displeasures of himselfe his friendes and vassalls At the same time the french king Philip le Beau had spoyled Edward the fiâ—st king of England iniuriously of the greatest parte of Guienne and also Guy the Eare of Fuaunders almost of his whole Earldome and was not deposed therefore The cause is apparant Sicily was held of the Church of Rome and so was neither Guienne nor Flaunders But although he escaped scot-free for these wronges and the long detayning in prison the Earle of Flaunders and two of his sonnes yet he was depriued of his kingdome by Pope Boniface the eight Philip the faire for imprisoning of a french Bishop that rayled at him and menaced him when he coulde not winne him to grant to goe with an Army into the holy land on the which message the Pope had sent him vnto the king as saith Platina But the french Chronicles report that the king caused him to be apprehended at home at his owne house for that he vnderstoode that he vsed often to speake very ill of him and to rayle outragiously on hm and deliuered him vnto his primate the Bishop of Tolouse to punish him with his aduise The kingdome of France was giuen vnto Albert the Emperour perhappes for a reward of his wickednesse in slaying of his soueraigne Adolph the Emperour for other punishment I doe not finde that Pope did put him vnto therefore See Munâ—ter cosâ—â—â—mog lib. 3. in Al. 2. But yet I doe not doubt but the fault was more heinous then emprisoning of a Bishop for rayling against his prince and Lord. Yea and that God did so account it he made it manifest vnto the worlde by his seuere punishment of all the conspiratours For Albert himselfe was murdered by his owne Cosen germane the Archbishop of Ments founde deade sitting in his chaire The Bishop Stasburge was slaine by a pesant at Fâ—â—â—â—nge in Brisgow The Earle of Linengen died maâ—de The Earle of Sweibrucken was drowned in a riuer The Earle of Ochsenstein had his deaths wound in the battell And the Earle Hâ—â—gerloch was slaine on the way by Otho the Duke of Danao But to proceede Lewes th 12 of France was excommunicated denounced a scismatike and his kingdome and goods exposer for a common spoyle to all Christians and the like penalty pronounced on all them that did or should take his part or ayde him Lewes the twelfih And therefore Iohn the king of Nauarre lost his kingdome for procuring of a generall counsell to be called and held without the consent of the Pope against the Pope that there his infestious foe Iulâ—us the second might be deposed an other more frendly placed in his roome And doth not this altogether smell of priuate reuenge and not of charity But perhaps you will say it was a foule part of him that would be called the most Christian king to sow sedition and scisme throughout all Christendome for his owne priuate quarrell and that this doing of his was so ill thought of by most of the pri◠〈…〉 of Christendome that they entred therefore into league against him and had almost set him besides his saddle In truth I can neyther prayse the practise nor the pollicie of the French who sought to represse the iniurious attemptes of the Pope against him rather by colour of lawe to the disturbance of all Christendome then by armes and inuading the Popes territories as Philippe the moderne king of Spayne wisely did in the like case and fondely thought it lesse enuyous Anno Domini 556. and more agreeable vnto his surname of the most Christian king which his ancestâ—rs had purchasesed by defending the Popes and Peters patrimony with armes to rayse vp a scisme then to force the Pope to frindship by materiall force But that the Pope compelled him to this outrage all writers doe confesse For first contrary to the league made at Cambray betweene him the Emperour the French king the king Spaine and the Duke of Ferara against the Venetians who had encroched vpon theÌ„ all he hauing gotten all that he claimed â—ee Iouius â—n vita Alâ—hons â—â—uiciardiâ—â—o not onely made peace with the Venetians without the consent of his confederates but also excoÌ„municated and with armes enuaded the fast friend of the French the Duke of Ferara because that he not hauing yet recouered all his right of them would not cease to molest the Venetians And also he left no stone vnturned to turne the French out of Milan an Genna the which he at the length brought to passe And was not he then the author of all his tragedie Moreouer this Popes brothers sonne Duke of Vrbine cruelly murdered of emulation Alidosius a Bishop a Cardinall See Iouius â—n vit Alphons Guic. Boleslaw and Legate of Bologna almost in the Popes sight and was put to no penance therefore But Boleslaw the hardie king of Poland was depriued by Pope Gregorie the seuenth of his kingdome and also the country of the honour to haue a king in the which dishonour it continued 200 yeares fâ—â—â—â—ying with his owne hande in his fury Stanislaw the Bishop of Craccow for excommunicating him yea and interdicting the whole Citie of Craccow to make him the more odious because he openly kept another mans wife and for adultery a thing which as it should seeme by Cromerus as common in Poland in those daies as the cart way Yea those noble women that were honest were forced to forsake there owne howses See Cromerus hist Pola lib. 4. for feare of force and rauishment yea and it was common in Italy and passed vnpunished in meaner men then princes But yet in verie trueth the kinges fact was verie foule and made worse by the furie of his fellowes that chopped in peeces the slayne corpes and cast it to the crowes And yet perhaps Dauid did almost all ill in defiling of a noble mans bed while he was in his seruice in the fielde and afterward commaunding him to be murdered for his amendes but so dealt not Bolislawe with Stanislaw and if the qualities of the persons be not equall then the manner of the doing doth ouermatch the one being done without any prouocation and of aduised malice the other vppon a greate ignominy vnwonted with kinges offered him and vpon a sodaine while his blood was hotte which seauen yeares continuall absence from his countrie in forraine warres a little before had ouerheated And yet Dauid lost not his Kingdome therefore Neither doe we reade of any realme interdicted for murdering of their Kinges whereof we haue almost infinite examples or any man deposed for intruding into them by such wickednesse vnlesse perhappes the murdered Prince were the Popes vassall Soe that this zeale in seuere punishing of princes for misusing them of the clergy I feare me may be imputed rather to a partiall fauour towardes them of their owne coate and done for their owne securitie then for zeale of Iustice Like as our Sargeants at
