power souereintie ouer all kings kyngdomes which the sayd Pope Pius the fifth braggeth of in hys Bull to be giuen vnto himselfe and to all Byshops of Rome is nothyng els but Bullyng or Bublyng that is to say nothyng els but a most vayne forgerie or rather a deuilish and cursed lye deuised found out and forced vpon the people of God by the Popes themselues and by flattering clawbackes of their owne stamp For Christ neuer gaue any such thyng either to Peter or to the other Apostles Neyther did Peter leaue any whit thereof to his successors so as I may well say that the Popes are nothing lesse than the successors of Simon Peter but rather the successors of Simon Magnus Moreouer the Lord in his Gospell not once nor darckely but most openly commaundeth byshops to obey kinges and not to raigne ouer them And therefore the Apostles and the first byshops of the Romane Church were ministers of the Church yea and martyrs but not Princes of nacions and they yelded due obedience vnto Princes What maner of men the latter byshops of Rome be and haue bene who stepping aside from the footsteppes of the fathers haue both vniustly vsurped and cruelly executed the sayd fulnesse of power wherof they now make their boast they are knowen to all men not by their vertues but by their unspeakeble outrages What els remayneth then but that the sentence of Pope Pius the fift who as he sayth himselfe is mounted vp into the throne of Iustice to geue iudgement which he by the fulnesse of his power hath geuen and pronounced definitiuely by publishing it against the most vertuous Quéene of England and the noble Realme of England is vtterly nothing and of none effect because it is but a vayne a fained and counterfet power by force wherof this disguised Iudge hath geuen sentence not as a Iudge but as a tyraunt and Antichrst Therefore O England happie euen in the same resspect when thou séest the Romish thunderbolts which the Bull spreddeth into the whole world to be throwen and darted agaynst thée thou must thinke it is but a new Italian Cacus that puffeth out again his vaine flashes of fire from those his shadie dennes of meant Auentine blinded with much mist and dazeleth the sight of blearied folke with black fogginesse and darcknes mixt with fire They that haue receiued their eysight by the grace of God know well inough what that fond Salmonean lightener is namely euen the man of sinne the child of damnation as the Apostle saith which is lifted vp against all that is called God or the power of God in so much as he sitteth in the temple of God boasting himselfe to be god Therfore the godly and those that be enlightened beleue that God blesseth their curssages and curseth their blessinges ▪ and therefore that his excommunications are nothing to be feared Surely from the time that these men executed that vnmeasurable power of theirs in the Church they haue bene so farre from holding Gods people together in the vnitie of the spirit or from bringing them to their Sauiour that they rather dispersed them pulled them away from them their Sauiour Which thing the matter it self bewrayeth ¶ Here are perused the articles as well of the accusation as also of the slaunders alleadged by the Byshop of Rome in his Bull agaynst the most vertuous Queene of England NOw let vs also come downe to the chiefe pointes of the accusation which Pius the fift the byshop of Rome bendeth against the most vertuous Quéene of England For by confuting them and by mainteining the godlinesse and innocency of that vertuous Quéene and her noble Realme it will appeare againe to the whole world that the Popes curse is but a very flimflaw and a filme of a nutshell as they say in the prouerbe Least he might not resemble the reuiling blasphemous mouth of Antichrist he beginneth these thinges with rayling and slaundring for he termeth the noble Prince kyng Henry the eight father of this good Quéene an Apostata as who turned away the Church of England from the Church of Rome he termeth his daughter Elizabeth by the grace of God now Quéene of England a thrall of wickednes as who by his saying hath plucked backe and called againe into miserable destruction the Realme of England which had bene brought to the catholike faith by Queene Marie lately deceased and also is become the refuge of heretickes If the beast should not speake so he could not be beleued to be the same that he is For so doth he trimly fulfill the things that are written of Antichrist For Saint Peter speaking of Antichrist and of Antichristes household saith that God knoweth how to reserue the wicked to be punished at the day of iudgement and specially such as folowing the flesh that is to say such as being led by lust of the flesh and not by inspiration of the spirit walke in vncleane concupiscence and despise Lordship that is to say the order of dominion soueraintie such as malapertly standyng in their own conceit that is to wit such as being stubburne ouer-wilfull in their owne opinions are not afrayd to rayle reuile the higher powers wheras the very angels which are greater in power and strength than they geue not rayling sentence against them before the Lord and so forth as foloweth in the second chapter of Saint Peters second Epistle Herewithall agrée the thinges which the blessed Apostle Iudas Thaddaeus hath left written concerning the same matter saying these defyle the flesh despise rulers and rayle vpon them that be in authoritie But in the law of God commaundemēt is geuen that thou shalt not raile vppon the Gods nor blaspheme the Prince of thy people A man may sée that the Byshops of Rome make great account of these thinges when they raile vppon Princes openly But what I pray you haue kinges committed whereby they should deserue to be ouerwhelmed with so many so great reproches and with so foule raylinges In
déede that wise Prince king Henry the viii turned the Church that is in England away from many Romish superstitions that were very fowle And what offended he therin Nay rather he deserued prayse and his fallyng away is counted among wise men a vertue and not a vyce Moreouer the renowme of this Prince is so famous among all good and godly men as it can not be defaced by the raylinges of these rascals of the Romish sink He was of singular learnyng of notable wisedome and experience of excellent corage and adorned with all heroicall vertues and feates méete for a Prince And it is not I alone that thinke thus of this Kyng there be other graue personages which haue commended the same thinges in hym This Prince departyng blessedly out of this lyfe in the xxxviii yeare of his reigne about the end of Ianuary in the yeare of our Lord .1547 and hauyng erst by his will intayled the succession of his Crowne first vnto his sonne Edward a young child of ix yeares of age and successiuely after hym vnto his daughters Marie and Elizabeth was succeded by the sayd Edward the vi of that name whose ample commendations that notable Historiographer Sleidan hath comprised in few wordes in the xxv booke of his Comentaries saying Edward the vi the kyng of England doutlesse a Prince of singular towardnesse departed out of this lyfe the vi day of Iuly in the yeare of our Lord. 1553. beyng about the age of xvi yeares truly to the grief of all godly men For after his decease there folowed a very great alteration of thinges in England Surely Europe hath not had any kyng of so great hope now these certein hundred yeares Beyng very well trayned vp in godlinesse and instructed in learnyng euen from his tender yeares he was séene not onely in the Latin toung but also in the Gréeke the Frēch tounges and he had an earnest loue to the doctrine of the Gospell and gaue interteinement and defence to all learned men Germaines Italiās Frenchmen Scottes Spanyardes and Polonians Thus much saith he furthermore Iohn Bale Byshop of Ossoria in Ireland reporteth that this King did also exercise himselfe in writing and among other thinges wrate a Comedie of the whore of Babylon Concernyng the gouernaunce of Quéene Mary and her bringyng of the Church backe agayne to the Sea of Rome I will say nothing at this present bycause the declaration therof would be very sorowfull and lamentable and to say truth it sticketh yet still more fresher is all mēs myndes thou that it néedeth to be ripped vp agayne This onely will I say further that the Bishops of Rome were euen then also heauie frendes to the Realme of England as they had ben oft afore accordyng as they had alwayes wrought mischief vnto other kingdomes also in Christendome for these fiue hūdred yeares and more But God will iudge them when he séeth tyme. After Quéene Marie succeded Quéene Elizabeth in the kyngdome not a thrall of wickednesse as the Popes rayling mouth doth slaunderously reuile her but the seruaunt yea and the faithful seruaunt of Iesus Christ our redemer and Lord as by him set at libertie from the thraldome of sinne and made his fréewomā so as she is now the daughter of God and an enemie of all wickednesse yea euē of the Popes for their wickednesse sake For she cleaueth entierly to her onely Redemer Christ to him onely doth she with singular faithfulnesse and diligence indeuer to knit the people of her Realme and the subiectes that be vnder her charge Her owne selfe liueth a lyfe beséemyng a Christian princesse commendyng holy and honest conuersation to all folkes through her Realme and as much as in her lyeth forbidding restreining all wickednesse Which thing truly is not to draw backe her subiectes to destructiō but to plucke them from destruction and to restore them to assured saluation They that know this Quéene know also that I feyne nothing here to curry fauour And I touche these things the more sparely least I may séeme to purpose in any wise to flatter Neither hath her maiestie any néede of my defence considering that her owne godlinesse and innocencie defend her Surely her Maiestie like as also her brother of most blessed memorie Kyng Edward the vi did opened a Sanctuarie to outlawes I meane mē that fled their countryes and banished men that is to wit which were driuen out of the Popish common weales not for committyng wicked crymes but for castyng away of Idolatrie and for professing the healthfull Gospell of Iesu Christ. I graunt that these folke are enemyes or angry in their hartes howbeit not against Christ and his most holy Gospell but against the Pope and his most lewde practises cursed superstitions I graūt that the pope termeth these mē heretikes howbeit wrongfully for in very déede they be right Catholikes abhorryng all heresie fightyng agaynst it He that receiueth these receiueth Christ accordyng as Christ himselfe witnesseth who also promiseth most ample reward to such as giue enterteinemēt to his outcastes Therfore let that gracious Quéene reioyce let her reioyce I say in openyng refuge to the miserable outcastes that are driuen out of their countrie for the true Religion for she shall assuredly receiue those most ample rewardes at the Lordes hand And let not her Maiestie passe at all for that abhominable barbarousnesse and crueltie of Rome which both persecuteth the innocentes most outrageously it selfe and also cruelly commaundeth others to persecute oppresse and murther them That these men should so do S. Peter hath foretold in his Epistle where he matcheth them with wyld beastes Let that vertuous Quéene then shunne these cruell and beastly examples and let her rather hearken to Esay the holy Prophet of God speaking in the name of his God and saying Set thy shadow as a night in the midday hyde the chased and bewray not them that be fled Let my banished people dwell with thée Moab be thou their refuge agaynst the destroyer To impeach the right of hospitalitie hath alwayes ben reputed as one of the heynousest crymes that could be euen among the heathen But to giue harbrough to the afflicted and to the Church of Christ it hath alwayes and specially in Christes Church bene reckened among the cheefest vertues and allowed of all good men ¶ That it is no monstruousnesse at all for the Queene of England to be called supreme head of the Realme of England vpon earth ANone after among the haynous offences neuer able to be purged with any sacrifice and which most of all moueth the choler that boyleth inwardly in the brest of the vniuersal bishop and souerein Lord as he him selfe will séeme to be as well in cases spirituall as temporall bycause that power can abyde no partnershyp the foresayd thyng is bitterly recited in the Bull euen in these wordes Which will haue her selfe acknowledged alone for souerein Lady in cases spirituall and tēporall by
