ratas haberet donationes quas fecerat Rex in Eboracensi Ecclesia Dominus Rex redderet ei Archiepiscopatum suum cum omni integritate c. These Bishops were to demaund in the spirit of humulity on the Kings behalfe that the said Archbishop would ratifie and make good all the donations or gifts which the King had bestowed in the Church of Yorke during the time he had with-held his Archbishopricke that there vpon the King would restore vnto him his Archbishopricke with all integrity But the Archbishop demaunded first of these Bishops sent vnto him whether they would vnder their hands and writings assure him that he might doe it in conscience but they refusing he refused also to graunt the Kings request and therevpon appealed againe to Rome and went thither in person and the King on his side sent Proctors and Aduocats thither to plead for him as Houeden at large declareth And moreouer to bridle him the more he besought the Pope to make Hubert then Archbishop of Canterbury Legat of the Sea Apostolike ouer all England 47. And agayne both this Author and Nubergensis doe declare how the foresaid VValter Archbishop of Roane that had byn so great a friend of K. Richard euer since the beginning of his raigne and had gone with him to Sicily and returned againe to England for pacifying of matters between the Bishop of Ely that was Gouernour the Earle Iohn and moreouer had also byn Gouernour of England himself after King Richards Captiuitie had not onlie laboured for him as you haue heard by his letter to the Pope but went also in person to assist him in Germanie and remained there in pledg for him this man I say receiuing disgust at length from the said King for vsurping vpon certaine lands and liberties of his in Normandy he brake with him appealed to the Pope went to Rome against him and the King was forced to send Embassadours to plead for himself there against the other who pleaded so well saith Nubergensis alleadging the Kings necessitie for doing the same as the Pope tooke the Kings parte and tolde the Bishop openlie in publike Consistorie that he ought to beare with the King in such a necessitie of warre which being once past matters might easilie be remedied And thus much for the Popes authoritie acknowledged and practised during the raigne of this King Richard the first out of which M. Attorney found no probable instance at all to be alleadged to the contrarie and therfore made not so much as mention of any OF THE RAIGNE OF KING IOHN VVho was the seauenth King after the Conquest §. III. 48. Of this King being the last sonne of K. Henry the second we haue heard much before vnder the name of Earle of Morâ—â—â— which may declare vnto vs the quality of his nature and condition to wit mutable and inconstant but yet vehement for the while in whatsoeuer he tooke in hand indiscreet also rash and without feare to offend either God or man when he was in his passion oâ— rage This appeareth well by his many most vnnaturall and treasonable actions against his kind and louing Father whilest he liued wherby he shortened his said Fathers life as before hath byn related And the same appeareth yet more in a certaine manner by his like attempts against his owne brother both when and after he was in captiuity which brother notwithstanding had so greatly aduaunced him and giuen him so many rich States in England as he seemed to haue made him a Tetrarch with him say our English authors that is to say to haue giuen him the fourth parte of his Kingdome which notwithstanding was not sufficient to make him faithfull vnto him 49. This man then succeeding his brother Richard with whom he was beyond the seas when he died laid hands presently on the Treasure and fortresses of his said brother and by the help of two Archbishops especially to wit VValter of Roane in Normandy and Hubert of Canterbury in England he drew the people and nobility to fauour him and was crowned first Duke of Normandy by the one and then King of England by the other when he was 34. yeares old and held out in the said gouernmeÌ„t with great variety of state and fortune for 18. yeares old togeather The first six with contentment good liking of most men the second six in continuall turmoile vexation and with mislike of all and the thiâ—d six did participate of them both to wit good and euill though more of the euill especially the later parte therof when his nobility and people almost wholy forsakinge him did call in and crowne in his place Lewes the Dolphin Prince of France pretended to be next heire by his wife the Lady Blanche daughter to the said K. Iohns sister Queene of Castile which brought K. Iohn to those straites as he died with much affliction of mind as after you shall heare 50. To say then somewhat of ech of these three distinctions of tyme noting some points out of them all that appertaine to this our controuersie with M. Attorney you haue heard in the end of K. Richards life how VValter Archbishop of Roane appealed to Pope Innocentius against the said King for seasing vpon certaine lands of his and namely the Towne of Deepe which Innocentius commaunding to be restored K. Iohn obayed and made composition with the said Archbishop vpon the yeare of Christ 1200. which was the second yeare of his raigne as Houeden reporteth restoring him Villam de Depa cum pertinentijs suis The Towne of Deepe with the appurtenances and diuers other things which the said author setteth downe shewing therby the obedience of K. Iohn to the Popes ordination 51. Moreouer there falling out a great controuersie between Geffrey Arcbishop of Yorke K. Iohns brother and the Deane and Chapter of the said Church and both parties appealing to Rome Pope Innocentius appointed the Bishop of Salisbury and Abbot of Tewxbury to call them before them in Church of VVestminster and determine the matter so they did made them freinds the King not intermedling in any part therof though the matter touched his brother and concerned his owne Ecclesiasticall supremacy if he had persuaded himself that he had had any And the verie same yeare the Bishop of Ely and the Abbot of S. Edmunds-bury were appointed Iudges by the said Pope in a great cause between the Archbishop and monks of Canterbury which they determined publikelie Vt Iudices à Domino Papa constituti saith Houeden as iudges appointed from the Pope without any dependance of the King at all though their cheife controuersie was about the priuiledges and proprieties of lands lordships and officers of theirs to wit of the said Archbishop and Monkes 52. And wheras the foresaid Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury with the rest of the Bishops summoned a generall Synod in England for ordaining many thinges according to the neede or
read predecessors Pag. 117. lin 12. for religions read Religious Pag. 118. lin 14. for men desires read mens desires Pag. 122. lin 33. for quetting read quietting Pag. 129. lin 11. for endevving read endowing Pag. 152. lin 12. for Tyrus read Cyrus Pag. 168. lin 31. ovvne his vvords read his owne words Pag. 177. lin 25. for bad read had Pag. 191. lin vlt. in some copyes for hape read haue Pag. 208. lin 39. for sâ—ruiued read suruiued Pag. 209. lin 10. for hir read his Pag. 225. lin 20. for the read she Pag. 229. lin 26. for aginst read against Pag. 254. lin 36. hath said adde hath byn said Pag. 270. lin 26. for my read any Pag. 275. lin 10. for pecular read peculiar Ibid. lin 22. for theraâ—ut read therabout Pag. 278. lin 35. for began read begun In the Margentes Pag. 17. for controsies read controuersies Pag. 85. for lavvoy read lawes Pag. 146. for had read bad Pag. 383. for Castus read Calixtus Pag. 180. for 25. read 35. Pag. 132. for hauing read raigning It may please thee gentle Reader of thy curtesy to pardon these and other like faultes if any shal be found and consider vvith thy selfe the difficultyes we haue in vsing the help of straungers herin A TABLE OF THE PARTICVLAR MATTERS CONTEYNED IN THIS BOOKE A. ABbyes Monasteryes founded in England by Religious Catholicke Princes Cap. 6. à num 37. vsque ad num 49. Abbey of Euesham priuiledged from Rome cap. 6. num 42. Abbey of S. Albans founded by K. Offa. cap. 6. num 43. The priuiledges and exemptions of the same ibid. Abbey of Glastensbury priuiledged by Pope Iohn the thirtenth cap. 6. num 45. Abbey of VVestminster priuiledged at the petition of K. Edward the Confessor cap 6. num 47. 48. Abbot of VValtham punished why cap. 12 num 29. 32. Absurdityes of Statute-decrees in Parlament about spirituall power giuen to secular Princes cap. 3. n. 6.7.18.19.20 21. 22. 23. 24. Absurdity of a womans Supremacy in spirituall matters cap. 4. num 27. Absolution of K. Henry the second by the Popes Legates cap. 9. nu 12 13. S. Adelmus Bishop of Sherborne his voyage to Rome cap. 6. num 40. His booke of Virginity ibid. n. 42. Adelnulph King of England his confirmation of Peter-Pence to Rome cap 6. num 71. Agreement betweene the Pope and K. of England about Prouisions of Ecclesiasticall dignityes in England cap. 12. num 12. 39. S. Ambrose his iudgement of spirituall power cap. 2. n 25. 26. His combattes and conflictes with the Emperour and Empresse about Church-affayres ibid. n. 27.28 29. Ancient-Fathers directions how to find out truth cap. 1 n. 17. 18. Their freedome of speach to Emperours cap. 4. n. 4. 5. 6. S. Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury his commendations cap. 8. num 2. His pall brought from Rome by the Popes Legat. ibid. num 4. His plaine dealing with K. VVilliam Rufus ibid. num 5. His reconciliation with K Henry the first ibid. num 11. Appellations to Rome about Controuersies that fell out in England cap. 6. n. 49. 50. deinceps Appeale of K. Henry the second to the Pope about the controuersie of the death of S. Thomas of Canterbury cap. 9. n. 11. Appeales from K. Richard the first to the Pope cap. 9. num 23. Appeale of Richard Archbishop of Canterbury to Rome against K. Henry the third cap. 10. num 17. Archbishop of Canterbury accused to the Pope by K. Edward the first cap. 11. num 16. Archbishop of Canterbury depriued of spirituall Iurisdiction by Q. Elizabeth cap. 11. num 30. Archbishop of Yorke put to death by commaundement of King Henry the fourth cap. 15. num 23. Arguments of K. Henry the 8. against Luther for the Popes Supremacy cap. 15. num 5. 6.7 deinceps Assertions of Protestants and the foundation therof Prefac num 7. S. Athanasius his seuere reprehension of the Emperour Constantius cap. 4. num 8. M. Attorney his imagined ignorance cap. 1. num 12. His condemnation of controuersy-wryters ibid. num 26.27.28 29. His time of study in law ibid. n. 34. His absurd propositions and arguments refuted cap. 3. per totum deinceps per totum librum His arguments and shiftes returned vpon himselfe cap. 4. num 9 12. His new deuise to make Ecclesiasticall lawes the Kinges lawes ibid. num 13. 14. M. Attorney challenged cap. 6. n. 28. Iniuryes offered by him to many in this his booke cap. 16. per totum His false charge of Catholickes ibid. num 2. His iniurious and slanderous calumniations ibid. num 10. His manifest notorious vntruthes ibid. num 11. His Idaea Plaetonica of ancient comon-lawes ibid. num 13. His false information of his Maiesty that now is ibid. num 15. 16. His promise not performeable ibid. num 34. S. Augustines seuere sentence against heretickes and heresies cap. 16. n. 29. S. Augustine of Canterbury his successors by appointment from Rome cap. 6. num 20. Authority spirituall temporall the difference therof cap. 2. n. 4. 5. Authority Episcopall greater then Imperiall cap. 2. num 25. Authority spirituall giuen vnto Q Elizabeth by Parlament cap. 3. num 3. The absurdityes and inconueniences therof ensuing ibid. num 4. 5. Authority of Bishops Courtes from whence it is deriued cap. 13. num 17. Authority of English Prelates when England was Catholike cap. 14. n. 17. B. Bastardy a let or hinderance to Priesthood cap. 14. num 19. S. Benedict of Northumberland his voyage to Rome for priuiledges of his monastery cap. 6. num 39. Benefices collated by lay-men cap. 7. num 26. 29. S. Bertulph his monastery priuiledged from Rome cap. 6. num 39. Bigamy cap. 11. num 30. 31. A statute therof by K. Edward the first ibidem Doubts therabout raised in England ibid. num 31. 32. Bishops made in EnglaÌ„d by the Popes authority cap. 6. num 21. 22. Bishops lands seased into the Kinges handes and why cap. 11. num 28. Bishops how they might be punished for not admitting the Kinges iust presentation cap. 11. num 29. Bishop of Hereford taken from the barre of secular Court by Ecclesiasticall authority cap. 11. num 46. Bishops and Prelates of England sent to the Councell of Constance in Germany cap. 13. num 6. Bishops how they may be called the Kinges spirituall Iudges cap. 13. n. 8. Bishops Courtes from vvhence they haue their authority cap. 13. num 17. Bishops hovv farre they may be commaunded by the King cap. 13. num 18. Birth-right of lavves c. â— n. 18.22 23. Birth-right of Englishmen is Catholicke Religion cap. 1. num 26. Bodyes to the King and soules to the Priest cap. 4. num 5. Booke of K. Henry the 8. against Luther in defence of the seauen Sacraments cap. 15. num 3.4 5. Breach of King Iohn vvith the Sea Apostolicke and occasion therof cap. 9. num 57. Breach of K. Henry the 8. with Pope Clement the 7. and how the same began cap. 15. num 4.5.6 7. Bulles from Rome not admitted in England except they came certified from some Prelate at home and why cap. 12. num 28. cap. 13. num 27. C. Calixtus the Pope his meeting vvith Henry the first in Normandy cap.
Valentinian the elder who refused to be present and much more President in certaine conferences about religion betwene the Catholicke Bishops the Arrians vpon consideration of these two distinct Orders of Clergie and lay-men though he were inuited therunto by Catholicke Bishops themselues Mihi quidem saith he cum vnus de populo sim fas non est talia perscrutari verum sacerdotes qui bus haec cura est apud semetipsos congregentur vbi voluerint Vnto me that am but one of the lay people it is not lawfull to examine such things as appertayne vnto religion but let priests to whome this care is committed meet togeather amoÌ„g themselues to discusle the matter where they will So much was this distinction between lay-men and priests esteemed by this auncient Christian Emperour 11. Secondly I demaund of M Attorney concerning his distinction of Courtes and causes to be handled therin Temporll Spirituall how it commeth to passe that the Conusaunce of such causes as here he calleth Spirituall belong not as he saith to the Common-lawes of England No nor as presently after he affirmeth could not belong For that they are not within the conusaunce of the sayd Common-laws And why is this I praye you For if the temporall Prince be equallie head in both causes and in both Iurisdictions and that the power to knowe discerne iudge in both sortes doe descend only from the temporall Prince as before out of the Statute of King Edward the 6. you haue heard by the Statute-makers determined and M. Attorney confirmeth euery where in these Reportes then should the common-Lawes of our Realme which are the temporall Princes law be coÌ„mon indeed according to their name to all causes aswel Spirituall as Temporall for that their author and origen which is the King hath equall Power Iurisdiction in both for that it is a maxime vncontrollable that according to the Iurisdiction of the Lâ—w maker vertue and power of the law doth extend it selfe And then doth M. Attorney affirme that the conusaunce of so many Ecclesiasticall causes as he setteth downe is not within the compasse of our Common-lawes or what compasse will he assigne or lymitt to that Princes lawes that according to this assertion hath power in all Is not this to contradict himself and to ouerthrow with the one hand that which he goeth about to establish with the other For if the Kings power be common to both causes aswell Ecclesiasticall as Temporall then must the Kings Common-lawes be common to both Courtes and matters therin handled 12. But let vs see a certaine sleight or euasion of his worth the noting As in temporall causes saith he the King by the mouth of the Iudges in his Courtes of Iustice doth iudge and determyne the same by the temporall lawes of England so in causes Ecclesiasticall as Blasphemy Apostacy Heresyes Ordering Institutions of Clerkes c. the same are to be determined and decyded by Ecclesiasticall Iudges according to the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes of this Realme Marke here gentle reader how M. Atnorney playeth wyly beguyly For according to the proportion of his coÌ„parison he should haue coÌ„cluded thus So the King by the â—outh of his Ecclesiasticall Iudges doth iudge and determine the said Spirituall Ecclesiastical causes by his owne Ecclesiasticall lawes But this he foresaw would include this great inconuenience among others that if he said that the King did iudge determine by the mouthes of his spirituall Iudges the aforesaid spirituall causes as he doth the temporall then might he doe the same yea and exercise them also immediatly by himself if need were aswell as by others for in all temporall iudgments and affayres the King may sit himself in courte and performe in person whatsoeuer his Officers by his authority doe or may doe which yet M. Attorney saw would be somwhat absurde to graunt in the spirituall causes proponed by him of Blasphemy Ordering of Priests or giuing holy Orders Institutions of Clerkes Celebration of diuine seruice and the like to witt that the King should performe them immediately in his owne person for who would not say it were absurde for example that the King should sing or say the common seruice to the people or administer the Sacrament of Absolution or Marriage or giue holy Orders and the like which yet the Bishop of Rome and all other Bishops or Prelates neuer so great doe may doe without inconuenience And in truthe it followeth euidently that he who can giue authority or power for another to doe a thing as from himself and in his name may performe the same in person also if he list at least wise it cannot be vnlawfull for him so to doe And therfore coming to the application of his comparison he changeth his phrase and saith that the same are to be determined and decyded by Ecclesiasticall Iudges according to the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes of this Realme 13. Wherin you must note another shifte more poore and silly then the former for that hauing declared vnto vs before that there are two generall partes and members of the Realme to witt the Clergy and the Laity and that these two haue two seuerall Tribunalls in their affaires gouerned by two sortes of different lawes Temporall and Ecâ—lesiasticall Common and Canon and these deriued from two different Authors and origens the Common-law from the temporall Prince and Commonweath Ecclesiasticall from others saith M. Atorney but specifieth not from whom or whence though all the world knowe that they come originally from the Church Sea Apostolique all which inferreth distinct originall Iurisdictions M. Attorney by his great witt hath deuised a newe sleight neuer perhaps yet heard of in the world before which is to make these Ecclesiasticall lawes though deriued from others to be the Kings owne lawes for that he approueth and alloweth them within the Realme and consequently that all lawes both Temporall and Spirituall doe come from the King as their Author which is a token that he hath full Supreame power And this singular deuise pleaseth him so well as he repeateth the same sundrie tymes in this Treatise You shall heare the same in his owne words in this place how dangerous and preiudicyall a Conclusion he buildeth vpon the same against Catholiques 14. For as the Romans saith he fetching diuers lawes from Athens yet being approued and allowed by the State there called them notwithstanding Ius Ciuile Romanum And as the Normans borrowing all or most of their lawes from England yet baptized them by the name of the lawes or customes of Normandy so albeit the Kings of England deriued their Ecclesiasticall lawes from others yet so many as were approued and allowed here by and with a generall consent are aptly rightly called the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes of England which whosoeuer shall deny he denyeth that the King hath full and plenary power c. And consequently that he is no coÌ„plete Monarch nor head
but his said Father being dead and none other left of the bloud-royall to succeed him he was persuaded for the publicke good of his Countrey vpon the dispensation of Pope Leo the third procured by his Father before notwithstanding his said holy Order of Subdeaconship to accept the Crowne and marry so he did Concedente Leone illiuis nominis tertio ex gradu Subdiaconi VVintoniensis in Regem translatus est By the concession or dispensation of Pope Leo the third he was translated from the degree of a Subdeacon in the Church of VVinchester to the Crowne-royall So Malmesbury Wherevnto both he and Stow doe add that he married soone after Iudith daughter to Charles the great King of France by whom he had foure sonnes which all succeeded him after in the Crowne and he liued so long as he sent his fourth son Alured or Alfred a goodly young Prince at that tyme to be brought vp in Rome vnder Leo the fourth of that name which began to sitt in that Sea vpon the yeare 847. to whome K. Ethelwolfe went also after himself in person and receaued many fauours and spirituall graces from him And thus doe write our auncient historiographers in this matter 35. The other example may be of King Edward the Confessor who hauing made a vow to goe in person to Rome and being dissuaded from the same by the consent of his whole realme for the daungers of the wayes in those troublesome tymes and for the necessity of his presence at home was forced to aske dispensation of his vow at the handes of Pope Leo the nynth whoe graunted the same willingly as appeareth by his letters therof written appointing him to bestow in almes vpon the Monastery of VVestminster what otherwise he should haue spent in his iourney and the same was confirmed after againe by Pope Nicoâ—â—s the second vnto whome the said King wrote also for the confirmation of Pope Leo his sentence that succeeded in the Sea of Rome though not immediatly after the former as by diuers clauses of both their letters which we will produce in the next ensuing chapter doth most euidently appeare 36. And for other two examples after the Conquest to omit the rest may serue first that of King Iohn who sued to Pope Innocentius the third to be dispensed withall for his oath which he had made to the Barons of England vpon feare and coaction as he pretended wherof more afterward shall be said when we come to treat of his life and raigne in particular And the other of King Henry the seuenth who procured from Pope Iulius the second that notorius dispensation for Prince Henry his sonne to marry the Princesse Katherine of Spaine left by his brother Arthur wherabout there was so much adoe afterward for auoyding the force therof when their diuorce was treated in England and elswhere abroad Others I omitt because these alone are sufficient to shew what opinion was held from time to time by the Kings of England concerning the Popes soueraigne supreme authority in spirituall matters belonging to conscience and direction of soules farr different yea quite contrary to that which M. Attorney would persuade his Reader Now let vs passe on to some other Demonstrations The fourth Demonstration 37. The fourth argument is gathered out of that which before we haue mentioned in the precedent chapter of confirmations of Churches Hospitalls Monasteryes and other pious workes that are to be perpetuall and of priuiledges immunityes and exemptions graunted thervnto which alwaies were demaunded of the Sea Apostolike in these dayes as they are now in ours and their foundation was neuer held for firme to perpetuity without the said confirmation and ratification of the Bishop of Rome which is a signe that they acknowledged his supreme spirituall authority and that it was not in their temporall Kings especially for so much as the said Kings themselues did sue to Rome for such confirmation ratification and spirituall priuiledges as the workes by them founded had need of 38. And of this infinite examples might be shewed throughout all this tyme before the Conquest but I must moderate my self as well in this as in the former and therfore shall touch some few only and those all as briefly as I can for that this chapter groweth to be ouerlong We haue shewed how King Ethelbert â—or the first Monastery that euer was in England within foure yeares after his conuersion procured confirmation and exemption therof from S. Augustine Archbishop and Legate of Pope Gregory and how S. Mellitus some yeares after that being the third Archbishop of the same Sea went to Rome in person about the confirmation of his Monastery of VVestminster by Pope Bonifacius and how Pope Honorius after him againe graunted priuiledges to the Churches of Canterbury and Yorke at the petition of King Oswyn of Northumberland of King Egbert of Kent And this course was held afterward by all other Kings in the founding of Churches Monasteries and other pious workes to wit that they made recourse vnto Rome and the Bishops therof for the confirmation ratification establishment priuiledges exemptions of the same in spirituall matters which by all likelyhoode they would not haue done if these Kings had thought themselues to haue had sufficient authoritie from their Crownes to doe the same without dependance from the Sea Apostolicke 39. We reade in S. Bede that in the time of King Egfrid and S. Theodorus before meÌ„tioned the seuenth Archbishop of Canterbury about the yeare of Christ 680. one Biscopus an Abbot otherwise called Benedict hauing by the licence and liberality of the said King builded a Monastery neere to the mouth of the riuer VVyer went by consent of the sayd King to Rome to aske confirmation and priuiledges of Pope Agatho He demaunded and receaued saith S. Bede of Pope Agatho a letter of priuiledge confirmed by his Apostolicall authority for the defence and strengthning of the liberty of his Monastery according to the will and meaning of King Egfrid by whose licence and liberall gift of lands aud possessions he had erected the same Monastery So Bede Who also in another parte of his workes writing the life of S. Bertolphus a holy Abbot saith that in the dayes of Honorius the Pope for that a certaine Bishop went about to molest the said holy mans Monastery he made a iourney to Rome to demaund franquises and exemption for the same from the said Episcopall authority Cui praebuit saith Bede optatum munus sanctus Papa priuilegia scilicet Apostolicae sedis quatenus nullus Episcoporum in praefato Coenobio quolibet iure dominari conaretur Vnto which holy man the holy Pope Honorius gaue the gifte which he desired to wit the priuiledges of the Apostolicall Sea to the end that no Bishop vnder any preteÌ„ce of right whatsoeuer should goe about for the tyme to come to take vpon him any dominion in that his Monastery 40.