London are an hunded times more hotte to haue one hanged that hath slaine the basest Yeoman of theires then another that hath murdered his maister or the best noble man within the land Iames the fourth the Scottish King flew his father in the feilde and had noething said vnto him therefore but was excommunicated for aiding of his auncient Alie the french King whome the Pope loued not neither could his lamentable losse of life in that quarrel quench the Popes Choler but that he persecuted him when he was deade long time denyning his deade body buriall but yet that is noe sinne against the holy ghost for to aide on denounced a scismatike by the Pope nor to beare armes against the captaine of a croysy it doth appeare by that we doe reade in Mariners his historie of Spayne when Peter the king of Aragon comming to ayde the Earle of Tolouse and the Albigenses against whom the Pope had sent a croysy was slaine in battell by the Earle of Monsfort generall of the Croysy and that he would not deliuer Iames the sonne of Peter who was brought vp with him and shoulde haue maried his daughter but for this mischance vnlesse he would sweare that he would not reuenge his fathers death the Pope vpon complaint forced Monsfort by sharpe censures of excommunication to set him at libertie without any such promise that the Pope it was Iuno Centius the third might shew that he was annother God that woulde haue mercy where he woulde and be mercifull to whome it pleased him and that he doth nothing of desert but all motu proprio as they vse to say but yet perhappes he shewed grace vnto Iames for his fathers Peters sake who had purchased before hand his pardon for dying in the feilde in the succour of a scismaticke and heretike by being crowned at Rome by the Pope with a crowne made of singing breade or wafers and by graunting vnto the Pope the right to present vnto all ecclesiasticall lyuings But to returne againe to the deposing of Princes Iohn King Iohn the king of this land bereft both of kingdome and life Arthur his elder brothers sonne who had bene ordained and proclamed here apparant by common consent and kept his Sister with duble iniury in perpetuall prison and escaped scotfree at the Popes handes but when he would not accept for Archbishoppe Simon Langton a Cardinall of the Church of Rome aduanced to that office through the Popes extraordinary dealing hee had his whole realme interdicted which sustained no harme for accepting him for King against right and also himselfe was deposed therefore And what reason was there but that the King might aswell maintaine for Archbyshoppe the Byshoppe of Norwich the faithfull president of his counsell and a man whom the Pope coulde not iustly mislike being first chosen at Ganterburye by the Prior almost the whole couent as the Pope Simon Langton his Cardinall chosen after the other at Rome by a few of the couent that I may omitte that noe Byshop could euer be chosen in this realm without the Kings licence nor being chosen counted Byshoppe before the King had confirmed him And if the Pope said that the couent chose Norwitch at Canterbury for feare of the King because they had first elected their superior might not the King as truely say that they chose Langton at Rome for feare of the Pope for did he not force them to a new election yea threatned them who were afraid of the kings displeasure if they chose not Langton if Langton was an ill man why was the Pope so importunate to haue him Archbyshop if he were a good man why did that Pope shortly after himselfe excommunicate him what bare rule here but flesh bloud Did Langton so farre passe Norwich that hee would do more good to the Church of England then Norwich could do if he were placed Archbishoppe then the ceasing of all publicke seruice of God administration of the sacred Sacraments for the space of six years for so long the interdict lasteth thoughout the whole land could do harme how many soules may a mā probably think were lost through this long irreligiousnes which otherwise might haue bene saued I omit the great murdering of priests the banishing of Byshoppes the rasing of Abbes Churches Chappels the manifould miseries massacres wasts that I know not whether this more wilful or wofull interdict brought vnto this whol land But ye wil say that before the land was interdicted the king had driuen out of the land the monks of Canterbury seased on al their land goods And afterward did the like to the Byshops that published the interdict And also turned out of al such of the religious spiritual persōs as did fauour the Popes procedings all this before he was deposed by the Pope But yet all these mischieues proceeded of the Popes indirect dealing to make his Cardinall Archbyshop and if the Pope woulde haue relinquished that action the king had soon bene appeased And can any indifferent man thing that the king had not iust cause to bee displeased with the Couent of Canterbury who first chose scecretly in the night without his congedelier there Superior Archbishoppe and also priuilye sent him to Rome without the kings notice to be confirmed of the Pope and then misliking of their owne doings elected with the Kings licence his