dedicate this my trauell vnto you assuring my selfe that your good liking well accepting of the same shall cause it to be the more readily receaued willingly imbraced of all others which thing I most humbly and hartily desire And thus I cōmit your good Lordship to the continuall protection of almightie God. Dated at London the x. of Ianuary 1571. De Sereniss Angliae Franciae Hiberniae Regina Elizabetha c. Et Bulla impij Pij Pontificis Romani in illam edita TErrifico nuper crepitantem fulmine Bullam Expuit irato feruidus ore Papa Perculit insolitus quorundam pectora bombus Ast horum fortis risit Elisa metum Atque ait ah miseros crepitus quos terret aselli Haec ex Tarpeio culmine Bulla venit Scilicet hoc os est quo vana tonitrua ructat Bestia quae in terris creditur esse Deus Ex opere artifices mea tu nunc Anglia disce Latrones fures sacrilegosque Papas Aethereo hanc Christus difflabit flamine Bullam Stultus qui bullas pondus habere putat In Bullas Pontificum DVm vendit terras Coelum Coelique potentem Roma diu emptores lusit auara suos Iam deerant merces cum mox diuendere bullas Coepit his fumos miscuit ipsa suos Cur igitur Romae Coelum Coelique potentem Quaeris adhuc alijs vendidit ista prius Mordaces praeter fumos bullasque tumentes Nunc nil quod posthac vendere possit habet Si quis emis bullas bulla tu vanior omni es Sin fumos oculis vae malè sane tuis In Bullas Venias Papisticas NVgis fictitijs Bullis Roma superbit Nugas Bullas vendere Roma solet Bullatas nugas nugales improba Bullas Non vereor Venias dicere Roma tuas Nomina conueniunt rebus cum vanius illis Nil sit cum nil sit prorsus inutilius Ast vt aquis bullae citò nascuntur pereuntque Sic pereant Bullae Roma superba tuae ¶ To the most reuerend godly and vigilant Bishops of the noble Realme of England L. Edmund Grindall Archb. of Yorke L. Richard Coxe Bishop of Elye and L. Iohn Iewell Bishop of Salisbury my right honourable Lordes and most deare brethren in Christ the Praeface of Henry Bullinger Elder RIght reuerend fathers in Christ my right honorable lords and most deare brethren I acknowledge my self greatly bound vnto your goodnesse that wheras we be set so farre a sunder you dwelling beyond the sea in England and I liuing here in Swicerland not farre from the Alpes yet neuerthelesse you of your goodnes do by your often writing earnestly maintaine preserue yea and by daily increasing more and more aduaunce the frendship and brotherhood long agoe begonne betwixt vs In respect wherof I ought of right to shew my selfe by all meanes thankfull seruiceable vnto you And wheras now of late by sending to me the Bull of Pius the fifth bishop of Rome which I had not seen nor heard of afore you haue ministred occasiō vnto me to do or at least wise to attempt somwhat for the glory of Christ our onely redemer and for the welfare of his Church which is among you in Englād against the Romish Antichrist behold I dedicate vnto your Lordships this confutation of mine set against the Bull submitting the same to your most exact iudgements wholy to stand or fall according to your good pleasure Neuerthelesse I beseech you to accept in good worth this indeuour and good will of mine most desirous both to further so good a case and also to pleasure your Lordships Otherwise I freely confesse mine own abilitie to be very small and your learning to be right great so as ye could haue handled this matter farre better than I if it had pleased you Notwithstāding forasmuch as I haue perceaued that by this my simple trauell I shall pleasure your Lordships I would not that you should finde any want in me Christ our Lord graunt that my treating therof may be abundātly frutefull vnto many I beseech you vouchsaue to salute my right reuerend Lords most deare beloued brethrē L. Rob. Horne Bishop of Winchester L. Edwin Sandes Bish. of London L. Iohn Parkhurst Bish. of Norwich L. Iames Pilckinton Bish. of Durham and also M. Iohn Aelmer M. Sampson M. Humfrey M. Leuer M. Foxe and the residue somtime cōpanions of your exile in Swicerland and Germany to the prayers of all whom I cōmend my selfe And all the Ministers and brethren that be here wish all prosperitie to you all in our Lord Iesus Christ. The Lord Iesus blisse the Ministerie of your good Lordships and preserue you from all euill From Zuricke in the moneth of February the yeare of our saluation 1571. ¶ The summe of the Romish Bull published against the most vertuous Queene of England and the whole noble Realme of England FIrst and formest it séemeth requisite to heare the very effect of the Romish Bull. For the Bull it selfe is not worthy to be recited at large and in forme of words as they terme it Wherin notwithstanding we will ouerslip nothing that is to any purpose and which may séeme worth the confuting In the enterance of it the Pope in most ample wordes blazeth and boasteth that vnmeasurable power of his which he termeth the fulnesse of power receiued as he would beare men in hand from the gouernour of all thinges our Lord Iesu Christ which committed the catholicke and Apostolicke Church to one alone vpon earth euen to Peter the prince of the Apostles and to Peters successor the Bishop of Rome with fulnesse of power to gouerne it ordeining him alone to be souerein ouer all nations and all kingdomes to plucke vp throw downe disperse and destroy and againe to plant and build vp that he might hold the Christian people together in vnitie of the spirite and yelde them vp safe and sound to their Sauiour Out of this fulnesse of power mounting vp into his high throne which he termeth the souerein seate of iustice and taking vpon him to be both iudge and accuser he thunderingly readeth forth from thence the articles of his accusation which he hath to alledge against the most vertuous Quéene of England whom euen at the first chop with a slaūderous mouth vtterly proper to him self he termeth a bondslaue of most hainous euil doings which hath brought backe into miserable destruction the Realme of England sometime turned away from the Church of Rome by that prince of blessed memory Henry the 8. whom the Bull termeth a reuolted runneaway and now of late brought againe to the Catholicke faith by Quéene Mary and to be short he sayth she is become the refuge of all runnegates and naughtipackes who also willeth her selfe to be taken for onely souerein Lady in all cases both temporall and spirituall monstruously vsurping the place of supreme head and finally which hath presumed to dispose of Bishops parsons of Churches and other Catholicke priestes and
vsurpyng monstruously the place of supreme head And finally which hath presumed to dispose parsons of churches other Catholicke Priestes and to make constitutions in cases Ecclesiasticall deposing and oppressing the Catholike Byshops and aduauncing or restoryng wicked preachers and ministers of vngodlinesse to the roomes of those that be deposed c. This ye may sée is the fayre Helene for the winnyng of whom the Romish Byshops haue made warre in Christendome now these certeine hundred yeares agaynst all Christen Kinges and Princes This is the ground of all their grief verely this is the onely cause for which they haue turmoyled the whole world and cease not to turmoyle it euen at this day that is to wit in so great light of the Gospell which now shyneth bright and triumpheth through the whole world a most assured proofe of inuincible shamelesnesse and wilfulnesse For the Lord without any parable and most manifestly in the Gospell sayth to the pastors of Churches The kings of the Gentiles reigne ouer them but so shall not you Neuerthelesse the Byshop who will séeme to be the Prince of pastors despising or rather trampling that so manifest commaundement of the Lord vnder his féete is not ashamed to take vppon him all power as well in spirituall as temporall matters And what els is that but to wype away all shamefastnesse and openly and wickedly to rebell agaynst God and to outface him with saying to him but we will do so and not simply but also farre further yea and more to But I haue shewed euidently inough afore that all pastors of Churches are called and ordeined by Christ not to beare rule but to serue in all thinges Monstruously therfore doth the seruaunt of seruauntes which is excluded from all Lordship and appointed onely to do seruice vsurpe to him selfe the thyng that is peculiar onely to souereines whom God hath set in authoritie For if the thyng be sayd to be done monstruously which is done either agaynst nature or Gods expresse ordinaunce I pray you what can be deuised more monstruous than that he whom the Lord of all thinges of whom commeth all power and dominion hath cast downe as the basest seruaunt of all and put farre vnderneath the footestooles of all Lordes should not onely take vpon him the chayre of estate which God hath graunted onely to kynges but also moreouer deuise himselfe a throne which he will haue séeme to be exalted aboue the thrones of all kinges and mountyng vp into the same without remembraunce of his own base estate deuilishly vaunt himselfe to the whole world not now as a King or Emperour onely but also as chief Byshop that obteineth both the swordes and all power both in heauen and in earth Here is that dubbleshapped monster here here is séen that deadly and detestable that horrible also and wonderfull monster which is blased in the holy Scriptures by the title of the great whore which fitteth vppon many waters and vppon the scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemie But for a kyng or a Quéene to be called a head as well in spirituall as temporall matters within their owne Realme it is no monstruousnesse at all bycause the Lord hath so ordeined it in Gods word Princes be called the heades of the people so the thing can not be sayd to be done mōstruously agaynst nature which is done according to Gods will word With Kyngs I ioyne Quéenes also and not without cause least the Pope perchaunce might surmyse that women are excluded from reignyng or that it is a monstruous thyng if a woman should reigne For we know that the thinges which the Apostle speaketh concernyng the obedience of wiues and the silence of women in the congregation of God are not to be wrested vnto reigning For it is certein that the Lords Apostles impeached not the successions in kyngdomes ne disordered not the accustomed maner of inherityng in kyngdomes Also we know that mention is made in the Bible of the noble Quéene of Saba to her great prayse for her much conference with Salomon Neither will I now say any thyng of Delbora that Iudged Israell of other Princely Ladyes Truly Esay not onely sayd And Kynges shal be thy foster-fathers but also added And Quéenes shal be their nurces they shall bow downe themselues before thée c. Esay 49. ¶ How it is no monstruousnesse for the Queene of England and consequently for all ciuill Magistrates to determine in cases Ecclesiasticall or to vndertake and beare the charge of Church matters as to depose euill Byshops and to set vp better in their roomes NOw then it is out of dout that the sayd most vertuous Quéene is supreme head or souerein Lady in that her Realme ordeined of God himselfe and set ouer the puissant Realme of Englād except it be false which the Lords Apostle and chosen vessel Paule hath sayd Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers For there is no power but of God and the powers that be are ordeined of god Therfore who soeuer resisteth power resisteth Gods ordinaūce And they that resist shall purchase dānation to themselues Seyng now that all men know these thinges to be most true it foloweth there withal not onely that the Quéene of Englād is Quéene by Gods ordinaūce but also that the byshop that resisteth her setteth himselfe naughtely agaynst her prouoketh Gods greuous iudgemēt agaynst himselfe But forasmuch as the Pope thinkes it a monstruousnesse that a king or a Quéene or any ciuil Magistrate in a cōmō weale should determine of Ecclesiasticall cases put down naughtie Priestes or Bishops aduaunce set vp better in their steddes and take vpon him to beare the charge not onely of temporall affaires but also of spirituall or Ecclesiasticall matters Lo I will proue and shew by euident and inuincible argumentes and examples of holy kynges howbeit briefly that the same thinges are parcell of their dewtie and therfore that the Magistrate doth then by Gods law and accordyng to the commaundement of the euerlastyng God and that the Bishop of Rome snatcheth them to him selfe and to his rable tyrannically and wickedly agaynst God playeth the Antichrist in pluckyng them from those to whom God hath giuen them That God in any wise would and that he hath ordeined from the beginnyng that Kynges in their kyngdomes and Magistrates in their common weales ought to take vpon them the care euen of Religion and to looke faithfully vnto it and to order it diligently accordyng to the rule of Gods woord this is the greatest proofe that God in hys law doth straitly commaund a copie of the law to be deliuered to the Prince of his people therby to dispose all his affaires And in the same law he commaundeth the Magistrate to make examination of doctrines and to restrayne yea and to smyte such as withdraw mē from God and such as teach stubbornly agaynst the law These thinges are to