certayne words in the charter of K. Kenulsus to the Monastery of Abindon would seeme to persuade himself others that our English Kings in those dayes did take vpon them spirituall iurisdiction to giue priuiledges exemptions from Episcopall authoritie vnto Monasteryes and consequently that they had all supreme iurisdiction Ecclesiasticall in as ample manner as Q. Elizabeth tooke vpon her or was giuen vnto her by Act of Parlament which is a most euident dreame as you see The fifth Demonstration 49. Now then to passe to the fifth argument which maketh matters yet more manifest the same is taken from the consideration of Appeales when any controuersie fell out either betwene the King and his Bishops or betwene any lay power and Ecclesiasticall or betwene Bishops and Churches themselues which Appeales shall neuer be read to haue byn made in these times before the Conquest either to the King or to his secular Courtes but rather to the Archbishop of Canterbury or to the Pope for the tyme being 50. And albeit in this time of religious feruour of our Engâ—â—â—â— Kings there were fewer occasions giuen of Appeales to the Sea Apostolicke then after the Conquest when Kings were lesse deuout and sometymes more violent as may appeare by the examples of S. Anselme S. Thomas S. Edmond all three Archbishops of Canterbury Thurstan S. VVilliam Gaufred Archbishops of Yorke S. Richard of Chichester Hugh of Durham to speake nothing of that notorious Appeale betwene Richard of Canterbury against King Henry the third and Hubert Earle of Kent and diuerse others as is euident by the histories of our Countrey in which we fynde that alwaies the Bishops for remedy of such aggrieuaunces as either by the Kings Nobility or others after the said Conquest were layd vpon them or their Churches made their recourse for succour to the Sea Apostolicke yet before the Conquest also though the occasions as I said were not so frequent sometimes they were driuen to vse the benefit of this remedy as we see in the two Archbishops of Canterbury Lambert and Athelard before mentioned vnder King Offa and Kenulfus of the Mercians and before that againe in the famous cause of S. VVilfryd Archbishop of Yorke who in the very first age after our conuersion was twice put out of his Bishopricke and forced to appeale to Rome first by Egfryd King of the Northumbers and then by Alfryd his successour with the concurrence against him of certaine Bishops And both times he appealed vnto Rome as S. Bede declareth and to follow his appeales went thither twice in person and was twice absolued first by Pope Agathâ— in a Synode of an hundred twenty and fiue Bishops vpon the yeare of Christ 679. and the second tyme by Pope Iohn the seuenth six and twenty yeares after to wit vpon the yeare 705. Of the first absolution S. Bede himself writeth that he was not only found innocent and thervpon cleered by the Pope and whole Synode as hath byn said but that they thought good likewise to giue him his place in the said Councell and to note his absolution and the speciall respect borne vnto him in the very acts of the sayd Councel holden against the Monothelites in these words VVilfryd the beloued of God Bishop of the Citty of Yorke hauing appealed to the Sea Apostolike in his cause and being absolued by the authority of this Councell in all things both certaine and vncertaine was placed in his seat of IudgemeÌ„t togeather with an hundred twenty fiue his fellow-Bishops in this Synod and hath confessed the true and Catholike faith and confirmed the same by his subscription for himselfe and all the north partes of Britanny and Ireland which are now inhabited by English-men Britanes Scotts and Picts 51. Thus relateth Bede of S. VVilfrids first appellation and most honourable absolution in Rome and that then retourning to his countrey he conuerted the kingdome of the South saxons and that afterward againe being inuyted by King Alfred that succeeded Egfryd to returne to his Bishopricke of Yorke heat length vpon persuasion of good men accepted therof But after fiue yeres he was expulsed againe by the said Alfred and appealed againe to the Sea Apostolike and went to Rome to Pope Iohn the seuenth as hath byn said who hearing his cause in the presence of his aduersaryes and accusers togeather with many Bishops that did sit in IudgemeÌ„t with him Omnium iudicio probatum est c. saith Bede It was proued by the iudgement of all that his accusers had deuised certaine calumniations against him whervpon he was absolued and letters were written saith Bede by the foresaid Pope Iohn vnto Alfred and Edelrede Kings of England that they should cause him againe to be receaued into his Bishopricke for that he had byn vniustly condemned This is the summe of the story breifly sett downe by S. Bede But VVilliam of Malmesbury writeth the same to witt both these appellatious of S. VVilfryd much more at large telling how the first persecution against this holy Bishop had beginning from the enuy of Queene Ermenburga second wife to King Egfryd of the Northumbers who vnderstanding that his first wife Ethelreda did loue reuerence much this good man she thought it a sufficient cause for her to hate him and so incensing first the King her husband against him by saying that he was rich and that many gaue their goods vnto him to build Monasteryes she drew by little little the King to mislike him as also she did by like meanes sleights incense the good Archbishop Theodorus of Canterbury to impugne and contradict him 52. The same Malmesbury also setteth downe the particulars that passed in that Councell wherin he was absolued at Rome and how at his retourne into England with the Popes letters the said Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury repented himself much that he had byn drawne against him and wrote earnest letters vnto King Alfred that had succeeded Egfrid that he would admit him againe into his Archbishopricke of Yorke saying among other words Et ideo charissime te admoneo in Christi charitate pracipio tibi c. And therfore most deere King I doe warne you and in the loue of Christ doe commaund you Ego Theodorus humilis Episcopus decrepita aetate hoc tuae beatitudini suggero quia Apostolica hoc sicut scis commendat auctoritas vir ille sanctissimus in patientia sua possedit animam suam c. I Theodorus humble Bishop of Canterbury in this my broken old age doe suggest this vnto your Happines or Maiesty both for that the authority of the Sea Apostolike as you knowe doth commend it to be done and the holy man VVilfryd hath according to the saying of our Sauiour possessed his soule in his owne patience and most humbly and myldly forgetting the iniuries done vnto him hath followed the example of his head and maister Christ and hath expected the
remedy at his hand And if I haue found any grace in your sight although the way betweene you me be long yet I beseech you let my eyes once see your face againe to treat of this matter and that my soule may blesse you before I die Wherfore my dere sonne deale with this holy man VVilfryd as I haue besought you and if in this point you shew your selfe obedient to me your Father that am shortly to departe out of this world it will profit you much to your saluation Fare you well 53. Vpon this letter King Alfred being much moued permitted him to retourne to his Archbishopricke againe And S. VVylfryd by the persuasion of the said Theodorus and other Bishopps was induced to accept the same and so he did for some time but after fiue yeres the complaints of his emulatours growing strong against him he was forced to fly the second time vnto King Etheldred of the Mercians but after againe appealed to Rome and went thither being now full threescore and ten yeares old whence retourning absolued as hath byn sayd with letters of commendation from Pope Iohn the seauenth both to Britwald Archbishop of Canterbury that had succeeded Theodorus as also to Alfred King of the Northumbers and to Etheldred King of the Mercians he obteyned againe his Archbishopricke of Yorke and heldâ— it foure yeares before his death 54. The letters of Pope Iohn vnto the two foresaid Kings doe begin with a complaint of sedition raysed in England amongst the Clergie by opposition against S. VVilfride which he exhorteth the two said Kings to suppresse and then beginneth his narration thus Wheras of late vnder Pope Agatho of Apostolicke memory the Bishop VVilfryd had appealed to this holy Sea for the tryall of his cause c. The Bishops at that time gathered herein Rome from diuerse partes of the worlde hauing examined the same gaue the definition and sentence in his fauour which was approued both by Pope Agatho and his Successours our predecessours c. and then sheweth he how the same hauing succeeded in this his second appeale he doth appoint Britwald Archbishop of Canterbury to call a Synod and by all consents either restore him to his Archbishopricke or to come and follow the cause at Rome against him and whosoeuer did not soe should be depriued of his Bishopricke and then concluding with this speach to the King he saith Vestra proinde Regalis Sublimitas faciat concursum vt ea qua Christo aspirante perspeximus perueniant ad effectum Quicumque autem cuiustibet persona audaci temeritate contempserit non erit a Deo impunitus neque sine damno calitus alligatus euadet Wherefore doe your royall highnes concurre also to this our ordination to the end that those things which by the inspiration of Christ we haue iudged for conuenient may come to their effect And whosoeuer vpon the audacious temerity of any person whatsoeuer shall contemne to doe this shall not be vnpunished of God neither shall he escape that hurte which those incurre whose sinnes are bound from heauen So he 53. And I haue thought good to alleadge this notorious example somewhat more largely for that it expresseth euidently both the acknowledgement and exercise of the Popes authority in those dayes as also the deuoute and prompt obedience of our Christian Kings and Prelates therevnto in that holy time of our first primitiue Church For that of the two forenamed Kings Malmesbury wryteth that Ethelredus of the Mercians receaued the Popes letters vpon his knees on the ground And albeit that Alfryd of the Northumbers somwhat stomaked the matter for a time as done in his dishonour yet soone after being strooken with deadly sicknes sore repented the same and appointed in his testament that S. VVilfryd should be restored which testament the holy virgin Elfled his sister that stood by him when he dyed brought forth and shewed before the whole Synod of Bishops gathered togeather about that matter in Northumberland 57. And thus hauing byn longer than I purposed in this example of S. VVylfryds appeales I will passe ouer as before I haue said the other appeales aboue mentioned of Lambert and Athelard Archbishops of Canterbury vnder King Offa and Kenulfus Kings of the Mercians vnto the Popes Adrian the first Leo the third wâ—â— determined the great controuersie about the iurisdiction of the Sea of Canterbury at the humble sute of the said King Kenulsus of all his Clergie and nobilitie I will passe ouer in like mannerâ— the example of Egbert Archbishop of Yorke who by his appealing to Rome multa Apostolici throni appellatione saith Malmesbury that is by frequent appellation to the Apostolicall throne recouered againe the preheminence and dignity of his Archbishopricke and Pontificall pall vpon the yere 745. which had byn withdrawen from that Church for many yeares togeather after Panlinus his departure And I may add further to this argument and consideration not only that appellations were ordinarily made to the Sea of Rome concerning Ecclesiasticall affaires vpon any aggreiuances of particuler persons Churches or Societyes in those dayes as appeareth by the examples alleadged but also complaints of publicke defects negligences or abuses if they concerned the said Ecclesiasticall affaires were carried to Rome and to the Bishops of that Sea aswell against Bishops and Archbishops as against the Kings themselues where occasions were offered which Bishops of Rome tooke vpon them as lawfull iudges to haue power to heare determine and punish the same by acknowledgement also of the parties themselues whereof we might alleadge many examples But one only in this place shall serue for the present which fell out in the tyme of King Edward the elder vpon the yeare of Christ 894. though others differ in the number of yeares And the case fell out thus 57. The Bishop of Rome in those dayes named Formosus the first being aduertised that diuerse prouinces in England especially that of the VVestsaxons by the reason of Danish warrs were much neglected and voyde of Bishops for diuerse yeares the said Pope saith Malmesbury wrote sharpe letters into England Quibus dabat excommunicationem maledictionem Regi Edwardo omnibus subiectis eim à sede S. Petri pro benedictione quam deder at Beatus Gregorius genti Anglorum By which letters he sent excoÌ„munication and malediction to King Edward and all his subiects from the Sea of S. Peter in steed of the benediction which S. Gregory had giuen to the English-nation wherof Malmesbury addeth this reason that for full seauen yeares the whole region of the VVest-saxons had byn voyde of Bishops And that King Edward hauing heard of the sentence of the Pope presently caused a Synod of the Senatours of the English nation to be gathered in which sate as head Pleamâ—ndus Archbishop of Canterbury who interpreted vnto them strictly saith Malmesbury the wordes of this Apostolicall Legacy sent from Rome Wherupon the
tyme of the Danes as before I noted King Canutus the Dane as Ingulphus testifyeth which liued presently after him was so carefull to haue this duly payed with other dutyes belonging to the Church as being in his iourney towardes Rome he wrote backe to his Bishops and other officers in these words Nunc igitur obtestor c. Now then I doe beseech all you my Bishops other officers and all gouernours of the Kingdome by the faith which you doe owe vnto God me that you will so prouide that before my arriuall at Rome all debts be payed which according to auncient lawes are due That is to say the accustomed almes for euery plough the tythes of beastes borne euery yeare the Pence which you owe to S. Peter at Rome whether they be due out of the cittyes or the Countrey that by the middest of August you pay the tythes of your corne that at the feast of S. Martine you pay the first frutes of your seed to the Church and parish in which euery man liueth which payment is called Kâ—ke-seet And if these things be not performed by you before I retourne assure your selues that my Kingly authority shall punish ech man according to the lawes most seuerely without pardoning any Fare you well Vpon the yere of Christ 1032. So he And marke good Reader that he saith he will punish according to the lawes yea and in his former words that there are auncient lawes for these Dutyes to Rome which M. Attorney cannot bring for his assertion against the Pope so as in auncient common lawes we are now before him But let vs goe forward end this Demonstration 73. About thirty yeres after this againe King Edward the Confessor wrote to Pope Nicolas the second in these wordes Ego quâ— que pro modulo meo augeo c confirmo c. I also for some small gifte of myne doe encrease and confirme the donations of paying such money as S. Peter hath in England and doe send vnto you at this time the said money collected togeather with some Princely gyfts of our owne to the end that you may pray for me and for the peace of my Kingdome and that you doe institute some continuall and solemne memory before the bodyes of the Blessed Apostles for all the English-nation c. So good S. Edward 74. And when not long after him King VVilliam of Normandy obteyned the crowne he forgott not this law among the rest as afterward when we come to talke of him and his raigne in particuler we shall more at large declare For his tenth law in order hath this title De denario Sancti Petri qui Anglicè dicitur Rome-scotâ— of the Penny of S. Peter called Rome-scot in the English tongue And then he beginneth his law thus Omnis qui habuerit triginta denaâ—â— vinae pecuniae in domo sua de proprio suo Anglorum lege dabit denarium Sancti Petri lege DanoruÌ„ dimidiam marcam c. Euery man that shal hâ—uâ— the worth of thirty-pence of liuely money of his owne in his house shall by the law of English-men pay the penny of S. 〈◊〉 and by the law of the Danes shall pay halfe a marke And this penny of S. Peter shall be summoned or called for vpon the solemnity and feast of S. Peter and Paul and gathered vpon the feast of the Chaines os S. Peter so as it shall not be deteyned beyond that day c. thus the Conquerour in confirmation of that which other English Kings had done before him appointing also in the same place that his Iustice should punish them that refused to pay the said money or paid it not at the due day appointed 75. And to conclude this matter this tribute was continually paid from the first institution therof not only before the Conquest as now you haue heard but afterwards also by all the Norman Kings their Successours vnto King Henry the 8. as out of Polidor we haue seene And the same King Henry himself duely paid the same in like manner for more then twenty yeres togeather vntill he brake from the Pope and Sea of Rome vpon the causes which all men know Wherevpon this our Demonstration inferreth that all this while it is not likely they paying so willingly and deuourly this temporall tribute vnto the Popes of Rome that they denyed his spirituall iurisdiction or held him in that iealosie of competency for vsurping therby vpon their Crownes as now we doe And lastly that the supreme spirituall authority of Queene Elizabeth without any Act of Parlament was warrantable by these Kings lawes which is the mayne paradoxicall conclusion of M. Attorneys whole discourse against which we haue yet a Demonstration or two more so an end The nynth Demonstration 76. The nynth Demonstration then about this matter shall be the consideration of our English Kings their singular and extraordinary deuotion before the Conquest to the Sea of Rome which was such as diuers of them left their Crownes and Kingdomes after many yeres that they had raigned and ruled most gloriously at home and went to liue and dye in that citty some in religions habit and profession of Monasticall life as Kenredus King of the Mercians and Offa King of the East angles some in secular weed but of most religious deuout and exemplar conuersation as Inas and Ceadwalla Kings of the VVest-saxons some others went thither of deuotion with intention to retourne againe as the other great Offa King of the Mercians Adelnulph alfred and Canutus Monarches of all England and lastly good King Edward the Confessor had determined vowed a iourney thither in pilgrimage but that his Kingdome greatly repyninge therat in respect of the daungerous tymes two Popes â—â— and Nicolas decreed that he should not come as before we haue touched but rather bestow the charges of that voyage vpon some other good worke namely the encrease of the Monastery of VVestminster 77. And here I might enlarge my self much in the declaration of these particulers which we haue named and of many others that we haue omitted in this kind I meane of English Kings that leauing their temporall Crownes haue submitted themselues to the sweet yoke of Christ in religious life Iohn Fox in his Actes and Monuments doth recount nyne crowned Kings that became Monkes within the first two hundred yeres after Englands conuersion to Christian faith though all of them went not to Rome and some eighteene or twenty Queenes or daughters to Kings or Queenes that tooke the same course contemning whatsoeuer pleasures or preferments the world could giue them But of such Kings as went to Rome and made themselues religious there the foresaid Kenredus of the Mercians and Offa of the Eastangles were the most famous who agreeing togeather vpon the yere 708. as Florentins after S. Bede doth recount the history lest both their Kingdomes wiues children honours goods and the