fauourite Norwich whom they afterward reiected without the kinges licence chose at Rome Langton one whom the King knew not And did not the Pope offer the King such a wrong as hath bene done neuer before nor since that time to cause the couent to choose a Byshoppe without the Kinges congedelier that to at Rome by a few of the couent sent thither in messages without their Pryor And if ye doe thinke the king dealt rigourously in banishing the Byshoppes that interdicted the land and in ceasing on their goodes that fauoured the Popes actions How can you excuse the Popes cruelty in interdicting the whole land whereof one halfe did take his part And faine would I know of you whether it proceded of charitie that the Pope woulde not release his interdict and censures when the King offred to receiue Langton See Mathew of Paris restore the banished men and fully to satisfy all men for theire losses vnlesse he would also become his vassall and make his realmes of England and Ireland tributarie for euer vnto the see of Rome was this charitie or couetousnes and ambition And againe came this of Charitie that the Pope who stoode so stiffe for the restitution of the losses of the clergie before the king had subiected himselfe and his Realmes vnto him did after that his owne turne was serued force the Byshoppes to take halfe their due and the rest of the clergie to beare their owne damages without one penny of recompence And yet see more partialitie in this Pope First he excommunicated deposed the king
counsell and of my will see that you doe giue all men entrance into the Church that are desirous to come in for if I shall vnderstande that any man that desireth to be made partaker of the Church shall eyther be let by you or forbidden to enter in I will immediately sende one of mine that by my commaundement shall remooue you from your Sea and giue your place vnto another Note that hee saieth I will sende not the Bishoppe of Rome his officer but one of mine owne men who shall displace you and place another therein not by commaundement of the counsell or Bishoppe of Rome but by my commaundement The like also writes Socrates he threatned vnto Alexander the Bishoppe of Constantinople if he woulde not receiue Arrius into the Church But you will say that the Emperour iniuried both Athanasius and Alexander I denie not that but although Theodoretus doth blame his ouermuch light credulitie and doth excuse it by the like in Dauid against Miphiboseth yet doth neyther hee nor any other ancient author accuse him of tyranny for medling with matters that he had nothing to do withall or punishing of them ouer whom he had no lawfull iurisdiction and also doth refute that you affirme that Constantine refused to iudge Bishoppes Nowe to returne againe to the history the same Socrates doth say that when the Arrians had accused Athanasius Macarius and other of their complices vnto the Emperour of foule factes Constantine wrote vnto his sisters sonne Dâ—linatius who was then abiding at Antioch 500 miles from Alexandria to call the parties before him and to punish them that he shoulde finde faultie But afterwarde because the Bishoppes were assembled at Tyrus about the dedication of his newe Church at Hierusalem he referred ouer the hearing of those matters vnto them So that at the first he had committed both the triall and the punishment of the greatest Bishoppe of all the East Church vnto a temporall officer of his the which fact and the other which I haue before rehearsed doe plainly proue that Constantine did not account nor acknowledge his Empyre or him selfe empaired or of lesse commaund by accepting of the Christian religion but that he still executed his princely prerogatiue on all persons both spirituall temporall and still clamed to be the minister immediate of God not any vnder officer of the Bishops of Rome Gods vicar on earth rightly to for as Paul saith 1. Tim. 6. Let all bondmen whatsoeuer they be that be vnder yoke repute their lords worthy of al honor lest the name of the lord his doctrine be blasphemed but they which haue beleeuing Lords let them not coÌ„temne them because they bee their brethren but rather serue them because they bee beleeuers and belooued who are pertakers of the benefite Teach these thinges and exhort them If any man teach otherwise and doth not yeeld vnto the â—ound speaches of our Lord Iesus Christ and that doctrine which is agreeable to godlinesse is proud knoweth nothing is mindesicke of questions quarrelles about wordes So also might it haue been saide Ye Popes Byshoppes account your princes worthie of all honour least the name and doctrine of Christ be euill spoken of but ye Byshoppes that haue Christian Kinges contemne them not because they be Christians but be the more obedient and dutifull vnto them because they haue embraced Chrst and are pertakers of his benefit This teach and exhorte but whosoeuer teacheth otherwise teacheth contrary doctrine to Christ is a proude prelate and quite voide of knowledge And as Peter writeth 1 Epistle 3. Ye bondmen bee subiect in all feare vnto your Lordes not onely vnto them that are good and moderate but also vnto them that are waywarde and vnreasonable for this is grace or worthie of fauour if a man doe beare sorrowes for conscience of GOD suffering vniustly So also might it haue beene rightly saide vnto the Popes and Byshoppes in Constantines time and now also be ye subiecte in all feare vnto your Princes not onely vnto such as are good and gratious but also vnto vngodly and tyrannicall neyther release your selues of your alleagence for if yee doe take and beare wrong quietly for regarde of GOD God will abundadtly rewarde your patience for the consequent is very strong and good seeing the thinges are all together alike and equall for if the Christian bondmen were not enfranchised because they were spirituall brothers vnto their Lordes neyther were the Popes and Byshoppes discharged of subiection