good and thou shalt receaue prayse of him for he is Gods minister for thy welfare but if thou do the thing that is euyll then be affrayde for he beareth not the sworde in vaine for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on them that do euyll Why then did not these men well whome the Bull bewayleth for so should they doubtlesse haue receyued both prayse reward at the Quéenes hand being a gracious and bountifull prince The Quéene hath done nothing in this behalf which God hath not commaūded to be done afore in his law yea and also which is not ordayned in the lawes of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius L. Quicunque C. concerning Bishops and clerkes as hath bene sayd heretofore Yet will I not here sing the prayses of those that are set vp in the places of them that be deposed by Gods grace do their seruice at this day to the Churches of England peaceably and healthfully Their owne vertue commendeth them sufficiently so as they haue no néed of my prayse ¶ That the Queene of England hath not chosen mens opinions for herself and hir realme to follow but Gods pure word hertofore sought out and receyued by King Edward the sixth nor yet sette foorth bookes of heresie or forced her realme to receiue them THe goodly Bull a Gods name proceedeth on still to lay together the rest of the articles of his accusation against the Quéenes Maiestie in these wordes She hath sayth he commaunded hir subiectes to obserue the wicked misteries and ordinaunces which she hir selfe hath taken vp and obserued according to Caluins setting forth Also she hath set out bookes to hir whole Realme contayning manifest heresie But the lying and slaunderous Bull shooteth wide al the féeld ouer Perchance the Romish sort measure al men by themselues and because they them selues hang wholy vpon men in so much as there be many thousandes to be found among them which both will be called haue a plesure to be called Benedictines of Benet Franciscanes of Frauncis and diuersly and sunderly after many others and will both séeme to séeme to liue and glorie to liue according to these mens ordinances rules or appointmentes therefore they imagine that we also woulde be called Lutherans of Luther Zuinglians of Zuinglius and Caluinistes of Caluine and that we hang wholy vpon these mens ordinaunces but it is not so Paule the Apostle of Christ hath forbidden any such thing to be done in the Church saying to the Corrinthians Euery of you sayth I hold of Apollo I of Cephas and I of christ Is Christ deuided was Paule crucifyed for you or were you baptized in Paules name And againe when one sayth I hold of Paule and an other I holde of Apollo are ye not fleshly Therefore the true Christians will be named but onely after christ As for the names of men be they neuer so excellent we acknowledge them not in this case neither do we regard or receyue theyr ordinances furtherfoorth then they agree in all poyntes with Gods woorde and when we receiue them we receiue thē not for their sakes but for Gods wordes sake And the Quéene of Englands Maiestie neuer receiued of Caluin or of any other excellent and well learned men any ordinaunces to follow nor neuer regarded them and yet by the way if any of them haue taught any thing out of Gods pure woord no godly man can take scorn of for the Quéene in that reformation of hirs had an eye onely to the liuely woord of God deliuered vnto vs by the holy scriptures and so she setled all matters of religion vppon the very woord of God and not vpon any men Dauid speaking of Gods woord sayth in the 119. Psalme Thy woord O Lord endureth for euer in heauen Thy woord is a lanterne to my féet and a light vnto my paths Lord thou art righteous and thy iudgement is rightfull Princes sit together and rayle vpon me because thy seruaunt talketh of thy statutes and because thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors Princes haue persecuted me without cause but my hart standeth in awe of thy woord And Lord seing I stick to thy testimonies bring me not to shame c. That godly prince of blessed memorie and woorthy of immortall glorie King Edward the sixth folowing the examples of Iosias and Constantine the great two of the excellentest princes that euer were in the world began the reformation of the English church For like as Iosias calling a parlament or Couusell of his noble men Priestes and Commons did first cause the law of God to be read openly before them and then obediently refourmed hys whole realme woord for word according to the law that was read And like as Constantine summoned a generall counsell of the teachers and Ministers of the Churches through the whole worlde and sitting downe among them sayd The bookes of the Gospelles and the Apostles together with the oracles of the auncient Prophets do plainly entruct vs of Gods meaning and will and therefore laying aside all enemylike discord let vs take the exposition of our questions out of the sayinges of the Holie Ghost Euen so King Edward summoning a parlament at London of all the Nobilitie Bishoppes and notablest learned men through hys whole realme admitting also the famousest clarkes of other realmes being Gods seruauntes commaunded them to shew by the holy scriptures what was to be followed of him and his realme in so great diuersity of opinions And they executing faythfully the charge which the King had enioyned them did the same time with one consent and according to Gods woord agrée vpon certaine articles which the King did both receiue and publish without delay wyth this title set afore them Articles agréeed vpon by the Bishops and other learned men in the Parlament holden at London in the yeare of our Lord 1552. for the taking away of the diuersitie of opinions and the stablishing of consente in the true religion published by authoritie of the Kinges maiestie Therefore by the labour and endeuor of that godly prince King Edward the English Church was refourmed according to the rule and appointment of the holy scriptures After King Edwardes decease Quéene Marie repealing the same reformation abrogated it for a time And Queene Elizabeth hauing receiued it againe by Gods grace hath eftsoones set it vp in perfect estate And therefore nothing els hath she receiued and deliuered to be kept of hir whole Realme then that hir brother of blessed memorie King Edward héertofore most godlily and wisely thought méet to be receiued and beleued of himself and to be conueighed ouer to his subiectes out of the liuely woord of God as hath bene sayd already whereby it appeareth now most manifestly that the thinges are false and forged which the lying Bull hath bruted concerning wicked misteries with spightfull interlacing the name of Caluine receyued by the Quéenes Maiestie and enioyned to the Realme of England
A CONFVTATION Of the Popes Bull which was published more then two yeres agoe against Elizabeth the most gracious Quéene of England Fraunce and Ireland and against the noble Realme of England together with a defence of the sayd true Christian Queene and of the whole Realme of England By Henry Bullinger the Elder AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate AN. 1572. ¶ Cum Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per Decennium ¶ To the right honourable and his singular good Lord Robert Dudley Earle of Leicester Baron of Denbigh Knight of the honourable order of the Garter one of the Queenes Maiesties most honourable priuie Counsell c. Arthur Golding wisheth health prosperitie and abundaunce of Gods grace WHat mischiefe hath of late yeares bene attempted against this Realme and how great a flame hath bene kindled against the walles of the Church through the great Treasons that haue bene practised to confound the whole state by reason of the Popes most pestilent Bull your Lordship right well knoweth yea and it is euen yet still so apparant or rather present in all mens eyes as there is no wise man but he trembleth at the dreadfull remembraunce nor simple godly minded man but he wondreth at the marueilous disappointing of the daungers which were sundry times ready to haue ouerwhelmed vs euen in one moment had not God reached out his mercifull hand from heauen in the open face of the world to defend vs For it can not be denied but that therby open defiance hath bene made to faythfulnesse and allegeance honestie and vertue were shamefully defaced Religion and Iustice were openly assaulted neiborod and charitie were trecherously despised God and godlinesse were wickedly impugned our most vertuous and renoumed Princes Maiestie was traiterously impeached her rightfull preheminence diuersly assailed her vnblameable doinges causelesse diffamed her gracious clemencie scornfully abused her noble person priuily pricked at the welfare of the whole Realme daungerously hazarded and the state thereof either intitled to inward Competitors or profered as a pray to forreine enemies Is it not a straunge case that a Romishe Bull or to speake more rightly a childishe bable should be able to worke such inconueniences euen where the Gospell shineth most lightsomely And yet we see that not onely some of the rude and witlesse sort but also many of the greater sort which thought them selues no small fooles ne were in deede no young babes were contented to become such Calues as to runne out of Gods blissing into the warme Sunne and to turne their weapons into their owne bowells at the bellowing of an outlandishe Bull which notwithstanding was but a Leaden Bull a paper Bull a painted Bull and had neither breath mouing nor voyce of it own till the Calues them selues had breathed into it But righteous art thou O Lord God and rightfull are thy iudgemētes They digged a pit for others are fallen into it them selues They layd a snare for thine elected and their own feete be snarled in it Yea thou hast turned their purposed mischief vpon their owne heades Let the Papistes still feele and let all the world still see how it is thou onely that fightest for vs O Lord God of Hostes. Now albeit that the brunt of that abhominable Bull were bent directly at our most gracious soueraigne Lady Queene Elizabeth at her Maiesties Realme and faythfull subiectes yet notwithstāding forasmuch as the matter doth implyingly concerne the whole state of Christes Church which the Romishe Antichrist laboureth to draw away frō the obedience loue of her true husband Christ to the adulterous imbracing of Sathan Henry Bullinger the Elder that godly painfull minister of Christes Gospell in the Church of Zurike being by nation a mere straūger but by Christen Religion a deare brother vnto vs hath as it appeareth by his owne Epistle written this present confutation therof in Latin at the request or motion of certeine of our right reuerend godly Bishops By meanes wherof the case which otherwise had bene more peculiar to our selues is now become cōmon to all the true worshippers of christ For such is the nature bond of holy Religiō that whatsoeuer happeneth to any seuerall mēber of Christes Church the feeling therof disperseth it self into the whole body so as they ioy together sorow together also lay all their forces together to withstand their cōmon enemy to put him to flight by the power of the word of the spirite wherwith they be led gouerned Therfore to the end that such as haue any where ben bewitched by the sorceries of the Romish Circe and her Idolatrous hypocrites may returne to their right wits ceasse to be deceaued and that the simple ignorant may not be seduced by such fond toyes heerafter He learnedly pithely breefly confuteth the vnhonest and shamefull slaunders of that rayling and reprochfull libell defendeth the innocencie of our most vertuous souereigne Lady maintaineth the Religion now stablished by publike authoritie of this Realme disproueth the false vsurped supremacie of the Romane Prelates sheweth the right vse of the keyes which Christ hath cōmitted to his Church bewrayeth the weaknes of the Romish Iupiters thūdercracks and discouereth the horrible crueltie and outrage of the Popes in maintaining their wrongfull vnmeasurable power And heerwithall his desire is that the same his doing may turne to the profit cōmoditie of as many as may be For the accōplishment wherof that our nation in whose behalfe it was chiefly writtē may the more largely plenteously enioy the benefit wherof the first cause hath sprong frō thēselues I haue turned the sayd boke into our own mother toung a worke right necessary profitable for all such as mind to keep them selues true seruauntes to God faithfull subiectes to their prince or can finde in their hartes to loke vpō the light of the truth to their own benefite incomparable comfort For doubtlesse if there be any whom the present experience of our owne times can not moue they shall see it euidently proued by this booke that the fruite which the crediting or receauing of Popishe Buls such other pedlary trash of Rome yeeldeth is nothing els but horrible murther Rebellion slaughter Treason all maner of diuelish mischieuous wickednesse matched with most extreme calamitie hartgreef misery and in the end vnlesse Gods wrath be pacified by timely repentance accōpanied with vneschewable losse both of body of soule Wherfore as well in consideration of the premisses as also presuming vpon the apparant signes of your Lordships former fauour great good will towardes me but specially forasmuch as you are of that most honourable nūber vpon whose wisedome foresight trustinesse pollicie stoutnes God hath ordained the securitie of our most gracious soueraigne Lady of her Maiesties Realme subiectes which more is of his owne Religion and holy word to rest depend I haue takē boldnes to