the same Archbishops returning the yeare following to England againe the said Pope Alexander wrote to K. VVilliam by them Alexander Episcopus Seruus Seruorum Dei Charissimo filio Gulielnio glorioso Regi Anglorum c. Wherein after he had tolde him Inter mundi Principes Rectores egregiam vestrae religionis fanâ—am intelligimus that among all the Princes gouernours of the world wee haue heard the singular fame of your religion exhorting him to goe forward in the same for that perseuerance only to the end is the thing which bringeth the Crowne of euerlasting reward he toucheth also diuers points of defending Ecclesiasticall persons and libertyes of the Church of releeuing oppressed people vnder his dominion telling him that God will exact a seuere accoÌ„pt therof at his hands which no doubt was meant principally of the oppressed English nation by him wherof Lanfranke secretly had informed the said Pope After all this I say he telleth him of certaine busines that he had committed to Lanfranke to be handled in England in a Synod to be gathered there as namely about the preheminence of the two Archbishopricks Canterbury and Yorke And also to heare againe and define the cause of the Bishop of Chichester deposed before by his legats And finally he concludeth that he should beleiue Lanfranke Vt nostrae dilectionis affectum plenius cognoscatis reliqua nostrae legationis verba attentius audiatis that by him you may more fully vnderstand the affection of our loue towards you as also heare more attentiuely the rest of our legation committed vnto him c. Where he speaketh to the King as you see like a Superiour And Iohn Stow reciting the history of the said Synod gathered about these matters in England the yeare following at VVindesor hath these words taken out of auncient historiographers This yeare by the commaundement of Pope Alexander and consent of King VVilliam the Conquerour in the presence of the said King his Bishops Prelates and Nobility the primacy which Lanfranke Archbishop of Canterbury claymed ouer the Church and Archbishop of Yorke was examined and tryâ—d out c. Heere then was no repining of King VVilliam at the Popes authority in those dayes but all conformity rather with the same 13. I might alleadge many other examples to this effect as that which Stow writeth in the 17. yeare of the raigne of K. VVilliam and yeare of Christ 1083. that VVilliam Bishop of Durham by leaue of the King and nobles of the Realme went to Rome and obtained of Pope Gregory the 7. to bring the Monks from Tarrow and Yarmouth into the Cathedrall Church of Durham where he gaue to them lands Churches ornaments c. all which saith he K. VVilliam the Conqueror confirmed by his charter in confirmation no doubt of the Popes Charter which to procure he went to Rome and he had licence thervnto from the King and nobles that were sounders of that Church which licence they would neuer haue graunted if they had thought that the matter had appertained only to the King at home in his owne countrey and not to the Pope 14. And in the very same yeare K. VVilliam as before we haue touched being entred into great iealosie of the ambition and aspiring mynd of his halfe-brother Otho Bishop of Baion Earle of Kent least with his Councell and riches he might assist his sonne Roâ—â—rt and others that did rise in Normandy against him or as some thinke desirous to sease vpon his great riches and wealth which he gathered togeather he suddenlie returned from Normandy to the I le of VVight where he vnderstood the said Otho to be in great pompe pretending to goe to Rome and at vnawares apprehended him but yet for excuse of that violent fact upon a Bishop he made first a long speach vnto his nobles there present shewing that he did it not so much in respect of his owne temporall security as in defence of the Church which this man oppressed My brother saith he hath greatly oppressed England in my absence spoyled the Churches of their lands and rents made them naked of the ornaments giuen by our predecessours the Christian Kings that haue raigned before me in England and loued the Church of God endowing it with honours and gifts of many kindes VVherefore now as we beleeue they rest reioycing with a happy retribution Ethelbert and Edward S. Oswald Athulse Alfred Edward the elder Edgar and my cosen and most deare lord Edward the Confessor haue giuen riches vnto the holy Church the spouse of God my brother to whom I committed the gouernment of the whole Kingdome violently plucketh away their goods c. 15. This was one excuse vsed by the Conqueror Another was as Stow recordeth that he said that wheras his brother was both Bishops of Baion and Earle of Kent he apprehended him as Earle of Kent and not as Bishop of Baion that is to say as a lay-person and not as an Ecclesiasticall And yet further when he was vrged about that matter by his owne Prelates he was wont to say as Stow and others doe also note that he did it by particular licence of the Pope and not only by licence but also by his decree and commaundement and so he protested at his death Wherby we see how little opinioÌ„ he had of his owne spirituall iurisdiction in this behalfe Of King VVilliam the Conquerour his lawes in fauour of the Church and Church-men §. II. 16. But no one thing doth more exactly declare the sense and iudgement of King VVilliam in these things then his particular lawes which are recorded by Roger Houeden an author of good antiquity who shewing that King VVilliam in the 4. yeare of his raigne calling togeather all his Barons Gouernours of Prouinces twelue expert men out of euery shyre did reveiw the auncient lawes both of the English and Danes approuing those that were thought expedient and adding others of his owne beginning with those that appertained to the libertyes exaltation of the Church Taking our beginning saith he from the lawes of our holy mother the Church by which both King and Kingdome haue their sound fundament of subsisting c. And then followeth the first law with this title De clericis possessionibus corum Of Clergie-men their possessions the law it self is writen in these few words but containing much substance Omnis Clericus etiam omnes Scholares omnes res possessiones corum vbicunque fuerint pacem Dei Sanctae Ecclesiae habeant Let euery Clergie-man and all schollers and all their goods and possessions whersoeuer they be haue the peace of God and of holy Church And afterwards he declareth what this peace of the Church is to wit that neither their persons nor their goods can be arested molested or made to pay tribute or otherwise troubled by any secular iudge whatsoeuer 17. And in the second law
partly also by incitation of flatterers that seeke to feed nourish Princes humours in that behalfe he began to lay his hands vpon Inuestitures of Bishops by giuing them Annalum baculum for their induction to their benefices saying that his Father and Brother before him had vsed and exercised the same But S. Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury newly retourned into England with other Bishops opposed himself against the same as a thing vnlawfull and condemned by the Canons of the Church and namely in the late Councell of Bary where himself was present as before hath byn shewed and this contention grew to be so stronge as the next yeare after being the third of K. Henryes raigne the said holy man was forced againe to appeale to Rome to Pope Pascalis and thervpon to leaue the land and once more to goe into Banishment where he liued three years going and returning often from Lions to Rome say Malmesbury Florentius and Houeden about this matter And the first of these three doth set downe diuers epistles of Pope Pascalis both to Anselme the Archbishop and to K. Henrie himself wherin he telleth him first why he could not graunt vnto him the authority of inuesting Bishops which by his letters sent by Clarke VVilliam he had demaunded saying Graue nobis est quia id à nobis videris expetere quod omnino praestare non possumus c. It greiueth vs much that you seeme to demaund at our hands that which no wayes we can graunt for if we should consent or suffer inuestitures to be made by your Excellency it would turne no doubt to the exceeding great daunger both of you and me before God c. Secondly he exhorteth him earnestly to admit S. Anselme to his Bishopricke and fauour againe Prospice fili Charissime vtrum dedecus an decus tibi sit quod sapientissimus religiosissimus Episcopus Anselmus propter hoc tuo lateri adharere tuo veretur in Reguo consistere Qui tanta de te bonae hactenus audierant quid de te sentiant quid lequentur c. Consider my most deere child whether this be an honour or dishonour vnto you that so wise and religious a Bishop as Anselmus is should feare for this cause to liue with you or to remaine in your Kingdome What will men thinke or say of you who hitherto haue heard so great good of your proceedings Thus he and much more which for breuity I omit from his pallace of Lateran vpon the 9. day before the Kalends of December 11. But not long after to wit vpon the yeare 1106. which was the sixt of K. Henryes raigne he being in some difficultyes in Normandy in respect of the warrs he had there against Duke Robert his brother and many great men that tooke his parte and perceiuing great discontentments to be likewise in England as well 〈◊〉 regard of the absence of their holy Archbishop Anselme as of the greiuous exactions which he had made vpon them Non facâ—â—â— potest naerrari miseria saith Florentius quam sustinuit isto tempore â—errâ— Anglorum propter exactiones Regis The miserie can hardly be declared which England did suffer at this time by the Kings exactions All these things I say being laid togeather God mouing his heart to turne to him for remedy he thought best to goe to the monastery of Becke in Normandy where Anselme remayned in continuall fasting and praying for his amendment And there agreeing with him to stand no more in these matters of Inuestitures or any other spirituall iurisdiction he willed him to returne securely into England to pray for him in his Archbishopricke and so he did 12. And this being vpon the Assumption of our B. Lady to wit the 15. of August the K. confident now of Gods fauour as it seemeth vpon this agreement gathered presentlie an armie against his enemies vpon the vigil of S. Michael next ensuing entring battaile with them had a singular victorie tooke therin both Duke Robert his brother VVilliam Earle of Morton Robert Earle of Stutauill VVilliam Crispin and all the head Captaines of Normandy with them wherof presently the King wrote letters of ioy to Archbishop Anselme in England saith Florentius And the next spring abouâ— Easter returned into England with the said prisoners and left Normandy wholie gained vnto him and to his Successours 13. And vpon this he calling togeather vpon the first of August and 7. yeare of his raigne all his Lords both spirituall and temporal consulted for three daies togeather with them not admitting S. Anselme to that consultation least his authoritie might seeme to haue ouer-borne the matter what it was best to doe in that case of inuestitures which he had before vsed albeit diuers saith Florentius did exhorte him not to obey the Pope in this but to retaine the vse which both his Father and brother had practised yet others alleadging the Censures both of Pope Vrbanus and Pascalis against the same and that they left vnto the King all other priuiledges and regalityes the King on the 4. day causing Anselmus to be present Statuit saith Florentius vt ab eo tempore in reliquum nunquam per dationem baculi pastoralis vel annuli quisquam 〈◊〉 Episcopatu aut Abbatia per Regem vel quamlibet laicam manum in Angliâ— inuestiretur The King with his Counsell did decree for that time forward that no man in England should be inuested of any Bishopricke or Abbey by the King or by any lay mans hand or power with giuing him the pastoral staffe or ring as sometymes had byn accustomed And this was done in obedience of the Canonicall constitution made in the Councell of Bary against such inuestitures as we haue declared 14. Aud thus was that controuersie ended which was the only controuersie of importance that this K. Henry had with the Sea of Rome during the tyme of his raigne which Malmesbury then liuinge recounted as done of conscience saying Inuestituras Ecclesiarum post multas controuersias inter eum Anselmum Deo Sancto Petro remisit Hee did release againe to God and to S. Peter the Inuestitures of Churches after many controuersies had there about with Anselmus Which he did perfourme so syncerely from his heart as afterward Anselme being dead and he marrying his only daughter Maude to the Emperour Henry the 5. vpon the yeare 1114. he seemeth to haue induced his sonne-in-law the Emperour to remit also the said inuestitures to Pope Calixtus for which his Father and grand-father had held so longe and scandalous broyles with the precedent Popes yea and himself also that is to say this Emperour Henry not long before going to Rome with a mayne army had taken prisoner and held for certayne dayes Pope Paescalis that sate before Calixtus therby to force him to graunt and confirme the said Inuestitures which now vpon a better mynd he gaue ouer againe For this I
find recorded by Malmesbury and others of that time that Calixtus being made Pope vpon the yeare 1119. and presently comming into France and calling a Councell at Rhemes K. Henry of England sent diuers Bishops at his commaundement vnto that Councell And the next yeare after going to treat with the said Pope in person at his Castell of Gesorse in Normandy Acta sunt multae inter illos c. many things were treated between them saith Houeden as it was conuenient in the meeting of so great personages But the principall was that Henry obtained of the Pope to graunt vnto him that he might haue all the customes coÌ„firmed which his Father had in England and Normandy especially that none from thenceforth should be sent Legat into England except the King vpon some controuersie falling out which could not be ended by his Bishops should demaund the same of the Pope So Houeden 15. Wherby we may see the Kings iudgment of the Pope â—â—thority and the recourse to be made thervnto in matters of moâ—â— moment And that which is more soone after this meeting I find that the foresaid Emperour made the like attonement with the same Calixtus which Malmesbury recordeth in these wordâ— In nomine Sancta indiuiduae Trinitatis Ego Henricus c. In the name of the holy and indiuisible blessed Trinity I Henry by the Grace of God Emperour c. for the loue of God and of the holy Romaine Church and of my Lord Calixtus the Pope and for remedy of my soule doe remit freely to God and his holy Apostles S. Peter S. Paul and to his holy Catholike Church all inuestitures by ring and staffe and doe yeeld and permit that in all Churches within my Kingdomes and Empire there be made Canonicall election and free consecration of Ecclesiasticall persons c. 16. And thus was ended that fierce and bloudy controuersie that had lasted and troubled the whole Christian world aboue fifty yeares saith Malmesbury about the vse of Inuestitures pretended by princes to be graunted vnto them and their auncestours by different Popes But yet neuer challenged the same as incident to their Crowne or temporall iurisdiction but as a priuiledge graunted by the Sea Apostolike which might lawfully be done as you haue heard by the former rule of Baldus the Lawyer that the Pope may commit spirituall things by priuiledge in some cases as the is to a mere lay-man And yet further if we seek the beginning of these inuestitures how and when and to whome they were first graunted we shall find the matter very vncertaine For albeit some haue thought and written out of a certaine relation in Sigebert his Chronicle that the first graunt of these Inuestitures was made by Pope Adrian the first vnto Charles the Great in respect of his great meritts toward the Church yet others doe hold this to be false and that the name of Inuestitures was not knowne in those dayes but rather crept in afterward yea and rather taken and vsurped to themselues by certaine Princes by inuasion of intrusion vpon the Church priuately first then more publikely afterward and therevpon pretended by their Successours than granted by speciall gift or consent of any Pope aâ— alâ—â— Which seemeth to haue byn the case also of our King Henry 〈◊〉 first who as you haue heard did pretend to challeng the iâ—â—â—â—â—â—tures as vsed by his Father and brother before him wherof 〈◊〉 notwithstanding we finde no expresse proofe for example 〈◊〉 any of our historyes that they vsed them and much lesse that they were lawfully graunted vnto them And albeit they had byn yet might the same authority which did graunt them reuoke them againe vpon the notable abuses which therof did ensue by selling and buying of Churches by Princes and their officers 17. But howsoeuer this were yet is it manifest heerby that as well those princes which violently tooke these inuestitures vpon them as others that might haue them perhaps graunted for a tyme both of them I say did pretend to haue them from the Sea Apostolike and therin acknowledged the Primacy and Supremacy of Ecclesiasticall power to be in that Sea and not in themselues Which is wholy against M. Attorneys conclusion And therefore the said Emperour Henry the 5. when he deteyned prisoner the foresaid Pope Paescalis and forced him to make a constrained graunt vnto him of the said Inuestitures he would needs haue him put these words in his Bull. Illud igitur diguitatis priuilegium c. That priuiledge of dignity therfore that our Predecessours Bishops of Rome haue graunted vnto your Predecessours Catholike Emperours and haue confirmed the same by their Charters we graunt also to you and doe confirme by this present priuiledge and Charter that vnto the Bishops and Abbots of your Kingdome that shall be chosen freely without violence or Symmony you may giue the inuestiture of staffe ringe and that after the said inuestiture they may canonically receiue their consecration from the Bishop to whome it shall appertaine c. So he 18. And now consider good Reader that if so great potent an enemy of the Church of Rome was so desirous to haue her graunt albeit perforce of such little peeces and raggs of Ecclesiasticall authority as these were how much more glad would he haue byn to haue had all the Popes authority acknowledged to be in himself if he could haue deriued it from the Title of his Crowne and Empire as Syr Edward Cooke would haue taught him if he had byn his Attorney and how easily might he haue procured such a Statute to haue byn made vnto him by his people in Parlament as was made vnto Queen Elizabeth to giue her all supreame authority Ecclesiasticall that euer any person had or might haue if he had listed or if he had thought it had byn worth the procurement And surely it had bin a much more easie and lesse costly way to procure it at home in Germany 〈◊〉 to haue gone to Rome with so mayne an army and extraordinary charges labour and daunger as he did to extort the same from the Pope and yet not all his authority but a small peece therof as hath byn said 19. But now all was amended and accommodated againe as well the Emperour as his Father-in-law K. Henry yelded vp all their pretended right in those inuestitures as you haue heard And as in the procuring and retaining them by what manner soeuer they acknowledged the spirituall power of the Sea of Rome so much more in rendring them vp againe And for so much as both their acts are presumed principally to haue proceeded of our K. Henry all men may therby see his deuotion to that Sea 20. And this deuotion and obedience he continued from that tyme forward vnto his death which was some 15. years in all which time I might shew diuers euident argumeÌ„ts of this point as of his often sending to Rome
to returne to the obedience and freindship of her King and husband and in the end threatneth to vse the Censures of the Church against her if she obaied not Parochiana eniuâ— nostra es saith he sicut â—◠〈◊〉 non pâ—ssumus deesse iustitia c. For you are our Parishioner aâ— also your husband I cannot but doe iustice either you must returne to your husband againe or by the Canon-law I shall be forced to constraine you by Ecclesiasticall censures I write this vnwillingly and if you repent not I must doe it though with sorrow and teares 6. The like letter at the same time wrote Richard Archbishop of Canterbury to K. Henry the sonne persuading him by diuers earnest arguments to returne into grace with his Father and in the end threatned him that if within fifteen dayes he perfourmed it not he had expresse commaundement from the Pope to excommunicate him But how this matter was afterward ended or compounded rather for that present you shall heare a little beneath though againe vpon other occasions matters brake forth brought the afflicted King at last to the most miserable state of desolation in minde that euer perhaps was read of in historyes For that as Stow out of auncient writers reporteth he died cursing the day that euer he was borne and giuing Gods curse and his to his sonnes which were only two liuing at that time and that he would neuer release or goe backe in this albeit he was intreated by diuers both Bishops and other religious persons euen vntill the very houre of his death Wher vnto Nubergensis addeth this saying for some reason therof Nondum vti credo satu defleuerat c. He had not as I beleeue mourned or bewailed sufficiently the rigour of that most vnfortunate obstination of mind which he had vsed against the venerable Archbishop Thomas in giuing the occasion of his murder and therefore doe I thinke this great Prince to haue had so miserable an end in this world that our Lord not sparing him heere might by his temporall punishment prepare him euerlasting mercy in the life to come So Nubergensis And this for his manners and conuersation wherin otherwise the said Author doth much commend him for a good Iusticer and leuing Father to his people a great Almes-man and founder of pious works and for a principall defender and preseruer of Ecclesiasticall libertyes c. 7. But now if we consider the point of our controuersie about his religion and particular iudgement in the matter of Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction no King euer of our nation did make the matter more cleere for his obedience to the Sea of Rome in all occasions wherof he had many in his dayes some of them neerly concerning himselfe as that of Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury who for opposing himself against certaine new Statutes and Ordinances of the said King which in the heat of 〈◊〉 greatnes and temporall fortune he would haue made against the liberty of the Church pretending them to haue byn of his Grand-father K. Henry the first and if they had byn the antiquity was not great as you see the said Archbishop incurred highly his heauy indignation which cost him afterward his life as is notorious And these lawes were six in number as the histories of that time doe sett them downe The first that no appellation might be made to Rome without he Kings consent The second that no Bishop might goe out of the Realme without the Kings licâ—nce though he were called by the Pope himself The third that no Bishop may excommunicate any man that held of the King in capite but by the Kings approbation The fourth that it shall not appertaine to the Bishop to punish men for periury â—â— violating their faith but that it shall belonge to the Kings Courts The fifth that Clarks may be drawne to secular tribunals in certaine causes The sixt that the King and his lay-Iudges may determine controuersies about titbes or Churches 8. These were the lawes for which K. Henry the second made so much adoe to haue them passe as he enpawned his whole power therin moued for so much as in him lay both heauen and earth to effectuate them euen by the Pope himself but could not And yet you see that heere is not pretended any absolute spirituall iurisdiction but only delegatory in certaine little peeces and parcels therof or rather some little restraint of that supreme authority which he acknowledged to be in the Sea of Rome But yet for the good and peace of his land he pretended to haue them graunted confirmed allowed vnto him as he said they had byn to his Grand-father but could not shew it For as you haue heard in the life of K. Henry the first the holy and learned prelate S. Anselme stood against him in such sorte so as he preuailed not 9. It is heer also specially to be noted against M. Attorney that this King pretended not as hath byn said to haue this iurisdiction against Clergie men by right of his Crowne but by concession rather of his Bishops and confirmation of the Pope himself For so expresly affirmeth Houeden that liued at that tyme that he required the seales of the said Bishops and confirmation of Pope Alexander the third whervnto when Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury that was Legatus-natus would not yeeld the King sent messengers to Rome presently saith Houeden to wit Iohn â—â—â—â—ford Geffrey Ridell to desire of Pope Alexander that he would make his extraordinary Legat in England Roger Archbishop of Yorke an old emulator and enemy of S. Thomas But the Pope perceiuing his drifte which was to oppresse the said Archbishop of Canterbury denyed the Kings petition in this behalfe though at the request of the Kings said messengers Consessit Dominus Papa vt Rexipse Legatus esset totius Angliae it a tamen quod ipse nullum grauamen facere posset Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo The Pope graunted that K. Henry himself should be his Legat ouer all England but yet so as he should not be able to lay any aggreiuaunce vpon the Archbishop of Canterbury that is to say should not preiudicate his ordinary iurisdiction or haue any authority ouer him Which point the King perceiuing and that his whole intent of oppressing the said Archbishop was heerby preuented he would not through indignation saith our Author accept of the said legation but sent back the Popes letters of that commission to him againe Wherby you see that he refused the said office for that he thought the iurisdiction giuen him was lesse then he would haue had and not for that he did not acknowledge the whole to be in the Pope and nothing in himself as from the right of his Crowne 10. But to abbridge this matter concerning his contention with S. Thomas wherof afterward he sore repented himself as you will heare though he entred into the same with great