vnto their Princes because they were become their spirituall bretheren and if you will to their spirituall fathers But they say with Phiglâ—ius that Christ coÌ„mitted the gouernement of his Church vnto Peter What prince Peter was and his successors and therefore all Kinges that are of the Church are subiect vnto the Byshoppes of Rome And if we grant this can there bee ought else inferred then subiection in causes and censures ecclesiasticall and not in causes and punishmentes secular and temporall for what fonde Frenchman will say that because in olde time the Kinges of England were vassals vnto the French Kinges for the Duchies of Normandy and Guien that therefore the crowne of Englande was subiect vnto the Kinges of France or that they coulde commande the Kinges of England in any matter touching their crowne of England or because the Byshoppes Chanceller can excommunicate a man for adultery that therefore he can also depriue a man of life and liuing Mat. 20 for a greater fault Moreouer did not Christ plainelye enough declare what kinde of Kingdome he gaue to Peter and the rest of the Apostles and how vnkingely kinges they shoulde bee when they contended among themselues who should be greatest The kinges of nations saide he be Lordes ouer those countries and their princer haue power ouer them but so it is not in you doth he not here in plaine wordes take from them all earthlye and bodily Empire and power and that too from the greatest of them So that the Pope that claimeth to bee greatest and chiefest is also hereby excluded neyther will a shifte of humilitie serue to escape seeing that to depose Princes is to raigne ouer nations is to be their Lord is to haue power ouer them all which thinges Christ saith the greatest of his Apostles his successors should not haue nor consequently authoritie to release all subiectes of their allegiance the which is a supreeme point of Earthly Empire the which neuer any mortall man yet had and onely belongeth vnto the great God the supreeme Lord and soueraigne of the whole world for neuer yet was there any so mightie a monarch that had all the world vnder his Empire neither then could his authoritie extend ouer all nations but his power determined within the bonds of his owne Empire could not stretch beyonde his owne vassals among whom only he might decree in what cases their seignories should be forfeated and their bondmen be enfranchised of
and admonished by the Church shall neglect to purge his land from this hereticall filthinesse let him be inknotted with the band of excommunication by the Metropolitane and Bishoppes of that prouince And if he shall contemne to satisfie within one yeare let this be signified vnto the Bishop of Rome that he may denounce his vassalles acquitted of his fealtie and expone or set forth his land vnto the Catholikes for them to take who the heretikes being driuen out may possesse it without contradiction and keepe it in the puritie of the faith so that the goods of such condemned men if they be laye men be escheted to the prince or if they be clarkes be applied to the Churches of whom they receiued stipendes Heere ye see is no definitiue sentence of faith set downe but onely an order appointed to be vsed for the rooting out of heresies so that no weake Catholike conscience neede to make scruple that the Pope can depose princes because the counsel doth say let it signified to the Bishoppe of Rome that he may denounce his subiectes loosed of their obedience c. For the counsell goeth no more about to decide whether Bishoppes of Rome may depose princes then whether Bishoppes may excommunicate them whereof no man in those daies doubted but content themselues with the vsed and practised authority of them both for long before this time had the Popes vsed to depose princes as Pope Gregory the seuenth the Emperour Henry the fourth and Boleslaw king of Poland And Innocentius tertius the present Pope that then held the counsell had himselfe before that time deposed the Emperours Philip and Otho Iohn the king of England and Raymond the Earle of Tolouse So that seeing no man did then moue any doubt whether Popes might lawfully doe it or no neither did the counsell then goe about to determine it but wholly omitting the matter doth onely set downe an order to be vsed for the destroying of heresies But otherwise if ye shoulde alwaies inferre that for decreed for faith and lawfull which generall counsels doe manie times as it were secretly receiue and not reproue ye will neuer be able to defend them from errour in faith and that which is equiualent from beeing one contradictorie vnto another For at the second counsell of Nice it is not refuted Cap. 32. but rather it seemeth by the way to be allowed that Angels haue materiall bodies So likewise this counsell may after a sort seeme to allowe that patrons may lawfully in good conscience detayne a greate parte of the tythes and profits of their Churches so that they doe leaue the vicar a sufficient liuing because that this counsell finding faulte with this misorder that patrons and certaine other persons doe take the profits of the parish Churches doth charge them with no more then the which what can be more against good conscience and equity then he to liue by the altar that serueth not at the altar and namely among Catholickes Romane that doe holde that tythes are by the lawe of God due onely to priestes and with what conscince then can any lay man enioy them Likewise in the same counsell there is a Canon that he that hath a parish Church shall not serue the cure by his vicar but by himselfe vnlesse perhaps the Church be annexed to a prebende or dignitie in the which case we do grant that he which hath a prebend or dignitie seeing it must be that he do serue in the greater Church that he doe endeuour to haue in that parish Church a meete and perpetuall vicar canonically instituted c. Heere ye see that this counsell doth not thinke