to determine of ecclesiasticall cases deposing and oppressing the catholicke Bishops and aduauncing and putting in their roomes leawd preachers and ministers of vngodlinesse Moreouer sayth the Bull she hath abolished the sacrifice of the Masse prayers fasting choice of meates single life and all catholicke rites and commaunded bookes that conteine open heresie to be set forth to the whole Realme and wicked mysteries and ordinances receiued and obserued by her selfe according to the appointment of Caluine to be also obserued of her subiectes She hath forbidden the Clergie and laitie to acknowledge the Romane Church or to obey the commaundementes therof yea and she hath compelled them to renounce by othe the authoritie and obedience of the Bishop of Rome She hath layd penalties and punishmentes vpon such as shall disobey and hath executed the same vpon such as haue continued in the vnitie of faith and obedience aforesayd and therwithall also she hath cast the catholicke bishops in prison where they haue ended their daies miserably pyned in much and long languishing and dayly sorow All which thinges are so notorious as there is no roome left for any excuse defence or shift to serue in the matter Wherfore rising now out of the throne of his with sword drawen and pronouncing the extremest sentence against the most vertuous Quéene yea and against all her complices through the whole Realme he denounceth and declareth her an hereticke and a fauourer of heretickes and therfore most proudly determineth her to be strickē through with his curse and cut of from the vnitie of Christes body and moreouer to be depriued of her kingdome and of all right of her crowne of all maner of other preheminence dignitie and priuiledge And not content with this he procéedeth yet further and geueth charge to all and singular the Quéenes Nobilitie and other her subiectes that vnder paine of the sayd curse they obey not hereafter the lawes and commaundementes of their pretensed or supposed Quéene as he termeth her Yea and in what sort soeuer they were sworne vnto the Quéene he assoileth them all of such othe and vtterly dischargeth them of all duetie of subiection fealtie and allegeance Upon all which thinges it followeth most manifestly that by setting that most vertuous Quéene and the noble Realme of England and other nations at oddes among thē selues he doth most cruelly and wickedly put her in hazard both of her foes and of her frendes yea and which is horrible to be heard of her owne subiectes to be trayterously torne in péeces through ciuill warres and most outragious seditions if there were any so mad and so voyde of all godlinesse and manhood as to suffer such that is to wit so deuilishe and hellish furie to be so inspired into them by the inchauntmentes of this venemous beast Hitherto I haue declared what thinges are conteined and set forth in that wicked slaunderous seditious and bloudy Bull. Of which thinges if any man be desirous to haue a more compendious abridgment and yet neuerthelesse as fully presumptuous and shamelesse as that which hath béen shewed already let him heare what maner of title the Bull hath set before it to the face of the world The sentence declaratorie of our most holy father Pope Pius the fifth against Elizabeth the pretensed Queene of England and the heretickes that cleaue vnto her Wherby also all her subiectes are declared assoiled of their othe of allegeance and of all other duties whatsoeuer and those that obey her heerafter are wrapped in the same curse ¶ That the foresayd vnmeasurable power of the Romish Bishop is not proued by these wordes of the Lord vnto Peter Peter louest thou me feede my sheepe HItherto you haue patiently heard the Popes sentence or declaration by his Bull against the most vertuous Quéene of England c. and now I pray you be so good as gently to heare me also I will bréefly and plainly shew how there is no truth substance or soundnesse in this Bull and that the cause which the Hope maintaineth and pleadeth against the most noble Quéene is euill and vniust but the case on the Quéenes side very good and rightfull And I will begin at that vnmeasurable power of the Pope which he boasteth of and by force whereof he taketh vpon him to be iudge in this case For that being once ouerthrowen all the whole Bull falleth to the ground together with the iudgement builded vpon this ruinous foundation and so shall the Pope sit in that seate of his not a terrible or iust iudge but an Idoll to be despised yea and to be spit at of all good men and his sentences shall be no more the thunderboltes of Iupiter but counterfait flashes glistering out of a basen in no wise worthy to be regarded Then let that most holy or rather most prophane father tell vs where or by what wordes our Lord deliuered vnto Peter alone and vnto Peters successor the Bishop of Rome that his fulnesse of power that is to say his supreme and most absolute power as well in spirituall as in temporall matters Let him tell vs where or by what wordes the Lord created the Bishop of Rome prince ouer all nations and ouer all kingdomes I am not ignorant of your stincking and vnsauerie fables in this behalfe I am not ignorant what Decretalls haue béene put forth by Gregory the ix Boniface the viij Innocent the 4. Clement the v. Iohn the xxij and such other like to these cōspirators Catilines companions As for me I will not heare those decrées or Decretalls which the famous Lawyer Marsilius of Padwa no lesse aptly than truely sayd to be neither Gods lawes nor mans lawes but proclamations of plaine vniuersall souereintie You say that without any parable at all Christ our Lord gaue the fulnesse of power which ye brag of to Peter and to Peters successor the Pope Bring forth therfore some euident record of this your allegation out of the new Testament Truely ye be not able to bring forth one tittle or one iote of this your allegation And therfore with most wicked lyes and forgeries haue both you and your predecessors now certaine hundred yeares scared and seduced good men that leaned too much vnto you through too light beléef and ouermuch fearfulnesse For where as they haue alledged the wordes which our Lord after his Resurrection did thrise repeate and vrge vpon Peter namely Peter louest thou me feede my sheepe Certes I wonder that both they and you are so past all shame that ye dare bring these thinges for the stablishing of your kingdome or rather your tyranny As who would say we be all of vs blind or blockes voyde of common reason and not able to perceaue how those wordes perteine not to souereintie but to seruice Peter was by this meane to be comforted by the Lord and to be restored to the name and office of Apostle which he séemed to haue lost at the Lordes passion chéefly in this respect because
With like vanitie lightnes and malice the Bull is not ashamed to geue foorth that the Quéene setteth foorth or enforceth to hir whole realme bookes contayning manifest heresie for the Quéene hath authorized no bookes to be set foorth to hir realme but such as hir Maiesties brother King Edward willed to be set foorth afore specially the volume of the holy Bible Now to say that this contayneth manifest heresies it is an horrible and blasphemous wickednes and the greatest treason to God that may be Howbeit by the way there be many maintayners of the Pope and his sea which make neyther shame nor conscience to put openly in writing and to teach that heresies are learned out of the Bible and that he which hath the Bible and readeth it without the interpretatiō of the church of Rome hath nothing But I will speake no more at this time of the blasphemies of these wicked men Peraduenture the Bull meaneth the booke of common prayers and ceremo nies of the church of England But so ought it also to haue bene shewed which be heresies that are contayned in that booke The soresayd parlament of London maketh honorable mention of that booke And there shall be enow that will annswer if there be heresies in that booke at least wise if the bull meane that booke shew them expresly vnlesse peraduenture according to the maner of these stately sires euery thing must beare the blame of heresy which hath not the sent and tast of the stinch of the pope or of the sea of Rome which thing deserueth no aunswering at all Truely the Quéenes Maiestie hath prohibited all vngodly bokes to be dispersed yea or read in hir realme which are hereticall indéed and repugnant to the sinceritie of our Christian religion Neither may any man spread abroad any wicked or blasphemous booke or opinion in hir realme without punishment ¶ Here be recited other articles of accusation which the Bull mentioneth concerning the Queenes abolishing of the masse and hir taking away of many other superstitions and abuses Also here is expounded what catholikenesse is and who be catholike THe Bull knitteth héerunto also other articles of accusation agaynst the Quéene She hath also sayth the bull abolished prayers fastinges choyce of meates single life catholike ceremonies As concerning the sacrifice of the masse the Quéene not vniustly but for many and most iust causes hath abolished it like as King Edward had abolished it afore In the Syuode of London whereof we haue made mention now once or twise already thus remayneth in writing concerning the masse Christes oblatiō once made for all is a ful redemption attonement and satisfaction for all the sinnes of the whole world as well originall as actuall Neither is there any other satisfaction for sinnes sauing onely that one Wherfore the sacrifices of masses wherein the priest was commonly sayd to offer Christ for release of penaltie and fault for the quicke and the dead are but forgeries and hurtfull deceites Thus much is written there But it is the dutie of kinges to abolish and banish yea and to punish noysome deceites and deceyuers Worthely therfore haue the Kinges of England abolished the masse neyther haue they trespassed at all in that behalfe against God or against their owne office Moreouer by the Masse the holy institution of the Lords supper hath bene ouerwhelmed with mans inuentions additiōs vtterly peruerted made of publike priuate also dismembred For the Lord gaue it to all his faythfull in both kindes as they terme it Also wheras the massemūger taketh vpon him in his masse as a mediator betwéene God and men he committeth such an horrible offence as is neuer able to be purged by no satisfaction For there is no mo priesthodes but the priesthode of Christ and that is according to the order of Melchisedecke and so vnremoueable as it cannot passe vnto any other by succession Againe they offred or solemnized the masse in remembraunce and honor of saintes departed which now liue in heauen But the Lord had sayd do it in remembraunce not of saintes but of me And S. Paule would in no wise haue garlands and oxen offered vnto him Who then can thinke it likely that he would haue the Sonne of God offred in honour of him in a masse Shall the Lord of Lordes being now in glory do seruice still as a seruaunt to hys owne seruaunts These are frenzies and furies of men that be out of theyr wittes I could alleage many other abhominations of the masse like vnto these but I will adde no more but onely thys to all the rest That Christ our Lord instituted his holy supper without pompe or superfluitie simple moderate without ceremonies but yet commendable for the simplicitie and honourable for the authoritie of the founder But the Masse is most ceremonious most pompous most sumptuous and set out with persian furniture which in processe of time hath so encreases with hir abuses that in some thinges it could not be abated or purged but it must néedes be taken quite away Truly the common sorte made more accoūt of their Chapleines Masses aduaunced them more then the very sacrifice of Christ which few of them either knew or estéemed as became thē And for asmuch as the Apostle Paule when the Lordes Supper began in his time to grow into abuse taught how to call it backe to reforme it accordyng to the Lordes institution Like as Christes Martyr S. Cryprian also beyng taught by the same Apostles example counselleth and commaundeth vs that in repayring or setting vp agayne the true vse of the Supper we should go to the wells head and séeke out the originall and not do any other thing in this behalfe then that which he hath done which is before all men and alonely is to be heard Seing that the Quéenes Maiestie hath done so in abolishing the Masse and setting vp the Lordes Supper agayne in the place of it Surely she hath not sinned at all but is falsly accused by the Bishop in his Bull. Most false also is this that the Bull auoucheth the Quéene to haue abolished prayer and fastyng For she hath abolilished the abuses and superstitions in them and not the good thynges themselues which God hath commended vnto vs Which thing the matter it selfe doth openly auouch It can not be denyed but prayer and fastyng are couered with abuses and superstitions yea and with Idolatries almost innumerable among the Papistes Among them prayer is not made to God alone neither beleue they that God heareth vs for the intercession of Christ alone For they call vppon innumerable creatures as well as the creatures yea and vpon them more earnestly then vpon him And they haue in such wife commended the intercession and defense of Saintes to the wretched people that they know litle or nothyng of Christes intercession to God the father which is the onely acceptable and effectuall intercession Furthermore