Canterbury where the glorious body of Thomas the martyr lay where with abundance of teares and sighes going bare-foote and casting himself prostrate on the ground he did demaund pardon and mercie humbly beseeching first that the Bishops there present would absolue him and then that euery religious man would giue him three or fiue strokes of a discipline or whip on his bare flesh then putting one his apparell againe which in all their presence he had put of he rose from the ground and then gaue precious gifts to the said Martyr and his sepulcher and among other forty pounds by the yeare of perpetuall rent for maintenance of lights at the said Sepulcher and so giuing himself to waching fasting prayer for three dayes togeather it is not to be doubted saith he but that the said martyr being pleased with his repentaunce and deuotion God also by his intercession tooke away the Kings sinne So VValsingham 20. And presently in token heerof he saith that the verie same day wherin the King was most deuout in humbling â—imself and kissing the said martyrs Tombe in Canterbury God deliuered into his hands VVilliam King of Scotland who was taken prisoner by his Captaines and that vpon the same day also his rebellious sonne K. Henry the 3. hauing taken shipping to come with a great Nauye into England against him was driuen back by tempest the King himself going to London was receiued with extraordinary ioy of al his people by whose help he soone pacified and conquered all his rebells and thence going presently ouer into Normandy with a great armie and leading prisoner with him the foresaid K. of Scotland with diuers other enemies fallen into his hands hee so terrified the King of France and other his confederates that beseiged the Cittie of Roane as they retired presentlie and his sonnes Henry Richard Geffrey so humbled themselues vnto him as they were reconciled and receiued to grace againe all comming home togeather in one shipp saith VValsingham whom a little before it seemed that the wide world could not containe 21. And this was the effect of K. Henries deuotion at that time which Petrus Blesenâ—is also that was most inward with him doth â—estifie recouÌ„t at large in an epistle to his freind the Archbish. of Palermo in Sicilie wherin hee affirmeth not onlie that K. Henry assured himself that hee had all these good successes by intercession of the said holy martyr S. Thomas but moreouer that hee tooke him for his speciall Patron in all his aduersities Illud quoqâ—â— noueritis saith he Dominum Regem gloriosum martyrem in omnibus angustijs suis Patronum habere praecipuum This also you must know that my Lord the King doth hold the glorious martyr S. Thomas for his cheife Patrone in all his straites and necessities and the same you may read in Nubergensis that liued at the same time though not so intrinsecall with the King as the other And this passed at that tyme though afterward he committing his said Q Eleanor to prison for diuers years before his death and continuing his loose life with other women as hath byn said God for punishment permitted that albeit two of his sonnes Henry and Geffrey died before him yet the other two remaining Richard and Iohn and falling from him againe did so afflict and presse him as they brought him to that desolate end which before hath byn mentioned Though some other doe ascribe the cause heerof not so much to his loose life as to his irreuerent dealing sometymes in Church-matters For so two Bishops that were his Embassadours wrote vnto him in confidence as Petrus Blesensis doth testify saying Non est quod magis hostes vestros incitat ad conflictum quam quod arbitrantur Vos Ecclesia Dei minus extitisse deuotum There is nothing that doth more stir vp or animate your enemyes to fight against you then for that they persuade themselues that you haue sometymes shewed your self lesse deuout towards the Church of God And thus much of K. Henry OF THE RAIGNE OF K. RICHARD THE FIRST The sixt King after the Conquest §. II. 22 For that we haue byn somewhat large in the life of K. Henry the Father we meane to be breefer if it may be in his children who were only two that seruiued him and raigned after him to wit Richard Iohn for that the two other Henry that was crowned and named by him K. Henry and Geffrey Duke of Brittany after their many tumultuations conspiracies disobediences against their said Father died in his life tyme and of these two that liued he had little comforte as before you haue heard 25. And yet proued this Richard no very euill King afterward for the space of ten years that he raigned though vnfortunate both in warre and peace which men ascribe in great parte to the demerit of his owne disobedience against his said Father For punishment wherof both his owne brother Iohn conspired often against him and K. Philip of France hir colleage and confederate brake his faith with him and the Duke of Austria persidiously tooke and held him prisoner in his returne from Ierusalem and Henry the Emperour laid him in fetters and many other miseries followed and fell vpon him vntill at length he was disasterously slaine by a poisoned arrow shot out of a Castle against him as our histories doe testifie 24. But as for his religion it was all wayes truly Catholicke in no point different from that of all Christendome in his dayes And particularly in that which appertaineth to our controuersy he was most obedient deuout to the spiritual authority of the Sea Apostolicke in all his actions which I may proue by the authority of a whole Synod of the Archbishop of Roane and all his Bishops writing to Pope Celestinus the third in recomendatioÌ„ of his cause when he was Captiue sayinge Christianissimus Princeps Rex Angliae illustrissimus Dominus noster deuotissimus Ecclesia Romanae filius quem specialiter in suam protectionem susceperat in sua peregrinatione c. The most Christian Prince Richard King of England and our most honorable Lord and most deuout sonne of the Romaine Church whome the said Church had specially taken into her protection in his iourney to Ierusalem is now vniustly detained c. 25. But if this testimony were not yet all his other life and actions as hath byn said doe sufficiently testifie the same For first to goe in order and name some few of many it is registred by Houeden that liued at that tyme and was present perhaps at his coronation how religiously and humbly he receiued the same at the hands of the Archbishop and Clergy not calling himself King but Duke only vntill he was crowned Cum autem Dux saith he ad altare veniret c. When the Duke came before the Altar in presence of the Archbishops Bishops Clergie and people he first fell downe
what agreements haue byn made these dayes publikely betweene the excellent Lord Tancred King of Sicilie and vs. And then after recitall of all particularityes he endeth thus testibus nobisipsis vndecimo die Nouembris apud Messanam We our selues being witnesse of this agreement the eleuenth day of Nouember at Messina 32. But when K. Richard soone after departing thence was arriued in Asia and had begun most prosperously his warrs against the Infidels the Deuill enuying his good successe stirred vp first seditioÌ„ in England by means of Iohn the Kings brother who perceiuing diuers to enuy the Greatnes of the Bishop of Ely left gouernour by the King and some Bishops also to be in faction against him began to make great stirs And on the otherside the same enemy of mankind castinge ielousies betweene K. Philip of France and the said King Richard did seperate them at last whervpon ensued the returne of the said King Philip with intention to inuade King Richards Dominions and to set vp his brother Iohn in his place as the sequele declareth 33. But Pope Celestinus the 3. that had succeeded in the place of Pope Clement lately deceased vnderstanding of the former conspiracie and faction against the Bishop of Ely in England wrote a vehement letter against the same to all the Archbishops Bishops and Clergie of England saying among the rest Cum dilectus in Christo filius noster Richardus c. wheras our deerly-beloued soÌ„ne in Christ Richard noble King of England when he resolued by taking vpon him the signe of the Holy crosse of Christ to reuenge the iniury of his redeemer in the Holie land left the tutele and care of his Kingdome vnder the protection of the Sea Apostolicke we that haue succeeded in that Sea haue so much the more obligation to coÌ„serue the State of the said Kingdome the rights and honours of the same by how much greater confidence he placed in our protection and thervpon hath exposed his person riches and people to greater perils for exaltation of holy Christian religion c. Wherfore vnderstanding of certaine troubles lately moued by Iohn Earle of Morton and certaine others combined with him against your honourable Father VVilliam Bishop of Ely Legat of the Sea Apostolicke and Gouernour of your Realme Vniuersitati vestrae per Apostolica scripta mandamus in virtute obedientiae praecipimus c. We doe by these Apostolicke writings giue commaundement to your whole community Realme and charge the same in the vertue of obedience that all men surcease from like practise of conspiration turmoyle or faction c. giuen at our pallace of Lateran the 4. day before the Nones of December in the first yeare of our Popedome And by this you may see what authority he tooke himself to haue ouer all England and Bishops and Princes therof at that day 34. The which is yet more declared by that which soone after ensued for that the foresaid Earle Iohn and other Lords and Bishops combininge themselues with him hauinge proceeded yet further in that quarrell by coÌ„mon consent of all the Realme as it seemed depriued the said Bishop of Ely of his office of Gouernour imprisoned him and driuen him out of England and elected in his roome VValter Archbishop of Roane for gouernour of the Realme they were no lesse carefull to send presently to excuse iustifie the matter vnto Pope Celestinus then they 〈◊〉 to the King himself for his satisfaction All which appeareth by a large letter written from Rome to the said Archbishop by his agents that were there who aduertized him how euill the matter was taken by the said Pope Celestinus Dominus Papa say they in restri depressione negotij plurima indignanter cum amaritudâ—ne proponebat c. The Pope did propose very many things with indignation and amaritude of mind to the depression of your affaire iterating many tymes that he knew the great affection confidence of the King of England towards his Chauncelour and Gouernour the Bishop of Ely and that he had seen many letters of the said King in his commendation but none against him that at his earnest instance the Sea Apostolike had made him also Legat à latere And that finally he absolued him from the sentence of excommunication which the said Archbishop of Roâ—â— had laid vpon him and for the rest he would expect the Kings inclination who being soone after taken prisoner in Germany sent presently for the said Chauncellour to come vnto him and made great vse of him for he was not only his interpreter betweene the Emperour and him and other Princes but he sent him also into England not as Chauncellour or Gouernour but as Bishop of Ely to lay the plot for his ransome 35. And I might recount many other examples of the same iurisdiction exercised in England by the same Pope without contradiction of any man in the absence of the said King though Earle Iohn the Kings brother was present and very potent amoÌ„g them and no great freind to the Pope as by the former letter may be imagined and who finally did driue out of England the said Bishop of Ely but yet neuer obiected or put doubt in the Popes authority about any Ecclesiasticall matter that there fell out As for example vpon the yeare 1191. which was the very next after the Kings departure Nubergensis liuinge at that time recounteth how Geffrey the Kings base brother hauing byn longe beyond the seas suing at Rome to be admitted to the Archbishopricke of Yorke and to haue his Pall which Pope Clemeâ—â— would not graunt for diuers obiections and appealles made against him as well by Baldwyn Archbishop of Canterbury as you haue heard as also by others and namely the Bishop of Ely that was Gouernour of the land being much against him yet now vpon King Richards commendation and his owne many 〈◊〉 promises Pope Celestinus so much fauoured him saith Nubergensis as he gaue him his pall before he was consecrated and sent him to be consecrated by the Archbishop of Towers in France commaunding him vt ei non obstante vel appellatione vel occasione qualibet manus imponeret that he should by imposition of hands coÌ„secrate him notwithstanding any appellation or other occasion whatsoeuer to the contrary And so he did and he came into England and tooke possession of the said Archbishopricke and enioyed the same by this authority of consecration and inuestiture from Pope Celestinus notwithstanding all the contradiction and opposition of his potent aduersaryes as in the same Author at large is set downe 36. And when not longe after this againe the said Archbishop Geffrey requiring Canonicall profession of obedience to be made to him and his Sea accordinge to custome at the hands of Hugh Bishop of Durham who had purchased before of King Richard an Earl-dome to be annexed to his said Bishopricke and that the said Hugh refusing to doe the same vpoÌ„
pretence of many causes appealed therein to the Sea of Rome the Archbishop not admitting the same appeale pronounced notwithstanding sentence of excommunication against him Celestinus the Pope not only reuoked the said sentence but exempted moreouer the said Bishop Bishopricke from the obedience of the said Archbishop and Archbishopricke of Yorke as the same author relateth So as in this he shewed his authority in England 37. But now let vs passe to K. Richard himself who being valiantly occupied in the warres against the Infidels and enemies of God in Asia had many crosses fell vpon him First the falling out and departure of K. Philip of France from that warre as you haue heard who returning into France began to treat presently with Earle Iohn to trouble the peace of his brothers territoryes and the principall point that combined these two togeather against King Richard besides the enuy of the one and ambition of the other was that both of them were afraid least Prince Arthure Earle of Brittany sonne to Geffrey Iohns elder brother should succeed in the Kingdome of England if any thing should happen to King Richard and so the Bishop of Ely had giuen out that King Richard himself had written from Sicily which point was much feared as preiudiciall to them both Whervpon they made a fast league and began on both sides of the Sea to trouble the State which when K. Richard vnderstood and that Pope Celestinâ—◠〈◊〉 his letters and other diligence could not stay them and that 〈◊〉 grew into sedition at home by partes-takinge he was forced sorely to his greife and to the publicke lamentation of all Christendome to leaue that warre and to abandon the victorie that was euen now almost in his hand if he had stayed as the euent also shewed for that soone after dyed the Saladine by whose death there was no doubt but that King Richard had recouered Ierusalem 38. But he returning for defence of his owne countrey fel into great misery For being taken as hath byn said by Duke Leopold of Austria vpon pretence of certaine iniuries receiued from him his people in the warres of Asia he was deteined by him and by the Emperour Henry the 6. more then fifteen moneths prisoner and forced to paie in the end aboue two hundred thousand markes for his ransome partly in present money and partly in pawnes and pledges left for the same And so after foure yeares absence the said King returned 39. But in this tyme of his captiuity his chiefest comforte and refuge was in the assistance of the said Pope Celestinus as may well appeare by the sundry letters of many written vnto the said Pope in his behalfe but especially and aboue others of the afflicted Lady and Queen his mother Eleanor who wrote three large letters vnto him by the pen of Petrus Blesensis Archdeacon then of London that had byn Secretary to her husbaÌ„d K. Henry the second and she beginneth one saying thus Sanè non multum ab insania differt dolor Sorrow truly doth not much differ from madnes And then Gentes diuulsae populi lacerati prouinciae desolatae in spiritu contrito humiliato supplicant tibi quem constituit Deus super Gentes Regna in omni plenitudine Potestatis These nations heer deuided in their owne bowels by absence of their Prince this people torne and broken in themselues these desolate prouinces doe in a contrite and humbled spirit make supplication to you whom God hath placed ouer Nations and Kingdomes in all fullnesse of power And then againe Moueat te Summe Pontifex etsi non huius peccatricis infalicissimae dolor saltem clamor pauperum compeditorum gemituâ— interfectorum sanguis Ecclesiarum spoliatio generalis denique pressura sanctorum Be you moued ô high Priest if not with the sorrow of mee a most vnfortunate sinner yet with the cry of poore men with the groanes of them that are in fetters with the bloud of them that are heere slaine with the spoyling of Churches therof ensuing and with the generall oppression of all holy people And yet further Duo filij mihi supererant ad solatium qui bodie mihi misera damnatae supersunt ad supplicium Rex Richardus tenetur in vinculis Iohannes frater ipsius regnum Captiui depopulatur ferro vastat incendijs Two only children of many remained vnto me for my comforte which now are vnto me most miserable and damned woman become a torment King Richard is held captiue in chaines and Iohn his brother doth spoile by sword and fire the said captiues Kingdomes and dominions 40. This and much more to the same lamentable effect wrote this afflicted mother vnto Pope Celestinus in those dayes requesting him by Ecclesiasticall censures to compell both the Emperour and Duke of Austria to set her sonne the King at liberty And to this effect hath she many vehement speaches exhortations vnto him as for example Nonne Petro Apostolo saith she in eo vobis à Deo omne regnum omnisque potestas regenda committitur Benedictus autem Dominus qui talem potestatem dedit hominibus non Rex non Imperator aut Dux à iugo Vestrae Iurisdictionis eximitur Vbi est ergo Zelus Phinees vbi est authoritas Petri c. were not all Kingdomes and was not all power and gouernment committed by God vnto Peter the Apostle and in him to you Blessed be our Lord that gaue such authority vnto men No King no Emperour no Duke is exempted from the yoke of your Iurisdiction And where is then the Zeale of Phinees where is the authority of Peter c. 41. And againe in another epistle Illud restat vt exeratis in malesicos Pater gladium Petri quem ad hoc constituit Deus super gentes regna Christi crux antecellit Caesaris Aquilas gladius Petri gladio Constantini Apostolica Sedes praeiudicat Imperatoria potestati Vestra Potestas à Deo est an ab hominibus Nonne Deus Deorum locutus est vobis in Petro Apostolo di cens Quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in caelis quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in caelis Quare ergò tanto temporetam negligenter immò tam crudeliter filium meum soluere defertis aut potius non audetis Sed dicetis hanc potestatem vobis in animabus non in corporibus fuisse commissam Esto Certè sufficit nobis si eorum ligaueritis animas qui filium meum ligatum in carcere tenent Filium meum soluere robis in expedito est dummodo humanum timorem Dei timor euacuet This only remaineth ô Father that you draw forth the sword of Peter against malefactors which sword God hath appointed to be ouer nations and Kingdomes The Crosse of Christ doth excell the Eagles that are in Cesars banners the spirituall sword of â—â—ter is of more power then was the