that residence vpon benefices with charge of soules is commaunded by God his lawe which is contrary to the counsell at Treent in the 23 Section in the first chapter of reformation Yea Dominicus Soto in his booke deâ—ertitudine gratiae against Catherine doth flatly affirme that all the Bishops learned men that were at that counsell did so wholly agree thar residence was required by the lawe of God that there was not one man that doubted thereof but onely Catherine Moreouer this counsell thinkes it meeter that a man be resident in the Cathedrall Church then in his parish Church yea it seemeth to say of duetie it must be so a thing verie absurd in Dominicke Soto his iudgement who sharply reproueth the Cardinalles that haue Bishopprickes and be not resident on them but abide and continue at Rome and thinketh it no reason that they alleage that they ought to make their abode at Rome because they be Cardinalles and as it were assistants vnto the Pope for saith he residences vpon Bishopprickes are commaunded by God but Cardinalles to be attendant on the Pope is but a constitution of man the which must needes giue place to the ordinances more ancient and greater And bitterly doth he inuey against the common abuse that whereas by the Canons of the Church no Cardinall may be a Bishoppe because both offices require residence which one man can not performe the Cardinalles to delude the force of this Canon are neuer instituted Bishoppes but haue Bishopprickes giuen them in perpetuall commenda whereby it is come to passe that the ordinance of Commendaes which was first instituted for the benefite of the Church by suffering one to haue the gouernment of it for a time vntill a meete man might be founde for it is nowe vsed to the destruction of the Church and the vnlawfull enriching of the couetous ambitious Yea the counsell of Trent in the 25. Section Chap. 18. doth thinke this Canon of the counsell of Laterane so vnreasonable and vniust for to impropriate benefices with charge of soules and to ordaine in them a perpetuall vicar to serue the cure that they doe forbid the like to be done euer hereafter notwithstanding any grace or grant wisely weying the difference betweene an institution of God and an ordinance of man the seruing of God in a publike charge in priuate person finally howe much greater good or hurt may ensue by the continuall presence or the absence of the person in or from his parish then by his lying at or froÌ„ the Cathedral Church Soe that to salue all this gere both ye and we are forced to say that the counsels went not about to determine what ought to be beleeued in those poyntes and so also must ye doe in this controuersie of deposing princes and not to account it for a definition of faith but a politique constitution Of which kinde of Canons Saint Augustine saith De Baptis-Donat lib. 2. cap 3. who knoweth not that former generall counsels are often amended by the latter when by some experiment of thinges that is opened which had beene shut and that knowen that lay hidden without any type of sacrilegious pride without any swollen necke of vaine glorie without any contention of spiâ—â—full enuie with holy humilitie Catholike peace and Christian charitie Moreouer the
the seruice of their Lordes and not prescribe lawes therein vnto all other not subiect vnto him no more then the Queene of England can enacte that if the king of Spaine shall doe this and this that then hee shall forfeite his Crowne Noe law of the Church touching temporalties euer alowed in this Realme or the king of France make an edict that if any Lord in England shal committe such and such faultes that then he shall forfitte all his propertie ouer his bondmen and they to be enfranchised And therfore because the Princes of this Realme did neuer acknoledge themselues vassals vnto the Pope nor the See of Rome nor neuer agnised him for their Soueraigne in temporalities they did neuer heare when the Popes authoritie was greatest administer iustice and adiudge secular causes here according to the Popes decrees and Canons of the counsels but alwaies according to the lawes costomes and statutes of the Realme and in those causes the Canon law had no authoritie and force in this Land This is so often affirmed by the author of the learned booke called the Doctor and student who as he was a greate lawyer so was he also a good diuine and deuout Catholicke that it weare tedious to rehearse them all In the xliiii Chapter of thee seconde booke thus hee writeth for the ordinarie no yet the partie himselfe haue any authoritie to binde any inheritance by the authoritie of the spirituall law how then can they binde the inheritance of the crowne And againe in the same Chapter and thâ—â—fore it is somwhat to bee meruelled that ordinaries will admitte such land for a title c. without knowing how the common law will serue therein for of meere right all inheritance within this Realme ought to bee ordered by the Kinges Law Also in the xxxvi Chapter of the second booke the Doctor of diuinitie saith yet me thinkes alwaies that the title of the lapse in such case is giuen by the law of the Church and not by the temporall law and therefore it forceth but little what the temporall law will in it as me seemeth Whereunto the author answereth thus vnder the name of the student of law In such cuntries where the Pope hath power to determine the right of temporall thinges I thinke it is as thou sayest but in this realme it is not so And the right of presentment is a temporall thing and a temporall inheritance and therefore I doe thinke it belongeth to the Kinges law to determine and also to make lawes who shall present after the six moneth aswell as before so that the title of abilitie or none abilitie be not therefore taken from the ordinaries And in like wise it is of auoidance of benefices that is to say that it shall be iudged by the Kinges lawes when a benefice shal be saide uoide and when not