felowshyp yea and also a new head they be Cacodoxi that is to say misbeleuing or Kirtodoxi that is say ouerthwart beleuyng and not Rightbeleuyng and Catholike But now gentle reader wey me throughly within the compasse and vniuersalitie of what body or in what vnitie of doctrine and fayth the Romish sort be who by reason of certeine peculiar and straunge opinions of theirs which they professe and mainteine and for their Popish Church set vp vnder the Pope as head of it call themselues onely Catholike Let them say to vs whether the thynges which these men vrge so sore vpon vs were knowen and generall to the Catholike and Apostolike primitiue Church fayth and doctrine Let these Catholikes then which by their owne iudgement are the onely rightbeleuers vpon earth shew vs whether the aūcient Apostolike Church acknowledged Rome to be the head of all the Churches in the world whether all the faythfull seruauntes of Christ must vppon payne of saluation and damnation be subiect to the Byshop of Rome as who hath both the swordes in his hand iudgeth all men and is to be iudged of no man Whether the primitiue and aunciēt Church did pray vnto dead Saintes Whether it accounted them for patrons and spokesmen to God the father Whether it worshypped them with sacrifices holydayes and such other kynd of seruices Whether they builded them tēples or set vp images to them Whether the images of God and the Saintes he profitable and necessarie in the Churches of the Christians whether the soules that be sindged broyled and rosted in the fire of Purgatory be deliuered by yearemyndes and other satisfactions for the dead Whether Christ be worshypped in the Masse and whether it be to be beleued that Christ himselfe is offered there in sacrifice for the sinnes of the quicke the dead whether our owne workes deserue eternall lyfe and whether they iustifie vs also whether the state of Mōkes be the state of perfection or no And whether there were any cloysters of Monkes Nunnes in the Church afore Paule the Heremite of Thebe Antonie and Benet now if these and many other thynges like these were not séene nor knowen as they were not in déede tell vs wherfore ye boast them to be Catholike or how wil you be called Catholike of thē will ye that I tell you most falsly most vniustly sauyng in that your Antichristian kynd For as for the rites and customes which you call and brag to be Catholicke antiquitie hath registred them among Idolatries Cease therefore to delude the simple with your gentle termes of Catholike and Rightbeleuyng The faythfull know who you be Amend therfore and liue lyke true Catholikes with vs not in the Popish Church of Rome but in the true Catholike Church vnder the head Christ who onely is our saluation To him be glorie for euer Amen ¶ The Queene of England hath iustly cōmaunded her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the lawes therof Iustly also hath she bound them by othe to abiure the authoritie and obedience of the Romish Byshop The Bull procedeth in his purposed accusation agaynst the Quéene saying She hath forbidden the Clergie and laitie to acknowledge the Church of Rome or to obey the lawes of it Yea and she hath compelled them to renounce the authoritie obedience of the Romane Byshop by othe appointing penalties and punishmentes to such as disobey the which she hath executed vpō those that haue continued in the vnitie of fayth and the obedience aforesayd But the Quéenes Maiestie euen in this case also hath done nothyng but that the Lord God himselfe hath commaunded her to do which all good Princes among the people of God haue done before her For it is alredy manifestly inough shewed and proued before that by Gods ordinaunce it is lawfull for Kinges and Magistrates to take vpon them the care and orderyng both of cases and of persons Ecclesiasticall Therfore looke what the Quéene hath commaunded her subiectes in this behalfe she hath done but that she ought to do by vertue of her office And wheras she hath commaunded that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the ordinaunces therof hath she not cōmaunded that thyng by the appiontment of Gods word for truly God commaūdeth his people in his law that they should not giue eare to such as teach thinges contrarie to his law also he commaundeth the Magistrate that he giue no place either to superstitions or to false doctrines but rather that he roote vp these and restreine the others Ieremy like as the rest of the Prophetes also inferreth and vrgeth the same thyng Among other thynges sayth he thus sayth the Lord of hostes hearken not to the woordes of the Prophetes that prophesie vnto you For they teach you vanitie tell you the visions of their owne hart euen their owne inuentions and not out of the mouth of the lord But it is more clearer then the light of noone day that the Romish Doctors and teachers are not onely such but moreouer most cruell enemyes to the sound doctrine of the Gospell or rather persecuters imbrewed with Christian bloud The Lord hymselfe in his Gospell but specially in Mathew the vij and xxiiij chapters and in Luke the vij chapter hath forbydden vs to giue eare to false Prophetes and false Christes specially which shall come in this last perillous ago He chargeth vs that we should neither beleue them nor folow thē And S. Peter with great grauitie sayth kéepe your selues from this generation Which thyng he intreateth of more plenteously and diligently in his latter Epistle Yea and S. Paule also agréeing with the doctrine of S. Peter describeth the corrupt gouerners of the Church in this last age verely froward men not lightes but firebrandes of the Church and he biddeth the faithfull depart from them If any man desire to sée the places he shal find them in 2. Cor. 6. and in 2. Thes. 2. and in 1. Tim. 4. and 6. and in 2. Tim. 3. and 4. chapters Flée ye from Idolatrie sayth the same Apostle And S. Iohn sayth beware of Idols Besides this it is reueled to S. Iohn from heauen and commaundement is giuen thus my people get ye out of Babylon that ye be not partakers of her sinnes and receyue of her plagues also Uery rightly therfore and accordyng to the commaundementes of God hath the Quéenes Maiestie done in chargyng her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Romane that is to say the Popish Church nor obey the Popes law or ordinaunces as vtterly wicked or fightyng agaynst the word of God. But the thyng that most of all gréeueth and chafeth hym is that the Quéene hath compelled her ▪ subiectes to renoūce the Pope and his authoritie which in very déede is none at all and the Papacie it selfe by othe Neuerthelesse euen in this behalfe also what hath her highnesse done which the
no equitie willeth to condemne a partie that is vnconuicted yea and vtterly giltles in the offence that he is charged with For by Gods owne iudgement he is an vniust a partiall and a wicked Iudge whosoeuer he is that condemneth a person which is vnconuicted yea and cleare to and dischargeth or acquiteth a person that is conuicted and found giltie in déed Truely by law Iudges heare the enditementes of the accusers and likewise on the other side the aunswers of them that be accused and yet he that is accused runneth not in any danger by law so long as the articles of inditemēt be not lawfully prooued but rather if he cleare himselfe of the articles of the enditement by lawfull and euident aunswer he is discharged of all domages and acquit of al fault Now forasmuch as it is certainly apparant by the thinges aforediscoursed that all the accusations wherwith the pope hath hetherto charged the Quéene of England and which he hath alleaged by hys Bull are disproued by iust open euident reasons or aunswers and therefore that her royall Maiestie is not conuicted of any of the faultes that be layd against hir It is also certaine and sure therewithall that the popes definitiue sentence against that giltles Quéene vnable to be conuicted of any of the crimes layd to hir charge is both most partiall and most vniust and that the Pope which taketh vppon him as a Iudge in thys cace is a most wicked and abhominable iudge And yet I wil not say that euen he the pope hath contrary to all right reason made himself both accuser iudge in thys case and hath bables out what so euer came at hys tounges ende and what so euer he listed but proueth not ne confirmeth not any whit of hys case ¶ That the Queene of England is not an hereticke and therefore not stricken with the popes curse nor cut of from the vnitie of Christes bodie ALthough the Bull be now sufficiently confuted and the Quéenes innocencie defended and declared and the popes outragious tyranny cruell wrong and excessiue vnindifferencie layd foorth so as his most vniust definitiue sentence may easely and by very good right be ouerpassed despised yea and laughed at yet shall it not gréeue me euen for an ouerplus to peruse it againe in sifting it by péecemeale The same hath chiefly fower points First the pope declareth and denounceth the Quéene of England to be an hereticke and a bolsterer of heretikes therfore that she is stricken with his curse and cut of from the vnitie of Christes body But it hath bene shewed in many woords already that the Quéene is a catholike and Christian princesse and not giltie of any heresie or crime Wherupon it followeth that the pope by his condemning of so giltles and rightbeleuing a Prince bewrayeth and vttereth himself what he is namly euen one of those of whome Peter hath sayd They despise higher powers presumptuous are they and stubbern and feare not to speak euill of them that be in authority c. A few yeares past the reuerend Bishops of England dyd setfoorth a godly and learned Apologie in the third chapter whereof chiefly they shew howe the Realme of Englande hath no aliance at all with heretickes or heresies In the same they plainly and stedfastly professe their fayth and openly declare themselues to be of a sound and christian religion eloquently and truely washing away all the accusations and slaunders of the papistes It is more manifest then that it néedeth to be reported with many words what the Doctors diuines ministers of the Church of Christes time haue thought to be heresie and whome they haue demed to be heretickes As for the law of Lucius the thirde concerning the suppressing of heresie which is registred by Gregory the ninth in the thirde booke of decretalles the seuenth title concerning heretickes wherby the popes deuise and shape all their iudgementes and condemnations Wise men and godly men haue alwayes déemed it tyrannicall contrary to the iudgements of holy and religious antiquitie and therfore we thincke it not woorth the naming and we estéeme all the decrées that be formed and pronounced according to the same to be tyrannicall Yet notwithstanding I can not stay my selfe but I must néedes at thys present rehearse the opinion of the auncient writer Tertullian concerning this matter In his booke of the veyling of Virgins Heresies sayth he are ouercome not so much by newnesse as by truth What so euer fauoureth otherwyse than of truth the same is heresie yea though it be euē auncient custome And againe in Prescriptions of heretikes Heresies sayth the same author are termed of the Gréeke woord as in respect of the choyce which a man vseth eyther in the mayntayning or in the receyuing of them And therefore he sayth that an heretike is condemned in himselfe because he hath chozen the thing wherein he is condemned But it is not lawfull for vs to do any thing vpon oure owne head nor to choose the thing that an other man hath brought in of hys owne head We haue the Lordes Apostles for our warrant who chose not any thing of theyr owne head to bring in but faythfully deliuered ouer to all nations the discipline that they had receyued of christ And therfore if euen an Angell from heauen should preach any otherwise vnto vs we would hold him acursed Thus far Tertullian Wherfore séeing that the Quéene hath chozen nothing of hir owne head to deliuer to hir subiectes but onely hath betaken to them propheticall and Apostolicall truth of the scriptures to be followed hir maiestie is vtterly discharged of the crime of heresy And séeing that the romish opinions and the popish rites and ceremonies differing from our opinions and ceremonies are nothing els but opinions inuented by mens owne braynes selfchozen ceremonies Let the Romanistes consider to whether of vs the crime of heresy may iustlyest be imputed and to whome it sticketh fastest Besides this the Imperiall lawes commaunde all that be vnder the Empyre to follow that religion which S. Peter deliuered to the Romanes And it addeth We pronounce that such as folow this law embrace the name of catholike Christians and that the rest are to be taken for heretiks iudging them to be mad and out of their wits But the Quéene wil haue nothing to flourish in hir realme but the Apostolike doctrine ergo she is a catholike and not an heretike neither fauoureth she heretikes nor can abide to haue heresies taught in hir realme nor cherisheth such as be stayned w the spotte of heresy but rather euen for the same cause she hath banished the romish traditions and popish ceremonies out of her whole Realme least she might be sayd to beare with any thing against the Apostolike doctrine and Christian Ceremonies And therfore the thunderclap of that Tarpeian or Romane Iupiters curse wherewith he will haue the Quéene to séeme to be striken through is but a blockish