sonne Prince Lâ—wes and the Barons of England that made warre against him All whom he first coÌ„maunded to surcease their said warrs and emnities against the said K. Iohn and then for that they obaied not he threatned and â—enounced excommunication against them and besides this he sent his Legat named VVaellâ— to be with K. Iohn and assist him in person in all his needs and necessities which was no small help and comforte vnto him in those distresses And finall in after his death he was a principall cause why his young sonne Henrie the â— was admitted for King notwithstanding the Barons firme resolution promise and oath to the contrarie and that Prince Lawes was forsaken and forced to 〈◊〉 of England the said Legaâ— being made generall Gouernour both of the King and Kingdome for that present togeather with the Earle of 〈◊〉 Lord Marshall of the land 64. And as for the said Barons that so resolutely stoods 〈◊〉 K. Iohn and his succession their cause was about the priuiledged and laws of the Realme as well concerning the Glergie as lay men which were the same priuiledges as they affirmed that were graunted and set downe in King Edwards daies the Confessor confirmed by the Conquerour allowed published againe by K. Henry the first and not disallowed by this mans Father K. Henry the 2. in witnes wherof they produced a Charter of the said K. Henry the first All which liberties laws and ordinances K. Iohn promising them at his first recoÌ„ciliation to giue grâ—inâ— and ratifie was vrged afterward by them to publish the same â—â— writing vnder the great seale of England as he did at Oxford in the presence of al his nobility in the 17. yeare of the said Kingâ— raigne which was the next before his death syaing in the 〈◊〉 writing Ex mera spontanea a voluntate nostra concessimu Charâ—aâ—â—stra coÌ„firmauimus eam obtinuimus à Domino Papa Innocencia confirmâ—n quaÌ„ nos obseruabimus ab haredibus nostris in perpetuuÌ„ bona fide 〈◊〉 obseruari We haue graunted out of our owne meere free good will haue confirmed the same by our Charter and haue contained of Pope Innocentius that he confirme the same also with his assent which Charter both we shall obserue our selues and will haue to bee obserued faithfullie by our heirs for euen behold that K. Iohn doth not onlie confirme these liberties himself but procured the same to be confirmed also by Pope Innocentius for more stabilitie And the beginning of the said liberties it thus set downe Quod Anglicana Ecclesia libera sit habeat iurasâ—â— integra suas libertates illasas maximè libertatem electionum qâ—â— maximae magis necessaria reputatur Ecclesia Anglicunae That the English Church be free and haue all her rights whole and all hâ—â— liberties inuiolate and especiallie her liberties of elections 〈◊〉 choosing her Prelates which is held to bee the greatest and most necessarie to the English Church And then follow the othâ—â— liberties of Barons noble-men and the common people 65. And for that it was vnderstood that notwithstanâ—â—â—â— these two graunts and confirmations of these laws and priuileâ—ges K. Iohn by the counsaile of certaine strangers that weeâ—â—bout him of his Countreyes in France was perswaded to 〈◊〉 the same againe and to informe the Pope wrong fullâ—e 〈◊〉 intentions of the said Barons as though they meane not so 〈◊〉 the conseruation of these priuiledges indeed aâ—â—â—soâ—◠〈◊〉 Kingdome to the King of Fâ—â—nce and the Pope inclining to beâ—â—uâ—e him the said Barons were so much exasperated therby as they made the vow before mentioned neuer to obey him or his anymore And thervpon calling ouer the said Prince Lewes of France gaue him London and all the South-parts of England and would haue gained him the rest in like manner if the Popes resistanes had not byn so great and K. Iohn had not died at that very instant in the heat of all the warre not poisoned by a monke as foolish Iohn Fox doth affirme and set forth in many printed and painted pageants of his booke but vpon greife of mind trauaile and disorder of diet as all auncient authors by vniforme consent doe agree And Iohn Stow citeth foure that liued in K. Iohns dayes to wit Mathew Paris Roger VVyndouer Raph Niger and Raph Gogshall in their histories of that tyme. 66. Wherfore to conclude this Chapter of K. Henry the second and of his two sonnes wee see how firme they were all three in this beleife and acknowledgement of the Popes spirituall authority ouer all the world and no lesse ouer England in those dayes and how fully the same was in practise among them And that albeit in some cases causes wherin they receiued some distast they strugled sometimes about the particular execution therof indeauoring to mak some restraint especially when it seemed to strech indirectly also to temporall affaires yet did they neuer so much as once deny the said Ecclesiasticall supremacy to be in the Sea of Rome and much lesse did euer ascribe it to themselues which so cleerly ouerthroweth M. Attorneys position as I maruaile what he will say to these and like demonstrations 67. And for that his often repeated ground is that Queen Elizabeth had her supreame authority in cases Ecclesiasticall according to the auncient common lawes of England hitherto he graunteth that there was no Statute-lawes at all by Parlament vntill the ensuing King K. Henry the third And for other lawes we see heere what they were by the testimony of the Bishops Barons of England vnder the Charters both of 〈◊〉 K. Henry the first and other Kings vpward vnto K. Edward the Confessor to wit all in fauour of the Church her liberties â—â—nquises and priuiledges which liberties as other where I have noted and must often heerafter doe the same doe infer our conclusion of Ecclesiasticall and spirituall iurisdiction subordinate to the Sea of Rome and wholy distinct from temporall power and doe ouerthrow M. Attorneys assertion for the said spirituall 〈…〉 those liberties were as they were that 〈…〉 should haue iurisdiction in 〈…〉 ctions choise of Prelates of the 〈…〉 liberties are mentioned cited allowed◠〈…〉 by any King as you shall see they were by 〈…〉 them vnto K. Henry the 8. so often receiueâ—◠〈…〉 tion and his whole new books an open out 〈…〉 field And thus much of K. Iohn OF KING HENRY THE THIRD That vvas the eight King after the Conquestâ—â—â— And the first that left Statutes vvritten And vvhaâ— instances and arguments M. Attorney alleadgeth out of him for his purpose CHAP. X. HITHERTO haue we passed ouer six hundred 〈◊〉 since our first English king receâ—ued and therby put themselues vnder the of 〈…〉 Bishops depending therof for 〈◊〉 of their 〈◊〉 Which Spirituall 〈…〉 haue byn euer beleeued 〈…〉 both Kings and Subiect from the 〈…〉 their lawes and continued by su 〈…〉 Which as it hath byn
excluded the Clergy that refused to pay from his protection and from the protection of the lawes whereby they being abandoned and exposed to all iniuryes the most of them fell to composition with the King so bought out and purchased their protection againe more deerer then they might haue continued the same by their contribution 13. And as for the Archbishop of Canterbury that stood constant amongst the rest in that denyall Omnia bona eius saith Mathew of VVestminster mobilia immobilia capta sunt in manu Regis All his goods both moueable vnmoueable were taken into the Kings hands And the same Authour doth recount infinite other intollerable vexations laid vpon them that would not agree to the Kings demaunds in those affaires which were accompanyed with such threates and terrors as the Deane of Paules in London named VVilliam Mont-fort comming one day before the King to speake for his Chanons was so terrifyed as he became mute and fell downe dead before him which yet saith out Author moued little the King but that he persisted in his demaundes And one day sending a knight named Syr George Hauering to the Monastery of VVestminster when all the Monkes were there gathered togeather in their Refectory or dyning-place the said knight proposed in the Kings name that they would graunt him halfe their reuenewes for his warrs and if any wil deny this demaund saith he let him stand vp shew himself that he may be handled as one guilty of breaking the Kings peace Whervpon all yeelded saith Mathew of VVestminster and no man would after with so great daunger contradicte the Kings will And thus much of his violent maÌ„ner of proceeding with the Church and Clergy wherevnto I might adioyne many other things as his dryuing out of the Realme the forsaid Robert Archbishop of Canterbury his Statutes made in the last Parlament at Carleile the same yeare he dyed in preiudice of Holy Churches liberty which were the first that are read to haue bin made in that kind and consequently are thought to haue byn a great cause of all the miseryes and calamityes that fell vpon his posterity as after you shall heare 14. But yet all this doth not proue that King Edward denyed or doubted of the Popes spirituall power or tooke the same vpon himself which is M. Attorneys case and conclusion Nay rather they doe shew and proue his acknowledgement of the said authority if we consider them well though in certayne points that seemed to extend themselues to temporall affaires and might be preiudiciall vnto him he sought to decline and auoyde the execution therof But in things meerely spirituall he neuer shewed difficulty As for example that his Bishops and Archbishops went to Rome to receaue their confirmation and inuestitures there and sometymes were chosen also immediatly from thence as when in the yeare 1278. Robert Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury was made Cardinall by Pope Nicholas the third and the Monkes of Canterbury by request of the King had chosen his Chancellour the Pope would not admitt him but appointed an other to witt Iohn Peckam Prouinciall of the Franciscan friers in England who being admitted held the said Archbishopricke for 13. yeres vntill he dyed But as for confirmation and inuestitures no doubt can be made but all was to be had from Rome as expresly you may reade of the admission and consecration of VVilliam Archbishop of Yorke In Romana Curia coÌ„secratus saith VValsingam who was consecrated in the Court of Rome in this same yeare of 1278. by Pope Martyn the fourth that succeeded to Nicolas And the same Author affirmeth that the foresaid Iohn Peckam Archbishop of Canterbury being also consecrated in Rome did some two yeares after call a Councell at Reading commaunding all his Suffragan Bishopps to obserue exactly the decrees of the late generall Councell held at Lyons by Pope Gregory the tenth nor did King Edward mislike or repine any thing at this as neither he did at another Councell called by the same Archbishop Peckam in the yeare 1281. wherin he endeauored to force all Abbots and other exempted persons to come to the said Councell but saith Mathew VVestminster the Abbotts of VVestminsters S. Edmonds-Bury S. Albanes and of VValtham appealed from him to the Pope without any mention of the King which had beene iniurious vnto him if he had taken himself to haue had authority and that supreme in Ecclesiasticall affaires 15. Furthermore in the yeare of Christ 1295. being the 22. of King Edwardes raigne when the foresaid Robert VVinchelsey was first chosen Archbishop of Canterbury the sayd King sent him to Rome to be confirmed and consecrated by Pope Celestinus the fifth which soone after gaue ouer the popedome to Bonifacius the eight And three yeares after that againe to wit 1298. the Bishopricke of Ely being voyde and the greater parte of the Monkes hauing chosen the Prior of their Couent for Bishop the other party chose Iohn Langhton the Kings Chancellour who going to Rome by the Kings fauour coÌ„mendatioÌ„ to pleade his cause before Pope Boniface could not preuaile nor yet the Prior but that the said Pope gaue the Bishopricke of Ely to the Bishop of Norwich and the Bishopricke of Norwich to the Prior and the Arch-deaconry of Canterbury to the Kings Chancellour 16. Moreouer in the yeare 1305. when Pope Clement the fifth a French-man borne in the Diocese of Burdeaux was made Pope and came into France in person first of all others translating the Sea of Rome to Auinion where it continued seauenty yeares King Edward sent Embassadours vnto him the Bishops of Lichfield and VVorcester togeather with the Earle of Lincolne presenting vnto him Singula vtensiliae saith Mathew of VVestminster quibus ministraretur ei in Camera in mensa omnia ex auro purissimo All necessary plate for the seruice of his chamber and table of most pure gold And at the same time he sent two new Bishops elected for Yorke and London to be confirmed by him Quos dimisit ad propria consâ—â—â—â—â—tos saith our Authour whome the said Pope Clement sent home againe with their confirmation And finally when not long after the King fell out with the forsaid Archbishop of Canterbury Robert VVinchelsey for that he had shewed himself againe not so forward to follow his will in all things Dictum Robertum Cantuariensem saith VValsingham apud Dominum Papam accusauit Rex Anglia The King of England did accuse the said Robert Archbishop of Canterbury vnto Pope Clement the fifth that he was combyned with his enemyes c. for the which the said Archbishop was cited to appeare before the Pope and suspended from the execution of his office quousque de sibi impositis legitimè se purgaret vntill he should lawfully purge himselfe of the imputations layd against him by the King Whereby we see what authority this King did acknowledge to be in the Pope and Sea of Rome 17.
We read also that when in the yeare 1299. King Edward was passed ouer with a great army into Flanders and did destroy that Countrey by fire and sword Pope Boniface sent two Cardinall-Legates to entreat him that he would be content to make truce for two yeares to the intent that peace in the meane time might be concluded adding further-more saith our Author paenam excommunicationis interdicti terrarum suarum the payne of excommunication and Interdict of his countreys if he yeelded not therevnto Sed Rex perpendens c. consensit in treguas indictas saith he the King considering well all circumstances c. did consent vnto the truce appointed by the Pope And wheras the next yeare after by other messengers sent vnto him in Canterb. the said Pope Boniface desired him to put at liberty Iohn King of Scotland which he had in hold assuring him that the King of England should leâ—se nothing by this Eorum petitioni Rex condescendens respondit se ipsum loannem tanquam seductorem falsum periurum ad Papam missurum The King condescending to their petition made answere that he would send the said Iohn as a false periured deceauer vnto the Pope to be punished by him And so he did and they caried him into France with them 18. And when afterward in the yeare 1301. King Edward was busily attent to his warrs in Scotland and Pope Boniface enformed by the grieuous complaints of the Scottish-men that K. Edward did them iniury wrote and gaue in commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury by an expresse messenger named Humbert to goe vnto the King and will him to desiste and to remit the iustice of the matter to be examined and tryed by the Sea Apostolicke anyd though the said King for the present tooke the matter very grieuously and sware that he would prosecute his said enterprize to the vttermost yet a little while after in the same yeare he sent the Earle of Lincolne and Syr Hugh Spencer to the said Sea Apostolicke to shew the right of his cause and what iniuries he had receaued at the Scots hands Iusuper Dominum Papam deprecarentur ne mendacij fabricatoribus sinum aperiret And that moreouer they should beseech the Pope that he would not open his bosome of beliefe vnto the Scottish-men that deuised lyes wherevnto the Pope hearkening wished notwithstanding that the King for his cause would giue the truce for a tyme by him assigned wherevnto the King yeelded 19. And when in the yeare following the said Pope Bonifacius vpon instance of the said Scottish-men wrote more earnestly to K. Edward in this affayre alleadging that Scotland was in the protection of the Sea Apostolicke yea and that it apperteyned also to the temporal right of the Church by submission belike of the Prince and inhabitants thereof at that tyme made the King gathering a Parlament at Lincolne determined therin first to write himself to the Pope about this matter and then that the lay-nobility and people should write another letter somewhat more earnestly to the same effect The Kings letter began thus Sanctissimo in Christo Patri Domino Bonifacio diuina prouidentia Sancta Romanae vniuersalis Ecclesiae summo Pontifici Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae salutem deuota pedum oscula beatorum To the most holy father in Christ Boniface by Gods prouidence supreme Bishop of the holy Romane and vniuersall Church Edward by the grace of God King of England sendeth greeting and the deuout kissing of his blessed feete By which title we may see in what estimation he held the Pope at that day albeit in that letter he doth protest that he doth not send this his iustification for his pretence to Scotland in forme of iudgement to haue it tryed by the Sea Apostolicke as making any doubte therof but only to enforme his Holines conscience which he doth very largely beginning from the comming of Brutus himself into England yet doth he conclude beseeching him not to beleeue the informations of his aduersaryes and emulators Sed Statum nostrum iura nostra Regia supradicta habere velitis si placet paternis affectibus commendata That it may please you to haue our State and Kingly right before laid downe recommended to your fatherly affection 20. But the Earles and Barons and lay nobility of the land that wrote a seuerall letter to the Pope as before hath byn said were more earnest in defence of the Kings title saying Manu tenebimus cum toto posse totisque viribus c. We will hold and defend the same with all our power and forces nor will we permit our King though he would to leaue of this title Quocirca Sanctitati Vestrae reuerenter humiliter supplicamus c. Wherefore we doe reuerently and humbly make supplication to your Holines that you will defend our said King that is a deuout sonne of the Catholicke Romane Church as also his rightes libertyes customes and lawes and permit him to continew therin without diminution or molestation c. Giuen at Lincolne 1301. 21. And by all this now we may perceaue the state of things in our countrey at that time as also the sense and iudgement of K. Edward and his realme about this our controuersie of spiritual and Ecclesiasticall authority And that if this King did vse sometymes some rigorous dealing towards the Clergy it was not for that he doubted of their spirituall authority or esteemed the same to be in himself but partly vpon his forsaid necessity of warre and partly for the emulation conceaued against them by the laity for their wealth and other such causes And as for the lawes which he made in their preiudice as that of Mort-main wherby is prohibited that any thing shall passe ad manum mortuam that is to say to any of their communityes that pay not tribute to the King without the Kings speciall licence some other lawes in like manner for restraint as it seemed of their externall iurisdiction in certaine affaires it proceeded of the same emulation and complaints of the subiects begun in the time of King Henry the third as you haue heard and continued in this mans dayes as also in the dayes of diuers of his succesors But this is nothing to our question in hand though M. Attorney hath nothing else but such matter as this as presently you shall see for now shall we passe to his obiections vnder this King which are foure of very small moment as by handling will appeare The Attorney In the raigne of K. Edward the first a subiect brought in a Bull of excommunication against another subiect of this Realme and published it to the Lord Treasurer of England and â—his was by the auncient common-law of England adiudged treason against the King his Crowne and dignity for the which the offender should haue byn drawne and hanged but at the great instance of the
note more diligently such matters doe in great parte faile vs. For that Mathew of VVestminster endeth with King Edward the first as the other Mathew Paris before him did with this mans father K. Henry the third and Roger Houeden before him againe with K. Iohn and VVilliam Nubergensis Petrus Blesensis before them with K. Richard â— VVilliam of Malmesbury Henry Huntington as also Florentius VVigorniensis with his continuance made an end of their historyes partly vnder K. Stephen and partly vnder K. Henry the first so as now downe-ward from this King Edward the second we shall only haue Raynulph of Chester and Thomas VValsingam for the most ancient writers of this time that doth ensue who yet are nothing so copious or diligent as diuers of the former 41. This Edward therefore second of that name and surnamed of Carnaruan for that he was borne in that towne of VVales when his Father lay with an army in those partes to reduce that countrey to subiection as he did who being of the age of twenty three yeares when his father dyed vpon the borders of Scotland in the yeare 1307. receauing two speciall things in charge saith VValsingam from his Father vnder paine of his curse The first that the should prosecute presently and end the enterprize began against Scotland before he went to London or procured to be crowned the second that he should not touche or waste but send to the holy land a certaine summe of money which his said Father had layed togeather for the assistance of that warr to the which he had purposed to goe himself in person if he had liued Wherevnto Iohn Stow addeth a thirde in these wordes His father charged him on his curse that he should not presume to call home Pierce of Gaueston by common decree banished without common consent c. Notwithstanding all these admonitions and threats this careles young Prince performed no one thing of the three but got himself presently into France and there was married in Bullen vnto Lady Isabell only daughter of Philip the fourth surnamed the faire King of France and in that marriage and triumphe therof spent the foresaid money which prospered afterwarde accordingly for that this marriage and wife was the cause and occasion not only of his ouerthrow and miserable ruine but of all the warrs in like manner that ensued for many yeares after betwene France England For that shee being the only daughter and heire as hath byn said to the King of France her sonne Edward the third in her title began first the said warrs which brought finally the losse not only of that which was gotten of new but of all the rest that we had before in France and shee taking a deepe disgust with her said husband for his disordinate affection to Pierce Gaueston whome presently after his fathers death he recalled from banishment the two Spencers and others misliked by her and the greater parte of the Realme shee finally after many troubles warrs insurrections and great store of Noble-men cut of and destroyed on both partes preuailed against the said King her husband and hauing on her side the authority of her young sonne the Prince and all his followers did put downe the said King depriued him of his crowne sett vp her young sonne in his place committed the other to prison where soone after he was pitifully murthered And these are the varietyes of worldly fortunes these the frailtyes and vncerteintyes of earthly Greatnes And where King Edward placed all his pleasure from the same spring issued forth the beginning and progresse of all his miserie 42. But as for his religion and iudgement therein notwithstanding all other his errours in life and behauiour that it was constantly Catholicke according to that which he had receaued and inherited from his Ancestours no doubt can be made at all For that the whole State of his realme touching Ecclesiasticall affaires remained as he found it and as it had continued in the tymes of his progenitours and that the Bishops of Rome had generall authority ouer England in his dayes not only in meere spirituall iurisdiction which all the Bishops of England professed to receaue from him but also in externall disposing when he would of Bishoprickes and other Prelacies notwithstanding all the complaints made in his Fathers and Grand-fathers tymes about that matter may be made euident by many examples 43. For first we reade that in the yeare 1311. when Pope Clement the fifth in a Councell at Vienna in France vpon many graue and vrgent causes as was pretended alleadged did put downe the whole order of knights called Templarij for that their first institution was to haue care to defend the Temple of Ierusalem against infidells and did appoint their lands which were many and great to be giuen to an other newer order which then begun named Hospitalary for that they had the care of the hospitals wherein Pilgrims were receaued which now are the knights of S. Iohn of Malta albeit this matter were of such importance and consequence for that the persons were many and of nobility and their possessions great as hath byn said yet was that Decree obeyed in England without resistance and the persons depriued and put to perpetuall pennance in a Councell at London anno 1311. and their said lands and goods giuen to the other sorte of knights and confirmed by Parlament in London 13. yeares after to wit in the yeare of Christ 1324. which was the 17. of King Edwards raigne as VValsingam and others doe testifie which well declareth what the Popes authority was at that day in England 44. Againe we reade that in the yeare 1319. which was the 12. of this Kings raigne great warre being betwene England Scotland King Edward had procured that Pope Iohn the 22. should send two Cardinall-Legates into England to examine the matter how it stood and to punish by Ecclesiasticall Censures that party that should be found stubborne and repugnant to reason Wher vpon finally hauing heard both sides and finding Robert Bruse King of Scotland to haue offered iniuryes to the King of England they pronounced sentence of excommunication against him and put the whole Kingdome vnder interdict For releasing wherof the said King Robert and the State of Scotland 4. yeares after sent a solemn embassage to the Pope to wit the Bishop of Glasco Earle of Murray which being vnderstood by King Edward he sent also a messenger on his behalfe to contradicte the same And albeit him Embassadour saith our Story in dignity were but a simple Priest yet so many reasons and accusations he alleadged against themâ— or K. Edward and his câ—uâ—e as the Scottish Embassadours â—â—ld obteyne no release at that time And this for the Popes auâ—â—â—â—â—â—y in those dayes for publicke affaires 45. But as for priuate matters of England especially the disposing of Bishoprickes confirmation inuestitures of all Bishops 〈◊〉