and not by the law of the Church and shall the law of the Church determine when the crowne is voide As when a parson is made a Byshoppe or accepteth another benefice without licence or resigneth or is depriued in these causes the common law saith that the benefices be voide And so they should be though the Church had made a law to the contrarie And so if the Pope should haue any title in this case to present it should be by the lawe of this Realme And if hee should haue title to present vnto the Crowne should it not bee by the lawe of this Realme And I haue not seene ne harde that the lawes of this Realme haue giuen any title to the Pope to determine any temporal thing that may be lawfully determined by the Kings Court noâ— yâ—â— that he may depose the King and giue his kingdom vnto any forreiner but because noe man should repute this lawyer for a Lollard and enimie vnto the Pope see what immediately followeth Doctor It seemeth by the reason that thou hast made now that thou preferrest the Kinges authoritie in presentments before the Popes and that me thinkes should not stand with the Law of God syth the Pope is the vicar generall vnder GOD. Student That I haue saide prooueth nor for the highest preferment in presentmentes is to haue authoritie to examine the abilitie of the person that is presented for if the presented bee able it sufficeth to the discharge of the ordinary by whomesoeuer hee bee presented that authoritie is not denyed by the lawe of the Realme to belong alwaies to the spirituall iurisdiction Thus seing the authour of the Doctor and the student whom some suppose to be Sainte Germany is prooued to bee noe partiall man against the Pope but onely a learned Lawyer that setteth downe vprightly to the satisfaction of mens consciences what right euery man hath and declareth the common opinion of his time when the Popes power was in the Prime we will rehearse yet more out of him to the confirmation of you our Catholicke countrimen who doe openly professe that ye will grant her maiestie as much and as greate authoritie as any of her ancestors before hir father had since the conquest yea or since they embraced the faith of Christ In the xlvii Chapter of the seconde booke he saith that although by the Canon Law the Pope ought to present to all beneficeâ— or dignities the incumbents whereof dye at Rome or within two dayes â—ourney thereof yet he saith that it holdeth not 〈◊〉 this Realme because by the lawes of this realme the King ought according to the auncient right of his crowne to present of all his aduowsons that be of his patronage And in likewise other patrons of benefices of their presentment and the plea of the right of presentments of benefice is within this Realme belongeth to the King and his Crowne And these titles can not be taken from the king and his subiectes but by their assent and so the law that is made therein to put away that title bindeth not in this realme Then may I reason of a stronger that the Kinges title to the Crowne can not be taken away without his consent and so the Law that is made therin by the Church to put away that title bindeth not in this Realme But to returne againe vnto presentments of benefices who knoweth not the terrible statute of premunire made in the Raigne of Edwarde the third against all such as shoulde prouide English benefices or spirituall dignities from Rome or purchase them from the Pope and also against all atturneyes and agents in that matter against the which statute the Pope neuer spurned but suffered it saith Saint Germany and it hath alwaies beene vsed in this Realme with-without resistance yea and in the statute made against the prouisions and translations of Byshoppes by the Pope made in the xvi yeare of the raigne of Richarde the second the vi Chapter we finde in those wordes the cause of the making of the statute least the Crowne of this realme which is immediatly subiect to God and to none other
famous Cardinall Taietanâ— that doth hold and maintaine that the Pope cannot erre in the definition of faith yet doth affirme in his commentaries vpon Mathew that he may erre in iudgement whether a thing be lawfull or noe And therefore he doth not accept the deâ—rees of the Pope in his controuersie of diuotee for definitiue of faith but for iudiciall And in iudgementes the Popes themselues saith he doe confesse that they haue erred and so then may also a generall counsell erre in iudgements by your owne rules if perhaps any iudgement be to be founde of the counsell of the Laterane against Raimond the Earle of Tolouse for not purging his country of the Albigenses Canons of counsels binde not but where they are receiued Nowe this first scruple beeing taken away let vs descend vnto our next article and conclusion that the Canon doth not binde vs in this realme who is so ignorant that knoweth not that all decrees and Canons of generall counsels are not obserued and kept in euerie country neyther doe thy binde the breakers of them in conscience As for example there was a decree made by the counsell at Nice that deacons shall not sit aboue priestes but yet we doe see at Rome the Deacon Cardinalles doe sitte aboue Bishoppes that be no Cardinalles Likewise in Sexto Constantinapolitano in Trullo there is forbidden kneeling in praier on the Sundayes and soe likewise all the time betweene Easter and Whitsontide And also that no man shall fast the Saturnedaies in Lent but the quite contrarie of both Canons was most vsuall in this lande and thought most deuoute when the Pope was in his highest prime heere Moreouer it is the common opinion of all the Canonistes that the decrees and Canons reformatiue doe not else where binde but where they haue beene receiued and therefore our seminary priestes doe holde that the Catholickes Romane of this Realme nor yet those in France be not bounde to obserue the Canons of the late counsell at Trent because they haue beene publikly receiued in