thūderbolt and no more to be feared then the thunderclappes smokes and mistes of Cacus were to be feared of Hercules as hath bene sayd already afore The blind mā to whom Christ had giuen eye sight was in old tyme cast out of the Synagoge of the Pharisies But that excommunication was so farre from hurting him that from thence forth he was receiued into Christes houshold by the Lord Christ himselfe who in his Gospell prophesying of the thinges that are now accomplished by the Pope sayd They shall thrust you out of their Synagoges Yea and the tyme commeth that who soeuer killeth you he shall thinke he doth God seruice And these thinges shall they do vnto you bycause they haue not knowē the father nor yet me But I haue told these things vnto you to the intent that whē that time is come ye may remember what I haue sayd vnto you Wherfore it hurteth not the Queenes Maiestie a whit that she is sayd to be cut of truly not from the vnitie of Christes body but from the felowshyp of the Popish corporation For were she not cut of from this verely she could not be reckened among the true and liuely members of Christes body neither could she haue God to be her father if she could finde in her hart to be an obedient daughter to the Syr that sitteth vppon mount Tarpey deuouring his owne sonnes and daughters like Saturne For the Lord willeth hys children to get them out of Babylon if they minde to escape the plagues of God and to atteine true saluation And we be not kept in the vnitie of Christes body which is the Church of the liuing God by obeying and reuerencing the Romane Church and the Bishop therof but by true faith in Christ according to the Gospell of god He that wanteth this or he that impugneth this hath no communion at all neither with Christ nor with the Church how much soeuer he pratle of the vnitie of Christes body ¶ That the Pope of Rome doth falsly and tyrannously giue sentence that the Queene of England is depriued of her kingdome and of all right of her crowne AFterward the Pope in his sayd definitiue sentence determineth peremptorily that the Quéene of England is depriued of her crowne and of all right of her crowne and of all other authoritie dominion dignitie and priuilege whatsoeuer But who hath made the Pope a souerein Monarche ouer the whole world to reigne alone and to haue all kingdomes vnder him and to hold all kynges and princes vnder his allegeance as his vassals or tenauntes at wil so as he might set them vp or thrust them out of their kyngdomes at his pleasure Heretofore when I discoursed vpon Ieremies wordes I haue set thee ouer kynges and kyngdomes c. I haue shewed openly and sufficiently inough so as there néedeth no more at this tyme that the Pope is not set ouer kynges and kyngdomes by God but rather vsurpeth superioritie and power ouer kynges and nations contrarie both to the open example and commaundement of the lord Therfore as now I wil adde no more but this that the Pope doth falsly or rather through mere tyranny without any right or regard of shame chalenge to him selfe this power which the Lord neuer deliuered to any man For the wise Prophet Daniel sayth Wisedome and power belong vnto the lord He it is that altereth the tymes and chaunges of tymes He it is that putteth downe kinges and setteth vp kinges The same thyng also haue Iob and Dauid in his Psalmes affirmed afore him Yea and the holy histories setting forth the same thyng most plenteously declare that God ordeined Saule kyng of the Israelites by the Prophet Samuel and by the message of the same Prophet deposed him agayne for his disobedience and rebellion aduauncing Dauid to his roome a man accordyng to Gods owne hart Agayne vnder Salomon Dauides sonne the kyngdome was rent a sunder and God by the message of his Prophet Ahia gaue ten partes of the kyngdome to Ieroboam and those ten partes of the kyngdome were not taken away from Salomon and his posteritie for any other cause then for that Salomon him selfe had withdrawen his hart from God and allowed his outlandish wiues wherewith to set vp and exercise their Idolatrie But the same Ieroboam is deposed agayne and none other cause of hys deposing by the report of the same Ahia the Prophet then for that he hearkened not to the word of the Lord but according to mans policie vpon a good intent of his owne made him straunge Gods and set vp the same for the children of Israel to worship and cleaued not vncorruptly to the word of the Lord. Other kinges of Israel also were deposed from from their kingdome by God as Baasa Ela Achab such other like and for none other cause then that they had leuer to folow the Idolatrie of Ieroboam then the word of the Lord. Furthermore when Iehu had destroyed Iezabell king Achabs wife and all his posteritie and therewithall made cleane riddance of all the Priestes of Baal yea beaten downe the Temple of Baal and made a draught of it the Lord said vnto him for asmuch as thou hast earnestly executed the thing that is right in mine eyes and done vnto the house of Achab according to all that was in my hart thy sonnes shall sit vppon the seate of Israell to the fourth generatiō I could rehearse many other thinges of this sort no lesse notable then these but that I séeke to be brief as far as the matter giueth leaue And I haue rehearsed these thinges to the end that all men may manifestly perceiue how it is God himselfe and not the pope that createth kinges and displaceth them yea and which remoueth shaketh ouerthroweth repaireth and stablisheth all kingdomes vniuersally and seuerally Now although he haue disposed it by his messengers the Prophetes as by Samuell Ahias Eliseus and others yet is not the Pope called to these matters as those men were neither hath he receiued any commission from God in this case so much as by one little word but rather is commaūded to attempt no such thing Besides this God deposed kinges as it were extraordinarily by the Prophetes not by the high Priestes which were ordeined by God to be in Israell with the kinges least the kingdome and the Priest hode might be set at oddes betwene them selues Therfore although the Pope were the souerein Bishop yet should not the disposing and ordering of kinges belong to his charge Moreouer if a man consider wherefore God deposed those kinges by the meane of his Prophetes the Quéene of England hath wherwith to comfort and confirme her and the Pope hath that which graffeth him into the nomber of false prophetes discorageth him and vtterly ouerthroweth him For Ahias said out of the mouth of the Lord vnto Ieroboam if thou wilt hearken to my commaundementes and walke in my wayes as
my seruaunt Dauid did I will be with thée and I will build thée a sure house and so forth as foloweth in the third booke of kinges and the xj chapter And I haue already rehearsed out of Gods word what reward Iehu reaped at Gods hand for taking away of Idols Idolatrie and Idolaters Seyng then that the Quéene of England hath made reformation in her Realme according to Gods word and taken away the Idols and Idolatrie of Baal yea and Baals chappels and temples and his chapleynes also together with all Popish abhominations she hath not lost her kingdome but rather knit it more strongly vnto her and is sure of Gods protection and fauour and by Gods grace shall alwayes be sure of it if she continew in the faith Therfore there is no cause why her most gracious Maiestie should be troubled any whit at the Popes most peruerse sentence of deposition For God in his word hath giuen a contrarie sentence to the Popes so as the pope is most manifestly reputed among the false Prophetes Also in the times of Ioachim Iechonias Zedechias kinges of Iuda there were false Prophetes and fauorers of Idolatry which warranted good lucke to these Idolatrous kings and cursed the king of Babylon whom God had stalled in the kingdome and whom he would haue to reigne and who afterward in the time of Daniell was turned from Idols to the true God and drew away the miserable people from his obedience But they were greuously rebuked and disproued by Gods holy and true Prophetes Ieremie and Ezechiell who prophesied that all maner of miseries should be powred out vppon the Idolaters according as the falling out of thinges proued in the end by Gods large powring out of a sea of miseries vppon them The same God also a thréescore and ten yeares after ouerthrew the kingdome of Babylon chiefly for Idolatries sake as it is read in the fifth chapter of Daniell and conueyed the Empire to Cyrus king of Persia who proclaymed the true God of Israell and let Gods people go frée out of captiuitie and commaunded Gods temple and holie Ceremonies to be set vp agayne Therefore after so great light of Gods word and the goodly consent of the holie histories there is no cause why any Princes or sacred Magistrates should be afrayd of the Balaamish popes cursinges depriuations and manaces brandished and denounced for putting away Idolles and for treading vnder foote that new Baalishnesse the Poperie For God likes well of all such as reuerence Gods word reforming them selues purely according to Gods word and framing all thinges in Rellgion by the same But it is most manifest that Gods word condemneth and reiecteth all Idolatrie and all seruing of God that is counterfet and deuised by mans good intent inuented and receiued at the good pleasure and appointement of men without Gods woorde or agaynst it ¶ That the Byshop of Rome can not discharge them of their othe which are sworne to the Queene For the trothe that is once plighted must be kept both to good and bad MOreouer looke how many soeuer within the noble Realme of Englād haue in any wise sworne to the Quéenes maiestie the Bishop of Rome vtterly dischargeth them from such othe and from all dewtie of subiection fealtie obedience But we aske him againe from whence he hath that power and what God or rather what féend hath giuen him commission to release those of their othe once made of all dewtie and of all their rightfull obedience whom the true God himselfe in his owne true word openly and streitly bindeth to kéepe their promise he is not able to alledge so much as one litle word out of Gods booke for this power of his which he leawdly surmiseth worthely therefore is this trayterous ambition and rashnesse of his spitted at and the faithfull know that they must obey their gracious Quéene by the commaundement of God. For wheras the Bishops soothers alledge certein things in maintenaunce of their trecherie out of Gratian 22. Quaest. 4. and chiefly this saying of Isidore In euill promises go backe from thy word and such other thinges which the Lombard gathereth together about the end of the third booke of his sentences that Iehu the king of Israell called all the Priestes of Ball to make sacrifice and whē they were at their businesse brake promise with them and slew them euery mothers sonne and also that the Coūcell of Constance were of opinion that there was no promise to be kept with heretikes They make nothing at all for the beawtifying of their most rightlesse case For by sound iudgement we willingly admit the examples of Dauid and Herode and the sentences of Ambrose Isidore and Bede which are alledged by the Maister of the Sentences But we say further that the othe which the nobilitie and commons haue made to the Quéene of England is not to be accounted among euill promises and vnaduised vowes or othes but among such promises and othes as are promised and confirmed with swearing by the commaundement and allowance of god Wherefore I say that those othes must in any wise be performed and in no wise reuersed And who soeuer teacheth that they are to be reuersed he prouoketh Gods wrath agaynst himselfe and putteth them that obey him in daunger of Gods greuous iudgement Certesse as for Iehus déede in sleaing the Priestes of Baal God disallowed it not for he said openly that he had done the thing that was rightous in Gods sight the thing that was in Gods hart But this was a singular or peculiar déede like as certein of Sampsons doinges were and of certeine other noble men which are not setforth in the Scriptures for euery man to folow being not rightly called therunto by god For we know we must liue according to lawes and not according to custome nor after the example of particular déedes But the law commaundeth that we should not lye or deceiue any man by couin or craft and much lesse then may wee defile our selues with periurie The thinges are knowen well inough which Austen hath discoursed to Cōsentius against lying We may adde hereunto that king Iehu bound not himselfe by any solemne othe to the Priestes of Baal but onely allured them by putting them in hope that he would offer a right great and sumptous sacrifice that the Priestes being blinded with their owne naughtinesse and their ouereager desire of Idolatrie came flocking by heapes therfore suffered iust punishment in Gods behalfe for their owne sturdy wickednesse and their vnappeasable hatred towardes the true Religion and true Ministers of god Neither is this to be ouerpassed here that Iehu commaunded diligent search to be made in the tēple least there might be any of the Lordes Prophetes among the wicked Priestes of Baal meaning therby that the true seruauntes and worshippers of God must not be punished or put to death with the offenders Idolaters that be hated of god Which thing doth