and how it extendeth it selfe cap. 1. per totum Error how it differeth from Ignorance cap. 1. num 8. 9. Euesham-Abbey in VVorcester-shire builded by S. Egwyn cap. 6. num 42. The same priuiledged from Rome ibidem Eustachius K. Stephens sonne his violence vsed against Clergy-men of Yorke cap. 8. num 35. Excommunications practised by the Apostles cap. 2. num 15. Exemption of Clergy-men from secular power ex iure diuino cap. 2. num 37. Item by Imperiall lawes ibid. n. 38 By particular Kinges and Princes ib. num 39. Exemptions graunted by diuers Popes to pious vvorkes in England before the Conquest cap. 5. num 10. Expostulations vvith M. Attorney about iniuryes offered to many in his booke of Reportes cap. 16. per totum Exulteration of M. Attorneys booke of Reportes cap. 16. num 33. F. Father Campian and his fellovv-martyrs iniured by M. Attorney cap. 16. n. 11. Their protestations at their death ib. num 12. Founders of pious vvorkes had authority ordinarily to giue Charters for priuiledges and exemptions therof cap. 8. num 23. Foundation of Abbeys and Monasteryes in England before the Conquest cap. 6. à num 37. vsque ad 49. Franquises and priuiledges of Churches and monasteryes procured from the Pope cap. 6. num 37.38.39 deinceps Freedome of speach in the ancient Fathers to Emperours cap. 4. num 4. 5. 6. G. Geffrey K. Richard the first his brother made Archbishop of Yorke cap. 9. num 35. His deposition from his bishopricke ibid. num 45. Againe restored ibid. num 46. Glastenbury-Abbey priuiledged from Rome at the petition of K. Edgar cap. 6. num 45. God the author of all lavvfull povver cap. 1. num 1. 2. Gods miraculous actions in the old testament ascribed to Christ cap. 4. num 30. Gouernment of vvomen in spiritualityes and absurdity therof cap. 4. n. 19. 20.21 22. Great-Charter for Church-priuiledges began by K. Henry the third cap. 10. num 6. S. Gregoryes commission to S. Augustine of Canterbury cap. 6. nu 12. 13. S. Gregory Nazianzens discourse about the nature of spirituall and temporall Iurisdiction cap. 2. num 4. Groundes of spirituall authority Prefac num 6. Groundes of Protestants assertions Prefac num 7. Of Puritans ibid. num 8. Of Catholickes ibid. num 9. Groundes in sectes new-opinions vvhat they are or can be cap. 16. n. 25. Gualter Archbishop of Roane Gouernour of England cap. 9. n. 4. 42. His disgust and appeale against King Richard the first ibid. num 47. Guide to saluation Pref. num 5. H. Head-ship of spirituall matters not possibly in a woman cap. 4. num 26. The absurdityes that would follow therof ibid num 27. K. Henry the first his raigne ouer England cap. 8. num 8. His good beginning ibid. num 9. His resignation of inuestitures ibid. num 14. His conference vvith Pope Calixtus in Normandy ibid num 14. His acknowledgment of the Popes supremacy ibid. num 21. K. Henry the second his raigne out England cap. 9. à num 1. vsque ad n. 22. His temporall greatnesse ibid. num 2. His lamentable end ibid. num 6. Laws attempted by him against the Church ibid. num 7. Made legate of the Pope in England ibid num 9. His humility to the Sea Apostolicke cap. 9. num 10. His appeale to the Pope about S. Thomas of Canterburâ— death ibid num 11. His purgation and absolution by the Popes Legat. ibid. n. 12. 13. His letter to the Pope in great affliction ibid. n. 14. â—â— The straytes vvherunto he vvas driuen ibid. num 19. His pennance at the body of S. Thomas of Canterbury cap. 9. num 19. K. Henry the third his temporall homage done to the Sea Apostolicke cap. 10. num 3. His beginning of the Great Charter for Church priuiledges ibid. num 6. His conference vvith K. Lewes of France ibid. num 9. His obedience and subiection to the Popes cap. 10 n 19. His letter to Pope Innocentius ibid. num 21. His statutes in fauour of the Clergy ibid. num 27. His obedience to the Bishopp of London in spirituall matters ibid. num 34 35 Also to the Deane of Paules ibid. num 38. K. Henry the 4. his raigne cap. 13. n. 1. 2. 3. deinceps His condemnation and execution of the Archbishop of Yorke c. 15. n. 23. K. Henry the seauenth his raigne ouer England cap. 14 n. 15. 16. deinceps His statute for reformation of the Clergy ibid. His deuotion and obedience to the Sea of Rome vntill his death ibid. n. 21. K. Henry the 8. his good beginning cap. 15. n. 1. 2. His booke against Luther ibid. num 3.4 5. His arguments therin for the Popes supremacy ibid num 5. 6. dein His inuectiue against Luthers inconstancy ibid. num 7. His good offices to the Pope continued for many yeares ibid. n. 9. The beginning of his breach vvith the Pope ibid. n. 10. 11. His taking vpon him the Supremacy ibid num 13.14 15. His condemnation of Protestants religion ibid. n. 15. Heretickes their pretence of singularity of knowledge cap. 1. n. 5. 6. 7. Heresy how great and grieuous a synne cap. 16. n. 26. Hubert Earle of Kent Chiefe Iusticer of England cap. 10. num 34. His disgrace vvith the Kinge ibid. His taking of Sanctuary ibid. Hunting hawking disliked in English Bishopps and Prelates c. 9. n. 45. I. Ignorance vvhat it is cap. 1. num 10. Ignorance how it differeth from error ibid. n. 10. 11. Ignorance negatiue and priuitiue ibid. num 10. 11. Ignorance voluntary and inuoluntary ibid. num 11. 12. Inas King of the VVestsaxons his letters in fauour of the Pope cap. 6. n. 69. His Pilgrimage to Rome for deuotion cap. 6. n. 82. Inconueniences by strangers promoted to Ecclesiasticall dignityes in England cap. 11. num 36. Remedyes therof sought from the Pope ibid. n. 38. Iniuryes offered to diuers sorts of men by M. Attorney his booke cap. 16. per totum Insolency of some priuate men and perills that often arise therby cap. 16. num 31. Inuasion of Abbey-landes or goods forbidden vnder payne of damnation cap. 5. num 11. 12. Inuectiue of K. Henry the 8. against Luthers inconstancy cap. 15. num 7. Inuestitures to Benefices desyred by Princes denyed by Popes cap. 7. n. 34. The beginning therof by secular Princes cap. 8. num 16. Inuestitures resigned by K. Henry the first cap. 8. num 14. Inuestitures graunted only by permission of the Sea Apostolicke cap. 8. num 17. K. Iohn of England his variable state in gouernment cap. 9. n. 48. deinceps His obedience to the Sea of Rome ibid. num 50. 51. His piety in the beginning of his raigne ibid num 53. His humility liberality ibid n. 54. His breach with the Church of Rome and occasion therof cap. 9. n. â—7 His indignation against Clergy meÌ„ ibid. num 58,59 60. His offer of subiectioÌ„ to the Mores ibid. num 62.
Hen. 1. Florent 〈…〉 an 1106. S. Anselm and the King reconciled Prosperous successe of K. Henry vpon his amendement Floâ—ent VVâ—â—â— in Chron. an 1107. Malmeâ—b in â—it Hen. 1. l. 3. Hovv K. Henry of coÌ„science resigned inuestitures Houeden part 1. aâ—nal fol. 272. The meeting of K. Henry and Pope Castus at Gesòrse in NormaÌ„dy Mal. lib. 5. annal in vita Henr. 1. Polid. virgil l. de inuentoâ—ib RetuÌ„ Gratian distiâ—â— 65. cap. 22. Adrian Sigebert in Cron anno 1111. Baron in annal an 774. The beginning of inuestitures by secular Princes The vse of Inuestitures graunted only by the Seâ— Apostolicke Malmesb. l. 5. hist. in vit â—en â— fol. 94. A consideration of much moment Florent in â—â—on 〈◊〉 â—11 1213. Diuers proofes of K Henry acknovvledging the Popes Supremacy The Charter of Hen. I founder of the Abbey of Reading in the 26. yeare of his raigne and an Dom. 1125. VVeake and impertinent proofe Founders had authority to giue Charters Supra cap. â— This inâ—â—â—nce of â—o valevv Supra Ibid. K. Stephen began his raigne an â—â—35 and held it 1â— yeres and more vntill â—â—54 Vncertainty of humane designementâ— Malmesb. in Stephene Malmesb. l. 1. Hist. Nouell Malmesb. Ibid. The oath of K. Stephen for the libertyes of the Church Malmesb. Ibid lib. 1. Nouell Inconstancy of King Stephen by euill couÌ„sailors A violent act of K. Stephen Malmesb. Ibidem The K. cited to appeare before the Bishopps The kings plea by his Attourney before the Bishops K. Stephen graÌ„ted an appeale to Rome but doubteth the same DiffereÌ„ce betvvixt K. Stephens Attourney and ours Ibidem Florent an 11â—9 VValsingh in â—podâ—g Neustriae an 1142. VVilliam Archb. of York the Kings nephevv depriued by the Sea Apostolick Nuberg l. 1. hist. caep 1â— 26. Polâ—d l. 12. hist. versus finenâ— Beâ—â—ard epist â—â—4 235 237 238. 139. 251. This King raigned from the yeare 1154. vnto 1189. vvhich vvas 35. years K. Henry his temporall greatnes Nubergens l. 3. c. 25. The same handleth much more largely Petrus Blesâ—â—sis ArchdeacoÌ„ of Bath that vvas his latin Secretary many years epist. 47. K Henry punished in that vvherin he tooke most delight Rhetemag Lexomen epist and Henr. 2 epâ—â—t 253. apud Bleâ—â—â—s â—ct Bleseâ— episâ—â—la 164. ExcoÌ„munication threatned to the Queene Stovv in vâ—â— Henr. 2. Nuberg l. 3. 6. 25. K. Henry his lameÌ„table end His vertues Lavves attempted by King Henry against the Church K. Henry vehement contentioÌ„ to haue these lavves take place 〈◊〉 port 2. Aâ—nal in â—â— 1164. K. Henry the secoÌ„d made Legate of the Pope K. Henry his humility to the 〈◊〉 Apostolick K. Henry himselfe appealeth to the Pope Houed part 2. annal in vâ—â— H. 2. K. Henry appealeth the secoÌ„d time K Henry commeth from Ireland to appeare before the Popes Legates Pet. Bloson Epist. 136. The purgation absolutioÌ„ of King Henry A circumstance notably coÌ„mending the true obedience of K. Henry to the Church of Rome Pet. â—â—esen â—pistola 136. A letter of K Henry the secoÌ„d to the Pope vvritten in great affliction Stovv aâ— 1160. K. Henry founded al his state vpon the Popes authority Houed in viâ— Hon. 2. VValsing in Ypodâ—gâ—â— noustr an 1177. Diâ—erse things done by authoritye of the Pope in England The straites vvhervnto King Henry vvas driuen VVasing in Ypodig 〈◊〉 an 11â—4 K. Henry strangely deliuered The earnest and â— syncere penaunceâ— of King Henry The vvonderfull successes of K. Hen. vpon his penance See Nuberg l. 2. hist. â— 25. 33. â— Blesensiâ— epist. 153. This King raigned from the yere 11â—9 vntil 1199. that is 10. yeres Misfortunes of K. Richard King Richard deuout and obedient to the Church of Rome See Blesen epist. 64. ad Celest. PP Reg. Hoâ—ed part 2. Annal. in vit Rich. 2. King Richards behauiour oath at his coronation King Richard goeth to Ierusalem by the Popes procurement The Kingdom commended to the Popes protectioÌ„ See Houed and math Paris anno 1190. Houed iâ— vit Rich. 1. fol. 375. Diuers Appellations from the King to the Pope Houed Ibid. fol. 376. King Richard sent his mother to Rome to entreate the Pope Houed part 2. An. pag. 392. Houeden Ibid. fol. 326. King Richardes letter to P. Clement the 3. Pope Celestines letter to the Realme of England The Bishop of Ely fauored defended by the Pope and the King Nubergens reiuÌ„ Angl. l. 4. cap. 17. Geffrey the kinges brother by authority of the P. made Archbishop of Yorke Nubergens Ibidem cap. 25. King Richards fortunes letted by his brothers ambition enuy of the K of France King Richards captiuity in Austria See Pet. Blesen epest 144. ad Celest. PP Q Eleanores coÌ„plaints vnto Pope Celestinus â—les epist. 145. Q. Eleanora her petition to Pope Celestinus Ibid. epist. 146. Matt. 16. Epist. 6â— ad Celest. â—P The speach of the Archbishop of Reane in K. Richards behalfe coÌ„cerning S. Peters povver Sap. â—â—p 6. 〈◊〉 10. A manifest inference vpoÌ„ the premises against M Attorney Houâ—d in vt Râ—â—â— 1. fol. 445. Hovv small and little spirituall iurisdiction King Richard pretended Paris iâ— vit Rich. 8. Hunting and hauking reproued by the Pope in our English Bishops â—â—uâ—d in vita Ruâ—ar 1. fol. 428. Ibid. fol. 176. Geffrey restored to his Bishopricke by Pope Innocentius Disgust appeale of the Archb. of Roane against K. Richard This King began his raigne an 1199. and raigned 18. yeres vnto an 1216. Variablenes of K. Iohn The pretences of the Dolphin of France to England K. Iohns obeyng the Sea Apostolick Houed 2. part Annal. fol. 458. K. Iohn pretended no supremacy Ecclesiasticall A councel hâ—ld against the kings prohibition Houed in viâ— Ioan. fol. 461. The piety of K. Iohn in the beginning of his raigne K. Iohne humility and liberalitye K. Ioâ—ns mutation to the vvorse See vvalsing in â—pedig anno 1204. and Math. Paris anno 2215. The first occasioÌ„ of K. Iohns breach vvith the Church churchmen Great offence and indignation of K. Iohn against Clergie men Houed Ibid. Many vvish that Pope Innocentius had dealt more myldly vvith K. Iohn Extreme acts of K. Iohn in his indignation Paris in vit Ioan. an 1210. Paris Ibid. an 1212. Math Paris Ibid Paris anno 1213. in vit Ioan. King Iohn offered subiection to the K. of the Moores The straÌ„ge coÌ„trariety of King Iohn The aydea that King Iohn receaued from P. Innocentius The church-liberties confirmed by K. Iohn and the Pope Paris an aâ— 15. See Fox his pageants of the toade skinned to prepare the poisoÌ„ vvith other circuÌ„stances pag. 133. of his Acts and monuments All ancieÌ„t English lavves against M. Attorney K. Henry the third began his raigne 1216 and dyed anno 1â—7â— hauing 56. yeres The coronation beginning of King Henry the third Math. Paris in vit Hen. 3. an 1216. Temporal homage done to the Sea Apostolick by King Henry the third Bles epist. 136. ad Alex. PP Vvalsingâ—m in 〈◊〉 Nousâ—ria
tyme but the quite contrary CHAP. VI. THov hast seene and considered I doubt not gentle and iudicious Reader how M. Attorney in the former Chapter hath byn grauelled in prouing his affirmatiue proposition that our Kings before the Conquest tooke supreme Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction vpon them and acknowledged it not in the Pope or Sea of Rome For proofe wherof he brought forth two such poore and petite instances as they being besides their weaknes impertinent and vntrue and not subsisting in their owne grounds they were no more for perfourmance of his promise of cleere and demonstratiue proofes then if a man being bound to pay ten thousand pounds in pure and current gold should bring forth two mites of brasse for discharge of his band And surely if M. Attorney should haue failed soe some yeares gone before he was so wealthie as that taking vpon him with so great an ostentation to proue an affirmatiue assertion of so mayne importance and consequence as this is he should haue performed no more then he hath here done he would neuer haue attained by law to the preferment he hath But now◠perhaps he persuadeth himself that by his only credit already gotten he may say what he will and proue as little as he list because by only saying he shall be beleeued 2. But on the contrary side we require proofes offer proofes gentle Reader for that the matter is of singular great weight euen for thy soule we rest not in ostentation of wordes only but in probation of deedes And though we might remaine sufficiently with the victorie for that our aduersarie resteth with so apparent a foyle in the proofe of his forsayd affirmatiue yet that you may see and behold as in a glasse the difference of our cause and confidence therin I haue thought conuenient out of the great aboundance and variety of proofes that our truth hath in this controuersie as well as in all others betwene vs and Protestants to take vpon me to proue the negatiue against M. Attorney which of it self is euer more hard as you know than to proue an affirmatiue except euidence of truth doe facilitate the matter as in our case and to proue and make euident by sundry sortes of cleere and perspicuous demonstrations nyne or ten at the least that during the tyme before the Conquest no one of all our Christian English Kings exceeding the number of an hundred as before hath been said did take vpon them either to be heads of the Church or to be supreme gouernours in Ecclesiasticall causes or to haue any spirituall Iurisdiction al deriued from the right of their Crownes or denyed this to be in the Pope Bishops only or did make any Ecclesiastical lawes concerning spirituall matters and consequently that this Treatise of M. Attorney Of the Kings Ecclesiasticall law doth apperteine no more vnto them in realitie of truth than to the man in the Moone to gouerne the heauens For that they neuer so much a◠dreamed of any such thing nor of any one of the forsaid clauses of spirituall power Iurisdiction to belong vnto them which heere shall brefely be proued with such variety of demonstrations taken out of their owne words dedes decrees actions as I doubt not but will make more then morall euidence The first Demonstration 3. The first Demonstration may be taken from the consideration of all the auncient lawes made by Christian Kings in our Countrey before the Conquest euery one in his seuerall State and Dominion according to the tymes and places they raigned in and gouerned their Commonwealthes both Britanes Saxons and Danes and among the Saxons againe their Kings and Princes in euery of their seuerall Kingdoms about which point Malmesbury writeth thus of the noble King Inas Porrò quantus in Dei rebus fuerit indicio sunt leges ad corrigendos mores in populo latae in quibus viuum ad hoc tempus puritatis suae resultat speculum How great a King Inas was in Gods affaires the lawes which he made to correct the manners of his people doe sufficiently declare in which vntill this day there is seen as in a liuely glasse the said Kings purity of mynde And the like lawes no doubt other Kings also made in their Dominions all which remained afterwards to their posterity vnder the names of Mulmutian lawes For the lawes of the Britans as also the lawes of the Mercians called in their tongue Mercen laga and of the West-Saxons called VVest-saxen laga and of the Danes named Dan laga stood in force vntill England came to be a Monarchie when the first authour of the said Monarchie King Egbert began first to drawe them into one body of conformity But after him againe K. Edgar surnamed the peaceable and wise King confirmed the same and sett them forth but by the warrs and confusion of the Danes which after his death ensued they were for the most part put out of vse againe vntill K. Edward the confessor recalled them encreased and made them perfect and by the counsaile of his Peeres and Realme did frame a new ordination of the same lawes which remained afterwards vnder the name of K. Edward his lawes and were so much approued and loued by the people as Iohn Fox also out of Mathew Paris doth affirme that the common people of England would not doe obedience to VVilliam Conquerour but that first he did sweare to keepe these lawes which oath notwithstāding saith he the Conquerour did afterward breake and in most points brought in his owne lawes So Fox which if it be true yet is it to be vnderstood principally of his lawes appertayninge vnto secular men for that in the rest which concerned the Church her priuiledges he followed absolutely the lawes of K. Edward as in the next Chapter shall appeare where we shall sett downe the said Conquerour his lawes in this behalfe which are as fauourable and respectiue vnto Ecclesiasticall power and persons as of any one King eyther before or after him 4. Wherevpon it followeth that M. Attorney who so often iterateth this worde of auncient and most auncient common-lawes of England which as he saith but cannot proue did authorize Q. Elizabeth her spirituall Iurisdiction ouer the Church speaketh but in the ayre and at randome beating vs still with the empty sound of these words without substance For in reall dealing he should haue alleadged some one law at least to that purpuse out of all these before the Conquest if he had meant to be as good as his word 5. But this he cannot doe as already you haue seen by his two poore instances and we doe shew on the contrary side that all these and other lawes of these dayes were for vs in the fauour of Catholike Religion and particularly for the liberties franquizes priuiledges exemptions and immunities of the Church and Clergie according to the Canons and Decrees of the Popes Ecclesiasticall law