neyther of the kingdomes This then beeing soe if I can prooue that this Canon of deposing of princes was neuer receiued in this Realme then haue I conuinced that it doth binde no man of this Realme in conscience And this will I first prooue by circumstance of the time and secondly because diuers other 〈◊〉 for downe in the same counsell were neuer obserued 〈◊〉 as for this Canon The Canon neuer receiued proued by circumstance of time it neuer came in practise heare â—ntill Kinge Henrie the eyght First it is certaine that the counsell at Laterane was helde in Anno Domini 1215. and in the seuenth yeare of the raigne of Kinge Ioâ—n and in the time of the bloodie broyles of the Barons against the kinge it can not bee denyed but that the kinge had three Embassadours there and likelie enough it is that they subscribed and consented as the rest of the Embassadours did for their master sought all the meanes he coulde to please the Pope that hee might haue his helpe against the Barons and so indeede hee stoode his fast friende and at the counsell accursed the Barons suspended the Archbishoppe of Canterburie Stephan Langâ—â—â— for taking parte with them and for the same quarrell would not allowe his brother Simon Elected Archbishoppe of yorke so that there is no doubte but the greatest parte of the realme were as readie to displease the Pope as their prince was to please him for the chiefest cause that moued the king to sende Embassadours vnto the counsell was saith Mathews of Paris to procure the Popes curse against the Barons These wofull warres continued to the death of kinge Iohn soe that no parliament was or coulde be helde whereby this Canon could be receiued For if Sir Thomas More in his debellation doth truely say that kinge Iohn coulde not make his kingdome tributarie to the Pope without the consente of the parliament much lesse coulde he giue the Pope authority to giue the realme away God knowes to whom it should please him or that Christian that was able to winne it by fine force for according to the rule of the Canon Lawe Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus debet approbari that which toucheth all men ought to be allowed and approued and confirmed by all wherefore the Lord chiefe Iustice in the first yeare of the raigne of Henry the seuenth as we doo reade in the reportes of the same yeare Termino Hillarii Chap. 10. affirmed that all the Barrons vnto the Pope that after a sorte commaunded Edwarde the first to surcease from warring on the Scottes that helde of him That although the king woulde giue away the right he had to Scotlands yet for all that it shoulde not be soe because that hee that is king of England is alwaies chiefe Lorde of Scotland And if the king of this Realme cannot of himselfe dispose of a thing annexed and incorporated to the crowne of this kingdome will any wise man be of opinion that king Iohn coulde dispose of the crowne of England of himselfe without the assent and consent of the states and ordaine forfeytures thereof to forreyners and strangers And although I can easily be perswaded that the subiectes for the extreame hatred that they bare vnto their present prince The iniquitie of the Canon woulde lightly be wonne to accept of causes to be discharged of their alleageanc to their king yet can I hardly be induced to beleeue that they coulde suffer themselues their wiues and children landes and liuinges goods and country to be exposed to the sacke and spoyle of all their neighbours yea of all Christendome if they shoulde vnhappily happe to haue a wicked king And also well might they satisfie the will and intent of the counsell without any such pernicious perill of there whole state and also retaine still their ancient honour and liberty if they themselues did make choise of the Physition that should purge them if that the law of God had not vtterly forbidden theÌ„ to rebell froÌ„ their prince were he neuer so wicked and not foolishly bind themselues to take a purgation of they know not whom perhaps vnhappily of such a one 〈◊〉 â—â—te likely to purge them of ill humors so extreamely that he would destroy the habit of their bodye And hereof â—o saide an example they neded not to seeke far For as the very same instant they had a very plaine proofe thereof in France where the earle of Tolowse was depriued of his earledome because he would not purge his dominions of the Albigenses and the earledome giuen by the Pope vnto Simon the Earle of Monssort For that I may omit how bloudily Monssort executed the Popes mandate being generall of the Croysy against the Albigenses in sacking the Cities murdering the men and women how he did also vnder that pretence assaulte sacke cityes that were not one whit infected with that sect and slew in one battell twentie thousand
See they will be the successors of Constantine and not of Peter c. And in this minde they continued in the reigne of king Edward the first when the Parliament assembled at Lincolne thus wrote as we reade in Thomas of VValsingham flores historiarum vnto Bonifacius the viii who among other things in his letters to the king had requested that if the King had any right in the kingdomes of Scotland or any part thereof that he would send his proctors and learned counsell vnto him and there the matter shoulde speedily with iustice be adiudged decided Neither that the kings of England had by reason of the preeminence of their state regall dignity and costome at all times inuiolably obserued euer answered or ought to answere before any Iudge eccelesiasticall or secular about his rights in the aforesaide kingdome of Scotland or other his temporalities wherefore we hauing held a diligent consultation deliberation vppon the contents of your abouesaide letters it was the common concordious one minded consent of vs all of eueryone of vs shal be for euer hereafter vnaltered that our foresaid Lord the King doe not about the rights of the kingdome of Scotland or