strongly assault and battre the purpose and indeuer of the Romane Bishop whose gréedy gaping is for nothing els but the destruction of the true seruauntes and worshippers of god His desire is to aduaunce and mainteine Idolaters and to oppresse and destroy the true seruauntes and worshippers of god And to bring this to passe he is not ashamed at all to pretend and dissemble to lye to deceiue and to deale craftely to lay wayt to forsweare yea and in the end to murther cruelly But admit we should graunt that promise is not to be kept with heretikes and infidels that be enemies of our faith yet ought it to be first proued that the Quéene of England is an heretike and such a one as promise is not to be kept vnto But that the Quéene of England is of a right opinion Catholike and no heretike I haue already abundantly euidently and clearely inough declared Therfore promise ought to be kept with her and they that be sworne vnto her can not be released of their oth by any law of God or man. As for the Councell of Constance it hath in many other thinges and specially in the Decrée of the xiij Session set forth Decrées openly against Christ the Lord and against his most holy Gospell And therfore it is of no authoritie among godly and well minded men For not euen S. Austen him self would haue any Councels of what sort so euer they be or haue ben to be had in any estimation if they disagrée with reason right and Scripture And truly about a xxvj yeares after the holding of the Coūcell of Constance those holy fathers according to their owne rule That promise ought not to be kept with heretikes and infidels executed that power of theirs in discharging Ladislaus king of Hungarie and Pooleland from the othe which he had lawfully made of Amurathes the Emperour of Turky For Iulianus Caesarinus the Legate of Eugenie the iiij the Bishop of Rome made a very long oration in the presence of King Ladislay and the Nobilitie of his realme the onely drift whereof was to make the King and hys noble men beleue that the league which they had made with the king of the Turkes being an Infidell was to be broken and the promise made vnto him to be reuersed but in any wise to kéep league with the bishop who representeth the person of God vppon earth Which thing if ye do not sayth he I feare me lest euen as Iudas betrayed Christ so you will séeme to betray Christes vicar and so lest you finde God your vtter enemy herafter whom ye haue alwayes hetherto found helpfull and fauourable in your affayres But harken I pray you how helpfull and fauourable the king and nobilitie found God toward them according as the fals prophet Cesarinus bare them in hand after they had concluded to breake promise with the Turke and to make horrible warre vpon him when he looked for no such thing Truely at the battell of Waray which was the greatest of all others when it was likely that all should haue gone to wracke on both sides Amurathes plucking out of his bosome the booke of the league that was concluded and solemnly sworne opened it and looking earnestly vp into heauen sayd These euen these O Iesu Christ are the couenauntes which thy Christians haue made with me they haue sworne solemnly by thy Goohead and broken theyr promise made in thy name and like fals forsworne persons haue denied their god Now Christ if thou be God as they say and we be borne in hand I pray thée reuenge here the wronges and mine and shew the punishment of promise-breaking to such as know not yet thy holy name ▪ He had scarce sayd these wordes but the battell which had bene vncertaine and doubtfull a long while began to encline like as we read also how it came to pas after the same sort long afore that in the time of Clodeway the first king of France by reason of his calling vpon Christ in a battell against the Almanes fortune turned agaynst the Christians so as being wéeryed and tyred with fighting all the day long they turned theyr backes and were miserably slayne In that battell the King himselfe was slaine who otherwyse was a very good prince and woorthy of commendation and with him were slayne the chiefe of hys nobilitie and stoutest men of war also there was slayne the soothsayer of Tolumne Cesarinus Scarce the third part of the kinges army returned Platina in the life of Eugenye the fourthe numbreth aboue thirtie thousande Christians that were slaine and layeth all the blame of this misfortune vppon Eugenie the pope He that desireth to know the whole story which is vndoubtedly both notable and terrible shall find it set out at large in Antonie Bonfine in the sixt booke of hys third Decade of the matters of Hungarie Also the same author geuth warning aduisedly that God did iustly reuenge the breach of promise vpon the Christians By all which thinges it appeareth manifestly how well God lyketh the decrée of the counsell of Constance That promise is not to be kept with heretikes infidelles Doubtlesse the catholike truth teacheth men expresly to kéep theyr lawfull promise assurance or oth at al times aswell to the bad as to the good that is to wit both to beeleuers and vnbeleuers or infidelles For our Lord in his law commaundeth all and euery person that they lye not ne commit periury by breaking theyr promise But indéed he lyeth which vttereth an vntruth with a purpose to deceiue for commonly men say that to lye is nothing els but to speake against a mans owne knowledge for lyers speake one thing thinke an other And Gelasius in the decréees Lib. 22. Quest. 4. which beginneth with S. Paule c. That man lyeth in committing periurie which knoweth the thing to be vntrue which he sweareth for as Saint Austen sayth a lye is an vntrue vtterance of the voyce with a purpose to beguyle As for example When the pope promiseth safety of lymme and life to such as he estéemeth to be heretikes but in déed are rightheleuers and catholikes and yet purposeth in his minde to deceiue them by opening them the gap of that hope and so to bring them in perill of lyfe lymme and all worldly substance that is to say to destroy them cruelly which was the thing that he purposed when he guilefully promised them safety and therefore promised it to the entent he might destroy them Thys is a shamefull lye and a cursed and abhominable periurye Wherof the Prophet hath spoken saying Lord thou hatest all them that commit iniquity and wilt destroy them that speake lyes The Lord abhorreth a bloudthirsty and deceifull or falseharted man. Therfore when Iosue and the Elders of Israell had made a league of peace with the Gabaointes who came with a false tale and as yée would say beguiled the people of God yet they
departed in peace Let the noblemen and cleargy of the whole realme dispose the succession of the kingdome by common aduice that while we retayne the vnitie of concord no man may practise the disquietnesse of his contry realme by violence and ambition But if this warning correct not our mindes ne bringeth our hart to the regard of the common welfare Heare our determination Whosoeuer of vs or of all the people of Spaine shall by any conspiracie or practise breake his oth which he hath made for the welfare of his countrye and the nation of the Gothes or for the preseruation of the kinges estate or shall lay handes vpon the kinges person to murther him or depose him from his royall authoritie or by tyrannicall presumption vsurpe the crowne Cursed be he in the presence of God the Father of his Aungels and let him becomme a forreiner from the Catholike churche which he hath defiled with hys periurie and a stranger to all companies of Christians with all the partakers of hys wickednes For it is méete that they which be wrapped in one offence should also be subiect to one punishment And this their definitiue sentence they double twise or thrice still beating and harping vpon it Which thinges I haue hetherto rehearced and many other of the same sort coulde I alleage but that I know that these are enough to such as vse reason Let the pope then goe as he is woorthy with that absolution of hys not Apostolicall but apostaticall and diabolicall whereby he dischargeth the Nobilitie and Commons of England of all fealtie and obedience shamlesly and openly teaching them to practise wicked rebellion treason and cursed periurie against theyr Quéene sette ouer them by God which vices God according to hys righteousnes hath alwayes hated and vtterly abhorred Yea and he him selfe also is stricken with the curse euen now rehearced iustly pronounced against forswearers by the fathers in the fourth Counsell of Tolet because he is not onely forsworne himselfe but also teacheth forswearing Nay rather he sheweth by this as a most certaine marcke how he is the man of sinne of whome the Apostle speaketh For like as he himselfe swarmeth and ouerfloweth with sinnes and wickednes euen so doth he entice and enforce all men into sinne and wickednes by his publications or decrées Therefore looke to thy selfe O Englande and beware of this man of sinne whome God comming downe from heauen to iudge the quicke and the dead shall shortly wype away and according as Iohn hath truely foretold throw him headlong into a lake of fyre burning with brimstone together wyth all those that haue more willingly obayed him that is to say to Antichrist than to Christ. ¶ That the Nobilitie and Commons of England must not obey the popes commaundement nor feare his curse And here is shewed what thing subiectes owe to theyr Princes by Gods appoyntment and how greuously God hath alwayes punished rebelles and sedicious persons LAstly the Bishop of Rome in his definitiue sentence commaundeth all the Nobilitie and People of England that be subiectes to the Quéene that vpō paine of his curse they obey not hir Maiesties lawes and commaundementes hereafter What shall they do then Marie forsake theyr allegiance cast of the yoke of obedience and with hurliburly ryse vp against the Quéene whome God hath geuen them to be theyr soueraigne Ladie and thrust hir from hir crowne and through vnspeakable treason murther hir and then set all the Realme on a broyle beat downe all the faythfull and rid them out of the way fill all places with slaughter and confound heauen earth together These are the counsels and commaundementes of this blissed syre borowed of that father of his of whome the Lord speaketh in hys Gospell saying You are of your father the deuill and you will folow the desires of your father He was a murtherer from the beginning and continued not in the truth because there is no truth in him They therefore that loue godlinesse and their owne saluation and the honor peace and welfare of their owne countrie as euery good and godly man must of duetie do let them flye as far as may be from thys diuelish cruell and bloudy decrées of the pope Neyther is there any cause why they should feare to incur the displeasure of almightie God for disobeying the Popes Decrées For the Pope hath published those Decrées agaynst God against the true word of God. For God hath taught thinges plaine contrarie and fighting full but against the Popes Decrées namely that euery man ought to yeld both honour feare to his Prince or Magistrate and also to pay him tribute and custome and performe due subiection and obedience to him And these things are to be read word for word written by the Apostle Paule in the xiij to the Romanes For subiectes ye and all good men must both thinke and speake reuerently and honorablie of their Princes or Magistrates as whom God in his word vouchsaueth to call by the name of Gods as by whom God himselfe gouerneth iudgeth defendeth bridleth and preserueth his people In consideration wherof in the booke of Iudges iudges be termed Sauyours Which thing al subiectes ought to acknowledge with a certeine reuerence admiration and giuing of thankes For we be commaunded to make earnest intercession for our Princes in our prayers vnto God we be commaunded to loue our Magistrate vnfeynedly and in a comly decent and diligent wise to honor them with the honours accustomed to eche countrey So haue all the holie Priestes Prophetes and faithfull seruauntes of God done to their king as it is to be séene in many places of the holy Scripture Besides this it is an expresse commaundement in Gods law Thou shalt not speake euill of the Gods nor curse the Prince of thy people Moreouer the Prince is also to be feared of his subiectes that they practise not any thing against him and much lesse make not insurrection against him as enemies or moue sedition or otherwise commit vngracious actes and worthie to be punished For if thou do the thing that is euill sayth Paule then feare for he beareth not the sword in vayne For he is Gods Minister to punish him that doth euill And truly good men feare their Princes not as executioners but as fathers For agayne the Apostle sayth Princes are not a terror to them that do well but to them that do ill And wilt thou not stād in feare of authority then do the thing that is good and so shalt thou receiue prayse of him Moreouer subiectes must pay their Princes all maner of tributes customes and all other dewties For againe the Apostle saith who goeth a warfare at his owne charges But Princes serue the common weale therfore it is good right that they should be mainteined of the common charges Surely Paule saith expresly euen therfore do ye pay tribute for they be Gods