said King and Bishops tooke vnto themselues wholesome counsaile choosing and ordeyning particular Bishops in euery prouince of the Geuisses or westsaxons And wheras the said prouince had but two Bishops in old time now they deuided the same into fiue and presently the Synod being ended the said Archbishop was sent to Rome with honourable presents Qui Papam saith our Authour cum magna humilitate placauit Decretum Regis recitauit quod Apostolico maximè placuit He did with great humilitie endeauour to pacify the said Pope Formosus reciting vnto him the decree that King Edward had made for better furnishing the Countrey with more Bishops for the time to come then euer had byn before which most of all pleased the Apostolicall Pope Wherfore the Archbishop retourning into England ordeyned in the Citty of Canterbury seaueu Bishops vpon one day appointing them seuen distinct Bishoprickes Atque hoc totum saith he Papa firmauit vt damnaretur in perpetuum qui hoc decretum infirmaret And the Pope Formosus did confirme this decree of this distinction of Bishops in England daÌ„ning him eternally which should goe about to infringe the same So Malmesbury and consider the authority here vsed 58. The same Pope also wrote a letter to the Bishopps of England by the said Archbishop Pleamond in these wordes To our brethren and children in Christ all the Bishopps of England Formosus We hauing heard of the wicked rytes of Idolatrous Pagans which haue begun to spring vp againe in your partes and that yow haue held your peace as dumme doggs not able to barke we had determined to strike you all with the sword of separation from the body of Christ and his Church but for so much as our deere brother Pleamond your Archbishop hath tolde me that at length you are awakened and haue begun to renew the seed of Gods word by preaching which was so honourably sowne from this Sea in times past in the land of England we haue drawne backe and stayed the deuouring sword and moreouer doe send you the benediction of almighty God and of S. Peter Prince of the Apostles praying for you that you may haue perseuerance in the good things which you haue well begune c. 59. Thus went that letter with a far longer exhortation â—â— that behalfe with order and instruction how to proceed to coâ—tinew good Bishopps among them which was that as soone â—â— knowledge came to the Metropolitan of any Bishop dead he should presently without delay cause another Canonically to be elected in his place and himself to consecrate the same And moreouer he determineth that the Bishop of Canterbury hath byn euer from ancient times held for chiefe Metropolitan of England otdeyened so by S. Gregory himself as in the Roman Registers was authenticall recorded and therefore he confirmeth the same threatning that what man soeuer shall goe about to infringe this decree shal be separated perpetually from the body of Christ and his Church So Malmesbury 60. And in this example we see many points expressing the sense of these ages as first the vigilancy of the Pope Formosus ouer England the affaires therof though far remote from him and altogether embroyled with warrs no lesse then ouer other Prouinces Kingdomes of the world which is conforme to that which S. Bede writeth of the like diligence of Pope Agatho aboue two hundred yeares before this of Formosus that is to say that he seing the heresie of Monethelites that held but one only will in Christ to spring vp and encrease in diuerse places of the world sent one expressly from Rome into England to learne what passed there Pope Agatho saith Bede being desirous to vnderstand as in other prouinces so also in Britany what was the state of the English Church and whether it preserued it self chaste and vnspotted from the contagions of heretickes sent into England for this purpose a most reuerend Abbot named Iohn who procuring a Synod of Bishops to be gathered togeather about that matter by Theodorus the Archbishop found that the Catholike faith in England was conserued in all points entire and inuiolated of which Synod he had an authenticall copie deliuered him by publicke testimony to be carryed to Rome Thus S. Bede touching the attention and diligence of Pope Agatho in our English Ecclesiasticall affaires 61. And it is to be noted that in the same Synod is sett downe that fower seuerall Kings concurred thervnto to giue therby satisfaction vnto the Pope to wit Egfryd King of the Northumberâ— Ethelred of the Mercians Adelnulphus of the Eastangles Lotharius of Kent which is conforme to that which the King Edward the first â—â— the former example did when presently vpon the threatning letters of Pope Formosus he called forthwith a Councell remedyed the fault that was committed sent the Archbishop Pleamond to Rome to giue satisfaction and promise of amendment for the time to come which is to be presumed that none of these Kings would haue done if they had thought themselues iniured by this intermedling of the Pope as an externall power and that themselues had authority Ecclesiasticall deriued from their crownes to dispose order these things without any reference to the Sea Apostolike And so much for this argument and demonstration which openeth a window to see many things more which by me of purpose are pretermitted for that I couet not to be ouerlong The sixt Demonstration 62. The sixt Argument may be deduced from an vniuersall contemplation of all the Kings Archbishops and Bishops that haue liued and raigned togeather in all this tyme in England and the seuerall Prouinces and Kingdomes therof before the Conquest the Kings being in number aboue an hundred that were Christened as often before hath byn mentioned the Archbishops of Canterbury the spirituall heads of the English Church 32. from S. Augustine vnto Stigano and other Bishops of far greater number laying before our eyes what manner of men all these were what faith they beleeued and practised what vnion and subordination they had in spirituall and temporall iurisdiction amongst them selues both at home and abroad with the Sea Apostolike which in great part hath byn declared by the precedent arguments and demonstrations All which being layd togeather we may inferre that for so much as lawes are nothing else but ordinaunces and agreemenrs of the Prince and people to the publicke good of euery Kingdome State and Countrey we may inferre I say that according as we find the faith and religion of our Princes Bishops and people to haue byn in those dayes so were also their lawes For out of their religion they made their lawes and consequently it must needes follow that they being all perfectly Catholike according to the Roman vse as by all the former arguments you haue seene that they made no lawes concerning Ecclesiasticall matters nor admitted â—onceaued any from their ancestours nor could not doe they being also
and hath these words Chrisicrux antecellit Caesaris aquilas gladius Petri gladio Constantini Apostolius sedes praeiudicat Imperatoriae potestati The crosse of Christ excelleth the spread-eagles in Cesars banners the sword of Peter is of more eminent power then the sword of Constantine and the Sea Apostolike is more potent then any Imperiall authority And this was the opinion sense and iudgement of these Princes and tymes wherin they made this difference degree of these two swordes without any such preiudice of taking away halfe their Monarchies from themselues or other Princes therby as M. Attorney and other such Prince-flatterers doe pretend The Conclusion vpon the former Demonstrations 90. Now therfore gentle Reader by these ten demonstrations thou hast seene what was the opinion iudgement and practise of all our ancient English Kings before the Conquest about this point of temporall and spirituall power and authority and heare I thinke thou wilt not deny but that my manner of proofe is and hath byn according to the rule of the Fathers touched before in the answere to the preface to wit KATH'HOLON or secundum totum bringing forth the whole body of this tyme that M. Attorneys proofe if it had byn a proofe that is to say if he had proued that which he propounded is secundum partem according to a part he only alleadging two sole petite instances out of all the ranke of aboue an hundred Kings for the space almost of fiue hundred yeares and these two also so weake and impertinent as no waye they can subsist in the sense wherin he alleadgeth them And herwithall in like manner thou mayst pleasâ— to call to remembraunce the auncient obseruation of old Tertullian aboue forteene hundred yeares gone Solemâ— est heretick c. It is a solemne tricke of heretickes by the occasion of some one doubtfull sentence or clause to wrest matters contra exercitum sententiarum against a whole army of sentences to the contrary And S. Cyprian in the next age after him noteth the like audacity of hereticke of his tyme that would take a part and leaue out a part and preferre some peece or parch before the whole And whether M. Attorney doe not follow the same spirit heere in peeping forth with two little miserable mistaken instances out of so great an army of plaine testimonyes to the contrary you haue already seene and out of your wisdome will easily iudge The like or worse dealing will you find afterward when we shall haue passed the Conquest whervnto now we hasten and for the euent I remit my self to the experience OF THE KINGS AFTER THE CONQVEST VNTO OVR TYMES And first of the Conquerour himself whether he tooke spirituall iurisdiction vpon him or no by vertue of his Crowne and temporall authority CHAP. VII HAVING pervsed what passed among our Kings before the Conquest to which pervse veiw we were led by M. Attorneys induction of two instances of those dayes as you haue seen we are now to follow him also beneath the said Conquest for tryall of our controversie where albeit as before I haue noted the further wee goe from the origen of our English conuersion and heate of that primitiue spirit of deuotion that God gaue our Kings in those first ages of their said conuersion to Christian religion the more coldnes we shall find in some cases and more worldly and secular spirit in diuers of our Norman and French Princes then waâ—â— the English before them yet for the substance of this point of controuersie between M. Attorney and mee about the acknowledgement of the Popes authority Ecclesiasticall we shall find them in effect no lesse resolute then the other if you respect the substance of the thing it self though in tendernesse of piety and deuotion their different liues and courses as after you shall se be witnesses vnto vs of no small difference 2. And this is seen in none more then in K. VVilliam the first himself the head stocke of al the rest who though in life action as a warryer and Conqueror were rough fierce boysterous especially in the former years of his raigne ouer EnglaÌ„d wherin vpoÌ„ ielosy of his vnsetled state he did many things de facto which were not so iustifiable de Iure for which Authors doe note that he was greatly punished by God both in himself in his children and childrens children yet in this point of true substantiall obedience to the Church when he was void of passion and out of occasion of any coÌ„straining necessity he all-wayes shewed himself dutifull respectiue humble towards the said Church according to his Oath taken at his Coronation before the Altar of S. Peter at VVestminster se velle Sanctas Dei Ecclesias ac rectores defendere saith Florentius that he would defend the holy Churches of God and the gouernours therof which to haue perfourmed he professed also at his death with teares as Iohn Stow more auncient writers then he doe beare him witnes some are of opinion that the long continuance of his line in the Crowne of England considering how he entered how some of them haue gouerned after him may principally be ascribed vnto this that he would not take in hand the enterprice of England but that first it should be consulted and approued by the Sea Apostolike at at Rome as presently you shall heare that it was and for that himself so firmely relied vpon the same afterward in all his greatest occasions and recommended the same especially to his sonnes on his death-bed when he was free from these interests which oftentimes before drew and wrested him to diuers actions which in that last houre he approued not but condemned and much bewayled 3. And of this later point many examples might be alleadged both of much bloudshed in England of spoiling and destroying the countrey of casting downe many townes and Churches for enlarging his hunting of vexing and oppressing the English-nation of ryfling and spoyling monasteryes and Churches where the English had hidden some of their wealth to maintaine themselues withall his detayning in prison all dayes of his life the Archbishop Stigand and diuers other Bishops and Abbots deposed in the Councell at VVinchester by Pope Alexander his legats in the fourth yeare of his raigne and of his brother Otho Bishop of Baion held in prison by him albeit this concerning Ecclesiasticall persons he professed to doe by licence and commission of the Sea Apostolike yet in truth the cheife cause was his owne vehement passion and ielousie of his temporall estate For I find a letter of Pope Gregory the seauenth that succeeded Alexander the second written vnto him vpon the yeare of Christ 1084. which was the 18. of K. VVilliams raigne wherin the said Pope though praising his religious zeale in other things which he would neuer haue done if he had byn opposite to his authority and iurisdiction yet doth he reprehend
greatly this violent seuerity towards Ecclesiasticall persons One thing saith he among so many excellent monuments of your royall vertues doth greatly mislike and afflict me and contristate my louing heart towards you that in the taking and detayning prisoner your brother Otho Bishop of Baion you had not that care which was conuenient of your Princely reputation but did prefer the secular caution of your temporall state before the law of God in not bearing more reuerence vnto Priestly dignity So he 4. And this very same violent nature of K. VVilliam who had byn a souldiar and borne armes and brought vp in continuall bloud-shed from eight years old as himself testifieth was that which pious and learned Lanfranke nominated chosen Archbishop of Canterbury after the deposition of the foresaid Stygand did so much feare and mislike at his first comming into England as may appeare by an epistle of his to Pope Alexander the second that had commaunded him sore against his will to leaue his monasterie in Normandy and to take that Archbishoprick vpon him but now being come into England and seeing how matters did passe there he was vtterly dismayed and besought the Pope by all means possible and by all the most effectuall wayes of persuasion he could deuise that he might be rid of it againe Your legat said he hauing gathered a Synod heer in Normandy commaunded mee by the authority of the Apostolike Sea to take the gouernment of the Church of Canterbury vpon mee neither could any resistance of my parte by laying forth the weaknes â—f my body the vnworthines of my person the lack of skill in the English tongue the barbarousness of the people nor any other such excuse take place with them wherefore at length I gaue my consent I am come hither into England and haue taken the charge vpon me wherin I find so great trouble and affliction of mind such rediousnes of my soule such want of courage in my self such perturbations such tribulations such afflictions such obdurations such ambition such beastlynesse in others and doe euery day heare see and feele such misery of the Church as it loatheth me to liue and am sory that I haue liued vnto this day For as the euils are great for the present so doe I expect far greater for the time to come c. Wherfore I doe most humble beseech your Highnes euen for Gods sake and for your owne soule that haue bound me to this charge that you will absolue me againe let me returne to my monasticall life which aboue all things in this world I loue and desire and let not me haue denyall in this one petition which hath both piety iustice and necessity in it c. 5. So wrote the Archbishop Lanfrank And that the most of this was meant in respect of difficulties with K. VVilliam himself it may be gathered by that in the same letter he desireth the Pope to pray for the said King VVilliam and among other points Vt cor eius ad amorem suum Sanctae Ecclesia spirituali semper deuotione compungat That God allmighty will stir his heart to loue him and his holy Church and bring it to compunction by spirituall deuotion For this was the thing that King VVilliam had most need of to wit spirituall compunction with a tender conscience whose affections were more out of order commonly then his iudgement which himselfe confessed with great lamentation at his death as you may read in Stow and other Authors For he I meane the King hauing related his hard proceedings in England he said that he was pricked and bitten inwardly with remorse and feare considering that in all these actions saith he cruell rashnesse hath raged And therfore I humbly beseech you ô Priests and ministers of Christ to commend me to the allmightie God that he will pardon my sinnes wherwith I am greatly pressed c. And wheras a little before he had raged in his warres against the Towne of Meaux in France and had burned diuers Churches therin and caused two holie men Anchorites to be burned in their Cells wherin they were included which might seem to be an act of no very good Catholike man God stroke him for it presentlie yet was not this of iudgement but of rage to vse his owne word and he sorely repented the same soone after and sent a great summe of money saith Stow to the Cleargie of Meaux that therby the Churches which he had burned might be repayred 6. And the same might be shewed by a like passionate accicident that fell out on the 13. yeare of his raigne and of Christ 1079. when hauing vpon ielousie of his estate forbidden that anie of his Bishops should goe ouer the sea to Rome Pope Gregorie the 7. wrote a sharpe reprehension therof to be denounced vnto him by Hubert his legat then residing in England saying that it was Irreuerentis impudentis animi praesumptio c. the presumption of an irreuerent and immodest mind to prohibite his Bishops to make recourse to the Sea Apostolike Which reprehension made him so enter into himself as he sent two Embassadours to Rome in Company of the said Hubert when he returned to excuse the matter and shewed himself afterward a most obedient and faithfull child to the said Church euen in that troublesome and tempestious time when Henry the Emperour with all forces impugned the same as appeareth by the letters yet extant of the same Pope Gregorie vnto him 7. Wherfore hauing premissed this for K. VVilliam and all his Successours of the Norman French English race in number aboue twentie for the space well neere of 500. years vntil K. Henry the 8. that whatsoeuer some particular actions of theirs vpon interest anger feare preuention of imagined daungers coÌ„petency or some other such like motiue may seeme to make doubtfull sometimes and in some occasions their iudgment or affection to the supreame Ecclesiasticall power and iurisdiction of the Sea Apostolike of Rome yet were they indeed neuer of anie contrary opinion faith or iudgment but held the very same in this point which all their auncestors the English Kings before the Conquest did and all Christian Princes of the world besides in their dayes And for K. VVilliam Conqueror in particular the seueral reasons that doe ensue may easilie conuince the same Reasons that shew VVilliam Conquerour to haue acknowledged euer the Authoritie of the Sea Apostolicke §. I. 8. First that before he would take in hand or resolue anie thing vpon the enterprice of England as already we hane notedâ— he sent his whole cause to be considered of examined and iudged by Pope Alexander the second shewing him the pretence he had by his affinity to K. Edward the Confessor deceased as also the said Kings election and nomination of him by testament the vnworthines of Harold the inuader the occasion of iust warre which he had giuen him
speciall Embassadours the particular confidence that sundrie Popes had with him as may appeare by their letters vnto him his sending to Rome vpon the yeare 1123. VVilliam newlie elected Archbishop of Canterbury and Thurstyn of Yorke to receiue their confirmation and palls there for more honour and deuotion of the place and Sea though otherwise hee might haue procured the same to haue been sent to England as eight years before he did vnto Raphe Bishop of Canterbury as Florentius declareth 21. And two years after this againe to wit 1125. in which yeare the foresaid Emperour Henry died that had kept so much stir about inuestitures there was a Synod celebrated in the Church of VVestminster by order of Pope Honorius his legat Cardinall Iohannes de Crema being present President therof wherin diuers Canons were decreed and in the third That no Clergie man should receiue anie benefice at the hands of aelaie-man c. without the approbation of his Bishop and if bee did the donation should be void Which the King tooke not to bee against himself or anie way repined at that Councell gathered by the Popes authoritie neither at this Decree therof that might concerne both him his Which well declareth the pietie of his minde and what his iudgment was of his owne Ecclesiasticall authoritie deriued from his Crowne And now let vs see what M. Attorney hath obserued out of him and his raigne to the contrarie that is to say to proue his supreme iurisdiction It is but one sole and solitary instance and this nothing to the purpose as presentlie you shall see The Attorney Henry by the grace of God K. of England Duke of Normandy to all Archbishops Bishops Abbotts Earls Barons and to all Christians as well present as to come c. We doe ordaine as well in regard of Ecclesiasticall as royall power that whensoeuer the Abbot of Reading shall dy that all the possessions of the monasterie wheresoeuer it is doe remaine entire and free with all the rights and Customes therof in the hands and disposition of the Prior monkes of the Chapter of Reading We doe therfore ordaine establish this ordinaÌ„ce to bee obserued euer because the Abbot of Reading hath no reuenewes proper and peculiar to himself but coÌ„mon with his brethren whosoeuer by Gods wil shall be appointed Abbot in this place by Canonicall electioÌ„ may not dispeÌ„d the Almes of the Abbey by ill vsage with his secular kinsmen or anie other but in entertaining poore pilgrimes strauÌ„gers that hee haue a care not to giue out the rent-lands in fee neither that he make any seruitours or souldiars but in the sacred garment of Christ wherin let him be aduisedlie prouident that he entertaine not young-ones but that he entertaine men of ripe age or discreet as well Clarks as lay-men The Catholike Deuine 22. Heer I desire the prudent Reader to consider how weake and feeble a battery M. Attorney bringeth forth against so stronge and founded a bulwark as before we haue set downe to the contrary wherin hauing shewed and demonstrated by sundry sortes of euident proofe that King Kenry as in all other points of Catholicke doctrine vsage and practice so in this speciall point of the Popes Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction was a perfect Catholicke Prince acknowledging and yeelding vnto him his due spiritual superiority and eminency in euery occasion as you haue heard Now M. Attorney from whome we expected some substantiall proofe to the contrary to wit that he acknowledged not nor practised the same but held this supremacy to be in himself as deriued from his Crowne in as ample sorte as Q. Elizabeth had or might haue by the Statute of Parlament that gaue her all power that had byn or might be in any spirituall person whatsoeuer c. To proue all this I say he comâ—â—â—â— forth now with this one sole Charter which you haue heâ—â—â— whereby the said King as founder of the Abbey of Reading doth assure the lands and temporall possessions which he had giuen to the said Abbey that neither Ecclesiasticall nor Royall power shall take away or distract the same vpon any occasion after the Abbots death but that they shall remaine entyre and free with all their rights in the hands of the Couent Prior and Monks therof vntill a new Abbot be Canonically elected who shall haue no propriety in any parte therof but all common with his brethren in regard wherof he is willed to dispend the same religiously according to the founders meaning and intention as out of the words of the Charter it self you haue heard 23. And now what proueth all this against vs or for our aduersarie Or why is it brought forth think you For heer â— mention only of temporall matters for assuring the possession and due vse of the monasteries temporalityes Heer is no mention at all or meaning of spirituall iurisdiction And how then is this drawne in to M. Attorneys purpose We haue shewed before out of the examples of diuers Kings that founded sundry monasteryes before the Conquest namely K. Ethelbert that of Canterbury K. Offa that of S. Albans K. Edward that of VVestminster and others that besides the ordinary power and priuiledges which founders of pious works haue by the Canon-lawes which are many and great to dispose of their owne donations and to assure the same according to their perpetuall intention The Sea of Rome was wont also to graunt them authority oftentymes to dispose and ordaine spirituall priuiledges to be confirmed afterward by the same Sea as out of diuers like Charters and Graunts you haue heard which was much more then this which heer M. Attorney alleadgeth though nothing to his purpose to proue his maine proposition of supreame Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction deriued from Princes Crownes 24. Wherof it ensueth that this is lesse then nothing And if he will vrge those words of the Charter VVe doe ordaine as ru 〈…〉 regard of Ecclesiasticall as Royall power which in latin are Statâ—iâ—â— autem tam Ecclesiasticae quam Regia prospectu potestatis c. it is also lesse then nothing importing only that he both as King and founder forbiddeth all men both Ecclesiasticall and temporall to enter vpon the lands which he hath giuen to the said monastâ—â—â— either by spirituall or Royall authority euen as you haue heard K. Edgar before prohibite the like concerning the monastery of Medeshamsted founded by him Vt nullus Ecclesiasticorum vel laicorum super ipsum Dominium habeat That no Ecclesiasticall or lay-person haue dominion ouer it or ouer the Abbot thereof signifyinge in the same place that this priuiledge notwithstanding was confirmed by the Pope and Archbishop of England And the like we may presume of this other of K. Henry as also we may note the great respect that he bare euen in this Charter to the Church for that he putteth Ecclesiasticall before Royall in this affaire And finally all this auailing