other his temporalities in any wise answere iudicially before you nor come vnder iudgement in any sort or bring his rights aforesaide in doubt or question nor therefore sende proctours or messengers vnto your presence seeing the premises doe tende manifestly to the disinheriting of the right of the Crowne of the kingdome of England and the kingly dignitie the notorious subuersion of the state of the same kingdome also to the preiudice of our fathers libertie costoms lawes to the obseruation and defending of whom we are bouÌ„d by the duty of oth taken the which we will maintaine in all that we can and will with the helpe of God defend with all our strength Neither also doe wee permit or in any sort will suffer as neither we can nor ought that our foresaide Lord king yea if he would doe or in any cause attempt the premises so vnwonted vndue preiudiciall and at other times so vnheard of c. And now I pray you will any indifferent man beleeue that our countrimen in those daies did thinke that the Pope had authoritie to despose their Kings or knew or heard that their fathers and auncestours had giuen the Pope power to expose the kingdome of their countrie for a common pray for all Christians and Catholickes But now hauing prooued that this Canon cannot bind vs now vnlesse our ancestours had receaued by consent of Parliament also haue shewed that it neither was nor could be done let vs fall to our seconde proofe that the Canons of this Counsell at least in temporall cases were neuer receiued in this Realme In this counsel there was a Canon made vnder payne of excoÌ„munication that the Clergy should not be forced to pay any contribution to secular princes neither shoulde they willingly of their owne accord pay any without licence first obtained of thâ— Pope Now that this Canon was neuer in force here it doth plainely appeare by the subsidies payde by the Clergy vnto the sonne of King Iohn Chap. 24. Henry the third in the ix the xvi the xxi the xxix the xxxvii the xliiii the xlii yeares of his raigne neuer once asked the Popes consent but contrariwise in the xxxvi yeares of his raigne the king hauing the popes mandate from the Counsell of Lyons See Holinâ—hed to pay him three tenthes because he was crossed for the holy land they vtterly refused to pay him penny The Clergy did also wthout contradiction pay vnto his sonne and successor Edward the first in the eight yeare of his reaigne thre tenthes and in the eleauenth yeare the twentith part of all their goodes but afterward at the Parliament helde at Saint Edmondesbury Robert the Archbyshoppe of Canterbury and some of the Clergy refused to pay not claming to be exempted by this Canon but by another decre made lately that very yeare by Pope Bonifacius the eight but then the King put the Cleargy out of his protection and thus forced them to yeelde and so they haue continued payment quietly euer since that time An other Canon we haue in the same counsell Chap. 4â— that no prescription shall be good during the whole time whereof the possessor did not verelye beleeue that the thing was his owne in truth But that the law of this land did neuer make any distinction of possession bona or malae fidei whether the possessor did think it to be his owne or not at all our Lawyers doe know and acknowledge And also the statutes of limitation made in the Parliamentes held at Marton and VVestminster in the three and twentie yeares of the raignes of Henry the third and Edward the first doe plainelie prooue Also a third Canon there is a branch of this of the desposition of Princes that the goodes of Clarkes condemned for heretikes shall bee forfeited vnto the Churches where they serued This constitution not to bee obserued the author of the booke called the Doctor and the Student doth at large prooue in the xxix Chapter of his seconde booke And also it doth plainely appeare by the statute made in the second yeare of Henry the first Chapt. 7. where wee finde that the goodes of Heretikes of what estate condition and degree soeuer they bee are escheated to the King And also all their landes that houlde immediately of him or of their ordinaries or their commissaries but the landes of all other that holde in chiefe of other Lordes the king to haue them a yeare and a day with their wastes and afterward to returne vnto the Lord of the sea And seeing that in three small matters that touched not the state the Counsell was not nor is receiued can anye wise man beleeue that the Counsell was receaued in a Canon that touched the ruine of the whole country and kingdome and namely seeing it hath beene plainely proued that a part of the very selfe same Canon was neuer alowed Now finally to conclude neither was the sentence of depriuation canonically pronounced against her Maiestie according to thee decree of the Counsell The Canon not orderly executed for whereas she should first haue bene admonished by the Church and then excommunicated by the Metropolitane and his comprouinciall Byshoppes and then if she had contemned to satisfie within one yeare to bee depriued c. It is manifest that she was not excommunicated by the Metropolitane and the Byshoppes of his prouince neyther I doe thinke admonished by the Church but euen at the very first choppe deposed by the Pope Therefore seeing that neyther Pope nor generall counsell haue authoritie to depose Princes or release subiectes of their allegiance neyther was the Canon of the Counsell of Laterane for deposing of Princes euer receiued in this land nor any other Canons of Counsels that touched temporalities neyther yet that Canon orderly executed â—-against her Maiesty What good Christian English man can thinke that hee was by that Bull of Pius Quinâ—â—â— discharged of his obedience and allegiance that hee oweth vnto her Maiestye And can absurdly beleeue that all those that shall dye in that quarell shall vndoubtedlye bee damned in hell fire with all miscreants and rebelles FINIS