Ministers seruing for the same purpose Therfore render vnto euery mā his dew tribute to whom tribute is due Custome to whom custome is due awe to whom awe is due honour to whom honour is due The same Apostle willeth subiectes also to obey their Princes that is to wit their lawes and ordinaunces not onely that they may by their due obedience escape the punishments which Princes execute vpon the disobedient but bycause it is Gods will we should do so and we must yeld obedience to his commaundement except we had leuer to fall into the hand of Gods vengeance although princes punish vs not And this is it that the Prophet ment by saying ye must obey not onely for feare but also for conscience Also they that resist the Magistrate procure themselues damnation And truly this obedience stretcheth so farre that if the Prince néede thy seruice in the warres for the defence of his Realme against inuasions thou owest euen thy body to thy Prince yea and thy life and therefore much more thy goodes These are the thinges these I say are the thinges that all subiectes owe to their souereines by the allowance and commaundement of God and therfore the Englishmen also owe the same thinges to their Quéene True it is in déede that S. Peter sayd we must obey God rather then men howbeit that is in such things as are commaunded expresly against God and his word But the politike or ciuill gouernement is stablished and not infringed by Gods word And most of all it is stablished if the Princes be godly For the Princes that gouerne their people quietly and enforce not their subiectes to any wicked thinges but honour Gods seruice spread it abroad more more are well liked of God and helped by him And truly this obedience of the subiectes which God hath inioyned them kepeth them in their dewtie and perswadeth them that they attempt not any thing against their Prince or Magistrate As for those that rise against their Prince either by priuie practise or open force and breake the common peace they are not onely disobedient but also traytors and hated of god And yet it is the thing that the Pope in his Bull not so much teacheth as by his manaces indeuereth to inforce the noblemen and commons of England vnto The noble Realme of England through Gods grace cleaueth well together in lawes spirituall and temporall and the subiectes therof enioy peace and publike profite by the benefite of their most gracious Quéene Therfore not to be willing hence forth to obey her as the Pope would haue it what els is it then to trouble the state of the whole Realme and consequētly to stirre vp rebellion and sedition wickedly and to procure themselues assured and greuous damnation at Gods hand But heare how God hath alwayes hated seditious persons and how greuously also he hath euermore punished seditiōs Chore Dathan and Abyron with their complices raised a sedition against Moses the chaplein of Gods people But the earth opened and swallowed them vp with their housholdes and all that euer they had A right dreadfull example surely to the intent that none should hereafter ryse agaynst their Princes any more The Israelites also raysed an insurrection agaynst the same Moses in the wildernesse But for their so doing they were shet out of the land of promise and by the space of xxxviij yeares together ouerwhelmed with sundry calamities tyred and forspent with dayly trauelyng in the desert and at length also in sundry times consumed and made away with horrible kindes of death Also in the booke of Iudges the Ephraemites made an vprore against Iephthe who had deserued well at their handes But through the vengeance of God for their vngracious rebellion and vnthankefulnesse there were slaine of them about a xlij thousand What befell in Dauids time to Absolon Seba the sonne of Bithri when they rebelled seditiously against their lawfull king Dauid it is better knowen then that if may séeme requisite to be setforth in many wordes There are in the holy Scriptures and the wordly histories of sundry kingdomes many exāples to be seene no lesse horrible then these of seditious persons that were most greuously confoūded by the lord For the Lord being rightuous and a louer of order and peace neuer spared any such And to the intent I may also bring somewhat out of latter tunes there is a notable example of the punishment of traiterous rebellion and disobedience and periurie in king Rafe of Rinfield chosen king of Romanes at the cōmaundemēt of pope Gregorie the vij against the Emperour Henry the iiij lawfully ordeined of God and succeding in the Empire by descent from his aunceters who were very good Princes The said Gregorie had prophesied out of that chayre of his in the Easter wéeke that the same yeare which was the yeare of our Lord .1080 the false Emperor should dye adding this protestation further neuer take me more for Pope but plucke me from the Altar if the false Emperour be not dead betwene this and Whitsontyde Which prophesie like as was the prophesie of Caiaphas was fulfilled in déede howbeit after another meaning then the Pope thought of For the false Emperour Rafe who was created Emperour by the Pope against Henry whom the Pope had deposed discharging all his subiectes of their faith and obedience towardes him was wounded to death the selfe same yeare Thrise before had he traiterously fought with Henry to his owne losse and now trusting to the prophesie of his blessed dad Pope Gregorie the vij he repayred his power againe the fourth tyme and in the moneth of October encountered with the army of Henry in the fieldes of Misnia where he was put to shamefull flight agayne and receiued a very great losse and blouddy slaughter In the same battell the right hand of the sayd Rafe was striken of of the which wound he dyed within a few dayes after leauing the Empyre which he had receiued of the Pope fulfilling the prophesie of the Pope his creator It is reported sayth Abbas Vspurgēsis in the 238. leafe of his Chronicles that Rafe now drawing towardes his end and beholding his right hand cut of gaue a sore sigh and said to the Bishops which by chaunce were present Lo this is the hand wherwith I tooke mine othe of allegeance to my Lord Henry the Emperour And behold now I leaue both his kingdome and this present life Sée whether you that made me mount vp into his chayre of estate haue led me a right way which thing other storywriters report in these wordes it was by your impulsion that I haue fought so often vnluckely Looke you to it whether you haue led me a right way or no. Ge your wayes performe your first faith plighted to your king for I shall go to my fathers Now ye honorable Péeres of England and thou noble Realme of England in generall learne ye by all these
was made in the bowels of Germanie commonly called the Protestauntes warre witnesseth For he sent an armye of Italians priuily into Germanie and set the Germanes together by the eares among themselues Which thyng the storywriters setforth at large As for the outrages of Paule the fourth they be better knowen by reason of his horrible actes yet fresh in remembrauÌ„ce then that they néede to be set forth in many wordes But all this whole declaration tendeth chiefly to this end partly that such as haue not yet learned to know the Romish Bishops and therefore do reuerence and honour them still may learne to know them euen by their abhominable sayinges and doynges bearing in minde this faithfull forewarnyng of the Lordes Ye shall know them by their frutes and therfore should also so iudge of them as their sayinges and doynges teach folke to iudge of them wherwithall be interlaced by the way here and there some iudgements of certein godly and wise men in former ages concernyng the Bishops of Rome and partly that all Realmes and all common weales which will not wittingly and willingly perishe and specially thou noble Realme of England should hereafter not onely make no account of the Popes Bulles tyrannously deposing kinges wrongfully transposing kingdomes and wickedly assoyling subiectes of their dew faithfulnesse and obedience but also cast them away and tread them vnder foote as they be worthy Ye haue heard how great calamities the Popes haue oftentymes wrought to kyngdomes and nations by such maner of Bulles And he is a wise man that can learne to beware by other mens harmes Therfore if ye be wise and loue to liue at ease kéepe your promise that ye haue made and obey the Princes whom God hath set ouer you maynteyne peace and eschew warres as well inward or Ciuill as outward or foreine And that God may voutsafe to performe these thyngs vnto you pray ye faithfully and diligeÌ„tly vnto him perseuer ye stedfast in true godlynesse and in the Gospell of the sonne of God and cast ye away all the Popish toyes superstitions and Idols all together The Prince of peace voutsafe to graunt you these thynges who at hys commyng into this worlde brought tydinges of peace to the world and at his goyng out of the world left his peace to those that be his euen our Lord Iesus Christ graunt you them to whom be glorie for euermore world without end Amen ¶ FINIS What the Popes beare men in hand concerning their infinite power An obiection The answere To feede Shepeheards Pastors or Feeders Foode Sheepe 1. Pet. 5. Harken to this ye Romish Monarkes Act. 20. What the sheepe or flocke be Teachers Doctrine The maner of the Bishop of Romes feeding Zach. 11. Luk. 22. 1. Iohn 5. The fayth of the Church of Rome neuer fayled Comparison betwene Peters fayth and the Romish fayth Christes bidding of his disciples buy theÌ„ swordes Matth. 26. 1. Cor. 11. Iohn 6. 1. Pet. 2. Esay 28. 1. Cor. 10. 1. Cor. 3. Ephes. 2. 1. Petr. 2. Iohn 12. Iohn 16. 1. Iohn 5. Luke 11. Math. 23. Esay 22. Luke 4. Ioan. 20. Marke 16. Luke 24. 1. Cor. 11. 2. Cor. 5. Math. 28. Exod. 4. Luke 12. Iohn 6. Matth. 22. Math. 17 Luke 22. Rom. 13. Gal. 2. 1. Pet. 5. Act. 8. 2. Cor. 11. 1. Cor. 4. Exod. 23. Queene Mary Queene Elizabeth The giuyng of interteinement and refuge to banished foliâ—s â–ª The barbarousenesse and crueltie of the Romish Byshops Esay 16. The striuyng of the bishops of Rome for the supremacie What monstruousenesse is Apoc. 17. That Quenes although they be women doe reigne lawfully Rom. 13. That the care of Religion belongeth to the ciuill Magistrate Moses Iosue Dauid Salomon The kynges of Iuda Iosaphat Ezechias Ioas. Iosias God made difference of functions and will not haue them confounded Kynges of the new TestameÌ„t haue no lesse authoritie then had the kynges of the old Testament ChristiaÌ„ Princes and defenders of the Church Constantine the great Iustinian Charles the great The Queene of England hath not done amisse in taking vpon her the care of religion in deposing the popish bishops Math. 6. 2. Tim. 1. 1. Tim. 2. Rom. 13. True Christians entitle not theÌ„selues after any men 1. Cor. 1. 1. Cor. 3. The maiestie of Gods worde What order K. Edward the vi folowed in reforming the church of England â–ª What our souereigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth hath setfoorth to her whole Realme to be folowed The Queenes Maiestie hath setfoorth no bookes of heresy to hir realme The abolishing of the sacrifice of the masse Heb. 9.10 Rom. 3. 1. Iohn 2. The masse corrupteth the Lordes supper Read Austen against the epistle of Parmenian lib. 2. cap. 8. Act. 14. 1. Cor. 11. Lib. Epist. 2. Epist. 3. Not prayer but the abuse of prayer is abolished Fastyng Choyse of meates Coloss. 2. 〈◊〉 1. Single lyfe Cunturia 8. folio 665. Heb. 13. 1. Cor. 7. 1. Cor. 9. 1. Tim. 3. Titus 1. 1. Tim. 4. Catholikes rites and Ceremonies The Catholik Church The Catholik fayth and doctrine Catholikes Orthodoxi Cacodoxi Whether the Romish sorte be Catholikes or no. The Queene doth iustly forbyd her subiectes to acknowledge the Church of Rome Iere. 23. Act. 2. 1. Cor. 10. 1. Iohn 5. Apoc. 18. The Queene hath lawfully compelled her subiectes to for sweare the Pope and the Papacie 2. Reg. 11. 1. Esd. 10. 2. Chron. 15. Heretikes sayd that no man is to be compelled vnto fayth Psal. 119. Iere. 31. Augustine him selfe also was sometyme of opinion that no man was to be compelled Prouerb 9. Prouerb 27. The Lord him selfe compelled men to the faith Why the Apostles called not for the Magistrates helpe for the stablishyng of ReligioÌ„ Psal. â— How kynges serue God in feare How in what sence AusteÌ„ giueth a man free choyse or will read in hys booke of chastisemeÌ„t grace chap. 1. In hys boke of the spirit the letter to Marcellus chap. 30. in hys booke of Merites remissioÌ„ of sinnes Lib. 2 cap 8. against the second Epistle of Pelagius Lib. 4. Cap. 6. Euery man must not be suffered to folow what seemeth best to hymself in Religion 1. Samuel 15. God commauÌ„deth false Prophetes to be put to death 1. Tim. 1. Leuit. 24. Num. 19. Exod. 32. 3. Kynges 18 4. Kynges 9. 4. Kynges 11 4. Kinges 23 S. Austens opinion concerning this matter Dan. 3. Act. 5. Act. 13. Rom. 12.13 Why the sword is geuen to the Magistrate Lawes of christen princes concerning religioÌ„ * of Idolatry Measure to be vsed in punishing Here is concluded the answer to the articles of accusation The generall conclusion 2. Petr. 2. Who is an hereticke The curse of the Tarpeian Iupiter is not to be feared Iohn 16. The Queene is not cut of from the vnitie of Christes body Dan. 2. Iob. 12. 1. Samuel 9.10.12.15 1. Sam. 16. 1. Kynges 11 1. Kynges 14 1. Kynges 15 16. 2. Kinges 9.10 God vsed the