nothing to the point wherevnto M. Attorney should haue brought it he remaineth destitute of any instance out of this Kings raigne as well as out of his Predecessour Successour of which Successour we haue now also to say a word or two to end this Chapter withall OF THE RAIGNE OF KING STEPHEN The fourth King after the Conquest §. II. 25. After K. Henry raigned K. Stephen his Nephew that is to say the sonne of his sister eighteene years somewhat more wherin the misery and vncertainty of humaine designements is seene that K. Henry the first who had laboured so much to establish after him his owne succession in England by his sonnes the like in the Empire by marriage of his daughter Maude to Henry the 5. Emperour as you haue heard and to this effect was induced to cut of so many noble men and houses both in England and Normandy and to pull out his owne brothers eyes for more assurance therof holding him almost thirty years in perpetuall prison vntill his death hauing heaped togeather infinite riches and treasures saith Malmesbury to wit aboue a hundred thousand pounds in ready-money besides plate and Iewels to establish these his designements c. that now notwithstanding all was dashed vpon the suddaine his male children being drowned vpon sea and his daughter returning without issue from Germany 〈◊〉 dispossessed in like manner of her inheritance to England by 〈◊〉 neerest kinsman Stephen that first of all other had sworne â—â—mage vnto her in her Fathers dayes 26. This man then hauing gotten the possession of the Crowne albeit he had infinite troubles therewith and the Realme much more by this means and by his instability of nature who was wont saith Malmesbury to begin many things goe through with few to promise much and perfourme little yet held he out for more then 18. years togeather as I haue said And in all this time though he had little leasure to attend peculiarly to Ecclesiasticall matters and lesse will oftentymes being wholy intangled in matters of warre yet his whole course and race of life sheweth euidently that in this point either of beleife or practice concerning Ecclesiasticall power he did not differ or dissent from his auncestors or from other Christian Catholike Princes that liued round about him in those dayes Nay he was held for so religious in this behalfe before he was King as the opinion therof did greatly further him to gaine the Kingdome For that saith Malmesbury Henry Bishop of VVinchester which now was Legate of the Sea Apostolicke in England that principally was the cause of his preferment to the Crowne was induced therevnto by most certaine hope that Stephen would follow the manners of his grand-father the Conquerour in gouerning the Crowne but especially in preseruing the discipline of Ecclesiasticall vigour and vpon this hope did the said Bishop interpose himself as mediatour and pledge for Stephen with VVilliam Archbishop of Canterbury and the rest of the Bishops and nobility exacting of him a strict oath De libertare reddenda Ecclesia conseruanda For restoring and conseruing the liberty of the Church which VVilliam Rufus by his loose gouernment had much infringed 27. The same Malmesbury also that liued with him setteth downe the mutuall oathes both of him and his nobility the one to the other surauerunt Episcopi fidelitatem Regi saith he quamdiu ille libertatem Ecclesiae vigorem disciplina conseruaret The Bishops did swâ—â—â— homage and fidelity to the King as long as he maintained the liberty of the Church and vigour of discipline therin But the Kings oath was large concerning his election admission crowinge by the Archbishop of Canterbury as Legat Apostolicall that he was particularly confirmed by Pope Innocentius c. And then it followeth Ego Stephanus c. respectu amore Dei Sanctam Ecclesiam liberam esse c. I King Stephen doe graunt and confirme for the respect and loue I beare to allmighty God to maintaine the freedome of his Church doe promise that I will neither doe nor permit any symmoniacall act of selling or buying benefices within the same I doe testifie also and confirme that the persons and goods of all Clergy-men be in the hands power and iustice of their Bishops c. And I doe confirme by these presents and their dignityes priuiledges and auncient customes to be inuiolably obserued c. 28. This oatâ— made he at his first entrance as Rufus others had done before him wherby they testified not only their iudgment but also their obligation though afterward in obseruance therof many times they failed vpon particular interest or passion mouing them to the contrary For so writeth Malmesbury also of this King Penè omnia ita perperà m mutauit posteà quasi ad hoc tantum iurassâ—t vt preuaricatorem Sacramenti se Regno toti ostenderet He did afterward in his life so peruersly breake all that he had sworne as though his swearing had byn only to this effect to shew himself an Oath-breaker to the whole Kingdome But yet presently after he excuseth him againe Sed haec omnia non tam illi quam Confiliarijs eius ascribendae putâ— But I doe thinke all these things to be ascribed rather to euill Counsellours then to himself 29. One notable case fell out vpon the 4. yeare of his raigne to wit in the yeare of our Lord 1139. when holding his Courte in the Citty of Oxford and expecting dayly the comming out of Normandy of Robert Earle of Glocester in fauour of Maude the Empresse I meane that famous Robert base sonne of K. Henry the first most excellent in wisedome and feats of Armes and a great fauourer of learned men to whome both Malmesbury and Geffrey of Monmouth dedicated their books the King being persuaded I say by certaine il Counselours and souldiars about him to lay hands vpon the goods and Castles of two rich and potent Bishops the one Roger of Salisbury that had byn Chaplaine to King Henry and the other Alexander of Lincolne his nephew and the Kings Chauncelour he followed at length their counsaile and caused both Bishops to be apprehended and forced to deliuer vp the keyes of their Castles and treasures therein pretending feare and doubt least they would otherwise hape kept the same for the said Earle of Glocester and Maude the Empresse◠〈◊〉 30. And albeit these two Bishops power greatnes had 〈◊〉 much misliked also by the Cleargie it self yet seeing saith Malmesbury this violence to be vsed against the Canons they admonished the King therof by diuers waies especially by his brother Bishop of VVinchester now also Legate of the Sea Apostolicke a likewise by Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury that had succeeded William who went so far and were so earnest in this matter saith Malmesbury then liuing vt suppliciter pedibus Regis in cubiculâ— effusi orauerunt vt misereretur Ecclesiae
reward in the life to come for it And so much of this 14. But now to passe to another consideration about the same King it seemeth to me that nothing sheweth more this Kingâ— true affection deuotion and confidence towards the Pope and Sea of Rome then his owne recourse thervnto in his greatest affliction before mentioned of the conspiracy of his wife and children against him For then he wrote a very lamentable letter vnto Pope Alexander beginning thus Sanctissimo Domino suo Alexandre Dei gratia Catholicae Ecclesia Summo Pontifici Henricus Rex Angliae c. Salutem deuotae subiectionis obsequium In which letter among other things he saith thus Vbipleniorem voluptatem contulerat mihi Dommâ—â— ibi grauius me flagellat quod sine lachrymis non dico contra sanguineâ—â—â—eum viscera mea cogor odium mortale concipere c. Where God hath giuen me greatest pleasure and contentment there doth he most whip me now and that which without teares I doe not speake vnto you I am constrained to conceiue mortall hatred against my owne bloud and my owne bowels My freinds haue left me and those of myne owne house doe seeke my life this secret coniuration of my wife and children hath so intoxicated the minds of all my most familiar freinds as they prefer their traiterous obedience to my sonne and would rather beg with him then raigne with me and enjoy most ample dignities c. Abseâ—â— corpore presens tamen animo me vestris aduolno genibus I being absent in body but present in mynd with you doe cast my self at your knees Vestrae iurisdictionis est Regnum Angliae c. Experiatur Anglia quid possit Romanus Pontifex The Kingdome of England is vnder your iurisdiction Let England learne by experience what the Bishop of Rome can doe Promitto me dispositioni vestra in omnibus pariturum I doe promise to obay your disposition in all hings 15. Thus he wrote at that tyme with teares as you haue heard wherewith Pope Alexander being greatly moued sent commaundement to Richard Archbishop of Canterbury to write earnestly vnto K. Henry the sonne to recall him from his rebellion vnder paine of excommunication as before we haue shewed And this confident recourse of K. Henry to the Pope in so great an affaire declareth well the opinion he had of his authority And conforme vnto this were all the rest of his actions and doings concerning Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction when he was out of passion and perturbation acknowledging none at all in himself but only from the Sea Apostolike And heervpon he fouuded the security of all his hopes by his first marriage with the Queen Eleanor as hath byn said whose diuorce from King Lewes was vpon the Popes sentence declaringe the same to be inualide and no marriage at all by reason that they were married within degrees of consanguinity prohibited by the Church 16. And soone after this againe about the 6. yeare of his raigne the same King as Stow relateth procured dispensation of the said Pope by his Legat-Cardinalls Henricus Pisanus and Gulielmus Papionensis to make a marriage between Henry his eldest sonne of seauen years old and Margaret the French Kings daughter that was yet but of three years old which he would not haue done by all likelihood with so manifest perill of his whole succession therby if he had either doubted of the Popes authority therin or presumed of his owne 17. And not many years after this againe the said King being very desirous to remoue from the Church of VValtam in Essex certaine secular Chanons that liued not with edification and to place in their roome regular Chanons presumed not to doe it of himself or his owne authority which yet might seeme a small matter but by the authority of the Pope Rex saith Houeden ex authoritate Domini Papae instituit in Ecclesia de VValtham Canonicos regulares The King did appoint regular Chanons in the Church of VValtham by the authority of the Pope And the same doth testifie VValsingham vpon the yeare 1177. that it was done in the vigil of Penticost Authoritate Summi Pontificis sub praesentia Regis By the authority of the Bishop of Rome the King being present at the doing 18. And the same VValsingham two years after that againe doth record another iudiciall Act of the said Pope Alexander in England which is that he exempted from the obedience of the Archbishop of Canterbury Roger that was Prior of the monastery of S. Augustine in the same Citty which had byn subiect to him saith he for fiue hundred years before And it is probable that neither the King nor Archbishop did like thereof but could not let the same 19. And finally to goe no further in this matter of this Kings obedience and deuotion towards the Church when he was out of choller and passion and free from such other perturbations as did draw him stroÌ„gly oftentimes to the doing of certaine things which after he repented I shall end with one shorte narration only of the foresaid VValsingham or a strange extremity and aduersity of fortune from which God deliuered him at one tyme by means of his deuout mynd towards the blessed Martyr S. Thomas of Canterbury vpon the year 1174. which was three yeares after his said martyrdome at what time the Kings state was this as partly before you haue heard Lewys King of France coÌ„ioyning himself with Henry the third King of England and the rest of his brethren against their Father pressed him sore with great armies in Normandy and other partes of his Dominions in France And at the very same time his wife Queen Eleanor in England conspiring with her said sonnes incited by her example many other Princes and noblemen to doe the like who raised diuers rebellions And besides all the rest VVilliam King of Scotland came in with a great Army on the North-side and Philip Earle of Flaunders was entered with another on the South-side At which time K. Henry seeing himself in these straites and not well knowing what to doe yet resolued at the length to passe from Normandy into England and first to succour the principall parte But being on the Sea there arose such a tempest as seing himself in great daunger Erectis in caelum luminibus saith VValsingham lifting vp his eyes to heauen he desired God that saw his intention to be mercifull vnto him as his meaning and purpose was to seeke the peace both of the Clergy people of England c. And God saith our Author admitted presently the prayer of this our humbled King and brought him safe to Hampton-port with all his people who from that day forward giuing himself to pennaunce vsed saith he a very thinne diet to wit bread and water only and casting of all temporall cares nor entring into any one Citty as he went by the way neuer ceased vntill he came to
against all Clergy-men as he seased 〈◊〉 most parte of their goods throughout all England And 〈◊〉 Pope Innocentius wrote diuers letters to pacifie him 〈…〉 angerly to him againe Affirmaeâ—s saith our 〈…〉 electione simul promotione Nâ—rvicensis Episcopi 〈…〉 reuocari Affirming that he could not be 〈…〉 〈◊〉 and promotion of the Bishop of Norwich whome he vnderstand to be profitable vnto him Quod pro libertatibus Corona sua â—â—abit 〈◊〉 fuerit vsque ad mortem That he would stand if need should be for the libertyes of his Crowne euen vnto death Et si de prae 〈◊〉 fuerit exaâ—ditus omnibus Romaâ—â— petentibus maris semitas angu 〈◊〉 That if he may not be heard in the premisses he threatned to â—â—â—iten the passage of sea to all them that would goe to 〈◊〉 So he 58. In all which we see notwithstanding his great displeasure taken he doth not deny the Popes authority spirituall nor ascri 〈◊〉 the Supremacy therof vnto himself but only standeth vpon the libertyes of his Crowne which was as there he signifieth that the Archbishop of Canterbury should not be chosen without his consent or liâ—â—ing though the election therof he tooke not to himself but left it free to the said monkes to whome from the very beginning of Christianity in England the said election appertained And truly many godly and wise men at that time did wiâ—h that Pope Innocentius had not stood so hard with K. Iohn in 〈◊〉 point as this was for contending him with a person gratefull vnto him in that Archbishopricke For from this disgust proceeded all the disorders and miseries that afterward ensued as namely the Kings raging against all the Clergie the particulars wherof are strange and lamentable the interdict of the whole Realme that lasted for fiue or six years without celebrating of deuine seruice in the Churches and finally the excommunication of the King himself and other infinite troubles therof ensuring the said King so raging on the otherside for diuers years togeather as he seemeth not to be well himselfe specially after he saw his Nephew Otho to be depriued also of the Imperiall Crowne by the said Innocentius 59. Many strange acts are recounted of K. Iohn in this time as for example that he sent from time to time to all noble men and gentlemen whom he any wayes suspected to be offended with him commaunding them to giue him for pledges their sonnes or daughters or next of lâ—yn And for that the wife of one VVilâ—â—â—â— Erause Barâ—â— cast out a word that she doubted least her children might be vsed by Duke Geffreys children were to wit 〈…〉 his 〈◊〉 the King sent to apprehend them all and they 〈…〉 he 〈◊〉 them so hardly as he tooke 〈…〉 and caused them to be starued to death in VVindesâ—r castle And the same author of â—â—â—â—ris who liued at that time writeth the Kings fury to h◠〈◊〉 great to commit such horrible acts of cruelty vt 〈…〉 extuteret Tyrannorum That it would make euen Tyrants to 〈◊〉 he addeth further Mukâ—rum nobiliam vxores sâ—tiâ— apprâ—â—â—â—◠〈◊〉 did oppresse and vse violence not only to the lands good◠〈◊〉 honours of noble men but to their wiues and daughter 〈◊〉 He telleth further that being one day at Nottingham and 〈…〉 that the Welch-men began to styr he coÌ„maunded to be brought forth 28. faire young children which he had for pledges of the cheifest nobility of that nation and all to be hanged togeather vpon one gallowes in the yeare 1212. 60. He caused in like manner all the Iewes through 〈◊〉 glaud both men women and children to be taken and â—â—â—â—â—ted to know where there money vvas vvho commonly 〈…〉 the violence of the said tortures gaue him all that they had and more too And when in Bristow they had tortured one by 〈◊〉 sortes of torture the King gaue this sentence vpon him that eâ—ery day he should haue one of his teeth pulled out with the 〈◊〉 test despite and torment that might be vntill he had paid 〈◊〉 ten thousand markes of money and when the Iew had 〈◊〉 seauen teeth to be so pulled out in seauen sundry dayes 〈◊〉 to auoyd the torment of the eight tooth bound himself to pay the ten thousand markes 61. The same author relateth in like manner that the said King meeting one day a company of men which were the 〈◊〉 officers that led bound a murderer towards prison that had robbed and slaine a Priest vpon the high way said vnto them It is no matter he hath killed an enemy of mine let him goâ—â—â—â— and so they did And at another time being at Oxford and â—â—â—ring that a certaine Clarke by meere chaunce had 〈◊〉 woman to death and thervpon fled and the Iustice hauing 〈◊〉 three other Clarkes whom they found dwelling in the 〈◊〉 house though vtterly guyltlesse of the faâ—â— the King comâ—â—â—â—ded them all three to be hanged And moâ—â—ouer when the â—â—â—â—dome was put vnder interdict Rex quasi in fâ—riam vâ—â—sus saith 〈◊〉 author in verba blasphemia prâ—â—upit iuraâ—per 〈…〉 〈◊〉 King being turned as it were into fury did 〈…〉 blasphemous words swearing by the teeth of God◠〈…〉 â—â—â—soeuer he should find any Romanes in any of his landâ— he 〈◊〉 〈…〉 to Rome with their eyes pulled out and nosthrels 〈…〉 He spake also words as though he beleiued not the resurrection of the next life So 〈◊〉 our Author 62. But aboue all fury and wickednes was that resolution which he tooke soone after to wit vpon the yeare 1213. when he sent Syr Thomas Hâ—â—thington and Syr Raph Nicholson Knights and Syr Râ—â—â—rt of London Priest for his Embassadours to the great Maâ—â—â—â—â—â— King of Africke Morocco and Spaine named Miramumilinus offering to be of his religion and to make his Kingdome tributary vnto him and to be his vassall hold it of him if he would 〈◊〉 with an army by sea to assist him But when the said Maâ—â—â—â—â—tan great Prince being a very wise man informing himself of the particularâ— of his person state showed contempt therof 〈◊〉 also of his offer as our Author that spake with one of the Ambassadours setteth downe at large K. Iohn tooke another resolution and passed to the quite contrary extreame resoluing not only to obey the Pope in spirituall iurisdiction but in temporall also and to make his Kingdome tributary and feudatory to the Sea of Rome by payment of a thousand markes euery yeare ther vnto which he bound himself and his heirs to doe vnder a 〈◊〉 large Charter sealed with the great seale of England in gold sending the same to Rome to Pope Innocentius vpoÌ„ the yeare 1214. 63. And by this and other such tokens of his heartie conuersion and sorrow for thinges past he so gained the said Pope that suruiued him as he had him his most earnest defendour all daies of his life after both aginst the King of France his